《Not just Numbers》 Prologue: The Interview at N.E.T.V. Prologue: ¡°Royal Road, the first Virtual Reality Game; its popularity was worldwide and reports say that everyone in the world has at least once seen someone play the game in its twenty years of existence. During it¡¯s time many other games had rose and fall, all based around the same systems that Royal Road used. After Twenty years something new has finally come, Gelre Online, a revolutionary new game, with a system that changes up everything you know about Virtual Reality Games. Everyone here at N.E.T.V is proud to invite one of the core members of the G.O. team on for a T.V. Live interview!¡± The newscaster was enthusiastically talking to the camera, and everyone in the studio was preparing for the upcoming interview. It was common knowledge that all of the studio members were avid players of Royal Road, and their excitement and passion for video-games led New Electronics Television to become one of the most trusted and popular Gaming News sites. The 6 members of the Crew were checking and double-checking lights, sound, and everything else that could go wrong, while a middle aged man walked onto the stage and sat down on a chair placed there for him. ¡°Mr. Doe, Welcome to the show. Everyone here at N.E.T.V and all of our views are dying to know, What exactly is this revolutionary system that we have been hearing about all this time!¡± This Question was directed at the man, John Doe, who was sent by Matrix Technology to advertise the game and get people excited for release. ¡°This Game has one feature that differentiates it from Royal Road and its copycats, and that is Skill.¡± Mr. Doe folded his hands and looked at the camera as he continued his speech, ¡°In G.O. we have completely removed the concept of Levels, and distributing Stat-Points with Each level up.¡± ¡°Mr. Doe, by getting rid of Stats does this mean that players won¡¯t get any stronger?¡± ¡°No not at all actually. When doing actions you gain a small amount of stat points, so by fighting or casting spells you can level up your Stats.¡± ¡°Kind of how working out and lifting weights make you Stronger?¡± ¡°Yes exactly! Now this doesn''t mean that players who are stronger or have faster reaction times in real life will get an edge, but rather as you hunt monsters you will be able to find a pattern in their attacks or movements. By easing in the player it will balance out the more skilled players as the Monsters get harder and stronger.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, I¡¯m quite infamous for my bad coordination.¡± When the newscaster said this many of the crew members snickered, including the man behind the camera. ¡°Well Mr. Doe what about the World G.O. is set in?¡± ¡°A lot of the main lore is on our website¡­¡± The world of Gelre online is set over five continents. That stretch in a sort of line, with groups of small islands between them. The main website only showed two of the continents, the starting and ending. Each continent was ruled over by one of the seven gods. Asrath ¨C the God of Death, although he had no land all feared his power to claim the life of even dragons. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Evilen ¨C the Goddess of life, she controlled the human continent and is the Patron of the Human race keeping them safe from harm. She is also the twin sister of Asrath. Ithlel ¨C the god of Wind lives on the Second Continent, he is said to have the body of a man, the head of an eagle, and the wings of a vulture. Menmam ¨C the God of Iron and Stone, lives on the Third Continent. Although no legends exist about Menmam, he is often depicted as Small and Hairy wielding a hammer. Othrers ¨C The Goddess of Water, lives on the Fourth Continent, and she is shown as a woman in a light blue dress that walks across the waves of the ocean around her land, Ultr ¨C The god of War and Warriors, many pray to him in hopes for success on the battlefield, and he is depicted as an old man with a glaive. The last god is Semur ¨C Goddess of Light and Night. She is shown to have two faces, one beautiful and one ugly, and she used to rule over the Fifth Continent, the Mystic Continent, until it was taken over. The Mystic Continent used to be the home of Angels and Dark Angels before the Great Evil took over. The Great evil is a being as powerful as the gods, it is made of darkness and hate, corrupting all that it comes into contact with, hoping to take over the entire world. Killing the natives, the Great evil filled the Mystic continent with all sorts of Daemons and Creatures, and then sent them out into the other four continents. The interview lasted for over half an hour before ending and many things were discussed like game mechanics and account safety. Mr. Doe left and for a few more minutes the Newscaster talked about stories from Royal Road before it was time for the show to end. ¡°Well that¡¯s all the time we have today, we would like to thank everyone for tuning in and wish you all a good night.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re off!¡± ¡°Good job Kevin.¡± Kevin, the newscaster, sighed before leaning back in his chair and grabbing a cup of coffee that one of the camera men handed him. Kevin-¡°That was a good show today¡± He said talking to the man packing up the main camera. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just glad we got Mr. Doe to come in, I can¡¯t wait for G.O. to launch.¡± Andrew straightened his back after putting the camera away, ¡°Are we still making G.O. a feature here or what?¡± He asked Kevin. Kevin - ¡°Well it depends how well G.O. is received, it still got a month till launch. But what worries me is how small the map looks.¡± Andrew - ¡°Well the learning Curve should help us attract people, not to mention that as we play and learn with them it will make us look trustworthy.¡± Kevin - ¡°Yeah but they all know why we made the Show anyways¡­¡± Kevin and Andrew looked at each other and smiled. ¡°¡­Because we wanted to play games and get paid for it.¡± They both said. The two started laughing and then finished cleaning the studio and left. Little did they know that this game would become just as popular as Royal Road, and that they were the only Channel to cover it. Edit: Fixed Formatting,Added Map Chapter 1: Spawning in and Setting Off Chapter 1: ¡° ¡° ~ Speaking ¡® ¡® ~ Thinking /* /* ~ Author ******************************************************************************************************* A dark Cloudy day, the perfect one for staying inside and playing a game, and that is what thousands of people were about to do. Snow lightly fell from the sky as Andrew sent one last glance outside his apartment window before stepping into his V.R Pod. When opening his eyes in the darkness that was the Starting screen Andrew fingered through the various tabs of all his games until he found Gelre Online. The floating Box in front of him was grayed out and had a timer counting down on it.
00:13:53
Tapping the box he was able to open the character customization window, a feature that was standard to most games after people were tired from wasting time at launch. The Avatar that popped up was very similar to himself, Light blond hair, so light that it looked almost white, went down to his eyebrows and was swept to the left. His face was sharp and angular, and his body was thick and muscles lay hidden under a healthy layer of fat. Standing at 5¡¯10¡± he was average looking besides his hair.
00:10:21
¡®Gah, how am I gonna waste this time¡­¡¯ ¡®If only there was a way to somehow skip through time to pass as the boring parts¡­¡¯ /* Well if the protagonist wishes¡­/* The loud clang of Metal on Metal erupts, and out of a cloud of smoke a figure is thrown back and lands roughly on the ground, with a massive damage number appearing in front of him. ¡°Skylar, I need a Heal!¡± the man shouted, and a bright light shined on him, visibly healing his figure. The metal helmet on his head disappeared and White Blond hair was exposed, ruffled from the fight. The man picked himself up and sprinted back at the Monster that hit him just before, under the glaring sun, the light reflected off the beast, making it look like a god from heaven, clad in robes of light; but the¡­. /* what? This story doesn¡¯t make scene? Fine I¡¯ll go back to the present. /*
00:00:01
The grey box faded out and a white light shined into Andrew¡¯s eyes, forcing him to cover them with his hand.[tbs] Welcome to Gelre Online! Choose your User Name: [/tbs]¡°Sketch¡± The box faded away and two dice appeared floating in front of him. One was a 4-sided dice; the other was a 10 sided dice.
Roll the Dice to determine your Luck and your starting village
Sketch grabbed the die out of the air and rolled them, when the stopped a box came up.
Your Luck is 8; and you are starting in Village 1, Stanford. Good Luck.
Another bright light flashed and Sketch opened his eyes in the middle of a town square, to his right was a fountain, and he was in the middle of a grass field that stretched for 50 yards in every direction. To the south of where Sketch was standing was a towering building built in a classic European Style, with dark timber beams contrasting against the white walls. Above the door to this building was a sign that read the purpose of the building, ~Guilds Hall~. Flashes of light surrounded Sketch as more players materialized, until the entire field was filled with people. Some were standing and enjoying the view, while others were running off to find places to get classes. Sketch quickly forced his way to the building he had saw earlier so he could get information before the crowd got to the guild. However soon there was a mad rush to get into the Guild Hall, so he quickly gave up and went off to explore the town. Taking a quick peek at his inventory it showed that other than the thin clothes that he wore, he only had a canteen of water, and 10 pieces of bread. After exiting the main square the cobbled streets of the town were more organized than the mob that now surrounded the Guilds Hall. Stepping out of the way of a group of solders that were rushing to the direction he just came from, Sketch looked at the wares of the street venders that lined to road. Stalls he passed were selling goods like Silverware and fresh vegetables, and clothes, and as he got further and further from the center of town the goods changed. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.As he approached the gates of the town the goods were Leatherworks like backpacks and light armor, then bows and daggers, then Heavy Armor and Swords and Pole Arms. Without noticing it Sketch had walked right up to the Guards at the City Gate. ¡°Hey You!¡± The closest guard stepped forward and grabbed Sketch¡¯s Shoulder. ¡°Huh, What?¡± ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going, walking out of town without a weapon?¡± Only now did Sketch realize his mistake, walking out of the Safe town without a weapon was a easy way to get yourself killed, but he didn¡¯t have any money to buy weapons either. ¡°Um¡­ Sir I don¡¯t really have any money to get a weapon¡­ and I kinda gotta go out.¡± The other guard came over and they both looked Sketch over before sighing. ¡°Well if you really want to go out at least get a weapon from The Pile, just follow the wall with it on your left, you can¡¯t miss The Pile.¡± ¡°Ok, thank you very much.¡± With that Sketch went through the city gates and ran next to the wall. ¡®Hmmm. So you can leave the City without waiting 4 weeks like Royal Road. This will help people get into the action faster.¡¯ After a few minutes of running Sketch saw a large pile near the Wall, this probably was The Pile. The City walls were tall, probably about two stories tall, but The Pile next to it was massive, rusted and twisted metal was stacked until the peak was more than twice the height of the wall, but the pile was positioned quite a way from the wall so nothing could climb over the wall. Climbing up onto The Pile Sketch grabbed a Handle that stuck out from it. Giving it a strong tug, a sharp crack caused the blade to snap and the broken sword was in his grasp.
Old Broken Sword
Type:WeaponDurability:05 / 15
Quality:Trash
An Old Sword left on the Pile by a long lead Adventurer. Sketch Broke it while trying to retrieve it. It still has an Edge. 1~3 Damage
''It also seems like broken weapons can still be used.¡¯ After rummaging through the Pile for a long while after Sketch was able to get two Non-Broken Swords that do about 5~9 Damage. While walking down the pile Sketch Slipped and a Part of the Pile came crashing down.
-10
Cursing himself a Old leather bag fell onto his face. Inspecting the item it was an old backpack with a lackluster description.
Backpack that holds extra Items. It¡¯s got holes so things might fall out.
+20 Inventory Slots 1% Increased chance to Drop Items on Death.
Opening it up it was empty except for a yellow piece of paper with pictures on it. Grabbing the paper from the bag Sketch carefully unfolded it, and when he could examine it a Screen popped out.
Map of The Isle of Sanctun
The Isle of Sanctun is a small island off the coast of the human Continent. Measuring only around 5,000Km long and 1,500Km wide it is dwarfed by the size of the Five Continents.
Sketch was shocked by the size of the starter island, this was only the first and smallest place for players to explore, and yet it already was larger than several continents on Earth. And the Isle of Sanctun was dwarfed by the other continents, how massive must they be! With Excitement gleaming in Sketch¡¯s Eyes he made his way down The Pile and set off into the forest. **************************************************** Here it is, Chapter One!!! Hope you enjoyed it! If your interested in this make sure to follow so you get alerted when a new chapter is posted, like i have said it will be infrequent. If you Really Really like it feel free to favorite and give a review. If you feel there is anything to improve write it in the comments!
I tried to make the Damage and Time boxes Smaller but wasn''t able to, rather that having stretch across the screen as it is now i want them to take up only a small bit. Any ideas on how? Chapter 2: Combat System Chapter 02: Combat System. While Sketch is walking to the forest now is a good time to get in-depth about the basics of the combat system. /* Definitely not because I don¡¯t want to write a scene were Sketch walks to the forest./* Because G.O. doesn¡¯t have levels, monsters and players are put into a Scale of their power, with different ranks depending on how strong they are. There are 4 main ranks, with each rank divided into 8 subcategories or tiers. The ranks being the Beginner, Adept, Expert, and Master ranks; And divided into the tiers of First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and so on until Eighth tier. With every tier you go up the more dangerous a threat you or your enemy is. And when going up a Rank you get exponentially stronger than before. It is said that when you break though into the Master Rank you gain an Attunement to a specific element, but no one has seen a Master Rank on the Isle of Sanctun in a very long time. The Monsters on the Isle of Sanctun ranged from Beginner First tier to Adept Second tier. And players started as Beginner Second tier. All players also start with the skill called Basic Combat. This skill is a general attack skill, and sums up punching, kicking, hitting, slashing, and stabbing in a skill. This let all players have a skill to use early in the game before getting other skills. After using a certain weapon for long enough you get the Mastery skill for that specific weapon, you can get the mastery for all weapons; but once you learn one Mastery, it gets more difficult to raise the mastery of any other weapon. Other skills are divided into three groups. Class Skills, Custom Skills, and Miscellaneous Skills Class Skills are skills that you get with a specific Class, for instance a Priest getting a Heal Spell, or a Thief getting a Stealth Skill. Custom Skills are skills that a player can create on their own, for example Combos and fighting techniques from the Real World. If you create skill that¡¯s part of the game already but undiscovered you could end up getting quests related to it. Miscellaneous Skills are skills all classes, like the Bandage Skill, or Cooking. Anyone can learn them, and they are useful to all classes without providing an edge to them. All skills can be used at any moment at any time, so unless sealed by magic any skill could be used in combat. But there are some skills you wouldn¡¯t use at certain times. For instance using a mass destruction spell in the middle of a city, although you could use it the city guards would be very displeased. Health is set as a percentage rather than a numerical value for Monsters and attacks do extra Damage based on where the weapon hits and its proximity to vital organs and such. Technically a beginner sword could be used to kill the final boss if the wielder is skilled enough, however better weapons have different effects on them like The Holy Staff of Evilen, which does more damage against undead monsters. /*now back to your regularly scheduled program/* Sketch was around three minutes into the forest, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of life. Pushing through the brush, he stumbles into a clearing. ¡®Well crap¡­¡¯ With his hand and knees on the ground after breaking through the bush he stares eye to eye with a wild boar.
Wild Boar
Beginner Second Tier : Good Health
Rolling to the side, the boar¡¯s back legs tense up, and with a sudden surge of power it darts forward, driving its tusks into the place where Sketch was just moments ago. The beast¡¯s flank collided with his shoulder and he was knocked several feet back until he collided with a tree.
-23
Quickly jumping back to his feet, Sketch was able to avoid the second charge of the Boar by quickly jumping to the left. Drawing his sword he swipes at the rear of the boar.
Miss!
Turning around the boar charges at him again and Sketch again jumps to the left and swipes at the passing Boar. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Hit
Now standing exhausted, Sketch jumps forward and swipes three more times at the Boar
Hit
Hit
Hit
Then once it recovered it swung its head to face Sketch and hit his right leg with its tusks
-36
Hard Hit: Lowered power on Right LegLowers reaction speed and causes pain when moved or hit.
Leaping back and landing hard on his left leg, Sketch looks down and sees that his Right Leg is bleeding and swollen with a throbbing pain. However the boar is in worse shape than him. With deep cuts down its flanks and bloodshot eyes it looked to be about half dead. Examining the boar again the box pops up
Wild Boar
Beginner Second Tier : Poor Health
The vague health didn¡¯t do much except reinforce that Sketch was doing damage to it. Repeating the Doge, Counter, Attack process three more times the Boar finally collapses with a deep blow to back. Other than the first two hits that he received Sketch was able to doge the charging attacks of the boar and retreated before the boar recovered enough to attack. Collecting the loot from the he was able to collect some Boar bones, Boar Tusks, and Worthless Boar skin (Too cut up to be used by any craftsman).
Rank Up!
Your abilities have been evaluated to rank of Beginner Second Tier
¡®So this is how you improve; I guess if I defeat monster stronger than me I Rank up. That¡¯s useful¡¯ In the field there were several other Boars So Sketch decided to go attack them one by one. After defeating five and resting after each battle to heal Sketch had two screens pop up in front of him.
New Skill: Sword Mastery
Allows use of Swords special effects and increased familiarity with Swords : ]Beginner
Increased Familiarity: Wild Boar
Shows Health of Wild Boar in terms of Percentage. Increased Drops of Common loot. : Second Tier
¡®The Wild Boar familiarity is interesting, maybe if I advance it far enough it will show me it¡¯s weak points or something¡­ but the Swords Mastery is fantastic, I wonder if my swords have any effects!¡¯ Taking out his rusted Sword he examines the special Effect.
Special Effect: Tetanus
Low chance of Something Killed with this Sword of Respawning weaker than originally, High chance of Causing Muscle Spasms if Monster isn¡¯t killed.
¡®This is a unique effect. If I got cut with this it could give me the effect, but it¡¯s also a good effect for grinding mobs, especially if the Monster kills me it would die by the time I returned.¡¯ ¡°Hmm¡± Getting up and stretching Sketch started to walk up to another group of Wild Boars ¡°Better keep killing these guys until a boss shows up.