As dawn broke, casting a gentle glow through the worn curtains of his cramped apartment, Alex sat hunched over his desk, focusing intently on the "Level Up Zombie" plan.
With a triumphant movement of his pen, he added a 'checkmark' next to his accomplished tasks. He then jotted down his next steps, a mix of excitement and nervousness pulsing through him:
Find a way to hide my appearance. ✅ (check)
Get some food. ✅ (check)
Acquire a license. ✅ (check)
Acquire a weapon and some armor.
Make some money in the Verdant Wilds.
Reach level 3 in I.Zombie.
Figure out a permanent food system.
Buy a new hoodie.
The task of reaching level 3 in "I.Zombie" ignited his enthusiasm the most. He wanted to see what would happen, how his character would end up looking, and what he could accomplish.
'My unarmed combat is obviously lacking. While my strength, speed, and defense are relatively strong, my technique sucks so bad. I should focus on getting that upgraded first,' he thought. So he decided to do just that first.
His list was just a makeshift plan, after all, and what kid sticks to a plan?
Alex went towards his living room, sat in his comfy chair, and launched the game. Immediately, he was greeted by his 26 chad character, and his ugly level 2 character. With a big sigh, he selected his Level 2 character, and started playing.
This time, Alex had a plan. He wanted to take his time leveling up to 3.
'I am going to look around as much as possible this time. I don't want to rush it. I think that by taking my time before leveling, I will also get to spend more time if I ever reach that dream world again.'
'If I'm correct, then my path of learning and power should go something like this:
'Reach level 3 in I.Zombie > Reach level 3 in real life > Enter Dream phase > Reach level 3 in Dream phase > wake up and become overpowered!' Alex raised his hands in the air as he thought of this.
'Man, I'm such a freaking genius - ehehehe'
'Ok, let's get serious, Alex.' gripping his controller - but not hard enough to break it.
'I've got to think this through. If the game impacts my dream phase, then learning different types of skills is crucial," Alex spoke aloud.
"First thing I should do is unequip my weapon and shield, and get my hand to hand combat skill raised." Putting the controller down, he began practicing his One-Two punch in his apartment, chuckling at the thought.
"Here comes Alex, the karate kid! Hahaha"
Hands back on the controller, the first thing he wanted to do was find a few rank 1 beasts, punch and kick them to death, so he can level up his unarmed combat.
In this game, there is a skill cap for all weapons and skills that increases by 10 per level up.
For example:
at level 1, the cap is 10.
At level 2, the cap is 20,
and so on.
Currently, his combat skills looked like this:
Defense = 10/20
Unarmed combat = 0/20
One-handed weapon = 10/20
Two-handed weapon = 0/20
Throwing/Archery = 0/20
Alchemy = 0/20
His defense and one-handed were previously capped at 10 due to his fighting the boars and wolf with his shield and pickaxe. Now that he is level 2, the cap is increased to 20.
But his goal for now was to be as balanced as possible. So he faced off the first wave of enemies using nothing but his bare hands and feet, and he started fighting against a level 1 boar, missing a few initial punches.
"Never knew virtual fighting could be so intense," he laughed, momentarily pausing to wipe sweat off his brow despite just pressing buttons.
After fifteen minutes, his character's unarmed skill reached 20.
'Alright, finally done with unarmed combat, next up let's get the Axe mastery maxed out.'
It took ten level 1 boars to upgrade his unarmed skill to the max.
"Time for Alex the Axe Man to shine!" he declared, re-equipping his axe and shield, and engaging in combat. As he fought, he visualized each move, trying to link the game to his reality. He weaved and bobbed his head while throwing his tongue around whenever he struck an enemy.
This time, it only took five level 2 wolves for his Axe Skill to become 20. Now, he wanted to try the next weapon skill, a two-handed weapon!
But then, reality set in. 'To obtain the next set of weapons, I need to complete some quests. The first quest unlocks at level 3, which I can't yet. Hmm… I think it's time for me to level up.'
'I think it would be best to face stronger beasts for combat experience, that way I can learn more and gain XP much faster. I'm getting bored doing these menial fights,' he contemplated, his mind racing with possibilities.
Venturing deeper into the forest, he bravely faced level 3 beasts and finally a level 4.
"Oof, a level 4! This is going to be a real challenge!" he exclaimed, his heart pounding as he navigated each encounter. His fingers moving at very fast speeds, pressing X and Y to attack, dodge, and block until he defeated the monster.
As always, he remembered to use his skill "cannibalize" to eat the innards of the beasts to regain his lost health and energy.
After killing the monsters and looting their corpses for any material, a strange thought popped into his head.
'Killing higher-ranked monsters in the game is one thing, but what about killing them in the dream phase? I remember how difficult a level 2 wolf was, they ruptured my eardrums, and I nearly died to them ganging up on me… So how am I supposed to beat the level 3 Parched Skulker and the level 4 Crimson Whelpling? Did I just mess everything up?' Alex bit his thumb while thinking of this.
'I should be OK beating the Skulker, but the Whelpling shoots fire, and they fly! Shit Alex, you idiot, why didn't you think of this before? If I lose in the dream, what then?" he pondered, a sense of unease creeping in.
Pushing aside the doubt, Alex started pumping up his self-esteem. 'I reached level 26, beat some of the hardest bosses the game had to offer solo, I'm sure I can handle this. Just need to stay sharp, and keep leveling up,' he reassured himself.
Upon his virtual character reaching level three, he quickly took a look at his combat skills:
Defense = 20/30
Unarmed combat = 20/30
One-handed weapon = 20/30
Two-handed weapon = 0/30
Throwing/Archery = 0/30
Alchemy = 0/30
'Perfect. I did everything I can during level two. I maxed out my defense, unarmed, and one-handed combat skills. There's no point in me wasting time upgrading them again, and for some reason, my XP bar does not increase no matter what I do once I level up. It's like the game is forcing my real-life level to always match my in-game level before it allows me to proceed. Pretty damn weird.'
'Hey Ring, care to explain?' laughed Alex while staring at the ring, half expecting something to happen.
A second later, the ring pulsed strongly, sending a wave of emotion through Alex, and a holographic message appeared right in front of his eyes:
System Initialization - 100%
Daily quests will now be assigned for physical enhancement (1/2)
"Oh… my… god!!!"