Chapter 2: Desmond Online

Starting initial operations. Scanning for necessary personal data.

Unregistered user detected. Please register a new account

Someone spoke from within a space enclosed in light.

Following the guide, as soon as he gave his personal information, a red light scanned his body.

Soon after, a character dressed in leather bearing a similar appearance to Mike appeared in front of him.

The state of the appearance shown is scanned by the user. If you wish, you may change your appearance, sex, or race. However be warned, each account is limited to one character. Once the character has been created, you may not alter or delete your character. Please think carefully before deciding.

A limit of one character per account. This was not a rare restriction for a virtual reality game.

Being able to change character appearance in-game lessens the sense of physical immersion.

Having always worn glasses he thought his face looked a little strange.

Mike contemplated and then adjusted his face structure a little.

He chose the Human race. This was typically a very average choice in most games.

Since he had not selected a profession and did not choose any skills, he would become a human aptitude for all professions.

Please select your character's name.

"Reaper."

Users of the Human race may choose from four starting locations. Haruka, the frontier town of long dark Kingdom, shadowing Kingdom's Changing Lot, and the small dieing Castle in the Principality of lords. No matter which place you select, all the choices were similar. The townspeople are kind to strangers…

"Long dark Kingdom's frontier town, Haruka."

Long dark Kingdom was the closest to the middle of the continent.

If you would like a more detailed explanation about the Desmond Online ….

"Skip."

All games have a similar introduction such as this.

In the beginning stages, actual knowledge about the game doesn't help much.

Above all, the experience was the best type of knowledge. After canceling the tutorial, Mike was enveloped in bright light.

At the same time, his character's eyes moved and he was absorbed within it.

The novice adventurer, Reaper was born.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, "Wake up, Wake up!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of a door being kicked was heard. It was getting closer.

Bang! The door of Mike's room was kicked open. Sunlight shone into the room. Reaper subconsciously his eyes and saw that it was the door kicked open by a young man in green who was holding a gong.

"Nice to meet you. Can you do me a little favor and kill the mice inside the warehouse down the street. Lately, I think if I hear them one more time, I'll lose my mind!"

Du-du-dung. An information window came up along with a strange sound.

[Gray, who owns the tavern in the gloomy backwater village of Haruka, has gotten headaches over the growing mouse problem in recent years. Meet Gray, listen to his problem, and then deal with it. It's a job that should be easy even for a beginner. Difficulty: Not Applicable]

"Yes. I will do it. But what will the compensation be?"

Reaper indirectly asked. Whether it is reality or inside a game, no one believed in working free of charge.

Work should be compensated. It's only natural, right?

Gray started beating on his chest and replied.

"Of course, I, Gray, am not the kind to swindle a stranger who has no home or belongings after he has eaten his fill. I have prepared a reward essential for someone like you."

"I look forward to it."

Reaper entered the warehouse with a daring smile.

The warehouse had been congested with many swarms of mice.

Both sides officially recognized the other as an easy target as they faced one another.

'My first test subjects will be you guys! Now, shall we begin?'

Reaper drew his dagger, charged and swung his dagger, and attacked one of the mice.

However, he got a result he did not expect. Embarrassingly, the mouse lightly sidestepped the moving dagger. Also, as if mocking his sloppy display of skill, they ran between the boxes, knocking them over.

A similar occurrence kept repeating. Reaper was growing angry at the loitering mice who light dodged as often as he swung his dagger at them.

'Huh? There's no way this should be happening?'

How could he be unable to even kill one mouse? Reaper grew puzzled.

In all of the games he's played until now, mice were mobs who died out even if they saw a sword. However, these mice were different.

As if they were actual copies, the mice moved as they would in reality. Their speed was no joke.

While he was flustered, a bright light suddenly flashed in his eyes.

You have been attacked by a Mouse. You have received 1 damage.

Far from killing them, he was hurt instead.

Just because it was only 1 damage, did not mean he could ignore it. The mice, seeing Reaper getting flustered, seemed to judge him as an easy opponent. In an instant, enough had gathered to block the view of the ground and started biting him. In the blink of an eye, his health had dropped down to 20.

Reaper, who became frightened, quickly backed away.

'These little… If I'm not careful, I might die from being attacked by mice.'

Nobody, in the entire world, gets bitten by mice and then dies from it.

Reaper calmed his emotions. He could not afford to get hit anymore.

Reaper carefully marked the assaulting mouse and struck the moment they ran forward to bite him.

The mouse screeched with pain and split into two halves.

You have killed a Mouse. You have earned 1 EXP.

At last, he heard the welcoming sound accompanied by a message window popped up.

When Reaper started to properly counterattack, the mice were eliminated at lightning speed.

Meanwhile, reaper killed several more mice. He also drove them back to their holes one by one as he swung his dagger. The mice did not take it lying down.

Several of them began to cooperate and started to leap at him after hiding in boxes and counterattacking. The fierce fighting between the human and the mice lasted 30 minutes.

At the end of the battle, he only had 3 loaves of wheat bread left. To recover his lowered health, he had consumed 7 loaves. The durability of his 2 attack point dagger and his 2 defense point leather armor also dropped significantly. It was an empty victory.

'Phew, whatever happened, I killed them all. While it was difficult, my experience should've risen substantially, right?'

Reaper opened up his character window to inspect the good results and promptly had an unhappy expression.

One mouse gave 1 EXP. However, even though he killed over 30, he only received 30 EXP.

He thought because he was just starting, it was not a small amount.

However, after looking at his experience bar, it had not even risen one percent.

No matter the extreme difficulty in fighting them, mice were mice.

His disappointment was unrivaled. However, Reaper reined in his emotions.

Because no matter what, a quest was still a quest, there would still be some reward later.

"All the mice have been wiped out."

"Oh, yes? Very good. I have a little something for you."

Gray laughed broadly as he took out 10 wheat bread.

"…"

Reaper who had been eagerly looking forward to his reward, stare at Gray in horror.

There could be no way he would spend more than 30 minutes in a life or death struggle, all he would receive was some wheat bread.

However, Gray, if anything, looked blankly at Mike as if there was something wrong with him.

"No way, is there some kind of mistake?"

"What do you mean? Isn't it most important you are still alive?"

"But...."

"You expect to receive better rewards for killing some mice?"

Reaper had a reversion so he kept his mouth shut suffering in silence.

He spent 30 minutes and cleaned up 7 loaves of wheat bread to hunt the mice.

His dagger and his leather armor were in disrepair. And the reward was a mere 10 loaves of wheat bread? Was it a joke? But what use was there in arguing with an NPC for an opponent?

Furthermore, wheat bread was cheap but inconvenient.

However, Reaper accepted and took the 10 pieces of bread and left the tavern.

Reaper had a bewildered look on his face. He finally got to get a good look at his surroundings.

He was surrounded by mountains and mountain villages.

In the village, there were around 100 houses surrounded by high barriers.

This must be the beginning town of Haruka.

However, Reaper still could not believe his eyes.

'Is this really part of a game?'

He could not believe it. The surrounding mountains. The fences and buildings, even the people who were wandering around…

This was completely different from Computer Graphics. It wasn't something you can see visually.

He could feel his leather shoes, the wind whooshing by his ears, and even smell food being prepared somewhere from a distance.

It felt like reality but wasn't reality which made the situation all the more difficult to believe.

'I know this is a virtual reality, but I can't believe it's a game.'

The virtual reality gaming experience used to be solely based on retina graphics.

This was as of 3 years ago. To this day most virtual reality games had still not escaped the dimension of having retina graphics-based games.

'Ah, now is not the time to be doing this.'

Reaper, who had his mouth wide open, wiped his drool.

Several people around him look at him with a dull look on their faces.

They were going through the same process of adaptation as Reaper.

Blushing from embarrassment Reaper moved to a more adequate place.

'Where should I head off now?'

Reaper then investigated the system window.

"Menu."

A translucent

a circle appeared in front of him listed various items. Character info, bags, community, et cetera, you could either talk directly to the menu or tap the icon. Ark pressed the icon which looked like a face.

Character Name Reaper

Race Human

Affiliation None

Profession None

Level 1

Fame 0

Title None

Health 100

Mana 100

Strength 15

Agility 15

Stamina 15

Intelligence 15

Wisdom 15

Luck 15

The pair of Character Information Windows that appeared were not simplistic in design. Afterward, he confirmed his skill window was empty. The contents of his bag were; 10 units of water, 10 pieces of wheat bread, and a dagger.

'Well, what should I do now.'

Reaper closed the information window and looked around.

Everything was so much like reality it was hard to distinguish NPCs from normal users

But both users and NPCs showed no interest in Reaper since he began.

Everyone was running around like crazy.

In most games, there would be a kind NPC who would teach you when you first start.

Looking around for a bit, he spotted an old man who kept his eyes on him from a distance.

Reaper walked over to him.

"Ex….. Excuse me."

"You must be new here."

Without having to say anything, the old man spoke as if he understood the entire situation.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Reaper"

"My name is Hall. I'm just an old guy whose purpose in life is to teach young guys, such as yourself, how to live in this place. As expected, you probably want to ask about what to do in this place?"

"Yes."

"Most people who are like you commonly work one of two jobs here. One is wild dog and wolf hunting outside of this village, and another one finding work in the village. If you're just playing casually, it's better to choose the latter option. Since this is a backwater village, we're always short-handed."

"Yes, I like to be provided a job."

Mike replied without hesitation.

However, the greatest danger in a game is not learning how to hunt carefully and embarking without reason or under bad influence.

Therefore doing a simple quest would be a good idea to adapt to the game.

The early beginnings of a game consisted mostly of doing quests to adapt to the flow of the game and earn equipment. Hence, was more profitable than aimlessly hunting.

"I'm thankful you took the time to listen to me. As it so happens, there's a job I'd like to entrust to you. Recently I've heard the tavern owner was complaining about the number of mice in his cellar. I think you would be able to solve the problem. How about it? Will you help?"

Du-du-dung. An information window came up along with a strange sound.

[Gray, who owns the tavern in the gloomy backwater village of Haruka, has gotten headaches over the growing mouse problem in recent years. Meet Gray, listen to his problem, and then deal with it. It's a job that should be easy even for a beginner. Difficulty: Not Applicable]

I already did that Hall as I looked at him with a dissatisfied expression and asked him.

"Aren't there any more decent jobs?"

"Hehe, this guy. You're being too greedy from the very start. You're a newcomer to this place. Who would entrust an important task to a newcomer? If you want a job with large rewards, you need to build more trust."

'It appears the game is affected by the level of intimacy'

Many games before virtual reality games emphasized the relationship between NPCs.

It was a feature of the game that one's intimacy with an NPC determined which quests, information, and skills you would be exposed to.

This kind of system played the role of an imaginary space where one could experience the significance of reality.

'In other words, newbies had to grind the low-reward quests in order to get better rewards.'

Reaper was about to ask another question after understanding the basic concept.

Someone struck up a conversation from behind him.

"Are you a newbie?"

He turned around and saw a cute girl coming closer.

"Yes, that's right."

"Are you trying to get a quest from the elder by any chance?"

Reaper nodded his head as a smirk rose on her face.

However, as soon as Reaper made an unpleasant expression, she quickly smiled.

"Oh, sorry. However, trying to get a quest from the elder isn't exactly the best idea."

"Why?"

"The quests this elder provides are all low-reward and low-experience. Although I did a few of his quests just in case, he kept giving me similar quests. Some people have also tried over fifty times. However, the only things they've received in the increase were the repair costs."

"Then what should I be doing in the beginning?"

"The best thing to do is to hunt Wild Dogs in the outskirts of the village. While the normal thing is to hunt rabbits or raccoons at level 1, the EXP you receive is only a little bit higher than mice… The reason why there is hardly anyone in the village is that because everyone is out hunting wild dogs."

"Wild dogs?"

Reaper bore an anxious expression as he repeated the question.

Just killing a few mice was an arduous task. Would not hunting wild dogs be more difficult?

"That ok I think I can find something on my own but thank you for the advice goodbye."