Tutorial (2)

Li Shi Ming continued to stare at the Giant Rat corpse in disgust. Seeing how he managed to level up once more, he threw another obtained stat point into DEF.

[Username: Shi Ming]

Level: 4

[Stats:]

HP: 6/16

ATK: 1

DEF: 15

CRT: 1%

CRT DMG: 0

ACC: 3

AGI: 1

MAG: 1

STA: 1

First of all, he has never tried to build a fire. The area that he was placed in did not have anything that would help him in doing so either.

Secondly, even if this was a game, it was already so realistic that he'd literally be eating a raw mutated rat.

Looking at the large corpse again, Li Shi Ming started feeling sick when the adrenaline wore off. His body still ached but his wounds have dried, and his hitpoints still remained at 6.

[Please restore health before proceeding to the second half of the tutorial]

"F*ck you." Li Shi Ming swore as he closed another notice.

He wasn't feeling too well. Looking at the blood and gore and still being able to smell it in the air, Li Shi Ming resisted the urge to puke. His starter gear was also in tatters, and he had no idea where he could get more clothes.

He slowly dragged himself some distance away from the smell and laid down onto the pixelated grass. His body was about to give out to exhaustion.

Closing his eyes, Li Shi Ming tried to get some rest before thinking of his next course of action. Since it was the tutorial level, no other players would be here. He should be safe.

Immediately, he drifted off into a restless sleep.

...

A younger Li Shi Ming was seen smiling as he played, talking on voice chat. He was happy, playing different games and meeting new people. Day by day passed, and he is also seen growing older.

Victory.

Defeat.

Defeat.

Now, he wore headphones that deafened the sound from the outside world. Sitting alone on his computer, he continued to grind mindlessly and play without emotion. His eyes were blank and emotionless, overshadowed by his bangs.

"Why do you play so much?" A voice asked.

"I always play games when I'm sad." He replied casually.

"But I literally see you play everyday." Hearing this, Li Shi Ming could only give a wry smile in return.

Victory.

Defeat.

Victory.

Winning or losing didn't matter to him. All of these achievements were simply a false sense of prestige in a virtual reality that doesn't exist.

Victory.

Victory.

Victory.

Time passed by quickly like this. Li Shi Ming enjoyed how numb he became as he continued to kill and dominate other players in the games. It didn't matter if he didn't win them all.

If he kept on going like this, it wouldn't hurt as much.

After all, real life and the online world are two separate realities. They couldn't be together.

This was exactly what she told him, right?

...

Li Shi Ming's eyes opened. However, his pupils were detached and there was a blank expression on his face. He hated having dreams about the past.

Picking himself off, his thoughts drifted off to his family. Li Shi Ming's mother and father lived in another city, so he didn't know if the news that players were trapped here had gotten out to the public or not.

Having 10000 people trapped inside a VRMMORPG would be quick to get noticed, right?

Waiting and hoping for rescue was definitely an option. However, in the worst case scenario, if there were no way to actually stop the game then he'd just be waiting to die.

Li Shi Ming's tummy grumbled. He hadn't eaten for already over half a day. His throat was also dry and there was no water around to quench his thirst.

On the bright side, sleeping made him feel a lot better. He checked his status and saw that his HP had been restored by 2 points.

[Username: Shi Ming]

Level: 4

[Stats:]

HP: 8/16

While checking his character screen, Li Shi Ming noticed another game prompt.

[Warning: Player's HP is still in critical condition. Are you sure you want to continue? Y/N]

He hesitated, looking back over to the Giant Rat corpse. Li Shi Ming picked up a fallen arrow and stared at the disgusting pile of flesh.

It didn't have any signs of rotting yet, but he was really unwilling to proceed. If their senses were realistic, then he'd have to choke down raw monster meat.

Looking away, he hesitantly used the tip to cut out a large chunk with surprisingly transformed into a perfect steak. Li Shi Ming observed it and noticed the part he cut out had transformed into an item called [Raw Giant Rat Meat].

[Warning: Eating this item raw can induce poisoning]

That didn't sound pleasant.

Placing it into his inventory, it disappeared in a soft glow of light. He repeated the process 2 more times when the rest of the Giant Rat suddenly dissipated into pixels and vanished.

Li Shi Ming still held a piece of rat steak in his hands. Swallowing nervously, he decided to put it away as well.

Hopefully, he'll find a way to cook it and not be desperate enough to try eating it raw. Li Shi Ming then took some time to gather up the remaining scattered arrows from where he fought the rat.

The warning message was still there. Selecting [Y] on the prompt, Li Shi Ming found a portal appearing beneath his feet. He felt himself being picked up and teleported when he sank into the bright vortex.

[World 1 Level 0]

[Welcome to the second half of the tutorial!]

[Username: Shi Ming]

[Authorized]

[Loading resources...]

Li Shi Ming arrived in an area where the dirt was black and surrounded by stone pillars of identical height and size scattered in the area. In the far distance was a white fog that remained static in its position, almost like a game that wasn't able to completely render.

Near him was a small temple surrounded by ruined, crumbled marble. In the centre of the temple was a rectangular stone stand that contained a translucent, sphere-shaped crystal.

Li Shi Ming was wary that more enemies would be spawning in similar to the Giant Rat. If it was, he'd be in a desperate scenario since his HP was only a little over half full. He wouldn't be able to survive another boss encounter like earlier.

[Loading complete!]

[Welcome, Shi Ming]

[Place your hand on the pedestal to activate your system]

"System?" Li Shi Ming was confused. However, there seemed to be no enemies nearby, so it felt safe to approach.

He followed the instructions and touched the sphere. Nothing happened. "Erm..."

[Analyzing...]

[Error.]

[Error.]

[Error.]

Li Shi Ming was getting creeped out by the error prompts appearing in his vision. It was like how one of those old computers got a virus and multiple error messages kept popping up.

He tried to pull his hand away but it was glued onto the sphere. Li Shi Ming grunted with exertion as he desperately tried to pull his hand away.

[Error.]

[Summoning Antiviruses]

"Oh, sh*t." Li Shi Ming was dumbstruck when multiple portals appeared around the temple.

Large beings rose from them, 5 in total. All were carrying massive scythes. They had a simple cloth for a mask and had bodies of large white androids, but humanoid heads.

He checked their status and became terrified. Li Shi Ming felt that the game had completely f*cked him.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was in deep trouble.

[NPC: Antivirus]

Level: ???

HP: 50000/50000

ATK: ?

DEF: ?

All other stats are at the value of ?

Skills: ?

Abilities: ?

[Status]

Li Shi Ming was being cornered into the temple as they approached, levitating in the air. There was no way that he could get away with the stupid ball trapping him.

He realized that the sphere was able to rotate on the pedestal. The young man thought quickly and could only figure out one way to escape alive.

The closest one swung outwards with a lightning fast speed. Turning, Li Shi Ming managed to dodge the first slash as he ducked behind the stone stand. The others all charged and swung out in an identical motion.

There was no way he could avoid the other attacks.

"Ahh! F*ck!" Li Shi Ming screamed when his right arm was cut off at the elbow, disappearing into pixels.

Another slash removed his left leg at the middle of his thigh, when Li Shi Ming tried to roll away from the sphere. The rest of the Antiviruses continued their attacks, slashing and breaking the crystal sphere while he curled up in agony.

[Threat neutralized]

[Returning...]

Li Shi Ming roared in pain as he backpedalled to a wall with his remaining leg, clutching his missing arm. He watched as the Antiviruses disappear back into the portals.

His HP strangely did not go down. However, Li Shi Ming lost all feeling from where his limbs were chopped off. It stopped bleeding, but continued to hurt badly at the stumps that tears kept pouring down his face.

[Warning. User's heart rate is reaching unstable levels]

[Username: Shi Ming]

Level: 4

[Stats:]

HP: 8/16

[Status: Heart rate abnormal]

"F*ck you." Li Shi Ming hatefully glared at the fragmented crystal while seeing stars. It was all this piece of sh*t's fault for summoning those things.

As much as he wanted to say 'Tis but a scratch', losing limbs was very detrimental if he wanted to survive. Emotionally and mentally exhausted, Li Shi Ming couldn't help but continue to cry himself hoarse.

The pain finally seemed to subside after a long, torturing period of time. He wondered if he will die here.

"Hm?" Lying against the wall, he noticed that something was glowing in the debris through teary and blurry eyes. Crawling closer, Li Shi Ming saw that it was a small purple orb the size of a marble.

He tried to observe it, but nothing happened. The game didn't recognize it as an item.

Picking the purple orb up, Li Shi Ming saw there was some kind of shiny red liquid within. It suddenly began to glow and flew into his chest, bursting apart into a crimson light.

Li Shi Ming's eyes widened when he couldn't breathe. It felt like someone threw a sledgehammer at his chest, causing him to gag.

The red light slowly covered Li Shi Ming's body. He could see that they were consisted of countless pixels. Panicked, he tried to swat it off but it enveloped him completely, including his head as he yelped in fear.

[Proceeding to skip missions...]

[Error]

[Tutorial complete!]

[Teleporting...]

Following the red light was the blue light that teleported him here. Not knowing what was going, Li Shi Ming struggled to break free but to no avail.

He then heard a robotic voice in his head, which was oddly soothing.

[User identified]

[Hello, Shi Ming. I am the Protagonist System]

[Determined that the host's data has been critically damaged. Initiating repairs...]