6 Wrath
There's a fight nearby...
Be stealthy. Sneak in and watch the fight. --- SH: 28 + WN: 16 = 44
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Lucas grasped the rusty sword in his hand and started to walk quietly to where the fight was happening, being as stealthy as he can be.
As he slowly made his way to the fight, he finally saw figures other than himself and the skeleton earlier.
His eyes opened wide in shock at the sight before him.
There was a large figure clad in black scales. Its back had wings that span over a hundred meters. And its mouth breathed jet-black flame from his mouth.
At that moment, Lucas remembered the notifications he got earlier.
This cave he was in...it was called an Elder Dragon's Lair!
"This...is a dragon...!?"
Lucas muttered quietly while still reeling from shock.
It was hard to put into words the being he is seeing before him. It was all too life-like. He could also feel the menacing and murderous aura of the dragon before him.
Perhaps it was due to his racial ability, Danger Sense.
Right now, it was as if alarm bells were ringing in his mind!
It was a mistake to come here! He needs to go before he-
*BOOM!!!*
*ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!*
"Gh-!?"
An explosion rang out from the battle and an angry roar came from the dragon's mouth.
Lucas was blown away by the shockwave and slammed on the cave wall. Instantly, his presence was discovered by everyone else in the area.
"Who's there!?"
"Some brat! Don't mind him! He's not important! Continue attacking!"
Several figures noticed him but after sensing his strength, they no longer paid attention to him and instead continued attacking the dragon.
*ROAAAAARRR!!!*
The dragon roared in anger once again and a deep echoing voice rang out in their minds.
"You bunch of bastard bats! Do not think it is easy to kill me!"
He roared once more and breathed black fire, creating a black curtain that descended onto them.
Taking the chance that their vision was obstructed, the dragon turned to the human who had intruded his domain.
"Brat! What's your name!?"
"L-Lucas...I'm called Lucas..."
Lucas was staring at the scene in shock.
From what he could see, the people fighting the dragon weren't humans. They had a pale face, red eyes, silver hair, and large fangs on their teeth. Almost as if...they were vampires!
He had never heard or read of any vampire race in the game before.
Also, why are these vampires attacking an elder dragon?
Although Lucas had a lot of questions in mind, the dragon suddenly turned to him and asked for his name.
Feeling that he was gonna end up dead anyway, might as well see this through and see what's happening. It might be a hidden quest!
"Lucas! I am Desserath! The Elder Dragon of Wrath! Although, I've been weakened by some damn old man and now I'm unable to defeat these bat bastards. But you! You are an immortal otherworlder! You shall carry my Wrath! Kill every single one of these damnable vampires for as long as you live! You shall be the bane of their kind! The reason for their extinction! The end to their race!"
Desserath spoke in a booming voice in his head that made his head hurt.
It was as if his words were slowly being etched to his every being.
Suddenly, Desserath opened his mouth and shot the darkest flame he had breathed.
As Lucas was covered in the flame and burned all over his body, Desserath's voice continued to echo in his mind.
"If you fail to kill them...my Wrath shall consume you and you will kill every single being you touch no matter which world you live!"
"Mark my words!"
"NO ONE WILL ESCAPE FROM MY WRATH!"
!!!
Lucas' eyes snapped open!
He took off Portal on his head and sat up.
Lucas gasped for breath as he attempted to breathe properly.
His whole body was covered in sweat and his hands were still shaking from what happened just then.
"W-what the hell was that...is this really a game? What did he mean...no matter which world I live!?"
As part of the game mechanism, a player can die once a day and be able to respawn after five minutes. However, if they died again, they would be logged out and unable to log in again after 12 hours.
Due to this mechanism, the players would rather not die too much in a day. Losing a level is one thing. They can just grind it again.
But if they couldn't log in after 12 hours, then they would be missing out on a lot of things, plus they would also still need to grind again after logging in. It was simply a waste of time.
Lucas breathed in and out slowly to calm himself.
After seeing his body covered in sweat, he sighed and stood up as he walked towards the bathroom.
He wanted to take a shower.
However, when he removed his shirt, something that isn't supposed to be there was now there.
On his neck, a golden key was hung from the necklace made of string that was wrapped around his neck.
It was the same key necklace he took off from the skeleton in the game earlier...but why is it here, in reality!?
Then, Lucas noticed something else was off so he turned to the mirror on the bathroom wall.
There, he was greeted with the sight of himself...with white hair, blue eyes, and...wolf fangs!
Now that he took a better look at it, wasn't he also wearing the beginner clothes from the game!?
"W-what...just what is happening here!?"
Lucas grabbed his face and pinched it everywhere.
What was happening? Why is his game avatar...now his real body!?
Lucas swallowed a mouthful of saliva nervously. He gritted his teeth and spoke in a soft voice.
"Status"
...
Nothing happened.
Well, this was reality after all...however, why is it that his character was now his real body!?
Lucas sweated.
It was a good thing that his race had turned out looking normal...
If he turned into a weird dog breed and gained animal ears, tail...or limb...Lucas wouldn't know how to live in reality anymore...
But still...why did all this happen?
Is World Gate Online...really just a game?
Lucas sighed. He had a lot of questions but no answers.
Also, he felt it would be dangerous if he were to let anyone know...who knows what all sorts of experiments they would do to him...
Lucas left the bathroom, no more in a mood to take a bath.
He walked to his bed and picked up Portal.
Then, he noticed that there was something else on his bedside.
It was a rusty sword...
"Even this guy is here..."
Lucas sighed and shook his head.
Since his equipment was here, of course, the sword he was holding would also be here...
Anyways, he picked up Portal and looked at it all over.
He was even tempted to crack it open and see what kind of magic this thing has. However, he reigned the thought and didn't do so.
If the device broke, he might lose his chance of returning to normal...if that is even possible at this point...
"I should've chosen human race...that way, I won't need to care even if I'm stuck in my game avatar..."
Lucas sighed.
"Anyway...what do I do now...?"
He still couldn't log in for 12 hours. And he can't show up to work looking like this too...
"Guess I'll call in sick for today..."
Lucas sighed and picked up his phone to call his bosses.
It was still quite early so his bosses were half asleep and angry for being called. But since Lucas gave them a heads up early, they could look for a replacement faster.
After ending the call, Lucas sighed again.
He sat there for a while, no knowing what to do.
Then, he stood up again and continued to take his bath.
No matter what, he was sweaty so he needed to take a bath.
As water poured on his body. His mind had somewhat calmed down.
When he got out of the bath, he was like a changed man.
Since he now has this body, he can only deal with it!
...Right, he chose to simply push the matter aside and continued to live as usual.
But first, he needed to buy a wig and colored contact lenses...
While Lucas was troubled by his appearance and changes, the team watching Lucas earlier sighed in relief.
They watched as Lucas met a group of vampires who were in the middle of attacking an elder dragon. The fight was certainly amazing and even they were dazzled.
When the dragon faced Lucas, the dragon was speaking to him in his mind so they weren't able to hear their conversation.
After a while, the dragon breathed fire again and killed Lucas.
All that happened from their point of view and they considered it normal.
Lucas was a mere level 10 player who hasn't even chosen a class. It was normal for him to be unable to do anything against a level 300 elder dragon!
However, while the team sighed in relief and changed Lucas' respawn point to that of the Dog tribe's village, one man was still looking at the screen in shock.
This expression had started since Lucas discovered the skeleton and...picked up the golden key!
Charles snapped out of his thought when a member called out to him.
"Boss, we changed his respawn point back to normal. There's no need to worry anymore."
"R-right...good work. Alright, I need to report to the boss about this..."
Without waiting for a reply, Charles quickly left the room and headed straight for the topmost floor in the building.
To the office of the wealthiest man alive. The owner of the IDEA Corp. who made the first-ever Full Dive Virtual Reality device, Portal.
"Boss!"
"Is something wrong, Charles? For you to not even knock."
"A World Key has been found!"
*Thud*
The Boss quickly stood up which knocked his chair backward. However, he didn't pay any attention to it as he stared at Charles with a serious expression.
"Is that true!?"
"Y-yes! I saw it myself! That golden key...it must be the World Key that we're searching for!"
The Boss frowned.
"Show me his status."
"Here it is."
Charles handed a tablet to the Boss, showing Lucas' status to him.
[Name: Lucas]
[Race: Werebeast (White Wolf), ?????]
[Level: 9]
[Class: None]
[Title: ?????, World Traveler]
[Racial Abilities: Heightened Senses (P), Danger Sense (P), Wolf Transformation (A), Wolf Howl (A), ?????(P), Dragon's Wrath (A), Dragon's Roar (A), Wrath Flame (A)]
[Skills: None]
[STR: 55 | VIT: 132 | INT: 67 | DEX: 50 | SPD: 54 | LUK: -99]
[Free stat points: 40]
"...What's with the question marks?"
"That...we also don't know..."
"Explain to me everything that happened!"
"Yes!"
Charles quickly nodded and explained the whole situation.
After some time, the boss smiled.
He turned around and faced the night city overlooking from his window.
"It seems the Gods have blessed us...for one key to be found at this early stage...we might just survive through this disaster...As for his weird status...no matter, I'm sure it's fine as long as it isn't detrimental. In fact, it's better that he's now stronger."
"Indeed...no doubt, this guy is now confused with the changes happening to him. I'll immediately send a team to him now. Wait, no. I better go myself!"
Charles quickly made calculations in his mind and feared that things might go wrong if he wasn't there so he immediately suggested it.
The Boss chuckled and asked.
"Didn't you say your daughter knows him? Just let her go fetch him."
"E-eh!? But..."
"Your daughter's smart. Unlike the rest of the players, I think she's already figured out that the game World Gate Online...is not just a game at all. Besides, it's better for that Lucas to join us with a familiar face around to ease his worries."
"...Understood."
Charles thought about it and nodded.
"But I'll say this once, sir! I'm not handing my daughter to that guy! After what her previous boyfriend did to her, I'm convinced! All men are scum! I won't let her get hurt anymore!"
"...Aren't you a man yourself?"
"I'm a father before a man!"
"..."
Back at Lucas' house, he had finished buying a simple black wig and sunglasses to cover his hair and eyes. He couldn't find a place nearby that sells colored contacts so he'll check the mall later in the afternoon.
He also bought a few slices of meat to eat for breakfast.
For some reason, he now started to crave meat...
As he ate, his phone buzzed a few times.
Looking over, he saw it came from a high school friend of his from way back.
Lucas answered the call.
"Sam? What's up? Why are you calling so early in the morning?"
"Dude! Do you have time today?"
"Well...I do but...why?"
"Look, you're still single, right? Wait, who am I kidding, you're definitely still single!"
"...Goodbye."
"Wait! Wait! Don't hang up on me!"
Hearing Sam's desperate tone, Lucas sighed.
"...What is it?"
"See, we organized a group date with a few pretty girls. But the girls won't agree if we guys don't match their number. There are four of them, and only three of us! That's where you come in!"
Lucas was speechless.
"So...you want me to fill in the numbers? Why me?"
"Do you still need to ask!?"
Hearing that, Lucas felt touched.
To think that this friend who he hasn't talked to in a long time is so considerate of him...
"Of course it's because you're the least threatening one!"
"..."
"You know, if I pick one of those handsome bastards in our class, there's no way the girls will talk to me right? If it's you, they won't be interested and would talk to me more!"
"Screw you!"
"Ahh! I was joking! I was joking! Come on, Lucas! We're meeting at lunchtime! I'll pay for your lunch!"
"..."
Lucas thought about it.
If he agrees, he can at least have a free lunch. As for those pretty girls he mentioned...well, if they don't talk to him then he won't talk to them unnecessarily.
Of course, a simple greeting and exchange of words were fine. But he wouldn't go so far as to curry favor or flatter too much.
Although Lucas is single, he isn't that desperate...yet...
"Well? What's it going to be?"
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Go or No go? (Poll ends in 2 days)
-"Fine, I'm in."
-"I'm busy. Look for someone else."
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AN: ]Alright, let me explain a bit about the choices.
First of all, the choices aren't absolute. Like the one in the previous chap, even though the sneaky choice has been selected, it doesn't mean that the MC will absolutely not be discovered. There are various things to consider such as the MC's level, the scenario, the location, the enemy's perception, etc etc.
Of course, as the author, I just plan to do the scenarios I think about at the moment. There's not much planning here other than the major arcs and events I'm basing on the original World Gate Online. To those who read the original version, I'm sure you'll find these events familiar, but not quite the same.
Still, there is one thing certain. WGO is not a simple 'game'. This story was never gonna be a simple VRMMO to start with and it will take you to different worlds and adventures!
Also, don't think too much about my own vote as I'm just voting for fun as well.
There is no 'correct' answer. I've roughly planned how each choices would play out when I put them.
For this chapter's choice, I know you all are a bunch of simps and wanted harem so I'm pretty sure I know what choice will win...anyway, it doesn't matter, I'm fine with any of the choices winning XD no matter which choice you end up with, an important event will trigger on both scenarios. Both different and will lead to different paths.
The choice is up to you.
See ya next chap!
PS: For Ultimate Fruit, I'll update it tomorrow...probably...I'm too busy with work at the moment. I only posted this since I already wrote it last night since the winner was pretty much decided already...
