Chapter 4 "LIVE"

A bunch of blue windows popped up right in front of the boy.

"What's all this?" The boy asked while concentrating on the first window he saw.

"The One Who Walked Through Hell | Grade: Rare

You've finished the tutorial by reaching the shrine.

Bonus: All Stats +1, Heat Resistance +5%"

"Ah, the so acclaimed smart titles the AI gives you, huh? Let's see what kind of other stuff I got from clearing the tutorial." The boy swiped on the first window.

"Hell? This Is My Home Now! | Grade : Epic

You've survived for 60 minutes in Hell.

Bonus: All Stats +5, Creatures of Hell have minor respect for you."

The boy swiped another.

"I'm The Warden Now! | Grade : Mythic

Against all odds, you've defeated The Warden.

Bonus: All Stats +7, Warden's Chest, Passive Skill 'Warden's Dignity'"

"The Warden's Executioner | Grade : Unique

You've killed The Warden with his weapon, The Executioner.

Bonus: All Stats +10, +2 Skill Points, Warden's  Chest, Unique Warden's Chest.

"This is insane! Titles alone had already given me 23 stats bonus! Not to count, I still have other title rewards waiting as well!" The boy exclaimed.

The boy hurriedly swiped the title window, and not long after, his expression changed as if his spirit had just drained.

"I got 7 titles in total; the rest of those titles are trash... What kind of titles activate when I fight against a large number of enemies... Why won't they just give me bonus stats?" The boy complained.

After many mutterings, the boy looked at the people passing by.

Each of their expression gives more meaning than how one would see a Human in real life... Their face somehow feels more genuine.

The boy stared at the gate; he could see a sign near "Welcome to Ruina."

The gate was guarded by a group of knights, standing there lifelessly as if they were statues. They moved only occasionally when caravans or other NPC passed by.

Because this is a town for the newbies, they were programmed to be friendly with the players.

After observing for a while, the boy turned around, "Nuh uh, there is no way I would follow another tutorial and waste my time!"

The boy walked in the direction of the forest near the town; there was no straight path leading to the forest itself. He just picked a nearby bush and walked through it...

As he entered the forest, birds singing their beautiful melodies echoed through the forest, the sound of leaves and branches rustling, and the occasional wind blowing could be felt.

The boy took a deep breath, "Ahh~ Perhaps this is because of the sensitivity setting. The air I'm breathing here is really fresh compared to real life."

The boy looked around, "Shouldn't this kind of place be the tutorial stage?"

"One thing for sure, I ain't going to Hell anytime sooner, even if that place exists here!" The boy exclaimed.

The boy took a stroll in the forest, encountering a few Slimes and Rabbid. Compared to the creatures of Hell he just fought with, these mobs are nothing but a mere hindrance...

"Walking through the forest without any purpose is kinda boring, not gonna lie... It makes me feel lost instead..." The boy complained.

The boy suddenly opened his menu window, "Let's see..."

The boy scrolled through some of the options, opened some menus, seen the Mall section they offered, but he could only feel nothing else besides bored...

"Well... Let's just see the beginner mission; they have the beginner daily login for up to 7 days. God knows I probably won't even play this game again tomorrow..."

Although he said it as he meant it, the boy's heart wavers over time, knowing he probably won't be able to play Ashen Fantasy Online again when the time ends.

"Isn't this supposed to be my form of escape? Like hell, it is... They will definitely scold me if they know I skipped school to play this game... I don't even know if the homework I worked hard on last week won't be submitted... Knowing that I should have just lazed around... What kind of quiz are they taking today?"

The boy's mind raced with these thoughts until Slime jumped to his butt.

"Hey! I am busy here!" The boy shouted while punching the Slime.

Of course, the Slime died under a hit because of the boy's overwhelming stats.

He noticed by the time he strolled through the forest. His level went up by 2. Making him into level 3, but his stats stays the same.

"Well, it's not like I'll care for anything. This place is the newbie area, right? My stats would be enough to fight tons of them." The boy said proudly.

The boy continued looking through the beginner's mission the game had given him.

It includes such things as adding a friend, typing a chat, talking to NPC, making your first purchase, etc.

One thing that caught his attention would be, "Start your first Live session."

"Live? Are they telling me, inside this game, you can even stream whatever you are doing right now?" The boy inquired while he navigated through the menu to find the LIVE feature.

"There it is." The boy finally found it.

He tapped on the LIVE menu, and suddenly, tons of previews of other players playing the game popped up on his screen.

Ranges from "THE FIRST EVER HIGH-LEVEL RAID!" to "Playing at the beach while doing ASMR."

The first shows a group of people in bizarre equipment. Presumably, they are the highest-level group right now in this game. While the latter shows a bodacious woman in a white bikini playing in the sand.

The boy stared at the latter for quite a few seconds before he found his heart beating very fast, and his face felt burning.

"This is dangerous! Why are they putting this kind of thing here!" The boy swiped instantly in another direction while feeling flustered.

"I forgot! I should've tried the Live feature at least once! Always wanted to be a streamer, but my schedule won't allow it..." The boy murmured.

He looked at the top right; he found a red "LIVE" button. He clicked on it, and then a blue window popped up.

"This is the LIVE feature! Remember to give an exciting title for your LIVE to catch people's attention!

LIVE'S NAME: User#60576890's LIVE

Start LIVE | Cancel"

"It triggers me so much seeing my name come up like that... Well, what can I do about it? Let's just start it." The boy clicked on the start button.

Suddenly a sphere appeared in front of him, a blue holographic sphere with something resembles of an eye right in the middle of it.

He noticed a new window appeared alongside the sphere popping up before him.

"LIVE'S CHAT."

The boy tried to adjust the chat window because it suddenly appeared in front of him, and he couldn't see anything. So he moved it to somewhere more comfortable where he could still see the chat, but it didn't bother him.

The boy also found out when he moves, the sphere automatically adjusts its position.

"DarkFlame just joined your LIVE." A message appeared in the chat section.

"Mr. Turtle just joined your LIVE." Another one appeared.

"Woah! They even got it this detailed? What should I do now?" The boy stared at the chat.

"Hey, kid! Go change your name. Are you an idiot? I saw an old man playing this game, and even he had a proper name." DarkFlame typed.

"Go easy on him, brother, haha! Kid, why is your name like that?" Mr. Turtle typed.

The boy was lost after seeing the two people who just joined his chat send him a message.