80000…
81000…
82000…
[YOU ARE DEAD!]
The Swordsman on the screen was overwhelmed by the endless wave of puppets. The screen became red, and hallow text covered half of it.
[GAME OVER!]
The standing man flinched and fluttered his eyes open. He needed a second to recover his composure before taking off the VR Helmet.
After taking it off, his glorious blond hair fluttered behind him, and coupled with his handsome face, not many could stop admiring.
''Yeah!'' He lifted his arm and let out a shout of celebration. The leaderboard changed, and the name of LoneSamurai appeared on the top.
[1. LoneSamurai - 82000]
Clap! Clap!
The crowd started clapping, their palms soon turning red. The man who went by the name of LoneSamurai appreciated the claps and lowered his body to do a bow.
At the corner of the building, a bushy-browed youth carried a camera. He adjusted the angle until the camera captured both LoneSamurai and the cheering crowd.
The Livestream chat was bustling with activity. Endless rows of texts appeared and went by. The youth grinned after seeing the number of subscriptions and donations.
'He will be pleased.' The youth thought to himself while glancing at the handsome LoneSamurai,
''Everyone!'' LoneSamurai's voice silenced the crowd, ''Food and drinks are on me!''
The crowd had to register his words before raising the volume of their voices.
''Yeah!''
LoneSamurai led the way as the crowd, the youth holding the camera, and himself left the building. They went straight to the restaurant on the opposite side of the street.
''That guy sure likes theatrics,'' Sebastian commented. The arcade became empty, and Isaac and Sebastian were the only ones still left.
Isaac stopped in front of the VR Helmet, sitting on top of a small square-shaped table connected with some kind of charging port.
''Isaac, you are planning to give it a try?'' The handsome butler asked. His lips almost spoke the title of a young master. Then, he remembered Isaac's stern voice, which told him to call him by his real name.
He certainly needed time to get used to it.
''Yes.'' With a relatively simple word, he answered. He removed the VR Helmet from the charging port. There were still wires connected to it.
The wires were connected to the large screen and the leaderboard. Isaac rather clumsily put the VR Helmet on his head.
''Mmh, it's too big,'' Isaac commented after putting it on. His head was rather awkwardly shaking inside the Helmet, and his neck had almost no support.
Ding! Ding!
Once the VR Helmet registered that someone was currently using it. Notifications followed the loud ding ding noises.
Isaac shifted his gaze to the large screen. The large screen showed a holographic keyboard and a way to register his name on leaderboards.
He extended his arm and grazed the holographic buttons with his delicate fingers.
[Name: Wraith]
[Age: 18]
[Occupation: None]
After pressing accept, the screen shifted and shuffled.
Sebastian stopped next to Isaac and barely saw glimpses of his face. However, soon, Isaac's eyes underneath the visor became emotionless.
His chest stopped moving, his cold fingers halted, and the conscious started moving from another place to another.
…
Isaac's consciousness appeared in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by dense forest. He felt the hilt of a cold weapon in his hands and a heavy armory hugging his body.
His eyelids fluttered open. Isaac moved his head around, trying to understand the way his body moved. It was somewhat different from what he had used to.
His body felt heavy like he was trying to drag a mountain behind. Isaac's vessels protruded as he tried to lift the sword over his head.
However, couldn't manage to do so. The sword's heavy tip balanced the weight in the way that the sword went downward and not up.
Thud!
The sword cut through the soil like a knife slicing through molten butter.
Isaac gritted his teeth and tried to lift the sword. However, only felt his bones crackling as the sword trembled.
''Interface.'' After getting frustrated at his lack of strength, he tried another method.
________
[Name: Wraith]
[Level: ???]
[HP: 100/100]
[SP: 50]
[Class: Swordsman]
[STR: 0]
[AGI: 0]
[STA: 0]
_________
''Hmm, I see.'' Isaac understood what he had to do, ''I need to assign the stats again. This makes me remember the first time I assigned my stats…''
He also remembered the cold lady he met, ''I wonder how she is doing… She was rather cold and got angry easily.''
After getting rid of the useless thought, Isaac began to assign the stats.
[STR: 0 -> 30]
[SP: 50 -> 20]
[AGI: 0 -> 10]
[SP: 20 -> 10]
[STA: 0 -> 10]
[SP: 10 -> 0]
''Done… What now?'' Once he was done. Isaac closed the holographic screen and focused on the task in front of him.
The forest was relatively quiet. The wind moved the leaves and strands of grass.
Isaac couldn't see further than five trees. After that, it was unknown to him what was hiding there.
Crack…
Isaac spun around, the sword barely lifted from the ground. The strength stat allowed him to lift the sword, but not by a lot.
''I swear I heard a twig breaking…'' Isaac murmured. The forest wasn't dark or bright. Instead barely visible.
He could see clearly around fifty meters around him. Then, it became rather difficult to see what was behind it.
Crack!
This time, the twig was intentionally broken in half. Like someone took one into their hands and amplified the strength of the sound as much as possible.
Isaac moved his body around. Facing the direction where the sound came from.
The sword was in front of him, the tip pointing at the ground and his veins bulging.
Tap!
From behind, footsteps left the forest. Isaac spun around and used the same velocity to slash with the sword!
With no sign of life, a faceless puppet was clumsily making his way forward. He was holding a rusty dagger.
Swoosh!
Crack!
The sword sliced through the puppet. Layers and layers of endless wires and metal pieces were cut apart. The puppet's glowing red eyes dimmed down significantly.
[You Killed Stage 1 Puppet!]
[STAGE 1 BEGINS!]
[STAGE 1 - SWORDSMAN]