V

Chapter 5: The Admin

The hall (training arena) fades out of view and the next moment, I’m in a booth that looks like the inside of a spaceship. I move my physical body, attempting to walk around the spaceship but my avatar doesn’t move. I can rotate on the spot to look around though. When I’m starting to think the game is bugged, I get a notification.

[Choose your starting point]

A sphere appears in front of me. It’s a globe but just not earth’s globe. I’m guessing it’s for the Utopia world.

I look all over the globe. Anywhere should be fine, right? Nope. Different areas have different terrains, beings, natural resources and so on. So, the area you choose will influence your future development. Just like how those living in the tropics will develop resistance to heat and will want to die if they found themselves in the arctic areas without adequate preparation.

I want to gain a lot of power, but I don’t want to be some recluse whose only hobby is levelling up in some mountains. I guess we’re going the adventurer route?  Will give me the opportunity to find more vermin to eradicate.

N/B: We use ‘Vermin’ to refer to those players who just can’t help themselves but to hunt other players for experience points and loot outside where it’s legally allowed. They end up ruining the game for weaker/newer players sometimes leading to them abandoning the game. I hate them. Why? I’m just like that. I don’t expect everyone to be fair and/or equal but at the very least, don’t make it your day job. You want to fight? Pick on someone your own size.

Ugh…I want to slap myself for how cliché that sounded but I meant it.

Back to the map. Hmm…Where do I spawn?

“Are there any hidden locations that are habitable and also not too far from cities?”

[Checking hidden locations]

[Results: 17,206]

[Streamlining based on proximity to areas estimated to become densely populated]

[Results: 3,158]

Ugh. That’s still quite the list.

“Hidden locations that can be mastered.”

[Adding keyword ‘master’]

[Searching]

[Results: 11]

“That many? They really went above and beyond. From the map of the globe, I’m guessing the Utopia world is no smaller than earth. And it’s very detailed and diverse. Whew.”

I look through the 11 choices and one stand out to me.

[Hogon’s Invisible Floating Castle]: Floating castle cloaked in invisibility magic belonging to the head of the Vampire Knights, Hogon]

There isn’t much more information about it. Maybe I’ll get more when I’ve mastered it.

I choose it.

[This is an artifact that only permits its master or those permitted by its master to reside in. You can only take the test once and will be permanently barred from entry upon failure. Would you still like to proceed?]

[Yes] Or [No]

“Hell. If I fail, it’s not the end of the game. Proceed.”

[Preliminary Procedures Complete]

[Updating Player Status]

[Transferring]

The scene before my eyes fades out and I find myself in front of a 25-foot-tall door with 14-foot-tall stone statues on either side (2 on either side adding up to four).

 The first one from my left is a man with an apple in his right hand (my left) and a dagger in his left (my right). He is dressed in casual robes with a crown of flowers on his head (all made of stone). He appears to be just about to peel the apple.

Next to him is a female knight with her helmet in her hand as she kneels before him like she’s reporting something to him.

After her are the doors.

First from my right is a woman with an apple in her left hand and a knife in her left. She also appears to be about to peel the apple.

Next to her is a female knight with a sword and a shield standing upright but he seems to be looking in the direction of the kneeling female knight and man peeling the apple.

“What the?” Why do I get the feeling this scene actually happened somewhere back in time and I’m there right now? Hmph. Forget it. It’s just a game after all.

I take a step forward and the male knight turns his gaze to me before striking at me with his sword. I manage to narrowly dodge as I jump back.

“Ha. Ha. That was close.”

The male knight turns his attention to the female with the apple and then back to his original posture.

No other statues have moved so far and he’s not attacking.

That strike alone was enough for me to have died ten times over.

I try again but the result is identical. Why is only this gu attacking?

The other statues aren’t looking in my direction…Do I have to beat only him?

Hmm… “Status.”

[IN-GAME PROFILE]

[PSEUDONAME: DEXTER BLOOM]

RACE: DEVIL ELF

ROLE: DEVIL GOD SUCCESSOR

AGE: 17

GENDER: MALE

TIER: NOOB

TIER RANKING: 000064852/000064852 [STILL RISING AS MORE PEOPLE JOIN]

LEVEL: 10

FORM 1: HUMAN-LOOKING

HEIGHT: 5’9

HAIR COLOR: RED

HAIR STYLE: SLICK BACK

EYE COLOR: BLUE

BODY TYPE: RECTANGULAR

UTOPIA COINS: 1

[STATS]

STRENGHT: 14

AGILITY: 19

STAMINA: 17/17

DEXTERITY: 29

DURABILITY: 13

INT: 19

IQ: 128 [STATS CANNOT BE ASSIGNED TO THIS]

HP: 55/55

MP: 50/50

SKILL POINTS: 1

SKILLS/SPELLS

[TRANSFORMATION (Active) (LV 1): Transform between form 1 and form 2. Duration of transformation decreases with proficiency. Duration: 6 Mins]

[30% Additional boosts on all stats at transformation]

[Singularity Of The Devil (Active) (LV 9)]

Size: 1280 cm/41 ft 11.9 In

Duration: 55 seconds

Cooldown: 4.7 seconds

“Ok. I should have listened to the system. The test has probably already begun, and I’ll have to either let it go forever or fight to the death.” I got myself into this and I’m not giving up. If I die and have to redo training all over again. It’s worth it. At least I tried. “Any hints?”

I receive a notification.

[Choose Administrative Voice}

[Adrian] Or [Melisa]

“What the…?”

I look through the explanation and to sum it up: The system takes care of the initial setup of all players and when they are through with training, they are transported to their age-designated servers where administrators of that server take over.

It’s basically like: The system is the teacher that welcomes all the students irrespective of class back to school in a large auditorium (training ground) after which, the teachers(administrators) of each class (server) takes over.

That explains that but why do the two voice options bear the names of my folks…don’t tell me. No, they did not!

I select Adrian.

“Hello. Welcome to Utopia.” That’s my dad’s voice but it sounds a little unnatural. So, it’s programmed.

Ugh…it’s going to get weird around here.

I then choose Melisa.

“Hello. Welcome to Utopia.” Yep. It’s as I guessed. My mom’s voce.

Hmph. As much as I miss my ever bus parents, I didn’t want to hear their voices like this.

Well, here’re no other options. I’ll just go with mom’s voice then.