Chapter Six

"Why have you been following me?"

The guy looked at Lionel with determination in his eyes as he declared, "I want to form a team with you."

Silence hung in the air, the orc guy waiting hopefully, seeing that Lionel remained quiet he added,

"I've been watching you, first you immediately went to take up that library quest that no one else wants to take, you chose to play with a human race when everyone else was choosing many other powerful races, I thought you were either stupid or knew exactly what you were doing.

You fought so many valerian bees including that strange one that shoots lightening all on your own, yet when you had the chance to level up and leave you didn't. You weren't stupid, you just had a strategy. I came into this game planning to go solo, but watching you I've realized that it would be better to have someone smart like you as a team member. So I want to form a team with you."

Lionel turned to leave, "I don't need a team."

In his past life he'd had a team who were considered the strongest in the game, but in the end they had betrayed him, in this life, he would fight on his own.

"Why not? Every player wants to form a good team, it's almost impossible to find the (Golden Orb) alone, you might get player killed even before you get halfway."

"I'll take my chances." Lionel replied continuing on his path without stopping, he soon arrived at the tunnel of despair.

The tunnel of despair was dark just as he'd expected, a eerie aura hung in the air that made goosebumps rise on ones skin.

Lionel frowned sensing a familiar aura in the air even before he'd entered the tunnel. A scene immediately flashed into his head about a battle he'd once fought in the twentieth level of the game, a smirk lifted his lips,

"Ah, so it's that guy? I defeated him once when he'd already reached a higher level, he shouldn't be too hard to defeat now." Lionel muttered to himself.

Nathan, the orc guy who'd secretly followed Lionel watched him enter the feared tunnel of despair, his system alerted him of the location being a danger zone. In the game, danger zones were places players should avoid at all costs, it was the place a player was susceptible to getting killed the most.

"Is he crazy? A new player shouldn't be going into a danger zone." Nathan was someone who was eager for a challenge, if that guy could brazenly walk into that tunnel, then he could too.

"Let's see what could be so special that a player could risk their life to dash into a danger zone shall we?"

Pulling out his weapons, Nathan was ready for battle as he walked into the tunnel, he felt a cold shiver run through his skin immediately he walked into the dark tunnel.

Checking into his inventory he purchased an an illuminating light bulb. "Where could he have gone?"

Nathan searched but all he could see were walls with strange carvings on them, he walked for a long time before he finally reached a dead end. "Did he disappear into thin air of what?"

Nathan hadn't finished voicing his thoughts when the walls behind him crashed, a searing cold filling the air. Someone was flung onto the wall with great force, waves of ice crashed right above the figure.

"Holy shit! You'll get killed!" Nathan yelled alerting Lionel whom he witnessed getting thrown out from the walls which he now realized was a masking barrier.

However Lionel didn't heed his warning, in fact he could see a thrilled look in his eyes as he jumped back into the barrier.

Nathan could feel the aura of the creature Lionel was currently fighting, he couldn't decipher it's level but one thing was certain, it was a big mistake for a beginner to be fighting such a creature.

"It seems that guy has no care for his life." Nathan sighed, "Since I've acknowledged him as my team member, I can't just watch him die."

Preparing himself Nathan also jumped into the barrier, however the scene that met his eyes left him stunned, his jaw dropped.

'Congratulations, player Blacklion001 has successfully eliminated the Bimari tiger.'

'Ding!'

'Reward for killing a level twelve creature!'

'Super vision!'

*Player has unlocked the skill Super Vision!*

*Skill description: Super Vision, allows user to see beyond the eye can reach.*

*Coins received: 2000 gold coins.*

"Holy shit, how the hell did he...?" Nathan was beyond stunned. The Bimari tiger was an ice creature that lives in seclusion to cultivate and grow it's level. Currently being at level twelve it could tear a beginner player apart.

How was this guy able to defeat it so effortlessly?

What he didn't know was that Lionel was already familiar with the Bimari tiger, having fought it at it's peak level Lionel already knew all it's hidden moves and tactics, it wasn't hard to defeat it at all.

He'd just had to endure a single blow due to his low level.

At this moment, anyone else who could view this scene would be completely dumbstruck. Defeating the Bimari tiger wasn't just hard, for a beginner player it was impossible.

Lionel happily viewed his rewards, the tiger carcass on the floor had also become an animal core which he stored into his inventory.

When Lionel glanced up, he was met with a wide pair of eyes staring at him incredulously.

"You..." The orc guy didn't seem to be able to form words.

A notification suddenly appeared in Lionel's view.

*Time to log off*

There was a certain time frame a player could spend in the gaming world for a day, hence when a player had exceeded twelve hours in the game, they are asked to log off for sometime before they would be able to return into the game again.

Lionel tapped the log off button, and everything went dark.

Opening his eyes he found himself in the real world. He took off the gaming helmet and detached the gaming band from his wrist before getting out of bed.

Immediately he walked into the living room, an excited voice called him.

"Lione, you're back! How was the game?" His roommate Steve was sitting in front of the TV holding a big size KFC chicken bucket as he devoured one chicken drumstick after another while watching an action movie.

Lionel had found himself back in time on the very day they were to start the game, he'd informed his father that he wished to move out and without giving any explanations, he had left the Phillips mansion to live with his friend in an apartment downtown where they would be sharing the rent, Lionel had bought the game with his savings and had immediately delved in.

"Quite fun." Lionel replied before walking into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water.

"Quite?" Steve stared at him with saucer wide eyes, "Everyone's raving about how awesome and realistic the game is, while you think it's just quite fun?"

Lionel blinked a few times, he wasn't astonished about the gaming experience since he'd gotten to experience the game in his past life, but facing Steve's wide inquisitive gaze he quickly replied, "I mean... it's awesome, unlike any other game I've played so far, the developers created a revolution with this game."

Steve nodded while biting into another drumstick, "Well for the CEO to declare such a quest to the players of the game, it really is a revolution. Hey, do you think anyone who finds the (Golden Orb) is really going to receive shares of DarkRealm studios or is it just a publicity thing to lure more people to play the game?"

"I don't think they need any publicity thing to lure players in, the game is unlike any other game created till date, I think it's..." Lionel suddenly paused mid-speech a frown drawing his brows together.

"What's wrong, why are you looking at me like that, do I have sauce on my face?" Steve asked seeing how Lionel stood as if in a trance but Steve soon realized Lionel wasn't staring at him, but something behind him, he followed Lionel's sight turning around but all he saw was the empty wall behind him.

Lionel stood for a long time without making any reactions, he wasn't just staring at the wall, he could see the dark desolate roads outside. He could see through the walls.

'Isn't this...the skill I just unlocked inside the game?