I quickly stand up and look around, recognizing the place I am in instantly. It would be hard to not recognize the place where the better part of seven years were spent. But how did I get here? I swear I was just on the hospital bed, finally breathing my last.
Well, whatever. Might as well just get this part done so I can get out of here. I walk down the familiar black tunnel to where a bright light is shining. I guess the saying is true, there is always a light shining at the end of every tunnel. It was not a long walk to get to the end of the tunnel, only taking me a minute.
As I walk to the exit of the tunnel, I can't help but feel awed at the scenery before me. I have been through here multiple times, but every single time I am awed by how massive this place is.
The scenery before me is a massive battlefield. This is a war between multiple factions, all vying for victory. Looking out, I can see an entire valley filled with a three way war. On one side is a large mass of undead soldiers, on the other is an army of all types of sentients, ranging from humans to elves, and on the third side is what can only be described as a horde of monsters.
The undead mass do not have any equipment. This follows the undead ideology of quantity over quality perfectly. They would rather kit out the few high powered undead then waste equipment on cannon fodder. After all, why spend time giving something gear that you know is going to die?
The sentient army is decked out in shiny armor and most have swords and shields. Behind the shielded knights lies a group of archers and a group of mages. Unlike most tropes, the archers are mostly made up of humans and the mages are made of gnomes. Where are the elves then? That is obvious, they are the forward knights.
The horde of beasts is on a rampage, constantly killing each other to get to the front and rush to attack the other two factions. Here and there massive monsters dot the horde. A few dragons fly superior in the sky while the ground is ransacked by an unruly bunch of different creatures. There are too many different kinds of creatures to count on the ground, but some of the famous ones are two headed hellhounds, Basilisks, a few Hydra, and many many more legendary creatures.
As the scene unfolds, the three factions race to each other. Just before the start of the massive battle happens, the scene quickly changes.
Now the tunnel ends looking at a tall mountain covered in snow. The side of it is getting blown to smithereens as missiles race away from jets to impact it. Screams ring through the air, and upon further inspection, one would realize that the jets were not aiming at the mountain. No, they were aiming at what was on the mountain. Large groups of soldiers are firing at each other with guns. The two sides continue to fight and fight. Soldiers are being mowed down left in right like wheat on a harvest day.
The soldiers only stopped when a huge explosion rang out. From around the mountain, a huge nuclear explosion starts to expand towards them. The soldiers all drop their guns helplessly as the explosion evaporates the entire mountain and both armies on it. Just before the explosion reaches the mouth of the tunnel, the scene changes one more time.
This time the tunnel is in space. Two massive armadas of interstellar ships are firing on each other endlessly. Multiple ships blow up, but there are always more to replace them. One side looks like it is made of a preschool kid putting together red triangles. On the other is a group of green ships that have an oval form. Laser fire is constantly streaming through space, only stopping upon colliding with something.
Having seen enough, I quickly walk out of the tunnel.
{Ding! Are you sure you want to skip the cutscene? Y/N}
I quickly select Y and the space changes to a small stone room. There isn't anything special about this place. It is literally a hollow stone cube, completely devoid of anything inside except me. No furniture, no welcoming community, nothing.
A series of boxes pop up in the middle of my vision.
{Ding! Welcome to Limitless Expansion Online.. The only MMO...}
I quickly skip past all the notices that pop up. I've been through this many times, so everything is committed to memory. I skip through all the health waivers and forms till I get to one last box.
{Ding! Please, pick your race. ----}
The usual character selection starts. I tap on the blank space, expecting an interface to show up with the names of the available races. In this game, there are too many races that exist. If the player was allowed to pick any one that they want, there is a high chance the system would not be able to handle so many different races at once. To combat that, the game uses an interface and only shows the available races to select.
Only this time, that does not happen. Instead a small keyboard pulls up.
I sit there, well stand there, stumped for a minute. I've been through this process so many times, and this has never happened before.
I stand there for a moment, wondering what to do. Suddenly an idea pops up in my head, 'Can I pick any race I want?'
I think for a moment before I key in a race. Usually the player would only be allowed to pick a certain group of races. A joke about this had run through the community for years. "Limitless Expansion Online, where the only limit is your race!"
I type in a non-player race, Lich. The box glows a golden color for a second before another box pops up.
{Ding! Are you sure you want to be a Lich? Y/N}
I hurriedly tap on N and the second box disappears, only leaving the keyboard and the previous saying. I do not want to be only bones and hunted down by every player in my starting world.
{Ding! Please, pick your race. Lich }
I delete lich and try to think of what race to put down. In the end it doesn't really matter. After I log out of the game, I will swap back to my main character, Crimzzzon Sniper.
I laugh lightly to myself before typing in some random race off the top of my head. The race did not even exist in the games, so I am slightly curious what the game system will do. Will it make an entire new race? Or will it force me to be one of the available races?
{Ding! Are you sure you want to be a Wolfkin? Y/N}
I tap on yes and the scene changes again. Confusion settles in my mind as the character creation screen that was supposed to come up next never did. Instead I was instantly taken to my starting location, wherever that is. This time I am laying down in the middle of a forest. The trees reach far into the sky like giants trying to play with the clouds. The grass I am laying on is soft and a dark green, a feat only possible in video games and movies. The forest looks purely beautiful. I can hear a creek rolling across the creek bed a few minutes walk from where I am. It is so peaceful.
Limitless Expansion is famous for their portrayal of details. So much so that the critics critically claimed that the realism of the game to the real world reaches 99%. You could even use all five of your senses in game thanks to the newest of gaming technology. Even pain could be felt through the ingenious system of Limitless Expansion. The specifics on how it works is super confusing and I never got it all down. The gaming pods that are available basically hijack your brain and put your conscience inside of the world where the games take place. I faintly remember an article I read a long time ago that said something about reading brain waves, using vibration, sound effects, and electricity to put a person into the world.
I hear some yapping sounds from in front of me, so quickly leaning up, I look around. This is the first time I realize that I am surrounded by a pack of wolves.
There are dozens of adult wolves surrounding me. Most of them have a grayish fur coat. The yapping I heard came from a group of pups that were playing with each other. From how they stumble around on the grass, I can tell they are newborns. Much like their household relatives, these pups are blind from just being born.
The pups are play fighting with each other as they slowly approach me. I go rigid with fear at what the adults will do to me if they come any closer. I am so terrified of getting eaten that even watching one of the pups knock itself out by running into a tree does not relieve the tension.
In Limitless Expansion Online(LEO), the pain sensitivity by default is set to 10%, the minimum. Unless you are under age, then most of the senses are turned off till you become eighteen. The maximum a player could set their pain to is 50%. I always keep mine at a safe 30%. Being eaten alive hurts. Like hurts real bad. Like might drive someone insane bad. That was why the max amount of pain a person could feel was at 50%.
The fear of being eaten alive keeps me from enjoying the moment that some of the tiny little pups come up to me and sit in my lap, quickly falling asleep.
I glance up at the wolves and see that most of them are watching me with amusement. Most of the female wolves have a calm expression on their faces as they watch their pups sleeping in my lap. I do not exactly know how or why I can read their expressions, but I can. The fear quickly vanishes as a thought comes across my mind. 'I put Wolfkin as my race. Maybe the wolves are friendly?' I quickly open up my status.
[Name: Wyx Olfen][Wolfkin][Female]
(level:0)
Strength:12 Intelligence:11
Dexterity:14 Wisdom:8
Constitution:10 Charisma:15
Health:50/50(5*CON) - Stamina:50/50(5*lvl) - Mana:55/55(5*INT)
Titles:None
Racial Abilities:Pack(P), Shift(A)
Skills:
Player Abilities:Predator's Drive(P,1), Gambler(A,1)