《Crimson: Life in the Virtual World》 Prologue Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm clock blared as Greg Windstor was awakened from a pleasant dream in which he robbed a bank. He had finally escaped the police when the alarm awoke him violently. He slammed his hand down on the snooze button and pondered if he should go back to sleep again or go to work. ¡°Fuck it! I¡¯ll go to work. There is no substitute for money in this godforsaken world.¡± He sat up slightly cranky from his dream and reached for a drink of water from the glass next to his bed. The glass was placed beside the alarm clock on the nightstand next to his bed. He put the glass down as he pushed the covers away revealing his tan legs and flannel boxers. He swung his legs over the side of the bed while he stretched his arms out above his head. ¡°Always at the best part! Why do the best dreams always get ruined by the fucking alarm?¡± He stood up and walked to the closet at the other side of the room, he opened it and grabbed his work clothes which hung across the closet. Below the clothes a towel was folded neatly atop a wooden dresser, it was also taken. He closed the door to the closet, with clothes in hand he walked to the bathroom to take his morning shower. He turned off the water after he finished cleaning up, the room filled with steam as he stepped out of the shower. He wore his new clothes while the old clothes were tossed into the clothes hamper as he left the room heading towards the kitchen. He got a granola bar from a overhead cupboard, stuffing it into his pocket in a hurry to leave. He turned off the lights and made sure the door was locked as he left for work. Greg worked as a grocery stocker at his local superstore. He worked early mornings after all the drug addicts and shady people went home but before all the normal people came in. His normal job routine entailed clocking into work and checking out a little handheld computer with a scanner attached from lockers. He used the scanner to scan bin containers in the backroom of the store, the bins were filled full of boxes of products from different departments of the store. He scanned each box in the containers from bottom to top, left to right and the computer would let him know if the product was low on the shelf. If so he would put the product on a cart and take the cart out to the sales floor when it was full of product. The cycle would repeat itself for 8 hours, he also might need to help cashier or do some special projects if needed. He answered any question the customers had making sure they had a good experience shopping at his store, considering he was paid to make sure the customers had a good experience it wasn¡¯t that bad a of a job, just the same thing over and over again. Greg finished work for the day and he deposited the scanner back into the locker as he headed home for the day. He scanned his badge at the sign out station when he noticed when he noticed John a fellow associate on his way out. ¡°Hey John wait up!¡± He caught up as John waited. ¡°What¡¯s up Greg?¡± ¡°I just wanted to know if you played the new vrmmorpg that came out recently? I heard it was really good.¡± They continued together as they talked.Stolen story; please report. ¡°No not yet, but I did buy the headset I¡¯m going to play it tonight. My favorite streamer says all the pros are starting to play it, but they can¡¯t release any footage yet since it''s only been a month since release and they still want some things hush hush.¡± ¡°Yeah, I just bought my headset too. It should be delivered later today, $2000 dollars for headset is ridiculous but i''m looking at it as an investment I won¡¯t have to buy anything for another 5 years I¡¯m hoping.¡± ¡°Indeed, I¡¯m really looking forward to all the action and swordfighting. I gotta go, I¡¯ll call you later or something I need to get home to the wife. We are going to go out to dinner tonight.¡± ¡°Ok, Have a good night maybe I call later I might be busy with the game. Tell Cindy I said hello for me.¡± Greg waved goodbye as they went their separate ways at Johns car. Greg was excited as he got into his car and drove home. He anticipated what the headset would feel like and how it worked. He took a detour on the way home to a to McDicks a local fast food restaurant. He drove through the drive thru and ordered a couple cheeseburgers and fries. He ate them on the way home. A suspicious package was on his porch when he pulled up into his driveway. He parked his car and ran up to the package and noticed the logo on the box was from the gaming company. ¡°Fuck yeah, it¡¯s finally here!¡± He unlocked the door while he carried the package inside. He set the package down on the couch in the living room. He decided to take a shower first before he unpacked the headset since today was his Friday from work. He was going to play the new game all weekend with nothing else special planned. He took a quick 10 minute shower and put his dirty clothes in the wash before he arrived back in the living room for the headset. He did some research on the headset before he finally decided to purchase it, especially since it was worth so much money. The headset would allow him to access the virtual world, it did so by stimulating his brain and connecting to his thoughts directly. The game he would be playing is called Crimson, a world where a basically anything is allowed. Time was faster in game then it was in the real world, a whole 12x faster which is the main reason Greg bought the headset, the other being an escape from reality. Time being 12x faster is amazing, he would be able to learn many things that could be used in real life and also do the things impossible for him to ever achieve limited by the scientific laws. Crimson had no limits on level caps and exploration. The current technology level in game is around the medieval ages in real life, but as more people join and the artificial intelligence improves there could even be space travel and planets to explore, that doesn''t even count the spiritual aspect of the game. Their might even come a time where if the level is high enough people can become gods or travel to higher plane of existence. Crimson had you start off in a random village controlled by your race on a novice continent. The continent quite large but the village you would spawn would be fairly populated, which would provide a lot of action and opportunities to experience all aspects of the game. Greg unpacked the headset from the box and placing the box to the side while wearing the headset. He clicked the power button on the headset and waited for it to kick on, after waiting a minute nothing happened. Why isn¡¯t it working? He removed the headset, flipped it around and examined it. Nothing seems to be broken. Nothing seemed to be wrong as he looked in the box, a power cord was seen placed at the bottom. No shit it would need to be powered, I¡¯m such a dumb ass. He realized the headset didn''t have any power, he placed it on the coffee table and plugged it into the power outlet. He decided to put his clothes in the dryer while he waited for the headset to charge enough to allow him to play. He returned to the table after he started the dryer, he noticed that the headset was charged enough to start up. The indicator light was orange meaning it was still charging but ready to use. This time he confidently wore the helmet and pushed the start button. Gadol Village *Welcome to Crimson* Greg appeared in a white space with no body. A blue screen floated in front of him. He couldn¡¯t see anything but white around him except for the screen. *Please name your character.* Greg read words written on the screen. He took a few minutes to think of a name. He input the name he thought of into the pop up box. *Hebin Kilnu has been accepted.* *Generating features based on brain scan please standby.* *Generation successful. Would you like to begin?* ¡°Yes¡± *Please stand by for materialization in 5¡­4¡­3¡­2¡­1.¡± His vision went black before he reappeared inside a well lit up room. ¡°That was fast!¡± he thought as his eyes adjusted to the light. He blinked a few times before he noticed all the people staring at him, some with mouths open in shock. He stared blankly out at the crowd wondering what he has gotten himself into. He looked down at his body and noticed that he wore a white robe and woven sandals as he stood before the people. He appeared to be on a raised platform. Above him a large stained glass window cast colorful light down upon him. In the front of him a old man stood behind a pulpit with a good view of his congregation. The old man who stood behind the pulpit paused in his sermon, realizing that his audience were no longer paying attention to his preaching. He glanced at the direction they were staring at and noticed the presence of a newcomer who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Greg stood there, just as bewildered as the preacher. The priest shook off his astonishment and plastered on a smile. "Welcome, adventurer. Sorry for the inconvenience, but could you please step down from there?" He motioned for a young boy. "Follow this young man to the back. I will be done shortly, and then we can assess your situation." Greg followed the boy through the rows of pews and noticed that the man was reassuring the people that his sudden appearance was indeed normal. Shortly after he continued on with his sermon. ¡°I would think they would be a little more excited to see someone appearing out of nowhere. I certainly would be.¡± The boy guided him to a side room to the back of the church. ¡°Wait here mister, the pastor will be with you shortly.¡± The boy left quickly and shut the door behind him. Greg looked around the room trying recognize anything familiar. A large desk was filling the center of it with 2 chairs in front and 1 chair behind it. Several documents and writing utensils were lying on the desk, next to a unlit candle. The back of the room was filled by two large bookcases that contained books of all sizes and shapes. Their bindings were worn out and the yellow paper sticking out the sides appeared to be quite old. On the right side of the room under the sunlight cast by a circular window, a book stand that displayed a large book openly attracted his attention. He strode over to it and took a few glances at the open pages. ¡°The god Artin slayed the demon lord Falko with his sword Silence, ending the 100 year reign of evil over the continent of Sulkiner... ¡± The door to the room opened just as he wanted to flip the page. He quickly turned around and noticed that the pastor walked in. ¡°Please have a seat.¡± The pastor said while he closed the door behind him and walked behind the desk. ¡°My name is Jero Geo, I am the Pastor of this church dedicated to the god Artin. May I know your name?¡± Pastor Jero asked and took a seat behind the desk. Greg took a seat in front of the desk and crossed his legs. ¡°My name is Hebin. I just arrived here as you saw. Please tell me where I am?¡± ¡°Yes, the god Artin has told me of you arrival. Here is a map of the village Gadol. May it guide you, along with the blessings of Artin, Adventurer Hebin.¡± He reached down and opened a drawer to the desk. He pulled a folded map out of the desk and handed over to Greg. *Obtained Map of Gadol Village* A notification popped up briefly before it faded away in his vision. It left a faint exclamation mark in the bottom corner of his vision as not to be distracting. ¡°Thank you Pastor, what else could you tell me about this village?¡± ¡°The great god has only allowed for me to give you a map, he told me that the people he sends need to explore for themselves. I did label the local shops and Inn on the map so you may have a place to stay for the night.¡± ¡°Okay¡­thank you for the map at least.¡± He stood up with map in hand. The pastor also stood up and guided him to the door. They walked to the main door of the church, along the way he saw people still in the pews. This time around they all knelt in prayer towards a large picture of a man framed along the wall on the far side of the church above the platform. ¡°Farewell adventurer and may Artin watch over you on your journey.¡± The pastor held the door open for him as he left the church. He stood on the steps of the church and gazed at the streets packed with people going about their daily activities.Simple buildings with signboards hanging from their entrances and windows filled with products advertising their usefulness filled the sides of the streets in front of him. ¡°This is awesome.¡± He grinned as he opened the map the pastor gave him. He looked at it and found the church right in the center of the village. The village didn¡¯t seem to be that big. The area of the city seemed to hold around 1000 people. ¡°According to what i¡¯ve read online Inns, guildhalls, and personal houses are all save locations for your body. Unlike other rpgs where your body disappears upon logging out in Crimson your body falls to the ground motionless. The only time your body disappears was when you have died and are resurrected at your save point. If you don¡¯t have a save point it¡¯s defaulted to a church or religious place.¡± He located the Inn on the map and decided to make sure he had a place to stay when night came since he didn¡¯t have any experience yet in fighting monsters. ¡°Where do I put this map? I know most mmo¡¯s have an inventory lets see if it works.¡± ¡°Inventory¡± A blank screen filled his vision as his Inventory appeared. It was filled with nothing except 1 gold and 50 silver displayed at the bottom of the screen. ¡°Ok I got the screen open now how to do I put the map into it?¡± He noticed a little bag icon appear as he opened the screen. ¡°Maybe I can just think about putting it into the little bag it will appear on the screen?¡± The map disappeared from his hand and appeared on the screen. ¡°Cool it worked!¡± He thought of taking the map out of the inventory and it reappeared in his hands again. He repeated this process to get used to it. The bag icon for the inventory fainted and slowly went to the bottom of his vision as he was done thinking about it. He left the map in the inventory as he decided to visit the inn. He left the church merging into the crowd. He was the only one wearing a white robe and received many looks as he walked with through the crowd. ¡°Maybe I should visit the tailor first and get a normal outfit. I don¡¯t want to stand out too much in this robe.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Uncomfortable with the many looks he has received he pulled the map out of the inventory and looked for the Tailor. ¡°Seems to be close by¡± He looked up from the map and saw the tailors emblem hanging from a sign down the street. He returned his map and changed directions. ¡°I didn¡¯t even need the map if I had looked around closer.¡± The streets were full of the noise of people chatting a walking. The smell of fresh food lingered in the air as he walked. ¡°This is awesome, it so realistic!¡± He watched as a man led a horse pulling a cart full of hay walk by. A few guardsmen who wore matching outfits with swords at their waist walked by. He assumed they patrolled the streets and kept the peace between villagers . He arrived at the tailor¡¯s shop indicated by the sign on the door and the emblem hanging above. ¡°Here we go¡± He opened the door and walked in. A room full of cloth racks greeted him with the rich smell of leather. He noticed a well dressed man behind a counter to the left of the room. The man looked up as he entered. Greg walked over to the counter while he gazed at the various clothes displayed in the room. ¡°Greetings, how may I help you today?¡± The man politely asked as Greg got closer. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stand out in a crowd¡± ¡°I¡¯m in need of new clothes this robe isn¡¯t very good for adventuring is it?¡± he asked smiling to himself. ¡°No sir, robe generally are not used for combat. They are especially bad if you are fighting up close and personal. Please follow me I have a wide range of clothes may I recommend a basic outfit?¡± ¡°A basic outfit what is that?¡± he followed the man around as he roamed through different clothing racks. ¡°The basic outfit is a pair of leather shoes, a plain shirt, and trousers. This outfit is perfect for daily wear and fit comfortable under armor of any kind.¡± ¡°That is just what I''m looking for. How much will it be?¡± ¡°The basic outfit is 2 silver. I will need to take your measurements so I know what size you are.¡± Paying 2 silvers isn¡¯t that bad. The game gives me 1 gold 50 silver to spend. Based on this basic outfit I should be able to buy most basic items I will need. ¡°Here you go.¡± He handed the silver to the tailor. The tailor received the money and began taking measurements. ¡°It seems you will be a large size.¡± The tailor went to the backroom and returned with a pair of leather shoes on top of some folded clothes. ¡°Here you go. There is a changing room right over there.¡± He handed over the clothes and pointed to the door on the other side of the room. ¡°Thank you.¡± Greg proceeded to the changing room. Inside the changing room he opened his inventory and dragged the icon of the robe into the a spare inventory slot. Next he took each item of the outfit and dragged them into the character equipment slot for clothes. When each item was put on they materialized instantly covering his body. The Shirt and Trousers fit snugly on his body while the shoes were quite comfortable. He had the feeling that they wouldn¡¯t cause any blisters on his feet from walking too much. He left the tailor shop after he was finished getting changed. He waved goodbye to the tailor on the way out of the store. Outside the tailor shop he didn¡¯t get anymore more funny looks from wearing a white robe. He easily blended into the crowd now, with a wide grin on his face he continued on his way to the Inn. He passed the blacksmith and potions shop on his way there making a mental note of where they were so when he made his way back he could find them easily. He arrived at the in without any mishaps still he still need to get used to the sensations the game was throwing at him. The inn was quite a bit bigger then tailor shop and even slightly bit bigger then the church. There was a lot of windows which indicated a lot of rooms. ¡°I bet this is where all the players stay for the night when they log out. So it makes sense for it to be so big.¡± He finished admiring the building and opened the door to the Inn Inside the inn smoke filled the air along with the smell of roasted meat. There was man tables lining the room. Each table seats 10 people 4 on each side with 2 on the ends and he also counted 30 tables. Most of the tables were empty but 10 or so were full while another 5 were filled with 1 or 2 people. There were 2 barmaid walking down the aisles making sure the customers were happy. A bartender was behind the counter in the center of the back wall of the room. There was a hallway on both sides of the room leading to more rooms presumably the bedrooms for the tenants. He walked further into the room and sat down at the closest empty table. He watched the people in room as he waited for a maid to serve him. It didn¡¯t take long for one of the girls to notice him. ¡°Welcome sir, may I get you some food and a drink?¡± ¡°Yes please, how much will it be?¡± ¡°50 Copper.¡± ¡°Ok here you go, how much for a room?¡± He handed over silver. ¡°Rooms will be 1 silver a day. 50 copper for the room and 50 copper for meals.¡± She replied while giving him 50 copper in change. I only have 1 gold and 47 silver left. I would only pay for about a week. That should last a while. Then again time is 12x faster so depending on it I will be in game for a few days before I log off. It should be OK since I might not want to be out at night. ¡°Ok, ill pay for 7 days.¡± He handed over 7 Silvers. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll give you the key to your room with you meal. After you are done eating, I¡¯ll show you where it is at.¡± She received the money and walked towards a door by the back counter. He admired the various paintings hanging on the walls as he waited for the food to arrive. The maid didn¡¯t take too long to return with the food and key. He ate quickly while he listened to the chatter other guests. He finished his food and motioned the maid over. ¡°The food tasted delicious. I¡¯m ready to see my room now. Would you please show me the way?¡± ¡°Your welcome sir, follow me and I¡¯ll guide you to your room.¡± He stood up and followed her to the room. She lead him down the hallway on the right side of the room. There was staircase at the end of the hall which they climbed. His room was located just at the top of the stairs. ¡°Here you go sir, if you have any questions just come down to the counter. Dinner is served around sunset.¡± She walked back down the stairs, obviously she needed to get back to her job. Greg entered the room and closed the door with a slight push. He noticed a single wide bed filled straw and a cotton pillow laid on top it. A desk was situated to the side of the bed upon the desk was a unlit candle. Light was flowing through the room from a window behind the bed, a curtain hung in front casting a slight shadow. In front of the bed was a giant tub for a washing he presumed. ¡°This doesn¡¯t look that bad. The only thing i''m slightly worried about is where do I go to relieve myself?¡± He put his hands on his hips as he pondered this situation. ¡°Maybe there is a outhouse outside? I better be sure to find it.¡± Satisfied with the room he closed and locked the door. He deposited the key into his inventory. He decided to explore more of the town since there was still a lot of daylight left. He realized he needed equipment for defending himself against would be attackers. He also wanted to checkout the library, he always enjoyed reading a good book and wanted to know what it had to offer. He left the Inn and walked happily towards the blacksmith shop. At the blacksmith shop the sound of hammering could be heard and the taste of iron was in the air. He entered the shop to the sight of shiny armor and the sharp glint of swords. ¡°Greetings young man, how can i help you today?¡± A burly gentleman hollered from behind a armor stand. He was polishing a helmet as Greg walked in. ¡°Well sir, I¡¯m in need of some gear to defend myself with. I don¡¯t have any experience with fighting, do you have anything for me?¡± ¡°Of course, I think I have just what you need.¡± He walked around the store and picked up a short sword and small wooden shield. ¡°These should be good for a person looking to defend themselves. Although I do recommend getting some formal training to use them properly.¡± He handed the equipment over while he went back in search of more equipment. Greg took the equipment and equipped them. He noticed right away that they were both heavy and cumbersome, he strained himself just holding them. He wasn¡¯t kidding when he said I would need training. I can barely even hold these let alone defend myself.¡± The blacksmith returned holding leather armor. ¡°Here is some armor that should protect you enough to get by from animal attacks. It won''t stop arrows and any experienced swordsman but you shouldn¡¯t be putting yourself in any situations like that.¡± He said while handing over the armor. ¡°Sir, you said that I would be needing training? Could you recommend a trainer for me?¡± He asked as he tried the leather armor on. The armor fit snuggly and didn''t hinder his mobility, but he did notice the addition weight. ¡°As a matter of fact I do. The captain of the village guards is accepting recruits. I would recommend checking it out. All together the gear will be 25 silver.¡± ¡°Thank you sir.¡± He handed over silver and left in search of the captain. He pulled the map out in search of the captain. He studied the map and found that there was a building located at the edge of town. He put away the map and embarked on his way. He walked for 10 minutes through the town before finding the building. Once there he knocked on the door, unsure if he was allowed to just walk in. He waited a couple minutes before a guardsman answered the door. ¡°Yes, what is it?¡± the man asked stiffly. ¡°I¡¯m here to see the captain. I was told he was looking for new recruits and I wanted more information on it.¡± He replied a little nervous from being stared at by the guardsman. He stood and waited quietly as the man gave him a once over. ¡°I suppose you¡¯ll do, wait here.¡± He closed the door firmly. Greg started pacing back and forth when the door closed. ¡°I need to get this training, but that watchmen gave me the feeling of having seen some shit you shouldn¡¯t have to see. Maybe if I stay in town I can avoid getting into any fights? No, I joined this game to learn new things and have fun, even if that means taking a little beating.¡± He quit pacing while he reassured himself. He stood before the door calmly while beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The door opened and the captain walked out. Meeting the Captain The captain was a tall man. He dressed like all the other guardsmen the only difference with the outfit was the medal which hung from his shirt. He slowly climbed down the stairs, a slight unseen pressure radiated out from his body. The air simmered along with his step becoming more powerful as he approached. ¡°Wow. What kind of power is that?¡± Greg straightened his stance while the captain arrived in front of him. The Captain''s gaze was like a searchlight as it roamed his body. It seemed to judge his worth and he felt that the judgement was not in his favor. ¡°You are here to become a Guardsman?¡± The captain¡¯s voice penetrated the silence. ¡°Yes s-sir.¡± Greg stuttered while his legs shook slightly. ¡°Oh shit! Oh shit! What the fuck is that power?¡± ¡°Hmm. Why do you want to become a guardsman?¡± The captain circled around him while he observed Greg¡¯s reactions. ¡°Sir, The tailor recommended you to me. He said that you could teach me to defend my-myself.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t answer my question. Why do you want to become a guardsman?¡± ¡°Sir, I want to become a guardsman to defend myself and to adventure.¡± ¡°Oh, to defend yourself and go adventuring?. I am in need of more guardsmen, not adventurers. I can tell that you don¡¯t have any training what so ever, but you are in luck. I will train you, I only need you to agree to a couple of conditions. You will need to perform tasks for the village and help defend the village for at least 1 month of time. The time doesn¡¯t need to be consecutive but a total.¡± A whole month? I need to spend a whole month defending this village? I should do it. He will train me some skills to defend myself and maybe i''ll learn more about other things. Heck it should raise my reputation with the townspeople. Isn¡¯t that what normally happens in rpgs? ¡°I will do it. I agree to join the guardsmen for a month of time.¡± ¡°Great, but you aren''t much help as you are now. Follow me.¡± The captain turned around while indicating for Greg to follow him. They went around the building through a gate by the side of the building to the back. Once in the back of the building Greg saw a open area filled with wooden practice dummies. The captain led him to the back of the building where a row of weapon stands were kept. The weapon stands held wooden swords of various length and sizes. The captain choose a smaller sword and examined it. ¡°This one will do.¡± He handed the sword over to Greg and lead him to a dummy close by. ¡°Take off your equipment you will not be needing it. Later you will be given an outfit, but for now you will only need the wooden sword.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Greg equipped the sword while he stored the rest of his equipment into his inventory. He was left wearing his basic outfit the system game him. ¡°The first training you will perform is striking the dummy. You will perform 1000 strikes. This should help you understand how to swing the sword. You may go when rest when you are done. Begin.¡± He pointed at the dummy and waited for him to start. Greg stepped forward and swung the sword and the dummy. Thunk! ¡°Ow!¡± The sound of the wood on wood resounded throughout the courtyard followed by Greg yelling in pain. ¡°Fucking shit! This fucking hurts.¡± He slowly lowered the sword after realizing how much this would hurt, he took a second to collect himself and swung again. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! ¡°No gain without pain.¡± Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! ¡°...997, 998, 999, 1000.¡± Greg slowly lowered the sword to his side. He almost dropped it from exhaustion in the process. Daylight has long faded over the horizon while he trained. The darkness brought a cold breeze along with it and kept Greg cool while he had practiced. ¡°Well done, you may go back and rest. Training will not be included into the month of service. Take this paper with you and fill it out. It is a log of how much time you have spent here and will help keep track of your progress. The log will also determine how much time left of you service when you officially start. Now go back and rest.¡± The captain said while he gave him a sheet of paper. Greg put away the paper while he slowly stumbled out of the courtyard. He was exhausted from the hours of swinging the sword. He stumbled to the inn his muscles screamed for rest.In his room he collapsed on his bed and logged out of the system. Disconnected from the system he opened his eyes. A he felt a slight headache as he checked the clock on the wall for the time. ¡°Holy shit. Only a little over an hour passed?¡± He sat up and put the headset on the couch. He tried to understand that only about an hourpassed when he could remember training for over 10 hours. He sat there thinking for a while just thinking about the time difference while his headache faded away. With this much time difference how am i supposed to do any quests? He thought about it some more before he realized why the captain gave him the sheet of paper to record his time. The game developers must of realized that with such a major difference in time they would have to have a system which let npcs ignore the absences of players for a long period of time. The solution they came up with is having the npc record the amount of time the players actually interacted with them. ¡°Even with the time sheets I wonder how they will explain the world events and wars. I guess i''ll find out when it happens, either way this is pretty cool I¡¯m going to learn so much shit.¡± After he pondered the time mechanics he stood up and went to the kitchen for some water and a small snack. He finished his snack and returned to the couch. ¡°I have a long way, I want to be able to learn some techniques from the captain I wonder how the skill system work? It shouldn''t take years to learn a skill right? I hope not a least.¡± He returned the helmet to his head while he laid back down on the couch. He entered the game. Guardsman Training He arrived in his room in the Inn. His body was slightly sore, especially his sword arm. He quickly got up from the bed and walked into the main hall. He sat at an empty table and motioned for a maid to bring him some food. He ate quickly as he was slightly concerned about how long he had been away. He finished eating and left the inn. He ran toward the guard building once outside. He arrived at the guard building and asked the guardsmen who answered the door if the captain was present. They told him to wait outside like the previous day. The captain came out a few minutes later. ¡°Welcome back, let''s go into the back.¡± The captain said while he walked down out of the building. They walked to the back and stood before the weapon rack again. ¡°Today you will be doing 1500 swings at the dummy. Begin.¡± The captain told him as he stood watching. He picked up the sword he used yesterday from the rack and stepped up to a dummy. He began swinging at the dummy. His swing was more compact from yesterday and slightly more fluid. ¡°He is a fast learner.¡± The captain thought as he walked away. He returned to the guard building. Greg swung his sword at the dummy all day. He took short breaks to get water, but his hunger grew stronger as time passed. The guardsman didn¡¯t provide food to eat at this stage in the training. He accomplished all 1500 sword strokes and only took an 1 hour longer than yesterday. He put the sword back on the stand and left. He found the nearby guardsman that held his timesheet. He filled out the time sheet and got a signature from guardsman and took the sheet with him. He walked slowly back to the inn sore from the training. He needed a signature from a guardsman to prove that he was spending time training even though they could obviously see him train. He left the guard building and returned to the inn. Once at the Inn he got some food before going to his room. He didn¡¯t want to stay logged in at night with nothing to do so he logged out of the game.The headache returned, luckily it was not that painful. I need to do some research while i wait. I need to figure out this headache and how to get some ingame currency for the Inn and maybe i can buy some snacks while training. He took the headset off and stood up to stretch. He performed a few quick stretches before nature called Oh wow i just realized that i didn¡¯t have to go to the bathroom once while in game. Thats weird i guess i don''t have to worry about any embarrassing situations. He finished up before he went to his bedroom. In his bedroom he sat down at the computer desk and moved the mouse. The computer awoke from its slumber. He waited a minute for it to become fully functional. He opened the browser and searched for Crimson. The search results led him to the official website. He opened the website and clicked the link to the forums. There were many different forum posts on all aspects of the game since it has been release for over a month now. He input ¡°Headaches after logging off¡± into the search bar. A pinned thread popped up with many replies, a gm reply was highlighted. He clicked the the gm response and a few pages of text popped up. He read the GM response and was relieved. The GM has explained why the headaches happened and that they should go away after about a week of playing. He said the braining adapts very fast and in some cases it will improve memory and processing speed. Cool, i wonder i¡¯ll become a genius¡­.nah i doubt it He chuckled to himself as he thought himself becoming a grandmaster at chess. That solves the headache issue now let''s look up the money making process for beginners. He cleared the search bar and replaced it with ¡° Starting Guide to making money¡± and hit enter. This time there wasn¡¯t as many replies as the first issue but enough that he shouldn''t have any problem finding the answer. He search the titles of the threads before settling on the one titled ¡°Making money for Noobs¡±. He clicked on it. The guide was pretty helpful. It explained that to make a little money he could do a variety of things. He could do quests, kill monsters, make weapons, gather herbs...etc. Since he was already preoccupied with training he wouldn''t be able to make any money just yet. He figured once he started his 1 month stint as a guardsman he would be able to make a little money killing animals and gather any valuable plants he may find. Well it won¡¯t be that bad. I have enough money to cover the inn bill for a while now and I have already bought my beginning gear. The captain said that the guardsmen will give him a outfit as well, will they also give me a salary? He set aside his money worries while he copied the guide and saved it to a word document se he could study it later. He remember skills and wanted to figure out how they worked since he wasn''t notified of gaining any skills even though he swung the sword over 2500 times. He input ¡°How to learn skills¡± into the search bar. He clicked the result titled Mastering the Game¡±. The post wrote about how passive skills were learned with experience and active skills could mostly be taught by npcs. It was very rare to learn a active skill from scratch. Most passive skills were about repetition and actives skill were about technique. Hence the reason they would need to be taught. He again and copied this guide into a text document and save it into a folder called Crimson Guides. He moved the other document into the folder as well. Going by this guide i should learn a passive skill by the end of this training. I should be able to learn an active skill from the captain as well. When i log in again i''ll ask the captain about teaching a skill when i get back to the training ground. He returned the computer to its silent slumber and stood up. He left the room and walked back to the couch. It sorta hard to believe it''s only been around 3 hours since i''ve got off work. In game i''ve already been training for 2 days..It will be cool when I can play with John. I should call him tomorrow morning and see what he thinks of the game. He laid down and logged back into the game. The familiar sight of the room in the inn greeted him. He got off the bed and entered the main hall. He knew that he needed to go to the guard house to continue training, but he decided to get some food first. Today he chose another random table to sit at. He ordered his food from the maid and looked around the room as he waited. He didn¡¯t wait to long before another person walked over to his table and sat down.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Hello, I haven''t seen you around before my name is Waylin what''s yours?¡± The man reached his arm out across the table for a handshake. ¡°My name is Hebin, I¡¯ve just arrived in town recently and am still enjoying the sites¡± He replied while he shook the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Cool, so how you liking the game so far?¡± What? How does he know i''m a player? ¡°It¡¯s more realistic than i imagined it to be. How did you know that i was a player?¡± ¡°I thought so. Players will have a symbol above their heads indicating they are players. You seem to not have activated the feature yet. All you need to do is think ¡°Display Heads Up Display¡± And it should help you distinguish between npcs and players also it will help you keep track of your health and stuff. Go ahead and try it.¡± Walylin smiled as he waited. Display HUD Gregs vision instantly filled with different statistics around him. He looked around in shock. Above each person¡¯s head was either a small Player or a small NPC. The maids and bartenders were all NPCs which he had assumed but most of the people in the inn were players with a few npcs mixed around. He also noticed a health bar in the upper right side of his vision along with the inventory symbol in the bottom right side of his vision. This will make things a lot easier. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°No problem man, I noticed that you seemed new to the game. The time difference is crazy. I''ve been playing the game for half a month now in reality but i''ve been in game for over 6 months now. There is so much to do and explore. Anyway, I¡¯m looking for some people to go exploring with do you want to come?¡± ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t I¡¯ve signed up for the towns guardsmen and won''t be able to go anywhere for at least a month.¡± ¡°Oh I see, well that¡¯s cool. I did that too when I first started it is well worth it. The captain will teach you some basic skills. It is especially worth it if you don¡¯t have any real world experience. How about this I¡¯ll add you to my friends list so we can keep in contact and maybe when you have some free time we can hang out?¡± ¡°That sounds cool with me.¡± *Player Waylin Rust has added you to his friends list. Do you accept?* A notification window popped up in Greg''s vision. He accepted the request. *Waylin Rust has been added to your friends list. * ¡°Alright dude i''ll see you around I got other people to bother¡± Waylin laughed as he stood up. ¡°It was nice meeting you, If I have a question I might bother you seeing as you have more experience then I do.¡± ¡°No problem dude, bye¡± HE walked away heading towards another table of players. That was nice maybe I can ask him to help me out when I get done with training. The maid showed up with his food right after Waylin left. He ate quickly so he could start training. He left the inn and went to the training yard behind the guard building. This time as he walked down the streets was a big difference. All the people had the symbols but also important buildings displayed there names over their roofs as well indicating to the players what they were. This will help out greatly when using the map I can just head in a certain direction and find the building with the correct name above it. He made it to the guild building and notified the guardsmen that he arrived. The captain came out as usual and guided him to the back. ¡°You have gotten better at wielding the sword. Today you will hit the dummy 1500 times but in addition to the sword you will use a shield in you other hand. The shield is to be raised in a defensive position and held there. Let me demonstrate.¡± The captain took a sword and shield from the weapon rack and armor stand. He stood before a dummy shield raised and weapon posed to attack. He lunged forward with a stab followed by a wider swing of the sword. The shield was held in front of him the whole time. -0 -0 Damage indicators floated above the dummy as the captain made contact. ¡°Do you understand what I want you to do?¡± ¡°Yes sir. I understand.¡± He picked his own sword out of the rack while also chose and new shield from the armor stand. ¡°Like this sir?¡± He copied the Captains stance and swung and stabbed the dummy keeping the shield raised. ¡°Yes just like that.¡± Good i''m starting to understand more. He continued to attack the dummy as the captain watched. The captain left after 100 swings saying to continue on. Greg continued this routine of training going back to the inn and logging off the rest of well into the night. Each time he came back to the training yard the captain would have him train with sword and shield longer and with more complex maneuvers. The last few hours of gaming he actually sparred with other guardsmen learning movements and how to attack moving targets. They still used wood weapons and they wore extra padding so nobody would be injured but he still ended up with many bruises. Fortunately it was only ingame and nothing change in reality. His thinking became slightly more calculating though as a consequence of the constant beatings. Today in the training the captain walked over and observed him training on the dummy. Greg moved around the dummy strike at it in different vital areas while he kept his shield raised to protect himself. ¡°Stop. Come over here.¡± He stopped attacking the dummy and walked over to the captain. He stood before the captain and waited to see what he had to say. ¡°You¡¯ve learned the basics to be a guardsman come with me.¡± I¡¯m done? But i only feel like i''ve just scratched the surface! He followed the captain into the guard building. Inside the building they walked through a room filled with metallic weapons and armor to another room filled with a few npcs and tables. They stopped and stood before the npcs. The npcs each stood up when the captain walked in each carried a different item in each hand. ¡°Gentlemen this new recruit Hebin Kilnu has completed the basic training to become a guardsman. I hereby announce that Hebin Kilnu is a Gadol Village Guardsman.¡± *Title received Gadol Village Guardsman* *Skill learned Sword Mastery* *Skill learned Double Strike* *Skill learned Shield Bash* *Skill learned Shield Mastery* *Reputation with Gadol Village has increased* Cool! I was wondering when i would get the skills. The guardsman congratulated him and welcomed him into the ranks. He received an official outfit with a iron sword and shield from the guardsmen. ¡°Wear this outfit with pride and honor. This sword and shield shall be used to protect the citizens of our village and those in need. Now go back and rest. Your service has officially begun. Guarding the Village He was tired from playing the game all night and decided to get some sleep. He opened his eyes to darkness. He stood up from laying on the couch. He set the headset down on the couch and stumbled his way to his room in the dark. Once in the room the light of his alarm clock cast a red glow across the room. The clock red 3:58 am as he made his way to the bed and threw self upon it. Already 4 in the morning? I better get a least 6 before i get up. He reached over and set the alarm to 11 am. He wanted to get up before noon but also wanted to sleep so he set the alarm to 11 at the latest. He finished setting the alarm and took is shoes and pants off before climbing under the blankets. He fell asleep shortly afterward. He woke up the next morning before the alarm. He looked over at the clock and it read 10:26 am. He slowly reached over and switched the alarm off. Not bad. Thank god the body fatigue does leach over. Just minor headaches. He sat up and stretched. He still felt a little tired from gaming all night. He got up and made his bed. He got some new clothes out of his dressers when he was finished with the bed and went to take a shower. He finished his shower the hot water relaxed his muscles and the soap left a fresh scent. He took care of the his dirty clothes and decided to wash a load of laundry. He took care of the laundry before he went to the kitchen to make breakfast. He cooked eggs and hash browns. He would also of made some sausage but he didn''t have anymore and needed to go to store to get some more. He added it to the list on his fridge. He ate quickly while he watched the morning news. Nothing caught his attention on the news, just reports of weather for the week and some local stories that happened over the past week. He washed the dishes after he finished eating. He had to wash them by hand since he didn¡¯t have a dishwasher. He decided to call John to see if he had played the game at all yesterday. He picked up the phone and dialed Johns number. ¡°Hello?¡± John answered after the phone rang a few times. ¡°Hey how¡¯s it going?¡± ¡°Oh hey Greg, it''s going pretty good how about yourself?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing great. I played Crimson most of the night. Did you play it at all?¡± ¡°Yeah! I couldn''t play too long though Cindy wanted to hang out and watch some TV. The time difference is crazy. You get the headache after playing?¡± ¡°Yeah it freaked me out a little. I did some research and they said it was normal and would last about a week..¡± ¡°That¡¯s relieving i should do some research myself. So why did you call?¡± ¡°Oh i was just wondering if you played and how it went.¡± ¡°I made my character and explored the town i was in. What you do?¡± ¡°Same i played a while and decided to join the town guardsmen. Its fun¡± ¡°That does sound fun but also a lot of work. Yeah i got to go we are going out later and got to get ready. Talk to you later.¡± ¡°OK, Bye¡± He hung the phone back up. He walked to the couch and picked up the helmet where he left it last night. He also took the charger with him and walked back to his room so he could lay on his bed when played. Once in the room he laid down on the bed while he logged into the game. The familiar picture of his room in the inn greeted him. He stood up off the bed. He opened his inventory to check his items. *Iron Sword x1* *Gadol Guardsman Sword(Iron Sword) x1* *Wooden Shield x 1* *Gadol Guardsman Shield(Iron Shield) x1* *Leather Armor x1* *Leather Leggings x1* *Leather Helmet x1* *Gadol Town Map* *Gadol Guardsman Outfit x1* *Gold x 1 Silver x 15 Copper x 50* He closed the window after he took inventory. He equipped his new outfit and gear. The armor fit well over his outfit. His shield laid across his back while the sword rested on the left side of his waist. I don¡¯t look that bad. He noticed a very slight difference in muscle tone as he examined himself for and mistakes in his outfit. He finished up and went out into the main hall for breakfast like usual. He sat down the table his normal table. He noticed that the spot always empty for him. The maid came over to give him his food. She reminded him that he needed to pay more money to continue to stay at the inn. He took took the gold out of his inventory and told the maid that he would stay for another 30 days. She went to the back and returned with 70 pieces of silver. He stashed the silver and thanked the maid. The food was tasted good, but was getting old as it was the only meal they served here. ¡°I will get some new food when I begin making money.¡± He thought as he finished eating. He strode to the guard building ready to begin work. Today he walked right into the building without knocking since he was an official guardsman. The captains door was open and he was seen seated behind his desk reading some documents as Greg walked in. He stood in front of the door and waited for the captain to acknowledge him. The captain looked up from the paper. ¡°Come in Hebin.¡± He gestured to come closer. He walked into the room and stood at attention before the desk.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Today will be your first day on the job as a official guardsman.¡± He rummaged around his desk in search of something. He found a piece of paper after a moment. He held the paper out to Greg. ¡°Here take it, this is your first assignment.¡± Greg he grabbed and paper and read it. *Gadol Guardsman Quest 1* *Description: The captain has assigned you to patrol the town to keep the piece you will meet with a fellow Guardsman Yoke to show you the ropes.* *Task: Follow Guardsman Yoke on patrol and stop any conflicts that arise* *Reward: 1 Silver* *Time Limit: Task is complete with a successful patrol.* *Accept: Yes / No* A notification appeared when he took the paper. He quickly accepted the quest. ¡°Guardsman Yoke is waiting for you in the back. On your way.¡± The captain said when he accepted the task. Greg turned around and went through the building and out the back door. Guardsman Yoke stood there waiting as he came out of the building. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Yoke said when Greg came out of the building. They walked to the front of the guard building. ¡°Our patrol is pretty simple. We will first do a walk around the outskirts of the town. Then we will proceed down the main street followed by another walk around the outskirts. We do 5 circuits take a lunch then do another 5 circuits before the next pair of guardsmen take over.¡± Yoke explained as they marched to the edge of town. They walked for about 5 minutes before they reached a wooden wall with a open gate. ¡°Out here we have a few things to watch out for. The most important is any sign of goblins or orcs, if you see anything immediately return to the guild building to inform the captain. The the next thing is any wild animals like wolfs. If you see a wolf remain calm and walk to the nearest gate there should be a guardsman nearby to help you. If you are attacked keep your back to the gate and hollered there should be a guard in hearing distance within 5 minutes. The last thing to look out for are people in need. If there is people in need and they are close by help them, but if they need you to leave the village you must tell another guard where you are headed. There is a problem with bandits lately.¡± They walked on the dirt path following the wall. ¡°OK got it, What do I do when people need help?¡± ¡°Help them to the best of you ability, if it¡¯s something beyond you expertise bring them to the guard building.¡± They continued walking and came across another gate. ¡°There are 4 gates leading into the village. North, South, East, and West. We make a full circle before re entering the village from the south gate and continued on the main street leaving the north gate. Then we make another circle entering the north gate leaving the south gate.¡± They continued walking the parameter of the gates while Yoke told him about various things to look out for. They entered the village from the south gate. ¡°Alright in the city you need to watch out for thieves mainly. If you see it you better stop it. The other thing to watch out for is drunks. If you are forced to step in you must bring the culprits to the guard building, we have special cells to hold them. Any questions?¡± ¡°No, I think I¡¯ve got the basics down.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± They marched on through out the day with nothing interesting happening. They took their short break for lunch at the guard building. They get their food from the inn and Greg wasn¡¯t too impressed after having the same meal a week straight. The ate quickly going back on patrol. Greg''s feet hurt as they marched through the north gate back to the guard building to finish their patrol. This sure isn¡¯t like stocking groceries. Thank god this is only in game and I can log of while my body recovers. Greg complained to himself as they walked down the street. ¡°Stop! You Bastard!¡± Up ahead they saw a woman with a man stumble out of a building. Greg noticed that it was Tavern from his HUD. The woman was a NPC while the man was a player. ¡°Shut up you dumb bitch, give me my money back.¡± The man grabbed the woman''s waist looking for money. You could also tell he was doing more then searching for gold. The woman tried pushing the man way but he was too strong. ¡°Halt, remove your hands from the woman and step away.¡± Greg yelled towards the man and began running. He pulled his sword out and took his shield off his back ready for action as they approached. He noticed Yoke do the same. The man turned around when he heard Greg shout and a large double handed sword appeared in his hands. The woman took the chance to run inside while the man was distracted. The man glanced at the woman as she got away and sneered before returning his gaze to Greg. ¡°Playing dress up are you? I¡¯m afraid that outfit won¡¯t be enough to stop me.¡± The man taunted as he noticed that Greg was a player. ¡°You''re under arrest put away your sword and come with us peacefully or else.¡± Greg said as they reached the man. ¡°Or else what? You think you can kill me? I¡¯ve been playing the game for 2 weeks now. Come at me bro!¡± This shit head. Worse case i''ll have to wait some time and probably be re-spawned in the church? Ugh, I need to research this when I get off. ¡°You want to go? Let¡¯s go!¡± He turned to Yoke ¡°Let me handle this, I want to see if I learned anything.¡± ¡°He¡¯s all yours. I got your back though.¡± Yoke nodded. He stepped forward while he raised his shield and sword into position ready to attack. They circled slowly, Greg watched the man''s eyes ready waiting for the man to strike. Sweat formed slowly on his forehead. Suddenly the man stepped forward while raising he sword with a overhead cut. Greg noticed the man move instantly and raised is shield to block. Thunk! The heavy sword left a heavy slash across the surface of the shield. The strike forced Greg downward slightly but while the giant sword rebounded off the shield he activated Shield Bash. The skill forced his momentum forward catching the man in the chest and his arms we reached out pulling the sword back from the strike. Thud! The shield firmly hit the man chest and air could be heard exploded out of the mans mouth. The force of the impact cost the man to let go of the sword and fall to the ground. He landed on his back gasping for breath. The sword fell a few feet away. Greg quickly used his sword and pointed it at the man''s throat. ¡°Think I can kill you now?¡± Greg asked breathing heavy. The man just glared up at him as he was still gasping for breath from the heavy hit. Yoke walked over to the sword and picked it up before he stood at Greg''s side. ¡°Good job Rookie, just like we trained you. Now let''s get this guy up and to the guard building.¡± ¡°Thanks¡± he responded to Yoke ¡°Get up you''re coming with us.¡± He said to the man on the ground. ¡°Fuck that I¡¯m out of here.¡± The man said before his eyes closed and his body went limp. Huh? I guess that¡¯s what happens when you log out. This guy is an idiot didn¡¯t he say he has been playing for 2 weeks? What was he doing drinking and chasing girls the whole time? Oh fuck I¡¯m going to have to carry him ain¡¯t I? ¡°Whelp guess we gonna have to carry him back. Well I got his sword you can drag him.¡± Yoke laughed while he brandished the big sword. I fucking knew it. He returned the sword to his side and shield to his back as he lifted the mans arms up ready to drag him. Luckily for him it was only about 10 minute walk to the guard building. Yoke went and talked with the lady who ran inside the tavern to get the story of what happened while Greg began dragging the body back. It took 15 minutes to drag the body to the building where they hoisted him up into an empty cell inside the building. ¡°Well he tried killing you so he is going to be in there for at least a month. Good job rookie not bad for the first day huh?¡± Yoke said while he locked the gate to the cell. *Quest Completed* *1 Silver has been added to the Inventory* ¡°Yeah not bad.¡± He said as he noticed the notifications and the captain walking in. ¡°Good job Hebin, go back and get some rest. You earned it today.¡± ¡°Thank you captain.¡± He left the building and returned to the inn where he logged off during the night.