Adam prepared a meal- it is still from the food he snatched from the family dinner a few days ago. He placed it in the microwave and waited for it to get hot.
He may have a decent amount of money now, but why waste food?
While waiting for his food to get warm, he decided to check for news regarding the status of players in the Undead Region. It’s been about 3 days in-game since the players have completed the first quest.
Players are busy either grinding or exploring the area. Those who died in the chamber battle have respawned and are now regrouping with their comrades.
But so far, none have reached the fortress yet. And Adam knows, no one will until at least two weeks in-game. No rush on this one, he still has plenty of time to clear the crypt.
Then he checked the unread messages that came in when he was playing:
* A few dozen messages from his mother
* Yet another condescending message from his brother
* A polite hello from Keira
* And another one from Selene. Hers is a bit lengthy so he decided to save it for last.
He decided to send a reply to each.
To his mother, he sent yet another picture of him eating a meal. And gave an explanation of the basics that 24 hours in real time is 3-days in game, and that is why he cannot check his phone frequently. She may be a doctor, but she remains ignorant when it comes to gaming.
To his brother, a blunt “fuck you”. Then he decided to include a copy of his bank statement showing a portion of his money, but not the full amount that he sent to Selene.
To Keira, he returned her greeting with a greeting of his own and explained that he’s only using his phone a few times a day- if at all.
And to Selene, he took the time to read her message- or rather, messages.
It appears she has been sending a single-sentenced message every few hours. Based on the frequency, it seems she’s sending the messages in between her breaks. And apparently, she took the time to research the latest news in the World of Pangea.
- How did you earn so much money? It’s only been a few days since the game's release, right?
- Wait. Never mind, I saw how expensive in-game items can get. Crazy! Oh, well, I guess it worked out very well for you.
- I had some doubts about your decision, but maybe you do know what you’re doing. Ha! Gotta go. Back to work.
- Break time. Again. Adam… by some chance, are you using your real name while playing? You wouldn’t be the top player right now, are you?
- Tell me!
- I know you’re playing, but tell me once you’re back on Earth!
- Earth to Adam! Hello?
- You are, aren’t you?
- TELL. ME. TELL ME!
- What happened, your name disappeared from the list. Did you die? Is that how it works?
‘You can be very annoying, you know?’ Adam sighed.
Before responding to her, he decided to eat first. And when he’s done with his meal, he responded to each of her questions- one message at a time.
“Yes. Item price can get that high, depending on how good the items are.”
“I found some good gear and put it up for a public auction.”
“Yes, I’m the top player.”
“I still am. But I took my name off the rankings. I don’t want the publicity.”
“If I die, I’ll lose a few levels, but I’d still be in the top though.” Then as an afterthought, he added a reminder. “Oh, and don’t tell anyone that. I don’t want my identity leaked.”
After eating, he went out for some fresh air- and then lit a cigarette.
Now that he managed to unwind for a bit, it’s time to get back to his ongoing raid.
[DreamWave Capsule initiating systems.]
[Initiating life-support system… 1%]
[Initiating language translation systems…1%]
[Initiating trauma regulator…1%]
[Synchronization: Ready]
“Let’s put Blazing Will for a few test runs.”
Blazing Will 2
Description: Lift one's limitation for a short period of time. Enhances attack damage, speed, and spell power by 15/% for 40 seconds at the cost of continued loss of HP. Healing is not possible during this period.
Cost: 100 MP
Cooldown: 180 seconds
A 15% increase of attack damage, speed, and spell power may not seem much to some but for Adam whose stats are higher than most, this is another trump card to add to his ever improving arsenal.
There is undoubtedly a lot of need for this spell in the crypt and beyond.
As for the debuff that came with it, it is a 1 point health loss also for 40 seconds. But the real penalty is not being able to heal oneself during this period. This means he has to exercise extra caution so as not to take too much damage during an intense fight.
He decided to test it out first with no enemies around. Better to experiment with it now while he’s not in combat.
Blazing Will!
-1 HP, -1 HP, 1 HP…
He can tell there’s a small increase in his physical attacks. Even though there’s no target, he can tell it would cause a small chance to stagger even a draugr should his hit connect. If he could normally attack twice per second, now he can do three.
The speed boost is a good thing for him too; his supply of Haste Potion is running dangerously low. He only has 9 bottles of it now.
-1 HP, -1 HP, 1 HP…
Unfortunately, his Ignition Glove’s damage boost did not enhance the buff or its duration. Though at least it still reduced the casting cost.
'It seems that Ignition Gloves can’t boost every aspect of a Pyromancy spell. Noted.'
Now that he got everything he needed to learn, he waited for the effect to expire before continuing on.
It wasn’t long before he found his next prey.
This time, it is a quartet of draugrs. Unfortunately for Adam, it is a balanced group. So even with Blazing Will, rushing head-on is not recommended.
There appears to be two warriors- one wielding a longsword, and the other a two-handed great axe. As for the other two, one is clearly an archer, and the other is most probably a mage judging by the absence of any weapon in its body.
“On a second thought, I’m gonna need my bow again.”
He set his dagger and sword aside and pulled out his longbow and its quiver of arrows again. He doused a few more arrows in oil, just as he has been doing for the past several fights and prepared to take aim.
His first target is the mage- while he doesn’t know what type of spells it wields, it doesn’t change the fact that it needs to be the first one to go. And the second priority is the archer; Adam judged that he can fight the two warriors in melee and win, regardless of their actual levels.
He took aim at the Mage Draugr’s head- he was aiming for its face.
Swish!
Adam’s proficiency with a bow is once again on full display. His arrow reached its intended target and staggered the Mage Draugr.
Before a split second passed, he took aim at the archer. This time his aim is its left hand.
Swish!
The arrow neatly hit the archer’s left hand, and the arrow stayed lobeded.
In order for it to use its bow to fire back, it will have to pull out the arrow first, which will grant Adam a few precious seconds to tip the odds in his favor.
And that he did.
Before the warrior could pinpoint his location, he hurled a Fireball straight to the mage- once again, in its face.
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Boom!
The oiled arrow ensured that the mage caught sustained fire in its face!
And then, just as the archer was about to finish pulling the arrow stuck in its hand, Adam aimed a spell at it.
Firebolt! Bang!
At the spell’s current level, the Firebolt shot caused the archer to stagger. And of course, it was also set alight thanks to the oil that spread to its arm.
The damage-over-time is not something to scoff at.
[You have dealt 48 damage...]
[You have dealt 42 damage...]
[You have dealt 43 damage...]
[You have dealt 41 damage...]
At this point, the two warriors had found the culprit. But Adam didn’t panic. There’s some considerable distance between himself and the two warriors.
He continued firing arrows doused in oil and fire spells at the two priority targets.
[You have dealt 48 damage...]
[You have dealt 42 damage...]
[You have dealt 43 damage...]
[You have dealt 41 damage...]
Before the two warriors even reached halfway of where Adam is, the mage and the archer had fallen.
There’s still a fair bit of distance the warriors have to cross to reach Adam. He decided to pin one of the warriors so he can have a head start in confronting the other in a brief one-on-one match.
Noticing that the Great axe Warrior is slightly behind the Sword Draugr, no doubt slowed down by the much heavier weapon it carries, he decided to pin its feet to slow it down even more.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Adam shot three oiled-arrows on each of its feet and one on its face. Then he threw a Firebolt at it. After that, he dropped the bow and quiver of arrows to the ground and prepared to fight the Sword Draugr in a melee confrontation.
Fire Enchantment!
The dagger and longsword burst into flames.
Blazing Will!
Adam sensed his physical prowess had a slight increase. He decided to capitalize on it and met the closest draugr head-on.
-1 HP
Just as the Longsword Draugr led by striking with its sword, Adam met it with his own sword.
-1 HP
Clang! Thanks to his improved strength, it is the draugr that suffered a slight stagger.
-1 HP
He took this opportunity to slash at it again.
-1 HP
Slash! Slash! Once again, he specifically targeted the joints of the draugr to both stagger it and deal extra damage.
[You have dealt 178 damage...]
[You have dealt 169 damage...]
Look at that DPS! He’s near 200 damage now!
By his previous estimates, each warrior type draugr would have at least 700 to 800 HP- provided that it’s less than level 110.
Furthermore, even without oil, the Longsword Draugr was set on fire due to the intensity of his Fire Enchantment, causing a much welcome damage-over-time. But Adam didn’t wait for it to die by DoT.
He went in for the kill.
Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!
The fight lasted far shorter than Adam initially expected. Now, it is the Great axe Draugr’s turn. Seeing the opportunity to land another spell at it, Adam did.
Fireball!
The explosion staggered it. Causing another opening, which means-
Firebolt!
Another stagger. And at this point, it is already intensely burning due to the oil and several spells directly lodged at it.
No need to prolong its suffering.
Thrust!
And with a single thrust of his sword, Adam has defeated the Great axe Draugr.
In about 20 seconds, the fight versus four draugrs ended with Adam’s overwhelming victory.
He then checked the system notification that he ignored for the duration of the fight.
“So, the mage was Level 104, archer was 103, and the two warriors were only at 101.”
“No wonder the fight ended pretty quickly. I guess their supposedly balanced party set-up was meant to offset their relatively low level. But in the end, I still won.” Adam concluded.
Of course, had it been a regular party pitted against the four draugrs, the ending would have been completely different.
Aside from his effective use of his spells and excellent combat skills, Adam had gotten more and more familiar with fighting them ever since he started the raid. It is not something that can easily be measured by damage numbers or stats.
It is simply his effectiveness as a fighter improving without him noticing.
After letting the Blazing Will’s debuff wore off, Adam decided to chug a health potion.
He can’t afford to have low health even when there’s no enemies around. Ensuring he is at his peak condition at any given time is of utmost importance since he is solo raiding.
Surprisingly, there’s only a few coffins in the room- a stark contrast to the dozens of other rooms that Adam had been clearing.
After recovering his health and Blazing Will’s cooldown, only then did he check the room thoroughly. This time, he noticed crude traps set-up in certain areas of the chamber. He either took them down or deactivated them to neutralize their threat.
Oddly enough, even the few coffins in the room did not contain any zombies. So why the traps and the four draugrs here?
Then it hit him; there’s something of value in this room. He proceeded with extra caution.
This time, he decided to keep firing off spells after spells until every part of the wall in the chamber had been touched by an explosion- he did not dare approach and poke it with a sword for fear of any traps he may have missed.
Finally, he noticed the ever so subtle array: there is a seal in the wall.
Adam knows the drill. He sacrificed some essence he gained and smeared the wall with his to activate it.
What was once a wall disappeared and revealed a small hidden room. And in it is a treasure chest.
Of course, it’s not just a simple treasure chest.
“Chest Mimic.”
This time, he didn’t bother throwing a stun powder at it. He wanted it to come to him; his gut is telling him that getting in the room is not a good idea.
Firebolt!
Sure enough, the once treasure chest showed its disgusting mouth and teeth. And from its mouth, a few appendages meant to be its legs came out. It looked like a disgusting fusion between a mouth and a fully functioning but rotting crab’s legs protruding from it.
Fireball!
Even for Adam, it looks very unsettling; he did not want to engage in melee if he could help it.
He threw a flask of oil into the wide open mouth. And then he shot another Firebolt at it.
He retreated for a few steps and let the DoT burn the insides of the mimic’s mouth.
Unsurprisingly, the outer body that is made of metal did not burn well, that’s why he didn’t bother to throw an oil at it at the beginning.
Soon after, the mimic succumbed to the intensity of flames and the items it was hiding were laid to bare. And the items, particularly the armor set, is something that Adam recognized immediately.
“This is Paladin Rebecca’s armor set!”
Now, Adam knew why nobody claimed the clear for this crypt. It was an individual that did not care much for fame.
It was Rebecca Rivers of Flora Guild- or at least, she will be part of Flora and eventually become its guild master.
In the present time, Rebecca is but another independent player. But at some point during the first year of the World of Pangea, she was recruited by Flora Guild.
And not long after that, she took leadership and became its Guild Master.
When the apocalypse arrived, she was one of the first guilds to put up a resistance against the monster horde that populated Earth.
Rebecca Rivers and Flora Guild gained international adoration. Her iconic armor set became a symbol of inspiration.
Tragically, about a year after the apocalypse, an obsessed stalker killed her.
However, her deeds became a symbol of hope for the rest of humanity. It became proof that humans can fight back.
‘So, did Flora Guild clear this crypt during my first life?’ Adam wondered. ‘Wait. That can’t be it.’
Flora Guild at this point in time is a fame and profit-driven like every pro gaming companies. If they had cleared this crypt, they would have undoubtedly published it to boost their reputation.
‘No, that can’t be right.’
He started organizing his memories related to Rebecca and Flora Guild.
At this point in time, Rebecca is definitely not part of the guild yet. But it was known that she was already an independent player who was initially a ranker in the early days of gaming.
He took a quick look at the current rankings. And sure enough, there is a Rebecca currently ranked at #12. Although there is no last name, it is probably her. If that is her, then her ranking is higher than what Adam thought it should be; after all it was Maxima that dominated the top ranks in his first life.
Adam sat down on the floor, deep in thought. After several minutes he drew a hypothesis.
Rebecca found this set, that much is a certainty. Most likely, with the help of this set, she cleared the crypt. Whether it is solo or with a team, Adam doesn’t know. But most likely, she had a team with her.
Then, somehow, Flora Guild heard of her accomplishment and offered her membership.
However, since Flora Guild did not clear the crypt, they could not make the claim that it was them who did it. Or perhaps, they couldn’t even if they wanted to.
This is because Rebecca is known to despise publicity to the point she doesn't have her own social media account, she probably didn’t allow Flora to publicize her accomplishment for the sake of reputation boost. Perhaps, she threatened not to cooperate if they did.
Clearly, Flora Guild valued Rebecca’s worth as a player that they honored her wish. And eventually, she became its guild master.
The question of when she actually claimed this set is irrelevant to Adam. Instead he’s considering something far more important: should he loot this set? Or let Paladin Rebecca find it so she can be the hero that she is and save countless lives in the apocalypse?
If he were to claim this for himself and Rebecca’s fate took a less heroic route, there may be people who initially survived in his first life that will now suffer a horrific fate.
“What should I do?” He couldn’t decide.
If you knew something would save someone’s life later down the line, would you take it?
He has already checked the description of each item and most of them are equipment he doesn’t have the requirements for. Is it better to just leave them where he got it from?
But he doesn’t know when Rebecca would claim this loot. What if several teams tried to raid this place before she successfully did? Those teams would take this instead, especially now that Adam had dispelled the illusory wall and killed the mimic hiding it.
So many unknown variables. What if he just gift wrapped it and presented it to Rebecca?
‘Here you go. Use it wisely. Be the hero that you can be!’
No, somehow he knew that won’t work.
“Fuck it.”
Although he just logged back in, he decided to logged out again to smoke and go out for a walk to help him think. He didn't for another hour few hours.
But what Adam didn’t know is that his actions already had a direct impact in Rebecca’s life.