As Allen laughed like a madman, a Beep! sound had broken him from this hysterical reverie. A mail icon popped up in the top right corner of the terminal’s hologram. It seems like the messaging system can be accessed both through the and the terminal.

Without the need of leaving the terminal, he opened the message.

From: Assistant Trainer Natalie Myers

To: CrySol I-0 AllIsDead

Subject: Registration Completion

Message:

Congratulations. Your registration have now been completed. You are now an official Crystal Soldier, or CrySol, of Base 19 with Class I and Rank 0.

As a reward and in preparation for your future prospects, we have taken the liberty to provide you with basic equipments. Access your Item Storage to procure them.

Afterward, please proceed to Mission Control to start on accepting tasks to help and humanity as a whole.

Quest Complete!

Registration Completion

You are now an official member of .

From now on, quests can be received by talking with the in . Some quests can also be received from NPCs related to special events.

Allen nodded in satisfaction. He was now fully immersed in the game, and receiving the confirmation that he was now an officially registered member of this base had filled him with some sort of pride, especially now that he was the first player to register here.

’All of them are chickens, afraid to take on a challenge!’

He then accessed the to view the items that he had received.

Small Item Localizer

8 slots

This is a portable storage space.

Item Localizer

This is an item similar to a bag. It is compact and durable, and can be easily equipped on your waist. You can equip up to a maximum of three of this item.

The uses a special technology that converts mass into a small manageable energy form. This energy form can then be stored inside the in separate containment slots. Similar items can be stacked up to a maximum of 20. Because the materials were stored in energy form, they are weightless, making the transport of multiple items very convenient.

Emergency Warp Add-on

This is an add-on function for the . This allows the user to return to the from outside the base. When used manually, it opens a dimensional warp over ten seconds and requires the user to stand still, then sends the user through it. It can then be used again after six hours.

When the user’s life is in danger, as long as the function is not in cool-down, a dimensional warp will be opened instantly and send the user back an instant before the fatal blow hits. This function then requires 12 hours before it can be used again. In case the function was in cool-down, the dimensional warp will still open instantaneously, but the user will be trapped in the warp for 12 hours (forced logout) due to the instability of the system caused by the forceful activation of the function.

Stun Grenade

A simple grenade that releases a burst of light and shock wave within a small radius. The target must be within the radius and facing the blast to be effective.

Basic Ampule

Agitates the inside the body to increase during combat to 100% for 5 seconds. Can be used on self or on others.

Basic Stimulant

Stimulates the inside the body to increase during combat to 100% for 5 seconds. Can be used on self or on others.

He installed the on his and equipped the . There are three , five , and five in the which he all transfered to the .

There was one item left in the .

Double-edged Sword

This is a simple double-edged sword. Its edges are lined with that can be activated by pressing the trigger, increasing the damage by 100% for 5 seconds. (Cooldown: 2 Minutes)

Damage: 100 Slash(1.0) Pierce(0.5) Strike(0.0)

There are three types of melee damage: Slash, Pierce, and Strike.

*Slash - Damage caused by the sharp edge of the weapon.

*Pierce - Damage caused by a sharp point on the weapon.

*Strike - Damage caused by a blunt part of the weapon.

Damage is calculated depending on the part of the weapon that hits the target and the part of the target that is hit by the weapon. To maximize damage, hit the weakest part of the target with the type of damage it is weak to.

He equipped the weapon. As he did, his right lower arm started to changed. The skin split apart, and crystal shards began to grow. It passed through the sleeves of his jacket without damaging the fabric. It then changed form into a thick band surrounding his lower arm, from the wrists until just below the elbow.

This was the ‘sheathed’ form of the weapon. He stepped back from the terminal into a wide space in the room. He then extended his hand forward and closed his grip as if holding a bar. While doing so, he focused on the band around his arm and an IIW appeared. He chose and the band ‘melted’ and crawled over his hand. First, the handle formed, followed by the thick guard. Then the blade finally formed. The sword had formed in front of him with the handle within his grip. This all happened within the span of a second.

At first, Allen just stood there, staring at the sword. The corners of his lips twitched, then he shouted.

“SO COOOOOOL!”

That sort of transition between the sheathing and unsheathing of a weapon had never been experienced by Allen before in other games. It was always the standard drawing of the weapon manually from where it was placed. Once again, Allen wondered why this game wasn’t very famous.

After reveling in the system’s aesthetics by repeatedly sheathing and unsheathing the weapon like a fool, he finally settled down and decided on a course of action.

’I need to start with a quest, or course.’

Using the , he quickly made his way to to finally start on taking quests. Almost all VRMMOs have a quest system, and Hazard Frontier Online was no exception.

was a wide semi-circular room. The curved wall was lined with holographic monitors. Facing the wall were consoles which were busily being managed by uniformed men and women. Noticing Allen’s arrival, a man who was standing in the middle of the room, turned to look at him. He was wearing a full white formal attire complete with tie, accentuating his grayish blue hair. He looked to be in his early thirties.

As he saw Allen, a warm smile formed on his face, and walked to him.

“Soldier AllIsDead… I’ve heard about you. Come, I’m sure your here to lend us a hand.”

He patted Allen’s shoulder, then guided him to a side of the room where one of the uniformed women was sitting before a console.

“Karen.”

“Director Ostwald!”

“No need to be so formal, Karen. This man here is AllIsDead. He has registered and will be taking missions from you.”

“It is a pleasure to work with you! My name is Karen Juris and I will be assisting you here in Mission Control.”

“The pleasure is mine.”

The woman was in her late twenties, and the way her eyes would peek at the man who guided Allen and she called ‘Director Ostwald’ indicated that she has an attraction to the man.

“By the way, my name is Larry Ostwald, and I am the Director of Base 19. You don’t have to be formal with me, though, and just treat me like you would any others. We are all family here, trying to survive day by day. I’m sure I will be seeing great things from you in the near future, but do be careful.”

As he said that, he patted Allen’s shoulder again and returned to the center of the room to watch over the other workers.

“So, what do I do here?”

“Taking a mission is quite simple. You only need to come to me, and I can provide you with a list of missions you can take. The available missions can change daily or weekly, depending on the importance or urgency of the task. Some missions have a set deadline, while others can be completed any time. You can only take one mission at a time.

Once you’ve chosen a mission, proceed to the Hangar and have the transport team take you near the site of the mission, then, you will have to walk the rest of the way. This is to ensure the safety of the transport team, as they are no soldier unlike yourself.

Missions may range from collecting of materials to complete elimination of a group of beasts. Once you’re done with the mission, send a completion beacon and the transport team will pick you up at a designated pick up point.

While you are outside in the duration of the mission, you are free to roam around and do other things you want. Just make sure that you prioritize your safety.

If you want to return before completing the mission, you can use the Warp Add-on on your Communicator, or walk back on your own. Using the completion beacon without completing the mission will automatically register you as having failed the mission. In that case, you may suffer from some punishment depending on the gravity of the situation.

When you have returned before completing a mission, the transport team can take you back to the site again.

That is all the necessary information regarding Missions. Would you like to take one now?”

Allen committed to memory the details regarding quest-taking, especially the part of abandoning the quest. There seemed to be a punishment for that, and he was unwilling to try to know what it was.

“Yes, if possible.”

“Okay, please wait.”

Saying that, Karen started fiddling with the console. After ten seconds she turned to face Allen again.

“There is only one mission currently available. Would you like to accept it?”

Dr. Pheol’s Request

The is running low on materials for one of their experiments. They would like your assistance.

Collect 10 Vulpia blood samples.

No time limit.

“Yes. I’ll take it.”

“Okay, please show me your Communicator.”

Allen did so, then Karen took out a device that looked like a bar-code scanner, similar to the one the guard used back in the lab. She hovered it above the Communicator on his wrist.

“All done. Ten empty vials have been sent to your terminal. You don’t need to return to your Workshop. There is a terminal in the Hangar that you can use. Make sure to retrieve those vials before leaving. To use the beacon, access it using the Communicator.”

“I see… Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck!”

“Yeah, you too.”

Allen left and headed straight for the . As he entered, he was greeted by the loud noise of machinery. Looking at the source, there was a group of people wearing overalls surrounding what looked like a three meter tall…

’Robot?’

He was quite surprised. There was no mention of this in the game description or the game’s official website. He took note of this as he decided to check it on the forums later.

The group of people and the robot was clumped together by the left side of the hangar near the entrance where Allen was. To the right by the wall, he saw a terminal. He walked to it and used it to access his . Just as Karen said, there were ten in there which he took and stored in his .

“Hey, there. Are you the new guy?”

A voice came from the side. Allen turned his head and looked at the person who just spoke. There stood a young man in his early twenties with short messy blond hair and pierced ears. He was wearing an attire similar to Allen.

“My name’s Jake Kingston. I just received a message that the new guy was coming over for a mission. That you?”

“Yes. Codenamed AllIsDead.”

“That’s great. I was afraid I mistook you for someone else. I already have the details of your mission, so just tell me whenever you want to go to the site and I’ll give you a ride.”

He pointed his head to the side, toward the exit of the , a set of blast doors. There, a huge three-wheeled vehicle was parked. It resembles that of a Big Bike, except there were two wheels at the back. It was sleek and black, and gave the impression of speed and power.

“I call it the Worldrunner. Custom built it myself. None of the other transporters can beat me and my bike. You’re lucky you were assigned to me. Even if all the beasts in the forest came chasing after us, they wouldn’t be able catch up. The thing runs faster than any vehicle you can imagine, on almost any type of terrain, and it also runs silently. Gotta thank Dr. Pheol for thinking up new ways to use those crystals.”

“Impressive.”

Allen couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. He was not a bike junkie in reality, but there were things that you could appreciate without even knowing anything about it.

The bike in front of him was such thing.

“So, we going?”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

Jake led Allen to the exit, and they got on the bike. The ’s exit opened and the black monster carried the two out into the open world.

True to Jake’s words, the Worldrunner was indeed very fast. Allen held on like his life depended on it, as the world around him had turned into a speeding blur. In just a few minutes they stopped as they had reached their destination.

“You know the procedures. Use the beacon if you want out.”

“I will.”

“See you then, and take care out there.”

“Yeah, you too.”

They parted ways. Allen watched as the man and his prided creation disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“I forgot to ask what a Vulpia looks like.”

The may also have information about it, but he had completely forgotten to check. Tinkering with the he found that Dr. Pheol’s contact had been registered in his contact list. Quickly, he sent the doctor a message. In just a few minutes, the reply came filled with a string of thanks and gratefulness toward Allen for accepting the request. At the bottom of the message was an image of a Vulpia.

Unsurprisingly, it was the same beast that had been simulated during the combat test in the . Having forgotten the trainer’s words, Allen was filled with confidence that he could easily complete this quest. With a confident gait, he walked through the dense trees looking for prey.

The Vulpia was a wolf infected with that normally hunts in packs. Its strength ranges from that of a Class I Rank 0 to a Rank 4. Once a group of Vulpia reaches Rank 4, urgent missions will be given within the bases. That was the case for the central regions. Within the region that was located, the Vulpia were rarely hunted due to the lack of active CrySols. Because of this fact, they had time to cultivate the in their body, raising their power to that of a Class III Rank 10.

Of course, Allen did not know about any of these. If he had checked in the beforehand, then he might have been more cautious. Dr. Pheol had also forgotten to warn him about this fact. Allen had only based his estimation of their strength on the simulation in the , whose strength was based on the commonly known data, not on the actual data within ’s region.

Allen was hiding behind a tree. After he started his search, he had quickly found a Vulpia sleeping in a clearing between trees. It was already midnight both in reality and in the game. Going through that starting quest and spending too much time appreciating the game’s aesthetics had made time pass by quickly. In other games, Allen would have already passed at least 10 levels during this time.

’Time to make up for lost time.’

He unsheathed the double-edged sword. With a finger, he gently stroked small hidden trigger. He then jumped out from behind the tree and dashed toward the defenseless monster… only to stumble in shock.

It was gone. He had only taken his eyes off of it for a few seconds as he prepared his weapon, but it had disappeared at that moment.

’Where is it?’

Allen felt slightly panicked. Normally, this wouldn’t affect him if he was faced with a conniving human opponent like in other games, but the opponent this time was monster that lived by its instincts. He could predict the thoughts of human opponents who naturally aimed for efficiency, but not of monstrosities who were driven by their desire to kill and survive.

’Behind!’

He heard a rustling sound from the same area he had hidden before. Without turning to look and check, he quickly jumped forward and rolled on the ground. A strong gust of wind hit him from behind. He then scampered and stood on his feet.

In a small clearing between trees in a forest, stood man and beast facing each other. Both had the same foreign object integrated into their body; one implanted, the other infected; one suppressed, the other uninhibited.

The first to move was the man.

Allen dashed forward and swung the blade upward diagonally to the left with two hands. He aimed for the beast’s neck.

The Vulpia only stood there and watched the blade’s edge approach it. As the weapon was a few inches away from cutting flesh, the Vulpia moved. The rest of its body steady, its right paw moved to meet with blade.

Allen sneered. No matter how tough the beast’s claws were, it would still be damaged by the attack. It would even be better if he could cut that paw off.

Then, the crystal shards protruding from the Vulpia’s front right leg melted and crawled over its paw. The claws grew longer and sharper, and its paw was surrounded by a dense layer of crystal. This only took an instant to happen.

With a loud and sharp noise, their attacks met. The conclusion of their clash was obvious.

The sword rebounded and hit the ground, burying deeply. Allen lost his balance and stumbled forward. With this opening, the strengthened claws reached for his chest.

-400

-50 Bleed

In an instant, almost half of Allen’s health disappeared. He saw a hologram hovering above the , showing a pair of gauges with the Vitality and Stamina values.

The damage had greatly surprised him. Before he could recover his composure, the Vulpia attacked again without giving him any time to breath.

It lunged forward, swiping with its pair of front legs, both with hardened paws and a set of sharpened claws.

-360

-400

Allen had greatly underestimated his opponent and had suffered severely for that mistake.

Kekeke, reminds me of that time I played GEB for the first time. Mission said I should avoid the Vajra, but I attacked it instead.