I was a Nerfed Hero in Another World

The last subject of our class ended in a flash. All the professors left their classrooms and gave away the homework for us to finish within this day. But those activities never got graded by the end of the school day. Those papers remained inside the teacher's desk, with no one touching them.

Everyone stared at the clock ticking on the panel, waiting for the alarm to sound off to the academy. After the school bell chimed a piercing sound, the students flocked with one another inside the classroom. They formed a circle and talked about the current game's condition. And these people excluded me from their list.

"Hey, hey? Have you heard about this really awesome game?"

"You bet I did? Look at me! I have all the coins in the world!"

"Being rich doesn't mean you're a powerful player, dumbass!"

"Shut your crap, man! I've worked hard for this! All my savings went to this game!"

"Hey... isn't that Arthur Wyllt??"

"Why the fuck is he looking at us?"

"Relax. Just don't look at him, okay?"

Those were the student's conversations. However, among those people, one had mentioned my name. It came from the batch right next to the entrance. They locked their eyes to my figure, plotting a sinister scam to offer me soon.

"Hey! Do you want to ask that guy over there? If you need to complete the player count, maybe include Arthur in your party? Since we have four members, adding him would make us five in the team! And even if he dies inside the game, you can loot his belongings afterwards! We can even steal his experience points." A guy with his pair of glasses asked, as he directed his gaze to me.

A violent shiver escaped from my spine as I heard my name getting mentioned from this class. I knew that it only spelt trouble if someone spoke my name. All I could do was act as if I had not listened to their talks and slept on my board.

Those students spun around and faced my sleeping figure nestled on the desk. Sinister grins emerged from their faces as they thought of the scheme inside their heads. Despite my head burrowing on the table, I knew they glued their eyes on me. They thought to include me in their little gathering, and that was what they did. My classmate with glasses from that group came to me and sauntered in my direction. But before that person could walk to my side, the leader of their mob pulled his arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the guy growled, and glared in the glasses guy's direction.

The leader of that dozen bunch grabbed the four-eyed guy in his collar and slammed him to the sides, forcing his body to bang the concrete floor. The bloke with the lenses winced in pain as his body came into contact with the floor. That guy screamed in pain as pinkish lumps of bruises formed on his head and skin.

As if not enough, the chief of the hoodlum students gritted his teeth and cracked his neck, instilling fear in everyone inside the room. The guy's tattered uniform bared his chest in front of the student approaching my way.

"I wanted to use Arthur for my party! That's all!" the bloke with the glasses pleaded as he flailed his arms. "I swear I did nothing wrong! Please spare me! I-I can transfer my money to you! How do you like that?"

"Nobody talks to that loser!" the scoundrel student grunted, while tossing the glasses guy in my direction. "And better send me the cash later, fucking retard!"

I had no time to react to the scene as the body crashed against me. The student's weight piled on top of my head, with my chair crashing to the ground. The two of us grunted as we rammed against each other.

A violent cracking sound resounded at my hips. As I checked my sides, the glasses that the student wore shattered into a million shards. Some of them even pierced our bodies. There was a puddle of vermilion blood formed beside us while warming our already chilling bodies. A sudden throbbing pain surged through my thighs, which received the impact the most from the hurl.

None of the officials in this school or even the teachers cared about their students. They cared about the game more than the scholars of this university. It only showed that the game had conquered everyone in this world.

As those teachers arrived at the entrance door, they did nothing to that bastard who threw that student in my direction. Those professors were so engrossed in their games. They did not pay any attention to what happened in the class.

The distant noise of their characters fighting against a monster resonated inside the classrooms. Just like the teachers that had arrived in the fray, all the students left the classroom. Their heads leaned closer to their phones, busy with their games.

It was a nightmare living in this world.

Everyone in my class talked about the game that would give you money. The stronger you get, the richer you become! That topic became the trend in my generation.

They had been doing this for a year now, without inviting me once to their group. These students thought I was a quiet person. Little did they know I was aware of their topic every day!

But there was a catch. You can never use the money to become a skilled player! Like uncle Barn used to say, "with great abilities, comes with great management!"

The game was not a pay to win, but a competitive one! It involves playing on a laptop or a Gamestation with a controller and fighting against other players in the PVP mode! (PVP is player versus player mode.) Powerful weapons meant nothing in the game if you did not know how to play!

A level 1 beginner could beat the level 100 gold digger with a blade! If someone knew the game mechanics, that person would win tons of prizes!

And that was not all! There were mountains of features that the game developers released every day! All of those tasks rewarded players with real-life money!

A myriad of players would take part in this quest to conquer the labyrinths. The guild that could accomplish this mission would receive millions of Yen to their bank accounts! To those who couldn't, then better luck next time!

"Stay away from me, you freak! This shit happens because of you!" the man croaked at me. He took his broken glasses with him and left me inside the classroom.

…..

I went home right afterwards and raced upstairs to open my Gamestation, connected to the television. Millions of lights flickered all at once as the console activated itself for me to play the game. The game that the world had been talking about for generations was none other than an RPG game. People also called it "Magique" an alternate world from Earth.

It allowed every player to make their character inside the game. But what differed this game from other MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) was their update. It could use the facial features of the player and their personalities inside the game.

If a person had exceptional talent in archery, the game would process that information in its database and create an elf for that character. That elf was a marksman that would wield a bow instead of a blade.

If a person had a broad and brawny body, that person would become a tank in that world. The system would provide armour and an insane amount of defences for that individual.

The list went on as the game grew populated.

I did not have time to mend my wounds, knowing it would heal on its own. And my parents did not care about my slashes all over my body. They also preoccupied themselves with the game flashing in front of them in the living room.

All I cared about was grinding for some more experience in this game. It was all that I had left inside my crappy life.

[Welcome, Arthur.] The computer addressed me.

[Name]: {Arthur Wyllt}

I did not bother changing my in-game name, since nobody knew who I was in this world, anyway. And I was one of the top-ranking players in the entire world, and the number one player in Canada. Thanks to "Magique" my identity remained safe with me, and nobody could know who I was behind that screen. Not even a hacker could penetrate the game's defences, since this was a multi-billion game created by the shark companies.

Telling people my identity was a waste of time. I did that once, but the people I confided in my heart to went and used me as they wished. Those scums did not care about my well-being. All of them were greedy bastards in my eyes.

[Processing data...0%]

[Processing data complete 100%]

The game announced itself and switched the screen. However, that never happened. As I peered through the monitor, a spark emerged from the console. It almost crisped the entire Gamestation!

"Dammit! Don't do this right now!" I cursed, and slammed my hand on the jet-black surface of my gaming set, hoping it would work. But it didn't.

The console instead generated a spark that gushed through my veins, electrifying my entire body. My muscles refused to heed my call as I tried forcing myself to touch my leather shoes beside me.

But I was too late. My consciousness left my body, and the only thing I saw was a pitch-black screen welcoming me.