Lee Jun thought about his two months of grounding. Two months of no VR games or internet. To children of that era, VR games and internet was the same as water and food. It was a must have!
‘Somehow, I have survived, the torture.’
“WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP!!!’ screamed Lee Jun.
“Good Morning, master Lee Jun!” spoke a computer voice.
“MUAHAHAHAHA…ITS ALIVE! ALIVE!!” shouted Lee Jun. Clearly, very happy that his computer was listening to him again. (please refer to Author’s notes)
“Though 3AM doesn’t qualify as morning. Why are you so excited master…Sigh…I see the parental lock down has come to an end. Your mother really won’t be happy about this.”
Lee Jun shot the screen a menacing look back at the glass screen. ‘I really need to change its personality setting.’ He thought to himself. But for the moment, something more pressing had Lee Jun’s attention! Royal Road Elementarem Vim!
The game was gaining popularity in Korea and most of his school friends were already talking about it. In the span of two months it had already gained an additional 9 million players. It had a total of 15 million players! Though still a very small number when compared to Athenos which had just crossed 1.1 billion (adding nearly 15 million during the same period).
Lee Jun quickly brought out the VR gear and switched it on.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
“Welcome back Weed! A lot has happened since you last visited. Would you like a quick update?”
“Yes!”
“There are an additional 3891 guilds in the Air Kingdom, an additional 1.8 million players located in Air Kingdom since you last visited. 362 dungeons have been found and 6 new cities are now accessible. Would you like to know more historical devel…”
“Skip.”
Weed’s palms grew sweaty. An additional 1.8 million players in Air Kingdom! When he started it only had some 200,000 players!
With a flash of light, Weed appeared in the centre of Lavias City which was now packed dense with hundreds or thousands of players.
“Selling amour! High level amour suitable for class FF!”
“Delicious food! 1 silver only for a doughnut!”
“I am looking for a Healer to join our party! No restriction on class or level!”
Most players ignored Weed. He was wearing the newbie outfit (which had DEF: 0, AGI: 0). Weed felt completely overwhelmed, so much had changed so quickly in the game. The centre of the city used to be fairly quiet with a few NPCs selling goods from their stalls. These NPCs seemed to have disappeared and were now replaced with players everywhere. The dirt road was now paved in stone and there was even a fountain located here. Tall brick buildings replaced the small wooden shacks everywhere. The cold winds that used to blow through the streets had disappeared and instead were replaced with the warmth of sunshine.
Weed didn’t even know where to begin, he had had no internet access, so he couldn’t even research where neutral players went to in Lavias for training. He considered logging out when he noticed the old man from the café buying groceries. That’s it he thought to himself; the old man!
He pushed his way through the crowds, “Excuse me! Coming through! Excuse me!”
“Hey watch it mate!” Screamed a player as Weed pushed past him.
“Sorry” Screamed back Weed without looking back.
“What a rude elf.” Scorned back the player.
After crossing the crowded market place, Weed ran into the alley where he saw the old walk into. He had never met the old man outside the café, so it came as quite a surprise to him. ‘What was he up to? Why was he buying groceries for?’ There were so many questions Weed had. He followed the old man, through the zigzag street maze. So much had changed in 6 months of the game! Weed used to know Lavias so well he could walk around it with his eyes closed. He had no idea where the old man was headed. Soon the tall rich looking buildings gave way to smaller poorer stone cemented houses. The old man was heading deeper and deeper into the poorer side of the neighborhood. At times the old man would stop and as if he were suspicious of being tailed and then resume his journey.
‘Definitely suspicious.’ Thought Weed who hidden behind a house and a hundred feet behind the old man. After following him for an hour, Weed started wondering where they were going. It had already been a while since they left behind the residential area of the city and were now crossing farmlands. Just as Weed was giving up and returning back to the city, the old man was joined by a hooded figure on a horse pulled cart. They seemed to be talking about something and then the old man smiled and sat on the cart.
‘The plot thickens! He has an accomplice!’ Weed started to run through the fields to avoid being seen.
Unfortunately for Weed, he had a very low level and not enough stamina to run for more than half a mile. He soon found himself panting trying to catch his breath. ‘Better to walk. Will follow the cart’s tracks left in the mud.’
And so he did. The sun started to set and darkness soon fell upon the land. Tracking became significantly harder, Weed would have given up had it not been a full moon night. With the moonlight lighting up his path, he slowly made his way till he reached what appeared to be a ranch.
‘So this is the mysterious old man’s hideout? Eh?’ Weed had a broad grin on his face. He was sure that not many players knew of this place.
He walked towards a wooden house located inside the ranch and peeked into a window from which light poured out off. He could see a table set for dinner and an old lady reading a book. As he looked around, he saw the old man walking into the dining hall with some dishes in his hand.
“Dinner is ready!”
The old couple then began eating dinner. They talked about how their day went and blah blah blah…Weed could no longer comprehend what they were saying. He stood in utter shock. This was a perfectly normal old couple, eating a perfectly normal dinner in a perfectly normal house located perfectly in the outskirts of the town. There was nothing suspicious about the old man. Weed guessed that the hooded figure the old man met was probably the woman. They are just a normal couple…Weed started cursing his overly wild imagination which always seemed to be building up his expectations. As Weed turned to leave, he saw a dog staring at him.
“Shoo! Go away.” Said Weed, who didn’t want to be killed by the dog.
“GRRRR” growled the dog. It didn’t like being ordered by some stranger, no less a stranger weaker than him. The dog could sniff and tell this person was weaker than the squirrels it chased. ‘Easy prey.’ The dog thought to himself.
As Weed took his first step. The dog started barking loudly as if to say “Your life’s in my paws now, buddy.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Help! Old man help!!” Weed said as he frantically started knocking on the window.
The old couple dining was startled by the frantic knocking on their window. The woman placed her hand on her husband’s arm, frightened of the possibility that there maybe thieves outside. The old man reached out for his sword and slowly pulled up the window. He pulled out a chained orb from his pocket and stuck his hand out in the darkness. The orb grew bright and brighter, till the old man could see clearly what was happening. He saw person on the floor, desperately kicking away at his beloved dog in an attempt to keep it away.
“Snappy! Home! It’s okay Snappy!” ordered the old man.
‘What? Home? Like now?’ the dog’s ears drooped at the command. His expression seemed to be saying ‘But this person his hilariously weak! Can’t I bite him once!’
“Home! Now!”
Weed looked up to thank his savior. “Thanks, old man.”
“Oh! It’s the head banger!”
‘Head banger?’ wondered Weed.
“Come on in. Don’t mind the dog.”
The old man opened the door and welcomed Weed inside. “Always nice to have company.”
After exchanging pleasantries with everyone (Weed also greeted the dog, who seemed to be offended on not being acknowledged), the old lady retired for the night leaving the two men to talk to each other. The old man offered a seat at the dinner table and a meal. Weed gladly accepted the dinner which smelt like the most wonderful meal in the whole world. Weed was disgusted with rye bread, it tasted stale and it barely kept hunger at bay.
The old man sat across the table and asked, “So tell me head banger, what brings you here?”
“Head banger?” asked Weed.
“If I remember correctly, the last time we met in Beau’s Café you were banging your head against the table. Were you not?”
“Yes! I was indeed!”
“Did you finally give up on it?”
“No you see, I had some difficult circumstances…umm..so I could not make my way back to Versailles Continent.”
“I see. It is rather unfortunate that you were away. A great deal of change has swept through these lands, during the time you were not here. You must have seen it for yourself.”
“Yes.” Weed acknowledged meekly.
“So, how did you find me?” asked the old man. With his lower body concealed, the old man tightened his grip on his dagger hidden from Weed’s view. The old man had lived long enough to discern truth from lies. He was an intolerant person when it came to lies and had decided to kill Weed if he lied.
Weed was a bit hesitant to begin with, but he decided to tell the truth. He talked about his first two weeks in Lavias. His suicidal pilgrimage and how when he returned today, simply followed the old man because it was the only familiar face he knew in all of Versailles. The old man was satisfied but he could tell Weed was hiding something.
“Is there anything else? I can tell you are hiding something from me.”
Weed was stunned. ‘How did he know I was hiding something? Weed didn’t tell the old man that his underlying motives for following him were to learn of a secret quest or something hidden from the worlds eyes. Is he a player? Something like Intuition is non-existent for AI systems.’
“I know your hiding something, because of how stealthily you followed me. You have no skills, so your presence is very much visible, even if you think you have hidden it. If you really intended to meet me, you would have done so without trying to hide from me.”
‘Ah! That explains it.’ Weed then revealed the bit where he expected some amazing quest to be revealed.
Upon hearing this, the old man burst into a fit of laughter. “That really is an overly active imagination! If I may say so!” The old man kept laughing till his stomach started to hurt. Weed’s ears burnt red with embarrassment. Finally, after the old man settled down, he silently stared at Weed with a smile. ‘What an interesting child.’
“Do you have somewhere to sleep the night?” asked the old man.
‘Sleep? Why would players ever sleep in a VR game?’ In the end Weed decided to go with the flow. “No Sir, I do not.” Weed replied with his gaze lowered.
“I do not have much to offer. But please feel free to sleep in the barn.”
They made their way to the barn and the old man pointed to a haystack which Weed found comfortable enough to rest on. The old man left Weed and made his way back to the house. He double checked to make sure Weed wasn’t following him and once inside he said, “Lisa! It’s okay. He doesn’t know anything.”
The old woman who had pretended to retire for the night walked down the stairs, equipped with a loaded bow.
A hooded figure accompanied her.
“So what do you think of the boy?” asked the old man.
“I don’t know, Rodriguez the Wise. It is too soon to know.” Replied the hooded figure.
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Authors Note:
1. A computer isn't the same as an AI. It has a personality and can reason based on historical informationto a degree but unlike AI's it can't imagine something completely new or hold meaningful conversations for more than a few a minutes.
2. Ok, I am taking a break till the 22nd May. :-/ exams. Chapter 10 is the last chapter of this volume. See you all in Volume 2.
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Authors Note:
1. Editing Credits: Knaivvs
2. In case you skipped the prologue, I strongly recommend reading it. Otherwise the starting of this chapter would come across disconnected.
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Connect to Royal Road – Elementarem Vim next Chapter?YesNo
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