11 Accomplished
"Damn, this guy is a little monster! I feel like we actually made the game too easy if I'm watching him."
"C'mon, don't call people monster, although I get you. He might cause the system to increase difficult of the whole game by himself. That's scary!"
New Virtual developer's office. Because of the incredible AI developed by the company, the developers team was actually free now that the game was running. Most bugs were corrected by the system and quest, terrain, monsters and more were all created daily by the AI. Since they don't know the whole contents, the were even allowed to play too.
The two were watching a footage of Samuel's fight in the game. Thet were looking at the Dungeon's Boss fight.
"Indeed, an impressive man."
"Boss!"
They both saluted quickly to the company's founder and CEO. Park Han Choi was a genius kid, a very case. At 7 he was already programming basic programs and at 8 he created his best friend, Odin, which is actually the AI that controls the whole of LEO today.
Because of his gifted mind, he couldn't have friends. Children his age found him too weird and adults couldn't stand the feeling of inferiority they felt close to him. So Odin was actually his first friend or the closest he had to it.
As he grew up, he kept improving his AI to be able to more complex activities. When he needed money, he started working freelancer for others. Because at that point his skill was really high, he started making more money. Until he founded his own company, New Virtual.
Although he had the money, he never felt something to strive for besides improving Odin. At that time he had an epiphany. If this world has nothing worthy, then I shall create another world!
He then started to create the first ever full dive game. And now, at 45 years old he finally succeeded. It felt fulfilling just watching his world evolve every day. And he found another joy looking at the young man in the screen.
That young man found felt the same as him. The fulfilling feeling that brings joy at being alive. That young man found the same in that world. That's why he could move better than others after just a few days.
"I hope to meet this kid, we might some common interests."
"Don't worry, boss, this guy is a monster as a player! The highest ranked player is about to level up to 9, but he is already level 10 without playing full time like the professionals. Although he won't be able to keep his rank like that, if he keeps pushing his limits like this he will be in the first event for sure!"
"I believe so. Keep up the good work."
"Yes! Boss!"
Those two saluted again. As koreans, they admired this man from their country who became a living legend.
=========================
"C'mon Fenrir. Let's level you up."
Samuel was just about to enter the spider's dungeon again. After going through it once, he felt like it wouldn't be impossible to complete it again. And because it was a dungeon, it was more convenient for EXP grinding and some materials collection.
Before going in, he got George to upgrade his equipment. Equipment was sold in stores, but in a beginner village only basic stuff was sold, so players had to make their equipment themselves.
When he asked George if he could make better stuff, he said that he could make a level 5 set already. Going by the rates of this game, that was an impressive achievement. So after using around 30 wolf pelts he got fully equipped with leather armor.
His defense increased to almost triple to before and his hp increased by 100 as a set effect. He also got +3 agility, which was the reason he was confident in beating the spider boss alone now.
His bow mastery increased to level 3 and was almost 4 already, increasing his damage with a bow in 3%. As always the damage was negligible, but the correcting feeling using a bow was invaluable.
His other source of confidence was Fenrir. Wolves don't make for good tankers, even if its rarity was better than most. Their strong points are their speed and killing power, besides their ability to cooperate. He thought that Fenrir wouldn't be able to take hits for him. But Fenrir actually proved him there was no need to from the start. After fighting a lot of wolves, he noticed Fenrir was improving. Not in levels or stats, but its style. Indeed, most monsters received some adaptability after that patch. So he could probably train Fenrir's style if he put the effort. Thinking about it, he felt he really made the right choice with that Skill Stone.
Fenrir and WindBow had a very offensive formation. They were a DPS duo. The aggro would be switched between then during a fight. Fenrir would aggro first and avoid taking hits while Samuel would deal most of the damage. When the enemy's target became Samuel, they would change positions.
But Samuel actually kept the aggro most of the time. Because his movements improved ever since the spider fight, he could shoot even while evading, though his precision dropped drastically and he would miss most of the time, his occasional hits would maintain the aggro a little longer before changing back to Fenrir. It was challenging, but that was what made it fun to both of them.
Although this strategy worked best with few enemies, the spiders never appeared in a group bigger than 8. So they actually advanced through the dungeon with minimal damage.
The boss was specially harder. Although Samuel killed it once, it was still hard this time. It's like asking you to hit you highest score that you got only once in a game again. You would probably get very close to it, but matching it again isn't that easy.
This time, Fenrir died and WindBow got hit once by the boss. He survived thanks to his new equipment defense and bonus hp. It was difficult, but the thrill of this fight certainly was worth it.
Not only that, but Fenrir level up twice fighting outside with wolves and now level up twice again against the spiders getting to level 8 already. Its stats growth are based on action performed, so Fenrir stats received and increased growth primarily to Agility and Dexterity and also some to Strength. Other stats barely moved from his level 4 stats, except vitality that increased a point.
Windbow level was still 8% away from 11. The required exp increased drastically after level 10. Still, one hour of grinding should be enough to get this exp.
Besides, he also got some drops. They were not as rewarding as the first kill, but was still good enough since he was solo.
He got another 2 skill books. Heal and Block. This is probably the company making the basic skills more available. A tank without block and a healer without heal would be dead weight in any party.
But the best thing was... Dismantling! Because he got the necessary skills for dismantling, he got materials from all spiders in the cave. The boss was a close call. If his dismantling skill didn't level up to 5 during this run, he wouldn't have got anything from the boss carcass.
The common spiders gave common poison, common webbing, common fang. The boss gave the same, but of uncommon rarity. Also he found something for the first time.
It was a green bright stone. The brightness was not strong, it's as if the light was contained inside the stone. Since it was the first time he found something like that, he kept it.
"I'm out of inventory slots now. I really need to get an observation skill."
Every player started with 20 inventory slots. Although it was not much, most consumables were stackable so they didn't need much space. Even so, as an archer playing solo, he had a fair bit of stackables. He got 3 stacks of arrows which go for up to 999 arrows each. Also there's a stack of potion and another of food. There were spider materials which counts for another seven slots. There were some wolf materials he got on the way here for another 3. He just got 2 skill books which don't stack. Also, since he came to a cave, he's been mining every here and there and got two more basic ores and some more of a rare mining drop, emeralds. Luckily inventories don't have weight limits, otherwise, he would be at 300% capacity for sure!
WindBow killed wolves until he got level 11 on the way back. Then he did his routine if dumping most of his stuff to his Peddler friend to deal with and receive the money his friend made. He actually didn't want to, but Love Money made him accept the deal to sell his stuff to him, otherwise, he would be penniless when he needed some money.
Afterwards, he replenished his stack of arrows and potions. Things are looking good.
[Status]
Name: Windbow
Title: Pioneer
Rank: Civilian
Guild: None
Level: 11 (1%)
Class: Archer
HP: 212 / 212
MP: 70 / 70
[Attributes]
Strength: 1
Vitality: 1
Agility: 12 (+3)
Dexterity: 12
Intelligence: 1
Will: 1
[Bow Mastery - Apprentice - 4/10 (21%)]
(+4% damage with bows.)
[Increased Vision - MAX]
(+Sight Range, +Stealth Detection, +Dynamic vision)
[Double Shot - Apprentice - 4/10(55%)]
(88% damage per shot. Shoots twice. Costs one arrow and 7 MP.)
[Strong Shot - Apprentice - 1/10(88%)]
(100% Damage. 10% chance to stun, 1 second.)
[Tame - Extra - 1/5(18%)]
(Num Max of pets - 1)
"My stats are completely unbalanced, but.. I think it's fine. I can cover defense with equips. Looking at this growth in my status it's really enjoyable. "
WindBow was ready for the next day.
===============================
In Stone Village, there was an influx of new players. People soon found the location of the only open dungeon on forums. Lots of level 6 to 8 players from nearby villages came to visit. Among them was ShieldMan, the Japanese man who received some tips from WindBow. He was already level 7 and almost 8.
Besides him was a young woman. She was pretty in a different way from Moon Reflection. If Moon was an aloof like an icy goddess, this woman gave a warm feeling, very simple and kind like a neighbor girl. She was giving a very wronged look right now.
"Onii, do we really have to go in there? I heard there are spiders there! And as big as dogs! I hate spiders!"
"Yukin.. Yuki, don't worry, I'm getting better with the shield. This game is more complex than the ones we're used to play. And this is the best place for leveling now."
"Kuh, if you say so..."
As they talked they arrived in stone village.
