System Jazz

[Welcome to the Training Grounds!]

It's hard to believe it has come to this.

Baldie chased me home to tackle the tutorial after all that swearing to die rather than do it.

Well, the zombies ensured it wasn't completely a lie.

It still sucks.

The sun's about to rise, and birdsong echoes in the distance.

The village is empty, it looks like people don't play in the middle of the day.

It's easy when they aren't forced to, and other than the daily quota, I'm pushed for leveling up too.

Get more Exp and all that Jazz.

[Government Issued Quest: Reach Level 10 within 3 days. Importance: Utmost. Difficulty: Average. Progress: 1/10, Exp to next level: 13/100. (52/72 hours left).]

Twenty hours in and no progress.

That average difficulty is only true for Premium users, and there's no way to unlock it.

The worst part is spending that money on smoke when the headset makes the cravings stop.

There was also that burger. Oh, and their delivery should come soon.

Let's hope it's not some synthetic bullshit without a taste.

Okay, focus, the tutorial is more important.

Why is it so repulsing?

A few places in the settlement will trigger popups with the name tag, like the main square and the market.

The minimap highlights the borders and a tiny mark indicates the area has a unique ruleset.

It's only visible when you focus on it.

[You'll receive halved damage and players above Level 10 can't enter. While Exp rewards only apply after the first attempt, the tutorial is repeatable.]

Why return if they pay the reward only once, and why are the higher levels barred?

Whatever. Rules are rules, and you can only break them once they're established.

It's nice that they halve the damage, dying to the tutorial would be embarrassing.

A lone NPC stands at the center.

Unlike the merchant character, he yells a greeting from afar and waves closer.

I'm reluctant to approach him, even if there's no other choice after making it this far.

Let's swallow your pride and do this fucking tutorial.

Heads will roll if they start with 'step left and right'.

"Morning, traveler, is this your first time here?"

His raspy voice sounds like the Boss, except he's an adult veteran warrior.

He wears beat-up armor, and scars across his bald face, complete with a full beard and piercing eyes. He must be around thirty or forty.

He rests a mace on his shoulder too big for an average person to lift.

This would be all in a regular VR game, but there's also this stench of sweat.

It feels like standing in a gym, like the ones in the Container Park.

They all have terrible ventilation and a thick smell, so it only lasted three visits.

They had rusty homemade equipment and tryhard dudes flexing and moaning.

The Boss dragged along all three times, and if he wanted someone to join his brawls, he took the wrong guy.

This place is out in the open and still smells. There are a bunch of weapons waiting.

Still, that mace looks neat, and this guy must be tough to hold it like that unless this title has superpowers.

My combat experience tells a different story.

A popup claimed everyone gets average stats until reaching level ten, he's for sure above that.

"I'm Tank, the one responsible for the dropping death rates among the adventurers. Don't hesitate to try yourself."

He offers, his speech sounds much more organic than the previous NPC.

The floating name ruins the immersion though.

[Trainer Tank offered you the quest: Tutorial. Do you accept?]

"Fine, let's do this." There's no time to waste.

The quest appears below the fed's one in a similar format, only less vague.

[Tutorial: Follow Tank's instructions. Importance: N/A. Difficulty: Easyest. Progress: 1/5, Reward: 500 Exp. Part One: Fencing. Part Two: Archery. Part Three: Crafting (Skipped, Premium only). Part Four: Health. Part Five: Taking Quests and Exploration.]

Of course, they'd skip the crafting part.

At least the message with the nine-ninety-nine offer is absent.

Let's see what they have in store about fight training, and what they mean by health.

The warrior waves towards the weapon racks and lowers his mace.

"Pick a spear and a sword and try to land a hit."

He says, no bullshit like 'push this button to strike and that one to defend'.

The system doesn't have a keyboard or a cursor, it's only the player's mind.

The weapons appear in the inventory followed by a message.

[You can select an item by looking and thinking about grabbing it. Grab and release twice to add them to the Quick-Access menu, allowing you to choose them faster. It can make the difference between life and death if you don't have to dig it up from the depths of the inventory.]

So they send messages when it's a meta instruction, and the NPC says the immersive part?

Fine, the training spear and sword end up on the Quick-Access.

Their stats are visible inside the inventory, they both have +3 on the attack, whatever that means.

"Come on, lad, don't dawdle for too long, try to land a hit with your preferred weapon."

Tank urges, and I grab the spear on a whim, throwing it like a javelin.

It's unexpected that it even works, but he knocks it out of the way without missing a beat.

Since it's no longer in the inventory, the sword's next.

"Hahaha, that was a nice attempt, and now you lost your spear."

He notes, offering a perfect target.

"Come on, don't be afraid. There won't be any response so give it your all."

It's easy for him to say, the memory of getting killed by those zombies is still fresh.

Even if he promises not to punch back, and the setting for the pain's at the lowest, it's almost like having PTSD.

A few deep breaths before the next attempt and a wide slash misses him by far.

"You shouldn't swing blind, look at what you're aiming for or you'll never hit a thing. Come on, I'm right here."

Did he move? He must've, there's no way I missed by that much.

"Don't worry, that stick won't do much harm."

"Who's worried?"

The next strike at least reaches him, yet his mace blocks the wooden blade, moving lightning fast.

His grin looks so lifelike, it has to be an actual trainer, not an NPC.

My instinct cries to jump back, though there's no retort. He still praises it.

"Nice. It's a good idea to think about the defense." He says.

Yes, there's no way it's an AI-driven character.

"And to never trust your opponent. Still, your only job is to land a hit. Once you get close enough, I'll let you in on a secret."

"S-shut up!" And my next few attacks all miss with a wide margin.

"That sword is a short-range weapon, you gotta come closer." He notes, picking up the spear and throwing it back. "Try with this one."

There's no fucking way he's an NPC.