Becoming a Renegade!

Alex arrives back in Cape Town, quickly boards his plane, and returns to his home country without any problems. He spends the entire flight frantically reading the news, but doesn't find a single line about a certain explosion in a certain town...

"Looks like even that incident got swept under the rug too—perhaps by the devil's own heirs," Alex mutters. He can't help but laugh, feeling oddly confident and not regretting it at all.

Despite all the issues his own country has, Alex arrives with a newfound appreciation for it after what he witnessed abroad. "People, including me, should be a bit more thankful for what they have," he now realizes.

Feeling reinvigorated, Alex changes a lot over the next few weeks. He wakes up earlier than usual, goes to the gym at least four to five times a week, and even joins a small MMA club to learn fighting techniques. His basic skills and stats allow him to impress the trainers, who consider having him compete in matches despite his late twenties.

Alex, of course, declines, thinking, "Don't want any attention."

After his training, Alex spends his free time watching movies, playing games, or catching up on anime. That knowledge might change his life, and he's thrilled to have a good reason to indulge. His newest, most visited sites are various "wikis" related to popular franchises. He also hangs out in the Fantasy Realm every day, with the trading hub becoming his second home.

After countless minor trades and a few FC earned here and there, Alex has grown his small stash of 2,800 FC to 6,200.

Alex constantly buys items priced the same as generic ones and sells them for slightly more. He notices that new players enter the Realm every few weeks and usually make bad deals, which he exploits however he can.

Another trick he uses is capitalizing on the sharp rise in the price of recovery items whenever players are called for missions. If multiple players receive mission notifications at the same time, like when 20 players scramble to buy healing items, even generic Healing Potions can suddenly cost a few hundred FC more because the merchants run out of stock.

Using these strategies, Alex turns 2,800 FC into 6,200 FC in just a few weeks.

He smiles, proud of his achievements, until finally, after a little over four weeks, he gets his own notification:

[Player Alex Kerber has been selected for a new Mission. Please enter the Fantasy Realm mission gate near the central hub in 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 45 seconds or face soul destruction.]

Alex spends his last day visiting his parents and grandparents—perhaps for the last time. He finally mans up and quits his dead-end office job, deciding to stop behaving like a parasite. He also spends time in the Fantasy Realm, buying 12 bullets for his new revolver, which he uses in the training corner, another facility within the Realm, to get a feel for the weapon.

His plan is to use his remaining 6,000 FC to buy more healing items, but that plan quickly goes out the window as soon as he spots an intriguing item while strolling through the trading hub.

[Commander Shepard's Dog Tag]

World: Mass Effect

Quality: Deep Blue

Type: Necklace

Required Stats: CHA - 7, SPR - 6, LUK - 5

Effect: Paragon or Renegade – Increases the chance to pass difficult speech checks and enables the character to influence events more easily. Warning, may affect Player's personality.

Note: Red or Blue?

"I need this!"

Alex casually approaches the merchant, asking, "How much for the dog tag?"

"It's Deep Blue! I barely survived a special Mass Effect mission that happened way before the actual start of the game and now I'm level 4, just one world away from leaving the tutorial. I risked my life completing a hidden quest, and this is all I got. I want 20,000 FC."

Alex smirks, pretending to lose interest but keeps talking. "A hidden quest and all that effort for this piece of crap?"

"Piece of crap? The effect sounds great! What's your problem?"

"Yeah, it sounds great. That's the issue. Neither you nor anyone else can actually use it. How do you know it's any good? 5 LUK? Focus on CHA and SPR? Hah! Whoever tries that is as good as dead, even if they somehow increase their LUK."

The merchant snaps back, "So why do you want it, then, huh?"

Alex sneers. "You're level 4 and still don't know much about the market? I've got an Altar of Sacrifice from The Binding of Isaac. I can turn this thing into a random item of the same grade. Sure, I can only use it once and it costs some FC, but I just need something better. I'm offering 2,500 FC."

"FUCK OFF!"

Despite the harsh insults, the player haggles with Alex. He just needs to survive one more world to leave the tutorial and join his guildmates, which would drastically improve his survival chances.

After an intense bargaining session, Alex secures the item for 4,500 FC, leaving him with 1,500—just enough for another healing potion.

[Healing potion]

World: Fantasy Realm

Quality: White

Effect: Instantly heals 20 HP and minor wounds, can only be drunk once every 12 hours. May reduce the effectiveness of similar healing items.

Note: Basic healing item

Price: 1000 FC

"Can't have enough potions. Not like I can just buy them at every corner."

His winning argument was: "4,500 is enough for 4 to 5 healing items. That dog tag is useless trash and will stay that way, you know it. Keep it, and when you're on the brink of death, remember this moment."

Alex smiles, now more calculated and ruthless, filled with newfound conviction. "I play to win, not to make friends."

Alex stands in front of the giant gate near the center of the tutorial selection with a smile, enjoying the feeling of wearing Shepard's dog tag necklace.

Suddenly, a system notification pops up:

[Player Alex Kerber has been selected for a new mission. Please enter the Fantasy Realm mission gate near the central hub in 0 hours, 4 minutes, and 56 seconds or face soul deletion.]

"Let's do this. 1337, wish me luck."

[Host's luck is already unprecedented. He doesn't need more than he has. This system is impressed with the host's changes over the last month and eagerly awaits his return.]

Alex stands by the mission portal in the central plaza, checking his status one last time, feeling proud of his progress. Oddly enough, instead of fear, he feels an unexpected surge of excitement.

Alex Kerber: Lvl 1

HP: 80/80, MP: 80/80

STR: 7, AGI: 7, PHY: 7, SNS: 7, CHA: 7, MNA: 7, INT: 7 SPR: 7, LUK: 7

Available Stat Points: 0

Innate Skills: Genius Conjurer lvl 1, Statistical OCD lvl MAX

Free Skill Slots: 1/2, Free Basic Skill Slots: 0/8

Basic skills: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 1, Basic Footwork lvl 1, Basic Endurance lvl 1, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 1, Basic Eloquence lvl 1, Basic Concentration lvl 1, Basic Meditation lvl 1, Basic Mana Control lvl 1

Passive Skills: Pistol Proficiency lvl 1

Active Skills: Annihilation Grenade lvl 1

Fantasy Coins: 500 Soul Crystals: Small x1

Current Weapons: Mr. 5's Revolver (Deep Blue), Solid Marine Saber (Light Green)

Current Equipment: Commander Shepard's Dog Tag (Deep Blue) Navalia Fur Armor (White), Navalia Fur Boots (White), Navalia Fur Gauntlets (White) 

Miscellaneous Items: Navalia Wolf Jerky x4 (Gray), Healing Potion x2 (White)

"Let's do this!" he screams confidently as he enters the portal and his vision blurs.