After a good rest, my clothes are dry so Beatrice has me go back into the forest to grab the other two wolf carcasses and to my surprise they haven't despawned. Perhaps it’s all tied back into the quest.

Getting them back to the cabin was simple as I don’t encounter any other hostile mobs along the way and it was actually a relatively short walk.

Beatrice skinned and prepped the carcasses. She lets me know that wolf meat is actually pretty valuable and I’m welcome to come by anytime to hunt more wolves in the future.

Sounds like a repeatable quest so I logged it in the back of my mind before I asked for directions to town. Since the rifle was a mission only item, I’m back to being unarmed.

Asking for a weapon results in an item I wasn’t expecting, but looking back shouldn’t have been surprised about.

[You receive a Wolf Bone Knife with Belt strap, 4x Wolf Meat Jerky, and Small Cloth Waist Pouch]

What are the stats?

[This information is not currently available]

Figured

I rest up over night and early the next morning I set off towards the town. Which according to Beatrice is about 10 miles away.

Along the way I encounter some random mobs such as rabbits and deer, but they aren’t hostile, so I was able to pick and choose my targets.

After chasing my first rabbit around for a solid hour, I learn a few things. First, rabbits are fast! Second, my Endurance was ridiculously low. During my wolf hunt I was buffed up with the tea Beatrice had made which explained why I was able to run so long before getting tired. This time, chasing a rabbit for longer than a few minutes left me winded.

By the time I catch and killed the rabbit I could barely catch my breath.

Eden, what is my Endurance at?

[This information is not currently available]

I growned.

How is anyone supposed to play this game if nothing is available to them? Perhaps, it was just my stupid curiosity at the start. Had I not selected Immersive Mode, none of this would have happened.

Either way, I needed to get to the town and walking 10 miles would take me about 3 hours traveling on foot.

It turns out the main road, is actually a good 30 minute walk from Beatrice’ cabin and made of cement not dirt as I initially expected.

Walking faster along the path left me winded pretty quickly, but as time went on, I was able to handle longer stretches. So I decided to try jogging. Even if I'm able to see the actual stats, I can feel the difference after a bit of cardio.

Jogging turned out to be very exhausting and at one point along the way the system actually warned me about my Endurance getting low. This was a good sign, at least the System would notify me if my stats became dangerously low during encounters.

Pacing myself I kept up the alternating pattern of jogging, resting, and walking. By the time I saw the first building of the town I was pretty sure I had leveled up my Endurance. Well, at least I hope so?

The road curved and headed North into the mountains. I could feel the elevation as my ears slowly plugged up. That was definitely a sensation I wasn't expecting to get from a game. Why would they include something like that? Does elevation play a huge roll in things later?

Either way, the buildings were actually just homes at first. I walked past a house with a good amount of acreage behind hit where they kept horses, goats, chickens, and even a cow!

This was a farming town.

I walked past a coffee shack and saw a young girl inside looking at her phone, bored. Curious, I walked up.

"Hi"

"Hey, how can I help you?"

"Um, I was wondering. Do you know what a User Terminal is?"

"Uh... does it have to do with truckers or something?"

"No, it's all good. Do you know where I can get some work or quick cash? I have some rabbits to sell, does anyone buy rabbits?"

"Work is kinda tough around here, not much to do other than farming. But I know Quentin buys clean kills over at the Tannery. As long as you didn't mangle the hide too much."

"Thanks. I'll go ask him." I tap the counter in acknowledgement. She doesn't know about the User Terminals either so I guess it must be something only 'city folk' knew about.

"What's your name mister?" she asked as I turned to leave.

"I'm .. " I pause and think about the answer. Was I Carrots in this world, or did I go by my real name? I play it safe and said, "People call me Carrots."

"That's pretty rude. Do they call you that because of your hair?"

I instinctively reached up and ran my fingers through my hair. I had it cut down short along the sides and longer on top.

"If the people that called you that aren't around, you don't have to keep using the same name."

My brows furrow and I tilt my head in wonder. Then I heard it.

[Do you wish to change you Avatars handle?]

Whoa! The system had picked up on the girls comment and actually gave me an option to change my name!

"Yea..." I looked around in amazement, "you're right! I don't have to listen to them anymore."

The girl chuckled, "So what do I call you then?"

My mind went blank. For years now I'd been called Carrots by my friends and even named my character Carrots in Altera Online. It was just who I was. But that was just it. It was who I used to be. Now I had a chance to be someone else. To be my own person. DomeNET Online was a whole new universe with it's infinite planets and ear popping sensations. I could finally be whom ever I wanted to be.

But who was I?

The question was daunting all of a sudden. Carrots was such an integral part of who I was. It was my heritage, the freckles on my face, the color of my hair. But weren't those all just external factors? I was in a virtual world, couldn't I get some modification to change my hair color and style? Maybe even change my freckles or get rid of them?

But what did that say about me? Was I ashamed of myself? I was familiar with body mods and enhancements in real life and never felt right trying to change myself that way. So was it right to change myself online?

It dawns on me, the name wasn't a label that defined me as a person. Changing it doesn't mean I reject my heritage or how I looked. It was just the handle that fit me personally. A name to call my own, instead of using the name others had been calling me. So I decided.

"Call me Xelenad."

"How do you spell that?"

I spell it out for her.

"You pronounce it pretty strangely."

"Yea it's more like zel-ah-nod, but I like the spelling with the x and e in there."

"I get it. Gotta own it right?"

"Yup." I smiled broadly and feel my chest rise a bit.

"Alright Xel, I'll see you around them."

"Yea, I'll see you around!"

New name, new town, new game. Same person. I head further into town my steps more confident than before.