A distant point of light rushed at Rydr as he fell through the hole, Eve's warning about not telling anyone her age the last thing he knew. The light closed in quickly, and then he was out. Blinded by light and wind, he had to force his eyes open to see something amazing.

Below him stretched a vast continent. There was an ocean in the distance to his left, and the right was scattered mountain ranges. The mountains culminated in an enormous spine on the world where mountains like jagged teeth reached for the sky as if to swallow it. Amidst the peaks, he could see enormous flying creatures. 

The North slowly vanished into a thick fog of falling snow, obscuring most details from view. The South became a heavy jungle, and what looked like an eventual desert. 

Verdant hills, the occasional mountain, forest, and scant cities/villages took up the land directly below him. The closer Ryan fell to the ground, the more it seemed like he was falling into a lush forest that stretched for several square miles. The huge swath of greenery stood out from the rolling hills in the surrounding countryside. The trees resembled a mix of Redwoods and sprawling jungle, which were obvious from a great distance. They reached up at him.

In fact, Rydr had fallen so far it seemed like he would soon hit the ground. He looked back up.

Above him, he was stunned to find other divers in the middle of their own descent. Some pinwheeled through the air, but a large number were stable enough to scout, like Rydr. A few laughed at the pinwheeling divers in an obvious manner. Everyone that he could make out the details on was in basic adventuring clothes.

Only Rydr was in blue jeans and a red tee. He stood out. His heart dropped, and his skin crawled as he confronted being in front of so many people. 

So Rydr ignored it. Out of sight, out of mind. Nope, I'm definitely not the only person dressed like this in the whole game. He kept repeating that to himself to calm down. 

Rydr faced towards the ground again just in time to see it rush at his face. Leaves and branches whipped past him, just barely bending around his body at the last second as he fell through the crown of foliage. The surface of the forest was still a ways from the ground. A completely manly and on-purpose shriek escaped his mouth. Then, the ambient mana's spidery material was visible, and his descent slowed until he gently touched down. 

He immediately fell over again. Wild free-fall hadn't cured his inability to walk yet. He heard more, far less manly, shrieks all around him. He was too busy trying to stand up to look. He so badly didn't want to look like a noob.

Rydr was certain he was the only person there to play a VRMMO for the first time. They had been popular for too long. Not many families were as strict as his anymore.

A cute message chime sounded. In front of him popped a notification.

[Welcome to Frontier Online]

-You are starting your journey in Grotto, one of the many beginner villages in the Kingdom of Aard. Divers have been scattered to the four winds. Now go forth and chase the Frontier!-

At least I know where I-

Several more chimes interrupted Rydr's thought. Soon, his field of view was stacked with notifications. I definitely need to change the notification settings. I completely understand all those articles about crowded HUD's now. He turned his attention to sorting them out. He stopped trying to stand and lay on the ground.

Other people continued to land all around Rydr as he lay there. People of all shapes and sizes, all outfitted in roughly the same gear, started their adventure in Grotto. Unbeknownst to Rydr, many people fell over as soon as they hit the ground. 

Many players were recording or actively streaming their experience. Later on, after these videos surfaced, many divers assumed that the standing people would become better players than those who fell over. The people recording the videos opted to have their experience recorded before they got into the game. It was an option Ryan skipped when he set up his gaming capsule since he didn't make a living off viewers' donations like professional gamers usually did.

None of that mattered to Rydr, though. He sat up, the ground beneath him covered in a thick, soft layer of grass. It was so dense the greenery felt spongy to the touch. After he noted the interesting sensation, Rydr was suddenly struck by a thought.

It doesn't hurt.

Somehow, in all the hubbub of talking to Eve, making his avatar, and learning how to use mana, Rydr failed to notice that he no longer felt the full-body ache he was accustomed to.  With a twist, he turned around at the waist. The movement was impossible for him in real life. Every turn Ryan ever made was treated like he carried a heavy object, leading with his feet. 

Tears poured from his eyes a second time that day as Rydr curled up on the ground and sobbed, burying his face in his arms. He hugged himself as he hiccuped on the ground, unaware of people around him recording videos of the "Weeping Giant." Viewers left scathing comments about his mental competency, while others openly wondered why a huge crybaby had street clothes. 

Rydr came back to himself much faster than his earlier breakdown. His sobs ceased, and his giant form uncurled itself to sit up again. He felt jubilant and wanted to run around, but he still couldn't work his body to stand up. With a sigh, he wiped his tears and summoned the notifications menu. First things first.

[Legendary Feat! The First Feat]

-Congratulations! You are the first diver to perform a feat in Frontier Online! Soon nothing will stand before you and call itself your equal!-

+100 Fame

+10 Unassigned Points

+5 Luck

Unique Passive Skill Unlocked: Paragon

[Monumental Feat! A Flexible Mind]

-Congratulations! You are the first diver to perform open your Third Eye! Your mind is so flexible it may as well be fluid!-

+50 Fame

+10 Intelligence

+10 Wisdom

+5 Will

Skill Discovered: Third Eye

Those looked...incredible to Rydr. He didn't have the right context to know how incredible, but he hoped they would still be significant. Legendary sounded significant to him. He continued to ignore everyone around him as he tackled the next set of notifications. However, before he could open them, another filled his vision against his will.

[Would you like to announce your Legendary Feat to the Server?]

-YES or NO-

*Note that this is a one-time offer. From now on, any Legendary Feat will be announced server-wide automatically. Eve~*

Rydr quickly read the notice before he mentally selected "NO." He wanted to be the strongest someday and be acknowledged for it, but I want to be ready for it. The note from Eve at least warned him that announcing Legendary Feats would be involuntary from now on. Rydr mentally sent a thank-you to Eve for letting him block this one. With a wry expression, he finally got to the rest of the notifications.

*Paragon Triggered*

He received two such notices. The floodgates closed and the only things left were two glowing notices. One was for his character sheet, and the other just told him to claim his glory. As a nerdy shut-in, he claimed his glory first.

[Claim Your Glory]

-A Paragon stands at the pinnacle. Feats accomplished will reward you with half-again the stat rewards. You must claim them to make use of your newfound strength.-

+ 2 Will

+ 5 Intelligence

+ 5 Wisdom

+ 2 Luck

+ 5 Unassigned Points

I have to be honest. This is pretty busted. The only reward that wasn't multiplied by the passive skill was Fame. Since Rydr had no clue how important Fame might be, it didn't bother him when it wasn't affected. It would be relative to the power creep level in the game at the end of the day. He supposed it would depend on how many stat points a level was worth. Even still, half again, the stat buffs from all feats will be crazy if I can get a few Strength feats. It occurred to Rydr that something was wrong, though.

Name: Rydr

Level: 1

Class: None

HP: 100

MP: 250

Stamina: 100

(Free Points: 15)

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 10

Constitution: 10

Intelligence: 25

Wisdom: 25

Charisma: 10

Luck: 7

Will: 22

[Skills]

Passive Skills:

- Paragon Lvl. MAX

Active Skills:

- Third Eye Lvl. 1

[Feats]

- The First Feat - Legendary

- A Flexible Mind - Monumental

His character sheet looked like a fucking mage!

 

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi! This is the new version of Chapter 4. Since I found out some readers use translations to read [FRONTIER ONLINE], I decided to post the plain-text versions of the tables and charts.

 

This is likely the shortest chapter I will ever post~ Let me know what you guys think if you couldn't read the tables/announcements before now!