Transcended

Cyrus threaded carefully towards the large edifice before him. A skyscraper with the word PRIMAL, elegantly articulated above its flat top. During his last interview, he had been skeptical about everything, and lacked confidence back then. But that wasn't the case now, he was ready to make the absolute best out of his second chance.

The room was massive, and the opulence within did well to represent the wealthy persona that Primal had so carefully created over the years.

Comfortable leather seats and exquisite glass tables took up some of the space in the large hall. The polished wooden floor was completely covered by thick yet soft rugs that Cyrus would tell had been imported right from the Middle East. There were over a dozen delicate and insanely expensive glass figurines on the mantelpiece, each one a collection of every rare character that ever existed In the world of gaming.

On the walls, hung a large flat screen TV, steady playing some unknown sappy game theme that Cyrus couldn't care less about. It was just as he remembered.

Primal treated even the contestants as though they were important personnels. It was best to enjoy the comfort while it lasted.

It had taken him roughly an hour to get here. Contestants had already piled up in front of the company's door. And despite him being an hour early, he was numbered as 9065.

Cyrus wasn't surprised one bit by his number, in fact he expected to be far behind. Heaven's Descent was a Visual Reality Multiplayer Game that has been rumored to change humanity's view of the world. It was a worldwide project and its fame was unrivaled. Primal was the leading company when it came to technology advancements, and visual reality games. It was only natural that they would attract this much crowd on the launching of their biggest project yet.

He could still recognize some familiar faces from his last trial. But unlike before, Cyrus chose to go solo. As an information recruiter for Tidal company, he had a lot of experience with VR. And last time he had been a bit too generous with his experience.

He didn't plan to repeat his mistakes. Cyrus walked towards his designated spot, and took a seat where his number was boldly inscribed. Beside him sat a girl, one that he couldn't say he recognized. She seemed timid, a nerd if he was being accurate with descriptions.

On her face was a pair of round glasses, which were clearly too big for her. She had scratches all over her face, and from her bandaged thumbs, Cyrus could tell she had spent way too much time with her gaming pads. Others might not see it, but Cyrus was certain this girl would be a tough opponent.

Cyrus alongside the other present contestants had to wait for another hour, before the interview had finally begun.

The music coming from the large screens had suddenly ceased, and on the screen a masked face had appeared.

.

"Welcome contestants. Today Primal will be launching the greatest Visual Reality Multiplayer Game in the entire world, and you all have been given the opportunity to become its very first players." The voice stopped, as if to catch its breath. Then it resumed.

"I'll make it brief. Only fifty players will be allowed to enter the game. Those who do not qualify will be paid a compensation fee, and the chosen fifty will proceed for further testing. Primal will not be responsible for any casualties suffered by contestants during the screening process. Good luck to you all!"

Just then the screen went blank, and almost immediately number one to twenty were called in through the speakers. The acoustics were mild, and audio friendly.

Fourteen boys and six girls walked into an annular shaped light that had appeared in front of the entire crowd. Cheerily they all hopped into the ring, and in the same instant were teleported away.

Cyrus took a deep inhale and crossed his fingers. The last time he was rejected because he wasn't experienced enough. According to the testing machine, he had peaked at beginners level. He had expected it to be a glitch in the system, but nothing had happened. He used to think he was a guru back then. But after his experience the first time, Cyrus knew he was yet to begin.

He had spent all the last two years honing his skills, and playing every game that ever existed. If the machine was to count his retained experience, Cyrus was confident he would pass.

"Aren't you nervous?" The timid little girl spoke to him. Cyrus jerked a little at the sudden action. He didn't expect anyone to speak to him, especially not her. She didn't seem like she could talk in the first place.

"Not really, I know I'm going to get in. I made a promise to somebody, and I won't fail again" Cyrus answered with confidence and charisma.

"Really? I envy you so much. I'm Lucy by the way," she introduced.

"Cyrus, nice to meet you" Lucy had an awkward smile on her face. For someone who seemed nervous, she was especially calm and showed no signs of fear.

The breaking of helmets, and the loud curses that followed after tore Cyrus's attention away from Lucy. He had already relieved this moment, but the reactions of the first twenty will always surprise him. Neither of them had been accepted, and they'd taken out their frustration on Primals structure.

Three men dressed in black had caught up to the rampaging contestants and had tasered them to unconsciousness.

"Violence of any kind isn't tolerated within these premises. Please behave" A blond lady dressed in all black announced. Her voice carried no threats, but her aura spoke differently.

"9061,9062,9063,9064,9065.." The voice from the speakers announced. Cyrus stood from his seat, and so did Mary and all the other contestants whose numbers were called.

So far only three people had gone inside, and weren't rejected. Hopefully he would bring the headcount to four, and perhaps Lucy would be the fifth lucky person. Cyrus could tell she had potential.

"9079? Is the contestant 9079 around?" The voice from the speaker questioned when his number didn't register on the screen.

"Here" The boy in question answered. His silver hair stood out most of all his features. He couldn't be above twenty. His physique was mildly built, and he appeared like one of great intellect.

Nobody had noticed him standing just outside the ring of light that had already Cyrus and the rest. He wasn't small, nor was he too big. Yet he had zero presence. So little presence that Primal's technology had failed to detect him.

Perhaps it was because he wasn't fully submerged into the ring, or something that he had done. Nobody knew why, but he had definitely caught everybody's attention.

After the boy had entered the ring fully, they had been teleported out of the waiting room. Cyrus found himself in a room of vast emptiness. The only thing in the room was a helm, and the machine that would determine his level, and compatibility with Heaven's Descent.

Heaving a sigh, Cyrus crossed his fingers and marched towards the helm. It would collect all his experiences with games, and with that provide the data that would be used to determine how he could be.

The helm was on his head now, and Cyrus could feel a tingling sensation in his brain. He walked up to the machine in front of him, and laid his palms on its screen.

A bunch of information appeared on the screen before him, but he remained calm. His heartbeat only escalated when the word "processing" appeared.

Cyrus closed his eyes and crossed his fingers. He only opened his eyes when the machine was done.

"Ding! Congratulations! You've entered the Game, Heaven's Descent!"

"Level: Master"

"Yes!!" Cyrus exclaimed with a mild jump. He had no idea how many eyes that might be watching him, but he didn't care. This was his dream, and it was finally reality.

"The watch on your Left will help you keep track of everything while inside the game. Please select a location to start!" Another message appeared, which was seconded by a list of villages.

"Diontra, the land of supernaturals" Cyrus selected.

"You'll be sent to Diontra in 5.. 4.."

"Already?" Cyrus questioned before reaching for the watch he had no idea was there in the first place.

A blind ray of light engulfed the room once the countdown had expired, and he found himself at the foot of a mountain. From there Cyrus could see the entire landscape. It wasn't as developed as the real world, but they were definitely technological advancement in this world.

His watch beeped twice and Cyrus stared down to view the newest information.

"Welcome to Diontra. Please input the player name to begin your quest!"

"Mastermind" Cyrus pronounced as he inputted the name into the designated area.

"That's it?" Cyrus was stunned. He had no idea where to go. He decided to tour the village, but suddenly a message appeared before him.

[Congratulations! You've transcended, you've become a sage]

"A system? He was already familiar with the concept of systems. But this wasn't in the description of the game. A glitch in the system? He questioned himself. Without wasting any more time, he proceeded to check out his stats as a sage.

[HP: 20/20]

[Exp: 0/10]

[IQ: 100/???]

[Level 1-Amateur]

[Abilities: ???]

[Host has a stat point available. Use a stat point to unlock an ability]

Cyrus aimed to use the available stat point to unlock an ability, but the beeping on his watch distracted him.

"What now?" He grumbled as he glanced down to view the recent update on the watch.

"Player Mastermind has transcended. A worldwide broadcast will be sent to all players in and outside the game!"

"What's going on?"

"New Quest! The queen of Diontra has summoned the transcended player at the palace. Player is to meet the queen before sundown!"

Cyrus had no idea what was going on, but he was honestly enjoying it. He knew Primal was the best out there, but he hadn't expected this! The system will have to wait for now. Right now, the queen wanted him, and it wasn't in his personality to disobey royalty.