The Southern Villages
Tyler had had experiences from VRMMORPG games he had played back in high school when he was younger. The games' reality was top-notch, however, ApexRise Online was undoubtedly as realistic as the real world itself.
NPCs like Jake and Karl weren't looking like animated or robotic figures, they were as humanlike as Tyler with 100% intelligence.
After studying the game features for a while, Tyler came to discover that there were more NPCs than Players in the game world. Curious, he requested for an explanation from the game system as he settled in his Strider Station Office.
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[ApexRise Online Scheme: Every Player shall not be transported or given the same duty. Players shall be surrounded by numerous NPCs in their daily lives and would only have relationships between NPCs to prevent conflicts in the process of aiming for the same goal].
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"Oh, I see," Tyler commented with a slight smile. "Well, that's what we should expect from criminals."
Tyler had spent all night exploring the features of ApexRise Online, he also got to the main task of the game which was being one of the Top Five Players to reach the very last stage of ApexRise Online, and he only left a long deep sigh as a reaction.
Nonetheless, when Tyler took a look at the game's main menu, his eyes widened in shock.
[Active Viewers: 7.3bn People].
"What?!" Tyler bellowed with widened eyes, his lips lifted open without closing for a while.
"How is this possible? Out of over seven billion people, I only managed to get a single fan?!"
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[You have gained a Fan].
[Fan name: Players_Smasher11].
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"Err, just two fans?"
Tyler was ashamed of himself for rejoicing wholeheartedly after gaining a Fan. If he truly had known how many people were watching ApexRise Online, he couldn't have exposed his teeth for a happy smile.
"Crap. With just two fans, I don't think I can climb the rankings rapidly. I'm just going to be one of the first losers here," Tyler said sadly, scratching the back of his head.
After finishing his inspections, Tyler walked home. His mansion was also located in New Claraville so Tyler didn't walk quite long before getting home.
Tyler lived together with his girlfriend, Ciara... She was also an NPC, a spoilt rich lady who would spend all day in clubs and parties and come back drunk to her boyfriend.
Truth be told, Tyler didn't love her, but she was madly in love with him. Tyler only stayed with her because she helped him secure the Strider Commander job as her father was one of the top politicians in New Claraville.
However, despite the fact that her father had helped him, he was still one of the prime targets on Tyler's list. And just like the rest of the corrupt politicians, Tyler aimed to get him arrested for all his hidden crimes.
Of course, that's one of the duties of a Strider in ApexRise Online. And the more Tyler do this, the more he could get liked by the viewers and stand a chance to up-rank.
Ciara as usual wasn't home yet when Tyler was home, and just like every other day, he slept off without even giving her a call.
The next day, he left for work, leaving her unawares and was only focused on dealing with the cases he had. And when she would complain, Tyler would use his current job issues as an excuse.
Unfortunately, there were still new submitted cases as he went to the office, making Tyler quite exhausted.
"We got information from the reporting base that the Horned Bears attacked the Southern villages again. Twenty casualties and thirty-six people were injured," James quickly notified Tyler just as he stepped into his office.
"Holy... Shit! When did this happen?" Tyler said as he approached his seat and sat down.
"At night, Officer. This is the fourth time in a row," James responded politely.
"Okay, what's the first complaint we got?"
"This case is actually the first submitted case, Officer," James spoke.
"Aight, let's move to the Southern villages then. You and I are only going with three more men. Karl should stay in the station," Tyler ordered.
James left the office and assembled three more Striders. In the Strider system, there are different ranks. Striders with no star batches on their shirts are considered as recruits. While the ones with one to five stars are eligible for going to missions according to their ranks.
The Horned Bears aren't just ordinary creatures, they are terrible beasts from the Dark Thicket facing the Southern villages directly. Not wanting to risk the lives of his juniors, Tyler ordered that only three four-star Striders should escort James and himself.
The Southern, Northern, and Eastern villages are the rural regions in New Claraville. These places are mostly resided by poor people who couldn't afford to pay rent for apartments or much less build a home for themselves in the Western region. Nonetheless, this was why they were always stuck in danger, and the government wouldn't do anything about it.
The Strider Force was weakly armed, and they made complaints several times to the government, but unfortunately, the leaders of ApexRise Online seemed to have turned deaf ears.
For years, the Striders have only operated with the resources contributed by the society, but unluckily, it was not a pinch enough for countering insecurity.
Tyler, James, and the other three Striders approached the Southern villages using the Strider Force Vehicle which was also contributed by the society.
The Southern village was always local and bushed, so after going deeper into the village, they had to walk due to paved stones obstructing most parts of the pathway.
Only thatched houses could be seen around with tall trees covering the skies, turning the villages into a slightly dark area.
They walked straight to the village head's house to make some investigations, and when they arrived they exhibited an act of happiness and relief.
"Welcome, Officer. We have really waited for your aid in our village, and now that you are here, we are delighted and relieved," the village head whose name is Jet Chuck said in a respectful tone, trying to be in the best polite mode.
"There's no time for gratitude, sir. We are here to help you and also attend to others who are also in need of our help," Tyler said with a serious expression.
The village head nodded positively and spoke. "This is the fourth time the Horned Bears had attacked the Southern villages, and we have lost sixty-six people in total. Please, you really have to make this stop or else we would all be gone one day."
"I lost my son in the last attack, and last night, I lost my only daughter. Please, Officer. This is way too big for me to handle."
Tyler sighed. "I'm so sorry for your loss, sir. And I can assure you that we will get the Horned Bears out of the Dark Thicket today."
"I hope you can do so, Officer. There are so many of them over there!" A man standing behind the village head shouted, doubtful.
"Don't worry about that, sir. You just have to feel relaxed and hope that we kill them all," Tyler assured and turned to walk away.
"We'll hope on that, Officer!"
The village head said with a look of hope, his heart felt like shattering right before him.
The Striders approached the Dark Thicket after a moment and Tyler made an order for everyone to split.
They walked deeper into the forest until they finally got the den of the Horned Bears. The den was made of huge rocky stones with dry leaves covering the floors around the inner part of the den. It was silent and lonesome like no living thing had ever been there.
However, Tyler expected this because this was how every den looks like.
"I and Enzo would go into the den. If we don't come back after five minutes, launch an attack."
Tyler told James and the rest of the two Striders, as he and one of the four-star Striders entered the den, slowly and silently.
However, just after Tyler made few steps forward into the den, the game system sounded as a general message popped up.
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[Super Gift: DarkGod gifted Pilgrim "Mansion" worth $10000 with an additional 100 Super Tickets].
[Pilgrim have gained his Ability due to getting his first Super Tickets].
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"Holy Shit!" The Hangman cursed.