As he entered the world, Bren was simultaneously astonished and relieved.
*Thankfully I've spawned in the same spot, and it looks like the surroundings are identical, too. But it looks so real!*
Bren was optimistic about his alpha-tester knowledge being put to good use; the only major changes he noticed were graphics and sensory updates that made the virtual world far more realistic than it had been a year prior.
Less than a minute later, six white silhouettes appeared one by one around Bren. It went without saying that the rest of the clan had successfully logged in.
*Fortunately, it doesn't look like we needed to meet up at the commons. Looks like everyone made it. Just as we discussed, there are two melees and four ranged characters. Everything looks good so far.*
Though everyone was wearing a relatively plain black outfit, there was a minor difference that distinguished a melee character from a ranged one. On the melee character's top, there was a singular gray stripe that extended diagonally from the shoulder to the waist. On the ranged character's top, there were two gray dots on each shoulder. Including Bren, there were three melees and four ranged. Knowing that these classes would evolve later, Bren was confident that everyone had made the right decision.
"Holy shit! This is a VR game?"
"For real! Everything looks incredible!"
"Indeed, this game is years ahead of its time."
"..."
Though Bren was somewhat in a hurry, he empathized with his friends' awe at the scenery and allowed them to gawk. After all, this experience was more realistic than even he had expected. Though the surroundings were bland with vast plains on the right and shabby buildings on the left, the level of sensory realism was unprecedented in the current age of VR. After a few moments, though, Bren's impatience got the best of him.
"Ahem... This is indeed far more realistic than anyone could imagine, but do remember that we have a mission to fulfill."
"Ah, yes..."
"Why don't we enjoy the scenery along the way?"
With a unanimous agreement, the crew turned to Bren for further instructions.
"Alright, follow me!"
Though the Uval Hamlet was merely a hamlet and supposedly the location of the smallest tier, it was still a couple hundred square metron in size. Since every player's maximum speed was similar to real life, it would take a minimum of a few minutes to go from one side to the other at a full sprint. The fact that there were thousands, if not tens of thousands of hamlets meant that the scale of the world was massive, easily dwarfing that of any previous VR world. As this thought permeated through everyone's minds, the crew was once again astonished at how logistically insane this product was.
Around them were wooden buildings of an ancient era and NPCs that behaved almost like real people. There was a small fountain in the center of the hamlet; this location was referred to as the commons. There was background chatter, NPCs entering and exiting buildings, and good and services being sold. It was almost as if they were truly in another world.
Because of the crew's leisurely pace, it took them around 5 minutes to reach their desired destination.
The Uval Cemetery.
The feeling of realism didn't dissipate one bit when they approached it. Rather, it increased. Even though it was daytime, visiting an empty cemetery wasn't something this crew would normally do in real life. The fact that the cemetery was located on a plains-like area with little to no natural obstructions didn't diminish the creepy feeling at all. These things in tandem with the fact that they were truly in an unknown world made the experience far more harrowing that it ordinarily would be. After all, this was a VR world where just about anything could exist. Even Bren, who had studied this area before, was slightly on edge.
"Alright, everyone, listen up. I know this place feels creepy, but you guys have to trust me on this one. Other than being a War Zone, there is nothing unordinary about this graveyard. Besides, even if there were, nothing will happen to your real bodies. Remember that this is just a virtual world!"
Since Bren had extensively discussed his plan with the group beforehand, everyone understood the concept of a War Zone.
If it was anyone else relaying this information, Allux and the others would have been highly skeptical. However, these 7 members trusted each other with their lives. Though they expressed some concern, they trusted Bren's words wholeheartedly.
As everyone followed Bren into the cemetery, the same system notification popped up for everyone.
*>System message: You are now entering a War Zone. >Expand for details.*
"Now, all we need to do is ambush anyone who shows up. Hide behind the tombstones so we're out of the line of sight of the entrance. We'll need to hide in a U-shaped pattern so we can easily collapse on anyone who walks into the middle of our formation. Alright, move out!"
Nobody would approach seven people standing menacingly in the middle of a cemetery. After all, they would frighten players if the spooky atmosphere weren't enough.
At this instruction, the crew each hid behind individual tombstones out of sight of the entrance. Since they could no longer communicate simply by talking, Bren pulled up his HUD and sent a friend request to the six members and added them to a new group titled "Brent Clan".
*>Adverse: Are you sure people will show up? This place is creepy enough to drive people away from it.*
*>Brent: Trust me, there will be at least a couple people who decide to come. There will always be at least one lunatic enticed by unsettling things.*
Bren's words were prophetic. In less than 10 seconds, a group of three unsuspecting players passed through the entrance. Similar to Bren's clan, they were expressing their apprehension of the area.
*Uh... They're all melees?*
At a glance, Bren noticed something poor about the party structure. Traditionally, there would be at least one ranged unit in a group of three to make up for the weakness of long-ranged attacks. Of course, this wasn't an ironclad rule. There were definitely rulebreakers in the past, but defying orthodoxy while being efficient was something only someone incredibly skilled or lucky could do. He couldn't say for certain, but these players probably didn't carry either of those characteristics.
*>Brent: Remember, everyone has 10 HP and each attack deals at least 1 HP of damage. The cooldown on your attacks is 1 second, so keep that in mind while fighting. If all of us target one of them, they should fall within two seconds. It's also good news that they're all melees. I'll decide who to target. Wait for my signal.*
Since the attacking speed of a level 0 character was once per second, seven players attacking simultaneously could remove 10 HP from a player in less than 2 seconds. This timing was sufficient for an ambush. After all, everyone was new to this game. It would be stranger if the ambushed players had a contingency plan.
The seven clan members waited behind various tombstones in anticipation of their first battle in Synergy.
...
Minutes passed with no signs of the three players making any significant movement, and the crew was getting impatient. Even Bren, who was supposed to be the moral support, was beginning to feel anxious. He was faced with a decision - to either take action or keep waiting.
*Hmm... I suspected something like this would happen...*
Either choice he made would be a gamble, but...
*This whole operation was a gamble in the first place.*
Being the leader of the group, Bren was tasked to make key decisions in times of need. He was the shot caller that his team trusted. The position as both the clan leader and shot caller gave him a huge authority, but it was also a burden.
*Something something about power and responsibility...*
It was truly a double edged sword. The main reason Bren had taken up this position was that it would give him more experience, hoping to use this experience to catalyze his growth. He had faced many decisions in the past that were more difficult than this one, so Bren didn't hesitate for long.
*>Brent: Okay, team. I know you guys are getting a bit anxious sitting here doing nothing. We're gonna try to lure them over here. These folks seem morbidly curious anyway, so we'll grab their attention. Molotov!*
*>Molotov: Aye!*
In other games, Molotov was an expert in projectile physics and demolition. Even with minimal communication from the team leader, he knew exactly what needed to be done.
Accessing the inventory was simple - one simply had to say "Inventory" with intention or will it open.
Using his thoughts, Molotov snagged a Ranged Starter Pellet from his inventory and threw it into the center of the U-shaped formation about 5 metron away.
As Bren had hoped, the projectile created a small disturbance in the grass, catching the three players' attention. Seemingly somewhat startled, the three players briefly discussed amongst themselves before deciding to discover the source of the disturbance together.
*>Kenshi: Damn, that actually worked? Are these guys players or NPCs?*
*>Bren: Nice one, Molotov! As soon as they're in the center of the formation, we'll target... BraveBaloney69. What a name... After he's down, go wild on the other two. We have a good chance of taking both of them out as well!*
The clan impatiently waited for the group of three to approach the center.
10 metron...
9...
Slowly but steadily, the trio apprehensively approached the middle of the cemetery, looking around frantically for any unusual signs. However, the Brent Clan hid exquisitely behind the tombstones so that they wouldn't be spotted from the trio's line of sight.
5 metron...
4...
3...
2...
1...
The clan collectively held their breaths and readied their weapons as they waited for Bren's signal.
As the unsuspecting BraveBaloney69's final step landed in the center...
*>Brent: NOW!*
Everyone received the message.
All Brent Clan members simultaneously shot out from behind seven distinct tombstones, undoubtedly frightening the surrounded trio.
"What the hell?!"
Predictably, the trio's teamwork and decision making was not nearly as good as the Clan's. Whereas Brent would be able to make a split-second decision in this scenario, the trio were momentarily frozen in shock before fumbling around helplessly. Neither the team's shot caller nor leader was unable to give any semblance of guidance, which inevitably led to their demise.
Before the trio was even prepared to run...
*THWACK!*
-1
-2
-1
...
... Pellets and sticks assaulted the poor BraveBaloney69 who was struck about 10 times in less than two seconds.
His corpse crashed to the ground and dissipated into particles of white light which eventually transformed into a fine white mist. The mist was absorbed by the seven players of the Clan, increasing their experience value by a small amount. What remained where he lay was a singular Melee Starter Stick that was free to pick up.
The reward lay on the ground, but the Brent Clan was diligent and responsible. They would follow their leader's words and complete the mission before rejoicing. The Clan immediately targeted the next closest player and started smacking him.
At this point, the two players understood what was going on and finally responded...
"It's an ambush! Run!"
"You think I didn't notice? You're such a terrible teammate!"
"Then why didn't you say anything until I did?? And Baloney's dead!"
... very poorly.
In a team where members didn't trust each other, nobody wanted to shoulder the blame for a mishap. This led to immediate strife between the two. What little teamwork they may have had plummeted to nothing. In fact, they even began working against each other subconsciously. Due to this, despite understanding what was happening and being able to fight back, the second player fell almost as quickly as the first.
The third player abandoned all hopes of winning a fight and turned around to flee. However, he was unable to outrun a group of seven players where four of them were ranged. In another couple of seconds, the third and final player fell to the ground, also dissipating into light and mist.