In any MMORPG, it was standard procedure to check your character’s status before doing anything else.
It was practically common sense.
You needed to know your level, attributes, skills, equipment, and whatever other information the game considered important.
After all, charging into an unfamiliar world without knowing what your character could do was basically asking to get killed.
Dan was no exception.
’Let’s see.’
He straightened his posture and focused.
"Status."
A gothic window, reflecting the personal taste of Grimm Play, immediately appeared before his eyes.
Name: [Darian Lee]
Class: [■■■■■■■■]
Level: [1]
Experience: [0 / 100]
Personal Attributes:
[Strength: 10], [Dexterity: 10], [Constitution: 10], [Perception: 10], [Spirit: 10]
Mystery: [Darkness]
Relics: –
[Available Attribute Points: 0]
’So far, so good.’
Everything looked fairly standard.
He had expected his starting level to be one, and the basic resources were exactly what he had anticipated.
His attention then shifted toward the attributes.
"Hmm...?"
Dan folded his arms and tilted his head with a contemplative look.
Every attribute was exactly ten.
That was probably the standard starting value for Humans.
He wasn’t particularly surprised.
He had already read enough beginner guides to know that most MMORPGs gave new characters relatively balanced starting statistics.
Dan continued reading.
[Available Attribute Points: 0]
Well, that was slightly disappointing.
He had been hoping to immediately dump everything into Agility.
Fast characters were always fun.
Besides, there was something incredibly satisfying about moving faster than everyone else.
Still, he couldn’t complain.
He was only level one.
There would be plenty of opportunities to increase his attributes later. Dan moved on, focusing on the Mystery section which displayed:
[Darkness]
"...Darkness? What kind of ability is this?"
Mysteries were basically special powers that allowed players to perform actions beyond the limitations of their ordinary bodies.
For example, a swordsman could perform an overwhelming slash. A mage could manipulate the elements. An archer could fire arrows from a distance with great accuracy. Even seemingly ordinary skills could become terrifying when combined properly.
Dan had always considered the skill system one of the most important aspects of an MMORPG.
After all, statistics only determined what a player could do.
Mysteries determined how they did it.
And Grimm Play was supposed to have one of the most elaborate skill systems ever created.
There were thousands of Mysteries scattered throughout the world, ranging from common abilities to fraudulent skills that could only be obtained through hidden quests, rare encounters, or bizarre conditions. Not to mention, there were rumors that certain skills could fundamentally alter a player’s class.
Dan had spent countless hours reading theories about them. But none of those theories had prepared him for what he was seeing now.
| Darkness
| Rank: Unique
| Description: An Unorthodox power with two primary functions: [Dream] transforms the user’s imagination into "shape" while [Nightmare] transforms fears into "being."
’Oh. This is...’
Generally, mysteries were ranked into six major categories: [Lesser], [Greater], [Stellar], [Mythical], [Transcendent], and [Divine].
Above those six existed something far more elusive:
[Unique].
A Unique mystery was an ability that possessed characteristics found nowhere else in the game. In other words, there were no standardized requirements for obtaining one and such powers could only be possessed by one player in the entire worldview.
’Unique, huh.’
Dan was a little shocked. He hadn’t expected to obtain a Unique power right from the start. Well, it wasn’t like he was going to complain.
Matter of fact, he was more excited than anything else.
A mystery capable of transforming imagination into shape and fear into being. He wasn’t entirely sure what that meant in practice, but it certainly sounded powerful, so he had high expectations.
Dan had always enjoyed experimenting with unusual abilities in games. Finding strange interactions, discovering hidden mechanics, and figuring out how to make seemingly useless skills work was half the fun. And if [Darkness] was really as powerful as its description suggested, then he might have just hit the jackpot!
What a boon!
But his excitement ended there because there was another factor to consider. Most powerful skills came with some kind of limitation. Whether it was a high mana cost, a long cooldown, a level requirement, or perhaps even a special condition that had to be fulfilled before the skill could be activated.
Gaming instincts were very important when it came to decision-making, especially when dealing with something as unfamiliar as a completely new skill.
’I’ll figure out how it works eventually.’
Scratching the back of his neck, Dan closed the skill description and returned to his status window.
He immediately focused on his Class with a frown.
[Class: ■■■■■■■■]
For some reason, his Class had been censored.
Considering that he possessed a mystery, it was only natural that he had a Class as well. If he didn’t have one, there was a good chance he would have received some mediocre skill or whatever the system deemed appropriate.
But Dan had no memory of selecting a Class or even receiving an interface with multiple options to choose from.
Which added another item to his growing list of disappointments.
His ideal Class had always been the Mage.
Not the kind that simply stood in the back and spammed one or two spells until everything died, either.
He wanted a Mage with high mobility and a ridiculous variety of spells. Fire, ice, lightning, wind, barriers, teleportation — anything that gave him enough options to deal with different situations.
Most players would probably consider an omnipotent Class capable of doing everything to be the ideal choice.
But when it came to versatility, there was a problem.
If you could do everything, you often ended up being exceptional at nothing.
Dan would much rather specialize in magic while having enough flexibility to adapt to different situations.
Besides, there was something undeniably cool about a powerful Mage standing in the middle of a battlefield and casually turning the entire area into a disaster zone.
Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have a say in the matter.
Dan stared at the censored Class field for a few seconds then sighed with deep regret in his heart.
’Guess I’ll have to figure that out later, too.’
There wasn’t much else he could do.
He closed the status window and stretched his arms.
Now that he had finished checking his information, there was only one thing left to do.
Explore.
After all, this was the part he’d been waiting for.
Dan looked toward the dense forest ahead and smiled. Carefully, he began thinking about his next course of action and what he needed to accomplish.
’If my memory serves me right, there should be a settlement nearby. I should head there and regroup with the other players. From there, I’ll start farming experience points and leveling up.’
Who knows?
He might even meet a few interesting people along the way. Perhaps he’d make some friends or even form a party.
And if he was lucky, he could find a few experienced players willing to teach him the ropes. Dan had already memorized the information available on the official website, but there was a considerable difference between reading about a game and actually playing it.
Besides, there was another reason he wanted to find other players.
’I’ll be able to confirm whether this weird stuff is happening to everyone.’
Everything could simply be launch-day bugs. If every other player had experienced the same thing, then there was nothing to worry about.
’Yeah. That’s probably it.’
With that reassuring thought, he stepped into the forest.