Isaac trudged along the snowy streets while the two bodyguards followed closely behind him. They remained alert and eyed all of the passersby with suspicion.
The group walked by a few stores with screens showing the headlines from the day's News.
After finding a window with fewer people around, he stopped in front of the screen. As he watched, a few others stopped beside him to watch the News.
A female news anchor stood on the screen, pointing at a chart that was displayed behind her.
"Yesterday's release of the newest VRMMORPG, White Online, was a major success! An unprecedented 500 million copies of White Online have been sold, and that number is rising swiftly!
There is a high chance that the sales of this game will break over 1 billion within the week! This is completely unheard of!"
"Young master, is this the same game that you purchased?" Michael asked curiously.
Isaac nodded, "It is. I don't find it strange that White Online has become so popular so quickly... It's almost like a second world. Who wouldn't want to explore it?"
Their attention drifted back to the screen as the News Anchor changed her tone.
"There have also been a rise in complaints about this so-called wondrous game! If you die below level 6, your account is terminated entirely!
If this happens, you're required to buy a new VR system just to start again! Most believe that this is a ploy by the Legacy Company to milk more money from the players!
Today, we will hopefully have some answers! We have the honor to have the president of the Legacy Company with us today for a short interview!"
The camera panned out and showed a ruffled man scowling next to the reporter. He hadn't even bothered taking the seat that had been assigned to him.
"Arthur! What do you have to say about these alleged claims?" The reporter asked as respectfully as possible.
The man rubbed his temples, "It's simple, but these morons don't seem to understand. Everyone will realize this in the future.
If you can't survive to level 6, you're too weak. You don't belong there. The world of White Online doesn't need weaklings."
Arthur didn't say another word. He spun around and stomped out of the view of the camera.
The News Anchor looked slightly awkward as she spoke, "Those... Um... Those, viewers, were words straight from the Legacy Company's president. In other news..."
Isaac chuckled at the flustered woman, "What an intelligent individual..."
"Young master? What do you mean?" Michael asked. "Looks to me like the game will lose a large following from that."
"Not quite," Isaac laughed. "You losers who can't even make it to level 6 don't deserve to play this game!"
He turned his head to Michael, "That's how the players will hear his message. Those words will only motivate the players to prove him wrong."
"You mean..." Michael widened his eyes.
Isaac nodded, "The ones who have already died will rush to buy another one."
"Those aren't cheap," Michael scoffed.
Isaac shrugged, "They aren't cheap, but they aren't super expensive either. Most people's pride won't stand for being called a weakling like that."
Michael and Richard looked at each other thoughtfully.
"I think the game will pass a billion sales in less than three days," Isaac laughed, turning to walk down the street again.
The two men stirred from their stupor and chased after Isaac. The group peacefully walked the streets until they reached the gates of their neighborhood an hour later.
The guards didn't even look up, only opening the gates and remaining silent.
Isaac quickly made his way into the mansion. Michael and Richard bowed to the young master before heading to take care of other matters.
Isaac tossed his jacket on the hanger and set his shoes neatly to the side.
"Isaac?" Isabella's head peeked around the corner.
"Hey, mom," Isaac smiled.
Isabella raised her eyes, "You went out for another walk?"
"Michael and Richard were with me," Isaac nodded.
Isabella sighed in relief, "Good. Are you going to play your game now? It'll be a few hours before dinner is ready."
"I suppose," Isaac shrugged. He gave his mom a hug as he passed and made his way up the stairs.
Once he was in his room, he turned on his laptop, "Let's take a look at the other player's progress."
He went straight to the most popular streaming platform of the time, StreamKing. Isaac was shocked to find that a few top streamers currently had over a million viewers!
Scrolling down, he soon saw the name of his favorite streamer, Underlord. Underlord's current views were at a whopping 631,000!
Isaac clicked on the stream.
Underlord was walking through the streets. Isaac quickly noted that the man was no longer in the newbie village.
Underlord opened up a map, showing it to the viewers. He was currently in the starting city of Stronglord, which was located in the South Continent.
He zoomed the map out, showing that there were five continents. Currently, they were simply known as North, South, East, West, and Central.
Each of the continents held their own starting city, and the players learned that the continent you spawned in after leaving the newbie village wasn't random!
In Isaac's world, there were four continents. Winterland, Autumnland, Summerland, and Springland.
The starting city you were spawned in was determined by the continent in which you lived. Underlord had spawned in the southern continent, showing that he was actually from Winterland!
The man zoomed back in on the map, showing that Stronglord City was massive! It spanned just over 10 kilometers, which was somewhat impressive for the aged architecture the game was based on.
The city was surrounded by an equally gigantic rock wall, which reached just over 50 meters! The architecture wasn't as old as the villages, either.
The city's architecture was designed in a style similar to that of the 19th Century. There were proper roads, which were much nicer than the dirt roads of the newbie village.
The city was large enough to hold hundreds of thousands of players and NPCs.
The city was built on an enormous mountain! The wall ran around the base of the mountain, and the buildings became more elegant the further one traveled up!
At the mountain's peak was a grand palace that stood majestically over all of the buildings below it! This was the Royal Palace of the Stronglord Empire.
While Isaac was admiring the city, Underlord revealed his status screen...
[Name: Underlord]
[Level: 13]
[HP: ???/???]
[XP: 1560/2500]
[SP: 0]
[White Coins: 13945]
[Title: None]
[Class: Dark Priest]
[Legacy: None]
[Legacy Rank: No Legacy]
[STR: ???]
[AGI: ???]
[VIT: ???]
[STA: ???]
[DAR: ???]
[CHA: ???]
[Desperate Prayer: ???]
[Legacy Quest: ???]
[Map]
[Inventory]
[Help]
[Log Out]
Isaac's mouth hung agape.
''Waahh... He is indeed pro,'' Isaac was dumbfounded.
''He has hidden his Quest's description as well... I guess that's smart... No one will be able to use that knowledge to their advantage, I guess...''
''He has a skill already... That is amazing,'' Isaac was genuinely amazed. He was sure that Underlord wasn't the best player, but he was undoubtedly one of the most entertaining ones.
"But if he is already level 13... How high are the top players?" Isaac wondered, realizing that he was far behind the curve.
''Was he Beta Tester as well...?'' Isaac mulled over that thought as he closed the laptop and stood up.
He grabbed the headset from his wardrobe and made himself comfortable on the bed.
As he lay down, he donned the headset and ventured off into another world.
[Connecting...]