“Six!”

’Goodness gracious… This man is mad.’

The uniformed personnel sitting behind the control console could not help but stare wide-eyed through the monitoring window. The man below was looking at him, waiting for him to follow the instructions. The fierceness in his deep-set platinum eyes sent chills down his spine. Hesitatingly, his hand trembled as they moved over the console.

Set amount to six.

Spawn Class III Rank 10 Vulpia.

An hour had already passed since the man entered the . He had asked for the personnel to spawn a Vulpia for him. After defeating that, he had asked to spawn twice the amount. After defeating those two, he increased it three. They had repeated this process until they reached the current situation.

Suddenly, the door for the observation room slid open. The personnel turned around surprised. There by the door was Assistant Trainer Natalie Myers.

“Someone is using the simulation field?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“The new CrySol.”

Natalie nodded her head. She knew that the new soldier had taken a mission requested by the last night, and that his had activated twice automatically, the second activation within the twelve hour limit.

’He must feel miserable at his lack of ability.’

That was what she concluded as his reason for suddenly opting to use the .

She didn’t have a good impression of the new guy. She believed that he would also leave them behind like the many others before. Even if the other personnel didn’t remember, she was an exception as she remembered them clearly. There was no explanation as to how that had happened. When she mentioned it to the Head Trainer, he stared at her with an incredulous expression.

“Let’s see…”

Approaching the observation window, she looked down below while expecting to see a miserable sight, only to be shocked witless.

A single man was wielding a training sword against six Vulpia. To other bases, this may be considered as standard practice, but for Base 19, it was far from being standard but closer to the level of insanity.

“What’s the realism level?”

“Hundred percent…”

“What?!? Do you want to kill him? Hundred percent meant that it could cause psychosomatic injuries leading to death. The Emergency Warp does not work inside the base. If he’s fatally injured, he will die!”

“But this was what he asked…”

Unable to take her eyes off the battle, she saw him dodging attacks at a spine-tingling distance of a hair’s breadth with minimal movement. He took his time and dodged the relentless attacks of the beasts. Then when an opening presented itself, he would strike with extreme accuracy and precision. Slowly, he drained the Vitality of the beasts then took them out one by one.

“How long has this been going on?”

“For an hour. At first it was just one beast. Then he increased the value by one for each completion.”

’This person is insane. Why does he go this far? The others before him left the base as soon as they found out the impossibility of the tasks at hand. Base 19 is not a regular base. The zone here is extremely cruel. Why is he willing to risk his life here?’

She took a deep breath as the signal for completion sounded. He had defeated all six Vulpia with minimal injuries.

“Seven!”

Hearing that, Natalie felt goosebumps spread all over her body. She felt a powerful shock in her chest and stomach. She was filled with emotions she couldn’t explain.

Turning around, she walked toward the door to leave. Before going out of the door, she looked back over her shoulder and left instructions to the personnel.

His mind was clear, his body felt light. His chest hurt due to lack of air, but it was quickly refreshed by a surge of energy in his body. Allen faced twelve Vulpia without a hint of fear.

When he logged back in, he headed straight for the . He felt annoyed at himself for not making use of this feature of the base. According to the website, the could be used to practice against known monsters in the . He should have used this to learn the fighting style of the Vulpia before heading out for the mission.

Facing against twelve of those beasts, he remembered the incident early in the morning. He had asked the personnel if there was a gray Vulpia available for simulation, but to his disappointment there was none. He had also checked the but there were no records of such creature.

He had already accustomed himself to fighting against the Vulpia that he had the leisure to think about other things while fighting them. They were the exact same black-furred red-eyed species.

Three hours had passed since this started, and now he had finally defeated twelve of them, but had suffered multiple major injuries. Dragging his body, he was about to leave the when the personnel called out for him.

“Assistant Trainer Myers said that you proceed to her workshop when you were done here.”

Quest Received!

Report to Myers

Proceed to the workshop of Assistant Trainer Natalie Myers.

He didn’t want to lower his reputation to the people here in the base, so he did as told. Using the , he easily found the Assistant Trainer’s workshop. He knocked twice as he stood in front of the door. Then, the door slid open, and he found the serious-faced woman standing behind the door. Her brown hair was wet, and a damp towel rested on her shoulders. She was wearing a black tank-top and the same pants as Allen. Her fair skin was slightly flushed. A soap scent wafted from her. She had just come out of the bath.

“You sure took your time, soldier.”

She started the conversation as soon as they entered.

“Sorry, I was training.”

“I saw. How many until you stopped?”

“Twelve.”

Natalie tried to maintain her cool after hearing the amount. It was obvious that he was training with the objective of defeating a pack of Vulpia.

“Did you kill all twelve?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good.”

She was preparing coffee while they were talking. They then took a seat by the table filled with equipments.

“Do you have an idea as to why I called you here?”

“No.”

She first took a sip of her coffee then sighed in satisfaction. Allen did the same. The flavor, aroma, and feeling were well simulated.

“I’ve seen you practice and I wanted to ask, why do you go that far?”

Allen didn’t answer right away. He looked at his hands then clenched them into fists. The incident with the gray Vulpia was still fresh in his mind. Then he remembered the video of her in the dungeon.

“There’s someone I want to reach, and before I could get to that person, I need to defeat everything that stands in my way.”

“A person?”

“We used to be companions. Together we were the strongest, but now we went our separate ways. I want to meet that person again.”

“To fight together again?”

“No. To issue a challenge for a battle.”

Natalie had not expected his reason to be something like these. She smiled dejectedly, a little disappointed. She had expected some other heroic reasons from him.

“Well… there’s also that.”

She looked up at him again, and their eyes met.

“I’ve seen the people around here doing their best, so I can’t just be the laid-back one. I know everyone in the base have high hopes for me, and I don’t want them to be disappointed.”

He had looked away from her and scratched his cheek with a finger, slightly embarrassed.

“I see…”

Natalie smiled, then as if she had decided upon something, she suddenly stood up and went to her terminal. After a few seconds, she came back while holding an .

“Take it.”

She handed the to Allen. With no reason to reject her offer, he took it and placed it on his belt.

“I’m from the Establishment Group.”

“Huh?”

Her sudden statement confused Allen. He had no idea what this Establishment Group was.”

“The first ten bases were made 20 years ago. 10 years later, a group, whose purpose was to locate resource filled areas, was sent out to establish new bases. The last base, Base 19, was established only 5 years ago. I was a member of the group that established Base 19. After that we headed North to establish the 20th base, but only to fail. We encountered strange monsters that we had never seen before. We fled for our lives, but only two people were lucky enough to make it back: I and the Head Trainer, although the Head Trainer lost an arm in the process.”

She stopped to catch her breath and drank the last of her coffee. Allen took the opportunity to ask when he heard the mention of strange beasts.

“Did you see a gray Vulpia among those?”

“No… I don’t remember seeing one. Although I’ve heard some of the older soldiers mention something similar.”

“What did they say?”

Allen was getting excited. It was a clue to the identity of that gray Vulpia he encountered and a possible hint on why it was attacked by the black Vulpia.

“They had seen a Vulpia with dark gray fur. It was a Class VI beast. There were also some hidden records about the strongest Vulpia with a class of VII having gray fur. Why do you ask?”

Allen sucked in air.

Class VII. The Vulpia he met was probably Class VII, and he almost killed it as a Class I. He first contained his excitement and replied.

“Nothing. I was just curious.”

He was afraid that if it was known that there was a probable Class VII Vulpia roaming around the area, panic would ensue.

“I see… Now to get to the point. I was hoping that you will continue our legacy in the future, the legacy of the Establishment Group. You don’t need to head North like we did. He had marked that area as an extremely dangerous zone. You could instead head for the East or West.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Inside that Localizer I gave you are some materials you can use to improve your gear. There’s also a crystal circuit in there you can use to learn a skill. Don’t expect too much of it though. You don’t look so good, so use an ampule. I’m guessing you have an injury that slows down your regeneration from the training earlier.”

“Thanks a lot, for this.”

“Don’t think too much about it. Like you said, we are resting our hopes on you.”

She patted his shoulder. With the cups emptied, they stood up, and she led him out of the room.

As the door closed behind him, Natalie smiled. He was different from those before him. It seemed like the title of The Precursor is perfectly suitable for him. She could feel it clearly, from now on, everything begins. He will be the starting point of a new future for , and for humanity.

As Allen walked back to his workshop, he used an ampule as suggested by the assistant trainer. He immediately felt the effects. The bruises all over his body quickly disappeared, and other injuries left no trace that they had been there before. His steps also felt lighter, and the exhaustion had gone away.

When he arrived, he quickly opened the . There were twelve slots and filled with items, mostly crafting materials.

Crystal Circuit of Unknown Skill

The skill stored in this is unknown. Use it on the terminal to find out.

Point Package

This item contains a random amount of Creation Points and Credits. Disappears after use.

Aside from those two, all the remaining ten slots were occupied by materials for crafting.

“Should I check the skill first or try my hand at this game’s crafting?”

He pondered for a few seconds, then decided to save the best for last, and chose to do the crafting first. He took out the and used it without hesitation.

Point Package used!

+232 Creation Points

+1463 Credits

The item broke down into tiny particles of light and disappeared.

He still didn’t know the rates and values of items for trade, so Allen had no idea if the amount he got could be considered as huge or not. Deciding to trust the assistant trainer on this, he walked toward the wide table filled with equipments. Just by looking at it, one could tell that this was specifically designed for crafting purposes.

Equipment and Item Crafting Table

There are two methods of crafting:

Innovate - Use an item and improve its design.

Create - Start from scratch and create an equipment or item never seen before.

Creation Points

When crafting, Creation Points are consumed. This applies to both item crafting and skill crafting. Use the Equipment and Item Crafting Table for the former. For the latter, use the Terminal.

Even though Allen was very interested in skill crafting, he had to postpone that for later. He could still make up for those skills with his own physical abilities. What he needed right now was better equipment.

He unequipped the sword and placed it on the crafting table. It automatically started the innovate feature. The original properties of the sword were revealed.

It really was just a simple double-edged sword. The trigger feature was an innovation to increase its burst damage. It made use of a lining on the blade’s edge that increased the blade’s sharpness when activated. Currently, he could try to increase the damage bonus, extend the duration, reduce the cool-down, or a combination of any or all of the three.

There were other options aside from improving that trigger effect. The one that caught his attention was the ability to add one more trigger for another special effect. He immediately chose that one, and a list of possible uses were listed. Scrolling through the variety of options, he was amazed at the amount of different possible abilities.

“Hmm?”

There were abilities that coats the weapon with elemental properties like flames or ice. There were also those that made the sword heavier or lighter, affecting the speed and impact of the swing with the change of momentum. And then, he saw it.

“Ha… hahaha… hahahahaha!”

He couldn’t help but laugh in joy. What he saw was something that could be considered as every young boy’s dream, which he still carried in his heart even as he grew into a young adult.

Without a doubt, he could not pass on this option. Even if the results would be useless, he still chose it with all the passion in his heart.

He had already made up his mind, and selected the options until he used up all his Creation Points. After he confirmed the choices and placed the necessary materials, the equipments on the table started to move. There was a hologram display of how many Creation Points he had left, and he watched it steadily decrease as the crafting process proceeded to completion.

After a few minutes, the precision equipments returned to their original positions.

Double-edged Sword *This item has been innovated and can be renamed.

Special Abilities:

1st Trigger: Enhance - Increases edge damage by 100% for 5 seconds. 2 minute cool-down. (0 CP)

2nd Trigger + Handle Pull: Transform - Changes double-edged sword to blunt sword. No cool-down. (70 CP)

2nd Trigger + Handle Push: Transform - Changes double-edged sword to single-edged twin swords. No cool-down. (70 CP)

Passive: Consume - Absorbs a small amount of from injury contact with enemy. 1% Vitality recovered per hit. (100 CP)

Allen smiled in satisfaction as he renamed the sword.

“Novo.”

He then picked it up and tested out all three forms.

Novo - First Form

This appears to be a simple double-edged sword. It absorbs the in the injuries it caused on the enemy during the time of contact. Its edges are lined with that can be activated by pressing the trigger, increasing the damage by 100% for 5 seconds. (Cooldown: 2 Minutes)

Impressively, it can transform to two other forms. It is currently in the first form.

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

He then pressed the second trigger, just below the first, and pulled the bottom half of the hilt by an inch. The hilt shifted position from being aligned in the center to a quarter of the blade. Half of the blade, opposite of the part where the hilt was aligned, shifted and slid over the other half and fitted together, forming a slightly thick rectangular sword with no sharp edges or tip.

Novo - Second Form

This appears to be a blade-less rectangular sword. It absorbs the in the injuries it caused on the enemy during the time of contact.

Impressively, it can transform to two other forms. It is currently in the second form.

Damage: 100 Slash (0.0) Pierce (0.0) Strike (1.5)

Now, he didn’t have to worry facing against armored opponents, especially those that uses the crystals on their body to form a layer of hardened crystal.

He returned it to the first form. Next, he once again pressed the second trigger, but this time he pushed the bottom half of the handle all the way up. It repeated the same process as the second form where the handle shifted position. This time, a new handle appeared beneath the other half of the blade, and the two handles returned to their former lengths. As he grasped the other hilt with his left hand, the blade split into two right in the middle, forming into two identical single-edged swords.

Novo - Third Form

This appears to be a pair of single-edged swords. It absorbs the in the injuries it caused on the enemy during the time of contact. Its edges are lined with that can be activated by pressing the trigger, increasing the damage by 100% for 5 seconds. Each sword can be activated separately, and does not share the cooldown time. (Cool-down: 2 Minutes)

Impressively, it can transform to two other forms. It is currently in the third form.

Damage: 50 Slash(1.0) Pierce(0.5) Strike(0.0)

Allen couldn’t help but smile. For him, this was a masterpiece. Even though he used to play as a priest, that didn’t mean that he did not know how to use other weapons. He observed other players and secretly practiced on his own on other games. He believed that even if he was not using the weapon, if he understood how it could be used and techniques that could be applied with it, he could figure out how to counter players who use those types of weapons. Right now, he benefited from that time greatly.

It cost him 240 Creation Points, leaving him with only 2.

As he sheathed the Novo, it automatically returned to its first form before turning turning into a thick band around his right lower arm. He then went to the terminal to store the scant remaining materials and check what skill he could learn.

There was now a new option in the terminal called . He opened it and found an empty list and 5 empty slots. He took out the Crystal Circuit and used it.

New Skill learned!

Dash - Move straight in a single direction in an instant. Distance covered depends on user’s physical ability. No cool-down. Cost: 50 Stamina.

Allen didn’t know whether to be happy or not. The skill seemed to be mediocre. He was expecting something that could improve his damage output, but thinking about it properly, increasing one’s survival is important, too. If he could reduce the damage he received in a battle, he could outlast his opponent.

He equipped the skill on the first slot.

Activating Skills

To activate a skill, perform any movement that is similar to the skill’s initial movement. The system will automatically open a window with a list of skills available for that action in the duration of the movement. Immediately select the skill you want to use. Selection is similar to that of the IIW, which does not require a manual input but uses the thoughts of the player. The window’s appearance may only last for a very short time, so practice may be necessary to perfect the usage of skills.

It was like a fast-paced action game that required timing and technique. Allen felt great joy. Indeed, this game’s difficulty level may be too high for ordinary players, and that was why there were only few compared to other VRMMOs.

Finally done with all the things he needed to do, Allen decided to eat dinner first. It was already a quarter past 7 pm. Preparing to log out, he was interrupted by a loud siren resounding in the base.

’Alert level 3. All armed personnel, please proceed to Mission Control. I repeat, all armed personnel, please proceed to Mission Control.’

Allen sigh.

"It looks like the cake will be postponed."

The new weapon idea was already planned out, so I was shocked to see the comment about it. :3 Stop reading my mind, bruh.

5:30 am now. I woke up 3 am to finish the chapter :P