"I can't take this anymore! Gahee! You got to avenge me!"
The door slammed and a girl jumped, dropping her book at the elder boy's sudden invasion of her room. She stared incredulously as the boy started typing on her computer furiously,
"What?"
The boy nodded solemnly, seemingly ignoring her shock. "I know. It's a tall order, but you're the only one I can trust with this, sis. We need to beat Weed from Continent of Magic."
The girl rolled over her stomach to glance over his shoulder, deadpanning as she saw a website of expensive capsules instead, "With Royal Road."
The boy sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head at his little sister's obliviousness.
"Geez. Keep up with the times, sis. Just watch. The greedy bastard already sold his CoM account so I bet all my money that he'll join the Royal Road hype." His eyes then glinted darkly with evil laughter, "But by then we'll already be of higher levels and earning more money — enough money to rub in his jealous face as we slaughter him! Mwahahaha!"
He shouted as he bought two capsules with a dramatic mouse click. The girl only hummed indifferently, pointing out to the guy who fervently hoped she wouldn't notice.
"That was my cash account just now, wasn't it."
It wasn't even a question. He groveled frantically for forgiveness before running back out desperately at the face of no mercy.
"KIM MALCHIN!"
"I promise to pay you back later! Really! Just let me play — please — I have no more money left, but please please please I just want to play—"
…
…
Whimsical
…
…
Although everyone only ever saw her lazing around reading books in school or at home on the couch, to those who really knew her, she was a whimsical try-hard with a motto to do everything to the extreme. In a way, that made her normal. After all, she could be extremely lazy or extremely hard-working depending on her mood.
But Kim Malchin could attest to anyone that his sister was not normal with her raked up list of accomplishments and skills. After all, there was a reason why the Kim household could still remain standing even with their parents almost never around. And the reason definitely wasn't him, who practically worshipped comics and games despite being a senior in high school.
"Hehehe, damn Weed, this time I'll be the one killing you and hogging all the good items and fame!"
...
Kim Gahee shook her head as she watched ten million won be installed in her room in the form of a capsule. Although games were all the rage in her middle school (Royal Road even more so after six months of advertising and trials), she still preferred books over them. But the money did come out of her bank account so she decided to give it a try.
(Not to mention, the added motivation of being able to read more in VR due to the 1:4 time transition...)
Thus, after thanking the workers, she set aside her book and entered the capsule.
- Connect to Royal Road? -
Yes|No
There was no reason to even hesitate.
"Yes."
...
...
Gahee hummed as she observed her cosmic surroundings with a slight smile. Virtual reality was more real than she thought, and the galaxy background that wasn't mentioned in the beginner's manual was a welcomed surprise. A female's voice resounded in her ears upon full connection.
— The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account? —
Yes|No
"Yes."
— Select the name of your avatar. —
"Whimsical." Whimsical since her avatar was made on her brother's whim (though he would definitely say that this revenge or whatever was serious enough to risk life if he had heard).
— Select your gender from male, female, or neutral. —
"Female."
—Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine…—
"Human."
— You may alter your appearance… —
A blush dusted her cheeks as she twirled her long brown hair,
"L-light blue hair and eyes." To her delight, a mirror appeared and she could watch her brown eyes change to the same color as her hair was now. Although she did like her real appearance, it had always been her dream to have a magical blue theme to herself. Happier she listened as the voice told her about her activated account with a hum. Finally, it asked,
— Select a city and kingdom you want to start in. —
"The Citadel of Velvet, Aidern Kingdom."
— Welcome to Royal Road. Would you like to hear the tutorial? —
"Pass."
Having already read the manual and studied the websites her brother told her to visit (knowing that she knew only the bare minimum about games), Kim Gahee skipped the tutorial stage. It was also through thorough research that Gahee figured out that her brother half-used Weed as an excuse to barge into her room, use her cash account which was already on her laptop, and buy the Royal Road game capsules he heard so much about but couldn't play due to wasting all his yearly allowance on comics and other games earlier. She sighed as she wondered how badly her brother's grade was going to drop to catch up to his 'enemy' since Weed's account was sold nearly a year ago.
Shaking her head, she embraced the engulfing light.
…
In Royal Road, there are over a hundred major cities and thousands of towns. A new player always begins their adventure in a capital or major city of comparable size.
As it would turn out, Whimsical and her brother would appear in different capitals. The near-adult was serious about getting more money than Weed, after all. Seeing how Weed made 3,090,000,000 won off his CoM account though, they had a long way to go with the accounts they made on the auction website. Thus, it was decided that they start in separate relatively unexplored areas.
Aidern Kingdom was one such place.
With a flash of light, Whimsical found herself amidst haggling and chattering characters — all sorts of avatars and NPCs busily coming and going through the marketplace.
Ignoring the newbie comments, she looked around and stretched her body. Directions for using the basic interface and a map of the kingdom appeared in the corner of her eyes, but she swiped them away in favor of finding the Training Hall her brother told her about.
Since newcomers were confined to their city of origin for a week in reality and her school had a month-long summer vacation, she was pretty much Stat-raising for a month straight.
Licking her lips, her newly blue eyes lit with determination.
She always did things to the extreme, but seeing how she was new while gaming was her useless brother's domain… If she was really going to do this, then she was really going to have to up her usual to catch up and surpass him first. She didn't want to be a 'lower level' than him.
"Ever."
...
Her brother had told her that it would be rare to find someone in the Training Hall with the scarecrows. To her surprise, he was actually right despite her having seen some other newbies appear with a flash of light in Central Square. Perhaps, it was better that way. She didn't like crowds.
"Young adventurer, I presume you have arrived at the Versailles continent very recently." The brawn instructor said, though his eyes were a bit disappointed.
"Yes, sir." She deadpanned, wondering if she was going to have special treatment from an NPC of all things due to the usual sexism.
"You shall find sword training absolutely necessary when you come to confront monsters. For now, take any unattended scarecrow and strike him in any way you want. A wooden sword is placed in front of a scarecrow, and it is all yours. Do you need my guidance?"
"Yeah. Thanks, kind sir."
He nodded warmly, "It is my job to help, madam."
Guiding her to a scarecrow, he showed her some basic moves. She hummed attentively before thanking the man again and beginning to beat it herself. Her hands gradually got accustomed to the weight of the wooden sword and sense of hitting the scarecrow as she worked purely on practice without a minute's break.
*Ting*
— Strength has risen by 1 point (+1 STR) —
A shocked laugh escaped her at the sudden noise, cutting through her concentration. Excitement filled her though when she saw a definite sign that she was getting stronger, and she couldn't stop laughing after she saw the time.
"Six hours! Six hours and I finally got only one point stronger! Oh my gosh, that's — I wonder how that Malchin's doing — that's way too funny!" Hurriedly, she shouted, "Open Stats Window!"
Avatar: Whimsical
Alignment: Neutral
Profession: None
Title: None
Level: 1
Fame: 0
Health: 100
Mana: 100
Strength: 11
Agility: 10
Vitality: 10
Wisdom: 10
Intelligence: 10
Charisma: 5
Offence: 3
Defense: 0
Luck: 5
Magic Resistance: None
Laughing at the weakness of her avatar, she grinned more excited than ever about Royal Road, "I could get used to this." She decided in amusement as she voraciously bit into barley bread and took a swig of water from her canteen. The bread was stale and stone-hard, and the water tasted like it came out of a garden hose, but she raised her sword and attacked with more power than ever and a newfound grin,
"So this is a game, huh?"
— Five hours later —
*Ting*
Vitality has risen by 1 point (+1 VIT)
Agility has risen by 1 point (+ AGI)
Two stats rose at the same time and Whimsical was tempted to continue, but felt a dangerously burning thirst in her throat. Sighing, she ate another piece of barley bread, sipped enough water, and rested for three minutes in content.
And then, she continued.
…
"Malchin! You're finally playing! And you're actually doing the Training Hall challenge? What are you, crazy?"
The amateur newbie laughed, playfully pushing away his real-life friends that came to visit him. He continued beating the scarecrow shortly afterwards though, grinning,
"Of course. I'm going to raise my stats, become the best player with my sister, and beat that greedy bastard!" He added offhandedly, "And my name's Worth now."
The group gaped, "Your crazy little sister's playing?"
"Hey!" Worth defended with a growl, "She's not crazy! She's just bored because she's not as stupid as all of you!"
"Whoa, whoa, easy, Worth," The Knight calmed, sheepishly apologizing, "We didn't mean it. It's just… wow. That same girl who became a black belt, won a national art competition, read all the books in the library, and god knows what else because she refuses to be half-assed about anything she does is here?"
At that, even the brother had to sweat-drop. He slashed the scarecrow with more energy though, speaking resolutely, "She is, but so what? This is our realm. There's no way we don't have more determination and ability to win now."
"...Ou!" They shouted in agreement with laughter. The Knight then spoke, "You too. There's no way we're letting you catch up. We're going to be the ones to beat Weed — whenever he decides to show up."
"May the best player win then."
…
Forty hours passed and finally, she ran out of barley bread and water. Unable to continue without risking a ridiculous death by starvation, she walked out of the Training Hall after a short parting conversation with the instructor. The whole world lit before her eyes and she gazed in awe at the beautiful rich capital taken out of medieval times.
Despite it being early morning, the marketplace was still filled with people shouting and haggling over each other under the clear sky. The sun was rising, dazzling everything with its radiant golden light. The bookworm really wondered if this was just a game until her ears caught,
"Selling Red Bean Bread made with beginner cooking skill 7!"
Whimsical beamed before remembering that she had no money. She couldn't buy more food. She couldn't even go to the Cooking Guild to get the cooking skill with how she had no money to enter.
"How bothersome… I already know how to cook too…"
"Really, young lady~?!" Blue eyes blinked and she glanced behind her to see a merry, portly man in a chef's costume. "No… Not a costume… He is a chef?" The man grinned, grabbing her hands enthusiastically, "That's great! You seemed hungry so I was going to offer you a dishwashing job, but want to be my apprentice as well?"
*Ting*
— You have received a job offer! —
If you accept it, you will take an honored position of dishwasher in the restaurant Velvet Underground. You are entitled to receive apprenticeship training in cooking and a weekly income of seven silvers. Will you accept this job offer?
"Yes! I'll gladly become your apprentice, master!"
*Ting*
— You have accepted the job! —
"Dahahaha, you don't have to be so polite, young lady~" The man laughed with flattered red cheeks before taking her along to his restaurant with a sharp glint of his brown eyes, "Now we must hurry. We have a lot of work to do — it's a full house, Whimsical!"
At that, the man broke into a mad dash. Whimsical was stunned at his unexpectedly fast speed as she was dragged along. Unknown to her, her life had just gotten more interesting.