《Chronology [DROPPED]》 Chapter 001 - Time Nathan was currently on a date with his girlfriend, Eve. They had known each other since they attended Kindergarten together at the age of four or five. Since then, they have gone to the same school together. They rarely get to spend time with one another because Nathan spends most of his time at school with his friends and Eve spends times with hers. As a result, they only saw each other outside of school. Right now, they were both chomping down on burgers and slurping down on sodas. Their relationship began with a simple sentence, "Hi, my name is Eve, what''s yours?" she asked. Nathan remembered he was sitting in the sandbox and digging a hole in the sand by himself. "Nathan," he said. Eve joined him in digging holes into the sand. They were together until the school began to separate boys and girls around the time they were eight. Since then, they have only had time with each other after school. The one moment that brought them together was the eighth grade dance. Eve was the one who asked him. "Will you go with me?" Eve asked Nathan. At the time, Nathan did not know what Eve was talking about. "Go where?" he said. "To the dance," said Eve. "What?!?" Nathan was shocked because it was the boys who usually asked the girls, but Eve did not care. "I want to go, but I only want to go with you," said Eve. Those were the words that changed everything for Nathan. At that moment, Nathan no longer felt alone. Eve was the one who came into his life on her own and kept them together for all these years. It was at that dance that Nathan had his first date with Eve. Four years later, they were still together, longer than all their friends and many of the other couples they had seen at school. A common joke at school was that they were the old married couple. Nathan looked at the way Eve was dressed. Her hair was tied together in a pony tail. It was her preferred style because it kept her hair out of her way and did not require much work. She was dressed casually with a dark blue t-shirt and blue jeans. He compared her appearance to his own. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with black cargo pants. "Don''t you wish we could spend more time together?" asked Nathan. "Hmm...?" Eve was not paying attention to what Nathan was saying. She was too focused on the food in front of her to notice. Nathan saw that there was ketchup on the side of her face and pointed to the left side of his mouth. "I said, don''t you wish we could spend more time together?" asked Nathan. "You know we can''t," said Eve as she picked up a napkin to wipe her mouth. "We both have homework to do at home and there''s no time left in the day when we finish since it is already dark outside and my parents don''t let me go out at nights." "We don''t have to go out to spend time together," said Nathan. "You mean online?" asked Eve. "Yeah we can always use virtual reality," said Nathan. "Do you mean with the Virtual Glass?" asked Eve. Her face immediately turned red. "I remember my friends told me about it. A lot of people use it for their first time since it is safer because you can disconnect the moment you feel discomfort and and have no risk of disease or pregnancy." The Virtual Glass was a special pair of goggles that resembled high tech glasses. It allowed one to immerse themselves in a virtual world. The only thing they needed to use it was an outlet to plug it in and a fast enough Internet connection. One of the primary functions of it was to allow people to interact with each other online like they were next to each other in the real world. But, the first thing it was used for was sex and porn. It was widely known that was one of the first uses of the Virtual Glass and that was often what came to mind when it was mentioned. "Not what I meant!" shouted Nathan. "I''m talking about finding something we can do with the Virtual Glass together for fun." "You mean like a game?" asked Eve. "That would be great, but don''t you dislike games?" asked Nathan. He really liked video games. "I dislike the games where you just go around BANG BANG BOOM BOOM, shout DIE DIE DIE, and then shout something about someone''s mom!" said Eve. She disliked those player versus player focused games because she believed it brought out the worst in people. However, she did like games that focused on teamwork and bringing people together. "Then what do you like?" asked Nathan. "There is one Virtual Glass game that I want to try," said Eve. "What is it?" asked Nathan enthusiastically. This would be the first thing they might both have an interest in since soccer. Sadly, the school rarely allowed the boys to play with the girls, so they could only play together on weekends. "History of Time," said Eve. "History of Time?" Nathan wondered and thought about it. It was not one of the popular games like Swords and Sorcery or Ultimate Online. He then remembered what it was. It was the game that was built mostly on the worlds constructed by the University of America in an attempt to show people how the world was like in different time periods. The length of a day in the game was only two hours.Even though the game was popular among many people, they were often lost because they had no idea what they were doing in the game. They created numerous worlds and organized the worlds according to similar time periods. For example, there was a world based entirely on Ancient Civilizations, a world based on the Modern Era, and even a world based on different potential futures. It was probably one of the largest games out there in terms of size of the world, but not in terms of player base. The goal of the game was to ensure that human civilizations across time survived until the End of Time. The problem was, it was a game that simply introduced the player to the game and then you had to choose where and when to go. There were skill slots, but level ups were rare, so no player has filled up their skill slots with what they wanted despite the game being released for over three years, instead they just filled it up with whatever until they discovered a skill they really wanted to keep and then remove the old one. Levels were based on achievements rather than experience and they granted big boosts. What could be considered as normal experience like other games only improved your stats and skills. That did not stop players from enjoying the exploration and open ended objectives. "Do you want to try it together?" asked Nathan. "Do you even have a Virtual Glass?" asked Eve. "Of course," said Nathan. "Oh?" said Eve. "I hope you''re not using it for what I think you are." "I mainly use it for games," said Nathan said embarrassed. "Mainly," Eve emphasized that word. "Do you have one?" asked Nathan. "Yes," said Eve. "But I mainly use it for trying on different clothes quickly without having to actually do it." "I don''t picture you to be one of those people who dress up," said Nathan. "Our next Sunday morning date," said Eve. "I''ll show you." "Really?" said Nathan who was surprised. "Will you actually let your hair down and wear a dress?" "Is that what you want to see?" asked Eve. "If it''s okay with you," said Nathan. "Only if you pay for everything we do," said Eve. "For that chance, I will do it!" said Nathan enthusiastically. He really wanted to see what Eve actually looked like when she acted more feminine. He had only seen Eve wear a dress once, and that was during the eighth grade graduation dance. The only other time he might see her in one is during the upcoming school dance if she wanted to go. "It''s only because clothes can be expensive," said Eve. "You''ll essentially be paying for half the cost of the date." "How much is a dress anyways?" asked Nathan. "For starters, the dress itself is about sixty dollars," said Eve. "Sixty?!?" said Nathan. "Then there''s the boots, long socks, gloves, and other things," said Eve. "Altogether, it is probably about a hundred fifty before you include things like make up." "A hundred fifty?!?" said Nathan. "That''s so much." "Welcome to the world of women''s clothes," said Eve. "Now you''re more informed and know why I dress like this most of the time." The two finished eating and disposed of their trash. "So do you want to get the game now?" asked Nathan. "Are you so desperate to spend more time with me?" asked Eve. "Yes!" said Nathan. "I want us to be able to do something together in the evenings instead of just texting like we usually do." "Alright then," said Eve as she grabbed onto Nathan''s arm. "Lead the way!" The two headed into the store and bought the game. In the past, most games were pay to play, but that model failed and many games converted to some kind of buy to play and charged players for services like maintaining extra character slots or selling items from the game in real world. The cover of the game showed a gear that was marked with numbers with a lever slightly tilted forward. On the far left was past. On the far right was future. It had a design that did not feature just the face or shadow of something like most other games did. Afterwards, the two walked home. Eve lived a few houses down. "I wish you were my neighbor," said Nathan. "I wish you lived in the same house as me," said Eve. "That escalated quickly," said Nathan as he hugged Eve. "I''ll see you online later tonight," said Eve as he returned the hug. "Please make a character that looks like you." "You too," said Nathan. "I could always make my proportions a little bigger if you want you know," said Eve. "Please don''t," said Nathan. "It looks awful and I like the way you look now." "Alright," said Eve. "You better make a character that looks like you as well." Later on that evening, Nathan opened the game. There was some stuff that boasted how realistic it was, but it only contained a micro secure digital memory card. It had an incredible capacity of 512 Yottabytes to reflect the size of the game itself. That was not even counting installation into the Virtual Glass. "Alright, it''s time to do this," Nathan said to himself. Nathan inserted the SD card into the slot on the side of his Virtual Glass and waited for it to install. He put on the Virtual Glass and turned it on. The visor lit up and covered his entire field of vision. From this point on, his thoughts alone would be able to control everything that he is going to do. He focused his vision on the icon of History of Time, the game he had just installed. The old generations of virtual reality were poorly done. They lacked realism and often had security problems. Since then, most virtual reality devices have been running on software made solely for the virtual device and nothing else, so attempts to hack them have led to not much other than forcing someone to disconnect. History of Time booted up with a picture of a gear being built. There was a lever attached to it that slid to the right just a little. Stars began to pop up in his vision with small little spots of light. The lever moved further to the right and sped up time. Over time, the stars gradually disappeared. When the lever moved all the way to the right, it was dark again. It signaled the end of the universe. In that instant, a single light appeared once more and from here, the character creation loaded. He opened his friend list and saw that Eve was logged in to character creation as well. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "What should I be?'' thought Nathan. He thought about all the things he could be. A tall and handsome man. He could be a young and beautiful woman. He could even make himself look like Eve. But then, he remembered what he said to Eve and decided to make a character that looked like himself. The only alternation was to his eyes. Instead of making them brown, he made them green. It was just a little bit of fantasy so that it was not exactly like him. His default clothes was a tight grey shirt and shorts along with a pair of black shoes. His name: "SpaceCowboy." With this, he finished his character creation and went into the game. Era: The End of Time Nathan opened his eyes and saw a strange sight. He was alone with a single path in front of him. A text message appeared that read: "Walk forward." He did as instructed and then followed the subsequent directions. How to attack, how to maneuver, how to use items, and most importantly how to accept quests. Stats would only increase with repeated skill use and there was only four basic stats: Strength, Intelligence, Vitality, and Agility. Strength to increase physical damage, intelligence to increase magical damage, vitality to increase defense and health, agility to increase dodge rate and attack speed. The final text that appeared: "New stats and skills may be discovered by meeting specific requirements." With that, Nathan finished the tutorial. A magic circle appeared on the ground. It was the exit. He looked through the skills to see what he could do. He chose to equip the Gun skill, Caster Shell for manufacturing, and Evasion. The manufacturing skill did not count as part of the main skill slots, so he only used two of his twelve available slots. One that used a gun to attack from a range and was able to manufacture special ammunition through Caster Shell, which would be used for certain skills. Normal shots only took away his mana and he would have to regenerate it to shoot if he ran out. Level ups were rare in the game and only acquired with achievements, not by simply killing enemies. Killing enemies did give minor stats and improve your existing skills if done repeatedly. Name: SpaceCowboy Level: 1 Equipped Skills: Gun - 1 Hand to Hand ¨C 1 Mana Regeneration - 1 Caster Shell ¨C 1 After he was done testing, he left the introduction zone. New Quest: Time Guardian Speak to the Time Guardian to embark on your quest as an agent of the Time Squad to ensure the survival of humanity across time and space. Reward: Unique Skill Nathan looked around and saw that he was in a strange place. The world was called The End of Time. There was not a single star in the sky even though it was dark. He looked around and saw many strange things. There was a man dressed in an eighteenth century suit standing next to be what appeared a robotic guard. There was also a European castle located next to a modern skyscraper. It was like if someone took a piece of every country across time and decided to put it in the same place. Nathan sent a message to Eve, "Hey where are you in the game?" he asked. "Can you come to me?" Eve replied. She also included a friend and a party request. Nathan pressed "Accept" to both, adding Eve to his friend list and his party. To the top left, he saw a name and life bar appear under his own: "LotusCake." On the top right he saw a blue dot appear on the map. She was in an alley behind a building. He was worried and quickly hurried over. When he arrived, he saw Eve. She was wearing a tight bodysuit that was a mix of bright pink and light pink. Her hair was blonde as well instead of black. "Why do games do this?" she asked. "Well, men design most games," said Nathan. "I guess even after all these years, they still do this to women." "Can you get me some clothes?" Eve asked. Nathan checked his map. There were some stores for starters. "What weapon and skills did you choose by the way?" he asked. "Clothes first," said Eve. "I can''t walk around like this." "Sure you can," said Nathan. "It''s not like you''re naked." "You can, but I can''t," said Eve. "Hurry up and get me some clothes that are not revealing." Nathan had an idea. He got to pick what Eve wore. "Alright," said Nathan. He went to the starting stores. There was one for weapons and armor, one for clothes, and one for accessories. He checked his inventory for his money. There was exactly 1000 G. He decided to buy a few things for himself first. A black shirt, black pants, and grey shoes for himself for himself. Total price: 200 G. Nathan looked at the women''s section. A pink winter dress, shorts to go under, boots, and stockings. Total price: 700 G. It was three times more than his own, but he had to get something for her and if the starting amount could get this, he wondered what he could get if he had more. He noticed that there were no women in the starting area of the game. It was all men. Now was not the time for that though. Nathan hurried back to Eve. "Alright, I got you something," he said. "Thank you," said Eve. Nathan opened the trade window and gave the things to Eve. As Nathan added each item to the trade window, Eve continued to grow angry. "Really?" she said. "You can always pick out your own," said Nathan. "Just give them to me," said Eve. She quickly pressed "Okay" the moment Nathan did on his and dragged the items to her equipment boxes. Nathan did the same. In that instant, their appearances changed to match their clothes. Nathan and Eve looked like they were out during the Winter. "I suppose it isn''t too bad," said Nathan as he looked at himself. "I agree," said Eve. "At least you listened." "To what?" asked Nathan. "Our conversation about clothes," said Eve. "This isn''t exactly a dress, but its close and it kind of works." "So how are we going to do this?" asked Nathan. "I know you can do it in a game, but this is neither the appropriate time or place for it," said Eve. "That''s not what I meant!" shouted Nathan. "I mean about playing the game." "What did you pick?" asked Eve. "I chose guns, magic, evasion, and to make Caster Shells to be a mage that can use guns," said Nathan. A gun appeared in his hands. "Oh, I went the traditional sword and magic route with a side of food preparation for buffs," said Eve. A beam saber and an energy shield appeared in her hands. "Did you use all your skill slots?" asked Nathan. "Of course not not," said Eve. "I only used 3 of the 12, not counting my food preparation skill." Name: LotusCake Level: 1 Equipped Skills: Sword ¨C 1 Shield ¨C 1 Health Regeneration - 1 Food Prep - 1 "So when we fight, you can protect me," said Nathan. He only had hand to hand if an enemy got too close. It was better than nothing though. "Why did you not pick something like smithing so you could make your own weapon and armor?" Nathan asked. "Because I feel that the best things are not made in games anyways," Eve replied. "They''re found from enemies." "That is true," said Nathan. "So what do we do now?" asked Eve. "Let''s begin on the only quest we have," said Nathan. Eve opened her quest window and looked at it. There was only one quest, Time Guardian. "Let''s do everything together," said Eve. "Is it okay if I play a little without you sometimes?" asked Nathan. "Sure, but just make sure we do all the quests together," said Eve. "I will," said Nathan. "I''m the one who suggested that we do something like this together. I won''t go too far head of you." "By the way is there any way to stop the creepers?" Eve asked. "Creepers? What creepers?" asked Nathan. Eve discreetly pointed to the side. Nathan from the corner of his eye saw there was in fact someone looking at Eve. "Unfortunately in an MMO, there''s nothing you can do unless they actually touch you," said Nathan. "But if they touch you, you can report them and get them banned." "I see," said Eve. She was thinking of something she could do. The two headed towards a "!" they saw on the map, which signaled the start of a quest.The "!" appeared on the head of a person. It was a man in a black suit carrying a pocketwatch. "We''re here for the mission," said Nathan. "I am the Time Guardian," said the man. "My job is to ensure that time continues to exist, but I think I have failed." "How?" asked Eve. "Each of the worlds in the past are falling to something terrible," said the Time Guardian. "I have no idea how, but something is happening to the creatures of each world." Quest Update: Time Guardian Find out what is causing the time distortions to occur in each world. Reward: Unique Skill "How do we do that?" asked Nathan. "Attach this to your arm," said the Time Guardian. He handed each of them a Personal Digital Assistant. Eve turned it on and started scrolling through it. "How does this help us?" Eve asked. "In each time period, there are multiple abnormalities that are greatly affecting the timeline," said the Time Guardian. "These abnormalities must be removed or repaired." "The greatest one seems to be in 2012," said Eve. "Yes," said the Time Guardian. "That is because there are not enough Time Guardians there. If possible, please head there first." "What do you think?" asked Eve. "I''m going to let you decide since I''m not very experienced at games like this." "It is likely that we will get some kind of bonus for playing in that world," said Nathan. "So I think it is a good idea." "If something should happen to you, the device on your arm should protect you," said the Time Guardian. "Quickly now, activate it and start on your mission." WARNING: Your party member has activated a time jump. All party members will be warped to 2012 in 30 seconds. "It''s not giving us a choice," said Nathan. "That''s alright," said Eve. She grabbed on to Nathan''s arm. "Just as long as we stay together we should be fine." A white light appeared underneath their feet and expanded. A blue portal of some kind formed above them and dropped over them. In an instant, what was the mess of the End of Time was suddenly replaced with a ruined city. Era: 2012, The Beginning of the End Chapter 002 - Camp 221 Nathan looked at his PDA. It read: "Era 2012 CE: The Beginning of the End." What stood before Nathan and Eve was the ruins of a large city. It was dark. Nathan looked up into the sky. There was about three quarters of the moon visible with a jagged edge where the rest of the moon should have been, but there were a lot of stars. "This place looks scary," said Eve. "It is marked as The Beginning of the End," said Nathan. "It is likely this is where people start dying in large numbers and other things start taking over the world." "So how are we supposed to find these abnormalities?" asked Eve. "I guess that''s part of the game," said Nathan. "We just have to look around and find one, but we should find a safe zone first." "Safe zone?" asked Eve. "It''s a place where you cannot be attacked, kind of like a city," said Nathan. "But what if all the cities are like this?" asked Eve as she motioned to the area around them. "There will be one somewhere in any game," said Nathan. He opened the map on the PDA on his arm. A holographic display opened up, showing where he and Eve were including which direction they were facing. "We''re here," said Nathan as he pointed to the blinking dots on the map. "Where''s the safe zone?" Eve asked. Nathan looked around on the map. "I don''t know," said Nathan. "There''s no markers like other games. If we die we would probably just return to The End of Time." Eve looked around on the map and saw something unusual. A large uneven circle of rocks. "What about here?" Eve asked. "By the way, don''t hang on to me when we''re walking, we need to keep an eye out for danger," said Nathan. "Alright," said Eve as she let go of Nathan''s arm. Nathan took a minute to orient himself to make sure that they were heading straight towards the rock formation. "It''s this way," he said. "Why are you telling me this?" asked Eve. "You''re the melee class," said Nathan. "You have to lead the way in case anything attacks us." As the two walked, they noticed that the entire city was in ruins. There was not a single building left standing. The ones that did look like they were standing were still missing at least half of their structure. It was as if something large ran through the city and crashed into every building. "Stop!" said Eve. "What is it?" asked Nathan. "There!" said Eve as she pointed to the green liquid flowing out of a canister on the floor. "It''s just some trash," said Nathan. "It''s nothing." PLOP. There was a sound. It sounded like if a liquid dropped a short distance. "There''s something there," said Eve. "It''s just the sound of the leaking canister," said Nathan. He continued to walk. BOING. Out of the liquid, a ball of green slime appeared. "It''s alive!" shouted Eve. She readied her sword and shield. "It''s a slime," said Nathan. "Usually it''s the weakest of all the enemies in a game." Name: Radioactive Slime Level: 1 They could only see the name and level of the monster. There was no other information. No health bars, no status effects, nothing. The Radioactive Slime was making its way towards Eve since she was in front. It started to bounce. BOING BOING. It was speeding up. "Hiya!" Eve slashed at the Radioactive Slime. Her sword went right through it as she pushed it back with the blade of her beam saber. SQUEE. "It screamed?!?" Eve was surprised by this. The hole left by her sword in the Radioactive Slime began to fill in. The size of the Radioactive Slime shrank. HISS. There was a strange sound coming from her beam saber. It was either burning the remains of the Radioactive Slime on it or the Radioactive Slime itself was poisonous and trying to eat away at her beam saber. "Hurry up and shoot it!" shouted Eve. Nathan drew his gun and fired at the Radioactive Slime. BANG BANG. Two shots flew straight toward the slime. SHLUCK. A hole formed in the Radioactive Slime as green liquid spewed out the back of it. There were two holes in the Radioactive Slime that were slowly being filled in. Again, the Radioactive Slime shrank. "Is it invincible?" Eve asked. "No," said Nathan. "It''s getting smaller, meaning it''s taking damage." The Radioactive Slime was jumping around, trying to get to Eve''s side. Eve rotated her body to face the Radioactive Slime so that it was just moving in a circle around her. BANG. Nathan fired a shot at the Radioactive Slime. DOING. The Radioactive Slime stretched its body, avoiding the bullet. "It dodged it?!?" Nathan was surprised. "You''re useless at this point," said Eve. "So much for being good at games." "This is my first time playing something like this," said Nathan. "You should have picked mage or something," said Eve. "Why would I pick a mage in a sci-fi game?" asked Nathan. "That defeats the point, much like how you chose a tank class that uses a sword and shield when there''s guns around." "Because it''s useful," said Eve. "You should be picking for utility, not for coolness." Eve took another swing at the Radioactive Slime which expanded lengthwise to reduce its height. It had dodged the sword swing as well. It was not as easy as it looked. Eve kept her eye on the Radioactive Slime, making sure it could not move without her noticing. BOING BOING. The Radioactive Slime was preparing for another attack. BOING. It jumped straight towards Eve. Eve raised her shield. BANG. SPLAT. The Radioactive Slime crashed straight into her shield. It also seemed to have hurt itself in doing so. PLOP. The Radioactive Slime fell to the ground and it shrunk even more. Eve thrust her sword straight into the body of the Radioactive Slime. SQUEE. It screamed and exploded into a burst of white shards. A small box appeared in front of Eve. Reward: Gold "See if your stats changed," said Nathan. His did not since Eve did most of the fighting. "Sword went up by one point," said Eve. "So we have to fight repeatedly to get stronger," said Nathan. "That''s what happens when experience isn''t gained like a normal game." "So what happens when you max out your skills?" Eve asked. "I don''t know," said Nathan. "There''s usually multiple tiers and no one really reaches the max in these games because it keeps going and you just keep becoming stronger." "Let''s hurry up," said Eve. "I don''t like this place. I want to find a real town as soon as possible." Soon after, the two of them made it outside of the city. There were no more surprise encounters with any creatures. "Monster density is low at least," said Nathan. "If there''s more fights though, we can get stronger," said Eve. "But if you''re new, fighting can be scary," said Nathan. "Do you need to hold on to me?" Eve asked. She extended her arm out. "N-n-no," said Nathan. He hesitated for a second. "I can take care of myself." "It''s okay if you don''t want to admit it," said Eve. "You still have to look strong for me even if you are not." Eve understood him perfectly. "Why did you not stand up to all those people who were harassing you if you know this?" Nathan asked. "In games, numbers mean everything," said Eve. "I don''t want to pick a fight with a much stronger player and find myself constantly getting killed. I''d rather avoid it until I''m strong." Eve was definitely smart. She knew her own limits. Because of how virtual reality games function, Nathan was already at a disadvantage. He did not have the mentality needed to be a strong fighter. Eve let nothing phase her, so she was not distracted by the sensation of pain or other things. She only had her eyes on a single goal at a time and she focused all her attention on it. The two entered something that resembled grasslands. There was a large amount of grass on the floor growing through the paved road. "How long do you think it''s been since these roads were maintained?" asked Nathan. "Probably thirty or more years," said Eve. "Whatever caused that city to be destroyed happened long ago." "How do you know that?" asked Nathan. Eve pointed to the ground. "The road is still here, but it is broken and the plants are slowly covering it," said Eve. "Don''t you pay any attention in science class?" "Not to random little things like this," said Nathan. The sun rose and the two could see further into the distance. They saw the large rocks in the distance. "I think that''s it," said Eve as she pointed at the rock off in the distance. "Let''s hurry then," said Nathan. He began to run towards the rock. "Wait for me!" shouted Eve. Nathan was far ahead of her. It was dangerous. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. KEE. It was the sound of a creature. "There''s something here!" shouted Eve. "Run towards the rock! There''s a person on top of it!" Nathan shouted. Eve could see what looked like a person sitting down on top of the rock. She ran as fast as she could. KEE. She could hear it. It was getting closer and louder. No matter where she looked, she could not see it. The ground beneath her feet began to shake. It was under her, that''s why she could not see it. BOOM. A large mole popped up in the ground in front of her. Name: Giant Mole Level: 2 It was a level 2 monster. They were only level 1. It was probably going to have some kind of special ability as well. BANG. HISS. It was the sound of a loud explosion followed by the release of something. BOOM. The Giant Mole in front of Eve exploded into fragments. There was not a trace of it left. "We''re inside the safe zone," said Nathan as he reached his hand out to Eve. "So anything that walks into this range is killed?" Eve asked. "Only if it is hostile," said Nathan. "It will kill player killers and monsters." "That''s good to know," said Eve. The two of them walked and saw the rock. Between each rock was a metal gate that could be opened to allow people in or out of the area. That was how they kept the town safe. When they walked past it, they saw other rocks. On top of each rock was a person. Name: Camp 221 Guard Level: 10 They were powerful guards protecting the city in the middle of the rocks. There were crudely constructed buildings made out of scrap metal. Some shops were made out of trailers. It was almost entirely non-player characters in the city. There was only one or two other players in the area. "They really went all out on the design," said Nathan. "Yeah it looks like what would happen if people tried to open up shop after a hurricane destroyed the city," said Eve. Nathan opened his PDA. The area where they were in now was marked Camp 221. It updated with a safe zone as well. "It looks like the map will update as we discover new things," said Nathan. "That''s a lot of land to search," said Eve. "Let''s try asking around town," said Nathan. "There''s no one around to ask," said Eve. "NPCs can provide us with information as well," said Nathan. "Maybe one of them has a quest." Eve looked at the clothing store owner. Her name read: "Ida ¨C Clothing Store Owner." The store itself had mostly tight leather or various animal furs with a few pieces of metal armor. "Do you know if there''s anything to do around here?" Eve asked. "There''s only the pub," said Ida. "If you''re looking for something to do, there might be people looking for help there." "Thank you," said Eve. It was strange talking to an NPC. They tried to act like people, but they were not. The store next to it was the weapon store. The owner''s name read: "Agata ¨C Weapon Store Owner." There were numerous types of blades and a few types of guns. There were different requirements to equip each weapon. It was a form of balance to stop a new player from buying a super powerful weapon and then use it to become stronger faster. "Do you know if there''s any quests around here?" Nathan asked. "You''ll have to ask around the pub," said Agatha. "There are sometimes people looking for help in there." "A quest trigger!" thought Nathan. He headed outside and saw Eve. "Hey I found something." "Me too," said Eve. "They said the pub." "That''s what I got too," said Nathan. "Let''s go." "We''re not going to look around town?" Eve asked. "There''s really not much to do until you either finish a few quests and obtain some fame," said Nathan. "Until then, most of the things in towns are usually locked." "I see," said Eve. "Then let''s go to the pub." There was a stone building that was still standing. In front of it was a sign with the picture of a wine bottle. This was the pub. Eve walked in first. The moment she stepped foot in the door, everyone turned to look at her. She looked around. After a moment, everyone returned to their normal business. The same happened when Nathan walked in. They all looked at him for a second before returning to their normal business. "That was weird," said Eve. "It''s probably a scripted event," said Nathan. "Whenever someone walks in, everyone looks to see who it is." At the back of the pub was a bearded man in an apron who was polishing up his beer mugs. There was an exclamation mark over his head. It meant that a quest was available. Nathan walked up to the man. "I heard you have something for us to do," said Nathan. "A couple of punks like you?" the man laughed. "You guys are just going to get yourself killed." "It looks like he will not accept us," said Nathan. "There must be other requirements." "Don''t you trust us?" asked Eve. "It''s hard to trust anyone these days," said the man. "Everywhere you look people are robbing and killing each other." "He''s responding to us," said Eve. "Let''s just keep trying. Maybe there''s a key word or something." "What is it that you need us to do?" asked Nathan. "There''s a lizard to the north of town that''s interfering with deliveries," said the man. "I need you to take it out." New Quest: Northern Lizard Slay the lizard outside of town to open up the supply route from Camp 220. "It''s a hunt quest," said Nathan. "We just have to kill the monster." "Do we know where to find it?" Eve asked. "It''s implied it''s a route from North of town," said Nathan. "If we just follow the road, we should be able to find it." "We should prepare first shouldn''t we?" asked Eve. "Prepare what?" asked Nathan. "It''s not like we can afford anything here." "So we''re just going to go?" asked Eve. "It''s a quest not a raid boss," said Nathan. "Walk over there, kill it, return, and collect our reward. At most it should only be a little stronger than the Radioactive Slime." "I think we should ask around town," said Eve. "There might be something more." "We''ll do what you want," said Nathan. "Thanks," said Eve. She wanted to know as much as possible before going into the battle. After all, knowledge is power and if you can predict when an attack occurs, it is possible to avoid it. If you know enemies use certain kind of attacks, you can prepare equipment to resist it. Nathan and Eve asked around town to see if there was any information about the Northern Lizard. Some NPCs began to react to the word of it. "I heard that it''s weak spot is the spot on the head between its eyes," said a man in the pub. "I heard it is able to shoot water from its mouth," said another man. The NPCs were now giving hints about the monster they had to fight. Almost everything else they heard was a variation of that. The actual amount of information available was very little, but it was better than nothing. "I was right!" said Eve. "Now we know what we are up against." "So it can shoot water from its mouth and its weak spot is its head," said Nathan. "When we fight it, you should take the water blast with your shield. It should give me a chance to shoot it." "That sounds good," said Eve. "Just don''t miss this time." "I didn''t miss, it dodged!" Nathan shouted. "It also dodged your sword too in case you forgot." "Yeah yeah, but I did most of the work," said Eve. "The real problem here is that there''s no specific information about where it is or what it looks like," said Nathan. "We could be at it for a while." "That''s fine," said Eve. "Remember, we promised to do this together so lets make sure we win together. We can always just identify it by sight since we kind of know where it is and what it does." "Alright," said Nathan. "I expect that there will be several fights before we reach the monster we''re supposed to kill. It is never just one. That would be too easy." "Too easy?" said Eve. "Fighting is not easy." "Do not forget that few people get far into this game," said Nathan. "The lack of guidance makes it difficult and we could spend days and never find this thing." "You''ll never find it if you keep thinking like that," said Eve. "If you think like that, you''re just looking around because you''re bored. You''re not intending to actually find the creature. It''s like how you could not feel the Radioactive Slime." "I trust that as leader you''ll be able to find it then?" asked Nathan. "I have a better chance than you at least," said Eve. Chapter 003 - The Road North Nathan and Eve headed towards the north exit of Camp 221. At the north exit were the gunners as well. As long as they were there, no enemy would be able to enter the camp. North of the camp was their destination. Quest Update: Northern Lizard Defeat the lizard north of Camp 221 to open up the supply route from Camp 220. Reward: Reputation with Camp 221 The map appeared showing the possible locations of the lizard. There were several spots highlighted on the map along the main road. They were all located near the entrance to caves of some kind. "What''s reputation?" Eve asked. "It''s basically a measurement of fame," said Nathan. "There are some restrictions in games and you cannot do certain things unless you get enough reputation." "There''s so many things to learn," said Eve. "There often is for online games," said Nathan. "But it''s best to just take things one at a time." There were no monsters of any kind along the main road. It seemed safe compared to the ruins that they were in before. Yet, Nathan could not feel comfortable looking at the abandoned automobiles on the road. It really did look like the end of the world. Just then, Eve saw something move. "I think something is coming," said Eve. "Let''s hide," said Nathan. He pulled Eve by the arm to the side of the road. They hid behind one of the abandoned vehicles. The two of them stood behind the vehicle and watched. Someone was running fast. The man ran right by them and was not paying attention to anything but the road in front of him. He never even looked to the side once. Name: Aaron Level: 3 There was no way to tell if it was an NPC or a player unless you interacted with them. Eve felt something as if the ground was shaking. "Did you just move?" Eve asked. "No," said Nathan. "What''s wrong?" "I thought I felt the ground shake," said Eve. CLANG. There was a sound getting louder. CLANG CLANG. CLANG CLANG. It was the sound of something heavy moving. It was moving closer to them. The ground was not shaking, but Nathan and Eve were. They could feel that something dangerous was approaching. Nathan peeked over the side of the vehicle and saw it. There was a tall humanoid at least 3 meters in height in a full suit of armor armed covered from head to toe carrying a metal sword of some kind in one hand, and a handgun in the other. The helmet was an oval shaped and there was bat like ears. It was clear that whatever was inside was probably not human. Name: Man-Bat Level: 8 An enemy that they had no chance to defeat. Even a level 2 creature like that mole was fierce. Something that was level 8 was going to be vastly superior. It turned to look around and it immediately focused on Nathan. He immediately went back behind the car and put his index finger to his lips, signaling to Eve not to make a sound. CLANG CLANG. The sound of the footsteps was getting louder and closer. The Man-Bat was approaching them. "We have to fight," said Eve. "We can''t win," said Nathan. "We won''t be able to run away from something like that," said Eve. "I think we have to fight." VWOOM. There was a sound. "I''m not looking for a fight," said the voice behind Nathan and Eve. "Wah!" Nathan and Eve screamed as Nathan fell backwards onto Eve and drew his gun. "Hey watch what you''re touching!" shouted Eve. They saw the tall humanoid figure had grown large wings and landed on top of the vehicle. Easy now, I''m not looking for a fight," said the creature as it raised his arms up into the air. "People won''t stop running away from me." "You can talk?!?" asked Eve. "Yes," said the creature. "I''ve been trying to look for help but everyone just keeps running away from me." "What do you want?!?" shouted Nathan. "Put down your gun and we can talk," said the creature. Nathan slowly lowered his gun. The creature put away his sword and his gun. "I need your help," said the creature. "Who are you?" Nathan asked. "My name is Tim," said the creature. "Or at least that''s what others call me since they cannot pronounce my real name." "I''m Eve and this is Nathan," said Eve as she introduced herself to the creature. Tim took off his helmet and revealed his bat like appearance. He looked humanoid, but he was not. He had sharp fangs and large ears. He was clearly a large humanoid bat. Eve had to look away at how realistic it is. "Is something wrong?" Tim asked. "Your appearance is unsettling," said Eve. "Please put your helmet back on." "Alright," said Tim. He put his helmet back on before continuing. "Will you help me?" "What do you need?" asked Nathan. "A large lizard like creature has taken over my home," said Tim. "I need help to get rid of it." "Aren''t you strong enough to kill it yourself?" asked Eve. "Killing it is easy," said Tim. "Making sure it stays dead is different." "What do you mean?" asked Nathan. "The lizard is able to heal and regrow itself," said Tim. "No matter how much I fight it, it seems to just return." The lizard was strong because of its regenerative abilities. Even with Tim''s strength, he alone could not permanently defeat it, meaning that there was a trick to it. "Can you tell us anything that you know about it?" asked Eve. "It''s a large green lizard," said Tim. "It has a tail, sharp teeth, and claws. If you remove its limbs, it can recover them almost immediately. A blow to the head does not kill it, neither does piercing its heart." "There has to be a trick," said Nathan. "Everything has a weakness." "How about poison?" asked Eve. "A strong enough poison can cancel out regenerative effects right?" Nathan thought of something and opened up his skill menu. His manufacturing skill, Caster Shell. By using his mana, he can infuse a bullet with special properties to cause a status effect. Flame Bullets, Ice Bullets, Armor Piercing Bullets. These were just some of the ones he was able to manufacture. He scrolled through and finally saw a Poison Bullet. He looked at the description. Name: Poison Bullet Class: Ammunition Effect: Target hit by this shell will be poisoned and gradually lose health. "Poison is not what we''re looking for," said Nathan. "That only causes a target to lose health, it does not stop it from regaining it." "What about necrosis?" asked Tim. New Quest: Necroshot Create two Necroshot Bullets for use against the Northern Lizard. Reward: Reputation with Cave People Name: Necroshot Bullet Class: Ammunition Effect: Temporarily zombifies a target and prevents it from regenerating or healing. Nathan activated the skill and created two bullets, using all of his mana in the process. "I did it," said Nathan. Reputation Gain: Cave People+1 Nathan handed the two bullets over to Tim. "I can have this?" he asked. "Yes," said Nathan. "Unfortunately, this is all I can make for now." "Will you two help me fight against the lizard?" asked Tim. "Of couse," said Eve. Tim grabbed Eve''s hands. Hers looked tiny in the hands of Tim''s massive hands. "Thank you," he said. "I''ll be waiting for you two outside of the cave." With those words, Tim departed back to the camp, flying as fast as he could to get there. Nathan and Eve would have to catch up to him by foot. Quest Update: Northern Lizard Defeat the lizard north of Camp 221 to help both Camp 221 and Tim. Reward: Reputation with Camp 221 and Cave People "This quest sure has a lot of twists and turns," said Eve. "Yeah, it''s strange," said Nathan. "Games are rarely like this, quests are usually just assigned and completed." "But if someone like Tim is helping us, it should be easy," said Eve. "Yeah, if he''s distracting the monster, it will give us a chance to actually hit the thing without getting hurt ourselves," said Nathan. The two continued north on the road. They were about halfway there. That was when Eve spotted something. "What is that thing?!?" Eve shouted. It looked like a bunny that stood on two legs, but its eyes were red and it had sharp teeth that bled with blood. It had white fur that had numerous spots of black on it. Name: Mutant Bunny Level: 2 Eve shouting had drawn its attention. It was staring them down as it faced them on all fours. "Get ready," said Nathan. "We''re going to have to fight it." Nathan pulled out his gun. Eve readied her beam sword and shield. VWOOSH. The bunny darted straight towards them at an incredible speed. BANG BANG BANG. Nathan fired three shoots, but the Mutant Bunny zigged and zagged between every bullet. BANG. Another shot fired. PING. It hit the ground and the Mutant Bunny could now reach them. Eve raised her shield to prepare for the attack. She could see the rabbit coming from behind the shield. She raised her sword, preparing to counter. The Mutant Bunny did not leap. It did not stop. She quickly turned to see that it was not going for Nathan either. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "AH!" Eve screamed. She felt a sharp pain on her leg and saw that the Mutant Bunny was biting straight into her ankle. She violently shook her leg trying to get it off. Nathan could only watch. "Hold still!" Nathan shouted. He raised his arm and aimed to hit the Mutant Bunny with his fist. BAM. Nathan''s fist hit the ground. It did not come into contact with anything else. He saw that the Mutant Bunny had let go of Eve''s leg and was staring them down again. The spot that the Mutant Bunny had bit was red and there were red and white fragments flowing out from it. "Are you okay?" Nathan asked. "Yeah," said Eve. Damage stopped when the Mutant Bunny let go and her health regeneration was starting to kick in, but it was only a small 2 HP/5 seconds at the moment. It was not enough. She was also not fast enough with her sword, so she put it away. "Why?" Nathan asked. "Did you give up already?" "I can''t hit it with my sword," said Eve. "I''m just gonna try to crash it with my shield." This was the problem with low stats in any game. Nathan and Eve had just started yet they had already encountered a creature with higher stats and possibly even a special ability. Something that was hit by a shield was momentarily stunned. This was the chance for them to hit the Mutant Bunny. The Mutant Bunny aimed low again. BANG BANG. Nathan fired two shots causing it to dash and rapidly change its speed. It tried to maintain a direct path as much as it could, but that was what made it predictable. Eve jumped up into the air and raised the shield in front of her. SLAM. Eve fell directly onto the ground with her full weight behind the shield. She carefully moved the shield downwards just a little, revealing the head of the Mutant Bunny. BANG. Nathan fired a shot at the Mutant Bunny''s head. Because it could not evade, it was struct in the head and died instantly. New Achievement: Defeated a Higher Leveled Enemy "Really?" said Eve. She was surprised that this was an achievement. "I guess it''s meant to be hard to do so," said Nathan. "I hope it means something for us like a reward of some kind." There was no reward of any kind. No new skill, no new item. It just registered under the achievements menu, but Nathan could see that they were 50% towards the next reward. In other words, one more achievement would grant them a reward of some kind. What kind was uncertain as the reward shown was just a giant box with a question mark. "Are we going to continue?" Eve asked. "Yeah," said Nathan. "Let''s at least try to finish this quest before we sleep." When the two arrived at the cave, they saw Tim waiting for them there. He recognized them and was waving at them. "Over here!" Tim shouted. "There''s so few monsters around," said Eve. "Most monsters live far away from the main roads and cities in games," said Nathan. "If we went further away, I think we would be able to find more." "I''ll have to try that some time," said Eve. "I don''t want every fight to be difficult like this." "It''s only difficult when you first start off," said Nathan. "Once you get your skills up, it should be easier." "I kind of want to know what level ups will give us," said Eve. "Me too," said Nathan. "I think it''s new skills, but I really want to see." Nathan and Eve approached Tim. He was doing final checks on his gear. "Are you two ready?" he asked. Nathan and Eve looked at each other. "Yes," they said together. "Follow me," said Tim. Tim walked inside the cave. Nathan and Eve followed closely behind him. Inside, it was lit up with light bulbs chained along the ceiling. Eve put her hand against the wall. It felt like real rocks and just as cold as a wet rock would be. The three of them arrived in a large room. Behind them was the tunnel they just came from. In front of them was what appeared to be the gate to a small town of some kind. "We''re here," said Tim. Nathan and Eve looked around. There was nothing. "I don''t see anything," said Eve. "Give it a minute," said Tim. The ground was rumbling. BOOM. A hole appeared in the center of the ground. A large green lizard appeared. It was taller than Tim and probably at least just as wide. It had sharp claws and a pointed tail that could probably be used as a weapon. HISS. The lizard hissed at them. Name: Experiment A44 Level: 5 It was a level 5 creature. They would have to be very careful, but they had the help of a powerful NPC. BANG. Tim fired a single shot that pierced through the lizard''s body. "I got it!" he shouted. The wound that was bleeding red suddenly turned black. The lizard was now affected by Necrosis and could not heal itself. Tim drew his sword and ran towards the lizard. "I''ll distract it, you must kill it before the bullet wears off," he said. Nathan fired his gun at the lizard. BANG. Each bullet he fired easily struck the lizard. The problem was that it did not break through the skin of the lizard. As strong as the lizard was, they did not possess the strength needed to break the skin. However, the lizard still felt the impact, the pain, and the damage of each and every bullet. Nathan quickly opened up his menu and created a single Armor Piercing Bullet. BANG. He fired the shot. PING. It was the sound of the bullet hitting rock. Eve looked at the lizard and saw that it had pierced through the body of the lizard. HISS. The lizard began to toss back and forth, swinging its tail wildly. Even Tim had to back away from it. "That was good, but not enough," said Tim. "You''re going to need to strike its heart with your sword." The lizard would only stop moving when it was struggling with Tim. It was during this time that Eve would need to stab its underbelly and reach its heart. Eve readied herself behind Tim. Nathan continued to fire at the lizard from the side, making it unable to focus on Tim. HISS. The lizard sprayed a green liquid that burned away at Tim''s suit. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah," said Eve. Tim had taken on the brunt of that attack, but she could see that he was unphased by it. His suit seemed to have been designed to help him fight against the lizard. Eve saw and opening and ran for it. "Wait!" Tim shouted. The lizard swung its tail. BAM. Eve was sent flying by the impact of the tail. CRASH. She slammed against the side of the cave wall. "Eve!" Nathan shouted. "Ugh," Eve groaned. She slowly picked herself back up. She had forgotten about the tail. It too was a weapon that can be maneuvered by the lizard. "I''m okay," she said as she readied herself once more. Eve would need to wait for the moment when its tail was unable to be moved. The lizard''s front legs were busy dealing with Tim. Nathan fired at the body and occasionally, the tail would swing to block a bullet. She had to wait until the front legs, the head, and the tail were all busy. She watched as the lizard attempted to bite Tim with its head, only be thrown off balance. It was then that it would stab its tail into the ground to balance itself. She waited and watched for Tim to do it again. The movements of Tim and the lizard were predictable and following a pattern. Nathan''s attacks hastened the pattern, forcing the lizard off balance more often. "There!" Eve thought as she dashed forward. She watched the lizard this time rather than what was just in front of her. After all, focusing on herself was just not enough. She needed to observe what the lizard was doing. Just then, Eve saw the lizard opened its eyes widely and regained its balance. "Watch out!" Tim shouted. Eve immediately jumped a step back. VWOOSH. The lizard''s tail zoomed by in front of her. Eve had narrowly dodged it. She continued forward. The lizard took time to recover after that attack. Eve plunged her sword under the throat of the lizard and straight into its chest. SCREECH. The lizard screamed in pain as it fell to the ground. BANG. Tim fired the remaining special bullet made by Nathan into the lizard and proceeded to remove its head with its sword. The body of the lizard was not disppearing. Quest Complete: Northern Lizard Defeat the lizard north of Camp 221 to help both Camp 221 and Tim. Reward: Reputation with Camp 221 and Cave People Reputation Gain: Camp 221+20 Reputation Gain: Cave People+50 "We did it!" Tim shouted. "Can you teach me how to do that?" Nathan asked. "Do what?" Tim asked. "How to fight with a sword and a gun," said Nathan. "I want to be able to use a sword as well." "I can," said Tim. "It''s the least I can do to return the favor to you." New Quest: Gun and Sword Training Learn sword skill from Tim. Reward: New Skill New Quest: Sword and Shield Training Learn how to use your shield offensively from Tim. Reward: New Skill For the first time, Nathan and Eve both had different quests.