Although it need not be said, the two three-tiered announcements that Gab accidentally allowed to occur generated shockwaves on a global scale, both IG and IRL.

 

 

 

How would people who couldn’t enter Arbitrium in time for the server openings due to factors such as work and various other factors know at the same time as those that did, you ask? Well, whenever someone buys a Novae Terrae gaming device of any type, they can connect them to their phones to generate an app for the game, allowing Players to keep themselves familiar with various details in regards to their avatars when they’re logged out, such as their Status, Weapons, Skills etc. Even Gab herself got this app on her phone before she logged in.

 

 

 

But another feature of this app is the oh-so-necessary Player Forums, where Players, both inside of Arbitrium and out, can hold discussions with each other over topics that are considered either relevant or irrelevant to the game.

 

 

 

At that moment, the discussions on these anonymous forums centred around an unexpected Dark Horse that raised its head in a shocking manner from the Land Down Under. One that goes by the name “Wanderer”.

 

 

 

As anyone with a sensible mind can guess, the forms were filled with comments congratulating Wanderer’s achievements before the game even really started, and wished this Player the best of luck in their future endeavours.

 

 

 

…yeah fucking right!

 

 

 

<Forum Title: Wanderer: Whom the FUCK art thou?!>

 

 

 

Forum Type: Anonymous 

 

 

 

457: WHO THE FUCK IS WANDERER, AND HOW IN THE EVER-LOVING FUCK DID THEY GAIN SO MANY TITLES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS?!?!?!

 

 

 

458: Fuck that shit! What I REALLY want to know is how the hell they managed to get Aurula to give them her first kiss. WILLINGLY, at that!!!

 

 

 

459: Maybe they just planted one on her when she wasn’t paying attention.

 

 

 

460: Upstairs, fuck off to a corner🤦‍♂️

 

 

 

461: Why the hell should I do that?!

 

 

 

462: If Wanderer was stupid enough to do something like that to a FACILITATOR of all NPCs, then forget an announcement, they’d be lucky if they were still allowed to breathe!

 

 

 

463: ‘sides, if she did that, it would’ve been a similar result to those far-right-wing fuckwits.

 

 

 

464: Given a nastily appropriate Title that would do only harm.

 

 

 

465: One that’s definitely NOT worth an announcement.

 

 

 

466: Fine, I’ll stand in a corner, hope your happy assholes!

 

 

 

467: Nope, but it’s a start

 

 

 

468: 🖕

 

 

 

469: ✂️

 

 

 

470: 🤬👿

 

 

 

471: Ok kids, let’s get serious. Let’s just focus on what we DO know about this Player.

 

 

 

472: Going by the time zone of the announcements they’re someone who lives in the eastern part of Australia 

 

 

 

473: …how many states and territories are falls under that one, exactly.

 

 

 

474: …3 states, 1 territory and 1 island😅

 

 

 

475: So little over 9 million people down, 16+ million to go!!

 

 

 

476 Well, if anything, they’re a Freestyler, I’m sure of it.

 

 

 

477: Oh, and why are you so certain of it.

 

 

 

478: Just look at the AP rewards for the Australian announcements. Don’t you find it odd that they received 6AP instead of 4 or 5?

 

 

 

479: …fuck me dead, you’re right!! If you think about it, the Australian announcement essentially gave them a whole Level’s worth of AP!!!

 

 

 

480: They got 72 AP from the announcement awards alone, not to mention whatever rewards they got from those 3 Titles. You KNOW what this means, right?

 

 

 

481: …

 

 

 

482: …

 

 

 

483: …

 

 

 

484: …FUCK!!! Doesn’t that mean they’re essentially at least an LVL15 Freestyler despite being at LVL3?!?!?!

 

 

 

485: Error: unfortunately can compute 😑🤯☠️

 

 

 

486: How lucky can one get?! We’ll have to spend a hideous amount of time grinding to get that amount of LVLs and AP, but all that asshole needed was a KISS?!! 

 

 

 

487: Are we SURE that they’re not a well-known big shot or at least a subordinate of one?

 

 

 

488: Neither. None of the celebrities, streamers, young masters and alliance heads that’ve revealed their IGNs to us normies uses “Wanderer” as their holder ID. And none of the YMs and Ahs released statements confirming that this Player’s the latter.

 

489: Actually, I even saw some chatter on other forums claiming that some Yms and Ahs from outside of Oz are sending people to locate Wanderer in the areas that fall under their time zone.

 

 

 

490: Hahaha LOL! They’re sending people to look for a microscopic needle in one of the most dangerous haystacks in the world?!! Shit, if that’s not desperation, then I don’t know what is!

 

 

 

491: Yeah, but desperate people are more likely to perform desperate measures, remember.

 

 

 

492: True that.

 

 

 

493: If I were in Wanderer’s shoes, I wouldn’t choose to announce any more achievements, for the time being, otherwise an even greater number of Players will come down on them like a fuckton of metal bricks!

 

 

 

494: Yeah Wanderer, no matter what, no matter how TEMPTING it may be, don’t you DARE declare anymore achievements!!!

 

 

 

If these last comments were spoken to Gab’s face, she wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

 

After all, who in their right minds would believe that she signed away her ability to heed the warnings of these anonymous users, much less that she wasn’t even planning for those achievements in the first place!!

 

 

 

Location: Pocket Village 2604, Arbitrium

 

 

 

“Oww…”, Gab groaned, as she laid face-down on what felt like a smooth, hard surface.

 

 

 

“Fuck me dead, it feels like the morning after that time I went on that Inner West pub crawl with the girls, only without the aftermath of the wild foursome we had after we finished!”, she said as the image of her waking up on the floor of Maria’s dorm room, with the sight of her three, completely naked friends surrounded by the various toys they used during said foursome, and the odour of various bodily fluids, mixed alcohol, cigarette smoke and bad decisions wafting in the confined space.

 

 

 

However, as soon as the headache came, it just as quickly dissipated, causing Gab to let out a sigh of relief.

 

 

 

Her eyes still shut, Gab pushed herself off the hard surface and stood up, before instinctively dusting off her leather jacket.

 

 

 

“…Hmm?”

 

 

 

Wait.

 

 

 

Leather. Jacket?

 

 

 

Not daring to open her eyes yet, Gab started to feel her garments from bottom to top, just to make sure that the fall from the Sea of Character Creation didn’t scramble her head more than she thought it did.

 

 

 

Footwear: Thick leather boots.

 

 

 

Pants: Denim jeans.

 

 

 

Shirt: illustrated t-shirt.

 

 

 

Outerwear: Leather jacket.

 

 

 

Headwear: Beanie with pins

 

 

 

“…are you shitting me?”, Gab gasped, before finally opening her eyes, now taking in what she suspected of her current attire.

 

 

 

Which was, as one would guess, what she was wearing earlier IRL!

 

 

 

“Now wait just a damn second here! Why am I wearing what I had on in the real world inside the game world?!”, she asked herself in disbelief, thinking that, if anything, she should be wearing crappy village attire as opposed to something that she wore IRL.

 

 

 

However, as she was questioning this strange, anachronistic phenomenon, Gab suddenly remembered something Amalia told her earlier:

 

 

 

“Oh, speaking of the official site’s first page, you have to make sure you’re fully clothed when you put your Causa on for the first time.”.

 

 

 

Hearing about that strange recommendation at the time sounded odd to Gab, as well as practically everyone else. But now, it sort of made sense.

 

 

 

“Could it be…that my Causa was scanning, not just my DNA, but my clothes as well?”.

 

 

 

Whilst this theory sounded strange, even to her, it was the only one that correlated with the current evidence

 

 

 

“Wait,”, Gab said, feeling a terrible premonition taking hold of her, “if this is what happens to the Player’s who took that recommendation seriously, then what about those who haven’t?!”.

 

 

 

Hoping that her feat was unfounded, Gab swept her gaze around the area she was standing in, whilst simultaneously getting her first look at the virtual world she was currently inhabiting.

 

 

 

Instead of starting in a typical church (which was where a lot of Players expected to be dropped into), Gab and what looked like over a thousand other Players instead stood on some sort of large, dark grey stone platform at the bottom of a crater. 

 

 

 

The walls of the crater itself were steep in the slightest. Some other Players saw what looked like a wide, smooth path leading from the bottom to over the edge, causing said Players to feel relieved that they only have to walk out instead of climbing.

 

 

 

But if they were to focus on the stone platform on which they were standing, they’ll find strange characters and lines inscribed on its surface, which some savvy fantasy fans amongst them would attribute them to being parts of a large magical circle, many of them hypothesising that it’s some sort of summoning circle (which would make sense, lore-wise).

 

 

 

And at the centre of this stone platform, distinctive from the rest of the surrounding area, was a towering obelisk. Looking like it was made of the darkest obsidian, it stood at little over 20ms in height. When Players that were closer to it tried to approach, they found themselves blocked by magical rings that suddenly materialised around the mysterious structure as they got within 1m of it. Since these Players were new to the game, they have yet to know what conditions are required to dispel them, but they at the very least knew that they shouldn’t be too difficult to fulfil, considering the lack of complex symbols with the rings in comparison to those engraved on the platform.

 

 

 

Of course, Gab’s attention wasn’t focused on the surrounding area, but rather on the Players currently within it. More specifically, what they were wearing.

 

 

 

Just from her current vantage point, she could already discern what occupations and hobbies some of these Players had IRL just based on what they were wearing:

 

 

 

-Tradies in their trademark orange/green and black uniforms completed the scan straight after coming home from work (if the dust, paint and other substances splattered on their attire was of any indication).

 

 

 

-Men and women who worked in either business or legal sectors dressed to the nines in various gender-specific suits without a hair or cloth out of place.

 

 

 

-Hospitality employees dressed in either their workplace’s uniform or in all black.

 

 

 

-People who simply decided to do the scan before going to bed, judging by their pyjamas and dressing gowns.

 

 

 

-There were even people who were martial art practitioners garbed in ghis, doboks, karetagis and various other uniforms related to different martial styles.

 

 

 

However, at one point during her frantic search, Gab’s gaze stopped for some inexplicable reason as she laid eyes on one young man in particular, who was only a few metres away from her position.

 

 

 

Dressed in what looked to be a tailored black suit without a tie and a few buttons on his white shirt, he looked to be at least close to Gab’s age with a height of about 6’0 and a decent physique. 

 

As for his facial features, they seemed to hint at a prominent Aryan ancestry, with short, spikey blonde hair, clear blue eyes and flawless pale skin without eyes a single blemish stretched atop sharp cheekbones.

 

Gab may not be sexually attracted to those of the opposite sex, but even she can freely admit that this guy was quite handsome.

 

 

 

“Weird,”, Gab muttered, “I’m 100% sure I’ve never met that guy before, but why does he seem so familiar to me?”.

 

 

 

Shaking off this strange feeling of déjà vu, she resumed her search for a few more seconds before confirming that she, thankfully, couldn’t see what she was dreading to see.

 

 

 

“Phew,”, Gab sighed in relief, “I gotta say, I’m glad what I thought would happen…”.

 

 

 

“WHAT THE FUCK, WHY AM I NAKED?!!!!”.

 

 

 

“…had to, of-fucking-course, come to bloody fruition!!”, she finished with a growl, which continued for a few more seconds as similar exclamations started sounding out in her immediate vicinity.

 

 

 

Like localised parts of the Red Sea, many groups of Players parted to reveal people in either their undergarments or just straight up naked!

 

 

 

…THIS was what Gab was afraid would happen if people didn’t listen to the strange recommendation on the official site to wear clothes when allowing their Novae Terrae divorces to scan them for the first time, making her glad she didn’t deviate from it.

 

 

 

Sighing, Gab averted her eyes from these unfortunate bastards who couldn’t even follow such a simple instruction.

 

 

 

After all, she was too much of a gentlewoman to ogle the ladies who were doing improvised impressions of The Birth of Venus, and she most definitely didn’t want to risk seeing a guy accidentally letting his “two meat and veg” out for all the world to see!

 

 

 

Although, she may or may not have let her eyes rest for longer than was deemed appropriate on some particularly curvaceous ladies wearing nothing but risqué lingerie…

 

 

 

“Mẹ kiếp, and to think I considered just getting my scan done in the nude for a few seconds!”.

 

 

 

“Huh?!”, Gab yelped as her fleeting glance (perving gaze) was interrupted by a female voice that seemed to have originated from right next to her!

 

 

 

As she swivelled her head towards the originator of the relieved sentence, Gab felt herself froze as she took in this person’s appearance.

 

 

 

Judging from both her appearance and the phrase the used before (which Gab guessed was an expletive of some sort), the woman next to her was of Vietnamese descent, with a slightly dark skin tone and long dark hair that reached down to the middle of her back that was done up in a simple ponytail, as well as eyes that one would typically associate with an Asian person.

 

 

 

Gab could tell that this woman worked in a local restaurant of some description. Not due to racial stereotyping, but more since she had a black server apron tied around her waist whilst the rest of her clothing was quite casual.

 

Her lower half was clad in simple black leggings that seemed to stretch across strong and well-defined legs and what looked to be a very tight arse, whilst her upper half consisted of a tight white t-shirt with a stylised lotus flower displayed on the front.

 

Even though her breasts weren’t particularly large (roughly AA or B-cup), they had a pleasant shape to them, which Gab thought was exacerbated by what she thought was a well defined abdominal region.

 

 

 

From her first impression, Gab could tell that this woman took a disciplined approach to both her physical well-being and her work life, whilst still maintaining some more feminine aspects.

 

 

 

And if the way she held herself even whilst being at rest and ease was anything to go by, she was also likely someone who also practised some form of martial arts, and for a fairly long time at that.

 

 

 

When it came to women, Gab wouldn’t consider herself as either a “breast lady” or “arse lady”, but rather a “whole package lady”.

 

And from what she saw, this woman besides her presented a pretty exquisite package indeed!

 

 

 

“U-um yeah, I know how you feel.”, Gab responded to the relieved Vietnamese woman, drawing her attention, “Whilst I don’t particularly judge exhibitionists, I’m not exactly keen to become one in front of over a hundred strangers!”.

 

 

 

“Hahaha, fair enough” the woman laughed, “after all, a fair few exhibitionists do it at their discretion for the thrill of getting caught, not necessarily barring all for everyone without intending to do so in the first place.”, she chuckled, before outstretching her hand towards Gab, “I’m Đất Vàng, or “Yellow Earth”. Armed Combatant. What’s your name?”.

 

 

 

“Ah, RPG Otaku.,” Gab sputtered, before giving a false IGN and the offered hand a shake, “Freestyler. Nice to meet you.”.

 

 

 

“Oh, a Freestyler, huh? I guess you’re a Player that wants to give everything a try at least once, instead of mainly focusing on one particular aspect of the game.”, Đất Vàng said with an appreciative nod, seeming to approve of Gab’s (supposed) reason for choosing that Style, before adopting a more pensive look, “Although, I’m surprised you managed to get an IGN like that, since “Otaku” is such a popular word.”.

 

 

 

“W-well, I guess the addition of “RPG” might’ve helped,” Gab answered whilst running her hand through her hair, feeling nervous all the while.

 

 

 

Whilst she felt bad about lying to Đất Vàng’s face (even if they only just met), Gab wasn’t stupid enough to give her real IGN in front after what happened less than ten minutes ago!

 

 

 

Whilst she’s not an edgy person with a fatalistic view of humanity, she can appreciate that a good majority of Players aren’t going to be too happy that she got a massive head start as a result of all those rewards she unwittingly received simply by kissing a beautiful woman before they even stepped foot in the game!

 

 

 

Luckily for her, unlike when she created her IGN, it’s not displayed above her head at the moment, the same as everyone else on the stone platform. She chalked it up to being a temporary feature within the starting area to encourage Players to make an effort to get to know their peers and initiate a conversation, instead of simply viewing someone’s name above their head and acting like you know who they are.

 

 

 

“Speaking of names,”, Gab said, planning to redirect attention away from her IGN, “why did you choose one that means “Yellow Earth” of all things?”.

 

 

 

“Oh, that’s because I’m a yellow belt in Vovinam, which is short for “Võ Việt Nam”, and the colour yellow represents “earth” so I just thought that it would be an interesting IGN to use.”,Đất Vàng explained.

 

 

 

“What’s a yellow belt in Vovinam equivalent to in other martial arts?”, Gab asked, genuinely curious.

 

 

 

“Well, it’s comparable to a black belt in other styles, so I’m more than qualified to make a fair amount of people kiss the earth that my belt colour represents.”, she answered with a smile, whilst unconsciously cracking her knuckles.

 

 

 

…

 

 

 

…Gab wouldn’t normally consider herself an “Amazon Chaser”, but Đất Vàng made her strongly consider it!

 

 

 

“Wait, hold up,”, Gab said, as what she now knows about the Vietnamese Player in front of her didn’t seem to fit something she told Gab earlier, “you’re an expert martial artist, and yet you choose Armed Combatant for your Class?”.

 

 

 

To which the Armed Combatant in question giggled in response to the Freestyler’s confusion.

 

“True, a Class like Barefist would’ve been just as much of a fit for me, but Vovinam also incorporates the use of weapons, which a practitioner wouldn’t get to use as much outside of tournaments. Plus, I’d feel far more confident taking on an armed opponent with a weapon than with just my limbs.”.

 

 

 

“Huh, that makes sense.”, Gab conceded, “In the real world, no one in their right mind would take on an armed opponent without a weapon of their own unless they have no choice.”.

 

 

 

As Gab was saying this, however, a new, older female voice resounded throughout the area, its point of origin being at the top of the crater all the Players were standing at the bottom of:

 

 

 

“Welcome, travellers from another world, my name is Zalo, the head elder of Pocket Village 2604 and the one who will give you your first tasks as you step forward into our humble world. So, unless you want to stay at the bottom of the well, so to speak, I would suggest making your way up posthaste.”.

 

 

 

Hearing this person known to them as Zalo giving them their first instructions on how to proceed, all the Players started to move towards the path leading out of the crater at differing speeds, whilst some more generous amongst them gave the more unfortunate Players (aka, The Naked and Close-to) pieces of outer wares to let them recover at least some of their dignity.

 

 

 

Not wanting to be left behind, even with the head start she was unwittingly given, Gab turned to the Vietnamese Armed Combatant.

 

 

 

“Well, you heard the head elder. Shall we?”.

 

 

 

“Yeah, we shall!”, Đất Vàng replied in the affirmative.

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as she heard that, Gab turned around and started to walk towards the pathway, not being in any particular rush.

 

 

 

“Hmm? Is it me, or are my steps a bit more fluid and quick?” Gab asked herself in confusion, noticing that her walking pace seemed to be more swift and streamlined than normal. She feels like she’s putting even less effort into walking like this than normal! 

 

Was this the effect of having her AGI and DEX evenly distributed, or was it something else…

 

 

 

“W-wa-WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIITTT!!!”.

 

 

 

“Huh?!”, Gab sputtered, stopping in shock as she heard Đất Vàng’s desperate plea for her to stop for some reason.

 

Looking behind her, Gab was surprised to find that the Vietnamese Armed Combatant was running at what seemed to be a breakneck pace to cover what seemed to be a noticeable distance between them!

 

 

 

“That’s odd, I’m sure we set off at the same time…”, Gab muttered, wondering why Đất Vàng was THAT far behind despite only going at a walking pace.

 

 

 

A moment later, the Armed Combatant finally reached Gab, before bending over and placing her hands on her knees, obviously exhausted and sweaty from running after her.

 

 

 

If Gab wasn’t so curious as to how she got the IRL martial artist to exert herself that much, she’d appreciate the way her lotus t-shirt was sticking to her torso…

 

 

 

“Ha-ha-ha, đụ tôi chết đi được, just how many points did you put in AGI?!”, Đất Vàng asked in disbelief whilst panting, “Whilst it may be tied with my DEX, AGI is still one of my two highest Free Attributes.”.

 

 

 

She then looked Gab in the eye before asking straight up;

 

“So tell me, how high is your AGI that I can’t even keep up with you when you’re walking?!”.

 

 

 

“…before I answer that, how many points have you put in AGI?”.

 

 

 

“…8.”.

 

 

 

…

 

 

 

…if this was anime, Gab’s whole body would have spontaneously turned to stone as she heard that modest, yet important number.

 

 

 

Eight points? As in…two points more than what Gab place in that particular Attribute?

 

 

 

An yet, this woman couldn’t keep up?! When she was WALKING?!!

 

 

 

“Uh-hahaha, let be just check my “Status” for a sec, I may have accidentally put more into it than I meant to.”, Gab laughed nervously as she quickly uttered “[Menu]!!” and click on “Status”.

 

 

 

…

 

 

 

……if Gab was already turned to stone a few moments ago, then a couple of hundred cracks would have simultaneously appeared on her façade…

 

 

 

“…WH-WH-WH-WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY STATS?!!” Gab screamed in her mind, as she saw the numbers that made up her Status panel.

 

 

 

Whilst she knew there were at least some changes to it as a result of the announcement rewards, she didn’t expect this much of a change:

 

 

 

 

 

<[Status]

 

Player IGN: Wanderer

 

 

 

Level: 3 (50%)

 

 

 

Style: [Freestyler]

 

 

 

Affiliations: None

 

 

 

Guild: None

 

 

 

Funds: 2501 gold

 

 

 

Number of Titles: 3

 

 

 

Acclaim: 2600

 

 

 

<Free Attributes>

 

 

 

STR: 8

 

 

 

VIT: 8

 

 

 

AGI: 13

 

 

 

DEX: 8

 

 

 

INT: 8

 

 

 

Points Remaining: 90

 

 

 

<Fixed Attributes>

 

 

 

Causality: 18

 

 

 

Gravitas: 18

 

 

 

Comprehension: 18

 

 

 

Eros: 9

 

 

 

<Stats>

 

 

 

HP: 90 (1 point in VIT equates to 10 HP)

 

 

 

MP: 90 (1 point in INT equates to 10 MP)

 

 

 

Physical Attack: 26 (1 point in STR equates to 2 Physical Attack)

 

 

 

Physical Attack Speed: 26 (1 point in both DEX and AGI (When equal) equates to 2 Physical Attack Speed)

 

 

 

Physical Defence: 18 (1 point in VIT equates to 1 Physical Defence)

 

 

 

Magic Attack: 26 (1 point in INT equates to 2 Magic Attack)

 

 

 

Magic Attack Speed: 26 (1 point in both AGI and INT (When equal) equates to 2 Magic Attack Speed)

 

 

 

Magic Defence: 18 (1 point in INT equates to 1 Magic Defence)

 

 

 

Movement Speed: 140 (1 point in AGI equates to 10 Movement Speed)

 

 

 

Resistances: 

 

 

 

-Wind: 50%>

 

 

 

…let’s start with the changes Gab expected:

 

 

 

-Levels: She’s currently halfway towards Level 4 thanks to the announcement rewards for getting Aurula’s first kiss, so that wasn’t too unexpected.

 

-Funds: From the two announcements, she got a total of 2500 gold, although she chalked the additional 1 gold as being her initial funds that have been calculated and transferred to her account by the system.

 

 

 

-Titles: Two of which she got from the aforementioned kiss, and one from causing an announcement during Character Creation.

 

 

 

-Acclaim: Similarly to the monetary rewards, she got a similar amount of acclaim from the announcement rewards, although for reason she had an additional one hundred points added to it.

 

 

 

-Remaining APs: With the “Level Ups” and the AP rewards she got, she now had a stockpile of AP equivalent to 15 Freestyler Levels, which Gab has yet to distribute.

 

 

 

-Fixed Attributes: For the most part, the additional +6 to these particular Attributes are accounted for.

 

 

 

 ……now let’s move on to the changes Gab didn’t expect:

 

 

 

-Free Attributes: Despite the Attribute rewards only applying to her Fixed Attributes, all her Free Attributes had increased by at least two points, with her AGI being increased by a whopping seven points!

 

 

 

-Fixed Attributes: As mentioned before, she already knew that these Attributes would receive a sizeable increase. 

 

But not only were they increased by an additional two points, but she somehow also acquired an additional Fixed Attribute, Eros. 

 

Whilst she may have an idea of what this Attribute represents, she doesn’t know how she got, and why she wasn’t notified of it.

 

 

 

-Stats: Thanks to the texts that explained how her Stats were influenced by her Free Attributes, she immediately noticed that every single Stat was increased by an additional ten points.

 

 

 

-Resistances: Before this section was completely blank, not showing what type of Resistances she could gain.

 

But not only did she gain a new Resistance, but she also gained one that started at a stupid 50%.

 

What does this mean? It means that any attack that includes the Wind Attribute will deal Gab half of the damage she should’ve received!

 

 

 

As she was pondering the cause of these unexpected changes to her “Status”, she came to a sudden epiphany;

 

 

 

“The Titles…”, Gab breathed, whilst berating herself on overlooking such an obvious potential factor.

 

 

 

That’s right. As said before, Gab acquired three Titles that were the result of earning the right to take Aurula’s first kiss during Character Creation. However, due to events occurring in quick succession of each other, she had yet to check what each Title does, and what she gained as a result of acquiring them.

 

 

 

So, in short order, she quickly closed her “Status” before opening the category called “Titles”.

 

 

 

…

 

 

 

“…ah, that explains it all.”, Gab thought blankly, as she fully took in what each of these Titles represented:

 

 

 

Title: [Air Kissed]

 

Acquisition Requirements: 

 

-Receive “Aurula: The Facilitator of Air”’s sacred First Kiss, which was given to you at her own volition 

 

*Note: Obtaining the aforementioned First Kiss via forceful means without the consent of the Facilitator in question would result in you acquiring [Smotherer of Air] instead, and announcements pertaining to such an act would be far more severe and debilitating.

 

Acquisition Rewards:

 

-+5 AGI and +50% Wind Resistance 

 

-Generation of the Eros Fixed Attribute 

 

Title Effects:

 

-When moving at speed, air resistance will be reduced by 50%

 

-Whilst falling in midair, you can control both the rate and direction of your descent.

 

-When you are in an area or space that has a sizeable amount of wind magical elements, your Movement Speed will increase by 50% and MP will regenerate by 5% every 5 seconds.

 

 

 

*Fixed Attribute: Eros

 

Attribute Effect: When engaging with an NPC who falls with the user’s sexual preferences, the is an increased chance of intriguing said NPCs enough to develop a certain amount of romantic interest in the user depending on the number of points that are applied to this Attribute.

 

Attribute Increase Methods: 

 

-Allow NPCs who have developed a sizeable amount of romantic interest in you to kiss you to gain +1 to this Attribute.

 

-Engage in consensual sexual intercourse with NPCs who possess great amounts of romantic interest in you to gain +3 to this Attribute.

 

-Enter into a mutually agreed upon vow of matrimony with an NPC with incalculable amounts of romantic love for you to gain +9 to this Attribute.

 

*Note: Each Attribute Increase Method can only be done once with an NPC.

 

 

 

Title: [First Achiever]

 

Acquisition Requirements:

 

-Be the first Player to acquire a Title as a result of an achievement worthy of a rewarding announcement, as opposed to one given as a punishment 

 

Acquisition Rewards:

 

-100 Acclaim

 

Title Effects:

 

-Whenever a new Title is acquired, +1 to all Free and Fixed. Attributes

 

 

 

Title: [World Shaker from the In-Between]

 

Acquisition Requirements:

 

-Perform an act worthy of an announcement whilst in the Sea of Character Creation 

 

Acquisition Rewards:

 

-+1 to all Fixed Attributes 

 

Title Effects:

 

-When you perform an act worthy of an announcement, the following effects will apply based on the announcement types:

 

       Country-wide: +1 to all Free Attributes

 

       Region-wide: +1 to all Fixed Attributes

 

       International-wide: +10 to all Stats

 

 

 

…

 

 

 

Well, the last two Titles explained the increases she received in her Acclaim, Free/Fixed Attributes and Stats.

 

 

 

After gaining [First Achiever], she gained [World Shaker from the In-Between], which gave all her Attributes a one-point increase, as well as an additional point to the Fixed Attributes as a reward for acquiring the latter Title.

 

 

 

And since she generated all three types of announcements after acquiring [World Shaker from the In-Between], all of its effects kicked in giving her another boost to her Attributes, as well as her Stats.

 

 

 

But the Title that stunned her the most was her very first Title, the one that got the ball rolling at breakneck speed for her: [Wind Kissed].

 

 

 

The fact that she got a five-point boost to her AGI Attribute, 50% Wind Resistance and a new Fixed Attribute that serves to make it potentially easier for her to romance female NPCs as an acquisition reward was already amazing in its own right, but it’s three Passive effects truly stunned her, as well as further explaining the prior situation that leads her to check her “Status” in the first place.

 

 

 

Being able to essentially control her descent in regards to direction and overall terminal velocity sounded enticing to her, as was the boosts she can gain in areas rich in Wind elements (though she’s not experienced enough to know where to find such place).

 

 

 

The remaining Passive effect of this Title, however, was simply too frightening, especially with her improved AGI and further enhanced Movement Speed Stat.

 

 

 

“If I have a 50% reduction in air resistance, does that mean I essentially get a 50% increase in my Movement Speed?”.

 

 

 

As she asked herself this question, Gab realised that if that were the case, wouldn’t that mean that her real Movement Speed is two hundred and ten points?

 

 

 

210!

 

 

 

To normally get a Movement Speed that high, a Player would need twenty-one points in AGI to reach that number.

 

 

 

In other words, she was a little over two and a half times FASTER than Đất Vàng!!

 

 

 

No wonder she had to put all her effort into catching up with Gab!

 

 

 

“Ahahaha!”, Gab laughed, whilst trying to hide her nervousness from her Vietnamese friend, “It looks like I accidentally distracted most of my Free points towards AGI. Fuck, I’m a complete duffer! Anyway let’s keep going!!”, Gab said hurriedly before she resumed her walk towards the exit, making sure to pace herself even more than before.

 

 

 

“Oookkaayyy.”, Đất Vàng reluctantly agreed with Gab’s suggestion whilst harbouring a large amount of scepticism towards the Freestyler’s hand-wave explanation.

 

 

 

After all, how could someone accidentally place most of their points towards one Attribute and not realise it until that very moment?!

 

 

 

Buuuttt, since they’re all just starting, it’s natural to expect that other Players will keep their secrets close to their chests, especially when they don’t truly know what another Player’s intentions are, so Đất Vàng decided to let it go for now.

 

 

 

Even though she knew full well that the Freestyler in question was checking her out earlier…

 

 

 

As they both head off again, neither of them realised that someone has been observing them for a fair while now.

 

 

 

That person being the blond man in the casual suit.

 

 

 

 

The one person Gab sensed an unusual amount of familiarity with…