Exploring the start town, Florence
Sparks flicker from mechanical parts that are scattered around while giving off a buzzing sound as their mechanical frameworks are now busted and on the ground.
Kyle, catching his breath, sat on one of the few training dummies he just scrapped.
"This game is the real deal." He said while breathing rapidly. He wonders why he feels exhausted physically just by playing it, though as if his real body is the one moving instead of his avatar.
He looked around him and found no more training dummies that are still standing, all that's left of them are their parts in tiny pieces.
Because of the number of dummies Kyle destroyed, the place looks more like a junkyard rather than a tutorial ground for newbie players now.
After a few seconds of silence, the game guide announces again.
[Congratulations on successfully finishing the game tutorial!]
"Just about time, you stinky guide." Kyle said with irritation, he is not angry with the game guide that only explains vital information to him on a late basis; rather, he is irritated because this is the first time a game tutorial lasted for almost three hours.
[Before we transfer you to the start town, please input your avatar's name.]
Another floating screen appears in front of Kyle with a holographic keyboard that he will use to input his character's name.
He stares at the screen for a while and types his desired name using the keyboard provided.
[Are you sure, you want this as your username?] [Decline] [Confirm]
And Kyle immediately pressed the confirm button.
[Player ID 72941110] [Avatar name: Cael.]
[Character successfully created]
[You are now ready to explore the vast world of Grand Nexus!]
[Now transferring to start town, Florence.]
Kyle's avatar begins to pixelate and in an instant, he found himself in the middle of a town near a fountain. The place looks more like something that was ripped off from a game he once played when he was still in grade school with all the infrastructures made out of red bricks, granite stones, and shiny marbles.
'It looks like the city of Pontera from Ragnarok combined with Saint City from FLYFF.' He thought while standing still to where he spawned.
It is a lively town because of the crowd of players he seen strolling around town while talking with other players.
He noticed a huge crowd gathered near a bulletin board with different flyers posted on it.
'I must be in the town square and that bulletin must be where players get their quests.' He thought as he walks closer to the crowd near the bulletin.
As he comes closer to the crowd, Kyle noticed the difference in class creation biases in the game, because as far as he can see, most of the players are either a Warrior class, Shielder, or Arcanes. But most of them are Arcanes.
'Probably because of their high damage output.' He thought as he remembers the importance of nukers in a party when grinding.
A blinking mail icon floating on his screen then catches his attention, forcing him to stop walking any further.
He pressed the mail icon and a small floating screen appears on his front. On the screen is a message from the administrator congratulating him on successfully creating an account, at the same time, welcoming him to Grand Nexus.
'Just a spam mail.'
He then swipes out the screen, removing it from sight.
Yet again, another icon on his right starts on blinking which the game guide already explained to him the purpose of, his Quest Menu.
'My "Quest" icon is blinking, must be an active quest.' He thought, then he immediately opens the window and an active quest having gold-colored lettering is posted there.
[System Automated Quest: Exploring the Town.]
On the side of the title is just an "Accept" button.
'Yeah, same as every game.'
After accepting the quest, a broad green line appears on the road like a path guide that is only visible to him and to those currently taking the quest.
'Guess I'll have to follow it then.' He thought as he follows the glowing green light.
Kyle couldn't contain himself on scanning the surroundings as he walks further away from his starting point while following the green line.
He is mesmerized by the beauty of the town and could wait no longer to explore its wonders.
Kyle follows the green line until he starts hearing noises of people talking. When he finally took a corner, a stunning scene took his breath away.
He finds himself wandering in the marketplace where Players and NPCs gather around selling their stuff. The NPCs are easily determined because they stall on the sides of the market while the players gather in the center.
'Ha! The usual, players clog themselves when vending.'
'But why do I feel so at ease and a twitching pain in my chest at the same time? As if I saw something I really, really missed.'
He thought as he wonders about the feelings he has after seeing a similar scene and some memory recalling his love for MMORPGs flashed back to his mind.
'Right, it's been a while since I last played fantasy RPGs.'
The warm and bright atmosphere of the place reminds him how game developers always add a sunny-summer feel in every fantasy game, that just by seeing its calming arts makes the player feel happy and contented.
'Yeah, it really brings back memories. The days when I compete with my friends on who will reach a high level first, or the time when someone is so jealous of me picking a rare item from a mob drop, that he even offers me real cash just to have it.'
Having lost in thoughts, Kyle remembers he still has a quest to finish and resumes following the green line. The line continues on until it ends at a man standing in front of a potion stall wearing an apron with a gold exclamation mark on top of his head.
The line ended exactly where the man is standing.
'An NPC?' He thought and started walking closer towards it.
He stood in front of the NPC as he stares at it while the NPC is also staring back at him with a somehow curious look on its face.
Then there is this awkward moment between Kyle and the NPC merchant.
Kyle doesn't know how to interact with an NPC in this game, because unlike the games he played before, Grand Nexus has a different UI (User Interface) and GUI (Graphical User Interface), on top of that, it is the first time he used Full Dive so he definitely has no idea.
'Now what?' he thought but an action of the NPC made things simple for him.
"Are you just going to stare or you'll buy something?"
Kyle was dumbfounded after hearing the NPC speaks to him. He didn't expect it to open a conversation with him, no, he didn't expect it to start a conversation at all.
"Huh? Oh, ah… err, nothing." He said while stuttering.
"Then have a good day sir." The NPC said while having a big smile on his face.
A moment of silence then Kyle speaks to the NPC again.
"I'm actually in a quest." He said.
"Oh! You must be a newcomer no? You should have told me that earlier." The NPC responds to him in another unexpected manner again.
"Would you mind telling me what kind of quest it is?" the NPC added while arranging some of the items on his stall.
"It's "Exploring the Town." Kyle answered.
"You are truly a newbie then." The NPC replied cheerfully.
"Yeah, thanks for reminding."
"You know, monsters are everywhere outside of town so be careful. Here, take these potions it will help you a lot." the NPC merchant immediately picks up a couple of potions under his stall and gave them to Kyle, after which a notification appears on his screen.
[Received 5 HP potion]
[Received 5 MP potion]
[Received 5 SP potion]
[Quest complete: Received 2000 Coins]
[Gained 300 EXP]
Then the NPC merchant began explaining to him about what he could gain from doing quests and its wonderful completion rewards.
"When doing a quest, aside from gaining specific items from NPCs where you get the quest from, the quest itself also gives you ample amount EXPs and Coins, all you have to do is to find the right NPC for it…" He said, and further explains to Kyle other important factors.
"There are quests that you first need to finish its prerequisite before you can proceed to it, for example, this quest you are doing right now. After this conversation, you will be channeled to other NPCs and a reward will be guaranteed just by talking to them…"
"And lastly, there are Quest that triggers immediately when reaching a certain level or an Event Quest that happens every once in a while. Any more questions about quests?" the NPC asked while at the same time, a floating screen appears in front of Kyle with a "YES" and "NO" button.
Since he feels like finishing the quest immediately, Kyle pressed the "NO" button.
"If that is all, then have a safe journey exploring Grand Nexus!" The NPC ended with a big smile
"You're an NPC right?" he asked, wondering how it could interact with him that well.
"Yes, yes I am. Why would you asked?" the NPC replied with a wondering facial reaction.
"Nothing." Kyle said as he walks away from the NPC.
The "Exploring the Town" quest continues on, as Kyle reaches different places and parts of the town the quest that he also receives starts to get a lot laborious.
One of his town quests demands him to eliminate some monsters scattered around a specific place outside of town while other quests require him to grab materials either by mining or hauling or from monster drops.
It took him some time before he could finish that single quest. After receiving his reward from the final NPC, Kyle took a seat on a bench nearby as he sighs in exhaustion.
He then checks his inventory and finds it to be almost full because of all the chain quest he did same goes for his in-game money.
'Just by doing it, I leveled up almost six times and I'm currently at level ten and I didn't even make any monster extermination quest yet.'
'Maybe I should start grinding first or level up as fast as I can.' He thought because at this very moment all he wants to do is to start pumping out some gas from his avatar.
Then he remembered something, he found a cave near the forest entrance when he did the slime quest. He remembered it having a red restriction sign preventing players from level ten below to go near the place.
'Maybe I should check it out.' He thought, but when he is about to stand up from the bench he is sitting on, a rumbling sound coming from his stomach forced him to second-guess if he will go or log out first to have a snack.
And he chose the latter.