I finally reached the bottom of the mountain. I stared at it for a while and wondered what I should do next.

'Maybe I'll look around a bit?'

My eyes skipped around, looking for anything that called for my attention. But it was all rock.

I pushed my hand towards the stone surface of the mountain wall and began walking alongside it.

'I guess it would be fun to just reach the top?'

Yes. The top! Now that's how you explore things!

I followed the mountain wall, looking around to see if I could spot any trails leading to higher elevations.

But there was no such place.

"This is weird, are mountains usually like this?" I said out loud

I kept following the wall around until I finally found what I was looking for. The ground was connected to the mountain in a slope up ahead!

I started jogging towards the sloped ground, quickly reached it, and began my ascension.

Warm winds blew my hair over my face as I jogged uphill. But the sloped ground turned steeper and steeper by each step.

Soon, I was once again at the loss of a place to walk upwards.

"Yeah, this isn't working out... If only there was a way for me too...."

Right! Why don't I just try my luck and climb?

I took action and reached for an edge on the stone wall, trying to get a good grip. Once I had the grip, I pushed my boots against small cracks on the wall. I heaved myself higher as I reached for the next spot to put my other hand. It was smooth sailing, and I never knew climbing would be this easy.

Mountain climbing, how nice it is!

*SCREEEEEECH*

A loud noise made me lose focus.

I almost missed the next edge I was going for and I had to compensate by applying much more force to my other hand.

Luckily, I got the grip I needed and could stop for a breather.

"What was that noise?" I thought as I turned my head around.

*You have lost 3 HP

A sudden warm pain filled my right cheek as I got sent flying back down.

A large bird had attacked me, and as I fell in freefall I swear I could see the fat, sea-gull like, bird with a horn smile at me!

That sh*t!

I hit the ground, the impact shook my head and forced all the air out of my lungs.

* You have been affected by "Confusion"

[Confusion]

A state which affects your mind, giving you a hard time focusing your vision and slight dizziness.

*You have been affected by "Stun"

[Stun]

A state which affects your body, prohibiting you from moving for a small amount of time, depending on the cause.

*Inside a large, dull office*

"HAahahahahah" a woman burst into laughter.

"What happened Joanne? It's not like you to laugh like that?" a coworker rushed over to her desk.

They were a part of the Vivide corporation and their job? To watch over some randomly picked players to keep a better track of how the game would progress.

Joanne wiped away a tear from her eye, a happy one.

"Oh, you see this guy I have to follow, he's just so funny to watch," She said.

The man leaned over her screen to get a better look.

"But he's just lying there?" He asked

"Right now, yes. But you should have seen it before! He tried climbing Mount Autumn without a rope, during the mountain-gulls nesting season!" Joanne answered.

"No way... Wait, it's only been roughly an hour since launch. What is he doing at Mount Autumn?" The man asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Joanne laughed some more.

"Marcus, this guy started walking towards the mountain only five minutes after launch! I wish you would have seen all the shit he did!"

Marcus was puzzled.

"Walking that much, wouldn't that make your satiety go down by a large amount? How much of the starter bread does he have left?"

Joanne smirked at Marcus.

"What?" Marcus asked

Joanne continued smiling.

"All of them, he hasn't opened his inventory yet," she said

Marcus's eyes opened wide.

"None?" Then how could he walk that long?

"That's the best part!" Joanne exclaimed.

"He received food from Freya!" Joanne added.

Had Marcus sat on a chair, he'd fall off it. Had he drank anything at the moment, he would have spat it out.

"THE FREYA?" He yelled.

He was bewildered, there was just no way!

"Yes sir! She shared a boar with him. It should be enough to make his satiety sky-rocket for at least a week!" Joanne said proudly.

Marcus sighed, "So why does it seem to me that this guy got slapped by a mountain-gull? Wouldn't Freya have given him a class quest if she took a liking to him?"

"That's the thing!" Joanne started.

"He's still level 1!"

"WHAT!?" Marcus slapped his forehead.

How on earth did this guy pass through the farmland forest without meeting or killing a single monster? Those damn wolves gave the testing crew such a hard time in the simulations...

Joanne poked Marcus to get his attention.

"Am I really not allowed to record this guy?" Joanne asked.

Some of the coworkers overheard their conversation.

One of them butted in. "Yes, Marcus! I'm watching Silyan right now, his control is out of this world. I would die to record it!"

Marcus held up a hand, motioning at him to shut it.

"If one of us is allowed to record them, everyone will want to. And besides, recording the players is prohibited by our contracts."

The coworker who joined the conversation drew a loud sigh, and quickly everyone got back to work.

Joanne looked back at the screen, only to see that the player was once again trying to climb the mountain.

I reached for another edge, this time faster than during my first attempts. This time, I'll be ready for the bird!

I climbed higher and higher, despite still being in the confused state. I mean, all it did was making me dizzy. Not a biggy.

As I continued my climb, I heard a loud screech once again.

*SCREEEEEEEECH*

This time I didn't stop climbing. Instead, I used every inch of my muscles to throw myself as high as possible. In an instant, none of my hands touched the mountain, nor did any other body part.

I looked down as the bird passed below me, and how it in anger flew away to make a detour.

I somehow manage to land on a flat area. Did I throw myself this high?

The small spot I was standing on was enough for me to lie down on, but with these birds flying around, there was no way I'd be staying here. I had to get going.

*SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH*

The bird was back, and its eyes glowed in red.

It flew straight at me, and it was clear to say that it wanted to impale me with its beak.

I quickly looked around me and saw a small rock. I reached for it and threw it at the bird that got closer by each second.

But the rock was far off target, like a lot!

The bird continued its dive, not afraid of a rock that flew at least a meter below it.

It got closer and closer, and right as it appeared in front of me, ready to impale my chest, I readied my arm.

The timing is important!

I opened my fist into a flat hand and swung my whole arm straight at the bird.

A clear hit, I slapped the bird!

The bird's head twitched sideways from the hit, but I did not stop its momentum. The bird crashed into me and we both flew into the wall.

I'm not good at keeping track of my health, but it's safe to say that it's at the bare minimum to stay alive.

The bird lied beside me, twitching.

'Oooooh, I think I know what this is! The bird is affected by the stun!'

I jumped back up on my two feet and reached for the large bird. I grabbed it by the throat and pulled it up in the air.

The bird was down for the counting, and I'll be its executioner!

I slapped the bird, left and right, right, and left. I gave it a good ten full force slaps until the bird finally died.

"So this is what it's like fighting monsters..." I breathed out and sat down.

Large blue screens appeared in front of my face again.

*You have killed a monster with at least 10 levels of difference, increased experience gain.

*You have gained 10 XP!

*You have leveled up!

*You have gained 4 stat points.

Well, would you look at that! Do I feel stronger already? I don't know, I think so?

Although tired from the fight, I looked around.

"There's no way for me to continue climbing from here... What do I do?" I said.

Uhm, think this through... What can I do?

Something tickled the back of my mind, a memory screaming to be remembered.

'Inventory, was it?''

Right! What was the command?

"Open Inventory," I said

A really large screen appeared in front of me, full of blue boxes. Though, empty boxes if I phrase it right?

At the top of the empty boxes, there was a picture of bread, followed by the number 10.

"No way... No way this is right?" I sighed

I had struggled to find food, I ate poisonous berries and got bullied by a fierce woman. In the end, I have had bread in this box since the very beginning? GAAAAAAAAAH

Next to the bread, there was a picture of a Pickaxe, piquing my interest.

I reached for the pickaxe and pulled it out of the screen, as the voice had instructed me earlier.

The pickaxe appeared in my hand, and it felt really good in my hand.

It gave me a warm fulfilling feeling, as if it always belonged there, resting against my palm.

I looked at the mountain wall in front of me

"Is this how I do it?" I said as I raised the pickaxe to the air.

I slammed the pickaxe down against the wall, producing a lovely sound, sweet music to my ears.

A large fragment of the stone wall fell straight off and hit the ground.

I reached for the stone.

[You have acquired Stone]

Rating: Common

Used as a resource in production or building.

The large stone disappeared, and I'd be guessing if I say it appeared in my inventory.

I raised the pickaxe once again, slamming the stone with it.

Another stone fell off, and as before, I let it disappear into my bag.

I continued the simple motion of raising my pickaxe and hitting rock. The music it produced made me dance with the rhythm. The dance being me hitting stone and picking it up, the song being Iron against the world.

It felt so soothing, I could go on forever. One piece of the mountain at a time. It wouldn't matter if I reached the top or not, as long as I could continue digging. Minutes turned to hours as I dined upon this feast given to me by Vivide.

No longer was I shackled by the corporations in the real world. All that matters was me and my pickaxe.

I raised the pickaxe high into the air, producing a golden glow. It struck the stone, and a new sound was created.

*DING*

[You have learned a new skill 'Mining']

[Mining] (C)

A passive skill, allowing you to mine special resources.

*You are the first to learn a gathering skill

[First to learn a gathering skill]

*You have gained 1+ in all stats

*You have gained 10 % of the current level’s required XP.

[First to learn 'Mining']

*You have gained 1+ in all stats

*You have gained 10 % of the current level’s required XP.

But that was not the noise that interrupted me, it was the glow coming out of the stone I just hit.

I looked at the stone, producing a slight brown, slight orange light.

[Copper Ore]

Rating: Common

*Can only be mined with the skill 'Mining*

A common resource found all around Anima, can be used to craft gear and jewelry, or to make tools and household wares.

I struck gold! Well not in a literal sense, but I did!

It felt so satisfying to have used this much effort to ground down the mountain. I realized I needed to smash down the rock around the piece of copper that I found to acquire it, but that was no problem!

I stood up and stretched my back, and while doing so I decided to turn around.

A couple of meters behind me, I could see light coming in. I was inside a tunnel.

"Wait a minute," I said

Did I do this? WHAT, how long have I been digging? Certainly not more than thirty minutes?

I freaked out, I must have lost track of time. This was dangerous! The game is dangerous!

"LOG OUT" I yelled, and everything turned dark

The lid to my capsule flew open as I rushed out. I threw off my clothes and jumped straight into the shower.

I sat down on the bathroom floor, letting cold water pour down on me.

But I wasn't as agitated anymore. Rather, I felt relieved.

"I can do this every day?" I said

I smiled.