Chapter 6. Arth (1)
Chapter 6. Arth (1)
In Ark, there are over a thousand major cities and tens of thousands of towns. A new player begins his adventure in a capital or a major city of comparable size.
Similar to where Lu Fei is starting out.
Flash!
With a flash of light, he appeared in the capital of the Althiem empire, Arth.
"This is…....amazing!!"
Lu Fei was swayed by the sight of countless avatars, users and NPCs (Non-Player Characters) alike, that he thought he was lost in the middle of a big city.
"Where am I? Unbelievable!"
Astonished, Lu Fei couldn't believe his eyes as he looked around. The racket of those haggling and chattering rang in his ears.
The view unfolding before his eyes was the same as the real world, with people busy coming and going.
He lowered his eyes to his legs standing on the ground. His senses told him that it felt absolutely solid. Strangers passed him by as he stood still in a daze.
He has experienced the world of virtual reality when he was testing for his neuro gear but Ark was a completely different matter.
It was so close to the real world that you would not be able to make a difference between the real world and Ark.
"Look at him. I'm sure he's a newbie."
"It looks like he's never played a virtual reality game before."
"He will get used to it soon but he's a noob currently."
While passing by, some users threw fleeting remarks over their shoulders. They stung him enough to pull himself together.
No matter how thoroughly Lu Fei had prepared, his knowledge of virtual reality and his research into the game system came second to the strange experience he was having now.
He had been bewildered, but it was temporary, and he soon calmed down, differences also began to catch his eye.
His senses were consistent with reality, yet people around him were clad in armor or wearing leather vests.
He could feel that he was breathing and his heart was even beating. It was like he was in a real body, not a virtual one. There was another thing.
Seeing people in armor and the medieval buildings around him made Lu Fei feel like he was back in the fantasy world. Slowly, some memories of the virtual world crept into his head.
Training with his master, eating together with his comrades and the…
'Let's not think about it.'
Lu Fei vigorously shook his thoughts and muttered.
"Character info."
* * *
Job: Jobless
Disposition: Neutral
Title: None
Fame: 10
HP&MP: 100/100
Satiety: 100%
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 10
Mana: 10
Luck: 10
Remaining points: 0
* * *
Most of his stats were on 10 but these were not the only stats a player can have. One can have many different stats but some specific stats can only be acquired in specific situations or by doing some special quest.
Lu Fei was currently in the middle of the capital of Althiem, Arth. He was in the beginner clothes and he had selected his in-game name as 'Ian'.
He had selected this name because it was short and easy to spell. Lu Fei, no, Ian didn't like complicated names and there was also another reason he has selected this name.
When he was in the fantasy world, his master has given him the name 'Ian'. He has decided to use this name in Ark because he was used to being called that.
'Let's head to the Mercenary association now.'
Ian has already researched about Arth before choosing it as his starting location. He knows that it was the headquarters of the Mercenary Association.
Almost all of Ark's content started with battles. At the same time, battles were the hardest content Ark had to offer.
If Ark had a complicated battle-preparation process, then no one would bother to play Ark. Thus, the Ark's battle-preparation process was rather convenient.
In the middle of it was the Mercenary Association.
The Mercenary Association offered various information and accommodations needed to hunt monsters.
Almost all players became a member as if it was the most obvious thing to do. Especially for beginner players, they enjoyed various benefits, and the first thing they did was join the Mercenary Association.
After joining the Mercenary Association, players were given armor and a weapon, which is useful until level 10.
Because of this, players didn't need to grind, spend money to obtain beginner equipment, or fight monsters bare-handed.
At the same time, players could use the Training Dungeon at the Mercenary Association.
The Training Dungeon was specially prepared for players below level 10, and it was a place players had to experience.
Real battles against monsters were a hard thing to do, especially for a new player as most of them don't even have beginner experience in fighting.
The Training Dungeon taught the basics of preparing for those real battles. As Training Dungeons were Instant Dungeons, there was no competition and players could focus on fighting.
"Do you want to register as a Mercenary?"
A burly man who was standing beside the counter at the Mercenary Association said, as he looked at Lu Fei.
Even his ordinary stare looks like a glare to Ian but he avoided his gaze and answered.
"Yes, I wanted to register as a Mercenary."
"Do you have the courage to fight monsters, help people in need and make a name for yourself in the wide world?"
"Yes, I certainly do have the courage."
NPCs in Ark were just like human beings. They have their own life, own background and their own family. Even monsters have a backstory to them.
That's why they will behave realistically and feel like ordinary humans. Most of the players also treated them as they will treat other human beings.
"Good. Follow me!!"
The burly man ordered Ian to follow him and they went towards the armory. The burly man handed Ian a beginner armor and a sword as he said.
"My name is Gran. You can ask me for information about quests and people and I will help you like the best as I can. Of course, some information will have a price on it. So, make sure to earn money."
Gran guided Ian towards the Training Dungeon after that. He left after telling him not to die.
'It's time to start for real.'
Ian gripped the sword in his hand as he prepared for the fight to begin.
* * *
A lady with a model-like stature and a glamourous figure came out of a black colored arcane capsule, exposing her long, straight hair and glossy skin.
She looked at the programmer who helped her program the Arkane capsule and nodded her head.
"I tested the system and it is good. As expected of the 9S model, it really possesses the state of the art technology."
Along with these words, she signaled with her eyes toward an old butler next to her.
The old butler immediately understood what she was about to say and said to the programmer.
"Please come this way. You will get your payment downstairs"
"Ah…"
The programmer blankly looked at the butler and shifted his eyes to the woman wearing her jacket. He was immersed in her beauty.
Her sexy and curvaceous body was a sight to him. He just wanted to stare at it all day long but he can't do it.
The woman was not something he can touch. He was one of the programmers from the research and development team of Pegasus corporation.
His status was really high and his salary was in the millions. He can get many beauties but the woman in front of him was a no go.
Even if he sold his entire property, he can't get her!!
The status of the woman was not something he can compare to. He can only praise the luck of her future husband.
"Please come this way."
The butler again said and the programmer started to move with a dispirited expression. He wished to stare at the beauty of the woman for just a while longer, but there was nothing he could do.
As the programmer was leaving, a voice stopped him from behind.
"Wait."
He turned back at that voice and waited for the woman to speak. In his heart, there were angels blowing horns and he was thinking that his lucky chance has finally come.
"At the end of the test, I noticed my time ranked second. What was the first?"
"Yes?"
The programmer immediately became disappointed when he heard that question but he tilted his head.
'Second? What does she mean? Her time was already on the level of a world record.'
At the Olympus stores, all VR devices shared the same program installed to a single server, because it was impossible to install the program on individual machines due to licensing and storage space.
It was the same for the testing records. The rankings were of the users that tried the testing that day.
After a day, the rankings will be automatically deleted within the server of the Olympus store but it will be forwarded to the official server of the Pegasus corporation.
The woman had just scored a record of 3 minutes and 31 seconds in the battle test and her climbing score was just 4 minutes. She was regarded as a level A tester.
Most people can't get the level A testing record. It was hard to even get the level B record and only the rankers were capable of the level A record.
Furthermore, only a handful of people could finish this test under 4 minutes. Those that could were geniuses, the so-called monsters.
The woman's record of 3 minutes and 31 seconds in the battle test was incredible without a doubt. She was content at surpassing her past record of 3 minutes and 49 seconds, a whole 18-second difference.
She has also surpassed her climbing test results. She felt it was worth the effort in obtaining a 9S model!!
But her record was only in second place.
She couldn't understand how. How could her monstrous record be second place?
The programmer could only tilt his heads. The woman frowned, watching the programmer
"Can I see the testing rankings?"
At her order, the programmer immediately ran to his laptop. When he saw the record on the screen, his face stiffened.
"2 minutes 59 seconds…"
The battle record was of 2 minutes and 59 seconds and the climbing result was just 3 minutes 24 seconds.
An absurd record was sitting in the first place. It was a time impossible for a human being to achieve.
The programmer immediately replied.
"Looks like it was a bot result. Looks like someone was using a bot to test a VR device and accidentally recorded its time."
It was an impossible record for a human. Then the answer was simple.
The woman only gave him a tired look before she turned her head away. She ordered the programmer to leave as she began to dive into the world of Ark.
A female voice rang out when she went inside her 9S model.
She was known as Rachel, the bow princess and one of the rankers in Ark. In real life, her name was Yang Yue, the princess of the Yang family.