"SEARCH THE PERIMETER!!"

"CLOSE THE GATE!!"

Gone the silence of the night. Loud clamors and metal clinking filled the castle. Soldiers, guards, butlers, and even maids were rushing and running about inside the castle grounds.

"I WANT THE THIEVES FOUND BY THE MORNING AND HANG HIM IN FRONT OF THE MASSES!!"

The young Viscount Coenred with his royal outfits ordered. Rage can be seen in his block-shaped face, and his rolling mustache bounced up and down by the fumes he released from his big-sized nostrils.

----

Creak

The sound of a door traveled through the dimly lit room. A guard stood in front of room, with a torch in his hands. He waved his torch left and right and his eyes moved at the same time when his torch moved. The guard inspection didn't last long and took only five seconds until he closed the door once more.

"*Sigh*..."

Yuri found himself some hiding spot inside the castle wine cellars, this room was also the room where the guards checked earlier. He was sitting in the corner accompanied by rats and little critters, that were running around in search of food. At least they have food, Yuri grumbled in his mind.

"Ahhh...I'm hungry, and thirsty...No money...And now I'm a fugitive...So much for being a battle hero...This is that woman's fault...*sigh*"

He looked so pitiful hiding in the corners. The fragrance of wine danced through the air, although he can drink some of it to relieve his thirst, he was afraid to make some unnecessary noise that will reveal his position.

"I need to get out of here...Think Yuri...Think..."

The brain inside his head was running at its full speed. For now, he only got two options. Wait until the commotion died down and then make his great escape, or, rush to the front gates hoping that he will survive the guard's onslaught. Do mind that the guards were around level ten and the elite guards were around level twenty to twenty-five, which in turns will make Yuri die in a single hit.

Both options had it's own downside though, the first one, he didn't know when will the commotion ends, if its short, then it was plausible for him to escape, but if it's long then he will die from starvation, this options only works if nobody checks the wine cellar.

The other options, would have him to foxtrot, waltz and then tango with death itself. Of course, dying was one of the options, he will revive at the closest safe zone, but the penalties for this game is so harsh, that he will be left with a crippling state for two weeks, and that will accumulate with each death.

"Jump out of the castle windows? I will break one of my legs, and be found immediately..."

"...."

"Log out! Yes! Log out!"

His finger moved to open up the menu, he scrolled through the menu and left in shock. The log out options was greyed out. WHAT! Panic filled his minds.

The log out functions only worked if the players were not in a state of combat, or in a safe zone in general. This feature is supposed to be a fail-safe for the players in case they log out in a dangerous area, because their avatars didn't disappear instantly and will take time to save their state of progress into the server.

"What kinds of sick bastard that put these kinds of features!"

The stress levels inside his minds were slowly rising. The whole castle has been turned into a hostile area and his status was in combat still.

"I need to get out of here...The lake? I need to take my chances!"

He prepared his mind, took a deep breath after another. His face turned serious, because one wrong step would cost him his life.

Ready! GO! He shouted inside his head. His steps were careful as he approached the cellar's door.

"Reports!"

"Nothing's here sir!"

"What about the wine cellars?"

"I already checked it! Nobody inside sir!"

"Okay then! You come with me, we're going to the garden!"

"Yes, sir!"

The sound's of guards conversation can be heard through the cellar's door. Yuri opened it slightly just to see the other sides, through the slits he found that his surroundings were clear, and decided to proceed with his plan.

The guards that said that nobody inside the wine cellar, was, in fact, telling the truth, from his perspective there is nobody there, this is because he didn't check thoroughly and do his job properly, if he was meticulous enough maybe Yuri will have his head hanged by tomorrow.

----

"I need to go to the back side, where the lakes are." He said to himself in a hushed tone.

Stonehelm castle wine cellars are located undergrounds beneath the grand hall, the long hallways were filled with doors, that leads to either storage areas, the wine cellars area, or some of the guards sleeping quarters. The only exit was located at the far ends of each side, connected either to the grand halls or the castle courtyards.

Yuri rushed himself, knowing that nobody was in the area. His destination was at the far ends of that connected to the courtyards. He knew that the other side was connected to the grand hall because that is where he came earlier, basically, he gambled that the other side were connected to the courtyards.

The hallways were narrow and damp, and the only lighting in there was torches, that was hanged in the walls.

Nearing the ends of the hallways, He saw a little bit of light emitted from the exit.

Yuri didn't rush through the exit, instead, he snuck a little, peeking through the edges to scan his surroundings. As expected the exit indeed connected to the courtyards, his gamble was a success.

A fiery ball of fire moved around the courtyards in a rushed manner.

The castle courtyards were spacious, filled with training dummies for the soldiers and even the stables were located in there. On the side, stone steps of stairs can be seen connected to the castle walls. The walls itself were connected to the four towers of the castle, filled with beziers and soldiers guarding its vicinity.

He was done with his surveillance and moved in the shade of the castle walls. From his observation, there were around twenty guards in the courtyards and five patrolling through the walls. His heartbeat was rising faster than ever, and his brain worked to its fullest capacities.

The guards passed him two or three times, while he was hiding in one of the stables hay. He needs to move fast, the hiding place he was in right now was not ideal in the slightest. He gritted his teeth and rushed towards the stone steps mounted on the wall.

As he rushed through, he also didn't forget to check his surroundings, thankfully there were no guards to where he is going, and his journey was a smooth sail. Arrived at the stone steps of stairs, he stuck his body close to the walls, as if to blends into the walls itself.

"Almost there...You can do it, Yuri..." He muttered to encourage himself.

He reached the top of the stairs and lowers his body. He looked left and right, confirming that there were no guards there. The moonlight shined brightly at the wall's surface added with the light that the beziers emitted.

Yuri navigated through the top of the walls with his crouched position, and finally reached the ends of it. His path was blocked by the castle body, leaving with only a small ledge that leads towards the lake behind.

He was shocked by the findings. Now or never Yuri, you've got to do this, either you die falling or die drowning. He gritted his teeth and braced himself to walk on the ledges.

"Don't look down now!"

The winds brushed his black shining hair, he hugged the castle sides closely towards his body, his steps were small and timid. While in his minds chaotic thoughts appear one after another.

"Don't look down..."

His heart was racing just like a supercar. Blood pumped towards his head and his stress level at the maximum level.

"If only I haven't met that woman!" He gritted his teeth furious at the thought.

Regrets filled his mind right now, if only he can turn back the time. But, reality didn't work like that, and he knows that, engraved it in his bones even. He was only furious at the thought that he was powerless by that time, and fate once again had him in the palm of her hand.

He traversed through the small ledge and arrived nearly at the end of it.

"That's a long fall..."

His minds were blank. He stood at the edge of the ledge, and in front of him was the lake, that he so desired. But, in actuality, between him and the lake, there is a long distance that must be traveled. It's like he just stood on the edge of Niagara Falls.

"Now or never! F***!!!!!"

Splosh

From a distance, he was just like a tiny speck that visible only for a couple of seconds. But, from Yuri perspective, it was the longest fall he ever experienced, he felt his body falls in a slow motion, torturing his minds.

Tring

===

Infamy: +10 (Successfully escape the castle perimeter with the thief status.)

You have unlocked Silent Steps [Lv.1] (Muffled movements when crouching.)

- Requirements : Sneak up around 20 enemies. (Completed) -

===

- Stop the goblins invasions towards the town of Stonehelm. (Quest Failed) -

===

Yuri swam across the lake just to arrive at the lake banks near the Stonehelm forest. His clothes were soaked, and he finds it heavy to move around, from a distance, he also can hear faintly the sounds of commotions going through the castle and sighed a relief.

"I'm a fugitive now...And the quest failed...Well, at least I got another skill out of it..."

He opened up his menu and checks the logout options. Finally, it was no longer greyed out, and he can log out anytime he wants now. He organized his thoughts first, and decided to check his stats before logging out.

====

Avatar Info Name Race Gender Yurian Human Male Professions Alignments Reputation None Neutral 0 (10 Infamy) Avatar Level : 3 Health 200 Mana 100 Strength 13 +5 Agility 13 +4 Stamina 13 Vitality 12 Wisdom 10 Dexterity 10 +3 Charisma 10 Intellect 10 Luck 2 - Resistance - - - - - - Physical Attack : 21 Magical Attack : 0 Hand Off-Hand

Bandit's Grasp

(+3 STR, +2 AGI, +2 DEX)

Bandit's Grasp

(+3 STR, +2 AGI, +2 DEX)

Defense : 12 Head - Shoulder - Body

Jerkins of Relentless Power

(+2 STR, +2 AGI)

Back - Legs

Brown Pants

Foot Worn Out Shoes Accessories

Silver Bangle

(+1 DEX)

Accessories - Trinkets

-

Trinkets - Guild - Territories - Passive Skills Fist Mastery [Lv.1]: ATK+5% Using Fist Weapons.

Will of Steel [Lv.1]: STA+3%.

Swift Movements [Lv.1]: AGI+5%.

Silent Steps [Lv.1]: Muffled movements when crouching. Active Skills Lion's Roar [Lv.1]: Buff the allied party with +10 STR and +10 STA, also inflict fears to the nearby enemies. Lasts for 1 Minute | Cooldowns: 10 minutes | Not stackable with another Roar skills.

====

"Not enough...I need more power to build and defend a kingdom...Maybe I need to make a guild first..."

Yuri criticized his avatar for being a weakling, while in fact, his stats were more powerful than the normal level 3 players. Added with his martial arts skill, he can contend enemies eight levels above him, and how crazy was that in a VRMMORPG game.

Done with his inspections, he decided to call it a day and logged out.

----

He opened his helmet an found that the day was already turned into night. He thought maybe the game took the same real-world day and night cycle, while in fact, the game didn't take the same cycle. When he just logged out, the sun on the game world was only just to rise up, and he just missed it barely in a fractions of minutes.

Not interested to dwell much into that, he decided to take a simple dinner and goes to bed.