Spending My Retirement In A Game

Save countries from ancient Dangers to become their hero or destroy them to become their downfall. Or while those Heroes and Demons are fighting against each other, sit back and have fun creating the strongest Weapons, most beautiful Sculptures or prettiest Clothes.

Whatever your heart may desire can be accomplished in this Virtual World.

The world into which players are thrown into continually changes and grows with its people, the NPCs, No-Player-Characters. These simulated Humans can be barely differentiated from a normal person, and some players even fall in love with these NPCs and build up families with them. These beings can be born, live, and die. They can learn and forget. This leads to no player possibly ever having the exact same play experience, even if they do the exact same things.

One especially promising and talented players of the game sits down in his capsule for the first time. In the past, he always was in the top ten of the strongest players in many different popular games. Now, after taking a break after the last big game lost popularity with the launch of World of Magic, he decided that it’s about time he gets to play this game as well and rise to the top like he always does.

While in real life he is already well beyond his prime, in games his prime is whenever he is playing. He changes his character model to the perfect version of himself: 30 to 40 years younger, long luscious blond hair, a nice and handsome angled face as well as the muscled and lean body of his dreams.

So that he would have an easier time starting out by buying the best items he can, he also enchanged a large amount of money into in-game currency. Now that everything was prepared he began his journey through this new World as Tekk, a great Warrior!

The very first thing he did was actually get his job changed to Warrior through a Job-Trainer, and next he walked through the small town of Kultra, one of the starting towns of the Western Empire.

He sees a number of people fooling around with each other in the streets, whether it be friends just having fun with each other or couples walking around together on dates. Since both of these things are something Tekk never experienced before at any point in his life, the newborn Warrior clicks his tongue and scoffs at those people wasting their time.

They should be out there grinding right now. What an utter waste of space. No wonder I’ll overtake all of them soon. He thinks to himself while walking down the main boulevard to look for a shop that sells weapons and armors. The first one he sees is the shop "Heaven’s Protection", an obviously high-class shop that seems to sell just as high-class protective items.

Tekk buys a golden full-plate armor and a shield together with it. Dissappointed that this shop didn’t sell a weapon on par with the quality of his armor, he steps out of the shop and continues walking down the street. While he was looking for a good place to buy a sword, he noticed something strange. All the weapons held by the people around him had a single thing in common: A small engraving in the shape of a Hammer.

Without hesitation he walks up to the next person he sees carrying one of these, and asks them where they bought their sword. And after Tekk is redirected to the shop by the young, green haired boy, he walks into an alley leading away from the main boulevard. In an area that nobody would want to be in at night, Tekk finds the storefront of a Shop with a sign in on which he can find the characteristic carving of a Hammer.

Confidently he walks through the entrance. Around him he finds a huge selection of different weapons and even armor, all of which seem to be highly inferior to the Armor Tekk is already wearing.

"Hello, hello~! How can we help you today, dear customer~?" On the other side of the shop a small girl with long pink hair bound into twintails pushes herself up on the counter to look at the new person that just walked in. Next to her stands a boy of a similar age with short blue hair and a defiant look on his face.

"I need a weapon." Tekk simply answers. It still feels weird to him that you actually need to talk to NPCs, who are nothing but simple code.

"No shit. You already got an armor and shield, what else would you need but a weapon?" The blue-haired kid scoffs and turns away to sit down on a chair and begins to read.

That already makes Tekk grind his teeth to the limit. What does this little shit think he is? He’s nothing but a simulation! Something created for players like him to toy around with and to be used for their advantage.

"Just get me your strongest sword." In a low voice, Tekk demands. With a quick nod and bright smile, the pink-haired girl jumps in front of the counter and toward one of the displays, picking out a boring looking longsword. Compared to other weapons he’s seen on the street, this doesn’t seem very strong to Tekk. Angry, he rips the sword out of the girl’s hands and throws it to the side, "I said I want the strongest sword. Give me that one." Trying not to break the most important rule given to every player of the game, not letting the NPCs know they are inside a game, Tekk clenches his fist tightly.

He points above the counter to a huge black greatsword with a sharp edge and a slight white glow.

Scoffing once more, the boy shakes his head, "No can do, bud. That sword isn’t for sale."

"Fuck off, kid. I said I want that sword. Give it to me now, or you’ll regret it."

Furrowing his eyebrows angrily, the blue-haired boy lays down the book on the counter and steps in front of it, looking up at the man in front of him, "I said, that sword isn’t for sale."

Tekk slowly raises his hand and prepares to swing at the boy. He throws it forward and just when he thinks his palm connects to the child’s cheek, Tekk feels a sharp pain in his arm and he freezes up.

"What the-?!" He yells out instinctively and jumps backward.

"Oi, the hell do ya think you’re doing in my shop?" A deep, raspy voice asks him. Tekk hadn’t even noticed the person that the voice belongs to before he grabbed his hand. The Warrior turns around and looks at the man standing before him. Even though he already made himself relatively tall, this man is even taller. His bulging muscles stand out at his arms and the veins popping out accentuate the scars that cover his whole body. His upper body is only covered in a leather apron, giving the impression of a cliché blacksmith. His long hair that has turned white due to his high age is bound into a manbun so it doesn’t get in the way of his work and the beard in the same color as the rest of his hair only strengthens the sheer feeling of manliness he emits.

"Wh-What do you want, old man?!" Even though Tekk shouldn’t be that much younger than this NPC in front of him is supposed to be, he feels an overwhelming mass of wisdom from him. The man looks down at Tekk angrily, and crosses his arms in front of himself.

"I’m the one that asks questions. The hell do you think you’re doing here?" The blacksmith asks once more, his tone showing that he won’t ask again. Tekk clicks his tongue at the nerves of this NPC and similarly crosses his arms.

"I want that sword above the counter. Now." He says confidently, looking up at the man in front of him.

The blacksmith instantly begins to laugh out loudly. "You want to have that sword? Kid, that’s my sword. You’re a hundred years too early to try and swing it."

"Tsk... And what if I can?"

"Haha, Kid, let me tell you what. If you can swing it, I’ll give you every single weapon in this shop. If you can’t, you buy a weapon and leave, got it?" The old man holds his hand forward and waits for Tekk to agree to the bet, and after the Warrior agrees the man reaches upward for the sword and picks it up with a single arm.

"Here you go, kid." He smirks and shows his pearly white teeth. Tekk extends his hand and grabs the hilt of the sword confidently. Immediately, the weight strains his arms and Tekk has to concentrate strongly so that they won’t give in.

"Alright, you got it? I’ll let go now."

"Huh?" Tekk mutters out after he hears the old man say this, and before he can react his knuckles are pressed against the floor, "What the?! How is this sword this heavy?"

The old man continues to laugh loudly and pats Tekk on the back, causing a sharp pain to spread across his body, "What do ya expect? You’re barely level one, and that sword needs a strength stat far above what even a level 100 could have. Now, how about you take the sword that my girl over there showed you, or just leave. Forever."

Tekk experiences a threat that he can feel deep inside his bones, so he pulls his hand away from under the greatsword and grabs the other sword that he rejected before, and after reading the price tag throws a bag containing 100 Gold coins on the ground in front of the blacksmith.

Not giving him any chance to react, Tekk storms out of the shop and immediately toward the Town’s Gate.

I’ll show him! After I level up, I’m going to grab that sword and kill that old fucking asshole! Angrily, Tekk exits through the gate and makes his way toward the dungeon that’s in the immediate vicinity of the town.

"Hey, have you heard? There’s a rumor that one of the originals is in town!" He hears one of the players also heading to the direction of the Dungeon tell his friend. Shocked, the friend stops moving and looks at the first player. "Are you kidding me? Do you know which one?!"

"I heard it’s Eisen! Someone his necklace!"

"Eeh? But they can be faked so easily... His sigil is known best, because he uses it on all his weapons..."

"I guess... They’re sold en’masse in the capital, right? ... Maybe it was just another faker?"

"Maybe... Let’s just check it out later!"

"Yeah!"

Tekk clicks his tongue at the annoying conversation of those two and looks at the line leading to the dungeon in front of him. Cutting through said line of people waiting to get inside, Tekk throws a bag filled with a few golds coins to the guards that are supposed to control who enters the dungeon when so that they just let him in.

Ignoring the cries from the people yelling at him for cutting in line, he moves forward through the halls in front of him.

Quietly grumbling to himself, Tekk continues on forward. After a few minutes, he finally sees the first monster. In preparation for the upcoming fight, he holds his shield up and points the sword toward the monster’s snout. It looks like a huge hound with razor sharp teeth and claws longer than daggers.

"Come at me, you fucking bitch!" Tekk yells out and hits his shield with the sword to taunt the beast. Seeing that it worked, he prepares for an incoming attack. Nearly instantly, the beast jumps forward and slashes at the Warrior in front of it, throwing him to the other side of the room instantly.

"Wh-what the fuck?! Isn’t this supposed to be a beginner dungeon?!" He yells out and then looks at the beast once more. While thinking deeply about using one of the basic skills any player unlocks he tries to move away from the monster, but freezes instantly when he sees its level.

[Beast of the living dungeon | Level 100]

"Shit, shit, shit, shit! I’m going to die! I’ll lose all my money and the equipment I paid for! Please, no, I need to leave here alive!" Scared beyond bounds, Tekk begins to crawl away from the Monster slowly after losing most of his health to it. Shaking uncontrollably as he feels the beast’s hot breath in his neck, he freezes up completely, preparing to be torn apart.

But then...nothing happens. The beast seems to be gone as well, judging from the moist air not touching his body anymore. Slowly he turns around and stares at the scene before him.

The beast that nearly killed him is cleanly cut in half, covering the whole ground in blood. What kind of thing could do this..? Tekk thinks to himself.

"Haha, kid, seems like you got pretty unlucky, eh? Nobody tell you that the living dungeon is in town?" A familiar, deep and raspy voice calls out to the Warrior.

"Y-You..? What are you doing here?!" Tekk yells out at the man standing before him. The old man from the Weapon store is standing in front of him with thick red blood running down the greatsword on his shoulder, and the two kids standing next to him.

Only now does he notice something he hadn’t when he was in the shop before. A black and red colored coin hanging around the man’s neck in the form of a necklace with the sigil of a hammer on it.

"Eisen~? Why’d you help him~? He tried to hurt my bro..." The pink-haired girl asks the man confused.

"Huh? Ah, no! I didn’t help him! I just don’t want the sword to go to waste! Ego-Swords are hard to make! I hoped to see what would happen if we give it to someone with a rotten soul like his, but there’s no use if he just dies and loses it instantly." The man laughs so loud and heartly that he holds his hand against his stomach before walking over to Tekk and taking the sword out of his hands.

"I thought you seemed promising since you walked into my shop. After all, who goes out wearing an ornamental armor from the decorator to fight? He seemed to be confident in his strength, but I guess there was nothing behind it, hahaha!"

"W-Wait! Please, help me! I invested nearly all my money into this!" Tekk yells out, hoping for the man in front of him to help him out, but he just stops laughing and turns around, showing a wicked smile at him. While the smell of blood called for more monsters to come to this place, they instinctively avoid this strong man that killed their brother and begin to painfully rip apart Tekk lying on the ground. With this, ignoring the screams of the man being killed behind him, Eisen turns away and walks off, telling him one last thing before Tekk is forced to log out.

"Fuck off, kid."