The Almighty Ring

Before getting started, Jiang Fei decided to calm his nerves and regain his bearings. He took a deep breath and opened up his status window.

Name: Verdure Glider

Level: 0

Class: Beginner

Profession: None

Experience Points: 0/100

Health Point: 110/110

Mana Point: 100/100

Physical Attack Power: 10+1

Magic Attack Power: 10

Physical Defense: 5+1

Magical Defense: 5

Strength: 10 (Determines a character’s Physical Attack. Human race Physical Attack gain 1.0, Beginner Physical Attack gain 1.0.)

Agility: 10 (Determines a character’s Attack Speed, Movement Speed, and Dexterity. Human race Agility gain 1.0, Beginner Agility again 1.0.)

Vitality: 11 (Determines a character’s Health Points and Physical Defense. Human race Health Point gain 10, Physical Defense 0.5. Beginner Health Point gain 1.0, Physical Defense 1.0.)

Intelligence: 10 (Determines a character’s Magic Attack and Magical Defense. Human Magic Attack gain 1.0, Magical Defense gain 1.0. Beginner Magic Attack gain 1.0, Magical Defense gain 1.0)

Spirit: 12 (Determines a character’s Health and Mana point regeneration speed, Skill Mastery speed. Recover 1 Point of Health and Mana every 5 seconds in out of combat status per Spirit point. Recover 0.1 points of Health and Mana every 5 seconds in combat status per Spirit point. Beginner gain 0.)

Skill: Focus Strike

Focus Strike: Attacks the enemy instantly, dealing 120% damage. Increase 10% Critical Chance for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 Seconds.

The standard Human Beginner would have two complimentary system gifts; a wooden sword and a cotton shirt, which were equipped by default. They were not without any attribute whatsoever, but he might as well be naked.

Jiang Fei gazed around. The Beginner’s Village did not offer anything impressive. Everything there was just the bare essentials — the bread and butter of all MMORPGs. There were a total of 12 NPCs around, and only nine quests available. One quick chat-and-grab run would allow a player to easily accept all quests.

“O great Adventurer! You have arrived! Our restaurant has exhausted all our food supply! Could you please help us collect 10 pieces of Chicken Meat? You would be duly rewarded!”

“O great Adventurer! You have arrived! We have used up all the leather in the tailor’s shop. Could you please hunt and gather 10 pieces of Deer’s Skin? You would be duly rewarded!”

“O great Adventurer! You have arrived! We have run out of herbs to make medicine for the people! Could you please gather 10 Briarthorns? You would be duly rewarded!”

It was all the same… The same conversation starter, the same reply options… Nothing gets old.

…

“This is getting out of hand. We’re way too overpopulated!”

Jiang Fei sighed. Beginner quests from a Beginner’s Village would be easy. That was a given. The problem now was a disproportionate ratio between the player/monster population. A monster would only be permitted its pathetic existence for an eternity of half a second before its head would roll to the ground, having been lobbed off by any single person in a sardine-pack full of players before being stampeded into the dirt. The monsters could offer no resistance whatsoever. It was being the early bird and picking up your spoils that was quickly becoming a major pain in the neck.

Just as Jiang Fei was on the verge of losing his temper, he found a monster that had yet to have found itself a dance partner. He dashed towards it. That was when something interesting happened.

Plymouth Rock Chicken (Beast, Normal)

Level: 1

Health Point: 50

Attack Power: 5

Skill: None

Note: Beginner’s Village weak monster. Low hostility. Related Quest “Collect Chicken Meat.” Quest Initiator: Restaurant Owner.

“Woah! What the-? That’s a lot of detailed information!”

Jiang Fei stopped dead his tracks and stared at the information popup. Before playing the game, Jiang Fei had done some research on Dawn Break. According to the publicly released information, some skills allowed identification. Only players with said skill could have access to the monster’s name, level, and Health Points. Such information was not accessible to just anyone!

However, not only was Jiang Fei able to read such detailed information about the monster, he was even able to see if it was related to any other quests! Even the quest initiator would be revealed! It was basically an encyclopedia of the game! Jiang Fei stared at the ring in his finger.

The ring hummed and glowed slightly, as if it was acknowledging him, aware of everything.

“Could this contraption be a hacking tool…?” Jiang Fei mumbled to himself.

“Argh!” Jiang Fei lightly slapped himself. “I can’t stop halfway to think about this thing each time! Time to grind and level up!”

Jiang Fei was the kind of guy that would not say no to fun. Anything that he could not solve or understand at the moment would be tossed to a corner of his head and forgotten. His attention was now set on grinding!

“Ding! You have killed Plymouth Rock Chicken. Obtained 2 Experience Points. Obtained 1 Quest Item Chicken Meat!”

In the game, all quest items would be automatically be deposited into the player’s inventory. Other items such as potions, equipment, and ETC items would require manual looting. Remains of a recent kill would emit a faint light if loot was still present.

Now that he had found a target to slay, Jiang Fei wasted no time at all and jumped at the next poor little chicken. This skill would be given to all players by the Village Chief.

“Ding! You have used Gathering and obtained 1 Chicken Meat!”

After collecting the item, Jiang Fei’s first grinding session in Dawn Break commenced.

…

“Ding! Congratulation! Player Verdure Glider has reached Level 1! All Attribute Points +2!”

As his ears reverberated with the chime of the notification, Jiang Fei’s euphoria quickly faded. That name. That ridiculous name. He had known sooner, he would have ended up with a better name! However, if he were to delete his character and start over, he would need to wait for an entire week to recreate a character! Jiang Fei would never allow himself to waste that much time! There was no choice but to swallow his shame.

In this game, characters below Level 10 would have all Attribute Points evenly distributed. 10 Attribute Points would be given for every level gained. Prior to Level 10, a player’s Attributes would gain 2 points each. After that, those 10 Attribute Points would be split in two. Five would be evenly distributed, and the other five would be given to the player to manually invest.

“WOOHOO! Time to kill!”

After gaining a level, Jiang Fei, who was now slightly more agile, rushed towards a field of Wild Rabbits.

“Ding! You have killed Wild Rabbit! Obtained 5 Experience Points! Obtained Quest Item: 1 Lucky Rabbit’s Food!”

“Ding! You have used Gathering and obtained 1 Delicious Rabbit’s Meat!”

…

Two hours later, Jiang Fei was already Level 4. Along the way, he got his hands on another equipment; a torn Cloth Armor Lower Pants which provided more modesty than Defense.

At that point, the system blared out a warning about how his inventory was at full capacity. Many items had already been moved into the mysterious ring inventory. There was only one minor caveat about the ring. Items from the ground could not be directly placed into the ring’s inventory. He had to manually move all the items from his own character’s inventory into the ring’s inventory before being able to loot anything more from the ground. As such, to ease his gameplay, Jiang Fei had moved all the ETC items into the ring’s inventory and only placed the quest items in his character’s inventory.