Emmett walked out of the store with her newly purchased virtual gear, a neural headband that had already passed all vetting processes. According to the company, each headband has to be custom-built for its customers. Along with the subscription, the game had cost her 1000 dollars just to play. Had it been any other game, she wouldn't have spent all her severance paycheck on one.

"I'm home." She said to the dark single room apartment that she had been occupying for the past two years. At the corner stood an old fashioned electric burner and a microwave oven. The old incandescent bulbs lit the room a yellow shade and she walked over to the wardrobe. She changed out of her sky blue blouse and pleated white skirt and walked over to the coffee maker right next to the microwave. Putting on a white shirt, she walked over to the desk and picked out the laptop from her carry bag. There were still a few more minutes until the official launch of the game. Pulling her long blonde hair into a bun she started going through the wiki from the official website to find any information that was released. As expected, there were a few articles that her deep blue eyes picked up.

*****

GANA'S KNIGHT

***Please Note***

*Only single characters can be created per person.*

*Death under the presence of elite NPC's(shown with stars) will result in character deletion.*

*Any attempt to tamper with the nerve device will result in legal actions and the company will not be liable for damages, temporary or permanent.*

*The band is deemed safe for use. In case of any unease/nausea, use the emergency code to trigger a forced exit. The company will respond with immediate medical assistance.*

*The NPC in-game could leave lasting impressions. Make sure to check your mental state regularly to avoid potential mental trauma.*

========&&&========

There were countless terms and warnings as normal which Emmett skimmed through. And beyond it lay the fundamentals of the new world, GANA. A new planet with 14 continents with each continent as large as the entire landmass of the planet Earth. According to an official release, only a single planet is available for players as the rest are locked behind levels.

All players can have one primary class but there are no restrictions on how one plays. A swordsman can also lead a horde of undead depending on his/her abilities. According to the few beta testers, the grinding is heavy and the higher one gets the harder it becomes.

The nerve gear automatically transforms all languages to binary data making it possible to communicate with anyone thanks to the new AI designed for the purpose. With language barriers gone, this could be a potential asset for the world to become united. But Emmett wasn't interested in the wannabe scholars' and thinkers' dreams. She quickly found the topic that she was looking for.

Available primary classes include normal ones like Warriors, healers, swordsmen, thieves, hunters, summoners and other mages. But picking one also involved high risk. So, the game AI runs a compatibility test before the selection process is allowed. Of course, one is free to completely ignore the recommendations but the classes determine the potential growth curve of the characters making it a double-edged sword.

'It's almost time. I hope the server won't crash from the load as usual.' Emmett took out the headband and laid back on her bed before putting it on. There was a button on her forehead which she tapped to activate the device.

'Wroom' A noise echoed into her head as she entered a semi sleeping state. Unlike the usual subconscious state, the game uses the conscious state to run so that the person can remember the game's progress. The sound disappeared as Emmett finally found herself sitting in an endless grassland.

"It's so much prettier" she couldn't stop saying out loud.

"Welcome to planet Gana. By using this device you agree…" Emmett skipped the t&c and started through the next section.

"New user recognised. Emmett."

Instead of a voice constantly yapping about the whole setup, a new screen became visible in front of her eyes. On it was a mirror reflection of herself looking at her. Below her avatar, the controls were available to modify the body.

Without bothering to adjust anything, she skipped the process and entered the class selection step. The game initiated a benchmark on her and threw a few recommendations at her.

Scout: 90% compatible.

Hunter: 70% compatible.

Bard: 70% compatible.

Priest: 65% compatible.

Enchanter: 55% compatible.

Mage: 50% compatible.

"Why? I wanted to become a knight." She said frustrated. Doubtful, she started checking out the stats changes available for each class starting with scout.

Scout: beginner class

Passive: Monsters +5 level ignores the presence when alone. 20% added experience gain.

Strength boost: +1 every 5 levels

Intelligence boost: +1 every 2 levels

Dexterity boost: +1 every 1 level

Armour type: light, medium

Weapon type: daggers, longbows, concealed weapons, soul spells.

Evolution: Explorer

Hunter: beginner class

Passive: +5% bonus range damage. Tracking assistance.

Strength boost: +1 every 2 levels

Intelligence boost: +1 every 3 levels

Dexterity boost: +1 every 3 level

Armour type: light, medium, medium-heavy

Weapon type: daggers, longbows, soul spells.

Evolution: Master Hunter, Tracker, Bowman

'Hunter feels much better.' Picking hunter, Emmett could finally see her status screen.

Avatar: Emmett

Level: 1 (0%)

HP: 20

Class: Hunter

Bloodline: Human (100%)

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 1

Dexterity: 1

Armour: N/A

Weapon: N/A

Soul spells available: Detect, Inspect, Track.

'Is there no weapons and armour? How am I supposed to level then?' While she was contemplating her future a message appeared and she was teleported away to a small border town in the Fire Canyon Kingdom.

*****

At the outskirts of the town, a few people started to spawn in all wearing white gowns that completely covered their bodies. A few soldiers were greeting the guests and helping them settle down making the new arrivals comfortable. Amongst them was a girl with long blonde hair looking around perplexed. Seeing a kid in heavy armour approaching her, she immediately tried to use inspect. Thankfully there were no commands that needed to be typed out. With a thought, the details flooded in her head.

Name: Baron Henry*

Level: 102

'Isn't this kid too young?' Looking at the kid who was barely 10 years old, Emmett was a little sceptical. Between his combed hair she finally noticed the two small budding horns that were poking out. 'A beast man?'

"Welcome to the Iron Mountain Town, Miss Emmett. We have a starter gift available that can be picked up at the town hall." After a short greeting, the kid walked away to greet the next person.

Her experience from countless games kicked in as Emmett started moving towards the inner streets of the town looking for the town hall.

The whole town was made of wood. There were barely a few stone buildings scattered around. Even the outer wall and the gates were made of wood. The town hall and the bank seemed to have the most solid foundations. The few buildings were all essential from the perspective of a gamer. The adventurers guild, the town bank, town hall, a training ground and some class instructors all we're located in the inner regions of the town. A few cloth stores had some decorated garments that were for sale. The blacksmith's shop had a late board that gave a 20% discount for repairs and commissions.

The receptionist offered Emmett a storage ring that contained 20 gold coins, a weapon coupon, a decorative clothing coupon and a few healing potions.

'Decorative clothing? What about armour?' Seeing the devs not giving out even basic starter weapons, she could already see the commotion that was about to happen. And she wasn't disappointed when she saw the massive queue in front of the smith's workshop. Even if she requested for the weapon now, the queue was not short and she would have to wait a few days to get a weapon that too of barely passable quality seeing how these apprentice smiths were working on the task. 'Guess I'll have to go check out what little quests I could do.' Feeling tired, Emmett finally approached the adventurers guild, looking for a quest to complete.

And… countless quests… countless quests that all required killing. 'Which idiot designed these quests?' Quests to clear out the wolf pack outside, quest to kill the goblins roaming in the master land. A quest to kill mice outside the silos. 'How am I supposed to kill with no weapons?' Giving up she decided to check out any gathering quests. Thankfully, there were a few repeatable quests that gave out enough experience. With little feasible choice, she finally picked a quest that felt decent.

Gathering Quest: Moonleaf x50.(repeatable)

Rewards: 1 silver, +1 town reputation.

Location: Pleasant Grove Pasture outskirts.

Emmett left the safe grounds looking for the pasture. She could see a few goblins spread around the place.

'Inspect'. Emmet murmured, looking at one of the goblins. The small window opened up showing the stats of the goblin.

Goblin

Level: 0

HP: 5

'5? Isn't that a little weak?' Suddenly she felt a little confident and decided to try her luck. Sneaking around with as little noise as she could, Emmett grabbed a small stick laying on the ground and got back staring at the back of the goblin.

'Tack, tack, tack, tack….tack', She kept whacking the goblin making sure the thing can't attack back. Four '-1' indications showed up above the goblins head. Followed by the final '-1' from her last hit.

'Creak', the stick broke under her 'heavy assault' leaving behind two sharp-edged shorter sticks.

'''You gained 5 experience points.'''

Under her stats, the percentage next to her level increased to 1. 'I have to kill a hundred goblins? I should have taken a goblin kill quest as well.' Henry slowly started using her makeshift daggers to attack more goblins around her. When the stick crumbled she took another one and started killing again.

It wasn't her alone who had figured out they could use makeshift weapons to kill these lower-level monsters as she started noticing the place slowly getting crowded as she had finally killed enough goblins to level up.

'''You have levelled up.'''

The goblins had distracted her away from her initial quest as she finally realised the blunter. She should have at least wasted an hour killing these goblins. She rushed to the outskirts to complete the quest faster.

*****

Henry had woken up a little earlier than usual. And as expected, around daybreak, his timer ran out granting him his new gift.

'''Ding! System quest, 'A welcome party for the Earthlings complete. The system is being upgraded to saint tier. System abilities will be unavailable for the period.'''

Sitting on top of the town wall, Henry checked the denizens from his past life walking around completing various quests. 'I wonder if Jasmine too started playing the game.' He also knew how unrealistic it would be since the games always were released last in their country after countless censorship and often with private servers. While looking around, he noticed one of the girls whom he greeted, attacking the goblins with a makeshift dagger. 'Smart. She will do it. Hopefully, she can complete the quest.' The blonde-haired girl immediately stopped and started to rush towards the outskirts. 'I should meet her at the guild.' Thinking so, Henry walked back to his bustling town.

*****

Emmett walked back to the guild to complete the quest. Her white robes had become tattered and shaded in blood. Thanks to the storage ring, she was able to safely carry all the herbs back to the quest hall.

"I came to complete the quest," Emmett said to the servant girl at the quest hall.

"Please take out the herbs so that we could verify." The girl walked back to the counter and waited for Emmett to bring out the herbs she collected.

[Moonleaf(Slightly damaged)]

Looking at the damaged leaves, the servant girl hesitated. "Did you not use a knife? I'm sorry, I can't pay you for it. I'm not confident that it would sell-off." She wasn't lying since the alchemists were extremely picky with the herbs that they used. "Why don't you try and sell it off at the town hall? The Town Mayor is an exceptional alchemist. He should be able to use it."

'An alchemist?' Everyone knew about the secondary classes and professional classes but currently, it was very rare to find a trainer for these as all of them were in the starter towns. Players could only use the basic items sold by the merchants since no one knew how to craft the potions. Suddenly hearing that a master crafter was living in the town, the gamer senses tingled as Emmett tried to think of a suitable way to approach this master. From what she remembered, the Town Mayor seemed to be a kid.

"Speak of the devil. It's the mayor." The girl whispered looking at the kid who suddenly appeared through the main door. The mayor walked toward the quest hall and glanced around. He noticed the stalks of Moonleaf on the counter. It seemed like they were slightly damaged.

"Perfect. May I purchase these herbs? I'm in urgent need of a few of these." Henry approached the girls with a smile.

"It does not belong to the guild, Lord. You will have to collect it from the miss here."

"Hello, we meet again. Miss Emmett, right?"

"Yes, sorry Town Mayor. The herbs are a little damaged. I wasn't aware I had to use a knife. We often simply pinched the herbs where I'm from."

"Ahh, that's alright. I think I can make do with these herbs. Besides, I hate wasting them. How much is the guild offering per stalk?" Henry turned at the girl looking for the price.

"My Lord, the guild is buying it at 1 silver per stalk of 50. The alchemist association has put out a massive order before the influx of foreigners."

"I silver it is then." Henry turned to look at the girl in front. "That is if you are ok with it?"

"It's fine. Thank you, Town Mayor. I heard the town mayor is an alchemist?"

"Yes, I do have a little skill in the concoctions. Would Miss Emmett like to visit sometimes?"

"Yes, I would love that." Emmett was elated at the unexpected fortune.

*****

Henry walked along with Emmett to the town hall. He had set up an office and a small room to keep up the pretense of an alchemist. He planned to leave the town once the system quest was completed but was stuck unexpectedly due to another quest. The system wanted him to teach a few players alchemy.

"Your clothes seem dirty. Do you want to change into something else?" Henry paused outside the clothes store looking at the bloody white gown that Emmett had on her.

"Do these stores only sell normal clothes? Why do they have no armour?" Emmett was confused when it came to this part about the game. Which RPGs didn't have armours? Wasn't it a great way for devs to bleed the players dry?

"Armour? Yes. There are armours but at your current level it's better to simply learn a few defensive skills. They cost a lot and most of the armours are only available after you reach the prophet tier." Henry tried to explain what he knew. Emmett nodded her head in thanks as she mentally made a remark to check out what tiers were.

"I guess I should pick better clothes. Is there any that have good resistance and last longer?"

"If you plan to fight a lot, then you should pick out clothes that are made for adventurers. They cost slightly more but are stain resistant and usually last longer. Like it said, they are plain clothes and most of them don't give any protection. So you will have to learn how to defend yourself."

"Thank you. I will go check out the clothes." Emmett entered the shop immediately, whom Henry followed inside after a short wait.

"Yes, no not that one. The one behind the pink blouse. Yes, yes, that one." Emmett was busy browsing through different outfits as she didn't notice Henry approaching her from behind.

"You have a good colour sense. Brown is good. Perfect for an adventurer." The sudden remark from Henry startled Emmett.

"Ahh, town mayor. I didn't see you there."

"Just call me Henry. So did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes, let me go change. I'll join you in a few seconds." Emmett dragged the sales girl and left to try out the outfit in the adjacent room. Dress had to be 'manually' equipped just like it's naturally done unless you knew soul spells usable for it.

After a few minutes, Emmett came back addressed in a brownish red blouse and brown jeans tightly fitted, extremely short. She also had a black strapped flat slippers, no heels. Her hair was tired back into a bun making her look a lot more fierce. Her face finally had a smile as she couldn't smell the blood and gore on her body anymore.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Henry."

"Shall we go then?"

*****

Walking out, Henry and Emmett saw a few more players who started bragging about the weapon they just received from the smith. It's been almost three hours since the start of the game but only 7 people had received their weapons. The town could only handle up to 400 people so everyone was bound to receive a weapon within a week.

"Did you too put in your request for the weapon?" Henry saw Emmett looking at the wall of players waiting outside the smithy agitated.

"No, the place is too crowded. I will let them craft one for me once they get free."

"It could go on like that for a few more days. By that time you might have to look for stronger weapons than the ones made of bronze. The way you are leveling you should be able to reach prophet tier in a few days."

The two entered the town hall and Henry invited the girl to his office.

"Oh, by the way, how good are your cooking skills?" Henry suddenly asked, remembering the early lessons that Miss Silvy gave him.

"I use instant food and microwave mixes." Emmett blurted out. "Well, my skills are pretty bad." She suddenly said hoping the NPC didn't notice her blunder.

Henry was about to ask about the microwave, when the system warning went off reminding him of his status as an NPC.

"Do you want to be an alchemist? I'm looking for a new student."

"An alchemist? Yes, I will devote myself to learning it from you." Emmett was elated. The sole reason she tagged along was to try and learn the class from him. Seeing how the NPC offered her to teach, Emmett felt her familiarity should have considerably increased. But to Henry, it was still regrettably not enough as the system notification went off.

'''Ding! Selected disciple does not have sufficient basic knowledge of ingredients and processes. Acknowledging the disciple failed.'''

Trying not to show his discomfort, Henry gave a fake smile. "It's not that easy. You have to improve your gathering skills a little. I will give you a quest first."

On a screen invisible to the rest of the world, a new quest appeared before Emmett.

Profession Quest: Alchemist 1

Knowledge of the herbs is important to walk the paths of an alchemist. Try and identify the 32 basic herbs found around the Iron Mountain region.

Time: 24 hours

Difficulty: C

Reward: Unlock quest Alchemist 2

Failure: Cannot become Lord Henry's disciple.

"This… I will try my best. Thank you." Emmett took the quest without a second's hesitation.

"Don't forget to buy a knife on your way out." Henry prompted teasing the girl.

"Yes, I will. Thank you for reminding me." She said on her way out.

*****

'24 hours should be enough to gather a few basic herbs', or so she thought. What Emmett failed to count was the time required for her to travel between the locations of these herbs. As soon as she accepted the quest, a new tab appeared on her profile menu called herb dairy. In it was the details of the herbs that she had already collected or the general direction of where one could be found. 'Ha, my own pokedex.'

The first one was easy to find. Located right next to the pasture grounds, she was able to find her second basic herb. A small herb that had the aroma of lavender which according to the dairy, was useful to make haste potions. The dairy took her through the entire map of the beginner town. After constanting running and fighting, Emmett had reached level 4 and was able to find 31 herbs. The last one according to the book stood atop the peak mountains which meant she had to try and climb a mountain with barely 3 hours left to play. Thankfully, the game didn't make one feel tired or she would have given up the quest as the sight of the mountains sent chills down her spine. Cursing the soon to be her master, she started climbing the mountain in hopes of finding the herb.

*****

The climb was hard, often at places the slope was too steep, making Emmett crawl using both her hands and legs to climb over massive rocks. The air slowly started getting cooler and cooler as the attitude rose. On the cliff side she was finally able to notice the perky white petals that she was looking for. 'Finally', grabbing the herb Emmett let out a desperate sigh looking up towards the peak that was just a little higher. Suddenly, a twinkle emitted from the peak made her rather curious. 'I have come this far anyways.' With a renewed curiosity she started climbing the rest to the peak.

At the peak of the mountain, she found a ring with a diamond embedded in it. It was kept on a rock that was hard to miss due to its uniqueness.

[You have found a spatial storage ring.]

The discovery completely startled her as she checked the ring out. Inside the ring was a note, two little daggers, a token seal from the town mayor's office, and an unknown medallion.

[Congratulations, explorer.

You have the heart of an explorer. Let your journey be filled with vigour and your trails become legends in the making. You may use the medallion to request a favour from the town lord's office that's within the mayor's capabilities.

Town Mayor

Henry]

Rabbit horn dagger(Rare)

A much powerful weapon that is useful to deliver a sharper cut than bronze weapons.

Inflicts bleed x2/hit.

Soulbound on use.

Spatial Storage Ring(Epic)

Storage space: 50x50 sq m

Looking at the three items she received, Emmett was ecstatic. Henry suddenly became her favourite person in the world. She quickly put the ring on her fingers and equipped the daggers making them soulbound. 'Time to get back down.' She smiled jumping down from the top of the cliff after lowering her pain reception to 0% from 2%.

'Blunk..da..blunk..da' The sound of something rolling down the cliff echoed through the mountains.

*****

Emmett walked out the spawning circle that was only visible to the players. She had lost 10% of her experience but considering how difficult the climb was, that felt negligible to her. Thankfully nothing dropped since she wasn't killed or chased by anyone/anything.

As she walked out she saw the all too familiar lines written on the walls that all of them kept seeing.

["Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night."]

Emmett involuntarily looked back at the ring that she was wearing and the smile on her face became even more spread as she saw the town mayor's medallion signed at the bottom of the lines.

With barely enough time left, Emmett had to rush over to the town hall to complete her quest.

*****

The town hall became extremely busy with more and more people spawning near the town. As Henry was waiting for the girl to complete her assigned task in his office, someone banged on the door announcing their presence. It was a guard bringing in a player who had completed a quest he put out at the quest hall.

"Lord Henry, I, Jacob, am to give you this medallion and scroll from the neighbouring Rock Creek Village."

"How is chieftain Orlac?" Henry enquired although he wasn't expecting a replay.

"He seemed fine. Lord Henry." The person said.

Orlac was a great chieftain and a peak prophet tier warrior. Henry had seen him fight in a beast tide and helped his village fend off a couple of stronger peak monsters themselves. Their acquaintance emerged through the battle and soon bidder into friendship over his delicious foods that the man cooked. If one asked what orlac is famous for, it isn't his muscles but the food he cooked. He is in a league of his own when it comes to food.

"Thank you. You can receive your reward from the hall receptionist." Henry sent him off immediately as he had to read the message. Jacob walked out dejectedly as he was hoping to make the lord his acquaintance. Kicking the guy out Henry opened the message hoping it was positive.

[To Lord Henry,

I am free and it would be alright to take a few disciples. Just send them over whenever you wish to.

Chieftain Orlac.]

'Great, with his help, Emmett should make a fine alchemist.' Henry closed the scroll and put it in his drawer.

*****

Emmett rushed into the town hall and requested an audience with the mayor. Her outfit was partly torn due to her fall from the top of the cliff. Thankfully she made it back in time and was allowed to see Henry.

"Looks like you completed the quest." Henry smiled seeing the sweating student he was about to take under him. "Alright, you passed the first part. Let's see how good you are when it comes to cooking." When Henry said cooking, Emmett involuntarily showed an uneasy face. "That bad? Well, I'm pretty sure Orlac wouldn't mind a challenge."

"Go to Orlac, the chieftain of Rock Creek Village. Once he approves your cooking skills, come back to find me." Henry issued an undated quest to Emmett letting her leave.

"Henry, I found this when I was looking for Stargazing Lilies." Suddenly Emmett took out a medallion that he was familiar with.

"Looks like you are lucky. What a waste of time." Emmett was perplexed by Henry's statement. 'Waste of time? What a waste of time.' Emmet didn't realise that Henry was talking about the hidden quest he had created.

"Keep it with you. I am pretty sure it will come in handy." Henry let Emmett out before walking back to his office desk. There was still a lot more work for him to complete.

He quickly took out a scroll and wrote a message back to Orlac. With another bang of the door, a youngster approached Henry. From his looks, it felt like someone completed a quest chain. In his hand was another piece of paper, something that was used to communicate during chain quests.

"Lord Town Mayor, I am required to visit you for my recognition to create a guild." The youngster gave a slight bow, clearly someone who knew how to get around. By the laws of the system, all groups and organisations which are legal had to strictly follow a certain procedure. And the final step was to acquire recognition from the regional authority which was Lord Henry and in his absence his father.

[Guild Recognition Form

Name: Fire Heart

Master: Shadow

Official Members: Tempest, Breaker.

Completed Guild Bounty: Raven Wolf

Guild Base: Raven Creek

Guild Prestige: 210

]

"And you are?" Henry already checked his name with 'inspect', a soul skill. He wasn't on the list, just a proxy for the guild leader.

"Rain, I'm here on behalf of the guild master Shadow. He is currently busy completing a boss bounty." The kid said, trying to make their leader sound impressive.

"Well Rain, I usually have to see the guild master in person before I can officially approve the guild. Once he is done, tell him to come and meet me in person. Wait a few seconds." Henry took out his pen from the ink and started scribing a few lines on the form.

[Guild Recognition Form

Name: Fire Heart

Master: Shadow

Official Members: Tempest, Breaker.

Completed Guild Bounty: Raven Wolf

Guild Base: Raven Creek

Guild Prestige: 210

Approved by Baron Henry of Fire Canyon Kingdom.

]

"Here, take it to the town hall and pay the tax for your guild property. You should be done in a few minutes." Extending the form back to the proxy guild master, Henry said with a smile.

The proxy bowed and left happy having completed his mission.

'Shadow? Completing bounty missions.' Extending his system radar, Henry could see that the guy was sitting in an inn chatting with a few of his buddies. 'Looks like another rich kid.' He pushed it to the back of his head and started going through the remaining papers that filled his table. 'People have already started working on guild creation. Looks like they are pretty fast.' The thirty years old earthly soul reminisced about the olden games that he used to play. 'Sadly this isn't a game for me.' Henry muttered right as a system message went off.

'''Please Note: Player Villain has successfully reached level 10. The restrictions have been listed and players may leave the beginner towns.'''

The notification went off twice in his head as Henry let out a sigh of relief. 'Looks like I can get back to school now.' It had been almost five days since he left the campus. He had no idea how much has changed due to the emergence of the players in the world.