Chapter 1
Translator: syzc
Chapter 1: This Race Doesn’t Look Quite Right
Archie looked through the window to the neighbor, Aunty Mao’s, wall clock. The time was currently 11:52. There was still 8 minutes until the opening of the worldwide masterpiece Dragonica World.
Archie was currently full of anxiety. The last time he felt so anxious was when his download got stuck at 99.99%.
Archie turned back to stare at his monitor. On it was: Installing Dragonica World, please wait. 87%… The full screen interface blocked the computers time display. As for a cellphone, for someone who survives on computer games, cellphones are not necessary thus not needed! Of course, it’s not like he couldn’t afford it mind you!
In order to calm his nerves, which were as high-strung as those of a father waiting outside the delivery room, Archie pushed aside his uninflatable inflatable chair and began to pace around the room, glancing back at his monitor from time to time. Sweat drenched his yellowing tank top, but not even the 39℃ temperature could compare to Archie burning desire for the game! If he had that game, what use was something like air conditioning! Again, it’s not because he couldn’t afford it!
It would be weird if he wasn’t nervous. As an internet addicted youth, how could he miss the opening of Dragonica World, an innovative work of art that the entire world was raving about. A legendary 100% realism virtual reality game. With smart networkless hosting, and tens of thousands of group battles daily, it was not to be missed.
Due to the hype and news from the closed beta, the nouveau riche were already lining up to buy gold and equipment before the game even started. For the professional gamers (internet addicted youths) who depended on games to survive (exist). How can anyone not sense the huge business opportunities? How can anyone miss the golden first minute!?
As history has taught us, numerous no-lifers depended on that first one minute to get a head start and obtain godly artifacts, then rise to the heavens and the top of the universe, ascending to the peak of life!
Whether Archie could be one of those protagonists would depend on this second-hand CPU. Archie was very worried that this CPU would die from the high temperature and high workload.
Compared to the hot weather, Archie was more upset at the late express delivery guy.
“That damn delivery. Even though there are many people buying VR helmets, you still can’t delay it until the last hour!”
Of course, Archie would never admit that he only gathered enough money to order one yesterday.
“Beep beep beep! Dragonica World install complete. Player can now activate their virtual helmet and enter the game. While playing the game, please do not shut off your computer.”
The game installation finally finished. Archie used 0.8 seconds to roll back to his desk and put on his helmet. According to his professional gamer’s biological clock, he still had about 1 minutes until opening, just enough time.
For being in such a rush, Archie rated his performance 99 points!
Archie, with a proud smile, looked over at Aunty Mao’s clock again before putting on his visor. “11:52…??!!!!! Why is it still 11:52!?”
“Aunty Mao, I’ll pay for your wall clock’s battery next time, so please!!” Tears streamed from the corner of his eyes.
It was too late for regrets. The legendary game helmet was as high quality as they say, it finished buffering in just 2 seconds and he was sent into the game. First was the game’s opening CG animation. Various kinds of dragons flew through the skies, while the ground was covered with brave warriors in godly armor. The human dragon war was about to begin! Skip… A professional gamer never watches the opening!
The character creation screen appeared. On it was naturally a beautiful, handsome, and strong character in a beautiful mansion backdrop, looking stunning.
Wiping his tears and moving on, Archie leisurely dwelled on the class selection screen. He slowly looked through all the class descriptions and guides in order to choose the character his heart desired. This time, there was no professional gamer spirit involved, but the mindset of ‘you can’t break what’s already broken’! On the upper right of the virtual display was the time, 12:11, looking strangely prominent.
“Warrior. Hmm~ not bad. Can tank, can dps. Difficulty 2 stars. I’ll consider. Paladin is pretty good too. Can tank, can dps, and can even heal~~ Ooh, Druids are good. Can tank, can dps, can heal, and can even transform!”
“Which should I choose~ Whatever, random it is. A professional gamer must be confident! Name? Random! Gender? Random! Appearance? Random! Faction? Random! Starting area? Random too! Random, random, random, random…”
Archie had developed the ‘can’t break what’s already broken’ mindset to the pinnacle! From start to finish, everything was randomed.
“Initial attribute distribution. Player, please note, undistributed attributes will be randomly assigned by the system.”
“I have to consider this carefully…”
“Character creation successful. Entering game… please wait…” His professional gamer ability to spam 300 APM (actions per minute) had accidentally spammed random and directly started the game…
Before his tears could even dry, the waterworks began again!
The scene changed. Archie was already inside the game. They weren’t kidding when they praised this game’s graphics. Even with this lowest-tier VR helmet, and even though he had already tried it out before, he was still dumbstruck.
It turned out that the opening CG was not an animation at all but real gameplay footage!
Shadows flickered, clouds drifted, and the wind rustled through the leaves; even slimes moved with a slosh slosh sound. It was… wait a minute. Why were there no players in the beginner village!? It was filled with slimes!!
…
5 minutes later…
According to the beginner guide and his own observations, Archie finally confirmed one thing. He had created a slime character. His character’s name was pure and free of vulgarity - Slime. His attributes were also so perfect that not even a Virgo would have anything to fuss about.
Player: Slime
Strength: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
Spirit: 1
Stamina: 1
Speed: 11
Dragonica World’s attributes followed standard conventions, there wasn’t anything new. Strength influenced physical attack. Agility influenced dodge, sensitivity, and a bit of armor. Intelligence influenced magic attack and healing power. Spirit influenced mana and other resource regeneration. Stamina influenced life, armor, and even magic resist. Speed influenced movement speed.
The attribute distribution was so perfect that he even felt some admiration for it.
“Perfect your ass! Admire your face! How am I supposed to played with these handicapped stats! This is clearly a bug!”
As a veteran professional player, Archie smoothly opened the forums and navigated to the bug report section. He connected to customer service wanting to inform them of his situation, but the moment the call connected, he was immediately infatuated by the beautiful voice of the worker.
“According to the official forum, there is a big reward for bug reports. Should I choose to get a house first? Or a sports car? Houses are better investments, but a sports car makes me look better. Such good choices.”
After 10 minutes, Archie was bored and was strolling around among the slimes, while waiting for customer service to reply. He conveniently observed that slimes were omnivorous, because inside the slime’s stomachs were various types of critters and plants!
“Ding dong~” The system notification finally arrived.
“Hello. Dear player, this game is run by the latest system AI, there is nothing customer service can do. Your report has already been investigated, and we thank you for your feedback and your understanding. The system AI has two resolutions for you to choose from. Please confirm then reply with either 1 or 2.”
“It’s here, it’s here! The choice to choose a car or a house is here! I haven’t even finished thinking it over.” Archie giggled as he scrolled the virtual screen downwards.
“1, according to the company’s one helmet one character per player policy, and that your helmet is already bound to you, we are unable to recreate your character. The system AI proposes that you phone the Dragon Corporation and tell them of your circumstances, then get a new helmet free of charge. Please note that even the lowest tier virtual helmets are sold out. According to the latest news released by the company, due to a raw materials shortage, the virtual helmet production line is currently stopped and is forecasted to remain this way until next month. Player will have to wait patiently.”
“2, the AI system’s act of eliminating the bug will not affect the players enjoyment of the game. Please note, the player will have to continue using the current character. Player must voluntarily accept the consequences.”
“Car? House!?” Archie raged.
No matter what, the question had to be answered. The most sensible answer was obviously to wait for a replacement game helmet, but as a game addict, could Archie persevere until next month? Let alone the fact that there was still over 20 days left in the month, as a professional gamer, Archie knew that each day was another step he would fall behind. Even more importantly was that after buying the game and helmet, Archie no longer had enough food money to last until next month!
“2,” he frustratingly replied to the system. Archie’s two eyes looked lifelessly to the sky.
“Car… House… where are you going~~”
Some big words appeared in the sky in response, “Player answer confirmed. While the system updates, please wait…” The whole game immediately froze.