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Eden of the Eclipse - Chapter 1

Published at 22nd of June 2022 05:23:27 AM


Chapter 1

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[Starter Blade]
—a sword forged from bronze. It might shatter with one hit. It might not. Who's to say?
*It cannot cut through anything. Only bash.
+2 to physical strength.
-1 to speed.

In all the games she had ever played, it was the first time she saw a piece of starter equipment that gave a negative status bonus. As an addition, based on its singular modifier, it was also a weapon which, quite literally, was a club in disguise. Following its logic, it could only smack something to death.

So this was what the beta-testers had termed the 'Bonk Sword'? She stared at it as she gripped its handle tighter. It was crappy. Cracked. Brown and dusty. It barely shined from the digital sun above. A bright smile crossed her face.

"I love this world already!"

Eyes turned to her but she grinned. Dressed in a snug shirt of white, and cotton-black shorts—an attire akin to gym wear—Lucy Hertfell was as much a beginner as the players that shifted all around her. Her blue hair, digital but mesmerizing, fluttered with the soft wind and her azure eyes stared at the small, homely, town of Acron.

Wooden buildings of all shapes and sizes. A wide roadway of dirt. And a circular wall of wood with towers along it that protected the respectable village. As the game had just released, it was filled to the brim with beginners dressed much the same as herself.

She had chosen it as her starting point simply because she thought the starter outfit here was cooler than those gained from other locations.

She took in the fresh air of the first full-dive virtual reality game to have successfully released. The year was 2056 and things seemed to be looking up for a gamer like herself. It would be her first time transitioning from mouse and keyboard to full, physical motion but, hey, it couldn't be so bad, right? Besides, everyone else was in a similar boat.

[New: Starter Quest] A voice echoed as the icon of a book popped up for a moment in her vision, blinking at the upper left just below her green health-bar—which she quickly dismissed with a thought.

"Quests? Are you silly? This is a virtual world! Let me get to know it first!"

The first thing her gamer heart wanted to do was get used to her new avatar, not some quest. She took a step forward, foot crunching the dirt like reality, and ran. The air slid against her skin and she felt the simulated feeling of her lungs working. In moments, as she slowed, she broke through a wall of players and streamed out of the open gates of the village.

"There you are haha!" She laughed when soon as she saw her prey in a field of green leftward of the village as her hand reached to remove the sword from its sheath.

There were a few other players here as well. Most were still exploring within the village, maybe? But here there were some sparse individuals engaging dangerous battles with. . .rabbits. Most were running and diving for their lives, though.

[Frenzied Rabbit — level 2]
—this thing would much sooner eat you than you eat it. It's feisty. It's frenzied. Do be careful, okay?

She stared at her prey and inched closer. As its name implied, it was literally a rabbit. The base starter monster within this game. Supposedly, if you didn't kill it in 2 swings, and you were below it in level, its next attack which landed was guaranteed to kill you. She didn't believe that, however. Which type of game devs would put something like that in the first successful virtual reality game?

Lucy scoffed. Even if it were to be true, she had played plenty of mmos before, this was cake-work.

She charged and felt the rush of adrenaline.

The white rabbit turned its head at her, ears twitching.

She stopped and swung.

It hopped.

She missed, creating a fumbling arc with her blade which only hit dirt. She tried to pull it out only to realize it had become embedded within the ground of soft grass.

"Come on! Don't be this realistic!" She chided the game and pulled with all her might, foot stomping for better grip.

Her weapon came loose and she fumbled back, swinging it in the midst and missing a rabbit which hopped to dodge it.

She took a breath and steadied herself, head swerving. She estimated less than 5 minutes had passed since the servers went live and here she was struggling against a rabbit of all things.

Swinging a sword and actually hitting things with it was harder than it looked!

She glared at the creature in front of her.

Its ears twitched and its eyes turned crimson.

"Eh—?"

The creature hopped and shot forwards.

"Wait—!"

Lucy quickly raised her sword before her chest to block it and the head of the beast slammed against the blade as it thunked back.

She laughed at the confused creature which fell against the grass.

"Serves yo—!"

The sword shattered into particles of light.

". . ." She glanced at her empty hand for a moment in disbelief, ". . .the beta-testers weren't kidding when they said you should take the in-game descriptions seriously, huh?"

She looked forward to see a tiny head flying up at her.

Her eyes widened.

The rabbit smacked against her face and she died, exploding into blue particles.

[You do not have enough souls to revive with no penalty. Teleporting back to the last visited safe-zone and deducting 50% experience.]

She appeared within the village again.

[Player 'Eve' has earned the achievement 'Die Hard' by being the first player to die on the American Server! Congratulations!]

Lucy blinked her eyes as the announcement resounded, echoing in her mind. As far as she remembered, she had stayed up all night, coffee in hand, just to make sure she was the first person to pick the name 'Eve.'

She kicked dirt.

"Dying first isn't the kinda legendary mark I want to leave!"

LotsChrono

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