《(un)Lucky》 Chapter 1 – Purgatory Jack was a health and fitness poster-boy. Not in the sense that he was paid to do ads or spread the word of the wonders of a balanced diet, but in a sense that he did his utmost to take good care of his health and wellbeing. So perhaps the better way to put it would be that Jack was a poster-boy for health and fitness. Jack wasn¡¯t always like this though. All this care and attention he put in looking after his body came from an early realization of his mortality. He was just eight years old when he watched his sickly father wither and die at the age of forty-two. Unlike other teenagers who unconsciously thought that they would never grow old and that tragedy was something that happened to others but not them, Jack was well aware of the fragility of the human body. He gave up on soda and anything that had sugar. He stopped eating fried foods and anything that contained even a little bit of grease. At this point he could no longer remember what salt tasted like. Jack¡¯s lifestyle could be summarized in two words: bland and careful. Yet, life is bound to bless and curse us with its irony. Jack Powell, the portrait of living well and healthy, died at the tender age of seventeen with cancer.
When Jack came to, he was standing in a wide white room. The place was illuminated with strong lights, but they didn¡¯t blind him somehow. In the middle of the room there was an office desk and sitting behind it was a sexy blonde woman wearing a lady¡¯s suit. There was nothing else in the room other than that, not even a door. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Where is this place?¡± asked Jack. ¡°Welcome! You are number 345928152, Jack Powell, correct?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Jack Powell. What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked again in confusion. ¡°You died. You¡¯re now beginning the process to go to the afterlife.¡± ¡°Afterlife? There is an afterlife? So, God is real?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid,¡± said the woman with distaste. Jack wanted to be angry, but he wasn¡¯t able to somehow. His emotions were all there, they were just much more subdued. He remembered reading in a fantasy book about a similar situation. The author argued that all emotions were related to the brain¡¯s chemistry and the body¡¯s glands, something that was no longer related to him, someone without a physical body. It made sense. ¡°Could I talk to him? I have some complaints to report,¡± said Jack.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m sure you do. Everyone does, believe me. Unfortunately, he doesn¡¯t give a shit, to put it mildly.¡± Jack just shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to shout, to kick the desk and point his finger at that woman¡¯s face, but it all sounded so shallow and pointless. ¡°Ok, fine. So how is the afterlife? How is my future looking?¡± ¡°Right! Let me check here on the document¡­ Ah, found it! You¡¯re going to the Game World. I hope you liked games before dying, because that¡¯s going to be your new life from now on!¡± ¡°What? Game world? Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be only Heaven and Hell?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just what you humans believe, nothing more than fiction and fantasy. There are many places one can go to in the afterlife. One of my favourites is Cat¡¯s Heaven, I always go there when I have free time and need to unwind.¡± ¡°Wait. I don¡¯t know how, but having many places to go to in the afterlife doesn¡¯t sound too absurd to me, but Game World?¡± ¡°Are you familiar with Zeus?¡± ¡°The god from Greek mythology? Yes. Don¡¯t tell me, is God¡­ Zeus?¡± ¡°Like the Zeus from your tales, God likes to travel and fuck around. The last time he was on Earth he became fascinated with this human creation called videogames. He then spent a good amount of time playing all kind of games instead of doing his job.¡± ¡°Wow, I don¡¯t know what to say¡­¡± ¡°He was also happy to find some likeminded individuals on this last trip. Before he would always be thrown the side-eye or perhaps even be stoned for some of his views and actions. I believe these new friends were called furries¨C¡± An enormous lightning bolt came out of nowhere, striking the sexy blonde woman and the desk she was sitting at. The light hadn¡¯t even faded when another lightning bolt came down, striking again. Continuous lightning bolts rained uninterrupted on the poor woman for about thirty seconds. Jack watched the whole spectacle absentmindedly. Maybe he really is Zeus¡­ he thought. When the light faded, the center of the room was scorched black and a huge pile of ash stood where the table once was. The woman got out of the pile of ash and patted her clothes. She was no longer a sexy lady in her twenties however, but a kid around ten years of age. ¡°Argh, I was just sharing some gossip, no need to get all touchy! Look at how much energy I¡¯ve lost! Bu-hu, poor little me!¡± ¡°Are you ok?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll have to work for a few more blips to make up for the lost energy, but whatever. I¡¯m used to it at this point, my tongue got a mind of its own.¡± ¡°Blips?¡± ¡°It¡¯s our unit of time. Think of it like your days or shifts, just on a cosmic scale.¡± ¡°That sounds tough.¡± The girl just shrugged her shoulders. She combed her hair with her fingers, trying unsuccessfully to fix her hair that was now fuzzy and all over the place due to the electricity. She attempted this for what felt like five minutes, Jack couldn¡¯t really tell, always complaining about God under her breath. ¡°So, Game World. What is it like?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, God called it an RPG.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds interesting. I wish I could get more excited about it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s normal. After you get to the Game World it will get better, but your emotions and perception won¡¯t recover entirely to what they were before. God said that if he made everything 100% real, it wouldn¡¯t feel like an actual game.¡± ¡°He¡¯s really committed¡­¡± ¡°Anyways, enough chitchat, are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s start the character creation.¡± Chapter 2 – Character Creation In a flash, everything around Jack disappeared. He was now standing in utter darkness and the only thing he could see was another version of himself, standing there with a strange text above his head.
Unnamed
This avatar didn¡¯t have his sickly, bald and emaciated appearance from the last years of his life. Instead, it looked exactly how he did before things went downhill. It had medium height, around 1,75m, a lean physique, short black hair and ordinary facial features. It was strange for Jack seeing his old self like that. While he was lost in thought, the voice of the woman he was talking to before sounded on his ears. ¡°All right, first choose your name.¡± ¡°Jack is fine.¡± The text before his other self changed.
Jackisfine
¡°It says here I need to ask you if you want to keep this name.¡± ¡°Is this a joke? No.¡± ¡°Why a joke? Oh, sorry! I¡¯m not very good with this system. Ok, done. Choose your name again.¡± ¡°Jack.¡± The text changed again.
Jack
¡°I assume you want to keep it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Ok, now what race do you want to be?¡± His avatar began to alternate between different versions of himself. He became a dwarf, an elf, a gnome, a halfling, an orc, and many other races. It was weird to see how he looked like in all those different versions. What should I choose? Each race has different advantages and disadvantages. If only I knew for sure what kind of class I want to be in the future I could choose accordingly. In the end, I think going with human is for the best. They¡¯re always well-rounded, so I can choose whatever kind of class or playstyle I want afterwards without many drawbacks. Plus, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d ever get used to have the short legs of a dwarf, being feminine looking like an elf or monstrous looking like an orc. ¡°I¡¯ll be human.¡± His other self stopped shifting and returned to his previous human appearance. ¡°Ok, now for attributes. This is what you start with¡­ wait just a sec, how do I send you an image again? Argh, this is so annoying! Oh, found it, here!¡± A window popped into existence in front of Jack.
Basic AttributesThis content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Pts Basic Description
Strength 5 + attack power of STR weapons, + carrying capacity, + lift/drag/pull
Dexterity 5 + attack power of DEX weapons, + attack rating, + critical chance
Intelligence 5 + spell power & critical chance to INT based spells
Faith 5 + spell power & critical chance to FAITH based spells
Vitality 5 gain more hp, hp regen and stamina
Agility 5 gain more speed, armor rating & evasion rating
Wisdom 5 gain more mp, mp regen and increases your chance to get extra lives
Luck 0 affects everything in countless small ways, points can¡¯t be added on lvl up
Starter Points 40 number of available stat points on character creation
Jack tried to use his translucent finger to touch the screen, but nothing happened. He changed his approach and focused his thoughts on moving the starter points around, but again, nothing happened. ¡°How do I interact with it?¡± asked Jack. ¡°You can¡¯t. You¡¯re still just a soul stuck on Purgatory, so you can¡¯t interact with the World System yet. Just tell me how you want your stats distributed. It says here the default should be to put five points into each.¡± ¡°Put everything in luck.¡± There was a brief moment of silence. ¡°Are you sure? Here it says that the normal is to put five on each and that smart people will choose 3 or 4 attributes to strengthen¡­¡± asked that feminine voice. Jack didn¡¯t have to think twice, he already learned his lesson from what had happened to him before. He gave up on many of life¡¯s little pleasures to be someone fit and healthy, to live to the maximum age humanly possible, only to die young at seventeen years old. In the end, what ruled the world was luck! Your choices and efforts could sway things lightly, but ultimately it was luck that decided it all. How many times had he heard famous and rich people say ¡°You know, I think I was just on the right place at the right time¡± to how they made their big break or fortune. Previously he thought they were all being smug, downplaying their achievements to gain greater popularity, but now he could really see it. It was all just dumb luck! Since that was the case, Luck was the most important attribute for Jack. He was really saddened to read that he wouldn¡¯t be able to further increase his Luck on levelling up. In the end he would have to be content with forty points on it and hope it was enough to sway things in his favour. ¡°I¡¯m sure, put it all on Luck.¡± ¡°Ok. It says here that two skills will be generated based on your race, attribute distribution and other miscellaneous things. You¡¯ll be able to see them afterwards.¡± ¡°All right. What¡¯s next? Class selection?¡± ¡°No, you don¡¯t start with a class, or profession, as it¡¯s called in the Game World. You¡¯ll have to obtain that on your own in the future.¡± That¡¯s good, I¡¯d be really unsure about what class to pick. I also would like to see what two skills I¡¯ll get first. Perhaps they will be really good to a specific class, then I can go from there. Lost in his own thoughts, Jack didn¡¯t catch what the woman said next in its entirety. ¡°¡­. and that¡¯s it. I wish you the best in your afterlife. Bye, Jack.¡± Jack felt his awareness tremble, like he was falling asleep, and everything faded to darkness once again. He could no longer see his other self standing in front of him, nor hear the voice of the woman at his ear. He zoned out. He came to again a short moment later, gasping for breath. That took some time to sink in. He was breathing again, he was alive. Jack couldn¡¯t help but smile and think about the entire surreal experience he¡¯d just gone through. ¡°Holy crap, that was¡­ that was¡­ I don¡¯t even know what that was.¡± Chapter 3 – Tutorial Jack was overwhelmed at first, but after experimenting for a bit he finally calmed down. From what he could tell so far, everything felt pretty close to reality. In fact, he couldn¡¯t find any differences at first. Only after jumping around and doing some meaningless exercises could he tell that something was off. It felt like a thin membrane covered everything, it was hard for him to describe it. The best way to put it was that it felt like a dream, one of those super realistic ones. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll discover the nuances with time.¡± Jack was standing inside a circular cavern that was unnaturally illuminated. The only thing around him was a single entrance that was covered with a barrier of light. He approached the entrance with steady steps. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll be traversing the white light¡­ just hope there isn¡¯t a boss on the other side. God wouldn¡¯t really do that, would he?¡± Despite saying that, Jack crossed the barrier without hesitation. He found himself outside, the glaring sun blinding him temporarily. The cave he came out from was situated atop a small mountain, with large stone steps leading to it. Without another option, Jack followed the steps down until he reached a small plateau. He was surprised to find houses and other constructions there. The place looked like a monastery and he could see some old men walking here and there. One of them spotted him and came forward. ¡°Greetings noob, I¡¯m monk NPC18,¡± said the old monk. ¡°What did you call me? Wait, your name is NPC18?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all according to the holy texts and traditions. Those that come from the cave are called noobs or newbies until they leave the mountain. As for my name, I had a different one before, but every monk becomes an NPC after joining the order and is given a number based on seniority.¡± ¡°Uh, do you even know what NPC means?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s short for no pecar¨¢s cabr¨®n. It means you shall not sin in a distant, long lost language.¡± Jack wasn¡¯t ready for this one. He opened and closed his mouth for a few moments, lost for words. The old monk looked at his reaction and scratched his wrinkled cheeks. ¡°All noobs ask this question and they mostly have the same reaction. I don¡¯t understand, is it so strange for our names to be our vows? It¡¯s almost like you all thought that NPC meant something different.¡± Jack was about to say something but stopped. He looked into the monk¡¯s aged eyes that were filled with sincerity and pondered. Everything felt real, including this old man in front of him. In the end, he couldn¡¯t say what was on his mind. ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s just that¡­ your devotion is surprising, that¡¯s all,¡± said Jack weakly. ¡°Thanks. Now, follow me. If you want to leave the mountain you have to pass through a ceremony first, otherwise you¡¯ll be stuck here.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Ceremony? What kind of ceremony?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called The Tutorial. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s very simple. You¡¯ll only have to recite some ancient words after me and you¡¯re done. Most newbies tend to zone out during the ceremony or have wild reactions, but none failed so far.¡± The monk led Jack to a secluded building in the center of the monastery. Along the way all the other monks he passed by greeted him, calling him noob or newbie every single time. Jack knew he shouldn¡¯t mind it, but it annoyed him all the same. Stop calling me noob! You¡¯re all called NPC! he screamed internally. The monk guided Jack inside the building and into a great hall. The hall was spacious, but it was mostly empty. The only things of note were two large cushions at the center of the room and the frescos on the wall. The murals depicted all kind of races, monsters and other fantastical things. To Jack it looked like a giant banner for a fantasy game, only the style of painting and the marks of time gave the art a deep sense of history and solemnness. Waiting for Jack to take the sights in, the monk moved to the middle of the room, seating on one of the two cushions there. It took Jack a whole minute to recover. He then followed the monk¡¯s lead and sat at the other cushion. ¡°Do you like the frescos?¡± ¡°They¡¯re really well done. What are they called?¡± ¡°This work¡¯s title is: Our World.¡± ¡°A fitting title. Should I expect to stumble upon all of that when I leave?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s hard to say. Many of the things depicted are common, while others haven¡¯t been seen for some time in the continent. It¡¯ll depend on your luck, or lack thereof.¡± Hearing that, Jack smiled. The whimsical mistress, Lady Luck. Jack was looking forward to seeing what results investing all his starter points into Luck would bring. ¡°Are you ready? Repeat after me. Menu.¡± ¡°Menu.¡± A wheel with many options suddenly appeared floating in front of Jack. It looked like a hologram from one of those futuristic movies he often watched. Some of the options were white, while others were greyed out. Status, inventory, equipment, skills, and many other options one would expect to find in an RPG were all present. Jack was expecting this after hearing the word menu leave the old man¡¯s mouth, but the result still surprised him. Even though he was taking things in stride, he couldn¡¯t just instantly digest everything that was happening. ¡°You¡¯re doing great. You didn¡¯t shout or laugh maniacally. Now, say inventory.¡± The old man¡¯s voice brought Jack¡¯s attention back to the room. Behind NPC18 were now standing a few other monks, each carrying a different weapon on their hands. The weapons were extremely simple and since the monks were just holding them and not posturing, Jack didn¡¯t feel afraid. ¡°Inventory.¡± A new screen appeared in front of Jack. It was a window with ten slots. ¡°Now you can choose one of the weapons behind me as a gift. Your goal is to make it disappear.¡± So those are my options of starter weapons. Making it disappear must mean to put it inside my inventory. It looks like he doesn¡¯t understand how this works. Do the natives not have access to the menu, inventory and other systems? Jack carefully eyed the weapons. The options were a bow, a crossbow, a sword and shield, a spear and a two-handed axe. He was inclined to take the bow or crossbow, this way he could deal with enemies before they got close, but what if he got ambushed? Or if he missed the shot and they managed to get close anyway? In the end he opted for the spear. This way he could fight while retreating, always keeping his foe some distance away. He grabbed the spear and shoved it in the inventory, taking up one of the ten slots. ¡°Now, for the final word. Log out.¡± Jack immediately tensed up. Log out? What would happen to me after logging out? ¡°Everyone¡¯s afraid of this one. Don¡¯t worry, no harm will come to you,¡± said the monk with a smile. Jack took a deep breath and said the word log out. His body completely vanished from the room in a flash of white light. NPC18 slowly got up from the cushion and patted his clothes. He looked at the other cushion for a moment. ¡°Good luck out there, noob.¡± Chapter 4 – Systems, Sytems and more Systems Jack found himself in a new place yet again. He was in a small white space of 2x2x2 meters illuminated by an unnatural glow. There were no doors, windows or anything else present. Only smooth white floor, ceiling and walls. Their surfaces were so perfect that he thought he was in an endless space of pure white in the beginning. The young man lay down in the middle of the room, taking almost his entire floor space. The exact moment he began to ponder why the log out command brought him to this place a screen suddenly popped into his view.
Welcome to your personal safe zone! This is the place you¡¯ll return to every time you decide to log out. Nothing can harm you here and none else can come inside*. Bear in mind that this place is another spatial dimension inside the Game World, therefore it still falls under its rules and regulations. Now, you might be wondering to yourself: Isn¡¯t this place just too small and barren? Well, worry not! All kinds of upgrades, furniture and special appliances can be acquired through your efforts. As you follow your chosen path and complete its achievements, you¡¯ll receive different reward options to pick from. Occasionally, other quests and activities can also grant you something to outfit your personal safe zone with. Now, a word from the almighty before we go: ¡°Huh, why did I create the Safe Zone thingy? Because I wanted a base building and home d¨¦cor game inside my game. A game within a game¡­ I¡¯m too meta!¡± *special situations may still occur. The GWS (Game World System) takes no responsibility whatsoever for any and all cases that might contradict with the words ¡°safe zone¡±.
After reading the whole thing, Jack scratched his head. Why did the entire instruction read like an add trying to sell him stuff? It seemed that God and everyone working under him were all eccentrics. A safe zone, that¡¯s nice. I can always return here whenever I need to rest and take a breather. However, what does that ¡®chosen path¡¯ mean? If I remember correctly, there was a Path option in the menu. ¡°Menu. Path.¡± A notification suddenly popped up.
You don¡¯t have any Path set currently. Would you like to choose a Path?
¡°A Path? What¡¯s that? Oh, there¡¯s a help command here! Help: Path.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
A Path could be seen as your conduct or set of personal rules. For instance, there¡¯s the Path of Good and the Path of Evil. In this example, people that follow the Path of Evil will be rewarded when killing and doing other evil like tasks while those that follow the Path of Good will be rewarded for their good deeds. You can choose your path from the get-go or let the system assign you one based on how you behave. In case you choose the latter, be warned that you won¡¯t be able to complete achievements or receive rewards before your Path is selected by the system. This may take an indeterminate amount of time, depending on how you conduct yourself. After the path is chosen, the only way to change is by constantly acting against it, but that can bring dire consequences. For instance: a villain who sees the light will always be mistrusted and a good person turned villain will be more hated than the most evil of beings.
It¡¯s kind of like an alignment system¡­ I usually go evil when playing games, but this time I don¡¯t think I could do it. Blowing pixels on a screen to let off steam is one thing, but this is different. That monk felt real¡­ he had genuine emotion in his eyes. I¡¯ll try to keep away from any humanoid enemies unless I have to.
Would you like to set your Path?
¡°Yes. I¡¯ll follow the Path of Good.¡± The screen with the question changed. It stopped for a moment on another screen with numerous names until it highlighted the Path of Good. The confirmation soon followed.
Path of Good selected.
¡°Wait, how many paths were there? Oh, no! I thought it was a binary system! I didn¡¯t know there were so many options! I could¡¯ve chosen something more suited for me!¡±
Path of Good main tenets: Help those in need. Don¡¯t abandon your allies. Fight against evil beings.
¡°Well, at least it doesn¡¯t sound too restricting,¡± Jack relented. ¡°Whatever, no point whining about it now. Let¡¯s see which skills I got! Menu. Skills.¡±
¨C Beginner¡¯s Luck ¨C Active ¨C 5 minutes cooldown ¨C Greatly increases your chances of success in your next action.
All right! That¡¯s a good skill! The cooldown is not short enough to be abusable, but not long enough to be trash. It seems it¡¯s multipurpose too, so it should work for attacking, defending and crafting. Let¡¯s see the other one.
¨C Unusual Aura ¨C Passive ¨C Always On ¨C You¡¯re a blessed human with great amounts of luck and, as such, you have an unusual aura. Some beings will be able to detect your aura, consciously and/or unconsciously, and be attracted by it.
That¡¯s¡­ kind of vague. What does it mean by unusual aura? I don¡¯t feel any different. It says some beings will be attracted by it¡­ Does this make me more appealing to the opposite sex or something? But if it was only that they could just spell it out. This wording is just too broad. Welp, this one seems like a dud. ¡°I can still pretty much choose any profession. I thought my skills would help me decide which way to go, but Beginner¡¯s Luck can be applied to everything it seems. All in all, it¡¯s alright. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m in a rush or anything either way.¡± Time to see what¡¯s out there. If log out brought me here, it¡¯s only logical that log in should send me back. Guess there is only one way to find out. ¡°Log in.¡± Chapter 5 – Log in Jack disappeared from his white room in a flash of light. Meanwhile, in the town of Bellan, the people were going about their business when a strange portal appeared in the sky. The kids pointed their fingers at the portal and shouted, their eyes shining with wonder, while most of the grownups just gave it a cursory glance before continuing with their tasks. However, a group of people showed even more enthusiasm than the kids. They were the merchants and craftsmen. They knew a big spender was alighting and would remain in their town for a while. Other clever people also took notice, with a few of them rushing towards the direction of the portal. ¡°A chosen one from the monastery is arriving!¡± A beam of light descended from the portal. After blinking a couple times to recover his sight, Jack found himself surrounded by a bunch of people. They looked at him with hungry eyes and some where even fighting to get closer. What the hell is going on? he wondered. ¡°Oh, chosen one from the monastery! Heed my plea! A group of nasty goblins keeps raiding my farm! You got to help me! I will offer ten coppers for your service! Please, help this man keep his livelihood!¡± A window popped up in front of Jack.
Quest: Help farmer Bob deal with his goblin problems. Reward: 10 coppers.
¡°Mr. Chosen, you¡¯ve to help me! My daughter is ill! Without a Nightshade herb from Mirkwood she will die! Only someone courageous like yourself would be able to save her! Help this mother save her child. As a reward I¡¯ll give you twenty coppers and my daughter¡¯s hand in marriage!¡±
Quest: Help Ann save her daughter. Collect a Nightshade at Mirkwood and bring it back to her. Reward: 20 coppers and her daughter¡¯s hand in marriage.
¡°No, hero! You got to help me¡­¡± Dozens of people began shouting their requests and window after window began to pop-up before Jack¡¯s view. It came to a point he couldn¡¯t see anything anymore. He felt like he was one of those old, virus filled PCs. ¡°Wait, people, hear me out! I¡¯m new here and don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Chosen, you¡¯ve got to help us¡­¡± ¡°Mr. chosen, please save my mommy! She¡­¡± Jack tried to explain himself and get everyone to calm down, but the people surrounding him were in a frenzy. The constant pop-up sound was giving him a headache and the semi-transparent quest windows overlapping each other made him feel dizzy. He looked towards the floor to rein in the nausea and began shoving people aside to get out of the encirclement. After struggling a bunch, he finally made it out. He kept his head low and just ran away aimlessly. ¡°Refuse quest. Refuse quest. Refuse quest.¡± The quest windows began to close as he issued the refuse quest command. After a while, they were all gone. He didn¡¯t even need to refuse the last ones, as they disappeared on their own. It seemed that other factors were at play when dealing with the quest system.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Back at the main square where Jack had first appeared, the frenetic group of people finally calmed down. They all looked dispirited and many of them clicked their tongs in annoyance. No longer did they look like villagers in dire need of help, but like people that suddenly lost a great deal on a valuable product. Some of them were indignant towards the rest of the group and soon a proper row started. At the other side of the square, a sturdy blacksmith was watching the commotion and talking with his neighbour, the owner of the general shop. ¡°What got into them this time? Why didn¡¯t they follow the order and rules set in the town board for a new arrival?¡± ¡°It was indeed strange. Maybe it¡¯s because we weren¡¯t blessed with a new arrival in quite a while.¡± ¡°Could be. They might have lost their opportunity, but to us profit is almost guaranteed! I sure hope he¡¯s a warrior!¡± exclaimed the blacksmith in earnest. ¡°To me it makes no difference, everyone needs a general shop!¡± laughed the other jovially.
In an alley somewhere in Bellan, Jack took a deep breath to calm himself down. What the hell was that? Was that because of my unusual aura? If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s going to be hell from now on¡­ First, let¡¯s see how things turned out. ¡°Status.¡±
| Name: Jack | Race: Human | Profession: ¡ª | Path: Path of Good | Nature: ¡ª | Title: ¡ª |
HP [50] ¨C MP [50] ¨C Stamina [50] ¨C LVL [1] ¨C EXP [0%] ¨C Lives [10] ¨C Reputation [0]
Basic Attributes: [STR] 5 [DEX] 5 [INT] 5 [FAITH] 5 [VIT] 5 [AGI] 5 [WIS] 5 [LUCK] 40
Resistances: [Fire] 0 [Water] 0 [Wind] 0 [Earth] 0 [Poison] 0 [Arcane] 0 [Darkness] 0 [Holy] 0 [Ice] 0 [Lightning] 0
Skills: [Beginner¡¯s Luck] [Unusual Aura]
Masteries: None
Achievements: None
Ten lives? What¡¯s that about? I don¡¯t get to save and load or have infinite respawns? That¡¯s kind of scary. Everything else seems normal. He closed the status window with a thought and looked around. A murky puddle in the ground hazily reflected the clouds in the sky. The stone wall he was resting his back on felt rough, but sturdy. People¡¯s conversations were drifting here and there from the streets. A dog, his head tilted sideways, watched him with interest. There was a sense of solidity ¨C of reality ¨C from everything around him. Jack looked up and left the breath he was holding escape his chest. Incredible¡­ That was his only thought for a while. His mind blanked out in an almost meditative fashion before his thought process began anew, like nothing happened. I guess I need to look around and get familiar with this town. The amount of time you spend on the starting areas varies a lot from game to game, but there are always chests and good things to find when you comb the place from top to bottom. I just hope the townsfolk won¡¯t swarm me again. Contrary to his expectations, nobody gave him a second glance as he strode across the streets. It seems whatever it was that fascinated people when he¡¯d first arrived was gone. The only one that showed interest in him was the dog from the alley who was now following him around at a certain distance. ¡°Whew. I guess the aura is not that absurd at least.¡± Bellan was your typical medieval fantasy town, though it sure felt different when you were actually walking through it instead of seeing it on a monitor. There were also other things that a normal game simply couldn¡¯t convey, like smells. Though Jack wasn¡¯t sure how happy he was about that one. As he walked about, Jack made sure to try and remember important locations or objects, like shops, professions guilds, monuments and so on. One of those that drew his attention was a large notice board. On it were pinned many parchments and pieces of paper, all with different requests, news and announcements. After skimming through it with his eyes, Jack couldn¡¯t help but curse out loud. ¡°What the hell?¡± Chapter 6 – Almost Scammed On the large notice board, one of the tasks read: Need help with killing the goblins that are raiding my farm. The group is around seven goblins strong, so the reward will be 70 copper coins. Contact Bob for more info. ¡°He only offered me ten copper coins when I first appeared! This is a scam!¡± Disgruntled, Jack kept looking around at the other notices and found many of the quests he was offered amongst them, all with a higher reward. He even found a strange parchment that read: The ones allowed to approach the next arrival from the monastery first are Bob, Ann and Joseph. After their turn, the next batch will be nominated by lottery as per usual. ¡°What the hell? They are a bunch of scammers!¡± ¡°Most of the monastery¡¯s new arrivals take all the quests that are thrown at them, no matter the contents or rewards. When people began to realize that, they took advantage of it. After all, it¡¯s hard to commission a chosen for work and the prices can be tough on the common folk.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Jack turned around to see who was talking to him, but found the streets empty. Presently, only he and the dog that was following him around were nearby. The dog looked at him and turned his head sideways, throwing him an inquiring glance. It was as if he was asking ¡®what you¡¯re looking at?¡¯ Who was talking just then? Is that a random explanation from the system to help newcomers? The voice seemed different than the usual one, though. Confused about what was going on, Jack scratched his head and turned back to the notice board. His eyes darted around to every paper and parchment pinned on the board, scanning all the available tasks. He was looking for a low risk quest that would pay just enough for him to get by for a few days, after all he was penniless right now. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to pay for accommodations, since he could just return to his Safe Zone, but meals were another deal. ¡°All right, this one works. I accept this quest!¡±
Command failed. Find and talk with the quest giver before accepting this quest.
¡°What¡¯s up with this game world¡­ it¡¯s like it can¡¯t decide if it wants to be a proper game or not. Sometimes it behaves like a game, other times it tries to be realistic.¡± DON! A gong sound rang out in Jack¡¯s head and a special screen flickered across his view.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
You earned an achievement! Criticizing the Game [-1 pts]: You don¡¯t like the game I made? Ho-ho-ho, that¡¯s fine! Everyone¡¯s entitled to their own opinion.
Jack was flabbergasted. Out of the blue he got an achievement, one that gave him negative points at that¡­ He couldn¡¯t help but feel that the tone of it was rather threatening too. He was about to complain again, but managed to contain himself just in time. I better watch my mouth in the future. Now, where do I find this butcher guy? He continued walking around and decided to ask the first person he saw for directions. The stray dog watched him move away for some time before deciding to follow him again. Thus, the duo made their way to a little shop on a backstreet. Pieces of meat hung from chain hooks that dangled from the eaves. On the counter, a strong man in his mid-thirties hacked at a particular tough slab of meat with his cleaver. Jack found the whole scene strange, but it didn¡¯t make him feel ill at all like he expected. The stray dog that followed him till now was drooling. Jack cleared his throat to draw the attention of the butcher and extended the quest notice forward. ¡°Hello sir, I¡¯d like to take on this task.¡± The man set his cleaver aside, lodging it with strength in a piece of log to the side and gave the young man an appraising glance. ¡°Oh, sure. Bring me back the meat of three wild boars. I¡¯ll pay you twenty coppers for that.¡± ¡°I accept this quest,¡± Jack said solemnly.
You¡¯ve accepted the quest of butcher Tony. Time limit: 2 days.
The butcher gave him another look over, still unconvinced. ¡°You do know how to prepare game for keeping, right?¡± ¡°Huh¡­¡± ¡°I knew it! Why are you taking on jobs if you don¡¯t have the necessary skills to complete it?¡± asked Tony in annoyance. ¡°I thought¡­ The game¡­¡± Jack was at a loss for words. He was about to complain about the game again, that it was not behaving at all like he expected, that the tutorial was shit and that it had a bunch of systems without a damn help menu. In the end, he just kept his silence and tried to control his frustration about the situation. ¡°Game¡­ that¡¯s a word most of the chosen from the monastery throw around a lot. Are you one of them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about chosen, but I indeed came from the monastery.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re a chosen, it¡¯s that simple. Tell you what, since you¡¯re a chosen I¡¯ll make you a deal. I¡¯ll teach you how to prepare game, but in turn you¡¯ll have to bring me back the meat from twenty boars instead of three.¡± I get to learn a new skill for collecting seventeen extra boars? Although I don¡¯t know the price for acquiring skills, that doesn¡¯t sound too bad. I bet preparing game will also be useful to me in the future too. ¡°Agreed! First though, can you explain to me what¡¯s the deal with this chosen thing?¡± ¡°Sure. Put this on and come around,¡± said Tony as he threw a dirty apron to Jack. ¡°I can answer some of your questions as you practice what I¡¯ll teach you.¡± ¡°Woof. Woof.¡± ¡°No meat for you mutt, go bother someone else,¡± said Tony as he shooed the stray dog away. ¡°Bitch.¡± ¡°Did you say something?¡± Tony asked Jack with a raised eyebrow. ¡°No, I thought you¡¯d said something.¡± ¡°Forget it then, first let me get a pig that was on ice and we can start.¡± Chapter 7 - The Thrill of Killing Boars The butcher grabbed a pig from a wooden box filled with ice and slammed it on top of the counter. After letting it thaw for a bit, he began to prepare the meat while explaining it to Jack in detail how he should cut it, how to preserve the meat once he was done, what to avoid doing, what parts were worth deboning or not deboning, so on and so forth. It was so much specialized information that Jack was afraid he wouldn¡¯t be able to remember it all after Tony was finished. How would he complete the quest then? Thankfully, his worries were unfounded. When the butcher finished explaining every minutia of the job, a window popped up in front of Jack.
You acquired the Prepare Game mastery! Prepare Game (beginner) lvl 1: 0% - Allows one to prepare the meat from hunted animals or beasts. The higher the level, the stronger the monster you can prepare meat from. It also influences the quality of the cut and the value of the meat when sold as an ingredient. Useful for hunters, chefs, butchers and maniacs.
Maniacs? This ¡°game¡± is scary sometimes¡­ Tony grabbed another pig from an icebox and let Jack try doing by himself this time. The youth was surprised to find out that once he began the process, vague instructions popped out in his head about what action to take and how he should go about each step. Because of this, he was managing to do an okay job even though it was his first time doing anything of the sort. So, this is how masteries works. How mysterious! ¡°Right, that¡¯s it. Cut below the bone now. Good job!¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack as he went for the ribs. ¡°What about all that chosen stuff you were talking about before?¡± ¡°Oh, that. We call chosen the ones that can grow and evolve beyond us mere mortals. Fierce warriors, powerful mages, deadly assassins¡­ you name it. The chances of anyone becoming a chosen are slim. What¡¯s strange though is that everyone that comes from the old monastery portal become chosen without fail. They quickly grow to levels that are astonishing to us regular people. Chosen are also the only ones capable to find treasure in the most unusual places. I saw one retrieve a sword from a dead snake once. Until this day I don¡¯t know how he pulled it off.¡± Hum, so chosen to them are those that can reach high levels and loot mobs then. Jack kept talking with the butcher to learn more and continued his work on the pig. When he finished preparing the meat to the best of his ability, his mastery gained one level, reaching beginner 2. ¡°Not bad for your first time. You butchered a few parts here and there, but it was okay overall.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it then, go to the woods south of town and bring back my 20 boars¡¯ worth of meat! You can borrow that knife till then.¡±
Quest updated. Collect 20 boars¡¯ worth of meat for Tony. Time limit: 5 days.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Jack walked out of town and went for the woods with the same stray dog in tow. He¡¯d no idea why the dog was following him nor could he make it go away, therefore he decided to just ignore it. Taking the spear out of his inventory, he equipped it and entered the forest.
Apprentice¡¯s Spear ¨C Common ¨C Damage 1-3 ¨C Range 1-2 ¨C Impaling Weapon
¡°All right, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°woof!¡± ¡°Shh, quiet you.¡± ¡°Nah, you shut up.¡± ¡°Huh? Again?¡± He turned around with a spin and quickly glanced to the somewhat empty streets. After eliminating the few passersby he suddenly glanced at the dog. The mutt looked back at him and tilted is head sideways, raising his ears a little. Jack stared at the dog for a long ten seconds before sighing. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯m hearing things.¡± After heading to the woods, it took five minutes of walking around till Jack found a wild boar. The creature noticed his presence, puffed through its nose and charged at him with his large tusks. Jack was terrified. The boar was large, coming up to his waist in height and its ferocious charge made the earth tremble a bit. It was completely different than what he thought hunting boars would be like. He lined his spear against the creature and held it tight, making his hands hurt in the process. His heart was beating wildly, threatening to jump out of his mouth as he waited for the beast to impale itself on his weapon. When the boar was almost on top of him, he shouted. ¡°Beginner¡¯s Luck!¡± The boar crashed against the spear. Jack felt a strong recoil on his arms and his feet left the ground for a moment before he was thrown backwards with force. He felt some pain, but more than anything he felt a crazy rush of adrenaline overtake him. A number appeared on top of the boar¡¯s head and a window popped up. -12
Critical hit! Your attack hit a vital organ of the monster, dealing x4 times the normal amount of damage!
You¡¯ve defeated a wild boar and gained 5 XP.
Don! The scary sound and effects once again popped into Jack¡¯s view.
You earned an achievement! Everyone remembers their first time [+1 pts]: How was it? Did you like it?
Jack stayed sprawled on the ground breathing roughly. His body was covered in cold sweat and trembling from goose bumps. It took him almost thirty seconds for him to recover. ¡°Holy cow, that was awesome!¡± Jack¡¯s heart was pumping like crazy. He never felt so alive like the moment he stood there waiting for the boar to reach him. Time seemed to slow down and he felt a mixture of fear and anticipation as the mighty beast charged over. It was electrifying. ¡°Right, what are all these windows? A critical hit? That¡¯s why it died in one blow. Good! Beginner¡¯s luck is a great skill. I also got some xp and¡­ what the hell is this achievement? Man, this game is sure wei-awesome!¡± he quickly corrected himself. ¡°Oh? I took some damage too, I almost forgot about that. I need to be careful with their charges from now on. But for now, let¡¯s loot this puppy!¡± Crouching down near the boar¡¯s corpse, Jack removed his spear that was impaled in the beast¡¯s mouth and scratched his head in doubt. How did one loot monsters in this place? He touched the boar¡¯s body and a small window popped up.
Empty.
¡°Go figure.¡± He grabbed the knife Tony lent him and began preparing the boar¡¯s meat. All the while, the stray dog kept circling him, trying to approach the fallen beast.