{System error: Unidentified phenomenon found. Recalibrating.} John stood there in confusion, wondering what had just happened. Had the game been launched with bugs? This could potentially affect the popularity of the game and its earning potential. {Player's luck stat exceeds 500. Unable to maintain balance. Diagnosing solution.} Exceeding 500 luck... something was definitely off with that. Many games used luck in their systems, but having more than 30 luck in these games was considerably rare. So, what the heck was going on? {Solution: Scan player's mind for evidence of system tampering.} Wait, system tampering? Like hacks? How could there be such a thing when the game had just started, and how would someone even get their hands on such a thing? {Scan complete. No sign of rule breaches found. Conclusion: Natural phenomenon. Player is naturally extremely lucky. System recalibrating.} Suddenly, it was as if a cloud lifted from John's mind, and the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. The feeling, the slip by Ragnarok... somehow, he had developed some sort of extreme good luck. {Recalibration complete. Outcome: Compromise.} What did that mean? How would the system compromise with him? As this thought crossed John's mind, he got his answer. {Reduce player's luck stat from 508 to 58. Outcome: System balance maintained. Compromise: Grant access to hidden Archer class - Beast Master.} The system screen flashed up in front of John.
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Beast Master: (growth type, hidden class)
Raise an army of mighty beasts to fight by your side. The Beast Master has the ability to tame any beast-class creature in the game, with the number and strength of the beasts increasing as the player grows.
Bonus stats:
+2 agility per level
Skill list:
1. Beast Master Control: Level 1 (Passive Skill)
- Grants the ability to tame and control 1 beasts.
2. Tame Beast: Level 1
- Attempt to tame any beast type creature if the same level or below when below 50% and above 30% health, with a 20% success chance. Success chance increases by 5% for every 5% of damage dealt.
- Cooldown: 160 seconds
-mana cost 10
3. Summon Beast: Level 1
- Summon beast's tamed from your soul space.
- Cooldown: 20 seconds
-mana cost: 10
4. Trick Shot: Level 1
- Shoot an arrow that upon impact randomly activates one of the following effects:
- 1.2-second stun
- Reduce enemy speed by 3% for 3.4 seconds
- Cause confusion, randomly attacking allies, enemies, or self for 2 seconds
- Cooldown: 100 seconds
-mana cost: 30
5. Beast Frenzy: Level 1
- Crack your whip to give your companions a 3% attack speed and 3% movement speed boost for 30 seconds.
- Cooldown: 69 seconds
-mana cost 20
Accept Yes/No
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Reading through the description, this sounded like an amazing OP class. But this luck stat reduction, reducing it to 58, still seemed extremely high and offered strong benefits. However, he had to consider the possibility: would he lose his newfound luck in reality as well? And was this mysterious luck really a good thing after all? There was a balance in the universe, yin and yang, pleasure and pain. The more he thought about it, the more he worried about the consequences of his luck. Also, going against the system seemed like a bad move. He could use his luck to gain the best skills, equipment, and find the best quests, but the system would find a way to nerf him at every turn. After all, balance was one of the most important things in any game, and he was sure the system would do all it could to restrict him. There were risks involved in both options. What should he do? He stood deep in thought for about 5 minutes before making a decision and clicking the "YES" option. The server interface disappeared, and a bright golden glow surrounded him. It was at this moment he noticed everything around him was frozen in place. The wind had stopped, Gaea was frozen in place, not moving. {Abnormally rectified. Rebooting system.} And just like that, he could feel the wind again, Gaea came back to life, and everything turned back to normal as if nothing abnormal had happened. Gaea continued on as if the previous events had not happened and proceeded with the scripted opening. "That's a great option, Mugs. I am sure you will rise to the top, becoming a master of your class. Using your geographical location, you will begin your quest in the Kingdom of Buckingham. Its founder, King Edward, is a legend to the people of Buckingham. He united the remains of what was once known as the UK, stabilized the region, and expanded his influence across the land, uniting the remnants of the people under his banner. For 300 years, the descendants of King Edward have watched over these lands in a fine balance with the other creatures that have invaded the world. You will begin your journey in one of the safe towns in the kingdom, and from there, only you control what happens next. Please select your starting point from the following list:
- Crossfields
- Elderville
- Riverstone
- New Milton
Clicking on the agreed-upon Elderville, John was all done and ready to get started. The scenery around him shifted as he was transported to the game world.
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John materialized inside a large open space of a room, with a large arch leading to what looked like a town. Looking around, countless other players were spawning and leaving the temple in a hurry, rushing to explore this new virtual world. Each filled with ideas of fame and glory, John never rushed to follow them. First, he wanted to check out his profile and brought up the system interface, loading up his profile.
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Character Name: Mugs
Level: 1
xp 0/100
Class: Beast Master(growth type, hidden class)
Stats:
- Strength: 10
- Agility: 12
- Intelligence: 10
- Constitution: 10
Health points: 50
Mana: 100/100
Defense: 13
Skills:
1. Beast Master Control: Level 1 (Passive Skill)
2. Tame Beast: Level 1
- Cooldown: 160 seconds
-mana cost 10
3. Summon Beast: Level 1
- Cooldown: 20 seconds
-mana cost: 10
4. Trick Shot: Level 1
- Cooldown: 100 seconds
-mana cost: 30
5. Beast Frenzy: Level 1
- Cooldown: 69 seconds
-mana cost 20
Equipment:
- Old Leather Whip (Common): Damage 1-6
- Short Bow (Common): Damage 12-19
- quiver 50 arrows (common)
- Leather Armor: +3 Defense
Funds:
-10 coppers
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The first thing he noticed was the lack of the luck stat. Was it a hidden stat? He would check with Tommy if he had one. He had no beast to start with, but that was to be expected. He would experiment with taming. Pulling the bow from over his shoulder, he lined it up, pulling the drawstring, testing out the feel. Satisfied with everything, he stepped fowards to enter the town and find Tommy.
Stepping through the archway, he entered a small bustling town. NPC shop owners were hawking their wares, players running around interacting with the NPCs, searching for quests or seeing what was for sale. Looking around, he quickly spotted Tommy, waving and walking towards him. His familiar username "Silverback" was written above him, wearing heavy armor, a shield on his back, and an axe at his waist. He sure did look the part as a tank.
"John, what took you so long? Did you really take that long to choose your class?" inspecting John, wearing his light leather armor, bow, and quiver slung over his back, and strangely a whip at his waist. "So, you went with archer. That's cool, bro. I will hold back the hordes, you snipe them from behind. We will be unstoppable." John chuckles, "Well, I did choose archer, but archer ain't my class." Seeing Tommy about to ask, "You won't believe it unless I show you." Opening his system, he quickly sent Tommy a friend request. After Tommy hit accept, he went to his profile and clicked the share button to share his profile with Tommy.
"What! Beastmaster? I never had this option? 'Growth type, hidden class!'" Tommy was so excited; he was literally grabbing John's leather chest plate. Untangling himself from Tommy, John said, "I'm not fully sure, Tommy. I got no answers other than the term 'hidden class' leads me to believe there are other hidden classes out there. I just got lucky and got one early, but it gives us an edge, and we know they're out there. Maybe we're the only ones that know; we just have to work out how to find them before anyone else discovers the secret."
The pair walked through the town, admiring everything. It was only a small town, set out like a small walled medieval town. There was a marketplace outside the Gaea temple they had entered the game, a couple of inns, a small temple to the Church of Mana, and various other buildings. There were also plenty of NPCs, each with their own name and personality. It was not like the normal scripted NPC talk. It was as if each NPC was a real person. The only difference was the name tag above them, which was blue, whereas players' names were in white. Each conversation was unique. Only if you tried to speak to an NPC about the real world would you get an automated response of "You children of Gaea are strange." But if you engaged an NPC within the realms of the game, players and NPCs were exactly the same.
The friends' wonder and astonishment seemed to be greater with every step. Not just them, but all around, players were walking around. Some mouths were wide open, others just rooted to the spot, taking it all in. Millions of people across the world, all united in thoughts. This really is a whole new world.
Reaching the town gates, John looked at Tommy. "Let's find a beast and see what this class is about." The duo pumped up, took their first steps into the wilds of this new world.