Chapter 2

[Welcome to the Nexus.] A lovely voice said. Once Robin's vision returned she saw a drop-dead gorgeous angel hovering in front of her. This was the same angle as before that welcomed everyone when they first joined the game.

[Before we create your character, you must first get a random talent.]

When the angel said that a giant wheel of light rose from the ground. The wheel was separated into hundreds of different blank slices. A small upside-down triangle was used as a pointer and was positioned at the top of the wheel.

Robin swallowed, in nervousness. This wheel was one of the main reasons why she pushed for getting the S-class gaming pod. There is a hidden feature in every pod that alters the luck of the user. Thanks to the whistleblower, the world found out that the rich elites brokered a deal with the higher plane to add this feature. For the first 3 hours of the game launch, all C-class pods will receive a 10% increase in luck. B-class will receive 20% and A-class will receive 50%. S class however will receive a 150% increase to luck. Add that to the fact that it was only available to those who started the game when it first came out and one could tell that the power balance had already shifted towards the rich.

That's all to say that the wheel that selects talents was affected by this increase in luck.

The wheel began to spin wildly. Robin prayed for a good talent. Thanks to the S class pod, she knew she wouldn’t receive the worst of the talents but if she got an average talent then she could only cry in the corner. Since you can only have one character no matter how many pods you buy.

The wheel slowed down and landed on an unmarked section. Then that section exploded with red-gold light. That light bathed Robin and tears began to stream down her face.

[SSS Tier Talent Acquired - God Hand (Pick Pocket)

Effect 1: Can use [Steal] on a target. This Steal has a 100% success rate and will always steal the most valuable item. Cool Down: 12 hours.

Effect 2: Damage you deal has a 5% chance to activate [Steal] on the target. This Steal has a 100% success rate.]

"An SSS Tier talent! Yeessss! Even though it's only for stealing items, it can still give me a massive boost in power."

Before Robin could get more excited the beautiful angel spoke again.

[Now that you have your talent, you can now choose your starting race.]

Then a list popped up in front of Robin. The list had 10 options to choose from. Anyone not privy to how the game works would be a bit impressed with the choices. But Robin knew better. Much like the 'talent', The races that a player could choose from are determined by luck. Each race had its own Tiers as well and each Tier determined how many stat points a player would receive when they level up. E-Tier is the standard races like humans, elves, dwarves, and such and they would only receive 5 stat points per level. D-Tier got 6 stat points, C got 7, B 8, A 10 and S-Tier got 15.

Looking at the list in front of her Robin couldn't help but frown. The highest tier listed was the B-Tier Sun Elf. After getting the SSS-Tier talent, Robin was greedy for another S-Tier item.

"Sigh, do I really have to settle with a B-Tier? Although it's not bad, it won't guarantee me a top spot on any listing." Robin said, agonizing over the race selection. Then Robin's head snapped up and looked at the smiling Angel. She looked almost too beautiful but Robin barely paid attention to her, until now.

Without blinking, Robin raised her hand toward the aloof angel and activated her talent.

[God Hand (Pick Pocket)]

[Acquired 'Angel’s Grace'

Type: Aura

Effect 1: Raises Luck by 200%. This effect is permanently removed after an hour.

Effect 2: Quest Item]

The Angel's eyes shot open and a surprised look painted her face. That was quickly replaced with anger. The Angel snarled and bared her perfect teeth at Robin. But that was the only thing she did. Robin however didn’t care about the angel because she was looking at the new screens that just popped up.

[Luck value has changed. Recalculating race selection]

The screen that had the old race choices became blank, then a new set of ten races was listed. Robin became overjoyed because she saw not 1 or 2 but 3 S-Tier races.

[Moonlight Dragon: Ice Dragons that worship Frevera The Moon Dragon. These apex predators are the bane of all Unholy beings. Their Life mission is to freeze the 4th level of the Abyss where their arch nemesis the Blackfire Dragons live.

Effect 1: All Ice Skills/Spells used at night gain a 30% reduced cooldown.

Effect 2: Dragon class Skills/Spells are 10% more effective

Effect 3: Ice Skills/Spells are 20% effective

Effect 4: Gain the [Ice Mastery] passive skill]

[Abyss Touched Elf: The Abyss is always encroaching on all planes regardless of how far they are. These elves are just one of the trillions of races tainted by the abyss. Though these elves have found a way to merge with the abyss in such a way that allows them to resist all but the strongest of corrosion.

Effect 1: All Skills/Spells have an abyss element in addition to their other type

Effect 2: Fire Skills/Spells are 50% more effective

Effect 3: Gain the [Fire Mastery] passive skill

Effect 4: Gain the [Abyss Resistance] passive skill]

[Greater Shadow Elemental: An adult elemental that has mastered the darkness of the world. Normally stays away from all conflicts but likes to watch from behind the scenes.

Effect 1: At night all Darkness Skills/Spells gain a 50% reduced cooldown

Effect 2: At night all Stats increase by 30%

Effect 3: Gain the [Stealth Mastery] passive skill

Effect 4: Gain the [Evasion Mastery] passive skill

Effect 5: Gain the [Dark Vision] passive skill]

“Holy crap! These are all amazing! They do the S-Tier category justice!” Robin said in excitement. She thought back to her first time joining the game and the D-Tier race she got. It was just a Hardened Human that gave a 5% bonus to stamina and a generic skill. That's it! These S-Tier Races have four effects and they also give Mastery skills! In “The World Tower” Mastery skills can upgrade other skills in their class. For example, the Moonlight Dragon’s Ice Mastery will upgrade the [Ice Shield] spell to a higher tier, giving it additional effects.

Looking at the race choice Robin’s mouth couldn’t help but salivate. Unfortunately, because the choices were too good, she was stumped on which one she should choose. All of them could guarantee a spot at the top of all the leader boards and make guild leaders pay millions to secure her a spot in their guilds.

“But again which one should I pick!? The Moonlight Dragon is really good for the simple fact that it’s a dragon. Dragon spells are already more powerful than other spells but this race actually adds an additional 10% to the effectiveness. But there is a glaring downside to this race, an arch-nemesis. I don’t know what the Blackfire Dragons are but I don’t want to be pulled into a race war I have nothing to do with.

The Abyss Elf is fine but I don’t want anything to do with the Abyss. I remember some other people had Abyss touched and when things crossed over to the real world they all were pulled into the demon’s camp and fought against the humans. Though the [Abyss Resistance] passive might negate that, I still won't take the risk.

Lastly, the shadow elemental is a strong choice all for the simple fact that it synergizes with my talent. A sneaky thief build could get me to places where I can use the [Steal] skill on bosses. Not to mention the nighttime bonuses. All monsters will also get bonuses to their stats at night but they also will drop better items and more exp. Even though it has the simplest information, If I choose the shadow elemental then hunting at night will be much easier.

The downside is I’ll have to wait till its night time to receive any bonus. Until then, ill be just another player since Mastery skills don't give any immediate bonuses either…

Arggg ok ok, I'll choose the shadow elemental!”

Robin tapped the [Greater Shadow Elemental] button and the screen vanished. Robin waited on the next part of the character creation but it never came. Robin looked up and found the angel scowling at her. A smile bloomed on Robin’s face.

“What are you waiting on? Come on, I don't have all day.” Robin teased. She wasn’t afraid the angel would do anything bad to her. At least right now anyway. The Angels are the messengers for the higher plane and are here JUST to assist humans. Any negative actions used on humans right now will have adverse effects on the angel. This was shown a few days before the game crossed over to reality when an angel smote a guild leader for trying to put her under a slave contract. Even in self-defense, the angel was punished for harming a human.

The angel ground her teeth and the knuckles on her bawled fist creaked. Robin could see the fury in her eyes but again she did not care and just tapped her wrist in a “wasting time” gesture.

The angel finally conceded and spoke but this time her voice lacked any of the grace she once used. It almost sounded robotic.

[Next Chose your background]

Another window popped up with another 10 choices. This time was for the history of the created character. Just like with the talents and races, these were organized into tiers and the higher the tier the better the bonus effect. Robin's eye twitched at the choices. Unlike the Race list, there was only one S-Tier option.

[Bloody Shadow Society: Since Shadow elementals are so adapted to the darkness, they make one of the best assassins in all of the multi-planes. Thus the strongest of elementals have created a guild to carry out organized assassinations. For the right price.

Effect 1: Gain the [Dual Wield Expert] passive skill

Effect 2: Gain the [Assassination Mastery] passive skill

Effect 3: Gain the [Poison Mastery] passive skill]

“This choice is amazing! Though the A-Tier Shadow Arch-Mage looks amazing too but it only has 2 effects and no mastery passives.”

Before Robin could think more about his choice the angel spoke.

[Lastly, you can alter your looks any way you want.]

The angel’s voice now had an impatient tone to it now. Robin thought it was funny. She had no goodwill towards the angels. When the world went to shit THEY were the ones who blew the trumpet and announced it. Even though they weren’t at fault for what happened, seeing them hover in the air speaking as though talking to ants and waving their arms to open up holes in the sky to let demons pour out. Such a scene was burned into Robin’s memory.

A tall mirror rose up from the floor. What reflected in it was not Robin but a much MUCH paler Robin. Her eyes were jet black and her hair looked like it was made of vantablack. Next to her reflection were a dozen sliders that would allow her to change her appearance. Robin didn’t want to waste any more time on the character creation since the Angel’s Grace timer is running out so she just changed enough to look completely different from her real self. She also cut off some fat and added more tone. Lastly, she added… another package to her… coin purse. In the later parts of The World Tower, there are some extremely powerful items that can only be used by one type of gender. Adding the genitals of the opposite gender would enable the player to wear both. Although this was widely known, most people still had hang-ups on having both sets of genitals but Robin didn’t care. Power was power.

When Robin pushed the confirm button, the angel hurriedly said,

[Now that you have completed your character, We are done here.]

And with that Robin’s vision went white and she felt her body falling. After a few seconds, her vision returned and she burst out laughing. “Geeze you don’t have to be that butt hurt!”

The people nearby looked at her funny and moved a bit away. Robin ignored all of them and focused on the new messages that popped up.

[Welcome to The World Tower!]

[Ding~ You now have access to your status screen. Please look at it at your convenience]

[Ding~ Your Novice pack has been added to your inventory]

[Ding~ You have triggered the E-Ranked Quest “Beginning Adventurer”]

[Ding~ Angel’s Grace has triggered the SS-Ranked Quest “The Chosen”]

“A quest? And it's an SS-Ranked quest?! Nice! Now I really don’t mind pissing off that angel.”

Ranks and Tiers function the same way. The higher the rank the rarer it is. Getting an SS-Ranked quest at the start would garner all the envy and attention from every known play. Instead of reveling in the fact that she can make all those rich fucks green with envy, Robin set the quest aside for now and looked at her stats.

Player ID: 1250320995 “Edit”

Race: Greater Shadow Elemental

Class: None

Level: 0 (0/300)

HP: 53

MP: 160

SP: 35

Vit: 5

End: 3

Str: 4

Dex: 10

Int: 10

Spr: 15

Physical Attack Power: 4

Magical Attack Power: 10

Physical Defense: 2

Magical Defense: 5

Free Points: 0

Talent: God Hand (Pick Pocket)

Active Skills/Spells: None

Passive Skills/Spells: [Dark Vision], [Dual Wield Expert], [Stealth Mastery], [Evasion Mastery], [Assassination Mastery], [Poison Mastery]

Active effects: [S-Class Luck] [Angel’s Grace]

Robin couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Not only did she have an SSS tier talent but she also had an S-tiered Race and FOUR skill masteries. Other gamers would kill for either one of them but she has them all! The skills she has synergized as well. Her build was already set in stone. A Thief/Assassin build! Thanks to her Race, her starting stats are amazing. She thought back to her first character and how none of the stats passed 5 but now she has three of them at 10 or more.

“No wonder those rich assholes pulled away from everyone so fast.” Robin couldn’t help but scowl. She then checked out the Active effects and found that she only had 50 mins remaining on her Angel's Grace.

“Shit, I have to hurry up! I can’t leave money on the table!”

Next, Robin opened the inventory. A grid-style window popped up with 5 rows and 6 columns of boxes. In the first box was a crate labeled [Novice pack] which Robin clicked to open.

[Ding~ Acquired a set of Novice clothes, a wooden dagger, a wooden short sword, a wooden shield, a wooden staff, an E-Tier health potion, and 10 copper coins]

This was the normal gear all players would receive when starting the game. Robin only equipped the wooden dagger and left the rest of the items in her inventory. She instead looked at the SS-Rank quest she received.

[Quest - The Chosen: Those who have the mark of the angel are permitted to walk the path of Justice. But first one must prove themselves in the face of insurmountable odds.

Objective: Visit the nearby Holy Ring church and report to one of the priests]

“Simple enough. I just need to find the church, which should be in the middle of the town since that's where players respawn at. But first I should get geared up.”

Knowing that time was running out, Robin sprinted to the nearest weapons shop using the map function on her menu screen. She again ignored all the weird looks she attracted. They don’t matter enough for her to care. When she made it to the weapons shop, only 2 mins passed. After a short greeting with the nice store clerk, Robin sold all but her wooden dagger. Including the health potion. This gained her 40 copper coins. Adding the 10 she already had, her total is now 50 cp (copper coins). Just enough to buy a weak iron dagger.

[Iron Dagger (Common)

Equip Requirements: 3 str, 8 dex

Attack Power: +5

AP scale: Dex(E)]

“Alright for now but I’ll have to upgrade as soon as possible.” Robin said as she rushed out of the weapons shop. Her next destination was the Holy Ring Church. It wasn’t that far from the weapons shop so it only took another 3 mins to get there. Luckily she didn’t even have to go into the church as the priest was standing outside of the church. Unfortunately, he was talking with a group of people. Namely a group of players.

“Gentlemen, gentleman, please. One at a time.” Robing heard the priest yell. The players however either didn’t hear or ignored him.

“Hey Old man I know you got a quest! Don’t hold out! Cough it up!”

“Yeah, We got shit to do! Give us the quest so we can leave!”

“Hey, would everyone shut the hell up! I can’t hear the priest!”

“Who the hell are you talking to like that? Also, I was in front of you. How am I behind you now? Did you cut in line!?”

“Who cut in line? You got to get to the back right now!”

“Join the BrilliantFinger Guild for a monthly income of $2000!”

On and on it went until the priest got fed up and walked back into the church. The mob of players was trying to follow him but a light curtain blocked them from entering. No matter how much they banged, and kicked the light curtain it wouldn’t let them in.

“You see what you did!”

“Me? This is your fault! You shitty Neko trash!”

“Trash!? Nekos are life! You take that back!” blah blah blah

Robin didn’t care about their nonsense. She had nearly 40 mins before her Angel Grace luck ran out and she didn’t want to waste it on listening to a bunch of idiots. Robin walked up to the mob of people and slipped past them. She prayed that the [Angel’s Grace] had a hidden feature for these types of situations and luckily it did. Where the other irate players were blocked, Robin walked through the light curtains as though they weren’t there.

“Ho-How did she get past the barrier?!”

“Hey, he’s right! How did she get through??”

“Aye Lady teach us how to get through?!?”

“How do you know she’s a she? Rule number 1 of playing online games. Everyone is a guy until proven otherwise.”

“Shut up idiot. That doesn’t make sense.”

“The CrimsonFang Guild offers a great dental package. Join Now!”

While they went back to bickering, Robin threw the open doors into the church.

Thegreatlionfish

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