At the rise of the millennia, video games gradually became a greater source of entertainment for people. What started as something that one would be embarrassed to claim to play has grown into a form of media that any kind of person can enjoy. This was due to the large variety of games that are available to be played. Action, Adventure, Casual, Simulation, Role-Playing, Strategy, and more were the genres of games available. Whether they were played alone or with others, video games were an escape for a great many people. And of course, as with all escapes, people always liked to dream bigger.

  Many stories had been told through the medium of video games, where the player was the hero or even the villain. Role-Playing games are the largest example of this form of fulfilling one’s dreams, as you can be nearly anything. Despite this, and the innate desire to play with other people, MMORPGs were not as popular as they used to be. Whether it be because of everyone eventually reaching the same end point, to there being nothing truly unique from player to player. People have long since held onto the hope that one day there would be a MMO that would truly be an evolving world. And, one day, a company claimed to be doing just that.

  The Kaleidoscope Initiative first started to be spoken of on gaming forums. The posters spoke of how this new company was formed and seeking to revolutionize the MMORPG genre. Chronicles of Souls was the name of this mystery game, and all these forum posts spoke highly of it. Of how it would make a truly dynamic world for the players to enjoy, while still maintaining the quality expected of games in the modern day. This was, as expected, met with a large deal of skepticism. Many companies had made such claims before, and it always turned out to be nothing more than a scam to make some quick money. Still, there were those who believed the rumors that these forum posts were putting out there. Questions were asked and answered, and soon private messages were received. These were invitations to participate in the Alpha test version of the game. Eleven thousand invitations were sent out to those inquisitive, and hopeful, enough to believe that this game could come true. And for ten thousand of them, a game was all it would be. For the other one thousand, their lives would change forever.

  “Alright, just a little bit higher and… there the cheeks are done.”

  Letting out an exhale, a young woman sat back in her chair and away from the computer screen. Displayed on said screen was a fully rendered 3D model of a person. What had started out as a blank canvas was now a fully realized person. And the one who created it, a young woman named Aurora, looked at it with satisfaction. She had spent a long time creating her character, but the result was worth it. After all, the character would be the one she used in Chronicles of Souls.

  “The invite did say that the characters had to be realistic ones, and that we could always upload pictures of ourselves and modify it from there. But as much as I trust all of this, there is no way I am uploading a picture of myself.”

  Muttering to herself, she took in the features of what was to be her character. While not a vain woman, other people told her she looked good. Using herself as the base for this game just made sense. And with this being a game, making the ideal version of herself was easy. The lack of options to add blemishes and the like made it even simpler. The game was in Alpha, not everything should be available. It was honestly a bit of a relief as well. Her own skin was pale enough that she fried easily in the sun, and she had plenty of little marks and scars that she wasn’t attached to. Sure, there was the occasional memorable scar or even birthmark, but this was just for a game. Without that to worry about, she set about making some more general improvements.

  The first thing that she ended up changing was her height, mainly because it was something she wished could be changed for real. At only five feet two inches tall, she was often considered a shrimp when growing up. From girls teasing her and calling her childlike to guys treating her too delicately, she had heard it all. Even puberty and going to the gym so she could have a decent physique hadn’t stopped the teasing. She did eventually get over it, growing up did that, and more than once her being shorter had been advantageous.

  But this was going to be a fantasy game, so she was going to fulfill her fantasy of being taller. Sure, there was a greater chance of burning buildings having people that needed saving. The world supposedly being dynamic, meant that trolls would be aplenty. Being five foot seven wouldn’t be too big of an issue. Heck, with how often she had to do that in her day-to-day life she’d probably just avoid such quests if they came up. Even if doing so would go against what she was planning to build her character as.

  With her height being changed, some balancing needed to be done. Widening the hips to not look like a stick. Adding a bit more to her backside and chest just to balance things out. With how in-depth the customization was when it came to those, she wouldn’t be shocked if the game ended up being rated M or higher. Western video games were starting to be less prudish, but the details you were able to go with seemed like something from an adult mod of a video game. Not spending too much time on such settings, her character ended up curvier than she was herself. Not to any exaggerated degree, as playing a character like that didn’t appeal to her. She was sure that there would be female characters with exaggerated proportions in the game. For as realistic as they were told to make the characters, she knew that some people would try to push the envelope.

  Height and body proportions aside, the head was where most of her work had really gone. The hair was the same as her own, a dirty blonde color that went to the shoulders. She did at least stylize it differently, giving her character a high ponytail. Going with longer hair had been an option and one she considered for a while. But in the end, she decided against it as it wouldn’t fit with what she intended to play this character as. To not be too stereotypical, rather than going with bright blue eyes she went with a darker hazel shade. Sharpening her features a little bit, she kept the overall facial appearance from becoming too much like a model on a magazine cover.

  “Even then, though, this level of detail is really impressive. Only in modded games do you tend to get to this level of character customization. I’m sure I won’t be the only person in the game to make an attractive character though. Heck, I’m betting a lot of the other girl players will just be guys who wanted to have an attractive character to look at while they play.”

  Chuckling a little to herself, Aurora stifled a yawn as she stretched and looked at the time on her computer. 10:37pm was what it said in the lower right-hand corner, meaning she still had about thirty minutes to finish up. She would have been done sooner, but real-life responsibilities did come first. She had just gotten off her twelve-hour shift at the fire station and was exhausted. But the invitation to play said that everything needed to be submitted by 11:00pm tonight, otherwise the invitation would be redacted. And she was far too excited about the possibility of a truly open world dynamic game to let a little something like exhaustion get her down.

  Having worked dreaded twenty-four-hour shifts and pulling all-nighters back in college to get her degree, pushing on to complete her character was easy. And then, then she could go to bed. She was fine with missing the opening couple of hours of the game’s alpha if it even became accessible right at 11. But it would probably be a while after. Given the rumors of how many people were participating in the alpha test, she was sure that it would take some time for all the characters to be approved.

  Musing in her own thoughts for a couple of minutes, she moved on to the next part of the character builder and frowned in disappointment. Race Selector was the name for this next section, but there was a notice on the page:

  Character Races will not be immediately implemented when the Alpha goes live. All races shown here are not the extent to what will be made available. Any choice made at this time may be subject to change when the ‘Race’ feature is implemented.

  While that was a little disappointing, she could understand why that was the case. The number of races listed on the page were vast, covering almost everything that a fantasy game could offer. There were even some races that looked more science fiction than fantasy. More than that, just selecting a race shifted the charactar she created, giving a preview of what the changes could look like. There was a desire to play with seeing what her creation would look like as some of the more outlandish races like a goblin or a centaur. But being so short on time that wasn’t possible. After a little bit of searching, she found the one she wanted: Angel.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The character model changed instantly, a pair of fluffy white wings sprouting out of her back. Her skin grew a little paler, and her hair became a more vibrant blonde. Further adjustment of the character model was possible with race in mind, but that wasn’t necessary. Not only was she short on time, but the ‘Races’ feature wasn’t even going to be available right away. If given the chance when it was implemented to make some changes, then she would do so. For now, she kept the default Angel changes and moved onto the next section.

  This was where the RPG elements truly came into play. A character status screen appeared with a small description at the top of it:

  In Chronicles of Souls, all characters will begin at Level 1. At level 1, all characters will have a base stat total of one hundred, not accounting for racial bonuses (To Be Implemented). The lowest a stat can be at the beginning is five, while the highest is twenty-five. Five additional stat points will be granted each level, to be distributed as desired.

  The explanation was self-explanatory, if a little concerning. While there was no mention of the level cap, that could just be due to the developers not expecting anybody to reach it over the course of the alpha test. The restrictions on the starting stats were a little annoying, but also understandable. There had been an anime released recently around that concept, and people would try to break games in similar ways. This was supposed to be a highly immersive game with a dynamic world, so breaking it would have caused issues. It still would probably happen in the alpha test, but they were heading some things off right away.

  Looking to the clock on her computer, it read 10:46pm. Time was running short at this point, so she buckled down to act a little more quickly. There were seven stats in the game, only six of which could have points put into them. Each of them even had their own descriptions:

  HP: Your health in Chronicles of Souls. Should this reach zero, you will die. All things start with 100 HP. For every level, your current VIT level will be added to your maximum HP. Permanent HP reductions can occur under various circumstances.

  MP: Your energy source in Chronicles of Souls. Representing mana, this stat can be changed depending on the innate skills chosen in the next section. Should this reach 0, a debuff will be applied reducing ATU until MP is restored. Restoration rate is equal to 10% of your total ATU per hour, before passive effects.

  STR: A measure of your strength. This dictates how much raw power you can put behind attacks and how much you can physically move. A higher STR will lead to you doing more damage with weapons using raw force.

  VIT: A measure of your vitality. This stat dictates your personal durability, how much damage you can take, and your overall health. This stat will be added to your HP at every level up.

  AGI: A measure of your agility. This stat dictates how fast you can move your body, your physical flexibility, and your natural reflexes. A higher AGI will allow one to move quicker, potentially getting the jump on foes.

  DEX: A measure of your dexterity. This stat dictates your precision, motor control, and balance. It can also be used to apply more precise force to your attacks. A higher DEX will allow you to easily exploit a foe’s weak point.

  ATU: A measure of your attunement to the world. This stat dictates your connection to the natural forces of the world and your own mind. This stat also determines the strength of your magic (or replacement for it), skills that use mana (or replacement for it), and your MP (or replacement for it) regeneration rate. A high ATU will allow one to cast spells of great power or use skills with no end.

  The added description for everything helped and made some interesting implications. She could already imagine the various ways that the game would be able to be played, all the various character builds that could be possible. She didn’t spend too much time dwelling on them and instead thought over what her own build would be. In previous RPG games she played, she liked to play a paladin build. Being able to fight on the front lines, heal, and use magic to fight was her bread and butter. Replicating that with what was available would be tight, but the stat distribution she had in mind could be viable. Other factors would be at play in the end, but she could at least give herself a good start when things went live. Distributing her stats quickly, left her with a slightly skewed, but still decently balanced sheet:

  HP: 100/100

  MP: 20/20

  STR: 25

  VIT: 20

  AGI: 5

  DEX: 5

  ATU: 25

  Building herself this way did have the potential of meaning she would lag in a fast-paced fight. But rounding up her lower stats up later was possible, if there wasn’t another way to increase them. Otherwise, her character’s stats were nicely split between her physical toughness for the front line. And mystical might for healing and otherwise. Satisfied with her choice, she moved on to the penultimate screen, her clock read 10:52pm.

  This screen was another long list, and like the past two there was a notice at the top:

  In Chronicles of Souls, all beings have an innate skill randomly decided. For the purpose of this alpha test, all players may choose two. Innate skills are not exclusive to one person and may be held by multiple people.

  Even with the notice saying that, the sheer number of skills on display was mind boggling. There were classics like “Lesser Regeneration”, “Skill Connect”, “Solo Player”, etc. If she had more time, then looking through the list for synergies would have been done. Sadly, her time was limited so speed was of the essence. While this was an alpha test of the game, she didn’t know how fast progression would be. And with her possibly getting a late start if the servers went up shortly after character submissions were finished, or if they stayed up for a while, then her being behind was an issue. She didn’t want to finally log onto the world, only to be trolled by someone who could cast enough magic to be a nuisance to her. So, after a little bit of searching she found her first skill choice:

  Magic Resistance (Lvl 1/10). Spells of this skill’s level or lower than you are less effective. Spells higher than this skill’s level have a chance to be less effective.

  It was not the most comprehensive protection, but it could cover her both in the early and long term for the alpha. The other skill she wanted to try and find was a little more difficult, and stemmed from what she had read about the HP stat. It mentioned how it could permanently be reduced, and she had a feeling that there were numerous ways that could happen in a ‘dynamic’ world like the game was supposed to be. Crippling injuries, status conditions, all sorts of stuff could happen that lowered it. So, she was looking for something to prevent that from happening, eventually finding something that sounded like it would do the job:

  Natural Body (Lvl 1/10). Your body naturally resists things that would cause it disruption. Injuries, effects, and conditions will not impact your performance. You will still feel them, but not be as hampered by them.

  In the end, that would have to do. She probably could have found something a better if there was more time, but her clock was read 10:58pm. With her character’s two skills picked, she went to the next, and final, screen. A summary of all her choices appeared before her. It showed her character at its base, not in that angelic glory that she hoped would be available in the future. It showed her character sheet and the innate skills she had chosen. There was only one space left blank still to be filled out, something she had ignored back when she was crafting the appearance of her character, the name.

  She hadn’t ignored it for any reason, getting her character’s appearance down perfectly had been a bigger priority. Now, with the choice presented again, there was no hesitation. Ever since she got into games towards the end of high school, she had always named her custom characters one thing.

  “Aura.”

  Muttering the name as she entered it into the box, she finally clicked on the submit button with a minute to spare. Holding her breath, hoping that her internet connection would hold out and that the submission would go through. The clock ticked over to 11:01pm and breath of relief was released at the window that popped up.

  Your submission to “Chronicles of Souls” has been accepted. Your journey in a new and exciting world will begin as soon as all players have been processed.

  Collapsing back into her chair, a smile grew on her face as she looked at the confirmation screen. The smile was soon overtaken by a yawn, leading her to stretch as exhaustion started to hit.

  “Okay, that is enough of that for tonight. Time to wash up and get to bed. I’ll enjoy this all on my day off.”

  Minimizing the screen, she put her computer to sleep and pushed away from her desk. Standing and stretching, she left to her bathroom to wash up for a bit. The day had been long, and with her application successful it was time to crash. Unbeknownst to her, her computer woke up shortly after she left it. The screen for the game shone brightly in the dark room. Instead of the confirmation message, an intricate golden pattern in a circle was starting to form. Sparks of electricity crackled off the screen, until the pattern was completed.

  On leaving the bathroom, her computer was fully in view. The golden pattern, the arcane looking circle, fully on display. Before she could react, a blinding gold light filled the room. Across the world, nine hundred and ninety-nine other people experienced the same thing. Some were asleep, while others were waiting with eager anticipation. For her, as soon as the golden light faded away her room was left empty.