"You want to know what game I'm playing, right?" The girl didn't want to be insensitive, so she answered Chris' question.
"Yes, by the way, my name's Chris Reid; you can call me Chris." He introduced himself.
"I'm Zy Reyn; just Zy is fine." Zy put forth her hand as a sign of wanting to shake hands.
Chris didn't decline but accepted her hand.
"So, okay. This game is called Banzrant. It is a newly released PC game that is currently taking the world by storm. It was released just a month ago, so that must be the reason you haven't played this game." Zy explained.
Zy continued on explaining the gist of the game and Chris carefully listened.\
After the lecture, these are the things Chris got out of it:
Firstly, Banzrant was developed by a company by the name of Heart Labs. It was not a lab, but it symbolizes its research to develop a good, or better yet, the best, video game in the world; by the looks of it, it might just be possible, unless it is put to a stop by a new game.
After the game finished its beta test, it literally took the world by storm, appearing in headlines, the news, social media, and even being shared by mouth.
The only probable reason Chris didn't get a hold of this piece of news is that he was fighting a silent battle; he didn't have the time or capacity to even think of a game where his whole life was being butchered.
This also goes for Gerard. It has been a year since he was betrayed by his friend; with all the hard work he has done, why would he have the time to indulge in computer games? He couldn't even live in a nice apartment; Gerard was literally sleeping with rats and cockroaches.
Banzrant is a first-person MMORPG set on the continent of Banzrant. It really doesn't have an ending, and the thing that makes it different from any other MMORPG is that there is more focus on player-versus-player combat.
Up to this day, most of the older players who started during its first release or even played the beta test are now at the current maximum level of 100. According to Zy, there is even an upcoming esports battle to be held a day after the descent of the God of Light, just two days from now.
The said event doesn't have a required level of account; anyone who has an account can try their luck, but mostly it is the top guilds that have already established their status that are most inclined to win.
The battles can be a solo, a duo, or a team of five.
Chris became interested in the game and even the event that was about to happen.
He thanked Zy and proceeded to head to his own computer.
Zy didn't want to disturb Chris any further, and she also wanted to go back to playing because she will be participating in the event two days from now.
Chris went to his browser and searched for Banzrant. After signing up, he went and downloaded the game. He waited a couple of minutes before clicking the installer, which then prompts up the actual downloading sequence, and Chris waited again for a full 15 minutes.
After the setup was done, he went and opened the application. He was greeted by a welcome text.
"Welcome to Banzrant, a place where imagination is grasped, dreams are accomplished, nightmares are confronted, and honor is achieved. Welcome to our land; please select your name.
Chris thought for a bit before entering something.
"Congratulations in selecting your name, Brother Chix"
Coincidentally, Zy was looking at Chris' screen. She was dumbfounded by the username Chris had created and thought, "Is he bad at naming things?"
But she went on with what she was doing; she had no relationship whatsoever with Chris; the best she could describe their relationship as was being acquainted with each other.
Consequently, a tale has been brought up in the opening of the game:
"These lands have been encompassed by freezing glaziers, blazing volcanoes, mythical dragons, demonic beasts, devils, and also humans. While the other tribes and species have their own cultural powers, the humans, however, don't possess anything; be it the catastrophic flame breath of dragons, the supposed eternal age of elves, the master craftsmanship of dwarves, the resourcefulness of goblins, and the great magic of devils. Humans didn't have any of this specialized skill, up until the war that involves all species descended on Banzrant. It was at this time that the humans were able to find their skills. They were devourers, they who face hurdles to become stronger, that's what humans are…"
"Now, in an era where humans are held supreme, the only battles that await them to become stronger are by themselves. This is what Banzrant became: a continent where battle will live forever."
Chris had goosebumps; he couldn't wait to start the game.
After a couple of minutes, his character loaded up. Well, technically, it loaded up for him to customize. He just set it as random except the sex, which he clicked 'male.'
His character arrived in the town with basic clothes, kind of the same clothes he wore when he arrived at the computer shop.
He went around and found an NPC to chat with and to take a quest with.
"Are you sure you want to accept my request, young lad?" the NPC was worried. There were also murmurings in the background, which seemed weird and suspicious to Chris, though he didn't take them into account and still started the quest.
The quest was for level 10 players who had already had a job change, but still, the developers added that if a lower-level player wanted to challenge or take a higher-level quest, it would be doable; consequently, if the player was higher than the quest level, then the player wouldn't be able to take the quest. This was done because some dungeons have a hall of fame where the top players are recognized.
It wouldn't be fun or logical to see a level 100 player in the records of a level 1 dungeon.
Chris went towards the quest site, his task was to defeat a Red Basilisk Dragon
Though the name suggests that it is a basilisk dragon, there really isn't a way to determine if the basilisk genes are affecting the dragon's. It just looked like a regular old dragon; the basilisk part was unnecessary.
Those were the thoughts of Chris until he found a reasonable explanation. It just means that it isn't a pure bred one and is most likely comparable to the lowest kind of dragon.
He still didn't let his guard down, and Chris and the Dragon were 10 levels apart. It's not an easy fight to have.
He looked at his stats after looking at the Dragon
When comparing his own stats, Chris couldn't help but feel like an ant in front of this majestic beast.
The Red Basilisk Dragon has a large amount of hit points for a new player and a high defense stat. It is clear to other people who would be able to see this that he is fighting a losing battle.
This was probably the reason why he was a hot topic in the starting village. The gap between him and the enemy was too wide; only one attack and he was gone for good. It would at least take him 50 strikes to finish the dragon if it didn't have any defense stats, but it did. The fact that the dragon might also have a special skill is not calculated in this analysis.
Additionally, he also needs to dodge every single attack of the dragon.
"The worst skill it would have is regeneration, with my puny strength. How would I even land a single hit? I might not even scratch it," Chris uttered as he contemplated.
Chris knew it was very difficult, but he couldn't go down without a fight. He's fighting in real life too; why will he stop now?
After calming down his nerves, he dashed out with his bare fist.
Since he hadn't done the very first quest needed and directly headed to the highest quest in the village, he lacked equipment. The only thing on which he can rely now is his fist.
Looking at the screen, he dodged the tail whip the dragon had done and proceeded to smack it into the body.
Chris attacked it a dozen times before retreating; he had done barely any damage. He still continued; his mouse was flying on the desk, and his fingers were hastily keying the keyboard.
He attacked 100 times and dodged 100 times. He attacked and defended 500 times. By now, he was sure that the basilisk dragon had a regeneration-type skill. He was barely doing any damage, and his hands were starting to hurt.
This was evident in the fact that on every hit, he also gained damage.
But why can't this be the reason that the dragon still has an extra skill? The answer Chris deduced was simple but right on track:
These types of attacks are mostly passive, but Chris hasn't even done any damage yet. How could they activate, and why not from the start? Why did he gain damage without being hit when he threw his 400th punch?
Chris doesn't know if it's luck or if it's just based on the programming of the dragon, but thankfully, the reflective damage from overstimulating his punches is not based per punch, which is why he can punch like 10-15 times before a damage of 1 appears.
Though the reflective damage is miniscule, he is just a level one new player. The hit points between levels one and two are hugely different. This goes on to the higher numbers, which have a specified increase of 1000%.
He continued to fight up until his 1000th punch. His arms were about to give up when suddenly he heard a notification.