Isaac opened his eyes and saw that he was standing in the middle of a broad street.
The buildings around him were all based on a medieval design, and the streets weren't paved. Instead, the roads were primarily made from compacted dirt and soil.
Players and NPCs alike were walking along the streets in harmony.
Of course, there were significant differences.
The players were looking around excitedly, taking in the scenery and realism of the environment. Their outfits were also completely different from the NPCs.
On the other hand, the NPCs were acting completely normal. Some even looked bored.
Some NPCs were out with their families, while others were flirting. The different attitudes of the NPCs could almost make one think that they were ordinary people.
Isaac glanced at his outfit and saw that he was wearing a plain white shirt with brown leather pants.
[Welcome to Swornword Village!]
A message was floating in front of Isaac, and he just took the time to focus on it.
''Swornword...'' Isaac murmured.
''Interface,'' Isaac murmured, and the familiar blue-colored Interface appeared before him. However, the Interface was slightly different this time.
[Name: Wraith]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 25/25]
[XP: 0/50]
[SP: 0]
[White Coins: 0]
[Title: None]
[Class: Marksman]
[Legacy: None]
[Legacy Rank: No Legacy]
[STR: 9] - Strength
[AGI: 20] - Agility
[VIT: 15] - Vitality
[STA: 16] - Stamina
[PRE: 30] - Precision
[CHA: 10] - Charm
[Map]
[Inventory]
[Help]
[Log Out]
Isaac pressed the [Map] icon. A map of Swornword village appeared in front of him, but it was slightly transparent, so it didn't wholly obscure his vision.
It wasn't very big, at most about 1 kilometer in length in total.
''There is no way this village can hold hundreds of thousands of people... The spawn must be random,'' Isaac thought aloud.
He saw streets being quite busy with excited players, trying to find Quests or monsters to kill.
Isaac pressed [Inventory]
[Inventory: Slingshot - 100 Rock Bullets]
[Slingshot - Rank: White]
Isaac pulled out the slingshot and grimaced at the sight.
The slingshot had a simple, wooden, Y-shape frame, with two rubber bands attached to the upper ends.
It was a very similar-looking slingshot to the ones he remembered from childhood... and this was supposed to be his weapon?
He saw some players holding wooden swords— they were probably part of the Swordsman or Knight classes.
Isaac took the 100 Rock Bullets from the Inventory, a small pouch appearing in his hand.
He opened it and saw 100 tiny rocks.
Isaac sighed, tied the pouch to his waistband, and placed the slingshot back in his Inventory.
He started trekking through the streets, hoping to find something interesting.
One of the things that he saw shocked him.
Some of the players who had annoyed a group of NPCs were getting their asses kicked.
Some Players had even tried to grope a female NPC, but the NPC easily defeated them. After that, a group of NPC Guards came and threw the players in jail.
''Deserved...'' Isaac murmured and started walking towards the most prominent building in the village.
He saw dozens of players gathered there, and some of them were arguing with two Guards. It was evident that the Guards didn't care for their antics.
''LET US PASS!'' One of the players shouted.
The Guard didn't change his expression and calmly tried to explain, ''This is Village Chief's home. You don't have permission to enter.''
''SHUT UP, YOU ARE NOTHING BUT NPC. YOU DARE TO BLOCK MY WAY?!'' The player shouted while trying to enter forcefully, but Guard unsheathed his sword and swung it in a wide arc.
The player widened his eyes, but his head was separated from his body before he could react.
[DEAD!]
A simple word appeared on the top of the dead player's head, and the player's body slowly disappeared into pixels.
Isaac shook his head, ''I wonder what the death penalty is?''
He was curious and opened his Interface.
He tapped the [Help] icon and started skimming through.
The first three pages didn't contain anything special, but then he saw a text about the death penalty on the fourth.
[Death Penalty: Once your HP reaches 0, you die. Your Level will be lowered by 5, and you won't be allowed to log in for a week]
[Legacy Death Penalty: If you own a Legacy and die, you will lose your Legacy. However, your Level won't be lowered, and you won't have a cooldown]
[What happens to the Legacy: Your Legacy will return to the game. You can't obtain the same Legacy twice]
[Legacy: Two people can't acquire the same Legacy]
''Whew...'' Isaac took a deep breath, ''That death penalty is harsh!''
''I wonder what happened to that player... He was Level 1,'' Isaac shrugged his shoulders. He turned around and started walking towards the exit of the village.
The shops that he saw primarily contained armor and weapons.
It didn't take long for Isaac to arrive at the exit of the village, where he found two guards standing on either side of the entrance.
They mostly kept an eye on the people entering the village— they didn't really care about the people who were leaving.
Isaac left the village without issue and started walking along the dirt road.
He saw players running off ahead of him, but they often looked very exhausted and had to stop moving to catch their breath.
Isaac decided to try it out and started running.
He dashed past the exhausted players and arrived at the forest with ease. He wasn't even breathing heavily.
''Did they not put any stat points into Stamina or what?'' Isaac considered, not bothering to keep his thoughts to himself.
[Welcome to Newbie Forest!]
[Level Limit: 1 - 10]
Isaac saw the text and entered the forest, chuckling at the location's name.
Isaac took his slingshot from his Inventory and tread carefully through the trees, dodging every twig and stick as he went.
He had only walked around fifty meters into the forest when he noticed a small, open clearing.
Isaac carefully crept forward, only stopping when he had a clear view of the open space.
He saw three small animals prancing around the clearing.
[Baby Wolf]
[Level: 2]
[HP: 14/14]
He saw three Baby Wolves, but they were at a higher level than him.
Since their HP wasn't that high, Isaac decided to give it a shot.
'First try... Let's see.' Isaac thought to himself as he aimed the slingshot toward the first baby wolf.
He took a single rock bullet from the pouch on his waist and placed it in the cradle of the rubber band.
Isaac took a deep breath.
''Whew...'' He breathed out gently as he focused on his first target.
His hand was in an awkward position, but Isaac soon found a better way of holding the weapon, and his hands stopped trembling.
''Whew...'' Isaac repeated the steps— he closed his right eye and saw that the weapon's center was perfectly lined up with the wolf.
And then...
Isaac let go of the rubber band.
The rock bullet flew through the air, creating a slight whistling sound as it went.
The baby wolf turned his head at the noise, but only saw a flying object heading straight toward its face.
*BAM*
The rock hit the wolf perfectly in the head, and it fell prone on the ground.
The two other baby wolves growled in anger. They both turned their heads toward the forest, but neither knew where the rock had come from.
Isaac saw a prompt in front of him.
[-9 HP]
'Only 9?! Damn!' Isaac quickly took another rock and aimed it toward the fallen wolf, who was clumsily trying to force itself to its feet.
*Whish*
Another rock left Isaac's slingshot, hitting the baby wolf straight in the torso. His aim was a bit off, but it had the desired effect.
[-6 HP]
[You have killed Baby Wolf!]
[5 XP Earned!]
''Yes...'' Isaac cheered quietly, but his voice wasn't soft enough. He noticed the two baby wolves staring heatedly in his direction.
''U-Umm...'' Isaac turned around and started sprinting away.
The baby wolves gave chase, not wanting to let this man get away.
''DAAAMN!'' Isaac shouted as he left the forest— he ran out of the trees as fast as possible.
Isaac glanced behind him and saw that the baby wolves were still following him!
''NOT GOOD!''