Codename: Freedom: Survive Week One

by Apollos Thorne

  We both still wore our dust-colored newbie pants and tunic. They were honestly much better put together garments than what I was used to. Things in the real world weren’t designed to be this durable.

  “Hey man. Were you thinking of heading into the forest?” Kline asked.

  I nodded.

  With a fist to his chin, Kline wrenched his head to either side, popping his neck. “About 3 more pigs and I can afford a full suit of leather armor. I gotta look good you know.”

  It wasn’t like me to let an opportunity for a good quip go to waste.

  “Are you saying I don’t look good in this?”

  Smacking me on the shoulder, his goatee completely shielded his mouth, leaving only his scrunched up eyes showing his grin. “You have been chosen out of billions of people to wear dirt colored pajamas before the world! Now, how’s a man supposed to fight in dirt pajamas?!”

  Recovering from his swat, I shook my head, unable to hold back laughter. Dirt-colored pajamas was a pretty accurate description actually.

  “I have to agree with you.”

  “Then we will get along fine. Not sure I could trust a guy that willingly fought in pajamas.”

  “I guarantee you that this wasn’t my first choice.”

  “Ah ha!”

  I tried a few things to discover a party system as we walked, but nothing seemed to work. Perhaps we had to level up before it would become available to us.

  Kline seemed to have no real knowledge about gaming. He was oblivious to the concept of what a party system was.

  I was able to see the amount of experience I had gained from fighting the boar. Over three-fourths of my experience bar was full. It was a small silver bar placed under my health bar.

  We walked toward the forest, me with my shield and spear, and Kline with his two-handed ax resting on his shoulder.

  By now there were hundreds of players spread out in the woods, mostly in groups. The field had been cleared and there seemed to be no respawning of monsters or animals. We had gotten lucky killing the boar since they seemed to be in limited supply.

  Three dark green creatures huddled around something we couldn’t see. There was no indicator of what they were, but the large heads, dull green skin, and large yellow eyes reminded me of goblins from other games. The forest wasn’t filled with much underbrush, but there was enough that it had concealed our approach.

  They stood only three and a half feet tall.

  We didn’t approach them with much strategy. Kline motioned to me to take one side, and he gestured he would take the other.

  With a nod, he rushed forward, leaving me off guard.

  I quickly scrambled to attack the other flank.

  Finally, with something to clear my mind from the shock of our first fight, adrenaline filled me and I flew.

  I was the first to attack, beating Kline to the enemy. My well-practiced psychotic cry caused the three green men to jump. People would be watching. It was time to put on a show. I jabbed with my spear scoring a clean hit in the back of the closest goblin.

  Kline wasn’t one to let me outdo him. He nearly cleaved one in two from the top to bottom with his ax. It was immediately killed, but my goblin started shaking spastically to try and get the spear loose of his back. I had missed his heart and struck too low. It wasn’t easy to pull my spear out of the creature’s body.

  As it finally came out, the third goblin had slipped into my blind spot under my shield. Sneaky little toad!

  Suddenly pain shot up my leg where the creature had bitten my calf. Just above my Health Bar a number popped up and the bar went down slightly.

  -13 Damage

  A sickening feeling welled up in my gut.

  I frantically scraped the green monster off my leg with my shield. His small size was easy to manipulate. As he bounced away, I was glad we got to attack first, because these things were quick. His yellow, bloodshot eyes mocked me, as they scrunched up in what must have been a grin.

  Thankfully he was caught off guard by Kline’s ax. In two swings the creature was dead.

  Level 2

  You have reached Level 2!

  You now have access to the Creature Indicator!

  You now have access to Abilities menu!

  Stepping forward on my injured leg, I almost fell from the pain. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in virtual reality. This was 13 damage?! With each heartbeat, the pain echoed from my calf. It was hard to bear.

  “That doesn’t look good.” Kline grimaced. “Take a seat. I’ll get the loot.”

  This was embarrassing. Not only were my moves clumsy, but I had gotten injured in my second fight. I could just feel people leaving my channel and looking for another one.

  My gamer instinct took over. People would still be interested in knowing how injuries work here. There was only one thing to do. I took a close-up snapshot of the wound and shared it with the world.

  I'll spare you the details, except to say that the fangs of the goblin-like creature had deeply pierced my cotton pants as well as my skin in multiple places. The fabric around the wound was soaked with blood and torn. As I rolled up my pants, the fabric stuck to the wound and was slowly peeled off.

  I poured a little water on the wound. It was cold and soothing but did little else.

  Checking my stats, since I had leveled the first time, I confirmed there was no change.

  Character Status

  Player Name: Lucius

  Level: 2

  Health Points: 208/221

  Endurance Points: 330

  Combat Level: Unknown?

  Strength: 28

  Dexterity: 40

  Endurance: 33

  So it was clear that leveling didn’t affect my stats at all.

  Joining me on the ground, Kline piled the loot on the ground between us. It was a good distraction. There was one junk quality iron knife, about 40 copper coins, three loin cloths and a small green stone.

  We agreed to split the coins, Kline took the iron knife and I took the green stone and the loin cloths. Though I insisted Kline take at least one loin cloth, he wouldn’t have it. I was stuck with the used goblin underwear? I shared a pic of my new undies as well.

  “How’s it feel?”

  Looking at the wound, I suspected it would heal quickly, but was it already feeling better? “Well, the pain is real. I doubt it will take more than a few minutes.”

  Suspicious, he replied, “Can you feel it healing?”

  “Might just be my imagination, but I think so.”

  “Since we are taking a break, what brings you here?”

  “Well, I’m trying to make a living off gaming. I need to do well here and build my fan base to get the big sponsors.”

  “Ahhh, I got selected for this gig because I was a professional fighter. Mixed martial arts. The sport has morphed more into a virtual thing now where everyone can compete without pain or danger of injury, which completely ruined the sport. I’ve been getting by teaching kids martial arts, but it’s not what I feel I was meant to do. Codename: Freedom is like a second chance for me.”

  Though he didn’t look old, I’d guess he was in his early to mid-forties. His well-honed build and physical strength made perfect sense now. There was a big difference between non-virtual athletes and the virtual ones. Strength transferred over well from the real world to the virtual, but not the other way around.

  “So you have quite a few fans already?” he continued. “I plan on reminding everyone how useful real martial arts are! You’ll have to give me some pointers on how to run a fan channel.”

  “Sure. This is unlike any game I have ever played. You actually have quite an advantage being in such good shape.”

  “It’s not much of an advantage until I upgrade this outfit.” He sighed.

  “When you get new clothing, take a screenshot and save it as your profile picture. Taking pictures and sharing it is the best way to interact with your channel right now. We can’t write any messages or
respond to anyone directly. I guess you could respond, but they would have to be watching while you said it to guarantee that they got the message. They are also limiting what information we receive from our fans. The devs don’t want us to learn anything through our channels that we haven’t learned in the game.”

  “Devs?”

  “Developers. The people that created Freedom. Here.”

  Bringing up my menu, I started to show him the basics of taking selfies. Then I searched for the Creature Indicator that was mentioned when I leveled up.

  The User Interface tab in the Access Hub was now accessible. There I found it.

  Creature Indicator

  This tool analyzes the world around you and marks any living creatures with an augmented beacon if you are looking in its direction. When active, it is not yet capable of distinguishing between hostile and friendly creatures. As you level such distinctions will be unlocked.

  Currently, the range is limited to 10 meters, but it will increase as you level.

  Best use: To make the unseen seen and track multiple enemies at a time.

  “Well, that’s cheating,” Kline said. He had followed my lead and found the new tool as well.

  “It’s becoming more and more like a typical game. Although, this kind of thing is available with most Mixed Reality headsets as well.”

  “Best of all it will be easier to track down our next victims,” he replied.

  His mock evil grin looked like a dust mop with a serpent’s eyes. Talk about cheating. Kline would have people flocking to follow him just based on his expressions alone.

  “Not necessarily. Its range is only 10 meters. We will need to level up more for it to be of much use I’m afraid.”

  “We’ll just have to level up then.”

  There was no getting him down.

  “Now we are talking!” I said.

  “What?!” He jumped to a low crouch.

  I looked at him, doing all I could to suppress a laugh.

  “We now have access to our Abilities Menu. It also gives us all basic ability upgrades so we can plan what to do when we level. Look here.”

  Abilities

  Abilities Unlocked: Personnel Condition Monitor (Basic), Metaverse Access Hub, Creature Indicator (Basic), Abilities menu.

  Upgrades

  Selecting any of the below Upgrades will cost you (1) Ability Point.

  Spend wisely!

  Character Sheet (Basic)

  (This tool analysis your actions and translates that to your character stats. Upgrading this will add a much more detailed analysis.)

  Creature Indicator Upgrades

  (The range of this tool upgrades itself as you level. There may be a possibility of an addon that could also increase its usefulness.)

  Creature Beacon

  (Selecting this gives you a white beacon that shoots up from the creature’s location and is received when Creature Indicator is unlocked.)

  Hostile Creature Indicator

  (Selecting this gives you a red beacon that shoots up from any hostile creature’s location.)

  Danger Indicator

  (Selecting this will warn a player of danger within sensors’ proximity.)

  Communication Upgrades

  Grouping

  (Selecting this provides experience sharing. Automatically syncs with the map.)

  Group Chat

  (Selecting this allows for your words to travel over long distances to those in your group. Anyone that is in close proximity can overhear the person sending the message. Only verbal messages can be sent currently.)

  Group Leadership

  (Selecting this allows for loot distribution.)

  Join a Guild

  (Unlocked by completing the quest Survive Week One. Able to choose from a number of guild hierarchies, set ranks of guild members, tax members and set guild property. To see a full list of options you must first finish the required quest.)

  Guild Chat

  (Selecting this allows for your words to travel over long distances to those in your guild. Anyone that is in close proximity can overhear the person sending the message. Only verbal messages can be sent currently.)

  Map Upgrades

  Local Map

  (Selecting this shows a close proximity map of your surroundings. Can zoom in and out. 5x the range of your current Creature Indicator proximity.)

  World Map

  (Selecting this allows the areas you have personally visited or seen from another map to be visible on your map. Terrain is very basic. Only the largest landmarks will be recorded.)

  Ability Points

  You earn Ability Points as you level up. From level 1-20 you will earn a new ability point every 2 levels and from level 21-99 a new point every 5 levels.

  Advancement Points

  You earn Advancement Points as you level up. You will receive one every ten levels. Through Advancement Points you will be able to advance beyond Basic level Abilities.

  “Now to figure out what we are going to need to unlock first,” I said.

  “The danger indicator looks good.”

  “That will come in handy, but one thing will be much more important in the long run. Grouping. We can create a group and in a few more levels see each other on a mini-map and speak over long distances.”

  “Oh. Okay, I’ll leave it to you. Just let me know as we level up what will be the most useful. By the way, man, that’s a good looking leg!”

  “What?! Oh...”

  213/221 HP

  My puncture wounds were starting to scab. What had it been, maybe five minutes? Was that 1 HP per minute for recovery?

  “I think I can stand.”

  Offering a hand Kline heaved me up. There was no doubt about it, he was massively strong. I probably stood an entire head over the guy, but at this point in time, it didn’t seem like an advantage in comparison to his strength.

  My only advantage over him seemed to be that I was faster in a full out sprint. Being tall and lengthy helped. I needed to take advantage of my gaming knowledge. Though some athletes certainly played games, there were some like Kline who were extremely talented but lacked basic knowledge.

  We both spent our first ability point on Grouping and created our first group. Experience sharing would work more in my favor than his, but that didn’t mean this wasn’t the best option for spending our first ability point. Grouping was something we were bound to use every day for the rest of the time we were in Freedom. It was literally priceless, especially after a few upgrades.

  It was bearable to walk, and in another few minutes, we were at the hunt again. My wound didn’t completely disappear for at least an hour though. This time I was determined not to get bitten.

  “It’s your turn to get hurt next time,” I said.

  He smirked, looking at me uncomfortably long.

  I raised a brow in response.

  He shook in laughter.

  We stalked goblins. Their groups always came in twos, threes, and fours. A subtle, white beacon now beamed from their heads to the sky when we got close enough.

  It became more and more obvious that I was drastically lacking the strength and endurance to keep up. Mentally my gaming experience seemed to prepare me for knowing what to do, but my body struggled. Not only did I not possess the real life skill to pull off what I knew theoretically, but it was hard to even hold up my spear one handed at the pace we were going.

  After three more groups, we reached level 3.

  Level 3

  You have reached Level 3!

  Your Creature Indicator range has increased by 2 to 12 meters!

  We would have to wait until level 4 for our next skill point.

  We ran into our fifth group of goblins. I went to skewer my first one and it was so difficult to hold my spear steady that the spear point missed its mark entirely. With the fear of pain freshly on my mind, I panicked. Using my shield to bash the goblin in the face, its claw nearly reached my outstretched arm.

  A surge of
delight filled me as I acknowledged how well the shield bash worked. If I couldn’t fully compete for kills, I could at least make things entertaining.

  I started experimenting with weapon combinations. Kline recommended using the spear two-handed, but I didn’t want to abandon the shield. I ended up switching out my spear for the sword, which was only about two pounds compared to the seven of the spear. I still had issues wielding it, but being lighter just made it more useful for my current fitness level.

  By the tenth group of mini-greenies, I had found my rhythm. This further unshackled Kline who never seemed to tire. His ax was devastating. We would rush them regardless of whether they noticed us or not. With Kline’s control and strength, it was hard for him to miss. My gut had been right about him.

  “By the way, we have just under 600,000 people watching us.”

  “Is that good?”

  “Well, let’s put it this way. I haven’t had to pay for any of my Virtual Reality equipment, games, or clothing for the last three years and I first got sponsored with 30,000 followers. 600k is a number only the highest rated pros get daily outside of big events. You’ll want to capitalize on the viewers we are getting while we’ve got them. This is the first day of Freedom so you could consider this the biggest event we are going to see. Do well and take pictures to show your fans how things are progressing. Here. I’ve got an idea.”

  Opening my inventory, I also selected the manual camera. A hologram of a camera appeared, its lens facing me. Moving it, I positioned it over my shoulder. At my command, it counted down from two. My fans would now be able to see a picture with my full inventory of goblin drops, some gems and coins, and a side view of me looking at the camera.

  “Looks like I got lucky finding the right guy to group with,” he replied.

  “Nah. I got the better end of the deal. As a gamer, it’s going to take me longer to get used to this world. You’re helping me get through this as I adapt. It’s the least I can do.”