The rain was pouring hard on a group of people sitting on the rough and sandy ground, trying to rest. They were the surviving members of the party. The floor that they were sitting on was actually the ocean floor. All of the water was evaporated by Xvin's INFERNO that eventually produced the rain.
Everyone was exhausted. But despite being tired, the group was still wary of a person sitting a little bit away from the group. Kane was also trying to cope with the situation while mumbling.
'Look at these little shits. I was the one who thought about those bullet missiles. But why are they looking at me like that? It was like they were stabbing me with those stares.'
Suddenly, he heard some footsteps approaching him. Kane immediately took his sword on the ground.
"That is not necessary."
Xvin said as soon as he approached Kane. He continued.
"Even if you did that, you're no match against me."
"Really? Wanna try?"
Xvin and Kane glared at each other. But Kane's leg was still shaking because of the intense battle. Xvin saw it. He slightly bowed at Kane.
"I heard what happened. I'm here to express my thanks for saving us."
All of the other guild members started whispering to each other.
"What did he say? That idiot saved us?"
"Yeah? The fuck? All he did was to run."
Ryore, while breaking some twigs, answered them.
"Apparently, that guy found out about how the Horrors managed to survive the attacks. Also, he's the one who told Pixie to try out her abilities."
Murmurs started echoing in the whole room.
"Is that so?"
"Really? That low-leveled dude?"
"Who is he?"
Ryore scratched his head with contempt.
"I hate to admit it, but yeah, he did that."
Xvin ignored the murmurs and also sat in front of Kane.
"What are you planning now?"
"Are you guys gonna kill me like on the lower floors?"
"Sorry about that. We don't know your intentions. We still don't know your intentions but you did help us clear this Red Gate. A lot of us leveled up because of you."
'WHAT THE HELL?!?! THEY LEVELED UP? I DIDN'T EVEN GET ANYTHING AT ALL!'
Because Kane only ran away the whole battle, he didn't get any XP or item at all. His contribution was less than 1% compared to the efforts of the guild. With that, his only choice was to demand something.
"Alright, if you're serious about thanking me, then at least give me all the loot and answer my questions."
Xvin was triggered.
'Wow, look at this little shit.'
But he maintained the fake smile on his face.
"I can't give you all the loot. This is something that can't be decided by myself. Instead, I'll give you all of my shares. As for your questions, I'll answer all of them if I can."
"Firstly, why did you attack me?"
"We thought you're from some guild that was hired to sabotage our raid. People would easily misunderstand if someone would suddenly use a torch in a dark room instead of using SCANNING abilities. But then, since you're level 8, I understand."
"Fair enough. Now, this is what I'm curious about, you guys kept on talking like you knew what the HERALDIAN HORRORS were."
"It was part of the main storyline quest of Arcadia."
"M-Main story what?"
Ryore and the others started laughing.
"Hey, Xvin, why don't you ask that shit what quest is he in right now?"
"What quest are you taking now?"
Kane opened his quest panel and read it.
[Quest Activated: The Mysterious Tower (?)]
You have entered one of the five mysterious Towers of Miranda kingdom. Climb and investigate the tower to know its secrets.
Clear Conditions: ???
Rewards: ???
Failure Penalty: -2 Levels
Xvin was confused.
"Then? Don't you have any other quests?"
"I don't."
"Okay, maybe they will come out later. So, basically, there's a main questline in Arcadia for players to follow. They said that there were a million quests available for all the players in Arcadia. But despite what path you take, you'll all be back to the main storyline from time to time."
"Uhhh... uhuh."
"The Heraldian Horrors is one of the bosses of that main storyline. You will first meet them roaming around the Herald Island."
"Oh! I know about that. But it one-shotted me. Did you guys killed that Dino Crocs yourselves?"
"Yes and no. We did kill the Heraldian Horrors but not that Heraldian Horrors. All of the players were bound to get killed by the Heraldian Horrors around the Herald Island. It was programmed that way. However, you'll meet them again later on when you're around level 80. When you do, you'll fight them properly and kill them. But I'm baffled about how you don't have any other quests. That never happened before, especially that Miranda Kingdom had hundreds of quests around."
"I did a quest earlier. It was helping an old man get the vegetables that he ordered."
"Yeah, told you. There were quests around this city. So, who did you fight along the way?"
"Fight? Uhhh, my back pain?"
"I'm sorry, what? Did someone ambush you from the back? Well, it's pretty common in a delivery quest."
"No, no one ambushed me. It's just that I got a quest that forced me to paint an entire house that my back hurts."
"..."
All of them were puzzled. Ryore, while overhearing, couldn't help but shake his head while some of them were covering their faces with their palm. All of them couldn't even believe that stupid quests like that even exist. Xvin continued asking.
"What kind of rewards are you getting from those quests?"
"+3 gold. And some +10 XP."
"3 gold!? 10 XP?! Is that it?"
"Yeah."
"Uhhh... good luck then! Hope you find better quests!"
"Here's what I don't understand. You already fought and defeated the Horrors. Why did you nearly lose fighting them here?"
"Because they were underwater."
"Uhhh, so?"
"Okay, here's both a tip and explanation."
Xvin explained that the players will meet the Heraldian Horrors at least twice. The player's first encounter will also get themselves killed as it was programmed that way. However, for the second round, it can be slain as it was the final boss of a particular quest. If a player failed to kill it, they will be penalized and will have to fight them again until they killed it.
The first encounter will occur when the player boarded a ship on Herald City, heading to the Miranda Kingdom. However, the Heraldian Horror will appear and will destroy the ship. It was always bound to happen.
The second encounter will happen in the later levels when the player completed a lot of quests and reached that specific quest that forced them to kill the Heraldian Horror.
Players were usually killed by the Heraldian Horrors because they didn't know about the dual Enrage modes of this boss. To prevent that, they have to be killed at the same time. Players who didn't know that method preferred to kill one of the crocodiles immediately to lessen the number of enemies that they needed to watch.
However, in times of emergencies that they were forced to kill one of them ahead of the others, it was recommended that most of them have to be in low health. Because even if the double enrage mode activated, it won't be too hard since they were already low on health.
These LVL 300 Crocodiles were just gigantic and had a large chunk of health. But it was just all for show.
Their attack pattern was basic, and players could dodge it easily once they got a grasp of it. Not to mention that the LVL 300 was a ruse. The LVL 300 was the combined stats of all four of the Heraldian Horrors. But their individual stats were just the same as LVL 100 bosses.
This explained why it was level 200 on this Red Gate because the Horrors that they faced were just two. However, all of the battles between the Heraldian Horrors occurred on LAND, not underwater. Because it was underwater on this Red Gate, the crocodiles possessed a faster movement speed and a different attack pattern that made it hard even for Xvin and Ryore.
The LVL 300 Heraldian Horrors were made by Arcanos so that newbies can't leave the island by all means except for finishing the Tutorial Questline. If someone tried to do some kind of way to leave the island, such as swimming, the Horrors would eat them.
They were also created to discourage people to illegally create another account because it forced them to finish the long-ass Tutorial Questline again.
But Xvin couldn't help but feel bothered at Kane's blank face. It was like Kane knew nothing about what he was trying to say.
"Did you? Did you not leave the island by boat?"
"I didn't. I swa—"
"Okay, let's stop there. I don't wanna know what trick or hacks did you use."
"Ah, okay. You said something about Red Gates? I've only seen Blue gates?"
"Normal, it was blue or white gates. But Red Gates was rare as it was a harder version of these blue gates. Rumors say that there were even other colored gates, such as a Black Gate. Although we've never seen one."
"A harder version?"
"Yes. They said it was 3 to 10 times harder than the standard gates."
"Yeah, I get it. But why would people go to these rooms? Why did you go here?"
Xvin was bamboozled at Kane. He still had that fake smile on his face, but Ryore knew that a little bit more, and he might smack Kane's face.
"Hmmm, why did we enter this gate? Maybe because some stupid newbie entered it and locked all the other available gates."
"Ahhhhhhh, oookay. So, these Red Gates were just killing rooms for players?"
"Not really. The strong players were tracking these Red Gates for them to clear. It may be hard, but just like what everyone has been saying. Higher difficulty."
"Higher Rewards."
"Yes. I'm already level 98 earlier. Imagine how much XP do I need to level up. And yet I did. I'm level 103 now. Even if I climbed this whole Tower, I'd probably level up only by 5 levels. But I just leveled up by 5 levels in just this Red Gate. It was hard, but the rewards when you cleared it was tremendous. Although, this was probably one of the weakest Red Gates ever."
"What?! How did you know that?"
"I told you earlier, right? The definition of Red Gates was a Gate that was up to 10 times harder than the usual. So the difficulty still depends on the original Blue Gate. If the standard Gate was weak, to begin with, then imagine the ten times of it. But what if the original Gate was already hard. Imagine how hard it would be if there was a Red Gate."
"I think I have an idea about what you're saying. Is there a rating for gates, just like items?"
"Yes."
Almost everything in Arcadia had different classification depending on their usefulness.
Weapons and Classes, or sometimes called Jobs, were classified in the same rarity. From worst to best, it was Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Mythical, Legendary, Cosmic, and Divine. They were easy to classify as people could appraise them and see their capabilities.
But for gates, a legendary player classified them as, from easiest to hardest difficulty, E-ranked, D-ranked, C-ranked, B-ranked, A-ranked, and S-ranked Gates. Although, he also stated that there was something called Divine Gates.
Kane had just remembered that he did have an Epic item after he cleared the Fruit Eye Cave. He was surprised upon hearing that the Divine rarity was the best and managed to come across one.
"How did you know all these?"
"I'm ranked 944 in the world rankings."
"World rankings? Ah, yes. I saw those in the news. But weren't they just bullshit. I often see celebrities and company heirs on that Roseen list."
"That was only what they were showing on TV. How would they show the other people on the global rankings if they still haven't revealed their identities? And it's Rosian list."
"Rosean? Roshan? Rozean?"
"R-O-S-I-A-N. Pronounced as Rozhian."
The Global Rankings or World Rankings, which was also called the Rosian List, were something that almost all the players were dying for—the fight for number 1.
These rankings were based on the Rosian Points tallied by Arcanos' supercomputer, the OMEGA SUN. Based on the player's actions, such as leveling up, doing the quest, killing another player, and so on, it will either increase or decrease.
Even the Reputation and Fame points that Kane messed up could also affect the Rosian Points.
The rankings were continually changing except for the top 1000 players, as the gaps between their Rosian Points were far apart.
Upon reaching 10,000 Rosian Points and 500 hours of gameplay, players will be immediately notified of their ID number by the system.
The requirements were high so that a player who just relied on money and smurfs would hardly enter the Global Rankings. Kane thought it was Fake News because of kept on seeing celebrities and children of rich people in TV shows. But in reality, the identities of some top players were just unrevealed. The media can't talk about a player that they knew nothing about.
The list that was being shown on the TV was the unofficial ones. The press would create their own list and replace the ID numbers with either the player's real name or in-game name. It was neater, but they could only do that if the player revealed themselves by showing their ID numbers.
Even if the media created their own list, they couldn't just fake the rankings as the official Rosian List was available online and updated in real-time.
Most people revealed their ID numbers to get more viewers and sponsors because the viewers and sponsors also earned a fraction of the player's earnings while playing Arcadia.
This strategy helped Arcanos advertise their game for free as more and more people were asking for views while more and more people were also sponsoring and betting a player that they want.
Sponsors had a lot of impact on a player. They could provide both information, items, and skill books to the players they wanted to praise without the users paying for it.
Entering and revealing your name on the World Rankings had many other perks, such as people knowing that you should not be messed with. The Guilds could also recruit that person.
However, for some reason, some players refuse to reveal their identities and wanted to remain anonymous. Almost 25 of the top 100 players remained anonymous.
This strategy improved Arcanos' reputation as the world felt like Arcanos' really respected the player's privacy. They never gave out the player's ID Numbers no matter how much the media tried to pay. Although, there were rumors that Arcanos never knew about the player's real in-game ID behind those ID numbers.
As for Kane, he was still far from having his own ID Number and entering the World Rankings. But there was something that riled up his passion for Arcadia.
"Hmmm, these sponsors... do they give you real money?"
"Of course they do. The sponsors can give you in-game gold, which you can convert into real money and withdraw from the bank."
'Sweet! When I entered the rankings. I'll show them some card magic I learned from the carnival to that they would drop some cash!'
Xvin saw the drooling Kane while looking at the ceiling.
'The fuck?! Is this guy thinking about selling his body to appease his sponsors?'
After a few minutes of daydreaming about his ridiculous future that was very far from happening, Kane finally came back to his senses.
"Oh, there's something I've been meaning to ask. I've been called this a lot of times. Are we Players the Paragons?"
"Yes. You'll know more in the main storyline."
"Okay, let's get back to Gates. Did you ever try throwing a bomb inside it to instantly clear it?"
"Ahahahaha! I get what you're trying to say. Of course, a lot of people already did that. It wasn't possible."
"What do you mean? You could've blasted a fireball before you entered this Red Gate so that you could've killed these Dino Crocs without effort."
"The world on the other side of the gate will never be formed unless a person entered. If no player entered this gate, this would just be a void. Even if we throw some bombs, nothing will happen. This was the reason why we suddenly rushed toward this Gate when you entered. A lot of things can happen. If we delayed it further, these Heraldian Horrors might realize the portal came from and would just open its mouth wide at the portal. "
"Okay, but I just entered? You could throw some skills inside. I don't think you didn't do that because you might hit me."
"Your insights were decent. However, it still wasn't possible. On multiple occasions, the Gates would punish you if you did that. It was like the deity who summoned this Gates got mad and cursed you on purpose."
"For example?"
"For example, you can get sucked in. Another example is that a player got lasered to death. Another case was a player suddenly teleported to a hard place that he never even went when he tried to fire an arrow inside a Gate. They called it Will of the Divines, just a fancy name for one of the functions of OMEGA SUN."
Kane tried to think of more questions, but he had already got answers for most of them. All of the information he got from Xvin was part of the tutorial that he fucking skipped. Kane snapped back to the tight situation he was in. He slowly grabbed the hilt of his blade before speaking.
"That's all my questions. So, what's gonna happen now?"
"Let's have an agreement."
"Agreement?"
"First, let's settle the loot for this room. We managed to mine the minerals after the fight and also looted some items from the boss. You said you didn't receive anything?"
"You're right. I'm not faking this."
"Yes. Because it's damage based. You didn't heal anyone either, so you're contribution was really under 1%. You won't receive anything. Because of that, I'll give you 20%."
"30%!"
"Okay, 19%."
"Hey, that's not fair! You said you'll give me all of your shares!"
"My share is only 5%. There's almost a hundred of us here. I'm giving you some bonus rewards, you should be grateful."
"Oi, oi, oi. Who are you trying to scam? There were only less than 20 of us here. You guys can share 75%."
"We're still saving the loot for the dead when we meet them outside. 18%."
"Fuck you!"
"Sevent—"
"18% it is!"
Kane unwillingly agreed with prompted Xvin to smile and reach out his hand to Kane. Kane grabbed it tight and crushed Xvin's hands. With Kane being an agile person who could easily overpower this mage right in front of him. But Xvin wasn't bulging. It was the difference between level 8 and a level 103 player.
Kane's arm started shaking, but Xvin couldn't feel Kane's grip.
'Fuck this guy. Wait 'till I get strong and slap you my coins.'
Kane laughed before letting go of Xvin's hand.
"Hahaha! Nice. 18%."
A text box appeared in front of Kane.
[Xvin wants to trade – Accept or Decline]
[Accept]
Two empty box panels appeared with the names KANE250 and XVIN above.
"What the? How did you contact me? I got 0 people in my friends list?"
"You don't need to be friends to trade. You only need to be in front of each other. Although, if you're friends, then you can trade even if you are far away from each other as long as you're outside combat."
"Then, did you know my name?"
"Yeah, Kane250. It was openly displayed above your head. I'm Xvin, by the way."
CHING!
Upon saying his name, the green text with the words 'ID: Xvin' appeared above Xvin's name. Kane was confused that he decided to look at other player's heads that he barely noticed that Xvin has been filling up the other virtual panel.
"Does everyone can see my name?"
"Why are you wary of your name. Did you got pranked when you made it, and it was not really your name?"
"No, it's just that..."
"Ah, I get it. I bet you made a mess somewhere, and you're trying to hide your name."
'Shit! Does this guy know about me!?'
Xvin looked at the boxes one last time before clicking TRADE.
[Are you sure you want to trade without receiving anything? – Yes or No.]
[Yes.]
Xvin peeked at Kane.
"Hey, click the trade button at your side of the panel to finish the transaction.
[Trade.]
CLICK!
[Trade Completed.]
The two notification boxes in front of Kane disappeared. He opened up his inventory box and saw the loot that Xvin shared.
Heraldian Scales x20
Golden Corals x10
Saltringer Rocks x10
Infused Golden Corals x3
Red Heraldian Scale x1
Xvin saw Kane giggling about his rewards.
'Look at this idiot. I doubt if he even understood the quality of these rewards. I should've just scammed him.'
Kane suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. You said something about an Agreement."
"We came here just for mining up to 20 floors and planned to stop at that since it gets harder after that. But because of you, our whole run was messed up. That's our only purpose. Why did you come here?"
"I just... I just wanna try. I'm planning on clearing a Tower on my own, but first, I need some experience and some trials."
"Alone? You're going for a secret class, are you?"
"So, you know."
"You won't make it."
Kane was flustered.
"How can you say so?"
"To get the secret class in all the Towers, you need to beat the person with the best record. There was no record available online, so you still have to ask around for the current record. You need to climb the Tower perfectly, and swiftly, you'll instantly receive a secret class. And that's what I plan for now."
"What do you mean? You already have a class?"
"I do. But not my teammates here. Our initial mission was just to mine, but because of you, you just ruined everything since we might've skipped some floors."
"Skipped?"
"Correct. We messed up on gathering materials because we're gonna be forced to mine on the harder floors above. But since we skipped some floors, that means we can climb this Tower a lot faster. We might beat the record. You and my friends could upgrade your class or even obtain a secret class."
'Woah! Damn, I think I've been using all the luck in my life right now. I might actually get a secret class this way?'
Kane was looking at the ceiling dreaming about him getting a Secret Class. But Xvin got creeped out on Kane's madness. Suddenly, Kane leaned forward Xvin with flames in his eyes.
"Alright! Glad to help! What should I do?!"
"I don't know if you hacked or you're exploiting a bug, but that movement speed of yours is impressive. This might sound offensive, I don't care where it came from, but I want you to aid us by being a bait and run around the room. We'll do the rest afterward."
"What's in it for me?"
"I'll give you 20% of the loot. I'll give it to you as soon as we cleared a floor."
"25%."
"19%. Take it or leave it."
"Right. I knew it. 19% it is."
Xvin reached out his hand again for another deal. Kane grabbed it once again.
"I just need one more thing."
"What about it?"
"1000 Golds. I want it."
"Why 1000 Golds? If you want some equipment, then just ask for some equipment I'll provide it."
"Then give me some equipment plus 1000 Golds."
"Pick one, or let's just forget this conversation."
"Weird. Why are you hell-bent on 1000 Golds? That was just the same price as Fast Travelling back to Herald City."
"..."
'Fuck.'
Kane was suddenly quiet. He just smiled and then shook Xvin's hand
"That's a deal, Kane. Alright, Let's go!"
"Go? Wait? You mean now? We just barely survived that intense battle! Can't we just rest! I'm even hungry in the real world! I need to log out!"
"If you log out inside a Red Portal, you'll be back to the 1st Floor. You have to clear the other room to save your progress and log out. Well, it's up to you. I'm not gonna force you."
Xvin walked forward and entered the Portal. All of the other survivors were all exhausted, but they followed Xvin without hesitation.
'Ah, fuck. I wanna eat my expired foods!'
With no other choice, Kane followed the group. He felt uneasy as not only that he doesn't know them, but this was the first time that Kane walked with a group of people. Little did he know that he would discover something that no other player had discovered.
[You cleared Wallace Tower Floor X]
[You entered a new area – Wallace Tower Floor 31]