"Welcome, dear viewers, to another exciting episode where we try to uncover the mysteries of the world-famous VRMMORPG, Mysterious Fog World. The only game that boasted and delivered 100% reality."
The reporter enthusiastically introduced her new section.
She stood in what appeared to be a forest, dressed in simple but stylish attire, but the daggers sheathed on her waist didn't match that image.
"As you all know unlike orthodox games, here you can't just level up as long as you gain experience, but you need special potions to become Extraordinary in a Path, then you can level up."
"Since any knowledge related to potions is strictly regulated, it is extremely difficult to get potions. Even after getting it, there is the extreme danger of consuming potions. That led to very few players who stepped into the extraordinary."
"Most players who consumed potions have done it for the Common Paths: Warrior, Mage, Knight, Rogue, Archer, and Priest."
"Very few players in the whole player base have found potions from uncommon pathways. According to our limited information, they are much stronger and vastly different than the Common Paths, which are like the traditional RPG classes."
She then showed an intriguing expression as if about to tell something interesting.
"You might be thinking, why am I telling you the facts you already know."
"Today, I am taking a live interview inside the game of a player who was unknown before but recently saw a meteoric rise in popularity."
"Yes, I am talking about none other than Jason Cold, the latest player who became extraordinary in an uncommon path."
A man in his early twenties entered the camera's field of view. He looked so average that he would not be recognized in a crowd.
He was wearing leather armor with a sword sheathed on his waist.
"Thanks, Aria, for inviting me and giving me this honor," Jason said humbly, but those looking carefully could see the arrogance hidden in his eyes.
"The honor is ours, Jason. And all the viewers are excited to hear about the pathway you discovered. Will you shed more light on it?" Aria asked with an enchanting smile.
Jason looked enamored with her smile, then proceeded with a slightly haughty and arrogant expression, "Yes, I discovered the Quest pathway. I became a Sequence 9 Adventurer."
"That's great, will you tell us more about it? How is it different from the common pathways?" The reporter prodded for more information.
"Of course, there are many differences. First, unlike with Common Paths, where each path gives certain abilities, like the Warrior pathway gives a strength boost, the Rogue pathway gives agility and dexterity boost, etc. Adventurer is a Jack of All Trades; it increases all aspects. Though the increase is smaller compared to common pathways."
"That means…" Aria's eyes widened as she thought of a possibility after listening to Jason.
Jason only showed a mysterious smile and walked deeper into the forest. Aria, though puzzled, followed him.
They saw two rabbit-like monsters with long, sharp front teeth and a menacing horn on their foreheads. The monsters saw them and started running towards them.
He raised his hand, and then a fireball formed before his hand. He launched it towards one of the rabbits. Then proceeded with two more fireballs.
The monsters only covered half the distance, and one was already down. A strange coin was shining near its burnt carcass. The second maintained its pace without flinching.
Jason then unsheathed his sword and swung it towards the rabbit that covered the rest of the distance.
It dodged but was still hit on its hind leg as he changed the sword's direction in mid-air. Another hit, and it joined its friend, with another coin shining near it.
Aria was shocked to see that action. In a short fight, Jason displayed a mage's magic, a rogue's dexterity, and a warrior's strength.
This feat could only be achieved by sequence 9 Trainee Mage, Trainee Rogue, and Trainee Warrior from the Mage, Rogue, and Warrior paths.
She looked shocked, and Jason secretly felt proud of her expression. But as a professional, she quickly schooled it.
"Jason, I must say I am impressed. You said you are a jack of all trades but look like a master of all."
"No, Aria, I am far from being a master." Jason showed a fake, humble expression.
"Jason, you are too humble."
He continued showing another mysterious smile, "Aria, do you wanna know a secret?"
Aria looked intrigued and played the game with him. "Yes, of course, I want to know."
"This is not the only ability I got as an adventurer. My second ability is even better." Jason no longer hid his arrogance.
Now, Aria was genuinely shocked. The previous ability was too overpowered in front of all the Common Paths, which now looked like a joke, and now there was another even better ability.
This time, she showed a flirty expression and asked, "Jason, will you explain your second ability? I am sure the viewers also desperately want to know."
After seeing her reaction, he expressed satisfaction. He said, "All players start with 5 SAN points. If they lose all the points, they will be forcefully logged out and can't log in again unless the SAN points regenerate to at least 2. This will take 48 hours, meaning a regeneration rate of 24 hours per point."
"For all the pathways discovered irrespective of whether they are common or uncommon, becoming a sequence 9 gives two SAN points for 7 points."
"But I got 3 points for a total of 8 points."
Aria was about to say something, but he interrupted her.
"And the SAN value regeneration time is reduced to 20 hours."
Jason, after dropping the bomb, stayed quiet to let her process all the information he dumped on her.
Aria was too shocked to say anything because she knew the importance of SAN in the game world, as the only stat available in the player status panel was SAN.
In a world filled with weird mysteries, anything can reduce SAN, and this has caused one too many players to curse at the game company for creating those mechanics, as losing all SAN meant not being able to play for at least 48 hours.
She had many questions but asked, "Will it reduce further?"
He knew what she was asking and replied, "I believe it will."
Aria wanted to ask more questions, but Jason again interrupted her, "Thanks, Aria, for giving me this opportunity. But now I must go; still, there is too much of this unknown world to explore."
She understood she could not get any more answers from him, so she gracefully ended the interview: "Thanks, Jason, for being part of the show. I am sure it will not be long before you become a ranker."
"Thank you for your best wishes, Aria, but it's a long way to go for me to become a ranker," Jason replied again with a fake expression.
Jason left the camera's field of view as Aria turned toward the camera.
—------------
"Drake, dinner is ready."
"Coming, Mom."
Drake turned off the television playing the interview and approached the dinner table.
There, he saw his mother setting the table, his elder sister helping her, and his younger sister sitting while playing with her phone.
They heard him coming and smiled towards him.
"Drake, are you okay? You don't need to overexert yourself, " his mother, Eleanor, asked him worriedly.
He understood her worry after all, it's been only three days since he recovered.
Since birth, his brain has had some problems. First, the emotional part of the brain was mostly blocked; only the logical part worked. This caused him to behave like a robot, capable of performing daily tasks, including studying, but incapable of interpersonal interactions.
Moreover, he had few personal thoughts; he could not express them even if he had some. He had never spoken a word before.
But he had a great memory. And even studying, he was the topper in school and college.
His mother took him to many world-famous doctors, but none were able to diagnose him.
But suddenly, after living the last twenty-two years of his life like that, three days ago for no reason, he was cured. Everyone was shocked. His mother took him to many doctors, but since they couldn't find the reason, they were even more incapable of finding out how he was cured. So, he was labeled a medical miracle.
He was grateful for the fact that his mother was very powerful; otherwise, looking at the faces of those doctors who looked like they were looking at a specimen, he was sure he would be strapped to a bed in some hidden facility, living the rest of his life being experimented on.
He joined them at the table. His mother and elder sister, Olivia, were also done setting up the table, so they joined him.
His little sister, Abigail, two years younger than him, looked curious and asked, "Brother, were you watching the news about that game?"
His mother and Olivia also perked up at Abigail's question. They knew of the latest VRMMORPG, Mysterious Fog World, which was in the craze nowadays. It was released a month ago and took the world by storm.
Eleanor also wanted to create a guild in the game, which would have provided various business opportunities, but she was holding off because she was busy with her work.
Another important reason was that her dear son showed interest in the game. This was the first time he had shown interest in something; she would do anything to fulfill his wishes.
"Yeah, but it was nothing interesting. A reporter interviewed some random guy who got lucky and got a potion from an uncommon pathway. He was trying his best to sell himself to the guilds." Drake dismissed the guy from the interview.
His family was also uninterested in the guy. What piqued their interest was the uncommon pathway.
They wanted to create a guild in the game, so they had done their homework.
Getting a sequence 9 potion of an Uncommon Path was great, but that was not enough. Only mid-tier or some high-tier guilds would show interest in him if it was just that. But top-tier guilds need more.
Each pathway had 10 sequences, from 9 to 0. Each sequence consisted of 10 ranks, from 1 to 10, and each rank required separate potions. Jason got just the potion for Rank 1, Sequence 9.
To level up, first, a potion was needed to consume. Then, the player could level up to level 10. After that, a rank 2 potion was required.
Leveling was not necessary. The NPCs who took the potion needed to digest it; only after 100% digestion could they consume the next one if available. The digestion time depended on the potion type, the consumer's talent, etc. On average, it took 3 to 6 months to digest a rank 1 potion. For players, they were given an alternative. They could digest the potion the old-fashioned way or use the experience to complete the digestion. With each level representing 10% digestion and the digestion starting at 10% when consumed, the player needed 10 levels per rank, adding up to 100 levels in sequence 9.
What the guilds were interested in was not the potion but the potion formula, as the former was a consumable usable only once, but the latter could be used to make any number of potions as long as enough raw materials were available.
In the game, the most crucial aspect was knowledge, and potion formulas were considered to be some of the most essential pieces of knowledge. No guild or player was publicly known to have a complete potion formula for even a rank 1 potion.
"Brother, which pathway is it?" asked Abigail.
"It's the Quest pathway, " he told his sister, then told her about its abilities.
Listening to her son, Eleanor was also surprised by the Quest path's abilities. She turned towards Olivia, who turned towards her, too. She looked at her daughter, who nodded as if she understood what her mother wanted.
The dinner ended with some light chatting among the family members.
After dinner, when the family sat together, Olivia looked mischievous and said, "Drake, I have a surprise for you."
Eleanor and Abigail, who knew what that was, also showed mischievous expressions.
"I brought you the game capsule. I know you wanted to play this game."
"Thanks sis. You are the best." He gave his sister a big hug, who returned it wholeheartedly.
"Will you guys also play?" asked Drake.
This time, his mother answered, "Yes, sweety, we will play, but not for now. Olivia and I need to prepare to set up our guild."
"Great, what about you, Abigail?" Drake asked his little sister.
"Of course, I will also play. I made plans to play together with my girlfriends. We will take you to level up whenever you want, big bro." declared Abigail excitedly. Too excited to take her brother to level up.
"Then I will take you up on your offer, dear little sister," said Drake, ruffling her hair.
She tried to remove his hand, but there was no strength in her hand. She secretly enjoyed the intimacy she shared with her brother now that he was cured. She liked spending time with her brother even if he never spoke. She took it as her responsibility to protect her brother.
Eleanor smiled, seeing the antics of the brother and sister.
After some time, as if she had noticed something, she smiled and said, "Drake, I know you want to play the game; you can go."
With the current advanced technology, game capsules entirely supported gaming for days uninterrupted and cared for all body needs. So, Eleanor was not worried that Drake would play games until night without sleeping, as the players were technically sleeping inside the capsule. Moreover, with her connections, she got the best game capsules for her family, so she was not worried about anything.
Drake made an expression as if he was caught stealing the pie; he asked in a low voice, "Can I?"
Eleanor laughed a little and confirmed, "Yes".
"Thanks, mom." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and ran to his room at light speed.
—
The game capsule was already set up, so he didn't waste any time. He jumped in directly and closed his eyes. The capsule closed on its own, and the game started.
Drake appeared in a foggy forest. The sky was black, and fog covered his visibility. He could not tell how he could see on such a night.
He knew the game's lore would begin soon. Since he had already seen it, he wanted to skip it and proceed to the game.
But he heard a sound that should not appear there.
[Ding]
[Hello host, belated congratulations on your death]