Gavin came home yesterday late at night. Dad dropped Mom off at home first before going to pick up Gavin at the airport. They got back a few hours later, around 1 or 2 AM. Gav was kind of sweaty for some reason, so he went and took a shower. Which woke me up.

Me and my brother, well, I can't really describe our relationship. We used to be pretty close, even though he's 7 years older, and would play video games together all the time. Then he went into high school, and he started staying up late playing solo games by himself. He'd also hang out at his friends' houses and then drive home. A few of them came over one time just to hang out with him and Dad got pissed cuz Gav didn't tell him in advance and they made a mess of the house too. They'd get shitfaced and leave the house with a smell for days.

And then he went into college and didn't really talk much about it. He studied hard and got into one of those programs where you can do some med school as well as regular college to cut down on the total number of years for med school.

He's only recently started talking to me, mostly about Legacy. Now that I think about it, I have zero clue on how he could get a headset. The game costs $200 and he shouldn't have had any time to get a job or need one since he was also on a full scholarship. Maybe he just borrowed from one of his friends or something.

So, anyway. About those questions.

Question 1: Did I do something I wasn't supposed to do:

"There's just no way you could have gotten an SR skill. Not even top streamers have one. The highest rarity anyone has so far is a UC skill."

...Well.

Question 2: Have you gone to the library?

"Why the hell would you go to the library? Who thinks to themselves, 'Hey, I just got this brand new game, I wonder if it has a library?'"

Okay then. I guess I'll keep this a secret forever.

Well, maybe I'll tell my friends.

He told me to meet up in the square as soon as I get on. Since the college got shut down, he doesn't really have any work to do, so, and actually, I think he's ingame right now.

Lucky him. I still have school, while he gets to laze around all day now.

And now, I'm ingame. I wonder where Gav is? I'm at the square right now but unless he's wearing a hood or something I don't see him.

I guess I'll just walk around town in the meantime.

"Skewers for sale! They're nice and hot! Get them while they're still warm!"

"We can craft and repair equipment! We can make custom orders!"

"Potions for sale! Mana potions upfront, health potions in the back! You get a 10% discount if you buy over 4 potions!"

There's a lot of people at these shops. Well, they're not really shops. They're basically makeshift street stalls, with a table and a sign. Kinda like a yard sale. Also, most of them appear to be owned by NPCs and not players, which makes sense, since it probably costs a lot of money. There are a few players here and there, but they're all sitting on the ground, with just a blanket to display their wares.

"Hey! You there! You're a mage, aren't you?"

Is someone talking to me? Nah, there's no way they'd figure out I'm a mage right? After all, Bell and Jade thought I was a crafter, so there's just no way.

"Pfft--Hahaha! They're ignoring your dumb ass! Bwahahaha! I told you that guy wasn't a mage!"

"Oh shut up! This guy's definitely a mage! I saw him in the forest the other day!"

Okay, looks like they are talking to me. I guess I'll take that as a cue and so I turn around.

And so I see two people to the right of me. One of them looks like a warrior, with half a set of armor, while the other looks like one of those people from that one show, called Hoarders. Seriously, their bag looks like it's going to explode. There are random rocks you'd find on the ground bulging out of the pockets, and tree branches sticking out of the front.

Behind the warrior, there's the guy that was laughing at him. I can't see their face properly, since they've got a hood on, but they look like a rogue.

"What the hell do you want?" the mage asks. "I got stuff to do man."

"Isn't it obvious?" the warrior responds. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Yeah, how about no. Besides, why would you want to fight me? What did I do to you?"

"Because it is my mission to rid this game of mages."

"What kind of fucking mission is that?"

"Just accept the damn challenge!"

"Why should I?"

By now, a crowd has gathered to watch. And even with this many people staring at them, neither of them look like they're feeling the pressure.

"Come on, do it ya pussy!"

"My money's on the warrior!"

"Just fight already or get out of the way!"

The crowd heckles the mage, putting even more pressure on him. His expression begins to waver but holds strong.

"Stop asking questions and just do it!"

"No thanks."

"Ugh, then how about this? Whoever loses has to pay the victor 100 CZ! Now, will you fight?"

Isn't that a lot of money? How'd he get so much so fast?

"Aren't I at a disadvantage though? I only have a staff for a weapon while you have a sword."

Seriously? Does the mage also have as much? I guess I'm just poor...

"Then I'll only use my right hand, but in exchange, the winner can also take an item from the user. Good enough for ya?" The warrior sounds way too confident. He's probably going to try something in the duel.

"Alright, bring it on." Uh, is the mage kinda stupid? I mean, it's obvious that something's gonna go wrong during the match, right?

A transparent barrier suddenly erects itself right in the middle of the path. Words inscribed on the barrier read "Match in Progress." Inside the barrier are the two players, with a timer in the space above them. The numbers on the timer tick downwards, starting from 10.

The bags of both players are gone, while each player holds a weapon. The mage has the beginner staff and the warrior has an iron sword. The odds are obviously in the warrior's favor though, since the mage doesn't have a single piece of armor but the warrior's got a helmet and a chestplate. Slung over the back of the mage is a... quiver? So the guy picked up archery? How's he going to shoot arrows though, since he doesn't have a-- oh he does have a bow, okay.

When the timer gets to 0, the warrior rushes at the mage. The mage tries to draw an arrow, but the warrior just rams into him and smacks the bow away with his sword before stabbing the mage in the gut. He doesn't stop there, though, as he chops off the man's limbs and writes something with the blade on the guy's back... The dude's screaming in pain the whole time but suddenly stops. I think he passed out. Meanwhile, the warrior keeps going at it, writing "LOSER" with the blade while laughing and stomping on the guy. The crowd's cheering him on, shouting "finish him." Was this all planned from the start or something?

The match lasted about 5 seconds. I think I can see why people call mages "meat shields" now. The mage's body finally vanishes, signaling the death of a player.

The barrier comes down and the warrior grabs the other guy's bag, rummaging about in it before taking out a vial with green liquid inside. "I'll be taking this," they say before turning to me. The mage's bag vanishes as well, and a pile of coins appears on the ground.

"You're a mage too, right? Why don't you fight me next!" he demands.

Hmmm. This guy looks really strong, but his speed is about average, I would say. It's just that the mage was really lacking in... about everything. I mean, he couldn't even dodge the charge, and just stood there instead of backing away. Like the barrier's not even that small! It's like the size of an apartment. I guess the guy he faced off against was one of those players that explores the game instead of getting stronger. It doesn't matter because this scumbag is going down.

---I don't have 100 CZ though.

"Are you broke or something? Then instead of 100 CZ, the winner can take an extra 2 items from the loser! So are you going to fight or not?"

---Okay, I'll fight.

"Hey, are you retarded or something? You just saw that guy get thrashed and you still want to fight Mike?" The guy that was laughing before shouts at me.

Well, there's no going back now anyway. The barriers have already come down, and the timer's started. I've got my knuckles on and my staff in my right hand. Mike's got his sword in both his right and left hands and both our bags are off in the corner. He gets in a running stance and I reflexively bend my knees, ready to dodge.

The timer sounds and the warrior charges at me, just like in the last match. I move to the right quickly and kick with my left side, tripping him. I stagger a little from the impact, but he falls to the ground. I mount him from the back and go for his throat, strangling him. He screams and makes choking sounds but I hold him steadily. His hands reach up but I grab his neck and smash his head into the ground, over and over again. Blood spurts onto the ground along with a clatter. I increase the pressure, squeezing as hard as I can. Suddenly there's a whump in my chest and I fly backward, sprawling onto the ground. The guy gets up slowly, reaching for his sword. I try to get up, but my chest hurts too much.

I take off one of my shoes and throw it, hitting the guy in the face. He staggers, his head smacking the ground, but he gets back up. I throw my other shoe, hitting the sword, and sending it away. I climb shakily to my feet, taking a breather, before charging at the guy, kicking him in the face. He crashes to the ground with a thud and I begin strangling him once again before he finally goes limp. His body doesn't vanish though, meaning that he's just unconscious.

Wow, that was about as easy as I thought it would be. Now all I got to do is finish him. I grab my shoes, putting them back on, before taking my staff, raising it above my head, and swinging downwards with it over and over again until a blue screen pops up in front of me. I wave it away just as the walls come down.

You have won the duel. Gained 25 EXP Gained Iron Boots(C) Gained Iron Chestplate(C) Gained Title: Dark Horse I(C): Defeat an enemy stronger than you. +2 ATK, +2 AGI, +1 END. Learned Strangle(C) Lvl 1 Strangle(C) Lvl 1: Increases the damage dealt to your opponent by wrapping an appendage around their throat with level. Learned Dodge(C) Lvl 1 Dodge(C) Lvl 1: Increases the ability to dodge attacks with level.

That'll show him to fuck with mages. His body finally vanishes, leaving me with his boots and a chestplate.

Iron Chestplate(C): +4 DEF. Grade: 4. Durability: 18. A chestplate made of iron from an inexperienced craftsman. Iron Boots(C): +2 DEF, +2 AGI. Grade: 4. Durability: 16. A pair of boots made of iron from a noob craftsman.

Why do I feel like these pieces of armor are kind of shitty? Since he had all that money, shouldn't he have had better equipment? Or is this just the standard equipment, just like how potions are?

I take off my old ones and put on both pieces, bringing my DEF up to 12 and my AGI up to 11, making them my two highest stats.

Actually, now that I think about it, this felt a little too easy. After all, if mages are the way most people think they are, then shouldn't I have been at a bigger disadvantage?

Though to be fair, I'm not exactly playing the game with a mage build.

Anyway, that's two items so far. Let's see if he has anything else...

"What the fuck? How did you win?! What is this bullshit!"

Oh, the dome came down. Whatever, as long as I don't get pked or something I don't really care.

I ignore the voice and keep looking. There isn't really that much of anything, it's mostly just food...

There are some materials, but they're all the regular drops, and not in good condition either. There are holes in pelts, shards of what appear to be snake fangs, and blue dust everywhere. Oh, what's this?

Bomber's Leather Gloves(C)

Isn't this the drop from that one goblin from before? I think it gave a boost to DEX, which would be pretty useful, so I guess I'll take these. I brush off the dust covering the gloves and put them on. They're a little big, but they'll stay on.

The bag vanishes after I put on each piece of equipment and check my status. They made my DEF my top stat at 14 and tied my AGI and DEX for 2nd at 12.

Status

Name: Daru

Lvl 2

Class: Mage

EXP: 95/200

Titles: Monster Hunter I, Dark Horse I

HP: 34/34

MP: 18/28

ATK: 11 (+1)

INT: 8 (+2)

DEX: 12 (+3)

END: 10

DEF: 14 (+8)

VIT: 8

AGI: 14 (+4)

WIS: 8

LUCK: 10

SP: 0

A pull on my shoulder distracts me from my thoughts. Same guy, same voice.

"You fuck, you cheated, didn't you?! What the fuck did you-"

"He won, fair and square, dumbass. Guy's probably in that troll guild or something." A person from the crowd grabs the guy and shoves him roughly.

---Uh, I'm not in a guild. And what's the troll guild?

I barely know any of the features in this game and you think I'm in a guild?

"The troll guild's a group of fake classers, which are people that choose one class but play with another class's build, like an archer tanker or something. So if you're not one of them, are you playing this game for fun or something? "

---Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing, but I'm not in a guild.

This guy is crazy. I mean, like, if you're not playing this game for fun, what the hell are you playing it for then? It's not like you can make money off this game unless you're a streamer or something, right? Plus there's nothing like an exchange area where you can buy ingame items with real money anywhere.

I walk off, shoving my old armor into my bag as the crowd disperses. I really need to get rid of some of this crap. I can probably dismantle some of this crap or something since it's not like someone will want the beginner armor. Maybe Bell can help me out.

You can contact people from the friends list, right?

Friends List

Name

Level

Status

Skye

4

Offline

Jarvis

4

Offline

Ten

3

Offline

Jade

3

Offline

Bell

3

Offline

Looks like it doesn't matter.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. Where the hell is Gav? I even made this huge scene, and I still don't see his face anywhere.

He forgot about it, didn't he. I'll talk to him about it when I logout.

For now, though, I head towards the field zone. Fighting makes me hungry, but I need to save my money.

Actually, I might as well just look around some more on my way there. The fields happen to be on the other side of this street, so I can look at the prices while I get there.