The blue sky opened up with a ding sound.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
I fell out of nowhere and landed unceremoniously with my face kissing the grassy ground. The cheerful background music of Daisyville was playing. Daisyville was the spawning area for all newbies.
I rolled around and lay on my back. Above me was the perfect blue sky of Daisyville, with some clouds passing by at snail speed. The user interface screen appeared again. A mechanical voice was heard at the same time when words started to appear on the screen.
"Welcome, Adventurer. You have been reincarnated into the MMORPG Afterlife Dream. You are now in the humble village of Daisyville. Please head over to NPC Fairy Chan to complete the game tutorial."
What the hell? What happened? I thought I would be playing the game from the user interface screen. I was not prepared to be playing the game for real! And what did the voice say just now? Reincarnated? Into the game? My jaw dropped from a mixture of shock and excitement. I had been reincarnated into Afterlife Dream for real! How cool was that???
I got to my feet and dusted off my clothes.
"I don't need a game tutorial."
Before you start to condemn me for my arrogance, let me remind you that
I played this game in my last life. I was an experienced player.
"Completing game tutorial is a must before you are allowed to proceed."
"…"
Great, the game treated me as a newbie.
A green arrow appeared next to the screen.
"Please follow the arrow to find NPC Fairy Chan."
I thus obediently followed the arrow. It made sure to always be ahead of me by one meter. When I stopped, the arrow also stopped. NPC Fairy Chan was responsible for guiding the new players and pointing them in the right direction within the MMORPG Afterlife Dream. She was a tiny fairy with dark green hair and dressed in a green outfit. Her translucent wings kept flapping while she bobbed up and down at around one and a half meters above the ground. The screen lit up with words again as NPC Fairy Chan chirped.
"Hi! Antares, so nice to meet you! My name is Fairy Chan, and I am here to tell you the basic things that all adventurers have to know in order to have a wonderful time in this world!"
"…"
Please get on with it. It could not be more boring. I glanced around for any skip buttons but I could not find any.
"After years of agony, you have departed from a miserable life. Since you have been a dedicated player of Afterlife Dream before death, you are now given a chance to gain life points within this game that can be used as leverage for your next life on earth."
"Excuse me, what?"
I started Afterlife Dream months ago so I did not recall the content of the game tutorial to the t, but I was pretty sure that Fairy Chan did not talk about a departure from a miserable life and the next life back then. I am pretty sure there was mention of neither life points nor leverage.
NPC Fairy Chan continued speaking. I searched for a repeat button desperately as she went on and on. Of course there was none.
"You will gain gold and experience from killing monsters, doing dailies, and finishing quests. Bosses are available at the end of every chapter and in select fields and dungeons. Defeating raid bosses will grant you Life Points that you can trade for merits for the next life. Otherwise, you can always choose to exit the game."
"Wait, wait. Slow down. Slow. Down. What do you mean, exit the game?"
The NPC ignored me and continued.
"All life points must be traded prior to leaving the game. Attention : If you leave the game without trading away the Life Points, you will no longer have access to them. Please choose your exit time wisely! Once you leave the game, there is no coming back. Be sure to get as many Life Points as possible so you can get all you want at the very beginning to ensure maximum happiness in the next life!"
"I don't understand. I need more details," I demanded.
"In order for you to get used to this game, please complete the beginner quest. In order to start with the beginner quest, please go to the east and meet Henry, the Village Head!"
"…"
Fairy Chan ended her instruction and smiled brightly at me with empty eyes. It was almost creepy. I waited but I did not get any more clarity about what she just said. Tapping on the screen also did not help me further. Dejectedly, I made my way to the next NPC, Henry the Village Head.
Henry did not say anything different from back then.
"Oh, woe! My daughter Daisy has been kidnapped by the wolves. Dear Sir Antares, please help me save my daughter! Will you please help?"
[Yes] [No]
Yes.
Ding! "You have obtained 10 gold coins and 100 experience points!
"Please go to meet with the Village Mage. She has promised to help me find Daisy!"
A short walk led me to the NPC Village Mage. It was a serious-looking witch with red hair and purple eyes.
"Hello, Antares. I have heard about what happened to Daisy. We must quickly go to the wolves' lair to save Daisy, else it will be too late! Before that, I must give you a few pieces of equipment to fight with."
What followed was a bunch of errands. As I completed them one by one, I started to appreciate the simplicity of the auto-battle feature. Doing things with my own hands and feet proved to be rather tiring.
"Please collect 20 cotton bolls for me. You can pick them from the cotton farm in the south."
Ding! "You have obtained a Basic Mage Robe."
"Please collect 20 pieces of steel pieces for me. You can find them littering the ground in the west area."
Ding! "You have obtained a pair of Basic Mage Gloves."
"Please collect 20 daisy flowers from the flower field at the center of the village."
Ding! "You have obtained a Basic Mage Crown."
"Please collect 20 stacks of hay from the northern barn."
Ding! "You have obtained a pair of Basic Mage Sandals."
"Please collect 20 pieces of blue crystals from the eastern crystal mine."
Ding! "You have obtained a Basic Mage Staff."
"Congratulations, now we are ready to go raid the wolves' lair!"
I pursed my lips at the Village Mage. He sent me around to run some errands, gave me puny rewards, and did not even give me time to rest before dragging me to the wolves' lair? Oh, woe was me!