Chapter 04: I Need Nothing But My Fist Alone.

As the flash of light disappeared, I had found myself in the city’s Beginner Square. Looking around, I could see throngs of people traversing the area, busy with their own things. Realizing that I was finally in the game, I had something important to do now. I looked at my feet and woohoo…

I was standing!!!

It had been ages that I saw my own two feet moving freely. A wave extreme excitedness came over me that I let out a loud shout that startled a few people around. But I did not care. I gave myself a few squat, followed by a roll jump, and then a few sidesteps, a few more tumbles and finally, a double backflip.

“Wooohooo!!!” I raised both of my arms to the sky. “Liberation!!! I feel free!!”

I gave out a loud laugh that accompanied a dance routine which I called the Karlton’s dance copied from a TV series that my late father used to watch as a kid. And he would always do this dance to me when he was happy.

“Wow… Look at that guy go, man. He must be a noob.”

“Yeah, he looks like a noob alright. What’s with that haircut anyway?”

“Poor guy. Is this his first VR game?”

“I’ll be embarrassed if I were him, acting all like that.”

“You sure? That dance looks sexy though. I never knew one could move as smooth as that.”

The remarks that the passersby gave to me was nothing more than cricket’s sound. I’m not going to be provoked by those little and pesky thoughts of theirs. Nothing would ever stop me from…

Prriiitttt!!!!

Suddenly, I heard a loud whistle that pierced through the area. I saw a man, dressed in a full suit of armour running up my way. He must be a Non-Player Character (NPC) guard of some sort.

“Hey, you! No public disturbance!”

“But I’m just dancing!”

“No dancing! Now stop before I arrest you!”

Everyone who was there, witnessing the scene, laughed their hearts out.

“Ain’t he a funny newbie?”

“First day in and nearly got himself arrested. Hahaha. This could not be funnier.”

“I should record this and upload for my friends to see. Hihihi.”

The passersby’ comments suddenly made me embarrassed. Sigh… just when I want to enjoy walking, standing and dancing for the first time in 9 years.

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop. I got better things to do anyway.” I picked up my pace and walked towards my next destination. But before that, I better check out my status screen. I knew it was nothing to see for now, but familiarizing with the content first-hand would come in handy.

The moment I thought of the status screen, it immediately appeared right in front of me. Wow, I could dig this technology. Think and it shall appear. The only thing that was shown at all times on my heads-up display or HUD was my HP and Mana bar on the top right, Weapon equipped on the top left, Stamina and EXP bar on my bottom centre. I could change as how I pleased or disabled everything but for now, I left it as that.

STATUS PAGE

Character Name

Ghost

Alignment

Unknown

Level

1

Fame (Recognition Points)

0

Class

Title

Clan

STATUS INFORMATION SCREEN

HP

150

STR

* 10

MP

100

DEX

* 10

ATTACK POWER

50

INT

* 10

MAGIC POWER

50

CHA

* 10

DEFENSE RATING

25

WIS

* 10

STAMINA

100

LUCK

* 10

COMMAND POINTS

0

AGI

* 10

MAGIC AND ELEMENTAL RATINGS (%)

FIRE

WATER

WIND

EARTH

HOLY

DARK

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

There were a bunch of other details, but I would skip it for now. I need to head to that place to get myself started. Time to get serious.

*****

Practice Hall.

The place where everyone would come and train themselves. Supposedly.

Open to everyone and never closes. Supposedly too.

Unfortunately, no one was here at all and the door was closed when I arrived. I had to knock a few times but after getting no answer, I barged the door open. And the only person that was inside when I first entered the Practice Hall was a…

Rabbit?

As he hopped from the middle of the hall towards the main entrance looking annoyed and cussing me no doubt, I could not help but to laugh. So, this rabbit would be the instructor here?

“Hahaha!!”

“Why are you laughing in front of the door? Are you out of your minds?” Back in LIXXO, I have a soft spot for cute looking things, though not in battlefields. And likewise here, hence the reason why I couldn’t resist laughing at him.

“Hehehe… Hehehe… are you the Instructor here?”

“Yes, I am. My name is Popo.”

“Muahahahaha!!” I could not help it further. I let a laugh so loud that it attracted other people who were walking outside the fence of the Training Hall. And I could see that this rabbit too was getting rather annoyed.

“Are you looking down on me, because I’m a Bunnian?” He asked me in a way that suggested he was annoyed but I could not see it that way. He was cute. Way too cute with that long ears, button nose and moving whiskers of his.

“No. No. I’m just… Hahaha… surprised. I’m still new here, so I had lots to learn.” I held my laugh and composed myself a few moments later.

“You humans are always looking down on others. I might be small, but I packed a mean punch. And a bite too!”

I just nodded at him nonchalantly. Alright. I get it already.

“You must be a newbie, judging from your whole look.”

“Yeah. I’m here to familiarize myself with the world.” I replied while scouring the whole hall with my eyes. Nothing out of the ordinary which suited this place’s name to a point.

“I see. You want me to explain how the system works?”

I nodded. I understood the system, but it was from the theoretical point of view. I’m here to test it out before I put myself on the front line. Popo took his time and explained to me how the system in NPO works. Just the basic stuff as for the rest, I needed to figure it out for myself. Explore and I shall learn, as he said.

In NPO, there were no classes. You could be anything, wield anything and do anything as your heart desired. No character was the same as the other.

But before we could advance to that, all new players were given 2 weeks of real time to actually understood the system of the game. 2 weeks of real-time translated to 2 months of the game world. That was an awfully long period of a learning curve and whatnot, but I came prepared. During that time, new players were not allowed to go anywhere else outside the city’s gate. So, for nearly 2 months of the game world, I would be stuck here, practising.

“What you do in real world, translates here, po. If you are a slouch in the real world, don’t expect to move like a speed demon here, po.”

Realism taken into the virtual world now. In the year 2036, the epidemic of people who became shut-ins and social outcasts were alarming. 30% of those who were below the age of 30 in developed countries were jobless, with only basic education, still living with their parents and worse of all, dehumanized. They knew nothing of the real world and yet behaved irresponsibly and with disregard to others when they were online. And this was translated to the real world too with all the negativities brought forward.

Being online and playing games was how they spent the majority of their times in a day. They, like me who used to, clock unreasonable hours online, about 20+ hours a day. Some of them forego sleep at the point of extreme exhaustion by playing games online without rest.

Thus, many governments around the world had pledged to work with the gaming companies to help to solve the issue. And Cybertronics Entertainment Corporation was formed with the government’s help. NPO was the nearest one could come out with; a place that these people could 'live' without the pressure, prejudice and oppression from the real world. If they could not hack in here because they lacked the world skills, either they quit or they bucked up themselves to answer the challenge. 50 million users and arising spoke the success of this method. They were given a second chance in ‘life’, and perhaps equipped with better knowledge of themselves from the ‘previous world’, they could pave and find their way here. Hence the name of this game, Noble Path Online.

And it was the same for me too. Being blessed with working legs, albeit in virtual reality games, gave me enough motivation to actually do whatever it takes to reach the top. And it all started here. At the Beginner’s Practice Hall where Popo was showing me around.

“We have all weapons that a beginner like you could wield here.”

“So you mean there’s more outside there?”

“Yes, if only you can find them and use them. Finding them doesn’t mean you will know automatically how to use them, po.”

“I see. Sounds fair enough.”

In front of me was 8 Beginner’s weapons, all were made from wood; a sword, a dagger, a two-handed staff, a wand, a set of bow and a quiver of arrows, a greatsword, and axe and last but not least, a shield. A shield as a weapon? Well, if you know how to use it, then it would become a great weapon. But for me, none of those was what I wanted to use. For now, anyway.

“Po… one more thing before I forgot. You know how the stats systems work, here?”

“Well, you can tell me about it. I’m all ears.”

“I like you, po. You are eager to learn and better yourself. Alright, let me tell you how it works here, po.”

There were 5 ways to increase my stats. First and the usual one, levelling up. A player would be given 5 points when levelled up to be allocated to any attributes of their choice. At a higher level, more points would be given to a player. However, as the stats increased, so too did the point needed to be allocated for it to increase it further. Simply said, higher stats needed more points allocation. A (*) next to the number of my stats meant my current stat level.

Second, quest rewards. Certain quests might reward permanent stats increase. These quests were extremely rare to find. If anyone found it, they would keep it for themselves and told no one about it. Why would they tell the others? Anyway, these quests, though rewarding but it also came with a setback of its own. Failing that quest would mean the stats would be reduced. Unfortunately, picking a quest just for the sake of it and failing it thereafter would be penalized, temporarily or permanently.

Third, by training using the weapon of choice. Use a greatsword and I could increase my strength more than any other weapon. Or use a sword and I could increase both my strength and my agility. Use a bow instead and I could perhaps increase my agility, dexterity and a little strength. All weapons had their pros and cons. The challenge was to find a balance between player’s style and stuck with it. The fourth was status buffs, permanent or temporary. Given by an NPC or players alike, a buff could temporarily raise one attributes. Permanent buffs were extremely rare and given by only the Gods themselves. Last but not least, equipment. We were what we wore, after all.

Among all these five stats raising ways, all except for one could be obtained by every player equally. The one that most player would avoid - raising stats by training. Not only the increments were very small, but it was also time-consuming. Time spent versus rewards was not benefitting to these players. One could have spent a month in the real world and be rewarded with +5 stats total. So, most players skipped training and would prefer to level up or equipped themselves with better equips. Such was their understanding of the game world.

Well, I beg to differ though.

+5 stats could make a very big difference, for me. Especially since I’m a new player. Opening up my status screen, I could see that my stats were all set at 10 points each for a total of 70 points. 5 points given permanently to my stats meant that I had boosted myself by 7% at least. Not bad. If I could raise my stats before I rose a level, it meant, when I reached that said level, comparing to other players with equal levels and equal equipment, I’m at higher stats. It would make a world of difference when starting up.

“Po, which weapons you want to train yourself in? A sword? Or a bow? Greatsword perhaps? You look like you could swing one, po.”

“Nope. I don’t need weapons for now. I’m all the weapon I need, after all.”

“Po?” He looked at me as if I said something that amused him to no end.

“No worries, Instructor Popo. I’m going unarmed, for now. Is that alright?”

“If you say so, po. The training dummies are along the walls, or if you prefer to do it outdoors, we have some of it too.”

I see. Players come here to test their skills and their new moves. Showing off in public would be a good way to tell others, how strong and cool their characters were. I would prefer indoor though. A little more privacy since there was basically no one else here. I could have all the training dummies for myself too.

I began my training by picking up the training dummy located at the furthest end of the Practice Hall.

“It had been a while, so let’s see how I would move.”

I took a deep breath and struck with my hands and feet precisely where I wanted it.

“Yargh! Yargh Yargh!”

The training doll did not move even an inch. The strike was clean and precise. And I gave it with the full force of power. It seemed like no matter how much the strength I exhausted in real life, the stats would overwrite it. With a strength of 10 and attack power of 50, there was nothing much I could do. Well, let me struck it a few more times then, familiarizing myself.

I continued to strike with all I had with various combos and movement, concentrating on the weak points of the training dummy if it had any in the first place. A monster might have had different weak points compared to a player-like training dummy but that was not what I was interested in. I was more interested in my whole movement. My movement was flawless and there was no lag. Even my legs were moving well like I was never paralyzed in the first place.

“You seems to move well for a complete beginner, po.”

The instructor came up from behind as I finished up my next combos. I wiped my sweat away. Everything in this world was made real to the point how I breathe, sweat, move and even feel. The training dummy felt like it was supposed to be felt, wood-ish hard.

“I had some training, Instructor Popo.” I continued to practice with the instructor looking from my back.

“I see. Good to know that you have some skills. Perhaps I have nothing to teach you. Rather I would just observe you.”

“Don’t say that. I might need your help in certain things, but for now, I need to get used to the game fast.”

And for the next 6 hours in real time, I continued to practice. 1 day in the game time equalled to 6 hours in real time. And when the night time arrived, the scene here was done spectacularly. It felt like it was a real night time as Instructor Popo closed the Practice Hall and I had to continue outdoors instead. The moonlight, the chill of the cold wind breezing passed by, the sound of night critters and the lightings around the city all sounded or looked so real.

Impressive. More than I could ever imagine. Added to sense of realism taking place as player in this game, I could say that this was a brand new world. A world within a world. However, there were extremely strict limits in place to keep the players safe at all times. It was good to know that when the character dies, we wouldn’t die together with it.

On the seventh hour of my training; in real time, and a bucket load of sweat, suddenly my status screen was lighted up with a system sound.

*Ting!*

Your Strength went up +1 point! (+ 1 STR)

Your Agility went up + 1 point! ( +1 AGI)

Oh wow! 2 stats point increase at one time. Cool. Just 7 hours of real time training on the training dummy. There were no other people here except for myself. It was like the Practice Hall was deserted. No one had once made their way here the whole time I was training. Instructor Popo only came during the day.

And it was his silhouette that I first saw when he entered through the main gate of the Practice Hall. When he saw me still training, he gave a shout.

“You really work so hard, po. I’m impressed.”

I took a much-needed break as I took off my shirt. Yeah, in this game, you could go bare naked if you wanted to. But being butt-naked doesn’t serve any purpose than self-glorification.

“I’m giving my best, that’s all.”

“Good to hear that coming from a young man like you.” Heh. I’m not young anymore. I was 30 years old and growing older each day. That and I had set my avatar to use my current look right now.

“By the way, don’t people ever come here?” I asked the instructor as he opened the main door and beckoned me to enter.

“Nowadays, no. It has been a while since the last person came here. And I’m quite lonely, po.”

“Why not? Ain’t this place for people to practice their skills and such?” I was quite surprised with his words. And he told me the reason soon enough.

NPO players would rather do something else than train for the whole 2 game time months. They would gather quests, earn money, earn some fame, established connections with other NPCs, make new online friends, chit-chat and some would just loiter around until the gestation period for new players finished. After that, they would explore the world and kill monsters. Rinse and repeat.

All in all, no one in this city wanted to train, except for me. All those other things that the other players do, I would have time for that later. Perma-stat increase was my main objective for now and I would use my 2 months’ of game time to achieve the best stat I could gain. And I was definitely sure that somewhere out there, in this world, there would be tonnes of people thinking like I did, though not here it seemed. And when I met them, I would be damn sure I was ready.

“What about those who learned new skills?”

“Ohh, they would rather try it out on weak monsters than coming here. You know how much they hated that the training dummies are immortals.”

Yeah. The training dummies were all immortals. An infinite number of HPs and all the damage I did was set at 1 DMG. Tried as hard as I could, hit as much and as fast I could, it’s all 1 DMG. I could bite, slap, kick, pierce, stab, slash, hit the critical parts or anything else I could think of and all the damage returned was 1. Nothing would beat trying a new skill on a weak monster and to see it died with your newest and latest skill. It felt like a pro, and I was sure that was what most people wanted.

“There are some though, who do train like you. But those are very rare. So, I’m happy to see you here, po.”

“Well, good to have you with me, too.” I continued to practice hard.

“By the way, you must eat and refill your stamina before you can continue. Not just in real life, but here, if you are hungry and out of stamina, you will suffer greatly.”

And about time too. It was lunch time now and I logged out immediately. Mrs Green had prepared lunch for me it seemed and I was too happy to say anything else other than words of thanks to her. And after lunch, back I went playing the game.

And I did nothing other than practice my skills in the game. During my whole day in real time, I would spend 6 hours to sleep, eat and clean myself and the rest of the time playing NPO. I was an addict to the game. This was how I would spend my time. I had no worries about earning money nor to cook myself food. Mrs Green, despite being displeased with my shut-in lifestyle, understood my reasoning. So, she left me most of the time alone, except to remind me of my rehabilitation schedule. My rehab was once a week for 4 hours and the next that was on schedule would be next Friday.