[Welcome to Sword Phantasma MMO!]
Those words appeared as a message in front of me. I smiled in nostalgia. It was almost two years since the alpha test ended, and looking back now, the game was certainly fun.
As I was smiling, a panel appeared before me again.
-
[Please Create Your Username]
-
[ ___________________ ]
-
'A username, huh? I guess that's necessary now. I mean, it's online after all. Hm…should I go with my real name?' I contemplated. However, since this was an online game, I was sure the name Lyle was already taken. After all, from the world's population of 12 billion, how many people would have the same name as I do?
Not to mention those people who had the IGN of 'Lyle'.
'Well, it won't hurt trying.' I thought as I tried putting my name on it.
[Username Designated as: Lyle]
'Holy shit, it worked?!' I as surprised, but there was something else other than the confirmation message.
User ID: Lyle#437
I let out a dry laugh. 'So this must mean that there are at least 436 other before me, huh?'
But no matter how I think of this, it was a bit strange. Usually, online games don't allow overlapping names as it may cause confusion towards players. Especially when giving out rewards and system announcements.
'Hm…does this mean they've thought out how to deal with it?'
Well, in any case, there was no worries for me as I plan on playing solo. I've never been the team guy, so I always played jungle in League of Legends.
[Please Design Your Character]
So it's the avatar creation this time, huh? Hm… let's see. If I remember, the Implant had the DNA tracing, allowed one to trace their physique and use it for gaming purposes.
'I guess I'll use my real life physique, since it's what I'm most used to.'
And so, I looked around at the menu, and it seemed that there really was a DNA tracing. I clicked it, and he avatar changed into that of my reflection. I began to think if this was fine enough.
'Hm…Now that I'm looking at myself outside a mirror, I really don't look as bad as I thought, huh?'
I was never really an ugly guy. But I wasn't that handsome either. If I were to describe myself, I was the good-looking kind of plain. My face was plain, but because of how I take good care of myself, I somehow look a lot better than average.
After thinking for a while, I decided to just use my face and change my own hair color and eye color.
I replaced my dark brown hair color with the bright color of red. It was a color I always wanted to dye my hair since I was a kid, and I also did the same for my eyes, but only a bit darker. My eyes and hair were now colored in a brilliant shade of crimson and red.
I nodded to myself. This is pretty good.
After setting the physical appearance of my avatar, checked it, and a confirmation panel appeared. I confirmed it, and a message appeared.
[Welcome to Sword Phantasma MMO!]
It was the same message that appeared when I logged in, so it must be set to appear everytime someone logged on to the game.
But then another panel appeared.
[Choose your starting location.]
I raised a brow in surprise. I've never known there was such a selection in the official release. During the alpha test, the starting location I was spawned in was completely random.
A map appeared in front of me, and numerous red dots were present. There was a search bar too, perhaps for the beta and alpha testers.
I tapped on the search bar, and inputted the name of the town I was used to. A panel appeared the moment I set it and confirmed.
[Starting Location has been set to Zoromir]
The message disappeared, and white light began to envelop me. There was the strange sensation of floating in space, and the next thing I knew, I was standing in front of a wide open area plaza.
A panel appeared in my vision.
[Town of Zoromir]
It then disappeared.
I stood in a daze, as I looked around the familiar town. It was the same familiar town that I had been to before, but unlike that time…
'It feels…much more alive.'
I blinked in dumbfound. The last time I had been here, there were barely anyone, even NPCs. The only NPC's in this place was the essential ones like the merchant, the blacksmith, the guards, and the NPC's who had quests.
'But now, it's different.'
The sheer number of players brought a lot of life to the lifeless town.
It was easy to differentiate players from NPCs as players has a faint green outline to their avatar. I was able to know this much as it was obvious from the getups of the players. They were wearing all wearing long sleeved clothes, dark brown trousers, and some sort of leather shoes. I was the same too.
And with so many players having the same green outline without any exception, it was easy to conclude that the NPCs were the one without it, as they were looking natural at the place.
Speaking of the place, the town was quite a spacious one, as if I remember, the person I was sending the emails to had once mentioned that the place was enough to fit 50,000 players all at once. Of course, that was assuming that they occupied the houses too.
There wasn't much NPCs in the surroundings, but I was sure it was designed this way. This town was meant to be a player driven town.
Perhaps all of the starting towns would be player-driven too.
All of a sudden, I noticed a blinking icon in front of me. I tapped it with my finger—which was the usual way to interact with the UI—and a message appeared.
[You've Received: Beginner Set x1]
I raised a brow in surprise. 'Oh yeah, there was this too, huh?' I smiled as a faint wave of nostalgia washed over me. I opened my inventory and tapped on the Beginner Set.
[Beginner Set]
- A set of consumables and equipment for newly created avatars.
-Contains: Potion x5, Newbie Weapon(A type of your choosing) x1, Basic Leather Armor x1.
I immediately used the Beginner Set, and a menu appeared before me.
[Choose What Type of Weapon to Receive:]
- Longsword
- Shortsword
- Greatsword
- Sabre
-Rapier
- Spear
- Warhammer
- Axe
- Bow
I looked at the list, and was surprised by a certain addition.
'A Bow? now that's neat. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of it being in the Beta too. I guess the developers must have gained a pair of hearts and finally decided to give the game a long-ranged weapon. How surprising.'
The alpha version I played did not have any long ranged weapons for player use, but strange enough, there were monsters and NPCs who used them. I guess they were sensible enough to add it now.
Nonetheless, even if I was curious with the bow, I unhesitatingly chose the Sabre. It was a necessary step in order for me to continue as a solo player.
[Items Gained:]
- Potions x5
- Basic Sabre
- Basic Leather Armor
I immediately equipped the items, making them seem to appear out of nowhere, already equipped to my body and waist. The sword even came with its own sheath.
I checked the stats for both, it both displayed as follows:
[Newbie Sabre] (Unique)
- Attack Damage: 10
- Durability: Unbreakable(Will be set to 10 once the player reaches Lvl 5)
- Breaks upon discarding
- Cannot be transferred
Weapon: A basic weapon given to a new player or avatar. It is recommended to replace it upon reaching Level 3.
[Basic Leather Armor] (Normal)
- Defense: 5
- Durability: 50
Armor: A basic armor that can be purchased anywhere.
I looked at myself and checked the level of comfort of the armor. Surprisingly, it felt like it was tailor made for me. I didn't feel anything strange, nor have any discomfort with the gear. It was simply perfect.
'Hm…seems like they also fixed this, huh?'
The alpha version was quite a bit annoying in the equipment department as only weapons had actual weight in them. Though I had nothing to complain as it was just a game-in-development, the fact that I couldn't feel an armor when wearing it, quite made it a disaster during some high tension battles.
I would sometimes forget I was wearing armor and my arms would collide with the armour in some moments.
That was quite a disaster.
'Well, it's fixed now anyway, so I guess I'll be burdened in a way different from having to feel no weight during combat.'
It was gonna be a bother, but I can adapt. I was good at that.
I smiled in excitement. I looked around again, and thought what to do next. After a short while, I decided.
'Screw this, I better hunt some monsters while I still can. It'd be bad if more players logged in and took all the newbie areas.'
Indeed. I reckon that the place nearby would be completely wiped clean within 5 hours. As such I need to hurry.
And so, without wasting time, I ran towards the town gates. Outside the safety of the town.
* * *
As Lyle ran into the direction of the gates, a pair of eyes was watching him as he moved. Their eyes were that of a predator that found its prey.
"Hey, sister. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"What I coincidence, sister. I might be thinking exactly what you're thinking."
The two girls grinned at each other. And so, it was decided that their prey for today will be an unfortunate redhead.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: I wonder, how do they add the author thoughts on the other books? I need to experiment next time...