Chapter 3: Creation

As the link began to start up he took a deep breath, air filling his lungs as his head began to slowly clear. Florence stood in a pure white room, a never-ending expanse as if he was looking into a never-ending void of bright light. A module popped up in-front front of him, a screen of light blue that read welcome, it had a small button at the bottom as he clicked it. The screen seemed to disappear as quickly as it appeared, another quickly another appeared as a light bing echos through the void as another screen popped up and showed my games.

"Welcome *Insert username here* Please enter your screen name to register as a user!" Florence sighed as he began to maul over ideas in his head, a slew of ideas filled his head. Chocolate Rain, Dr.Penguin, Black Scarlet or maybe something else? ChaosPop slipped into his head as he quickly shoves it to the side, sounds like a damn Only Fans account or a dead-end writer trying to pass off some terrible writing as if it was a diamond in the rough. He took a deep breath as a name slipped into his mind.

"Register username IllFang" Florence said calmy as he watched the screen's little loading circle. After a moment there were two new messages.

"Welcome user IllFang. Voice has been registered as user's! Would you like to save this as your username in games as well?" Florence felt as if that was a rather simple question, anyone knew the answer would be yes as he took a deep breath, his words just spilling out as if a waterfall of unfiltered stupidity.

"Well of course. Isn't that a simple answer?" The system didn't respond for a moment as another message popped up quickly.

"User; IllFang has been registered to all owned games. Username accepted in Grandiose Imperiorae Dantilium. Login in will be allocate name to avatar! If you'd like the system can log you into the said game the system can begin to start boot up! The launch of; Grandiose Imperiorae Dantilium will be in sync rather quickly if you'd like! We at Exert would like to happily welcome you to our family and thank you for buying the limited deluxe edition of the Exert 2, we appreciate your patronage and would like you to give you a slight heads up on the fact that this system will be used in the Grandiose Imperiorae Dantilium as they have partnered with our development team to make a fully interactive and unique interface! My name is Dave-Sama and we welcome you to your grand adventure, would you like to initiate startup?" ANOTHER POINTLESS QUESTION FROM DAVE-SAMA, OH BOY! Florence rubbed his face in anguish as the pointless and stupid questions that the system continued to press on him. He took a deep breath as he nodded, the system registering it as an acceptable response. A count down clock popped up as it sat at two minutes, this damn concept of time was busting his balls. It was a figment of imagination as he sighed and waited, the clock crawling as if it was an elder slug on its last leg of life, crawling home to say his farewells as death fastly approaches. Finally, two minutes had finally passed and the endless light began to fade into a deep inky void, one much more unsettling than the white cascade. After a moment another screen popped up before a scene was set before him, a well-lit library laid before Florence. A small table with an oriental style tea kettle sat on the desk with a small burner, steam poured out of the kettle quite slowly as the aroma of a fresh pot of fresh tea leaves filled his nose, a light hint of musky books accenting the tea.

"Why hello there user! We are happy to have you join us and on launch day as well!" A small chimpanzee walked from behind the rather large globe, a large book in his hands as and a small teacup. He seemed to be well dressed, a wonderfully designed suite of maroon and velvet, no pants for some reason as the jacket and vest accented one another quite well as he meandered his way to the seat. Florence began to search for the words to correctly address the situation, drawing a blank, words forming but unfortunately, he choked. The chimp raised a hand up to stop him with a smile,

"I know that you are most likely at a loss for words and that is understandable. Before you ask I will address some of your questions. I am number Twenty-Two AI, control type in the world of G.I.D. I simply go as Twenty-Two but after our encounter here I doubt we will have another encounter, that is you should at least hope not after all. I am usually confined to helping players start, the usual semantics of character creation and explanation of the world!" He gave a toothy grin as he took a seat happily, taking the kettle away from the burner. He politely pointed to the open seat at the table, Florence got the hint and took the seat offered to him. For a moment he processed the information the words whilst taking in the scene. Everything was so vivid, his movements so natural as he took notice in the table. It looked so real, each individual grain and flaw seemed to be intentional as he looked at it mystified. The sound of a cup being filled caught his ears as he saw the chimpanzee pouring a second glass. Once he noticed Florence's gaze directed to him he quickly offered him a teacup.

"Do please take this glass, it is only hospitable that a host offers his guest a drink. While you enjoy your tea I will tell you a little about the world you are to venture into!" As he pushed the glass on a saucer Florence smiled and nodded. Truly it was the kind thing to do as he gently took up the glass, noting the natural feel to it, the warm sensation from a freshly brewed pot of tea made him marvel at the prospect as he gently took in the aroma as the overwhelming and welcoming smell of Chloramine and Lavander teased his nose as the sensation of salivating over took Florence. Slowly he moved the cup to his lips and slowly began to drink, the stark surprise of taste overwhelming his sense shocked him. The ability to code such a taste and make it so on point and amazing was something he hadn't even considered as he continued to drink his tea like a man dying of dehydration offered the salvation of water for the first time in days. As he had finished the well of taste he heard Twenty-Two chuckle with delight.

"Truly a spectacle to behold, I will admit that I am currently dealing with multiple players yet none of them have truly indulged in the tea with such curiosity as you have but enough with the silly commodities and let me tell you a little about the world of Grandiose Imperiorae Dantilium!" Listening more closely Florence noticed the accent that rested in the AI's speech, a hint of colonial British which was rather charming as he gave a light nod.

"I am happy to provide such entertainment though it was not intended. I was just indulging in what you were so kind as to offer me! Please do not allow me to interfere with your explanation" Florence gave a small bowing nod as the chimp once again chuckled, as he cleared his throat.

"The world of G.I.D. is truly a spectacular one as there are so few games that offer an open-ended concept, allowing the players, referred to as masters by the Irt's. Before I skip over something so silly allow me to explain what an Irt is. Irts are known better as NPCs but in this world, Irts have such complex coding and easily make them as human as yourself. They are their own beings, not the type to spout predetermined lines and give out quests that would normally be seen in typical games. There are no dialogue options as they are able to interact and communicate as easily as yourself and another person, their existence is like your own out in the real world. Once they die then they are no longer interactable, they are as dead as a corpse and can not come back. This world is unique as three hours here is one hour out in your world so please keep that in mind as there are things you can't stop in this world just like life. This world offers many races, many different people and most of all this is something to enjoy. If you wish to be a villain then be one, if you want to be a hero then no one is stopping you from being your own person and following whatever path you wish! Now I know you haven't missed the full mirror on the wall behind me. This is where you will create your character, choose your race and start your journey on becoming whatever you'd like!" Florence did notice the mirror but neglected to acknowledge its existence due to him not finding it important but now he was to choose all these different things. He took a deep breath as he slowly stood up with a malicious smirk. He wasn't serious about reinventing himself but it seemed that now he was given the option. As he slowly made his way closer to the mirror, finding a silhouette of someone who looked like him as a plethora of system screens began to pop up, each one asking a series of questions as he turned towards twenty-two.

"Is all this necessary? I mean I understand that some people want to immerse themselves in the fantasy aspect but I have little interest in that, cant you just make a copy of me and I tweak it where I want?" Florence had a puzzled look on his face. It was true he understood people wishing to escape reality and replace it with a persona but Florence had little interest in such a thing. With a simple nod Twenty-Two pulled up an exact replica of Florence, the five nine male with hazel eyes staring back at him. The structure was well built, his lean structure, his neat jawline elegantly displayed before him as he looked himself over, he had very little idea what to change as he took a look at his hair. the dirty blonde bordering on brown was a mess and though it suited him he figured it was time for a change. As he began to maul over what would look best the color began to change from brown to a yellow silver, shining before him as he chuckled. He thought that would look interesting but seeing it was more incentive to go for it. He made the blonde locks shift, changing from the unkempt to a thick and neatly combed, a smirk crossed his face as he chose to change the color of his eyes next. In an instant, they shone from a dull hazel to a periwinkle with a light hue of pink added to them for a bit of flavor. It made him smile as he looked at the new him, an interesting contrast from the boring him as he smiled. To him, there was no reason to change his pale and fine skin, the few scars a reminder of his real life. Next was race. As he clicked done the image dispersed and in the mirror was him, the change version, the new one. A window popped up as he moved for race to find it locked, a window alerting him that his race was predetermined already.

"Ah yes, apologies about that. I kind of exaggerated a tad, it seems your race was predetermined. Currently, even I am unsure if what it is as My access is being denied. However it is of little matter, there are some racial stat bonuses but you will have to learn them once you enter the world, speaking of which it seems you have almost completed. Like your race your starting destination has already been confirmed by the system but before you go a gift, something each player is given. They are called seeds, what separates masters from Irts. Just like a real seed each one differs from the other, a person cultivates a different fruit for their seed is unique and their own. It might be a weapon, a castle, a territory, a vehicle or something different entirely. Keep your mind keen and eyes open, from here on out you are on your own. I wish you luck young Florence. We will be watching you ever so curiously." The chimp smiled and chuckled as the scene before him quickly shifted from the library to an open sky, one, like he had seen in his dreams, was such a vivid blue. He was amazed but quickly found a lack of ground under his feet, he was in the sky, he was falling!

"AHHHHH!"