Chapter 013 - Let us run together.

Alice had just finished the 1 km track in 20 minutes making the task of running 1 km in 10 minutes still unfinished, however this was just a warm-up, next she would go the ten minute mark, Alice breath returned to normal after a few moments, her phone also vibrated meaning she got a new message, probably from [Midas].

Message [Midas]: “Player has completed the 1 km track in 20 minutes and 15 seconds for the first time, Awarded 1 STA point and 1 Credit”

Alice read thought the message, 1 STA point was not bad as a reward for her first run, however, this was only the initial reward every Player would get, what caught her attention was the 1 Credit reward.

At that time Cyan was waiting for her in the starting line, looking back to normal.

[Cyan]: “Did your stats went up?”

[Alice]: “Yes it says I got 1 STA and 1 Credit”

Cyan thought for a second, getting 1 STA was actually quite good but there was something that also bothers him.

[Cyan]: “Only 1 Credit? It is not that too little? You will have to run the track 100 times to buy a single plate of normal food”

Alice nodded, she also thought the same, running 100 km for 100 Credits if this the mad world? However that was still not a proven fact, maybe it was just 1 Credit because she ran only 1 km and her time was very slow.

[Alice]: “I also thought the same, are Credits so hard to earn?”

[Cyan]: “I don’t know, I got 1.000 Credits by uncovering a hidden feature and 1.000 Credits for the welcoming pack and 10.000 Credits for my first Quest, so I thought to get more Credits should be very easy right?”

Cyan forgot to add that while doing his Quest in the Floor 4 he didn’t get a single Credit until he had finished it, so getting Credits just for running was better than nothing, not to mention that [Midas] was making Players run 100 km per day for them to be able to afford one normal food, on the other hand, Alice could not help but think in another possibility.

[Alice]: “Maybe it is a trap?”

[Cyan]: “A trap? How come?”

[Alice]: “You know in games at the beginning, when you are showered with presents and game currency in the lowest levels, and then you go on playing the game thinking that it was very easy and so you keep playing, but then on the mid to last levels the items start to become crazy expensive and the money you get for killing monsters and doing Quest is actually very little, forcing you to grind dungeons to death or cheat by paying in cash”

Of course, Alice didn’t mention that the option of “paying in cash” didn’t work for them, because real money is not even in use inside the Tower, the only currency was Credits, and the only way to earn those was by exchanging it for Players sweat.

[Cyan]: “That… you are very knowledgeable about games, maybe it is like that”

[Alice]: “Of course it is, I maxed my character level in ROAL you know”

Note: ROAL: PPSD RPG GAME, ROAL = Return of Angels League.

Cyan could not be more impress by Alice.

[Cyan]: “Woah, I never got to max level in my character… the last levels were way too hard, and getting the high-level equipment sets from the dungeon required a character with those sets already in the character, which was impossible to do if you don’t use cash for buying the items, making them crazy expensive to get”

[Alice]: “Right right!, however, I got the items from other people so I could enter up to the latest dungeon with no problems huff huff”

[Cyan]: “That’s not fair, that’s cheating you know”

[Alice]: “That comes from the one that entered the tower one week early”

Cyan and Alice laughed out their worries for a few seconds.

[Alice]: “So you see how getting more Credits at the beginning can become a trap right?”

[Cyan]: “Yeah but shouldn’t we get more Credits in the beginning then?”

[Alive]: “Probably [Midas] is trying to teach us the value of Credits”

[Cyan]: “Then let’s ask her”

They were now stuck doing math into their heads using a game as the basis for trying to predict the future, but in the end, they both came to the same conclusion, that this was no game.

[Alice]: “arhhg this is so frustrating [Midas] keeps replying the same thing over and over again”

At some point, Alice had given up Questioning [Midas] throughout text messages.

[Cyan]: “Then how about we train on the track for now, and see how much Credits we are getting”

[Alice]: “I guess you are right”

Alice was frustrated however she cheer up a little, after all it has been ages since Cyan and her had ran in the same track at the same time, now they run together for the first time in maybe years, she could not remember when was the last time they did something together just the two of them.

After one lap and 9 minutes later, both Cyan and Alice reached the finish line, while their phones vibrated indicating they got a bunch of new messages, probably from [Midas]

Message [Midas]: “Player Alice has completed the 1 km track in 8 minutes and 54 seconds, Awarded 1 Credit”

Message [Midas]: “Player Alice new personal record, do you wish to set this time as your new track record? [accept] or [reject], rewards may vary”

Message [Midas]: “Player Alice track global record position update #304, Awarded 1 Credit”

Message [Midas]: “Quest [Start your training] [1] Cleared, Player Alice is rewarded with 1 Free Point, keep working hard in your training”.

Message [Midas]: “Player Cyan has completed the 1 km track in 8 minutes and 51 seconds, Awarded 1 STA point and 1 Credit”

Message [Midas]: “Player Cyan track global record position update #305, Awarded 1 Credit”

Message [Midas]: “Quest Unlocked: Quest [Start your training II] [1] Cleared, Player Cyan is rewarded with 1 Free Point”

Alice and Cyan were both gasping for air at the end line after running the 1 km track in less than 9 minutes.

[Alice]: “I never… thought…. You were faster… than me”

[Cyan]: “it is not that…. You just run out of stamina… halfway through”

While they were running Alice was ahead of Cyan for half the race but then she started to slow down making Cyan start to catch with her in the second half, near the end line their competitive spirits flare out as Cyan and Alice gave it their all to cross the finish line, in the end, Cyan won by a hair, something he had never able to do before, Alice also had speed up trying to catch Cyan but her stamina didn’t last let her making her lose for the first time against Cyan.

Of course, their stats had also come into play during the race, but even when Cyan stats were higher than Alice’s stats, Cyan and Alice had come to realize that stats aren’t everything as they both crossed the finishing line almost at the same time even with their stats are different.

[Alice]: “hum… having more stats don’t count as a victory, wait for me to increase my stats too”

Cyan could only laugh shyly as he has been found out after the race, he was not that tired unlike Alice and felt he could race the 1 km track a few more times, but that wasn’t important right now.

[Cyan]: “However you didn’t get a status point this time, only 1 Credit, the same as me, but I got 1 STA probably because I was the 1 km for the first time like you did just before”

[Alice]: “I think [Midas] will reward us by doing certain tasks once but after that, it only would give us Credits for it…”

[Cyan]: “Why don’t we run again to test this theory?”

[Alice]: “Wait let me check the Quest, you also got a new Quest too so you should check that out first”

Cyan was so eager to race again that he had forgotten he got a new Quest for running on the track, he could not help it but wanted to race Alice again, after winning for the first time in maybe forever, he was having a lot of fun and it was making him want to run some more, however more than winning a race, the thought of running side by side with Alice was the thing that was making him the happier.

After their breath had calm down Alice took out her phone and check out her [Quest] in the app, Cyan did the same thing.

[Quest - Alice]

[Become a Player Student] (In Progress) … [Start your training] (In Progress) [1] Run 1 km, in 10 minutes (Cleared) [2] Run 10 km (In Progress) (0/10) [3] Locked (unlocks after clearing the previous task)

[Quest - Cyan]

Start your training (Completed) … Become a Player Tutor (In progress) (1 week remaining) … [Start your training II] (In Progress) [1] Run 1 km, in 10 minutes (Cleared) [2] Run 10 km (In Progress) (0/10) [3] Locked (unlocks after clearing the previous task)

This time there was not time constraint, so they could run the 10 km without having to do it at top speed, of course, they could also try to challenge their previous time, however both Alice and Cyan agreed that clearing the Quest first and getting Free Points would be the best thing they could do right now to racing each other was fun but not a priority, and also they confirmed something, they needed to run 100 km for one plate of [normal food] and 500 km for the special, if you take into account they need to eat three times and day and drink water and maybe have some few side dishes, that would add up to 2.000 Credits per day for the both of them, if they ordered 3 specialties of the day [special food], 3 [milkshakes], and 4 [side dishes], that’s equal as running 2.000 km per day, their faces pale when the thought about running that amount, if they didn’t have the initial rewards they could easily die of hunger, and not to mention they still needed to pay the [ticket] feed for entering the floor too.

Note: 500x3 + 100x3 +50x4 = 2000C + [Ticket] 1000x4hours.

Fastest Speed a human can do, 44 km x 4 hr = 176 km in 4 hours, when they added up those numbers, even if they ran with the fastest speed a human body could make for 4 hours, they still could not pay for a single 4 hour [Ticket].

Right now Cyan had run for 10 km while Alice 11 km.

[Alice]: “I am too tired… give a… few minutes of rest”

All this while their phones had vibrated a few times, but they didn’t read the notification and kept running on the track until both collapsed on the finishing line.

When they were resting Cyan got another message.

Message [Midas]: “Cyan is advice to take the [energy drink] when training”

Cyan could only make a bitter smile, his energy items were already spent on the first day, however, Alice still had her owns on her inventory, [Energy Drink] x 10 and [Energy Food] x 10, the messages he was getting for Willy have started to be more frequent now, maybe talking with [Midas] was actually working Cyan thought as he sent his reply.

Reply: “Thank you for the reminder, I appreciated it”

[Cyan]: “Right, Alice you can use the [Energy] items in your inventory it will recovery you stamina in no time, it will also remove thirst and hunger, Willy just texted me with a reminder to use them”

[Alice]: “Do you mean these?”

Alice checked her inventory and took out a bottle of something that looked like normal water, but if you looked it closer you will notice that it wasn’t clear but blueish waster, and as for the food it was something like a granola or protein bar.

[Cyan]: “Those are the one, the effects are pretty good you can look it in the [inventory] under item information, here take a look”

[Energy Drink]

Restores Stamina by 50% Removes thirst

[Energy Food]

Restores Stamina by 50% Removes hunger

Alice nodded after she read through the information, with this they could continue running for a longer time if the effects were as described.

[Alice]: “Aren’t you drinking one too?”

[Cyan]: “That… I had already used all of mine, so I have none left”

Alice then took out another set of [energy] items and gave it to Cyan.

[Alice]: “I have ten so I don’t mind sharing it”

Cyan in the hand was hesitating on receiving the item for free, but on the other hand, he could use them for keep training, but to be getting free stuff without giving anything back was not to his liking, but then he thought of something he could.

[Cyan]: “Then it is ok if pay for the food in Floor 3?”

Alice thought for a second and nodded, right now the lack of Credits were indeed a problem, [Midas] reward were actually too little, however, if Cyan had offered her Credits she would probably have refused but rejecting food after she had shared hers would be unfair so she accepted it.

After they ended their small talk and now that they were full of energy again, they returned to the track and started to run once again, this time they didn’t have to worry about running out of energy, because they were full to bring, making then run nonstop.

Message [Midas]: “Player Alice has completed the 10 km…”

Message [Midas]: “Player Cyan has completed the 10 km…”

Message [Midas]: “Player Alice has completed the 20 km…”

Message [Midas]: “Player Cyan has completed the 20 km…”

…

After running for 4 hours the [Energy] they got for the items actually haven’t run out completely, even after they had been doing laps nonstop.

Cyan could not help but ask

[Cyan]: “How is your stamina?”

[Alice]: “I think I can run a few more times, but the [ticket] would be run out and I don’t think I can run for another 4 hours more”

[Cyan]: “The food is pretty good, it lets you run without stopping but actually it becomes difficult to know when to stop”

[Alice]: “Would there be any consequences for that?”

[Cyan]: “What do you mean?”

[Alice]: “We had been running without stopping for the last 4 hour at our top speed you know, even though your body doesn’t feel tired right now it doesn’t mean it is safe to continue running, I think we should take a rest for now, instead of wasting a [ticket]”

Cyan nodded, that’s right Alice is right he thought, it was a good thing she was here, not to mention this was her first day on the Tower they could take rest for now.

[Cyan]: “I think you are right, we should take the chance to go to other Floors like Floor 2 and 3” (Food and Dorms)

[Alice]: “Ok, Let’s explore those floors for a bit then”

.

.

.

In the end, Alice and Cyan quest looked like this.

[Quest - Alice]

[Become a Player Student] (In Progress) … [Start your training] (In Progress) [1] Run 1 km, in 10 minutes (Cleared) [2] Run 10 km (Cleared) [3] Run 20 km (Cleared) [4] Run 30 km (In Progress)(1/30) [5] Locked (unlocks after clearing the previous task)

[Quest - Cyan]

Start your training (Completed) … Become a Player Tutor (In progress) (1 week remaining) … [Start your training II] (In Progress) [1] Run 1 km, in 10 minutes (Cleared) [2] Run 10 km (Cleared) [3] Run 20 km (Cleared) [4] Run 30 km (In Progress)(1/30) [5] Locked (unlocks after clearing the previous task)

And their stats Looked like this

-Alice

[Status]

[Information]

Name: Alice Status: Normal Location: [Training Tower] Level: 0 Profession: None Sub-Profession: None

[Stats]

Strength (STR): 10 Tier 0 Dexterity (DEX): 12 Tier 0 Endurance (END): 10 Tier 0 Stamina (STA): 13 Tier 0 (+1) Intelligence (INT): 12 Tier 0 Free Points: 5 (+3)

-Cyan

[Status]

[Information]

Type: Player Name: Cyan Status: Normal Location: [Training Tower] Level: 0 Profession: None Sub-Profession: None

[Stats]

Strength (STR): 16 Tier 0 Dexterity (DEX): 18 Tier 0 Endurance (END): 15 Tier 0 Stamina (STA): 19 Tier 0 (+1) Intelligence (INT): 12 Tier 0 Free Points: 21 (+3)