Chapter 9: Welcome to Pinewood

Thaddeus drove his wagon out of White Pines Town gates, where two guards were standing at the ready. They were on the lookout for red-tagged players, beast attacks, and bandits. In Heaven's Gates, killing a player provoked resulted in a red name tag.

If a reg tag players player was caught by the city guards, they would be imprisoned for a month in-game, or 4 days out of the game. Four days out of the game would set combat players far behind rest. After 24 hours in-game, a red tag would transition to an orange tag.

Orange tag players could enter towns or cities but would be closely monitored by the NPC guards and often discriminated against by town folk. After another 24 hours, in-game the orange tag transitioned back to the normal white name tag. However, most player killers did not care about getting a red tag. Some saw it as a badge of honor or an initiation ritual.

Thaddeus waved to the guards, who happily waved to him back. They wished him luck on his journey and waved him through the checkpoint.

Thaddeus looked at the highway leading into the forest and eventually to Pinewood City. This was the road that would take him to his dream. His dream of building his own house and farm with his own two hands.

He smiled. He cracked the reins and Betsy whinnied before trotting out into the woods. The canopy covered the road, covering it in shade. This area of the road provided a perfect ambush location. Thaddeus could feel something wasn't right. He gamed enough to know when he was being watched.

He pulled Betsy to a stop and shouted, "I know you're there you can come out now!"

"You're smart. You're the first person to realize we were here," said a man with electric red hair and a long sword.

"If you're that smart you know the drill. Hand over all your stuff, including the wagon," should a smaller excitedly with black hair holding two daggers.

Thaddeus looked around, there were seven of them. All of them had red name tags. Furthermore, they all grouped together in front of the carriage, barricading Betsy from galloping through. He checked the sides and the rear; these people really underestimated him.

"Hurry up and get down. You can't beat us. We're Level 10 and you're Level 5. Wait, if your Level 5 how can you leave the city?" a purple hair woman said holding a bow and hair pointed directly at Thaddeus' head.

"Don't be an oaf. He obviously got a hidden class," said another woman holding her wand. She conjured a blue water ball that floated around her want.

"Maybe we should kidnap and enslave you, instead of robbing and killing you?" the electric red hair man laughed maniacally.

While they were talking amongst themselves, Thaddeus cast, "[Erosion]." At once the ground under PKers disappeared. They fell 8 feet into a 6x6 square foot rectangular hole. For the spell to work, he had to specify the size of the hole. And he was curious if he could build a cellar for his future home.

"Hey what happened?" asked a player.

"I thought you said he was a crafter?" asked another.

"With that giant axe, I thought he was a warrior?" said a third player.

"Shut up," yelled the electric red hair leader. "If you don't get us out of here, you're a dead man!"

"Cancel," Thaddeus said as the empty hole magically filled back up with dirt and rocks, burying the players alive.

System Message:

You have slain Level 10 Chillbaby08, Level 10 PancakesandBacon, Level 10 Ladiesman69, Level 10 PancakesWitch, VileX, Level 10 EveofChaos, and Level 10 Chaos666.

You have gained 3,246 EXP x 2.5 (Level Difference/2) = 8,565.

You have been red-tagged. Guards and residents will see you as a criminal. If you're caught within city limits, you'll be imprisoned for a week outside the game or one week in the game. Your red tag will transition to orange in 24 in-game hours, and back to white in 48 in-game hours.

Honestly, all that EXP, plus the loot, made it worth it to kill those PKers. Thaddeus didn't even care that he had gotten the red tag.

System Message:

Congratulations to you've reached Level 10. You have 5 stat points to allocate

Thaddeus climbed down from the wagon and started picking up the dropped loot. Most of the loot was uncommon weapons and armor. Thaddeus found one or two epic weapons, one rare dagger, and almost 6 gold coins in currency. One thing was for sure, these people were quite wealthy. Thaddeus quickly posted everything to the in-game auction except for the rare dagger.

He checked the books he auctioned. There were less than 12 in-game hours left on the books and the highest price was roughly 50 silvers. That was 50 times what he paid for them. The bidding for the blacksmith books was more intense than, for carpentry or tannery. When the books sold, he'd have more than 14 gold.

A veritable fortune this early in-game. At least until the game lets people trade gold for dollars. At that point, the corporations backing major guilds would purchase gold at inflated prices.

Thaddeus hopped back in the driver seat and encouraged Betsy to trot onward. Slowly and steadily, Betsy pulled the carriage down the highway. Betsy pretty much managed by herself. She walked straight, her gait long and wide. Thaddeus was sure they get to Pinewood safely. Most bandits were very territorial and fought over raiding locations. That's why he doubted he run into another bandit group. At least until he left Pinewood.

As he sat, he analyzed the dagger in his hand, when the dagger's specs popped up.

Blood Dagger

Level 150

+50 Damage Bonus

Durability 150/150

Causes a Bleeding effect for 5-minutes +5 Damage Bonus and 5% chance of Critical Strike

This was a great find. Thaddeus hung the dagger on his belt. If there was ever a time, he lost his axe in combat, now he had a backup weapon. His bear-skin cloak hid the dagger perfectly.

Thaddeus wondered if he could stack a sneak attack bonus if he stabbed someone or something from behind. He would have to test it out as soon as he had the chance. But that would wait, he was approaching the Tele-Portal.

As it turned out, Heaven's Gates had a very interesting solution to the potential issues that players could face with traveling. In a tabletop game, it was easy to just roll for random encounters since you didn't have to sit at your dining room table/basement fold-up table for three days while your party escorted the elvish princess or...whatever you were doing.

No one wanted to sit in a wagon for three days in full immersion. Nor did they want to log out and leave their characters as sitting ducks. Instead, travel was broken up into hops. You could teleport one day at a time to the nearest city. Miraculously, every city in the civilized lands had another one within a day's travel. And Pinewood was one hop from White Pines.

Thaddeus guided Betsy into the portal and before he knew it. He could see Pinewood cityscape a few miles away. In all honesty, it was an incredibly peaceful ride all things considered. After hoping, it didn't even seem like a day had passed. Thaddeus checked out his name tag; sure enough, it was colored orange.

As he approached the city two notifications chimed demanding his attention. He opened his display and read:

System Message:

The Crimson Outlaws have tagged you as a mortal enemy. You are now in a blood feud with the Crimson Outlaws.

"Shit, what kind of message was that? Mortal Enemy? Blood Feud?" Thaddeus said annoyed. Those pesky Pkers really knew how to hold a grudge.

System Message

New Active Skill: Wagoner. At higher levels can imbue crafts with enchantments. The class level will reset to 1

Stat Increase: +1 to AGI

Level 1: Novice Level 1

Effect: Increased affinity with pack animals, and maneuverability.

Cost: 10 AGI/second

'Well, at least I picked up a new skill," Thaddeus thought.

As he approached Pinewood, there was a line of people waiting to get inside. Two guards stood outside the gates, checking everyone's identity before letting them inside. It didn't take long before it was his turn.

"Stop who goes there!" shouted a city guard.

"Name and class, Traveler," the second guard demanded.

"Name's Thaddeus, my class is Artisan," Thaddeus said.

"Artisan?" shouted the first guard in disbelief.

"Why is there a problem?" checked Thaddeus

"Artisan class for esteemed craftsmen. You seem a little too young to hold such a privileged class," explained the second guard.

"Wait, why is your name tag in orange?" the first guard asked grabbing his weapon tighter.

"I was attacked by bandits. I killed a few and escaped," Thaddeus lied. He didn't want to say he massacred 7 people by burying them alive. That might make him sound a little psycho.

"Put your right palm on this stone. If your name and class come up as the same as you said, we'll believe you," said the first guard, watching Thaddeus carefully.

Thaddeus did as the man said, and watched as his name, level, and class appeared holographically. The man wrote down the information on the card and handed it to Thaddeus.

"Welcome to Pinewood City, sir. We hope you have a good stay," said the second guard.

"Can you point me to the Crafters' Guild?" Thaddeus asked. He also sent a quick message to Dustin letting him he arrived

"I think I could help you, for a couple of coppers, sir," the first guard said sticking out his hand.

Thaddeus hand guard 10 copper and watched as his face visibly brighten.

"For a couple more, I'm sure my lieutenant will happily escort you there himself," said the first guard.

Thaddeus was annoyed but handed the guard another 10 coppers.

"Follow me, sir," said the second guard.