2 Tutorial

A vast white fog stretched out into infinity. As far as the eye could see, it was filled with white nothingness. If one imagined purgatory, this space might not be far off.

"Well well well! Welcome to the dream world, 'player'!." An androgynous voice rang out with a cheerful tone. Standing in the middle of this vast void was a grinning silhouette. The silhouette had no features except for its smile, looking like more of an outline than a person.

Standing still in a daze was Jimmy, as he was shocked by how real everything felt. The white expanse seemed dream-like, as the silhouette described, and formed a sense of incongruity with how real everything seemed to be.

Jimmy looked just like he did in reality, with the only difference him wearing a long white robe.

"Who are you?" Jimmy managed to eke out after a couple of seconds of calming himself down.

"Hahaha! Yes, that is a wonderful question! I forgot to introduce myself to you, 'player'. I am one of the three main AI that controls the game! I am the guide, operator, and director of this game. For short, you can call me GOD."

"Guide, operator, and director… So you are here to guide me? What am I supposed to do here?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes, It is my purpose to guide all 'players' on what they need to know! I am here to guide you through the 'tutorial'." With a clap of GOD's hands, nine pedestals popped into existence from nowhere in particular.

"The first part of the 'tutorial' is to select your starting class! Although everything is meant to be as 'real' as possible, it wouldn't be a 'game' if you couldn't spice things up a bit from the start with some assistance."

GOD waved at the pedestals and said, "These classes change what gear and 'stats' you start with. Although you can always choose to go down a different path, these classes help jumpstart your preferred 'playstyle'."

Jimmy walked over to the pedestals and began looking over the information on each class. As soon as he looked at a pedestal, it beamed the information into his mind.

He looked over at the first three pedestals and the information of the classes, Wizard, Priest, and Warlock entered his mind.

'Magic is cool, but I can always learn it later. If this game is as real as it seems, a physical class would most likely be easier to level up at the beginning.' With that thought, he changed his gaze to the middle set of pedestals.

'Thief, Archer, and Assassin… I don't think any of those classes really suit me. Although I know for sure what a certain vertically inclined friend is going to pick.'

He then walked over to the final three pedestals and removed two options after some deliberation.

'Guardian and Paladin are both tank-type classes, which generally aren't that good at leveling up by themselves fast. I guess that leaves just one.'

Jimmy turned over to the smiling GOD and said, "I choose Warrior."

"Fabulous choice! Now, tell me which weapon you want. The warrior can pick one of three weapons: long sword, short sword, or spear. Which do you desire?"

He answered without hesitation. "I'll take the spear."

"Excellent! Now that everything has been chosen, we can move onto the next part of the tutorial!" GOD clapped its hands again and disappeared from sight.

Suddenly everything around Jimmy was changed. He stood at the center of a massive circular arena, with a giant black iron gate on the wall in front of him.

He was wearing a suit of chainmail armor and had a plain-looking iron spear in his hand.

Disturbingly, there were hundreds of what looked like copies of GOD jumping around and cheering in the stands at the edge of the arena. They appeared to be wearing togas.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the arena!" The loud voice of GOD echoed throughout the arena. "Behind that iron door will be your practice monster! You must defeat it to move on to the final part of the 'tutorial'!"

Jimmy looked at the iron gate and figured it must be at least 30 feet tall. Two demonic-looking dragons breathing fire were engraved on it, making it easy to mistake it as a gate that leads to the underworld.

The massive gate started rumbling. It began to slowly rise, about to release whatever monster was on the other side.

The GOD's in the stands suddenly started cheering louder in excitement.

Jimmy started gripping his spear harder as sweat began accumulating on his brow. The atmosphere was starting to intimidate him. He thought 'the tutorial monster couldn't possibly be too difficult. Right?'

Regardless of his thoughts, the gate continued to lift at an agonizingly slow rate. Finally, the gate fully opened and the monster inside was set free.

Squelch

Squelch

Squelch

What hopped out of the gate was a small green slime, not even a foot tall.

Jimmy slapped his hand on his face, dumbfounded.

"All that buildup just for a slime…" He sighed.

While he stood there contemplating life, the slime slowly hopped its way over to him and landed on his iron boot.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a foul smell and looked down at his boot. He was startled to find that the slime was corroding it!

He quickly kicked the slime away and decided to take the slime a bit more seriously. Not that a slime can be that serious in the first place, as long as he doesn't just stand still like an idiot that is.

The outer layer of his boot was corroded, but it didn't melt all the way through. He now knew that the slime shouldn't be ignored, but it also wasn't that dangerous. Either way he was going to have to be careful how he attacked it, otherwise, his spear might become corroded too.

He circled the slow slime and easily avoided its lunges as he inspected it. What he spotted was a small orb a couple of centimeters in diameter at the center of the slime which appeared to be its core.

He readied his spear and waited until the slime finished its jump before doing a swift stab straight through its core. Immediately after he pulled the spear back out before it could start to corrode.

[Green slime lvl 1 has been slain]

[5 xp gained]

[Title acquired: Basic Spearman]

Multiple notifications popped up in the corner of his vision after he killed the slime. Curious, he pressed on the title acquisition notification.

~

[Basic Spearman]

Spearmanship that has reached a basic level of skill.

+5% to spear damage

~

"Fantastic~! You managed to get a 'title'!" GOD popped up in front of Jimmy with the same grin as always. "Titles aren't easy to acquire, y'know!"

"What are the requirements to get a title?"

"The system automatically judges the players and awards them titles when certain conditions are met. These titles provide various bonuses and are not just given just for anything, you have to earn them!"

It made sense that he would get a title involving the spear as he has learned how to use a spear in real life, but what are the criteria?

Jimmy frowned and asked, "Why is the title only 'Basic Spearman'? I should be better at the spear than just a basic level."

"My dear 'player', titles are formed based on the system evaluating your actions, so you have to display the necessary conditions to acquire a title."

It made sense that the system had to be shown proof to recognize something. Making a simple stab at a target barely moving can't be considered that difficult.

"Alright let's move onto the final part of the tutorial!" GOD clapped its hands together again, causing the space to shift.

A cityscape filled the surroundings. Jimmy was in the middle of a market area with numerous shops lining the road.

Once again, many copies of GOD were all around. However, all of the GODs were wearing various clothing and were walking around the street like normal people. However, they did not look normal with their outline body and lack of any features except for the grin on their face.

"Hey! Young man! Over here!"

Across the street from him was a GOD wearing clothes that looked like they belonged to an old woman, hunched over, and using a cane to support themselves.

He walked across the street and approached the 'old woman'. Before he could even ask the silly-looking GOD what they wanted, it told him itself.

"Young man, m'legs don't work so good anymore. Could ya please help this old bag o' bones across the road?"

~Common Quest~

[The old lady needs help crossing the road.]

[Reward: 5 xp]

[Failure penalty: Nothing]

[Accept] [Reject]

~

It seems that this part of the tutorial is about quests. Befitting a tutorial mission, it was really easy and had a small reward.

"Ok, I'll help you across the road." He accepted the mission and easily led the 'old lady' across the road. It was as easy to complete as expected.

[Quest Complete!]

[5 xp gained]

[You have leveled up!]

The entire city and all the copies of GOD disappeared, leaving only the white expanse once again. GOD popped up again with his grin still in place, but this time without wearing weird clothing.

"Wonderful job on the quest 'player'! The tutorial is now complete!" GOD started clapping, but this time nothing strange occurred, and it appeared to just be clapping normally.

"There is only one more thing I have to teach you before sending you off to the real 'game'. You can access the menu for your interface by thinking in your mind 'menu'. From there you can change your settings, access your character page, and exit the game. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I think I got it." Jimmy nodded his head in confirmation. It wasn't that different from a regular game.

"Perfect, then that concludes everything! Anything else you will have to find out while playing the 'game'. Discovery is part of the fun in the 'game' after all!"

There were still a few questions he wanted to ask such as if there was any way to contact his friend in-game, but he could figure them out over time anyway.

"Thank you for your help, GOD. Although your methods are a bit eccentric, it's been a nice experience." Although the experience was bizarre, this is the most fun he has had in a long time. He is genuinely thankful for the weirdo GOD.

GOD's grin grew even bigger and said, "No problem, no problem! Call out my name if you need any help with anything you might think is a bug or error with the game. I am always available! Toodaloo!"

And with that GOD clapped his hands together one last time and Jimmy was transferred out of the tutorial.