I rested my hand on Hero’s shoulder for support as we entered Anka through the front gate. I drank potions I received as rewards from the Jean quests to heal myself to half HP. Although I was healed my legs were wobbly from the life and death battle that was still fresh in my mind. I know this is just a game but everything feels too real. I have never been mauled by a pack of wolves but I was certain that if I ever was, that is definitely what it would feel like.

2 red wolf dolls sat in my inventory.

‘I’ll definitely use these later.’

“Thanks for all your help I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up”

“A pack of wolves chasing someone isn’t too hard to spot, plus your loud mouth made it easier.” He said as he looked at me with a huge grin on his face. He seemed like the kind of guy who had a sense of humor.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can accompany you for a bit longer if you’d like”

“No, thank you... really I’m okay”

Hero put on a serious look of concern with his eyes fixed on me as I continue my attempts to convince him I'm fine.

“Nothing else will happen to me while I’m in Anka, you know that monsters can’t take a single step into the town right? And even if they did the guards would handle it”

“…..”

He remained silent as he stared at me with eyes full of pity. Hero knows I haven't fully recovered as he clearly saw my shaky legs.

“Seriously I’m fine” I sounded like a kid trying to convince his parent that he wasn’t crying.

“I just need to log out and rest a bit”

I honestly was just glad I survived. Not only is it really painful to die in-game, but the penalties for dying are brutal. If I die at this low level the [Exp] lose can de-level me all the way to level 1. To make things worse I also lose a number of my inventory items and a large amount of what little [Lan] I have. I wouldn’t have been able to collect the 2 red wolf dolls sitting in my inventory either.

“... Alright, I know how traumatic the first monster attack can be. Take as long as you need and don’t push yourself to log back in”

Hero is a lvl 12 Warrior that was heading to the next town when he came across my desperate situation.

“Will do”

Just when I was going to log out, he called out to me.

“Wait!”

I paused and stared at him.

“Add me to your friend list, just in case”

‘Just in case what?’ I thought to myself, but the words that left my mouth were different.

“Ugh.. sure”

I reluctantly accepted his offer.

I don’t dislike him of course, but I do have trust issues. I am not comfortable around people I don't know. I’m very grateful that he saved my life, but I don’t want other players to see my [Unique traits] that I'm unable to fully comprehend myself.

Although adding him as a friend wouldn’t really hurt and I have to pay him back for saving me.

[Herotecha has sent a friend request! will you accept?]

[yes/no]

I accepted his friend request

Friends [1/2]

Ca1tSith [Offline]

Herotecha [Online]

“Alright I have you on my friends list so just in case you find yourself in trouble again send me a message and I’ll try to get to you as soon as I can.”

It was reassuring knowing he was so willing to go out of his way to help me. I had to make sure to help him out as well if we ever meet each other in the future.

“No worries, I’m sure we’ll run into each other at some point. thanks again for saving my life Hero I really owe ya”

“Don’t worry about it and take care of yourself Ghost”

“Will do”

Hero waved goodbye as he headed back towards the town’s gates.

‘I need to get some sleep’ I was mentally drained and my body still ached. I couldn’t get over how real this game felt. In RO there wasn’t any pain when you took a hit and the only way to know you were taking a beating were the numbers that appeared over your head.

‘So all the money that the company made from RO was spent on making this game painful…’

“Full Immersion” a concept that was only a dream when RO first launched was now a reality.

‘It’s time to go home.’

[Are you sure you want to log out?]

[Yes/No]

I clicked yes

-------------------------

I was back on my bed in my room that gave me a false sense of security. All the lights were off as my face was buried in my pillow. The mild trauma I was experiencing prevented me from sleeping.

As I close my eyes I see the image of a pack of wolves chasing me and my body shudders from fear as I break out in a cold sweat. The pain I felt today was unlike anything I ever felt before. I tried to comfort myself by wrapping my arms around my stomach as I felt the pain lingering on my skin.

“There is no way that wasn’t real”

I lay there unable to sleep as the fear crept up on me every time I managed to close my eyes.

‘I guess that’s why they call it “Nightmare”... I have to do something about this’

I foolishly thought because of my [Unique Traits] I would breeze right through the beginner’s zone. But that thought was easily shattered in one day. My money making scheme wasn’t going too well.

I didn’t plan to be afraid of a virtual world forever, I jumped out of my bed and onto my computer and went on the MARE Forums.

Since the remaining loyal RO players had recently been forced onto the MARE servers I suspected there might already be a subforum dedicated to newcomers from RO. To no surprise I was correct, there was a section labeled ‘Ruler Online’

When I clicked on the subforum there were a few posts that were welcoming the new players and others with guides and tips, But I wasn’t interested in anything like that. I kept scrolling through the posts until I found something along the lines of what I was looking for.

[What did you bring from RO?]

I couldn’t stop the huge smile that appeared on my face. Before the RO shutdown, there were a lot of questions as to what exactly we could bring to MARE. The short answer was “Not much”. In reality, we could bring any item that we so pleased, but that wasn’t the problem. Even if we could bring anything we wanted around 80% of all the items in RO would be useless glorified RO remnants in MARE. It didn’t end there either, a large portion of that 20% we could bring would be either nerfed or highly restricted.

Clothes with bonus effects would have those buffs completely restricted and would only serve as visual accessories. With that in mind, a lot of people only brought items that would raise their characters aesthetics. Unfortunately, that’s also the reason I did not plan ahead on what items to bring.

The items I brought with me were all large stacks of consumable items that boosted my experience gained from hunting monsters. Because leveling up at my current level was easy I decided to use them after reaching level 60. Anything else that would mostly serve as an aesthetic piece didn’t seem like it would be of much use to me so.

I clicked on the post and read through the comments. I saw a number of names that I recognized... but that didn’t mean it made me happy.

Iano

R4mbo

Nosferatu

Tresor

Blackthief…..

…….

‘I don’t have a very good relationship with any of these guys.’

Whenever I saw any of them in RO I would either be fighting with them or exchanging insults. It was no exaggeration to say that I will try to kill them on sight inside of MARE.

‘I need to get back to what I was doing’

I didn’t get on the forum to look for these guys what I actually was looking for then came into view.

[S> RO Collectible items]

“Bingo!”

There were many posts similar to this one. RO’s items were useless and many players were trying to sell outfits and other collectibles to get a bit of [Lan] or cash. But for me, this was the biggest treasure trove I could hope for.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” There was no better way to put it.

I need to get stronger and there was currently no faster way than this.

I know today won’t be the last time I’ll be in a dangerous situation. Wolves weren’t my only concern either, I would eventually run into my old enemies and new ones as well. I had to act as soon as possible to shift the odds in my favor as much as possible.

I picked up the phone and dialed

*Puru Puru Puru Puru Puru…. Puru Puru… Kacha*

The phone was picked up and I heard the voice on the other side.

“Hey what’s up?

“Maico get online right now!”

----------------------

I told him to meet me at the same cafe we were at last time. I was in the cafe only 2 minutes after we hung up the phone. I ordered sweet tea for us.

“Here’s your tea sir”

The maid only took 3 minutes to bring the tea after I ordered it.

”Is your friend still not here?”

“He’ll be here soon, Thank you for the tea”

The maid bowed and walked away

‘Where is he?’

*Ding Ding*

Just as that thought crossed my mind the tan human I knew to be my brother walked into the cafe.

“What’s up bro, You sounded like you were in a rush when we were on the phone.”

“Yeah… A lot happened”

My brother sat down and I explained the events that transpired up to this moment...

“SERIOUSLY!?”

“Yeah….”

I couldn’t tell exactly what part he was referring to.

“That is seriously overpowered. So you can use any item from RO as if you were still in it?”

“I haven’t really tested it out but it seems items don’t work exactly as they did in RO”

“That’s right you shouldn’t be able to summon more than one pet at once… but that only makes it all the more broken”

“I know haha” I couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh as I felt like I was being complimented by my brother.

“So I’m guessing there’s something you want me to do”

“Yeah, I want you to collect as many of the RO items as possible.”

I didn’t have enough RP to purchase anything useful other than skills. So this was a perfect opportunity to get my hands on some rare items.

“What makes you think I have money?

“Didn’t you say you owned a high-level weapon and armor shop? I’m sure you’re loaded with cash. ”

“Well I own the store but all the items are actually Giovanni’s, I just sell them for him”

Giovanni was the name of our brother “Viciouz”

“What’s Giovanni’s IGN?

“Haha, why don’t you go ask him?”

As much as I wanted to see him I wasn’t in a rush to do so. I needed to concentrate on getting stronger first.

“I’ll ask him when I see him”

“He usually stays at the shop if you want to see him, but don’t tell anyone that”

“...Why not?”

“Well, he doesn’t want anyone to know where he is, it’s kind of like his hideout. Not that he’s hiding from anyone haha…”

I had a pretty good idea as to why Maico didn’t want me to spread the word of where Giovanni was staying. If Giovanni was the same here as he was in RO I’m certain everyone would try to stay as far away from him as possible.

“Tell him I said hi when you see him”

“I will... By the way, you said Blackthief and Iano were here?”

As far as I could remember Maico and Blackthief couldn’t stand each other at all. I don’t exactly recall what happened between them but they were always at each other’s throats. Iano, on the other hand, was one of the leaders of a group that we simply referred to as “The Italians”. They owned a town and formed a guild and built a small community composed solely of Italian players. Thus, The Italians came to be, they were one of the 3 strongest and most influential factions in RO and there was no doubt in my mind that Iano and his goons would quickly rise in this game.

“Yeah, I saw him selling RO items on the forums.”

“Damn... There are already a few of The Italians in MARE but most of them aren’t Iano’s people.”

The Italians were once a much larger group but one of the leading members had a falling out with Iano and The Italians were split in half. The group that split off was lead by a player named “Falcone89” and he formed a guild called “Diehard”. Diehard was a strong PvP guild that could always be found fighting in PK zones. It could even be said that the creation of Diehard heralded the greatest PK era in RO.

Unlike Iano’s group we didn’t have a bad relationship with Diehard, they could even be considered our allies.

“I’m sure things are going to change now that Iano and the rest of them are here. I would kill them if I could but PK in Initium isn’t possible so I’ll have to wait until they level up.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. So can you get the items for me?

“Yeah I’ll have to use some mule accounts to hide my identity but I can get them for ya”

“Thanks”

I looked at the time on my HUD, we had been chatting for more than an hour.

“I have to get going, I need to get back to leveling”

“Alright bro good luck and try not to die to wolves haha."

I didn’t reply to his ridicule and only glared at him for a second. We both stood up and I stretched out my fist.

“see ya”

He gave me a fist bump and I walked out of the Cafe.

------------------------

I was right outside Anka’s gate where Jean was located, I was getting his quest list before I went out to hunt.

I pushed the window to the side as I sat down a few meters away from Jean and pulled up my skill window. I neglected MARE’s skill system because I became too comfortable with RO’s which suddenly became available to me. If I wanted to survive in this game I needed to adapt and use MARE’s skill system. I currently had 7 skill points to spend, I looked at the skill tree. There were 2 skills that caught my attention.

Fear: Level 1

Mana cost: 20

Cast time: Instant

Range: 30m

Curse Damage: 10/2

Duration: 8 seconds

Cooldown: 30s

Vampire’s touch: Level 1

Mana cost: 32

Cast time: Instant

Range: 0

Damage: 50

Heal: 50%

Cooldown: 50s

I Immediately leveled these 2 skills

Fear: Level 3

Mana cost: 35

Cast time: Instant

Range: 40m

Curse Damage: 25/2

Duration: 14 seconds

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Vampire’s Touch: Level 4

Mana cost: 60

Cast time: Instant

Range: 0

Damage: 200

Heal: 65%

Cooldown: 44 seconds

I choose these skills based on how much they raised my survivability. I then pulled the 2 red wolf dolls out of my inventory

[Would you like to use Red Wolf doll?]

[yes/no]

-------------------------

GhostDKing’s Pet [Red Wolf] lvl 1

Strength -12

Dexterity - 10

Agility - 14

Intelligence - 5

Vitality- 8

----------------

-------------------------

GhostDKing’s Pet [Red Wolf] lvl 1

Strength -12

Dexterity - 10

Agility - 14

Intelligence - 5

Vitality- 8

----------------

I summoned both the red wolves. They were both currently level 1 just like the golems but the wolves’ stats were much higher. I shivered a little just from looking at them, I was still affected by my trauma even when I knew they were under my command.

I took in a deep breath to try and calm my nerves before I set off. I looked at my pet wolves one more time.

“…..”

They stared back at me silently as they awaited their command. I turned away from them and said one phrase as I started to walk.

“Let’s go”

---------------------

I was back at the golems territory. The golems I was about to fight didn’t concern me and the real purpose I was here was to make my wolves stronger.

I started a Jeans quest to hunt golems and I picked up as many rocks as I could hold. I threw them to try and aggro as many golems as possible while remaining away from the huge field boss in the middle that had yet to show itself.

Around 15 golems came rushing at a snail’s pace. They were only lvl 1 with some being lvl 2, I hit the first golem 2 times for critical hits and quickly moved on to the next maneuvering between them as best I could.

*Klunk Klunk*

It wasn’t that hard considering how slow they were and compared to the wolves they were practically standing still. I commanded my wolves to finish off the golems that I attacked. I refused to use the spells I had just learned to avoid accidentally killing the golems. One by one the golems started to crumble as the system messages popped up

[Red wolf has level up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[you have leveled up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[Red wolf has level up]

[you have leveled up]

From their first golem kill, they both leveled up. I continued the same routine until I was level 10 and the wolves were both level 6 and I had another 3 more golem dolls. I discarded the dead golems that I was currently unable to resurrect. I summoned the 3 golems and made sure to make them reach at least level 3.

I looked at my stats as well as the wolves

-------------------------

[GhostDKing] lvl 10

[HP- 745]

[MP- 350]

Strength - 16

Dexterity - 18

Agility - 22

Intelligence - 22

Mind/Wisdom - 20

Constitution/Vitality - 16

*Luck - 10

Available points: 45

-------------------------

-------------------------

GhostDKing’s Pet [Red Wolf] lvl 6

Strength -19

Dexterity - 13

Agility - 22

Intelligence - 9

Vitality- 12

----------------

-------------------------

GhostDKing’s Pet [Red Wolf] lvl 6

Strength -18

Dexterity - 14

Agility - 22

Intelligence - 9

Vitality- 12

----------------

'I have stat points to distribute?'

On my status window, there was an extra line that read "Available points: 45". In RO all your stat points could be distributed as you wished, but in MARE the distribution of your points was predetermined by your race and class. But for me, it seemed to be a hybrid of both systems. Half the points were predetermined while the other half was up to me. I decided on how to distribute my extra points. I dumped them all into intelligence.

‘This should be good enough’

There were 3 wolves that ran away when Hero showed up. With my [Unique trait][King’s domain] I could distinguish monsters from one another. All I have to do is go around slaughtering wolf pack after wolf pack until I find those 3. The thought of what I was about to do made me nervous. This was the only way I could think of to get over my trauma. I was anxious but more than anything I was angry. I was angry at my helplessness and I wanted revenge.

I stood up and dusted myself off from all the rubble that was the golem’s bits and pieces. I walked over to the red wolves and looked down towards them.

‘Maybe it’ll get confusing with too many wolves around’

I thought about giving them names to not get them mixed up with each other. I didn’t care so much about the golems since they were only useful to serve as a wall. I wasn’t the most creative person when it came to naming, so after little consideration, I decided to give them simple names.

“Alright, you’re Lo and your Bo!”

I pointed at each one and called out their names. The 2 wolves seemed to like them as they started to wag their tails. I had a look of satisfaction on my face as I felt proud that I bestowed good names upon my pets.

‘Hehe I am good at this after all.’

I looked at my newly named pets and called out their names.

“Lo, Bo”

Their gaze met mine and I gave them a verbal command

“Let’s go hunt some wolves”