Chapter 13: First-time play and introduction.[1]
"I agree, because if becoming friends with you helps me clear my debt to you someday, then I am ready to be your friend," he said, just as he was about to shake hands, but James pulled his hand back in response.
"Then I'm sorry if you're becoming my friend just to repay this debt, and I apologize for asking this of you. Please forget it," he said as he started to return to Rey to play games.
"Oh wait, I'm sorry if I said something wrong, and okay, I will be your friend," Evan quickly interjected, not wanting to miss the chance to befriend someone who wasn't interested in friendship for benefits.
"Friendship not for debt, right?" James clarified, and Evan nodded with an awkward smile.
"Okay, let's play the games before time runs out," he said, placing his hand on Evan's shoulder and dragging him towards where Rey was waiting.
"So, the matter is settled, and we've got our new friend, Evan," James declared, while Rey sighed softly, knowing James's nature—friendly and energetic—and remembering the day he approached him.
In the past, when Rey was sitting in a park watching children play, he felt sad because his life was filled with loneliness and no child would play with him. Then James came into his life like a whirlwind, his only friend to date, and Rey was truly grateful. He couldn't imagine a life without a friend, a life filled with sadness.
"Hello, I'll introduce myself again, Rey Dragonstrom, and I hope our friendship lasts forever," Rey said, to which Evan responded with kindness.
"Okay, if the introduction is over, let me explain how to play the game," James said as he began to describe the gameplay.
A few minutes later...
"Do you understand what to do?" Rey asked, standing beside them.
"Sort of, but I need to actually play before I can say for sure," Evan replied, nodding as he started a new match.
"Let's play a team three-on-three match next, after you finish your game," James suggested, and Rey nodded in agreement, though Evan hesitated.
"Guys, I think you should play together until I'm good enough to play at an average level," Evan suggested, worried that he might cause them to lose games and potentially harm their budding friendship.
"Don't worry, even if we're not that great, we can still carry you if something happens," James reassured him, confidently tapping his chest.
"Okay, but don't blame me if we lose," Evan murmured in a low voice, too quiet for the others to hear.
Evan quickly started his first match and entered the game lobby.
The game was quite unique, featuring elements of fantasy and survival warfare.
In this game, up to one hundred and fifty players are spawned on a vast land containing various regions like jungles, snowy mountains, destroyed cities, underground cities, and more.
The characters of the players have different types of elemental affinities; some have balanced affinities, while others have a high affinity for just one element. This creates unique characteristics for them in different regions, affecting their stats, attacks, and defenses.
Their weapons are also influenced by these elements, adding more fun to the game. Players can create only one character per account, and if they want another, they must delete the existing one. Each new character's elements are fixed upon creation and cannot be changed, with the effects remaining the same unless the account is new.
Games often use a leveling system similar to RPGs, where a player's character gains levels from the results of matches, and the higher the rank, the greater the rewards.
"Let's skip the description and dive into the game," James suggested.
"Evan, why don't you create a new account since you're playing with a guest account? That way, we can see if your luck is as bad as Rey's or as good as mine," James explained as he provided the instructions.
"What do you mean by 'luck' in this context?" Evan asked, puzzled about how luck could play a role.
"In this world, the characters are assigned randomly after you make an account, and you can't change their elements. You can only play with them until you delete the account, which you can only do after ten days. So, people usually stick with their character until they're certain they want to delete it," James clarified. "I mention this because the game features a variety of elements such as common, rare, unique, legendary, and mythic.
Common elements include Fire, Water, Wind, Earth.
Rare elements include Lightning, Ice, Inferno, Wood.
Unique elements include Shadow, Darkness, Light, and others that are still hidden.
Legendary elements are Eclipse, Radiance, Time, Space.
Mythic elements are Void, Chaos, death and life."
{A/N: If anyone believes the classification is incorrect, please leave a comment. I will review the suggestion and, if it is valid, I will make the necessary changes.}
"People are so eager to attain higher levels because the effects are so cool; whoever gets them becomes akin to a hacker," James remarked as Evan also got caught up in the excitement.
Evan deliberately lost in the game to a player whose fiery element made his weapon's bullets inflict a burning effect.
He swiftly navigated to the settings and clicked the sign-in button.
After entering all his details, Evan's account was activated, and he was ready to play. However, character creation was first on the agenda.
He selected a male skin and opted for a simple look, as he wasn't interested in customization and only wished to test his luck.
"Hurry up and click 'OK.' I can't wait to see if you get a good element or just a common one," James urged, his eagerness growing as he anticipated the surprise.
"Okay, okay, just let me finish," Evan replied as he was about to enter his real name, but James and Rey stopped him, advising against using his real name. Heeding their advice, he chose a new, random one.
<Tenebris Revenant>
"That name looks odd yet cool; it's good and unique," Rey suggested, and with James nodding in agreement, Evan also nodded after a moment's thought, liking the name somewhat, and quickly pressed 'OK.'
Then came the moment they had all been waiting for: the elemental selection screen appeared.
The screen displayed a spinning slot with some elements visible and others not. After a few seconds, the spin slowed down and was about to stop on the wind element when it ticked over one more step and stopped on a question mark.
"Oh boy, Evan, it can't be—you must have hit the jackpot with this one," James exclaimed, knowing that Evan was guaranteed a rare element.
The question mark began to crack gradually, and finally, the element was revealed.
{A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I want to clarify that the game described herein is not derived from our world; it's a product of my imagination. I plan to further develop it for a future arc in this novel or possibly others, which will be revealed in time.}
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