《BORNEO》 Ch. 1: Enter Arang Kasih Orphanage, Ketapang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. January 26, 2113. Located in the downtown area, the orphanage occupy a sizeable land, although most of the land is empty with only one three story building at the center with a low concrete wall surrounding it, there is a small vegetable garden in the backyard. There is a gathering in the living room, it''s a birthday celebration for one of the oldest orphan in the orphanage. "Happy birthday Arang! How time flies, who would believe the little rascal now is an adult with how small you are." Kasih, the orphanage owner came bringing a slice of cake with small candle lit on it and put it in front of a skinny boy with fair skin and long hair, his hair is tied into a ponytail. His black pupils reflect the candle light. This boy is Arang, one of the orphans in the orphanage. He turns 18 today to become an adult based on the law and Kasih decide to have a small celebration since they almost never celebrate any birthday of the orphans. This is also might be the last time they can gather together with Arang, since as an adult he need to join the military service for 2 years and after that he can continue serving the military or apply for another job and moving to live on his own if he wants it. "Hey, I''m not small! I''m just skinny." Arang complained. He have an average height, but since he is skinny he looks smaller than average people so people might mistake his age. "You should stay small, so I can catch up with you. Happy birthday Arang!" Allyn, another orphan chided in with a playful tone. She just turned 15 last month and started to have feelings for boy, and Arang is her target of affection at the moment. She is your typical girl next door, pure, friendly, cute and brighten the room with her presence. Her body is just starting to develop that''s why she wants to catch up with the now adult Arang. "Happy birthday Arang!!!" Linda and Ham, two of the youngest orphans shouted. They really enjoy this kind of festivities. 12 and 10 respectively, they are the little sisters of everyone else in the orphanage. Ham, specifically, is a little bundle of energy who keep everyone alert with her antics. The other orphans come in turns to say conglatulations to Arang. They are Willy the bookworm, Tan the quiet guy who often losing himself in his own world, Herman the brute and Leo the cool guy with his rough voice. They are at close age with each other and often spending time together along with Arang. Then the last orphan come to Arang and hugs him, "Happy birthday Arang!" The last one to congratulate Arang is Siska, one of the idols of the orphans alongside Allyn. She is the devil incarnation, according to Allyn, because Siska have a very well-developed body although she is at the same age with Allyn. Siska enjoys teasing the boys and their gaze at her body. Now that Arang is an adult she went a step further by hugging him. "Uhh, thanks everyone." Arang mind goes blank when Siska hugs him. He rarely have physical contact with girls so this is a new experience for him, not to mention the feeling of Siska on his body is distracting. "Now, now. Let Arang blow the candle and make his wish, Siska." Kasih save Arang from further embarassment. The little ones are giggling seeing Arang embarassed, the other boys full of envy, and Allyn come over to separate Arang and Siska. After the simple birthday celebration Kasih remind Arang that he should get his ID card as soon as possible before going to the military office for his service duty. Everyone then go to sleep, Arang went to his room on the top floor. The next morning Arang wake up early and do his chores, he greet Kasih in the vegetable garden then getting ready before going to town for his ID and military service. He walks to town and reach the city office around 9 and apply for his ID. After finishing the procedure, he waits for about 1 hour and receive his brand new ID card. Seeing it still more than 1 hour before lunch break, he continue to military office. At the office he saw some officers going around and stop one of them to ask for direction to register for service duty. It turns out that he will see the counter for applying right away if he actually enter the building. Embarassed, he say thank you and go inside.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Once inside, he saw the counter and go straight at it. There is a lady with neat appearance in military uniform manning the counter. ¡°Hello, I want to register for the service duty.¡± Arang said to the receptionist. ¡°Okay, please fill this form first please.¡± The receptionist pulls out a thick form from under her counter and give it to Arang. ¡°You can ask me if you have question about the form.¡± Arang took the form and went to a desk close by and start filling the form. After about 15 minutes Arang finished filling the form and start checking his answers before handing it back to the receptionist. ¡°I¡¯m finished filling the form.¡± ¡°Okay, let me check it. You can wait here if you want, or you can go back here after lunch. It will take some time to process this. Oh, I also need your ID to process the form.¡± The receptionist took the form and gestured at Arang to give her his ID. Arang complied and give her his ID, he decided to go out for a bit while waiting. Arang went outside and go to the plaza, he looks for a bench to relax and found an empty one. After sitting he started to remember his life in the last few years. Kasih Orphanage is not in a good situation, so a few years ago he starts looking for various jobs to help funding the operational of the orphanage. He only finished Junior High School thanks to the government program of 9 years compulsory education (6 years Elementary School and 3 years Junior High School) which reduce the education cost to minimum and affordable. After finishing Junior High School he spent some months helping Kasih take care of the orphanage and realize the situation of the orphanage. But because he is a minor he only able to work odd jobs which doesn¡¯t give much, his employers don¡¯t want to risk employing a minor which violate the law. So he simply took any jobs that he can do everyday and fit his schedule. Kasih already forbid him to work before he become an adult, but he simply didn¡¯t listen and keep doing it, he knows the burden on Kasih for the orphanage. Kasih is a widow, she doesn¡¯t have any children from her marriage. She opened the orphanage because she wants to have children in her life. But private orphanage require donors, which she lacks. Now after more than 15 years opening the orphanage she running out of savings and struggling. ¡°Who will be the leader of this new world? BORNEO awaits you!¡± The sound of an advertisement on the big screen pull Arang back from his trip down the memory lane. BORNEO, it¡¯s the name of a game that boast realistic virtual experience for the players. Created by the GUPA Company, led by Bodo Bale, the genius scientist of a millenia. It¡¯s set on a map based on Borneo island enlarged 100 times to be able to contain billions of players with medieval fantasy settings. So far they already show Elf, Dark Elf and Beastkin as native species beside human. Bodo Bale said to have a love for Borneo island of the past which boast one of the biggest tropical rainforest in the world and home to various wildlife including the famous but endangered orangutan. That¡¯s why he use Borneo island as map and also include some famous wildlife in the game. Arang watched the advertisement for a bit, and realized it already past the lunch break time. He decide to go back to the military office first to see his registration progress before going back home. Entering the building he saw the lady again at the counter. ¡°Hello, how is my registration going?¡± ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back. I have finished you registration, here is your ID card, thanks for that. Now I need you to sign a contract before we can continue.¡± The receptionist responded to Arang and give him his ID. She then proceeded to pull another thick document from under the counter and give it to Arang. ¡°You can read it first, then let me know when you are ready to sign.¡± ¡°(Contract? Is this to avoid responsibilities when something went wrong during the service?)¡± Arang can¡¯t help but thinking negatively. He remember at one of his job back then he have to sign a contract that signifies the employer won¡¯t be responsible if he have an accident during work. Arang read the contract carefully, beside the usual responsibilities and rights that he already knows beforehand he also saw the part about when something went wrong during the service. But instead what he thought, it stated that the government will provide compensation equal to 10 months salary in case of disability or death when on duty. ¡°(Salary? What salary? Do I get salary during the service?)¡± Arang continuing checking the contract and found out he will get IDR 3,000,000 (about USD 215) per month as salary during the service period. He suddenly smile brightly and went forward to the receptionist. ¡°I want to sign the contract now!¡± Finalizing the contract, the receptionist remind him that he need to report on duty at 09.00 February 1st. Arang went back to orphanage and need to prepare quickly since he only have a few days before leaving on duty. On the way back he keeps smiling because he won¡¯t have to worry about the orphanage during his service period. He arranged that his salary will be given to the orphanage, since during service period he get free meal and room. His greatest worry was how the orphanage will fare when he is not there, and the military service contract just solved it for him, which provide much more compared what he earned doing odd jobs. Now he is really looking forward to the military service duty. Ch. 2: Soldier Under Command February 1st, 2113. Ever since the Capital of Indonesia moved to Borneo in the 2020s, the island experienced massive growth in infrastructures and facilities. Although Ketapang is a small coastal city, it now also boast major facilities including the military training camp and Arang just arrived at the military training camp to report for duty. With a forest surrounding it, the training camp gives a rare scenery in the modern day. Development sacrificed nature on it¡¯s process, and the forest surrounding the training camp is one of the few remaining forests. Arang breathe the fresh air before continuing to enter the big building in front of him. He reported himself, got a tag and uniform, before proceeding to enter a big hall where every new cadets gathered. ¡°Hello everyone, I will be your head instructor during your time here.¡± A cold looking middle aged man greet the cadets when everyone has gathered. He is standing in front of the cadets, together with 6 other people, 5 males and 1 female. Arang guessed they are the other instructors. ¡°As all of you already know. Ever since the Great Disaster of Climate Change happened a few decades ago, our country has been pressured by various countries to submit and become a major nature conservation area for the world sake.¡± The man continued. ¡°We had struggled during that period. We refuse to become their scapegoat when they were the ones who started the disaster in the first place. How come they able to enjoy the development and riches, when we were forced to halt our own development?! We fought them, and now it¡¯s your turn. We can¡¯t get complacent even when we have survived the Great Disaster and find the solutions for the climate change.¡± The man said coldly. After his speech, the middle aged man ordered the other 6, who are instructors like Arang guessed, to start counting the cadets and separate them into 6 groups. Each instructor lead one group. There are a total of 534 cadets on this batch and Arang got into group 4, lead by the only female out of the 6 instructors. She then led her group to their dormitory before telling them to gather back in front of the dormitory in 30 minutes to start their first training. Arang search his room based on his tag and found that he will share a room with 3 other guys. All three are older than him since they finished university first before registering for military service, the common occurence in the community unlike Arang who go straight after he become an adult. The first one called Tito is 25 years old, the second and the third is both 23 years old and called Toni and Fendy. After 30 minutes the group 4 members already gathered in front of their dormitory. Now that they will finally start their training, most of them look nervous, including Arang. He is worried that if he cannot follow the training well the government might cut his salary. The first training is actually testing the physical capabilities of the cadets, although it is a bit hard, Arang managed to pass the physical test with good scores. He is thankful all the years of hardwork doing odd jobs helps him with his physique. As the life in the training camp continues, it is now April 1st, the day when ¡°BORNEO¡± is officially launched. The sale of the gaming equipment has started from last year when the game first announced, and today based on GUPA report there are already more than 100,000,000 units sold. It is a small number compared to Earth population which are more than 30 billions, but considering it just a pre-launch sale, the number is astounding. Don¡¯t forget the unit costs IDR 150,000,000 (about USD 10,700) and the game also required monthly fee of IDR 4,000,000 (about USD 285). The opening day of such a game definitely attract attentions and created an uproar from the players. A few hours after the server opening, some players started to make a post explaining how the game is very realistic. The game itself have a 4:1 time ratio, so 4 hours in game equal 1 hour in real life. Then came the uproar from the players. The GUPA company actually played a prank for the players on the 1st day server opening, an April Mop joke according to the company. The players were allowed to choose class and change classes during the game. There are hundreds or thousands of classes available to choose. At first the players thought it was normal and started experimenting with various classes, fighting with various monsters but once a players spent 12 hours in-game they will got a notice that it was an April Mop joke and they will move back to character creation area with all stats reset then they will proceed with the actual game by choosing a starting area and starts as a classless character. ¡°I was whipping a succubus as Whip Master...¡± a player complained. ¡°Thank GOD! I was trying Dragon Knight when a group of dragons suddenly come to hunt me to release my dragon mount.¡± Another player was trembling when interviewed about his experience before the character reset. He seems traumatized.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°The-they suddenly doing it in front of me, th-th-the thing is s-s-so hu...ge.¡± A female player was stuttering and blushing furiously when interviewed. Turns out she was testing Monster Tamer class riding a female Centaur she tamed and travel around, everything is normal until she came across a male centaur in heat. ¡°We want to provide a glimpse of the available classes for the first players as thanks for their belief in us. Hopefully with this experience they know what classes they can obtain since we won¡¯t provide any other information. This experience will only be given to first account played in game capsule bought before the game launch.¡± GUPA explained this joke during a press conference in the evening. Arang saw this during a short break, at that time he didn¡¯t interested at all with the game. After the uproar that now called ¡°Huge Early Bird¡± by media and enthusiast, 3 months has passed. The game ¡°BORNEO¡± is rising fast to dominate gaming industry, with the total units sold now reaching 1 billion. GUPA company become a major dominant financial force in the world. Countries with major players in the game experiencing increase in their honor, prestige and tax income thanks to these players. The amount of money circulated among these players are stunning the world, with a new rich person appear at least once every week from these players. The money in-game converted into real life money in hundreds of billions rupiah every day. Some governments now considering to utilize ¡°BORNEO¡± as a way to raise their honor, prestige and income. They start giving advantages to their players and also trying to poach the major players from other countries. Indonesia also went a bit further by using the military service cadets as their workforce in the game. The government will provide gaming capsules for the military camp, with the cadets are expected to play and reach at least level 200 during their service duty. At the end of their service duty, the gaming session will be considered as one of the aspects to be scored, with less than passing grade might make them extend their service duty period up to 6 months. The government are hoping with this gaming session they can find the talented ones to bring honor, prestige and income to the country. They also considered that with at least level 200, the cadets can be useful in case when there is a country war in the game later on. They predicted the game might actually replace war in real life based on how it progressed so far. After all death in the game, is unlike death in real life. After announcing their plan to include gaming session in the military training camp, the cadets got a 3-day vacation so the government can install the game capsules in the camp. Arang went back to the orphanage for his vacation. ¡°Arang!¡± The two little ones are the first notice him coming back around noon since they are mostly spend their time in the orphanage playing in the front yard. Arang pick them up while they hugging him. ¡°Hello Ham and Linda. Are you two being a good kids? Where are the others?¡± Arang ask the little ones. ¡°I¡¯m a good kid, but Ham is being naughty. Last week she eat my cookies.¡± Linda complained to Arang. ¡°Everyone is inside, Arang. Oh, except Kasih. She just went out to visit doctor this morning.¡± Ham tried to ignore Linda¡¯s complain and answered Arang¡¯s question. ¡°Huh? Kasih went to see a doctor? What happened to her?¡± Arang asked again. ¡°We don¡¯t know, she won¡¯t tell us. But she has been visiting doctor a few times during this month.¡± Linda seems to forget her complaint and informed Arang. Arang then put the little ones back and tell them to play again, not forgetting to remind Ham not to take others¡¯ things. Ham a bit sulking but soon forget it as she play again with Linda. Inside the orphanage Arang meet with the other orphans, Allyn in particular look more charming after a few months not seeing her. Siska still with her devilish body and teasing gesture hugs Arang with a glare from Allyn. Will, Tan, Herman and Leo also come out from their rooms and give him a hug. Arang gave a curious stare when he saw Herman and Leo looks thinner. ¡°They are going to work nowadays. Herman in a construction site and Leo as a store clerk. The oprhanage is not in a good situation, we just found out after you¡¯re leaving. Why didn¡¯t you tell us, Arang?¡± William give the information and questioned Arang why he doesn¡¯t share the orphanage problem with them. ¡°Didn¡¯t my salaries are sent here to Kasih? Why did you guys still need to work? I thought it was enough?¡± Arang ignored Willy question and ask back. ¡°Kasih need the money for her medicine, Arang. We told her to use the money from your salary to go see a doctor. It was lucky that Tan saw her when see fall unconscious in the vegetable garden last month. So we work to get money for other expenses here. Willy and Tan actually wanted to work too, but we told them to stay and take care of the orphanage instead. We also worried to let Allyn or Siska working, this area is not really female friendly, especially for the young ones.¡± This time it was Leo who answered. ¡°Alright, I will stay here for 3 days and help you guys. Next time please let me know if something like this happened again.¡± Arang said to the other boys. Kasih come back in the afternoon, she meet Arang and told him not to worry. Her illness is not that serious, she was only too tired and need time to recuperate. Arang accepted her explanation, but still ask the other orphans to take care of Kasih and watch her. Meanwhile, in GUPA Company HQ. The Indonesia representative is meeting with GUPA President, Bodo Bale. They are going to finalize the agreement which require Indonesia to buy 1,000,000 game capsules with higher price, but in turn the GUPA Company have to make sure those capsules will have the players using it automatically got their income in-game cut by 20% and transfer it to the Indonesia government. ¡°For BORNEO!¡± Both sides are having a toast after signing the deal. Ch. 3: Enter Rimba After the 3-days vacation Arang come back to the military training camp. Greeting his roommates and exchanging some stories of their vacation, Arang and the other cadets are gathering in big hall once again. The head instructor and the other instructors are already waiting for them. ¡°Hello everyone, welcome back.¡± The head instructor greets the cadets. ¡°As you already know, our government already installed some gaming capsules here in our camp. You can check them later. Now I want to inform you the rules about the gaming sessions as part of your training here.¡± The head instructor continued. ¡°First of all, you will be required to log in and play for 6 hours everyday in addition to your military training. So after finishing your training at 5 P.M., you have 1 hour to handle your business and having dinner. After that you will have to play from 6 to 12, everyday.¡± The head instructor calmly stated. There are some murmurs from the cadets. ¡°Attention!¡± The head instructor bellowed before continuing. ¡°Every cadets are required to reach a minimum level 200 when he/she finished the service duty, so you won¡¯t be useless when the country actually need you in the game. How you reach it, or how you choose to play is up to you. The only thing matters is your level, but we expect you to help each other in the game if possible. Failing to reach the target at the end of your service duty will affect your score at the final evaluation and you might have to extend your service period up to 6 months. Your group lead instructor will brief you more details later.¡± Back in their group training area beside the dormitory, the female instructor shows the cadet the gaming capsules location and told them that they can choose the capsule in the camp. She then remind them that they are not allowed to play in a private capsule or gaming room outside the camp during their service duty period, even when on vacation. Failure to do so will results on penalty. After the day training, Arang is now ready to enter his gaming capsule for the first time. He lay down in the capsule, close the lid and iniate the connection.
First Time User Found Create account? YES/NO User can touch the option, speak the option, or just think of the option.
"(Wow, the technology seems so advanced). Yes." Arang was surprised to see the box popped up suddenly and heard the AI monotone voice.
Account created Now proceed to connect with "BORNEO" Connected The only available race is Human. You can change your race in game later when you fulfills the condition. Proceed to character creation Please provide your character name
"Rimba." Ever since he knows about the government program and remembering the fact that the game is based on Borneo island of the past with jungle and forest, Arang already decided on this name. Rimba means jungle.
Character "Rimba" created Proceed with the character appearance
A 3D image of Arang (or Rimba) is shown. Arang found out he can adjust the appearance by moving the slider corresponding with each part of his appearance or he can also just speak the change he wanted. The AI will adjust it for him. Arang decide to make his hair longer, reaching his back. He always wanted to have a long hair, but unable to have it since most people still associated long haired male as a bad guy. Now that he have the chance he definitely will have it. Thanks to his training in the last 6 months, his physique has improved and doesn''t look skinny anymore. Arang satisfied with adjustment.
Finalize Character Appearance? YES/NO After this you will continue to starting area selection, you won''t be able to make changes anymore
"Yes."
Select your starting area As you''re connecting the game from Borneo island area, you will be given the list of areas in the part of the continent corresponding with your connecting location in real world instead of the list of random areas.
"(Ah, so the people from Borneo like me are having this option. It will be easier for us, cadets, to meet and help each other then.)" Arang realized the advantages for cadets from Borneo island. He choose an area which he thinks located in Ketapang area.
Suram Village, Lampu Kingdom is selected Proceed to enter the game at selected location You won''t be able to leave your starting area for one month in-game time The one month in-game time is calculated from the time you actually inside the game Enjoy "BORNEO"!!!
Suddenly Arang, no, Rimba saw his surrounding covered in a bright light. After a few seconds, Rimba opened his eyes and realize he is already standing in front of a village gate. On the plaque hanging on the gate he saw the "Suram Village" written in big letters. The village is surrounded by wooden fences, with some militias can be seen patrolling the outskirts of the village. The village is in a middle of plains, surrounded by farmlands with some forests can be seen nearby. There is another gate at the other side of the village. There are about 40-50 buildings in the village, mostly are houses but he can also see a smithy, apothecary, a general store and an open field that looks like a training field with some dummies erected. Right in the middle of the village is the only 2 story house in the village, he guessed it is the house of the village chief.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Rimba then try to move his body, he does the basic stretch and movement set from the military training and realized he can move his body like he does in real world. "(Amazing. I don''t feel anything strange, it feels like I''m just coming here with my actual body.)" Suddenly Rimba notice some commotions from inside the village, he saw some children and a few adults are making noises while pointing at him. Then an elderly man come over to him and greet him. "Hello young man. Might I ask are you doing some rituals in front of our gate? The children and villagers are worried to see you suddenly doing some, err, fancy moves." The elder asks cautiously. The children and adults are coming closer and watched Rimba curiously, but also wary. "(Damn. I just embarassed myself, I totally forgot that this game is very realistic. People will be on guard seeing someone suddenly doing stretching and movement sets. Considering the middle age setting, it''s no wonder they thought I am doing some kind of rituals.) Rimba is embarassed and hesitated about how to answer the question. "I am sorry, sir. I am just arrived and still need to adapt, that, err, fancy moves earlier is not a ritual or anything. It just I want to make sure my body in top shape after the journey." Rimba try to explain his actions. "May I know your name, sir? And is this the Suram village?" Rimba tried to ask back and moving from the ritual topic. "Yes, this is Suram Village. I am Melano, the village chief. May I know your name and your purpose coming here then, if you are not doing any rituals, young man?" Melano asked Rimba again, still wary but not as vigilant as before. "My name is Rimba, sir. I''m just a traveller who came across this village during my journey. I mean no harm and simply looking for a place to stay before continuing my journey." Rimba answers politely to the village chief. He doesn''t want to be kicked out from the village. That will be a nightmare since he also won''t able to go anywhere else for one month in-game. "I see, welcome to Suram Village then, Rimba. Since you travelled here, you must be strong. Maybe you can go to the training field and meet Olaf. He will definitely grateful to have another strong person in the village." Melano welcomed Rimba.
New Quest "Meet Olaf" The village chief still wary but he welcomes you. Please go and meet Olaf, the training instructor before doing anything else. Olaf also serves as the Head of Village Security, with you meeting him the villagers will be more accepting of your presence in the village. Quest Reward: Relationship with Melano +10 Reputation in Suram Village +10 Quest Penalty: Relationship with Melano -5 Reputation in Suram Village -5 The quest is forced, you accepted the quest
Rimba is startled to see the notification appears. "(I guess It can''t be helped, I am a total stranger after all.) Alright, sir. I will meet Sir Olaf right away, is he in the training field over there?" Rimba pointed at the training field near the other gate. "Yes, Rimba. You just need to tell Olaf that I send you. Have a good day." Melano said and started walking back to the center of the village. The children and other adults are also dispersing after hearing their conversation. Seeing everyone has leaving, Rimba finally entered the village and walk straight to the training field.
You are the first player to visit Suram Village! Reputation +10 Reputation in Suram Village won''t fall below 5
You visited your first settlement in "BORNEO"! Suram Village will be set as your origin Your reputation and action can affect Suram Village If Suram village ever destroyed, as an original people you can rebuilt the village.
Notifications appearing when Rimba passed the gate. He take a look and realize he still haven''t checked his status since he confronted by Melano right after trying to check his body control. "Status."
Name Rimba Class Undecided
Rank Commoner Titles None
Level 0 Reputation 10
Health 100 Mana 100
Stamina 50 Stats Points 0
Strength 10 Constitution 10
Agility 10 Intelligence 10
Dexterity 10 Wisdom 10
Vitality 10 Luck 10
"Equipment. Skills. Inventory"
Equipment: Newbie Clothes Skills: None
Inventory 1 Newbie Weapon Creation Ticket 1 Newbie Armor Creation Ticket 1 Water Canteen 10 Jerky 10 Copper Coins
"(So I have 10 points in every stats, but I don''t know yet how each stats affect my character. I will have to ask Olaf later. No skills also, so I have to look for a way to learn skills too. How about my inventory, eh? Whatare this tickets thing? Can I check it?)" The consistently surprising notifications pops up again.
Newbie Weapon Creation Ticket: You can use it to create a weapon of your choosing. The weapon created will always be the most basic of that type of weapon. Newbie Armor Creation Ticket: You can use it to create an armor your choosing. The armor created will always be the most basic body armor of that type of armor.
"(So we can choose our weapon and armor according to our preference? Sweet. I was worried that I might have forced to use weapon I''m not fond of.). Rimba realized that he already arrived at the training field, he saw the dummies standing proudly, and a grizzled man with his back facing him standing among the dummies. He have a huge sword on his back and he is kicking the dummies when suddenly he turns around to face Rimba. Muscular body with long hair and beard, the man appears to be in his 50s. "Hello, sir. My name is Rimba. I am a traveller, sir Melano sends me to meet you." Rimba politely greet the grizzly. Considering his defenseless and weaponless state, Rimba doesn''t want to be hacked with the huge sword. Ch.4 : Enter Rimba 2 Olaf checking Rimba carefully, before extending his callused hand for a handshake. Rimba accepted his handshake. "Olaf, Olaf Hannochs. What do you need from me?" Olaf cut directly to the chase. He seems disinterested to listen for Rimba story. "Glad to meet you, sir. I''m just arrived in this area and won''t be able to leave anytime soon. Maybe I can get some training from you here?" Rimba gives a brief information of his situation. He needs to settle down in this village for at least 1 month in-game, might as well earn some training and learn about the game mechanics in the training field. Olaf might also able to help him integrate himself with the village. "Choose your weapon from the crate over there, and try hitting the dummy. I need to observe you first." Olaf pointed to a crate near the hut at the end of the training field. After that he simply ignored Rimba and going back to the dummy he kicked earlier. Soon he starts kicking and punching the dummy.
Quest Completed! "Meet Olaf" You meet Olaf right after Melano ask you to. The villagers become less wary of you. Relationship with Melano +10 Reputation in Suram Village +10
You completed your first ever quest. You unlock Quest Panel. You can accept 2 quests simultaneously now. Your Reputation will affect the number and difficulty of quest that you can receive. High Relationship with Quest Giver might also give you higher difficulty quest, regardless of your Reputation. Explore the world of "BORNEO" and find the best quest of your dreams!
Rimba startled once again when the notifications appeared. "(So I can accept 2 quests now? I don''t know how much 10 Reputations mean in this game, but it''s good I managed to get some this early.)" Rimba went to the weapon crate and saw swords, 2-handed swords, daggers, axes, spears, halberds, maces, morning stars, bows and arrows, polearms, pikes, sabers and other kind of weapons inside. All weapons are made of wood, so it only means for training with fixed base attack 1. "(There goes my plan of getting free weapon.)" First Rimba picked the sword, swings it for a bit and put it back. He then picked the 2-handed sword, swings it with both hands and put it back too. He tried the axe, dagger, saber, spear, halberd, polearm and most of the weapons but put them all back. Then he saw a wooden rod, hidden deep in the pile of weapons. "That''s a mage rod, but ever since our last mage left to the capital nobody else know how to use magic, so the rod become ignored." Suddenly Rimba heard someone speaking from behind him. The voice is not familiar, so it''s definitely not Olaf. Rimba turn around, the rod in his hand and saw a youth standing there. The youth seems 15-16 years old, with brown hair and shabby clothes. "Hello, I''m Ethan. I heard about you when I coming here from the children. It''s rare for us to have visitor here, so you become a gossip quickly. Especially when the first thing you do on your arrival is doing some ritual in front of our gate." The youth introduce himself with a slight grin.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Rimba blushed, remembering his antics earlier. "I am Rimba. Nice to meet you Ethan." Rimba greets Ethan and swings the rod for a bit. "What do you mean the last mage left to the capital? What happened?" Rimba asked. "Well, there is not much left for a mage to study here in this backwater village. Our village which is one of the most remote village of Lampu Kingdom with the closest town require at least 6 days travelling means no merchants or peddlers are willing to visit. Unless we have some specialties, but all we got here are monsters and forest products, which are abundant in the whole kingdom." Ethan explained. "We also not that that far from Kebun Sawit, a mage can''t do anything against the undead from Kebun Sawit. Their nature of absorbing mana means Mage is at major disadvantage against them. Unless it''s a high level Mage that can dominate mana in his or her surrounding, normal Mages are doomed. So she just left at the first chance she got." Ethan continued his explanation. "Wait, Kebun Sawit? What is that?" Rimba heard a familiar term and become curious about the meaning in the game. "You don''t know Kebun Sawit? Where have you been? Everyone knows Kebun Sawit." Ethan surprised to hear Rimba''s question. "Uh, I have been travelling around. I have heard about Kebun Sawit before, but I''m not sure if it''s the same thing." Rimba try to make excuse. "I see. Yes, it''s possible Kebun Sawit have another name in other Kingdom. You must be not originally from this kingdom." Ethan accepted Rimba''s answer, before continuing. "Kebun Sawit is an area that have been cursed by Sawit, The Apostle of Duit, God of Destruction. In Kebun Sawit, there will be a lot of undead raised from the remains of humans, monsters or animals. Every living beings killed by the undead will also raised as undead by the curse. The undead itself absorb mana from their surrounding, inflicting damage to nature and the land. No life can be found in Kebun Sawit besides the undead, if they can be considered alive. There are a lot of Kebun Sawit in the whole continent and we have one here just past the forest to the east. The worst part of Kebun Sawit is when the undead managed to develop intelligence, that intelligent undead will lead the other undead to attack the living beings in the surrounding area, expanding the curse influence, otherwise the undead usually just roaming around inside their cursed land." "(It''s actually an interpretation of the same thing that I know, but in a game setting. The game creator must have been really fond of the old Borneo.)" Rimba realized the similarities of Kebun Sawit (which is oil palm plantation in Indonesian.). "Thank you for telling me all this, Ethan. Are you coming for training too?" Rimba changed the topic. He have a target to reach in this game, he can''t waste time just listening to background story of the game. "Yes, I usually training here when I''m finished my chores in the orphanage." Ethan replied, and take a sword from the pile of weapons. "Orphanage? Are you an orphan? I am also an orphan, I would love to visit the orphanage." Rimba said enthusiastically. He is surprised to find there is also an orphanage here. "Huh? Sure, we will be glad to welcome you. The little ones will especially happy to meet you after hearing your, uhh, heroics earlier." Ethan grinned, he seems to accept the fact that Rimba is also an orphan so easily. "That''s a deal! Call me over when you are going back, I''m going to train too." Rimba smiled at Ethan and go to a dummy. On his hand is the mage rod. "(I have to raise my level quickly, so I need a weapon simple enough to use that I won''t have to spend more time learning how to use it. This rod fulfills my need perfectly, I just need to swing and hit with it. No need to focus on the edge or point, it also more durable since it can''t be dulled or nicked when used.) Rimba once again check the attributes of the rod.
Wooden Rod A simple rod made from wood for training purpose. Attack: 1 Magic Attack: 1 Durability: 50 Option: Self-Repair (When not in use will recover 1 durabilty per 30 minutes, unless destroyed)
"(That''s explain the magic attack, turns out this is a mage weapon. The option also great, I wonder if it''s just because this is a training weapon or is it possible to have the option in stronger weapon?)" Rimba days of dual training in real life and in-game is going to start, but at this moment he doesn''t know yet that his life will be intertwined with the game so much. Ch. 5: Caught In The Middle
Your Strength +1
A sudden notification appears in front of Rimba who has been hitting the dummy swinging the rod like a bat instead of magic catalyst repeatedly for around 1 hour. "(Oh? The training actually can increase my stats too? Nice. I wonder if I can keep raising my Strength or other stats if I keep training, it would be better if I can also learn some skills.)" Encouraged by the stats increase, Rimba become more motivated in hitting the dummy. He faintly feel that his strike become stronger, he now have 10% more Strength compared with when he started after all. Rimba feels less hesitant hitting the dummy, unlike in the military training where he have to spar with other cadets for their close-quarter combat training. He doesn''t have to worry hurting another person. He remembered on his first close-quarter combat training sparring session he was beaten soundly although he fought better because he was hesitant to hit his opponent seriously. Once he revealed a gap, his opponent retaliated with strikes that hurt as hell forcing him to endure pain and eventually losing out.
Your Vitality +1 Your Constitution +1
Another notification popped up after another hour. Rimba took a glance and glad that other stats are also can be increased through training. He become more pumped up.
Your Agility +1
1 hour later and another notification popped up. Rimba ignore the notification and continue hitting the dummy when he saw Ethan is walking to the weapon crate and put his wooden sword down. Rimba also stopped and come over to Ethan. "Are you done? Will you going back to the orphanage now?" Rimba asked. "Yes, I need to go back and get some buckets of water for the orphanage." Ethan asnwered. "Are you coming with me?" Ethan asked back. "Yes, I can also help you getting some water." Rimba replied and also put his rod to the weapon crate. "Let me ask sir Olaf first if I can leave with you." RImba then proceed to Olaf who already finished his own training earlier and watching them from his chair in front of the hut. "Sir, can I go visit the orphanage? I will come back here later to continue my training." Rimba asked politely. "Go. I still need to observe you, but I will allow you to walk around in this village. Just make sure you come back in the evening, I can''t let you staying at other places yet and we don''t have any inn here. You will stay with me for now." Olaf give his permission, but still remind Rimba that he is still under his supervision. "Thank you sir, I will be back in the evening. I was wondering where to stay, but you just solved for me." Rimba responded and make a small bow before leaving with Ethan. Along the way to the orphanage, Ethan points out some building to Rimba, explaining what kind of building each and mention whose place it is. Rimba is grateful, at least no he have basic understanding of the village. Suram village only have one main road straight from the southern gate where Rimba coming from to the northern gate, the village chief house is in the center of the village on the left side of the road facing eastward, sandwiched between the general store and the apothecary. Across the road is the smithy, the training field is in the northeastern part of the village. In each gate there is also a wooden tower for the militia to stay during night watch. The orphanage itself is in the southwestern part of the village, so Rimba actually passed by it when he first going to the training field. The building looks old, but still in a good condition, there is a well in front of the building, Rimba guessed Ethan will take the water from there. There is also a pile of firewood beside the building, an woodcutter axe stuck in a big stump. Rimba saw some children who also present when he questioned by the Village Chief in front of the gate. "Wait here, Rimba. I will inform the others of your visit." Ethan speak when they arrive in front of the orphanage and went inside. The children are coming over cautiously. "He-hel-hello sir, are you co-coming over to give us the Sawit''s Curse?" A timid boy, the only boy from all the children coming over and seems less than 10 suddenly ask Rimba, before hiding behind an older girl. "Huh? No, I am not. Who told you that? I''m just a traveller passing by and will stay here for a bit." Rimba was amused and answered, while also curious how come he was seen as someone who will curse people.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Th-thank God. Ellie told me that, she said you was doing ceremony for the curse in front of the gate earlier." The boy seems less wary, but he still hiding behind the other kid, while pointed out to another girl. "What? No, I didn''t say that Adam. I only told you what the people said to me. Why are you only point at me? Lucy and Beth are also told you that. Don''t you two act innocent, especially you Beth." The girl whose name Ellie is flustered when Adam suddenly pointed her out. She glared at the girl who let Adam hid behind her, Rimba guessed that must be Beth. So other girl is Lucy. "What is this commotion?" Ethan coming out from the building. Alongside him is a middle aged lady, a boy, and two girls. "Nothing, Ellie just making Adam scared." Beth quickly explaining. She reminds Rimba of Ham, who also like to play pranks and then act innocent. "No, I didn''t!" Ellie complained and glared at Beth. "Now, now, quiet down children. We have a guest. Let''s go inside and talk while having tea. Ellie and Beth, you two should make the tea for everyone." The middle aged lady cut the quarrel between Beth and Ellie, then gestured at Rimba to come inside. "Yay, tea!" Adam and Lucy cheered, those two are the youngest. While Beth is sulking and Ellie seems relieved. Once inside, Rimba is invited to sit together with everyone at the dining table. On his right is the other boy who come out together with the middle aged lady. He seems curious of Rimba. Left of Rimba is Lucy, she also seems curious. The middle aged lady is sit in the main chair. While waiting for the tea, the middle aged lady started the conversation. "Hello Rimba, my name is Sarah. I run this orphanage here. I have heard about your story and name from Ethan." The middle aged lady, Sarah, introducing herself. She have a long blond hair, flowing beautifully to her hips. She seems to be in her early 30s, with beautiful face and gentle blue eyes. "You already know Ethan, so I will introduce the others. The boy on your right is Gustav, he is my son. His father is working as a royal guard in the capital and rarely coming back nowadays. I don''t like the bustling capital, if you''re wondering why I am here, and I am also originally from here." Sarah introduced the boy beside Rimba. He got his mother blond hair, kept short, with a dark green eyes. "The one on your left is Lucy, you already met her outside, along with her little brother Adam. Those two are the youngest kid we have here. Lucy is 10, while Adam is 8. Please be more understanding with them, they both lost their parents when they are very small." Sarah continuing her introduction. Adam still looks timid, with a short brown hair and bright eyes. While Lucy with a braided brown hair and intelligent eyes gives a curious child vibe, she looks very active as opposed to her brother. "The two girls beside me are Natalia and Gwen, both are 15 this year." Sarah introduced the two other girls. Natalia on her right is a beautiful girl with the same blond hair and bright blue eyes. People might mistaken her as Sarah daughter. Gwen, on the other hand, seems like the tomboy type. She have a short bright red hair, and wild vibe. At this moment, the tea are arriving. Beth and Ellie took their seat. "The last two are Beth, 12 and Ellie,13. You also met them earlier outside." Sarah introduced the last two orphans who just joined then in the table. Beth have a long black hair tied into a ponytail, she seems the serious type. While Ellie have a silver hair, and looks like the mischievous type. Ellie somehow remind Rimba of Siska. "Hello everyone, and thank you Sarah for welcoming me and introduce everyone. As you heard from Ethan and Sarah, my name is Rimba. I''m just a traveller who passing by and decide to stay in this village for a while. I will be seeing you often. Ethan might already told you, but I am also an orphan." Rimba greet everyone and give a brief introduction. They continued talking for a while, with Lucy mostly asking Rimba about his "ritual". Finishing their tea, everyone then disperse and doing their chores before evening come. Rimba helped Ethan to get water as he mentioned before, then saying goodbye to everyone because he need to stay with Olaf. But not before promising the little ones that he will come again. Back in the training field, Rimba didn''t see Olaf. He guessed that Olaf might inside the hut, so he just picked the rod again and back to doing his training. He checked that he still have more than 16 hours left on his daily gaming session period, so he decided to keep training. "(Might as well spent my time in-game training, I can''t leave anyway. I also can raise my stats in preparation for when I left this village.)"
Your Strength +1
Your Dexterity +1 Your Constitution +1
Similar notifications keep appearing in front of Rimba, he has been hitting the dummy for 4 hours non-stop. Olaf also doesn''t come out at all. So Rimba just keep hitting the dummy.
Your stamina is less than 20% Entering Tired status, physical abilities are weakened by 50%, remaining stamina consumed faster Please eat and rest to recover your stamina
Another notification appear that looks different than the previous ones. Rimba suddenly feels that his body become sluggish, the rod seems heavier in his hands. He stopped hitting the dummy and sit down, trying to adapt with the sudden change. "(Damn, this can be dangerous when I fighting. Luckily I experience this, now I know that I have to keep an eye on my stamina during actions.)" Rimba feel lucky that he experience the Tired status during training, he can imagine getting beaten when he suddenly become sluggish during fights. He pulls out 1 jerky from his inventory to eat, and noticed his stamina recovered by 3. Enough to get his stamina above 20% but not that much to allow him continue training right away. "(I don''t want to waste my time by sleeping in-game, I wonder if I can join the nightwatch to spend some time and recover my stamina?)" Arang contemplate his options, then decide if he visit the tower it means he is still under direct supervision by the militia on nightwatch duty and Olaf won''t punish him. He also can be helpful to the village and the militia by joining the nightwatch. Accepting his own reasoning, Rimba went to the northern tower. Ch. 6: Caught In The Middle 2 Reaching the watch tower, Rimba greeted by a young militia who scan him cautiously. "Hello, I''m Rimba the traveller. you must have heard about me from the others. I was training at Olaf''s and want to take a break. Can I join you in your watch?" Rimba greet the young militia and asked. "Sure, come here. At least now I won''t be bored watching here by myself. The others are patrolling now, they won''t come back in another hour or so. I was bored and struggling to stay awake before you came." The young militia welcomed Rimba. He looks happy to have a company during his shift. Rimba accompanied the young militia and spend time talking while keeping watch. When the patrolling team coming back to the tower, Rimba excused himself and return to Olaf''s. Now he have place to go spending time while waiting for his stamina to recover during the night. Back in the training field, Rimba once again took the rod and hit the dummy until morning come and Olaf coming out from his hut with a pot of coffee. Olaf told him to stop and take a break. He give a cup to Rimba and pour some coffee. "Drink." Olaf said. Rimba thanked him and take a sip, his stamina is running low so it''s also a nice timing.
Your stamina recovered by 1
Rimba surprised to see the coffee also recover his stamina, although in lower number compared to the jerky. Still, it''s nice to know other option to recover stamina. Didn''t this mean he can eat jerky and drink coffee to recover more stamina quicker? "Come with me, you will join me in my morning walk from now on. It will also provide some training for your body, while we can patrol the area at the same time." Olaf instructed Rimba when he finished his coffee. Rimba and Olaf walk outside the village, past the farmland and to the edge of the forest. They went along the forest edge then circling around the village from a distance. Rimba realized his stamina recovers when he walks, although at slower rate compared when he just sitting or resting. Then come the surprise.
Your Vitality+1
"(What?! Walking could also raise stats? I guess it makes sense, it''s a kind of training too. Now that I know while walking I also recovers stamina it will be a better option besides just resting or went to watch tower. Maybe I can try to apply for patrol? It might help in building my reputation in this village.) Rimba is excited to found a way to do things more efficiently. He can training, recovers his stamina while also building his reputation. All in one action. He become more confident about his chance reaching the target for the military training. But he realized it''s not that great as he imagined. After walking around for more than 2 hours with Olaf, Rimba didn''t get another stats gain. He realized he might need to walk much longer before gaining another stats. Returning to training field, Olaf just told Rimba to continue training before doing his own training. After a few hours Rimba reached his gaming session quota and logged out. Getting off the capsule, Arang went straight to his dorm room and went to sleep after some talk with his roommates. The days continue, Arang follow his schedule strictly. Military training as cadets in the morning until afternoon, then logging in and training, visiting the orphanage, night watching, walking with Olaf until 24 hours in-game before logging off and sleep in the dormitories. The days seem dull, but Arang endure it. The salary to help Kasih orphanage keep him motivated enough, no matter how dull it is.
Name Rimba Class Undecided
Rank Commoner Title None
Level 0 Reputation 10
Health 204 Mana 120
Stamina 100 Stats Point 0
Strength 21 Constitution 20
Agility 22 Intelligence 12
Dexterity 20 Wisdom 12
Vitality 22 Luck 10
Rimba checked his new stats. It''s been 2 weeks ever since he start the gaming session. His stats, especially the physical ones, are growing nicely. All the dull training shown the results, he can''t help but becoming excited. He even more excited when checking his skills.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Beginner Magic Rod Mastery Level 2 (11%) Intelligence +1 for each level gained Wisdom +1 for each level gained Magic Damage +1% when using Magic Rod for each level gained Beginner Blunt Weapon Mastery Level 1 (46%) Physical Damage when using blunt weapon +1% for each level gained Strength +1 for each level gained
The skills finally appeared after 5 days of training. The first one learned is the Rod Mastery, while the Blunt Weapon Mastery learned after 7 days training, that''s why it still level 1. The Intelligence and Wisdom bonus are the icing of the cake. Rimba finally find a way to increase them, he was a bit worried when he realized both stats won''t raise even after days of training. Now he only need to look for how to raise Luck stat. Rimba is finishing his today''s quota of gaming session, he note down his stats and skills in his memory. The next morning there will be a routine evaluation of cadets. They will evaluate the cadets progress, performance and situation, now with the addition of evaluate their gaming performance. The next morning, Arang is gathering together with other cadets in the hall. Before going to the hall the cadets submit their reports to their respective lead instructor. At the end of the report form there is a new section asking the cadet''s character level, location, number of skills and their level. The reports will be evaluated by the military AI first, then separated into groups to make it easy for the evaluators to quickly check the noteworthy cadets before the gathering so they can identify the best and the worst cadets right away. When the evaluators finished checking the reports and inputs from each instructors, all cadets are waiting nervously. "Cadet Arang! Your military training performance is average, but your gaming performance is dissapointing. When your peers already reach level 4 at minimum, with skill levels averaging at 3, you still level 0 with skill levels averaging less than 2. Hence, your evaluation this time is the lowest from all cadets." The Head Instructor declared. Other cadets are looking at Arang with pity, they know the punishment that awaits the lowest rank. "Starting from tomorrow, you will have maintenance duty in addition to your normal duty. Discuss with your lead instructor later for the details of your maintenance duty." The Head Instructor give the judgement to Arang. Arang is shocked. He can''t think why he is lagging behind so much inside the game. He thought he is doing well enough and at least can ranked somewhere in the middle as usual. Ignoring him, the Head Instructor gives the evaluation for other cadets and dismissed them to do their training. Arang walk soullessly to the training location, he knows how hard the maintenance duty is. It''s just an honorable name to cleaning, laundry and training equipment preparations duty. The actual equipments maintenance is conducted by a team of specialist. He would have to reduce his sleeping and breaks time. He then asked the other cadets about their gaming situation. They explained to him. some give him advices, while the other just downright mocking him for not leveling at all after 2 weeks. He also asked about their stats and skills, after learning about their stats and skills, Arang came to a conclusion. "(My stats are actually higher than most of them. Every level up gives 10 stats point to allocate, so level 4 should give them 40 points. My total stats gained are 59 points, it almost like gaining 6 levels. The highest level cadets are only level 6. I have similar stats with level 6 cadets at level 0. I need to put this into my report later, I also can discuss this with the lead instructor when I meet her.)" Arang knows it will be hard to change the evaluation decision now that they already left the hall. But he will make sure next evaluation will also consider his stats as part of the evaluation so he won''t be the bottom rank anymore. For now he will endure this maintenance duty, but after 2 weeks he will shows that he is actually doing great inside the game. He might be placed in upper ranks next time. Ch. 7: Enter Lisa Pontianak, Capital of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. A young girl can be seen packing her things into a big suitcase. Every once in a while her gaze will look at the view outside her window. Her house, a 4 story building in the elite housing area near the Government Office, was built with special focus to it''s surrounding views. She can see the bustling city from her room at the top level. She is reluctant lo leave these views, the bustling city and her luxurious life, alongside her custom-order gaming capsule that she really like. She is at the age where she needs to join the military service, she is studying university but her father''s influence means she can just ignore the classes and still graduate after 4 years. Her father is a leading politician with considerable power. Ever since the relocation of the country capital to East Kalimantan, local people like her father started to gain more place in the power structure of the country. Last week, her father decide that since she is not attending university she might as well go to finish her military service. She won''t be joining the military training though, her father arranged for her to work as an assistant instead. This was actually the option for people with weak body who unable to join military training, where they will serve in the military camp as assistant or staff but with 3 years serving period instead of 2 years like the regular military service duty. Some people in power are exploiting this option for their children who don''t want to do military training, and now her father is doing the same for her. Like he did for her older sister and older brother before her. "Lisa, are you ready?" Her father''s voice can be heard through the intercom in her room. Her father rarely home, even whe he is home Lisa can only meet her during breakfast or dinner. "(You can do this, Lisa Analita! It''s only for 3 years, after that you will come back here, wait for the graduation and take the position prepared by father.)" Lisa try to encourage herself, take a last look through her window and going downstairs to meet her father who already waiting for her. "I''m ready father. Are we leaving now?" Lisa asked her father who waits for her together with her mother and siblings. As the youngest child Lisa is pampered by her mother and siblings. Her mother is a Spanish descent. Lisa''s great grandfather was a migrant, he moved to West Kalimantan because of his work and decided to settle down. Lisa''s grandparents and mother were born in Pontianak, although they still going back to Spain sometimes. "Yes, we need to leave now. The plane is already waiting for us. Say your goodbyes, I will be waiting in the car." Lisa''s father gave a hug to his wife and other children before going to the car. He make sure the house servant pick Lisa''s suitcase into the car. Lisa can''t stand the farewell, so she just give a hug to her Mother and siblings, say goodbye and quickly got into the car. She is worried that she might unable to part with them and make her father angry. Inside the car, Lisa and her father just sit down quietly. Lisa already informed by her father last week about her arrangement. She will serve as the assistant for the Head Instructor in Ketapang Military Camp. Her father choose Ketapang to avoid any sabotage or scheme from his political opponents. The Head Instructor also promoted by him in the past, so he will definitely take care of Lisa. Basically all Lisa need to do there is just following the Head Instructor around, otherwise she is free. Her father knows that she will have to play "BORNEO" too and also bought her another gaming capsule for her use in the camp. As a leading politician her father also not in the dark about the government agreement with GUPA company, so he make sure that his daughter won''t get the same treatment with the cadets. He doesn''t really care or knowledgeable about the game, but he thought it is okay for Lisa to play, at least while waiting for her graduation. Who knows that Lisa might be successful in the game? She still has more than 3 years, it''s more than enough to find out whether she will be just another player or a successful one. The amount of money circulating in the game are scary, even for his standards. After half an hour riding the car, and another 40 minutes of flight. Lisa and her father arrived in Ketapang. From the airport they went directly to the military camp. Her father don''t want to spend the night in Ketapang, so he wanted to finish arranging Lisa''s stay quickly and then return to Pontianak. The Head Instructor received them in front of the military camp. They went to the Head Instructor office, which also will become Lisa''s office. Exchanging some pleasantries and reminding the Head Instructor to take of Lisa, Lisa''s father then taking his leave after saying he will come to check occasionally. "You can go to rest if you want or do what you want to do, Lisa. you''re free for now. You will start from tomorrow morning, make sure you join the gathering in the hall, I will introduce you everyone and fellow cadets." The Head Instructor told Lisa after his father left. He then proceed to show Lisa her room and told her she can check her uniform in the closet later. Her capsule is already installed in the room too. The Head Instructor also left a tablet for Lisa, which she can use to find her schedule and any information about the camp and the military training.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Left alone in her room, Lisa notice it''s already dark, checking the schedule she find out it''s already past the dinner time for the cadets and they should be in the game now. She decide to walk around the camp since it''s mostly empty now and she can meet the other instructor to introduce herself, the lack of cadets also another reason. She doesn''t really want to mingle with the cadets, unless necessary she will avoid them during her stay here. Her imagination of the cadets are bulky, rough, sweaty and older guys. As a pampered princess, she can''t imagine hanging around with them. What will her friends said when they find out? She walks out from her room in the instructors dormitory area, meet with some instructors and introduced herself before continuing her walks. She arrived at the gaming area for the cadets, take a peek inside and noticing no instructor is present she left. She then go to the gathering hall to make sure she won''t have to look for it tomorrow morning. In the gathering hall she meet the female instructor and greet her. "Hello, um, miss. I''m Lisa Analita, I will joining here as an assistant for the Head Instructor starting from tomorrow." Lisa introduced herself. "Hello, Lisa. I''ve heard about you. Nice to meet you, no, I should say nice to finally meet another female. My name is Seri." The female instructor responded warmly with a slight grin. "Oh, wow. You''re the only female here before? Must be hard for you." "You bet, it was awful. The other instructors are rigid and old men, while the cadets are too weak and not manly enough." If Arang and the other cadets saw the female instructor now they must be very surprised since the female instructor that they know is a cold lady which seems always in a bad mood, way different compared to how she acts in front of Lisa. Finding a company, Seri starts to chat enthusiastically with Lisa. In no time they already become best friend. Seri acts like an older sister, while Lisa as a youngest child from 3 siblings is happy to have another sister. They talk about various topics, with Seri mostly the one speaking, she seems to vent her frustation and pour her heart to Lisa. Seri learned about Lisa situation and promised to take care of her, when suddenly the door to the hall is opened. "Ah, I''m sorry. I didn''t notice there are people here, it''s usually empty at this hour." Arang enter the hall and startled. He is still in maintenance duty, and have to clean the hall every evening, usually it was empty during the gaming session. He saw the female instructor and another young girl inside the hall. "(Is that a new cadet? But cadets usually coming in batch, not just a single person. Or is she the sister of instructor? Impossible, the instructor definitely won''t have a sister as cute as this one.)" Arang scanned Lisa. He saw her cute fate and black hair that only reaching her shoulder. The very opposite of the tomboy instructors. She seems of similar age with him. "Ah, Arang. Are you going to clean this place now? Come on, Lisa. We should go back to our dorm." Seri then picked up her things and pull Lisa away. "Hello, I''m Lisa. I will join the military camp starting from tomorrow, but I won''t join the training, I will act as an assistant for the Head Instructor." Lisa introduced herself with a smile. ''Uh, I''m Arang. Nice to meet you." Arang was stunned to see Lisa''s brilliant smile. Months with male only group, with exception of Seri, are enough to increase his vulnerability toward girl. Not to mention a cute one like Lisa. "I thought you were the instructor''s sister, but now I''m sure you''re not." Arang suddenly blurted out what in his mind, before flinching when he see the instructor''s reaction. "Arang! What do you mean, you''re sure?! Why can''t I have a sister as cute as Lisa?" Seri growled. "Do you want me to apply for an extension of maintenance duty? I can tell them you really like it so you want to continue." Now Seri is threatening Arang. Lisa just giggling beside Seri. "No, ma''am. I''m sorry!" Arang give salute then bowed to Seri. He is really scared. Ever since he starts doing maintenance duty he have to stay after dinner to clean the cafetaria and the hall, so he started his gaming session later than other cadets. With each cadets has to spend 6 hours real world time, starting later also means he is going to sleep later, while he still have to wake up together. His lack of sleeps in the last few days already affecting him, lowering his performance during the regular training. The longer he have to do maintenance duty might put him into a vicious cycle of being a bottom ranker thanks to his lack of sleep and make him unable to climb up the ranks. Seri forgive him, but not before ordering him to do 30 push-ups. Which Arang complied and finished quickly, before Seri changed her mind. "Why are you not joining the gaming session, but instead cleaning this place?" Lisa can''t help but become curious with Arang. Their similar age might make her less repulsive of Arang, and she is interested to know Arang''s situation. "He was ranked last during the last evaluation, so he needs to do maintenance duty as a punishment. At least until the next evaluation in a few days time and if he is still ranked last he will continue until the evaluation after that." It''s Seri who answered Lisa''s question. "That''s right. Instructor, can I talk to you about something?" Arang just nodded and give a pleading gaze to Seri. Ch. 8: Enter Taliana Arang is on his way to the gaming hall when he recalled his talk with Seri and Lisa earlier in the gathering hall after he informed his situation in the game without telling what he had done and just mentioned his stats in comparison to other cadets and how the evaluation didn''t really fair to him since it''s only evaluate the character level, number of skills and level of skills. "I can''t help you with you with the game itself, but maybe I can help you to make a report about this issue. Don''t put your hope up though. This evaluation system was coming from the central government, so it might take a while to reach them and for them to make a change, if there will be any change, which I doubt." Seri just coldly responded to Arang plea to make an adjustment to the evaluation system without any interest about his stats or how he achieve it. "I don''t know anything about the game, and I doesn''t really agree with the decision to include gaming session in the military training. You should just try to raise your levels, catch up with everybody else. That would be your best option if you want to avoid the bottom rank. Maybe you can talk with your roommates? Ask for their advice and experiences in the game." Seri give some advices to Arang, he is part or her team after all. She needs to take care of him somehow. "If I''m not mistaken, you guys should still be in the starting village and unable to leave, right?" Lisa suddenly joined the conversation. "Maybe I can help you if you want, I already played the game since the server opening day. Just give me your IGN and I will add you later so you can ask me through whisper if you have questions." Lisa feels sorry to hear Arang''s situation, on the other hand she also curious with Arang stats at level 0. "(I need to find out his situation and how he achieve that. It''s good that he didn''t mentioned how he achieve it. Less people know about this will be better, I can slowly have him tell me his secret and Seri won''t say anything too since she doesn''t understand and care about it. If I can do the same as him it will be very helpful for me, maybe I can also catch up with the top players.)" "My IGN is Rimba, but, uhh, what is the whisper that you mentioned about?" Arang scratching his head while asking the question shyly to Lisa. Lisa was suprised to find that Arang didn''t even know what whisper is so she started to explain some basic terms of the game for Arang, which Arang is very grateful for. "(This guy is very ignorant about the game, but that will make it easier for me to get him under my control). My IGN is Taliana, just accept it when my friend request arrived so I can help you." Lisa informed Arang and then leaving with Seri while Arang started to clean the gathering hall. Reaching the instructors dormitory, Lisa just say goodbye to Seri and went to her room, she can wait to play and learn how Arang raise his stats without leveling or doing any quest. She knows that people can raise stat through repetitive actions like mining, fishing, skinning, and other activities, but that kind of activities also provide experience so it won''t be possibe for Arang to stay at level 0 if he was doing it. She was sure that Arang must have a secret method.
Player "Taliana" sends you a friend request Accept/Reject
Rimba is greeted by the blue window when he entered the game. Meanwhile in the outskirts of Terang Capital, Lampu Kingdom, Taliana is on a killing spree against the poor Kobolds while grumbling. Her level 63 Knight character is facing the 5th group of Kobolds she met and slaughtering them with ease. The Kobolds in the outskirts of the capital are weak, somewhere between level 30-40ish, since the Kingdom army went out to exterminate any big camp of stronger Kobolds regularly, leaving the smaller and weaker camps as training target for the recruits and players. They still posed a threat though when they managed to gang up on you. "How dare this guy ignore me for so long. I have sent him the friend request 2 hours ago and he still hasn''t accepted it. How long does he need to clean the hall?!" Taliana keep muttering while her shield and sword moving to block and strike the Kobolds. She can face around 5-6 Kobolds easily by herself as long as she stay focused and don''t let them break her stance. Suddenly she got the notification that her friend request is accepted, startled by the blue window appearing in front of her face she lose sight of her target and allowed some attacks from the Kobolds to hit her and break her stance. Panicked, she struggled to regain her dominance against the remaining Kobolds. Her health is only about 10% left when she finished them all. Feel scared that she is almost end up dead and losing experiences, she move back closer to capital wall and take a rest to recover while sending whisper to Rimba.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Where have you been?! Why did you ignore my friend request for so long? I waited an hour for your confirmation but you are not responding at all so I went to hunt Kobolds, I even almost dead when you suddenly accepted it." Taliana bombarding Rimba with her furious remarks through the whisper. "Uh, I just logged in after finishing my maintenance duty. You know that the game runs 4 times faster, right? I finished my maintenance duty and logged in around half an hour after you and Seri left." Rimba talked cautiously. He knows woman can be unreasonable sometimes. He already reached Olaf''s place and started his routine dummy hitting with the magic rod. "...... I don''t care! Where is your starting village? I will try to visit you and hunt around there, then we can move together when you finished your protection period. Taliana just ignored Rimba''s excuse and focused back to her goal learning of Rimba''s secret. "Uh, I''m at Suram village. It should be somewhere in the northwest border of Lampu Kingdom. I don''t know any other information about the location. Where are you now?" Rimba answered while continuing hitting the dummy, after weeks doing it he started to try various ways of hitting using movements he derived from the close-quarter combat training he had in the real life. "Lampu Kingdom? Great, we are in the same Kingdom at least, I am at the capital. It would be easier to reach you, let me check my map." Taliana is relieved to hear that Rimba is in the same kingdom, she won''t have to pay expensive transportation portal fee or travel a long time if he is in another kingdom. She checked the kingdom map she obtained when she changed her class to a knight. During the class change she can choose to become a knight employed by the kingdom or a free knight. A kingdom knight got salary and equipment support from the kingdom but have to join regular knight training and assigned various task by the kingdom, the free knights didn''t get any support but free to do their activities as long as they followed the law and chivalric codes of the knight. Taliana is a free knight but as a knight based in the kingdom, she still have a duty to protect the kingdom lands when required and the map is for her to know the lands. "Uh, it says the village is require at least 3 weeks of travel from the capital. I also have to pass some areas that are dangerous for travelling soloat my current level. I guess I won''t be able to visit you anytime soon." Taliana regretfully informed Rimba. "That''s okay, I understand. So can I ask you how to raise your level during the protection period? All I have so far is training in the training field at the village to raise my stats and learn some skills. I didn''t see anything else that can give me experience, it makes me curious how the others done it." Rimba a bit disappointed since Taliana won''t be able to come, a beauty company is always welcomed. He is back to his main concern of leveling to catch up with his fellow cadets. "Huh? Training? In the training field? You mean all you have done in the game so far is training? And it gives you stats?" Taliana is a bit dumbfounded when Rimba so easily sharing his "secret method" to her. "Yes, training. Well, not all the time though. I also visited the orphanage here in the afternoon, accompanying the night watch group during the night and also take a walk in the morning with the training instructor around the village. That''s basically what I have done so far. Is anything wrong? Don''t you guys also do the training in the village?" Rimba is slightly baffled by Taliana''s response and started to become suspicious. He always thought that what he have done were the normal things, until the evaluation was conducted and he found out about the other cadets situation. Now Taliana''s response just confirmed his suspicions. He realized that what he have done might actually uncommon and unknowingly he gained advantages compared to other cadets and players. "No wonder you didn''t get any experience, you should try to talk with various people and getting quest from them. Doing those quests will give you experiences so you can level up. How long did you spent time doing the training to gain that much stats and what kind of training you have done?" Taliana provide the answer that Rimba is looking for, and asking his training method. "Well, I think it''s about 12 hours a day in total every day? 8 hours when I just logged in, another 4 hours after I visited the orphanage and before going to the watch tower. All I have done is hitting the dummy, at first it was a bit boring after a few days, but then I started to develop various movements to hit the dummy more efficiently and harder by utilizing the close-quarter combat I learned in the camp and it become interesting again." Rimba thought for a bit and aswered. His movements are not stopped at all and Taliana can hear the sounds when his magic rod hit the dummy. "(Damn, turns out it another boring repetitive kind of training. Considering the time and efforts required it doesn''t make sense for me to follow his method. I think at most he can get the stats gain equal to 10 levels if he continue doing it during the protection period. I can easily gain 10 levels through hunting monsters in much less time.)" Taliana started to lose her interest when she found out Rimba''s "secret method". She just told Rimba that he can continue training if he want, and she already give him the answer to raise his level during the protection period. Now she doesn''t even want to visit Rimba anymore. Taliana cuts off the connection with Rimba and went inside the city wall, she remembered there is a quest issued by the kingdom for the free knights to join the monsters'' camp exterminations with the kingdom''s army. She hopes that she can meet and maybe join the same team with Shinso, a leading player based in Lampu Kingdom. Ch. 9: Rimbas Graduation
Your Strength +2 Your Vitality +2 Your Constitution +2 Your Beginner Blunt Weapon Mastery reach level 4!
RImba suddenly greeted by familiar blue window, he is surprised to see 3 stats gain at once, with more stat points too. Usually it was only 1-2 stats gain, with each stat only gained 1 point. "You have done well, young man." Olaf walks toward Rimba and congratulate him. "You have finished your Basic Training now. I look forward for your performance later when you leave this village." Olaf continues, his eyes seems to acknowledge Rimba, unlike his normal indifferent gaze. "I finished my Basic Training? What do you mean? Ah!" Rimba suddenly realized that today is the last day of his protection period. He would be able to leave the village and starts hunting monsters now. "Yes, you''re strong enough now to start exploring the areas around the village. You also passed the test from the Village Chief." Olaf patted Rimba''s shoulder.
You finished the Basic Training! You earned "Basic Training Graduate" Title! "Basic Training Graduate": All Stats +2 Reputation +10
Your Reputation In Suram Village +30 The villagers will be friendly and might look for you to share their problems.
Rimba smiled brightly toward Olaf. It is his first time to be acknowledged by someone else beside the people in Kasih Orphanage for his efforts. He knows it just in game from NPC but the realistic settings make him feels everything is real. "Thank you, sir. I''m glad to be able to fulfill your expectations and also the Village Chief''s." "Okay, don''t be so dramatic now. I will give you your reward, but since you are the first graduate from our training center here I will give you options for you to choose your reward. You can pick one from the list." Olaf back to is cold personality and become serious when it come to rewarding Rimba.
Choose your reward as the First Graduate of Suram Village: 1. A Rare Weapon (The normal reward, same type with your most used weapon during the training) 2. A Skill Book "Protection Aura" (Rare) Protection Aura: Create an invisible aura protecting your body, reduce 2% incoming damage for each level (Passive). 3. Berserker Class Change 4. Portable Basic Training Set. A small set of Basic Training Equipment (1 Dummy, 3 Weapons of your choosing) that can be put into your Inventory to be carried around.
Rimba is given the options for his reward. Checking his options he hesitated between 2 of the options, but in the end made his choice. "I choose the Portable Basic Training Set." He declared. The Protection Aura skill is also attractive for him, but he reasoned that he can gain skills through other ways while he might not able to get the training set anywhere else. He also thought that with the training set he can continue gaining stats through training anywhere without the need to visit a village, which will greatly reduce the time he spend on travelling. "Alright, now choose the training weapons that you want. You can also pick one of the dummies there." Olaf points at the weapon crate and the dummies standing on the field. Rimba took another magic rod, a bow and a quiver of arrows, and lastly a dagger. "(I might need to hunt animals for food later on my journey, so the bow and arrow is a must. The dagger will be useful when I need to process the animals and make spare arrows. With this training set I can train the required skills. I still need to visit the blacksmith later to get the actual bow and dagger though.)" Rimba settled his selection and coming back to Olaf, who simply nodded at his choice of weapons. Rimba then put everything into his inventory, including the magic rod he used for training in addition to the magic rod he took as his reward. "Now that you finished everything here, you can go visit the Village Chief and report to him. There is also a monster extermination army coming from the capital and visit here in 2 days, you can join them on their way back to the capital later if you want. You can also join them for the monsters extermination, just be sure to be here when they arrive. I can give you recommendation to join them." Olaf dismissed Rimba after that. He seems to miss the fact that Rimba still keeping the magic rod that he used for training, or he just don''t care since there is no mage in the village so anyone won''t be able to learn magic. "(Great, he doesn''t notice. I can try using both magic rods simultaneously later, maybe I can gain stats and skill levels faster.)" Rimba is delighted that Olaf seems not noticing the fact he took 2 magic rods and went right away to the Village Chief House.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Hello, sir. Olaf told me to report to you after I finished my training with him." Rimba speak politely to the Village Chief, Melano who is sitting leisurely on his rocking chair in front of his house. "Ah, yes. You have done great, young man. Olaf told me you are a hardworking youth, the militia also inform me that you were accompanying them during the nightwatch every night, Sarah from the orphanage also said nice things about you and how you were very helpful and nice to the people there." Melano stand up and stare at Rimba with a gentle look. "I''m glad to have you here in the village, but I know you will have to leave here soon and reach bigger stage. Please remember you are a part of Suram Village and we are happy and proud to have you as our member." Melano speaks in a solemn tone.
Your Relationship with Melano +50 Your Relationship with Olaf +50 Your Relationship with Sarah +50 Your Reputation in Suram Village +50 You can own a property in Suram Village now.
Once again, Rimba is bombarded by a series of notifications. "I''m thankful, sir. What is the meaning of this property that I can own, sir?" Rimba is happy to see the notifications and curious about the last one. "You can choose an empty plot of land in the village and claim it if you want, then you can use the land as you see fit. You can build a house, a store, a farmland, or anything as long as it didn''t disturb the villagers or for bad purposes. I would have to convict the land from you then. You also need to pay the annual taxes like the other villagers and me." Melano explained to Rimba. "I see. I won''t claim anything for now, sir. I am still not sure how much longer I will stay here, I can stay at Olaf''s or maybe at the orphanage for now. But I will keep this in mind and I hope I will always have a place to return here, sir." Rimba politely decline the offer to claim a land as his own. He doesn''t know yet that other players usually have to pay for the building that they own, and they only claim the ownership of the building, while the land itself is still owned by the kingdom. They also need to get permission if they want to change or renovate the building and pay more since they don''t actually own the land. "As you wish, Rimba. You will always have a place in this village." Melano seems disappointed that Rimba won''t take any land. Rimba didn''t know whether it is because Melano won''t get taxes from him or Melano actually really wanted Rimba to stay in the village. Excusing himself from Melano, Rimba went to the orphanage and meet Ethan who accompanying the smaller children playing in the front yard. After exchanging some pleasantries with Ethan and the other children, Rimba went inside to see Sarah and convey his thanks for her nice words to the village chief. "Hello Sarah, I''m really thankful for your hospitality and nice words to Melano." Rimba greet Sarah and humbly bowed to her. "Ah, Rimba. Don''t mind it, you are really helpful for us all this time. The children also like you, not to mention someone would be unhappy if I said bad things about you." Sarah grinned and winked at Rimba, then point her gaze at Natalia, who become red faced right away and then went outside. Rimba can hear the other children, especially Beth teasing Natalia. Even little Adam can be heard teasing her. "Uh, I''m just happy to spend time with you guys here. This place reminds me of the place where I came from, so I feel comfortable here." Rimba ignored the teasing from Sarah. He is still inexperienced about those kind of things so he might as well not saying anything. "I''m happy to hear you enjoyed this place, that certain someone would also happy. You should come here more often since you already finished your training. Oh, did you decide a place to stay yet or are you going to leave soon? I know that Chief Melano should already inform you that you can have your own place now." Sarah still teasing Rimba, while also asking about his plan. "I will stay in this village a little longer, Olaf informed me that there will a monster extermination army coming from the capital in 2 days and I can join them on their way back later. Well, since I won''t be staying much longer here I won''t have my own place, I was thinking about staying at Olaf''s or maybe here if allowed." Rimba answered. "Ohhh, you definitely have to stay here then." Sarah smirked. "Natalia! Come here and clean the empty room beside Ethan''s. Rimba will stay with us starting today until he leave with the army later, it''s your chance to seduce him with your housekeeping skills. Who knows he might decide to stay longer if you provide a great service." Sarah suddenly shouted at Natalia outside, much to the amusement of the other children who are laughing aloud. Natalia enters the orphanage with flustered expression, facing the teasing Sarah with angry look while also stealing glances to Rimba, before quietly went upstairs to do what Sarah asked. The other children also coming inside, still giggling, they expressed their joy to have Rimba join them staying in the orphanage. Ethan specifically is very grateful to have Rimba join them, it''s hard to do the physical chores with only him and Gustav, now that Rimba joined them it will be easier. "Now, that''s you place is settled. Let''s talk about the compensation, I can''t let you stay for free after all. You are gonna contribute like everybody else." Sarah become serious and remind Rimba that there is nothing free even in the game world. "Since you are already finished your basic training, I know that you can leave the village now. So I want you to procure some food for us from the forest."
New Quest "Food For The Orphans" Sarah ask you to procure some food for the orphanage. Quest Requirements: Bring some meat or fruits from the forest. 10 Pieces of Meat 10 Pieces of Fruit Quest Reward: Free lodging in the orphanage Exp +100 "Cooking" Skill Quest Penalty: Pay for your lodging in the orphanage Relationship with Sarah -20 Reputation in Suram Village -10 Quest Limit: 2 Days ACCEPT/REJECT?
"I understand, I will be glad to help the orphanage." Rimba accepted the quest promptly. "Good, you can start right away if you want. You can also try visiting the butcher, he would definitely willing to take any extra meat from you." Sarah told Rimba and give advice. Rimba say goodbye to everyone and went to the butcher who give him another quest for meat gathering where he will teach "Skinning" skill for 10 pieces of meat and "Meat Harvesting" skill for another 10 pieces of meat, which Rimba gladly accepted. With his 2 Quest Slots filled, Rimba step outside the village gate and checked his current status.
Name Rimba Class Undecided
Rank Commoner Titles Basic Training Graduate
Level 0 Reputation 20
Health 520 Mana 150
Stamina 260 Stats Points 0
Strength 56 Constitution 52
Agility 52 Intelligence 15
Dexterity 52 Wisdom 15
Vitality 52 Luck 12
Skills: Beginner Magic Rod Mastery Level 3 (82%): +1 Intelligence for each level gained +1 Wisdom for each level gained +1% Magic Damage when using Magic Rod for each level gained Beginner Blunt Weapon Mastery Level 4 (1%): +1 Strength for each level gained +1% Physical Damage when using Blunt Weapon for each level gained
Ch. 10: The Butchers Wisdom Rimba look at his stats with glee, he gained 40 points each in Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Vitality and Constitution for a total of 200 points equal to 20 level ups after finishing his Basic Training, and another 16 points from the +2 to all stats thanks to his Basic Training Graduate title. +4 Strength from his Beginner Blunt Weapon Mastery skill, +3 to his Intellect and Wisdom from his Beginner Magic Rod mastery. All in all, he gained extra 226 points after everything added up while still at level 0. He don''t know why, but the Beginner Blunt Weapon mastery also rising faster than the Beginner Magic Rod mastery. It already reached level 4, while the other skill only managed to reach level 3 on it''s way to level 4. Checking his inventory, he took out his Newbie Weapon Creation Ticket and the Newbie Armor Creation Ticket from his inventory and used them.
You created: "Magic Rod" Attack 1 Magic Attack 5 Durability: 40
You created: "Magician Robe" Defense 1 Magic Defense 3 Durability: 40
He choose the Magician Robe since it''s the only basic armor that provide magic defense, his only weakness based from what he learned during his discussion with Taliana. The attack of the magic rod is also feel lacking, since it the same attack with the training magic rod, although with higher magic attack. Equipping both, he went to the forest. Walking into the forest for the first time, Rimba proceed cautiously. Soon he saw a group of Rabbits, he charged into the Rabbits and hit the closest Rabbit with his magic rod. Critical hit! 72 damage in red showed up above the Rabbit, which collapsed right away. He managed to hit another Rabbit, inflicting another critical hit with 71 damage and killed it before the other Rabbits run away.
You gained a level! You have 10 Stat Points to allocate
"(Nice! I leveled up. Taliana said that Rabbits are worthless monster to hunt since they give small exp, but for the current me they are a nice exp source.)" Rimba checked the 2 Rabbits carcasses and didn''t see any drop, he just took them into his inventory and went to look for another Rabbits. He continued slaughtering Rabbits, the carcasses in his inventory already more than 40, while he also leveled up another 5 times to reach level 6. Feeling confident after experienced how easy it is to kill the Rabbit, Rimba went deeper into the forest. There are less Rabbits in the deeper areas, so Rimba is planning to go back when suddenly a wolf howl can be heard nearby. Alarmed, Rimba become wary and take a look at his surroundings. The tree leaves in front of him parted and a big wolf can be seen watching him with ferocious eyes, then another 2, 3, and finally 5 wolves also appeared surrounding him. The wolves seems in similar size with wolves in the real world, with the exception they look more ferocious and stronger. The wolves are level 10-20s, with their alpha can reach level 30-40s, way stronger than the level 1-2 Rabbits with occasional level 4-5 Rabbits. "(Damn, what a bad luck. I just have to run into a pack of wolves.)" Rimba cursed, but also realized his complacency after easily slaughtering the Rabbits. Considering his options, he decide to make a breakthrough from the encirclement instead of facing the wolves head-on. He took the Training Magic Rod from his inventory and hold it in his left hand, with weapons in both hands he thought it will be easier for him to face multiple enemies at once.
You equipped a non-secondary weapon in your other hand. A penalty will be given for the second weapon Only 40% of damage will be applied Can''t use skill with the second weapon
Rimba already know about the penalty when he tried to equip a second weapon on his way to the forest, so he doesn''t pay any attention to the notification, he believe it definitely better than let his other hand only using fist. Now ready, he suddenly charged to his left side, the one with only 2 wolves guarding it and and hit one with his right weapon, keeping guard with his left. Thwack! He hit the skull of his target, making it stopped on it''s track and stunned, a 33 damage can be seen above it. The other wolf lunges into him, jaw opened to bite his thigh while the remaining wolves can be heard chasing him. He swing his right weapon like a baseball bat to strike the side of the wolf head, infilicting 36 damage making it wince in pain and unable to bite him, then make a downward strike using his left hand to hit the skull of the second wolf with another number of 14 damage appeared.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. A single glance at the two wolves show him they only lost around 20-25% of health. Knowing he won''t be able to kill them fast enough before the other wolves coming, Rimba just ran between the 2 wolves, hitting both their backs while passing them and continued his run to the exit. Rushing forward, he suddenly make a stop. In front of him is another wolf, but unlike the other wolves this one look bigger above it''s head Rimba can see level 32. It''s an alpha, probably the one who howled earlier. The other wolves now also arrived and they encircled Rimba again, but more cautiously. "(Just great, now I also need to face the alpha wolf too. Now that they have an alpha leading them, I don''t think I can make a breakthrough anymore. Direct confrontation then.)" Seeing no other option, Rimba steeled his resolve and decide to duke it out with wolves. He remembered his 60 stat points from his level up and decide to put it all into Strength to improve his attack so he might able to kill them faster than they kill him. Holding both weapons, he charged toward the two he already attacked earlier. Instead of lunging into him the two wolves decide to stay put and wait for him to arrive. Both wolves just dodged Rimba downward swings when he arrived before lunging to bite his now defenseless body. Surprised to see it, Rimba also lunging forward into a roll, avoiding the bites. He realized it will be dangerous if he keep swinging wildly so he decide to follow the wolves'' example, waiting for them to come to him. He knows he can afford to wait, but the wolves won''t be able to suppress their instinct for long and will start attacking him. Moving backward slowly until his back hit a big tree, Rimba know this is the best position for him to stand his ground. The wolves won''t be able to attack him from behind so he can focused to his front and sides. True enough, the 6 wolves are coming closer in a semi-circle in front him while the Alpha watching from behind the other wolves. Impatient, the alpha growled to order the wolves to start attacking. Three wolves lunging into Rimba, he make a wide swing with his main hand, hitting two of the wolves with 74 and 76 damage appeared. His other weapon thrusted into the mouth of the remaining attacker, a critical hit with 68 damage inflicted. "(Too bad the wounded wolves from earlier are not the ones attacking me, otherwise I can kill them with another hit.)" With their health reduced by almost a half, Rimba only need at most 2 more hits to kill them. Encouraged, he took a step forward and swing his main weapon once again in even wider arc to hit all three on the head. The one who took a thrust into its mouth got hit first squarely, the slight delay when hitting it make the other two have chance to jump back but Rimba still managed to hit their forelegs. Rimba continues by smashing his other weapon, killing the first wolf with the other two in critical state. Cautious, Rimba stayed after killing his first wolf instead of chasing the 2 who jumped back. It proves a correct decision since the other 3 wolves waiting then entering the fray and attacked him. This time they know not to stay too close with each other, Rimba let one of them slip past his defense and bite his leg, reducing around 10% of his health and giving him Bleeding status.
You are "Bleeding" Lose 5 Health Points every second for 30 seconds
Jolted by the pain, Rimba just wildly smashing into the wolf biting his leg using both weapons in turn while screaming. The wolf keep biting Rimba''s leg even after killed by the 3rd hit from Rimba. Distracted by the pain, Rimba keep smashing and not noticed the other 2 already jumped to tackle him. Fall into his back, Rimba panicked and started to wildly flailing around not caring whether he hit the wolves or not. Luckily he managed to land some hits and kill the 2 wolves while his leg already freed when he fall down. Sensing no movement around him, Rimba come to his senses and stand up. The alpha wolf is nowhere to be seen, around him are 4 wolf carcasses the proof that he killed them. Not far from him are the other 2 wolves in critical state, unable to stand up since he hit their forelegs when they jumped back, whimpering with fear in their eyes. The alpha seems to be a cruel and calculating type, realizing it would be hard to finish Rimba by himself he just run away leaving his remaining pack members. Still on a high after his panic struggle, Rimba just killed those 2 and pick all the wolf carcasses. He only have around 40% health remaining after the battle and decide to have enough for today hunting. He only managed to survive the wolves'' ambush since they seems to be a young and weaker pack. The alpha only level 32 and also run away when his pack members defeated, while the pack members are level 12-14. He didn''t think he would survive an ambush from stronger pack.
You gained 3 levels You have 30 Stat Points to allocate
Rimba checked the notifications and keep the stat points for now, he would decide later after consulting with Taliana. The 60 points into Strength is an emergency. On his way out of the forest he continued hunting any Rabbits that he came across, reaching level 10 in the process while also picking some fruits for his quest. He would like to hunt longer and gain more levels to catch up with his fellow cadets but his gaming session for today is almost up. It would only enough for him to return to the village and submitting his quests. Reaching the village, he went to the butcher and pull out 30 Rabbits carcasses and put it on the butcher''s table. "Here is your meat, 30 pieces in total. I will give you the extra 10 as a bonus." "Young man, these are the Rabbit carcasses. While it can also provide some meat after processed, it is not the meat that I requested." The butcher said while checking the Rabbit carcasses, then suddenly realized something, he look at Rimba again. His expression filled with amusement. "Young man, are you perhaps doesn''t know how to loot?" Ch. 11: Lisas Proposal "Loot?" Rimba responded quizzically. "I knew it! Here, you do it like this. Loot!" The butcher just laughed and then put his right hand over the rabbit carcasses, showing Rimba how it''s done. Suddenly there are a big pile of meat on the table, alongside a stack of rabbit leather and some copper coins. "That''s how you loot the monsters that you killed, you can say or just think loot, collect, or harvest. You can also just say it out loud and every monsters you killed around you will drop their items. Some people prefer to do this so they can just choose the items that they want and left everything else instead of collecting them all." The butcher explained tor Rimba. "Let''s see. There are 42 pieces of meat, 24 piece of rabbit pelts, and 65 coppers. Well, since you already give the rabbit carcasses to me, I will take everything. Thanks young man, here''s your reward." Taking advantage of Rimba, the butcher just took everything looted from the 30 rabbit carcasses. He then proceeded to show Rimba how to skin and cut the meat of the rabbit.
You learned "Skinning" skill Beginner Skinning Level 1 - Dexterity +1 for each level gained You learned "Meat Harvesting" skill Beginner Meat Harvesting Level 1 - Dexterity +1 for each level gained 2 or more skills from the same skillset found, combining skills: You learned "Collecting - Monster Parts" skill
Main Skill : Beginner Collecting - Monster Parts Level 1 (0%) Sub-skill 1: Beginner Skinning Level 1 Sub-skill 2: Beginner Meat Harvesting Level 1 - Dexterity +3 for each level gained - Increase probability to get higher quality parts - Only the main skill will gain experience, depending on how you use the sub-skills, the sub-skills will always have the same level with the main skill - The stats gain is combination of the stat gain from main skill and sub-skills
Rimba just let go of the loots from the 30 rabbit carcasses, he thought it worth it as exchange for the information and skills, especially the combined skill. +3 Dexterity for each level! Now that he know he can loot and then process the carcasses from his hunt, he believes he will be able to raise the skill steadily. Eager to try his new skill, he ask the butcher if he is allowed to use his table and tools to process his remaining carcasses. He still have 23 rabbit and 6 wolf carcasses in his inventory. "Go ahead. Here, take this. Consider this as a gift." The butcher point at another table and give Rimba a set of knife, one for skinning and one for cutting the meat. It''s the most basic knives, but still better than nothing and it also free, so Rimba is glad. "Loot." Rimba put his remaining rabbit carcasses and the wolves on the table, to the surprise of the butcher. Rimba gained 40 pieces of meat, 16 rabbit pelts, 4 wolf pelts, 6 pieces of wolf claw and 62 coppers which he keep into his inventory. Rimba then tried his new skill, taking the skinning knife, he recalled the information he received from the butcher''s example earlier. His first skinning didn''t go well, but starting from the 7th rabbit he already got the hang of it and managed to get an intact pelt from every rabbit carcass. He noticed something different from the rabbit pelts he got through looting, so he try to compare them, but the butcher interrupted him. "Did you notice it? The quality of the product through looting will at most normal quality, while the worst would be poor quality. The one you get from skinning manually can be damaged or useless, but the quality can reach the highest quality, perfect. The same with the meat or any other products." The butcher explained. "I was suprised to see you managed to kill wolves, and six at that, on your first hunting trip. How about this, let me handle the 6 wolf carcasses. I will take the pelts and get the leatherworker guy to make you some armors, you seems lacking some pieces, but we will share the wolf meat half each. How does it sound?" The butcher proposed, he seems unwilling to let the wolf carcasses damaged by Rimba. "Sure! I will need boots, gloves, helmet and pants. Thank you very much!" Rimba is ecstatic thinking he can get free armors. "Whoa, take it easy young man. I don''t know if the pelt would be enough or not for your request, but I will inform him. Now leave this to me." The butcher just pushed Rimba out. On his way to submit his quest to Sarah in the orphanage he then realized something, "Damn that butcher, I left the 23 rabbit carcasses on his table. Oh well, consider it payment for the armors. I can always hunt for more." Reaching the orphanage he promptly finished his quest by giving all 40 pieces of meat in his inventory to Sarah, much to her delight. In turn she teach "Cooking" Skill to Rimba, and thanks to the extra pieces of meat he learned the skill starting at level 3. There is no stat gains from the skill, but it have a taste correction for anything you cook and allow you to use various cooking techniques. Finishing with Sarah''s quest, Rimba realized it almost time up for his gaming session so he just walk around the village, checked his status once last time to take note of everything and logged out.
Name Rimba Class Undecided
Rank Commoner Titles Basic Training Graduate
Level 10 Reputation 20
Health 1020 Mana 250
Stamina 310 Stats Points 40
Strength 116 Constitution 52
Agility 52 Intelligence 15
Dexterity 58 Wisdom 15
Vitality 52 Luck 12
Spoiler: Skills This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Skills: Beginner Magic Rod Mastery Level 3 (91%): +1 Intelligence for each level gained +1 Wisdom for each level gained +1% Magic Damage when using Magic Rod for each level gained
Beginner Blunt Weapon Mastery Level 4 (27%): +1 Strength for each level gained +1% Physical Damage when using Blunt Weapon for each level gained
Main Skill : Beginner Collecting - Monster Parts Level 2 (13%) Sub-skill 1: Beginner Skinning Level2 Sub-skill 2: Beginner Meat Harvesting Level2 +3 Dexterity for each level gained Increase probability to get higher quality parts Only the main skill will gain experience, depending on how you use the sub-skills, the sub-skills will always have the same level with the main skill The stats gain is combination of the stat gain from main skill and sub-skills
Beginner Cooking Level 1 (0%) Cooking speed +1% for each level gained Improve food quality when cooking Can handle ingredients better
Back in the training camp a bit past 2 A.M. Arang just hoped the 10 levels he gained is enough for him to raise his rank in the evaluation this morning, putting him in higher rank, freeing him from the maintenance duty. Arrived in his dorm, he saw his roommates already fallen asleep which he duly joined. The next morning, Arang''s hope is dashed. He remains as the lowest level character from all cadets, although now he is only separated by 1 level from the second lowest level character and only 3 levels from the highest level character. Knowing he almost catching up with other cadets, Arang didn''t feel bad as the last evaluation and become motivated. He will make sure in the next evaluation he will give a big surprise for everyone. After the evaluation Arang met and talked with Seri, the female instructor who also his group lead instructor. She mentioned that she already make a report about Arang situation, where his stats actually much higher than someone at his level should be, but the Head Instructor simply didn''t care and insist on using level as the standard of the evaluation unless he got another order from higher up. Arang just accepted the situation, in fact he now wanted to keep his stats as a secret. After talking with Lisa in the game, he realized his situation is not common and he can take advantages of that. For example his leveling speed from hunting will be faster thanks to his higher stats, higher level lead to stronger monsters and better loot, which means more money for him. Ever since he started the gaming session in the camp, he browsed about the game in his spare time. He learned how much money can be gained from the game, and he intent to exploit the free gaming session during the military service to gather as much money as possible in game and later sell it when he finished the military service. Later, he could also teach his method to Herman and Tan from Kasih orphanage when they enter the military service next year, as they are almost reaching their 18th birthday soon. Looking forward to his future, Arang just smiled when some people mocking him as the bottom rank again. During the lunch break he talked with fellow cadets and learned that some of them already start moving to their respective capital, some move to better settlements, some joined the adventurer''s team or similar organization. In the middle of their lunch break, suddenly the dining hall become quiet. Lisa is coming over, as an assistant to the Head Instructor she usually eat together with the other instructor in their own dining hall. Seeing her and considering beside her there is only Seri as the other female existence in the camp make everyone stare at her, including Arang. She just come over to Arang and tell him that she needs to talk with him, privately, much to the jealousy and envy of other cadets. She takes Arang to her office, which is currently empty since the other instructor are having lunch, gestured for Arang to take a seat and start speaking. "Arang, I have a proposal and I hope you would agree with it." Lisa stared at Arang seriously. She got an idea from her older brother when she told him about Arang method in the game. This idea of her can make her finished her service duty quicker and take her back to the comfort of her big house in Pontianak, but she will need Arang agreement first. "I want to recommend your training method in the game to the military. After talking with my older brother I realized that your training actually providing a solid foundation and very beneficial in the long run. It''s true that you can easily get the same amount of stat points by leveling, but it''s only in the early stages. Later, at much higher level it would be harder to level up and the extra stat points from training will give you an advantage. It also easy for you to catch up in term of levels after finishing the training, since everyone at most will only have levels between 10-15 after the protection period and you can hunt higher leveled monster with lower level compared to them making your leveling speed faster." Lisa stated her proposal and the story behind it. Turn out his brother can see things at wider picture than her and gave her his insight at the matter, and suggested Lisa to take advantage of this knowledge. "If you agree, I will make a recommendation to use your training method for the next batch of cadets who just started their gaming session, giving them stronger foundation and will be more helpful when needed. I would like to claim all the credit to myself, but in return I will give you the gaming capsule I have here in this camp. I also would like to inform you that the government or military owned gaming capsule have settings to take 20% cut of the user income in-game and send it to a government account from their agreement with GUPA Company. Since my gaming capsule is my private property, it won''t have this settings. I also already paid the subscription fee for 2 years, you can use the capsule until the end of your service and still have some months left to use it for free. So, what do you think?" Lisa just dropped the bomb. Surprised by the proposal and the informations, Arang take his time to organize his thought. Lisa just waiting while staring at him. Ignoring the fact there is 20% cut for his income in-game, the free capsule and subscriptions are already more than enough for him. But his experiences of being exploited by his employers make him wary. "I just want to know something, what is it for you if I accept your proposal?" Arang asked back. "I will let you know if you accept my proposal first. Just believe me that it won''t do any harm to you. I could easily make a recommendation without your knowledge and not giving you any compensation if I really want it. Besides, even if you make the recommendation by yourself you won''t get something as good as what I have offered, people might even simply erase your name and claim it for themselves." Worried that Arang will try to make a recommendation by himself, Lisa pleaded and also threatened Arang at the same time. Reminding Arang he is a nobody in the government or military eyes. "Alright, I agree. Just don''t forget your promise. Now tell me what is it for you." Arang readily agree to the proposal after Lisa reminding him about his position. "Well, it actually so I can finish my service quicker. I believe with this merit and an arrangement from my father I can easily get exempted from the remaining service period and return to Pontianak. I want to leave this place as soon as possible." Lisa simply stated the truth to Arang. "That''s it?" Arang have an incredulous look. He can''t believe the thing that Lisa after is that simple. Ch. 12: Beware of Goblins! Finalizing his deal with Lisa, Arang left the office satisfied. He is looking forward to the gaming capsule that soon will be his, he could sell the capsule for some cash later after the subscription period ended or in case of emergency. The money will be very helpful for him and the orphanage. Arang finished his training for today after the meeting with Lisa andregretted that he still have to enter the game using the capsule provided by the government, since Lisa will only give him her capsule after she leave. Still stuck with the maintenance duty, he was on his way to clean the gathering hall when Seri called for him to meet her in the office. Meeting Seri, he was informed that he now will act as an assistant for the Head Instructor replacing Lisa. Turn out after talking with him, Lisa contacted her father straight away to inform him about her idea and ask for his help to make the necessary arrangements. Her father is delighted with the idea, as it can also used to raise his status in the political circle so he approved her right away and decide to give additional reward for Arang by letting him taking the assistant role that will be vacated by Lisa. That afternoon, a few hours after the call with her father, Lisa is instructed to come back to Pontianak by her father. They will leave to the capital in the next morning to make an official recommendation directly to the central government, her father already made some calls to the people in central government and her recommendation is already as good as approved. They only need to go through the formal process. Surprised by the extra arrangement, Arang is reminded that he still need to continue his maintenance duty until the next evaluation. Later, his evaluation will be fully conducted by the Head Instructor based on his performance as his assistant and also his gaming performance. So there is still a possibility that he might continue maintenance duty after the next evaluation. Arang doesn''t mind to continue his current maintenance duty, he is sure that he will catch up and maybe leaving everyone behind in the gaming session during this period until the next evaluation. Now that he will use a private gaming capsule, he can play longer compared to other cadets every night, not limited by the 6 hours gaming session quota. Suddenly everything seems going right for him, he even considered to praise Lisa as his lucky star. After finished his talk with Seri, Arang went to finish his maintenance duty for today. Since Lisa already vacated her room, leaving only the gaming capsule, Arang also already ordered by Seri to move tonight. His roommates already doing their gaming session so no other cadets know that Arang will move out from the dorm and act as an assistant replacing Lisa, he is looking forward to see their reaction in the next morning gathering. Entering his new room, Arang noticed the game capsule in the corner of the room, ecstatic that it already his now. Putting his things down, he sit down in the desk and checking his duty and schedule as the assistant. His duty and schedule is still the same as Lisa''s, which is pretty lax, but he knows that things might not that easy later on. Who knows what the Head Instructor have for him when they meet after the gathering in the morning. Then he entered the game.
Rimba appeared in his room in the orphanage. Hearing the flurry of activities downstairs, he went down to greet everyone. Sarah just give him the same quest to get meat, but the "Cooking" skill reward is now replaced by a 100 additional EXP. Rimba went to Olaf''s place after that, he want to ask about the monsters extermination army from the capital. Olaf is nowhere to be seen when Rimba arrived at the training field, he went to the watch tower on the northern gate to look for Olaf. As the Head of Village Security sometimes Olaf went there to talk with the militia and make the arrangements for them. In the northern watch tower, Rimba saw the number of militia are less than usual. He asked the young militia he often accompanied during night watch and found out that Olaf and some of the militia are joining the monsters extermination army from the capital. Olaf was waiting for him, but since Rimba is not coming and the leader of the extermination army not willing to wait any longer they just left yesterday. Rimba realized he forgot that the game is running even when he logged out, and with 4:1 time difference the arrival of the army was 2 days ago. They stayed for 1 day in the village before leaving to exterminate the monsters, without any information how long they will do the extermination before coming back to the village. Knowing he can''t do anything about it, not to mention he won''t be able to catch up with them even if he leave right away, Rimba just accepted the situation. He went back into the village and visited the butcher to see if his armors are finished. The butcher already waiting for him with his armors, unfortunately the pelts are only enough to make pants, a pair of boots and gloves. Rimba is still thankful, he checked their stats and equipped them.
"Leather Pants" Defense 3 Durability: 40
"Leather Boots" Defense 2 Durability: 40
"Leather Gloves" Defense 2 Durability: 40
Satisfied with the additional 7 Defense, he believes it will be easier for him to face wolves if he meet them again. Last time he met them he only have 1 Defense from his "Magician Robe" and he still able to take some hits, not to mention now that he have 8 Defense. Rimba just went through the gate once again, heading to the forest when the Militia Captain who seems just coming back from patrolling the village calling for him. It seems his 90 reputation in Suram Village starting to show its effect.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "Hey young man, I heard from the butcher you managed to kill 6 wolves on your first trip to the forest. Can I ask you for help?" The captain said.
New Quest "Helping The Militia" The militia captain ask you to patrol the forest outskirt on your hunting trip, report back to him when you finished or find something. Quest Reward: Reputation in Suram Village +10 Short Bow 30 Arrows Quest Penalty: Reputation in Suram Village -50
It is actually another forced quest, so Rimba just nodded and continuing his trip to the forest. When he arrived, he just going deeper ignoring the rabbits in the outskirts area. His target are the wolves, he met a pair of wolves and killed them easily. His higher defense really help, as he can focused more on hitting the wolves. Feeling confident, he look for more wolves and soon met another group of wolves. There are 6 wolves now, but no alpha leading them. It seems 6 is the usual number of members for the wolves hunting group. Pulling out his Training Magic Rod as second weapon, he charged into the wolves instead of waiting for them to surround him. His defense and total health now means each bite from the wolves only inflicted 20-30 damages and the claw strike only inflicted 50-60 damages. He simply ignore the attacks from the 6 wolves, just focused on killing them and still have around 60-70% health left when he finished them all. Rimba continued hunting the wolves, but he doesn''t dare to venture too deep. He learned from the Militia Captain earlier that stronger wolves are located deeper. The last time he was lucky only meeting a young pack, and the alpha just left suddenly. If he met an older and stronger pack he is lucky if he can run away. A few hours and 6 levels later, there are 38 wolf carcasses in his inventory. He decided it''s enough and went back to the outskirt of the forest to patrol while hunting rabbits, but instead of using the Magic Rod he pulls out the Training Bow. Yes, he planned to train his archery with the rabbits while patrolling. He already have enough meat for the orphanage, so it doesn''t matter whether he can kill the rabbits or not using the bow. The prospective reward from Militia Captain also strengthening his resolve to learn archery.
"Training Bow" A wooden short bow for training purpose Maximum Shooting Range: 15 metres Durability: 50 Option: Self-Repair (When not in use will recover 1 durabilty per 30 minutes, unless destroyed)
"Training Arrow Quiver" A quiver pairing the Training Bow Capacity: 10 Arrows Arrow Attack: 1 Durability: 50 Option: Self-Repair (When not in use will recover 1 durabilty per 30 minutes, unless destroyed) Arrow Retrieval: Retrieve 5 arrows automatically in order when emptied during use, retrieve all arrows automatically after 5 minutes when not in use. The arrows can only retrieved when within 60 metres radius from the quiver.
Bow and arrow ready, Rimba walked along the outskirts of the forest. Whenever he saw the rabbits he let loose the arrow, occasionally hitting and killing them. Most of his shots are missed, even the ones hitting are usually lucky shots that hit the other rabbit around his actual target. When he killed the 10th rabbit, a notification appears.
You learned "Archery" skill Beginner Archery Level 1 (0%) Dexterity +1 for each level gained Agility +1 for each level gained Maximum Shooting Range +1 metre for each level gained
"(Huh? I gained the skill so quickly? Is it because of my level or my stats? I remember it took me 5 days to learn the Magic Rod Mastery skill, and 7 days to learn the Blunt Weapon Mastery skill.)" Rimba is surprised to learn the skill so quickly. He was expecting the skill to be learned much later. Had he known it would be so fast, he would already use the bow during his training in the protection period. Accepting the fact and ignoring whatever reason behind it, Rimba continued his patrol and rabbit hunting. With the help from the skill, Rimba accuracy also improved somehow. He started to hit once out of 3 shots, unlike his earlier accuracy which is totally random. The skill also growing steadily and soon would reach level 2, he planned to go back and report to the Militia Captain when he reach level 2 in Archery. He already patrolled the forest outskirts facing the village, and he estimated another 2 or 3 hit will get his Archery to level 2. Soon he reached his target, together with 21 rabbit carcasses in his inventory. Returning to the village, he didn''t notice 3 little goblins are following his tracks in the outskirts of the forest and catching the rabbits that got shot by him but not dead and managed to run away. Those weakened rabbits become easy prey for the little goblins. The little goblins took the rabbits they caught toward a small cave further past a small river. Inside the cave there are 3 wolf pups sleeping adorably, when they heard the sounds of the goblins arrival and smelling the bloodied rabbit carcassed they instantly awake and running towards the goblins.
Unknown to Rimba, these 3 goblins were the reason why the alpha wolf from his first hunting trip was suddenly leaving. The alpha heard the faint cries of his pups, realizing that his pups might be in danger he just left and returned to his lair and noticed 3 of his pups were missing leaving only 2 behind. The alpha smelled goblins and wanted to chase the thieves but worried that the human he just fighting earlier with his pack will come to his lair after killing his remaining pack members since it''s not that far from where they were fighting, so he just stayed at the lair letting the thieves go away. Knowing how fast and cunning the goblins are, he know he won''t be able to catch up easily with them, he might even got ambushed and killed by the goblins if he chase them by himself. It''s just a series of coincidence that allowed the little goblin trio to manage getting away with their thievery on a defenseless wolf lair. If Rimba didn''t come close to the wolf lair, the alpha won''t call his pack and his mate to surround him and would still in the lair with his mate. If Rimba didn''t chose to make a breakthrough past the alpha''s mate and hit her, the alpha wouldn''t come out and join the attack. If the alpha didn''t overtake Rimba and stopped him on his track, Rimba would just continue running instead of stopping and decide to make a stand against the wolves. If the 2 wolves that got hit on their forelegs didn''t whimpering along the sounds of Rimba flailing around against the other wolves, the alpha would able to hear the cries of his pups much earlier, not giving time for the little goblin trio to run far enough. Ch. 13: Meeting Another Players Arrived in the village, Rimba reported to the Militia Captain and received his reward before going back to the orphanage. Stopped by the butcher, he give some of the wolf and rabbit carcasses to be shared with the other villagers for some extra reputation in the village. In a remote village such as Suram, the villagers are helping each other instead of selling and buying things since they can get their basic needs from their surroundings. Money have less value since there are almost nothing to spend the money for in the village. When they need to buy something from the nearest town, they will bring some products and sell it there first for some money before buying anything. In the orphanage, he gave the meat to Sarah to complete his quest. Rimba then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner and practicing his Cooking skill, he found Natalia already in the kitchen so they worked together. After together with everyone in the oprhanage, Rimba went to Olaf''s place and doing some training before joining the nightwatch. Now that he already recognized by the villagers and militia, the nightwatch become a quest for him which reward him some reputation in the village. When dawn arrived and he completed his nightwatch quest, he went for a walk around the village, a habit he pick from his training with Olaf. With the extra login hours from using personal capsule, Rimba now can spend another day in-game where he managed to complete another Patrol, Meat Collecting and Nightwatch quests before logging off.
Arang arrived in the gathering hall and got introduced as the new assistant replacing Lisa. After the gathering he talked with the Head Instructor and learned about his duty which basically just compiling the reports from the other instructors, prepare some documents and make necessary arrangements for the Head Instructor when needed. He is also allowed to join the training or conduct his maintenance duty if he is free during the day. Happy with the arrangements, Arang spend the day adapting with his new duty. He also receive a message from Lisa which is basically what he already learned from Seri, except another fact that she also asked his father some monetary compensation for him which she already transferred. Arang checked his bank account and saw IDR 500,000,000,- has been added to his account. Surprised with amount, he messaged Lisa if she actually made a mistake in transferring the money and that he doesn''t dare to accept that much which Lisa simply replied with, "It''s okay." Feeling grateful, and mostly excited, Arang transferred IDR 300,000,000 to Kasih for her treatment and also the orphanage. Knowing Kasih, he worried that she won''t use the money for treatment but instead spend most of it on the orphanage. The remaining IDR 200,000,000 will be his emergency fund if something happened with Kasih or the orphanage.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
2 weeks has passed since Arang become assistant, he managed to avoid ranked last and freed from the maintenance duty. Inside "BORNEO", since Rimba not dare to leave the village by himself he kept doing the patrol, meat collecting and nightwatch quest alongside his daily hunting and training. Rimba has just returned from doing his patrol quest when he saw a lot of people camping just outside the village. There is a flag with a bright sun symbol on it raised in the middle of the camp. Remembered that the flag is the symbol of Lampu Kingdom, he realized that the extermination army has returned. He passed the camp and was going to enter the village when he heard someone calling for him. "Hey, are you also a player? Did you started here?" A boy around the same age with Rimba has called for him. He is accompanied by another 2 players, both male and similar age. "Yes, I started here. My name is Rimba, and you guys are?" Rimba replied to the boy. "I''m Bodenk, a Priest. This quiet guy here is Tole, a Knight. And he is Pay, a Hunter." The guy introduced himself, then pointed to Tole on his left and Pay on his right. Both his friend only nodded and keep quiet. "Are you guys already finished the extermination? Or are you just going to re-supply and take a break here?" Rimba asked their situation. "We already finished. Now the army leader is inside, reporting to the village chief. Maybe we will stay for a few days before returning to the capital. Are you coming with us? I don''t think there is a future for you staying in this backwater village, you can join our team too if you want. As you can see, we are lacking a magician." Bodenk give some explanation before inviting Rimba, who he thought as a Mage since he wear a Mage Robe and holding Magic Rod, to join his team. "I see. Yes, I planned to leave this place but I don''t know when yet. Thanks for your invitation, but you see, I''m not a Mage. I don''t even have a class yet." Rimba answered while scratching his head bashfully. "Huh? You still don''t have a class? Well, you can still join us though and later get your class in the capital." Bodenk seems surprised but still act friendly and keep his offer. "(I recall this backwater village doesn''t have a Mage, it''s no wonder he still not getting his class yet since no one here can give him the class. Well, we can bring him to get class change. That way he will be more grateful and easier to rope in as our team member)" "Thanks, I appreciate it. Let me consider it first, I will inform you tomorrow." Rimba then proceeded to add them as Friend which they accepted. Suddenly there is a commotion from inside the village, Rimba can hear some people shouting and crying. Some militia also can be seen running toward the village center. Ch. 14: First Contact With Shinso Rimba enters the village, leaving Bodenk and his friends. He runs to the center of the village and see there is a gathering in front of the Village Chief''s house. He can see Melano and Olaf standing together, surrounded by some villagers and militia members. In front of them he can see 5 players standing together, the one in the middle seems like their leader. The shoutings are coming from some villagers and the militia members, behind them there are also some people crying. "You said we will only act as guide, and will stay behind uninvolved during the fight. That''s why we join you willingly without requesting any compensation before. But you intentionally create a gap in the defense line and let the monsters attack the rear from the gap before attacking them from behind while we struggled against them!" A militia member who joined the expedition is shouting. "So what? We didn''t expect that the monsters actually managed to make a breakthrough and attacked the rear. You should be thankful that we still coming back to help you guys otherwise if the monsters managed to get away it will be a problem since we are supposed to exterminate them." One of the 5 players responded with a smirk. "Mr. Shinso, we only ask for some compensation that are the rights of the deceased''s relatives. It''s true that we didn''t talk about any compensation before, but since the militia actually joining your army in the expedition they can be considered as part of the army and deserved the compensation when they perished on duty like the other member of the army. As the army leader you should know this too." Melano spoke to the man who looks like the leader of the players, turns out he also the leader of the monster extermination army. "Alright, Shinso. Listen here, we only demand that you provide the compensation. Seeing that the army also helping the village by exterminating monsters in the surrounding area, I will let go the fact that your incompetence to lead costs us some members and will not demand punishment when I make a report, although I''m sure the fact that your leadership is not good enough will be put in consideration for your further assignments." Olaf who just standing quietly beside Melano suddenly joined the talk. "A report...?" The leader who also keep quiet so far also speak in the end. Rimba now can see the looks of the leader, he is an American with short hair. He have a tall build on a lean side with enough muscle. It''s his eyes that totally caught Rimba''s attention, his eyes are like a predator who watch his prey. "Yes, I will make a report to the army officer. You know, I''m also part of the kingdom army who assigned to stay in this village. I was informed of you and your army arrival and tasked to supervise and make a report of this monster extermination task." Olaf give a brief answer. "That''s... Okay, I will provide a compensation and leave right away tomorrow morning. I''ll send the compensation later this evening." Shinso seems hesitated but eventually gave in and just turned around and leave. Rimba caught a glint in his eyes that look dangerous, he seems angry that he would have to provide compensation and got a bad evaluation for his leadership in this monster extermination task. After Shinso and his group leave, Rimba talked with the militia members who returned from the expedition and learned what happened. Turns out during their expedition Shinso as the leader who only bringing infantry with him keep utilizing his soldiers as shield wall and killed most of the monsters together with his teammates. He only left a small number of monsters to be killed by the others. It was still okay if they only monopolized the kills. But during one of the battle where they attacked a Goblin tribe and facing strong resistance, he actually make a gap in the shield wall and let some of the goblins to enter the army ranks, before closing the gap and isolated the goblins who made it through inside. This small group of goblins were directly facing the rear where the militias located alongside some players not part of Shinso''s group since most of the soldiers were arranged in frontline as the shield wall and the remaining on the flanks. That was when the casualties started happening, the militias, together with less than 10 players were struggling against the goblins without any soldiers helping them. Then when the goblins were busy attacking them, Shinso and his group attacked the goblins from behind without any worry or guilt. This happened a few times until the number of goblins were reduced significantly before Shinso ordered for a full assault, easily finished the remaining goblins and claimed the victory. The militias and the other players become the cannon fodder, if not for one of players is a Knight who can defend against a few goblins at once and another one who is the only Priest in the army healing us, the number of casualties might be much higher instead of just 6 militias and 2 players.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "(A Knight and a Priest? I guess it''s Bodenk and Tole, so they are not part of Shinso group.)" Rimba recalled the 3 players he met outside the village earlier when he heard the story from the militia. The villagers are dispersing with the deceased are taken by their relatives to be buried in the village graveyard. Rimba said goodbye to the militia and going to greet Olaf. Olaf is in a discussion with Melano, so he just give a simple greeting and returned to the orphanage. Entering the orphanage he saw Sarah is talking with a guy who looks like a soldier but better equipped compared to the other soldier he saw outside the village. Worried that he might disturbed their talk Rimba was going upstairs to his room when Sarah called him. "Rimba, come here. Let me introduce you two." "This is Bohlam, he is a squad captain asked by my husband to escort me and Gustav to the capital. And this is Rimba, he has been really helpful around the orphanage and the village. He might join us on our trip to the capital." Sarah introduced the guy, Bohlam, to Rimba. "Hello sir Bohlam, nice to meet you." Rimba greeted the guy which he responded with a simple nod. "Escort you and Gustav to capital? Are you guys leaving, Sarah? How about the other orphans then? Will you bring them all or they will stay behind?" Rimba asked Sarah, he felt uneasy imagining the other orphans left behind. "Yes, as you know my husband is a Royal Guard in the capital. Now that Gustav is close to her 15th birthday my husband wants to bring Gustav to the capital and have him enter the Academy there. When my husband found out that the monster extermination army will stopped by here he asked sir Bohlam here to escort us on their way back. You see, it is difficult for him as a Royal Guard to ask for a leave and pick us himself." Sarah explained, then continued. "The others will stay behind, I already asked sir Melano to watch over them during my absence, and the other villagers will also help. Although I was hoping there are someone who willing to become a temporary manager for the orphanage. Anyway, I know you are going to leave this village someday. Do you want to come with us? It will be much safer than you go by yourself." "They are staying? I guess I will be staying too then. The militia is lacking people now since some passed away during the extermination, Olaf will be busy as the Head of Village Security. I want to help this village recvover from the loss first before leaving." Rimba decided to stay, he doesn''t feel good traveling with Shinso and his group. Not to mention leaving the orphans without any adult staying with them. His upbringing from an orphanage too make him feel sympathy. "Huh? You''re staying? Well, it''s true that the village will need some help now that there are less people. But Olaf will be busy? Heh, if he want it, he can arrange a company of the kingdom army stationed here to maintain security." Sarah responded with amused look. "Madam, please refrain saying anything else about sir Olaf. You know his reason staying here, and I''m sure you also remember his moniker." Bohlam suddenly interjected. He looks terrified when Sarah talked about Olaf arranging a company of soldier to the village. "Ah, you''re right. I almost forgot that his real status should be kept as secret, and don''t threaten me with his moniker. I''m not afraid of some demon or anything." Sarah responded to Bohlam with a chuckle. Rimba become curious about Olaf, but realized he won''t get any more information now. "Alright, since you are staying can I ask you for a favor then? I will be able to leave without worry if it is you." Sarah looked at Rimba seriously.
New Quest! "Orphanage Caretaker" Sarah and his son Gustav will leave to the capital. She wants you to become the orphanage manager during her absence. Quest Requirement: Take care of the orphanage until Sarah come back (60 in-game days) Quest Rewards: 1. Access to Suram Village Orphanage Management Windows when the quest accepted 2. Reputation +50 3. Reputation in Suram Village +100 4. Relationship with all people in orphanage +50 5. Gain 2 Levels Quest Penalties: 1. Reputation -50 2. Reputation in Suram Village -100 3. Relationship with all people in orphanage -50 4. Cannot stay in the orphanage anymore During the quest, you can still leave and travel around as long as you make sure the orphanage is running well.