Jake lay in his tent, staring up at the fabric roof of the small structure as he processed what had happened to him.
He had died.
He had died and even seen his own dead body. Yet, strangely, he felt almost nothing from it. No disgust, no terror, no panic. He wondered why. Was it something that the game was doing? Was it able to affect his brain in some way to make it easier to accept his own death? Jake wasn’t sure if he liked the thought of the machine messing with his head, but there wasn’t much he could do about it right now.
A soft chime startled him out of his thoughts, looking around before noticing that the two symbols that had been in the bottom left of his vision had vanished. That meant that the two debuffs had finally worn off, Jake going to crawl out of his tent before a thought occurred to him. The wolves had killed him just outside the Safe Zone, did that mean that they now knew where it was? Was he in danger if he stayed? What could he do about it anyway? If they caught him, they’d almost certainly just kill him again.
Shaking his head, Jake tried to push the dark thoughts down, distracting himself by opening the menu and reading over the options. His eyes were immediately pulled to the large red button at the bottom of the list, the words “log out” calling to him. He reached for the button, pausing just before he touched it. He’d agreed to play this game with Andy, hadn’t he? So, the least he could do was keep playing until he either found a way to get to his friend, or the session ended. Lifting his hand, he pressed the “Profile” button instead, calling up a large screen.
Character Profile
Name
Jake Grey
Class
-
Level
11
Reputation
Unknown
Hit Points
190
Mana Points
190
Stamina
220
Fate Points
9
Power
20
Intellect
19
Agility
22
Wit
21
Vitality
19
Charisma
19
Skills (10/20)
Titles
Butcher [1]
Dodge [4]
Gathering [2]
Inspect [2]
Observe [2]
Skinning [1]
Sharp Eyes [1]
Small Blades [1]
Sprint [2]
Owner of the Dark Woods (Conditional)
Frontrunner
Giant Slayer V
Pioneer
Jake looked over the page, unsure as to what it all meant. Poking around, he found he could call up basic explanations of each of his stats.
Power
Affects your physical strength and basic damage with melee weapons and some ranged weapons.
Agility
Affects your mobility and basic damage with ranged weapons and some melee weapons.
Agility
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Affects your mobility and basic damage with some ranged weapons and some melee weapons.
Intellect
Affects your intelligence and basic damage with Magic.
Wit
Affects your tactical and perceptive abilities.
Charisma
Affects your social and interpersonal abilities.
Jake sighed, the descriptions not making much more sense to him than the names. He’d listened intently to Andy’s “lessons” the previous day but felt like he’d forgotten most of it. And what he did remember was either the bare basics or didn’t seem to apply in Grande New World.
There was also the problem of how his stats had been distributed. He didn’t know the math or reasoning behind it, but the system had kept all his stats roughly the same. Andy had warned him against doing that, saying that while a generalist build was okay at low levels, it would lead to a weaker character overall. Not that there was much he could do about that now, though.
Not letting himself get put down by his less-than-optimal stat distribution, Jake tried selecting his titles, unsurprised when the windows popped up.
Owner of the Dark Woods (Conditional)
You are the owner of the Dark Woods.
Unique Title
You will need to spend a minimum of SEVEN (7) in game days occupying the Dark Woods to complete your claim.
You have a maximum of ONE (1) week of real time to complete this task, otherwise the claim will be lost.
Time remaining: 6 days 18 hours 49 minutes
Frontrunner
You are the first Traveller to reach level 10.
Unique Title
+5% movement speed.
Giant Slayer V
You have slain an enemy over 25 levels stronger than you!
Epic Title
+10% damage per level against higher level enemies.
Pioneer
You are the first Traveller to enter the Wilds
Unique Title
+5% experience to Skills while in the Wilds
Jake looked at the first Title he’d gotten, [Owner of the Dark Woods (Conditional)], from the Fate Store. He wasn’t sure if there was a way to get a clock in the game, he’d have to ask Andy once they met up, but right now the timer on the Title seemed the easiest way to tell how long had passed. Judging by the timer, it had been a little under two hours in the real world, though Jake didn’t know if that counted the amount of time that he had been dead. Jake still wasn’t sure what that all meant, but he could figure it out later.
Shaking his head, he called up the main menu again, looking through the various options to find one that had grabbed his attention earlier. The button was blinking softly, a small red dot in the top right corner as it pulsed. He selected the button, labelled “Messages”, a text chat popping up in front of him already filled with messages.
Hey, my main man Jakey, its yah boi Andy. I just got into the game! Where you spawned at?
Yo Jakey, you there, bro? I’ve already started the basic starter quests. So many people hunting the mobs it's almost impossible! Hit me up if you need help.
Bro, are you ignoring me?
Nah, you must just be so caught up in the game that you’ve forgotten to check your messages.
You’ve straight up forgotten how to check your messages, haven’t you?
Hey man, just checking to see if you’ve remembered how to see your messages yet.
Jake stared at the messages for a moment, blinking a couple of times before slapping his hand to his forehead. How had he forgotten about the Messaging System? He quickly set about replying to the messages.
Hello Andy. I apologise for not answering sooner, but I did in fact forget about the message system. I have been making progress in the game but have found myself somewhere odd. Any help would be appreciated.
The response came almost immediately, surprising Jake slightly.
Jakey! Good to finally hear from you, mate! I was starting to get worried that you’d just like logged out or something. How are you doing? No one harassing you too much for being a noob? Anyway, where’d you spawn in at? I’m in a starter town called Dusk Keep, along with half of C12 if the forums are correct. I met this slightly crazy Fire Mage that has us combing a forest for a magical flower for a special Quest. Oh, and we managed to get to level three by killing a bunch of wolves. Have you been having fun?
Jake nodded to himself as he read the message, glad that his friend seemed to be having fun as he replied.
That sounds like fun. I am in a place called The Dark Woods. As far as I can tell, it is part of the Wilds. I have been having some fun with the game. I unfortunately died to wolves not too long ago, it was an unpleasant experience. I also think the game is doing something to my head, as I wasn’t distressed by the concept and experience of dying all that much. Is that normal for these types of games?
A minute passed before the next response came, Jake reading it eagerly.
Dark Woods? Wilds? Dude, that sounds like a PVP zone, so watch yourself, those tend to be pretty high level. And you also died to wolves? I know a bunch of people did, but we didn’t find them too hard. And yeah, FD rigs can do some stuff to your brain to limit trauma from dying in games. It depends on the severity of the experience, but most folk who play FD are used to it by now, so it’s not a big deal.
Jake furrowed his brow at Andy’s conformation that the system was doing something to his head, wondering if he should just log off right now to avoid it doing anything further. He quickly shook the thought away, instead replying to the message.
I will try to be more careful. I am going to head in the opposite direction to the where the wolves attacked me. Hopefully I’ll leave their territory by doing that. Any advice for what to do in this game?
Jake waited for a moment, before a block of text appeared in his vision.
Well, I can’t say without seeing your stats and Skills. You only have ten Skill Slots, so don’t go spending your Fate Points on every random Skill you can, but I would advise you get a melee weapon Skill, as well as the [Bows], [Sneak], and [Observe] Skills. Oh, and try to get a Skill that improves your sight in some way. Like, stare at something in the distance until you get a Skill to see long distances. I don’t know if there’s even a Skill for that, but this game is pretty crazy, so there might be. Oh, you’ll also want the [Armour] Skill and maybe some gathering Skills if you want to RP the whole “one with nature” side of things. Other than that, just go with the flow and choose what you want, I’m sure you’ll do fine. Anyway, Fire Mage chick is shouting at me to stop messaging you and help her find this flower, so TTYL mate!
Jake smiled as he read the message, making a mental note of the Skills Andy had recommended before closing the screen and crawling out of his tent. He looked around the clearing again, eyes lingering on the direction he’d encountered the wolves in for a moment, before shaking his head. If what his friend had said was true, then he had some work to do. Sitting on the ground, Jake opened his inventory and pulled out his Survival Knife and the strange silver barked sapling he had found before.
------
“Any progress?” Howard asked as he approached the woman at the main console, Abrahms working as furiously as she had been before, “Have you fixed the exploit?”
“No,” she replied curtly, “We managed to get a hot fix on the bug, but nothing else. This guy is like a ghost, no data trail other than his account being set up yesterday and then making it into the top ten on the practice games.”
“Right,” Howard nodded, pausing at something she said, “Wait, top ten in the practice games?”
“Yep,” Abrahms replied, “Speed, Reaction Time, and Combat, top ten for each. Just popped up in City Twelve and grabbed a top spot in each.”
“Oh, you mean he’s in the top ten for City Twelve,” Howard sighed in relief, “You had me worried for a moment.”
“Nope, worldwide leader boards,” Abrahms shrugged, pulling up a window on the holo-screen showing the positions, “He actually got third in Combat, so he’s pretty good. But other than that, nothing. Huh, that’s weird.”
“You’re telling me?” Howard groaned, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache starting to form.
“Not that,” the technician said, pointing to the screen as lines of data scrolled across it, “Seems like one of the Governors of Directions AI has taken an interest in our man.”
“What? Which one?” Howard asked, leaning in to take a look.
“Gaia.”
------
Andy panted as they arrived at the gate, the large wooden doors already swinging shut as they rushed through, getting a few looks from the guards.
“That was too close,” he groaned, looking at his companion in mild annoyance, “Why’d you insist on getting more than one of those things?”
“Because I’ll either get reputation or more pills,” Sophie gasped for air beside him, “Both are useful.”
“Yeah, but five?” the man chuckled weakly as they finally caught their breath, “Are you a teacher’s pet or something?”
“Or something,” the girl replied, the pair walking towards the main square, “Anyway, this is where we part ways. We’re both level three now, which means we can get a Class Quest.”
“Yeah,” the man nodded, “Wait, how do you know that?”
“I read it,” Sophie explained, rolling her eyes at him, “In the library. There are all sorts of books on how to get certain Skills and how the Class system works in there.”
“Huh,” Andy nodded as they reached the main square, looking over to the large building that was the library, “Maybe I’ll check it out later. Anyway, see you around.”
“Hold on,” Sophie suddenly said, a friend request appearing in front of Andy, “You were helpful today, so we can be friends.”
“We can?” Andy chuckled slyly, shaking his head as he accepted the offer, “Okay then, if I’m ever in the market for a Fire Mage, you’ll be the first person I call.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Sophie smiled back, before disbanding the party and hurrying off, leaving Andy standing at the edge of the square.
“Now,” he said to himself, “Where do I find a Class Trainer?”