Would you like to begin the tutorial? Yes/No

Andrew felt his heartbeat quicken with every passing moment. Finally, after what felt like days, he was able to start the tutorial. The well being of a little more than a billion people was riding shotgun in his mind, and it would remain there until he completed his mission.

He had a little more than three days to complete the task, or else all the information on the USB drive would be destroyed. Was that enough time? Was he efficient with his time, or could he be doing something better? Andrew took a deep breath and shook the swarming thoughts away.

It was rational that he doubted himself because, in the grand scheme of things, he had a lingering fear of not being good enough to complete the tutorial in the allotted time. He knew nothing about videogames and was anxious as to how much that would harm his ability to progress through the game.

Would both his father and Vlad’s business crumble to the ground simply because he couldn’t play a game properly? And not only their businesses but other’s livelihood as well. A part of him wished that he never overheard those two teens talking about making real money in Final Conquest and how millions of others made a living that way as well. The more he learned about the game, the higher the stakes became.

The world needed him, and he would do his best not to let it down.

“Here we go…”

The metal plating on his armor clinked as he sheathed his sword. He raised his hand up to the translucent screen and pressed a firm finger on ‘Yes.’ A green checkmark with a circle around it winked onto the transparent screen, then it disappeared.

Salome’s toothy grin filled Andrew’s vision as the old man got on his tippy toes and stared deep into Andrew’s eyes. After a moment, Salome took a few steps back and brushed his beard idly.

“It seems your abilities have awakened and are settling in nicely. I have a few friends on the island of Chisola who will be able to help teach you more about the powers you have obtained, the law of the land, and many more things that I do not have time to divulge on.”

Salome turned his back on Andrew, raised his gnarled staff as high as he could, and slammed it onto the ground. A moment later, a hole around the size of Andrew with streaks of white and blue light pulsing within it appeared from thin air. The old man stepped to the side, creating enough space for Andrew to walk past him and into the portal.

“Step through this portal, and you will find yourself in Chisola. Seek out a man named Baron. He will be your guide.”

TING!

Curious as to where the sound came from, he looked around until he noticed a small box of purple text in the top right corner of his field of view that wasn’t there before.

Active Quest: Learning the Ways

- Find, and speak to Baron in Wellshire.

It was nice that there was a feature that told him what task, or rather quest, he was to complete, though he wasn’t sure if he liked the box being there – it kind of obstructed his view.

As if reading his mind, the box winked away. Andrew grinned childishly. He thought about wanting to see the quest box again, and sure enough, it reappeared in the same spot. He envisioned it being in a different part of his field of vision, and it changed locations to where he wanted it to be.

Even though this was such a small feature compared to everything else the game had to offer, this really impressed Andrew. The fact that the Splicer was able to process his thoughts into commands was a testament to how incredible his father’s invention was and how brilliant Vladimir was for bringing out every ounce of potential from it.

After commanding the box to disappear, Andrew strode towards the portal and stopped a few inches away from its glittering insides. He turned his attention to Salome, who was watching Andrew with both his hands clasping the top of his staff. Even though he was a program, it never hurt to be polite.

“Thank you for everything, Salome. I hope to see you again.”

Salome’s eye’s sparkled, and his toothy smile reached his ears, exaggerating the wrinkles on his face. “You are too kind, Noob. You will see me again soon, I promise. May the god’s watch over you with favor.”

TING!

[Passive Buff Obtained]

[God’s Favor]

The gods have observed your kindness and have given you a gift.

+1% permanent EXP gain.

NPC's are more willing to trust you.

Having no idea what any of that meant, Andrew willed the box away, nodded in thanks to Salome, then turned his attention back to the portal. It wobbled slightly but continued to hold it’s oval shape well. The brilliant blue and white lights continued to swirl around in the portal, creating a mesmerizing pattern.

Taking a deep breath, Andrew stepped confidently through the portal.

____

Andrew flinched and let out an audible gasp when he realized he was standing somewhere completely different than where he was a second ago. He found himself standing in a small room lined with wooden walls, shelves filled to the brim with books, and a single glass window.

Light streamed through it, illuminating dust particles which danced lazily over a small wooden table sitting in the middle of the room with an unlit lumpy yellow candle resting on a small plate.

It was obvious that he was standing in a study judging by all of the books lining the walls. What struck him as odd, though, was that there was no one there to greet him. Maybe the person he was supposed to meet stepped out for a bit and would be right back?

That would be the most rational answer, but he just stepped into a world where he was teleported god knows how far away from his last position in the blink of an eye. All rational thought was thrown out the window for the time being.

An important question remained, though. Should he stay in here and wait for someone? Or should he leave?

Currently, he was a stranger who appeared in someone’s home completely unannounced. If he were to leave the room and someone was still home and saw him, who knows what would happen to him.

Would they think he was there to hurt them? That he was a thief? Or maybe it was completely normal to appear in someone’s home in this game, thus having nothing to worry about.

After a quick mental back and forth, Andrew decided to wait around for a few minutes to see if anyone would come and greet him. The last thing he wanted to do was cause a scene right when he got there. Even if it was just a game and he was dealing with NPC’s, he wanted to make a good first impression.

So with nothing else to do, Andrew strode around the room carefully, trying not to accidentally knock something over with his bulky armor and sheathed sword at his hip. He could say with confidence that he’d never walked in, let alone worn an outfit like this and didn’t quite know what to expect from it.

At first, he thought the armor would be incredibly heavy and hard to maneuver in, but after taking a quick stroll around the room, he realized that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, the only reason why he knew he still had it on was because of the occasional creaking noises it made.

He scanned a few of the books on a bookshelf and, curious as to what was inside them, slid one out and opened it. The pages of the book were filled top to bottom with beautiful wavey script, but he couldn’t read a single word due to it clearly being a different language.

Andrew closed the book, slid it back into the gap he received it from, and selected a different book with a worn-out brown leather binding. He flipped the book open and wasn’t surprised to find more of the unknown language scribbled inside of it.

He slid the leather-bound book back into its place carefully. If this game had a different language, how did he understand Salome? They were speaking English, right? Or maybe Salome’s portal brought him to an area with a different language. But if that were the case, then how was he supposed to understand anyone?

Suddenly, the door of the study flung open – startling Andrew. He turned his attention towards the doorway where a large, muscled man with broad shoulders, shaggy black hair hanging down to his shoulders, and a full medium length beard entered the room. The man, other than being an absolute unit, was fairly normal looking. The only strange thing about him was his pair of deep, purple irises.

He wore a white long sleeve tunic that hugged his upper torso tightly but tapered down nicely around his waist which had a standard brown leather belt holding up his brown pants.

The burly man’s attention fixed onto Andrew.

“What are you doing in here?” The man asked sternly.

Panic slowly crept into Andrew’s being. His hunch had been right; he wasn’t supposed to be in here. If he wasn’t supposed to be there, then why did Salome send him here? Was it an accident? Seeing as Andrew wasn’t a specialist in portal transportation, he would never know.

Regardless of what may or may not have happened, he was now an intruder in someone’s home.

“I- I’m sorry, sir. I know it may look as if I’m intruding in your home, but I- “

“You are intruding in my home.” The man said, interrupting Andrew. He took an intimidating step towards Andrew. “Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

Andrew took a step back, completely overwhelmed by the pressure the ox of a man was radiating. He knew this was just a game and that if this guy did attack him, he wouldn’t actually be killed. But with how immersive this game was, it was hard for his mind to remember that. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time.

Clearly, this man saw Andrew as an intruder, which he most definitely was. Putting himself in the man’s shoes, his actions were completely justified. Andrew would react in a very similar way if he caught someone intruding in his home, so he couldn’t fault the guy for behaving like he was.

The best thing to do in this type of situation was to defuse it as much as possible, and communication was the best way to do that. Andrew steeled himself, knowing that the panic he was showing might be taken the wrong way.

Raising his arms slowly in a non-threatening manner, Andrew did his best to look as innocent as possible.

“Sir, you are correct. I am intruding in your home, but not in the way you may be thinking. If you give me a second, I can explain everything.”

The hulking man stopped his approach. “And what if I don’t like what you have to say?”

Andrew shrugged. “Then do what you must. If I found someone intruding in my home, I’d do exactly what you were doing.”

His honesty seemed to have caught the man completely off guard. It appeared Andrew’s plan was working.

“Alright,” The man said while folding his massive arms across his chest. “Explain yourself.”

Over the course of the next minute, Andrew explained everything from being new to these lands, his meeting with Salome, and how he had set up a portal to transport him to Chisola so he could meet with a man named Baron to learn from him. Finally, Andrew told him how upon taking the portal, he found himself standing in the study.

The hulking man simply glared at Andrew through his entire speech. Then, after a long moment, the man cursed under his breath and chuckled. “Salome… that crazy old man. His accuracy has been getting worse lately. Not more than fifty yards to the west from here is the entrance to our village, Wellshire.”

So, Salome did mess up. Well, actually… did he mess up if he was programmed to do that? Also, what if he had failed to convince the man that he wasn’t, in fact, a malicious intruder. What would have happened to him?

Did the NPC’s in this game follow a strict script, have a wide range of responses programmed for several different scenarios, or were they entirely independent entities?

His thoughts were interrupted when the man extended a heavily calloused hand towards Andrew. “Sorry about earlier. I’m the man you’re looking for, Baron. It’s a pleasure to meet you…?” A green nameplate appeared over Baron with his name written in it.

Andrew smiled and shook Baron’s hand. “My name is And- sorry… My name is Noob. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Baron.”

“Noob… I’ve heard that name somewhere,” Baron pondered a moment before waving the thought away with his hand. “Bah, my memory isn’t as good as it used to be. Old age will do that, eh?”

Clearly, what Baron said had to be a joke, right? After getting a better look at him, he looked no older than forty and in peak physical shape.

“Hey, at least you’re not sending people into stranger’s homes.”

Baron must have found that rather funny because he slapped Andrew on the shoulder, which felt like being struck by a hammer, then doubled over from laughter. Baron eventually straightened up and wiped a tear away with his thumb. “That was a good one. Though, if Salome heard that, he’d beat you with that staff of his. He may be old, but he’s still got power in those creaky bones.”

Baron looked to have come up with an idea and grinned wolfishly. “Speaking of power, let’s see how much you’ve got. Follow me outside; we’re going to spar for a bit.”

TING!

Active Quest: Learning the Ways

- Find, and speak to Baron in Wellshire.

- Spar with Baron

- Optional: Defeat Baron