As it turns out, having your reality turn into a game really takes away the fun of virtual games.
I sat in my chair, trying my best to keep engaged in the newest game I was playing. I lost count of how many games I tried and dropped, mindlessly going through the motions, only to be brought back to reality by the dull repetition and the lack of any real challenge. Even the most well-designed games seemed hollow and meaningless in comparison to the world I was living in now.
"Hey, you crazy bastard."
I glanced away from my screen to see Tommy standing there with a grin. I returned his smile with one of my own as I got up and hugged him. "Sup?"
"Jesus Christ, Luke, you've gotten fucking strong," Tommy remarked, shaking his head in astonishment. "I knew you helped push the global floor limit, but I didn't expect you to be this insane."
"You leveled up a lot, too," I replied, checking his stats. Damn, he jumped up to level 589, breaking 1000+ Health. Of course, compared to me...
"I decided to invest into Risk after seeing your own pay off," Tommy smiled wryly. "I mean, 5 isn't a whole lot, but it's been a pretty significant boost. Can't say I like feeling the increased pain sensitivity, though."
[If only he could imagine feeling a 25000% increase.]
"Y-yeah..." I chuckled awkwardly. "Anyway, thanks for meeting up with me. Where's Sarah?"
"She's at the library, studying. You know how it is."
"Studying?" I asked, surprised. "For what?"
Tommy sighed, taking a seat next to me and booting up the PC. "She's got some sort of competition coming up. I think she's trying to get into one of the top guilds or something."
"Oh, is she not in a guild yet?" I exited the game I was playing, opening up the familiar RPG Tommy and I used to play.
"Nah, she is, but she's wanting to transfer out. That's how it is with guilds. Beginning Players start in step-up guilds, then transfer to mid-level when they're capable enough. If they're really serious, they'll apply to high-level guilds, where they'll most likely stay at, since the top guilds don't accept applications. They're the ones who reach out instead." Tommy winced as he logged into the game.
"Oh, I see. So, you know what guilds she's thinking about transferring to?" I asked, curious.
"Kinda. She wants to try for either Fable or Merchants of Midas." Tommy didn't seem too pleased about it.
"Is everything... okay?" I wasn't really paying attention to the game anymore.
"For the most part."
We sat in silence, maneuvering our newly made characters through the first stage of the game. Tommy and I were close, but we weren't the type to press each other for information. I'd let him tell me what was on his mind when he felt ready.
"Anyway, you were curious about what guild to join? I'd have thought you talked to other Players for advice rather than me," Tommy spoke again after a while, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"Yeah, but you're my closest friend, and we've been through a lot when we were younger. I trust your judgment over anyone else's right now."
Tommy grunted. "Well, if you want my honest opinion, it seems like nothing short of Inanis or Helianthus would be good enough for you. And since Inanis is a no-go..."
"Helianthus it is."
Tommy fell silent again, but this time, I sensed that he was deep in thought.
"Well... I'm sure you've been told about how hard it is to get into those guilds."
"Yeah."
"And you did text me saying that you wanted to look into the PvP arena scene..."
I wondered where Tommy was going with this.
"As it currently stands, many of the world records such as floors cleared and most matches won are held by members of Helianthus and Inanis, with some other top guild members in the mix."
"Oh," I suddenly got what he was saying. "So, if I were to break a record..."
"They're bound to notice you," Tommy finished for me, turning to look at me with a shit-eating grin that mirrored mine.
"What's the easiest record to break right now?"
"That would be the one for the most monsters killed in a single simulation. It's only ten thousand and some change, and I know you're stronger than that."
I blinked. In the initiate dungeon resonance I cleared with Celine, I easily killed three thousand monsters alone. Ten thousand? That was just a workout.
"You thinking what I'm thinking, bro?"
"Always, you crazy bastard."
----------------------------------------
It was around mid-afternoon by the time Tommy drove us to the GPA building, where we promptly rented out a training simulation room. The familiar white space was beginning to become a sort of haven for me, a place where I could go all out without worry.
"Alright, I'll be up in the spectator's room to handle all the tech stuff. You just focus on beating the record. The monsters will start off at level 1, and gradually increase in level and strength until you can't handle it anymore. I'll stop the simulation when it gets to that point." Tommy began to jog to the stairs. "It'll be endless, so remember to pace yourself, Luke."
Considering the tactic I already planned on using, I doubted that I'd run out of stamina long before the five thousand mark.
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I stretched my body, warming myself up as I equipped my cloak, ring, and Soultaker. The sword trembled in my hands.
"Are we going to feast on more souls?"
"Unfortunately, no," I replied with a scowl. "It's a simulation, so they're just virtual copies."
"Fake food? Gross."
"Did you say something, Luke?" Tommy called over the intercom.
"Er, no, just giving myself a pep talk!" I shouted back up to him. Okay, so it seemed like other people could hear the Soultaker.
Tommy gave me a weird look, but shrugged as he pressed a button out of my vision. A buzzing echoed around the training room.
"Endless simulation will now begin. All damage, Skill usage, and Item abilities will be simulated. Proceeding in 5..."
[You know, endless fighting is also something I believe a masochist enjoys...]
"By that logic, then whoever holds the record for this is a masochist, too." I muttered back to Sephera.
[Oh, I'm willing to bet on that.]
I gripped the Soultaker tightly as the countdown reached 0. A faint smile played on my lips as the first monsters were constructed from a green light. A group of level 1 skeletons and zombies appeared, groaning as they staggered towards me.
I didn't need to launch my plan just yet, so I took it easy by using the Soultaker's auto Reap ability. More undead appeared, followed by some mutated animals. Level 10 began to throw in some fantasy creatures; Orcs, goblins, elves, and vampires.
While it was a menial task, I found it more entertaining than playing games, something that felt bittersweet. I tried to do some flashy moves with the Soultaker, mixing in some physical attacks as I easily cut down the monsters.
At level 20, I began to face off against smarter monsters, including mages and archers. I had to be more cautious with my attacks and consciously avoid taking damage. The training room felt more like a battlefield as I fought on, weaving through the monsters with practiced ease.
I glanced up at the virtual screen that tracked my performance. 356 monsters slain, 15 minutes had passed. Okay, I was making good progress, but it was a little slow. Time to speed things up.
I put in a little more effort around level 30, relying on my Speed to cut down the trolls and giants as soon as they materialized with a single strike of my sword. Headless knights were immediately Reaped, while the chimeras and lesser dragons were destroyed by Death's Shadow.
Time sped up, and the monsters grew in strength and intelligence. I found myself dancing between the creatures, darting and weaving through the battlefield like a shadow. My attacks became faster, more precise, and deadly. The Soultaker hummed in my hand, its energy reflecting the death and destruction around me.
"Ah, if only these were real souls..." The Soultaker lamented in my grasp. I was too focused to register its words as I fell into a steady rhythm, killing and dodging monsters.
Before long, it wasn't until level 1000 that I found myself slowing down. Or maybe it was the monsters starting to catch up. I quickly checked the stats of a humanoid beast- a Wolf Lord. On the higher end of abilities, the werewolf had 100000 Health, 45000 Strength, 30000 Speed, and 27500 Magic. Nothing I couldn't handle by myself.
Hacking through Wolf Lords and Crimson Kings- it seemed like I was on a Halloween-themed portion of the simulation- I checked my performance again. 4845 monsters slain in a little over an hour. Not bad. I already surpassed the record in the dungeon resonance and was still good on stamina. Maybe I'd be able to break the record in another hour.
I glanced up at the spectator's box, noticing Tommy preoccupied on his phone. Either he had full faith that I was fine, or there was something he had to deal with. I was leaning towards the latter.
Whatever the case was, I didn't have time to dwell on it as the monster level continued to rise. They were still slain with one swipe of my sword, and weren't fast enough to hit or escape me, but they were growing clever enough to divide my concentration. Still, that would change very soon.
As I hit the 1200 mark, I began to see more powerful and mythical monsters, including griffins, dragons, and even a few legendary ones I had only read about in lore. Their attacks became more devastating, and their movements faster. The room itself seemed to change, growing more ominous and foreboding. But I was ready.
At level 1280, my 'Untouchable.' achievement activated, massively boosted by the sheer number of monsters. If I was impossible to catch before, I was now a blur of blue as I zipped around the simulation room, tearing through the virtual mobs. I had to backtrack as I managed to outspeed the creation process.
[How are you not tired yet???]
"Strength and Health are a factor in stamina," I muttered back, still focused on the oncoming monsters. "So I doubt I'll get tired before hitting the ten thousand mark."
Indeed, as I reached level 2000, I wasn't even close to feeling fatigue. My sword seemed to dance through the air, my movements so graceful and precise that they almost seemed to defy the laws of physics. I was in the zone, completely focused on the task at hand. And as the simulation progressed, the monsters continued to fall under my might. The initiate dungeon resonance certainly helped me prepare for this.
By the time I reached level 3000, I was sitting around 9889 monsters slain in less than an hour and a half. The mobs were now averaging around 900000 Health, 750000 Strength, 500000 Speed, and 300000 Magic. Due to my achievement, I was always faster than the mobs, so I didn't have to worry about getting caught, but that number was quickly becoming smaller. It was time to put my strategy into play.
I stole another glance at Tommy, who was still busy on the phone. Oh well, it was his loss if he missed me breaking the record.
Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I activated Flooded Kingdom in conjunction with Holy Element. The white gridded floor of the simulation room quickly became flooded in a couple inches of chilling water, practically immobilizing the mobs in place. But I didn't stop there.
In a few seconds, I was looking at a doppelganger of myself. We shared a grin, and began to mercilessly tear into the immobile monsters.
"H-holy shit, there's two of you? And you're almost reaching the ten thousand mark!" Tommy exclaimed incredulously through the intercom. "What the fuck did I miss?"
I chuckled as I continued to slaughter the immobilized monsters with my twin doppelganger. "You should've been here from the start, Tommy. It's not that exciting now." I taunted, feeling a bit of a rush from the adrenaline.
Since the new monsters that spawned were immediately frozen in place, it didn't take long for me and my clone to slow our own pace, casually strolling through the icy blue water and cleaving the mobs with a single swing. At this point, the level 3200 monsters were nothing to us as I easily reached eleven thousand kills.
"Are you planning to set the record even higher?" Tommy asked over the speakers.
"Fuck yeah. I'm gonna see if I can hit twenty thousand monsters."
Two and a half hours in, I was at level 4000. The monsters now required two swings of my Soultaker, but with a 105% Slow from a near permanent Flooded Kingdom, it didn't make much of a difference.
"Dude, you're at 21365 monsters slain... there's no way anyone's going to beat your record at this point," Tommy sounded slightly stunned and bored. "You're basically invincible in here."
I paused my sword, glancing up at him. "Think so? I should stop here then, right?"
"Up to you, but I'm getting bored and hungry."
[I agree with him. This isn’t very fun to watch.]
"Eh, I doubled the previous record, so the top guilds can't ignore that," I said, dispersing my clone with a fist-bump. "But, you're right. I'm not getting anything else out of this. I'll stop here for now."
"Alright."
I heard a buzz, signaling the end of the simulation. With a deep breath, I deactivated Flooded Kingdom and put my Soultaker away in my Inventory. Tommy was right: In a room where things weren't as life-threatening and contained, I was indeed invincible. Or maybe a better word would be... immortal.
Quietly laughing to myself, Tommy joined up with me and together we exited the simulation room. I really didn't expect to find a small gathering of strong and intimidating people led by Tessa waiting for me outside.
"Hi, Luquier," Tessa smiled at me, stepping forward. "There are a few people here to meet you. Apparently, news of your record-breaking attempt spread quickly."