Chapter 2 Meeting A Goddess

10,000 Years after a 'Certain Event.' ??

AD 3100

Earth V.

Aidos Online was the leading Full Dive VRMMORPG in the world, with hundreds of millions of players worldwide.

Its popularity resulted in many becoming addicted to the game.

As the number addicts increased, a law was passed to regulate the distribution of online games. Then, in accordance with the regulation, Aidos Online limited the daily playing time to ten hours.

This resulted in many of the top rankers who relied on their abnormally long playtime to lose their status as rankers and new ones to rise.

However, Evan, the number 1 ranker in the game, retained his position.

This was testament to his skill as a ranker. Ever since he became the number 1, he had not dropped from that position even when he didn't play for months due to his parents seizing his games.

Even when he reset his account multiple times, he always came back to the top quickly.

His achievements were just that good, he had won various e-sports tournaments for the game too, gaining the moniker of "Genius Gamer".

Even outside the game, he could still hold his own against real geniuses in some aspects.

At the very least, if he actually decided to put any effort into his studies, he would definitely be among the top 25 in his school grade's class of 100.

Besides that, he was the same as any random teenage kid you could find out there, just with a slight addiction to strawberries.

Evan's parents were also above-average citizens, with his mother being a criminal lawyer who seemed to like her job a bit too much, and his father being a businessman who had a strange addiction to 'sword sports'.

He often dragged Evan along to various dojos and fencing piste arenas, forcing the poor teenager to learn weapon arts with him under the guise of 'Father-son bonding'.

He even went as far as to send him to a high school that had compulsory Kendo lessons.

Despite this, all the sixteen-year-old wanted to do was play games as much as his dad played with swords.

His favourite was currently Aidos Online.

It was a VRMMORPG that had record-breaking sales in just a few months after its release.

The game's main storyline was set in a world called Aidos that was plagued with a demon invasion, it was up to the protagonist and the remaining six of the seven heroes to go on to save the world.

Each of the seven heroes had unique abilities and the player was allowed to choose any of them.

One of the most appealing aspects of the game was the expansive character customization. There were hundreds of different character customizations in total.

The ability to freely combine those options allowed for an infinite variety of avatars. This further enabled your ability to foster your love for your own character.

The level limit for the characters was level 1000, and currently, there were rumours that the developers were considering implementing a new level above that.

Today, after nearly 6 months of playtime without resetting his account like he always did, Evan had finally completed all the possible side quests and all quests in the main storyline, earning the title of the first player to complete the game worldwide.

Right before he logged out, he received a message from the developers stating that he was welcome to test out their new updates as a beta tester.

Seeing as he had enjoyed the game over the past 6 months he did not reset his account, he decided to accept the invitation.

The moment he did, he lost consciousness.

◇　◇　◇

Evan woke up in an entirely white room, completely confused about how he got there.

"Hmm? Ahh, you're finally awake. Thankfully I didn't have to forcefully wake you up."

He heard an unknown voice and turned around to see a black-haired woman wearing a white suit sitting on a chair gesturing for him to sit down. It was then he realized there was also a chair in front of him, sitting down he asked warily,

"Who are you and where is this?

If you abducted me, I can assure you that you definitely abducted the wrong person."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's just me telling you I'm not worth abducting."

The woman laughed lightly at Evan's quick reply. She then picked a glass of water from the table beside him that had appeared at some point Evan was not looking.

"When did that get there?"

"Just now."

The woman replied and offered Evan a glass, continuing.

"Drink, I guarantee it's not poisoned.

At the very least, I won't go through all the stress of getting you here just to poison you."

"Good point."

Evan accepted the glass of water and stared at it skeptically before downing it in one go. After this, he dropped the glass before asking.

"Once again, who are you and where is this?"

"Ah, I haven't told you that now, have I?"

The woman cleared her throat lightly before answering.

"I'm what you'd consider a god."

As she said that, Evan looked at the glass in his hands and back at the woman before asking once again.

"Is this thing spiked to make me hear weird things, I could've sworn I just heard you call yourself a god."

"No, it is not, and yes I just did. I'm also not high on some sort of drug."

She swiftly discarded Evan's means of escape and even addressed the thought Evan had in his mind.

'Huh? How did she know I was going to ask that?'

"By reading your thoughts."

Seeing as the woman easily replied to the thoughts Evan had in his mind, he realized the woman actually possessed the ability to read his mind.

'So, she might actually be a god?'

"Not 'might'. I am an actual member of the god race. One that is far too busy to deal with your doubts right now so can I get back to explaining why you're here?"

The woman's voice was tinged with a bit of annoyance. At this point, Evan realized it was best to let her say what she wanted without interruption.

"Good. Now as I was saying, I am a god, one who's in charge of many planets and star systems. I also do not want the number of worlds under my rule, to change.

No increment or decrement.

However, one of these worlds is currently at war with another, which exists outside my control.

Unfortunately, the world I rule would most likely lose and eventually be destroyed. This would in turn reduce the number of worlds under my control by one, that I don't want.

So, I called you here to help me with defeating the invaders of this world."

"You don't really expect me to put my life on the line for random people I don't know nor care about, right?"

"Oh no, as far as the minimum required to repopulate it survives, I couldn't care less. Like I said, it's just one of many worlds under my rule."

As she said that, Evan looked at the woman and thought she really didn't care about that world at all. Naturally, his thoughts were read.

"It's not that I do not care, it's just that I have too many worlds to care about every single one.

We gods are not much different than you mortals, only more powerful, with more responsibilities, and more deserving of worship.

We have emotions, likes, and dislikes too. It's only natural that some of the worlds in my territory receive preferential treatment."

"Makes sense, so you said I was to help you defeat the invaders, how so?"

"Simple, with your consent I would incarnate you into this world in a suitable body, along with various benefits to aid you in your task.

As for a reward, we can talk about that when I'm done but I give you my word that I would fulfill your demands as far as it is within my ability."

As she spoke, golden chains burst out from the ground and latched onto her body, before dissipating a few seconds after.

This scene shocked Evan, as he very obviously never could have expected such a thing to happen. With a slightly shaking voice, he asked.

"W-What was that?"