"Power Shot!"

"Pus.h.i.+ng s.h.i.+eld."

Outside the castle gate, there were some others who had already begun hunting ahead of me.

They were overusing their skills as if they were showing off.

Seeing that, I immediately began to attack the oak close by.

"Ice Ball."

Then I moved to the oak up within the attack range of Ice Ball, then threw a lump of ice toward it.

Bang!

Just like a monster for a beginner gamer, the oak was. .h.i.t on the back of its head.

Screaming, the oak collapsed at my single blow.

Of course it wasn"t killed without any resistance.

u003cYou have earned 450 EXP.u003e

It was a message confirming that I attained EXP.

Yellow golden rings fell on the spot where the oak disappeared.

"Hahaha."

This was a very simple game, and that was a very low-level monster.

But it was interesting because the way to get stronger was very clear, something I could not find in the real world where I could never get anywhere no matter how much I studied.

Smiling in satisfaction quietly, I picked up the 1 golden ring that the oak dropped while dying, then resumed hunting by throwing Ice Ball and Ice Weapon alternately toward other oaks and goblins.

Puk! Puk!

u003cYour level has been upgraded.u003e

"Good!"

Equipped with some penetration, Ice Bolt pierced through the heads of a couple of oaks with a single blow.

Of course, it didn"t perform well from the beginning.

"Check Status."

u003cName:lumen

Level: 11

t.i.tle: None

Health: 1200/1200 Mana: 1200/1200

Force: 10 Agility: 10 Physical strength: 10

Willpower: 10 Intellectual power: 10

Remaining Stat Point: 0

Remaining Skill Point: 0

Characteristics: none u003e

Everytime I leveled up, I gained 100 health and mana respectively, although I didn"t invest all the stat points in physical strength and willpower. The basic 100 in health and 100 in mana changed to 1,100 when my level went up to 11.

Everytime I leveled up, I gained 10 stat points, and I invested not only the 100 intellectual power up to Level 10, but also the additional 10 that I gained with my level up to 11 a moment ago.

This was an extreme case in which I totally relied on the power of the magical attacks.

So, I didn"t step away from the castle gate, even though those who came after me made it to level 8 or 9 before venturing outside.

Was I concerned about others getting ahead of me? Not at all.

To me, the game is kind of a place to rest, not a place for new compet.i.tion.

Contrary to those thoughts, however, I have a small hope for others to look up to me just like my ID lumen, which means light and brilliance.

Anyway, I was about to move outside the castle gate, relying on the damage that the magical attack would bring about, when I heard a message.

u003cIt"s 12:20 PM.u003e

"Dang it!"

I was getting a kick out of the game at the moment.

Besides, I was determined to tackle stronger monsters when the message rang, so I frowned in spite of myself.

I needed to calm myself down in order to log out in a place other than the safe zone.

Then I decided to immediately shout logout.

It was my first day playing this game, and I had only spent a few hours on it so far.

So, I had no intention to stop here.

"Log out."

u003cForgotten Legend is now closed.u003e

In no time I removed the 2nd generation popular VR adaptor from the computer and stood up.

Then I had lunch with my mother at the dining table.

My father went to work, and my brother was a.s.sisting him with his work to inherit his company as the next owner.

My sister, a college student, was out having a fling.

While eating, my mother looked at me wistfully and caressed my hair.

Like I did always in the past, I smiled at her, then returned to my room to play the game again.

***

Two weeks later, I accessed "Forgotten Legend" right after breakfast.

"Check Status."

u003cName: lumen

Level: 100

t.i.tle: none

Health: 45200/45200 Mana: 42600/42600

Force: 42 Agility: 67 Physical Strength: 284

Willpower: 236 Intellectual power: 1319

Remaining Stat Point: 0

Remaining Skill Point: 0

Characteristics: none u003e

I increased by 100 in health per 1 physical strength, and 100 in mana per 1 willpower.

And I achieved Level 100, the max level in the first closed beta, early on.

I was now equipped with good weapons and s.h.i.+elds.

And I hunted the wounded Richie of the cursed land, the boss monster of the first closed beta. It was time for party hunting, but I didn"t initiate to form it, because I was not that type.

But there were guys who came to me.

When I was still wrapped up in hunting even after achieving max level early on, they told me that they needed a strong damage dealer to initiate a raid on the wounded Richie, the boss monster in the first closed beta.

That"s what I wanted, because when I first accessed the Forgotten Legend, I was determined to devote myself to playing this game for the time being so I could never look back at the world of games, and I kept my promise.

Although I didn"t mean it, my name was listed on the user rankings.

Anyway, the boss raid went on smoothly partly because I partic.i.p.ated or partly because I was a bit dumb.

So I achieved max level and I enjoyed all the contents provided by the first closed beta, except for the contents of the fighting fields where the users were fighting among themselves such as the final boss Monster Raid.

I concluded, "It was interesting. Very interesting."

There were some users who gave a harsh review of this game, but I didn"t feel that way even today, the last day of the first closed beta.

As today was the last day, all the users except for me tried to add more items or mix various skills by using up all their golden rings to search for the optimal skill tree in the upcoming 2nd closed beta or the main game.

But I was still engrossed in hunting.

"Giant Ice Ball, Ice Spear!"

Bang! Bang!

I continued to play the game, even though I could not increase my level or even 1 EXP by catching the monsters.

For me, today was the last day, and everything that I achieved would be reset to the defaults. However, I didn"t want to waste all the items which I earned by working hard.

If I had to partic.i.p.ate in the second closed beta and got a chance to play Forgotten Legend again, I would use the current ice-type wizard, so I didn"t need to try combining new skills.

So, like I did yesterday, I was absorbed in the hunting as if today was not the last day.

I continued to play until the first closed beta of Forgotten Legend was closed at the designated hour.

At the exact designated hour, I was forcibly moved to the s.p.a.ce where I first encountered the blue sky and vast wheat field.

And then a message appeared.

u003cThe first closed beta of Forgotten Legend has come to an end. Thanks to the users who partic.i.p.ated in the first closed beta of Forgotten Legend. After successfully wrapping up the first beta testing , we"ll try to reflect your feedback and ideas for improvement more than anything else. The exact timeline of the second closed beta has not been determined yet, but we are going to present a broader range of contents than the first one. We will send those users who partic.i.p.ated in the first one an invitation to partic.i.p.ate in the second one. Thank you.u003e

"Whew!"

I let out a long sigh at the closing message on the first closed beta because I wrestled with this game alone for the past two weeks, so much so that I could be included in the users" ranking list for the first time since my debut in the world of games.

To be honest, I regretted that I had to stop here because the character I cultivated dearly and all the golden rings and items that I collected doggedly were reset to the defaults.