I swear, I was this close to breaking into a full-blown sprint when the open town gates finally loomed over me. If I had to hear another ‘Thank you’, I was going to lose my mind.

  The wall guards gave me a friendly nod as I walked through, accompanied by the clingy woman. But judging from their expressions, they were probably just acknowledging my class instead of me. Man, was I a genius to have picked up Warrior as my starting job.

  “We have reached Cleport city safely, kind sir!” the woman stated the obvious. “My name is Rosaline Alyss, and I’m a flower peddler. For generations, my family has honed the art of botany and aided numerous adventurers in their quests. I am the latest in a long line of florists to maintain the Garden of…”

  Her voice blended in with the background noise as I cast my gaze to the lively marketplace instead. It was a riot of colour and activity. Vendors stood around in every shade and corner of the cobbled streets, haggling with their customers about the price and quality of their products.

  Armed guards patrolled the streets casually while men took turns downing their wooden cups at what looked like a mediaeval bar. I blinked, thoroughly impressed by how realistic the town looked. The graphic designers of this game were detailed people, if nothing else.

  “— As such, feel free to visit my shop for medicinal herbs! We have the legendary ‘Dawn Of The Morning’, sure to revive you when you’re out of energy. Also, we sell…”

  I rolled my eyes in annoyance. The woman was still speaking? Wasn’t there any way I could just skip this dialogue or something? Next time I have to listen to someone’s life story, I’m at least getting myself popcorn.

  “Look, lady. No offence, but you’re just a flower peddler, right?” I cut her off, folding my arms. “That means you’re a common NPC who has no practical use. I need to talk to someone with a little more authority, so stop following me around. For the last time— You’re. Welcome. Shoo, you’re safe now. Go on with your day, alright?”

  Rosaline stared at me for a moment before breaking into a wide grin.

  “But I must reward you for saving my life, kind Warrior!” she chirped excitedly as though she hadn’t heard a single word of what I just said. “Wait here, I’ll get you something from my store.”

  She scuttled off as soon as she finished her sentence, so I took the chance to escape into one of the taverns and clear my head.

  After a few rounds of ordering drinks that did not exist, I finally settled for an ale. My surroundings blurred before my eyes as I began to think furiously.

  I did not have much knowledge of this game, that was for sure. Hell, I don’t even know why I approved its production in the first place. ‘NULL’ was mediocre at best, just another online MMORPG set in a fantasy world named Gaia. Like there weren’t already hundreds of similar games floating around in the industry. The only thing it had going for it was the cutting-edge AI technology seamlessly integrated into its system.

  To make things worse, I’m no gamer at all. I only created this character because my stream viewers wanted to watch some gameplay for fresh content. After all, countless hours of engineering shows tend to get stale, no matter how good of an entertainer I was. And now, I was stuck here all by myself, with hardly any knowledge of coding or gaming to prevent myself from getting killed in the outside world.

  Or was I?

  I downed my cup of ale. No, it made sense. If I could be somehow transported from the real world to the game world, why couldn’t someone else be? For all I knew, there could be other players like me, stranded in their respective areas and drinking their sorrows away.

  That’s it! All I have to do is find them and team up, that’s all. Surely, my charm and wit would suffice to win anyone over, wouldn’t it?

  I almost slammed my fist on the table in excitement. Man, I really am a genius for coming up with a plan like that. The first choice was easy. Towers, the Guild Leader of one of the Top Raid guilds in the game. He was one of the first few people who added me as a friend in the game, despite being unaware of my frankly famous identity.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  If I remember correctly, his guild was based in Serenity Falls. Warrior was a tank class, sure. But I’m apparently not enough of a gamer to even avoid getting my butt kicked by a bunch of simpletons. With his help, there was no doubt that he could protect me with his skills.

  There was really only one other person I remembered in this game, and his game name was Yukina. I had no idea where this female fox-girl character would be, but I’d place my bets that she’d be heading to the same place as I was. After all, the three of us had joked that we’d had so much interaction in Serenity Falls that it was pretty much our home base.

  Alarm bells rang in my head as I pat my armour down like a security guard at an airport.

  I groaned audibly. Of course, I didn’t have any money with me. Or gold, in this case. Or whatever the currency is in this world. Great, now I’m gonna have to wash dishes for a night to make up for one miserable cup of ale—

  A signboard caught my eye.

  “Due to the valiant sacrifice of Holger the First, all members of the Warrior guild have the privilege of drinking for free in this tavern,” it read. “May he forever be remembered as the man who bravely defended this tavern from the siege of Warlord Blackfinger the Terrible.”

  Well, I certainly won’t complain about that, convenient though it may be.

  The doorbells tinkled as I exited the cosy tavern. Night and chirping crickets greeted me as a cooling breeze wafted through my hair, accompanied by a familiar face—

  Christ, not her again.

  “Skill Issue Eighty-Seven, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Rosaline said happily, leaning a little too close to me.

  And you didn’t take that as a hint to leave me the hell alone?

  “Please don’t call me that. My name is Alexandre.” I smiled as politely as I could, though it probably looked more like a grimace, considering my rapidly surging annoyance. “You wanna tell me what you want?”

  She thrust a white flower in my face.

  “Please, take this as thanks for saving my life. I hope it proves useful to you one day,” she said with an innocent smile.

  I stuffed the flower in my armour carelessly. It was useless to me. Sweet-smelling, sure. But not what I needed. That girl was mighty naive to treat a stranger she had just met with such kindness.

  Still, there was no point in interacting with her any further, especially since she was of no help to me. Humans run the world; that’s the unfortunate truth. Get good at dealing with them, and you can get anything you want. Suck at being one, and nobody’s even going to attend your funeral.

  “I have another request, kind sir. Would you be so kind as to help me deliver this to my sister, Rosabelle Alyss?” Rosaline pulled out an envelope letter from the thin coat draped loosely around her unwashed top. “She is working as a government official in the Capital, and I just want to let her know that I’m doing alright. I cannot make the trip by myself, but a brave, strong Warrior like you can. After all, I believe you have a much tougher constitution than a frail civilian like me.”

  “Sorry, but no. I’m intending to head to… I mean— I’m going to register as an adventurer.” I decided to lie, hoping that it would be good enough to get her off my back. “I don’t intend to make any pit stops, so I don’t have time to do your menial chores for you.”

  Rosaline clapped her hands excitedly like a three-year-old toddler.

  “That’s just great! The closest place to do that is Serenity Falls, and it’s on the way to the Capital!”

  Oh, for the love of—

  “Alright, alright. You got me.” I practically snatched the letter from her. “Tell you what. I’ll do this for you, and you’ll advertise my name at your flower stall or wherever you sell your stuff. Deal?”

  “Of course, hero! Of course!” She was jumping for joy now. “Oh, thank you so much once again, kind sir! I’ll make sure everyone in this city knows about the good deeds of Skill Issue Eighty-Seven!”

  “Yeah, whatever. See you around— On second thought, nah.” I turned around, waving my hand as I effected the best Shakespearean accent I could. “Fare thee well, young maiden!”

  I grabbed a map from a nearby stand and headed towards the city gates. For better or for worse, I never seemed to run out of stamina, nor was I even beginning to feel sleepy. And that meant I should be able to make it to my destination within the next few hours on foot if I moved quickly.

  Serenity Falls, here I come.

  END?