《The Casual Player Killer》


 Prologue: In Medias Res, because how else can we start!?

    ¡°Ahhh¡­ damn it, Andraste was the only one supposed to be here¡­¡±


    I expertly navigated myself through the various obstacles presented by the forest. Having spent an unnecessarily large amount of time on the area, I had a complete [Map Data] of the location as well as an accurate grasp of what locations to avoid so that monsters wouldn¡¯t get in the way.


    I decided to put the battle between me and Andraste, a player I¡¯ve encountered recently whom had challenged me to a fight, on hold on the account that there seemed to be some major interference in the forest.


    ¡°So¡­ who are these people and why are they here¡­?¡±


    The black cloak lined with great wolf fur I was wearing fluttered around the air. Each time it got caught in a stray branch or shrub, it would harmlessly pass through without fail.


    <Mugen> was particularly realistic in those aspects. Articles like cloaks, capes, and large scarves would naturally get in the way of traversing a deep forest area in real life. In game, it translated to a movement speed penalty as well as having said equipment reduce its [Durability] faster than normal.


    I was grateful for the fact that my [Great Forest Wolf Cloak] had special properties. It¡¯s [Phase] ability made sure that its durability was never reduced when interacting with the environment and prevent its wearer from suffering the penalties associated with it.


    It was a useful ability to have¡­ though it was limited to just that. I did wish it gave me something to deal with persistent players trying to take me down.


    ¡°CLEAVE!¡±


    I could hear several trees being cut down from the distance. That was probably Andraste trying to get to me. Honestly, if illegal logging was a punishable act in this game, I would¡¯ve definitely reported her to the authorities!


    I opened up a [Mini Map] of the area while running as hard as I could. The map showed my current location, indicate by a blue arrow, and a rather large circular yellow area that represented my [Field of Vision]. The field allowed me to monitor any movement from both monsters and other players that were moving within inside it.


    Littered across the maps were red cross-marks that indicated areas were my [Traps] were placed. Each trap had a field of vision as well, effectively working as a convenient means for me to keep track of different areas at the same time.


    A few of the red-cross marks disappeared, indicating that the traps were triggered.


    All of them were supposed to be a something to be used against Andraste but¡­


    ¡°Six¡­ no eight?! There¡¯s no way I can deal with that many¡­ I wouldn¡¯t even survive in a one on one battle!¡±


    I sighed in exasperation from the current situation. The ones chasing me were all probably battle-oriented players with skill and equipment builds suited for PvP and PvE situations.


    My equipment, though recently upgraded, probably paled in comparison to theirs. That and my skill build was in no way focused for direct battles. In fact, my skill build was so broad and all over the place that I wouldn¡¯t even qualify for any normal classification.


    The best I could manage was fight on a one on one situation, trying my hardest to pull in and out of a direct duel, all the while trying to use the environment and traps to my advantage.


    I never intended to be involved with other players to begin with. I just wanted to burn away some of my extra time messing around with the possibilities of this game!


    ¡°TEMPEST!¡±


    ¡°Guah¡­!?¡±


    A large blast of wind suddenly came from behind me. Thankfully, the trees once again sacrificed themselves to save me.


    Thank you tree number 3000, I will forever remember your noble sacrifice. Your death will hopefully not be in vain. Hopefully.


    After paying my respects to the tree, I immediately changed directions in hopes of outmaneuvering the enemy. I had several [Skills] and [Titles] that gave me bonus movement speed in forests, something I¡¯m sure none of the ones chasing would have due to the absurd requirements of getting such skills and titles in the first place.


    ¡°Andraste¡¯s really not pulling any punches here¡­¡±


    Andraste was a famed female [Sword Master] who¡¯s known for being one of the stronger solo-players of the game. She specialized in PvE, though she was certainly no slouch in the PvP department.


    She had been adamantly searching for me for the past few weeks since our first encounter. I honestly thought she would give up if she failed to find me¡­ but unfortunately, she was too stubborn to give up and had sent out a challenge to me through the official forums of the game.


    Knowing that it would only get worse if I let it be, I decided to show up for the fight after having made copious amounts of preparations. All in order to at least give me a sliver of a chance to give her a good fight.


    I had no illusions of winning mind you, she wasn¡¯t someone I could beat. The time she¡¯s invested in the game was easily several times more than mine.


    The plan was to fight with everything I had. I would lay traps in the forest for Andraste, then utilize the advantage given by my titles and skills to outmaneuver her and lure her into them. Then when Andraste was finally satisfied, we would end the fight with me losing, I would then be able to return to my usual, uneventful, non-descript, and casual gaming life.


    It worked for the most part. Also, even though normally I wouldn''t be able to any significant damage due to weaker equipment and lack of damaging skills, I was able to wound her a few times.


    That''s probably thanks to the fact that I had anti-player bonuses due to my


    status.


    Why was I a


    ? Let''s just say I''m never going to be careless in the character creation process again!


    ¡°¡­ Haaaah, then these guys just had to interfere!¡±


    I checked my status and considered my options. My [Stamina] was depleting fast due to the [Stamina Penalties] from being in the deep forest area, soon I wouldn¡¯t be able to run continuously unless I get some time to recover. Quickly running out of options, I brought up my inventory, trying to find anything I could use.


    ¡°Maybe the¡ª¡°


    ¡°BLADE PULSE!¡±


    Before I could even take out anything from my inventory, a large wave of energy suddenly shot out from behind me, easily cutting down another nearby tree. Andraste didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of letting me escape her today.


    S-Scary. I¡¯ve always managed to dodge that attack but thinking on it now, f that attack even grazed me, I¡¯m absolutely sure all my equipment¡¯s [Durability] would definitely disappear¡­


    ¡°No choice, I¡¯ll need to resort to that!¡±


    I made a sudden turn and jumped weaved around the trees. A bit more and he would reach a cliff. It was the only real option I had, considering the fact that my other opponents were closing in on me.


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    Guess it was a bit too optimistic for me to assume that the traps would either stop or discourage them.


    ¡°We¡¯ve finally caught up to you


    !!¡±


    As I jumped out of into the open field, I was greeted by several familiar faces.


    In one group was my best friend in real life Katsuo, known in game as <Conall>. Around him were his party members, <Muirne> and <Niam>, also classmates of mine the real world.


    The other group was my very own little brother Suisen and right beside him was my younger cousin, Renge. They were known in game as <Amari> and < Nerum> respectively.


    Behind them was an older and mature woman named <Morana>, someone who happened to be part of the staff of the school I attend. Beside her was someone named


    , who may or may not one of my schoolmates.


    Ahh¡­ I should¡¯ve checked the mini-map again. I guess one of them has tracking skills. Should¡¯ve known¡­


    I had no idea how it came to this, but I can only blame my bad luck and carelessness. The only thing I¡¯m thankful for was that I remembered to keep my face mask on. I couldn¡¯t risk having any of them find out I was spending a lot of time playing the game.


    Considering the fact that I had ignored their adamant requests to play the game with them, I can only imagine the comeuppance I¡¯ll face if they find out that I¡¯ve been playing it in secret.


    I really don''t want a 36 hour gaming marathon again. I''m just a normal human being!


    ¡°


    !¡±


    From beind me, Andraste had jumped out to the clearing. For some reason, she seemed rather surprised at the presence of the other people in the field.


    Hmm¡­ considering the fact that she was the one to send out the challenge to me, she probably never expected other people to take advantage.


    ¡°Phantom, those traps of yours had given us some serious trouble. However, we finally have you cornered!¡±


    Katsuo, or rather, Conall had called out to me with an excited smile. Phantom wasn¡¯t my actual name in game but it seemed like people had decided to call that due to my usual attire and recent actions. The effects of my cloak certainly helped such an image.


    ¡°Not gonna talk!?¡±


    My younger cousin seemed to be far more aggressive in the game that she was in real life. Such a thing only served to tell me that I really shouldn¡¯t have my identity found out.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I was rather nervous. Like I¡¯ve said already, there was no way I could fight any one of the people present. Their equipment and skill build were superior. The only reason they hadn¡¯t caught me immediately was because I had some advantages in the forest.


    There was no way I would survive if I opted for a direct confrontation. However I did have one thing equipped that could help me.


    I only had one shot though.


    ¡°It seems you have no plan on talking with us. That¡¯s fine¡­ we¡¯ll simply have that talk after capturing you. You¡¯re currently surrounded right now, you have no escape! Perun!¡±


    ¡°Understood Morana-sensei. Entang¡ª¡°


    Seeing an opportunity, I immediately grabbed my equipped item and threw it on the ground.


    ¡°Wait¡­!¡±


    Before Perun could cast her skill, Andrate got in between the group and I.


    ¡°Exactly what are you people doing here!?¡±


    ¡°Ara¡­ well, seeing that Andraste-chan had sent out such a heartfelt invitation of challenge to someone, Perun and I were naturally interested in what kind of player would make you so enamored!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? We¡¯ll see who this phantom¡¯s true identity is!¡±


    ¡°Suisen and I area here to see to take down that Phantom Monster!¡±


    ¡°Renge¡­ I think it really is a player if you look at him¡±


    ¡°Renge, Suisen is right, that¡¯s definitely a player¡±


    ¡°Ahhh damn, oi Conall, what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°Ahh Andraste-san, we thought the


    rumors were some kind of quest so¡­¡±


    It was utter chaos in the field as everyone seemed to have their own objective for trying to seek me out. Though I knew most of them, I wasn¡¯t really used to how they looked in game. It was confusing keeping track of who was talking.


    Haaah¡­ what ever happened to just doing my own thing and not attracting attention?


    Andraste seems to be talking things out though¡­ should I escape?


    Doing that feels rude though¡­


    ¡°Silence! Daimyo Morana, Perun, if you of the <Eternal Night> were aware of the fact that this was a duel between him and I, why had you come to interfere!?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ we technically didn¡¯t intend to come. We just originally wanted observe you but¡­¡±


    ¡°We got caught in the traps¡­ and then we lost sight of you so we had to find the way to your duel location and started to trigger more traps¡­¡±


    ¡°Those traps were specifically prepared for me by Phantom! Using the forest, his skills, and his traps are his specialty. Please vacate the area so that we can resume our battle!¡±


    Andraste seemed pretty passionate about our battle.


    That¡¯s actually slightly embarrassing for me¡­


    ¡°Ara¡­ I refuse!¡±


    ¡°Heck no!¡±


    ¡°No way! Phantom is ours!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re already here and it¡¯s bothersome to have to come back¡±


    ¡°Walking in the deep forest is really draining too¡­¡±


    ¡°I wonder what skill build Phantom has to keep going in here for so long¡±


    Haaah¡­


    Faced with the collective refusal from the group, I let out another sigh. This was never gonna end unless I do something.


    Sorry Andraste, let¡¯s just have another battle some other time.


    I retrieved the object I bought from the hunter¡¯s association and threw it to the ground.


    Smoke started to cover the whole area.


    It was what could be considered a [Smoke Bomb]. It had an ability to temporarily inflict [Disorientation] to all players within range. The status effect wouldn¡¯t last even a few seconds against well-built players but that was all I needed.


    ¡°Damn it! Someone cast a wind spell!¡±


    Before they were able to recover their bearings, I threw one of my special throwing knives to Andraste¡¯s location and then made a beeline for the cliff.


    Without hesitation, I jumped off of it.


    ¡°Haah¡­ this really isn¡¯t what I imagined doing when I started this game¡­¡±


    I let out a sigh of relief, confident that none of my opponents would be willing to chase me. I was falling fast, the river below quickly approaching my sights.


    ¡°I still have my equipment on¡­ well guess I¡¯ll have to see how bad the stamina penalty for this is...¡±


    Was the last thing I could say before I hit the water.

 Chapter 1: Use the game to beat boredom in the head!

    I focused on the translucent screen suspended in mid-air as it displayed the start to a suspenseful battle between two characters. One was a petite blond haired female who used her hair as a weapon, the other was a well-built man with long blond hair who wore a blindfold and controlled a shadow beast.


    <<Heaven or Hell¡­ Duel one¡­ LET¡¯S ROCK!>>


    My hands sprang into action right after the announcer finished the game¡¯s iconic battle opening. My character, the blond man that used a shadow beast, was someone considered as a ¡®puppet character¡¯, so it was essentially controlling a two separate characters at the same time.  The character was rather complex and difficulty to play effectively but had the best offensive ability in the game as a trade-off.


    Hence, from the get go, I went all out.


    The battle was fast paced. The enemy was extremely mobile and knew full well what I could do if I were to corner her into the wall so she had avoided such a situation. Conversely, if she manages to build momentum and knock me down then I would likely lose the round and, since there was only one round, the whole match.


    It took a few exchanges but I was finally able to bait one of the enemy¡¯s attacks and punish it with a full combo and carry into the corner. Once the enemy had been knocked down, I kept on the pressure. Utilizing unblockable set-ups, consistent pressure, and some throws, I was able to take the opponent down.


    <<SLASH!>>


    The battle ended with my victory and I immediately received a rematch request from my opponent.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ I really don¡¯t feel up to it anymore¡­¡±


    It was a bit hard to just deny the request. The fighting game we just played was already considered ancient. There were very few active players so finding a proper match up online was difficult.


    I fully understood that but¡­ I ended up denying the request.


    ¡°That''s enough arcade games for the day..."


    I waved my hand to dismiss the game.


    The screen changed its display to the home screen. Since I didn¡¯t have a background set in there, nothing appeared, making the screen more of a mirror.


    I stared at my own features. My looks were that of an average high-school student. Short black hair, average height, and with a slim body type. My friends and family described be as ¡®decent enough¡¯ in terms of appearance but rather ¡®plain¡¯.


    I looked at the corner of the screen to check the time.


    ¡°Still only 1:00 pm huh¡­¡±


    I slouched back at my seat and dismissed the screen itself. I spun around, looking around the dim and minimalistic room of mine.


    I should really get some decorations to put in here.


    "I could play some visual novels but... I think i''ll just go back to reality for now"


    I placed my hands on my head. I could feel my hands touching something despite the fact that it wasn''t something that could be seen.


    I lifted it up and my surroundings seem to slowly dissolve all into the headgear that has appeared in my hands.


    It was a pretty cool effect actually. I made sure to set it like that when I first got my <Immersion Gear>, a headgear that allowed people enter into virtual reality.


    ¡°Now what should I do to pass the time?¡±


    I spun on my swivel chair to look around my room. Unlike the dim and minimalistic design that it had a few moments ago, it now looked relatively normal. That was because the room I saw before was a product of the


    program.


    I eyed my bed on my right side, contemplating whether I should just take a nap.


    ¡°Ahh it¡¯s a weekend and I really would rather not waste the time sleeping around¡­ maybe a book?¡±


    Spinning around once again, I eyed my shelf. It contained quite a few books, light novels, and manga. They were mostly fantasy and sci-fi in terms of themes. I liked to reread them every now and then.


    Right now though, the idea of reading any of them didn''t seem all too attractive.


    ¡°Haah¡­ the usual things I do, don¡¯t seem to be keeping me occupied today. I¡¯d call Katsuo and the others but¡­¡±


    Shigeta Katsuo was my best friend and classmate. I usually hung out and played arcade games with him and other classmates from time to time though right now it was impossible to get a hold of any of them.


    He¡¯s been getting into that famed <Mugen>, A VRMMORPG developed by <Last Generation Pioneers Inc.>, for a while now and had told me in excruciating detail about the raid event they were going to participate in for today.


    Even my family, also players of the same game, had talked about the upcoming [Raid event] during breakfast. It seems like they¡¯ll be occupied with it until tomorrow so I¡¯ll have to prepare lunch for myself.


    All of them had asked me to play the game. I¡¯ve refused them a few times, not because I had any particular dislike for VRMMOs, but mostly because I didn¡¯t want to spend that much time on a single game.


    Though I did have several games as well, mostly casual ones like browser games and a few console games from the last generation played via emulators that did need a significant time investment, they weren¡¯t like VRMMOs that were complete time sinks.


    Besides, I wasn¡¯t a ¡®hardcore gamer¡¯. I was more of a ¡®casual¡¯ than anything else.


    Though I was considered a decent player with a tendency to use the highly difficult to master puppet characters, I would like to point out that I wasn¡¯t some kind of pro. The only reason why I was able to play so well with such characters was because I put in a lot of time to learn them since I found them rather interesting.


    I wasn¡¯t even any good with every other character. Puppet characters are literally the only ones I can actually use in a match.


    I wasn''t some kind of hardcore gaming enthusiast nor was I a talented or skilled arcade fighting game master. I was just really patient when it came to doing things that I liked or found interesting.


    It was a habit of mine I guess. Said habit actually carried over to a lot of things¡­ like mastering only one song in a rhythm game and not being able to do the others. My friends and family considered it rather strange sometimes.


    Well¡­ If I were to put it simply...I guess I liked investing time and effort on one thing I¡¯ve taken a liking to even if it wasn¡¯t entirely useful or effective from another person¡¯s perspective.


    ¡°So¡­ now what?¡±


    I didn¡¯t really have anything better to do at the moment. I¡¯ve already done my chores as well as the assigned homework for next week.


    I looked at my <Immersion Gear>. It was the latest model, one that was given to me on my last birthday by my older brother Niwa Keshi who happened to be working for the company developing the tech.


    To clarify, my whole family was rather enamored with gaming. Our parents were born into a generation were competitive gaming had become considered as an actual sport and were competitors themselves. Hence, we were raised with appreciation of games and the like.


    ¡°Well¡­ I already do have a copy of that game . So I wouldn¡¯t really have to go through the tiring process of downloading it¡­¡±


    My friends and siblings were pretty adamant that I try <Mugen> out and play with them so they¡¯ve already given me a copy of the game.


    Though I wasn''t really willing to go along with such efficient hardcore gamers. One of the other reasons I turned them down when I was asked to play the game with them was because accepting would mean I needed to keep up with their monstrous pace.


    I''ve had to that one time before and I can confidently say that I am definitely not cut out for that kind of stuff.


    ¡°Okay well, I wouldn¡¯t really lose anything for trying. Besides, everyone¡¯s busy with that raid event so it¡¯s unlikely that I¡¯ll bump into anyone I know¡±


    I picked up my <Immersion Gear> again and wore on my head. I relaxed on my chair and began operating the computer it was connected to.


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    When I turned the gear on, my surroundings shattered and dissolved into the air. The next second, a green light illuminated the room, revealing my rather minimalistic <Virtual Room>.


    A floating screen appeared in front of me and I navigated through my files. I easily found the <Mugen>¡¯s launcher and initiated it.


    To my surprise, it was up to date.


    ¡°Suisen or Renge must''ve gone into my room to update it or something. Really now, did they want me to play the game that badly?¡±


    [No account associated with your <Biometrics Record>. Create one?]


    Seeing as I didn¡¯t have an actual account, I had to go through the process of making one first.


    I chose ¡®yes¡¯ and proceeded to fill in the necessary forms. I only needed to put in some basic information and soon received my Account ID.


    [Uploading Biometrics. This may take a few minutes]


    Since the introduction of Virtual Reality and its gradual implementation in various fields, something called a <Biometrics Record> had become a requirement. It was a record of physical characteristics of a person and was updated yearly, usually on your birthday. It was usually used to prevent fraud as well as a means for doctors to monitor your health.


    [Upload Complete. Please verify it and sign in]


    I went into the home screen and launched my mail app. Thankfully, the verification process was simple so I was able to sign in without issue.


    [Bonus Content detected. Game Assets Loaded. Load Bonus Content?]


    Bonus content? I think I remember Nii-san saying something about it but I don¡¯t really remember what it contained.


    Might as well.


    I chose ¡®yes¡¯ and proceeded.


    After a full minute of waiting my surroundings once again shattered. This time the light particles spun around like a tornado around the room. I closed my eyes as a bright light covered the whole room.


    ************************


    When the light abated, I found that the room had transformed into a large shrine. White marble covered the ground with large pillars pointing towards the open skies.


    I was slightly taken aback by the sight. I drew close to one of the pillars and could actually notice the amount of attention the developers had paid to the details.


    <


    >


    A mechanical voice suddenly spoke as a floating panel with the very same instruction appeared in front of me. I looked towards the middle and saw a golden altar placed on top of a small elevated stage.


    Another large floating panel appeared on the golden altar as I approached. After touching the panel, writing began to appear as if they were being engraved into the panel with light.


    Needless to say, I felt like it was really amazing. I should see if there was a program that could apply that effect on my virtual room later.


    When the writing finished, a short welcome for a new player was stated. Afterwards, the usually ignored ¡®End User License Agreement¡¯ appeared.


    Like many others, I didn¡¯t really like reading the thing, but unfortunately my elder brother would definitely lecture me in the future if he found out I didn¡¯t do so. That brother of mine always was rather insistent in these kind of things.


    Hitting the ¡®I agree with the Terms and Condition¡¯ button, the panel then proceeded to display an overview of what the game is and what was expected of its players.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m just doing this to pass the time. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be a regular player so I guess its fine to just skip these parts¡­¡±


    There were a few details from the overview, particularly ¡®The Community is centered on Roleplaying¡¯ and ¡®Players may be required to Roleplay when necessary¡¯, that were out of place for usual MMOs. MMOs, despite the setting never really actively encouraged its player base to actually roleplay.


    [Please Input the necessary details]


    There was actually quite a bit more content to read. Mostly lore and history, similar to a prologue for the game. It seemed there were videos as well though I skipped through most of them and proceeded to the character creation process.


    ¡°This is one detailed character sheet¡­¡±


    Other than the usual information, it seemed like you also need to put in the character¡¯s personal history, intended personality, alignment on the good to evil, and even blood type. There were other stuff to fill in aside from such things.


    I¡­ don¡¯t think I should bother. Besides, I could probably just remake the character if needed. Also, it doesn¡¯t really say I¡¯m required to fill up everything so I¡¯ll just go with the bare minimum.


    The only thing I really need to put in was a name. Yes, that¡¯s all anyone¡¯s required to fill in to proceed.


    I paused for a bit and considered what to put in. The equivalent of my name ¡®Tsutsuji¡¯ was the flower ¡®Azlaea¡¯. Taking that into account, I ended up putting <Rhoden> as my name for the game, as a reference to the genus of the flower itself.


    After putting in the name and leaving everything else empty, I proceeded.


    ¡°Huh¡­ an editor for the appearance?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but voice out my surprise. From what I knew, VRMMOs didn¡¯t allow for alteration of physical appearance since it presented a concern for security¡­. But after actually checking, I noticed that the edits were mostly minor, enough to make someone hard to recognize but not enough to entirely change your physical characteristics.


    I didn¡¯t really want to change much so I only changed my eye color from brown to yellow just because I liked those kinds of eyes. My skin tone was left unchanged and my base clothing design was left as is, a plain long sleeved black shirt and black jeans.


    That combo for basic clothing for a fantasy like VRMMO that focuses on roleplaying seemed rather off though¡­


    ¡°Okay¡­ the only thing left should be class selection¡±


    Though considering the amount of work that was needed for the other section, I imagine this one to be similar.


    For a game I wasn¡¯t even planning on actually playing, I¡¯m rather miffed that I need to spend so much time preparing to even play it.


    ¡°Chaos¡­ Order and¡­ Neutral?¡±


    When the class selection screen came up, the only thing I saw was three insignias that contained those words. These things were usually used to determine in-game alignment but in <Mugen>, it looked like it served to determine your class instead. It seemed like the knowledge I had of RPGs did not apply to this game at all.


    Ahhhh¡­. This is really troublesome.


    When I hovered my hand over one of the insignias, the info about them was revealed as expected. However seeing the length of the content¡­


    ¡°Ah damn it, I¡¯ll just choose something at random!¡±


    I chose the middle one, ¡®Chaos¡¯, to just get the character creation process over and start playing the game. If any of my friends and family were to see me now, I would undoubtedly get scolded for not taking the process seriously.


    [Warning: Class selection is permanent. Once applied, changing classes will result in the deletion of all progress. Proceed?]


    A warning was shown to me. I wondered why it was restricted for a bit but I just hit [Yes] without putting much thought into it.


    The next moment a magic circle lit up from directly below me. Light covered my whole body and I started to disappear starting from the foot up.


    I made sure to close my eyes during the whole process. It was a ¡®teleportation¡¯ animation and it was rather nauseating for someone like me who wasn¡¯t really used to the sensation.


    <<WELCOME TO MUGEN!>>

 Chapter 2: A lovely tutorial that even an idiot would understand!

    When I opened my eyes, a beautiful sight beyond anything I could imagine had appeared before my eyes.


    I was situated in an open field surrounded by a lush forest, littered with small mob monsters like green slimes and rabbits.


    Beside me was a beautifully rendered river. Just looking at the water, its appearance and the way it moves, shows how absurdly advance the game was in terms of its visual aspect.


    ¡°Nii-san said that the game¡¯s graphics had improved but unless you take a look at the details, you can easily confuse it for reality¡­¡±


    The only other experience I¡¯ve had at looking at virtual simulation before this was when our parents had all taken us to a tour around a virtual house designed by dad. Back then, the level of detail wasn¡¯t quite as much, mostly due to the fact that the software was more focused on structure instead aesthetic appeal.


    This VRMMO however, seemed to have poured an extreme amount of effort in visual presentation.


    [Enter Tutorial Mode? Y/N]


    [Load Extra Content now? Y/N]


    Two confirmation panels appeared. I chose [Yes] for both, having already see how different the game was compared to others and was relatively sure that I¡¯d be left confused otherwise.


    [Extra Content Loaded]


    [Tutorial mode initiated. Information will be given when the player encounters a new mechanic or feature that has yet been explored. The mode can be disabled though the options tab]


    I dismissed both information and proceeded. I immediately opened the main menu.


    A large panel came up, and the tutorial mode activated.


    [View Basics Tutorial? Y/N]


    [Note: Choosing yes will set all supplementary tutorials to auto view. This may be changed in the [Options] tab]


    I pressed immediately pressed [Yes].


    <<Hey hey random rich player who bought the Bonus Content! Tutorial-chan has appeared to guide you pathetic lost lambs to salvation! Ahh, so you¡¯ve finally decided to get to view the tutorials on your menus. Great. I was wondering when you¡¯d finally get around to asking oh outstanding adventurer-sama.>>


    Eh¡­?


    My mind had to load for a bit to comprehend the sudden appearance of a very condescending female tutorial voice. This version of the tutorial was apparently the ¡®Bonus Content¡¯ that I had activated.


    I considered for a few moments what I should do... and had gone into the [Options] tab, chose [Bonus Content], and considered turning it off. Something like this might prove to be a pain...


    <<Bonus content option access detected¡­. What!? What are you planning you fool? Are you saying this great tutorial-chan that had been kind enough to grace you with her guidance isn¡¯t good enough for you?! You just pay for me and decide to discard me? HUH!? Fine! Be that way, go back to that bland and mechanical tutorial that you seem to prefer over me! >>


    Did the developers actually pre-empt that kind of action from the players and programmed an appropriate response?! How much time did they have to even consider that?!


    Well... in the end I did find it pretty interesting¡­ oh well, I guess I¡¯ll let it stay. I got off the [Options] tab and returned to the main menu.


    <<Good, good. You came to your senses. It seems you¡¯re still capable of coherent thought, I¡¯ll elevate my mental image of you from garbage to insect. Now, let¡¯s get started!>>


    I really wanted to retort badly to those blatant insults but knowing that the tutorial-chan wouldn¡¯t be able to respond made the action useless.


    The voice was also oddly happy for when it was saying that last line. Did I somehow get a tsundere tutorial or something?


    <<Okay, first of all look at the top of the menu panel. Now assuming you¡¯re aren¡¯t a complete idiot, then you should know what those are. In the case that you didn¡¯t, idiot, those are tabs that lets you access the oh so important pages that you¡¯ll be using throughout the game>>


    Like what the rather sarcastic and slightly insulting tutorial-chan stated, the top of the panel had several tabs. They were [Status], [Inventory], [Equipment], [Field], [Quest], [Social], [Property], [Pet], and [Options], in that order.


    << ¡®Kay, if that got through your thick head then go press the [Inventory] tab. Ah, better tell you this now. When in tutorial mode, every term in the menus can be pressed down on to reveal relevant info about them. So in the case that your intelligence quotient is equivalent to that of a freaking rock, then you can always rely on that. Now hurry up and press the [Inventory Tab]>>


    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m really starting to rethink the whole turning off the bonus content thing¡­¡±


    Though a bit discouraged by the random harshness of tutorial-chan, I continued on and pressed the [Inventory] tab.


    What appeared was the standard RPG inventory space. Rows and columns of boxes that would contain items. The inventory itself had tabs to switch between item boxes that were designed to contain different item types. There seemed to be a weight mechanic though from what I could see.


    << Wow! You can follow simple instructions, good for you! Let me give you a round of applause. Pachi Pachi Pachi. Okay, now that you¡¯ve proven that you¡¯re capable of basic comprehension, look at the your inventory and you¡¯ll see some gracious gifts for the noobs of the game>>


    ¡°Now the voice is being sarcastic, the guy who made the tutorial must have some issues¡±


    Not to mention it wasn¡¯t even an actual clapping sound clip. She just enunciated the onomatopoeia of it in monotone. Seriously, this tutorial has a really horrible personality.


    Letting out a sigh and looking at the inventory, there were several gift boxes of different colors. The boxes had their own unique titles that pertained to their contents, such as [Magical Foundations] and [Artisan¡¯s Pride] were present. There was the expected ones like [Adventurer¡¯s Beginnings] and [Warrior¡¯s Might] while there were also role specific ones like [Knight¡¯s Honor] and [Tools of the Assassin]. Those were just one of the many in the list.


    <<Now listen here and make sure to get it through your head. YOU CAN ONLY CHOOSE ONE. When you¡¯ve finalized your choice, there ain¡¯t to take backs, no refunds, no asking the devs for a retry, none, zero, nada. So make sure to view the contents properly before making a decision. I don¡¯t want to see or hear you whining afterwards>>


    ¡°Looks like they made sure that the game can cater to every type of playstyle¡­¡±


    I dutifully looked through the each box and pondered my choice.


    ¡°Well¡­ I guess even if I¡¯m honestly going to play the game then it¡¯s probably something that can help me do stuff on my own. God knows what my siblings and friends would do if they found out I was playing¡­ I¡¯m not really willing to burn all my time dungeon diving with them. I guess nothing too involved with battle, but something that can let me get by¡±


    I checked each until I came upon the last box titled [Jack of All Trades] that contained a balance of basic items and equipment. Unlike the other boxes that had role specific and what was definitely higher tier items, the [Jack of All Trades] contained a combination of most of the items, but of lower tier and of lower amounts.


    I had no real plans so it was better to just get a little bit of everything after all. That way I wouldn¡¯t need to limit myself to doing one thing to progress.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, I think this suits me best. I have to hand it to those developers, they even made sure to give have a set for indecisive players.¡±


    <<You¡¯ve chosen [Jack of all Trades], master of none, an item box that has a little bit of everything but nothing comparable in quality or amount to other boxes. Like I said before, this is final, are you sure about this one?>>


    A confirmation panel appeared and I pressed [Yes].


    << [Jack of All Trades] was chosen. All other item boxes will now disappear. If you have any regrets, then put your grievances in an e-mail and send it to me. Whining may annoy me but your tears and hatred feed me>>


    [Leather Equipment Set, Wooden Buckler, Dirk, HP potions x10, MP Potions x10, Stamina Potion x3, Return Stone x1, Revival Stone x1, Restoration Potion x 3, Production Set (Basic), Class Item Box, 2000G]


    I checked that he received each item in my inventory before proceeding. I was wondering about the [Class item box] and the [Production Set (Basic)] but since the tutorial voice wasn¡¯t saying anything yet, he ignored it for now.


    I guess that¡¯s a different part of the tutorial, so let¡¯s leave that for later.


    <<Now that you¡¯ve gotten the starting items, go to your equipment tab. Like a mother to a clueless child, I¡¯ll show you how to wear your equipment. Be thankful>>


    Having already adjusted to the condescending Tutoria-chan, my heart had stopped getting damaged each time she said something mean. I just treated her like some kind of tsundere heroine from an anime.


    I pressed the [Equipment] tab. In there was a perfect 3d model of mymself, my game avatar, a list of available equipment that could be arranged in different ways, and a summary of my status and skill list.


    <<Now that you¡¯ve gotten enough time to enjoy seeing yourself, narcissist, go and double click or drag the items you want in the list to your game avatar. Note that when you have several pieces of equipment that¡¯s part of a set, you can group them together into on icon to save space, and so that you lazy fools can be even lazier and not have to equip everything one by one. If you want to switch a particular equipment within the set, just long press the set icon and you¡¯ll be able to swap things in there>>


    In the list was the [Leather Equipment Set] that I received from the gift box earlier. Long pressing the icon revealed a separate panel where the list of equipment within the set was shown.


    From the list, I tried dragging the leather gloves to my game avatar or the other panel.


    A light covered my hands momentarily and soon revealed the leather gloves. The game avatar in the equipment page also reflected the change.


    ¡°That was pretty cool¡­¡±


    I then dismissed the [Set] panel and double clicked the [Leather Equipment Set]. Like my hands, my whole body, save for the head, was bathed in light momentarily. When it disappeared, I found myself clad in full leather gear.


    I then selected the [Dirk] and [Wooden Buckler] and equipped it as well. On my left leg, the dirk appeared, still sheathed, while the wooden buckler appeared on my right arm. The fact that the system adjusted to the fact that I was left handed and would be more comfortable wielding the weapon with my dominant hand was likely due to the [Biometrics Record].


    <<Note the skill list on the lower right off the page. That¡¯s what tells you what kind of skills a particular set grants to you. Ignore the status section, that¡¯ll be explained later. Okay... now that¡¯s done, let¡¯s finally get some action going! Switch to the [Field] tab quickly>>


    I noted the [Appraisal] skill on the list. It seemed to be the skill granted by the leather equipment set. It was probably the standard ¡®Identify and appraise unknown items¡¯ skill.


    I proceeded to press the [Field] tab. This time a map of the area I was in was displayed on the right side of the panel. On the left side was an empty box. It seems that quest progress summaries go here.


    The area I was in was apparently called ¡®Field of Beginnings¡¯.


    <<Now hopefully you know what the heck that is in front of you or else I¡¯m gonna have to ask, what the heck are you even doing in this game?! Anyway, that right there is the map of the area you¡¯re currently in. This particular map already has the full map revealed. That¡¯s not usually the case so don¡¯t expect other maps to be the same. On the upper right side of the map is a legend of the markers. Press the question mark over there for an elaboration, I don¡¯t want to have to explain everything to you >>


    From the legend on the map, the blue arrow indicated the player¡¯s location and position. Around the arrow seemed to be a small yellow circle, in where enemies, represented by red dots, moving around.


    ¡°So other players are represented by an arrow, white for neutral, green for friends, orange for party members, and white for guild mates. Monster markers are always red but has differing size and shape depending on the monster itself¡­ and I can only see the markers at a certain area around where I am¡±


    I read the written instructions that was revealed by pressing the question mark on the legend section. The yellow circle around the player indicator indicated the [Vision] the player had. A player was only able to detect and observe movement within that area.


    <<Now that you¡¯ve read the instructions, I want you to approach one of the red dots on the map>>


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the only non-insulting or non-sarcastic instruction I¡¯ve gotten yet¡±


    I walked around while having the map panel open and approached a red dot. When I looked at the field, I saw a monster that was bullied by most beginner players of RPGs, a green colored slime.


    ¡°A green slime huh, it¡¯s seriously cute too. That¡¯s probably because the game has a pet system¡±


    That particular tidbit of information was given to him by his siblings during dinner. Monsters that could be tamed were usually made out to either be cute, beautiful, or cool, to make sure that players are attracted to getting them. There are those that aren¡¯t in those three classifications but were used due to their practicality.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    <<Good, you¡¯ve approached the monster. Since we¡¯re going into battle, we¡¯ll have to be a bit more serious than usual. First of all, you need to know what [Vision] and [Aggression] are. You can find them in the [Compendium] tab, where you can view other useful stuff>>


    ¡°So you knew you were honestly messing around earlier? Here I thought you were dedicated to the job¡±


    I snarked back at the tutorial voice a bit despite knowing the voice couldn¡¯t really talk back. Weirdly enough It was starting to feel like I was actually having a conversation with a real person.


    Going into the [Compendium] tab and choosing [Game Terminology], I read about [Vision] and [Aggression].


    Apparently, monsters, like players, have a certain circular area around them where they will be able to sense approaching players. This referred to [Vision]. [Aggression] on the other hand was an area, smaller than the [Vision] area, when crossed, will start making the monster attack. Some monsters like the green slime in front of him, had no [Aggression Areas] and won¡¯t attack unless the player attacks first.


    On that note, it seemed like there was another term called [Sight]. Unlike [Vision], it referred to how far a player can see with their eyes and how much detail they can make out at a distance.


    <<Now that you¡¯ve read up about that, it¡¯s time we finally get those scrawny body of yours moving. See that cute thing over there? The one that would make the perfect plushy?! Well I want you to approach it and beat the living crap out of it!>>


    ¡°This tutorial voice gets more horrible the longer this goes¡­¡±


    I was unsure of who provided the voice for the tutorial is but I didn¡¯t really want to meet the VA that was obviously a violent person. The tutorial voice seemed to just be a tad too eager and happy when it was saying that last line.


    Though that was certainly a prejudiced opinion on my part, it was best to be careful.


    ¡°I know that this is just a simulation and all, and that the enemy is just a green slime, but I guess this is pretty nerve wracking regardless¡±


    I covered himself with the wooden buckler and drew my dirk. I then began approaching slowly until he was at striking distance from the slime.


    When I got close, I noticed that the name and HP of the slime, followed by question marks was displayed on top of it. It was probably because I didn¡¯t have any information on it.


    <<Good, you¡¯ve approached. Note that you have no proper info of the slime monster. This is the norm, in order to reveal more information about a monster, you need to beat it a few times. If you beat enough of the things, you even get a nifty title!>>


    Titles seemed to be rewards from doing certain notable actions in the game. They were capable of granting some effects that help the player in certain ways.


    I guess if I killed a lot of slimes, I¡¯ll get a ¡®Slime Slayer¡¯ title or something? That title feels rather pitiful for some reason.


    <<However the title isn¡¯t the only reason you want to beat the shit out of a single monster type repeatedly. See, if you beat a monster, you gather more info about said monster, and if you gather enough info, you start doing more damage on that monster as well. Get enough info and you can even find a monster¡¯s weakest parts to attack>>


    ¡°So you can even be a specialist in taking down certain monster types huh¡±


    That would mean that grinding was actively encouraged. No wonder Katsuo and the others spend so much time on the game.


    Yep, this game was surely a time sink.


    I then prepared to attack.


    <<Attacking motion detected¡­ Yo tiger, wait up! Before you start your horrid quest of bullying cute monsters, let¡¯s first get a bit technical with the battle system. Go back to [Compendium] and view [Hitboxes]! Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll get to murdering that slime soon enough!>>


    ¡°What a bloodthirsty tutorial this is... Well at least she¡¯s way nicer now¡±


    Drawing back a few steps, I opened the panel again and viewed [Hitboxes] from the [Compendium].


    [Hitboxes: Invisible areas around objects that, when overlapped with the hitbox of a weapon, will qualify the action as a ¡®Hit¡¯ and register damage. Monsters may have several hitboxes for each part. The same applies to player characters, equipment and weapons. Note that hitboxes not only determine whether a ¡®hit¡¯ occurs, it also determine how much damage is done. Each hitbox has a damage modifier with them.]


    ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s a pretty realistic system. So If I want to get a clean ¡®hit¡¯ on an enemy, I need to make sure that I the hitbox of my weapon and that of the monster overlap. So basically, it follows the same rules as arcade hitboxes... Well best to just try it out¡±


    Damage modifiers¡­ and it also applies to weapons too. I wonder how realistic it is?


    Out of curiosity, I went close to the monster and hit it with the hilt of the dirk instead of its blade.


    Though the attack had surely hit, it seemed like the slime didn¡¯t even feel a thing.


    ¡°¡­ no change huh. Guess that didn¡¯t even do damage¡±


    <<Negligible damage detected. Dude what the heck?! Did you hit with the hilt or the back of the sword? Are you some kind of wandering samurai with an x-mark on their face? Are you just a colossal idiot!? Hilts and dull sides of the blade have negative damage modifiers so complete noobs like you wouldn¡¯t do any damage! Save that kind of stuff for when you actually get stronger!>>


    ¡°The developers really did program a response for basically everything¡­¡±


    It seemed that the violent tutorial voice was completely offended by my little experiment so this time I attacked the slime with a slash.


    The slime reacted, having a cutely pained expression and sweat marks appearing out of nowhere. A tick mark then appeared and the slime began to prepare attacking me. It¡¯s angry expression was also rather cute.


    I readied my buckler, making sure to take on the attack instead of dodging, since I wasn¡¯t entirely confident with what would happen if I just dodged.


    Right after the slime attacked, it seemed to pause for a moment. I took the chance to attack it.


    The cycle of attack and defend repeated a few times before the slime finally died. It¡¯s death animation was a small explosion of goo.


    <<HAHAHAH!! That¡¯s the ticket! Good work, slime explosions are always great to see! Now get the drops it left and open your menu panel again and go to the [Status] tab. By the way, Item drops are only given towards players that had done a set amount of damage to the enemy. Those bastards that kill a monster on the last hit, but had not done enough damage, will not receive any of the bonuses upon its defeat. Kill Stealers do not prosper in here!>>


    So it seems she hates kill stealers¡­


    I shook my head over the unrestrained joy that the tutorial voice seemed to have over the slime getting beaten and I picked up the items [Gel x2] and [herb].


    I then opened the menu panel and went into the [Status] tab. When I looked at the page, I could only assume a look of confusion. I didn¡¯t even know what the heck anything meant.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''3''>STATUS</td></tr><tr><td>HP: 250</td><td>STA: 100/100</td><td>CLASS: -----------------</td></tr><tr><td>MP: 200</td><td></td><td>ROLE: Beginner</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Parameters</td><td>Personal Information</td></tr><tr><td>Engage</td><td>0</td><td>Blood Type:</td></tr><tr><td>Disengage</td><td>0</td><td>???</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance</td><td>2</td><td>Affiliations:</td></tr><tr><td>Battle</td><td>2</td><td>????</td></tr><tr><td>Learning</td><td>0</td><td>Personal History:</td></tr><tr><td>Knowledge</td><td>0</td><td>????</td></tr><tr><td>Craft</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Luck</td><td>0</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>


    The page contained nothing of the usual status system of found in every other RPG. Aside from HP, MP and Stamina, I had no idea what every other term was and why most of them were at zero.


    <<Heh, confused aren¡¯t you? No need to pretend, [Mugen] follows a different system called the [Parameter Evaluation System]. That¡¯s P.E.S. for you. You know those games where you can never, ever beat higher players due to status superiority? WELL THAT DOESN¡¯T APPLY HERE DAMN IT! That¡¯s too much for me to explain so review the information later. The same goes for the [Role] system. For now, go to the [Equipment] tab>>


    So not only kill stealers but status elitist were hated by Tutorial-chan. She had a rather specific personality huh.


    Though I honestly wanted to check out the [Parameter Evaluation System] and [Role System] already, I obediently followed instructions.


    When I went into the equipment page, I noticed that my wooden buckler and Dirk now had a yellow bar under their Icons. The bars seemed to have a few pixels taken out of them.


    <<See that yellow bar over there? That represents [Durability]. If a piece of equipment takes an attack, its durability decreases. If it hits zero, the equipment goes into [Break] status and cannot be used until fixed. If you get attacked on an area in your body that has no equips or has an equipment under [Break] state, your HP will take a hit, and since there¡¯s no such thing as a defense stat, you¡¯ll die pretty easily. This is a game of skills and tactics sweetie, stats won¡¯t save you here!>>


    The very last line sent a few chills down my spine. Though the whole of the parameter system itself seemed to be a tad bit more complicated than the usual stats system, it made for a more realistic battle system.


    I wonder if Tutorial-chan was the voice of a gamer from the former generation¡­ from the stories I¡¯ve heard, such things were rampant back in those days.


    <<Now this time, go to the [Skill] tab. Double time kid!>>


    I went into the [Skill] tab. There seemed to be a good amount of skills that were blank or grayed out though it seemed I did have a few that I could access.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>SKILLS</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Role: Beginner</td></tr><tr><td>Weapon Skills</td><td>Field Skills</td></tr><tr><td>Dagger Mastery Lvl 1</td><td>Appraisal Lvl 1</td></tr><tr><td>Shield Mastery Lvl 1</td><td>Explorer Lvl 0</td></tr><tr><td>Sensory Skills</td><td>Harvesting Lvl 0</td></tr><tr><td>Detection Lvl 0</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>


    <<Now let¡¯s talk about skills. This is something you literally you can¡¯t live without. Remember the parameter system earlier? Well there are two ways to increase them. Equipment does that temporarily while skills do that permanently>>


    Ah so that¡¯s why it¡¯s called parameter evaluation instead. So the number of skills and grade of equipment will decide how strong you are as a player. Though the amount of time one needs to invest will still determine who is superior, the skill build and tactics would probably be the deciding factor in matches.


    When I took a look each skill had an experience bar right beside them and a description of the skill appears when the skill icon is pressed.


    <<There are lots of skills in the game. In order to unlock them, you need to level your [Roles]. Roles include the classic stuff like Knight, Magician, Blacksmiths and the like. The higher level the role, the more skills available. A particular skill, whether active or passive, can only take affect or be used when it is at level 1. Also, know that skills cannot be used outside of the role they are set to unless they are at least Level 5!>>


    It seemed that assuming ¡®Roles¡¯ was needed in order to unlock a set of skills. If a role isn¡¯t assumed, then skills pertaining to that role cannot be learned.


    So if I understood that right¡­ I need to first assume a role to have access to certain skills. The more skills I get, the higher the level of the role becomes and more skills unlock.


    Well that wasn¡¯t all too complicated¡­ just a different approach to the system.


    <<Some skills remain locked regardless of Role level. In order to unlock them, you need to get other skills to a certain level first. Well it¡¯s an intuitive system so you should be able to get a hang of it given enough time>>


    I was surprised when some fanfare suddenly started playing. The sound was rather reminiscent of a certain series of the Last Fantasy series. The developers must¡¯ve been fans of the game as well.


    Did I clear something?


    <<Oh, already? Gratz! This concludes the tutorial on the basics! Remember, if you need to know anything, the [Compendium] tab is there for you. Being the great and generous girl that I am, I¡¯ll even give you a prize for doing the whole of the tutorial. It ain¡¯t much but it should help!>>


    [HP Potion x 5, MP Potion x 5, Stamina Potion x 2 received]


    <<Now go forth and live out your fantasies! Go travel, slay monsters, craft items, be a chuuni or whatevs. Just make sure not to get yourself into too much trouble! Oh...W-Wait, don¡¯t be mistaken, I-It¡¯s not like I care about you or anything!>>


    Oh¡­ so that was the whole overview of the basics huh?


    ¡°Ahahaha, she even went tsundere on the last part. Harshness aside, that was the most unique and interactive tutorial I¡¯ve ever seen. The most detailed one as well¡±


    I actually felt slightly lonely that she''s gone but since there was still a lot of the system mechanics to explore, I''ll hear from her again.


    I checked whether I had properly received the items before deciding to continue practice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s practice a bit more¡­ just to get the hang of things. I kinda want to try dodging instead of guarding this time¡­¡±