All Chapters of Return to Level 0: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40
59 chapters
Chapter 31 Probing to Orc Camp
While hiding among the bush, Flama and Caleb continued to observe what they believe to be a newly discovered creature in the game. With the recent world announcements, changes to the world environment were only a matter of time. With how long it had been since Luck’s triggering of the recent world announcements, this was of no surprise to either Flama or Caleb. In fact, they used this opportunity to its fullest. Using their in-game cameras programmed within the interfaces of their huds, Flama and Caleb began noting down as many details as they could. “Be sure to get as much intel.” Caleb said softly. “We’ll need to share this with our allies to prepare for any other, more drastic changes to the game.” Flama sighed, a bit sour at the mention of more work to be done, but sucked it up. “Alright, just be sure to not get caught. I wasn’t expecting to fight a horde of monsters, so I only packed a few potions.” Agreeing, Caleb moved as quietly as he could to get closer. In-game informa
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Chapter 32 Craft and Discover
While Flama and Caleb were away, having their adventure, Luck was flicking through his inventory. Taking stock of what Flama had provided for him, per her agreement for his help. After using the morning to get all his tools in order, Luck finally had a working potion making set up in his workshop in the back. It involved a cauldron, mixing beakers, a large mortar and pestle, and a variety of both old medieval apothecary tools and 19th century chemistry tools, like glass beakers and pipettes. While he lacked the more sophisticated tools like a microscope or a centrifuge, the manual tools would serve their purpose. Crafting in the game of Level 0 truly mimicked real life. Constant testing was needed to create a usable product and with Luck’s ambitions he would need more than what his exchange shop could provide. While the interface’s tutorial said that it could provide anything and everything, this was limited on both the current age of expansion and the amount of RP he had saved.
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Chapter 33 Signs of Change
[Thank you for exchanging 1 mithril ore, 10,000 RP has been added to your balance.] Wanting to see if the mithril ore could be exchanged for resource points in his exchange shop, Luck inserted a single unit of the precious ore. “10 times more!” Luck shouted, amazed that this singular unit of ore was worth the equivalent to 10 medium magic crystals, but this got Luck thinking. He reviewed what he had seen with his [Eye of the Creator] class skill and noted the phrase of “emanating power” from the item's description. If his knowledge of the future was right, which he was very much certain of, mithril ore was categorized by the player community to be a magic related ore. Foretold and used in past fantasy mediums and books, it became a staple in most online games and literature. While this history lesson was a bore to Luck, it did give him insightful information. He began to understand that his exchange shop allowed for the transference of magic energy from physical objects into usa
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Chapter 34 Opening Up To Flama
Getting up from her chair, Flama had stopped Luck in his tracks after getting his attention. She approached, making him feel a bit intimidated due to the slight height difference she had on him, while only a few inches, it was enough to make Luck feel somewhat uncomfortable. Keeping a straight face, he let her approach as she then leant down a bit to make direct eye contact with him, unintentionally showing off her outfit. From Luck’s view point, he saw the glint of Flama’s twin blades behind her back. In truth, Flama was trying to show off her beauty. At her current age, she was at her peak, and while she might have taken a few liberties in changing her in-game character’s appearance with cash shop items, her peers in real life touted her as being a young Madonna of the current generation. With her long fire-like hair cascading down the sides of her face, she pulled the stray locks away in a somewhat inviting manner. “So, I realize that you don’t seem to have your own gaming pod
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Chapter 35 First Quest Together
Returning the next morning, Luck logged into the game and found Flama and Caleb waiting for him downstairs in the reception area of his workshop.“Morning!” Flama greeted, sharpening her twin blades in glee. Luck smiled wryly at the sight.“S-Same to you, did anything happen while I was away?”“Not much!” Flama shrugged and pointed to one of the windows. “We kept an eye on the place during the night, but nothing interesting happened. We didn’t see a player or monster in sight.”“That’s a relief.” Luck sighed. After his discussion with Flama yesterday, both he and her had come to an agreement about how to move forward from their discovery of the nearby orc encampment. He had tasked the two with safeguarding his workshop while he was away during the night, while some players would see this as being overprotective, this was not the case with Luck and Flama.They both understood how the game mechanics of Level 0 worked with monsters. With an orc encampment so close, Flama could understan
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Chapter 36 Hashing Out The Quest
In front of them, laid out on the table was a compilation of Luck’s, Flama’s, and Caleb’s collective map data. Flama and Caleb would not usually share this sensitive information with a low level player like Luck, but they had a partnership going and were incentivized to share their data since completing the [Quest - A Mage’s Beginning], was a common interest between them. Looking at the results, the look on Luck’s face deepened into a frown. In his opinion, the current map they had, even after combining their accumulated data, only produced a map that was 10% as large as the one Luck had in his previous memory. The map was still quite expansive, noting all the currently known NPC nations, field zones, dungeons, raids, and player nations. But all of this was confined to a singular continent with a few outlying islands. In Luck’s opinion, the current world was too small, but he could understand why. With every [Age of Expansion] came more content and this was evident in how there w
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Chapter 37 Shopping With the Queen
“697, 698, 699, and finally, 700.”As one of Flama’s guild members from her inner council counted the hundreds of potions from the crates Luck had just set down in the throne room, they all looked in utter amazement.Dumbfounded by the quantity and variety of potions they had just received from Luck, it put to shame the current most advanced potion makers of their guild.“So?” Luck asked with a grin on his face. “Is everything in order?”As soon as Luck and Flama had arrived back to the capital of Queen Flamewrath’s kingdom, they were greeted by the guards and let inside the palace.On the way, Flama had called for her closest guild members to come see the results of the guild’s dealings with Luck.When they arrived, he was met with derisive eyes that looked at him as if he wasn’t worthy to even be in the same room as them, many even had hands on their weapons, ready to end Luck if Flama gave the word.This would never come to pass and the mood soon changed when Luck declared that he
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Chapter 38 Dwarson the Gruff
Appearing in front of Luck was something he was not expecting, his eyes shuddered as he mentally read each line on the screen only he could see. *** Name: [Dwarson] Class: [Blacksmith Lv38] [Swordsman Lv10] Titles: [None] Class Skills: [Innate Blacksmithing] [Innate Metallurgy] Normal Skills: [Intermediate Blacksmithing] [Beginner Swordsman] [Beginner Physical Recovery] Weapon Skills: [Power Slash Lv4] [Quick Slash Lv1] [Parrying Blow Lv1] HP: 180/180 Mana: 20/20 Strength: 20 Vitality: 18 Agility: 12 Dexterity: 17 Intelligence: 71 Wisdom: 23 *** “Hey Luck? Are you alright?” Concerned with how wide his eyes were open, Flama patted Luck’s shoulder to get him to refocus. She thought that he might have sensed something was off, but Luck down played what he could now see in front of him. “I’m fine, I just think I might need to add a few things to my shopping list, that’s all. Hold on.” Turning away, Luck went off to a secluded corner of the shop to discreetly look at th
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Chapter 39 Carol’s Allure and Intrigue
With his business finished, Luck and Flama had decided to take a stroll through the streets. The rural stone roads they traveled were nothing like the modern paved and ceramic composite paths of the real world. It was somewhat annoying to traverse, but players enjoyed it. It was like they were sent back in time, allowed to now enjoy the thrilling combat and life of medieval times. While this theme was like any other MMORPG, VRMMORPGs had a marked difference. Because of the game's hyper realistic simulation of life and the real world, many actually preferred to take the time to enjoy the natural scenery, it inconveniences and all. It was better than the dreary futuristic sights of their current society that was so engrossed in technological development. Due to this, the environment of their biosphere had been degraded to a point where very little natural scenery was naturally occurring in their cities. Only those with enough money and influence could enjoy going to these now priva
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Chapter 40 Caroline Intrigued
As Luck was conversing with Carol across the reception desk, many of the other players nearby who were tending to their own business, Flama included, noticed that Luck’s eyes were somewhat wandering while he talked. “Ew. What a creep.” A female player scoffed, disgusted by how Luck was dragging his eyes across the busty receptionist’s body. While some of the male players had the same reaction, more were inclined to serve Luck a fist sandwich for leering at their idol. Unbeknownst to Flama, Carol, and Luck, Carol was actually well known as being one of more preferred receptionists in the training hall. While her busty appearance, long blonde hair, and fair skin contributed to her charm, it was her skill in accommodating her customers that drew them to her. Carol was sociable and could be quite talkative, and this showed as she asked about the details of the job Luck had offered her. “So? You said that you would like me to be your assistant in your shop. I also understand that you
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