After the tense dinner was over, Olivier returned to his room and finally began his journey into the gaming world. His character had finally been customized according to his wishes and it was time to test it.
Echoes had two modes - casual and ranked.
The casual mode was more chilled and down to earth. It was where people who did not take this game seriously and were happy to just be absorbed in the atmosphere lived. It was a mode for everyone, be they old or young.
And then there was ranked mode. It was an open world made up of the real 'cream' on the top. It was a competitive setting where people competed for prized and won real-life things.
But to be in the competitive world, one needed to be in the top 1000 during monthly rankings. A newbie could not achieve this.
Well, it would be if the newbie was anyone else than Olivier.
He quickly entered the world and then the game asked him a very important question - to enter his 'True' name.
True name was the game that was given to your ID and it could not be changed. It was used in-game tags and other things to ensure no one could practice identity thrift. It was a name that only one person could use.
Olivier's previous 'True name' used to be 'Ghost of the Field' but that was only because he had been a corny little shit in his previous life. It had been a time of his life when being edgy and dark had been cool.
This time, Olivier wanted his name to be something chill. But any name he tried to take was already taken.
It was then he remembered that there was one name he had reserved from his old gaming days.
Usually, one cannot use a name that was already used in a tag, but it was possible if the previous account was deleted by the user. Then, the new tag could be transferred over.
And out of all the dummy accounts, there was one Olivier remembered very vividly. It was the only tag that had held meaning for him.
'Let's hope that I do remember the login information.'
Olivier quickly opened a second tab on his monitor and entered his date. Miraculously, he did remember his deactivated account and he proceeded to delete it.
The game warned that he would never be able to retrieve his progress or data from the game if he deleted the account, but Olivier did not care.
He pressed delete and with this, his previous account was deleted.
He quickly pressed select on his new account before anyone else could take his name away from him and he entered the game.
[Welcome User 'Controller.' Would you like to enter a nickname for the other players?]
Olivier liked his name 'Controller' but it had been somewhat of an infamous name when the game first launched. Those who knew him would instantly know how he was. So, he pressed 'yes' and entered a random name.
With that, Olivier had entered the world of Echoes again and he was ready to have some fun.
......….
'Ugh, I forgot how draggy and long the earlier parts of this game were. There are so many side-quests I need to complete if I want to level up quickly.'
Naturally, since this was a game, the loop of the lower levels was to farm and level up quickly. Nothing happened in this game until you hit level 20.
But a lot of exp was needed to level up to 20 quickly. And this chain quest was the fasted way to do so.
The only problem was - most of these were team quests where you were randomly paired up with people around the world and had to complete a set number of tasks. And there was no way to moderate whom you would be matched up with.
Olivier had the displeasure of being matched with two most obnoxious human beings on this earth. They were loud, grumpy, and angry at each other.
"-do your work and stop arguing. How many chickens have you caught until now?"
"At least I am better than you, mister works hard. My catch number might be low but I am higher level than you. And I am also your senior in life so respect me."
Currently, Olivier and his other two teammates were listening to their two 'helpful' teammates argue. They were already behind on the mission objective because of this reason.
If this had been open world, then Olivier would have killed both to make them shut up. But the players had an immunity shield buff during the mission. Especially during these low-leveled missions.
"Oh god, not again. I cannot tell you how many times I have been stuck on useless missions with these good-for-nothing kids who know nothing but to argue. Oh, why did I think it was a good idea to re-level again?"
The female voice from the male berserker startled Olivier. Not because the voice was female or unexpected, but because it had sounded like it came from right behind his ear.
He rubbed his ear to get the sensation out of his head but the shiver he felt could not be suppressed.
"Hey, I know this is immoral of me to do, but I am turning off exp sharing. I am not about to let these two steal my exp. I would suggest you two do the same."
The mage of the group spoke up with an annoyed voice. He looked at the arguing couple in front of him with annoyance in his voice and the berserker instantly followed through with the advice.
As much as Olivier did not want to do this to the two arguing idiots, he knew it was the most optimal thing to do right now.
Once this decision was made, Olivier went back to farming.
The timer soon hit zero and Olivier looked down at his screen. He knew he would not be the one with the most farms because of his mediocre equipment but he was happy to see he had gotten a decent amount of exp.
On the other hand, the two people who had been arguing looked shocked at their 0 exp gained.
"Huh, why did this happen? Why did the three of you get so much exp while we get none? Is this a glitch? Did you people pull some kind of trick?"
The swordsman questioned with a shocked voice. He looked dumbfounded to see that he had wasted a lot of time.
"Well, it was given. We did not pull any tricks, we just switched off exp sharing. If you do not want your exp to be cut off, then you need to pull your weight."
The mage explained but that did not sit well with the swordsman or the summoner. They both looked ready to explode.
"I want my exp. I do not care if you need to die or do another quest, but I will get my exp back."
The mage looked annoyed now and rolled his eyes. The berserker was already gone and Olivier was about to leave as well when he was attacked.
It was a truly clumsy attack with no chance of reaching Olivier. Even if he had not been hyper-aware of his game surroundings, the attack was already on its way to miss him by a mile.
"Hey, be careful. You almost hit an innocent person. Do you want to get black-listed by mods for fighting in the beginner's area? At least take this to the fighting arena if you do want to fight."
The mage spoke before he disappeared. Before Olivier could be challenged, he decided to run away as well.
The last thing he saw was the sword master swinging his sword before Olivier was teleported out of the way.
"This game used to be much more civilized when I was younger. What the hell happened to the gaming community? They are acting like kids who will start crying if they did not get their way."
The first experience Olivier had with this gaming community after a long time was not a good one. He could now understand why a lot of people complained about the gaming community.
But despite that face, he also knew that not everyone was a rotten egg in the gaming community. Most of the player base was timid and doing what they could to enjoy this game.
Outside, the morning sun was about to rise and Olivier's hands were beginning to get tired.
Never in his 15 years of previous gaming carrier had he ever felt this tired before. But dealing with toxic players as well as players who did more harm than good to their group was getting frustrating.
It sure ate away at one's sanity sooner than they expected.
Just when Olivier was about to fall asleep, the door to his room opened. Adolf's timing was impeccable as Olivier has just switched off his PC and had gotten up to go the bathroom.
"Oh, I was not aware that you were an early bird. Your father never used to wake up on time when he was young and-"
Olivier was tired since he had never gone to sleep in the first place. He was too tired to argue with Adolf over this topic and somehow dragged himself to the bathroom.
"Breakfast in 30 minutes so please come down once you are finished freshening up."
Olivier made a noise that sounded somewhat like a cross between 'agreement' and 'understanding.'
He quickly washed himself up so that he would not fall asleep and somehow dragged himself to the breakfast table.
Since it was barely 7:00 AM, no one else was awake. Olivier was the only one at the table and his food was barely going into his mouth.
"Young master, you should get ready for a hectic day ahead. We need to get your basic supplies, then we need to head toward a school and get you registered. Do you even have your identification papers with you? I doubt young master Olivier would have enough insight to get you some since he is too busy with his game."
There was concern in Adolf's voice and Olivier wanted to correct Adolf's misunderstanding.
Of course, he would get his future kid his identification papers. How else would his future kid be able to play Echoes or other games if he did not have identification papers to solidify his identity?
Olivier also wanted to argue that his current situation was different from what he experienced in the past. Even he did not know he would be turned into a kid this suddenly.
'Ugh, this is too early for this shit. I cannot believe I am being forced to go along with Adolf's plans.'
In the end, Olivier was not able to escape Adolf's clutches and was taken shopping. It was a wild ride to get his things as well as pose for his identification papers as well.
But by the time Olivier got back home, he was a well-registered and legal citizen of this world.
He was about to head back to his room once more when his shoulder was grabbed by Adolf and he was turned toward the dining table.
"Where do you think you are going, young man? You will be having a nutritious lunch before I allow you back to your room. And in the evening, we will be having a test to see which class we need to place you into."
Olivier groaned as he followed Adolf. His headache had only gotten worse after his hectic day out and even a good night's rest was not going to make him feel better.
Besides, Olivier also needed to level up quickly to participate in events for limited-time prizes. He had already missed enough time and the first event of this new patch was fast approaching.
It would be here before Olivier knew it and his excitement for the same could not be contained. He was beyond ecstatic to participate in this event.
'But first, let us get some sleep. I need to be able to function when I play the game tonight.'