Draconia Offline vol. 1

2.3 VRMMORPG - Part 3

I'm lucky that one of the perks of being royalty, and living in a palace, means having personal NPC maids. They capture me the moment I step into my chambers. Maids were programmed by Liana herself to make their master presentable and they don't rest until the task is finished. They eagerly undress me almost at the doorstep when they see the rags I have on.

Then a bath and meticulous scrubbing of my muddy wings. To be honest, I'm thankful for that part. Having wings dirty for longer than a few minutes gives Celestials an unpleasant itchy feeling.

"Can I choose my attire?" I ask the maids when they finish drying my feathers and hair. Only battle gear can be equipped immediately from the inventory.

"No, Your Majesty, Her Excellence Liana has already chosen for you," one of the maids answers with a pre-prepared dialogue option.

"As expected," I murmur.

Liana is an utter perfectionist and considers me to be a part of her arrangement.

"Isn't that enough?" I complain and inspect myself in the mirror.

The royal garment is overkill however you look at it. A long ornamental robe with many layers of cloth makes me look like some kind of princess even if it isn't technically a dress. Well, my avatar isn't exactly masculine, just like me in real life, and Celestial males generally can't have overly muscular builds because we have to be light for flying. But still.

"You look stunning, Your Majesty," a maid compliments me. Can one be glad about a compliment from an NPC? Can their artificial intelligence even analyze appearance properly?

"And your hair is done," another maid announces. "Please, don't make yourself that dirty again, it was a chore to wash out all that mud."

At least my hairstyle isn't a total disaster; they took advantage of my avatar's long hair and created a samurai-ish high braid. I suspect that it isn't historical at all, probably came from some old videogame about samurai warriors, but it looks cool.

I step outside my chamber and the NPC guards automatically follow me and don't leave until I reach the main reception hall.

"Good, white again," Liana evaluates me immediately when I show up. "You look presentable enough. Be a good sovereign and act according to the role-play, will you? Newly appointed seraphs worked hard to earn that rank and want their ceremony to be a cinematic experience."

"Got it," I nod obediently. "You know I wouldn't ruin events that are being recorded and streamed. It's my livelihood, after all."

Liana pokes me as a reminder that it's against the code of virtual conduct to talk about real life here; especially during role-play events. But she gets it.

Heavenly fanfares start to play and the event begins. I try to act serious and collected; antagonising Liana is never a good idea. Still, it's hard not to giggle when I'm being presented as His Godly Emperor Aefener.

There are only two new seraphs today since getting the highest rank is very difficult and usually takes several years depending on how much time one devotes to playing. In addition, not all players aim for the top, most just want to enjoy some leisure time in virtual reality.

I have administrative rights from the developers to promote players of my race to the highest rank possible if they meet certain criteria. And so I do. I touch both of them, perform a prescribed hand gesture recognised by the system and official seraph symbols appear on the back of their left hands. Done, easy business, if it wasn't for all the theatrics.

A reception follows. The food is tasty but it only stimulates certain parts of one's brain; it doesn't really fill my stomach.

"Here, you deserve it," Liana brings me one of those delicious looking Heavenly Lemon Cakes that were promised.