Germany, Year 2039
The city streets were crowded with people. Some were late for work, others were simply wandering around out of boredom. In this city, everyone was busy with something — their own worries, goals, and lives.
But there was one person who hardly ever left his house.
He only went outside when it was absolutely necessary — for example, to the store. The reason was simple: he loved VR (Virtual Reality) games far too much and spent almost his entire day playing them.
"Today passed with nothing but gaming again… and I still couldn't clear the final stage. This game is insanely difficult," he muttered to himself in frustration.
His name was Raymond Cross. He was 21 years old. He neither worked nor studied; almost his entire life revolved around games.
"If I play all night, maybe I'll win… I was so close to the end, but I got distracted," he sighed and continued playing.
Raymond lived on the ninth floor. The window of his room was open, letting fresh air flow inside. Next to his apartment stood a massive building with a huge screen mounted on its exterior. Raymond followed the news, advertisements, and announcements through that screen. Especially when a game advertisement appeared, he would instantly become interested and often buy it.
Today, while he was playing, the news began and started talking about a game. Raymond immediately became curious, walked to the window, opened it wider, and listened carefully.
"In today's news, we will talk about this month's best-selling game, 'Create Whatever You Desire.' In a very short time, this game has gained immense popularity and has entered the Top 5 best-selling games in the world within just one month.
In this game, you can develop from zero to infinity. Your character is chosen randomly: you may become a warrior, a traveler, a farmer, or even a non-living entity — a flower, a tree, a mountain, or even a stone. This choice is not made by you but by the game system, and it cannot be changed.
It is precisely this feature that has attracted millions of players.
The game was created by a company called 'The Infinite' and costs only 10 dollars. You too can try this unique game."
"That concludes our news for today. Goodbye."
The advertisement ended.
Raymond stayed silent for a few seconds. Then he counted the money in his pocket.
"11 dollars… that's enough."
He didn't hesitate. The game was extremely popular; it might sell out. Raymond hurried out of his apartment.
Fortunately, the store was only 200 meters away.
When he arrived and looked at the counter, his heart tightened.
"Only two left…"
Just as he rushed to grab one, two people came in and bought the last two copies. They paid at the register and walked out.
Raymond ran after them and caught up.
"Please," he said, blocking their path. "Could you sell one copy to me? I really want to play it."
One of them asked, "Do you really need this game that much?"
"Yes, very much! There are none left here. I'm begging you," Raymond said.
"My name is Ronan, and this is my wife, Silly. Please introduce yourself as well," Ronan said kindly.
"I'm Raymond. I really love games. That's why this is very important to me."
Silly thought for a moment.
"Actually, my friend abroad asked for this game. She couldn't find it, so she asked us to buy it."
"And we bought the second one to play ourselves," Ronan added.
"But we're not that interested in games," Silly continued. "If it's that important to you, we'll give you one."
"Really?!" Raymond's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much! I'll never forget this kindness. One day, I'll repay you!"
He bought the game, thanked them again, and ran home.
"Goodbye, good luck!" Ronan and Silly said as they watched him leave.
Raymond thought excitedly:
"I just spent my last money… I need to try it immediately!"
He reached home, turned off the lights, connected his PlayStation to the TV, and installed the game.
The screen displayed: Loading…
After a few minutes, new text appeared:
[Random Character]
Random selection started.
A few seconds later:
[Your character is ready]
Gender: Male
Appearance: Ordinary
Clothing: Long white outfit
Hair color: Blonde
Eye color: Golden
Height: 198 cm
Weight: 78 kg
"Amazing! I don't have to do anything — it chooses everything itself!" Raymond said excitedly.
He pressed [Character's Status].
Name: Ryan Grace
Gender: Male
Strength: 2
Speed: 3
Intelligence: 90 IQ
Age: ??? (You choose)
Endurance: 5
Skill: ??? (Locked)
Title: ??? (Locked)
"Physically very weak… but whatever," he said and pressed Continue.
[Warning: Do you truly wish to enter the game?]
"Yes."
[Warning: You cannot exit until the game is completed.]
"Doesn't matter."
Start.
Suddenly, the screen filled with blinding white light.
"So bright… is this normal?" Raymond said, closing his eyes.
The light slowly faded.
The room was empty.
On the screen appeared:
[Transition to the game world successful]
And thus, Raymond was reborn into a new world under the name Ryan Grace.
He slowly opened his eyes. His body felt extremely weak, his movements barely noticeable. Above him stood a woman and a man, smiling warmly at him. They spoke in a strange language he had never heard before.
After a moment, he began to regain awareness. His body was tiny, fragile, helpless. Then Raymond reached a horrifying conclusion — he had been reborn as Ryan Grace. He was now in the body of a one-month-old baby. It was hard to believe, but it was undeniably true.
He could not understand their language. Suddenly, text appeared before his eyes:
[Language adaptation complete]
This was a message from the game system. Now Ryan could clearly understand their words.
"Look, Henry, our son opened his eyes," the woman said joyfully.
"Yes, I see… but it's strange. He's been very calm since he woke up. One-month-old babies aren't usually like this," the man replied.
"Maybe our son is different from others, Emma," Henry smiled.
Ryan tried to speak but couldn't produce any sound. He now understood: his parents in this game were Henry Grace and Emma Grace.
They lived in a remote village where almost no humans resided.
The reason was simple — they belonged to a race called the Lumerians, also known as the "Sun Race."
Ryan belonged to this race as well. Though he couldn't speak, he could hear and understand. He soon learned that magic existed in this world. But that didn't surprise him — after all, this was a game world. Anything was possible here.
In just three months, Ryan learned to walk freely. Learning to read happened even faster — the game system provided noticeable assistance. Despite being only five months old, he often stayed at home and sometimes felt bored. His father hunted for food, and his mother cultivated crops and fruits. The Lumerians' power of creation greatly influenced plants and trees, making farming extremely easy for them.
Days, months, and years passed.
Finally, Ryan turned three. He could move independently and speak fluently. However, it was strictly forbidden to talk about the outside world or his previous life. If he attempted to, the system would render him completely unable to speak for several hours.
"So I can't tell anyone about myself or the real world… Well, even if I did, they wouldn't believe me," he thought.
He began carefully exploring the house.
"Maybe I'll find something useful."
After checking every room, he eventually went down to the basement.
There were old items and weapons there. A shelf in the corner caught his attention. Ryan carefully approached it, removed the cloth covering it, and saw several old books:
"World History," "World Geography," "Biology," and "Basics of Magic."
He picked up "World History."
"I'll read the others later. Right now, I need to understand this world better."
He placed the book on the table in the living room and began reading. Just then, his mother Emma walked in.
"A three-year-old can't read… he must just be looking at the pictures," she thought and went to the kitchen.
Ryan continued reading and learned that there were nine main races in this world:
Humans, Demi-humans, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, Demons, Lumerians, Antits, and Fintys.
He realized he belonged to the rarest race — the Lumerians. They looked similar to humans but had blonde hair and golden eyes. The most terrifying part was that they could live for billions of years. Medicine made from Lumerian blood could cure even incurable diseases. For this reason, most of them had been slaughtered in ancient times.
That was why his parents lived in a remote area. Although thousands of years ago a strict law had forbidden killing Lumerians, most of them had already gone extinct.
"What a horrifying history…" Ryan thought, his heart heavy.
At first, he had planned to leave this place once he became independent. But after learning the truth, he changed his mind.
"I need to become strong enough to protect myself first. Then I'll leave."
With that, he went back down to the basement to get the book "World Geography."