[ALL PLAYERS WELCOME]
[THE WORLD OF GUILDED ALLIANCE AWAITS]
Gradually, bright beams of sunlight cascaded over the cobblestone streets as a trio of new players materialized in the bustling town square of Guilded Alliance. Vendors shouted offers for beginner gear, shimmering spellbooks glowed in shop windows, and the distant clang of a blacksmith's hammer rang out rhythmically. Players—both new and experienced—mingled with NPCs, creating a chaotic yet vibrant atmosphere.
"We made it!" exclaimed Mika, a sprightly girl with twin daggers strapped to her belt. She practically bounced in place, her avatar's brown ponytail swaying with each movement. "Finally! We're in the game!"
Her friend Dax, a towering figure clad in leather armor, grinned as he flexed his character's muscled arms. "Man, this is insane. Look at the detail! I feel like I'm actually here."
"Because you are here," said Erik, the smallest of the group but by far the most serious. He adjusted his round glasses, even though they served no purpose in the virtual game. "Alright, enough gawking. We need to come up with a plan."
"Plan? The plan is to find monsters and smash them!" Dax said, pulling a starter sword from his holographic inventory and swiping at the air. "Who needs a plan when you've got biceps like these?"
Erik sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and said, "Look, if we're going to survive the tougher campaigns, we'll need potions. Potions require ingredients. Ingredients require farming. You do the math."
Mika tilted her head, suggesting, "We can just buy potions from the marketplace, can't we?"
"Not at the beginning," Erik countered. "We don't have the coins. Trust me, we need to visit the farming tutorial first."
With a groan, Dax shouldered his sword, and begrudgingly replied, "Fine, but this better be quick. I'm not wasting my first day planting carrots or whatever."
Not long after, the trio found themselves on a dirt path leading out of town, passing by cheerful NPCs waving at new players and the occasional player engaged in combat training. Erik, ever present, walked with purpose, his eyes scanning the horizon until the farm finally came into view. Rows of mumble-leaves stretched across the fields, their silvery-green shimmering in the sunlight.
But something was off.
"Uh, where's the farming tutor?" Mika asked, glancing around the empty field.
The usual NPC, a cheerful farmer who stood beside the crops offering advice on potion-making ingredients, was nowhere to be found. Even more strange, The farmhouse door creaked on its hinges, swaying gently in the breeze, and a pile of unharvested mumble-leaves lay wilted near the edge of the field.
"Isn't someone supposed to be here?" Erik muttered as he stepped closer. He instinctively crouched near the leaves, brushing faint indentations in the dirt with his fingers—footprints. But they weren't normal. They were deep and uneven, as though whoever made them had stumbled away in a hurry. "This doesn't make sense. NPCs like this don't just leave."
Dax shrugged, offering an explanation, "Maybe it's a glitch. You know, early-game bugs and stuff. Let's just hit up the weapons shop and get our hands on some powerful gear. Then we'll unlock our system interfaces and check our stats."
"But the farm is supposed to be the first step," Erik insisted. "The game's guide even says—"
"Forget the guide!" Dax interrupted, almost as if he'd grown tired of this long tern pattern. "We're here to have fun, not to play Farmer Simulator."
A flicker of exasperation filtered through Erik's expression, but he chose to remain silent. After all, what argument could he propose.
"Yeah, Dax is right, let's move on," Mika agreed, tugging at Erik's sleeve. "We can always come back later."
Erik hesitated, his gaze lingering on the abandoned farm. Something about this felt… wrong. He couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't a glitch but something intentional. After all, there was a major update to the game before the official launch. Still, he let out a resigned sigh and followed his friends back toward the town.
Behind them, the fields remained silent. The faint hum of the game's ambient music was the only sound, broken only by the soft rustle of wind through the crops.
Suddenly, Erik stopped in his tracks, turning back and fixing his gaze on the faint footprints near the edge of the field. They were deep, uneven, and chaotic—like someone had been in a hurry, or worse, a struggle. His friends were already halfway back down the dirt path, laughing faintly as they joked about swords and monster-hunting strategies.
But Erik couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
Kneeling again, he ran his hand over the dirt. The indentations didn't belong to a player—he was sure of it. No one in Guilded Alliance had footprints this size, this… heavy. They were deeper than any standard avatar's and veered wildly, as if whoever made them was fleeing from something—or someone.
"What the hell?" he muttered under his breath.
Erik barely had time to process the questions in his head when Mika reached him, panting with mild irritation. "Seriously, Erik, you're acting weirder than usual. What's the hold-up?"
Before he could respond, a low chuckle echoed from behind them, sending a shiver down Erik's spine. He turned sharply, and Mika froze beside him.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Fresh meat?"
The voice came from a tall figure stepping out from behind a nearby tree. His avatar was decked out in mismatched armor, cobbled together from various high-level drops, clearly intended more for intimidation than efficiency. His health bar, displayed over his head, read "Thorne (Lv. 15)," far higher than any new player's level should be.
Erik's stomach dropped as two more players emerged from the shadows, flanking Thorne. Their avatars were equally menacing, one wielding a jagged scimitar, the other casually spinning a pair of throwing daggers. Above their heads, red skull icons gleamed ominously—a mark that designated them as player killers.
Mika took a step back, her daggers clinking nervously at her sides. "Erik… who are these guys?"
Thorne smirked, his eyes scanning them like a predator sizing up prey. "You don't know? You must be really new. We're the Noob Hunters. Best in the business. And you're about to make your first contribution to our cause."
"What do you want?" Erik asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Simple," Thorne said, his smirk widening. "Hand over all your starter coins, and maybe we won't send you back to the spawn point with nothing but your underwear. Sound fair?"
Dax appeared at the edge of the field, his carefree demeanor vanishing the moment he spotted the group. "What the hell's going on?"
"You're just in time!" Thorne called out mockingly. "Looks like we've got a full set of noobs here. This is going to be fun."
Mika tightened her grip on her daggers. "Forget it! We're not giving you anything."
The scimitar-wielding player stepped forward, his weapon glinting in the sunlight. "Oh, you'll give us what we want. The only question is how much pain it'll take to convince you."