I sat in the town square reading through my character sheet. The skills are available for a certain amount of points and only seem to unlock given different requirements. Because I have arcane magic, I can buy a skill called Arcane talent. It costs 20 points and reduces the mana usage of arcane spells by 10%. The only option before learning magic was a couple of basic skills like haggling and diplomacy. It seems the skill system had been designed to make yourself unique to other players by unlocking abilities based on what you do in the game.

I guess the best thing to do is go level. Yolanda told me she would pay me ten silver per duck liver I brought, which seems like today’s plan. I thought about teaming up with other players, but it seems they all disappeared after Mohwak got his head caved in. It would be nice to go on a quest with some company, but I have no friends, just like in real life. At least the priestess will keep me motivated. I always loved playing dating sims as a teenager, but Yolanda is so real I feel creepy trying to flirt with her. Suppose you can even call what I said flirting. Yet, she doesn't seem to mind. In that case, I will keep at it!

I spent the rest of the day hunting the Bog Ducks and increasing my stats. Dusk rolled around, and I finished skinning the sixth duck. I hit character level 3 and arcane magic level 4. My skinning skill went up, but I can't tell if the skill makes me better at skinning or if I am just better at it from doing it this many times. I should head back. Yolanda told me at night, stronger creatures come out. I packed up my belongings and set off.

“Hopefully, I make it back before something attacks me,” I said under my breath.

As if the game heard me, I felt something staring at me. I listened to a quiet growling coming from behind me before I turned around to see a large black wolf slowly approaching me.

“Magic Missile” “magic missile” two spells was all I could muster before the beast was on top of me. The spells hit, but he didn't even seem fazed. He bit into my side, and I felt a jolt of pain.

“What the fuck is this pain!” I screamed, elbowing the beast’s head off of my supple flesh. Unfortunately, the game cannot dull pain because of how the hardware is interpreting brain signals. The brain thinks there is pain, so there is pain. But I didn't expect this much!

I took out my dagger and faced off with the wolf. We paced slowly around in a circle waiting for the other to make a move. I had to regenerate my mana ASAP if I wanted to beat him. He lunged at me again, and I slashed with the dagger making a large gash across his face. He backed away in pain but not before taking another bite out of my side.

“Magic missile” I fired off a missile the moment my mana allowed it, hitting the wolf in the face, pushing him back. The wolf didn't waste a second and lunged, knocking me to the ground. He went for my neck, but I put my arm in his way. He gnawed my arm as I stabbed him in the side as many times as I could. The pain in my arm was extraordinary. My health was running out.

Finally, though, after tens of stabs into the wolf's side, he collapsed on top of me. I tasted iron as the wolf blood covered my face. I watched my health keep going down from the open wound on my side, preparing myself for death.

‘Level up! Character Level 3 acquired. Arcane spells are now level 5. You have unspent skill points.

New arcane spell learned: Magic chains. Hold one creature in place for a short amount of time. Cast time: 2s, mana usage: 30.’

“The level up saved me!” I yelled as my HP rose by a slight amount, and the bleeding slowed. Guess it's good my NPC girlfriend is a healer!…… I hate myself.

I didn't bother gutting the wolf and instead opted to run back to town as quickly as possible. I was unsure what happened when a player dies, but I didn't exactly have a chance to ask Mohawk about it. I asked Yolanda about death, and she told me some roleplaying explanation, souls of adventures come back to the graveyard of their home but weaker than before.

I assume it means I respawn at the starter town until I decide to change my spawn point. The coming back weaker part may represent a debuff or maybe XP loss. Other games are set up to use XP in higher-level spells and lose XP upon death. Regardless I ran home, ignoring the growls and other ominous noises that encompassed the dark forest.

I made it back to find the town quiet. Other than a few guards, everyone had gone to bed for the night. The church was the only building still lit up. I approached the double doors and entered.

“Yolanda!” I yelled, not seeing her anywhere.

“I'm in the back!”

I entered a backroom to find Yolanda mixing a giant cauldron.

“Making potions?”

“Good eye, Grey! It has to sit overnight, so I always do this before bed.” She looked at me. “Oh my! Grey, you are injured!” Yolanda took my hand and sat me on a nearby chair. She put her hands on me and said firmly, “Holy light!” My wounds instantly healed, and all pain left my body.

“Thank you for that,” I said, looking her in the eyes. I swear to god she blushed before turning cold.

“Of course, but Grey, I told you not to go into the forest at night! Also, look at this mess!” She looked at me angrily and motioned to the blood trail I left all over the church.

“I know, I lost track of time.” I opened up my pack. “But look, I got plenty of bog duck livers!”

She looked annoyed at me and took the livers. She went to a cabinet and gave me a small coin purse along with a mop and a bucket.

“Goodnight, Grey,” she said coldly and went through a door in the back. I assumed it was her room. Not wanting to anger her any further, I left the church after cleaning the floors.

Now, what should I do? The experimental game pod I am in makes it, so I don't need to sleep like other players. But I wonder how true that is? I feel slightly tired, but I have no way of logging out even if I wanted to. Can I even sleep in this world? Just then, a notification icon appeared in my vision. ‘Message from S7-1.’ What the hell is S7-1? I opened the message, and my heart sank.

‘This message is for subjects 1-03, 1-04, 1-07, 1-08, and 1-09. This is director Frank Mattis. I hope this message finds you well. I regret to inform you that subjects 1-01, 1-02, 1-05, and 1-06 have all perished. We are still looking into the cause of death, but we assume it is from an incompatibility with the Reality Pod. This message was not meant to alarm you but instead let you know we have begun to take extra precautions so this does not happen again. Rest easy and enjoy your new lives.’

Those government shits can still message me? I thought they agreed that as long as I signed the papers, they would never contact me, pull me out of the game, or interfere with my life in any way. Yet they have the nerve to message me? But four dead, huh? I’m just glad it wasn’t me. I closed the massage and laughed to myself.

“Maybe I shouldn't have sold myself to the government.”

Well, I wanted a new life, and I got it—no sense crying about it now. If anything, this pod I’m in gives me a massive advantage over other players. I don’t need to sleep, eat, or drink in real life. No sense worrying about the dead guys, not like I can do anything about it anyway. Time to grind all night! I clapped my heels together and ran off into the forest.

The night was long and arduous. I got up from the stump I was resting on and closed out of my character sheet, “level 5 already, let’s spend some skill points!” I said, stretching my arms. I looked at the skill point store. I had a couple of options with 50 skill points, but I still haven't unlocked anything too good due to level constraints. Arcane talent seems to be the best choice, reducing mana usage on arcane spells. And a new one I got at level five in arcane spells called Mana Battery. It costs 30 points and lets me “store Mana inside of objects for later use.” Interesting, I thought. I internally said “Buy Mana Battery” and “Buy Arcane talent,” And the system gave me a pop-up.

“Mana Battery 1 Acquired, Arcane Talent 1 Acquired.”

Are they level 1? So that means they can level up. That's great!

I closed my sheet and went back to skinning the wolf I had just killed. My new spell, Mana Chains, was fantastic. I was able to hold an enemy in place and pelt them with attacks without taking any damage. As long as I keep fighting one enemy at a time, I can level up no problem.

The sun started to rise in the distance, so I started my long walk back to town.

At the town market were a few stalls selling weapons and armor. A couple sold potions along with some low-level trinkets. I spent some time selling my wolf pelts that I spent all night farming—gaining me three gold in addition to the 90 silver I had from starting and selling the livers to Yolanda. I approached the magic item salesmen. He was a very old man in his 80’s or 90’s.

“Morning, sir, how are you.”

He gave me a slight nod. “what can I help you with?”

I looked at the signs in front of each item. “I would like to purchase this ring of mana for one gold. As well as this necklace of power for 2.5 gold.” He accepted, and I took out the payment. It had cost me everything I had, minus some silver. But it was worth it. The ring would increase my mana capacity, and the necklace seemed to add more damage to offensive magic. If I could kill things faster, I would make all that gold back tonight. I put the items on and rechecked my sheet.

Name:

Grey Godborn

Level:

5

Race:

Human

Class:

Lesser Arcane Mage

Skills:

Arcane spells 5, Arcane Talent 1, Mana Battery 1

Trade Skills:

Skinning 3

Titles:

N/A

Inventory:

Small Backpack, Small Coin Pouch, Dull Dagger, Ring of Mana,

Necklace of Power.

Health:

87/87

Mana:

125/125 (+25)

Strength:

2

Dexterity:

2

Intelligence:

10

Wisdom:

8

Charisma:

5

Additional:

(+1 to spell damage)

“I'm getting stronger,” I said to myself. Then something caught my eye in the back of the old man's stall. An impressive vial of sparking flame danced in its glass prison.

“What is that?” I asked the man.

“That my boy is a flame spirit. It will allow you to become a fire mage if that is what one desires.”

“How much?”

“10,000 gold.” He smirked.

My jaw dropped. It will be a while until I become an actual mage if that's how much the material cost. Maybe I’ll ask Yolanda if she can teach me any more arcane spells in the meantime. I waved goodbye to the old man and left the market with my backpack empty.

I walked over to the church to talk to Yolanda, but oddly the doors were locked. That's weird. I walked over to the stained glass window on the side and peered in. The church was empty. I walked around the back to where the window in the potion room was. Assuming she went to bed after yelling at me, the window should have been left open. Sure enough, it was wide open. I peered in, and the cauldron she was mixing last night was still on. It was spilling out a foul, spoiled odor.

I jumped in through the window and yelled, “Yolanda, I'm coming in!” I went to her bedroom door but stopped in my tracks. The door was busted open.

I ran into her room, and it was a mess. The bed was on its side, and the furniture was broken and thrown everywhere. I just stood there, my mind working at 500%, trying to figure out what to do. Then I noticed a piece of paper lying in the middle of the room. I picked it up and read it out loud to myself.

“5 miles North-West.

Abandoned windmill.

100 Gold.

Come Alone.

Good luck, Loverboy.”

I’m going to fucking kill Kain.