2. The Change

[Ding!]

[Congratulation, you have reached enough level to unlock new skill ‘Ensnarement.’ The cost to unlock the skill is 2,000 HC. Do you want to unlock the skill?]

“Shit, this game was a total bloodsucker. Yes, unlock it.”

A man with tangled lock hair leaned on a tree trunk while scrolling lazily on his game window. He looked at his almost complete tree branch skills and grinned wide. Well, at least he did not spend all his coins in vain. When people said that Heaven of Terraria was another form of a capitalist game, he did not believe it at first, but he has been playing this game since one year ago and experienced it himself that this game was a whole capitalist thing.

However, he could not avoid the addiction to login into this open-world game because the coins here could be exchanged with real money and if he could find a rare item, he could sell it to a rich player. So, this game became a good option for a total antisocial like him, that rarely ventured out of his dingy apartment except to purchase food or go to work. He spent most of his time holed up in his room, glued to his computer screen, lost in virtual worlds and online games.

[Order accepted, the skill ‘Ensnarement’ will be added in player Siegrid tree branch skill. Do you want to purchase anything else?]

“Nope, just let me try this new shit, you bitch.”

Siegrid closed the hologram window and activated his new skill, Ensnarement. It was a skill that allowed its user to create traps that ensnare the target, preventing them from moving or using their abilities. It was a powerful skill that Siegrid had been looking for for a long time.

He grinned wide when a small circle made from a chain appeared on his palm. “With this chain, I can catch many demi-human and sell them to the rich player as a slave.”

Yes, the slave trade was a common thing that happened inside Heaven of Terraria. Demi-human and rare creatures like young dragons were the best sellers in the Torrenfield black market. A hunter could sell each of them for more than 10,000 HC.

RUUUUMBLEEE—

Suddenly, Siegrid felt a faint tremor beneath his feet, and his eyes widened in surprise. The ground began to shake more violently, and Siegrid stumbled, grasping the tree trunk to steady himself.

“W-what is this?”

As quickly as it had begun, the earthquake subsided, leaving Siegrid standing in stunned silence. The surrounding forest was still and calm once again as if nothing had happened at all. Siegrid gazed around in confusion, wondering what could have caused such a strange and sudden disturbance.

[Ding!]

[You got emails.]

The notification sound surprised Siegrid and made him almost stumbled to the ground again.

“Tsk, why they couldn’t let me do something in peace? Not this game or even that old hag, always babbling something useless about finding jobs or getting out from home.” Siegrid canceled his skill and opened the email box, and it seemed that his dinner from online delivery had come. He ordered two big-size mac burgers and a large coke for himself.

As for his mother? The hell with her, she could eat dirt or rock after getting caught hiding money from him.

“Dududududu, let’s eat something delicious first and come back to catch a dragon.” Siegrid swiped the email box and touched the setting icon to find the logout button.

“Huh?”

Siegrid frowned when he could not find the logout button on his game window. “Is there a bug happen?”

“Nah, there’s no bug happened in this game since it was released. The developer itself said that this game was perfect.” He did not give up and tried to find it again, he refreshed the window again and again, but he still could not find the logout button. Panic started to creep over him, but Siegrid tried to cover it with awkward laughing. “It must be a bug, hahaha, I just need to wait until the bug is fixed. Well, I can send a complaint to the developer and get some compensation from them.”

He leaned on the tree trunk again and calmed himself down, but he frowned again when he saw that there was another email coming with the first one. Siegrid chose to open it because he felt bored and wanted to log out before his food got cold.

However, his plan to binge eat the burger might never happen as he had read the content of the second email. His jaw dropped open, and his eyes were shaking with fear. “I-Is this for real?”

//

Hello, Heaven of Terraria player.

This is Game Master.

Today is the third anniversary of VRMMORPG Heaven of Terraria. I want to thank all players that dedicate themselves to this game since it was released three years ago. I get a piece of news that the total current players are surpassing 20,000 active players. What a significant number!

However, as the Game Master, I feel that Heaven of Terraria has lost its true essence due to massive change inside the game from the huge power gap ranking and other bad events. I feel sad and angry because my game has become strange, even for me. So, in order to revitalize it, I make a huge decision as a Game Master.

Starting from today, the logout button will be removed, and all players inside the game are prohibited from asking for help from other people in the real-world to put off the TerraGear. Just quick information, all the TerraGear have been installed with a nano bomb that will explode in the moment it is put off with force, boom!

In order to leave this game, you just need to finish all the towers inside the game. After all the towers are finished, the central tower called Yggdrasil will appear, and all the players that reach the peak floor can leave this game.

As for the first player that reaches the peak floor, they can ask for anything they want, from money to fame, and I will grant it with my power.

The reason for doing this? Well, as the Game Master, I don’t have particular reasons. I just want to return this game as it should, the survival and battlefield game, not slice of life game.

Also, I love watching people die. ^-^

So, let’s race to be the strongest and meet me again at the peak of Yggdrasil!

System, activate the resurrection mode!

P.S:

- The pain level has been reset to zero.

- The nano bomb in your TerraGear will explode if your HP reaches zero.

- The NPC will be freed from restriction and have their own life to raise the difficulty level.

//