[Spaghetti Applesauce the 11th: The South shall rise motherfuckers! Hahaha~! Except this time, it’ll be all you stupid white bitches we’ll be enslaving!]

[Abel Ham Linkin: Freedom, justice and democracy must be maintained! Even if we have to die, we will die with dignity and honor! We’ll slaughter all those arrogant bastards first though!]

“This is Facenovel? I can actually access Facenovel like this?” The System opened up the internet explorer program and showed Matthew the Facenovel pages of the Democratic and Republican candidates. He suddenly gasped and asked “No fucking way… Are you telling me that I voted for this crazy asshole two years ago?! His profile picture is him lighting the White House on fire!”

[Spaghetti Applesauce the 11th is a Rank-A Player, close to reaching Rank-S. He is quite famous in Old Earth Online, but blacklisted because of his rather deviant behavior. His most popular and controversial campaign was called “Make America Black Again!”, where he started in 1860 as a slave in South Carolina. He used a Necromancy Mod and began systematically slaughtering his oppressors, raising them as undead and freeing the other slaves in the South.]

“That doesn’t sound so bad… I thought that the Moderators would stop Players from using their powers too openly though?” Matthew saw some of the images and videos pop up onto the screen, then muttered “Nevermind, he’s a fucking evil piece of shit.”

[Moderators are usually Mid-Ranked Players, but Spaghetti Applesauce the 11th was Rank-B at the time. No one could prevent him from conquering the South, then the North. Eventually the entire country was under his dominion. Anyone who was not of African descent, was either enslaved in life, or enslaved in death. His body was immortal and his reign lasted for a hundred years, within that time, he conquered the whole planet. Eventually the Server was reset and he was banned by the Admins. Since then, High-Ranked Players are no longer allowed to use Mods on Old Earth Online Servers.]

“Well what about Abel Ham, pft~, sorry, it’s just… Anyway, so is Linkin a better choice?” He was a citizen of the United States, thus it was not strange for him to vote during the elections.

[Choice? It is not as if the approaching civil war will involve democracy. Assuming that Abel Ham Linkin manages to win the civil war, he is very likely going to attempt to conquer the rest of the world. However, it is not as if the United States of America is the only superpower in the world. Before the civil war, it is highly likely that the current president ‘Lincoln’, will be drawn into the Second Korean War. Although technically North and South Korea have never ended their state of war, simply fallen into a very long ceasefire.]

“You know what? Fuck it! I change my mind! I’m gonna grab my mom, dad and everyone else I care about. I’ll seal em in cards and take em somewhere a lot more peaceful. There’s gotta be Servers that aren’t so crazy, right? I don’t believe that only games like Old Earth Online and Chaotica’s Coliseum 3 exist!” He went to the desktop and started clicking on the random icons that were after ‘Chaotica’s Coliseum 3’.

[The Gardens of Eden: A Heaven simulator that focuses mainly on peace, tranquility and nature.]

[The Garden of Eden 6: A natural paradise, where the law of the jungle rules supreme. Fight against mythical beasts, conquer beautiful fairies and become a supreme angelic being!]

[Utopia 9: A Heaven simulator that focuses mainly on peace, tranquility and community. Work together with your friends to create the perfect city.]

[Chaotica’s Utopia 2: A Hell simulator that focuses mainly on terror, disaster, war and slavery. Build an empire with your friends and destroy your enemies, muhuahahahaha!]

[Pantheon 5: Start as a Mortal and cultivate to Immortality and beyond! Do you have what it takes to reach the Divine Realm?]

“The Gardens of Eden sounds kinda nice, but there’s no technology… Like none at all. Not even basic clothing. You can’t eat the animals either, which would piss my mom off too much. Umm, Garden of Eden 6, almost the same name, but totally different. Still can’t use tech or clothing, but you have to fight for your life and struggle to survive? Why the fuck? Ugh, anyway, Utopia 9 might be nice… Says that it’s almost impossible to use violence, fight or kill. And~, there aren’t any Public Servers anymore. I’ll just ignore anything with the name Chaotica in it from now on. Pantheon 5, nope, not doin that.”

[Technoevo World Online: Start with nothing and work your way up to the pinnacle of technology.]

[The Gates of Sidhe: A fantasy world filled with magical creatures and spells. Play as one of the many Elven Races and live your life, your way.]

“It says that… These games start in Single Player Mode? What does that mean?” Matthew suddenly realized, “Wait a second, why can’t I pick a game and run it in single-player mode on my Private Server? Why do I have to play online? Can’t I bring my family onto my Server and let them live their lives normally? Without some crazy bastards trying to end the world…”

[Indeed, you could certainly do that… If you were a High-Ranked Player or a programmer. You are neither. Also, it is debatable whether your parents are actually NPCs. If they are in fact Players, then all of your worrying would have been for naught.]

He asked “How can I find out then? What do I need to do?”

[Reach Rank-G. If they are NPCs, then you will be able to see their ID Codes and nameplates. If they are Players, then their nameplates and ID Codes will be hidden. There are no NPCs in the Old Earth Online program that are Ranked. However, in games like Chaotica’s Coliseum 3, the NPCs will scale with your Rank… Thus, it will be impossible to tell the Players from NPCs unless they set their nameplates and ID Codes to be visible.]

“So it all comes down to Ranks again…” Matthew sighed, complaining “Aren’t there other ways to get experience, besides fighting to the death?”

[There are many. Depending on the game, the rules for gaining experience differ greatly. For example, playing Old Earth Online for 1 year will reward you with 1 experience point. Regardless of what Rank you are… This is why it is so popular among High-Rank Players. Achievements occasionally grant experience, but they will also have a chance to give you new cards related to the game you’re playing. The most effective way to obtain high-rarity cards is through extremely difficult trials within the various game worlds. When you die in Old Earth Online, your character’s life experiences will determine your rewards.]

“What you’re saying is that the easiest way to get experience is to just go do Chaotica’s Coliseum and stop being such a whiny bitch?”

[Essentially… I would suggest that you utilize your time more efficiently. Instead of brooding and complaining, perhaps you should simply move forward. You possess 13 Souls. You can sacrifice some of them to Summon minions to fight for you, rather than waiting for your Mana to recover naturally. Obviously there is a Store in the game, where you can purchase various items, equipment and weaponry. However, you must be a Ranked Player to use it. Although you cannot buy cards with Souls directly, once you own an item in the game, it is possible to then seal it within a card.]

Although he was obviously reluctant at first, Matthew eventually agreed to return to the hellish arena. After all, “It’s not like I’m gonna be the one fighting, right?”

 

Volume 1: Unranked

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14