- Natalie POV -
I'm completely addicted to Runestone...
If before I thought the game was interesting, after the new update arrived with the new classes and doubled the total amount of cards Players could have, I lost myself while playing.
Not to mention that being able to farm the Battle Pass while playing was such an interesting motivation that I wanted to stay online longer and longer.
And with the use of False Neurological Feedback in the game, it was working!
As I was playing with the Mage class in the game, my maximum Mana was increasing rapidly!
According to the calculations of the most dedicated Players in this area, one hour played increased a Player's maximum MP by 0.004 units, which may seem very little to outsiders, but considering that an F Rank Player has on average only 5 MP, if he plays every day until his Mana is exhausted, he will only need 50 days to increase his total Mana by 1 MP!
A 20% increase in total Mana in just 50 days!
If the Player plays every day for a year, this growth would be 7.3 MP!
As long as the Player played Runestone for a year, an average F Rank Player could accumulate enough Mana to get very close to E Rank!
And this is not a linear growth, but a compound growth, where the more MP the Player has, the more MP he will gain over time, since the Player will be able to play more hours a day, increasing his MP gain!
When the gamer community discovered this, Runestone's popularity skyrocketed, to the point that today the game already had almost 40,000 Players online and some Players from other states were even traveling to California to play Runestone.
And as a player with a rank above Diamond, I wasn't getting 0.004 MP per hour, but 0.005!
So instead of needing 50 days to accumulate 1 MP, I would only need 40 days if I played 5 hours a day, but as I had 6 MP when I first got to know the game, in just 30 days I managed to increase my total MP to 7!
Seeing and feeling my MP growing daily was such a nice feeling that I even stopped raiding dungeons and just focused on getting stronger.
My mother was happy to hear this, as now I wouldn't be exposing myself to danger so often, so we just stayed at home and enjoyed the game.
She was also very pleased with the game, as during the weeks she's been playing it, the intense 'exercises' she's been doing daily have started to pay off, causing some of the fat she hated to disappear completely!
'She already looked my age, now that she's slimmer and has better skin, it's becoming more and more common for people to actually believe that she's my sister...' I sighed laughing as I looked at her lying in bed playing Runestone.
As I preferred to play more in the evenings, my mother would take advantage of me sleeping in the morning to play for the few hours she was able to connect to the game with her little MP.
Looking around my room and seeing what a mess it was, I sighed and started tidying up.
Surprisingly, I could see a garbage bag with the mess I'd made, so seeing that my mother had tidied up the rest of the house, I picked up the garbage and left the apartment to throw it away in the utility room.
Looking at the front door of the apartment, I was surprised to hear loud music playing there.
It was rock music, a genre I liked, but I had never heard the music itself.
Curious, I even stood in the hallway for a minute listening to the music trying to see if I recognized what was playing, but until the song ended I hadn't recognized it.
Remembering that my mother had commented on this new neighbor and how sorry she was that he had been living in the completely empty apartment for a few weeks, I lost interest in him.
From what she told me, this neighbor was a Game Creator, and if he couldn't even buy furniture for his apartment with the income from his game, even if Game Creators made that much money, it could only mean that his game was pretty bad.
So I ignored the next song that started playing in his apartment and went home.
"Natt, you won't believe it!" My mother said excitedly as she came out of her bedroom looking for me.
"What happened?" I asked, curious and excited.
The last time she acted like this was because of a surprise update to Runestone, maybe new cards had arrived in the game?!
"Runestone just got a new update!" She said excitedly as she handed me the Game Core.
Hearing this I felt my heart race and I ran back to my room with the Game Core in hand and asked her. "What's this upgrade?!"
To that she just sighed, "It's about a new game that FrostHaven is developing, from what I understand he made a demo of the new game inside the Runestone so that Players could try out this new game."
I was even more excited by this news. "Really?! And what's this new game like?"
My mother was even more disappointed. "It's a combat game, but I couldn't quite understand how it worked, so I gave up in the middle of the song and decided to let you try it first, after you've tried it and understood how it works I can use my remaining Mana to try playing again."
Looking at her face, I laughed.
"In the end you don't want to waste your Mana trying a complicated new game and you want me to find out if the new game is really useful and fun, right?" I realized what she wanted.
Seeing that I realized this, her disappointed expression disappeared and she assumed a mischievous smile.
'Damn, that's why people think she's my sister, acting like that and looking like that, how can people not be confused? ' I sighed internally.
Ignoring the fact that my mother wanted to use me as a guinea pig, I didn't worry about it and quickly connected to the Runestone.
As soon as I entered the Tavern, I saw Charlie walking up to a new door that wasn't there the last time I played.
"Charlie, wait!" I shouted to my friend as I ran up to her.
Although I was no longer raiding dungeons, I was still sharing a Tavern with my fellow raiders, just to make it more fun to play Runestone.
And since I was the Player with the highest Rank in the game, the tips I gave them were so useful for raising their Rank that no one was frustrated that I no longer raided dungeons with them.
Hearing me call her, Charlie looked at me surprised and a little anxious.
"Hey Natt, have you come to try out the new game too?" She asked as she looked at the new door.
"Yeah! Do you know anything useful to tell me?" I asked excitedly.
"Now I understand how Frederick was feeling..." She laughed quietly. "I don't know much either, I just logged in and was about to try out the new game, all the important information is on this bulletin board." She said as she pointed to a new board next to the new door.
"Thanks." I thanked her as I approached the notice board.
Charlie waved to me and quickly walked through the door.
Looking at the notice board, I was surprised by the information.
[Attention, Heroes!
The first SyncStrike beta playtest has arrived at Runestone!
For the next 24 hours, you'll be able to try out this new rhythm game with battles synchronized to music.
In this playtest, you'll be able to play an exclusive song in the Warrior and Mage versions, with two difficulties: Easy and Medium.
For more experienced players, difficulty filters will be available to customize the experience.
As a reward, everyone who manages to complete the Easy difficulty and gets an A grade will receive a limited skin for the cards in Runestone and a special skin for weapons in SyncStrike.
Don't miss this chance to try out the new game and secure your rewards!
Just like in Runestone, FrostHaven Entertainment not only guarantees the quality of the Players' training, but also the fun you'll have in our new game!]
Below the notice was an image of Runestone's beautiful card skin drawn with musical symbols.
Next to the Runestone skin was a wooden sword and staff adorned with glowing blue Mana lines that were very reminiscent of the Runestone's aesthetic and were also beautiful!
After reading this warning, instead of understanding how this new game worked, I became even more confused and curious about it, and thinking about the rewards it offered, I didn't think twice and went to the new door that Charlie had entered.
Just as I was about to go through the door, I heard a voice.
"Natt, wait!"
Looking back, I saw a fellow member of our group calling me just as I had called Charlie.
'I think I now understand how Charlie felt...' I laughed internally as I controlled my anxiety about trying out the new game and waited a few seconds to show her the bulletin board.