Chapter 1
”Welcome to Royal Road! [trumpet fanfare]” (wow that's so cheesy)
RR or as you may now it Royal Road is the most popular virtual reality game in the world, or more like the only game worth playing. Except for those people who like fps, then this game is not for them. RR is in it's 4th month and just last week it's been available for us in Europe. Curse the government for being such worry-wads, 'Think of the children' they said. Morons! Everybody knows theres an age restriction when it comes to gameplay, All under the age of 20 have gore and sex disabled, they even got a profanity filter (how they did it is beyond me). The age limit is 20 because thats how it is in South Korea, praise the lord for that!
OK let's stop thinking about useless things and start playing for real. “...ve fun and enjoy RR as if you got a chance to start over all again.” Faster, Faster! “Registration is initiating in 5 seconds, please note that a kind off strong light will shine on your body and into your eyes.” {Flash!} “You have successfully registered on RR, please choose a name”
Ok this is a chance to be recognized with an interesting name, I have some examples but I'm not entirely sure yet...hmm...Let's go with: “I want my name to be MALICE”
“'Malice' has been recognized, are you certain you wish to continue with this name?” The voice started repeating this phrase over and over. “Yes!” I answered impatiently. “Please choose your race, appearance and starting town.”
Human, dwarf, Elf and demi-human were available at the moment with demi-human just having been unlocked. Elves and demi-humans had additional categories but right now only wood Elf and feline/canine demi-human had been acquired. The options to customize your appearance were endless with demi-humans and some really unique people had been created but I did not think it was anything for me since the only thing I would like would have been a strong tail I could move like an arm but that wasn't available. Yes Dragon ball had influenced me there but so what I could have been anything here!
Human was the way to go, I might be able to adjust my appearance after I had played for a long time but there was much to explore in RR and you never know what would be discovered next. Of course I adjusted my appearance a little bit, nothing fancy just a hairless back and chest some slight weight reduction and muscle enhancement here and there but nothing extraordinary. My face was left alone is it is because I quite like it but I skipped the glasses and made my hair a bit thicker/harder.
“I think a town close to the sea with a warm climate is going to be the best choice.” I do love higher temperatures and somewhere to swim and cool down, don't I? To hell with the cold, not enough that I live in a temperate zone I am in no way spending my free time playing RR in one. “So there are 2 southern towns with harbours one that's closer to the east and the other one closer to the west, hmm... The east seems to have a more diverse geographical regions so it should be more interesting in terms of monster diversity and dungeons.”
“Rubidon has been chosen as starting area and home town, remember that you can not leave the city perimeters until the 4 week initiation period has passed” 4 weeks in game time is only 1 week in the real world so that gives me plenty of time to think about my profession and where to go next.
{FLASH!}
“Selling rabbit pelt 9 copper each!”
“Level 6 cleric looking for warriors to go kill some foxes.”
“Need tanker to 'train' rabbits!”
“Wow, so this is RR!?” The first thing that hit Malice was the warmth of the sun on his skin and the sounds coming from all directions. “This really feels like reality. OK let's go explore for a bit to get to know the layout of the town.” Walking down the widest road I began to see a lot of people in armor but also a lot of people dressed exactly the same. “Now that I look at myself I see that I wear the same thing as that bunch of people over there, must be the beginners clothes you get when you start the game.” Not very fashionable but it will do for now.
“Status window!”
NameMaliceAlignmentNeutralLevel1ProfessionNoneTitleNoneFame0Health100Mana100Strength10Agility10Vitality10Stamina10Wisdom10Intellect10Leadership10Luck0Attack3Defence0Magic ResistanceFire0%Earth0%Water0%Black Magic0%
“Ohoho... so these are my stats. Pretty weak, oh well I am just starting.” As I walked to the cluster of newbies gathered in front of a big board I saw that there was a crude map painted on top of the wood and some words above the map: 'World map under progress'. Ha! There aren't even any details on the map just some colours depicting different landscapes and X:es for towns. “I will have to acquire a map of my own...” so that I can fill it with topography, dungeon locations and details of all the different areas.
You have received a crude map of the world which you can fill in with details of anything you want. Towns and dungeons will be automatically updated with a mini-map.
I didn't even need to buy a map, neat. Better get going and do something productive or else I can't really call this playing a game. So I can't go out and fight mobs because of the time restriction but I can do quests to earn money and maybe get some skills. I guess I'll kill two birds with one stone and get a job as a mailman or mover (transporter of goods) so that I can get some cash and get more familiar with the town and it's people, that way maybe I'll also raise some fame. Hehe... I better ask some NPCs for info where I could get those kind of jobs, maybe they'll be quests rather than jobs in this world.
“Excuse me madame, would you happen to know where the postal office or a moving company resides?” I asked a random NPC on the streets but all they said was that I should walk around some more and I might find what I’m looking for. “Great help those guys were!” Maybe the NPCs in shops will be more helpful. Let's see...shop, shop, shop... where are you shop? Ah! Lucky, a furniture store hope I'll get some help there.
{Clingeling}
“...and you would be doing me a big favour if you could get the chair delivered right away.”
“Dear customer this is such a light chair that even my old mother could carry it up a mountain, why would I ever agree to do this and besides my son is away in another town on a business trip. I just don't have the manpower to do what you're asking.”
Oh I see a chance for me to jump in and help this troubled NPC and maybe get a part-time job at the shop as well. PROFIT!
“Excuse me, I happened to hear what you were asking and I would be happy to help you in any way possible, madame.”
“Oh, and who might you be butting in on other peoples conversations!?” Yikes! This must be my low fame making me seem unreliable.
“Oh stranger I would be very happy if you could do this delivery for me but I'm afraid I don't know if I can trust a new face in town.” Damn, I need to say something fast or I'm not gonna get these NPCs to give me any quests. Time for some smooth talking.
“Honoured shop master and madame I only asked this because I was amazed at the craftsmanship of the lovely chair and the madame's impeccable taste to buy it. I wouldn't want it to be damaged or dirtied if accidentally dropped on the way to it's destination. This compelled me to interrupt your conversation and offer my help.” I think I nailed that!
A smile creped up on the old dignified ladies lips. “That would be helpful since this shop doesn’t seem to care much about their customers, hmpf!”
The shopkeeper suddenly burst out in protestation but before he could utter a whole sentence I interrupted him. “Sir I understand that you are busy with tending to the shop and I have not offered my help to this lovely lady out of spite but I just can't stand to see a maiden in help.”
2 lines appeared between the old man's eyes and he muttered. “Fine, you win. But remember this: I am not held responsible for this young man's actions nor will I compensate you. Hmpf... rascal” That last comment was obviously directed at me but I don't mind that, I'm happy I at least didn't offend the old bat I was offering to help. I should pick up the chair and tell the woman to hurry up and lead the way, in a nice way of course.
The old woman started walking to the door and said haughtily “What are you waiting for?! Follow me youngster!”
{Ping!}
Adamant request to help an old woman.
You have taken on a request to transport an antique chair for the furniture store to the old woman's house.
Difficulty level: F
Quest Requirement: Follow the old woman and transport the chair unblemished to the woman's home.
Quest failure: Lose the woman or brake the chair. -200 fame. No citizen of Rubicon will want to help you until you have positive fame again.
Holy **** I can't fail this easy quest or I'm going to have to delete my character and start again. Restarting wasn't actually as simple as in most games, you would lose access to the game for a whole month IRL as punishment. This was done so that people didn't abuse the game to get unfair advantages in choosing quests and jobs.
You have accepted a Quest!
I hurried after the old woman grabbing the chair.“I'm right behind you esteemed lady!” We walked for a while down the street at a leisure pace until the woman was stopped by an even older man and started having an... argument?! They stopped talking and the woman seemed to nod towards the man and his wrinkled face made a smile and they started walking over the street towards a small carriage drawn by a horse. “It seems I am needed at my resident so I will have to take the coach home. Follow us and if you can't keep up I will have to call the guards to take away a furniture thief to the arrest!” The woman laughed silently as she was escorted through the small door.
That witch! So this is why the quest had a F difficulty, while normally these kind of quests don't even have a difficulty level. I could only hope that the horse was as old as the people riding inside the carriage. The coach sped up and I had to start jogging to keep up with it. I didn't even know where this woman lived. Should I really have been this stubborn in taking this quest? I started doubting myself while suddenly it started feeling that I was slowing down. I looked up and surprise, surprise I could see a house or should I call it a mansion on top of a hill far away behind a small forest. “Shit that's like 5km uphill and not there's even a forest ahead.” If I lose sight of the coach I might fail this quest if the requirements are true to the word.
Stamina has decreased by 2.
Oh, oh... it's been only 5 minutes since I started jogging and my stamina has already decreased by 2 if it continues like this i'll be out of stamina when i'm through the forest. Better eat a rye bread that I got when I started the game, the problem is that I only have 10 rye breads and sadly they only recover 1 stamina each. If I wanted my stamina to recover I would have to rest or maybe find something edible in the forest or it's going to be a miracle if I can reach the mansion before I fall over and die from exhaustion.
I took out a rye bread and started eating it while running. “Aah, I hope I don't choke on it while running, or this might be the worst way someone started this game. EVER.”
15 minutes had passed and my stamina was down at 7 and I only had 3 rye breads left. Even my health had dropped by 30 because I hit my toe on a stone and almost fell face first so I had to support myself with my left hand and definitely sprained it. Why am I so weak! It was getting darker now and I thought it must be evening by now.
{Thud!}
damage received, -15 health
Ow! My head! I must have collided with something. But it would be impossible since the only thing on this road was the coach in front of me. Oh... The coach had stopped and the driver stepped down and suddenly spoke to the passengers: “It is getting dark madame so I will light the lanterns.” YES! Time to rest, finally! He must not want to go through the forest without any light to guide him. I can use this time to rest a while. I sat down on an old and half rotten log that laid on the ground in front of the small forest. It really was getting dark and those lanterns were actually more like spotlights than ordinary lanterns, illuminating the forest. I could see some shiny spots in the forest, must be animals. I put my head between my knees since I remembered this was a position that calmed people down. As I looked down on the ground I spotted some mushrooms. I bet these will help raise my stamina and health back up so I picked them and ate them. They were surprisingly tasteless, but I could feel my stomach starting to rumble soon after.
You have consumed a poisonous mushroom and have become ill.
Stamina has decreased by 3.
-20 health
“Poisonous!?” Damn it just my luck eating poisonous mushrooms. I quickly ate the rest of my food and my health had recovered to 65 health and my stamina was at 6 now. There is absolutely no way I will be able to make it to the house if I won't recover some more stamina before the coach starts to move again. I fell on my knees and began to forage for other mushrooms and herbs. I know this is a gamble but the situation cries for desperate measures. After searching for a while I heard the driver say: “Madame all the lanterns are lit we will continue our journey to the estate.” Oh shit I'll just grab as much as I can now and eat them while running.
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I started pulling plants out of my pockets and began to eat while carefully looking at what type of plant they were.
“+5 health”, “+5 health”, “-2 stamina”... “+10 health”, “...nothing happened” “-5 health”, “+1 stamina”... I finally found something that gave me stamina: it was a nut with a soft shell. I only have 4 more of these, 60 health and only 4 stamina left, I'll eat them now and I'll try to eat the the other plants that are still unidentified if i'm really in trouble. After about 10 minutes I only had 2 stamina left and was on the verge of death.
“I'm so close to the mansion only 5 minutes left if we continue at this pace but i'll run out of stamina in 2 minutes!”
After continuously using up stamina and restoring stamina the stamina rate had continuously decreased at a faster pace. I guess all the eating of the weird plants had a big effect on my body, it wasn't good to use myself as a human guinea pig when I was already under a lot of stress. My last resort is to start eating plants again and I only have a mushroom, tree bark and some spiny herb. The best choice is to go with the mushroom since it's the only thing that slightly resembles food. I was hesitating:
“Should I really eat this obviously poison looking mushroom?”
{Chew, Chew. Gulp}
Critical Injury! -50 health.
Stamina has increased by 20
+50 mana
“Blegh! Disgusting! Bitter! I wanna hurl!”
My stomach feels like it houses an alien parasite that wants to burst out. But on the bright side I'm at least going to have no problem finishing the quest. Finally relief came over me and I could feel my lips curving into a big grin while I ran with renewed strength in my legs.
{Ping!}
New stat: Endurance
New skill: Foraging
Strength rises by 1 (+1 STR)
Vitality rises by 1 (+1 VIT)
Agility rises by 1 (+1 AGI)
You have learned the skill: Foraging, Beginner [1]
At level 1 you are able to eat foraged plants and experience less pain if you encounter a poisonous plant. [Poison resistance 1%]
Endurance
You are likely to use less stamina in action. You are prohibited from distributing bonus stat points to this stat.
I could hear a happy shout from the front: “We have arrived madame!” The horrible old witch stepped out of the coach and turned and looked at me. She didn't even smile! She had a small frown on her face, what the hell is wrong with her? Did she want me to arrive hear before her or what?! “Well, well. I did not predict you would actually manage to arrive at the same time as we did” What did she mean by that? Did she do this as a sick game to relieve her of her boredom?
“Sebastian please show our guest to the guest room and serve him dinner, he will leave in the morning.”
At least she's not heartless making me go back at night when i'm this exhausted. After I had left the chair to the maid I was led to a very small room with only a bed and a washing basin and the table it stood on with an accompanying chair. Which left no room for anything else. The butler 'Sebastian' told me I would be given food shortly in my room and that I should clean myself up and go to bed after eating.
This was going to be so weird. I've never slept in a game before I wonder if it's any different from real life? As I was daydreaming I didn't notice that my food had arrived and only when I smelled the food did I see that I was alone in the room with a small candle lit by the tray of food. It was a simple meal of soup, bread, a glass of red wine and a piece of meat with some vegetables and sauce poured over the meat. After eating I felt as if I had regained all my health and I washed myself and laid down in the bed looking at my new stats and newly acquired skill.
“An increase in poison resistance could be useful in the future since I won't have to buy so many antidotes or rely on clerics and if I increase the Foraging skill I might gain some interesting benefits.” I took out the tree bark and the spiny herb and looked at them carefully. I sniffed them and carefully licked them to see if I could get any information that way.
“Nope I guess i'll just have to eat them and see what happens.” Then I suddenly remembered that cinnamon is dried tree bark and I left it out to dry. If I could process the plants it might actually become food! I took the knife I ate with and stabbed it in the thorny herbs flesh. I made a cut around the flesh and took the thorny skin off and saw that there was a cream coloured flesh inside.
Foraging, Beginner [1] +10% experience.
Hmm... so processing plants can make my skill level rise. Interesting. Since I've already opened the flesh it might go bad if I leave it so I better eat it and see what happens.
{Gulp}
+50 health
50 health! This was real good for beginners. I better pick some more of these plants when I leave tomorrow, I'll look in the forest and by the streets if I can find anything. After thinking of what to do when I get back to town and what class I'd want it was already morning and the butler came in and told me I should be on my merry way back. I didn't see anyone else as I walked out of the mansion but I politely thanked the butler and complimented him on the reception I had received. Could never hurt to have rich acquaintances, they could give me a quest in the future or vouch for my credibility.
There were no interesting plants growing by the side of the road so I figured I'd spend more time in the small forest up ahead. I think I spent a lot of time there because I could see the sun going...up?
“It's dawn?! I didn't even realise it was dark, sure it was a bit dim lit but I just thought that was the branches covering the sky.” I went to the rotten log I sat on when I first arrived at the forest and looked at my spoils.
When I was foraging I had actually increased some of my stats: STR +2, must have been all that bending down and climbing up trees; AGI +1, I did walk a lot; VIT +4, this I bet came from eating all the food I picked up and END +1. My Foraging had reached level 2 and it increased my poison resistance by 1% and gave me a higher chance of getting better ingredients when gathering them.
I had eaten a lot of different things since I entered the forest and I had my pockets full of items. It was actually so full that my stamina had decreased by 20% from carrying all that weight. But I really wanted to buy a pot so that I could cook the plants and see if they got different stats.
As I was nearing the city gates I could hear how people were talking rather loudly and they were pointing at me.
“Look there he is!”
“Another poor victim of that damn witch.”
“I wonder how he did?”
“It's possible he made the delivery since 50% of those who take this quest fail.”
“He looks happy? He was probably lucky enough to make it.”
I never expected I would have a welcome party waiting for me as I arrived. I listened to what they said and what I could gather from the information was that: 50% fail this quest, Arriving at the woods at the same time was crucial in passing the quest. But what I heard that was rather peculiar was that nobody had ever arrived with the delivery at the same time as the coach, they all came long after the old woman had already gone inside so they didn't get any food and had to sleep outside with a blanket provided by the butler.
Well I wasn't going to say to them that I actually arrived at the same time. Revealing something like this was too precious. I decided to go back and see if there was any reward awaiting me at the furniture store.
{Cling}
“Welcome, how may I hel... Oh you are back!” The clerk looked at me me with his eyes wide open and a big smile on his face.
“I have been awaiting your arrival stranger. I was surprised to hear from Sebastian that you had actually managed to deliver the package on time. You see Sebastian is an old acquaintance of mine and the old lady is a regular at my store and many strangers come here seeking work like you did but only a handful of people have ever finished on time.”
Ehh.. a handful of people? So I wasn't the first one? Well I should get something of value if this was actually such a hard quest. I wondered if it was gold or fame or maybe a strong item forbeginners.
Quest Complete!
Adamant request to help an old woman.
You have delivered the package to the old woman on time and kept your promise to the shopkeeper.
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
2 levels, not bad at all. But I sure hope he gives me something as well.
“As thanks you can take this carpet. Well I need to get back to work now so good bye.”
You have received New Carpet
Overweight. You are carrying too many items and your stamina rate has decreased by 80%
A carpet... What was I supposed to do with a carpet... I don't have a house.
“Wait good sir! I can see that you are busy working alone and I thought that I maybe could help you with deliveries and such small jobs if you do not mind?”
He stopped in his tracks and pulled his hand to his beard and stroked it slowly. “My nephew is gone for a while so I do guess I might need a hand sometimes with deliveries. But it's going to be very hard for you without a carriage, just on foot.”
That cheap bastard! He won't lend a carriage to me... “No need sir, I am a strong youngster with a large sense of responsibility. I wouldn't let any of the products be damaged or delayed.”
“Well I don't see why not then, you did keep your promise helping the madame.”
Difficulty level: ---
Quest Requirement: Complete the assignments given to you by the furniture shopkeeper Mr. Wilfred.
Quest failure: Fail to deliver after accepting a product.
Great now I can transport goods and get rewards. But first I'm going to excuse myself and go get this carpet identified since I don't have a clue what I’m going to do with it. I assured the shopkeeper that I’d return as fast as I’d emptied my pockets and I went and searched for the appraisers and identifiers.
I have arrived at a building with a sign over the door with a magnifying glass, so this has to be the where I can check out my carpet. I went in and there was a real big crowd on the first floor, it seemed the whole town was using this place. I went and stood in line to one of the booths but after 5 minutes I heard a hoarse voice coming from the closest corner of the floor.
“Hey you youngster with the rug! It'd be better if you went up a floor with that small rug you got there.” I pointed at myself and looked questioning at the moustached man wearing a fancy Tuxedo. I went up to him and asked why and he only answered that he could see that an ignorant kid like me didn't know what I was holding. So I went.
The second floor had less people and there were tables separated by a single paper wall lined up. I went to the nearest table and sat down, shortly a man came up to me, obviously a player this time; unlike the npc's on the first floor. He greeted me shortly and I showed him the carpet and wondered if he could tell me anything about it.
“That will be 2 silver.”
“Excuse me?”
“2 silver for the identification. Don't tell me it's your first time being serviced on the second floor? They should have told you after your first appraisal at the first floor.”
“It's my first time ever getting something identified.”
“Damn charity work again! There's actually a rule that says you get your first appraisal for free so I guess that I’m gonna have to do help you.” He took the carpet and said in a clear voice “Identify”. After a while he looked at me and complimented me for what I had brought him.
I was on my way to the tailor's guild this time to sell my carpet. I was told that the carpet was actually handwoven and that it might catch a nice price if sold to the right people. I might be able to find them at the tailor's guild or sell it to a noble but that'd be impossible if I didn't have enough fame.
I was able to sell the carpet for a stunning 10 gold! This was a fortune for a beginner and even a substantial amount for a level 30 player. First and foremost I bought some food, the cheapest kind; as long as it recovered health and stamina, I also bought some antidotes; in case I got poisoned by eating the plants I gathered. I was still carrying too many items so I went to e secluded place a bit outside town and started eating and processing all the plants I had on me.
Good thing I bought those antidotes because 4 plants were poisonous and 2 were greatly poisonous and I had to use 3 antidotes just to heal myself from the poison. Luckily my Vitality had increased by 2 points and Endurance by 5, endurance increases when you are wounded and since 4 out of 10 plants were harmful to me it rose pretty fast. My foraging skill was almost at level 3 with only 10% more to go.
I was glad nobody walked by were I was sitting because they would have seen a person rolling on the ground clutching his stomach while crying and then afterwards immediately laughing. A bizarre sight to behold.
END of chapter 1
Here's a link to my main FF that is a bit more thought out and laid back than this one.