Chapter 1: Royal Road
xxxx
Author's Note: I haven't abandoned writing, but it's very hard. I'm a perfectionist, and many times it can work against me. I write best when brimming with inspiration. The inspiration is currently of this story, though I can say that I'll still be writing Tsuchi no Kuni first and foremost. My only real fear is that the fanfiction community for the series might die after the series ends. It might happen.
xxxx
Naruto groaned. His body hurt something awful and it felt like he was lying on stone. Naruto opened his eyes tenderly. His vision focused and he found himself alone in a dark alleyway.
What the... Where am I?
He got to his feet unsteadily and looked around. His surroundings looked like any typical alleyway.
Except I wasn't in an alley when I blacked out. I was... on a mission to confiscate dangerous objects. We were underground. It was also midday, but it's night now. How long was I out for? Shit, everything was going smoothly too. We beat up the bad guys who were trying to steal some scroll. Then I touched it. Something happened, I think that I triggered some sort of trap, and then the world turned inside out. And I ended up here, in this alley. I should... find out exactly where I landed myself.
Shouldering the aches and pain, Naruto limped to the alley's bright exit. As he exited the alley, he was bombarded with a plethora of lights, causing him to wince in discomfort. When his vision cleared, what Naruto saw left him speechless. While he was no stranger to the brightly lit red-light districts back in Konoha, this was on an entirely different level. Buildings reaching hundreds of meters into the sky, giant, building-mounted television screens displaying colorful advertisements, and a medley of horseless vehicles passing orderly.
Wha-wha-what? Where-what-where am I?
He turned this way and that, overwhelmed by the fantastic technology all around him.
[Hey, what? You, are you drunk?]
Naruto cocked his head as he faced the speaker. Without a doubt, the man who'd just spoken had done so in a language he didn't understand. That was rather strange, because everyone he knew within and without the Elemental Continent spoke the same language.
Could it be that the scroll launched me to, like, the other side of the planet on some undiscovered continent?
[Che, foreigners. Hey kid! Answer my question: are you drunk? You don't look old enough to buy liquor. Show me your ID.]
"Sorry, I don't understand you."
[Wha- oh, you speak Japanese. Geez, it's been, what... twelve years since I took that Japanese language class? Haha... Back when I thought I could be a diplomat...] "You, come... with me. I am police."
Oh, this guy speaks a bit of my language! But can I trust him? Naruto looked the man up and down. He said he was a policeman. But why would a man of the law want me to come with him? Am I going to be interrogated?! Am I going to be accused of being a spy?! He broke into a cold sweat and his body tensed. Should I run? Maybe I should run.
The policeman noticed the reaction and became slightly unnerved. [What... Don't tell me this guy committed a crime or something... Hahhh, why is it always on my watch?] "Don't worry. You are safe. I won't hurt you. Are you okay?"
"I'm okay." Safe? Does this mean I'm not going to be accused of outrageous crimes? Can I believe him?
"Good. Please, come." The man gestured to the police car sitting at the end of the block.
… I'll risk it. If push comes to shove, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to break free. Naruto nodded. As soon as the man turned to walk to the vehicle, Naruto created a Kage Bunshin and sent it back into the alley. Insurance. Just in case. He had the clone sit down and begin gathering natural energy for Sage Mode if he needed it.
He followed the policeman and, when prompted with the open door, entered the vehicle. Then, he imitated the man putting on a harness of some kind. After a few minutes of movement, the vehicle stopped and the man opened the door for him in front of a large building. Though he wanted to ask where they were, he wasn't sure if he'd understand. It seemed the man only possessed rudimentary knowledge of his language.
Inside the building were many more men and women dressed like the one he was following.
This must be a police station. I got sent to a place kind of like this a few times when I was a kid. Back when there was a police force, anyway, what with the Uchiha massacre and all.
[Can I get a Japanese translator into Room 3?]
[Yes, Sergeant.]
Led into a room, Naruto sat and closed his eyes, waiting patiently. Nothing about his surroundings or the demeanor of the people engendered any panic in him. It seemed his worst fears could be put to rest. Still, the technology he'd just seen and experienced bothered him.
I've never seen buildings that tall before, or horseless vehicles. It's pretty hard to believe that a continent no one's discovered would have advanced technology like this. Maybe... just maybe... Maybe I'm in a different world. He frowned at the thought. Whatever it is, there was still a lot of work to be done back home. Yeah, we brought about peace after beating Madara, but that was just the beginning. I don't have time to waste here.
The door opened and another man, dressed in a suit, walked in and sat in front of him.
"Sir, do you understand me?"
Oh, they brought a proper translator! "Yes, I do."
The man folded his hands in front of him. "The officer here says you were just wandering around. He thought you might've been drinking illegally and become drunk."
I should probably be careful with my words. You know, just in case.
"Drunk? No, no, I'm not drunk. I was minding my own business when I got knocked out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in some alley. I was really confused and was trying to get my bearings."
"I see. Did you have any enemies that might want to do something like that?"
"No."
"Then we're at a standstill. Do you have any identification? Where do you live?"
"Sorry, but I don't even know where I am."
"Excuse me?"
"This is definitely not where I live."
[Maybe he was kidnapped.]
[And left in an alleyway with no injuries? Preposterous. And this is the first time I've seen such a Caucasian Japanese.]
[Maybe his parents are Americans stationed in Okinawa. Maybe the North Koreans kidnapped him because he's the son of the base commander or something. Maybe something happened and he had to abandon the poor bastard.]
[That's still pretty farfetched.]
What are they talking about, I wonder?
"At the moment, we are in Seoul, the capital of South Korea."
Stay calm, stay calm. Pretend like you know where that is. "South Korea... Really?"
"Yes."
I've never heard of a village or country by that name. I still don't know whether I'm in my world somewhere or a different world altogether, but it would be dangerous to be rash about this. I should stay here and figure out where the hell I'm at.
"Rest assured, we will present you the proper reparations for what your erstwhile neighbors up north did to you."
Naruto scratched his head feebly. "Well, thank you for that, but I lived somewhere pretty remote. I don't think that I'd be able to find my way back home."
"I see."
[There goes your theory about Americans.]
The sergeant shrugged. [Maybe he's a descendant of the missionaries that went to Japan. As far as I know, the persecution of the Imperial government in the 20th century caused what was left of them to scatter around the nation.]
[Whatever the case, what are we going to do with this guy? If he has no identification whatsoever, then there's no way to send him back because he technically doesn't belong to Japan. Furthermore, he can't get identification here because he's not a native Korean.]
[Maybe he can get a visa.]
[I think that might be what we need to do. This is so troublesome.]
"Alright, this is what we'll do, mister..."
Ehmmmm, should I go with my real name? Or a fake name... If this is my world somewhere, using my real name might help someone find me, but it might also mean someone might try to kill me or take Kurama...
"Ehm, Uzuki Naoto."
Speaking of that damn fox, I haven't heard his voice at all yet.
"I see, mister Uzuki. This is what we'll do. We will have you apply for a visa so that you can stay in this country legally, for the time being."
"Okay."
"Do you have any money?"
"Oh sure, lots." Naruto dug through his back pouch and brought out a ryo. Ever since the near destruction of Konoha, he had begun carrying his life savings on his person for safety. All of his ryo were his savings converted into plates of near-solid gold.
The policeman gasped, [Is that-?]
Adjusting his glasses, the translator asked, "Is this real gold?"
"Yep. Real as real. Where can I exchange these?"
"There are places that specialize in exchanging gold with currency. It's my day off tomorrow, so I can show you where to go then."
"Are you sure with missing your day off like that?"
"Don't worry, mister Uzuki. I joined the police force because of my strict sense of morality, even though we aren't well respected even in our own country. I couldn't possibly leave you, who is so obviously lost, to fend for yourself. Now, this is what we'll do..."
xxxx
Through the assumption that Naruto came from a Western country, he was allowed to stay in South Korea under the visa waiver agreement, while he applied for the F-2 Residency visa to make the country his home.
Naruto spent the next six days wandering around the city, exploring it and figuring out where things were. The scale of the metropolis was far beyond what he'd ever seen or witnessed, and he often got lost for hours at a time, as he couldn't even read any of the landmarks on the map he'd been given.
At night, he slept in a shelter that the translator brought him to. Naruto kept a clone with a copy of the map and a clone under Henge no Jutsu trailing him. When he needed to get back to the shelter, he had the transformed clone dispel itself and relay the image of the street sign to the other clone, who figured out the directions and dispelled itself to give the right directions to the real Naruto. He was pretty proud of this clever set up, though the method was a one-time thing to get back properly.
It would've been nice if he could've made an army of clones to do that so that he wouldn't ever get lost, but the more clones there were, the more independent they became as they were possessed of less and less of his chakra.
At the end of the week, the translator finalized the rental process for Naruto's apartment. This magnanimous man even cosigned for the blonde and paid the first month's rent. It wasn't very uncomfortable, as his old apartment back in Konoha was about the same, small size.
As Naruto waited for the F-2 results to come back, he studied a worksheet given to him by the translator and learned how to count to ten in Korean. He could probably manage to get by just using his fingers, but it'd be easier this way. Like the previous six days, he continued to take long walks around the city to figure out where everything was. Where to go to buy food, toiletries, and daily necessities.
On the matter of money, with the exorbitant price of gold following the global economic recession, he made a pretty penny out of exchanging his ryo for currency. Though he only converted a small portion of his ryo, if his calculations were correct, the money should last him roughly five years at minimum cost.
1,000 won = 1 dollar (roughly)
Rent, 600,000 won. Utilities, 200,000 won. Food, 450,000 won. Total, 1,250,000 won montly.
Of the utilities, part of it went to paying the internet. He'd marveled at it. They'd had computers and wireless transmissions back in Konoha, but the concept of connecting anywhere and with anyone in the world at the speed of light was boggling. Thankfully, he didn't have to deal with the installation of the computer and internet, the workman had done that for him. He silently thanked the police translator for explaining to him how vital a computer and internet connection was.
First, Naruto spent a day figuring out how to make the computer's system settings become Japanese. Then, he dedicated a week to reading every wiki page he could get his hands to click. Everything from this world's history to modern pop culture.
In the end, he had to conclude that he was in an entirely different world. Really, all he'd had to do was look up the world map to confirm his worst fears. He still hadn't been able to speak to Kurama, so he suspected something might have happened to the bijuu during the trip that had brought him to this world. As far as he knew, Kakashi's Kamui only sent objects into an empty dimension, so with that option gone, he had absolutely no means of returning to his old world.
That meant one thing. He was stranded.
Realizing this, Naruto spent most of the next two days rolling around on the floor of the rented apartment in a combination of self-loathing and mild depression.
"Idiot! Idiot! I just had to pick up the most suspicious thing there, didn't I? Gahh!"
As he lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling, he tried to think of his next course of action.
Okay, let's calm down and think rationally. I can't get home. I managed to find somewhere to live for the time being, but I can't speak the damn language here. That probably means I won't be able to find a job. No job means no money, and no money means no living. Not living equals death. And death means I'll never find a way home, if one exists in this world at all.
Naruto stood up suddenly and walked to a wall, wanting to test something. Gingerly, for fear of falling on his head, he placed a foot on the wall. And then the other, and the other. Soon, he was standing on the ceiling, his feet sticky with chakra.
Right, I can still use chakra, so I'm still a badass shinobi. This place seems really peaceful, which probably means I won't be able to find a legitimate job with my ninja skills. I don't really want to kill people for money either...
He turned to the budget desktop he'd purchased from a used-electronics sale. Browsing the Japanese Wikipedia idly, Naruto continued to look up and absorb information vital to survival in this new world. Weapons technology, social media, major world powers... Naruto sighed. If only he'd landed in the neighboring nation of Japan who spoke the same language that he did, his situation would be a lot simpler.
As he looked through a section about modern methods of military training, the virtual reality system they used caught his attention. The VR system could simulate different existing landscapes or create brand new ones, and the use of VR technology to place a living, breathing person into an artificial 'world' sounded interesting.
I wouldn't have minded having something like that back home, using that to do a bunch of my training instead of being run ragged.
Naruto read through the page on virtual reality, which ended with a paragraph detailing the rise and success of the first true virtual reality video game. What a video game was, he didn't know, so he read up on that too.
Huh, so you can play this... video game and it would come out on a monitor like this? Maybe I wouldn't have been so bored and become the king prankster if we'd had video games in Konoha, hehe.
Again, the end of the video game section talked about that virtual reality game. From what he read about it in its respective wiki page, it simulated a fantastical world. It was strange that in a world seemingly devoid of the supernatural, people had an irresistible draw to it. The ability to live out one's dreams and fantasies. This was the driving force behind the conception and creation of the virtual reality MMORPG of the century.
Royal Road! Make your dreams come true! Explore a brand new world and make your name in history!
Frankly, this constructed world seemed closer to his own than the one he was living in right now.
That's pretty dang cool, but I don't have the time to play games when I'm worrying about my continued survival here. It's not like I can steal for a living... I mean, I technically can, but it's a matter of principle.
Naruto was about to leave the page when he noticed a statement about the game.
The first to conquer the continent of Versailles will receive prize compensation of 10% from Unicorn Corporation's sales for one month.
Naruto paused, looking up the statistics for the game. As the largest and most popular MMO on the market, the game claimed 75% of the world's video game market share. It had a player base 100 million strong, and growing. The subscription cost per month was 300,000 won (300 dollars). 10% of that would make him an instant billionaire. He salivated at the thought.
Now, he'd never lacked in money. How else did he pay for Ichiraku's ramen nearly every single day? But did he ever have enough to live with more than just the basic necessities for living? No.
Though tempting, the chances that he could beat the millions of other players to conquer the continent were slim, even with all of the advantages his experience brought him. But, interest peaked, he decided to look up whether money could still be made using alternative methods. What Naruto found was the thriving real-money trade of equipment within video games, and Royal Road in particular.
That was when Naruto knew what he had to do.
… This is probably my best shot at making some money. There are other ways, I'm sure, but I have no idea how and where to find them in a world I'm unfamiliar with. No, this would be the safest method, since it says here that the language for this Royal Road is international.
"..."
Yeah, I need money to live, and I need to be alive to get back home. I'll do it. I'll make money off this game, and I'm going to enjoy doing it!
xxxx
He'd only converted his ryo into 5,000,000 won initially. The cost of buying and installing the capsule required to play the VRMMORPG was 10,000,000, while the subscription cost was 300,000 monthly. He'd already spent 800,000 on the first month's rent and utilities, and another 800,000 on necessities like a cheap refrigerator and bed. For food, Naruto had been surviving on 250 won cup noodles for the time being.
If his calculations were correct, and they generally were when it came to money, the cost of the equipment would reduce his ability to live by roughly 1 year. Nevertheless, he reasoned that investments had to be made to net returns, and converted another 9,000,000 won using instructions from the internet to make his way to and from the jeweler he'd been introduced to. Although he spoke no Korean, because he was a repeat customer, the transaction went smoothly, and because Naruto knew how to count his money to make sure he wasn't being ripped off, he wasn't. From what he read on the internet, it seemed the price of gold fluctuated daily, so he understood that small differences in the money he received would be natural. Resigned to his fate of being trapped in this world for the foreseeable future, he invested towards the long-term.
When the capsule did arrive and was installed, he was ready.
It took two weeks for the capsule to deliver, but I haven't just been sitting around. I know my way around the vicinity of the apartment, and I've been studying up on Royal Road and money making through the internet. I learned that anyone can sell things, because people across the entire spectrum are always in need of items, but only the most dedicated players can find the rarest loot to sell for the highest price. And I am anything if not dedicated, because if I don't make money off of this, I'll end up starving and homeless! But! I don't have any technical skills apart from fighting and killing and stealing, this is all I can do for a living. And live I will! Let's do it!
He entered the capsule and booted up the monitor. These past weeks hadn't been spent uselessly. On top of everything else he'd been doing, he'd also learned the basics of employing modern technology. They used to say he was a dunce and a reject, but look at him now!
::::
Connect to Royal Road
Yes - No
::::
"Yes."
Everything around him blacked out as the universal voice recognition software accepted his answer.
::::
The scan of your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?
::::
"Yes!"
::::
Select the name of your avatar.
::::
Hmm, something cool. I want to be the coolest, strongest guy there. Obviously being the coolest and the strongest mean I'll make the most money. Hmm...
He'd studied up on the nature of MMORPGs and went skimming through dozens of books at the public library for cool sounding names.
"Veritas."
The latin word for truth.
My way of the ninja is my truth. Even in this world, I'll stay true to myself, even if I can never go back home...
::::
Select your gender from male, female, or neutr-
::::
"Male!"
There is NO way I am picking neutral for a gender.
::::
Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine-
::::
"Human."
No brainer. Other races could be interesting, but I'm me.
::::
You may alter your appearance within certain limitations.
::::
"I think I'll stick-" On second thought, he twiddled with a bit of his hair. He'd always wondered what it'd be like to be a brunette. "Hair to black, rest as is."
::::
Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road. What you do in-game will influence your choice of classes and how your stats grow.
Select a city and kingdom you want to start.
Brent Kingdom
Kallamore Kingdom
Keurion Kingdom
Ledern Kingdom
Lootun Kingdom
Meda Kingdom
Rhodium
Ritten Kingdom
Rosenheim Kingdom
The British Confederacy
Thor Kingdom
Uto Kingdom
::::
The list went on and on, expanding to show all the cities and villages within each kingdom, as well as individual city-states.
The citadel sounds like a cool place. Obviously befitting of a cool person like myself.
"The Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom."
::::
Welcome to Royal Road, where you can carve out your own adventure in this wondrous land of magic and chivalry.
::::
And then, with a flash of light, he found himself in a gigantic city, surrounded on all sides by player characters and non player characters, all going about their business. Hawking wares, forming parties, and doing menial quests. Some people even lay about sleeping.
So this is the world of Royal Road... It's so, lively, I like it.
Now that he was in Royal Road, he almost forgot about all the hardships he'd endured to get this far. In the beginning, browsing the internet had been slow as he learned to type properly without looking at the keyboard. He remembered moaning that it'd been easier learning how to use kunai and shuriken than to write properly.
Not only that, the day he'd spent trying to change the system language on the computer had been a cruel session of trial and error to figure out what to click and what to press. Just as difficult was what came after: Looking up information about the mechanics of Royal Road. What came up were thousands, tens of thousands of newbie guides, for players just like him. Vital information, such as the necessity of eating and drinking, despite being a video game, how to create a party and add friends to a buddy list, easy ways to make money or what starting towns would be good for certain classes. But the sheer volume of information often proved to be counterproductive, with lots of repeated information that he had had to sift through.
One thing of amazing note was that time in Royal Road passed four times as quickly as it did in real-time. Four weeks in-game amounted to one week in reality. The marvel of being able to spend even more time enjoying himself than he was spending in real life was like a godsend to the naturally lazy Naruto. However, one could not leave the city for the first four weeks, a sort of transitional period forcing new players to learn about the game or returnees to prepare for the end of the four weeks. Being Naruto, he just couldn't sit still with this fantastic world around him.
Tall, ornate buildings were erected all around him. A multitude of colorful players and non player characters alike filled the city with vigor and brightness. Every so often, someone dressed just like him would appear next to him with a dull flash. He received smiles from higher leveled players, reminiscing about their own newbie days.
Suffering from sensory overload, he walked in a daze trying to take everything in.
By chance, he heard two players discussing methods to become stronger.
"I just can't beat those mobs, no matter how hard I try, and I can't afford new equipment."
"Did you try joining a party?"
"I did, but I was only slowing them down. I felt like a leecher."
"Well, leeching isn't bad, per se."
"It makes me feel terrible and week."
"Well, you could always try the Training Hall. I heard every few hours you spend there you get a stat increase."
"Few hours? Are you crazy?"
"Well, theoretically if you spend a long time in there you'd have a huge stat lead compared to your peers."
"Theoretically. But what kind of crazy would sit in there for weeks and weeks doing the same thing over and over and over?"
He'd heard enough.
Cool people are strong. Strong people are cool. And I can only be strong if I have more stats!
So he headed to the Training Hall to ostensibly train. Walking felt completely natural. His virtual body acted as smoothly and quickly as his real body did, to an extent. Pulling up his stats window, he noted that every stat was very, very low.
::::
Character Name: Veritas
Alignment: Neutral
Level: 1
::
Class: None
Title: None
Reputation: 0
::
Health: 100
Mana: 100
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Stamina: 10
Wisdom: 10
Intellect: 10
Leadership: 5
Luck: 5
::
Attack: 3
Defense: 0
::
Magic Resistance
Fire: 0%
Water: 0%
Earth: 0%
Black Magic: 0%
::::
As his stats grew higher, he'd be able to perform more and more superhuman feats of strength and agility. Try as he might, he could run no faster than a normal person, even if in real life he still had the physical ability to climb walls and run at speeds comparable with motor vehicles.
This is really going to affect how I fight, he realized quickly. Stats, stats. I need stats.
He entered the Training Hall and immediately caught the eye of the instructor, a large and foreboding Orc. Veritas marveled at the man's size, his rippling muscles, and his green skin tone as he approached.
"Young adventurer, I presume you have arrived at the Versailles continent very recently."
This was his first experience of the game's artificial intelligence, and it was impressive. This wasn't even a shadow clone, a near-perfect copy, mind and body, of a person. This was a construct, a creation of human hands and minds to imitate them in thought and action. A true artificial intelligence, he read, acted just like a normal human being. They began with nothing and learned through experience and application.
"Yes, yes I am."
"You shall find sword training absolutely necessary when you come to confront monsters. Do you need my guidance? I tell you, take any unattended scarecrow and strike him in any way you want. A wooden sword is placed in front of a scarecrow, and it is all yours."
"Thank you, I don't need any guidance."
"Godspeed."
He looked in and saw a sizable amount of people attending to the scarecrows. Most were practicing their skills on the dummies, but he saw one in particular beating away furiously at the scarecrow in front of him. Methodologically, strike by strike, without pausing, he beat away over and over.
But gods, does that look mind numbing. But if that's the best way to raise my stats, then that's what I'm going to do. If there's one thing I can be proud of, it's my concentration and stubbornness!
He decided to stand next to the other player as a form of consolidation through a common goal. Veritas looked at the stance of the man next to him as he swung away, noting the position of his sword and how he swung it, how he breathed in as he raised it and breathed out explosively as he brought it down. It was obvious just from looking that the other player knew quite some swordsmanship.
Might as well take this time to learn it myself. I'll be damned if I get back home and I'm no stronger or wiser. I'd be the laughingstock of the village! Disappear for a few years, come back to find everyone stronger than me. I'll never become Hokage that way!
Copying the stance and adjusting it slightly for comfort, he too began swinging away.
…
Within an hour, he felt like fatigued, and within two, his arms felt like they were set alight. But whenever he thought about stopping, he thought back to his good friend Rock Lee, about the pains of his circumstances and the ferocity of his training to reach for his dream. He never gave up, and became one of the best taijutsu masters of the village. If he gave up from something like this, from just swinging a sword for two hours, he'd never be able to show his face in front of that genius of hard work.
Every so often, after ridiculously long periods of time, the player next to him would stop swinging, check his stats, then leave the game for a period of about four hours. This he judged to be the time when he slept. But before he left, without fail, he would look to the side at Veritas, who had stood their by his side also swinging away. He could feel, somehow, that he was being appraised positively for his determination to become stronger.
And, well, to be honest, the physical exertion of swinging the sword constantly is still a bit better than being spiritually exhausted as well, back when I did that Rasengan training. And it's a lot better than having my skin flayed off by Kurama's chakra, ugh.
Every time his stats went up by a point, he felt slight changes. Stronger, faster, more vital. The system had said that his actions would influence his stat points. As such, swinging the sword lead to rises in Strength, Agility, and Vitality. As he swung mindlessly, his body slowly becoming ingrained with the memory of and ability to swing without conscious thought, he tried to think about a class he wanted. Certainly, it might be fortuitous to be a class similar to a ninja, where he could exhibit extraordinary physical capabilities while blowing away people with magic, or ninjutsu.
Ttiring!
::::
Agility rises by 1 point. (+1 AGI)
Level Up: Sword Mastery [1]
Increases Attack Power with a sword. (+10% ATK)
Increases Attack Speed with a sword. (+3% ATK SPD)
::::
He stopped swinging to sit and eat. As a beginner, he had started with ten pieces of rye bread and a canteen of water. The game manual said that he should eat every five hours, and so he did, chewing on the stale bread, wishing for ramen or something better. Of course, he didn't eat the whole thing, that would be ridiculous. This was a video game, so eating a bit would raise his Satisfaction enough so that he wouldn't die of virtual starvation. It was a curious thing, to feel hungry even though his real body wasn't hungry. To feel fatigue even if his real body was lying in a capsule all day.
Veritas had been swinging for four days, or one day in reality. For twenty-four more days, he'd have to swing until he could finally be 'let off the leash,' figuratively, to go out into the wild and slaughter whatever he could get his hands on, and finally wash himself of this repetition. He checked his food supply.
Two bread gone. At this rate, I'll be out of bread by day twenty. I won't have food for four days, that is troublesome... Maybe I can beg for it, but... Cool people don't beg! So then how do I get my hands on some food? Well, I'll think about that later, when the time comes. Cool people are strong, and to be strong I need to keep training!
Every so often, some of the players who had seen him when he first entered came to test their skills out on the dummies. Some would look at him in respect for his willpower, and yet others would shake their heads in disbelief that someone would be dull enough to seriously follow the other mindless player into swinging day-in, day-out. He didn't mind. People were entitled to think what they want, but when reality slapped them in the face, it wouldn't matter what they thought. What was right was right. What was true, was true.
And what was right, was being strong. And cool. Being smart and handsome would be nice too, but those were secondary objectives.
On the matter of people talking about him, however, something he found very convenient was the game's auto-translation feature. Although the system language was set to Japanese, obviously other players around the world wouldn't speak the same language as him. Fortunately, Unicorn Corporation, the company that developed and updated Royal Road, had gathered all its resources and expertise to perfect an auto-translation software that was the equal of any professional translator. So when other players spoke, he heard it in his native language.
Oh, the wonders of technology!
He kept up the pace, because the more he trained before the four weeks were up, the stronger he'd be when he could finally leave the city and go hunting for monsters.
At about the time three weeks had passed, he was approached by the player who had swung swords next to him for the entire time. Courteously, Veritas stopped swinging his sword and faced him.
"You, I can see it in you. You know the hardships of money."
He did not deny it; He'd had far too much trouble being a hated orphan that had to fend mostly for himself.
"I commend your willpower for making it this far."
"The same to you," Veritas replied, grinning. "I'll just be glad when my four weeks are up."
He nodded. "My name's Weed. Maybe one day, we'll meet again."
"Veritas, and likewise."
And so he watched his fellow leave the hall and never return.
One more week to go, with three days of food left. Four days without food.
As it happened, as he continued to swing that day, a giant of a woman entered the Training Hall, her size naturally gaining her the attention of nearly everyone inside, including Veritas. Not only was she big and tall, but he could also tell that she possessed tremendous strength. Maybe not as much as some of the girls in his village, but that was a pretty unfair comparison to begin with.
He watched her walk up to the instructor and chat for a while.
Huh, I guess there's things like this to. NPCs breaking the mold and doing things differently. Maybe there's some complex algorithm that governs the mistakes and deviations of the AI.
Veritas turned back to swinging.
After these past three weeks, I think I've gotten the hang of what muscles to use to properly swing the sword down properly for maximum force. Probably a long way from mastering how to swing, much less fight with a sword, but what the hell. It's a start.
"Wow, my husband told me that you've been at it for three weeks."
Veritas stopped and turned to face the giant woman.
"Oh, hello. Your husband?"
"The instructor. Doesn't look like we could fall in love, does it?"
He looked between the two, the green-skinned Orc and towering Barbarian. "You two certainly make a unique pair."
"I don't usually come to the Hall, but he forgot his lunch at home."
"Ah, that would be unfortunate."
"I heard there was another one also training here. Did he leave?"
"Earlier today. Perhaps I'll meet him again, he certainly seemed determined to become strong."
"Before I go, I was wondering, what do you think about Blacksmith Mastery?"
"Blacksmiths, huh. Well, without them, we wouldn't have any weapons to fight with, or armor to protect us. And they can repair them too. I think they're indispensable."
She smiled, satisfied with his answer. "I think they're very important too, although my husband might think the crafting classes are beneath him. Without craftsman, we would never be able to get by."
"I think so too, from building houses to making food, making weapons to drawing maps, I think everyone is important in the larger scheme of things."
"I noticed you seem to be eying my husband's lunchbox. Low on food?"
"Oh! Uh, errr, yes, I am." Veritas flushed lightly at looking so longingly at the instructor's lunch, which gave off a tasty scent.
"How about we make a deal." She held out in her palm several silver coins. "I've been interested in a certain story for a while now. They say that, throughout history, the weapons of legend have been produced under a single method, under a line of teachers and students inheriting a certain smithing technique. I want to know if there's any grain of truth to this story."
::::
Legend of the Legendary Weapons
A drunken blacksmith claims that the Legendary Weapons of the ancients all come from a single source: a secretive group of blacksmiths that pass down their skills from teacher to student. Shake down the drunkard and find out whether it is a truth or a tall tale.
Difficulty Level: E
Quest Requirements
Catch the eye of the instructor's wife as a star pupil of the Training Hall.
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Veritas mentally whistled. He'd only heard stories about this. Special quests, which were only unlocked when certain prerequisites were met. Difficulty varies, but those who'd completed them all agreed that the rewards were worthwhile.
"I accept!" He stared greedily at the silver coins in the woman's hand.
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You Have Accepted The Quest.
::::
"Very good, just as I expected. Here's a retainer fee of one silver." Of the many jingling coins in her hand, she dropped one into his own. At his crestfallen expression, she laughed heartily. "I won't leave you dry. You'll usually find the drunkard by the bar in the evening, but in the daytime, some people have said they see him heading to the furnaces."
Veritas looked unhappily at the silver coin in his hand.
"Cheapskate..."
Well, this didn't change the fact that he now had money to buy food with, but the way she had left him hanging had been unjust and cruel.
I swear it here now, I'll make so much money that I won't have any idea what to do with it all! So that I never have to grovel for chump change, like I did just now! NEVER!
xxxx