Omega Point

Jeff stood poised in the dank, dimly-lit corridor leading off the haunted house, his sword gripped firmly in his hand.

He had chosen the ‘Action’ option for the next stage. After snatching a few hours sleep in the library, he had spent some time grilling the evasive AI, trying to extract more information about the challenges and risks he could face during the rest of his so-called ‘training.’ Misty, however, kept steering the conversation back to the topic of marketing and his popularity on the Metaweb.

“But Jeff, your popularity is important. It’s a matter of life or death for you. Believe me,” she insisted.

For once Jeff detected a ring of truth in her words—the tricksy AI sounded almost sincere. She continued, “In the Elimination Rounds a Contestant without support is basically doomed. Without those backer boxes, cash donations, and gifts from patrons, you will not have the firepower to push through…”

Reluctantly, Jeff acquiesced to some of Misty’s less extreme marketing ideas. They discussed his metrics and what he could do to improve them, but when she tried to get him to wear a bizarre costume, he flat-out refused.

The outfit she presented to him was designed to be worn over armor, made of brightly colored panels of silk—clashing red, green and blue panels, much like a traditional harlequin’s garb. The ensemble was completed with a strange tricorn hat, adorned with bells that tinkled merrily. To Jeff’s tactical mind, the hat was suicidal—removing any possibility of stealth as the bells chimed with even the slightest movement.

Jeff peered suspiciously at Misty, wondering once again whether he should be trusting this strange creature. For a moment, he considered cutting all ties with the AI, but ultimately decided to maintain the illusion of trust—after all, it was better to keep your friends close, and enemies closer.

He did acquiesce to a live interview with a panel of showbiz types, scheduled for a date a few weeks down the line. Jeff was beginning to grasp the underlying mechanisms powering the Tournament—the flow of funds that provided Contestants with crucial advantages. He realized not seizing every available opportunity would be a foolish mistake.

He tried to return the conversation to the mechanics of the Tournament, pressing the slippery AI about what lay in store for him. Misty’s half-hearted attempts to reassure him that fatalities ‘hardly ever’ occurred during the tutorial had been greeted with open disbelief by Jeff. He was certain that if every other Contestant faced challenges as intense as the hordes of goblins he had fought during the combat stage, a large proportion wouldn’t survive long enough to make it through to Tantalus. His efforts to gain more intel were abruptly brought to an end when the AI stopped responding to his questions, leaving him in the dark once more.

A flash of light was followed by a low grinding rumble from the far corner of the corridor. Lo and behold, another door appeared in the previously blank wall. In Jeff’s heads-up display, a glowing yellow line pointed him towards it.

As he neared the door, it slid back, revealing a fantastic sight. Gone were the sci-fi style chambers or gloomy fairgrounds. This time, Jeff was greeted with a radiant burst of brilliant sunlight that temporarily blinded him, accompanied by a rush of humid air, redolent of foliage. Blinking his eyes to adjust them to the brightness, he peered through the doorway, into what appeared to be a lush tropical jungle.

Or rather an Earthly jungle on steroids. A sprawling riot of life spread out before him. Majestic trees, hundreds of feet in girth towered all around, their height lost in the canopy of leaves overhead. Huge buttress roots sprawled out all around the forest floor, and a profusion of tropical plant life of all kinds grew chaotically in every direction. As Jeff looked through the doorway, a gigantic dragonfly at least two foot long whizzed past, while a column of ants—each one the the size of a small dog—marched between the stems and branches, their mandibles carrying huge leaf segments above their heads as they proceeded back to their nest.

Jeff equipped himself with his newly acquired chain mail and stepped over the threshold, leaving the cold fairground behind. As soon as he cleared the doorway, it instantly blinked out of existence behind him. The intense tropical heat hit him like a physical blow. Jeff was immediately drenched in sweat, the humidity was so intense.

The luminous glowing arrow in his HUD pointed forward, charting a route across the clearing into the dense forest.

Jeff stood awhile, waiting for the column of army ants to process its way past him.

RACE: Marabunta Gigantes

HIT POINTS (HP): 10/10

MANA POINTS (MP): 5/5

REWARD: 5 Coins

More information was available when he focused on the insects’ race.

Marabunta Gigantes (Giant Army Ants), are a force to be reckoned with in their jungle domain. They engage in a relentless, destructive march through their jungle habitat. Their orders are simple—provide nutrition for their queen. They leave a trail of devastation in their wake, decimating all life forms they encounter. Their sophisticated system of communication, akin to telepathy, is based on pheromones and enables them to swiftly summon backup from their central hive.

Jeff prepared himself for battle, about to engage with the formidable column of ants. He was eager to grind and level up, but a sudden realization halted him in his tracks—only a certain amount of time remained before he had to move on to the next stage of the Tournament. He decided to take a more cautious approach and wait for the ant column to pass before proceeding to follow the System generated line in his HUD.

While he waited, Jeff suddenly realized that he had forgotten to quiz Misty about a crucial piece of information, detailed information on the specifics of the Tournament timeline, and he made a mental note to ask her ASAP.

The ant column disappeared through the foliage and Jeff finally proceeded on, threading his way through the jungle, which grew more and more densely populated by plants and trees. Lianas and creepers dangled from overhead branches, forcing Jeff to duck every so often. Prickly bramble bushes with thorns as long as his forearm littered the path, and thickets of giant bamboo analogs created impenetrable natural walls, further delaying his forward movement.

Initially, Jeff had imbued his short sword with [Cutting Edge] to effortlessly cleave a path through the vegetation, chopping down whole swathes of the forest as he slogged onwards. However, as the trees closed in around him and his MP diminished, he grew increasingly concerned at the outlay. Several times, he was forced to protect himself from the supersized flora and fauna—giant, brightly colored bugs, poisonous looking millipedes and even carnivorous plants hindered his progress. Huge seed spores floated between the trees, and giant brightly colored fungi and toadstools choked the forest floor.

Retrieving the goblin chainsaw from his ring, he yanked on the starter cord and the engine coughed into action. Jeff revved the saw, then attacked the obstructive vines and branches blocking his way, saving his mana.

The heat and humidity increased still further, and dehydration became a serious issue. Along the way, Jeff managed to gain temporary relief by drinking dew that had accumulated within the giant petals of an orchid-like flower. He also managed to pluck a huge berry from a low-lying branch, breaking open the basketball sized fruit and gorging on its sweet flesh. The meagre sustenance he was able to scavenge only seemed to fuel his hunger. Frustratingly, none of the wildlife he encountered appeared safe to eat—the vivid coloring of the bugs he encountered was a clear indicator of their toxicity.

Eventually, he reached the epicenter of the forest. The trees he had seen at the beginning of the foray into the jungle were minuscule in comparison to the behemoths around him now. Jeff switched off the chainsaw, its growl fading away as it slowed to a stop. Its presence felt obscurely disrespectful amongst such natural wonders.

And then he saw it—arching into the sky in front of him was the arboreal king of the forest. The tree’s trunk would have barely fitted inside the footprint of a football stadium, and its height seemed absurd to Jeff—gravity defying. He was facing a solid wall of bark, stretching to the left and right as far as he could see. And the glowing yellow arrow pointed straight at it.

Jeff circumnavigated the colossal trunk for some time, until he came upon a potential route upwards. Clinging to the side of the tree was a huge creeper vine, its girth more than three yards across. It spiraled its way upwards—a colossal helix—winding around the trunk of the gargantuan tree like a natural staircase. The vine was easily wide enough for two people to walk along its upper surface, shoulder to shoulder.

Utilizing leaf buds and root-like protrusions as hand and footholds, Jeff hoisted himself up onto the vine and began his ascent, following its spiral course.

Onwards and upwards, Jeff thought.

His first hint of danger came when a flicker of movement overhead and to the side caught his eye. Perched on a horizontally protruding bough from a neighboring tree, glaring down at him, was a large bipedal rhino-like creature. Labelled a ‘Mooblon' by the system, the seven foot tall monster was naturally armored in a leathery hide, with a large ivory-colored horn jutting out of the grey skin of its forehead. Clasped in its shovel-like hands was what looked like a coconut or gourd, roughly the size of a basketball.

NAME: Befedu

RACE: Mooblon, Grade J

HIT POINTS (HP): 30/30

MANA POINTS (MP): 10/10

REWARD: 10 Coins

Description: The Mooblon is a large, bipedal rhino-type, possessing a prominent single horn.

This prolific species is predominantly found in arboreal habitats throughout the universe, and are distinguished by their formidable physical strength. Mooblon are especially renowned for their strong territorial instincts—they are fiercely protective of their domains, nestled high among the canopies and branches of gigantic trees. Another point to note is their liking for and hoarding of vast quantities of Ahud nuts, the seed of the Ahud tree, which is a staple foodstuff in Mooblon culture.

Abruptly, the Mooblon hoisted the nut over its head in both hands and hurled it down towards Jeff. Like a missile, the nut sliced through the air, plummeting down at him with unerring accuracy. Jeff’s reflexes kicked in just in time; he leapt aside, teetering precariously on the vine’s edge. The Mooblon, wasting no time, had somehow found another nut and was getting ready to launch an attack at Jeff once again.

Jeff looked around for shelter but found none; his options were limited. Retreat back down the vine. Somehow attempt to get onto the neighboring tree branch and engage the Mooblon in combat. Or simply continue his ascent, whilst avoiding the projectiles.

Retreat was not an option, and he saw no way to access the parallel tree branch and engage the Mooblon on its own turf, other than to first climb back down and then begin the arduous ascent of the other tree. He opted to continue his upward, helical journey, whilst evading the aerial bombardment. The Mooblon continued to lob nuts at him twice more as he spiraled up the trunk of the tree, but Jeff became more skilled at anticipating each volley and managed to duck aside each time.

Congratulations!

You have learnt the Skill Dodge (Level 1)

Level up!

Congratulations. You have reached Level 19

As he drew level with the nut-throwing rhino-type on the adjacent tree, it peered at him across the forest divide, a look of challenge drawn across its leathery features. Another nut was flung as well as a string of guttural insults, not translated by the System. Jeff did not engage as his focus was on the path ahead. His upwards progression continued.

Spiraling higher, he spotted more Mooblon on the neighboring tree branches overhead, silhouetted against the massive leaves of the forest canopy. Several more times, he successfully evaded the volleys of nuts thrown his way.

This pattern continued as Jeff followed the twisting vine, the frequency of the volleys increasing as he ascended. Occasionally, Jeff had to temporarily retreat before putting on a burst of speed to dodge the nuts, now being hurled at a blistering speed.

Congratulations! Your Dodge Skill has now reached Level 2

In addition to the nuts thrown from overhead, an extra hazard was introduced to the scenario. The vine had a shallow indentation or gulley running down its center, along which nuts came rolling like balls in a jungle-themed pinball machine. Jeff dodged, weaved, ducked and jumped, narrowly avoiding the onslaught until he finally received the notification.

Congratulations!

You have learnt the Skill Jump (Level 1)

Level up!

Congratulations. You have reached Level 20

Action Stage Completed

Prepare for Skill Stage

Jeff stood panting on the vine, drenched in sweat from his exertions. He was still only about halfway up the gargantuan tree. Unsure what to do, and receiving no guidance from Misty, he continued on up the vine spiraling around the side of the tree trunk, until inevitably, his luck ran out.

As the vine coiled up the bole of the trunk, its path intersected with a huge branch jutting out of the trunk of the tree at a right angle. The protruding limb was so large that the junction between the trunk and the bough created a large level platform—an area large enough to host a Mooblon village. And the vine Jeff was relying on for his journey up the trunk went straight through this forest settlement.

With cautious movements, Jeff hunkered down just out of sight, surveying the treetop village from behind the sheltering girth of the trunk. Jeff noted with chagrin that roughly twenty huts were clustered around a central clearing, and his path, the vine, ran straight through it.

On closer inspection, he realized that the huts were not simple wooden structures as he had first thought, but were in fact crafted from gigantic hollowed out acorns. The acorns were polished to a sheen and were topped with natural woody cupules, acting as natural roofs. Small round windows had been cut into the outer shells, and each abode boasted a painted wooden door.

The Mooblons were a hive of activity, bustling around the acorn-huts and about the hamlet, engaging in various agricultural tasks. The nuts Jeff had been pelted with seemed to be more than just ammunition, they were a staple part of the Mooblons diet—everywhere Jeff looked there were mounds of the brown oversized seeds. He watched, fascinated, as two Mooblons took turns cracking open a pile of them. The pair kneeled in front of a large flat stone, each one in turn carefully placing an Ahud nut in an indentation in its center, the other abruptly lunging forward—their long horns piercing the tough outer shell, revealing the white, coconut-like kernel inside.

So engrossed was Jeff in observing the intricacies of Mooblon life, he neglected to check his six. He paid the penalty for his carelessness—the sound of a dry twig snapping wrenched him back to reality. Whirling round, Jeff was confronted with six angry looking Mooblons, each carrying large hessian sacks full of the omnipresent nuts, and armed with long wooden spears. The tips of all six spears, expertly whittled to deadly looking points, were leveled at him.