C2- Part 1

Surrounded by white light, I found myself in a square with a fountain.

I could feel the cobblestones below the soles of my feet, smell the cement, and see the square full of players. I could distinguish the voices near me if I turned my attention to the many buzzing voices. I was awestruck by the VR world, which was much better than any game I had ever played before.

Players of different races, beastmen, elves, dwarves, and humans, were popping up everywhere, and some like me, stopped to look around and introduce themselves. Tall, well-built, stunning, no flaws! Even their hair colour was gorgeous.

If you looked closely, you could see dark brown pillars and white cemented houses around the square. The first floor of the building seemed to be a store. The ground floor of the building facing the square seems to be used as a store. It looked like a theme park based on a European theme, but is it because it’s too neat.

As I took my first steps, a log window appeared in front of me and a rather flat female voice asked if I wanted to start the tutorial.

In case you’re wondering, the flatness only exists in tone, not the chest. Because there is no figure to even check!

Feeling myself getting quite excited, I agreed to start the tutorial. And when I get excited, my thoughts become quite distracted.

[Please note that no other players will be visible during the tutorial.]

The hustle and bustle of the surroundings disappeared. The area had been transformed into a field for quests, and even though it was the same scenery, it had transformed into a long, quiet square with only a few NPC-like people walking around. As if the fact that it had been filled with people until just now was a lie.

[Now let’s register at the Adventurer’s Guild.]

[First, take a look at the map.]

A flashing light appeared in the window, insisting that I touch it here. When I touched the glowing word “map,” a map window appeared separately from the menu. The window was like a transparent smartphone or tablet floating in the air. I could change the size and location of the window as I wished. I could also set the window to open automatically when there was a notification.

[This map is for Fast, the town of beginnings.]

[For maps other than Fast’s, the location will be displayed through the <Map> option. You can also get maps from NPCs.]

[The names of major locations, such as the Adventurer’s Guild, are displayed from the time you get them, but you can also register your own favorites. You can also add your own favorites.]

[Then let’s go to the Adventurer’s Guild on the map.]

During the announcement, a flashing circle appeared on the map. That must be the Adventurer’s Guild. And the fact that only the main places were shown, did that mean that only the big stores like the weapon shop are shown, and that there were other hidden stores?

Or was it possible for hidden restaurants to exist? It would be nice to have a place with a good rice dish.

(T/N: A man of good taste. I approve 100%)

The Adventurer’s Guild was an unusually large building facing the square.

I felt a little uncomfortable with the heightened view and the length, but I headed for the guild with an uneasy feeling. I rubbed the hem of my robe from time to time, but I didn’t seem to have to worry about it getting dirty or loose.

As I passed through the open door, I thought it was a little dim inside, perhaps because I was used to the light outside. There was a reception counter in front of the entrance, and another counter to the left of the entrance. You could see a banner hung on the ceiling, ‘material trading’.

On the right was a large room lined with round tables that looked like a dining hall, where several NPCs with adventurer-like appearances were drinking. There was no door to the room, just an open space with a wall separating about a third of the room from the back. Inside the guild lay a dark brown floor, waistboards, stairs, and white plastered walls - the wooden counters and bulletin boards, which look sturdy and thick, are all dark brown, slightly lighter than the floor, but the counter tops are two-toned, almost black.

There was a staircase between the counter and the wall of the cafeteria, and a sign on the staircase side said “Material Trading,” so I thought of going upstairs later. I couldn’t get enough of this adventurer’s guild!

Several bulletin boards hung on the wall to the left of the entrance, and as a man of medium height and build was looking at a piece of paper, I glanced at it too and saw a request posted.

╔════════════════════════════╗ Name of request: Permanent request, goblin defeat

Client: Adventurer’s Guild

Reward: 100 silvers per goblin

╚════════════════════════════╝

╔════════════════════════════╗

Request: Deliver Lulu Grass

Client: Apothecary Guild

Reward: 10 silvers per bottle

╚════════════════════════════╝

╔════════════════════════════╗

Request: Find Koro!

Period: 3 days

Client: Mia

Reported by Mia

Reward: 300 silvers, Acceptance fee 60 silvers

╚════════════════════════════╝

At the top of the board, it said rank E. The one the harmless-looking guy next to me was looking at was probably rank F, a rank below. The request was apparently not that different from the previous games I’d played. Satisfied after reading a couple of pages, I headed for the counter.

All of the people at the counter were women, and their hair color was mild compared to the players. One of the three reception areas was occupied by an NPC with short, red hair and an unusually large build.

I wondered if it was because he was an NPC. He was leaning against the counter, facing the receptionist, and although it was hard to tell because he was slightly bent over, he looked taller than the height limit that players could set. On his back, he was carrying a large, thick sword that was larger than twice the size of the average player’s sword seen in the plaza, indicating the man’s physical strength.

In a normal RPG, you could talk to NPCs without hesitation to get information, but in this world that looked like the real world, I didn’t want to converse with someone who is going through the reception process and interrupt their work. On the other hand, I didn’t want to get too close to the person next to me who was drinking and talking loudly in the daytime.

The guy in front of the bulletin board looked a little timid and easy to talk to, but frankly, I wanted to avoid him. At first I didn’t know where this mindset was coming from, but as I was looking at the request form, I realized it. He looked unreliable, which was not like an adventurer. Maybe it was because of the novice setting, but I sensed a hint of trouble. He might actually be an assassin hunting for beginners.

There was also an anxious girl wandering around, but she seemed to be the heroine of the game. I’ll just pass on talking, as usual.

I had a meeting to attend, so why don’t I get to it? I’ll just come back when the tutorial is over. As I was looking around, I heard the woman at the reception desk say something that sounded like Galahad.

Galahad.

Galahad was the name of the famous “Pure Knight” from the Arthurian legend and the Holy Grail legend. The names of knights in the Arthurian legends were often used for characters in games and novels, so they were familiar to us. In fact, the man at the counter reminded me of the red-haired warrior of the same name in a certain game.

“It’s more of a warrior adventurer rather than a knight.”

I was not sure what to make of it.

The red-haired man looked at me as I mumbled to myself.

!!??

I didn’t say it in an audible voice, did I?

Even though I wasn’t sure, I bowed and looked away. I did my best to avoid looking at him and tried to go to the nearest window, but he called out to me.

“Brother, are you registering as a newcomer?”

Yes, I was spoken to by the red-haired man.

When our eyes met, his straight face, combined with his body size, was fearless and powerful, but now that he was smiling, he looked friendly. I was smiling with my mouth closed since my great-grandmother told me not to show my teeth as a child, but smiling while showing your teeth is a great way to look carefree! When did men in particular have such beautiful white teeth?

I hadn’t been able to keep up with what’s going on, and my thoughts were spinning out of control! Does the tutorial include a promised incident such as “A newcomer gets entangled in the Adventurer’s Guild”?

“… Oh, I’m here for the procedure.”

Forgive the pause.

“I’m Galahad, a warrior. Nice to meet you. By the way, did you mention ‘Pure Knight’ earlier? I’m sorry to take up so much of your time, but I was wondering if you could tell me about it. If you want, I can make a request after you register.”

　I didn’t expect this. What was going on here? The man who properly introduced himself as Galahad to me, wanted to talk to me? He looked at me with a slight tilt of his head.

“I don’t mind, but it’s not much of a story, is it?” I replied, puzzled.

At first, I couldn’t help but answer in the tone of a character from an RPG I used to play, which made me sound a bit condescending, but I decided to go with it.

“Oh! Thank you. I’ll pay you 500 silver for the story, and even more if the information is useful to me, okay?”

He thanked me with a smile and gave me the amount.

“Go next door and buy me a cup of tea, no need to pay.”

He then looked towards the cafeteria.

“Yes, sir!”

Galahad smiled even wider and winked at me with a thumbs up.

He was far from a nice guy, but he looked good winking.

After answering, I thought to myself, ‘This is a game, so maybe this is a good hidden quest? The price of five E rank goblins was a bit good, but I couldn’t back out now.’