Prisoners of VR

"What do we do then?" Lace expressed her worry. "If they defeat us and occupy this territory, they'll be able to kill us every time we spawn. If they cover the ground with the Female Mid-Boss's traps, we'll lose our legs the moment we spawn. It'll be a losing battle from that point onwards."

"It's more concerning since I don't see any option to change our spawn point." Trot said in worry, "If we reach one of the other two Beginner Villages, we'll be able to change our spawn point. But we neither know the route nor their location."

"It's foolish to change locations." Rahu said, "There's no guarantee that those villages aren't facing the same situation as us. Besides, our spawn point is currently here. So, the moment we're killed during the journey, we'll have to return here."

"Do you have a plan, brother?" Lace faced Rahu.

"Call me Woof," Rahu said without a change in expression.

"Woof...?" Lace's face reddened in embarrassment, "Why...did you pick that name?"

"What do you think?" Rahu teased.

"I'm Trot, and she's Lace." Trot introduced themselves, "We became friends during our Beginner's Quest. There are two more of us, but they were killed by the Dungeon Boss."

"In Worldcraft time, they will take around a week or so to log in." Rahu nodded. He then thought of their situation and addressed everyone that had converged around him. There were around a hundred people, "I have a plan."

"Opponents that can cause us significant harm are the Elite Monkeys and the three Bosses from the Dungeon. Since their spawn point is within the Dungeon, we only need to guard its entrance." Rahu condensed a Grass Stick and drew on the barren ground.

He made a line in the centre and drew a rectangle on either side, "This line is the portal. We'll erect a wall on either side. It's narrow at the entrance and is surrounded by cliffs. We can easily build a large enough wall."

"We have no tools though." One of the spectators commented, "The tree trunks are thick. We won't be able to clear them out to make a wall on time."

"Who here has a Leaf Wing Skill?" Rahu shouted and pointed at the people that raised their hands, "They'll be in charge of cutting the trees. The Leaf Wings are sharp enough to act like a saw. As long as everyone collaborates, it's possible."

He then pointed towards the remaining people, "As for the rest of you, please spread the word about the Dungeon Boss's revival and their possible invasion. All of us are lacking Skills. So, those without one can continue to hunt in the Dungeon. That'll prevent the monkeys from amassing an army for the time being."

"Those that obtain the Leaf Wing Skill can join the deforestation project." Once he concluded, the people split into groups to perform the tasks. Those at the scene witnessed him killing a Dungeon Boss effortlessly.

So, they treated him as a leader. Besides, in the entire Larkrood Village, only he possessed the Dungeon Boss's Skill. That gave him the necessary authority to give out orders.

"The two of you, come with me," Rahu said and proceeded towards the Dungeon.

"Um...Woof?" Lace asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" Rahu looked at her.

She pointed at his bleeding thigh, "Shouldn't we treat this?"

'It stopped hurting, so I forgot about it.' Rahu tore his pants and inspected the wound. It was a flesh wound. But as he didn't have a first aid kit with him, he could only tie a piece of cloth around it to stop the bleeding. The bleeding was faint and the wound was already beginning to form scabs, so he didn't concern himself with it.

As treatment facilities weren't available, there was no other choice. But if Rahu killed himself and revived once his stats recovered, he'll arrive in a pristine state: wounds fully healed and his clothes in their original state. But, that would mean he would lose his Skills.

There was an option to unequip the Invoker Crystals from his Leaf Guard. But once unequipped, the Invoker Crystal would crumble. That would be a loss. Therefore, only when he lost his limbs would suicide be a valid option.

Now that he thought about it, the actions of the Dungeon Boss made sense. Since its Invoker Crystal had been extracted by Rahu, remaining alive was of no benefit. Rather, if it had been captured and confined, the Dungeon will lose its Dungeon Boss.

That would put its brethren at risk of being enslaved. Therefore, the moment it was defeated, the Dungeon Boss decisively killed itself. This way, it would revive. And when it does, it would be in a pristine state, with its Skill.

"Once we get through this crisis, we can gradually recruit doctors and equip them with the tools necessary to offer treatment." He spoke. Tools to operate on wounds, diagnose one's condition, herbs to create medicine, location of herbs, a treatment institution, etc.

A lot had to be figured out before a medical institution could be set up. So, until then, one could only put up with any injuries they sustain.

Accompanying Trot and Lace, Rahu entered the Grass-Faced Monkey Dungeon and observed people fighting against the monkeys near the entrance. The bamboo wall at the entrance had been destroyed already.

There were too many people. As a result, the monkeys were getting pushed back. At present, there were no monkeys around three metres from the Dungeon entrance. With the death of the Boss and the two Mid-Bosses, they were getting pushed back by the Elven Race users that were gradually equipping themselves with the Leaf Wing Skill.

Rahu surveyed the area and arrived at a spot two hundred metres from the entrance. He erected a Bamboo Spike there and addressed the duo, "We'll create a wall from this location. There's a clearing in the trees after this, so it'll be easy to deforest this area."

An open space prevented an avenue for the monkeys to swing on the trees and reach them.

He patted a thick tree trunk and marked it with two horizontal lines, "Let this tree serve as one of the wall's pillars. Use it as the foundation to build a wall around."

He then went around and marked all the trees that would become pillars for the wall, tracing a U-shaped path. He also communicated the details with the people that had begun to saw the trees closer to the entrance.

He then shouted, garnering the attention of everyone as he created a Grass Stick, "We need grass to make a Grass Stick. The Skills of the three Bosses can work on either grass or bamboo. We haven't seen them being able to activate their Skills from wood. So, all we need to do to buy time is to clear out all the grass from the ground."

"Won't it make us vulnerable too..." Lace muttered and paused, clicking her tongue as she stared at the Dungeon entrance in realisation, "Right, there's plenty of grass beyond the Dungeon there. We can use that for our Skills."

"A Grass Stick can last for a couple of hours. That's plenty of time to carry them from outside and head into battle." Rahu continued to speak, "Once we clear this area of all grass and bamboo, even the Dungeon Boss cannot approach us."

'That's impressive.' Trot thought as he stared at Rahu, shuddering in admiration, 'Did he consider everything already? This man operates at a rapid pace.'

He then observed the people listening to Rahu without much complaining, 'He also has enough charisma to make people listen to him.'

Of course, not everyone listened to him. The people acting after being influenced by his words barely numbered a couple hundred. There were tens of thousands currently active at Larkrood Village.

And once it's evening time in reality, the population at Larkrood Village would balloon to frightening numbers. It was impossible to gather everyone to work towards a cause. This was just the initial days since Worldcraft's release. Not many would love being restricted to some cause already. They would wish to be unfettered.

Rahu then erected dozens of Bamboo Spikes. He pulled out one and plunged it into the ground, beginning to dig. He stared at the others, "Those without a Leaf Wing Skill can use these Bamboo Spikes to dig holes."

Trot arrived with a bundle of bamboo and broke half side towards the end, saying, "We can use these like a spade to dig out the loose soil."

"Let's build a wall!" The people were rather excited as they used the simple bamboo tools. It seemed they were all gamers. Hence, they were an enthusiastic bunch. Realising the necessity of a wall, they were happy to toil.

After half an hour, Rahu stopped digging as he stared at Trot, "Can you do me a favour and note down the names of everyone working on this wall?"

"I don't have any writing apparatus, so it'll be hard." Trot frowned as he looked around and stared at the faces of those working for the cause, "But I'll make sure to remember their faces."

"That should be fine. I'll help them gather a Skill in return once I return." Rahu said and got out of the pit he dug.

"You're leaving?" Lace expressed her confusion, "Isn't this too soon? All of us gamers spend at least five hours at a stretch..."

"Sorry, I'm not a gamer. I have some urgent matters to tend, so I'll have to leave." Rahu wrote a number on the ground and logged out, "This is my number. If either the Dungeon Boss revives or something important happens, call me. I'll be sure to return immediately."

"Wait, do you trust us..." Trot spoke in a hurry and stopped upon seeing Rahu's grin as he waved his hand and vanished.

Returning to reality, Rahu stared at a blinking message in his augmented Reality interface, his face scrunching up at the message sent by the DOVA Agent with the Synchro Code R.

[R: I visited Kazakhstan today and entered their treasury. Talgat Musabayev's uVR Earth is safe. I confirmed its legitimacy. There are no signs of tampering done to it. So, Rakshat Gupta's existence makes no sense. He's an unregistered DOVA Agent.]