Character Creation

"Thanks!"

Ethan expresses his gratitude after receiving the box from the man wearing a company cap. This person was a delivery man from the ERIXIS company's branch store.

The delivery man scanned his apartment, seemingly wondering why the said customer had time to buy such expensive headgear even though his place was not that pleasant.

Ethan, unconcerned about the stare, continues to sign the paper as proof that he received the item.

After the transaction was done, he went to his bed and open the box with great joy. Revealed from it was a gray-black helmet with imposing line designs.

This helmet was the UTOPIA virtual headgear.

After a month of dieting and saving his wages, he finally had enough money to purchase the device.

However, the game had been going on for two weeks.

He wasn't concerned, though, because he wasn't running in a tight race this time.

Ethan was simply playing to divert his attention away from his boredom and have some fun!

After taking the gear out of the box, Ethan checked the time on his phone.

The time was quarter to five o'clock. Because of this, Ethan decided to eat dinner before starting the game.

Yes, those tasty cup noodles that were all lined up on his table.

Ethan switched his shift from full-day to half-day and put it in the morning just to play the game.

Since he spent all of his money on the headgear, he can't possibly quit his job—at least not until he gets enough credits from the game.

UTOPIA was made to be played while the player is sleeping. Ethan doesn't know what kind of programs the ERIXIS used to make it happen.

As far as he knows, past virtual reality games were the same. Hence, this kind of thing has been shown to be safe for human brains more than once.

The server for the game would be up and running for 12 hours. It wasn't very long but the time spent in the game was almost twice as long as in the real world.

If a player logs in at 6 p.m., they will wake up in the game world at 6 a.m. The game will then close at midnight which is 6 a.m. in the real world.

This translates to 12 hours in the real world is 18 hours inside the game!

This is a fantastic feature, especially for students who want to study a lot and people who want to completely immerse themselves in the fantasy world.

Meanwhile, after finishing his meal, Ethan went straight to his bed and excitedly put on the VR headgear.

When Ethan wear the gear, he heard a metallic click as the visor entered his vision.

[Scanning user's iris...complete]

[Creating NSS ID...complete]

Just as the words in the visor faded out, he noticed that everything in his sight had gone black.

A while after, the blackness was gradually replaced by a white light, and he found himself in a large, white-walled room.

Ethan cannot feel his entire body as if only his consciousness was present in the room. To be precise, he became a wisp steadily floating in the middle of the hall.

An entity wearing a hood was standing near his front. The figure has a face full of darkness endlessly swirling like the void.

"Welcome Seeker! You've arrived in a foreign world of Utopia."

The hooded figure welcomed him by speaking in his mind.

In UTOPIA, the people who entered the game would be called Seeker.

Seeker of adventures, seeker of wealth, seeker of power, seeker of truth— whatever reason a person seeks, it can be found in this world.

"In this vast world, you can find anything you want. Here, in this place right now, is the starting point of your journey."

The unknown entity continues.

"Please create your identity name."

Being said, a blank screen suddenly appeared in front of Ethan.

"Randomize!" He responded.

Ethan chose not to enter his previous in-game name. For him, it was only fitted for his previous swordsman account.

And besides, new life, new class, so new IGN as well.

[Creating random character name...]

Ding!

[Successfully created character name. The name Endless Autumn has been set.]

'Oh? I'm bad at naming sense so I could not say if this name is good or bad.'

Ethan thought as he saw his new IGN.

"Now please select your race."

The cloaked figure urged him to select among the race that shows up on his front.

Utopia has more than 50 races.

However, several of them will only be unlocked throughout the game. The only playable race at the moment was the seven races displayed in Ethan's front.

HUMAN— the most numerous yet weakest race in the world of Utopia. To compensate for their lack of talent, the human race has been endowed with balanced physical and wisdom qualities.

ELF—one of the fairy races that have no wings. They are said to be the child of nature and have an affinity for elements. They were also adept in archery and hunting.

DWARF—a race that loves crafting depth in their blood. Short as they may, they were the makers and inventors of a big amount of crafts in the world.

BEAST—a race known for its strength and explosive power. Their bodies can withstand different types of attacks. This race was divided into several subraces.

DRAGNIL—this race is said to be the children of Tiamat, the mother Dragon. They have tough skin and high agility.

PIXIE— one of the Fairy races who prefers to live alongside other races. They have fairy wings on their backs. This race is said to be skilled at using light magic.

DEMON—a race that was born by the residual mana of the previous great Demon Lord. They are said to be adept at casting arcane magic.

These seven races were displayed on his front. When tapping their respective screen, further information about them will be revealed.

Ethan doesn't need to read these long texts of introduction and unhesitatingly selects one of the seven panels.

After selecting a race, he, a mass of energy began to expand on its own until he acquired a body, legs, and arms.

The system created his avatar after integrating 90% of his real-life image into the race he selected.

Traits such as two small pointed horns and eyes dyed with slight crimson red were reflected in his character.

"You have chosen the Demon race. Now please choose your profession according to your race," said the cloaked entity.

The profession in Utopia was always dependent on a person's race.

When a player for instance chooses a Dwarf race, it was expected that the list of professions they'll get would not include the profession under the Mage category.

It was either Non-combat professions such as Artisan or classes in the Warrior and Support category.

This setting could also test the gaming knowledge of a player since the bonuses in each race will have a certain impact on the chosen profession.

In his previous life, Ethan chose the Human race.

Many players choose the 'Human' race because of how balanced the race is. It was the only race that can select all the job professions in the game.

That time, Ethan chooses the Swordsman profession.

In this life, however, he will take a different path.

Ethan already knew how to play as a Human, so now he chose to play as a Demon.

Aside from him anticipating this new experience, there was also a reason why he chooses this race.

Ethan has already made up his mind. He will be going to play a profession under the Mage category.

Choosing Elf race to be a Mage? Well, it was one of the best choices but he wasn't fond of pointy ears.

Though Elves have always worn a beautiful face, he still didn't choose it.

What for? For him, he was already handsome!

Ethan also skipped the Pixie race simply because he wasn't a fan of their colorful wings.

So the only remaining choice was the Demon race.

After choosing his race, what appeared on his front were several small square panels with different professions.

Monk?

Archer

Swordsman

Rouge

Cursemancer

Witch

.

.

.

Warlock

...

Without hesitation, Ethan selects the class he was planning to choose in the first place.

"You have selected the Witch profession."

Snap!

The unknown entity snaps his fingers and Ethan's naked body a while ago now had clothes on it. Smoothly, a simple pointy hat landed on top of his head.

"You have been equipped with the default Witch's garments and a novice Staff, as well as five spell books to learn; the books will vanish in your inventory after a one-day duration," the unknown entity explains.

"Now, please select your starting place."

Without even waiting for the whole map to roll in his front, Ethan had already uttered a specific place.

"Kingdom of Hardenia, City of Ardale."

"Very well, you'll arrive in one of Hardenia Kingdom's beginner villages."

The entity paused and made a respectful bow to him as if expressing deep respect.

"Enjoy your time in this world, our respected Seeker."

Shrook~

The mysterious figure warps on the spot followed by the system notification.

Ding!

[Transporting in ten seconds]

10

9

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6

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1

!!

When the countdown reached zero, Ethan's surroundings starts to distort until a bright light shone at him.

Ethan had no choice but to close his eyes. After a brief moment, his feet felt the ground again and he found himself standing in the middle of the street. Around him were buildings that resembled a medieval village.

"Ho, this brings me back. How nostalgic."

Seeing the place, Ethan expressed his thoughts with a smile.

Aside from the familiar buildings, Ethan can also see the players of various races and attire milling around the place.

'I can't help but be excited!'

Ethan's smile broadened as he spread his arms shamelessly without a care to the people who were passing by.

"Erm, but first, I need to make some money. I've only eaten cup noodles for the entire month...thinking about it, that's quite an accomplishment for me."

Ethan stopped rejoicing and cast sighs as he can recall every flavor of the cup he ate in the last month.

"I might as well treat myself to a fancy restaurant this time!"

Ethan stated firmly, and the fictitious fire in his eyes lit up as he mentioned some enticing food.

He sits on one of the street benches, hands on his chin, thinking about what he should do on his first day of the game.