Chapter 3
Fated Crossing, Missed
Inside a room full of monitors and system units, two figures were present. One was lying on the foldable mattress on the floor, the other sat on the chair in front of the monitors. Both had wrapped their bodies in thick blankets, testament to the cold air coming from the installed air-conditioning units.
Kane, the person sitting in front of the monitors, looked down at the figure on the bed. He was sleeping soundly, a pair of glasses folded right beside his pillow. He was Alec, his co-worker.
The two were assigned to monitor any changes in the systems of Legend Tales Online, the newest virtual reality MMORPG of the century. It came out three months ago, and almost all other VR players have moved to this game.
Legend Tales Online boasts a world bigger than that of reality. It had multiple continents ruled by multiple factions. Although players could join any of these factions, the current trend was to join the two major factions, the Kingdom of Arcum and the Empire of Raiou.
The game boasts its Independent AI System, making it a controversial topic on mass media. The full details were not provided to the public and all they knew was that the in-game AI can perform very realistic actions similar to real humans. Of course there were obvious flaws since complete replication of humanistic behavior is impossible. If each and every AI in the game were able to do this, no hardware would be able to handle the amount of data processing. That's where the Core comes in.
The Core served as the "God" of the game. It's an AI that observed the game, and made decisions depending on what the data it had gathered. It automatically detects any anomaly in the system and if it deems it harmful, it will purge it. It can choose specific NPCs and give them freedom of action and in-depth decision making skills and emotions, turning them into actual human-like characters. It has the final decision on everything. It can shut the game down if it wants, a function called "Apocalypse."
Kane had rushed here yesterday early in the morning due to Alec's call. They had observed the strange data that was obviously out of the place in the system. It was the corrupted data of a NPC, but the Core did not make any actions to purge it.
Suddenly, Kane's eyes widened. The information scrolling down on the screen was something he had seen before. It was the activation of a quest. He started typing on the keyboard, copying the data and transferring it to a different monitor. He then kicked Alec's head to wake him up.
Alec: "Tch. That hurts. Couldn't you be a bit gentler when waking people up."
Kane: "Hurry and check this out. Cross reference it to the quest database."
With a confused look, Alec stood up and wore his glasses, then started operating in front of a different monitor.
Alec: "It's a quest for the founding of a new faction. Is our NPC planning to make one?"
He said that in a joking tone, but when he looked at Kane's serious face, his expression froze.
Alec: "Hey, hey. Don't tell me...?"
Kane: "That's how it is. What's the activation requirements for the quest?"
Alec: "Hmm... A player must acquire a guide from the town of Lewick to find the hidden village of the Oracle. If the player meets the requirements, which is not mentioned here, the Oracle will hand out an item to trigger the faction-making quest."
Kane: "Unknown requirements... that means the Core will decide on the spot."
The two became silent. They were already shocked at what they had found out yesterday. NPCs in Legend Tales Online can get experience just like players, but most of the NPCs have a very low EXP cap. Most of them can only reach a maximum level of 5, while others can reach the same level as players do. The high-leveled NPCs were usually the hired soldiers of the factions.
The NPC that they were tracking originally had a maximum level of 5, but after the data corruption similar to a hack happened yesterday, his level cap disappeared. Which means he can level up indefinitely. The real problem was his continuous gain of experience. He was gaining small amounts of experience every second, just like how humans learn every passing moment.
Kane: "Where's this Lewick town?"
Alec: "Searching... hmm... it's on the Northern border of Arcum. Hmm!?!"
Noticing the surprised expression, Kane was curious and looked over Alec's shoulder. It was a forum post about how Lewick had been raided by an unknown group and all the NPCs were killed.
Alec and Kane looked at each other. The NPC they were tracking should have been from Lewick, because the guide for finding the hidden village must come from that town. If all the NPCs were killed, then this quest should have been impossible to start.
Alec: "A survivor?"
Kane: "This is getting more and more confusing."
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The two sighed as they imagined how much work they still had to do.
* * * * * * * * *
In the forest North of the town of Khoria, a figure was crouching behind a tree. Heavy armor covered the figure's body, a sword and shield on the back. She was Janica.
After the conversation with her party in the Golden Lion pub, she decided to visit the town of Lewick to see it with her own eyes. The others were not interested and chose to stay in the capital to do solo quests. She then used the portal system to reach the closest town to Lewick, and walked the rest of the way. She had resupplied in Khoria, and was now on her way to the rumored town.
Behind the tree, Janica readied her self and gripped the sword sheathed on her back. She had seen a figure appear from the distance out of nowhere, and the thought that it might be a PK with stealth ability such as the Assassin raised her caution. The figure, after standing for a some time, started to walk South. He was Wearing simple clothings, equipped with a sword, and had a rucksack on his back.
Janica: Warrior? Merchant?
She could not determine his class using his appearance. He had a blue marker over his head. In Legend Tales Online, a blue marker meant a player, white for non-hostile non-players, and red for all hostile units.
He walked past a distance away from her, unable to detect her presence. She watched the blue marker disappear from her view and radar. As she stood up, a white figure with a white marker over its head appeared beside her. It was a horned rabbit. It stared at her for a while, then continued hopping to the same direction the man went to earlier. The scene caused her to pause for a while.
Janica: "That was just a coincidence, right?"
She was referring to the horned rabbit following the male player. Suddenly, she hit her forehead after realizing that the horned rabbit she saw was a rare animal. She had seen the posts on forums that horned rabbits have a small smooth blunt horn on the head. The rare ones have sharp horns similar to that of a unicorn.
She let out a sigh after realizing that she had let a possible rare pet go.
Janica: "Nothing I can do about it. I have other things to do."
With a determined look, she continued walking North to the town of Lewick.
* * * * * * * * *
Gone! The village disappeared into thin air!
With the lingering feeling of the Oracle's lips and scent, a voice echoed in Valecore's head.
Open your eyes...
His vision became blurry, and undefined lines scattered in front of him. A familiar heat filled his body and subsided as soon as it appeared. In a few seconds, his vision cleared.
Name:Valecore EdinLevel:8Race:Human (Incomplete Demonification)Class:NoneTitles:Fallen Hero, Demon King
StatsSTR:???AGI:???VIT:???DEX:???WIS:???INT:???
SkillsDemonic Corruption Lv.1
A blue translucent panel covered in static hovered in front of him. It stayed in front of his view even if he changed where he was looking.
Although it was a surprising thing, his heart was calm. It was as if he knew that this was something not that out of the ordinary. He remembered the Oracle's words.
Open your eyes, this is the last thing I can give you.
Valecore: "Is this what you gave me?"
Not knowing what to do with it, he decided to continue with his original plans. He needed to find a town where he can gather information. Ignoring the panel blocking his view, he focused his eyes on the things he could see through the translucent panel and proceeded walking South.
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[End of Chapter 3]
Is the pace too slow?