[Hillburry Town Guard
Level 15]
Freddy and the other two inhaled sharply upon witnessing the guards level.
According to the beta testers, if a player is five level below their opponent, they suffer severe level suppression effect. Under this effect, damages received are tripled.
-99
A blood-red damage number appeared above the dazed Lord Awesomness as he tried to regain his orientation.
His HP bar immediately emptied living only a sliver of health to keep him alive.
"That was a warning strike. Even though you realm-hoppers can't truly die, it doesn't give you the right to wantonly cause trouble." The guard spoke with a stern expression.
The commotion earlier had already attracted a crowd of both players and NPCs to the scene. The players were all horrified, that was only a warning strike.
Having regained himself, Lord Awesomness hurriedly stood and picked up his sword which he'd dropped on impact.
"Aren't these NPCs a little too realistic? And what's with the force, damn my body aches" he thought while looking at his trembling arms.
"Hey why don't you stand down for now, you can beat the guard" the chubby Grizzler hurriedly approached him.
"I know that much, I'm not brain dead. I'll look for a chance to deal with him once he steps out of the gate." Lord Awesomness snorted and sheathed his sword.
Seeing the realm-hopper sheath his weapon, the guard also sheathed his sword and walked away.
"Speaking of which, where's that guy?" The scrawny Double son suddenly asked.
Looking around the crowd, they realized that Freddy had already disappeared since an unknown period of time.
"Damn that trash, that f*cking slum rat has made a fool of me for the second time. Damn it." Lord Awesomness roared in anger.
Meanwhile, Freddy the culprit had already gone a long distance from the scene.
"If this wasn't a safe zone, that Lord Awesomness would have been one-shoted. This guards are truly terrifying." Freddy quietly made a mental note not to anger any guard until he became strong enough.
As he walked through the side, seeing the NPC kids running around and the adults going about their daily lives, Freddy couldn't help but marvel at the game's realism.
"This game feels so real." Freddy thought to himself, then he suddenly recalled the words of Nora from the council.
"Play the game seriously, Not everything is as simple as it seems. What does she mean by those words?" Standing quietly to the side, Freddy tried to make sense of those words.
"Why don't we go take a few mugs in the tavern huh?" A male NPC with the name Grant, asked his friends as they walked pass Freddy. Their conversation startling him from his brooding.
"It's a little too early, but still a great way to start the day right? Hahaha" his friend responded and they both bursted into laughter.
Operating under an inverted temporal law of 3:1, logging into the game by 6pm in reality will result in the time being 6am in the game. And an hour in reality is equivalent to three hours in the game.
"Right, in mom's book Kaelos always visits the tavern everytime he arrives at a new town. Let's start there." With this line of thoughts Freddy decided to follow those two.
If other players heard his thoughts, they would probably smack him right at the back of his head. While others were hurrying to level up, he was actually going to a tavern.
"Clear the way, hiyah"
As he moved to follow those two however, a loud shout suddenly came from behind.
On the straight cobblestone from the entrance to the square, a luxurious carriage pulled by two horses was approaching at a high speed.
Everyone hurriedly ran out of the way including Freddy. However, a little girl around eight or nine, trying to run suddenly stumbled and fell at the center of the road.
Heading on a collision course with the little girl, the carriage actually showed no sign of stopping or slowing down.
Seeing the situation Freddy suddenly moved.
Racing into the road, he drew the little girl into his embrace and turned his back towards the fast approaching carriage.
Bam!
Almost immediately, one of the horses rammed into his back sending him tumbling towards the side of the road.
Pain
Burning pain assaulted his spine which was the point of impact.
-65
A red damage number appeared above him and his HP bar dropped more than half.
Sitting up with the girl in his embrace, Freddy looked up to see the carriage still running as if nothing happened.
"That black-hearted merchant, always running without care of anyone else."
"Curse you, you won't rest until you kill someone."
"Hurry, Quickly check on Ellie's daughter and that young adventurer."
"Look at that, a stupid player actually took a hit for an NPC."
The crowd instantly erupted with loud noises, some cursed at the carriage, some expressed concern towards Freddy while some players were ridiculing him.
Enduring the pain, Freddy looked at the trembling figure nestled between his arms, her eyes tightly shut in fear. "Are you okay?"
The girl finally opened her eyes and looked at Freddy "I'm... I'm fine, thank you mister."
Seeing that the girl was okay, Freddy finally let her go and lifted himself from the ground with a painful groan.
"Are you okay mister?" Hearing Freddy's painful groan, the little girl asked in return.
"I'll live." Freddy replied with a chuckle and the crowd burst into laughter.
"Well done young man."
"Yeah, nicely done."
Seeing that both Freddy and the little girl were safe, all the towns folk started praising him. Even the guard who just arrived nodded towards him.
Ding!
-----------------------------------------
System Notification
Hillburry Town Reputation +5
World Fame +1
-----------------------------------------
Just then, a system Notification suddenly appeared before him.
"Well what do you know, looks like the pain did come with some benefits, even if I don't know what it does." Freddy thought to himself, smiling.
Even though he was not well versed in gaming, Freddy knew that somethings are advantageous to have more than to have less.
"Layla! Layla!!"
The anxious voice of a breathless lady suddenly resounded from a distance.