Sherry immediately remembered him. She found him quite interesting as he was very similar to her. Instead of wasting time in the mall, he was busy doing deliveries.
Weeks passed and the two of them got quite close. She found that they had a lot of things in common. They both love their families. They're both hard working, and they both were too responsible for their age.
She grew to admire the young man as she learned that he turned down his opportunity to go to college but instead worked three jobs to support his family.
Yet one day, the young man started talking enthusiastically about this new VRMMORPG that he was playing. Sherry didn't know what that game was. She just politely listened.
Apparently it was his new third job. Sherry didn't know that people could get paid by just playing online games. She was happy for him because it was the first time she has seen him this enthusiastic about something else aside from his family.
In the next couple of days, all the young man could ever talk about was ZECTAS. Frankly, Sherry was getting kind of tired of hearing the same thing. All he was doing was fighting the same monster. She started to think that maybe they were not the same after all.
Then one day, the young man's online game made him skip work. It made him upset, enough to actually skip work. Her impression of the young man and this virtual reality world of Zectas became worse.
Arriving at the end of his supposed shift, the young man was covered in sweat. He said that he had been jogging to clear his mind.
Sherry was actually more upset than her uncle Alex but she didn't let the young man know her true feelings. Her uncle understood that this was something important to him and since this was his first time skipping work it shouldn't be a big deal at all.
Irritated that her only friend was turning into a different person, Sherry decided to do some research about this VRMMORPG called Zectas.
Seeing the screenshots blew her mind. Everything looked so real. Next she clicked on the viral video post made by some noob, that was supposed to be hilarious.
She immediately recognized the person in the video as Nash. Although he had a dark purple skin and pointy ears his facial features were still clear.
She couldn't understand why people were saying that his video was funny. From what she saw it was clear that Nash was giving it his all. Fighting this rabbit looking monster with a horn.
Sherry got angry at their comments. Why were they being so cruel? Is it funny seeing someone giving it their best? So what if he can't 'one shot' this monster. Does that give them the right to make fun of him?
Sherry understood that this video must have been the reason why Nash got upset. This game requires an enormous amount of time and even if you've given that, there are some individuals out there who will still make fun of your hard work.
Although Nash was playing this game in order to support his family, he was actually being ridiculed by other players.
The people commenting on Nash's video saw a clown trying to get views. All she saw was the hard working Nash that she knew.
While watching Nash's video, Sherry heard a knock on her door. It was her uncle Alex, it seems like Nash decided to quit his job at the diner. He also stopped working at the construction site. Evidently the thing that upset him that morning was the cause.
Hearing this, triggered something inside her. He wasn't coming back to the diner anymore. He didn't even come to tell her personally.
Yet, she also knew why he didn't come. Once Nash decides to focus on a goal, that goal will be the only thing on his mind.
He was like a horse with blinders on. He will just keep moving in a straight line towards his goal. To him this isn't just a game. It's a means of living.
Sherry didn't quite understand why everyone else could one shot these monsters. All she got from that was Nash was probably at the bottom of the food chain.
She suddenly got the desire to jump into the game and help him. It has been six years since her mother's death, she hadn't been this inspired.
Zectas' game pods costs a fortune! She would have never guess their price. The game pods' price range started from $5,000 up to $50,000. There were some feature enhancements as the price range went up.
All of the units had air-conditioning inside the game pods but the ones in the $30,000 price range and above had Silk, Linen, and Cashmere Wool as the linings inside the game pod.
While reading the physical features of each game pod she saw a blinking link that said 'latest special edition game pods'. These new game pods were priced at $100,000 they had the same look as the ones in the $50,000 price range but these ones had 'in game' enhancements.
There was a gamepad that would permanently increase all your elemental resistance by 20%. Another one would permanently increase your Strength by 100. However, the best thing this game pod had to offer was the hidden basic stat that you would get.
These hidden basic stats often act as a hybrid between two stats. One of the given examples was 'Perception' which had four sub categories, Unarmed Perception, Weapon Perception, Magic Perception, Medical Perception.
She thought that a very rich person could just buy all of these enhancement game pods and they would become the strongest person in the game. Then she read the notice. Evidently, these 'in game' enhancement game pods would only work on a game character once.
Therefore, the enhancements would not stack with one another. Only the first enhancement from this game pods will be reflected.
She decided that the only way for her to afford any of this was to use the money in the savings account that her mom left her. She remembered her mother's words that she should be more reckless and have some fun. She couldn't think of a more reckless way aside from buying this $100,000 game pod.
There were thousands of enhancements to choose from. There were 'pure' enhancements that would increase your attack speed, your dodge rate. your strength, etc... These enhancements would only focus on one stat but the enhancement increase would be high.
Then there were the 'hybrid' enhancements that would increase multiple stats but the increase of those stats were greatly lower compared to the 'pure' enhancements.
Sherry couldn't decide what enhancement to get. She was deciding on getting one of these enhancements, movement speed, dodge rate, life, defense, dodge rate & movement speed, life & defense.
She still needed to go to the bank to create an online access to her bank account since all she had was the bank book. She turned in for the night and slept thinking about what enhancement to get.
The next day, her thrifty personality still took the better of her. She decided that this $100,000 would be the only amount that she would play around with. As for the rest of her money she placed it in a mutual fund account in order to get a higher interest rate. This account also had an online access and only took one day processing if she wishes to make withdrawals.
With her $100,000 game pod on the way, Sherry was running out of time to decide on which enhancement to get. In the end she decided to go with defense & life. She wanted to be a shield for Nash and she thought that these enhancements best fits her requirements.
Sherry was enveloped in a bright light. She saw her body from the outside. It was like an out of body experience. She then suddenly heard a voice.
"What is the race that you have chosen?"
"HighElf please."
She chose a slightly different race as Nash since she thought that the Highelves could still maintain her real life looks and would make her easily recognizable by Nash. She also found that the magic affinity for the Highelves would blend well with her desired job.
Immediately her ears started to sharpened, her clothing changed into a ragged blouse and ragged skirt.
"What is your desired user name?"
She already thought about her game name in advance. Nash chose the name Smoke, she was guessing it was based from his family name. She thought she would base hers from something that would remind her of her mother. It would be one of her mother's favorite places on earth. On top of a sierra mountain.
"If it's not yet taken, I'd like Sierra please."
"That Username is available. Which city would you like to start in?"
She remembered that Smoke said that he was somewhere in the Western Kingdom so she chose a city in the middle of the Western Kingdom.
"The city of Centeo in Chayotl Kingdom (Western Kingdom)."
"You have been registered as Sierra. Please remember that you can only have one account in ZECTAS."
Sierra then awoke in the square of a big a city filled with countless players. At the center of the square was a tall statue of what looked like a female gladiator that looked like a mix breed between a lioness and a human.
Sierra couldn't believe the world of Zectas. Everything felt real. She could feel the wind in her hair the sun on her skin. She tried pinching herself. She felt a little bit of pain but not the same kind if she actually pinched herself in the real world.
There were thousands of NPCs in the square ready to teach the new players how to play Zectas. Her research indicated that there were some hidden jobs that you can get depending on the NPCs you choose to guide you.
Sierra quickly took notice of all the known NPCs as thousands of players were flocking towards them. She wanted a hidden job but she felt that none of the NPCs in the square could guide her. So, she tried leaving the square to look for that NPC.
! You need NPC guidance to leave the square.
|
Forced to turn back, Sierra started looking for this required NPC. She started walking and checking out the NPC guides to choose from. She noticed that once an NPC guide reaches five persons. A countdown timer appears indicating 10 minutes.
When the timer runs out the group leaves. The other scenario was when the NPC reaches 500 users, even if the timer hasn’t reached 10 minutes, the NPC gathers them and they are ordered to follow the NPC as they guide them to the stalls.
Sierra read from the forums, about the common patterns on how the NPC guide works.
First they are given a quest to try talking to a potions' shop NPC just outside of the beginner's square. The first time a player talks to the beginner potions' NPC they give that player a basic healing potion. After receiving the potion the player immediately levels up to level one.
Then for their second quest the players would be tasked to search for three NPCs out of the 100 NPC choices. All these NPCs have different basic jobs. But as an essential the three NPCs should be able to teach them how to attack, how to heal, and how to create a party.
The players gained abilities before acquiring a basic job will depend on the type of NPCs that they meet. However, one thing remains constant, the player achieves level 15 after completing the second quest and meeting all three NPCs.
After receiving the training from the NPC the players are given the possible options on what basic jobs to pursue. This is why it is important to choose the first NPC guide wisely. Because that guide will provide the list of the NPCs to choose from.
Sierra spent the next couple of hours looking for her NPC guide. She didn't want to join the hundreds of players swarming over one famous NPC guide.
After completing 10 rounds around the whole square. Sierra noticed that her satiety bar for thirst went down by 20%. Fortunately she found an old lady NPC in one of the secluded areas of the square who was giving out water. The old lady with the appearance of a priestess was serving water to the incoming NPC guides who were done with their batch of novice players.
"Excuse me, ma'am, I was wondering if I can bother you for a glass of water?"
The old priestess looked at Sierra and smiled.
"Sure, here you go my dear. I've noticed that you've been passing around the square for the past few hours. Are you looking for something? You know you can't go outside the square without a guide with you."
"Yeah, I know. I've been trying to look for a guide but none of the guides feel right. I did see one who had three players with him. But he looked like he was some sort of a Barbarian warlord."
"Oh, that must have been Baskog. You were right guessing that he was a Barbarian warlord. He put down his sword when he met his wife Lizzen. She's the Ranger about 200 meters away on your left side. Both of them became guides when they decided to have a quiet family life."
"I see. Hmm, perhaps you can help me find a guide?"
"Alright, I see no reason not to help you. What kind of guide are you looking for?"
"I want someone who can guide me to a job that has great support abilities but could also survive alone. You see I still have to travel to my friend's location and I don't know where he is specifically."
