Noob Player

Lyra was kind to Shen, but not to the others. After she dropped him at the entrance of the village, she nodded at him and left immediately. The Blizzard Tiger did not even spare a glance at his friends.

Shen waved his hand at the four tigers. The three kittens on Lyra's back returned his wave with their immature roar while trying to copy his movement. Soon Lyra vanished from his line of sight.

"Runner, what was that?" The first one to snap out of his trance was Ming. The guy rushed toward him and held his shoulder. He shook his body, demanding an answer from Shen.

"What are you doing, Ming!?" However, there was an angry voice calling Ming out. That voice belonged to Yue. She rushed over and shoved Ming away from Shen. "Can you see this?" She pointed at Shen's missing arm. Only then the others realized that Shen only had one arm.

Only then Ming realized his hand was cold. That cold was from Shen's left shoulder, which was frozen. Ming's eyes widened in shock after he realized his friend lost his left arm. He did not angry that Yue shoved him away. He immediately stood up and approached Shen, "What happened to you, Shen?"

Ming was panicking and calling his friend by his real name. Dale, aka Sneaky Banana, also came over and looked at Shen's missing arm. The curious ZhongL also came over to see.

"I lost my arm, of course," Shen shrugged his shoulder as if it was nothing important. "Do you know how to regenerate my arm back?"

"Don't you feel any pain?" Yue asked with a concerned tone. She fairly knew about the pain tolerance of this time. Even though the players could lower the pain tolerance, it still gave a surreal sensation of pain. Just imagine the pain of losing an arm. It could be painful, even with low pain tolerance.

"I am fine. Lyra's freezing breath removed the pain, though it's a bit cold." Shen shook his head, "So what about my arm? Do you know any way to regenerate it back?" Yue was the only one who knew about most of the game mechanics in Tribe Online so, he asked her.

"I don't know." Yue shook her head. This was a rare case. If someone lost their arm, usually they would end up dead. If they died, then they would spawn with a complete arm. "Maybe a potion could regenerate your arm, or maybe a skill… No, Magic does not exist in this game. There will be no skill that can regenerate your arm. A potion is the only choice."

"Who says magic does not exist?" Shen rolled his eyes and extended his right hand forward to the tree that was seven meters away from him. He then cast his newly gained skill, [Frost Spear].

A spear made of ice formed above his right hand, and it shot toward the tree. The spear pierced the tree and froze the tree. He had tried all the skills he gained from the Frost Elemental Force, but [Frost Assault (Passive)]. It was a passive skill so he could not try unless he fought monsters.

Once again, Yue, Ming, Dale, and Liu Zhong were shocked to see this. Without a doubt, it was magic, but how? Sky announced that there would be no magic in the game. The four then looked at him with their eyes opened wide.

Shen grinned at them. "Let's get inside. I will tell you guys about my short adventure in Vales."

ZhenZhen and WealthyGuy were also shocked when they saw Shen's condition. However, they were quite relieved when they knew Shen did not feel any pain from it. Just like that, seven members of the hidden village gathered at one table and listened to Shen's story.

*** ***

Sky China Branch Headquarter, Director Office

"Bahahahaha…" Director Guan Mu Shen let out a burst of laughter as he slammed his desk. It was as if he found something funny and could not stop laughing. Of course, it was funny.

The Players kept calling him the Big Noob, The First Noob, and so on. People mocked him from time to time, but he was the first one to get the Legendary Class. People bullied him for playing the game without following the guide and meta. However, he was the first one to find about Magic in Tribe Online.

Did Magic not exist in Tribe Online? No, Magic existed in the game. A fantasy game without magic was boring. However, Sky decided to hide magic from the players, and let the players discovered magic by themselves.

There was a reason for this. The reason was so the game could be a newbie-friendly game. Sky wanted the people that played the VR Game for the first to adapt to the game first before introducing the magic. So the old players and the new players had the same start later on. It was an attempt, so the new player did not quit the game if an old player bullied them with magic.

Then his office door was opened as his assistant entered his room. "Sir! This is an emergency. Someone discovered Magic!"

Guan Mu Shen tapped his forehead as he realized something. It was Olympus' calculation about how long until the players discovered magic. Olympus predicted that the first player would find about magic in ten months and sixteen days. It was a specific prediction from the most advanced Super Computer.

If Olympus failed with the prediction, Sky would become the center of attention of the world. The media could use this to gain attraction for them by saying bad things about Olympus. The shareholders would have their asses on fire because Sky's value could drop.

"There's no need to panic," Guan Mu Sheng stood up and smiled at his assistant, "We will hold another press conference to congratulate Runner to find magic. We can use this to promote Tribe Online to those Magician fanatics."

*** ***

Shen had recounted everything he experienced to everyone, about the Blizzard Tiger and the Ice Boa. The video he posted on the forum as well, and how he killed the King of the Guardian Fish.

"Shen, you are missing one detail," Ming dagger-stared at his friend, "What about that magic? You haven't told us how you get the magic!" He demanded Shen tell him how he got the magic. That was the most important information that was not included in the story.

"I am sorry, Ming. But I can't tell you how I get the magic. I have made a promise that I will tell no one about the magic, no one." Shen shook his head. It was not just because of a promise with Lyra. He had another reason to hide how he awakened the Frost Elemental Force.

In order to make the Ice Petal concoction, Lyra lost a few years of her life force. If he told them about this, or if other people knew about this. They would hunt Lyra and her tribesmen to make that Ice Petal Concoction. He would tell no one, even if these people were his friends.

"The only thing I can tell you is, explore Vales. You might get the answer if you adventure deep into Vales, but I can't tell you guys about how I acquired magic. I am sorry." Shen bowed his head slightly.

"You don't have to be sorry, Shen. You don't have the obligation to tell us how you acquire magic. That's your luck and effort. Don't be sorry!" ZhenZhen was the first one to respond. She emphasized the last part about he did not have to be sorry.

"ZhenZhen is right. You don't have to tell us. You don't have to share everything with us. That's yours, not us," WealthyGuy agreed to ZhenZhen. In the first place, they did not have the right to demand something from Shen. They were friends in-game, not Shen's superior.

Ming also dropped the issue. He felt bad for demanding that, "I am sorry, Shen."

"It's fine, Ming." Shen shook his head and looked at the new face. "So who is this? We have a new face here?" he then looked at Liu Zhong.

"You are Runner, right?" Liu Zhong did not start with an introduction, but a question. He recognized Shen's face immediately that he was Runner.

"That's my in-game name," Shen nodded his head. Liu Zhong opened his mouth. He was about to say something nasty, but he held back. It was rude to call Shen with First Noob or Big Noob in front of the others.

"I am ZhongL, and yes, I am the new member. Nice to meet you," Liu Zhong started with a polite introduction. They would play together from now on, so they should get along instead.

"Nice to meet you." Shen knew what ZhongL wanted to say, but he still smiled. "Have you chosen your class yet?" He did not mind that the others called him Big Noob. He had embraced the title, and it became his brand now.

"Yes, my class is Exalted Sentinel." Liu Zhong pointed at the knight house.

"Save the chat later." Yue suddenly interrupted them. "We need to find a way to fix your arm, Shen."

"That's indeed a problem, Shen. We should fix your arm, or else it will be hard for you." ZhenZhen looked at the missing arm with a concern as well, "Or you can suicide, Shen? If you die, you will spawn with a complete arm?"

"Nope, Never! I just reached level 22. I will rather lose an arm than drop a level." It took him a lot of effort to level up. He would not kill himself to get his left arm back. On top of that, he could still fight normally, even without his left arm.