Transcendent [Edited]

[Beverly Crest, Los Angeles, USA.]

[1st July, 2109]

[8:49am]

POV | Tristan Vinter

*Beep…Beep…Beep*

I lazily blinked open my eyes as I struggled to locate my damn alarm clock. After turning the alarm off, I propped myself up and reached for my phone, which was on my bedside table. As I went through my notifications, I noticed a particular reminder for the day:

[Reminder: Transcendent Full Dive VRMMORPG releases today at 12pm]

Beaming an elated smile, I stood up, walked to my bathroom and started brushing my teeth in front of my bathroom mirror.

While I brushed my teeth, I inspected my appearance. I was pretty good looking for a guy, well, according to most people…especially ladies.

Neck-length jet-black silky hair, a jawline as sharp as blades, long eyelashes, and golden eyes that exuded unmistakable confidence. According to many, those were my most distinctive features.

After ensuring that my teeth were pearly white, I started to wash my face and as I did that, I thought about [Transcendent], the game that was dubbed by numerous media outlets, and even the government, as the future of the world and for good reason.

The opportunities the game presented were simply limitless and countless people across the globe, regardless of age, had been eagerly anticipating its release, me included.

Once my face was cleansed, I made my way into the shower and instructed Ava, my personal caretaker A.I. to look up Altered Reality's [Transcendent] game notes and display it on a hologram for me to read.

As my bathroom was on the larger side, there was enough space for a long rectangular hologram display in the shower. Once the hologram was up, I started to read whilst taking my shower.

Altered Reality is the largest Artificial Intelligence development corporation in the world. For the past 50 years, they've been the spearhead for every major technological advancement the world had seen since the turn of the mid 21st century.

Because their technology has revolutionized life completely, many consider them to be the greatest technological enterprise to ever exist. They held a near total monopoly on the global Robotics and A.I. manufacturing industry.

[Transcendent] was their first ever game and thus, the hype behind its development was world-shaking. Within a week of its first public unveiling, It became the most anticipated game of all time, dethroning [Honor and Angels], the previous 30-year holder of that accolade, from its illustrious pedestal.

Within a month from that event, it wasn't a stretch to say that nearly every human being -whether on Earth or Mars - had heard about the game. It was everywhere. The news, advertisements, social media...everywhere.

It was announced a year ago and, unlike any other VRMMORPG, had no beta-test so everyone playing the game would be playing fresh out of the oven.

[Transcendent] is a fantasy game set in the era of kingdoms and empires in the fantasy world of Arcadia. The main features that distinguish it from other VRMMORPGs are its control mechanics, A.I. realism, Lore, and in-game elements.

In [Transcendent], player intuition and reaction time reign supreme. Prior to now, every VR game in existence utilized a standard control mechanics system, characterized by automated skills and spells with little room for alteration or optimization

[Transcendent], however, employed a novel mechanics system that is several times more diverse. In [Transcendent], players are able to alter the movements of skills or workings of a spell to produce even greater damage and effects.

Players also have the ability to merge the movements of multiple skills to streamline a skill or create a new skill entirely. It was a mechanic that encouraged multifarious fighting styles and an individual understanding of one's abilities.

Personally, I was a huge fan of this feature. I saw myself using it a great deal.

Additionally, another mechanic unique to [Transcendent]'s control system was the 'synchronization rate' mechanic.

It was a player-unique statistic registered by a player's IllusoVision VR helmet - Altered Reality's specialized VR equipment. A player's synchronization rate represented how quickly they could coherently process boatloads of information as well as how fluidly and swiftly they could move their bodies.

It, quite literally, dictated how well they would be able to control their characters in-game.

Although Altered Reality didn't go into too much detail about what to expect with the mechanic, I could already see the consequences it held for players.

The statistic made for more realistic fights that reflected a player's physical and mental capabilities. No longer would players be able to defeat others solely by having a higher quality class.

It was a mechanic that decreased the dependency of player strength on game elements like gear or classes. In the long run, the statistic alone would be what truly differentiated the game's top players from one other and the rest of [Transcendent]'s player base.

Yet another defining feature of [Transcendent] were its NPCs. As one would expect from the frontrunners of A.I. development and manufacturing, [Transcendent] NPCs possessed a degree of intelligence so high, it was nearly indistinguishable from that of a human.

Altered Reality specifically called [Transcendent] NPCs 'Virtually Real People' and emphasized that they brought video game realism to a level never before seen in history.

According to the game notes, every NPC possessed what Altered Reality called a 'cortex'.

It was essentially an NPC's brain; it was modeled after the brain of a real human being and dictated everything about an NPC, from its personality to its decision-making.

It should be noted, however, that an NPC cortex is nowhere near as complex as a real brain. As a result, they are unable to experience complex human emotions such as depression, develop a personalized sense of humor, and do other things.

Every NPC cortex was stored inside Altered Reality's vast could servers.

"Gotta love hot showers..."

In a low tone, I soliloquized as I got out of the shower and dried myself. Once dried, I left the bathroom and got dressed. Since it was a weekend and I planned on playing [Transcendent] the entire day, I wore gray sweatpants and a black hoodie with a golden crown emblazoned on its front.

I decided to head downstairs to grab some breakfast and once I was near the kitchen, I overheard my siblings talking.

"Logan, you're playing Transcendent today right?" a soft, euphonious voice which belonged to Sage, my sister, reached my ears.

She, like our mother, had silky silver hair and ocean blue eyes; her face was round and symmetrical, with a petite nose and a sharp jawline.

A moment later, the calm deep voice that was characteristic of my brother, Logan rang through my ears.

Like Sage, he had ocean blue eyes and a symmetric face. However, he inherited our father's curly blonde hair and light freckles.

"Yeah… I'm really excited for it; the game has a lot of buzz surrounding it. By the way, Mom and Dad told us to establish the guild early so that they could invest in it right away. I can hardly wait.... You, Tristan, and I are going to have a great time."

By the time he finished his statement, I had already reached the entrance to the kitchen.

"Hey, morning guys, what's up?" I flashed an affable smile and greeted as I walked in on them.

"Morning, Tristan!"

"Hey dude, what's up? I'm surprised. For once you don't look like complete shit in the morning."

Simultaneously, Sage and Logan responded, both reciprocating my warm smile.

I chuckled inwardly hearing Logan's response. I had a habit of sleeping late and waking up late...especially during holidays.

"Yeah, for once I don't. Had to sleep early yesterday; Transcendent is releasing today after all." I tittered, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and taking a seat beside Logan at the kitchen island.

"Are we playing together right away ?" I then inquired, grabbing the cereal box on the island's center.

"Nah, Sage wants us to get used to the game separately first. Though, we'll add each other as soon as we get in." Logan replied, taking a sip of milk straight from the carton. I grimaced at the sight.

"Dude, I swear, you're a fucking animal. Just get a glass for christ's sake." I grumbled in dissatisfaction. I was about to use that carton too.

"Oh." Logan halted his actions and flashed an innocent smile, "My bad dude. I forgot you were about to use it. It's a habit..." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, a bad one..." I chuckled in response and walked to the fridge to get a new milk carton.

"Look who's talking." Logan immediately rebutted Though I wasn't facing him, I could already imagine a smirk plastered across his face.

"Whatever..." I just laughed.

Sage, who had been watching our interaction amusedly, spoke up as I did so,

"So what classes are you guys planning on playing?" she began with an interested expression, "I think I'm gonna go mage again. Can't really see myself playing anything else." she said, resting her chin on her hand and crossing her legs.

"Sounds about right." I chuckled hearing her declaration. She was the biggest magic geek I knew so it would've been shocking if she opted to play another class.

"As for me, I'm going warrior this time. With this new synchro rate mechanic, I think it'd suit me best. I also haven't played it in a while, so it'll be a refreshing change of pace from what I'm used to."

I added, walking back to my seat and pouring some milk into my bowl. Typically, in most VR games, I play as a mage like Krystal. I've only ever played warrior in a few games.

For [Transcendent], I decided on it mostly because of the synchro rate mechanic. I was curious to see if it would suit me better and for some reason, I had a feeling it would.

"Well that's unexpected." with raised eyebrows, Logan remarked, to which Sage and I chuckled.

"I was thinking of picking something new like Tris as well. I'll play as a ranger. I'm curious to see how it plays in a game like Transcendent. Plus I have experience playing as one.''

I hadn't expected that answer. Logan usually played as a Healer class so him switching to play ranger was surprising.

Now that I thought about it, I'm pretty sure the last time he played as a ranger was when we started playing VR games, which was almost 7 years ago. Time sure flies by quickly.

Sage, similar to me, looked gobsmacked hearing Logan's [Transcendent] class choice. She glanced at Logan and I "You guys are changing it up huh..."

Like that, we continued to eat, talk and joke around for the remainder of the morning, only separating once it was 15 minutes before [Transcendent]'s scheduled launch time.

Sage and Logan are fraternal twins while I was adopted when we were 4 years old. Since we're all the same age, we do nearly everything together. Spending time with them was one of my favorite ways to unwind; they were pretty much my best friends.

After walking back up to my room, I picked up my IllusoVision VR helmet from my desk and laid down on my bed.

In preparation for today, I bought it early...3 weeks ago to be specific. There was only one version for sale, which was the one I had.

The helmets were quite expensive as far as VR helmets went, costing $7,500 a unit. Though, I didn't bat an eye at this price since I had too much money to know what to do with.

Most of my wealth came from gaming. Being a professional VR player was an exceptionally lucrative profession in the 22nd century and I'd made millions because of it.

As I adjusted my laying position, I instructed Ava to dim the lights and close the curtains. Once I was comfortable, I took a deep breath, smiled in anticipation and put on the helmet.

It had a battery so there was no cord connected to it. Its display was simple as well, with just the date, time, and a few other things on display.

"Dive in" I muttered and the next moment, my vision and consciousness blacked.

"Welcome to Transcendent, Tristan Vinter. The game will officially launch in 10 minutes. Until then, you can customize your player appearance and measure your synchronization rate. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." A warm feminine robotic voice welcomed me as my consciousness entered a plain white room.

Curiously, I surveyed for its source, but came up empty handed. It seemed like Altered Reality wasn't a fan of welcome avatars.

What I did find though, was a rotating hologram of myself in front of me, which I presumed to be the character customization interface.

[Transcendent] allows players to modify their appearance by at most 10%. So you can't change your gender or increase your height drastically.

I was content with my appearance so I simply gave myself black stud earrings and styled my hair into a messy man-bun hairstyle. As I looked at the finished product, I couldn't help but grin. I was a fucking stud.

If there was anything I was thankful to my biological parents for, whoever they were, it was leaving me with good genetics. It came with a lot of perks.

I took another look at my character's appearance and rotated the the hologram projection to get different angles. Once satisfied, I confirmed my appearance and proceeded to the synchro rate test.

"I will now measure your synchro rate. Please follow every blinking light in your vision with your eyes and relax your mind." the feminine voice instructed, causing me to softly exhale.

Shortly after, blinking lights began to emerge all around my vision and as they did, I followed them with my eyes.

The lights came slowly at first, but as I followed each one, they began to speed up dramatically, causing me to become mildly disoriented.

After what seemed like an eternity, I started to struggle to keep up with the lights and the feminine voice, detecting this, terminated the test. Then, for a few seconds, I felt a mild electric current course through my brain.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt.

"Please follow the movements projected."

The feminine voices next instruction came, following which a projection of a faceless figure performing what looked like yoga movements appeared before my eyes.

I mimicked the projection, ensuring to replicate its movements as precisely as I could.

After what felt like a minute of doing that, the projection disappeared and the feminine voice echoed once again,

"Processing test results…..synchronization rate data report displayed."

[Synchronization rate: 97.4%]

My pupils dilated exaggeratedly at the sight of the number. Never in a million years did I expect my synchro rate to be this high. It was absolutely ludicrous!

To help you understand the context of this number, I should give you an idea of what an average players synchro rate should look like.

According to Altered Reality, the lowest synchro rate possible was 50% ,and the vast majority of people possessed synchro rates between 50% and 75%.

Amongst the billions of people they tested during [Transcendent]'s development, the highest recorded synchro rate was 84% so my 97% synchro rate was practically one-in-a-trillion.

Realizing this, I couldn't help but grin. I couldn't wait to test out skills and battle so I could see how fluid my movements were.

"Character initialization complete. Transcendent is about to launch. Please input your character class, race and gamer tag." The robotic voice interrupted my thoughts.

In [Transcendent], everyone starts off with one of 5 basic classes: Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Ranger, and Priest. The basic classes were of the lowest grade and could be changed a maximum of 3 times after the start of the game.

[Transcendent] boasted a gargantuan amount of classes and each were graded according to the power, skills, and lore involvement they provided.

From lowest to highest, these grades were: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, and Divine; classes at the legendary grade and above could directly influence major events in the game.

Similar to classes, there were 5 basic races in Transcendent: Human, Demon, Elf, Dwarf and Beastkin. The basic races were just for aesthetic purposes and had no effect on a player's stats.

Like classes, race could also be changed, but only if a class change corresponded to it. A race change after the start of the game could only happen because of a class change.

Races associated with classes of Rare quality and above granted players unique set of inherent skills, buffs, and powers depending on the class quality.

I quickly chose warrior as my class and a sword as my starting weapon. Then, I chose human as my race. If the basic races just provided aesthetics, then there was no point choosing anything else.

For my gamer tag, I entered the name 'Perseus' after some deliberation.

Loosely translated, it meant 'Avenger' or 'Destroyer', though the main reason I selected it was because it encapsulated my ambitions for [Transcendent].

Perseus from Greek Mythology was a legendary warrior. He slayed Medusa and countless monsters and became one of the greatest Greek heroes to ever exist; he was simply one of a kind.

Such a legendary name fit my goal for playing [Transcendent]: to have fun, and sink my name into its books of revered players.

After I finished, I confirmed my changes and the warm feminine voice sounded once more.

"Character creation complete…Because of your geographical location, you will now be teleported to Arkville Town as your starting point...Welcome, Perseus to Transcendent once more."