First Death
[Warning! Satiety level is below 20%!]
Satiety. A stat that lowers on its own as time progresses, and can only be raised by eating. When the satiety levels reach zero the avatar will die and one will have to respawn at the citadel, the same as when one dies through combat.
Usually when constantly using stamina one will deplete their satiety from full until empty over the course of ten hours. Yes, ten hours. The current Purple from the East has attacked the punching bag for eight hours non-stop since he arrived at the dojo like a savage.
The madman did not tire even after these eight hours. For him, training is as natural as breathing and it is at the same time necessary sustenance for his mental state. Habits by nurture die hard, but habits made from nature die harder. Constant training is a habit of both nature and nurture for him so it was practically a permanent trait of his.
Seeing the announcement about his satiety level being low Purple from the East opened his inventory and took out a rye bread from within. He wordlessly sat on the ground and ate it slowly without hurrying at all. It would do him no good if he choked on a piece of bread now would it?
It was also bad to eat straight after exercising but that only applies to large meals. Light meals in between to supply energy shouldn't be a bad thing. Though truthfully he would prefer more nutritional meals over these loaves of bread, he does not have an option to choose anything except these rye bread considering it was the only food given at the start right after creating a character. As they would say beggars cannot be choosers.
After he finished eating the food his satiety bar increased by forty percent. That equates to four hours of training worth of satiety. Considering he has ten pieces of loaf bread starting off that means he has twenty more hours' worth of training to do before he completely runs out of satiety.
He took another loaf of bread and ate it, returning his satiety back to 100%. Satiety is important as he will die because of hunger if it falls to zero. And if he dies then he would not be able to train in this dojo.
...No, can he not simply continue to train after dying if he wants? Even if he dies of starvation he can instantly revive without penalty as he is a level 0 player. The usual penalty for dying is reduced experiences, but as a level 0 player, that penalty is merely a joke. You cannot take things which do not exist in the first place, and he has no experience at all.
Thus he can infinitely revive without worrying about meals. This is a method that can only be done by those that are very weak and poorer than dirt, considering rye bread is sold for only three copper a piece. One could easily earn ten copper hourly from even the simplest of jobs.
However, the ignorant Purple from the East simply does not know that. He praised himself for thinking such a brilliant (yet completely idiotic) method of training. However, a small regret struck his mind.
'…Then there was no need to waste the two loaves of bread I just ate either.'
He should have thought up of this method before carelessly eating his two loaves of bread. That was a pity considering he has a limited amount of resources right now. From now on he will not eat, and simply die before reviving and training again after his death because of satiety reaching zero.
With that determination, he continued to train with the punching bag. Punches and kicks were launched towards the poor punching bag.
[Through constant training your Strength has increased by one (+1 STR)]
[Through constant training your Dexterity has increased by one (+1 DEX)]
[Through constant training your Constitution has increased by one (+1 CON)]
….
[Warning! Satiety level is below 20%!]
This lasted another eight hours. With the previous eight hours combined a total of four hours have passed in reality. It might seem surprising but considering one is sleeping when playing Harmony he could easily continue playing all night. That is what many of his friends did. Besides this was Friday and there was no school for the next two days.
"Shouldn't you rest for now? It has been twelve hours already."
He started playing at eight in the night and four hours have passed, so he should be fine playing for six more real-time hours and still wake up at six in the morning. He could still increase considering tomorrow will be Saturday it but sleeping for too long is not healthy either.
He knew a friend from school who played the game too much and was admitted to the hospital because of it. Such cases became rarer after a patch came to stop players from playing too long though. He cannot remember the exact limit but it should be somewhere around sixteen-hour real-life time considering how much the average human body could handle.
The woman called Aoi was still waiting for an answer as she sat on the edge of the dojo wooden floor which was higher than the ground. She waved her long legs with an expectant look on her face. It seems the other young man called Noccult has since left the dojo. Only natural considering eight sixteen whole hours have passed within the game.
In reality, he would have long since took a break but there was no such thing as a stamina cap within the game world. A strange decision from the developers but he wouldn't complain considering it is working to his benefits right now.
"I can still do some more." He answered Aoi.
"Overtraining is just as bad as lack of training you know. I know, why don't we spar instead?"
So that was her angle. He was wondering why she suddenly spoke to him. If she wishes to inspect his skills then he would gladly test his mettle against her, so to speak. He was eager for a fight after so much dull training anyway.
"I would be grateful."
With that said the two entered the dojo.
The dojo itself was quiet as the two prepared themselves and get ready for the fight. The mental state is a very important thing to set clear before a fight begins. This match was a sparring session meant to be a test of skills, so Purple from the East will need to show the most he could possibly do within this fight.
There was nobody to act as a referee and start the match. Instead, Aoi was the one to start it herself.
"Hajime!"
Perhaps trying not to take advantage of starting the match herself, she did not attack immediately and waited for him to act first. A mistake in real battles, but this was a practice match so who was he to judge.
However, that does not mean he will bother with the same courtesy. He rushed towards her without any tells on his body. His first course of action was a sidestep to a hook homing towards the face. Ruthless and efficient, designed to take out the opponents quickly.
She managed to avoid it by the skin of her hair before sending out a fist towards his guts.
He jumped in response with his quick reaction time. The fists she launched connected with his knees. Which one lost more from the exchange between the fist and the knee is debatable here. But the knee is far harder than the fist, so in his humble opinion, he managed to win the exchange.
He was still mid-air right now so he could not spare his offense unless he intends to be defeated. He grabbed her head with the hand stretching out from the previous hook, pulling it closer towards his flying knee and knocked them together harshly.
"Gah!"
She sent out another fist to his jaw while her face was still covered by his knee. Not bad. He let go of her head and retreated backward, avoiding the blow. There was no need to risk injury considering he has won the exchange already.
She shook her head, most likely trying to clear her head from pain and dizziness. In reality that much damage to the brain would cause the head to ring for half a day, but this was Harmony where people have superhuman toughness. Plus her stats were most likely much higher than his own.
The difference in stats between a beginner adventurer and a trained NPC is akin to a cat compared to a lion. Or you compared to normal human beings.
This time around Aoi rushed towards Purple from the East. Purple continuously defended from her attacks and only punished when an opening was created. Unlike what most people thought it was impossible to not expose yourself when attacking so merely counterattacking is actually a solid option in real-life fights.
Of course, this was Harmony instead of real-life but the realism in Harmony is not to be underestimated. The corporation invited many famous real-life experts during their Alpha testing period.
Whether be it fighting or crafting, the realism within the game was incomparable to other VRMMO that came after it, which was one of the reasons the game boomed so much in the past year.
With a whipping motion, Purple from the East hits squarely in her jaws again. This time however Aoi had managed to perceive the attack and was ready for the hit even though she was incapable of stopping it. She ate the attack quietly without fainting like before.
However, she did inadvertently close her eyes from her ringing head, which was an opportunity Purple from the East did not miss. He launched his other fist forward, striking her right in the diaphragm.
This caused Aoi to exhale a mouthful of air, stunning her and leaving her body powerless.
Purple could still make some follow-up after that ruthless aggression, but he disengaged instead as further attacking her would do him no good when the winner of the match was already decided with his two attacks.
Aoi fell down to the floor, her body sprawled on the ground in powerlessness. She was panting as sweat poured down her body, causing her martial gi to stick to her body, giving a generous view of her slim curves.
"You okay there?"
He once more lent out his hand. She took it after some struggle reaching out her hand and stood up with his help.
"That was not a bad match."
"But not exactly good either, right? I completely lost." She said with a helpless smile. "I did not expect for an adventurer as skilled as you to appear in this place. May I ask why such a skilled person decided to start your journey here in Rockingham instead of a larger place?"
At this point, most adventurers would have told tales about how much they love this place and compliment it to hell and back in chances for triggering a quest or the like, but the ignorant Purple from the East did not care about such matters.
"Someone dear to me invited me to start here. That is all."
'As expected he is different from other adventurers.'
Thought Aoi as she smiled cheerfully. What she did not know was the fact his difference from other adventurers is caused by indifference rather than wisdom or any form of heavenly virtues.
Meanwhile Purple from the East was already back to abusing the punching bag again. Flurries of punches and kicks landed on the poor thing.
"Pfft."
'What a thoughtless person.'
And thus for the first time, a Player succeeded in raising the affection of the Blue Demon of Rockingham.
[Through constant training your Strength has increased by one (+1 STR)]
[Through constant training your Dexterity has increased by one (+1 DEX)]
[Through constant training your Constitution has increased by one (+1 CON)]
[Through constant training your Strength has increased by one (+1 STR)]
[Through constant training your Dexterity has increased by one (+1 DEX)]
[Through constant training your Constitution has increased by one (+1 CON)]
[…]
The training continued onwards for ten whole hours, until finally...
[Your satiety level has reached 0%. You have died.]
"…Eh?"
And thus for the first time, the Blue Demon of Rockingham saw an adventurer dying from hunger.
It was at that point when Murasaki finally decided to log out and take a break from playing the game, causing the Blue Demon to panic as she tries to search for Purple from the East within the town spawn point to no avail.
"BAKA BAKA BAKAAAA!"
That day the Blue Demon grew famous within the Harmony gaming community for constantly repeating the word while staring at the Citadel's log-in and revival spot for hours on end.
--Ignite your Soul--
Going out from his Dive capsule Murasaki looked at his surroundings. Cream-colored walls splashed with all kinds of furniture. There were even some training machines in this large room of his. Or rather this room was specifically made with training in mind so there were more training machines than normal furniture.
Looking around the room his gaze inevitably went towards the tall display with many championship medals and trophy within it. They were all results from winning martial arts championship won through his blood and sweat. It was the fragment of his past back when his leg was yet to be injured.
Nowadays he cannot fight with his right leg without having searing pain over the limb. Their family tried treating it many times, but it was of no help. He could still use it for walking, but…
It simply was not as good anymore.
He shook his head, snapping back into attention.
It was currently midnight. His body was still vitalized considering his body was resting while he was playing the game, but his mind was tired already. He has been training for eighteen whole hours. Even in the past when he trained a lot he never put that much effort into striking a punching bag.
He was excited with the prospect of fighting with his full strength again, without his right leg dragging him down. That is why he was overly enthusiastic when training against that punching bag and the same with fighting against both Noccult and Aoi.
Until then he was not convinced of the capability of Harmony. He was glad his sister got him into the game. Otherwise, he would have missed his second chance at martial arts.
He lied on his bed, a smile on his face.
He cannot wait until he reaches his peak performance again.