Virtual World: Rise of the Sword Saint

The sound of rain was constantly echoed throughout the night.

A young man with dark scarlet hair, light blue eyes, an outer appearance of 17 to 18 years old, a good looking face, and a tall figure was silently walking home from school.

"Now what should I do? I'll be bored again for a while," Zephyr muttered under his breath. although he was still bored these days.

Currently, he was looking at a hologram across the street advertising the world's first immersive virtual reality game, Tensura.

As it was the first immersive virtual reality game, it is also 100% supported by the World Central Bank. There were many other Virtual Reality games, but only Tensura was supported by the World Central Bank. This means every player will be able to exchange real money for gold and vice versa within the world of Tensura.

The journalist continued:

"Tensura is a virtual world in which there are numerous forms of magic and skills that are unique to each character. Also, according to Mister Cedric, the creator of Tensura, almost unlimited equipment and different types of quality are available in the game.

Not only that, the most incredible thing is that the NPCs within Tensura were developed with the most advanced AI (artificial intelligence), so all players can expect a fluid dialogue as a human being with each NPC. "

He was interested and decided to stop by a nearby electronics store and buy the game. Even in the rain, all the streets are crowded without end. Zephyr was walking alone in the midst of people, with his left hand in his pocket and his right hand holding an umbrella.

As he reached his destination, he looked at the long queue of people. Zephyr sighed, and he queued at the rear of the line. As today's 10 at midnight will be the official opening, and now it was 6. The crowd sale was very massive. He patiently waited for his turn.

When Zephyr visited the electronic store for the first time, he naturally found himself looking around. He saw other customers seated on comfy chairs, wearing huge gloves and thick helmets, slightly bigger than motorcycle helmets. They were obviously customers enjoying the VR world.

At that time, a receptionist walked up to Zephyr.

"Can I help you?"

At the receptionist's pleasant smile, Zephyr immediately replied,

"I'm here to buy a VR device for Tensura."

Because of Zephyr's hasty reply, the receptionist thought he was the impatient type. The receptionist asked Zephyr a question according to his manual.

"Have you used a VR device before?"

"No, I haven't."

"Then I recommend you try one out before you purchase it. As you know, some people feel dizzy or show signs of motion sickness with VR devices."

Zephyr shook his head, saying he didn't need to do that.

"Mister! Which do you prefer? A helmet or a game capsule? " The receptionist gave him a professional smile.

There were two gadgets that would allow players to access Tensura. The helmet has a 95% immersion rate and costs 50,000 credits, while the game capsule has a 100% immersion rate and costs 150,000 credits. Even if the difference looks small, it is actually not.

Higher models showed better VR performances, as better equipment showed better results. The difference wasn't too big. The general consensus was that there was about a 5% difference.

But this 5% is nothing to scoff at, especially if it accumulated. A 5% difference in one's stats was a huge difference. A single second delay in a fight can cost you your life and halt your progress.

It was also expensive. It was the cost of a small car, but it couldn't be considered expensive for what it was worth. Of course, there was no need to pay at once.

There were monthly installment plans just like for real cars. For helmets, 12 months was the max, and one had to make a down payment for the first three months, which was about 20,000 credits.

When household virtual reality devices appeared for the first time, the world called it a revolution.

But it wasn't a revolution for most people.

"Who the hell would buy a gaming console for 50,000 and 150,000 credits?"

It was truly revolutionary for VR devices worth several million to be reduced to mere thousands, but the price was still exorbitant. Instead of trying to lower the cost, Atlas Corps took a different approach to solving this problem.

You aren't paying for a new toy, but a new era!

However, Zephyr didn't think much as he didn't have any problems with money.

"Game capsule."

Hearing him, the receptionist led him and let him choose which game capsule to take. Zephyr didn't delay and immediately chose a capsule.

"Mister, this is your equipment. I wish you happy gaming. This is my branch office calling card. If you have any inquiries, then you are welcome to consult us anytime. "

"We'll deliver the game capsule to your home at your convenient time. What would you like to do for the detailed settings? Would you like to do it here, or at home? "

It was the process of adjusting the game capsule's numerous options to match the user.

It was a rather important process, as important as tuning for instruments. The difference between having it done and not having it done was huge. Rankers, or pros, whose lives depended on the 1 or 2% difference, were especially careful about the settings. As a result, top-ranked players often did their settings on their own.

"I'll do it here."

Even so, there was no need to do the entire setting by himself. After roughly setting it up here, Zephyr planned on personalizing it as he used it.

The employee nodded his head.

"I'll call the programmer. Please wait."

Having finished his business, he continued his way home and waited for the delivery to arrive.

****

"Installation finished. Sir, thank you for your service." One of the installers bade farewell as they finished.

A huge tetragonal capsule could be seen.

9:27

The clock had stopped at that very moment. This meant that the Tensura server was only 33 minutes away from launching for the first time. At that moment, humanity will enter a new and completely unknown world that, for the first time, will have an impact on the real world and the economy.

Zephyr entered the game capsule. Inside this game capsule, which was also a nourishment pod, He felt sleepy and his eyes began to close. Aware that the gaming device was sending his consciousness into the virtual world, he cooperated and closed his eyes.

[Scanning user... Complete.]

[WELCOME TO 'TENSURA'.]

A sweet voice rang out in the dark space as he was transported to a temple-like room with a fairy.

[Do you want to create a character?]

Zephyr didn't respond and waited for her to continue.

[Good day, and welcome to Tensura! My name is Uriel. I am the supercomputer AI in charge of this world.]

Zephyr stayed and looked at her silently and didn't cut her from speaking.

[At Tensura, you will possess a new life. Once you start, there is no possibility of turning back, so you should choose carefully which destiny you want.]

Zephyr nodded at understanding that Tensura only allows one player account as the game device automatically collects the DNA, making sure none can find a loophole. To speak frankly, no one can delete the account and start again.

Uriel then stated a story which Zephyr thought was the background story of the game.

[In the beginning, the world inside was a peaceful continent, and many different strange, mysterious, and powerful species resided there. Humans possessed superior reproductive abilities and were the dominant race in this world as they were dispersed to almost every corner of the continent. The living beings in this world had conflicts, but these conflicts were relatively mild.

A ray of heavenly light fell down on the continent one day, and it turned out to be a prophecy from one of the gods, the Goddess of Light, Maria. The prophecy stated that individuals who worshipped the Demon God were in terrible situations, lusting after the continent's resources and were set to invade the continent to steal its resources. This piece of news both delighted and enraged people who blindly worshipped the Goddess.

They were excited because the Goddess existed, but they were angry because the Demon God was truly despicable.

Indeed, it didn't take long before an incredibly powerful race appeared on the continent: demons!

The many races, separated by ideology, appeared to have reached an understanding as they simultaneously waged war with each other at the same time. Both claimed to be fighting to protect their motherland. Despite the fact that humans were the Goddess' followers, were many, and had numerical strength, they were often defeated by demons who were far stronger. The Goddess' believers lacked the strength to stand up to the demons.

Their savior, Goddess of Light Maria, finally descended upon the world during their most dire crisis!

However, the war eventually stalemated because the worshipers of the Goddess had sustained excessive losses and continued for thousands of years.]

After listening, Zephyr thought that the background was a very uninteresting and unsurprising one.

'So boring. Hopefully, this game will be more interesting.'

Zephyr's expression was still so cold, and his tone didn't carry a single tinge of color at all.

[Please select your class.]

ARCHER

ASSASSIN

SWORDSMAN

KNIGHT

GUARDIAN

MAGE

BLACKSMITH

There were many other classes to select in Tensura, as it followed the concept of the real world.

Zephyr had already decided on the class that he would choose a long time ago. He wanted to be a Swordsman because he didn't intend to socialize inside the game and just wanted to play the game by himself. Even though Assassin was probably the best choice for solo playing,

[You have chosen the Swordsman Class successfully.]

[Please choose a character name.]

"Zephyr."

He chose his own name as he didn't see anything wrong with using it.

[Zephyr was named successfully.]

[Your registration was successful, and no other players are using this name. The system will automatically enter other details. Unfortunately, you aren't lucky enough to choose your race, so you can only become a Human Swordsman. The game is about to begin. Please wait for a few moments.]

The game was designed so that there were many more humans than the other races, so there were very few players who could choose other races. The game developers had to consider players who wanted to choose other races, but they also had to keep their game's storyline in mind, so they added a lottery system to allow about ten percent of the game's players to choose. These players could also choose to become humans.

[Please select your kingdom to spawn in.]

[Casentino Kingdom, Astarin Kingdom, Obelisk Kingdom, or Aerilon Kingdom]

There were four major kingdoms on the western continent in Tensura. Each kingdom had many cities and a large capital city. But all players would spawn into a small village called "Beginner Village."

Each kingdom has its own unique culture and heritage.

"Choose Astarin Kingdom."

He randomly chose it as it sounded good to his ears.

[You have successfully selected Astarin Kingdom.]

[Best wishes, adventurer.]

Uriel bade farewell to Zephyr as a flash of light in his eyes. Zephyr felt like he was falling, and he was actually falling, because all players would enter Beginner Village by falling through the air like shooting stars.

They were like a gift from the heavens to the worshipers of God.

When Zephyr's vision returned, he was already in a town square, which had a fair number of players.

He looked around just like the others as he was amazed at the realism and mesmerized by how real the world felt.

It is also advertised as having full dive technology, but no one had expected this to be so good and real.

Zephyr surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings around him as he lamented.

He looked up at the beams of white light that flashed across the sky, and he knew... the game had begun.

It was at this moment, the story of Tensura's strongest player, the 1st place in the rankings, and the protagonist of Tensura's undefeated myth—the number one of the best players in the game has begun.