Birth Of Cosmos Online

*crash* "Haa! Die!" *swing* *squeak* "Finally... Got you... You little hopping stinker..." Soren commented out of breath, as he stared at the white rabbit that was currently impaled on the ground with his iron sword, before pulling the sword out of the rabbit and throwing its carcass into his inventory, where another four of them were currently being stored, as well as the armored doll's carcass.

"Should be five Hopping Rabbits with this bad boy. Now if only I could find any Lazy Squires..." After putting away the rabbit carcass, Soren decided to slowly make his way back into the settlement to turn in the rabbit quest to see the rewards he could obtain from turning in five rabbits. As for the Squires, which was the doll he killed, he had no luck as of now, despite walking in the forest for over forty minutes and would actively try to hunt them down, once he turned in his quest. Thankfully, he wasn't very far from the settlement and made it back after a few minutes of walking, before turning in his quest in the Hunter's Guild.

Congratulations on completing the "Hopping Rabbit Hunt" Quest. You have earned 19 Copper Coins.

"19 Copper Coins? No potions as well? How come the Vermin quest gave me one but not this one?" Soren asked curiously, as he sorted through his money in the inventory.

"The Lone Vermin quest has fixed rewards, so you'll get 3 Coppers per one of those rodents and a trainee health potion for every five of them. It doesn't take a genius to crunch down the numbers from there. Your little rabbits are a bit of a different issue though, mainly their massive hole in their guts, which ruins a lot of its meat." The employee explained, as he pointed towards the hole on his stomach and continued his explanation. "The reason for that is because of its big intestine, which is full of its excrement, so you should be able to connect the dots from that. Not only that, but one of your rabbits is at a slightly worse condition than your other ones, so that will take off a little bit extra out of your reward."

"Urgh... I think I got it now... I'll be more careful with them."

"You better be. It's hard getting supplies, especially lately, now that everyone's been stretched thin for manpower ever since the fogs have been lifted."

"Fogs? What do you mean?"

"Prior to a couple of days ago, the world had many areas covered with dense fog, making them nearly impossible to traverse. Ever since yesterday though, the fogs lifted from these areas as if they never existed and now, per our king's orders, we have to chart all of these new areas, all the while searching for habitable areas, recording any new flora and fauna and dealing with any dungeons in the nearby areas, lest we want a monster stampede to destroy our farms and settlements. Why do you think this settlement is nearly empty as of now, despite having the capability of housing over thirty people?"

"Dungeon diving... Wait, where wo-"

*bam* "Don't even entertain than thought kid! With your lanky body, you'd be more likely to die on your way there, let alone attempting it. Just grow your skills, build up experience slowly and don't even think about even the word "dungeon", until you reach the Blue rank at minimum." The employee explained fervently, as he smacked his hand on the desk.

*gulp* "G-Got it... I-I'll just focus on doing the available quests..." Soren then swiftly left the guild, not before accepting the rabbit quest once more. After swiftly making his away towards a secluded area, only then did he collapse and called out Lucas.

"Hey Lucas. I got to ask you something."

*sigh* "Ask away..."

"Is it normal for someone to be so... fervent, all of a sudden?"

"It depends on the person and their personality, but why are you asking?"

"Haaah... Just... I just needed a reminder than I was playing a game and... haaa... didn't actually reincarnate into another world... F*ck... Haaah... Sh*t's starting to real really quick..." Soren explained, as his breathing was becoming erratic and his body was slowly starting to shake.

"Soren, take deep breaths! Breath in and breath out. Just stop thinking about anything, take deep breaths and imagine you're in your happy place." Nora suddenly instructed with a serious tone, causing Soren to nearly jump, before remembering that she was his appointed nurse and started following her instructions. Slowly, with each breath that he was taking, he could feel his breathing was returning to normal and his body ceased all trembling.

"Feeling better now?" Nora asked cautiously, as she could see Soren's panic attack receding.

"Haa... Somewhat...? Still not sure if I'm feeling good though..."

"Better log out for now... Take a break for a few minutes and then log back into the game." Nora suggested cautiously, before watching Soren logging out of the game and seeing his unconscious body wake up and asking him immediately upon taking off his helmet. "Are you alright?"

"Urgh... Probably? Good lord... Why am I feeling so dizzy and sweaty?" Soren asked weakly, as he could barely lift himself from the couch, before being forced back down by Nora's push and her immediate response.

"You just experienced a panic attack and my best guess would be from a near-existential crisis, caused from the latest interaction with the guild's employee, as the line between fiction and reality had completely blurred for you with that interaction. It's nothing to worry about as it's a fairly common symptom during the first few dives into the game or any of our test worlds, as it confuses your brain about its current reality, causing information overload. It'll get better with experience, as your mind is getting used with more interactions with the game's citizens."

"Got it... I guess it's better I take a few minutes to let my brain rest a bit. F*ck... That was way too realistic. I thought I was dealing with someone who had seen actual death in his eyes for a moment there."

"You were warned about the risks of playing BCO through the double state, so your life could be forfeit without a single warning. Although you're playing a game Soren,never forget to always take care of yourself. Always keep that in mind, no matter how... outlandish the situation becomes. Like it's been said before, we do not know everything about this state and for all we know, it could be cranking that realism dial to 120% without us realizing in the first place. If things are starting to feel or become overwhelming for you, always remember you have a way out." Lucas explained in a considerate manner, as he was examining the helmet.

"Got it... Got it... I'll make sure not to push myself with this game..."

"Good. Take a fifteen minute break and we'll continue afterwards. I'll also need to run the diagnostics on the helmet, so that'll take a little while."

'Guess I'll just close my eyes for a bit then...' Soren thought to himself, as the tension from the body was leaving him and a wave of sleepiness washed over him.