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Arcadia Online: Gladiator's Path

Aegis_Creed
7
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Synopsis
An empty coliseum. A bloodied ground. A lone warrior who looked exactly like him, standing beneath a sky of fire. In 2130, over a century after the Great Calamity, the world’s first 99% immersive VRMMORPG — Arcadia Online — has taken the planet by storm. Players trade real money for gold, live second lives in sprawling kingdoms, and chase glory in battles where pain feels real. Godfrey Ocheme never cared for games… until that dream. Drawn by an urge he can’t explain, he enters Arcadia Online and chooses the Gladiator — a brutal, gearless, skill-based class feared by most players for its punishing learning curve. No magic, no ranged attacks, no mercy. What begins as casual play soon spirals into war with ruthless guilds, treacherous players, and whispers of an ancient secret buried deep in Arcadia’s code. Now, marked as an enemy by the strongest in the game, Godfrey must fight his way through a world where might makes right…
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Chapter 1 - The Calm before

"Coming in from entertainment news, the server for Arcadia Online, the 95% immersion VRMMORPG developed by Drenstar Corporation are set to go live tomorrow, Saturday August 1st, 2130. This was confirmed by spokesperson Andrew Rolain in a speech from earlier. The whole world is excitedly anticipating the launch of this new world tomorrow. Next up, we will be joined by their development representative after the commercial break, do stay tuned."

The charming voice of the female news anchor resounded from the huge LED display and echoed throughout the entire plaza.

Gathered in the plaza square below the display, a crowd listened to the news report with varied expression, with most displaying anticipation.

Standing among the crowd with a neutral expression on his face, a young man holding a takeout bag stood watching the news as well.

He had a height of 6'5ft, and lean but slightly muscular physique evidence of dedicated workouts. His hair was styled in a 6 inches all-back locs with line-up.

A finger-length scar could be seen vertically across his left eye, giving him a ferocious look and thug-like vibe.

As the news hit the commercials, displaying trailers about Arcadia, the young man turned around to leave.

"Hey Freddy, where you going?" a voice called out from beside him as he turned.

Turning his head, beside him stood another young man around his age, however, he was almost a head shorter, with a small body stature and mullet haircut, making him look like a teenager.

"Home of course, where else would I be going?" the guy with locs called Freddy replied.

"I know that, I mean aren't you going to watch the trailer and the devs interview?" the other asked again.

"Listen Sam, you all are hype up and ready to play, and that's cool. But I ain't got time for videogames man, even if it's virtual reality." Freddy's reply sounded off in the anticipation-filled environment, making many heads glance in their direction.

"What are you saying? It's tomorrow already, beside the game-time is inverted with a temporal law of 3:1, it..." The second guy called Sam was still talking when Freddy interrupted him.

"I know all that already, I just can't bring out the drive to play. Anyway, my little brother's playing so I'll tell him to meet up with you in-game." Speaking up to here, Freddy started walking away.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Sam called out waving a plastic card in hand.

'Godfrey Ocheme' was boldly written on the card with a picture of Freddy on one side. It was his ID card.

Freddy returned and grabbed the card, however Sam didn't immediately let go "if you keep burying yourself with work like this, you gonna break down."

"I ain't coming to the garage tomorrow, gotta take Kelvin to the hospital" Freddy tugged the card out of Sam's grip and walked away.

"Hah! He really needs to learn to relax" sighing, Sam turned his attention back to the screen.

---

Upon exiting the plaza, Freddy quietly walked home, bathed in the warm evening sun.

"All this hype for a game, when the world is still picking itself up from the Great Calamity." He shook his head, lips curling into a faint, bitter smile.

His mind couldn't help but recall records about the great calamity, rooted in history — the kind that still cast long shadows over the present.

The Great Calamity.

The darkest day in human history.

Over a century ago, it came without any signs.

First, a single asteroid appeared out of nowhere, barreling toward Earth. Defense satellites armed their cannons, ready to intercept. But before they could fire, a second asteroid materialized. Then a third. Then a fourth. Within minutes, it was as if Earth had drifted into the heart of an asteroid belt.

All the satellites were destroyed after firing a few shots, and an asteroid shower was upon earth.

The world governments tried to evacuate people to safe zone, but soon realize to their horror that there was actually no safe zone.

Asteroids rained down for a whole day non-stop, bringing death and destruction along with it.

Almost two-third of the world's population perished that day and every city in the world was destroyed.

Civilization built over centuries crumbled in a single day and no one knew how or why it happened.

However, humanity was a race well versed in adaptation.

In the aftermath, survivors gathered wherever they could, abandoning old divisions of country, race, and color. From the chaos rose the Alliances — coalitions of people determined to rebuild from the rubble.

One of them was the Covebay Alliance.

Born and raised here, Freddy learned from a young age that there was always a clear demarcation between the rich and the poor.

The Covebay alliance is divided into three parts: The Urban Area, where wealth insulated residents behind private security and opulent walls. The Industrial Area he just left, was for factories, corporations, and commerce to thrive. And the Slum area he was headed, cheap, crowded, and crime-ridden, where affordability was the only selling point.

Today, Godfrey's path led him down casco street in the Slum area.

He stopped at a small, single-story building along the road, pushed the door open, and stepped inside to the familiar chime of the shop bell.

The almost cramped space smelled faintly of spices. Canned goods and foodstuffs lined the shelves as he wove his way to the counter.

"Good evening, Uncle Fred. What'll I get you today?"

Behind the counter, a petite girl of about fourteen beamed at him. Blonde hair tied into twin tails bounced as she waved.

"Evening, Sophie. Broccoli, lettuce, meat, pasta… and how's your mom doing?" he asked with a smile.

"Mom's fine. She went out to get a few things, so I'm stuck here." She launched into an animated string of complaints, hands still busy packing his order.

Freddy just shook his head with a small, amused smile.

"By the way," Sophie asked suddenly, "are you playing the new game tomorrow?"

"Nah. I've got work and other things to do. But Kelvin will. His guild might even get him the VR gear." Freddy's smile grew faintly warmer at the mention of the name. "And if not, I could get him the elite version myself."

Sophie pouted. "I'd love to play, but Mom says I'm too young. Me! All grown up already!"

"The game's 16+, Sophie. Even if she let you, the headset can detect your age and stop you from logging in."

She huffed. "Well, sucks for them. I'll be sixteen in a few months, and then nobody can stop me." She handed him a grocery bag. "That'll be two hundred credits."

Taking out the plastic card he collected from Sam, he inputted his pin on the payment machine and swiped the card through it.

Beep!

Following the rise of alliances, the world economy successfully unified global currency into alliances credit, which one can access via their alliance ID card like Freddy did.

"Thanks uncle Fred, and tell Kelvin I said hi" Sophie smiled.

"I will, and also say hi to your mum for me when she gets back" Freddy raised a hand in a casual wave as he stepped back into the street.