“Wrong move,” Eden said, digging the hilt of his sword into the NPC’s hand before grabbing and throwing him over his shoulder. His blade then cut towards the man on the ground but did no damage.
This isn’t like Ahartohaim, Eden thought as none of his attacks penetrated the NPC’s flesh. But there’s no HP bar either. He stepped back as the old man crawled toward him.
Eden tried infusing his sword with mana, but it didn’t work. No skills, and no way to use the points placed on intelligence? What kind of test is this?
Forced to fight without his usual abilities, Eden parried another stab from the dagger and slashed back at the old man. Still, no effect. He kept his distance, pretending the attacks dealt damage, knowing there had to be a way to defeat him.
----------------------------------------
[Skill Learned - Parry and Riposte]
[Level 0:
Attack power: 10
Cooldown: 3 seconds]
----------------------------------------
“Are you kidding me? You’re supposed to learn a skill by doing the move repeatedly? What era are we in?” Eden shouted, frustrated. No instructions, and an archaic method of acquiring skills? What was he playing, VR Sword Mastery?
With no response, Eden saw an opening and kicked the old man in the chest, sending him backward. Then, he used his newly learned skill to inflict 23 points of damage, which appeared over the NPC’s head. At that moment, an HP bar materialized, showing 277 HP.
“So that’s how it works. Then magic must be the same,” Eden said, trying to cast a fireball repeatedly.
On the other side of the village, Cole was dealing with a bear. He had met two farmers who issued quests: the first wanted him to catch two squirrels, which he refused. The second sent him to defeat the bear in the forest.
Of course, Cole accepted the second quest, and because he continuously waved his sword out of habit, he received the skill [Slash] before facing the bear.
The large animal stood up, swinging its paws at Cole’s head, but Cole moved swiftly and used [Slash], aiming at the bear’s belly whenever he got the opportunity.
Both Eden and Cole were veterans in the world of VR games. Their countless battles had prepared them well, and no simple adversary or different mechanics could stop their advance.
Cole managed a critical hit with his last attack, reducing the bear’s HP bar to zero. He was a little upset, though, as he had placed most of his attribute points on intelligence. Eden had been right about the skills.
The bear disintegrated, dropping a single item that remained suspended in the air. The announcement snapped Cole out of his thoughts.
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[Congratulations, you have killed the blackberry eater.]
[Item received: +1 bear paw]
[Experience obtained: +350 Exp]
[Congratulations, you’ve reached level 1.]
[Free Attribute Points received: +2]
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“It’s not the same when there’s no point in leveling up,” Cole said, acquiring the paw and heading back to the farmers to complete his quest.
“Cole, you can receive skills by repeating the move for a period of time,” Eden’s voice sounded through the communication channel.
“I know that. You only discovered it now?” Cole asked, checking the timer. There were 23 minutes and 18 seconds left.
“You already knew? Then why didn’t you say something?” Eden asked.
“I didn’t want to show off.” Cole laughed.
“So it was revenge. Alright, I accept it,” Eden replied, collecting the items dropped by the NPC he had defeated.
The two continued to explore the world around them, farming skills and experience until the green lands faded away and the lights of the training chamber turned on.
“There were still five minutes left,” Cole complained.
“You still wanted to waste time on that?” Eden asked. “I’m bored.”
“Both of you passed,” Michael said as soon as the door opened. “With your abilities, I can recommend you for Ahartohaim today,” he added, smiling broadly.
“Today?” Cole asked.
“Yes, we have a team set to enter Ahartohaim for a mission. Are you interested?”
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“Yes,” Eden replied in a deep voice. He wanted to get his Character Card back as soon as possible.
“We are,” Cole said after seeing the confidence in his friend’s eyes.
“Perfect,” Michael said, turning to his men. “Prepare their information. Both passed the test with five stars and are eligible for missions.”
“Follow me, please.”
. . .
Stepping out of the elevator, Eden and Cole found themselves in a windowless room centered around an amazing structure. People worked around it in an orderly fashion, all wearing robes with the QuantumPlay Dynamics emblem.
To the rest of the world, QuantumPlay Dynamics was the gaming company that managed Ahartohaim, but Eden knew it was just the front. The real agency behind the discovery was NASA, and the project’s magnitude had brought in both the Chinese and Russian governments. The benefits were too significant for them to ignore it.
Michael led the boys to a group of five people, all in civilian clothes. But from what Eden observed, only four were likely gaming veterans; the other was definitely military.
“Captain Chou, these two are the new members of your team,” Michael said.
Chou inspected Eden and Cole from top to bottom before replying, “Rank?”
“Five stars.”
“Good.” Captain Chou nodded. “My name is Eric Chou, and I will be your captain for this mission. I expect you to hold your own in battles and avoid unnecessary deaths. Inside Ahartohaim, every death increases the respawn time, so use your life carefully.”
“Alright, I’ll leave the captain to debrief you about the mission. I have to return to the examination center,” Michael said, taking his leave.
“Please, introduce yourselves and the class you usually play. In Ahartohaim, classes aren’t well defined; the weapons make most of the difference,” the captain explained.
“Eden Ivera, sword user.”
“Cole Carey, swordsman.”
“So, two more sword users,” Chou said. “No problem, everyone evolves differently. You can learn magic even if your weapon is a sword. You won’t be as powerful as a staff user, but you get the idea.”
“We can choose any weapon and still learn mage skills?” Cole asked.
“Not exactly. The system has rules about who can learn certain skills. Some skills can be learned by everyone, while others require a specific weapon or attribute value. So, don’t think you can be an archer with the AOE of a mage. I’ll get your cards; you talk with the rest of the team,” Captain Chou said before heading to speak with a staff member.
“Hi, I’m Denis, 23 years old, magic staff user, attack-oriented.”
“Clara, 18, sword user, attack-oriented.”
“Monique, 21, staff user, healing-oriented.”
“John Mars, 17, axe user, defense-oriented.”
The rest of the team introduced themselves in an orderly fashion.
It’s clear they received instructions on how to behave, Eden thought.
“We don’t know yet what orientation to pick, but we usually focus on dealing damage,” Cole said, smiling at Clara.
“Don’t worry. Orientation isn’t that important in the early game. It’s easy to become a hybrid with decent attack and defense. It all depends on the attribute points you collect, and leveling up provides too few,” Denis explained.
“What weapon does Captain Chou use?” Eden asked.
“Sniper in real life and bow in the game. It’s a bit strange for military personnel to play a game, right?” Monique explained while studying Eden.
“Ahartohaim must be the real deal then. Have you played before?” Eden asked, smiling at her.
“Only once, yesterday.”
“And what level did Miss Healing-Oriented reach after a day of work?” Eden raised an eyebrow and pushed his chin up playfully.
“Level 2. It’s much harder to level up than in other games, and we had to complete a mission,” Monique replied with a smirk.
“You’re cute,” Eden said before turning to Denis. “What’s today’s mission about?” he asked, his voice and attitude changing to become more serious.
“After entering the portal, we’ll arrive at a monolith. Yesterday, we explored in the southeast direction; today, we’ll explore northwest. Any strange animal, plant, or place must be mapped and registered. If we find important items like potions or skill books, we retrieve them,” Denis explained, showing a black card with beautiful bronze embroidery. “Our cards can be used as inventory, with a few slots for special items that can be brought back to the real world. Valuable items can earn us rewards in credits. However, not all items can be brought to the real world, and some require a trade accepted by the system.”
I’ll be damned if I’m going to sell something valuable to these people. Do you hear yourself? Are you so stupid you don’t realize the meaning of your own words? Eden thought but maintained a kind and friendly smile.
“What are these cards?” Cole asked.
“They’re our token for entering Ahartohaim and returning. The information of our characters and items is saved inside them,” Monique explained.
Eden noted her tendency to gather attention and engaged in the conversation. “How large is the inventory of a card?”
“The bronze ones have 20 normal slots and 5 special ones. I don’t know about the silver and gold ones.”
Eden saw Captain Chou approaching and timed his next question. “So we can upgrade the cards?”
“Yes, you can. But you need enough money or merit,” Chou answered.
Eden knew all the answers to his questions, but to achieve his goal, he needed to steer the discussion that way. A bronze card was too small for all the items one needed to carry. Without enough space, the players couldn’t carry the loot. Silver cards had a total of 50 slots; 10 of which special while the gold cards had a total of 70 slots; 10 of which special.
The term special was used to describe the slots from which the items could be exchanged or taken out of Ahartohaim. Character Cards were also one of the few ways to differentiate people from the two worlds, as none of the inhabitants of Ahartohaim were NPCs.
"How much money are we talking about?" Cole asked.
"Currently, one thousand credits for the silver cards and ten thousand for the gold cards," Chow replied.
"It's not that much," Cole said.
"Not much for you, but a lot for the common people. A construction worker earns between two and three thousands credits a month. Do you think is cheap to spend a thousand for their child games? Even the helmets for the other games are only five hundred credits on average," Eden say.
“How do we increase our merit?” Cole asked, feeling a little down because of Eden.
“By finding valuable information, items, mapping places… and, of course, sharing them with QuantumPlay Dynamics,” the captain responded.
“But why does the company that owns the game need information about its own product?” Cole asked.
Chou paused to arrange his words. Eden pulled back from the conversation, enjoying how his subtle manipulation took effect. It was amazing how a small impulse could unlock the logical mind of an individual.
“It’s complicated,” Captain Chou said. “QuantumPlay Dynamics uses an existing technology that generated the world of Ahartohaim. Ahartohaim itself isn’t controlled by a company or any power. That’s why it’s so safe and stable; it can’t be influenced by anyone.”
“The portal is ready,” said a staff member, lifting the burden from Chou’s shoulders as he immediately moved from the spot.
“Come, let’s prepare to enter. These are your Character Cards. Take care of them and scan them before entering the portal,” the captain instructed before moving to the center of the room.
... he got away, Eden thought before following the captain.
The construction in the middle of the room trembled, a purple gate appearing as the lights flickered for a few seconds.
“You can enter,” said a staff member after measuring the parameters.
The portals aren’t complete yet, Eden thought. I wonder how much time will it take for them to be ready.
Chou scanned his card and stepped through the portal, disappearing right before everyone’s eyes. Eden followed immediately, knowing the creation of his character would take some time and not wanting to keep the others waiting.