章 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 2
"Tips from a pro"
Six months passed with no progress, and Will's sleep had suffered for it. His dad and sister were concerned about his health, but Will insisted he was fine, and that, soon enough, they would go on a vacation somewhere.
He kept his nose to the grindstone. The young man didn't want to think about what would happen if his plan didn't pan out. If not for Curtis, an old army friend who lent Will a large sum of money, none of what followed would have happened.
While working his other job as a night shift security guard at a local shopping mall, Will studied the gaming world between making his rounds. He was no gamer himself, but he would not be deterred by a lack of knowledge or experience. He sifted through tons of information, learning strategies, character builds, and character classes, and memorizing every relevant detail.
He didn't know how much of this information would be useful in the game he was preparing for, so the task at hand was to learn as much as he possibly could. The information was so abundant that one of the walls in Will's room had transformed into a link chart complete with thumbtacks and strings connecting various points. The scene was so baffling that to a casual observer, Will would have to do a lot of explaining to do, to prove he wasn't crazy. Thankfully, his family was away most of the time - Dad often went on business trips and Leah lived on campus during the school term. Will had also joined several community forums for gaming geeks in the hopes of finding something useful.
All that learning, naturally, made no sense without practice. To fix that, Will rented a game capsule at one of those specialized gaming centersor gaming hubs, as they called them every other day. Those weren't cheap, but they were a necessity, because failure was not an option. This game capsule allowed each player to create only one game character on their account which was linked to the capsule's serial number. This restriction frustrated Will. For the longest time, he could not make up his mind as to which class he should pick for his character. The receptionist, Angela, explained that they offer "blank accounts", with preloaded character classes of every kind, to help players make a choice. Except, these characters couldn't join clans or do quests. e
This option was recently introduced by a series of developing companies to attract new players. It worked for the noobs as well - what were the chances that a player would start anew or even stay in the game if he didn't like his race or class? The abilities for each character were preset by professional gamers so that one could explore their character's potential prior to making their choice. It was not about clothing, weapons, or skills, as one had to go with the default settings, but rather about which character one chose - a tank, a healer, or, maybe, a thief?
Three months had passed since Will first heard about the game. He opened his eyes, returning to reality. The familiar snow-white interior of the capsule welcomed him back from the game. He automatically opened the door and stepped out. It was chilly outside the capsule. The light from the ceiling, as soft as the music playing over the speakers, coupled with the faint smell of coffee, finalized the transition.
He spotted a man with tan skin, wearing shorts and a colorful t-shirt whispering to Angela at the reception desk. When he saw Will, he stopped talking and smiled at him, as if seeing an old friend. Will didn't know the man, who looked to be either Japanese or Korean, but he had definitely seen him before.
"Hey," said the man. "Angela told me you've been trying to choose a class for months. Can I help?"
Will frowned, trying to figure if he looked like he needed help.
"What do you want?" he asked without blinking.
Angela stepped in, "This is Pak Cheong. He's a part-time consultant in our center and a Lost Lands legend. A sensational game, you may have heard of it. You, as a regular, may ask him for advice if you want. Free of charge, of course."
"Legend, huh?" Will thought this would be a great chance to clarify a few things. "I have a couple of questions unrelated to classes."
"Shoot," said Pak.
"How well can one do in the game if one was to play alone?"
"Well, it depends on your goals. If you're not into epic quests or dungeons, which would normally take at least five people to complete, then you're good. Just play for fun. There are many people who simply want to escape into a world of swords and magic, the depths of space, or underwater realms. The downside is that you will probably be spending more time respawning than playing, and that impedes your character development. Different games have different penalties, from de-leveling to debuffs, which are so harsh that you wouldn't stand a chance against a lousy, low-level mob. There are also timeouts where you die, but you don't die, meaning you just get kicked out from the game for a day or two. It's fine if you're a casual player, but if playing is your bread and butter, death is the worst-case scenario for you."
"Right," Will nodded, pausing to gather his thoughts. "Have you ever killed tougher enemies? I mean, like, ten times stronger than you?"
"Sure. Once. But then again, every situation is unique. What do you know about exploits?"
"You mean using game bugs to your advantage?"
"Exactly." Pak said. "Those are hard to find in modern games. The developers tend to get very nosy when it comes to this kind of stuff. They follow top gamers on social media, read forums and blogs, watch tutorials… anything they can find. Then they fix the bug and release updates. But we gamers are a sly lot, aren't we? If we can't find a bug, we'll make one. Some even manage to make some coin off of it by selling them. But I've got to tell you, it's tedious as hell. You have to know the location inside out and waste a billion lives, which is, as you can tell, not easy."
Having learned nothing new, and wondering if he should speak frankly, Will gave Pak a puzzled look.
"Listen, as you can probably tell, it's more about money than fun for me, and the problem is that I don't know which class is right for that."
"Hmm. You don't come across as a noob. You're too focused, even when you play. Sorry, I had a peek while you were in there. Uhm, never mind. Opinions vary, as they say. People tend to be very fond of the class they represent. I, for one, am making good money playing a Paladin. It's not about the class, it's about the player. If you're not all thumbs, and if you got what it takes, then go for it - pick one and show them what you got."
"Sounds like they're paying you for getting people hooked," said Will with a smile. Pak answered with a cunning grin.
They talked for thirty more minutes, during which time Will learned several useful things. When they finished, Pak handed Will his business card.
" Take this. I'd like to play with you sometime. Contact me if you have any questions. . Free of charge. I have connections that could use a smart and motivated guy like you. Think about it." Pak waved goodbye and headed back to the reception.
"See ya." Will pocketed the card and walked outside.
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