《Adam: The Archer》


 Prologue – Ragnarok

    <hr />


    Everything was like a fairy tail¨C the oak-brown wooden cottages, the stone-tiled ground and the myriads of differently dressed people running about. The view that unfurled before Adam was unlike what he¡¯d ever seen before. But that was to be expected. This was, after all, the newest virtual-reality game released by google corps with over ninety-five percent realistic feel. A game that was talked again and again and again about on the internet. Google''s first virtual reality game. Ragnar?k.


    The game was said to become the new best seller among games and already achieved the thirty million pre-order limit after a mere week of its announcement. And today, the twenty-fifth of July 2032, a month later, the game¡¯s servers had finally opened and was letting players inside. As Adam thought of the incredible adventures that awaited him in this game, a curved grin spread from ear to ear across his face, making him seem even a bit scary to onlookers. Coughing lightly, he remembered that he stood in the middle of the central road, and hurriedly ran over to the sidewalks to avoid the bustling traffic of people


    ¡°Hello, how much for one of these apples?¡± asked Adam.


    ¡°One copper, young man.¡± replied the old man with a slight smile.


    Pink-red apples basked in the sun while they were neatly packed in the food stall in front of Adam. He checked the inventory in the translucent box of his view. Adam had a grand sum of ten coppers. Without thinking twice, he withdrew two, dull-shining coppers from the starter funds given to him by the system and handed them to the old man behind the counter. The old man smiled widely of appreciation, nodding for Adam who in return took the biggest and most red apple of them all. Well, he thought at least.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± said Adam and left, walking along the sidewalk.


    Gazing around the medieval town like a tourist, Adam was filled with wonder. Ragnarok was just so realistic. The apple in his hand was sweet and crispy. A perfect apple! It was even better than the ones he bought at him in the nearest market. A breeze brushed past him, gently coursing through his long, golden hair; and at the same time, he smelled the almost irresistible fragrance of roasted meat that followed. It was a shame the young man only had ten coppers, otherwise, he¡¯d have been sure to buy a roasted duck to eat. He swore to himself that once he became wealthy enough, he would get some nice food here.


    The town was very crowded. Players, like himself, were running around trying to get a good grasp of the city. Everyone was dressed in the basic garment given to them by the system. He himself wore a white tunic with brown pants. A bow was strapped to his back, signifying his class as an archer. He even had a well-made quiver beside the bow. How awesome!


    ¡°Rusty Iron Broadsword! 3-6 damage ¨C only 6 coppers! The best sword available  for berserkers in the game right now! Buy it and everyone will want you on their team! Become a master warrior and conquer dungeons!¡±


    ¡°Tattered Robe! 2 defense, 5 health! Only 4 coppers! The best robe available for spellcasters like mages, priests warlocks in the game right now! Buy it and everyone will want you one their team! Become a master magician and conquer dungeons!


    ¡°I want the sword!¡±


    ¡°Let me buy the robe!


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay 7 coppers for the sword!¡±


    Two players were surrounded by many others after announcing their wares and items. Adam snorted quietly after seeing the scene playing out in front of him. The two players trying to sell their items were obviously swindlers; players taking advantage of newer players in order to get more money. And since the game had just started, new players were like a flock of sheep, they would believe everything one said. The two players had probably gotten some lucky drops from mobs and decided to take the dirty way to sell the sword and the robe, which probably wasn''t even worth half of the amount they were being sold for.


    That apple wasn¡¯t worth 2 coppers. I got swindled too, I guess¡­


    Adam laughed to himself and then started walking to the city exit. He had one skill which was the ability to tame beasts, the figurehead skill for an archer, his class! Walking for a while, Adam came to a field of green grass. There was a single, masive tree in the left region of the field. He could see hundreds of players making their way through the field either by themselves or in groups. However, not to his surprise, only a few were courageous enough to engage in combat with the small level 1 hound that was roaming freely without a care in the world until they were attacked. They wouldn¡¯t be aggroed until someone attacked them, which wasn''t uncommon in beginner stages of games.


    So this is the first test, huh? It was apparent that the game developers had chosen to give the players this first test. The hurdle for new players, especially to those that had never played a VRMMO before, was to take the first step and defeat these dogs. In order to play this game, the players had to overcome the fear and the hesitation gained from the twentieth century¡¯s society.


    Adam reached for the bow on his back. Touching it with his hands, he felt the rough tree lines that followed along the curved piece of wood. Th basic bow had a damage of 1-2 and was most likely  one of the weakest bows in the game. Yet, it was the great workmanship of a  fletcher. This would be classified as a piece of art back on Earth, probably yielding a few hundred dollars at the very least. But here in Ragnarok it was the worst bow, not even worth a copper, unsellable to stores and vendors


    He checked his character screen:


    ¨CName: Houyi


    ¨CLevel: 1


    ¨CHealth: 100


    ¨CMana: 100


    ¨CDefence: 0


    ¨CStrenght: 1


    ¨CAgility: 1


    ¨CIntellect: 1


    ¨CSpirit: 1


    ¨CStamina: 10


    ¨CDexterity: 1


    ¨CUnallotted stat points: 5


    ¨CSkills: Tame Beast


    He named himself Houyi after the Chinese god of archery. Even though he was American, the young man had always had an eye for Chinese mythology. Since this was the case, and that he wanted a cool name that suited him, Houyi was perfect to pick. Luckily for him, it was free when he created his character a bit less than a month ago.


    ¡°Hmm, I need to use these stat points wisely. I have 1 points in each stat except stamina, in which I have 10. In that sense, 10 stamina equals 100 hp. 1 stamina being 10 hp. I don''t know yet what each attribute does, so I¡¯ll have to find out before spending the points. I do remember that the archer¡¯s main attribute is agility while its secondary attribute which you can¡¯t train is dexterity, but I will have to wait until I¡¯ve played the game for a bit longer. Just because the system says one stat is better, it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s the best configuration for me. I''m used to shooting with my own body, so I need to recreate it here.¡± muttered Adam quietly.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started then.¡±


    Adam picked an arrow from his leather quiver that also hung from his back, and nocked it onto the bow, using his thumb and index finger to keep it in place. The fletching was well-made, and would surely do its job. He gazed around for a moment before finding his target. A cute dog was playing around in the green, lush grass about twenty meters away from him. Breathing out slowly, Adam drew the bowstring fully and aimed carefully at his target. But just as he was about to let loose of the arrow and send it on its way, his view pulsated slightly, and a system message appeared in front of him.


    <<Do you want to shoot using the system¡¯s help, or would you like to do it manually? Press y/n depending on your choice. This can be changed any time inside the character panel.>>


    He pressed <<No>>


    Adam needed no help, this would be a good game for improving his skills. If it worked well, he could even use it instead of his normal routine training, so the system¡¯s help was unnecessary to him. His view blurred again, and the system message was gone.


    He brought up his bow and aimed again. Adam waited a few seconds, calming his heart. This was crucial for archers, they needed to be very calm when shooting. A small slip of the hand, or even a faulty calculation of the wind speed, and the arrow¡¯s path would deviate from the right one, and completely miss its target. That was the crux of archery. It was unlike swordsmanship or sorcery. You only had a mere centimeter to work with, and one mistake could mean everything.


    He released the arrow


    ¡°Swoosh¡±


    The arrow flew in a straight line, hitting the dog¡¯s heart dead-on.


    (-4)


    The dog whimpered loudly and turned to Adam. Its eyes changed into crimson as the dog bared its fangs and charged toward him. The dog was quite fast. From his estimation, It would only take about 4-5 seconds for the small creature to reach him.


    ¨CBrown Dog: Lvl 1


    ¨CHealth: (10/6)


    ¡°Tame beast only works on non-humanoid monsters that are on the same level as me, and with twenty or below twenty percent health remaining. So, I need the at two health minimum before I can attempt to tame this dog as my pet. As an archer, I have three pet slots and can discard and/or tame a new beast each day.¡± Adam muttered to himself while nocking another arrow onto his bow, quickly letting it loose towards his prey. ¡°That¡¯s quite nice.¡±


    (-3)


    The dog was almost at him. He didn¡¯t have time to fire another arrow before the time was up, so he took his guard up and braced himself. Even though he could dodge, he was very curious to see how much damage the dog dealt, and how much pain he would feel from the dog''s attack. He actually wanted to get bitten, how strange that sounded when he thought about it!


    ¡°Woooof!¡±


    (-5)


    The dog hopped onto him and aimed for his throat. Luckily, Adam guarded his throat carefully. He knew that dogs primal instincts were as such and would, without thinking, aim for that spot. Of course, he couldn¡¯t protect himself fully, and took a bit of damage. His hp was reduced by 5 He threw away the dog, giving it a good kick while he did.


    (-1)


    ¡°Now!


    ¡°Tame Beast¡± shouted Adam loudly, activating his one and only skill. A dark-green light coiled like a snake over to the dog and immobilised it. The dog tried to resist, but couldn''t. He noticed his mana bar plummeting down slowly but surely. After ten seconds or so, the dog quieted down, and the dark-green light disappeared like it had never existed.


    <<Congratulations, you have tamed a pet. Please name your new companion.>>


    ¡°Hercules!¡± said Adam with a glee.


    <


    >


    The dog on the ground blurred, and then magically appeared by his side. It stroked its furry but soft throat to his leg, showing off its affection. Hehe, If not for the previous action of wanting to rip him apart, maybe he''d even go down and pet it. But for now, it would take some time for him recuperate from the shock. Jokes aside, Adam noticed a status above the figure of the dog.


    ¨CHercules: Lvl 1


    ¨CHealth: (50/50)


    ¡°Show Pet¡¯s status screen.¡± said Adam.


    Another, a bit bigger, status appeared.


    ¨CName: Hercules


    ¨CLevel: 1


    ¨CHealth: 20


    ¨CEnergy: 5


    ¨CDefence: 2


    ¨CStrenght: 2


    ¨CAgility: 1


    ¨CIntellect: 0


    ¨CSpirit: 0


    ¨CStamina: 1 (+ 1)


    ¨CSkills: Reckless Charge. Bite.


    ¨CPet bonus: 200% stamina and 150% defence


    <<System announcement. The servers are closing in 5 minutes. Please log out as soon a possible to avoid possible accidents with your VR helmet. Thank you.>>


    Adam looked through his pet¡¯s status and felt that it was quite good. Archer truly was a class for farming. He didn¡¯t know about the other classes, but archers should be quite capable of grinding massive experience from monsters. Maybe they could even solo bosses in dungeons! Heh, I logged in a bit late today. Well, I¡¯ve finished college, so I got some spare time. Guess I¡¯ll be in the game tomorrow again. But it''s no use to play more when only ten minutes are remaining. Adam jogged back to town and logged out.


    <hr />

 Chapter 1 – First Kill

    Adam woke up with a loud yawn. He stretched his arms above his head and groaned slightly before shaking his head and jumping off from the bed. The young man was twenty-five years old and lived alone in quite a large house in a semester resort in Spain. It might sound strange for someone so young to live alone, but as a matter of fact, his background was nothing of the ordinary.


    His parents were extremely wealthy, showering and pampering him endlessly without stop. Seeing their son have such talent for archery when he got second place in last year¡¯s Olympics, they immediately bought him a house here in Spain and gave him the chance to focus on archery. He took it without batting an eye. Here, far away from new york, he could live his own life without having to ask his parents before doing things.


    ¡°Where did I put the cereals? Che, this might actually be the only reason I miss home¡­¡±


    He grabbed a bowl from one of the shelves and poured up some milk inside it. After ten minutes of searching and scrambling around inside the house, Adam finally got seated at the table. Floating in the bowl on top of the table were blotches of soon not crispy flakes. He quickly finished scooping up the brown cereals, and then drank up the remaining milk which was smitten by the sweet taste of the flakes. It was delicious!


    Feeling ready for a new day of Ragnarok, Adam went to plug the virtual reality helmet on top of his bed.The exquisite, thin helmet shone with a silvery light as he put it onto his head. He opened a window and lay himself down to rest, getting ready to wake up inside a new world.


    The servers would open at six in the morning and close at twelve in the evening. This was for the north American server he played in. Europe and Asia and Africa, among other regions and zones, were timed differently, and therefore couldn¡¯t possibly have the same downtime the northern America''s server.


    There were about a million people in North America that received pre-copies. Although not everyone who wanted could have, the top brass received their helmets and was, therefore, satisfied. The competition was fierce for the rest of the helmets, and it was only because of his influential, rich parents that he could get one of these google virtual reality helmets with Ragnarok stored within.


    <<Welcome back to Ragnarok, Adam. Your character, Houyi, will load up in a moment. The process might take a few minutes of your time. Please bare with us.>>


    ¡°No problem!¡±


    He passed the time by contemplating on how he was going to recreate his real body configuration inside the game. His strength, stamina, speed and so on wouldn¡¯t be the same, but if he got the same ratio as in reality, he could probably make use of the Archer class better than other players. That was one of the main reasons to why he refused to spend his allocated stat points immediately after entering the game. He needed time to think.


    <<Houyi has loaded. You may proceed to close your eyes in order to log in>>


    He closed his eyes, and after a moment opened them again. What greeted him, instead of an oak-brown roof of wood, was a clear blue sky in which white, angelic clouds roamed freely. Adam chuckled at the beautiful sight while making his way to the field of brown dogs. He was ready to hunt dogs, and he was ready to level up!


    ¡°Summon Hercules!¡±


    To his command, the little, brown dog materialized by his side. And again, like last time, it rubbed itself against him affectionately. Adam laughed and stroked Hercule¡¯s head. The trauma from last day was gone, or rather, there was no trauma, just his own silliness!


    ¡°Let¡¯s start the grinding!¡± He said triumphantly. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be that hard to level up in the early game!¡±


    Adam brought the bow to his hands and found a brown dog further away down the field.


    ¡°Hercules!¡± He yelled, pointing his finger to the dog. ¡°Use reckless charge!¡±


    The dog, Hercules, barked furiously in response. It crouched down and then sprinted away. Its speed was rather fast, probably moving in about twenty-five or thirty miles per hour. Of course, one had to take into account that this was a skill and not its original speed. All in all, it was very fast. Although it wasn¡¯t close to the speed of a jaguar or racing dog, it was very fast. And not to mention, it was but level one. Thinking about Hercules in higher levels, or even other mobs on a higher level, Adam felt shivers creep along his spine. How terrifying!


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    He loaded up an arrow and released it.


    (-3)


    The arrow hit the dog and was shortly after accompanied by the agile cannonball called Hercules.


    (-4)


    With two attacks, over half of the brown dog¡¯s hp was shaved off. In most other virtual reality games, this would be an impossibility since the early stages of those game were very hard. In Ragnarok, however, it was a bit different. Adam guessed that the experience gained from killing each mob was significantly lesser here than in those other games. Maybe the ratio was one to hundred, or even one to two hundred. Adam was unsure about this matter as he had yet to kill even a single mob.


    (-3)


    The brown dog¡¯s attack hit Hercules. It was a bite to the throat. In real life, this attack would have been fatal, life-threatening to say the least. But in games, these attack merely reduced one¡¯s hp. And when one lost hp, one would die. But in return, as long as one had even one point of health, he or she wouldn¡¯t die.


    ¡°Swish!¡± Another arrow was fired off, hitting the dog with a dull thump.


    << 2 experience gained from killing a Lvl 1 brown dog>>


    The dog¡¯s red eyes slowly lost all color and its body slowly faded into dust, swept away by the wind. On the ground lay a piece of glimmering copper and a small, five centimeters long or so a slab of meat. Adam went and plucked it up, then putting it into his inventory. He inspected the meat slab the beast dropped.


    ¨C Item name: Dog Jerky


    ¨C Quality: Common


    ¨C Effect: Restores 10 hp upon consumption


    ¡°In other words, this dog jerky is like a health potion?¡± pondered Adam in deep thought. ¡°Anyway, my body here seems quite accustomed to battle, but I feel that the ratio between strength, agility is a bit bad. On the other hand, that¡¯s not very strange considering I have one point in each attribute.


    Adam opened his character screen and added two points to strength, one to agility and two to spirit. He moved around a bit and drew back and forth the bowstring a bit. After doing some jumps and stretches, he confirmed his thoughts.


    ¡°Strenght is how much power I can use, and is essential to pulling the bowstring quickly and efficiently. Agility should be my movement speed and reaction time. Therefore, dexterity should affect how nimble I am as well as my coordination of my hands, fingers and so on. But I can¡¯t be completely sure yet.¡± confirmed Adam.


    He gazed around the field, trying to perceive everything around him.


    ¡°Spirit seems to affect my eyes, improving my sight. In other games, spirit affects health and mana regen as well, so that might be the case. We¡¯ll see once I take some damage.¡±


    Adam ordered Hercules to attack another brown dog. After about ten seconds, the dog was defeated, falling dead exactly like the previous one. It was a shame, though, that the dog didn¡¯t drop anything. The only thing he received from killing the mob was a lump of experience to his experience bar. It was barely filled to one percent. He would at the barest minimum have to kill two hundred brown dogs before leveling up to Lvl one.


    ¡°Well, I got nothing else to do today either way!¡± Adam grinned and sent Hercules towards another brown dog. ¡°Hercules, use reckless charge!¡±


    ... ¡°Finish it off with bite!¡±

 Chapter 2 – Bronze ranked boss

    <<Congratulations, you have reached level 2. You¡¯ve gained 5x stat points and 2x skill points.>>


    Adam leveled up after an hour of grinding. If he had been killing constantly, without waiting for his pet¡¯s health to regenerate, it would have gone fast. But that was impossible, his pet was his tank. The points he added earlier increased his damage by one or two points while the spirit made his sightseeing vetter than in real life. This would make it easier to aim.Feeling he was on the right path, Adam added the allocated points from leveling up: strenght, agility and spirit; two, one, two in that order. He felt this was the best configuration for him as an archer.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got quite a few drops from grinding, and although it was less than expected, I feel that my overall accuracy in archery has improved by shooting moving targets. Barely noticeable, but I can feel it. Fighting is definitely a better method than training. Maybe that¡¯s why archers in the past were so godly, they shot to survive.¡± Said Adam to himself as he inspected the loot in his inventory.


    (13x)


    ¨C Dog Jerky


    ¨C Type: Consumable


    ¨C Quality: Common


    ¨C Effects: Restores 10 hp when eaten


    ¨C Classes: All


    ¨C Level requirement: 1


    (1x)


    ¨C Tattered leather boots


    ¨C Type: Leather


    ¨C Slot: Boots


    ¨C Quality: Common


    ¨C Effects: 1+ Agility, 2+ Defense


    ¨C Classes: Archer, Assassin, Sniper


    ¨C  Level requirement: 1


    (1x)


    ¨C Rusty shiv


    ¨C Type: Weapon


    ¨C Slot: Off-hand dagger


    ¨C Quality: Common


    ¨C Damage: 1-3


    ¨C Classes: Assassin


    ¨C  Level requirement: 1


    "13 jerkies, a pair of leather boots that I¡¯ve equipped, and a rusty shiv for assassins which I can''t use. Better sell it.The drop rate is pretty low, at least for these brown dogs. Maybe it differs from mob to mob." Adam scrolled through his character screen as well. The total damage of 1-3, was now boosted by strenght, and had gone up to 2-4.


    Just as he was about to head into the city, someone shouted, ¡°Hey, hey! What¡¯s that! What¡¯s happening?!¡±


    Adam looked over to the one who shouted. Further away across the grassy field, a large dog spawned. It was one-eyed as well as a lot bigger than the other dogs in the field. Probably, it was twice or trice larger as normal ones. An intimidating aura spread. Most other dogs fled, running away from the one-eyed dog with their eyes Crimson.


    ¡°It¡¯s a boss, it¡¯s a boss!¡± yelled another player.


    A system message flashed in front of every player in the training ground.


    <<The conditions to spawn the bronze ranked boss, [One-eyed Buster], have been met. Until [One-eyed Buster] is defeated, or all players on the field are wiped out, this region will be temporarily frozen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a boss! A real boss!¡± A paladin in a group of three screamed enthusiastically. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a boss. It got to be some event, and we are lucky enough to be included in it!¡±


    Of the same group, a priest laughed, ¡°That¡¯s right, it must be like that!¡±


    The rogue of that group, an assassin, wielded his two knives, saying with a grin to his face. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We three brothers need take this chance to rise in fame. The boss should drop some good equipment! Nick, after you bro!¡±


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!The paladin nodded, smiled, and swung his hammer against his shield. ¡°Understood!¡±


    He charged forward, accompanied by the assassin to the left. The boss, one-eyed Buster, lazily moved around, noticing the paladin and the assassin. They had entered Its aggro range. Growling, and baring its teeth, the gigantic dog barked, its eyes filling with a crimson color like the small brown dogs


    ¡°Holy smash!¡± shouted the paladin. His one-handed hammer surged with a yellowish, golden light as he arrived to One-Eyed Buster and bashed the weapon against the beast with all his force. A dull thud sounded out as the hammer hit its target. However, the smile that touched the paladin¡¯s lips quickly changed, a grave expression covering his face.


    ¡°Boom~!¡± One-eyed Buster¡¯s paw swiped from the side, booming into the paladin and throwing him away like a ragged doll. The paladin, Nick, spurted up a massive amount of blood after landing on the ground.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Nick, I will quickly get you up to full!¡± The priest comforted the paladin. His hands began to channel a white radiance into his staff while he himself chanted loudly. ¡°O'' Goddess of light, Sheiya, I beg of you, bestow upon me the power to restore life¡ª Lesser Heal~! He pointed his staff at the paladin, releasing a stream of pure, angelic mist that shot forward to Nick.


    ¡°It¡¯s too la¡­¡± The paladin collapsed, his body dissolving, turning into nothing. The mist arrived to Nick, but instead healing him, it faded away as well. He died before the priest could heal him.


    The priest¡¯s face went pale, and the assassin, who was about to attack the boss, stopped in his tracks as if struck by lightning. ¡°What the hell happened?! How did nick Die! What the f*ck!¡± cursed the Assassin. He hadn¡¯t been able to see clearly and had only noticed his party member''s health bar plummet to zero.


    All the players on the field gaped from shock, and some even dropped their weapons.


    ¡°What the heck!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an instant kill?!


    ¡°Let me out, I don¡¯t want to drop a level!¡±


    ¡°This boss is too strong!!¡±


    Chaos spread across the field. The atmosphere, as quickly as it turned hopeful, transformed into a nightmarish even faster. Tens of layers were for their lives, away from the dog, trying to get into the city. But unfortunately, everyone¡¯s fears came true. The area was now sealed and no one could exit.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we leave? A player asked in a frenzy, noticing that there was an invisible but very real barrier placed around the field. ¡°Shit the system message didn¡¯t lie! We can¡¯t leave!¡±


    ¡°F*ck me!¡± A muscular berserker swore ¡°I just hit level 2, come on!¡±


    Several people cursed their bad luck. From what they had seen, this boss was too strong for them to beat in this level. At first, before the paladin was killed, everyone thought this was a chance. An opportunity to get a headstart over everyone else. With maybe an uncommon piece of gear and a great deal of experience gained, they could catch up to the top rankers, who, at the moment, were about level 5. However, If a player was killed, he or she would lose a level and a piece equipment. Since the majority was level 2, they would drop to level 1 again. That was hours of grinding in vain! Why was the heavens punishing them? What had they done to deserve this?!


    Adam, who was by the city gates, was also unable to leave. He was observing the events transpiring. To be truthful, he was a bit worried. He understood the situation, there was no need to distrust the system message. Until everyone were wiped out, or if the boss were to be defeated, the area would probably continue to be space locked¨C trapping players within.


    "Let¡¯s wait and see what happens, There might be an opportunity, or there might not. Either way, I¡¯ll just have to do the best of the situation. And it¡¯s not like levels are so important for me right now, so it won¡¯t be too devastating if I¡¯m killed." Adam calmed himself and hunched down to quietly observe.