[Falcon (Adam)'s POV!]
…
[The Official Version of the Call of the Black Magicians has begun!]
[You have unlocked the following NPC features!]
[Blacklists!]
[Gate Progression!]
[Quest Generator]
[Shop]
[Currency Exchange]
[You have unlocked the following Player Features!]
>You can now ascend beyond the normal limit of the NPCs!
>Revival: You can choose a revive spot where you can revive after death (Limit 1 per day)!
>Karma: A karma rating will be given to you based on how many people you have killed or saved.
[You have unlocked the following Menu Section]
[Two additional Save Points have been created!]
[Skill save criteria have been updated!]
[Maps have been expanded! Criteria have been revised]
[Message backlog has been unlocked!]
[Forum has been unlocked!]
[Friend list has been unlocked!]
The ringing sound began tingling in my ears, dozens of blue boxed messages materialised in front of me, informing me of things that I had already foreseen and a few that I had no idea of. The gamer inside me wanted to see all of them, analyse them all at once and then use them to the best of my ability, but for now, I decided to put it to the side, concentrating on the task at hand, analysing the players in front of me.
Slowly readjusting my vision as I put all those messages to the side, I focused on the player with brown hair and green eyes.
Just like all the players here, he wore a cream T-shirt over his brown coloured trousers, thrilled, he looked at the surrounding fantastical scenery that promised him magic and beasts that he craved for. Everything that he saw made his heart flutter a bit, as he took a few steps to take control of his new body, getting familiar with the movements that he could do, and those that he could not.
Beside him, another guy, this one with similar brown hair, but with a touch of blonde, touched his face, feeling the texture of his hand. With a rather surprised gaze, his constricted eyes looked at others before he exclaimed…
"WOAH! This is insane!"
As an infection, the emotions that everyone was feeling slowly flared up as all the players began shouting out what they were feeling but couldn't speak up until now…
"Shit looks so real!"
"Damn!"
"This is better than what I expected!!"
A few smarter ones tried to look through the system, hoping to try out some spells. Failing to find such an option, they sighed before one of the girls, a tall brown brown-haired brown eyed one whose hair was tied in a ponytail, turned to a random player beside her and asked,
"Can we really use any skill like the ones shown in the trailer?"
The player beside her, another girl, this one with tall black hair and green eyes answered with a half-puzzled look,
"Probably not now. It's only the first day."
As they were conversing, a few fast players had already taken the initiative to run towards the nearby NPCs, asking about quests, town, lore, directions and much more. The questions that every gamer had planted in their mind were being asked on a rapid fire as the ' NPCs' looked at them with a baffling look, unable to understand half of the words they spoke… and probably ignoring the rest.
"Hey! They are already talking with the NPCs!"
"Shit! Hurry!"
Those who were a step late, exclaimed before surrounding the NPCs as well. Though not all of them did so. Some of the players analysed the NPC's reaction before understanding that getting a secret unique quest wouldn't be this easy. And perhaps many quests would be locked behind a high level before they could be unlocked. Hence, they partnered up with their friends around them, and moved in groups, outside to the city where they can hunt monsters and gain experience, as well as materials.
"Can we get naked here?"
"Nope. There will always be our undergarments, sadly."
"Freaks. Let's get out of here before we catch idiocy."
Of course, there were those players as well.
A little chuckle escaped my mouth as I recalled the days of my start as well. Although it wasn't the best, it was something that I would recall in my toughest times, and perhaps in my most comfortable times.
11… 14… 17…20. A Total of 20 players, huh? Looking at the map, there seem to be more spawned near the church, near the outer gate and a few outside the city walls as well. Well, spawning all of them in the same place will lead to crowding. I mulled over a little before understanding why there were only a few players here right now.
"Sir Falcon… What… are they?" At this moment, a voice called out to me, making me turn to look at the orange-haired kid, observing the players with an intricate expression. His eyes were constricted, focusing on each of them, trying to recall how they came to be, and hoping to understand their goals and purpose.
"Slav-Customers. They are our customers whom you need to understand and get along with," I answered with a slight reflection of my own thoughts on how to explain their existence.
To say that they come from the stars? Hmmm. That would raise even more questions. Should I just say that they are from another world and have come to understand how things work here? That would surely make things easier and straightforward but it will also create problems regarding their origin and purpose. All right, let's keep it subtle with truth but let him figure it out on his own with time. I gave it deep thought before collecting the words that I wanted to continue speaking with,
"They are children from a faraway land who have come to understand the basics of this world. For that, they are willing to do even the most menial tasks, and perhaps take the most dangerous risks possible as well. Blessed by fate, they are also undying, so keep that in mind too."
Linc, who was listening to me with patience, suddenly darted his eyes at me when I said the words 'undying' and 'blessed by fate' but perhaps he had his own thoughts about it, his eyes slowly dilated as he came to a slight understanding of the nature of beings the [Players] were.
"I will be taking my leave now. It is best that you return to the shop since things are going to be quite hectic," I said as I vanished from there before appearing on a nearby watchtower to observe the players near the gate, and those closer to the church.
I saw Linc from a distance, as he seemed to be baffled at my sudden disappearance before he hurriedly ran in the direction of the shop. Some players noticed him, beginning to follow him, while others simply continued to do whatever they wanted to do. Though because Linc was much faster than the average person, he easily outran their line of sight, leaving them dumbfounded before they embarrassingly scattered as well.
Turning back to the main gate, I saw the players talking with the guards, a few talking with the merchants, trying to collect information about the city and the surrounding areas. Looking near the east, a few hasty players who found the adventurer's guild near the eastern gate eagerly entered it before others followed behind them as well.
If I remember correctly, there were three main events that took priority at the beginning of the story when the players first appeared in Zarraf. A levelling event, a hidden class quest event and the travel event. I mumbled under low breath as I tried to recall the important information of each of those events.
Levelling events, as the name suggests, were an opportunity for the players to level up faster. During this event, the amount of experience that the players gained was increased to 150%, I think? Helped many players reach level 10 faster so that they can get their class and begin further exploration of Zarraf. Directly connected to it was the Hidden Class Event, which allowed you to choose one of the 7 hidden classes connected directly to the Goddesses. The class one gets was based on a dozen factors including name, gender, location, how you performed in the event, which Goddess you prayed to, your own character, etc. It was as random as it was selective.
As for the Travel event, it was something that was more akin to passively forcing the players to spread throughout the lands of Zarraf, first the Light Continent and then the others surrounding it. Once the events were over, the players would also unlock [Portals] allowing them to fast-travel into cities and towns where more than 100 players have stepped into.
I remember it also marked the beginning of the first Mainstream Quest. To find out the Dark Oracles that are actively working in the Light Continent. I recalled a few bits of memories that I had about the events and the main quest before putting them at the back of my mind.
While it was important to know about the main quest, its functions, and its impact on the world of Zarraf, in essence, there were three specific reasons why it was not the priority at the moment. One was that the three events were going to take at least 2 months before they were finished, so I had plenty of time to plan things that I needed to do, and plans that I had to re-arrange accordingly. Other than that, there was also the fact that the main story was just the beginning of the story with it starting from version 1.1, all the way to 1.9 where the final boss, one of the main executives of the Dark Oracle gets stopped by the players. The timeline stretches somewhere from 8 months to a year depending upon how fast the players clear the subsequent quests.
Lastly, my own personal interference might have changed the course of things causing unwanted changes to the story. Something that I probably would need to understand in multiple returns and plan accordingly.
In the end, the best plan is to not do anything and observe. With a slight nod, I then focused on the other important thing that I had right now. That was my [Status] and the new messages that I had received.
[Status]
Name: Adam Wesker
Level: 500 (100,000,000/ 100,000,000 Exp) [Ascension Possible]
Race: Human
Class: Prime Mage
Status: Healthy
Health Points: 810,000/810,000
Mana Points: 700,000/700,000
Attributes:-
Strength: 1,247
Constitution: 901
Dexterity: 1014
Intelligence: 1,072
Wisdom: 879
Charisma: 942
Free Attribute Points: 312
Skills: [5,789!]
Equipment: [Greater Ring of Illusion!]…
Quests: (7)]
[NPC System]
[You are now no longer bound by the Game System!]
[Shop:
>Buy: Currently, no items are being sold.
>Sell: Place the item you want to sell.
Total Balance: 72,440,109,1331 Zarr]
[Currency Exchange System
Current Exchange:
>1 Gold Coin: 1000 USD!
>100 Silver Coins: 1 Gold
>100 Copper: 1 Silver
>100 Iron: 1 Copper
>1 Silver: 10 Zarr!]
[Quest Generator]
[Please type in the given format for the type of quest you want to generate!]
[Details() Rewards() Penalty() Time Limit() Limitations()]
[Side Note: You can only give E-Grade Quests and below! This content will be updated with world updates!]
[Blacklist!
-Empty]
[Gate Progression
Limit the people's skills/level/influence within the area occupied by you!]
[Unlocked at Version 1.1!]
[Unlocked at Version 1.2!]
[Unlocked at Version 1.3!]
[Unlocked at Version 1.5!]
[Unlocked at Version 1.7!]
[Unlocked at Version 1.9!]
[Unlocked at Version 2.0!]
[Menu!]
[Restart!
Allows the user to restart the game from the beginning!]
[Save Points!]
[You can save your position under the following condition:
-You are going to sleep!
-You won't die in your sleep and wake up!
-You are in a Safe Zone!
-Your status is at least 50% in Health!
Total Number of Skill Points: 4]
[Save Points: Skills!]
[You can save your skills once every 5 days and may have them even if you restart!
Notice:
-The skill level of all skills will reset back to their previous point when you restart!
-If you didn't have the skill at the time of restart, the skill level will be set to what you acquired on first encounter!]
[Maps!]
Current Location: Zarraf(Click to load the Map)
Saved Maps:
-Zarraf(Click to load the Map)
-Inverse Realm(Click to load the Map)
[Message Backlog!]
-You do not have any messages at the moment
[Forums!]
(Filled with messages and images/videos from the players)
[Friend Lists!]
-You do not have any friends
[Options(Locked)!]
[Extras!]
> Library/ Archive
>>Total number of books in the archive: 9,121,0191
> Achievements
>> Total Achievement: 100,019
> Hall of Fame
>> Total endings reached: 1
> Freestyle
>>No scenario selected
> Personal Space
>> Enter Personal Space
[Commands]
>Alter
[Cheat Codes(Locked)!]
[Credits(Locked)!]
[Logout(Locked)!]