As the hoodie guy’s body dissipated in the air, a small skill ball dropped from the body. Eric swam as fast as he could, ignoring the sharks all over the place, grabbing the ball, then heading straight for the small crack inside the sea wall. His pathfinder ability shone in this short swim, allowing him to avoid sharks, as well as nab the skill ball. He breathed silently, with his nose barely a millimeter above water level. In front of his eyes, a concise map of eight inches is formed, showing the scene above. Around Peter Ho, a red circle is drawn, showing his area of influence. At the same time, a vertical red circle was drawn with him as center, then, it started spinning. The vertical red circle will cut through me, Eric realized as the circle started spinning slowly. He just had this feeling he would be dead meat the moment the red circle touches him. So, he slid sideways, attached himself to the crack as flexibly as he could while holding his breath. It felt like even his breat
Unless he can use the levitation skill on objects. No matter what, being able to hang an object at a height would be a useful life skill. At worst, he would use it to bait monsters. Eric observed the map. This time, he expanded the area of observation. Soon, Peter was visible, but not as the perfect three dimensional shape before, but as a red dot over a rough terrain. Currently, Map is at level four. Within fifty to thirty meter distance, the picture quality is mind blowing. With-in an hundred meter round eye, he could move this thirty meter pupil to observe in more detail. Outside the pupil, inside the hundred meters sphere of influence, the objects are displayed toned down, with rough three dimensional maps, identifying shape, with blurry features. Then there is the satellite view, where distance is not relative, only direction and enmity could be detected. Now, Peter is in the eye, but not within the pupil. He is pacing on the tallest building, seemingly doing nothing, but Eri
[ FOUND YOU ] The message flashed in blood red color. Eric closed the console out of reflex. His grandfather knocked on the cabin door, telling him they are starting their return journey. He settled in the seat, lowering his posture, peeking through the sun tinted windows. ‘ There’s no bloody way he really found me. ‘ He opened the console once more. The message flashed in blood red. He did not touch the message, but the flashing green ‘ Tip ‘ icon. [ This is a broadcast type message. The message vanishes when host touches it. ] Eric calmed down. This message seemed to be sent by the level ten player Peter. So, it’s a scare tactic.If he were still on the Island, he would have jumped up in fright, giving himself away. He already escaped, so the message is of no great concern. If only he knew … ◆◇◆In the Island town … An hour later … Peter stumbled on to the pier with frayed pants and bites all over his body. He had no idea that a druid’s fighter plants are so tough. The lit
Before he could get even more surprised and entangle himself into a knot, a message came from the younger Eric again. { However, acquiring ownership does not mean activating. } { It seems they also have to activate the server by acquiring a server shard, no matter how small it is. } ( ??? ) He just touched earth and water , activated his abilities ? … Could he be that lucky ? ( I just activated without any shards ? ) Younger Eric went on a pause again. { It seems some broken worlds have server shards flying around in the air ! } { More weird a world is, more the distribution of these invisible server shards. } Eric was shocked to hear this. It seems today, his world view is about to shift… Shift more than on the day he met Ursula, a mermaid. ( How do you define weird ? ) Eric paused. { Does it look like most people have super powers ? } { Mysterious events happen all the time ? } { Legendary creatures are reality of the day ? } …...( Do mermaids count as legendary c
“ I found a dragon god temple, does that count ? “ Eric asked her. “ There’s a temple ? When did you find it ? “ The filming team asked in surprise. “ Today. It’s very hard to reach … only one person can go in at one time. “ Eric said, casting a glance at the documentary team. Surprisingly, there is no reaction to his words from the documentary team. ‘ Did they already know about it ? ‘ he mused looking at them. Before he could ponder further, Stevia spoke. “ Master Eric, can you guide me to the dragon temple ? I will pay generously for your guidance. “ Stevia said. Eric agreed distractedly. He is puzzled over the documentary team’s behavior. Why are they not interested ? Aren’t discoveries like this worth the highlight in the documentary ? They helped his grandfather buy the boat back, while taking initiative themselves. That means they wanted to help out his grandfather, right ? The best help they could provide now is to include a segment about this ancient dragon temple t
[ Ella ] : Why do you think the server owner is a male ? [ Ella ] : It could be female too. [ Stevia ] : The location is obscure and hard to reach. There are no females who fit the physical profile needed to reach the place. [ Ella ] : how can you look down on women as a woman yourself ? … …...Everyone ignored Ella’s spiel, and sent direct messages to Stevia, including the server lord Richie. Not that Eric knew any of this. He is more concerned about the filming team and their ulterior motives. He was the first to bring up evacuation when the initial news report about the hurricane was broadcast on the radio. The filming team tried to hum and haw, without directly saying they want the family to remain on the island. Eric ignored all their hints and pushed for evacuation. Finally, the director broke down. The director stated that he wanted the family to stay on the island in no unclear terms. Eric proposed signing one more addendum, with mandatory payment for any physical, medi
Their ATV skipped atop the water than it drove. That was the feeling. The vehicle kept jumping up with every bump, and the bumps were not small. If not for his increased dexterity, Eric would have both the vehicle and the people would have fallen by the roadside long since. They encountered a particularly large bump as they came up to the bamboo house. The ATV jumped as high as three meters, landing on the parking lot. ‘ plop ‘ ‘ klink ‘ There were two sounds from the vehicle. The tires burst, the wheel frame was broken. Eric did not care about that at all but pulled his grandfather out of the vehicle, then put the entire thing in the inventory. His grandfather looked like he had many questions, Eric ignored them all. “ We must hurry ! “ Eric pulled him by the hand. “ Mom, pick up Mimi. We need to go up the mountain ! “ Eric shouted as soon as he entered the home. His mother and grandmother had just taken a hot bath, changed their clothes to pajamas. He did not even give them ti
The decision to direct the tip into the bay proved to be both right and wrong. The wave, which would have hit the coiling dragon island, then wrecked the coast line was broken out of its path. However, the arrow has become a cyclone of water, rising the already gigantic height of the thousand meter high sea into a single whirlpool taller than the dragon horns. They would be submerged, and pulled in to the sea with more than thousands of kilograms of force. If that water touches them, they will be minced meat ! His grandfather, grandmother, mother and little sister were standing atop the hill, looking at the swirling pool of water around them in utter shock. The cyclone is two meters taller than the place by two meters. Only the lighting rod is taller than the whirling water pool. He levitated all of his family up without hesitation. The water is closing in on him. He pushed a small bubble up and around him using water manipulation, but his mana is low ! Water is too strong ! Fo
His return was as silent as his departure.However, that all changed when he brought out the treasure chests. “ How ? “ his grandmother breathed in, with wonder and disbelief on her face. “ The cove forming the bay is also raised in elevation, grandma. Water receded from their resting place. But … Do you know these chests ? “ he asked curiously. When he retrieved them, he thought they belonged to the game system that made him a player. “ We brought these chests with us when we escaped in the seventies. “ his grandmother told him. It seems his grandparents were residents of S-city, and they arrived here during the time of great dislocation… probably to avoid persecution. What’s even more surprising was that his grandfather retrieved a set of bronze keys from his pocket. He put it through the first chest, opened it cautiously. The entire chest was filled with pure gold bars. Eric’s eyes were dazzled. Even in the present day, gold has not depreciated much. His grandfather nonchala
Eric made the round trip to the dragon temple within an hour. [ Terra ] [ 98.4 % ] [ Aqua ] [ 23.7 % ] [ Skye ] [ 6.1 % ] [ Cosmos ] [ 2.9 % ] The status of server completion displayed on his onyx ring. When he held it up to the light, it looked like it’s full of runic symbols. “ What constitutes the server completion ? “ Eric mused. [ A server must have an inkling of F to A, and S level realms. ] “ An Inkling ? “ Eric pondered about the strange choice of words. [ As long as a player passed within 10 meter distance from the realm, the realm is registered in the server. ] [ As long as the realm coincides the digitized land for a millimeter, the realm is registered in the server. ] Eric climbed down after verifying the information. The realm must be something similar to the flood dungeon he entered. ‘ Never mind ! Return for now. I am living a slow life this time around ! ‘ he encouraged himself. When he returned, his mother finished cooking dinner, and
That creature can not be killed by bullets or arrows. This much, Eric realized instinctively. The only way to kill should be the aura gun. However, an aura gun can not kill a creature of higher level than itself. Eric searched through his console with trembling fingers and increased urgency to find something, anything that could kill the creature rising in front of him. He had a bad feeling about this one. His bad feelings are rarely wrong ! [ Merge ] Finally he found a skill among the level skills he received. It was the reward for crossing level 90. He pointed at the aura gun box, and tried to merge. [ place three items of similar type to merge them to receive a higher or same level item ] ‘ The f*** ! ‘ ‘ It is a damned gachapon style merge ! ‘ But he was grasping at the straws. The creature would complete its arrival any minute now. The three petaled octopus could only be hurt when you shoot right in the center of their mouth when they are open. Everywhere else on their
Digger is far too slow. Eric racked his brain for options… Can he make a whirlpool with water manipulation ? Wait ! For that he needs talent from Ursula. If talent sharing is working, then isn’t it better to share the mud manipulation talent from his grandmother ? He immediately opened the console. To check if the talent share is available. [ Talent share outsourcing ( level 0 ) ][ You can chose up to 1 talent, which will work at (N) percent reduction in strength. ] [ Water manipulation ( 90% ) from Ursula ] [ Mud manipulation ( 90% ) from Dolly ] [ Water manipulation ( 90% ) from Mimi ] [ Blade work ( 10% ) from Song Tu ] [ Chef’s domain ( 95% ) from Song Anxia ] [ Plant growth ( 50% ) from Stevia Mangrove ] Eric expected water manipulation to be heavily debuffed. He was surprised that his grandfathers’ talent has such little penalty, and his mother’s domain has such a high penalty ! Do I have seedlings ? Eric mused. Just as he was about to open the inventory, he paused
He came up in a village. There are hundreds of people around him, in a small village congregation type area.“ Heroes ! Please help. The mountain floods are about to arrive any moment now. We need to raise the embankment height ! “ The village chief is shouting.[ Mission ][ Save the village from flooding ][ Failure penalty : passive debuff title unreliable ][ Success Reward : Quest Altar blueprint ]( accept ) ( deny )Eric looked at the person beside him. It was a girl in hot pants, with a tight black T-shirt. Has knee high boots with p
As Eric watched the eternal lightning that connected their island to the sky, he finally gave up on convincing his grandfather. Sometimes, you just have to wait for people to realize facts on their own. Worse yet, at his grandfather’s age, with valid reasons, he is more stubborn. Since they made their decision, Eric could only equip them with as many skills needed for survival as possible. The lightning made their continuing stay here uncomfortable, but they can’t go down just now. First, he needs to initiate them as players. Now that he has server chat activated, it is best if they are initiated as players. Their current talents being enhanced is more than enough to guarantee their survival and safety for the time being. It is just as well there is a tunnel from here to the dragon temple they could use. Eric took his mother down the tunnel first. Followed by mimi, and his grandparents. He first touched the dragon statue to make sure the electricity was not flowing through the stat
The night has fallen like a wet blanket of darkness. In the deep darkness, a man is skating at top speed on sunglasses. He avoided all the obstacles easily, and made it to the only place in a fence with a hole in it. He effortlessly slipped through the fence, then entered an apartment through the backdoor. It’s Peter Ho’s apartment building. ◆◇◆A dark balloon reflecting the night sky flitted through the sky, gently sliding through the air. It arrived at the rooftop of a skyscraper, then came to a slow stop. A little girl in hot pants and a fitted black shirt jumped down from the balloon. There are holsters on her thighs, daggers on knee high boots, twin blades on her back and extendable claws on her elbows. She moved with the grace of a cat, jumping down from the building top, going floor by floor, she jumped into the third apartment from the top, and rolled into a stop, holding her gun at the ready. She looked all around, making sure no targets showed up in her map, then walked
“ What ? “ Eric thought he’s hearing auditory hallucinations. All soil on the island has been washed away ! The pier has been crushed into fertilizer , the fishing boat they have had for a mere month is twisted into a churro … they barely have a bag of rice left ! In such a scenario, the old man still wanted to live on the island ? Eric was dumbfounded. “ Grandfather, I think you do not understand ! There is no soil on the island, not even sand ! Before, we drove an ATV to ride up to the house on the plateau. Now, the same drive is impossible. The bay is still open, but … the pier is broken. The ramp we use to tow the boats through has become a cliff ! Just how do you plan to live on this island ? “ Eric was pissed. “ The bamboo grove is fine. I see it from here. “ His grandfather retorted. “ Do you want to be a panda, eating only bamboo ? In that case, sorry ! No chance ! The bamboo roots are rotting. Don’t forget, the grove has been soaked in salt water. It may look alive now
It was still raining heavily. Eric set up a tent one more time. A bigger and sturdier one - whose only disadvantage is being ugly. It’s not even fugly like a pug, it’s plain ugly like a plastic boat. Yet, it’s rain resistance is top notch, it came with a dry flooring of about a palm tall. Eric set up a water collector on one side, collecting the rainwater. At this height, they can drink it directly. His mother started cooking right away. Eric fiddled in the corner with setting up a diesel generator. His grandfather has gotten through to the old man on the island town, and informed them that they won’t need a rescue. All the same, the government is sending a medical team to check up on them. They still wore the oxygen nebulizers, but removed their life jackets. Mimi has long since came out of her child bag, and she is fast asleep in her own little bed. They all changed their clothes, had a bath, then, drank warming medicine brewed by his grandmother. The generator was up and runn