9:01 PM, he had once again stepped into the world of Paragon. But, in NPC terms this place was known as the "Sky Kingdom." However, this was currently not of importance.
Instantly upon entrance, there were two messages placed in front of him in bold words, but that was not of importance as he already knew what it had asked.
Instead the first thing he did was to naturally look at himself, he had to know if he had received a bow or a sword. This was the key factor in determining where he would go to train in the next few moments. Because he had kept the knowledge from his previous life, he naturally knew that when players first joined they would either receive a bow or a sword without the choice.
It could be seen that he was wearing a set of leather gear, alongside with him holding a short copper sword.
After he knew that he received a sword, he smiled and then mumbled to himself.
“Open skill book…”
Beginner Skills:
Insight: See into the monster’s weak points enabling you to easily attack. Effect: Permanently increases accuracy by 10%. 0/1
Nimble Feet: Become light on your feet and move like the wind! Effect: Permanently increases speed by 10%. 0/1
Tempered Body: Toning one’s self, greatly increasing the bodies explosive strength. Effect: Permanently increases strength by 10%. 0/1
Skill Points Available: 1. (Warning, only one skill can be selected and the others will be forever locked.)
“Upgrade Insight by one level!”
System response: “Are you sure you would like to increase the level of insight by 1? To remove this message of confirmation simply say, ‘disable confirmations.’ “
“Yes upgrade and disable confirmations.”
System notification: "Insight has been increased by level 1. Confirmations have been disabled."
He didn’t even look at the messages as he already knew that the first one asked the question that,
“Would you like to use your real face or a modified face? Keep in mind that if you choose to modify your face, players can see in your status that your face has been changed by the system.”
He instantly chose to modify his face as he could not be discovered to own the account ‘Broken’. but regardless a handsome face could still be seen, he had only made a few slight changes to his original face, however, instead the effect of modifying his face made it seem that Isaac’s otherworldly charms had diminished by a whole other level, but obviously he did not care about such a fact.
He sighed to himself, “Sigh, I am already bored, but such must be done.”
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After confirming the most crucial factors were set, he lifted his head and stared at the world in an emotionless manner.
What permeated his eyes was no longer the modern world which showcased the most prime example of human greed. But rather a land of fantasy. One which promoted the most beautiful of dreams. Even he could not help getting sucked into such a sight, what lied beyond the plain dull wooden huts was a boundless multi-colored sky glimmering with radiance, an endless expanse of lush grass which were the most perfect shade of green, ponds which were of the finest blue, basking in such a sight he had forgotten the world he was currently in was a virtual one, but he had instead felt like he had entered an illusory world.
He had not realized the design Paragon was so beautiful in his previous life. As he was in a battle for time and thus had not even taken the time to even take one peek at such a fantastic view.
This is because, at that time, he was actually blind in a sense. As during the time when he lost his sister, his eyes had viewed the world as a colorless sphere. One devoid of emotion, yet it held a colorful light, which was naturally his sister. During that time, he had actually lost himself, he had lost his careful yet meticulous planning due to his rush of fury in search of his only color and light in such a gray world.
But now that she had returned, he was truly full again. He was once again the genius who defied the heavens, one who could see through the shallow framework of cruel human minds with a single glance of his calm yet fiery, endless obsidian eyes.
The only thought he had before at that time was to save his sister from the trenches of human greed.
A greed which wanted to conquer all beautiful things in the world.
But now, such a scenario was in the past. He would definitely not let such a situation play out again. Rather, the only way it could even happen again is if he has an unlucky encounter and loses all his brain cells, but such a thing is not very likely.
At least, he would like to think.
He sighed at the thought of having to leave his name from his last life behind, but such must be done in order to destroy without care. This is because if his real-life identity was discovered his loved ones would truly be implicated as even if he could not be harmed he could not guarantee this for his loved ones. As even a god could be broken if his reason to exist was destroyed. Isaac's reason to exist was naturally his sister's smile, one which he would protect and take to his grave.
Isaac's previous in-game name in his last life where he had only joined the game 1 year late was named 'Emaac', accompanied by a spam of numbers as nearly all the available names had been taken. This name was a creation forged by the starting letters of his beloved sisters Emily's name, followed by the last three characters of his name. However, in this life, he wanted to create a path where he, and only he, would be the unparalleled god in this virtual world. Only then could he safely protect his dear sister and those around him. Naturally, he knew that for someone to be able to advance to the stage of being an unbeatable expert, he had to not only be unparalleled in the game but they must also stay safe and healthy in the real world. Thus, he could not have any hints that hinted that the soon to be number 1 player of Paragon was him, Isaac Arthur. In fear of advances upon either his life or his sister's before he was allowed to grow. This was because even if a sampling had the best genes, the best talents, to be able to grow into a behemoth capable of overshadowing millions they would require time. Yes! Time! Something which is essential to even those with the best talents, as without time they would only fall to the dark, lamentable terminal of a blessed individual who ultimately ended as a nobody.
So, when Isaac was choosing his name in his current life he would absolutely choose a name which had no relations to his real-life identity.
However, although he was someone who was seemingly above the realm of mere humans he still could not help to think to himself as to why his previous in-game name was taken in just a matter of seconds after the official launch of Paragon.
This is because he had only assumed that the name 'NotOP' was taken in his past life due to the fact that the game had already been up for a whole year, with a shocking number of over nearly three billion players, it would be odd if at that time the name was still available. But, now that he saw that someone had taken the extremely unorthodox name of 'NotOP' only moments after the official launch, he naturally that something was up.
Thus, after only mere moments after using his monstrous mind to think of why such a scenario came to be, he had instantly come to the realization after only a mere heartbeat's worth of time as to why his name had been taken.
It had to be because that he had created a massive storm on 'Legends' and became known as a godly player, he was one who simply joined in to see what all the chaos was about it was quite natural for him to not realise what he had done during his time spent playing 'Legends'. He, at that time, had actually turned all notifications off so thus he did not receive any messages or requests from other players. It was almost as if he was playing single-player 'Minecraft' simply killing sheep and pigs as it was truly too easy for him. Such was the reason why he did not believe to of created such a fuss as he had actually boldly assumed that others would have also found such a game to be easy.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
But this was obviously not the case, as such Isaac now instantly knew that he had praised the ordinary people too highly. Such a thing shouldn't happen with Isaac's abilities, but even gods can make mistakes as he inwardly laughed to himself.
"Hehe, they really are noobs."
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That whole event seemed to be able to take up minutes of one's time, but how could Isaac's mind be compared to ordinary people? That had all happened within mere seconds in real time, and such after discovering the answers to the problem that arose in his brain he was once again settled. He had been troubled for a minute due to such problems, and that minute was far too long. Thus, in reality, the time wasted was minuscule, to say the least.
Isaac once again stepped back into the mortal world, thus he began to take in the sounds/features of his surroundings.
This was the 2nd message, but even he was not sure of what it would state as he had entered the world of Paragon at a completely different point of time. He had now noticed that in front of him it clearly stated that,
System notification: You are the 93rd person to enter 'Beginner Village 239.' Have a pleasant stay.
Isaac instantly knew that something was odd. He was rather shocked if that was a better way to put it. He was naturally a perceptive person. Such a message may slip past an ordinary person's eyes but it surely could not pass by Isaac. Almost spontaneously he instantly set off and ignored all the beginner training grounds, this is because he instantly knew that although it may be faster to train here for the time being such a luxury would certainly not last long.
He instantly thought to himself in a calm manner.
"Without a doubt, billions of players would be trying to connect right now, they are probably constantly getting the error message of 'Character name is already taken!' "
This was naturally the first idea that came up in Isaac's head. This was a game which was being advertised for months all for this single moment, and over a billion machines were already sold, yet surprisingly enough not even twenty thousand players had connected to the server at this current time. This was obviously because of the fact that with so many players trying to connect, only so many names would be available! Such a fact could obviously not escape Isaac's eyes. Thus, if he did not take advantage of such a situation he was truly not worthy of being praised as a heavenly genius.
Thinking of such a funny scenario of billions of people struggling to find/think of a name he naturally gave a light chuckle.
"Sigh, all these noobs are probably trying to think of the coolest names they can think of only to find out the name is not available. So, at-least for the next few minutes not many players will have connected to the game."
Obviously, Isaac himself knew that he was lucky to choose such a name. He was definitely not ignorant and slowly praised his luck. He knew for sure that all of the normal five-letter names and beneath would have already been taken, along with many others, yet he managed to choose one perfectly on only his second try.
This was clearly the gods favoring him! He was already an expert among experts yet fortune still shines upon him on every corner! This was obviously unfair, it would be better to say that such a person was definitely broken!
But with Isaac's mental ability who even the gods would bow down to, he instantly knew that if he stayed around any longer doing nothing for even a second longer this god given opportunity would be wasted. He even secretly giggled to himself as he thought of all the leaders of the top guilds inwardly cursing themselves trying to find a suitable name.
This was obviously a problem as in his previous life he knew that the top player of Paragon who even lead millions underneath him and carried a symbol proudly on their chests which symbolized they were from 'Experts United!' This was the top guild at that time by a long run, even the 2nd and 3rd guild combined could not defeat the single unit known as Experts United. But what's more the top player was the guild leader of Experts United but he had to carry the atrocious name of 'Expert132567'! Such a godly existence had to settle for such a name, it obviously showed how long he took to fight for a name and had to finally settle for a mediocre one.
Thus, in a mere instant, he set into action not another second could be wasted.
He completely ignored the people around him who were talking to each other of how realistic this game was. immersed himself into becoming the best player in Paragon.
He has fully immersed himself into becoming the best player in Paragon.
Striding across the iron walkway he gradually came ever so closer to the mouth of a dark domineering forest. Above the forest, a clear warning sign could be seen as if to signal that no players should even think about entering in the first few moments of the game. Obviously, Isaac was not deterred, he tranquilly stared at the warning sign and casually walked into the broad portal that wished him away. As if to him that sign was not signalling an ordeal but rather simply a decoration akin to a painting.
SIGN - [Warning; Dungeon of the Undead Cemetery, one should be at least level 5 otherwise death is highly likely].
For him entering such a ground was just simply not unnerving. How could such a low-level ground possibly hinder him? It was almost as if the place he was entering was not a ghastly cemetery of hell to all new players, but rather the serene environment of a monk’s temple.
From behind him, it could be heard...
"Hey! Hey! What the fuck is that idiot doing, does he not see that warning sign? He is obviously retarded."
A player who seemingly just appeared out of nowhere replied with a casual smirk,
"lul, let him do what he wants noob713643, nice name btw especially the first 4 letters it suits you.”
The player who just broadly cussed at the man who was seemingly looking for death could only turn red under such circumstances.
It was truly not his fault, it was simply because every name was taken. He had felt that if he had wasted another second attempting to choose a proper name then all the names in the world will have been taken, and he would have wasted a millennium of trying to attempt every possible name in the books. By then he naturally believed that every name would have been gone. He had literally even said every name possible that he simply shouted out a name as the last cause as a joke. Thus, this was how it led to him having the current name 'noob713643', and after he had connected he was simply unable to change his name. It had been thoroughly settled. His name would forever be 'noob713643' for all of Paragon.
Paragon was definite. Any race and name chosen would forever be integrated into its coding.
Hence, the legend which our Isaac would create in Paragon would forever be remembered under the flag 'Broken.' This was simply unchangeable, players will remember Broken for generations to come, however, the identity of Isaac will slowly fade into nothingness.
But, this he did not care. All the fame and riches in the world could not buy the services of Isaac.
He joined once again only because he wanted to save his sister. Nothing else, nothing more.
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It could be heard from within the depths of the cemetery.
"Sigh, killing these skeletons again this is really too nostalgic."
Within this span of thousands of miles which held the faint smell of moss and decaying leaves, what was seen was a rather horrific sight.
Amongst the tumbled and broken tombstones, a faint black figure could be seen gracefully dancing within the dungeon constantly avoiding the countless of arrows which flew towards him with only the slightest adjustments.
These attacks were naturally directed towards Isaac, as he was the only player to step into such a training ground at level 1.
This was the key reason as to why he entered a training ground which had such a level difference between him and the monster, it was because this was a training ground where you could avoid all attacks with skill alone. It would truly be stupid not to grasp such an opportunity.
In Paragon to kill a monster one level higher than yourself meant that you possessed godly items, and coupled alongside with tremendous skill. Thus, naturally the rewards were great, there would be an extra 100% increase in experience given for every level difference between the monster and the player. Anyone who could accomplish such a feat were greatly sought after. During his previous life when Paragon was at the prime of its existence the best player could only overcome 3 levels between himself and a monster, and he was already praised as a heavenly figure. But, in this empty graveyard it could be seen that Isaac was killing a monster which was 4 levels different from him with complete ease!
This meant that without a doubt with the extra experienced garnered by the level difference between himself and the monster he would surely shoot to the top of the rankings in mere moments if nothing went wrong. But, even for godly players, such an outcome was bound to happen. This is because even though the monsters could be killed away by chipping away at its HP with meagre attacks, one would struggle for ages bordering on life and death at every junction struggling to kill even one monster which was just 1 level higher within a whole day! It is likely that they won’t even manage to kill even one unless they had heaven-shattering skills and top-tier items. Such an outcome was obvious, Paragon was a game which highly depended on one’s skill. Even when fighting a monster with just one level of difference one of its casual attacks could easily cut down half of your HP in a mere second. Which is why trying to overcome the two-level gap between a monster and a player without any godly equipment would simply by akin to a lowly-rabbit seeking death from a tiger. Because one simple attack from the monster would instantly kill the player and cause the player to plummet down a whole level back to 0% of experience!
However, here even one with eyes could see that what Isaac was accomplishing was not something achievable by a mere mortal! Such skills seem like they were tempered for an infinity of time, not something which was attainable by a mere 18-year-old youth. Even combined with his life’s previous experience It would still only add to 19 years of time, this boy was simply not human…
Isaac’s fierce obsidian eyes glistened under the moonlight glare, glimmering full of radiance, truly capable of entrancing the world. He had already dodged thousands of attacks and been focusing his attack on a single skeleton, he had in just a minute’s worth of time cut down its HP to 30 HP of its original 500 HP. A skeleton’s HP was not high, but it was still countless of times higher than a normal level 1 monster… Keep in mind a normal player would not even be able to survive under such conditions for a mere second, so, in truth the game developers truly did not imagine that this training ground would be game-breaking for a certain individual.
The basic attack system did not have a cooldown, thus, the speed of a player attacking would completely depend on one’s skill. He was cutting down at the skeleton at a speed faster than a sewing machine chopping down on fabric, red numbers could be seen popping up above the skeleton alongside with the frequent misses.
6! MISS! 7! 7! MISS! 7!
Then finally, another number appeared above the skeletons head which was ‘8!’, the skeleton had thoroughly collapsed never to stand up again.
Ding!
System Notification: “Undead Skeleton has been killed, player’s level is 4 levels lower than the monster killed. 500% experience is given. 5000 EXP!”
Ding!
“Congratulations Broken! You are now level 2. Your player ranking is currently ranked at #1, the leader boards are unlocked once the first player reaches level 10, and attains the first job advancement. Best of luck adventurer!”
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