- Nathan POV -
'Why did I accept this invitation just today...? ' I thought as I looked at Whisper and saw people posting screenshots of the new cards they were getting in Runestone at the event that started today.
In the week that the group took off after our fat harvest on Monday, I spent my days entirely playing Runestone.
From the Monday after I got back from the dungeon until yesterday, Friday, the only thing I did apart from eat and sleep was play.
Yesterday my team leader sent a message to everyone inviting us to have lunch together at a restaurant she knew.
As I had nothing to do and could play Runestone when I got home, I didn't see a problem with it and accepted the invitation.
The rest of the group also accepted the invitation to come along, but while I looked like a crackhead with withdrawal from the game after seeing FrostHaven Entertainment's publication on Whisper, my companions looked like normal people.
'Jeez, I thought nothing interesting was going to happen in the game today, I was just going to play as normal and maybe even reach the Diamond Rank when I got home... who knew that just today that I decided to leave home the game would launch an event?!' I thought in frustration.
"So when my dad saw the money in my account, the first thing he did was hand me the electricity bill to pay..." One of my companions said in frustration, making the rest of the group laugh at his story.
So that I wouldn't look weird, I laughed lightly too, but my mind was still in the game...
Being as perceptive as she was, the captain noticed something strange about me right from the start.
I even tried to cover it up, but apparently my laughter was all it took for her to ask curiously.
"Nathan, did something happen? You've seemed nervous ever since you received a message... if you need any help, you can count on us." She said gently.
That's why she became our captain.
Being as perceptive and kind as everyone else in the group, no one objected to letting her lead us through the dungeons, as she always took everyone's point of view, not letting anyone get ahead of themselves or have an advantage over someone else.
"It's nothing..." I explained, not wanting to worry anyone. "Nothing bad happened, don't worry."
But hearing my explanation only made them more worried or curious.
"Really? You seem worried about something, Nathan, even if you don't want to tell us, know that if you need anything you can count on us, okay?" She reaffirmed with the same gentle smile.
Seeing her so worried like that made me feel bad, I didn't want her to worry about me for nothing, but I also felt ashamed to be like that just because of a game.
The problem was that I was too excited to try and use the new cards that had been released in the game...
Deciding that honesty was the best option, I explained.
"It's true that nothing bad has happened, in fact what's happening is something good, and I'm so excited to try it out that I can't get it out of my mind." I admitted.
Hearing that it was something good that was happening, their concern changed to curiosity.
"What could be so good that you're acting like this? Are you going to change bikes?" One of the companions laughed, prompting laughter from the others.
Everyone knows how much I like motorcycles, so it's understandable that they think that might be it.
Laughing, I shook my head in denial and continued to explain. "This week that we took off I found a really fun game. Somehow the Game Creator made an evolved poker game that's a lot of fun to play and uses False Neurological Feedback to enhance your body as you play, just like those high-ranking games."
Listening to my explanation, everyone was shocked.
"So you spent the whole week off training? Gee Nathan, I'm surprised at you!"
"And you're acting like this because you want to go home and train even more?! What kind of dedication is that? Why haven't you told us about such a good game so far? If there's a fun game to get stronger, I'd love to play it." The captain said gently, acting as if she was hurt.
Hearing that, I quickly denied it. "The game's improvement isn't that great, after all the game is only F Rank, I started playing it just for fun, but I'm playing this game so much that it's having the same effect as playing E Rank games on my training... That's why I didn't tell you before."
This made them doubt. "If you're getting the same result as training in E Rank games while playing an F Rank game... are you playing it for more than 14 hours a day?"
"I'm playing 16 hours a day to be precise..." I said embarrassed.
This surprised everyone.
"If you've been playing this game for so long, even I'm curious to try it out, why don't you send us the link?" She suggested.
Another member commented. "Yes, I also want to see what this game looks like now."
Someone else also said. "Me too, I wish I had the will to play for 16 hours a day... just having to train my daily quota of 6 hours exhausts me..."
Seeing their curiosity, I nodded and sent the link to everyone on my cell phone. "This is the game, I'm going to send you my friend invitation code, when the game asks if you have a code, please enter my code, it will reward me for inviting you."
Hearing that the game had such unique mechanics piqued their interest even more.
From that point on, the meeting revolved around the game, with them looking at their cell phones to see videos of the game, images of it, while I explained what I knew and gave them tips for when they were going to play.
Having understood how the game worked, everyone was so curious to try it out that we soon said goodbye and went home.
I sped up my bike like never before, parking it in the garage of my apartment and rushing home.
When I finally got home I opened my safe and took out my Player Core, and immediately connected to the Runestone.
As soon as my consciousness was in the in-game tavern, I looked around and saw that there really was a quest board for the game!
[Destroy 50 enemy creatures - Reward: 15 Points]
[Deal 150 damage to your opponent - Reward: 20 Points].
[Use a total of...]
Each mission was related to something that could be done during a game, which gave the game an objective beyond defeating the opponent, making me even more excited to play.
Looking below the missions, there was a progress line showing the rewards I could redeem with the points.
If it had been when I had just started playing, I might still have been a little confused about how this worked, but seeing how similar this progress line was to how the rewards for inviting friends worked, it was easy to understand.
'So I just need to play to get points, or complete missions to get even more points and then these points will accumulate and grant me these cards...' I thought as I looked at the board.
Unfortunately, the cards I could receive as rewards were dark with a "?" icon in front of them, indicating that I couldn't know which card I'd get until I actually won it, but I remembered some cards I'd seen in Whisper and knew more or less what the first cards I'd receive would be.
Seeing these cards I realized a problem: 'Boy, are the players in the Ranked Matches already using the new cards! I can't fall behind, I have to get these cards too so I don't get weaker than them and fall down the rankings!'
With that in mind, I quickly went to the table with the game board and set the game to search for a Ranked Match.
This time I didn't even have to wait for the game to find an opponent for a few seconds, as it usually did, because the game found an opponent instantly!
'Wow, it found an opponent so quickly, could it be that so many people are playing like this? ' I thought curiously.
I didn't even look at the number of players in the game before I joined, making me curious.
When the game started, everything was going as normal, until my opponent used a card I'd never seen before!
The drawing on the card was of an adventurer wearing an enchanted cloak, holding a magical compass that glowed in his hand, walking through ancient ruins surrounded by luminescent crystals.
'What beautiful art! ' I thought excitedly, shifting my gaze to the card's effect with curiosity.
[Name: Magical Explorer
Type: Creature
Cost: 3 Mana
Attack: 2
Life: 4
Rarity: Rare
Ability:
Entrance Effect: Discover a spell card from your deck and reduce its cost by 1 Mana.
Description Flavor:
"For true explorers, every ruin contains secrets that magic longs to reveal."]
Reading the card's description I was surprised!
'With a card like this, Players who play Mages can use advanced spells one round ahead of schedule... and if I'm not mistaken this card is only the first reward of the event, what will the last reward cards be like?!!' I thought excitedly.
Seeing that my opponent in Ranked already had a card from the event and that he got an advantage by using it made me even more excited to play and get all the cards to have an advantage like that too!
At this point, the number of Online Players in the Runestone was skyrocketing, causing a certain Game Creator to crack a huge smile and another to begin to despair with rage.
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