Kane appeared in a white room with a notification in front of him.
[Please create an In-game Name ID]
[Note: Your name ID is PERMANENT and can't be renamed nor removed]
"Well, I'm just gonna get that armor then uninstall this shit anyway, so..."
[ID: Kane]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
"What the hell?! Who the hell uses my name?! It's my name!?"
[ID: Kane]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
[ID: Kane]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
"AArgggghhh!!"
No matter how many times Kane tried to register his name, the system will never accept it.
"Alright, then!"
[ID: Kane01]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
"Damn it!"
[ID: Kane02]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
[ID: Kane03]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!"
After 47 minutes.
[ID: Kane250]
[Your in-game name is already used. Please create a different one]
[The player Kane250 was made]
Upon creating his character, multiple people with different races appeared in front of him. The female voice-over continued.
[Please choose your race perks]
[Race perks are attr—]
"Ehhhh, let's skip that. Let's just pick this. It looks human."
Whoosshhhh!
Suddenly, everything went blank once again. Kane was alone in the white room, and he could hear the sound of the wind. The floor that he was standing on suddenly disintegrated that Kane started falling.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
SLAM!
He fell down on a grassy field. In contrast to the white room that he was earlier, the place he landed on was colorful.
There were grasses everywhere. Buildings made of bricks also surrounded Kane. There were also a lot of people walking around him. But Kane failed to notice them because he was too focused on the pain on his back that he removed his VR goggles.
He didn't just fell down in Arcadia. He also fell down in the real world like an idiot because he really thought he was falling.
"Ugh! What was that? It felt so real. Was it because of the sounds? Ugh! I think I hurt my back."
Kane returned the goggles on his head and saw a new notification.
[The Paragon, Kane250, has entered the tutorial village: Herald City.]
*CHING*
He looked around and noticed that he arrived at some kind of a Fortress Camp with a lot of people walking around. Still feeling nauseous, he stood up, tried to regain his balance, then stepped forward.
*CHING* *CHING* *CHING*
He heard the chiming sounds behind him that prompted him to look back. On his back, other players could be seen spawning in the area. There were also newbies just like him.
"I guess... I'm not the only person in the world who played this game too late."
He continued walking forward until he reached a road.
BAM!
"Ugh!"
Kane suddenly fell down on the floor as a beautiful crying woman bumped into Kane.
"Are you okay?"
While asking for Kane's condition, Kane took the chance to look at her pretty face. She also had a slender figure and long black hair that collided with Kane's face when she tried to look at his condition.
But before Kane could answer, the lady shifted her gaze away from Kane as three thugs appeared a few meters behind her. Seeing the thugs were after her, she couldn't do anything but to ask for help.
"Please help me!"
Kane was still confused about what was happening. He had just landed on a new world, and now a beautiful woman suddenly asked for his help. Not only that, Kane never planned any of this as he only played the game intending to get Joshua's Moonwrath Armor.
One of the thugs approached them.
"Give us that woman back. She stole something from us!"
The woman started crying.
"No! It was my father who borrowed them money and used it for gambling. I had nothing to do with it! Please help me!"
A notification popped up on Kane.
[You received a Quest]
[Quest: Save Maria]
Maria was being chased by debt collectors from a debt that she had nothing to do.
Clear Conditions: Save Miss Maria from the Thugs
Reward: +100 GOLD, +10 XP, +10 FAME, +10 CB
Failure Penalty: -5 FAME, -10 Reputation on Herald City
After seeing that, Kane immediately grabbed Maria's arms. Maria was delighted. She looked at him and smiled.
"Thank you for helpi—what????"
Kane suddenly threw her back to the thugs. Maria fell to the ground and scarred both her elbow and knees. One of the thugs grabbed after falling to the ground. All of them were confused. Kane waved as he had other things to do.
"Goodluck guys! I don't have time for this, I need to make the Moonwrath armor."
Kane turned around and began to walk away. Maria couldn't do anything but shout while being dragged away by the thugs.
"What?! What kind of Paragon is that?! You asshole!!"
[Quest Failed]
Fame decreased.
Reputation on Herald City decreased.
One of the thugs dragging Maria chuckled at what happened.
"Hahaha! Well, this never happened before. But that's right, people should really mind their own business."
Kane suddenly stopped walking.
"What did you say?"
"I said people should just mind their own business just like you."
Kane giggled while slowly walking back to them.
"Mind my own business? Why do both worlds keep on saying that to me? I hate it."
"What is wrong with this guy? Hey, back off!"
They gave Kane the chance to walk away, but Kane was still approaching them.
"You know what, I'm done with that guy. Get him!"
The two other thugs released their grip on Maria, leaving her to the remaining thug, and ran straight at Kane.
[VR Set Combat Tutorial: Your character moves based on how you move in the real world using VR Trackers.]
A thug tried to punch at Kane in the face. But it was too slow. Kane could easily predict how strong and when it will land on his face. These guys were amateurs. They were on par with the baseball kids that he pummelled. Kane smiled and tried to dodge it by weaving.
CRACK!
PAK!
"Oooooff!"
Kane failed and was punched in the face.
[Kane250 LVL 1 HP: 80/100]
He messed up. Kane was flustered and started breathing heavily.
'It's... it's my fucking back!! I fell earlier. Now it hurts like hell!!'
Because of his back, he couldn't dodge the thug's attack. This time, the other thug was about to attack. Kane knew that he can never avoid the punch for now. Instead, he'll just punch the thug's fist and parry the attack, just like in the real world.
With Kane's strength and expertise in battle, simple attacks with amateurs like these could be easily deflected.
To deflect the thug's attack, Kane also punched the thug's hand. Both of their fists collided.
POW!
[Kane250 LVL 1 HP: 60/100]
'What the hell?!?!'
But it didn't work. Because he might be strong in the real world, but not in Arcadia. Winning battles in Arcadia highly depended on STATS. Right now, Kane's stats were nearly the same as the thug's stats.
With no other choice, Kane used his final resort. The thug punched him in the face. Kane didn't try to dodge anymore. But instead, he also landed a punch in the thug's face.
PAK! PAK!
Kane used to be an award-winning champion in sports. He had gold medals for boxing, taekwondo, and had an amateur belt for MMA. He was considered a living legend. Even if those were years ago, Kane was still powerful enough. A direct punch in the face could knock people down. But once again, that was not the case in Arcadia.
[Kane250 LVL 1 HP: 40/100]
"Ugh! Damn it! He's still not down!"
Kane started to doubt his own strength as he thought he could take down the thug in one shot just like what he did with the baseball guys.
He looked at his opponent and saw its health bar.
[Thug LVL 1 HP: 50/100]
Even after making a lot of mistakes, Kane still had a knack for taunting his opponents. He grinned at his opponent.
"Come!"
The same thug ran at Kane and tried to punch him again. Since Kane couldn't dodge, he relied on his speed and also attempted to hit the thug in the face. Just as he expected, Kane's punch landed quicker than the thug.
PAK!
[Thug LVL 1 HP: 1/100]
Status: Unconscious
"Sweeeeeettt!"
Kane managed to defeat one thug, but it was far from over as there were still two other thugs.
The other thug dashed toward Kane and tried to punch him. Using the same tactic, both of them managed to land a hit on each other. But this time, Kane quickly unleashed another punch in the face after the first one.
PAPAK!
[Thug LVL 1 HP: 1/100]
Status: Unconscious
'Now, that makes two.'
With that, only one thug remained. However, upon looking at him, Kane could see that this one was a little bit taller and bulkier than the other two. Not only that, his level and maximum HP were also different. To add to his problems, his health also dropped a lot.
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 110/110]
[Kane250 LVL 1 HP: 20/100]
'Shit. Am I gonna lose in my first battle… really? The great and legendary Kane?'
Despite in combat, Kane still managed to evaluate his situation just like what he did on his tournaments. He realized that the thugs could deal a fixed 20 damage per attack while he could deal a fixed 50 damage per attack. Also, Kane found out that despite his strength was heavily toned down in the game, his speed wasn't. He could release at least two punches in succession.
But he was finally facing a new dilemma. His final opponent was a Level 2 Thug. He doesn't know how fast or how much damage does that guy could release. With no other choice, Kane used his last resort.
[Do you want to log out?]
[Yes.]
[Warning: You cannot log out during combat]
[Tutorial Tips: It is highly discouraged to log out during Boss Battles and Major Events of a Questline as it will yield a crucial negative impact for the player. If a Player was disconnected, their character would remain standing still in Arcadia and vulnerable to danger.]
'THEN WHY ASK ME IF I WANT TO LOG OUT IF I CAN'T LOG OUT!?!?! AND WHAT'S WITH THAT LONG ASS EXPLANATION!?!?!'
Since he couldn't log out anyway, he decided to just fuck it and face the thug.
The final thug released Maria to the ground and started moving toward Kane.
'Ah, shit. If only I have a weapon or something.'
Kane tried to look around to find some stick or stones, but the road was clean. All he could see was the unconscious thugs on the floor.
'Wait a minute…'
Kane slid on the ground, approaching the unconscious thug. He tried to undress the thug to take his shirt. Suddenly, an inventory panel appeared.
[Thug LVL 1 (Unconscious)]
Inventory:
Ripped Leather Shirt
Ripped Leather Pants
Ripped Leather Boots
Ripped Underwear
Kane couldn't help but to tilt and scratch his head.
'Hmmm... why is there an underwear here... does that mean I could take it? If I did, then this guy would display his weenie on this road. Hehe… it would be funny. Should I try to get it?'
But Kane had no time fooling around. The thug finally reached him. He pulled out the sleeping thug's shirt.
[You acquired Ripped Leather Shirt]
[Kane250 LVL 1]
Inventory:
Ripped Leather Shirt
Ripped Leather Shirt
Ripped Leather Pants
Ripped Leather Boots
Ripped Underwear
'Ehhh?!?! I also have an underwear. So, people could also troll with my body and leave me naked?'
The thug swung his arms on Kane, but Kane easily dodged it by stepping back.
One mistake, and it could kill Kane. With no other choice, Kane relied on and believed that anything was possible in Arcadia. Kane suddenly rolled the shirt that he just looted.
The thug launched at him, only to get slapped in the face by the rolled shirt.
PAK!
"Ack!"
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 80/110]
It worked. Just as what Arcanos have been advertising, everything was possible in Arcadia.
Kane smiled. The flustered thug tried to lessen the gap between them, but Kane slapped his head once again.
WHIP!
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 60/110]
The thug was unfazed and continued charging at Kane. Kane slapped his head once again.
PAK!
But the thug blocked his face with his hands.
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 58/110]
Kane was baffled as the thug managed to counter his attacks. But Kane's quick thinking already knew that it was bound to happen. Since the thug was blocking his own face with his hands, he couldn't see what Kane was doing. Kane changed his target and whacked his leg instead. The thug wobbled before falling to the ground.
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 50/110]
While on the ground, Kane quickly dashed forward and stomped the guy in the face.
[Critical Hit!]
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 20/110]
'Nice!'
Kane couldn't help but get excited as he finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Suddenly, the thug started disturbingly shaking his head and arms like he was going crazy.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 20/110]
[Tutorial Tips: Some entities in Arcadia can enter Enrage mode. In enrage mode, these entities will get a sudden burst in stats, and their attack pattern will change. Almost all Bosses and Captains possessed this ability. It usually happens when their health falls below a certain threshold.]
'Ah, shit. Another problem.'
The thug sprinted toward Kane at an incredible speed. Kane didn't have the time to stretch the shirt. Instead, he threw the shirt, blocking the thug's view, which gave him the time to sidestep.
Kane felt his back aching once again, but it was still tolerable. As soon as the thug removed the shirt on his face, Kane managed to land a punch. But it was still not over.
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 15/110]
With no other options, Kane decided that this was the legit one on one battle with fists. Both of them charged at each other. The thug moved his arms first, but Kane's incredible punching speed surpassed him. Kane managed to hit him in the face.
PAK!
And hit him again. Making two punches in succession.
PAK!
And another one.
PAK!
"Uugghhhh…"
Even with his damaged back and toned down strength, Kane still surpassed his limit of two punches in succession, knocking the last thug unconscious.
[Thug LVL 2 HP: 1/110]
Status: Unconscious
Who would've thought that Kane, who believed that playing Arcadia was dumb, had smiled brightly for the first time in years as it was probably the most exciting battle he ever had?
[Level Up]
Kane250 is now LVL 2