In a dark and quiet room, human-sized bats have been roaming around, trying to find where the strange scent was coming from. It was the scent of a human. Suddenly, the bats heard some footsteps.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Kane ran to the center of the room with a torch in hand, prompting all of the bats to chase him, unaware that they were being killed one by one by Xvin's group. However, there was a massive bat that was chasing and screeching behind Kane. It was a Boss.
Kane spent 15 days climbing the Tower with the help of Xvin and his guild. With the plan of Kane being a bait, they quickly reached the 40th Floor.
Bloodhound Bat Lvl 40
HP: [?/?]
The Bat has been screeching devastating sound throughout the Room. Fortunately, Xvin placed enhancements on everyone that protected them from getting damaged from the screams.
Kane turned around and aimed his gun at the giant Bat's eye. Because of his ridiculous movement speed, he had at least 3 seconds until the Bat will reach him.
BAM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"
That Bat was going back and forth as it didn't know who to attack. It couldn't decide if it would attack Kane, who was right in front of it, shooting its eyes, or attack Xvin's group as they were bombarding its back.
The squad did this tactic over and over again throughout the rooms. Kane would get their attention while Xvin and his team would attack them from behind.
Suddenly, Xvin flew up in the sky and faced the shrieking Bat.
[Inferno.]
KABOOM!
The room was ignited in flames. Thankfully, Kane and the others were all protected from friendly damage thanks to Xvin's Pyrokinetic abilities. A notification appeared everyone's window except for Kane.
[You killed The Bloodhound Bat LVL 40]
All of the other members were glad that they managed to climb from floor 31 to floor 40 without any more casualties, thanks to Kane and Xvin's efforts.
Xvin and Kane approached each other to trade. Kane took the time to ask.
"You said then there were bosses in this Tower every 10 floors? Then the next one was the 50th?"
"Since it was the end, there were two bosses. There was one on the 49th Floor, and there was another one on the 50th floor to acquire your jobs. You don't need to fight the Boss on the 50th floor if you don't want to get a job or a job change."
[Trade Completed.]
Since Kane was already tired and they already reached the 40th floor, he wanted to pause for a while.
"I'll logging out."
But Ryore grabbed his shoulders.
"Hey, newbie. Why don't we have a match?"
"Uhhh, why should I do that?"
"If you managed to hit me at least ten times before you ran out of HP, then I'll give you 1000 Gold right now! What do you say?"
"What do you need to bet?"
"Nothing. It just hurt my pride that I managed to let a rat slip on my watch."
"I don't want to. If I die, I'll lose two levels since I'm the middle of a quest."
Ryore faced Xvin and snapped his fingers.
"Use that skills of yours… uhhh. The Phoenix Flame!"
"Are you serious about this? Come on, he's not even level 20."
"Why? It's also a good training for him? At some point, he'll be forced to fight another player."
Despite being reluctant, Xvin still produced a red aura that enveloped Kane's body.
[Phoenix Flame.]
Xvin explained.
"That aura will save you from Fatal Damage. If you're hit with Fatal Damage, your HP will remain at 1, and it will also burn your opponent. Don't worry, Ryore can withstand the burning effect."
Kane playfully observed as the red energy that was moving throughout his body. But a strategy suddenly came into his mind.
"If Ryore is on Fractured Status and he'll get burned by this. Does that mean he'll die?"
Xvin chuckled.
"Yeah, probably."
Ryore was quite offended.
"Hey, are you thinking you can defeat me?"
"Why, not. If I did more than the 10 hits conditions and will completely kill you, will you change the reward?"
"Wow… look at this brat. Alright then, let's change the terms. I'd give you 1,000 Golds if you managed to hit me at least 10 times. If you managed to literally defeat me, as in all of my HP is gone, then I'll give you 10,000 Golds. However, I'd like you to also bet something."
"What do you want?"
"I want all the loot you received this round."
Kane paused for a moment. He spent his whole life fighting and winning championships. However, that wasn't the same in Arcadia. Ever since he stepped in the world of Arcadia, he spent his whole time running away from overpowered opponents.
"Okay, I'll agree with that. But it will take me hundreds or many thousands of attacks for me to defeat you. I needed some kind of buff."
Ryore looked at Xvin again. Xvin rolled his eyes before giving Kane another enhancement magic.
[Burning Strike.]
This time, orange energy enveloped Kane, making him surrounded by a glowing red and orange energy. Xvin explained it again.
"That buff doesn't depend on your level. It had a fixed 100 magical damage per attack. You can either use your fist or a weapon, it doesn't matter. With that, I think it will take you less than a hundred attacks to take down Ryore. At least, it was far bearable than thousands."
Throughout the start, Kane hasn't fought any other player in a proper battle before.
The first user that he actually fought was the black knight that was chasing him back at the Herald City. But that fight was one-sided as Kane only ran away, which led to him being eaten by the Heraldian Horror.
The second time was when he was fighting against both Ryore and Xvin, which Kane ended up running away again. This time, Kane had to fight a user for the first time, head-on, without running away.
Ryore took out his giant axe and slammed it on the ground.
"If I'm gonna use this, you'll die in one hit. I'm gonna use my fists first."
Ryore took the initiative and dashed toward Kane. Kane ran forward, with his sword in hand, and suddenly hurled it at Kane's face. The unexpected attack went straight at Ryore's face.
[Critical Hit.]
BOOM!
An explosion occurred at Ryore's face as soon as the blade hit him because of Xvin's buff. Other people started to take an interest in the battle as Kane wasn't going down easily.
Xvin, on the other hand, was interested in Kane's moves more than the battle.
'This kid. Those moves were not someone from a newbie… or maybe, he's someone who really knows how to fight in real life.'
Xvin felt nervous as the attack that Kane landed on Ryore wasn't just a merely 100 damage but even more than that since it was a Critical Attack. Ryore was the one who was flustered the most.
He quickly regained his balance, but he was immediately punched in the face. In just a second, Kane landed 3 punches on Ryore's face.
PAK!
[Critical Hit.]
Two out of 3 were critical attacks. Kane wasn't giving him time to think. Ryore, with his large stature, tried to do an uppercut, that Kane easily sidestepped and then punched his face.
PAK!
Ryore fell to the ground. Kane dashed forward and stomped his head with his right foot. Ryore swung his right arm to grab Kane's foot, prompting Kane to stop his attack and roll over to avoid being grabbed. While midair, Kane managed to kick Ryore in the face using his left foot.
PAK!
Xvin was subconsciously smiling as he was very amazed at Kane's actions.
'This kid, really. Every time he dodged, there's always a counterattack. He obviously already fought someone before. I can assume that he was even used to fighting against people who were far stronger than him. However, if he's really a newbie, then all those moves came from real-life experience. Then there's one way he'll lose this match.'
Xvin knew that Kane was an experienced fighter. A player's movement speed is highly dependent on the game. Even if you're a fast runner in real life, if your movement speed is very low in the game, you will run very slow in Arcadia.
However, that wasn't the case in dodging and evading attacks. Dodging and Evading were all based on a player's senses. Even if a player had a very high movement speed, if that player's reaction time was slow, then they can't dodge attacks.
But Kane possessed both ridiculous movement speed and incredible reaction time.
With almost 20% of his HP gone in just a blink of an eye, Ryore tried to take it seriously.
Ryore stood up, and a red aura also enveloped him.
[Beserker's Rage.]
It was one of his skills being a Berserker. Berserker, while it wasn't a secret Class, it was still under the Rare rarity. Berserkers are known to get stronger the less HP they have, and they were said to be the strongest at 1 HP.
However, that was the drawback of being a berserker. They needed to get their HP to get very low before they could unleash their overwhelming abilities. But if they're HP was low, then most likely they'll get killed even before they can use their skills.
Ryore rushed to Kane with amplified speed and attacks. Kane noticed his improved agility that Kane focused on dodging first before counterattacking.
Despite his amplified speed, none of Ryore's attacks landed. After a few seconds, Kane found an opening.
WAPAK!
He leaned forward and unleash his seventh attack on Ryore, an uppercut. The sound of the attack didn't sound like it came from a fist that Xvin thought that Kane slammed a club on Ryore.
Despite the strong attack, Ryore managed to endure the pain and remained standing like it was nothing. Ryore continued punching once again, but just like before, Kane dodged all of it. Suddenly, Kane stopped. Ryore took the opportunity, but played it safe, that he only kicked him in the shoulder and jumped away.
PAK!
With just one minor kick, Kane suffered major damage. Half of his HP was gone. If Ryore didn't play safe and actually kicked him on the chest or the head, it will instantly kill Kane. Ryore quickly ran forward and tried to end it.
"WAIT!"
Xvin screamed. Ryore ignored it and continued moving forward. Xvin unleashed a flame to block Ryore. With his path fully blocked, Ryore got mad.
"What?! Why are you messing with me again!!"
"Something happened to him. Are you okay, Kane?"
But his character was not moving at all. In real life, Kane was moving, but it wasn't getting detected in Arcadia.
'What's going on with this equipment?'
Kane shook his VR goggles, belt, gauntlets, and boots many times, but it still wasn't working. Suddenly, Kane250's hands started moving.
'Nice. Now let's get back to the game.'
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Kane was about to wear his VR set, but someone was knocking at his door.
"OPEN UP!"
A person screamed from outside of his room. Kane ignored it and pretended to be in the middle of something important.
"Wait, a second! I'm… I'm washing! I'm currently naked! Don't go in!"
Kane wore all of his equipment and connected back to Arcadia. He saw the line of flames in front of him and realized that Xvin intervened. Kane shouted.
"Okay, I'm fine now! Just technical failure."
Xvin was confused as a technical failure from Arcanos was rare.
"Technical failure? Just call Arcanos immediately, or it will get worse. They'll take care of your VR Capsule."
"I'm not using a VR Capsule."
All of them were flustered as this was the very first time they were meeting someone who was not using a VR Capsule. Yes, there were other means of playing Arcadia aside from the VR Capsule. People could even play it on a mobile phone.
However, no matter what platform a player was using, they will all spawn on a single world. With that, other players such as mobile phone users have super limited features compared to the users of VR Capsule.
But despite having a limited feature, Ryore was offended as to how he was losing against someone not using a VR Capsule.
'Asshole. Is he flaunting that all of those moves were produced by him himself moving in real life? Impossible. Even I, using a capsule and moving my character with my mind, can't move that fast.'
Kane just realized that half of his HP was gone. But knowing that he could dodge all of Ryore's attacks, he could survive as long as he won't get disconnected again.
This time, Kane was the one who ran toward Ryore. He attacked Ryore multiple times, but Ryore dodged all of it with his amplified speed. Kane jumped away and took out his gun.
Ryore was flustered. He forgot that Kane had a gun, and it still counts as an attack. Ryore sidestepped to prevent being shot.
BANG!
"Ugh!"
But he was still shot in the chest because of Kane's terrible aim. It was Kane's eighth attack.
Ryore knew that Kane was close to victory. He turned around and went straight to his axe that he slammed on the ground earlier.
Kane tried to chase him and fired a couple of bullets toward Ryore, but none of them landed despite Ryore walking in a straight line. With that, Ryore was only a few steps before he reached his axe.
PAK!
Ryore suddenly fell down on the ground as he was hit by something in his head. As he falls, Kane's gun also fell beside him. Since he sucks at shooting anyway, he just decided to throw it. It was Kane's 9th attack.
Kane was about to kick Ryore to get his 10th attack, but Ryore jumped away, abandoning his quest to reach his axe. Kane, on the other hand, went straight to the axe to use it for himself.
[Your level is far too low to equip this weapon.]
[You need at least 250 STR to lift this weapon.]
Kane messed up. Ryore finally reached his axe and grabbed it. Kane immediately jumped away and dodged Ryore's swing. Ryore started chasing down Kane while swinging his axe like he was chopping a coconut.
With the huge gap between them, Kane couldn't counterattack. Kane looked around to think and saw the sword that he threw earlier.
Kane ran toward his sword, but Ryore, who was closer to the blade, noticed it and already started running to the sword. With both of them reaching the sword simultaneously, Kane changed his direction and went to Ryore instead.
He tried to punch him, but Ryore attacked with his axe again, prompting Kane to crouch down. At that point, Kane knew that he won't ever reach Ryore with his fists. He slid down to the ground and grabbed the sword.
Seeing that, Xvin subtly nodded.
'Now, I guess he realized how he would lose.'
Knowing that he doesn't have any chance against Ryore's axe, Kane realized that Ryore needed to swing his axe first, and then Kane would rush in to attack Ryore. That was the only way he could win. He might get killed after he attacked, but at least he managed to finish the 10 attacks condition.
Both of them ran at each other. To initiate his plan, Kane threw his sword again at Ryore's face for Ryore to swing his axe. Unfortunately, Ryore didn't try to block it with his axe. With his amplified speed, Ryore just tilted his head to dodge it.
With Kane inside his attack radius, Ryore landed a massive blow on Kane, which hurled him away and activating the Phoenix Flame. Ryore got burned but still managed to live thanks to his remaining health. Kane lost the match.
KANE250 LVL 8 [HP: 1/425]
Ryore laughed as he finally regained his pride.
"Haha! That was eazy. Now, give me th—"
"I need to do something right now, I'll contact you later."
"Hey! What about my lo—"
A grey light suddenly dissolved Kane's character, and then he was disconnected. A trade notification window appeared in front of Ryore that continued the items that he was asking for.
"What's this? He literally gave me everything in his inventory except for his equipment."
"He must've been in a rush."
Kane quickly disconnected himself from Arcadia and removed his VR gear. He stood up and went straight to his door.
BAM!
His door was forcibly opened. Men wearing blue clothes barged into his house. Kane was about to fight them until he saw Mr. Cortez was right in front of his door.
"Your 15 days are over. Get out."
"What? Wait! I told you I can pay."
"15,000 Dollars."
"The fuck? Are you seriously doing this? It's only 10,000 Dollars before?"
"The guy who rented this flat paid that much, can you?"
"What? This is a total ripoff!"
"Yes, it is. By the way, are you finally playing Arcadia? I saw you have your own VR set."
Kane stepped backward and placed his laptop and VR set into his shabby bag. Kane had hoped that he could pay rent by playing Arcadia.
However, realized it now that Mr. Cortez was hell-bent on kicking him out no matter how much he pays unless he probably pays ten times the current price. Seeing there no point of arguing, he placed all of his important items in his bag and quietly left. But there was something that was bothering Kane.
'Now that I realize it, did I met Mr. Cortez in Arcadia before? He got a clean-cut hairstyle in the real world, but I feel like he had a different hairstyle in the game. Well, whatever. We're not gonna meet anymore, you shitty capitalist.'
Ever since his family abandoned him, Kane has been going in and out of hotels, motels, spa, dorms, and other places he could rent. But this apartment, the MARINO HOMES, was the one he stayed the longest as there were many job opportunities nearby. However, in the end, he still got kicked out.
Cortez smiled in satisfaction as he finally lifted a burden from his chest.
'Finally, the brat is gone. I could've already beaten the shit out of him if he wasn't a Black Belter. Is he really that guy that I played with before? I ignored it because I thought he wasn't a player, but seeing his VR set, is he that guy?'
Cortez went back to his house and entered his VR Capsule.
[WELCOME, DREYER72]
Kane went back to the alley beside the convenience store that he worked to connect to their Wifi. He looked at his phone to find a new apartment. But couldn't find one as he only got 11,900 in his bank account.
Most apartments would require its tenants to pay for at least 3 months of stay, about 30,000 gak dollars. Suddenly, he received a personal message from Xvin.
'You did well. Who would've thought you'll hit a guy 9 times who was at least 50 levels more than you? Let me give you a tip. Based on your movements, I guess you're someone who had actual combat experience. However, in Arcadia, you have to fight people with magic and weapons. I suggest that you train with weapons.'
Seeing that Kane easily overpowered the unarmed Ryore but immediately was left helpless when Ryore reached his weapon, Xvin thought that Kane needed to practice at least with weapons.
And Kane knew he was right. Ever since Ryore started using his axe, Kane can't even land a punch at him. He may have spent his whole life fighting, but not people with magic and unrealistically wielding overly big weapons.
With that, Kane changed his search bar from searching for apartments nearby to existing Dojos in their city.
Back at Arcadia, Mr. Cortez, or known as Dreyer in Arcadia, logged in and respawned at the Heraldian Port. A knight in a shimmering gold armor approached him.
"Sir Dreyer, are you ready to leave?"
"Yes, I am."
Dreyer followed the Knight and boarded a ship named Centinnial along with some other users. They are headed to the MIRANDA KINGDOM PORT.
Dreyer leaned on the railings of the ship and watched the Herald City get smaller as they drift far away. A few minutes later, the sky turned dark. Dreyer was confused as to why it suddenly became dark. His eyes suddenly widened upon seeing something gigantic underwater that was coming at them.