After another hour of tutorial, Dorian had finally been able to escape the safe room and its single tree. Sprinting, jumping and dodging had all been the most basic techniques he'd gone through, although he could have done them all without the tutorial.

Nebula would be the second virtual reality game that Dorian played, after Immerse- the biggest virtual reality game of its time. After finding Immerse, Dorian had played it as an escape from school and his father, both of which treated him badly. He joined Carpe Diem, and with the help of the guild leader and other members, slowly started rising up the ranks. They became another family to him, giving him advice on school, friends, women, even his own family. When it shut down, Nebula quickly rose up to take its place, with many of the old players migrating as well. Dorian was a bit behind, because he couldn't afford to buy one of the new gaming helmets, and he certainly couldn't afford to buy one of the new gaming pods. Dorian was hoping they had remade Carpe Diem in Nebula, with all the old members.

Leaving the training room, he saw a path seemingly leading to the center of the village he had spawned in. Maybe now, he could buy some actual supplies, instead of the awful [ training sword ] and [ beginners buckler ] that he was holding. Taking a step forwards, his map, which had been blacked out in the training area, started to update itself.

[ you have discovered Village of Beginnings ]

Walking to the village square, he saw a noticeboard with what he guessed would be jobs, quests or other miscellaneous tasks. Already becoming distracted, he walked over, blending in with the crowd of other players that had formed around the board. As he was inspecting it, something caught his eye.

[ Blacksmith Karsi's Quest. ( B+ )

Quest description : Blacksmith Karsi is fed up of late deliveries. Deliver 30 iron ores to him in place of his usual supplier.

Quest requirements : N/A

Quest completion : Deliver 30 iron ores to blacksmith Karsi. ( 0/30 )

Quest reward : +50 xp.

+5 affinity with blacksmith Karsi.

Quest Faliure : -10 affinity with blacksmith Karsi.

Taking it off the board, Dorian decided to try. Not because of the xp, which he could easily get from just about anything, or for the affinity with Karsi. Purely based on the fact that it was a good non combat quest, and that most of the other quests had restrictions of some kind.

[ received quest - Blacksmith Karsi's Quest ]

Leaving the village without even looking around, Dorian plotted a path to the nearest mine on his map. The only extra supplies he could afford was a pickaxe to complete the mission . The dark wooden handle had a polished shine, becoming thicker at the very base, while the brightly polished steel pick on the other end glinted in the light of the sun.

[ Gleaming Steel Pickaxe ]

>Allows the user to mine any material. This causes a slight loss in durability with each mining attempt.

>If the target of mining is rated as higher than steel, a large loss of durability will occur with every mining attempt

>durability : 75/75

...Five minutes later, Dorian was regretting his decision to sprint as much as he could. Although this was a game, it still felt as if he were living in this world, and ragged breaths were escaping from his lungs. Watching his stamina bottoming out, he slowed down and used the only stamina potion he had left, out of his original three.

The entrance was in sight. At last. The areas outside of villages, towns and other human settlements often became increasingly dangerous as the night drew on. Goblins, Kobolds and even Chimeras roamed some parts. Dorians' plan was to spend night inside the dungeon, then return during morning when the roads are safe again.