1 Chapter 1: Grand Fantasy Odysseus Online

Grand Fantasy Odysseus Online.

A game made using neurolink technology which allows the player to enter a virtual world with all their senses intact. While the player is on a chair that is equipped with neurolink technology and the system is active, they lose control of their real body and start to move a body in the virtual world.

The world inside GFOO moves much faster than the real time. This means that one in-game day is equivalent to one hour in real life. This means the players can experience time at a much faster rate than they would in reality.

Ludwig, or as he likes to call himself, Lud would see his little brother Adam play this game constantly whenever he was free. Lud would work and bring in the money, while Adam would play GFOO all day.

Lud didn't condone this behavior as Adam was born with an illness that would kill him before he hit 20. That is why Lud would do anything in his power to let Adam enjoy what little life he had left in the best way possible.

Some may consider Adam selfish for contributing so little to the household, but Lud never saw it that way. In Lud's eyes, Adam was the only one he had left and he would do anything in order to make him happy.

Lud himself didn't play GFOO for a long time, but one day when he showed a little interest, Adam got excited and said "I know now what I must do. Can you wait a week or two before you start playing the game? I want to surprise you with something." Lud agreed and let Adam do his thing first.

What was waiting for Lud was something he didn't expect. Adam had built a kingdom in the game and its name was called Elysium. He was the ruling monarch of the kingdom that he built from the ground up with few of his in-game friends.

But that wasn't all of it, you see, there is a hidden race of playable characters that require certain actions of other players before the new character could be played. And that race was called homunculus.

Homunculi needed certain materials to create, some were mandatory and some were up to the player's choice. Those items that the player had freedom of choosing had the effect of how powerful the playable character would become depending on the rarity of used items.

There were a total of seven items that were required to create a homunculus, four of which weren't up for the player's choice, but of those four, two could have varying rarities of ingredients. The remaining three items that the player creating the homunculus could put in was up to the player's imagination.

And what did Adam do with the requirements? He put all his resources into creating this new playable character for his big bro, which meant that all of the items were as top quality as they could get.

Adam did something that no player before him ever had the nerve of doing. He put an item of World-class rarity into the mix of those three free to choose items. World-class items were something that were considered exclusive world changing items. To get a world-class item, one would have to be the very first to clear a raid type boss of the highest difficulty or simply relying on an extremely low chance of the raid boss dropping the world-class item that was a one time thing.

There were many raid bosses, but the player base at the game's peak was so high that you'd be lucky to even see one for yourself. Some people would sell the world-class item for a fortune of real life money.

Simply having a single world-class item was considered extremely rare, but Elysium owned a total of six of them and Adam, with his friends approval of course, used three of these items into a playable character that would be played by a total newbie and someone who wouldn't play the game that much anyways.

People who heard what Adam was doing made people grief his kingdom multiple times in order to get Adam to give the upcoming homunculus before his brother would claim the character.

Luckily, Adam had built a kingdom that was quite sturdy and would be classified as five raid bosses worth of effort to destroy. And when eventually Lud did join the game with that newly built homunculus character, people were peeved.

Lud didn't have an easy time moving in places that were controlled by someone other than Adam, which made it quite hard for him to play the game as intended. The fact that Adam made Lud pick up a class "Legate", which was known to have a high difficulty ceiling for new players. And then there are the hoops that the player must first go through in order to even select the class.

The Legate has the power to be in control of an army in any location. Legates can summon their soldiers on the battlefield whenever. The problem with this class is the highly difficult early and mid game, as the player has to either recruit them by using a gacha-system (lottery) and get units that way, or the player can recruit NPC characters. The cost of managing NPC:s is often too much for inexperienced players to handle, but since the in-game currency can be bought using real life currency, this class would be considered to be pay to win if it weren't for the slow early and mid game EXP-grind.

The amount of units Legate can summon is dependent on the mana of the player. The higher the power level of the unit summoned, the higher the cost of mana is. There are also permanent summons and partial summons.

Partial summons bring the unit temporarily to a battlefield for a limited time selected by the player. When the time is up, the unit will be brought back to where they were originally located before summoning them. Partial summon is a cheaper option than a permanent summon.

Permanent summon, as the title suggests, means that the unit is summoned to a battlefield for an unlimited amount of time. This means that the unit summoned cannot be returned to a place where it was summoned unless the player uses another skill to relocate the unit.

The amount of units that can be summoned at the same time is limited to the player's level. The higher the player level is, the more units can be summoned at one time. There is a limit on when the summon unit slot is opened. Without any boosts, one unit summon slot refreshes every one hour and this can be shortened to no less than ten minutes.

The amount of units that Legate can have at one time is limited to a player level. The maximum units the player can have is proportional to the player's level times ten. And since the level cap on the game is 500, this means that the amount of units the player can have at the end game is 5000.

The units that the player has recruited aren't permanent, which means that they can die or leave the player if certain conditions are met. The unit can be revived three times at the cost of 1000g x unit power lvl. Once the unit has died a fourth time, they cannot be revived and will be permanently gone. Leaving the player is also done if the favorability that the unit has towards the player is in a low enough state for enough time or proportional to how low the favorability is. Once the unit has left the player, it is harder to recruit the unit than it was before.

And how did Lud experience all this? He was guided by Adam the whole way with all kinds of tips and tricks he had learned playing the game for years. And after Lud had played over 1000 real life hours, he had reached the level cap and had recruited many.

Unfortunately, soon after Lud had reached the level, Adam reached a critical condition, after which he soon died. Lud's last real conversation was about the game and the two really didn't have the time to say real goodbyes.

Lud was moving with the motions of grief and he didn't play the game for a while. Playing the game meant that he'd had to face precious memories he spent with Adam. 

Lud no longer had anyone he deeply cared about. His father had left their family to fend for themselves soon after Adam was born and their mother died in a car crash when Lud was 19 and Adam was 8. After losing his parents, Lud's life goal was centered around Adam's well being.

Lud knew that Adam would die before him, but the weight that it put on him was tremendous. "Should I've done better?" "What if I tried harder, would he still be alive?" "Could I have saved him and did I just let it happen?"

Lud went into a deep depression for a couple of years. But when he heard that the servers were shutting down, he had to make sure he had no regrets.

So with a heavy heart, Lud stepped into GFOO and began tidying things up. When he went back, the title "King of Elysium" had been transferred to Lud. He was confused as he knew the system had no way of knowing that Adam died. Lud realized something and muttered "So you made preparations that once you were absent long enough, the title of "King of Elysium" would be passed onto me." Lud made a weak smile as he said "You really are a thoughtful little brother. I'll make sure that the final days of your legacy will be grand."

The way that Adam made the Elysium was that when he was absent, certain NPC:s would run the kingdom by themselves autonomously.

What surprised Lud was when one of the NPC:s in charge named Zenith asked Lud to follow her somewhere. Thinking that this was one of the things Adam prepared for Lud, he followed the NPC without question.

Eventually they entered a certain place in the castle's garden that seemed to be dedicated to commemorate the first king of Elysium, Roland Varshu Ilumnos, Adam's in-game name. It had a huge stone mural that was most likely written by one of the other players that helped Adam build Elysium. It said "Roland Varshu Ilumnos. For the memory of our great leader. Brave, compassionate and wise. He gave rise to our glorious kingdom and he will be solemnly missed. May he watch over us from the great beyond."

The mural also had a picture of Adam's character, so Lud decided to give it a little touch and placed a picture of him in real life that had text that said "The true body may have been weak, but his legacy is ever greater." Then Lud left the memorial and began to prepare for the final event.

Lud made sure that on the final in-game day, there will be a celebration to commemorate the time and effort everyone had put into this kingdom. As Lud was now officially the king, people followed his commands and the preparations began. 

He looked at the mirror and saw his character's image. He had pure white hair and golden eyes. According to Adam, "White hair represents purity and golden eyes represent human perfection." Adam also said "I made extra sure that your character would look handsome." Lud's character's name was Faust Ilumnos, of which Faust is short for faustitas, which means happiness and good fortune.

Before the celebration would begin, Lud made sure to at least see the top units of his legion. There were ten battalions, each specializing in certain things.

The first battalion commander was Lizbeth Cardigan, or Liz for short. She was the first unit Lud pulled from gacha and raised her to be an excellent unit. She was a demon, nightmare demon to be exact, who specializes in guarding people. Not a defensive unit by any means, as Adam once said "Best defense is good offense." She was shorter than Lud's character and had short black hair, violet eyes, horns protruding from the sides of her head and a tail that was unnecessarily long but slim.

Lud decided to pat her on the head as she was the first ever unit he made. It made Lud feel nostalgia from the time when Adam gave him some tips on how to best optimize her.

Then Lud called the second battalion commander Brutus Lidweg. An NPC from one of the pregenerated kingdoms in GFOO that showed great promise in the early game and proved to be a great investment. He was a dragon that was in humanoid form. He had long red hair, fiery red eyes and a handsome face. He was in charge of any aerial combat, but he was also a beast in the ground as well. The character setting for him was that he was first disgusted by humans, but warmed up to one when they visited his lair repeatedly without hostility.

Then Lud called the third battalion commander Marchosias. Her battalion specializes in single combat and due to that reason, her battalion is one of the smaller ones. In one to one combat, she excels over all other commanders, but she lacks a bit of tactical thinking. She is therianthrope and has long silver hair, yellow eyes, wolf ears and tail. She was one of the gacha pulls.

The fourth battalion commander was Illi Tipten, a dwarf who specialized in manufacturing equipment for the other battalions. He has brown hair and beard, brown eyes and is obviously short. The setting for him is that he is quite fond of beings NPCs call "Real ones" which refer to the players. He was one of the NPC apprentices in a famous shop used often by players, but he was considered an eyesore in that shop for certain reasons.

The fifth battalion commander, Lych Rit is a full blooded elf that specializes in long range physical combat. Normally when you think of long range attacks coming from an elf, you'd think they are talking about bows and arrows. But while they are part of the fifth battalion's arsenal, the main focus is firearms. Thanks to the player's intervention, people of this game could manufacture firearms such as early rifles. It took a long time for them to be implemented, which is why they were left at that. Modern firearms were the main goal of these players, but the time ran out and early rifles were all they got. Lych has short blond hair, blue eyes, long ears and is often mistaken to be a woman. He was an NPC ranger in a certain elf village who was convinced to join Lud's legion.

The sixth battalion commander is Elisia Longwood. Her battalion specializes in magic combat, both short- and long range. She is an ancient elf that has long blond hair, blue eyes and a bit longer elf ears. Her setting is that she seeks non violence options first but will resort to violence when necessary. Adam claimed that she has sadistic and masochistic traits, but Lud has no proof of either. She was an important quest giver in one of the storylines considering elves. Rest assured, another NPC took her place.

The seventh battalion commander is XU-02 and he is a automaton designed by Illi. He is 2,5 m tall and is quite bulky. He has 100 lesser units called Fingers that get stronger the higher the number goes and each Finger's are referred to using feminine pronouns. Xu often calls the Fingers his daughters and the Fingers sometimes call him father. The Fingers themselves don't belong in the Legion system. Xu's battalion specializes in defensive measures. Even though Xu is mechanical, he is quite fond of nature and cute things despite his looks. Adam described him as "Gentleman".

The eight battalion commander is Lili Ruitup. She is a dark elf that commands a battalion specializing in defending and countering against any type of magic or curse. Her battalion often works together with the sixth battalion, however, Lili and Elisia don't get along in private. Lili has long dark hair, violet eyes and she was one of the gacha pulls.

The ninth battalion commander is Tear Ti. An arachne boss in humanoid form who's battalion specializes in information gathering and espionage. She has short black hair and violet eyes in her humanoid form. She was a boss character in one of the dungeons that had a low completion rate even for end game players. Tear has an unique way of getting information from people that may or may not involve magic that affects the mind. Tear can manipulate shadows and move inside of them as she pleases. She is also in charge of keeping an eye out for the tenth battalion commander.

The tenth battalion commander is Sarah Ylfianos Rosten Ech Alifana Setto Livendig. To put it simply, a demon raid boss that specializes in causing terror. As Adam would put it "Having a raid boss as one of your units is akin to having a nuke in your backyard ready to be launched." Getting an actual raid boss to be one of the player's units was considered impossible even by the devs, but with both wits, effort and luck, Adam and Lud managed to tame this demon. And then there is the point to be made that Sarah is considered to be one of the hardest known raid bosses in the entire game. In her humanoid form, Sarah has long dark red hair, red eyes, and a single horn starting from the left side of her head. She is about 165 cm tall, has a tail the size of her palm and has a small chest. She is quite bratty and has a side to her that tells you that she is a bit of a battle maniac. Her true form, well, lets just say that the main castle has been "reimagined" several times due to certain events that the devs added to counterbalance the game.

After seeing all of his commanders one last time, he waited for the server to shut down by walking the streets of the capital and reminiscing about Adam.

When the time came for the server to shut down, Lud sat to the throne, closed his eyes, and waited to be forcibly logged out.

…

…

…

He waited, but nothing happened. He looked at the time and saw that the server was supposed to be shut down a couple minutes ago. Just in case, Lud decided to log out himself, but when he tried, he could no longer do it. The system didn't allow it.

Lud wondered "What is happening? Why can't I log out?" He tried to contact the admin with no response. Panic started to fill in. "Did something go wrong when the server shut down and this is some kind of glitch? How am I supposed to get out of here?"

Lud passed back and forth, trying to think of a solution, but none of them worked. Lud then came to a conclusion "I may be stuck here for now. Best I can do is wait and hope that someone at work will come and see why I'm not back at work. I still have a buddy that I hang around with sometimes, so at least he should notice. But let's see, if a body can last about three days without water and the time moves 24 times faster here than in the real world, it means that I have to spend at least… 72 days in here before I die. Man…" Lud looks at the throne room and says "I guess I better get myself busy before someone saves me or I die."

Then Zenith comes to the throne room and shouts "Supreme ruler! There is an issue!" Lud is surprised by this as NPC:s don't usually make that kind of ruckus. Lud mumbless "Even if Sarah is set to be bratty, her behavior is within the confines of the game." 

Zenith shouts again "What are you saying supreme ruler?! You must come quick!" Zenith comes and grabs Lud's arm and starts to pull him somewhere. Lud then mumbles "Perhaps this is some kind of secret event that devs put in for those who wait for the server to shut down."

Once Zenith gets Lud to the balcony, Lud sees that the scenery beyond the city has changed to a forest. Lud rubs his chin and says "Interesting." Zenith, from behind, asks Lud "What should we do, supreme ruler?"

Lud thinks for a moment and then mutters "Let's play along for now" and then says "Tell the second battalion commander to survey the area. Tell them to not go too high or too far and if they see something of interest, do not engage and report to me immediately. Also send the first and fifth battalion to survey the ground level. Rest of the battalions should focus on maintaining order." Zenith bows, says "Yes, supreme ruler" and starts to communicate with the commanders of each battalion, saying that it was "Supreme ruler's orders".

Then Lud wonders for a moment "I wonder if Sarah will cause trouble since she's too excited." And as he said it, Lud hears a sudden *BAM* coming from the city. He uses his clairvoyance to see that Sarah jumped to see what is happening. Then Lud calls her directly and says "Didn't I say to hold the public order?"

Sarah says back "But it's sooooo interesting looking. Let me go take a look. Just a little peak."

Lud considers her proposal for a moment and then says "Fine, but only for a short while. If you see any outsiders, please inform someone first before taking action." Sarah replies "Oookaayy" and flies to see the forest around them. Lud just wonders "How interactive the NPC:s seem to act now. I wonder what's with that."

Then Zenith comes and asks "If I may be so rude and ask the supreme ruler, but why didn't you ask the ninth battalion to survey the area?" Lud mutters "So you can even ask questions like that." Zenith is confused and asks "My lord?" Then Lud says "Nothing. Well, you see, the ninth battalion isn't exactly used to roaming around a forested area. Even though Tear herself might be able to navigate it with ease, her subordinates won't be able to follow her. Sending Tear by herself from her battalion was an option, but I think Tear understands the importance of keeping an eye on the citizens when a crisis like this happens."

Zenith then says "As expected of the supreme ruler." Then Lud says "Now how will I spend my time for 72 days?"