New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 243 The Next Phase

***In another of the five cities of the Alliance, Aravelle; Windswept Kingdom***

Another player was currently standing at the gates of the palace of Aravelle. This player was named Lancelot Pendragon.

His class was Swordsman, but he considered himself more of a Knight than a Swordsman. He liked to portray himself as a virtuous man and played video games as such.

In past games, it often led him into unfavourable situations, but that never changed his gameplay. In New Eden, it had yet to lead him into trouble.

He attributed this to where he had put his two starter points when he created his character. Lancelot played as a human, since the other races attracted him less.

He was a young man that liked to keep his appearance well-maintained, but didn't like to be too frivolous or flashy. This was reflected in his character's well-maintained short beard and shoulder-length hair.

Lancelot had dropped both his starting points in luck, and it had yet to lead him astray. He had already added an extra two points to this, making his total luck four.

This led to more and more fortunate encounters and situations that eventually led to where he was now. A royal guard eventually fetched him and escorted him inside.

He was escorted to the king, to be given a rank and title in Aravelle, for all his good deeds and excellent reputation. The nobles of the kingdom had pushed for this, as having an abnormal on their side would benefit them in the long run.

The military branch of Aravelle had already started recruiting some abnormals and giving them ranks. It was easy to see that this would become an increasing trend, as the abnormals became more and more powerful.

After a long and flashy ceremony, Lancelot was given the rank of Baron, and the title: The Juste. A world announcement resounded in the skies of New Eden.

*Congratulations to the player Lancelot Pendragon on being the first player to attain a rank of nobility. This rank and the title accompanying it have granted him the reputation to reach the next phase of life in New Eden. Player Lancelot Pendragon is now the first player to reach the grade: Special!*

Players across the world were in an uproar. They finally knew what reputation did!

But the uproar was only starting.

***Inside the city of Garome; Kingdom of Garoma***

Another player was currently sneaking into the palace of a smaller kingdom to the east of Aravelle. This player was named Shadow Scourge.

He was a player amassing infamy in this city by stealing and killing anyone and everyone he disliked. His class was Rogue, with a subclass Assassin.

All his deeds had brought him the attention of the underground world of New Eden, and a thieves' guild rapidly hired him. Accruing more notoriety eventually led him to get a quest from them.

One that he could hardly refuse, due to all the rewards it promised. Slay the king of Garoma.

Of course, he knew kings had legendary grades, mostly, but some smaller kingdoms had rare-grade kings. A kingdom the size of Garoma, for example.

He also knew he didn't have the damage needed to slay a king fast enough to get out after the deed. But he had a secret weapon.

The same secret weapon that had enabled him to kill many strong NPCs already. Shadow Scourge was a toxicologist in the real world.

He worked for the CDC in Brazil, and he specialized in natural poisons. When he started playing New Eden, he picked the race Elf, because he would most likely start in a forest, and that was the best place for him.

Being in a game, he decided he didn't want to be the goody two shoes he always was, and started doing evil deeds. He discovered so many new poisonous plants in the Elven forests; he felt euphoria.

This made him choose this class and subclass, and used his real-world knowledge to become a notorious man. And here he was now.

The daggers in his back were always coated in new versions of poisons that he created, and the one he had coated them with right now was his most powerful to date.

He knew the poison was a fast-acting one, and that he only needed one slight cut to make it take effect. He slipped in the shadows across the palace until he reached a closed door.

Across that door, his target was resting from a long court session. Shadow Scourge picked the door, before entering quietly.

He made his way to his unknowing target before quickly making a slash at the back of his neck. His dagger barely dug through the skin, but that was already enough.

The veins around the cut were already blackening at a visible pace. The king screamed for help, but before his guards could make it inside the room, Shadow Scourge had already vanished.

As he fled, the Elf saw the world announcement in the skies and grinned.

'I will be next!'

A few hours later, albeit with the healers trying to maintain the king's life as they searched for the poison's cure, he breathed his last breath.

As soon as he died, another world announcement shook the player base around the world.

*Congratulations to player Shadow Scourge for attaining the Infamy threshold for passing to the next phase of living. Shadow Scourge is awarded the title Kingslayer. His misdeeds shall be talked about across the world!*

The players that had just started calming down from the previous announcement went into a frenzy again. This was monumental news.

If a player didn't need to be good to achieve the Special grade, then all those evil players only had to redouble their efforts to reach it too.

This came with a wave of NPCs dying and kingdoms all over the world to tighten their security. The adventurer's guild everywhere in New Eden started handing out bounties on the nefarious players.

Khalor, who was quietly farming Exp for himself and his undead army, saw the two announcements and freaked out.

"No! No no no! This is bad! Players will all start fighting with each other. Someone will soon reach the level fifty bar. I need to hurry! Fuck!"

He was furious. This messed up all his plans.

But the worst was yet to come.