Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) by Cosimo Yap Read Free Book Online Page A

Administrator speaking to him in his mind. Eve sounded easy going, expressing various emotional inflections in her thoughts, while the Administrator was completely monotone.
    Add my level to my display in the top left, Alan sent. Similar to most games,   Alan had set up his interface so that he would see his stamina and health in the top left corner of his vision, but made sure it faded in and out based upon his thoughts. He didn’t want some screen no one else could see blocking his vision, after all.
    Added, Eve sent as Alan's interface updated to now include his level.
    Please spend your ability points now,  the Administrator sent.
    A new menu appeared before Alan, displaying hundreds of pages of various abilities available for purchase. Under a separate tab were his attributes, and the points he could devote to them.
    Alan began by browsing the various abilities, which seemed to include every talent, skill and bonus he’d ever heard of. He decided to sort the list by popularity, only including the abilities he could currently purchase, as the majority of them either cost too many points or had various prerequisites, some hidden, that he didn’t fulfill.
    There were generic superhero abilities like flight, super strength and super hearing, each costing around 50 ability points. There were skills such as increasing his expertise at wielding a blade or gun, with sub-categories for specializing in various types of weapons.
    Becoming a decent sniper would only cost him 25 ability points, although he didn’t know where he’d get a sniper rifle. He also wondered if the Game would implant the information into his brain or somehow train him. The list continued to abilities that would influence not his physical body but the rewards he’d receive, increasing quest rewards, the chance he’d find items or his status with various factions.
    A few especially caught his notice. Gifted, Skilled and Talented. Gifted and Skilled each cost 50 ability points. Gifted gave an additional ability point to spend on attributes every five levels, Skilled did the same but the ability point needed to be spent on abilities, while Talented, which had Skilled and Gifted as a prerequisite, simply said that it gave you talent in an area that suited you, and cost 100 ability points.
    Of course, since he would reach level 260 before either Skilled or Gifted paid themselves back, their usefulness would depend upon the level cap of the game.
    Alan turned to the Administrator.  What’s the level cap of the Game?
    There is no level cap.
    What is the highest level player at the moment?
    That information is classified.
    What is the average and median level at the moment?  Alan asked, determined to get an answer out of the Administrator.
    The average and median level of players who have chosen not to hide their levels is approximately 2460 and 1337, respectively.
    Um okay, hide my level. What’s the highest level of a human who chose not to hide their level?  Alan thought it would be better to be safe than sorry. Who knew if people targeted lower level players.
    The cost to hide your level is 500 credits which you do not have. It also requires visiting a Administrative Center. The highest level human from Earth is currently 2045.
    Oh, great. Why did you specify human from Earth?
    There are multiple species that share enough similarity with humans from Earth they too could be specified as humans. Please spend your ability points now.
    A timer appeared in front of Alan, 10 minutes counting down, while he tried to process the information he was given.
    Alright, so if I assume higher level players hide their level, the max level and average level is probably higher, thus making Gifted and Skilled amazing abilities. At the same time though, this next part of the tutorial will probably require me to use my abilities, so if I want to do better I would be better off getting abilities with immediate effects… Alan thought, starting at the ticking clock.
    Eve,