Chapter 1 - The Beginning
If you were given the power of a GOD, what would you do?
…
Well, before I get into my story, I should probably introduce myself. My name's Brian - Brian Verde. I didn't have much of a profession or a life, for that matter. I did study law in college as part of a dream of solving injustice, but shortly realized it wasn't for me. Then I tried web development… Smooth transition, huh?
Long story short, I ended up as a lonely freelancer-slash-influencer with a small audience. Not exactly glamorous, but hey, it paid the bills.
The last thing I remember from my previous life is that I was at my friend's birthday party. Not going to lie, it was a boring gathering. Or maybe it wasn't, and I just didn't click with his other friends. Either way, I got so bored that I drowned myself in alcohol and my friend had to carry me home.
I don't remember the ride or getting into bed, but I woke up at midnight with my mouth drier than a desert. For a shameful second, I actually considered drinking from my cat's bowl. But then, you know, pride or maybe just basic hygiene kicked in, so I dragged myself to the kitchen instead.
On the way, I tripped over something. And… well. That was it.
I always thought death would come with a bright light, a tunnel, maybe some wise old man with a beard telling me I was a loser for dying in my own kitchen before sending me off to a peaceful afterlife.
Yeah, that didn't happen.
Instead, the very first thing I saw was a glowing blue notification window floating in front of me.
[Choose Race]
WTF? What the hell does that even mean?
To be fair, I'd played my share of RPGs growing up, so I kinda knew what it meant. But this? This was way too real. For a second, I wondered if I was dreaming, but hey, what was I supposed to do? Might as well play along, right?
Fine, fine. I was a little excited to play. Just a tiny bit.
I was a massive Lord of the Rings fan and the elves always were my first choice. I mean, who wouldn't want to be like Feanor? Beautiful, graceful, powerful… Okay, I'm getting carried away. Point is, if I was getting a second shot at life, I might as well go all in. Immortal, strong, elegant? Sign me up.
"Elves," I declared with way too much pride in my voice, like I was already some ancient, noble being reclaiming my birthright.
And that's when I got my first taste of disappointment in this new life. Little did I know that there would be many, many more to come.
[Already Occupied]
"High Elves," I tried, hoping for a loophole.
[Such a race does not exist]
"Show me available races." These notifications were really starting to piss me off.
[Such race does not exist]
"Is this shit mocking me?"
[Such a race does not exist]
I was getting angry, but forced myself to calm down. No point in getting worked up. Character creation is the most important part of any game. And if this was a one-time deal, with no rerolls, no do-overs, I needed to be smart about it.
I started running through every race I could remember. 'Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, Dhampirs, Halflings…' I didn't dare to say it out loud or this system might have picked one of those randomly. There were too many races to list, and obviously, I couldn't remember them all. Then I remembered a race I would have loved to become.
"Dragons."
If only.
[Already Occupied]
So every race I actually want is taken?
That stung. Even in death, or whatever this was, I was apparently destined to struggle. And oh boy, I had no idea how right I was.
"...Orcs," I finally muttered. Gracefulness be damned, strength mattered more.
[Already Occupied]
I was about to scream when my notification window flashed red.
[You've failed to choose a race!]
[You will be assigned a random available race as your starting subjects.]
Starting subjects? What the fuck does that mean? Even with my gaming knowledge, I had zero clue.
[A random race has been chosen!]
[You will be given an extra bonus due to failure to choose a race.]
[The bonus has been given!]
[Starting a new life as…]
And just like that, everything went dark.
<<<>>>
When I woke up, I saw a sight I did not expect.
It was like staring at a screen, except there were no edges - just the image itself, floating in an endless expanse. Everything outside of it was shrouded in mist or maybe clouds. First, I saw a dense forest with ancient, towering trees, swallowing the light and enshrouding the ground in darkness. Creatures roamed below, some small, some massive. Herbivores, carnivores…
I observed the scene for several minutes as I scanned every corner. The map was huge... And then I spotted it! A small settlement nestled within the trees. The moment I wished to take a closer look the view zoomed in.
Wait… can I control this?
I experimented and tried shifting the perspective. Zoom in, zoom out, rotate… I could manipulate the view however I wanted. But when I tried zooming out beyond my initial field of vision, it was like pushing against an immovable boulder. No matter how much I willed it, the map refused to budge past a certain limit.
Fine. I returned my focus to the settlement.
A crude wooden fence encircled the village. The buildings inside… well, calling them buildings was too generous. They were little more than primitive huts, barely more than reinforced shacks. But what caught my attention most was the statue at the center.
An elf woman.
Beautiful. Grand. Divine.
This world's version of Galadriel, huh?!
My amusement vanished the moment I took a closer look. I felt something - a faint pull, an itch deep in my soul, like an invisible thread connecting me to it. I didn't understand why.
For a brief moment, I became hopeful. Elves? But as I watched the villagers, I quickly realized they weren't quite that. They were tall and their features were sharp and refined like elves, but their skin was an ashen gray, giving them the eerie look of living statues. Their eyes were either pale silver or burning red, and their hair ranged from stark white to deep gray. Most striking feature of all were the intricate, but very faint, silvery markings on their faces.
Tattoos?
No… It was definitely something more. Something that felt connected to me. That was the moment my curiosity faded and I was left with only a single question:
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What the hell is happening?
I tried looking down. Left. Right. Even up. Nothing. I had no body. No limbs. Just… awareness. It was like I only existed as a pair of floating eyes, or maybe just a consciousness attached to this strange window. I couldn't move, couldn't interact with anything. The only thing that existed in my plane of awareness was this "screen", showing me the world below, or above, or… anyway. Then, a thought crossed my mind, one that came from years of gaming instinct.
I willed for information about me to appear.
And just like that, the familiar blue notification window appeared right in front of my eyes.
~ Status Window ~
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