First Mission

The computer screen displayed a vast, snow-covered expanse. The horizon was black like a starless night, and strong winds blew small clumps of snow. At first glance, the screen seemed to only show black and white if it weren't for the hands of Haruki's character holding a rifle.

"I need to complete all the missions here, right?" Haruki asked Akira.

"Yes."

Haruki began to move his character. After a few steps, he encountered three mobs wandering around. They looked like gorillas but had white fur, pale blue skin, and long tusks protruding from their mouths.

Without a second thought, Haruki sprayed them from a distance. Muzzle flashes filled the screen with orange, and the screams, audible only through Haruki's headset, echoed in his ears. It took less than a second to turn the three mobs into energy shards and gold.

"Story campaign is ez."

In PvE mode, Rex Regum Online provides a story campaign feature for players. When it is the first time for players playing RRO, they are given limited features. They can only access PvE mode, and even then, they can only explore one planet.

To enjoy all the game content, players must complete mission after mission, unlocking locked features one by one. The story campaign can be seen as a mandatory tutorial for all players.

One thing that sets RRO apart from other RPG games is the absence of side missions or secret jobs. All players receive the same experience and opportunities. Every mission offers the same rewards and can be repeated thousands of times. However, the rewards are given using an RNG (Random Number Generator) system.

"Having confidence is good, but the test isn't just about completing all the missions."

Akira's words made Haruki pay attention.

"If I remember correctly, each region has four missions," Akira continued. "It'll take about 2 hours to clear one planet, not including the 'planet boss.'"

It wasn't just Haruki who was paying attention. His mom, Hana, was quietly listening to their conversation.

"That's a long time," Haruki commented.

"True. We don't have that much time. So, I want you to complete it in less than an hour."

The test sounded easy, but it wasn't as simple as it seemed. Clearing 24 missions spread across one planet typically took 2 hours, meaning each mission would take about 5 minutes. For Haruki to pass the test in an hour, he had to complete each mission in less than two and a half minutes. On average, players completed one mission in 3 to 4 minutes at the fastest.

Of course, this only applied to Planet Callisto. Each planet had different completion durations. The farther a planet was from the solar system's star, the more missions there were, and the longer they took. And this was still in normal mode.

"Excuse me, Mr. Takeda," Hana interrupted. "I don't know much about gaming but cutting the time in half sounds unfair."

"Isn't the professional world always like that? When workers need ten days to complete a project, the boss often shorten it to five or six days. It's a common thing."

"That's not apples to apples. The workers you mentioned have work hours. They can work overtime to make up for lost time. On the other hand, my son has to take a test in minutes, and you cut his time. Besides, what he's doing is playing a game, Mr. Takeda," Hana Ito's voice showed frustration, but she managed to keep her tone controlled.

Akira frowned, looking offended. "What are you talking about, Mrs. Ito? Do you think being an esports athlete is just playing around? Why don't you make your own team and make your son the leader? That way, you can stop wasting my time."

Anyone would be offended by those words. They were harsh. However, the single mother kept her composure.

"To become an esports athlete, you need consistency and hard work," Akira continued. "Time is the most valuable thing. You have to develop quickly because this profession has a very short lifespan. Before you know it, someone more talented will replace you."

Hana didn't reply, and Akira stopped talking. The room fell silent, but the atmosphere became tense. 

"It's okay, Mom!" Haruki interrupted the adult conversation. "I can pass this test."

At the same time, Daiki walked into the room. Seeing the bad vibe between the captain and the single mother, he realized he had come at the wrong time. So, he walked back out of the room.

Hana sighed deeply.

"You're right. I'm sorry for my rudeness. I shouldn't have spoken about something I know nothing about," Hana said softly.

Hana apologized with a bow, making Akira feel awkward. He wasn't used to dealing with someone much older than him. Despite her graceful and youthful appearance, Akira was sure Hana was older than his own mother. She was wealthy. Money could buy anything, even beauty.

"Please, don't do that," Akira said, rubbing his hair. "You're making me feel like a bad person."

Hana chuckled in response.

The atmosphere softened again. Haruki finally felt he could breathe easily.

"Can we start my test now?" Haruki asked.

"Sure."

Haruki turned back to his screen. He moved his character towards the snow-covered highlands in the east, about thirty meters in-game from his starting position. There, Haruki's character encountered two soldiers in brown cloaks, their faces partially hidden by the red visors of their white helmets. Behind them was a robot-like transport box with two legs.

Haruki pressed the "E" key to talk to one of the NPCs.

[Border Guard: Super Soldier, finally glad to see you. We've been standing here for two hours, my legs are almost shaking…]

The dialogue was way too long. Haruki kept pressing "space" to skip the unimportant parts. Ninety-nine percent of RRO players did the same as him. They didn't care about the story campaign. They didn't even know the lore, the background, or what was actually happening in the game. They played for the content.

[Mission: Assist the Border Guards. Eliminate 50 direwolves blocking the supply route.]

[Rewards: Venom Fluid Module (acquisition chance: 5%), Iron Body Module (acquisition chance: 30%), Toxic Core Level 40 (acquisition chance: 50%), Fire Core Level 40 (acquisition chance: 50%), R-378 AR Level 30 (acquisition chance: 100%).]

[Press "Enter" to start and "Esc" to decline.]

Haruki pressed "Enter," and a notification reading "Mission started!" popped up on his screen. At the same time, Akira started a timer on his smartphone.

In the bottom left corner of the interface, there was a map. Haruki navigated his character to the objective marker, about five meters in-game to the north. It took about 3 seconds to reach the location, and when Haruki arrived, five direwolves were waiting for him. As the name suggests, these mobs were wolves the size of buffaloes. They had gray fur and slobbering mouths.

But Haruki took them all out before they could attack him.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

More direwolves spawned around his character. Every time Haruki defeated one, two more appeared. They kept spawning endlessly, attacking Haruki's character from all directions.

But here's where the real surprise began. Haruki's right hand moved the mouse with incredible agility as he shot at the mobs. The crosshair shifted from one target to the next swiftly, and not a single shot missed. Haruki could even snap-aim at targets beyond the screen's visibility range.

Everything happened so fast, but Akira saw it all. Reflexes, accuracy, response time, and instinct. All at the highest level. Something no Silver-ranked player could do. Like it or not, Akira had to admit the kid had skills.

What Haruki was doing wasn't easy. Gunfights in RRO were different from other looter shooters. Each weapon had its own recoil pattern, bullet spread, and effective range. Mastering a single weapon without modules to ease the difficulty took months. Not to mention the patch updates that often changed a weapon's stats.

[Mission Complete!]

[You received: Fire Core Level 40 (Rare) and R-378 AR Level 30 (Common)!]

As Haruki had finished the mission, Akira quickly stopped the timer. Checking his smartphone, the timer showed 1:30.

Haruki had completed the first mission in 90 seconds.