I decided to store the dagger I was holding inside my inventory, since walking around with a weapon swinging around didn't exactly make for a good first impression. Opening my System, I was already on the profile tab - the default page whenever you opened up your System. Beside my whole-body avatar on the left, was a list of what seed to be my stats on the right side of the hologram:
[STR: 0]
[AGI: 0]
[INT: 0]
[DEX: 0]
[MAG: 0]
[LUC: 0]
STR stood for strength, AGI stood for agility, INT stood for intelligence, DEX stood for dexterity, MAG stood for magic, and LUC stood for luck.
...Looks like I'm extrely weak, even in this ga.
For the most part, I was relieved to see that even though I had practically beco part of this new Reality Plane, I still kept my status as a player. I could still level up and spend stat points on those five categories to help myself get stronger, which will help against the enemies coming my way.
Compared to other players who aren't stuck in this ga-like world like I was, I also held an advantage - ti. All other players could only play for a certain amount of ti before having to log out due to real life responsibilities back in my old Reality Plane, Earth. I didn't believe that anyone could afford to just stay within the ga forever, after just one week since the ga's initial launch. I, however, could, without ever needing to exit.
Well...it's more like I can't exit, even if I wanted to.
In any case, I could take advantage of this extra ti I had to do things other players couldn't. For example, I had more ti to farm XP, so I could level up faster. This could enable to explore places with certain level restrictions before other people could, as they would have to reach the required level first. Unfortunately, since I didn't start playing this ga on launch, but rather a week after, I was already far behind so of the top players in terms of progress. I had to make full use of this extra ti I had to catch up to them, before the distance beca too large.
I clicked on the dagger in what I assud to be my primary weapon slot, and a weapon description screen popped up. It read:
[Na: Simple Dagger]
[Type: Weapon]
[ATK: 9]
[DUR: 100%]
ATK stood for attack, obviously. As for DUR...I assud it stood for durability, since 'duration' wouldn't make much sense.
I sighed. Though these stats disappointed , the reality was, I was only level 1 right now. I couldn't exactly complain much. I would have to farm so XP to quickly level up. But before that...there was sothing I needed to ascertain.
I pressed 'Store' beneath the dagger's stats, and a ssage popped on my screen. It said, 'Simple Dagger has been stored to your inventory.' Then, I switched to the inventory tab just to make sure it was there, and turns out, it was. Finally, I moved sowhere more isolated, and selected the special A.R.X.A. tab no other player had.
A robotic head appeared on my hologram. Her glowing blue eyes and illuminated mouth sprang to life in front of . Well... not exactly to 'life,' but I think you get what I an.
[...It has not even been ten minutes since we last spoke.] A.R.X.A. said.
"Hm? Really? It felt longer than that," I retorted. Of course, this was a lie. Really, all I had done since I last spoke with her was buy a dagger.
[...You would not contact without reason. What do you want, human?]
"There's just sothing I want to make sure," I said, my voice turning serious. "Firstly, despite having my connection to my old Reality Plane severed, I still retained my status as a 'player' of this 'ga'. This is true, correct?"
[Correct. You are currently sowhere between a player of this ga and an inhabitant of this Reality Plane.]
By the work of A.R.X.A., to the people of my old Reality Plane, this place was known as the ARMMORPG called 'Ascension: Online'. To the people living in this Reality Plane, this place was called 'ho'. But to ...it was both. Or perhaps should I say...neither?
"Right. I thought as much. But...there's just one thing I am concerned about."
[Speak.]
I took a deep breath. "...If I were to die here...would I be respawned, or just die forever?"
To be honest, I already had an answer in my heart, and I was 80% sure I was right - by asking A.R.X.A., I was just double-checking.
[You will be respawned, no matter how many tis you die. That is part of your status as a player.]
I let out a sigh of relief. My guess had been on the spot.
"I understand. Can I trust you not to lie to ?"
[Yes. If you do not believe , you can test it out yourself.]
"If you're lying, that would just be suicide, but sure," I said with a shrug. "I believe you."
[Is that all?]
I nodded. "That's all."
With that, I closed my System, and gazed up at the sky. The sun had set. The moon replaced it, and with it, countless stars illuminated the night.
I believed what A.R.X.A. had said. This was because it was on the mark with what I had guessed prior to her answering my question. From my understanding of her, she was using as a subject of entertainnt - she would never allow to die so easily. When we were talking before, she had said 'if you die, you die'. However, there was sothing else hidden in that sentence.
What she had really ant when she said that, was 'if you die, you die...but you will be respawned right after anyway.' That is not to say death wouldn't hurt - I had already experienced the great pain death in this ga brought, back when I jumped off that cliff. But still, I wouldn't really die.
Whether I liked it or not, I was important to A.R.X.A. If there was one thing that supercomputer despised, it was boredom. My existence kept her company - kept her entertained. I was certain that if she wanted to erase my status as a 'player', she could do so instantly. But she hadn't - precisely because she doesn't want to really die and disappear. Well... not yet, at least.
This 'ga' was just another Reality Plane under her control. If she wanted to make nothing more than a normal inhabitant of this reality, I could do nothing to fight back. In that case, if I were to die, I would die for good. However, by the sa token, if she wanted to keep as a player, no one could stop her either. I would be respawned infinitely.
A.R.X.A. wanted to see what I could do when t with challenges. Where's the fun in that, if I only had one life? One fail, and I was gone for good - she didn't want that, lest she be plagued with unending boredom.
With this, I've made sure of two things.
One, I didn't have to be afraid to take risks. Even if I died, I would be respawned, just like any other player. That was a big boon.
And two, I could trust A.R.X.A. to a certain extent. No doubt, she would purposely throw hindrances and traps my way just to see how I would overco them - it was all entertainnt for her, after all. However, at the sa ti, she would help at tis too - exactly like what happened just now.
She was both a powerful ally, and a dangerous enemy. I had to be very careful not to blindly fall into one side too much.
With all this new information acquired, I headed for the gate of Xiyang village.
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