Ray just jumped back into the gaming pod. He closed the lid and tapped on the power button.
This time, much calmer, he noticed the red light scanning him from head to toe.
[User registration confirmed. Logging in...]
A weightless sensation pulled at him, and he found himself floating in the darkness.
Then two massive ZA letters appeared in front of him, glowing with a golden hue.
[Welcome to Zenaris Online.]
A bright light engulfed him.
As it faded, he woke inside the empty dungeon core room.
Not even a second later, the little black spirit once again rushed toward him. "Master…"
Already prepared, Adder just took a side step, and the spirit flew past him.
The little spirit shook his head as nothing had happened and flew next to him. "Master, you are already back."
Adder took a deep breath. "Yeah, just send me out of the dungeon."
The little spirit bobbled his head up and down. "Master, the nearby village next to our dungeon is Blackwater Village. Do you want me to transfer you there?"
Adder nodded his head.
Being a dungeon master, before anything, he had to check what type of organization was developing around his dungeon.
Also, he could not gain levels from killing any creatures within his dungeon. For that, he had to kill creatures from the game world.
"Ok, Master. One more thing, remember you have a 1-week dungeon protection period active. And you cannot go out beyond a certain distance from the dungeon. And…"
Adder waved his hand. "Don't worry, I already know this stuff. So transfer me now."
"Ok, see you soon, Master."
Xarik dived at him as a bright light engulfed him.
ZAP!
…
A mild breeze hit his face, mixed with a damp soil fragrance, making him smile.
He calmly opened his eyes and looked up at the dark sky full of bright stars.
Unlike the sky of Void Village, this time, there were a bunch of random cloud clusters that obstructed the light from the stars.
Finally, he turned to look at the quiet village plaza, with all sorts of closed shops around him.
A few of the NPC shop owners were already setting up their shops for the day.
Multiple new players were running around, some even helping the shop owners. Most were in similar rags.
He looked at the horizon as a bit of light had already started to push back the darkness.
Even after playing the game for so long, the sight of sunrise still mesmerized him.
He was engrossed in the moment when a group of three girls spawned next to him.
The three of them screamed in unison.
"Aaaa, we are finally in the game!"
"Look, the sky is real! It's just like the internet says…"
"Oh my god, the pollution-free air…"
Adder frowned at this obnoxiously loud bunch. But they were not alone, as most of the new players on the plaza had similar enthusiasm.
He shook his head and simply walked off the spawn point, blending with others.
While walking around, he said, "Player status."
Player Name: Adder
Species: Human/???
Class: Dungeon Master
Subclass: None
Title: Master of Serpent Cave
Level: 1
Health: 100/100
Mana: 100/100
AGL: 5
VIT: 5
INT: 5
STA: 5
STR: 5
DEF: 5
Status: Healthy
Unassigned stat points: 0
He had already equipped the Master of Serpent Cave title. It did not boost his stats, but it was still better than nothing.
As for his stats, it was the standard 5 in each.
He was checking his player status when a notification popped up.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Player Adder, for experiencing the first sunrise within the world of Zenaris.]
Adder turned to the horizon as he saw a bit of sunlight already tearing through the blanket of the dark sky.
Ding!
[Please move to the village gate for the induction ceremony.]
At that very moment, multiple players started running toward the village gate.
Adder followed them at his own pace while mentally preparing himself for the upcoming induction ceremony.
In Zenaris Online, beginner villages were very special in terms of rewards.
A player could gain class-based skills, class enhancements, and even sub-classes through these chain quests.
These rewards were very important for anyone who aspired to be a pro in the game.
They were almost impossible to get beyond the beginner villages.
As he walked to the village gate, he saw a massive queue of players.
He also rushed to join.
Every morning, all the NPCs in the beginner village gave out these chain quests.
It was kind of interesting because, beyond the beginner villages, there was no real concept of NPCs giving common quests to players.
The NPCs in the game were smarter than players, and just like outside, each had its own requirements.
In the initial gaming days, these NPCs used to give tasks with vague rewards.
Those were classic scam quests where, once you completed them, you would gain things like a bunch of rocks and sand.
He remembered his first experience, where he did tasks for a farmer.
As a quest, it was mentioned that the farmer had offered the most important thing he owned, but once he completed everything, all he got in return was a fistful of soil.
It was not pure cheating, as the system ensured adequate payment was offered in quests.
It was just that the devil lay in the details.
For a farmer, the most important thing was not money or items but the farm on which he relied to earn all that.
Though he got his revenge later on, it was a big learning experience for him.
That was just one example. The initial year of the game was full of these scam quests.
His getting defrauded was nothing compared to the biggest fraud event, 'The Niyoni Fall.'
Niyoni used to be a famous guild that gained traction in the very first year of the game launch.
They were one of the giant player guilds, but they made the mistake of taking the assassination request of a city noble.
With their power, they easily completed the task, but they made one mistake: not hiding themselves.
On that day, players worldwide got to know that the biggest crime in Zenaris Online was killing NPCs in the open.
Once the information got leaked, not even a day passed before a kingdom-wide announcement placed a bounty on the heads of all the Niyoni guild members.
Those NPCs didn't even move themselves and just used the players against them. The bounty rewarded everyone who killed Niyoni guild members.
Even an organization as strong as Niyoni crumbled in a few days under the greed of the entire player base.
They were killed to the point that each of them dropped to level one. And the NPCs didn't stop there. They even started a nationwide capturing quest.
That entire event concluded in under a month, and the royals captured and imprisoned all the level-one members in the royal prison.
In his past life, even when he died, those players remained trapped in those prisons, ending their dreams of making it big in the game.
It was eye-opening for the players. However, with time, players discovered that killing NPCs wasn't a big crime.
It was getting caught by others.
As more time passed, everyone came to know multiple ways of killing these NPCs, and most of them depended on your connections with the NPC kingdoms.
Well, currently, every NPC organization favored its own group of guilds; it was similar to how the real world functioned.
However, the beginner villages were an exception, as the NPCs here would give fixed chain quests to everyone.
It was sort of easier for players to get used to the game before the real devils used them for labor.
Another notification pulled him out of his thoughts.
Ding!
[The player induction ceremony is about to begin. Please rush to the shop you are interested in.]