Terra Nova Online: Rise of The Strongest Player

Chapter 343: Valuable Information

( Meanwhile on the global forums )

A huge ruckus broke out on the global forums once the rankers only event ended and the top1000 leaderboard was thrown into a complete disarray with almost everyone switching places.

“What the fuck just happened on the leaderboards? How did the top rankers go from being level 170 to level 292 in a few hours?

What is this leveling hack? What just happened?”

“Alright, I think it’s time for me to quit the game. I had just reached level 100 today and I was so proud of myself for reaching the triple figures, because there are so many guilds out there that are only recruiting players above level 100 and I did not meet that criteria, up till now.

However, seeing how the gap between myself and ‘TheBoss’ is now 192 levels, I feel like just quitting…. Alas I can’t because playing this stupid game is mandatory.

But it’s still gutting,”

“Can someone explain to me why the leaderboards have shifted so much and why players like ‘Purple Rock’ and ‘Spicy Ramen’ lost so many levels?

Spicy Ramen was a top 5 player up till a few hours ago, however, now I can’t find him even in the top 10,000 rankings and the same goes for Purple Rock and many other rankers.

It almost looks like they were booted out by some mysterious phenomenon–”

“I have a conspiracy theory on what’s going on. I think the rankers have all traded levels.

I think ‘The Boss’ must have butchered Spicy Ramen again and again until the poor guy lost 100 levels, while he gained them…”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m so pissed to see ‘TheBoss’ still being on top.

That guy is unbeatable and I’m sick of it.

How is it that no matter how the ranking boards shuffle or who is number two, he is always EXACTLY 10 levels above them?

It’s almost like he keeps wild beasts tied up in his basement and just strolls down and kills a few to level up whenever someone catches up to him”

“DAMNNNN…. That Leo Skyshard guy is clear of number three, guess it’s only him and ‘TheBoss’ racing for the top”

———

The forums were a complete mess with lots of conspiracy theories starting to be thrown around on what happened between the rankers.

Unfortunately for the masses, there wasn’t a single ranker who had come forward to clarify what was going on exactly, leaving the common man to wonder about what happened or why it happened exactly a couple days before the second evaluation.

************

( Meanwhile ChaosBringer )

Noticing the unrest over the forums, ChaosBringer decided to take part in this mess and direct some anger towards the top1% as he gave his keyboard warriors specific directions to fan the flames of public fury.

Crafting a narrative of how the top players received special privileges from the game management, ChaosBringer tried to brew a story which painted the top 1000 players as the evil oppressor’s, however, he tacitly left ‘TheBoss’ out of his plans, instructing his men to paint him as a hero of the masses who was standing up against the oppressor’s and holding the fort strong from the top.

To make his story more believable, ChaosBringer spread the lies that all the top rankers were from sectors S, A and B and that this sudden increase in levels was their way of ensuring that they never got demoted, whenever evaluation time rolled around.

Using this strategy… ChaosBringer tried to make believe that the system was rigged against the common man and the only way to beat it was via joining the revolution and the ‘uprising’ becoming a rebel against the establishment.

Overall, it was a genius move, as thousands of dejected players who were planning to join other guilds and organizations, joined the ‘uprising’ today on a snap emotional decision as they felt like months of their effort had been undone because of this sudden widening gap with the top.

********

( Meanwhile, Spicy Ramen )

After losing close to 70 levels in the event, Spicy Ramen tried to get out of his depression by opening the [ Class Information Pack ] that the event organizers had given to all participating rankers.

‘I hope this information pack is worth sacrificing 70 levels for, because if it’s not then I’m toast–’ Spicy Ramen thought to himself as he opened the pack from his inventory.

Spicy Ramen was a normal player, with the class ‘Swordsman’ which was probably one of the most popular class in the game with one in every five players belonging to this class.

Hence when he opened this pack, he was transported into a vision of sorts, where he observed a sword master imparting an important sword lesson to his students.

“There are four types of swords….” The old bearded master explained as he stroked his beard.

“First there is the layman’s sword… to master this stage you must master the two fundamental movements of the sword.

The ‘slash’ and ‘jab’ and that’s it.

Although it sounds simple, to master this stage one needs to put their heart and soul into learning swordsmanship, as only then can one understand how to properly transfer their weight when performing a thrust, or how to slash in a way that doesn’t compromise your defense.

Next there is the King’s sword…..

Mastering this stage means blending the basic concepts of swordsmanship, with everything else.

Footwork, vision, anticipation, parry, counter….. all these movements fall under the second stage of swordsmanship and if you perfect this stage, you can proudly call yourself a swordsman, although not a very good one.

The third stage of the sword path is the Emperor’s sword.

Mastering this stage means that everything becomes a blade for you and you no longer require an actual sword.

A leaf can become a blade for you, so can a stick.

You learn how to control your sword intent and your sword aura and how to infuse your attacks with the same endlessly.

Mastering this stage means that you become a sword master. A feat that not many can achieve.

And then finally there is the final stage of swordsmanship, The Heaven’s sword.

In this stage, you no longer need a physical medium for your swordsmanship.

Your aura alone can carve entire mountains and you can kill any opponent from half the world away with a flick of your wrist.

After reaching this stage, you can be conferred the title of a ‘Grand Master’ ” The old master said, as listening to his words Spicy Ramen felt enlightened!

He, just like almost all other players in the game was still stuck at ( basic ) mastery of his class and although the names that the old master used were different to what he did as a gamer, Spicy Ramen understood that the four stages he was talking about corresponded to ( basic ) ( intermediate ) (advanced) and ( perfect ), or at least that’s what he thought they did.

“Whoa! This information is really valuable…. I don’t think anyone else really knows at this point in the game how they can reach the (perfect) stage in their class.