Lucy Heartfelt stalked her prey with careful steps. The rabbit stayed unaware, munching on grass. A meter away, she pounced. A slight tinge of pain shocked her as her full body fell upon the Frenzied Rabbit, keeping it from escaping under her.
Hearing its squeaks, she gingerly moved to grab it. Holding its neck as she placed it down, she smiled.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Rabbit."
It cocked its head, grass still between its lips.
Her fist flew forward and smashed its head against the ground. The abysmal health of 4 became 2 in an instant, halving the circular icon of green to the right of its name that now read 50% in its middle.
"Sorry!"
She punched one more time and it exploded into blue particles.
[Frenzied Rabbit Killed!]
{Drops: 10 exp, 5 Gilds, 1 Rabbit Meat}
[Congratulations! You gained 1 Soul!]
[Congratulations! You reached level 3!]
"Wow. . ." A voice said in wonder, "I had no idea you could kill things with your fists here. Is she using a hidden class already? A Brawler perhaps?"
Huh? She turned around and saw players looking at her dirtied form with interest. She had been parading about killing rabbits just like this for a while.
". . .I'm a swordsman," She muttered, a whisper as soft as the wind as a blush crossed her cheeks.
"Oh, wait a minute, it's you. . ." They looked at her with sympathy. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Lucy felt as if she could cry.
"No. . .it's alright. . ."
It was the 8th rabbit she had killed. She was now level 3 and, with luck that surprisingly turned up well, only needed one more egg to complete the second part of the 'Baby Steps' quest. Though she had no sword, she was happy to figure out that punches, on these low-level beasts, worked fine enough.
Though she had no weapon, she had already bought both the 'Heavy Slash' and 'Pensive Block' skills on her skill tree. With 6 souls to spare, she was disappointed to find that the next set of skills wouldn't be available for activation until she reached level 5.
In the end, she distributed the remaining 6 Souls into her stats, focusing on a build of 60% speed and 40% strength. That was the secondary function of Souls, they were used to improve your character. Though, each level had a maximum amount of stat points you were allowed to have. Even then, in the later stages of the game, where skill activation would cost a large sum, you would have to choose between them or powering your character's base as some equipment and items required significant stats.
"Bloody balancing. . ." She muttered. She tried killing another rabbit only to find that she could no longer gain a Soul from it. Shaking her head, she took a moment to orient herself.
The digital sun was high in the sky, glaring down at the scrambling players below in its afternoon light.
Eclipse, the virtual reality mmorpg she was currently in, did not have any time dilation. They might be living in the summer of 2056 but virtual reality technology had simply not advanced enough for such things as time manipulations or gaming cabins. Right now, it was simply something that redirected your brain's sensory data. So, checking the in-game clock below the mini-map at the top right of her vision with a focus, she recognized that it was now 12:13pm, the same time as it would be in the outside world.
She decided to up her speed.
After three more rabbits were punched to death—and she looked around to see that some players who had also lost their weapons were copying her—she gained the final egg she needed for the quest and it updated.
". . .I need to find that darn duck again to turn it in?!" Lucy yelled when she saw the description, feet stomping.
Avatars around her nodded with folded arms. One of which was tackled to death by a rabbit without noticing. All of them were either in or had passed the same boat as her. The players that decided to start at the village of Acron all felt a sort of bonding shared due to their pain and suffering.
"Good luck, Eve!" They wished her well as she ran into the village, fuming.
"Yeah thanks!" She said back. "And you all good luck with whatever you're doing!"
They chuckled and waved her on.
Lucy, aka Eve, had grown to be somewhat well-known within the small village. A celebrity maybe. Not only was she the first to die. Not only had she thrown away the duck that made everyone angry. Not only had she escaped being beaten up by players. She had also hopped around punching rabbits to death. In a way, within the span of an hour or so, she had become famous in the wrong ways.
She winded through the roads of the village. She thought it might be hard to find the duck but was momentarily surprised a second later at the words of help flying around her.
"Hey, have you guys seen it?!" A player yelled as he ran. No one needed much brainpower to understand what it meant.
Another pointed. "Yeah it's on top of a house due west!"
"Thank you! I hate that friggen duck!"
"No problem, dude, me and you both!"
Players helped each other out, driven by a collective hatred of Dafy the Duck and the developers who implemented him. Though Lucy didn't know, there was already a continually updating post on the game forums written by a person named 'Worm' that was tracking the darn duck within this sole starting point. In fact, it was pinned to the top of the page for this region.
Lucy followed where the player had pointed and found the duck, quacking atop a two-story house as avatars surrounded the place. The NPCs had their windows and doors shut, but she could glean pensive eyes glancing fidgety at the players who just wanted the duck.
She looked and realized many were already trying to climb the house to reach the animal. Inching closer as they cling to its wooden structure.
"Woah, Eve?" Someone spotted her. "You here to get the duck again? Can you even climb?"
Attention was thrown her way. Most of the players were smiling and merely curious, passing time as they waited to see if someone could drag the duck down.
"Humph!" Lucy scoffed, "I have you know I was pretty good at rock climbing during gym class!"
"The hell does that have to do with climbing a house?!" They laughed.
"Fufufu," She gloated, "Just watch."
LotsChrono
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
Lucy Heartfelt stalked her prey with careful steps. The rabbit stayed unaware, munching on grass. A meter away, she pounced. A slight tinge of pain shocked her as her full body fell upon the Frenzied Rabbit, keeping it from escaping under her.
Hearing its squeaks, she gingerly moved to grab it. Holding its neck as she placed it down, she smiled.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Rabbit."
It cocked its head, grass still between its lips.
Her fist flew forward and smashed its head against the ground. The abysmal health of 4 became 2 in an instant, halving the circular icon of green to the right of its name that now read 50% in its middle.
"Sorry!"
She punched one more time and it exploded into blue particles.
[Frenzied Rabbit Killed!]
{Drops: 10 exp, 5 Gilds, 1 Rabbit Meat}
[Congratulations! You gained 1 Soul!]
[Congratulations! You reached level 3!]
"Wow. . ." A voice said in wonder, "I had no idea you could kill things with your fists here. Is she using a hidden class already? A Brawler perhaps?"
Huh? She turned around and saw players looking at her dirtied form with interest. She had been parading about killing rabbits just like this for a while.
". . .I'm a swordsman," She muttered, a whisper as soft as the wind as a blush crossed her cheeks.
"Oh, wait a minute, it's you. . ." They looked at her with sympathy. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Lucy felt as if she could cry.
"No. . .it's alright. . ."
It was the 8th rabbit she had killed. She was now level 3 and, with luck that surprisingly turned up well, only needed one more egg to complete the second part of the 'Baby Steps' quest. Though she had no sword, she was happy to figure out that punches, on these low-level beasts, worked fine enough.
Though she had no weapon, she had already bought both the 'Heavy Slash' and 'Pensive Block' skills on her skill tree. With 6 souls to spare, she was disappointed to find that the next set of skills wouldn't be available for activation until she reached level 5.
In the end, she distributed the remaining 6 Souls into her stats, focusing on a build of 60% speed and 40% strength. That was the secondary function of Souls, they were used to improve your character. Though, each level had a maximum amount of stat points you were allowed to have. Even then, in the later stages of the game, where skill activation would cost a large sum, you would have to choose between them or powering your character's base as some equipment and items required significant stats.
"Bloody balancing. . ." She muttered. She tried killing another rabbit only to find that she could no longer gain a Soul from it. Shaking her head, she took a moment to orient herself.
The digital sun was high in the sky, glaring down at the scrambling players below in its afternoon light.
Eclipse, the virtual reality mmorpg she was currently in, did not have any time dilation. They might be living in the summer of 2056 but virtual reality technology had simply not advanced enough for such things as time manipulations or gaming cabins. Right now, it was simply something that redirected your brain's sensory data. So, checking the in-game clock below the mini-map at the top right of her vision with a focus, she recognized that it was now 12:13pm, the same time as it would be in the outside world.
She decided to up her speed.
After three more rabbits were punched to death—and she looked around to see that some players who had also lost their weapons were copying her—she gained the final egg she needed for the quest and it updated.
". . .I need to find that darn duck again to turn it in?!" Lucy yelled when she saw the description, feet stomping.
Avatars around her nodded with folded arms. One of which was tackled to death by a rabbit without noticing. All of them were either in or had passed the same boat as her. The players that decided to start at the village of Acron all felt a sort of bonding shared due to their pain and suffering.
"Good luck, Eve!" They wished her well as she ran into the village, fuming.
"Yeah thanks!" She said back. "And you all good luck with whatever you're doing!"
They chuckled and waved her on.
Lucy, aka Eve, had grown to be somewhat well-known within the small village. A celebrity maybe. Not only was she the first to die. Not only had she thrown away the duck that made everyone angry. Not only had she escaped being beaten up by players. She had also hopped around punching rabbits to death. In a way, within the span of an hour or so, she had become famous in the wrong ways.
She winded through the roads of the village. She thought it might be hard to find the duck but was momentarily surprised a second later at the words of help flying around her.
"Hey, have you guys seen it?!" A player yelled as he ran. No one needed much brainpower to understand what it meant.
Another pointed. "Yeah it's on top of a house due west!"
"Thank you! I hate that friggen duck!"
"No problem, dude, me and you both!"
Players helped each other out, driven by a collective hatred of Dafy the Duck and the developers who implemented him. Though Lucy didn't know, there was already a continually updating post on the game forums written by a person named 'Worm' that was tracking the darn duck within this sole starting point. In fact, it was pinned to the top of the page for this region.
Lucy followed where the player had pointed and found the duck, quacking atop a two-story house as avatars surrounded the place. The NPCs had their windows and doors shut, but she could glean pensive eyes glancing fidgety at the players who just wanted the duck.
She looked and realized many were already trying to climb the house to reach the animal. Inching closer as they cling to its wooden structure.
"Woah, Eve?" Someone spotted her. "You here to get the duck again? Can you even climb?"
Attention was thrown her way. Most of the players were smiling and merely curious, passing time as they waited to see if someone could drag the duck down.
"Humph!" Lucy scoffed, "I have you know I was pretty good at rock climbing during gym class!"
"The hell does that have to do with climbing a house?!" They laughed.
"Fufufu," She gloated, "Just watch."
LotsChrono
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
