Zich inhaled as his eyes snapped open. Groggy, he rose from the bed, feeling all his bones snap back into place.
A satisfied exhale escaped his mouth as he stood up and stretched. For someone who had been hunting monsters all day, he felt very relaxed, almost as if he had slept for several hours.
"Phew, finally you are awake!"
Zich heard a familiar voice, and even before he could react, a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him.
Naturally, it was his mother, Lorraine.
"I'm fine, Mom. I've only been gone for a few hours," he complained as he felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs.
Ignoring his plea, she grabbed his hands, an old habit, and checked for injuries. Finding them clean seemed to settle something in her.
"I'm glad you are okay," she chirped excitedly. "I already prepared food for you. How about you freshen up and tell us about your adventure?"
Suddenly, she facepalmed as if realizing something. "Right, players are not meant to tell mundane humans like us about the Ascension Mountain."
From her tone, he could tell that she really wanted to know what the Ascension Mountain was like. After all, she had once been a bubbly child who dreamed of venturing into the Ascension and becoming a powerhouse in this world.
However, she had failed to awaken and became a gravekeeper on the outskirts of town.
After watching her expression for a while, he sighed softly. "Alright, I'll tell you and Dad a few things about the Ascension Mountain. I trust you both would keep your mouths shut."
"Of course we would!" Lorraine exclaimed in an overly enthusiastic tone.
"I'm not worried about you, Mother."
"Then who?"
"That lousy ma…"
"Oi, Zich, my boy, you are awake!"
The door to the room flung open with a loud bang as Leon, the lousy man in question, stepped in and pulled him into yet another bear hug.
"Damn, old man, could you at least take a bath first?" he cried out through clenched teeth.
Even with the stats he had gained from leveling up, before his father's big muscles, he was still being crushed and could barely breathe.
For people who were not awakened, his parents were abnormally strong.
…
The next morning, after washing up and putting on his best clothes, Zich bid his parents farewell and headed for the city.
Stoneheart City was built in rings.
He had known this in theory. Everybody knew. But knowing a thing and seeing it were not the same, and he had never had a reason to see it before today.
The outer ring, where his family's graveyard sat, was called the outskirts.
The district was made up of unpaved roads and single storey buildings with practical purposes, food stalls, tool repair shops, and small livestock pens.
The people here were non players, labourers, craftspeople, and so on. The graveyard was at the very edge of the outskirts, where the city technically ended and the wilderness began, which was precisely why his family's business was located there.
The middle ring was called the Commons. Paved streets. Multi storey buildings. Market squares. Player owned businesses such as equipment shops, potion vendors, and the occasional adventurer board. Players lived here when they were away from the Ascension Mountain.
Lastly, the inner ring was a different city entirely, separated by a long concrete bridge.
When he stepped down from the bus, a look of awe flashed across his face.
The buildings here were three times the height of anything in the outskirts or middle ring. The streets were wide enough for four vehicles side by side and were kept clean by small drone like machines.
Just as he was admiring the scene, a shadow suddenly passed above him.
His eyes lifted just in time to see a sleek vehicle hovering in the air, gliding forward without making a sound. Blue light pulsed underneath it as it moved between the buildings.
Seeing the flying car, an idea crossed his mind.
"Maybe when I get enough money, I'll move Mom and Dad here… then get one of those."
With how few of these flying cars he saw even in the inner ring, he could easily tell they cost a fortune.
He observed all of this for a few more seconds before walking toward the Association building.
The Players Association occupied the centre of the inner ring, a wide, low building that was clearly trying to look more modest than it was. Stone columns lined the front. Double doors were tall enough to admit something considerably larger than a human. A queue had already formed at the entrance this early in the morning.
The queue moved slowly. The players around him were mostly his age, some in small groups talking too loudly about their classes, others alone, looking at their status screens with expressions ranging from smug to devastated.
" A Rank Sword Saint, which means I can wield any sword class without a stat penalty, and my growth ceiling is tier six minimum "
" Mine said Healer, but the description was garbage, all it does is "
" Heard someone got a Summoner class. Basically useless, right? Like you can have a little pet slime following you around "
This last comment came from a spiky haired boy three people ahead of him, speaking to two others with smug confidence. While they were talking among themselves, the boy glanced back at him, and his eyes flashed with sharp killing intent.
— ✦ —
The interior of the Association was all function. Long counters, clerks working methodically, clipboards, stamps, and that particular smell of officiousness that transcended worlds.
He was processed in order. A clerk with glasses and a very small pen took his information, name, age, and class as self reported.
"Class?" the clerk asked.
"Confidential."
The clerk raised an eyebrow. Players usually loved displaying their class on their ID. If one decided to hide it, that usually meant they had awakened a useless class.
The clerk stamped a form, ran a verification crystal over his wrist, confirming he was indeed a player, and slid a card across the counter. It was palm sized, smooth, and faintly warm. His information was etched into its surface alongside the Association emblem.
[Player Identification Card Issued]
Name: Zich Grave | Class: Confidential | Global Player Rank: 000 | Status: Active
"The rank updates automatically as you progress," the clerk said, already looking past him. "The forum access code is on the back. Do not lose the card. Next."
He flipped the card over. A ten digit code was printed on the back in small text.
He walked to the far wall where a row of terminal stations had been installed, brass and glass devices that allowed access to the Player Forum without leaving the building. Most of them were occupied. He waited for one to open, sat down, and entered the code.
[Ding! Welcome Zich Grave to the Player Forum. Additional warning: please be respectful of your fellow members. Not all banter ends on the screen.]