Baron logged back into RR shortly after he died. He was standing in the middle of the city where he had logged in on the first day. Behind him you could see the alley where he had died. Baron walked over to it to find there was no trace anyone had died there. No blood stain on the cobblestone walkway, no evidence it was a crime scene. It was as if the whole event had never happened. A look of disgust appeared on his face. Not at the people who killed him, but at himself for being pathetically weak. He punched the wooden side of the building to his left. Surprisingly it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it would have in reality. Infact, he had noticed this when he got killed the first time. In real life he had more than his share of beatings and the pain didn't come close. That beating Would have killed him in half the time if it had been real. As he sat in the alley he vowed to repay the beating back two fold. Although it would have to be in the game. It's not that he had any qualms about confronting them in real life, it was just that he would never get the opportunity. Baron left the alley with a new found purpose. Realizing he was weak there was no other choice but to get stronger.
He quickly went to the market and bought a cheap copper sword. He had learned a lot about the game by listening to people in the market. It was basic information like to get stronger you need a higher level, and to get that you need to hunt rabbits. However, he hadn't learned enough to know that a short sword wasn't a good fit for a barbarian. Because of his strength he could have easily used a two-handed long sword or larger broad sword. With naturally low agility it wasn't practical to dodge and so a large weapon was necessary for blocking. He also didn't buy armor because he was under the assumption that all it did was reduce pain. He viewed armor as something only bitches and little kids needed. With his copper short sword, that he didn't check the stats on, he headed towards the northern entrance of the city to hunt rabbits.
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Nile finished watching the first episode of his show that his editor had sent over. He was the last person to give it the seal of approval before it aired later that day. After sending his editor an email thanking him, Nile got back into the capsule to start hunting in RR for the first time
When he arrived back in the Citedale of Sai he immediately headed for the North exit of the city. The north had the largest plains for hunting rabbits around Sai, and although there were more people there the extra space made it seem like less. Rabbits may be the weakest monster in the game but at level 3 Nile was still nervous about weather he could take one by himself. He received a basic bow with 50 arrows after completing the basic archery course. Also he wasn't a combat type profession so it would be a good idea to get a tank to party up with.
"Whats up guys? Nile here bringing you some more RR." Like always he still had to talk to the future audience of the show and explain what he was doing."My one month confinement to the city is finally over so I thought it would be a good idea to level up on some bunnies. Because I am the ultimate support class I'm going to need to find some party members to play with. When I do find someone to play with I'll have to stop talking like this. It'll be a better experience if the other people, or person, doesn't know there being filmed. You get more real game play that way, plus it's a hassle to explain it to everyone. We're entering the northern hunting grounds right now. Lets see who we can find to party with us."
Nile scanned the people in the area. There were about 50 people. He was looking for groups of 2 or solo players to party with. Anymore than 2 and the audience may get confused. Unfortunately there were several groups of 5 or more. A couple people were looking for parties, but they seemed to be support classes like himself. Finally he spotted a solo player with a sword hunting rabbits by himself. He had found Baron. As he began to approach his mark he made a side comment to his audience reminding them that he would have to stop talking to them. When he got within 50 feet of Baron he noticed something he couldn't at a distance. The man was a barbarian. 'Perfect! Barbarians are the perfect tanks, I really need to party with this guy.' His Luck quickly ran out as he got a glimpse of the mans face. He didn't have a scary face. There were no scars or deformities, but Nile stopped as soon as he saw the face. He had never been so intimidated in his life.
Baron stopped fighting the rabbit and turned to look at the man standing 10 feet away from him. The rabbit he was fighting simply hopped away as it realized his opponent wasn't going to fight anymore. So far all of his experiences with users inside the game had been of them killing him, so he decided to stay alert in case anything similar happened. The man who approached him, Nile, didn't seem dangerous, however in a game with levels appearances were deceiving. Nile wasn't very tall, probably a foot and a half shorter than himself, and had a slim figure with a slightly muscular build. He wasn't the kind of guy you go out of your way to avoid.
"Hey hows it going?" Nile was the first to say anything.
"What do you want?" Baron wasn't in the mood for people. He was having difficulty hunting rabbits and it put him in a bad mood.
"I just wanted to know if you'd like to party up. I'm only a cleric so I can't hunt by myself."
"Whats a cleric?"
"I use magic to heal teammates?" The question confused Nile. The were very few people playing that had zero experience in MMORPG's, so it was weird for someone to not know what a cleric was.
Baron didn't plan to play with anyone, but the rabbits were frustrating to hunt. He started considering the offer after the guy said he was a healer. Most of the time he had to run from the rabbits because his health got too low. Being healed in the middle of battle would surely be helpful, plus the guy looked like he just started and wouldn't put up much of a fight if the need arose.
"So you can heal me in the fight?"
"Ya, that's what I do. My names Nile." He extended his hand for Baron to shake, who reluctantly shook his hand.
"Baron."
The two decided to hunt together and started looking for a rabbit to kill. There was an abundance in the plains for beginners to hunt. Once they found one Baron charged at it. Before he could swing his sword the rabbit jumped and hit him in the chest. The hit did 5 points of damage out of Barons 120. Barbarians have naturally higher health then humans who start with 100. He quickly went in for another swing but received a blow to the knee before he realized it. He lost 10 health and was forced to take a knee. With a quick slash he was able to get a hit on the rabbit. Dealing enough damage to bring the rabbit's health down 20%. The rabbit seemed unfazed and continued to attack. After exchanging blows for another minute both fighters were down to 30% health.
Nile quickly cast his healing spell on Baron. He would have done it earlier but was too busy hiding his laughter. It was very comical watching the huge barbarian get beat up by a little rabbit. His heal spell was still beginner level 1 so it only healed Baron by 45 points. It was however, enough to let him get in 2 more hits and finish off the rabbit. The exp was split between them but it was still enough for Nile to level up to level 4. At such low levels 25 - 30 rabbits should be enough per level. The problem was Baron. He had struggled so much just to kill one, but to be efficient they would need to hunt at least groups of 3. Nile contemplated finding a new teammate, but there wasn't much of a selection so it may just be easier to teach him how to play. Judging by Barons sword he didn't have a lot of money. His sword was the cheapest you could possible find. It was even cheaper than the sword Nile bought to show his audience the process. He also figured Baron was still at level 1 or 2 because of the damage he dealt and his inability to dodge. Even with that horrible sword if he was a couple levels higher he would deal more than twice the damage. The thing about the beginning of games is that the skill difference between levels is high. A level 3 may have twice the strength of a level 1, whereas once levels got higher the difference would be nearly negligible. Deciding to teach Baron instead of finding a replacement meant getting to know him better.
"Hey Baron, What level are you?"
"Level 7." He was hesitant at first to tell him, but figured it didn't matter.
Baron's response left Nile shocked. At level 7 most people can at least take a rabbit in 2 hits if not 1. The only explanation would be that Baron put all of his stat points into something useless. 'Maybe barbarians have an intimidation stat that he put his points into. It definitely seems like it.'
"What stats did you increase then?"
"My only stat that has increased is my dexterity by 42 and my fame by 104."
"You put all you stat points into dexterity?" That would certainly explain why he can't kill the rabbits, but he should only have had 30 points to add, 5 for every level increase from 1. Plus the 104 fame didn't make sense. It was incredibly hard to get fame.
"I didn't do anything to it. My dexterity just randomly increased by 1 several times in the past month."
Nile knew it was possible to raise stats independent of levels however it was extremely difficult and most people thought it was more efficient to just level up. If Baron did raise his dexterity that way it would mean he still has 30 unused skill points.'Surely there isn't someone so ignorant of games that they wouldn't even know that right?'
"Open your status window. What does it say at the bottom?"
Baron did as Nile asked and found the 30 unused skill points. With Nile's advice Baron put 20 points into strength, and 10 into stamina. Nile wanted to ask how Baron got the +42 to dexterity as well as level 7 and the fame, but he wasn't the most talkative person so he didn't.
"Why did you but that sword?" Now that Nile realized how much of a beginner Baron was he now questioned everything about him.
"It was the cheapest for sale at the market."
"Still even if you didn't have that much money, you could've went for a broad sword for a few coppers more. That sword looks like a dagger compared to your size. Here try this sword I bought." Nile took the two-handed long sword from his inventory and handed it hilt first to Baron.
"This one's a lot heavier."
"Ya, you should be able to do much more damage with that. The added weight gives it more momentum when you swing."
Now that Baron got a better weapon and better stats they decided to continue their hunt. When they found the next target they engaged in the same way as before. The rabbit got in 2 hits before Baron could strike back. However, this time Baron's first swing hit. The rabbit stood no chance against a sword 5 times its size and Faded into nothing with a single slash. Barons strength had doubled and his weapon was several times better making him significantly more deadly. His new weapon was classed as a heavy weapon and so he got a 10% increase in damage because of his race. Barbarians were naturally adept at handling larger weapons, such as two-handed swords, war hammers, and battle axes. What surprised Nile though was that Baron used the long sword in the same way as the short. Where most people would have trouble swinging a sword that big, Baron only used one hand. His sword play didn't suffer either. He swung the sword with the same grace and fluid motions, a feat Nile could only contribute to Barons insane level of dexterity.
After that Baron and Nile started farming the rabbits. With Nile's healing capabilities and Baron's one shot kills they could easily take on 10 rabbits at a time. Unfortunately the largest packs they found had 6. The exp was decent until Nile hit level 10. At this point Baron was level 11, very close to 12. The rabbits gave such small amount of exp that it would take upwards of 100 to reach the next level. At this point they decided to switch to foxes instead. They gave 5 times the exp but had a lot greater speed and agility. There first attempt started with Nile using his bow to get the foxes attention. The arrows damage was negligible, but it served its purpose. Nile's archery skill was already high so he decided to just train his holy magic instead. By making Baron go from fight to fight without resting he was able to use the skill more. It was already beginner level 2 after only 8 hours of training. He decided to use his bow only after they were having difficult attracting foxes.
The fox with an arrow in its back came running at the two of them. When the fox got into striking distance Baron attempted to kill it like he did the rabbits, however the fox was faster and none of his swings came close. He took 11 hits in the process before finally hitting the fox and making it fade away. Compared to the rabbits the fox was harder to hit and Baron ended up losing 10 times the health he would've had it been a rabbit. He had good control of his sword but it was large and very slow to swing.
Baron and Nile fought 3 more foxes with the same luck. One of the foxes even managed to get Baron down to 10% health even after Nile's healing spell. Baron started cursing himself loudly at his own weakness. He had gained some confidence after the massacre of rabbits but now he was losing to a fox. He was back in the same position as before he met Nile. It was in this desperation that he thought of a solution. As a child he had seen an old TV show where one of the characters with green hair used multiple swords to make himself stronger. Baron quickly equipped his copper short sword to his left hand as the next fox was running towards them. This time the arrow was in the head causing a critical hit and working the fox into a rage. Once in range he swung his long sword at the fox, just like before the fox quickly dodged. This time the fox was dealt a blow from Baron's short sword before it culd counter attack. It wasn't enough to one shot it, but the fox was left stunned by the pain for a second. Baron quickly capitalized on that moment and finished the rabbit with another slash. Even in the fights with rabbits he would still get hit at least once, but with a second sword Baron didn't get hit by the fox once.
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They only had time to hunt foxes for a couple more hours before Nile had to log out. It was getting close to 5 pm and he had stuff to do. His shows premiere was at seven and after the show he had to appear on a talk show discussing RR. The talk show was hosted by another fox commentator and solely focused on royal road content. The show ran 5 days a week and each episode featured a quest star. They were often professional gamers or developers who started playing RR after its launch.
After Nile left Baron continued hunting. He had a while before he had to log out and was still determined to get stronger. At first it was hard to attract the foxes without Nile's arrows but soon he figured it out. For the next 20 hours in game, 5 in real life, he hunted as many foxes as he could find. Even with the amount of time he hunted he was only able to reach level 15 before logging out.
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Baron logged out at the scheduled time. Two prison guards quickly ran over to help him out of the capsule, and remove the IV from his arm. He was so tired he could barely walk. The two guards reluctantly helped him walk as they headed towards the showers. When they were almost there Baron fell asleep and put all his weight onto the guards. They slapped him awake and kept walking. One of the guards even stayed with him in the shower to make sure he didn't fall asleep. It was the first shower he had in over a week and it was hell. He could barely stand and had to hold onto the shower head for support. Every time his head would drift towards the wall for support the guard would jab his side with a baton. He didn't have the energy to wash and just stood under the water. The shower hitting him seemed to make it 10 times harder to stand. He hadn't slept in 8 days and it was clearly evident. Aside from when he died yesterday, he hadn't been allowed to log out of royal road. He was allowed to log out once a week to maintain his hygiene with a shower. He felt so dead already that he didn't think a shower would make much of a difference.
10 years ago 18 year old baron had been convicted of killing 3 of his friends after a long night of partying. They were all drunk and on several different kinds of drugs. When He woke up the next day he was in a jail cell with no recollection of the night. He was charged with 3 counts of first degree murder and after a 10 year trial he was executed for his crimes. During the trial a video tape from a security camera was found clearly showing baron killing his friends. The evidence was so strong that his attorney urged him to confess to try to get out of the death penalty. Baron didn't confess on the hope the evidence would be proven false. He truly believed he would never kill his friends, even if he was high and drunk. Baron was by no means a model citizen. His rap sheet was extremely long for everything from gang affiliation to petty theft, but he wasn't a murderer. On the day of his execution he was smuggled out of his cell and brought to another prison. Here there were no windows and it was a lot smaller than the maximum security prison he came from. All of the guards had assault rifles and pistols on the hip. They would never talk aside from giving him commands. Baron had been in this new place for 8 days but he had only spent a few hours outside of RR. Shortly after he arrived one of the guards explained that he was going to be a test subject in an experiment to determine the effects of virtual reality on the body. The man said he would be playing a game called Royal Road and that they had a deal with the game company so that he couldn't raise suspicion. They also had a deal so that even when he died he could just log back in right away. It was then that he adopted his nickname 'Baron' as his real name and started playing RR.
Baron really had no idea what was going on. His mental state had deteriorated and his whole body hurt from lack of sleep. While finishing his shower the only thing he could think about was 'How much longer till I get back into royal road?' Inside the game both his mental fatigue and physical exhaustion went away. He could get away from his hell for another week. Inside the game all physical problems disappeared as wall as some mental ones. Things like psychological disorders wouldn't go away, but other less permanent conditions would. The two guards escorted him back to his capsule, still half carrying him. They put him inside the capsule and reconnected the IV. In the past week Baron didn't get anything to eat so he assumed that was what the IV was for. The guard shut the capsule and Baron logged back into RR.
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Nile arrived at FOX studios shortly before the broadcast. The head of FOX's Royal Road department greeted him and gave his congratulations. This was the first time Nile had been to the studio. He was hired over the internet and all interactions with his employers stayed there. He finally had a reason for coming, further proof that this would be his big break. As he walked through the studio he got to meet a lot of people who he actively followed online. FOX is the largest name in online entertainment so they had many famous employees. A secretary eventually found him and took him to a room for viewing the release of his show, The Holy Archer. Inside there was a huge TV scree hanging on the wall and a small conference like table with five chairs around it. One of the walls adjacent to the TV was one giant window. Outside was the Chicago skyline. It was the perfect view being of the 47th floor of FOX's studio. 5 minutes before the show was set to play a legend walked into the room. The man's name was Matt Gnade, and he was Nile's idol. For the last 5 years Matt had been FOX's most popular video game commentator. He was legend to many people not just Nile.
"Hello, I'm Matt Gnade."
"Nile, It's a pleasure sir."
"Sir? I'm not more than 5 years older than you. It's pretty impressive to get your own show. The Holy Archer is an interesting name. I can't wait to see what its about."
"Thanks sir. I can barely wait too."
They talked a little about RR and what was going to happen that night. After the show Matt's talkshow starts and today Nile was to be the guest star. The talkshow was extremely popular and would likely get more views than Nile play through show. To be a guest on the show was a huge accomplishment and would help to further Nile's career. Shortly before the show started the director that Nile spoke with earlier as well as two other people who introduced themselves as advertisement and public relations experts came into the room. They all sat down and the show started. The show played on the big screen that was covering nearly all of the wall. The show however didn't take up all of the screen. There was a spot of the screen that was used to show comments. The show started playing and the group didn't say much. The PR expert kept bringing up comments quietly discussing them with the director. For the most part the comments were positive. About 20 min into the show Matt turned to him and said he thought the concept behind the show was interesting. The complement excited Nile. One of his idols had just complemented him.
As the show continued the comments started getting more and more negative. After the scene with the church the pace of the show slowed down. Nile was going to the archery range and completing the basic course. The process took most of the time and wasn't very interesting. The few small quests he put into the show were things that the viewers had seen many times already. Matt didn't talk again for the rest of the show. The director even started to look disappointed. When the show was finally over they all went one floor down to where the talkshow was going to be held. Nile sat on the set a few feet from Matt. He was extremely nervous as he watched the director count down from 10. When the director said 0 a red light flicked on showing they were live and Matt began addressing the audience.
"Welcome back to Royal Road Talk. Your talkshow that discusses everything Royal Road, I'm your host Matt Gnade and we have an interesting guest with us today. If you watched the show that just ended than you know him. Everyone give a warm welcome to Nile!"
Nile nervously waved to the camera when he was introduced. He was right when he thought this show would have more viewers than his. At the start of the show there were already twice the number of views. He got excited again when he thought of how much popularity his show would gain after this. For the next 15 minuets they talked about RR and Nile's plans for the future in the game. The mood was really good until Matt asked one question.
"So Nile, I've seen your show along with the shows of the other FOX commentators James and Blare. I was wondering what you think is the reason that The Holy Archer got half the views that the shows of the other commentators got? In my opinion your show was a little lacking. Unlike the others you focused more on raising you character than making an interesting show. I understand you have to do that to try to get your made up class, but I have to say your show was somewhat lacking. Wouldn't you agree?
"Ummm......" The question took Nile by surprise. For a second he just stammered trying to find a response. Even the camera crew and those watching in the studio had expressions of shock at what had just been asked. It took a second but Nile finally responded. "No I completely disagree with you. If my show was lacking it was only because it was setting up for greatness later on."
The Director gave the signal after a little bit more high tension conversation. The interview was cut short 10 min before it was scheduled to end. Nile left the stage and was taken to a waiting room that had food and a TV with Royal Road Talk playing on it. On the screen Nile could see the next person coming on stage for an interview. His name was James Wright and this wasn't his first time appearing on the show. Matt continued the show as if nothing had ever happened with Nile. Him and James talked about the game for a while. Matt was constantly praising James on his skill and play style. At several points Matt tried getting James to reveal details about the second episode of his show that was scheduled to air the next day. James's show was called the Iron Knight James and was similar to Nile's show only he was on the path to becoming a Knight. The mood of the show was a lot more lively than when Nile was out there. The two commentators were constantly laughing and appeared to be having a good time. When the interview was almost over Matt asked a question that made Nile grit his teeth for a second time that night.
"So James, what is your opinion of Nile and his new show The Holy Archer?"
"In my opinion the kid doesn't deserve his own show. Like you said it was severely lacking. It's a disgrace to the quality of FOX and should just be cancelled. There are many amateurs tying to be famous now a days, and most of them have little or no talent."
For the next 10 min James and Matt did nothing but talk about how horrible Nile's show was in front of hundreds of thousands of people. At several points the director gave them orders to change subjects but they ignored him. Eventually the show abruptly went to a commercial. The director needed to stop them at all costs. The Holy Archer was a FOX show and the negative publicity would hurt their ratings.
Before the show cut to commercial Nile had already left. He was in a horrible mood and just felt like killing things in RR. It truly was the best stress release.
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The topic of the two FOX commentators trash talking another spread throughout the internet. The topic was discussed on several shows not affiliated with FOX. Commentators with a large following tended to take the side of Nile. They would discuss how it was wrong for Matt to say what he said. Lesser known commentators would side with Matt, trying not to go against the popular opinion. Although they weren't as popular, there were significantly more of them. The general opinion of viewers was that somehow Nile was in the wrong.
2 days after the original talkshow the topic was brought up in an interview with Royal Roads strongest player. The interview took place in Korea at a popular broadcast studio called KMC media. The talkshow that the strongest player appeared on was the most popular in all of Korea. KMC media had spent a large sum of money to get this player to appear in hopes it would increase their ratings. The players name was Bad Ray and he was currently the only player to reach level 24. On the show he was asked his opinion of what had happened.
"If you ask me, it was completely wrong what Matt and James said about Nile. I've seen all of the shows mentioned and Nile's wasn't lacking. If people didn't like it then the reason would be that it was too close to reality. Any professional gamer will tell you they've done nothing but grind since the game came out. Nile's approach to the game is very professional and he has an interesting premise behind the show. As for why Matt and James felt the need to bash Nile publicly, they're probably just scared. Its not everyday there positions as 2 of the top FOX commentators is threatened. As a professional gamer I watch a lot of programs in an attempt to gain more knowledge about Royal Road. The Holy Archer had some useful information as well as ideas I hadn't thought about before. I would highly recommend it as a show for people looking for something interesting while still looking for information about the game. If Nile's plan to create his own class works, it will revolutionize the way the game is played."
Bad Ray was an idol in Korea. After he praised The Holy Archer many people who hadn't seen it decided to. Even people who had seen it decided to rewatch it in an attempt to find the information Bad Ray had mentioned. Overnight Nile became a celebrity in Korea. The first episode of his show made it to number 5 on Korea's most watched broadcasts of the month. The show with Bad Ray made number 1 and James's show, The Iron Knight James, barely made it past 100 due to his low overseas popularity. As the interview with Bad Ray was translated into other languages, Nile began to gain popularity all over the world as well.