« Hey, old pal ! We are here to report the achievement of the quests you gave us.”

We took him out of his sleep once more.

“Mh? Oh, nice! Tell me everything…”

…

“Mal Tharek? Yes, it’s seems possible… but who is he?”

“That, we don’t know!”

“Well, let’s begin by giving you your rewards

Quests finished : you found the Necros altar, put a tablecloth on it, and deciphered the skull inscription.

+90XP

+3 affinity with undead

+3 affinity with the instructor

+1 in archaeology, in weaver and in rune engraver

+1 INT, +1 SPE, +1 WIS

Congratulations! You’ve finished the first quest level in the undead realm!

+50XP

+5 affinity with undead

Title: Undead beginner (+5 affinity with undead as long as the title is put on, -5 affinity with other races, +1 in each competence)

Level up!

VIT+5 ; STR+3 ; HEA+2 ; INT +1 ; TEC+1 ; SPE+1 ; DEF+2 ; WIS+1

Here I go! It’s a pleasure! Another level!

And with a title, good catch!

“Well, my job is nearly over… to continue the tutorial, you can go to Komyshany town, and find the instructor there. It’s Elongoic, who is not far from the Necros altar. You will recognize her easily as she has a purple robe and is pale as a shroud. She will tell you more on Mal Tharek.

“Oh, as I am at it, you met Pruurg, our village weaver. He can also give you quests. Good luck!”

“Thanks old pal!”

“Let’s go to Komyshany!”

“It’s time to disconnect. A little scan, and it’s over for today.”

***

The lake reflects my face… perfect.

« Scan ! »

Jules

Zombie level 4 (12/173)

Health point : 166/166

Mana point : 106/116

Technique point : 115/115

Damage : +4

Defence : 2,8+0,28 %

Resistance : 1,5+0,15 %

Accuracy : +1,5 %

Escape : +1,5 %

Critique rate : 1,5 %

Dark energy : 1/1

Vitality : 66

Strength : 40

Health : 37

Intelligence : 16

Technique : 15

Speed : 15

Defence : 28

Wisdom : 15

Title: Undead beginner (+5 affinity with undead as long as the title is put on, -5 affinity with other races, +1 in each competence)

“Well, it was so cool to play together, Jean Bondepays. Let’s play again tomorrow?”

“Yes, and we’ll go out of this small village to visit the town a little bit further. We’ll reappear at the Necros Altar, it’s our teleportation beacon right now”

“OK, see you!”

“Ciao!”

Disconnection

***

“Aunty? What are you doing here?”

“You could at least escort him!”

“Hey, ho! I know when he goes in the machine, I don’t know when he goes out! And… he seemed to have so much fun!”

Mummy and aunty are always squabbling like this, it’s their way to tell each other they keep heart of the other.

I have many younger brothers, but we are more used to fight with each other more than talking on nonsense…

“So, Jules, tell your mummy what you think of your internship!”

“Oh, yes… it’s cool…”

“And what does it consist in, this job?”

“Oh, well… I have to check the good operation of the game, more particularly on some people that don’t seem to respect the rules. Right now, I just learn to progress in the virtual world, it’s cool…”

“it’s cool, it’s cool… you only have these words on your tongue? Well… at least it’s not dangerous?”

“Huh, I don’t risk to experience pain as machine are very efficient in blocking the suffering. And, aunty can always intervene if I have a problem.”

“Yes, that’s crystal clear, I’m always around if he needs me. But there is nothing to fear about!”

“Table! It’s appetizer time!”

It’s daddy, he’s going out of the kitchen. Tonight, we celebrate my first internship day!”

***

“So, now, tell me what you thought about those little cheese croissants, and those mini goat cheese tart with honey and nuts!”

“Daddy, why did you put so much mustard on the croissants? It’s burning!”

“You shouldn’t have prepared the tarts this way. The pastry is not baked, and the honey is burnt on top! You should have lowered the temperature and put them lower inside the oven!”

“At least, cokes are fresh. Sweetheart, it’s very kind of you, but we can see that… mini bakery… for it, you are still a beginner!”

Poor daddy! It will be better next time!

“Well, well… so, what do you plan to do for next weeks? You know that as long as heat wave continue, it’s not possible to travel…”

“I planned everything for my lovely nephew: Jules works for me 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, I take care of lunch, and he can play the rest of the time. If you leave him going back home around 9 PM, he should be able to really benefit from the game and do a good work for me.

My parents looked at each other, pensive...

“In itself, it doesn’t bother us. A good experience in Alter Life, it should open his mind a little. But it won’t make vacation homework.”

“Daddy! I don’t have homework!”

“He’s right, next year, if Jules does an alternation in Alt F4, we can take care of his training. But this, it will depend on how he progresses in Alter Life, I will have to convince my superiors.”

“It’s OK. If he can get an alternation contract, even if he’s only 15, I’m okay with it.”

***

Evening finished quietly, and I didn’t go to bed too late, after having taken a look on the internet.

After all, this conversation with aunty and my parents put me under pressure.

Since the beginning of previous century, many things have changed…

But one hasn’t changed: parents worries about their children future, and that they get a good professional situation.

I’m not really good at studying, I just have facilities, and because of this, I don’t work really hard.

On the other side, I have many friends, I have a very easy first contact! It will help me a lot in Alter Life as it’s important to often go talking to strangers, interact with players as well as NPC.

In the night silence, I think about my 2 characters: Jules squire is weak and still level 1, but I learnt how to swim; Jules zombie has progressed much faster and has already done several quests.

I should maybe tell Gandock that I want to do many quests, in order to get a more interesting level.

Making me swim all the afternoon… what a weirdo, this knight!

The more I think about him, the less I understand him…

After all… adult world is very complex, and I just enter inside: I’m still a beginner!

Something disturbed me: on Alter Life website, we can get an access at the name of every player…

No one is called Gandock…

And in the wiki about NPC, there are millions of names… but none is Gandock.

Nothing on characters used by administrators either.

It’s as if… this knight were a ghost.

He doesn’t leave a trace!