According to the map, the travel to the beginner's area was a long one. With the pace I was going at, I estimate the journey to take somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes. Though jumping from roof to roof was easy, I needed to be careful when crossing a gap between rows.
Though travelling on roofs wasn't easy, my muscle memory eventually got the hang of it. Every step I took was calculated to not slip off the roof and stall my progress. My steps made a lot of sound on these roofs. I wonder if the people in the buildings can hear every little thud I made on their roof.
After 5 minutes of running on rooftops, my mouth couldn't handle the boredom anymore. All this repetition of jumping and running on roofs was just too repetitive. Words piled up in my mouth, begging for release.
I wonder if the AI that spoke to me was still here. There isn't a reason not to try asking, right?
----
"Hey AI, can you talk?"
『Yes』
"Okay cool… Skipping rooftops is really boring, you know? You have anything you want to talk about?"
『I can respond to any topic you give me』
"I'm asking for what you want to talk about."
『As an AI, I can only respond to your prompts』
"Well then, suggest a topic to discuss."
『How about introductions? The more I know the player, the better my prompts will fit their needs.』
"Great idea. I'll go first. My name is Hallowell, apparently. The game just gave me that name and I hadn't actually thought about it. I don't know how it knew to use my name. Maybe the devs just gave me Hallowell because it's my surname."
…
How do they know my real name?
Oh… it's my gamertag on my PC.
"Anyway, I am a new player in this game. I'm a guy who likes games and is a genius in class."
『I am Celeste, your personal AI guide in "Stars of Gerhana". My assigned gender is female, as implied by the sound of my voice.』
"Is that it?"
『Do you have any questions about me?』
"Umm… Yes, actually. Are you a new feature or something? I've never heard of an AI player guide in any forum I've seen."
『I am a new experimental feature. Please do not be confused when other players can't hear me. Most players do not have the privilege of my guidance』
"Why can I hear you then?"
『…』
『This feature is exclusive to you, Hallowell』
"Seems odd…"
『Do you have any other questions?』
"Back before the jump, you said you can hear my thoughts?"
『Yes. Please do not be alarmed by the new experimental feature of this game』
"Oh, don't worry. The thing is, no one told me I'd have an experimental feature attached to my game."
『…』
…
----
The rest of the trip was filled with awkward silence.
We arrived at the clearing about the size of a basketball field. According to the map, this should be the beginner's area called "Beginner's Zone". I see they have a very creative naming department.
The rooftop view gave me the basic structure of the place. There were 3 rows of stalls, each painted with a different color. The red row seemed to have the most stalls compared to the green and blue ones. There was a logo on each of the rows that contrasted the plain background. The red stall had a sword and shield logo, likely something to do with PVP and PVE. The blue stall had a book logo, I have no idea what that's about. And lastly, the green stall had gold coins as the logo, likely something to do with money.
There was a carpet path that goes from the edge of the beginning of the red row to the end of the green row. I think that's the intended path.
Without further ado, I searched for a quick way down from the roof. There was a conveniently placed ladder just beside the building I was at. I climbed down the ladder in the most anticlimactic way possible.
After finding my way out of the alley, I reached the start of the carpet path.
There was no one in the area. The streets behind me was brimming with society, but the Beginner's Zone was completely devoid of people. Well, it is a tutorial. Who would want to redo a tutorial from scratch right?
I stepped foot in the zone and began my tutorial.
There were no fancy sounds or voiceovers to accompany me. This is because each and every stall had a board with text written on it.
The first stall I went to had a creature that looked like a slime trapped in a cage. The text board read:
「Immersion
In Stars of Gerhana, you will encounter monsters and people that might attack you when you get too close. Keep in mind, you will experience pain or other effects when you get hit by any attack from any monsters or people. For example, when this slime spits on your face, you will feel slightly dizzy from the attack.」
"Real pain?" I whispered.
That's a strange feature. I don't see how pain makes the game more fun. If anything, wouldn't people be too afraid to play the game if the monsters actually hurt you?
I was skeptical about the "makes you feel dizzy" line of the sign. How could a little bit of spit from a slime be dizzying? I want to see for myself what this "dizzy" effect actually does to me.
There was an open gate at the left end of the stall. I suppose they're allowing us to try aggravating the slime and get spat on. Well, challenge accepted!
I entered the stall, getting myself closer to the contained slime. There was a circular outline drawn on the floor, presumably the attack range of the monster. As I stepped foot inside the circle, the cage started shaking in rhythms. The metal clanks violently as I brought my whole body in its range.
Suddenly, the slime squirted an amount of water at me. The liquid flew swiftly through the air, clearly aimed at my head. It was slow enough that I could easily dodge my way out of the situation. But for the sake of science, I had to know what it'll do if it does hit me.
Splash!
The handful of water hit my face with a disappointingly weak force. I wasn't knocked back, nor was I caught off guard by it. It was the first time I could feel water in this world. The wetness of it was surprisingly realistic, soaking my clothes in gross slime water.
I wiped my face off with the non-wet parts of my clothes. I thought the dizziness would've kicked in as soon as the water hit me, but even as my face dries, I still hadn't felt any dizziness.
The slime cage started to shake again. I forgot that I was still in the range of its attack. Swiftly, I stepped back to outside of the stall, to prevent any further gross spit thrown at my way.
"Pfft! Yeah right. I'm not dizzy at all!—"
As those words exited my mouth, my whole body suddenly felt so weak. The world started spinning around me, preventing me from making sense of my surroundings. My vision blurred so much; I couldn't see properly. My sense of balance was thrown off.
I landed on my bottom, close to the stall which I leaned on. My feet tried to stand on the ground, yet everything became crooked in my eyes. I couldn't find my balance where I was standing. My hands tried to push myself to sit straight, yet I had no strength to do so. My body limped hopelessly as the nauseating sensation barraged me.
Everything revolved in my mind, I couldn't bring myself to speak or move. My ears were sober, yet I didn't want to hear anything. And though my eyes had cleared up, I closed my eyes as I didn't want to see anything. The more I'm aware of the world around me, the worse the feeling was. It was excruciating discomfort. The dizziness turned into a headache as I laid there helplessly.
Even if I called out for help, there was no one there to come. I laid there left with no thoughts but the hurting headache for an excruciating 2 minutes.
As the moment passed, all the dizziness I felt suddenly disappeared in a fraction of a second. It was the weirdest feeling of relief I've ever felt. All the strength had come back to my body. Seeing and hearing became bearable once more.
"What… what was that?"
『You were laying on the ground for 2 minutes and 2 seconds. Your discomfort was caused by the "Dizzy" effect of the slime's attack』
I brought my whole body back to a standing position. My disbelief was immeasurable. "Why was it so bad? Why was the effect so bad?!"
『That was just a taste of the immersion in this world』
I couldn't believe it. A simple slime could do so much as to incapacitate a player. What could a normal monster in the wild do?
『Focus now. We still have more tutorials to do』
She was right. Honestly, I'm discouraged to do the rest of it. Sure, I did this to myself; having a slime spit on me or whatever. But it made me more cautious of the rest of the tutorial. What if they want to demonstrate actual pain? The thought sends shivers down my spine.
----
I moved on and read the sign of the next stall
「Weapons
The next few stalls let you experiment with the weapons in this game. Even though weapons can be designed in many ways, most are categorized into basic categories. In each stall, there will be a test dummy you can use indefinitely to experiment with the weapons. Beside every dummy will be crates filled with the weapons that fit the stall's category.」
The text under the sign read "Sword-like weapons". There was indeed a dummy and a crate next to it, filled with swords and daggers. They were made to look as plain as possible. There were no decorations or enhancements on each weapon, as far as I could tell.
Intrigued, I grabbed a random sword out of the crate. The shape was generic, the blade about the length of my arm. Its weight was tolerable. Carrying and swinging around the weapon wasn't much of a problem.
The dummy in front of me was made of hay. Its face had a typical target circle, not unlike every other game. It was begging to be stabbed.
In one quick motion, I stabbed the dummy with all my strength. The tip of my blade didn't pierce the dummy, but particles of dried hay were expelled. I kept experimenting with the sword. Swinging it around like a gladiator fighting for his life. Not once did my blade pierce the dummy, even though the floor became covered by dried hay. Maybe dummies in this game are indestructible.
There were a few more weapons inside the crate, but they all looked like swords and daggers that were not so different from what I took. In good faith, I placed my sword back into the container before leaving for the next stall.
The next stall was for ranged weapons. There were 2 crates this time, one filled with bows and crossbows, along with some arrows; the other filled with guns and bullets. I was a bit surprised by the guns. I didn't know this game had guns. I thought classic bow and arrow combat was boring. Instead, I thought it'd be fun to play with the guns.
Out of the crate, I pulled out a brown gun. By the look of it, I think it was a blunderbuss. I took out metal balls of the smaller sizes, knowing that the blunderbuss was probably a shotgun. Then, I inserted the balls into the weapon. But as I looked in the crate, I could see no bags of gunpowder I could use to power the gun.
『The guns in this game do not require gunpowder to shoot』
"Hmm? Really?"
Heeding her guidance, I playfully aimed at the dummy and pulled the trigger.
Boom!
The deafening sound of a gun struck my ear. A spray of bullets shot out of the gun all at once. The recoil caused me to lose grip of the gun as it went flying backwards. As each bullet hit the dummy, particles of hay were sprayed out. The air was filled with so much hay and smoke that I started chocking up.
I was both amazed and terrified at what this gun can do. It was a jaw-dropping experience to fire a gun for the first time, but I certainly don't want to imagine myself on the other side of this gun.
I quickly put the gun back in the crate, hoping nobody noticed the loud bang that happened here.
----
The next stall over had no crates, there was just a dummy. The explanation to this was contained in the sign posted there.
「Magic
You might have noticed that there are no crates here. Magic skills in this game are obtained through many means. You may find special incantations or special scrolls that might allow you to do magic. In this tutorial, we won't give you any magic spells to use. Each player has a unique adventure, and therefore their skills will be different from each other. Though some people can use the same spells, most people won't have the same set of spells as one another.
To hype you up and as a motivation for your adventures, here are a couple people who have acquired spells that only they can use:
JIMMY98: Quick switch (Lets the player switch positions with another player in their sight)
KollerKollen: Polymorphism (Allows the player to copy the equipment, appearance, and/or skill of any player and/or entity in a 60 meter radius around them)
Drawmegrey (a.k.a. The Scribe): Copy (Allows the player to duplicate any item provided the sufficient resources to make that item)
Explore the world to find your spells! Maybe you'll be lucky enough to have a spell to your name.」
"Ohh… So that's who The Scibe is, from the map giveaway. That's why they can make a lot of maps for other players. Okay. That's a cool background check."
This magic stall, though boring, has intrigued me. It would be so cool if I can get my own spell. I imagine that one spell where I can use but nobody can. It's mysterious and people won't expect it. I definitely want one!
But alas, I was still a beginner in this world. There were no more red stalls next to this one. Following the carpet path leads me to the blue section.
----
There was one wide stall filled with signs of text. I think they want me to read this whole area, but I was too lazy to do so. I had a better idea.
"Hey, Celeste."
『Yes?』
"Summarize this whole section for me."
『… Sure』
Hell yeah! This is the power of AI baby! This makes my tutorial way easier.
『This section of the zone describes the world as a whole. Stars of Gerhana takes place in a world called Eclipse, a flat world that extends likely to infinity in all directions. Players and NPCs have built cities, landmarks, and megastructures across the land. You are given the map of Eclipse in the crate right next to you』
I took out a piece of folded paper from the stack. Though she said it was the map of the entire world, it was half the size of the previous map I got. But it had a very clean design, with each landmark, city, and structure labeled with names accordingly. Smaller details were not visible though.
『Quests are an important part of your adventures. If you choose to be an adventurer, you have to encounter quests yourself. You may get your quests through NPCs scattered throughout the world. Rarely, the game might generate a quest procedurally. These quests are expected to be rare and unique to certain players of groups of players. Most procedurally generated quest are time-limited.
There is a disclaimer on one of these signs that says: "This explanation was made by players. Quests are all unique and interesting. We don't really know how they are generated or what causes them to generate. We wish you good luck on your adventures! May you find your own story in this amazing world."』
『…』
"Is that all of it?"
『Yes』
"Cool! Good job."
----
I followed the red path to the final part of this tutorial, the green stalls. Once again, I was met with stalls of signs and more signs. So, "Celeste, summarize!"
『Gold (G) is the currency in this world. Players can use it to trade with NPCs, which is why they also use it to trade with other players. NPCs always use G as an exchange tool. Precious minerals and rare items are almost always exchanged into G depending on their value』
『…』
"That's it?"
『Yes』
"Well… that was short."
I was doubtful that she had summarized the whole pack of signs, but logically a currency is a currency. She basically just described every single currency in the world. I don't know how else you'd describe this world's currency.
----
The path led to the end of the tutorial. All in all, it took around 15 minutes. The longest part was playing with the weapons they had prepared in the red stalls. I rate it a solid 7/10 experience.
There was a crate at the exit of the zone. Above it was an arrow with the written words "take your beginner's set".
"Ahh… Freebies!"
Inside the crate was a set of clothes, a sword, and a shield that I could use. The clothes they prepared was in a better condition than mine, though not in good enough of a condition to be called good quality. It was a set of shirt and pants, both supposedly white in color, but there was a bit of yellow tinge to it. These were either old or covered in piss. I will choose to assume it's the former.
They had also prepared a bag outside of the crate. It was a nice leather randsel bag. All of the items I had, which were the maps and the sword and shield, were placed into the bag. Though because of the sword and shield being large, I couldn't really close the bag. But it wasn't a problem for the moment.
With the new clothes in my hand, I discretely found an alley and switched my attire. Apparently the game doesn't have an equip feature. I had to manually change my clothes. The old clothes I had were thrown away into that same alley.
----
As I exited the alley, I took in the beautiful scenery of a medieval street. I could smell the fish and meat being traded around. I could see people walk and talk with one another. It was such a social space for like-minded players.
But while spinning around to take in the view, I noticed something glowing at the corner of my eye. As I glanced in the direction, I saw a girl.
She was glowing amongst the crowd, and had beautiful streaming hair. Her uniform looked the same as the one I saw after logging in. The one I saw crying as I was engulfed into the sea of water. Her appearance was that of a school girl, yet she stood in the middle of a medieval city. She looked so out of place.
Even without seeing her face, I can already tell how pretty she is. But I remember the tears in her eyes back then. Why was she crying? Why didn't she say anything when she saw me back then?
I was so obsessed by all the thoughts in my head that I just felt like I had to talk to her.
But as I took a step towards her, she seemingly noticed and glanced at me. From this distance, I couldn't see her expression. All I knew was that she saw me and was looking at me.
I didn't know what she was thinking about when she saw me. It couldn't be anything good because she immediately turned back and ran away from me immediately.
I thought about chasing her, but I'd be a creep if I did that. Maybe I should just let her run, even if I leave these questions in my head unanswered.