Sweat dripped, and nothing felt good. I had no idea what to feel, and I shook my head. I got off my cycle, walked over to the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror, and noticed my lack of expression. I had no idea how to feel. I had been attached to characters in the past, but now, NPCs were thinking of Intelligences just as myself and other humans have. Could I even bring up the idea that the real world exists? Did the creators say something about that?
I sighed. There were so many questions, and I had no answers.
"Standing here like a fucking moron will not fix any of this Honey. Do fucking shower, look up fresh information from the net, and hopefully, some moron gave up very important information!" I slapped both my cheeks and winced at the sting. I looked at my body dripping with sweat, turned, and started the shower.
I got in and did not take a lot of time cleaning myself. I did not have much time to look at the computer, but I did want to take my time to actually comb through the forums. The news of the leak might mean there was information overlooked, and I would wait until the next press conference about artificial intelligence before believing things on the internet.
Stepping out of the shower, I dried myself off roughly and moved to the computer I left on. I quickly checked to see if I had left the cameras on, which I did not, and I smiled and got to work. I started looking through the forums and found that most of the threads, even the pro forums, were discussing the game. In fact, I got a picture of the imaginary stocks if Gabin Corporation were on the Stock market. People were speculating that if you owned shares, they would be worth millions.
I did not care. I did not own any, and I continued to find the random speculation about Galaxy Online cumbersome.
"What will the American government do!?!?!?!?!?"
"China Lowering the Great Firewall for Galaxy Online?"
"Secret information for sale, $2000! What a Steal!"
I looked over the random forums and scoffed at many of them. Some were people trying to find the chumps, and others were trying to get the information for free. It was standard talk, but suddenly, I found a thread that caught my attention. I did not see many replies to it.
"Finishing the Tutorial Rating System."
I looked at it for a moment and decided to click the link, then gasped as I read it.
"Hello, I am Hoppinsstoppins,
I recently finished the Galaxy Online Tutorial as a Bounty Hunter on a planet called Bearon, as a bear-kin. Bear-kins are humanoid bears that look more human than animal, and I learned there is a race that is more the opposite, with people looking more like bears than humans.
Anyway, I completed the Contract and finally reached the end of the tutorial. It was amazing, but the game GRADES YOU!
I could not believe it, but you got a school report card in the end! You not only have to live and fight, but you also have to complete objectives and quests. I got a C grade like a chump and completed 20 Bounties. Most were low-ranked, but they were HARD! I made 26k Federation credits, and that even scores on your final score!
Then there are the traits! Your Traits add to your score, and some are BAD! Some will subtract from your score. I ran from a battle I thought I could not win and got the COWARD trait! It took away from my point total! WHICH IS BULLSHIT!
But there is a grading system, and if you make it to the C rank, all I got for completing the contract was a Ticket out of the world, which is expensive! Like a Trip to Bearon is 10k Federation credits for a spot in the cargo hold with no privacy! It's INSANE! But Bearon is a third-tier world.
Another thing! If you make friends in the Tutorial and you get a C grade, YOU LOSE YOUR COMPANIONS! They find you unacceptable and will leave without you after the contract is over! There was nothing that explicitly said that they had to leave, but the group of NPCs I was in left me in the dust!
Be careful out there! If you do poorly, you might start off in the main universe with nothing. All I have is the heavy rifle and six thousand rounds, some basic clothes, and the federation credits to keep me on my feet for a week until I can find more bounties. Use your time in the Tutorial better than I!"
There were two comments, and I chuckled as I completely agreed with them.
"Drake57126: If this is real, thanks for the information! I will work my best not to be a coward like you!
Yancy99: Maybe the NPCs just think you an ass; they are apparently intelligent!"
I chuckled, nodded, and leaned back to think about it. If this guy's messages were true, I was making a FUCK ton more credits than he was in deliveries. With the investment, I still had to pay just over three hundred thousand credits to the bounty office I left in that third-tier world, which I don't remember.
I frowned. My traits were not bad, but I could probably get more if I started working out religiously in the game and continued doing things as I was. But one thing was true: "I need to do another round of bounty hunting. More than just the forest, though. I need to go to another environment. In fact, taking small bounties on different ecosystem types might net me a great trait!"
I looked at this kid's post, and you could tell the kid played his life out at max speed, looking to be one of the first to complete the tutorial. He sped at four times the speed and probably even slept in the pod using the game's sleep to rest. The only time he probably got out of the pod was to eat and drink. It was extremely unhealthy and bad for your health. Full immersion life pods have not been a thing yet, although I have heard some pod companies are trying to make it.
Deciding I had a bit more time, I took a look at my traits to see if there were any more that I could pick up. What I started to learn was the depravity of us humans toward anyone else, and I winced at some of the traits people were bragging about getting.
"Sociopath: Look into the depths of depravity and feel nothing but the lack of feeling from it.
Psychopath: Kill indiscriminately for no reason.
The Psycho Baker: Bake a person alive
The Torturer: Keep a person in pain for an extended period of time."
I looked at those, shivered, and felt disgust for the people who did things like that. I knew that there were some who would pick up a game and do this, but fuck was it fucked up. Why would you start a virtual reality game just to burn down the whole village around you so you can laugh?
Shaking my head, I headed to the crafter section, and my eyes narrowed.
"Planner: Create a plan and follow it to the very letter.
Designer: Create a blueprint and follow it to the line.
Electrician: Create a working electrical system.
Miner: Received a more valuable rock than the first one you hit.
Carpenter: Honestly, work with wood. Cut some down and do shit with it. That was how I got this one.
Botanist: Grow a variety of Plants.
Gardener: Grow something
Farmer: I think this is growing many things
Fisher: Go fucking fishing. Duh!"
The Smartass comments for many of them finally made me chuckle as it went from more serious people to those stating the obvious. I liked the humor of some, and I decided that many were make-sense common things, and I knew what to do.
I shook my head with a final chuckle, got up, and shut off the computer after looking at the time and realizing I had more interviews. I only hope that I can get an interviewer on my list of traits after all of this.
It seemed that many of them were easy to get, but ones like Ambusher were the more important ones. I wanted to upgrade my battle ones and the ones pertaining to my craft, so I would do so.
After these interviews, I was going to take the time to start a couple of bounties again. It was time to hunt, try out, and blood the new recruits. It was time to become a bounty hunter and do my best. Also, I should send the money back that I owe, and then I will purchase equipment to assist me.
I was nodding to myself with a new plan that had nothing to do with the digital woman that I found myself thinking about more than I should. Yes, I was definitely not thinking about the big massive fucking breasts of the blue woman that was waiting for me on the other side of the pod.
No, even as I put on a tank top and yoga pants to get into the pod, I was most definitely thinking about her.
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Book 3 of Galaxy Hunter online is complete and you can find it here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F922T3XK
Or on my Patreon @ www.patreon.com/Madjic