Overlord of the Demon Realm - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Branching Paths

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“You have successfully selected your first character class,” the old face said calmly. “Beginning adjustment of the player’s appearance.”

This was one of the unique features of “Demon Realm.” The system would adjust the player’s facial features by 20% to ensure that other players couldn’t recognize people they knew from the real world by their in-game avatars. Usually, even parents were unable to recognize their own children inside the game.

Of course, while the players’ faces were made to look fairly different, the overall aesthetic quality of a player’s face was essentially the same—if someone was beautiful in the real world, her in-game character would also be extremely attractive. The same was true for people who were unattractive.

“Adjustment complete. Assigning player to initial spawn point.”

The old face spoke again, and a ray of light instantly materialized beneath Ye Kong’s feet.

“Assignment complete. The player’s initial spawn point is set to the Starry Duchy, and the starting town will be Qingmu Town. Beginning transfer.”

The region inside Yggdmillennia Server included more than just the Starry Duchy. The entire region was split into the One Empire, Four Kingdoms, and Eighteen Nation-States, as well as the Holy City of Thousand Realms, Yggdrasil. Starry Duchy was just one of the Eighteen Nation-States, and it was the sixteenth small duchy.

The entire land area of the Yggdmillennia Server realm was larger than the entire Asian continent on Earth.

Before the old face finished speaking, Ye Kong’s eyesight went blurry, and when he regained his senses, he found himself in the middle of a square. A huge group of players were in the square, and each wore the grey Novice Equipment. He’d obviously entered the game.

The square was surrounded by a translucent blue wall, which the players couldn’t pass through.

Just then, there was an official system announcement.

“Five minutes remaining until the official start of the game. Players, thank you for your patience.”

This was how “Demon Realm” ensured that players had enough time to get used to their new bodies. After all, aside from the beta testers (“Demon Realm” reset all players’ progress at the end of the beta test) who had received activation codes, most of the players were new, and it was their first experiencing a virtual reality game.

There were differences between the players’ virtual bodies in the “Demon Realm” game world and the players’ real bodies in the real world. For most people trying out the game for the first time, they would notice these differences when trying to control their new body. For example, if someone was 140 centimeters tall like Guo Jingming and grew overnight to a height of 220 centimeters like Yao Ming, he definitely wouldn’t be able to jump very high or reach down and sweep other player’s legs out from under them

Due to these discrepancies, the players nearby were all trying to adjust to their new bodies. Many of the players marveled at the Federal Government’s virtual reality technology. They thought it was incredible.

Ye Kong wasn’t like them. His many years of experience in the game allowed him to easily adapt to his new body. He was so practiced that his body automatically made these adjustments, and he moved with the precision of a highly-trained master fighter. He didn’t make a single error!

“As expected, my initial spawn point is Qingmu Town.”

Ye Kong ignored the other players around him as he scanned his surroundings. Just as he remembered, he was surrounded by Gothic architecture on all four sides. The sharp spires and numerous stained glass windows, as well as the ivy that covered most of the buildings’ walls, together formed the very image of a fantasy town.

The town was filled with a large number of European-style streets, which criss-crossed over each other. Right in front of the starting square was a merchant street, where numerous NPCs were stationed inside their shops. They waited for players to come and receive their quests or trade goods with them.

Everything he saw matched the Qingmu Town he remembered. In his past life, Ye Kong’s initial spawn point was also Qingmu Town, so he was familiar with the locale. He knew the exact coordinates of the important quests and special NPCs like the back of his hand.

Currently, the sun hung slightly lower in the sky. It was afternoon.

In the virtual reality game, time worked differently than it did in the real world.

In the game, there were 48 hours in a day, so one hour in the real world was equivalent to two hours inside the game.

Like the real world, the world of “Demon Realm” also had a day and a night, but the day was twice as long as the night. This meant that the day was 32 hours long, while the night was only 16 hours long. In real-world time, nighttime in the game took place between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., while nighttime occurred in the hours outside this time period.

“Demon Realm” operated 24/7, and players could log in to the game any time they wanted, so long as their virtual reality equipment hadn’t timed out. For instance, the VR helmet that Ye Kong was using was “D” grade, the worst grade of VR equipment, so it came with a daily usage restriction of seven real-time hours (equivalent to 14 in-game hours).

The reason for this was that VR equipment connected directly to the player’s consciousness, and the virtual reality experience took a toll on the player’s mind. If a player spent too much time in the game, it would be like working overtime in the real world, resulting in severe fatigue.

Of course, more advanced technology was better equipped to minimize these disadvantages. For example, a virtual reality game cabin, rated as a high-end “S” grade equipment, put less strain on the player, allowing him to enter the virtual reality for 12 hours in real time every day (equivalent to 24 in-game hours). Four of these hours were designated as sleep periods, which was efficient use of the time a player spent sleeping at night.

However, the cost of these types of game cabins was exorbitant, and because Ye Kong couldn’t afford one, he had no choice but to use the “D” grade equipment to enter the game. He would replace it with a better piece of VR equipment once he’d earned enough funds.

“Three minutes remaining until the official start of the game. Players, thank you for your patience.”

The system announcement sounded once more. The players around him were still trying to make full use of the remaining time and adjust to their new bodies.

“Damn, I got thinner! How come no matter how I control this arm, it doesn’t feel flexible enough?”

“What the hell, I’m so fat! It’s really difficult to control the balance of my body.”

“Your real body is fat too, right? How fat or thin you are in the game isn’t going to be too far off from your real body. Looks like you need to hit the gym, hahahahaha!”

Ye Kong ignored the people around him, and with a flick of his hand, he brought out the System Menu and inspected the Character Overview window.

Player: lacuna (Human)

Region: Yggdmillennia Server (Sixth Region)

Level: 0 (Experience Level 0/100)

Character Class: Swordsman (Dexterity-type Profession)

Health (HP): 30/30

Soul Essence: 1/1

Attack: 5

Defense: 2

Basic Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 5, Stamina 2, Intelligence 3

Distributable Stat Points: 3 Points

Class Advantage—

Sword Mastery: Sword-fighting skills inflict 30% more damage, and attack speed is increased by 3%.

Swordsmanship: Proficiency and training effect of sword-fighting skills increased by 30%.

Aura Suppression: Upon activation, the user’s aura is concealed (unable to move in this state), and the user’s perception is improved.

Personal Proficiency—

Human’s Wisdom (LV1): Proficiency in Artisan Professions increased by 10%.

Lightweight Body (LV1): Dexterity gained from additional equipment increased by 5%.

Distributable Proficiency Points: 0 Points (you will receive 2 Proficiency Points every 5 levels)

Character Class Skill—

Cleave (LV1): Attack inflicts 6 additional damage points. Requires the use of 1 Soul Essence.

Reputation—

Starry Duchy: Good

Horticultural Church: Good

The above was displayed on Ye Kong’s Character Overview window, along with his grey Novice Equipment, which only served to clothe the player’s body and didn’t provide any additional attributes.

In reference to Soul Essence, Soul Essence was a unique resource in the “Demon Realm” game. It replaced the Mana (MP, blue bar) resource normally used in traditional role-playing games, and some of the stronger skills in the game required a certain amount of it.

For the first character class, the regeneration period of Soul Essence was 180 seconds (for maximum recovery). If the player underwent a job advancement, or changed to a hidden character class, their Soul Essence regeneration period could be shortened. The maximum amount of Soul Essence each player had also increased according to their level.

Not all skills required the use of Soul Essence.

On the contrary, usually only powerful or special skills required the use of Soul Essence. A large percentage of basic skills were only limited by their cooldown time, not by how much Soul Essence the player had. However, the Swordsman class was the exception to this rule.

The Swordsman class was indeed quite unique. “Cleave” wasn’t a powerful skill, but it required one Soul Essence. Compared to the starting skills of the other classes, “Cleave’” was one of the worst when it came to “cost-efficiency.”

Starting out with “Cleave’” was one of the reasons why the training in the early parts of the game was so difficult for Swordsman players.

Other than that, every time a first character class leveled up, they would receive 3 Stat Points, which they could then distribute to any of the Four Major Attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina and Intelligence). In turn, these Four Major Attributes affected other Hidden Attributes.

For instance, the Strength Attribute affected a player’s Resistance, Accuracy (which dictated the success rate of hitting an enemy with an attack), jumping, swimming, climbing, and other physical abilities, and judgments related to physical status effects.

The Dexterity attribute affected a player’s Critical Rate (physical damage), Movement Speed and Attack Speed, as well as Aura Perception Ability.

The attributes listed above, such as Attack Speed, Resistance, Critical Rate, Accuracy, and so on, were all categorized as Hidden Attributes. As the name implied, they were not displayed on the Character Overview window. To determine their values, one had to calculate them based on the Four Major Attributes.

In simpler terms, aside for a player’s Level, Four Major Attributes were the main indicators of a player’s skill.

“The Main Attribute of a Swordsman is Dexterity, and each point in Dexterity increases Attack by one point,” Ye Kong thought. “But a Swordsman is also reliant on the Strength attribute, and the optimal allocation agreed upon in my past life was to distribute two points to Dexterity and one to Strength.”

Ye Kong glanced through his Character Overview window as he continued his analysis.

“In the early part of the game, a Swordsman should invest points in Stamina, because a Swordsman has a low starting HP and one of the worst Defense Stats out of all the first character classes. Swordsmen also lack self-protection skills at this stage, so it’s very easy to get killed by a mob.

“Based on the recommended build from my past life, the optimal distribution of stats was “1 Str 1 Dex 1 Sta” before level 5, and “1 Str 2 Dex” from level 5 onward. This was the most reliable way of distributing points, and it was the conclusion the other top Swordsman players and I arrived at when we discussed it.”

Having said this, Ye Kong decisively touched the plus sign next to “Dexterity.” He moved all three of his unallocated stat points to Dexterity, instantly increasing its value to eight points.

“Nevertheless, my plan requires more points in Dexterity. The safe route is not suitable for me.

“In the early stages of the game, Swordsman players won’t be able to form parties easily. In order to not fall behind the other players, I’ll need to carve out my own unique path!”

Ye Kong checked his Character Overview window again, and it showed that he now had eight points in Attack.

Due to the fact that the Swordsman class was a Dexterity-type Profession, its Main Attribute was Dexterity. Thus, a single point in Dexterity would result in a one-point increase in Attack.

Each character class had its own Main Attribute. For an Intelligence-type class like the Magician, a point in Intelligence would increase Attack by one point. Similarly, for a Stamina-type class like the Sentinel, a point in Stamina would increase Attack by one point.

One unique aspect of Strength-type classes was that one point in Strength would increase Attack by 1.3 points, which meant that on average, Strength-type classes had a higher Attack Stat than other classes. Even so, Intelligence-type classes had a higher Attack multiplier, so in terms of pure offensive power, Strength-type classes were still inferior to Intelligence-type classes.

Aside from increasing his Attack, the three points Ye Kong added to Dexterity increased his flexibility and agility, along with his Movement and Attack Speed. This would greatly benefit him in the early phase of the game. Since everyone’s starting attributes were low, every additional point gave a distinct advantage over the other players.

“Thirty seconds remaining until the official start of the game. Players, thank you for your patience.”

“It’s starting!”

Ye Kong’s eyes grew focused, while the nearby players started to rub their palms together in anticipation. The time in the entire “Demon Realm” world was in sync, which meant that all the players in the 24 time zones in the real world and the 16 realms in the game world would start the game together in a few moments!

A single server synchronizing the entire globe!

Billions of gamers were about to compete against each other at the same time!

Ye Kong scanned the crowd of players around him and managed to pick out a few familiar faces—

aotabo, dancingblade, alphabetkun, soaringthroughskies, smallflabbyarms…

In the future, these players would all make their mark in Qingmu Town, and their names would be well-known throughout Starry Duchy. Any time they made a movement, it would effect the other players.

In his past life, Ye Kong had chosen the Swordsman class and struggled to make progress in the early stages of the game. Compared to the others, he was like an ant under the shadow of an elephant. He was worthy of a single mention, and could only admire their greatness from afar.

This dragged on for a very long time…

“In this life, I won’t waste my time.”

Ye Kong’s gaze became hard and determined, and his entire body tensed up. He bent over slightly, like a leopard getting ready to pounce.

“It’s time. The game officially starts now!”

Swish swish swish swish!!!

The blue walls surrounding the square disappeared, and the multitude of players charged out of the starting square like a crazed horde of zombies. They were headed straight for the merchant street in front of them!

Whoosh!!!

Like an arrow shot from a bow, Ye Kong slipped through the crowd in one slick move and broke away from the pack!

Close behind…

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!

Another group of players also broke away from the crowd, and their movements and decisiveness were on par with Ye Kong’s!

Ye Kong glanced back at them and immediately identified two familiar faces—

“aotabo, dancingblade…”

In the next instant, however, the two players Ye Kong recognized headed in a different direction from the other players, who rushed headlong into the merchant street. Instead, the moment they’d gotten away from the crowd, they rushed toward the eastern town entrance!

At the same time, a small group of players also separated from the huge crowd. They followed behind aotabo and dancingblade and ran toward the eastern town entrance!

Ye Kong watched the scene unfold, a hint of coldness flickering in his eyes.

“So it begins: the mob clearing operations of the Yokai Legion Guild and Conqueror of Lands Guild!”

In his past life, a majority of players had rushed to the merchant street to collect gather quests from the NPCs in the shops. The quest objectives were more or less the same, and required players to hunt mobs in the Eastern Plains.

However, by the time the players had arrived at the Eastern Plains, they discovered that the members of the Yokai Legion Guild and Conqueror of Lands Guild had already occupied the entirety of the plains, with each guild occupying half of the area. They also discovered that there were NPCs on the Eastern Plains too.

The quests these NPCs gave had better rewards than the gather quests from Qingmu Town!

The most ironic part of all this was that a large number of players headed into the merchant street—and each player had a built-in collision detection feature.

This meant that players couldn’t phase through the bodies of other players, resulting in severe congestion along the merchant street.

P.S.: Players could touch other players’ bodies, but touching other people in a sexual manner wasn’t allowed (unless both parties consented to it). If players broke this rule, the main AI of the game would send the perpetrator’s personal information to the Federal Police.

Because of the massive “traffic jam” in the merchant street, many players couldn’t accept the quests and get out of the town, and their efficiency slowed down.

The members of the two guilds were making full use of this time to hunt mobs and level up to level one. Some even managed to get an initial white outfit. Their guild leader was a beta tester, so he knew about the questing situation around Qingmu Town!

When the large group of new players finally made it to the Eastern Plains, they were driven out by the two large guilds. Anyone who tried to oppose the guilds would be overwhelmed by the guild members and immediately killed!

In the battle that took place, the new players were brutally massacred by the two large guilds, and many of their guild members skipped right past having yellow names, and jump straight to having red names!

A red name!

‘Demon Realm’ was released by the Federal Government across the whole world with the intention of creating a “second world”— a virtual world that could provide many job opportunities and support its own industries and supply chain!

It was like the start of the internet industry at the beginning of the 21st century!

“Demon Realm” was different from ordinary online games. It didn’t have any kind of Premium Currency Marketplace (neither charging the player according to time played or for virtual items). Additionally, the game actively encouraged PK (player killing) activities, so the penalties for having a yellow or red name weren’t high.

“The wilderness is where PK happens!”

This was a famous quote from one of the Federal Officials involved in the “Demon Realm” project.

In short, the two in-game guilds didn’t waste any time and started to kill without warning!

When a player died in the wilderness, the player would drop a level and succumb to a “Vulnerable” state (a temporary reduction in attributes) for an hour. The two big guilds took full advantage of this in order to give themselves a head start over the rest of the low-level players!

“In my past life, I had no idea what was going on. I followed the crowds into the merchant street and ended up at the Eastern Plains!”

Ye Kong’s eyes were cold as he recalled how he was killed in the Easter Plains by another player. He didn’t lose any levels that time, as he was still level 0 when he died, but he was afflicted with the “Vulnerable” state.

By choosing the Swordsman class, he was already at a disadvantage when it came to forming parties, and to top it all off, he’d wasted another hour by completely missing the peak time for forming parties. It was easy to imagine the kind of predicament Ye Kong was in at that time.

“This time, I’m not going to fall behind the others.”

Ye Kong took a long look at the backs of the leaders of the two big guilds. Then, he pushed off the ground and dashed off—not toward the eastern town entrance, however, or into the merchant street, but toward the streets to the west!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

At the same time, another small group of players split off from the main group and sped toward the west street!

Apparently, their objective was the same as Ye Kong’s!