ParticleOfSand

I really have no motivation to write anymore. It's like every week I find something I would rather be doing instead. Going to put this on hiatus until I feel like continuing.

Shin was very hyper when he walked into class today. The reason was not because of the class, but something else. It's kind of hard to look forward to this class when Deverick gives some lectures and then teleports them. Although the side effects of this teleportation have decreased with training, the experience was something he never wanted to remember.

As of this week, Deverick has started giving them combat training. And boy, was it rough. It's like every day they walk away from the class, they will be in pain. Shin has gotten used to his body being sore all the time. It's really a love-hate relationship he has with this class. On one hand, he enjoys the feeling of getting stronger at a rapid rate. On the other hand, he dislikes all the crazy training that leaves him in pain in places he didn't even know was possible.

Like how do your toe muscles get tired anyways? Or how many different areas can your back hurt? Shin didn't know, but the majority of the class had trouble walking for the following week. And those that do not have this problem are those that had some kind of healing treatment. At the time, Shin was in so much pain that he succumbed to this temptation.

That aside, he noticed there was some tension between Selena and Sylvia today. Something must have happened, but he wasn't in the mood to find out. And if he has to guess, it's probably some silly thing between girls that he will never understand. His mind was too occupied by a certain announcement that was posted on Nemesis a few days ago.

And apparently, he was not the only one. All the boys in the class were talking about it. Some of the girls joined in on the conversation, but they were overall less interested. It's not really a surprise considering the topic of the post. In fact, Shin would be surprised if the results were any different. It's always been the same in his previous life.

A few minutes later, Deverick decided to start the class.

"Okay class, I have a few announcements to make before we start. For one, trials. The school elimination trials have been determined for the year. For one, there will be fewer trails this year, but their difficulty will increase. To be specific, there will be two of them. One will be held at the end of the fourth month and the other at the end of the 8th. Both of them will be wilderness survival exercises."

The class stared at Deverick with confusion. One person raised their hand.

"Ummm, why are you telling us right now professor? It's only the middle of the 2nd month."

"Well, I don't want to bother with remembering to tell you two weeks from now when you wonder why you don't have a trial. That being said, spread the word because you will need to prepare all you can for these. These are designed to have a high elimination rate."

When the students heard this, they groaned. It really seems like the school will constantly pressure them, though this was nothing for those who took Deverick's classes last year.

"Now that announcement is done, let me tell you about the fun news. From the talks I heard before class, most of you are very excited about this. That's right. I am talking about Arcane Battle."

At the mention of this, Shin and many others sat up straight. 

"Since I am sure most of you are thinking of getting it after class, I will make an exception today. There will be no training."

Happiness overwhelmed the class. It's a good day when they don't have to experience training.

"In fact, the class will be canceled for today. But in return, I want you all to play around with Arcane Battle. I am one of those that were invited to test the project before launch, and I have to say, I approve of it. It will be a big help for your future learning in this course. "

A few minutes later, Shin sat down with the group.

"So what is Arcane Battle anyways?" Sylvia asked.

Shin looked at her weirdly.

"What?"

"No, just how can you not know about it?"

"Well, I have been occupied the last few days. Care to fill me in?"

"I think it would be better for you to open Nemesis. You can't miss it."

The girls all gathered around Sylvia.

Fast-paced music started playing as words in flaming text started appearing on the screen.

"Do you think you are strong?"

"Do you think you can best others?"

"To compare where you stand?"

"Introducing Arcane Battle."

"Real-time combat."

"Intense ranking system."

"FOR HONOR!"

"Releasing Oct 15."

Then the video ended.

"That's it?"

"That's the promotion clip."

"For what?"

"A game called Arcane Battle."

"What's special about it? I doubt everyone would be so hyped over it otherwise."

"Well, it's a fighting game that claims to fully simulate reality."

"Okay?"

"I will let you figure out all the details when you buy it. Just trust me. It's worth the high price. Otherwise, I am going to buy my copy."

Shin then left the group to find a store that sells the console of the game.

When he got to a location, he saw a long line. 

"It really seems like the concept of a vr game from those novels. Even this line seems like something out of a novel." Shin thought to himself.

When Shin got back to his room, he opened the box and took out a bracelet. According to the instructions, the player wears the bracelet and lets it scan the body. After a few minutes of scanning, he can join the game.

The logic behind it is that this braclet is a tool that sends information to a core node that is placed somewhere around the city. This core node will then interact with the main server and then send the information back to the user. 

The braclet basically acts as a receiver and transmitter. The only thing about the device is that upon activating it, the user falls into a sleep-like state and everything happens in a dream. Very advanced stuff that Shin won't think about. The core of everything is that one should only play in a place that is safe.

Shin activated the device on his bed and blacked out. When he came to focus, he was staring at an avatar of himself and a floating orb.

"Welcome to Arcane Battle. Please pick a username and customize your avatar." A robotic voice came from the orb.

"It really is like a vr game."

"ElementChaser. I will skip the customization."

"Understood. Since you made no changes, your face will be blurred for privacy."

"How convenient."

The avatar faded away and he found himself in a white room with two pedestals. He walked over to the pedestals and noticed a button on each. 

Random Match and Ranked.

A very simple setup but the purpose of the game was on battle and not anything else. A very simplistic approach. 

"How is ranked determined?" Shin had a basic idea but every game is a little different so he asked just in case.

"After every battle, you will be given a battle rating. Based on this rating, your battle score will either increase or decrease. In this mode, you will be matched with others that have a similar battle score. There is a cap on how much battle score you can increase by in each match, but a winning streak can increase that limit." The system answered.

"I see. So ranked allows one to be matched with someone of similar power, but will take some time to set up, while random can let you match with anyone."

The system didn't answer.

"Since I will be playing this a lot, I think ranked would be better."

He walked over and pressed the corresponding button.

A second later, he was matched with an opponent.

"ElementChaser vs Colorful372"

"Match begins in 10 seconds."

Shin looked at his opponent. His opponent was wearing a white shirt and blue pants. His face was also blurred so Shin could only tell they have blonde hair. 

"Match start."

Shin started casting many weak spells in quick succession to probe his opponent. His opponent quickly reacted and cast a barrier to block everything. 

His flurry of attacks lasted for a few seconds, but the barrier held strong. Shin guessed that his opponent was decent, but since this was the first day, he can't really tell how good his opponent is based on the battle score.

Thunderbolt. Shin was surprised to find that the skills granted by the system are useable in this space despite not forming a circle. He wonders what principle this game runs on to allow such a skill.

Shin felt his mana drain as a yellow spear of lighting formed in front of him. Crackles of electricity sounded as more of his mana was used.

His opponent became flustered at this scene and quickly strengthened his barrier. 

When the spell was finished charging, Shin gave a mental command to attack. In a flash, the lightning spear pierced the barrier and formed a giant hole in the opponent's chest.

His opponent stared at this scene with astonishment as he fell down.

"Winner: ElementChaser." The system announced.

Then a screen that recorded the statistics of this battle popped up in front of Shin. He ignored most of the numbers and went to the bottom.

"Battle rating exceeded your battle score. Your battle score has increased by 300. The limit for a single match has been reached."

After reading the report, he clicked on the green "confirm" button on the bottom right. The report closed and he was now back to the main lobby. As he was pondering on the experience, his body started glowing and he felt his mana start to recover at a fast pace.

"That's very convenient," he exclaimed.

Then he jumped into another match. After a few minutes of repeating the same strategy, he appeared back in the lobby. He pulled up his profile to see a 3-win streak and a battle score of 900. 

"How do I compare to everyone else?" At this point, Shin wondered.

He pulled up the leaderboards and noticed that the top players have a ranking in the hundreds of thousands.

"I wonder how long it took them to accumulate such a large amount. And I should probably stop blasting my opponents with my strongest spell. It really doesn't do much for training when I am one-shotting my opponents. The point of this game is to learn, not beat up any random noobs. Let's try a random match next. I hope I could find a decent opponent next because ranking is going to take a while."

When he appeared in a battle room, Shin couldn't help but notice one thing. The background of the room is different. So far, the rooms have just been a white space with a grid pattern, but this room has jungle scenery. It's very unexpected.

The next thing he noticed was his opponent. Unlike the blurred faces that he has seen before, his opponent was wearing a black mask. And his outfit as well. He wasn't wearing normal everyday clothes. Instead, there is a black coat draped over a brown undershirt. the figure also had black gloves and a hood over his head. 

It was very strange to Shin. To Shin, the figure seems like something out of an anime than any normal person.

"A newbie?" His opponent asked Shin.

"ElementChaser (900) vs Enigma (267893)"

Shin almost had a heart attack seeing this number. So this was a top player.

"Yes. I joined half an hour ago."

"That makes sense."

"If I may ask, what is with the background and outfit?"

"When you get a high enough battle score, you get some privileges. Think of it as an incentive to grind ranked and populate the matchup pool."

Shin nodded. It seems like there is more to the game than what he can see.

"Match Start."

A black sword appeared in the figure's hand before the figure disappeared.

"What the?" Shin couldn't help but yell out.

That was the last thing he said before he felt a sharp pain in his neck and his view started to tilt. As his face approached the ground, he heard the system declare the winner. Then he blacked out.