CHAPTER 5 - EPIC ENCOUNTER

You have been influenced by an aura.

3% reduced movement speed

3% reduced accuracy

5% increased damage taken by bat-type creatures

The Boss was a large bat-type monster. With black aura and long sharp fangs.

You have encountered an epic creature!

Level 10 Dark Ancestor Bat

*Irregular Boss Monster

*Extraordinary creature can appear. Such an encounter can be both dangerous or beneficial. It’s possible for the irregular creature to has a time-limited appearance.

“We’ve just reached level 4.” Josh was nervous.

“Pavel, you cover Josh.” Anissa moved next to Brian. “Each double need a long-reach weapon and a fresh fighter. Brian, you will not attack unless I say so.”

Two teams were formed. The boss was flying towards Pavel and Josh.

Anissa took a look at her passive points - 25. Each new level provided 5 and she still had the 10 starting ones.

“Agility...”

Increases attack speed and movement speed. Improves balance. Certain goals can be achieved with the progression in Agility. Speed stages. Acrobatics.

She invested 10 points in agility and decided to test the boss.

“I and Pavel will buy time for you to recover, avoid meaningless actions.”

“I can still tank, my health is about 70%,” Brian said.

Josh had about 60% health. The trash bats so far were easy to deal with. The boss, on the other hand, let them wonder how to exploit their numbers and utilize their resources in order to deal with it.

“Here we go.” Anissa sprinted forward. Her goal was to put the boss under constant crossfire.

Pavel just parried a bite attempt and Anissa was immediately there to cut the bat’s left wing. The bat turned on her and screeched.

You have been disoriented

Anissa's view of the battle blurred as she shook her head.

“Now, Brian!” She shouted.

Brian’s heavy wooden staff thrust towards the boss as he stepped to attack.

Anissa thought a solo player would have already died.

‘I am not alone though.’ She grinned as her condition improved.

“Everyone, attack together!” Anissa spent all remaining points in strength.

“Strength...”

Increases attack damage and lifting power. Strength is the main requirement for heavy equipment. Certain goals can be achieved with the progression in Strength. Power stages. Iron grip.

'I have to compensate for the lack of good gear with raw stats.' She analyzed the situation long enough, backing off was not to her liking.

Attacks from 4 directions were launched. The wooden staff missed the target this time, the punch critted for double damage, the sword and the dagger landed as well.

Boss health dropped to 60%. It attempted another screech but the next wooden staff swing interrupted him. They were all brawling at once.

Brian was about to faint at 1% stamina, he jumped forward to peel for his friends even if it means suicide.

Anissa saw through his intention and her attacks became ferocious. Brian was bitten near his neck. His HP dropped to 10% and kept falling.

Now Josh bumped into the bat and deliberately gave away his flesh. Brian was already lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Josh connected a few punches before he collapsed from the exhaustion.

After seeing her friends’ state, Anissa went berserk. Pavel was also bold. The boss had just 15% HP.

*CRITICAL DAMAGE*

“DIE ALREADY!” Anissa connected a big one.

Very Old Rusty Dagger has been destroyed

The boss felt that last crit. His bloody body flew towards Anissa.

Pavel saw the dagger in her hand turning to ash and jumped to protect her. Fangs and a broken sword collided. At 5% HP Pavel was desperate to contribute with any damage before dying.

*SLAAAM*

A wooden staff has saved Pavel.

He was sitting down, breathing heavily. When he turned his head, he became puzzled to see Anissa in full beastmode. Red skin, burning eyes, a corner of her lip lifted in anger.

“You don’t hurt my fam!”

You have eliminated the Dark Ancestor Bat.

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

“Ha...haha. Anissa, you were awesome.” Brian was lying on the ground still.

“Please, marry me.” Pavel was also recovering.

Anissa checked the corpse. There was a decent loot. Anissa gave a bow to Pavel since that was his desired playstyle. Josh received a small pergament with a basic healing spell.

She took a book wrapped in a beautiful leather cover. “Munshi’s diary… Interesting.” Anissa shared the book’s content with her party.

TORASIA KINGDOM

A man with a gloomy face was dragging his legs on the main street. He had low self-esteem to begin with. He felt that Brave New World could be the spark for his progress in life. Alas, he was the very first person to test the respawn feature.

He was quick to take off his headset when it happened - it was just another failure in the office. The daily dose.

The 29 years old Jonathan thought about it. ‘My hobbies are reading and video games. How unlucky it was to die like that?’ He indeed wasted too much time on video games and litRPG novels. Unlucky bro.

‘Does God hate me?’

He was an atheist but he would often blame or praise God. It was basically sort of a ritual to his weak mind.

The sensation of the cold air penetrated his lungs. His hearing was mixed with dozens of languages. His vision confused his mind with piles of pictures. The virtual world was playing with his senses.

He instinctively turned from the main road and entered a back alley.

A familiar habit of reconciliation prompted him to leave Brave New World. ‘You can come back later’, a tempting voice whispered to him, but he seemed to know that he was being lied to.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly.

''Listen, Jon, '' he dictated. '' You will find new people. Together, you'll be looking for quests and dungeons. This world is different, you are different! It is just a game. At least here…'' he couldn’t finish the sentence.

FLESH OFFERING

No power cost nothing.

Feed your potential.

Dare you?

Yes/No?

“Oh, a quest?” he marked ‘Yes’.

“Hmm… nothing.” He was curious about the system message. How did he trigger that quest? He didn't approach any NPCs.

He was in deep thought when a child’s voice said, “Mister, your leg is burning”.

“Eh?” He tilted his head and saw exactly that. “FUCK.”

The child NPC ran to inform its mom about that strange burning man who was using inappropriate words.

In the middle of that small alley, Jonathan was rolling on the ground. He had no idea where that fire came from.

He used his shirt at first. Then he saw a bucket of water near a modest tent-like structure.

“Saved!” He rushed there and dipped his leg. A sigh of relief. A look at the flawless blue sky.

“That was close, I should be more...” He was dumbfounded. The leg was still burning under the water. His HP was naturally falling as well.

He felt helpless. He was the first person to experience death. Now, this inextinguishable fire. He could only blame his cursed existence.

The flesh was melting. At some point, he could see his bone. The realism in Brave New World made the whole crisis look gruesome.

His HP kept falling, his stamina was taxed as well. The fire didn’t stop until the flesh between his foot and knee turned into a white bone.

*WOOF*

Some sort of NPC pet got interested. He closed Jonathan just to receive a bone kick in the nose. ‘There ain’t no PETA here, bud.’

30% HP was left to Gambit. He was wondering. Was that completely burned to the bone leg enough to kill a man IRL? ‘The blood loss should kill a person.’ he thought.

That logical conclusion lead him to one question.

“Why is there no blood dripping?” He looked at the leg carefully.

“I found him!” someone shouted.

With his leg hidden in the bucket, Gambit turned his head.

An exotic woman was closing in an erotic way.

Her wide hips were kicking, her waist was thin, her upper body was lavish, her lips were gleaming purple, her nose was small and pointy, and that light chocolate tan everwhere.

“You seem to have lost your mind?” She lifted an eyebrow. “Are you washing your legs or something? Your shirt seems to be wrapped around the leg, did you got wounded or something?”

Someone else ran next to her. “So you are joining for the quest? Hurry, we have a time limit!” He seemed Asian

Jonathan was sitting there thinking he probably looks like an absolute weirdo. His rich experience in that department allowed him to act naturally.

“I was just experimenting with the VR environment.” Maybe he was slightly nervous.”I guess I can join your quest?”

“Cool, follow me.”

“You can call me Baron.”

‘Wait, why have I just agreed.’ Because she was hot, you douche.

With his wrapped leg, naked top and 30% HP Jonathan went after those unknown people.

He was included in a team-based event. His teammates were the people he just met and someone called Kintaro.

Apparently, on the main street, it was announced that any team of 4 can participate in the Torasia’s battalion weaponry supply.

The better performing units would receive a piece of better early equipment. That motivated everyone to form a team quickly and gamble of their worth. The only requirement for the players was to have Torasia as their starting point.

It was somewhat chaotic and difficult to organize a 4-man team. Baron and Chika (better known to Jonathan as the ‘exotic lady’) were having difficulties to convince anyone to wait for their friend Kintaro. It was an early event, and everyone aimed to gain an edge over the rest. Then Chika saw that half-naked man in the back alley.

“So we participate for gear?” Gambit asked. Baron nodded to him.

“Quality items are imperative for the rapid early leveling,” Chika added.

А variety of light team-based competitions were presented.

Jonathan thought that his teammates were skilled. He himself was doing well. What it seemed he lacks was the determination and the confidence they had.

“Jonathan, catch!”

He received a cloth-like ball from Chika. His goal was to bypass the enemy players and score a point at a small square. It was a game element, similar to scoring a touchdown in NFL.

Jonathan faked his direction and pressed in the opposite diagonal. The defender was left behind.

“Jon, pass me!” Kintaro shouted.

Jonathan saw that he was already waiting at the square and attempted to throw.

*CRASH*

“Ugh.” Body collision. Another enemy player flanked him to prevent the pass.

Your HP has fallen below 10%

He took a few of those already. His HP was low to begin with.

Jonathan didn’t want to disappoint his new friends, so he kept silent about his state.

He lost the ball and it seemed like the enemy team is about to launch a game-winning counter-attack. He was still holding to the enemy, preventing him to rush forward.

Your Stamina has fallen below 10%

‘NOT AGAIN! DO SOMETHING FOR ONCE. ANYTHING!’

LVL 1 FLESH OFFERING HAS BEEN COMPLETED

YOU CAN SUMMON UP TO 1 SPECTRE

A foggy palm-sized creature left his extended arm to flow into his opponent’s body. Jonathan didn’t realize at that time his mana pool hitting bottom low.

He either felt like he’s growing stronger or his enemy is losing grip. The unfavorable struggle now seemed very unclear. Faint voices in the background could be heard.

His opponent’s legs gave away. Jonathan managed to exert more power for a second and recovered the ball.

His pass flew over to Kintaro.

“And he scores!” Kintaro secured their victory in the final challenge.

“Well done, Gambit!” Baron shouted.

“Sweeet. Let’s grab the equipment and do some leveling.” Chika patted Jon’s shoulder.

He, on the other hand, seemed perplexed. In his mind he read:

Level 1 Spectre - a little ghost-like creature, it allows you to drain energy from an enemy.

“I told you he seemed promising!” Baron was ecstatic, but Chika only rolled her eyes in an ironic way.

After that, the group received some of the best novice gear available to players in Torasia Kingdom. Everyone was motivated to jump in dungeons and slaughter baddies. Even Jonathan was cheerful. He was still curious about the earlier event but was reluctant to ruin the celebration.

‘You did it, boomer!’

Later, Gambit found more about his new companions.

Baron worked on the territory of West Africa, whose countries benefited from Chinese investors. The agreements between the African Union and China from 2048 further improved their collaboration.

This, of course, was a process that was watched with concern by the US and the EU.

Jonathan was familiar with those macro elements of world politics but he found them normal and distant to the ordinary people.

Baron had become friends with Chika in Nigeria, and he knew Kintaro from the University of Beijing.

The newly formed group of experienced gamers worked effectively. In the next few days, they did quests and monster hunting.

Jonathan was delighted to see his leg fully recovered. He wore his shirt once again. And over it, he had a fragile metal plate armor. His basic trousers were partly covered by thin pads of metal. These were some basic protectors suitable early on.

They left their last hunting ground. The group’s destination was a town called Ephra.

They were discussing a bunch of classes and races they wanted to unlock in the future.

They were talking about litRPG novels in which, at the very beginning of the game, MC unlocks a broken class with broken abilities, but throughout the entire novel he complains about how unlucky he is and how difficult his class is.

Gambit had read almost everything the other three had. He shared that he had a light job and was able to read a lot.

Baron and Kintaro nostalgically remembered their University days. When they skipped an important exam to play their favorite RPG game.

Chika talked about her work as a copywriter for a gaming website in Nigeria. Later she shared her favorite streamers.

Ephra's lights were growing stronger.

''Now I wonder, what was the name of that popular American streamer, Fastball?'' Jonathan asked.

''You must be referring to Faceroll. '' Chika replied, after which Gambit nodded in agreement. ''Faceroll must be streaming Brave New World at this time for over 3 million viewers.''

"Who on earth would prefer to stare at someone instead of testing BNW in person?" Kintaro was curious.

“The majority of the viewers could be as well AFK while playing the actual thing,” Baron added.

''How would I live with all his wealth? Countless women would desire me.” Chika and Baron burst into laughter at Kintaro's dreamy tone.

Baron turned to Kintaro. ''Wait, I thought you had serious intentions for that caster girl, Emma... Emma Smith!'' He was pleased to remember the name.

“Emma Smith, caster? Do you know the caster of the Mystical Land of Winds series?'' Chika surprised.

Kintaro had a bittersweet smile. ''She visited us in China more than a year ago for work. '' He began. '' In recent months, I've kept her updated on what's happening in China just before the Brave New World sensation was officially announced by its creators.''

"I was following her posts on the subject! We live in a small world...” Chika shook her head.

''It might be time for you to visit her in England.'' Baron winked at his friend.

''She told me I'm a precious friend who’s worth keeping.'' Kintaro sighed.

"Ouch," Chika mumbled.

"FeeеlsBaaadMaaan..." Baron dragged out his favorite sad expression.

Gambit called just before Ephra's massive gates "I was kind of expecting a small town, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

You have entered the town of Ephra, Torasia Kingdom

"I’ve read somewhere that the world is designed to correspond to the consumers. So the scale of even some villages is impressive.” Chika and Gambit listened to Kintaro carefully. Baron seemed skeptical.

"Also, there are rumors that the system analyzes some of the user's thoughts and actions, understands his innermost desires and sometimes even allows him to achieve his dreams." Kintaro used a spooky voice.

"A chance to achieve your dreams..." Gambit was baffled.

Baron only rolled his eyes.

“Now that’s some science fiction...” Chika declared her disbelief.

The group separated to talk to the NPCs.

They all sold their junk items. That made them a minimal profit, which helped only for a few of the cheapest life and mana flasks.

Other players, like them, went around searching for information. Of course, NPCs were the main source of information and quests. Thank God, Brave New World had millions of NPC characters. There was an entire ecosystem in every settlement. So clusters by players would not form often.

After about 30 minutes they made a breakdown of the most important stuff.

The first Prince of Torasia - Nathanael, could soon take the position of King in the place of his ailing father. He was known as a shrewd and devious noble. North mountains were swarmed by all sorts of bizarre beasts whose difficulty increased with the height. This naturally appealed to the group. From the start of Brave New World, a little NPC boy named Shir'tana presented himself as a wizard here in Ephra. It lived alone in a small cottage out of town.

“Тhe poor child seemed abandoned. It was intelligent, but it walked around dressed in rags. The other children harassed him, and their parents seemed to approve their behavior.”

“Fuckers...” Chika interrupted Baron. “Sorry, go on.”

“The child talked and acted like an adult aristocrat. The child said he’s looking for a worthy apprentice. Many attempted to impress him. Alas, his questions were mysterious. His riddles were impossible.

The interest in Shir’tana quickly subsided. So, until one evening the child opened a portal and got lost in it.”

The party discussed that this might have been the very first manifestation of magic in Brave New World.

Gambit had a different opinion, but he kept it for himself.