I walk towards the blacksmith shop and open the door. I did some odd jobs I found in the adventurer’s guild and got a nice sum of money so I could buy a nice sword.

The old blacksmith noticed me as soon as I came in. He was sitting on a stool, looking at a piece of iron.

“Oh, if it isn Jack! Did I do a bad job fixing yer armer?”

“No, no you did an excellent job. But I’m here to look for a sword.”

The blacksmith got up.

“Oh, if dat’s what yer looking fer lemme go out back. I got sum swords dat I think’ll fit ya.”

He comes out a second later holding about 10 swords.

“Yer free ta look at dem all ya want. Dey’re all good swords.”

I identify all of the swords but none of them fit the bill. If I was still min-maxed for HP these swords would be ideal. Thin blade and low strength requirement. But now I needed something with more power and range. Hmm… I look around the shop and a particular sword caught my eye. It was absolutely humongous, almost taller than me. The guard and grip were also absolutely huge, with the guard being longer than my forearm. I go over to it.

“Hey, old man. What about this one?”

“Oh, dat sword’s useless. Sum strange fella brought it here one day. Gave it ta me fer free. Old me don’t know though that da damn thing weight more than a mountain! Nearly crushed me when I picked it up.”

“It’s that heavy? Strange, the blade doesn’t look that thick.” I pick up the sword with one hand and swing it around. It felt light, almost lighter than my old rapier.

“What are you even talking about? This is as light as a feather!”

“I… impossible. It took 3 men to pick that sword ap!”

But it’s so light! I identify the sword.

________________________________

You have failed to identify the item. X5

Identification successful.

_______________________________

__________________________________________

[Identification] skill proficiency increased by 35%!

___________________________________________________________________________

Item: Unnamed Sword

Durability: 600/600

Damage: 350-400

A failure of a sword created by an unnamed blacksmith. Although this sword looks normal, it’s made out of adamantite so densely packed that it makes it unusable due to its weight. However, the blade is razor sharp and the balancing is superb.

Requirements:

Strength 2600+

Equipped:

+400 Strength

_______________________________________________________

Fortunately for me my strength is currently at 2950, so I can use this sword easily. Thank you, insane strength stat!

“Hey, old man I’ll take this.”

“Ya’ll do wat? Ya serius?”

“Yeah, how much does it cost?”

“I’ll give dat piece a trash ta you for 3 gold. A doubt anybody else can weild it anyway.”

“Wait, didn’t you say you got it for free? Isn’t 3 gold too much?”

The old blacksmith chuckled.

“I’ve gotsa keep dis place runnin boy.”

I reluctantly hand over 3 gold.

“Wait, how am I going to keep this thing? I doubt there’s a sheath this huge?”

“Oh ,dat’s not a problem. It has a chain link at da base o da blade. I shud have a hook sumwhere around here.” He looks for around a bit. “Here, found it. Sling dis over yer shoulder. Now, ya can jus loop da hook wit a chain and the sword’ll be hangin off yer back.”

I try it out and it surprisingly works. The sword didn’t get in the way at all either.

“What a nice trick! Where did you learn this?”

“Sum guy clad in black armor showed it ta me. His sword was even larger dan dis one. Well, it was mor like a raw heap a iron really!”

“Anyway, thanks old man.”

“Don’t mentin it.”

I walk out the shop, this time, with a giant sword on my back. I still wore my fine leather armor since didn’t really matter what you wear when you die in one hit anyway.

As soon as I walk out the shop, someone walks over to me.

“Do you happen to be Mr. Jack?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I have something I’m supposed to deliver to you. Here” He gives me a plain looking letter.

“Thanks.”I take the letter out of his hand and read it.

It was a letter inviting me to Oscar’s funeral. It was going to be held tomorrow morning. I’m definitely going to be there.

But for now, let’s start grind. I want to try this new sword out.

***

“A woo!” A wolf runs towards me at full speed. It sees that my warrior spirit stat doesn’t work if you agro the monsters. I sidestep when the wolf comes near me and bring my sword down upon him, slicing him in half with no effort.

I have enough skill to dodge wolves but that’s about it. I can’t dodge anything else. That’s how much I suck at this game.

Aah, either way I should move to a more difficult dungeon. Wolves are way too easy to kill, especially with my monstrous strength. There should be a level 200 dungeon east of here. I should head over there.

I put the sword on my back and walk to the dungeon. This dungeon was full of evil sprites and powerful undead. It was considered one of the best dungeons in the area where high level players went to grind. With my strength I should have no problem killing the monsters. What I’m more concerned with however are my dodging capabilities. The monsters in that dungeon can kill me in one hit so I must dodge for dear life. Doing so should make me better.

Ah, there’s the dungeon entrance. It looked like a small cavern, but it was quite expansive when you entered it. I went inside. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many players inside. This is better actually. There’re more monsters to kill when there are less players.

I go a bit deeper into the dungeon. A skeleton warrior confronts me. It was a level 150 enemy with a sword and shield. Without wasting a moment, he thrusts towards my abdomen. I barely manage to dodge.

Holy shit that was close! One hit from anything in here and I’m screwed! The skeleton warrior keeps slashing and thrusting. What hits I can’t dodge, I block with my sword.

Fuck, I can’t keep this up for long! I back step. My sword has much longer reach than his. When he charges in, I will hit him.

He charges in just like I predicted and without hesitation I slice his skull in two. The skeleton warrior turns to dust and leaves his sword, his shield and some copper coins behind. I’ll be taking these if you don’t mind! The sword and shield surprisingly sold for a lot of money. 1 gold each to be exact.

I continue trotting into the dungeon. There were plenty of monsters to go around. Banshees, evil sprites, undead warriors, possessed armors. If you were especially unlucky you could even run into a dullahan or two.

After a while of fighting I developed the strategy to kill the monsters before they even reach me, utilizing the insane reach of my sword. If they get close I dodge to the best of my abilities and hit them as fast as I can.

Even though this strategy was good, I almost got hit plenty of times due to my imperfect dodges. Actually, the fact that I still haven’t died is mind-boggling. It must be because of the fear of dying in one hit.

I did this for a while, raising my level up by two. I invested all my skill points into strength.

Hehe, this is actually pretty fun. I keep going deeper into the dungeon when…

“Ice Lance!” A voice comes from deeper in the dungeon. Huh? Isn’t Ice Lance a basic spell you get when you choose the wizard class? Why is someone using such a low-tier spell in this high-level dungeon? I walk towards the voice out of curiosity.

Before me stood a girl with flaming red hair, dressed in beginner gear, battling a dullahan.

Wait, seriously? What’s a noob doing here? Should I help her? …Nah, this is pretty fun to watch.

The girl dodged the dullahan’s strikes with amazing fluidity and, when he left an opening, casted spells quickly.

She’s pretty good for a noob. Actually, she kind of reminds me of myself, accidentally stumbling in a high-level dungeon. Or maybe she came here on her own free will? No, no, that’s impossible. Who would enter a high-level dungeon when they’re such a low-level? No matter how much skill you have, when an opponent is 200 levels stronger than you there’s not much you can do. Of course, it is possible to kill a level 230 dullahan with a level 10 character but it would take a lot of time and absolute memorization of the dullahan’s patterns, which in a VRMMORPG where the AI was super advanced, isn’t an easy thing to do. This girl’s spells probably make the dullahan feel a bit ticklish and that’s it.

The girl dodged and dodged but the dullahan finally managed to hit her. The girl winced in pain and fell to her knees. It’s over.

Should I step in? Yeah, the dullahan hasn’t noticed me yet. Heh, she really does remind me of myself. I draw my sword from my back and approach the dullahan who has his back turned to me. The dullahan gets ready to behead her but stops mid-air.

The dullahan turns around. Wait, how the fuck did he notice me? Ah, god dammit. I was hoping to do this stealthily. I charge towards the surprised dullahan at top speed. He gets ready to swing his sword but he’s too slow. I slash vertically, cutting him and his horse in half.

______________________________

Counter executed! Damage increased by 350%

[Extreme Counter] skill proficiency increased by 12%

___________________________________________

I accidentally executed a counter. Haha, that was one hell of a fluke. Give me more of those please.

I turn to the red-haired girl. She had turned pale. She’s in the 10% HP danger zone huh?

“Hey, kid. Where did you get hit?”

She looks at me and points to her stomach.

“Ok, I’m gonna have to bandage you up or you’re gonna die. So lay down and stand still for a minute.” I pull out some bandages and some herbs out of my inventory.

I used to bandage myself up a lot when I was min-maxed for HP due to potions being too expensive to buy all the time. I crush the herbs and apply them to the wound. Then, I bandage her up. Soon enough she gets up and looks at me. Seems I did a good job.

“That was awesome!!! You sliced that guy in half so effortlessly! And that sword! What an amazingly crafted zweihander!” she yells.

“Yeah, sure. You should get out of this dungeon however. It’s full of high-level monsters. A noob like you will die immediately. The exit’s that way” I point to my right.

I turn my back to the girl and continue on. I really needed to grind levels. From this point onwards, the dungeon will get extra difficult. Haa, I’m gonna die for sure.

I continue to go deeper in the dungeon, killing evil sprites and undead warriors as soon as I see them. For some reason I’m not able to sneak up on anybody as they all turn around when I get close.

It was going pretty well when 4 undead warriors popped out of nowhere. Oh, now I’ve done it! There’s no way I can dodge 4 skeletons at once!

They notice me immediately and they all charge towards me. I swing my sword with all my might and turn 3 of them into a pile of bones.

But… the last skeleton dodges right at the last second. I miss him and my sword hits the ground instead, leaving me open. The skeleton warrior doesn’t waste this opportunity, coming close and swinging his sword towards my head.

Ah, this is it. I’m screwed! But, just as the sword was ready to give me a haircut alla Louis XIV an ice lance pierced the skeleton’s skull. I look at the direction the lance came from to see the red-haired girl holding her staff up.

“You followed me…”

“I wanted to repay the debt. Now we’re even.”

“Thanks. You saved my ass. But I’m going to say this again: following me deeper in is going to be dangerous. I don’t recommend doing it.”

I turn my back to the girl for the second time and walk away. However, I hear footsteps behind me.

I turn around to see her following me.

“You didn’t listen to me at all did you?”

“Sorry, it’s just that I can’t control my curiosity and I keep doing things impulsively.”

“I assume that that thing about repaying me was a lie too?”

“Yes. I am very sorry.”

“Don’t apologize so much. If you wanted to come with me so bad you could have just said so.”

The girl walks up to me.

“I am Paprika. Nice to meet you.” Geez, this girl is proper.

“I’m Jack. Nice to meet you too.”

I started walking again, this time followed by a companion.

***

Grinding with two people was actually a lot easier than doing it by yourself. What enemies I couldn’t get Paprika did. We formed a party so that the EXP would be shared and mowed through the enemies. Ever since I changed profession, every enemy I’ve hit has died immediately. It’s not that surprising considering that my strength is a monstrous 3410 plus the bonus from my sword.

We mowed through the dungeon with little to no resistance (even though I almost died more than once) and after a while, we decided to rest a bit. I set up a campfire with some dead branches and rocks. Paprika used some fire magic to light it up and before you know it, we got ourselves a cozy campfire.

“Oh, Paprika, I forgot to ask but what is your level?”

She looked at me with confused eyes.

“Level?”

“Yeah, your level.”

“Err, I don’t know.”

“You serious? Try saying ‘Open stat window’ ” How the hell do you survive in a VRMMORPG when you don’t know how to open your stat menu?

“Umm, ok. ‘Open stat menu’ ” She gasped as a window popped up before her. Since I was in a party with her I could see her stat window.

I go over to where she is standing. She was a level 20 wizard. All her stats were the base 10.

“You haven’t used any of your skill points!”

“Um, how do I do that?” This girl…

“Sigh, you don’t play a lot of games do you?”

“H... how can you tell?” she seems genuinely intrigued.

“Huuh, you raise your stats by tapping that ‘plus’ sign besides them. Since you’re a wizard you should focus on your wisdom and intelligence stat.”

“What is a stat?” This is gonna take a while.

I spend some time explaining the basics to Paprika. Fortunately, she was a quick learner.

“But what’s the difference between agility and dexterity? Aren’t they the same?”

“Agility directly increases your movement speed while dexterity is more like hand speed. Dexterity is needed to wield daggers, bows etc.”

“Oh, I see. So I don’t need dexterity at all since I’m a wizard, right?”

“Actually, it is wise to invest a couple of points into it so you can use a bow. You know, just in case push comes to shove.”

“I forgot to ask Jack, but what’s your class?”

“Swordsman” I lied. There was no need to tell her about my hidden class.

“Oh, is that so? Why don’t you open your stat window so I can see for myself?”

“Guh” She noticed?

“I can tell when people lie to me, you know.”

Damn, she’s sharp.

“Fine, here. Open stat window.”

She stares at every inch of my stat screen and ends up asking me tons of questions about my class.

“How can you get a secret class?”

“Well, it depends really. They’re very rare, but you can get them through quests, by using special items or, in especially rare cases, by getting it passed down to you by an npc.”

“You said you got a couple of quests too right? Show them to me!”

“Why? They’re pretty boring.”

“Hmph, you shouldn’t lie so much Jack. And it really doesn’t matter if they’re interesting or not. I’m curious!”

“Huuh, fine.” This girl is surprisingly willful isn’t she?

I show her the quests on my quest log.

“Wow, these quests look hard. Share them with me!”

“What? It won’t work! You don’t meet the requirements!”

“Well, what’s the harm in trying right?”

“I guarantee it’s not going to work.”

“Just send the quests!”

“Fine, fine! Jeez, what a willful girl.”

I send her the quests.

________________________________

Quest sharing request accepted.

_________________________________

“What! It worked! How?”

“Hehe, I have no idea.”

“Why do you want the quests anyway?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m curious!”

What have I done to myself?

We grinded some more before Paprika logged out. I open up the menu to check the game time. It was 6 in the morning. Guess it’s time for the funeral huh?

I head to the location described in the letter.

***

A lot of people had attended the funeral. Oscar’s body couldn’t be retrieved so the casket only had a set of armor and a straight sword. After the burial ceremony a woman holding a young boy by the hand walked up to me.

“Hello, I am Matilda Varmen and I am Oscar’s wife. Would you happen to be Mr. Jack?”

“Yeah, I’m Jack.”

“Mr. Jack… Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Not at all.”

“How… how did Oscar die?” The little boy started crying as soon as he heard that.

“He got killed by a monster while helping his soldiers escape.”

“Oh, Oscar” The woman started tearing up. “ I always told him he was too kind for his own good. How am I even going to handle this.”

The woman’s knees gave way but I caught her before she fell to the ground.

“It’s always hard losing someone you hold dearly. There’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll feel like shit and you’ll cry so much your eyes get swollen. And it never really gets better. The grief always stays in some part of your mind, it’ll never really disappear. But you need to accept that. If you do and you don’t lurk in the past, but move on, you’ll find that as each day passes that sadness will begin to lessen. Plus... you need to be strong from now on. For you and that little boy.”

“Th… thank you. Thank you so much.” She starts crying. I guide her to a stool so she can sit down.

“Remember… stay strong.” Those are my parting words as I leave the funeral. However, they’re directed more to myself than to Matilda.

Ah, shit. All this talk about death and funerals made me a bit teary eyed. The pain really never fades, huh.

I take a step out of the church and look back at the parcel where Oscar got buried. Yes, it never fades.