The Gene of the Ancients (Rogue Merchant Book #2): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (top books to read TXT) 📕

I looked around in surprise. Around me, white space stretched out without end. Muted light streamed from every direction, and my feet touched a slightly bouncy surface.

Please select your personal manager!

A virtual interface full of straight lines of photos appeared in front of me. For a minute, I stared thoughtfully into square portraits of no-nonsense young men and pretty girls and finally settled on one of them, a playfully smiling, Asian-looking brunette.

Please wait. 29…28…27…

After thirty seconds — how prompt! — the girl materialized next to me. She was delicately-built, a head shorter than me, and had a graceful figure, black bangs, piercing blue eyes, and a pink bud of a mouth. All in all, a typical Russian-Japanese half-blood; children of mixed marriages were always exquisitely beautiful.

“Hello! My name is Akiru Sokolovskaya. I will be your personal manager. Thank you for choosing me! How may I address you?”

“Oleg.”

“Nice to meet you, Oleg! We are happy that you chose the Diamond subscription! I am prepared to tell you all the advantages of this status and answer any of your questions! Shall we continue talking here, or do you wish to change the scenery?” the girl offered in a soft tone.

“Umm...what do you mean, change the scenery?” I was confused.

Instead of responding, Akiru quickly changed the decorations around us a few times.

A forest, birds singing, a rocky trail under our feet, sky shining through pine tops, a blue inlet among narrow gorges.

A spacious study, a black-and-white meeting room, high tech, trendy modern furniture.

A coastline with a gorgeous view of the sea, the tide crashing against the shore, warm setting sun.

“Err...what about the last one? With the sea.”

“This one?” A cool fresh breeze blew against my face, and effervescent waves washed over the yellow sand of the beach. In the distance, I heard seagulls crying.

We walked around the marble balustrade. The girl was telling me all about the bonuses provided to me by the Diamond account, while I made mental notes of their usefulness to me.

All right, then.

Priority customer support. All problems and complaints reviewed in an hour. A personal manager available anytime. For me, that was more of a drawback than an advantage; still, where would I be safer than in the limelight?

Complete anonymity of my character’s in-game statistics at the auction and even in the kill rating. My nickname, my equipment, the world I inhabited — everything could be hidden if I wished so. That was a priceless option. I don’t have to tell you what anonymity means in trade and in war. That was something I would activate straight away, no questions asked.

Minimum transaction fee both for in-game and real currency. In practice, it meant that I could buy/sell/trade Sphere gold for the lowest prices. That offer made sense for the Diamond account, intended for major donators. The idea was, “buy more, everything’s cheaper for you.”

There was also a premium language pack: something like a plugin that automatically translated the speech of every player, allowing me to communicate with people of any nationality. Funny enough, this plugin translated all Earth languages, but didn’t do anything with Sphere’s invented languages, such as Kann-Elo, the First Speech, and Abyssal. I wondered why.

The other bonuses didn’t matter to me much. I could start discussions in the closed sections of the official forum, create characters of all playable races, including non-human and magical, like minotaurs, void creatures, or demons, and enter all worlds, even those partially forbidden from being visited by players. And... what? How was it possible?

“Yes,” Akiru confirmed. “That’s right. You can create a second character. You are not limited to the ‘one capsule — one player — one character’ rule. Even more, your second character may be of another gender, if you request it.”

I didn’t say anything, trying to keep myself from smiling. That was quite sensational. So not every female avatar was a girl in real life? It had been known to happen in old MMORPG back in the early days of VR, somewhere around twenty years ago. Later, on the pretext of potential damage to the mind, playing characters of another gender was forbidden in total immersion projects.

Damn. Playing two accounts by turn was pretty cool. I didn’t have time to develop the second character, of course, but an anonymous alt was priceless when it came to trading. With each minute, I loved the Diamond status even more.

The girl, boasting a great enunciation, continued listing the options of VIP service, renting and buying high-class houses, but I stopped her with one question.

“Of course, Oleg!” Akiru gave me a dazzling smile. “I wanted to save the administration’s gift for last, but if you insist...”

A player could pick from a wide range of possible gifts. The girl demonstrated a variety of valuable items, one look at which made my mouth water. There were items that could only be obtained in-game only by farming elite dungeons hundreds of times, and even then, getting them wasn’t guaranteed; a set of Armageddon scrolls; an epic scalable five-item set; gemstones with any enchantment... An embarrassment of riches. I could pick gifts worth a thousand points that had been automatically added to my account upon the activation of the Diamond subscription.

“I recommend you check out the mounts and pets,” Akiru went on. “The phoenix, the protodragon, and the cave giant are the most popular. Or maybe you would like to visit the Astral Plane? The list of gifts also includes blueprints of flying ships! In the docks of Forgeworlds, you might find — “

“I would like to get another thing,” I interrupted the manager. “A legendary item.”

“A legendary item? Well, that’s possible, too, upon request,” Akiru said, looking upset. “But only one. It’s worth a thousand points. What item would you like?”

It was the Magister who had given me that idea.