Turn on the interface, he said to himself.

A HUD is similar to the one used in the distant 20th century opened in his eyes.

On the top left, level 22.

Center-left parameters:

Strength 5.4 (+0.2 gain to the next level) - first modification.

Dexterity 16.4 (+0.7 gain to the next level) - third modification.

Reaction 3.2 (+0.1 increment to the next level) - no modification.

Magic 0 (+0 increment to the next level) - no modification.

On the top right, the level of physical damage: healthy.

Stamina level: 2 / 15

Contribution points (CP): 3.447.518

At the very bottom, experience bar: 98%

"AI."

"At your service."

"Where did I meet the unidentified monsters two days ago?"

"Half a mile west of you."

"Roger."

He reached almost to the edge and climbed the highest rocky peak and noticed how his stamina dropped to one. Sweat poured like boiling water into his eyes. The hot air burned his lungs, and his breaths became labored. He took out his twenty-seven-fold binoculars with a rangefinder grid and at eleven o'clock saw a detachment of dark creatures on the desert plain below. Their barely noticeable small heads had grown into their shoulders, there was no neck, their eyes were like two coins with diameters no more than 20 mm, their bodies were black, purple blades pulsed on their hands as if they had been torn off from the handle of a scythe. The one that stood in the center, reached the height of 3-3.5 meters, the rest were very small, about a meter, no more. Guessing the height of the monster, he applied the formula D = H / K and calculated the distance to the target ~ 1300 yards. Fortunately, there was no wind. The air was discharged. It was useless to talk about humidity.

He lowered the binoculars and got off the peak and dropped his backpack on the ground and took out a closed glass flask filled with a green transparent liquid, opened it, and drank it in one gulp. The stamina level has increased from one to 10. The pulse slowed down. He saw between two stones hidden under a lot of thin branches of Tussacandit (according to the AI, an analog of the Earth's saxaul) an excellent place for a sniper position, he went there and installed the titanium bipods on the straight surface of the white scorched rock and twisted the tight inertial bolt, which emitted a harsh metallic roar characteristic of rifles of this type due to a huge return spring.

"I love this sound," he said to himself and smiled in anticipation of easy prey.

The backpack was left at a distance. The sight, like binoculars, was twenty-seven times magnification. Barrett M107A1 gives a spread of one angular minute. If the distance to the target is ~1300 yards, the deviation will be ~ 13 inches. He adjusted the flywheels of the sight and waited for the creature to turn its face in his direction, deciding to inspect the surroundings with its tiny eyes. The murky dense air vibrated, distorting the figures in the far distance. He did everything to prepare, now, it was up to fate if the shot will hit home. But the game was worth the candle. According to his estimates, the experience for the death of the wild boss will be about three percent, plus a CP bonus for adding a new monster to the bestiary. He did not expect to kill its henchmen, you won't get much experience from them, and at the sight of danger, they usually run away in all directions.

By the third hour, his legs and arms went numb, but he remained motionless. From time to time, a dry wind would sweep through and after a minute it would calm down again. The small creatures ran around the big one, bowed to it, and it laughed, holding his huge belly of incommensurable size with both hands. The most unpleasant thing happened – because of the chaotic running of the henchmen, sand rose, blocking the view. The boss practically disappeared from sight.

Ronnie sighed and said:

"AI."

"At your service."

"Show me the player ratings."

An interface with light green inscriptions opened on his pupil. A list of players, their levels, the amount of experience, and nicknames appeared in the center. He found himself in seventh place.

WildDron. 26th level. 54%. Destroyder. 24th level. 4% Xennona. 23rd level. 50.1% Denzie. 23rd level. 13.8% Fremaho. 23rd level. 4.5% Vvy. 22nd level. 87% Ronnie. 22nd level. 85% Umka. 22nd level. 76%

No one could explain how WildDron managed to break away from the mass this much, given that every player in the top 10 spends the maximum allowed number of hours a day - 24, then 3-4 hours to sleep or exercise until the cooldown goes to 0 and back again. Ronnie has never met him, although he was one of the discoverers of new locations. The players leading the ranking were more like ghosts.

Ronnie's right cheek came off the butt with a plastic lining, he stretched his neck, shoulders, and legs, looked back into the scope, it was impossible to see the boss's face. He pulled the earplugs out of his ears and sat down in a Bedouin pose, holding the rifle in his hands just in case and opening the forum in the interface. The most popular section was magic, but he was not interested in this information. In the other categories, it was as if there were no people at all. Then Ronnie opened a virtual auction and checked if any new and interesting weapons had been posted. Nothing.

The sun was setting behind the curve of the horizon of the Nepril desert. According to AI, no weather anomalies are expected today. The few-layered cumulus clouds turned red. The creatures did not stop their games in any way. They ran after each other, circled in dance, and sang songs in an unknown language. Up to this point, if Ronnie met monsters, they attacked him with the desire to kill, and if they didn't see anyone in front of them, they were in search of a victim, wandering here and there, senselessly and pointlessly, and it didn't matter if it was a player or some magical animals, anything could act like prey. Such creatures were no better than some stupid zombies - something too classic for MMORPGs. They live in a certain zone, and they die there. Now Ronnie was observing a new phenomenon, truly amazing. No wonder the patch was called «Exploration». The deeper you go, the more amazing things you come across. Moreover, the players have not explored even one-fiftieth of this world.