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5

Chapter 5

“I don’t understand,” I muttered, looking around. - But how to choose a class?

Then came a belated thought to look at the other races and compare their bonuses with the elven ones, but it was too late. And I would not choose any other race. I had very big plans for the natural possession of a bastard sword.

And given that, according to statistics, most of all swords in any virtual projects are represented by just one and a half or long swords, this promised me a confident start and a good choice in the future game.

In the next game...

Only now it dawned on me that there is no going back. I jumped under a truck - isekai connoisseurs will appreciate it - fell into a coma and am now in the virtual world "Sea of ​​Opportunities". Damn it, did I still decide on this adventure?!

Why does everyone like hit-and-run books so much? Yes, because it is, in fact, a second chance. A chance to start all over again, based on the experience gained. It doesn't matter where you ended up - in another world, in the distant past, or in a ten-year-old self.

The main thing is that you have a pumped brain, unique skills and, if you're lucky, an afterthought.

In my case, that's exactly what it is. Especially considering how many books I've read and how many games I've played. I even have a couple of dozen scripts behind my back! I can process huge amounts of information - thanks to the philological faculty for the "modest monthly lists of literature" of a hundred books each. I have a good memory - try to remember the abilities of all the characters in key virtual projects!

And in the end, I roughly imagine the logic of game quests, the chances of dropping loot, the location of locations, mobs, NPCs and raid bosses.

If the manager Seryozha could hear me now, I would have to explain to him that mobs are monsters that you need to kill in order to increase your level. Loot is artifacts, resources and money that drop from mobs or other players. NPCs or NPCs are game characters, scripts written by developers that issue tasks, teach interesting skills and add variety to the game. Well, raid bosses are the coolest mobs in the location, which are usually raided, that is, by a whole team.

Well, thanks for the relic starter kit and God bless him. Long live the new, wondrous world!

I looked around and took a deep breath of the fresh air of the virtual world. No matter how much I played various projects, I could not get used to such a full-fledged immersion effect.

Attention! Welcome to the Sea of ​​Opportunities!

According to the contract concluded with the Game - World Corporation , you are in full immersion 24/7. The recommended time for rest is an hour a day.

The sensation filter is set to 10% by default. The higher the level of sensations, the faster experience is gained. The maximum possible level for you: 50%.

In order to avoid the effect of the prisoner, an active skill is available to you: Instant death. A thought is enough to activate.

(Warning! Do not use this skill in front of other players if you do not want to reveal your status).

According to the terms of the contract, you get a starter kit and a random starting amount (+ one hundred gold upon reaching level 10)

Attention!

In order to link your wallet to your personal account, get to any branch of the bank.

In order to make calls to the real world, keep a blog and your channel, you need to increase the level of the basic account. Current level: Bronze

To summon the Guardian, say: I summon the Guardian. In case of a false call, your character will be debuffed for a week!

To call for help, say: “What for how much?”

Attention! Choose a name!

“Alex,” I responded habitually, glancing over the text. There was a breath of something native, but I did not have time to catch the elusive thought. Feeding system notifications, by the way, is nice.

The game has already begun to please me, if only because instead of bold letters covering the entire review, a translucent text with an elegant font appeared in front of me. Moreover, the local AI seemed to hear my thoughts and corrected the style at the same moment, as soon as I winced at the bold welcome inscription.

Attention! To carry out the integration of characteristics, skills and abilities?

(offered for full immersive users only)

Implement now / Postpone indefinitely.

- Hm…

I read a lot about integration and even fantasized myself, being a gamer, but to implement this function in a game, you would need full access to a person’s memory. And not only to, ahem, mental, but also muscular! Although it would be interesting to try...

- Implement now!

The next moment, I felt sick. My hands and feet ached instantly and my head ached. Squeezing my temples with my palms and clenching my teeth, I fell first on my knees, and then completely curled up into a ball.

- What the heck…

With every second, the pain grew and grew, and I, no longer holding back, yelled at the top of my throat.

Attention! Integration of physical characteristics is finished.

As soon as the inscription appeared, the pain slowly began to pass, releasing me from its tenacious embrace.

Swallowing, I opened the character window:

Name: Alex

Race: Outcast?

Class: not accepted.

Stats:

Strength: 2

Endurance: 2

Agility: 3

Intelligence: 2

Wisdom: 1

Charisma: 1

Luck: 1

Life: 40

Mana: 20

Skills:

Strategist: +10% to the characteristics of the unit under your command.

Features:

Chess player/Cybersportsman: +1 to Intelligence, game skill: Strategist.

Aikido wrestler: +1 to Strength, Agility, Endurance, hand-to-hand combat: +20, melee combat (boken): +10

Skills:

Physical damage resistance: 0.02

Magic damage resistance: 0.02

Trade: 1

Sword proficiency: 12

- Uh, I don’t understand why so little?

I barely lifted myself off the ground, noting at the same time that my hands had time to freeze. Why didn't the game give me at least an A? And what then is the point of integrating an avatar with a real body?

Wait a minute...

- I'm a deer!

As soon as I thought about the real body, it immediately dawned on me what had happened. My physical body with multiple fractures began to carry out the reading test. It's no surprise that the pain cut through all the filters. But he could even glue the fins from the pain shock ...

"I didn't think of that," I grumbled as I pulled myself upright. “Okay, I want to choose a class!”

I, like any RPG player, was willing to spend hours thoughtfully creating my character. Count points and percentages, add up bonuses and effects. Calculate damage using a formula, and so on. That's why it took me so long to choose an avatar race. And now I seriously hoped to sit thoughtfully over the choice of class.

But no selection window appeared in front of me.

- Class selection!

After waiting a few seconds, I felt my feet, despite the leather boots, begin to freeze slightly. Apparently, the choice of class will be a little later. Unusual…

Of course, if I had known a little earlier what kind of game I would get into, I would have been better prepared than an example. I would study manuals, compare builds, remember all open quests. But... it was not for nothing that Max warned me not to do this?

Also, where is my starter kit?

I couldn't help but chuckle. Poor comrade Vorobyov. As soon as the administration finds out that he gave me a relic-class starter kit, someone will receive a large such fine. For not FIG!

And just something business, put the emphasis on the word usually, and chatter: "starter relic set." No wonder he spent several years in negotiations in the game industry. The pumped skill helped a lot: “Successful communication with sponsors”.

But it's good that he didn't get impudent. Would say "Divine", the manager Seryozha would immediately suspect a dirty trick. Rare, Unique, Elite - all these words betray the significance of the artifact. Whether business "Relic". An uninitiated person will never guess that this is the penultimate rank in terms of level.

I took a look around myself, looking for game functionality bindings.

It was different in different games. Somewhere - a plaque of a belt, somewhere - a bracelet, somewhere - a ring. In some American project, non-removable white underpants, popularly called "diapers", served as a binding. Then, however, the American public began to resent, they say, why are the underpants white and not black? What kind of discrimination on horseradish understand what grounds?

The developers quickly corrected the situation by repainting all the shorts in jet black overnight. For a week, the fighters for justice walked around happy and even organized a BlackUnderwearMatters campaign - black underpants matter. There was a rapid growth of online, and investors rubbed their hands contentedly, counting future profits.

But then someone from the community of African American players wondered: “Why do we wear our symbol - black shorts - on our ass? Is it that the whites want to humiliate us so much?”

Massive protests and rallies broke out in the game. The poor developers didn't know what to do. Repaint back to white? Lawyers will be offended. Leave black? Lawyers are outraged. In rainbow? Let's be disrespectful to unicorns...

As a result, the idea came to someone's bright head to paint the players' shorts yellow.

For a week the game was in a precarious balance, the admins were on duty twenty-four to seven, promptly suppressing any racial scandals, and then the game's main server was attacked by outraged Chinese hackers.

This is how we live in the age of victorious democracy.

- Oh, I found it.

The binding turned out to be a tattoo embossed on the left forearm. I looked at the rather high-quality swirls of a lightning tornado and gently touched them.

Attention! You have access to:

spatial pocket for fifty slots.

Activate? Not really.

Starter kit (relic).

Open? Not really.

“Activate,” I agreed cautiously, remembering with a shudder the integration of body and avatar.

The tattoo began to move for a second, and a translucent window with fifty-one slots appeared in front of me. One contained a ring, the second contained a small potion of Healing, the third and fourth contained a loaf of bread with a half-empty flask. In the fifty-first there were three gold coins.

“Um,” I drawled, examining the pale blue ring, “what is that?”

Ancestral ring:

indestructible, impossible to steal, sell, take away

Hidden.

Rare.

— Aren't there too many secrets from the very beginning?

I studied the ring a little more, and then did what should have been done as soon as I got into this game.

- Reference! I said as usual.

When nothing happened, he remembered the opening greeting of the game.

- More precisely, - I immediately corrected myself, - What for how much?

Two things happened at the same time. A system message appeared in front of me, and wild joy flared up inside me. As soon as I said “how much” aloud, it dawned on me that this was one of Mariska's favorite sayings.

I can’t express in words what I had to resist and not yell at the top of my voice - what if one of the admins is watching me? With an effort of will, I wiped a satisfied smile from my face and stared at the text, practically not seeing what was written there because of the tears that came to my eyes.

Marina had a hand in creating this game. And that means I'm on the right track!