Chapter 908
Chapter 908
Anton was beginning to grow impatient as he explained his Diablo System and the temporary access to the non-ladder Multiplayer feature that Paul and Eric would receive.
More than an hour had already passed, yet the two still had countless questions, even after he had shown them several gameplay videos featuring the different Diablo II classes.
Eventually, Anton decided that the best approach would be to give them a hands-on tutorial.
He created a Multiplayer game within his Diablo System and waited for Paul and Eric to enter.
Expecting them to spend a long time deciding which classes to choose, Anton patiently waited in the Rogue Encampment.
About thirty minutes later, the two finally appeared.
He wasn't particularly surprised by their choices.
Eric had chosen the Barbarian, while Paul selected the Amazon.
Unlike the original game, the Diablo II portion of Anton's Diablo System allowed men to choose the Amazon and Assassin classes despite them originally being female characters.
"Why didn't either of you choose one of the spellcasting classes?" Anton asked.
Anton himself was using his level 99 Sorceress, fully equipped with the finest gear available.
Fortunately, his presence wouldn't reduce the experience Paul and Eric gained, provided they were the ones defeating the monsters.
His role would simply be to accompany them and explain the game's mechanics.
At first, neither Paul nor Eric answered his question.
The two were completely absorbed by the experience of existing inside the world of Diablo II.
Although they still retained their own appearances, they were now dressed in the simple equipment granted to newly created characters.
Anton could have provided them with better equipment, but he deliberately chose not to.
He believed they should experience the game the way it was meant to be played—from the very beginning.
Likewise, he had chosen to accompany them using his Sorceress rather than one of his more supportive characters, such as his Paladin.
He had no intention of carrying them through the game.
His job was simply to explain the world of Diablo II while they learned through experience.
Anton had also prepared a schedule for the day.
They would play until noon before logging out for lunch.
Afterward, they would continue until evening, take a break for dinner, and then return to their families.
Since entering Multiplayer caused their physical bodies to disappear from the ship, Anton instructed them to always enter the world of Diablo from the sitting room of his suite.
That way, no one would accidentally witness them vanishing.
Once they had finished examining their new bodies, Paul and Eric wandered around the Rogue Encampment.
It took them nearly an hour to explore every corner.
The non-player characters behaved like ordinary people and paid little attention to the newcomers.
Anton deliberately avoided referring to them as "non-player characters."
Trying to explain concepts from video games would only confuse them and make the explanation unnecessarily complicated.
Once they had finished exploring, the two returned to Anton, who had been waiting beside the shared stash.
"Are we really in another world?" Paul asked, wonder filling his eyes.
"Yes," Anton replied simply.
He then instructed them to open their character panels.
Patiently, he explained every attribute and how each stat affected both their performance inside Diablo II and the strength their bodies gained in reality.
By the time he finished, both Paul and Eric looked genuinely astonished.
Next, Anton had them open their skill windows.
He carefully explained the Barbarian's and Amazon's skill trees.
When they asked why most of the skills were grayed out, Anton explained that they would only become available after reaching the required levels.
"You're both level one," he said. "Defeat monsters to earn experience points. Every time you level up, you'll gain attribute points and skill points. Once you've reached the level requirement for a skill, you can invest your skill points to unlock and improve it."
Because Anton had already shown them high-level gameplay videos featuring the Barbarian and Amazon, they already had a rough idea of what many of the skills could eventually do.
Privately, Anton thought that choosing spellcasting classes would have made learning much easier.
However, Paul and Eric had explained their reasoning.
Since they would eventually become wizards after arriving in Izmorta, and because their access to Diablo would eventually disappear, they wanted to treat this as a genuine adventure rather than another form of magical training.
Choosing martial classes helped reinforce that feeling.
Anton then had them open their inventory windows.
He explained that this was where they would equip weapons, armor, and magical items obtained from monsters.
Many of those items possessed extraordinary magical properties, and some could dramatically change how their skills functioned.
Curious, Paul and Eric unequipped their starting equipment.
The moment they did, the armor vanished from their bodies, leaving them wearing only the clothing they had entered the game with.
When they equipped the items again, the armor instantly reappeared.
The three spent several minutes experimenting with the equipment system.
They eventually discovered that only Diablo II equipment stored inside the inventory window appeared or disappeared automatically.
Ordinary clothing remained completely unaffected.
Anton then explained that the lower portion of the inventory was reserved for storing loot collected from defeated monsters.
He also introduced them to the shared stash.
Although everyone accessed the same physical chest, each person saw only their own private storage space.
Next, Anton explained that many powerful magical items would initially appear unidentified.
To reveal their properties, they would need to use an Identify Scroll.
He also introduced them to Town Portal Scrolls, waypoints, and the various merchants throughout the Rogue Encampment.
Finally, Anton briefly showed them the quest log.
He didn't spend much time explaining it.
Most quests completed naturally as players progressed through the game, making lengthy explanations unnecessary.
When Paul and Eric heard how Town Portal Scrolls worked, they exchanged meaningful glances.
Anton immediately realized what they had deduced.
They had correctly guessed that the portal scrolls Anton's family regularly supplied to Ormunda likely originated from this hidden world.
Anton wasn't concerned.
Both men had already signed a magically binding non-disclosure agreement.
By the time either of them became powerful enough to break its restrictions, Anton expected to be more than strong enough that revealing the existence of his Diablo System would no longer matter.
With the basic explanations finished, the three finally left the Rogue Encampment.
Not long afterward, they encountered their first enemies—several Fallen and Zombies.
Anton instructed Paul and Eric to deal with them.
He remained a spectator, offering advice without participating in the battle.
He wanted them to experience firsthand what it was like to fight Diablo II monsters.
When they eventually reached the entrance to the Den of Evil, Anton advised them to wait.
"It would be better to gain a few more levels before entering," he said.
The two agreed.
Instead, they continued hunting monsters throughout the Blood Moor.
Each time they gained a level, they invested their newly earned attribute and skill points into the builds they had chosen.
When they felt their skills become stronger with each skill point they added to them, they became more motivated to level up.
Anton didn’t try to tell them which skills they should add their skill points to since it would be best for the two of them to experience the game by themselves. They had four months to enjoy it, and it would be best for them to fully immerse themselves in it without an annoying know-it-all ruining the experience for them.
Anton would simply answer any questions they had about some of the mechanics of the game, and if they asked for any suggestions, he would tell them to just try them out since it was fine if they made mistakes. They would be allowed to reset their stats and skills once a week on top of the quest reward for completing the Den of Evil quest.