Ren woke up to someone laughing.
Not a joke. At him.
He opened his eyes.
White. Everything was white. Not walls. Not the floor. Just white in every direction, like someone had deleted the concept of space.
And standing over him was—
"What the fuck."
She looked almost human. Almost.
Silver hair that moved wrong. Like it was underwater but there was no water. Eyes that caught light from angles that didn't exist. Her dress was nice, probably expensive, but it kept shifting. Different style every time he blinked. Victorian ballgown. Modern sundress. Ancient robes.
Like she couldn't decide what to wear so she wore everything at once.
"Welcome to Genesis Online, Ren Yuto," she said, still smiling.
Her teeth were too white. Too perfect. Like a dental ad.
"You're Goddess Fortuna," he said. Not a question.
"Oh good, you're not completely stupid." She tilted her head. The motion was smooth. Too smooth. Like an animation with too many frames. "That'll make this more fun."
[GODDESS FORTUNA] [OVERSEER OF GENESIS ONLINE] [LEVEL: ∞]
"Where am I?" Ren stood up slowly. His legs moved before he meant to. Too fast. He stumbled, catching himself. What the hell?
"I told you. Genesis Online."
"No. Where am I actually?" He looked at his hands. Flexed his fingers. They responded instantly. No input lag. No controller. "Is this VR? Some new full-dive rig? Because I don't own one and I definitely didn't put one on before—"
"You're not in VR, Ren."
"Then what—"
"You're in Genesis Online. Actually in it. Body, mind, soul. The whole package." She said it casually. Like she was explaining how to use a vending machine. "Congratulations! You're experiencing true immersion."
Ren stared at her.
Then he laughed.
"Okay. Funny. Good prank. Which guild put you up to this? Heaven's Chosen? Those assholes always had too much time on their hands."
Fortuna's smile didn't change. "This isn't a prank."
"Sure it is. There's no such thing as 'true immersion.' That's sci-fi bullshit. You can't just—"
He stopped.
His apartment was gone. His body felt different. And there was a goddess standing in front of him with infinity for a level.
The white void tilted. His knees buckled.
"Oh shit."
Fortuna's smile widened.
"Oh shit"
"There it is."
His legs gave out. He sat down hard. The void had no floor but he sat anyway, reality bending to catch him.
"Send me back," he said quietly.
"No."
"Send. Me. Back."
"Still no."
"I didn't agree to this!"
"Actually—" Fortuna held up one finger. "You did. Remember? The [YES] button? Very clear. Very obvious."
"THAT SAID RESTORE CHARACTER!"
"And you can restore your character." She examined her nails. "You just have to do it from inside the game now. It's not my fault you didn't read the fine print."
Ren's eyes twitched. "There was no fine print!"
"Exactly. That should have been your first clue."
"YOU—" Ren lunged forward, but his body stopped mid-motion. An invisible wall 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. Experience real magic! Fight monsters! Romance options that actually talk back!"
Ren froze. "...Romance options?"
"Oh, didn't I mention?" Fortuna's smile widened. "Everything possible in the game is possible here. Including the... relationship mechanics. Although I suppose it's a bit more authentic now."
Ren's brain stuttered. Actual beautiful women. Who wouldn't dump him for being broke. Who couldn't dump him because they were NPCs.
"Silence wench, I shall not be tempted by such cheap exploits."
Wait
"If I'm stuck here, how do I get back to the real world?"
Fortuna's expression turned serious. Well, as serious as someone who looked like a living anime character could get.
"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."
Ren stared at her.
She smiled.
"WAIT—"
The world exploded into light.
—
When Ren's vision cleared, he was standing in the white void again.
And floating in front of him was a familiar blue screen.
[WELCOME TO GENESIS ONLINE] [CREATE YOUR CHARACTER]
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
Ren stared at the screen. Three years of grinding, gone. Back at character creation like some level 1 noob.
"That goddess bitch…"
He took a deep breath and tried to think logically.
He was trapped in Genesis Online. To get out, he needed 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 for 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.
Ren cracked his knuckles. "Alright. Last time I got Dragon Warrior on my first try. Let's see if lightning strikes twice."
He pressed [ROLL].
The wheel spun, colors blurring together. His 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.]
Two options appeared: [REROLL] or
[ACCEPT]
Ren stared at the screen.
"Gardener."
His voice was flat.
"GARDENER?!"
He looked around the empty white space, searching for something to throw. There was nothing. Just void.
"WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH GARDENER?! THROW TOMATOES AT DEMON LORDS?!"
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]
Ren stared at the message.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
He punched the ground. It didn't hurt. There was no ground. Just void. Which made him even angrier.
"ARE YOU TROLLING ME?! POSTMAN?! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?"
His vision blurred. 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.
"Please. I need this. I'm kinda homeless."
More silence.
The wheel started spinning on its own.
Ren looked up, tears still wet on 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 light like a thousand diamonds catching the sun at once. The wheel spun faster and faster, the light growing brighter until Ren had to shield his eyes.
"What the hell?!"
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 MYTHIC-TIER CLASS!]
Ren's jaw dropped.
He read it again.
Then again.
"I... I..."
[ACCEPT] [REROLL]
"I LOVE YOU, GODDESS!" Ren screamed at the sky. "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.
[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]
Ren blinked. Read it again.
"Luck... 99? The cap is 50. How 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. Note: Bad things also come in form of good luck, also Mob Difficulty will change to maximize the drops]
[PROBABILITY MANIPULATION (ACTIVE): Once per day, you can force a 1% chance event to succeed. Cooldown: 24 hours. After use 50% drop in stats. ]
[BLESSED GAMBLER (PASSIVE): All gambling, games of chance, and random rolls have a 95% success rate for favorable outcomes. There's also a 5% chance that absolute bad luck will happen to you]
[DESTINY'S THREAD (ACTIVE): View the probability of success for any action before attempting it. No cooldown.]
Ren read through the skills once. Twice. A third time.
His mouth slowly spread into the greediest grin he'd ever worn.
"This is... this is fucking BROKEN."
Manipulate probability. Force impossible odds. See the future success rate of his actions. And his passive luck was so high that good things would just... happen?
"I can work with this. Oh, I can definitely work with this."
[HMPH]
Ren paused.
[TUTORIAL PHASE COMPLETE] [PLEASE SELECT YOUR STARTING NATION]
"You totally did! What, you mad, I got a good class?"
[...]
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Three options appeared:
[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 looked at Elenor Kingdom. Knights. Honor codes. Traditional values.
He scrolled past it.
Zenith Kingdom caught his eye. Magic. Floating islands. Looked cool as hell, but he glanced at his stats, 99 Luck and 8 INT. He'd be the dumbest mage in the tower.
Then he saw Orynthia.
Merchants. Trade. Gambling.
His class was literally called "Disciple of Fortune."
Plus, if he remembered correctly from his Ashura days, Orynthia had the highest population of female players.
"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, 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.
[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.
He was trapped in a video game. He'd lost everything. The task ahead was impossible.
He smiled.
"Alright, Genesis Online." He cracked his knuckles. "Round two. Let's fucking go."
[TUTORIAL QUEST AVAILABLE] [SPEAK TO THE HARBORMASTER]
Before Ren could move, someone bumped into him from behind.
"Hey! Watch where you're—"
He turned around.
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]
Level 12. Ren looked down at his own status.
Level 1.
Great. Even the random NPCs could crush him.
"You're blocking the walkway, newbie." She crossed her arms. "Move."
Ren's brain caught up with his eyes. She was beautiful. Not 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.
He knew exactly where the Harbormaster was. Third level, east dock.
"So... Harbormaster?"
Aria stared at him for a long moment.
Then she sighed.
"Fine. Follow me. But if you try any more pickup lines, I'm leaving you to get scammed."
"Deal!"
As Aria turned and started walking, Ren followed behind her, grinning like an idiot.
Level 1. No money. No idea what he was doing.
But he had an SSS-rank class, 99 Luck, and a girl who hadn't ditched him yet.
He cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, Genesis Online. Let's fucking do this."
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER THREE...