Dmitry spun a simple spear with a chipped stone blade and a wooden handle, dressed in a dirty white peasant shirt and dark green pants full of holes. He dodged and leaped over the red ogre that had buried its left fist into the cave floor.
Dmitry landed on the ogre's arm, plunging the spear into its arm and running towards its shoulder, while dodging and jumping over the ogre's hand that tried to swat him.
Standing on its shoulder, Dmitry drove the spear in and used a quick cut ability to slash the ogre. Instinctively, the ogre grabbed a club and struck Dmitry, sending him flying into the wall and losing half his health. "Half? This is too weak for a boss; that hit should have killed me."
Dmitry muttered as he stood up after two seconds of stun effect, cutting down poisonous flowers that resembled daisies but with thicker and redder petals, tossing them into a hole in the wall. "The poison effect is not good at all."
He jumped down, running towards the ogre that kept pounding the ground. Dmitry dodged, leaping onto its arm while slashing along it. The arm gradually turned green, and Dmitry jumped, embedding the spear into its stomach. Using the quick cut ability again, he opened a gash in the ogre's belly, depleting its health completely.
"A beginner wouldn't be able to dodge all those hits, but the ground in the area is barely damaged. They really need to better balance the mobs," Dmitry said. In a few seconds, a window with a massive amount of XP appeared before him, leveling him up seventy levels. "A system that rewards based on the player's and mob's levels is good, but it can be easily abused since it counts the last hit..."
Dmitry logged out, exiting the machine that looked like a futuristic car. He grabbed a spreadsheet from a side table, noting all the errors and improvements needed for a better experience. "Good thing they haven't published the game yet; otherwise, it would be a real bore... It wouldn't last six months."
Dmitry left the room, heading to the living room dressed in white pants and a black shirt. He sat in front of the computer, looking at the spreadsheet and began transcribing it, knowing the exact place of each key just by glancing at it. Four minutes later, he had finished, producing three pages.
"Brother!" Evina called out loudly from behind Dmitry, pressing the enter key and hugging him from behind with a silly smile on her face.
"Hey, what's that grin about?" Dmitry asked, poking Evina's cheek.
Evina swatted his hand away and said, "Your lovely sister wanted to do something for her brother, you know, and look, she managed to get a physical copy of the game Altair."
Dmitry looked at the game box and then at Evina, asking with a serious expression, "How did you get this? You didn't buy one of those fakes sold for just $1,200, did you? And if you did, where did you get the money?"
"Eh? Who do you think I am, brother? Your sister here just worked at Andreza's cyber café, and it was easy extorting rich, spoiled customers by getting them to rent a VIP room for a month," Evina said with an evil laugh, pointing upwards with a proud face. "Besides, I even had plenty of money left over."
'Actually, I got this copy for free, hehe,' Evina thought.
Dmitry, showing no reaction, stared fixedly at Evina, making her lower her finger and drop her proud pose as she began to hear her brother speak. "Don't ever do that again. Even if Andreza is there, if a problematic customer appears, you know I'm not the protagonist of a novel who will beat up men who mistreat his sister. I'd just get them imprisoned for the rest of their lives, making them regret their choices bitterly."
"Brother, sometimes you scare me..." Evina said, seeing Dmitry's face darken for a few seconds.
Dmitry placed his hand on her forehead, pushing her back and starting to stroke her head. "Well, I'll try to improve on that... but ignoring that, what did Andreza ask for?"
"That you visit her. It's nothing major, right?" Evina said, tilting her head to the side.
Dmitry sighed, opening the game box and seeing his name inside along with the card that would go inside the machine. "That woman, even after five years, still wants to exploit my former fame... what a demonic woman."
Evina shrugged, saying, "Well, she made a lot of money when everyone came to challenge you there."
"Alright, tell her I'll check if this game is really all it promises to be. If it is, I'll go there. But I don't even know why. No one remembers me anymore... And my old mask is missing," Dmitry said, watching Evina smile suspiciously, prompting him to ask, "What are you hiding?"
"Me? Nothing, nothing at all. Why don't you try it out already? I'll call Andreza to let her know," Evina said, running to her phone, which was lying on one of the couches.
"I feel like this won't end well... but oh well, whatever. At least she seems happier today," Dmitry said, heading quickly to the room with the virtual reality machine. He pressed a button on the capsule, removing the card from the previous game and inserting the Altair card, which was entirely blue with light blue stripes and transparent edges, looking like a key from another angle.
[Welcome to Altair]
Dmitry found himself in the game, in a place without walls or a ceiling, completely white and empty, where one could get lost if they wandered around. "So this is what you meant by the game being an online sandbox where all players can steal each other's maps... My enthusiasm just went down the drain."
"User, you are mistaken. I am the tutorial, and I will explain what you need to know about the magnificent universe of Altair. I apologize for not speaking earlier; a user's first experience is important, and you're not the first to say something like this."
[Welcome to the game, Dmitry Schariac]