Cynthia stood frozen, staring with wide eyes at the [Giant Rat]. With how realistic the game looked and felt, Cynthia was paralyzed with fear at the sight of the terrifying looking beast. She was a somewhat sheltered girl, and had never experienced something like this before. Dags noticed how she wasn't moving, and rapidly sent a message to her screen.
"[It's just a game, there's nothing to really fear here! Quickly take aim at its head and pull the trigger!]" Dags sent this hastily typed message to her, which seemed to somewhat pull her out of her paralyzed state.
With a terrified expression, Cynthia closed her eyes and shot at the [Giant Rat]. The beast didn't even dodge, the bullet whizzing high above its head and hitting the wall. It then let out a loud screech of anger and rushed towards Cynthia from 10 meters away.
"[Don't close your eyes! You need to take careful aim and hit its head with one shot!]" More messages appeared with a ding on Cynthia's HUD as Dags was coaching her.
With a terrified scream, Cynthia opened her eyes and took 4 more shots at the [Giant Rat] that was charging her. This time she kept her eyes open, but still missed 3 of the shots. The last one managed to hit the [Giant Rat] square in the forehead when it was a mere 1 meter away.
[Crit! -20 HP]
[+15XP]
Panting hard, Cynthia stared at the disgusting dead creature in front of her. She dropped her gun to the ground and fell to her knees as she tried to calm down.
"[Congratulations, Cynthia, on your first kill! Take time to get used to it, but also pick up your gun in case more come to check out the noise. By the way, don't forget you should utilize your skills as a marksman. It will make it easier to deal with these creatures.]" Letting her rest for a bit and get used to the feeling of killing something, Dags realized he had never actually taken a look at Cynthia's stat page. Though he assumed she had some useful skills, he hadn't yet seen what the marksman class had.
[Formless Mist]
[Class: Marksman]
[Subclass: None]
[XP: 15/100]
HP: 30
Mana: 0
STR: 3
DEX: 9
END: 2
INT: 4
AGI: 5
PER: 7
Skills:
[Sharpshooter Lv.1]
Steadies your breathing and takes aim for 2 seconds. Shot will have 100% accuracy for where you wish to aim. Bonus 50% critical damage if a weak point is hit. Lasts until the next shot is taken.
-2 second charge time
-100% accuracy for 1 shot.
-+50% crit damage on weak spot hit.
Cooldown: 5 minutes.
[Cold Blooded Lv.1]
Hides your presence as much as possible. Though not invisible, you may be difficult to detect if an enemy's [PER] is low or if others don't use any detection skills or equipment. Utilizing camouflage of your own will further decrease chances of detection.
-Drastically reduces presence to others.
Active: 5 minutes
Cooldown: 15 minutes
[Desperate Escape]
When in dire straits, add on a burst of speed to escape pursuit. Being able to live another day is more important than dying with the enemy. Cannot be leveled.
-+40% AGI
Active: 5 minutes
Cooldown: 4 hours
"Hm, nothing quite useful in close quarters. That's to be expected I guess, it is a long range class after all. This [Cold Blooded] could be interesting for sneaking up on people or beasts though." It had been a few minutes since he started browsing Cynthia's stats and skills, so he messaged her again.
"[Are you feeling better now? It seems like your breathing has returned to normal."] Dags asked, noticing that she had seemed to calm down for the most part.
"Y-yeah. That thing was just too scary! It-it felt so real… Did the developers really have to make it look so terrifying?" Cynthia replied in a slightly shaky voice.
Dags shook his head. That big rat wasn't even close to scary compared to some of the designs he's seen in his past gaming days.
"Seems she hasn't played horror games before." Developers always somehow managed to create truly horrifying monstrosities when they put their mind to it. He was sure this game was no different, and the big rats weren't even the tip of the iceberg.
"[Just remember that this is a video game and they are just large rodents. You don't have to fight them head on either. Utilize your skills to defeat the beasts before they can attack you.]" Dags sent another series of messages. She needed to learn how to stay calm and use her abilities to her advantage.
"Alright, I'll try my best!" Although she still looked scared, Dags could feel her determination. Right after that, she quickly stored the rat corpse in her inventory. She didn't want to look at it anymore, and the guide had said most monsters can be sold for some extra money.
"[Do or do not. There is no try.]" Dags messaged her, joking around.
"Pfft, what the heck? That is an ooooold quote. I haven't heard that since my grandpa passed away." Cynthia replied with a smile. While a little nerdy, she appreciated Dags trying to lighten the mood.
"So she knows that quote… seems I haven't been gone for too many generations." He nodded and could narrow down that he wasn't too far in the future.
"[While it's good to relax, stay alert so you don't get ambushed.]" Dags warned.
Cynthia put her serious face back on. She went slowly through the alleys, checking every corner before moving on. She was less tense than before, but still nervous about facing those [Giant Rats]. This time, she would try not to panic and use her skills effectively.
While she was slowly roaming the alleys, Dags was starting to get a little worried about his energy draw. He had kept the [Detect Hostility] process on for several minutes while Cynthia recovered her cool, and now his energy was quite low. He only had about 4 minutes worth of energy left at his current consumption, and was unsure if he should turn it off to recharge. While his energy did recharge still when using processes, it was too abysmally low to keep up. Effectively, he used 0.8 energy a minute with his current recharge rate. Eventually, Dags decided to turn off the skill since Cynthia was alert enough for now. He would save his energy until it was needed.
Suddenly, Cynthia crouched down, peeking around a corner. Down the alley, she saw a [Giant Rat] munching down on some scraps of meat that had been thrown out before.
[Giant Rat]
Level 2
HP: 30
Mana: 0
STR: 6
DEX: 1
END: 5
INT: 1
AGI: 3
PER: 2
It was a level higher than the previous [Giant Rat]. Cynthia bit her lip, then let out a big breath as she brought her pistol to bear on the rat's head. She activated her skill [Sharpshooter] to make sure she didn't miss and would kill it in one hit with the extra crit damage.
The skill helped Cynthia steady her breathing and shaky hands. The rat hadn't noticed her presence yet, since its perception was so low. After holding the sights steady on her target, she fired. The bullet whizzed through the air, striking the [Giant Rat] square in the side of the head.
[Crit! -30 HP]
[+20 XP]
Dark red blood and gray matter splattered on the wall next to the rat, leaving a rather gruesome scene. Its body instantly went limp as the bullet passed through its soft brain tissue.
Cynthia scrunched up her face at the disgusting sight. Although this was the second time killing one of these beasts, this time was much more gorey.
"Why can't it just disappear into pixels immediately like other games…" She let out a sigh, shaking her head to get rid of the bloody scene from her mind. With that said, she stored the [Giant Rat] corpse along with the other one in her inventory.
"That's two down, almost halfway done at least" With that, she continued exploring the alleys. A few minutes later, she stumbled upon 3 grouped together.
"They're all together… What do I do Mr. Dags?" Cynthia quietly asked with hesitation. It would be quite difficult to come out of this alive if she fought head on. Although you wouldn't lose levels or gear before level 5, no one wanted to experience dying.
Looking at his energy, Dags couldn't cheat through this by using his [Refresh] skill since he was still far from full. He held his chin, pondering their options. A moment later, a lightbulb lit up over his head.
"[Alright, I have an idea, but it will be quite dangerous. If you can pull it off, it will dispatch all three at once.]"
With that, Dags proceeded to tell her his plan.