Ren woke up to the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.
And she was laughing at him.
"Welcome to Genesis Online, Ren Yuto."
He blinked, his head pounding as he'd just survived the worst hangover in history. Everything was too bright, too colorful, too... real.
He was lying on his back in what looked like a temple made entirely of white marble and gold. Massive pillars stretched up into a sky that shifted between dawn and dusk every few seconds. Floating crystals drifted lazily through the air, humming with soft music. The whole place smelled like cherry blossoms and expensive perfume.
And standing over him was a goddess.
Literally.
She had long silver hair that flowed like water, golden eyes that glowed with their own light, and wore a dress that looked like it was woven from starlight itself. A small crown of golden leaves floated above her head, rotating slowly.
[GODDESS FORTUNA]
[OVERSEER OF GENESIS ONLINE]
[LEVEL: ∞]
"What the..." Ren sat up slowly, his head spinning. "Where... where am I?"
"I just told you. Genesis Online." Fortuna smiled, and it was the kind of smile that made you nervous. "You accepted the restoration, remember?"
"Yeah, to get my character back! Not to get kidnapped into the actual game!" Ren scrambled to his feet, looking around wildly. "Send me back! Right now!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"WHAT?!"
Fortuna waved her hand dismissively. "You clicked [YES] on the transfer agreement. All sales are final. No refunds."
"TRANSFER AGREEMENT?! IT SAID RESTORE CHARACTER!"
"Technically, it said, 'Would you like to restore your character?' And the answer is yes—you can restore your character. You just have to do it from inside the game now." She giggled, covering her mouth with one delicate hand. "It's not my fault you didn't read the fine print."
Ren's eye twitched. "There was no fine print!"
"Exactly. That should have been your first clue."
"YOU—" Ren lunged forward, but his body wouldn't move. An invisible force held him in place. "LET ME GO!"
"Temper, temper." Fortuna circled him like a shark. "You should be grateful, you know. Most people would kill for this opportunity. You get to live in the world's most advanced VRMMORPG! Experience real magic! Fight monsters! Get an infinite number of Concubines here !"
Ren froze. "...Get a what now?"
"Oh, didn't I mention?" Fortuna's smile widened. "Everything possible in the game is possible here. Including romance mechanics. Although I suppose it's a bit more... authentic now."
Ren's brain short-circuited for a moment. Actual beautiful women who wouldn't dump him for being broke.
Then reality crashed back down.
"Wait, hold up. If I'm stuck here, how do I get back to the real world?"
Fortuna's expression turned serious. "Simple. Reach level 500, acquire a Mythic-class item, and defeat one of the Twelve Demon Lords in single combat. Do that, and I'll send you home."
"That's... that's literally impossible. No one's ever beaten a Demon Lord!"
"Then I suppose you'll be here for a very long time." Fortuna's smile returned, but it had an edge to it now. "Good luck, Ren Yuto. You're going to need it."
She snapped her fingers.
"WAIT—"
The world exploded into light.
When Ren's vision cleared, he was standing in a completely white room. No floor, no ceiling, just endless white space that stretched in every direction.
And floating in front of him was a familiar blue screen.
[WELCOME TO GENESIS ONLINE]
[CREATE YOUR CHARACTER]
"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me."
Ren stared at the screen, his hands clenching into fists. Three years of grinding, gone. He was back at character creation like some level 1 noob.
"That goddess bitch..." He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Okay. Okay. Let's think about this logically."
He was trapped in Genesis Online. To get out, he needed to become powerful enough to beat a Demon Lord—something no player or guild had ever accomplished.
Which meant he needed a good class.
His hands were shaking as he reached out to touch the screen.
[BEGIN CHARACTER CREATION]
A spinning wheel appeared, filled with hundreds of class names in different colors. Common classes were grey, Uncommon were green, Rare were blue, Epic were purple, Legendary were gold, and Mythic were...
He'd only seen one Mythic class roll in his entire three years of playing. The drop rate was 0.00006%. Basically impossible.
"Alright, here we go." Ren cracked his knuckles. "Last time I got Dragon Warrior on my first try. Lightning doesn't strike twice, but..."
He closed his eyes.
"Please. Just give me something decent."
[ROLL]
The wheel spun, colors blurring together. Ren's heart pounded as it slowed, clicking past Epic, past Legendary...
It stopped on grey.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED: GARDENER]
[RANK: COMMON]
[DESCRIPTION: Skilled in growing crops and maintaining gardens. +2 to Plant Growth, +1 to Soil Quality.]
Ren stared at the screen.
Two options appeared: [REROLL] or [ACCEPT]
"Gardener." His voice was flat. "GARDENER?!"
He looked around the empty white space, searching for something to throw. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH GARDENER?! THROW TOMATOES AT DEMON LORDS?!"
His hands were shaking with rage. He jabbed the [REROLL] button so hard his finger hurt.
"One bad roll. That's fine. I've got two more chances. Just need one good—"
[ROLL]
The wheel spun again. This time, Ren watched it with laser focus, willing it to land on gold or silver.
It slowed.
Grey again.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED: POSTMAN]
[RANK: COMMON]
[DESCRIPTION: Delivers mail and packages efficiently. +3 to Running Speed, +2 to Navigation, +1 to Customer Service.]
Ren stood there for a solid ten seconds.
Then a message popped up.
[LOL]
"DID THE SYSTEM JUST LAUGH AT ME?!"
He punched the ground, which didn't actually hurt because there was no ground, just more white space, which made him even angrier.
"CUSTOMER SERVICE?! WHAT AM I GONNA DO, DELIVER PACKAGES TO THE DEMON LORDS AND POLITELY ASK THEM TO DIE?!"
He was breathing hard now, his vision blurring with rage and desperation. This was his last chance. One more roll.
One more shot at not being completely fucked.
Ren fell to his knees, pressing his forehead to the non-existent floor.
"Goddess Fortuna." His voice cracked. "I know I called you a bitch like thirty seconds ago, but I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. If you give me something decent, anything, I don't even need Mythic, just give me something I can work with, I will build you a shrine. I will praise you every single day. I will tell everyone how amazing and beautiful and merciful you are."
Silence.
"Goddess pleaaaaaase, I need thisssss, I'm kinda homeless."
More silence.
Then, quietly: "I'll even include you in my harem plans."
[ROLL]
The wheel started spinning on its own.
Ren looked up, tears streaming down his face. The wheel was spinning faster than before—way faster. The colors blurred together into a rainbow that hurt to look at.
Then the entire white room started glowing.
Not just glowing—radiating brilliant light like a thousand diamonds catching the sun at the same time. The wheel spun faster and faster, the light growing brighter and brighter until Ren had to shield his eyes.
"What the hell is happening?!"
The wheel slowed.
Click.
Click.
Click.
It landed on a color Ren had never seen before—pure prismatic light that shifted through every color imaginable.
[YOU HAVE OBTAINED: DISCIPLE OF FORTUNE]
[RANK: SSS (MYTHIC)]
[DROP RATE: 0.00006%]
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED A LEGENDARY CLASS!]
Ren's jaw dropped.
"HOLY SHIT!!!!!"
"I... I..."
[ACCEPT] [REROLL]
"I LOVE YOU, GODDESS!" Ren screamed at the sky, tears of joy now. "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! YOU'RE THE BEST! THE MOST BEAUTIFUL! THE MOST AMAZING! I WILL BUILD YOU TEN SHRINES! A HUNDRED SHRINES!"
He slammed the [ACCEPT] button before the system could take it back.
[CHARACTER CREATED]
[CLASS: DISCIPLE OF FORTUNE]
[LOADING STATUS WINDOW...]
A new window appeared, displaying his stats.
[NAME: REN YUTO]
[LEVEL: 1]
[CLASS: DISCIPLE OF FORTUNE (SSS)]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 150/150]
[STATS]
[STR: 5]
[DEX: 7]
[INT: 8]
[WIS: 6]
[LUCK: 99]
"Luck... 99?" Ren blinked. "The cap is supposed to be 50 for starting characters. What the hell?"
He scrolled down to the skills section.
[CLASS SKILLS]
[FORTUNE'S FAVOR (PASSIVE): Your luck stat affects all actions. Critical hit rate, drop rate, quest rewards, and random events are dramatically increased. The world bends in your favor.]
[PROBABILITY MANIPULATION (ACTIVE): Once per day, you can force a 1% chance event to succeed. Cooldown: 24 hours.]
[BLESSED GAMBLER (PASSIVE): All gambling, games of chance, and random rolls have a 95% success rate for favorable outcomes.]
[DESTINY'S THREAD (ACTIVE): View the probability of success for any action before attempting it. No cooldown.]
Ren read through the skills once, then twice, then a third time.
His mouth slowly spread into the greediest grin he'd ever worn.
"This is... this is fucking BROKEN."
He could manipulate probability. Force impossible odds to work in his favor. See the future success rate of his actions. And his passive luck was so high that good things would just... happen to him?
"I can work with this. Oh, I can definitely work with this."
The system interrupted his fantasizing.
[HMPH]
Ren jumped. "Did... did the system just scoff at me?"
[TUTORIAL PHASE COMPLETE]
[PLEASE SELECT YOUR STARTING NATION]
Three options appeared, each with a detailed description and image:
[ELENOR KINGDOM - THE KNIGHT'S BASTION]
Rolling plains, fortified cities, honorable knights, and traditional values. Starting City: Valorhearth.
[ORYNTHIA KINGDOM - THE MERCHANT'S PARADISE]
Coastal cities, bustling trade, wealth, and connections. Starting City: Goldwharf.
[ZENITH KINGDOM - THE MAGE'S SANCTUARY]
Floating islands, arcane towers, magic, and forbidden knowledge. Starting City: Lumina Spire.
Ren stroked his chin, studying each option carefully.
"Elenor is all about honor and knights... pass. I'm trying to get strong, not join a boy band."
"Zenith has the mages and magic... that could be useful. But if everyone there is a genius mage nerd, I'll stand out as the lucky idiot."
"But Orynthia..." A slow smile spread across his face. "Merchants, trade, gambling, connections. A kingdom built on money and luck? That's basically designed for my class."
Plus, if he remembered correctly from his Ashura days, Orynthia had the highest population of female players. Three of his former harem members had been from Orynthia.
"Yeah, that's an easy choice."
He selected [ORYNTHIA KINGDOM].
[SELECTION CONFIRMED]
[STARTING LOCATION: GOLDWHARF]
[PREPARING TRANSFER...]
"Wait, I have questions! How does the economy work now that I'm actually here? Can I still respawn if I die? What about—"
[GOOD LUCK, DISCIPLE OF FORTUNE]
[TRY NOT TO DIE~]
"TRY NOT TO—"
The world dissolved into light once more, and Ren felt himself falling through space, spinning through colors and sounds that didn't make sense.
When his vision finally cleared, he was standing on solid ground.
The smell of salt water hit him first. Then the sounds: seagulls crying, waves crashing, hundreds of voices shouting, laughing, and haggling.
Ren opened his eyes.
He was standing in the middle of the biggest, most chaotic marketplace he'd ever seen.
[WELCOME TO GOLDWHARF]
[ORYNTHIA KINGDOM - MERCHANT'S DISTRICT]
The city was built on three levels, each one stacked on top of the other like a massive wedding cake made of stone and wood. Shops and stalls lined every street, selling everything from weapons to potions to exotic pets. Players and NPCs crowded the streets, pushing past each other in a never-ending flow of commerce and chaos.
Above it all, massive ships floated through the air, actual sailing ships with glowing crystals instead of sails, drifting between the city levels like lazy clouds.
Ren stood there, taking it all in, and despite everything, despite being trapped in a video game, despite losing his character, despite the impossible task ahead of him, he couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, Genesis Online." He cracked his knuckles. "Round two. Let's fucking go."
A notification appeared.
[TUTORIAL QUEST AVAILABLE]
[SPEAK TO THE HARBORMASTER]
But before Ren could move, someone bumped into him from behind.
"Hey! Watch where you're—"
He turned around and froze.
It was a girl. Maybe twenty years old, with short red hair, amber eyes, and wearing light leather armor that looked both practical and somehow extremely flattering. She had a bow strapped to her back and an annoyed expression on her face.
[ARIA FALKENRATH]
[LEVEL: 12]
[CLASS: RANGER]
"You're blocking the walkway, newbie." She crossed her arms. "Move."
Ren's brain stuttered. She was beautiful. Not like goddess-tier beautiful, but real, attainable beautiful. The kind of girl who'd never looked at him twice in the real world.
But this wasn't the real world anymore.
And he had 99 Luck.
"Actually," Ren flashed his most charming smile, "I'm new to Goldwharf. You wouldn't happen to know where the Harbormaster is, would you? I'd really appreciate the help from someone as... knowledgeable as you."
Aria's eyes twitched. "Did you just try to flirt with me?"
"Maybe?"
"That was terrible."
"Yeah, I know. I'm working on it." Ren rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So... Harbormaster?"
Aria stared at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable.
Then she sighed.
"Fine. Follow me. But if you try any more pickup lines, I'm leaving you to get scammed by the merchant guild."
"Deal!"
As Aria turned and started walking, Ren followed behind her, grinning like an idiot.
He was level 1, broke, and had no idea what he was doing.
But he had an SSS-rank class, 99 Luck, and a pretty girl showing him around.
"My lovely Concubines, here I come", he whispered to himself.
"What was that?" Aria called back.
"Nothing! Just admiring the architecture!"
This was going to be interesting.
To be continued in Chapter Three…