Launch Day
Zeno was a groundbreaking technology. Its capsules included nutrition compartments capable of storing 10 years' worth of sustenance.
Zeno also managed all other biological needs, though no one knew exactly how—such was the sophistication of this technology.
Studies even showed that people who spent 15 hours a day in Zeno were healthier than those who didn't. It didn't make your body stronger as you get stronger in the game, though.
---
"Let's have a festival!"
Situ looked confused, which I completely understood.
Everyone was trying to finish preparations before the launch, and Trion was in danger.
Yet here I was, suggesting a festival in response to his request for help.
But I had a great idea, so I gathered the attention of some NPCs and shared my plan:
"First, I think a festival would be a perfect way to welcome our saviors. It could last for a week, allowing us to enjoy ourselves while helping each other out.
For example, Elves are great with flowers, but they usually wouldn't care about selecting a few for decoration. What if we make it a competition?
The same goes for the fire mages—we could have them compete to see who can melt the signs the fastest."
This was a tactic humans used often on Earth. By framing it as a friendly competition, I'd get everyone involved in the preparations while making it fun.
To be honest, the festival idea wasn't entirely mine.
In my past timeline, the Dakarta starting town—one of the few frontlines that wasn't breached by Keldars—held a festival a few months after the game launched.
It became a big hit across Trion, though we couldn't see how they prepared, as it happened over a weekend while we were logged out.
I still can't believe I get to see all this behind the scenes.
In other games, I'd always wonder how NPCs supposedly prepared events; usually, it was hand-waved as "The villagers have prepared this event for the players."
But in reality, there was no actual process since those games were not real. In EVR, though, everything was real, so there was a genuine process behind every event.
Since the launch was tomorrow evening, we had about 24 hours to prepare. As a level 10 warrior, I was relatively weak here.
This was a frontline, so even the weakest existences were around level 25, and Charon could be over level 300.
If they knew I was a player, they'd probably be more receptive, as they respected their saviors, knowing that while we were weak now, we'd grow stronger.
But since they saw me as just another weak NPC, I had no say in this town's matters. So I needed allies.
If I could convince a few key people, we could actually pull off a festival.
"But isn't this a bit deceptive?" asked Situ, clearly a little too innocent.
"Yes, we're tricking them into having fun. Isn't that a good cause?" I really didn't like lying to them, even if my actions suggested otherwise.
With that, everyone around me—Situ, Yuma, the Elf woman, and the others—began spreading the word, and soon the town agreed to turn this event into a festival.
---
After helping the villagers create a list of supplies needed for the festival, I found an inn to stay the night.
Although sleep wasn't necessary when one was in Zeno, that didn't mean they couldn't sleep.
You could still sleep in Trion, and as a bonus, there was no need for an alarm.
Thanks to Zeno, I would wake up at the time I wanted to.
Even though Zeno rook care of my physical needs, establishing a regular routine would help make my act more convincing and support my mental health.
My physical health was covered by Zeno, but if I never logged out and skipped sleep indefinitely, my mental state would suffer.
So, I decided to rent a room in the town inn for 1 gold a night.
"I think 4-5 hours of sleep should be enough each day."
With time left before bed, I decided to check out the loot I'd gathered from killing Wild Wolves.
Surprisingly, I had some good items—though mostly valuable now because I was still low-level.
In the past timeline, I wouldn't have bothered picking them up, and with the excitement over my title, I involuntarily overlooked them at the time.
First of all, I gained 75 gold by killing the wolves.
Normally, I wouldn't gain more gold than I spent on the poison enchantment potion since it cost 93 gold.
I didn't care about it anyway, since my priority was leveling up first.
But thanks to Charon, who sold it to me for 73 gold, I ended up recouping most of my expenses.
Aside from that, I'd picked up some quality wolf hides and fangs.
These could be sold to merchants, clothing shops, or blacksmiths, each of whom offered different prices for each piece of loot.
Even though players didn't need to skin the hides, the items dropped automatically after defeating a monster and the quality still depended on how the monster was killed.
For example, if the wolf was taken down with an explosive, it wouldn't drop anything valuable since the hide would be in tatters, and the fangs would be shattered.
Buyers could also appraise the quality of the loot and even refuse to buy it if it didn't meet their standards.
So, it was important to handle loot carefully.
Fortunately, we had inventories with a UI feature, just like in games, that allowed us to view each item.
By keeping loot stored separately in the inventory, we wouldn't need to worry about items getting damaged.
Of course, these low-level hides and fangs weren't worth much.
Lastly, I came across a crate in one of the caves that held a decent Iron Sword and a skill book.
In EVR, skills come in book form, and considering the cave was filled with Wild Wolves, I hoped it was something rare.
But it turned out to be a common dash skill:
Dash: Makes the user dash forward for 1 second.
Of course, "common" didn't mean useless—Dash was a life-saving skill in many situations, so I went ahead and learned it immediately.
Then I threw the rusty sword to a corner of my inventory since no one would buy it and equipped the Iron Sword.
After checking the loot, I decided to sleep and wake up early tomorrow.
---
"How are the preparations coming along, Villard?"
"Everything seems fine. I think we'll make it, Sir Charon."
"Good. That Arlon boy is interesting. Keep an eye on him when he's in town, and report to me if anything unusual happens," Charon said.
If he thinks he can fool me, he's still naive. I'd see through any disguise if there were one. He'd need a legendary artifact to fool me, but that's impossible at his level, he thought.
He had his doubts about Arlon being one of the saviors, but the saviors shouldn't be here yet.
Trionians were strong. That's why, when the Keldar assault began last year, they weren't afraid.
At first, they killed those mindless creatures with ease. Even a child could take some of them down.
But then, one of the Demons attacked.
Demons were the Keldars' twelve strongest fighters. They were intelligent and powerful enough to give the Trionians a real challenge.
But that didn't mean they couldn't win.
Their strongest fighters were much stronger than the Demons—something they knew since they could see the Keldars' levels.
Levels were visible in Trion; everyone could see their own by looking in a mirror.
However, one could only see another person's level if they were of a higher level.
Otherwise, all they would see was three question marks.
Trionians quickly dispatched their warriors to fight the Demons and won without losing a single one of their own.
But then, the Demons came back to life...
They couldn't understand how that was possible until Lady Rael had a divination.
They learned that the Demons couldn't be killed permanently—but that help would arrive.
Following her vision's instructions, they prepared, and now, the prophesized day came.
Anyway, if that boy is one of the saviors and has a good heart, that's all that matters. I won't interfere for now. Let's wait and see.
Charon then turned to look at his own reflection in the mirror.
Above his head, he saw only three question marks (???) instead of his level.
---
It was a sunny day in Istarra. When Arlon woke up and headed into town, the natives of Trion, or NPCs, were bustling about, getting ready for the festival.
Everything looked different from Istarra on the launch day in the previous timeline thanks to the festivities.
Arlon had expected that preparations might take all day, making his idea of using the townspeople by 'tricking' them into helping each other less effective.
But, contrary to his expectation, the festival was ready before noon.
It must be a perk of having magic in the world, he thought.
Arlon decided to take a walk through the town. He saw fire mages melting down the old signs.
The reward for their efforts was a 'free staff repair coupon,' redeemable at Situ's shop anytime (starting after a week for unknown reasons).
Arlon could see his plan had worked.
Of course, he hadn't suggested the festival just so people would have fun and help one another—he wasn't that good of a person.
There were numerous benefits he could gain from it.
First, the NPCs now knew his name, giving him some influence in town.
Secondly, Charon probably liked him better.
And though he'd only initially shared this idea with Situ, Yuma, and a few others, the other NPCs soon adapted it to their own needs.
As a result, whenever someone else helped out or joined in the competition, some of the credit came back to him.
But these were secondary reasons. His primary objective was different.
At 5 p.m., the servers opened, and light flooded all around Istarra. As it faded, new people stood where the light had been.
It's finally launch day!