Off To A Great Start

"Augh... ohh.. my head hurts.. what is this..?"

I opened my eyes with a headache swirling in my head wondering what happened to me..

First thing I remembered was when I opened the Terraria app on my phone as per usual, in the middle of the opening, a notification pops up noting:

[Your Terrarian journey surpassed beyond what we can offer. We want to continue giving you something new and exciting. Do you want your game to be updated? Yes! | No!]

It was a message that surprises anyone that enjoys playing games, even on touchscreens; update notices. Terraria devs barely do major updates on a game that is commendably packed with many in-game resources. This time it might be different.

As a Terraria veteran, I feel proud to be recognized by a game, completing, collecting and conquering everything there is in store. And for another challenge to appear, I immediately pressed 'Yes' and my consciousness faded before I knew it.

Before my eyes was a grassland with few trees scattered around. Besides me, there's 5 more people, 2 guys and 3 girls, all young adults.

First thing I noticed is a tall tree not far off in the distance, but that tree was so recognizable that I immediately froze and struck with awareness.

I was inside of a game. A sandbox game that is called Terraria.

Soon after, the others starts to wake up one by one. It was a black-haired guy that first woke up, thereafter looks in my way in a dizzy manner. Of course he looks around just like I did a while ago. And soon after then he came to realize and got to the same conclusion as I did.

The others started catching up to us as well, but I'm not going to interact with them, not just yet.

I first got up and head straight to the tree I first recognized. I walk towards the tree while pressing parts of my body, trying to figure out where my inventory is, pressuring anything that comes in mind.

"Nothing happened, maybe it's inside me.. wait that's sounds wrong."

With no abstract idea, I squint my eyes to look for changes and.. I see it.

In front of me is the same old terraria interface, with the left side covering the selection bar, inventory and more selective options that I can't list all, the top right side corner is the health and mana bars with a few buttons that I think is the map and the chat log, below that is the crafting menu and the bottom right corner lies the equipment section.

And~ I only have 3 tools; sword, axe, and pickaxe, all the copper tools that we get at the start of the game.

That's basic for you, Terraria.

I made it to the tree but what's next? There's no instructions on what should I do afterwards. The hologram in front of me has a selection bar and I can tap them and drag the items around the inventory but grabbing them midair is not obstructed.

"Where's the guide when you need them?!" I voiced out my annoyance.

Yes, the 'Guide' is not even around to give us guidance, there's not even one information to look at in the interface.

What a shocker. All I could do is figure it out myself.

The selection bar, or in gamer terms "hotbar", has the selection box at the axe and all I could do is just look at this unchanging pixel image.

"Image? Image... imagine?!"

There's not much change even when I'm pressing and scrolling the hotbar left and right but to use 'imagine' as a gameplay mechanic is going to be hectic.

"What a piece of work.." I muttered to myself.

I then started imagining the axe while staring at the copper axe in the selection box and sure enough, my right hand surfaces a small light ball, then it forms itself into a shape of the axe, and the light unveils the copper axe.

In anticipation, I faced the oblivious tree.

"Now that I've thought hard about your mechanism, let's dig up some raw materials, shall we?"

*chop *chop

I started chopping the tree while I sensed the others watching me from the distance. Not long after the tree falls and slams on the ground and noticed an achievement "Timber" popped up.

"Ooh~ And our first achievement for the day. Aren't you too kind?"

In an instant, the tree log changes into stacks of wood and it became a levitating little item, a somewhat similar thing to what Minecraft does.

It was an interesting addition in the game mechanics, introducing imagine artworks as a control feature.

Although I was amazed by the interesting concept, It's concerning why they made a change in aspect. The realistic virtualization was even applied with specified details like the falling tree.

And there is the most troubling part, can we even respawn? Not only this game has mobs that wants to tear our flesh apart but there are also deadly traps that can easily get preyed upon. This game can literally give players a nightmare if played virtually. Now realistically would be too..

No. Let's not assume and imagine such gruesome possibility. Instead, let's duke it out until the guide shows up.

Thinking positively, it's a good thing that they have made the material picking visibly easier otherwise we might lose track when we go for farming items.

I grabbed the stacked wood with my hand and 27 wood appeared on one of the selection bar. I dragged the wood away from the selection box towards the inventory. The wood in my hand vanishes into thin air. And that's how stashing items work.

I could've tried letting the item come to me when I get close but, I guess that's for another time.

After the short woodcutting session, I head back to where the other 'players' idling by.

I approached the black-haired guy and started talking to him. "Hey man..."

And I stopped short.

The guy just stares at me intently with a confused look on his face. After a while, he started talking.

"You.. did you get your tongue tied or is this the first time you talked to anybody?"

Well, that's offensive. Right at the start of a new life as well.

"I can't help it, man. I barely interact with people I don't know."

"Right~ So, I see you've got the hang of its controls. Could you give me some pointers 'cause I don't understand what I'm doing wrong right now."

As he says that, he tries to reach out the thin air in front of him. Maybe he's trying to grasp the tool that was on his vision.

"Dude, maybe you should use your imagination on this one." I gave him a short vague instruction.

He gave me a stern look for a moment and thereafter focused on the transparent inventory section. After a while, he manages to reveal a pickaxe. He then spoke.

"Whoa! This is amazing! Who knew this would work?!"

"Uh, I do. That aside, do you think it'll be difficult when we get into the boss fights?"

"Huh? Well this is.. uh.."

He switch his weapons back and forth but it takes time by simply swapping one tool to the other, meaning the adaption of switching items in the selection bar didn't go smoothly.

"What the heck? This is janky! It takes time to load in! How are we gonna fight mobs and bosses like this?!"

"I don't know? Should I say 'the audacity' in a loud voice."

"Make it moderate."

"No, I'm just gonna stay quiet instead."

His voice in response sounded firm that I changed my mind suddenly.

"Yeah you better be. So what now?"

We then stand quiet dwelling on the atrocity of the future that awaits us.

"Are you guys gonna stay silent there?" Then the dark-brown-haired guy chimed in the conversation. "If not, we should get some more wood instead."

Me and the other dude locked eyes with the third party before he and I looked back at each other. We both looked at brown-haired guy again and we both said,

""Good point.""

I continued, "But before that..." I looked at the ladies' direction with a worried face.

The ladies, two meters apart from each other, is still sitting ducks in the grasslands with their minds going panic mode.

"What about them?" I asked.

"I'll go cut some more trees for our little cabin." Brown guy swiftly says and goes off.

"And I'll go get some stones and pots for drops so you take care of them." Black dude carries on and leaves.

"You guys.. and there they go. ARGH just when I thought that they're going to take the bait." I said so nonchalantly.

Women are usually a pain to deal with when they're distressed and I look at them seeing they are distressed too. I don't really want to deal with them but someone had to.

I faced the three women with a dazed expression. I first approached the orange-haired girl.

"Um.. hey." And I stopped short once again.

The girl heard me and looked up while still sitting on the ground. I stared at her back and just waits for her response.

What I got instead is silence, no word comes out of her mouth, just her jaws opened up. Unable to take the atmosphere, I man up and say something.

"Um, you should start getting ready." That's all I could say to her after the awkward air flew by.

The girl gets fidgety with her arms and with a displeasured look, she starts nagging me.

"What?! Get ready for what?! For our impending doom!? Just so you know, I don't want to get killed in such unbeknownst environment! Much less inside of a game! We don't even know what happened to us before we got here! Why would I go to such lengths to be involved in this stupid ass game!"

'That's a fair argument. I get that. But don't dump your frustrations on me.' I frantically thought. At least she's aware that we're inside of a video game.

"Look, I get your point but just like you we have no clue either so all we're thinking right now is to build shelter for the night. There's no point in being stranded here."

"Oh really now. Well then be my guest. Build us a shelter so we can await for the disaster to happen!" She sarcastically remarks.

The other two girls watched us in silence before they looked at each other with worried faces.

"Great. So much for a feminine to ask to move. We're off to a great start, everyone." I whispered to myself with an agitated face.

'Did I went up to a troublesome one?' I felt exhilaration when I thought that out.

I was thinking of walking away to get some more wood but then I heard another girl's voice. It was the platinum-blonde-haired girl.

"Oh. Is this a slime?"

It was a green slime closing in towards her.

Looking at the slime I started to wonder, how does the mobs interact with the environment?

Terraria has made a complete change in having a 2D sandbox world into an open physical environment, which is unheard of. I'm not even sure if respawning players is possible. What are the developers thinking when they made this?

As I was thinking that, the slime has gotten too close to the girl. After staring at it, she can't help but be fascinated by its jelly appearance.

"It's not going to hurt me if I just touch you, right?" She cautiously remarks.

I kept my eye towards them and that girl's health bar. It's a good thing those developers allow to see the other player's health. I took my shortsword out in case something might go out of hand.

The girl made contact with the slime by gently stroking its soft, slimy top. Immediately, the girl's health depletes one-fourth of her health bar. My alerted self steps up on impulse and ran up towards them.

I was within the striking distance between me and the slime and I kicked the slime away from her. In shock, the girl backs off in surprise and watch the slime flew in the air.

As it comes down, I gripped my sword tight and swing down hard. The slime was cut in half and changed into some pickings: 3 gels and 97 copper coins.

I picked up the misc and faced the girls again.

I looked at the blonde girl to check on her health bar. Almost half of her health remains, she got inflicted twice. Must be because I hit her hand with the slime when I kicked it.

I looked at my health and it was 75 points left. So just 25 health points depleted just by kicking a slime away. This is like Master Mode difficulty damage.

This damage is no joke. There's no assuring place anywhere right now, the girls already look like an easy prey in the open space. Adding more to that, a bunch of slimes stumbles towards us in the distance and they're moving fast.

I looked at the inventory crafting section and immediately built a work bench and placed it down. An achievement "Benched" popped up but I pay no mind to it. I quickly pressed the crafting station to craft a wooden sword.

I got my wooden sword out and I ready my sword for the slime onslaught, or maybe I just wanted to farm for more gels and coins.

I stepped onwards in a noble steed to fight the green slimes.

**

While the navy-haired guy handles the slime, the ladies started to chatter to one another. Starting with the blonde girl.

"That guy.. he's fighting them head on. Is he not going to bother wondering about this strange situation? He could have told us what we are going to do."

"Heh! That guy thinks he is so smart. Let's just ignore him for a second. Does anyone know where is the option to get out of this game?" Says the orange-haired girl.

"Um.. there's no options. I think it's in our vision, maybe transparent. There's no menu but just blue boxes, maybe its only for storage and crafts." The blonde-haired girl comments while she was squinting her eyes back and forth.

The orange-haired girl sighs and whispered to herself, "Just when I was about to take my time easy, then I got myself into this hurdle.. ARGH!! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!!"

The other girls was taken aback by the sudden tantrum. Then one of them starts fiddling with the inventory.

"Anyways, about the blue boxes I mentioned earlier?" The blonde girl said while she fiddles with the hotbar.

"Can't we at least understand what was going on.. *sigh*" The brown-haired girl spoke. "Nevermind. The blue boxes, huh?"

Ignoring the wailing girl, the two girls squint their eyes out of curiosity, and their vision showed them the interface.

"Okay, so we've got 2 copper handy dandy tools and 1 copper shortsword. I HAVE TO FIGHT WITH THIS BROKEN SHORTSWORD?! Oh my god.." The brown-haired girl exclaimed.

The blonde girl looking distressed says, "We only have these tools so let's make the best of the things we have."

"Wow~, you sure are optimistic." The orange-haired girl asserts after the tantrum. "Being like that can only burden our situation. I don't even know if we can make it out alive."

"It's fine. We have the boys to do the work for us. We'll just leave the work to them. So, who's feeling obligated to help that guy.. oh. Is he about to finish things off?" The brown-haired girl said.

**

As the girls having a conversation with one another, I am still dealing with the slimes farming for more gels. But I'm having trouble killing the slimes.

To summarize, changing my copper shortsword to a wooden sword changes my way of killing the slimes. When I slice the slimes they just bounces off, then I try stabbing the slimes but it feels like I was poking to a whoopie cushion. All of this barely took a fraction of its health.

"I killed one of you so easily before! WHY WON'T YOU WORK!!"

I was so annoyed and can't help but shout out loud.

"Slicing the slime back then was just a breeze and then it's not working anymore, what is this shit?!"

Amidst in that moment, I had a thought.

'Maybe this is the way the sword's been made, it is just that dull.'

I take a look at the wooden sword. It was clear as a day to me, there's no sharpness on the edges, just blunt.

'No wonder I was barely making progress.'

I then change to my copper shortsword, slice the slime and see the difference, it was sharp like a new bought razor. Heck, even its modifier has the name 'Deadly' in it unlike the wooden sword that has the 'Lazy' modifier. I feel like this game is mocking me for not paying attention.

I switched back to my copper shortsword and took the slimes down one by one until we're cleared out. I couldn't kill the slimes quickly like I did before but I finished them all nonetheless. I've earned about 13 silver coins and collected 28 gels, enough for our light source materials.

"There we go! Some earnings for a job well done!"

With the slime killings now done, I took out the wood and place one right in front of my feet. I examine the wood and it looked like there's two thick 4x2 wooden pallets placed right on top of each other and it is shaved quite nicely. It's not a block but its square-ish shape says otherwise and it's height is about on my hips, pretty neat details.

I placed another wood on top until I got about on the sixth block height placement, the maximum placement distance without the accessories.

Yes. It has the same reach as in the original game. If majority of the features remained like in game, all the more better.

"Knowing there's not much of a change is such a relief."

And with that, I continued placing wood to make the wall, intending to place about 9 blocks wide and I just ran out of wood. Whoops.

I spent 10 wood for the work bench and 7 wood on the wooden sword so I have about 10 wood left beforehand. I look at the blocks that I placed and see the giant letter L inscribed.

I got annoyed after looking at what I did and it got myself reminded, 'Knowing there's not much of a change is such a relief.'

Well, how horribly wrong I was to mention that so carelessly. Yes, I forgot how dire the situation we are in for.

This is Terraria. A game that doesn't have a designated level progressive system and gives the player the freedom of choice in exchange for a world full of suffer.

What a world we'll be living.