- Tutorial
Inside a bright white room, an obese middle-aged man just opened up his eyes staring at the fluorescent light on the ceiling. He just woke up from a dream when he was a child.
The man is none other than Reginald.
“Where am I?” He lifted his hand above his face and when he saw his palm, he immediately remembered Dr. Miranda instructing him to bite each of his fingers.
“The game! I’m supposed to be transported to another world but why am I…” Reginald thought then rolled his huge body and slowly got off the bed then walked towards the door. Looking around, he can tell that he was on the same room where they had him rest after treating his mild stroke and even the hospital gown he is wearing is the same.
“Hello?” Reginald can’t help but shout. “Anyone?”
Feeling a little worried, he turned the knob and gently opened the door and when he saw what was on the other side, his face contorted in confusion.
Right outside the door is small green field around fifty meters wide with a pine tree in the middle. The tree is casting a shadow like it is mid-day but there is no sun as the sky is pitch black and everything past fifty meters is covered in darkness but the area is fully illuminated like a sunny day.
“Hello?” Reggie looked around again hoping there is another door but after a few minutes of silence, he decided to take a step outside.
Reggie is not wearing any sandals or slippers but as soon as his feet landed on the grass, he heard a female robotic voice in his mind.
[Welcome to New Earth Tutorial. You have been chosen to become a hero candidate by a foreign god. As favor, this tutorial zone will serve as your advantage. The stats you gain will be bounded to your soul when you officially reincarnate. The setting of the tutorial will be the same as a standard game you are familiar with.]
[Countdown in 1 hour. Initiating opponent based on soul potential. Initializing complete. Loading Swift Hellhound. Kill as many monsters you can to gain bonus stats. Clue: All hellhounds have soft necks. Good luck!]
“Soft neck, my arse. Hello?” Reggie shouted. “Knock it off already.”
Reggie looked towards the tree as above it a figure that suddenly materialized saying 59:59:53 and continues to countdown and following that, a huge wild wolf appeared below the tree as well.
*Rawrr!!!
*Rawrr!!!
Reggie was scarred witless upon seeing the rabid and salivating monster but thanks to the chain around its neck and legs which is tied to the tree, it could not free itself. However, similar to the countdown above the tree, there is another number above the wolf’s head and is ticking as well.
57 , 56, 55 ….
Reggie instinctively knew that once that countdown hits zero, the chains restricting the wolf’s movements will be released.
“System!” Reggie shouted. Having played countless Deep Dive MMORPG and if this is indeed a standard game setting, then standard procedure is to think of “System” to bring out the character menu or panel.
Reggie was not surprised when the Blue Menu appeared before him. As a game addict, he had seen far better designs. He does not know if he is being played by Dr. Miranda but he will play along for now.
“Choose Swordsman” He did not even need to press the icon and it was automatically selected.
“Equip Sword” As a gamer, just looking at the character menu, the design really does fall under the category of standard MMORPG but to further test it out, he thought Equip Sword and just as expected, it materialized on his hand.
Reggie smiled but when the sword appeared on his hand, the tip immediately fell to the ground.
*Tzzzk!
“Damn! Heavy.” Reggie did not realize the sword weighed so much it instantly buried itself into the ground.
“Realistic effects, huh?”
Reggie clenched his teeth then held the sword with his two hands.
“DASH!”
Reggie shouted. Even a noob knows that the perfect time to strike the wild beast is while it is restricted.
For most advanced games, skills must be learned but given the skill that came along with the Class he selected are all pre-set, then he trust that the system will move his body automatically to perform a dash.
And just like he predicted, a warm surge of energy spread from his chest down to his feet followed by his body automatically moving into a position to prepare and execute the skill but before his body could move any further, Reggie felt something was amiss.
[-1 mana]
*Swish!
In a blink of an eye, Reggie’s body looked like it teleported ten meters away but the next instant, he felt the toe on his left foot cracked followed by an unbearable pain around his ankle.
“Arrgggghh!!!” Reggie lost his balance causing his huge body to roll on the ground.
Arrgggghh!!!
Reggie ignored the dirt on his face and curled and shouted in pain.
[Your obese body can’t perform another DASH. Impaired movement due to injury. Please move to the safe zone to recover.]
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 30 seconds.]
[Your obese body can’t perform another DASH. Impaired movement due to injury. Please move to the safe zone to recover.]
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 29 seconds.]
Due to agonizing pain, Reggie almost forgot where he was and with the notification ringing in his ears, the more he grows confused.
He had played so many so-called realistic games and experienced pain but none ever come close to the damage his foot is experiencing now. And no matter how “realistic” games are, one can easily tell if they are in a digital world or not. By simply contracting the muscles involved while defecating, these minute movement cannot be replicated in the virtual world. And lastly, from his experience, this level of pain should have had already forcefully disconnected him from the game.
Reggie composed himself and closed his eyes. There can only be two possibilities as to where he is now.
Either he was tricked by Dr. Miranda to participate on an MMORPG where they have perfected everything that he can no longer tell the difference between reality and games, or a different world really exists.
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 21 seconds.]
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 20 seconds.]
Despite the pain reverberating from his foot, Reggie calmed himself as he thought of his current predicament. He could just kill himself now but assuming that he really will reincarnate upon death, then he would not have had gained any bonus stats. If for example this is all Miranda’s trickery, then he should be able to find clues later.
Regardless of what’s going on, since he decided to participate anyway, he may as well play the game seriously.
“Change Class” As soon as he thought of the magic word, the blue menu appeared before him again.
As a game veteran, the most logical way is to choose Cleric or Priest and heal himself but since his obese body will prevent him from performing any combat skills.
“More”
“Switch to Summoner Class”
As soon as he saw the list of skills, the spell, Taunting Puppet immediately caught his attention.
Taunting Puppet- It doesn’t attack but taunts all opponents in 20 meter radius. Can take up to 20 normal attacks or six stronger attacks or 1 explosive attack. Can be upgraded to receive ultimate attack. Creates a vulnerable opening towards any entity that inflicts its body any harm. It can be moved.
As a gamer who had not missed a day being in a gaming capsule for the past 20 years, he had played far worse than what he just experienced. Assuming that this is a standard game with a twist of realistic pain, then the only way to deal with it is to not experience the pain.
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 15 seconds.]
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 14 seconds.]
As the countdown reaches zero, Reggie pulled himself up and crawled towards his sword. It was thrown away earlier when he lost balance.
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 3 seconds.]
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 2 seconds.]
[Swift Hellhound will be released in 1 second.]
Clank!
Reggie looked at the intimidating eyes of the hellhound. Having been freed from the chains restraining its body, it looked at him like he was little mouse.
Reggie is baffled the system used the word “ standard”. Not only is this place not user friendly. Assessing the strength of the hellhound, it exudes an aura that of a mini-boss and it is the reason he instinctively wanted to rush and kill it while its movements were limited.
Rawrrrr!!
Reggie smirked as the hellhound swiftly ran towards him. If this was the real word, he will cower and run in fear but as long as this is a game, then he is confident with his skills.
Unmoving, he carefully observed the movement patterns of the hellhound and when it was a few meters away, he slightly raised his left hand to his side.
“TAUNTING PUPPET”
As soon as Reggie casted the spell, a one meter scarecrow appeared a few feet beside him.
[Swift Hellhound has been taunted. Diverting all attention and attacks of the monster.]
Crack!
The black hellhound revealed its sharp teeth but instead of biting Reggie’s head off, its neck shifted to attack the puppet burying its teeth against the sturdy wood.
At the same time, Reggie held the sword with his two hands and with all his might, he raised the sword, and made a vertical strike against the vulnerable neck of the hellhound.
“Die for me!”
Zzzkk!!!!