Two modes existed in Arcadia. They were the Adventure mode and Commercial mode.
Adventure mode was the standard format in which people would play Arcadia for the sole purpose of leveling up. It was the same mode that Kane was in.
On the other hand, the Commerical mode was for celebrities, athletes, and other entertainment modes. The players could interchange their modes from time to time.
The Commerical mode could be accessed by heading to a portal inside a futuristic high-rise neon-colored hotel called Neon Hotel. This hotel could be spotted almost everywhere around Arcadia. An example of people using this mode would be the baseball players that Kane fought that caused his dismissal from his convenience store work.
The Neon Republic.
It was a map that was entirely made for entertainment purposes. Fighting inside was heavily banned except for some sports. Players were also required to use a VR Capsule for them to enter this place.
In this paradise, the players' stats were useless as they would be locked to a value of X. That value highly depended on a player's personal stature and achievements in the real world. A strong person in real life like Kane would have higher stats in the Neon Republic.
As it required people to be strong in real life, unlike the standard Adventure mode that relied on unrealistic stats, only a few people played this mode. But for people who had the right amount of privileges and do not want to grind levels, then the Neon Republic was the place for them. However, there were also these rumors that shady celebrity politics were occurring inside the Neon Republic.
While the Commercial Mode only took place in the massive continent of Neon Republic, the rest of Arcadia's immense world was under the Adventure mode. This mode doesn't require people to play with VR Capsule. Players could play on mobile phones, consoles, PCs, and VR sets with very limited moves and many other disadvantages.
The Adventure mode also allowed players, who are weak in real life, rise up to the top in Arcadia by arduous work.
People usually go back and forth with these two modes. Some people managed to get famous in the Neon Republic but got caught up in some issues that they switched back to Adventure mode. While some people found it too hard to grind in Adventure mode and switched to Commercial mode and got unexpected success.
This information was mentioned at the very start of the game and even in the registration form online. But the very ignorant and uninterested Kane dismissed all that information just to quickly find the Moonwrath armor.
Unfortunately, the very first quest that would start the Adventure mode was to save Maria. Players that spawn and left the Garrison would quickly bump into Maria to initiate the quest. However, Kane's stubbornness bypassed that and failed the quest despite him defeating the thugs.
Since he failed the quest, the other succeeding quests related to Maria and the rest of the Herald City quests didn't activate.
Even if the players got defeated by the thugs, Maria would intervene and pull the players toward safety to give the next instructions. However, who would've thought that some asshole would literally push the very first quest giver away to the thugs who were chasing her. Because of that, Kane failed the quest.
The developers did create several contingency plans if some unexpected things happened that a player bypassed Maria's starting mission. There were many things that a player could encounter that would prompt Maria's succeeding missions.
However, how could Kane activate them when he left the Herald City.
The developers also made plans to prevent players from leaving the Herald City. To leave the Tutorial Island, players have to finish the questline that started with Maria. Since there were no trains, no planes, and no flying and teleporting skills available in Herald City, no one could leave the Herald City except for finishing the quest. Even if the players tried to swim, they would be killed by the level 300 Heraldian Horrors. However, Kane unknowingly bypassed everything again.
But now, he was here! He was back! He was back and well prepared to make things right! Kane was now ready to start playing Arcadia properly!
As soon as he spawned in the Herald City Square, Kane looked around with hopeful eyes filled with determination. The semi-naked Kane stood up in the middle of the square for a few minutes.
He was no longer a newbie since he had many death-defying experiences that no other Player experienced! It was the start of his masterplan! He stood up there and... and...
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!! I'VE BEEN WAITING HERE SINCE FOREVER! WHY THE FUCK THERE WAS STILL NO QUEST?! STUPID DEVELOPERS! CALL MARIA AGAIN!"
Uhhh... Maybe he was not well prepared at all. The hooligan continued shouting in the Town Square like a madman that people started avoiding him. The other players fast traveling in the square were creeped out at the sight of a half-naked man shouting in broad daylight.
"Who's that guy?"
"A newbie? But why doesn't he have clothes? Even new players had default clothes on."
"What's he saying? No, quest? I don't understand there's a lot of quests here."
"Look at him. He's cursing the developers. What a dumbass."
"Is that an NPC? He looked like he's preaching since he's in the middle of the Town Square and shouting things."
A group of players approached the madman.
"Hey, I thought you're an NPC or something."
"Why would you say that? I'm clearly a paragon! See!"
Kane pointed at the green-colored name above his head.
"Alright, alright. So, you're Kane250?"
The hooligan suddenly stopped shouting.
'Shit! I forgot! I'm wanted in this area!'
The lunatic suddenly turned around and ran away.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!! Why did I use my real name in this shitty game!?"
The man who asked him had a confused face as he looked at his fellow party members.
"Uhhh, so Kane was also his name in real life?"
***
After running for quite some time, Kane unknowingly reached the marketplace of Herald City.
"Oh, yeah. I still have the materials that I looted from Axel Tower. I better sell all of them."
This was it! Unlike other players, Kane had exotic materials that weren't available in Herald City. With this, he would be rich in no time!
Kane approached the lady inside the store and asked her for trade.
"What's with this? We're not buying this."
"W-what?! Look at them! Can't you see it! They're expensive items from Miranda Kingdom!"
"That's why we don't buy it. Sell it to the merchants in the Miranda Kingdom instead!"
"W-what?!?!"
This was another anti-exploit method that Arcanos made to prevent people from exploiting resources from other high leveled players. During Arcadia's early release, other users who left Herald City provided many items to their newbie friends so they could sell it and become rich. Thus, many people left the Herald City with ease since they were equipped with these overpowered weapons.
With the newer system that the developers created, even the more advanced players would have to go back to Herald City to grind materials to give it to their friends. But because of this system, Kane messed up.
"AAAAAHHHH!! FUCK THIS SHIT! I'M STUCKED AGAIN!!"
A player who was buying beside him was creeped out. He was a red-haired young man wearing a grey armor. He had a handsome face that people could mistake him as a prince about to save a princess on top of a Tower.
The man got creeped out of Kane that he slowly stepped away and bumped into another player.
"Ouch!"
Since the other player was a small and young pink-haired woman wearing a white dress and staff, a small bump like that would push her to the ground. But the young man grabbed her and prevented her from falling like a scene from a romantic novel.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to push you!"
"Yeah. I know. Be careful, I heard there was a lot of crazy new players right now. I heard there was also another naked guy screaming at the Town Square."
Kane heard them and glared at them. Both players got scared and slowly turned around and walked away, but they misunderstood him as Kane was actually interested in their rumors.
'What? Did she just say there was another guy like me? Or was that me?'
Kane continued walking around, trying to sell his materials, but no one was fucking buying it! He had enough!
"Wait a minute... why am I trying to find a quest? I do have a quest."
Kane opened up his quest box and found that he had two ongoing quests.
[Quest: Master your abilities as a Doppelganger (S)]
[Eat Souls: 87/100]
[Eat Captain Souls: 5/5]
[Eat Boss Souls: 2/5]
[Assimilate Souls: 1/5]
[Defeat opponents while using Metamorphosis: 0/100]
[Time Limit: None]
[Penalty if not resolved: None]
[Reward if resolved: Class Upgrade]
[Quest: Mavencrown Brothers (S)]
Listen to Axel Mavencrown (Resolved)
Eat Axel Mavencrown's Soul (Resolved)
Eat Valian Mavencrown's Soul
Eat Jacob Mavencrown's Soul
Eat Arthur Mavencrown's Soul
Eat Wallace Mavencrown's Soul
[Time Limit: None]
[Penalty if not resolved: Unknown]
[Reward if resolved: Axel's Final Will]
"What's with these quests? The rewards are not clear with unknown penalties. And a difficulty of S? You gotta be kidding me."
While looking through, Kane suddenly felt bad upon seeing the mission about eating Axel's soul. Suddenly, he heard some woman screaming.
"Oh! I know that voice!"
Kane closed the floating boxes on his screen and proceeded to follow the screams. He went through a couple of alleys because Kane still wasn't familiar in Herald City, unlike Miranda Kingdom.
Eventually, he found where the screams came from and saw that it came from a woman facing some thugs. Guards might've been blocking his way, but Kane's eyes still widened as he recognized what was happening.
"Wait! That woman was Maria! And that... that was the tutorial quest! Alright! Here I go!"
Kane tried to pass through the guards.
BAM!
But he was pushed back to the ground by the guards.
[You received 20 damage]
"Hey! Why did you push me! That fucking damaged me! You have to pay for that! Let me through! A woman is fighting over there!"
BAM!
[You received 20 damage]
The guards were unfazed by the stupid looking Paragon in front of them.
"Stop trying to intervene. There was already a Paragon fighting in there. We can't afford two paragons fighting in one place. It will be a mess if that happens."
Kane stood up and was about to fight the guards, but he resisted the temptation. He chuckled and then softly tapped the guard's metal armor.
"At least you recognized me as a Paragon. Fine. I'll forgive you."
Seeing that he can't go to the other side, Kane decided to spectate instead.
'This is probably a way that the devs created to protect the newbies from getting their first quest ruined by other people.'
The fight finally started.
PAK!
The green-haired newbie was immediately hit in the face. It was a hard blow that it made a smacking sound. Kane saw it and couldn't stop laughing.
"Hahahaha! Dumbass newbie! Getting punched in the face like that when he's just dealing with level 1. Pathetic. And what's with that stupid green hair."
It was so long that Kane might've forgotten how stupid he was when he faced the same thugs.
The green-haired boy was pushed back, and the thug continued running forward to punch him in the face. Kane's words were not heard due to being far, but he still kept on coaching.
"Come on! Dodge it!"
PAK!
The green-haired dude blocked it with his hands. Since his level was still low, he was damaged and pushed back once again.
"Ahhh, you stupid shit! I told you to dodge it! You're just level 1, you'll get damaged! OMG, I remembered when I also defeated those guys. It was very easy."
The two guards blocking his way were annoyed that he kept on talking to them when they weren't even interested.
The fight continued with one thug punching the green-haired guy in the face. But the guy evaded to the left and swept the thug's legs.
KAPOW!
After falling, the Paragon stomped the guy's face, knocking him out. That move astonished Kane. The green-haired players confidently faced the two remaining thugs.
"So, getting hit in the face and blocking it will damage me. I guess I need to dodge everything. Come! Let's finish this faster!"
"You cocky brat!"
The thugs jumped toward the arrogant Paragon. The green-haired dude dashed forward and faced the two remaining thugs. Meanwhile, the other arrogant half-naked Paragon, who was spectating, suddenly shouted.
"OH, NO!! THAT OTHER THUG IS A CAPTAIN!! HE HAD LARGER HEALTH AND DAMAGE!!"
One of the guards in front of Kane finally spoke.
"Sir, do yourself a favor, stop talking! He can't hear you anyway."
"Oh, my. Poor dude. He's gonna lose in his first quest. Well, I heard Maria's gonna step in anyway."
The player dodged the first thug's attack and went straight at the stronger thug. That thug tried to punch the Paragon, but the Paragon tried to trip his legs. The thug knew his attack pattern after seeing how his companion lost.
The stronger thug hardened his legs to take the damage, but it would prevent him from falling. Suddenly, the Paragon changed his attack and kicked the thug in the face.
POW!
[Critical Hit]
The second thug was pushed back. The weaker thug came from behind the Paragon, but the player jumped upward and did a roundhouse kick on the face of the weaker thug, pinning him on the ground.
KAPOW!
The Paragon dashed forward and pretended to kick the thug in the face. Because of that, the thug was prompted to stand faster. The Paragon used the thug's momentum to grab him and pushed him toward the stronger thug while standing. Upon shoving, both of the thugs fell to the ground. The green-haired dude leaped in the sky and stomped both of them in the face.
[Critical Hit!]
[Quest Completed]
Kane was flabbergasted that his jaw dropped open. One of the guards saw him.
"What's with that face? You didn't think he'd win, right?"
"What are you talking about? Look at that guy! He's obviously a cheater. Look at all those critical hits!! When I'm attacking, I barely have critical hits, but this brat critically hit two people at once!"
At that point, Kane saw Maria approached the green-haired guy, and they conversed. She also gave him some items, probably the rewards. Kane saw it and tried to come to them to receive his quest.
BAM!
But he was pushed back by the guards.
[Critical Hit]
[You received 40 Damage]
"Hey! What the hell was that? You critically attacked me!"
"No, we just pushed you, maybe you're just weak. Are you really a Paragon, sir?"
"Wait! Arrest that cheater! And I need to hear what they are talking!"
"No, sir. Let him handle it by himself!"
"AAAAAHHHHHH!! FUCK YOU, YOU'RE JUST AN NPC!!"
Kane kicked the guard in the face that a health bar appeared on top of their heads.
Herald City Guard Lvl 50
HP: [?/?]
"What the hell? You're level 50?"
[You hit a city guard. Your reputation in Herald City is decreased by 50]
[Your reputation in Herald City has reached 0]
[You will now be attacked by City Guards]
"Huh?!"
Kane turned around and started running, but he noticed that he was running a bit slower. He looked at his status box.
[Status: Fractured]
"What?! Those stupid attacks fractured me!"
It seemed Kane also forgot he was back to level 1. Seeing that he couldn't run, Kane had to think of something to defeat the guards. He took a peek behind only to see a blade dropping on his head.
SLASH!
"Uaack!"
[You died.]
[You dropped your items on the ground.]
[Your reputation on Herald City has reached 0.]
[You are no longer allowed to enter the city.]
[If you tried to enter, the guards would attack you on sight.]
[All your accessible waypoints inside the said location are gone.]
[Waypoints have been found near the area.]
[Do you want to spawn at Herald City Outskirts? – YES OR NO]
[YES]
Kane spawned at a small shrine with a statue just outside the city.
"FUCKKKKKK YOOOOUUUUUU!!"
After that, Kane started scratching his head once again. This time, he dropped to the ground and also started banging his head.
[You received 1 damage]
[You received 1 damage]
[You received 1 damage]
[You received 1 damage]
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! FUCK!! IT WON'T EVEN LET ME SUICIDE IN PEACE!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaa!!"
A woman screamed as she was tripped by Kane, who was blocking the road.
[You received 10 damage]
"Ah, Shit! Even you, who just bumped at me, got more damage on me than myself!?!?"
Kane grabbed the woman's collar, but both of them were surprised upon seeing each other.
"Wait a minute. Are you one of the Marias? Where's my que—"
PAK!
Maria slapped him in the face and continued running away. The poor Paragon tried to curse at Maria only to stop seeing a bruise on her right shoulder.
"That bruise and it seemed that... SHE FUCKING RECOGNIZED ME."
Kane stood up and quickly chased Maria as it was the same Maria that Kane met during his first day at Arcadia.