A small creature had appeared in front of Koji. It stood about 1,2m tall and had a humanoid appearance, although its face had canines protruding out of the mouth. The skin had a dark green tone and it was wearing a caveman-like outfit. With a loincloth covering the waist and a leather strap going from the left shoulder around the torso. It was holding a wooden club and attempting to look menacing. To Koji, it felt like being threatened by a child.
“Ok now partner! This goblin minion here is your first encounter. It’s really simple. Kill it or get killed.”
As Bill said that, he walked to a corner of the square room and snapped his fingers. At that gesture, the goblin started walking towards Koji, sizing him up and looking ready to fight. Koji was no stranger to fighting. Throughout his whole life he had to fight. He recalled the first time he punched one of his many bullies in the face in high school. Then the first time he stabbed someone, a collector from a loan shark that tried to kidnap Thug, a Schnauzer dog that he took care of for a while. Apparently, the dog was worth a fortune.
He looked the small creature in the eyes and tried to channel the rage he felt back then, in an attempt to steel himself for the violence about to come. He popped the blade of his knife and got in a fighting stance, pointing it forward and holding his left hand to his face. He was actually just copying a stance he saw in an old martial arts movie once. They got within strike range as Koji started circling around the goblin, looking for an opportunity. Eyes locked on his enemy’s movement. The goblin played this game for a while, but got fed up and decided to take the initiative by throwing an overhead downward strike with his club.
The movement was not particularly fast or sharp, which enabled Koji to barely sidestep it to the left and follow it up with a quick thrust to the goblin’s abdominal region.
*Argh* The goblin stepped back.
Sensing that his attack had been effective, Koji didn’t leave him a chance to recover and quickly follow up with a wide slashing movement aimed at the goblin’s neck. The creature raised its free arm and managed to defend the attack as the knife cut its forearm. It shouted something and lunged forward, this time with a sideways attack to Koji’s head. He swayed to the right but the club partially connected to his left temple. The goblin truly had the strength of a child, seeing that the damage done was very small. Koji felt a bit dizzy, but shrugged it off. He tackled the goblin, dropping its club in the process, and managed to mount him. He stabbed the creature a few times in the gut and neck and sensing that it wasn’t moving anymore, got up grasping for air. He truly had utter shit cardio. But then, what would you expect from a sedentary half-smoker half-alcoholic gambling addict?
“AAHHH, fuck I’m exhausted. And my head hurts a little. I did good tho, right Bill?”
The platypus shook his head a few times, looking frustrated.
“Koji… that was the weakest creature in the game. The fact that you somehow got hit by it is… staggering…”
“Well, it just got lucky ok? Besides, I didn’t even get a skill that’s useable in combat and I had to use this crappy knife… so gimme a break will ya?”
“I’m just telling you what I think. That’s why I hate guiding humans… Anyway. Now you killed your first monster. Please follow me in the next roo…”
As Bill was speaking, a white light briefly flashed and a metallic, iron chest appeared.
“Talk about lucky… I guess that rabbit foot is already showing its worth. Congratulations Koji. You just got a Rare Chest.”
Koji quickly stopped massaging his head and stood in front of the chest for a few seconds.
“What exactly are the drop rates for this chests, Bill?”
“I cannot tell you that. What I CAN tell you, is that your necklace is extremely valuable, so take good care of it. I’ll give you just a small hint so you can figure out the rest later. Carefully read the special option and think about what just happened. Hopefully, you have half a brain and can figure it out. Now open this up and get the stuff so we can keep moving!”
Koji put his hand on the imprint. And the chest opened, displaying its contents. There were 4 objects: a small crossbow-like device, a bunch of small darts bundled together, a red iron dagger and a Skill Shard. Koji picked up the crossbow first.
Light Arm Crossbow A small crossbow that is attached to the forearm. Triggered by pulling lever. Uses Small Darts as ammo. Weapon(Crossbow) 1-Hand Slot|1-Arm SlotNo Options
“So it uses an arm slot for the crossbow itself, but the lever has to be pulled manually, so it also uses a Hand slot.”
Koji decided it was a good time to try the Inventory function, because the crossbow was a bit tricky to attach to the arm. So if he could use the inventory function to instantly equip it, he wouldn’t had to deal with this hassle. He followed Bill’s instruction and visualized his inventory. The crossbow disappeared, but somehow, Koji could feel it, like it was just there and he could reach out and grab it. He instinctually did that and the crossbow reappeared perfectly attached to his left arm. It had a lever that worked like a boat engine starter. A handle had to be held with the hand slightly open. As the user closes his hand, the handle pulls on the trigger and the crossbow shoots the dart cocked in. The crossbow attached itself to the arm by a sort of metal gauntlet that covered most of the forearm. It gave the crossbow a steady base and made it simple to aim and shoot. Feeling satisfied he retrieved it to his inventory and picked up the bundled darts.
Small Darts Used as ammo for ranged weapons. Ammo Count: 100No Options
Now Koji had a decent amount of ammo to use. It was not infinite though, so he had to keep that in mind. He stored in the inventory and realized he could easily retrieve the ammo as needed, therefore eliminating the need of a quiver of some sort. It did not cocked itself in the crossbow automatically though, so the reload time was considerable.
“I’m gonna have to learn how to reload while running.”
Next he took a look at the iron dagger. It’s blade was a dark red and the grip had carvings that Koji couldn’t understand. As he picked it up he felt a sting in the corner of his mind. As he observed the knife he could feel his mind getting clouded and a animalistic violence starting to take over. He quickly retrieved the knife to his inventory and looked at its Inspection Screen.
Korlag’s Vessel of Rage A dagger forged in the blood of a powerful Troll. It contains the essence of his primal rage.Weapon(Dagger) 1-Hand SlotHolding the dagger puts the user in a Frenzied state, granting temporary Strength, Dexterity and Endurance but reducing Mental Power and Willpower. User becomes unable to think clearly and will attack anyone in sight with maximum power. Once activated, Frenzy lasts for 30 minutes or until every nearby enemy is killed. This effect has a 2 hour Cooldown.
“Holy crap… this is incredibly dangerous. I should only use it when there is an emergency.”
Finally, he picked up the Skill Shard.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Chaotic Barrier Active Skill (Defense) CD: 15 minutes Creates an unstable defensive barrier around the user by condensing the vital energy, Qi. The barrier durability increases with Skill Level and Vitality. Will shoot out Energy Bolts randomly towards hostile targets. Offensive power of Energy Bolts increases with Skill Level and Vitality. Lasts for 5 minutes. Duration increases with Endurance.
Would you like to learn this skill?
YesNo
“So it makes me beefier but gives me a bit of offensive power at random. I should probably try to learn how to train Vitality, though I doubt this duck-wannabe will tell me anything…”
“Yes, I’ll learn it”
The knowledge on how to use the skill was imprinted on his mind. The knowledge on how to operate the barrier was very straightforward. Exactly like the skill described, Koji had no control over the bolts it shot. Surprisingly, it seems like they are homing bolts. They lock onto any hostile living being by targeting their own Qi.
“Does that mean it won’t work against things that are not alive? What if there are only allies around before the skill duration ends?” Despite obtaining intuitive knowledge about the skill from the Sigil Imprint, it was not a perfect knowledge. He would have to figure some things out by experience. Koji was deep in thought, when Bill gave him a whistle.
“Let’s move, slowpoke. I want to finish this quickly.”
They left through a straight corridor that lead to an identical room from before. Except in the middle of this one, stood a marble pillar. At the opposite side of where they came in from, there was another passage.
“That is the altar. In Item Retrieval Rooms, that’s where you put the objective in to clear the Level. Lastly, whenever you want to know how much time is left to clear the object, you just have to try and think about it. It will come to you instantly. ”
“That’s it?” Koji confirmed the information. As he thought about the time remaining, he realized there were 5 hours and 30 minutes left. Most of the time consumed by Bill’s explanations, since the fight with the goblin only really lasted a couple of minutes.
“Pretty much, now all you gotta do is go to next room, kill the boss and move on to the next Level, where you will meet your Clan and we will officially get you started on the competition. Whenever you come in contact with a new game system and it is determined that you are in need of an official explanation, I’ll appear and Guide you through it. Otherwise, you have to discover it on your own. I’m out… and try not to die in the Tutorial. That would be too embarrassing.”
The talking platypus disappeared, leaving Koji alone in the room.
“Well, I wanted more info, but I’m kinda glad I don’t have to pay attention to him anymore. Now, I get some real playtime.”
Koji walked through the corridor but stopped at the entrance of the room the Boss was in. This one was much more spacious than the others, there were obstacles like big rocks and a few tress spread around. It looked artificial, like someone had purposely placed those things there to make the field more interesting. As he scanned the room, he identified his target. A 2m tall bipedal lizard. Its skin had a grey tone and his body was mildly muscular. A long tail moved around the back and it was carrying a short crude spear made of stone and wearing a crude leather vest that left the abdomen exposed as well as some weird baggy brown pants. Koji observed its movements for a while, before returning to the previous room.
He then retrieved the pocket knife out of his inventory. Since he planned on using the crossbow to fight and considering he now had a dagger, albeit a very dangerous one, Koji decided to use the pocket knife to test his skill. He could get a great equipment to help him fight the kobold at a relatively low cost. The great feeling of playing Loot Slots also greatly affected this decision.
“Old pal, you have served me well in these last years, please bless me in the gambling I’m about to do.”
As he thought that, he chuckled, happy about the prospect of finally using a Skill. He held the pocket knife firmly in his hand and recalled the Sigil of the Gambler’s Pride Skill. Using a skill felt like contracting a muscle. Koji could be the sigil deep somewhere inside him. As he activated it, he felt a numbness in his spine and a little lightheadedness and then the knife in his hand turned to dust. He could feel the Sigil turning off, as the Skill went on Cooldown.
Equipment Lottery Activated. Determining results.... Congratulations! You Got... Japtem! 10 TP has been added to your inventory.
“……. Shit. I thought this was my lucky day. Better than nothing I guess.”
He then used on of the darts to mark a spot in one of the plants that had overgrown the walls, equipped the crossbow on his left arm and walked back about 5m. He didn’t want to risk going into battle never having fired the crossbow before, so it was time for some target practice. The ammo was limited, so he decided to take 2 shots as practice. Even though it was his first time using such a weapon, it wasn’t difficult at all to operate it. The problem was aiming it, of course. The first shot he missed the target by 0.5m, not too bad considering the amount of previous practice he had. He adjusted his aiming, closed his right eye, held his breath in and shot. The dart hit the side of the target, missing by about 10cm. Not quite sniper precision, but decent enough. Then he decided to give a look over his Status once more before going into battle.
Status Window Name:Koji KawamuraRace:Human TP:10 Attributes Strength:0.2Dexterity:0.3 Vitality:0.2Endurance:0.2 Perception:0.5Willpower:0.6 Mental Power:0.5
Skill List Gambler's Pride(A)LVL 1/10Chaotic Barrier(A)LVL 1/20
Inventory Light Arm Crossbow[L-Hand|L-Arm]Rabit Foot Necklace[Neck] Korlag's Vessel of Rage98x Small Darts[Ammo]
Having done all he could to prepare, Koji decided it was time to tackle the Boss. Metaphorically and quite possibly literally, considering his last encounter. He positioned himself by the entrance of the boss rooms and slowly crouched behind a big rock. The kobold had not noticed him, but Koji, on the other hand, had a clear line of sight to shoot. He was positioned about 12m to the front-left side of the kobold. He decided he would try a hit-and-run strategy using the crossbow to poke at his enemy and when the Kobold got close, he would activate the Chaotic Barrier and pull out his Crazy Dagger, the nickname he came up with for Korlag’s Vessel of Rage. There wasn’t that much problem with going berserk here, since there was really one enemy. But losing control of his mind was not very appealing to Koji, so he would try and avoid it if possible. He raised his already equipped crossbow and started concentrating for his first shot.
* SWOOSH*
The dart crossed the distance between them and hit the Kobold in the genital area. Not quite the head Koji was aiming for, but that was sure to do some serious damage, if that creature had anything down there, of course.
The creature screamed and pulled the dart out, throwing it aside and staring viciously to the man who shot it. It grasped its lance tightly and started dashing towards the direction the dart came from, preparing to skewer Koji. Koji started moving away from the Kobold as he clumsily prepared another dart. Doing that while moving was a lot harder than standing. By the time the dart was ready to fire, the Kobold had already closed in to a distance of about 5m. Koji glanced over his shoulder extended his left arm towards the Kobold and shot again, this time hitting him in the abdomen. Koji gave himself a mental thumbs up for hitting his target for the first time.
But as Koji retrieved another dart to load, the creature suddenly sped up, quickly covering the ground between them. Caught off guard, Koji only had time to activate the Chaotic Barrier skill before his enemy’s spear pierced in his direction and a translucent glow permeated the outside of his body, like he had been perfectly encircled by a bubble. When it was about to hit Koji’s chest, It got deflected to the side, like it had hit armor. The kobold lost his balance for a moment, which Koji used to equip the Crazy Dagger on his right hand.
He started to feel the anger building up the moment his hands gripped the dagger. As the kobold reestablished its stance, Koji shot forward with his most familiar strike, a stabbing attack aiming for the throat. The kobold used the spear’s shaft to deflect, his hands perfectly positioning for a counter-attack. But as he was about to pierce Koji, the ethereal barrier that surrounded him got distorted for a moment and a small light-blue bolt the size of 2 finger shot towards the room boss, hitting him square in the face. It barely left a small cut, but bought a moment of distraction that Koji used to land a clean stab on the same spot the dart had hit before. The unusual precision in his strike an effect of the rage consuming him. At this point he entered the Frenzied state. His eyes were bloodshot and veins were visible on his unimpressive muscles. Inside Koji’s mind, only one word echoed:
“KILL! KILL!”
He pulled out the dagger from the kobold’s belly and tumbled backwards, as the creature attempted to stab him. He got up quickly and advanced towards the kobold, who returned with another quick thrust. Koji spun to his left, dodging the blow and quickly taking his opponent’s back by holding the neck with his free arm. He lifted the creature’s head a little, exposing the neck and proceeded to slit it open with the dagger, killing it instantly.
Congratulations! You have killed the Boss. Level Cleared. Please step into the portal to proceed to the next Level.
As the notification faded away. A light flashed and a familiar wooden container appeared.