Chapter 2

[Welcome to Last Shelter Online: Closed Beta Test Version]

[7 day(s) remaining]

“CBT, huh? What luck!”

Hiro found himself in a dark room where light from the ceiling was shining on his naked body. Meanwhile, in front of him appeared a head-up display that showed a miniature image of his body as well as a data list about the types of basic job classes that could be selected.

[Your ‘real’ appearance has been synchronized with your in-game avatar]

[Would you like to modify your avatar’s appearance?]

“No.”

[Please choose the basic job class of your character]

[Note: There are four levels of job classes in this game that can be unlocked later with certain requirements: Basic, Advanced, Expert, and Veteran.]

[The description of advanced, expert, and veteran job classes will be updated when the world level reached Level 30, Level 100, and Level 200.]

[We apologize for the incovenience]

Hiro began checking the description of the basic job classes one at a time by simply moving his eyes towards the respective square column in the HUD and staring at them for 0.5 seconds to trigger a mini screen containing the description of each job class to appear.

After carefully reading each one, he quickly knew which job class best suited his preferred playstyle.

[(Barbarian) (Rogue) (Ranger) (Mage) (Knight) (Cleric)]

[Barbarian, a melee DPS with powerful abilities for close-ranged duels.]

[You are choosing Barbarian as your basic job class.]

[You will not be able to change your job class later. Proceed anyway?]

“Yes.”

Immediately after, a new screen appeared in place of the previous screen. The second screen showed an artificial human heart so detailed its blood vessels could be vividly seen. The heartbeat looked unbelievably genuine, and even the heart rate was recorded at the bottom part of the screen.

110 BPM, it stated.

It was only after a few moments that Hiro realized it was his heartbeat that was recorded. When he felt his heart rate increase due to tension, the BPM shown on the screen also changed.

130 BPM.

The HUD feature embedded in the player’s eyeballs and connected to his brain is a system that projects information onto a usually transparent surface that sits directly in a player’s line of vision. The control of the head-up display, or HUD, is completely dependent on the player and the in-game system.

Hiro really liked this HUD feature. Even though he had found it in other VRMMORPGs before, the HUD feature in LSO had a smoother appearance and didn’t interfere with his view.

He then stared at the beating artificial heart for 0.5 seconds before a notification popped up along with five familiar images.

The head of a wolf, [Beast]; the silhouette of a dragon, [Dragon]; a human-like figure with pointed ears, [Elf]; a short-legged figure, [Dwarf]; and a winged humanoid being, [Demon].

[Please choose the core of your bloodline]

[Note: The core of your bloodline indicates your half-blood race and will affect your physical appearance to an extent.]

[Each bloodline has its special strengths and weaknesses.]

[(Beast) (Dragon) (Elf) (Dwarf) (Demon)]

Hiro tried the available races one by one. On the HUD, he could see his profile changing in correspondence with the option he chose. Choosing [Beast] made him have furry ears that stood up. Choosing [Dragon] made the skin under his eyes scaly like a reptile. The [Elf] option made his ears slightly elongated and pointy, the [Dwarf] option made him lose about forty percent of his height, and the [Demon] option turned his eyes blood red.

Hm?

He could not find any information about the special strengths and weaknesses the system mentioned.

[Information regarding strengths and weaknesses is currently unavailable in this version.]

[You are free to choose one of the cores and change it later.]

[We apologize for the incovenience]

After contemplating for a brief moment, Hiro decided to choose the [Demon] option. Since no information about the strengths and weaknesses of each race was available, he decided to pick the option with the least conspicuous appearance change

He could change it later anyway.

[Demon, possessed by evil spirits. Proceed?]

“Yes.”

[…]

[You will be teleported to Story Mode.]

The spotlight suddenly went out. Now, Hiro could see nothing but pitch-black darkness.

When the beam of light returned, Hiro’s vision blurred for a few seconds before finally finding its focus again.

[…]

[Story Mode is currently unavailable in this version]

[We truly apologize for the incovenience]

Immediately after, an unpleasant sensation overwhelmed him. It felt as if his body was suddenly being pulled hard from behind and stuffed into a narrow pipe. Not only was it painful, but it also made him extremely nauseous. He couldn’t even breathe due to the suffocation. However, after just a second passed, Hiro found himself standing inside a large circular hall.

The walls of the large hall appeared to be made of solid, patterned cream marble, while the floor consisted of black and white tiles, making it look like a giant chessboard at a glance.

He was not alone. When he looked around, Hiro found several people in the hall.

Ding!

[You received Two-Handed Wooden Sword (Level 1) Tier D.]

[You received a new costume, ‘Half-Blood Student Uniform’.]

[You received a new title, ‘First-Year Student’.]

[Auto-Equip System (20s remaining)]

Hiro felt a slightly ticklish sensation as his body suddenly emitted bright light.

Just a second after, Hiro found that he was wearing a set of school uniforms consisting of a white shirt on the inside and a black blazer on the outside as well as a pair of black trousers. The entire outfit looked very neat, and it made him feel as if he was actually getting ready to go to school.

But all of a sudden, something heavy appeared on Hiro’s back. It was so abrupt that it caused him to stumble backwards, almost tripping over.

A large sword with a broad silver blade and a brown wooden hilt had appeared on Hiro’s back, strapped tightly to his body. Hiro, whose curiosity was piqued, immediately drew the sword from behind his back and studied its details carefully.

[Two-Handed Wooden Sword (Level 1) – Tier D.]

[Damage 68; Accuracy 20; Aspd 10]

‘Hmmm… It’s not bad for a beginner’s sword. At least the visual details are much more realistic than the last game I played.’

After finishing his inspection, Hiro immediately looked for the place’s exit. Some of the players around him were conversing with each other, but he was not interested in doing what he believed to be a waste of time. His eyes moved through the large room until he found a large dark brown wooden gate 5 meters tall. The gate had an exquisite carving in the shape of a lion’s head complete with a beautiful mane, all unbelievably detailed.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Hiro walked past the door. However, before he could go further, a robot the size of a palm flew toward him and stopped right in front of his face, blocking his view.

The robot was shaped like a fairy but completely made of metal. On its chest was the letter ‘A’.

“Hi, […]!”

Ding!

[Let the Asdroid know your name]

Hiro opted to use the name he always used when playing games.

“NightFall.”

“Hi, NightFall! Welcome to Last Shelter Online! I’m Nyx the Asdroid, and I’ll teach you how to see your progressive status.” The robot fluently spoke. Its voice was akin to a little girl’s, but it had a very faint hint of mechanicalness.

“You can call the system using the keyword [System Call].”

[System Call]

A screen appeared on Hiro’s HUD. On it, several pieces of information were neatly ordered complete with numbers on the right side and a close-up profile photo of Hiro with a flat expression was displayed on the left.

Hiro didn’t know when the photo was taken by the system, but he didn’t think much of it and immediately observed the details of his progressive status.

[NightFall] [Barbarian] [First-Year Student]

Base Level 1 (0/50) [World Level Cap 20]

Job Class Level 1 (0/50) [Level up to 35 to unlock advance job classes]

Health 372/372

AP 58/58

Energy 100/100

Fame 100

BR 500

Basic Stats (Points 3)

STR 18

AGI 15

INT 13

VIT 22

DEX 15

LUCK 10

Hiro frowned, surprised and somewhat confused. Unlike the games he had played before, his basic stat numbers seemed to vary strangely.

The basic stats for level 1 players shouldn’t be that high, and the ratio shouldn’t be that random.

“What happened to my basic stats?”

Nyx explained to Hiro what happened to his basic stats.

The LSO system downloads the physical and mental state of the player in the real world through a special new generation VR. The system then synchronizes it with the player’s in-game avatar and adds it to the provided basic stats of 10 points.

The reason why Hiro’s basic stats seemed to vary randomly was that Hiro’s physical and mental state in the real world had been converted into numbers according to the system calculation in the world of LSO.

Hiro was even more interested in listening when the Asdroid told him the basic stats bonus synchronization could be upgraded every time a player logged in. In other words, if the real-life physical and mental state of the players before logging in are at their prime, the basic stat bonus obtained would also be high, and vice versa.

“Interesting… the offline and online mode balancing system is quite fair.”

Thinking about it, from the basic stat bonus, his strength was probably on par with a level 10.

“Looks like I’m the strongest level 1 player here, kekeke.” At the thought of his artificial superiority in imagination, Hiro could not contain his chuckle. However, his expression froze when his eyes fell on the lowermost stat.

“Shit, what the hell is that 10-point luck? Do I really not have the slightest bit of luck in the real world?”

‘And three points of intelligence!? The top three universities in Japan are fighting over me!’

Hiro was instead busy cursing the system which he thought was a bit far-fetched for certain statuses. Alas, his complaints fell on deaf ears.

“When you’re done, you can simply say [All Set].”

“You’ll be rewarded with three stat points every time you level up, and you can distribute those points to any stat you want using your mind. The system will synchronize it to your progressive status.”

“Please note that the system in LSO has no limitations. Job classes will only give you certain skills that can’t be found in other job classes, and weapons and equipment are not bound to job classes. You are free to design your avatar and explore the way to become the strongest player!”

Ding!

[Nyx’s time is up, the Asdroid must return to its home.]

Poof!

The fairy-shaped robot suddenly disappeared from Hiro’s sight. At the same time, his vision suddenly blurred. He only had time to look at the vast schoolyard-like ground in front of him.

Nobody else was left.

Ding!

[You will be teleported to Beginner Town.]