《God's domain》 Prologue: Gods Domain I gazed at several men ganging up on a lone young woman. ¡°Hey sweetie!¡± One of them said. ¡°You wanna hang out with us tonight?¡± The others laughed and tried to touch her. She tried to fend them off, but they were too many ¡°Please¡­¡± Tears came down from her face. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why you ask?¡± They all laughed together. ¡°Because we can.¡± I walked past them. That¡¯s how the society was. If someone could, they would. It¡¯s rather sad. Well, it¡¯s not surprising actually. That¡¯s how we humans were. Greedy, pathetic, lying and selfish. No words were enough describe us. Why did I walk past without trying to help? Well, I knew that I could do nothing. Who am I? I¡¯m but a simple citizen who sees everything, but does nothing. So do you think I¡¯m pathetic? I guess I am. Soon the latest Virtual reality game would be released. It boasted of ninety five percent of reality. Supposedly, you could feel the wind blow in your face and the scorching heat of a dragon¡¯s breath touch your face. Its name was god¡¯s domain. I pre-bought the game and would play it directly when the server opened. It¡¯s a standard fantasy action MMORPG in which players strive to become the strongest and to reach the highest level. But why is it different? What makes it stand out from the rest? Well, it¡¯s all about reaching god¡¯s domain. The garden of Eden. Do I want to reach the god¡¯s domain, the garden of eden? Yes, I want to. But then again, It¡¯s not like I do anything in reality either way. I always watch and observe, never acted or intervened. However, I know one thing. I want to play. I¡¯m tired of this god-forsaken world, this world without essence or justice. Therefore, I¡¯ll play God¡¯s domain. Will god¡¯s domain contain the essence I seek? I don¡¯t know. But if I find the garden of Eden, I¡¯ll ask god. ¡°Why did you leave us? Why did you forsake your children and leave us to our fate. In my ten feet big apartment, in my bed ¨C the new virtual reality helmet laid. The silver-colored helmet shone in the rays of the morning sun. ¡°Stop shining, I hate light.¡± I pulled down the curtains by my window. I picked up the helmet and held it in my chubby hands. ¡°When?¡± I hopped into the bed and watched the clock. ¡°Ten minutes.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll connect, then wait inside until the game starts. I put the helmet on my head. Yy long hair wasn¡¯t covered completely, it hanged out from the helmet. ¡°Whatever.¡± I sighed. ¡°It won¡¯t matter if it¡¯s outside.¡± I took a big breath. ¡°Connect. A bright and resplendent light abruptly shone before my eyes. Then, it went black. Pitch black. It made me think. Is that how I lived my life, black without feelings? This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Ten minutes after, a scenery appeared before me. Beautiful mountains with a snowy peaks. Countless of rivers flushing through the green landscape below. I felt the wind coursing through my long black hair as I became a streak of light soaring in the air toward one of the white mountain peaks. Shortly after, I landed in the snowy landscape. I looked around me. It was a land of snow. The color of white dominated the peak. No green at all could be seen. But then I saw something, it was a beautiful maiden in a white dress. Above her head there was a golden ring. ¡°An angel?¡± I walked toward her. ¡°So soon?¡± She noticed me and smiled warmly, but I didn''t return her smile. ¡°Greetings player 54732.¡± The maiden said. ¡°Would you like to go to character creation?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I replied. The scenery I saw changed once again. I was now inside some sort of cave. It was made by marble of a multitude of beautiful colors. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be a work of nature. A work of men? No. It has to be a work of god. Or maybe his angels.¡± I saw an image of myself in the marble. ¡°Gross.¡± I wanted to puke upon seeing myself. I turned around to face the angel. ¡°Can you randomize my look?¡± I asked the angel. ¡°My sex as well. And make me look about twenty years old.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± She smiled her sweet smile. ¡°What race?¡± ¡°What can I choose?¡± I frowned. ¡°Half-Demon, human or half-angel.¡± Her reply was automatic. ¡°Human¡± My instant reply caused the angel to become startled for a second, but then she returned to normal. ¡°So it seems even angels has emotions¡­¡± In the mirror, a human of about twenty years old was shown. ¡°So young¡­¡± The mirror displayed a guy with short black hair, sharp facial features and blue hazy eyes. ¡°Sure, that works.¡± I said. ¡°Finished?¡± The angel asked. I replied dully. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Where do you want to start?¡± She displayed countless of locations on the marble wall, making the image of my new appearance disappear. ¡°I don¡¯t care. Just randomize.¡± I couldn¡¯t care less of where I started. ¡°Are you sure?¡± She asked. ¡°Yes.¡± I just wanted to play now. ¡°Ok then.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯ll spawn in the western continent, in the town of serat. She continued: ¡°Human, town of serat. Yes?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She smiled. ¡°I hope you enjoy your stay in God¡¯s domain and I wish you good luck in finding the garden of Eden.¡± She flicked her fingers, ¡°Hood bye.¡± I stayed mute as I once again turned into a flash of light and soared through the sky until I landed. The soft lushy grass tickled under my feet. The sun shone brightly and I heard birds chirping in the trees. ¡°Finally.¡± I relaxed. ¡°Finally¡­¡± Chapter 1+2 Chapter 1 I was finally out from the world. I no longer had to follow the rules and the norms. No more¡­ It was summer and in my vision I saw something which looked like a village farther up ahead. Maybe two kilometers away. But as I started to move, a blue box appeared in front of me.
WELCOME TO GOD''S DOMAIN, PLEASE SET YOUR NAME. TO SET YOUR NAME, SAY IT OUT LOUD
Oh yes, I have to name my character. Let¡¯s see¡­ How about Gabriel? He is after all the right hand of god, maybe it¡¯ll give me some special bonus. I chuckled slightly. ¡°Gabriel.¡± I said out loud.
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE SET YOUR NAME. AS YOU HAVE JUST STARTED, YOUR LEVEL HAS BEEN SET TO LEVEL 1. TO REACH YOUR CHARACTER MENU WHERE YOU CAN: APPLY STAT POINTS AND SKILL POINTS, MANAGE QUESTS, ADD FRIENDS AND MUCH MORE, SAY CHARACTER MENU OUT LOUD. NOW THAT YOU KNOW THE BASICS, WE OF THE GOOGLE SOFTWARE DEPARTMENT, WISH YOU A PLEASANT GAMING EXPERIENCE. GOOD LUCK IN FINDING THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
I made my character menu appear before me. As expected, the usual 10 in health points and 5 in every other stat. Stamina, Strength, agility, wisdom, intelligence and luck. Six stats, pretty standard. I also had 18 equipment slots: Head, neck, shoulders, back, chest, shirt, tabard, wrist, hands, waist, legs, two fingers and two trinkets. The head, chest, wrist, shirt, hands, waist and legs were rather self explanatory. But tabard, fingers and trinkets were a bit more tricky. It was extremely similar to the old online game World of World craft. Tabard slot: Insignia for guild or faction ¨C group of players creating a group to help and support each other. Finger slot: Essentially for rings, both those with effects and just those for looks. Trinkets: A item with an effect that can fit in the back of the pocket. Usually only giving stat points for one or two stats. Well, this was everything I could deduce from the slot names. I was a rather avid player of world of Warcraft. I used to go around boasting about my level 80 mage in vanilla. It was a shame though, in the end the final level ended at 200. I stopped playing it ages ago. Did it still run? I don¡¯t know. Frankly, it didn¡¯t matter. Only virtual reality games drew the crowd nowadays. Ordinary games with keyboard and mouse were only played by old people, who were either too scared to go try virtual reality or just purely stupid. I suppose I can understand them. Not many dares to venture into the unknown. Especially those who like their current life. I guess that¡¯s why it was so easy for me. He walked towards the village. Only my shirt slot and leg slot were filled. I had a plain white shirt and a pair of black trousers. Damn, this world like white and black. Don¡¯t they understand that everything isn¡¯t black and white? Well, that¡¯s not surprising, the current government just ignores its citizens wishes. I don¡¯t have any underwear, does that mean that if my clothes, shirt and trousers, were to be unequipped, he would be bare naked? Should I try? Naa, I¡¯m fine. After about thirty minutes of walking, I arrived to the village. I had actually gained 1 agility and 1 stamina from just walking. It seemed as though physical exercise or strain would result in an increase in stat points. The village was rather small one. It looked like a normal medieval village. Wooden houses with market stands a bit here and there. In the middle of the village, I saw an old man. I went forward to the old man. ¡°Old man.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have anything that I can help with?¡± I knew that it was very common for old men to be quest givers in games and that¡¯s why I asked the first old man I saw. So don¡¯t misunderstand, I don¡¯t have a thing for old men. Urgh. ¡°Eh.¡± The old man turned around and looked at me. ¡°What do you want youngling? I cleared my throat. ¡°Old man. Do you have any quests?¡± The old man inspected me up and down. ¡°Not for you, youngling.¡± He pointed east. ¡°Go hunt some wild rabbits until you get stronger.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I could do nothing but resign. ¡°Wait, old man, do you have any weapons I can borrow?¡± He laughed. ¡°Do I look like a merchant or a smith?¡± ¡°No...¡± I answered. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± He laughed ¡°Now get going.¡± He gestured for me to go away. I sighed and walked away. I looked around for sign of a merchant or a blacksmith. After a while, I found a sign with an icon of a hammer and an anvil. ¡°That¡¯s gotta be a smith, right?¡± I entered the shop. *Clang* *Clang* The sounds of metal hitting metal reverberated in the small store. Several boys, who I guessed were disciples, forged weapons. At least they tried I guess. I looked around until I caught sight of an old man. ¡°Always old men¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°Old man.¡± I hurriedly made my way to him. The old man turned around. ¡°Old man?¡± Without me being able to react, he lightly flicked me on the forehead. ¡°Who did you just call old man, you little rascal?¡± ¡°You.¡± i said. ¡°Who did you just call little rascal.¡± *Haha* The old man laughed. ¡°I like you kid.¡± He stretched forward his hand which I shook. ¡°But don¡¯t be too much like that, it might hurt you one day.¡± He gestured for me to follow him. ¡°So why are you here? A new adventurer? Need some weapons?¡± He laughed again. ¡°Yes.¡± I explained. ¡°Some old man in the center of the village told me I was too weak to help him and that I should go hunt rabbits until I got stronger.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± He laughed once more. Goddamn old man, don¡¯t laugh so much. ¡°That sure is old man rector! He¡¯s becoming too old that geezer!¡± I sneered inside. Dude, you are too old. You seemed to be even older than that geezer outside. Of course, I couldn¡¯t say that. Then I might not get any weapons. ¡°Anyway.¡± I wanted to go and get stronger as fast as possible. ¡°I don¡¯t have any money nor any weapons.¡± I Wonder if this will be too much of a stretch. ¡°Could you give me a weapon?¡± I asked the smithing geezer ¡°Are you drunk little rascal?¡± He looked at me strangely. ¡°Why would I give you weapons for free?¡± Crap, it was too much of a stretch. ¡°If I give you some of the loot i get from the rabbits?¡± I asked. ¡°If not, I¡¯ll repay you once I get the money? ¡°Little rascal.¡± The old man furrowed his brows.¡±Do you know how many adventurers who die when they are out?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I smiled. ¡°It won¡¯t matter, I ain''t going to die!¡± *Haha* ¡°Sure then.¡± He took forth a dagger, a pole and a sword. ¡°Pick one of them.¡± Hmm. What should I choose. I wasn¡¯t proficient in any of them. But in some of the other virtual reality games I had played, I played as a mage or summoner which used staffs. A mage was a spell caster who mostly used fire or ice spells and a summoner was a spell caster who summoned monsters and used them to fight other monsters. ¡°I¡¯ll take the pole.¡± I said. It would also work good with both defense and offense. The old man looked slightly ¡°Hm¡± but still gave it to me. ¡°Little rascal.¡± The old man said. ¡°My name is old man cai. This weapon costed me 10 copper to produce. When you got 10 copper, come give it to me.¡± Ten copper. And how much was that? ¡°Okay.¡± I replied. ¡°But could you tell me the money system in this world?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even know about that?¡± Old man Cai said surprisingly. ¡°That''s basic knowledge for small kids... Sure, I¡¯ll tell you.¡± ¡°100 copper is 1 silver, 100 silver is 1 gold and 100 gold is 1 platinum and 100 platinum is 1 diamond.¡± Cai said. ¡°Thanks old man Cai.¡± I turned around and was about to go. ¡°I¡¯ll leave then, wish me good luck.¡± ¡°God bless you!¡± Old man cai said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget my ten copper!¡± He started to further instruct his disciples trying to produce weapons with their hammers. ¡°God bless you?¡± I thought and pouted. ¡°Fuck god, I hate that guy.¡± I left the store and made my way to the east with my new-equipped iron pole.
CHARCATER NAME: GABRIELTITLE: NONE
STA: 10INT: 5
AGL: 5WIS: 5
STR: 6 [+1]LUC: 1
HEAD: NONEHANDS: NONE
SHOULDERS: NONEWAIST: NONE
BACK: NONELEGS: BLACK LINEN TROUSERS
CHEST: PLAIN WHITE SHIRTFINGER 1: NONE
SHIRT: NONEFINGER 2: NONE
TABARD: NONETRINKET 1: NONE
WAIST: NONETRINKET 2: NONE
RIGHT HAND: COMMON IRON ROD [STR +1]LEFT HAND: NONE
Looks pretty neat, huh? Let¡¯s go hunt some rabbits then I arrived to a field of green grass still covered in sweet dew.Some cheerful rabbits jumped around in the grass. They seem to be rather weak, right...? Chapter 2 Above their head, I saw a blue box. Grey rabbits, level 1. I looked at myself, level 1. I looked at my weapon, an iron rod I looked at their weapons, none. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I looked at their size, small. I looked at my size, big. ¡°I can do this.¡± I took up my iron pole and grabbed it in my right hand, it made me feel a bit stronger. It had to be the 1+ in strenght It gave me. The grey rabbits still jumped around like carefree idiots, they didn¡¯t know what was about to hit them. That¡¯s right, my hard rod. Damn, that came out so wrong. I shook my head and charged forward. But as the rabbit discovered me, its eyes turned red and it displayed its fearsome teeth, they were black. ¡°Whaaaaa?¡± As I saw it I shuddered and unconsciously moved backward. Too scary. But it was too late, the rabbit jumped quickly as a streak of lightning and bit my in the shoulder. A blue box came up. -11 I had 10 stamina, which meant I had 100 health. Just a tiny bite in the shoulder chewed away over ten percent of my health bar. But could it be called health bar in this world? No, it was my life. I readied myself, the rabbit jumped again. I used my rod and made a overhead swing that hit the rabbit spot on. ¡°Bingo, seems like it wasn¡¯t so hard.¡± I exclaimed of happiness. But then to my despair, I only say its health bar go down by about twenty percent. It jumped again, but I dodged by a hair''s width. Why was a little bunny so dangerous? C¡¯mon! But after a while, it eventually died after my continuous overhead strikes. From its corpse, a copper coin and a piece of linen cloth dropped. ¡°What?¡± That was the only thing I got for risking my life? I lost fifty percent of my health ya¡¯ know? 50 percent! But nonetheless, I continued to kill rabbits. After a few, I heard a *ding* sound and yet another blue box appeared.
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 2. YOU HAVE GAINED 3 STAT POINTS AND 1 SKILL POINT.
With the ding sound, I opened my character menu and applied the stat points on strenght and agility. 1 on strength and 2 on agility. Why? It was really annoying to get bitten by those freaking rabbits. It hurt like hell. I opened the skill menu as well. I had zero skills. What a surprise. On the other hand, I had 5 skill points. In the corner of the skill menu, there was a field where it stood: ¡°Generate random skill ¨C 5 skill points.¡± Damn, what a surprise. So they expect me to use up all my skill points just like that. Do they really think I, the smart me, will fall into this trap? *Ding*
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE GAINED THE SKILL "SIXTH SENSE". FOR MORE INFORMATION, OPEN THE SKILL MENU.
Sorry, I couldn¡¯t stop myself. I opened the skill menu and looked at the skill. It was a skill which made me be able to discover weaknesses in the opponent. I could use the sixth sense to find out vital spots of the opponent. It could for example be the beak of a bird or the tongue of the snake. Naturally, some were really obvious. But nonetheless, it could be of help. The great me continued to farm grey rabbits until i hit level 3. I got several great loots such as a ragged cloak and a pair of tattered leather sandals. Well, it was better than nothing. I opened the player leaderboards.
PLAYER LEADERBOARDS
1. ROYAL HEADMASTER LVL 7
2. FALLEN LEGEND LVL 6
3. DRAGONSLAYER 76 LVL 6
4. EPO72 LVL 6
5. SATANS SPAWN LVL 6
34256. GABRIEL
WHAAT!? How the hell can some players already be level 6 and 7? Do they cheat...? Whatever, Guess they are just nerds. By the way, where are other players? There''s no one here. My thoughts wandered as I made my way back to the village. With my rabbit farming I successfully made myself 23 copper. It would suffice to pay back the smith and maybe get myself some armor. As I arrived to the village, I directly went to Old cai¡¯s smith. The sound of hammers hitting metals was still there. ¡°Old man Cai!¡± I yelled which immediately got his attention. ¡°I got your ten coppers!¡± He walked toward me. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± He laughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would make the money so quickly.¡± I gave him the ten coopers. ¡°Old man Cai. Do you perhaps have a helmet I can buy? One that is less than 10 coppers but still useful.¡± Old man Cai pondered. ¡°Well, you see.¡± He said. ¡°I might actually have. He walked behind the counter and fished up a black object. ¡°This is a helmet I found in some ruins ages ago.¡± He gave it to him. ¡°It seems to have been some adventurer¡¯s helmet.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no one wanted to buy it.¡± He sighed. ¡°First, i set the price at 5 silvers, it yielded zero sellers. Eventually, I removed it from sale. But now, since you show such promise and I kind of like your personality, I¡¯ll give it to you for 10 coppers.¡± The old man smiled. ¡°Thanks old man Cai.¡± I said, took the helmet and gave him ten coppers. ¡°I¡¯ll take good care of it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it should be. Anyways, get going now and find that geezer, rector. I heard he need some help!¡± The old man said. ¡°Thanks!¡± I replied and exited the building. I inspected the helmet. Suddenly, a blue box came up before me.
HELMET OF BLACK DESPAIR
HEAD
BLUE
ITEM LEVEL: 23
REQUIRED LEVEL: 3
STA: [-3]
STR: [+10]
AGL: [+4]
SPECIAL SKILL: AURA OF DEATH
¡°Skill menu!¡± I said.
AURA OF DEATH
+ SPECIAL EFFECT: CAUSE THE OPPONENT TO TREMBLE IN FEAR FOR 1-5 SECONDS DEPENDING ON LEVEL DIFFERENCE.
- SPECIAL EFFECT: MIGHT CAUSE YOU TO SIGHTLY LOOSE CONTROLL OVER YOUR ACTIONS.
Well, that doesn¡¯t seem to be too bad. Luckily I saved the stat points from leveling up to three. I put three of my remaining three stat points into stamina. Now, I had 100 health points again. After a short walk, I was once again by the old man. ¡°Old man rector! Old man Cai told me you needed some help.¡± I said. The old man turned around. ¡°Youngling, you seem to have become more powerful. Very well,you might be up to the task.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do whatever you ask.¡± I replied.¡±Is it to kill orcs? To kill big bears? Or Maybe a fearsome dragon?¡± The old man began to laugh. ¡°No youngling, it¡¯s to clear out a cavern infested with those nasty small goblins.¡± Damn, why do old men laugh so much? ¡°Sure, what reward can I get?¡± I asked. ¡°Youngling.¡± The old man¡¯s face turned serious. ¡°This is no joke. Didn¡¯t old man Cai tell you that this is a fearsome world we live in.¡± ¡°Monsters can really kill you here¡­ Anyways, you¡¯ll get four silvers.¡± He waved for me to go. ¡°Now, get going. It¡¯s a few kilometers to the south. You¡¯ll see those green pests¡± I exited the village and began walking south. Sadly, i didn¡¯t meet any other players. Even if I wasn¡¯t the most social person, some company would be appreciated. After a bit more an hour of walking, I arrived to the cave. In the vicinity of the cave I saw small human-like creatures with blunt stone weapons. ¡°OK.¡± I took a deep breath and checked my character menu.
CHARCATER NAME: GabrielTITLE: NONE
STA: 10 [-3]INT: 5
AGL: 9 [+4]WIS: 5
STR: 17 [+10]LUC: 1
HEAD: HELMET OF BLACK DESPAIR [STA -3, AGL + 4, STR + 10]HANDS: NONE
SHOULDERS: NONEWAIST: NONE
BACK: RAGGED CLOAKLEGS: BLACK LINEN TROUSERS
CHEST: PLAIN WHITE SHIRTFINGER 1: NONE
SHIRT: NONEFINGER 2: NONE
TABARD: NONETRINKET 1: NONE
WAIST: NONETRINKET 2: NONE
RIGHT HAND: COMMON IRON ROD [STR +1]LEFT HAND: NONE
¡°Okay.¡± I readied myself. ¡°Let¡¯s go slaughter some goblins!¡± Chapter 3 Hey guys, last chapter for today, I hope you enjoy my story!
Chapter 3 They were scouts so I guessed that the goblin nest or base was farther up ahead. Most likely inside the cave. One of them actually dropped a pair of tattered leather shoulders. Sadly, they gave no stat points or anything when I equipped them which meant they were just for decoration. Either way, I looked pretty strong with them. But with my iron pole, Black helmet, white shirt, black trousers and tattered leather shoulders, I had to say, it looked rather random. I¡¯ve heard that breaking the meta is a good thing. But you know what they say, never listen to such things, it might get you into serious trouble. As I went inside the cave, I was met with a blue box that said that it was a dungeon. It also asked if I wanted to enter the dungeon. Nah, you know. I don¡¯t want to. I think I¡¯ll just head home now. Of course I want you stupid piece of shit game. Sorry, maybe I need to go and learn to control my anger when I get home. Maybe charlie harper? The cave was rather dark. I had no light or anything to see where I walked. What If I walked into one of those green pests? And also, did they have night vision? Damn, what a convenient skill. Was it possible to get it somehow? Maybe if I became a rogue or something? By the way, I haven¡¯t seen anything about classes. There hasn¡¯t been any leakage of information of the game on the web either. Seems like the security of the game¡¯s information is bullet-proof. What class would I choose? Most likely a warrior or something. I¡¯ve fought as ranged or spell caster too many times now. Time to fight in close quarter. Since I look like twenty, let¡¯s use that youth. Ahh, the wonderful youth! Suddenly, I hear disgusting sounds. Or voices that is. I think they were goblins who spoke to each other. They sounded like pigs, but with a higher tone. Like mouses with dark tone. Something in between. I saw light coming toward me. It was a goblin with a torch. Without him being able to react, I lunge at him with my iron pole. As he sees me, he becomes terrified. I hit him in the arm and make him drop the torch on the ground. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t want him to set my awesome and expensive clothes ablaze now would I? -45 My hits were getting stronger. I took away a big chunk of its health, about half of its health. Before it could counter attack, I made a big overhead swing, my favourite swing, and made it fall cold on the ground. I looted nothing of value, so I continued forward. Soon level four, only about five percent. Another level 4 goblin would suffice. I hoped there was higher leveled goblins inside, it would make me level faster since I took care of these level 4s really really quickly. After a while of traversing on the uneven cave ground or floor, whatever you want to call it, i arrived to a big hall. Naturally, I hid to not get discovered. Inside, I could see numerous of goblins eating together. The green pests laughed and grunted like high pitched pigs. Disgusting. Farther away, in a stone throne, I could see a bigger goblin of maybe 2 meters, like a full grown human. A bit bigger than normal though. The other goblins were of level 5 and the bigger one in level 8. Seems like that was the boss. Now how should I draw them out? I could make some noise outside which would draw out a few. But it could risk that very many came. Well, looks like I got no other choice. I went a bit farther away and used my hard iron rod to smash into the wall. "Auch!" I felt the rebound come straight back into my arms. It hurts like hell. I forgot that even if it was a game, I still felt the pain as in real life. If you¡¯ve ever tried to hit a thick wooden stick into a big tree or stone, you ought to know the feeling I feel right now. Soon, I heard that a commotion rang out inside the cave hall and saw several shadows dash out. About five level 5 goblins stood before me, all armed with stone swords. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Eh, wasn¡¯t this what they called: ¡°Getting more than bargained for?¡± Crap, could I really beat all these goblins. I mean, one or two shouldn¡¯t be a problem, but five? Jeez. They charged at the same time and emitted war cries, disgusting high pitched grunts which echoed on the cave. I had to take care of these quickly, or it would alert the others in the cave. *Pa* -37 I hit the first one who charged at me with the end of my stick, it fell down. But unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t dodge every strike of the four that were directed of me. One of them hit my in the waist. -17 Holy shit, I have like zero stamina. That hit shaved of about one fifth of my health. I have to dodge or block a bit better. Somehow, I saw a highlighted part on the goblin who was down on the ground . It was on the side of its air. By the eardrum. I hit the stick there with all my force -67 A big number came forth. That was probably my sixth sense that guided me to the weakness of the goblin. I rejoiced that the goblin died. Only four more to deal with. Sadly, I wasn¡¯t happy for long as two swords hit me, one in the shoulder and on in the arm. -14 -21 Argh! I swung blindly in pain but hit nothing, I only made them temporarily retreat. The pain was unbearable. Compared to the rabbits, this hurt way more. I have no idea why. I had a bit less than half of my life left, 48 hit points. It wouldn¡¯t be enough even for a long shot. Should I run? No, it¡¯s too dark and the torch i got from the level 4 goblin scout is only charred black now, finished. tHe goblins charged again, I hit back. I made a Darth-vader style swing and held it with both sides, it made it a bit easier to defend myself. But it wasn¡¯t long enough which made my reach a bit short. But with the help of Darth-vader style I killed another one and leveled up to level 4 which replenished my health. I took care of the last ones with barely any health left afterward. They dropped a belt, it looked rather old and worn-out but I inspected it.
WORN-OUT LEATHER BELT
WAIST
GREY
ITEM LEVEL: 1
REQUIRED LEVEL: 1
Yup, i was correct. Friggin¡¯ useless. I waited until my health bar regained full luster, hundred percent, until I made more noise with my iron bar. I also didn¡¯t forget to invest the stat points and skill points, 3 stat points to stamina and 1 skill point to sixth sense. ¡°Shit!¡± I swore out loud. How could I be so stupid. Why did I think the green pests as stupid small creatures. Well, they were stupid. I can¡¯t refute to that. But they had a leader, the bigger goblin. Most likely, he commanded them to go out and take a look why his last warrior hadn¡¯t come back and also to check out the sound I made. Now,instead of five, which i had a really hard time handling, and would with certainty have died from if not for my level up, came ten goblin warrior armed with stone swords. They swarmed me. I tried to use the Darth-vader style to both defend and attack. But sadly, i wasn¡¯t some kind of martial artist in real-life nor a god in this game, so I succumbed to the continuous slashes and stabs. -12 -15 -11 -23 -18 -12 -14 I died. Damn goblin, I¡¯ll make you all pay! First, I¡¯ll have to get better equipment or higher level. Maybe I¡¯ll learn some kind of poisoning technique to make you weaker, I¡¯ll ask old man Cai when I respawn. ¡°Due to death, 12 hours of game time, has been removed. Please come back in 12 hours to log in again. See you soon!" Fuck! C¡ämon!
Goodnight! Chapter 4 I turned of my computer. From what I just read, everyone spawns in the same world where everything is identical. But we can¡¯t see nor affect each other. That must mean that it should be some type of tutorial. And when we reach higher levels, we¡¯ll get transported to the main ¡°World¡±. I mean, we can¡¯t be alone the whole time, right? That would be extremely dull and boring. Let¡¯s just get some sleep. There¡¯s about 11 hours before I can log in again. I turned the lights off, put the VR helmet on the floor , made an alarm on my iPhone 19 and hopped into bed. I feel asleep almost immediately. About 9 hours later, I woke up. Sadly, not from my alarm. I spent the last 2 hours of waiting to be able to enter the game by wandering around in the forum of God¡¯s domain. Most people were levels 1-5 while only a small percent was in the 6-9 levels. Right now, the highest leveled player, royal headmaster, was the sole level 9 player while the rest were level 8 and below. Most likely, he was a pro gamer who made his living on these kind of VR games. I had also decided to make my living. I¡¯ve heard that if you are in the top 10 percent, you can sell in-game items for real cash. Maybe it was a bit far-fetched for me to be able to make a living for myself playing games, since I didn¡¯t have any special ability in gaming. But nonetheless, I didn¡¯t have a job nor did I have any other income. And since the rent wouldn¡¯t magically disappear as my level did when I died in-game, I had to make money somehow. I wondered if there it would trigger some kind of event if he got to level 10. Maybe he would get his class in level 10, it was rather standard for most VR games. Anyway, the 12 hour time penalty was up and I entered the game. As I entered the game, the scenery of goblins munching on my flesh at the dinner table in the cave hall changed to the scenery of wooden houses ¨C I was back in the city. Since I spent a lot of time thinking when I couldn''t enter the game I though about the weaknesses of the green goblins. Their eardrums were weak. That had to mean they reacted to sound a lot. But I couldn¡¯t produce a sound able to damage them by just hitting my hard rod against the wall. The rebound would also be extremely painful. I found old man Cai in the smith and asked him about it, he told me to find Madam Tara. Apparently she was a musician. And well, I guess that a musician knows how to produce sounds, but I doubted it would be of any help. Either way, I followed the directions to her house and knocked on the door. *knock* *knock* An old lady of about sixty years or older, who I presumed were madam Tara, opened the door. ¡°Oh young man, what can I help you with?¡± I decide to answer truthfully. ¡°Madam Tara, old man Cai told me that i could find you here. To be truthful, after fighting with goblins in the east, I found out they were very sensitive to sound attacks. I wonder if Madam Tara has any ideas how i can use this to my advantage. Since she is, after all, a musician.¡± She blinked and looked at me up and down. ¡°Oh old man Cai knows what I like.¡± It was as if she didn¡¯t hear what I said. ¡°Come in come in.¡± I entered her house. Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t do what I thought she would. She gestured for me to sit in one of the armchairs as she walked to the kitchen to get some tea. After a couple of minutes, she was back and poured up some tea to me, I politely thanked her. ¡°So young man.¡± She walked to the other armchair and sat down. ¡°You said you wanted to become a musician.¡± ¡°What?¡± I thought. ¡°No, Madam Tara.¡± I said. ¡°I want to become a warrior. But for a quest, killing goblins in the east, I need to use the power of sound to damage their eardrums. It would make it easier for the me to complete old man Rector¡¯s quest.¡± ¡°Young man.¡± She pondered for a while. ¡°I might actually have something that might be of your help.¡± It¡¯s actually an old family heirloom of mine.¡± She explained. ¡°Sadly, it has never come of use for me, but if it will help old man Rector, you can borrow it.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. She walked into one of the rooms. After a few minutes she came out with a triangle of some sort. It looked like one of those instruments, what¡¯s it called now again¡­ Erm¡­ Yes! I remember! It was known as a triangle, an instrument of the percussion family. A bar of metal, usually steel, bent in a triangle shape. ¡°Young man, take care of it.¡± She handed it to me. ¡°Don¡¯t lose it.¡± ¡°Thank you madam Tara.¡± I said. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then of you go and help old man Rector!¡± She said and lead me to the door.¡± I thanked her properly and walked east to the rabbit field to level up to level 4. It would be hard to complete the quest without being level 4. I inspected the triangle instrument given to me by madam Tara.
MAGICAL TRIANGLE
RIGHT HAND OR LEFT HAND
ANCIENT RELIC
ITEM LEVEL: ?
REQUIRED LEVEL: 1
DAMAGE DEPENDING ON HOW HARD TRIANGLE IS HIT
+ SPECIAL EFFECT: SOUND WAVES CAN CAUSE OPPONENTS EARDRUMS TO RUPTURE
- SPECIAL EFFECT: CAN ONLY BE USED WITH A BLUNT RIGHT HAND OR LEFT HAND WEAPON
HOLY MACCARONI! What is this? Ancient relic? Item level unknown? As I¡¯ve understood so far items and ¡°gear¡± (Armor, weapon etc.) are divided into different tiers. So far, I know of three colors: Grey, blue, and Ancient relic. But since this is rather similar to wow, I expect there to be tiers between. It may look like this: Grey, white, green, blue, purple and orange. Grey would be scrap ¨C totally useless, white would be common, green would be uncommon, blue would be rare, purple would be epic and orange would be legendary. Of course, this is only if its like world of warcraft. It might no be like that. The only thing I can¡¯t understand now is what an ancient relic is. The required level is 1 but the item level is unknown. Does that mean that its extremely good? Because it sure looks like it. It might be like heirlooms in world of Warcraft. But on the other hand, heirlooms in WoW levels up with you, but this doesn¡¯t. *Sigh* I suppose that only time can tell and unravel the truth. Well, I could go ask madam Tara, old man cai or old man Rector. But at the same time, what use will it do? Sure, maybe they can tell me what it is but will that make the triangle better? Naah, I don¡¯t think so. I arrived to the rabbit field. The grey rabbits were still jumping around without a care in the world. In every other VR game that I had played, there had never been such hard early monster. Usually, rabbits would been really easy to kill, like 3-4 hits en dead. And then again, they didn¡¯t become fckn albino rabbits trying to eat you alive with teeth. Nononon, usually they were just ordinary rabbits. Anyway. I brought forth my metal rod and my magic triangle. It looked rather weird. But who cares about that? I gazed out at the rabbit field. Let¡¯s test the might of this damage triangle. Damage depending on how hard it is hit? Only blunt weapons works with it? I looked at the metal rod in my hand. I smirked. If this isn¡¯t a blunt weapon, what is? Here it goes. with my left hand, I the triangle up in the air, like how they did with Simba in the movie ¡°The lion king¡± but only with one arm that is. Then, I promptly loaded a one arm strike with the metal road in my right hand and hit the magic triangle a hard as I could. *CLING* A deafening and high-pitched sound erupted. I could only hear it slightly, not enough to bother nor wound me. But the rabbits, haha, the poor rabbits. Countless of damage numbers flew up. I exclaimed when I saw the scene. ¡°Whaaaaaaaoaw!¡± Chapter 5 Chapter 5 An AoE attack? Damn, this shit rocks! 32 33 34 45 ... All the rabbits in the field were damaged by the sound wave the triangle emitted when hit by my hard metal. An AoE attack, usually referred as area of effect. It basically means an ability, skill or attack that damages or affects multiple targets. AoE attacks, in the most VR games I¡¯ve played, weren¡¯t so common. Most skills, abilities or attacks were single-target affecting only one opponent or ally. Most likely, it was because of the incredible effect they had on gameplay. I actually don¡¯t know why they weren¡¯t so common. Maybe it was because the developer of the game didn¡¯t want players to choose class because of AoEs. Of course, most classes that boasted of AoE attacks had less Attack power. It mean that they dealt less damage. Those with single-target skills, abilities or attacks (let¡¯s just call it skill, aye?) boasted of higher attack damage and were therefore stronger in one vs one. On the other hand, quests and dungeon (dungeon are instances in which players are transported to other spaces, such as the goblin dungeon I was in prior to my death. Well, maybe I wasn¡¯t inside it. I never got a ping or ding when I ventured inside the cave. It could also be that there weren¡¯t dungeons in this game and everything as just in one instance. That defied the VR gaming logic though, almost every VR game in existence had dungeon ¨C every fantasy VR game. But it was sad though. Even though I proclaimed the magic triangle aa king with my act of wanting everyone to worship it, the rabbits showed a different reaction that the one I wanted. To explained it explicitly, they wanted to kill me. And how do I know that? Well, they were literally chasing after me right now. Countless of rabbits (about 30-40) chased me. They were very fast for rabbits, if compared to the real world, but to me ¨C who boasted of a huge 9 in my agility stat ¨C they were slower. I constantly kited them as I ran. Kite is the gaming term for attacking and running away at the same type. Only individuals/players with faster movement speed than their opponents or those with slow, skills affecting the opponent''s movement speed, could successfully kite. Since they were only level one, they died rather quickly. I don¡¯t really know why but somehow, being higher leveled made me deal more damage than I did to the goblins with every attack. Well, I don¡¯t know how much the triangle would deal to the goblins but I expected it to be less than to the rabbits, as the level difference was lower. Was there perhaps hidden stats such as defense? I don¡¯t know. But if there was, then either that or level difference would explain why I dealt lower damage to the goblins than to the rabbits. Now how did I know that? Well, I kind of killed the last rabbit with my common iron rod. And the damage it dealt, Bowww! Yeah, like 90 ¨C I¡¯m not kidding. At the same time, it could also be that the damage I dealt to the monsters in the same level was reduced, as to prolong the fight. Jeez, whatever. Does it matter? Let¡¯s just play the game¡­ Gabriel? Yes, that what I named my character. Let¡¯s just play the game Gabriel! I took a look at the leaderboard again. The number 1 player in level was still royal headmaster in lvl 9. However, the other spots had changed. It was because of the time zones. The last ¡°top 5¡± had gone to bed and therefore been overtaken by others whom had not. I, Gabriel, was lower ranked than before. As level 3 I was most likely in the upper 50%. I had seized the spot of 156 078. A rather impressive spot, right? I pouted. Of 300 000 initial players who had pre-ordered the VR game helmet, I was not even in the top 50%. That¡¯s rather shameful. but , with this new AoE magic triangle¡­ Damn, I¡¯m going to power level myself (The term used to level up as rapidly and efficiently as possible in the least amount of time) I dinged level 4 after a while of killing level 1s grey rabbits. The time it took to level up to level 4 by killing rabbits would be far outclassed by the time it¡¯ll take to level up to 5 by killing goblins. I think. With that, and putting my points into agility and stamina, 1 AGL + 2 STA. I only had 3 since when I died earlier, the points were taken from me. If I had distributed them earlier they would most likely be taken away when i died. Otherwise, that would be an awesome farming technique since stats were harder to gain once you became higher level. Higher level ¨C the longer it takes. Every level ¨C 3 stats. Conclusion ¨C the higher level, the fewer stat points time wise. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. My inventory was pretty empty. Only a few of the drops I gained by killing grey rabbits and a few goblins. If a pro player saw my he would say: ¡°Trash.¡± But well, I think that maybe, just maybe, I¡¯ll find some use for it. But we¡¯ll see.
0 Diamond: 0 Platinum: 0 Gold: 0 Silver: 3 Copper
1x Linen cloth 23x Grey rabbit pelt 14x Grey rabbit tooth 6x Goblin nail
I strode back to old man rector. I decided to ask him about the big gob. Well, rather try to pressure him. I saw that the angel in the beginning had feelings so maybe some pressure would work out well on Rector ¨C giving me extra reward for the quest. ¡°Hey old man Rector!¡± I said as I saw him in the town. ¡°Can I speak to you for a moment?¡± ¡°Youngling!¡± He looked at me. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you in the east slaying goblins?¡± ¡°Ahh, noo¡­¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be done with the quest already, right?¡± He asked excitedly. ¡°No¡­¡± I said. ¡°I met some trouble.¡± ¡°What kind of trouble?¡± He furrowed his brows. ¡°You see.¡± I explained. ¡°Once I got inside the cave, I met with a bigger goblin.¡± I took a glance at him and continued. ¡°It was very strong, like 2 meters tall. It commanded the others and sat in a stone throne.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t lying now, are you?¡± He seemed to be very scared. ¡°No?¡± I replied. He sighed. ¡°Ah damn.¡± HE showed a sad expression. ¡°It was as I feared.¡± ¡°What do you mean old man Rector?¡± I said. As he feared? What did he mean? Wasn¡¯t it only a goblin? He started to explain: ¡°My great-great-great grandfather once told me a story of an ancient and evil goblin king ruling the lands. The ancient and evil goblin king was, unlike his peers, intelligent. Why? He was a mutant. A mutant is a monster which, under the laws of nature, had undergone a mutation in its genes, changing its core. Stronger, quicker and smarter. The ancient and evil goblin king ruled the lands with iron hands. For several years, vast amounts of blood was shed under the continuous wars waged by him and our village. It wasn¡¯t until an adventurer, a bit like you, came and defeated the ancient and evil goblin king and brought peace to the lands. But now, I fear another mutation has appeared. I fear that a new ancient and evil goblin has been born. I humbly request your help adventurer. Unfortunately, you are the only one we got. Yet, we ned your help. Out village might be in great peril." Evil monster king? What the heck? It was only a 2 meter green goblin. Haha, I wonder what reward I¡¯ll get. ¡°Old man Rector.¡± I said with my voice very serious. ¡°If I¡¯m to go risk my life to save this village, what will I get?¡± He looked at me. ¡°Of course, the reward will have to be higher. I won¡¯t trick you. If you really kill the new ancient and evil goblin king, you¡¯ll be handsomely rewarded. I promise.¡± I thought for a while. He wouldn¡¯t trick me, would he? I mean, he is an NPC (Non-player character). But I guess that if I can trick NPCs, maybe they can trick me? ¡°Okay, Well.¡± I Waved my hand at him. ¡°I¡¯ll be off then.¡± With that, I started my walk toward the east. After a bit less than an hour, I was at the cave entrance once again. It seems the stat points in agility made me a bit faster. Last time the journey took an hour but now it only took about 55 minutes or so. Coincidence? I think not. I checked my status before walking inside the cave. I¡¯d better be ready now, aye?
CHARCATER NAME: GabrielTITLE: NONE
STA: 12 [-3]INT: 5
AGL: 10 [+4]WIS: 5
STR: 17 [+10]LUC: 1
HEAD: HELMET OF BLACK DESPAIR [STA -3, AGL + 4, STR + 10]HANDS: NONE
SHOULDERS: TATTERED LEATHER SHOULDERSWAIST: NONE
BACK: RAGGED CLOAKLEGS: BLACK LINEN TROUSERS
CHEST: PLAIN WHITE SHIRTFINGER 1: NONE
SHIRT: NONEFINGER 2: NONE
TABARD: NONETRINKET 1: NONE
WAIST: NONETRINKET 2: NONE
RIGHT HAND: COMMON IRON ROD [STR +1]LEFT HAND: MAGIC TRIANGLE