I stood in a hoarfrost-covered passage. In a frozen city of sorts. I had heard of a capital made of ice, but it was on the surface, on the footsteps of a majestic glacier, not underground. I could see the permafrost above me. The atmosphere was so cold that the air gashed my arms, but for some reason, I felt no pain, as if I were playing as an Enhanced. Perhaps I was used to freezing winds thanks to the Bridge. I pressed my hands against the ice structures that surrounded me, but only slight pain jolted them. A single light-purple streak remained on them. I had to make sure I wasn’t reckless and tempting fate. I wasn’t going to get frostbitten in my first minutes in VirtuaNet.
Imposing medieval Scandinavian buildings made of ice that seemed to have never melted hung from the permafrost. Multistoried towers were positioned at different angles so they resembled an octagon, with ringed turf house-like structures at the center that looked like a series of inverted trapezoids decreasing in size the further down they went. Each level was protected by its own protruding iced roof, with a triangular spire at the bottom. They were all connected by curved inclined corridors that were a feat of stamina to ascend or descend, and where a misstep would lead to certain death. An endless fall into what seemed a frozen lake awaited those who slipped and fell.
Long, spacious corridors of rooms and living spaces carved right into the cavernous congealed walls seemed to peer at you anytime you surveyed the city. As if somehow someone would emerge from the ice, even though humanity had probably forsaken the city ages ago. Nothing remained. No food. No water. No weapons or tools. Only the sound of perennial silence. Only the boreal hum of my footsteps clattering against the ice. Enough to make anyone insane.
But I was used to silence. For better or for worse.
I tried to contact Aisha, but no sound came forth. Nothing. But while I explored the city, someone materialized in front of me. An aged man. Wrinkles mantled his face. Bald. Decrepit. But with a physique that could compete with those decades younger than him. And worse, with a death glare on his face.
He was not a nice old person.
The old man rushed toward me almost at the speed of sound and tried to elbow my shoulder, but I dodged it and dashed away, heading further down the passageways of the frozen city. I didn’t know what to do. Was this the tutorial? Aisha had told me that someone would teach me how to fight, how to acquire skills, how to be effective in VirtuaNet, but that man didn’t seem like a tutorial. He seemed like an actual enemy who’d kill my character, which meant I could suffer consequences in real life. In addition to not being able to log in again until twenty-four hours had elapsed. And I didn’t know if Aisha’s brother Logan had twenty-four hours to spare.
Heck, I didn’t even have twenty-four seconds to spare. I heard the old man’s footsteps and rolled away down one of the corridors, thinking I’d be safe, but he sneered, as if he was enjoying trying to defeat me, and released an ice ray from his hand. Instinctively, I leaped down, hoping to catch hold of the corridors beneath me, which I did, thank God, but not before his ray struck one of my shoulders. An ice blade seared my veins when I saw what had happened.
My shoulder. Completely frozen. What if that old man froze me for good? You couldn’t log out while frozen or paralyzed. How long would I have to stay in VirtuaNet, given that according to Aisha, the environment could boost the effects of status ailments? I could be trapped as an ice statue forever. Because I didn’t think anyone else knew of that frozen city.
I thought of bridging back to the real world. I thought of running away, but bridging without properly logging off meant risking a permanent ban from the game. And then I’d have failed Aisha for sure. I could have logged out properly, but I didn’t want to lose a day either. I prayed for an answer as I hopped over the railing and skulked to a different house, hoping he hadn’t seen me but knowing he had.
But at least I’d have a minute to think. An ice ray pounded the walls for a few seconds. I’d have to fight, regardless of my level. Besides, the game said that if I could pull off a decent strategy, I could defeat those seemingly stronger than me.
I stepped outside, praying my plan would work.
I bolted up, speeding toward the houses closest to the spires hanging from the permafrost. The old man had seen me. He prepared his ice ray again. But instead of hiding, I decided to risk getting hit. A risky gambit for a big reward.
I raced at my top speed, and just before the ice ray was about to freeze me forever, I leaped toward the spire from one of the hanging buildings. I then stretched my arm as far as I could, thinking I wasn’t going to make it, thinking I’d fall to my death once I crashed into the ice abyss below, but I managed to grasp the spire with two fingers and quickly grabbed on with my other hand before I collapsed. A holographic message emerged. A shield materialized around me as I read it.
New Active Searu: High Jump
TP Cost: 20
A vital skill for those who are not yet powerful enough to engage in direct combat. At
its highest levels, this skill will help you jump for the clouds.
Skill Level: Novice
Effect: 5% (7.5%) increase in jumping height. This effect is boosted by the Agility
stat.
The old man stomped the ice, probably enraged that a newcomer had bested him. I didn’t know if he was a player or an AI enemy, but what mattered was that I was safe for the time being. And that you could learn searu by doing things in VirtuaNet instead of just leveling up. I’d remember that.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
I used the protruding roofs to climb all the way to the upper level, right next to the permafrost, which felt somewhat warmer. It’d be at least a minute until the old man arrived. I headed inside through one of the building’s open windows. And in that completely void room, right on the floor, almost forgotten by those who left, lay a ring of sorts. A simple, unadorned ring with no engravings or markings on it. Was it a trap? Possibly, but I had no other choice. I grabbed it and a system prompt emerged.
You’ve acquired an Eternal Ice Ring!
Fashioned from eternal ice through a now-forgotten carving process, only two of
these are currently in existence. It grants immunity against freezing and frostbite.
+10 Intelligence +5 Def +50 Luck
Great! With this I could defeat that old man. I decided to check out my stats, but I didn’t know how, so I thought of the words “Status Screen,” and it appeared in front of me.
Name: Cael Cavanaugh
Title: Newcomer. The title given to one who first ventures into VirtuaNet.
Class: Artist
Level: 1
Searu Type: N/A
HP: 80/150
TP: 200/200
Str: 50
Def: 120
Agl: 260
Dex: 200
Luck: 500
I could more or less guess what each attribute represented, except for searu type, but I didn’t have time to find out now. With one glance at my stats, I immediately knew I wouldn’t be able to power through the game. If Luck was my strongest attribute, my main strategy for the game would have to be aiming for a one-hit knockout against my enemies’ vital points. That or long-range critical hits, as my dexterity wasn’t too shabby. Perhaps that was for the best. I didn’t want to risk getting paralyzed in the real world because of a direct strike.
I waved my hand and passed to the next stats page, which seemed to be the equipment page.
Head:
Weapon:
Torso: Cotton Shirt +1 Def
Arm: Smartwatch
Legs: Cotton Slacks +1 Def
Feet: Leather Shoes +1 Agl
Acc. 1:
Acc. 2:
I placed the Eternal Ice Ring on my left hand’s ring finger and immediately the equipment screen changed. The ring appeared in the first accessory slot, and my TP, Defense, and Luck stats increased to 300, 170, and 1,000 respectively. The Intelligence attribute seemed to control your TP.
Warmth deluged me, and my frozen shoulder began to thaw. Second by second, the ice melted, and my shoulder returned to its original color. I almost began to boldly wave my arm in joy but realized that if the old man didn’t know where I was, I’d definitely let him know if I was careless. So I hid further inside the room I was in and used the arm whose shoulder had been frozen to arrive at the next status screen, the searu one. In addition to High Jump, which I had just learned, my character already knew two other ones.
Active Searu: Poison
TP Cost: 10
Type: N/A
A beginner skill for those starting in the art of debilitating the enemy. At its highest levels, it will clout the enemy.
Skill Level: Novice
Effect: 5% (15%) chance of poisoning the target. This effect is boosted by the Luck stat.
Active Searu: Scan
TP Cost: 5
Type: N/A
A beginner skill for those who wish to know their enemy before fighting it. At its highest levels, it will unveil the attribute mix and searu of the target.
Skill Level: Novice
Effect: Reveals the target’s stats.
My smartwatch provided the Scan searu, so I’d have to decide whether I wanted that searu or something that boosted my other attributes. Perhaps with repeated usage, I could acquire Scan and wouldn’t need my smartwatch to have it, but before I could look at the next Status Screen, I heard incoming footsteps. The old man had found me. I sneered. I knew exactly what to do.
Not thinking, on the gust of pride that burst through my veins as I dashed down toward the old man approaching with his eyes set on decimating me, drowning down the gavels that pummeled my mind with doubt and guilt, I waved my arm and yelled “Poison!” as loud as I could, fully aware that the frozen silence that engulfed us drowned out my voice and turned its bang into a mere whimper. The old man smirked and spit at the icy hallways beneath our feet.
But a second after I activated the Poison searu, a prompt emerged.
Field Effect Activated. Hidden Searu Unlocked! +10 Intelligence Bonus
Toxic Mist
TP Cost: 15
Type: N/A
A hidden skill for those starting in the art of debilitating the enemy. At its highest levels, it will clout the enemy.
Skill Level: Novice
Effect: 5% (15%) chance of either poisoning or freezing the target. 2.5% (7.5%) chance of both status ailments. This effect is boosted by the Luck stat.
Even better. Thank God! Even the old man seemed slightly surprised at the field effect. Had no one tried that before? Or were we in a space so devoid of life that he had already forgotten field effects were a thing? A blast of sadness twinged in me, but I had my own life to worry about. Couldn’t dwell on how long this city had been forsaken.
An ashen haze swamped the old man, clouding his vision for a moment. Ice began to frost his body, but before he could utter a sound or take a step forward, I jumped down a few levels to a corridor and activated High Jump. I leaped about a hundred feet into the air, and for a second there, I forgot about the adrenaline that must have been rushing through my veins, about the fact that I could have been frozen forever, and admired the landscape, the frozen city from above. All the buildings and passageways looked like a majestic display of snowflakes hanging from the permafrost, all united, all together. Whoever lived here must have valued community above all. I wasn’t sure if I’d have been comfortable with that way of life, but it was a picturesque scene of a winter wonderland that soothed me, if only for three seconds.
On my way down, I aimed my fist right at the old man’s neck, hoping for a luck-boosted one-hit KO for targeting my enemy’s vital points, but when the effects of Toxic Mist waned, the ice that mantled the old man’s body vanished. Fear rolled through me, and I opened my clenched fist. Was he immune to freezing as well? Because I had opened my fist, I only managed to press my palm against his neck instead of punching it.
Critical hit! +1 Luck Bonus
The prompt said that, but the old man didn’t even flinch. I tried to activate Scan to see how much damage I had dealt, but for a second there, the old man’s face changed. All the wrath turned to sadness. Resignation, more likely. That he’d be forever trapped. That he’d eternally remain alone. He tried to say something, but then his characteristic sneer returned. And before I could recover from High Jump’s stagger time, the old man grabbed my neck. How could I have fallen for such a cheap trick?
Was this the end?
He prepared his ice ray, but before he clouted me, I knuckled his face with the hand that wore the Eternal Ice Ring. A pale cerulean light shone.
“It can’t be,” the old man muttered. Shocked. “You must be…”
In an instant, I was gone. The light had transported me somewhere else.
Somewhere safe, I hoped.