NOVEL WEB Chapter 1 – Settings
I spend most of my free time online, reading fantasy books and watching youtube. I was also an avid reader of the SCP wiki, because a l liked the fascinating ideas behind it.
It may sound like I am anti-social, but because of a lack of social life or any friends, I would spend most of my life online--I also despaired of this world, which was common for people my age.
I still went to school, though I spent my lunches in the library, and no one would pay attention to me during classes; I would also walk home alone, since the bus fee was too much, and my parents would pay it.
Since I was bored, and it was becoming more and more dangerous where I lived, I learned Taikwondo four days a week. Just to see if I could, and because it was a good workout, I learned sword-fighting using youtube videos…Of course, this wouldn’t work if I got into a sword-fight in real life though.
Unfortunately, my home life wasn’t very good either. When I wasn’t on the internet, I would be reading--trying to avoid giving my mother any excuse to shout at me.
My father was either always working, or arguing with my mother.
If I think about it, I don’t really have any attachments to this world; only online friends, don’t particularly like my family…and have no lovers.
While reading a new book, an Ad suddenly popped up, the contents of which read:
‘Bored of reading about fantastical worlds, but living in a normal one? Well, come to a world which you can choose what you want.’
These Ads can sometimes lead to actually fun web games, and I was a little bored, so I decided to give it a try.
First selection was ‘Select A World’, some of which were: Science Fiction World, Pirate World, Fantasy World, Alternate Past…
After reading the first few options, I chose the Fantasy World without having to read any more.
There are so many, many choices--including Species, Type of Magic System, System or No System, Realistic or Not…This game has a lot of choices, which is usually a good sign.
Whenever I ran out of money for subscriptions, I would play free online games.
Moving on to the next page, I had to choose from several culture and country options--some of which were based off ones found on Earth with minor changes; of course, I chose fantasy and randomized, I didn’t want to bring in bad influences.
The next page had an interesting question--which seemed to be choosing between PvE and PvP servers: ‘Frequency of Wars’.
The options ranged from ‘All Countries Constant Wars’, to ‘World Peace: Utopia’.
I chose a option which was about midway, leaning a little bit more towards peace--I prefer PvE servers, since I much prefer fighting Monsters more than Players…who are always better than me…
It means that there may Guild or Faction wars, and no field PvP…hopefully.
The next question was whether the world would have Dungeons, or just be a ‘normal’ fantasy world. Of course, I chose that there will be Dungeons; Dungeons and Raids are some of the best parts of online games.
I also got to choose my gender, and as with all games I play: I went with my true gender.
This game has so many choices that even picking options is entertaining me, I can’t wait to see the game. It is the beginning of school holidays, and I have 6 weeks of free time.
When it came up with a list of selectable languages, I hoped that they were for random lore signs or special events, since there wasn’t English. I chose the one that reminded me of the creatures from Fallout: Brahim.
It was also the default language, but that had nothing to do with why I chose it…
Next, there was a page which gave me Bonus Points. The default seemed to be 50/100 Bonus Points, but there was the image of dice, which apparently a new, random number of Bonus Points.
I clicked it several times, and each time it was different.
Unfortunately, when it comes to things like this--I have to keep trying until I reach the highest possible number.
From what I could tell, the number of Bonus Points was generally low, between 10 - 20, though I also got quite a few single digits.
Oh?
That one was 71/100 -- and the number was green.
I noticed that the colours changed: numbers 30/100 and lower were shades of red through orange; the original 50/100 was white; and 71/100 was green.
Looking at that, I clicked again and again.
Lost in thoughts, I kept clicking and the number 8 passed by.
That was an 80/100 just now.
It was an 80/100, right?
Dammit.
By the time I had realized it, I had already clicked and the number it ended on was 19/100.
Oh well, let’s continue.
But this time, I was very careful to double-check the number before I clicked the button.
100/100.
100/100!
The number is golden--with a shine around it.
For some reason, the random number button disappears, so I can’t re-roll, even if I wanted to. Maybe the website was impressed that I was willing to spend around an hour to get this number.
While feeling satisfied, I continued on to the next page, which were Character Settings.
There were the 5 Main Stats: Strength, Endurance, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Stamina--all of which are set at 5.
I could assign my Bonus Points to them, but there were also special Skills, Resistances, Bonus Equipment--lots of places to spend my Bonus Points…and only 100 Bonus Points to spend.
Luckily though, there was a Reset button near the Accept button.
The one that interests me the most is the massive list of Bonus Equipment, ranging from minor Potions, to Legendary swords, and Resurrection Elixirs.
As a test, I assign 10 Bonus Points to Strength and then click Reset. The Bonus Point was removed--but my Bonus Points were now 99/100 (-1), with a countdown.
So, it seems that while I can reset the Bonus Points, but it seems to have a cost--just in case, I shouldn’t reset too many times--at least they weren’t permanently lost.
I increase my Main Stats to 10, lowering my available Bonus Points to 64.
Now then, it’s time to select Special Skills:
The first I chose was ‘Decrease Required Experience Points’.
Of course, this was a vital Skill, it means that my character will level up more quickly.
The second was ‘Increase Gained Experience Points’.
My Bonus Points were now decreased to 34.
It seems that each of these Skills were 15 points.
Third, I chose ‘Second Class’.
Multi-Classing is great; Runes of Magic would be my favourite game when it comes to a Multi-Classing system. Final Fantasy XIV did fairly well, but it was more of switching between classes.
I could see the option for a 3rd Class, but I chose not to, because I also wanted to get Bonus Equipment.
From the list of Bonus Equipment, I got one Resurrection Elixir--and the weapon Excalibur.
This seems to be the last page of settings, so I should be able to play as soon as this is finished.
When I clicked ‘Accept’ another popup appeared, it read:
‘Warning: You have chosen to abandon your World of Origin--it will be impossible to return unless Apotheosis is achieved. Do you wish to continue?’
Hmm?
I wonder if this is to do with the lore of the game--it sounds interesting.
Anyway, it didn’t lead to a billing screen, so I happily chose ‘Yes’.
Another popup appeared, reading:
‘Final Warning! Do you still wish to continue?’
I clicked ‘Yes’.
Suddenly, a loud ringing noise rung through my headphones, making my head spin--I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy and my eyelids fluttered shut.
Wha--