‘-Just fifteen days remaining until E-Worlds groundbreaking new release, New Era Online, hits the market! With the legendary AI crystal powering this vast new world, players will be able to-’

David sighed. He had nervously checked his internet access as soon as he woke up, worried something may have happened, causing him to be cut off from his old world. He had then done a quick check on the game’s status, seeing nothing in the news about a developer for the company being found dead in his home.

He had been in the game for a full twenty-four hours now. That meant that in the real world, he had died only four hours ago. He had called his lawyer’s office the night before he had entered the pod, leaving a message that he would be stopping by in the morning to ‘drop something off.’ It hurt to lie to the man, but it was David’s hope that Michael Clairmont would grow concerned with David’s lack of a response.

With luck, the man would call him back, receive no response, grow worried, and send someone to come and check on him.

Michael was no fool, he knew that David had been on death’s door.

On his way out.

His emotions took a sudden turn for the worse as he began to question, to doubt.

‘What if he doesn’t send someone?’

‘What if no one realizes?’

‘What if no one knows?’

‘How long will…how long will my body stay there…?’

He began to feel ill as he thought of no one realizing he was dead, of Michael not deeming him important enough to check on.

He was sure he hadn’t left much of an impression on the man. Maybe he forgot.

He was a busy man after all, and David?

Well, he was just an afterthought.

It would take weeks for them to find him. He was sure of it.

By then, his body would be unrecognizable. A bloated, rotting mass that would permanently change the smell of his beautiful home.

He began to gag as he thought of the poor medical workers that would have to remove him from his home, unable to even take him out of the pod as stipulated in his will.

He curled up into a ball at the head of his new bed, the fog forcing its way into his head.

The crematorium wouldn’t have a furnace big enough to burn him without removing him from the pod. They would have to remove his rotted corpse. They would examine the pod, find his modifications. The thought sent a chill up his spine.

They would delete him, when they found out.

He had thought about setting his house on fire, allowing himself and the pod to be consumed in the blaze. He might have if he wasn’t afraid he’d lose internet connection during the transfer, afraid the pod wouldn’t burn well. In the end, he just couldn’t stand the thought of allowing his beautiful house to burn.

The best and worst memories of his life were made in that house.

He didn’t want to destroy it.

He sighed, taking a deep breath.

It was fifteen days until the game was open to the public. That meant he had about three months of in game time before the ‘Ancestors’ would emerge from their towers. By the time they joined the game he needed to be strong enough to join them in their adventures, to have something to offer.

There would be players who made money from the game, the streamers. They would be online for much longer periods of time than the other gamers would. They would level faster and find the best loot, the best quests. Their streams would reach thousands of other players. If he wanted to be a recognized positive influence on the players, they were the target he had to aim for.

But in order to be a match for players like them, he would have to get out of bed.

He would have to ignore the fact that he was dead.

It was Leon Richardson who had died.

David Apollo was here, in a new world, and he was weak. That needed to change.

He took another deep breath, then got out of bed.

He needed to buy a change of clothes, to buy food, sell his loot from the bear, buy equipment, and learn how to fight. He was in the city of warriors, and while he might be aiming for a mage class, gaining skills in hand to hand combat and tactics would be incredibly beneficial to him throughout the game.

While the only class type that technically needed physical weapons like a gun was the engineer type, it was almost essential in the modern world. Mages, until they leveled up their spells and made them powerful, could be taken out relatively easily by a lower level character with a firearm, warriors were the same.

The engineer type had changed the world for the other class types, and with the introduction of stronger and more advanced firearms steadily being cranked out by engineers, if you were a low level, trusting your class abilities over a weapon would only get you killed.

It was better, instead, for mages and warriors to use a firearm in tandem with their abilities. A mage who could teleport would be incredibly deadly with a gun, a warrior who could phase through walls would be unstoppable with the right explosives.

One of the most important factors of the game was that levels denoted how much damage a lifeform could do to its environment. For example, a tier IV like Charles Eadwhin, given an entire day and no serious resistance, should be able to destroy the entire city of Entis.

Warriors like Charles no longer needed to rely on firearms to enhance their strength. In a city like Entis with no high level engineers who were able to create firearms strong enough to be useful, it would be impossible for Charles to find a firearm suitable for his level.

So he would switch to a melee weapon.

David even knew where he had his weapons serviced, and he intended to visit the store, Titan Arms & Armor, hopefully allowing him to build connections.

—------

Having bought a few sets of spare clothes and some food, it was time for David to check out the weapon stores in Adventurers Corner.

He had successfully navigated his way through the clothing store, how much harder could a weapons store be?

He walked into the first gun shop he found, Mo’el’s Weapons Workshop. David fortunately had some detailed information on Mo’el, as he would be an important character to David later in the story.

Mo’el was one of the few engineers in the entire city. He survived through shady back alley deals, off the records commissions, and last of all, a steady pension wired anonymously to his accounts from the Ashia Isles.

Not that David would share what he knew. No, that would just get him killed unless he was very powerful or influential. Instead he would wait until he was stronger, then quietly use the man to further his own goals. This didn’t conflict with his own morals, because he knew that Mo’el was an immoral character who often performed unscrupulous actions.

He approached the seedy looking shop, a large glowing neon sign hung above the door with one letter busted, so it read ‘Mo’e ‘s Weapons Workshop’ the front door had a sign warning him that he would be scanned upon entry, which he patiently allowed, entering the dusty shop.

Inside the shop was a large square room with no exterior windows, each wall had a glass partition in front of it with weapons lining the walls behind. A separate door behind the glass partition led to what looked like a workshop, with parts strewn about multiple tables seemingly haphazardly. Tablets lay on almost every surface, each showing diagrams and blueprints for different weapons.

There were a few other customers in the shop, but the shady owner Mo’el - instantly recognizable for his shoulder length brown, greasy hair and twig-like body, hurried over as soon as David entered, his shrewlike face pinched into a smile. He had the awful habit of ‘washing’ his hands in the air as he smiled, trying to seem friendly.

David had to fight off an intense dislike of the man immediately.

“Welcome, Welcome! I haven’t seen you before, first timers get a 10% discount!”

David looked about the shop, noticing that none of the weapons on the walls had a price tag listed.

‘10%, sure’ He thought. His forehead might have twitched.

Mo’el didn’t seem to take David's lack of a response as rude, instead beaming with joy when he saw David looking at the weapons.

“Here to buy yourself a weapon are you? I assure you, they are the finest quality and price you will find in all of Entis! And they’re all legal, too!”

David nodded at this, knowing that Mo’el was probably right. He was the highest level engineer in the city at level 32, and he would likely stay that level for quite some time.

“I need 9mm ammo, and I would like to hire you for a commission.” He said, thinking about his class requirements. Mo’el’s smile faded at that, then, and he stepped just a bit closer into David’s personal space.

“What kind of commission? What’s the time frame?”

David fought the urge to step back. He was already nervous being near the shady man, and he wasn’t making it any easier for David. He took a deep breath.

‘I have to adapt.’

He exhaled slowly, mentally preparing himself, and then he explained his needs to the shady businessman.

—----

Thirty minutes and nearly five hundred notes shorter, David left the shop. He swore to himself that he would shower when he returned to the hotel, too disgusted by the frequency with which the man had casually touched him.

‘Anyone who can touch a stranger that casually is clearly a maniac…’ he sighed to himself as he walked down the street, the ammo and other small supplies he’d bought now safely stored in his inventory.

He had specifically needed to visit Mo’el in order to get him to make an item that would help him fulfill his class quest in advance. This would make it more likely that the system would present that specific class to him when he advanced to level 10 and was asked to imagine the height of his desired power.

The city square was filled with thousands of jostling people, leaving David to try his hardest to force his way through the crowds while touching as few people as possible. Busy pedestrians and hulking warriors crossed from one store to another, students filed out of the nearest dojo in droves. The square was full of life.

He had wanted to make his way across the square to Titan Arms & Armor, but he felt that the square was too packed. Instead, he sat down on a bench outside of a dojo and patiently waited for the traffic to die down, observing the students inside as he contemplated his future.

He knew that he needed to be prepared for the arrival of the players, and the war that will come shortly after they arrive. His best chance at influencing many players at once was to find a way to provide them something they needed. This could serve as a method to him gaining wealth as well as fame from the masses of players.

There were a few ways he could do this:

First, he could learn to craft something valuable, such as spell scrolls. He could then record many spells onto these scrolls and become one of the only vendors that the warrior players had access to that carried magical items.

This was actually an extremely viable option that would even possibly be useful to him, as he would not only make a large profit from doing so, he would gain EXP from creating each scroll.

The problem with this method was actually quite insubstantial.

He just didn’t want to become a crafter.

If he decided to go with this method, he would need to spend hours every single day recording spells into spell scrolls, it would take time away from his training and his pursuits of other goals, but it would allow him to gain the wealth that he would need to complete other major tasks. It was a toss up.

The next method was for him to form a trading company. He could use business methods pioneered by famous companies in the past, such as taking out loans, then buying everything the players could provide him from their hunts and selling those items quickly at a small loss. He would then invest the ‘profits’ into other businesses, then pay off the loans he had with a small portion of the wealth gained from those investments.

The problem with this method was that it was both very risky and also required extensive knowledge of Ezuno’s markets and economy. He would likely need a team of focused and skilled economists and financial experts on his side to get such a business off the ground.

He quickly crossed this method off the list, as it realistically wouldn’t be able to compete with future player guilds who were entirely focused on making money. Furthermore, his primary goal was to earn himself power and influence, and monetary wealth was just a secondary goal that would make things easier.

His third method would be the hardest, but it was also the method he was most interested in.

He could train extremely hard, level quickly, get as powerful as possible, and then go and raid all the best loot locations and boss level monsters by himself.

He would accomplish multiple goals with this method, as both the training and the raids themselves would make him into a powerful figure, which would help him accomplish his main goal of making himself dependable. Furthermore, he would gain a decent amount of money from selling the spoils of war, and he could use them to make himself as well as some few chosen players more powerful.

This method had another benefit, which was that even though he knew the most notable loot locations for the beginning of the game, if he raided them early they would only lose their main loot. The AI wanted to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for the players, so if he raided a boss monster and then left with its gear, that area would definitely be populated by further boss level creatures with diminished loot.

This meant that he could act as a guide, selling information, raid rights, etc.

If he was the ‘NPC’ that enabled the growth of many players, he would definitely be viewed in a positive light.

In order to accomplish this, he would need a large nest egg to get himself a vehicle and the gear needed to fight such bosses, as well as the power required to defeat them.

It would be extremely tough for him to accomplish this, he would ne- “Hello, would you like to come in?” David jerked out of his thinking posture, his back suddenly straightening as he heard someone speaking very close to him.

He looked up to see a mildly pretty blonde woman looking directly at him, wearing a training outfit with a questioning look on her face. “I-I’m sorry…what?” He asked. He had not prepared for this conversation!

Her questioning look transformed into a friendly smile, her head tilting to the side a little with exuberance. “I asked if you wanted to come in!” She repeated, almost looking as if she was about to grab his hand and lead him into the dojo herself, causing him to unconsciously lean back.

“I saw you looking at our dojo! Why don’t you come inside and take a look?” She asked him as she turned, looking at him over her shoulder as she walked away, as if to check if he was following.

A hundred thoughts flashed through his mind in a second, but eventually he settled on two, mainly conflicting thoughts.

First, he really did need to train.

Second, he really wasn’t mentally prepared to be in this kind of environment. Or to have this conversation.

In the end, his future needs won out over his present misgivings, and he sighed internally, getting out of his seat slowly as if hoping that the woman would grow impatient with him and pick up her pace, giving him the chance to ignore her.

She didn’t.

Instead she smiled brilliantly as she waited for him to catch up, looking at him with a cheery attitude as she led him past other students who were exiting the area. “I thought you might want to come inside! You look like someone in need of some training!” She said this with a bubbly attitude, but her words washed over David like a bucket of cold water. ‘Did she just smile at me while telling me that I look weak…?’ He cried in his heart.

Her observations were just too cruel!

“This is our famous White Fox Dojo!” her white teeth flashing in the sun as they entered the wide spaced courtyard, surrounded by open tiered walls that allowed others to view the inside but not intrude. “The master who teaches here is the great and powerful Blane Watson!” Those two words were like magnets for David, suddenly grabbing his attention.

‘Great and powerful…’ He thought. ‘That could be just what I need…’

He needed to become both of those things, furthermore, he needed to learn how to act like someone who was both of those things. Being great and powerful was more than just possessing strength, you had to know how to act strong. You had to impress upon others that you were strong.

He could learn a lot from Blane Watson.

She led him past a huge row of training dummies and some strange apparatuses that looked like they could be used to test agility and strength, until she arrived in front of a powerfully built man in a ceremonial looking training outfit.

Blane Watson was a warrior in the beginning stages of tier III at level 25, just strong enough to be called an established superhuman. He had an imposing figure as he stood tall, his back straight and his hands clasped behind his back as he watched some trainees rolling up padded mats, preparing them to be stored away in closets situated in the corners of the dojo.

He didn’t turn to face David and the woman as they approached, but his deep voice rumbled out, indicating he was aware of their presence. “What have you brought us this time, Cassandra?”

‘This time? You mean this isn’t the first time she has done this!?’ His heart stiffened a little when he realized he had not been specially picked by the woman, Cassandra, but it softened a little when he came to a realization…

‘Well…what did I expect!’ Of course a dojo would try to recruit people.

Cassandra seemed like the complete opposite of David as she somehow smiled even more passionately. “Teacher! I’ve brought us a new student! His name is…” Her smile instantly faltered, before she coughed and turned to David, looking at him expectantly.

David could barely hold himself back from sighing.

He should have known this would require him to speak, but he had been too distracted by the interior of the dojo to plan out this conversation once again!

‘Is this woman my nemesis…?’

He kept his face schooled to a careful impassiveness as he interjected with a nod, “Nice to meet you, I’m David Apollo.” ‘There! I pulled that off flawlessly! Nailed the greeting!’ He was about to inwardly cheer for himself and his improving interpersonal skills when he realized that the man, Blane Watson, was now facing him, his face impassive as he held out a hand for David to shake.

David stared at it for a moment, as though a foreign object had just entered his view.

A hand…what was he supposed to do with that?

He…He was supposed to shake it!

David startled out of his awkward pause as he slowly reached forward, cautiously gripping the calloused hand of the warrior, and shaking it.

Blane Watson’s impassive face slowly morphed into one of satisfied importance.

“I am Blane Watson, a tier three Physical Engine type warrior. You may call me teacher.”

You may call me teacher.

You may call me teacher….

Why did he feel like he had just been suckered into a trap!?

Suddenly, his view was interrupted by a notification flashing across it, big and bold red letters taking up much of his attention:

-ERROR: CONNECTION COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED WITH SERVER.

-ATTEMPTING TO REESTABLISH CONNECTION WITH MAIN DATABASE…

-CONNECTION FAILED!

-DISCONNECTING USER DESIGNATION #A2…

-DISCONNECT FAILED! WOULD YOU LIKE TO REPORT THIS ERROR TO MAIN SYSTEM AI?

YES/NO

This system message could only mean one thing. Just now, in the real world, his pod had been powered down. His connection terminated.

It was six hours after his death in the real world, and his body had finally been found.