《The Crash》 Chapter 0 - Prologue Life was normal, that is until everything changed. Once it changed there was nobody under the illusion that things would ever be the same again. It''s not that unusual a story, one minute you''re doing something and then the next you are suddenly doing something else. If anything it would be weird to think a person would only ever be doing the same thing repeatedly, but that''s beside the point. The year is 2152 AD, technology and society have made leaps and bounds into the unknown, bringing upon the world a time of unmatched prosperity. Of course with prosperity, people start looking for new forms of entertainment and relaxation. Back in the 21st-century, programmers around the world began to develop and market what could be reasonably called the first true virtual reality consoles. Not that it was a new idea even back then, people had always been dreaming of an escape from their everyday life, a chance to be someone different, someone important where their past and identity only mattered so far as to how many amazing feats they had achieved and had yet to achieve. The first research into virtual reality started back in the previous 20th century, with the early onset of computers that took up a whole room and helmets that had to be attached to the ceiling and computers by large heavy cabling and sturdy frames. Computers kept getting smaller and more powerful, technology opened up what was considered fantasy and turned it into reality. By the time of the early 21st century came about, it was becoming common to see families own not just a single computer, but one for each. Costs dropped, sizes shrunk, then they began to grow again, performance soared to the skies like fireworks on the 4th of July and by the time the 22nd century came about, personal computers had begun to contain processing power on par with early 21st century super-computers. Games that were once only able to layer a flat texture image onto a model were switched out for those which built worlds through volumetric rendering, screens were replaced by headsets, then glasses and then finally contact lenses. One could use their personal machines at any given time without offending a person they were conversing with, or having to worry about people watching what they were doing over their shoulder since there would be nothing to see regardless of how hard certain governmental agencies had tried. The value of AR Lenses in the business sector shot up nearly overnight. Businesspeople could fine-tune contracts and propositions without ever having to leave the room or schedule a second meeting. Architects could see a Live-4D rendering of their blueprints and project being assembled before even having to order the necessary materials for construction. Sales clerks could display holographic displays tailored to each individual''s tastes and only have to pull out the goods upon confirming a sale. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. People could keep up to date with the news of the world on any channel that existed, without having to be in a location furnished with a physical television or radio set. One could even pay travel agencies for a virtual tour to famous locations around the world without having to physically be there. But now I''m just rambling on and on. Catching up on the current day, the world started to crave more elaborate forms of entertainment, games were still not yet living up to their full potential and one individual knew this all too well. 2137 AD, A mysterious genius programmer known only by the name Minami, bought out and merged numerous upstart companies into what was to later become the world''s foremost authority on the study and application of Alternate and Artificial Reality Engines. Her origins, identity and aspirations are known only to a select few. How could this person seemingly come out of nowhere and take the world by storm, only to disappear into obscurity a mere 7 years later. It was almost as if they had never existed in the first place. During those 7 years, the company developed many products for all sectors of the market, but only 1 was to become their crowning achievement. The PRB or Pseudo-Reality Bridge was a supercomputer and networking system born from the genius and talents of the mysterious Minami and the world''s foremost experts in the fields of Quantum Mechanics. It''s capabilities put all the supercomputers before it to shame as if comparing a top-performance machine to a calculator. Running completely under its own power with no need for radioactive materials left the world stumped, some even speculated it was not actually a machine at all but a living organism. The use of this marvel of over-technology you might ask? unknown. Why? Now that''s an easier question to answer. The Crash is why. Before anyone had the time to question the purpose of such a device the structure of the world had been over-written. Everything up until the launch was fine, the problem however came the moment it was connected to the world grid and turned on. One moment everyone is watching the broadcast of the event live, the next all machines seemingly cease to function and the populace lay passed out cold on the ground. One would later wake up and see nothing but a world of darkness, fog and a single message suspended in mid-air. Above a mirror holding no reflection but the clothes on their back, as if they weren''t there at all read a simple yet terrifying message.
Welcome Your World has been Connected.
Introduction to the System The System
Welcome Your World has been Connected
Due to stability issues with the Connection, there will be a delay until the Tutorial begins. Until the Tutorial is ready we will be taking this opportunity to introduce:
    • General Information about the System
    • Avatar Creation
    • Statistics and Inherent Skills and their Factors
    • Role of the Tutorial
  • Ranking System
General System Information
The system is a sentient life-form with no single physical manifestation. It came into existence on the final days of the first sentient beings in existence, The Initium. Drawing upon the problems and troubles that plagued the Initium, the system''s purpose is to function as a bridge between the worlds, connecting together those who have achieved a certain level of higher intelligence, whether spiritual, scientific or magical in origin. Often is the case that individuals with special qualities are born into forms or circumstances that hinder or halt the individuals progress in developing these qualities. The system takes these individuals and transplants them into forms that can help them develop and control their innate qualities and deposits them in the best environment for this task. The opinion of said individual is irrelevant and the location chosen holds no guarantee of safety. Often is the case that an individual unable to draw upon their qualities dies a premature death. The system actively maintains a mental link with all individuals providing access to universal language decryption removing restrictions faced due to incompatible languages.
Avatar Creation
Due to various issues that occurred in past attempts at making a connection with your world, the system has deemed your world unfit for the freedom to choose your own appearance. This is in part due to many members of your race''s inability to accurately determine their own strengths and weaknesses instead acting out of vanity. The system will perform a complete, invasive scan of each individual to determine the optimum settings. Be warned that the chosen avatar is to become your new form and becomes permanent upon completion of the tutorial. There is a 99.9% chance for your birth form and avatar form to remain mostly unchanged. The avatar created from the scan will be free of any damages incurred in ones life that is not related to genetics, diseases and paralysis will not be transferred ensuring the avatar performs at 100% of the intended form.
Statistics and Skills
Statistics represent your physical, spiritual and mental condition. These can be viewed and accessed at any time through mental prompts. Certain skills may even allow you to view some of the stats of a being in your field of view if you have encountered them before. Physical conditions are judged primarily on the capabilities of your body, whether in or out of combat. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.The specific stats for each individual depend on actions taken and any unique biological functions. Unlike what is predominantly believed, the statistics on an individual are neither absolute nor exclusive, each stat requires other stats to assist in determining their effective value. These stats do not represent the power or ability of an individual, they simply give a numerical value of ones current state to better assist their understanding of themselves. Two of the core stats are as follows:
    • Agility - Agility is the ability to change the body''s position efficiently and precisely, and requires the integration of a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, physical strength, and endurance.
  • Endurance - Endurance is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue.
Where stats are the core of a person, without skill an individual will be incapable of succeeding in their endeavors. This is where Skills come into play. A skill is the ability to carry out a task with predetermined results within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills utilize and refine an individuals statistical values into a form that can be used to overcome challenges and adversities. Some skills are inherent to particular races and as a result cannot be gained by those not of the same race. However it is possible for those of another race to utilize a different method to achieve similar results. Skills are as rigid or as flexible as the individual using them, even the most mundane of skills can result in spectacular or devastating results if used correctly according to the situation. It is noted that skills come in varying degrees of quality. Skills are thus ranked in multiple stages against other skills and possessing a skill of higher quality denotes a higher stage in progress and potential. The ranks for skills range from the mundane to the mythical and can raise or drop based on their degree of mastery and practical usage. The normal ranks are scaled from F to A in the order: F -> E -> D -> C -> B -> A -> S It is believed that the ranks to follow S Grade would be SS, SSS and X rank. However these ranks are believed unobtainable by mortals and one must first reach a state of divinity to progress to these ranks.
About the Tutorial
The Tutorial is a basic training program aimed at testing the functionality of an individuals Avatar before moving them to their determined location. It performs various checks to determine synchronization, flexibility, stability, resonance and higher cognitive function.
Ranking System
A key problem noted about the Initium, was that in regards to progress a lack of motivation leads to a lack in development. Noting this, the system has determined the best approach would be to provide individuals with a suitable motivation per their progress on a monthly basis. This is where the proverbial ''Carrot and Stick'' comes into play. All registered individuals are assigned a rank upon being entered into the system. Ranks are determined by their initial condition and potential and are altered based on their performance over the previous month, resulting in either an increase or decrease in rank. Raising the rank will provide better conditions and opportunities along with the occasional ''gift''. Dropping in rank will result in harsher conditions. Like skills, the rank system works on both a numerical and Grading System, where individuals are assigned ranks separately for progress and power accordingly, thus it is not uncommon to see individuals of B or A grade placing further down the ranks than someone at D Grade, this is because the individual at D Grade has displayed a greater rate of progress since the previous update.
Postponing Story unfortunately due to real world issues I haven''t been able to continue my story in the schedule I wanted, I have also faced multiple issues when trying to decide which direction to take the story. this makes me think I tried to start posting before I was ready. I''m not sure how long it will take me before I am ready to continue, or even if I will continue the plot outlined in the prologue, which on second thoughts seems like a bad idea. plus the synopsis and name were much too rushed, sound terrible and don''t really give a good intro to the story that was gonig to happen (some people kept talking to me as if i were writing a VRMMO despite having deliberately not ticked the VR tag) This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. originally I posted the roughly drafted prologue to see what people thought and any opinions thy may have had, but I wasn''t lucky in that regard. since I never managed to get into the story, my character chapter will be removed and may or may not see re-posting once I begin again. sorry for the inconvenience to those who were interested in how my prologue continued. Once I get the total plot outline and key events on paper and scripted I will start posting again with as much of a regular timing as possible. hopefully if that progresses well we could see some cover art and character art being commissioned :) till then friends :)