Alchemies

Chapter 8: The Mechanics of Cultivation

Alex quit the game and went to lunch at 10am with 3 of his other friends. After lunch, they all started dressing for Orientation.

Today is the unofficial first day of the University where they will be welcomed, and can choose subjects as well as lecture schedules.

After getting ready, the four of them left for University. Since they live in dorms, the best time is a 5-minute walk. They only needed to leave the dormitory, and walk a few minutes towards the main building.

They were immediately escorted to the main hall where the orientation would take place.

They sat around and waited, as the main event began to take place.

The university dean took to the stage and began giving speeches about how important university studies are, how good Oakleaf University is, and how they have a legacy to uphold.

Alex wanted to focus on his speech but quickly lost focus. A few more people took to the stage to talk about a few more things.

2 Hours passed before Alex realized it. A clean-shaven man in his late 20s came up to the stage and said,

"The Orientation program is complete. An email has been sent to your address with your username and password, for the university website."

"You can use the website to choose your course and schedule, or you can go to the reception to do so. Good luck, I hope to teach you all."

The man came out. Alex opened his phone and checked his email. There is a new letter from the university. He quickly used the credentials given to log into the school's website.

He chose 3 courses in business and economics, and 2 courses related to technology, one of which is a course that focuses on VR. He's waiting for them.

He managed to get an easy schedule. From Monday to Thursday, she takes classes from 11am to 3pm. There will be 3 classes each day, each one an hour long, with a 20-minute gap between each class.

But there was one problem he soon realized. Considering he has taken 2 technology courses, sooner or later he will need a computer.

He might also need a VR Helmet, but he already has one right now so he doesn't care about it.

“Do I need to ask my parents for money?” he began to regret taking technology classes. His parents sent him to university just because they were free. But they don't think about the additional needs he may have.

'Oh! What about making money from the game? If pill making is really the best way to make money in the game, then I should learn more.' He thinks.

“Alex, are you done?” Matt asked from the side.

"Huh, oh yeah, I'm done. We're leaving?" She asked.

Alex opened his phone and showed me his schedule.

"Woah, you're lucky. It seems I have to cut down on my game from now on. The schedule is very uncertain to me." Matt sighed

"me too. I have class at 7 on Friday. University's gonna somehow make me hate Fridays, isn't it?" Logan said from the side.

“Yeah, it sucks to be you guys, because mine is pretty good,” said Eric from the side. The schedule is a bit like Alex's.

They went to the cafeteria for lunch and immediately returned to their rooms.

As if doing anything else was immoral, the three companions jumped into their beds as soon as they got to the room and started playing their game.

Alex changed his clothes in freer clothes and sat on his bed. He wants to get into the game too. But, he can't.

Previously, he was just fascinated with the game and wanted to play it casually. After that, when he found out about the pills that were making a lot of money, he wanted to play the game because he wanted money.

But now, everything is different. He could no longer 'want' the money. He needs. So, he could no longer ignore that game.

Such games and game developers hardly make any effort to teach their players about the game except simple things so that the players can experience things themselves.

However, the players did not care much and openly posted things about what they learned or found. In fact, there is a whole forum about it.

There were some pinned forum posts, but the first one caught Alex's attention. The title only has 2 words, 'Don't Die.

Intrigued He opens the post and finds out the surprising things, if you die in the game, your character will be removed, and you have to start all over again. Some comments say this is likely to give players a feeling of 'reincarnation.

The next thing he learned was about cultivation. His cultivation level is equivalent to this game. From what the players had learned, the cultivation realm was divided into 3 parts.

The realm of self tempering, or ordinary was also known as the general Qi realm. The second was the True Qi realm, where one's general Qi increased to True Qi. The third realm, which is mostly just hearsay, is the sacred realm.

The true Qi Realm had 5 realms which each had 9 levels as well. They were True Disciples, True Teachers, True Lords, True Kings, and True Emperors.

The players did not know the sacred realm yet. The highest cultivation known among players was the realm of True Master 5. Of course, many hid their cultivation, playing in secret.