Preparation

While making his way back home, the more he could not help but think about the experience he had just gone through. After all, it wasn't every day his speedruns would be interrupted midway by a masked being. On top of that, the masked being also told him that it was a part of the Worldrunners' content moderation committee, warning him that he had violated the organization's rules and regulations.

"What rules and regulations did I even break anyway?" The more Corius thought about it, the more he felt indignant. "The masked being said I was encouraging reckless activity in my speedruns, but I wasn't even doing anything reckless at all."

"Sure, it told me that I shouldn't be attempting a high-level achievement while still being a Junior Worldrunner, but when did the organization ever say something like that isn't allowed?" Thinking about it, he could not help but grit his teeth. "I swear I'm going to complete Immortality% if it's the last thing I do."

With his mind clouded with rage by that memory, he eventually returned back home as he laid down on his bed, letting out a long sigh.

"Now that I've had more time to think about it, the masked being told me that I can't attempt Immortality% or any achievement at the same tier of completion difficulty for a month," murmuring these words, Corius could not help but close his eyes for a bit as he tried to gather his thoughts. "If that's the case, what should I do then?"

"Well, sure. I could go ahead and attempt the achievements that are more suited for my current rank… but that's not fun at all. Unlike the prestige and fame completing Immortality% gives you, there's not a lot to say about any of the lower-level achievements at all."

Letting out yet another long sigh, he eventually opened his eyes as he asked himself, "Do I really have no other choice than to just attempt achievements more suited for my rank? Especially now that I've somewhat experienced the thrill that comes with trying to attempt Immortality%?"

"Well… the thrill that comes from imagining completing Immortality% while still attempting to complete Immortality%, but still."

Just as he thought he would have to accept this fate, a thought surfaced in his mind, renewing his vigor. "Wait a second… I just realized that there's nothing stopping me from attempting eight star achievements? The masked being just told me that I can't attempt Immortality% or any of the other nine star achievements."

"But what if the masked being appears during the run and stops me from doing it again?" Coming to this thought, Corius could not help but furiously scratch his head. With that in mind, he could not help but ponder over his current circumstances for a while.

Fortunately, it did not take longer than a few minutes for him to come to a decision as he sat up on his bed. "Alright, I'll just try to learn more about how to complete Immortality% for now. While doing that, I'll attempt a couple more achievements in order to raise my rank to a Bronze Worldrunner, finally allowing me to attempt Immortality% without having that masked being stop my run again."

"Yeah, I guess that works," he said to himself with a nod as he soon made his way in front of a holographic screen. Tapping and gesturing a few things on the holographic screen, he had eventually navigated his way to a platform in the universal network that was only accessible to official Worldrunners.

Inputting his credentials as a Worldrunner, he was eventually given the access to the entire platform as he navigated through its various sections. "Nope… nope… nope… ah, found it. Videos and guides."

Tapping on the section he found, a list of various articles soon appeared on the holographic screen, which was accompanied by a smaller list on the side, showing a list of videos he could watch, as well as the titles of said videos.

"Hmm… what should I look up for first?" Corius rubbed his chin, wondering where he should start. Eventually, he decided that it would be best for him to look up on some tips and tricks that he could use during his runs. "Here we go… 'Tips and Tricks Beginner Worldrunners Should Know'."

Click.

As the video started, a being that seemed to be made out of blue goo gradually appeared on the holographic screen. With its background being a solid yet bland color, the blue goo's voice started to resound throughout the room.

"If you're watching the video, then that means you've just started out your journey as a beginning Worldrunner and you want to find out how you could improve," it stated. "Before I do so, let me congratulate you first on becoming a Worldrunner."

Hearing those words come from the being in the video, a light smile could not help but appear on Corius' face.

"Now, I'm sure you've attempted a couple runs before watching this video. Of course, I'm sure that you've only attempted one star achievements, at most two star. And that's fine, really," the blue goo said. "However, if you're going to start tackling some of the higher-level achievements and work your way through the ranks, then you better listen up."

"First of all, you should always optimize your movements," the blue goo said, prompting Corius to ponder over what he had done in his attempt at Immortality%. It was only then did he realize that he had wasted so much time just being carefree, which was the exact opposite of what a Worldrunner was aiming for.

"Every movement you make should always be planned, or at least, put some more thought into your actions," the being explained. "In shorter runs such as Death%, even one wrong move is enough to cost you a couple hundred spots. As for longer runs, even though one wrong move might not seem like much in the grand scheme of things, it still has an effect."

"For example, choosing whether to show your talents while still young or wait until you were of age for an achievement such as Elementary Graduate% might be the deciding factor whether you only take around six to eight years to finish it, or over ten." Hearing this, Corius could not help but think that he had multiple chances to show off [Inferior Prodigious Intelligence] to its limits, possibly allowing him to enter school earlier. However, he did not do so. 'I'll have to start listing these tips down.'

"Second, make sure that the skills you have in your loadout should revolve around the achievement you're doing," the being in the video said. "In any case, this one is self-explanatory. After all, if you're attempting an achievement such as Knockout%, you wouldn't be bringing a skill that increases intelligence, right? Instead, you'd be bringing a skill that increases your strength, or a skill that increases the lethality of your movements."

As Corius listed down the second tip from the video on a nearby piece of paper, even going so far as to think about possible skills he could get in order to aid his future attempts at Immortality%, the blue goo continued to speak. "Third, well… now that I think about it, this is more of a trick rather than a tip. Anyways, for my third tip, get a skill that allows you to enhance your manipulation of energy. Examples of those would be [Internal Energy Mastery] or [Energy Control]. As for attempts that take place in planets with no energy, get something like [Internal Energy Conversion] or [Internal Energy Generation]."

'Oh?' Hearing this tip, Corius' interest was instantly piqued. 'But why though?'

As if answering his question, the blue goo quickly explained, "Although it may not seem like it, having greater control over energy allows you to do a lot of things you wouldn't normally be able to. For planets with no energy, having control over energy solves a lot of your problems. In fact, if you have access to the Worldrunners' Life Extension Manual, you could even extend the time you have in order to complete your runs."

"Truth be told, most high-ranked Worldrunners use the Life Extension Manual the very instant they can in order to make sure they would have enough time to complete their runs. In fact, some runs even benefit from the Life Extension Manual, such as Immortality% or 10x Longevity%."

'I should take a look at the Life Extension Manual sometime after this,' Corius thought to himself as he wrote this tip down. 'I wonder what other tips this guy has.'

"And last but not the least…" the blue goo said in a solemn tone. "Don't bite off more than you can chew."

"…" Hearing those words come from the blue goo, Corius could not help but feel like he had been slapped in the face, considering the stupid move he had just done.

Ignoring the imaginary pain Corius felt, the being in the video continued. "Of course, all of us yearn to complete high-level achievements to get our names out there in the universe and become famous. However, don't be so hasty to do so."

"Although there are no rules that obviously state this, Junior Worldrunners are limited to five star achievements at most. On the other hand, Bronze Worldrunners can attempt six star achievements, Silver Worldrunners seven stars, Gold Worldrunners eight stars, and Platinum Worldrunners and above nine star achievements."

"Sure, you could probably get away with attempting higher-level achievements with a lower rank if you know how to play your cards right, but it's always better to be safe than sorry." After saying those words, the blue goo went ahead and summarized all of the tips it had mentioned the video before bidding farewell to those who were watching.

With that, Corius went ahead and closed the video as he looked at the list of tips he had jotted down on a piece of paper. After taking a look at it for a bit, he then scrolled through the list of videos and guides for a bit more.

'Now, let me find some tips and tricks I can use for Immortality% speedruns.'