Jisha dashed out of the cemetery and headed to the nearest village. Thanks to the Nightwalker's Breeze passive, sprinting through the forest was even more exhilarating than normal. The only thing to do now was run, so she took advantage of this downtime to go through her unread messages.

*>Hearth Ember: We've died...*

*>Hearth Ember: Where are you?*

*>Hearth Ember: You still have the shards, right?*

*Whoops, these are from a while ago.*

Hearth Ember was rightfully worried that Jisha had just run off with the shards.

*In my defense, though, I was a bit busy...*

Fortunately, Jisha had been recording the battle, so she sent Hearth Ember the footage.

*>Hearth Ember: What... What's this?*

*>Fae Sol: Meet me at Covan Village.*

*>Hearth Ember: ...*

Without further explanation, she switched over to reading Syny's messages.

*Wonder what she's up to right now.*

*>Synycal: Don't forget my gift!*

*>Synycal: Don't forget my gift!*

*>Synycal: Don't forget my gift!*

*>Synycal: Don't forget my gift!*

...

"..."

*>Fae Sol: Are... are you doing okay?*

*>Synycal: No.*

*>Fae Sol: Uh, what's going on?*

*>Synycal: If only I had a special item from a special person, I would feel a lot better... (┬┬﹏┬┬)*

*>Fae Sol: ...*

Jisha closed her messages, and the nearby Covan Village finally revealed itself.

*>System message: Welcome to Covan Village.*

Villages were a step up from Hamlets, and they offered supplementary amenities. Unfortunately, this particular Village was on the extremely small end. It was only a couple hundred metron across, so there wasn't too much else here. Despite this, it was fairly packed.

*Why're there so many people here?*

This place was even more crowded than the two Starter places she'd visited! It didn't take long to figure out why.

"Still another hour and a half? What are we doing here so early?"

"We need to grab good seats before the others."

"Hold them off! Don't let those bastards near the doors!"

The answer to all of her queries was the largest building in the area - an auction house.

Its function was self-explanatory; every so often, they would hold an auction. These auctions were battles in their own right, and the weapon of choice here was money!

*Hm...* 

 

*>Coin Pouch:*

*>Bronzium: 3*

*>Copper: 668* 

 

She definitely had more cash than the average player, but was it enough to snag anything useful?

Meanwhile, many players were still quarreling around the grand wooden building.

"This is for Shock Collar! Anyone that steps past here has to deal with all of us!"

"Huh? Who said you owned this place?"

"Precisely. We, the Ravaging Crows, own this place!"

"Wha- Like hell you do!"

*Uh oh.*

Arguments like this often resulted in physical altercations, and this exact scene had played out countless times in her previous life.

*Normally, I'd say they deserve it, but... Haah, nothing I can do here.*

*-5*

Someone had snapped; the first attack flew out!

"Wait, what?"

This player clearly hadn't expected their attack to do anything. After all, they were in a settlement, and in most other RPGs, these were designated no-PvP zones. His world was clearly flipped upside down when damage values popped up over his target.

This was the spark that lit the fuse.

*-10*

*-13*

*-9*

...

For a couple of brief moments, a lively brawl broke out. However, before anyone could die...

"Ah, what???"

"What? What?! They started it, not us!"

Several black-armored NPCs roughly 2.5 metron tall rushed in and dragged away the players that threw the first attacks. 

 

*>Name: Settlement Sentinel*

*>Level: ???* 

 

These Sentinels were all over Synergy, and though their strength varied immensely, they were always quite a bit higher-leveled than the "recommended" level of the area.

In areas they guarded, if they spotted any physical violence, they would come over to break it up immediately. The level of punishment varied as well, and for a low-leveled area like this one, the punishment would probably only be a small cash fee.

However, it wasn't the punishment that made this scene unsightly.

Jisha grimly stared at the riled-up newbies that were helplessly being dragged away.

*More newbie hazing, huh...*

This was also a relatively common trick, and no matter how far the game progressed, there would always be *some* players that gave into their rage. However, it was clear that these particular players had no idea what was happening.

She took a mental note of which players were the *true* aggressors. It was clear that mostly everyone was here for the auction, and though she'd planned on taking a look at it regardless, she was now going to take a more... *proactive* approach.

She didn't have enough capital to do anything significant right now, but there was a stockpile of items a certain somewhere waiting to be sold. But first...

*Gotta get rid of some of this stuff.*

Her inventory was still practically full, so it was impossible to transport the large stash of items in a timely manner. Fortunately, one of the additional amenities a Village offered was rentable storage space.

Jisha walked into a nondescript building nearby. Unlike the auction house, this place wasn't swarming with players, so she received service right away.

"Welcome to Covan's warehouse, what can we do for you today?" asked the NPC clerk. 

 

*>Name: Sidio*

*>Level: ???* 

 

*Oh, nice.*

Question marks indicated this NPC's level was too high to be appraised with her current methods, so it was sign that this place was secure.

"How much is 10 slots?"

"Our 10-slot cubby runs at 10 Copper per hour or 400 Copper per day."

"Anything you can do to help me out a little?"

This was a very reasonable price, but it didn't hurt to ask for something better.

"Of course. Since you are one of our first Beyonder customers, I'll triple your time. If you'd like, you can rent 3 hours for 10 Copper."

"Wha-?"

*Though I was looking to get a discount, isn't this a bit nonsensical?*

Like the saying went, if it was too good to be true, it probably was. Sidio must have understood her concerns, so he immediately followed up.

"We're all glad to have you here for our auction, after all. Our village's about to make a killing," he said as he winked.

"Ah, that makes sense."

This was a tiny Village, so a large chunk of its profits likely stemmed from the auction house's service fees. And since this would be the first auction with players, or "Beyonders" in NPC terminology, this Village was indeed about to "make a killing". 

 

*>-10 Copper* 

 

The two finalized the transaction, and Jisha dumped her inventory into storage, keeping only the absolute necessities.

It was now time to begin the transportation process.

*Guess I'll have to do this by myself.*

It was quite common to pay other players to help transport items, but this would only deplete her account further. Right now, cash was paramount.

After completing her "front-runner checks", Jisha took one last look at the Village before dashing back into the wild.

 

---

 

*>+10 Copper*

*>+12 Copper*

*>+12 Copper*

...

 

A party of 5 swiftly made their way through the forest surrounding a nearby village. They were not only individually skilled but also cohesive as a group. Their teamwork wasn't as seamless as The Coalition's, but it couldn't be looked down upon. The beginner-level mobs didn't pose a threat in the slightest.

*>Quaterniana: Commander.*

*>Stein: What is it?*

Their surroundings were quite monotonous, so the sudden DM from his subordinate indicated something unusual occurred elsewhere.

*>Quaterniana: News was sent to me by First Son. This needs to be seen by you.*

*>Stein: Is this from the Fixed Field?*

*>Quaterniana: Yes. The player's level should be noticed by you. It's from about 30 minutes ago.*

She sent him an image of The Coalition standing outside the cemetery's gates with a lone girl opposing them.

*>Stein: Six?*

This was quite high. 

 

*>Party: 5 members*

*>Name: Stein*

*>Level: 7*

...

*>Name: Arcadia Black*

*>Level: 6*

...

*>Name: Cargo Biscuit*

*>Level: 6*

... 

 

This party's members had all reached level 6 at the very least, and they hadn't wasted a moment since logging in. They'd been focused on grinding XP since minute 1. There was a decent chance that they were among the highest-leveled players in the game right now, so the fact that a level 6 player existed 30 minutes ago surprised him.

"Probably... just luck?"

Stein was a beta player, so he knew the leaderboard would be bloated with lucky individuals in the early game. Only once things started moving along would the truly skilled begin to rise. Luck could boost you to the top, but only skill could allow you to remain there.

*>Quaterniana: This was also sent by him. Compared to the earlier image, it's described as "incomprehensible" by him. However, it has yet to be seen by me.*

*>Stein: A recording of the fight?*

Stein half-heartedly began watching the battle footage. Though First Son wasn't one to be doubted, Stein had a hard time believing it himself. So, he began to watch it half-heartedly. He could watch and fight at the same time, anyway - every party member could grind level 5 and 6 common mobs without much effort. But as the footage progressed, he gradually lost focus of his surroundings. The events from the Uval Cemetery sucked him in.

*>Stein: What... It's... a wipeout?*

*>Quaterniana: ... How many?*

*>Stein: All of them, I think... That's... I think that's what's happening here...*

His eyes were glued to the screen as he diligently watched the movie until the final second. The end of the fight did not include First Son, so it was apparent that another Coalition member captured it.

Stein replayed the finale again and again, but even after watching it multiple times, he still couldn't fully understand what happened.

It truly was "incomprehensible".

"And this..."

*>Quaterniana: What's in it?*

*>Stein: Skip to the end. Did you know pellets could be used like that?*

*>Quaterniana: I...*

In the beta, the only way players fired their ranged weapons, whether it was arrows, pellets, or even spells, was a direct shot from point A to point B - a straight line. However, the dance of the pellets on-screen depicted another tale.

They'd heard of others getting stuck by an unlucky ricochet, but nobody considered that it could be done on purpose. Simply put, it was a LOT harder than it looked. It was undoubtedly a skill that took years of practice to master.

This fact begged a lot of questions. What was this player's identity? Why did they have years of practice with this seemingly useless skill? Where did they get the chance to practice it?

A nonsensical thought popped into his head.

What if it wasn't even a human being? What if it was an AI? If this were true, it was a convenient solution for all three questions.

The Reconstruction Treaty put a tight lid on most machine learning, especially those with general intelligence. But they weren't *completely* extinct. Was there a country that'd hidden their ML weaponry from the world?

Stein shook his head. This was nearly impossible. Nobody even knew if third-party AI could play Synergy in the first place. How could someone have trained a program to excel in it?

Though they couldn't pick up those inhuman mechanics any time soon, there *was* something simpler they could learn from this footage.

*>Quaterniana: *That* usage wasn't known to me, either... Though it seems so obvious.*

In the case of most people, a figurative box encapsulated their minds when they read class names and descriptions. This was why the phrase "outside the box" was used for unconventional methods. In the case of the "Ranged" class branch, it was no different. Perhaps the effect was even stronger *because* of this restrictive-sounding name.

The end of the battle depicted Fae Sol's martial arts skills. Though the remaining three weren't highly adept, they weren't incapable, either. Their loss wasn't something to be overlooked.

"What level of combat is this? 5th degree? 6th?"

The black belt degree system was a standardized level of skill in the martial arts world, and it even inspired the ranked system of the world's most popular VR game: Virtual Martial Arts. Winning a 1v3 brawl against Coalition members placed them at this tier at the very least.

However, this wasn't quite what Quaterniana was referring to. Rather, it was the method in which Fae Sol dealt damage.

In the instant before landing the strike, she materialized a pellet in or near her hand. By default, her damage should have been halved. Even martial arts moves were considered weapons, and these moves weren't compatible with the "Ranged" class.

However, firing a "basic attack" at pointblank mitigated the half-damage penalty.

Reviewing this footage forced Stein to reconsider what he knew about the game thus far. As a beta player, he knew that martial arts moves from the real world were valid in the world of Synergy. However, to what extent were they viable? Not many system-aided skills existed right now, but they would become prevalent within a couple of days. These system-aided skills often times pushed a player's body beyond the limits of what was physically possible in the real world. Hence, they were basically impossible to control manually, rendering martial arts useless.

But... what if they could be controlled?

He had to try. If the person in this clip could push the boundaries of possibility, why couldn't he do the same?

But first...

*>Stein: Is there any further news of this Fae Sol's whereabouts?*

Tracking someone like her would undoubtedly yield fruitful results. However, he didn't have high hopes.

*>Quaterniana: No, this player has been lost.*

A skilled player wouldn't be easy to track, so Stein wasn't disappointed. However, he didn't have to look alone.

*>Stein: War dogs, search for this player.*

He sent Fae Sol's information to his underlings stationed in different starter hamlets which were now headed to nearby villages. Players heading towards the Eclian, Inkling, and Covan villages simultaneously received word.

...

"Ha, she'll definitely join our group when she sees us in action!"

"What? Why would she? Are you stupid?"

"Wha- No, are you?"

...

"This strength..."

"What's up, Brooks?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a word from my boss. Us 'war dogs' gotta sniff out a trail."

...

"I'm not even a member of your stupid guild. Why do I have to join you?"

"You're young, right? She can be your girlfriend! Plus, Commander is offering us some real-world cash for a successful capture."

"Wha- I... I could use some cash, I guess..."

...

The word was out. The hunt was on!