[Debuff Applied – ‘Exhaustion’]

It’s been one week since Midgard launched. Long enough that everybody who was hoping that Ki was lying has been forced to accept reality. We really are going to have to beat this game if we ever want to leave, and now everybody knows it. I’ve had to sleep in the forests, trying to make beds out of leaves and grass as best as I can. But sleeping on the ground where enemies spawn is too perilous, so I’ve taken to sleeping in the trees. Even in the morning, the forest is so dense that the leaves stop light from filtering through. Or maybe it’s the biome’s effect.

VR is advanced. Shockingly so. But as more time passes I grow to miss the real world more and more. The small differences in realities are always there, and always make me feel like I’m in some sort of nightmare. There’s this lack of depth to feeling in this world. My body doesn’t feel like a body, it’s an avatar. I can’t give 110%, my muscles are just data. I can’t feel food in my stomach, I can’t dream, my HP bar and username are always in the top right of my screen. It’s so close to being a game, the seeds of the best game I’ve ever played are there. But it’s far overshadowed by the desire for it to be over.

One thing is for certain. My hair is a dead giveaway. Players are being cautious, or at least they were for the first couple days. Hunting troupes come, probably on quests from the NPCs in the city, and make their way through the forest, but they always come back to the city. Everytime the players see me though, swords are drawn. I’ve yet to see anybody equip anything other than a sword or a bow, though I guess we’re still on the 1st floor. Specialization might happen later on. I’ve been working on a solution to my hair though, and although it’s a little dumb, it might work. There’s a small red fruit hidden in the forest, each one around the size of a blueberry. If I can gather enough of them, I can dye my hair and nobody should recognize me!

I open my stat window, my new morning routine.

[Player Profile: {Kazesoku}

{Debuff - Exhaustion}

Titles: Gilgamesh, Cain

Lv. 7 - 1225/4200 EXP

HP: 440/550

ST: 560/700

MP: 240/300

Strength: 2

Dexterity: 5

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 3

Presence: 2

Skills: LOCKED, Swordsmanship (E), Evasiveness (Passive), Tracking (F)]

I discovered that active skills, like ‘Swordsmanship’ and ‘Tracking’ were graded, and by using them more you could level them up in tandem with your own level up. But ‘Evasiveness’ just seems to passively boost how hard it is for enemies to hit me. This debuff is really annoying, it prevents me from ever getting to my maximum health or stamina. I got it the first night I slept. Presumably if I made a better bed for myself I would be able to get rid of it, or if I slept in an inn. But thanks to my performance in the colosseum…That’s impossible.

I’ve done reconnaissance, but I haven’t been able to find the boss of the floor or any way to go up. The tallest structures are in the city, but none of them reach through to the sky or anything. There’s no way to know where the boss is.

Whatever. Today’s the day I finish gathering enough fruit to dye my hair. I hop down from my tree, and jog through the forest.

The forest is filled with enemies, higher level than the plains. Here the average level is 3-5. Rarely, a ‘strong enemy’ will spawn which is double the level of the average monster. But monsters scale differently to players, so even a level 10 monster has become something I can handle on my own quite easily. They also don’t offer much experience, which has probably been shooting me in the foot. I can only imagine the quest rewards people have in the city. I can’t afford to fall behind, I need to find those fruits! I activate tracking.

“Ahhh!” A girl screams. I skid to a stop, and look around. She’s not far away, I can tell from her voice, “Help me!! Somebody, anybody!” She cries. I tsk, and check my inventory. I only have 17 of the fruit. Will it be enough to hide my hair color? A loud roar shakes the nearby trees, and makes my mind up for me. I reach into my pouch and grab the berries, slamming them against my head and rubbing them into my hair while I dash towards the noises.

I see her. She’s young, probably not even out of high school yet. Her pink hair is set into twintails, but in spite of her size she’s holding a massive greatsword. Or…I can only assume she uses it. It’s embedded into a tree at the moment, opposite her, and an ogre stands between her and her weapon. The ogre is at least twice my height, has bumpy skin the color of snot, two teeth poking up out of its mouth, and wields a gargantuan wooden club the size of itself. It wears two pieces of clothing, a brown loincloth around its waist, and a necklack with a small key. The club is raised in the air, and is brought down on the girl with incredible force.

The hunk of wood slams into the ground with a crash, the trees shaking and sending leaves falling from the ceiling. I made it in time, even as my breathing is haggard and my stamina bar is over half drained due to the strain I put on dashing, I hold the girl safe in my arms. “Are you ok?” I ask offhandedly, looking instead at the ogre. It’s level…15?! How did it spawn here?! It’s over double my level!

“Y-Yes…Thanks to you,” she whispers, her voice and body trembling. I set her down, and analyze her. She’s cute, with a button nose and sparse freckles across her face. And her green eyes are staring at me so passionately. I did just save her, she must be feeling a lot of gratitude.

The ogre roars, preventing me from taking the time to relish my first positive social interaction in a week. “Can you still wield your sword?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Y-Yes!” She responds with a determined fire in her eyes. “I’m Momo,” she shares her player profile with me.

[Player Profile: {Momoira}

Title: N/A

Lv. 4 - 176/2300 EXP

HP: 74/200

ST: 20/150

MP: 100/100

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 1

Constitution: 2

Intelligence: 1

Presence: 1

Skills: Swordsmanship (F), Heavy Blow]

Holy glass cannon!! 8 strength? But she’s only one hit from dying, especially to a monster like this. I grab her hand and retreat with her, as the ogre’s club whizzes through the air where we once stood. “What’s ‘Heavy Blow’?”

“Ah! It’s a skill great sword users unlock once you put 5 points into strength. It lets me convert as much stamina as I want into strength and unleash a massive strike!”

“What happens if you miss?” She points at her greatsword, which is buried to its hilt in a tree. “I see.” I’m trying to formulate a battle plan to deal with this monster. It might be smarter to just run away, and to cut our losses. It’s slow, its movements are by no means quick, but the force of its club would take Momo out in one hit. Even with my HP, given the poor beginner armor I’m still wearing and the degraded state of it, I don’t know that I’d survive a few hits.

The ogre bellows, lifting the club with both hands. The club begins to glow with an ominous red aura. It’s too far away to hit us though, what could it be trying to do? The ogre swings the club downward, and without moving I dash in front of Momo, using my body to shield her. The club crashes into the ground, shattering the earth and sending a plume of dust upwards. The entire forest trembles, and I hear hundreds of birds squawk while flying away. Momo and I are blown off our feet, and I get a notification from the system.

[{Guardian Ogre} has used ‘earth arena’ magic! You are trapped in combat!]

The dust settles. We’re in a crater, the sun now filtering through thanks to dozens of fallen trees. There’s a wall of earth and logs around the crater, and only the ogre and us are in here. “...Have you lost a life before?” I ask Momo, drawing my sword.

“Yeah, at the colosseum massacre. Ah! But I still have one left!”

“...The colosseum massacre?”

“Look out!!” She cries, directing my attention back to the ogre. I swing my blade, clashing with the ogre’s club. I stand no chance of overpowering it’s swing, but by throwing all of my weight behind my defense I can barely redirect the club over my head.

“Momo! Get your greatsword! I’ll distract the ogre, recover as much stamina as you can and use all of it to pierce through this thing’s hide!”

“What?! And leave you alone with it?! Let’s just run!”

The ogre swings at me again, but this time I can jump back and avoid it. “You saw the notification! It used magic, we’re locked in combat with it. Besides, this is basic MMO strategy, you chose to put everything into offensive stats! You’re our DPS! I’ll be our tank.” She opens her mouth to argue with me. But instead of her voice, the ogre’s bellow drowns her out. She shuts up and nods, rushing away from me to try and find her blade in the debris of the crater.

I dive forward. I need to distract this thing as much as possible, if it gets one swing that even grazes Momo she’s a goner, and she’s our best bet at beating this thing. I’m engaging in very reckless tactics, slashing at it between its swings, and dodging its lumbering attacks by a hair’s breadth. What I can’t avoid, I redirect.

My breathing grows more and more haggard, but my arms and legs still move just as efficiently. This isn’t real life. It’s a game. As long as I have stamina left I can keep this up. And I have…135/700?! I’m running out quickly. “Momo!! How’s your stamina?”

“I’m back up to 80! Ah! And I’ve got my sword!”

The ogre swings directly down on me, its club diving towards my head. I raise my blade, and deflect the club to my right. But I miscalculated both its and my strength. It crashes through my blade, shattering the metal, and slams into my left arm.

[Warning! Health has dropped below 10%!]

It’s a good thing this world doesn’t calculate pain, or else I might have passed out on the spot. Even as it is, my body refuses to move. That blow drained me of nearly all my stamina, apparently I’m in a stunned state. “PUT EVERYTHING INTO IT MOMO!!!” I beg of the girl, watching as the ogre raises its club once more. Its shoulders shake a few times…it’s laughing at me!

“Everything? But, if I do that, I won’t-”

“EVERYTHING!!!” I shout at her, the ogre’s club reaching the zenith of its arc. He’s going to swing it down. I can’t move out of the way either, I’m still stunned. Come on…! “NOW MOMO!!”

[Title ‘Gilgamesh’ has been used to increase presence when addressing other players.]

[Allies have received temporary buff!]

“HYA!!!” Momo leaps into the air, jumping clear over me. Her blade is clad in a blue aura, and she brings it down at the same time that the ogre swings its club. The two weapons clash for only a second, but for that second I think to myself that Momo might lose the clash. Neither weapon moves back. Then, I hear the ripping sound of wood being torn apart. Momo’s sword slices downwards, and she moves further, slicing all the way through the club and slashing the ogre’s body in half along the way. A glowing streak of red appears down the center of the ogre, and I see its HP gauge falling rapidly.

Momo did exactly what she was supposed to. My stunned state is deactivated as well. Momo falls through the air, looking like a ragdoll. I leap and catch her again, checking her player profile again. She’s at 0 stamina, and she’s been knocked unconscious from the exertion. “...Well done, Momo,” I compliment the sleeping girl, looking back to the ogre…whose HP is no longer falling. And it’s not at 0.

“RAAAR,” its roar is filled with fury. There’s still a line of red in the middle of it, although it’s gradually closing.

“Sorry Momo,” I apologize as I drop her, trading her for the greatsword. I don’t love this blade, I’m not a fan of how it sits in my palms, and I don’t have a high enough strength stat to properly wield it. But I can wield it, and I just need to deal the finishing blow. “I’m going to steal your kill!” I exclaim, thrusting her blade forward, stabbing the ogre through its stomach.

[Title ‘Cain’ has been used to increase damage when killing a named enemy.]

[Critical strike! Double damage will be applied!]

The blade pierces through the ogre’s flesh and sinks to the hilt. The ogre falls to its knees, and then shatters into blue code.

[You have defeated {Guardian Ogre}! +2500 EXP]

[‘Tower Key’ has been added to inventory!]

[{Guardian Ogre} has been slain! Dungeon to the 2nd floor is now opening…]