Katherine's stared wide eyed and jaw dropped fully to the floor at the window displaying her rank and abilities.
The guide's voice resounded, "There are nine ranks attainable for all players and Non-Playable characters known as NPC's alike. These ranks are, Initiate, Apprentice, Guardian, Expert, Master, Elite, Legend, god-like and Grandmaster." She explained as Kathrine's eyes scanned through the rank.
The guide went on to explain, "These ranks are attainable once a player reaches a designated level needed to level-up. Players can reach new levels through completion of missions and bonus missions. Ranks cannot be bought, however, there are certain abilities that can be bought with experience points from the Divine Oracle…" The guide would've gone on and on, but Katheine interrupted her.
"Excuse me…" her voice was low and polite, but it swiftly picked momentum when she raised her voice and remarked, "What sort of crap stats are these?!"
She alternated her gaze between the blue haired guide and her stats displayed before her eyes.
The guide blinked twice, it hadn't been programmed on what to say if a player were to find fault in their current stats.
"Error…I do not understand the request, could you repeat that?"
Katherine huffed, "I'm saying that my stats are far too…insufficient. If I'm going to last in this world, then I will need an upgrade." After facing that Reaper from earlier, the woman wasn't willing to jump back in without any proper reinforcement.
The android blinked and awkwardly responded, "But the stats are in correlation with your current biometrics, if the stats are so low, it could be because player 0002 is…insufficient." She muttered the last bit to herself, averting her eyes from Katherine's gaze.
Kathrine was flabbergasted to say the least, but mostly embarrassed about the realization, hence she made a vow to never bring up her low stats again. No, she vowed to never show them to anyone to prevent becoming a laughingstock.
Promptly, her guide displayed her stats in a larger window, then proceeded to read them out.
Kathrine felt something die inside of her and wished the ground would open and swallow her up.
{Player Name}: Mira Ironhart
{Player Class}: Beast Master (Wielder)
{Player Rank}: Initiate
{Player Level}: Lvl 1
{Experience points}: 2xp/150xp
{Health points} 5hp/250hp
{Mana points:}: 1mp/100mp
The guide took a pause then went on to read her current bodily stats, which weren't much better than the first bit.
[Strength]: 0
[Stamina]: 4
[Dexterity]: 2
[Defense]: 0
[Attack Damage]: 0
[Intelligence]: 59
[Agility]: 10
[Luck]: -2
[Speed]: 4
[Survival rate:] 3%
After reading this bit, the guide stopped, noticing Kathrine had turned incredibly pale after hearing her stats. Sadly, she had but gotten to the skill window, but after taking a peek at it, the guide decided it was best not to continue.
To save the player some face.
Once the guide had finished reading, Katherine heaved a sigh of relief and asked a question. "Say, how do I make contact with the other players?"
The guide blinked twice, that seemed to be it's defense mechanism in case of confusion. "Could you repeat the question?"
"I mean, if I wanted to reach out to fellow players such as myself in the game, is there a way possible to do that?"
Kathrine figured, that if she had such low stats, she could form a team with higher ranked players and take on the role of a healer. Any position would do actually, just as long as it had nothing to do with offense or 1v1 battles.
'Heh, maybe I can try to help and pick up a few defensive abilities from that Divine Oracle guy whose selling them.' But when she casted her gaze on her XP points, she quickly rescinded the decision, it was best not to get singled out so early in the game.
"I apologize for the misconception, but there are no other players currently registered in the game." The guide explained, throwing Katherine into a state of confusion.
What did it mean by she was the only player?
"That can't be right, by player rank, I'm player two, if that's the case then there has to be a player one. Am I right?"
The guide blinked twice, unable to comprehend the question. "Error, I didn't quite catch that. Could you repeat the question?"
This guide was impossible, she thought. Or perhaps, it was purposely trying to conceal the identity of the other players. Perhaps the developers had figured that the survival rate of players could be increased if they joined forces and worked together.
Hence, she decided to let that issue be, at the moment her major concern was geared towards how her character, Mira could survive in this world.
She had so much more questions to ask, but then her screen displayed a new message, replacing her unfortunate stats.
{Time elapsed with guide has reached it's maximum of twenty minutes. Would player 0002 wish to purchase an additional minute for 100xp? (A) Yes or (B)No }
"A hundred XP for a minute?" Was the game trying to mess with her?! How could such a low ranked player with barely enough points to get by afford something like that?
She proudly chose the second option, not that she had a choice to begin with.
The message changed once more.
{Player 0002 Mira Ironhart is now exiting the room and returning to the game. Good luck!} It read, and immediately a bright white teleportation sphere appeared under her feet and in an instant she was teleported.
Katherine felt lightheaded when she arrived at her destination, she seemed to have teleportation sickness. If it ever were a real thing.
Upon arriving, she noticed that she was no longer in the cave, but standing at a vantage point, looking down on a plain below.
"Where is this?" Stretched out before her was a desolate and barren landscape, devoid of life.
As far as the eye could see, the land was dry and cracked, steep holes like jagged scars marked the terrain. The area was characterized by the stark absence of trees with no sign of river, lakes or even a small pond.
Scattered across the land were broken down houses, dilapidated and crumbling, with shattered windows and caved in roofs.
A dry wind came at her, she shielded her eye in her elbow, until it passed by, then dusted the clothes on her body, only to realize that she had had a change of clothes without her knowledge.
The dress she had on was a faded, ankle-length dress made from patched-together scraps. It was loose fitted and lacked any intricate details. Her sleeves are frayed, and the dress' hemline ragged. Slapped on her waist was a worn leather belt for utility and the pockets and pouches sewn at the sides were meant for probably storing small items.
"Ouch," Mira winced, she felt a pinch from the brown weathered boots that climbed to her mid-calf. She tried taking a step with them forward, but they felt heavy for such worn out boots.
Despite the pain, she noticed the window before her eyes change from a note to a map. She noticed some areas were marked X and shaded in darker tones, while a smaller part were drawn and painted with vibrant colors, particularly in the centre.
{Congratulations! Player 0002 has reached the starting point of the game, and has unlocked area 1: Badlands.} The guide's voice sounded in her head, a black dot rested over one of the areas marked X, indicating her current position.
At the side of the map, was a compass that pointed forward, at her destination. Mira tried to tap on the other areas, but the map vanished all of a sudden and in it's place was a message.
{Price to summon map: 50xp}
At this point, it seemed like a personal assault to her pride.
She dismissed the idea, fortunately, she knew where she was, and as for where else she could go, she assumed she could ask for directions, or better yet just purchase a map from the locals.
"The badlands, huh?" she thought aloud before taking her first real step into the starting point of the game.
"Fine Fletcher, I'll play your game, and I will save Theodore!" She declared in a proud voice, befitting a princess.
With her resolve steeled she advanced towards the landscape, only to have her first mission be assigned to her.
{Mission: Save younger sister from getting sold off into slavery.}
{Reward: 10xp.}