"Hello?" Mike opened his eyes and saw a beautiful woman. She had white hair, a smooth, lovely face, and blue eyes — the most beautiful eyes Mike had ever seen. He sat up abruptly; he was back in the bed."W-where am I?" he asked.
The girl looked surprised. "This is where you spawn. See over there?" She pointed out the window. Mike saw that he was in a village; houses were everywhere. They weren't modern, but not old-fashioned either — somewhere in between."So I'm in a healing room? Why are you here?" Mike asked.
The girl rolled her eyes. "Why are you asking me? I chose to be a healer. I got an A-rank healing skill." Mike nodded and stood up. "What is this… crap?" he sighed.
The girl tilted her head, curious. "W-what do you mean?" she asked. Mike looked her in the eyes. "I mean — this whole place — it's a game." He walked to the door and opened it. "We're all going to spend three years here, so I'll level up fast. Thanks for taking care of me." As Mike turned to leave, one question popped into his head. "What's your name?"
The girl blushed and began to fidget with her hair. "I… I, um — my name is Ice. A-and you?""Mike."Then Mike walked out of the house. The sun hit his face — he was free. No more tutorials. He wanted to level up as fast as possible, but from previous game experience he knew Dasum Village was peaceful: no enemies. Still, the main quest started here.
—Map—You have unlocked 1% of the map.
Mike sighed and closed the map. Not very motivating, but after all, he had three years. He opened the quest log and marked the quest.
Main Quest 1 — Dasum Village and the Rats."If I just have to kill a few rats, that'll be an easy first quest," Mike thought, and ran off. He saw many other players at the market and a lot of people already owning houses. "Cowards — they actually want to spend three years here." Mike remembered he planned the same thing and grinned. "Maybe not so dumb after all… but boring!"
Near the village forge the first quest began. Mike saw a man waiting for him with two packs on his back. Mike approached him.—Main quest started!—"Oh, hello, young warrior! You're new here, right? I'm Pal — I'll help you get settled. Are you staying or leaving? What's your plan?" Pal asked.
Mike examined the man from head to toe. "Uh, hello — can you hear me?" he asked, curious about how NPCs worked. "Uh… yes? I hear you. Are you okay?" Pal replied. Mike laughed politely and quickly forgot to ask more. "Oh, um — I'm fine, Pal. I want to level up—" suddenly Mike's menu flashed and time froze. Birds in the sky stopped midflight, the big clock tower in the village ceased ticking, and the people stood motionless.
"W-what? I can't move," Mike stammered. A message hissed over him:—Players, please note: NPCs do not know about the outside world; if they learned they were in a game it would break the game. Penalty: death!—The message closed and time resumed. Mike breathed hard and looked up; to his relief the birds resumed flying and Pal waited for his answer. "So — what did you want?" Pal asked.
"I'll stay here for now," Mike said quickly, careful not to make a mistake. Pal nodded and showed him the way. After a couple of chats, Mike owned a house by the river. "If you need anything, take my Flight ID," Pal said. A Flight ID lets you message someone through the menu. Mike wondered why NPCs could give such things if they weren't supposed to know, but he nodded and gratefully accepted. The house was empty except for a bed in the corner. Mike was about to lie down when there was a knock at the door.
He hurried to open it. "Hm? Yes?" he said. Ice — the white-haired girl — stood there. "Ice! Hello! How did you find me?" he asked."I asked around a little. I wanted to talk to you because we never added each other as friends and… um…" Ice looked embarrassed. "I haven't started the house quest yet, so I don't have a house." Mike grinned. (Yesss — today's my lucky day.) "Oh no, that's bad. Come in." Ice sat on the edge of the bed.
—Friends: 0 — Requests: 1 — Ice friend request: Accept? Yes —(1 new friend)If both agree you can set statuses like Best Friends / Family / Girlfriend / Wife — otherwise it's normal friendship.
"Okay, I'll sleep on the floor," Mike said, and Ice gave him a grateful look. "I'll give you a sword for that, okay?" Mike nodded and fell asleep. Ice watched him for a moment longer and then lay down too.
—Sleep for 6 hours? — Yes —zzz… zzz…
When he woke up, Ice was gone. The bed was empty. Mike had one unread message, which he opened quickly.
—Ice: I'm starting the house quest now. I'll let you know! ——And by the way, thank you!!—
Mike grinned; he might have been a little in love.
He stepped out the front door and took a deep breath. "Today's going to be a great—" His vision blurred. Shadows swam around him and, suddenly, Mike found himself in front of the castle again—the exact same place. He remembered it all too well. That meant… Mike spun around, but there was nothing. This time the creature didn't seem to appear, but from the other side he heard the sound of a sword being drawn. The last thing Mike saw was the blade fly straight through his stomach.
"W-why??" Mike collapsed.
"You will be ready soon, child of the shadows," a voice said.
When Mike opened his eyes again, he was lying in front of his house. "What the—?"
—Menu—Level 2HP: 110
"How?" Mike took a few cautious steps. Nothing happened. He decided to continue the main quest; he had to meet Pal and two others to talk about his house. Mike marked the meeting location on his map and set off.