A New World, an immersive game experience

'Dryads.' Erik thought, he didn't have much of a reason for choosing this race. Simply wanting to play something different. This race was one of the most different races possible to choose, especially when looking at appearances.

[Dryad]

[Dryads, a type of tree spirit. Dryads have a great connection to nature and their goddess, Asteria < Attribute bonuses: 10 Spirit, 5 Agility, 5 Intellegence>]

[Dryads are creatures born from trees, often classified along with other fae races. They resemble humans greatly, seemingly almost human if not for their slight differences. Dryads are generally a peaceful and loving race -reclusive to their forests. When their place of birth is threatened they will do all they can to find revenge, changing into an unrecognizable species.]

[They have an exceptional affinity to nature magic and divine magic, bestowed by their goddess. Due to this, they are incapable of using dark and fire magic, as well as evil magics. <Nature magic bonus: 35%; Divine Nature or Divine Light magic: bonus 25%; Earth/Light/Water/Air elemental magic: bonus 12%>]

[Dryads gain no affinity bonus with any items, being the epitome of natural creatures, to compensate this their chosen field of magic -of those they gain a bonus in- will gain an additional 2,5% affinity bonus per Tier.]

"User has chosen the Dryad race. Beware that it will take time to get used to the differences between your IRL-body and IG-body."

"Please alter your avatar's appearance."

As soon as the system voice disappeared a mirror appeared in front of Erik.

"Oh fuck! Is this really me" Erik asked, running his fingers over the mirror. Unable to comprehend how he could change so much, so quickly.

'When did I transform?' Looking at his greenish hands which were against the mirror, Erik felt lost. He remembered that his body had been normal, at least he could remember that his skin had been white before.

The green of his skin was a soft lime shade of green. Erik found that he actually looked good, especially as he looked at his body as a whole. His ears were elongated and pointy. Very pointy. Luckily his ears seemed to rest close to his head, allowing it to blend in with his changed hair.

Lifting his hands Erik found that his ears felt normal. His hair didn't. It was a mix of a darker green color and light brown. Moving his hands through his hair, Erik found that the brown parts were hard, yet soft. It was strange, like gelled hair. As soon as he broke the hardness the hair seemed to go soft. After a few seconds it became hard again. The green parts of his hair, on the other hand, felt smooth and silky. Giving his hair a strange contrast as he moved his hands through them.

Bringing his hands down he realized that his nails were also different. Focusing on them he found that they looked like his brown hair, yet quickly he found that his nails seem to be hard. Very hard.

'This is going to take time to get used to.' Erik thought, finding it strange that he could actually be in such a different body. Yet he still managed to use it, without any noticeable problems.

After a few seconds, Erik asked himself, 'How do I change my appearance again?' Trying to recall how Eldrian had explained it. Most of the information slipped his mind after he saw his appearance.

Trying to remember, he continued to check himself out. Quickly finding that he had several druidic tattoos covering his arms. These tattoos were of a raker green shade, making them hard to notice at first.

Curious he took off the shirt he was wearing, finding that the rest of his body also had these tattoos. Wondering to where this extended he continued to undress. Finding that it covered him everywhere. Some parts were covered in smaller tattoos, but the tattoos were there. Even where he had hoped they wouldn't be.

Having completely checked himself out and having spent a few more minutes in silence to come to grasp on his new appearance, Erik finally remembered how he could alter his appearance. He was quite embarrassed that such a simple method had slipped his mind, luckily no one was here to witness it.

Feeling his cheeks heat up Erik did the first thing he was to do, check his affinity. Eldrian had told him to try and keep it over 95%. Saying that it seemed to be an important fact for later.

Calling randomly to the system, Erik managed to get a reply on the first attempt. Yet this calling out to a system felt strange, giving him a feeling that he was never alone. He didn't like this feeling, as it meant he could easily be spied on.

[IRL body to Avatar Affinity: 95.68%]

'Well, I guess it is so low due to the extreme differences between my real body and this one.' Erik took a moment to figure out what he wanted to change. Truthfully he was quite happy with his look, the sharp green eyes and natural look of his hair made him look. Well, natural.

After playing around a bit, Erik only changed a little. He made his eyes a bit bigger, his hair a bit longer and his ears a bit shorter, keeping the sharp-pointed look. It fit well with his hair.

These changes had nearly no effect on his affinity, leaving him at 95.62%.

"I really like this look. But it will take some time to get used to my hair and all the tattoos." Erik said, moving his hand through his hair again, his hands moving jarring through it.

He also looked at the tattoos on his arms, wondering why they were there. More importantly, why he couldn't change them. He had tried to remove some of the tattoos. After spending ten minutes trying, he simply gave up.

Finally, he told the system that he was done.

"User has unlocked a hidden condition. Having an affinity of 95% or more with your avatar. Due to this, actions in-game will give user a bleed effect, causing your muscles to exercise unconsciously." The system voice said. Following which came the caution about gaming time, linked to the bleed effect. After which it asked him for his IG name.

"Faust" Erik said, it was the only name he really ever used when playing games. It came from a book he had read long ago. Faust was one of the main character's best friends and a funny wizard. The name simply stuck with him throughout his years.

As Erik was waiting to be teleported into the world he actually got another question from the system. Something which the first wave of players hadn't been asked.

"Which empire do you wish to join?"

"Wait what? How am I supposed to know any of them?"

"Does user wish to join a random empire?" The system asked, seemingly replying to Erik's question.

"No!" Erik shouted quickly. Scared that the system could interpret his question.

After getting over the shock he started racking his brain, trying to remember in which empire Eldrian was. It would be much easier for them to game together if they were nearer to each other.

After five minutes Erik almost gave up, but he determined that this was important enough to even not join the game today. So taking some more time he tried to recall it.

After around 20 minutes and just as he wanted to call quits, he finally remembered. Eldrian had told him that when they had first met.

"I want to join Floria."

"User has chosen to join the empire Floria, a random kingdom will now be chosen."

'Well, that makes it far less effective.' Erik mumbled as he was enveloped in a white-green light. He knew a few things about the game, and one was that an empire was simply massive. Joining a random kingdom meant they would likely be thousands of kilometers from each other.

He had hoped he would be asked which kingdom he wanted to join after answering the first question. It would have been an amazing thing if he could join Eldrian right from the start, yet the game developers seemingly didn't want people to join together. At least people from the same timezone were all closer to each other.

'Wait how does that work? What if I chose an Empire outside of my timezone.' Erik was curious when he thought of this. Due to how the time worked there was a twelve-hour shift between the game and reality. Erik now realized that this would only be true within a certain area of the game.

'That is something that will be a problem later in the game.'

As Erik had this thought the white-green light started dispersing. Soon he heard a few voices talking.

"Been a while since we last got a Chosen. Not just a resurrection, but an actual new one." A female voice spoke softly, yet the quietness of the temple made the sound travel to Erik's ears.

"True, and what a handsome Dryad. I wonder if he likes men." Erik heard a male voice, the question causing him to flinch. His vision was still obstructed, making it impossible to try and remove himself from these two.

"Really, that is the first thing you think of? We are a temple for the goddess of life."

"So, she would approve. Wouldn't she."

The female's voice grew in volume as she spoke, "Why on earth would she. She is the goddess of fertility and life. Men on men action does not support this, not any of her divinities!"

"What about love?"

"Love, what love?"