When that system message appeared I knew I was in trouble, no, more than just trouble. I was as good as dead.
Boromir's Lair, in other worlds, I was inside of Boromir's bedroom.
I became as stiff as a stick; my breath caught in my throat. I didn't dare make a sound for fear of what could happen to me. My eyes darted from one side to another in search of danger, and that was when I saw it, the source of the weird waves like sound and the cold breeze that was circling inside the cave.
In the center of the dimly lit space was a stone table just a few feet tall, it didn't even reach my waist, but that wasn't what I was looking at, instead, it was what was laying on it.
A giant black boulder was resting atop the flat surface, 5 meters (16'4") tall and with a diameter of 10 or so meters (32'8") it was enormous.
I gulped seeing that because it wasn't a rock, it was a Dragon. The sound of waves was caused by the beast's snoring and the cold breeze was caused by his breathing.
The Dragon of Calamity Boromir was sleeping right in front of me.
I was seriously frightened at that point so I went through all the data in my head to try and find an exit from that place.
Thankfully, however designed this Map also made a hidden exit for players, all I had to do was find it, which proved to be quite the trick since I couldn't make much noise or else I would become barbecue.
I dragged my feet through the rocky floor as quietly as I could be, searching left and right, but who said it would be easy?
In the end I searched every corner of the room in the right side of the Dragon when I found a crack in the wall, big enough for a person to go through.
I almost screamed in joy, almost, but then something came to mind.
According to the information I had there was supposed to be a Unique graded treasure chest somewhere inside the cavern, so I thought to myself, 'since I am already here, why not take a look?'
It took me less time to find the chest than to find the exit since the only thing I had to do was turnaround from the position I was on.
The crack was hidden right behind a set of tall rocks that were facing the rear of the dragon, making it almost impossible to find from where I was standing before, which was right in front of his face.
Right behind Boromir's back a section of the wall was shining with a blue glow, but the glow was so soft that were I not searching for it I would have never found it.
Inside Archeon Online Items, chests and mounts were classified through the same Grade system, and that include the cards that a Card Mage used. Each grade was represented by a different color, which would manifest itself as a soft glow around the object or animal.
Starting at Common/White, the next would be Uncommon/Grey followed by Rare/Red, Epic/Purple, Unique/Blue and finally Legendary/Gold. Thanks to this system it was possible to discover the grading of an item visually. The programmers designed it this way so to stop Players from scamming others to buy useless items under the allegation that they were High-Graded ones.
The chest in question didn't have the appearance of a Unique Grade chest though, rather, it was shabby-looking, made from old wood and iron. There wasn't even a lock, only a few claw marks around the lid as if something, or someone, had tried to open it by force and failed.
I looked around in search of traps.
The data told me that there wasn't such a thing, but being overcautious never hurt.
Only when I was sure there weren't any traps or hidden mechanisms did I open the old chest.
.
.
.
Nothing happened. No pillars of light shoot to the sky and displayed my position; no earthquake started; the volcano didn't explode. It was quite anti-climax to say the least.
The only thing that happened was a system window appearing in front of me.
Ding!
< Congratulations! You are the first Player to open a Unique grade Treasure Chest! >
< World Reputation Increased by 10 points! >
< Loot increased by 100%! >
It was a sweet series of notifications.
Quickly looking inside the chest I discovered two items; one was a black, tear shaped slab. It was rough to the touch and exuded a black aura like smoke. The second item was a necklace made of a string like chain and a rainbow like crystal encased in silver for the pendant.
The necklace had a soft blue glow around it, so it was safe to say it was a Unique grade item, but I didn't have a clue as to what the slab was. Not being able to control my curiosity I started to inspect the items.
Perhaps, if I wasn't so excited to learn what those things were I would have noticed the giant dragon behind me stiffening, or him opening his red reptilian eyes.
*
*
*
"How is this possible?!"
An elderly voice resounded across the starry sky.
It was quite odd, since according to the game's clock it was supposed to be 15 o'clock. Also, there was no earth, no ground.
Well, there was a floor, but not the common type. It seemed to be made of water, resembling a plate filled with standing water, a perfect mirror to the night sky above.
Standing behind a wooden table was an elderly man clad in white robes, a long white beard contrasted with his bald head. Behind him, on the floor, was a wooden chair, most probably thrown there by the man standing up abruptly.
On top of the table was a crystal ball depicting the happenings all around the world of Archeon Online, including a certain cave under a volcano.
"How did he end up there?! What am I supposed to do now?!?"
The elder seemed to be going crazy due to the actions of a certain newbie. The fact that he arrived at Torkunta Mountain could be attributed to the Teleportation Scroll he used, and him discovering Boromir's Lair as pure luck, but finding the Unique grade chest, and above all, doing everything while being a Level 0 Player!?
That was something the old man couldn't believe!
He started to go through all the recent events inside the game but, no matter what, he couldn't find anything wrong. He could only grit his teeth and sit down in his chair, which had magically returned to its place, while watching the events unfold in front of him.
He was supposed to be the highest authority inside the game, an entity created to fix any bugs or cheats and make sure all Players could have a fair experience while playing, but not even 2 hours after the game started, and he had already been rendered powerless.
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Name : Mesphist
Level : 0
HP : 100
MP : 0
Attack : 1 - 2
Defense : 0
World Reputation : 170