Chapter 3: Potential.
"An Otherworlder?!" Noah was astonished as he saw Luna evaporate in the distance. "No wonder she could overwhelm me despite the level difference..."
Noah had heard legends about Otherworlders. Otherworlders were peculiar creatures. Their powers were not measured purely in levels. Unlike normal creatures which measured their power in Rank, Otherworlders measured their powers in Tiers. They also had great intelligence that is only matched by Rank 3 creatures and higher! It was said that in the distant past, an Otherworlder appeared for the first time. That Otherworlder raised through levels like he was climbing a ladder. It was said that it only took him a single month to raise himself from Level 20 to Level 120!
"So Lady Luna was an Otherworlder?" Noah's face turned serious. "All the better!! That means she'll have an easier time getting stronger! She already agreed to help me! Just wait for me, Edna! I will definitely save you!"
Noah looked at his HP. "Crap...I'm on 1 HP. I guess I have to be careful."
He slowly limped through the forest looking for food and water.
--------------------------------------------------------------
He found some berries after walking for a few minutes. "There we go."
His Farmer Sub-Class's Passive Skill, Plant Specialist, did its job as it displayed the berries' information before him.
Multi-Colored Berry (Top, Consumable):
Its seeds can be used to grow any kind of Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Top Berry.
Tastes like chocolate.
"This would be great for Lady Luna!" Noah smiled. He then sighed. "Too bad there's only three."
Noah continued walking around. He looked for water and other fruits or berries. He looked behind one tree as he heard growling. He quickly looked up as a large wolf jumped at him.
Whoosh!
The wolf's claw barely missed.
"Damn you!!" Noah looked at the wolf.
(Forest Wolf, Rank 1, Level 0 Monster, Uncommon)
HP: 180/180
"You have got to be shitting me!!" Noah said as he rushed the Forest Wolf.
Smack!
Noah punched the wolf and sent it flying, yet he didn't damage it. "What the hell?"
Noah felt a chill go down his spine as he saw the [Bleed] status effect below his HP.
The Power to Protect!
Noah quickly activated his Berserk Skill, healing to double his max and changing his [Weakened] state into a [Berserk] state.
-7!
That damage was going to kill him!!
"I see how it's going to be, you mutt!!" Noah glared at the wolf that rushed him.
Slash!!
The wolf slashed his claws at Noah, yet it barely missed.
-16
Noah punched the wolf's claw, his damage doubling due to his [Berserk] state.
-8
-18
Noah punched twice more, dropping the wolf's HP to 138! The wolf growled at Noah before it jumped at him, trying to bite him. Noah raised his elbow. He dropped it at the wolf's head as he elbowed the upper jaw and kneed the lower jaw. Dropping it to the ground.
Noah smiled. Being on the ground immobilized causes double damage and his [Berserk] state also doubles damage, so he had x4 damage!
-5
Noah blocked the attack's damage and even damaged the wolf. He continued to kick the wolf while it was down.
-32
Noah achieved a crit with the first one. He smirked, "You're done, puppy."
-12
-20
-24
-12
-28
-16
-12
The wolf's HP rapidly fell from 138 all the way to 0!!
11 lights surrounded the wolf's body. "Nice. Now I just need to find some water...ah, crap. There's no time. I have to go back to Lady Luna."
Noah grabbed the items and started moving. He had gotten lucky and obtained a Rare Level 0 Chestplate, 2 Uncommon Level 0 Daggers, 3 Common Wolf Meat and 46 Copper Coins total.
After around a minute of running, Noah fell to the ground harshly. His [Berserk] state switched to [Super Weakened]. A description appeared below that icon.
"You have used a Berserk Skill while in a [Weakened] state. Your attributes will be reduced by 90% and you will be unable to use any Berserk Skills until this status effect is gone."
"Duration: 2 hours."
"I had it coming..." Noah said in a self-depreciating tone.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Whoosh.
Luna appeared as she logged back in. She was quickly shocked by the system's messages.
"Noah Crone has slain a Forest Wolf. Awarding 10 EXP."
"Noah Crone has entered a [Super Weakened] state. His attributes are currently suppressed by 90%. This state will continue for (54 minutes, 53 seconds). Please find your guard and protect him until the state is over."
"What the hell?" Luna raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I just tell him to look for some food and water?"
"Ugh." Luna groaned. "System command: map."
A holographic screen appeared in front of Luna, it was completely black except for the blue dot in the center representing her and the green dot northwest of her representing Noah and a small path that showed a little green from her spawn point and the place she was currently at.
"An exploration type map?" Luna clicked her tongue. Most games were discovery type, meaning that the moment you enter a new region, the entire region's map will be unlocked to you. "I guess I have to go to him."
Luna started moving towards Noah. She didn't take long to see the Forest Wolf's corpse.
(Forest Wolf, Rank 1, Level 0 Monster, Uncommon)
HP: 0/180 [Dead]
"That makes more sense." Luna smirked. "Noah was 1 HP at the time. That means he wasn't hit even once!"
Luna continued moving towards the green dot. She quickly found her guard laying on the ground, sleeping. She also noticed her ragged breathing. "Tsk. A hidden stamina system, huh?"
"Wake up." Luna gently shook Noah. "Noah. Wake up."
"Give me a minute, Edna." Noah groaned slightly.
"I-Is he dreaming?!" Luna looked on in shock. She gulped. "System command: Inspect."
The system revealed a small set of information.
(Noah Crone, Level 2 NPC, Peasant, Guard)
HP: 75/75 [Super Weakened]
"He's an NPC...they really outdid themselves this time." Luna sighed as she watched the sleeping Noah. She also noticed the [Super Weakened] timer move at 10x normal speed, it dropped by 10 second increments. "Is it because he's sleeping? Well, whatever. It's going to take maybe 5 or 6 minutes. I can wait."
Luna sat down beside Noah as she started to go through her inventory.
"System command: Inspect Skill Book: Trusted Aid."
Skill Book: Trusted Aid
Trusted Aid (Guard, Teleportation-type Skill):
Immediately teleports the user to their Lord or Lady.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.
"Oh, this is great! But...I think I should save it to when I get a better guard." Luna smiled. She wouldn't make her main guard a peasant. "Alright, what else is there?"
She went through her inventory once more. "Oh, this looks good. System command: Inspect Potential Booster."
Potential Booster:
Boosts a Guard's Growth Potential by 10. Has 5% chance to raise the Guard's Rank by 1. (Max of Rank 4).
"What the hell?!" Luna reread the description with wide eyes. "If I sell this item to a Guild, I could make a fortune."
Virtual reality games had come a long way. Nowadays, there were large gaming Guilds that worked as entire legal organizations with employees, shareholders, board of directors and many more. The most eye-catching positions in Guilds were top experts. They were fighters who were quite skilled not at a specific game, but at fighting in general. For example, a black belt at karate would only be able to join a large Guilds' core members at most.
Luna began to fantasize. "If I auctioned this item, I could make thousands of Links!"
Sirius Forest Region announcement:
Player OFMZ has unlocked the Link-to-Coin system. Player OFMZ will be awarded with 10 EXP and 2 Silver Coin. All players within the region will be able to buy and sell real life Links using in-game Coins and vise versa.
Lucky Flames Region announcement:
Player OFMZ has unlocked the Link-to-Coin system. Player OFMZ will be awarded with 5 EXP and a Silver Coin. All players within the region will be able to buy and sell real life Links using in-game Coins and vise versa.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit! There are other players in this damn place!!" a female player muttered to herself as she was making her way to the forest to complete a simple hunting quest.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"OFMZ...that player has a 2 Silver Coins...maybe we should try to find them." a male Shieldmaster proposed to the other six players around him.
"The Item Hoarder Guild will need those Silver Coins." a female Assassin said to her team leader in an insinuating manner. "Don't worry, Sinker. OFMZ will definitely know to back off...we're the Item Hoarder Guild after all."
"There's no need to be so aggressive, Delicate Rise." Sinker, the team leader, spoke to the Assassin. "OFMZ must have done something to unlock the system. If that player is too powerful, we need to back off. We're separated from the Guild's main headquarters. We need to buy some time until we can establish contact with their region."
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Nice!! I also got 10 EXP." Luna celebrated as she looked at the extra Silver Coin in her inventory. She then looked to the EXP bar below her health bar in the top left corner of her vision. "System command: Inspect EXP counter."
OFMZ: 35/40 EXP
"5 EXP more and I level up!" Luna grinned. "I wonder what the player's average level is now. I did get a high ranking quest after all."
Little did Luna know that while she was close to level 3, many players were considered lucky to be half way to level 2.
"Let's check out the rest of the loot." Luna turned to the inventory interface once more and laid her eyes upon the sword she got. "System command: Inspect Crossing Paths."
Crossing Paths (Rare, Level 5 Longsword):
Class restrictions: DPS, Tank.
Job restrictions: Berserker, Swordsman, Shieldmaster, Knight.
Requirements: 25 Strength, 20 Dexterity.
+12 Strength
+10 Dexterity
+10 Attacking Speed
+10 Damage
Skill:
Crossing Paths: Slashes four times in a row causing 150% damage with each cut.
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
"Damn it! Couldn't it have been a shortsword?!" Luna grit her teeth. She then sighed as she looked to Noah. "I guess I did get it after his quest..."
She sighed then smiled. "Well...time to check this out. System command: Link-to-Coin."
You have unlocked the Link-to-Coin system.
Copper Coins: 0
Silver Coins: 0
Gold Coins: 0
Would you like to put your Coins up for auction?
"I see..." Luna was in thought as she slowly turned to Noah. "His [Super Weakened] status is over, but he's still not up? Whatever, I'll just put up 10 Copper Coins for auction."
Please choose a minimum bet and minimum increment.
"I guess...10 Links for the bet and 2 Links for the increment."
Please input your banking information. Your information will be completely safe and secure.
Luna looked at the bank info screen. She then thought of her pitiful 6 Links as she sighed. "Whatever, I can just transfer whatever money I get from here to dad's account, or I can just make a new account."
Luna put in her info. She then sighed. "I guess I gotta wake him up."
She shook Noah as he opened his eyes. He started mumbling with a weird smile on his face. "Not now Emily...I think my parents are around the corner."
"Seriously, what IS he dreaming about?" Luna's eyebrow twitched. "Noah, wake up!"
"AHH!!!" Noah yelled as he glared at Luna. "You could've woken me up a little more gently?"
"No. Now, let's move." Luna smiled as she turned around just to hit something. "Ouch, my nose! Why am I feeling this much pain?!"
"You didn't adjust your pain settings?" Luna looked up to see a 2 meter man, towering over her. She looked at the green name above his head, indicating that he was a player.
All her fear turned into pure disappointment as she read his ID. "Imagine Losing? Really?"
"Once I'm the best player in Virtual Worlds, it will look much better. Trust me." Imagine grinned as he started dreaming of the day.
"That's toxic as hell. Plus, you probably won't be able to reach the top anyway." Luna said as she rubbed her nose. "System command: pain settings."
Choose your pain setting. Current setting: 50%.
"...20%." Luna said.
"You're not gonna put it to 0%?" Imagine smiled.
"0% would mean I can't feel anything. What's the point of VR if I can't feel anything?" Luna chuckled with a sigh.
"What's VR?" Noah asked as he stepped forward.
"Oh crap..." Luna remembered the devs specifically telling players to pretend to be from another world.
"This is a game. You're an NPC. You're not real." Imagine smiled as he grabbed his shield.
Noah stepped forward. He was in no way short, yet even his height of 187 centimeters looked tiny before the 207 centimeter giant.
Tap.
Noah put his hand on the man's forehead. He then turned to Luna. "Lady L-...OFMZ, is this your friend? I believe he is sick. I know a little about medicine, but nothing beyond first aid. We should get him to a doctor."
"..."
"..."
The two players looked the NPC with shock, then they started laughing. Luna especially lost it. "HAHAHAHA!! Is this what they meant by top-notch NPC code?!"
Your guard, Noah Crone, has equipped the title (Land of Power's Banished).
"I see...one of the Kings used a way to give his people an advanced Otherworld Gate. The only Kings I can think of that have that kind of ability are Odin, Susanoo, Anubis, and Atlas. It's probably Odin. I heard he was on the move recently." Noah showed of his political knowledge to the two players.
"Did you just say Atlas?!" Luna asked as her mouth dropped.
"What are you so surprised for? It's probably in their code to mention them." Imagine chuckled. "By the way, you're OFMZ? The one that unlocked the Link-to-Coins system, right?"
"Oh, so it was Atlas? I thought he gave up on Otherworlds after he got lost in the Void." Noah mused to himself. Just as Luna was about to turn her attention to Noah, she received a notification.
Your 10 Copper Coins have sold for 322 Links.
322 Links will be transferred to your bank account ending in 4324.
Would you like to confirm?
"...confirm..." Luna said after her initial shock. She then turned to Imagine. "System command: send friend request to Imagine Losing. Can you take this NPC to the closest town? I need to check something."
"What?" Imagine could barely say anything before Luna logged out. "Damn it."
"A two-way Gate?!" Noah exclaimed. "Seems Atlas went all out this time."
"Just shut up and move it, man." Imagine scoffed at Noah.
"Very well." Noah shrugged as he followed the Shieldmaster.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh my god!" Luna looked at her bank account's balance. "It's real! I can make actual money from this!"
"Who the hell bought 10 Copper Coins for 322 Links?" Luna said in wonder.
322 Links was no small amount. Back in the early 2300s, the entire world's economy crashed after the Great Planetary War where Earth, Jupiter and Mercury fought against Mars, Neptune and Saturn. The Martian humans were against using the weakening Earthen Dollar and the Earthen humans decided that that was enough reason for war. Venus and Uranus, as the only two neutral planets, proposed a truce. Looking at the damages, both sides of the war decided that they've had enough. As a symbol for the new Era, the entire Solar System converted their official currency to the Link. A single Link was the equivalent of 1.83 Dollars. 322 Links was around 590 Dollars back before it all fell.
"..." Luna fell into thought. "If I could make money using the game, I could get dad a good gift for his birthday in a month."
Luna's family was by no means poor. She went to a private school, traveled to other planets during vacations and could even afford the full-dive pod which cost around 4,000 Links, two of them in fact. Her father was a doctor and her mother was an entrepreneur. She even got a 350 Links monthly allowance, yet she wanted to give something back.
"Since 10 Copper Coins got me 300 Links, I bet a Silver Coin can get me around 3,200 Links. I can get a nice gift for dad's birthday in a month and a gift for mom's in 3 months." Luna beamed with happiness. "I gotta friend Aster and ask him how many Coins he has. If he has a Silver Coin, we could pool in our money and get one big gift for the both of them for their anniversary. Although it just passed, we can get way more than 20,000 Links in 9 months!"
Luna wasted no more time as she logged back in.