Chapter 1

Race Selection

"Dark Elf" he interrupted.

Appearance

"As I am"

Name

"J".

Confirmed.

Welcome to Atlantis.

He was then sucked into a white causing him to instintively shut his eyes, his eyes remained closed but he could now begin to hear voices around him.

"Level 45 priest, recuriting party for dunegons!"

"Selling iron ore! 10 silver for one! 90 for 10!"

"Oh hey! A noob just joined! Look."

J slowly opened his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. Buildings were in every direction, made of stone and wood. The streets were busy with people, some eyes were cast in his directions, others paid him no attention. He looked down at his hands, and pinched it. He felt a slight pain.

'It's real, I'm in the game... Amazing...'

He walked forward off a platform and looked back behind him. Right above the place where he stood was a giant gem, as big as a 3 story building.

'Beautiful...'

"That's a teleportation device my friend"

He turned around at the sound and saw 3 males walking towards him. They were all equipped with leather armour and a sword by their side.

"I'm Josh, this is Rick and Sam." The two beside him nodded, 'Sup' they said.

"Looks like you're new here, need some help? We can help you level up a bit." They two beside him moved and surrounded J. J wasn't small, he was around 170cm, but these 3 were muscular guys and although they were of the same height, it made J feel small.

'Somethings not right...' he thought to himself.

"What's in it for you?" J asked.

With a smile on his face, "Well you see, every beginner starts off with 2 gold. And we want that. Of course in exchange for helping you."

"Um... I don't think I really want to..." he tried to squeeze past the 3 but were only blocked by their arms.

"We insist." he said in a demanding tone. "Now give us, your money. Trade."

"Stop it. Back off from the new guy." A voice rang loud to the group huddled around J. The three turned around and faced the oncoming group of 2.

"Well well well, playing the hero again are we?" the three moved towards the 2 in a seemingly non-chalant fashion.

"Yes, now back off." He stood face to face with the leader of the 3. "You know you can't win."

After a moment of silence, Josh backed off laughing. "Alright alright, no need to get aggressive." And the 3 walked off back to their corner.

'Phew...' J sighed with relief. Now that he got a closer look at the two who helped him, one was a man nearly a whole 2 inches taller than him, his body wide and equipped with iron platings. The other a cute girl with flowling pink hair, leather strappings and a bow by her side. "Thanks for that." he said.

"No problem, they always like to cause trouble. I'm Dean. This Melissa."

"Heya." she said with a wide smile of her face which made J blush a little.

"I'm J." Dean nodded and walked towards J. He stopped a few steps from him and observed his face which made J very uncomfortable. If it was the girl... he would've been more than happy. After a moment of silence, he said "You a dark elf?"

"Yeah."

"Thats... pretty rare. Don't think I've ever seen a dark elf. Mel, you?"

"Nope, but he sure is cute." this made J blush even harder. He composed himself and asked why. He was told to open his status window.

"Status window"

Status WindowNameJClassN/AHealth121Mana85Level1Health Regen/Sec2.2Mana Regen/Sec1.6Strength10Dexterity20Wisdom20Intelligence20Stamina10Vitality10RaceDark Elf

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Special effects:

Dexterity +10

Intelligence +10

Wisdom +20

Affinity with darkness.

Reputation towards all Elfs (-500)

Reputation towards all towns (-250)

People will be naturally suspicious of your nature as a Dark Elf.

'Oh damn...'

"Understand why now? It's about impossible to get good quests at the start. No quest, no experience. No experience, no leveling. Tough world."

"Yeah..." J was shocked. He initially picked the race because he loved the idea of being a being of darkness. That was him in real life, but he never expected it to be such a hindrance. He cursed himself for not doing enough research on the races. He thought it didn't matter, he was naive.

"You know what...how about we take you to a dunegon and level you up some? What you say to that?" He was shocked again, how nice could these people be! Not only did they save him, but helping him level up!?

"Thank you so much. I don't know what to say." He bowed towards them to show his gratitude.

"Well lets not waste any time. We know a short cut it'll take around 15 minutes." Whilst on their way, J spent the time checking his inventory. A dagger, 3 biscuits, and 5 gold. Typical beginner items. He materialized the dagger and practiced swigging it a few times. Then drawing it until he felt comfortable with his weapon. By the time he finished, they had arrived.

They quickly swept through the first few floors enabling J to level up 6 times. At first all J could do was to avoid being killed, but now and then occasionally he would try to gain some experience by hitting the monsters. Of course, the attacks from J did no damage. A goblin then slipped through and attacked J forcing him to jump to avoid the hit. He smashed against the wall of the dunegon and the wall crumpled behind him which sent him spiraling down a staircase.

'Owwwww... even though it doesn't hurt as much as in real life, it still stings. Darn it.'

He looked around the cave and found a treasure chest. 'Oh my gosh...' He headed towards the chest, his own chest thumping so hard he ignored the sound of his party members running down the stairs.

As he opened the chest, Dean and Melissa arrived. "J, you found a hidden treasure chest!" The chest sent light across the four walls of the cave and a sword slowly floated from the chest. He picked it up.

*Ding!*

A Knight's' Sword

Sword of a Knight long forgotten by history.

Restrictions: Level 40

Damage: 50

Strength +5

Vitality +10

Stamina +10

"That sword's perfect." He turned around to the one who muttered it only to feel a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the end of a sword through his chest. He was then greeted with the eyes of Dean. "We searched this dunegon for weeks! And a noob like you finds the chest in one try and you want to take it? NEVER!" He twisted the sword upwards, J looked to Melissa for help but was only greeted with eyes of disdain.

"You...you... bast...ard..."

*Ding*

You have died once.

Penalty incurred lost of 1 gold and 10% experience.

Further death will increase the penalty.

Maximum number of deaths allowed 20. After that, Atlantis will cease to be available to the player.

'What?! There's a limit for deaths? I never heard about this.' But he paid no more attention to it, he only had one thing left on his mind. Revenge.

J waited patiently until nightfall, hidden from sight in an alley as he watched the entrance of town. As soon as he saw them waltzing in, his bloodlust seamed through his pores and his eyes turned ice cold. He wanted to kill them. He wanted to skin them alive. They betrayed his trust, and that is the last thing they will do. But J knew that as he was now, he would only suffer the same fate time and time again. He watched the two as they sold the loot from the chest, he never took his eyes off them. Like a predator preparing to bounce on its prey. So focused, that the predator didn't realize that the hunter had become the hunted.

A being clad in darkness stood behind J, a devious smile spread across its face. It was glad it took time to wander across town, it was glad the boy in its eyes had a resolve like no other. It was glad, for it had found its new toy.

TO BE CONTINUED