The fudge?
All I see on the sidewalk is a man hovering over another body(?)…
-/WELCOME/-
What.
Now there is a game-like status over the heads of the 'people'.
One says-
-/Johnny Hickman’s Corpse/-
the other,
-/Zombie/-
… This is not happening. I mean, maybe. Who knows…
-/Trait Unlocked: First's Will LVL: X/-
-/Trait Unlocked: First's Potential LVL: X/-
What. I don't even… wait. No. I know exactly what these words are but… Why?
Who even is the 'First'? Me apparently?
-/Trait Unlocked: Thought Acceleration LVL: 1/-
Umm. Why acceleration? And why is that zombie coming closer?!?
Oh no. What….
-/Trait Unlocked: Battle Focus LVL: 1/-
Shiiiiiiiit.
It's almost on me… what the hell to do… what the hell to do…. ARG!
TOO CLOSE!
[kicks at the knee of the zombie]
-/5 DAMAGE/-
Huh.
What's it's hp?
-/Skill Unlocked: Inspect LVL:1/-
-/System Update: Includes: Health bars, mana bars, stamina bars, titles, status effects, and more!/-
Grand.
-/Zombie/-
-/HP: 16/21/-
-/MP: 0/0/-
-/SP: 0/0/-
Well. It's actually pretty easy!
Wait. Aren't zombies only dangerous due to their infection rate? AHK!
[Kicks the zombie's chest]
-/3 DAMAGE/-
Why only three? Oh. Knee is a weak point. Probably.
Huh. I really hope that whole year of tae-kwon-do was worth it. Although… I haven't done it in 6 months…. Ugh.
[Dodge Zombie's Tackle]
Not really hard, with literally crawling speed.
[Swing kick to the zombie's Chin]
-/10 DAMAGE/-
-/STUNNED/-
Oh my god. That hurt a bit. Only like, superficial pain apparently. I haven't kicked that high for months…
This should finish it off…
[Kick to the zombie's chest]
-/3 DAMAGE/-
-/DEFEATED/-
-/10 EXPERIENCE/-
-/LEVEL UP/-
Okay.
Now what. The zombie is dead.
[Zombie Corpse Disappears]
What. Oh. It is a game I guess… Any loot? Wait before that….
INSPECT!
-/Johnny Hickman’s Corpse/-
-/Infected: 00:16/-
?
-/Infected: 00:15/-
Oh no. Another zombie?
[Repeatedely kicks in Corpse's head]
-/3 EXPERIENCE/-
Oh. Cool. Experience for that pre-zombie corpses too?
Okay. Wait. Shouldn't I have waited to turn for more experience and loot?
F***! Maybe I'll get loot from Johnny's pockets.
But before THAT….
Status!
….?
Character!
….
Options!
….
Help?
-/Automated Help Bot: What is the problem User?/-
… Uh. I don't know how to access anything.
-/Automated Help Bot: Please read manual./-
Where is the manual?
-/Automated Help Bot: In the inventory./-
And How do I access that?
-/Automated Help Bot: Pull up the User Interface./-
Okayyyy…
User Interface!
-/Character/-
-/Inventory/-
-/ Personalize/-
That is it? Why didn't saying character work? Wait a minute…
Personalize!
-/ HP: Visible? Y/N/-
-/MP: Visible? Y/N/-
-/SP: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Level: Visible? Y/N/-
-/XP: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Effects: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Inventory Hotbar: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Name: Visible? Y/N/-
-Title: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Class: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Hotkeys: Visible? Y/N/-
-/Commands: Active? Y/N/-
Why is this off?!?
Turn on all for crying out loud…
Wow. It's finally like an actual game now.
-/First/-
-/Aaron Anderson/-
-/None/-
-/Level: 2/-
-/XP: 3/20/-
-/HP: 10/10/-
-/MP: 10/10/-
-/SP: 10/10/-
-/Slot 1: Empty/-
-/Slot 2: Empty/-
-/Slot 3: Empty/-
-/Slot 4: Empty/-
-/Slot 5: Empty/-
-/Slot 6: Empty/-
-/Set 1: Empty/-
-/Set 2: Empty/-
-/Set 3: Empty/-
-/Effects: None/-
-/Character/-
-/Inventory/-
That is good. The name, title, class, level, and xp, are in the top left, hp, mp, and sp, to the right of that,
the slots and sets(Sets, YAY!), on the bottom as a bar, effects top right, and the hotkeys, bottom right.
Hmm… now that I think about it, the hp, mp, sp, and xp, should be in bars, as well the the rest being images. Like what is in the slot, in a square.
-/System Update: Includes: General U.I. Changes, such as: Attribute Bars, Images, and other visual changes/-
Wait what. Does it know what I'm thinking? Uh. Any chance of me getting OP really quickly?
-/All User Notice: Alpha 1.9.44.215.245 Active/-
What? Umm… Okay. I guess that is a no… Wait a minute? Not 1.0? Umm…. Either their naming sense is wack, or there are people in the system before me. That comes from the release number, as well as I guess the “All User” part of the message.
[Ring Ring Ring]
My phone?
Huh.
[Answers]
“Hello?”
“AARON! What the HELL was that?!”
“Was what….?”
“The All User Notice: Alpha whatever thing!!!”
“Umm. I don't know?” Oh no. I guess everyone is in the game now…
“Any chance you have said User Interface yet?”-Aaron
“What the heck would that…. Oh my god. This… this… What.”
“I think we are in a game now bro.”
“Why…. How did you know that Aaron?”
“I might've met a zombie.”
“Heeehhh!?!?”
“Calm down. It only killed one guy, some odd Johnny Wilcox or something.”
“Aaron. You need tell me what is going on. And also, THERE ARE FUCKING ZOMBIES!?!!? Are they spawning everywhere!?”
“Truthfully, I think just the one spawned, at least for now. I imagine it was only a part of introducing the pre-alpha players to the game.”
“Pre-alpha? Wasn't the alpha just released? HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN??!”
“Truthfully, just for like, 5-10 minutes. I was just about done learning about the User interface myself.”
“Aaron. I just got a… a trait(?)...”
“What is it called?”
“… Second's Potential.”
“And the other?”
“How'd you…!?”
“I'm the first.”
“It was Second's Will. What do they do?”
“I don't know yet. I haven't even looked at my character sheet or inventory yet. Adam, just one thing: Tell the family to access the U.I. I would, but I need to figure this out. Tell me later if they get the Third's Traits, or Fourth's, and if so, keep telling family about it until no-one get's it. We NEED an advantage in this new world. The only advantage I know of yet are these numbered traits about Will and Potential. Most other traits and skills seem unlock-able by simply trying to do something to unlock them, like inspecting something hard in order to get the skill inspect, and thinking quickly to get thought acceleration.”
“Who first?”
“I'd call mom and dad, or Andrew, then Amy, Larry and his family, then Steve's daughters. Don't let Steve know. To tell the truth, we both know how he gets. After that, find people you have trust and faith in, like a good friend, or another relative. Hurry. Tell me when it runs out. GO GO GO!”
“Okay…. I'm on it! Talk to yo later Aaron!”
[Hangs-up]
Now that that is taken care of… Do I try and figure out more skills and traits, or why monsters are appearing? Either way I've got to see my character sheet and inventory. I think the inventory is empty, but I need to see what it can hold. And as to the character, I need survivability, and fast. 10 HP, is nothing, since a Zombie alone, has 21. I think either I have 1 in the HP related stat, or 2. I also need to see what I got from the level up…
Character.
-/Title: First/-
-/Name: Aaron Anderson/-
-/Class: None/-
-/Level: 2/-
-/XP: 3/20/-
-/HP: 10/10/-
-/SP: 10/10/-
-/MP: 10/10/-
-/Stats/-
-/Constitution: 10/-
-/Stamina: 10/-
-/Intelligence: 10/-
-/Strength: 10/-
-/Agility: 10/-
-/Wisdom: 10/-
-/Stat Points: 20/-
-/Traits/-
-/First's Will LVL: X/-
-/First's Potential LVL: X/-
-/Thought Acceleration LVL: 1/-
-/Battle Focus LVL: 1/-
-/Skills/-
-/Inspect: LVL: 1/-
Huh. That kinda sucks. 1 stat per point? Ugh. What do they all do?
-/Constitution: HP = Constitution/-
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Very basic…
-/Stamina: SP = Stamina/-
…
-/Intelligence: MP = Intelligence/-
…
-/Strength: Limiter for equips/ inventory space, Determiner of Health taken by -1 HP per 10 Strength and physical damage given by a maximum of +1 HP per 1 Strength /-
Huh. That's different.
-/Agility: Determiner of Stamina taken by -1 SP per 10 Agility, Speed Increase by 1% per Agility/-
Okay… Now the last.
-/Wisdom: Determiner of Magic taken by -1 MP per 10 Wisdom, Magic Power increase by 1% per 10 Wisdom and magic damage given by a maximum of +1 HP per 1 Wisdom/-
Hmm. So, the first three are simply numerical, the last three give percentage based bonuses and limit used resources such as MP or SP. Also, Strength and Wisdom determine damage given. So far, it seems like most people will only have physical prowess, at least until magic in unsurfaced. Anyone can do a maximum of 10 damage at base stats, yet base STR limits that taken to 9. Good system for beginners, but I need to figure out late game to put stats accordingly… STR gives basically +1 DMG per STR. So ten more in STR can basically cause a zombie to die in two hits, instead of the four. Or actually, simply one and a half, but even in MMOs, I discount damage given as overkill. If I had done three full damage attacks I could've killed the zombie…
So: Always try for full damage attacks, or sequence attacks. It all depends on how hard I hit. If I hit ten times at 10%, it is only equal to 1 100% hit. But I realize now, equips, such as a pipe, or knife, should either add damage, or increase the max damage. So if I have a sword or something, I should be able to do maybe 30 extra damage maximum. So maybe 40 at the base level, so, I really can't avoid getting one-hit… I need to increase strength, in order to one hit, and Constitution in hopes to not get one hit. Okay.
-/Stats/-
-/Constitution: 20/-
-/Stamina: 10/-
-/Intelligence: 10/-
-/Strength: 20/-
-/Agility: 10/-
-/Wisdom: 10/-
-/Stat Points: 0/-
I have survivability. Kinda… ish.
Can I train stats? Maybe. I need a safe spot to do so. I'm still kinda in the middle of a sidewalk.
I need to find a way to level.
How would I level? Monsters must spawn somehow. Ugh. What do I do.
Before that, let's see the inventory slots. I'm guessing either 20 pounds worth now, maybe kilos, or 20 slots.
Inventory.
-/Slot 1: Empty/-
-/Slot 2: Empty/-
-/Slot 3: Empty/-
-/Slot 4: Empty/-
-/Slot 5: Empty/-
-/Slot 6: Empty/-
-/Slot 7: Empty/-
-/Slot 8: Empty/-
-/Slot 9: Empty/-
-/Slot 10: Empty/-
-/Slot 11: Empty/-
-/Slot 12: Empty/-
-/Slot 13: Empty/-
-/Slot 14: Empty/-
-/Slot 15: Empty/-
-/Slot 16: Empty/-
-/Slot 17: Empty/-
-/Slot 18: Empty/-
-/Slot 19: Empty/-
-/Slot 20: Empty/-
-/Set 1: Empty/-
-/Set 2: Empty/-
-/Set 3: Empty/-
Okay. So it is a slot per strength… And three set slots no matter what? Nothing in here… so kinda sucks.
I need to walk home and get a weapon. The corpses had nothing on them in terms of loot. I feel terrified knowing I can get killed so easily. Maybe this is how some people feel all the time… This sucks.
[I start walking]
I never did see what inspect did…
-/Inspect: Inspects and gives details of certain items./-
-/LVL: 1, XP: 9/10/-
Hmm. I got xp for simply inspecting stats and what they do? Okay. So one more and level 2?
Inspect.
-/Rock/-
-/Inspect Leveled Up!/-
-/Small Rock/-
Wow. Much improve. Such detail.
Sarcasm if you couldn't tell.
I don't really see anything on the way to home… I live just two blocks away in a straight line.
Inspect.
Inspect.
Inspect.
Inspect.
Inspect.
Inspect.
Inspect. (x Hundreds)
-/Sidewalk Concrete Square: 2240 kilograms/-
-/Oxygen 46%/-
-/Silicon 27%/-
-/Aluminum 8%/-
-/Iron 5%/-
-/Calcium 4%/-
-/Inspect: Inspects and gives details of certain items./-
-/LVL: 9, XP: 7/90/-
This. Is better. Much better. Dang. Huh. I really want to try and do the good ol' mythical Alchemy, and try and get pure iron and aluminum out of this. Then I can MAKE a weapon!
What if I just…
-/Obtained Sidewalk Concrete Square/-
Whoops.
I am so glad nobody saw that. Now there is just a 4 foot square hole in the sidewalk….
[Skedaddles off]
Okay. Finally home. Now. I need mana for this… huh. I need to find it now.
['Meditates' for like five minutes]
Ooh! I think I found something!
-/Trait Unlocked: Mana Being LVL: X/-
What. Not, like, mana efficiency? Uh. I don't like the sound of that.
-/Mana Being: A being whom uses mana as a third arm: Can do almost anything with mana. Mana Regenerates 400% faster/-
Um. Wow. I mean, … wow.
Almost Anything? That sounds like I can do pretty much anything. Except like, go against the system.
[Moves mana around inside my body]
Hmm. No. No way I could… I can though… My gods.
[Starts infusing mana into my own body]
-/Skill Unlocked: Mana Infusion LVL: 1/-
-/Minus 10 Mana/-
-/All Mana Used/-
-/Plus 1 Intelligence/-
-/Mana Infusion Effects/-
-/Plus 1 Strength/-
-/Plus 1 Constitution/-
-/Plus 1 Agility/-
WELL THEN. I am now a cheat.
Damn it! I wanted to at least have to try, in life and death situations and whatnot!
Umm…. I just noticed something. My mana… um. It is already at 1/11. It regenerates 1 per 20 ish seconds? Let's time this.
[Pulls out stopwatch app on phone]
Wow. It is 25 to be exact. Per mana. So… 2.3 mana a minute? Or .23 stat gain per minute? As of now?
Wait. I can cheat this some more. They said… ANYTHING. The Earth's atmosphere must have mana, right?
[Looks for outside mana]
OOH! I found some! In quantity, it seems, like maybe 2 mana per meter cubed? This aint that bad. Hmm. I need to take it into myself. Mana vortex. I don't know how, but I'm going to make a fudging mana vortex.
[Begins rotating mana]
[Begins trying to grab outside mana]
Well. Umm. Nothing.
Maybe… Begins centralizing mana….
OH no. I think… I think… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PAIN PAIN PAIN… Okay. I'm good now.
I wonder… what the fudge was that?
-/Trait Unlocked: Cored Being LVL: X/-
...Like in wuxia novels?
-/Cored Being: Contains a core of pure mana: Can naturally absorb outside mana to increase core size, and gives a natural 200% mana regeneration rate, increase of 25 Intelligence/-
Oh. That is not that bad. It just means instead of in my head like it used to be, now my mana is… in this core? AND free STATS YIISSSS! Where is… above the navel? Huh… Maybe Asian peoples had something right.
-/Minus 30 Mana/-
-/Mana Infusion Effects/-
-/Plus 3 Strength/-
-/Plus 3 Constitution/-
-/Plus 3 Agility/-
[Pulls out phone again]
18 seconds per mana, or maybe even a little less for some reason(?), 30 mana to regen, I need to wait, 9 MINUTES!? Come on…
Maybe I can just do the absorbing outside mana thing to regen…
[Lotus position]
And don't ask why I know this… I am a manly man, and have obviously never done yoga… baka.
[Starts absorbing]
Phwoosh.
-/Local Area Drained of Mana/-
-/Core Training Effects/-
-/Mana Filled/-
-/Core Size Increase Effects/-
-/Plus 5 Intelligence/-
Umm… Shouldn't it take longer?
Huh. Maybe it is the mana being trait. Probably.
Now, do I move, or just let the mana flow back in with time?
I'll just wait for now. I need to trasmute a weapon anyways.
Hmm. Now. I need to find the iron in the slab…
-/Sidewalk Concrete Square Removed/-
I am glad I live in an apartment building on the first floor, without a basement. Otherwise, I think I would've destroyed the floor.
Now.
[Pushes my mana into the slab, looking for iron]
Wait. I don't know what exactly to look for. Hmm.
Inspect.
-/Aluminum Particle/-
Not that one…
-/Oxygen Particle/-
Nope.
-/Silicon Particle/-
Seriously. Huh. I can see a really small one...
-/Gold Particle/-
Oh wow. No wonder. It was such a small amount it isn't even on the list of the item. I guess there would be hundreds of listings of materials now that I think about it, if I was asking for that.
-/Iron Particle/-
There we go!
[Searches for more iron particles]
Okay. It only took a few seconds, but somehow my mana has come into contact and recognized hundreds if not thousands of small iron patches. Now… to move them out of the slab…
Push!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay.
Hmm. Lemme check my mana.
-/MP: 26/41/-
Not bad amount taken. I guess it is finesse, not strength with this.
Now all there is to do is take the iron chunks on the top of the slab now, and… condense and shape it?
[Outputs mana]
[Shapes iron into a sword-like shape]
Whew.
-/MP: 12/41/-
I should probably use the rest to make the sword uniform. I once heard swords need to bend, and have one of the stable points at the hilt, but screw that. I'm no smith. I need a sharp object.
[Makes the sword uniformly dense, but still roughly three times the normal density of iron]
Now it just looks like a long, flattened cylinder, with a grip on one end.
Now. The fun part, the blade!
-/All Mana Used/-
-/Plus 1 Intelligence/-
Whoops.
I wonder if the mana is back in the air. Oh hey, it is. It has been…. 10 minutes? Not horrible.
[Starts absorbing]
Phwoosh.
-/Local Area Drained of Mana/-
-/Core Training Effects/-
-/Mana Filled/-
-/Core Size Increase Effects/-
-/Plus 5 Intelligence/-
This is such a cheat… hehe.
[Starts shaping a blade at a 30 degree angle, so it kinda looks like a chisel edge]
(Look it up! That's what I did!)
I think I may have been a little too detailed.
Since, I kiiiiiiinda went to a molecular level, and made the shaping there. Oh well. Now I just have the smoothest, probably sharpest knife, ever made.
Inspect!
-/Aaron's Cheat/-
Hey!
-/Increases Maximum Damage Output by 300/-
-/Requires: 20 Strength for Two-handed, 50 for one-handed/-
Well. I guess that kinda is a Cheat.
Hmm. So, 1 HP per CON, so 300 CON, so Thirty levels?
So it would kill a constitution-based, level thirty entity with one 100% hit? Wow. Maybe I should make another one out of, like, steel. Or titanium! Once I googled that stuff and found that titanium is stronger than steel, while being less than half the weight. So… three times density titanium, and BOOM! Better than three times density steel, and half the weight! And steel itself is stronger than plain iron!
I don't think concrete has nearly enough titanium for a sword, so I guess I'll just buy it somehow. I kinda am probably one of the strongest men on Earth at this moment. Hehehe.
You know, now that I think about it, are guns overpowered compared to swords? I mean, this molecular-sharpened sword is +300 max damage, so what is a gun? A fixed damage, like a crossbow, at like, 10 for a crossbow, or 30 for a gun?
Ah! So complicated!
Now that I think about something unrelated, isn’t magic going to be easily accessible, just by the act of meditating? I mean, I did it for like, 5 minutes, and found my mana, so maybe other people can just do it for, I dunno, 5 hours, and access it?
Ugh. Too much thought. I need to relax… I guess I’m just gonna absorb mana, and use my infusion technique, while watching some YouTube videos…
[The next Day]
Yawwwwwwwn. Dang. I feel great. Well rested, brimming with energy, focused more than ever. I guess stats really help, as well as mana and other stuff like that.
-/Title: First/-
-/Name: Aaron Anderson/-
-/Class: None/-
-/Level: 2/-
-/XP: 3/20/-
-/HP: 78/78/-
-/SP: 68/68/-
-/MP: 182/182-
-/Stats/-
-/Constitution: 78/-
-/Stamina: 68/-
-/Intelligence: 182/-
-/Strength: 78/-
-/Agility: 68/-
-/Wisdom: 10/-
-/Stat Points: 0/-
-/Traits/-
-/First's Will LVL: X/-
-/First's Potential LVL: X/-
-/Mana Being LVL: X/-
-/Cored Being LVL: 2/-
-/Thought Acceleration LVL: 1/-
-/Battle Focus LVL: 1/-
-/Skills/-
-/Inspect: LVL: 1/-
-/Mana Infusion LVL: 3/-
I am pretty sure I’m much stronger than any other man or woman alive right now, but I am still kind of nooby, I think. At least I grow at a rate that is over powered as all hell. Mana infusion is now a rate of 10 mana to 3 in each stat, which is truly too over powered to even exist, yet it does, and cored being level two gives me 50 intelligence… I really need to upgrade wisdom… If I can get it to 100, I can possibly use Mana Infusion for free. Which seems really absurd. But plausible. Maybe skills and magics, have a minimum fee, or at least magic skills. Like, 5 mana, or something.
Now that I think about it, all magic probably has a minimum fee, or else the magic stops working. So maybe, mana infusion requires your mana to work no matter what, or else your level of wisdom would be overpowered in itself…