VRMMO Reality Merge Amplification System - 5

While on the way, Chen Li checked the quest rewards.

[Game Message: Quest Complete]

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[Name: A New Beginning]

[Difficulty: S]

[Reward(s): Entirety of Darkmoon Plains, Regional Chat function]

[Extra Reward(s): Chest of Gold x4, Chest of Silver x10]

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[Game Message: End of line]

'It's even displaying the chests as a game reward? Nice touch.'

A modern AI wasn't anywhere close to replicating totality of human behavior, especially in a VR environment. Interpreting events though, could be considered one of its specialties. Which was one of the reasons why the newspaper company that the original Chen Li's worked at was so poor!

It was hard to afford human writers that could surpass the AI. Even the cheapest AI models could produce outstanding work.

[Game Message: Distributing rewards…]

[Game Message: Regional Chat feature activated…]

Three new panels appeared in the corner of Chen Li's eyes.

[Game: Bloodmoon Empire]

[Game: Central Region]

[Game: Capital City]

'Whenever it's a message from the "Game," the System clearly marks it as such. I wonder if these features could be kept after reality merge…' After a moment of consideration, Chen Li shook his head. 'Probably not. Or at least I shouldn't count on it.'

Maria's steady steps came to a halt in front of a thick wooden door. From her body language, Chen Li understood that she couldn't, or wouldn't enter this room. "Thank you." He said with a polite bow before entering alone.

Even if he wasn't going to see Maria ever again, it was better to act politely towards a potential powerhouse!

The room was dominated by a giant, circular table, with a huge map covering it completely. Walls were filled with filing cabinets, overflowing with all sorts of paper. There were no windows, and the light sources around had protective cages.

'Not magical light? They're using genuine gaslight in a room full of documents?'

Even if the light sources had protection, this was too sloppy in Chen Li's eyes. Immediately, he suspected that using real flames had a purpose. Perhaps it was to destroy all the evidence in case of an emergency, or perhaps the papers weren't really papers, but some sort of durable material that he had never seen before.

'If those are really gaslights, then someone was here, or should be here shortly?' Chen Li approached the giant map and started inspecting it, fully intending to abuse his Intelligence attribute to memorize every detail.

'Hearing and speaking a different language feels strange, but reading somehow makes it even stranger. Well, enough distraction, let's see…'

While inspecting the map, Chen Li's curious expression changed into a frown. His fiefdom, the Darkmoon plains, were clearly marked with the word "Cursed", was larger than some of the other kingdoms in the map!

'Could it be a map projection issue? Though to be fair, if magic relies on mathematics like the forums suggests, accurate map projection shouldn't be a problem.'

Chen Li touched the map to get a feel of its material.

'Clearly leather, but considering the size and lack of tearing, it shouldn't be a cheap material. Some of the labels are fainter than others, perhaps the map has been maintained for some time. Doesn't have a unique smell, other than a faint whiff of carbon. The ink doesn't smell like ink I know either…'

According to Chen Li's preliminary judgment, this wasn't a throwaway map. As such, he decided to tentatively trust its information for now.

'These lines look like a sprawling road network, probably similar to the roman roads. Judging from the number of connections between the cities with bigger labels, thick lines should be well maintained roads or highways, and the one with dashed lines around should be smaller…

Sh*t, if I were to use bigger roads, I'd have to make a detour. Even if I use the most direct way with dashed roads, I'll have to visit at least 5 other cities on the way!'

His fiefdom… was just too far away! The longest and presumably safest way required him to pass through two mountain ranges. The shortest path went through a thick forest, along with a thin curvy road painted around the thicker side of the last mountain range.

'F*ck, there's no continuous river line either. The longest one only connects three cities along the longer path.'

Could there be other methods of transportation? Chen Li didn't remember seeing anything like teleportation services on the forums, nor did he spot any sort of flying vehicles.

Distance wasn't the only concern; Chen Li had received more than a dozen chests of money from the empress. Perhaps he didn't have anything to fear from low level bandits thanks to his amplified attributes, but any organized operation still posed a threat!

Without a cosmos bag of sorts in the picture, gold and silver still had volume and weight. Transporting that much currency shouldn't be a small undertaking, Chen Li thought.

'I should first check my spell list, just in case there's a spatial ability to help. Then look for cosmos bag or something similar. Worst case scenario I can put everything in a bank and try to sell gold online.

But the distance is the bigger issue. If this map is correct, and my "fief" is halfway across the continent… I won't have time to level up and strengthen myself.'

The game was going to merge with reality in less than 6 months. It would be a huge loss if Chen Li spent that entire time traveling!

'Alright, if I can't find a quicker traveling method, I'll get some gold, abandon the fief, and grind levels in dungeons.'

Chen Li raised his voice. "Maria."

The door opened silently and one Maria entered, but stopped after a few steps. Apparently this was the closest she was willing to be to the table or the documents.

"What would be the fastest method of travel to the Darkmoon plains, and how long would it take to get there?"

Maria looked into Chen Li's eyes for a long moment. "A 6th circle mage can teleport near the Marksburg city, using a carriage for the rest of the way should be fastest. Passing the mountain range should take less than a month, but more than two weeks."

Chen Li's eyes drifted toward the map. 'Marksburg city, that's just before the curvy roads drawn on the mountain range. That place takes nearly a month to pass?!'

"Can the mage teleport inside the Darkmoon plains?"

Maria slowly shook her head. "No, my lord. Cursed lands have unstable mana currents. Only a 9th circle mage could teleport there."

Chen Li received more information than he had hoped. 'So 6th circle mages may operate teleportation services? Or maybe they could be persuaded at least. But hiring a 9th circle should be impossible from the way she spoke.'

From the way Maria spoke, her confidence, and her steady body language, Chen Li didn't think she would use the words mage and sorcerer synonymously.

'I didn't see any sorcerers in the forums, they were all some version of a mage, like apprentice mage, or initiate mage.'

"How long would it take to go all the way with a carriage?" Asked Chen Li, curious of both her reaction and her answer.

"Three to eight months."

Chen Li raised an eyebrow. Maria's answer was almost immediate. It didn't look like she was giving a random guess either. Rather, it was almost as if the estimate she gave calculated Chen Li's circumstances.

'Three months should be impossible with 14 chests of gold and silver. Even if I go without the money, if I want to level, I'll have to find dungeons or monsters on the way. That'll slow me down even more…'

Even a month was too long in Chen Li's eyes. As someone with an amplification cheat, what he needed was a fast leveling experience to utilize his cheat to the fullest! If he had started in cursed lands like other lords, there wouldn't be any problems. But now, he was slightly regretting that he chose the ruler's path.

"Thank you, Maria." Though he required further confirmation, Maria's answers gave him a better idea of what he needed to do.

The nun in white clothing named Maria, bowed and went outside. Evidently unwilling to stay within the room.

Chen Li started reviewing his list of spells immediately. Within the 4910 S-rank spells, surely there would be something useful for his current predicament, right?

[Divine Touch (S)]

[A blessing that heals small wounds]

[Earth Breathing (S)]

[Duration: 1 hour]

[A blessing that allows to breathe inside solid matter]

[Unending Endurance (S)]

[Duration: 1 hour]

[A blessing that replenishes endurance.]

[…]

'Blessing?' Chen Li was tempted to try out some of the more harmless looking ones, but he reigned his desire and continued reading. After reading three thousand spells, he found one that was extremely relevant to his case.

[No-Space Sphere (S)]

[Radius: 8 meters]

[Allows access to a private storage space]

'Wait, that's 2144.6605848506m3! Holy sh*t that should be larger than the building I live in!'

Chen Li didn't wait at all and immediately casted the spell. In his mind an empty sphere appeared in an instant. The size of it, he realized he couldn't tell without a frame of reference. He picked up a metal ruler from the table and willed it to enter the storage space.

'Oh… So entry requires some mana. I see, the sphere exists in a separate space, and the spell itself acts as a lens to focus on the dimensional coordinates. If I were to modify the spell and cast it again, the previous space would cease to exist, since the reference to the space itself is me, plus the spell. With no reference, the space cannot exist.'

Somehow, Chen Li realized he could understand the properties of this space. It wasn't like he had knowledge of dimensional physics, but rather, a feeling. He intrinsically understood at a fundamental level. But, his newfound grasp of dimensional physics was limited to the sphere, and only the sphere.

'… Could this be like the Wizard vs Sorcerer in Earth 1.0? Former studies at length, while the latter is "born" with it?'

Chen Li watched the metal ruler, frozen within the No-Space Sphere. He could place the object anywhere he desired. Time itself would be frozen inside, or rather, there was no concept of time within the No-Space Sphere.

'This sphere should be enough for my personal needs. But it's not big enough to be of use for an entire territory long term. Maybe as I level up bigger ones will appear, who knows.'

Still, Chen Li was very satisfied. In the short term he could rely on this not only to transport money, but food and essential supplies as well!

'Only a thousand or so spells remain, I should check them all just in case.'

Chen Li started categorizing the spells as he read them. Neither the game, nor the system offered any sort of categorization feature! This lack of organization only served to annoy Chen Li!

'That was the last one, so, there are:

1240 offensive spells,

953 defensive spells,

751 offensive blessings,

259 defensive blessings,

48 healing spells,

218 curse spells,

1367 utility spells, and

74 life spells.'

Chen Li put No-Space Sphere in utility section, and Divine Flame into life spells section. The latter was a spell to make a small divine flame, if it had any offensive applications, those came from Chen Li's amplified attributes, rather than the spell itself.

'… I… I should be super f*cking OP right now…'

From sheer versatility brought by so many spells alone, Chen Li was sure that not even ten thousand players could kill him right now. The gap would get smaller as the players leveled up of course, but for now, he was the top dog of the Outsiders!

'It's a shame there are no proper flying or teleportation spells. But that's not surprising since this are only 1st circle spells. Gliding is still cool though!'

With so many speed and endurance blessings, Chen Li thought of a bold idea.

'What if I ran, by myself? I could enter dungeons, deal with wildlife or bandits, all at my own pace. There are alarm spells, life detection spells, escape spells, I should be fine as long as I take the time to level up. I can choose a more direct route too, no need to follow the road.'

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense!

'A normal person's stats should be around 8; I have 2600 Agility and 2500 Endurance, 325 and 312.5 times the regular human (probably). Plus the blessings and 59000 mana, I should be much, much faster than a normal carriage, and waaay more durable than a normal horse. And this is without additional blessings from spells!'

Chen Li couldn't help but look at his shoulders with a little regret. If he really had wings right now, it would've been extremely convenient! Damn the physiological consequences!

With all the immediate problems about being a ruler almost solved, Chen Li became much more confident about the future.

'Let's get this over with.' He cast a "utility" spell he saw on the list.

[Materialize Clothing (S)]

[Create location accurate clothing with pure mana]

Unexpectedly, the mana cost of this spell was the highest he had experienced so far. A black doublet with golden embroidery and matching breeches cost 200 mana!

'This… This is really made of mana!'

The fabric was much softer to touch than his red ceremonial robes, yet felt more durable. From 5 senses perspective, the doublet was definitely made of real materials. Yet Chen Li instinctively knew that it was a product of mana.

Immediately, he threw away the red ceremonial robes to his No-Space Sphere and wore the summoned clothes.

'F*ck, these won't disappear after a certain duration, right? The spell description didn't have a duration column!' Chen Li immediately remembered the spell and understood its inner workings. The mana was weaved in a way that made it a permanent construct. No such accidents would occur!

After checking the map one more time, and taking out the metal ruler from his No-Space Sphere, Chen Li went outside.

"Maria, the nobleman mentioned some chests, did they arrive here, or do I have to go to a certain place to receive them?"

"They have been left to the church for safekeeping inside inner sanctum."

Chen Li nodded. "Take me there."

On the way, Chen Li peeked at the regional chat channels. Country was the was most active one by far, followed by region. Capital though, was unfortunately completely devoid of activity!

[Game: Chen Li: Anyone here?]

'I really wish I could hide my name at least! Isn't this the most common trope? Is there really no way of hiding my real name?!'

[Game Message: Detected user sent a message in regional chat]

[Game Message: Whisper function unlocked]

[Game Message: Forum function unlocked]

[Game Message: Internet browser function unlocked]

'… I was wondering how to get those features. No wonder I didn't see anything about them on the forums. Everyone else should've gotten them immediately, but my start was just slow enough to notice the lack of their presence.'

[Game: Region Chat]

[Game: ChatUserInstance1: Hey, anyone else think that these NPCs are kinda creepy?]

[Game: ChatUserInstance2: Creepy how?]

[Game: ChatUserInstance3: @ChatUserInstance1 I know what you mean. They almost feel like real people, aren't they?]

[Game: ChatUserInstance1: WTB All your silver!!! W me!!]

[Game: ChatUserInstance2: Real people? Have you ever seen real people with huge racks and donkey ears??]

Chen Li was only glancing at the chat, but saw a message that was extremely important! He immediately whisper the person.

[Game: Chen Li: Hello, how much are you paying for a silver?]

No answer came after Chen Li waited for a while. Meanwhile, the conversation about the "NPCs weirdness" was still ongoing.

'I wonder how long it will take for conspiracy theories to start. In the novels there would be kernels of truths mixed in with crazy bullsh*t…'

Meanwhile, Maria guided Chen Li back to the area they came. Inner sanctum turned out to be the empty residential area that Chen Li logged out previously. 14 chests were lined up in the cloister as if someone had brought them out for cleaning and forgot.

'Even the chests themselves look like they have some value. Who would actually use gold to decorate a chest used to store gold? I guess that's royalty for you.'

The size of the chests was much bigger than he thought as well. 14 chests had barely fit inside the cloister! Every one of them were the size of a 4-person kitchen table!

'Leaving aside the chests sitting on top of stone, not the even the ones sitting on soil had sunk into the ground. Even if these chests are made of plywood, they should've made some dent on the soil.'

As Chen Li got near, he understood the reason. The chests had quite a few magical enchantments!

'Could that be the reason why they've used so much metal on their bodies? Though I guess they could have magical wood that can hold enhancements too...'

Maria stayed on the side while Chen Li entered the cloister for a closer look.

He traced his fingers on the golden adornments of the chest. The act itself was just an idle thought, yet suddenly Chen Li was able to understand the enchantments within the chests!

'Weight reduction, durability, I can understand. But time dilation? Does gold rust in this world? Temperature maintenance too? Is this a chest or a fridge?'

Chen Li opened one of the four golden chests. Half of the contents were gold bars. While others were identical coins; crescent moon was on one side, and a seal of sorts on the other.

Thinking about the church's involvement, and their willingness to help him, Chen Li decided to leave a good impression! He picked up three coins from the chest, then glanced at Maria.

"I will donate this chest to the church, as funds to help people in need."

Four chests of gold were already a lot for Chen Li. If he could buy the "appreciation" of the church with one of them, that was already a bargain!

Without waiting a response from Maria, he opened another gold chest and a silver chest. No-Space Sphere allowed him to position everything in manner he chose. But that was it. There was no concept of time within the No-Space Sphere, that meant he couldn't manipulate objects that went inside. Which was why Chen Li started sending the contents of these two chests into his No-Space Sphere, one by one.

There was no other choice; he couldn't take out a chest as large as a dinner table every time he wanted to take a few coins!

Individually putting in tens of thousands of coins ended up having a large mana cost. Thanks to his amplified attributes though, the cost was negligible to Chen Li.

[Mana: 34501/59720]

'Not bad, even though I used 57.7712% of my mana, there was no reaction from my body. I wonder how much mana I would have to use to experience adverse effects from mana consumption.'

This was a hot topic for beginning mages. Some would start to experience nausea as soon as they used more than 10% of their mana according to the forums.

With 13 chests and tens of thousands of individual coins inside his No-Space Sphere, Chen Li was ready to leave the cathedral. He walked toward the waiting Maria, and deeply bowed.

"Thank you, miss Maria. I will be leaving the church grounds, and the capital before nightfall." Chen Li didn't want to display too many emotions, nor did he want to appear too impersonal. He remembered an old sci-fi phrase while thinking about how to properly say goodbye. And since he was already in another world, he didn't mind stealing a sentence or two. "Live long, and prosper."

As Chen Li left, Maria did not follow. Whether Chen Li would ever see anyone in this city again, was up to fate.