[Welcome to the world of Apex Ascension.]
Veyne found himself in the white room in front of the blob of golden light. It was the projection of the central AI that controlled everything in the game. It was kind of bland, but who cares?
Though there was speculation in his past life that a selected few players could see the true form of AI behind the glow, but there was no proof to it.
At this moment, a blue window popped up in front of him.
[Please confirm your name.
Current name: Vayne
(Continue/Change)
]
Veyne rubbed his forehead.
In the past, he was obsessed with keeping his in-game avatar as close to his original self as possible, and it had bitten him many times.
He just said, "Change name."
[Enter your new name: ___________]
Veyne thought for some time. Many popular names came to his mind, but he did not want to copy others.
He thought for a long time, choosing many names and then canceling them. After racking his brain for a full 10 minutes, he said, "Forsyx."
He liked the sound of it. As for the meaning, it was a combination of Formless and Styx—Styx to remind him of the past and Formless for his class.
Then, Forsyx on its own was closer to Forsyth, which meant 'man of peace.' His name would be the opposite of that.
The more he kept thinking about this name, the more he got attracted to it. It might not be that cool, but out of every name that came to his mind, Veyne resonated more with Forsyx.
"Yeah, let's go with Forsyx."
[Forsyx…checking availability… The name Forsyx is available to use. Do you want to choose 'Forsyx'? (Yes/No)]
He sighed, thankful he did not have to think more. The name availability was another reason he went with the meaningless word. Otherwise, it would take a long time to find a good, unique name that 500 million before him had not taken.
He nodded and said, "Yes."
Ding!
[New user Forsyx registered.]
[Body model detected for biometrics… Character creation in progress.]
The next moment, a mirror appeared in front of him, and he saw his real-life naked self reflected there.
Since this was not his first time, the creation of his body model was hassle-free for him; otherwise, he would have had to scan his whole body part by part.
Though game pods had no such hassle, including better sensitivity synchronization, it was another reason game pods were more popular than headsets.
He shook his head and stared at himself.
It looked just like the actual reflection that he had seen in the morning.
Now, there was a 15% filter limit to character customization so that every in-game character reflected a player's real self.
It was just a marginal cosmetic change, though many people use it to become thinner or enhance their looks.
It was especially popular among the female player base, but Veyne was not into those things.
He just changed his pupil's color to green and his hair color to dark brown.
It was kind of simple, but he loved this simplicity. He took a last look at his character and then entered the finish button.
The next moment, the mirror started moving toward him, and soon he passed through it like it was some sort of illusion.
Although he felt no difference, when he checked his hair color, it was dark brown, just like he had chosen.
Ding!
[Character creation finalized… Class selection… Class detected.]
[Player: Forsyx.
Class: Template Wilder (Locked)
]
[Server selection in process… The system assigned you to the 6th server based on Player Forsyx's real-world location. Please select the starting kingdom and village.]
Well, there was no change to the server.
The screen shifted in front of him, and an entire map of the 6th server appeared.
He just tapped at the bottom edge and picked the Rowali Kingdom. Once he tapped on the Rowali Kingdom, the map shifted, and the Rowali Kingdom occupied the entire screen.
Throughout the kingdom, multiple small villages lit up—these were the beginner villages for new players.
He slowly scanned the map, and there he found, on the north edge, the city the Kiyon Guild controlled.
It was grey, but there were multiple villages around this city.
What was more interesting was that all these villages were shining in different colors based on the population of players in them.
The green ones had the least number of players, and the red ones had the most.
After looking at the names, he chose the green Blackwater Village. The village with black in their name was kind of famous in his past life, as these villages followed a similar theme.
If things went according to the plan, it could provide him with the enormous opportunity he was looking for.
A confirmation popped up in front of him.
[Player Forsyx, are you sure you want to choose Blackwater Village?]
He tapped on Yes, and his player interface popped up in front of him.
[Name: Forsyx
Class: Template Wilder (locked)
Species: nil (locked)
Faction:???? (locked)
Server: 6th (assigned)
Location: Blackwater Village (selected)
Current active players: 302,432,901 / 563,231,403.
]
The golden blob hovered around him. "I wish you good luck, Player Forsyx. Hope you survive in the world of Apex."
Veyne… No, Forsyx smiled at the message. It differed from 'Have fun exploring the world of Apex.'
He had never paid attention to these details in his last life, but this time, even the AI sounded ominous. He just shook his head as the bright light engulfed him.
…
The next moment, Forsyx found himself standing in the center of a destroyed battlefield littered with hundreds of corpses.
He stood there, stunned.
Boom!
Before he could react, a loud, ear-numbing sound erupted from the center of the battlefield.
There, at the heart of the chaos, he saw multiple creatures from different races all rushing toward a giant behemoth monster.
Before he had time to make sense of the scene, he met the creature's gaze.
It was like time stopped for him.
Even amid the battle itself, that creature was staring at him.
Then, all of them collided. He only saw a dust cloud rise, and in the next second, the shockwave from the battle obliterated everything—including him.
The next moment, Forsyx opened his eyes in the center of the plaza in Blackwater Village, gasping for air.