The old man didn’t talk anymore seeing George think and had an amused look on his face. After a while, they entered a room with a big blue crystal at the center.

“The first year teacher is out on the first session day hunt, so you will have to wait for him to return. But why do I get the feeling you are no stranger to waiting.

I need to get back to work, just wait here and don’t touch anything.”

After leaving George was alone again, he started to look around and there was nothing else except a desk and the blue crystal at the center of the room. Time past and before he knew it he was sitting alone for almost the whole day. But George didn’t care, he was used to being alone. He never felt safe except when he was alone in the tutorial world reading books and found people bothersome. Even when he came back to the real world he would just sit around and think about things he had read today.

Just as he was in thought a man entered the room. the man looked young and except for his brother he was the most handsome man he had ever seen. The man was wearing a simple set of black clothes and had a smile on his face.

“My name is Solomon, you can call me teacher. I will be your mentor for the first year. Before we start the aptitude test, I will tell you a little about this place.

First of all, it is not mandatory to enter the academy, if you want you can walk out of this building go to the town square and try your luck there. That’s why we always explain the rules before we do the aptitude test.

Entering the academy is free but students need to pay for lessons. Attending scheduled classes cost less than private lessons of course. Students need to decide themselves which lessons they want to follow. It’s important to think hard before you decide to follow a class because there are no refunds. It's required to follow at least three lessons every session year to stay in the academy.

The academy has dorm rooms that students can use for a cost, but students can decide to stay outside the academy if they can find anything cheaper. But most of the time students stay at the academy for the first couple of years.

There is also a hunt every session day. The hunt is for newcomers to practice hunting with the teacher until they get strong enough to hunt alone. Of course, this also will cost a small fee. It also works the other way around, older students can offer their service to the academy for the hunt and earn some money in the process. Students that prove themselves are even invited to join big houses.

Even though you can enter wine forest as you wish I warn you not to enter on your own because the chances of dying are far too great. Don’t think that death has no consequences because it’s a virtual reality world. When someone dies they are not allowed back in the same area for more than two session years.

If you get killed by monsters you will lose everything you carry including your money and be sent to another area that’s close to your level. But if you get killed by humans not only will you lose your belongings and a level, you will also lose your freedom for two session years. If you’re lucky you will be sold as a city worker like grandpa Wilton who works as a cleaner at the academy. Another option is that you will be sold as a slave to the big families and have to do as they command. Only after two session years are you allowed to start your journey again and will you get back the strength you lost five years ago.

Do you have any questions so far?”

George hadn’t said a word and was listening carefully to everything Solomon was telling him. So when Solomon asked him the question he was surprised and tried to think of the question most important for his situation.

“I don’t have any money, is there a way to earn any?

And what is a session year?”

Solomon gave a little smile like he expected the question and started to explain.

“Even though it’s not allowed to talk about NASH outside, it is allowed to give family members money. So that’s a way to pay for everything. If not you can take a job from the academy registry. But with your experience, you can only do low-level jobs like cleaning or working in the wine factory which only pays one credit a day.

The room at the academy cost one credit every five days and you need another two credits to pay for food. So you can use the nights and the other two days to improve yourself. In the beginning, it's best to work every day as you need money for classes. But after a while, you will find out that earning money will become easier.”

What the teacher didn’t know is that George could only stay inside of Nash for two and half days because of his weak body. So it was almost impossible to save any money.

“As for session years, that’s really simple. Every year that passes in the real world is five years in NASH. So instead of using five years, we use session years. So you, for example, are sixteen session years and one session day old.

So, do you want to join the academy or do you want to find your own way?”

George didn’t have any high expectations and for him having a bed and enough to eat was good enough. He didn’t know how he was going to pay for the three lessons but that was something he could worry about later.

“I want to join the academy.”

Solomon gave a nod and started to walk towards the big crystal at the center of the room.

“Place your hand on the crystal to check your aptitude. This will help me decide what the best course of action is in helping you get stronger. Of course, it’s up to you if you want to use my advice.”

George walked towards the big crystal and put his hand on the crystal. There was a little pain but nothing George couldn’t handle.

Seeing no reaction after George put his hand on the crystal made Solomon a little surprised.

George heard the same voice in his head as this morning when he entered the tutorial.

‘yes’

Player:

Name Red Giant Level 1 Class none Job archaeologist

characteristics:

Vitality 0 Strength 0 Intelligence 0 Chance 0 Agility 0

Stats:

Heath 30 Mana 30 Prospecting 100

>

After seeing the results Solomon shook his face. An average newcomer would have sixty health instead of thirty. And most new students would also have points gained from the training programs they followed in the tutorial world. He didn’t know what had happened but he knew that George had a hard childhood. But he also had a confused look on his face.

“It seems like you were gifted with a legacy. But I have never seen the job archaeologist so I can’t help you understand it right now. But it has taken one of your three job spots so be careful not to pick other jobs lightly because you can’t replace them. I will try to find anything I can about this ability of yours so I can help guide you. If you want to find out more about legacy’s you can go to the library buy the beginners guide. The beginner's guide can be bought for one credit at the library. I advise you to get it as soon as possible.”

It also looks like your body is really weak. With these scores, your body won’t hold longer than two maybe three days a session.

The name you see on the screen is your secret name. You are the only one who can see it. Even the academy will not ask for your secret name. As for why its secret and why it's necessary you will find out later when you read the beginners guide.

George was getting a little bit annoyed, it looked like everything costs money. Seems like the saying is true, nothing in the world is free.

Even though Solomon’s tone didn’t change he had a sympathetic look in his eyes. He had heard of people like George but never seen a newcomer with this kind of health before.

“The first thing you need to do right now is strengthening your real body. When you do that your health will start to increase until it reaches sixty.

I will give you some extra exercises to practice every night and you will need to start increasing your food over time.

But to do that you need a job, I will help you look for one tomorrow. Come look for me tomorrow morning, it's late and the shops are closed. Go find grandpa Wilton, he will guide you to your room. Try to get a good night of sleep you will need the rest.”

After exiting the room George went to look for grandpa Wilton. After a while he found him cleaning a classroom not far away. Again he waited for grandpa Wilton to finish his cleaning before asking him about his room.

Grandpa Wilton had the same smile on his face like always and started to guide George to his room.

“What is your name boy?”

“It’s George.”

“You sure don’t waste words. Let me explain the situation at the academy to you. There are three buildings here, the central building is the academy itself where everyone follows classes. The building to the left is the girl's dorm and the building to the right is the guy's dorm. It is forbidden for guys to enter the girl's dorm and of course the other way around. If you get caught sneaking into the girl's dorm you will be punished by having to pay a fine and house arrest for a session day. For second or third session year students thats doable but to you, it means starving to death. So don’t try anything stupid.”

After walking for a while grandpa Wilton stopped in front of a room. he used his key to open the door.

“This is your room for tonight, tomorrow you will be put in another room with the other students but for tonight you can stay here.”

Not expecting George to react grandpa Wilton quickly left. George was alone again inside the small room. The room had nothing except for a small bed and a wooden desk and chair.

George was tired of the long day. He had never walked as much as he had done today. He didn’t understand why but his body reacted the same way as it would when he was doing the daily exercises.

Lying in bed George started to think about the events that had happened today and didn’t know what to expect from tomorrow. He also was interested in what the archaeologist meant and what it could do.

Because of his weak body and the long day he had it didn’t take long before he was sound asleep.