章 43: Hardcore VS Standard
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"... So come on, tell me, what are your true intentions?"
"I'm... Trying to control him." Dale said in a low tone as he scratched the back of his head
These words were said after a lot of contemplation, but Dale was still a bit conflicted...
'How do I even explain to a game character about the competitiveness of players and their territories in an MMO?'
'And to be honest, in the first place, I'm not trying to become the greatest and strongest player by monopolizing resources.'
'Well, at least not the greatest of the world...'
'I am aware that my actions have been... Tyrannical so far... Since as I said before, I am trying to find out the truth about the connection between reality and this game...'
'If that ends up with me being the strongest, then I shall embrace that fate.'
'And if I have to become it to find the truth, then I shall do so as well.'
'It is slightly hypocritical, but what of it? Ignoring a homeless person on the street and then complaining about not having juice in your fridge is also hypocritical, but no one bats an eye when that happens.'
"Control?... Like how a master rules over his servants?" David asked with a frown as he tried to understand Dale's meaning
"Yes? Your example is a bit too extreme..."
"I would say it's more of keeping him in check while I do my own things..."
"As for the reasons, you pretty much already mentioned the reasons as to why… His motives are unknown."
"And also... There are a few more reasons tied to it, as you could even say that is out of my own greed."
"That wouldn't be totally wrong."
"Greed? In this deserted land?" David questioned as his eyes opened a little more
"What is there to greed over in this place abandoned by the ages, and how does controlling that boy have anything to do with it?"
"Urg…"
'From a first look, there is nothing here, but if you were to understand the riches buried beneath the sand...'
'Aren't him and the sword behind you proof of those very riches?'
Dale scratched his head in frustration, trying to come up with an answer, but in the end, he gave up, saying:
"I'll be honest with you since I owe you a lot for saving my life down there…"
Dale closed his mouth and went into deep thought, choosing his next words carefully:
"At the end of the day... In a sense, I am like him."
David frowned hard, looking him up and down and trying to see how in God's name is such a thing possible.
"What? Like how?... Because you two are wanderers from outside the village?"
"Yes and no…"
'We may truly be from beyond the Village… But at the same time, we are not since we are from somewhere much further than he can imagine.'
"In the first place, I didn't know the fact that he didn't have a soul, that was a big surprise for me."
"What I do know are some things about where he came from, and why he may be here… For reasons that may be very well similar to mine."
'Loot and XP...'
"Although in his case, as you said, he has a rather different mentality about how to seek and accomplish his goals…"
'While I...'
"But let's leave it at that."
David just closed his eyes in silent agreement before saying:
"It was merely my curiosity as in the first place, your goals, be them for yourself or for the people, are of no matter to me."
"My task is to deal with the creatures below us, at least until the Church comes to take my place, and I'll need any help I can get."
"Besides, you have already proven to me that so far that you are looking after the people and their safety, even if their safety means yours as well."
"But if you are doubting yourself due to my own questions… I will ask you once, how should I see you?" David asked in a serious tone
"Me?... How sudden." He joked in a light tone
'Questioning myself?... He isn't wrong... Because I am doing that ever since I got this strange ability a year ago.'
'Especially after I found out how deeply connected this game and reality truly were…'
'So what am I?... How should I see everything that has happened so far?'
'What is this game? Is it really just that?'
"..."
'That is all a bit too deep for me to answer right now...'
'On one side of the coin, I am a normal teenager who just finished his first year in University, and on another side, I am a man that can lift a spear that weighs over half a ton if not much more.'
'So perhaps, the "why" I am here is a bit easier for me to answer…'
After thinking for a while, Dale said:
"Initially, I was a traveler seeking an adventure and even riches, waiting for the right time to start it, not that different from what that wimp down there wants."
"However now, I seek answers about myself and the world around me… This is the best comprehensive answer I can give you."
'At least the one without going into much dept into the essence of what I am.'
'I'm not ready yet to share that with you all, if ever.'
"... That is enough, and being honest, not very far from what I suspected."
"Is that so? What did you think I was?"
"..."
But once Dale asked David this question, the latter remained silent.
Only after half a minute did he reply:
"I used to think you were some kind of outsider, seeking glory and wealth by adventuring into a forgotten land such as Resko."
"I even saw you as a Noble, seeing the armor you use, the way you speak, and the equipment you have in you."
"But although you didn't completely remove these possibilities from my head, I can see that there is a bit more to it than such mundane things."
"Haa… My goals aren't that big of a deal anyway…" Dale said in an awkward tone as he shook his head
'It's more of a road of self-discovery... Not like that, I am very clear about my sexuality...'
"Whatever they are, I'm glad you shared a bit more with me, I won't forget this."
"Besides, we talked a bit too much for today." David said with a smile
"You aren't wrong…"
"I'll go back to my previous state, once again, make sure to solve the issue of the coins, I am afraid of what may happen today once those villagers come to visit me…"
"And lastly, make sure to visit me one of these days since I'm sure I'll remember something new soon."
"Well, this sword will remain here for now, and I use it to train so we'll be seeing each other pretty regularly."
"That I am aware..."
David smiled before he closed his eyes and opened them again, this time, returning to his statuesque appearance.
Dale smiled, getting up to fix the mess he caused with the coins.
He grabbed David, putting him back into his previous position within the coins.
He then took a few steps back, sitting down on one of the Church's Pews, waiting for Rodi to come back.
He was very interested in what sort of loot he would bring back if any at all…
…
/Around an hour later…/
After a long day, Dale was finally back at his bed in the Inn.
Unfortunately, he was unable to meet with Tina, the last of the Elders excluding the Village Head.
It seemed she was still occupied taking care of Yumi, this was something he had completely forgotten, making him rather embarrassed.
He had focused so much on his task that he forgot to consider if it was even possible to complete it in the first place.
The Villagers were akin to real people, having their own thoughts and schedules, they wouldn't be there just because they wanted to.
Thankfully it was night time so no one saw his embarrassing display of knocking on her house's door...
If she saw him, she would've likely made fun of him...
"Phew... What a day."
[Log off?]
"... Yes."
[...]
As the system messages played in his ears, Dale continued to think:
'Tomorrow… A lot will happen...'
'I need to grow stronger and more acquainted with the outside so that I can continue with the quests given to me.'
'Raise my rank within the Corps and help the Village improve its overall condition…'
'Not only that, I need to keep an eye out on any player that chooses this place as their starting point. Almost two days have passed, and the players will start their movements soon...'
With focused eyes, Dale smiled as his consciousness left the game and his character closed his eyes…
…
/Half an hour later…/
/Chomp chomp…/
Back at his home, Dale could be seen sitting at a table in the middle of the kitchen, eating in the dark…
However, someone soon appeared to disrupt his peace.
It was his mother, with a very displeased look on her face as she crossed her arms…
"Son… Why are you eating a piece of toast in the middle of the kitchen when it's past 2 Am?… And in the dark?" His mother asked, with a very visible frown
"Um?!... Cough! Don't scare me like that..."
"I was just a bit hungry…"
'Although I heard her approaching from far away...'
'One of the problems of having high real-life stats... I can hear my father snoring in his room from the elevator...'
"Dale, it's over 2 Am…" She said as she looked at the virtual clock floating in the air next to the wall
"Even your brother has already gone to sleep, are you going to bed soon?…"
Dale looked at her and said in a serious tone:
"Yes…"
"Sigh… Just because you're on vacation, it doesn't mean you can eat like that."
"This isn't going to be frequent, and besides, Dad does the same every once in a while…"
'He always sleeps late, going to bed between 11 to 1 am.'
'Sometimes I see him eating bread under a weak light too...'
"Don't pull him to this conversation… I'm already tired of waking up and hearing your brother complain about finding the jar of peanut butter empty in the morning..."
"I know, besides, it was only a piece of toast."
"I'm holding myself from eating a full meal exactly because it's 2 Am... Besides, I'm not the one who ate the last jar of peanut butter..."
'Although the game is very important, my real life is just as equally important. I'll at least try to keep my diet and hygiene in check.'
'Even if my body can more than handle all of this. Though I must say, due to my increased strength, my metabolism increased greatly.'
'Due to that, I often see myself eating 2-4 times more than I used to a year ago, thankfully, our family can more than handle this food problem.'
'There is also the house's Virtual intelligence, if it didn't know how to cook, then our expenses would've been increased considerably.'
'I always preferred home cooking to ordering from outside, not applicable to everything though, I still love pizza.'
She closed her eyes and yawned.
"Don't leave any dishes in the sink…" She said as she turned around
"Okay." He replied in a low tone as he watched her leave, thinking:
'I'll need to put some more thought into my schedule.
'No matter what, I need to log in when the day is up in the game, and preferably, log out when the day is over.'
'But that isn't sustainable, if I wake up at 6 am in the game and log off at around 10 pm to give my character a healthy 8h of sleep, that is a total of 16 hours in-game.'
'Under the time dilation, that's around 5 hours and 20 minutes, its simply too long and could make me miss simple things such as lunch and dinner, leading to what happened here today.'
'In the future, I'll have to strategically stop so this doesn't happen again…'
'Small time offs shouldn't be a problem, and with this body of mine, giving it a few hours of sleeping per day to fit in my schedule will also pose no problem for my health at all.'
'Not that I need it as my body is already technically resting on the Pod, but my brain can't really stay active all the time.'
'I'll have to give it some rest, even if I end up losing some time in the game, I'll just have to find the right opportunity to do so.'
'Logging off early is a possibility...'
He stretched his arms and looked at the clock.
'I still have quite a lot of time, and I'm not tired thanks to my inhuman resilience and my advanced pod.'
"This means… It's time to check on the Forums and see what the people have found out so far."
'I'll also take this time to see if I can find Rodi's streaming channel and if Ermin is logged on, he probably is…'
"It's been two in-game days... One and a half to be more precise."
'I wonder what the players found out so far...'
…
After eating the toast, Dale went back to his room, sitting down in front of his PC.
"Time to go into the forums..."
/Tap tap tap.../
Dale's fingers turned into after images as he quickly tapped on his keyboard.
"... Alright, let me see what they posted on my marked pages and what's trending..."
/Tap tap... Click.../
"Hum... 'What is the best Class? A simple analysis'... I don't need that..."
"Next... 'The first Wizard'... Cool, I'll keep that open for later..."
'Take a look at how wizards work.'
"The best damage dealing weapon; The most beautiful places to visit; The fastest way to hit Level 10; Nobles, what are they?; Predictions for weapon scaling and magic..."
...
Dale continued to scroll down, separating a few pages from time to time before he went to a complete halt.
"The differences between each Play mode? This is very interesting."
Dale stopped what he was doing and started to read the article:
"Hum..."
---
*Everyone knows about the 3 main game modes, Standard, Tourism, and the infamous, Hardcore.*
*And here, we'll be going over each aspect present in each game mode, from its pros and cons to the differences between the other 2 styles, and eventually find out, what is your preferred style.*
*This article will be updated over time as we learn more about each play style's unique characteristics.*
*At first let's quickly mention Tourism and separate it from the other two styles as it is in no way meant for the traditional player and hence, can't be compared to the other 2 modes as to its normal functions.*
*And yes, we'll be discussing the trending question, what is better? To be a Hardcore fan or a traditional Enjoyer? And the simple answer is that there is no answer, whatever you feel like playing and doing is the correct answer for yourself.*
*But the comparisons may surprise you since, on a simple note, a HardCore player is actually treated as an NPC by the game system while the Traditional player is well... Traditional.*
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"What?" Dale questioned as he read the last paragraph of the introduction
'I mean, there are indeed indications of that being the case...'
"But an NPC?... I saw that some of the villagers treated Rodi in a different way, but I associated that with how weak he was and the fact he came after me... And I still think that is the case."
"However, that was just an isolated case, I can't draw conclusions based on that."
'I simply lack too much interaction with other players to determine if that is true.'
Dale wasn't a complete fool to believe everything on the internet just because a lot of people agreed with it as well.
But deeming his peculiar circumstances, he has no way to confirm most of these statements...
So with focused eyes, Dale continued to read...
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