The Will Of The World Tree

Chapter 11 Players

In front of Carl appeared a holy goddess shrouded in a gentle, radiant glow.

She wore an elegant and resplendent divine gown; her silver hair cascaded down to her waist, and her violet eyes shimmered with a blend of mystery and wisdom that commanded an instinctive urge to worship. She was so dignified and beautiful that Carl struggled to find words to describe her; he felt that all the beauty in the world couldn't capture even a fraction of her grace.

He stared blankly, completely forgetting his live-stream commentary for a moment.

As the gentle power washed over him, Carl felt a warm sensation throughout his body. Then, the Goddess's solemn and sacred voice rang out once more:

"I am the World Tree who governs Nature, Life, and the Elves. I am the Ancient Goddess—Eve Iggdrasil."

"Brave Chosen One, welcome to the world of swords and magic."

The voice was melodious yet carried a divinity that made any thought of profanity impossible. Carl swallowed hard, his mind left with only one thought:

Holy sh*t! This model and these special effects are insane!

It wasn't that he hadn't seen beautiful NPC models before, but he had never seen one so "rule-breakingly"

Gorgeous, complete with built-in "beautification" and divine lighting.

Meanwhile, the live-stream chat had long since been buried under a mountain of comments...

"Holy crap!"

"As expected... for a fantasy game, a goddess character is a standard feature!"

Indeed, this Goddess was the personified image Eve had adopted after gaining an avatar. To receive the players and leave her mark upon them, Eve had specifically used her Divine Power to create an introductory guidance program based on her human form, modeled after her own holy statue.

Every player entering the game would undergo this process of receiving the Goddess's blessing—it was a core part of the game system.

"Brave Chosen One, to better help you adapt to this world, I shall grant you power of your own."

The Goddess's ethereal voice sounded again. She pointed gently toward Carl, and a system window appeared before him.

[Please choose your Class System:][Combat Path]/[Spellcasting Path]

Carl rubbed his chin. Before entering the game, he had read the lore on the official website. He knew that the class system was divided into these two major categories. At Level 10, players could specialize further into roles like Warrior, Archer, or Mage.

Which one should I pick?

Carl fell into deep thought. Meanwhile, the live-stream chat erupted into an argument.

"Combat! Definitely Combat! Elves have high agility; you can go Assassin or Archer later!"

"Go Magic! It's VR; if you don't experience magic, are you really going to just swing a sword?"

"You're wrong! In VR, hacking people has 'texture'!"

"If you want texture, just go outside!"

"Would you dare hack someone in real life?"

After a moment's thought, he clicked on [Spellcasting Path]. Magic just seemed more interesting.

"Chosen One, you have chosen the Spellcasting Path. I shall bestow my blessing upon you and randomly grant you two magical skills."

Following the ethereal voice, the beautiful Goddess pointed her finger at Carl. Having inherited the knowledge of the World Tree, Eve possessed a reasonably complete professional system; picking out a few low-level skills for players was child's play.

Instantly, Carl felt a warm, soft power surge into his body. His five senses seemed to undergo a subtle shift. He checked his system status bar again.

Name: Carl

Race: Elf

Class: Spellcaster

Level: 1 (Apprentice)

EXP: 0/100

HP: 50/50

MP: 100/100

Stats: Constitution (5), Strength (5), Agility (5), Magic (10)

Skills: Cure Light Wounds, Entangling Vines

"The magic-related stats got a buff!" Carl was delighted.

"Chosen One, you have received my blessing. Take your equipment and embark on your journey!"

As the Goddess spoke, Carl's body glowed. A set of coarse robes appeared on him, a wooden staff appeared in his hand, and a wooden dagger was fastened to his waist.

[You have obtained: Coarse Linen Robes (White)]

[You have obtained: Crude Wooden Staff (White)]

[You have obtained: Rough Darkwood Dagger (White)]

This was the starter gear Eve had prepared, fashioned from forest wood and flax. These were mass-produced standard-issue items—a small gift for the players. Of course, this was her limit and her heart would ache over the Divine Power spent. Making 300 sets had cost her exactly 0.1 Divine Power.

Following the blessing, the scene before Carl changed again. A blinding light flashed by, and he instinctively closed his eyes. He felt as if he were breaking through a barrier, much like a hatchling waking and emerging from an eggshell. His senses became sharper and sharper.

Fresh air hit his face, and the distant chirping of birds filled his ears. Carl slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a completely different world.

Massive branches, the ancient and magnificent Temple of Nature, and distant, majestic mountains... up close, there were nearly 300 elves, each with a unique appearance. Standing on a branch of the World Tree and looking down at the tiny, dense forest far below, Carl went silent.

"Holy crap! This has 100% true-to-life graphics!"

"This game is going to be a hit! The scenery is breathtaking!"

"Spellcasters get robes and staves—do Combat classes get wooden armor and swords?"

"Add me! I'm 'Demacia'! I'm in the game too!"

The chat was exploding. After a long silence, Carl's voice trembled slightly, and a glint of moisture appeared in his eyes.

"Damn it..."

"I..."

Seeing Carl on the verge of tears, the chat was stunned.

"No way? He's crying from being moved?"

"Must be an in-game expression feature..."

"The tears are so realistic!"

"Is the immersion really this strong?"

He stole a careful glance at his feet, sucked in a breath of cold air, and quickly looked up, rubbing his chest as he explained:

"No, it's... I'm a bit afraid of heights..."

For a moment, the chat went silent.

"What did he just say? He spoke too fast, I didn't catch it..."

"Yeah, way too fast. It sounded like he was on fast-forward..."

"Did you guys just notice?"

"Fast-forward...?"

"Holy crap! Is it really Mind-Acceleration?"

"So it's true that one hour in-game is fifteen minutes in reality?"

"Where's that guy who said he'd eat sh*t!"*

What's the most frustrating thing about gaming?

It's when you've barely started playing, barely felt like any time has passed, yet hours have flown by, and it's time to log off.

Time is always the enemy of gamers.

Though it's just one hour in real life, with accelerated thinking, it feels like four hours in-game!

At this very moment, all the lucky players participating in the beta test are filled with wonder and excitement.

Three hundred uniquely shaped spirits, thrilled beyond words, explore and study this unfamiliar world in their own ways...

Some stand in open spaces, gazing at distant vistas, exclaiming in awe, "So high! So beautiful!"

Others swung their arms, feeling gravity indistinguishable from reality, their expressions filled with astonishment...

Still others pinched their cheeks, exclaiming, "It feels so real!"

Of course, some reactions were less than normal.

One guy with an afro even started stripping n***d in public.

However, some areas of his body were obscured by golden light, leaving nothing visible.

Turns out it was an all-ages game after all—some couldn't help but feel disappointed.