She was running. She didn't know why but as she paced down the blurry hallway, she felt strangely happy. And as she ran she heard a voice calling out her name. It sounded both familiar yet distant. She ran faster than she ever knew towards that voice.
Then alongside the dark and grey landscape, she saw him. His face blurred but she felt an unfamiliar longing to reach out to him. She didn't know why, but she knew that if she didn't catch him now then she wouldn't be able to see him ever again.
So she bolted towards him yet the distance never closed up, though it even seemed to be getting further and further away until he melded into the darkness.
Time stood still and along with it so did she, stuck mid-run.
*Crack crack*
Along with that sound the world in her vision shatter and the ground beneath her gave away.
And the last thing she remembered was falling.....
____________________
Till I opened her eyes and as she did so an uncontrollable scream followed.
"Aaaaah… whhhyyy am I falllingggg….!! ahhhh!"
She was used to seeing that dream over and over again yet she was sure that she never wanted the sequel after the fall. Not to mention she felt that this sequel was almost too realistic that it didn't even feel like a dream.
"Aaaah!!!"
Nope, this definitely wasn't one. The fierce winds that howled and whipped at her face as she fell from an unknown height were definitely real.
"Aaaaaahhhh....… a..h..h"
It might have been minutes or maybe hours, though not knowing how long ago her voice had gone hoarse due to screaming or how long ago had her muscles cramped trying to slow the fall? But finally, she could see the ground in her sights.
Yet even after experiencing such a freefall for so long, the appearance of the ground did not strike her as anything good. As reasons told her that she was going to crash right into it.
*ping*
And in such an unfortunate time, suddenly as semi-opaque dialog box appeared.
The events that followed can be explained as half a miracle. Why half though? Half of it was falling in the first place after all.
"ROARrrr"
A fierce roar resounded somewhere from the north. The wind force released by it blew her southwards just before a short moment before she crashed into the ground.
It was only after a lot of twigs and branches had assaulted her that she finally came to a stop that to stuck in a tree in the middle of an unknown forest.
She hung there until she got rid of vertigo and it was only then that she got to read the notification.
[Initiation complete]
[Player 0897A7 Is connected]
[Player 0897A7 has been successfully entered the game. Starter items and bonuses have been distributed along with beginner boosts.]
[Please use keywords 'Stratos' to activate menu]
"Stratos!"
*ping*
[Player Info. Skill Info. Inventory. Map. Quest. Options.]
"Coooool… A real life game system. Player Info!"
[Name:Yukkifox (Alica Fox)
Lvl-0
Race:human(earthen) - ??? - blank
Class:none - none - none
Subclass:Gatekeeper - Marksman - none
none - none - none
Unique: Cerberus body
Hp-70(+10)(+1/min) Mp-150(+2/min)
Sp-110(+200)(+10/min) Mov- 10
Atk- (phy)10(+10)/(mag)10 Def- (p)2(+2)/(m)2
Crit. rate- x0.11(+0.20) Crit. dmg- x0.06(+0.20)
Unused stat pts:15
STR:5(+10)
VIT:5
DEX:5
LUCK:5(+20)
INT:5
WIZ:5
Current status:
Beginner's luck boost. 59:45
Beginner's str boost. 23:45
"Marksmanship" ]
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
"hmmm...so...I'm a Gatekeeper? Well, I got no comment for that. Inventory!"
The inventory opened up shortly after but unlike the player info, it was somewhat slower with some lag.
"OMG! Lag in real life. Just how much can life suck! Well, at least there's some stuff in my inventory."
As Yukki saw the inventory she noticed rows of characters for currency. There were places for copper, silver, gold and black gold. Though she had only 100 gold in her inventory. The inventory boxes were occupied with x5 Mp potion(s), x5 Hp potion and a blue starter set box.
Being a gamer with little hesitation and quick thought processes between her movements Yukki unhesitantly opened the starter set box
*ping*
[You have acquired an rdm atk skill]
[You have acquired an rdm pet drop]
[....craft skill "repair"]
[....basic skill "status check"]
[...basic skill "contract"]
[...leather armor set]
[...rdm weapon mastery skill]
[...x2 rdm weapons]
[...new class option]
It was only after a number of pings that it finally came to a stop. she got "repair" with which she could use Mp to repair equipment and "status check"that allowed her to see lvl, Hp, Mp, Sp, class of the opponents for 10 Mp. She then also checked the other stuff she had obtained…
["Contract"active skill - lvl max
create a contract.
Cost- 10-10000 Mp, 1-1000 Hp]
[< Beginner wooden staff > common
(two hand)
Lvl-1 dmg-10 durability-10/10]
[< Beginner dual daggers > uncommon
(one/two hand)
Lvl-1 dmg-10/15 durability-10-10/10-10
Dex+2]
[< Leather armour set > common
(chestplate-gloves-boots)
Def +1 for each]
["Staff Mastery"passive skill - lvl-1
Can use basic staff techniques]
[< Arctic Shadow wolf > rare pet
Lvl- 0 (pup)
Hp-30. Mp-50
Sp-100. mov-25
Atk-10/1. def-3/5
Skills:"pounce"active skill
Leap and strike dealing 100% dmg,10%
chance to inflict bleed/slow,increases
mov by 10 for 30sec.cost 10 Sp.
"Hide"passive skill
Hide in the bushes, lowers presence,
+0.1 cri rate at first strike.
"Stealth"passive skill
Hide in the shadow, lowers presence
+10 mov & +5 dmg at first strike. ]
" After all this, I feel sorry for the readers of my novel if I will have any of course. I mean I better not have these details disturbing the story content…."
" Maybe being alone for a long while a bit hysteric that I am talking to myself. Or? Was I always so?...hmmm…"
"let's just get this over with then. Class option."
*ping*
[ (Bladedancer)
(Hellfire warlock)
(magic scholar)
(Overworld summoner)
Please select one class.]
Amazingly 3 out of the four were greyed out and the only bladedancer was available. So Yukki had no option even in a class option. Such is life.
-----------------------
8 hours had passed and it was sometime in the afternoon that Yukki had finally finished fiddling and testing out most of the menu.
" The bladedancer class increased my dex by 5 and awarded me with 4 skill pts and a "dancer" class passive skill. Now since this is real life and as a bladedancer don't know how to use a blade."
Yukki then put her 3 skill pts to "blade mastery" and last one to "Institution" a passive skill that improves reaction to sudden changes.
"Now then should I put my stat pts in vit for survivability or in dex to improve my class progression? Or…. I guess I should just store it."
"My Gatekeeper skills have special requirements to work so I won't learn any of them now. While my Marksman class requires a ranged weapon, preferably a gun."
"As for my unique - Cerberus body its overpowered but its conditions and cost to use requires a lot of Hp, Mp, and Sp."
"Well, then I better pack up and keep this for later before I go mad from talking to myself.
Calm down...10...9….8…..4..3..2.1...0. For now, let's focus on completing the quest."
[Quest log:
Main quest: embark on an adventure
Objectives: meet any kind of cliche novel
progression situation.
RewardsMad [https://www.royalroadcdn.com/public/smilies/icon_mad.gif]2 rdm item from your ex-storage]
And so our main character Yukki, fully pumped to completing the quest, headed out north towards the direction of the 'roar'.
On second thought she decided to go the other way away from the 'roar'.
------------------------
+_+
------------------------
It was only a short while after our main character Yukki set out on her quest that she encountered her first opponent.
It was black in color. Had a fully armored body and six legs. It was an 'ant'. So she crushed it and she was awarded with 1 exp.
*ping*
[Lvl up]
[+5 to all stats]
[2 unspent stat pts]
[+3 skill pts]
[Shop is now unlocked]
[Social tab is now available]
"As I heard this I was inflicted with stun for 5 sec. I mean that I was stunned that I leveled up so easily by killing an ant."
"And to add to, that I think I was inflicted with confusion. Because not only was I talking to my self till now but had also started narrating for both the narrator and the system notification."
"*sigh* me and my poor lonely story. Where is anyone else? It's tiring talking to myself."
The silence in the surroundings was her only answer. (that is if one ignored the sounds of the forest fauna.)
Tasked with a seemingly easy (normally) quest of encountering a cliche plot encounter yet in a place without a soul at sight, our main character (not sure now) Yukki had already questioned life.
She put all her 17 stats to dex as she needed to move quickly and her bit problem had been covered by the '+5 to all stats'. She also put all 3 skill pts to "ghostwalk" a skill available to all rouge classes. It along with her bladedancer class passive made a great combo.
["Ghostwalk"active toggle skill. Lvl-2
+10(+2%)mov, has a slight chance to summon a Ghost(lvl-0)]
["Dancer"Class passive skill. Lvl-max
For every 1 pt in dex increases mov by 1
For every 1 pt in wiz increases cri.rate by 0.01
Stamina drains twice as fast.]
[Name:Yukkifox (Alica Fox)
Lvl-0
Race:human(earthen) - ??? - blank
Class:none - none - none
Subclass:Gatekeeper - Marksman - none
none - none - none
Unique: Cerberus body
Hp-110(+10)(+2/min) Mp-303(+4/min)
Sp-210(+200)(+20/min) Mov- 64
Atk- (p)15(+10)/(m)10. Def- (p)5(+5)/(m)5
Crit. rate- x0.36(+0.20) Crit. dmg- x0.16(+0.20)
Unused stat pts:0
STR:10(+10)
VIT:10
DEX:32
LUCK:10(+20)
INT:10
WIZ:10
Current status:
Beginner's luck boost. 50:23
Beginner's str boost. 14:23
"Marksmanship"
"Bladedancer" ]
And so our faster than before main character set out on her quest in search of the ever so needed plot cliche.
--------------------'