《Desier: Freedom》


 Chapter One: Virtual

    After all his hard work and a mix of back-breaking labour, he had been able to save enough money to buy the new craze in ''The Federation'' the ''VR-Helmet''.


    Virtual reality had already been a created way before he was born but it''s popularity had never reached this extent and this was so due to the rumoured new world created by the conjunction of two giants ''The Federation'' and the ''Union'' to form ''The Collation'' for ... (Classified Information: 7). Now the whole world not caring what this information was all about all wanted to be the first to rush into this world.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    This time, Enoc Debre, son of unknown parents and orphan was in euphoria as he rushed to the tech hardware store. The line there was long enough but that didn''t deter him as he slid into the line.


    Three hours later found him as the store''s AI handed his package to him. Not wasting any time, he quickly hid the package under his clothes and walked home trying his best to look inconspicuous, after all, getting robbed was fairly common.


    As he entered his apartment, he hid it in a safe place and made himself some coffee, grabbed a pen and paper. After all, planning was his ''thing''.

 Chapter Two

    As ''The Collation'' had made sure that no iota of information apart from tiny details leaked out to the public, he had to improvise and go with the basic RPG mode. What he planned was for a build that focused more on dishing out damage, this was to get recruitment opportunities from guilds and make money, after all, it was not everyday opportunities like this came by.


    He planned to avoid magic casting as to create a specific build, even though it had a glaring disadvantage, he was still doing this for quick cash.


    With one hour to the launch of the game, he decided to eat something filling and skimming through the internet for any tit bit.


    The best decision leading to him cooking delicious yam porridge while browsing at the same time in the forty-five minutes that he allocated to himself. As for the information, he already knew that it was fabricated the moment he set his eyes on it.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Keeping the now empty plate in the sink and locking down the whole apartment. In this hidden room, he put on the helmet and powered it on.


    And his world went wh¡­


    ***


    Taking a look through the statistics on the screen, Daken Stwart, vice-head of The Collation,  felt sastifaction that more than twenty-six million people around the world were all logged into his work before the time for launching and the best part was that the numbers were still counting. He walked up to the Live Communication Hologram (LCH). Stared down at the man on the screen.


    "I won, now your part"


    All in all, he loved playing the bad guy.

 Chapter Three

    Getting his real life details took milliseconds, character creation not so much.


    [Give your character a name]


    "Solum"


    [Taken]


    "Fred"


    [Taken]


    "Two"


    [Taken]


    With ten minutes to the game launch, he could not afford to waste time and who knew the perks the first to login would get.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "One"


    [Taken]


    "31"


    [Name Available. Do you want this name?]


    "Yes!"


    [Are you really sure, change of name is not possible?]


    "Yes!"


    [Customise your character]


    He was a black and though he loved it, he was not sure people would recruit him as a black, so he tinted the colour of his skin, increased his somehow short height and added more bulk to his character, after all, maybe real-life physics worked in the game-world.


    [Are you really sure you want this character, changes cannot be made after this?]


    "Yes"


    [Choose a class]


    Skimming past the numerous classes, he choose what suited his plans.


    "Warrior"


    [Are you really sure?]


    "Yes!"


    [Choose a starting city]


    A large map appeared in front of him, with one minute to game time, he selected the largest and most developed city.


    [Are you really sure?]


    "Yes!"


    [Do you want the intro...]


    "No!"


    He looked at the timer. The game had already started two minutes ago.


    "Login!"


    His world turned black, then white, th... and he wished he closed his eyes.

 Chapter Four

    Johan grinned as he saw the current equipment up for sale at the auction store. Though others might consider it expensive, to him it was chicken change.


    With the game having a conversion rate of outside money to in-game coins at 5:1. He paid twenty thousand FCs to get the whole set. He wanted to rule this game like the others, either by money, strategy, any of it, after all, there were perks to being the rich Guyana until that, it was hunting.


    And he sttode out, his armour as he took an arrow to the head.


    [-980]


    "Pke..."


    [You have DIED!]


    "Shit!"


    ***


    He swung the wooden sword again, this time with more force than necessary.  If real-world physics was at play, he was meant to be on the floor, panting or crying as he swung this wooden stick that someone had to call a sword.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    In all truth, he loved going for fast, light weapons, but no, he had no choice as he needed the money, and worst for worst, his plan to stand out failed as he had seen people who had spent hours designing their character.


    [You have gained 1 Strength and 1 Attack Speed]


    [You have gained a Active skill: Weak Slashing]


    [Description: Weak slashing was created by someone with no passion for a hunk of bladed metal but forces himself by will to do so.


    Requirements: 7 Strength, 4 Attack Speed.


    Stamina: 3]


    "Finally!" He read the description as the instructor came over and handed him a sword after  which he walked out of the training area to check the information on the sword.


    [Appraisal skill not available]


    So real world physics worked, but this only served to confuse him more, because, his performance at the train area defied normal human limits. This then confirmed his suspicions that stats directly affected the world around him. Does that mean that increasing wisdom would make one to be able to make better decisions.


    This messed up his scant plans. He felt hungry after one hour in-game.


    "Logout!"


    And he closed his eyes. There was no way he was falling for the same trick thrice.


    [Logout in 10, 9, 8,...]

 Chapter Five

    He grumbled as he made his way through the streets, after all, no one liked it when crazy guys for quick cash, especially when you had lots of it on you.


    When he had woken up in the graveyard, he had not expected that his entire entire set of equipment had been stripped off him.


    Due to the extreme realism that the game seemed to be targeting, equipment did not just drop off. It had to be collected from the body of the ¡®victim¡¯.


    Knowing that crazy guys killed him was all okay, after all, this was a game, but taking his entire set meant two things, that the had no honor and he was just another guy to them.


    And that was what he hated, being looked down upon. He knew how hard he worked to get to where he was, the pain, the sco¡­The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Any way, they had brought the fight to him and he was taking it back to them.


    AND THEY WILL REGRET THE DAY AN ARROW FOUND HIS HEAD!


    ***


    Immediately he logged out and removed the helmet, he was shocked by the hunger pangs that were flooding him, he noticed that 25 minutes had passed which meant a time compression ratio of 4:1. He headed to the kitchen, already planning in his head. And as he paseed by his sitting room, he freezed.


    The whole place had been ransacked  The only chair and table he had were gone, also his Portable Media Device (PMD) and even the torn carpet had been taken.


    Praying to himself that his worst fears did happen, he rushed into the kitchen and knew that he prayed for too much, after all, food was the most valuable asset. The whole place was stripped bare, the yam leftovers to the little beans remaining, even the spoilt rice that any one would have thankfully eaten if given was taken.


    He slumped on the floor, he knew that whoever did this meant to feed his family, their sick relatives and for scarce cash.


    He knew it was not fair and that the world was never fair. The rich got richer and the poor poorer.


    And he sat there.


    Weak.


    DEFEATED.