Chương 3: The Devil On Your Shoulder I

Fia awakens, floating in an ethereal void with a third-person view of her nude body in front of her. "Alright, welcome to your character creation Fia!" Niya's voice softly filled Fias' ears as she could freely move around herself, marveling at how well the system captured her form.

"Normally, the players only have the option to change minor details like hair, muscle definition, even eye color, but for you..." Fia watched as Niya changed her features slowly until, instead of her usual shapely female frame floating in front of her, she now had a male body.

"Because you have me and the princess, you'll be able to change much more, and since you're a returning Beta tester, you'll want to hide your identity as much as possible." After a few moments of tweaking together, they eventually settled on a dark-skinned male a foot taller than Fia, who is five-two. Instead of her jade green eyes, they went with a fierce emerald red, very minor changes to facial features to not raise any red flags in the system.

"Alright, do you confirm your character modification?" Niya asked, needing verbal confirmation on the changes and not wanting to subvert the system any further than they have or will. Fia stared hard into her new form. She realized she'd mostly live more than an average lifespan as this person experiencing a world indistinguishable from reality like she did three years ago.

"I accept." After she complies, she and her new form begin to sink into the darkness together until her vision goes black. When the world returns, she's sitting in a luxury hotel room. Ornate chandeliers softly illuminate a gorgeous space. She feels the soft give of a couch beneath her that she can't help but sink into, closing her eyes and retreating into the comfort. The smell of food yanked her eyes open on the table in front of her. A spread of her favorite meals sat, enticing a hunger she didn't acknowledge until now.

Ignoring all reason and giving in to the demanding growls of her stomach, she digs in, not hesitating to question piping hot meals appearing from nowhere. She sampled everything before focusing on what she wanted, savoring every bite. While she devoured, an orb of light slowly formed and took the shape of a woman in the center of the room. The woman unfurled a set of beautiful white wings, and her golden robe hung loosely over a shapely form, and a top of soft, long blonde hair sat a crown of light.

Fia did not look up from her plate. She continued to devour food, ignoring the being of effervescence that just manifested in front of her. "Come mortal and prostrate yourself before your Angel..." The luminescent woman demanded from Fia, who again chose food over conversation. The Angel sat peaking from her upturned nose for some type of acknowledgment but found only Fia gobbling everything in sight. Frustration worked its way onto the Angel's brow as she realized Fia was thoroughly ignoring her.

"You know? You're going to be living as a man for quite some time. You should, at the very least, learn how to acknowledge the female form." The Angel jabbed, causing Fia to choke. She pounded on her chest, trying to get the food down, but it wouldn't budge. She looked to the Angel, gesturing for anything to drink, not seeing a drop of liquid anywhere on the table.

"Oh, you need something from me now?" The Angel said coyly, watching as Fia slowly turned a shade of blue. With a snap of her fingers, a cup filled to the brim with Fia's favorite wine appeared on the tab. She lept for it, drinking down the blockage in her throat.

"First, you're my sister Niya, and second..." Fia paused, realizing the voice she was using wasn't hers in the slightest. The tone and accent were wrong, causing her to search for a mirror in the room. When she found one, she stood in its gaze, taking in her new body.

"And second, I need to come to terms with who I am and will be now..." Fia looks at Niya with a sympathetic look etched over concern for her sister.

"So, does that mean you've decided on a name?" The angelic Niya asks, joining his reflection in the mirror.

"Vidar... my name is Vidar." Vidar looks Niya in the eyes. He notices they glow momentarily before another disembodied voice fills the room.

"PLAYER TWO SIXTY-FIVE HAS READIED!" An announcer's voice says, following a few more numbers nearing closer to the thousands. Vidar, feeling a bit fatigued, makes his way over to the king-sized bed and collapses into it.

"This drop is so rough on the body." Vidar says, covering his eyes with a forearm.

"You lived centuries in Beta, and they realized twelve days in deep dive can cause a lot of trauma to the mind and body. When the deep dive helmet synced with you, the stasis chamber engaged, and they really upgraded their hardware for these non-contractually gagged players." Niya added, sitting next to Vidar, who felt motion sickness throughout their body as the bed shook. The threat of food escaping his body was strong until he felt a hand on his head.

"I have all your vitals here, and I can tweak them in command if-

-no, thank you..." Vidar says, sitting up to move away from Niya's reach.

"I don't want you to tweak the damage or any of the sensations. I should have won the last game, and I'll win this one without dulling this world... I'll accept whatever it has to offer." Vidar says, a rage and hate burning within their chest.

"Good, good, because it would raise too many red flags if your Guardian Angel spent too much time pitying you." A voice added, causing both Niya and Vidar to check the room until he noticed a pair of crimson eyes peering at him from his sister's shadow. They watched as a dark form slowly elevated itself free of Niya's shadow. A female form with a whip-like tail and horns appeared before them.

"I think it's about time we talked about our game plan, no?" The demonic figure said with a fangy grin growing on her face.