MM - Chapter 2 - Log In

Raine was breathing heavily by the time he reached the nearest gym. A few of the regulars gave him snide looks as he walked through the front doors. Ignoring them, he headed to the automated receptionist and let it scan his retina before accepting the monthly membership plan.

His first workout was brutal. Within minutes, he was puking in the nearest trash bin. He picked himself up after resting a few minutes and kept at it until he made it all the way through the six-hundred reps of his basic, full-body routine.

He dragged himself to the shower, then changed into his last set of clothes before buying a protein shake from a vending machine. It took him an hour to limp back to the apartment where he threw his sweaty clothes in the wash before immediately heading back out again. Thoughts and plans swirled in his head as he took a robotaxi to the nearest mall.

I need to get my hands on some ReGen serum. I wonder where Soulgen is in their development pipeline.

A quick hypernet search brought him to their website where they listed their up-and-coming first product that was still going through clinical trials.

They haven’t even developed the first serum yet. Once the first patch goes live and character attributes are directly correlated with real-world physical fitness, ReGen’s serums become the most highly sought-after product on the market.

How am I supposed to get my hands on some if they haven't even finished testing, let alone started ramping the product line? Having even a few bottles would make getting back into shape a breeze. Guess it’s a problem for another day. Not like I mind doing it the old fashioned way. Gaining strength step by step is so damn satisfying.

He arrived at the mall, vaguely remembering the layout of the building. It only took a few minutes to find the hardtech store that sold the new thetadrive headsets that ZionLine required. He knew exactly which model he wanted and grabbed one off the shelf near the display models. It was a bulky thing that would never be comfortable but it was within his price range and the better models weren’t even available on the market yet.

He let a nearby kiosk scan for payment. On his way out, he couldn't help but overhear some obnoxious teenagers laughing at him.

“Another idiot bought one of those scam headsets! What a joke. Any VR game that can’t be played on a LinQ is a scam. That game won’t last a month.”

As if an early gen LinQ is powerful enough to handle the kind of experience ZL offers. It's not lifelike, it's indistinguishable from life. At least after the third patch. Besides, the current LinQs can't tap into theta brainwaves to trigger the time dilation. Then again, by the time they can, they can also cause extreme pain, even death, with little more than a thought from our glorious overseers. The slave collar of the future.

They’ll all learn eventually. But by then, the price of these headsets will be forty thousand and not the twelve I just dished out.

Game launches at midnight tomorrow. One more day. Just enough time to get this thing attuned to my brainwaves.

Back at his apartment, Raine pulled out the new headset and plugged it in before placing it on his head to begin the lengthy adaptation process. He punched in the cafe’s hypernet password. He would never forget it no matter how many times he lived: Melsgotagreatbutt42069.

He chuckled to himself, which apparently was enough to convince Morty he wanted to talk, “Master, I am detecting elevations in several of your fleshy hormone receptacles. Did you perform anabolic stimulating activities? I cannot fathom that you found a mate willing to copulate. My only functional postulation is that you ran from a herd of stampeding elephants. Surely, there is nothing else in this world that would motivate you to exercise.”

“Nice one, cripple,” Raine flipped him off, smirking as Morty fumed, unable to return the gesture, “Nope, just went to a gym and lifted a bit. Can you please wake me up at four AM?”

“Certainly, my unusually motivated underling, ahem. Master.”

Raine chuckled again. He arranged a pillow just right. Once comfortable, he focused on an intermediate martial breathing exercise and passed out in seconds.

***

The next day flew by. Raine ordered enough fruits and vegetables to last him a week as well as a blender and some top-shelf protein. He finished the day by hitting the gym again before going to sleep early so he would be ready for the midnight launch of ZionLine.

He was fully awake by eleven-fifty and prepared to login. Suddenly, Raine remembered to call his brother. Richtor answered after half a ring, his face floating in the air due to the AR display.

"Hey little brother, long time. I take it you're all set to log in?" Raine asked, his eyes glowing and a ready smile on his lips.

"Long time? We talked last week! Yeah man, I'm so bricked I can hardly stand it. My guilds ready to meet up the minute we start. I'm surprised you remembered, when did you take an interest in ZionLine?"

Raine shrugged, coyly glancing to the side, "I heard a rumor about skipping aspects in the tutorial to get better ones from quests. Got me interested so I'm checking it out."

"No you didn't, you liar. There hasn't been a single leak about the game. Not one. All we've seen are unbelievably realistic advertisements. Nobody even knows what character creation is going to be like, let alone anything about any of the quests!"

Raine smirked, "Okay, fine. I'll tell you the truth but it's even less believable.” His brother rolled his eyes but spun his finger in a ‘hurry up’ gesture.

"I was at a cafe and overheard a party there celebrating lunch. Turns out, they were developers for the game. Dropped that the aspects you can find later are loads better and the items needed to delete your initial aspect aren’t purchasable until a higher level."

Richtor’s jaw fell open as he ate Raine’s lie like he was breaking a week long fast, "No way man, that's crazy! The guild is going to freak out when I tell them. You're right, I would have never believed that."

You just did… 

"Hey, why don't you join my guild? We haven’t played a game together since we were kids."

Raine shook his head, "No can do, little bro. I don't want to be controlled by anyone."

A ding resounded in both their ears and Richtor spoke so fast his words were a jumble, "Games launching, brother. Thanks for the tip and see you inside!” The call ended before Raine had a chance to respond.

ZL's world is nearly five times larger than Earth. Even starting nearby, it might be some time before we meet. I'll look forward to it, little brother.

The minute the clock hit midnight, Raine launched ZionLine. As his eyes closed, he felt his consciousness lift to another realm through a bright tunnel. He fought off the initial vertigo with practiced ease and smashed the mental command to skip the intro cinematics explaining the backstory of the world.

Just a bunch of high-cost promotional movies that show off the life-like graphics without divulging anything important. 

Raine appeared as a disembodied, floating sprite in a white room with a character generator screen floating before him. Knowing that everyone’s avatar would eventually change to match their real life appearance, he selected auto-generate and spammed accept until he got to the portion that let him name his newly formed avatar.

Like before, he entered KongRu, the username he had used for the past ten years. His finger hesitated before the accept button, an urging deep in his consciousness unwilling to press it.

This time is different. I won't have an I.D. I'll form my own guild, and before the corps realize how much the world is going to change, I'll crush them for what they did to me, to everyone. Especially Crongate. No, that’s not good enough. I’m not only going to destroy them, I’m going to take everything they’ve built and turn it against them. 

For this new life, I need a new name. A name that they will all learn to fear.

He only thought for a second before copying a character from a kids book that he had loved more than any other: Alaric.

The king of kings.

The moment Raine hit accept, he was teleported to a grassy field. Several weapons were laid out in front of him. Each represented the path toward a class that could eventually be specialized in. For now, not even the base classes could be acquired. These weapons were but a barest taste of what was to come.

Raine grabbed the two straps of cloth which would allow him to begin accruing Attunement for the brawler class and wrapped one around each of his fists.

[Fist weapons selected: 1% AT (Attunement) obtained]

With his selection made, a ten-second countdown started in the corner of his vision. Without hesitation, Raine scrambled to grab every single weapon and held them awkwardly in his arms with a wide grin.

Thanks for the freebies!

The countdown finished and the weapons vanished along with Raine. He appeared in a room so black that its walls were impossible to see. The only thing visible was a wooden door with the words "tutorial" written in bold, stylized letters. Without missing a beat, he turned and walked directly away from the door, further into the darkness.

No way I'm wasting my time on the tutorial. By the time I first started in the past, people had already figured out how to skip it so I’ve never actually done it. It might be fun to go through it for the first time, but the benefits don’t outway the couple hours it takes to finish.

He found the invisible wall a hundred steps later and the moment his hand touched it, a message appeared.

[Skip tutorial?]

[Yes/No]

[WARNING: the tutorial cannot be accessed later. Aspect distribution will be skipped]

A flicker of thought toggled ‘yes,’ and Raine vanished again. He appeared in a nostalgic town full of log cabins and gray-plastered medieval buildings. Dozens of NPCs wandered the streets, talking and laughing like regular people, making the fantasy world feel lively. A series of system messages annoyingly floated in his way and he batted them aside.

[Welcome to ZionLine! Live and die by the spear, sword, or your fists. This world is now yours to conquer! There are no limits here, only adventure, pain, and glory. Seek it, grasp it, and do with it as you will. No matter where you end up, never forget, in ZionLine, risk and reward are but two halves of a whole. Live dangerously, seeker of adventure]

[Status acquired!]

[Inventory acquired!]

Raine raised a fist in front of his face, slowly opening and closing it while an uncontrollable grin stretched his lips until his cheeks hurt. His eyes stung from the sun's brightness and its warmth entered his lungs as he took a deep, fulfilling breath.

The beating of heart matched the avatar's and the subtle internal sounds of their bodies were spot on. The air pressure on his skin, the weight of his feet pressing into the ground, and even the gentle breeze rustling his hair and blowing it into his eyes all felt real. Though the world looked slightly off, if you squinted it was was close enough to trick the brain into full immersion.

So this is how the world felt in the beginning. It's only been a couple days, but it feels like my first time. I'm so weak, my avatar is barely responding to my thoughts. This… is going to be more fun than I thought.

Muscle memory prompted him to flick his eyes to the minimap where he saw the expected name: Mirror Lake Town. Raine glanced down at his temporary avatar. His weapons had been stored in his inventory automatically, and all he wore was a light leather jerkin, leggings, and boots. None of his gear had a single bonus attribute leaving him feeling both poor and excited for the loot to come.

NAME: Alaric

LEVEL: 0

SUPERIORITY: 0/1000

HP: 50

ATTACK POWER: 12

DEFENSE: 11

RESISTANCE: 5

CRITICAL RATE: 5%

ELEMENTAL POWER: 10

DEMONIC POWER: 10

DIVINE POWER: 10

DISCIPLINE: 10

ATTACK SPEED: 1

MOVE SPEED: 2

ATTRIBUTES: 

POTENCY: 5

FINESSE: 5

ACUITY: 5 

PHYSIQUE: 5

CONNECTION: 5

WEAPON ATTUNEMENTS:

[Fist weapons - Novice 1%]

CLASS ATTUNEMENTS:

[Brawler - 1%]

SKILLS:

1 free skill points available

EQUIPMENT:

[Basic leather jerkin - Dull Trash (Defense + 2) (Durability 10/10)]

[Basic leather leggings - Dull Trash (Defense + 2) (Durability 10/10)]

[Basic leather boots - Dull Trash (Defense + 1) (Move Speed + 1) (Durability 10/10)]

[Novice fist wraps - Dull Trash (Attack Power + 2) (Attack Speed + 1.5) (Durability 10/10)]

The first thing he did was customize his UI to hide Elemental, Demonic, and Divine Power as those had nothing to do with his planned build. He then toggled that his displayed attributes would include his equipment as he didn’t like doing the math in his head. A few minor repositioning of window and cooldown displays later, and he was ready to choose his first skill in the shop submenu.

[Strike - General Skill - Novice: Increase damage with blunt basic attacks by 20% (Cost: 1 discipline) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

By far the best purchasable skill type before acquiring a class. Not only does it grow exponentially stronger as it evolves, but it’s a flat percentage increase which retains its value until the very end.

He checked his inventory, instinctively grimacing at the twenty copper coins the game started him with. His frown morphed into a smirk when he saw the trove of dull trash-grade weapons within. With a thought, he withdrew a mace, a shield, and a dagger. He held the mace in one hand, the shield in the other, and the dagger’s hilt was clenched tightly in his mouth.

Gaining attunement in several classes and weapons at once will massively boost my stats early on.

Confident he had everything he needed, Raine jogged out of town toward a nearby forest. NPCs gave him odd looks as he exited the town but he ignored them.

I never experienced the game before the first two patches. To think the movement would feel this awkward. Or maybe it's because I haven't felt such low stats in years. Either way, I’m looking forward to leveling up. Feels like I’m driving a forklift with chopsticks.

After wading through tall grass that tickled his thighs, he encountered his first beast. He stared hard at the ragged creature with the intent to see it for what it was. Due to not having purchased the Identify skill, the information gained was only partial.

[Mangy Wolf - Level 1 - HP ??/??]

How many times did these stupid bastards kill me? A dozen? Two? Until people get used to the realistic combat, even basic mobs like these are a death sentence.

Raine charged with his shield in front of him. The wolf growled and Raine's heart thundered with anticipation for the kill. Only a few feet away, it leaped at his throat. He shifted his weight and angled his shield downward. When the beast's jaws impacted the barrier, its body was sent crashing face-first into the soft ground.

Raine smashed his mace into the top of the beast's head, then dropped the weapon and pummeled it with his wrapped fist twice. The hits were impossibly slow, limited by his measly Attack Speed. Both the mace, and the second punch activated Strike, costing him two points of Discipline. Damage numbers appeared above the beast's head with each hit [-8, -7, -8]

Exactly as I remember, seventy-five HP and five defense. Six more hits should do it.

The wolf wriggled out from under Raine’s shield and body weight by thrashing with fierce kicks. Once back on its feet, it lunged, jaws snapping at his neck once more.

The only thing truly predictable about these low level mobs is what they aim for. No challenge at all.

Now die!

Raine repeated the same methodical sidestep before smashing his fist into its head three more times. After the third round, the wolf lay dead on the grass and two messages flashed across his HUD.

[Obtained 15 SP bonus 50% Superiority for defeating a monster above your level]

A normal group of five will only get three SP per kill. And they need one thousand to hit level one. Leveling sure is brutal in the beginning before people get used to the combat.

[Obtained 1.5% AT bonus 50% Attunement for defeating a monster above your level]

Two copper coins appeared above the wolf’s corpse, hovering vulnerably inside a ruddy-colored glowing ball in the air. Raine instinctively snatched them by brushing his free hand against the orb checking his peripherals. Loot was first come first serve, regardless of who killed the beast, so being wary of thieves had long ago been ingrained into his DNA.

Currency rarely drops from these. Lucky me, I guess. At least they’re a higher level so all my held weapons gain attunement at the same time. No point standing around, there’s a nasty old witch who’s no doubt biting her nails in anticipation of my arrival. Aspect, here I come!

Raine scooped up his mace and dashed toward the dark woods, his destiny drawing closer with each step.