Chapter 2: First Day of Open Beta Testing

[Welcome to Cataclysmic Realms.]

A cold and mechanical voice rang out as countless players logged into the game. Cataclysmic Realms had been hyped for years now, the developers of the game promised that this game would be unlike no other. Not only that, they released teasers for the game every now and then.

After countless years of waiting, the game started its first Open Beta Testing. Only 10,000 players were allowed in and not only that, it was random with no chance of buying your way in.

"Woah, this game feels so realistic."

Countless players were adjusting to the game as they looked at their surroundings. All of them were plunged into a new environment as countless NPCs looked at these new comers in surprise.

The first thing these new comers did was try to strip!

As countless people tried taking off their wool clothes. To their dismay, it seems like the developer of the game had expected some of the players to be mentally damaged, so their clothes were glued onto their skin with no way of taking them off.

"Damn... how dare they deprive of us of our joy."

Countless players wept in agony.

Ignoring some of the mentally deranged players, the other players tried exploring the place they were plunged into. They were shocked by how realistic this game was. Not only could they feel the wind hitting their face, but the NPCs looked so real.

Many players tried striking up conversations with the NPCs, but maybe it was because of being associated with the other mentally damaged ones. Most NPCs avoided contact with them.

Snow Flower, a player who randomly got the chance to be in open beta testing wanted to beat the other players up.

It took a few hours before the players had finally all started to explore the town they were sent to. All players in Open Beta testing started in the Town of Newfields. It was basically the beginner town, that every game had.

There were countless NPCs that they could talk to. Some of the NPCs were useless according to player standards, as they couldn't give them any quests. While some of them were very important.

Players had already started marking the important and useless ones in the player forum. The player forum was basically the interaction hub only players could use. They could post forums, detailing stuff, ask other players for help, and share their experiences with other players.

There were already countless posts and some of the posts had good information on it, while others were simply just trolling. 

Players weren't stupid although their actions might seem deranged they certainly knew how a game like this worked. So, countless people had already progressed from starting off the game with 0 money and 0 items to their names, to now owning a few coins.

Whether it was because they completed a few quests for some NPCs or what not, all of them had started to progress in the game.

You could see countless players outside of the town ganging up on some poor monsters who were classified as free loot and experience in their eyes. As for the weapons they used? What weapons? Isn't the fist the strongest?

So countless goblins, slimes, and wolves were beaten to death.

They dropped some materials and experience. While the lucky players were able to get some completed weapons. Snow Flower was one of them. He had beaten up a goblin whose body had exploded into a red mist and it dropped a rusty copper sword.

The first thing that he did was flex about it on the forums.

Countless players stared and looked at him in envy. Wishing they could beat him up for it. But, to their dismay, they had already realized that beating up other players wouldn't even make them drop their items. At most, it'll give them satisfaction. But even that was limited as players could barely feel pain in this game.

Players had played so long that the first day in-game day of Open Beta testing had already ended. Open Beta testing would last for a week before they were all booted out of the game. Then the game would officially release in a month. So countless players were trying to get ahead of the pack.

They had already realized how the progression system of this game worked. Players could level up with EXP that they get by either completing quests or defeating monsters. When they leveled up they gained 5 'attribute points'. They could these attribute points to one of 4 attributes: agility, strength, tenacity, and wisdom. 

Agility increased speed and increased damage for light weapons. Strength increased damage for heavy weapons. Tenacity increases your HP. While wisdom increases your mana, mana regeneration, and magic damage.

Many players had already spent their attribute points but some of the wiser ones kept them, wanting to see what the most optimal way to distribute them would be.

...

Hale was lounging around the dungeon as he browsed the player forums. Maybe it was because he had been a player in the past but he could browse the player forums too. It's just that he couldn't make any posts at all.

Which didn't surprise him too much.

So he watched the fun and unique antics of the players on the forums to relieve his boredom. His dungeon had already been completed when he finished creating the boss, the system told him that he had to name the dungeon.

So with an idea that sprouted in his head, he named the dungeon, the Dungeon of Noxious. He wanted to make an impression on the players so that they would keep coming to his dungeon, as it seemed the only way for him to get stronger and better stuff would be if players kept raiding his dungeon.

So he had to create a unique and memorable dungeon that would allow him to keep farming the players for all their worth.

He currently had an idea for this. He was going to create a dungeon based on the theme of Noxious, as for who Noxious was? Good question. He had no idea either, he just made it up so that he could exploit the players.

He wanted to tell a story inside the dungeon, which is why the first boss of the dungeon was named, Noxious's Corruption.

The only problem?

There were no players currently. It wasn't that surprising to him, his dungeon was in the middle of nowhere and players were still exploring the beginner's area. He would be more surprised if someone came knocking on his door, on the first day of Open Beta testing.

So he waited patiently, eventually, someone would find his dungeon and when they did, the story behind the Dungeon of Noxious would start. Becoming the infamous dungeon that had never been conquered by players.