Victor observed the five green dots on his holographic screen with an amused grin. Funny. There was actually a map feature to the System, allowing him to track the players’ locations as long as they stayed within a certain range, which seemed to be around one hundred kilometers at the moment. He suspected that the Shadowlink Marks on their wrists served as the signal source. Such monitoring could prove useful for tracking the players’ movements and anticipating potential problems.
As a matter of fact, the Shadowlink Marks recorded the terrains around them and sent the data back to the System. The map, which was initially blurred all around, was beginning to be revealed as the players explored the surroundings more and more. For now, this feature was only available to him.
Closing the screen, he shifted his attention to the scene outside his bedroom window with hands folded behind his back. The players were fully immersed in their farming tasks, diligently plowing the field. As far as he was concerned, there was no real need to establish a farm area, but he saw it as a valuable opportunity for experimentation. Still, it would have some benefits for the players or even a future Magus like himself.
“Master, the players have been instructed according to your orders,” reported Lizbeth as she floated beside Victor, but she seemed to be holding something back.
“I know. Are there any problems?” Victor inquired.
“Umm, I won’t say it’s a problem per se… but the players are confused regarding the exact site of the missions we have given them,” Lizbeth explained.
After all, there was no one responsible for supervising the development project. Unless he appointed someone, either he or Lizbeth had to step in and guide the players themselves. Victor just so happened to have a brilliant idea for a temporary solution, however, and it had something to do with the tracking feature he had just discovered.
“I see that we can see their location from the System; is it possible to implement the map as an attachable image for the missions? You know, like a little visual aid to help the players understand where exactly they need to go…”
In today’s MMORPG games, almost every quest would be provided with precise locations for objectives. Heck, most even have an auto-walk feature to guide players without having to manually input every movement. Victor was well aware of these modern gaming conveniences, given his past as an avid gamer.
“Why, of course!” Lizbeth nodded in approval. “It would make for a nice touch indeed.”
“Mm, do give details according to what I’ve jotted down on that paper, although I wouldn’t mind if you add one or three of your own ideas.” Victor made a side glance toward the sheepskin paper or vellum on the desk in the main room. Earlier, while Lizbeth was focused on guiding the players through her hologram, he took the opportunity to sketch out the map of the academy.
It wasn’t that Victor was trying to make things difficult for the players; the faster the academy developed, the more it benefited him, after all. Plus, there was no way that a system for a game could be perfect from the start. Only through trial and error would it become something truly exceptional.
“Oh yeah, don’t forget to tell the players to gather in one of the meeting rooms at 03:00 P.M.,” Victor added, to which the fairy responded with a perfunctory “okay.” As the headmaster and the only mentor, it was his obligation to teach the players about magic.
Finding that there was nothing much to do in the academy until three in the afternoon, Victor decided to prepare and explore the forest near the academy.
“Where are you going?” Lizbeth asked, tilting her head curiously.
“I’m going to explore the forest near the academy. I have a main mission to complete, and it won’t clear itself, right?” Victor paused before instructing, “You stay here and oversee the players. If there’s any urgent situation, just contact me.”
The mission tasked him with finding three exploitable natural resources around the academy, and he happened to know of one already. There was a small stream to the northeast of the academy, which seemed to merge with another large river. This was the first on his list and was one of the reasons why the agricultural area was set up to the east. To top it off, he could use this chance to test the new spell he had received from the gacha.
“Mhm! Have a good trip, Master.” Lizbeth was eager to send him off, looking as if there would be no problem.
Victor chuckled. He had little to worry about with her holding the fort so long as she wasn’t slacking off.
***
As the hoe was swung with determination, the soil surrendered under the rhythmic dance of metal meeting earth. The sun had risen well above the horizon and cast a warm glow on the academy grounds.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
When the players saw that the mission would give them “merit points” as a reward, they were immediately riled up and more than ready to do the job, even if they had yet to know what they were used for. Even now, the players were hard at work in the agricultural area, each holding an iron hoe in their hands and cultivating the soil with determination.
“But still, I have to admit that this game feels so lifelike,” Michael commented as he wiped sweat from his brow.
“Eh, we know that already.”
“Hmm-hmm! I understand your romanticism,” Storm interjected, placing his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “The graphics, the sounds, the sensation of the soil beneath my feet, and even the feeling of the wind on my face… It’s like we’re really here!”
“No, what I was trying to say is that nothing seems as simple as clicking a mouse, nor is it a simple arbitrary repetition. We have to do things manually and precisely, just like in real life.”
Michael was, after all, a hardcore RPG gamer. He had delved into countless AAA-quality games, and if someone were to ask, “Have you played this game?” he would always answer with a confident “yes.” Virtual reality games were no exception. While major titles were still scarce, he had experienced most, if not all, of the popular ones. All so that his childhood dream could be realized, but until now most had fallen short.
“Then, what do you think this game resembles the most?”
“Well, we haven’t seen much of the magic aspect of the game yet. But if we ignore the academy setting and only focus on the building and farming aspects, it reminds me a bit of ‘Valheim.’ Have you played it before? The terrain and building mechanics are quite similar. And guess what? It even has magic, too.”
“Of course, I’ve played it! In fact, I have beaten all the bosses in the game and explored every inch of the generated map until no blanks were left. Building in that game is much simpler, though. And farming can be done with a single click as well…”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to say all along,” Michael said, not stopping his work with the hoe as they conversed. These past two hours, he had plowed two hundred square meters of the field.
“Speaking of the map… Guys, do you know how big this map is?” SuperNova, who hadn’t said much, raised the question as he looked into the trees in a daze, resting the hoe on his shoulder.
The academy was situated in a wide clearing. But the spot where they were plowing was right next to the forest. At times, they would see silhouettes of creatures in the far distance, but for whatever reason, these creatures didn’t approach them.
“I have no idea.” Prominence shrugged.
“Say, what if I venture outside the academy and keep going in one direction...”
Storm continued with the plowing as he glanced at SuperNova, who was eager to give it a try, and rationalized, “Who knows? There’s probably an invisible wall or some kind of limit to prevent players from exploring endlessly. Otherwise, the server would be overloaded, and the game would crash. Or maybe you'll find yourself in some glitched-out area, like a retro game bug. But I say you will probably die of a magical beast before that point. Honestly, it’s probably not worth the risk.”
“Exactly! Miss Fairy warned us about dangerous magical beasts outside, remember?” Zero reminded them. “And getting expelled by the headmaster is not something I’m aiming for. Besides, we still don’t know what would happen if we die in this game.”
“Don’t be a wet blanket. But you’re right; for an NPC, the headmaster is overpowered. I mean, he’s like an AI with human-like intelligence. Has humanity finally reached AI singularity…?”
Michael ignored SuperNova’s nonsensical rambling and pointed out, “With how intelligent the NPCs are, I suspect there may be a hidden setting such as amity or favorability. You can actually see that his attitude towards each player is not exactly the same.” He especially turned his eyes toward Storm. “There must be some hidden algorithm.”
Storm, feeling a bit defensive after picking up this subtle implication, retorted, “What? I was just curious! Alright?”
As they continued to plow the field, the players couldn’t help but experiment with various actions. The more they experimented with the game’s mechanics, the more they marveled at the level of immersion it provided. For instance, the sensation of pain was the same as in the real world, even down to the minute details.
Prominence also shared an interesting discovery: “Oh yeah. When the headmaster cast a spell to punish me, I didn’t feel too much pain. There seems to be a pain threshold in the game.”
Storm added, “Well, it seems that the game is still humane. I mean, feeling every bit of pain like in reality would be too much, don’t you think?”
They all nodded in agreement. No players would want to play a game where the sense of pain was too realistic. Dying in this world could possibly deliver irreversible trauma in real life if that were the case.
As they continued discussing this, Michael observed his fellow players. As someone who added the word “handsome” to his username, he obviously cared much about the appearance of his in-game character. Most importantly, he found that the other players’ virtual bodies were above average in terms of look. Being quite handsome in real life, he imagined that his in-game avatar must look even more striking and charismatic.
“Strange, right?” Zero remarked. “We’ve been at it for hours, yet I barely feel tired. I may have a job behind the screen, but I don’t think my in-game constitution is much different from real life.”
Storm affirmed, “It’s gotta be magic. Look at our robes; they were covered in dirt, but now they’re spotless. Must be some enchantment keeping us clean.”
The ground they were plowing was layered with short, stubborn grass that clung to the soil. With each swing of their hoes, it took extra energy and stamina to dig deep and overturn the earth. Sometimes, specks of dirt splattered onto their robes and clothes, creating small, muddy splotches, but they would soon disappear.
“Well, it’s pretty obvious with the game’s setting. It’s just plain weird if they aren’t enchanted with some magic spells… Still, a stamina boost from a robe…” Prominence couldn’t resist chiming in with a sly grin. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Zero rolled his eyes at Prominence’s teasing. “Either way, we can work longer without getting exhausted, which is a plus for the speed of completing the mission.”
Storm chuckled. “Yeah, we’re like virtual farmers in a fantastical world. Maybe we should ask Cyber to add cute NPCs that we could date later.”
“Harvest Moon in a Magus realm?” SuperNova laughed. “Now that’s a unique combination!”
“Hahaha! Absolutely…” Michael made a self-deprecating smile as he uttered, “Am I a Magus-to-be or a farmer?”