Chapter 1 - And upon the stage, enters the Master of Negotiations
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In a sudden and blinding flash of light, a man dressed in simple black clothes appeared. It was his first time in this world, and he couldn't believe his eyes. It was perfect. He had played many VR games before, but none were as realistic as this one. He moved his arms, then his legs, and it seemed he could perform absolutely any movement. Around him, dozens of people walked about. The place he was in was a simple square, and he could see stands where merchants sold goods, screaming for the crowd their wares and prices.
It was an incredible sight. Other VR games had focused on different things, there were some VR games with amazing graphics, but low freedom of movement. You moved, but only on specific scripts of movement, so that you couldn't really control your body like real life, just controlling it as you would a normal game character. You wished to walk forward? You could, but you didn't really lift your legs and moved in the way you desired, you just moved in the way the system had it scripted. You wanted to punch someone? You used a skill that did that for you, aiming with the skill, never with your real body.
Of course there were games where you were free, but in those, the graphics sucked, and the physics of the game was usually broken, so that things simply didn't felt really realistic: you moved freely, but the world around you was just crap.
For a VR game to have both detail and freedom was something new, he had read about it, but didn't really believe it... Would the physics here really be as realistic as he had read? As he mused about that, he noticed a fountain right in the center of the square... and ran to it, jumping into the fountain head first.
Damage: -10 HPFame +1
Of course, the fountain wasn't really deep, and he crushed head first in the stone floor of it. Well, the pain was minimum, and his health should probably recover. The fame part was what he couldn't understand, but that could only be a good thing, anyway. He couldn't really see the splash of water, but it felt exactly how it would feel in real life. Even his vision underwater was the same.
He got to his feet inside the fountain, noticing the movement of the water, and it really did seem exactly like what he would have expected it to be, if he was in the real world, that is. Here, he just couldn't believe in what he saw, it was too much. He had studied a lot about VR, and he couldn't even begin to imagine how a computer would be able to process all the data needed for that, it was simply impossible. Hell, they had a whole fucking world for that! And according to what he read, it was huge!
Still amazed, the man finally noticed the stares he was getting from the other people in the square, that just saw a young man jumping head first in a fountain, and then moving about and slapping the water giving a look of awe at the splashes it made. Great, that was why he got a Fame bonus, they thought he was crazy.
Understanding that what he did would probably be abnormal, he shrugged, getting out of the fountain. He couldn't really wait to see the ultra-realistic world everyone was talking about, as he didn't believe something like that was possible, so he had skipped the tutorial, wanting to dive into that world as soon as possible. Well, if this world was really as realistic as it seemed, he would have a lot of fun here anyway.
Remembering he had lost 10 HP just then, he decided to have a look in his maximum HP, and tried to call his Status Window, as one would usually do in other VR games, saying 'Status'... Surprisingly, just as he thought of that, the window appeared.
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Status WindowBasic InformationName:UndefinedCharacter TypeNoviceGender:MaleLevel:1Experience:0Recognized TitlesNoneRecognized around for:Crazy man that jumped inside a fountainMostly recognized forCrazy man that jumped inside a fountainLocal Fame:1Total fame:1AttributesHealth:100/100Mana:100/100Strength:10Agility:10Vitality:10Dexterity:10Intelligence:10Charisma:10Perception:10Willpower:10
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Wow! That was strange... he didn't say anything, did he? And what was that gap on his status, after his supposed name? Seriously, the hell? Every game he played asked his name in character creation, this one simply had not. Was this a bug? And more important than everything else, why was he being recognized as 'crazy'? Ok, it was abnormal, but crazy, seriously?
For a moment he forgot the fact he called the window only by thinking, but then he decided to call his inventory... And it appeared with only a thought. Well, if the game was doing mind-reading, then that was really, but really strange. That was another thing pnly very few games had, and usually those were centered around that, having that as the major features of the game, being able to call skills without saying them, or to move objects with your mind, as in telekinesis. This game seemed to have all the selling points of VR games lauched so far.
Anyway, that aside, what he found on his inventory was... nothing. His inventory was empty, not a single loaf of bread or flask of water, but that he had 1 Silver and 50 Copper on his Wallet. Games usually gave you some food, water and the like when you started, sometimes even a basic dagger. Of course some o them also gave you some starting money, but for this game to give you only money was another thing he couldn't really understand. This probably meant he would need to buy his food, which, in a way was good, as he could get better acquainted with the economy of the game. It would probably force players who just wanted to rush outside to actually give a care to their surroundings and interact with NPCs, as in merchants. Well, good for him, maybe he could get a bargaining skill?
Heading for a merchant screaming that he had fresh fish to sell, the man felt a sudden cold, but shrugged it off as he continued walking.
"Hello there, how much for the fish?"
The merchant looked at his client, containing a laugh. "It's 15 copper."
Seeing the merchant was almost laughing at him, he thought the fish was probably much cheaper than the man tried to sell it for. This guy was just the worst merchant he had ever seen, couldn't even get through with his lie... Again, the game surprised him. To have an NPC tried to scam you right in the starting town, well, it was realistic, although the obvious way it did was just as bad as it could be. "Come on, the fish is not even fresh, I'm sure it's not worth that much."
The merchant finally let out his laughter, laughing at his client's face. He knew it, the man was trying to scam him in his first day here, what an ass. "Well, they are definitely not as fresh as you are, as I can see you have just got out of the water not even ten minutes ago." The man started to laugh again, finally containing himself. "But no, the price is really 15 copper, although for you, having made me laugh like that, I could give a discount and sell it for 12 copper. My name is Peish, by the way, yours?"
Damn. So the game was THIS good, the man had even laughed at a random event that really shouldn't be expected, I mean, how through were those programmers, to put even that in the script of a single merchant NPC? Hell, he even unlocked a special discount, that would be obtained just with a very specific action like that! If all NPCs had were as complex as that, the fact this game was still running without having crashed yet was even the more surprising!
"Well, I-" The man almost spoke his true name, then remembered he wasn't asked for a name in his character creation, and decided he should create one just then. "I'm Ryaki, and, in that case... what else do you have to sell with this 20% discount? Hmm?"
The merchant froze at that, he never said a 20% discount, did he? Just a small discount, only in his fish, but the man was a real scammer, and had quickly calculated the discount and asked for the merchant to apply it for ALL his wares... "Well, if you're like that, then I can also sell you some other stuff at a discount, if you're willing to buy a lot, that is..." The merchant grinned, to which the dripping wet man just nodded. "Well, in that case, I have bread, 8 copper for you, as a good and durable type of food that won't rot away as fast as fish, good for you travelers, and water canteens, which would usually sell for 65 copper, but I can sell for you for 50..."
"Well, I was planning on buying a pair of daggers to hunt outside the city too, so how much are some simple daggers worth, do you know? If you can direct me to a merchant that sell them I could easily spend the rest of the money I won't spend on weapons to buy some food from you, so I can hunt to my hearts content" The man smiled, knowing he would get free information and would still be able to force a deal with the merchant after that, learning a dagger would cost him 15 copper. Damn, it was the same price of a fish, food sure was expensive in here!
Ryaki quickly agreed to spend the rest of his money - 1 silver and 20 copper, after deducting the 30 copper for a pair of daggers - on the food , buying a cantel of water and ten loaves of bread, having managed to convince the man to sell him an extra loaf 'just to make it a rounded number, for luck'. The merchant just smiled awkwardly, agreeing after little struggle. Well, he couldn't be more happy with that broken lucky incident on the fountain, no one would ever guess you could get discounts by approaching a fish merchant while dripping wet.
Whistling happily, Ryaki left the merchant, following the directions he were given, to the dagger merchant. As he finally found the man, he learned a dagger costed a whooping 50 copper, and heard, just behind him, a man screaming "Fish, 16 copper; cantel, 30 copper; loaves of bread, only 4 copper a piece!"
His face went red, knowing all too well his first impression of the merchant couldn't have been more true...
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I know I said I would make it serious and not a comedy... but I did say there would be comedy here and there, and I couldn't really resist the scene as the story came to that...