Go Away if You Don't Want to Play

The official announcement was released at noon. It was elaborate and written in a friendly tone, but it could be summarized into one short sentence: go away if you don't want to play, and we will give you a full refund for your virtual cabin.

Considering that secondhand virtual cabins were already twenty thousand bucks more expensive than the originals on the market, only an idiot would've asked for a refund. The game producers' announcement indicated their confidence and pride.

They had every reason to be proud after having developed such a game, or at least Roland thought so. He could tell that the game was based on Dungeons & Dragons. He did not know much about the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, but he was aware that Mages truly had to learn spells on their own under such rules.

The game producers had only represented the rule in their game.

Besides, according to the setting, Mages were supposed to be a rare class.

Roland estimated that the game producers were using such a strategy to limit the number of Mages and push them to become Warlocks, Priests, or other melee classes.

If that was the case, the game producers had indeed put a lot of thought into it. After all, Mages were a powerful class in all fantasy games. That was why they were called Master Mages.

If there were too many players of an OP class, the balance of the game would definitely be affected.

Significantly increasing the difficulty of the class was not a bad way to limit its population. After all, most players agreed that the more difficult a class was and the more resources it required, the more powerful it would be in the future.

But of course, after the game producers gave such a reply, there would certainly be a storm of criticism on the Internet. Their competitors would certainly take advantage of the chance to smear the game. A lot of haters would emerge in every topic that involved this game. The whole Internet would be a mess.

After all, World of Falan, as the first immersive game worldwide, had been under the spotlight on the Internet since it was launched.

The sales of the first batch of virtual cabins did not go well at the beginning. After all, Penguin Corporation was notorious for its history of counterfeits. People did not believe that it had developed an immersive game.

Could such a company achieve something that even the leading game companies failed to?

With such thoughts, many people mocked Penguin Corporation on the Internet, at home and abroad. The first five hundred thousand virtual cabins were gradually sold over a period of half a year.

Roland did not believe that Penguin Corporation had truly developed an immersive game. However, the MMORPGs he had played since childhood were all made by Penguin Corporation.

Penguin Corporation had given him a happy childhood. For that, Roland decided to buy a virtual cabin. After all, Penguin Corporation was a big company. Even if it was not a real immersive game, it should be something close, or Penguin Corporation wouldn't have promoted it so hard.

Nobody expected that the game was as immersive as it claimed to be.

As the first immersive game worldwide, it was at the cutting edge of this era. However unsatisfied the players were, they wouldn't give up the chance to play it. The players who thought that Mage was too difficult a class might complain and refrain from playing the game for a few days, but it was hardly unlikely that they would return or sell the virtual cabins.

Otherwise, the price of secondhand virtual cabins wouldn't have increased by twenty thousand bucks.

Roland turned off the forum and played a few games that he liked in the past, only to discover that he couldn't enjoy them… He worked out on the treadmill for half an hour and biked on the street. He somehow felt that enjoying the scenery on the street was more fun than playing regular games in his room.

Late at night, when he was about to enter the game, it suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't enjoyed regular video games for days. Could this immersive game cure computer addiction?

Thinking about that, Roland entered the game again.

Roland did not mine again. He had saved two silver coins. One hundred coppers could be exchanged for one silver coin. He was now wealthier than half the people in town.

He was not tired of mining. After all, nobody could have too much money. He merely felt that, since he was Level 2, he'd better test his combat ability, and the giant spiders were the best targets.

He came to the temple, and Falken happened to be there. So, he asked for Language Proficiency, then returned to the town and bought a longsword from the blacksmith. Although it was odd for a Mage to use a longsword, he hadn't learned any spells for self-defense yet. Should a spider approach him, a longsword might prove of use.

Then, he bought some herbs that could stop bleeding from the grocery store. After putting everything in his Backpack, he crossed the bridge and walked out of town.

On the bridge at the entrance of the town, he saw Falken.

The wind on the lake was cool and gentle. The hunched, white-haired old man put on a kind smile when he saw Roland.

"Falken, why are you here? You're not guiding the believers at the temple?"

"Just now, Jack ran to me from the blacksmith's shop and told me that you bought a longsword, so I came here to wait for you."

Roland noticed the sweat on Falken's forehead. The old man was also slowly panting with his hands behind his back.

"I'm planning to test my spells. Practice is of little use. Spells can only be measured in a real battle."

"You're going to fight the giant spiders?" asked Falken.

Roland nodded.

"You can resurrect. For the likes of you, battle is just entertainment, but dying too many times can't be good." Falken removed his hands from his back. He was holding a straight stick which had a small sapphire at the end. "This is the staff I used when I was young. You can take it."

Any experienced player knew how expensive magical items could be. Besides, having saved a lot of money through mining over the past days, Roland knew the astonishing purchase power of money in this game world.

Honey bread was sold at only two coppers, but honey was actually a luxurious sweet. Few villagers could afford honey. Besides, one large barrel of ale, which was enough to fill the stomachs of several adults, cost only two coppers, too.

One copper could buy two kilograms of raw rice, one kilogram of river fish, and several kilograms of regular fruits in season.

Roland had meals in Lake View Tavern most of the time in the past days. He overheard the bragging of the customers there now and then when Language Proficiency was effective on him.

He remembered one particular remark clearly.

Even the cheapest magical item would cost more than ten silver coins.