Chapter 9

Updating Position

The warning lights blinked red and yellow inside the control center and that made everyone not only tensed but also panicky. It was the sign of hacking procedure, a signal that something was trying to enter the main game server of Terroa.

“What‘s happening?! What‘s going on?”

Chief Operations Officer Carl Hanes shouted from his office on the third floor of the computer filled room.

“Someone is trying to hack inside the system!” A lab personnel shouted.

“He‘s so freaking fast!”

“I can‘t track him!”

“He‘s using multiple attack patterns, this is freaking insane! He‘s like a robot!”

The computer maintenance personnel was typing in their panels as fast and as precise as they could. Twenty high grade computer geniuses hired from all over the world couldn’t do a thing on the person hacking the main server of Terroa.

At that, Carl moved his own hands and a panel emerged right in front of him.

He typed at the same pace as the technicians, entered codes and commands, then finally, in their main panel right at the front of their office, the system map had displayed itself. In there, clearly shown in blue lines, is the normal operating system of Terroa. Surrounding it, was the green colored liquid flowing nonstop towards the center of the map.

“This is…” Carl couldn’t believe his eyes. “This is not hacking. It‘s an update.”

“Boss…” Carl turned around and saw his assistant in his office holding a hand held phone. “It‘s President Ethan. He wants to talk to you.”

Everyone inside the room froze as they saw what was happening inside the server. It was not a hacking, though the red lights are still blinking. What was seen in the monitor was the live actual status of the game’s main server, the AI [Janus], that regulated the functions and status of Planet Terroa 24/7 live.

And in there, with multiple command lines coming out one after another, the system map was slowly being dyed in green. In short, the whole game itself was in the process of being updated live.

Usually, it would be done in maintenance but right now, the system itself is being updated live, with the users still online.

God knows just what was happening inside.

“Hello?” Carl summoned a hologram panel in front of him and he spoke in a harsh, trembling tone.

[Carl. What’s the meaning of this?]

“Excuse me sir?”

[Why am I receiving this report of a hacking?]

“No sir…I mean, this is not a hacking.”

[Then what is it? Why is the system module showing me this red blinking light?]

“Well, it‘s because the system is having an update.”

[Update?! What are you talking about? I never got any request or any kind of paper in my desk regarding an update!]

“That‘s what I was talking about sir.”

[Explain.]

“Well, just a few moments ago, we thought we were being attacked by a hacker but it turns out that it was a false alarm. The system itself was being updated and Janus did not so much as attempted to defend itself.”

[Meaning, the update came from within us.]

“Yes sir.”

[Find it.]

“H-Huh?”

[Find the culprit! Find whoever installed that update and know details of the update itself! I want everything regarding this incident a secret from the public! It will ruin my business plans!]

“R-Right away sir!”

[Oh, and one more thing.] Carl’s body stiffened as the President‘s angry finger was pointed directly at him. [Delete that update.]

“Will do.”

***

President Ethan pressed a holographic button and the video call ended. Then he stood from his desk and took a glance outside his high rise office in the 60th floor of the Panorama Building.

The property solely owned by the Panorama Gaming Corporation stood a total of 62 floors and the floor his office was located at had half of it dedicated as his private room and his office respectively.

Its extravagant design and luxurious outlook was a sign of his meticulous touches. Nathaniel Brooks won his position with sincere dedication to glory alone.

As he ended the call, he took a glance on one of the corners of his office. There, a certain shelf was filled with things, trophies, as souvenirs from every game that the company created. Things such as small figurine of an elf with her bow, an Orc figure with his axe, and also a small souvenir from when Terroa was still on its early developmental stage: a sword.

It measured .6 meter long, ten centimeters wide, had a plain metallic hilt with no gems and artistic designs except for the single golden tip that came as part of the blade. In its shelf, it was named “The Providence” and a history about its importance in the game was written in the plaque below it.

“Is this your doing?” He hissed as he clenched his fist. Then he turned his gaze down below the streets of Seoul. Though he was a British-Indian businessman, he had been naturalized in Korea for half a year now.

And at some certain point, he held in his hands a piece of paper. And in it, a note was written that has the name of a certain man.

Augustus Laniary.

***

—Please Select Race

As the question was prompted, Rex checked the list of avatar race. There are six, in total, and all of them had their own unique traits that were advantageous on every unique field. And from them, only one race is the ones who came from Earth.

Rex read the information one by one on the races.

The Maven: Terrans who descended from the bloodline of royal ethnicity; had immense intellectual knowledge and possessed weak physical prowess. Grants additional 15% stat bonus to Intelligence and 5% to Manna.

The Tekz: Terrans who descended from a lineage of the wise men of the dessert. They had superior Dexterity compared to other race and they are adept in their hands as they are the sons and daughters of the original Crafters of the ancient Terran race. A player is granted additional 10% stat bonus on Dexterity and Strength.

The Atlas: The brave Terran race. They are the sons and daughters of the brave warriors of the city of Atlantis, the descendants of the God of War, Aries. Grants additional 10% stat bonus to Strength and additional 5% to both Agility and Stamina.

The Apollo: The children of the handsome and gorgeous noble clans of the west, believers of beauty and prosperity, and the race that signify fertility. They grant 10% bonus stat points to Vitality and Charm.

The Gonn: The race that originated from the Pirates of the Dead Sea. They conquered every land on their wake and brought forth the idealism of power. Grants additional 15% stat points to Strength and 5% to Vitality.

The Naturals: The humans who came from Planet Earth. When the world collapsed from the invasion of the Lagram Alliance, they are the few that survived and searched the cosmos for a new living frontier. Grants additional 5% to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charm.

Reading the information, Rex’s first choice came to be the humans. But then, at a snap of a moment when he was about to press the button to choose, he thought of the pre arranged plan he had in his head.

No. This is not the right choice. I have to revise.

Humans are the most balanced type. In this game, a player is not tied into one combat style alone, unlike the previous games in the past, once a player started to play a game, he was required to choose a closed box fighting style. Meaning, once you choose a swordsman, you are forever a swordsman. But in Terroa, since there is no actual level and everything else regarding the user’s survival in the game depended on his natural skills and athleticism, fighting styles may actually differ.

For example, a user from the Maven Race are those whose automatically skilled in magic. But, he can still use a sword. In this game, 50% of the players came from this kind of build. They are those conservative players who cares more about their life than actually enjoying the CQC of a Virtual Reality experience.

But you can’t blame them. A first time player buying the Neurolink Device, the gaming console, has a 75% discount on buying his game account. But once a player dies, if he/she wants to reenter the game, not only that player would have to start from scratch, he/she would have to also buy the account for 5,000 credits. The monetary exchange on every country determines how much it’d actually cost but in the Philippines, it was easier to tell just how much expensive it really is.

5,000 credits is equal to 10,000 pesos.

For a typical user, a P10,000 worth in game account is a month’s wages from working hard. Labor in his country was as hard as anywhere in the globe and that amount of money is actually a heavy price on any gamer’s wallet.

So when he thought that being a balanced type is all but a safe bet, Rex pulled his finger away. Instead, he selected the Apollo Race.

—You’ve chosen the Apollo race. Upon starting in your selected city, you will be given 10% additional stat bonus on Vitality and Charm.

—Please Select your name.

“Siva.”

—Is [Siva] alright?

“Yes.”

—Confirmed.

—Would you like to change your appearance?

“No.”

—Confirmed.

—Please select starting city.

Rex paused when he thought of the city he had to start his career. There are five continents in Terroa and each had numerous kingdoms, countries, territories, camps, and even tribal villages.

On each continent, a total of around 8% to 10% are in the known pages of the public. Meaning, there are still around 90% on each continent that’s still unknown by the massive number of players.

This could be blamed to the conservative playing style of the users because of the immense penalty when you die. For this reason, adventurers and even down to the most common of hunting groups have a total of 10 and up members on them. A soloist is someone who plays solo during the game and they are the kinds that is not only rare but is also not practical.

Still, to create a name a name as a soloist is a huge temptation among players and they’re slowly becoming a trend. But to Rex, if he was to consider where he had to start his career, not only he was ordered to play alone throughout his gaming time, he was also to go to the eastern continent of Espada, also alone.

And so, building his character and surrounding himself with allies was not a good option, but also not a thought to be discarded.

Upon considering his options carefully, by looking at the map and the already available starting cities, he selected a place somewhere in the South Territory, in the continent of Zenturo.

“Aarun.”

—You’ve selected the Walled City of Aarun.

—Is this alright?

“Yes.”

—Confirmed.

—Would you like to view the tutorial?

“No.”

—Welcome to Planet Salvation…

“Wait…what?”

As the female monotoned robotic voice vanished, in the white filled environment where the only color was him, his vision began to be filled with a bluish light and he opened his in the middle of a lively city.

Central Plaza, Walled City of Aarun.

Behind him was a fountain with fishes and benches, perfect for rest after a tiring expedition.

“Excuse me…”

Siva turned around and saw an Atlas a full hand tall than his height. He had a claymore strapped on his waist and his armor looked like something that directly came from a monster’s head. But unlike any swordsman that could be see normally on every game, this Atlas is a Mage. A Sword Mage, to be exact.

“I‘m sorry.” He apologized and gave way.

“Don‘t just stand there, noob. The central square is not a place for getting dazed.”

As the man spoke, he moved passed Siva and Siva saw a bunch of beautiful female players looking at him while laughing amongst their group.

NPCs, Siva thought.

Although there are no distinct difference between an NPC and an actual user, basing on their actions alone, one can recognize a player from an AI.

But then, when Siva saw their armors, his notion immediately changed.

In Terroa, there actually are no differencing an NPC from a player. Both looked like and act the same. Even if it was an NPC selling cakes or items, or even an NPC that hunts monsters and aliens, they actually act and speak like real players so differentiating them from one another would at least require you to get close to them.

An NPC tend to have actions and reactions that’s the same every now and then. They also have mannerisms that repeats itself from time to time along with their constant speech and action patterns.

So these women, laughing amongst their group, he had no choice but to totally ignore them since if he had reacted the wrong way, he might get subjected to the prejudice of other players.

Being a noob sure is a downing thing.

Looking around, he saw shops, merchant stands, and players with colorful swords and armors, robes and a few technologically advanced bows, walking around the central plaza. Then, from not afar, other new players like him were coming in with a blue light one by one with no exact place in the central square. It was just an act of luck that he materialized near the fountain.

As he walked, he ended up to a certain street lined with weapon and armor shops and guild offices.

It was the war district.

He entered the Sword Master Guild and there, all the patrons in a line towards the counter looked at him. All of them had armors and swords, and some are even the Mages that wore ornamented weapons, Rune Blades, that they carried with them. He was the only person who doesn’t have anything in there.

“Hey noob.” Called a Gonn from the left corner. “I think you‘re in the wrong place. This is the Sword Master Guild, not the training arena.”