3 Year Two

A gang of friends were eagerly counting down to welcome the new year in Korea. They were about to become twenty and would legally become adults as per the laws of Korea. Normally, such celebrations would be accompanied with a glass of soju but this year, the gang of friends were eagerly holding on to their full dive helmets made by Njorun Gaming. Since alcohol affected the neural interface experience, there was no place for it in the celebrations.

Njorun had branched out to the gaming industry and released the world's first VRMMO game called 'Halls of Valhalla'. This game was taking the world by storm, beating every gamer's expectations. Every gamer could create an avatar for themselves in Valhalla and experience a fully immersive open world filled with fantasy and magic.

If not for the conservative Korean government restricting the gamers to be of legal age before they can use the full dive technology, this gang of friends would've played this game long ago. So they decided to dive into this game as soon as they turned twenty. They had already completed their registrations and customised their avatars beforehand. Therefore, as Korea's skies lit up with fireworks, the gang wore their full dive helmets. The age restricting soft lock opened up and they were able to enter the 'Halls of Valhalla'.

The vast open skies, smell of fresh flowers and the gentle breeze overwhelmed their senses and they left their mouths wide open. After they finished inspecting the game world, they quickly made their way to the nearest beginner village. A small window at the corner of their eye indicated that they were in protected status for another hour. They could take their time to explore the world without any concern for their safety but once the hour was up, the monsters in the wilderness would attack them. If their avatar died under such circumstances, they would accrue penalties before reviving in the nearest village.

After the gang made their way into the beginner village after a brief exploration into the wilderness, their protected status disappeared. They could now interact with the other players and NPCs. There were no videos about the game on popular streaming sites due to the nature of Valhalla. So the gang was curious about everything.

There were many typical NPCs in the beginner village like the blacksmith that would forge some basic weapons for the players or the apothecary that would sell basic potions after sending the players on simple quests like collecting herbs or farmers whose chickens would run amok everyday.

"Wow! This tastes exactly like I thought Soju would taste like in the real world. And it doesn't affect our real bodies at all!"

"Apparently. But the online guide says that we can get drunk, in game, which makes our avatar tipsy."

Suddenly a slightly older avatar approached their gang, "Hey, are you all newbies? I am seeing lots of new faces in the village today. Hope you're having a good time. Though, I wouldn't recommend spending all your initial coins on alcohol."

"Huh? What do you mean? Aren't there quests all around the village to earn coins?", responded a guy from the group.

"Yes, there are. But you would need at least basic weapons to attempt those quests. Valhalla is unlike any other game. Here you need to spend coins for everything just like you would in the real world. The game provides some coin tokens to beginners for the first 100 days to accommodate these daily expenses and you are expected to earn coins afterwards. But herein lies the problem. Whenever you fail quests or die in the wilderness, your avatar suffers penalties. Though you can slowly overcome these penalties by improving yourself in the game, it takes a long time to do so. There is one other option though. You can hire me as a guide."

Some of the videos online talked about older players offering to act as a guide to the newer players for a few quests. It was recommended for serious players to purchase these services to get a head start. The gang quickly discussed among themselves and came to an agreement.

"So, what's the price for your services as a guide?"

"Quick and decisive. I like it. Two gold for the first quest… as a special discount for the new year. Six gold per quest afterwards."

"Whaa..?! That's expensive. Did you mean silver by any chance? The total rewards for all the beginner quests combined is only ten gold. How can we ever recover our investment if we pay so much gold in the beginning? This guy must think we are total newbies.", said one guy in disgust.

"Of course beginner quests mostly give rewards in copper and silver. However, once you reach level 5, you can move on to starter quests where rewards are mostly silver and sometimes gold. From level fifteen, you can attempt the story quests where rewards are always gold and sometimes diamonds. At that point, you'll treat six gold as pocket change.", explained the senior.

The gang once again discussed amongst themselves. They had all decided to play Valhalla as their career. Ever since Valhalla was launched, Njorun Gaming had done things which were unprecedented before. First, they made the game as well as the gear for the game completely free. The intention of Njorun was to build a vast Harvested Intelligence network. So they incentivized the players by announcing that the in-game currency could be exchanged for real world money. This created a way for players to live off the gold they earned by completing quests. They've learnt from others playing the game that it was very enjoyable but not as easy to level up in the game.

"What is your level now?", asked a girl among the group.

"I'm level seventeen. Though my level is adjusted to 5 in the beginner village.", came the reply.

"How long do you think it'll take for us to reach your level if we hire you?"

"Huh? I can only act as your guide till you hit level five. After that, you're on your own. It usually takes three months but if you can put in the effort, you can reach level five in two weeks."

"But six gold per quest is a bit much…"

"Well, it's not as if you need me in your party for all the quests. I also offer consultation services. It's like those online walkthroughs you usually find for other games. Just ten silver per session."

"..."

Just as the gang dove into deeper discussions, the senior became bored and started walking away. The gang immediately came to a consensus.

"Wait, we'll hire you."

"Good. Let me prepare the contract. The game system is good at these things.", smiled the senior.

"By the way, we didn't get your name...", inquired one of the guys.

"Oh. Here's my contact. My in-game name is 'Fresh Myth of Ninja'. But you can call me Lazar."