Rebirth: Rise of the Slave Master

Chapter 3: A Time for Adjustments

The manager of the mini-mart was none too pleased about losing their night-shift warrior, Rick, but they would have no choice but to suck it up and face facts. This was the kind of job where the employees would cycle in and out, always trying to work their way up the ladder. It was a lot like a low-level quest, when Rick thought about it in terms of the game.

However, this wasn’t the same 19-year-old Rick that had just entered the workforce. Even if he hadn’t been any good at it, this was still the leader of the guild that had shocked the virtual world and conquered impossible odds. He’d slain gods and charmed beautiful maidens and seen thousands yield their swords to him!

A mere sub-boss like the mini-mart manager wouldn’t be enough to scare him even if there were a million of him!

Well, a million might be a bit of an exaggeration...

The truth still stood, the current Rick was far more composed than his old self had been. The NPCs in Dream World Online couldn’t be underestimated, and it was difficult to tell them apart from real humans at times. There was no way to progress through the game if you didn’t learn how to interact with people properly. How else could Rick have managed to acquire the quest to become the War God in the first place?

His other nickname in the game was the Lucky Bastard! His ability to coax quests out of even the most jaded NPCs was second to none!

“Baby Rick is growing up and is leaving us?” the coy voice of a young woman sounded from the freezer section.

This was Mary Ann. Although she was technically several years older than Rick, he didn’t quite enjoy being called a “baby” by someone he now considered his junior.

The woman was tall and thin with a pleasant face and a nice, “girl-next-door” kind of charm. Her shoulder-length brown hair was tied back with a green bandanna and she had big amber eyes. She reminded him of a character from an old game he used to have a crush on. Rick couldn’t deny that he had an unrequited attraction to Mary Ann at one time, but that was all a distant memory now.

“I’m going to make a living playing Dream World Online,” Rick said without an ounce of humor.

Although Mary Ann looked as if she wanted to laugh, it seemed her confusion kept her from doing so.

“The new MMO that’s releasing in a week? How do you make a living with that?” she asked.

Mary Ann was a modern woman that had grown up playing her fair share of video games, there was no way she wouldn’t have at least heard of the upcoming Dream World Online. Even if she’d never held a game controller in her life, the amount spent on the marketing campaign for the game alone measured in the hundred of millions!

The store manager had heard of it too.

“You’re abandoning us for a video game? I haven’t heard anything so rich since I told my parents I was a big-time manager!”

The manager wasn’t an old man, and was still in his early thirties. He was a bit rough around the edges, but was a good guy at heart and a fair manager that didn’t play favorites. Calling himself “big-time” was definitely a stretch, though.

“You can trade the in-game gold for real cash, and sell items online too,” Rick explained calmly, moving a box of pork flavored crackers over to the nearest shelf.

Various arguments silently flitted across the pairs’ faces, but nothing was said. They could both hear the resolve in Rick’s tone. He might have sounded crazy to them, but there wasn’t any doubt in that expression. In the end, the tension faded and another night passed by uneventfully.

The night shift was rarely busy, but somebody had to do it.

“Whelp, that’s that! Everything’s locked up!” Mary Ann wiped her slightly dusty hands on her pants and looked up at Rick, who was standing impatiently off to the side.

The store closed around 4 in the morning, but there was usually enough cleaning up to do that the employees got out around 5. The old man who opened would be showing up at 7. Outside the sky was still dark and it had clearly cooled off over the long evening. A few hooded figures seemed to prowl the streets, gathering and snickering in alleyways with hushed voices. A few feet away, the high-energy early birds, in their neon tank tops and shiny white sneakers, were going for a morning run. This was city life.

“So you’re really gonna go become a MLG pro gamer, kid?” Mary Ann asked suddenly.

Rick could tell that the question had probably been on the woman’s mind all night.

“Yup. The best in the world,” he said confidently.

Mary Ann, who was once again flabbergasted and left with nothing to counter, simply nodded her head and added, “Well don’t go getting so famous you forget about us.”

Rick smiled, feeling a hint of something pulling at his chest. He knew she was just being polite, but it was his first genuine encouragement in this new life. It felt nice.

“I’ll give you my number,” he said.

Mary Ann seemed shocked for a moment before a chuckle escaped her lips. Her smile was bright enough to light up the sleepy street.

“Woah there, cowboy, I don’t date guys younger than me,” she countered.

Rick just chuckled and pulled out his phone.

“Just to keep in touch.”

It didn’t take much convincing to get Mary Ann’s number, since she was pretty social by nature and knew Rick wasn’t a shady type. The two parted ways in their own good moods and Rick began his long walk home. Around this time he would have bought himself a bicycle to make the commute easier on himself, but that expenditure had been one of the reasons why he had been late to join in on Dream World Online in the first place!

Not to mention the price for repair supplies, a helmet, and the bike itself, the lock alone cost him over forty dollars… it was too much! Besides, a good jog in the morning would be an important step in building up his pitiful stamina.

Along the way, Rick stopped at one of the 24-hour gyms that happened to be on his path home, his eyes shining with a reluctant conviction. Even in his first life, he had always intended to get a membership here and get in shape, but that hadn’t exactly gone as planned. With his tiny apartment the way it was now, how could he have the proper space to exercise?

“This is a necessary expenditure,” Rick told himself.

As it turned out, they were having a special deal, though Rick couldn’t remember a time when that banner wasn’t in the window. The paperwork was quickly sorted and the regular cost to join was waived. After that it was only 40 dollars a month. It had been a wonder that he had never come to a place like this before. The young people really might have been getting lazier these days!

Of course, Rick didn’t do any strenuous labor this time around. He simply familiarized himself with the locations of everything in the gym and did a few minutes of calisthenics on the stretching mats. Rick hadn’t thought to bring any gym clothes, and his work uniform wasn’t something he felt like sweating in. A trip to the laundromat wasn’t expensive, but every penny would count from now on!

The next few days, Rick would spend his time playing on the Lucid Lock in his off time. He was playing the game Black Hearts, a combat focused game renowned for it’s inventive level design and challenging boss monsters. Although it wasn’t one for one, the combat in this game and Dream World Online were definitely similar.

Rick hadn’t spent much time on this game in the past, thinking it was too tough, but now it served as his only real way to pass time. Of course, the experience between then and now was like heaven and earth.

“The Hearts I had gathered! You have stolen them away, fated warrior! The world is… now… in... your hands!”

The final boss, King Remnan, fell under Rick’s sword. It had only taken him half a day to hack his way through the hordes of darkness and destroy all of the bosses. Compared to some of the later foes in Dream World Online, these could hardly be considered a threat. Even the final boss only amounted to a level 60 or so elite enemy.

“Maybe my gear is too strong?” Rick mused.

It had taken him a bit of time to get used to his new body, which while in far worse shape, was actually not that different. Although his years of hellishly-trained muscle memory hadn’t carried over in the exchange through time, his instincts and judgement were still as sharp as they had been when he died.

Rick estimated that he was functioning at about 25% of his prime condition right now, and most of that was because this younger body had fairly sharp reflexes. There was certainly something to the notion that gamers reached their prime between the ages of 17 and 22. Like this, he could conceivably surpass even his old self...

At the moment, that point was a long way off.

Lucid Lock games were controlled by the player’s mind, and what mattered most was their ability to manipulate the game character with mental controls. Although having knowledge of martial arts or something like that could help improve your judgement and timing in combat, it wouldn’t do anything for your control ability.

It was like trying to translate one’s abilities behind the wheel of a car into a fighting game. Those were entirely different sets of skills, after all!

Dream World Online had a system where each command registered in the system would be logged with a slight delay before the game character executed it. Every step, slash, dodge, and breath would all be remembered. If you hesitated while entering commands, the character would hesitate in the proper order. It could ruin an attempt at a combo strike, or leave an opening that an enemy could exploit.

At the same time, you couldn’t rely on twitch reflexes to get you through the fights. Having fast reaction time was important, of course, but you would never be able to move as quickly as the data was transferred by the system.

So why was Rick adamant about training his body?

Aside from avoiding the health impact of lying still for so long every day, it was said that a healthy mind inhabited a healthy body! Proper nutrition and exercise would assure that his mind could operate at its maximum efficiency for the longest possible time. It was the difference between an expert player and a pro player. If he wanted to be the best, every slight advantage would matter.

It was only 4 in the afternoon at the moment, and Rick still had several hours left before his next shift.

“I’ll try to run through the NewGame+ with only the starter equipment!”

Filled with determination, Rick began his next run through Black Hearts.

“You fall in love or something, or is there another reason why you’re making out with that bar of chocolate?” Mary Ann asked that evening, leaning on the counter with a smile on her pretty face.

Rick wiped his mouth as he finished up the bar of dark chocolate. He had missed this bittersweet taste.

“It’s good for fighting mental exhaustion,” he said, and then followed up when he thought he was being a bit too vague, “games can wear out your brain.”

Mary Ann’s lips formed an intrigued little ‘o’ shape as she stood up. It was a discovery that would only come about some time later, and would subsequently lead to a huge explosion in chocolate sales in the future. There was even a brand of chocolate bar sponsored by Dream World Online’s competitive league!

“Is that an insider tip?” she asked coyly.

Rick smiled and threw away the candy wrapper.

“Invest in chocolate,” he said proudly, “it’ll be worth more than gold!”

After work, Rick took a plastic bag filled with spare clothes and jogged to the gym. It was a good warm-up, and after stretching, he got right into his routine. This was all information he had gained after his stint in rehab following his hospitalization. It was pretty gentle compared to what most people did, but it was excellent for someone in his current miserable condition.

It was in this way that Rick passed the remaining time up to Dream World Online’s launch. Jogging back and forth to work, hitting up the gym and training his body. He swapped out all of the food in his fridge for his new diet, and spent all his remaining time honing his skills in the Lucid Lock.

NewGame+9 with beginner equipment and no levels!

“The Hearts I had gathered! You have stolen them away, fated warrior! The world is… now… in… your hands!”

Rick, standing around blanking in his ragged leather armor, sheathed his rusty blade and stared at the virtual figure of the fallen king. Shortly after, the ending cutscene would start up. At this level, every battle had taken an absurd amount of time. His puny weapons and stats did only miniscule damage to the enemy’s massively buffed health bars. Meanwhile, even the weakest enemy in the game could one-shot him! Of course, this had the effect of making healing items useless as well.

“You have acquired the achievement, [Who’s the Boss Now?]”

“Huh, I didn’t even know this game had an achievement like this,” Rick said with a bit of surprise.

He couldn’t even remember how many times he’d died as he slowly adjusted to enemy rhythms. It was a shame that only the core stats increased with each difficulty level, as the patterns and speed of attack always remained the same. With this level of practice, he could probably attempt Black Hearts with a blindfold now!

That would probably be a waste of time, though.

Rick logged off the Lucid Lock and returned to his tiny apartment. He climbed off the creaky old futon and slowly stretched his body, letting the blood flow to his fingers and toes.

“About 29%...” he muttered, checking his calendar.

His last day of work had already come, and he had given a short but respectful goodbye to his fellow employees at the mini-mart. They saw him off as if they were handing the young man over to a mental institution.

Dream World Online was set to launch in another hour, and Rick had long since purchased the game and set up an account on the developer’s network. It had cost him a handsome ten percent of his remaining funds in order to pre-order the game, but that would be chicken feed compared to what he would making in a year’s time. At least... if everything went according to plan.

The forums were no doubt buzzing with anticipation as the launch approached, but Rick had mostly ignored them up to now. There wasn’t any valuable information to be gained there, or any information at all really. Dream World Online was notoriously secretive about the process behind its development, and almost never revealed game data before it released!

A few heated discussions about what the different classes and races would be like, as well as how the NPCs supposedly had entirely unique personalities and schedules, were the most popular topics. A few lewder commenters even discussed other… unsavory possibilities with the advanced AIs.

Rick couldn’t help but chuckle about this. When these unspent fellows discovered the options the game provided for 19+ players, they might just drop dead from blood loss!

After having himself a chunky and green-colored protein shake, Rick split off a block of dark chocolate and quickly nibbled his way through it like a starving hamster.

Lucid Lock, login! Open Dream World Online!

Time to world server launch: 29:37… 29:36… 29:35…

The clock was slowly counting down!

Dream World Online was a game that only allowed one character per player, but most people had next to no knowledge about the various features the game would offer. Even those who had absolutely no interest in cosmetics would still spend time agonizing over what race and city and to start off with. A single wrong choice could force them to reset their entire character, and cost them a huge lead. Rick, however, had no such compunctions!

As soon as the game launched, he would finish character creation in a flash!

Time to server launch: 00:37… 00:22… 00:07… 00:00…

Rick firmed his resolve one final time as the clock flashed in big, bright numbers. Then, everything went black.