Chương 6: « Destiny's Fate »

......

Shiella Springfield was looking at her little brothers, standing in front of her with pale faces.

Their mother's business trip had been canceled because of a sudden emergency at her company, so she thought of going home to give her little brothers a visit.

But the moment she entered the Villa and announced her arrival, she saw the two of them trying to hide from her as if they were running for their lives.

At first, she was going to forgive them but when she heard them say that they didn't want to see her, she changed her mind and planned to teach the two of them a lesson.

"Looks like the two of you are not happy to see me, huh?" said Shiella while smiling at them.

"Of course not! Big Sis we were just having a race. Whoever loses has to treat the winner to a meal later", said Arthur in one breath, as if he already practiced it for a thousand times, while looking at Shin with a 'Help me brother' look on his face.

But before Shin could say anything, Shiella replied, "But that is not what I heard earlier."

The moment Shin heard that, he look at Arthur with an 'I'm sorry brother face' before saying to Shiella, "Actually Big Sis, I happened to learn a new dish yesterday, let me prepare it for you". And after that he hurriedly turned around and ran to the kitchen without looking back.

Arthur wanted to go after him but before he could even turn his body around, he felt a hand grab the back of his neck and drag him to the center of the garden. All that he could do was to shout a word followed by his cries of agony.

"TRAITOR!!!!!"

"Sis wait! AH! Let me explain! UGH!"

"It is Ugh! not Pa!"

He didn't even manage to finish a sentence before accepting his fate.

Shin was already outside the corridor when he heard Arthur's cries, he then muttered to himself "I'm very sorry Brother, I will make sure that your sacrifice is not in vain. And I will also pray for your soul".

....

While Shin was preparing a meal for three, the door of the kitchen suddenly opened, followed by Arthur's entrance with a swollen face and bruises on his forehead and other parts of his body, even his clothes were in rags.

When Shin saw him, he almost burst out laughing and asked. "Still alive?"

Arthur threw him a vicious glare before saying, "D*mn you! I thought we were brothers? Why the hell did you abandon me there?"

Shin rolled his eyes at him before saying, "Isn't it obvious? I don't want to get beaten up like you!"

Then he continued preparing food while saying. "After all we can't beat her even if the two of us combined forces".

He couldn't help reminiscing about the time three years ago, when both of them had been sparring beside the lake when they accidentally destroyed the sand castle that she was building.

Then what happened next was an unforgettable disaster. Both of them were razed to the ground completely. Even when the two of them ganged up on her, they couldn't even manage to land a single hit on her body.

Every time Shin remembered what happened at that time, his whole body shivered. And starting that day he promised to himself that he would never provoke his Big Sister ever again.

But life is so cruel, starting at that time they become personal slaves of their Big Sister.

"Actually I still can't understand why the hell she is so strong even though she always skips training." complained Arthur while planning to take a bite of the food that Shin was preparing.

Shin smacked Arthur's hand that was trying to reach the food and said, "Well I also don't know. And are you sure that Big Sis always skips her training?"

"I actually agree with Grandpa when he says that 'Don't be scared of someone that is more talented than you. You should be scared of someone that is more talented than you and more hardworking than you."

Shin paused to add the finishing touches to their meal before continuing. "So I believe that Big Sis is always training secretly, since it is impossible for her to defeat both of us if she didn't."

"Bah! Acting a smart-ass again? Do you think you are the only one that sees that?" Arthur rolled his eyes at Shin before helping him put the prepared foods on the tray.

Suddenly, he remembered something and asked Shin. "Oh! That's right you need to repay me for betraying me earlier."

Shin looked at him skeptically, "Is this food not enough for repayment?"

"Come on! You prepared this food for Sis and made some extra because the leftovers would be wasted if you didn't". Arthur rolled his eyes at him as if he was looking at some idiot.

"If you are going to invite me to play that game then you are just wasting your time. OK?" said Shin before Arthur could even suggest what he wanted.

"Come on Bro, that game is not just your typical 'VR(Virtual Reality) online game'. It is the new battlefront of the world."

"Since it is impossible for 'Real World' to go to war, some organizations dragged it into the game".

"There have been a lot of influential groups invested in games since Forty years ago. That is the reason why the gaming industry has become a huge hit now."

"Even the 'World Government' is supporting it now. And that is the reason why all of the 'Gaming Organizations and Developers' around the world joined forces and became The 'World Gaming Org.' three years ago."

"They have created the biggest and most successful '*VRMMORPG' of all time called the « Destiny's Fate »".

"This world became the second reality of our generation, you can also fight all of the other talents around the world. There are a lot of strong people too. Sometimes, a nobody in real world becomes a big shot in the virtual world"

"There are also a lot of powerful organizations in this virtual world. Here, in the real world, the only powerful figures are those in the government, financial groups, business industries, noble families and underworld organization, but in the virtual world they are just one of the powerful guilds."

"And those organizations use this stage to train and hone the skills of their younger generation".

Shin got hooked by what Arthur was saying. He then asked. "How can you confirm that this game is not biased and cannot be cheated?"

"Simple, they have created a *'Super AI' that monitors the game world. No one can intervene in the game aside from the AI. All that the developers can do is make a design of their storyline and upload it to the AI and then AI is the one that will conduct it in the game. They can also monitor the AI from time to time so that they can find out if there are some malfunctions in it".

When Arthur saw that Shin was starting to get interested, he struck while the iron was hot. "And what's more, the conversion ratio from In Game Gold to Federal Coins is 1:100"

The moment Shin heard about the money, his eyes turned fierce and sharp as if he made a decision. 'Now I know where the hell you get your extra allowances'.

....

Shin followed Arthur's suggestion to buy a 'Platinum VR Helmet' released by the Gaming Company and go to the famous Gaming shop in Central City, while recalling the other details that Arthur had told him.

"The Game is already done with the initial phase since it has already been out for three months. So you should buy the Gaming Helmet released by them since it gives the new players a free *'EXP' boost for a week. You should use that time to lessen the gap between the mainstream players, I can even help you if you want."

"Then after that let's go buy together The 'Diamond Gaming Capsule' that is going to be released two weeks later."

"And you're a studious type right? So I will not go into the other details about the game, you should go and look at it on your own."

Shin released a sigh while driving his *'Black Panther'. Most of the people walking in the street turned their heads every time Shin passed them, especially teenage boys like him.

Few moments later, Shin parked the car in the parking lot in front of a gaming shop. When Shin got out of the car and looked at the shop, he was startled by what he saw.

There were a lot of people going in and out of the building, they varied from different genders and ages.

Shin walked towards the building. It was a five storey building, in front of it was the sign of the shop 'All Gamers Shop' and beside it was the logo of the 'World Gaming Org.'

As he got nearer to the building, he saw the posters of different kinds of characters in the wall of the shop. They varied from different races and classes from the game.

.....

«Destiny's Fate» world was called Atlas and it was divided into different kinds of Empires and Kingdoms. Each one had different kinds of races inhabiting it. And each race had different kinds of classes that were unique to them.

Each race had subraces within them and each of them had their own racial traits. The main races were Elves, Beastmans, Undeads, Nagas and Human race.

Elves were the children of nature, they were very agile and close to different kinds of elements.

Their subraces were Dark Elves, White Elves and Blood Elves.

The available classes of this race were Archer, Twilight(Elven Thief), Elementalist and Druid.

Next was Beastman race, they were the kings of the jungle and the hunters of the forest. They had a powerful physical strength and sharp senses.

Their subraces were Tigerkin, WolfKin, Lionkin and Foxkin(Only available to girls)

And their racial classes were Berserker, Shamans, Tamer and Hunters(Bestial Thieves).

Next were Undeads. They were the predators of the living and the eyes of the dark. They had unlimited stamina and were immune to hunger and fear. They were a very strong race but they also had many fatal weaknesses: they were vulnerable to Fire, Lightning and Holy magics.

Their subraces were Skeleton, Zombies, Specter and Fallen.

Their racial classes were Skeleton Warrior, Assassin, Necromancer, and Sorcerer

The Nagas, also known as 'Fishmen', were the creatures of the sea. They looked like humans with fish scales. They were unrivaled in water and had very strong magic.

Their racial classes were Oracle, Spell Caster and Aquamancer.

The last race was Human. They were the weakest race but had the highest potential. They started weak but were capable of growth, they were also flexible and could wield different kinds of weapons.

They had a lot of classes that were available to them. They were Musketeer, Knight, Priest, Swordsman, Summoner, and Magician.

There were also hidden races and hidden classes that were waiting to be discovered.

...

"Quite complicated Huh?" said Shin while reading a booklet with a title of 'Introduction to «Destiny's Fate».

He had been standing for almost two hours since he entered the 'All Gamers Shop'. He was waiting for his turn patiently, the queue fully occupied the whole corridor of the first floor of the building.

When Shin got to the front of the counter, the receptionist sitting opposite to him looked at his face with great concentration.

Shin frowned because he was too tired to entertain her, so he gave her his order, "I want to buy a platinum helmet."

The lady receptionist snapped out of her daze when she heard Shin. "Ah! A ready-made or a personalized one, Sir?"

"What is the difference?" asked Shin since he didn't know that there were choices, let alone their differences.

"The ready-made one can be used out-of-the-box, but it only has a 95% realization rate since it can't be synchronized with your mind properly. While a personalized one is made just for you and has a 99% realization rate, it can even synchronize with your mind perfectly." said the receptionist smilingly while throwing him a flirtatious look.

'Perfectly? Then where is the 1% that is missing?' said Shin skeptically in his heart before saying "OK, I want a personalized one. How much is it?"

"Two Million Federal Coins, sir. That includes all of the other services, sir." said the receptionist.

Shin froze when he heard the price and asked for confirmation "Ahm.... Can you repeat it? I don't think I heard it clearly."

"Two Million Federal Coins, Sir." repeated the receptionist.

'That is half of my entire savings.' muttered Shin in his heart. "OK, I want a personalized one." said Shin heavily, while lifting his arm with the '*Advanced Watch' for it to be scanned by the receptionist.

"Noted Sir. All you have to do now is to fill up these forms and wait for your turn for the necessary procedures." said the receptionist while pointing at the hall where other people were waiting for their turn.

The moment Shin saw where the receptionist was pointing, his mind went blank and his brain almost stopped functioning. Because what he saw was a queue three times longer than the queue earlier.

'Do all these people have extra money to spend for them to buy a two million VR Helmet? Or did some of them robbed a bank?' questioned Shin in his heart, being confused about where so many people got their money.

What Shin didn't know was that some of these people were elite «Destiny's Fate» players that managed to earn enough money to change their old helmets, while some were from some wealthy family and others were new recruits from some powerful guilds. So it was natural for there to be this kind queue.

...