บท 2: Azmarin Beginners' Village
You have been transported in 'Azmarin beginner's village'
The transportation didn't even last 10 seconds. He looked around and saw countless people, like literally endless people of various races and appearances.
He couldn't even properly move, they were shouting and yelling here and there, some asking for help. Leiu couldn't believe what's happening right now.
"Searching for a party for the beginning quest!"
"Looking for an 'experienced' player!"
"Looking for a beta tester! We'll pay real-life money, please contact us!"
Leiu inwardly mocked them, the game just opened yet they're seeking experienced players, it was just plain idiotic. There are gaming organizations who have experts in them but it isn't certain that they'll excel at Hell Gate.
Leiu tried his best to squeeze in between the crowd of people and go find some quests.
Naturally, most of the people knew that quests have a '!' symbol on top of the NPC. However, the questing system of Hell Gate was different and such icons were non-existent. Any NPC could give a quest as long as you speak the right words.
As for the beginner's village, he couldn't even contemplate it, there were just too many people to even see the gate leading outside. Which was really a shame, he knew there were a lot of beginner villages, yet despite that, the number of people here was really insane.
Thoughts of logging off and returning later at night occurred to him but he soon shrugged that idea off as he had to work tomorrow at 10:00 AM.
Yes, he quitted most of his part-time jobs as he had enough money for himself and his sister for quite a while. But that didn't mean he had to become jobless, he kept the best part-time job he had, the pay wasn't bad and it was only 6 hours a day. Furthermore, the starting time was not too late nor too early, so it suited his requirements.
...
It took Leiu roughly half an hour to arrive next to an NPC 80 meters away from his starting location. It seemed hard to believe but, unfortunately, it was the truth. The swarm of people began to lessen a bit as most of them directly went outside to level unlike Leiu, who wanted to gather as many quests as he could before departing.
He had a habit of taking all the available quests, then go and clear them at the same time. Then he would return and receive the rewards, he had always done this in the past and it proved to be a very effective method.
Actually, only newbies or idiots would directly head outside, professional gamers weren't that reckless. First of all, one had to buy equipment. Leiu noticed that he didn't have any weapon equipped, so there must be a way to get a weapon.
Going barehanded would only lead to his death, he wasn't even sure which class to pick yet, it was a bit fortunate that classes were unlocked at LVL 10. So it was early to think about that, however, that doesn't mean he's going to ignore classes till the last second. Some of the information he stumbled upon stated that classes were not chosen by players, but by the system.
For example, if you picked a shield, a one-handed sword and you played with that until LVL10, then you would automatically be a warrior. Of course, there were variables which could change the class or even allow you to obtain rare and unique classes–such as paladin, berserker and so on–but it was not easy to get on of these.
Another example was taking a staff or a wand, although you couldn't have any skills if you attacked with that, you would either get a healer class or a mage class. A staff for healers and a wand for mages.
Leiu didn't completely believe this, but he had a hunch that this was true. Moreover, since he began playing MMORPG games he always chose a DPS class. But not any DPS class, one that would be good at tanking and soloing yet at the same time could deal bursts of damage. He always enjoyed being alone and soloing everything, so such classes suited him best.
He also managed to open his status window. Apparently, each person would have unique stats, though the difference was meager and most of the people would have similar beginning stats.
TITLE : NONE
Level: 1 Class: NONE
-
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 9
Agility: 8
Wisdom: 6
Vitality: 8
Dexterity:7
- - - -
Health: 10
Mana: 12
Stamina: 13
Leiu arrived in front of the NPC who looked like an old man. He held a wooden stick in his right hand and his back was a bit hunchback. When Leiu was a couple of meters away from the old man, the latter turned his gaze toward the black-haired youth coming toward him.
Leiu named himself 'Nameless', it was a weird name but since his naming sense is quite bad, he went with that.
"Ah! What an energetic young man, may I ask what do you need from this old man?"
Leiu was never a talkative person, however, in a game such as this one, he was forced to converse with NPCs.
"Hello... Do you have anything I could help you with?"
Unlike what Leiu thought, the NPCs looked very realistic and didn't talk like robots, they spoke and behaved like normal people. He didn't have the occasion to see a lot of them yet, only a dozen or so, but every single one of them acted differently.
"Ha ha ha, I see that the new adventurers are very kind and enthusiastic. Indeed there is something that I need some help with. If you don't mind, could you get rid of the Bees causing trouble right outside of the village? Several children were hurt because of them."
Hearing that, a blue window popped up in front of Leiu, showing him the quest.
Quest : Get rid of the bees outside of the village, 0/5 Savage Bees
Difficulty : F
Would you like to accept the quest? Y/N
'Yes'
Just as he accepted the quest, the old man smiled at him and spoke yet again.
"Oh my! Thank you, thank you! I expect great things from a young adventurer like you. If you get rid of the Bees, then I'll give you good rewards, don't worry!"
Leiu didn't spoke no more and headed directly toward the next NPC to get the remaining quests. Although the number of people had lessened, moving around was still annoying and took a lot of time. Still, Leiu managed to get all the available quests after one hour of intense struggle.
Quests :
Get rid of the Savage Bees 0/5
Help the blacksmith get Savage Rabit fur : 0/6 Savage rabit fur
Gather Sun Snowberries for 'Jessica' : 0/4 Sun Slowberries
Completely destroy the home of the Savage bees : 0/1
There were 4 quests in total and they didn't seem really hard. The last one had an 'E' difficulty though, but for Leiu it seemed easy too. Well, he might change his mind later after experiencing real fighting.
Oh, and by the way, the amount of pain felt when fighting was lessened by a huge amount. You would only feel 5% of the pain, it's not a lot, but it's not little either. You could buy a more expensive headset that allowed you to feel 0% pain but that was very, very expensive. How could someone like Leiu afford it?
'It's fine as long as I don't get hit!' or so Leiu thought. He never really fought in real life, but he had a hunch that he would not screw up too much and be able to cope with the game quite easily.
He also bought a weapon. While checking his inventory he noticed it was totally empty, yet at the left corner, there was a spot which indicated the amount of money he had. Of course, he didn't have a lot, every beginner was given only 50 coppers. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for him to buy a weapon and 1 Health Potion.
Minor Health Potion : Recovers 5 Health
One-handed bronze sword : +1 Strength
He wasn't sure which class to pick but it would definitely not be a healer or mage class. Although they were very good, especially the mage classes who were always known to be the highest damage dealers in every game, he never really liked either of those. He personally liked melee classes, because they had a much better tanking efficiency and also because their damage was not that low compared to mages classes.
Leiu bought the most basic weapon available, which was a sword because it was the easiest to wield. There were also spears, axes, and maces, but he knew he couldn't handle those, so he picked that sword. Maybe he would choose warrior, or maybe something else. Only his performances would decide.
..
Finally, it was time to check the outside and experience real fighting. It would be a lie to say he wasn't excited, in fact, his eyes were burning with excitement and eagerness. If it had not been that crowded he would have run outside with all his might.
Fortunately, it didn't take him a lot of time to squeeze out of the crowd and get out. The outside was much much broader than the village. Without the presence of lots of people, moving became much easier, the problem now was... finding monsters to kill. Everywhere you looked, there were people killing savage deers, rabbits and so on...
Without joining a party, he wouldn't be able to find a peaceful place to hunt. But for Leiu it was impossible to get in a party with strangers. It's not like MMORPG, where everything was virtual. Right now, cunning people would show up and use their tricks to scam newbies and idiots.
With that thought in mind, he headed deeper into the beginner's forest, hoping to find Bees and Rabbits so he could finish the quests.
***
As Leiu headed deeper and deeper into the forest, the number of players lessened until there were only a dozen. It took him around twenty minutes to find a somewhat secluded spot to kill some monsters and finish his quests.
On his way there, it was fortunate that he managed to finish the gathering quest. There were numerous 'Sun Snowberries' so it was kind of easy to complete the quest. No fighting was required.
The spot he found was calm, there were enough monsters for him to get a feel of Virtual fighting. He didn't fight any monster on his way here, rather he couldn't, there were just too many people. Either parties or solo players.
It was finally time, he unsheathed his sword from his belt. It was a poor-looking sword, made of bronze and quite rusty. If one looked at it, he would even doubt it was capable of cutting paper. But one should not judge based on appearances. Albeit its miserable state, Leiu was sure that it could kill monsters if you had the necessary strength or skill.
A white rabbit with a horn sticking out of its forehead was nearby. A bit bigger than a normal rabbit, it had red eyes and thick white fur. It was silently eating snowberries, not minding Leiu being so close.
Each monster had an aggro range but if the player is well hidden or in stealth, the aggro range can be greatly shortened.
Above it, floated a red bar which obviously was its Hp (Health Points), and above that was its name.
Since it was an area meant for beginners, the Lv1 rabbits do not attack unless they are attacked first. As for the others, they retaliate once they feel threatened or a player assault them.
Seeing that it's not hostile toward him, Leiu went behind it and attacked. He slashed vertically with his bronze swords, it was not a flawless slash, rather, it looked very clumsy. Nonetheless, he managed to hit the distracted rabbit.
Red blood poured from its wound, and its health decreased by a third. However, Leiu was not surprised by the blood, he mercilessly slashed again with the thought of killing it as fast as possible. But it was not as easy as killing a monster in a normal MMORPG game.
The white rabbit emitted a loud screech then leapt at Leiu. Like that, it impaled his abdomen with its horn, he could feel slight pain but it was not agonizing, just like being pierced by a very small needle. The attack caused him to be momentarily surprised, the pain wasn't intense but it was enough to distract him for a few more seconds which were more than enough for the rabbit to attack him again.
Fortunately, he somehow snapped out of his daze and miraculously managed to sidestep to the right, barely dodging the sharp horn by a hair's width. It was really close, he could feel the sharpness of the horn and its danger.
Not only did he sidestep, he thrusted his sword again, but this time, he focused on the rabbit's head and put all his strength into this desperate thrust.
The sword tip penetrated the rabbit's skull, and its annoying screeching ended as it fell on the ground, soundless, blood oozing out of its skull and earlier wound.
Unlike in normal games, it didn't disappear, it just stayed there on the ground, dyeing it with its blood. Leiu was still processing what just happened, he was just a young man who never experienced real fighting before. Therefore this was very thrilling, he could still feel the slight pain coming from his abdomen. The hit from before took a third of his Health.
He then opened his status window and noticed that his health and stamina had decreased.
TITLE : NONE
Level: 1(25%) Class: NONE
-
Strength: 9
Intelligence: 9
Agility: 8
Wisdom: 6
Vitality: 8
Dexterity: 7
- - - -
Health: 7/10
Mana: 12
Stamina: 11/13
His health had decreased by 3 and his stamina by 2. So basically, 3 strikes like the previous ones, and he would die. Leiu breathed heavily for a dozen seconds, and after some time he managed to calm down and think about what happened earlier.
He needed to learn a fighting style because honestly, attacking recklessly like this wasn't efficient. True, he killed that rabbit but he got hurt in return and he absolutely couldn't afford to get hit several times. He should really learn how to properly dodge.
The experts who played some of the old VRMMOs wouldn't find it difficult to get rid of such weak rabbits. Only when the hard content starts appearing will the good players be distinguished from the rest of the masses.
As a person who never played a VRMMO and wasn't some kind of fighter in the outside world, Leiu had to quickly learn an efficient playstyle, even if it takes him hours or days.
Also, the thrust to the rabbit's skull probably dealt some critical damage, or else it would not have died–considering that the first slash only removed 30% of its health.
Leiu breathed some fresh air, then walked to the rabbit's corpse and inspected it. The quest required him to get its fur, but how was he going to get it?
He was foreign to the concept of loot in this game.
'... Do I have to skin it?'
As he was going to try to skin the rabbit, a message popped up in front of him, making him delighted.
'Would you like to loot 'Savage Rabbit'?
'Yes'
Rabbit fur obtained!
2 Copper obtained!
Leiu really felt happy because he didn't have to skin it. When he checked his inventory, he saw the white fur icon in it, also 2 coppers were added.
'3 more rabbits and I'll level up.'
The experience was really generous, he previously thought that it would be hard to even gain 1 level, but fortunately, it seemed easier than he imagined.
So, if he could relentlessly kill rabbits for an hour, he should level up a few times right? Based on logic and on the amount of experience each kill gave.
With that, Leiu proceeded to kill Savage Rabbits. He spotted Bees too, but he focused only on rabbits. He wanted to get used to this type of fighting, to hone his skills and get better at it.
Level Up! All stats +1
The stats raise was not that great for him, which made him grumble, nevertheless, it was better than nothing, at least. He didn't stop at that point, he continued killing them, and by the time he killed his 27th rabbit, he was able to deal with rabbits without being hit. He could dodge their leaps easily. After all, 27 fights are not a small amount.
His level raised to 4. It was not that much really, he expected to be more than that, but the experience given lessened a lot. Furthermore, the rabbits were only Level 1, so that's to be expected. Plus, who would be in their right state of mind continuously hunting rabbits like him?
It had already been 2 hours since he started fighting rabbits. One fight took at most a minute, so it should have taken less time. However, one needed to take into account the stamina and health regen. They regenerated slowly so he had to rest between every fight. Moreover, he would take some time to think about his flaws and slow reactions. He really strived for perfections in games, especially MMORPG games.
If you have ever played similar games, you would know that feeling, wanting to be the best, dealing the most damage, dodging every attack, getting all the good items. With these thoughts in mind, Leiu fought every battle full of eagerness and excitement. He never ceased to battle during all this time.
Maybe he had an enormous talent or it was just easy, but by the time he fought his 48th rabbit, he could practically one-shot them. With a single slash beheading them or a precise thrust instantly blowing their brains and killing the poor rabbits.
Not all rabbits dropped rabbit furs but everyone dropped 2 coppers, so he now had 102 copper–96 from the rabbits and 6 left from his previous beginner money.
He reached Level 5 and his status increased by a little bit, he felt satisfied as he sat down on a small rock to breath while checking up at his stats.
TITLE : NONE
Level: 5 Class: NONE
-
Strength: 14
Intelligence: 14
Agility: 13
Wisdom: 11
Vitality 13
Dexterity: 12
- - - -
Health: 15
Mana: 17
Stamina: 13/18
As he felt a sense of achievement looking at his stats, a sudden message popped up. It startled him a bit, but reading its content made him feel even more delighted.
Sword Mastery [Basic Lv1] Unlocked : +5% damage when wielding a sword
'I guess all those fights were worthwhile.'
Praising himself, he got up from the rock and decided that it was finally time to try fighting the bees. Their Levels were between 2 and 5, unlike the rabbits which were only lvl 1.
He fought many rabbits, so he didn't really notice that he went a bit deeper into the forest. Gazing around him, he noticed that there was no one around, not even a sound of fighting. Leiu personally liked these kinds of places, it was perfect when no one bothered him, he just wanted to level up in peace.
It's fortunate that he still didn't use any of his potions. They only recovered 5 health, but it was useful in dangerous situations. It was possible to use them in the middle of a combat, that alone showed their usefulness.
Deciding to change his target from rabbits to Bees, he began searching for them. It was not really that hard, he saw countless bees since he began killing rabbits, but he had ignored them.
This forest was honestly huge. He must have at least walked 5 kilometers from the beginner's village, yet it's still filled with low leveled monsters. Maybe the game's developers guessed that with all the people they needed to make a big forest with low leveled monsters.
...
It had not been even 5 minutes since he began searching for Bees, heck! not even 3 minutes, yet here he was, standing there, surprised. His eyes wide open as he intently stared at what was in front of him.
In front of him, was a creature reaching his waist, the length of a dog or maybe a bit more, and with 50 cm long horn sticking out of its head. It was actually a gigantic rabbit with two big red eyes staring at Leiu.
Leiu only was surprised for a second before he regained his senses and jumped back. Unlike normal rabbits, this one leaped on him the moment it saw him.
Above the rabbit was its name, displayed in all its glory to a still shocked Leiu.
Superior Savage Rabit: LVL 5
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