Brent Roth - The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

by Brent Roth

  I was beginning to worry and started to question myself; maybe I shouldn't have sent them to hunt after all.

  Selene and Katherine had been gone for nearly seven hours before they finally appeared at the edge of the forest. They were a sight for sore eyes with a large sled piled high with the corpses of seven wolves, nineteen foxes, and thirty-seven rabbits.

  I left my shovel and jogged over to where the girls were, relieved that they had made it back, but more curious as to what had taken them so long. Though that thought was fleeting, as I was soon overcome by surprise at what was in Selene's arms.

  I slowed my pace and spoke openly, "Ah? Selene? Katherine? What's that?"

  To which Selene was the first to reply, "Just as it looks, we found a wolf pup and I intend to raise it as a pet."

  It was a straightforward reply that left little room to respond so I ended up ignoring it while pointing behind them, "Is that the sled in the distance there? Did everything go smoothly?"

  Selene replied again, "Kind of, sled's all yours," and then walked off to the cabin.

  She was a bit solemn and even if it didn't show on her face I could tell she was upset over something.

  I would have to figure that out later.

  Turning my attention to Katherine who looked completely exhausted and ready to collapse, I walked over and decided to pick her up and carry her like a princess.

  As I grabbed her and hoisted her up she quickly objected, "Ah! Wait! Master what are you doing?!"

  "You've worked hard, I'm just rewarding you. And what's this 'Master' word I keep hearing?"

  "Mm…."

  Katherine had gone silent but had put an arm around my neck and seemed to be silently enjoying it.

  I figured it was a good time to tease her, "Oh? What's this?"

  "Hmph you're so unfair…."

  "Hah, yes mi' lady, I'm quite unfair."

  While carrying Katherine to the cabin I couldn't help but laugh at the situation, only to receive a light hit on the chest for it.

  The lady doth protest too much.

  Especially when she's blushing crimson red and smiling with her face turned away from me.

  Once we entered the cabin I set her down and she bowed her head while performing a curtsy as she quickly turned around and sat next to Selene, covering her face with her hair at the same time. I had previously admitted that I was attracted to Selene's personality but I was quickly warming to Katherine's as well. They both had their charms, even if they were Artificial Intelligences.

  Actually, I almost forgot they were NPCs for a minute there… add in that I'm sleeping in this room with both of them and there is only one large bed. There were two women, one man, and one bed in the only cabin within ten miles.

  There was either trouble brewing or there was trouble brewing.

  In an attempt to tackle things head on I started the difficult conversation first while we ate dinner at the fireside in the center of the room, "So, for sleeping arrangements…." As I trailed off Selene and Katherine's ears perked up and their eyes intently stared on.

  It was a little nerve racking.

  But, it had to be done, "Well, there's only one bed-."

  Before I could continue on Selene had cut me off, "We can sleep on the floor. That black bear pelt isn't the most comfortable but it will suffice."

  …I had planned to share my bed but I realized it was a bit sudden. Strangely, it wasn't long ago that Selene had taken the initiative with me when we were lying together in the Earl's lodge.

  A woman's mind is a curious thing.

  I decided to chalk that incident up as a momentary indiscretion in the heat of the moment and squashed any notion of future romantic intent so long as it was just the three of us in this cabin. It wouldn't be fair to the other girl, whoever the other girl ended up being… because even if I started with Selene I couldn't discount Katherine's extreme beauty.

  Katherine was simply too attractive to ignore.

  After dinner had been completed and the wolf pup had fallen asleep curled up in a cute little white furry ball, I stepped outside for a moment to let the girls change out of their dirty clothes and wipe themselves off. While they did that I went and pulled the sled over towards the cabin… and to put it lightly, it was heavy.

  Returning to the cabin I found the two of them prepping the floor to sleep on and couldn't accept it. "Hey, take the bed you two. It's not much, but it's better than the floor. Once we fall asleep I'll be transported to the Adventurer's Realm after all."

  It sounded strange saying it out loud, but since the NPCs all had Artificial Intelligences there were obvious disconnects between some of the functions of the world, such as how players disappeared after logging out.

  The attempt to solve that confusion ended in programming all of the AIs with the information that Adventurers were summoned by the Gods to a different realm at times and wouldn't always have a corporeal body in this realm. It was also a part of the explanation for why the Adventurers could die and resurrect while the NPCs would face permanent deaths.

  If anything, Dragon's Wrath was their real world and their life and we were just playing in it.

  Sometimes, if it weren't for the system messages, I questioned whether I was actually in a game or if I was indeed transported to another world.

  What is reality, anyways?

  Eleven days passed in the blink of an eye as I spent at least twelve hours a day digging away; some days were spent mindlessly, others I read the news or listened to music. Either way, nearly a month in-game had passed by the time I finished my excavation project and April in-game was nearly at an end.

  I still had hope that I could finish the lodge before April turned over to May but the real crux of the matter was that I was now in my fifth real-week of playing the game and was sharply falling behind in the leaderboards.

  The first three real-weeks were spent working the land, toiling in the dirt, laboring with the trees, and scaling a mountain. By the fourth week I was able to get some real leveling in with the absurd quest bonus I received from rescuing Selene, but now by the fifth week I had stagnated.

  AIcorps' projections were that the fastest levelers would hit level 50 in about three real-months of play. I was almost at the halfway point and was only level 26.

  The highest current level amongst all players was 37 and there were quite a few in the low 30s as well. As an unemployed addict, I was woefully behind the others and that was simply unacceptable. In all honesty, I was barely above the average gamer in levels and without the support of a large guild I spent far too many hours attempting to build a village… I could only hope that the NPC-Recruiter would be usable.

  There was no information available online on the system but I knew it existed from my [Land Management] menu and could clearly see it as a grayed out tab. It was all purely conjecture but I believed in my intuition.

  My intuition had always been fairly sharp and was not often wrong… I've got an Ancient Relic's power to show for it after all.

  By the fourteenth real-world day I had finally finished erecting my log lodge. It was a massive structure with misleading stature.

  Standing only four feet tall at the surface at the lowest point, up to six feet at the highest point of the centerline of the roof, it simply didn't seem like much from the outside. But then all you had to do was walk down the wood and dirt ramp to find yourself inside a massive 57,600~ cubic feet structure.

  The 60'x60' two-story floor plan with an 8' high ceiling at the minimum per floor provided roughly 3,600 square feet of surface on the basement or underground floor, while the partially buried first floor formed a square-ring that was open in the center allowing for a completely spacious and roomy atmosphere.

  You wouldn't suffer any claustrophobia here.

  Following the wooden stairs at either side brought you to the basement floor which had partial log walls that extended out a few feet to allow for some semblance of privacy but kept the entire place open.


  I envisioned a large gathering of families sitting around a fireplace with tables strewn about the middle of the floor, beds formed along the walls with leather hides serving as curtains separating the "rooms" of the inhabitants.

  Along the partially buried first floor NPCs would have space for their crafts and could perform their work indoors during the harsh winter while enjoying the sunlight from the wood cutouts that served as makeshift windows for the time being. I figured it could easily hold a few families without issue and with plenty of space to spare for storage.

  Standing back and admiring my completed work that was economically a work of wonder, both in cost to acquire and in future cost to maintain; I felt incredibly proud. As my chest swelled with pride and the moment was being committed to memory I was disturbed by a system message:

  [You have completed a Large Private Residence.]

  [Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

  [Do you wish to add this building to your list of Personal Homes?]

  [Yes / No]

  …I was a bit thrown off by the question.

  Deductive reasoning proposes an alternate result if one selects [No] but it could certainly end up as a logical fallacy since I had no proof or information for the alternative. The building could just end up as unclaimed and I would lose my chance to claim it as my own property. I imagine that's how it works when players hire out others, a contract would be made and rights would be transferred.

  Or something like that, at least.

  I also didn't know what would happen if I selected [Yes], would it be locked as a [Personal Home] and that's all? I thought for a moment to contact a Game Master, to have him or her resolve my dilemma but for the most part they would only respond to issues within the game such as a bug or abuse.

  I selected [No] and was flooded with system messages:

  [The Large Private Residence has been converted to a Large Open Residence.]

  [Rights to the Building belong to the Land Owner and can be accessed at any time within the Land Management Tab.]

  [Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

  [You have established a Public Property, do you wish to change the Territory Designation from Campsite to Village?]

  [Yes / No]

  Letting out a large heave as I relaxed my shoulders from the tension I couldn't help but smile. I was relieved that nothing strange had happened but instead, ended up with the exact result that was being sought.

  I took a deep breathe of relief and stood still for a moment, then quickly selected [Yes].

  [You have selected to designate your Territory as a Village.]

  [All Land Management Sub-Menus are now available.]

  [Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

  Browsing through the tabs that had been previously grayed out, the majority of them were empty for now but showed promise for the future. They would come in handy one day but for now I let them be.

  Then I made my way to the NPC-Recruiter tab, the one that I had been anticipating for quite some time.

  Opening the tab I was soon stunned by the amount of subcategories that were immediately brought within sight. Expanding the menu to fill my entire field of vision I tried to grasp what I was looking at.

  There was so much information that I was completely lost, unable to comprehend exactly what was hovering before me.

  I decided to sit down and spend the next few hours going through every menu available. I might not have been the first to establish a home but there was a good chance I was one of the first to have stumbled into the NPC-Recruiter. I knew at the very least, that I was a part of the exclusive group of [The First Settlers].

  That gave me some confidence going forward.

  But before I could get too carried away I was alerted by another system message:

  [Please enter the Name of your Village.]

  [Once a Name has been designated, it cannot be changed.]

  I looked out and around the land laid before me, taking in all of the nuances it offered and came to a conclusion.

  [You have entered: Dragon's Breach.]

  [Do you wish to confirm: Dragon's Breach, as the name of your Village?]

  [Yes / No]

  I selected [Yes].

  It was a simple name with a simple story.

  The stories of the land were that of a Thunder Dragon that ruled the mountain directly behind my village, the same mountain where I received the Lightning of the Gods.

  At the tail end of the mountain, the river that exits out to the sea splits the tail as the mountains rise up on either side, creating a breached wall of sorts.

  Yeah, the dragon's tail was breached by the river.

  It seemed fitting.

  Believing my task completed, I was about to continue reading through the tabs of information that had been unlocked before I was interrupted once more. The system message this time was a bit peculiar:

  [Do you wish to make your Village known?]

  [Yes / No]

  I didn't understand the question.

  Thinking things over, did that mean I could click [Yes] and the village would become known throughout the world? Was it so simple? Was that a good thing? Ideas were quickly running through my mind as I contemplated the theoretical benefits of such a decision, while trying to weigh the theoretical negatives as well.

  Making decisions based off a lack of information was a travesty and I hated to commit such a crime, but I had no other information to go on.

  Well, without knowing the consequences of such an answer, I had decided on [No]. Making my selection, I was soon prompted with another system message:

  [Your Village will not be known as a Starter Location.]

  [If you wish to change this at any time, please check the corresponding Tab.]

  [Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

  Mumbling to myself, "Oh, so that's how it worked."

  Guess I made the right decision after all.

  I'm glad I didn't select [Yes].

  Chapter 29: NPC-Recruiter Oh My

  (Sunday, April 25th Game Day / Monday, February 8th Real Day)

  After combing through the entire Land Management Tab and all of the subsequent Tabs such as the NPC-Recruiter, I was of the belief that I had a solid understanding of all of the information provided. Though it took me nearly four hours of reading to understand it all, it was certainly worth it.

  What I had found out was that recruiting NPCs for those who own a village or greater involves a rather interesting mini-game system that is rather time-consuming as well.

  In essence, players and NPC's running villages enter the Recruiter through their Land Management Tab > NPC-Recruiter Tab, and are provided with a Draft Menu once they are inside.

  In the Draft there are a number of fresh NPCs waiting to be drafted, simple enough. The way the system works is that there are half a percent of the current user population in NPCs in the draft, so at our current 540,000~ player base, there are 2,700~ NPCs randomly generated every week real-time.

  Though this pool is reset at the end of each week, so it's essentially a rotating lottery of sorts where you're provided an opportunity to draft or select NPC prospects you are interested in.

  You have five real days to make your selections, up to two per slot, starting on Monday and ending on Friday. If no one else had selected those prospects, you could recruit them at the cost of 200 copper coin or two silver coins on Saturday morning.

  If someone else selected that prospect as well, then there was a buyout option at 500 copper coins that could be enacted.

  If only one person opted into the buyout by the end of the day on Saturday then he or she would win that prospective NPC and it would arrive momentarily. But if two or more people put an initial bid but no one selected the buyout, then on Sunday that prospective NPC would go to the auction.

  The auction would start at 300 copper coins and would go on for the ent
ire day, ending at 11:59pm on Sunday night. Whoever won the auction won the NPC and those who lost would only lose 20 copper coins for entering the draft.

  This system was all encompassing and also had a sister program specifically for NPC troops, which held the same format.

  So once a week on Sunday, users in the future will get worked into a bidding frenzy fighting for the best available combat and non-combat NPCs. Competition would be high for the combat-NPCs, in fact I imagine it will honestly be too high.

  It seemed every major and minor guild in the central and southern kingdoms were trying to get a leg up on the competition and one could only expect them to spend all of their coin to gather and amass a suitable NPC troop.

  Whether it is for protection or for an invasion, I couldn't say as nothing had happened as of yet, but it was only reasonable that that was what the future held.

  I am not so naïve to think that peace would rule the land for long.

  War and death are the two staples of human civilization, after all.

  They are constants that have always been a part and will most likely always be a part of human life. The plain reality of it all is that people cannot agree.

  The other thing to consider when drafting an NPC is that there are a variety of attributes and levels that are generated. NPCs can be generated from anywhere between level 0 and level 30, and although every NPC starts with the same base stats of +10 in each stat at level 0, they each have individual potential in different proficiencies.

  The higher the potential, the faster an NPC would grow.

  Better potential in a proficiency led to more specialization.

  There was a lot of math involved here, to the point that real-life businesses offering consultation and draft advice as if they were sports analytics and stock managers combined into one wasn't such a farfetched idea. Of course the market was incredibly small at the moment and there were no customers to speak of, but in time when others start looking for NPCs to recruit they would certainly be useful.