11 The Game Begins

( Silverpine Village, one of the many newbie spawn villages in Terra Nova Online ) 

Leo found himself teleported to Silverpine Village once his character panel was created, almost immediately, he was engulfed by icy gusts of wind, each one sharper and more biting than the last, sending shivers coursing through his body. 

[ Random starting point chosen - Silverpine Village, please use the voice activated command 'open map' to know more ] 

"Open Map" 

Leo used the command and instantly a map of his surroundings opened up as he realised that he was high atop a frosty mountain with Silverpine Village being the village located at the highest altitude on the mountain. 

The mountain he was on was called 'Mount Gavon' and it housed a total of 9 villages at different altitudes. 

According to the map, Leo was at an altitude of about 4000 metres above sea level, whereas the summit of the mountain was at about 6000 metres. 

He was wearing the default layman's clothing that was more suited for a warm climate as it was clear from his clothing that it provided little to no protection against the icy cold winds. 

Leo noticed how his surroundings felt extremely realistic as although his mind knew that this was only a game, every sensation within the game felt extremely detailed and real. 

He could clearly feel the direction of the wind and he could feel the difference in temperature as to how the wind felt under his clothing versus how it felt on his exposed skin. 

He could clearly hear the rustling of dry tree branches and the sound his boots made from walking on ice. 

"Ouch" 

He felt a numbing sensation on his skin as he pinched it as the area where he pinched himself turned slightly red and swollen which amazed Leo to no end. 

Even on earth there had been some sort of full dive VR games, however, while they were semi-realistic, this game was like reality itself. 

Whether it was the surround sound, the effect of having low oxygen in the surrounding air or how different parts of his body reacted differently to the environment as if every inch of his skin was alive was truly mesmerising. 

[ Alert: Health Decreased by -0.2HP due to Prolonged Exposure to Extreme Cold. Seek Shelter Immediately to Prevent Frostbite. ]

Leo was jolted by this notification as he made way towards the village wall nearby. 

While he was teleported in the wild, just a few hundred metres from his location was the Silverpine Village whose boundaries were marked by thick wooden walls with archer towers built behind them at regular intervals. 

Although Leo was no genius detective, he knew that the only reason why a village invested in border safety was to either deal with human invasion or to handle wild animals. 

Since the village was situated remotely at a high altitude it was unlikely that there would be other humans vying for its land, which meant that the protection was most likely put in place to deal with wild animals. 

As he walked a bit towards the village entrance he saw some other newbies in layman's clothing also making their way towards the entrance as Leo realised that they must be the other players on the arc ship. 

From their numbers they did not seem to be more than a few dozen, which meant that there must be countless more newbie villages that were not located in the little map of this mountain. 

Either there were several such mountains, or there were different terrain for everyone to start and just like he ended up on a frosty mountain it was possible that someone would start on a warm beach or a rainforest.

This theory of his could be easily confirmed once he talked to Luke and the others in Sector E, which is why Leo did not pay much heed to it at the moment and shifted his focus to others entering the village. 

Although the winds outside were cold, he wasn't shivering uncontrollably, however, some of the other players that he observed were somehow facing this difficulty. 

The one's shivering also looked lanky and like their physique was weak while those who were not shivering looked like they were strong and had several layers of muscle to keep themselves warm. 

Could it be the physique stat at play? Leo wondered, but he could not be sure. 

There were two guards at the entrance of the village and they seemed to be collecting some sort of a small entrance fee from all players that were trying to enter the village. 

Initially Leo felt surprised as to how everyone had the fee that the guards were asking for since it had not been more than five minutes that most players had entered the game, when he suddenly realised that it must be something everyone received from the newbie welcome kit. 

He had not yet opened his welcome kit, and hence did not possess any coins, which is why the first thing that he did was to open the welcome kit. 

[ Congratulations you have opened the welcome kit box and have received- 

20x bronze coins. 

5x silver coins. 

1x gold coin.

1x bloody soldier robe 

1x government letter ( sealed )

1x steel sword ( common ) 

1x Virex Black Ops Mask ( Members only) ] 

[ System Notification - 'Actor' class unique mission triggered! 

Poise as a government soldier of the Virex Black Ops and accept the Village Leaders quest. 

Quest Difficulty - B+ 

Quest Rewards - +10 levels, + class unlocking

Failure Penalty - You will be imprisoned by the village for identity fraud. 

Time limit - none 

– You cannot decline the mission, goodluck! ] 

The moment Leo opened his inventory he was immediately bombarded with a mandatory quest. 

He was handed his first role as the actor class and was instructed to poise as a government soldier belonging to the Virex Black Ops. 

While the other players entered the village to seek shelter and figure out how to play the game, Leo was going to have to pose as an entity who he had absolutely no information about and if he failed in the quest or was caught for identity theft he was going to suffer imprisonment in this extremely cold village. 

"Guess there's no rest for the fraudster, acting starts day1" murmured Leo to himself as he put on the soldier robes and the Virex mask in a place where he was hidden from the view of the common players. 

Unlike how realistic the game felt, it did not make the player actually undress and put on a set of clothes physically as just by selecting the 'Equip' option within one's inventory their existing clothes were swapped for the ones they actually wanted to wear.

Just like that, Leo changed into the role of the government soldier as taking a deep breath he finally began his journey towards the village entrance.