--- Gaia Online

Draco, Capital of Country Z-1

On the balcony of a tall building, overlooking a beautiful, shining city like a string of colored pearls being slowly embraced by the darkness of the upcoming nightfall, stood a tall, balding middle-aged man.

An above-average face with a scar that stretches from his lower left chin up to his upper right forehead, a bulging belly, and tobacco on his mouth. There was a table beside him filled with food and wine. Not far behind him was a silhouette of a person in a kneeling position, as if kneeling on a king.

"Any news on that little brat?"

He asked in a solemn voice without even looking behind him.

"Reporting to his Majesty! Neither the target nor any indications of him have been discovered. He might already be outside the continent, according to our suspicions."

The kneeling person replied. His voice sounded hoarse, like that of an old man in his 50s.

"Tch! How pathetic! It has already been eight years, and you fools can't find even a single hair of him!? What's the use of keeping you fools here, huh?"

*Thud!*

"Guh!"

The balding man was dissatisfied with what he had heard and finally turned his gaze to the kneeling man. His eyes are filled with murderous intent, and his powerful aura pressed down on the kneeling man.

"P-pleashe... y-your... Majeshty..."

Despite being a Gaia player, the person who was now firmly nailed to the ground was unable to speak properly. After all, the balding man with the murderous aura was a player as well, and a very high-leveled one at that. 

"Calm down, Marcus! Two more years remain before he turns 18 and assumes the throne, but it seems improbable that he will show up at all given that not even his shadow could be located. Perhaps he is already dead? Fufufu~"

A coquettish voice suddenly resounded just beside the balding man. A blonde, curvy woman wearing a high-class red dress can be seen sitting in front of the table.

Her hair reaches her waist and has two pigtails on the front; she has a very beautiful, mesmerizing face with eyes showing a hit of playfulness and cunningness as if everything is under her control.

"Hmph! That brat won't or can't die yet! He still has some supporters in the council and some Z country ministers who have ambitions of reuniting all the Z countries once more to rebuild the fallen empire. We need to find him first to control him before those bastards do."

"Well, his supporters can only be counted on one hand, and their hands are tied anyways, so they can't even do anything at all~."

"It's annoying to think that the locked terminal needs his blood to be opened and controlled. Even if many innocent lives were lost, I wouldn't have allowed him to escape if I had known about it earlier. Hmph! We'll adjust its requirements once we open it and get rid of that brat for good."

"The level 100 Dungeon Boss in the Solemn Forest is said to drop a skillbook for tracking individuals. His days of hiding, if he truly was, are numbered, so please be patient~."

"We'd been struggling for months to get past the second mini-boss, which was barely a third of the way through the dungeon. At this rate, clearing that will take at least a year and a half, and I couldn't wait that long! Those old coots kept questioning my right to the throne. There is also the threat of the Empire Guardian getting controlled by that brat."

"Haaah... if only we had better equipment, we could definitely clear that easily. As for the council, just let them bark~. And what about the Empire Guardian? I doubt it will be able to resist the millions of players at our command. Our world is not a dungeon where only limited players can participate in battle, you know~?"

"You don't understand, my dear sister. The Empire Guardians are probably the only ones that can rival the Heavenly Group. What about millions of players? Hmph! Even a continent can be easily destroyed by those collosal monsters with just a sneeze."

"..."

The blonde woman was dumbfounded and terrified after knowing what the Empire Guardians are capable of. She then looked at the kneeling man and ordered him in a panicked voice.

"T-then, let's prioritize on finding that brat. Y-you, go now and continue your search! If you couldn't find even a clue of him within two months, I'll have your heads on a pike! Are we clear?"

"Y-yes, your majesty!"

The kneeling man left in terror, leaving only the siblings in the room.

"M-Marcus, you never told me about this..."

"Well, you didn't ask. And there's no need to worry because those monsters only defend their territory and do not openly attack people. Not unless the empire that they were guarding is on the verge of annihilation."

"You! Haaah... I guess that's good to know."

Sighing in relief, the woman continued her meal. The balding man returned his gaze outside the balcony with a fierce look in his eyes.

'Oh, my dear little nephew! Enjoy your days of struggle. I'll put you out of your misery soon...'

*******

[Welcome to the world of Gaia!]

[Would you like to use your true name or make an alias for now?]

'Well, using my true name gives me a target on my back; those bastards will definitely hunt me down here in the game as well. What do I use for an alias? Hmmm... Oh!'

"Hide my name for now and use "Despair" as my alias!"

[Understood! Confirming alias...]

[Alias Confirmed!]

[Sending player to the starting village...]

'Hoh? Surprisingly, no one has ever thought of and used that word as an alias, despite the game having been running for two years already.'

[Landed on village #1023.]

[May you have an epic adventure...]

*******

A thin, black-haired teenager garbed in tattered clothes can be seen standing near a well. It was Chris. Just a few meters away on the right side of him, a row of stalls is selling some foods and other necessities like crafting materials. To the left are shops for weapons, armor, and potions.

The place was so lively, as it was filled with players and NPCs doing their own thing. A slightly bigger house on the northernmost side of the village can also be seen, and nearby was a cluster of smaller houses to its left and right. The village was walled off with a T-shaped road that leads to the east, west, and south gates for entry or exit.

Each beginner village will have three randomly selected biomes. Each biome has its own set of level 1–10 monsters that depend on the nature of the biome. This will allow the players to choose a selection of nature and monsters to fight that they are comfortable with. Some players choose to do every single one to temper themselves or do quests.

*Inhales!*

'Foooh! The air here is extremely fresh! It can't even be compared to the place where I lived.'

He's now walking towards the northern part of the village, exactly where the big house is located, while glancing left and right and admiring the village.

'The village should be at least twice as big as the slums area. With these many houses, there should be lots of NPCs that give quests, right?'

Nearing the large house, an old man can be seen sitting on a rocking chair just at the porch. He seems to be just looking at the sky in a daze.

'What now? This person should be the village chief and seems busy staring at the sky. It won't be rude if I talk to him, right?'

[Host can talk freely to the village chief as it was just an NPC anyways.]

"Huh? Oh is that you, Upgrade System?"

[Yes, host.]

"Does that mean you can guide me here inside the game?"

[Yes, host.]

"Cool! Thank you."

He was overjoyed that his system can guide him even inside the game. Such kind of thing will be helpful in his adventures within Gaia.

[The host does not need to thank the system as it is the host's property. And the host can also converse with the system through the host's thoughts to avoid embarrassment.]

"Oh...! he...he...he..."

Upon noticing the surrounding players looking weirdly at him, he accepted the suggestion of his system.

*Inhales!*

'Okay, here we go...'

Standing in front of the dazed village chief, Chris started to converse with him.

"Ummm... Good day, elder! I am a new player. Is there anything I can do for you?"

'If I remember correctly, he's the one that gives out beginner's gifts to new players... I better not ask for it though, so that I won't appear rude.'

[Andre, the Village Chief(D+) Lvl.30

HP: 4,500,000

Skills: Mad Blade Rush, Taunt, Sword Tornado, Final Stand, Stone Skin(Passive), Blade Mastery(Passive)

Drops: 1-100G(50%), Longsword(D)(25%), Iron Armor Set(C)(25%)

(Hidden: Village Treasury Ticket(5%), Rusty Locket(0.001%), Complete at least 50 quests around the village and he'll give you village treasury ticket(99.9%) and rusty locket (0.1%) as a reward.)]

'Yep! can't be rude at all. That locket seems interesting though.'

His mouth was twitching after seeing the insanely high hit points of the old village chief. The village chief then greeted him with a smile.

"Good day, young man! There are indeed things you can do. Please visit the people all over the village, and they might give you some work to do. Speak to me once you reach level 10 to start your newbie assessment test."

"Alright, I'll see you soon, elder."

Just as he was about to turn his back, the thing that he was waiting for finally happened.

"Please wait, young man! Take this as a gift from me."

'This should be it...'

[Newbie Package(E): Contains 1Gold Coin, Newbie Weapon Ticket x1, Newbie Armor Set Ticket x1, Begginer HP Potion x100, Begginer MP Potion x100 and Newbie Training Scroll x1]

'Nice!'

"Thank you, elder. See you soon!"

'I'm going to read the guide first before I start doing quests. Nothing beats knowledge after all...'

Done with his business with the village chief, he began to search for an empty area to browse through the forums.