On Earth, there were many instances of VR stories, always in fictive settings.

Josh had been an avid fan of such things at one point in his life, back when he was still innocent. Who knew it would take a big chunk of humanity dying to realize that dream?

Before long he reached the E district. That is when he heard someone calling out to him.

"Josh? How have you been?!"

There, stood Liam the punching samurai.

"How is it going? Did you finally manage to get yourself a sword?"

"Of course! I joined a guild too! Since then, it has been smooth sailing!"

"Floor?"

"14 done! I need to train to be able to tackle 15 alone. You?"

"It took me 10 days to get 10 carapaces on floor 2 *Sigh*"

Liam then just started laughing.

"Let me guess you mostly killed the boss? The grey ones drop materials while the red ones drop the most items. Just remember it for next time."

"I will for sure! Right, do you have any idea where I can find Phantom?"

"Josh, you should skip these fakes. Come to Draconic with me instead!"

"What's the difference?"

"Phantom designed the VR technology, but it remains a gaming center. We operate training dojos instead."

"Oh? So you are part of Draconic, eh? It should be a good guild I assume."

Then Liam beamed proudly.

"Let me show you!"

Then he guided Josh to a Dragon shaped structure. It looked amazing and powerful. The windows were tinted black hiding the inside, making it look mysterious and classy.

After entering, Liam guided him to an inner area. After going through doors Josh could see many oval-shaped capsules lined on the wall.

"I was expecting a VR helmet."

"Oh! It's a thing too but the sensorial feedback sucks. What's the point of it if you can't even feel pain or smell the blood?"

Josh couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Most people were not looking for such features in the first place. At least, not when they were the players.

"Pick a pod at random. Once inside add me! Ultimate Samurai is my username!"

Then he entered a capsule. Josh followed his example.

His vision quickly went dark. Then Josh saw some text appear on the screen.

0%, 50%, 100%!

Josh playfully typed in Just Buying Soy Sauce. For it was often what he did, to mind his own business.

Somehow the system showed his full stats and skill but nothing else.

Then again, this thing was meant for training according to Liam. It was probably meant to exclude equipment as Climbers would get new gear as they progressed.

Before long he appeared in a small room. The only thing in it was a small dragon statue. On the statue, Josh could read [Welcome to the Draconic Palace.]

"Add friend?" Said Josh tentatively.

That propped up a window where he typed in Ultimate Samurai. Before long a small ring was heard then came his friend's voice.

"Alright, do you see a dragon statue right now?"

"Indeed."

"Touch it! That will show you a menu! Pick the first option!"

Josh did as he was told. Then appeared two options.

1. Level Match Up

2. Random Match UP

Then, in a red glow, Josh was teleported to a small armory. There were many basic weapons to choose from. Josh decided on a long sword, satisfied with the length.

Then a countdown appeared in front of his eyes.

10! 9! ….1! 0!

That teleported him once more, this time into an arena. It looked oddly similar to the Cerberus coliseum.

Josh couldn't see the features of his opponent. He only showed as a blurry shadow. One that charged at him directly. In a very reckless manner at that.

One slash later Josh had defeated it. He clearly understood that he had faced someone without combat experience. Still, that was weird considering Josh was level 3 already.

He received a prompt asking him if he wanted to initiate another challenge again. Josh clicked yes.

That didn't even count as a warmup.

A fight later Josh started reconsidering. Actually, it would be more accurate to say one slash later. One last time, Josh tried a rematch…only to have the same exact result.

That's when he went back to pick the second option instead. Soon enough he found an opponent.

Once more the fight ended up with one slash. Except that this time, Josh was defeated. Without even being able to retaliate.

He managed to see a few issues.

First, the stats of his opponent were way higher. A distance Josh could cover in a minute the other guy could cover in a few seconds.

Second, their sword mastery was worlds apart. Josh had perfected his fighting style on Earth. This meant that it was no longer appropriate for his new stronger body.

Without waiting, Josh quickly queued up again. This time he clearly faced a weaker opponent. Yet Josh still lost in the end.

Their basic specs too far apart. Trying a few more times Josh lost all of them. That brought his Victory ratio to 3/10.

Still, he was satisfied. Seeing such power made him expectant toward the future.

He quickly sent a message to Liam telling him he was going before logging off.

Getting new skills was necessary, but so was raising his stats.

Back in the real world, he came face to face with a stranger.

A young man.

"Who are you?! This place is our guild's restricted area!"

"Ah, sorry I didn't know. Liam brought me here."

"Oh? All good then. Not like we are in pod shortage anyway. What's your username?"

"JustBuyingSoySauce."

He checked his UW.

"Let me see...yikes, you suck big times man! Most horrible stats ever! Yeah, better forget joining this place."

Then the man disregarded Josh completely and starting watching a video. Josh couldn't help but become curious. On the screen was a samurai slashing at his opponent.

At some point, his katana seemed to be enveloped by ethereal bright light.

"What's that?"

"Mana Slash. Very powerful. Great against armor."

Josh couldn't help but nod impressed. Right now, he figured that he should probably quickly raise his level. It seemed he was lagging behind compared to the others after all.

There was also something he wanted to try. Going back to the Tower he entered floor 3.

[Mission: Steal Apple!]

Josh couldn't believe the mission. He was supposed to steal…an apple?!

The surroundings were very different than the previous two floors. Instead of being desolate, the area was luscious and brimming with life.

Josh could see plants everywhere. There was only one issue. No matter where he looked, Josh couldn't see any enemy.

At all.

This place looked like a paradise. Josh simply started walking.

Only vegetation all over the place. This didn't make sense.

Until finally he reached a sunny clearing. In the middle, there was a big apple tree. The fruits were juicy and extremely appetizing.

The mission had said steal, not gather. There would obviously be a guardian. Josh picked an apple. He was ready to face any threat. Yet, even then, nothing happened.

Was this whole floor designed to counter over-careful people? Perhaps to instill a false sense of security into them? In any case, Josh did not care.

"Teleport Out!"

Checking his UW, Josh soon found the explanation. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Apparently, Floor 3 was full of deadly living vines that only attacked when your guard was down.

It was known as the Newbie killer back in the day. There were many discussion threads talking about the best way to clear it.

Josh felt generous and graciously typed in a new entry.

JustBuyingSoySauce: "No need to fight. Just pick the apple and teleport out! GG"

A few seconds later a message appeared on his screen:

Josh couldn't help but feel at a loss.

Especially when the answer "burn the entire forest to the ground" had been accepted as legitimate.

?!

On that note, Josh simply headed back into the tower. This time heading for Floor 4.

Apparently, it was filled with goblins.

It would make up for all the XP he had missed on the previous floor.