“The set-up is all done, mate. Hope you have a good time with Ascension, you must have some incredible luck to get on the early access list!”

Waving good-bye as he left, the Apex employee left without much conversation as he realized James’ mono-word replies and anxious eyes wandering towards the newly-installed capsule.

‘Can’t blame the dude, if not for the stupid company policy, I would love to get my hands on an early access set-up too… Those managers are such bloody tossers.’

Realizing the man was finally gone; James rushed over to insert himself into the capsule while making sure to follow all the safety precautions, having been reading the instructions manual for more information while the man was setting things up.

‘Time to get things started, there’s no time to waste!’

Closing his eyes as he settled into the capsule and flicked the start button, he listened to the hissing of the hydraulics as the lid slowly shut over him and soft cushioning enveloped his body…

Blinking his eyes open at the harsh glare of white light against his eyelids, James marveled at the almost-instantaneous transition.

‘Damn, that was smooth. Well this must be the character creation room…’

“Welcome to Ascension.”

Startled by a feminine voice coming from behind him, James jumped backwards and settled into a fighting crouch facing the unexpected voice.

“Please be at ease, I’m Sapphire. I am here to assist you through the character creation process.”

Staring at the beautiful woman in front of him, James tilted his head questioningly pondering the woman’s utter lack of reaction to his sudden movements before narrowing his eyes in realization.

“You… you are an AI, aren’t you?”

“Indeed, I am here to assist you through the character creation process and answer your queries.” The revealed AI answered with a bright smile completely belying the fact she is a digital existence with the happy emotions shown through her voice and facial expression.

“Excellent. Shall we proceed then? I’m assuming your first questions will be regarding my race selection since gender is precluded from change according to the manual.”

“Indeed, there are currently eight races and their corresponding sub-races unlocked for your selection. They are humans, elves, dwarves, beastmen, halflings, orcs, demons and undead.”

“You are supposed to answer my questions right? In that case, give me a quick breakdown of the statistical differences between the races and if there are any racial bonuses or skills.”

‘Hopefully I can get some info and create some Pun-pun level cheese with the racials…’

“The exact differences and numerical data is classed as administrator privilege only, I am however able to tell you about them. Humans are faster learners with the ability to master any skill or class but have no other bonuses or penalties. Elves are inclined towards magic and archery but are known to be weaker in close combat, it is also said they have a closer connection to nature. Dwarves are well-known for their advanced crafting skills and fortitude, they are said to …”

Patiently waiting out the explanation which seemed to only cover what is traditionally associated with the fantasy races, James decided some further probing was necessary given that the AI obviously holds data but is locked from sharing it.

“… so the undead are known to be susceptible to holy magic but excellent with dark magic.”

*DING*

Codex: Basics of Major Races of *****

You have heard about the basics of all eight major races in *****, may this knowledge help you in future endeavours.

(Click here to revisit the information)

+2 to Intelligence

+1 to Wisdom

‘Holy crap, I get stat bonuses simply by learning stuff? I better milk the AI for all her knowledge, most other players won’t bother with listening to these basics and won’t realize the gold-mine of stat boosts they are missing out on… Especially if I can winnow out hard-to-find information, since she is authorized to answer about the races…’

“Thank you very much Sapphire, it was very interesting to learn about the races, however could I trouble you for more details on each race? I would like to know more about where they dwell, what are their living habits, appearance, apparel, history, their king or queen or political system, what specialties they might have, their reproductive cycle, any cultural habits I should be aware of…”

*50 minutes later*

“… and so undead have hardly any culture to speak off, except revolving around some highly distinguished necromancers. They also hardly construct buildings but instead occupy ruined buildings or dungeons, with their major capital city being the Necropolis in Deadwind Duchy.”

As Sapphire finally wound down her long lecture which was interspersed with additional probing questions, James was thankfully for the fact that there was a record function in the codex as he definitely isn’t going to remember every single detail… maybe 70% if he was lucky.

*DING*

Codex: Major Races of ***** (Complete)

You have heard all about the eight major races in *****, from their geographical location to political system to their culture and even their eating habits. Knowing the major races as much as a seasoned traveler to all their lands, this should let you fit in almost anywhere you go… maybe.

(Click here to revisit the information)

+20 to Intelligence

+10 to Wisdom

‘Finally... That was boring as hell but well worth it! According to the level up details from play-testers, each level is 5 stat points, meaning I’m 6 levels ahead before my character is even created… Better get moving though, I wasted nearly an hour here already.’

“I would like to choose human please, and keep my appearance as it is.” Speaking out his decision, which he already made even before he entered the game due to the research he read about VR simulations mimicking the user’s body being the most effective due to minimal cognitive dissonance allowing for them to skip the process of getting used to the body, different reach and so on.

Nodding as she chirped a happy reply, “Of course, and your name?”

“Feng.” (Wind in chinese)

“Understood. Where would you like to be placed?”

‘Great, geographical location, that means I can grind some more answers and stat bonuses out of her!’ An evil grin spread over James' face as he rubbed his hands in anticipation.

“First of all, could you tell me more about the world and the different areas?”

“Well this world is called Athal and it is divided into four major continents and some minor ones. The continent where all new human players are starting on will be Frasilia and is largely dominated by – Error. Administrator Override.”

Surprised by the sudden announcement, James grimaced as he anticipated some bad news or even nerfing for exploiting the AI.

“You magnificent bugger, I was wondering what took a player so long in character creation. If not for the fact there are only five thousand early access users and you are amongst the first five hundred in the system, I would totally have missed out you exploiting the AI.”

An amused female voice sounded out from above, clearly an administrator of the system. James tensed and decided to try his luck at reducing any negative backlash.

“Well, there wasn’t anything mentioned in the rules about this. I’m not hacking or anything so I assumed it is fine.”

“Hahahaha! Well you are right, there isn’t anything against the rules. In fact, if anything we encourage you players to explore as much of the system as you can, after all that’s the only way we can fix things up better. So you know what for your clever decision-making, I’ll give you the BASIC geographical knowledge for free but all further questioning will be locked… And we’ll be keeping an eye on you. So keep amusing us!”

*DING*

Codex: Athal’s Geography (Basic)

You have learnt about the basics of Athal’s Geography, the Major Races Codex has been updated with the knowledge.

(Click here to revisit the information)

+2 to Intelligence

+1 to Wisdom

“Also, to keep you from unbalancing things too much… Bye!”

The female administrator's voice rang out with obvious amusement startling James with the abruptness... As Sapphire’s frozen countenance suddenly came to life again as she spoke and waved cheerfully.

“Administrator override noted. Random location has been chosen for Feng. We hope you enjoy yourself in Ascension!”

‘Wait, what? NO! My plans!’

“You can’t do th-“

A swirling portal appeared beneath James or rather Feng’s feet and rapidly sucked him in as he protested the unfair call of the administrator… Completely missing the one last notification which popped up as he fell through.

*DING*

Due to your clever decisions and a series of (un)fortunate of events, you have earned the attention of the Administrators. Please continue to amuse them!

+1 Wisdom

+3 Luck