Chapter 2: The Village of Beginning

“Welcome to Ruta Village, Adventurer!” (Old man)

“Eh? What?” (Reis)

I was dumbfounded about what just happened, and just sat in the center of the village ever since the scenery changed from looking at the 2 Continents from above the sky, to a Village.

I was sure that the time wasn’t exactly 1 pm, but I got inside the game after watching the scenes of the story.

‘Everyone around here should be NPC, and I see no one with the same equipment like mine. Was it a bug?’

I decided not to think too much about it.
If it were a bug, then it's good, but if I were to report this to the GM (Game Master) now, it’s possible that they will think I hacked the game.

‘Anyway, since I'm here, I should get used to moving myself here, although it doesn’t seem to be much different from reality’

I moved around, jumping around, and using my sword, I slash around an empty air.

‘Amazing… It really is no different compared to moving in reality’

I put the sword back into its scabbard then I walked along the path leading to the outside of the Village.

I looked around and saw a lot of rabbits and dogs on the field, also they have red HP bar

‘They’ll soon be extinct after the other players poured in, poor rabbits and dogs’

I moved further away from the village and saw a huge open field.

Warm breeze hit my body and I felt at peace.

“It really looks and feels like reality”

I saw an orc in the field, and it was the only orc in the field.

Since I was curious, I stretched my arms, then unsheathed my sword then ran towards the orc, trying to defeat it.

The orc noticed me, and then he swung his spear at me and a huge chunk of my HP dropped, causing my HP bar to turn from Blue to Red.

Leith took 96 Critical Damage.

“Holy, a critical!! What level is  this orc?!”

I dodged its attacks while trying to get its information.

[Elite Boss]

Possessed Orc Lv. 8

Description:

A traitorous Orc that abandoned his clan to save his own life.

His guilt caused his grief, and became possessed by an Evil Spirit.

“Elite Boss and Level 8?!”

I was surprised at the sudden encounter, and then the orc tried to pierce me with his spear, but, time slowed down.

‘What? It could happen here too?’

The situation helped me to make a move myself.

I jumped back while keeping my balance, and then I smiled at it.

‘I can defeat this orc with my [Time Down]!’

Time Down was a name I came up with.

It was my ability that slowed time down whenever I get attacked, just like a sensor.

“Take this!”

I swung my sword with all my might to its left hand while running through him from his left, and…

Possessed Orc took 1 Damage, Left Hand severed, Bleeding -5 HP every 5 second.

The orc screamed with his severed left hand, and I saw a 1 on top of his head, then every second, his hp dropped by 1, and then I smiled.

The orc looked at me, then he dashed towards me with his spear, trying to stab me.

“……”

I concentrated to use Time Down, and the orc moved slowly when his spear was about to hit him.

I ducked and the system recognized it as a Miss, and then while I ducked, I ran past him with my sword hitting his belly and he writhe in pain.

With the chance, I distanced myself from him to recover myself.

‘I knew it…Using Time Down two times tired me out here a lot more than reality…’

I decided to circle him to avoid his attacks instead of frontal assaults.

‘He’s bleeding, so he won’t have much time, Time Down will be my last resort if I were about to get killed, I could only do it one more time, more than that will put a huge strain on my brain… I don’t want to get that headache again…’

About 14 minutes passed ever since I ran around, and his HP was now about to reach 5%, he would die in 2 to 3 minutes.

‘I can do this!’

I naively thought I could win by just running around him, but then, the orc changed his attack pattern.

When his HP finally reached 5%, a shockwave had just struck me, and made me unable to move.

My HP had reached 100 long ago, and I thought I would be safe when he hit me once.

But I was wrong.

The Possessed Orc gave me a body blow and it sent me to the ground with a huge damage.

Leith took 326 Critical Damage.

‘The hell!’

I was surprised seeing the damage reaching three times of my health, and then I sighed and resigned myself after knowing how naïve I was.

I closed my eyes, and then my Avatar disappeared into tiny lights then it scatter around.

---===---

After a minute passed, I opened my eyes again and found myself at Ruta Village’s entrance.

“I was so close…”

I sat on the grassy field then laid my body down to the ground, feeling the warm breeze.

‘This is quite a luxury…’

I didn’t worry myself about my death just now, rather, since I didn’t have any EXP, dying caused nothing but a chance of dropping gears.

But even so…

‘Ah, I lost my Arm Guards’

To lose something was hard for anyone, and I, of course, felt down losing one of my starting gears.

I shook my head, trying to forget it, and I shifted my gaze to the time.

‘A minute left before the OBT… Players will be pouring in into this Village’

While feeling the warm wind with my eyes closed, I heard a ringing bell sound.

Surprised, I opened my eyes, and then the view In front of me turned black in a moment.

Then in a moment, my view became Ruta Village’s center again.

“Eh?”

In the next second, a huge number of light appeared around me, and turned into other people.

‘Ah, the OBT was started just now’

I looked at my gear, and I still lost my Arm Guards.

I sighed, and then sat down on a bench beside a well of the Elder’s house.

I tried to call Kaito using ingame command of [Call] then said the name, Kaito, but then it was someone else, not that idiot Kaito.

“Pffft… So Kai’s name got stolen, let’s see if this Kai name worked or not”

I used another command, and instead of Kaito, I called Kai.

(Yes? Who might this be?)

(Hey, Kai! It's me?)

(Sorry, I didn't need anythi-... Wait… This voice, Reis?!)

(Damn, you thought I was a swindler just now right?! Haha, anyway, I didn’t know you used Kai instead of Kaito)

(Someone stole my name! And also, someone stole your name too! Haha!)

(I didn’t know about that, since using my real name would be embarrassing, so I used an alternative of my name!)

(That’s smart! Anyway, why didn’t you come back an hour ago?!)

(Well, about that, I watched the Story Scene, and a bug happened that caused myself to go into this Ruta Village)

(Oh, a bug?! Dang, you’re lucky!)

(I lost my Arm Guards because of it, so it’s not lucky, anyway, where are you now?)

(I’m walking to Elder House now! There’s a Special Quest I need to get!)

(Oh, I’m close to the Elder House as well, we’ll meet up there)

(Alright! I’ve told Rin and Yuni to come there as well, they should be logging in in a minute or so)

(Gotcha’!)

I ended the call, and then I looked around the area.

I saw a Dark Elf Player with a lime hair color, and his face feature was close to Kaito’s, thus I called out to him by reflex.

“Hey, Kai!”

“Hm? Oh, Leith!”

Good thing it was actually Kaito, since it would be embarrassing if he wasn’t Kaito.

Kaito ran up to me then I lifted my right hand and made a fist, after that, Kai punch my fist lightly with his fist.

“Yo, Leith! Your hair looks rather cool!”

“Oh, is it? Well, yours not bad as well, you customized your hair style that I almost didn’t even recognize you”

While we were chatting, two girls approached us, and they were as expected, Rinka and Yuni.

They didn’t customize their Avatar much, other than hair color, everything was pretty much the same as in reality.

Rinka’s black hair turned into brown, and Yuni’s turned into blond.

Their beauty level raised to another level that some Players stared into them.

“Yooo, Kai! Reis!” (Rinka)

“Wait, wait, wait, I’m Leith here, not Reis!” (Reis)

“Oh, really? Sorry then! Haha!” (Rinka)

“Let’s see…. Rin and Ryuni, Elves and Magic Caster… It doesn’t suit you Rin! Haha!” (Kaito)

“Oh, shut up! Even I want to try magics!” (Rinka)

While the Kaito and Rinka talked to each other, Yuni approached me then greeted me first.

I just smiled and greeted her back.

“By the way, didn’t you have something to do, Kai?” (Reis)

“Oh, right! Let me add you three to my party, then follow me!” (Kaito)

 I heard a ping sound, then a window appeared in front of me.

You have been invited to Kai's Party. [Accept/Decline]

“Accept”

You have joined Kai's Party.

HP and MP bars appeared on top of Kaito’s, Rinka’s, and Yuni’s head, a sign that I have joined the party with Kaito.

After accepting the party request, Kaito went inside the Elder’s House, and then he took out a shoes.

Kaito approached the Elder in the house, and then initiated a conversation.

“Excuse me, Elder Bhan, do you know who own this shoes? I found it at the forest nearby” (Kaito)

“Ooooh! This is… This is my daughter’s shoes!” (Elder Bhan)

The Elder fell to his knees, and I can feel the despair he felt.

In the next second, Kaito crouched down then continue the conversation.

“This daughter of yours, did he get kidnapped?” (Kaito)

“Yes… There was a note from Ruta Mountain Bandits, asking for a ransom… 1,000 Golds, I thought it was just a joke… But it was real….” (Elder Bhan)

“If there’s anything I can do, please let me help, rather, please let me help you, Elder Bhan!” (Kaito)

“Will you, Adventurer? Then please…. Please save my Daughter! I will give you anything you want, but please, save my Daughter!” (Elder Bhan)

Elder Bhan has asked you for a favor.  Quest: Save Syula!  Description: You found the evidence that Elder Bhan's daughter, Syula had disappeared in the Ruta Forest. According to him, Syula has been kidnapped by the Bandits. Save her before time runs out.  Recommended level: 5  Quest Difficulty: F+ Time Left: 6 Hours