What a Wonderful Game

Seojoon listened carefully as the game gave him a quick rundown on the tutorial.

[What would you like to be referred to as? It is recommended that you do use a real name instead of a fancy title.]

"Kim Seojoon please."

[Confirmed. Would you like to set a nickname? This will be the name that goes on the worldwide leaderboard.]

Seojoon tilted his head sideways. "Why do I need a nickname?"

[It is to prevent players from targeting other players based on their position on the leaderboards as well as to improve the in-game flow of interactions between the player and Intellectual Non-Player Characters. Originally, only the nickname would be registered until problems occurred when one of the alpha testers had a title like a name.]

Seojoon raised an eyebrow.

[The conversations with the INPC's would start to get weird and uncomfortable. An example is- "hello mister Call Me Papa~" and "Oh brave hero I Kill For A Living, please save this town!" And plenty of others. It would be a deterrent to experiencing the full gameplay and thus it was fixed.]

Seojoon squinted his eyes in disbelief. What kind of idiot would name themselves Call Me Papa?

[What would you like to set your nickname as?]

Seojoon racked his brain for a decent sounding nickname as he didn't want to look stupid as he played the game. This was the first time he had to come up with his own nickname and it was harder than he thought. He was about to set his nickname to be something random when a memory of the future surfaced on his mind.

'Hey teach, why do you read so much? Shouldn't you do something a little more productive like exercising?'

'Lol, teach is such a bookworm. Wait, I know. We should call him that from now on.'

'Good morning bookworm teach!'

A small smile slowly itched itself onto Seojoon's face, creating a nostalgic tone in the air.

"I would like to set my nickname to Bookworm Teacher Please."

[You would like to set your nickname to Bookworm Teacher, is this correct?]

"Yes."

[Your nickname has been set. Your character will be generated based on your current physical aspects and will be unable to be changed. This prevents unfamiliarity with your in-game body when you start playing the game. It is also a preventive measure for traps and catfishers from playing the game.]

"What is a trap and a catfisher?"

[I am forbidden from providing an answer. Please refer to the internet or older peers. Your hair color and minor physical details will be able to be changed in-game at a later time.]

"Cool."

[Generating character model.... done. Welcome to Rising Worlds. Please do enjoy your experience.]

A bright light enveloped Seojoon and the next thing he knew, he was in the middle of a village square surrounded by many other people.

[Welcome to Beginner's Village.]

Seojoon glanced at his hands and marveled at the sight. His hands looked perfectly ordinary, a complete copy of his real-life hand. He started to jump around and stretch as he got a feel for his virtual body all the while listening to the other players talk.

"Wow, it's a lot less crowded than I thought." Said a player to his left. "Most VR games are crowded on the day of release. As expected, the game devs must've created multiple Beginner Villages so that we would be able to play leisurely. Rising Worlds is indeed worthy of its popularity and high ratings."

"I should walk around and find some NPC's to talk with. I need to hurry up and obtain quests."

"Apparently the village head is giving out quests for people. Let's hurry up and go before the line gets too long."

Seojoon tilted his head. What in the world were quests? Why did people want to get them? Did they provide some kind of benefit?

Seojoon followed a group of players who were all heading off to find the village head. And when they did, they also found a very long line.

Seojoon took one glance at the line before turning the other way immediately. Instead of fighting to gain these.... quests, Seojoon felt that he would be spending his time better by exploring the village.

Seojoon traveled down the streets observing everything that he could see. The sky was very natural blue and was dotted with clouds. He could feel the wind blow past his skin, gently tickling him. Everything was so real that it was hard for Seojoon to remember that everything was only a game.

A delicious scent of cooking dough suddenly stopped Seojoon mid in his tracks and forced him to turn towards the source of the smell.

He made his way to a building with large windows and gave a little peek through the glass. True to what he had smelled, he could see loaves of bread and slices of cake decorating the interior of the building looking very appetizing.

Next thing he knew, Seojoon had entered the bakery.

The already strong smell of bread only served to strengthen itself the moment he stepped inside causing him to relish in the scent. The girl at the counter saw this and gave Seojoon a warm smile.

"Welcome, how may I help you."

Seojoon snapped out of his trance and faced the girl. "Do you make bread and cake here?"

"What a weird question," said the girl while laughing. "Of course we sell bread silly, it's all around you isn't it?"

Seojoon gave a wry smile before picking up bread. He could still feel a lingering warmth radiate from the bread as if it had just come fresh out of the oven. "Can I have a loaf of bread?"

"Only after you pay for it, silly."

Seojoon hesitated before regretfully placing the bread back down. "I'm sorry, I don't think I have money on me right now."

"It's ok lol. You can always come back later. I'll be waiting for you."

"What a shame, this place just smells so amazing, I can't wait to give the bread a try." Said Seojoon with a sad sigh.

The girl at the counter gave a smug smile before calling out to Seojoon who was about to leave. "Hey, you. Thank you for the compliment. You can take the bread that you touched from earlier. Think of it as a service."

Seojoon widened his eyes, taken aback. "You are giving me this bread for free? Doesn't it require money?"

"I'll give it to you for free this time. Just make sure to visit again okay?"

Seojoon nodded before grabbing the piece of bread he had just placed down and took a big bite. It tasted just as good as it smelled. He could feel the crunch of the toasted bread in his mouth as well as the small number of Italian herbs that had been sprinkled over the top as a seasoning.

It was as if the bread was real.

"Thank you very much," said Seojoon once again to the girl. "I'll definitely come again later."

"You are welcome," replied the girl cheerfully. "Before you go, do you mind telling me your name?"

Seojoon nodded his head after taking another bite of the bread. "My name is Seojoon."

"Cool name! I'm Amy, what you ate was my first attempt at baking. Thank you for the compliments."

"You are welcome."

Seojoon left the bakery in utter awe. Everything in the game seemed to be as realist as real life. If anything, his sense of touch, sound, smell, taste, and sight seemed to be even better than before.

Seojoon didn't even realize that the baker Amy was an NPC until a message appeared in front of his eyes.

[Beginner Baker Amy's affection towards you has risen. Beginner Baker Amy - friendly.]

What a wonderful game.