章 4: Getting a Grasp of the Situation

Treech scrolled through the Yggdrasil forums and read over many articles about the game. He didn't prepare himself too much for this game, but now that his situation allowed him to continue spending time here, he needed to understand the game! He had been attacked by goblins earlier and that malwant monster could have easily killed him.

He eventually closed the forum and took a glance at the bottom left chat logs window.

"Huh?" Treech muttered softly in surprise. He hadn't paid attention before, but he knew that there was a [Game Logs] tab on the chat window. He could view the [Game Log] history of what happened to him. He quickly scrolled through the log history, ignoring the recent happening with the [Malwant] and [Goblin] logs. He read over the logs carefully.

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- [4/22/2126 00:00:00] - Player [Treech] respawn location (111.0, 253.0, 134.0).

- [4/21/2126 23:59:59] - Player [Treech] died.

- [4/21/2126 23:59:58] - Player [2Rich4Me] has successfully triggered [Jackpot Steal] from [Snatch] skill and has stolen [Shooting Star] and [High-Class Dragon] from Player [Treech].

- [4/21/2126 23:59:58] - Player [Treech] has failed theft resist roll against [Snatch].

- [4/21/2126 23:59:58] - Player [2Rich4Me] has activated skill [Snatch].

- [4/21/2126 23:59:53] - Player [MamaHots] has cast [Firebolt] and Player [Treech] has taken 1 point of magic damage.

...

- [4/21/2126 23:59:42] - Player [DinnerPlate] has active skill [Qi Blade] and Player [Treech] has taken 1 point of physical damage.

...

- [4/21/2126 23:59:28] - Player [DinnerPlate] has initiated an attack against Player [Treech], Player penalty nullified due to attacking a [Heteromorph].

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Treech just now had realized that he had died in-game and had respawned. Also, it looks like he was robbed too... and significantly robbed! What the hell? Who does this? Was he hurting anyone? No, he was just trying to pass on in peace. But some bastards actually had the balls to attack him when he was defenseless? Not only that but they actually stole 2 of his most valuable items.

Treech furrowed his brow in annoyance. He would make sure they paid him back in full. Although he wanted to die and can usually be considered apathetic, it didn't mean he would let people disrespect him. Especially those who disturb the peace of a meek dying man by stealing his possessions. He made a mental note of [2Rich4Me], [MamaHots], and [DinnerPlate]'s names for later. First, he needed to once again consider the mystery of his survival in Yggdrasil.

He had definitely been dying. He couldn't even see in front of him around the time that he was attacked by those three hoodlum players and robbed. If he had truly known what was happening, he wouldn't be learning of this now from the damn game logs no less! This leaves him thinking about a possibility.

'Could my death in-game coincided with my death in real life?'

Treech once most stared at the logs in deep thought.

'It makes sense. I don't know the engineering behind the Yggdrasil console, however, the game does simulate an in-game death. Could my consciousness have been pulled over when they coincided?'

For now, this was the explanation he was going to use. He felt that he was on the right track and the answer satisfied him, for now.

"Next, let's deal with the skill points issue," he mumbled to himself. He opened the skill points panel and selected to distribute them. A new skill point distribution prompt was displayed.

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[Add new Racial Classes] (+)

[Add new Character Classes] (+)

[Add new Job Classes] (+)

[Current Racial Classes] (+)

[Current Character Classes] (+)

[Current Job Classes] (+)

[Stats] (+)

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Trench realized here that he could select a new character class as many times as he wanted for the cost of 1 Skill point, however, old racial classes would get replaced with a newly selected racial class after adding 45 levels in total to old racial classes. But he wouldn't spend his 6 skill points to just get 6 level 1 classes. As they say, a master of all is a master of none.

'I should probably rank up my [Astromancer] class a bit. It should be classified as a Magic Caster class. Also, my custom Racial class is a must. My 250k spent on this thing can't be just for decoration.' Treech organized his thoughts carefully.

After a few more moments of decision, he put 4 points into [Astromancer] raising its level to 5 and he put the rest into his [Worsap] racial class. He then confirmed his changes and a new prompt was displayed for him.

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[Astromancer] character class level has been raised to level 5.

You now have access to Tier 1 [Astromancer] spell [Starbeam] in your spellbook.

You now have access to Tier 1 [Astromancer] spell [Guiding Star] in your spellbook.

You now have access to Tier 2 [Astromancer] spell [Comet Ice] in your spellbook.

[Worsap] racial class level has been raised to level 3.

You have gained access to the racial ability [Green Thumb].

[Green Thumb]: All plants under your control thrive and grow at half the upkeep cost.

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Treech nodded. He was glad he added points into the [Astromancer] class and received some low-level spells. He could now fight without just using his fists to hit things like a caveman. He was curious about the effects of the spells so he opened up the spellbook tab and read over their descriptions.

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[Spell limit]: 3/300

[Tier 1]

- [Starbeam]: Condense starlight into a beam and fire it at an opponent. Deals cosmic damage.

- [Guiding Star]: A tracking spell that tracks a target that has been touched by using the stars in the night sky.

[Tier 2]

- [Comet Ice]: Billow comet ice into your surroundings condensing like a transparent mist. Comet ice increases cosmic damage type spells and attacks.

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Overall it was okay? Treech couldn't really tell what was good or bad. He had looked on the forums for anything related to the [Astromancer] class, but there were no guides. In fact, it was not mentioned even under highly visible posts that claimed to document all known Magic Caster classes. He noticed he had gotten access to cosmic spell damage-type spells with this class.

'It's fine, I heard that I can get some generic spells by picking up the [Wizard] character class when needed.' Treech felt that he could manage some of this with time. He didn't realize exactly how powerful his character advantage was from using the [Heteromorphic Race Creation Toolkit] until now!

On the forums, most players had to spend time deciding how to manage their class levels and raw stats. The game was designed where you couldn't have your cake and eat it too. You can't max level everything... you had to choose a part of your build to get the least attention. But Treech had 132 extra starting stats! That means he was 132 skill points ahead of average players and races at level 1. This was his greatest advantage and he would have no problem maxing his racial classes, while keeping his Job and Character class levels high.

'I almost forgot about the Gacha items!' He smacked his forehead in frustration. He opened up his inventory menu and looked over the Gacha items. His inventory was practically full from all the Gacha items. He made a mental note to never spend 100,000$ on Gacha spins all at once if he didn't have a place to put everything. Thankfully this time he had enough inventory space to contain all his Gacha items.

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[Memor's Spell Rememberance Guide (Expendable)] (1)

[Spacial Fabric (Expendable)] (4172)

[Hider's Arcana (Expendable)] (1)

[Luck Soaked Paw (Expendable)] (3542)

[Escape Rope (Expendable)] (5822)

[Pheonix Ash (Expendable)] (10)

[Golem Maker's Scalple] (1)

[Item Nametag (Expendable)] (15817)

[Ring Master's Inheritance (Expendable)] (1)

[Pheonix Feather (Expendable)] (4464)

[Orb-Frame Camera] (5551)

[Shooting Star (Ring of Wishes)] (2)

[High-Class Dragon (Data Crystal)] (4)

[Exchange Puppet (Expendable)] (15802)

[Carrion Baby (Data Crystal)] (15703)

[Charn's Hourglass (Expendable)] (5446)

[Quick Change Item (Expendable)] (15711)

[Sound Recorder] (10642)

========***++++***========

The items were... well they were good items, but they weren't anything he could use immediately. The items like [Sound Recorder], [Orb-Frame Camera], and [Item Nametag (Expendable)] were not even very good other than for roleplaying purposes. A recorder to record your voice, an orb item that acts as an in-game camera, and an item renaming tag.

Next, there were items that Treech considered 'strategic' items that could change how a battle was fought: [Charn's Hourglass (Expendable)], [Escape Rope (Expendable)], [Quick Change Item (Expendable)], and [Exchange Puppet (Expendable)]. [Charn's Hourglass] instantly finished casting any spell, [Escape Rope] would instantly let him teleport away from a battle or dungeon to a safe location, [Quick Change Item] would let him swap equipment instantly, and [Exchange Puppet] could be used to swap locations of the puppet and the item owner.

Next were the permanent increase items: [Ring Master's Inheritance], [Hider's Arcana], [Spacial Fabric], and [Memor's Spell Rememberance Guide]. [Ring Master's Inheritance] allowed for the user's character to unlock ring equipment slots of all of their fingers. [Hider's Arcana] allowed for the user to activate an [Automatic Self-Defense] against scrying and information gathering techniques. [Memor's Spell Rememberance Guide] increases the max amount of spells a character can remember inside their spellbook by 100. And lastly, [Spacial Fabric ] would increase the inventory size by 20% with each use.

Finally, there was the high tier permanent items, summon data crystals and temporary buff items. [Pheonix Feather] reduced the loss of experience on death for the next 3 hours after use. [Pheonix Ash] allowed for resurrection magic to be cast without a cost of gold. [Luck Soaked Paw] Increased drop rate for the next 3 hours after use. [High-tier Dragon] and [Carrion Baby] were both data crystal summons that required materials data to summon them. The [High-tier dragon] was really difficult to summon as they required 100,000 points of data in just their base forms without player modification. This brings us to the other gear [Shooting Star]. [Shooting Star] was a Divine class ring that would let players cast the super tier spell [Wish Upon a Star] sacrificing experience points to generate a random wish. The ring could be used 3 times before crumbling to dust.

...

(Author's Note: Sorry for the information overload on the items... hope it was interesting to learn about what some of his items do.)

Treech finished looking over all the items he deemed important. He took out the one-time-use permanent buff items and used them. He used all of the 4172 x [Spacial Fabric] to increase his inventory size till it was nearly impossible to fill it up.

'Well, now I won't worry about running out of space again.' Treech glanced one more time at the Gacha items before exiting the menu. He stood up from his seat and glanced at his player map at the bottom right of his HUD.

Apparently, his location was titled [Aiym Forest] and the map could detail what was about 15 meters around him. He didn't consider it very helpful, but at least it was better than nothing. Treech took a second to consider what he should do next. He had finished organizing everything in his mind. His questions about how he was still alive had been answered to some extent. He also got caught up on Yggdrasil's knowledge from the forum.

'I guess... I can do whatever I want now?' Treech was a little stunned by this thought. Because he had never had such freedom in his life before. He looked in the direction the goblins had come from previously. He had a feeling that he should head in that direction. His heart thumped in his chest as anticipation of new surprises and adventures filled him with determination.

'When I was a manager, I was never free from my life. My whole life had been planned out for me since the day I was born. Just the same as my father's father before him. But here... here I am not bound by the limits of my life. I will not lie down and die after tasting such freedom! I will live this second life with bold confidence.' Treech gave a speech to himself in his heart. He clenched his dark green hands tightly in determination and resolution. He would not let this opportunity to live unrestrained pass him by. He wouldn't be under the mega-corporation's generational laws. For a moment, life had come back into Treech's eyes. He felt his situation wasn't too bad after all.