Start Chronicles of Mana
Imagine 1,55m high elf with kinda my look and 00 00 30 RGB dark-blue hair and black eyes... name is Radi... spawn in Makoto... skip tutorial and unnecessary stuff...
work, please work!
chanting this phrase like a mantra I wait for some reaction to happen.
Around me I see the darkness of the loading sequence, but there are no panels or other things so I guess it worked? Well nothing to do so lets just wait patiently...
I just started the new game Chronicles of Mana in Unicorn's VR-headgear. This thing has only been around for a month, but it is really amazing, an astonishing time acceleration of 12x. Compared to the old version of 4x it's even faster.
However, CoM is the first VRmmorpg developed by Unicorn themselves, all the over games I played before felt more like 3D-versions of a 2D game. Kinda the same logic that applies to all games: newer isn't always better. So 3D isn't necessarily better than 2D. At least that's how I feel about all those VR-games.
So what is CoM? In my world it is a new area of gaming. In yours it's just another VRmmorpg just like in all those novels, but for me this is definitely a new beginning, the beginning of an interesting life.
CoM was released just now and I was going though char creation in blitz mode so to say. My goal is to be the first on the server, hehehe. Really, there is no reason to this. Well maybe it is to see how the results for experiment #1 are.
E#1: are there achievements for world-first?
The guide said that there are bit and bite loads of achievements one can obtain and I want to find out for what kind of useless actions there are achievements.
So I wait for the loading to finish and after what might or might not have been a minute it slowly becomes brighter around me... really slowly... you could say it is too slow, as otherwise I wouldn't be able to think so much nonsense...
As my eyes get used to the environment, I discover that there isn't really much to look at besides mist. Because of said mist I can see little around me, but that is of no importance anyway.
I imagine the beginner dagger, that everyone has at the start in there inventory in my hand. That's at least how the guide said that the inventory works.
Without looking at any kind of system window, I get the dagger after about 2 seconds and stab my heart, normally I don't think I could do this kind of suicide, but in the rush and the blurry environment, while still not being used to my new body this is not that hard.
I manage to pierce my no-resistance skin and my no-resistance-whatsoever heart without trouble and thus instantly die after 3 seconds. Guess helves aren't as bad as they say, bwhahaha
But I really shouldn't get so exited at my new world record for suicide, should I? First of all let's see the results for E#1.
You have died!
Time till re-spawn: 24:19:36
Achievement
Tier: UniqueWorld firstYou are the 9th player who has arrived on chijo
the first 10 players get this achievement+0,2 stat +20fame
Titel
Veterananyone seeing this title has great respect towards you+5000 fame
Achievement
Tier: UniqueWorld firstYou are the 1st player who has died
the first player gets this achievement+5% soul-magic affinity
Titel
death Veterandeath is not the end for you, but a stepping stone... the first, to be precise+20% re-spawn-affinity(-20% re-spawn penalty)
This is... holy shit I was only the 9th? Guess there were other people with similar thought. Well I must say this 5000 fame boost is quite something, but its only in the title, hmm.
'Meanwhile somewhere else:
Random Person POV:
Achievement
Tier: UniqueWorld firstYou are the 1th player who has arrived on chijo
the first 10 players get this achievement+1 stat +100fame
Titel
Veterananyone seeing this title has great respect towards you+5000 fame
“How can this be? I didn't get first death? As soon as I could, I stabbed myself in the heart and 4 seconds later I was dead, I am sure I would be the first, so how? I didn't change my appearance and chose random start location, who could be faster? Hmm...
Don't tell me a high elf with there shitty health died faster, darn it! I shall kill all those high elves that dare to show there face in front of me!
Well can't be helped right now and I can't do anything for this day so better log out... but in the future I will be known as the ruthless veteran. fear me, oh worthless mortals ”'
Radi POV:
But to get 2 achievements. I must say my luck really is not bad at all.
These titles are rather interesting as well 20% re-spawn affinity? Whats that? Aren't we supposed to have a 24h time penalty, but I haven't got the system message to log out yet... so how does this work exactly...
time for E#2: exploiting the death-penalty, bwahahaha.
Equip title: death Veteran
cooldown: 23:59:59
oh, by the way I haven't talked about how titles work yet, right?
As far as I know every achievement has a title, while the bonus from the achievement itself is permanent and stacks with others, you can have only one title at a time.
Once equipped there is a 24h cool-down, before you can choose a new one, this is to make sure, that people can't change there titles during a fight all the time, since titles are also where the class-system is located at so to say.
There are titles like warrior, mage and such, that give great boost to guess what? Warrior. mage related things, whohoo. Like swords and armor, spells... but also grant you access to class-restricted skills.
Normally you would want to go to training center or mage guild to get yourself a nice title and whip the floor with monsters more easily.
However using skills to fight is not the only way. You can just fight normally. With real skill.
In other words, casuals want to use skills and hardcore players real skill. Unless it comes to unique skills such as identification or inventory who can't really be learned otherwise.
But seriously who needs a skill like 'fireball' or 'strike' if a little training can do the same? Then again who wants to train stupid things if a skill can do the same O.o
Well, since the game is only out for a few minutes we have yet to see what is actually the better play-style.
Hardcore ought to be more interesting though. Hence my play-style.
…
19:13:24
this counter is rather slow... just looking at it all day is quite boring. 'Yawn'
hmm.. why is it that it was more than 24 hours? Shouldn't the time to re-spawn only be that? Well, I don't really have anything else to do right now anyway so might as well enjoy the floor.
Nice and cozy indeed. From up close this marble like stone floor has a rather nice feel to it.. huh? You can still feel things when you are dead? Hoh, interesting. Even though the feeling is extremely numb as if you are stunned it is still there and my vision is also there, extremely blurry though, but nevertheless I can see violet-colored mist all around me.
Quite the unusual re-spawn mechanism if you ask me. I just hope I don't have to lie around the floor all day, if so I really am better just logging out.
Should I look at my stats?
'status'
Name: RadiTitle: death VeteranLevel: 10/00%Fame: 20Race: High ElfRank: 9/42.630.854Health: 35Mana: 240Stamina: 50Concentration: 130Strength: 2Agility: 11Dexterity: 12Vitality: 5Intelligent: 12Wisdom: 13
sight this is... too damn underpowered! I mean, I knew that already beforehand from the guide, but seeing this in person is still an entirely different thing.
2str? 5Vit? Are you joking? Glass cannon doesn't even begin to describe this totally unbalancedness, whatshallmacallit. The other stats are fine, but 35HP and 240MP? Who designed this game? This is beyond specialization.
19:12:00
19:12:00? this should be the time when 20% re-spawn affinity are applied to 24.
time to re-spawn!!!
whoa, what is this? My body is slowly disintegrating? Well its not like I can feel my body disappearing, since I gradually lost all connection to my body after I died and the only thing we had in common now was the location. But I can see it slowly disappearing with my non-existing eyes.
The body falls apart, like what you might expect from a game and after only 10 seconds its completely gone while I float about 2m from the ground in the air, or rather mist.
This mist looks somewhat strange. It has a eerie feeling to it and is violet in color while it is thicker than any fog I ever saw. It gives of a dim light and there seems to be no end in any direction, not that one can see very far here, maybe about 3m?
Anyway, having no body is a fun new experience. After all my body just disintegrated a moment ago and now I am bodiless floating around, though floating might be a bit of an exaggeration, since I can't actually move around and it feels like I am bound to something here.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Since I have nothing to do I should just enjoy this rare truly peaceful moment to its fullest. yes, that's it, this is truly a magnificent moment, doing nothing has always been my dream~
normally when you try to do nothing and you lie on your bed for example, then try to relax as much as you can and calm down to the limit then you still do things.
No matter what you do there will always be things your body does without you doing anything.
For instance breathing... ok, you can hold your breath for a few dozens of seconds, but that's it, you can't go without air indefinitely long after all.
But then there is something even more annoying than breathing. Your heartbeat! Gosh, how often I wished for that loudmouth to shut up! When you try to do nothing and that annoying sound of your heart resounds inside your ears... this drives me mad!
Breath calmly, there is nothing wrong here... oh, wait there is, I can't breath, bwahahaha. This is pure bliss. The art of doing nothing at its best. Simply for this reason I should go here more often.
hmpf, what's a death or two in front of ultimate joy, the little pain one has to suffer while dieing is nothing, I tell you nothing at all! Hahaha
I like this. Seriously, no annoying body, no itching, nothing. Only the mind. A calm and translucent state of the mind is easy to attain here. My dream has been fulfilled, after 19 years of living I have found a place where I truly belong. This is the one and only place I always longed for, where I should stay till the day I die, until death do us part...
5 minutes later~
this is boring, who designed this shit! Re-spawn? More like wait-spawn... 19 more hours? This isn't something an ordinary being could endure. Only an idiot would be a subtitle candidate for this shit...
oh darn, I totally forgot, my true form is certainly that of an idiot... guess I have no choice in this matter. Let's launch E#3
E#3: how does the re-spawn mechanism work?
I mean it is rather strange that the game doesn't automatically log one out upon death, right? So they either want to troll one or maybe there is still something to do, even though it doesn't look like it.
only one way to find out I guess. endure...
zZz...
1 hour later~
18:00:00
??? what is this feeling, just when I was finally able to bear with this nothingness I get this itchy feeling all over my body, just that there shouldn't be a body right?
Looking around my non-existing self I can see something. It's like my body is transparent, but there definitely is something where my body should be... strange
12:00:00
now I am certain, this transparent lump of bones, organs, muscles and blood vessels looks really interesting, after all you can see everything inside me, like I have x-ray view or something, this is too cool.
By now, the transparency is already almost gone and I can at most see half trough my body, but between 2 and 5 hours the view is definitely magnificent, seeing your own heart surly is a new experience that can't be called ordinary at all.
Anyway, the important part is that this is not boring after all and I definitely could spent hours upon hours in this state. The gradually returning feeling of being alive is quite refreshing, if I do say so myself.
00:00:05
finally done, 19 hours are not to be underestimated, but since I am trained in waiting this is no problem at all. I mean all these useless lessons in school that you could just sleep though were good for something at last.
Well it is not like there happened nothing. The human or helf in my case anatomy, which isn't really different is quite interesting and what was the saying? Know thy self and you shall emerge victorious, or something.
So as I congratulate my genius the re-spawn timer finally hits 0 and I should be the first player in CoM that has successfully died and revived, bwahaha.
At 00:00:00 I get my clothes back and gently glide to the ground. Only, where do I have to go now, everything looks the same after all...
But first, there are a few system-messages I got.
Achievement
Tier: Unique; TemporaryThe LastYou are the last ranked player in terms of level
the last player gets this achievement, if multiple players are last the one who was first at this level will have this achievementout of pity, NPC are more likely to be friendly to you
Titel
Title: The last will be the firstThis title is automatically equipped, can be used alongside another title+10% to everything
wtf?
You have died!
Time till re-spawn: 16:59:34
Aarghhh... this didn't hurt so much last time...
and there I died again... I should probably say, as expected or something, but I really didn't plan to kill myself a second time like this, but did u see this achievement? OP! This is the only thing I will say. This time I really stroke it rich, this time I will be the most powerful player in the universe, muhahaha.
...now that I think about it I never really played seriously before, you could say I was one of these many casuals that every game was infected with... but this time with this cheat like boost I shall conquer the world!
Wait, why did I pick helf then? I can't conquer anything with this race... NOOOOOO!
Too damn weak. Weak, useless, pathetic, helfs are just4fun race after all...
ok, I decided: casual it is :'(
but casual doesn't mean no fun, hehehe. Time for E#4: is it possible to manipulate the re-spawn mechanism?
But first lets see the other system-messages.
Proficiency: re-spawnrank: t1, lvl 1decreases time to re-spawn by 5 min, decreased xp needed to re-spawn by 0.1%
oh, so there is a way to decrease re-spawn time? Nice, while doing my experiment I guess I might as well grind this a little bit.
The world shall know my name as the lowest ranked player of all! From this day onward the legendary radi will show you who's boss! A world boss! No, universal boss monster it is, bwahahaha.
…
my thoughts get messy, it feels like even my sanity can't keep up with this epicness. So to calm down I look at my stats and remember that I once picked the wrong race. Mistakes of the past are too cruel to the present and future and it would be best to not commit any more grave mistakes.
Name: RadiTitle: death Veteran, The last will be the firstLevel: 9/20%Fame: 20Race: High ElfRank: 122.634.254/122.634.254Health: 33Mana: 220Stamina: 50Concentration: 120Strength: 2Agility: 11Dexterity: 11Vitality: 5Intelligent: 11Wisdom: 12
well, it's as I thought, the glory of helfs is unfathomably deep... hahahaha glory, that was a good one.
But seriously, a mere 5vit seems really low... sounds like I said that before, huh.
At any rate, grieving about this won't help, so let's continue with E#4.
…
immersing myself into the unknown, the new, the unexplored. As a pioneer of men I shall reveal the mysteries of life and death, of the very circle of rebirth itself. That is my mission, my purpose, my duty, my quest. Ignorant of the dangers hidden within the dark I will uncover the truth that lies beyond the curtain of profound knowledge.
Is what I would like to say, but all I am doing is floating in this mist... while enjoying the feeling of getting slowly build up again.
Ah, even vacation at a beach is nothing in front of this truly beautiful feeling of ultimate peace.
All I can do is trying to speed this up for now. seriously trying to manipulate this is harder than I thought. Tho I am not sure whether or not I actually think at all.
However thinking isn't really important, which might be the reason why I am an idiot...
Anyway, enough of this bs and back to more important things.
…
after my second time re-spawning:
Proficiency: re-spawnrank: t2, lvl 1decreases time to re-spawn by 10 min, decreases amount of xp needed for re-spawn by 0.2%
my improvements aren't bad compared to last time, it even decreases the amount of xp needed by quite a bit. If I grind this now at the beginning then dieing later on will have much less penalties. Well, I guess not dieing at all would be better, but having too much pressure to not die sounds boring.
I still have little more than 8 days left in this gaming session, maybe I can reach the lowest level possible, I wonder what that would be, 1? hmm... probably, I guess I will find out soon enough.
so like this I continue my existence as a guinea pig for experiment#4 for the next 8~ days with a not so clear goal in mind...
no goal at all actually...
wait! what in the world am I even doing???
A/N:
“sensei...?”
“yes?”
“...”
“what answer is the pitiful you seeking from the great me? How can I enlighten you?”
“ehm... why is it that the mc's first action in the new world is suicide?”
“hmm... what do you not understand about that? Isn't it perfectly clear? Humans have to die one day, every human has to. It is the very nature of a human being to die one day. This principal also applies to the mc. Sooner or later everyone has to return to dust”
“eh? Sensei, that doesn't make any sense”
“of course not, how could you possible understand the reasoning of the great me? If a mere mortal were to understand this, how could I possibly call myself a god?”
“...”
chapter 7 is basically the best chapter so far, if you want to find out whether you will like my story in the future or not.
so please don't judge my story before reading it :)