Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Kaizen opened his map and began to study the area. He noticed that the place he was standing was known as "The Icy Hills" and that it was part of the kingdom of Vrikhodour, the coldest kingdom in Midgard. He also noticed that there was an abandoned village near a cave a few miles away, a diamond mine, and that it would probably be a hiding place for many players.

Kaizen decided that he needed to act quickly to establish a strategic position before other players reached his area and could surround him. He decided that his macro plan would be to descend from the watchtower and head toward the cave where the camp was located. That way, if he could blow up or collapse the entire cave, he would get a lot of kills, because it was not enough for him to just stay alive, he wanted to be among the top four players in the three groups, because that was the only way he would advance to the quarterfinals.

However, before Kaizen could even think about leaving, he heard footsteps outside the building he was in. Those footsteps were sinking into the fluffy snow, making a little noise, and those footsteps were very hurried and approaching quickly.

'Did they find me? No, it's impossible. I'm pretty sure it's practically impossible for anyone to have seen me.' Kaizen thought, but just in case, he decided to hide behind an old closet near the entrance to the fortress. As Kaizen hid, he heard the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer. Finally, the door to the tower opened and an unknown player entered. He heard the door creak open and saw a shadow enter the room.

It was a player dressed in leather armor and a hood, carrying a sword and a shield. He seemed to be searching for something, and desperately so. The stranger quickly closed the door.

Kaizen could see his feet on the still slippery stone floor and the sharp point of his sword, but could not see his face.

Kaizen waited for the right moment to attack. He knew he had the advantage of surprise, and one strike with the Næġling Falske should be more than enough.

"Whew... It's very cold outside. I wonder if those guys are still after me." The strange man talked to himself as he leaned his sword against a wall to open his inventory.

When Kaizen realized that the strange man was distracted, he saw that this was the perfect opportunity to attack him, and he didn't let the opportunity pass. He stepped out from behind the cabinet, brandishing the Næġling Falske and silently approaching the unknown player. When Kaizen was close enough, he raised his sword to deliver the blow, bringing it down hard on the intruder's neck in a sneaky but effective strike.

The player had no time to react. He felt a sharp pain and then nothing. His head rolled across the floor, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. The player's screen instantly turned red, and a death message appeared:

[You have died to player [Kaizen]].

[You have lost 2 levels for dying.]

[You have lost 5 reputation with the human race].

His body fell lifeless, dropping his sword and shield, while his orb hovered.

Kaizen smiled triumphantly and said:

"The first one is gone."

This player was so weak that Kaizen didn't even bother to see what other items he could get by looting him, but at least this boy was useful in showing Kaizen how vulnerable the place he was in was. Not to mention that any strong or experienced player would have seen the tracks Kaizen left in the snow, which this boy in leather armor didn't even notice. It was too risky to continue in this fortress, even though it was a good position. So Kaizen decided to leave.

But when Kaizen opened the door to the tower, he found a group of four players sneaking up the hill, looking right at the ground where the tracks were in the snow. All four players wore black armor and helmets that hid their faces, but their eyes met Kaizen's through his mask.

"Captain, this is..." One of them said to one of the players in front of the group.

"Yeah, I know who he is."

Kaizen was not wearing any flashy clothes like a red cape or gold armor, but his mask was easily recognizable to any player who had ever seen the video of him, and the only thing people feared besides meeting Kaizen was seeing his disturbing smile.

Kaizen didn't say a word, just stared at them in silence, and without even having to use <Intimidate>, he made everyone want to back away.

"Is this your territory, Kaizen? All right, we'll get out of here," the captain said, and the other three players didn't even reply because they were also afraid of Kaizen. They immediately began to retreat, taking cautious steps backward.

After a few moments, Kaizen finally spoke.

"And who gave you permission to retreat?" He asked, causing everyone to stop immediately. They felt a chill run through their columns. "You know very well that I cannot let you go. It is too dangerous for people to know my whereabouts."

Seconds of tension followed his words, and when the first player in the group advanced toward Kaizen with a long sword, he reacted with a forward thrust while using <Giant's Lungs> to multiply his attributes. As a result, Kaizen easily dodged the first enemy's sword thrust, and then slashed his opponent's hand with a swift blow, causing him to drop his sword. The second player in the group moved forward with a pointy shield in his hand, trying to protect his friend from death, but Kaizen used his skill-enhanced agility to get around the shield and strike the squire in the back.

The party's archer tried to take advantage of the moment to fire an arrow at Kaizen, but the Psyker managed to dodge it with an amazing reflex, and soon after he looked at the archer's bow and said:

"Humph. This bow is not bad at all. I think it'll be mine."

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

More character images in:

https://discord.gg/bpqq9u4gS8

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