《Skeleton King ( A LitRPG Story )》


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    Made of bones


    I awoke, no, that¡¯s not the right word.For how can I wake up when I don¡¯t remember going to sleep.


    No, what I felt was more like I had regained consciousness and along with it, a loud ringing in my head.


    I looked around, trying to get a feel for my surroundings but all I saw was darkness, which made rethink if I was even awake, perhaps I was asleep and this was a dream, a very lucid dream.But yet I knew that wasn¡¯t it, something in me told me I was wide awake even if there was nothing but darkness around me.


    I stretched my arms out to try and feel something, anything, that would give me a clue to where I was.And luckily I did, for my hands touched something, I think, for I couldn¡¯t really see what I had touched, but my hands would not go any deeper into this darkness I found myself in.


    Slowly, I moved toward whatever I had touched, which was to my side, the darkness made it impossible to see what it was, but I was certain that it was a wall of sorts, I could feel it,not through my hands for some reason, my hands felt numb, but somehow my body told me that it was a wall, don¡¯t ask me how, because not even I knew how.


    I used the wall to guide me around this darkness.


    I could just picture myself standing all alone in god knows where, using this wall as a guide, like some blind person.Which wasn''t so far from the truth considering all I could see was darkness.But the darkness wasn''t the only thing afflicting me, my head, for some reason, was throbbing, almost as if I had been hit by something.


    How did I end up in this situation?"


    All I remember was playing Magic and Swords, which was an VRMMO RPG , the latest immersive game from Extra Life Corp, maybe this was part of the game, after all ,the game did pride itself in being the most immersive VR game in the market.And as an avid gamer of role playing games, I had to say it lived up to its name.


    Or perhaps I was just dreaming after having spend an obscene amount of time playing the game, and as a self proclaimed professional RPG player,playing long into the night or days wasn''t something strange to me, maybe I had fallen asleep inside the VR cocoon I had bought to play this game.


    "Menu open up," I said, trying to get the pop-up menu of the game to appear in front of me just like the manual had said, but nothing happened.


    Well this is strange.


    "Menu open up," I said, again, but nothing.


    Which made me scared, no point in trying to hide it, but can you really blame me, I mean, if you found yourself all alone with nothing but darkness around and no way to escape,wouldn¡¯t you be scare too?


    I began to walk, slowly, and carefully, trying to navigate the pitch black darkness I was in, using the wall next to me as a guide, and having no idea where it would lead me,all I could hope for was that it will take me out of this darkness.


    As I continued to walk, it felt like this darkness was endless, stretching into eternity.Was it a bug of the game? Heck, am I still inside the game, perhaps I wasn''t , maybe I wasn¡¯t awake at all, what if I had died playing Magic and Swords.


    I had heard rumors of players dying inside the VR gaming cocoons, the realness of the game intoxicating them and making them addicted to the game like a drug.Which, if I was honest, wasn¡¯t a bad way to go, especially for a guy like me.I mean, I was a twenty seven year old with nothing going for me except for my love for games.I hand''t done much with my life that a twenty seven year old should do, like having a career, a wife and kids, but I cant complain, i had lived my life how i wanted it.


    Maybe this is the afterlife, and I¡¯m walking toward the destination my life got me, whatever that may be.


    Stop it? I can''t think like that.


    This is just part of the game, it has to be.


    I stopped for a moment, hesitation in me building up like a balloon about to explode at any moment.


    Do I really want to see was at the end of this tunnel?


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I moved my head back, and saw only the darkness I was trying to escape waiting me.


    Well, I hoped at least what awaits me isn''t more darkness.


    I let out a faint laugh, and resumed my walk, not caring where it would take me, as long as whatever it was had at least some light, it couldn¡¯t be too bad.


    As I walked what I assumed must have been forever, I noticed a strange flickering light floating at the end.


    I stopped.


    The light was reddish in color, like a light from a flame.I decided to wait for it, letting the light come to me, not knowing whether that was a good idea or not.As the light got closer and closer, I could hear footsteps accompanying the flame.


    ¡°This is it,¡± I told myself, trying to give myself the courage to face whatever was coming my way.


    As the footsteps got closer, the light began to illuminate some of my surroundings.I could only make out a few glimpses of what the light had illuminated for it was dim, as if it was losing its strength the closer it got to me.But luckily, it was enough to give me a view of where I was.


    The large thing to my side that I was using as a guide in this darkness was a wall made of stone.


    If the walls were made of stones, did that mean I was in some kind of dungeon?


    And if i was, does that mean I''m still inside the game?


    I must be, since I don''t remember logging off.


    The footsteps were now getting louder, it was still too dark to see just who, or what was coming toward me, and as the footsteps got closer and closer with every second that passed,their sound engulfed me, making me forget about this darkness I was in, and soon, whatever was coming my way, will be upon me.


    The anxiety was getting to me.Even if this was a game, it sure felt too real.


    I tried to look to my sides, trying to find a place to hide, but it was useless.I was in a stone hallway, which meant there was only one way to go, and to make matters worse, the small dimly lit light that was flashing in front of me was now gone,and all I could see was darkness again.


    I prepared myself for whatever was coming my way.Expecting the realness of the game to no doubt trigger my anxiety, and activate my flight or fight response.


    A feeling I was all too familiar with.For I was more of a lover than a fighter, well , if I¡¯m being honest, I was never much of a lover either, still being a¡­


    Its here !


    Whatever had made its way toward me was literally standing in front of me.


    I could feel him, or it, whatever it was.


    Yet, for some reason, I didn¡¯t feel scare or anxious, at all.I felt nothing, which was weird.


    It was as if I was empty inside, I didn¡¯t like this feeling.I stood up straight, no longer slouching against the wall like some meekly man, no, whatever was in front of me was going to see me erect and ready for it.I could picture myself standing in front of it, both of us looking at each other.


    I could attack, no, is better to wait, for now.Not being sure of what to do was more aggravating that being in some dark dungeon or wherever I was.


    The anticipation was killing me, if I wasn¡¯t already dead.


    I felt their presence lingering over me in silent, whoever was standing in front of me was just doing that, standing, maybe they were waiting for me to move.


    Whoever or whatever was in front of me was waiting in silence, their presence hanging heavy on my shoulders, maybe I was in the way,


    Yes that¡¯s it, I was in their way, I told myself, trying to reassure myself of it.


    And as I was about to move out of the way, something grabbed me, I think, because my body stopped.Has it finally decided to attack me?I wondered.


    ¡°ARG GRAH AR,¡± a heard a voice, it sounded cold, lifeless, and empty.And just when I was about to try and free myself from whatever was holding me, a light flashed around me like a light switch being turn on, illuminating everything.


    I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes, I was at a loss of words, not that I was much of a talker, but still.


    I must still be in the game somehow, for that was the only explanation that could explain what I was seeing in front of me.


    It was a skeleton standing in front of me, he had holes were his features of flesh were supposed to be.The figure in front of me was a skeleton, there was no denying it.But what caught my eyes was the transparent bars hovering over his head, just like an enemy in an RPG game.


    ¡°Lvl 10 Skeleton ,


    HP 50,


    MP 0.¡±


    It read.


    There was no denying it now, I must still be connected to the game somehow.Which meant I was still in my avatar with the name 1337Noobpunisher1337 floating above me, hey, don¡¯t judge me, I know it¡¯s embarrassing but I was feeling extra bored the day I created my account.


    And as I tried to yank myself free from its grasp, I looked at my arm, feeling so stupid for not paying attention to the most important thing in front of me, my body.


    If a skeleton with RPG elements standing in front of me was weird, what I was looking at was even harder tocomprehend.But I didn¡¯t panic when I saw my arm, no, all I did was stand like some statue, unable to move or comprehend what was goingon.I didn¡¯t know if I was in shock, orwhat.The only thing I could think to do was run my other hand over the arm this skeleton washolding.


    I didn¡¯t feel anything, but then again, there was nothing tofeel.My arm was white and pale, no different from the bones of the skeleton in front ofme.


    This wasn¡¯t myavatar.


    ¡°GHRA GHA,¡± the skeleton in front of me said, his jaw moved up and down, yet his words felt cold andempty.He let go of my arm and pointed, with his bony pale fingers, toward the end of the corridor or hallway we found ourselvesin.He looked at me one last time, his hollow eye sockets giving me nothing but darkness, and then he made his way past me, his body disappearing into the darkness I hadleft.


    I just stood there, looking at my body, my pale, white bonybody.


    How is this possible? Perhaps I was still in the game, yea, that must be it, I told myself as if my words were the only truth and nothingelse.


    Or maybe I was dead? Those words send a chilling heat down my spine, literally, or perhaps it was the heat from the burning fire on the candles that were hanging on the stone walls of thedungeon,its flames Illuminating the dungeon with their reddishhue.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    An armory of gold


    I obeyed the skeleton that had now left me and continued walking toward the end of the hallway, where he had pointed at.


    Not that I had any choice since that was the only way I could go.


    The faint light from the torches bounced off the walls, if anyone would have seen me I''m sure they would have gotten a scared, after all, I was a skeleton monster walking a dark stone hallway.


    My steps were stiff and awkward now that I was aware of what I was. I glanced at my body a few times, feeling it, even though I couldn¡¯t feel anything on the bones of my fingers, yet somehow, I could still feel the cold softness of my bones, maybe it was a skeleton¡¯s intuition of its own body. Or maybe it was part of how real this game was.


    VRMMO games were new to me, so I wasn¡¯t sure just how realistic they would be, especially the full body immersion technology, but so far, I was impressed at how real it felt.


    Now I just needed to learn how to log off, granted if this was a game, which I was sure it was, there was no other explanation for the RPG elements that were clearly in this world.


    I wondered how long this hallway extended too , for I had walked quite a while now.


    I turned my head back, and saw what I had left, which was nothing but the reddish brown wall and floor made of stones where my shadow danced to the rhythm of the flickering fires of the torchlights that hanged from the wall.


    There was no point in going back, and even if I wanted too, I was just going to end up back to the endless darkness, so I might as well just keep going forward.


    I was amaze at how well I was taking the fact that I was a skeleton, perhaps the fact that this was a game made me feel better, yes that must be it.


    I continued to walk through this endless corridor, getting used to this body of mine, as well as cursing whoever had made this corridor so long, wondering if skeletons got hungry.


    But somehow I knew the answer to that question, the numbness that ran through this body told me everything I needed to know. Heck, I couldn¡¯t even feel the floor underneath my feet as they walked over the stones on the floor. This body truly was numb. I could probably walk for hours, which seemed like it, for this corridor was endless, and just when I was about to stop and rest, not that this body needed it, I spotted, far ahead, with the hollow holes I called eyes, a door.


    The door was made out of long pieces of wood, each lined next to each other with long black cracks of space between them, there was a skeleton head hanging in the middle of the door, which I found odd. There were also torch lights hanging on each side of the door, despite them illuminating the door, I could feel a certain darkness from the door. I didn¡¯t know if it was my skeleton¡¯s intuition trying to tell me something, but there was an ominous feeling about this door.


    And the fact that the door was also taller than me , though I didn¡¯t know the height of this body, I was certain that I was my height, which was an inch shy of six feet .


    Even though I wasn¡¯t certain about this door, the fact that the large skeleton skull that hanged in the middle of the door had Its jaws hanging low, made me curious. The way its jaw was hanging low made it looked like a door knocker on a house. Could it? No, that would be silly, but what could I lose for trying.


    I looked back at the long corridor passage and saw nothing but empty space, so going back was not an option, besides, I was already here, and who knows, perhaps whatever was behind this tall wooden door might have answers to the many questions I had.


    I reached for the skull¡¯s jaw, wrapping my bony fingers around its pale, white jaw, and slowly, for the jaw was heavy, knocked on the door.


    Deep and roaring sounds of bones came out of the skull¡¯s jaw as it banged its lower jaw against the wooded body of the door.


    The sounds engulfed the dungeon, no doubt traveling through the corridor. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t such a good idea . I had already seen that one skeleton, so I wasn¡¯t the only one here. What if I had awaken something else, something not so friendly. Maybe I should go back, I turned my head back, is it too late to go back? I let out a laugh, though it wasn¡¯t really a laugh, it was more like a slow movement of my jaw.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    And just when I was about to moved one leg back, rethinking my decision of knocking on the door, the door began to move.


    The wooden body of the door began to drag itself slowly on the stone floor underneath this corridor I found myself in. Its body dragging itself to open. As the door was opening itself, I could see, barely, some kind of room at the other end, so I did the next logical thing and walked inside.


    The room was big, stretching vastly horizontally and vertically. There were torch lights hanging from the stone walls of the room, illuminating the room, yet most of the room was not being illuminated from the light of the torchlights that hanged on the wall of the room, but from the many swords ,shields, treasure chests, gems and gold that was sprinkle all around the room.


    Making the room look like it was made of pure gold.


    But what really caught my eyes, or lack of, was the large armored statue standing in the middle of the room like some tower overlooking the vast treasures in the room.


    It had black and gold armor with a sword as tall as it, standing in front of it.


    ¡®Hello,¡± I tried to say with these bones of mines, but only empty air left my mouth. So I did what anyone would do who had stumble upon all this gold and treasure, I walked to the treasure chest that was the closest to me, and as I began to walk toward it, the torchlights that hanged from the walls began to flickered as if a wind was blowing through them.


    I stopped.


    For the wind seemed to be alive. I looked at the giant armored thing in the middle. And if I had any flesh or muscles on my face, I would have swallow my saliva, for the giant armored thing began to move, swinging the sword that it was holding, its size creating a deep roaring vibration that ran through the large room and through my bones as well.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to steal anything, I swear,¡± I said almost instinctively. No doubt it had notice my intention of walking toward one of the treasure chest, maybe it was the guardian of this room created to protect this room from intruders, which I was .


    The giant armored knight began to walk toward my direction, its large and heavy feet dragging themselves through the stone ground. I wanted to run, I mean, if you saw a giant armored knight statue walking toward you, wouldn¡¯t you run? But of course I didn¡¯t, instead I prayed that this was really just a game, and nothing more.


    Just one big game which had glitched on me, and I was still in my room, which I called home. I mean, how do I know I wasn¡¯t, this Virtual Reality game was new to me, in fact, Magic and Swords online was my first VRMMO game.


    The armored dark knight stopped in front of me.


    I could feel its heavy stare behind the rectangular visor in its dark helmet. I looked up at it, he was massive, maybe twenty feet. I also noticed the same health and magic bar I had seen on the skeleton.


    The only difference from the skeleton npc I had stumble prior to him was that next to the HP and MP words there were question marks instead of numbers.


    I looked more closely at him, spotting his name, just like the skeleton.


    ¡°Dark Armored Knight,¡± it read, and next to his name was the same ¡°Lvl¡± letters that only meant level, which was filled with the same question marks next to it as his HP and MP bars.


    And if you were familiar with RPG games, that meant that our levels were so far apart that I couldn¡¯t even comprehend his, not that I knew my level, but whatever it was, it probably wasn¡¯t high enough compare to this behemoth standing in front of me.


    As we both stood in silence, his stared felt like an eternity that was falling on me.


    And just when I was beginning to worry if he was going to strike me, he began to walk away from me, whatever he was looking for, he must have found it, because he didn¡¯t crush me.


    And to my surprise, he didn¡¯t walk back to his sword that was thrusted deep into the stone floor of this treasure vault. But instead he walked past it and toward the darkness that the torchlights failed to vanish deep in the corners of the room.


    It was too dark to see what he was doing from where I was. So I did the next best thing and just stood where I was, not moving an inch or a bone.


    I glanced over at the weapons and armor that were all around the room, they looked Like high end weapons that some high end bosses drop. And I was sure they were high end weapons, for all I could see from them were question marks hovering over them.


    The room really looked like a treasure vault ready to be looted, for there was nothing but richness at every wall and corner. I looked up and saw the flames of the torchlights shining their red flames on what looked like vast corridors that ran around the room, no doubt hiding more treasure above. The giant knight¡¯s footsteps brought me back from my little expedition, just hearing the heavy steps would give anyone shills. As the knight walked toward me, I noticed he was carrying something. I just hoped that whatever it was, wasn¡¯t going to be the last thing I saw.


    He stood before me, but this time he had, on both hands, caring them like toys, two items.


    ¡°Basic sword,¡± the item on his right hand read,


    ¡°A sword for beginners, low durability.¡± I looked at his other hand,


    ¡°Basic shield, low durability,¡± both weapons seemed to be for beginners, which I was, I think. I had no idea how to see my level or my stats, but now was not the time to figure that out. I looked a him, and something in me told me that it was okay to grab the two items from his massive hands.


    They were quite light on my hands.


    I swung the sword around a bit, getting the feel of it, If I was still inside the game, then I must say that this feels pretty awesome, so life like. And just like the skeleton I had met before this giant knight, he also pointed me toward another direction, but this time it was a door instead of a corridor, which I was glad, growing tired of walking endlessly.


    I looked back at him, and bowed my head, thanking him for the weapons. I had no idea if he understood my thanks, or not, but either way, I was glad to have something to protect me with.


    The knight looked at me for a brief second and then began to walk back, his heavy feet creating loud and cavernous noises only a knight of his size could.


    He stopped at his spot, which was in the middle of the room (I think, for the room was massive so I couldn¡¯t be sure) and grabbed his sword, pulling it out of the stone floor like a knife out of butter, and brought it to his face, and stood.


    He looked like some protector created to protect the treasures of this room.


    I walked toward the door he had pointed too, leaving him behind, and feeling safer with the shield and sword in my hands, wondering just where this one was leading me off to.

 CHapter 3

    Chapter 3


    Level up


    I looked back at the door I had just walked through, and to my surprise, the stone wall began to suck in the door like quicksand, making it disappear into its stone body.


    The only thing that remained was a stone wall with no traces of the door that had just been there a second ago. Which meant there was no turning back now.


    I looked in front of me and saw another corridor, to my displeasure.


    The sword and shield in my bony hands felt good, not that I could feel their surface, but it felt good to have something to protect myself with, who knows what I would encounter in this dungeon, though luckily every monster I had encounter had been friendly, but nonetheless, it felt good to have a weapon for protection.


    I could still see the rectangular text boxes of the sword and shield telling me what I already knew. Which was quite annoying, feeling like I was playing with the start menu on, wondering just how to switch it off, there must be a way, or else this was going to be quite cumbersome to my enjoyment of the game.


    And yes, I was certain I was playing a game, I just hadn¡¯t figured out how to log off, yet.


    I looked at my weapon and wondered just who exactly I was supposed to use this weapon against. I don¡¯t think I could use them against monsters considering I was one of them, but then again, there was such a thing as friendly fire.


    Or perhaps I was supposed to use them against another enemy, a more human one.


    Was I perhaps an npc in a dungeon?


    I stopped.


    I had arrived at an arched entrance of some kind, except there was no door, only a dark spot where a door was supposed to be. I looked back at the corridor, the dimly lit torch lights were flickering my shadow on the walls. I looked at the darkness in the middle of the arched entrance, trying to decipher what could be at the other end, but I saw nothing, not even a text box telling me anything.


    I tightened my grip on my sword and shield and proceeded to walk into the darkness, and just as I got close, a text box appeared.


    ¡°Would you like to enter? YES / NO."


    This is it, once I pick my answer, there was no going back, I imagined myself swallowing my saliva as if I was still human, preparing myself to fight whatever was at the other end, after all, for what other reason was I given a sword and shield and pointed toward this direction.


    ¡°YES,¡± I said, doubting my voice would be heard, but to my surprise, the text box did register my voice for the ¡°YES¡± option began to glow. And the next thing I remember was the darkness of the archway swallowing me.


    The room was dimly lit just like the corridor I had come from. The same stones made up the walls and floors of the room, there was also a pair of skulls scattered on the floor and in the middle of the room, there was a small wooden treasure chest.


    There were other skeletons, just like me, who also had swords and shields.


    They were walking aimlessly around the room.


    I looked around and counted five of us, we looked just like carbon copies of each other, I also saw text boxes floating above their heads,


    ¡°Lvl 1 Skeleton,¡± the text boxes read,


    ¡°Lvl 2 , Lvl 3, Lvl 4.¡±


    They were all low levels, which meant my level was probably the same as them.


    I could also see the same box of text on the weapons they were carrying as well.


    ¡°Basic sword and shield.¡±


    I looked at the treasure in the middle, it also had a floating text box above its wooden body.


    ¡° Small treasure, contents unknown, ?????¡±


    My eyes almost felt like they were having a screen overload due to all the textboxes, I wanted to turn them off, but I didn¡¯t know how, yet.


    ¡°H-Hello,¡± I tried to say, no idea why, for I was sure only empty air would leave me, but to my surprise the skeletons turned to me. I had no idea if they understood me, or if they too were other players like me, which I doubt it, for they looked to be very dead, and it wasn¡¯t the fact that they were skeletons like me, there was this empty feeling around them.


    But yet, their stares made me feel like some newly hired employee trying to make small talk.


    ¡°U-um¡­.¡± All those years of social isolation came back to me like a wave ready to drown me.


    I was never much of a talker growing up. But thankfully, they turned back to whatever they were doing, ignoring me.


    Upon further inspection, I noticed that they weren¡¯t walking aimlessly but that there was a certain pattern to their movements.


    They were all walking around the chest like sharks circling their prey, always keeping a distance.


    I walked to the treasure chest in the middle of the room, trying to get a closer look, but to my surprise, all the skeletons stopped. Their hollow eyes laying heavy on my bones, which made me feel awkward, I had become , to my displeasure, the center of attention once again.


    I could feel myself getting red, though I knew I wasn¡¯t literally, but metaphorically, I was blushing.


    I walked past the treasure chest, fainting ignorance of them who were causing my social anxiety , and as I did, their eyes left me and they continue to go back to their walking, or circling to be more precise, around the chest, keeping their distance from it.


    I stood at the corner, watching them. I hope I¡¯m not some grunt or something cause that would suck.


    Did I pick the wrong class or job? I tried to remember anything that would tell me how I ended up here, but nothing. My mind felt like it was covered in a dark mist that was clouding my memories.


    I knew they were there, but I couldn¡¯t reach them. So I just stood at the corner like some nerdy eight grader at their middle school dance that had no one to dance with, staring at the empty eye sockets of the skeletons as they walked by me. This room, I¡¯m guessing, was ours to guard, and that treasure was ours to protect with our life. I wonder was in it ?


    I don¡¯t think is something good, for the treasure chest looked basic, its wooden body looking less impressive than the treasure chests that adorned the armory. Now those were treasures.


    If this was a dungeon, which I was sure of it, that meant there were other rooms just like these, and with different monsters as well.


    ¡°Monsters,¡± those words engulfed my head, I don¡¯t remember picking a skeleton monster as my avatar, Heck, I don¡¯t remember anything leading up to me being stuck here¡­. Damn it! I could feel my memories floating in my head, it was as if I was staring at them through a foggy window, if only¡­


    I don¡¯t remember just how long I had been standing by the corner, perhaps it was a few seconds, or minutes or maybe hours. Time seemed to stopped for me in this room.


    ¡°This is so boring,¡± I said , not caring whether my bony co-workers understood me.


    The endless waiting was killing me, figuratively. I don¡¯t think these VRMMORPG games just have you sitting and waiting around.


    This was still an RPG game after all.


    Where was the beginning village where you start out? The npcs¡¯ with the quests ? The low level monster fields where you would grind levels? I wanted all of that and not to be literally a part of the low level monsters themselves.


    I placed my weapon down, which to my surprise, cause the skeletons to turn their heads to me,


    ¡°S-sorry,¡± I said, instinctively ,picking it up, their heads going back to whatever they were doing.


    I sat down and watched them, it didn¡¯t seem like the skeleton monsters care that I just stood here, doing nothing. As long as I didn¡¯t approach the treasure chest or let go of my weapons, they ignore me, which was fine.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I looked around the room, and to my surprise, I saw two dark arched entrances that I hadn¡¯t notice before.


    One was to my left and the other one was at what looked to be the front of the room.


    ¡°Stupid, stupid,¡± I said, feeling stupid for not noticing them earlier. But I could¡¯ve sworn they weren¡¯t there before. I got up and began to walk to the one closest to me, and as I got closer the arched entrance disappeared.


    I walked back and forth, and the arched entrance would appear and disappear, it was almost like a mirage.


    Great ! now I¡¯m losing my mind too. Wondering where the log off button was, because this game was making be bored out of my mind and now it was making me see things.


    And just when I was going to walk toward the treasure chest and see if the skeletons would attack me, I heard voices coming from the darkness of the disappearing arched entrance that was in front of the room.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we have to start from the first room again,¡± one of the voices said, it was a male voice. I tightened my grip on my sword and shield. Finally I was going to get some action.


    ¡®Yes, and who¡¯s fault is that, besides, this room is easy, is just filled with low level skeleton monsters, one cast of a divinity spell and boom, done.¡± Another voice said, this voice was more sure of itself, there was a certain confidence to it that the other voice didn¡¯t have.


    His words made me recall some of my RPG knowledge, if I was a skeleton monster, that meant I was an undead, which meant divine magic was super effective against me.


    I imagined myself swallowing my saliva, I didn¡¯t know why. It was as if death, my death, was a possibility, which was silly, I was, after all, inside the game, so why should I worry about death.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    The arched entrance became clear as day as they walked out of it, no longer being a mirage I thought I saw.


    There were clothed in the stereotypical garments you find a mage and two knights in.


    The mage had on a robe of pink and yellow, she was female, and cute. She looked to be in her early twenties, and she was the one to avoid if I wanted to continue to live.


    One of the knights was a big stocky guy clad in a heavy red armor that covered every inch of his flesh.


    He had brown short hair, and looked to be as old as the young girl. He was carrying a broad sword on his back.


    The other knight looked to be ripped straight out of a fantasy story. He was clad in an armor of white and blue with a wing symbol protruding out of his chest plate. He had long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and a sharp, handsome face. He looked like some hero out of any girls dream.


    And I also notice, as I looked at them, the floating text boxes on them as well,


    ¡° Eliana, Divine Mage- Lvl 25,¡± the box floating above the young mage read,


    ¡°HP 123 MP 200¡±


    ¡°Saul knight in training Lvl 27 ,¡± the heavier knight of the two,


    ¡°HP 200 MP 56.¡±


    But the one that caught my attention was the handsome one, and it wasn¡¯t because of his looks.


    ¡°Erion Knight ??? Lvl ??? HP ??? MP ??¡± his text box read, he was the dangerous one. And the one I needed to really keep an eye out, I looked around at my skeleton brothers to see what our gameplay was, but to my displeasure, they were not one for cooperation for they rushed at them like mindless mobs.


    ¡°Aggro them, Saul,¡± the knight named Erion said,


    ¡°I know,¡± the one named Saul said, lifting his sword into the air, text boxes of their equipment filled my eyes . Which was beginning to be a detriment to my vision, which I needed now more than ever if I was going to survive them.


    ¡°Attract,¡± Saul said, and as he said that, his words filled me, and no doubt my other skeleton buddies as well, with a sense of attraction and lust, as if there was nothing but him in the room. Shit! he must have used an aggro attack meant to attract our attention, and as much as I tried to fight it, my body moved on its own. And along with the other skeletons, I began to rush the knight named Saul. Shit! was all I could think of as I found myself before this knight, attacking him along with the other skeletons, my body may have been trapped by him, but not my eyes, for I watched the mage begin her incantation.


    ¡®I¡¯ll hold them off, Eliana, and cast a divine spell, let¡¯s get this over with.¡± The knight said, as we attacked him, our weapons were barely chipping at his health, and whatever damage we did was healed just as fast as it was done.


    I noticed the other knight was standing in the back, just watching his other two group members.


    Shit! Shit!


    I need to find some way to get out before I¡¯m dice meat.


    ¡®Divine lighting,¡± the young mage said, and a burst of lighting shot out of her staff, striking each one of us, and sending us flying away from the knight.


    The lighting ran through my body as I landed next to the treasure chest. I wanted to scream as pain surged throughout my bones, no doubt destroying any life in them. And, for the first time, I felt a real emotion, fear.


    Smoke came out of my bones as if they just had been burned to cinder, But luckily I was still alive or else I wouldn¡¯t be here, talking. Just go, please, was the only think I could think of as I laid on the floor with my fallen brethren.


    ¡°See, easy peasy,¡± Saul said,


    ¡°You miss one,¡± his words send a chilled down my bones.


    I wanted to move, but I couldn¡¯t. The fear of death had awaken in me, and I didn¡¯t like it one bit. This game was proving to be too real for my taste now.


    ¡°Did I,¡± the knight said, slamming his sword and crushing one of the skeleton that was besides his feet with ease.


    And as I saw his health bar reached zero, I prayed that they wouldn¡¯t notice me. And unfortunately, someone must have heard my prayers, because a skeleton began to move his body next to me, his movements looking like the last muscle spasms before death, to my luck.


    ¡°HP 1¡± his text box read.


    ¡°Be quiet! Please !¡± I said, desperately, but it was useless, my words didn¡¯t reach him, I was sure of it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going, the treasure here is worthless, we still have three more floors to go before the day is over,¡± the handsome knight said, stopping the young mage from walking toward the treasure chest, which was next to me and the moving skeleton. And in that moment, I wanted to kiss that handsome knight and kill the skeleton that was moving next to me, even if we were both skeletons.


    ¡°Did you hear something?¡± the handsome knight said.


    Shit! Shit! Shit! I began to panic,


    ¡°Stand still you idiot!¡± I tried to say, trying to get the skeleton next to me to understand my words , but only empty air left my jaw.


    And in my desperation, I moved my arm, trying to stop the skeleton from moving any more, but in my pain, fear, and desperation, I had forgotten I still had my sword on my hand, and as I reached for the skeleton to stop him from moving any further, my sword hit him, killing him.


    ¡°HP 1 -1, ¡°


    "0"


    A level up sound engulfed my ears.


    And a large transparent blue text box appeared before me , displaying my stats for everyone to see.


    Which I was sure that they would,


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing lets go,¡± the handsome knight said, and a sigh of relief took me as they exited the room through one of the arched entrances , leaving behind a room full of death skeletons, and me.

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4


    Stats, stats, and more stats.


    I stood up from the floor once I saw that the coast was clear.


    All around me were the bodies of the dead skeletons, but this time they were really dead, for I could see their HP(hit points) bars at zero.


    I was the only survivor.


    I walked toward the corner, and sat down, my hollow eyes staring intensively at the light blue transparent screen floating in front of me.


    The screen appeared to be a character screen of sorts, showing me information about my character.


    ¡°Skeleton,¡± it read, my name was a basic name, just like the names of the other skeletons that lay on the floor of this room.


    ¡°Lvl 1 has increase to 2. ¡°


    ¡°HP has increase from 10 to 13.¡±


    Which was good, since I would need all the health I could get. Luckily, it seemed that leveling up had given me a full bar of health, which was nice.


    However, my MP(magic points) was still at zero despite leveling up, making me wonder if I could even raise it, but I ignore that for now, as there was a lot more to go over.


    ¡°EXP(experience points) gained 1 , EXP needed for next level: 6.¡±


    I needed six more experience points to level up to the next level, six times more than before, which made sense.


    ¡° Strength has increase by 1.¡±


    I hovered my bony hand over that stat , triggering a small text box to appear next to the stat.


    ¡°Strength measures how physically strong a character is, the higher the strength the more damage attacks inflict on opponents.¡±


    I thought about those words, I was weak, there was no question about it. My stats made it all too clear just how weak I was. But now was not the time to think about my weakness. I still had a lot of stats to go through, so I continued my light reading.


    ¡°Vitality has increased to 2. Vitality determines how sturdy and healthy a character is, the more vitality the more health a character has. Every point increases health by 0.25.¡±


    Great this game had math, I hated math. But luckily it was no calculus. But it was clear, I needed to increase my vitality if I was to survive.


    ¡°Endurance has increase to 2. Endurance measures how strong and resilient a character is, the higher the endurance the higher the defense.¡±


    Hmm, interesting, this was definitely a stat I should keep an eye out , along with vitality, as my survival depends on it.


    ¡®Agility has increase to 2. Agility measures how agile a character is, the higher the agility the harder it is for a character to get hit.¡±


    ¡®Intelligence measures how intelligent a character is as well as increases the experience a character gets. Effects null.¡±


    This stat stopped me in my tracks, as it did not have a number but an infinity symbol next to it. It looked like it hadn¡¯t increased or would increase like the other stats. Sure, I like to think of myself as a pretty smart guy, but I wasn¡¯t some genius.


    I ignore the symbol for now, as I already had enough questions running through my mind, I didn¡¯t need to add more just yet.


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    ¡° Wisdom has been increase to zero,¡± I read,


    ¡°Wisdom controls the ability to cast spells, communicate to mystical entities and discern other character¡¯s motives and or feelings.¡±


    I was not surprised this one had stayed at zero since I don¡¯t think I can cast spells.


    ¡°Presence has been increase by 1. Presence determines a character¡¯s social skills, and influence, as well as presence.¡±


    I was surprise my presence had increase, considering I had very little social skills in real life since I spend most of my time playing games online, but luckily this didn''t seem to matter in this game, which I was glad.


    But the two stats that really caught my eyes, where ego and luck.


    ¡°Ego, has increase to three, Ego provides resistance against mind altering effects, as well as increases extra stat points, can only be increase through actions.¡±


    ¡°Luck has increase by one, Luck measures a character¡¯s luck, influencing random items, encounters and success and failures, can only be increase or decrease through actions.¡±


    It appeared that these two stat didn¡¯t level up like the other ones, and it seemed that the luck one even decreases, just my luck.


    As for the action part, I think I knew what that meant. I had killed the skeleton that almost got me killed and leveled up in the process, not getting caught in that situation was lucky, which probably increased my luck.


    All my stats were in the 1''s and 2''s, which was to be expected since I had just been a level one skeleton, and most of my stats had only increased by one with the exception of strength.


    ¡°Extra stat points: + 3.¡±


    It seemed I could put three extra points in any stats of my choosing with the exception of the ones that required actions and the intelligence one. I looked down at the screen floating in front of me and saw I had other option windows as well.


    Gear, Map/Quest, Inventory,¡± it read, I hovered my bony hand on it, swiping my hand to the side as if I was on a dating app swiping through my options.


    Before I used my extra stat points, I wanted to see what else there was.


    The gear window option had my character in all its glory. He was facing forward like he was being examined, and to the sides where small little boxes with names for body parts.


    There were long rectangular window shapes with the name of my stats next to my character, with plus and minus options next to the ones I could increase.


    I notice that the strength stat was at four and not three, and the endurance stat was at three and not two. There was also two small weapon icons on the hand boxes.


    ¡°Basic sword increases strength by one, Basic shield increases endurance by one.¡±


    I see, my gear increases my stats, which was obvious. But yet I didn¡¯t have the weapons on my hands, perhaps I still had them equipped, making the increase in stats applicable, which was weird since I didn¡¯t have the weapons with me.


    "Basic Sword and shield," I said, and to my surprise the two weapons materialize in my hands.


    "Neat," I said, placing the weapons next to me. It appeared that it didn''t matter if i lost the weapons, as long as I had them equipped I could call to them.


    I went to the other options, making sure I went over everything. The map and quest screen had two window side by side. And to my surprise, I had one quest already.


    ¡°Survive the first room,¡± it read, those words send a chill down my spine, the faces of the adventurers flashing before me. No, right now was not the time to think about them.


    I moved to the other screen, which had a map with a top view of what appear to be rooms.


    ¡°First floor,¡± those words were written at the top, along with the name of the dungeon.


    ¡°The dungeon of the undead, ¡° it read, so I was in a dungeon after all. I had a feeling I was, of course the stone walls and floors and the long corridors already told me that, well, showed me. But somehow reading it made it official.


    I notice a skull on one of the rooms in the dungeon, no doubt showing me my position on the map. I saw the big room that I must have come from, there were three other rooms I hadn¡¯t gone through, yet.


    I had three extra stat points that I needed to spend. And I also had a quest to complete.


    ¡° To survive the first room.¡±


    That meant I needed health, attack damage, and defense. I placed my hand over the strength stat and pushed the plus sign, increasing my strength by one, as well as increasing the endurance and vitality stat.


    ¡°Str increased to 5


    End increased to 3


    Vit increased to 3 ¡°


    After I was done, I grabbed my sword and shield and got up from the floor. I had a new sense of vitality cursing through my bones, almost as if I was a new person.


    The only thing that was bothering me was the giant screen in front of me.


    I don¡¯t know how long I stared at my character screen. I had gone over each screen more than once, wondering how to exit out of it. Having a screen in front of me felt like I had a tv screen right on my face, which I found annoying. It wasn¡¯t just the screen in front of me, there was also the screens of the dead skeletons being sprinkle on my line of vision, it felt as if I was staring at a computer screen that was infected by a virus that made pop-up windows appeared all over the screen.


    ¡°Character screen close,¡± I said, moving my jaw, which produced nothing but empty air, but to my surprise my words were heard, for the character screen I was looking up had disappeared. I moved back in disbelief.


    ¡°Character screen open,¡± I said, and the screen came back up.


    "YES!"


    I moved my arms up and down as if I had just won a prize of sorts.


    ¡°Character screen close, gear screen close, map screen close, inventory screen close.¡°


    And just like that, the windows that were all too real in front of me had vanished.


    I walked to one of the skeletons and looked down at his text box floating above his head.


    ¡°Text close,¡± I said, but nothing. Okay, so that wasn¡¯t it.


    ¡°Enemy screen close,¡± nothing.


    ¡°Screen close,¡±


    ¡°Name screen close ¡° still nothing.


    I really didn¡¯t want to go through every piece of word that was in my vocabulary. But I had no other options, so I spend most of my time trying to come up with a phrase that would make the text box above the dead skeleton close, it was a nice distraction I found.


    ¡°Character name close,¡± I said, but nothing, I stared at the skeleton and its floating text box to see if something would appear in my mind, like magic.


    ¡°Character info close .¡±


    And to my surprise, it worked.


    I went up to each skeleton and looked at them, only thinking about them,


    ¡°Character info close,¡± I said, over and over making all the windows vanished.


    I walked to the treasure chest,


    ¡°Item info close,¡± and the floating box vanished as well.


    I stared at the treasure chest , wondering what was inside. And just when I was going to touch it, an arched entrance door appeared like a mirage, spitting out four other skeletons. I looked at the floor and saw the bodies of the death skeletons begin to vanish, their bodies turning into particles of light that disappeared.


    I glanced back at my new skeleton bothers,


    ¡°Character info open,¡± I said, creating a text box to appear above their heads. They were all level 1 through 5. Which meant more adventurers where soon to come.


    But this time I was more prepared. This time I wasn''t going to let them get the better of me.

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5


    The plan


    I stared at the Map and Quest screen window.


    ¡°Survive the first room.¡±


    Those words lingered in my mind, overshadowing my memories that were foggy.


    Their faces flashing before me, and with them, their power as well.


    I glanced over the little skull icon that was flashing on top of one of the square boxes on the map.


    If I somehow survive this room, I still had two other rooms to go through. Which meant more quest were sure to come.


    ¡°Screen close,¡± I said, my words closing the window screen in front of me.


    I looked at the new skeletons that were walking mindlessly around the room, though not mindlessly, for they were walking around the chest, no doubt tasked with protecting the treasure chest that stood in the middle of the room.


    With everything that had happened, I didn¡¯t get the chance to even try to open it and see what was inside. But what I found odd was that in the quest box there was no quest telling me to protect the treasure chest, not even in the other options.


    The treasure chest had nothing to do with me, it seemed. But nevertheless, my mission was clear, I was to survive the first room. But how, I was still too weak and despite leveling up, my stats were awful.


    ¡°Character screen open,¡± I said, opening my character screen. They were pitiful, these stats wouldn¡¯t be able to do their job and help me survive this room considering just what I was up against.


    Even though this was a beginners room, like that handsome adventurer had said, which meant only beginners would come, or so I would think, but that wasn¡¯t the case. For the first adventurers I had the pleasure of greeting in this game were not low level adventurers at all.


    So that meant this room was accessible to anyone. I put my bony hand on my jaw, and looked through my screen at each skeleton. I could try to take on these skeletons, since it was obvious I could hurt them despite being on the same side, I think, not that I was sure we were on the same team. But even if I attacked them, I would probably fail, despite their low levels, they were more of them than me, so that wasn¡¯t an option.


    ¡°Character screen close,¡± I said, my words making the screen window close.


    I got up from the corner I was sitting and walked to one of the walls were the door had appeared, but there was no sign of any door. There was nothing but rows of stones on the wall, a closed room with four walls and nothing but skeletons and a mysterious treasure chest inside.


    Maybe I could try to make the door appear, I mean, the game clearly responded to my voice commands, somehow.


    ¡°Door open,¡± I said, touching the wall, and to my surprise, we''ll not really, but it did surprise me that something happened.


    ¡°Error, does not meet requirements for that action,¡± a text box appeared in front of me telling me that if there was a door , or gate here, I couldn¡¯t open it quite yet.


    ¡°Text box close,¡± I said, making the text window close. If this was a game, could I try logging off? I told myself, half-jokingly.


    ¡°Log off,¡± I said,


    ¡°Error, action can''t be process.¡± A window appeared in front of me.


    I stood back, startled, this was really a game, and somehow, I was stuck inside of it. But how? And why? A million questions ran through my head. If I was in a game, how did I end up here? And, what did it mean? My memories were so foggy like a mist looming over them, distorting everything.


    I couldn¡¯t remember anything, except for one thing, I was sure I had played this game already, there was a certain familiarity about this scenario, If only I could remember.


    I sat down on the floor, and glanced at the treasure chest in front of me, and the skeletons that were walking around it. There was no point in cracking my skull trying to remember something I couldn¡¯t. Besides, now was not the time for that, right now the most important mission that I needed to worry about was surviving this room and not dying.


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    Not that I was scared of dying, for clearly I was inside a game, but that didn¡¯t mean I wanted to experience that feeling again.


    That cold, icy wave of fear, like a hand chocking me and making my life leak out of me as if I was being squeeze like a sponge.


    Just thinking about it made my bones crawl with anxiety. This might have been a game , but that feeling wasn¡¯t.


    That feeling was as real as this world I found myself in.


    And if I was to returned back , I had to survive this room and whatever else might come my way.


    I might not know how I got here, but I still needed to survive to get home, even if there was nothing waiting for me¡­ No, I can¡¯t think about that right now, I need all my brain power to come up with a plan to survive this room.


    I got up from the floor, shaking off any doubt and fear like a dog with a bad case of pesky fleas.


    ¡°Character screen open,¡± I said.


    My voice had a certain determination that wasn¡¯t there before.


    The key to surviving this room was through leveling up, and the only way to do that was to kill another skeleton or perhaps four. Yet, even If I wanted to kill them all, I couldn¡¯t take all four of them at once if they all decided to attack.


    I went back to my character window and reread each stat again, not sure of what I was looking for, but something in me was telling me to look.


    ¡°Strength is a measure of how physically strong a character is, it determines the amount of damage attacks do .¡± I went over the strength stat as well as the other stats I had: Vitality, Endurance, Agility, and Intelligence.


    I stopped at the Intelligence stat, despite the extra experience increased that came with the intelligence stat were nulled, it still was my best stat.


    But the question was; how can I use it.


    I wasn''t quite sure, so I skipped over it for now.


    ¡°Presence, a measure of a characters social skills, influence and presence,¡± I read. Clearly these stat had to do with charisma, and as someone who was not very charismatic, this stat felt foreign to me.


    But yet, somehow, something was brewing in my head. Must be that good old intelligence stat working, I joked, and continued to reread my stats again.


    ¡°Wisdom controls a characters ability to cast spell,¡± well that¡¯s useless since I have no spells,


    ¡°As well as allows communication with mystical entities or discern a characters motive and feelings.¡±


    The gears, or should I say bones , in my head began to spin.


    ¡°Stat window close,¡± I said.


    I walked toward one of the skeletons and stood in front of him, not really sure why, but I just did it anyway. He didn¡¯t seem to mind, for he stopped on his tracks, his dark features staring mindlessly into the abyss that was the darkness in this room, overlooking the fact that I was blocking his path.


    ¡°Character info open,¡± I said, and a character window appeared in front of the skeleton, and along with it, a bell sound came.


    ¡° New window screen has been unlocked : NPC monster info screen.¡±


    ¡°Lvl 5 Skeleton, HP 17 MP 0


    Str 5


    Vit 3


    End 1


    Agi 1


    Int 0


    Pre 0


    Wis 0¡± it read, his stats were worse than mine, despite being a higher level than me, he was worse in all of his stats except in strength. He also had no ego or luck stat , which I found odd.


    But the stat that really caught my hollow eyes was the intelligent stat, It was at zero. There was also a box of text to the right of him,


    ¡°A mindless undead, susceptible to mind effects and immune to curses. ¡° it read. The words susceptible to mind effects began to flash in my mind, as if a big neon sign was trying to catch my attention. They were , as the description said, mindless drones.. can I¡­


    I checked every skeleton , creating character windows to appear in front of them, and each of them had zero in their intelligence, wisdom and presence stats.


    ¡°A mindless undead, susceptible to mind effects and immune to curses.¡±


    Those words: ¡°susceptible to mind effects¡±. We''re flashing in my mind like a big neon sign, luring me to it like moths to a flame.


    They''re faces all looked hollow, and empty, and it wasn¡¯t just the fact that they were skeletons. It was as if the description of mindless drones really fitted them.


    ¡°Character window open,¡± I said, creating my window to open, my eyes running to the wisdom stat,


    ¡°Ability to cast spells, communicate to mystical entities and..¡± I stopped, going over the other stat that was going to make this plan work,


    ¡°Presence measures a character¡¯s social skills and influence.¡±


    Yes, that could work.


    I had my plan now I¡­.


    Damn it! I shouted, I had already spend my tree extra points, Shit! How did I forget such a glaring problem.


    I was so caught up in the process of trying to make a plan that I forgot about that huge problem.


    Shit!


    I wanted to scream and destroy everything in sight for some reason.


    I didn¡¯t know why but a feeling of anger took over me, scaring me.


    The only way I could get more stat points was through leveling.


    I wanted to grab my sword and shield and attack the other skeletons and get it over with.


    My plan had collapse before it had a chance. I should not have been so quick to spec into strength, vitality and endurance.


    This scenario needed brains not brawns.


    I walked to one of the dark corners of the room and sat down like a sulking child.


    Which was nothing like me. I would never do that, yet¡­.


    Now what.. is not like I could just respect my stat points.


    "No, don¡¯t give up," I tried to tell myself, trying to cheer myself up.


    There had to be a way, I just needed to figure it out. If I could figure out how to close these damn pop-up windows, I could figure out this slight set back.


    ¡°Gear screen open,¡± I looked at my stats, there were plus and minus signs next to some of the stats, I reached and press the minus button. But nothing happened, which I kind of expect it, for that would have been too easy.


    There must be a way, and is not like me just saying the word re-spec is going too..


    ¡°Re-spec,¡± I said sarcastically, a text box appeared before my hollow eyes.


    ¡°Would you like to respec your skills ? YES/ NO.¡±


    It had worked, somehow. I wanted to run up to one of the skeletons and wrapped my bony arms around him to celebrate luck being on my side.


    But now was not the time for that, especially considering what I was thinking of doing with them.


    I looked to my sides and thankfully, there was no door magically appearing just yet, I had time for my plan, and the last thing I needed was pesky adventurers getting in my way.


    This plan was the key to completing my first mission, but it could also cost me my life.


    If me getting lucky by killing that skeleton and not getting caught by those adventurers had created a lucky event that had allow me to level up, I could also create an unlucky scenario and¡­. I didn¡¯t want to think about it.


    ¡° Can be increase and decrees through actions. ¡°


    Those words ran through my head.


    Luck had gotten me another level, and luck would get me another one as well , and another one, and another one, as many as I needed.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6


    A skeleton rumble


    I began to put one of my newly acquire stat points that I had taken back through respecting and put it in wisdom, and as the stat when from zero to one, my bones began to emit a slight glow for a second.


    ¡°MP has been increase to 7!¡±


    My stat window read.


    "What the?" I said, taken back by the revelation.


    "Hmmm...It does make sense if you think about it. In many RPG games a wizard uses wisdom to increase their spell usage, why didn''t I think about that."


    I felt sort of silly to think something as obvious as that escaped me, but nevertheless, I continue with what I had to do.


    I put the remaining two skill points into presence.


    I didn¡¯t know if my plan was going to work, but I had nothing else to try. I was putting all my chips on this plan so to speak.


    I walked over to the highest level skeleton that was walking around the chest and stopped in front of him, making him stop.


    If I was going to try and influence one of the skeletons, it might as well be the highest level one, though I wasn¡¯t sure if it was going to work.


    ¡°Character info open,¡± I said, making a window open in front of me.


    ¡®Lvl: 5


    HP: 17


    MP: 0.¡±


    His hollow eyes sockets looked straight ahead, as if he was looking through me. "Well, is now or never."


    I took a deep sigh, I wasn¡¯t sure what I was going to say, but the first thing I needed to know was if my voice could even reach my fellow skeleton friend.


    ¡°Um..." I was nervous, which was silly, but despite him being a skeleton, a monster, non human, I still had some of my human like quirks still in me.


    "B-Bow your head down,¡± I said, not knowing if my empty words would reach him.


    A window and a bell sound appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Congratulations! You have unlocked a new window: Skill Window.


    " Bone whisperer skill learned!¡±


    ¡°Bone whisperer allows you to bend and break the dead to your will. Must have high Intelligence, Wisdom and Presence for effect to work.¡±


    It had worked, somehow, I had been successful.


    ¡° Skill window close.¡±


    The Lvl 5 skeleton had moved his head down, and stood there, waiting for my next command.


    ¡°Move your head up,¡± I said, and the skeleton obeyed, moving his head up. I looked at the other skeletons that were walking around the room. I spotted my second victim of this experiment, a level one skeleton.


    ¡°Walk to that skeleton and strike him with your sword,¡± I said, pointing to the lvl 1 skeleton.


    I watched as the Lvl 5 skeleton moved toward the Lv 1 skeleton and proceeded to obey my command, striking the lower level skeleton with his sword. The lvl 1 skeleton recoiled from the hit. I looked above his head and saw the HP of the lower skeleton go down by three points.


    ¡°Lvl 1 Skeleton


    HP: 7 ¨C 3:


    4 .¡±


    The lower level skeleton looked at the skeleton that hit him and just stared at him with his hollow eye sockets. I was surprise, for I would had expected a counter attack. I looked at the other skeletons but they continue with whatever they were doing, not paying the other two skeletons any mind. I walked over to my servant,


    ¡°Strike him again,¡± I said, and he obeyed, I repeated my command until the lower level skeleton was at 1 HP. I didn¡¯t¡¯ want the Lv 5 skeleton to take my experience, for I had earned it, not him.


    ¡®Step aside,¡± I said, and the skeleton did just that, stepping aside to let me through. I looked at the level 1 skeleton, his HP bar reading 1. He stood in front of me with his vacant expression. They were really mindless drones.


    ¡°Sorry, little buddy,¡± I said, grinning,


    ¡°But I need the exp.¡±


    I grabbed my sword and brought it up toward the air, and with all my strength, swung it down, striking him.


    ¡°HP :0¡±


    His bar read, and to my surprise, his body collapse like a house of cards, his bones scattering all over the floor.


    ¡°You gained 1 exp!¡±


    ¡°You gained 1 Bone!¡±


    A window appeared in front of me,


    ¡®Would you like to put it in your Inventory? YES / NO.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, and the window of my inventory opened, and inside it was a little box with a bone icon on it, next to the sword and shield icons.


    ¡°You gained 1 bone, Would you like to put it in your inventory? YES /NO.¡±


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    A few text boxes appeared in front of me, telling me of the stuff I had gained, and as I said yes to all of them, the bones on the floor began to disappear one by one, until nothing was on the floor except for the skeleton¡¯s sword and shield. I reached for them and a text box appeared in front of me,


    ¡°Would you like to pick 1 simple sword and 1 simple shield? YES / No,¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± I said, and his weapons disappeared into my inventory slot. I had gained not only experience but also materials that no doubt were going to be useful later on. There were two other skeletons I still had to kill, one was a lvl 3 and the other a lvl 4. I pointed toward the Lvl 3 one,


    ¡°Strike him until his HP reaches one,¡± I said, but to my surprise, a text box appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Error, command cannot be process, Bone whisperer skill is not high enough,¡± it read. I guess the command was too complex, I guess I could only give them simple commands for now.


    ¡°Strike him with your sword,¡± I said, and the skeleton moved to the LV 3 skeleton and hit him with his sword, and stopped.


    ¡°Strike him again,¡± I said, over and over until the LV 3 skeleton was at 1 HP. And just like the previous one, I also hit him, taking the exp for myself.


    ¡°You gained 2 exp ¡°


    ¡°You gained 1 bone, Would you like to put 1 bone in your inventory? YES / NO.¡±


    After I was done with him, I, along with my servant, moved to the level 4 skeleton. He took more hits that the others, which was to be expected since he was at a higher level. And as I was done killing the final skeleton, I stood in front of the skeleton that had helped me killed our brethren and began to strike him down, ones and twos began to appear above him as my parry of attacks did damage, chipping away at his health.


    ¡°Congratulations you have level up to level 3 !¡±


    My character screen appeared in front me, my stats had risen by one, and I had gained 2 stat points. I spec the stat point into wisdom and presence, and waited for another group of skeletons to arrive.


    I looked at my character screen, I had level up to level 3. My stats had improve by one point again, which wasn¡¯t enough, I still needed more levels if I was to survive this room.


    I put the extra stat points I had gotten, which were two only, into presence and wisdom, the two stats that where going to help me accomplish my first mission. I swiped over to my inventory screen, I had gained 4 basic swords and shields, and 12 bone materials, which I had no idea what I was going to use them in, but I kept them anyway. If there was crafting in this world I found myself in, then they would come in handy, but for now they were going to be tucked away in my inventory.


    ¡°Skill Window open,¡± I said, a window appeared in front of me, replacing my inventory window screen.


    My skill, Bone Whisperer, had also gained a level.


    I could see the number two flashing above its box shape icon. If I continued to use this skill, how powerful will it get? Perhaps I could even make every skeleton, no , every monster in this dungeon my slaves.


    I got up from the corner I found myself in, and walked toward the stone wall, the room looked completely sealed with no way to escape, which I knew wasn¡¯t the case. There were magical doorways that appeared, I just didn¡¯t know how they work, but they were there. I placed my bony hand on the walls, I couldn¡¯t feel its stone surface, but it didn¡¯t matter. I wonder what was on the other side of this stone walls, what other rooms awaited me, wondering just what kind of monsters those other rooms had, for I was sure skeletons weren¡¯t the only monsters in this dungeon, after all, I had already seen other monsters besides them.


    The giant knight flashing before me, if this skill of mine continue to level up, will I be able to control a monster as powerful as him? Just what kind of destruction could I create with such a being, I could feel my face tightening around my cheeks for some reason, it was almost as if my cheeks were grinning, which was silly. But yet, imagining the kind of power I could get was awakening something in me, which I didn¡¯t know what¡­.


    I only knew I was liking it.


    I spend most of my time, as I was waiting for more skeletons, sitting in the corner of the room, looking at the wooden chest in the middle of the room , its body made of wood with metal edges running around its body. The metal on its wooden body made it shine from the light off the torchlights that were in the wall. I wanted to get up and touch it, to run my bony hands through its thick, wooden body, wanting to see what was inside of it.


    I got up from the corner of the room and walked toward it. Its body was quite big now that I had gotten a closer look at it, it''s height reached toward my waist, no doubt hiding some treasure, but how good of a treasure could it be, after all, this was only the first floor.


    ¡°Chest open,¡± I said, not sure what I was expecting, but I figure I try it anyway, and to my surprise, my words triggered a text box to appear in front of me.


    ¡®Has not met the requirements for that action,¡± the text box read, I walked back to my little corner and sat down.


    ¡°Survive the first room,¡± those were the words of my first mission, perhaps this treasure chest was a reward for completing this mission or perhaps whatever was inside the treasure box was not meant for me but for them.


    A cold feeling ran through my bones as I though about them. It was as if my body was telling me to stay away from them, from those adventurers. I still didn¡¯t know if they were other players or NPCs like the skeletons. I mean, they had to be other players, if I was trapped in this RPG game, that meant they were other players too.


    I wonder if they were also trapped in here like me, or was I the only ¡­..


    I brushed those thoughts aside, right now I needed to focus on the mission in front of me. I just needed to take one thing at a time, for my own sanity.


    The room laid silently empty around me, it almost felt like I was in some horror movie. Just one skeleton waiting in the darkness of this stone room, waiting for some prey to approach me. I was getting bore just waiting like this. I got up from the floor and walked toward one of the walls where the disappearing archway entrances appeared, wondering just how long it was going to be until more skeletons would appear.


    I wanted to level up fast, no, I needed to level up fast or else. And just when I was getting impatient , a cold chill ran down my bones, and if I had a living, breathing body, my heart would have dropped along with it.


    I turned my head slowly toward the wall that laid across from me, where the other archway entrance had appeared before. And I saw my greatest fear appear before me, the dark body of the archway entrance laid in full visibility across from me. I tried to move my body, tried to get my sword and shield, yet my body didn¡¯t obey, it was as if I was frozen in fear. And if I had payed attention, I would have saw the faint text box in front of me,


    ¡°Effect activated, Freeze foe, This effect renders the user frozen for a few seconds, caster unknow.¡±


    The text box disappeared, and the only thing that was left behind was the effect. Yet, there was also something else in me, there was fear.


    She had dark violet hair with a face that any men would have die for. She was wearing a black wizard robe that looked more like a dress that could barely cover the curves that made her body.


    She had a dark brown almost rotten color staff on her left hand, which had a dark gem on top of it.


    But despite being a woman of extreme beauty , she had an aura about her that spelled death.


    ¡° I hate having to start at the lowest floors, such a drag,¡± she said, her words ran through my body, as if they were embracing me, and for the first time, a female voice had captivated me.


    If I had met her when I was flesh and muscle instead of bones, she would have saw my attraction toward her right away. But thankfully I didn¡¯t, for that realization helped me bring me back to reality. And as I was ready to move my body to reach for my sword that laid on the corner of the room, and commit the greatest sin of them all, killing a being of such beauty, her blue eyes locked on to the hollow sockets I called eyes. And with it , bringing the cruel realization that I was invisible for a brief second, for she had not even acknowledged my presence, for it was insignificant.


    ¡°Eww! it¡¯s just some trash skeleton ,¡± she said, her cruel words hitting me harder that any attack she could throw at me. And it¡¯s not that I was a stranger to a woman¡¯s rejection, but coming out of the mouth of such a beauty, hit differently. Her eyes, no her face, had a certain boredom to them, as if I was nothing more than an ant to her. As I ran toward her, I saw the text box floating above her head,


    ¡°Sorceress Eviras LV : ????¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to deal with trash,¡± she said, as she brought her staff outward, and pointed at me. And the last thing I saw with my hollow eyes was a light coming my way, destroying every bone in this body, along with my consciousness as well.

 Chapter 7 Part 1

    Chapter 7


    A new life


    part 1


    ¡°Excuse me, sir..¡±


    His words felt as if he was waking me up from some deep slumber.


    ¡°Umm.. y-yeah, Sorry, where do I sign?¡± I said, awkwardly. I could feel my body begin to get hot from embarrassment. I must have looked like a was missing a few screws, and at that moment I felt like I might have, for I had this feeling in me I couldn¡¯t explain. It was as if one moment I was here and the next I wasn¡¯t. Perhaps I had overworked myself too much, but it was so worth it. For I finally had her, my most prized possession.


    ¡°Like I was saying, just sign here and the ARK VR pod is all yours.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sorry about that,¡± I said, looking down at the electronic pad he had in his hand, as he showed me where to sign my name.


    I signed my name and with that, I was the owner of the ARK, which stood for Artificial Reality Kernel VR -pod, which was a giant piece of equipment that any gamer would have dreamed of in their wildest dreams.


    I had finally done it, after saving all of my money from all that over-time I had taken at my job. I was finally an owner of the most advanced piece of technology any gamer had to have. And if I was honest, this wasn¡¯t just for gamers, no, this was the most advanced piece of technology of the century. This had revolutionized not only VR technology but life as well.


    ¡°Congratulations, sir,¡± the tech guy said,


    ¡°Also make sure to keep it plugged in all day to get all the updates that Second Life Corp is releasing this afternoon. But other than that, enjoy the beginning of your new life.¡±


    ¡°T-Thank you,¡± I said, as I escorted him out of my one-bedroom apartment, eager to start this new life of mine.


    The ARK VR- pod sat at the corner of my living room, taking ownership of the area. I had removed all and every piece of furniture my little one-bedroom apartment had, and luckily I didn¡¯t have a lot of furniture. Considering I didn¡¯t need a lot to begin with, since I didn¡¯t have any friends to invite over so there was no point in getting anything fancier than a two-person couch and a table with one chair.


    But all of that didn¡¯t matter now, I had this behemoth of a device sitting in my living room, and with this, I was going to experience a life that was more exciting than this one, or so they said.


    I had read and heard many great things about this ARK VR-pod and how it had changed people¡¯s lives as well as enriched them. And if I was honest, I was a tad bit interested in it, I mean, if I could make a living playing video games, well that wouldn¡¯t be too bad, would it?


    But to be honest, I just wanted an escape from my mundane life, and unlike the other pieces of VR technology that had come before this one, this one actually felt real since it used full-body immersive technology, the first of its kind.


    Some gamers have said that it felt like they had been transported to another world. So I was curious to see just how real it was, and as an avid gamer, what more could you ask for than a fully immersive experience.


    I looked at the manual the tech guy had given me, but I wasn¡¯t really in the mood to read, besides, I find it¡¯s better to tinker a bit with a new toy. It feels more intimate, so I tossed it aside, wanting to jump right into the VR-pod.


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    ¡°This feels so cool,¡± I said, having the widest grin on my face, as I took in the VR-pod in its entirety. Saying I was excited was an understatement, I had waited for this for almost a month, and luckily, me paying a few extra dollars had put me on the fast track for it.


    ¡°Is a good thing I took my two-day work vacation.¡±


    I let out a slight laugh, not only had I saved enough from all those hours I slaved away, but I also had saved my hours just for this. I had two days to play nonstop and enjoy my experience. To test drive just how good this was.


    I drove my hand around the VR-pod metallic body, feeling its cold body on my fingertips.


    ¡°So beautiful,¡± I thought, this was truly a piece of art, it looked like some futuristic spaceship with its flashing lights around its body.


    I reached for the button that was on its side and pressed it.


    The center of the pod opened up just like the cockpit of some futuristic aircraft.


    There was a dark blue leather chair inside the pod with a VR headset next to it.


    It looked like I was about to drive a spacecraft. There were a bunch of cables and a screen to the side.


    ¡°This feels like it¡¯s about to fly at any moment,¡± I said, chuckling.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s now or never.¡±


    I got inside and took a seat on the driving seat, ready to take flight to my new world.


    I put the headset on and closed my eyes. I could hear the ARK begin to go into overdrive for I could hear a humming sound, it almost felt therapeutic, like I was being hypnotized and in the blink of an eye, I was transported, well my mind anyway, to a white room.


    ¡°Welcome to New LiVe VRMMORPG VR2.0 .¡±


    A blue screen greeted me.


    ¡°Well, that was fast,¡±


    I said as I looked around where I was.


    There was nothing in the white room except for this transparent blue screen floating in front of me.


    I scanned my body and found it was made of nothing but ones and zeros as if I was made out of bits of some computer program.


    ¡° Initializing scanning¡­.¡±


    A soft woman''s voice said, taking me by surprise.


    A light blue screen window appeared with a download bar in front of me. And as I watched the bar start to fill up, my body which was nothing but ones and zeros began to take form. I could see it self-begin to be filled with my human body.


    ¡°Scan complete, welcome Max Reinfeld to Second LiVe, ¡° the woman''s voice said.


    ¡®How?¡± I said, as I inspected my body, it was me alright, there was no question about it.


    I was completely naked, but it was my real-life body, and not only that, it felt real too.


    I touched every inch of my body and every part of it felt like the real thing.


    ¡°This is amazing!¡±


    I jumped in excitement, this was unlike anything I had ever experienced. No wonder the ARK had been called the greatest achievement of the century. Making Second Life Corp the richest corporation in the world, heck, it was even richer than the GDP of some countries.


    I tested my body by running from corner to corner and everything felt real, the room, me, heck even my sweat. It was as if it wasn''t a game but real life .


    ¡°We would now begin by choosing your class, but remember that the class you choose will impact your story,¡± the soft woman''s voice said, it almost felt familiar, which was silly.


    A bunch of screens appeared in front of me, each one with a drawing of a character class.


    The screens had warriors, clerks, wizards, knights, thieves, summoners, and a bunch of other classes that were all too present in any RPG game. This game was said to be the RPG game to end all RPG games, or so it sold itself as, and I was beginning to agree with it.


    I sat down on the floor, swiping through my options. Some of the classes were new and others were familiar, but I had already made up my mind on the two I was interested in.


    ¡°This is a hard one, I usually pick either the knight class or the wizard class,¡± I thought, looking at the two screens for the knight and wizard classes.


    ¡°The Knight class is a weapon-based class, able to wield weapons of great power, they are a class who abides by the light and defends those that are weak.


    Starting class: Squire¡±


    ¡°Wizard class is a magic-based class that uses the ancient words of mana to cast spells of great destruction.


    Starting class: Apprentice. ¡±


    ¡°Hmmmmm¡­.¡±


    ¡°This is hard, the knight is mostly a physically based class and doesn¡¯t rely on another person''s protection for combat, but the wizard class is very powerful but it does have cast times, making it need a partner for combat.¡±


    After a long time of deliberating, I had made my decision.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready miss computer,¡± I said, as I got up from the floor.


    ¡°I choose the knight class.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to rely on anyone else in the game, besides, I was sure there was a class in the knight tree that could use spells.


    ¡°Knight class selected, profile will now begin construction,¡± the woman''s voice said, and the next thing I knew, I was floating in the air, and a light surrounded me.

 Chapter 7 Part 2

    Chapter 7


    A new life


    part 2


    When I opened my eyes, I was standing on a patch of grass inside a forest of some kind.


    I squinted my eyes as the vibrant light from the sun came down on me.


    I could hear the chirping of birds in the background, as well as feel a cool breeze on my face.


    ¡°This is amazing!¡± I said, with the biggest grin on my face.


    I began to touch everything around me, trees, grass, bushes, the clothes on me , which was a typical brown shirt and pants, a casual fit I was wearing back at home.


    Everything felt real as it caressed my fingertips.


    This was so life like that for a minute I really believed that I wasn¡¯t back home and inside an ARK pod but in this world.


    I felt that I was living the life I had dreamed of all those years I had played RPG games, sinking countless hours of my life into them. This was my reward, but the floating , transparent light blue screen took me back to reality.


    No matter how real it felt, it wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°Welcome to the World of Trials of Lament, the latest and most popular game by Second Life Corp. ¡°


    There was also a screen with my name on it and a picture of me that looked like an ID back in the real world.


    ¡°Lvl: 1


    Account Name : Max Reinfeild


    Age: 28


    Height: 6''1


    Eye color: Green


    Hair Color: Brown


    Address: 90 M Road


    ARK subscription : Ultimate


    Nickname: Not selected yet


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°


    I figure they got all this information from the scan in the white room, but the section I found interested was the nickname one, since it reminded me of my nickname I used to have when I would write in the many RPG games forums I used to frequent,


    ¡°Noobpunisher1337¡± I jokingly wrote. And if I had not been busy with chuckling on my little joke I would have noticed that the name had gone through.


    ¡°NO! ¡° I screamed, grabbing my hair, realizing of the mistake I had done. I felt embarrassed, to think my new life would end just as it began, but luckily it appeared that only people in my friend group could see my nickname. Which I was thankful, since I really wasn¡¯t planning to add anyone.


    I swiped to the other window and saw my character screen with many stats that were typical in any RPG game, as well as my first quest in this new world of mine.


    ¡°Find the nearest town and join the adventurer guild.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll it¡¯s time to begin my new life ,¡± I said, as I began to walk toward the nearest town that was faintly visible on the horizon.


    The town looked like your stereotypical small RPG game town. There were vendors out in the street selling products, and adventurers haggling with them, which I assumed were players for I could see a few health bars on them, which made me wonder if the vendors were npc or players, but I recall reading that some players made a living in the game by selling game materials, so maybe they were players as well.


    The town was bustling with people that it felt like the many beginner towns I had played in all of my RPG games.


    I looked around trying to spot the adventurer guild building, and luckily it wasn¡¯t a hard task for there was only one building with a large sign with the words ¡°Adventurer Guild.¡±


    Inside the building was pretty much what I would have expected from any guild building in an RPG game.


    There was a desk in the middle of the lobby, no doubt for players to pay their dues or register.


    ¡®Welcome,¡± said one of the clerks behind the desk.


    ¡°What can we help you with?¡±


    ¡®I¡¯m here to register as an adventurer.¡±


    ¡°We can help you with that,¡± she said, smiling at me.


    ¡°Please give me your hand?¡±


    ¡°My hand?¡± I said, dumbfounded,


    ¡°You must be new."


    ¡°We check your account status through something called FIngerprint ID,¡± she said as she placed her hand on mine, and as she did that, my hand began to glow.


    They''re were many pop up windows all around me, all of them belonging to me, my information out in the open for anyone to see.


    ¡°Wow!¡± I said, being taken back by it,


    She smiled


    ¡°It¡¯s quite the sight the first time.¡±


    ¡°Y-Yea,¡± I said, being embarrassed.


    ¡°This is something only administrators of Trials of Lament have that allows us to peek into the accounts of players.


    ¡°So you¡¯re a real player,¡± I asked,


    ¡°Of course, and there are many administrators scattered around the world to make sure rules are being apply as well as keeping any troublemakers at bay.¡±


    ¡°So Mr. Noobpunisher1337 please try to behave,¡± she said, giggling at me.


    ¡°I can explain...¡± I said, feeling my cheeks changed to a bright red color.


    ¡°There all done, you are register in the adventurer database Max Reinfel and Welcome officially to Trials of Lament. W hope you enjoy your stay.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said.


    ¡°Now that you''re registered as an adventurer you can take quest from any administrator form any Adventurer Guild in the world. And I have just the quest for you.¡±


    ¡°Usually we give new players quest along the lines of ¡°Kill X number of monsters or ¡°Sell Y amount of items. So here are two quest that should get you two level 5 fairly easy. ¡±


    Two light blue screens appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Quest 1: Kill rat scavengers that have appeared at the outskirts of town


    Quest 2: Gather 10 herbs for the adventurer Guild.¡±


    ¡°And with those two quest your adventure truly begins and we hope to hear great things from you , Max Reinfel, or should I call you Noobpunisher 1337 .¡±


    ¡°Just Max is fine,¡± I said,


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    And as I left the Adventurer Guild, I looked back, and wondered if she looked like her avatar because she was really cute.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to experience a new life not romance,¡± I told myself as I walked toward the outskirts of town, ready to do the very first quest of many in Trials of Lament.

 Chapter 8 Part 1

    Chapter 8


    Part 1


    The rat monsters were quite big in size. They were almost as big as a small dog, but luckily they were weak, it was only their size that was intimidating about them. A few hits from this common sword I had was all it took for me to beat them. It was a quest meant for a beginner, which I was, but not in mind for I had over hundreds of hours in RPG games, I was ready for this world.


    ¡°Congratulations quest has been completed.¡±


    A light blue transparent screen appeared in front of me.


    ¡°5 out of 5 rat scavengers defeated. ¡°


    ¡°Reward: Leather boots.¡±


    ¡°Nice,¡± I said, as I looked at my inventory and found the leather boots in it. I put them on, they were quite agile. I thought as I jumped in them, trying to get a feel for them.


    ¡°Stat increase speed by 1.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s awesome,¡± I thought, though I didn¡¯t feel any faster, granted it had only increased by one point.


    ¡°Now on to the next quest, find 4 herbs of Luna.¡±


    I looked around the open field and wondered where this herb could be hiding when I saw something sparkle in the corner of my eye.


    I walked toward it and luckily it was just what I needed. I plucked the four herbs of Luna and placed them inside my pocket.


    ¡°Quest completed.¡±


    Another transparent screen appeared in front of me.


    ¡°This quest was so easy,¡± I thought as I made my way back to the adventurer guild to collect my rewards from the guild.


    ***


    As I entered the guild building, I noticed that the clerk that took my info in the beginning was there and I couldn¡¯t help but feel a tad bit nervous.


    ¡°Be cool, is just a game,¡± I jokingly told myself. She was really cute but she wasn¡¯t real, she was just an NPC nothing more and nothing less. This was all fake despite feeling so life-like.


    I took a deep breath and walked toward her. In a way, it felt like I was approaching an end-game boss and I was extremely under-leveled.


    ¡°H-Hi,¡± I said, giving her an awkward smile.


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    ¡°Hello young adventurer how can I help you,¡± she said, which to be honest took me by surprise. It felt cold and aloof that for a moment my nervousness vanished.


    ¡°Of course, she didn¡¯t remember me, I was just one of millions of players to her.¡±


    ¡°Y-yea sorry, I came to turn in some quest,¡± I said, keeping it business only. She looked at me and smiled, letting out a giggle.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± she said,


    ¡°I was just teasing you, you should have seen the look on your face, noobpunisher1337.¡±


    Hearing my in-game name made me cringe that for a minute I wanted nothing more than to log off the game and never returned.


    ¡°I really should have picked another name, what was I thinking.¡± I thought.


    ¡°Max is fine,¡± I said, feeling like my face was as red as a tomato.


    ¡°Of course Max,¡± she said, taking my hand,


    ¡°Now let me just access your data and complete the quest in our system.¡±


    As she took my hand, I couldn¡¯t help but stare at her. She was so pretty. She had green eyes and long light brown hair, and her eyelashes were so long and pretty. Whoever designed her model was a master-class sculpture.


    ¡°Your reward is a leather shirt and pants with a common sword.¡±


    She finally said.


    ¡°Here you go.¡±


    A bunch of equipment appeared in front of her.


    I grabbed them and equipped them on.


    ¡°Stat upgrades: Strength + 1, Hp +1.¡±


    ¡°Now you look like you belong, it looks good on you,¡± She said smiling at me.


    ¡°T-Thanks,¡± I said, trying to keep myself from blushing.


    ¡°Well since you finished the other quest here are two more quests for you, also you can get other quests from other people around town but most quests are given by us.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, thanks for the information.¡±


    "You''re welcome, and good luck Max,¡± she said, as she waved at me as I left the guild building.


    ¡°Well, unto my new quest,¡± I said, reading the next quest window, and ready to keep advancing in this world I found myself in.


    ***


    ¡°ARRRG!¡± another rat monster let out as I slashed it in half.


    ¡°Experience points gain +2 !¡°


    I heard the game voice said.


    I opened my status windows and saw that I was close to leveling up soon.


    So far, every quest I have done was at a beginner level. I was close to level 18, and already tired of grinding this new player area that I was forced into for all it''s worth.


    I needed an adventure, the only problem was that every quest had a gate-keeping mechanic, perhaps to stop new players from getting over their heads, but I wasn¡¯t a new player, no, I had thousands of hours of playing RPG games. I was just under level. I knew the mechanics needed to survive high-level quests.


    I let out a sigh, as I sat on a piece of rock,


    ¡°Should I keep grinding until I¡¯m at the required level for the other quest? I guess I can keep killing trash mobs like giant rats and horn rabbits. ¡°


    I began to scan over the quest I had completed already. All I needed was to go to the guild building and get my rewards.


    ¡°The guild building,¡± I said, thinking about her.


    I¡¯m not going to lie, I kind of wanted to see her, and to be honest, I didn¡¯t care if she was an NPC or real player, okay maybe I did care, I hoped she was a real player, but then again did it matter, is not like I would meet her in real life, a guy like me only had a chance inside the game with a beautiful woman like her.


    I had gotten her name by now. It was Amanda, and I thought it suited her since it was pretty like her.


    "Amanda,¡± I thought, almost getting lost in thought when I heard my name.


    ¡°Hey, Max!¡±


    I turned around and saw another adventurer, a level 14 Mage I had teamed up for a quest before. It was a gathering quest and I didn¡¯t want to gather the 100 roses I needed by myself.


    ¡°Have you finished your quests already?¡± he asked as he made his way toward me. He had on a white robe that went to his legs a wooden staff, and a full set of brown hair, he looked like your stereotypical mage inside any RPG game.


    ¡°Yes, I have.¡±


    ¡®Nice, what level are you now, I¡¯m level 17 now, you know what that means?¡± he said, grinning at me,


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said,


    ¡®We can tackle the dungeon quest, I hear you can get good material and equipment from there. ¡°


    The dungeon quests were social quests given by the guild for adventurers to team up and foster the social aspect of the game. You needed to be at least level 17 to enter them, and even though you only qualified for simple dungeons, they were better than just killing mobs for the hundredth time to get some measly experience points.


    The dungeon part is really where this game excelled at. They even had a one-hundred-man dungeon, but so far none of the adventurer guilds that were already established in this game have done one, they were that brutal, for this game also had permanent death, so if you died you lost your character and nobody wanted to gamble their high-level character, but luckily you could make another character if you paid, but of course I paid the cheapest option so I only had one character.


    ¡°We should join up and tackle one of the beginner dungeons, what do you say Max? ¡°


    I thought about doing one soon, and I was already familiar with his playstyle, and he wasn¡¯t a bad mage either.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said, as I got up from the rock.


    ¡°Perfect,¡± he said, placing his hand on my shoulder like some longtime friend,


    ¡°Let¡¯s go conquer this world, Max.¡±

 Chapter 8 part 2

    Chapter


    8.2


    ¡°You coming?¡±


    I looked at Carl, the mage I had done a few missions with, there had been beginner missions so they weren¡¯t hard or anything, but now, we were about to take on a Guild Dungeon, this was the first real test for me in this VRMMORPG world I was in.


    Perhaps that was why I felt anxious, or maybe it was something else.


    ¡°Y-Yeah,¡± I said as we both went toward the city, where the guild building was located in.


    The Guild building was a large building that stood in the middle of the city, almost like an intersection within the city. I saw other adventurers going in and out of it, like cars going and passing.


    ¡°Shall we,¡± Carl said, as I walked behind him.


    Inside the building, it felt like an old library of sorts you see in fantasy stories, with shelf after shelf stacked on each floor, and in the middle was a desk with the Guild receptionist.


    ¡°Hello Max and Carl,¡± she said waving at us. She had on a ponytail today with her guild uniform neatly draped over her figure.


    ¡°How have you guys been? Have you guys finished all your beginner missions? ¡° she asked smiling at us.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± Carl said smirking at her.


    ¡°Yes we have,¡± I said in a more serious tone. This was business after all.


    ¡°Me and Max are ready to take on the Guild missions,¡± Carl said, not being able to contain his excitement, which honestly I found quite contagious. After all, this was going to be our first dudgeon in this game.


    ¡°That¡¯s great, but first I need to make sure you guys are at the required level,¡± she said, extending her hand at us,


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I start with you first, Max.¡±


    ¡°O-Okay,¡± I said, giving her my hand.


    She looked at me and smiled as she began to inspect my character status. Her eyes began to glow and I could see a bunch of information running down her eyes as if she was looking at a computer screen in front of her.


    After a few minutes, she smiled at me.


    ¡°Did you guys hear about this new restaurant that opened up in the city,¡± she said, as she was inspecting my status windows.


    ¡°Restaurant,¡± I thought wondering what that had to do with what we were doing.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Yeah, I heard about it,¡± Carl said, as he leaned against the desk, facing toward the lobby.


    ¡°Is so popular is so hard to even get reservations.¡±


    ¡°It is but luckily I got two of them,¡± she said,


    ¡°REALLY !¡± Carl said, jumping with excitement that garnered the attention of other adventurers in the area,


    ¡°Sorry! Sorry!¡± He said, lowering his head and apologizing.


    ¡°How did you manage to do that?¡± he said, leaning close to Amanda. which made me jealous for a second, but I brushed those thoughts aside.


    ¡°The Guild received some special reservations that we can use anytime we want, but is too bad I don¡¯t have anyone to go with,¡± she said.


    ¡°All done.¡±


    ¡°Lv 18, perfect.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, looking at her.


    ¡°No problem Max.¡±


    ¡°My turn,¡± Carl said, giving her his hand,


    ¡°No need, since dungeon levels require groups and you and Max are going to be in a group, I can see your guys'' level, here I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    ¡°Team view,¡± she said, and the next thing I saw was a group invite in front of me floating mid-air.


    ¡°Go ahead and accept,¡±


    ¡°O-Of course,¡± I said, accepting her group invite, a small window appeared in front of me showing me her and Carl¡¯s level.


    ¡°Oh! Nice,¡± Carl said, as he was messing around with the group options,


    "We can even designate the group leader and everything as well in the settings option, even as tag them and see their location.¡±


    ¡° The group option window is very useful to keep track of your teams'' status as well as location, and now for the main event you guys came for,¡± she said,


    An invite appeared in front of us, and with it the name of the first dungeon we were about to do.


    ¡°Cavern Mines.¡± I read it, and for some reason saying the name brought a chill of excitement down my spine.


    ¡° All done, now whenever you guys want to do the dungeon just pull up the option windows for it and it should teleport you to the entrance of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait,¡± Carl said,


    "Now that you guys are all set, I''ll take my leave," she said, as she left the group, her name disappeared from the group window that was in front of us.


    ¡°Good luck you guys and who knows, you might even win more than just a dungeon prize,¡± she said winking at me, or so I was sure, or perhaps I must have imagined it. But I was sure she did.


    ¡°Thanks, Amanda,¡± Carl said, as we began to walk out of the dungeon building. I looked back at her and thought about her words.


    ¡°Could that perhaps have been an invitation to a date?¡± I wondered as we made our way toward our very first guild dungeon,

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9


    Cavern Mines Part 1


    The entrance to the dungeon looked like your typical entrance to some dark and creepy cave you stumbled upon on some deserted hiking trail. When we accepted the quest, it teleported us straight to the entrance, which was convenient.


    ¡°So, this is the first dungeon we''re going to take on,¡± Carl said, grabbing his staff tightly.


    ¡°You¡¯re not scared are you,¡± I said, smirking at him.


    ¡°O-Of course not,¡± he said, as we stood in front of the cavernous entrance to the Cavern Mines, the first dungeon for beginners in this game.


    ¡°Well, shall we?¡± I said, ready to take on whatever was waiting for us in that abyss that was ready to swallow us at any moment.


    ¡°Cavern Mines.¡±


    The title popped up in front of us as if on cue, a floating transparent window appeared as we decided to march closer toward the entrance.


    ¡°Beware those who enter its cavernous chambers for danger looms at every corner, and to those brave enough to choose to enter its dark abyss, the king awaits them at the end.¡±


    ¡°The King,¡± I thought, every dungeon needed a boss, and since this was a dungeon of course a raid boss was usually waiting for us at the end of the cave.


    ¡°I do have to give it to the developers, they sure know how to write an entrance,¡± Carl said, swallowing his breath.


    ¡°Not bad for a first dungeon,¡± I said, as I chose the ¡°Yes¡± option that floated in front of us.


    ¡°Ready Carl,¡± I said, eagerly, waiting to tackle the first dungeon that this game had for us, ready to take on whatever kind of enemies and treasures were waiting for us to claim.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this,¡± Carl said, as the window in front of us shattered like a glass window as we made our way inside the Cavern Mines.


    As we entered the cave, we were transported into its dark body. You could hear the slow dripping of water trickling down its empty walls, and to the side were many dark holes that no doubt led to other rooms and chambers in this cavernous cave that was the Cavern Mines.


    ¡°Shall we pick our first path,¡± I said, eager to venture further into the cave. I walked to the closest entrance to me. But to my surprise, an invisible wall of sorts stopped me from going any further, and a floating window appeared in front of me.


    ¡°Entrance cannot be permitted beyond this point, player does not meet the level requirement.¡±


    It read.


    ¡°Carl we can¡¯t go this way it seems,¡± I said,


    ¡°Neither can we go this way,¡± Carl said, as well, no doubt meeting the same gate-keeping mechanic on the other side.


    ¡°It looks like the only way is forward,¡± I said, pointing toward the only path that was available to us.


    ¡°It sure does look like that,¡± Carl said, as we both walked toward the only way we could, and as we made our way deeper into the cave, we met our first enemy.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    A small green goblin.


    ¡°Lv 3 Goblin,¡± its name bar read. It had on leather clothes and a small knife, and it hissed at us as it noticed us.


    ¡°Lv 3, this shouldn¡¯t be too difficult,¡± Carl said, as he brought his staff close to his face, ready to cast a spell.


    ¡°Save your mana,¡± I said, as I took out my sword. This was only the beginning of the dungeon, so I needed to make sure that Carl only used his mana on enemies that mattered, and not on some low-level goblin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it.¡±


    I dashed toward the Goblin enemy,


    ¡°AARG!¡± the goblin said, as it ran toward me, but it was futile for I was stronger, slashing it in half and killing him.


    ¡°EXP Gain +3 ¡° I saw small green letters around me and Carl.


    ¡°Look, it dropped equipment,¡± Carl said,


    ¡°Level 3 knife, Level 3 leather boots,¡±


    ¡°Is not that strong but we can probably sell it off or use it to craft stuff.¡±


    ¡°For sure, let¡¯s keep going,¡± I said, putting my sword back in its sheath.


    As we descended further into the cave, most of the enemies we came across were low-level Goblins and giant rats, except, for the first new enemy we had come across, it was a slime which Carl had to help with, since they were quite tricky to battle due to their body unique skill.


    ¡°Ice freeze,¡± Carl said, making a wind of ice come out of his staff and freezing the slimes that had appeared before us,


    ¡°My turn,¡± I said, dashing toward them and slashing them in half, and destroying their core.


    ¡°EXP + 3¡± the small green letters coming just as soon as the enemies were killed. And since Carl and I were on a team, we shared the experience points as well as the loot.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first slime we¡¯ve come across,¡± I said,


    ¡°That means they¡¯re probably more around,¡± Carl said, and just as he said that more slimes appeared in front of us.


    "Time for a real battle,¡± I said, taking my sword out,


    ¡°Shall we partner,¡± Carl said, ready for battle as well.


    ¡°Ice Tundra,¡± he said, freezing them, which made slashing them much easier.


    They were tricky sometimes since they could shoot acid, but luckily their projectiles were slow, so it wasn¡¯t that hard to dodge.


    ¡°They sure do keep coming,¡± I said, slashing another one, and just as I killed one after another more began to appear.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think,¡± I said, remembering how in games if you came across a new enemy in a dungeon and more kept coming, that meant.


    ¡°ALERT! ALERT!¡±


    Big red letters appeared in front of us.


    ¡°That¡¯s new,¡± we both said, as we saw it appear from the darkness of the cave.


    ¡°Giant Slime! ¡°


    ¡°A raid boss!¡±


    ¡°Now we''re talking, ¡° I said,


    ¡°Ready partner?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Our first battle was about to begin, our first real test as a team.


    ***


    The slime was big, almost touching the ceiling of the cave. Its body had a green transparent color to it, and you could see what it had for dinner as it was dissolving inside its body.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big boy,¡± Carl said, sarcastically,


    ¡°We have to be careful, we don¡¯t want to be the next ones floating inside its body,¡± I said, stepping back and gripping my sword tightly, this was a raid boss. Our first raid boss since we began grinding in this VRMMORPG world.


    ¡°Lvl 19 - Large Acidic Slime -¡±


    The name tag that was floating above its head read.


    ¡°Acidic slime?" I said, repeating its name. So its element is acid, a tricky element to deal with since it had a slow add-on damage effect if you got hit by it.


    ¡°Ready Carl?¡± I said, eager to engage the large acidic slime in battle and finally start to see what the bosses in this game had to offer. All my knowledge from every RPG game I had played rushed toward me, preparing me for just exactly this moment.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Carl said, bringing his staff to his face, ready to cast a spell.


    ¡°Let go!¡± I said rushing toward the large Acidic Slime,


    ¡°ICE SHOT!¡± Carl said, and an ice bullet shot past me, hitting the acidic slime monster, and freezing the area it had landed on.


    ¡°Perfect! That¡¯s my cue,¡± I said, running toward the area, and striking it down with my sword.


    CLANK!


    I felt the force of my hit vibrate in my hands as the steel hit the ice, yet for some reason, the area didn¡¯t break as I had expected it.


    WATCH OUT !¡± Carl yelled, I looked up and saw a green projectile coming my way,


    ¡°Acid Spit!¡± I said, dodging it to the side before it hit me.


    I looked at the ground the attack had landed and saw the floor begin to melt.


    ¡°That was close,¡± I said, I had to be careful


    ¡°Are you alright Max?¡± Carl said,


    I nodded at him, giving him a thumbs up. He was right, I did not want to get hit by one of those, I did not want to lose against such a low-level dungeon boss, just thinking about it made me feel embarrassed by it.


    Imagine being killed by a low-level raid boss. Then again there was no permanent death in this game, if you got killed you lost your equipment and had to start from zero, which was worse.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan? ¡°Carl said,


    I looked at the giant green slime monster, it was slow, much slower than the other smaller slime creatures, it barely had moved an inch. It was standing in front of us as a giant garbage dispensary, sucking in everything it came upon. I noticed the area on its lower body where Carl¡¯s attack had landed was beginning to melt now, the freeze effect of Carl''s attack wearing off.


    ¡°Keep shooting ice attacks at him and try to freeze more of its body, it''s slow and it can¡¯t evade them,¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Carl said. He brought his staff forward himself and began gathering mana.


    ¡°ICE BARRAGE!¡±


    A large wave of ice bullets came my way, each bullet hitting the slime monster, and freezing its body.


    ¡°Perfect,¡± I said, as I began to hit each part that was frozen, yet my attacks weren''t futile, I could see that its health bar was being chipped away, slowly but we were doing some damage.


    ¡°Carl, how much mana do you have left?¡± I said, stepping back from the half-frozen slime monster.


    ¡°I brought some mana potions, but I still have half of my mana left.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to waste all of the potions on this boss, we don¡¯t know what kind of other monsters will come up against in this dungeon.


    ¡°What¡¯s the highest ice spell you can do?¡±


    ¡°Ice Tundra, but it would take a cast time of 30 seconds.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll handle him while you charge the spell.


    ¡°READY!¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes,¡± Carl said, as he brought his staff close to his face, I could see his body glowing, which meant he was beginning to start the cast on the spell.


    ¡°Your opponent is me for the time being,¡± I said, as I dashed toward the slime creature, I looked at my stats and items windows, I had a hidden weapon that I was going to use when Carl¡¯s spell was ready.

 Chapter 10 part 1

    Chapter 10


    Part 1


    I slashed the giant acidic slime multiple times, being careful to not destroy my blade with its acid side effect as well. My job was to distract it while Carl  finished the cast on his spell.


    I looked at Carl and he nodded at me, signaling that he was close to finishing his casting any second now.


    ¡°Just a little more you giant garbage disposal bin,¡± I said smirking at it. The fact that it was slow to move and just stood in front of us like a rock made it easy to deal with it. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that this was just a beginner-level dungeon that made this monster very easy to deal with. It was annoying for sure since it had quite the health and the acid element to it made it quite tricky to deal with if you weren''t careful.


    ¡°I¡¯M READY !¡± Carl  yelled,


    ¡°GOT IT !¡± I yelled back, anticipating Max¡¯s attack. And just on time since the durability in my blade was beginning to decrease.


    ¡°ICE TUNDRA !¡± I heard Carl¡¯s voice and moved to the side.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    I felt a chill coming my way, no doubt his attack.


    ¡°This is for you buddy, I hope you enjoy a nice ice drink,¡± I said, smirking at it, not that it mattered for it probably didn¡¯t have the intelligence to even comprehend what I was saying.


    Carl¡¯s attack began to freeze the giant slime, its body slowing but surely being frozen solid and at the end of the process, all that remained was a giant ice statue.


    ¡°Now is my turn,¡± I said, as I got into position for my next attack.


    ¡°SLASH SOAR!¡± I said, dashing forward and slashing the giant acidic slime ball in half. Its body breaking into a thousand tiny pieces.


    I looked at its health bar and saw it dropped to zero.


    ¡°BOSS DEFEATED!¡±


    We both heard the words of a woman, no doubt the game telling us what we already knew.


    ¡°Good job Carl,¡± I said, giving him a thumbs up, we had defeated our first boss fairly easily.


    ¡° EXP : 120


    ¡° Basic Sword


    ¡°Basic Robe.¡±


    We saw small windows pop up in front of us telling us of our reward.


    "For a boss, it doesn¡¯t drop that great of a reward,¡± Carl said, no doubt disappointed in the loot, which I couldn¡¯t blame him, for it was quite lackluster.


    ¡°This is just a beginner-level boss can¡¯t expect too much from it,¡± I said.


    ¡°Would you like to continue?¡±


    A light transparent box appeared in front of us,


    ¡°Should we continue?¡± I asked Carl since we were in a group and this was a group decision after all.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± Carl said,


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said choosing the ¡°Yes¡± option.


    ¡°Dungeon Floor Unlocked,¡± the voice said and the next thing we knew a door appeared in front of us.

 Chapter 10 Part 2

    Chapter 10


    Part 2


    "Survive the first wave!"


    Those were the words that greeted us on the other side of the door as we were transported from where we had been just a second ago.


    "What does that mean?" Carl said, giving me a nervous smile.


    "Well, we''re about to find out," I replied, as I saw the red dots in the darkness as they glitter like stars in the night sky. No doubt making us the target of their leering eyes like heat-seeking missiles waiting to be unleashed.


    We had no idea advancing deeper into the cave would have brought us to a place that was not so beginner-friendly. After all, what kind of beginner dungeon had a monster wave instance of level 25 monsters?  If I remember correctly, those kinds of instances were more common in upper-level dungeons, not a level 15 dungeon like the one we were in. Did the game make a mistake by accidentally transporting us to a higher-level instance? If it did, it was quite the bug in the game.


    "What now?" Carl said.


    I looked at the red eyes staring back at us, they were frozen still on the other side, making no sudden movement, no doubt waiting on us do something.


    "I don¡¯t know. Can we even be victorious?" I said, looking at the health bar of them


    "Level 25 Goblins."


    This was bad since we were only level 15, and they were a whole ten levels above us, and in an RPG game, that meant quite the difference in stats.


    "It doesn''t seem we can go back either," Carl said, as he looked behind us and found nothing but a rock wall, the door that had brought here now gone.


    "Well, let''s just get this over with," I said, letting out a sigh. Dead in this game meant we were going to lose our progress and equipment, it wasn¡¯t'' perma death like some RPG games where you lose your character completely, but it still sucked that we were about to lose our progress. Luckily it wasn''t too bad since we were only level 15 so is not like we were about to lose a lot of progress, but still, it sucked to start over from scratch.  I almost had grown accustomed to this character of mine, after all, it was modeled after me.  Yet that wasn¡¯t the only reason, her face flashing before me, would she recognize me with a different character? I thought for a brief second,  but brush those thoughts aside, now was not the time to think about a receptionist in this game. Besides, I wasn''t even sure she was human to begin with, what if she was some advanced AI girl.


    "You''re right, " Carl said, letting out a sight as well,


    "I worked so hard to get to this level only for a dumb bug in a game to ruin it."


    "Of that you are right," I said, taking my sword out.


    "What if we try to fight them, who knows, we might even be victorious?" Carl said as he went into his casting position as a mage.


    "We can''t go out without a fight," I said, agreeing with his sentiment.


    " Well what are you waiting for, come at us you stupid goblins."


    And as if my voice had triggered them, the goblins that were in front of us came out screaming and hollering as they dashed at us.


    Obviously we knew that we weren¡¯t going to survive since they were above our level, but that didn''t mean we weren¡¯t going to go without a fight.


    The goblins were fast, much faster than the acidic slime boss we had faced, but yet we were holding our own. They were not very intelligent which was to be expected from their class of monster, so surprisingly they weren¡¯t that difficult to deal with, and their HP (Hit Points) were quite low too I noticed.


    Carl was throwing ice spells at them, since that was the only offensive spells he knew as a ice mage,  which wasn¡¯t a bad role right now, especially with a lot of enemies around us.  Freezing them for a few seconds which allowed me to slash them with ease.  They had a little speed, but it was no trouble for me since I was quite faster than normal considering I put a lot of my stat points in speed and attack, modeling my character after the archetype of a glass cannon. Which meant I was deadly, but defensively weak, so I had to be careful.


    After killing a few goblins, the ''EXP" widows were popping up in front of us, but we paid them no attention, we were focus on winning right now.


    After some time, we were finally done. We somehow had managed to defeat all the goblins, all ten of them and we collapsed on the floor exhausted, our mana depleted, yet by some miracle we had been victorious against enemies that were 10 levels higher than us.


    "Can you believe it?" Carl said,


    "We somehow manage to defeat them."


    "We make a good team," I said, taping his staff with my sword.


    "I wonder what our reward would be," Carl said, eager to see what amazing loot awaited us for being able to survive such an instance as a pair of beginner players. And to be honest, I didn''t think we were going to get loot if any since I was sure this was a bug.


    "I wouldn''t bet on it," I said,


    "I think we will, any minute now," Carl said, sarcastically as no window popped up signaling any loot for us.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there."Did you go up a level," I asked as I saw my stats, I had gone two levels. I was now at level 17.


    "Well, would you look at that, I did," Carl said,


    "I''m now at level 18."


    "Congrats, at least our levels went up," I said, and just as we were both basking in our brand-new levels, we heard the game voice again.


    "Survive for 60 seconds!"


    It said, and a giant timer appeared floating in the air, marking the timer for our next challenge.


    "Survive what?" Carl said as we both got up as fast as we could.


    "I think it means that," I said, pointing at the giant minotaur heading our way with its giant flaming sword.


    The minotaur dashed with great speed despite its size. It must have been at least 10 feet tall if not taller. It had great bulging muscles you will expect a monster of its size to have, but the dangerous thing, surprisingly, wasn''t its size and mass. No, it was that burning sword that seemed to scorch everything it touched, leaving nothing but dark charcoal behind.


    " How do we survive that? " Carl said, sending ice spell after ice spell at the minotaur, trying to slow it down, trying to buy us time to survive this game.


    "I don''t know, but we just need to survive for 57 more seconds," I said looking at the timer as it floated in the air, 3 seconds had passed already yet those seconds felt like an eternity.


    "Watch out!" I said as I saw its flaming sword coming our way, we moved to the side and saw a dark spot on the ground, which was now covered in almost complete darkness. The earth was scorched by its flame no doubt.


    "Luckily it doesn¡¯t seem to be of great intelligence," I said, noticing that after each attack it try to locate us. It was more like some loose animals than a sentient being, which was perfect.


    "I have a plan," I said,


    "Use your ice tundra spell and try to freeze it so we can slow it down. I''m pretty much useless here since close attacks are dangerous for me due to its sword,  but I can distract it for you to cast your spell."


    Carl looked at me, I could see the worried expression on his face telling me that this was not a good idea.


    "Are you sure?" he asked,


    I looked at the timer, another 3 seconds had passed.


    "If we continue like this we won''t survive and do you really want to start a new character, after all,  the penalty is perma death," I said, as I looked underneath the timer and read the penalty in bright red letters.


    He looked at me and he knew I was right, it didn''t matter much if we lost these characters of ours, since they were low levels, to begin with, but making a new character meant making a new account and making another account we had to wait for it to be approved.  And who knows if we were going to be able to make one, after all, this game was quite popular and that was an understatement.


    "You''re right," " Carl said,


    "I''ll start the timer, but I only have enough mana for one more tundra spell and that¡¯s it."


    "That¡¯s all we need," I said, smiling at him and nodding, I needed to be confident as the leader after all, even if I wasn¡¯t sure our plan would work.


    "Over here you oversized cow," I yelled as I dashed away from Carl, and luckily, the minotaur looked my way, completely ignoring Carl.


    "Ice bullet," Carl said, sending an ice bullet at its feet to help slow it down at least for a second.  That luckily it froze him for a second, slowing him down,


    "Soar Blade!" I said, as I dashed behind him and slashed him, just like I had anticipated.  It was useless, for it barely flinched,


    "ROAAR!" it led out a scorching scream and flunked its flame sword at me, which I moved to the side, evading it,


    "Ice tundra!"


    I turned to Carl and saw that the cast timer on his spell had no doubt started for he was whispering incantations underneath his breath.


    "ROOOOAR!" the minotaur let out a screeching roar as it ran towards me once again. Luckily it was too preoccupied with me to even notice Carl, which was to my luck.


    "You want round 2, you oversized cow," I yelled as I began to run away once more. Luckily I was way faster than it so evading him and his flaming sword wasn''t such a struggle. I looked at the timer as it floated in the air, every second going down as if it were hours.


    "ROOOOOAR!" it let out as it missed me with its flaming sword, scorching the ground underneath us.


    "Just a little more," I said, as I watched Carl finishing the cast on his spell,


    "NOW!" he yelled at last, which was my cue,


    "Got it partner," I said, as I ran toward Carl with the minotaur trailing right behind me.


    "I hope you enjoy a nice cup of ice cold water you oversized cow," I said, as I ducked as Carl''s spell came toward us.


    It hit the minotaur and began to freeze parts of his body, I wasn''t expecting it to freeze completely, just enough for the seconds to go down,


    "Almost there," I said, as both me and Carl watched the seconds reach close to zero,


    "Just one more," I said, clenching my fist, somehow we had survived this level.


    "Yes!"


    We both jumped for joy as the timer reached zero,


    "We did it!" I said as I ran toward Carl to celebrate our victory.


    "WATCH OUT!" Carl yelled at me and the last thing I knew my whole body was on fire. Even though it was a game, it felt real as the fire began to consume me, every part of my body screaming as the waves of fire began to swallow it and leave nothing behind.


    "C¡­A¡­RL!" I tried to say as I saw him upside down for some reason, and watched him disappear in front of me and the last thing I knew was pitch darkness.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11


    I awoke, no that¡¯s not the right word, more like I regained consciousness and the first thing I saw was a floating box over my head.


    "Skill Unlocked:  Skeleton Will: As long as a fragment of your body remains, so will your will."


    "As long as a fragment of my body remains?" I thought about those words,


    "What could it mean?" I asked myself but before I could ponder on it, I found my answer.


    Not that I was searching for it hard but it was hard to ignore the feet of the walking skeletons that were circling past me, as the only thing I could see at eye level was their bony white feet circling me like sharks around their prey.


    I tried to move my body but it was useless, for I had no body only a head. I tried to move my head but it was quite difficult especially when you didn''t have any experience as a skeleton head without a body attached to it.  But somehow, I managed to move toward the feet of one of the skeletons.


    "Hey pick me up," I said, humorlessly, wondering if it would even work, and to my surprise, it did for my skeleton brethren picked my head.


    "Skill activated: Bone Whisperer!"


    I saw a text box appear before me.


    "This is a very nice skill to have," I thought, wanting to laugh at my predicament, a bodiless skeleton and his ignorant minion.


    "Oh well, what can you do," I said, but at least not everything was looking grim, excuse my pun of the situation. Whatever that sorcerer Evira had done, her attack, which had completely pulverized me, it had done more than just awoke a new skill in me, a skill that was almost overpowered if I do say so myself.


    She had made me regain my memories.


    My name was Max Reinfield and I was an adventurer who had bought the game, Magic and Swords: Trial of Laments.


    My past character was a level 17 knight and for some reason, the game had bugged on us and transported me and my companion, Carl, an ice mage to an instance where I had pretty much lost my character.  Perma death, those words send a chill down my spine or should I say head. Yet, I wondered if it truly was perma death, for I still had my character, well, a character anyway, for I wasn''t quite sure if this character was even that character, to begin with.


    " I wonder what happened to Carl? I hope he got out safe?" I wondered, hoping he hadn''t lost his character too and turned into a skeleton like me, which made me curious. Did every character that died in the game become a monster? And if so, was it a bug or a feature? I had quite a few questions still in my mind about this situation, but at least I was happy I had regained my memories.


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    "Amanda," I thought remembering her face,


    "I''m never going to see her again."


    Which was a bummer because she was very pretty. Not that it mattered what I thought of her since nothing would come out of it, but it was a bummer not the less for me.


    "Enough about that, I need to figure out how to amend this situation," I said, trying to figure out how to fix my body if I could even fix it, to begin with.  What if I was stuck as a bodiless skeleton monster, another bug in the game? Just my luck.


    I had just gotten the game and was enjoying my time playing with it as my knight character, I did not want to continue playing it as some low-level skeleton minion since I couldn''t even log out to begin with.


    "This game sure is filled with bugs?" I laughed, wondering if other players were also having similar issues as me.


    But before I can even begin to think about such a question, I need to figure out how to fix this situation if it even is fixable.


    "Stat window!" I said, and to my surprise, the stat window appeared before me, but yet I couldn¡¯t do anything since I didn''t have fingers to scroll through it.


    Great another issue to deal with.


    "Is not like I can control it with my mind," I said, letting out a sigh.


    "Unless¡­"


    "I do have such a high intelligence stat, maybe I can use it like telepathy?


    That''s a thing in comics and even in games too.


    I began to concentrate hard trying to imagine myself flicking the screen to the side, that if some adventurer walked in, he would have sure gotten a good laugh at the situation that was happening in this little beginner dungeon before slaughtering us.


    That was another issue I needed to deal with as well. I didn¡¯t know how long until another one of those pesky adventurers made their way here, just thinking about it made my head rattle for a minute.


    I needed to think of something fast, but luckily I had that skill that seemed to be overpowered if you asked me.


    "Skeleton Will."


    So as long as a bone in my body remained so did I.


    I didn''t know just how powerful that skill was but I didn''t want to find out either.


    But as long as a part of my body remains I guess I couldn''t die, right?


    What if the next adventurer decides to appear before us and obliterate us, and leaving nothing behind.


    "Fear?" I thought, feeling an emotion in me as I thought about that possibility.


    "Is that even possible?"


    But then again, anything was possible in this game.


    "Come one work, Damn it!" I said as I tried to concentrate extra hard, trying to envision myself moving the stat window with my mind, but it was no use, it didn''t budge even for a minute.


    "Guess we''re stuck as a talking head for now," I let out a sigh. It wasn''t all doom and gloom, I still had my other skill.


    "Bone Whisperer"


    Which allows me to control the skeletons in this small dungeon.


    "I wonder if I can control more?" I thought as I looked at the other three skeletons that were circling the treasure chest that sat in the middle of the dungeon.

 Chapter 11 part 2

Chapter 11


    Part 2


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

 Chapter 11 Part 3

    Chapter 11 -


    Part 3


    Now what? I asked myself,


    That has a nice ring to it, I thought, which meant my next move would be to gain more control over these skeletons. Or perhaps there were more undead monster than just the ones in these four walls of this dungeon. After all, I had been outside as a player before i had been stuck as some mindless skeleton by the game.


    I wondered if they were doing ok, I thought, yet the possibility of leaving this little room filled me with more excitement and anticipation than the thought of crossing paths with them once more, that my thoughts about them began to drift away from my mind.


    Becoming the prime undead, now game how do you want me to achieve that? I asked myself.


    .


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    <td style="width: 100%">


    1. Demonstrate control over the undead...


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


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    <td style="width: 100%"> </td>


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    Must pass the requirement to proceed.


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    2. Solidify leadership among the undead and earn their unwavering loyalty...


    Must pass the previous requirement to proceed.


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    Now how was I going to do that, I thought. Clearly, it was more than just taking control of the undead; I also needed to earn their loyalty. But the part that was the most interesting to me was the last part.


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    3. Defeat the current prime undead within the dungeon.


    Must pass the previous requirement to proceed.


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 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12


    Becoming the prime undead


    Part 1


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">¡°Demonstrate control over the undead¡± </td>


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    ¡°Demonstrate control over the undead¡±


    I looked at the transparent floating box in front of me. This was the first stage in my path to becoming the prime undead. A goal the game system has bestowed upon me for reasons I did not know. Not that it mattered at this moment, but I couldn¡¯t deny that I was curious as to why me. Why had the system picked me of all people for all of this? Was I special, or was it just a random act of luck?


    "Luck, me..." I let out a sigh, had I ever been this lucky in my real life? It was a rhetorical question for I knew the answer.


    ¡°Perhaps it was my charming good looks and stellar intellect, what do you think pal,¡± I said sarcastically, as I looked up at the skeleton that had me in his bony arms.


    He looked emptily at me as if I wasn¡¯t in the room with him, but it wasn''t just him. They all had the same vacant look on their faces; devoid of any emotion or life. As the prime undead I should give them personalities, I thought, but just as that thought graced my mind, their laughing faces flashed before me, drowning it.


    ¡°On second thought, Maybe not,¡± I said.


    ¡° Well, whatever reason the game system had to pick me, it didn¡¯t matter now, I was chosen and that was all there was to it.¡±


    Now how am I going to demonstrate control over the undead, I thought, as I commanded the skeleton that was carrying me to scratch my chin.


    I could always wait for more skeletons to control, which will surely develop my skill in controlling them better. But the only problem was that I didn¡¯t know how long it took for new skeletons to spawn in. There was still the real danger of any pesky adventurers spawning into this dungeon room. If anything, these skeletons were my shield.


    Maybe I can make my minions battle one another, that shows dominion over them, doesn''t it?


    ¡°That an idea,¡± I said, as I looked at my three minions standing next to one another. I had control of four skeletons in total including the one who had me so warmly in his hands, and I¡¯m only being sarcastic because I was sure if I could feel in this head of mine. I would feel the cold icy fingers of the undead gripping my entire being literally, all that was me was this skeleton head. I needed to regain my body back, and soon.


    ¡°Could I¡­¡± I thought as I pondered a possibility I had seen in many RPG games.


    Skeletons regaining back their bones, well it was more like putting back a puzzle piece together, one by one.


    ¡° Lets not get ahead of ourselves,¡± I said, I still had this first obstacle to think about. I couldn¡¯t go off on other possibilities yet, but I was sure that I could do that. I don¡¯t know how to explain it, but I felt something within me, or should I say within my head, some kind of power waiting to be controlled.


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    Enough chit-chat, I told myself.


    The first goal of my quest had been laid out before me and I had an answer to it.


    ¡°Demonstrate control over the undead,¡± I read, as those words filled my head.


    All demonstrate my control alright.


    ¡°Skeleton 2 and 3,¡± I said, giving them simple names for they were nothing more than cannon fodder to me, ready to be used for my goal, nothing more and nothing less.


    I watched as both the skeletons turned my way, no doubt ready to hear my next command.


    ¡° Skeleton 2 attack Skeleton 3 with your fist,¡± I said, and Skeleton 2 moved toward Skeleton 3, its hands made into a fist, and began to swing at him.


    ¡°Skeleton 3 defend yourself against Skeleton 2''s attack.¡±


    This felt like a pet monster battle of sorts, a quite popular genre that I was fond of when I was a kid.


    I watched as skeletons 2 and 3 fought one another, and watched both of them attacking and dodging each other''s attacks.


    Their fight had a slow paced rhythm like those turn-based games, but I didn''t mind it for now. I looked at it as nothing more than training for my ultimate goal.


    ¡°New Skill unlocked!


    Skeleton insight!¡±


    A small window appeared before me,


    ¡°Skeleton insight: Allows you to take a look at any controlled skeletons statistic and moveset.¡±


    ¡°Moveset, statistics,¡± I said, as two transparent windows appeared in front of me, they were like player cards for my two minions, showing me their health, Mana points,movesets, and statistics.


    I paid attention to the moveset window in particular.


    ¡°Skeleton fist


    Skeleton swipe ( when equipped with a weapon)


    Skeleton block ( also usable when equipped by something)


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    <td style="width: 100%">Lv 1 . Skeleton fist</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%">Lvl 1 . Skeleton swipe ( when equipped with a weapon)</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%">Lvl 2. Skeleton block ( also usable when equipped by something)


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    It made sense that they didn¡¯t have many skills since they were quite low-level.¡±


    ¡°WAIT!¡± I said as I noticed that Skeleton 2 almost killing Skeleton 3, its HP hanging at a measly 1, one hit away from defeat.


    ¡°Skill level !¡±


    Skeleton 2 began to glow for a brief second, it had leveled up its moveset.


    ¡°Skeleton fist has leveled up!


    Skillpoint gain +1"


    The game voice said.


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Skillpoint gain +1"</td>


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    ¡°Demonstrate control over the undead!¡± I thought about those words and what they meant considering I had skeleton insight.


    Was it perhaps talking about this, controlling and adjusting their stats and movesets. If I were a game system, that would for sure show dominion over them.


    ¡°Skeleton insight!¡± I said and looked at all my skeleton minions. Their move sets and stats floated before me.


    They had strength, vitality, endurance, agility, and intelligence. The same stats I was quite knowledgeable on.


    They also had the same three moves. There was nothing unique among any of them, in fact, they were so similar that it felt like they were one big copy and paste of one another. Could I change that? I asked myself, grinning at the possibilities before me.


    ¡°It appears that they don¡¯t need to level up in level in order for their move sets to level up, and they also get skill points with each move set level, which means I can control their moveset as well as stats.


    ¡° So I should just keep attacking one another, that should be easy enough,


    ¡°Skeleton 3 attack skeleton 2, use skeleton fist,¡±


    Skeleton 3 moved toward Skeleton 2 and began to attack it using its fist.


    ¡°Stop!¡± I said before Skeleton 3 could kill Skeleton 2.


    Skeleton 3 fists leveled up !


    SKeleton 3 has gained a skill point +1¡±


    I can slowly level up each other¡¯s move sets and stats, but their level stays the same, I don¡¯t want to kill them since I need them to demonstrate my control over them. But this is going to be a slow burn.


    The plan had been set in motion and I knew what I had to do in order to pass the first quest in my goal of becoming the prime undead.

 Chapter 12 part 2

    Chapter 12


    Part 2


    Becoming the Prime Undead


    I watched as my skeleton minions fought against one another, each waiting for their turn to be called upon by me.


    ¡°Stop!¡± I ordered just before the final hit. I couldn¡¯t lose any of them yet, and they were still valuable to me.


    ¡°Skill Point Level Up!¡±


    The game voice said, as one of my skeleton minions under my control gained another skill level, and with this, they were now all equal in skill level points.


    ¡°Line up next to one another,¡± I said, and they obeyed, moving side by side. I stared at them, to the naked eye they looked nothing more than walking corpses, devoid of any sort of value besides being disposable NPC characters for this dungeon we were trapped in to spit out. But to me, they were more than just cannon fodder to be used by characters in this game in their quest to level up.


    I stared at them for a minute, their expressions devoid of emotions, their stares leaving nothing to mystery, just common disposable NPCs to be used and discarded at will. Nothing more than trash mobs, so in a twisted way, they were still that for me, a tool that I needed to use to escape this dungeon room.


    ¡°Skeleton Insight!¡± I said, and my view was populated by blue transparent boxes floating on top of their heads.


    ¡°Skeleton,¡± It read,  that was their name. Just skeleton which was no different than the name of a common object.


    ¡°Stat window!¡± I said again, and another window appeared in front of me, listing the various stats.


    ¡°Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 15¡±


    I looked at the other two skeletons. Their stats were identical. They were mere carbon copies of one another, but did it have to be that way?


    ¡°Could I change that? ¡± I asked myself.


    In every RPG game, every character had certain attributes that they excelled at which allowed them to fill a specific role within the game. Could I really have the ability to create such a thing for these mindless skeletons, and give them a new meaning to their disposable selves?


    ¡°Dominion over the undead.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Those words filled my mind. What better show of dominion than controlling their destiny, wouldn¡¯t you say?


    ¡°Congrats my simple mindless skeleton minions,¡± I said sarcastically, as I grinned at them.


    ¡°For today is the day of your rebirth.¡±


    Those words left my bony mouth like the first cold wind of winter signaling a change in seasons.


    I looked at the four walls of this dungeon, so far everything had been quiet, and no magical doors had appeared that brought with it pesky players.


    ¡°But for how long,¡± I asked myself, so far I had been battling one skeleton with another.  But that didn¡¯t mean I could take my time either, I needed to act quickly, or else I could risk my progress. Making me long for the special ability to save your progress in games. If only I could do that here.


    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to think about that,¡± I told myself, I had work to do.


    Looking at the stats of my minions, their level was still at one but their skill points had improved, which was good. That meant I didn¡¯t need to level them up to gain skill points. The most important feature of my plan.  Which if I thought about it, was kind of over power. They were at level 1 but soon their stats would not be that of a level 1 skeleton.


    ¡°Is time to begin,¡± I said, grinning.


    I looked at their skill points. , 15 points to distribute among their stats.


    ¡°Time to decide which role you¡¯re going to fulfill,¡± I said, as I looked at the three skeletons that were in front of me. This was perfect since in most RPG games the most basic of roles when starting were the tank, the healer, and the damage class, the pinnacle of MMORPG games. Not a lot of choices but that was ok, this was only the beginning.


    ¡°Shall we start with you,¡± I said looking at the first skeleton in line.


    ¡°Or should I say skeleton 1, since that¡¯s going to be your new name from now on. ¡°


    Not super creative but it did the job.


    ¡°Stat window open!¡±


    ¡°Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 15¡±


    The tank class always had a plethora of health and endurance to be able to tank any attacks if I remember correctly,  so I knew just what two stats I was going to raise in Skeleton 1.


    "Health points increase by 5,¡± I said and watched as its health stat number changed from 8 to 13.


    ¡°Endurance increase by 10!¡±


    Endurance 2 + 10


    Endurance 12


    You¡¯re going to be my tank class skeleton 1.


    Level 1


    HP: 13


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 12


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 0¡±


    I turned to the other skeleton next to skeleton 1 and did the same process raising the two stats that were going to be useful for the damage class, turning skeleton 2 as my fighter. He needed to be fast and strong. A glass cannon as most damage classes were called.


    ¡°Strength increased by 10 and agility by 5. ¡°


    ¡°Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 12


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 7


    Skill points: 0¡±


    Finally, it was the last skeletons turned.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be my healer,¡± I said,


    ¡°Wait, Can a skeleton even be a healer?¡±


    I wondered, I did not know the answer but I was going to find out.


    ¡°MP stat increase by 10,¡± I said, and as my words left my bony mouth, they were met with big red floating letters in front of me.


    ¡°ERROR !¡±


    ¡°Action cannot be taken due to class missing !¡±


    It made sense as I looked at those red letters in front of me. Skeletons couldn¡¯t use mana unless they were an undead class like a necromancer or a lich king.


    I still need the third role, after all, no RPG game was complete without the trifecta, but how was I going to turn this skeleton into that class?


    Usually in RPG games, if you wanted to change the classes of a character, you either spec into it or got an item or weapon that gave you that class but looking around there was nothing but that giant wooded treasure box sitting in the middle of the dungeon. Minus a few skeleton bones lying around. There was no staff weapon that I could use for my healer skeleton.


    ¡°Skeleton 3 pick me up,¡± I said, and the skeleton obeyed walking toward me and grabbing me from the small rock that my bony head was lying upon.


    I looked around the treasure chest and the only thing that was around it was the small floating box telling me its name.


    ¡°Treasure chest: Content unknown¡±


    There was nothing of value to me which was ironic considering there was a giant treasure chest sitting in the middle waiting to be opened.


    ¡°Nothing but bones,¡±  I said, no doubt left by other skeleton mobs that had been killed by players.


    Is not like I could use a piece of bone and pretend it was a staff, I thought as I let out a faint laugh, remembering how as kids we would use wooden sticks to pretend they were more than just ordinary pieces of wood.


    ¡°Or could I ?¡¯ I wondered.

 Chapter 12 part 3

    Chapter 12


    Part 3


    Becoming the Prime Undead


    I stared at the piece of bone in front of me, trying to think of a way to use it to achieve my goal of making the third skeleton in my arsenal a magic user. Recalling from my childhood how we would pretend that mere sticks and stones were more than throwaway items you find in the street, but great weapons.


    ¡°Now how am I supposed to make you into a healer class¡± I said, as I looked at the last skeleton that was next to me. He stared in front of us where his other two brethren were fighting. My tank and damage class skeletons.  Each taking turns hitting the other, just enough to get experience but not enough to kill each other.


    ¡°Stop I !¡± I commanded and they obeyed.


    ¡°Stat window open.¡±


    A light blue transparent box appeared in front of me, listing their stats.


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 13


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 12


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 7


    ¡° 7 more skill points added, good, I can put more into his health and endurance stat, becoming even more of a tank wall.


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 16


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 16


    Agility: 2


    Skill points:


    His two stats were now equal which was good, and it was showing too for he was able to take more hits before his health dropped.


    ¡°Now to you,¡± I said, looking at my damage-class skeleton.


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 12


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 7


    Skill points: 7


    He had the same amount of skill points which was to be expected since they were both training the same amount.


    ¡°Very well I¡¯ll put 3 in strength and the remaining in agility.¡±


    Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 15


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 11


    Skill points: 7


    ¡°Now you,¡± I said looking at the skeleton that was next to me and the one that was supposed to be my healer of the group.


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 20¡±


    He still had the 15 skill points and an extra 5 that I got him while he was fighting his other skeleton buddies before pulling him to the side since  I wanted to figure out how I was going to solve that little problem of mana usage.


    ¡°Is not like I can pretend that that piece of bone is a staff," I said half-jokingly,  I  mean, it worked as kids so why not now?


    ¡°Skeleton grabbed the piece of bone,¡± I commanded and he obeyed grabbing the bone like a sword.


    ¡°Now what?¡± I asked myself,


    Skeleton


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 2


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Skill points: 20¡±


    I looked at his stat,


    ¡°One skill point in mana points ¡° I said, and to my dismay,


    ¡°ERROR !¡±


    flashed in front of me again,


    ¡° Action cannot be taken due to class missing !¡±


    ¡°Not that easy I see.¡±


    ¡°Think, think, ¡° I told myself, this was my area of expertise, fantasy, and RPG games were all I did in my past life, devoting countless hours to them.


    ¡°How were skeletons able to use  magic?¡± I pondered , recalling my knowledge of all those games I had consumed. After all, this was no different, this was still a game, a very realistic game but a game nonetheless.


    ¡°Usually they either had a necromancer perform a magic ritual or sacrificing a mage.¡±


    I looked around the empty dungeon room and besides me and my skeleton crew and that giant wooden treasure chest that sat in the middle of the dungeon, there was no mage or necromancer in sight, but it wasn¡¯t all hopeless.


    ¡°We could always wait for a magic user to spawn from that magical appearing door,¡± I said,


    It was a risky move, but it was the only way I was going to get my magic weaving skeleton.


    Sacrificing a mage, was one way for a skeleton to be able to do magic but that would mean I would have to wait for a player with mana abilities to come through that doorway, and also, they couldn¡¯t be high level, which wasn¡¯t an issue considering this room was a low-level room.


    Sacrifice, but how?  I thought,


    Usually, that meant either killing them or doing some ritual. I looked at the skeleton which I was doing this for, then again it wasn¡¯t just for him, but more for my plan if I was honest.


    ¡°This better work or else I¡¯m sacrificing you,¡± I jokingly said, this little plan of mine was my only option. I looked at my other two skeletons, my tank and damage skeleton, I needed to train them if my plan was to work, they were level one but their stats were growing which was good.


    ¡°Time for the fun part,¡± I sarcastically said, this was the most crucial part of any MMORPG game.


    ***


    I don¡¯t know how long I spent grinding, the concept of time was lost for me in this dark dungeon, but I was doing the age-old classic strategy of getting ready to fight a boss, leveling your characters, or in my case my skeletons as much as I could take, after all, doing  repetitive tasks was no fun, even in RPG games.


    ¡°Stop !¡± I commanded


    ¡°Stat window open.¡±


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 15


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 11


    Skill points: 20


    I looked at the skill points of my damage class skeleton, he had 20 already, which was a good number, the tank class skeleton had the same and my future mage character had 40 skills points already, ready to be distributed to his stats as soon as he became a mage.


    I  evenly distributed their skill points.


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 25


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 21


    Skill points: 0


    Skeleton


    Level 1


    HP: 23


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 22


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 0


    ¡°Class level up! ¡°


    A transparent window appeared in front of me, but it was different, I had never seen this window before.


    It showed my two skeletons and their stats as well as a new title below their names.


    Skeleton Warrior


    Level 1


    HP: 8


    MP: 0


    Strength: 25


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 2


    Agility: 21


    Skill points: 0


    Skeleton Knight


    Level 1


    HP: 23


    MP: 0


    Strength: 2


    Vitality: 2


    Endurance: 22


    Agility: 2


    Skill points: 0


    ¡°Skill level!


    Bone whisperer has leveled up !


    ¡°New Skill unlocked! ¡°


    ¡° Skeleton commander !¡±


    ¡° Well, you look at that."


    ¡°Skeleton commander allows you to change and or add a class from void to any hero class to the undead .¡±


    Interested so they were void before which meant they probably were nothing but truly disposable npcs unable to do anything but be cannon fodder.


    I knew what hero class was since that was the name this game gave to classes like warrior, knight, mage, and among others.


    And before I could savor my newly acquired changes, a door began to appear on one of the walls of the dungeon room.


    ¡°Enemy approaching!


    Hero player !¡±


    ¡°Just in time ,¡± I thought ,


    It was time for the main event.