A Great First Day

Knowing very well that it was getting close to dinner time, Jean made a run towards the outside of the Azure Forest, dodging every Stray Bit he came across. He did not have any time to spare to fight against another Stray Bit at this moment, he did not even know if dinner had already started without him. This thought spurred him to run as fast and as efficient as he could, only taking a few minutes or so to reach the outside of the Azure Forest.

At the very instant he had past the barrier, he hurriedly commanded the system to open up his specific stat screen as he sat down on a nearby boulder. It only took an instant for the specific stat screen to pop up, with Jean allocating his status points to the three usual stats not long after.

"I've actually reached Level 8?" Jean could not help but say after noticing that the amount of unused status points he had at the moment was 24. With one level giving 8 unused status points, it was pretty much simple math for Jean to calculate that he had risen by 3 levels.

Whoosh!

'6 points have been allocated to Vitality. The Vitality stat is now at 24 points.'

'6 points have been allocated to Strength. The Strength stat is now at 24 points.'

'12 points have been allocated to Agility. The Agility stat is now at 46 points.'

After confirming his choices on how he allocated his unused status points, he let out a sigh of relief, knowing very well that he could now leave the World Net. Then again, he thought that he could've already left the World Net before allocating his status points, but he wanted to see how much he had improved in terms of stats. With that in mind, he then commanded the system to bring up his general stat screen, which left him at a loss for words.

Whoosh!

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Tenebris (Cleaner Rank)

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Level 8 (3006/5184)

Class: Assassin

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HP: 325/325

MP: 64/64

Attack: 54 (+7) (58-64)

Defense: 15 (+25)

Movement Speed: 49 (18 m/s)

Attack Speed: 49 (9 hps)

Range of Vision: 50 meters

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Jean could not help but blink a few times, wondering if he was looking at another person's general stat screen rather than his own. It took a few slaps to the face and a few pinches on the arm for him to realize that it was his own general stat screen, evident from the name on top. After confirming that it was actually his, he could not help but mutter, "I've actually improved that much?"

If any other user came across Jean's general stat screen and looked at his stats, they could not help but look twice, wondering if Jean was actually a Level 8 user or not. Of course, if they knew what he was wearing, as well as how he had allocated his stats, they would surely think that this is befitting.

Jean could not help but wonder as to why his stats had improved so much, deciding to think that it was due to the enhanced equipment he was currently wearing. With that in mind, he promised to himself that when he came back to the World Net, he would make sure to complete a full set of Starter+ equipment.

Closing his general stat screen, he then said to himself with an expression of glee, "Alright! It's time to leave the World Net!"

Just as he said this, he realized that he did not know how to leave the World Net. He knew how to enter the World Net at anytime thanks to his father, but his father did not teach him how to leave the World Net. He could ask the friends he had made in the Azure Forest to teach him how to leave the World Net, but the thought alone made him feel embarrassed.

And so, he decided to just chat with his father one more time, not caring about whether his father was busy or not.

"Contact Xx_SilverAxe47_xX," Jean muttered softly, slightly feeling embarrassed inwardly. After saying this, he could not help but mutter, "Dad, why does your name have to be so long?"

Ring…ring…

Not long after, a ringing sound started to resound near Jean's ears, lasting for around ten seconds or so. After those ten seconds, the ringing sounds stopped as a holographic screen with John's face appearing in front of Jean's field of vision.

"What's up, son?" John said as a greeting after the two were successfully connected. "Why did you call your old man while he was in the midst of fighting against a dragon?"

"Well uh…" In response, Jean hemmed and hawed for quite a bit, pondering as to how he was going to word his question. Eventually, he found a way to word it out, saying, "Mom told you that I shouldn't stay here for too long, right?"

"Yeah, she did." John nodded in response, only to become silent for a few seconds as a grin gradually crept up his face. With a grin now on his face, he looked at his son through the holographic screen and asked, "You want to know how to leave the World Net, right?"

"Mm." At this point, Jean hastily agreed to his father's question, reducing the amount of teasing he could get. Fortunately, John did not dwell on this matter that much, laughing for a short while before responding with, "I didn't teach you how to leave the World Net before I left you alone, so it's somewhat my fault. Also, thanks for reminding me that dinner time is coming soon. If your mom found out that I didn't eat for dinner, she'd definitely kill me here."

"Anyways, leaving the World Net is simple. Just have the intent of leaving the World Net in your mind, then utter the word, 'Exit'," John continued, before adding, "I'll be leaving first then."

"Alright, dad," Jean responded before nodding. "See you on the dining table then."

"See ya." After saying those words, John ended the connection between the two of them, the holographic screen in front of Jean's field of vision disappearing not long after. He then closed his eyes for a bit to process what his dad said regarding the method to leave the World Net. After a few seconds, he stood up and looked at the horizon in front of him before muttering, "Exit."

Whoosh!

At the very instant he was finished saying this word, his body hastily transformed into multiple bits of ones and zeroes, before gradually disappearing from the landscape of the World Net. Concurrently, his field of vision gradually became more and more vague, transforming into a sight of pure white light that turned into pure darkness not long after.

After a few more seconds, the pure darkness he saw changed back to white light, before becoming more and more detailed. It took around ten seconds or so for the view Jean could see to be very detailed, allowing him to see the ceiling of his room, as well as feel the sensation of the soft mattress he was lying down on before he entered the World Net.

He blinked for a few times to adjust before sitting upright, looking at the stuff that was in his room. Just as he was about to stand up, a voice resounded from beside him, asking, "How's your first day?"

"Uwah!" Jean could not help but scream at the suddenness of the voice, hastily looking at the direction of the voice. After finding out who it was, he let out a sigh of relief before saying, "You scared me there, dad!"

"Hehe." John lightly chuckled in response. He then placed his left hand on his son's left shoulder before asking one more time, "So, how's your first day?"

Putting the incident just now at the back of his mind, he recalled the experience of being in the World Net for the first time. A smile gradually crept up his face as he remembered the improvement he had achieved in just this day. He then looked at his dad after recalling for a bit, replying with, "It's been great! Then again, it's quite boring fighting against the Stray Bits of the Azure Forest for many hours."

"Well then." In response, John smiled before asking, "How about we fight against the boss of the Azure Forest?"

Hearing his father's words, Jean was eager to accept his proposal, only for him to be interrupted from replying by his father as he said, "After we eat dinner, of course."

In that instant, Jean's excitement had deflated, replying in a short grunt.

"Mm."

"With that, let's head down," John then stood up from his son's mattress. Jean followed not long after, walking towards the door to open it.

Unfortunately, just as he took the first step…

Whoosh!

A great distance was covered by this single step, planting Jean to the wall of his room with a lot of force. A muffled grunt of pain could be heard coming from Jean, who had his face planted towards the wall near the door. As for John, who saw this happen, he could not help but laugh loudly at this situation. His laugh was so loud that it made him fall down to the mattress in laughter.

Hearing his father's laughter, Jean could not help but try to endure the pain he was feeling before looking at his father with a small frown on his face. Opening his mouth, he said, "If you knew this was going to happen, then you should've at least told me, right?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," John replied amidst his laughter, stopping around a few seconds later before standing up to get closer to his son, who was still planted on the wall. Jean did not dare to take a step back from this wall after realizing how much distance he had covered with a single step. Nevertheless, this did not stop Jean from thinking, muttering to himself, "Now that I think about it, I've increased my Agility stat by around 30 points. Doesn't that mean an additional 30% of my body's potential in terms of Agility had been unlocked?"

While he was thinking, John made his way towards his son, pulling him from the wall before opening the door. He then placed his right hand on his son's right shoulder, before applying a bit of force on it to make sure Jean did not move that far. While doing so, he looked at his son and said, "This phenomenon only happens at the start, when you make the most improvement in your stats. I'm sure that by the time we get downstairs, your body would have adapted to your increased abilities, allowing you to move like before, as well as allow you to move with the speed you just showed a while ago."

After that, the two walked towards the dining table on the first floor step by step, with John clutching on his son's shoulders after feeling that his son's body was moving farther than it should have. Fortunately, with every step they moved, John had to exert lesser and lesser strength than before to pull his son's body back. By the time they had reached the stairs, John did not need to hold Jean down anymore, with Jean moving his body like before.

As they walked down the stairs, after experiencing such a phenomenon, Jean could not help but look at his father, who was beside him, and ask, "Dad, since you and mom are both long time users of the World Net, why haven't you two shown your full power in real life?"

"Who says we don't?" In response, John grinned as he replied to his son's question. "We just don't show it in front of you two."

"If that's the case…" Jean pondered over his father's reply for a bit before asking, "Can you show me your full power tomorrow?"

"Why wait for tomorrow?" John replied in an instant, before adding, "I told you, we're going to hunt the boss of Azure Forest later. I'll show you my full power by then."

"Alright." After replying to his father's words, Jean, along with John, made their way towards the dining table, allowing the two of them to see Jason seated while Jane was placing a few dishes on the dining table. The two of them sat down not long after, looking at the dishes in front of them with a slightly greedy glance.

After being in the World Net for quite a long time, although the two of them did not feel any sensation of hunger inside it, this did not stop their body from exchanging certain molecules inside their body into energy they used inside the World Net. This in turn increased the amount of hunger the two felt, especially with the dishes in front of them.

Of course, the two of them controlled their urges to grab the dishes and gobble it all up, waiting for Jane to place all of the dishes on the dining table before sitting down.

At the very moment Jane sat down, she looked at the gazes of John and Jean, slightly chuckling as she said, "Go ahead. I know you two are incredibly hungry, especially you, Jean."

Hearing Jane's words, as if they were words coming from an angel, the two of them did not hesitate from grabbing quite a lot of food and placing it on their plate. Surprisingly, they were able to finish the food they placed on their plates in a matter of a few minutes, shocking Jason, who had only grabbed a bit of food when compared to the two of them. Not only that, it seemed that they were going for a second round!

"Mngh…mnm…" After finishing his second round of food, Jean felt that he was now full, allowing him to look at his younger brother Jason, who was looking at him in shock.

"Bro…" Jason could not help but say as the sight of his older brother and his father gobbling up tons of food like they were snorting it replayed over and over in his mind. After a short while, he placed this in the back of his mind, allowing him to return to his original train of thought as he said, "Anyways, how was your first day in the World Net?"

"It was pretty great!" Jean replied with a grin, before continuing, "My stats have improved by a lot, allowing me to kill wolves without a problem!"

"Ah?" Jane, who was listened to the conversation from the side, could not help but blurt out, attracting Jean's attention. Seeing that Jean was looking at her, Jane cleared her throat before asking, "Aren't the wolves in the Azure Forest pretty fast?"

"Yeah, they are." Jean nodded to his mother's question, before adding, "But I'm faster."

"Since you're telling me that you're faster than them, did you choose the Assassin class?" Jane could not help but ask after seeing the confidence on her son's face.

This time, instead of Jean answering, John was the one who answered, saying, "Yeah, he did. If you saw how he killed rabbits, you'd probably be shocked."

"Oh?" A light smile appeared on Jane's face, before looking at Jean and asking, "How about I join you two later? I feel like you two are about to do something big after this."

Hearing the conversation that was happening between the three, Jason could not help but become envious as he said, "Aw man, you three are talking about the World Net while I can't enter it. Don't you think it's time for me to enter the World Net as well?"

In response, John and Jane looked at each other before turning their heads to look at Jason. John opened his mouth and said, "Alright then, I'll let you enter the World Net. But your first day will have to wait until the Immersion Update comes, okay?"

Although he was slightly disappointed that he was not able to enter the World Net tomorrow, the fact that he was finally allowed to enter the World Net made Jason grin from both ends, nodding his head as he replied, "Alright, dad! You promised that!"

With a light smile on his face, John turned his head to look at Jean, who had an expression of being deep in thought on his face. Seeing as his son was deep in thought, John could not help but ask, "What are you thinking about, son? Maybe I or your mother could answer it."

Jean was brought back to reality by his father's words, pondering as to whether he should say what was on his mind or not. Eventually, he decided to say it, looking at his father and asking, "This has been on my mind ever since I saw it."

"What is it? Go ahead," John said in response.

"What does the Cleaner rank beside my name mean?" This was the question Jean asked. In response, John and Jane looked down at the floor in silence, which surprised Jean quite a bit.

Seeing the response from both of his parents, Jean could not help but ask himself, "Did I ask something I shouldn't have asked?"