- Exploiting the Tutorial Zone
Reginald is sitting on his buttocks as he observed the severed head of the hellhound he just killed. His heart is still racing from the burst of adrenaline and with his face and body splattered in blood, he looked like a character from a horror movie.
Reggie wanted to wipe himself clean but before he could take off the hospital gown wrapped around his body, he saw the body of the hellhound started turning into dark mist and after a few more seconds, it disintegrated into nothingness including the blood stains on his clothes leaving on the dirt he accumulated from tripping due to failed skill execution.
Surprised, he looked around as he held the sword again with his hands.
[Successfully killed Swift Hellhound. Gained 100 XP. You are now Level 2. Need 100 XP to reach Level 3]
[Ready to face another Swift Hellhound? Y/N (Automatic release after thirty minutes. You can increase the level of Hellhounds for multiplicative XP)]
[Impaired movement due to injury. Please move to safe zone to recover.]
Reggie felt exhausted and would like to just lie down on the ground an sleep but upon reading that another Hellhound will be released, his mind went on alert again.
He is still confused and has many questions but he can’t just ignore the threat so he force his body to stand and use the sword as a cane and limped towards the white room he woke up from.
“I swear to god, Dr. Miranda. I will throw my feces on your face.” Reggie cursed as he endured the reverberating pain from his broken toe and twisted ankle.
Reggie felt his consciousness is fading away but having dragged himself towards the white room, his body looked like it is being baptized by the heavens that he is literally glowing.
“Ahhhhh! That’s what I’m talking about.” Reggie lied on the cold floor and with all the fats in his body, he looked like a real pig.
[Your body is regenerating. All skills are disabled within safe zones.]
Just a few seconds ago, he felt like passing out but upon reaching the white room he woke up from, he felt like is body had been restored to what it was like the first time he opened his eyes.
Reggie clench his teeth. He just hopes that all these is not Dr. Miranda’s test. Right now, he needs to figure out how to actually gain bonus stats.
“System!”
Aside from the Unallocated Points, nothing has changed. Since he has time before the next trial, he will study the game a bit closer.
Strength – Blesses the body with natural power. Ten Strength points maximum allowable gain during tutorial
Intelligence – Rewires the body to be able to cast spells faster. Grants 10 Mana for every point allocated. Ten Intelligence points maximum allowable gain during tutorial
Agility – Grants body to move faster. Ten Agility points maximum allowable gain during tutorial
Dexterity – Grants mental power to detect moving targets like time has stopped. Ten Dexterity points maximum allowable gain during tutorial
Mana – Blesses body with Magic Affinity needed to synergize with other stats. Grants 100 Mana for every point allocated.
Note: Can only allocate all gained stats into one category and can only allocate gained stats once.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“I knew it.” Reggie exclaimed. If there is one thing that is obvious, there is nothing for health points which means that anyone can max up his stats and still die with a blunt in the head. It is precisely like he predicted and it is the reason he was able to successfully kill the hellhound. Judging from the speed and strength of the hellhound he killed, had he chosen other Classes, he may not have stood any chance at all.
This game literally assessed his initial base stats as he is on the real world. Had he been a body builder, he reckons his base Strength should be around four which can stand toe to toe with that wolf. Or had he been a martial artist, Strength, Agility, and Dexterity would probably all set to three giving him a superior advantage.
Too bad he is obese with slight cunningness his body can’t even perform a simple DASH.
If possible, he would like to start as Swordsman or Assassin assuming of course that this is a standard game as they will always be unparalleled with PVP (Player versus player).
At this point, if base stats is all derived from someone’s body status in the real world, and the opponent being calculated based on Nerve Gear Compatibility, then he can conclude that he is meant to become as Summoner. He could have chosen a spell caster but with an opponent having “Swift” added to its name, couple it with minimum point of Dexterity, he probably would have died after casting one spell.
If there is any consolation, the class he selects in the tutorial zone is not permanent.
Since there is no point is sulking over not being able to select a Class to his liking, he may as well just stick to being a Summoner for the next hour.
“Let’s see…”
Summon Sting Bee – Summons a bee that stings living targets causing them to feel agonizing pain. The pain is directly proportional to the skill level. Depending on character level and amount of mana infused on the summon, additional effects will be triggered.
Stalking Shadow Slave- Summons an imperceptible shadow that stalks an opponent. It can be detected by people with higher mana or special skills.
Taunting Puppet- It doesn’t attack but taunts all opponent in 20 meter radius. Can take up to 20 normal attacks or six stronger attacks or 1 explosive attack. Can be upgraded to receive ultimate attack. Creates a vulnerable opening towards any entity that inflicts its body any harm. It can be moved. Maximum of two puppets can be summoned at a time.
Experience Transfer – Transfer all or some experience points to your summoned creature raising their levels and abilities. Stat points gained from leveling can be taken away if experience points being transferred exceeds current experience points.
Sever Connection – Some attacks can inflict harm to its summoner and to prevent receiving damage, you can sever you connection to a summoned unit turning them into a monster while regaining its current level and abilities. Cool down period is 24 hours.
Summon Wandering God – An exclusive ultimate ability that allows you to summon a god who can grant your wishes. But remember that all wishes can’t come true. Summoning ritual will be revealed when conditions are met.
As Reggie is reading through his skills, he expected how useless his initial skills are but something inconsistent caught his attention so he scrolled and looked at the definition of Mana again.
Mana – Blesses body with Magic Affinity needed to synergize with other stats. Grants 100 Mana for every point allocated.
“Did they miss to type in the maximum allowable points gain on Mana? It’s clearly a bug if they don’t.” Reggie read through the skills again.
To any computer games out there be it virtual or not, before it is even released to the public, it will be tested a thousand times to prevent and fix any errors or possible bugs that can be exploited which could potentially ruin the game. And who are the best tester of a game? It is none other than experienced gamers themselves and layers of artificial intelligence. He believes this level of mistake should have been spotted otherwise intentional.
While Reggie is not a professional gamer, he does have decent calculating skills and comprehension.
As he was reading the description of each skills, his mind is already analyzing possible combinations which can be synchronized with his stats. These are all necessary to build a working character which then enables him to determine possible weakness but in this case, he discovered a possible exploit.
If only possible to allocate gained stats to all categories, then maxing everything will be possible.
“Only one way to find out.” Like expected, Reggie felt his body had been fully rejuvenated and his mana had been restored fully as well.
He then stepped outside at least two meters from the entrance then looked at the timer above the tree.
44:35:02
“System, is there a limit to how much mana one can gain?”
Reggie thought hoping to get a response however, after ten seconds of silence, he shouted, “System, is there a limit to how much mana one can gain?”
Although he already knew the System is not an entity he can interact with, he still attempted to initiate an simple inquiry.
*Exhale!
Reggie let long sigh before finally making his move.
“System, raise the level of hellhound by one and release it at once!”
[Mutated Swift Hellhound successfully initiated.]
*Clank!
*Clank!
In just one breath, a new hellhound materialized near the tree and this time, more intimidating and a height twice the size of the first monster he faced. With its restricting collars removed, its gazed upon Reggie like it just spotted a snack.
“Come at me you freak!”
*Swish!
Reggie did not need to fully understand the monster’s abilities nor its real level but one thing is certain, he is faced with a boss monster level and his eyes can’t follow its movement and when it appears, it will have had already launched a deadly sneak attack.
“TAUNTING PUPPET!” Reggie casted his spell nearby then held the sword with both his hands.
CRACK!!!!!
In an instant, a huge claw pounced on the wooden scarecrow that Reggie Summoned but thanks to its magic ability, it instantly regenerated as well taunting the monster again however at this time, Reggie saw a worrying notification.
[Puppet received 1 Strong Attack. Five remaining.]
Reggie knew this is all a game so there is nothing to be afraid about so calmed himself and after filling his lungs with air, he then took a step forward, then raised the sword with both his hands then finally aimed at the exposed neck of the hellhound.
“Die you monster!”
*Splash!
*Rawrr!!!!
The mutated hellhound gave off a deafening roar and while it wanted to defend by retreating, its entire body felt like it had been hypnotized to continuously attack the wooden scarecrow.
“Die!”
Reggie swung the sword again at the same spot causing blood to gush and splash out everywhere. Having no skills to utilize, he can only swing the sword like a barbarian.
[Puppet received 1 Strong Attack. Two remaining.]
“Just die!” Reggie was about to summon another puppet but seeing the head of the mutated hellhound is about to be severed, he continued to swing the sword on the same spot.
*Splash!
*Thud!
[Mutated Swift Hellhound successfully defeated. 2000 XP gained. 20 Stat Points gained.]
[Hero had reached Level 21. Max Level had been exceeded within the tutorial zone. Please allocate stat points and get ready to be reincarnated to a new world.]
“Ha ha ha ha” Reggie softly laughed and with the blood from the monster which showered him, he gave off a sinister aura making him more scarier that the monster he killed. He was expecting the monster will only give out 500 XP max but much to his surprise, it even gave him four times the reward.
“TAUNTING PUPPET” Reggie casted another scarecrow and willed it to move inside the white room.
[Taunting Puppet has been moved to a safe zone. Cool down of ten minutes before it can be moved again.]
“System, transfer all experience points towards the Taunting Puppet in the Safe Zone.”
[Caution, transferring all experience points will reverse Level to One removing all Stat Point gained. Would you like to proceed? Y/N]
“Let it be done!”
[Points successfully transferred. Summoned Taunting Puppet is now Level 21.]
[Your level has reverted to 1.]
Reggie smiled having confirmed that the Taunting Puppet has no level cap. Which means that he can level it as much as he wants and before the countdown reaches to zero, he will use his Sever Connection ability to turn it to a monster. And lastly, given that his puppet will still retain its abilities which is to exist and take damage and not attack, he should be able to kill it and gain substantial amount of Stat points and allocated it all at once to Mana.
If this game is really bugged, then he will have an exceptional amount of mana on the next phase or reincarnation as this world describes it.
[System, ready another hellhound. Make it the same as the monster just now.]