When Scott comes to his senses, he finds himself in an overcrowded place with people excitedly chattering with each other.
An uncomfortable feeling lodges itself in his chest. He has never liked crowds; being in the middle of all these people is making him feel claustrophobic.
He suddenly feels the need to get away from it all as soon as possible.
His eyes dart around his surroundings. The town of Lucis is huge, with modern brick houses at the sides and numerous trees adorning the spaces in between. The roads are also neatly constructed with stone and lead to multiple paths.
The area Scott is currently in seems to be a park where numerous beginners like him start out. Most of them look like teenagers and only a few appear to be in their thirties. Their costumes also look gaudy and honestly impractical.
Scott looks down at his plain, neat clothing and is glad that he didn’t pick out something flashy. It surely isn’t good to stand out in this game, after all.
So… what am I supposed to do here now? Scott wonders as he starts walking out of the park, tuning out the loud voices in his ears. Am I given a mission or what?
Soon, he finds himself standing before a weapons shop. I wonder if I have money to buy equipment, he muses as he checks his stats.
Hologram boxes appear before his line of sight, revealing his statistics. His HP and MP are full, and his EXP bar is empty. It looks like he needs about 100 points in order to level up.
That can be taken care of by fighting monsters… Scott thinks absently as he searches for the amount of money he currently has. There it is… 1,000 coins.
Is that a lot?
Realizing that he will need to go inside the shop to check, Scott pushes the door open and walks inside.
There is a man with a friendly smile standing before the counter. Behind him are shelves filled with weapons of all kinds. Scott suspects, however, that they are only there for design. It is usually typical of an RPG game.
“How can I help you, young man?” the NPC asks amicably.
As he says it, a large frame appears before Scott’s line of sight, revealing pictures of different weapons and their respective stats and prices. There is a category tab at the uppermost corner, so Scott clicks on it and presses the Swords button.
As he mindlessly skims the pages, he finds one that immediately catches his attention.
It is a thick, wide glass blade, one that seems too heavy to lift for an average person. However, pain doesn’t exist in this game, so it is completely safe for a player to wield any weapon they so wish.
Looking at the price, he sees that it costs 900 coins. Close enough.
He taps the Buy button.
Almost instantly, the glass sword materializes in front of him. Scott stares at the hilt before hesitantly gripping it with his right hand.
This is… cool. Scott blinks as he tries wielding his weapon. It feels light in his hand, almost like dragging a feather. It is definitely convenient for battle.
Satisfied with his purchase, Scott walks out of the shop, tying the scabbard of his sword to his back. As he checks his inventory, he sees that he currently holds two healing potions, one revival potion, and one teleportation stone. He doesn’t know what the stone is for and how it’s going to be used, but he figures that he’d soon discover it through his journey.
As Scott steps towards a crossroad, he pauses in his tracks.
Now what?
There isn’t any direction he needs to go. He hasn’t been given a quest, wasn’t approached by anyone, and there are too many people around. He can’t even distinguish NPCs from regular players, because the NPCs here seem to be sentient and act just like real people. It’s confusing for a new player like him, but it adds a great touch of realism to the game, something that Scott finds undoubtedly fascinating.
However, he is still in the predicament of not knowing where to go. Perhaps he should look for signs in his surroundings?
“Hey!”
Scott turns around at the sudden sound.
What greets his eyes is a guy walking towards him, sporting a friendly smile on his face. He looks significantly different than the others with his wavy black hair and cerulean eyes that seem to sparkle under the sunlight.
“Who are you?” Scott asks warily, studying the boy’s expression.
“My name’s Gaven,” the guy replies, his smile widening as he holds out a hand for Scott to shake. “Gaven Loxer.”
Scott hesitates only for a moment before accepting Gaven’s handshake. “Scott Wayland. Why are you talking to me?” he asks bluntly, never one to beat around the bush.
Gaven blinks at him, then seems to hold back a chuckle. He sees Scott’s unimpressed face and finally releases a laugh. “Sorry, it’s just that… you’re so stiff, man. Loosen up a little.”
“You spoke to me just because of that?” Scott says flatly.
Gaven shakes his head, amused. “Nope. You’re a beginner, aren’t you?”
Scott nods slowly, the tension in his features softening somewhat.
“Well, you seem to have no idea where to go, so I’ll guide you to the mission roster!” Gaven offers. “I’m actually here on a quest, but I’m willing to help a fellow player out.”
“Mission roster?” Scott inquires.
Gaven nods. “A mission roster is a large signboard near the entrance of Lucis Town. You can access quests there and accept those that you want to do.”
Scott is quiet for a moment. “Is that all there is to this game?” he asks. “Just finding quests and fulfilling them?”
“Nope! Every quest has its own story,” Gaven tells him with a smile. “Since you’re a beginner, the missions that will be shown to you will lead you to the path to creating your own story here in Dream World. It’s fun, and it’s a great way to start the game!”