My goal for this playthrough would be to get to level 999, the max level, which would be achievable within a few months on the PC version if you spent at least eighteen hours a day in-game.
First of all, I will solo the Poison Dragon and get to level 20 while everyone is still at level 2. To do that, I need some money.
"Inventory!" I commanded as I walked through the loud and bustling market in the morning.
My voice rang clear like a loser LARPing in public, and I noticed some players, probably new, staring at me. Then, they just copied and tried it themselves, and it looked like someone didn’t do the tutorial.
A window popped up, clean and crisp.
Female Starter Clothes Set
As expected, not enough to buy the Fool’s Knife for 15 gold coins.
I decided to go to work, I want to work hard and diligently to make money like an average upstanding tax-paying citizen, and contribute to my kingdom.
Maybe help plow a farm for that one farmer? Deliver a letter for that bard over there? Oh, maybe I should milk a cow.
There were a lot of things I could do to help better society!
PFFT, WHAHAHAHA, SIKE YOU THOUGHT.
Of course I’m going to speedrun making money by exploits, too. What do I look like, someone who is a capitalistic trickle-down economics believer?
I approached an old man NPC in patched robes limping at the corner of the market.
He had that scraggly white beard, glowing eyes, slow head tilt. He was the kind of man that either hold a dark secret but also might pee himself.
"You there," he croaked, as if he’d been holding the line for customer service since the beta test. "Adventurer... a terrible plague brews beneath the old well. I need you to..."
"It’s the cursed frog. Splash half a cup of holy water down the well, the priest will give you a full one and you can drink the rest or something. Then hrow any silver object heavier than 19 grams down there. If you want to deter further infectation, go to the Forgotten Shrine, defeat a bandit named Jerry and take his Leviathan Droplet and throw it down there."
His mouth froze at my answer. His whole face twitched like a game asset on low frame rate.
[QUEST COMPLETE: The Ill-Will Well]
Reward: Unlock [Merchant] class
He stared at me with what could only be described as digital disbelief. This update is available on N()velFire.net
"That’s right, gramps. I played this game before the concept of microtransaction or battlepass," I said, before talking to him again, "Hello, yes, I want to be a Merchant."
"It seems you have already acquire this class, do you wish to-" He paused, "Here’s a bonus for the first time using the class."
Now I had 20 total gold, very much enough for what I needed.
Item: Fool’s Knife (15g)
Description: A knife of jesters, brings laughter upon the user.
Skill: Self-Infliction
- By activating this skill, the player deals a set amount of HP to themselves, gaining one-tenth the charisma stats.
This shit was not even the most useless item in the game, by the way. If I remembered correctly, there was a poll three years ago on the PC version, and this was only ranked fourth.
I passed through the main gate and headed toward the eastern plains. The noon sun was out, but not burning, more like... warm bread. The sky was so blue it took my breath away. Rolling green hills stretched on like they’d been painted by an artist who’d just discovered grass, and there was a slow wind brushing over the wheat fields like the game itself was exhaling.
The path curved gently around old ruins and windmills. Distant towns sparkled in the haze. Birds flapped by, fully voice-acted and coded to poop dynamically. Truly, next-gen.
I was headed for the Dark Caverns, about five in-game miles away, and home to the Poison Dragon. My first grind spot in order to speed up level 20.
"God, I love fake nature." I said as I brushed my hand across my hair, witnessing the greatness of the blue skies, something real life just couldn’t recreate.
And then I quick-saved with my real-life muscle memory. Even though this was VR. Even though there’s no quick-save.
"Why the hell is there someone else here??!!"
Someone else... Discovered my level-up trick? The server was barely opened, so they couldn’t be strong enough to solo Poison Dragon! I’ve gatekept this trick! The top 5 players of all time in the beta test didn’t know about it! Even if they do, they just didn’t have the ability to execute a bug 20 times in a row perfectly.