Chapter 10 - First Win

Chapter 10 – First Win

Spring 2nd, Month 1, the Year 2301.

Berry woke up early in the morning as usual practicing his martial arts and had his breakfast. After that, he started packing up because the next day, he would start working. Since the company provided residence for their employees, Berry would move there for work.

Berry did not know when he would move but he just prepared himself and packed some of his belongings. The Thunder Tiger Company was located in a city neighboring his home city, so he could come home if he needed more things.

After he packed up his things, he had nothing else to do. Since he quit his part-time job, he had a lot of free time.

"I should continue playing Dodgeball Master," Berry decided to continue playing the game. Understanding the game might help him with his job, so Berry got to Bendy's room to play the Dodgeball Master.

Before Berry went to sleep last night, he visited a few forums dedicated to Dodgeball Master and learned a few things there.

Similar to what Bestie had said, the game restricted the damage done from something not related to the ball. The ball mentioned referred to the physical ball which was the only weapon in the game. A skill such as a fireball, water ball, and many more was not counted as the ball. So, if those skills hit someone, the damage done was 1/10 of the supposed damage.

Berry also found out that until he finished his current mission, he would not be able to use and gained access to the more powerful balls. This was the reason the NPC refused to tell him about the other balls.

Other than that, Berry found out that the real game was not against the monsters but other players. Players did missions for the sake of collecting materials and money to upgrade their equipment and to gain more experience.

The most important part of the game was the battles against other players.

Berry got into the VR Capsule and logged in to the game. Berry appeared inside the inn and decided to head back to the field to continue with his mission.

"There are a lot of people playing this," Berry had changed the Options to be able to see the name and level of others. Since he was a level 1 player, he could only see up to level 10 players and NPCs. Players and NPCs of higher levels had '???' above their head.

Berry arrived at the field and searched for a horned rabbit. A few minutes later, he found one. "I will not make the same mistake again!" Berry was determined to win. He was embarrassed that he lost before and not only that but Bestie saw what happened too.

Berry took out a golf ball from his storage and checked his skill's UP. The UP was at max.

"There is no way the Barrier is a useless ability. If it is useless, the developer will not list it inside the game," Berry mumbled.

When Berry read a guide for newbie players, he found out that all of them said that not to choose Barrier as their ability. The skill started super weak at the beginning and many players manage to craft a strong Barrier skill later but the nature of the skill itself made it weak.

The barrier was an energy-based skill that was weak against physical attack. The ball attack was mostly a physical attack and thus, Barrier would be useless to block the attack.

Due to that, they advised new players to choose Wall, Shield, Rock, Metal, or Armor ability if they wanted to focus on defense. The barrier could become strong but it was useless against other skills that could become stronger too.

Berry found it a hassle to delete his account to make a new one and thus, he decided to play with what he had. Since he was playing the game to understand more about it, Berry did not mind it at all.

Berry took a throwing stance and prepared to attack the horned rabbit. Berry took his aim and threw the golf ball at the rabbit. The rabbit felt the incoming attack and evaded to the side but another attack came to the side too.

Berry decided to use the same tactic he used against the first rabbit. Even so, he restricted himself to only using two balls to prevent from losing them all if he loses again.

[Horned Rabbit HP -3]

"Nice!" Berry was happy but he did not stop there as Berry ran forward to pick up the golf ball.

The rabbit got up and was angry. Its horn shone in blue light and the rabbit saw Berry was coming and decided to attack Berry.

The rabbit rushed forward and stabbed at Berry. Even so, Berry was more careful in this battle and with his experience in the previous battle, Berry easily dodged the attack.

Berry picked up the two golf balls on the ground and prepared to attack once more when suddenly, he was shocked. The rabbit was right in front of him and its horn was close to his chest.

"!!!" Berry was shocked. "Why is this rabbit so fast?!" Berry reflexively let go of the two golf balls and put his palm in front of the horn and his other palm ready to strike the rabbit.

The palm that he prepared to block the horn activated the Barrier skill and a 1cm2 barrier appeared and blocked the horn. However, Berry knew that in a second, the Barrier would break.

'What should I do?!' Berry's mind moved at a fast speed to think of a solution to block the horn attack. His other palm would need a bit more time to strike and threw the rabbit away. If Berry relied on the Barrier, his palm would be stabbed again and he would get the Bleeding status.

As Berry's mind race to search for a solution, he found one and it was so easy that he wanted to slap his face hard. Berry tilted his palm and the Barrier did the same. The tilting barrier slid the horn to deflect it.

Even so, Berry's solution came a bit late and the Barrier broke. Be that as it may, the horn graced Berry's finger without giving him much damage.

[Berryier's HP -1]

Berry's other palm arrived at struck the rabbit's belly from below and his previous palm that he used with the Barrier struck the rabbit's face.

The rabbit was thrown back a few meters by the force of the two palms. Although the rabbit did not suffer any damage from the palm strike, Berry managed to create a distance between them.

Berry did not waste this chance as he grabbed the two golf balls and threw them to the rabbit. The rabbit fell to the ground and a golf ball struck its body.

[Horned rabbit's HP -3]

However, another golf ball arrived but it struck the ground beside the rabbit. Berry missed his throw.

"My aim is off!" Berry rushed to the rabbit again to pick up the balls.

The rabbit got up and it was angry. The rabbit's legs shone in blue light similar to its horn and dashed at Berry.

"A skill! That is why this rabbit can appear in front of me easily!" Berry finally knew why the rabbit was so fast. The previous rabbit only had one skill but the rabbit in front of him had two skills.

The rabbit jumped and wanted to stab Berry again. However, it was predictable this time and Berry simply bent his knee and body to his back (imagine it like Neo in Matrix or maybe like kung fu master in many kung fu films). The rabbit's horn attack passed Berry to the back.

Berry was not used to this move. So, he was clumsy and fell to his back but he got up immediately and picked up the golf balls before the rabbit arrived.

Berry wanted to throw the ball only to stop it as the rabbit was closer. Berry dodged to the side and the rabbit missed. He used this chance and threw the ball and the ball hit the target.

[Horned Rabbit's HP -3]

The horned rabbit fell to the ground in pain and Berry did not waste this chance to deal with the last damage. Berry threw the last golf ball in his hand towards the injured rabbit.

"!!!" the ball hit the rabbit and it lied on the ground motionlessly.

[Horned Rabbit's HP -3]

[Horned Rabbit defeated] the system notified Berry and at the same time, the rabbit's body shone. The rabbit disappeared and dropped an item.

[Rabbit Pelt obtained] the system notified Berry again.

"I did it!" Berry clenched his fist in joy. This was the most intense fight he had ever had in his life. Even when he was playing other fantasy RPG games, it was not this intense.

"Ha~ This is a hard battle," Berry smiled and he continued, "Let's harvest the horn." Berry looked at the rabbit only to see it disappeared and left a clean white rabbit pelt behind.

"…" Berry stared at the pelt listlessly. "The game used the item drop mechanic?" Berry was speechless. He thought that he needed to harvest the materials but it was an item drop.

"Then… I need to depend on RNG to collect three horns?" Berry's eyes twitched. He needed to hunt for more rabbits to get the three horns as proof that he defeated three horn rabbits.

"…This game is harder than the normal fantasy RPG…" Berry sighed. Berry picked up the pelt and checked its status.

Name: Rabbit Pelt

Grade: Level 1

Details: Can be used to craft equipment

Berry stored the pelt in his storage and picked up the golf balls. Berry checked the balls stat, and their durability had decreased by three points. He could use the balls a few more times. Berry stored the balls in his storage and went to search for another horned rabbit.