Light Novel – Zectas – Volume 01 – Chapter 01

A world made for me.

Skyscrapers were truly a marvel of the modern age, with their majestic heights towering over the land. From on top of such a high place, one could almost feel like a God.

On an unfinished skyscraper, approximately 800 meters from the ground stood a young man on top of a hanging metal beam that was still to be connected to the main structure.

‘This is really exhilarating! The work’s difficult and dangerous but still with a view like this, it feels like I should be paying them rather than getting paid.’

Nash Smoak worked illegally at the construction site of such a skyscraper. Due to this circumstance, many of the workers took advantage of his unfortunate situation.

They gave him the dangerous tasks of attaching unstable beams at the top most part of the skyscraper.

At eighteen years old, he maintained three jobs. Before the crack of dawn till early morning, he worked at a small diner. After that, he would run twenty blocks to the construction site. Finally, he ends his work day at a local game center where he worked as the attendant.

Nash was forced to take on this harsh schedule in order to support his two brothers and his sick Grandma who took them in after the accident…

When Nash was still twelve years old, their parents went out to celebrate their wedding anniversary. On the way to the restaurant, a sixteen-wheeler truck lost control and swerved right into their car.

Killing both of their parents instantly. It was an unfortunate accident. No one was to blame.

Nash’s grandmother took all three of the brothers in. She was nearing the retirement age, so supporting three growing boys was really difficult. Nash was aware of his situation.

Even though he was currently hurting inside, he knew that he had to be strong for his family.

He didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. He wanted to help out as much as he could. So he studied hard to become a scholar at school, easing the expenses even if a little.

He started doing odd jobs here and there. Any job that a 112-year-old could get he would do them.

From newspaper routes to dog walking to cleaning gardens. Of course, most of these jobs were given to him, because the people in his neighborhood wanted to help him given his situation and all.

Unfortunately, his Grandma got sick and the insurance wouldn’t cover her illness. She’s retired now so there was no longer any stable source of income except for her pension that could barely cover the rent and food expenses.

Nash wanted his two brothers to go to college. Although, they were still aged thirteen and eleven.

He wanted to prepare the needed funds so that no matter what course they planned to take, he could afford them.

Even at the expense of him stopping school and having to manage three jobs.

Working three jobs drained him, and having no outlet for relaxation was dangerous. Even for those who have the kindest of hearts.

The middle-aged man who managed the arcade grow fond of Nash, and he knew why the young man was working so hard.

With a business proposition to help improve Nash’s life, the arcade manager asked Nash to come to his office.

“I’ve noticed that you’ve grown a little bit weary lately. That’s why I’ve decided to lay you off from this job.”

“But sir?! I need this job to support my family. Did I do something wrong? Whatever I did, I’m sure I could learn from my mistake and avoid doing it again.”

“Nash, you truly are an honest and kind-hearted young man. But I’m afraid that taking on three jobs is too much even, for you. You need to find some form of relaxation and some sort of hobby that will help you deal with the stress.”

“Have you heard about Zectas?”

“Yes Sir. Of course I have, I mean, who hasn’t? That’s what’s been on the news for the past few months. It’s the cutting edge VRMMORPG.”

“Well, I’ve received one pod and I’d like you to play it. That’s why I’m firing you from being our arcade attendant and hiring you as our blogger for Zectas. You can just post your experiences inside Zectas via the video feed feature within the game.”

Nash couldn’t believe what he just heard. He had been wanting to try out Zectas as well.

With all the hype and all, who wouldn’t want to play the game. However, there was no way he could afford such an expensive game.

There was also the mystery why there was a specific age restriction for the game. Wouldn’t the company making the game lose a lot of potential players, missing out the younger kids and those older kids at heart?

* * * * * *

The manager had the pod delivered to Nash’s home. The ZECTAS installers have already done the initial set up and all that was needed was for Nash to use the pod.

This was Nash’s first time playing a VRMMORPG. He had played some MMORPG on a desktop before. He wanted to do some research first before jumping into the game.

Nash learned the game’s basics. Attributes would determine one’s performance on different fields.

~ Basic Stats: (The player can choose to increase these stats by distributing stat points.) Strength – would determine your attack damage for melee weapons and the maximum weight that you could carry in your backpack. Agility – would determine your movement speed, attack speed, and dodge rate. Dexterity – would determine your hit rate as well as damage for range weapons. Vitality – would determine your health and add some basic defense points as well. Intelligence – would determine your attack on magic spells as well as your mana points and mana regeneration. ~ Event Stats: (These stats will only increase/decrease by certain game events.) Luck – would determine your chance to make a critical hit and interaction in certain Game Events. Charisma – would determine your interactions with NPCs and certain Game Events. Leadership – would determine your ability to lead NPCs and boosts given on anyone in your party that you are leading. Fame – would determine your accomplishments within the game this also increases intimacies with NPCs

Those were the basic attributes that everyone in the game started out with. There was also talk about other hidden attributes that you may get as you fulfill certain game requirements.

Nash continued reading on other basic information about Zectas.

~ Abilities Abilities can be categorized as passive and active. There are 4 levels of each skill. Beginner, Intermediate, Advance, Master Each of these levels have 10 sublevels. As you reach the 10th level you then proceed to the next main level.

 

~ Items

Items can be categorized as:
Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unique, Legendary, Epic

The attributes and the prices increases with its rarity.

The explored lands of Zectas was that of only 30% of the Zectas world and this was all in the central continent.

The Mictaztl Kingdom (Northern Kingdom) Cities: * Mezco * Motoc * Monatl * Mahui The Matotl Kingdom (North Eastern Kingdom) Cities: * Maxotoc * Marooc * Mintl * Mohutl The Chanmotzl Kingdom (North Western Kingdom) Cities: * Chatzo * Chantza * Chanteo * Chanoatl The Thayotl Kingdom (Eastern Kingdom) Cities: * Tezca * Tocca * Tonaci * Tlazo The Vitzytl Kingdom (Southern Kingdom) Cities: * Vectas * Votl * Vona * Vlahui The Vizzu Kingdom (South Western Kingdom) Cities: * Vizcatl * Vozhua * Voonatl * Vlatec The Thanotl Kingdom (South Eastern Kingdom) Cities: * Thasca * Tacitl * Tacacci * Thalzoc The Chayotl Kingdom(Western Kingdom) Cities: * Centzo * Centza * Centeo * Coatl

 

Nash also found out about jobs, races, alignments. There were so many choices that he wondered how long it would’ve taken to create such as a complex game like this.

Nash only wanted to find out about the absolute basic things in the game. He wanted to try discovering the many features this rich VRMMORPG has to offer.

After reading about the basics of the game Nash finally decided to step into the pod. He laid down attached the head visor and he closed the pod with excitement.

* * * * * *

Nash was enveloped in a bright light. He saw his body from the outside. It was like an out of body experience. He then suddenly heard a voice.

“What is the race that you have chosen?”

“Dark Elf please.”

Immediately his skin became smoother and took on a dark purple color. His ears sharpened and his hair turned white and long until it touched his shoulders. His clothing changed into a ragged shirt and ragged shorts.

“What is your desired user name?”

“Nash, please.”

“I’m sorry, but that user name is already taken.”

“Hmm… then what about Smoke then please.”

“That is available. Your character shall now be known as, Smoke.”

Said the faceless voice.

“What city would you like to start in?”

“The city of Tezca in Thayotl Kingdom (East Kingdom) please.”

“You have been registered as Smoke. Please remember that you can only have one account in ZECTAS”

Smoke then awoke besides a fountain that appears to be the center of a small village. He thought that with all the hype about how big the world of Zectas was,  a city would be bigger than this small hamlet.

An elderly old man took notice of Smoke and approached him.

“Good day, young DarkElf. It is rare to see someone of your kind in our humble village.”

“Good day to you as well sir. Is this the city of Tezca?”

“No, no, no. This is the humble village of Nanahuatl. We are but a small mining village. The great city of Tezca lies far east of here. In the Kingdom of Thayotl across the great lake of Orshere. Our village belongs to the Kingdom of Chayotl (West Kingdom). The nearest city would be the city of Coatl.”

“If you’re brave enough to face the forest and the mountains, it may take you only sixty days. I know of a safe route that uses the plains and fields towards the city of Coatl. Let me indicate it on your Map. If you travel by foot, it would take you around a hundred days.”

+ Discovered Forgotten Village of Nanahuatl

A forgotten village. It used to be a small coal mining village. Most of its residents left right after the coal mine incidents. This village has a population of 35.

+ For discovering the forgotten village your fame has increased by 500.
+ You can gain more fame by registering this village in any of the main cities.

After receiving the system notification the Village of Nanahuatl was indicated on Smoke’s map. He then found out just how far he was from the city of Coatl. Smoke was glad that at least he had a path to follow to avoid any dangerous monsters.

Smoke was dumbstruck at how this could have happened. He was sure that he clearly said that he wanted to start in the city of Tezca. How could have the game bring him to the opposite kingdom of where he wanted to start in?

“Is it safe to travel towards that City of Coatl?”

“Well, there are extremely strong monsters inside the forest and on top of the mountains that are really dangerous, but if you stay on the route I indicated in your map you should be relatively safe. There are only horned rabbits, armored armadillos and some stray dire foxes on the fields and plains. But I warn you don’t even try taking on a dire fox. Those things are ten times stronger than horned rabbits.”

Smoke then decided to check his equipment in his backpack. All he had in his backpack was a piece of small meat, ten loaves of bread, and one basic knife.

Smoke then decided to check on his stats.

“Status Window.”

Character Name: Smoke
Race: Dark Elf	Alignment: Neutral	Level: 0	Money: 0 Zec
Fame: 500	Job: Novice	Title: None	Pet: None
Life: 100 HP	Mana: 100 MP
Dexterity: 10	Strength: 10	Agility: 10	Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 10	Leadership: 1	Charisma: 1	Luck: 999
Atk Speed:25	Move Speed: 20	Attack: 1-2	Defense: 5
Magic Resistance
Fire: 10%	Water: 10%	Earth: 10%	Wind: 10%
Black Magic: 50%
Equipment Effects
* None
Skills Effects
* None

Smoke expected the basic stats to be 10, he also understood that the magic resistance was from him being a DarkElf, but he didn’t realize that it would be 50% resistance for black magic.

However, what was confusing was this incredibly huge Luck stat. As he suspected from a stat named Luck that fortunate events would be happening to the user.

He did gain 500 Fame right at the start of his game, but would you call being spawned at a remote village as a starting point lucky?

Smoke equipped his basic knife raising his attack to 3-6. Well, at least with this maybe he could manage to take on those horned rabbits towards Coatl City.

“Thank you for that information sir, but I guess I should head for Coatl City.”

Smoke knew that he had to go to Coatl City because it was only in the main cities where you could get a Job Change. He decided to start his journey and went out of the safety of Nanahuatl Village.

As he stepped out of the village, he immediately saw the edge of the forest and noticed that there was about 2 kilometers away from the field. There were some cute and cuddly horned rabbits along the field and noticed that they were just passively digging burrows in the vast field.

Smoke took out his knife and tried attacking one horned-rabbit. He stood behind it and tried to stab its body, but the horned rabbit immediately noticed this. It stepped to the side and attacked him with its horn.

– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -5
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -7
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -4
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -4

Smoke was rattled by the sudden system notifications and the pain that he felt from each attack. It was not the pain of being actually hit by the horn, but something like being hit by a pin.

He started running away from the horned rabbit trying to regain his ground before attacking.

– Attacked by horned rabbit. Backstabbed! You’ve taken damage. Health -15
– Attacked by horned rabbit. Backstabbed! You’ve taken damage. Health -18
– Attacked by horned rabbit. Backstabbed! You’ve taken damage. Health -14
– Attacked by horned rabbit. Backstabbed! You’ve taken damage. Health -18

Instead of trying to regain his fighting stance Smoke decided to run for the village instead. His health was dropping ridiculously fast. These monstrous horned rabbits were amazingly fast. They should be called little speed devils.

Once he stepped inside the safety of the village a magical barrier blasted the horned rabbit away. The horned rabbit didn’t receive any damage and went back towards the hole that he was digging.

Smoke was breathing heavily glad, he was glad that he could run fast enough to escape. He checked his health he only had 15 health remaining a couple more attacks and he would’ve died.

He sat down and rested he noticed that when sitting down the regeneration rate was slightly higher than just standing up. He continued resting for about 10 minutes waiting for his health to regenerate completely. After having full health again, he found the nerve to try facing the ‘monstrous’ horned rabbit.

Smoke realized that there was no other way to kill the horned rabbit, but to exchange blows with it. He readied his knife once again and headed out to the fields.

Smoke spotted another horned rabbit digging a hole. He thought to himself that they must have been either looking for food or making burrows.

Without hesitation, he drove his knife towards the body of the horned rabbit anticipating the possibility of it dodging. He finally struck its body.

+ Attack hit the horned rabbit. Damage 6.

Smoke noticed that a life bar appeared on top of the horned rabbit and indicated that it had 30 HP.

Five more strikes and this guy is dead.

The horned rabbit got in plenty of hits on Smoke as well.

– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -2
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -3
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -2
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -3

Unfazed by the pain of being attacked, Smoke kept on stabbing the horned rabbit.

A series of damage points displayed on top of their heads as their attacks kept on.

+ Attack hit horned rabbit. Damage 6.

– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -1
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -3
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -2
– Attacked by horned rabbit. You’ve taken damage. Health -3

+ Attack hit horned rabbit. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 10.

‘Critical Hit? Nice, that had amazing damage. A few more hits and I can finally have this horned rabbit as my first trophy.’
+ Attack hit horned rabbit. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 12.

The horned rabbit fell dead on the ground. The body slowly faded away,  and left a rabbit foot as loot.

Smoke opened his status window in order to check how much experience he got from killing the horned rabbit. He had mixed feelings when he saw that it only gave him 30exp.

‘Well, at least I’ve gained some experience. Another 200 more horned rabbits and then I can finally be level 1.’

Smoke proceeded on his way towards the city of Coatl. After playing for three hours he noticed that it was already night time and he surmised that an hour in the Real World would be four hours inside Zectas.

Smoke also spotted some armored armadillos and tried attacking them. He found out that their HP was 80. No matter how many times he hit them even on critical hits, all he could do was a damage of 1. The armored armadillo would however attack him for 1-2 damage points.

After killing the armored armadillo it gave him 50exp. He then decided to avoid the armored armadillos, since it took a much longer amount of time just to kill one.

He sometimes saw a dire fox here and there, but knew that it was beyond his level. So he decided to stay away from those as well.

After playing for almost six hours he checked his map. He was only 20 kilometers away from Nanahuatl village.

‘I guess it would take me more than 100 days to reach the Coatl City then.’

Smoke didn’t mind, because he was enjoying the game so far. He noticed that by anticipating the movements of the horned rabbits he began to dodge some of the horned rabbits attacks.

After playing for so long, he felt that his body was somewhat sluggish even though his health was above 80%. While sitting down and resting, a system notification popped up.

– Satiety: Hunger has conquered your body. Thirst has conquered your body. Agility   reduced by 75% Strength  reduced by 75% Dexterity reduced by 75%

‘Hmm. Even in Zectas people still get hungry and thirsty.’

Smoke tried eating a piece of bread and noticed that it somehow increased the satiety bar. He also tried drinking from the small stream that was near him at the moment. He was glad that he found it because he really felt thirsty as well.

“The world of Zectas feels more than just a Virtual reality. It really feels like I’m in a different world.”

So far Smoke had earned 1,200 exp from hunting the ‘monstrous’ horned rabbits. He had also found 5 rabbits foot and 2 pieces of rabbit meat.

Smoke decided to call it a day and went to sleep.

* * * * * *

In the morning, Nash woke up and started making breakfast for the whole family. Prepared his younger siblings’ lunch for school. Woke them up and told them that he would be heading out to his first job at the small diner. He needed to keep the two stable jobs that he had left since the manager at the arcade didn’t mention just how much he would be paid for posting his game plays on Zectas.

Nash also thought that it would most likely be less than the amount he got as an attendant at the arcade. He doesn’t mind though because he knew that it was just the manager’s way of trying to give him a chance to relax.

In the diner, he started talking to the cook about his experience inside Zectas. He told her about how everything felt real there. Maybe this was the reason for the mysterious age restriction. Since everything would feel real, the player who was too young or too old could be placed in a traumatic situation. Just imagine what you may feel when dying in the game. That could cause the ZECTAS company some serious lawsuits.

After working at the diner he took a quick a nap and headed out to the construction site. He was assigned the usual assignment of welding together the top most beams of the skyscraper.

As Nash was standing on top of the unfinished skyscraper. He felt the longing to go back into the virtual reality world. He couldn’t wait to start his new third job of being a player in Zectas!

Before logging in to Zectas he wanted to know how much his pay was and how often he should post his videos. This also troubled him since he was still a beginner in the gaming world he wondered if his videos would gather much attention.

He called the arcade manager, and he was assured that no matter how many views his videos could get, he would still have the same salary as an attendant of the arcade. Also, if the videos did make some revenue he would get a percentage of that as well. With this Nash looked forward to playing Zectas once more, without fear of losing his regular income.

Nash readied himself to enter the pod that would usher him into the wondrous world of Zectas. Filled with excitement he closed the pod.

* * * * * *

Smoke awoke to the place where he had logged off previously. He then smiled and readied himself to take on the challenge of the ‘monstrous’ horned rabbit once again.

With the drive to get to Coatl City faster, Smoke started to concentrate more anticipating the attacks of the horned rabbit. He got to the point where he could take out a horned rabbit without being hit at all.

‘This will greatly decrease the time needed while resting to regain my HP.’

Smoke continued slaughtering the horned rabbits. After his 200th kill it happened…

+ Level UP!

You have 10 stat points ready for distribution.
Your HP has increased by 100.
Your MANA has increased by 100.
Fame has increased by 1.

‘Nice! My HP and MANA practically doubled, and there is even an increase in Fame as well. Level ups are really amazing. For a sure one shot one kill strategy, I think I’ll use 5 points on Strength and 5 points on Dexterity. I can manage dodging the horned rabbit’s attack on my own now anyway.’

Smoke enthralled by his first level up continued forward at a faster pace than before. He could now deal with the cute, cuddly horned rabbits in two to three hits on average. All thanks to his high Crit rate.

On the third day of playing Zectas, his energetic smile could be seen once more. Everyone around him in the real world was happy for him. His grandma asked him what changed and he answered that being in Zectas felt like he was in a world that was made for him alone.

After killing so many cuddly horned rabbits Smoke had gotten a big head. He was now level 2. Smoke’s HP was now 300. He also decided to proceed with the 5 Strength and 5 Dexterity stats.

Smoke thought that he could now take out a dire fox. He took out his beginner knife and went behind a dire fox. Stealthily he got closer to the dire fox. He immediately drove the knife with all his might towards the neck of the dire fox.

+ Attack hit dire fox. BACK STABBED. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 35.

The dire fox immediately snapped right back at him and started biting him for all his HP.

– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -28
– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -26

+ Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

The life bar of the dire fox indicated that it had a life of 400 HP. He needed at least 14 more hits at his maximum critical damage in order to kill this dire fox!

From his gained experience dodging the horned rabbits, he managed to dodge some of the attacks of the dire fox.

– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -25
– Attacked by dire fox. MISS.
– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -26
– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -28

+ Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.
+ Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

The DarkElf learned his lesson from turning his back to the horned rabbit. Smoke knew that if he started running it would only mean certain death. He decided to face this dire fox head on. He was hoping to get a double K.O.

+ Attack hit dire fox. Damage 7.
+ Attack hit dire fox. CRITICAL HIT. Damage 25.

– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -28
– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -22
– Attacked by dire fox. You’ve taken damage. Health -25
– Attacked by dire fox. MISS.

After the dual exchanges with the dire fox it was clear what would happen next, Smoke knew what was coming. Even after knowing that the fact that he stood in front of death’s door, he kept on and gave his last remaining strength into attacking the dire fox.

+ Learned Ability: Suicide Attack     Active     Level: Beginner Level 1     Experience: (10/1,000)

Deals 5x your maximum Critical Damage on your Enemy.
Ability can only be activated when you have less 10% HP remaining
Using this ability would KILL the user.

* * * * * *
Nash got out of the ZECTAS POD. Dazed by the influx of the system messages. He had gained a level, but lost a level as well. He had also gained a new active ability called Suicide Attack.

He wanted to try spamming out the skill to increase its level, but with the penalty of not being able to log in for the next 24 hours seemed to much of a drawback. This skill could only be considered as the last ace in the hole.

Since Nash couldn’t log in anymore, he decided to start uploading some of his game videos on their Arcade site. Since the site was mostly about Arcade games and had only a small window about Zectas, he thought that people would most likely just think of it as another Zectas promotional banner. After uploading his fights with the horned rabbits and the dire fox Nash went to sleep.

Nash got up early as usual and did his daily routine of preparing breakfast and lunch for his brothers and Grandma. With that done, he headed out to the diner. He enthusiastically told the cook about his first time dying in Zectas. About how it kinda hurt, but really felt more like falling in your sleep and actually falling out of bed.

After his work at the small diner, Nash went to his main earning job at the construction site.

Up on top the unfinished skyscraper Nash pondered about what to do next in Zectas. He wondered where he would respawn. Would it be the site where he died? Would it be in Nanahuatl Village? Or maybe in the City of Tezca where he originally wanted to start in.

* * * * * *

Smoke awoke besides a familiar fountain, but this time there was no friendly old man that greeted him. This village truly felt like a ghost town. Now, that only a few people were left.

The DarkElf checked his items and equipment once more. He decided to check on his Status Window as well. He found out that he really did go back a level, and was now level 2 again with 10 attributes ready for distribution. He decided to stick with his 5 STR and 5 DEX allocation.

Smoke knew that the dire fox was really well beyond his level, at the moment his only targets were the horned rabbits and the armored armadillos. He decided to continue slaughtering the cute, cuddly horned rabbits since it was faster killing them than the armored armadillos.

Smoke groaned at the idea that he needed to travel the same distance that he had traveled in the last 3 days, but he smiled when he also remembered that it would be faster. Now, that he was used to the attack patterns of the horned rabbits.

The DarkElf no longer rested to recover his HP. Smoke only rested whenever he felt hungry and thirsty and this doesn’t really happen until after 6 hours of non stop slaughtering of the horned rabbits. He indeed got further today than he did on his first day and gained another level. Smoke regained his lost level and was now level 3. Satisfied with his level up. He logged out with a smile.

* * * * * *
Nash woke up and did his daily routine. He wished that the hours he was away from Zectas would run faster.

He wished that the time difference between Zectas and the real world was reversed. He wished that he would only need to spend 6 hours in the real world and spend the rest of the 18 hours inside his virtual paradise.

After he completed his chores at home, Nash jogged to his first job at the diner. He usually rode on the vegetable delivery truck that supplied the diner’s fresh ingredients.

However, he was still so pumped up from playing the virtual reality game that he felt he needed to burn it out.

Everyone in the diner and the construction site noticed his changed behavior. They were all very happy for him.

Nash’s day jobs were finally over and he hurriedly went home to go back to his new found passion.

* * * * * *

Smoke once again started hunting his favorite cuddly horned rabbit. After he killed the monster he noticed that he didn’t get as much exp as before.

He expected to get at least 30exp with each horned rabbit killed, but now he only got 28 exp. He thought that this must be the game’s way of saying to move on to another creature, since he had already hunted enough of this monster.

An experienced gamer would have thought that it was because he had leveled up that’s why the horned rabbit now gave a smaller amount of exp.

Smoke endured walking on the field towards Coatl. It had been ten days since he restarted his journey. He checked his map, and he was impressed with his progress. He had already travelled 40% of the way.

The DarkElf realized that at his current pace it would take less than 100 days to reach the city.

‘Maybe that old man was talking in ZECTA days. Of course! That old man said 100 days, and since that old man is an NPC naturally he would count a day using ZECTA time.’

Smoke laughed at himself from such a simple blunder. He was relieved that after a couple more days he would finally reach a main city, and then he would be able to properly start his game in Zectas.

He would take on quests, find a job, he could learn magic, he could explore dungeons, he could finally get upgraded items. There were a lot of possibilities to look forward to once he would reach Coatl City.

After another five days, Smoke had travelled 60% of the way. The experience that he now got after killing a horned rabbit was now only 1 exp.

The DarkElf had killed over 9,999 horned rabbits. His backpack window was filled with rabbits feet, and plenty of small rabbit meat. He was glad that he invested on Strength and Dexterity. He was now level 9.

Smoke saw his favorite horned rabbit. On a whimsical coincidence he needed just 1 exp more point to level up. He swiftly dispatched his 10,000th horned rabbit.

+ Learned Ability: Agility of the Horned Rabbit     Passive     Level: Beginner Level 1     Experience: (0/1,000)

After killing 10,000 horned rabbits you have learned its secret to moving so fast.
Ability gains experience as you use it in attacking, dodging, and moving at fast speeds.
Agility: +10

+ You’ve dealt a fatal blow to the horned rabbit.
+ You’ve killed the horned rabbit.
+ You’ve gained 1 exp.
+ You’ve gained a level.

As the body of the 10,000th horned rabbit started to fade away Smoke found an unusual loot. Examining the weird looking bunny ears, he picked up it.

+ Acquired rare head accessory: Lucky Bunny Ears.

Smoke decided to inspect these lucky find.

Lucky Bunny Ears (Head Accessory)

The God of good fortune will look after the wearer of this head accessory.
Luck: +100

Smoke was so pleased with himself. The God of good fortune really must be looking at for him. Not only did he receive a great passive ability. He also found  a rare Head Gear.

“Status Window.”

Character Name: Smoke
Race: Dark Elf	Alignment: Neutral	Level: 10	Money: 0 Zec
Fame: 510	Job: Novice	Title: None	Pet: None
Life: 1,200 HP	Mana: 1,400 MP
Dexterity: 60	Strength: 60	Agility: 10 (+10)	Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 10	Leadership: 1	Charisma: 1	Luck: 999
Atk Speed:26	Move Speed: 22	Attack: 65-75	Defense: 5
Magic Resistance
Fire: 10%	Water: 10%	Earth: 10%	Wind: 10%
Black Magic: 50%
Equipment Effects
* None
Skills Effects
* Agility of the Horned Rabbit (Agility + 10)

“BWAHAHAHA! Tremble before your master horned rabbits! Wish I could find another dire fox. I haven’t spotted a single one ever since I got to level 7.”

Smoke was very happy with the many great things that were happening to him in the game.

He was so overjoyed that he didn’t notice that he was being watched by a group of other users. The party headed towards Smoke.

As the party reached Smoke, their leader called out to him.

“Good day to you my friend. I am called Tristan. A quest has guided us into these remote lands from Coatl City.”

“Our Ranger spotted you from a distance and mentioned that there was a novice here so far out of any main city. I thought that once you get a Job you can no longer wear the novice’s attire. Did you happen to take a hidden quest of a tailor perhaps and he rewarded you with these novice’s attire?”

Smoke was jolted out of his maniacal laughter.

“Umm no. I didn’t take any hidden quest. I’m really am a novice. I haven’t had the opportunity to get a Job change.”

The other players were shocked at the DarkElf’s revelation. Normally, once you started, in any of the main cities, you had to have a level of 15 and then got a job change in order for you to be allowed by the guards to step out of the city.

Once you started the game an NPC would be giving you novice quests on how to move about in the world of Zectas. This was from levels 0-5. From there you would be instructed to start training against stationary targets. This was from levels 6-10. Once you reached level 10 you could then apply for any of the basic Jobs. You would need to take on a job quest which would get you to level 15. A dedicated player could get a basic job change in less than 24 hours if he played it straight without stopping.

After a user had a Job changed, the user would then be allowed by the guards to walk out of the city’s premises. Once outside you would then notice horned rabbits, armored armadillos, and some dire foxes. These creatures were there to give the user a first hand experience of attacking moving targets. Of course, all of these creatures were dealt with in a single hit. No matter what Job you chose.

Horned rabbits were so many that they were mostly used for area target skills. Armored armadillos were farther apart from each other so that they could be used for sequential target practice. The seldom seen dire fox could only be spotted from a distance and often ran away when it sensed any user, they were used as long distance target practice.

Everyone in the party knew about these facts. That’s why they thought that something was fishy with this DarkElf. He could be a bait by another party and would lure them into a trap. Tristan was extra doubtful than the rest of his party.

“I see. Well then can you perhaps tell me your name and your level?”

“Sure. My name is Smoke I’m still at level 10 at the moment. I’m currently heading to Coatl City for a job change.”

Hearing this Tristan was sure that this guy was a bait. He started to look around their surroundings, trying to check for any signs of this bait’s party. He then suddenly thought that he could reverse the situation and use this guy as bait for their party’s quest.

Tristan whispered his plans to the rest of his party.

“What good fortune then. We are heading towards Coatl City right after we finish this quick quest. Would you perhaps like to join us?”

With the keywords ‘good fortune’ Smoke smiled. This truly felt like his day. He agreed to join them. He was however not invited to their party since there was a huge level gap between them. A party requires the person with the highest and the lowest level to be only be 10 levels apart.

Tristan then proceeded to introduce the rest of his party. There were the Ranger Damien, The Wizard Veiz, The Priestess Aurora, The Dancer Trisha, The Assassin Bones and their leader The Royal Knight Tristan. All of them have advance jobs. Except for Tristan, he has an advance hidden job.

A Player could get an Advance Job after you fulfill the quests given by your basic job’s NPC or encounter a hidden NPC or Event that would grant you an advance hidden job.

“This way, Smoke. We have to enter that forest on the right of this clearing.”

Smoke didn’t mind that they were going to enter the forest. After all, he was together with a party of high level players. He was sure that they knew what they were doing. As the group entered the forest. There was a system notification.

– Entered the forest of Maneator

– Monsters inside this forest are highly aggressive.
– Suggested level for entering this forest is 60.

Further inside into the forest a huge set of antlers was heading straight for them. The Ranger Damien took out his Long Bow and the Wizard Veiz pointed his staff at the stone deer. Immediately they fired their ranged attacks towards the monster. The stone deer fell down dead after taking both attacks.

The Priestess Aurora started casting buffs on the whole party. Smoke wondered if she would include him with the buffs. She, however did not cast any buff on Smoke at all. Smoke then guessed that since he wouldn’t be involved in the attack that it would just be a waste of mana to use buffs on him.

The group moved following the point indicated in Tristan’s map. They continued to encounter stone deers, iron owls, and rabid wolverines. All of them were killed instantly.

In the center of the forest was a clearing with a cave that sort of looked like a house. Huge boulders were piled on top of each other that made the walls of the cave. The entrance looked like the ones found in Stone Henge that formed the mathematical symbol π.

“ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRARRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

A deafening roar came from inside of the cave, and in an instant it came out! The king of this forest the Maneator! It was a huge monster. It could easily be over 3 meters tall. Its golden mane covered the area from its head to its back. Its nostrils flared, you could see slight embers coming out of its nose as the Maneator breathed angrily.

Without delay The long range duo of Damien and Veiz started attacking the Maneator. The Maneator took the 2 shots with ease. The life bar of the Maneator displayed a colossal (295,227/300,000 HP). Both of their attacks only manage to do 1.591% damage on this monstrosity.

The Assassin Bones leapt towards the Maneator and activated an ability that managed to make 10 hits, and damaged the Maneator for 1% of his total HP. However, the Assassin just stood still after he executed his attack. The Maneator slowly raised its right arm and slashed Bones for a damage of 45,230 points.

Bones’ life bar immediately appeared and revealed (11,974/57,204 HP). One more hit and Bones was a goner. Tristan appeared out of nowhere and stood in between the Maneator and Bones. He swung his gigantic two handed sword and manage to push back the Maneator for about ten meters and dealt 12,463 damage points.

The Priestess Aurora casted High Cure on Bones, but it was only for 30,000 HP. While the Dancer Trisha kept on dancing, and increased her party’s attack speed and decreased their casting time.

Veiz and Damien continued on their long range attacks during the melee confrontation and dealt 3 blows each.
The Maneator now had (223,534/300,000 HP). Tristan’s high level party managed to do 25% of the Maneator’s total HP.

The Maneator was ten meters away and was being constantly bombarded with ranged attacks. It suddenly lifted both of it’s arms in the air and screamed once more.

“ROOOOOWWWWWWWAAAAAARRRRARRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Tristan’s party and Smoke included were stunned for two seconds after hearing the shout. In that interval of two seconds the Maneator’s HP gradually recovered.

“DAMN IT! THE MANEATOR HAS A REGEN ABILITY!”

The Maneator dashed for Tristan. It raised its right arm and slashed downwards. The Maneator’s claws were met with a gigantic sword. Tristan was able to block its attack, but a second later and the Maneator’s left claw came. It sliced Tristan from below. Tristan flew up into the air at a height of seven meters.

As Tristan was about to smash into the ground, he was pummelled down even faster by two gigantic hands clasped together. The Maneator stopped attacking Tristan as he received a gigantic earth lance that forced him to take a couple of steps backward.

Tristan took a total damage of 75,234. Tristan’s life bar displayed (78,176/153,410 HP). He knew that this was a lost cause. They still weren’t strong enough to handle the Maneator. He thought that after spending the last month training and levelling up that they could take it down now.

The Royal Knight got angry at Veiz and Damien. Those two were supposed to be their Damage Dealers. They even requested to postpone this quest for a month in order for them to level up. They were both level 65, but they only manage to do that much damage. Tristan took it upon himself to execute his escape plan. That would allow everyone in his party to survive.

“EVERYONE RETREAT! HEAD FOR THE EXIT!”

Smoke stood in a daze. He still couldn’t believe the high level fight that he saw. He couldn’t believe how huge the gap was between him and Tristan and between Tristan and the Maneator. There really was always someone stronger…

Smoke then saw Tristan running towards him.

‘Ahh, I guess he’s gonna pick me up, seeing that he has faster movement speed than me.’

As if on queue to his thoughts, Tristan picked up Smoke. The Royal Knight, however didn’t bring him to the exit with him. Instead, he threw Smoke into the path of the rampaging Maneator right behind them.

Smoke fell right in front of the Maneator. The Maneator stopped and stood still. Smoke collapsed on the ground, he craned his neck to look at the face of the Maneator. The Maneator let out another shrilling scream.

“ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRARRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The Maneator held Smoke up like a Doll. Carefully, it started breaking Smoke’s left hand. It was careful not to kill Smoke instantly. The Maneator was an intelligent monster. It knows just how much damage it should inflict in order to torture it’s victim.

Smoke saw Tristan and the rest of his villainous party run towards the exit of the forest. Smoke was scared. ‘How long before the Maneator kills me?!’

The Maneator took great care of his new found plaything. It started breaking Smoke’s right knee cap. Then his left leg. Then his left shoulder blade.

Smoke was in complete agony. How could such a sadistic monster exist in Zectas? He tried logging out, but the system would not allow a player ‘engaged’ in a battle to log out. The Maneator’s sadism lasted for an hour.

During Smoke’s torture he was given plenty of time to think. He had never been this angry before in his entire life. How could he have been so naive?! What made him trust that smug looking Tristan in the first place. There was no way he could get revenge on Tristan in the near future. Similar thoughts kept running through his head over and over again.

Smoke’s face twitched and became tortuous, but not because of the physical pain . Thoughts of revenge filled his mind as his torture went on.

‘If only I can play this ZECTAS 24/7. I would grind till I’m dead. I would grind my levels and I would grind my skills until I’m strong enough to pay back Tristan and his cronies. I’d kill them till their levels are ZERO. After that, I’d bring them here and throw them in front of Maneator to be a plaything. Even after all that, it still wouldn’t be enough to satisfy my anger.’

Smoke’s torture continued some more until finally his total HP was reduced to 10%. He reached for his beginner’s knife and used his last option for escape.

“SUICIDE ATTACK!” cried out Smoke.

+ You’ve dealt your MAXIMUM CRITICAL BLOW x 5 on the Maneator. damage 938. – Using the suicide attack skill You’ve killed yourself. – You lose 1 level! – All The stats that have increased on the last level up will be rolled back! – Because you have DIED You cannot log into ZECTAS for another 24 hours!