3 a.m.
Delhi.
"Great skin that shines from the inside out. Take care."
Sana said the tag line and finished the ad shoot for Garnier skin care. She started walking towards her chair when she was congratulated and praised for her wonderful take. The ad director didn't need to retake the shoot. It was perfect. She had been Indian brand ambassador for Garnier since 6 months. She had to work at night because the ad had a night scene. Her flight last night got late and she has an early morning flight back to her city so that she can attend the college. Hence, she had to shoot at such an odd time.
Even though she is just 17, she is living a sensational life of glitz and glamour. She was crowned Miss Teen India at an age of 16. She was immediately approached by various agencies, hair and skin companies. The money never stopped. She was from a middle class family but this modelling business has put them in the upper class. She is rich now. Her parents are happy. She doesn't have a boyfriend yet, but she has more than 15k fans following(stalking) her on facebook and twitter. Her mom had told her clearly. Boys will come trying to get you because of your looks. Not because of your heart. You are old enough to make your own decisions now but you should not believe everything that a guy says to you. That's all I can do to advice you.
As per Sana, her mom didn't have to give her that advice. She had a lot of boys who had asked her for a date but she had rejected everyone until now. Not because she has ego and attitude problems, but because she just didn't wanna hurt herself. She knows that break ups are hard and being as good natured as her, she would be hurt a lot more than any other normal girl. People just don't see the girl inside the outer layer that she sports.
She stood tall at a height of 171 centimeters. She has been bestowed with a pale skin and she is thankful to the Almighty for that. But this success wasn't achieved easily. She had to go through 5 days workout a week even though she can't gain much weight naturally. And the most important thing is that she missed her teenage life when boys fall in love with her because of her nature and who she is, not because they would be famous if they dated her even once.
She had a look at the watch. 3:30 a.m. Her flight is at 5:45. She arrived at the airport around 5 a.m. Even though it was this early, the people at the airport kept looking at her. She smiled as much as she could but she hated it. She didn't want this attention. At first, it was all good and she thought how famous she was. But now, she just wanted to be normal for a change and experience what other normal teenage girls her age experience.
She boarded the plane. She sat on her seat and heard the announcement from the captain that she would reach Mumbai in 2 hours. She put her hand in her handbag until she could feel that her hand was in touch with a book. She said something softly that wasn't audible to anyone and she went to sleep in an instant.
*
Worm woke up in a dimly lit room. He saw an old lantern placed near his bed. The bed was hard and uncomfortable. He remembered running away from the wolf and almost hitting a tree when he lost his balance. Somehow, he ended up in an open field rather than being dead and then either he lost consciousness or he slept. He wasn't too sure.
'How did I get here? An adventurer helped me perhaps?'
He was checking the room when he heard footsteps approaching. He sat calmly on the bed and looked towards the door. After about 5 seconds, a shadow appeared. He couldn't see the person clearly because of lack of light but the figure had a sturdy build as far as he could tell. Worm saw the white teeth when the man smiled after seeing him awake. He walked towards Worm and then Worm saw that he had a cup in his hand.
"Ohh, you are awake. It's good to finally see you...eh...in a conscious state. Well, I found you in my yard sleeping peacefully so I brought you here."
'He is an NPC?! An NPC helped me? And dammit, to think that I would waste my game time by sleeping. I haven't even started gaining experience. I need to hurry up and leave and start getting stronger. That bastard Linxx!'
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. It's just that I was being chased by a wolf and then I hit a tree and somehow ended up here."
Sanderp thought for a while<./p>
'He is smart, that I know. But here, in the game, just being smart won't work. You need to be strong as well, unless he plans on being a merchant. I must get him to tell me what he wants. He won't accept getting trained by an NPC. I have to be careful. DAmmit! Why the hell do i care about him so much?'
"Lets talk later about that. First, I made some herbal tea for you. Drink it while it's hot. It will make you feel good."
Worm nodded and took the tea that Sanderp offered. As he took the first sip, a message popped up.
You drank herbal tea that was made by a great chef. For the next one hour, the following changes occur.
Strength +1
Agility +2
Stamina +2
Intelligence +1
'What the hell? Stats can be increased like this. Even though it's temporary, it's great. And a great chef? He is an NPC, so he probably won't know about stats and stuff.'
"The tea is great. I am feeling strength returning to me. Thank you so much."
"Just strength?! I thought the tea temporarily increased agility, stamina and intelligence as well."
Worm was shocked. Then he realised that the game is advanced so even NPCs know about stats and levels.
"Yeah, it increased those things too. Thank you."
"You are welcome. By the way, my name is Sanderp. I am a magician."
"My name is Worm. And I don't have any profession yet. But I thought you were a chef because of this great tea.."
"Ahh no, even though I am a magician, I have always been alone. So, I learned cooking, fighting, making weapons, building little places, etc."
"What? You can do all those things? And you are just a magician? That's nice."
"Yeah, we learn stuffs when we are alone but these days no one seems alone. All hunt monsters in a group to make it easy. I have had it tough until now, so I learnt the useful things. By the way, why were running away from a weak wolf? It's level is hardly 60."
'What?! Hardly 60?! An NPC is this strong? I read in the forum that in other games the knights guarding the palaces are strong. Though NPC's levels haven't been heard in other games before but just how strong is this guy?'
"If you don't mind, may I ask what your level is?"
"358."
"Pardon me, 358?! Are you serious?"
"Why would I lie? What is yours?"
Rohit was ashamed to tell his level to him. Embarrased. He wasn't this embarrassed when that Rupesh's girlfriend had laughed on him.
"0. But I just started. I am gonna work hard and get stronger."
"That's okay. Even I started from level 7. But I have never heard of someone who started at level 0 though. It seems like you are too weak. No wonder you ran away from the wolf when you saw it. You know the best way to get stronger? Hunt with a party. Defeat stronger monsters and you will get stronger more quickly."
'You are an NPC. Of course, you didn't start from level 0.'
"No, I don't trust people. I would like to be alone. Thank you for your hospitality. I should get going."
"I wonder if you will be able to leave the place with such a weak body. The place is surrounded by wolves, you know."
"I will be fine. Thank you for everything. I hope I will see you again someday."
"Your wish. See you Worm kid. Just head straight ahead from the main gate and you will see a gate. When you will pass the gate, you will find yourself near the tree which led you here. However, you must promise me that you won't ever tell anyone of this place."
"Sure, I won't tell anyone. Bye."
Worm knew that he would be killed by the wolves as soon as he leaves but he didn't wanna stick around here doing nothing. He had to level up fast. He had already wasted so much time. He hadn't earned a single experience point until now. Also, his resurrection point would be Nahur city since he hadn't registered a single resurrection point so he would be resurrected at Nahur city, his starting place.
Worm saw the outer gate. He took out dagger from his inventory. Then he passed through the gate. Suddenly he was near the big tree that he had seen few hours ago before he fell asleep from exhaustion. He looked around. No sign of wolves. He started walking. After taking about 20 steps, he felt being watched. To his right, he saw the same kind of yellow eyes that he had seen few hours ago. The wolf jumped over a bush to face him. Worm swallowed his own spit in nervousness.
'Come. I am gonna die for sure, but I will injure you. I am not gonna die without slashing you even once.'
The wolf started running towards him. As soon as it was in range, Worm stabbed with all his might. That was his first mistake. Wolf, being an intelligent and a cunning animal, expected this due to the fear inside Worm. The wolf quickly jumped to the left and no sooner its legs found the ground, he jumped to the right again to tackle Worm. Worm fell down and due to the speed of the tackle, worm lost 75% health in an instant. The wolf didn't rest. It quickly bit his legs and
Worm lost all his health. He died within 15 seconds after the wolf had jumped out of the bushes.
*
4 a.m.(Real World Time)
Rohit woke up in real life and checked the timing.
'Couldn't even slash that fox once, ehh? Hahaha, looks like I'm weaker than I thought.'
He could have still played a lot before it's time for college. But now that he was dead, he couldn't get in the game because of the penalty. He thought for a while and concluded that he needed more time to play but he had his college. He thought about not going but he will have to maintain 50% attendance in order to sit for the university exam.
'If only I could make the minimum attendance to 25% or somewhere near around it.'
He then realized that he hadn't checked the time by which he was penalized. He held the book again in his hands and said the command that makes him log in the game but to his surprised the words that were displayed were different.
Since your resurrection place wasn't specified, you'll be resurrected at the last place where you took rest.
Due to death against a monster, you lose 1 point from all your stats but there is almost no time penalty. You will be able to enter the game in 30 seconds after this message was displayed.
'Ohh shit! Why didn't I set my resurrection point after my first death? Because, I ran to chase that stupid linxx. It's all because of him! Now, what the hell am I gonna do to find myself a hunting ground with low level monsters? Shit, I'll have to ask Sanderp to escort me.'
By the time he had done thinking, he was already inside the game. In front of him, there was the door to Sanderp's castle. It really was a castle. It's shocking how Worm didn't otice the humongous size of the castle until now. He lifted the big ring that was attached to the door and banged it against the door two times to let Sanderp know that someone was knocking.
Sanderp opened the door and his face said he knew that Worm would be back.
"So, you ran back when you saw wolves? Told ya, it wouldn't be easy to face them considering how weak you are."
"Can you help me reach Nahur city? Its hardly 2 hours walk. Please?"
"Can't help you kid. I can't leave this place. I would have loved to but I really can't."
The serious look on his face was enough to convince Worm that no matter what he tries, Sanderp won't leave this place. Worm turned back and started walking toward the main gate.
"But I can train you and make you strong enough to defeat the wolves with your pinky finger."
Worm couldn't believe what he had just heard. He turned around to look at Sanderp.
"What did you say?"
"I said that I would train you. You know, I feel sorry that I can't escort you but training isn't bad right? You will get much stronger with my training. Although, you will probably die. Hmm.."
Worm jumped at the opportunity. A level 358 NPC training him! Nothing could be better. He will get stronger. And surely, Sanderp is strong! He will teach him better than he could ever learn on his own. He had learnt that sweet talking with NPC's give good result.
"Master Sanderp, please accept me as your student. I am ready to learn from one of the best magicians of the world."
"You are ready? Please! And magicians? Who said I'm going to teach you magic? I willjust teach you surviving and that too if I find you are good enough to learn from me. And my training can last upto an year or two. Are you ok with that? And the training will be very hard. You could die as well."
Worm thought for a while. The broadcast said that the first to win the game would take around 7-10 years, that is 21-30 game years. Training for 3-4 years would have been ok too, 1-2 year is a piece of cake. He will have to sacrifice that much if he wants to beat Linxx.
Worm, initially, had no aim to try and win the game. But after his first death was handed to him by linxx, who is at the top now; the best way to get revenge would be to topple him from that position. He had now started aiming for the top unknowingly.
"I am ready master."
"You will need to cook food for me, clean the house and do what I will tell you without any objections."
"I will obey you without any objection master."
"Alright, it's already noon today so we won't be able to do much today. How about I give you a room and you make your room as you want. You will report to me at the castle gate at 4 a.m. tomorrow. The room on the ground floor where you had rested is all yours. Also, you are right handed. But that leaves your left very weak. You need to work on that. Come here."
Worm walked towards him. Sanderp produced two long and about 3 meter strips of leather out of thin air. He truly was a magician. He tied his right hand around his neck and asked him to fold his right leg from behind using his knee until the ankle touches his ass. As he did that, Sanderp used the second strip and tied it around his ankle and thigh. Worm now looked like a doll whose right arm and leg had been torn off. Worm didn't complain. He already knew his left was weak. But he didn't think that he would ever need to improve on that.
He went into his room. He had 16 hours before 4 a.m. next morning in the real world. That gives him around 5 hours in the real world. He would need to hurry. He logged out and he was in a hurry with everything in the real world. He hastened his steps.
Rohit finally reached where he wanted to go. Upon seeing the building in front of him, he took out his cell phone and dialled the number. It connected and from the other end, Rohit heard a sleepy voice.
"What is it? Calling me this early. Is everything okay?"
"It's 8 a.m. You are still sleeping? Freshen up and come down as soon as possible. I am waiting downstairs?"
"What? You are here?!"
"Yeah, hurry up. And bring the car keys. I want you to come with me."
"I can't. I have a session at 11."
"It's okay. You'll be back by then if you hurry up. And you are already 30 minutes late so come asap."
"Okay. Give me 10 minutes."
After 10 minutes, his elder sister came in a work dress. She probably figured that she wouldn't get the time to change again. She wouldn't have come but this was the first time her brother had sounded so serious to her. She didn't have any option. They got in the car.A
"So, where to?"
"My college. You gotta talk to the principal."
"What? Why?"
"Have you heard of 'The Sphere'?"
"Who hasn't?"
They reached the college and went straight to the principal's room. They were both running short of time. She was impressed by what her brother had told her.
"Sir, I'm Divya Rana and I'm a psychiatrist at JJ Hospital. I'm here to talk to talk to you because my brother here has a problem."
She showed her card to the principal.
"Can you see the physical state of my brother? You can clearly see how slim he is and just by looking at his body, one can tell that he would have been bullied his entire life. That's okay though. My brother was okay too. He had made peace with the reality. He passed his high school like that thinking that college life would be different. But now, he entered your college and met the same bully who had bullied him his entire high school. The same thing happened to my brother on the very first day. He went home depressed. Now, as a psychiatrist I know that this will harm his mental state sooner or later. And I know that you will punish this bully guy but you can't. He is the son of the local politician. And my brother here also told me something interesting, that there's no way Rupesh got here on grades. His grades were very poor for this college. Still, him being here could only mean that his father was somehow influential in this. Now, to protect my little brother, I can use my position and bring this news to newspaper authorities and I am quite sure you know how that would impact your reputation as the principal of the college and trust me, I have a Times of India reporter on my speed dial. I would have already done so but my brother here didn't want the college name to plummet. So, I am here to ask you to aloow my brother 10% minimum attendance. Even that would be too much, I wanted complete holiday for the semester but he said that he would try and attend once in a while to see the reality of life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a session at 11."
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Principal saw her as a devil in disguise.She stood up and gave the principal a charming smile. And then lifted her hand for a handshake.
"Thank you principal. So, you agree right?"
"Yeah.. Yeah.. I do. I, eh.., wouldn't want my student to suffer. Thank you."
Rohit and her sister left the office. He thanked her. She said not to worry and she drove back. As rohit was about to leave, a curly haired girl with weird taste in dressing came up to talk to him. Rohit noticed that she didn't have a single place where her skin could be seen. Fully covered.
"Umm.. You are in first year right? I saw you that day when that bully guy bullied you. I felt very bad. You didn't even do anything wrong. By the way, my name is Dishita, what's yours?"
Rohit listened to her and then decided not to answer her. She was not only not good looking but also she was a freak. After all, she was talking to a guy whom everyone would avoid after that horrible first day of his. Rohit started walking away. But Dishita liked him. Not as in boyfriend-like him but she knew he was good at heart because she had seen that single tear roll down his cheek and boys almost never cry.
"So, just because I don't look good and have weird dress on me, you won't talk to me?"
Rohit was still walking away. She started following him and this was getting little annoying for Rohit.
"I'd bet that if instead of me, the girl who had laughed at you yesterday would havve been here, you would have been going head over heels for her."
Rohit stopped walking. He turned to face her.
"Excuse me?"
"What? As if I said something wrong. Even though you were crying that day, you still couldn't stop looking at her."
"That's 'cause she had laughed at me and I was angry. By the way, I didn't cry. And why are you so concerned with me?"
"I just thought that we could be friends, you know. I like you."
"Because I'm a loser that gets bullied?"
"I am serious. You are good at heart. Come on, you don't have to have a good looking friend always right?"
"It's not that. Looks don't matter. I just wanna be left alone."
"So you ogle at the girl who laughs at you and you don't even talk properly to the girl who is trying to talk to you?"
Rohit heard her. She was correct. If it would have been the girl who was with Rupesh, he would've really went head over heels for her and he was being rude to this girl who was just trying to converse in a normal way. He smiled at himself.
"I'm sorry for being rude. Of course, I would love a friend like you but the problem is I'm gonna come to college from now on. So, there wouldn't be any meaning in this friendship."
"What do you mean?"
He explained to her that he has a copy of 'The Sphere' and that he wanted to get stronger in the game and how he got help from her sister. After listening to the whole thing, Dishita's face seemed furious.
"I asked what do you mean. I meant why do you need a reason for being friends? It's okay, I am not a bitch who would need a friend just for name sake and please don't even think that since I look so bad, I came to you because you are a loser and that we would be humiliated in a group rather than getting humiliated alone."
Rohit couldn't believe her. She was perfect. A good girl. He wondered whether he did the right thing by deciding not to come to college anymore. But he was brought to reality again by her voice.
"By your story, you would still need to come to college once in every 2 weeks and for exams and test as well, right? Then we can still be friends. Ok, the lecture is about to start, I better get going. Now, give me your phone number."
They exchanged their numbers and bid each other goodbye. He left the college with a smile on his face. He hurried to his home. He had only one hour left before it'd be 4 a.m. in the game.
*
Sana accessed The Sphere's website from her cell. She checked the rank column. She was still ranked 1,561,004. Out of 50 million gamers, her ranked at 1 million was something to be proud of, especially when she had to work like 8 hours in real time since the game started. That would mean that she had played 24 hours less than everyone with respect to the game.
'Those 24 hours of precious hunting experience. I would have been in top 250k or even 100k for sure had it not been for my job.'
She had yet to choose her profession that would give her an increment of almost 50% to the basic stats. But she had hunted like this to increase the stats as much as she can. She can now take a fox or two without much problems however if 3 foxes turned up at once, she would have a problem.
She was still checking her checking the website when the lecture bell rang. Before keeping her cell in her bag, she had a look at hers and top ranked player's level.
Her level was 17 and top ranked player’s level was 20.
*
3:45 a.m. (Game Time)
Rohit logged in 15 minutes earlier. He went down and sat in front of the castle door. He still had his right arm and leg tied. Sanderp came and asked him for all his food supplies. He said Worm didn't need food for this type of training. Worm gave him all his food, including his water bottles. Sanderp asked Worm to follow him. They starting walking in the direction that was pointed by the back of the castle.
Sanderp was walking normally and it was easier for him to watch him without any goal but Worm was suffering. He would probably have been okay if he could have walked using both his legs but since his right leg was tied up, he was hopping on his left leg. Not been able to use his right hand made it impossible to balance when using only one leg. 100 meters felt like a kilometer to Worm. He fell down twice in the first 100 meters. After getting used to it slowly, he didn't fall down anymore but he kept getting tired and that resulted in falling down more. They had walked for more than 4 kilometers. Worm couldn't guess the time that they had been walking for. He kept asking for water but Sanderp just kept walking. Whenever, Worm fell down, he would wait patiently until he is up and then he would resume walking again. But he never said a single word. After asking for water a couple of times and getting no reply, Worm knew that his training has already started. He worked as hard as possible and tried not to fall.
After Worm falling down 68 times and standing up always, Sanderp stopped when he reached the base of a huge mountain. Worm walked up to him with difficulty and fell down in front of him. As soon as he fell down, he got a couple of simple messages.
Walking continuously on your weak foot for a long time without giving up has created a skill Weak Foot Ability.
Skill : Weak Foot Ability
Type : Passive
Stage : Beginner
Level : 0(0.00%)
This skill helps in controlling your weak foot strongly. When it reaches intermediate, you'll be able to use your weak foot in much more appropriate ways. When it reaches advanced, your weak foot would become just as strong as your strong foot and the weak foot can also become stronger than your strong foot.
Using only your left arm for sense of balance continuously has created a skill Weak Arm Ability.
Skill : Weak Arm Ability
Type : Passive
Stage : Beginner
Level : 0(0.00%)
This skill helps in controlling your weak arm strongly. When it reaches intermediate, you'll be able to use your weak arm in much more appropriate ways. When it reaches advanced, your weak arm would become just as strong as your strong arm and the weak arm can also become stronger than your strong arm.
Skills have three stages to perfection. Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. When a skill reaches level 8 in any stage, the skill moves to next stage. After it reaches Advanced level 8, you will master the skill.
Worm was surprised. He got two passive skills just by walking around. He thought that sanderp is a great master because the skills that he acquired are the ones that most people wouldn't even bother to develop. He was sure that 99% of people wouldn't even know that such skills exist. He was happy to acquire such skills. He knew how weak his body was so this skill was necessary for him. He planned to made this skills advanced by the time he finishes his training.
Sanderp then untied Worm's leg and arm. He noticed that Worm was completely exhausted.
"You are too weak kid. We only walked 8 kms. on a straight field yet you are this tired. What's worst is that you took 7 hours to walk just 8 kms. See that mountain? It's height is 5310 meters. But if you consider walking on inclined plane, the distance is 11 kms. You need to go up there and then descend on the other side around 1000 meters, inclination distance being 3 kms. You will see a huge tree. The wood from that tree is strongest in this kingdom. It's weight is also like 3 times than that wood from normal trees. I need them to make practice swords, bows, spears so that we can begin training. The logs for this would weigh around 16 kgs. The training will begin when you have the wood. Also, I'll give you two slices of brown bread and 1 water bottle. Come back when you are out of supplies. I suggest you don't eat anything from the mountain since everything is poisonous including meat from the animals. You will die within an hour if you eat or drink anything. If you come back after 10 p.m., the castle door will only open at morning 4 a.m. So you have to travel that much on just 2 bread slices and a bottle of water. Start slowly. Get stronger and then you'll be able to do it one day. All the best. Also, I have casted magic on leather strips and I am gonna leave them here. They will tie your right arm and leg themselves when you return from the mountain. Do you understand everything?"
"Yes.. master.. huff.. huff.. What if there are.. huff.. monsters on the.. huff.. mountains?"
"There usually aren't. One in a million chance that you'll find one. However, be careful in case you meet one. Run away. Can you do this?"
A message window popped up.
Magician Sanderp needs wood from the big Banyan tree that has its roots in a hidden mountain. He needs the wood so as to make practice swords and other weapons from the tree to train you. You need at least 16 kgs. of wood divided in 8 different logs. You cannot store the wood in inventory. You'll have to carry it yourself.
Time Limit : 2 months.
Quest difficulty : Level 5.
Reward : Magician Sanderp, who was once well known for his duality as a general of army in the kingdom and one of the best magicians in history, will train you personally.
Do you accept?
'What? General of knights? Isn't that the highest fighting rank? Who is this guy? If he trains me, I will beat that Linxx bastard with my pinky after the training. Bwahahaha, just you wait linxx, you are so dead. 2*(8+11+3) = 44 kilometers on just two bread slices and a water bottle of 1 litre. Hmm..'
"I can do it master. I will surely bring the wood and become stronger with your training."
"That's good to hear. I will be going back. Here, take this axe. Mark your path with cuts on trees so as you can use the same route to come back without getting lost and ending up somewhere else. Good luck then."
Sanderp left. After Sanderp's figure disappeared in the woods, Worm sighed.
'Shit, there is a time limit. I wouldn't be able to walk for 5 kilometres on 2 bread slices and 1 litre of water. I wonder if I will be able do it in 2 months. No, I have to do it. Even if it kills me. But first i have to check something.'
Worm logged out.
*
Rohit accessed The Sphere's website and checked the forum. He had to check difficulty levels. Almost all of the quests until now were given by villagers and he saw that Linxx's guild had gotten themselves a level 3 quest recently where they had too clean a cave of 100 foxes. And only 100 members were allowed to participate in the quest. That was the highest level of quest in the game until now. That means, Rohit has the highest level quest now. He could post the image of the quest screen on the site to make himself famous and even make some money one way or another as many players have already started making real life money from the game. He read how a player sold a long sword for 500$.
Media companies had figured out that they could make money and name from broadcasting. However, the first to do so had been 'Colors TV' since they had 14 members that were playing the Sphere. By now, it was common knowledge that a video could be seen of the game by using the book. It was then that Rohit saw something that shocked him. He went to Colors TV website to confirm it.
It was true. Colors TV had made a deal with Linxx for most of the rights to broadcast his hunting ways and quests that linxx wanted to show to the world. The deal was signed at whopping 30,000$ a month. Given the background of linxx ruling almost every Emperor type game, Colors TV had decided to make this risky decision. Of course, Colors TV got much more viewership from the fox hunting quest than they expected and it was a good risk for them.
Rohit didn't want money. He was happy with what he had and his dad was making more than enough for him to have a normal life. But who doesn't dream of being richer than most rich families. Which 16 year old wouldn't want to illegally drive an Audi SUV to show off? Everyone wants to be rich.
After seeing the deal's worth, Rohit too wanted to make such a deal. But he was still such a weakling. He checked the rankings. Linxx was still at number 1 but his level now showed 20 as opposed to Worm's level of 0.
The moment he turned off his laptop and got up from his bed, he felt something in his left leg. It wasn't normal. He touched his left leg calf muscle, it was as hard as a rock and it was bulging out slightly.
'What the hell?'
He went to the mirror to see it and it was true. His calf muscle was really bulging out slightly.
'So, if you get stronger in the game, you also get stronger in real life but if you get hurt in the game, nothing happens in real life? This is awesome. All the more reason to train. Perhaps, I'll be able to kick Rupesh's ass when I'm done with the training. Huhuhu...'
Rohit logged in again to continue with his quest.
*
Linxx got separated from the party when they were returning after finishing the fox hunting quest. He was in the woods and he felt something following him. He cautiously turned around and saw two yellow eyes staring back at him. He knew it was a wolf.
The wolf jumped at him and somehow, with difficulty, Linxx dodged and managed to slash the wolf once at the same time. The wolf was strong, the slash didn't even made it flinch. Linxx knew that his first death was near. But still, he had his kung fu and taekwondo experience with him. He will do as much damage to the wolf as he possibly can.
The battle started and the wolf was surprised by his agility and the weight behind each attack. The wolf hadn't faced this monstrous strength in this woods until now. Wolf knew that it could die with just a single mistake. This opponent wasn't some random kid. Linxx was thankful for his fighting experience and the long sword in his hand that extended his reach. Linxx's health had fallen down to 10% while wolf still had around more than 50%. Linxx quickly found an opportunity and gulped down two big recovery potions to regain his health fully. The wolf had made a mistake. It was wary of the bottle in Linxx's hand and chose to not attack him as a careful approach.
Now, the battle got easy for Linxx and he finished the wolf while he had only 3% of his health remaining towards the end. A gold ring appeared at the place where wolf was lying seconds ago. He picked up the ring.
"Information."
Lost ring of a Fighter.
This marriage ring belonged to Fighter Genk. He was a high level fighter but he was ambushed by his enemies on his way to his home. He, however, managed to kill all of his enemies alone but then was surprised by a 100 pack wolf immediately. Even though he fought bravely, he couldn't kill all of the weak wolves because he had already lost 95% of his health in the ambush. He, however, still managed to kill 78 wolves even in his weakened condition. But his soul is still here as he couldn't finish off weak wolves. Kill 22 wolves and throw the ring in lake Pokhra to free his soul.
Time Limit : 1 month
Quest difficulty : 11
Reward : Hidden profession of Fighter Genk, a high level fighting skill.
Do you accept?
"I will free Genk's soul."
He was already strong but a hidden profession would increase his stats by further 20% if this is like other Emperor type games. Also, a high level skill will benefit him a lot at this early stage and he guessed that he would grow that skill faster with the hidden profession. He decided not to broadcast this quest and laughed an evil laugh.
'Hidden profession of Fighter Genk.. Finally.'
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