Darren had died several times in the last few days. It hadn’t gotten better.
This time felt different, though. More… permanent?
The steady crashing of distant waves mimicked the throbbing in his head. He pushed himself to a sitting position, damp sand squeezing between his fingers while the scent of salt water and sun-baked skin tickled his nose. He didn’t remember Isle of Pirates being so realistic. Was he even in the game still?
He looked around. Yup, he was on a beach. It certainly looked like the game.
The sun crested the horizon before him, colouring the world in shades of pink and red. Beautiful, sure, but how had he died this time?
With a thought, the game interface appeared before him, floating in the air, a hazy shade of blue. Even after five days in the world of Isle of Pirates, nonstop exploit-hunting and stress-testing with several other pro gamers, he was still impressed by how smooth and flawless the interface felt.
Was the rest of the game flawless? Hell no. It was strangely organic in its quirks. He and the other stress testers had dug up more than one bug or exploit in that time, but that was the job: get Isle of Pirates ready for full release later in the month.
He pulled up his notifications and scanned through them until one caught his eye.
<<<<>>>>
You Died
Themis, goddess of justice, struck you down for violating Universal Law.
Your profile has been permanently deleted, and your Brainwave Pattern has been banned from creating a new profile or avatar. You have been disconnected from the game.
<<<<>>>>
Darren frowned. That didn’t make sense. How was he still in the game if the AI that Forbidden Worlds Gaming had set up had disconnected him and banned his Brainwave Pattern?
He continued through the notifications.
<<<<>>>>
Warning! Cardiac Arrest Detected
Your physical body has entered Cardiac Arrest. Attempting to Resuscitate.
<<<<>>>>
Darren’s throat tightened. He’d had a heart attack? How was that possible? His body, lying unconscious in the pod, was protected against disconnection. It had a backup power supply that would run long enough to safely log him out of the game. It could survive a power and internet outage without issue.
Not that he had many power outages in Brisbane—it wasn’t like he was in the United States with their rolling blackouts and civil war still raging. The power was even able to keep him in game through minor dropouts—so he’d been assured during onboarding.
He continued reading the notifications while sweat beaded his forehead, only partially from the slowly increasing heat of the day.
<<<<>>>>
Warning! Cardiac Arrest Detected
Resuscitation failed…
<<<<>>>>
Warning! Cardiac Arrest Detected
Resuscitation failed…
<<<<>>>>
Warning! Cardiac Arrest Detected
Resuscitation failed…
<<<<>>>>
Player Status Changed
Your status has been updated from Playable Character (Interloper) to Non-Playable Character (Local). All levels have been converted to the Local (Classless) progression tree. Please note that while your XP remains the same, your level is reduced while you remain Classless.
Level reduced from 18 to 5. Any skill and stat points gained from higher levels have been removed…
<<<<>>>>
Darren stopped reading and shut the notifications down with a thought. “Logout,” he said.
Nothing happened.
“Logout!”
Still nothing. He called up the in-game menu. The logout button was gone.
Gone?
His breaths came faster and faster. His vision started to fuzz on the edges. He pulled up the notifications and, with a thought, opened the latest one again, skimming past what he’d already read.
<<<<>>>>
Level reduced from 18 to 5. Any skill and stat points gained from higher levels have been removed…
Basic Info:
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HP: 60 (base 50 +10 from CON)
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Level: 5
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XP: 253,190/304,000
Current skills:
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Shipwright lvl 1 (0% Proficiency)
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
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Twist of Fate lvl 1 (0% Proficiency)
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Summoned Swivel Gun lvl 1 (0% Proficiency)
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Supercharged Shot lvl 5 (100% Proficiency)
Current stats:
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Constitution: 11
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Strength: 13
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Dexterity: 10
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Intelligence: 17
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Wisdom: 10
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Luck: 14
Respawn is locked unless you obtain a Ruler class or equivalent.
Ability to log out has been removed due to player status change.
<<<<>>>>
“Logout has been removed…” Darren mumbled as his veins turned to ice. “I became an NPC? No. No. Nonono. It’s just a nightmare. Hallucinations while I’m waking up. I was in the pod for five days straight. Just a side effect of an overstressed mind and body.”
His attempts to reassure himself fell flat, and, too dizzy to remain upright, he collapsed back onto the sand and squeezed his eyes shut. “Breathe. Just breathe.”
He inhaled, counting to two, then exhaled.
A seagull cried out nearby, and several more called back.
Inhale…
The waves continued to crash in the distance, probably against a reef.
Exhale…
A breeze brushed across his bare arms and legs. At least he had a shirt and pants after respawn… or whatever he’d just done. No, don’t think about that. Focus on grounding.
Inhale…
Water lapped at his feet, cool, refreshing. The sun warmed his skin, drying the seawater, leaving his skin tight and crunchy from the crystallised salt. Trees creaked behind him, and animals chittered while birds squawked.
Exhale…
Slowly, his heart rate came down, and the pounding in his head reduced until he felt almost normal. Almost.
He risked opening his eyes again, squinting at the bright light. How long had he been lying there? With a thought, the in-game clock appeared in the upper right of his vision. Mid-morning.
“Alright, Darren. Pull yourself together. Take stock of what you got and go from there.” With a thought, he opened his skill menu and pulled up his three active special skills to take a quick squiz.
<<<<>>>>
Shipwright lvl 1 (0% Proficiency)
Description: Blessed with an innate understanding of marine travel, watercraft almost seem to build themselves under your practised hands.
Effect: Knowledge of basic shipbuilding techniques. Faster and easier production time when building watercraft.
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Duration: Passive, constant
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Range: Self
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Cooldown: N/A
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Additional Active Effects:
Increase your Proficiency to advance your knowledge of more complex building techniques and larger watercraft types.
Invest Skill Points in Shipwright to add additional effects.
<<<<>>>>
Twist of Fate lvl 1 (0% Proficiency)
Description: Take control of time with Twist of Fate. Steal your enemies' time to fuel impossible feats of speed.
Effect 1: Cast Twist of Fate on an enemy to steal 1 second per skill level from them. Enemy is frozen for the duration of the cast, effectively losing a second of their life/perception.
For every second of time you steal from an enemy, you increase the slow effect of Effect 2 by 10%. 10 seconds stolen equals 100% slow (time frozen).
You lose one stack (10%) every minute unless another cast successfully lands on an enemy.
Casts must beat the enemy’s fortitude to be successful.
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Duration: 1 second (base 1 second per skill level)
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Range: 45ft (base 45ft)
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Cooldown: 15 seconds (base 15 seconds)
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Additional Active Effects:
Effect 2: Use stolen time to slow the world around you for 2 seconds per skill level.
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Duration: 2 seconds (base 2 seconds per skill level)
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Range: Self
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Cooldown: Effect 2 is available so long as you have stolen time stored
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Additional Active Effects:
Increase your Proficiency to improve ability to bypass resistances.
Invest Skill Points in Twist of Fate to add additional effects and increase the duration of Effect 1 and Effect 2.
<<<<>>>>
Summoned Swivel Gun lvl 1 (0% Proficiency)
Description: Summon an anti-personnel Swivel Gun that fires either buckshot or solid rounds. Munitions type must be chosen on summon.
Solid Round Damage: 24 (Base 10 + 14 from INT)
Buckshot Damage: 2 (x14)
Durability: 80 (Base 10 + (level x INT modifier))
Effect 1: Swivel Gun fires at a base rate of 1 shot every 2 seconds.
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Duration: 5 minutes (base 5 minutes)
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Range: 300 yards (base 300 yards)
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Cooldown: 15 minutes (base 15 minutes)
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Additional Effects:
Effect 2: Charged Shot. Damage is multiplied every 2 seconds of time spent charging. Charge for a maximum of 6 seconds at level 1. Multiplier starts at 200% and reduces by 5% every two seconds.
+2 seconds of charge time per skill level for a maximum of 14 seconds.
At level 1, Swivel Gun can be fired with a mental command. Movement by mental command is unlocked at level 3.
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Duration: 5 minutes (base 5 minutes)
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Range: 300 yards (base 300 yards)
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Cooldown: 15 minutes (base 15 minutes)
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Additional Effects:
Increase your Proficiency to improve accuracy.
Invest Skill Points in Swivel Gun to add additional effects.
<<<<>>>>
Supercharged Shot lvl 5 (100% Proficiency)
Description: Through your expert use of cheating, you have unlocked Supercharged Shot on Summoned Swivel Gun.
Effect: Cast Twist of Fate on your Summoned Swivel Gun while Charged Shot is active, and it continues to charge while in slowed time, compounding the charge.
This is a special skill; it is already maximum level and Proficiency.
<<<<>>>>
Shipwright was new. He hadn’t taken that in his playthrough. So the AI had taken some liberties with his skills when it turned him into an NPC. That said, he wouldn’t complain—yet—the skill would be by far his most useful in this situation.
The next two were part of his original roster. Twist of Fate might come in handy if he came across anything he couldn’t safely fight. Though from memory, it wasn’t very effective against higher-level mobs…
The swivel gun was, well, a mini cannon on a beefy tripod. The choice between buckshot and single cannonballs made it quite a versatile weapon, though the damage was quite low at this point.
Supercharged Shot was the most interesting skill on the list. Another new one, but unique because it was somehow already maxed out. And, well, it was the exploit he’d found that got him slapped by Themis. Why did he still have it if she’d smote him because of it?
Needless to say, he was wary of using it until he had some more information.
He clambered to his feet, swaying slightly. Two icons flashed at the bottom of his vision. A water drop and meat on a bone. “Thirsty. Hungry. Slightly crazy. Or majorly crazy, we’ll find out.”
He scanned the shoreline while he thought. No respawn, and from experience, he knew his stats would start to take a hit if he pushed off finding water and food soon.
“Okay,” he said at last, his mind made up. “Obviously, the most important step is to find a Wilson. I can’t be here talking to myself.” He strode up the beach. Or he tried, but it quickly turned to a stagger and shamble as the first debuff landed.
<<<<>>>>
Dehydrated
-1 strength
<<<<>>>>
“Funky muffins! Are you serious? Fine, I’ll find water first.”