[PP – F1] Earning a living (5iou5, Ham,Raidou) Complete

[5iou5 0]

It has been a couple of hours now Since Akihiko Kayaba made his announcement, And with that the joyful city started to turn into a riot with sadness confusion hysteria and anger at the wheel. The only people that are Not Rioting are The NPC's and myself. I don't take Kayaba's news as something to be afraid of. I take What he said As a challenge Even though Everybody else Is scared. I decide to take A look around and get myself organized. I decide to leave the town of beginning And to Get away from all of the chaos. So I start heading towards the closest Settlement Horunka Village,

[5iou5 0]

When I finally Arrived I am greeted By fresh air, sunny day, friendly NPC villagers, and some other players that had the same idea. as I walked through the village, I noticed a blacksmith shop and 2 players learning how to Smith, next door to the blacksmith is a tailor shop.It Had some broken Wood on the steps, as well as on the outer wall of the building It had definitely seen better days as I walk in I am greeted By an NPC, I look around and noticed that there is No other player learning how to tailor I checked the town log to see if you can even learn how to tailor I noticed that There is 4 job openings, and 1 of them is the tailor before I clicked, take job I decided to look around The village a little more

[5iou5 0]

It's been About 2 hours since I arrived in Horunka Village as I make my way back towards the tailor shop. I again pass the blacksmith when there was originally only 2 blacksmiths, there are now 5 So I decide the best thing for me to do is to Make something No one else is tailoring, Light armor.

[ham 0]

It would be several hours later after Kayaba's announcement of the death game. Ham was fearful for his life but he had to think about the future, he had to be pragmatic. There'd be two features he'd need to satisfy and he needed to figure this out quick. Before the announcement, or even before the discovery of the <> bug. Ham was already out in the fields fighting monsters with what his starting gear.

The grind of Japanese RPG's was one of the biggest pains of playing them but if you did it you would come out stronger than the enemies in the game. This feeling was intoxicating because it was the usual route most people took when they ran into a particularly difficult boss or died too early in the game. Leveling was an important aspect of staying ahead of the curve and accessing all the rarest loot... but somehow this felt different.

Ham didn't feel the grind as much as he would have if dying didn't mean he would actually die. The hunting made it more of a job, it made it more of a means to an end. Did that even make sense? Ham couldn't pinpoint why this was different than other RPGs but it was.

Ham a good deal of knowledge of the sword skills and they worked. If you went through part of the motion the system would assist you the rest of the way. A player could tell by the glowing effects of a starting a motion and the brilliant blue or red lines that would appear as the action is completed. In a way, it was almost like setting autopilot on a plane or cruise control on a car -- you feel a slight tug and before you know it, you're doing the motion.

At low levels, a player couldn't just swing their weapon and hope to do damage. The stats of that player would be too low to do anything effect against a mob of the same level. There's also the problem of fighting a moving target but if a player utilizes the system and their sword skills then everything became much simpler, or even addicting. The thrill of cutting through low level mobs was exciting and led to the thoughts of slaying a more difficult monster.

Ham could have been unleashing his frustrations on these monsters. He couldn't tell but what Kayaba had said still got to him. He went into autopilot and kept killing monsters and following a road which eventually led him to <>. Here he saw a couple of other players and one player near the tailor station. He cycled through the NPC's to see what they had to offer but some of items they had were useless to Ham or was too expensive.

He found himself near the tailoring station again and the player was still there, "Yo, what's up?"

[5iou5 0]

As I stand inside the rundown tailor shop pondering if I should take the job offer As The weather starts to change into a thunderstorm I Hear some Of the wooden planks start creaking, followed by a guys voice "Yo, what's up?" As I look over my shoulder I notice another player With spiky black hair "Oh, not much Think about taking this job" as I turned around I proceeded To introduced myself "Hi my name is 5iou5 , but everybody calls me Fives." As I extend my hand. I asked him what his name is "so, What is your name"

[ham 0]

That's another player With spiky black hair "Oh, not much Think about taking this job"

"Oh, not much, thinking about taking this job," the person replied.

Ham went over to look at what he was looking at and could see that he was checking out the tailoring profession. Ham was new to <>, but he knew that professions were important.

"Hi, my name is 5iou5, but everybody calls me Fives. What's your name?" Five extended his hand for Ham to grab.

Ham meets Five halfway and shakes his hand noticing Five's fingerless gloves, "Ham." Ham's eyes looked at Five and the <> sharpened Five and everything around him. The details sharpened with such a subtlety that one had to know what they were looking for to see what was happening. Ham didn't understand the entire process but it was something that made it easier for the servers to process the game.

Five really came alive then, Five was wearing a white cloak draped over a shirt, pants that were tucked into leather boots. The angle made it difficult to ascertain anymore details. Ham could hardly believe the power of the Nervegear but his amazement quickly dissipated.

"Five, would you be up for a party? I think we could get more done that way. There doesn't seem to be that many players in this area yet. In fact, it looks like most of them know what they're doing. I'm still kind of stumbling by."

[5iou5 0]

As I walked back over to the NPC acknowledge what Ham said "A party one second. I need To Check something" I start looking through the menu for what I need to do to get the job As I'm looking through it says I need to collect 5 Woollypig skins and 3 War Ram skins After I read that I Turned around And started walking towards the door . I then Agreed to Join his party "Yeah , I'll join your party. I need to get 5 woollypig skins and 3 War Ram skins You up for that Ham" I said, as I'm walking out the door into the rain I Then tell Ham "The skins I need to collect Will allow Me to become a tailor Which in turn will allow me to make leather armor"

[ham 0]

Ham nodded, "Yeah, no problem!"

Ham swiped his finger and manipulated his menu to check his equipment: beginner equipment and a beginner two handed spear. The typical starting items any MMORPG would give a starting player. Their stats weren't terrible but it wasn't decent either. Ham sighed at the thought of looking for better equipment then cleared his mind for the task at hand.

"5 woolypig skins and 3 ramskins?" Ham repeated. "Rams and Woolypigs then. Lead the way Five!"

Ham's hand went immediately to his spear that he just equipped. He strapped his spear across his back with a sling with the pointy side up.

[5iou5 0]

As I bring up The map. I noticed that the quest Marks the best location To fine the two mobs Both less than an hour away "okay for the woollypig , we need to head north – east For the War Ram We need to head east They're both 2 Kilometer away" As we head out Of The village. A breeze picks up as the thunderstorm dissipates as were walking I keep focus of the task at hand. 35 minutes later We Are starting to reach our destination "Hey The map says right here" As we look around. We noticed the only thing here is a mountain. I bring up the beta tester guide and it states The woollypig Is actually located on small Mountains,As A Sigh of frustration Escapes me now, knowing that even though the map Only said it's 2 km away When it is really 3 1/2 km away "sorry ham . The map only said 2 km, but apparently it's 3 1/2 from The village well Do you Feel like scaling a mountain?"As we start to climb and are greeted with the first bit of snow and the flat area of rock with a cave leading into the mountain. Suddenly a woollypig comes charging out of it Lucky for us, it was making a lot of noise as it ran out It's stand 12 feet tall And it's covered with fur I quickly Draw my sword And I yelled to Ham "Are you okay did you get hit" before He could reply It charge at Me again. This time, It clipse me Only Doing 1 damage I Quickly jump back To where Ham is "Dang, that thing is fast for It's size"

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 7/7

woollypig 6/6

Damage dealt: 0

damage received:1

[ham 0]

Ham followed and the two would share stories of their lives before. The game was so fresh and there was no taboos in place yet. It was weird because the distance they walked would have made Ham tired in the real world. Exhaustion from physical activities didn't seem like a "thing" here.

Ham heard a rustling and then something whizzed by him knocking and what looks like Five off their feet. Snapping back up by thrusting his feet in unison in the same vertical direction that will shift his center of gravity so that he can get back to his feet or a snap up was easy. There was no physical limitations that Ham had to follow in this world. This was when he started to notice that physical prowess in the real world didn't matter. All that mattered were stats.

His HP was blinking now and Ham noticed he lost HP from the monster's dash which he now identified as he had a better vantage point to clearly assess the monster. The monster's HP was still green, it suffered no damage.

Ham wasted no time in trying to grab his weapon... but in his hurry his spear fumbled and slipped away from his hands. The spear wasn't that far away to warrant a wide open attack from the wooly pig but it would cost him his opportunity to attack.

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 6/7

woollypig 6/6

Damage dealt: 0

damage received:1

[5iou5 0]

After jumping back to Where Ham Is I Took a glance at his HP and I noticed he took 1 Damage After realizing that are formation Was too tight. I quickly jumped 10 feet to his left. Luckily for me, the snow was then as well "are formation was too tight. We need to stay a little bit away from each other" I shouted to Ham after doing so, the woollypig started to charge at me again. My sword Was ready This time I lowered my sword to My right Prepared for the attack. My sword started the glow orange. I took off toward the woollypig and managed to cut it. Unfortunately I released my attack A little too soon

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 6/7

woollypig 4/6

DMG: = 1+1 DMG

Damage dealt: 2

damage received: 0

[ham 0]

There's this technique called <> that wasn't really an in-game technique, where players would take advantage of the skill delay the monster had when attacking. As Ham watched Five go again, he decided to follow right after him to try and maximize the damage output they both would have which in turn would increase their chances of defeating this monster.

Ham was already going through the motions as the system picked ups his movements and propelled him and his spear forward in a charged attack. The tip of his spear glowed blue and a line would trace from Ham's position to the Wooly Pigs.

The Wooly Pig anticipating Ham's incoming attack avoided his attack completely. Putting Ham a good distance between the Wooly Pig and Five. At this rate, this monster's never going to go down...

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 6/7

woollypig 4/6

---

No damage again.

[5iou5 0]

After my blow Grazed the side of the woollypig's Skin. I quickly turned around and watched as Ham charged the beast unbelievably, the beast somehow Avoided Ham's attack Out of shock. I took a couple steps back Then I quickly notice I was up against the mountainside Unfortunately for the beast . It lost its bearings when it dodged. I Decide to use the rock face to give myself a Boost towards the beast I raise my sword above my head As I Am about to launch I tell Ham to get way "you might want to move I am going Be moving too fast for me to avoid you!" As I Lunge Foreword I managed to get a clean hit on its back legs. Unfortunately, it's Fur was very thick In that Area so my attack only Grazed it Once again I quickly turned to make sure I didn't Accidentally hIt Ham.

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 6/7

woollypig 2/6

DMG: = 1+1 DMG

Damage dealt: 2

damage received:0

[ham 0]

Heeding Five's word Ham moves out of Five's attack and waits for his opening. As Five finishes his attack on the monster's hind legs, he hear's it squeal. The monster's HP drops dramatically and it looks like it would take one or two more hits to take it down.

Instead of doing another charge attack, Ham gets within distance of the Wooly Pig and brings his spear down. His spear would glow again as it whizzed through the air on a path to crushing the monster's head. The monster anticipates Ham's attack again and successfully dodges. Ham misses again!

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 6/7

woollypig 2/6

---

Another miss!

[5iou5 0]

As I noticed Ham attempt to finish the Beast off To my amazement He did no damage after striking it directly on the head. The beast out of surprise jump backwards 20 feet And landed in front of the cave. It came from . It then turns towards me because I am only wielding a sword instead of attempting to charge Ham Who has the mid–range weapon as it charges me. I Hold my sword like I am about to Hit a baseball My sword starts Glowing Orange once again "I'm going for a home run!" As the beast charges me. I sidestepped to the left and my sword cleaves the Beast down the middle After it passed me It disintegrate into its pixels And vanishes I then received 1 Woollypig skin

[1-5] Miss -0

[6-8] Hit -1

[9] Critical -2

[10] Critical -3

5iou5 8/9

Ham 6/7

woollypig 0/6

DMG: = 1+1 DMG

[ham 0]

Ham watches as Five topples the Wooly Pig with a magnificent hit that reminded him of a batter from baseball. The monster disappears into a brilliant flash of blue polygons.

"Phew," Ham said relieved as most of his attacks did absolutely nothing. "Thank God, you were here or I would've been toast." Ham said commenting on Five's performance. Glad for the break, Ham took a deep breath before realizing that he didn't actually need to breathe in here. His body was breathing somewhere on the other side. There were still some things he needed to get used to but nothing was more important than finishing the task at hand.

"Where to now, Five?" Ham asked, wondering he would be more useful in the next encounter.

[5iou5 0]

"No worries, you would've been fine." As I look around I noticed every time we were attacking. We slid. I commented that to Ham "I Think the reason We were having a tough time with that beast Is because of the snow you probably didn't notice it, but when you struck it on the head. You slid backwards a little" After taking a moment to look around, A little more. I suddenly remembered I need five Woolleypig skins We only got one "Ham We need to fight at least four more of those things" I sit down to think of the best way to take on those beasts. It dawns on me close quarters, it only attacks using a charge "let's go inside the cave. We stand a chance of fighting Them in close quarters." I said as I walked to the cave entrance "will At any rate, Your Decision. We could also go after the War Ram" I said As I look over my shoulder at Ham

[ham 0]

Ham nodded, "Yeah, let's fight these monsters in closer quarters. I think we should just finish all the wooly pigs first before we head out to kill the rams. I think this is the most efficient."

Ham was certain the more battles he participated in, the easier the combat would become for him. Well, nothing could be certain after his last performance on one of these 12 feet tall monsters. Wielding his spear, he gestured for Five to lead the way, he felt that because he had a longer reach with his weapon and could easily assist if he was only a couple meters away from Five.

[5iou5 0]

As we enter the cave, a cold breeze blows in from behind, even though were walking into a cave It is Oddly bright as I looked around I noticed That Some stalactites and stalagmites are glowing A very calm blue, as we Venture further Into The cave, we Head around a bend When suddenly We hear, a woollypig roar as if on cue, all the Stalagmites and stalactite turn a very eerie red as the Cave Started to Shake "Ham Get behind that stalagmite!" I yelled, knowing that he Would be able to get behind The beast from that position I quickly Got into my batting position That I used to finish the last Beast I got ready for This beast To finally come around the corner.

[ham 0]

Ham listens to Five and dives for cover where Five directed him to. Nimbly maneuvering his spear so that he landed back on his feet in a simple forward tumbling motion. Spear still at his side, Ham peers from behind the stalagmite and sees the incoming monster. He glances to Five to see if what Five was going to do and sees him get into his last stance.

Ham knew Five would be going in for an attack and readied himself for a follow through. Ham waited to see Five's attack first before deciding on how he would follow up.