Chapter 5: Water Slayers

I saw that Mia and May were online. They invited me to a party and I accepted, joining them in a party chat. At first, I thought talking normally would allow them to hear me, but they kept asking if they could hear me and told me that I should put my hand to my ear to talk. I did, and they could hear me, their voices as clear as if they were standing just a few feet away.

"Where are you, Mark?" Mia asked.

"I'm at the Demon Lake," I replied.

"What are you doing there? That is a level 20 area," May chimed in.

"I cheesed the system," I admitted. "I figured we can just farm high-level quests until we hit level 30 since we don't lose loot until then."

May hesitated but eventually agreed. "I guess you're right. Let's be careful though."

Mia and May joined me at the lake, both of them sporting new gear - Mia with a new outfit and sword, and May with a new bow and outfit. The sun had set, and the night sky was filled with stars. The lake was calm, the water reflecting the moonlight.

"Alright, let's get started," I said, readying my sword. "We've got some demons to slay."

As we stood at the edge of the lake, I couldn't help but admire Mia's new sword. It was a long, slender blade with intricate engravings running down its length. The hilt was wrapped in black leather, and there was a small ruby set into the pommel.

Mia's new outfit was just as impressive. It was a set of black armor with silver trim, complete with matching gauntlets and boots. She looked like a warrior queen, ready to take on any challenge that came her way.

May's new bow was equally impressive, with a sleek design and a black and silver color scheme. She had also upgraded her outfit, opting for a set of dark green armor that seemed to blend in with the surrounding forest. She looked like a stealthy assassin, ready to take out her enemies from the shadows.

Both of their armor did have battle scars though which is how they managed to get them.

As the demons spawned, Mia and May were quickly killed with one attack. They respawned and joined me again. I was able to survive 3 attacks now.

"I'm going to heal Mark!" May exclaimed nervously. "I can use my heal ability and infuse it into an arrow to heal him from range."

"Good idea, May," Mia said. "We'll just need to be more careful and support Mark until we're stronger."

This allowed me to complete the quest without dying. Mia and May also gained experience since we are at a party, though they only received 33% of the amount of experience they would normally get if they did it alone. I also only got 33%. With the experience, Mia and May both reached level 10. Each subsequent level requires more experience.

"Thanks for the help, May," I said.

"No problem, I'm just glad I could help," May replied shyly.

"That was easy," exclaimed Mia, her confidence shining through.

"Yeah, but we wouldn't have been able to without May's healing me," I added, turning to May.

"Oh, it was nothing," May replied, blushing and looking down shyly. "I'm just glad I could help."

As we finished the quest, we all unlocked new skills. May's new skill was called Reflectance. Reflectance would reflect any incoming attack and amplify it however the timing on it has to be perfect and the cooldown prevents her from using it too often.

Mia's was a burst damage skill called Claw Fury. It turns out that there are some skills specific to each race. I unlocked a skill guaranteed to increase my critical hit chance for 10 seconds. "These skills are so random," I commented. "We all have such different abilities."

"Yeah, but that's what makes it fun," Mia replied with a smile. "We all have to figure out how to use our skills to work together and beat these tough quests."

After one more hour of grinding, I managed to get to level 18. Mia may get to level 15. No new abilities. It seems as if getting abilities itself is a chance when you level up. The reason for this is because of no level cap.

Despite having no level cap the developers reward specific quests, abilities, or cosmetics for reaching certain milestones. The abilities are given to help give all players a fighting chance against each other. At level 25 everyone unlocks a quest which if completed gives them their first race transformation.

The next levels for transformations are 50, 100, 200, 300, 500, and 1000. Every so often when players unlock the maximum transformation the developers will add new ones with a higher level requirement.

Transformations also have traits. Some only change the color, but the rarest ones change stats and give unique effects. Traits can be given to a player's transformation when they unlock one and they can evolve it over time.

Every new transformation gives a new trait but players can select other traits for the same transformation or the trait they just earned for other transformations and evolve that trait. We all then hoped that we would get good traits whenever we unlocked transformations.

"Hey Mark, do you think we should try a higher-level quest for more experience? It's getting harder to level up now," Mia suggested.

"Yeah, I agree. Maybe we could try that level 30 quest, the one with the bat king boss?" May added.

"Sure, I'm up for it," I replied. "The boss can drop loot. Also, this will be difficult since we can't respawn and fight the boss over and over. We have one life per attempt."

"I'm ready for the challenge," Mia said confidently.

"Me too," May said nervously. "But I'm a little scared. I've never fought a boss before."

"Don't worry, May. We'll have each other's backs and we'll work together as a team. We've been a good team so far," I reassured her.

"Sorry guys, I just remembered I have something important to do," Mia said. "I gtg but I'll be back on later guys." Mia then logged out leaving me and May alone together.

May hesitantly say to me, "I-I know it's not as exciting as a boss quest, but maybe we could just farm the Water demon quest until Mia gets back on? We'll be earning 50% of the experience instead of 33%."

I nodded and replied, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

As I fought demons May was healing me like before and we got a good amount of experience. After a while, I got to level 22 and May got to level 20.

As I continued to grind the Water demon quest, I couldn't help but notice that I was acting differently than usual. It was as if the game was bringing out a more compassionate side of me. I usually wasn't the nicest person in the real world, but something about the game made me want to be more helpful and considerate toward others. I couldn't help but wonder if it was the immersive nature of the virtual reality, or if it was just something about the game itself that was changing me.

As the sun began to rise, the surface of the lake was awash in a dazzling array of colors. The water was a deep, almost iridescent blue, and as the sun hit it, it seemed to sparkle and dance. The sounds of the water demons were a strange, almost otherworldly mixture of splashing and hissing, and the smell of them was sharp and pungent, like the scent of rotten eggs mixed with something else, something far more sinister. As I stood there, watching the water demons at play, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the beauty of it all, even as I knew that these creatures were anything but beautiful.

I then saw something that surprised me. I saw a hacker teleporting across the lake. Any mob that was remotely close to him immediately got killed. "Is this a member of Blue Turtle?" I thought to myself.

He then notices me and May and teleports to us.

The man in full black was an imposing figure, standing tall with a black flame aura swirling around him. The flames were a deep, dark color, almost as if they were swallowing up the light around them. They gave off a strong smell of smoke and burning embers, filling the air with a thick, acrid scent. The sound of the flames was a low, guttural roar, like the constant rumble of a wildfire. As the man moved, the flames seemed to dance and writhe around him, adding to the sense of power and danger emanating from him.

The man then put his hand in the air. I had suddenly been kicked out of the game. The hacker intentionally crashed me so I couldn't report him. May probably was kicked out too. I then logged back into Quest.

I then respawned at my spawn location which was a bridge that went across the lake. The bridge was made of worn and weathered wooden planks, held up by sturdy ropes and chains that had been securely fastened to the nearby trees and rocks. The surface of the bridge was rough and splintered, with deep grooves and scratches from years of use. Despite its rough appearance, the bridge was still sturdy and able to support the weight of multiple people.

The hacker was nowhere in sight.

I then waited for May for a while. After 10 minutes or so I got a message from May. "I'll be on later but I'm still startled about the hacker so I might be a few hours. I'll text you when I am ready to head on."

I then remembered that we connected our phone numbers to the game. I then went into the UI and texted her back using a gold keyboard which was similar to the one I used when I first logged in to the QVRN headset. "Yeah, that was strange. Text me when you're ready!"

I then logged off and took off the headset. I then decided to take a walk across the city.

As I walk through the city, I can't help but feel a sense of disappointment. The real world just doesn't compare to the virtual one. The sun looks dull and faded compared to the bright, vibrant colors of the virtual world.

The sounds of the city include advertisements played by speakers the electric cars humming as they drive by and the footsteps of those around me. The smell of the city to me is similar to garbage, while the virtual world has a variety of interesting and immersive smells. As I walk I can't shake the thought of that hacker I saw earlier. Who were they and what were they trying to do?