Open World Online (O.w.O)

• 1^st Person POV (MC)

-Present Time-

Taking off the helmet, I left it on the bedside table and always charged as I...

“Hnggghhhhhh!”

Stretching my body hard till my body quivered and yawned big time before finally relaxing.

Brrrr... My shoulder shivers. I need to turn on the heater, it’s getting cold as it is midnight. Once I did, waiting for several minutes or so until it felt warm. I took a shower and a very late dinner then brushed my teeth.

The bed feels so warm and comfy as I close my eyes. Letting heaviness, darkness, and slumber take over.

...

Zz...

Zzzz...

Zzzzzz....

Zzzz...

Zz...

...

“H-huh?”

I woke up, eyes crusted and a bit addled. Looking at the time it’s around 10 AM. Upon waking, I noticed a wet patch on my pillow indicating that I just drooled.

(“That was great! Okay... breakfast, brush teeth, and then game!”)

Using my phone, I set up nice music. OST from an old game that I played a long time ago. It is a gentle music evoking memories, I remember it like yesterday using my character hanging around in a nice town and just talking to players.

Then I began cooking a simple meal set. Fried eggs with a runny yolk, toasted bread that is a bit dark on the edges since I forgot the time I put it in the toaster and small miso soup from an instant packet.

Starting to eat it, I stopped the music and opened the MeTube app instead.

(“Whoa... It has been a while since I saw the news in the MeTube algorithm.”)

It’s titled ‘Scientist discovered new species’. Probably they found them in an ocean or something since the majority of these kinds of news is usually an aquatic species. Though... I am curious.

Watching it while eating, I retract my words. The new species is not an aquatic one rather it’s from land. A feline animal with strange patterns, the scientist said that its skin and fur have similar capabilities to a chameleon.

(“Cool...”)

In other news, they also found a malformed baby of a lion cub, it appeared to have another head growing on their back. They blurred the cub only showing an outline of it before the video ends.

Huh... how interesting. Though can I believe this? I’m not sure... Media tend to exaggerate things after all.

I closed the MeTube app and opened the web browser. Since I frequently visit Pochi’s website, it is saved and I bookmarked it too.

Pochi updated the wiki, listing several new dungeons he discovered after Rebirth plus each special Area for Rebirthed players.

He also declared he made a Guild! Called Squish Mochi, a kind of cute name for a guild with an icon of Shiba Inu getting their cheek squished. He is asking for people to join in by sending requests to him.

Hmmmm, I assume Guild functions the same as any other game! I rarely join any in other games so I’m not going to send a request...

--

Haaaaa... with my belly full I was satisfied and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth then finish it with mouthwash.

Feeling comfortable, I left my phone on the bedside table, draped myself in a blanket

Then checking the helmet, it has a buffering icon on its visor seemingly downloading some kind of patch.

I waited for a minute or two until the bar was filled and the ‘Complete’ word appeared before vanishing returning the helmet to its normal state.

(“Huh... Come to think of it, the helmet never asked for an internet connection. How peculiar...”)

Eh... maybe it is attached to it. I wore the helmet and turned it on. My whole worldview went white then utter darkness as if I closed my eyes.

-Entering O.w.O-

Upon opening it, I am greeted with a familiar view of the starry night sky and a soft patch of grass as I’m currently lying down right when I log out.

Standing up from that position, I re-crafted and sold potions once more in the market. It’s my routine to re-craft and sell potions in the morning when I log in and whenever I log out. It feels nice to have a routine...

I hum pleasantly before setting up my plans for today.

First of all, I opened my left hand and in doing so the sphere that’s always orbiting me settled and unfurled as I let out a satisfied hum.

(“I am not delusional and the artefact is real.”)

Second! Let's try my [Creation] as I uttered the keyword.

“[Create: Skill Book (Legendary)]”

There was a *Poof* noise and nothing appeared on my hand.

(“Ah... Failed, figures that would be too OP.”)

I nodded to myself, I’m satisfied with having the capabilities to create an upgrade Skill book for free.

Third, I need to figure out how much MP Regen my [Aegis of Creation] provides and if can I activate it with a few words instead of saying the entire thing...

There is a difference in milliseconds when saying ‘Aegis of Creation’ and ‘Aegis’ that could mean dead or alive when being ambushed.

“[Aegis of Creation]”

Saying that my body is covered by the familiar prismatic sheen outer layer as I wander to the backyard.

“[Icicle Spear], [Incinerate], [Thunder], [Tectonic Might], [Retribution], [Blight].”

All of them are fast casting, single target, and somewhat low cool down. Staple DPS {Spell} for Elementalist, Inquisitor, and Necromancer class players as I bombard that poor training dummy with all sorts of magical attacks.

I continue to repeat these {Spell} over and over until I get a hint of a slightly drowsy feeling then I stop.

(“I see... I have a tremendous amount of MP as I can spam these {Spell} several times.”)

Sitting on it for a few seconds, I can feel the sensation of drowsiness beginning to fade away. Which is a new sensation when the barrier is up.

“[Aegis]”

Upon uttering that in my mind, the prismatic colour surrounding my skin vanished and in doing so I felt that sensation of drowsiness fade away quicker until I got my bearings.

(“I see... It works tremendously, I can activate it with short words too as long as I intently want that specific ability to trigger. Man! The brain scan stuff is impressive!”)

Nevertheless, I’m activating [Aegis of Creation] and letting it stay up until I decide it. I’m used to the feeling of constant tiredness IRL and in-game when [Star Shield] disable MP regeneration. So the feeling of recovering even if the barrier’s on is something...

That reminds me about <Vancian> my legendary {Skill}. The description says that it can waive off penalty from {Trait}, then... could it be?

A surge of curiosity sneaks its way into my brain as I activate <Vancian>...

Oh boy, here goes nothing!

“[Knowledge of Creation] 50%”

Declaring that, I clenched my eyes shut bracing for the sudden onset of drowsiness yet it never came. Slowly opening my eyes I looked at the <Vancian> stacks have been reduced and in my {Status} panel, it is increased by 5 for both INT and WIS.

(“Not that big amount of increase but it’s essentially free... I think it’s high time I abuse this.”)

I wasted my entire <Vancian> stack to spam [Knowledge of Creation] increasing my INT and WIS still not as much as levelling up but it will build up. I’m sure of it! A good investment for the future me.

Okay, without further ado I’m going to start another class advancement and tackle the mystery of the Rebirth process for me.

-Starlit Sands-

In a split second plus a strange breeze brushing past me, I am in Starlit Sands. A vast desert with hot temperatures thankfully I’m not affected by it.

I looked around to gather some wood and stones as I wanted to make a tent to pass the day.

While gathering though, I see a player wandering around looking confused wearing a wondrous white robe and a Mitra decorating her head.

It’s strange to see a Priest class, not with party members but rather wandering solo. I mean...usually Bishop if they wanted to solo, they went to a dungeon riddled with undead monsters as they are most effective to deal with them there by themselves. Not with these creatures in Starlit Sands.

Even stranger is... that I can see she is not human but hiding as one using illusory means. The majority of players here are humans, somewhat elves and dwarves but rarely other races so seeing one is like a treat...

Seeing her true form is like an overlapping picture, in one angle I see her human form while in the other is humanoid looking several centimetres taller than her human form, skin colour is deep maroon red with horns curled on top of her head, bat-like wings on her back curling her in a shape of a cocoon, and a tail spun around her legs.

She has no Rebirth icon on her player tag, so she hasn’t gone through that process yet.

A-anyway, true Sight is always handy to have! I happily mused to myself...

(“Ah...”)

It seems she noticed my curious look as she ran towards me. I waited until she arrived in front a bit gasping for breath.

“I know it’s weird, we just met but I need help.” -Bishop Player-

“... What do you need?”

Needing several seconds to answer that question, she then answered.

“Do you by any chance memorized [Locate] {Spell}?” -Bishop Player-

“Y-yeah? What do you want to look for?”

She clasped her hands together with closed eyes and letting out a sigh of relief then asked.

“Can you help me look for Minotaurs, Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee?” -Bishop Player-

“Eh? Minotaurs? They exist in this place?”

I am dumbfounded as she explained...

“Yeah, but their location is quite hidden. You see, I am undergoing Rebirth Quest and I needed to *conquer* a minotaur. Aughhh! I’m so stupid to choose that monster rather than anything else.” -Bishop Player-

She seems frustrated, poor her. I’ll try to help her rather than sit around waiting for the night might as well do something.

“Okay! I’ll help you, My name is Magie Magia. What about you?”

I began casting the {Spell} while introducing myself as an invitation for partying appeared in front. I accepted it...

“Owh! I’m Booba.” -Booba-

“Boba, as in Bubble Tea? I like those drinks!”

I smile, maybe I’ll order a Boba tea and snacks for lunch. I have extra money to spend a bit after all! I hummed in happiness...

“U-uh... Yeah, like Boba Tea. Yup!” -Booba-

She gives a smile. As I finished casting it, my map which I realised is revealed much more than usual has some highlighted dots sparsely spread. Picking the closest one, I directed her...

“Would you mind helping me reach the place? I’m quite useless if not fighting undead.” -Booba-

She points to the desert where ambusher dune worms come out and wind spirits in the form of dust devils roam about. I can see why a Bishop would have a difficult time...

How did she get here in the first place? Well, I won’t pry too much...

“Hmmmm... well, I have nothing to do anyway until nighttime.”

“Oh! You’re a Celestial Mage then?” -Booba-

“Yup.”

I let out a proud and smug grin being a celestial mage though they aren’t famous or meta in DPS they excel in support. I kinda like this class, it grew on me...

I placed [Guidance] on her and me as we travelled towards the direction of that highlighted dot.

Since I’m with other players, I defaulted to use Celestial Mage {Spell} and simple Mage {Spell}. As we fought many enemies.

She mainly uses Light {Spell} as what the Priest class have including Bishop ones. Though she seemed to be enjoying the battle, I mean I do too!

I didn’t expect I could chain cast several Celestial Mages {Spell}.

“KRIIIIIKKKK” -Dune Worm-

“[Astral Chain]”

A conglomeration of stars appeared around the body of the worm restraining its movement as they connected in a line of light creating a cage of some sort.

“[Divine Judgement]” -Booba-

She began casting her DPS after giving me and her buffs that she refreshed every so often. She’s a good priest!

“[Solar Flare]”

Bombarded with divine light and beams of the literal sun. The worm lies defeat before vanishing leaving behind glimmering orbs that we collected.

“Hm...” -Booba-

I turned my heart towards her in confusion.

“What?”

“Nothing, just that I realized it’s pretty fun to fight with party members.” -Booba-

“Eh? You often do solo then?”

She looks a bit surprised before shaking her head.

“No, no... I am always with a party but they get *Distracted* often as a side-effect I suppose...” -Booba-

She seems to be unsure of what to say.

“I mean, I will get distracted if I see shiny objects and hidden things. Of course pieces of lore too...”

She chuckles as I too giggle.

“Hey, can I add you as Friends? Just so we can hunt and grind when you finish your Rebirth too.” -Booba-

“Sure! No problem.”

Accepting her Friend Request, I can see her class as LV100 Bishop.

--

“Whooaaa... That is pretty big.”

What I’m looking at the moment, is a large pyramid with a single entrance. At this distance, it’s big enough to be noticeable which means if we went closer how big would it be?

Eager to find out, I tippy-tap my feet in the direction of that pyramid.

“Hello?”

I peeked through the massive gate leading to the interior of this pyramid.

It’s... a bit of nothing since I only see paths to either left or right and the walls are decorated with glyphs.

“What do you see?” -Booba-

She too follows by leaning her head.

“Just some paths to left or right...”

“[Find: Minotaur]”

Finishing that {Spell}, a pulsing wave emits from me as several outlines are being highlighted.

“Okay... Let’s go to the right.”

She nods and follows, there are different creatures here! Mummies are in theme which she dispatched rather easily. There are also golems and traps which we avoid.

It feels like a maze once we enter, there are other players too that we occasionally stumble into one another.

Then I felt a tug on my shoulder I knew who was.

“Yeah?”

She fidgets for a bit and then asks a question.

“Hey, once we encounter a Minotaur. Can I handle it solo? Here... Just in exchange for helping me this far. Plus I owe you a favour! -Booba-

She requested a trade and I accepted. Of which she gave some monster parts and Zenis.

“Are you sure, you can take them?”

“Oh? I’m 100% sure, I’m prepared for it.” -Booba-

She seems very sure but just in case...

“[Extend: Terra Constellation]”

A Celestial Mage {Spell}, a constellation that bore the meaning of Earth appeared above her head before vanishing.

It helps reduce physical damage taken by a % good for tanker class players but since she’s solo I think this will help a lot.

(“Its unfortunate that constellation {Spell} is mutually exclusive.”)

“Thanks! Remember to chat with me if you need anything.” -Booba-

She cheerfully smiled before waving goodbyes and sprinting her way to the chamber where a Minotaur existed. Then she promptly left the party with that I too left the pyramid after realizing it was almost night-time.

Though I cannot help but smile...

(“Yay! I have 2 friends now.”)