Chapter 3

A computer booting sound could be heard as Jhin's vision changed. Then, A holographic window appeared in front of him.

[User Logging in...]

...

After waiting for a couple of minutes, the window disappeared as he was suddenly brought to a wide meadow.

The sun warmly shining above him while the breeze gently brushed upon his body. Blue skies stretched above him with patches of clouds plastered every now and then.

In addition to that, the refreshing scent of nature entered his nose.

All his five senses told him that he was currently in the middle of a meadow.

Such an incredible phenomenon could hardly be believed as he genuinely felt that he was not in his house but in a completely different environment.

He took a deep breath as his nostalgic memories resurfaced.

This was it.

This was what made URVR very addicting.

The feeling of living in an entirely different world.

He soon dismissed his sentimental thoughts disappeared as he remembered that this world will truly be the place they will live on in the future.

A few moments later, a game notice appeared which brought him out of his reminiscence.

[Please choose your username]

Unlike his previous life, he did not spend a long time to choose for his in game name.

[Hoarder]

...

[This username is available. Confirm to use this username?]

Jhin tapped on the "Yes" option.

With that, he had successfully created his in game character.

[Synchronizing physical body specs into the character...]

Jhin was not surprised to see this notice but the same couldn't be said for the other countless players around the world.

This notice meant that they could not change their appearance as well as the physical assessment of their body.

Which means that if one were to have a weak or unhealthy body, he or she would have a lower or weaker base stats in game. Of course, if they were with disability, the game calibrates their game body to be complete and usable. However, their stats will be lowered the same as players with unhealthy bodies.

Consequently, if one were to be physically fit in reality, they would also get a higher base stats compared to the average player.

This feature naturally brought dissatisfaction towards the other players especially to those who suffer physical condition such as terminal illnesses or obesity. But their complaints fell on deaf ears. The game developers already released a statement that they will not be changing this feature of the game and encourage the players to live a healthy life in both reality and virtually.

Which just seemed a sarcastic statement for those with disability.

The unsatisfied players didn't take that too well as they tried canceling or defaming the game developers. But that didn't work after all, who were they facing?

Gods. Literal Deities.

The players' efforts bore no results which is why they gritted their teeth and swallowed their pride and played the game with how it is.

...

[Character creation complete.]

...

[Welcome to the world of Ascended Order, Hoarder.]

...

[Would you like to play the tutorial?]

Jin tapped on the "Yes" option.

That was when the game notice disappeared and a boar spawned in front of him.

The appearance of the boar did not differ from reality as its hide could be seen to its tiniest hair and if one were to touch it, they would feel its rough texture.

It also breathed through its nose while it also generated a warm temperature, indicating that it truly is alive.

This was how life-like the creatures were in the world of [Ascended Order].

Calling it another world or another planet wasn't too far fetched with how realistic everything was.

From then on, Jhin proceeded to complete the tutorial as he was taught on how to move, fight, and use skills.

While he spent the next half hour familiarizing himself with the mechanics of the game, he also tried several moves of martial arts in order to see the full extent of his capabilities.

He stood in a stance and closed his eyes.

He then took a deep breath and-.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

His arms stretched speedily in front of him, releasing two sets of punches that contained his entire body's strength.

The speed was fast but Jhin didn't stop there and did a series of moves that followed after his punches.

He took a step forward with his torso lowered and withdrew his stretched arms. Then shifting his foot, he used that as a small foothold to twist his body to the right, releasing a knife-like elbow strike in front of him.

As his eyes still remained closed, he visualized an enemy in front of him.

He then bent downwards and gathered strength in his legs. A second later, he leapt upwards and reached about 180 cm above the ground.

As he did so, he made a roundhouse kick with his right leg. His right leg then made a swift arc in the air and using that leg as a momentum, he twisted his body in the air and used the back of his left leg to make a second arc in the air.

Still having a few centimeters remaining before he lands the ground, His body was now facing frontward after his left leg completed an arc. He then released another kick with his right leg which would hit the torso of his imaginary enemy.

And to finish it off, the moment he landed in the ground, he did a swift lower sweep with his left leg.

In total, Jhin released four kicks in that short of a time alone.

He opened his eyes and looked at his body.

"Huh... so I can only use 60% of my skills."

The immersive experience was limited by the old generation console, making him unable to fully integrate his real life capabilities inside the game.

Jhin didn't dwell on it too much since he already prepared a plan to make money in the game and buy himself a better console.

In this game, there are three types of players. Those who heavily rely on in-game skills, Those who incorporate their real life capabilities into the game, or lastly, those who can perfectly mix both.

The first type of player is an average player who chooses to rely on the in game skills to play the game. They also tend to learn skills that would act as a "Combo" in order to match up to the experiences of the second type of player.

The second type of player meant that if he or she knows how martial arts or any other skills in real life, then they preferred to play the game by using their real life skill.

They moved more naturally and are able to take on average players who rely too much on their in game skill.

The last type of player is the most ideal player in game and in the previous timeline, Jhin was this type of player.

Which was why he felt slightly restrained, like weights were being chained to his body.

But this was the old generational console at work and Jhin simply adapted to it since he was going to play in this state for at least more than a week or so.

After completing the tutorial, he was given the option to leave or stay behind to roam around.

Jhin chose the second option and the game notice disappeared.

Before he moved on, he decided to check his character window.

"Status."

A blue window pane that contained the information of his character appeared in front of him.

[ Name: Hoarder Level: 1 (EXP: 0%)

Title: None

Class: None

HP: 110/110

MP: 90/90

Status: Healthy

-

Strength: 11

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 10

Vitality: 11

-

Available Attribute Points: 0

Available Skill Points: 0

-

Active Skill(s):

-N/A

Passive Skill(s):

-N/A ]

"Hmmm... that's about average."

There are four primary attributes which are the core abilities of a player.

Strength increases physical damage. Agility increases mobility, precision, and critical damage. Intelligence increases magic damage and lastly, Vitality increases physical defense.

An average player would have 8-10 points in their basic attributes while those physically fit or Olympic-level fit would have 14-16 points depending on their developed body.

A gymnast would usually have 13-15 Agility while geniuses or those gifted with intelligence have 15 or so in the intelligence attribute points.

After checking his character window once more, Jhin became satisfied and finally turned his attention towards his surroundings.

He was standing on an elevated ground similar to a hill and from there, he could see lanes of trees surrounding the meadows he was in. It reached all the way towards a tall mountain from afar.

One would think that the mountain was an aesthetic design but—

"Let's go."

He began to venture towards the mountain without a second thought.

The reason he was confident in travelling that long distance was because in the initial stages of the game, "Hunger" and "Exhaustion" still hasn't been integrated.

However, the game developers wanted to add more realism in the game which is why in the next update, those two features will be added.

This was also is why Jhin decided to take advantage of this to the fullest and fortunately for him, the next update was still a month or so away according to his memories.

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Spending over five hours of walking through the forest, he managed to reach the foot of the mountain.

Although the sense of hunger and tiredness was not yet added, that didn't mean that one would not suffer from mental fatigue.

Just like monotonously repeating an action in reality for hours, he or she will still end up feeling mental exhaustion.

And while he did see animals and plants that would normally appear in a forest on Earth, he did not bother with them since he knows that he wouldn't be able to bring anything out of this map.

The tutorial plains was strictly a place where the game introduces itself to the player and teaches the latter in how to play.

But of course to Jhin who had suffered trials several times worse than this, this small amount of patience was easier than a walk in a park.

Soon enough, Jhin reached the foot of the mountain. He then heard a ringing sound from his mind.

Ding! Ding!

[You have unlocked the achievement: "A Curious Explorer"

+3 Points to all base stats

+2 Skill Points ]

He lightly glanced at the game notice before proceeding to climb the mountain even after his five hours of walking.

He carried his body with hid arms and began to climb the steep mountain.

As he was doing so, his mind began to wander towards other things.

Although Jhin would seem like he was playing leisurely, wasn't particularly worried about being left behind in levels or taking the reward for the first dungeon clear achievement.

In fact, he was quite curious to see the reaction of other players after they learned how difficult it is to kill the monsters.

Those impulsive ones will start grinding levels on the first dungeon which is [Goblin's nest] while others will explore the [Beginner Village] and earn experience points from completing side quests.

Going into the first dungeon was suicide since the [Goblin's Nest] had strong monsters with a wide variety of levels, some even reaching level 10 and above.

The players would soon learn how terrible and difficult the first dungeon really was and seeing their reaction was one of the things Jhin was looking forward to.

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As Jhin continued to climb the mountain, the mountain became steeper and steeper, forcing him to concentrate deeply.

And finally, after three long hours of exhausting concentration, Jhin managed to reach the peak of the mountain.

Looking at the sea of clouds, Jhin took a moment to appreciate the mesmerizing view of nature.

He then heard a series of ringing sounds in his mind as multiple game notices appeared in front of him.

Ding! Ding!

[You have unlocked the achievement: "In Pursuit of Nature's Beauty"

Condition: See the scenery of the unnamed mountain in the Tutorial Map.

+10 Points to all base stats

+5 Skill points

+5 Gold Coins ]

Ding! Ding!

[You have unlocked the achievement: "A Penny saved"

Condition: Have 1 Copper in inventory

+0.5 Points to all base stats]

Ding! Ding!

[You have unlocked the achievement: "Pocket Change"

Condition: Have 10 Silvers in inventory

+2.5 Points to all base stats]

Ding! Ding!

[You gave unlocked the achievement: "Fat Wallet"

Condition: Have 1 Gold in inventory

+3 Points to all base stats ]

Ding! Ding!

[You have unlocked the unique title: "Adventurer's Will" ]

[Title: Adventurer's Will

➥With unyielding will and strong conviction, you conquered the first mountain you saw.

+20% Effects to all attributes

+30% Critical Chance

+30% Critical Strike

-5% Cooldown timer ]

'This is it!'

Jhin's subconsciously balled into a fist as a cold grin appeared on his face.

The achievements and the special title was the reason Jhin spent over eight hours doing nothing but travelling.

Of course, another reason for his confidence in spending this much time was because there was a time difference between in game and reality. The time ratio was 3:1, meaning that three hours in game was equivalent to one hour in reality.

This means that Jhin has only spent a little more than two hours and a half playing the game in reality.

It was worth mentioning that the game's time difference that made the game much more attractive to everyone.

[Equip the Title: "Adventurer's Will" ?]

Jhin confirmed and instantly, he could feel the overall boost into his body.

After achieving his goal, Jhin glanced at the unique scenery on top of the mountain.

A sea of trees on the earth below while other mountain ranges stretched across the horizon. The sun was beautifully shining across the wonderful field while clouds momentarily cast a shadow on the land below.

This was the last time he will ever see this view again.

At the same time, this will be the place where his rise to the top shall start. He hummed slightly before toggling the game option.

[Leave (Tutorial: Green Meadows) ?]

Without looking back, Jhin confirmed and his body disappeared into particles of light.

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The next time Jhin opened his eyes, he arrived in another place. The surrounding buildings were made out of stone walls with ceramic tiled roofs.

Bright blue skies stretched high above, painted with clouds that slowly moved across the skies.

The earthen ground had rock platforms serving as pathways towards different establishments of the village.

The village greatly resembled the village that you would find in rural regions in a medieval era.

"I want to buy this."

"Are you guys in a party?"

"Where did you get that skill?"

Jhin found himself in a sea of people where everyone was moving back and forth, busily attending their own businesses.

The first detail that Jhin noticed was that everyone was wearing the same clothing including himself.

They wore rag clothes that covered their entire torso and thighs. Naturally this was also the same preset to female players.

Some of the players had weapons in their hands or back and were discussing something among themselves while other players were running around the place, talking to different kinds of npcs.

Whether they were normal villagers or even the interactable pet chickens, they interacted with them randomly in hopes to unlocking or discovering some kind of secret quest.

The game had already launched for more than eight hours and the players were struggling to level up since the first dungeon was too hard to clear.

Some of the stubborn and confident players continued to challenge the [Goblin's Nest]. At each failure, they learned and concocted a plan in order to not repeat the same mistakes in the previous run.

And unfortunately for them, you lose experience points every time you die.

Regardless of whether you are level 5 or below, you will lose exp without fail if you were to die.

Those impulsive players continued to run the same dungeon because their experience points could no longer go down, making them at Level 1 with zero exp progression.

Videos and live streams were put up into forums and social media platforms but all they could see was the terror of the goblins that lived in the dungeon. They couldn't even get past the first stage of the dungeon so most of the video's contents were useless.

Aside from side quests, dungeons weren't necessarily the only grinding place in order to earn exp. You may also free roam and explore the outskirts of the [Beginner Village].

Going to the outskirts of the village, you will be able to meet other mobs where you may kill in order to gain experience points and materials.

However, Unfortunately for the players not affiliated to any influential groups or guilds, they were not able to use that method since the top guilds already took control and monopolized those grinding spots.

Naturally, the nonaffiliated or solo players reported and complained to the game masters but the latter simply responded that the players needs think of a way themselves.

Either they succumb to power or struggle alone, the player must make a choice. The Game Masters repeated that they are not there to babysit the players nor were they there to spoon feed them.

The neutral players had no choice but venture further outside the outskirts to which they discovered that the further you go away from the village, the higher the levels the monsters they will encounter.

Looking at the active global chat, Jhin laughed at the plight of the guild masters as they repeatedly announced that they cannot help the players.

'Their selfishness will be their own undoing.'

It was because of those people's selfishness that the community inside the game became toxic.

But none of that was Zed's problems yet, so he went on his way towards his next objective.

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Walking across the village for some time, he arrived in front of one particular building that resembled a tavern.

It had an emblem of two daggers crossing on top of each other on top of the building's entrance.

Jhin entered the building where he found both players and npcs sitting around the multiple sets of wooden tables.

His entrance didn't garner much attention since everyone was already used to having players entering the building.

And directly straight from the direction of the entrance was a desk with a female npc wearing a rogue-like outfit.

Jhin didn't spare anyone a glance and proceeded to walk towards the front desk.

The female npc looked at Jhin with a lazy expression. "Can I help you?"

"I want to become a rogue."

Without even looking at his face, The female npc lazily motioned for him to head towards the back.

Jin nodded and proceeded to follow her direction.

His current purpose was to earn his class and in the world of Ascended Order, there are five available beginner classes, each of them having their own establishments.

The five beginning classes were; [Warrior], [Sorcerer], [Ranger], [Cleric], and [Rogue].

Players who prefer a straight-forward kind of gameplay, warrior class is a perfect class for them as it focuses in physical strength and melee-attack skills. They use weapons such as greatswords, axes, hammers, large shields and the likes.

Meanwhile, those who want to immerse themselves in the fantasy setting of the game and use unique magical skills, then sorcerer class are their go-to class since they are adept at using magic as their skills heavily revolved around their mana. These players tend to be the first type of players who heavily relies in their in-game skills.

Players who prefer long ranged attacks as well as aiming for an opportunity to hit a critical damage should choose the ranger class.

Cleric class is a unique supporting class that mainly focused in healing and giving enchantments, commonly known as "Buffs" in gaming terms.

Unfortunately, they were hard to level up since they have low battling capability and stage clearing ability. However, they will be highly sought out in higher levels when more dungeons appear.

Lastly, the rogue class is for players who are adept in searching traps and unlocking doors. They are responsible for scouting the area and providing information to the party.

Those were the currently known classes that were available in the Beginner Village.

Jhin arrived at the back of the building and there, he found several players forming a line on different npcs.

In every class establishment, there are different master npcs who teach skills depending on their specialization.

For instance, in the warrior establishment, there is a master who has a large and tall physique and carries a large axe on his back.

This master can teach players the skill regarding axes.

From then on, the player can choose to pursue this path and receive a class promotion from this master npc.

Class promotion can be unlocked in the future levels in which a player will be able to unlock his subclass upon completion of the promotion.

For example, a Warrior can become a [Swordsman], a [Mercenary], a [Defender], and more strength focused melee classes.

Upon promotion, he or she will unlock a higher set of skills in relation to their class.

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Looking around, Jhin found five npcs in which all but the middle one had lines of players intending to learn their first skills.

The npc with no players lined up in front of her was a beautiful woman with expresso-coloured skin and enchanting emerald eyes. She was well endowed as her large curves and small waist were tightly fit in her black suit.

She had a lean muscular body which made her more charming.

Other players who were waiting in line towards other master npcs, could not help but admire this particular female npc's appearance.

Her suit had a unique black luster of light but it was covered by a dark and dark worn out cloak.

She had two daggers hanging from both sides of her waist.

From afar, Jhin could see strands of her purple hair that slightly hung from the side of her beautiful face. She had a sharp and cold gaze but that only added to her unique charm.

Some would find her intimidating and others would be too afraid to approach her but Jhin made his way towards her with no particular feelings.

The woman stared at Jhin as the latter approached her.

"I greet Assassin Master Valaeze" Jhin said before humbly bowing.

In the rogue establishment, there are two master assassin npcs and one of them was Valaeze.

Even among the other Masters, Valaeze was considered as the best of the best which was why her skills cost money. She has a rich and unique background story but in order to learn more about her, the player must frequently interact with her, give her gifts or offerings, and build a relationship with her.

Building relationships with NPCs would significantly affect your time in playing the game. For example, you may become friends with the merchant and they would give you discounts on their merchandise.

Meanwhile, if you were disliked by an NPC, you would be unwelcomed to their establishments and if that dislike were to turn into hatred, there were instances where the NPC killed players.

Every NPC had their own unique personality. Just like some NPCs were loud, boastful, and chivalrous, there are those who are quiet and dislike noisy players.

There were those who were friendly, while some were flirtatious, rude, hateful and many more unique personalities.

It would be better for a player to not treat NPCs as NPCs but as real people instrad due to the fact that NPCs were too life-like and unique to the point where they have a will and opinion of their own.

Whenever interacting with NPCs, there is always an option to make small talk which could lead the NPC to give tips, advice, or even tell their own backstories.

Valaeze is a Master Assassin who was quiet and disliked talkative and noisy people. She was an unsociable person who preferred to be alone by herself

So attempting to make a small talk with her would result in the player gaining a bad impression from her.

Valaeze wordlessly nodded at Jhin before waiting for Jhin's next words.

Jhin already knew that the master npc in front of him was a quiet woman who does not like tedious chatters.

Making eye contact with the master, Jhin got to the point. "I would like to learn your skills."

"...It will cost you money."

Her voice was soft and melodic but unfortunately, her words were short and brief.

Jhin nodded. "I am prepared to pay."

Valaeze stared at him for a moment before closing her eyes and responding.

"Very well. I have ten available skills, here is the list which also includes their prices."

She stretched out her palm which caused a game notice to appear in front of Jhin.

From there, he could see ten skills with their names and descriptions as well as the price that they cost.

If a normal player were to see the prices of the skill, their eyes would pop out of their sockets due to how ridiculous the price was.

The lowest price from her skills was 1 gold while the highest was 3 golds.

One should know how difficult it is to earn money since drops from mobs could only earn you a few pieces of irons while rewards from quests and side quests, paid just the same amount.

Irons were the lowest value of money and a thousand of them were equivalent to one copper while a thousand copper was equivalent to one silver and lastly, a thousand silver was equivalent to one gold.

This was the main reason that no player formed lined up to learn skills from her. Meanwhile, the other masters were more newbie friendly as they offered free skills.

Some of the players on the other lines snickered after they saw Jhin blankly looking in front of him. They thought that he was stunned to find out the prices of the skills that the woman offered.

"Hey look at that noob." One of them chuckled in ridicule.

"Lmao, can't wait to see his reaction when he sees the prices of those broken skills."

"Hold on, I'll record this."

Intending to make fun of Jhin, one of them activated visual recording but just as he did, they suddenly froze after hearing the beautiful female npc's next words.

"Thank you for your patronage. Do come again."

Jhin only nodded before turning around and walking away.

[You have unlocked the Achievement: "Rich Nouveau"

Condition: Spend at least 1 gold

+2 Points to all base stats ]

The atmosphere turned silent as all the surrounding players looked at him in disbelief.

The other master npcs also had a look of surprise in their face but they immediately controlled their expression making their reaction go unnoticed.

At the same time, Valaeze only blankly stared at Jhin's receding back. No one could guess what she was thinking with that expressionless face of hers.