.
.
.
-----------------
"..."
'Bastards, they barely even arrived and they are already setting territories and blockages…'
'This is deeply problematic...'
'For me, it may not matter much right now, but in the future, if they find out who I am, my peace will come to an end.'
'And I may be forced into a PvP situation...'
'From what I read, PvP between the two modes is actually pretty complex.'
'Because the player is a being that works with numbers, the moment they attack me, their power will be measured by those very same numbers.'
'So they won't just swing their sword at me and make me bleed, but this act will first go through a massive wall of calculations before the conclusion of whether that sword will damage me or not, will be displayed.'
'Something similar happens in my case, if I were to hit a player, the damage would be calculated based on my stats, and a few other factors, like where I hit them and what sort of Skill did I use.'
'Because normal players can't get hurt and normally, it doesn't matter if they are hit in the head or in the toe since they have an HP bar.'
'This damage will then deduct from their total HP count.'
'Although in most scenarios, a HardCore player can easily One hit KO a normal player due to all of the damage he can inflict.'
'And since it's only the start of the game and proper builds have yet to appear, HardCore players have an obvious advantage in regards to PvP.'
'But that won't last long.'
'I am not afraid of them, but what if they decide to mob me? The normal penalty for death is minus 1 Level worth of XP + a full in-game forced logout.'
'These penalties can change depending on the situation.'
'But still, if I was forced to fight against a group of players every day, it would never end, even if their Levels decrease, it wouldn't take long for them to recover it.'
'Worst comes to worst, I may have to force my way through these players and even use my influence and Reputation to make their lives harder within this place, and hopefully, make them leave.'
'However, my peaceful gaming that was composed of waking up, doing tasks, and sleeping will go down the drain.'
'After all think, my body has to remain in the game as I log out… This is my biggest weakness! Even if I could stay 24/7 in the game, I have to put my game character to sleep from time to time else I'll get a nasty debuff.'
Thinking about the consequences of these players' presence, Dale advanced near the blockage.
He ignored their presence but the same couldn't be said for them…
"STOP!" Said one of the players, someone with a red cloak
Dale knew things wouldn't be so simple, so he simply turned to side and said:
"I've not seen you around here." He said with a frown
The player looked at Dale, and immediately saw the yellow bar on top of his ??? name.
For a moment he identified him as an NPC, but he had to make sure he wasn't, in fact, a hidden player!
"May I ask, who are you?"
[DING!]
[Resko's Reputation -5]
"?!"
But the player immediately heard a notification… A very bad one.
Yet, this action made it clear that this was indeed an NPC, one that wasn't very pleased right now…
"I could ask the same, who are you all? Why are you blocking my passage?" Dale asked
"We…"
The player was shocked and even confused of what to do, but before he had the chance to act, another player pushed him aside and said:
"I'm very sorry Mr.Dale, it was our mistake." Said the girl
The girl was wearing a white cloak with a scarlet insignia on her chest, like the other person, she was also from a group.
She definitely knew something the others didn't...
And right now, she was trying to make amends with Dale while also trying to make a good impression on him.
This might've worked if Dale was indeed an NPC, but unfortunately…
"Hm? You know me?"
'She knows me?'
"Yes sir, we've been actually waiting for you, if you allow me I'll escort you…"
"No need, I can climb a hill on my own…"
He looked at them all before proceeding to climb the hill.
'There is no need for me to say anything else, if she were a HardCore player I would've said more, but since she isn't then I need to act a bit more robotic and in line with her grand total of 0 Reputation.'
"I wanted to rest but..."
'I want to find out what is happening and why these people have suddenly flocked to this place!'
Dale walked calmly, curious and annoyed at the same time.
…
/BAM!/
/CLANG!/
/Ting ting…/
As Dale approached the Church, he could hear the sounds of conflict, followed by the sound of things breaking and even coins falling on the ground…
He immediately understood what was happening and quickened his steps…
/CREEEAK!/
He pushed the massive doubled doors of the Church open and was met with an incredibly chaotic scene:
There were four groups inside, one of which was observing everything unfold from the side, not participating in it at all.
These people all wore the same badge as the girl from before.
And it looked as if they were waiting for something... For someone to arrive.
Or perhaps they were simply waiting for the 3 groups to fight before intervening and racking in the profits...
Although such a thing is unrealistic since those 3 groups would've ganged up on them.
The other three on the other hand completely disregarded the fact that this was a holy place, fighting within the church, and spilling blood onto the ground without any sign of respect for what this place meant, and for who it was dedicated.
"..."
Rage soon filled Dale's eyes as he realized the reason behind all of this.
In the middle of the Church, the 3 remaining groups could be seen fighting among themselves for the scattered piles of coins on the ground.
These were obviously the ones that used to be inside David's Altar, that was now broken beyond recognition.
Aside from that and what made David the most livid, was the fact that his sword had fallen on the ground, meaning that these players had once tried to grab it but failed due to its massive weight.
"#!"
The veins on his forehead seemed to be about to burst due to how enraged he was.
These players, not only did they invade his territory, but they blocked his path acting as if they owned the place...
They desecrated the sacred grounds of this village, spilling blood and stealing the offerings for their God, the very place he tried so hard to clean and repair...
David, his little friend was nowhere to be seen, probably stolen by them as well, and now, they even tried to steal his sword?!
Dale was on the verge of bursting…
"!"
It didn't take long for people to notice him, especially the 3 groups of people who were fighting.
Since the moment Dale entered the room, all of them received notifications of '-Reputation' multiple times over…
/Silence…/
Everyone stopped, and instead, looked at Dale, waiting for his reaction…
"Tsk, it happened faster than I thought!" Said one of the players in the middle of the Church
'The operation was a complete failure, time for plan B...'
He looked around, trying to confirm something, and he soon said:
"It seems we have no choice!"
He started to talk out loud, trying to get everyone's attention.
"I'm sure I'm not the only one, and that it's the same for you all."
"If we continue to fight, these riches will be confiscated by the NPCS! And the only ones who'll benefit will be those neutral bastards!"
"And in the end, no one will get ahold of the Legendary Item! So lets work together and…"
He immediately started to spew bulshit, and Dale had heard enough.
"There is no need for words." He said out loud as he interrupted the scheming player
'My sword...'
'It may have not been the reason as to why they are here, but I'm pretty sure it's the reason they are fighting now.'
[DING!]
[Special Quest, Eliminate the Bandits! has been generated!]
[Blinded by greed and power, bandits have made their way to Resko!
They have no respect for the people of these lands and are purely driven by their greed! Completely ignorant of their surroundings!
As an Honorary Elder, it's your job to protect Resko from invaders!
Eliminate all of the trespassers before they escape outside with the relics! 0/21
Eliminate all of the bandits' companions within Resko: 0/132
*All players eliminated throughout the duration of this quest will be sent directly to Prison upon respawning; the duration of their sentence will be determined later.
]
It seemed even the game had enough…
/Change of POV/
"..."
'Dammit!'
Just as Dale looked at them, the players looked at Dale, trying to figure out what to do.
And amongst them was the scheming player, calculating his next steps…
"It's happening too fast, the plan is over now."
'We took too long and the NPCs came, what is the barricade force doing?!'
'Now they know about this and our Reputation is ruined… It doesn't matter, we just need to steal this item and deliver it to our headquarters…'
'Our Reputation within such a remote place is meaningless compared to the worth of this sword...'
He looked at the sword with a bit of regret.
'But why is it so heavy?! Because of that…'
/FWUSH!/
In the blink of an eye, the sword on the ground suddenly moved on its own, and like a flash, it disappeared from the eyes.
"?!"
When they turned their eyes to Dale, they saw that the sword that was previously on the ground was now in his right hand.
He was holding onto that massive and heavy sword with one hand!
"This is my sword. And you're not worthy of hearing its name."
/Thud/
Dale took one step forward, getting into position…
"Dammit! Everyone get…"
/FLASH!/
Suddenly, the sword flashed…
…
/Back to Dale, a few seconds prior.../
"?!"
'The sword… It came to me on its own?!'
Dale was just as surprised by this predicament as the players were.
Nothing had been activated, no key word had been said, but yet, the sword moved to his hand as it knew he was going to grab it.
And that was precisely Dale's plan.
He was going to rush there and grab his sword, and if that didn't work, he was thinking about stealing a weapon from someone.
But in a change of events, the sword flew to him…
'And I am more impressed with how I actually managed to grab it… It looks way lighter than last time…'
[DING!]
Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down, and golden light started to descend from the windows of the Church.
No sounds were made, just the strange golden light...
But soon enough…
[DING!]
[Unique Quest, Heretics! Has been activated!]
[Ju-Arkesios, the God of prosperity, had enough of the trespassers that dared to profane his holy grounds and steal his Divine artifact.
His rage cannot be quenched easily, and he's ready to make them an example.
Eliminate all of the heretics so that the balance and prosperity of his church may recover 0/1
Uproot the forces behind them 0/3
*Ju-Arkesios promises big rewards for this task.
]
Before he could even read the description of this bizarre quest, Dale suddenly felt a strange power surge within him…
[You've been blessed by Ju-Arkesios, receiving the boon of Mana]
[Boon of Mana -> + 500% to your current Mana stat]
[You've been blessed by Ju-Arkesios, receiving the temporary Skill, Balance of Order]
[Balance of order ???-Star -> Smite your enemies in the name of Ju-Arkesios, recover the balance within Chaos and punish those who strayed from it.
All attacks against those marked with 'Disorder' can deal up to x3 damage, and in the situation this attack kills a player marked with 'Disorder', Death punishment is increased]
And with this blessing, he suddenly felt his body go out of control!
Scorching heat as he had never felt before ran through his flesh, drilling through his bones, trying to destroy him from within!
[Your body is overly Saturated with Mana]
[You've contracted the disease, Mana Overflow!]
[Your reformed body is reacting…]
If not enough to add to his confusion, Dale suddenly heard David's voice on his head:
{KID! Don't waste anymore time! This is a one of a kind opportunity, so make sure to use that sword in your hands!}
'The sword?...'
But Dale didn't have time to think as the slowed time quickly recovered to its previous speed.
Feeling the massive energies coursing through his body, and the pain that came with it all because of those people in front of him, Dale felt incomprehensible rage.
He opened his mouth and said:
"This is my sword. And you're not worthy of hearing its name."
[Activating the temporary Skill, Refracted Starlight ???-Star]
[The temporary Skill, Balance of Order ???-Star has activated]
And the world was consumed by white…
…
.
.
.
Notes