1 Paraiso Online!
Welcome to Paraiso Online!
A mysterious and fantastical world awaits you, and your epic adventure!
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2025 - Manila, Philippines
Bulalacao Corp has unveiled its newest online VR game, Paraiso Online, in closed alpha to a randomly selected global pool of professional gamers, VR enthusiasts, and regular members of society who were curious enough in joining the open call for testers. Three months were given to the 1,000 lucky players who get to experience the game at an advanced date.
During the closed alpha, the players were allowed to freely explore the world of Paraiso as if they were playing the full version of the game, but after 3 months, all the progress that they've made will be wiped out. In compensation for the testing, they will receive special bonuses on their characters upon release of the full version of the game.
The world of Paraiso is governed by the god Bathala, and to win at Paraiso, one must meet Bathala and become crowned as the chosen one of this generation.
With this premise, the players are free to do whatever they want to get to the final goal of meeting Bathala. They can conquer the land and build empires, become an adept and learn the mysteries of the world, go on adventures and slay the strongest monsters, or just simply enjoy the magnificent world of Paraiso.
Among the 1,000 alpha testers, there was a guy who wasn't a professional gamer, a VR enthusiast, or a curious member of society who was interested in testing a game who got picked. He was drunk and clicked on a link in one of his group chats which led to him registering in the open call for testers of Paraiso Online. His name is Daniel Salazar.
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"What the f---!!!"
Daniel exclaimed as he received a large package from Bulalacao Corp. It was the VR pod that was going to be used to access Paraiso Online. He didn't expect that clicking a link in one of his group chats would lead to this. He initially blamed his friends as he wasn't interested in games but he can't do anything about it because there was an agreement in the registration to fully commit to the testing if they ever get picked. Daniel's day job was as a psychologist who focused on schizophrenic and bipolar patients. His life was too busy for games, and he certainly didn't welcome this package that he is receiving.
"Where am I gonna place this large chunk of metal? Damned Bulalacao Corp!"
"Sir, I suggest using a spare room if you have one." Said the delivery guy.
"Ugh, you can use my bedroom, there's still some space left for that pod to fit in somewhere there."
"Alright sir, the installation would be covered by Bulalacao Corp and you'll be given a special internet connection for this pod, it comes preinstalled within the pod itself so you won't have to worry about connection issues!"
"At least that's one thing they've done right. I'm assuming my electric bill isn't covered, huh?"
"Ahhh, hehe I don't think so sir."
"I knew it!"
"Hehe, let me finish the installation sir, and I'll let you enjoy the game in peace." The delivery guy sounded nervous.
"Alright, do your thing."
A few hours later, the delivery guy finished setting up the VR pod and left some instructions on how to operate the machine. Daniel made sure to take notes so that he could properly use it. Even if he had no interest in games, he tried his best on whatever is currently on his plate.
"OK, let's give this thing a try. 3 months isn't a long time. So this is gonna be the story of my 32nd year here on Earth. Games. It's been so long since I last played games."
He went into the pod and laid himself down, wore the neural head gear, and closed his eyes.
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"Welcome to Paraiso Online, thank you, and congratulations for participating in the closed alpha version. We hope that you enjoy your adventures!" A soothing female voice entered Daniel's ears.
"Please be informed that your playthrough is recorded for development purposes and kindly report anything strange or unusual about your experience."
"We will proceed to the character creation. Any changes you make during the creation process are free, but altering your character in-game is also possible, so don't worry about not having the perfect one upfront."
"This seems like a regular game." Daniel thought.
The character creation lobby was a huge, blank white room. Daniel sat in the middle of the room and saw a blue screen pop up in front of him. There was a prompt to select the race, facial features, body type, color, and gender.
"So there are fantasy races here, aside from the human race, I can choose elf, dwarf, orc, and goblin. Ehh, I'd rather just pick the basic one and go for a human."
"You have chosen the human race, would you like to keep your likeness as your character?"
"I don't feel like customizing too much so yeah. Yes, keep my likeness. Besides, this is just an alpha test."
"You have chosen a human, with the same likeness as you as your character in Paraiso Online, what would you like to name your character?"
"Let's go with Gong."
"Welcome player Gong, to the mysterious and fantastical world of Paraiso! You will be directed to a random starter village where you can begin your adventure. Have fun!"
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Daniel saw black, and then blinding white light. As he blinked some more, he started to see a faint image of a mountain overlooking a forest and a lake. He saw a small, almost dilapidated hut a few meters in front of him and he instinctively walked towards it.
As he got nearer to the hut, he saw that it was actually quite detailed. The walls are carved with a curious wave-like pattern and have some images of mythical-looking monsters fighting each other. There are signs of what once most likely were vibrant paints on the carvings but now it's quite faded and has some patina to it. Atop the roof, there is green smoke rising out of a chimney and the smell of it reached Daniel's nose.
"Aaack! What a putrid smell! Whoever is in here must be up to no good!" Daniel muttered.
Despite the foul smell, he still went to the front door and knocked. The reason was that he couldn't find any other building or establishment in the vicinity. After all, he was on top of a mountain overlooking a forest and a lake.
"Who's there?" An old-sounding male voice came from inside the hut.
"Hello! I was wondering where I was. I was told that I would have been brought to a village but this doesn't seem like one, and your hut is the only building I see here." Daniel said with a slightly louder voice.
"I said, who's there?"
"Oh, I'm Gong."
The door slightly opened, and Daniel could make out an image of one eye looking at him from the gap created when the man opened the door.
"Gong. Hm. Curious." The old man opened the door some more, revealing himself. He was wearing clothes that looked like a robe of an affluent merchant, it was sky blue with gold trimmings on the cuffs and collar, and it had a pattern that looks like dragons floating on clouds. He had long white hair and a matching long white beard that made him look like a wizard. He was holding a spatula with some green liquid sticking to it and he looked amused at the sight of Daniel.
Daniel had a hard time figuring out what race the old man is because he was fairly short, and had rather pointy ears. It felt to Daniel that this guy must be some sort of elf-human-dwarf hybrid.
After a short staredown between the two, the old man spoke again. "It's been a while since Mayari sent someone in my domain, I wonder what kind of story you possess."
"Mayari? Who's that?" Daniel was at a loss.
"I'm assuming that you must have heard a voice in your head before you came here, if it's a female, and it's usually a female, that should be Mayari." The old man said.
"Huh. So the AI's voice is called Mayari. That's cool to know."
"They call it AI now huh, I wonder what that means."
"Wait? Do you know about AI? Aren't you just an NPC?"
"I'm assuming NPC is what you call us beings in this domain."
"What a robust world-building." Daniel thought.
"This world is much, much more than what meets the eye, Gong. You'll find that as you stay here, your story will unfold, unlike anything you've seen or experienced before. I'm sure you'll discover things about this world that will teach you a lot of things about yourself. You'll meet beings, like me, that will challenge you to greater heights. You'll be able to live a life that represents what your soul truly longs for."
"That sounds all well and good. I hope you're right. But first things first, what do I call you, old man?"
"You're interested in my name? Gong of the human race? Very well, you can refer to me as Bathala."
