Chapter 2: Ordinary day, unordinary job
I step into home, groceries in hand. I never needed much anyway. A few liters of water, a bunch of canned goods, maybe bread on some occasions. Living alone has it's own luxuries but for most, it also has it's disadvantages.
I log onto my computer and start up the game. Here in Farland Kingdoms, we tend to use "special animations" to aid with our work as game testers. We tend to use them extensively as well.
"Well, if it isn't Marshall. What took you so long?!"
This is Brett, username: GengPah, and he's my best friend since 3rd grade. We've never met in person but we have been playing together for a long time.
"Groceries took longer than expected. I forgot about the butter. Guess it must've slipped my mind."
"Quit your puns! It's not funny M."
"Haha! I know you love me."
"Shut up! You're late for the club meeting. You better hurry on in before the captain gets mad."
Oooh, the captain, she's one thing. She's too fierce for a woman. sometimes, I wonder if she really is as old as she is. After all, with a personality like hers, it's impossible to ever doubt her words.
And speaking of the captain...
"Why are you late again!?"
"Sheesh, don't scold me so directly, I just forgot about the butter in my groceries! It must've-"
"Slipped your mind, I get that. Now get a move on! There's a new feature the Devs want us to test here. It's an update for next year but they said they needed a few test runs lately. "
"Sounds like a job I can't handle."
"Marshall, we haven't decided yet on who's going."
This is John, username: GenMercen, and he's also a club member.
"I know, but I'm still running a few tests on the beta version on this weird game. It's on mobile thus, I can't be here in person."
"So stubborn. What's the name?"
And this would be Cade, username: CaDeN, and the youngest member of the group. He joined us two years ago and now, he's 18.
"Minecraft...?"
"That?! Dude! I heard they are only sending it to volunteers! Seriously! how hooked up are you on that game?"
"I've been playing this for a long time John, I can't exactly just give up on it. I promised myself to do one beta test run for every Beta update."
"Fine, we'll let that slide. How much longer until you finish?" The captain asks.
"In a while. I'm nearly through."
"Good, I will be needing your assistance in the Beta Program on this game's updates. Cade, John, you two are coming with me."
"You got it Captain."
"How about Brett?"
"He'll have to stay here to keep the club active. He can wait for Diane and Geoff to come over."
I hear an exasperated sigh outside with a few curses and an occasional "yet again" or "as expected" from Brett.
"I can hear you!"
I hear muffled "whatever" from the outside.
"Nevermind him. The testing starts in 5 hours, I've sent you emails with links to the download site. Start your preparations now."
"Understood." John says before logging out. Cade, however, just leaves without another word.
"Marshall, I'll meet you there."
"Okay." and with that, she too logs out.
I decide to move over to Brett's spot. "Hey man. Back on quest board duty?"
"Guess so." he sighs again. "You know how Diane can be a pain in the ass sometimes."
"I get it, you don't like how she acts sometimes. It can't be helped. I mean, she is the captain's younger sister."
"As if the captain sounds any younger than 20, is she really 26?"
"Yeah, guess so. I mean, I'm 28, nearly 29 now."
"And I'm the same. sucks to still be single. Who's gonna marry a geek like me anyway?"
"Do you ever exercise?"
"Yeah, I do. Say, why don't we take the weekend off and finally meet up in person?"
"You sure that's fine?"
"Yeah, I mean, you're only doing preps tomorrow and After that, there's the weekend. Don't tell me you plan on spending you entire weekend working."
"Okay, sure. I guess I'm not a hermit to say no to public meet ups. What's the plan?"
"I'll send you a message tomorrow. Looks like Geoff is here."
"I see. Well then, I'll be taking my leave. A few more features need testing and I need to start installing that Beta app."
"Sure man, just keep me posted."
I logged out after that.
Checking the emails, I found one from the captain and opened the link in it. I then begin downloading the file and installing it. "Guess the Installation takes a few hours."
I let out a sigh, before leaning back onto my chair. I placed the phone down and decided to take my Beta testing more seriously. So I jumped into the game.
***
Guess it must've taken longer than I expected. I have to consider the in-game time compared to the real-time. Immersion can be very tiring since Game time tends to run faster than real-time.
As I stepped out, the app had just finished installing and is now just finishing up. I quickly click to finish program and start it up. Unusually, the app is named differently. It wasn't long before the name "Hero's Oath: New Kingdom" appeared. I then called the captain on her mobile. After three rings, she didn't respond. "She's already inside."
I quickly log on and finished my profile. As per usual, the Terms and Conditions came next so I had to scan it.
"Hmm... Registered.. Liabilities... Held in court... And what's this? Not allowed to leave once the program starts? Even dated for Monday. Looks like preps are all we are doing today." I accepted them and logged on. As soon as it opened, I was welcomed to a lobby with about 5 other players. The captain was among them.
"Thought you'd be late again M."
"Nah, the test I ran is finished, I sent them the email with various results and decided to play a bit before popping out. Anyway, what's with the unusual Terms and Conditions at the bottom? Did you notice that?"
"Yeah, that was unusual. Fortunately, were here to get familiar with the program. Textures, map type, weather conditions, pve, pvp, as well as items and rewards. There are rooms available here for each feature."
"I see. Well, guess it's time to start familiarizing. Have you started yet?"
"Nope, just got here. You can go on ahead, I'll wait for John."
"Sure. See ya."
"Wait, why haven't you jumped in?"
"Double feature test."
"That shit you keep going on about. Guess I can't blame you then."
I let out a chuckle and start walking into the first room.
That's the captain. Her name is Claire, username: AlpineCommando, and she is 26, a few years under me, and has been a gamer since she was young. Brett lives in the next town while John is in another city altogether but me and Claire have been in the same town for the last 7 years but haven't bumped into each other yet. I guess that's because I'm a shut-in.
Room after room, I test the features of the game and closely observe the smaller details. I noticed something in common with all the rooms: a very small timer at the top left corner upon entering. At first, I thought that it was a timer for how long we get to stay in a room but as I kept seeing it, it kept the same time and kept ticking even when I am outside the rooms. After observing the rooms and features, I had stepped back into the lobby. Unfortunately, to my surprise, when I checked again, the timer still kept running without stop. Then, I noticed that the lobby was a floating room, separated from the other rooms by a pixel. I decided it was time to jump in the game.
By this time, the timer had only a few seconds left and I saw John and Claire start walking in. Then, I realize what was happening and quickly drag them in by their hands. before they could enter the hallway. right as they landed on the floor with me, the entire hallway fell, along with all the rooms. Along with us in the lobby were a few players who decided it was either boring to go into the hallway or that the rooms were boring so they returned.
"Greetings! All of you participants have jumped into the game and have accepted the Terms and Conditions of this program. Today will be the test run of your skills and abilities. In order to leave, you must pass each test held in the room you are assigned to. I must tell you, although you couldn't truly die here yet, the pain is real. So I suggest not to hurt each other too much."
A voice had greeted us from somewhere. He sounded like he knew what was going on and was in control of whatever is happening.
"Now, I would like to acknowledge a special player for being the only player to notice the timer hidden in each room. In each room, there is a timer hidden at the top left corner and it is quite minute. Now, Marshall Madden, please step forward."
As he said that, a circle appeared on the floor.
"You want me to step in there?" I ask the voice and it kept silent.
"Okay, guess I will."
As I did, the circle glowed green and three other circles appeared next to it.
"Now, since you accomplished this task, and there are twelve of you in the lobby, you get the privilege of selecting three players to accompany you as you go through the rooms."
"Three? Hmm."
"Yes, three."
"I see. AlpineCommando and GenMercen."
Their names lit green and they stepped into a circle each.
"One more please."
I scanned the room for anyone and among the various names and players remaining, one stood out. I had a feeling about this person but I wasn't sure if it was bad or good.
"CasualGamerZOnline."
"Very well, the remaining players will now be designated to their own teams. Those who had failed to escape the trap have felt what death felt like and have a timer before they respawn. They will be entering the rooms in either pairs of two, groups of three, or on solo. Good luck players. Those who make it through can return, those who die must resume with all the rooms. There is also a timer. Every 30 minutes in real-time, the rooms reset orders and reset means everyone dies and starts over so please, I suggest you start as soon as possible."
We waited for more but the voice didn't return.
"What kind of sick joke is this? Placing us in a situation like this. I might as well leave." Claire was the first to complain.
"Uh, captain, we seem to have a problem." John chimes up.
"What is it?"
"I can't jump out."
"What?!" Captain tries to leave too but to no avail. "Shit!"
"You guys seem to k ow each other pretty well." The weird guy chimes up. Something about his deep voice tells them he's probably older.
"Sir, um, pardon us asking but, we would like your cooperation on this. What do you think is the best option right now?"
"Your asking me?"
"Yes mister CasuaGa-"
"Don't bother. Call me Migs. That's my nick name. as for mister, please, just Migs. I'm only 21."
The lobby is silent.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Uh, no. We just assumed you were someone older."
"Why is- oh, my voice? It's a long story. Now, I think it's best if I learn your names too so we can get started."
"Well, my name is Claire, this guy here is John and then there's Marshall."
"Marshall? Let me guess, the last name isn't Madden."
"Well, it's both yes and no."
"Whatever, the first thing we should test is whether we can move onto the next room when a teammate dies in the previous room."
"How do you plan on doing this?"
"Just get into the first room. The doors are open now and there's a portal in it. My guess, we have a different set of rooms for each team but we can all meet up at a certain room if our paths cross."
"Wise choice. Let's go." The captain ushers us into the first room and the first room was a small storage room.
"Okay, captain, what next?" John asks.
"Kill me." Migs interrupts.
"What?"
"Kill me. You guys jumped in right? Kill me. I'm not repeating myself."
"Why would we do that?"
"I'll explain later. Just do it now."
"Fine." John prepares his fists but I was quicker and grabbed a sword from a rack nearby and cut his head off.
"Dude!" John says, pointing at the now headless corpse of a player. Unexpectedly, it simply flopped down lifelessly, it didn't disappear.
"Odd."
"Well," Claire starts, "we're not in the lobby so to see if he's coming back in the next room or respawning in a certain allowed time is a major risk so 've we can't gamble time here."
"I see, what do you think is the mission in this room?" John asks. And as he finishes, a screen shows up in our faces.
"Mission: Find an artifact to place on the four pedestals to open the door to the next room."
I approached the pedestals and there were things written on them. It was in-game writings written in English so we couldn't understand the letters. There were four chests and four pedestals.
"We should've killed him later." John complains.
"Quick, Inventory."
I found a screen open up and I saw the items I had. Among them were four books and one of them was purple. The books all read differently but I decided to use one.
"What do you wish to learn?" a voice rang in my head before four options showed up in a screen. The choices were; Speech, Battle, Spells, and Craftsmanship. I chose Speech and suddenly I could read the letters. The other two books were also [Basic Skill Book(s)] of silver rarity and the last one, a purple book of gold rarity was a [Wish] book. I read the description: grants one wish (item type not exceeding silver rarity) to player. (item limit: weapons - 1, books - 3, potions - 4, and misc. - 2)
Silver rarity meant basic. This is the lowest tier of weapons and artifacts thus it didn't hold much. I used the book and it opened, handing out a list of items for me to select from.
[Category: Weapon; Book; Potions; Misc]
I selected [Book] and three slots opened. I looked for one more [Basic Skill Book] before selecting an [Attack Spell] book and a [Defensive Spell] book.
Only one category I guess.
I sealed the book and obtained the [Basic Skill] book along with the [Attack Spell] and [Defensive Spell] books. Then I noticed that the purple book had a health bar underneath it. It's health was now [2/3]
Guess it has 3 uses.
I quickly learned all basic skills and began learning how to understand the room. I've spent about 10 minutes standing idly as my teammates were searching through the room.
"I found it!" John says, holding up a red book. "At least i hope its an artifact."
"Inventory guys! I need you to check this quickly!"
"What's in it?" Claire asks before opening hers. "Books?"
"Yes three [Basic Skill] books. The brown ones. Use one and select the first option."
"Ah, I see. I can read the items now."
"Read?" John asks before opening his inventory. He follows suit and soon can read the item names and the labels on the pedestals. "I have it! I did find it! The [Dark Magic] book! It really is an artifact!"
I glanced at the sword that I had last picked up and saw the label was [Dragon Sword] (artifact). I checked the three remaining pedestals and all I read was [artifact pedestal].
Looks like we can find more than one artifact here.
After another 10 minutes, we had found six artifacts and only required four so we decided to move onto the next room. I stayed behind and decided to try and bring the remaining two artifacts with me. The [Wind Bow] (artifact) and the [Dragon Sword] (artifact). Then it occurred to me, what if I removed an artifact from a pedestal? They were all in the next room anyway so I guess I can always place them back down to reopen the door.
I picked up the [Dark Magic] (artifact) from a pedestal and waited. To my surprise, the door didn't close.
"Guess it's worth the shot."
Moments later, I arrived in the next room Migs was there and according to him, there is a time penalty of four minutes before respawn but respawn was only free for 3 so he had to wait till we were in the next room.
"What do you mean by "free for 3"?"
"To put it simply, we all have 3 respawn options available. I have spent one already."
"So that's for each of us?"
"No, it's per group. I've also read the penalty, after the three respawns, either the remaining members leave with the dead ones left to start over or everyone respawn back in the lobby."
"That's gonna be a major risk so good luck guys."
"Down to two." Claire says. "No more dying okay?"
"What now captain?" John inquires.
"We are put of time so we have to wait for the refresh to strike before going again."
"Well, I hope we don't have to go through the trouble of searching again." John complains.
"Me too, it was tiring."
"There were 12 artifacts in that room. As soon as the door opened, I respawned here in this room. Apparently, the next room does not load until the previous one is finished."
I see. So the future remains a mystery, even for the spectators.
"Let's wait this out, for now, let's figure out what room we're in and prepare it. Maybe, if the path remains the same, we could just resume the job."
"Good call Marshall. Boys, get moving." Claire commands.
We spent the next 8 minutes looking around and found that it was a puzzle room. We had to solve four puzzles ; one on the ceiling, the floor, the left side, and the right side.
"Time's up. Prepare for some pain." Migs says, swallowing a lump in his throat, had holding the neck where I had cut him before.
Before we know it, everything went black and we could feel our bodies being crushed by thus darkness. Bones snapping, I felt my scull caving in before everything stopped and we were back in the lobby, portal opening once again.
The first thing I did was check my inventory. To my relief, everything was saved; including the artifacts. I then opened my stat panel and checked.
[basic stat]
HP: 10
Dmg: 5
Def: 5
Int: 0
Spd: 3
Acc: 1
[add stat]
Crit: .01%
Luck: 2
Spells: 0
Passive: 0
Active: 0
Titles: 0
Stat pts available: 2
Acievements: 0
Looks like I have a long way to go. I placed both points onto my Int so I now have 2 Intelligence. It might help with the puzzle room. I glance up at my teammates, John still checking himself for any sustained injuries. Claire complaining about how her butt hurt, and Migs seemed to have shivers.
"Let's get going. Time is our enemy."
We all agreed before stepping through the portal.
"Where the fuck are we now?!" John exclaimed.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Xoffe_Louvre
Xoffe_Louvre It's not really going too well, my sched i mean, Classes here start next month so I only got a few days to write this...
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