Kapitel 459: Running Into A New Journey
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"I'm. . . sorry to be the bearer of bad news."
"Alice. . ."
Time seemed to stop. Only a fading warmth could be felt. A frail hand rested in his palm. Nothing else mattered. Just these last fleeting moments, ones he wanted to hold dear.
. . .
"Perhaps you need something to distract yourself. I heard about a game called A World's Legacy. It seems to be really popular, maybe it's what you need?"
". . ."
"I got one of those headsets, I'll leave it here. Just. . . try it okay?"
The sound of a door closing echoed throughout a mostly empty room. In the barely lit room a figure shuffled out of a blanket. A clearly disheveled appearance, devoid of any care. Eyes with heavy bags moved slowly towards a new and foreign object. A headset lay at the edge of the bed, fallen over and resting on its side. A set of cables spilled off the bed and onto the floor.
". . ."
A thin hand reached out and grabbed it, struggling to make sense of everything they gave up and placed it back before lying down. An hour passed before they made another attempt, this time with a strand of more vigor.
Repeating the same process for a couple of tries they eventually managed to place the helmet onto their head. Closing their eyes they completed the log in process.
"User account registration activated."
"Account linked to user."
"Welcome David Reed."
The world formed together with a series of white lines.
"Welcome to A World's Legacy player! I am the A.I. Bartholomew Vendict. However, you may call me Bart. I shall be guiding you through your character customization and registration." A hearty voice sounded.
Looking towards Bart they narrowed their eyes but remained silent.
A series of white lines moved and formed a perfect mirror image of the figure. A frown formed on their face upon witnessing it. Bart eyed the avatar before explaining, "Any changes can be done by simply imagining it! I will handle the fine tuning."
The figure turned healthier, younger. . . as if turning time to a better past. Bart nodded, "Are you pleased with your changes?"
Almost nodding their head they hesitated. A saddened expression formed on their face. Caused by a fond yet painful memory resurfacing they made a slight alter to the avatar. The hair began to spike up and turn orange. It looked like they were the victim of a prank.
Bart viewed the avatar with a twinkle in his eye, "Excellent, now you may choose a starting race. Please keep in mind that some changes may be made according to your choice."
". . ."
"Human it is! Now I just need a name, this will be your display name within the game. Keep in mind that this may be viewed by players using specific methods, but your real identity will remain hidden."
". . ."
Bart stood idle, a pleasant smile on his face. A forever patient A.I. awaiting an input.
'She. . .'
"Geared Green."
"That name is available! Congratulations, on creating an account. Before I send you off I ask you pick a weapon you feel most suitable with. This will affect your starting class, but you are free to experiment."
Reaching out they grabbed a sword without hesitation. Bart asked, "Are you positive you want your starting class to be Warrior?"
". . ."
"Very well, I shall now send you to a beginner village. May your journey be blessed with fortune and luck."
The white lines began to swarm Gear, his body turning into the avatar. But just as his surroundings disappeared a faint voice echoed, "Don't give up hope."
A bright light pierced his eyes making him raise a hand to block it. As he realized that he didn't need as much time to adjust he looked around. Players and NPCs walked about, although small in number. It felt alien, how long had it been since he experienced something like this?
The weight of his armor, the sword on his hip, the wind hitting his face. Was something this real truly just a game? It felt almost like real life. . . except for the fantasy elements.
Walking about in the village Gear re-experienced the sensation of strolling through the streets. While the village seemed primitive compared to that of modern living, it gave a pleasant and comforting feel.
Turning a corner he suddenly was pushed against an incoming force and sent stumbling towards the ground. Wincing he looked up and saw a Player looking down at him. With an apologetic expression they reached out, "Sorry man, I didn't see you."
Reaching out he grabbed the hand and was lifted to his feet. Gear noticed how easily the Player accomplished this feat, and was astonished at their strength. The Player dusted him off as they continued, "You seem to be new, glad you found this game. It really is a gem!"
Patting Gear's shoulder they stared at him, "Here, take this as an apologetic gift. I have no need for it and it's far too outdated to be worth anything. To you, it might mean something else though."
Pulling a sword out of the air they handed it to Gear, "Take it, I'm in a bit of a rush so I gotta go."
Without waiting for a reply the player placed the sword in Gear's palms and ran off. Momentarily dumbfounded Gear inspected the sword in his hands. He wasn't sure what it was worth, he knew nothing of the game after all.
However he was aware he couldn't equip it, a notification from the system made that clear. Figuring out how to open the inventory he was about to place it when a group of players approached him.
"Ah so you're the punk who stole my younger brother's weapon. I'm gonna need you to hand that back."
Gear found himself momentarily dumbfounded, wasn't he just gifted this sword? How did he steal it?
". . ."
"What, are you deaf? I want the sword back!"
"Uh. . . someone gave this to me. . ."
"Sure, whatever you say. Just know that is my brother's sword, so hand it over!"
Gear looked around, "Sure. . . ?"
It seemed cruel, to hand over a gift from somebody. He had it for a few minutes before it was being robbed from him. Although it seemed like the gift was stolen in the first place. Not that it mattered, he had no idea what it was worth anyway. Lifting the sword he began to hand it over, but due to the sudden interruption he forgot to close the inventory. As he began to hand it over it slipped through the interface and was stored in his inventory. . .
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
"You must think you're funny don't you?"
"Wait I-"
"Grab him boys, clearly we got to teach this thief a lesson."
"Can you listen-"
Gear's vision suddenly turned dark. Only later did he realize that it was most likely caused by some sort of Skill. He felt only exasperation, what a series of bad luck. What did he get wrapped up in?
In the blink of an eye, for him at least, he awoke at some unknown location. Located very obviously in the forest. An odd thing to point out is the fact that everything was upside down. It took about three seconds for Gear to realize he was currently hanging from a tree by his feet.
"Ah it looks like it wore off! Morning thief! How'd ya sleep?"
"Mm-"
He was gagged, and his hands were tied. Left helplessly swinging from the tree Gear could only watch what was happening. The one who lead the original group lightly slapped his face, "Consequences of your actions hmm? Thought you could get away with stealing?"
"Mm!"
"No more excuses, I gave you a chance! Now you're gonna cough up the sword one way or another."
"Mmn!"
"Alrighty, this is what's gonna go down. I'm gonna cut your hands free, but not before putting you in some danger. Can't have you logging out immediately after all!"
Delivering a punch to Gear's gut the leader said, "With this you're in combat. Now when I cut your hands free you're going to pull out that sword and hand it over."
With a quick slash Gear found his hands free. Opening the inventory almost immediately he reached out. This was all some large misunderstanding, he certainly wasn't going to suffer because of it. Pulling out the sword he saw the leader form a smile, "Glad you're understanding!"
It was worth mentioning the punch delivered was forceful enough to have Gear start to move. The rope caused him to swing back and forth. So as he pulled the sword out of his inventory he rocked back, and before he could hand it over he swung forward putting it back into his inventory.
". . .", Gear couldn't believe it.
"Oh you think you're hilarious!"
Wham-!
"Mm!"
Utter nonsense, what an introduction to this all! Once he was out of this mess he was leaving. To think that starters could be treated like this, he didn't even do anything wrong!
Reaching out he pulled the sword from his inventory, vigorously shaking his head he pulled it further back from the inventory interface. Dropping it to the ground he constantly nudged his head in its direction.
The leader of the group snapped his fingers and someone picked it up. Looking at Gear he spoke in a degrading tone, "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"
Pulling the gag free they continued, "I want to hear your apology."
"I'm new to the game! I have no idea how the inventory works! It was an accident I swear, I was trying to give it back at the village, I didn't even know it was stolen!"
"Yeah likely story, but my brother did say you didn't look like the thief. I would have considered you happened to get a similar drop, small world and all of that. Except this is certainly the same copy, even has the engraved initials I had put in its pommel!"
"Some random guy gave it to me, said it was a gift!"
"Hmm. . . I have a hard time believing you. However since you were quite compliant I guess I can let you go. I'll leave you hanging for a bit, once you're out of combat you can log out safely."
Standing up he clapped, "Let's move boys!"
Gear watched as everyone left, while still upside down. With a flat expression on his face he mumbled, "This game sucks."
After hanging for about two minutes he then realized his hands were free, and he could simply try to cut himself down. They never disarmed him, or maybe they couldn't? After swinging for a bit and flexing his bodies in ways he never had before he reached up and sliced the rope after a few tries.
The rush of gravity hit him hard and he fell in an awkward position. Wincing he tried to roll up but realized he couldn't move. As his vision darkened it then hit him, this was death?!
Due to the hits he received his HP was already pretty low. As he freed himself he landed awkwardly and onto his sword, it cut into him and dropped his HP down to zero. As if fate pulled a cruel prank on him.
He processed the whole thing before letting out a heavy sigh. As he respawned he then realized the village he was in was vastly different from the one he first spawned into. A strange mist clung to the trees, and the leaves created a shadow over the village.
It didn't matter, he wasn't planning on continuing the game anyway. As he reached up to open the menu someone caught the corner of his eye. His hand twitched and his eyes widened. Such a familiar looking person. . . it couldn't be!
". . . Alice?"
They looked up at him, "Oh! Someone new to the village! It's been forever since we had a visitor."
His knees felt weak, "Alice? What are you doing here?"
"Alice? You have the wrong person, my name is Lemon!"
Lemon? But the way she looked. . . it was almost a carbon copy of Alice. . .
He couldn't believe it, to think he could see her again!
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein