Chapter 16

  Ben took off the VR helmet and stared up at the ceiling. He took a moment to enjoy the peace and quiet of his room. His old room and his old life with no monsters roaming outside.

  He got up and stretched. Despite being immobile for a few hours, his body fell good, like he had just done a long workout. He was sweating more than what a few hours of laying down should have produced.

  Ben was used to this from his last life. In the coming months, studies would be done on the effect of Eternity on the human mind and body, but those studies weren’t needed because the changes became obvious.

  Those that played Eternity displayed remarkable bodily and mental improvements. Over time, people lost weight, gained muscle, and reported feeling the best they had in their lives.

  The Beta players didn’t play long enough for the effects to become too obvious. In the year before the game merged into real life, the effects became undeniable.

  Not only did playing the game have beneficial effects on the body, it also improved a player’s memory, and skills.

  Skills they gained in game would translate to real life skills. This resulted in players becoming experts with their chosen weapon, and an improvement in general combat skills.

  The game was manipulating their brain while they played. It also regulated their bodily functions and muscles to strengthen them.

  By the time regulations were passed to limit such intrusions, the apocalypse descended.

  Ben headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower and clean up. He then headed down to the kitchen to make a quick meal. His mother was washing the dishes.

  “You didn’t go to work today,” she said.

  Ben headed to the freezer and took out one of many instant meals. It was frozen chicken and vegetables. As simple as possible.

  “I did not,” Ben said.

  His mother looked at him suspiciously.

  “May I ask why? Tell me you didn’t take time off of work to play that new game,” she said.

  Ben put his meal in the microwave, set the timer, and turned it on.

  “I did,” Ben said.

  Ben replied shortly because he already could predict what his mother was going to say. She sighed.

  “Your father is not going to be happy about this. He is already running out of patience with you as it is.”

  “I know,” Ben said.

  His mother looked at him with concern.

  “You know he only cares about your future. Have you thought about going back to school?”

  Ben’s mother spoke gently, a stark contract to his father.

  “I just need a break for a while. I saved up some money. I am going to take some time off. A year at most,” Ben explained.

  The woman’s eyes widened.

  “A year so you can play that game all day?”

  Ben nodded. His mother’s face seemed pale. She scanned her son’s demeanor. He seemed unusually calm. He had to know the consequences. His father would be furious.

  However, she did notice Ben’s personality changes in the last year. Ben held a certain maturity and confidence that was impossible to ignore. She nodded.

  “Ok, I’ll talk to him and see if I can cool him down before the big talk. Just, expect to start paying rent soon,” his mother said.

  Ben nodded.

  “I am,” he said.

  His mother looked towards him with a warm gaze.

  “How are you doing?”

  He knew why she was asking that question. She asked him often. Up until a year ago, he had been drifting through life. He often used videogames as an escape. Now he was going to dedicate an entire year to videogames. It was certainly cause for concern. Ben took some time before answering that question.

  He wasn’t ok. He felt like he had that weight of the world on his shoulders. If he didn’t succeed, everything he knew would be wiped away by the coming apocalypse. He had thrown himself into work, church, and now the game, to cope.

  Ben took his food out of the microwave and sat at the table to eat. His mother joined him.

  “I’m surviving,” he said.

  His mother nodded.

  “Tell me more,” she said.

  Him and his mother engaged in much more casual conversation during the meal. He didn’t reveal anything about the apocalypse, or his past life, but he did tell her enough to allow her to be a comfort to him. It was nice to be able to have peaceful conversations with his mother before the apocalypse descended.

  When Ben logged back into the game, Eve was waiting patiently for him across the restaurant table.

  “Welcome back,” she texted.

  Ben was thrown off from a brief moment by the greeting. It was a strange feeling to be welcomed back to the game upon logging in. It was a sense of companionship that he wasn’t used to, not even from his last life.

  He brushed off the feeling and smiled politely towards Eve while rising from his seat.

  “Thanks, um…you too. Ready to go?” he asked.

  She nodded, rose from her seat and moved next to him.

  “Should I drink a stamina regeneration potion?” She texted.

  Ben got her meaning. He chuckled and nodded.

  “Probably a good idea,” he said.

  A moment later, Ben and Eve were sprinting through the town. This time, he slowed down just enough for her to keep pace. Eve didn’t type anything but she was internally grateful.

  Their attention was suddenly brought to a global system notification. This wasn’t the type of notification that Ben could dismiss. It looked completely different from others. He wouldn’t dismiss it even if he could. It was too important.

  [Hiroshi and their party from Zone 2, within the Japanese Server, are the first to defeat the Level 5 Kobold Dungeon Boss. They will receive the following reward. 100 Gold coins. 1 Gold Chest, 1 Gold key, and 50,000 experience point]

  Ben narrowed his eyes at the notification. The other regions were moving fast. To be expected since Ben took a 30 minute break. Ben picked up his pace. He ended up pulling ahead of Eve again, but not so much that he left her line of sight. Eve sighed. It seemed she would just have to get used to it. It was obvious how important the race was to him.

  They arrived at the blacksmith quickly. The blacksmith grew a big smile when Ben approached.

  “Ah, right on time. I just finished it. I must say, this is one fine weapon. When you don’t need it, maybe you could consider selling it to me. This is some of my best work,” the blacksmith said.

  Ben nodded and took the halbert excitedly.

  He inspected it right away.

  [Level 7 Halberd: Kesh’s Dragon Bite]

  [Rarity: Rare]

  [Quality: Masterwork]

  [Effect: Attacks deal double bonus fire damage]

  [Effect: 20% Lifesteal]

  [Masterwork ability Unlocked: Spiritual Extension]

  Ben marveled at the halberd. It was now masterwork quality, the highest possible quality.

  The quality of weapons ranged from Common to Masterwork. Most weapons had Common quality which could be enhanced at a blacksmith with enhancement stones. The higher the quality, the more enhancement stones were needed.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Getting a weapon to Masterwork quality was exceedingly expensive. Most people never bothered getting their weapons to masterwork, given the cost. Those who did, only did so for higher level weapons so the weapon could be used for as long as possible.

  Those who were willing to spend real money had a huge leg up on the competition because they could afford to spend an exorbitant amount of money on upgrades to their gear. The Beta players also started with this advantage, given that they received a starting bonus for having played in the beta.

  Now Ben wasn’t so far behind them, all thanks to his racing achievements which gave him a windfall of gold. Killing the Dire Bear Regional boss and clearing the lizardman dungeon also gave him enough enhancement stones for his project. The strong got stronger, the weak got weaker.

  Ben held his halberd in front of himself horizontally and activated the new ability that masterwork unlocked, Spiritual Extension.

  A translucent, dark blue copy of the halberd extended from the tip of the weapon. It doubled the length of the weapon without changing its weight. Every part of the extension was as sharp as the edges of the halberd.

  This gave Ben enhanced aoe clearing potential, great for plowing through hordes of grouped-up mobs.

  The ability was a toggle that drained stamina. He could toggle it on and off with very little limitation. For extra stamina consumption, he could double the length of the spectral blade.

  With careful stamina usage, Ben could more effectively aid his summons and significantly enhance his clearing speed. This gave him something to do with his stamina in combat besides simply running, dodging, and blocking.

  Each of those actions consumed stamina, but it was relatively small compared to actually using stamina-based skills. Casting spells did not consume stamina, nor did moving at a modest pace. Since stamina regenerated constantly during combat, and their abilities and actions did not consume much stamina, it was easier for caster classes to manage their stamina. Often, their stamina was underused because they had no real use for it, during combat, because battles didn’t last long enough.

  If a mage blew up a room of enemies with a fireball, they would still have full stamina, as opposed to a warrior that had to use a stamina-based skill for their abilities.

  Even though Ben was a summoner, he didn’t plan to be so passive. At least, not yet. Eventually, his summons would become so monstrous that they would clear everything for him. Until then, he planned to join the fray. With the range advantage of the halberd, he could fight up close and personal with minimum cost to his personal safety.

  Ben dismissed the spiritual extension and looked back at Eve with a satisfied smile. Eve shook her head in exasperation, but maintained a playful attitude.

  “What?” He said.

  “Nothing,” she typed.

  Ben chuckled and led them out of the shop. With all their business done in town, Ben and Eve left.

  Eve was surprised that Ben didn’t immediately start sprinting. Instead, he shared his map with her. Eve looked at him curiously.

  “I want to briefly go over the plan I mapped out, no pun intended,” Ben said.

  Eve nodded and pulled up the map interface. It floated in front of her while she walked. She had long since adjusted the game interface to be more transparent so she could look at the interface and monitor her surroundings without issue.

  One of Ben’s purchases was a map of the region. It didn’t reveal any secret locations, but it did break the surrounding region down by level, general monster population, and known landmarks. As they explored, they could mark the dungeons and landmarks they found. They could even sell the information back to other players, which would modify that player’s map with the new information.

  Ben looked at the regional map thoughtfully.

  “Since a level 5 dungeon was just cleared, I think we should skip the next level 5 dungeon. That means other players in our region could potentially be doing that dungeon as we speak. I don’t want to have to compete for access to the dungeon. There is a second level 5 dungeon close to that region, the Level 5 Goblin dungeon. I think some high level groups may be at that one as well. Given this, I plan to skip straight to the level 7 Undead Crypt. No one should be high enough level to be confident in entering that region and doing that dungeon.”

  Eve noticed that Ben seemed to be thinking out loud rather than asking for her input. It was only when he looked at her expectantly that she realized that he was actually asking for her opinion. Eve blinked in surprise before looking at the map. She smiled inwardly.

  She typed a quick message.

  “That sounds good to me,” she said.

  Ben nodded.

  “Good, we just need to find the dungeon in that region,” he said.

  Ben was about to dismiss the map interface but he noticed a red dot suddenly appear on his map.

  “It’s there,” Eve typed.

  Ben looked at the map and then looked at Eve in surprise.

  “I thought so. You can see hidden things on the map, can’t you,” Ben said.

  Eve just now realized that Ben was actually testing her. She averted her gaze for a moment before nodding.

  “How?” He asked.

  Her ability was absolutely broken. He noticed it earlier but hadn't pressed the issue since she didn’t actually explain earlier. She seemed to be able to tell where hidden things were. He didn’t know if that extended to maps, but she just confirmed it.

  Eve bit into her bottom lip in thought before letting out a resolute breath. Ben received a notification.

  [Player Eve is inviting you to view her character sheet. Do you accept?]

  Ben was flabbergasted. It was one thing to be shown a player’s skill, level and name, it was an entirely different thing to be allowed to see someone’s entire character sheet. It revealed all secrets and potential advantages.

  Ben quickly shook his head.

  “Eve-” He began.

  He stopped when he saw Eve walking in front of him. She faced him with her hands on her hips. She pouted and stood in a way that showed just how resolute she was. She typed in a fluster.

  “I trust you. Plus, I can already see your character sheet. So this is just fair,” she typed.

  Ben froze.

  “W-what?”

  Eve retyped the message.

  “I can see your character sheet, which includes all your notifications. That is part of my hidden talent.”

  Ben stared at Eve with a stunned expression for a long while. He suddenly felt naked.

  Given his past betrayal, he was very guarded with his information. He even hid his information bar.

  Most people who looked at him would see a title that said “Lizardman Slayer.”

  This was not the default. The default setting was for a player’s level, name, and class to be revealed. However, a person could adjust the settings to only reveal certain information upon a glance. Ben chose to just reveal a basic title he had achieved.

  This was one of his notifications that he ignored from before. It was a very common title. Even casual players would have this title by now. A person got it after killing 10 lizardmen, or being in a party that killed 10 lizardmen. It gave a small damage buff to damage dealt to lizardmen.

  Only displaying his title was a way to ensure a better level of anonymity and privacy. As a person with deep trust issues, Ben valued his privacy. It reduced the chance for betrayal, and probably most importantly in the early game, it reduced his chance of being targeted.

  The higher Ben got on the rankings leaderboards, the bigger the target was on his back for not only guilds who would try to recruit him, but bad actors.

  Eve being able to see his entire character sheet and notifications seemed like a huge violation of his privacy. It was disarming.

  Eve picked up on how uncomfortable Ben was. She bit into her lip and typed rapidly.

  “I can’t help it. That’s just my ability. It’s called Eyes of Truth. I can see everything. Not just about you, but everyone. And I can see secrets on the map to a limited degree. That includes dungeon locations,” Eve texted.

  Ben took a moment to calm himself. He couldn’t blame her for having that ability. It was clearly just a feature of the game. He couldn’t deny how useful it was.

  “Well, I guess it would only be fair for me to see your character sheet as well,” Ben said.

  Eve smiled brightly.

  “Good,” she typed.

  Ben accepted the invitation to view her character sheet. He quickly read through her skills and abilities. Aside from her Soul Link Skill, she had the same spells and abilities as the standard cleric. He noticed that she had even gained a few new spells.

  At every 5 level interval, players received significant upgrades based on their class. For clerics, they primarily received upgrades to their spells. Each class also gained a class skill point. Class skill points could be used to upgrade various parts of a player’s class. It gave players the ability to customize their builds based on an extensive skill tree.

  There were many different options to choose from. Some focused on upgrading particular skills, like a Mage who chose to specialize in fire magic. Another mage could focus on illusion spells, or self enhancement. A warrior could focus on being a tank, or a two handed greatsword wielder, or even being a bow-wielding warrior. The system was very flexible.

  Early game choices would affect how a player’s class evolved and grew in the future.

  Eve used her class skill point to upgrade her Soul Link, which is why their experience was doubled. Ben certainly approved of Eve’s choice. It would make her a less effective support than a cleric that chose to upgrade their healing or buff spells, but it made her invaluable to him.

  Of course, with her powerful God-tier Soul Link ability, she wouldn’t actually be less effective than other support classes, but she would be a less powerful support compared to her own potential. Ben imagined that if she focused on enhancing her own healing and buffs, or maybe chose to enhance her Soul Link in a more combat-oriented way, she could become a sort of battlefield goddess that turned the tide of huge battles all by herself. Ben could see that she had a number of other options on her skill tree that she passed over. Instead of enhancing her combat support potential, she chose a progression upgrade, something that would be the most useful to his personal goals.

  Given how synergetic his summoning class was with her Soul Link, Ben didn’t need her to be a more effective combat support. He was already strong enough in combat. Other types of enhancements, like an experience buff, was exactly what he needed, especially in the early game where first-achiever rewards could skyrocket a player’s power and resources.

  Ben wondered in the back of his mind if she made that choice specifically to better compliment him, but he pushed that kind of thinking to the side. No way she would make such an important choice just for a person she just met. He shook his head from the distracting thought and moved on to the rest of her character sheet.

  Ben couldn’t help taking a look at her inventory as well.

  “You are a lot more organized than me,” Ben said.

  Eve smiled contently and swayed side to side while Ben inspected her. Ben noticed her sweet and subdued demeanor while she stood in front of him.

  He suddenly felt a different kind of discomfort. This felt…intimate. Too intimate. She was revealing all of herself to him, all her secrets. And she had plenty of secrets. The fact that she had a God-tier hidden class was a huge deal by itself. It would make her as much of a target as him. That kind of information often brought attention that was both good, and very bad. Despite that, she seemed to have no problem sharing that secret with him. The significance of that gesture wasn’t lost on him.

  She clearly knew the value of anonymity in the world of Eternity. She even hid her face, and she was probably intentionally hiding her voice.

  Maybe she was a famous person, like an actor or the daughter of a politician. Perhaps even a famous influencer. She certainly was pretty enough. Ben could tell even with her mask obscuring most of her face. Ben had his theories but he tried not to dwell on it.

  She was willing to open herself up to him in a way that she probably didn’t do for anyone else. That was a level of intimacy that Ben was trying to avoid in this life.

  Ben quickly dismissed her character sheet and glanced away awkwardly.

  “Yes, well, thanks. Now that I know exactly how all your abilities work, we should be able to work better as a team going forward,” he said.

  Ben was hoping that Eve wouldn’t pick up on the kinds of thoughts he had. Ben could tell by her body language that she probably had a good idea what he was thinking about.

  She looked away bashfully and returned to his side. To break the tension, Ben took out a stamina regeneration potion.

  Eve got the hint and also took out a Mid-Grade stamina regeneration potion. They chugged the potions and burst into a sprint soon after. The Level 7 Undead Crypt was several miles away from the village, since it was a higher level area. They ran at full speed so they didn’t have much ability to talk to each other.

  Ben was perfectly fine with that. He had a lot of feelings to sort through.