1. Welcome to Second Phase!

The game, it began. It's here. It's real.

What's that thing they say? You die in the game, you die in real life? That's what's happening right now, isn't it? Except you don't need to tell that to anyone because the game is taking place in real life to begin with.

[] Please enter your Player name. []

A blue window and keyboard was floating in front of my face, demanding that I type in my username.

I don't really want to go with BestPlayer this time. I'm thinking of something cooler...

[] Confirm [Kaiser] as your Player Name? []

[] Yes. []

Immediately, a new blue window appeared in front of me with a list of instructions.

[]

HOW TO ACTIVATE AND NAVIGATE THE MENU:

To activate the menu: Clearly state, "Menu!" A menu with a list of icons will appear.

The Icons, in order, will lead you to: Character Stats, Skills List, Inventory, Party, Guild, and Settings.

[]

I muttered, "menu." A menu screen that looked just like the one from Orpheon Online appeared in front of me.

I navigated to the Inventory page with my finger. The three items I chose to transfer from Orpheon were there.

"You've got to be kidding. So this is the game? This must be a dream..."

It's pretty difficult to believe, but now that I think about it... isn't this exactly what I always wanted?

All those days wasting away in my little cave with nothing gained in real life. All those days hiding from the public's eye because they just couldn't see my superiority as the undisputed top player of Orpheon Online. Now, they will have to acknowledge me because all that I have built up throughout these years have materialized into the real world. For once, there is something that happened in real life that is finally to my advantage. Even if this were a dream, I don't plan to lie around wasting this precious time and crying in denial. It's finally my time.

Swiftly, I navigated back into my inventory to equip Ascalon and hatch the Pseudodragon.

[]

Pseudodragon hatched from the Rigid Egg! Please provide a name.

[]

A name? I didn't really think about this one. I guess I'll name it Pseud. That's pretty funny.

Next, I went back into my basement. I needed some space to use the Instant Emporium.

Once I activated it, a large stand containing six items appeared, three of which were items I've never seen before.

[]

[Golden Holy Armor / Armor / Level Requirement: 100]

Grants +50 ATK and +200 DEF. When HP > 50%, increases each main stat by 10%. When HP < 50%, each time the character takes damage or inflicts damage, lose 10 MP. Armor cannot be worn if character's MP is below 30%.

[Spider Gloves / Hands / Level Requirement: 0]

Grants +20 SPD. Allows character to climb walls.

[Cloud in a Bottle / Trinket]

Grants +15 SPD. Allows character to double-jump.

[Thousandth Knife / Weapon / Level Requirement: 70]

Reduces Crit Rate by 10%. Every thousandth hit with this weapon (including missed hits) is guaranteed to land a critical hit with 9999% amplified critical damage.

[Scroll of Magic Missile Lv. 2 / Consumable / Level Requirement: 5]

Allows character to cast Magic Missile Lv. 2. Can be used 3 times.

[Maltet / Weapon / Level Requirement: LEVEL-BASED]

Grants +50 ATK.

Base Effect: For each foe within 5 meters, increases STR and DEF by 5%.

[]

The first three items seem to be new ones. A bunch of these are pretty useless or restricted by a high level requirement, though. At this point, I should decide between the Spider Gloves and the Cloud in a Bottle.

Trinkets generally last longer and are easier to manage since I can equip up to three of them; meanwhile, I can only equip one set of Gloves at a time. Cloud in a Bottle it is, then.

Double-jump. Not sure how useful this could be, but I imagine it would have been very good in the original Orpheon Online.

I'm all set now. I checked my skills list. As expected, all three of my legendary growth-boosting skills are there as well.

Now, the real challenge is actually going outside and slaying one of those monsters. I've killed countless monsters countless times every single day for the past 6 years, but this is the first time I'm actually doing it with my own hands. How will it go? Who knows. Those monsters are out there destroying my city. kentaros is somewhere out there, too. To be honest, I don't really care much about the people or the city in general, but if this is going to be the game... you know I'm going to be the best at it.

---

"AAUGH!!"

The Peryton's talons latched onto me, piercing through my skin. It was flying somewhere... probably to its nest... to feed me to the Peryton chicks, or something like that...

It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was sure that I'd have no problem getting through the new game, so I chose to transfer three growth-boosting skills, but now I'm regretting that decision. If I brought even one of my Legend-tier combat abilities, I would have breezed through these pushovers. Honestly, how was I even supposed to know this was what the game was going to be?

The Peryton let out a haunting shriek. These are one of the creepiest monsters around. I believe they say that Perytons cast the shadow of a human until they kill one. Looks like I'm going to be that guy.

Damn it. How am I going to get out of this mess?

My guts were on the verge of spilling out, and I was starting to get dizzy. The Peryton's talons were so razor-sharp that I didn't even feel a lot of pain. In any case, I need to do something. Out of desperation, I opened up the menu.

Menu... there has to be something... what's this?

There was a new icon visible between the Guild and Settings icon, called Shop.

Shop! Is this the cash shop? Didn't they say they were going to transfer the premium currency into this game?

I quickly opened up the shop and was greeted by a large catalog of wonderful, wonderful goods. All the Cash I had from my old game was transferred! I rapidly scrolled through the list of available items. I knew what I needed to get out of this mess.

[]

[Potion of Resilience / Consumable]

Regenerates 10% HP per second for 30 seconds.

[Skill Ticket: Dragoon Spin / Consumable]

Grants the skill Dragoon Spin Lv. 1 to the character.

[]

After drinking up the Potion of Resilience to recover, I activated the skill ticket. I drew out Ascalon, and prepared to strike.

"You've done it now, you gigantic chicken..."

[] Skill: [Dragoon Spin] activated! []

With the lance, I drilled my way out of its grasp. The monster screeched as I began falling towards the highway below. It began to dive towards me.

I continued falling as the Peryton continued diving towards me at increasing speed. There's no way it's going to survive this.

Right before I hit the ground, I used the double-jump from my Cloud in a Bottle to shoot towards a group of trees nearby.

I smashed past numerous branches, which slowed my movement until I finally came to a stop. Meanwhile, the Peryton diving downwards desperately tried to decelerate, but it was too late.

The noise of its skull smashing against the ground echoed through the highway. I jumped off the tree and walked towards its deformed carcass.

"That's what you get for underestimating a top player!"

[]

You defeated a Peryton! Gained 10000 EXP!

You reached Level 17!

Drops: Peryton Feather (x7), Peryton Antler (x4), Skill Ticket: Shadow Disguise Lv. 2.

[]

Perytons are known to be one of the easier monsters to kill that give out 1000 EXP and pretty decent drops, which is why I was trying to fight one to begin with. Plus, with my boosted EXP gain and drop rate, defeating one is like defeating ten. By beating one, I went from Level 1 to Level 17, just like that. Well, I guess it kind of defeated itself, but I still landed the last attack before it died, so it counts.

As for the drops... Shadow Disguise isn't particularly useful, since it's a skill that simply changes what your shadow looks like. Quick note here, the way drop skills work is that when they drop a skill you already have, it increases its level by 1. Since it's easier to enhance drop skills, they tend to be less useful. It looks like the peryton dropped the skill twice, which is why it's at level 2. This skill has very specific uses for tricking people, but generally it's pretty useless.

The one that's good, though, is the Peryton Antler. These are more valuable drops, as they are sold at valuable prices due to the fact that they are used in crafting powerful staffs. Once people begin to catch onto the value of these items, I'll be able to make some good money with this.

Anyway, that's all for later. The problem right now, though...

Where am I right now?