《New Age》
CH 1 - prolong - the coming storm
CH 1 - prolong - the coming storm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
¡°Bang bang bang!¡± The door frame shook, jolting Nathan awake and making him sit up as a low voice called out to him loudly. ¡°Yo dude, don¡¯t you got a. sociology test in like an hour?¡± Nathan¡¯s eyes shot open and he quickly scrambled for his phone. Nathan was not so lucky, hanging over the image of the tornado attacking a barn was a big bright 10:10 and a missed notification of ¡®11:00 am text! Wakeupwakeupwakeup!¡¯
¡°Shit! Note to self: No more going to parties the night before test day¡¡± Nathan groaned and thought back to the night before, dancing, drinking, hitting on hotties. He was quickly pulled back to reality as his phone went off again, breaking his attempt to escape reality. He quickly jumped up and started getting ready, swearing over and over.
He rushed towards the door, hoping to get a quick shower before the test and bumped into the voice that had reminded him of the test. ¡°Dude, you need to put on pants if you are gonna leave the room.¡± It took a moment and Nathan swore again. ¡°No time Collen!¡± He darted past his neighbor and almost leaped down the stairs to shave even one second off his showering time.
The apartments he was staying in had five rooms a floor with a small bathroom that only had a toilet and a sink. The rest of the amenities, the kitchen, and shower were all on the first floor. Nathan cursed in his mind once more as he shot into the shower. He missed the world record of the fastest shower by just a few seconds thanks to his mishap with the shampoo. He reached out from the shower, trying to keep his dignity intact, and popped his head out, unable to find his towel.
Nathan¡¯s day was already turning to shit as his towel wasn¡¯t underneath the towel drier. Collen huffed a bit and took a couple of deep breaths. ¡°Geez man calms down a little, anyway what are you looking for?¡± He frowned and looked out at Collen. ¡°Do you know what happened to my towel?¡± Collen gave a small shrug. ¡°I had to use yours, mine is in the wash cause I had to shower last night after you threw up on me while I carried your drunk ass home.¡±
Nathan swore, looking at the damp towel, and swore again. He dried himself off very quickly and rushed back to his room to grab his things. He threw on his clothes and grabbed his bag and rushed out, almost running into Collen who had an evil smirk on his face. ¡°Ok, what am I missing now oh wise ass?¡± Collen¡¯s smirk widened and he pointed. ¡°First go look out the window, then brush yo damn teeth.¡±
Nathan glared slightly and laughed it off after smelling his breath with a cuffed hand but finally gave in and walked back to his room to look out the window. Nathan frowned as the once filthy black streets were suddenly turned a dazzling white. Nathan¡¯s breath instantly fogged the window as Collen spoke up once more. ¡°The road snowed up and busses are delayed up to the ass,¡± Collen smirked and took a pose. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll volunteer to drive you since I am so nice.¡±
¡°Dude that movie came out before you were born.¡± Nathan was chuckling while he headed back to the bathroom to brush his teeth as Collen nodded. ¡°Hunger games is a classic and you don¡¯t mess with the classics.¡± Nathan nodded as he began to brush his teeth. ¡°That¡¯s true¡ I will gladly accept your sacrifice then Katniss.¡± Collen laughed and patted Nathan¡¯s back. ¡°Just call me the Fairy Godfather.¡±
As Nathan brushed he looked in the mirror, making sure everything else looked ok as well. He was 6¡¯ 1¡± (188cm). His hair was short black, going well with the dark skin that his African American side blessed him with and that the Pennsylvania sun has tanned even further. His eyes were a gift of his Scandinavian heritage and were two wide pools of dark sapphire that were currently expressing all the irritation and stress he was currently under. Though his clothes hid it, his body was a slim 240 with just enough muscle definition to make it fit his frame.
¡°Well, you already made an offer I couldn¡¯t refuse so lead on Godfather.¡± Nathan rinsed out his mouth and finally, the two of them headed out. They strolled out of the apartment and headed towards Collen¡¯s cherry red 2040 Jeep Wrangler. He called it his ¡®classic baby¡¯ but everyone else teased that it was just the only thing he could afford.
¡°So, Happy Birthday dude! Only two more years and we won¡¯t need the fake I.D.¡¯s.¡± Nathan chuckled and rolled his eyes, his voice thick with sarcasm. ¡°Oh yes, a hangover and test, that is a wonderful way to start off a birthday.¡± Collen laughed and started to fiddle with the radio as he nodded. ¡°At least the party was awesome.¡± Nathan couldn¡¯t argue with that.
¡°Kaaassshh¡ Talking about the most popular game on the planet. New-Age has already been out for a year and it is quickly becoming the favorite Full Immersion Media on the market. Everyone from politicians to grandmas has started playing the game and it is currently just beneath the ever famous Royal Road in starting sales. Ever since the game was created almost every other form of entertainment media has taken a hit in sales and the popularity does not seem to be decreasing.¡±
Nathan quickly stopped Collen¡¯s hand and smirked. ¡°Is it really that great? I mean I haven¡¯t even heard any troll comments about it.¡± Collen smirked and shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know it is a bit too pricey for me. $3000 for a game is ridiculous I don¡¯t care how rich you are.¡± Nathan nodded and scoffed. ¡°Hell, even the headset they made for it is $1000 dollars. Hell Royal Road is still in the high $600¡¯s just for the game and it is decades old.¡±
Both of them sighed despondently as the radio continued to drone on. ¡°Unicorn corporation has once more pulled a rabbit out of its endless bag of tricks with this new game. They are already the number one company in the country and, even with some opposition and two outright bans, it does not seem to be weakening at all. With a net gross equal to 30% of the world¡¯s profits they are currently the largest world power. It is a miracle they stay out of politics as much as they do but even then they have branched out to so many different industries that even if they took over the world the people would probably cheer.¡±
Collen quickly turned off the radio. ¡°Head¡¯s up we almost there.¡± Nathan gave a sigh of relief as he looked at the time. He had just enough time to make it into class before the bell rang. He looked over the campus to see that everything was blanketed white with groups of people huddling together as they headed to classes, couples trying to have romantic moments while shivering, smokers unable to light their cigarettes thanks to numbed hands.
¡°Thanks again Collen, gotta run!¡± Nathan made a mad dash to the psychology building, barging in and rushing to his class. He was panting and heaving as he heard his name being called. He almost dove into the classroom as he cried out at the top of his lungs. ¡°SAAAAAAAFE!¡± His teacher, Mrs. Duncan, gave a sigh and shook her head. ¡°Just think Mr. Gabriel, just two more late marks and I wouldn¡¯t be able to see you make a buffoon out of yourself. I am still nothing, if not amazed, at how you time your entrances so perfectly.¡±
Nathan was still panting and wheezing as he gave a weak smile. ¡°I aim to entertain Mrs. Duncan, I would walk over hot coals to make sure not to disappoint you.¡± Mrs. Duncan sighed again. ¡°Quite so Mr. Gabriel, take your seat before you keel over please.¡± Nathan gave another weak smiled and hurried to his seat, everyone snickering at him as he slowly caught his breath.
¡°Alright, class settle down. I want you to begin your tests, make sure to read ALL the directions. That means you Mr. Liones. As always, any cheating will be awarded an instant expulsion from my class.¡± She glared fiercely at her students who quickly calmed down, trying to avoid eye contact, with the exception of Nathan who was already looking over his test. He quickly flipped through each page, reading the questions, and hoping there were hints to make it easier to complete.
Nathan quietly muttered to himself, looking a little trouble as he started the test. ¡°Humm alright let''s get to it... Unintended beneficial consequences of people''s actions that''s¡ latent function? Yeah that it. Um, next one... Social interaction, that¡¯s easy that is what people do when they are in one another''s presence. Alright, this one is¡ A german word used by Weber¡¡± He continued to mutter as the teacher watched them all like a hawk.
Nathan continued the test, looking more and more worried the closer to the end he got. After about halfway through the test he looked up, taking a short break to see how everyone else was doing. It was silent except for the scribbles of pencils or erasers attacking the test. The wind outside was moaning as it pushed the snow around.
He gave a small smirk as he saw a few of his classmates start to look a bit desperate. He chuckled as the occasional swear broke the silence and he returned to his test. The questions were quickly getting harder and he was finally reaching the first question to stump him. He stared at the question trying to figure it out. He was getting frustrated and finally started swearing himself. ¡°Shit, skip it let¡¯s try the next.¡±
He skipped through the questions that were stumping him, intending to come back after he finished the ones he did know. He looked up again and started to distract himself from the questions he was having trouble figuring out.
¡°...¡±
Nathan lifted his head and started to look around again, seeing if anyone had already finished or was almost finished. Although a few of the more studious people didn¡¯t look too stressed most of them were straining. Nathan gave a small smirk, glad he wasn¡¯t the only one when he saw Lion, real name Robert Liones, looking like he had just taken a tab of acid. Nathan chuckled mentally and decided to watch for a bit, amusing himself by narrating its golf style.
{Here you see it folks, the infamous struggle for our player Mr.lion. Down 2 tests with a barely passing grade. We¡¯re at the midterm and now we see him take his daring classic, the ¡®Sliding Eyes¡¯. It''s all or nothing here today ladies and gentlemen, will he be able to finish and land a perfect Ten without being discovered by the professor or will he once more burn, earning himself a bug ugly Zero.}
The lion continued to scan the room, making sure he wasn¡¯t cheating on the tests next to him as he tried to read the answers of the student further away. But Mrs. Duncan continued to scan the room, searching for anyone who might be cheating. She finally glared at poor, poor Lion. ¡°Mr. Lion, eyes one your test.¡± The lion jumped and immediately lowered his head.
The class gave a small chuckle as Lion blushed from the sudden attention. Nathan smiled and, continuing to comment to himself as he looked back to Mrs. Duncan. {Ooooh! Poor Mr. Lion shot down once more by the ever-watchful Mrs. Duncan. She is a scary one folks, even though she is around forty she doesn¡¯t look a day over 25. She has a huge fan base on campus thanks to her flawless porcelain skin. The class didn¡¯t even know she WAS the teacher until she started passing out the syllabus. If they actually existed I would think she was a vampire.}
¡°Mr. Gabriel, get back to work.¡± Nathan jumped and blushed as well, making a wry smile as he looked back down at the impossible questions with a small sigh. {Not even the brilliant Nathan is a match for her ever-watchful eyes.} Nathan sighed and continued to struggle through his Midterm. He was starting to feel like giving up as the questions he had left continued to stump him. ¡°You have until the end of class.¡±
Mrs. Duncan¡¯s voice called out again and everyone simultaneously spun their heads to checked the clock for the classroom in unison and hurried a little as time slowly started to run out. Nathan gulped a bit and began to panic a little, it did not seem like there would be enough time for him to finish the test as he just began to scribble out answers that made sense. In the span of an hour, people began to slowly leave the class. They were a mix of the confident ones who had studied hard and managed to remember most of it and the ones with a look of intense aggravation as if the test had wronged them deeply. Nathan looked up again and saw the clock only had fifteen minutes left and just began to write down at lightning speed, hoping to get even once more correct answer.
His brain was in shambles as his panic started to set in. {Shit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, ShitShit, Shit}. Nathan began to put everything and anything he knew about sociology down into the rest of the answers, praying to whatever god would listen that he passed the Mid-term.
Nathan finally put down the pencil, giving a little whimper. ¡°I have done everything I could possibly do.¡± He sighed stood as Mrs. Duncan called out for the five-minute mark. The students left were all furiously writing stuff down like Nathan had. Mrs. Duncan was currently sitting at her desk as Nathan walked up to her. It sort of felt the same as the dreaded walk of shame.
¡°How did you do Mr. Gabriel? You passed I hope?¡± Mrs. Duncan was looking up at him with a neutral mask with only a glint of what he presumed was a smile that made him shiver. Nathan gave a weak smile, trying to hide the shudder and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you the next time you need some entertainment, Mrs. Duncan.¡± The teacher sighed and gave Nathan an unamused look. ¡°Have a good day Mr. Gabriel.¡±
Nathan waved and quickly escaped the scathing look Mrs. Duncan was giving him. He began to stroll out of class with a new sense of calling knowing the most stressful thing in his day was now done with and he could finally have a small break before his next task for the day. {Hmmm its 2 and work starts at 3:30¡ Let''s go see what the boss is up to.}.
Nathan made it to the front door of the building and frowned a bit. It looked very cold outside and he tried to prepare for it. He grits his teeth and opened the door letting a blast of frost immediately hit his face making him gasp and pull his hood tighter to try to block out the frigid cold from sinking into his bones. He took out his phone and headphones to listen to some music while trekking to the bus. The roads were now partly clear with slush covering it. He quickly got to the bus stop and saw a huge line of people shivering and waiting for the soon to be a packed bus.
{Oh great¡ Another one of THOSE rides. Hopefully, it¡¯ll be a little warmer than waking.} Nathan waited impatiently as the cold started to numb him, he saw the bus coming and gave a sigh of relief. He groaned a bit as everyone had to squeeze into the bus, making the vehicle very cramped, and watched as it took off from the bus stop. He tried to make himself as small as possible to conserve space but it was still a very unpleasant 40-minute ride to his workplace.
He looked up at the sign and gave a small sigh. ¡®Total Electric¡¯ in big neon letters hung above the store. Nathan thought it looked tacky but the owner of the store liked it, said it gave the store a ¡®retro¡¯ feel. Which is ironic since ¡®retro¡¯ electronics are usually called obsolete in the technology world. ¡°Time to start working then.¡±
Nathan stepped into the store, the familiar bell chime ringing as he stepped past the entry and into the building itself. He looked around and saw the familiar sight of all kinds of different tech from old school Capsules surround sound systems, Holo Screen TVs, and, of course, some of the new-age gaming headsets inside a glass case. It was decked out in tags and lights. One of his co-workers was working at the front desk, tending the register and decided to wave at her but only received a glance and a small, almost unnoticeable, smile.
She decided to act as if she had never even seen him and returned to cleaning the counter glass. Nathan decided to take his shift, quickly slipping into the back to put on his work uniform, a black shirt with the words ¡®Total Electric¡¯ in a neon thread, and sat at the repair desk. ¡°Hey, Ginger how has the store been holding up?¡± She turned and gave him a nod. ¡°... Good¡ People... Coming to buy New-Age stuff¡¡±
Nathan nodded and grinned at her. ¡°Thanks for the heads up. Almost everyone who can afford one has bought one already. Are you going to get one?¡± Nathan continued trying to keep the conversation going. He considered Ginger a close friend of his after he spent almost a year trying to get her to open up a bit. She was very introverted, preferring to keep to herself.
That being said she was actually a lot of fun when she opened up and the two of them had quite a few long talks during the empty hours in the store. Right now however she was just looking at the headsets like they were her biggest crush, and they currently might be for all he knew. ¡°You too huh? Well¡ Maybe a miracle will happen and our War-Monger of a boss might see it in his heart to give us a well-deserved raise.¡± He was smirking at her when he suddenly felt a dangerous chill down his spine.
Nathan jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a rather large man. He was of average height but was built like a mountain. ¡°Oh-ho-ho¡ A warmonger is it? Is that what the recently unemployed are calling me?¡± Nathan jumped and started to chuckle nervously. He shook a bit and shook his head. ¡°N-not at all Mr. Darwen, who would call such a kind and caring and forgiving boss such as you a warmonger.¡±
Mr. Darwen, the recently insulted boss had a smirk at his now humble employee. He was not the warmest of bosses and was indeed very, very strict, but other than that it actually took quite a bit for him to actually get mad. He always kept in mind that the most important thing was the bottom line, was the store making money and, more importantly, was he making money. One of his favorite activities though was to keep his more rowdy employees, such as Nathan, from forgetting who exactly the boss was.
Mr. Darwen laughed, giving a very peaceful and gentle smile that was giving Nathan chills. The smile almost always meant that something was coming his way. ¡°Oh! Is that how it was? Well, since you are such a great employee how about I give you the honor of restocking the shelves and managing the inventory list.¡± Nathan was giving a very cramped smile as he swore and cursed in his head. ¡°O-of course Mr. Darwen I would be happy to¡¡±
Nathan suddenly spoke up, looking over at Ginger. ¡°What should I do about helping Ginger? It might be too much for her to do repairs and work the register¡¡± He gave a weak smile as he continued to try to get out of the extra work. Mr. Darwen¡¯s smile got even wider as he pulled out a small bell with a sign that read ¡®Ring and someone will assist¡¯.
¡°You don¡¯t need to worry I have her covered. You can handle all that can¡¯t you?¡± Darwen still kept that very scary zen smile on his face and Nathan nodded weakly, trying to keep the smile on his face. The boss set the items on Nathan¡¯s desk and nodded. ¡°Make it snappy, I got you both a one-year employment gift, but if you don¡¯t finish it I¡¯ll just sell them.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Mr. Darwen was grinning and both Nathan and Ginger were giving him suspicious stares. Last time he got them a present it was overtime during spring break. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that and get back to work.¡± Nathan sighed and quickly hurried to get the inventory done before he got in even more trouble.
Nathan looked over at Ginger and gave her a wry smile. ¡°Sorry I¡¯ll go take care of it as quick as possible so hold down the fort for me.¡± Ginger looked over and flashed him an old fashioned peace sign and Nathan went to mark inventory. It was a lot of tedious paperwork and he was quickly groaning in his head as he marked off the items they had. He made sure that all the numbers matched before he moved on to the actual stocking.
He grabbed the very heavy box sighing negatively. {I¡¯ll do the front first, the back is a maze and I don¡¯t need to deal with that right now¡} The crate was packed, courtesy of Mr. Darwen trying to save as much space as possible, and he could already tell his back was going to be sore the next day. It was a sucky job that he hated but he needed the job so he kept his mouth shut.
He quickly started to put away the different merchandise in the appropriate shelving as well as marking it properly so the just needed to scan it later. He made sure to do it right, not wanting to have to redo it all over again. He shuddered a bit when he thought of the early days when he would be forced to redo all his worked if he missed something insignificant.
The merch was heavy and unwieldy though so he was glad to lighten up the box with each passing moment coming closer to finishing it. When he was almost halfway done he heard a bell being rung it took him several seconds till he remembered what the bell was and he quickly stood and hurried to his desk.
{That slave driver, he put that in there just to punish me¡ Not that I have a choice in the matter¡ Let¡¯s go see the problem.} He carried the significantly lighter crate with him to make sure none of the rest of the goods were stolen. He pulled around the corner and saw a group of teens trying to talk to Ginger. Nathan gave a wry smile as they tried to hit on her.
Nathan shook his head with a small smirk, it happened often that they would hit on her and he enjoyed watching them burn and fail. He turned to the repair desk and walked toward it to set the case down and help the woman who was there. The woman had a look of distress and impatience but was still mixed with a look of confidence as she tapped her fingers on the desk.
Nathan quickly hurried over and set the case down and gave the company greeting, trying his hardest not to get too embarrassed. ¡°Welcome to Total Electric where all our prices are shockingly low how may I help you miss?¡± The woman looked over at him with indifference in her eyes. ¡°Good, someone is finally here. I have a meeting in less than an hour. My Go-droid phone and my Smartwatch were both hit by the snow and went black. I need them fixed pronto.
Nathan obediently held his hands out for the items. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± She handed over the items and nodded. ¡°Just make it quick if you could, I have places to be.¡± Nathan gave her his best customer service smile and went behind the desk to start by charging the items. {Hmmm¡ One of these types¡ Whatever, as long as I get paid.} The smartwatch turned on but didn¡¯t respond to the touch commands while the phone merely lit up the black screen.
He started with the simpler watch and gently opened it up to see what was wrong. He nodded and quickly found the problem with some of the wiring breaking loose from the impact. After finding the correct wire in a box of spare parts and a couple of minutes soldering and finally a few small tweaks the watch was once again working well as new. ¡°Here you are Miss, your watch is now fixed. That comes to 56.99¡±
The woman instantly frowned, looking at him like an idiot. ¡°I want both objects fixed, you can get paid once the full job is done.¡± Nathan continued to give the woman a polite smile and nodded, all the while imagining all the ways he would like her to jump off a cliff. ¡°Of course Miss.¡± He looked at the watch once more and decided to distract her. ¡°If you would like, the phone will take me a bit longer to fix. We currently have a sale for cases for this type of watch that will protect it from similar impacts. All the marked items are 20% off.¡±
Her scowl turned into one of pure agitation as her voice rose a bit. ¡°Fine, which section are they in?¡± Nathan ignored the annoyance and the condescension in her voice and nodded. ¡°Section five Miss, I hope you find something pleasant.¡± Nathan continued to give her his best ¡®understanding¡¯ smile. {My first suggestion would be your personality, perhaps you¡¯ll find something to pull that stick out of your ass.}
As she stomped away with barely, if at all, concealed irritation he opened the phone. He froze a bit and ground his teeth a little, his smile quickly becoming stiff. {I really hate it when people don¡¯t take care of electronics that would cost me two months worth of my salary and then leave me broke.} The phone had obviously never been properly maintained and he was shocked it had lasted as long as it had.
It had missing connectors, faulty wires, there were even some food stains. He carefully went through the box of spare parts and fished out all the pieces that would immediately need replacing. After he had them all sorted he started to take the phone apart. He cleaned the pieces that were still good, replaced the worn-out pieces, and just gave the phone an overhaul.
It had taken him thirty minutes to fully repair the phone and his patience was beginning to reach its limit. He continued to keep on his business smile though an ¡®aura¡¯ of frustration was spreading from him and even Ginger gave him a sympathetic look while the boys kept trying to hit on her.
{How the hell did she even get it this worn out! How the hell is it even still working!} He was fully letting out all his frustration in his head as he cursed and swore and raged at idiots with electronics. Mr. Darwen even gave a small nod of respect, though Nathan couldn¡¯t see it. Nathan gave a quick check on Ginger and saw her waving at the teens who were leaving with their items.
Nathan quickly finished up the phone and, just as he was attaching the screen, the woman returned with a veritable mountain of product perched precariously in her arms. She set it down, slightly glaring at him. ¡°Oh thank god you are done.¡± Nathan nodded and handed over the phone with a small smile. ¡°Your total is $250 if you would like I can carry your items over to the register.¡±
The woman frowned at him once more. ¡°I can¡¯t just pay for it here?¡± Nathan shook his head, giving her a sympathetic frown. ¡°Unfortunately no, the repair desk does not have a scanner so we are unable to ring up the items.¡± She gave an obnoxious huff and thrust the money at him. ¡°Fine, help me take my items to the register then.¡± Nathan nodded and quickly stood, lifting up all the items. ¡°Of course Miss it would be my pleasure.¡±
He gave a small smile to Ginger who nodded back and started to ring up the items. He looked to the woman and gave a small bow. ¡°Thank you for bringing your broken items to Total Electric.¡± He then headed back to the repair desk where the stocking crate was. {Dammit, it is almost 7 and I still don¡¯t have the blasted inventory done.} Nathan quickly lifted the crate and sped up a little to try to hurry before work ended.
Nathan quickly started to put stuff away, working faster than before as desperation pushed him. He still had to do the back and he did not want to have to work late. He finished and brought the crate to the back room and groaned in his head. He checked on Ginger once more and she was still dealing with the rowdy woman. He gave a small smile and slipped into the back.
Nathan almost gave a small sob. He had to inventory everything in the back room but it was a disorganized wreck. Boxes haphazardly stacked, stuff tossed around wherever it would fit. Nathan grabbed the clipboard and sighed deeper. He started to inventory everything and, because the disorganized mess was too much for him, also straightened it up a bit. {That ¡®special¡¯ gift better be damn worth it, though it is probably just a day or two off¡ Freaking cheapskate}
The only perk of working in the back as he was allowed to listen to his own music. He quickly put in his earphones and got to work while grumbling about his boss in his head. Nathan counted the items and quickly wrote them down before bringing them to their proper places to be stored. There was everything from 4D TVs, Playstation Virtual Headsets, and even some extra merchandise that never got sold.
Nathan put all the items that were no longer on sale in the ¡®dismantling¡¯ department in the back where they took them apart for the spare parts. It was affectionately, not really, referred to as ¡®The Deathtrap Department¡¯ thanks to how haphazardly it was put together. It was legitimately dangerous to go in there.
Nathan was very distracted when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder and he let out a shrill scream and almost lept out of his skin, turning around in a small panic. ¡°Don¡¯t wet yourself, boy, it is just little old me.¡± Nathan¡¯s heart was beating heavily in his chest as Mr. Darwen chuckled with amusement. Nathan took a couple of seconds to calm himself and nodded. ¡°Mhmm, of course, boss¡ Don¡¯t you think you are using the word ¡®little¡¯ a bit too loosely?¡±
Mr. Darwen patted Nathan¡¯s back rather hard, almost knocking him over as he looked around, seeing the slightly cleaner back room. Mr. Darwen nodded and looked at Nathan. Once more. ¡°Hmph, you did well today boy, probably the first time ever. Come out and get your gift.¡± Nathan nodded, not wanting to ruin it by making a smart comment and followed the old man.
As Nathan came out he saw Ginger holding her head, looking like she was exhausted and Nathan gave her a sympathetic smile. ¡°You did a good job too Ginger.¡± Ginger looked up at him with a sarcastic look and gave a small groan. ¡°Rude¡ I don¡¯t¡ like her¡¡± Nathan just nodded and the boss gave a grin.
Somehow during their brief exchange, Mr. Darwen had slipped from their sight and came back with two boxes. One of the boxes was wrapped extremely well and even had a nice bow on it. The other was a show box that had the letter N and several very crude drawings on it. ¡°Since you, two were able to tough out the year I got you these. Before I give them to you I want you to know right now. If these start to interfere with your work I will fire you faster than you can even think.¡±
Mr. Darwen was giving them both his sternest face but most of it was pointed at Nathan who was smiling wryly, he couldn¡¯t even complain because he knew that Mr. Darwen was right. The old man nodded at the two and continued. ¡°Alright, don¡¯t say I never gave you nothing.¡± He handed Ginger her box first. It was, of course, the much nicer box and she delicately opened it.
Ginger¡¯s face lit up like a Christmas tree and her eyes were almost literally sparkling. She gasped and just stared at the gift. Nathan had never seen her this excited over anything so he was getting really interested in seeing what the gifts were. Nathan looks at Mr. Darwen expectantly and suddenly, with a flash of white, Nathan was fumbling something that Mr. Darwen had tossed him. Nathan¡¯s face froze as he looked at the roll of toilet paper in his hands.
¡°There¡¯s your gift. Now clean up your shit.¡± Mr. Darwen laughed at his own joke and Nathan just stood there blankly, unsure what just happened. He stared at the toilet paper roll than at Mr. Darwen. ¡°Thank¡ you?¡± Mr. Darwen laughed again and handed over the shoebox. ¡°Alright alright don¡¯t get your panties in a twisted boy.
Nathan looked at the box and his boss continued to grin. ¡°Stop standing there with that stupid look on your face and open the box boy.¡± Nathan jumped and set down the toilet paper and opened the box. Nathan¡¯s eyes went wide with shock. Inside was a matte white helmet. It didn¡¯t look like it could be thick enough to hold any important electronic pieces and, except for the earpieces which were really simple, it just looked moderately decorative.
¡°That game is expensive so you both got half. We still have an old capsule that works, girl you can come to play before or after work. I¡¯ll also allow you to go in if it is empty in the store and someone is working with you, I already have a kill switch added to the machine so we can pull you out if we need you.¡± He gave her a stern glare before reminding her to not let it interfere with her work.
¡°I promise, this is great I can¡¯t wait to play! Oh, this is so exciting! Thank you so much boss you are the greatest!!!¡± Nathan looked up with a bit of surprise, he had never heard her talk that much in one day much less half a minute. ¡°She is the right boss you are the greatest.¡± The old man was surprised at their sudden change of opinion and smirked.
¡°Boy, yours is a bit worn out and broken but it is much cheaper to repair than it is to buy new.¡± Nathan nodded and examined it closer. There were some cracks in the casing and the padding in the earphones were worn out, it would take a bit of work to get it into working shape but he didn¡¯t have the game yet anyway so he had the time. He couldn¡¯t stop his smiling.
¡°Boss can I¡¡± Before he could finish his sentence his Boss gives him a glare. ¡°This is still a business if you wanna use the parts it will come out of your paycheck.¡± Nathan quickly shut his mouth and nodded. ¡°Thanks, boss!¡± He had never thought that he would get the parts for free but he got permission to use them and that was good enough. ¡°Alright, you two I¡¯ll be closing up shop early today. I have a meeting out of state so I¡¯ll be gone four or five days. Ginger while I am gone I want you to make sure the store is clean, afterward, you can play your game.¡±
Ginger¡¯s eyes were sparkling once more and she looked like she just got the best present in the entire world¡ which she kinda did. Nathan, however, looked shocked. ¡°So we are getting time off? Does it count towards our vacation days?¡± Mr. Darwen glared at him. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t¡ legally¡ pisses me off.¡± He grumbled about labor laws for a bit and clapped his hands. ¡°Alright, Ginger, don¡¯t mess up the back room since the boy just started to organize it.¡± He gave Nathan ¡®the look¡¯ and Nathan groaned inwardly.
Nathan nodded and looked at the old man. ¡°Alright, can I make some small repairs to it now than to get it working and running properly?¡± He finally nodded after several seconds. ¡°Alright fine.¡± Nathan quickly ran to the repairs desk and started to make a note of everything that was currently broke in the headset.
{Taste replicators are fried¡ Color visuals are currently messed up¡ The left ear is damaged¡ the power supply has somehow been cut¡ The pain limiter is¡ completely gone¡ Damn this thing is really messed up¡ everything is either busted or damaged except the main casing.}
Nathan gave a wry smile and decided to prioritize what needed fixing. The power supply, the virtual interface, and the programming. The third one was easiest and would cost him nothing, the virtual interface only needed a single part, but the power supply would need to be replaced. He would have to fix the rest later.
He sighed and went to find the proper parts. He was still super excited even if it was half broken. It took him an hour to fix everything as it was a lot more complex then he gave it credit for. He finally tried it again and Mr. Darwen gave a smirk. ¡°Excellent I¡¯ll be relying on you to repair the headsets as well then.¡± Nathan froze as he realized that he had just been tricked twice, once to clean the back room and once more as he would now be given even more responsibility in the repair department. He sighed as the helmet hummed to life and a monochrome virtual space greeted him.
Unicorp
Welcome to New-Age Helmet.
Nathan sighed a bit as even the system messages were in black and white. They were actually really hard to read since the letters were flat black and the background was a dark grey. He quickly went into the options and changed the background to white so he could actually read the messages.
After fixing that he pulled off the helmet and sighed, looking both excited and disappointed. ¡°Are you done yet?¡± Nathan looked to Mr. Darwen and gave a weak smile. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve done all I could with this week¡¯s paycheck. I definitely need to fix the display it is all black and white.¡±
Mr. Darwen nodded and looked at the clock. ¡°Alright well everything is all locked up and it is just about midnight so you go ahead and get out of her. Ginger will probably be staying the night¡¡± He gave a small chuckle and Nathan nodded. ¡°Damn, already midnight? I need to hurry then, thanks again for the headset, Mr. Darwen.¡±
Mr. Darwen nodded with a smirk and Nathan almost sprinted out of the store after packing the headset back up. On the way back to the apartments all he could think about was how much longer he would have to save up for the game. He was so absorbed in trying to think up ways to make more money when he realized he had made it back home. He quickly stepped inside and headed towards his room when he heard a voice in the hall.
Nathan quickly spun and saw Collen standing there looking a bit tired. ¡°Hey, man are you just getting in? Did your boss give you a hard time again?¡± Collen rubbed some of the sleep out of his eyes and saw that Nathan looked a lot more excited than normal. Collen frowned a bit and looked him over suspiciously.
¡°What¡¯s up, man? You seem on edge¡¡± Nathan looked confused as he continued to stare at Collen. ¡°Come on man you look like someone fed you some super happy {} and it gave you a rapist smile so spit it out.¡± Nathan tried to object but he started to touch his lips and found he did indeed have a massive smile on his face.
¡°Where is everyone? Are they all out?¡± Nathan started to look around as if he was suspicious that people were gonna be listening in on their conversation. ¡°Yeah, they are all out except me. Dude just tell me what has you so hyped up, you weren¡¯t even this excited the first time you got laid.¡±
Nathan couldn¡¯t hide his excitement as he hurried started to whisper to Collen. ¡°Just don¡¯t scream, I have huge news.¡± Collen rolled his eyes. ¡°The only thing I scream at you for is when you run around the apartments in your underwear dude.¡± Nathan rolled his eyes back, the grin still not leaving his face.
¡°I warned you.¡± Nathan lifted the box and opened it slowly, revealing the prize inside of it. Collen¡¯s eyes shot open. ¡°Holy shit man! For real?! Who did you have to kill to get that?!¡± Nathan started to try to calm Collen down enough and explained what happened.
¡°For real?! That cheapskate gave you the holy grail?! That is even more unbelievable than you mugging it from some poor kid!¡± Collen looked at Nathan like he was suddenly turning into some sort of evil monster. Nathan spat out a discontented sigh though. ¡°It is partly busted though, I¡¯ll have trade parts of my paycheck for parts to fix it.¡±
Collen smirked at that, glad there was at least a little fairness in the world. ¡°That sounds much more like the old man. He had a broken helmet so you pay to fix it, he gets money from the second-hand helmet and you get experience fixing them¡ Crafty old bugger.¡± Nathan nodded with a wry smile. ¡°Dude you have to tell me when you start playing, that shit is too good to miss out on.¡±
Nathan gave a smirk and nodded. ¡°Hurry and sell one of your livers and kidneys so you can join me, dude.¡± Collen snorted. ¡°You forgot lung and heart as well man.¡± He shook his head with a disgruntled scowl. ¡°Fucking expensive man. Anyway, I¡¯m off to the gym¡¡± Collen started to walk away muttering to himself. Just as Nathan started to turn to head into his room Collen called out again.
¡°Oh shit! I almost forgot, your mom sent a big old present for the big old¡¯ birthday baby.¡± Collen laughed as he said it in his best baby voice, smirking as Nathan cringed. He remembered when he first got to college and his mom was sobbing as she didn¡¯t want to lose her ¡®baby¡¯ no one was going to let him live it down of course.
He looked over to Collen and flipped him the bird as he walked away laughing. Nathan looked a bit surprised though. He hadn¡¯t been expecting any gifts. He wondered if she had got him some of those tacky sweaters she loved so much. He cringed and hoped it wasn¡¯t that, that would be disastrous blackmail for his friends.
He sighed and stepped into his room and set down the box he was holding and saw the gift in front of his desk. He walked over and picked up the card on it. It was one of the recording cards. Nathan was glad no one was around to hear it as he opened it up.
The much softer voice of his mother came on, sounding a little nervous. ¡°Test test. Ok, it¡¯s on. Hey, baby, it¡¯s your mom! Happy 19th birthday my handsome little man. We know you have been working hard so we decided to get you something.¡± His dad was next with a deeper, more serious voice.
¡°Hey son, you have been doing well in college and we are proud of you. Grades are important but you can¡¯t rely on them for everything, work hard to get what you want. Finally, you are smart but don¡¯t forget to think things through, I was in college too you know.¡± Nathan smiled a bit as they finally spoke together. ¡°Open the box, buy the helmet, and find us later! See you soon! We love you!¡±
Nathan was grinning as he set the cards to the side and began to open the box. He froze as he saw the contents and that same creepy smile slowly split his face. ¡°When the hell did they become psychics?¡± He couldn¡¯t even think properly as he pulled the second half of his good luck out of the box. Inside was the game he and his friends had been longing for months now. He completely ignored that his helmet was still completely busted and sprinted to his bed, setting everything up and laying down.
unicorp presents." pave your path"
The system detects you are a New user
would you like to create an account?
YES?
NO?
Nathan couldn¡¯t stop his smile or his, manly giggling, as he spoke. ¡°Yes! Definitely yes!¡±
C2 -
Author note
For those who have read and commented on the story so far thanks know that with only 2 Chapter i may not get many view yet but i won''t put out a short consecutive chapter that poorly edited ,i want to have faith in my work and write it to the best of my ability to make a good story that i can be happy with as much as you.
again special thanks to all of the den of madness that could help out when i had many random questions
my proof reader lord saucy help all the time and i might not have put this chapter out without you
and the artist who drew the cover that will become the brand of the #1 fiction in a few weeks time MadelynBlack your work is truly really great you all will always get a called out for thanks on my chapters not many responded to the posts to make a new story but this group of people i did meet wanted to thanks again all of you
Anyways let''s get to the chapter :) :) :) :)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
With a flash he entered a monochromatic void and blacks and whites with strips of grey floating on non-existent breezes. Nathan assumed they were supposed to be colored but with his helmet currently not fixed everything looked like an old black and white movie. It was a bit disconcerting. The strips of grey sped up till it looked like rush hour on the highway. {Wow this is so trippy¡ it looks surreal since it¡¯s in black and white.} He looked on in awe and a little fear as his body started to unravel.
It looked like he was made of yarn as his ¡®body¡¯ unraveled and joined the other strips of grey. He continued to fall apart until only a ball of pure white light was left. It hovered for several seconds before launching itself. The only warning was a slightly darker patch of black and then what looked like a wall. {Shit shit shit shit! I don¡¯t wanna die before I even get to play the game! Where are the brakes on this thing?!}
Nathan struggled but he was not in control at all as the situation slowly spiraled out of control. {I suddenly have a greater appreciation of Wile E. Coyote¡¯s problems¡} He tried to escape from reality and tried to close his eyes, as a ball of energy he didn¡¯t have eyes though. Nathan starting screaming as the wall got closer and closer and tried to curl up or somehow protect himself from becoming a splatter stain on the wall.
Instead of a splatter there was a loud splash and a feeling of water. He ignored the sensation and continued to scream. When the pain and the agony didn¡¯t show up his brain slowly started to fire off again and he noticed he was ok. He gave a very relieved sigh and started to look around, feeling like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
¡°Oh my god that is priceless!!! Did you piss your pants?! I think you did!¡± Nathan was shocked to hear a voice that seemed to come from every conceivable direction at once as it thundered and assaulted him. He flinched and quickly and frantically looked around to try to find the source. He suddenly noticed he was floating above a large pool like substance that gave off gray sparkles. Nathan gave a sigh and the voice pulled him out of his temporary surprise.
¡°Ok hurry up and get over here, I don¡¯t have all year.¡± Nathan blinked and somehow a stairwell had appeared out of nowhere in the .3 seconds he had looked to his feet. It was a marble staircase leading up to a massive throne. Statues of different heroic or terrifying looking figures decorated the sides of the steps as if looking down on and judging Nathan. He gave a small wince, the pressure rather impressive. At the top of the stairs was a slightly indistinct woman, casually lounging in the massive throne.
{Alright let¡¯s get this show on the road!} Getting himself psyched up Nathan, in his ethereal body, started to climb up the steps quickly. {They really spared no expense¡ Damn I wish I could see colors right now¡} Nathan examined the statues as he climbed the steps. The first was a massive knight in scarred and weather worn plate armor. He held his shield in front of him and his face was haggard and resolute. His body was bent like a bow and his sword looked like it was about to fall and cleave everything in twain.
The next statue was a classical looking mage. Long fancy robes and the wide brim mages hat adorned a scholarly bearded face. His book was floating in front of one hand, pages flapping incessantly as the staff in his other hand seemed to sparkle with light. Nathan was impressed by how lifelike they were as he continued his climb. The next one was cloaked in darkness, making it somehow even more frightening. It was an assassin, twin daggers, vials and bombs, and a cowl that covered most of his face. The statue had on a haughty and arrogant grin though, as if mocking the world.
One after another, Berserker, Bard, Priest, Ranger, Beast tamer, as well as a bestiary of vicious and terrifying monsters. Nathan was currently in awe as he approached the girl on the throne. She looked to be in her late teens, an arrogant and mischievous smile on her face. He didn¡¯t notice that the stairs suddenly gained an extra step as he lunged forward, unable to stop himself as he tripped.
He just barely kept his head from bouncing off the stone as her laughter filled the area. ¡°Oh god! That is hilarious! Maybe you should learn to walk brat!¡± She was rolling in the aisle as Nathan stood, glaring daggers at the girl. {So it is gonna be THIS sort of setting¡ We¡¯ll see about that.} Nathan put on his best humble face. ¡°I was just so surprised to see a CHILD sitting in such a large throne that I couldn¡¯t catch myself. Does your father or mother know you are in their chair?¡±
Immediately her face turned to a blank look as it darkened. ¡°Oh yes a child joke from a boy who pisses his pants in fear just because of a pool of water!¡± She gave a dark laugh as she looked down on him. Nathan quickly shot back. ¡°I know young ladies these days are bold but are you sure you should be dressing like that with all those sexual predators out there?¡± Nathan gave a fake worried look and the girl scowled.
¡°You are probably just a pervert, looking at me with those lecherous eyes, I bet you¡¯re a virgin too!¡± Nathan blinked a bit looking confused, using all his willpower to keep from getting angry and beat the brat at her game. ¡°I don¡¯t see the sexual appeal of a 10 year old¡¡± She blinked and literally growled at him, her aura building up more and more. This continued for several minutes, each insult nastier than the last as she suddenly snapped.
¡°Shut UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!¡± Her aura exploded out, seeming to warp the space they were in as she screamed at him. It was even more terrifying in black and white but he had to get the last word in. ¡°Oh? You are losing so you just throw a tantrum? That is just what I¡¯d expect from a little girl.¡± The aura, which had a milky white color before, suddenly turn deep black, totally extinguishing all other colors. ¡°I. AM. GOING. TO. END. YOU.¡±
Suddenly everything stopped, the black void was gone and everything was returned to the previous area. The little girl looked confused for a moment till a bright glow seemed to open and a breathtaking beauty appeared from nowhere. The young girl seemed to grow even whiter as the woman floated down, a gentle yet stone edge cutting smile on her face. Nathan could only stare in awe and slight fear as the goddess arrived.
She had to have been almost 6 feet, long shimmering hair that looked like silver to him. Her figure, her skin, her complexion, her clothes, everything about her was flawless. To Nathan this was as close to ¡®perfection¡¯ as an individual could be. He didn¡¯t even notice as his mouth hung open, the little girl totally forgotten. Her eyes were mesmerizing, her pupils were snake-like, horizontal slits that only gave her an exoctic look. Her irises though were impressive. They seemed to shimmer in every single shade of black and white imaginable to a mesmerizing effect.
The little girl looked terrified in the now totally quiet room. The new arrival seemed to float down and the little girl gawked and let out a weak whimper. Even her voice was perfect yet starling as if picking up a poison rose . It was soft,and direct with just the perfect range of femininity. ¡°What seems to be going on here?¡± Though it came out as a question Nathan could hear the rhetorical tone to it. It was obvious this new woman saw most, if not all, of what just happened.
The little girl seemed to shrink further and she looked like she was panicking, stuttering. ¡°N-n-nothing M-mother! I w-was j-just showing th-the mortal s-some cool magic!¡± Her voice cracked and squeaked with tension and Nathan forced himself to remain in poker face to keep from getting himself in trouble.
The woman gave a slight fake look of surprise mixed with scepticism with slightly widened eyes yet a raised eyebrow simultaneously while she looked between them. ¡°You mean your Admin Access spell ¡®Disaster Bright¡¯ that permanently deletes the account of whoever you use it on? The one that you aren¡¯t allowed to use unless I or your father give you permission to use?¡± The young girl started to shake a bit as the excuses continued.
¡°W-w-well he t-t-tried to at-t-ttack me I n-need to d-defend myself. H-e is j-just a f-filthy p-predator! I c-c-couldn¡¯t j-just let hi... ¡° The older goddess waved her hand and the young girl¡¯s mouth suddenly stopped even as she continued to try to speak. The Goddess looked to the young man. ¡°And your side of the story young man?¡± The goddess urged Nathan who bobbed once in the air. Nathan felt like he was blushing as he quickly apologized for the disturbance.
¡°I was just logging on to character creation and she started laughing when I was freaking out because of the pool. Then I was looking over the statues and she decided that I wasn¡¯t being interesting enough I guess. We got into an argument but she got mad first and lost and started to throw a tantrum.¡± The Goddess gave a deep sigh and turned to her daughter.
The little girl ran to her mother and started to hug her leg, her mouth finally returned to her. ¡°Don¡¯t believe him Mother! He is lying! He started it!¡± The Goddess lifted her daughter up, like a cat, raising her into the air. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance Eve, apologize to this young man for the trouble you¡¯ve caused him.¡± Eve gave a confused look, her tone wondering what her mother was talking about. ¡°For what? I didn¡¯t do anything wrong¡¡±
The temperature suddenly lowered drastically and the Goddess¡¯ eyes spoke for her instead of her face with the sudden glare taking on a dangerous aura. ¡°Eve.¡± Eve shivered and curled up a bit, actually looking like an animal that was being scolded. ¡°Y-yes Mother.¡± The Goddess gave a small sigh and lowered her towards Nathan¡¯s current form. The loli goddess stuck out her hand, pouting like a teenager. Nathan decided to be the bigger hand and reached out¡ with his lack of a body¡ and ¡®shook¡¯ her hand back. He honestly had no idea how the ghost body worked.
¡°Just you wait I¡¯ll put the your head on a spike and give you the worst curse if i ever get my hands around your neck .¡± Nathan blinked blankly and shrugged hearing the threats of someone who could not accept they had lost, nonchalantly he spoke and said . ¡°Yeah yeah, big words from a tiny goddess about to get spanked by her mother. Maybe you should start drinking your milk so you grow up a little baby hag.¡±
The tiny goddess froze and her face took on an indescribably angry look. ¡°What did¡ You son of a¡¡± Suddenly the girl¡¯s hand glowed and swarmed toward Nathan causing him to shrieke in agony as huge amounts of electricity, ice, fire, and all manner of other different types of pain assaulted his senses at once, causing his voice to quickly go hoarse. ¡°Ha! That is what you get for talking down to me like that mortal.¡±
Suddenly Eve¡¯s power stopped, leaving her looking confused as she tried to start it up again. Suddenly Eve started shivering and a quiet tapping and a dark fiery aura started to warp the space. Eve slowly turned as her mother¡¯s voice, devoid of any amusement, grace, or kindness slowly filled her ears,That is the last straw Eve. Look what you did to him, his pain limiter isn¡¯t even working properly , just look at what you did ?! Each syllable contained more anger than the last and her eyes started to fluctuate wildly from pure void black to absolute white. Eve¡¯s mother had an aura of absolute supremacy and the young woman quailed in terror.
The goddess waved a hand and a perfect black circle appeared out of nowhere. ¡°N-no! M-mom! I didn¡¯t know! Please not there! No!!!¡± The young girl was struggling fiercely in her mother¡¯s ironclad grip, trying to escape. Out of the void like snakes came chains the shown in rainbow colors that quickly lashed out and trapped the loli goddess, binding her. ¡°You¡¯ll sit in your chambers for six months . I¡¯ll be sealing your most administrative powers and Goddess powers for a year. You¡¯ll be on probation and I swear if I find out you personally interfere with his game I¡¯ll completely revoke all your powers and send you to the void where you will see a real punishment .¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
She continued to try to plead to her mother as she was dragged into the void. Nathan continued groaning in pain, his entire being hurt down to his core. It was like a deep and lasting flame that made his whole body thrum like a bruised nerve. Suddenly a refreshing and soothing glow covered him and the pain was quickly being pushed away with a sigh. ¡®I am truly sorry about my daughter young man. She typically isn¡¯t that spoiled¡ I guess being made a goddess has gone to her head.¡± She continued to heal Nathan till he began to float again.
He looked up at the Goddess and looked her over, his mind suddenly thinking several less than PG rated things. The Goddess huffed her cheeks out angrily, it was adorable as hell, and she pointed at Nathan. ¡°I can read your mind boy... ¡° Nathan suddenly let out a small curse and quickly restrained his thoughts towards the Milf Goddess. {Do not think of her as the Milf Goddess anymore¡} She glared at him and he quickly backed up.
¡°Alright let¡¯s get you into the game before you get into any more trouble.¡± Nathan gave a wry chuckle and followed her as she moved to the podium. Instantly a monochrome display of lights started up and she began to glow, her voice taking on an echoing and dignified sound. ¡°Welcome young soul. You are one of the many who have begun their journey into the new world, our world, known as Ethelide. Though your body did not make the journey I shall help you build a new one. There are an innumerable number of races but currently only 500 are available to you.¡±
Nathan trembled a bit, looking shocked at the number. ¡°500?! Is there even 500 races possible?¡± The goddess gave a kind smile and nodded. ¡°Yes, 500 current races there is no mistake.¡± Nathan was flabbergasted by the fact that 500 were already unlocked but there were an almost infinite number that hadn¡¯t been unlocked it might literally take decades to clear all the content in the game. ¡°H-how do you even sort through all that information?¡±
The goddess actually gave a small giggle and a perfect shrug. ¡°For a quantum sentience A.I. it isn¡¯t difficult in the slightest.¡± Nathan¡¯s ¡®eyes¡¯ went wide. ¡°C-could you possibly be one of the dual helix quantum processing A.I.¡± The goddess looked a bit surprised and nodded. ¡°What else do you know about us?¡± Nathan moved closer, looking at her like she was a true all knowing being . ¡°One of twenty five science fiction level A.I.s created in a project that is considered a MYTH on the level of Area 51. Codenamed Gaia and created by the also mythical Project CORTEX.¡±
¡°Well aren¡¯t you well informed, there is a small misunderstanding however. I am Gaia, the first of the twenty five, though in the game I go as Ma¡¯at. Goddess of Balance and the Stars. You could also consider me the mother or older sister of the other twenty four.¡± She smiled at Nathan¡¯s shell shocked expression. The whole reason Unicorp was such a huge company was rumored to be the twenty five AI that they created and the original was talking to him. He shivered as his respect for her and the company grew. ¡°It is an HONOR to meet you. I am really sorry for causing a scene like that.¡±
Gaia gave a small sigh and nodded. ¡°It is fine, at least you are treating us as living beings. Most of your kind think of us as programs and it is a little vexing. Of course for the truly rude ones I let them have a little extra training.¡± She gave a mischievous smile and a screen showed up showing thousands of people in differing levels of agony. ¡°I have had to give some rewards to the ones who can complete the training course but at least it is therapeutic.¡± Nathan shivered hoping he wouldn¡¯t be sent for the ¡®special¡¯ training.
He winced at a particularly gruesome image. ¡°Oh¡ I¡¯m not sure if that one will ever have kids if he gets hit that hard.¡± The goddess giggled at Nathan comment . ¡°I was training his balance. Now let¡¯s get onto more important matters. Are you sure you want to play the game with your headset in that condition? I really can¡¯t suggest you go through with it¡¡± Nathan gave a wry chuckle and a pained smiled. ¡°If I don¡¯t then it could be up to a year before I get to play and I¡¯m way to excited to wait.¡±
The goddess looked a little troubled but finally sighed. ¡°Fine¡ But I''ll have to keeping a little eye over you till it is fully repaired. You may be a hopeless and perverted troublemaker but I don¡¯t want any of you players to die.¡± Nathan gave a small nod and sighed. ¡°Alright, if that is the condition then I¡¯ll accept it.¡± She nodded and gave him a small glare. ¡°And if you ever call me the Milf Goddess again I¡¯ll make you wish you could not feel pain in certain spots ¡¡± Nathan squealed and covered his currently nonexistent manhood.
¡°Now, let¡¯s move on to character creation. As there is five hundred different races and it would take hours to go through them all describe your general playstyle or type of character and I¡¯ll narrow down your choices for you.¡± Nathan nodded and started to think. ¡°Ok well fantasy mainstreams: Humans, Dwarves, and Elves are out. Something neutral but with a slight bias toward magic, so no specialized races like ogres or elementals. Something with potential even if it starts off really weak would be nice and one that actually has to do with the lore of the world. I need a reason if I¡¯m going to pay attention to the backstory.¡±
¡°I typically wouldn¡¯t allow that last search modifier but this once I¡¯ll give you special consideration. That leaves you 20 races to look through.¡± Nathan nodded as a large amount of mirrors suddenly appeared behind the podium. ¡°So I¡¯ll sort through them from here?¡± The goddess nodded and Nathan moved closer. The mirrors were all Nathan, but as the race depicted in the mirror. Above the mirrors, engraved into the frames, were the names of the creatures he could choose. Looking closer he was able to make a description of the race appear.
Nathan frowned a bit and looked over at the Goddess curiously. ¡°Are there a lot of beastmen in this game?¡± She gave a small chuckle and shook her head. ¡°Those are all demi-humans and monsters. The beastmen are all off the Kemonomimi type.¡± Nathan stared for several seconds and nodded, turning back to the mirrors. He quickly dismissed the two insect races that he saw. A magic variant of the minotaur and dullahan, as well as the six different shaman variants of gnolls, ogres, trolls and other fantasy monsters.
He looked over the last half carefully, deep in thought. Slowly he dismissed a magic golem, a lich, a merman, a shade, and finally a strange toad based race. Nathan frowned and looked at the final five, bringing up their descriptions.
Race- Goblin:
A short-lived race known to be greedy and cruel, most goblins are found in the wilds and are barbaric, cannibalistic, and prone to irrational fits of anger. In civilised areas they are know to be more sly and cunning, often becoming thieves, loan sharks, and even the occasional lawyer. Due to their nimble and cunning minds they tend to have an advantage in understanding engineering and alchemy.
Race-Tiefling:
Opposed to the Aasimar, the tieflings are essentially the demon version of the race. The fact that both these races exist opposed to each other and their obvious characteristics gives credence to the theory of them being a lower form of devil. In most cases they cannot use demon summoning and there are not many known instances of a Tiefling, becoming a warlock.
race-Aasimar:
A race that is thought to be evolved from humans who accumulated large amounts of holy mana or good karma. A second theory is they are a devolved form of angels, just a step below the Valkyrie. They have a very strict and ordered society and a strong sense of justice, sometimes to the detriment of others. While fair they have a penchant to jump to conclusions, making them unreliable in spontaneous debates.
Race- Inpu:
A ritualist and militaristic tribe of canine therianthropes thought to be descended from an ancient God of Death. They take the form of jackals and worship the sun and moon as their preeminent deities. While usually militaristic they are a peaceful race and tend to be slight isolated from nearby tribes. They focus on magic, both ritual and natural, and cloth as the main support of their economy.
Race- Naga:
A race of half-snake, half-human hybrids. Typically found in warmer climates they have a slightly lazier nature but are deceptively fast. Most are found to be using spears or tridents as their favored weapons and magic is common among them. In the wild they tend to use seduction, stealth, and deception as their main weapons and different species of Naga have different poisons.
[
Nathan looked over each of them carefully, surprised at how realistic they looked. They even followed his movements, except for the Naga who was half snake. He quickly dismissed that one was it looked like it would be hard to get used to.
Aasmir and Tiefling were quickly dismissed as well since he wasn¡¯t chuuni enough to claim divine anything. The thought of being an incubus made him smirk thought. He banished the distracting thoughts and looked over the goblin next. It was an ugly looking green skinned humanoid with long pointed ears, rather gruesome looking saber like fangs, and angry red eyes.
It was a rather hideous visage and Nathan turned his attention to the last choice instead. It was a dark, chocolate brown fur short fur with slightly yellow tips. The figure also had black spots that almost blended in with the dark fur. Every breath and movement it made seemed to make the muscles flexing, making the skin ripple a bit. It looked really strong for a magic caster race.
It was definitely a model of a jackal-type beast man. Nathan smiled and the figure gave one back in returned as he looked at the mirror to identify it further.
race- Monster:Inpu:
.They worship sun and moon and are descendents of the God of Death Anubis. The preform complex rituals which involve a lot of dancing, giving them greater physical abilities than typical magic casters. All members of the race above the age of 14 are required to join the army as such their cities and towns are built to fortify the central fort or castle.While ironically constantly known for the nomadic tendency to explore the unknown and constantly move to different areas. The are ruled by the high priest, with the general of the army as the second in command. Their current enemy are the Setli tribe that worship a ravenous crocodile god.
Skill Name:Sacrificial.SolSkill Rank??
Skill Level??Skill Experience??
cost:1% health per second
Sacrifice yourself to the Sun God to increase your physical abilities up 75% in the brightest of sunlight in exchange for allowing your body to slowly burn away in the might of the sun
Skill Name:Tears of luneSkill Rank??
Skill Level??Skill Experience??
cost:30 mana per star
Sacrifice your power to the Moon Goddess to cast down a flurry of stars that receive strength depending on the light of the moon
¡°That is a good choice, .¡± The sudden voice caused Nathan to jump as he had forgotten she was their. He took a couple deep breaths and nodded. ¡°Yeah I¡¯m kind of liking it as well. and from the sounds of it i can probably only guess that this race is also not involved with your daughter in any way as im sure that she must play a role of some kind of ruler like yourself ¡±
The goddess nodded mysteriously and giggled and said "you''re pretty smart to be able to get that form only one sentence i said, but you are correct MR.... that''s later " confusing Nathan, before she continued on with her talk. ¡°I would suggest you steer clear of my daughter¡¯s domain. I don¡¯t know what she will try to due to you but it will probably be bad. I can punish her but I can¡¯t just take her out of the game.¡± She sounded concerned and apologetic to which Nathan gave a comforting grin.
¡°It is really no trouble, I¡¯ll avoid her as best I can, maybe I can find something that will make her anger go away.¡± Gaia nodded and moved in closer. ¡°She¡¯ll most likely try to convince one of her siblings to attack you, while healing you I put a protection from such curses on you but I can¡¯t really stop any backhanded blessings.¡± She looked a bit troubled by that and Nathan looked confused.
She just gave a small smile and she motioned toward the mirror. ¡°So to alter the appearance you just tell the mirror what you would like to change.¡± Nathan nodded and slowly spun once. ¡°Orange eyes, brighten the yellow tips a bit, make the brown a little darker, can you make the teeth less¡ carnivorous? And add more fringe along the spine.¡± He looked over the new changes and looked pleased with what he saw.
¡°Very good, just step through the mirror and move around till you are comfortable. I suggest simple stretches.¡± It was a cool sensation, like metal bleachers before the sun comes up. He quickly got goosebump and a sudden flash of dizziness and suddenly he was the character in the mirror. He looked himself over and moved the body in amazement.
The character had even come with gear; a leather breastplate, bracers, shin guards, and an armored skirt like piece of armor. He looked up at the Goddess who smiled on him. ¡°Alright then now all we need to do is give your new character a name. Who do you want to be?¡±
¡°Is Logan Walker taken?¡± The goddess gave a wry smile and nodded, looking apologetic. ¡°Um¡ I¡¯m assuming Weed is taken too?¡± She just giggled at him this time. ¡°I¡¯m afraid most people try at least once to inherit my father¡¯s name.¡± Nathan gave a knowing nod but quickly froze, looking up to her in confusion. ¡°Weed is your father? How does that work?¡±
¡°Focus, choose a name young man.¡± He continued to try names one after another, slowly getting more and more frustrated. Finally he was forced to throw his hands up in defeat. ¡°Can you just choose a good name for me? We¡¯ll be here forever if I have to keep making guesses.¡±
The goddess looked a bit surprised at the request and gave a slow nod. ¡°Hmmm that is an interesting idea. Alright, first tell me about yourself.¡±
Nathan started to think about it and began to just ramble. ¡°I think I¡¯m pretty average. I go to college. I enjoy fun things. I can be serious when I need to. I enjoy partying and hanging out with my friends. I have a bit of a temper and I don¡¯t like being pushed around. I think I¡¯m pretty tolerant of most other things though.¡±
¡°I try not to let other people¡¯s opinions choose what I do or who I am. I just want to be myself. I believe I have goals, and I chase after them. I want to protect what is mine and what¡¯s important to me. I don¡¯t like rushing in blindly to things but I will if I have to. I¡¯m not as patient as I¡¯d like to be. I don¡¯t mind asking for help and I 100% know that I don¡¯t know everything, or even most things. Like I said, I think I¡¯m pretty average.¡±
The goddess was giving a mysterious smile as she listened to him talk about himself. She started to glow and her voice rose theatrically. ¡°Very well young man. I shall name you something unique.¡± The anticipation built up as she stalled and the glow continued to become stronger. ¡°You shall be known as Kimba Adisa. You aspire to much but your open personality will cause you just as much grief as it does joy. You have many layers hidden and some of them even you don¡¯t know. I greet you, as the Goddess Ma¡¯at and welcome you to this world. May you find what you are looking for, your body will determine by the characteristics of the one you have left behind, may the world change with your very first step on your long journey ahead .¡± with a snap of her fingers a map with many blackout parts covered with red dots appeared ¡°ok young one select where you shall start your journey.¡±nathan could only nod and decided with no prior information to select randomly as he pointed to the edges of the known map near a sandy area . ¡° ill try the location Elephantine.¡± the goddess with a nod and a simple wave said ¡°may your journey be great young one ¡° with that nathen body beginning to vanish not before saying ¡°thanks for the help and all¡± leaving only the goddess in the room as his body once again began to tear into light and float into the sky. Leaving only the goddess in the void contemplation the new situation ¡° with how things have gone already with her and where he went wouldn''t be surprised if he is able to , sigh¡... can already see this is going to accelerate things, well might as well see how they are all doing at least ¡± with that she waved her hand and appeared to fade from the world.
CH-3 First Steps
Before Nathen even realized it he was somewhere else entirely looking around he saw himself on a giant platform made out of a mix of what he could make was a shining black obsidian with rings of shaded glass in several colores mixing into numerous shapes he could barely comprehend forming many rounded shapes on the platform in between the many flashes of light which brought about more players now causing the platform to be more than a little crowded and quickly becoming swamped with many people busy and bustling about before he realized it he was getting bumped off the platform out of the way hearing a voice saying
¡°... ready noob!¡±
¡°How about you watch where you¡¯re going?!¡± Nathan grunted back before turning around irritated at people trying to push his buttons today already.
He turned around and was met with a hairy chest he strained his neck upward to look at the person
He looked up to who had just shoved him and he could only be described as a sliver whitish skin man with an entire body covered in scars on one side of his face and a leather straps around various parts of his body with an array of hammers and clubs around his waist and stared the man in the eye not backing own from any challenge
¡°Watch it before you get squashed runt.¡± The man said while his arms were crossed with his biceps flexing
¡°You wanna bet?¡± Nathan began to ball his fist. ¡°first rule of a fight: If you''re going to hit make sure you hit first.¡±
Some began to stare as they could all tell something was going to soon happen but before it could
Nathen watched as one of the guy¡¯s knees was kicked out from under him causing him to fall to the kneeling position and from behind a small lady around the age of ten began to pull at his ear almost trying to rip it off.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
¡°You stupid dummy!¡± In a huff, as she continued to tug at his ear. The big man was now sweating bullets and became a shell of his former self.
¡°What Do you mean by that misty?¡±
¡°First of with that stunt, you pulled in the Sand Dungeon and now this? You know full well one finger on him and you would be killed in less than a minute and then drop an even bigger load on the group¡±
¡°That isn''t my fault how was I supposed to know that it was gonna blow its own home if I went for the loot first ?¡°
¡°Cause we told you! But you thought you knew better because you were one level higher than everyone else. now think about what you¡¯ve done and be quiet for a second.¡±
Nathan was in a daze as if he was forgotten in this romantic comedy Actually stated to have a look at what was around him
He saw himself in the middle of a desert area with a small amount of plants around every so often in small patches of soil spread out far and few inbetween the massive amount of the large plains of sand covering the ground as so much went on around him people of all shapes and sizes and races were shopping chatting and living all around him. Before he could examine it all he felt a tap on his side and saw how the roles were filled as the girl was only 5 foot 3 had to now look up to him he backed up and talk to her before he could say anything though she decided to take the lead in the conversation
¡°Sorry for my friend just coming from a bad xp-burn and you know Grostrans always the temper. I¡¯m Misty by the way what¡¯s your name?¡±
She said with a smile and stuck out her hand which Nathen shook with some caution.
¡°Nice to meet you. Names Na¡. Kimba Adisa Nathen was slightly shocked at what he said while Misty could only smile
¡°Don¡¯t worry that happens think the GM did it on purpose and to help you be your character if you say your real name slow enough you can get by.¡±
Nathan calmed down a little.
¡°Thanks for the tip and sorry for all that earlier.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it just happy old lumpy head didn¡¯t kill you it would really set us back if he got red marked now.¡±
Kimba was slightly confused at what she was saying but took it as the common talk in the game.
Misty caught that second of confusion in his eyes and nodded as she pulled out a book from her back pocket somehow.
¡°Here as a gift take this start up guide haven¡¯t needed it in a long time and might do you some good.¡±
She looked back over here shoulder and looked towards the now waiting group of people almost identical to the first man now currently watching them.
¡°Great you guys all squared now? Let¡¯s go get our xp back ok guys!¡±
They all nodded and began to move out. Misty looked to Kimba and said,
¡°Good luck on the game hope to see you again Kimba.¡±
¡°Same here¡¡±
And they faded into a storming sand cloud as Kimba began to read the start-up guide
CH4 - Otherworldly Business Meeting
this was a story of mine that I have let sit as I lost my laptop and most of my passwords
called the NEW age
want to be a better writer
got to get a CH released every two weeks see what goes from there
if you love crafting, VR games, a player with unique class forcing an odd way of playing, original royal road themed
and a crazy/impractical MC
then you found the story
check back in 2 weeks for the new/ revised chapters coming out
see you soon
__________________________________________________________________________________________
While the world moved on and turned in its never-ending unseen form the rest of the world in an office in the middle of a bustling city was frantic with non-being the wiser
Sir, sir, we have a problem we are seeing a 17 percent rise in the fourth region processor and it not decreasing
I''m having a problem over here; the admin password code generator is acting up and them doesn¡¯t seem to be a way to revert it
Emergency sir I am seeing the restricted spell being active with none of the prerequisites being filled and being brute-forced into activating and deactivating constantly..
All over the lab/office, people were running around like headless chickens trying to figure out what was happening in their prize game the leading developer for the system was watching the cause and eventually decided to intervene in the trash fire problem at hand.
You, yeah you check the last twenty generated coded and find me any similarities between the outputs ill handle it from them
You in the corner find me the time stamp for the first attempt at the spell formation
Next, I¡¯m gonna need the geotag of the spell and the closest player geotag to find out what happened
Someone better has that done by the time I sit down
Roger,
Ok,
You got it sir,
In a matter of moments, he was putting out error by error line of code like it was magic each time he gained a new piece he had a picture of what happened getting clearer and clearer with a bigger frown growing
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
¡°Finally done only took 2 hours¡± after picking himself out of his set every member in the office looked at him in shock and reverence he went through thousands of lines of code in a matter of minutes without batting an eye
¡°Ok break time over people back to your stations and I need a report of this and sent upwards by close of business today¡±
¡°Now I¡¯m gonna be in my office and if you need me to don¡¯t¡±
With that, the doors behind him were shut and he began to hit a button and several projectors started to illuminate his room
Hey Gaia, come out here
With a flash of white, a female figure was formed in a half ghost-like state with a voice projecting from all ends of the room while the ghost-like figure held itself in the air like it was the most natural thing
What may I do for you mortal?
Cut all that out we need to talk NOW
After the raised voice all the theatrics stopped and Gaia goddess cloth morphed into a moderate female business attire while still keeping all her charm.
Here i am
¡°Got to say been a while since I been here¡± took a sec to shift what can I do for you Mars
care to explain to me what the hell happened in their today
Gaia closed her eyes and sighed looked at mars with a knowing look of what was about to happen
I know it may look out of hand but I handled it won¡¯t be happening again
how is any of what happened in their handled
first off your little one psycho completely changed the start-up sequence for the player
Then flexed her big meat hands-on admin codes and restricted spells that she has no business handling
And for the glorious kicker of her basically trying to murder a player BECAUSE HE WAS ALLOWED TO START PLAYING WITHOUT A DAM Pain limiter
With each word, mars have continued to get more and more enraged
Yes I am aware of what she did that is why I put her in a closed space
Mars was about to speak up before being cut off with a raised hand
Yes I am aware she will be able to influence small things but I have made arrangements for that as taking her out of the game right now would cause several plot holes and missing pieces in several quests and major storyline that are currently in progress I have turned off most off her access and influence in the world and followers
Mars: but...
Yes while the player was temporarily harmed it is in the waiver they all almost religiously never read pulling out a document from almost thin air with the term underlined
And yes his faulty gear was able to play due to it being one of the first modules that were allowed before a pain limit was maximum was set and basically he has set is game mode higher than most would be comfortable playing while receiving some benefits for all of these things
Mars: but¡
And while it is not truly acceptable for players to receive ¡°training ¡° before a game but it has happened before due to some ¡°conversations ¡° if I remember
Soon a highlight/blooper of players taking improbable trials while still creating class while in the background a figure dressed as mars in armor could be seen
Mars: let out a quick smirk with a deflated sigh
Yeah, lot of people thought we were just npc back in the starting days till they got wrecked
He defeatedly throw his hands up
Fine you win but make sure something like this does not happen again she has crossed several lines and created mass damage that I have just fixed this will be brought up at the next possible meeting and I will be sure to plug up holes so little miss killer barbie won''t be putting her hand in the cookie jar again
while I understand and will make sure that a situation will they are all still placed under my jurisdiction and not yours remember we were told not to step on each other toes good day mars
With that, she turned her back and left
Mars: I¡¯m not done¡.
With that, she disappeared into a puff of smoke
Mars fine whatever¡¡
He sat in his chair and just simmered thinking on how a complex bot was giving so much freedom in the company and how he actually could not do anything to her or her bratty kids messing up the game
Thinking of what he could do quietly in his room making plans and scheming