Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

Detroit, Michigan, 2045.

"Come back here, you little thief!" The man shouted as he threw his sandals at the running teenager.

"hehe." Arthur, chuckled as he held a large baguette in his arms as he ran in between the crowds.

The man tried to catch him but failed, so he sighed and headed back to his shop whilst shouting some slurs.

"These damn little scrubs," He spat, as he heeded to his next customer.

"Can I get one loaf please," said a middle-aged woman standing in front of the counter.

"Right away," He replied, as he rubbed his hands together from the freezing cold wind of January.

...

After making sure the man wasn't following him, Arthur walked across different alleyways until he finally arrived at his place.

Well.. it wasn't really his place.

It was the slums of Detroit, filled with swarming rats that were your only friendly neighbours.

He kicked one away, as it tried to climb up his body to get to the loaf of bread.

"Tsk. Even rats are hungry these days," He grinded his teeth, as he approached the small fire in front of him.

"Charlotte! I got us some food for tonight." He whispered as he got close to the frail-looking, pale girl who was lying down next to the fire.

"Charlotte?" He whispered again, as his worry increased.

'Why is she not replying, is she getting worse? ', He thought as he quickly approached checking her temperature.

'Damn it, she is so cold.' He thought as he touched her forehead to check.

His eyes darted towards the bin next to him, that was housing their fire and spreading its warmth to their small, malnourished bodies.

His eyes scanned the surroundings for anything he could use to make the fire burn stronger, faster.

"That works," He muttered, as he quickly broke a few tree twigs.

He quickly ran back to the fire bin and threw the twigs inside making the flames roar.

"There we go, that's what I'm talking about." He said as he dusted off his hands.

He then walked towards Charlotte and checked if the flame's temperature was reaching her.

'Not enough,' He thought, as he repeated his actions several times.

After being satisfied with the temperature he sat next to Charlotte and sighed.

"Mom, Dad..." He muttered silently, as sadness erupted in his heart.

He and Charlotte weren't always in the slums, in fact, they were well off.

Charlotte was the adopted daughter of his parents, she was also older than him by 2 years.

His parents had unfortunately suffered from a fatal accident, that left both of them dead.

It has been about a month since he and his sister were kicked out from their own home, and left to the slums.

'I will make him pay.' He gritted his teeth, as anger boiled inside of him remembering the cause of their misery and homelessness.

"Mnm," Charlotte winced, as she moved around in her sleep.

"Charlotte," He whispered, as he saw her open her eyes slowly.

Meeting his gaze, she smiled slightly even though she wasn't fully awake.

"I got us food, let me help you up," He said with a smile on his face.

As she leaned on him for support, he tore small pieces of bread and put them in her mouth slowly.

"Tasty?" He whispered as he looked at her.

She nodded her head cutely and opened her mouth for the second mouthful.

Suddenly, A voice echoed in all parts of the earth shocking its residents.

[Earthlings! You have been summoned to participate in the Universe's Armageddon...]

"What the-" Arthur managed to let out before the voice interrupted him again.

[The earth is now going to experience changes that will affect everything you have known so far.]

[Armageddon... has arrived!]

[The first batch of beta testers are now being issued!]

"Beta testers? Am I hallucinating? Can you hear this Charlotte?" He asked, as he glanced at her next to him.

She nodded her head, and with sign language she said.

"I can hear it too."

[A total of 10 million spots have been issued at random!]

"This is actually... Real." He muttered as he looked at her expression.

The next sentence shook him to his core.

[You have been selected!] 

A small ring slowly materialised on his ring finger.

"What the Fuck" Arthur, shouted as he heard the global announcement.

He quickly glanced at his sister's hand but did not find any ring on her hand, he quickly sighed in relief.

His expression turned grim as he realised the reality settling in.

"This is bad," He muttered, as he looked at his sister's worried face.

Charlotte looked at him with a worried gaze and used her hands to ask him.

"What is this ring, are you one of the beta players?" Her face was etched with worry and confusion.

He nodded slowly.

"Yes, I have been chosen as a beta player."

"I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing," He said, as he held her hands.

"But I assure you, that I will be safe. Okay?" He said with a smile on his face, although his heart was beating rapidly.

She nodded slowly, as tears started forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Hey there, don't cry. Those tears are too precious okay?" He comforted her, as he caressed her hair and embraced her frail body.

"I promise, I will come back okay? The so-called armageddon is telling me that I need to enter," He told her, as he glanced at the notification in front of him.

[Do you wish to enter?]

[Yes/No]

[5 seconds counter initiated]

[5..]

[4..]

[3..]

[NOTE: NOT ENTERING THE GAME WILL LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGES NO ONE CAN AFFORD!]

"Shit, I need to enter...NOW!" he thought, as he pressed yes.

His body slowly turned into pixels, as he threw the coins he had to his worried sister.

"Take these, I don't know how long I will stay there, but I will try to come back as soon as possible okay? Wait for me." He said, as his body finally disintegrated.

...

"Where am I?" He thought as he stared at the endless black void.

[Welcome to Armageddon]

Soon enough, the scenery changed as a portal appeared in the middle of the black void.

After waiting for a while, he realised that nothing was happening so he decided to enter.

"I better not be digging my own grave," He muttered grimly, as he entered the portal.

"Wow," He marvelled, as he looked down.

He was standing on a cloud, and the sky was bright blue making it seem like a dream world.

"So soft," He thought, as he stepped on the cloud that felt better than cotton on his barefoot.

[Would you like to register?]

[Yes/No]

A holographic screen appeared in front of him.

Arthur pressed yes, it was too late to back out now, especially after seeing all of these magical things.

[Identity registered... Arthur Fate.]

[Enter your ID: ]

NOTE: This will be the nickname that others, will identify you as. It cannot be changed once set, think carefully.

Arthur read the note silently, after scoffing he paid it no heed and entered his ID.

[ID AVAILABLE!]

[Welcome... Fateless!]

It was quite ironic that his last name was fate since all he had experienced in the past month was nothing but suffering and lack of direction.

[Teleportation Initiated!]

[You will be teleported in 3...2...1]

...

Arthur's gaze squirmed around as he took in the scenery.

"Mountain?" He was on the peak of a mountain, with the clouds right below him.

"Wow, we are so high up!" One of the players around shouted.

"Argh! I'm scared of heights! Mommy save me." A middle-aged man said.

"Come here son, mommy is here to protect you." A woman next to him said as she hugged him tightly.

Arthur looked at the roleplaying couple with disgust, he spat on the floor muttering.

"These people think this is a joke..." 

Glancing around, the mountain peak slowly started filling up with new players as they spawned rapidly.

Arthur glanced at the man who was in front of him, standing in the air with his eyes closed and his arms folded in front of him.

After a period of time, the man opened his eyes, he looked around and nodded his head.

"Alright, since everyone is here. It's time to start."

"Let me make something clear, no one is allowed to interrupt me as I speak no matter the reason. Otherwise, the consequences will be something you cannot afford." He said, his gaze sharp enough to cut through their heads.

"There are a few reasons why you have been transported here, the first being is the explanation of the rules to you."

"The First Rule: You are able to spend 12 hours inside the game for every 24 hours in your real world, the time can be allocated at your disposal. You can also exit and enter this world at will."

"The Second Rule: The ratio of game time to earth time is 2:1"

"This means that for every two hours you spend here, one hour would have passed in your world. Simple right?" He added, with a smile on his face that seemed to contain some sort of amusement.

"The Third Rule: The game currency is connected to your reality."

"This means you will be able to exchange your world's currency with this world's one and vice versa, the transaction is completed through the cosmic bank so no scamming will occur."

"These are the rules you need to know… for now at least." He said as a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

Arthur who was in the crowd looked at the smirk and felt a shiver run down his spine.

'He is hiding something important… This man isn't an ally. No way.' He thought as he looked around at the people who seemed to admire the man flying in the air.

"With the boring stuff out of the way, it's time for the real deal."

"Saying, status, should allow you to see your personal information that only you will view."

"You can either say it out loud or think about it in your mind. The choice is yours."

Arthur, looked around after making sure there was nothing wrong with what the man was saying.

He muttered, status.

[Race:] Human

[ID:] Fateless

[Level:] 1 

[Class:] None

[Talent:] Unawakened

[Health Points:] 50

[Mana Points:] 90

[Magical Damage:] 9

[Phyiscal Damage:] 2

[Damage Resistance:] 5

[Attributes:] Strength 2, Agility 5, Vitality 5, Intelligence 9

[Skills:] None

[Attribute Points:] 0

[Skill Points:] 0

[Equipment:] None

"In front of you, should be a holographic screen that provides you information. I will quickly go over this information."

"Attributes, are straightforward and don't need explaining except for intelligence. Intelligence is the metric for mana and magic. It's very important for every class in this world."

"Classes, are the profession you will choose to become later on. It could be a mage, assassin, warrior and so on."

"Next, the race is straightforward."

"Health points and Mana Points. They are calculated by multiplying your attributes by 10. As you can tell, intelligence correlates with Mana points, and vitality correlates with Health points."

"Damage and resistance directly correlate with your attributes." He quickly brushed over the damage, since it didn't need a genius to figure it out.

"Next, we have skills and skill points."

"Skills can be obtained through either loot, quests or other methods you can discover by yourself later on. Skill points are earned through leveling up, quests and some other unconventional methods."

"Next, Levels. You can level up by either completing quests, killing, and so on. It's obvious when levelling up, you will earn attribute points which you can use to increase a specific attribute of your choice."

"Last…but not least. Talent, some of you might be wondering why it says unawakened. Well, it's because you are unawakened. Don't be stupid." He added in a sarcastic manner.

"Talents are what differentiates the weak from the strong, the higher your talent the more you will soar leaving everyone behind."

"Talents are split into ranks, ranging from F to SS rank."

"Now that you understand the general idea, it's time to let you know where you are."

"You are in the Kingdom of Mera, more specifically in village #420."

"I see, you are a man of culture. Do you smoke weed?" A down player said with his mouth dripping with saliva.

The man's face remained expressionless, as he flicked his finger.

"Click."

Blood spluttered across the players who were around the special player, looking at the mist of blood where the player was. 

Female players started screaming due to the gory scene.

The man's face remained impassive to all the noise, his facial expressions patient.

"Yo- You killed him. He was clearly special! Why did you do that!" A man with a righteous face said as he pointed his finger at him.

Arthur shook his head.

"Idiot, you got yourself killed." He muttered silently, as he watched the man turn into paste as the same scene repeated itself.

The players learning from the mistakes of their companions shut up immediately, not daring to let out a fart. 

Afraid of bringing the attention of the demon in front of them.

"Now that this is done, let me say a few things."

"I have just punished your fellow humans, I haven't killed them. They will only be punished for not entering the game for twenty-four hours. They will soon re-spawn, so relax."

The players sighed in relief, as their tension lowered hearing his words.

Arthur scoffed silently.

'You didn't kill them? You basically signed off their death penalty.' He thought as he glanced at the man's smile.

He wasn't naive enough to believe that death in this world wouldn't have consequences.

Let alone not entering for twenty-four hours, dying itself probably had its own complications and hidden penalties that the man in front of them did not share.

He had learned a lot of things about human nature, for the past month or so. He had slowly understood, how humans acted, and their reasonings.

The man infront of them was clearly someone dangerous, and not to be fully trusted although he was bound by the games rules.

"Now, time to continue before I was rudely interrupted."

"Village #420, there are many other villages like yours, so you aren't the first nor the last."

"You are currently at the peak of the mountain of Village #420." The man said, his tone casual.

"There must be something important about this place, for it to be mentioned." Arthur thought as he took a mental note.

"These villages are the starting point for all players, this is where it will all begin…"

"Finally, it's time for the awakening ceremony." 

The man said as he waved his hands, crystals flew out of his hand and flew towards the players standing on the mountain peak.

"Just think about it, and it will activate." He said.

Arthur, glanced at the crystal in his hand as he muttered.

"Awaken…"

[Talent Awakening!] 

[System...Error!] 

[Retrying… Error!]

…

After countless attempts of awakening, Arthur's forehead was filled with sweat.

"What the hell is going on, do I not have a talent!" He thought, as fear slowly crept in.

[Final Attempt…]

[Awakening… Unique SSS-Rank Talent: "Primordial Summoner"]