CH 1:Chance meeting

freedom Unlimited

"Finally, after so many years of expectation, tomorrow, Monday, Freedom will be officially launched, the vrmmo that promises to take this technology to a limit never seen before."

The presenter of a certain program created several years ago focused on the video game Freedom, told the latest news.

This was news that completely broke the internet as its global release was not reported or promoted with any amount of time.

The company that created the video game knew that it was not necessary and simply released the announcement 1 days before its game would officially start.

Doorbell!

A young man was lying in his bed when his phone started to vibrate, he picked it up and answered the call.

"Tell me"

The moment the boy answered the call, an excited voice began to talk non-stop.

"León, have you seen the news, everything is crazy"

Without letting León answer him, he continued speaking.

"Brother Freedom will be launched in 2 days, the expectation is through the skies"

León this time cut it off and spoke.

"Miguel, I currently can't afford to buy a console to play and I don't have the time for that either"

The young man's voice was somewhat discouraged, he would obviously love to play but his father was currently sick in the hospital and needed to undergo a long treatment and then have surgery.

His mother who had practically left him in oblivion focusing on his current family had left him with his hands tied.

Currently he had dropped out of college because he had to work most of the time, on construction sites or simply in sales stores.

His family before him was in a good financial situation but when his mother abandoned him and his father, she took a large part of his father's assets.

"León, that's why I say it. It is known from information from the developers that the video game money can be exchanged for Real currency, think about it, you were always good at this type of games."

León sighed, he knew all this information and even wanted to play and win money, this was a dream that he almost achieved several years ago when he was close to becoming a professional.

But currently he couldn't afford to pay for the virtual reality equipment, practically every dollar he earned went to his father's operation.

Nobody knew about his situation, even his friend. He didn't want anyone to feel compassion and treat him differently. The issue of his mother was enough.

"I have spent my entire allowance but I have bought 2 devices along with 2 copies of the video game."

León was silent for a few seconds.

"Friend, I know you're in a bad situation right now, even if you don't want to tell me, I'll always help you."

The eyes of the boy with neck-length black hair began to turn red from the tears that were flowing.

"Miguel, I really thank you, in the end you were the only one who stayed until the end"

The boy on the other end of the phone responded a little excitedly.

"This way at least we will see each other through the video game, it has been almost a year since we met"

Certainly, León remembered that because of his work, he initially made excuses to others for not being able to go to parties or other activities.

Little by little they began to leave him aside except Miguel, who never left his friend aside.

"Remember when I had just moved here when I was a kid, a lot of kids would pick on me because I was from outside, but you were always by my side."

He quickly followed.

"Even though others told you to leave me aside, you ignored them and always invited my sister and me to play."

"This is not enough for what you have done for me, brother."

León in these dark moments was completely grateful and he didn't know what to say.

He had had a really bad time this year, he had sold all his collections of consoles and figures from his favorite video games to raise more money.

He works almost 12 hours a day but still lacked more than $150,000 to start treating his father.

They both said goodbye and finally León hung up.

He got out of bed at 8 a.m. on Sunday, practically his only day off.

León, despite working all day, practiced a fighting technique taught by his grandfather since he was a child.

Supposedly he always boasted that at some point his ancestors were warriors respected both for their hand-to-hand fighting techniques and their use of stealth.

León went to the balcony and with two sticks shaped like a dagger or knife he began to practice his technique.

The movements were so clean and beautiful that it seemed like a spectacle for the few neighbors who went out to the terrace to hang their clothes.

His training not only consisted of weapons, but after a certain time he put down his daggers and began to practice unarmed defense movements.

Certainly the neighborhood where León lived was not very safe and was quite on the outskirts of the city, so he managed to get a good apartment for very little money.

If he had not gotten this opportunity, perhaps he would be living in a room with only one bed or even living on the streets.

Doorbell!

His phone stopped the music he had playing while he was practicing, and when León noticed it, he immediately checked.

There was a message about a transfer of $5,000.

Right after, another message arrived from his friend Miguel.

(I will focus on playing the first few days, with that money you will not have to work for at least 1 week)

Actually this amount was much more than he earned in several weeks but he was really grateful to his friend.

Inside if he played that he would pay him at some point.

After finishing his training, León got into the shower to clean off all the sweat.

He had a well defined and toned body even though he looked quite normal he must have had a good amount of strength.

Dressed again in comfortable shorts and a shirt with his untidy hair down Alex looked at himself in the mirror and immediately began to reflect.

He knew that he had to take advantage of all the time he could to earn money and if he managed to exceed his earnings he would stop working and focus on playing.

To achieve that he had to read all the information possible about the game and even think of ways to make quick money with it.

His brown eyes looked fierce in the mirror, this was an opportunity he had to take advantage of.

Since he didn't have a computer, León used his phone to search forums about the game for all kinds of information, from the most basic to more advanced things that happened in the last beta of the game.

The hours quickly passed and León, except for eating, did not stop from reading and watching videos about the game.

When 6 in the afternoon arrived, León stopped. He had already strained his brain enough throughout the day and he needed to rest for a while.

León rested without doing much for the rest of the day, he knew that tomorrow would be a great day and that he should take advantage of the opportunity.

The next day around 7 am, loud bangs echoed through the house.

León, who was half asleep, woke up and walked to the door. When he opened it he saw 4 men there carrying several boxes.

"Hello, are you Mr. Lion Foreger?"

León felt and the man brought him a document while he proceeded to explain.

"We are in charge of delivering the FVD virtual reality device"

León took a pen that the man allowed him and after signing the document the men left.

The boxes didn't weigh much so León quickly moved them into the house.

In the boxes there were different accessories that were placed on various parts of the body.

A ring, a helmet, something similar to a command along with 2 more objects that were placed on the foot.

León made himself a simple breakfast and started watching the news. He didn't seem to find anything that caught his attention until he came to Freedom TV, the television program dedicated to Freedom.

There the presenter was interviewing one of the most prominent players in the beta.

She used the name Kayser in the video game.

"Hello Kayser, thank you for being with us again"

The charismatic greeting to the camera before thanking the presenter for inviting him to the program.

"Tell us some details about what our viewers can expect about Freedom."

Kayser smiled for a few moments before speaking.

"As many of you know, the beta players could not talk about the content of the game due to a contract, the contract ended just last night for this reason I have come here to talk about what we have never told you."

The man took a breath before continuing.

"Everyone knows that Freedom promises great freedom, many are surely suspicious of how much freedom it gives and I assure you that no game to date has achieved what this game has"

"In Freedom you will initially be able to activate manual mode but this is something that I do not recommend to newbies, in automatic mode you will certainly feel everything restricted but on the other hand in manual mode, you execute your skills and attacks yourself"

"In addition to talking about the fact that initially there are no classes, you simply choose what weapon to use and what skills to perform, with this I say try different styles and play the one you like the most"

The program continued for about half an hour more but everything that followed was telling things like the previous ones, he told very simple mechanics that everyone would discover quickly.

Kayser didn't really reveal too much as he promised, the mode system was certainly not known but that was something simple that everyone would discover so the player scored points with the community by telling worthless things.

At the end of the interview he started a 10-minute counter with several background promotional videos about the game, this was the time left for its global launch.

León was so excited that he quickly put on his equipment and lay down on his bed.

While lying with all the equipment on, he issued the Start voice command.

Quickly the equipment began to operate and analyze, a loading screen began to fill.

[Please touch his body with your hands]

León quickly followed the command and after 5 minutes the scan finished.

When he finished the scan, he started the game and appeared in a study full of books, with a large hanging map and other accessories that made it look like a very high-class office.

León sat in a chair while he watched a stopwatch go down, currently there were 30 seconds left.

Time passed quickly until the counter reached 0. When this happened, everything quickly faded and the room became dark.

A giant chest emerged in front of him, along with a sign above his head.

[Choose a weapon you are comfortable with, while you are in the tutorial you will be able to change it in the designated places]

León touched the chest and a large window emerged where the previous barracks was.

In this there were about 12 types of weapons.

Spears, spears, swords, katanas, swords along with shields, bows, crossbows and other types of weapons.

In addition to these there were also several books although the game called them grimoires.

Beginner Wizard Grimoire, Beginner Witch Grimoires, Beginner Priest Grimoire.

León thought for a few moments about what to choose, he knew that a melee class was best for him but at the same time he had spent his entire life as a witch so he was thinking about what to choose.

León noticed that there were 2 grimoires plus another was from a sorcerer while the remaining one was about necromancy.

León, while he was looking at this large window, noticed that it emerged next to the first selected painting.

This showed a small video of a character attacking with the weapon, as well as a small text talking about their strengths.

León spent several minutes looking at the weapons until he stopped at a pair of daggers, these matched well thanks to his training.

León was about to choose them when he again saw the sorcerer's grimoire, he was increasingly doubtful.

"Ahhgg"

Leon gave a loud shout before choosing the witcher's grimoire.

"I'm more familiar with the warlock playstyle, so I'll be able to switch if I don't like it."

León was convinced that this was the right choice.

Suddenly his body began to glow and his clothes were changed into a cloth jacket with a hood over a shirt and pants.

[You have received the witcher's grimoire]

[You have received the initial clothing set]

[Insert his name to finish]

León looked at the advertisement and with a touch on it a keyboard emerged, he quickly typed the name that he had used a long time ago in his early days Declan.

[Congratulations Declan welcome to Freedom]

A light surrounded León and his first surprise came, normally in any RPG they would start in a town that would serve as a tutorial in Freedom, he appeared in the middle of a forest.

[You say that you have started on the paths of an adventurer and ended up lost trying to reach your destination]

[Initial mission: manage to reach the village of the initiates, depending on your arrival time, the rewards will be]

[You have acquired a map to the village]

The sudden alerts overwhelmed Leon's mind for a moment as he marveled at the construction of the entire environment.

The leaves of the trees moved in the wind next to the grass and you could even feel the breeze on your face.

León first of all checked his stat.

[Declan lv 1

Titles: none

HP: 100

MP: 30

Was: 6

Agi: 6

Int: 6]

This was initially what emerged, he had doubts about him, it was strange that all of his stats were the same when he chose a magic book.

This was until he remembered Kayser's words in the interview.

"In this game you will not choose a class initially"

This is what I was referring to, although I chose a book about magic, all my starting stats are the same if I follow the path of magic, it is my choice.

From my point of view I could see in the upper left part a green bar with a smaller blue one below.

This was his life and mana, there was also a small box under the mana, when focusing on it a window appeared showing its effect.

[Beginner Bonus:

You gain 50% more experience from slain creatures

When you die you do not suffer a penalty

Duration: 24 hours]

Opening his inventory, Declan touched the map and it materialized, it showed the location of different villages, where he had appeared was marked with a cross.

Currently, according to the map, he was in the forest surrounding one of the initial villages called Cartan.

He began to walk towards where the village was supposed to be.

According to his calculations, he should have arrived in about 5 to 10 minutes, but after walking all that time he only found a human corpse.

León quickly put himself on guard, despite being a magician, he took a defensive stance like the ones he would take in real life.

He began to approach little by little with great caution, until he was in front of the corpse.

This was a man wearing a black mask with various signs, a hood, and a black robe shorter than the one he was wearing.

The one the man was carrying seemed to be more prepared for combat, as well as a bag.

León quickly touched the bag and unlike other games, no loot window appeared, instead he put his hands inside the bag to find something.

Inside it were several things, a mid-grade potion, a black wolf-shaped necklace, and a sealed letter.

León took all the items he had in his bag and put on the necklace.

The moment this occurred, the necklace began to glow and a mini-map emerged in Lion's vision.

This one had several blue dots marked, most were marked as very far away while another was about 200 or 300 meters away.

The curiosity of perhaps having found a hidden mission in the tutorial excited León so he decided to go to the blue point but first he took out the magic book from him.

The book appeared in front of him floating when he touched it with his hand, a window appeared in front of him.

[Choose one Spell available to learn

Affliction lv1: a dot skill that will cause great pain to the enemy causing a loss of 5 hp x 1s, duration 10s.

EITHER

Shadow Shot: A shot charged with dark energy causing 9 points of damage CD: 2s, casting time 2 seconds]

Leon remembered that he had not received any abilities so he thought it was due to not reading the book luckily he discovered this quickly.

He thought for several seconds about which skill and finally decided on affliction. According to his experience, dot skills were very important and caused great damage throughout the fight.

[You have acquired the skill Affliction lv1]

Now more confident, León began to run towards the closest point to him.

The point moved just like León, so after several minutes of walking he still couldn't reach it. Luckily for him, the symbol stopped so he was able to reach it in a short time.

The point had stopped in a small clearing where there were not too many trees with a small lake.

Upon arriving in the area, León saw a man dressed in the same way as the previous one he had found dead, surrounded by 2 subjects dressed in crimson clothes with a symbol of horns on their backs.

He knew that the point on the map was the boy surrounded by men dressed in crimson, so he decided to help in some way.

Being in the tutorial it was common sense that the enemies were possible to kill, otherwise it would be unfair because of what León decided from the thin line of trees he launched his affliction ability.

This had two requirements in addition to the mana to be cast, first the user had to be able to see the enemy to whom he would cast the spell and second he had to be at most 10 m away.

León focused his intention on one of the adversaries and quickly 2% of his mother was consumed.

One of the men who were surrounding the man turned his face, looking everywhere when he received the attack.

Once again, León cast his ability on the other partner, this was one of the advantages of curses being instantaneous and having just 1 second CD.

Due to his interference the men were distracted by something that the surrounded person took advantage of.

He took out a sword and stuck it directly into the chest of one of the men while 2 shadows identical to him attacked the other man.

The one who was stabbed in the chest died almost instantly, while the other received several injuries from the shadows but avoided a fatal attack.

Unfortunately for him, his death followed him instantly since the sword that killed his companion ended his life while the shadows distracted him.

[You have killed a loyal adept lv 20]

[You have killed an enemy much stronger than you so you have earned an achievement]

[You have earned the Face to Face achievement:

When you fight with an opponent with a lv difference you receive 30% more attack and 10% more defense, this can increase if the difference is very large]

[You have gained 1 level...]

Léo's face froze, a lv 20 enemy.

He was supposedly close to the area of the beginnings, it was impossible for enemies of that level to exist.

Léon reviewed the combat record to be left with his mouth open, he announced that he had killed the opponent but nothing could be further from the truth.

His ability failed in his waves of damage to the first adept while it barely caused 1 point of damage to the second.

'power level'

It was what León thought he had committed power level' without meaning to.

"Who's there?"

A voice woke the boy up from his thoughts.

León looked from where he was avoiding the voice to stare at the person he appreciated on his map.

León was still hiding behind a tree, he came out into the clearing, greeting the person.

"Don't you think it's polite to introduce yourself first?"

The person he had helped in a defensive state analyzed León for several seconds before relaxing.

"What is a beginner adventurer doing in these areas, are you looking for death?"

Leon looked at the person and smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm close to the village, supposedly this area is not very dangerous"

The person took off his hood, revealing a little more of his attributes, from what Leon noticed the person in front of him was a woman, just like the dead person he found was wearing a mask.

"I'm sorry to tell you that you are close to the black knights' stronghold, so you are quite far from the starting villages"

León was astonished, but if the map showed him that the village was close, perhaps some error had occurred.

"First I would like to know how you have that necklace on you."

The girl spoke calmly but her tone was somewhat threatening, León calmly answered her with the truth.

"I woke up in the middle of a forest and while I was looking for the village of the beginnings I found a dead person, he was carrying the necklace and a letter.

As she said the part of the letter, the girl's eyes shone.

"Give me the letter, it is something very important that is beyond your skill level currently."

León knew that the girl was right but he couldn't do that, currently his life insurance was that woman in front of him, if she left him in the middle of this place he would be killed.

It already seemed strange to him not to find any beasts walking through the forest. It turned out that they had all fled from the fight.

"I'm sorry to say this but I can't give you the letter that easily."

The woman raised her eyebrows a little in annoyance.

"Tell me what you want before I go crazy and kill you."

León knew that she couldn't kill him, since he would die and wouldn't be able to log in for a while, but the letter would go with him.

"Protect me so I can return to the village, so you can achieve your goal."

The girl thought for a few seconds, it would be easy for her to take care of a rookie that she shouldn't have even taken a class.

"Okay, now give me the letter."

The girl extended her arm to León to receive the letter.

Leon smiled at him instead.

"You think I'm stupid, the letter will go with me to the destination you go to."

Leon couldn't see the face of the lady in front of him but he could easily guess that she was pouting.

"Okay, first we'll go deliver the letter and then we'll continue to the village, understand."

León nodded and walked next to the girl.

Along the way he was finally able to properly review the alerts he had received for helping the girl.

First he noticed that he had risen to lv 5, León saw that in the record he notified him that by contributing so little to the fight he only received 50% of the experience that he should have received.

Normally in video games his stat would increase depending on his class but by not currently having one all the stat points were accumulated.

Currently León had 8 stat points, he decided to save them for later. Currently he didn't know much about what class he would choose at lv 10 so he avoided spending the points.

Author's note:

Dot: These are skills that cause fixed damage for a period of time.

CD: cooldown time in which a skill cannot be used.

Power level: power level is when a player with the help of someone more powerful causes damage to an enemy well above his ability, finally the higher level partner will kill the monster granting great Exp to the low level user.

Exp: experience