Jake groaned as he lifted his arms to his head, the muscles tight and sore. Sitting up, he took the helmet off, looking around the small room as the lights flickered on. He blinked a few times, before sliding out of the sleeping bay, his muscles protesting as he let out another groan. Standing, he stretched out his body, going through the routine he used in the mornings, sighing in relief as the discomfort quickly faded. A knock at his door made Jake look up as it opened, Andy stepping into the small room.
“Hey man, I see you’re out,” Andy hummed as he watched Jake finish his stretches, “I was worried for a moment when I didn’t see you in the hub on log out.”
“Ah,” Jake nodded as he stood back up, “Sorry, I chose to leave the game directly.”
“No biggie,” Andy chuckled as he left the room, Jake following him as he walked over to the food fabricator, dialling something in as the machine whirred to life, “Anyway, how do you feel?”
“Not great,” Jake muttered, his head still feeling a little fuzzy as he squeezed past the side of the couch, sitting down on it as Andy pulled the hot meals from the fabricator, handing a plate fo spaghetti with sauce to Jake as he sat alongside him, “Is it normal to feel this bad when you finish playing a game?”
“Sort of,” Andy chuckled, immediately digging into his meal, “It’s probably worse for you cause it’s your first time playing FD for an extended period. Want a drink?”
“Sure,” Jake nodded, Andy grinning at him.
“Well, the fridge is just over there,” the large man said, jerking his head in the direction of the small machine, “Go grab yourself something.”
“What?” Jake blinked, “But I thought…”
“That I was offering?” Andy laughed, “I was, but this is your place too, so you have free reign of the fridge as long as you have the credits to fill it. Which you do.”
“Right,” Jake chuckled back, getting up and moving past the other man, heading to the fridge, and grabbing a bottle of recycled water, “You want anything?”
“Bottle of water, if you would my good sir,” Andy called, already halfway through his meal, looking up as the massive holo-screen that took up the wall at the end of the room suddenly turned on, a call coming through, “Huh, who’s this?”
“No idea,” Jake hummed, shrugging as he sat beside Andy again, “Gaia said something about people wanting to call me, so maybe it’s them?”
“Gaia?” Andy asked, Jake just nodding, “Guess we might as well answer then.”
“Hello,” the man said immediately as the call went through, looking out of the screen as he smiled, “My name is Howard Steele, a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hello,” Jake replied, looking over to Andy as the man choked on his food, staring at the screen in shock, “Are you okay, Andy?”
“H-Howard Steele?” Andy gasped as he cleared his throat, “A-a pleasure to meet you, sir! To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Andy?” Jake asked, “You know this man?”
“I know of him,” Andy hissed under his breath, “He’s the CEO of Neurotech, he basically runs GNW!”
“Oh,” Jake blinked, looking back at the screen, “How can we help you, Mr Steele?”
“You are Jacob Albert Hart, correct?” the man asked, glancing off to the side for a moment, before locking eyes with Jake, “I see why you were under the Privacy Clause now. Your father is one of our biggest benefactors, Mr Hart.”
“Hart? Your dad?” Andy gasped, looking at Jake, “What's he talking about, Jakey?”
“Jake,” Jake said, glaring at the man on the screen, “Just call me Jake. I don't use that name anymore.”
“Ah, of course, Jake,” Howard nodded, before he continued, “I understand that you were the one who discovered a rather large exploit in the Systems of Grande New World, correct?”
“I don’t know what that means,” Jake replied curtly, obviously annoyed.
“Exploit? Wait, Jakey, what did you do?” Andy asked slowly.
“He discovered a way to spawn into the game world outside of the preset areas, causing a large portion of the area known as The Wilds to be force activated earlier than anticipated,” Howard explained, “As such, it placed immense strain on the server for Cities Twelve, Fourteen and Sixteen. Thankfully, the System was able to handle it, just, and stabilized soon after.”
“Are you serious?” Andy gasped again, still staring at Jake, “But then…that means you…what?”
“Have you not told your friend yet?” Howard asked, a look of surprise on his face as Andy turned to stare at the screen, “It happens that Mr Hart...I apologise, that Jake is currently the highest-level player on your server, in all of Grande New World in fact.”
“Seriously?” Andy asked, looking back at Jake, “Jakey, what level are you?”
“Eleven,” Jake replied, “I killed a Giant Shadow Rat and got a lot of experience. I was actually planning on talking to you about that, my stats are currently quite spread out and I wanted to know how to fix that.”
“ELEVEN?” Andy shouted, “Dude! What the fuck?! That’s crazy! You have to tell me everything!”
“Actually, that’s why I called,” Howard interrupted, “We don’t want Jake, or anyone else, for that matter, spreading the information about how he did it. As such, we have prepared a contract for you to sign.”
“A contract?” Jake asked, watching as the document appeared on the screen beside the image of Howard, “What kind of contract?”
“The type where you will effectively be working for Neurotech,” Howard replied, “It’s currently a fairly basic contract, but we are willing to allow for certain concessions and alterations to suit your needs and demands.”
“I see,” Jake hummed, already scanning over the document, “What kind of concessions? What can I not ask for?”
“Well, an example of what you cannot ask for is material wealth in the game, such as powerful items, objects or money,” Howard explained, “The distribution of all of that is controlled by the AI that moderate the game. However, we may be able to provide you with other small benefits at your request.”
“I want to be able to go to where Andy is,” Jake said, Howard nodding as he tapped at the desk in front of him, quickly typing something out, “Also, this section, about receiving access to a FD Pod? What does that mean?”
“Ah, that is an offer for you to gain access to the latest in FD technology, a full immersion Pod that will allow you to play the game almost indefinitely,” Howard explained, “It is something of a standard offer for all of our in-game employees.”
“I see,” Jake nodded, “Can Andy also get one?”
Howard stared at the man in confusion for a moment, before nodding his head slowly.
“We could organise a Pod for Mr Wheeler as well, yes,” he said, “Is that something you would like to have added to your contract?”
“Yes, please,” Jake nodded, Howard tapping at his desk again.
“Actually,” Andy hummed, smirking slightly as he spoke, “Can you make it so anyone in our Guild is also given the option?”
“Guild?” Howard muttered, before speaking more normally, “I was unaware that the two of you had a Guild.”
“We don’t, yet,” Andy grinned, “But if Jakey is going to work for you, then we’re definitely going to have to make one, right?”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“That would be preferable, yes,” Howard sighed, typing on his desk again, “I’ll see if we can add that, though there is no guarantee.”
“That’s fine,” Andy nodded, before looking over at Jake, “So, you going to take it?”
“I don’t see why not,” the man shrugged, looking back at him, “The game was fun, so I’d like to play more.”
“Great!” Andy laughed, looking back at Howard, “Alright, Mr Steele, anything else?”
“Only that it will take a day or two to finalize the changes to the contract and send it back to you to check and sign,” Howard said, “So I hope the two of you will continue to play Grande New World in the meantime.”
“Of course!” Andy nodded, “It was a pleasure talking to you!”
“The pleasure was all mine, Mr Wheeler, Jake,” Howard nodded back, “Have a good evening.”
The call ended, Jake still reading over the contract that had been sent as Andy sank back into the sofa, the piece of furniture protesting under his weight.
“Dude,” Andy whispered, “That really was Howard Steele, wasn’t it?”
“I suppose?” Jake muttered back as he continued to read, absentmindedly eating his food, “Is he really that important?”
“CEO of Neurotech, Jakey,” Andy reminded him, “He basically runs GNW.”
“Ah, I see,” Jake nodded, still not really getting it, “Anyway, this contract looks acceptable, though I suppose we should wait for the new version to be sent before I sign.”
“Good plan,” Andy nodded.
“Now what?” Jake hummed as he finished his food, Andy grabbing the two plates and tossing them into the recycler.
“Now?” Andy chuckled, “Well, we have a couple of hours before we should hit the sack, so want to play a game?”
------
Jake hummed as he finished his morning stretches, shaking out his body as he left his room, spotting Andy already sitting on the sofa, apparently eating breakfast.
“Morning,” he said, Andy glancing back with a grin as he nodded, his mouth full, “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Good idea,” Andy said as he swallowed, “I’ve already cleaned off and eaten, so I’m all ready to jump back into GNW.”
“Right,” Jake nodded, a slight feeling of excitement in his chest as he entered the small bathroom.
A quick chemical rinse later, and he was feeling surprisingly fresh, even though his skin still felt strange after being so thoroughly cleaned. Shaking his head, he grabbed the synthetic pancakes from the food fabricator, going to sit beside Andy as the large man watched the news on the massive holo-screen.
“Anything interesting?” Jake asked as he started to eat, Andy just shrugging as he turned the volume down with a gesture.
“Mostly stuff about how GNW is doing,” Andy hummed, “Stocks and player count and stuff. It’s pretty interesting if you’re into that stuff. So, what do you have planned for today?”
“Playing the game?” Jake said, looking at his friend in confusion, “What else were we going to do?”
“I meant in GNW,” Andy chuckled, “Of course we’re playing, I was just wondering if you were planning on breaking anything else.”
“I didn’t do that on purpose,” Jake huffed, stuffing an entire pancake in his mouth, and chewing on it.
“I’m just messing with you, Jakey,” Andy laughed, “Didn't mean to piss you off or anything.”
“You didn’t,” Jake chuckled back, swallowing the mouthful, “I was joking as well.”
“What?” Andy blinked, before laughing loudly, “You got me, Jakey! Glad to see you’re coming out of your shell!”
“Thanks,” the man laughed along, “Yeah, all this is still a quite weird and new to me, but I’m glad I agreed to play GNW with you.”
“Hey, we haven’t exactly played together just yet,” Andy hummed, “We still have to meet up in game to do that, but I think that’s still a ways away. Not that it matters, as long as you’re having fun.”
“I am,” Jake nodded, checking the time on the holo-screen, “It’s almost time for us to start, shall we go get ready to log in?”
“Eager, aren’t you?” Andy laughed, “We’ll make a true gamer out of you yet, my man!”
------
Jake blinked as the bright light shone down on him, looking around as he appeared in the middle of the clearing, finally able to see the damage that his fight the previous day, or he supposed three days ago in the game, had done. The once pristine grass was shredded and ripped up, his tent knocked over and covered in dirty footprints, and his fire pit and cooking pot were scattered across the clearing. Shaking his head, Jake quickly set about cleaning up, fixing his tent and fire pit, scowling slightly as he found his pot, the edge of the thin iron object bent inwards on one side.
“Quite the battle you had,” Gaia said as Jake finished his work, looking around the clearing, “Though I must say, I am impressed that you were able to complete the task I set for you in only an hour, and you even defeated the Bramble Wolf.”
“Yeah,” Jake hummed, turning to look at the skull-headed statue, “So?”
“So?” Gaia hummed back at him; Jake able to almost hear the smirk in her voice.
“I suppose asking for my reward would be rude?” he just chuckled, “Though I can’t say I’m not interested.”
“Was that a bit of sass?” Gaia asked, shaking her head, “You do realise that I am the most powerful being in this world, correct? I could end your existence with a snap of my fingers.”
“But you won’t,” Jake replied, crossing his arms as he smiled at the goddess, “Because you need me.”
“That I do,” Gaia nodded, slightly surprising Jake, “Which is why I’m giving you this.”
Jake looked as she opened her hand, revealing a small circular stone with a hole in it threaded onto a leather cord. Jake quickly used [Inspect] on it, blinking at the screen that appeared.
Warrior’s Amulet of the Wilds
An amulet made of stone and enchanted with powerful natural magics.
Accessory.
Effects:
+2 Power
+1 Agility
+1 Vitality
Ability: [Empower]
Soulbound
Quality: Epic
“What is this?” Jake gasped as he took the amulet, Gaia chuckling as he stared at it in awe.
“Well, I’ve had some time to think on what your additional reward should be for defeating the Bramble Wolf, and I decided to enhance the reward I was going to give you for completing the quest,” Gaia said, “I don’t believe that there is another accessory as powerful as that one in existence, at least at the moment. Now stop staring at it and put it on.”
“Right,” Jake nodded, slipping the accessory over his head, tucking it under his armour as he felt a slight tingle pass through him, “That was…odd.”
“Now check your stats,” Gaia said, “They should have increased.”
Jake just nodded as he called up his Character Screen.
Character Profile
Name
Jake Grey
Class
-
Level
11
Reputation
Unknown
Hit Points
200
Mana Points
190
Stamina Points
250
Fate Points
9
Power
20 {+3}
Intellect
19
Agility
22 {+3}
Wit
21
Vitality
19 {+1}
Charisma
19
Skills (15/20)
Titles
Alchemy [1]
Armour [10]
Bows [10]
Butcher [1]
Cooking [2]
Crafting [5]
Dodge [10]
Gathering [6]
Hide [1]
Inspect [6]
Observe [3]
Skinning [1]
Sharp Eyes [6]
Small Blades [10]
Sprint [7]
Owner of the Dark Woods (Conditional)
Frontrunner
Giant Slayer V
Pioneer
“Huh? The stat increases are more than the Amulet gives though?” Jake hummed, Gaia nodding.
“That’s because your armour also gives you a bonus,” she explained, “So the total is added up and applied to you stats.”
“I see,” Jake said, “So…now what?”
“Now, you are as ready as you are ever going to be,” Gaia replied, her voice going serious, “It is time for you to face your greatest foe yet. I pray for your success.”
Jake blinked as the screen appeared in front of him, nodding as he read over it.
Quest: Purge the Corruption
Gaia, Primal of the Wilds, has tasked you with finding and slaying the Agents of Corruption that dwell within the Dark Woods.
Objectives:
Locate the Agents of Corruption 0/1
Slay the Agents of Corruption 0/?
Rewards:
Class Change
Epic Equipment
Epic Weapon
Magic Skill
“Wait…” Jake muttered, “This is…I can actually see the rewards?”
“Of course,” Gaia nodded, “In most Quests you will be able to see the rewards, it is only because I was testing you that the rewards were considered variable.”
“Oh, okay,” Jake nodded.
“So?” Gaia hummed, “What are you going to do now?”
“Now?” Jake said with a grin, walking over to his fire pit and tossing a few pieces of wood into it, “Crafting and Alchemy.”