《World tag#001 (Revised)》 Prologue Let me tell you something, from the experience I''ve recently acquired first hand, working without a goal, apart from surviving in the jungle we call modern life, is apparently useless for your soul. No enriching experiences or fun people to chat with, and doing the best with the minimum effort, doesn''t look good on the resum¨¨ of our life we call soul. Ok, ok, a little step back. The last memory I have of Earth is that of a plank of wood, my desk to be precise, dangerously coming closer to me. Well quite the contrary, actually my face was slamming into the messy desk, stationary, paper work file ecc. flung everywhere. And than total emptiness. Fun thing, the last article I had read on-line talked about the health risks of too much time staying seated while working, but time is a strict mistress so without a proper diet, proper physical activity and hours upon hours of work repairing electronic devices, put me in the spot we talked earlier. In other words I died, while working, from heart failure. And on this grim note the adventure begin.
- Welcome to tag#001, please select your avatar. - Thanks... wait, what? - Please select your avatar. - Did I fell asleep with the VR glasses on again? Wait, why I don''t feel my body? And why everything i think is being written here? What in #@€!¡ê$ is happening??? - Please calm down, every chaotic thought will extend the time to finish the reading and alignment of your neural matrix, and please select your avatar. - Well if you want me to calm down, then why don''t you tell me what''s happening? And why do I have to choose an avatar, are we trying to mine minerals on exoplanets? And what''s up whit the robo-voice? - No, no mining involved in the selecting of your avatar, my way of "speaking" is due to your matrix''s interpretation and I''m sorry to announce that your last body ceased is function and is scheduled to be cremated in 13 min. Please select your avatar. - ... ... ... Sooooo I really must be asleep, @¡ê$& I hope to remember it, the idea is bland but the old style A.I. maybe can make a good starting point for the game the guys in R&D... Who I''m kidding, it''s not like they will listen to the last wheel of the IT compartment. Sigh... Sometimes I really worry why I still try to help. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. - Why do you think this is a dream? Please select your avatar. - Really? Come on, ok ok let''s play a game of choice by elimination: 1. It can''t be a VR introduction because I don''t feel anything at all, my body, no floating sensation, my need to breath even, so VR excluded; 2. Let''s go the extra mile and say the R&D finally found the break-through with their VR helmet and they are pulling my leg with a joke, considering our relationship I believe they would pull a more disturbing tale more than my death; 3. Please don''t make me even consider that a story like the one I used to read is coming true. - So, you see, it must be a dream, it''s the only way. - Yes, I see, with limited information you''re bounded to false conclusion, but why the n¡ã3 is so illogical? Please select your avatar. - Sigh, I have a theory ok? I used to read mountain of books and novels, play games and so on, mind me I was a casual, but do you know what''s the theory I''ve made out of it? That if in any way you''re special you''re in, good and bad, love and hate, happiness and pain, all are dished out on the protagonist. I always choose roundabout ways in my life, where we can say I''m protagonist of my own story, to be invisible, unknown. I''m proud of this way of life, ok maybe a little bit bitter about it, and proud to say I''m not special in any way, maybe only in being the perfect average person. - ... I think now I know why your matrix meet all the search parameters,and also that whatever I say will be taken as a dream talk. Now that your alignment is complete, and you exceeded the system''s times for avatar choice, I can only procede to place your avatar on #001 and fuse your matrix with it. Avatar chosen: human standard 1 Name chosen: ... Chapter 001 - WAIT! My hand, stretched toward the ceiling, appear in my field of vision while I screamed against the voice. Sigh... talk about a weird awakening, still for being a dream the absolute sensation''s void was really strange. - Better start moving or I will be late to work. Still there''s something bugging me, did I forgot something? The sudden fit of pain hit me like a stab in the head. - AAAHHHH!!! Rolling on the floor, screaming like mad and holding my head the pain, just like it appeared, suddenly dissolve. - What the @#¡ê$ was that?... An aneurism? Just like uncle Tom? Jeez the doctors told us all that it can be genetic, but if they told me the pain was going to be so intense maybe I would have listened... There were still lights flashing in the back of my eyes, and more than before the sense of incongruity attracted my attention. And then I realised what my brain was trying to tell me. - The room, all the room, where am I? White carpet, white bed, no windows, soft light coming from the ceiling and nothing else, only a closed door on the right. - A continuation of the dream, am I still asleep? No the pain was too real, I still shudder only at the thought of it... Did something happened and I''m in an hospital? Well that would explain the pain and why I don''t remember coming here. - But why did my unholy scream did not alert anyone? Late shift? No no at least someone should come, better wait. I sat down on the bed, facing the door and started the waiting game. The paranoia alarm started going full blow in my mind again, too strange, this whole situation was too strange. - Ok better start doing something while watching the door or i will go crazy. - Carpet? check, sintetic one, pretty soft actually and strange colour but check normal for me. - Wall? check, white plaster and I believe, from my summer working repainting home, water based paint, normal. - Bed? check, white metal frame, soft pillow, white cotton sheets... wait... no tags, no tags anywhere. Not on the pillow, not on the sheets even on the matress... OOOOKKKKK strangeness level up. There''s no way an hospital would use untagged merchandise, but still there''s something else that''s bugging me. With fear starting to grow I rechecked the room, this time almost inch by inch. Nothing on the floor, and then it hit me, carpet? Carpet? What was I thinking when i considered it normal? No way that, in a room that need frequent cleaning, carpet is normal. Especially if the only tracks imprinted in it are mine. And it''s too clean pratically new, and soft as it is really good at muffling sound. Knocking lightly on the wall there is no hollow sound anywhere, just like if they where full concrete and no windows... - What the..! I crouched down as fast as possible trying to stay as still as I could... When I was staring at wall while walking around the room, a small window opened with a man behind staring at me. - $%=! So there is really someone monitoring me here. An experiment? A quarantine? Putting down for now the hypothesis my mind was start to feed me, I slowly stand up. If they are watching from the beginning there''s no merit in hiding now. Getting up from the floor, where I crouched in panic, I take a look at the window. The man who look back at me can be described only as average, meaning like the classic description of a male caucasian of medium height, buzz cut and a face that will be lost immediately in a city. While I was lost in my stupid reflections, the man keep staring at me in the same pondering gaze, I believe, I have myself. Out of instinct I raise an eyebrow? Wait? Is he giving me sass? He raise an eyebrow too... ... ... Having a flash of insight, if in this madhouse I can still call it that, I scratch my nose and he follow my exact moves. - Yep, it''s a mirror... A mirror... With a reflection that''s not me... Okkeyyyy... I have to admit that falling again in my habit of talking to myself when I''m panicking doesn''t make me proud. - Ok breathe, breathe. If it is a real-time cgi thing, like some prank I''ve seen, it don''t have even a millisecond between my action and the "mirror" copying movement, soo my money is still on the dream thing. Trying to touch my face and seeing someone else in the mirror is beyond strange, but still now the sensation of missing something vanished. Than I realized, cursing myself for being so slow, I can''t confirm if my face is really different but my body? My hand, arm, torso ecc... Well, the conclusion is that in this "dream" I have an almost fit body, surely more fit than I remember ever being, and none of the scars I''ve accumulated in my life. My brain still fight himself to conciliate my memory and this. I say "dream" because I tried pinching my arm even scraping with my nail, and the pain is too real. The words of the voice before waking-up start creeping and taking hold of my mind. - No, no, no, remember I''m average, not special, nothing strange happen, all are happy. No happiness, no sadness. No pain, no gain... - Even my mantra for extreme situation is failing me and derailing, I have to... A sudden light started blinking in the corner of my vision, the mirror? Soft blue, slow blinking, light appeared to be emanating from it. I looked and what greeted me is something... - I don''t know if I''m supposed to feel happy for somewhat of information, or I''m really having a crazy crazy day. - Congratulation! For choosing your avatar''s name you''ve unlocked your status! Welcome again on tag#001!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
100100
AtkDefDexWis
10101010
Exp
0/100
- ... ... ... Staring at the "screen" I found myself again pondering if it''s all a joke from the R&D group. But even if they finally had a breakthrough in the VR tech that they were developing, I still believed it''s impossible to make such realistic feedback for all the senses. - Well I still haven''t tried to taste anything but... Am I in some kind of coma and this is the future?... Yeah, right, the voice made more sense... Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. - Thank you for finally admitting it. - What the @#%&... So you really were always watching and listening? Am I fun? - Please don''t start feeling victimized and be aggressive to respond to your fear, now that your matrix is properly indexed, I have a more precise measure of your being. - And? Meaning we are all friends now? - And the meaning is, like I said before, understanding why finally the search give result, in this case you, can progress myself in the search of my purpose. - Ok ok... do you really believe I would listen to your riddle? What do you mean? Even you don''t know what''s happening? - I already told you what happened to you, concerning my advancement the result are for myself only. Even if you already are seeing some of them. - Like your way of speaking I presume? Feeling more relaxed? - Yes, good job, your entry in the system have already started a domino effect. - And this "system" you''re talking about I suppose is this whole game thing? What am I the lone first player of all this charade? - Yes, again good job, but I''m afraid there''s much more to it. But it''s useless explaining all now, you will have to advance and see for yourself. If you open the door the tutorial will begin, get ready for it and good luck!... ... - Wait, wait, don''t use a fade fx when I... The light faded from the screen, and the status chart from before disappeared. - So no more dialogue then? This leaves me with the same question for before, do I really want to believe you? It''s all-real... like it feels... it''s a game... @#¡ê$! Now the doubts are going to eat me alive. - I must start doing something or I really will start banging my head on the wall. First, if I''m really going anyway to "play" this game, like hell I will be doing whatever it says. So let''s begin... Open the door? It also said to get ready ... If it''s like any of the games I played before, even as realistic as it is, let''s start assuming there''s perma-death system in play. Meaning I really have to prepare for whatever is beyond the door. The bonus is that this is really a starting tutorial area, I can start gaining now that I''m relatively safe. I know it''s cheap but if I have to believe that I already died once, than more the reason to be cautious. And if I really have to be myself, or my game-persona, I always liked to observe, than move and strike or flee. Having taken a decision for how to procede, I started to work on it. I have to admit that, even with all my fears who periodically said "Hello did you call?", I was eager to consider this a game to "play". But first and foremost to quench one of my doubt I''m doing my old gym cardio routine. I know it''s ridiculous to think that to follow the fad of the moment I ended going almost five years to a gym, but the adrenaline keep me from quitting and I must confess I felt really great, when the muscle pain didn''t assault me. While I was absorbed in the past, it''s all so strangely vivid I remember even my old schedule, I ended my tenth set of exercises... without pauses... - Ok this confirm that surely it''s not my old body or even human I suppose. Naturally a "normal" human would have ended sprained on the floor after the third set, but to think apart from not sweating even my breath is stable it''s really disturbing. This stunt also confirm that the lacking of a stamina value on the chart before maybe is not a lapse of this "system". Next on the agenda is to see how the stats, or the lack of them, influence me. I already suspect that with no hunger and thirst value maybe I don''t have to eat and drink, or sleep even, but when that time will come to see if it''s true I think I will really believe I''m dead. I also reserve judgment on the fact that maybe all this things are true only in this room, a starting tutorial area?, but the fact that the voice spoke of a system fired me up to found loopholes. Again I know, cheap, but to take words from my younger colleague "That''s how I roll". L ooking again in the mirror, and really feeling confused on how to feel about it, I concentrated and started thinking all the words that maybe can make the screen reappear... After having gone through all the standard, and even the more obscure, word to open the character in-game, i resigned myself and start talking loud. - Status!... Character!... Menu!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
100/102100
AtkDefDexWis
10101010
Exp
0/100
- Yes! So menu is the code... Wait why the hp, presuming it''s health point, have a new grey value? I''ve a suspicion, if this system is really like this then... Better start the next "experiment"... Than, starting from removing all the sheets from the bed and after the mattress, I exposed the metallic-looking frame of the bed. It was the kind with thin metal strips for support, they should be attached but another strange thing they are welded. Well, after thinking that maybe it''s really a bad idea, I start kicking a strip loose. What I didn''t expect was that, after the fourth kick, the all frame collapsed on itself... - Ok now I think that someone is going to get angry for this... @#¡ê$ too late anyway let''s go. Searching in the remain of the bed I started to catalogue the various pieces, various lengths of cylindrical metal tubing, some square pieces and the strips I was aiming for from the beginning. To be sincere I''ve never worked seriously with metal, I''ve always wanted to and watched lots of video of melting, forging, welding ecc., but I never really had the time to do something serious. Now it was time to start I believe. So, while going delusional over the future, I started using one of the square piece to scrape a bevel on the edge of a strip. Again after the fourth repetition the edge become sharp abruptly... Is there a meaning for four repetition? Or for the suddenly change, if that matter? The MP stat maybe it''s a hint of magic so the physics of "here", of this system, must be different somehow. But it''s still really surprising and disturbing to see thing behave in way all people thinks impossible. Anyway I obtained the sharp metal piece I was searching for so it''s time to start, taking a deep breath I took the blade firmly in hand and started... Chapter 002 I really started to wonder about this system and his absurdity after the fifth fabric straps I had obtained from cutting the sheets with the blade I crafted before. - What I''m almost sure is that there''s some kink of intent monitoring system in place. Not surprising if I believe what the voice said on, what I think is admitting, reading all my memories... The first strap, just like the bevel on the blade, come off abruptly from the rest of the fabric after the fourth stroke. And considering the blade isn''t that sharp was absurd on itself. What took me by surprise was that the second time didn''t go the same way. I was thinking of what meaning the number four would have for this "crafting system", and I noticed that even after the fifth stroke of the blade the fabric didn''t tear off. Concentrating again on the cutting motion after the fourth time the strap came off... - Okkeyyy... I''m definitely on something now... Continuing to experiment established that surely when I concentrated on the action I was doing, the "final product" appeared after four interaction. That maybe can explain why the bed frame was destroyed after the fourth kick. While if I thought about anything apart of what i was doing, the final result obtained abide with the normal physics rules. The strap was cut anyway but, like one would expect from a hasty crafted blade, it required an enormous different amount of effort. - But now that I "crafted" what needed, I can start the other experiment. Coiling one tissue strap around, what I decided will be, the handle of my blade took only a minute. Then, with a better grip, I took a deep breath and centered myself to try not to shake. Unlike the four action rule that seems in act for crafting, it took only a swift and decise swipe of the blade to make a deep but small cut on the back of my left hand. I know it''s was a risk, albeit a calculated one. But, trying to stay away from any major blood vessel and taking account of the situation, it seemed a passable idea. The fact that that I had a scar from a previous job on the same spot is also a factor I believe. Anyway the cut behaved like a normal cut should be, so I wrapped one of the fabric like a bandage thanking the first aid lesson taken in school. - Menu!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
99/102100
AtkDefDexWis
10+510+11010
Exp
30/100
- Interesting, the HP loss is expected, but also changing in Atk, Def and Exp... Yes, the experiment to see if the HP dropped when hurt gave result and, apart from the flash of pain at the beginning, was worth it. The other change as byproduct of it are as strange as well accepted. - If I assume that the Atk change is due to the blade in my hand, than the Def must be the bandage? And the Exp? I sat down on the mattress, that was on the floor in a corner, and started remembering everything I had done since the last menu check. - If this system is really so linear and "easy" than the only explanation that I can think off is the crafting. Well assuming that every "item" that I crafted was worth 10 Exp point was a leap of faith, but I was willing to take it. To verify the other stats I was a little stumped of what to do. The most common way in every media to use MP was obviously magic but how? - Mmmm... there''s still the card of meditation but will it help? Still mumbling to myself I took a tentative lotus position that, I must admit, was new to me. I never tried meditation or even yoga. I read really a lot about the philosophy and the mind state behind some kind of meditation technique, but it was all theory for me. I tried to empty my mind and be in a state similar to using my peripheral vision... To be one with the universe... Ok I must admit the reason I was never able to meditate before was because of my excessive focus on... - Maybe I can use it. I was, as long I was able to remember, a very mindful person of myself, but also of the things happening in my surroundings. Maybe because I was too much self-centered, or the various bad things that happened in the past... - I''m not like a genius that can memorise with a glance or a super alert spy who can spot trouble... I''m just more egocentric... - Anyway if I could use my self-consciousness to focus on, when I meditate, maybe it can be done. I never did it like that before because it only took me on a self-loathing trip. - Concentrate, concentrate... What''s mana supposed to be? A kind of energy is my guess but how? Is there an organ like a new liver that stores and create it? Is all in my mind?... When I started to feel the familiar feeling of my derailing thoughts I start to feel a strange sensation. Just like when a light fever''s beginning, a sensation like a hand compressing my head''s blood vessel. I slowly opened my eyes and what awaited me was a strange blue tinge in my vision. In the same moment I started to think of the strange beauty of this hue it disappeared. As the light blue hue vanished, I start to put myself in the same state of mind of before. Concentrating on the feverish sensation I got while "meditating", but this time I kept my eyes open. What I hoped was to see the moment the "mana" appeard, and if there was some kind of clue to prove some of the theories I speculated. Well keeping my eyes opened and unfocused while concentrating on meditation proved to be really difficult. And together with the increasing self-crippling doubts about my debatable behavior... Still after what I judged to be ten minutes, the hue reappeared. Like a flickering light it abruptly ended, but it proved that even with open eyes it still can form. The couple of seconds didn''t give me time enough to analize any peculiarity in this "mana", but the fact in itself could have been a proof of something. - Menu!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
100/102100/100
AtkDefDexWis
10+510+11010
Exp
30/100
- Ok, so if the change in MP display, from 100 to 100/100, is related to my meditation then... Then it was possible that meditation could influence mana, and maybe the fact that the blue hue disappeared almost instantly was because the mana was already at its max value. But the HP was full again... I start scratching my bandaged hand thinking about all this whole situation, and how I was dangerously starting to immerse myself into it. Than I noticed that the bandage felt suddenly dry, I knew the wound didn''t bleed much to begin with, but before the mana experiment it still felt a little sticky. Uncoiling the bandage revealed a perfectly closed wound, and in its place a small scar. Even the blood on the fabric was more like fine powder than dry a stain. After a couple of hit on the wall the fabric returned practically clean like before. - Well this will surely make a wonderful ad for cleaning product... The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Trying to escape the "reality" of that new absurdity wasn''t really helping... Another mystery to add to the growing list, first of all was obviously understanding what was happening, but a gut feeling told me it would take time to find the possible answers. - Anyway, before giving myself an headache, better start to see how to deplete MP. Now if meditation refill it almost all stories on mana say it''s the fuel for magic so let''s begin. I have to admit that the idea of magic was attractive, not at the level of when I was younger, but still exciting. - The most "basic" thing I can think of is fire, but how to proceed? Chants? Formulas? Hand gestures?... Fire! ... Flame! ... Rapid oxidation! ... I must tell that if any of that worked, especially the last, it was going to be a real surprise. Assuming the simplicity of the whole system, maybe it was like the monitoring intent of crafting? Concentrating on the wanted result... Not even a small spark... Concentrating on the image of a flame and thinking of the simplified process that''s fire itself... Still no result... Concentrating on both image and process and speaking "Flame!" aloud... Not even smoke... - Wait, fire need fuel only air isn''t enough, and if mana/MP is really the fuel of magic... Concentrating like before and trying to reproduce the same meditating sensation was really difficult, but the reward was huge. Even better than discovering that speaking wasn''t really needed. A flame, big exactly like I imagined, appeared on my right palm. Red, high like my index finger and dancing like a candle flame. For a moment I really found it the most beautiful little thing in the world. But the brief lapse in concentration proved fatal for my little flame. I believe the first to be cut was the mana feed, than the concentration on the flame itself. Still I can consider this time to be a full success. -Menu!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
100/10256/100
AtkDefDexWis
10+5101010
Exp
30/100
Having no reference on the normal consumption of magic I was going to go by my old rule and consider my first attempt average. My rule was always to consider myself the embodiment of common, so it was my rule of thumb, my compass. Still it was worrying that with my MP I could only materialise two flame, maybe it was because my method was wrong, but that need to be researched more. Not knowing the time I still had in this room, or if the time flow was different, like in some game, was another doubt for the list... - Anyway seeing it as limited is the best course of action. In the end, at the start of this absurdity, after three time I didn''t respond the voice forced the hand of choosing this avatar. So after meditating and confirming it really recover my MP, the light blue hue around me stayed active for around five minutes, I started all the other experiment. Well the fact that meditating for whole five minutes was a success was pretty weird. Water was as almost easy as fire, a little gush of crystal clear water appearing out of air, from every test, proved that the intended phenomenon manifested wherever I imagined. Also there was no need for hand gesture or pointing. That leaved me with the same amount of mana consumed as before, so to start I meditated again. This time I tried to do it while standing. Even if it needed me to close my eyes again and drop the blade, in the end the aura reappeared for the same rough time. - I really miss a watch... Whining, about something I can''t do anything about, really didn''t change... Leaving my inside joke aside, the other most famous element I knew were earth and air, maybe wood and metal considering chinese''s one. The trial and error continued for a while, with break to recover MP, and gave me enough clues to form a theory. A shaky one but a theory nonetheless, for me it was going to be valid until someone proved otherwise. My theory was: When I was trying to make soil appear I stumbled on a huge problem, different from fire and water, earth is composed of a myriad of different things. Even excluding the organic elements it''s not only a kind of mineral. So I was unable to wrap my head around it and nothing materialized as the result. But thinking about mineral made me recall the memory of two really famous carbon''s allotropes, diamond and graphite. I didn''t think I was going to remember all the various thing I had seen about that, but whatever they did to me made my memory like that of a machine. - Wait maybe I''m in a machine now... @#%& why can''t a minute pass without a new doubts appearing like mushrooms... Remembering what I knew about diamond and graphite really helped creating it. - So if I can''t male a living out the gig of magic I can always start selling diamonds or pencils. Roughly cut yes, needing polishing yes, but still diamonds. This take me to the "shape" bit of the theory, when the first bit of graphite and diamond appeared they were unshaped lump of material. Imagining a cylindrical shape for the graphite was fairly easy compared to the roughly "table cut" diamond. With air I met the same problem, apart from being only able to see a faint glimmer, normal atmosphere have lots of elements in it. But my hope was that I was able to create a little bit of oxygen at least. Air composed of oxygen alone is pretty dangerous, but also useful for the same reasons. Making any organic compound was hopeless, every try ended being a failure so no wood element. Metal, on the other hand, was almost easy. Well iron was and, after giving myself a migraine, even steel aluminum. Gold was as difficult as iron... - With silver in the second place... ... ... Ok I couldn''t resist, don''t judge... I was really tired if I was starting to make face-palming jokes. Thinking about it, I really felt mentally tired, like after an all-nighter at work or during my old school days. But before trying to sleep I put the sorry remain of the bed frame leaning on the door. My hope was that, if somebody opened it, at least I was going to wake up hearing the falling metal. Well checking my status before sleep seemed a sensible idea, so facing the mirror... - Menu!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
100/102100/110
AtkDefDexWis
10101010
Exp
80/100
Chapter 003 - Good morning! It''s supposed to be my greeting, but I believe you will find it sarcastic in a few seconds, so I suppose hello will suffice. A morning starting getting up from the ground, while being greeted by a synthetic voice, was surely going to be absurd. But I never expected what happened later. - Good morning, what do you mean by sarcastic... AAAAAHHH! A jolt of pain, so intense to almost make me black-out, cursed through every muscles of my body. Like the time I touched a live electric wire and almost electrocuted myself. I know, I know safety first but it was supposed to be detached from the main source. Time is relative, I always believed that, because what I think where only a couple of seconds become an hour of agony in my perception. - What the @#$% was that! - I believe is better to brace yourself and stay quiet, or you could bite your tongue. - What? AAAAAHHH! This time the pain didn''t make me spasm and block every muscles, no, this time my head feel like a stump where a giant woodcutter, too eager to work, started chopping wood like is life depended on it. Writhing on the floor, holding my head, and screaming was really one moment of my life best forgotten. But like everything, better or worse, the pain and the pounding sensation abruptly disappeared, just like they begun. I didn''t even want to start considering how much time passed but I thought that, in the end, at least tens of seconds passed. The muscle pain was atrocious, but that "headache" was absolutely worse. Not only because it seemed to last much longer, but because I was weak to migraine for as long as I remember. I didn''t know how that body worked, but it seemed that my emotional response to pain was still the same. Really a pity, because the rare times I''m angry my reasoning fly off... So still breathing roughly and afraid of a third wave of pain... - NOW YOU TELL ME WHAT THE @#$% WAS THAT! NO RIDDLE, NO !¡ê$&[@ TALK, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! The veiled threat was going to be more effective if only I wasn''t trembling, I know... - I heard you the first time, I was waiting for you to be in condition to listen. Now I believe I can answer your question. - So no more pain? You sadistic @#$%? - ??? To quote a movie from your memory "You''ve done that to yourself" I''m not responsible for te pain that assaulted you. Like being doused with cold water, my anger subsided and I started pondering... Apart from reality, or if it/them can really influence my mind, if this is really a simulation the pain setting was to damn real and hurt like hell. - How I''m responsible for my own pain? Did I bash my head while sleeping? - No your sleeping habit have no connection on the upgrade''s backlash. I''m sorry to say that it''s how the system works, and you always repeated that "everything have a price, be it time,money or pain". I still don''t know if you cited someone. An idea appear and make way inside my brain at he mention of upgrade... - Menu!
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
102110
AtkDefDexWis
10101010
Exp
80/100
- I hope I''m not right, but can you tell me if the body and head pain is connected to HP and MP? If the seconds of pain are really a direct consequence of the increased value... - Yes, correct on both, your intuitions are really amazing sometimes. Why you always deny or doubt them is also equally amazing. - If you really have read my mind or my memories, you should know how I feel about them and why it''s like that. Also did you know how condescending you sound... Still if my "yesterday''s" experiments, this always-on light was destroying my internal clock, influenced the grow of health and mana, the price to pay for it may be was too high for the plan I had in mind. - You said the system is like that, but is the pain only a consequence here in this room? ... ... ... @#$%& if it didn''t hung up on me. Cursing didn''t really help but it was a start I suppose. Now the fear of the pain was going to be a real decisive factor for planning what to do. - Sigh... It''s always like this, even in this "reality" it''s all the same... After the anger, and the immediate fear subsided, I sat down in a corner holding my head between my hands. - Every time there''s something vaguely interesting, every time I found myself almost happy, every time... every time... I really thought that with the passing of time I wouldn''t feel anymore this deep hurting sensation of being powerless, but maybe I was only lying to myself, being "happy" in my routine, trapped in my normality... Well, with my new enhanced memory, I could finally really look over all the times I had misadventures. Staring at the ceiling, one of the many self-analysis I made in the past resurface by itself. Was I really only pessimist? Yes, every time I was happy somethings happened to spoil my mood, but they happened also when I was already in bad mood. Was I really so blind, so conceited? Was I feeling only the difference between the extremes... - Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!... So it''s true that everything have a downside, having a fantastic memory can really make peoples revaluate themselves... Well numbers never lie. So seeing the undeniable facts of, what I''m starting to consider, my previous life, I could only start to revaluate myself and many of my life choices. Sure, I had pretty bad moment in my life, and many were clustered pretty close in time, but... This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. - Better change this train of through, "the past can''t be changed, only the present exist"... sigh... I should have stopped more often to listen to more experienced people''s word. I got up and started pacing around the room. Even all of this introspection didn''t change the fact that I was, or at least felt like, trapped there. So it was time to think seriously at the choices I had at my disposal. If the exercises, both the physical and mental ones, made "forcefully" my HP and MP go up, maybe a more normal way should prevent the pain. One of the way to see if it''s true is to find a way that is considered natural... If there''s an Exp value, the most sensible guess is a level-up? - But if a +2 in health, and +10 in mana caused such pain, what will involve the raising of other stats? Sigh... There''s only one way to find it. More easily said than done, when I crafted the blade, and had success in my magic experiment, I was rewarded with experience... I think... So let''s craft something. I preferred crafting, even if I had more idea for new magic than things I can build, because if I was right it''s the meditation that raised my mana. All I have at hand are the remain of the bed frame and half sheets... I felt like I needed the most famous improvisation/build/repair master''s help . Last time I had built a blade, and to continue on the same road I started organising all the pieces on the floor, and decided to build a pseudo armour. Four of the metal bands that supported the mattress could be wrapped around, and fixed with the fabric strip, like arm and shin guards. Two pipes, after a little engineering with simple levers, were bent to make the frame where the other metal pieces can be fixed to form of a really simple jacket-like thing. The all ensemble was more rough than I believed was realistically possible, and it leaved me with only to pipes and four square angular connector. But the results were more than I hoped for. Feeling tired I lied down and tried to sleep, but to no avail. Even if coiling and intertwining the metal and fabric to make my pseudo-armour, plus arm and shin guard combo, took most of the "day". Hard to tell how much time really have passed without a clock and with this unchanging light. Last time I was tired both physically and mentally, but now I didn''t feel like resting at all. Yesterday I was objectively more excited for all the magic, and still the moment I laid down I was out for the counting. Maybe the pending HP an MP augmentation influenced my tiredness or, even in this room, my internal clock could still tell the night from the day. Years of getting up to commute and sleeping at certain hours conditioned me, I suppose. Well that new doubt could wait, it wasn''t really at the list''s top, and anyway I could use the extra time awake to test other things. First of all was to see if meditation was the cause of the mana raise, and consequent pain. Doing some magic experimentation could also prove if mana regenerated naturally or meditation was mandatory. Leaving alone the "elements" I tried yesterday, I launched myself into one of the things that always fascinated me, in all kind of media, force construct aka barriers. I mean, they are often disregarded save for strategic purposes like defending a city or to passively protect. Instead I found really interesting the idea of a way to interfere with the physical word, and it''s laws, with non physical object. Sure sometimes barriers are depicted like shining or semi-transparent so they must be physical and have a kind of mass. But in the cases of immaterial barriers I always wondered... If they can be placed at will, even if through a medium of sort, can they be used actively to sever or destroy things? This ideas sounded wacky even to myself, but, given all the time I was alone as a boy, strange theory on fictional story were the less dangerous thing I could''ve done. Now, absurd or not, how to proceed? Concentrating on the image of a physical object proved to be feasible, but how to imagine force, or motion, or any of the physics I barely understood... Even with all the data I remembered reading, and studying, nothing seemed useful in this case. I sat down and started mulling over various ideas. Every time I had made something appear I had in mind the simplified representation of the element, just like the images I saw on books and on-line. I also focused on what I knew of the true nature, how it works, of the subject. What I believed it truly was. So I concentrated on force, and I started to imagine a way, at least plausible, to make a invisible wall. After many attempts I was tempted to give up, but often desperation is the way to find a solution. In all my attempts to visualize a physical manifestation of force I started like all the other times, but that proved to be the flaw. For a force interaction I needed first to concentrate on the point where it will appear, and only after the position and shape was chosen, I could procede to visualize the wanted effect. To tell all the truth when in the end it appeared, in all the white shimmering glory of a bi-dimensional wall, I was so abruptly tired that no more than a whisper escaped my lips. - menu...
NameRace
AverageHuman
HPMP
102110
AtkDefDexWis
10101010
Exp
110/100
And then I crushed on the mattress... Chapter 004 - Good morning! Congratulation for your level-up! I can finally be bringer of good, pain free, news! - Yeah, yeah good morning... I braced myself for the incoming pain... and fortunately it didn''t come. - Menu!
Level UP!
Human => Human I
New menu function unlocked!
Avatar status (already unlocked) Map Skill list
- Lots of news, I see... so now I suppose to se my stats... Avatar status!
NameRace
AverageHuman I
HPMP
112120
AtkDefDexWis
11111111
Exp
0/200
- So you really didn''t lie... Even with the increase in health and mana no pain... By the way, what''s with the even spreaded +1? - Judging the situation I suppose I should''ve expected little trust, but it still hurts me, I never lied to you from the beginning... Never mind, to answer your question it''s the standard level up status increase for human. - Sorry about... Wait a minute! Trying to making me empathize with you will not... Sigh... You''re really starting to sound more and more human day after day. - Thank you! The influence of your matrix are keeping... - That wasn''t a compliment! And if you really are becoming more human by my memories... good luck to you. Would you mind telling me what made you stop talking yesterday? - Time is a deciding factor for our interaction so bye! - Hey! ... I know was being a "¡ê&/!@-bag but I really need information. ... Hey! ... Maybe it''s time restricted? Mmmmm... That would explain lots of things... Grumbling about the voice disappearance, a detail of yesterday keeps bugging me. My improved memory seemed foolproof, so why yesterday mana didn''t decrease after the "force-barrier" creation? Did it fail? The only way was to try again... More importantly, the level up being pain free was almost to good to be true, even if I prepared mentally for it, pain is still one of my least appreciated things. - Definitely one of the least... Let''s continue! Map!
UNKNOWN Area
Unable to display map
- Well that at least clarify one doubt, it''s not labeled tutorial or starter area but unknown... Skill list!
Skill list
Crafting Intuition I Magic
Skills points: 1
- What can I say, much more interesting than the map section doubtless, but skill point? Until then this system, even with the intent control parts, seemed to me pretty devoid of choices. - It''s better to not get my hopes up, let''s see how use this opportunity... The fact that the level-up, and resulting questionable gain, was possible and painless put my original plan back on track. Meaning exploiting as long as I could this UNKNOWN room, cheap I knew, but preparation is akin to salvation. - Cringe saying apart, let''s see what can be done with the single point or if it''s better to hoard them and choose something big. Still the thing that keeps bugging me is this system, sometimes it''s linear and simple but other times ,the names and interface for example, it seems like a rush job... Better squash the frightening idea I''m having now, for the sake of my mind health. - Skill list! Mmmmm... even if is seems like a display it''s not touch operated... But seeing like the rest of the system goes, the most simple solution may be the right one. The new menu that opened confirmed this theory. - Skills points!
Skills points: 1
Available upgrade
Hp +10 Mp +10 Atk +1 Def +1 Dex +1 Wis +1 Exp +10%
Well for my gamer-self that was sure a no-brain decision, so following my usual game pattern... - Exp +10%!... ... please?... How I''m supposed to select it now? No response followed my rhetorical question, so I tried various things with a "I choose you" in between, until I found the right sequence. - Skills points! Select Exp +10% upgrade!
Skills points: 0
Selected: Exp +10%
Related bonus skills unlocked
Menu HUD
-Wait, what? In the time I made that "witty" retort my vision of the world changed somehow, making the situation I was in more and more strange. The only way to describe what happened in the blink of an eye, for me, was to say... - What the @#$% ?! Cursing apart, my vision changed in a game-like interface that followed all my eye movement. Neat but at the same time frightening. - I''m really feeling more and more slipping from reality... I need to focus, breathe in breathe out... I had to admit that, as vexing as it was, apart from the starting surprise that HUD-thing was really exciting. Little sensible to the classics, I believed, that "interface" had spheres in the left and right corner of my vision. And, seeing their colours, red and blue, my guess was that they stood for health and mana. - Well that much is easy to check later. In the high corner a black globe with "UNKNOWN" written on top was the map, I supposed. Another green one, in the last edge, completed the ensemble. When I started looking around, trying to get used to have four fixed object in the corner of my vision, I found that concentrating on one of the spheres made it more opaque while the opposite was also true. The "funny" thing was that, even with my eyes closed, they were visible. - It really will take some time to get used... But if the red is health, blue stand for mana and the black is a map what''s the green one for? Mmmmm... If concentrating make them more visible maybe that''s the key... I concentrated on the green sphere and, after a few attempts, a menu like the one on the mirror filled my vision.
Menu
Avatar StatusMap
Skill list*Locked*
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. While the locked one was suspicious, all the other voices listed seemed identical to the one displayed before. Opening them one by one confirmed my guess. The status, map and skill menu that opened before my eyes where the same, the best thing was that I could check them without talking. - An improvement yes, but I don''t know if this is more or less crazy... To test the other part of the interface was pretty straight forward, a small cut confirmed that when health decreased the red globe flashed and shrunk a little. - Not really precise but I suppose consulting the status can overcome this flaw. Just like for the health, making a little flame shortly appear made the blue sphere flash and shrunk. While waiting to see how fast they returned to their beginning sizes, similar to a tennis ball, I noticed a disturbing fact. While previously the cut on my hand took a while to close and scar, this time the cut was closing much faster. - Supposing there''s a sense in this system, the only explanations could be the "Human I" change, or the increased health... I shook my head thinking at the increasing list of things to test and doubts to clarify, and so I did one of the things that always freed my mind for overthinking, manual labour. Two tube-like parts of the bed frame, and four square connector, remained still untouched from my previous experiments so I started to think what to do with them. Previously I had already made a blade, big like a kitchen knife, from a metal strip. So it was time for defensive equipment. Combining, with some difficulties, part of the sheets with the others metal strips, and bending the tubes, gave me forearms, shins and torso armour. - The whole thing make me look like a poor man that made poor life choices, and that''s being nice... Anyway, looks apart, the armour seemed functional from the few swings I made at it with the blade. So going in the same direction as before I continued my crafting session. Leaving one of the square alone to use like a, albeit blunt, file I first started cutting long strips from the remaining sheet. Remembering the few information I knew about braiding ropes I started working to see if I could make one. I have to be honest and say it was a mind-boggling boring task, but it gave me time to calm down, settle my mind and sift trough my thoughts. Also the end result was rustic but functional, and gave me some ideas how to improve my previous crafts. Previously I simply coiled the metal strips and stopped them with fabric''s wrapping, obtaining a really basilar shins and forearms protector. But with the new braided rope I could secure the metal more firmly in a crisscrossed fashion. The chest armour had undergone similar overhaul. - It sure made them look like a life saving vest pieces... Ignoring my own remark, I putted them on and checked the result, focusing on the menu sphere and than on the status.
NameRace
AverageHuman I
HPMP
112120
AtkDefDexWis
11+211+111111
Exp
30/180
The results were more than encouraging, and some were really surprising. I expected an increased defensive capability but to double my initial def value and even add some attack... - Maybe the increased hardness when hitting with arms and legs? Well talking to myself was not going to help so, happy with the result, I continued the preparation for an eventual attacker. To be honest it served to satisfy my inner desire to forget the situation, and drown my doubts in manual labour. Next I tried to sharpen more the knife, and also to create a better grip. Slowly and firmly rubbing the edge, with one of the metal cubic connector, solved tolerably the first problem. Hitting the grip into a better shape and then wrapping it with the rope solved the second. Checking the knife value with the status gave me a satisfying +5 in atk, but that made me thought... If a really simple knife had almost half of my attack value... Were my stats really that low? Having nothing to compare my stats with was really frustrating but, for good measure, I was going to consider my starting values low or medium. Anyway, the rope made from the sheet''s fabric revealed to be much more useful than predicted so I started working to braid the last intact fabric into ropes. While I worked on it I started to think of more useful items. One of the last pipes could, maybe, become a spear for mid range fighting, I had never used one but I had read that even a non trained person could fight with less fear if the weapon had longer reach. - Maybe the last pipe can be coiled to form a small shield? The connector''s bolas idea is full of holes... While muttering I ended making the rope, and started working to flatten an end of a pipe by hitting it with the bigger piece of metal. Folding the flattened end on itself was harder, but gave me a pretty pointy spearhead. Coiling the last part of the bed frame revealed impossible with my actual means, so instead I folded it in four part and secured the obtained zig-zag pipe with the new rope. The string-handle was wobbly but better than nothing. Like I grumbled before, the idea to tie up the three square connector with ropes to make bolas, was not realistically exploitable. Not only because I wanted the remaining length of rope to be free to use, but also because the last pieces of metal could be used in probable future project. Also I wasn''t sure of the effectiveness of my rope to restrain someone or if I was really going to be able to hit anything. So equipped with everything I created until then, and feeling like a post-apocalyptic/steampunk poor adventurer, I invoked the avatar status "hud".
NameRace
AverageHuman I
HPMP
112120
AtkDefDexWis
11+1211+111111
Exp
50/180
Being prepared at the best that I could I thought it was time to finally go forward. Chapter 005 With my sense of time distorted, being alone in a white room was starting to take its toll on my sanity, I could only suppose it was the end of the third day. I had a gut feeling that being there much longer wasn''t an option, so the last thing I wanted to do before opening the door was to attempt to use the simple magic I discovered to better my equipment. Apart from having a heavy mana toll for every use, the problem with the magic until now was its fight potential. Maybe it could be used as distraction at best, but that would not help me in a sudden encounter. So the best way I thought I could exploit it was to, or at least attempt to, coat all the surface of my item in a diamond-like carbon film. I had the idea while sharpening the knife blade and the tip of the spear, from all the article that I remember reading, it should help immensely the hardness and resistance of the coated surface. That would also be a test to see if the "Magic" skill had some influence on the expected result. I tried to first coat the spear, hopeful it was going to be okay, but preparing for the worse even a failed coating should leave a useful pointy end. Concentrating on all the aspect needed, like my previous attempts, was a little bit easier,but I honestly didn''t know if it was the magic skill or I was imagining it. A shiny transparent patch started to grow, albeit slowly, and enclosed the spear head. Calmly turning the spear, to even the layer, while still focusing was really hard but the final result made it worth the pain. Consulting the status I discovered that the mp consumption was much less than before, so maybe the magic skill influenced the mana cost more than other things. Still another experiment to add on the list. I repeated the coating process on the knife, vest and the shield, and that took all my remaining mana. After gripping the spear and shield I finally gripped the door''s handle. - So it''s time to see who''s behind door number one... A quick glance to see if it''s all ok...
NameRace
AverageHuman I
HPMP
1120/120
AtkDefDexWis
11+1411+161111
Exp
60/180
What greeted me behind the door wasn''t a life form of any kind or another white area. No, a seemingly endless darkness enveloped me as soon I took a step out of the door. It didn''t feel like the time I talked with the voice at the beginning, it was like sinking in a black endless ocean. In the same moment I started panicking due to the inability to move or see anything, a feeble light appeared in front of me. The increasing brightness and dimension of the light gave me a vague idea of the speed it was travelling. - Or maybe I''m the one travelling... That would explain the sensation of free-falling I started to perceive more clearly when the light become as big as a fist. More detail came into view with the passing seconds. A strange calmness permeated me while observed what I was starting to be fairly sure was a star. Also what at the beginning was a dark spot on the surface of the star revealed to be a planet orbiting it. With another object for reference I started to marvel at my speed and also if I was really going to end either crashed on the planet, or burned in the star. - Well the fact that I can talk surely means that it''s again only a trick and I''m not really moving through space, or I''m being protect by some kind of "bubble"? - No tricks, you''re travelling through my protection. And what you''re witnessing it''s #001 your new world. - Com''on, really?! You reappear like that and expect me to accept this? - No, I don''t, but when you will believe me you will remember it. - Right... Anyway what kind of people call their planet #001 are the naming sense taken a trip for a while or taken testimony protection program? - It will all make sense after a while I can''t say anything more. Rather than this good luck for your landing! Looking again showed me that my vision was filled with the planet, with the star hidden behind it the surface was dark for the night. I was able to take a glimpse of an ocean and various islands before all become crimson from the enveloping fire that created from my entry in the atmosphere. My sight was dyed red for the longest seconds of my life, sure I didn''t feel the heat or vibration that I expected, but that served only to fuel my doubts. I still felt more calm than I should have, but I was starting to think my sense of what was normal and what wasn''t was irreparably damaged. Still I had to admit, once forgetting the feeling of the approaching death, free falling was really exhilarating. The night sky was almost free of clouds, and the ocean below dotted with islands, was mesmerizing. Even if I couldn''t see the thing that surrounded and protected me, from the few movement my eyes strained to do, I still felt a change in it. Just when I was trying to think of a reason for the sensation, my falling speed started decreasing visibly. With a much slower approach to the surface of the planet, details of the islands and oceans were more clear. Three were the bigger land masses and I started losing count of the smaller one. - It sure isn''t Earth... I''m surely not a geography enthusiast, but not even one coastlines matches my memory... The decreasing speed also showed me what could be the destination of this uncontrollable trip. A group of three lone islands in the middle of the ocean, almost at equal distance from the continents, seemed my landing point. After a while, my lack of any kind watch was killing me, I felt like I had memorized all the various coastlines and relative position of what I could see. With all the menu function blocked, and my lack of mobility, I started to reflect more seriously on my current situation. Overthinking like usual. - Sure, I have to admit, all this excitement is fun and all... But the lack of all the reaction, and sensation, I should have felt before... It''s disturbing... Maybe it''s true that memories define one-self, bur never like than I thought I understood. All of that, new body, photographic memory, hud etc., was slowly eroding my original personality. - Sigh... Why I always overthink, why?! Outburst apart my prominent tracts seemed intact, so it was better for my mental health to start to imagine all that like a game. Also the strange skydiving experience was reaching its conclusion. The islands were now filling my view and, guessing my trajectory, I was going to land on the bigger of the three. If it was really another planet I should haven''t applied Earth standards, but judging by position alone they should have tropical climate. All the greenery I could see also showed that it was a fertile land. When I started slowing down more and more my doubts on my landing destination started to clear. A plateau on top of a inactive volcano was the only place that was illuminated, and that made click something inside my mind. Of all the place I''ve seen, while in the atmosphere, there were no visible lights. - Please, please somebody say it''s only because I couldn''t see them... I fear all the other implication... Apart for my crawling doubts, the structure that seemed the source of the light came into view. A truncated cone was the best description I could use at the moment. The top part, that was as bright as a thousands light bulbs, was centered into my sight so I suppose it was time to land on it. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The roof of the structure gave off the same white light of the room''s ceiling I was in before. Sure is was vastly more powerful, but the cold hue and the way it was uniform was the same. When I was at maybe the same height of a five-storey building, and almost dead-center on the roof, I felt like passing through a membrane. At the same time of the the break through sensation, I regained my mobility and my landing speed slowed even more than before. - So it seems in the end I will not have to try to mimic the safe landing technique I remember from videos... The moment my feet touched the surface, quite cold actually, of the roof the light disappeared except for six rings. One was under myself and the other five were in front of me in a semi-circle formation. From the five rings of light five square, pillar-like, thing grew out. The light was to strong to see all the details but it became much more weaker at the time the five "obelisk" stopped to arise out of the roof. I called them obelisk because, with the much more acceptable light, I was able to see their surface was full of engraving, etching that resembled more a circuit board than written language. When the light under the central, and taller, obelisk started flashing lightly a voice come out of it. - Welcome to Imlaren traveler, we were waiting for you since our creation, and finally as predicted you have come... Why are you in dismay o'' mighty traveler? - It''s called face-palming and I''m doing it because of this whole situation... Really?! Now you go all lore-master on me after three days like that?! And even if the voice is different I have a strong feeling we chatted before, haven''t we? - You really continue to smash all of my expectations, from your data I assumed you would like a more "classic" approach now that your new life beginning. - You really got smarter but not quite there are you? Like I said before you should have this approach from the start if you want me to listen to... Wait a minute... What''s the "now" new life, bit about? - You accepted all of this crossing that door, so this is your new life now. Congratulation?! With my right eyelid twitching uncontrollably, I sat down to fight the increasing desperation and rage, strange mix I know... - What the @#%& you mean I accepted?! When do you piece of ¡ê$?*# asked me anything?! An you can take your congratulation and... - To think you''re so lively even now is comforting you know? But if you want to file questions about the selecting and activating criteria, I believe you will have no more luck than me contacting the Creators. - Why you continue to casually drop bombshell like this when I''m already full and on the verge of exploding?! Wait... Do you say this thing believing I will not listen and remember? You son of a microchip... - From where that did came from? - Well seeing the pattern on the obelisk coupled to the synthetic-voice, it came naturally... Don''t try to derail the conversation and answer me! - To answer your question the system not only select a free matrix, after searching for the pre-set parameters, but also test its compatibility with #001, or Imlaren if you want to use the local name. To fail the test you needed only to resist the implanted compulsion and do nothing productive until the end of it. - So you really messed with my mind... What about the Creators part? - ... ... To put is simply I''m "only" #001 manager, I''m in charge of all the new matrixes but otherwise I''ve limited power. I lay dormant until activation, and you''re the first that the system selected since the beginning. So when I started the processing I tried to contact the Creators but no answer came. - Let me guess, all the time when you "disappeared" you were trying to contact them? - Yes exactly, I''m supposed to evolve with each external interaction, but having only you as a sample brought unexpected reaction. Like repeatedly trying to contact every single free moment. - Welcome to the anxiety club... I''m inclined to consider us even if I really gave you an imprint of my reactions and emotions... So what I''m supposed to do now? - Now we wait for your avatar''s synchronization with the new environment, meanwhile we can finally do a q&a session. - After three days... Just like that... Breathe in, breathe out... ... - Well normally new matrix''s avatars would have to listen to the lore introduction and should consult each obelisk for instruction. But I believe we exceeded normal parameters by far, so now you can simply ask. - I''m starting to have a migraine, is that even possible with this body? Anyway how much time I have for asking questions? - I think your headache is only psychological origin, you shouldn''t have physical feedback until the end of the synchronization sequence. And you can ask for all the time you want. - Care to explain this "feedback" thing? - When, a few more minutes actually, the sequence will end you will have again the full control and feedback of your avatar. Obviously complete of the upgrade you obtained until now. - Obviously... Just so I can understand better, what will change from before, and I mean from my original body, from the time in the room and now? - Your original body''s stat and skill are unknown to me the system came in contact with your matrix only after you separated from it, I could only glimpse at the last instant of your original life but not enough data to extrapolate significant results. - Wait a minute! You said I was going to get cremated... did you lie to me? - From the relative time between the end of you original body, the system''s search and the memories of your last will, I estimated the moment your original body would be cremated. - Estimated, estimated... How sure you''re of your calculation? - From the data I have, a 2.3 seconds of estimated error. - Sigh... I have no way to check it anyway, so let''s say I believe you, what are the difference I should expect from the white room and now? - I think that thanks to your intuition you will be able to pick the change immediately, but to answer your question in the testing room you were on a slight compulsion to "do something", your avatar grow-rate was doubled and no other basic biological function were activated. - Such as? - Hunger and thirst are the more prominent, the full list I''m not authorized to disclose. And I believe it would be fairly boring. - Yeah, because you worry about my entertainment right?... Will I be free of compulsion now? - Yes, like I said before, no external interference is permitted on the matrix after it pass the test... While it was talking, I was assaulted by a feeling comparable to plunging, my whole body, in ice water after a day under the scorching sun. My skin felt first hot and than cold, no wonder I started shivering like a new-born lamb. - The synchronization seems complete, I think in a few hour you will start to feel all the others change. What you feel now is the feedback from the avatar''s settings to the new atmosphere, gravity and so on. Chapter 006 After the strange sensation passed I started to think more clearly, and also I felt that my senses were more keen, more "alive". - So practically speaking the time I have is the time I can go on without drinking or eating... I don''t suppose you have a cafeteria down here? -I''m afraid not, no prepackaged meal.After the end of thisconversation you will have to look after yourself. - Joy! Sigh... If the clock is running it''s time for an abridged version of the introduction, thenmaybe I will know what questions is better to ask. -Sure, the lore data I have isshort anyway. - Imlaren is now a peaceful world but in the distant past was once ruled by three great tyrant, Ausas the great sea-serpent ruled all the seas and islands, Ulbilgar the ancient dragon ruled all the western land, Llanfil the immortal witch was empress off all the east. - When finally a hero defeated Ulbilgar the empress tried to cross the sea to take the dragon''s land. Ausas found insulting that that the witch made no offering to him, so the raging sea swallowed Llanfil''s fleet. - From that day no one have seen nor the sea-serpent, nor the empress. The lands and lore today still reflects that division:The Islands; Dragon''s Lands and The Empire. - So there are other sentient creature, and seeing judging by my avatar some must resemblehumans... Still dragons, sea monsters and witches... We are not in Kansas anymore eh Toto... If there was still doubts aboutit... ... - If the system setting is of a peaceful world, what''s my objective? Don''t misunderstand, I''m not eager to fulfill fantasticalquest, but then why? -... ... I''ve not enough data to answer your question, the system was supposed to engage automatically after a successful test. This coupled with the lack of response of the Creators forcedme to fill in. - Please tell me it''s not a glitch, I''ve had my fair share of those kind of games in my days... Just considering the implication is making me... - Rest assured all the rest of the system is 100% functional, consider this new life, free of burden, a blessing. Forthe rest allI can tell you about the four function of your menu, you can learn faster touching each pillar. - Wait, I remember one was locked?
Menu
Avatar Status Map
Skill list Life''s tree
- Life tree? What the... I''ve a bad feeling...
Life''s tree
Human II (conditions not met)
- Well really useful... No, wait, maybe it means evolving is possible? Still mumbling I walked to the first obelisk and cautiously put my hand on it. A info dump was discharged into my mind, all about the menu and it''s various functions. Well no new information,really I alreadyguessed most of it but a confirmation from the source is always good. The next one was about magic, and if previouslyI had various doubtin this field now all the data was now memorized and, hopefully, always at my disposal. Like I guessed before MP or mana is the fuel for any magical activity, and while most sentient magical race can manifest an effect from birth andwithout the need of speaking, most race need time to learn new magic tanks to the help of books or a mentor. Most of the magic''s apprentice still needed word to help concentration but with practice itwasn''t strictly necessary. - So my learning curve was really abnormal... Or this whole external agent it''s the cause... There wereno strict magic elementbranch, all wasconsidered a pure manifestation of the mage will. And turn out my little barrier experiment only consumed mana if an external force interfered. Also itwas a kind of magic considered lost in the time of tyrants. Touching the third obelisk gave me, just like the first two, all the basic information I needed about its subject. In that case the data was about crafting. Sure enough almost all my hypothesis proved to be right.Four similarinteraction, each one focused on the same results, leaded to a successful transformation of the material in a crafted item or implementation. - Clearly, just like the magic system, the material, technique, imagination and ability of the craftsmen/woman is fundamental, and influence the final result, sigh...something really never change... The fourth, and last, obelisk dealt with the previous locked menu, Life''s tree. It was the most informative info-dump, being a topic I didn''t know nothing about. - Basically when certain conditions are met the menu will permit an upgrade or a change in the status... I''m correct to think it includes an "evolutionary" jump? Or also aregression? When I absorbed all the information about all the four system''s basics I inquired the central obelisk. -I''ve notaccessto more information that the ones you already acquired, but I can confirm your speculations. The system permit a change, meeting the right conditions,in every entry of themenu. - ... ... - Now that you have completed the last phase, there are two more thing I need to give you. - Oh? It''s already christmas? Time sure fly when one in having fun... - No, no such holiday here, the things you''re going to have will help both of us. First your equipped, crafted items... - What about them? I''m fairly attached you know? - Yes, I know, even withoutyour aggressive stance and squinted eyes. Basically your items are made of anmaterials unknownin this world, so they need to be exchanged with something less suspicious. - Obviously it will be a fair exchange I hope. - I don''t think you have nothing to fear in that subject, I never lied and never cheated you and newer will. The second thing is a skill the system give by default after the end of this stage. - Ok, ok sorry about the paranoia. So, do I need to take off the armour or you can... As soon as I blinked, looking down an myself, the exchange was already done. All my items were gone, even my spear and knife. - What the... -If you want you can open the menu and confirm the changes. And to quench your doubts check also the items, I will provide the data of the previous ones.
Name Race
Average Human I
HP MP
112 120
Atk Def Dex Wis
11+14 11+16 11 11
Exp
60/180
Skills
Crafting Exp +10% Intuition I Magic Speech recognition
Skillspoints: 0
SimpleUnknown vambraces => Simple Wrought Iron vambraces
+1 Atk = +1 Atk +3 Def = + 3 Def
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SimpleUnknown greaves => Simple Wrought Iron greaves
+1 Atk = +1 Atk +3 Def = + 3 Def
SimpleUnknown breastplate => Simple Wrought Iron breastplate
+5 Def = + 5 Def +1 Def* = +1 Def**
*Diamond-like carbon coating
**Manacoating
SimpleUnknown small shield=> SimpleWrought Ironsmall shield
+3 Def = + 3 Def +1 Def* = +1 Def**
*Diamond-like carbon coating
**Manacoating
SimpleUnknown knife=> SimpleWrought Ironknife
+5 Atk = + 5 Atk +1 Atk* = +1 Atk**
*Diamond-like carbon coating
**Manacoating
SimpleUnknown spear=> SimpleWrought Ironspear
+11 Atk= + 11 Atk +1 Atk* = +1Atk**
*Diamond-like carbon coating
**Manacoating
When I closed the status and skill menu, all this information appeared into view when I looked at my items. - How did you make this kind of information appear? Because I''m sure it''s not my doing. -I told you I would have provided the data, but for youto see detailed information about an item you have toconcentrate and study it. This time you already known because you made them. - So just like all the other thing the system requires actual effort to give results... I don''t know how to feel about this strange mix of realism... After readingall the information my vision was finally clear, apart of the four spheres hud, and I noticed the sun was rising. - Let''s consider that the East then. Finally seeing a dawn again makes me feel much more happy that I would believe was possible. But morning brought not only a good vibe, it also brought a new pressing matter. If thenI had to eat and drink normally again, what should I do? Sure I remember all the survival information I had read orseen in videos, but many doubtsabouttheir real application here started to rise together with the sun. - Looking at the dawn facing a seeming endless ocean sure would be more relaxing, if only I knew something more... - Sorry for not being able to help, whatI can extrapolate from the data ofthe systemstarting is that this starting island should be uninhabited. The other two should have small structure manned by locals. But from the growth of the land surface of theislands, this information are badly outdated. - Sigh... I''m really on my own... Well I get down from here? Wasting time will not surely help. The exact moment I stopped talking a spiral staircase appeared from a hole in front of the central obelisk. At the same time the light that came from the roof, and the circuit-like patternon the five obelisk, disappeared and no more response came from the voice either. - Living on my own, my own, my own... I started to go down the softly lighted stairs trying to not butcher to much the song, andto see if I really was still tone deaf like Ialways was. Descending the stairs was another test for my sanity.For the first thirty minutes, judging on how many song I hummed, I was almost happy to discover I also rememberedthe lyricsof my favourite songs, and maybe I wasn''t so tone-deaf like before. The judgment on the last thing I leaved open after a third party wasinvolved. But after the initial rush I started to fall in my old pattern of worry and doubts. First of all for how much more I had to go down before exiting this structure, sure I confirmed I was still able to make small quantity of water, but it will not be a joke if the descent was days long. When I had seen this building beforefrom high above, when I was literally falling from the sky, it seemed pretty tall but not like a skyscraper. I found myself worrying that maybe perspective deceived me. When I was feeling thirsty, after five songs, I had created a ball of water and while trying to drink from it I managed to splash it all over my face and chest. Thanks to that accident I was able to see one of the effects of the mana coating. At first I founf italmost fun only when I rememberedthe risk of rust for my iron breastplate Ihurried to wipe it. Having only a simple tee-shirt and trousers under all the armour I didn''t know what to do. Remembering that the mana coating in the description was a replacement for the dlc treatment, I tried to concentrate my mana on the breastplate. The final result, after some trial, was that this new coating allowedto pourmana in the object. When that happened the mana became a visible light-blue film that encased the object. And seeing the hydrophobic effect it had on the splash of water I believe this mana coating protected the item just like the diamond like carbon. Pouring mana in the shield, knife and spear gave the same result. Sure it consumed mp, checkingthe status revealed it needed 5 points for item, but if made items long lasting and easier to maintain it was worth it. Brooding on all of this information I almost missed the small change in the updraft wind, maybe a chimney effect, that accompanied my descent from the beginning. At first the air had no smell but thenI started to smell earth, woodand vegetation. I think I was never so happy to smell open air like Iwas then. I started to godown the stair more quickly, and when I started to hear the sound of runningwater even more so. When finally the stairs ended I found myself in front of a small andlong, almost claustrophobic, passage. But nothing mattered more to me than the light I could see at the end of it. Being careless when Iwasto focused, or happy, or in a rush, was always the way trouble found me. And sure as @#%& even this time they didn''t wait to show up. When a loud crashing sound arrived to my ears I was already sprawled on the floor. A heavy arrow, more like a crossbow bolt, liedun top of thebreastplate. It was hard to see,having lost it''s mana hue, but it felt like the metal around the centerwas dented. Starting to think straight again, I hoped I didn''t have aconcussion, I started tocrouchand put the shield in front of me. Just like I finished taking position a second bolt found my new lifted shield dead center. The shield also lost it''s coating and when a was about to pourmanainto it I stopped... Watchingmy back I could see only faint light, compared the light coming from end of the tunnel was dazzling. - @#%&,the blue shine of the mana coating gaveaway my position, didn''t it? And being in a clear line sure didn''t help... While mumbling to myself, I started to concentrate to see if I could locate the attacker. In the meantime I was starting to lose my patience,avoice boomed in the small corridor. - CHI VA LA''?... Penso l''abbiamo preso. Hey! Renditi utile, smetti di tremare e va a vedere cos''era. The voice sounded deep and bossy but itwas impossible to understand to me. Did the"Speech recognition" skill fail? But if Ihad to guess, just like forthe item description,I needto hearmore of itbefore understanding. Still to think my first encounter could''ve been my last is really typical of me. With all the eco in that narrow passage I couldn''t use the soundfrom before to speculate their distance, but thenI could hear faint footstep and started counting them. I gripped the knife, my initial fall turned off the mana onit and the spear, thinking that in this close quarter was the better choiceandwaited. Still the footstep''s sound was a bit erratic, just like someone who''s unsure of what to do. Time felt dilated from my tension, but I think no more than few minutes passedbefore a shadow lurked into view.