It was already five minutes into the timer, and it has been a cakewalk for the most part. You only need to climb and jump on some hurdle. It was enjoyable doing this course like something you see in a school sports festival.

Although I may have thought that too soon because as soon as I was being carefree, wooden logs start falling out of nowhere. Having no level of alertness at all, it hit me perfectly. I was not able to comprehend what just happened before I was transferred again back to the starting point.

[You have died]

"What was that?! Logs squishing me so suddenly is the last thing I expect. Die I die? That should have hurt."

The wooden log hitting me directly did not administer any pain strangely enough. There should at least be a sting like how the people in ETHER said.

If I remember correctly in a video that one time, they were interviewed about this specific topic and they said that the pain threshold was lowered to a minimum to abide by the safety protocols. Nonetheless, there should be still some pain based on the type and level of damage done to the player.

Yet, it does not explain why I felt nothing earlier. I cannot think of any reason, so I tried asking RiRi on what happened.

"You have died. Would you like to try again?"

"RiRi, is there any setting on pain threshold or something like that"

It was quite a stretch to ask this question since technically it is still in beta. This AI is supposed their proudest creation and I expected somehow it can answer my question, but it may not yet because it is not their final product.

"Pain settings has not yet been added to the game."

Simple and straightforward reply.

Satisfied with RiRi's answer, I went back to the starting point to begin the course again. I checked the timer and noticed something new.

[00:00:00]

Records:

08:24:23 – 247 meters

N/A – N/A

N/A – N/A

...

Besides the timer itself, there was a new board right beside it. It registered my attempt that I did recently, and it seems me dying still counts as a run.

"All of that just for 247 meters! How long does this go does this whole course go??"

"It is 4450m."

"I did not ask you but thanks for answering anyway, RiRi."

"You're welcome."

I prepared for another trial while imagining what to do when I reached that part again. I already thought of the many things that could show up since this course does not look like a simple parkour course.

After seven minutes, a minute faster than my previous record, I have reached the uphill once again. Now I know wooden logs would be showing up although the position and timing may be different this time. The best thing I can do is put my alert to the highest.

*Dodge*

It took two minutes to pass through that short distance alone, but it was worth it because I was able to live without any close calls. Those wooden logs were slower than I remembered although it is just like I predicted. The first wooden log showed up on a different position and at least a dozen more followed.

...

When I was walking uphill and thinking of many things that I would probably encounter in this course, a waterfall was not one of them. This body of water came into my view out of nowhere without any noise waterfalls should make from far away.

Looking closer, the water seems to be flowing out of nowhere and disperse when it meets the end of the road.

"Now that is a naturistic view. I wonder what the top looks like."

Surprising may it seems, but the beauty of the scenery diverted my attention to what I was doing. I took my time appreciating the view that I become shortsighted and did not see what was under it for a moment.

Besides the beautiful waterfall and the clear river, numerous crocodiles looking monsters could be seen patrolling around. The only way to proceed was through the stone platforms that spread out across the river and each platform was separated by a considerable distance that jumping one platform to another is barely possible.

Since death seems to have no penalty or whatsoever, I did not hesitate and hop towards the first platform and then the next, and next, while ignoring the crocodiles until my footing slip and fell headfirst in the water.

What happened next was a traumatising experience.

I did not die immediately and respawn back to the starting point as it did a while ago. My consciousness was still alive when I was underwater. Swimming was never my forte and with somewhat strong river-like current, I was not able to recover back to the ground.

Not only that, but the monsters were also not friendly at all. The last thing I saw before having my vision blacked out was the scary-looking gigantic mouth closing on me.

[You have been killed by a Snappy]

"Ahhh! What the hell was that! Snappy killed me?! What a cute name for a terrifying monster."

I am now back to the respawn point.

I caught my breath and decided to take a break for a while after that sequence. When I recollected myself once again I walk the same path until I pass through the monster-infested waters.

It is trial and error at this point and it has been already an hour since I have begun doing this course before I had enough for today. However, I was still not satisfied with New World.

I may have been adamant about the New World before this but playing it for a few hours really changed my perspective. Like they said, rather than a game, New World was the second reality with much better mechanics.

"RiRi, what time is it?"

"It's currently 8:18 pm"

It was still very early. There were only two things I could do currently in New World and I already had enough of one of it for today, so I decided to go back to weapon training and shoot arrows till my heart contents.

If it was the previous me, I might be playing until dawn. But this time I made sure to let RiRi remind me to log off at 10 pm. How convenient to have a phone in the shape of a person in this game.