- Welcome to the Kingdom of Anglora CWUR! - There was a pleasant female voice.

A second later, the darkness lit up with a translucent silhouette of a female figure. It was only a contour, indistinct outlines, clearly illuminating the surrounding space with a delicate blue glow.

A man rubbing his eyes appeared in the parted darkness. Vlad hardly understood how, but the computer somehow managed to straighten his “minus five” into almost perfect vision. And the guy was extremely unusual to see the world so clearly. His eyesight left in junior high school and life without glasses turned out to be a novelty for Vlad.

“Enter your name,” said the translucent girl. - Preferably - the present. It will be used exclusively for system alerts.

“No stranger will hear him?” - asked Vlad. However, any more or less attentive person would easily catch the note of caution in his voice.

- The privacy policy prohibits us from transmitting any of your personal data to anyone without your consent. Would you like to see an agreement?

“No, no, I’ll take my word for it,” the guy said hastily. Probably fearing that now he will still be loudly reading out more than a hundred points. - My name is Vlad.

“Thank you, Vlad,” the girl smiled softly. - Choose your character's class.

In front of a young guy flashed three figures. The first portrayed a man in shining armor. The second one is wrapped up in a dark figure, the floor of which was not determined at all desire. Well, the third - a man in an embroidered mantle, with a staff.

Obviously, thought Vlad. - “Warrior, robber, magician. As always in all such games. "

- It will be possible to change the class in the game? - He asked, looking at the three figures and realizing that with them, most likely, everything is far from simple and the whole game depends on this choice.

“You can develop your character, but you can only change the base class by completely removing all your progress,” the girl responded immediately.

- Show the development tree.

The figures dispersed to the sides and dozens of small statuettes with signatures interconnected by thin lines appeared in the vacated space.

For a while Vlad stood, thoughtfully reading the signatures and looking at the images.

In general, everything was clear. The warrior first becomes a “Defender”, specializing in shields, after which he can develop into a “Shadow Sword”, arming himself with a pair of dark spells, and so on. From the full tree of classes, Vlad's eyes ran. They were here for each base was under a hundred, and even more. There are plenty to choose from and everyone will find something to their liking.

Vlad was far from new to these games, and therefore decided to get acquainted with all this crap later. The benefit of the forums and "guides" was a dime a dozen, despite the fact that the game was launched almost three months ago.

“I choose a warrior class,” he said clearly.

- Are you sure? The virtual girlfriend asked. - The main qualities of warriors are strength and endurance, they are the best specialists in close combat ...

“Spare me the details,” Vlad said. - And yes, I am completely sure.

To tell the truth, Vlad had no particular choice. The robbers in his opinion were too frail, and the guy had no desire to engage in any theft. And magicians using spells each time had to utter the corresponding words and Vlad distorted from one thought that they would have to constantly shout any abracadabra. The guy still considered himself an adult man, after all.

- Do you want to customize your gaming appearance? - asked the system.

“Yes,” answered the guy.

A mirror appeared in front of Vlad in which he reflected. The way it is.

From reflection, a young man of twenty-eight, maybe even thirty, looked at him.Harry Potter's short brown hair, not very handsome physique, the upper lip was cut with a short scar - after an old car accident. A narrow nose with a crook, two moles on the left cheekbone.

Vlad never liked the way he looked. Too ... inconvenient. Of course, there were girls who simply dragged themselves from the “courageous” look, but there were few of them. That is why the guy decided to remake something, since the Virtual Reality Simulator (CCTV, in common) not only allowed it, but even encouraged (they say, the psyche more easily shared reality and virtuality).

After twenty minutes of torment from the mirror, he looked at a much more formidable version of Vlad's appearance. The scar on his lip had disappeared, his eyebrows became a little bushy, the hair of the industry was a dozen centimeters, while their color changed from chestnut to blue-black. His eyes were brown with a rich steel tone, while three luxurious uneven scars appeared on his right cheek, crossing his face from forehead to chin. Moles have disappeared, while the skin itself has acquired a slight relief. Well, the final touch was the luxurious stubble that Vlad looked at with a certain pride in his eyes (as, perhaps, that anyone who has to shave every day before work).

Unpleasant disappointment was waiting for a guy trying to change the body. The system flatly refused to pump up virtual muscles for it, starting to babble something about a possible dissociative mental disorder and the like. “In short, you want to look like rocking, swing your muscles real,” thought Vlad sadly, deciding in retaliation to change the skin tone from his standard “typical computer programmer” to a somewhat unusual “beach monster.

In general, the result of Vlad is satisfied. He achieved his goals in full. First, now Vlad looked much more formidable, and secondly, even if he meets with any of his real friends, it will be extremely difficult to recognize him. Well, a small bonus was that now the “virtual” Vlad was extremely difficult to give less than thirty-five years.

“Finish with your appearance,” the guy said, looking again in the mirror.

- Choose a level of realism.

“Maximum,” said Vlad immediately, without waiting for explanations.

- Are you sure? - after a couple of seconds of silence, his translucent friend asked. - At the maximum level of realism, the system blocks only the strongest pain impulses caused, for example, by loss of a limb or ...

“Yes, I'm sure,” the guy interrupted impatiently. - I am aware of what the maximum level of realism is and make this choice in a sober mind and a blessed memory.

On the one hand, everything is as in life. Bruised finger - will hurt for a long time. Pierced with a sword - the sensations are simply amazing (if you are, of course, a seasoned masochist). On the other hand, a fivefold increase in all awards for any actions and absolutely all sensations are exactly the same as in reality. Including taste and tactile. In general, everything looked more than tempting. And precisely because of this point, Vlad generally decided to travel to the virtual world.

“Adopted, the level of realism is the maximum,” my translucent girlfriend stated without any emotion. - Select a starting point.

In the air, there was a map of Anglora, divided into political regions, of which there were more than three dozen.

“I am interested in hot tropical countries,” said Vlad, after half a minute of thought.

“In the end, the game should be fun. I'd rather build myself a tropical resort, ”thought the guy. - "What-no, and there will be a vacation from working days."

The system helpfully highlighted two regions almost at the very south of the map. One was on the mainland, while the second was a chain of islands just east of it.

Not wanting to mess with ships and other garbage, Vlad poked at Fionin, located on the mainland.

***

The world came to life almost immediately. Instead of the oppressive silence in which Vlad was before, dozens of assorted sounds fell on his ears.The rustle of the foliage, the rustling of the grass, the chatter of some insects and the iridescent singing of an unknown guy (and maybe the whole ...