Xavier had forgotten to ask Oliver how he looked in the ga, but he figured it wouldn’t be hard to spot him. Since VR rules only allowed minor costic changes, and Oliver was still Oliver—round and recognizable—it shouldn’t have taken more than a glance.
He scanned the area around the fountain, walking a full circle. But there was no sign of him.
Until a voice called out behind him.
"Xavier? Is that you?"
Xavier turned around.
Oliver stood there, a bit different. Still had the sa round fra, but no glasses. His hair was dyed deep crimson, eyes matching, and the long, pointy ears scread elf wannabe.
Xavier raised a brow. "Of course it’s . I literally look the sa as real life. How the hell did you not recognize ?"
Oliver squinted at him, confused. "Dude... you don’t look anything like this in real life."
Xavier frowned, opened his system screen, and checked his character info. His eyes narrowed. Sothing was definitely off.
He had selected auto—his real-world appearance—but the ga had made so choices on its own.
His reflection showed a taller version of him, white hair that shimred slightly, and golden eyes that felt... ancient. His skin had a faint glow beneath it, like sothing divine ran through his blood.
And then the details popped up:
[PRIVATE STATUS - VISIBLE TO PLAYER ONLY]
Na: Xavier
Race: God
Class: UNASSIGNED
Level: 1
HP: 100
MP: 100
STR: 10
AGI: 10
INT: 10
DEX: 10
VIT: 10
LUK: 10
CHAR: 10
Titles:
— Bearer of the Fragnt
— Chosen of Astrea
— The Unseen Fla
Affiliation:
— Astrea’s Shadow
Combat Type: Adaptive
System Sync: Enabled
Xavier showed the screen to Oliver.
Oliver stared, blinking. "What the hell even is that? God? Bearer of the Fragnt? Chosen of... wait—Astrea?"
Xavier nodded. "It did this on its own. I didn’t pick any of it."
Oliver looked around nervously. "No one else can see this, right?"
"Nah. It’s set to private. Only I can see it unless I show soone."
"Good," Oliver said, nodding. "Because if people found out you’re literally marked as a god in this ga, it’d blow up."
Xavier leaned back slightly. "Looks like this ga’s more than just a side quest."
Oliver chuckled. "Dude. With a status like that? This is the main quest."
Xavier let out a soft sigh and glanced around, still couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing was not a real word, but a world of codes.
The wind rustled faintly through the towering trees surrounding the fountain plaza, their silver-blue leaves shimring under the artificial sun of Celestia Rift. Sounds of distant battles echoed from the far-off training zones. Other players ran around—so with their guild crests shining over their shoulders, so mounted on floating creatures, and others casually trading gear beside the waterline.
Xavier stood beside Oliver, still a little awestruck at the depth and realism of the world. The slight weight of the beginner’s armor felt oddly satisfying, and even though the sword strapped on his back was basic and unpolished, it still gave him that first taste of a ga he had no plans of getting addicted to.
"So," Xavier asked, hands behind his head, "how does this world work exactly?"
Oliver grinned and leaned against the rim of the fountain. "Alright, noob. Listen up. Celestia Rift is a hybrid sandbox-RPG ga. You can do whatever the hell you want. Want to be a farr? Sure. Want to be an assassin? Go for it. You progress based on your actions, not just what class you pick."
"Leveling?"
"Slow, if you’re casual. Fast, if you play smart. You get experience through quests, dungeon runs, bounties, crafting, PVP—basically anything that takes effort."
Xavier nodded along. "And equipnt?"
Oliver opened his inventory, a swirling hologram spinning in front of him. He swiped across and materialized a dull silver sword and a basic leather chestpiece.
"These are spares," he said, handing them over. "Way better than that beginner junk."
Xavier accepted them. "Where’d you get these?"
"Sa ways. Quests, dungeon clears, sotis trading or crafting. Or... buying." He shot a grin.
That last part made Xavier raise a brow. "Buying? With what? In-ga currency?"
"Yup. Rift Coins. You earn them from grinding or finishing big quests. But if you’re lazy or rich, you can top them up using real money too."
Xavier’s grin stretched wider. "So I can just dump cash and get better gear?"
Oliver chuckled. "Technically, yeah. But the top-tier gear still needs you to unlock achievents or reach certain stats. Can’t buy your way into everything."
Still, Xavier’s fingers were already twitching. "I’ve got spending room left today. Might as well burn it in here."
’I still have to use my daily transaction.’ Xavier smirked. ’This will be the last one! And then my unlimited system will be upgraded to level 5!’
Oliver stared at him. "Wait—you’re seriously thinking of topping up right now? Bro, you just logged in for the first ti."
Xavier shrugged. "You said it yourself—better gear helps progress faster."
"True. But you don’t even know if you’ll enjoy the ga. What if you quit after an hour? That’s money down the drain."
Xavier smiled. "Thanks for being worried. Really. But trust —money’s not a problem."
Oliver sighed, defeated. "You’re an adult. Do your thing. Just... don’t go full pay-to-win and ruin the fun."
"I won’t. I’ll just go pay-to-vibe."
Oliver let out a laugh and waved his hand. "Co on. The recharge terminals aren’t in the system nu. We need to hit a rchant shop to access them. I’ll show you the way."
Xavier followed, footsteps echoing against the marbled ground as the two walked off toward the bustling market district glowing just past the archway. Xavier couldn’t help but feel sothing stir inside him. Maybe this ga was just part of his task... or maybe, it was about to be a lot more.
While walking, Oliver asked, "So, what made you wanna play a VR ga all of a sudden?"
"To be honest, Lucas and Ethan are suspended, and I can’t control myself for three more weeks. And of course, I can’t do anything to them in the real life, yet. But since they play this VR ga, what could be a better chance to fuck them up?"
"You are planning to top up to get a head start before you clash with them?"
"Hell yeah!"
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