3 Cardinal Rule
The Dreaming. Dreaming. Dream.
It was the gateway connecting reality and fantasy.
Between what was and what is.
Emmet's Dreaming space was almost empty without any decorations.
He did not have the funds to buy the unnecessary but nice stuff-to-have things. His usage of WFO was only a means to an end.
To sustain his life. To survive, even by scraping for scrap.
In front of him, the time kept counting down.
[00:04:45]
It did not even take half a minute for the PGP to be deployed.
In the Dreaming, the player would use this golden time to prep themselves before the actual gaming started.
The Dreaming also subbed as one's personal abode and that included storing items and equipment.
If the old lady didn't rent the golden hand mirror from him, by the time he was forcefully logged out of WFO, all his belongings will be automatically stored here.
It was a sort of safety protocol.
Emmet did not have much stuff here left for one thing. Left out all alone in the shadow of the corner of his dream, it sat there waiting for the time its master found use of it again. Like a reliable butler.
He went to the wooden treasure box. He had put all his items in it or one could say the only place he could store his belongings if he wanted them to still belong to him at that time. Since then, Emmet has not used its service, not even once.
Until now.
It was quite big, one that could fit Emmet whole if he could flex all of his limbs and bend them like a gymnast did. There was a silver plate at the mouth of the box with gilded engravings on it.
EDH.
He stroked those little initials. It was just three letters but for him, it was what was left of him. Not the items in the box. Not the money in his balance. But these three insignificant letters that meant everything to him. The remaining pieces of him that remained.
An Emmet, remnants of the Hales.
His parents gifted him this wooden treasure box so that he could keep his dream tidy and as a safety box. After all that had happened, this box had fulfilled its role. It kept his items safe and sound, especially from external influence.
This box was one of the little things that reminded him of his parents.
"There's no turning back, huh?" he stared at the box one last time. He thought back to how happy he was when his parents had gifted him this treasure box. He was so little then to understand the true value of this wooden box.
Now he understands that his parents may have been prepared for that fateful day more than he thought they were.
Emmet rested his palm on the silver plate.
'Tiring'
The box sounded happy that its owner finally required its services after such a long time. After such a long time, waiting and waiting, it could finally serve its purpose.
'Cling!'
A second later, the lock opened up as it finished scanning for his imprints.
He opened the box and a new white screen was displayed.
Equipment: [Cozy Scarf], [Ashen], [Dwight].
Item: [Fanny pack], [Fire stone x3], [Flash stone x1].
A prompt appeared in front of him.
[Equip all?]
[Yes/No]
'Yes.'
With a flash, a red scarf nestled nicely around his neck. His torn and worn clothes were replaced by a gray jacket and a pair of intentionally holed black jeans. In his hand was a white, almost transparent spear sculpted to perfection from purity itself, almost half an Emmet length more than Emmet.
He brought the tip of the spear down to his eyes. The white snowy tip slowly became dyed in pitch black matte, all the way to the head and shaft, as if it rejected the existence of the world itself including its own owner. Now it looked no different than a regular iron spear. In fact, it was.
He checked the condition of his item one by one.
[Cozy Scarf: a red fiery scarf crafted from love and care. Emit a gentle and harmless aura. Note: Genuine love and care are a scarcity resource in this world. Treasure it well, user.]
[Ashen: make its user look like an emo rebel. In exchange, it provided firm physical and slight external psyche protection to the user. Note: it would not improve whatever negative emotions the user currently has. Equip with caution.]
In a way, Emmet was a rebelling emo.
[Dwight: crafted from fragments of the Last Light. Broken, it is no more than mere decoration for amateurs. Note: User level to low to understand the secrets of the celestials. Level up to know more.]
Everything looked normal. None of the equipment had any deterioration to their stats. Next, he summoned his items.
A black little bag strapped around his waist. Four little stones of white and red colour in his right hand.
[Fanny pack: D grade. Have a storage capacity of 10 items.]
[Fire Stone: F grade. Crafted by an amateur alchemist. A go-to camping necessity to start a fire.]
[Flash stone: F grade. Crafted by an amateur alchemist. A go-to camping necessity as a source of light.]
He shoved the stones into the bag and swiped his left hand horizontally.
---
Player: Emmet
Title: Ç̵̀͟͢o̶҉ŗ͢r̡͝u̕̕p̴͢҉̧́ţ̶̕͟e̕͜d̷̸̨̡̨
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Age: 14 years old
Class 0: Adventurer [0%]
Skills: C̵̷̢͘͢ơ̵͟͡r̵̢ŕ̶̢̕͘u̢̨̢̢p͘͞t҉̷̨̛e͏̴d̵͘͟͟͡
Magic: -
Spell: -
---
Such a short status window. But this was all that was left of him after that incident. Everything that anyone would want to know would be answered if they read his status.
Except for the corrupted ones. No one will ever know what it entailed. Not even Emmet. Only oblivion will hold those secrets for eternity, forever.
From now on, Emmet was just a nobody peasant. One without even a family name.
Not that Emmet cared though. What use was a family name without a family he could call one? Continue the family line? That kind of thing did not even cross his mind. Not when becoming his family meant total annihilation of their very existence that not even their name remained.
Then, he will be all alone again.
That was the curse he carried. To be a loner, alone, forever.
'Tsk!'
"To hell with those things!"
Emmet did not enter WFO back as a player for fun. He had aims and ambitions. It might seem lofty when spoken out loud but as in every journey, it started with the first step.
And his first step was…
"Enter the Three Great Academy!"
It might be hard to attack a person from the front. Especially if they are very vigilant. So he decided to imitate them…
"Stab them in the back when they least expected it," Emmet chuckled as he tilted his head left and right.
He then started to roll his shoulder around, stretched his arm and leg, spun his spear and slashed them a few times. He also practiced his throwing stance just in case he needed them. Though if he ever needed to throw them, then he knew it was his final struggle.
Or maybe to finish something off.
Emmet took a few deep breaths. The spear steady in his flexed hand. The menacing tip beside his eyes as his right hand outstretched, he turned his body slowly left and right as if tracing his prey.
Satisfied with his throwing posture, he lowered the spear and leaned it on his shoulder. He crossed his hand and closed his eyes.
Next was assessing his internal. How prepared was he mentally?
He reduced his perception to only himself. Only he and his body exist in this small spotlight. His steady beating heart throbbed with excitement. A thrill he had long forgotten. He felt all of his muscles relax but wide awake for any intensive movements.
His mind was focused on the trial. No stray thoughts. He even had to leave the dread reality of his life and escaped fully into this fantasy game.
Though he hated to become fully insane, that kind of mental state was exactly what he needed. Psyche was just that important, especially if he wanted to take the more difficult level of the trial.
To enter the Three Great Academy, there wasn't any age restriction whatsoever. There was only one requirement.
Pass the trial.
If a three-year-old could clear his trial, he would be admitted into the three great academies without a doubt. Such a genius would be wanted by the whole two worlds.
However, there was a catch.
And this catch applied to any gaming session in WFO.
"If you die, you die," Emmet recited the first cardinal rule of WFO as he opened his eyes. They were now burning with lights of determination.
If you die in the game, you die in real life. Logically speaking WFO was a dangerous game. One that offers an escape from reality in return for your life constantly on the line. But the trial was especially deadly as it was designed to fail people who challenged it.
What other quickest efficient way to fail a challenger than to make them unable to proceed.
In other words, death.
Meaning, a higher chance of actually dying for the challengers. If you are lucky, you might not die in the trial but you would never be able to take the trial ever again. It was one in a lifetime try.
"And people still called it a game. Alternate reality is closer but come on… Are they blind?"
Emmet disagreed with people who still see WFO as a simple game to run away from the bleak reality. An alternate reality that offers everything that their world couldn't. Emmet had a lot to say about this kind of people but for now…
[Last one minute before the start of trial]
[00.00.59]
[00.00.58]
[Please choose your difficulty level]
[Multiplier will be rewarded with higher difficulty gameplay]
[Easy: Given more time to complete trial - Score x 0.8]
[Normal: No blessing or restriction - Score x 1.0]
[Intermediate: Complete the trial without scripted magic and spells - score x 1.5]
[Hard: Complete the trial without skills, scripted magic and spells. Only scriptless magic and spells allowed - score x 2.5]
[Impossible: Complete the trial with just your body. No skills, magic and spells allowed - Score x 10.0]
The Three Great Academies' trials were special. The trials were just as special as their student caste. Just like how a noble would be higher in the social hierarchy than peasants, they were separate classes for students.
The higher your final score, the higher your standing will be among your batchmates.
[00.00.46]
.
.
[00.00.29]
Emmet thought long and hard about it.
[00.00.15]
[Last 15 seconds please choose your difficulty level before the time runs out or it would be defaulted to normal difficulty]
.
.
[oo.oo.11]
[Last ten seconds… starting countdown]
[10…]
[9…]
'There isn't any difference between intermediate and hard since I didn't have any skills and given the right environment and state of mind, scripted and scriptless magic and spells are just the same. Not having to use all three of them in Impossible Difficulty is really impossible.'
"Hard level"
[Choose Hard Difficulty?]
[Yes/No]
[5…]
"Yes."
[Hard level chosen!]
[2…]
[1…]
[Starting the trial!]
[Good luck to all participants!]
Webs of lights wrapped Emmet in a cocoon. The usual transition between the Dreaming and WFO. Not even a blink later, cracks appeared across the cocoon.
It was finally starting.
The white eggshell of light completely shattered. Emmet felt he lost his footing and the wind pushing his body upwards. He blinked his eyes at the bright clear blue sky and the blinding sun. He turned his head downwards to the emptiness of land and earth.
'Eh…'
He was falling…
[First Trial: Survive the sky fall]
