[Loading...]

[Building world...]

[Connection to Celestial Rift successfully established.]

I appear in the middle of a relatively large city square. Opposite stands a tall, colorful town hall. I can see shops and stores. On the right side of the street, there's a tavern and an adventurers' guild. The road is neatly paved with cobblestones, and nearby is a small, cute fountain. There's not much hustle and bustle.

Welcome, Unknown07!

Current location: Central District, City of Novalux, Kingdom of Luminara.

This text immediately flashes up. Damn, it's so bright!

I squint and sit down on the nearest bench. These connections and transfers are still unfamiliar to my body. My head is spinning a bit, and my body is shaking. It'll take some time to get used to it. By the way, at this moment, my real body is lying relaxed on the mat, so there are no consequences for it.

It took about five minutes for me to come to my senses, then I felt better. I look around the square again.

As a rule, most of the different vendors on the servers are players just like us. Well, I don't know specifically about this not-so-large one, but according to statistics from the developers themselves, about 64% of all services in Enchantia are run by people.

How does it work? You simply buy out an NPC's spot with real money. It's one of the most popular ways to monetize. By selling gear, you earn a lot of gold, which you can resell between servers or exchange for real money. The developers themselves have released a series of online courses on this.

I look behind me and see... a brothel. Yes, support for all senses literally means that.

Gotta check that out sometime...

For businesses of this kind, players buy a special license from the company and go through several levels of verification. On average, such a license costs almost as much as the headset.

It's even more expensive to fully purchase the corresponding NPCs. But if people go for it, it definitely pays off. On the largest servers, you can even find real players among the brothel staff, but no one knows for sure how legal this is.

Yes, Enchantia has its dark side, associated with semi-legal prostitution, money laundering, scams, trading in prohibited items, recruitment... The developers assure that this is less than 0,1% of the total activity in the game, and the AI monitoring rule compliance (by the way, the second most popular NPC) quickly detects such things and bans them, but the real state of affairs is unknown. Either it's all true, or they spend enough money to maintain an impeccable reputation.

I look up at the sky—it's deep night, but it's illuminated by a huge number of bright stars and a full moon. Therefore, the sky also seems bright, and there's no feeling of night. Apparently, the local weather setting is such that day comes only once or twice per game month.

Well, I like it.

Okay, enough relaxing. Patrick is waiting for me. I need to send him a friend request so we can meet... But first, I'll check my noob stats. All servers have the same principle—mentally click on yourself.

Name: Unknown07 (Dean Carter).

Level: 1.

Race: Human.

Class: None.

XP: 0/50.

HP: 100/100.

MP: 0/0.

STR: 1.

AGI: 1.

INT: 1.

VIT: 1.

CHA: 1.

PER: 1.

Abilities: [Blessing of the Goddess of Luck (Passive)].

Traits: None.

Hmm, seeing this in the context of myself is not as funny as in newbie videos. To reach even average positions, you need to actively level up for several months. The vast majority of servers support general progress, including statistics, abilities, items, and more. When switching servers, it doesn't burn out.

But each server also has its unique mechanics and items (sometimes combined into networks) that others don't support. In addition, there are restrictions set to maintain interest in the game. How this feels in personal gameplay is something I have yet to find out.

Essentially, all of Enchantia is one gigantic server containing hundreds of locations with different levels and gameplay styles. The exception is private servers, which are either obtained for a huge sum and you set the rules yourself, or through connections in the company, or, very rarely, you can win ownership of one during official events.

I closed the stats and opened the window to add friends. I know Patrick's nickname by heart, as I follow the top players table, but it took six attempts to enter it successfully—there are too many "nuances" in UlTraCaRrySmit3rOfH3av3ns90000.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Your friend request has been sent.

I prepared to wait for a while for acceptance and wander around the spawn, but within five seconds it flashed:

User UlTraCaRrySmit3rOfH3av3ns90000 has accepted your friend request.

I see Patrick in the friends list. It shows that he's online and playing on the same server. A couple of seconds later, I received a request:

User UlTraCaRrySmit3rOfH3av3ns90000 wants to add you to the "Close Friends" list. If approved, you will also add him to your list.

I accept. Now, like in my stats, his real name is written in parentheses next to his nickname.

Hmm, how long do I have to wait for him?

Just as I thought this, I heard a rapidly approaching loud rumble. I turn towards the sound—in a couple of moments, a massive ram with black wool, equipped with shining armor, at least level 90 by the looks of it, flies onto the street. Its rider is a very tall person, dressed in a rather modest-looking swordsman set that conceals his appearance. An average player would mistake this set for a starter one, but I'm quite knowledgeable about gear and immediately recognize the golden emblems with three bellflowers. This is the symbol of the elven kingdom of Etheria, a legendary level 100 location on the top 2 server.

And right behind him runs a crowd of no less than fifty players, each shouting something.

Patrick mentioned that he visits low-level locations to buy basic items cheaply, like regeneration potions. To avoid being recognized and pestered with requests for screenshots and friend requests, he wears newbie equipment or something that looks similar. This time, apparently, it didn't work.

Why did he wear SUCH a strong set? As if he's going to take down some fierce boss.

Of course, Patrick recognized me and rushed in my direction. The ram makes several very high jumps, accompanied by fire effects, breaks away from the crowd, and lands next to me. Compared to Patrick and his mount, I feel like a poor toothless peasant standing before a god.

"Yo, Dean!" a familiar voice is heard through the helmet. "It really sucks that you were late. They managed to recognize me, and I've been running like this for about fifteen minutes. It's a total clusterfuck, at first there were three times more of these crazy people."

"Hah, well, you're a top player. Isn't that cool?"

"Not at all, I won't be able to enter any shop in the near future, 'cause everyone in the city already knows about my presence and will pile on. Jump on the ram and hold on tight, we need to shake them off."

I silently obeyed and squeezed in behind him. Most mounts are designed for one player, so it's quite cramped, and I feel like I'm about to fall off. Patrick's cloak became my support.

As soon as I grabbed the cloak, he took the ram by the horns. It bleated, and we soared into the air at a crazy speed. I yelp from the suddenness and nearly fall to the side. We land on the town hall roof. Patrick turns the ram in the other direction, and we jump forward just as intensely.

"Holy shit!" I squeeze out, as I wasn't prepared for this. "Can't we move normally?"

"Not in the city, but we'll get out of here soon. We just need to take you to one place first. So, buddy, how do you like Enchantia?" he laughed.

"Fantastically cool, I still can't believe this is real! Just feeling a bit off from the connections, as you said, and I imagined the game start to be more... calm," I laughed along with him.

"Two or three more connections and you'll start enjoying them, I promise."

"I hope so. Where do you want to take me?"

"To the market. You need to stock up properly so you don't get wiped out by mobs and can farm them easily."

"Isn't the market at the spawn?"

"That's bullshit for suckers, not a real market. And this applies to all servers: they peddle crap at inflated prices for clueless noobs and lazy players. FORGET about the existence of spawn markets. We're heading to Twilight Rampart—the most elite market in Novalux."

There was no such information in the reviews. Damn, maybe I understand the game much worse than I think. By the way, what money am I supposed to use for shopping?

"I get it, but I only have the starting 3 gold, 20 silver, and 50 copper. Is that enough for an elite market?"

"Nah, you can't even buy a diarrhea ring with that. Don't worry, I'll spot you," with these words, he waved his hand a couple of times.

Received 500 gold coins from user UlTraCaRrySmit3rOfH3av3ns90000 (Patrick Lane).

HOLY CRAP! I was amazed. At the external exchange rate, 5 gold equals about $1.

"Are you really just giving me a $100?! To be honest, I won't be able to pay back anytime soon."

"Forget it, it's chump change. Consider it a friendly gift and an advance for future help with quests," he winked. Well, yeah, Patrick always finds a benefit for himself.

"Thanks!"

"But you'll shop on your own. You've watched a sea of guides and know what items you need for your playstyle. And very quickly. I'll leave you for five minutes and circle around nearby, then I'll come back and open a portal to the location for us," he firmly stated.

"Okay, what location?" I replied, trying not to show that I haven't decided on a style yet.

"You'll see. I promise you'll like it," he said conspiratorially.

After he says something like that, something wild usually follows. Well, there's no choice anyway.

"And how long until we reach the market?"

"About three more minutes. You have chosen an excellent nickname for yourself. Immediately inspires a lot of trust, a desire to invite you to a party and hand over all valuable gear for safekeeping," he laughed again.

These words stung me because they're largely true. Due to emotions, my brain somehow switched off at that moment.

"I was a bit shocked that my usual nickname was taken, and without thinking I entered something that would definitely be free. Can't the nickname be changed?"

"Either after six months or for $500."

"$500?! For a damn nickname?!"

"Yeah, I don't know anyone who's done it for money either."

Well, I'll have to go around as a shady type for six months... I hope it's not so bad, and other players won't preemptively attack me because of the nickname.

"By the way, how long can we play today?"

"We need to realize everything I've planned, so very long."

Suspicions about something very wild are increasing.

"I hope you're not going to send me—"

"Dean, get ready to jump," he interrupted.

I got distracted and looked down: bright colorful lanterns, luxurious counters with cute smiling elven girls behind them, stylish shop windows, expensive stores inviting you to spend money... is what I expected to see. But not dirty rotting slums, big rats, rickety buildings, stalls with dubious food, and dozens of incredibly creepy bandit faces that dream of slicing me up.

"Patrick, what kind of joke is this?! This hole is an elite market?! I don't want to stay here alone."

"Don't crap your pants, noob," he somehow managed to ruffle my hair. "PvP is still disabled here, but they can rob you. Many locals have this mechanic, so stay vigilant. But overall, you're panicking for nothing. It's obvious you're a newbie, and even if they wanted to, there's nothing to take from you."

And also that I can be scammed. And oh yes, thanks Enchantia for thousands of development options, including theft!

"Let's have you escort me after all? I highly doubt these local characters care that you're a top player. Have you seen their faces?"

"It's exactly the opposite—this is where they often crowd you and you have to agree to screenshots."

We jump off the roof and land in the middle of the market near some wild jewelry store, scaring away rats and one... what's an orc doing here?

"Get off, the crowd is about to catch up from behind, and new ones will join from here," Patrick patted me on the shoulder, shooing me off the ram.

"So what—"

"Come on, don't whine and go shopping. Quickly, we'll meet at this same spot in five minutes."

I got off onto the ground. Confirming Patrick's words, that same orc and a couple of other guys turned towards him and joyfully rushed to meet him. He spurred the ram, flew up, and disappeared from sight.

Well, just great.