Kay made his way back to his apartment. He lived by himself in the city since he managed to get a scholarship to a school which was far from where he came from.
Walking through the large automatic glass doors into the reception of the apartment complex, he scanned his keycard onto the scanner in the elevator. It was a really nice apartment, completely paid for by the school as a condition for his attendance. From modern, white walls to expensive decorations, it was one of the best in the entire city.
A few moments later, with a beep, the elevator reached its floor.
Walking through the silent hall, he could listen to nothing but the sound of his footsteps on the soft, red carpet.
With a click, he unlocked the door to his room.
I guess I'll set this up then.
Placing his schoolbag and the box on the ground, he grabbed some scissors from the kitchen. Carefully, he cut off the tape, exposing the new VR headset along with the game disc and some wires. He set them up, connecting them to the computer in his room.
This better work.
A few moments later, after setting everything up as per the instructions, he put on the headset.
He was met by a bright white light before some text appeared.
?#*$%&!&
[Welcome to Neverland Online 2]
[Calculating your status... searching for save data]
The was some static before he was met by more text. It was searching for progress from the prequel series, Neverland Online.
[It appears you have no save data...]
[You will begin at level 0]
[We have detected that you are an abnormal human]
An abnormal human...?
[It has been decided that you will obtain the ???-rank DEVIL SYSTEM, to provide you with a satisfactory challenge]
Bzz...
[We hope you enjoy your time]
***
He felt the rough sensation of pebbles rubbing against his fingertips. It was a smooth, crumbly feeling... something he wasn't expecting from a video game.
Huh? Where am I?
As his eyes gradually adjusted to the light, he was able to see more and more of what was around. The cold breeze brushed up against his skin as he slowly regained control of his body.
Is this... a game? or is it real life?
He looked up and noticed that he was in a dark alleyway. It was a completely new place which he didn't recognise at all. Suddenly, words appeared in front of his eyes.
[You have gained {1} new friend]
Huh? What was this?
More words appeared in front of his eyes.
-
[Helper]: hi, I'm your first friend, I'll be helping you get used to everything
[You]: um, hi
[Helper]: I'll start with the basics
[Helper]: first of all, you can access all of your chats in the main menu
[Helper]: secondly, you can unlock new friends by accessing the contracts menu
[Helper]: if you have any more questions, just ask
-
The Helper notified him of different menus that could be opened, however, at the moment, he wanted to get some knowledge of his surroundings. Kay made his way out of the dark, cold alleyway—back there, he couldn't even tell that it was practically midday.
As soon as he peeked his head around the corner, he was met by the sight of something that shocked him to the core.
It was a view of what looked like medieval society. There were a plethora of stalls selling various different goods, from fruit to jewellery to weapons, they were all here, like some expansive Sunday market. Each different stall had a relatively unique design, with different coloured roofs, different layouts and vastly differing storekeepers.
He saw what seemed to be beastpeople alongside elves alongside normal humans. It was something straight out of a fantasy world. Even walking around, he saw that all the civilians appeared to be wearing clothes that would be considered way out of style in modern society, from capes to robes to armour, there were plenty of designs for the eyes to see.
Kay slowly began making his way through the marketplace; no one seemed to bat an eye at him whilst he walked through. He was wearing some plain clothes which somewhat fit the era.
I guess I didn't really stand out that much despite literally just being transported here from some unknown place.
[You have a message]
It seemed that he could open his system with his mind. After concentrating a little bit, a screen appeared in his sight. As it appeared, he looked around to see if anyone else noticed, it seemed that he was the only one that could see it.
-
[Helper]: by the way, you're in a different world now so try collecting some resources and levelling up, you can access the normal progression page in the main menu
[You]: I see, by the way, I notice that this is called a group chat although you're the only other person here
[Helper]: it's a bit awkward at the moment but you'll make some more friends soon, I hope, and then the name will actually make sense, this is just called the 'group chat' because whenever you add an NPC, they are automatically added into this chat
[You]: NPC? So you're not real?
[Helper]: yeah, basically, whilst my knowledge is definitely real, I'm not an actual person, however, your system allows you to friends real people as well, you'll see when you actually meet someone
[You]: okay then
-
The Helper told him to try collecting some resources. He made his way through the bustling marketplace towards a large plains area. As he walked past numerous stalls, he eventually felt the sensation of grass on his feet.
Ah, how calming.
As he strolled further onto the open grassy plains, the sounds of the market gradually dissipated. There were already some people here but it was much less congested. He noticed that some other people were picking the flowers which were on the ground. Seeing that, he decided to try picking some as well.
[+1 Black Eyed Susan] [+1 Experience]
The flower immediately vanished and seemed to have been transported to his inventory. He was then prompted to open his progression menu.
-
Physical Strength: 4 (<30th percentile)
Speed: 19 (<30th percentile)
Mana Capacity: 3 (<30th percentile)
Mana Power: 1 (<30th percentile)
-
- None
- None
- None
~
1/10
-
I see now, that this fantasy world had a system that was like an MMORPG.
He opened his inventory.
-
- {Leather Tunic} (Def: 4) - No abilities [Equipped]
- {Leather Boots} (Def: 3) - No abilities [Equipped]
~
- {Wooden Short Sword} (Atk: 2) - No abilities
~
{x1} Black Eyed Susan
~
- None
!
~
It seemed he was given some items to start with, he pressed on the {Wooden Short Sword} and it suddenly appeared in his hand. He looked down at the crudely-made wooden weapon with an edge hardly sharp enough to slice a stick of butter.
At his command, it disappeared, entering back into his inventory.
[You have a new message]
-
[Helper]: you should try collecting more of the {Black Eyed Susans}, once you collect 30 of them, you'll be able to craft a {Flower Crown}, which will help you gather more experience
-
Alright, I guess I'll start picking then.
He sifted his hands through the long green grass, picking out all the flowers that he could. It seemed that {Black Eyed Susans} was a yellow flower with a black centre, however, there were many other different types of flowers out here.