《World One》


 Chpt 0: A Real Nut Buster

    Today I''ve made a deal along with everyone else that is still alive on this wretched planet. On one hand, we could decline and die and on the other, we could accept but live as entities downloaded onto the Grand Scale. Today I''ve made the obvious choice...


    "I accept."


    *Beep*


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    Welcome


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">GrandScale Initialization Is Taking Place...</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Choose your Instance please</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Instance Genres:</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">RPG</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Reality</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Home</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Fun</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">FPS</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Easy</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Normal</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Hard</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Hardcore *CAUTION*</td>


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    Out of the genres and categories, I already knew what I was gonna choose. Before selling our bodies to Grand Scale we were given a pamphlet on what would occur inside the VR device. Most people were excited to see that they could continue to live their lives as usual, and some even more so to see that they could live their lives as something better. And some like me were positivelyecstaticto find that this new world gifted us a whole different kind of feeling than we''ve ever felt before. Adversity.


    In the Hardcore genre, I will be able to experience life and death in the most realistic way possible. It will actually be life and death. People accustomed to new living have taken for granted the prospect of death and I wish to separate myself from that sort.


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Are you sure?</td>


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    "Yes." Something I can rarely admit to truthfully.


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Hardcore Instances:</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Dark Souls</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Dark Souls 2</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Dark Souls 3</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Animal Crossing</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Martial World</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Sword World</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Adventure Land</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">More...</td>


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    "Who the fuck would want to live in Dar-"This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Nevermind it makes sense."


    "Select High Fantasy Martial World; Key Words: Physical Magic Only, MMA, Fighting, Grind, Experience, Open World, Levelled" A small beep responds to my voice as if to confirm my words urging me onto the next step.


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Are these the only tags you would like?   *Only Accessible Now*</td>


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    "Yes."


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">What would you like to name your Instance?</td>


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    I have no clue. Hmm. I should make it something funny. Like Juicy Toes or something. Nah that would be fucking weird, but then again it''s my world. Whatever I should just name it something generic like...


    "World One."


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Is this what you would like to name your world?</td>


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    "Yes."


    ...Two Hours of Character Creation Later...


    "6''0", Black hair, Hazel Eyes, Tom, 17, my personality can be described as just bright and dandy; I just shine my way into other people''s lives.."


    "Why''d you put sarcastic in my bio?"


    *Beep*


    "Fuck you too then."


    "Before you ask me if I''m sure for the thousandth time, yes I am sure this is who I am. Now would you please just load me into my Instance I am getting restless."


    *Beep*


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Generating Instance: World One...</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Please enjoy your new life in World One Player Tom</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">RememberNO RESPAWN IS ENABLED</td>


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    "Yeah, yeah I get it."


    *Beep Beep Beep!*


    "I''ve made it." My very own world at last.

 Chpt 1: Beating Meat for Fun

    Everything here feels realistic, from the soft breeze to the grass I¡¯m laying on, and even the chirps of free birds gliding in the sky. Everything feels so real it is beyond me. But...


    ¡°But this is real now; this is my new reality. And for the first time, I get to beat the shit out of something with little to no consequences. Hell, you get fucking rewarded for it.¡± I say aloud to no one in particular. Being an outcast such as myself one learns to fill the void with chatter.


    ¡°Before I get ahead of myself I should probably find...something,¡± The words seem to fall from my mouth as the vastness of the world I was in hit me. Great foreboding structures rose from the horizon line tempting me to find what lay farther out. Everything seems very...mystical, no, fantastical would be the better word.


    ¡®Menu¡¯


    A column of options appeared in front of me and I quickly tapped on the map tab. Laying out here clothed in only the starter drab did not seem to be the best recipe for success. A darkened map flashed into existence and it was disappointing to see the distinct lack of anything. I pinch the UI to zoom out and was disappointed to find no starter place at all. It seems I¡¯ll have to find it all by myself.


    ¡°Good, I¡¯ve never been a hand-holder anyway.¡± Looking over the cliff I felt the urge to just jump, not because I¡¯m suicidal, but because...I don¡¯t know why. However, I abate the urge and turn around and start walking through the vast plains of wherever the fuck this is.


    After about ten minutes the roughness of my clothes already chafed into my pits and creeks. The breeze felt cool before but now it feels like a meager light wind. And after about ten more minutes I questioned whether or not I¡¯ve always been this out of shape.


    ¡®Menu¡¯


    I breezed by all the other options straight to my stats tab clicking on it without hesitation.


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    <td style="width: 50%">Player: Tom</td>


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    <td style="width: 50%">Strength: 10</td>


    <td style="width: 50%">Endurance: 10</td>


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    <td style="width: 50%">Dexterity: 10</td>


    <td style="width: 50%">Constitution: 10</td>


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    <td style="width: 50%">Agility: 10</td>


    <td style="width: 50%">Vitality: 10</td>


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    Every stat seems to automatically be set to ten. I wonder if I¡¯m weaker because of that or this world¡¯s physics is different. Maybe there is more gravity? I close out of the tab and scroll down to another one I was interested in. My finger swiftly taps it almost reluctantly, I¡¯ve never been on to hang around other people very often.


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Multiplayer has been delayed about One Month</td>


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    You can¡¯t mean to tell me that the biggest corporation in the universe wasn¡¯t able to properly create a multiplayer system. There¡¯s probably some other reason that they have not openly disclosed. Those types of corporations seem to revel in doing stuff like that. With a soft sigh, I close out of the tab and in a flash, I continue on my way.


    The tall grass brush through my fingers as I walk for what seems like hours. Traveling aimlessly was oddly lethargic and now that I got myself sorted out the stress that was building up melted away.


    ¡°Now if only I could find the fucking starter village!¡± My voice meets nothing in particular and that too is relaxing. No one and no thing to worry about just as I¡¯ve always wanted. The world is finally right-


    ¡°Ah fuck.¡± I start hopping in pain as my toe burns from whatever I just slammed it into. The pain soon abates but I find myself facing bigger trouble. A health bar appeared and it¡¯s floating above whatever I just kicked. There does not appear to be an indicator of level or whatever it is, and the tall grass is doing little to quell my intrigue.


    ¡°Grawh!¡± A screech rung my ears, instinctually I retract myself into an athletic position crouched low to the ground and ready to fight. After one painstaking minute, a silhouette flung out of the grass and before I could respond it slammed into my chest. The tall grass cushioned my fall but the attacks from the beast are relentless. For long spindly legs held me in place as the things long neck darted towards me every which way.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°You fucking long legged turtle!¡± I try to force my arms out of its grip but it seems I really am weaker. My body is practically hole-y right now and by the second more rips in my skin are forming. My own health bar has appeared in the corner in the top left corner of my vision and it¡¯s at yellow level borderline orange.


    ¡°Dying here would be such a,¡± Instead of trying to escape this time I use the lengthy turtle¡¯s legs against himself and desperately roll onto my side. ¡°Disappointment!¡± Its claws retract to escape being crushed under my body. My hand jettisons out in a crazed fashion grabbing the knee of the turtle. It towers over me but it is not nearly as threatening now.


    Unfortunately for me, the bottom of each leg seems to have little spikes to dig into the ground, and the leg I¡¯ve grabbed is not moving any time soon. A leg slammed into my side almost forcing from my grip but I held on. Grunting in pain I latched onto the other leg that was striking me. The leg not being grounded was much easier to yank toward my body.


    With one great heave, the beast fell over dragging me along with it.


    ¡°Agh!¡± A yelp escapes me in reaction to one fo the legs puncturing my right shoulder. My teeth grind and I can hear my blood pumping in my ears but this time I manage to pin the beast on its back. Now on its back it flails its legs around however they are too long to hit me, and I already have control of two of them. Straddling the base of the monsters shell I secure each leg in between my armpits.


    Fortunately for me, it couldn¡¯t bend it¡¯s neck upwards to bite my face off. I lean forward on base of it keeping it steady with all my might. Inch by inch my arms crawl to the beast¡¯s neck. My legs groan in pain as it takes my all to keep the thing just from moving. The leathery skin is tough in my skin however there is little muscle underneath its neck flaps.


    ¡°Scree Scree!¡±


    ¡°Shut it!¡± My grip tightens around the top of its neck right beneath where its skull meets the spinal cord. Coughs and wheezes escape it as I choke it. After ten seconds of furiously holding onto a spasming beast, my legs finally give and it flips around in a flash. Somehow I manage to keep my grip on its neck.


    ¡°Just fucking die!¡± My body is reeling in pain but I manage to hold on. Now upright with me dangling off its neck one of its legs tabs into my side. Quickly my health reaches red and it does not seem to be slowing down. Acting fast my other hand shoots up towards the head and grabs just underneath its jaw.


    Stabilizing the head with my choking hand I use my other hand to start twisting its jaw.


    ¡°Screee¡± The screech resonates in my eardrum painfully yet I push forward. ¡®Twist! Twist! C¡¯mon¡­¡¯


    My health bar reaches the end of its length.


    *Crunch*


    The fucking turtle¡¯s head finally gives and does a complete three-sixty. A light disappears from its eyes and the wireframe of its body shows before it explodes into red particles expanding outward every which way. Soon they fade away and my body once suspended in the air collapses to the ground.


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Congratulates you beat: Tortugal Lvl.0</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Loot: Turtle Skin</td>


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    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Congratulations you learned: Wrestling</td>


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    ¡°That was...fucking awesome!¡± Exhilaration, passion, and ecstasy course through my veins relentlessly. I got to beat the fuck out of no doubt about it. I almost died even! But I want to continue I want to fight until I can¡¯t stand anymore! Combat is something that will never not be in my mind. This is my obsession, my life, and my reason for coming to this place.


    Soon the wounds covering my disappeared and after the beast died my health increased to about one-fourth of its max. The pain still lingered though and my body has never been this sore before. I love it.


    ¡°Huh, that thing was only level 0!¡± I chuckle and brush my hand through my hair trying to calm my adrenaline pumping body. What¡¯s in store for me in the later levels then? Reading through the notifications made me a little nostalgic.


    ¡®Wrestling huh? That was the first thing I learned IRL too.¡¯


    ¡°Damn I might be here awhile I don¡¯t think I¡¯m moving any time soon just like after practice. No, practice was probably worse than this.¡±


    ¡®Inventory¡¯ I think quickly I just realized I obtained an item too.


    I quickly check out the description of turtle skin disappointed to find out that it was a crafting item. Something I¡¯ve never really been big on doing. Letting go of a deep breath I look up at the sky wondering what my future holds in for me. I don¡¯t wonder too long though because soon after I heard a great bellow in the distance.


    ¡°Yeah, I better get a move on.¡±

 Chapter 2: CBT is Fun

    My new skill set as the system called it provided no increase to my stats but it did seem to improve my body¡¯s comprehension of wrestling. Apparently it has many subcategories and right now I only have one part of it unlocked. Which is the [Takedown] section? I assume other categories to be unlocked would be [Shots] or [Pins] which are moves in wrestling.


    ¡°To unlock the blanked out sections I¡¯m probably going to have to fight more of those things.¡± Just the thought gives me chills, one can only imagine what it¡¯s going to take to level up my skill sets. Walking at a brief pace is all I can manage right now and if I¡¯m being honest with myself if I were to encounter one of those long-ass things I don¡¯t think I¡¯d survive. At least the clouds look nice today.


    ¡°I really hope there is a starter village or something. I don¡¯t want to sleep outside with whatever lingers around here.¡± Even if I am addicted to beating the living shit outta things I¡¯m not stupid enough to think I can survive out here all day.


    After a long time of traveling through the grass plains I had a few close encounters with the same turtle-Esque monsters hidden in the ground. And when I passed by a few of them it became obvious that they would not attack me unless I agitated them first.


    ¡®I guess it¡¯d make sense for these guys to be in the starter zone.¡¯ I thought while treading carefully around another shell in the ground. I found that just barely tapping their shells would not rouse them from their sleep. The Tortugal¡¯s made traveling slow but a little less threatening than if they had aggroed actively.


    My body groaned with each step but I continued all the way until the sun started disappearing behind the horizon. The local ambiance around me became darker but the sky changed into bright gradients of neon blue and green, unlike sunsets found on Earth. Even though my entire body feels like a buttcheek on a stick I keep pushing onward. That is because after hours of walking straight forward something along the horizon appeared. Originally I had thought it to be a distant mount but now it has been proven otherwise.


    A spark of hope ignited in my chest and pushed me onwards a little faster. Soon it started getting darker and darker out rapidly. Before I knew it everything around me was pitch black and the distant shadow grew to a large silhouette of great walls. And before I knew it the tall grass around me lowered and I found myself on a path to whatever place lay ahead of me.


    Despite my need to continue I soon found my legs could no longer push onward, so I made camp, well more like space on the ground and rested there. Collapsing on my back for once I was forced to take in life around me.


    ¡°The stars here, are quite beautiful I wish they *yawn* were like this back on Earth.¡± The idea of sleeping on the ground in a monster-infested world seemed less and less scary as my heavy eyelids slowly met each other. ¡®Sleep is good~¡¯


    ...Sleepy Time¡­


    Before I knew it the sound of the morning birds woke me and I got to greet a new day. Living life as it''s supposed to be, baskin¡¯ in the sunshine, birds a chirpin¡¯, grass a growin¡¯, monster to punch in. Just like God intended. My body after rest no longer feels sore as it once had, but seeing the distance I have to travel that is of little respite.


    ¡°No time like the present.¡± With a grunt I pushed myself up and continued on my way to the now looming walls. As I grew closer and closer to the great walls it became evident that they were not the medieval castle walls which I was predisposed to believe them to be. Instead, the walls actually appeared to not be walls at all, but rather enormous shards of slate. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Reaching the slate quadrilateral revealed its true nature. With my natural detection abilities and supreme observation capabilities, I determined it was actually a shitty no good rock. And that as a matter of fact I got my hopes up for nothing. So as any downcast manly man would do I proceeded to climb the beast of a rock. As it was angled away from me a little bit it was not too hard.


    After thirty minutes of climbing up the thing that originally blocked out the fucking horizon it became painfully obvious I made a mistake. ¡®Deep breathes Tom. Don¡¯t look down.¡¯ Contrary to my thoughts my body did the exact opposite and freaked out while looking back. Nothing quite makes your balls drop off like a mile-long drop to your certain death.


    ¡°At least the view is nice from up here. Well...no stopping now.¡± After coming this far I had to see the world from the top of whatever this thing is. Also I¡¯m more afraid of going down a steep incline than up so...yeah.


    Each step soon became more agonizing than the last and eventually I was about to give up and lay down for a quick rest. However with the power of friendship, courage, and the imminent fear of sliding down some janky ass pyramid thing I pushed onward. On a side note I earned a new subcategory of the wrestling skillset called [Stance] and a few levels in it. Every time it leveled up, maintaining the unnatural position of my body became easier.


    After a long period of time, my stance reached level four and a few birds almost took me out when a flock flew by. If not by some miracle I reached a perfectly square ledge carved into the side of the pyramid. With one last burst of energy I heaved myself over onto the ledge and toppled onto my back. Once again my body is ruined by this world¡¯s sheer magnitude.


    With little grace, I took what was left of my tattered shirt and used it to bandage the blisters covering my hands. I had resorted to climbing up the side of the pyramid-esque a dog on all fours for it and my body paid dearly for it. Fortunately, there is no hunger or thirst in this instance or I would have died a long time ago.


    ¡°How am I even sweating right now if I have not drunk or absorbed water since originating here?¡± Thinkin¡¯ aloud like this keeps me sane...I think. I should have just bailed out earlier why do I always put myself in these scenarios. Knowing the answer to that did little to settle me. Up or down my decision both seem equally perilous and dumb. Maybe I should just rest here a second.


    *Creak*


    The stone wall I was resting against began to lift up from its original position revealing...something new. Soon the wall quit raising and was steady and with a little hesitation I checked out what was inside.


    ¡°Bad decision!¡±


    Sprinting outwards to the side of the cliff that was not in the path of the divot is a scary prospect. The boatloads of trash coming straight for me at terminal velocity thought otherwise. Before I could think I dove out of the way of the tumbling trash and nearly flung myself off of the side of the cliff. By some force of nature I managed to grab the side of the divot and by some other force of nature that hand broke.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    Grabbing the ledge with my other hand my legs sprinted upwards at a faster pace than I knew to be humanly possible. Running up a steep incline is not good on the knees. With a loud crash I managed to throw myself over onto flat slate once again.


    ¡°Oww!¡± On the way up both of my hands and shins managed to get skinned brutally. Standing up felt like dick and balls but I knew I had to move quickly. Just as I righted myself the trash door thing started closing once again, and faster than when it was opening.


    ¡®Woah I¡¯m dizzy.¡¯ A symbol that appeared to be a man getting hit over the head appeared in my UI like a car dashboard warning light. Falling forward I managed to catch myself a little bit but ultimately tumbled to the ground.