The boys stayed at Fatty Sam's house, discussing and strategizing their first stop and how they would adventure within the game. As dawn approached, the trio hauled Mo Feng's VR capsule from the dockside area back to the village, dodging curious stares from the villagers. They passed through the market square before reaching his house, earning a suspicious glare from Grandma Lin.
Mo Feng lived in a single-bedroom flat with a small garden at the back. The house, which he inherited from his foster parents, wasn't big—due to them not having any kids, even at their old age. Since the death of his foster parents, Mo Feng had been living alone in this little apartment in the village.
Once inside, they helped Mo Feng install the VR capsule, setting it up in the bedroom. After a few hours of tinkering here and there with the VR capsule, the trio finished the setup before nightfall.
"Look at these beauties!" Fatty Sam slapped his hand on the premium capsule. The sleek silver capsule hummed as it booted up.
Fatty Sam's chubby frame barely fit into his own capsule earlier, but whenever he looked at the VR capsule, he smiled sheepishly like he had caught a school of dragon fish himself.
"Woo-hoo!!" Fatty Sam pumped the air with his fist as they headed back to the living room, where two large sofas sat across from each other, backing the doorway.
"With this, we've got ourselves a full-dive experience, immersive feeling, pain optimization, and additional gameplay time." Fatty Sam went on listing the benefits of the premium version of the VR capsule.
"So, what do you say we do once inside?" Song Bai, who had been silent all along, suddenly asked, interrupting Fatty Sam's incessant chattering and excitement.
"We all agree on spawning at Roundan Village, right?"
On their way home, Song Bai had meticulously mapped out their first week of activity and grinding once inside the game. Having all agreed on choosing the same starting point together, Roundan Village was one of the starter villages in the eastern county of the Azura Sea Continent.
The Azura Sea Continent was one of the six continents released in the game. According to the game's description on the net, the Azura Sea Continent was a region populated by coastal cities, as it was a place surrounded by vast and numerous water bodies. There were nine continents known in the game: six belonging to the human race and the other three to the outlander races. Although the two races could be found living together in all of the continents, humans were more dominant in the six continents—Jade Dominion, the Azura Sea Continent, the Fallen Ridge Continent, Winter Bloom Continent, Soaring Dragon Continent, and Phoenix Call Continent—while the three outlander continents were the Crimson Moon Continent, Soaring Wind Continent, and Stormcrest Lands.
The nine continents were scattered about within the map of Immortal World Online, and their sizes went up to ten times the size of the biggest continent on Earth.
The boys had mapped out their first week of grinding during the walk home: various quest hubs, optimal stat spreads, and even guild recruitment notices. They all agreed on joining the Silverfin Guild, which was one of the four largest guilds controlling Roundan Village.
As the trio sat on the sofas discussing and chatting about the game details and more, the dawn night cascaded over Hidden Moon City and its coastal villages.
"Roundan Village, got it," Mo Feng, who had been spaced out all this while, nodded, forcing confidence.
"No more empty nets, no more market chases. I'm going to impress Lin Hausen. Easy."
Fatty Sam snorted, hefting a bag of dried corn snacks. "Impress Lin Hausen? Mo Feng, she'll laugh you back to stealing her grandma's arowana. Focus on not dying to Lv1 golden geese around the village first."
Song Bai smirked. "Speaking of dying, the pain feedback is recommended at 10% for starters."
"Do you guys want to go for the full pain feedback or the recommended feedback?"
"Full!" Fatty Sam declared through a mouthful of snacks. "We gotta feel the thrill!"
"And besides, only with full pain feedback will real-world synchronization be achieved when mimicking any activity inside the game."
"20%," Song Bai countered. "High pain could cloud one's judgment. We need efficiency first."
Mo Feng shrugged, his mind still wandering. "Whatever doesn't kill me. Let's just spawn together and—"
[SERVER COUNTDOWN: T-2:00:00]
The capsule lit up, the neural sync pulsing with blue lights. The new server global launch fever hit every neural network from Jade Dominion to Stormcrest Lands. Hearing the beep and announcement made by the capsule, Mo Feng's stomach flipped with anticipation.
"Roundan Village spawn point confirmed?" Song Bai double-checked.
"Roundan!" Fatty Sam and Mo Feng echoed.
They fist-bumped awkwardly in the living room before Fatty Sam and Song Bai bolted out, rushing back to their respective homes as they paced through the now-dark environment.
"See you in ten minutes. Top guild spots reserved!" Fatty's voice lingered in the air as his huge frame disappeared into the night.
Returning to the bedroom, Mo Feng examined the capsule humming with electronic sounds beside the bed. His single room felt smaller than ever.
Mo Feng paced nervously beside his pod, the credit chip in his pocket feeling lighter by the second. 55,000 dollars short. The vendor's cybernetic eye still burned in his memory—month-end deadline, 55k total repayment, or he'd lose everything. As the time for launch approached, Mo Feng opened the lid of the VR capsule. The inner wall of the VR capsule was made of silicone gel, designed to relax the human nerves when inside.
As he sealed the pod, the neural gel felt cool against his bare skin.
[Neural Sync: 47%... 82%... 99%... IMMORTAL WORLD ONLINE LAUNCH]
As the lid hissed closed, amidst the electronic voice of the capsule, he closed his eyes. His vision dissolved to white. Regaining his vision, a crystalline white chamber materialized before him. Mo Feng stood bare naked in the chamber all alone, his only companions glowing pixies fluttering like fireflies. Suddenly, one of the pixies hovered toward him, its small frame glowing as it moved.
"Welcome, player. This is Immortal World Online. Here you can become whatever you want, and it is up to you to build your legend! Create your legend!" the pixie's voice chimed like breaking glass.
"I am your character creation guide, here to help you create your legend. First—your name?" the pixie asked in a very neutral tone without waiting for Mo Feng to reply.
"King-Mo," Mo Feng replied absentmindedly.
"Sorry, this name has been taken."
"Mo-Fang."
"Sorry, this username has been taken," the pixie replied, bubbling up and down in front of him.
"Mo the Mighty?"
"Sorry, it has been taken."
"Sorry, it has been…"
"Ahhhh!" Mo Feng, who wasn't good at naming, became frustrated and yelled, cutting the pixie short.
"Sorry, the name AHH! has been taken."
Mo Feng opened his mouth. What the fuck are these players thinking of? Which name do I use!?
"Mo Beast!" Lost in his thoughts, Fatty Sam's jeering voice crashed through his mind, fresh from their yesterday's banter. The memory was vivid and immediate, with his brisk laughter echoing.
"Uh... Mo..." Mo Feng mumbled, mind blanking.
"Mo Beast registered!" the pixie chirped, quill flashing. "Permanent! Unchangeable! Next—starting location?"
Ugh! Mo Feng groaned in pain, pointing his finger at the little pixie in front of him. "Fuck you, damn Fatty," Mo Feng cursed under his breath.
"Roundan Village!" Mo Feng snapped back, shaking off the daze.
The pixie cocked its head. "Roun-dan Village?"
"Roundan!" he insisted, pronouncing carefully. "The starter village! Safe zone!"
"Random Village selected!" The pixie clapped. "Real-life stat scan transferred! Enjoy your gaming experience!"
"Wait—RANDOM what?!" Mo Feng lunged, but the chamber suddenly shattered, causing a brilliant light to flash, blinding everywhere.
[SPAWN INITIATED: Hidden Realm Bind Point]
As the light faded away, Mo Feng opened his mouth wide in shock as he took in the view of his surroundings. Dark earth stretched under a purple-glazed sky filled with storm clouds whizzing in and out. Large arboreal creatures flew about; the trees rose high into the sky like skyscrapers, their branches swaying like a fourth-year teacher's cane. The air hummed with constant roars and growls, sending daunting pressure raging through the air.
Mo Feng spun, clutching a rusty branch he had picked up from the floor, scanning his surroundings warily.
"Where the hell is Roundan Village?!" Mo Feng murmured while hiding beneath the canopy of one of the shortest trees. The area he had spawned in felt so dangerous; Mo Feng's breathing rose in tides.
After hiding under the tree for a bit to calm his tensed nerves, he followed the system instructions and opened his character interface.
SystemInterfaceSystem InterfaceSystemInterface
Name: Mo Beast
Age: 18
Race: Human
Cultivation Art: None
Profession: None
Vitals:
HP: 90/90
Stamina: 45/45
Energy: 0/100 (locked)
BASIC STATS:
STR: 8
END: 9
AGI: 14
DEX: 12
INT: 10
WIS: 12
CHA: 11
SECONDARY STATS:
Physical Attack: 16 | Energy Attack: 4
Physical Defense: 45 | Energy Defense: 9
Speed: 21 | Evasion Rate: 19%
Critical Chance: 2% | Critical Damage: 110%
EQUIPMENT:
Weapon: None
Armor: Tattered Cloth Robe | Ordinary (Low) | +5 HP, +5 Stam
ABILITIES: None
Carefree Optimism | +10% Stamina regen (HP<50%)
SKILLS: Bash (120% Phys Atk)
Ding!
[Private Chat: BigSam]: "MO BEAST!!! Roundan Village PARADISE! WHERE YOU AT?"]
[Private Chat: SongBaiMain]: "We are at the central plaza. You need to hurry up. Let's do the Silverfin Guild chainmail quest for novices."]
While he was busy reviewing his stats, the chiming sound of the system's alert beeped, followed by two consecutive messages from Fatty Sam and Song Bai.
"One sec," Mo Feng typed, creeping forward as he felt the wind stir above him.
WHOOSH.
Before Mo Feng could see what it was, a terrifying gale-force wind slammed him backward. Above his head was an enormous viper with wings. The pressure from the monster caused him to bend over as it dove toward him.
DANGER!! Mo Feng's mind screamed, but his body refused to move. The sheer pressure was too overbearing.
Lv32 Venomspike Viper? Looking at the status of the viper, all he could see were strings of question marks!
Ding!! Before his brain could process another thought, another gust of wind slammed into him, causing his vision to darken.
[Wind Rush: 82 Damage]
HP: 90 → 8/90
[DEATH 1/5 - Respawning in 2 minutes]
Respawn point: 800m North [Viper Nest]
[Respawn Timer: 1:59]