Bab 17: Reason for change
When he saw the level of talent that everyone was supposed to start with, Alvin once again became confused. He couldn't understand how come his talent attribute changed all of a sudden to SS+ when he logged in.
Even though he was very happy that he had somehow gotten such a huge head start ahead of people of this world, but he was someone who's heart wouldn't rest until he knew the reason behind this. He didn't believe that it was just coincidence that there was suddenly a system malfunction that led to a lot of changes in his attributes and game character.
"Hmm? Is it because of this?" Alvin suddenly remembered the phenomenon that took place when he inserted the strange blue 'monster core' into the power bracelet. The things that happened were totally different from what was described in the manual.
With this thought in mind, he suddenly realized that since he woke up, he hadn't felt the energy bracelet on his hand. He looked at his right hand again and truly the energy bracelet had disappeared!
"Where did it go to?"
Alvin touched his wrist again and felt that there was an impression of the bracelet there. Even though there was nothing there, Alvin could feel that the bracelet, just that he couldn't see it. He focused on his hands for a few seconds and surprisingly, a blue glow suddenly emerged from his wrist then the bracelet also immediately followed, slowly emerging from under his skin as if it was fused with him.
This process was somehow very strange. After the bracelet emerged, Alvin noticed that the 'monster core' he inserted was now glowing a feint blue color. He felt a very refreshing cool feeling coming from the core.
To confirm his guess, Alvin tried to remove this bracelet, but it couldn't come off. It was as if the bracelet had now became part of his hand. To get rid of it, his whole hand had to be cut off.
After trying for some time, he still couldn't figure out anything. He then began to wonder the origin of this core.
He now was very sure that this wasn't a monster core but a crystal that looked very similar. An actual monster core shouldn't have such an effect.
He now began to wonder who could have sent him such a precious item. From its function of raising his synchronization rate to an astonishing 100% and also remaking his attributes, this core should be very precious. If people of this world found out that there was something like this which could raise the game's synchronization rate to such a level, he could imagine the waves it would cause.
The sender's address on the package that delivered this core was Thunder Gale Institute but the sender's name was stated. From his memory, Alvin knew very little about this institute. All he knew was that this Institute was one of the few Colleges whose headquarters was not found on either Ares Continent or Salvation Continent. They were situated on an Island quite a distance from Salvation Continent.
That was also where Alvin's grandfather used to work as a professor before he strangely disappeared a few years ago.
So Alvin just couldn't figure out who sent him this core and their purpose for sending to him. What he could be sure of was that this crystal was somehow related with his grandfather. Even though this was a very good item, he couldn't use it with a sound mind if he couldn't verify its true origins.
Now, Alvin had more reason to visit that college. But the only way to visit that place for the current him was to qualify during the final test three months later and be selected into that institute. That way, he could investigate it carefully without worries.
…
After Alvin stopped focusing on the bracelet, it once again began glowing and disappeared back into his skin. Looking at the process of its disappearance, he was relieved because with this, no one will be able to easily find out his secret. He could also ensure that it would be with him wherever he goes.
He then returned to the computer screen and continued to read about the settings of the 'Pirate King' world.
As he continued reading, he was very happy to know that as a startup package, every player was rewarded the [Force Fist] fist art, the [Gathering Skill] and the [Investigate skill]. The system backpack of every player also contains a wooden sword and the four pieces of adjustable weight.
Everything else would have to be earned by the players on their own including money and food. Like the real world, players would have to eat in the game. If they go for a long time without food or water, depending on the level of their vitality, it could even lead to death.
The skills in the game can also be obtained by four means. The first is as a reward from the system for a major achievement in the game. The second is learning them from NPC's of the 'Pirate King' world as well as getting various skills and abilities after eating a particular devil's fruit. Also skill scrolls and devil fruits can drop after player kills a character but the probability of that is very low. The probability of this happening is about 1/100!
The way of learning skills from NPC's is exactly like learning a skill in reality. The player have to train for a long time before he/she masters the skill. The speed of learning skills will mainly depend on talent and comprehension speed.
At this time, Alvin really rejoiced on the amount of items he received in his startup package due to the changes caused by the crystal. The [Basic Sword Arts] that he received didn't seem to be part of the rewards given to every player but seemed to be unique to him. He also received a steel sword instead of a wooden sword.
If he had used the wooden sword to fight against all those beasts which were a level or more higher than him, he wouldn't even be able to penetrate their defenses, let alone kill them.
At this time, Alvin felt that this wasn't like a game at all but rather like survival in another world. If he didn't receive the [Basic Sword Arts] and the Steel sword as well as his SS+ level sword talent and also didn't have such extensive battle experience, how would he have leveled up so soon? He could now vaguely imagine how various players would struggle to just level up to even Level 1!
A lot of other information could be found on the website about how to acquire devil fruit abilities and the functions of the various attributes on the attribute panel.
After scrolling through all the information on the official website, Alvin then opened the official forum to read about the experiences of other players in the game.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
xeros01
xeros01 3/5 of this week's chapter.
Enjoy!
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone