Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 279: The Main Realm, a New Lifeline!

Alex finds himself in an unfamiliar white room, reminding him of his former room in the tutorial section of the Realm. As usual, the room looks white, sterile, and lifeless, but at the same time mythical and serene.

He smiles as he notices that this room actually contains a kitchen, multiple rooms, and most importantly, a portal platform that will, without a doubt, bring him back into the real world.

To Alex’s delight, he immediately spots a familiar-looking Wisp close to him.

[Welcome back, Host. Congratulations on surviving one of the bigger hurdles in clearing the Realm. I see that Host has far surpassed the minimum goal of mere survival and obtained quite an impressive amount of spoils. The host seems to have matured significantly as well, despite not looking a day older.]

“Thank you, 1337! I’m glad to be back!” Alex says, happy to see his old comrade.

1337 is clearly an ally. It has stretched the rules of the Realm by quite a lot and even saved me from the administrator. It is forced to play by the rules, but it has repeatedly stretched them to help me.

Wait a second! There are more important things going on!

“1337! Where is Menchi? Where is Jewel?!” Alex asks, slightly panicked and shocked.

[Host does not need to worry. Every Supporter and Pet is initially transferred to the respective facility in the Main Realm once new players like the Host reach it. They’ll be well cared for and are in no danger.]

“Okay… I need to visit these places anyway. I guess before I can go home and take a break, I have to pick them up first, or they’ll be pissed,” Alex reasons, thinking about Menchi angrily waiting to be picked up.

[First of all, Host has sustained a high degree of damage during his mission. Does Host want to spend 10,000 FC for a full recovery?]

Alex’s eyes nearly pop out. “Wait a minute, why so much?” he asks, clearly confused.

It wasn’t that expensive in the tutorial Realm!

[The Main Realm offers fixed prices, not varying between player levels. There is a minor restoration costing merely 2,000 FC and a small restoration, which is what Host requires, for 10,000 FC.]

Not quite satisfied with this explanation, Alex questions 1337, “Well… what other restorations are there? 1337, I know you aren’t allowed to give me outright help, but if you explain something, please feel free to tell me everything. I need to become a bit more serious. I can’t be surprised! I need to always have a certain amount of FC available to restore my body.”

[There are five tiers of restoration. The first, and lowest one for 2,000 FC, merely recovers minor wounds. It’s recommended to restore the body to peak condition, but is not strictly necessary. The second tier, for 10,000 FC—which you require—is used for permanent injuries that may seem minor but reduce your fighting ability noticeably.]

I indeed feel a bit sluggish… but it’s not that bad. Anyway, I’d better pay the FC without being stingy.

[The third tier is capable of restoring flesh, such as fingers, toes, hands, feet, and more serious internal wounds. It starts at 20,000 FC and goes up to 50,000 FC depending on the number and severity of injuries.]

[The fourth tier, capable of restoring whole limbs, organs, and almost all other ailments, costs between 100,000 and 200,000 FC.]

Alex gulps.

Damn, these prices are insane! Losing an arm equals losing 100,000 FC? This is ridiculous! Wait a minute… Stefanie lost an arm, didn’t she? Poor girl.

[The highest tier can restore any wounds and ailments. There is no fixed price. Expect it to cost at least 500,000 FC.]

“Thanks, 1337. Please use the second tier for now,” Alex decides.

Alex is surrounded by a magical light, and within seconds, he feels as though he’s been reborn. His body feels extremely comfortable but almost foreign to him.

His skin and organs tingle with pleasure—his abdominal wound, where the Thornback Matriarch bit him, no longer hurts.

This was worth it…

“Is there anything I need to take note of, 1337?” Alex asks.

[This system is not allowed to offer advice, only explain and answer questions. However, the Host should be aware that from now on, after returning to the Realm, a mission timer of 30 days will begin. After this time has elapsed, he is at risk of being forced to join a mission; however, this standby period can extend up to 30 days. So, like before, the Host is able to stay 60 days in the Realm without the use of other resources.]

There it is! Without a doubt, another hint! 1337 is really stretching the rules… why? I guess it really likes me, but I’m guessing personal systems also get rewards if their Host succeeds? At first, 1337 was very pissed at me and my seemingly low potential.

“What resources are related to mission time?” Alex asks the obvious question, 1337 hinted at.

[Host can buy ‘time’ from other players and various merchants. Time can be used to delay the mission timer by up to 24 months, thus including the standby period—a player can stay 25 months in the Realm without having to go on another mission.]

This!!! 25 missions left… so I can potentially laze around for two years between each mission? This is insane! I just got my life back. That’s up to 50 years. Hell, I’d be around 80 years old at that point, and thanks to Ten and my [Drakul’s Vitality], I barely age!

[Host should be aware that the cost of ‘time’ is not to be underestimated. Host should also be aware that ‘time’ does not increase combat potential, so if the goal is to clear the Realm, ‘time’ may be a huge waste of resources. This feature should only be used under certain special circumstances.]

Alex wonders: “Such as?”

[For example, female players may want to use ‘time’ to avoid joining a mission while pregnant. Other circumstances depend on the individual players—for example, if certain important events in the real world can’t wait for a few days or weeks, as time still passes while missions are ongoing, it may be useful to buy a small amount of time. Host himself went missing for over a week, as he might remember. This time host was gone for nearly two weeks, which is close to the maximum.]

“Makes sense, thank you,” Alex recognizes the logic in 1337’s words.

Now it just depends on the cost of time… I’m so glad Menchi can potentially outearn the cost of buying time with her craft!

“Any more advice, 1337? Nah—sorry I misspoke—any highly recommended tasks I should be doing now, as a new player in the Main Realm?” Alex questions 1337, being as vague as possible to allow 1337 to explain as much information to him as possible.

[I can’t give Host any recommendations this general, but if Host reaches the new facilities in the Main Realm, such as the Pet-Hub, Supporter-Hub, or the various other important locations—for example, the Item Upgrade Hall that allows players to increase the rank of items—I’ll make sure to provide the Host with any required information to use them.]

Alex has to try hard to suppress his laugh.

I guess I always was the type to go into new games with a walkthrough. Fuck blind playthroughs!

“Let’s go, 1337—I just remembered, I’ve got some stuff to do!” Alex confidently states as he leaves his room.

To Alex’s shock, he’s inside an enormous, hollow tower, walking outside his room onto some sort of indoor pathway, stretching around the inner wall of the hollow tower, hundreds of rooms visible to him.

As he steps out of his room he is barely able to see the sky, which for some reason is white and not blue.

Many floors are visible above him, and there are four floors under him. On certain walls, he sees the number five written in numerous ways: the common numerical “5”, the Arabic symbol for 5, the Latin symbol, even the Japanese symbol. Alex sees countless other variations, almost none he recognizes.

This… may take a while…