The room vanished around Liam. A movie played before him showing the world of Crunaboul in all its glory.

The flying continent Deaviny and the mainland divided into central plains, eastern mountains, northern desert, western ocean, and southern wasteland, offered infinite stories and puzzles.

But this time Liam was finally able to skip.

A light shone on a small altar in a nephilim village as Liam stepped out. He stared ahead with varying complicated emotions.

Carried to a new world he finally felt a hint of familiarity in Crunaboul.

Excited voice reached him. A few people were surprisingly done with the character creation already.

“Wow is this really a game?”

“No, it’s a virtual world. My father said it’s thousand of times more complicated than any game we know.”

“Why did they start so suddenly? I’m glad I bought a console early.”

“Frank is that you? Damn, you look just like in real life!”

A tall man looked at a short woman before him.

“Do I know you?!”

The short woman opened her eyes wide, boxing Frank’s shoulder.

“Don’t you recognize your own sister?!”

Liam smiled at the lively scene when a young man approached him.

“Hey, bro. Did you just arrive? My name is Raadu, the Allknowing, the best information broker in all of Crunaboul. Should I introduce the novice village to you?

Only two copper coins!

Do you know how to access your money? Here, I will tell you for free. Think ‘inventory’ in your head.”

Liam watched the blond, slightly chubby man before him, not able to suppress a chuckle.

“You’re an information broker? Didn’t you just join the game as well?”

“What does this have to do with it? Let me tell you, my parents are part of the devs. I have a lot of insider information!”

“Devs? Isn’t the virtual world retrieved from the Ancient Civilization?”

“SHHH! Don’t talk too much! Are you buying now or what?”

“Maybe next time.”

Raadu shook his head, but he wasn’t discouraged.

“Alright. Let’s add each other as friends. Don’t forget to call me in the future if you need to know something.”

“Sure.”

A friend invite popped up before Raadu’s eyes.

Bleary Mirage was confused for a moment as he noticed the surprise in the man’s eyes, but he quickly understood where it came from.

After all, even such simple things like friend invites took most people a few minutes to figure out.

“Damn I feel like I’m talking to a peer. Let’s cooperate in the future!”

“We’ll see.”

Raadu smiled brightly as he walked away, trying to sell his services elsewhere.

Liam was left standing on a town square, looking at all the different players.

Some immediately left for the surrounding forests. Some stayed and tried to find likeminded people. Some talked to the NPC, astonished by their incredibly lifelike behavior.

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But as Liam watched this behavior, he couldn’t help but fall into thought. He didn’t have any clear direction right now.

He could do some quest or go leveling but it didn’t bring much excitement to him.

Let’s see… what do I want to do?

Earn some money to secure a good life for Serena?

Not bad, but the credit exchange isn’t open yet.

Search for a challenge?

I could do so, but I would have to make it up myself. Something along the lines of soloing a level 10 boss at level five…

Just then a voice appeared in Liam’s head.

[Challenge ‘Enter Fate of Crunaboul on the first day of its launch!’ accomplished.]

[Evaluation: Rank S!]

[Possible rewards:

1. EXP boost.

2. Choose one item with a level requirement below 20.

3.

Please choose, Player Liam.]

Liam’s eyes lit up. He couldn’t deny that he was glad to receive an S-ranked evaluation this time.

Looking at the rewards his previous reasoning didn’t change much, directly choosing reward 3.

[Congratulations on finishing this challenge. You reward will arrive shortly.]

[Reward information:]

[The currency exchange will open in one month at a rate of 1:2000.]

“One gold coin for two thousand credits?”

Liam was surprised, even speaking out loud, before quickly suppressing his voice.

[Yes, Player Liam.]

Liam was surprised by this price. In his old life even at the beginning the rate was only 1:300, gradually dwindling over time.

But he soon figured it out. Taking the entire federation into contemplation, the population was much larger than on earth. On top of that the virtual world could grant one strength in real life, making it much more important.

At this moment a small commotion nearby caught Liam’s attention.

“Hmm? Why does my status say I have three lives?”

“Oh, mine too.”

“Focus on it to get more information!”

“What?! If one dies, they can only revive in the graveyard three times a day? Otherwise, they will be returned to the city and lose a life?

After losing three lives one will be banned from the game?”

“What?! Why would the devs do this?”

“Is this some measurement by the government?!”

Liam was confused to hear this as such a rule hadn’t existed in his previous life. He scrolled through his status, soon freezing in place.

C? Why does it say I only have one life?!

[This is a feature of [Hell] difficulty, player Liam.]

Liam didn’t know how to feel but he could only accept it.

I still have three revives from the graveyard. This shouldn’t be much of a problem for me.

While new players arrived and others left, Liam closed his status, finally ready to begin playing.

A few funny quests with good rewards came to his mind as well as some of the more challenging fights.

Let’s begin with the novice village.

Liam pushed his body through the crowd. He reached a small wooden home overgrown with greenery. In front of it, its owner opened a small stall selling some beginner gear.

The complaints of multiple players could be heard.

“Hey, why is this sword so expensive? Wouldn’t I change it by tomorrow the latest?”

“And look at this tunic! One point in defense? A single point? What is this?”

“Merchant, are you trying to scam us?!”

As the new players clamored, the merchant’s face turned more and more ugly.

Liam shook his head, knowing that this was one of the plights of the nephilim.

The merchant, Zeygnar, who had settled here was a dark-skinned human originating from somewhere in the northern desert.

But the nephilim didn’t have a good reputation in the world and this merchant only came to make money. He didn’t like their race at all.

Thus, if one wanted to get good deals from him, the player first needed to complete some quests.

However, Fate of Crunaboul wasn’t like other games where a bright yellow exclamation mark symbolized quest givers.

In this game almost every character could give quests. Some after only one question, others needed some sweettalking. Additionally, the hidden charisma stat also eased the process.

However, many quests also had various requirements like a high charisma stat, a certain level, or the possession of items etc.

The merchant’s face turned ever more unsightly. But fortunately, Liam wasn’t here to deal with him.

Just as he passed the crowd though, Zeygnar suddenly showed some movement.

“You came to buy from me? Of course, of course. You look like a woman of character.

Say, why don’t you help me with a little something and I will open my wares to you?”

Liam was taken aback. So was the crowd.

Everyone stared at a young woman who just arrived. She didn’t even speak before Zeygnar warmly welcomed her.

The woman was confused as well. She stared at Zeygnar but wasn’t unsettled by the attention on her.

At this moment a prompt appeared in front of her eyes.

[Bleary Mirage wants to be your friend.]

The woman was new to gaming, not suspecting anything. Thus, she accepted the friend request.

Liam acted purely out of curiosity. He wasn’t someone trying to hold others down. There was no need to do so.

Thus, he sent a message to the woman.

[Bleary Mirage: Hi! Your charisma stat must be through the roof for Zeygnar to be so enthusiastic. Quickly, accept the quest.]

[Silver Blade: Hi. Sorry, I don’t understand. What is charisma? And how do I accept the quest?]

[Bleary Mirage: Charisma is a hidden attribute useful when dealing with NPCs. And to accept the quest, just say yes.]

The crowd watch as the young woman opened her mouth.

“Yes.”

“Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you. You know, recently I have spilled a health potion, dirtying my beautiful carpet. If you could bring me some rabbit fur, I would be utmost grateful.”

[Do you wish to accept the quest ‘Rabbit fur for Zeygnar’?]

[Yes]

[No]

Silver Blade naturally didn’t need further explanation, pressing [Yes.]

A reminder flashed before her eyes for a few seconds.

[Quest: Rabbit fur for Zeygnar]

[Collect ten ‘Fur of the red eyed rabbit’! (0/10)]

[Hint: Red eyed rabbit can often be seen near Rabbit Creek.]

After Silver Blade read the text, it quickly vanished.