LITRPG - Multiverse Pt. 01

"I'm not spying, well maybe a little. But every character starts with your appearance and so with a bit of adjustment here, and here... There..." He said hitting a key and switching the screen back to the mirror. What I saw looked like me, well kind of. It looked almost like a very close relative of me, if I had a non-identical twin sister or something. There were minor differences that made my mind rebel at the notion I was looking at myself.

"Try not to think of it as who you were. Think of it as a representation of who you are now." That just sounded like some clap a self-help group would say, but as I analysed the words in scorn, I started to see them make more sense. I mean I have been through an ordeal, and I have changed because of it. So, this is like a blank slate, a fresh start. A new me for a new world.

"Would you like to change your appearance in anyway? Make her taller, shorter, give her a rounder figure perhaps? Maybe one of those phat booties I hear is popular these days." He said gleaming.

"Jesus Omega! Never say those words again. You, with your accent, should never ever, ever say the words phat or booties. And definitely not in the same sentence." I walked closer to the mirror, touching my hand to my face, feeling my cheeks for the first time. I smiled at the sensation of flesh and warmth, it seemed crazy that none of this was real. I decided to test something "Can you make my cheekbones a little narrower, squash my chin in a little." My eyes shone blue in the mirror a piercing almost luminescent blue that stared through me and back into my soul.

I watched as my face took shape. The cheekbones less pronounced, my chin degrading before my eyes. I smiled. I looked like a better version of me. The hotter sister. My eyes trailed down my neck and my scantily clad form. Why I was wearing a string bikini was a question for another day, but damn my tit's looked good, they were at least a D cup, also there was no fat on my body, no handles or imperfections anywhere, it was all woman. The body of a porn actress, with large breasts a slim waste, hips that flared out unnaturally giving me a perfect hourglass shape. My legs also seemed longer, I reckon must be at least pushing 6 foot and over half of that was legs.

"Now, if I can just see if there are any contracts of employment, we can decide your characteristics a little better..." Omega said, talking to himself more than me, I wasn't listening I was too drawn in by what was in front of my eyes. My hands brushed my eyebrows before snaking to my ear and the sensitive spot behind that when touched always got me hot in real life. They moved to the back of my neck feeling the pearly soft perfect skin. I changed tac and trailed just my fingernails around and under my jawline and lightly scratching down into the feminine v juncture. It felt good, almost a little too good. There seemed to be a magnet drawing them lower and for some strange reason I felt compelled to touch myself. I reasoned that it was for scientific purposes. An attempt to find out exactly how realistic they had made the game. But could I be brazen enough to do it in front of my creator? Or even just in front of another person? It certainly didn't feel like something I would have done previously, not that I can recall.

"Oh... Oh Dear," Omega whispered to himself before turning around in his chair to look at me.

"What... What's wrong?"

"Your, err. Your relationship with your husband. Did you part on good terms?" Omega asked, his voice neutral. I wondered what he meant by that, I mean how bad a term could I leave in? I couldn't even remember most of our relationship, what I can remember... Oh shit, Bernie! That god damn doctor sticking his nose in. Well not that I could blame him, if he hadn't, I'd probably be dead now.

"Not so much. I have a feeling he kind of met someone else, whilst I was on my deathbed." I replied, a little embarrassed to be admitting this to a complete stranger. It felt like Jerry Springer was going to jump out at any minute.

"As I suspected. Ok, that would have been good to know before, but no problem. We can make a couple of adjustments here... And a few adjustments here," he continued typing and I watched on in horror as my breasts started to shrink. Not only that, I started to shrink, my hips started to deflate. I went from an Amazonian Goddess to a pre-op teenage transsexual male. There were no curves, I went from 6 feet to barely 5, and my bikini started to look more like a T-shirt on my now flat chest. "Hey what the fuck are you doing Omega..."

"My dear, I'm sorry. You see your husband..." He started before stopping himself

"My husband... Go on. You nearly had a complete sentence there." I said gesturing with my hands for him to continue.

"Multiverse is a place of unparalleled beauty. Some of its planets are truly remarkable. However, it was made by man and therefore. Well let's just say there are some parts which are actually quite... undesirable."

"O...K... That kind of makes sense. But what's that got to do with my husband?" I asked, still not getting why I had to go from Prom queen to Prom 'queen'.

"Well. I can't give you too many details, programming you see. I would if I could. But suffice to say, he is putting in you in a place with a somewhat, err seedy edge." He said looking away quickly and beginning to type. Why was he avoiding eye contact? Writing splashed up on the mirror again and I caught the word B.E.E.F. "In light of... Your husband. I think its best we build you in a somewhat low-profile mode. Not drawing too much attention to yourself in that particular part of the world, would undoubtedly go in your favour." All that for somewhere shady? It just seemed excessive.

"Just how shady are we talking here Omega?" I asked somewhat nervous about the situation I was being put in.

"There is nowhere like it on Earth. Perhaps in the dark ages, in more lawless times, but even then... Anyway, onwards and upwards I always say. So, for your stats I'm thinking something along the lines of this. A box appeared next to my face in the mirror with a list:

Strength - 6 (-4)

Agility - 16 (+6)

Charisma - 12 (+2)

Endurance - 12 (+2)

Intellect - 12 (+2)

Perception - 10 (+0)

Luck - 4 (-6)

I looked at the numbers and hovered over each of them in turn. Each gave a massive list of things they affected. Strength was mostly damage stuff, but also how much I could lift or carry, and if I could use 2 handed weapons. Does a mop count as a 2 handed weapon I wondered? Agility was ranged damage, and small weapon types, and also how generally nimble you were, coupled with reaction times and ooh dancing, yeah like that's a benefit in a seedy world. Hi my names Abi, I'm a real good dancer. Maybe this was a part of the multiverse where to avoid fights people hand dance offs. Charisma was about talking to people, trading mainly and contract stuff, but also how easily I could make friends. Judging by my real-life situation I apparently sucked at it, maybe the multiverse would be different. Endurance governed my stamina bar and health bar, so how far I could run, and how much of a beating I could take? Have to say I'm not liking the sound of this game one bit... Intellect governed my mana, spells I could cast and generally how quickly I picked up new concepts. Perception was how quickly I absorbed information of the world around me, trapdoors, or secret compartments, oh that sounded fun. And finally, Luck. Hmm, didn't really say much on Luck. Then again, I wouldn't consider myself incredibly lucky in real life. Certainly not based on the fact I'm bound to a bed, with the use of one eye which I can't really see shit out of, oh and my husband is cheating on me! Yeah not a lot of Luck in that.

I looked through the stats Omega had assigned, heavy on the Agility, and an unlucky weakling, meh it was close to what I appeared I guess, well except for the dancing part. "Omega, why don't the numbers add up on the side? I'd have thought the + and - would come out to 0?"

"What dear? Oh, oh yes, my mistake... But you know what? I believe that performing that quick calculation has earnt you another attribute. Well done." Omega clicked a button a notification popped up on my screen Congratulations you have gained +1 intellect for showing Omega the error of his ways and low and behold my intellect had now gone up to 13. I was about to tell him that this made the calculation worse, but meh why look a gift horse in the mouth...

"Now, In terms of your skills and professions. The ship you will be on is quite notorious for breaking down. Having Agility and Intellect will help you in the path of a tinkerer. What can I say a girl after my own heart." He mock wiped a tear from his eye before continuing. "Having the ability to assist in their engineering department, might take you out of the... Err... Front line, so to speak."

"Ship? I'm going to be on a ship? Like a Space Ship? That sounds pretty cool, well apart from the whole breaking down part and Front Line. What exactly constitutes the Front Line?" Omega just gave me that look that meant, shut up girl and just go along with me.

Congratulations your perception of when to speak and when not to speak has earnt you +1 in Perception. Perhaps if you hadn't spoken at all you would have gained a Charisma point too..

Omega cleared his throat glancing at the doorway before turning back to me and taking on a hushed tone. "Last but not least, I think it's important that we keep you shrouded somewhat, I'd like to bestow upon you a gift. Now, you are only the 2nd person in the history of the multiverse to receive this gift. So, let's just hope you turn out better than the first one eh?" I went to say something and stopped as I heard an elevator ding from down the corridor.

"Alas I think our time is up. If its ok with you, I'll drop in on you soon just to see how you are getting along. Customer feedback is always appreciated. Anyway, got to dash. Goodbye Abi. See you again soon..." Omega said as I heard voices coming down the corridor and the sound of heavy boots. Omega clicked some more buttons and a green light flowed over my body in concentric circles. I felt as if I was standing in a hurricane, my bones become jelly at the immense pressure being exhorted onto my body. A bright light shone from above and as I looked up, I felt an immense pull at my core. It felt like I was a fish being reeled in, and I was hooked right into my soul. I started to lift off the ground, floating in mid-air and then in a heartbeat I was pulled into the light and the multiverse, which lay beyond.

Chapter 3

I squinted as my vision returned, I felt slightly nauseous from the sensory overload. There were shapes in my vision of different colours. I tried blinking them away but they remained. As I looked at one shape, a red bar in the bottom right of my vision, some text came up which read Health. Below that was a Stamina bar which was a dull white, and finally underneath that was a light blue bar which said Mana. I seemed to recall reading something about these when with Omega, but it still seemed surreal, I hadn't tried to absorb the details. This couldn't be a dream. No one would be able to conjure up a dream this vivid and with as many details. Take for example my surroundings, I could smell clean atmosphere with a mixture of air, but also a slight tinge of oil. There was a constant thrumming noise that resembled something similar to a high-pitched washing machine on a spin cycle. As I surveyed my surroundings, I noticed I was sitting down my arms chained either side of me through metallic bars. I tried to move my legs and felt a slight jolt as they stopped, confirming my suspicion they were also chained. The rattling drew the attention of a person sitting opposite me. At least I think it was a person, though I couldn't see any flesh. It was a man like shape encased in metal with a thick broad chest with IMT written on it in white. His visor spun my way at the sound my rattling made and his hand clasped at a portion of his leg, before drawing a weapon at me.

"Easy there, sister. Don't make any sudden movements or the next thing you know there's a hole in the back of your head. You understand?" His voice was deep and tone menacing. He kept the gun pointed at my head and froze in that position. I nodded, thinking he was expecting some response and not really fancying the whole bullet in the head thing.

"Not much further now, BEEF is 2 minutes away and you can go do whatever it is you like to do, and I can go back to doing what I like to do. OK?" He said gesturing to his right. I looked across and noticed 2 people sitting with their backs to me in large leather seats. One had bright purple hair with a bald patch shaped like a heart shaved into the back of its skull, and the other had spiked red hair with the tips glowing a fiery red. They were clicking buttons on panels in front of them in a steady flow. I looked beyond and saw a window, the view shifting and turning with their ministrations. A mammoth structure lay ahead practically filling the view even though we were some distance away. It looked like a mixture of all different parts and pieces, with no conformity in size, shape or colour. Like a small city with no regulations on planning permissions, so that some skyscrapers grew sideways and others at other odd angles. A large dome section sat higher than the rest. Bright pink neon lettering scrolling along its side saying B.E.E.F. Every so often the writing would flicker and letters disappear, before reappearing a few seconds later. Seemed even in this game world bulbs needed to be changed and electrics fixed, which made Omega's suggestion about tinkering all the more reasonable.

A couple of ships left the structure as we continued our approach. A series of large double doors opening and closing behind them. "Clearance granted IMTA1-14201. Proceed to docking bay 4. Repeat for confirmation over." Came a crisp voice through the speakers at the front of the ship.

"Check, Docking Bay 4. Moving to position." One of the pilots replied, as the view pivoted on its axle and we seemed to glide sideways before facing towards massive grey doors with thick black lettering of 04. Green lights flashed on what looked like drones all around us, creating a tunnel of lights as we continued towards the door, which slowly started to open. At one point the drones on the right started to flash red and the pilot immediately pressed some buttons to push us leftwards before straightening us out, and the drones went green again. That's pretty cool I thought as the open doorway loomed ahead of us. I wondered what I was getting myself into? I mean here I was with both my hands and feet chained to a chair, with a gun pointed at my head... It just seemed so excessive and unnecessary, and well, frankly rude! Omega had warned me about a seedy part of the world, and my husband having something to do with it, but that didn't mean I was seedy. So, what made the man in front of me treat me like a common criminal?

"Is all this really necessary? I mean I understand..." I started before the man jumped forward and backhanded the side of my face with his metal gauntlet. My head flew backwards and sideways and I felt pain in my wrist and ankles as the chains dug in to keep me upright as my vision went hazy. I had a flashback to a car spinning, and wheels screeching. My face hitting a window and, and... I shook my head to try to clear it.

"Shut up bitch. Don't make me get out of this chair again" he said sitting back and fastening his seatbelt. My ears were ringing and there was an intense pain in my jaw where he'd struck. I saw an icon flashing, Warning: You are suffering from concussion. Vision affected, Hearing affected, Balance affected, Agility affected by -10. 5 minutes until effect wears off.Well yeah thanks for that game, it's not like it's the first time I've been slapped in the face, but it is the first time with a steel glove. I gingerly circled my jaw one way and then the other, feeling the bones crunching and cracking as they realigned. Apparently, the hit had done 20 points of damage, meaning my health bar went from 120 to 100. Personally, I wasn't sure I could take 5 more of those, my head still spinning from the effects, as the ship glided between the doors and into a room filled with large pipes around the outskirts and crates stacked in neat piles at different points. There were 2 other ships on the right-hand side of the docking bay, each much smaller than the one we were in. We glided slightly away from the other ships aligning to the left before slowly coming to a halt. There was some minor adjustments and the thrumming noise, which I guessed was from the engines, started to wind down. The 2 pilots stood up from their seats and flicked a few buttons and there was a loud clank, followed be a hiss of gases being expelled.

"Stay in your seat until told otherwise," said the son of a bitch with the metal gauntlets as he unclipped his belt and stood. Yeah like I have a choice. Sure, I'll just get up and grab my overhead luggage while I'm chained to a fucking seat! He started making his way to the back of the ship and the backwall which was slowly lowering forming a ramp. Both pilots glanced menacingly at me as they also passed, confirming to me that at this moment, hatred for me seemed a universal constant. Go figure.

After a few minutes I noticed a large shape walking up the ramp followed by a much smaller one. As they came into focus, the first one was the guy who'd bitch slapped me, but the other one made my brain do a double take. It was a small creature about 4 feet tall and it was a pale green with an ugly face. Perched on top of it was a purple top hat, with zebra print around the rim. Bushy hair sprouted out on either side of its small chin, and ears that seemed to point out from his head and were as long as its arms. There were jewels in every part of them all different colours and shapes, even some gold and silver hoops. The only thing bigger than his ears was his nose which seemed to be at least a foot long and curled upwards until about halfway before curling back down.

"Oh no, no, no. Beautiful they said, money maker they said. I wouldn't have her washing the dishes. Where are her tits? Is she even a she?" The croaky high-pitched green thing said. Hey I'm right here you mother fucker. He appeared to survey me a little more with his piercing eyes. As he turned his head, I noticed a gem pierced his nose, and a hoop made from a silvery metal pierced his eyebrow. He must have a hell of a time getting through metal detectors I thought as he spoke again. "Did you hit her? Damaged goods. I can't accept damaged goods. Precious cargo cannot be beaten."

"Precious cargo? You said yourself she looks like a little boy. Sure, I hit her, but not enough to make her tits fall off. Hey listen. You Goblins are all the same, trying to wrangle on price, but listen to me Bizzlewig, don't try to cross me on this deal. I will kick your ass, company be damned!" The man shouted bracing his feet apparently preparing his posture for a fight. So, the green thing was a Goblin and by the sounds of it was called Bizzlewig. As I hovered over him a small box appeared Bizzlewig, level 14 Accountant, Goblin. Huh. Neat. I'd always been poor at remembering people's names and jobs. Looks like the game was going to help me. I looked over at the other guy and focused. Marken, level 10 Mercenary, Human. Underneath it read Reinforced Steel Argonian Exo-suit. +20 Strength, +20 Endurance, all dmg resist +20%