2023-05-10 15:50:48While Luck was off doing his slime hunt, Queen Flamerath was looking over Level 0’s game forums for any info related to the topics of the player Luck, the world announcements, and even the Creationist class.
She had found from a few popular videos made by pro players, that the monsters in the world had started to act differently and some would have different attack patterns.
Reports came in and she learned that some monsters could now even use magic which was irksome as she would have to strategize a new method of fighting with her top officials and commanders. As Queen of the Kingdom of Primera, she was always at the head of all advancements that had to do with her community.
And right now, her community was in an uproar as some had gone off on a tangent and began digging through the junkyard of her capital.
She deduced that they were looking for the source of the golden light but she had bigger fish to fry.
Through the grapevine of her intelligence network, she found clues of a possible conflict with a neighboring kingdom who likely wanted to absorb her kingdom into their own to get at the Creationist player as they were likely a new player that had spawned in her domain.
For the first time in a while, Queen Flamerath cracked a ferocious smirk and made a provocative statement.
“Bring it on, you damn old man…. “ She paused for a moment and was surprised by her sudden flare of emotion. “Huh? I guess I’ve been really bored these days. I better calm down or else I might start going on one of my rampages again.”
Getting her attention off herself, Queen Flamerath began to scroll through Flinch.tv to take her mind off things. Finding a somewhat boring fellow fighting off a few slimes, she calmed down.
The streamer she was watching kept their name private but she didn’t mind.
Personal security in the present day was highly valued and many safeguards were in place to ensure that if a person did not want to be known, then it was made so.
While this did little with her investigation of finding Luck, or the Creationist, or to deal with the future political conflict, she shrugged it off as she truly needed a break today.
3 world announcements in one day meant a lot of work for her in the future, so for now, she would sit back and relax before getting into the thick of her work.
As the stream progressed, Queen Flamerath was intrigued by the fighting skill of the player. His black ponytail made him look somewhat majestic but what caught her attention was his use of the sword.
Swordsmanship was something that was eventually picked up by all players who endeavored to fight monsters in close combat, but this player’s gear made him look like a beginner and she was impressed by how practiced the player was in the way of the sword.
She thought that he likely had the [swordsman] class and thought to recruit him as an instructor for her fledgling players.
Her desire to recruit him was furthered as she saw him fight a King Slime one on one. While she thought he was an idiot and that he was going to die with absolute certainty, she could not deny that his tactical thinking was impressive from a beginner's point of view.
But when she saw him attempt to finish off the King Slime in a quick manner, she jumped up from her throne and began cheering him on. The player was in a pinch and was jumping on the chance with a do or die attitude to grasp victory.
His visage as he used the rage skill made him seem kind of hot, but she couldn’t blame herself since the black ponytail and literal red aura that surrounded him made her somewhat blush in excitement.
After the battle ended, Queen Flamerath let out a cheer of joy at the player’s victory but before she could begin clapping, she noticed the looks of her guards inside the throne room. While they were NPCs, their stares felt real and she quickly settled down before she embarrassed herself.
Feeling a bit better, she gave the player a tip on his stream and decided to get back to work.
Meanwhile, as Luck logged off, he noticed how empty his stomach felt. He had skipped lunch as he was so engrossed in his game. He had a lot of work he needed to do so he got a bit carried away on his first day back into it.
When he went to see if mom made any dinner, he could already tell that dinner would not be happening tonight as neither parent was home yet.
Thinking to order some take out, he called out to his sister Chancy.
“Hey Chancy! What do you want for dinner?! It will be my treat tonight!”
Yelling back from her room, Chancy made her recommendation.
“CAN WE DO PIZZA?! I’M FINE IF IT’S JUST CHEESE.”
“Sure! Give me a sec!”
Opening up a holographic screen from his wristwatch, Luck looked up a cheap pizza place and put in the order. He begrudged the fact that he and his family had so little money that he could not even afford a pizza with toppings with his meager allowance.
Reminded of his issue with money, he checks his streaming account to see if he got anything as a tip. His brows rose in surprise as an anonymous person had tipped him 100 Credits. He did a double take to make sure that they weren’t D-Credits and low and behold, they were the real deal.
This amount of money was the equivalent of 10 plain cheese pizzas and he wondered just who in the heck would give him so much real life money for fighting a bunch of boring slimes.
But, satisfying his hunger came first so he splurged a bit on tonight's dinner. When Chancy came down from her room, she was surprised to see that the dining room had 3 pizzas and all of them had toppings that she had never eaten in a long while.
“Bro? How did you afford all this?”
Puffing out his chest, Luck boasted his achievement. “I got popular on my stream today and a nice person gave me a large tip.” Luck then got a plate and piled it up with slices of assorted kinds of pizza. He promptly handed it to his sister with a cheeky smile.
“But that doesn’t matter. Let’s just enjoy dinner first. Mom and Dad should be home soon, so let's eat as much as we can before they get a chance.” Luck gave his sister a grin as if he was getting her involved in a prank and she returned it with a mischievous smile of her own.
“You're the best, Big Bro. I love you.”
Chancy glomped Luck with a big hug and they both chuckled at the childish exchange they were having. After eating through two whole pizzas, Luck and Chancy were stuffed and were amused by the defeated expressions of their parents as they realized that they missed out on their impromptu pizza night.
*****
The next day, Luck started his day like usual and had breakfast with his family before seeing them off. He had no part time job and did not have to go to school as he already had his associates degree in business.
He could go out to find a job but he had his sights set on something higher. Putting on his gaming rig, he logged back into Level 0 and reviewed what he needed to do as the program loaded in.
“Alright! With all the RP I have left I should be fine on potions for a while. This was going to take longer since I planned to take a week, but I’m glad I got this class. I guess this means I’ll be able to take on a dungeon today.”
Luck let out a chuckle as the sheer impossibility of his situation was quite exacerbating to his common sense of this game.
Dungeons were dangerous places where hundreds of monsters roamed. It was not something a player, who on his second day, would dive into on his own.
To pile on how difficult a dungeon was, these were done in parties that ranged from as small as 6 man teams or as large as a 24 manned raiding party.
The one Luck had in mind was in the middle when it came to recommended party sizes and he thought that he was going too fast with his progression, but before he could second guess himself was reminded of Chancy’s hug last night.
“I don’t have much time. I need a lot of money and I can’t just sit back and take it slow. I need to jump at the chance.”
Pumping himself up, he slapped his cheeks with his hands and let the rig put him into a sleep-like state to enter the game.
Spawning into the Kingdom of Primera’s log in area, which was the common entry point for all players, Luck immediately opened his map and used the waypoint feature to move to the dungeon he wanted to conquer.
The nearby players watched in awe as Luck teleported as it was a rare occurrence for any player to have a waypoint since it had only been a day when this feature had been implemented.
As Luck descended from the sky in the form of a line of blue light, he found himself in an expansive wasteland while standing at the entrance of a pit that seemed to go to the center of the earth,
[Welcome to the Pit of the Dead]
[Would you like to enter the Dungeon?]
[Yes/No]
With a flighty finger, Luck tapped yes and an invisible red barrier appeared in front of him. A small hole formed directly in front of his path and expanded as he approached. Passing through the opening, it closed on him when he got a certain distance into the dungeon.
“This place gives me the chills no matter how many times I come here. Whoever designed this place was quite the colorful character.”
His remark was not unnoticed, as the many tombstone and grave sites began to rumble and shake. Boney hands began to emerge from the ground and Luck readied himself.
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Return to Level 0 Chapter 8 HammerTime
Hefting his new weapon onto his shoulder, Luck readied himself for a fight with his boney opponents. All around him was the black and grimey soil of the dungeon known as the Pit of the Dead which was a mid level dungeon that was only attempted by large groups of people. At the minimum, 2 parties consisting of 12 people would be required to clear this dungeon but Luck decided to do it on his own. He was confident that he could clear this on his own as he had done this dungeon so many times from his future memories. This dungeon had a high drop rate for magic crystals and for basic materials for crafting. Since he used to have the [Supporter] class, he would come to this dungeon with his company's in game party to prepare for any upcoming raids. But he was never given any assistance and was forced to do it on his own as his coworkers complained that they had better things to do than to help a weakling with his chores. This cruel treatment made Luck develop a self-sufficient personal
Return to Level 0 Chapter 9 Deep Pockets and Deeper Pits
As the kicked up dust subsided, Luck took notice of his surroundings. Seeing no enemies in sight and grinning a bit in joy at the notification he got, he opened his menu. [Level 1 of the Pit of the Dead has been cleared] [Level 2 unlocked] [Will you proceed?] [Yes/No] Before making his decision, Luck looked to his stats and weapon skills. *** Player Name: [Luck] Class: [Creationist Lv5] Titles: [None] Class Skills: [Eye of the Creator] [Pocket of the Creator] [Exchange of the Creator] Normal skills: [Beginner Alchemy] [Beginner Blacksmithing] [Beginner Fighter] [Beginner Mental Recovery] [Beginner Physical Recovery] [Beginner Mana Recovery] Weapon skills: [Psyche Up Lv1] [Power Smash Lv1] [Earth Shaker Lv1] HP: 100/100 Mana: 873/1000 Strength: 11+30 Vitality: 10 Agility: 12 Dexterity: 11 Intelligence: 100 Wisdom: 100 *** Seeing the plus 30 next to his strength, Luck confirmed that the effects of the items he used were still in effect. He was also somewhat glad
Return to Level 0 Chapter 10 Through the Dark
Upon pressing the [Yes] option, Luck took notice of his surroundings. The ground around him was composed of a black dirt that felt slightly sticky and rough, which he could feel through his boots. The gray ashy sky added to the foreboding and down trodden atmosphere of the dungeon, the now shattered tombstones and graves reminded some of a ransacked burial site while the more dense types would liken the place to a haunted house attraction. To Luck, it was a reminder of a memory of the future he would like to forget, which is what he endeavored to do as he stepped forward to descend a sudden flight of stairs that appeared at his acceptance to progress. These stairs soon led him down into a dark cavern which was both wide and tall enough for him to comfortably move in. Not a single ray of light shined in this place, so Luck unhooked a colorful potion from his belt and popped the cork before drinking it quickly. His once darkened and obscured vision was then brightened as the featur
Return to Level 0 Chapter 11 Prepare for the Depth
After accepting the reward from the sudden hidden quest for slaying over 500 skeletons on a single level of the dungeon, Luck was transported directly to the 4th level of the [Pit of the Dead]. In all games, quests were always prevalent and this was no different for the game of Level 0. The [Pit of the Dead] was considered a mid game dungeon due to how its full completion was achieved through the conquering of all 100 levels. Of course, there were shortcuts to quickly descend the levels and Luck was no stranger to them. But even with the knowledge of how to bypass numerous levels at once, Luck was not confident in achieving a full completion. He was here for another reason, a reason that he would find on the 5th level. But before he could descend any further, Luck took it upon himself to prepare. Due to the enormous depths of this dungeon, the designers of this place were merciful enough to install rest points within the descent. Level 4 was one such place, unlike the dark and n
Return to Level 0 Chapter 12 Stacking the Odds
Making his way through the dark tunnel, Luck found himself entering a cavern. Unlike the previous one he had fought hordes of skeletons in, the walls were smooth and the area was well lit by the blue and red glow of rocks that lined the surfaces of the room.Before taking a step into the cavern, Luck refreshed his strength buff with a potion and drank a speed potion, which had the same magnitude of effect as his strength potion. With his speed now doubled, he surveyed the surroundings and saw a scattering of random bones. Grimacing, he grumbled to himself. “It seems my luck isn’t all that great today. This is going to be difficult and a bit painful.” Reaching to his belt, he removed the black potions he had just recently bought and replaced them with more strength and speed potions. While having an explosive option would be useful, he knew that such an option would not be helpful in this situation. Hoping to get a step ahead, Luck activated [Psyche Up] and felt his power surge.
Return to Level 0 Chapter 13 Passing Human Limits
“Hey kid! Come on, it's our turn.” Hearing his friend call for him, the young player disengaged his menu and looked ahead. “Is it time already? Shouldn’t we wait a bit longer?” He asked as the thoughts of that solo player resurfaced. “Nah, he’s probably dead by now. While it was out of line for him to go down first, it didn’t matter since all the other players knew that he was going to die quickly. In any case, get ready. This will be your first time witnessing a boss battle, so stay in the back, and watch and learn.” The swordsman then withdrew his sword from the sheath on his back and flourished it with a flashy air of mastery. His young friend clapped in amazement and sang praise of his skill. “You really know how to use that thing. You seem like a real swordsman from all those fairy tales in the online library.” “You know it! I’ve been practicing hard to get good at this game, one day I’ll win a pvp tournament and become famous.” The swordsman grinned ear to ear while his
Return to Level 0 Chapter 14 Failure and Loss
Upon defeating the Skeletal Tyrant Rex, Luck collapsed to the ground. Whatever skill he had used had worn off and he was returned back to his normal state. As the aura around him waned, he felt his body become suddenly wracked with pain as the after effects from the repeated use of [Rage] took its toll. This was also compounded by how his health was in the red and his mana was depleted. This caused him to feel mentally impaired and his legs felt faint. Falling to his knees, Lucked gasped for air. “Ugh, I feel like I'm going to die, but at least I won. Now… Onto the next part.” As the floor below him began to descend, his vision went dark as the light of the cavern began to grow distant. Quickly drinking a Common Night Vision potion, his sight came back. During his ride down, a pillar had emerged in the center of the boss room. Setting his sights upon it, Luck attempted to stand but felt his knees give out. This was highly irregular since the after effects of [Rage] did not last
Return to Level 0 Chapter 15 Reflection of Failure
Forced out of the game, Luck found himself in his room.Laying on his bed, he clicked his tongue in annoyance at the timer in front of him. Level 0 had a somewhat strict penalty when it came to dying in game. Upon death, a player would be forced out of the game and would be subject to a 24 hour suspension to their account.Since a player in Level 0 could only have one account, this was devastating since sudden events were always abound in the game.The thought of missing out on any possible chance to gain new powers, skills, or equipment made Luck want to cry out in anger but he was not that childish.While he was biologically a young man of 20 years of age, mentally he was 30 years old and had the maturity to keep his emotions in check.Even still, the severity of his situation was evident as he could not wipe away the frown that was on his face.His family was in danger and he needed to use every possible moment to save them.He needed money and he needed in-game fame to do that to
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Chapter 59 Soloman’s First Battle
As the battle continued, the men of Dieles who were led by Soloman, pushed the left flank forward. Soloman’s resounding and thundering voice pressed the men forth. They felt as if their backs were given a hearty pat of encouragement, and it was effective. So much so that these rough and tumble frontier villagers became even more so. It was as if they were invincible, but that was far from the truth. “Grah! Watch out! Hold that LINE!”Soloman barked orders as the oncoming swarm of monsters had seemed to increase. In fact, a new wave of stone beak appeared from the nearby valleys. This new force of monsters had come a knocking.Were they drawn in by the spilled blood or were they battle hungry animals who roared for the hunt?Soloman didn’t know but he put that out of his mind. He called for the knowledge of tactics within him, long held back since common managerial matters used to be his main concern. But now, he could use it. He could use the ethereal blade of wisdom he had kept she
Chapter 58 Dodos In the Mountains
Upon arriving to the mountainous northeastern terrain of the frontier, the caravan’s pace had slowed on account of the uneven dirt roads. The carriages and wagons were meant for flat and even roads, so a winding uneven path that went up and down was not easily traversed for this large group of people.Not only that, but this location was inhabited by a species of rock creatures that regular NPCs could not handle. So, much to Flama’s delight, she got a chance to finally have her fun.Jumping from the lead carriage, she equipped her dual swords.“Enemy spot! I’m taking them out!” She said with gusto and charged the gray rock scaled enemies.These were stone beaks, a dodolike creature that had a beak as hard as metal but with a gray dull color at its elongated beak’s tip.They were fast and moved in packs, so dealing with them was usually done with a team of players. But Flama disregarded all forms of teamwork at the moment.Being coped up in the carriage for 2 days had really grated on
Chapter 57 Planning Developments
Getting himself settled into the lead carriage, Luck and his party would be given a chance to sit together and talk. The responsibility for navigating and steering the wagon was given to Soloman, who was attending the trip as well since he was interested in Flama’s hunch that something new was out in the northeastern mountains.To Soloman’s knowledge, the northeastern mountains had nothing of interest. Only the common rocks and materials like marble, granite, and wood that a person could gather. Although, he had been hearing about rumors of new monsters in the frontier, along with changes in geography.He had not seen it firsthand, so this was a good opportunity to see for himself. As Soloman steered the lead carriage, an accompanying caravan of about 20 wagons and carriages followed in a tight formation behind him.“OPEN THE GATE!” A soldier yelled, giving the signal to his consort men. “Have a good trip Mister Soloman.”Waving back Soloman chuckled. “I will, be sure to keep the plac
Chapter 56 A Couple's Morning In Dieles
At the crack of dawn, the citizens of Dieles awoke as usual. Players like Luck, Flama, and Caleb, would have to say and think that these people were quite rural or rough and tumble. But they came to terms with this, this was life on the frontier, a place where the land had yet to fully develop in a city where all conveniences were always so close. The setting was medieval, citizens were in leather tunics while others had some form of plated metal, strapped to their chest like armor. Amongst them, a large group of about 100 men were busying themselves as they loaded wagons and carriages with everything they would need for a trip. Flama, the ruler of the Kingdom of Primeria, stood beside the mayor of Dieles, Soloman. A few Dieles citizens wondered who the girl standing beside their rotund mayor was, but going by his demeanor it made them think that Flama was quite important. At the side, Luck could already envision what kind of reaction they would have if they found out that Flama, w
Chapter 55 Developments in Dieles
Rolling through the gates, it was the 4th day they had been on their journey, more than twice the expected time they had expected to go through. Entering the port village Dieles, Luck heard the chatter as NPCs worked about selling their seaside wears. From dried fish to fishing equipment, this village truly embodied a seaside life.He could even spot a distant beach as they passed through the village. After arriving at the Village Major’s house, they were greeted by a contingent of the village's militia, who were apparently informed via carrier pigeon about Flama’s arrival. The group of armed men were dressed inconspicuous to ensure they wouldn’t bring any upheaval or attention to Flama. While she was their queen, they knew that all rulers needed to ensure their safety and not bring attention to themselves.“Welcome!” A man with a rotund belly bellowed, his mustache curling around his playful finger. “I greet our fine guests from afar. Might there be anything we can assist with. We s
Chapter 54 Under the Night
Looking to the side as she laid there, out camping in the wild at night, Carol moved her hand from under the sheet. She gripped Luck’s hand who was beside her, he finished humming his tune, so she looked at him with asking eyes and the question evident in the form in her brow. “You don’t have a problem with that? Are you sure?” Luck asked and Carol gave a timid nod.Luck shrugged and laid closer beside her, producing a blanket for himself. He continued to hum another tune as Carol looked up at the dark sky, the bright twin moons and sparkling stars helping to banish her fear of the dark from her mind, alleviating her fear status. It was the same here, she thought, no different from before and no different now. Her people, once in their history, had praised the stars and the moons, naming the ever-streaking stars in the sky as gods. It was a primitive idea, but Carol thought that they perhaps did it so that her people back then could have something to comfort themselves through the
Chapter 53 On the Way to Dieles
With the creaking of the wooden wheels sounding their way down the dirt path, Luck and his party were soon on arrival at the port village of Dieles. How they knew they were close was by the apparent salty smell of the sea. Luck sniffed and thought that this was what nature truly was like. Mixed with the dirt, he could almost taste the sea. Or how the seas on earth were like, before corporations and human hands had touched it. I made him chuckle to think that this virtual world was replacing his real life. In fact, it was as if he truly started over in a new world if he took into account that he died in his past’s life. But that was a dreary topic to think of. “Master, are you alright?” Carol asked, pressing her chest against his arm. Luck’s brow twitched away from the sky but more in the fact that he was creeped out. To him, this is like a young girl hitting on some old dude. “UH? I’m fine, just thinking about the sea.” “Really? That is all? There is not anything else?” Carol so
Chapter 52 NPC Nature
Hooking the horse up to the carriage, Caleb looked over to the interior of the rugged wooden wagon. It was an old piece of technology that seemed out of place in his reality’s futuristic cars. To him, it seemed retro and a novel experience to actually set one up, a perk of VRMMORPGs. “All set here, how’s the inside coming along?” “Yeah, almost finished here, come give me a hand.” While the voice was muffled, Caleb could still hear Luck clearly. Climbing up, he helped him move along crates of supplies that were inside his pocket space inventory. It consisted of water for the horse, crude straw sleeping bags, and rations to fill their bellies during a long journey. I was like they were going on a trip and while only a fraction of what Caleb had acquired, he could tell that Luck was trying to pack the wagon light. “So where to?” Caleb asked as he was handed another crate full of rations. “For now, we head north. While it might not be the most direct path to the northeastern mounta
Chapter 51 Trekking Home
“Incoming, 5 on the right and 3 orcs to our left flank. FLAMA!”“I know! Come get some you ugly mutts.”At Flama shouting she pumped herself up as Luck continued to observe the situation, they were in. It had been only a few hours since they began their trek to his base and along the way, it seemed that the orc encampment was making moves, he didn’t know for what purpose, but he knew they were a threat.“DOUBLE! SLASH!” Flama let loose her twin swords sinking them into the green flesh of the orcs. Without even having to communicate with Luck, she had picked up on the larger threat.Suddenly, a scorching flaming hit her square in the chest, but Flama was unphased. Instead, she charged at the remaining orc, whose skin was of blood red color.It roared and raised its club like a wand to cast another spell on the tiny human girl. But all it saw was a long blur of red hair pass him by.Not even giving the red orc a second more of her attention, Flama dashed over to Caleb as fast as she cou
