World Online

Jake put on his headset and laid on on his bed. Then, he closed his eyes, and the headset turned on.

[Nova Set beta, turning on. Game selection. Which game do you choose?] a sweet voice prompted Jake to choose.

"Check new games." Jake said without hesitation.

[One new game available. World Online. Free of cost. Minimum session time mode will be introduced. Minimum session time ten hours, no limit on maximum session time.] the voice said.

"Download game and initialise process." Jake said swiftly.

[Game downloading.]

A progress bar appeared before Jake\'s eyes, and he could see the progress of this download. The bar sped to the end in instants, and the game opened.

[Opening World Online. Entering game! Players online: 300,450,439] the voice said.

The black scene changed, and light finally shone in this virtual world that was created.

[Create new avatar. Select username.] the voice said.

Jake paused for a moment.

He tried to enter the name Jake, but it was obviously taken a long time ago. And all the other names were taken by the people who entered first.

If he had been reborn to an earlier time, then he would try to become the first person who entered the game, but that was not the case. Now, he needed to choose a proper user name, one that made a statement.

He grinned as he thought about it.

"Shadow King." he said, barely containing his laughter.

[User name Shadow King is available. Confirm username?] the voice asked once more.

"Confirm. I just want them to feel the pain of not having their guild own this name." Jake grinned, but inside, he could not control the anger that he felt towards the guild that used him and then tossed him away.

[Choose a profession] the voice said next.

"I will choose a profession later. Just let me enter the game now." Jake said.

[Delaying profession selection. Entering game. Creating avatar with memory. Avatar created. Welcome to World Online. Tutorial will begin shortly.]

Jake was transferred into a room that had hundreds of people just sitting there, looking at each other. Maybe they were looking at the user names, maybe they were judging their competition.

Jake looked at himself, and smiled.

"So they take the avatar from the memories. But I know that they wouldn\'t expect a user who only remembers how he looked ten years in the future and not know." Jake chuckled as he clenched his fists.

Veins appeared on his arm. He looked much stronger than he was supposed to be. After the dawn of World Online, people understood that the stats of the real world were also carried onto the virtual game, and so many started working on their body for the first time.

Jake also started doing that five years after the game started, and the gains were being harvested by him now.

[Tutorial will begin in five seconds. Please enter the gateway to Tutorial Village.] the same voice that gave Jake the introduction appeared here.

This was the product of immense scientific and technological advancements. The most premier AI software in the world. Maria.

Nova Corp\'s handler of affairs, it took the rein of World Online, and became the administrator of an entire world. This was a ground breaking achievement, and many coveted Maria.

But no one was able to go against the Nova Corp, and they had to put their ambitions to the side. The Maria right now was not as capable as Jake had remembered, but it was still the state of the art in AI.

[Tutorial is now open.] Maria said.

All the people in the room disregarded everything and ran towards the gateway that appeared. This was first come first serve, and whoever went last, risked losing everything.

But Jake had no worries at all. Because he came from the future. He knew what awaited him.

The Tutorial village was all about making sure that the players would be able to get used to a virtual world. World Online was not a normal VMMORPG. It was much better. It was almost the real world, except that one could die and revive.

The senses were almost perfectly recreated, creating an experience that no other game could match. It felt like the real world in almost every aspect.

Jake waited for the crowd to thin before calmly walking into the Tutorial Village.

The sight was not what someone would normally expect from something that was supposed to be where many people would enter for the first time.

Tutorial village was not exactly a village. It was just one big training field with lush green grass. There were hundreds if not thousands of dummies just lying there.

And beyond this training field, there seemed to be a forest. No one was in the forest yet, because it was part of a later task. Jake knew exactly what the mission he had to complete was, because he already did before!

There were a few hundred people gathered around one person. This was an NPC, a Non Player Character, who was the sword master of the Tutorial Village.

"All of you are here to understand the vastness of the great world, Gaia! Take into your hands a sword from that pile, and start swinging it. Once you swing it one hundred times, you will receive your first mission." the sword master said.

With that, the people ran to the sword pile once more, and fought to get a sword first. This was an unspoken competition to finish the mission first.

And they were not wrong. Jake knew that there was a reward for completing the mission first in every batch, and there was a bigger reward for completing the first mission ever.

But he did not care for these rewards. They were useless in the bigger picture. What Jake wanted was much, much more important.

He approached the sword master and bowed.

"I am here because I want to learn under you, esteemed sword master." he said politely.

"You want to learn under me? Hahaha! When was the last time that someone asked me that? He quit half way and just did what the other did. Do you think that you have what it takes?" the sword master laughed as he looked at Jake.

"I do." Jake bowed once more.

"Then go and start your new mission. Ten thousand strikes of the sword. On a dummy. You can see there are many in this training field. Takes a long time. Let us see if you will last." the sword master said.

[Special Mission Unlocked!

Pupil of the Sword Master!

C ranked mission.

Complete Ten thousand strikes of the sword on a dummy. (0/10000)]

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