As soon as I accepted the 1v1 with the player called HerosGOD, a crowd of beginners gathered around. The strange thing was that, as it was mostly mages with hoods and cloaks, I felt like some kind of offering in an evil cult.
A countdown starts on the screen.
Snap of fingers.
It's time to farm a player now.
Start!
Right at the beginning of the battle, the challenger comes at Khan. To his surprise, he performs a mid-air thrust, followed by a dash.
What a dumbass, why did he not do the opposite, dash and then a thrust to do some damage--
Another thrust is executed right after the dash, hitting directly.
Critical hit!
Khan's Hp 25 -> 10
Oh, damn.
— Surprised like a newbie! — Heros laughs.
Okay, calm down. Two thrusts with no cooldown. Now that I have that in mind, I have to be surgical; one thrust dealt 15 damage, another one of those, and it's bye-bye for me.
Quickly, Heros goes after Khan again. This time, the order of skills changes; he dashes first, then thrusts to stay airborne, above Khan.
He thinks I'm an idiot?
Heros thrusts toward the ground, in Khan's direction, who easily dodges with the game's standard evasion move.
— Oh, looks like killing slimes in the tutorial taught you how to dodge, kinda pathetic, huh!
He trash-talks like a girl, come on. I can't lose to this jerk.
This time, it's Khan who goes on the offensive. He tries to deliver a basic cut, easily evaded by Heros. However, an animation of a thrust is performed by Khan, for only a millisecond, and immediately after, he dodges backward.
Hero's Hp 45 -> 35
Everyone in the crowd seems confused
— What the hell was that?! You didn't hit me.
— Guess I learned something from killing slimes hum? Pathetic...
— You son of a...
A new onslaught from Heros, his movements seeming more nervous, while Khan keeps dodging.
Now! He's on cooldown of everything!
A dash during the dodges, and Khan manages to use the full spinning cut on Heros, who evades as soon as possible.
Hero's Hp 35 -> 20
As he dodges backward, a direct thrust in his direction, hitting him squarely with no chance of evasion.
Hero's Hp 20 -> 10
— Well, well, wel, looks like we've evened our lives, huh! — Khan says confidently.
Despite doing well, one of his hits destroys me, but I need to play inside his mind to make him panic.
— Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. Who do you think you are?
Khan goes on the offensive. Desperate, Heros responds with a frontal blow, easily evaded. However, the moment Khan dodges the attack, his opponent executes the spinning cut, barely hitting Khan's character.
Khan's Hp 10 -> 02
Critical Life!
Shit!
Almost instantly, a thrust upward is made by Khan, narrowly avoiding death at the last second.
— Now, you're screwed, you bastard. Won't be able to do anything in the air!
Heros prepares a thrust in Khan's direction as he falls.
Is that so?
Khan's character turns downward and uses the spinning cut, approaching the ground like a blade pawn, right where his opponent was.
— Does this even exist?! — Heros exclaims.
A backward dodge is performed, trying to avoid the spinning cut.
Don't think I forgot about your double thrust, you idiot.
And as soon as the spinning cut stops, Heros goes for another thrust toward victory.
"He might dodge, but he won't escape when I use my dash and attack him up close. I won!" — Heros thinks
Khan dodges backward, but to everyone's surprise.
Hero's Hp 10 -> 0
Hero is Dead.
"How did he hit me?" — Heros thinks before disappearing.
The winner of the Match is....
Katsu Khan!
The chat is filled with exclamations from the epic duel
"What the hell, didn't understand this ending????" — MageAbuser2028.
"He performed a phantom thrust?" — GoblinFan2929.
"Surely using cheats, I died to that jerk 4 times" — Faker7120.
"So good to see someone killing the beginner ganker LOL" — MageLover.
Wow, the city folks are quite talkative, huh. I haven't seen more than 10 messages since Tibia's biggest event in its history. Come to think of it, it makes sense the game was closed...
— Hey hey! Teach me how to do that invisible thrust!! — Direct message from TheNewbieLord171
What's with all these notifications?
+30 friend requests, +40 direct message requests.
Am I some kind of popstar? My god, fame tastes wonderful!
— Teach me that attack, or I'll find out your address and throw poop at your house. — GoblinFan2929
Okay, I think I've had enough of fame.
Block friend requests and direct messages.
Alright, peace, now, let's see, did I level up?
Name: Katsu Khan Level: 5 Class: Warrior XP: 100/600
Strength: 30
Vitality:35/35
Resistance:20
Agility:20
Magic Power:7
Magic Resistance:15
ABILITIES: Swordsmanship⋯ Lunge attack+1 ⋯ Spinning Cut
Oh, look at that, Lunge attack+1, that changes the game quite a bit. I can already think of at least a dozen combo variations... But I don't need to think about that now. Is this sword any good?
Steel Foil
RARE
Damage: 10
Effect: Increases critical chance with lunge attacks.
Well, it doesn't seem impressive, to be honest, but it's better than nothing.
Equip.
Now I need to join the guild, finally completing the primary mission!
Entering the guild, the atmosphere is impressively a classic representation of a tavern. The most surprising thing is that, at first glance, you expect characters talking at the tables to be NPCs, but there are actually players there, including one flirting with an NPC. This game made an unprecedented investment in these AIs.
— Good morning! Welcome to the adventurers' guild of Naify City!
Finally found out the city's name. By the way, what a cute elf NPC, I guess I understand why that guy is flirting with her.
— I have to thank you for getting that big guy out of the door; the registrations were slow with him blocking it — sighs the elf — Good to know there are people like you around.
Wait, is she an NPC? Are you kidding me? This dialogue couldn't have been programmed; how would they know about a player messing around? And where's the dialogue option?
Notification!
A lot of people seems confused about Dungeon Gates World IA. You can talk to our npcs with voice chat, its just the same to talk to real people. Give it a try!
My god, this is bordering on bizarre, but okay, I guess it's worth a try. Proximity voice chat in the game; now I understand the random noises, people must be learning to use it now.
— Alright, thanks, I want to register as an adventurer.
How embarrassing to say that out loud.
— Fantastic! Just accept the notification!
Adventurer Path!
Rank: F
Yes No
Finally, the first mission is over.
*Click*
Huh?
*Click*
Why isn't it working?!
*Click* *Click* *Click*
A missing internet signal appears in the screen.
Now?!
— Katsu, my son. Good morning. — A female voice echoes of the Katsu's door.
A chill runs down Katsu's spine.
— H... Hi, Mom! Good morning!
— Up early, huh?
— You know how it is, Mom, God helps those who wake up early!
Katsu's Mom pulls out her phone
"I'm a forest slime slayer genius! HAHAHA! This cosmetic item from the tutorial is already in the bag!"— Comes out as audio from her phone.
— It's just that, Mom—
— Class.
— Sorry.
Click.