Chapter 34. Karios blessing (2)
Everyone knows that Ark was created by Pegasus corporation and it is run by an A.I. called Origin but there was not much known about the true creator of Ark and Origin.
Most people only know that Origin was created by a group of scientists which was headed by James Ray, the CEO of Pegasus corporation.
But was it the truth?
There were rumors that there is someone else behind creating the core of Origin and Ark but no one knows who it is.
"Give me the report!!"
James Ray was sitting on a chair as he looked at the big screen in front of him.
The scene on the screen was a fight between Ian and the Dragon Lizard, Leverill.
"His username is Ian. He has recently started playing Ark but he's already one of the candidates to become an abnormality."
His secretary started giving a report about Ian.
"Ohhh!!"
James Ray exclaimed when he heard.
No one can tell if it was because of Ian being a candidate for being an abnormality or if it was because of the battle on the screen.
"So, he started the game more than a month ago."
"Yes, it's been 7 weeks since he had started playing Ark, and his activities till now have been...shocking."
James Ray raised his eyebrow when he heard that. He felt a sense of curiosity in his mind as he took the report from the hand of his secretary.
'He's a lot more interesting person than I had thought.'
James Ray quickly looked over at the report about Ian and he couldn't help but be surprised and even a little bit shocked.
Ian started playing Ark 5 weeks ago. He first defeated the Blaze wolf to get the Rising newbie title and the Blaze dagger.
It was a good start but many users had defeated the Blaze wolf till now. It can't be said to be shocking.
But after that, there was just shock and more shock.
Ian helped a pair of girls in the fields and then, he increased his friendship with Gran, one of the staff in the Mercenary association.
That friendship gave him the quest of gathering Nar herbs and to collect them, he went to the Grenuo forest where his first meeting with Harun happened.
'It's really interesting.'
James Ray felt that Ian's journey till now was really interesting. He experienced both the bad and good things in just a short amount of time.
Because of that, he was able to quickly adapt himself to the virtual world.
Ian was not someone who will distrust everyone but he was also not someone who will completely trust someone.
A person like Ian was really interesting, especially to the eyes of James Ray.
Flip!
He flipped the page of the report and another exclaimed came out from his mouth.
"Ohhh!!"
'He was able to defeat those flame winged birds and climb to the top.'
That was something he had expected with Ian's level of skill but the next line was what truly made him let out an exclamation.
"So, he found a hidden dungeon on top of the cliff."
"Yes, he was able to find the hidden dungeon, Demonic bat cave with ease and what is more surprising is that he defeated Krysil alone."
"Show me the clip of it."
The secretary nodded and played the clip of Ian's battle with Krysil. It was a truly amazing battle, especially his last move.
'So, he even made an original skill.'
As one of the creators of Ark, James Ray knows very well how hard it was to make an original skill in Ark and it was not a weak skill either.
"Did he have some martial arts training?"
"We had already found every information on his real-life self too and there's nothing like martial arts in it. Moreover, there are some things that really stand out."
"What is that?"
James Ray asked with an interested expression on his face.
As someone who has already reached the pinnacle of life, there were very little things that will interest him and Ian was becoming one of them.
"His name in real life is Lu Fei, a Chinese guy. He doesn't have any parents and his only close relative is his sister who is younger than him."
The female secretary began to explain every detail about Lu Fei and the more he heard, the more mysterious Lu Fei seemed to James Ray.
"So, he was in a coma?"
"Yes, he was confirmed to be in the coma on 15 August 2033 and he woke up around a year later. We have already confirmed it with the hospital he was staying in."
'There was no record of him learning martial arts but his movements are not normal at all.'
It was like Lu Fei had been learning and practicing martial arts for years. It was not a lie because he had indeed learned martial arts for years.
But James Ray had no way of knowing that.
That's why he continued to read the report about him and he also watched his fight scenes.
But in the end, he was greatly confused.
It was really weird because not many things in the world can confuse James Ray but Lu Fei has managed to make him confused.
"What are the conditions for learning nature cooking?"
"One had to have the cooking skill and he should also have some reputation with Harun but it's more about luck if one would be able to receive it or not."
'Luck?'
James Ray thought in his head but he continued to ask questions from his secretary.
"What was the prediction of Origin about the Demonic bat cave?"
As the smartest A.I. ever made, Origin was capable of predicting things in Ark. Most of the time his predictions would be right on the mark.
There was only a 0.1% chance of its prediction going wrong and it would happen only when someone hinders the designated terms of events.
The term for those type of hindrance was Abnormality!!
"It was predicted that it would be found about three months later by a guild."
"What was the prediction of Origin about the Lizardman colony?"
"It was estimated to be found a year later by a player around level 50 but…"
"But it was found by the player known as Ian first."
"Yes."
The secretary said as she moved her small head in a nod.
'Nature cooking, the pet egg and now, Karios blessing.'
One can argue that it was just luck and coincidence but as a scientist, James Ray didn't believe in luck and coincidence.
There are no coincidences in the world and there's nothing like luck.
There is only one thing.
'It is skill.'
James Ray was sure that Ian was someone with a high level of skill and aside from that, there was something more to him.
But he can't fathom what was that 'more'.
'I have not seen someone as much interesting as him in months.'
One can say that Lu Fei has the skill but there are many people with skill in Ark. What made Lu Fei more interesting to James Ray was the fact that Lu Fei should not have this level of skill at all.
Yes, there was no record of Lu Fei possessing these types of skills!!
Ark was played by people from every profession available in the world. It includes doctors, engineers, teachers, writers, etc.
It also means that people with professions like mercenary and assassins also play Ark.
They are the people who show different battle styles in Ark and many of them are rankers but there's a reason behind their level of skill.
It can easily be seen from their past records.
'Ian, no, Lu Fei isn't like them at all.'
There was no record of him learning martial arts or being a mercenary. He had lived a normal life from the start.
One of the noticeable things would be him being a ranker in some of the old online PC games but you can't measure virtual reality with online PC games.
In his record, the most notable thing was him getting into the coma but there was nothing suspicious to it, according to the hospital records.
'His personality completed changed after he woke up from a coma but that's understandable…'
James Ray was trying to find the reason behind Lu Fei's skill but even after looking at the record two times, he found nothing.
Standing beside him, the secretary was looking at James Ray with a surprised expression.
There were only a few times that James Ray will fell into his thoughts. Normally, he would have an answer to every question but that was not the case this time.
"He's a genius."
Suddenly, James Ray came out of his thoughts and muttered but suddenly, his expression again fell into one of confusion.
"What happened, Sir?"
His secretary asked but James Ray just shook his head and replied.
"It can be clearly seen that Lu Fei is a genius but one still needs hard work and training to show his talent but there's nothing like that on the records."
James Ray didn't even think about the records being wrong.
It was because the information network of Pegasus corporation can even beat the information network of some countries.
'There's something hidden for sure.'
James Ray was sure that there was something that he doesn't know of.
Something only Lu Fei knows of.
'I want to know what is he hiding but I can't ask it.'
Even if James Ray went to talk with Lu Fei, there was no way Lu Fei would tell him anything about it.
James Ray was also too busy to go and meet Lu Fei. As the CEO of Pegasus corporation, he sleeps less than three hours in a day.
'We will meet in the future.'
Although he can't meet with Lu Fei currently, James Ray was sure that they would eventually meet in the upcoming future.
It was because of one reason.
'He will make his own legend if Karios has blessed him.'
There were some hidden powers and entities hidden in the whole world of Ark.
They will rarely show themselves and will always stay hidden from the general populace. These hidden powers can be gods, dragons, spirits, etc.
Karios belonged to one of them.
Karios has deemed Lu Fei as someone who is worthy of his blessing. Just that fact makes Lu Fei destined to become a legend.
At the same time, James Ray thought of another thing.
'Maybe, he will get that class.'
From his information, James Ray knew that Lu Fei was still classless. So, he can choose one of the hidden classes in Ark.
The class James Ray was thinking about was one particular class. A class that he himself doesn't know much about.
It was weird that the creator of Ark was saying that he doesn't know anything about a class in the game.
But it was just the truth!!
'That old man had personally made that class.'
The world called him the creator of Ark and Origin but he himself doesn't see himself as such.
It was because there was someone else behind creating the core and most important parts of Ark and Origin.
It was someone James Ray thought of as master and he wanted to walk into his footsteps but he can never touch the brilliance of that old man.
'It looks like the future will be interesting.'
He thought in his mind.
Then, James Ray looked at his secretary and said.
"Assign Lu Fei to Code Z."
"Huh? That Code Z!?"
"I don't think there's another Code Z."
"Ah, yes, right away!!"
The secretary straightened her back and quickly left the room in a hurry.
Code Z!!
It was the list of people who are monsters among the monsters. The type of people one never wants to go against.
They are the abnormalities among abnormal people.
Previously, there was only one person in this list and that was the hidden prince, Brendan but now, Lu Fei was also added in it.
The gears of fate began to change like that!!