"So, where do you want to start?" - Ian
"From the top. From when I entered the building." - Kingston
"Okay." - Ian
"So, inside the building, it is very empty, there is only a wooden pole. I looped around the whole place just in case but there was nothing. On the wooden pole, there is a button, pressing it causes a sequence where you end up selecting a weapon. The point of the weapon is unknown at the moment since I haven't reached that point." - Kingston
"Just out of curiosity, what were the weapons." - Ian
"A spear, sword, bow and arrow, ax and club. Pretty basic weapons and nothing special about them. There are also no stats on the weapon as well, just a name." - Kingston
"What did you choose?" - Ian
"Spear." - Kingston
"Pretty good choice, you can fight mid-range and close range." - Ian
"Yeah but like that doesn't matter yet." - Kingston
"Right..." - Ian
"There are rules in this place." - Kingston
"Rules?" - Ian
"Yea, Player can't leave, all previous equips are unequipped, no healing, skills are blocked. That's what I remembered at least." - Kingston
"Well we already knew you couldn't leave but the fact that all the equips and skills are blocked makes it harder. At the same time, I can see why they would do it, they want to test the player's basic stats rather than have a player abuse a skill or equip to pass the challenge." - Ian
"Yea well, screw that. The challenge is so bad and I'm only on the first one after a whole day's worth of playing." - Kingston
"What was it?" - Ian
"It's running." - Kingston
"Running?" - Ian
"Yea. Running. You are placed in an alleyway with barely any room around you and you have two directions you can go, forward or backward. The ground quickly falls into the abyss and if you don't outrun it well, you fall too and I can tell you now falling is not fun. In fact, the most not fun moment is when after falling for a good minute or two you face plant into the ground, ONLY to come to after a second perfectly fine and on your two feet." - Kingston
"Wait, what? Let me get this straight. You are running from pretty much a crumbling bridge, and if you fail then you fall and die by falling." - Ian
"Yea, exactly that. Except how, how many times do you think I died?" - Kingston
"A lot?" - Ian
"Yea. A. LOT. Somewhere along the way, I think I just sat down on the ground waiting to die. My mind became numb at some point but the feeling stayed with me. That feeling of falling terrifies me because right after it, the feeling of getting your body crushed by gravity as it merges with the ground comes right after falling." - Kingston
"Damn, okay. That is…Wow." - Ian
"Yeah and now I don't know what to do. Tonight is just going to be the same. You know I didn't even know how much time passed until I woke up after the game server ended. There is no sense of time in that place. Just a hallway, the ground, and emptiness. What do I do, Ian? I feel like I might go mental in there." - Kingston
"It's only the first day right. Come into it with a new mindset. The place is made so that people can conquer it and gain the skill. Do you know the furthest you ran?" - Ian
"Of course not, there are no landmarks to look at. The walls are all the same as well, there is nothing for me to compare it with." - Kingston
"Then tonight, let me suggest you a plan. Count the number of steps. Each time you run, count the number of steps you do and compare it each time to see if you have run further than last time." - Ian
"Are you serious? You think that will help?" - Kingston
"Yes and no. This is at least help your brain remain focused on a task rather than wondering about thinking about death. At the same time, you will be able to gauge how far you are from a certain point. For example, say you ran your heart out and fell after 99 steps. It might have been 1 more step to finish the challenge, you don't know. Maybe you ran 999, it might have been that 1000th step to finish the challenge. Do you understand?" - Ian
"I get what you are saying, but I don't know. It is already hard just running away from the collapsing ground, now I have to keep count of each step." - Kingston
"It will help calm yourself as well as keep you concentrated on the task at hand. Who knows, you might have been super close yesterday but you didn't know." - Ian
"I guess I can try. Is there anything else?" - Kingston
"Do you think the challenge will have a trick to it?" - Ian
"Like?" - Kingston
"Like, what if you were meant to run into the ground at the start and the finish line is somewhere near the beginning?" - Ian
"I wouldn't know." - Kingston
"Hmm, does your spear fit horizontally? Like can you stick the spear between both walls and hang from the handle?" - Ian
"Nope, no way. It doesn't fit." - Kingston
"Ah, that's unfortunate. There really isn't much else to do. You just have to finish the challenge and then we can get more information on the next one. Do you know how many challenges there are?" - Ian
"No idea. There isn't a lot of information that the system provided." - Kingston
"Okay, then. Good luck! Talk to me tomorrow about it okay?" - Ian
"Sigh, alright." - Kingston
I turn off my phone and closed my eyes. My mind was blank and I didn't want to think anymore. With what little help Ian could give me, I knew that it was going to be hard. I ended up just sitting or laying in my bed until midnight when I put on my VR helmet again, somewhat ready to start to challenge again.
...….
I open my eyes to see darkness around me. My feet were touching air and I thought I was falling but in reality, I was just floating.
[ Are you ready to continue? ]
A system message appears before me and there was only one answer.
Yes.
The familiar walls zoom towards me from the distance and the spear of light forms in my hands. It takes a moment before the walls were in place and the spear had materialized and once my feet landed on the ground I turned around and sprinted. My mind and body felt fresh, I felt ready and with each step, I started counting.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
.
.
.
Seventy-five.
Seventy-six.
Seventy-seven.
Seventy-eight.
Seventy-nine.
Eig-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
My first fall. Right before eighty steps. I brace myself for impact waiting for death to come to me.
[ You have died. ]
Again. The moment I was conscious of my actions I run. I sprint.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
.
.
.
Sixty-one.
Sixty-two.
sixty-th-AHHHHHH.
Another death. Sixty-third step.
Again.
Seventy-tree.
Eighty-one.
Fifty-nine.
Eighty-nine.
Sixty-one.
Sixty-nine.
Ninety-five.
Forty.
Ninety-nine.
Again and again. An endless cycle of myself running and counting but knowing that there was no way out. I just commit myself harder and harder. I push myself to the utmost limit each time. What was the result?
Death.
And so another day passes. With only death, falling and numbers below 100, on my mind, I go about my day like a zombie. Sluggish motions and slow response times made my part-time work difficult and once midnight comes around, it starts again.
Two days.
Three days.
Five days.
Six days.
And finally.
[ You have completed the First Challenge: Run ]
[ Congratulations ]
[ Would you like to see your rewards? ]
After 7 days, a week, in the Ikanda, I did it. I finished the challenge. The challenge was to reach 200 steps.
"HAHAHA! SEE THAT GAME. I DID IT. I DID IT. YEAHHHHHHHH. 200 STEPS BABY! WHY NOT DO 100 STEPS? WHY 200? SHITTY GAME. HAHAHA!"
I scream, curse and yell at the system as the message for competing in the first challenge hangs in front of me. I didn't accept my rewards just yet, instead, I collapse on the ground. My brain felt overloaded, I lay there for god knows how long.
I did it.
If Ian could see me right now, he would see the biggest smile on my face.
I did it.
What a shitty game.
I slowly got up and selected to accept the rewards. In the back of my head, I wished that I would get some good rewards since I had struggled tirelessly in this challenge.
[ Here is your reward. ]
[ +5 Agility
Bonus for being the first to complete the challenge: +5 Agility, + 5 Vitality ]
"YES! STAT GAINS! OH MY GOD YES!"
Tears of joy escape the corner of my eye. Since this was a reward for completing the challenge, the stats here were permanent and was not included in the passive skill. This meant that I would gain another 5 Agility once I finished everything and with that, I took a lot at my status screen to see my hard-earned stats.
Name: Kingston
Race: Human
Health Points (HP): 28/28
Mana Points (MP): 0/0
Strength: 12
Vitality: 14
Intelligence: 5
Dexterity: 5
Agility: 15
Luck: 1
"Amazing, these stats look beautiful."
[ Are you ready for the next challenge? Yes or No ]
"Yes."
[ Second Challenge: Survive ]
My previous happy grin instantly vanished.
"Survive? Oh no. Not like this."
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