'That Rhuzerv means my at ID, huh.'

  Setting that thought aside for now, I turned back to Noir. She said, "Very well, student Luo. Follow me. We have important procedures to initiate for your iion at Vaughan Academy."

  With a nod, I followed behind her—Oh, before that, I was now dressed in an academy uniform with a red-bck tohat matched Noir's military uniform. The one I was wearing was much simpler, though.

  As we walked down the long hallway, my attention was drawn elsewhere. Not to the walls lined with holographic dispys showg various aspects of academy life and achievements—that was too onpce. Instead, I couldn't help but look up at the ceiling, which featured its own painting. It looked like... a dragon-sying stiven that this game mixed both sci-fi and fantasy elements, it was uo see dragons that might ter be tered with nukes (if suukes" were even avaible in this game).

  "Hey, isn't it—"

  My sightseeing was interrupted by a voice that felt quite close. With a slight gnce, I saw two female students whispering together, their bodies pressed against each other. From their outfits and excessive accessories, it was clear they were pyers.

  This meant I pyed the same global server as VR:Ser was sold to the public.

  As for their whispers? They weren't directed at me, so I didn't focus on them. I was a newbie, after all; who would notice me? Their whispers and attention were clearly directed at my guide.

  Talk but no a. It uzzling that those pyers didn't dare to eh Noir. Sihis game emphasizes retionships, I'd heard that the NPCs here were responsive and could even bee friends. I khey idolized her, especially with how their eyes followed her—walking, then stopping to make eye tact. The crowd grew rger and rger...

  'Ah, I serouble.'

  If I stayed too close to Noir or made it evident that she was my guide, I could imagine being beled "the newbie taken care of by the leader" and then bombarded with questions from people ied in this NPC. Uh, no thanks. I wasn't keen on being the ter of attention.

  'Why did I get a leader as a guide, anyway? I thought it would be an ordinary one like others.'

  I slowed my pace to put some distaween us. Thankfully, Noir had a le sense. If a pyer was outside its radar, an NPC would usually stop until the pyer caught up. Also, why was she so well-liked? Tsk. Too zy to join the forum to read pyers' rants just to find out such trivial...

  But as I li the back, other pyers' gazes turned—Nope! Sorry, you saw nothing. I shifted a little... a bit more... then moved to the side and preteo adjust my stance. Moved softly. Steady. My presence faded into the background amidst the crowd. When those people looked for a new focal point, they found none in me; I was blending into the sidelines.

  A new face appeared when VR:Ser was no longer produced, attrag attention, too, huh? It was uandable; I robably the only newbie in "World: The in."

  So, as Noir entered a room, I took advantage of the opportunity to execute my escape pn: mahrough the shifting groups of people. Blend into the background. Move. Bee just another fa the crowd. Enter. I slipped inside.

  And the door closed behind me just three seds after Noir.

  'Clear!'

  My guide turo face me, her mouth opening as if ready to expin something. But I interrupted her by saying, "Let's be friends."

  This invitation wasn't sudden. Based oera just now—and the limited data avaible oer appeared that only a few people could befriend the leaders, or perhaps they were plicated to find in the first pce. This was evident from the ck of their illustrations on Wikia.

  Having a e with a high-status NPC would be advantageous. But the pyers' tendency to keep their distance when they entered Ngested there was a cost for taking the wrong steps to unicate with her, possibly resulting in being uo talk to or eve her again. As a result, they avoided iing with her altogether.

  And I, in my "newbie" dition, could take a bold move to test this. I had no status to lose. The system shouldn't ban or penalize me if somethi wrong.

  But it turned out the system had anticipated this...

  Ding!

  Friend request denied!You haven't met the requirements; further reputation within Vaughan Academy is required to unlock this feature Right. That bright red notification popped up after I said "friend," like a sp in the face—I couldn't outsmart the system to cheat my way to what I wanted.

  And Noir, with her usual expressionless face, ined her head slightly. "Did you say something?"

  'Uh, yeah, pn failed.'

  I immediately shook my head.

  Noir seemed to accept my respohout further question, her focus returning to the task as she gestured to go deeper ihe room. "This lease."

  With each step ihe room, the dim blue lighting grew brighter. When I arrived at the ter, I saw a chamber with circuitry designs on the walls and a soft blue glow. Above this area's ter was a transparent holographic globe encircled by a smaller one—perhaps the room's light source—making the entire space virtually blue-white.

  "This is the sing room." Noir's voice echoed slightly in the expansive space. "Here, we will create your Heart Core."

  At the ter of the rht below the giant globe—stood a pedestal, and h above it were two translut orbs that blinked with a gentle glow. Noir motioned for me to stand in front of it. As I did, the orbs alighemselves with my head a.

  A beam of light emanated from the orbs, sing my body from top to bottom. As their light passed over me, I felt a tingliion (not unpleasant, but strange). Perhaps this sensation was more akin to a mild electric shock? But rather than being painful, it was tingly and radiated throughout my body.

  Ohe sing was plete, the orbs merged into a single sphere. It hovered over Noir before crag open like an egg, revealing a smaller, denser core that fell into her outstretched hand.

  She theed it to me.

  When I received it—Whoa! Small but heavy! The size, shape, a reminded me of a shot-put ball. Though, the texture was gssy with gactic twilight within.

  "That is your Heart Core," Noir said, "the essence of your being within Vaughan Academy."

  A system notification popped up before me, seemingly bag up what she had just said.

  Heart Core activatedUser Interfalocked!Intrigued, I tapped the notification twice with my index finger; it expao reveal a series of sub-menus: [Status], [Iory], [Quest], [Map], and more. Although the yout was identical to many games I had pyed, the Heart Core e was entirely new. In ames, the User Interface (UI) appeared automatically after login because they were primarily system-based, not like this (tied to a specific item).

  I g Noir, who nodded, likely encio explore the interface further. I tapped the [Status] i, and a detailed breakdown of my character's abilities appeared. Numbers and bars indig my health, fatigue, and other attributes adjusted iime.

  Not only that. The HUD (Head-Up-Dispy) finally sprung up around my previously empty field of vision, making me slightly distracted that I was actually in the game world.

  Appeared a status bar above Noir's head, too, with the level showing [???]. It made me curious... whether her level was that high to be unreadable or if her level would always be above whatever existed in the game to not have a fixed representation.

  Ah, I became hungry to manipute the game's very foundations, including being her friend, like uanding the underlying algorithms. Finding patterns and unc hidden meics or exploits? Of course, I wasn't thinking this way because I wanted a little trickery—although that was among my reasons—but sidering that I, the only newbie in this game, would definitely experience my ow of obstacles as the weakest pyer.

  I had to find ways to survive.

  'Oh, how nostalgic, trying to survive, no matter how...'

  Snap!

  The sound of Noir's fingers flig brought me back to focus on her again. And there was a full-wall s right at the back of the room. It flickered to life, dispying an array of statistid data. My stats, to be exact.

  "Your abilities here are a refle of your potential. Your development in various skills, adaptability, and strategic thinking will tribute to yrowth; please take note of that when you want to raise your current poor status."

  That was what she said and what was on the s...

  Status Window

  Pyer ID 234310317NameLuoLevel1Main GradeFTitleFreshman Health Points 4onic Points110Fatigue0 PradeF trol GradeFStrengthFStabilityFSpeedFTacticFStaminaFSyncFDefenseFMind DefenseFReflexFFocusFThis pyer has just begun their journey, with limitless potential and an uncharted path

  No notable achievements or reputatio

  ...my status was still poor.

  I didn't expeoir to say this bluntly—Oh, well... what did you expect from an AI? On the one hand, her words made me notice that "raise" wasn't just limited to this virtual space; it also required development in the real world.

  For example, if I had an A-level grade (in the real world), my Grade status, which was currently full of Fs, could swiftly improve to an A. However, if I didn't improve my abilities in the real world any longer after that, my game status would be stuck at Grade A forever.

  I cluded this because I heard that VR:Ser colborates with the health sector, encing pyers to stabilize their wellness both digitally and iy. Also, the helmet itself was about empowerment and healing. With their NeuroVerse system, NeoGeed a game where pyers could engage ial exercises that, over time, train their minds to trol various bodily funs.

  This was why VR:Ser became highly sought-after; not only as a medium of eai, this helmet could help restore the nervous system that had been paralyzed with the help of stimuli in the digital world. Hence, everything started from [F] to ensure a fair start for everyone, including those with disabilities, to ehey could pete with others and their progress could be tracked well.

  "Now," Noir turo face me, and my eyes shifted to g her as well, "it is time to choose your Css."

  Then, in front of the massive s, four tube devices emerged from the floor, each with a cave se in the ter where I believed the Heart Core was meant to be pced. The whizzing sound of the asding tubes stopped, followed by holographic ss emerging on each pilr.

  I walked closer and saw that each s dispyed writings in different colors and expnations.

  Swordmaster (Fire)CharacteristicMelee-typeFocuses on defenseWeaknessesIn exge freat defense and stamina, has low speedonsSable (slender sword, offense)

  Zweihander (rge sword, defense)

  Gunner (Wind)CharacteristicMid to le-typeBiggest damage dealerWeaknessesIn exge fh speed and attack power, struggles in close batonsTwin Gun

  Assassih)CharacteristicMelee to le-typeFlexible attack at close, medium, or leWeaknessesIn exge for reflexes and flexibility, has low defenseonsDual Dagger

  Catalyst (Ice)Characteristig raypeBest support due to its skill in providing healing and AoE attacksWeaknessesIn exge fh support capabilities, requires high trol gradingonsFloating Hss

  From each, I had previously researched specifics (Skills, potentials, and so on) to make things easier for me in situations like this... to be exact, to fulfill my curiosity (I already said I want to py this game myself, right?).

  So I put my Heart Core into a tube, and the gaxy whirls on my crystal orb turned blue glitter.

  Yes, I decided to choose the tricky Css.

  Catalyst.

  D.N.A.