The Heavenly Games
When people die, their souls go to the world beyond. Perhaps Heaven or Hell, or perhaps they reenter the cycle of reincarnation; of life and death. The rare ten thousand, however, join a special tournament hosted by the gods and enter the realm known as the White Abyss. It is a realm that has developed adjacent to the real world, always being affected by ongoing events yet never being quite the same. The Nebulous Bazaar in particular serves as the hub of business and culture. The population of the White Abyss was last recorded at 8.3 million.
Players enter this world and are blessed with a System that unlocks their potential for magic and Qi. The humans who long for a second chance will do anything to gain power and traverse the Heavenly Tower. Some call it the Tower of Dreams. Others call it a nightmare. Regardless, the one accrues the most points and reaches first place gains a wish...
The System
Class, Level, HP, HP/Minute, MP, MP/Minute, Attack, Defence, and seven distinct attributes. A System straight out of a video game. On first glance, it may not seem like much. However, the uniformal nature of the System is exactly what makes it overpowered. It never fails. Skills can be stored and activated even if it would ordinarily difficult for a player to do so.
It is a soul-binding gift bestowed to humans to turn them into "Players". It is the primary difference between Natural Borns and Players and the sole reason for their cheat-like jumps in power. What would take a normal human years to master may take a week or two for those with the System. Because the soul is pushed to its utter limit, bringing out every last drop of potential a human could possibly have, rumours suggest that the ones known as "The First Humans" played a hand in the System's vast scope of abilities.
The White Abyss
The hub for the Heavenly Games. There are seven primary locations that Players and Natural Borns can traverse between: the Heavenly Tower, Hall of Players, House of Wisdom, Nebulous Bazaar, The Endless Bar, Tvastar's Forge, and Valhalla's Colosseum.
Heavenly Tower
The centrepiece of the White Abyss. Four giant gates exist at the north, south, east, and west. The Tower itself holds 99 floors in order to house each "gate". Through the System and the command "Open Heavenly Tower", a player can summon a map of the Heavenly Tower and teleport to any gate at any time.
The System, while integral to the Heavenly Tower's operation, is not the reason for its game-like features. Those that enter the Heavenly Tower without the System still receive Main Objectives, Special Objectives, and Hidden Objectives. Though they do not receive XP, they do receive item drops. The Old Mage Tower was able conclude that the "software" used by the Heavenly Tower was separate from the "software" given to players by the System and managed to replicate the video game features for their own liking. Thus, another form of the "System" is employed at wealthy stores and restaurants as a way to conduct business efficiently and to cut down on employees.
Hall of Players
A museum dedicated to previous players of the Heavenly Games. Minerva serves as its tour guide. Two sphinxes guard the front. Being a hot spot for tourism, children often visit it and merchants set-up stalls to sell.
House of Wisdom
The greatest source of knowledge in existence pooled together by gods of various mythologies. Librarian: Thoth, Egyptian god of wisdom and writing. Library Assistant: Brigid, goddess of poetry, learning, and craftsmanship. Archivist: Saraswati, goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts. Guardian: Athena, goddess of wisdom, courage, and warfare.
While very thorough in teaching, there is a distinct lack of history.
Nebulous Bazaar
A bustling marketplace where otherworldly merchants trade in wares from distant realms. It is managed by renowned merchants, as well as retired champions and notable players of the past Heavenly Games. There are stores, restaurants, merchant stands, etc. It is 15 kilometres long and contains over 4,000 stores and structures.
Divided into districts: Dark District, Food District, Recreation Zone, Merchant District, and Guild District.
It is a land of business and culture, a mish-mash of everything history has accumulated. Currency is in the form of points through the System as well as gold and diamond coins.
The Endless Bar
A bar run by Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, and Loki, the trickster god of Norse mythology. 300,000 square feet and easily the largest bar in existence. The bar is over 300 feet long. A common saying is, "Let's go to the end."
Top floor has a VIP section for poker.
Tvastar's Forge
The forge of the divine blacksmith of Hindu mythology, shared with Hephaestus. It is a self-functioning forge managed by the Kourai Khryseai (Golden Maidens) who are woman-shaped, gold automotones. Tvastar and Hephaestus only participate if a S-class weapon needs forging. While Hephaestus comes to help around from time to time, Tvastar does not appear at all. It is Hephaestus who does the public speaking.
Valhalla's Colosseum
A massive, multi-level colosseum built for Players to test their mettle against each other in a safe zone. There are ten levels and over 500m tall. To be able to book a floor, whether for sports use or training, five people are necessary (party or not).The archangel Michael and his heavenly host operate Valhalla's Colosseum.
Floors 11 through 20 are intended for first and Second Class Players. Floors 21 through 30: Third and Fourth Class. Floors 31 through 40: Fifth and Sixth Class. And finally, floors 41 to 50, for Seventh and Eighth Class Players.