[~Ding~]
He was excited. His dream was coming tru---
Suddenly his excited grin vanished. His body slumped, instinctively curling into itself as he felt a strange gaze fixed on him.
A wave of uneasiness and panic passed through him.
The weird part being that he felt the gaze from all the directions; it felt as if it was ready to devour him.
At that moment, he felt as if he were just a mere prey.
But as soon as he felt it, the gaze vanished, leaving Jurel at ease again. He sighed in relief which was cut short by another chimming sound.
[Welcome to the World of Zenim]
[ Name: Jurel
Race: Human
Age: 18
Talent: Divine
Bloodline Progenitor: The First Holy Emperor ]
Jurel's mouth gaped open in utter shock. Divine?! Isn't that the top of the cream?!
And the Holy Emperor!!
Was he given some specific avator from the game to play with?
'Am I...am I secretly the protagonist...?'
He couldn't help but dare to think such upon seeing the ridiculous stats in front of him.
But before he could delve further into his imaginations, another notification chimmed in.
[Initiating the Shift]
[Jurel successfully registered]
[ Son of Divine Birth, you are under the watchful eyes of the Watcher ]
Before he could even comprehend the texts especially those last words, the grid around him suddenly collapsed on him.
For a moment Jurel stopped breathing. But then he was soon presented with another ridiculous scenario.
This time he found himself afloat on the clouds, the small soft and fluffy wisps wheezing past him.
Though this time he wasn't alone.
"Wow, would you look at that? It actually feels like we are floating haha"
"Seems my money won't go to waste this time."
Players were present all around him; they kept on mumbling among themselves, some already making acquaintances, others looking around and observing while seldom commenting, while whole batches of new players kept on streaming in every second.
Meanwhile, Jurel was sweating a lot.
'No no no...if these many players arrive, how shall I choose my username?! I need to type fucking fast.'
As if answering his thoughts, a system notification dinged, making all the players go silent.
[Choose an username to be displayed to fellow players]
Almost immediately, thousands of hands struck forward, jamming down names on the seemingly translucent but opaque system screen in front of them.
From above, the scene looked like a messy tangle of limbs, often crashing into each other.
Though a few others and the indecisive ones still didn't write down anything as they contemplated over something unique.
Jurel on the other hand had a pitiful look on his face.
[Username 'Lone Boy' has already been taken. Please choose another.]
He couldn't take his eyes of the screen which hovered in front of him, as if silently mocking him.
'Tsk, Fine! I shall choose another...though let the world know I shall come for the bastard who dared to take away my name.' He inwardly clicked his tongue before thinking upon a new name.
'Hmm, how about...'
[ Username 'Lone Boy User(Bastard) Hunter' successfully registered ]
Jurel nodded in satisfaction as he already envisioned his victim getting beaten to a pulp by him.
With a smile playing on his lips, he looked around to see several players already having done with their registration.
Soon, another timer appeared with a countdown of 5 minutes, which soon passed by.
Players started disappearing again and so did Jurel.
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
When his eyes opened again, for a fleeting moment, his heart skipped a beat.
He can't be blamed; afterall, what he was seeing in front of him could give anyone chills and make them cringe.
At a short distance away from him and all the fellow gamers, there were columns of people arranged in rows, all of them kneeling and bowing by touching their foreheads reverently to the ground.
"All Hail the Saviours! All Hail the Entity!"
Choruses rang out throughout the barren fields, sending shivers down many spines; the intertwined voices of so many people felt more like that of a cult than normal devotion.
...Though among the players, few had their chests puffed out, absolutely flattered with such a greeting.
"These NPCs feel so real, man!"
Nobody could agree any less.
Their voices didn't feel like they had only been following a specific tone and script. Their figures looked real, radiating the same warmth as them. They looked like they had ... individuality.
'What an epic work' , was what most thought and praised the creators of the game.
Few 'crazy' ones even believed that they were not NPCs but real people-- though the gaming industry had denied all such 'nonsense' beforehand.
Still they couldn't deny the unexpected lifelike appearance. Well, not uncompletely unexpected given that the players' expectations must have been on par with that of the games in the novels.
In the midst of all these speculations, a regional notification rang out in the open skies, prompting every player to look up.
[ Welcome to the Starter Zone 1024 ]
[ NPCs would treat you as a saviour. Please behave as such.]
[Warning ⚠️
You are in a danger zone. Zones 1 to 350 have been classified as safe zones whereas Zones 351 to Zone 1024 have been classified as danger zones.
Wish you all good luck, as you grow stronger! ]
The players had mixed reactions seeing the notification, especially the last part.
Some were exhilarated after getting to know that they were not only at the Last Zone but also in a danger zone.
More fun! More adventure!
Others didn't look so happy as their thoughts bordered on unfairness shown toward the danger zones.
'Why would the safe zone guys enjoy the relative safety and easiness compared to us?' seemed to be the common thinking.
'Oh, the irony', perhaps this would be what they would all say in the near future.
Not 8sksk this inequality in the game Jurel scanned the crowd of players,pondering on his mode of play.
On one hand, going solo would be advantageous to him since he wouldn't have to be bound to any teams and their expectations.
But the teaser of the game explicitly showed few extremely powerful fighters in Zenim which were speculated to be the bosses by the fandom. As such, it might not even be possible for a single player to take them on. Thus, joining a team under this circumstance seemed to be the more obvious choice.
'Well, I guess I am doing both. Play solo, join a team temporarily, and leave it to go for solo again.'
He tittered, thinking how his own plan might get him banned from every team in the future.
Other players hurried as well, making teams and discussing plans. A guild's foundation was also being laid.
The drama unfolds...with one side being the 'wise', bowing their heads to have more chances at survival and the other, the 'green', walking the life they have yet to explore.
Meanwhile in another part of the planet, someone stirred in their sleep.