MMORPG: The Almighty Ring

“Leader, we have detected a surge in emotional data of a few specimens last night. Even though the numbers were incomparable, there were signs of Human Personality enhancement!” said a researcher in the underground facility located deep in the North.

“Have you find any sources from that data?” asked the leader.

“Nothing yet. But all the numbers had only appeared once the specimens had made contact with the player name Verdure Glider!” said the researcher.

“Hm? This player again? What makes him so special?” the leader mumbled to himself.

“The thing is… when we checked said player’s data, there was no abnormality even though he was very much stronger than all players,” said the researcher.

“This technology is not of Earth. Having said that, it is currently the most technologically advanced. If there’s no abnormality in his data, we can officially remove any suspicion of human error. Could it be that the said player has some kind of special interaction method with the NPC? Get a team ready to analyzed his behavioral pattern,” said the leader.

“Yes, sir.”

…

At this moment, Jiang Fei had left Manda Square. With a heavy heart, Jiang Fei rode the hoverboard and flew away toward the sea.

According to 0541’s report, it was likely that large ship fragments were in the deep seas since no human had the technology to transport it to the surface. 0541 had suggested hunting for those ship fragments in the seas than from those powerful human corporations. His current strength was still too weak to confront them head-on.

Knowing that it would be a long trip, Jiang Fei had prepared well. He had stocked up on a lot of prepackaged food and water and stored them in the ring. With enough energy left in the ring, Jiang Fei was prepared for a long journey to find that needle in the haystack. The ocean was too large. If Jiang Fei wanted 0541 to search thoroughly; for even several thousands meters deep into the ocean, Jiang Fei would have to fly slowly.

“Did you pick up on anything?” Jiang Fei asked a few times.

He had been hovering on the surface of the water for several hours and had not even seen land. At first, the sight of the ocean with nothing in reach was blissful. However, as time passed, hours after hours, the sight of blue water had gotten into him and made him sick. To think that he would have to spend days and weeks…

“Negative,” 0541 answered briefly. Jiang Fei had flown for at least seven hours now and he had already reached the Japanese waters. It was not far from where Jiang Fei had first discovered the Bio-Experiment Laboratory.

“Could you please find somewhere where I can rest?” asked Jiang Fei. The sun had already set and twilight had fallen. Even though he could still fly, he was not in an airplane where he could still sit down and stretch his legs. Standing for more than seven hours was tiring.

“I’ve detected an uninhabited island fifty kilometers in the western direction. It is a suitable place to spend the night,” said 0541.

“Good call.”

Once Jiang Fei touched down on the island, he quickly found himself a place to sit and sat down.

“Oufff! Mah legs!” cried Jiang Fei as he almost could not feel his legs anymore. He noted that the place was indeed uninhabited. There was nothing but palm trees and loose sands. No dirt or rocks. Jiang Fei broke down a few palm trees and made a makeshift hut with the trunks and leaves and lay down to rest.

As he was about to sleep, he realized that time had no meaning there. Once the sky darkened, there was nothing else that he could do. He had wanted to take a quick rest and continue exploring the ocean to find the ship fragments. However, 0541 insisted that Jiang Fei should sleep through the night and play Dawn Break.

“Why? It’s not like I’m stressed up right now!” said Jiang Fei as he did not want to waste precious time. The game was fun, he had to admit that but it was not of priority at that moment. He had the armor and weapons taken out of the game. There was nothing useful that he could get out of it.

“Captain, playing the game will only bring you benefits. In fact, there will be a surprise soon enough,” said 0541 vaguely without explaining the reason behind his advice.

“Fine then. As Captain, I order you to explain the reason to all of this!” roared Jiang Fei as he could not wait for the surprise to come.

0541 went silent for a brief moment before answering monotonously.

“Command rejected. Insufficient authorization. Top Secret 093 requires Captain level authorization. You are currently a Captain Representative. Command rejected.”

“Woah. What is going on?” cried Jiang Fei, surprised.

“Captain! I’m truly sorry that I cannot reveal any of the information. However, I can tell you this. The more time you spend in the game “Dawn Break” the more benefits it would bring you!”

“Urgh. Fine, keep your secrets then, ” Jiang Fei scoffed. Although he was annoyed at the fact that he was kept in the dark, he knew that 0541 would not do anything to harm him. Jiang Fei heeded 0541’s advice and slept.

“You’re late… AGAIN!”

Due to the difference in time zone, by the time Jiang Fei had logged into the game, it was already past the usual login time.

“Hoho. Sorry, I had something to do,” said Jiang Fei as he continued where he left off with the Sea Serpents.

Only after more than ten hours of hellish grind, Jiang Fei had successfully collected 1,000 Nerve Strands.

“Finally…” Jiang Fei let out a long sigh of relief. He quickly got back to the beach and flew toward the Demon Flame Fortress on the Skygliding Dragon.

There, he made his way to the Commander’s Hall. Yesterday, when he was back in the hall, only Ivan was there. Today, not only all three high officers were there, the Saint of the Light was there as well!

“Lord Commander, I have collected all the 1,000 Nerve Strands that you had asked of me,” said Jiang Fei as he bowed down.

“I knew that you could do it easily!”

“Ding! Quest completed!”

“Ding! You have obtained 11,000,000 Experience Points, 850 Gold Coins!”

“Ding! You have gained 1,000 Reputation Points of the Demon Flame Fortress!”

The amount of experience points Jiang Fei had just received had increased Jiang Fei’s experience gauge by only 12%. That only showed Jiang Fei the real amount of experience points required to level up.

While Jiang Fei was lamenting about the cruel concept of the neverending grinding, Ivan came to him.

“Brother, I understand that you must be tired after finishing this mission. However, the war between the Light Factions draws near and I need your help to replenish the supplies,” said Ivan.

“Ding! Frontline Commander Ivan has a quest for you: Materials for War 2! Will you accept it?”

“I am but to serve the Lord Commander as he wishes,” said Jiang Fei as he accepted the quest. He understood that there would be more quests coming after this one since it was a series of quests that would finally lead to something big.

Just as he was about to leave the hall, he saw the Saint of the Light giving him a certain look.

“Huh? What the-”

Jiang Fei was stunned when he saw that look in her eyes. Jiang Fei felt a shiver down his spine and through his body. It was the effect of the title, Romeo in play. The hostile NPC was now friendly toward him. From the look of her gaze, it seemed that there was a quest that he could partake in!