{Warning! This story will be slightly fast paced at first, until I get to where I actually want to start this thing. Warning! You have been warned}
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Nick ran on his treadmill, powering up his old VR set like another certain person, which could also relate to him in financial stability.
He soon strapped it to his face, then started 'walking' forward, his Avatar bearing the appearance of an older, slightly more mature, Ash Ketchum from the anime Pokemon.
He knew it wasn't really something to boast about, but he was proud he had claimed a name and appearance of one of his favorite anime characters.
A couple hours later, after getting finished with Class, he walked over to where he knew his friends would be, Parzival and AECH, Parzival being just like him in a lot of ways, while AECH was pretty much the only one out of the three to make a living.
"Yo, Ketchum, how's it going? Still struggling?", AECH said in a humorous tone, though Nick knew he meant no harm by it, it still stung a little.
"Yeah, regrettably. I just wish I could do SOMETHING before the first key is found. Or at the very least, so I could visit the world's I've been wanting to visit.", Nick grumbled.
"I feel ya buddy, but hey, guess who got lucky, and earned a few bucks? This guy! I hope to earn at least a thousand coins to split between us.", Parzival said, but then he slouched, remembering that we all don't team.
Nick would join a team if he was offered a place on one, but people think he's either a ten year old kid, or a three hundred pound dude named Chuck. AECH's words, at least, but someone like that. Thankfully, he isn't.
"It's okay, Parzival, just try to earn enough for yourself. I'm gonna go explore the planet, not like there's some kind of secret here, eh?", Nick rolled his eyes, but he had a feeling maybe there was something people have missed. He still doubts it though.
"Don't get your hopes up too much, Ketchum, but I wish you luck.", His larger friend chuckled, patting his back roughly. Damn, if he had an X-01 Body Suit, he'd feel that in the morning.
"Yeah, yeah, see ya Zeke, AECH, have fun or whatever.", He said, exiting the special, personal Chat Room that AECH had made a few years ago.
As he arrived back on Ludus, mentally, he walked out of the school. Parzival and He took their education from the same school, but they rarely saw each other outside of it.
He went and walked out to the 'countryside', the big empty space on the planet, pretty much the only empty space it has, aside from the small lakes, for some reason, and swung his wooden stick around. It was the only weapon he had managed to attain here, though he didn't have much confidence in it, but it'd do in a hypothetical pinch.
It was not ten minutes before something went wrong. Nick had caught his foot in between a large rock pile built into the side of the mountain, when trying to climb up it, but instead of being easy to get out of, the rocks fell, revealing a cave.
".... There's no way this is really here.", He said, his eyes wide open upon witnessing such an event. He finally got up, and started walking in, ready to explore the only thing he's ever encountered in his six long years of 'gaming'.
After traversing the Dungeon, dodging traps left and right, and sometimes managing to deactivate some of them, he had gained enough Exp to Level up three times, there were that many!
Each time he leveled up, there were tears threatening to break over, causing him to quickly traverse further in. He wanted to increase himself some more, maybe he'll be able to afford to travel now!
That is, until, a skeleton popped up, and he narrowly dodged getting pierced in the neck. He gulped, not knowing how he will proceed. He could throw his stick like a javelin, but then he'd be weaponless. But then, he couldn't go further if he didn't.
Nick sighed, knowing he doesn't really have much to lose anyways, and decided fuck it, stepping out with determination, and hurling his stick.
"Take that!", he yelled, and he didn't know if his eyes imagined it, but the Skeleton's eyes widened in alarm, before closing in acceptance. That, was weird. Mobs weren't supposed to be sentient were they?
[THUNK!]
The skeleton burst into particles of light, before they flowed into Nick, turning into Exp, a large amount of it too. In one move, his level increased from 3 to 8. He knew, though, that it would only get more difficult to Level up anyways, but there was another genuine surprise for him.
[Item Gained- Rare!]
[Dagger of Flames!]✨
Stats- Atk- 225 Def- 150
Fire Bonus- Enemies take 10 pts of fire damage for 30 Seconds upon initial hit phase.
Bio- A rare Item earned from Halliday's Dungeon, Items earned from Halliday's Dungeon's qualities are increased by at least five times compared to normal items
Allows the user fire based attacks from close range, to medium range, Non Tradable, only Sellable
Price- Worth 4,000 Coins on a low buy, 40,000 on a High Buy
Nick's eyes were wide as saucers, his jaw dropped to the floor, and his expression in disbelief, while he wasn't breathing the entire time. He could not believe he earned such a high tier item, from what seemed to be a low level Mob.
Those, he did feel slightly guilty, as he remembered the look the Skeleton gave him at the end. He gave silent thanks to the mob, and apologized for it's death, before getting up.
"There's gotta be more here... and I'm gonna find it.", he said, determination creeping back in. His thoughts wandered. Could he return and do the dungeon all over again, continuously until the final 'reward' is found? Would he be able to earn a living this way? He doesn't know, but he wants to find out.