Why does almost everyone was playing Arcadia? It was because Arcanos Corporation actually rewarded people with real money by playing Arcadia. Arcanos would give cash rewards as compensation for achieving something in the game. It can be from leveling up your character or earning golds and other methods. You might think that it might lead to their loss, but it was not.
The higher a player levels up, the higher the monetary rewards will be. However, the required experience points to level up a character would increase massively upon reaching level 30.
That strategy enabled Arcanos to manipulate the people by playing their game, thinking that they'll get easy money since it was easy to level up your character at the start. But at some point, it became so hard for players to level up that they had to spend more time and real money to level up.
Most of the people just ended up getting themselves under immense debt due to buying in-game items with real money just to help them upgrade their equipment. But for some people, it actually worked in their favor. Some of them easily managed to level up and earned more money in the process. In the end, it was a gamble.
Some issues appeared at the start. People started to exploit the system by creating multiple accounts over and over again. That was stopped as the account creation now required a credit card to identify the players.
Arcanos even managed to make a deal with the national leaders that several laws and regulations were made to protect the game. Since money is involved, a lot of people were even arrested and imprisoned for hacking the game. Multiple bugs and glitches were also immediately fixed from time to time.
As Arcadia became the most secure and hackproof game globally, people had no choice but to grind so hard just to level up.
But according to rumors, there were some legendary players you didn't spend a single cent on this game, yet, they were some of the strongest players out there. That was the beauty of Arcadia.
-DISTRICT 5, CITY OF HANSUNG, GREATER ASIAN KINGDOMS-
BOG! BOG! BOG!
A young man started slamming his head on his worktable. Behind him was a large VR capsule built for entering Arcadia. He took out his phone while biting his lips.
"Brother... I... I failed."
"You failed what?"
"I failed to clear the cave."
"What? I even gave you everything?! Our guild leader will scold me for this!"
BOG! BOG! BOG!
The young man continued banging his head on the table while talking to his brother.
"I'm sorry, but some asshole let us all die and took the loot alone!"
"What did you say?"
"Some guy also knew about the Fruit Eye Cave. He even knew the self-destruction skill of that Monkey, which explains how he managed to live."
"That's weird. If that asshat knows about that, then it means he already cleared the cave before. Why would he raid it again since it will yield fewer XP and rewards for him? It's a complete waste of time.��
"Maybe… wait! What if he belongs to another famous guild?!"
"Wait! It can be. Some guild might be exploited the Fruit Eye Cave too! Now, this information is what Beefking will like! Who's that guy?!"
"His ID was Kane250. He said he's level 30, I doubt it at first, but now it makes sense."
"Alright, I'll tell our guild members about it."
"Yes... in the meantime... I'll try to find him. For sure, he's still on Herald City."
"Okay, bye."
The young man was suddenly delighted that he completely forgot that he was depressed a few seconds ago. He gently placed his phone at the table and opened his laptop.
'Now, you little shit. You're gonna pay for all the shit that you broug—'
While visiting the forums, a thread caught his attention. He clicked it, and it opened a popular thread that was created by someone.
[Newbies, beware of a dude named Kane250 in Herald City. He'll party with you just to take all the loot alone. Don't party with this guy.]
[Author: Dreyer]
-Back at DISTRICT 6-
Kane couldn't help but jump around like an idiot while going back to his apartment upon seeing the money he received from Arcanos.
'Holyyyy shite! This game is lit! 10,000 GAK Dollars? My rent is just 7,000 Dollars!! I can pay my rent! Damn it! I went into multiple jobs, but in just one night, I earned this much money!'
He stopped upon reaching his floor as he noticed there were suddenly a lot of workers. They were going in and out of his room. The bright smile on Kane's face immediately faded. He rushed toward a worker and grabbed its coat.
"Hey, what are you doing?! That's my hous—"
A man suddenly grabbed his arm to protect the worker.
"Kane. That's no longer your house!"
"Oh no, no, no, no. Mr. Cortez, look at this!"
Kane flashed his bank book at Mr. Cortez just to show how much money he earned.
"I can pay for the rent! I'll pay for it now! I know your bank number."
Kane took out his phone and started inputting Cortez's bank number. But Cortez shoved it away.
"Too late for that. I already leased it to another person."
"What? You can't do that?! I'm living there!"
"You're not! You're not even paying. You're behind a couple of months! And I'm the landlord."
"You can't do this?! Alright, I'll pay more. How much did that guy paid for my flat?"
"He paid 10,000 Dollars."
Kane became irritated.
"10,000 Dollars!! But that shitty room is even too much for 7,000 Dollars?!"
"That was your pay since I feel bad for you and gave you a discount, but you're still not paying. So, are you gonna pay?"
"... shit. Okay, then how about I pay for another room for 7,000 Dollars."
"There are already tenants everywhere."
"But that room at the end over there! There's no one taking that room!"
Kane pointed at the last room at the end of the hallway.
"Alright, I'll give you that room. 10,000 Dollars."
"Why, 10K? It should be 7k!"
"Then, don't take it."
"..."
Kane couldn't do anything. To think that he just earned 10K dollars a few seconds ago and now he was about to lose it all. He took a deep sigh before talking.
"Alright. I'll move out. But since this is abrupt, let me just use that room at the end. Give me 30 days to prepare, to find another apartment, and then let's not see each other again."
"15 days, deal?"
"Fucking shit."
"10 days."
"15 days!"
"Okay, Deal."
"We did spend a lot of time with each other during these past months, even tho they were shitty moments, I'll give you consideration, I'll tell the workers to take your items at the end of the room. But after 15 days, you'll take them out yourself, okay?"
"Alright. Want a thank you?"
"I don't need it. You don't have time for that, bitch. Go find yourself another apartment."
Kane couldn't do anything but to just glare at Cortez while walking away. He entered the room at the end of the room and slammed the door shut. He lounged down and immediately rested on the bed.
'Those damn and shitty capitalists. I would need more money if I wanted to find an apartment. But I'm just too tired right now. I didn't get any sleep...*yawn*.'
And then Kane fell asleep. He was too tired that even if the workers were coming in and out of his room, he was not waking up. Little did he know, his phone kept on beeping because his notifications kept on coming.
6:00 PM
Kane woke up with a smile on his face, as finally, he earned some money and had a good rest. He stood up and saw that boxes were scattered in the room.
Kane opened the fridge and saw that the workers also placed his food at the new fridge. He took one of the packed meals and tried to find the expiration date. It was expired for a day already. But it was what Kane has been eating for a very long time.
Since he worked at a convenience store and lacked some funds, he had always been hoarding the expired supplies in the convenience store and stored it at his house.
After eating, Kane opened his laptop and entered Arcadia.
[Welcome back, Kane250]
Kane appeared in the middle of the empty Fallen Monkey boss room.
[You cleared the Fruit Eye Cave. Do you want to teleport back to Herald City?]
[Tips were blocked]
'Ah, okay. Let's unblock these tips.'
[Tips: You earned new items after finishing a raid.]
[Tips: Items can be stored in your inventory or your personal chest.]
[Tips: Items in your inventory can be accessed every time, but it can be lost upon death.]
[Tips: Items in your personal chest can only be accessed on safe houses or after boss fights, but all your items are secured and can never be lost.]
Kane suddenly tilted his head as he realized something.
'Items can be lost upon death. Wait a minute!'
Kane looked around and saw it that there were other items on the ground. It was his fallen party members' items that dropped upon their death. Kane took everything. Among the items that he hoarded, Birthos' items got the highest stats.
[Beasthunter sword]
Attack: +50
[Ironwood sword]
Attack: +30
[Silver sword]
Attack: +30
"This guy. He had better equipment. I knew it. If he really wanted us to clear the cave easily, then he should've given me a better sword."
After taking everything, he couldn't help but feel bothered at an item with a violet-colored text in his inventory.
'What's this?'
[Rabaum's Collar]
Rarity: Epic
A magical collar that was used by King Rabaum to tame his wild animals.
Attack: +60
Armor: +5
Magic resistance: +5
[Active skill – Rabaum's will]
Within its duration, you will be invulnerable against a single attack from any giant monster that would kill you. This skill can only be used once per battle.
Duration: 60 seconds
[Bulgong's staff]
Rarity: Epic
The mighty staff of the Fallen Monkey.
Attack: +80
[Passive skill – Burning staff]
Applies a burning status to enemies.
'Hmmm... I guess these were dropped from the boss and not from my party members. I'll keep it for now.'
After organizing his inventory and equipping the items he felt like he needed, Kane sent the rest of the items to his personal storage chest for safekeeping.
[Inventory]
Bulgong's staff
Rabaum's collar
Red reptilian armor
Red reptilian pants
Red reptilian boots
Cotton weaved underwear
Blue apprentice cape
'Now that's it. All I need now is to go back to Herald City.'
[You cleared the fruit eye cave. Do you want to teleport back to herald city?]
[Yes]
Upon teleporting to the town square, Kane walked around the town proudly with his newly equipped armor instead of the default ripped clothes. At this point, Kane will no longer be persecuted because of his shitty ripped leather set.
People started whispering and staring at Kane. Kane gave them a thumbs up.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You want to party, right?"
One of the people shouted,
"Is it him?!"
"Him? What's with me?"
Kane was confused. He tried to look behind him, but no one was there. He was definitely the one that the guy was talking about.
"Him? Why? Did you know me?"
"Is your name Kane?"
"Ah, a quest. My name is…"
Kane was about to answer yes, but he looked around and realized that they were the word ID and their usernames were above their head. These guys were players. Aside from that, the people have been swiping left and right in the air while shifting their gaze back and forth at Kane.
'Uhhh… what's with this situation? These guys were obviously looking at something in their search engines and comparing it to my appearance.'
The man that was swiping in the air shouted,
"Yes. That's the armor that was posted. It's him! It's the guy who exploited all of his party members!"
"What? What exploited? They all died by themselves, why is that my fault?"
"GET HIM!!"
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Kane tried to kick one of them in the face, but he stopped in the middle as he knew that his stats were comparably low against these people. However, that person got scared and dropped to the ground. That man shouted,
"Be careful! This guy was said to be level 30!"
The people swarmed him with caution. All of them were wielding their shields and weapons.
Most of the places in Arcadia doesn't have any laws unless it was inside a city, two, village, camps, and Kingdoms. Within the Herald City, people can't kill each other until they went out of the borders.
However, doing everything, including stunning, tranquilizing, and kidnapping a player, were possible as long as they didn't kill any player inside the borders, and no other NPC was hurt.
While running away, Kane overheard one of the players whispered to another player beside him.
"Hey, did you contact the other guys?"
"Yes. I told them to go to the border."
"Why border? According to the forum, this guy is a professional exploiter. If that's true, then he wouldn't be stupid enough to cross the border. He'll immediately get killed."
"Okay, I'll tell them to hide in the houses in case he'll hide in there."
WHISH! WHISH! WHISH!
Arrows were being showered at Kane. A notification appeared in front of him.
[Status: Sleeping – 40%]
'What's this?'
Kane looked back and saw that he was already hit by an arrow. If he was using a VR Capsule, he would feel that an arrow really impaled his back with a pain that was heavily toned down. But since Kane was only using a VR set, he will never know that he was hit until he could physically see them.
"40% in one arrow. If I get hit two more times, I'm done for!"
Kane took out his Bulgong's Staff. Upon taking it out, the chasers suddenly moved back.
"It's Bulgong's staff! Don't get hit by him, or you'll get burned!"
Kane clenched his teeth.
"I don't know if this will work, but I got no choice anyway!"
While running away, Kane dropped the other end of the staff to the ground while holding the staff in the middle.
[Burning staff activated]
A burning trail appeared from Kane. The crowd saw it, and they started to disperse. Kane laughed.
"Hahahahahaha! Nice! I love this game! Ah, shit! No, I don't, I'm gonna quit after I get the Moonwrath Armor. Don't get too emersed, Kane!"
BAGAM!
Kane looked back and saw that there was still a player that was chasing him. It was a fully armored Black Knight. That player was not burning at all despite running on the blazing trail.
'What the hell is this guy? I guess he's resistant to fire... oh! The town entrance! Let's leave this shitty town!'
Kane continued running forward to the town's border. All of the other people who went to the alleys, waiting to ambush him, were surprised that he really went to the border. The border was completely empty because they never thought he'll actually go out to his death.
As soon as Kane stepped outside the border, the Black Knight raised his hands and then unleashed lightning at Kane.
BBRRRTT!!
"BULUBULUBULUBULUBULUB!"
Kane's character felt the shock that he stuttered despite the Kane, in the real world, not saying it.
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 90/210]
'Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettttt! That one attack blasted more than half of my health!'
Kane just continued running forward. Suddenly, he slipped and started falling down from a mountain. It turned out the Herald City was located on top of a mountain in Herald Island. Kane kept on rolling down.
Ugh! Oh! Eeeh! Ah!
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 88/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 86/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 84/210]
"AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!! I NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS ROLLING! HOW CAN I REGAIN MY BALANCE USING THIS VR SET?!"
Hup! Ack! Ah! Ugh!
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 82/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 80/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 78/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 76/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 74/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 72/210]
The constant damage finally came to a stop as Kane managed to rotate his body to stop rolling down. He faced forward and continued sliding down. Because of that, his HP remained at 72.
'Hahaha, damn, I really looked stupid in the real world right now.'
In real life, Kane actually pulled the cushion on his bed and used that to regain his balance like in the game.
'Hehehe, I guess I lost the—the fuck is this guy, terminator motherfucker.'
Hoping that he already lost his chasers, Kane looked up only to see that Black Knight still following him by also sliding down the mountain.
BAAAAAMMM!!
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 29/210]
Kane managed to reach the bottom, but he slammed himself on the ground. Suddenly, a notification appeared.
[Status: Fractured]
Kane ignored it and continued walking away. But he realized he was moving too slow. He ran so fast in real life, but he was not speeding up in Arcadia.
POOF!
Kane looked back and saw that the Knight landed safely. Kane continued running away and saw the ocean in front of him. Quickly, Kane jumped in the water.
SPLASH!
'How can I swim?'
Kane just swung his arms in the air in real life, and his character started swimming. The Knight also followed him. Kane also observed his movement speed was not slowed on water.
[Status: Cold]
[Status: Severe Cold]
[Status: Extreme Cold]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 27/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 25/210]
Kane250 Lvl 5 [HP: 23/210]
'SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!'
Kane continued swimming. Suddenly, he heard a loud roar. The sky suddenly turned dark. A storm suddenly appeared in front of them. Kane started to shiver once again as a tornado was in front of him.
'THE HELL IS THIS!?!? WHY DOES THIS LOOK AND FEELS SO REALISTIC!!'
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGG!!"
That was not his scream. Kane looked back and saw the Knight was eaten by a Massive Crocodile-like Creature.
"HOLY SHIT!! THERE'S A FUCKING DINO CROCS IN THIS WATERS!!"
Despite being scared, to avoid the tornado, Kane immediately swam deeper into the darkness of the ocean. But right in front of him was another Giant Crocodile. Suddenly, a large health bar appeared.
Heraldian Horrors Lvl 300
HP: [?/?]
HP: [?/?]
HP: [?/?]
HP: [?/?]
'I fucked up.'
The Crocodile opened its mouth and ate him.
[Rabaum's Will Activated]
Within its duration, you will be invulnerable against a single attack from any giant monster that would kill you. This skill can only be used once per battle.
Duration: 60 seconds