Bug in This Game

Chapter 1 - A Bug

'BAM!" Izoke stumbled into a heavily armored guy.
"I am so sorry, Good sir," Izoke apologized.
"You disgusting rookie trying to touch me, How dare you!" the guy replied while narrowing his eyes in anger. He was a tall man with a shining bald head. His eyebrows were dark and thick and there was a long scar over his eye that Izoke just knew would normally result in a lost eye. Yet somehow this man had his eye still. Even more suspicious was the fact the man looked only about 20 years old and yet clearly appeared to be a veteran.

"Hey man, Don't be so rude to a new player," Another guy named Edara said to the armored bully.

"Who are you to order me?" The bully replied aggressively.

Edara Put his hand on his swords handle while saying, "Do you want to fight me". Edara's sword was an eloquent rapier about two and a half feet long. It was currently still in its scabbard that was tied to his hip. The scabbard was a gorgeous sapphire blue that seemed impossible to fashion onto a wooden scabbard.

Pulling his blade from withing its scabbard and pointing it at the Bully Edara activated some kind of power. A bright white light surrounded Edara's blade giving off an intimidating feeling.

Copy Skill?
*Select*
Yes
Or
No

Another pop up appeared in Izoke's eyes for the third time today.
'What is this... My power is to copy? That sword aura looks awesome! So hell yes! Izoke replied in his head.

Skill copied*
Holy sword acquired!

Oh, Shite! Holy sword! I shouldn't mess with him, thought the Armored jerk before saying, "No, I don't want to make you cry".
The bully hurried away before Edara could say anything else. It was obvious to Izoke that he was running away with his tail between his legs. Edara helped Izoke off the ground by giving him a hand. They started walking and talking to one another.

Edara, "Hey newbie how about you join my party?"
"Party?" Izoke asked.

"Ha, didn't you read the forum? Also, its standard game practice where have you been living under a rock? Don't tell me you've never played a game before," Edara explained giving Izoke a playful pat on the back of the head. The last part of his explanation was obviously meant to be a joke by Edara's tone but Izoke was sure he had never played the kinda game he was talking about.

"Now hurry up noob! the rest of the party's at Login Hotel," Edara berated to hurry Izoke along faster. Izoke suddenly realized that listening to all this new and shocking information had made his movements slow to a crawl.

"Now if you want to be a successful player early on your going to need a good party to power level you!" Edara explained.

"Also you are going to need better equipment," Edara added while giving Izoke a surveying scan with his eyes.
After a few more minutes they reached the hotel where Edara introduced Izoke to his comrades.
"Izoke how long ago did you register in Fantasy Collusion," Edara asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean after entering the game you need to register your identity in the Cunning Cave beginners area," Edara commented, "Check your tab by focusing on your name which is near the HP bar".
Izoke was confused but he found his name and focused on it. Then his stats appeared on another panel in his vision. "yeah, here are somethings like my name, items, and others".

"It means you are already registered", Edara confirmed.
"Registered to what?" I asked concerned.
"Are you some kind of NPC bro, you don't know anything. This is a virtual reality game......." Edara lectured what felt to Izoke like an eternity but was more like 20 minutes.

It was mind-bending to learn that this whole world is just a game. How can you say I'm not real? It is real to me! I think and feel just like you!
Everyone was friendly and wanted to know where Izoke lived, what is his real-life age was, But he had no answer. Luckily, the group just thought that he is shy.

"Hey did you hear about the Kaido village," One of Edara's party members named "Gruff," said changing the subject. A change of subject would have been what Izoke had wanted had it been anything but that subject.

"Yeah, I heard that Todo group attacked the village and killed all those NPC's just for easy EXP," another party member named Cindy added.

"I mean they are not REAL people, they are just a bunch of worthless NPCs. What do we even care if they die or live?" Edara pointed out to his friend.

Izoke was trembling while hearing Edara's response to what his friend said. " Hey what is an NPC?" he asked.
" NPC is a non-player character. They are just created through the AI and are basically like dumb animals pretending to be humans. I mean I have also killed many NPCs, they are just so weak and it is simple to steal things from them." Edara commented.

Hearing that these people kill his own kind without remorse made Izoke feel very angry. Throwing a chair against the wall Izoke left the hotel. Edara and his party just stared on in quiet surprise.

"My whole life was a lie, I was an NPC of this stupid game. Nobody cares whether we live or die. Those guys are players if they die they can revive but what about me? If I die I can't even return. This is both the real and virtual world for me since if I die I stay dead forever. Being powerful is only a way to survive this cruel world. My people's death is just a joke for them." Izoke fidgeted with frustration as he walked out of the hotel's front door.

"No, I can't lose to these people because this is our world, not theirs. I will become powerful enough to make this world mine. This is the promise I make to myself! To my parents! To every NPC who suffers there fate!

First Izoke decided to start collecting information about the game. Listening to other players and visiting this new town's library. Izoke had heard of libraries but never seen one before. Many things like Modest tower, wish, and skills were explained within these sources. He also gained knowledge about his own skills. He can acquire any skill he sees and can use them anytime. It is a super-rare skill that normally has more restrictions like level caps to what he copies. Normally one would have to be a way higher level than 5 to copy holy sword which is how Izoke discovered hid great advantage. People seemed to refer to such a positive glitch as a "Bug". Using it in-game was called being a "Bug PLayer". Which was considered cheating but Izoke didn't mind because he needed this unbalanced power? Well guess I'm a bug player then, Izoke thought.

Finished researching Izoke headed to where everyone said the beginner areas were. There Edara saw an unusually large population of grey foxes that were mildly aggressive. All Izoke could afford to buy as a weapon was a small dagger. Fortunately, the Holy sword skill copied from Edara still worked with it.

Approaching a nearby fox that showed as only level 7 Izoke activated holy blade. The fox jumped at him as soon as he activated the skill. instinctually Izoke flinched but luckily the arm he lashed out with was the one holding his dagger. The holy blade skill boosted the weapon's power so much that a mere scratch cut the creature in two.
A level up notification popped up in Izoke's vision.
Approaching another fox Izoke repeated his previous action. The stupid creature used the exact same predictable movements as the last fox. This time Ezoke flicked less and did not close his eyes. Striking the fox directly in the chest with "Holy Blade".

Level up!! Exclaimed again the blue boxes.
Level up!! Said a blue screen as I easily killed another fox.
Level up!! A box once again told me to an even easier kill than the last.

You are now level 10 explained the last box. From what I had gathered It seems I'll have to move to an area with stronger monsters to keep gaining Exp. Supposedly monsters get way tougher to fight as well which is why players train and fight to gain new and stronger skills. This helps the players stay ahead of the monsters in power or ability. Lucky for me I have the ultimate skill grab!

"I'll be an NPC who will survive. Since I've become a Bug I'll be the strongest!"