The trip didn’t take a long time like it looked, less than fifteen rungs down into the trapdoor and I was already at the exit. The door however, was locked. I summoned the dragon dagger-slash-letter-opener and fidgeted around with picking the lock. The lock thudded and the door swung outward with a slow creaking groan.

[Skill Increase: Lock Picking level 1]

I stepped out of the tower and took in a deep breath of morning forest air. The sun was making it’s climb across the sky. I was up on a mountain ledge, the sprawling landscape spread out ahead of me. The sun hit the clouds just right, sending rays cascading across the countryside, blinding me as I scrambled for my sunglasses. How picturesque. Ker-chunk.

[Total Viewpoints found 1/35]

[Floor 1 Viewpoints found 1/4]

[Viewpoints will be marked on maps you find as bulls-eyes.] My slim fit watch chirped in my mind as text appeared on the screen. I closed out that particular tutorial text box and found another text box waiting for me.

[::ESCAPE THE TOWER:: Quest pt 2

ESCAPE THE TOWER, ALIVE

TRACK NEW QUEST?

Y/N?]

Huh? Hadn’t I gotten out of the Tower? I sifted through all the rest of the notifications. I hadn’t missed any.

“Yes.” I told it. The screen morphed and a second quest box popped up.

[::ESCAPE THE TOWER:: Quest Pt 2, Subquest 1

FIND WAY TO FLOOR 2

TRACK THIS NEW QUEST?

Y/N]

Balder had mentioned something over the stone last night about the different number of floors. At least eight I think? It didn’t dawn on me until now that the tower I woke up in might be a tower within a tower. Everything I could see was a single floor in a video game, and there were more worlds waiting beyond it once I found the stairs. CLICK.

The pale blue dowsing dot reappeared on my wrist, pulsing softly as it moved across my wrist pointing to a mountain pathway. I took one last look at the door I’d exited from, on the other side of this mountain peak was Roqor’s Tutorial Tower. Ker-chunk. I snapped a photo of the half open door, which had a paint job on the outside that matched it to the wall. The Compendium updated accordingly as I closed it, sealing the illusion.

[Floor 1 Secret: 1/10]

Ten secrets hidden all across the whole floor. Just how big WAS this floor anyways? It was evident to me that I needed to get my bearings straight right away and that meant finding a village. The mountain path was easy enough to trek down, I took pictures of the little flowers that grew along the side filling the compendium further.

I started reading through the copious amounts of books I had copied from Roqor’s Tower as I walked. The transparent HUD enough to help keep me from walking over the edge to my doom.

All of the books were only a few pages long, the developers didn’t want the player base losing too much interest too quickly. I started with A. Some were historical documents that told about the Kings who ruled each of the different floors. One book tried to go into the science behind the magic of the Tower, but even that got a little too Meta for me. One book was a book about herbs you could find for potion making.

[Skill Increase: Herbalism level 1]

I’d found a skill book! That meant that just copying the books to your journal WASN’T enough to earn the levels you actually had to read them to gain a level. I had a whole Ebook library waiting to be explored!

The mountain path met the forest, the deep slate grays of the rock giving way to the more vibrant greens of the lush underbrush. A stamped footpath carved through the forest, I followed it deeper into the woods. Usually you’re supposed to take the road LESS traveled but I figure if someone took the time to make the road in the first place then surely it goes somewhere for a reason.

Which it did, straight to a stream. Took some more pictures, got a few updated entries for the compendium. [Fish] and [Frog] were the most exciting. Why they need so many mundane pictures to fill the Compendium I’ll have no idea.

[Floor 1 Animals: 2/25]

It was better than no Floor 1 Animals but not by much. I briefly educated myself on the fish and frog, and learned that the fish was labelled as fresh water. Fresh water was a nice distinction, there must be an ocean on this floor otherwise why differentiate? At least I only had twenty three more animals total to find so that meant I wouldn’t have to get too many different fish in the ocean.

I continued my walk through the woods, grateful for walking shoes and not flip-flops or sandals. No socks, but that’s on me for sleeping barefoot. Some footwear was better than no footwear. Ha. Balder would probably agree with me. I’d have to wait a whole week before I’d hear his program again, something to look forward to.

I spotted a very unique stalk sticking up out of the ground a few feet off from the walking path. I studied it for a moment pulling it into view through my lens. Ker-chunk.

[Discovery: Yellow Curry Leaf.]

[New Compendium Entry: Magical Reagents- Yellow Curry Leaf]

I clicked on the tab and it brought me to the picture I just took of it. I clicked the pale white outline around the icon, taking me into the full category page.

[Name: Yellow Curry Leaf]

[Classification: Cooking and Potion Ingredient ]

[Notes: Yellow Curry Leaf is the mildest ranking in terms of heat produced from consumption. Red being the hottest and Orange sitting comfortably in the middle. The stalk regrows lost leaves in under a day. -Curried Flavors vol 6. pg 3-4.]

A cook book? I’d somehow picked up a cook book from the tower. I hadn’t made it that far through my reading list but the Compendium didn’t seem to need me to read it to put the relevant data where it belonged. I took only the leaves. Maybe I could get more if I came back later, who knows how long it would take me to find the door down. I could sell them for money, not that I was hurting for gold right at the moment. The perk granted to me by my class saw through to that.

I kept going back down along the path as it wound lazily through the trees. Passed a few sets of animal tracks which I also snapped a picture of. It didn’t count for animals found though it did reveal one I was missing: Deer. A rustling of feathers shot off from the tree above me, I was too slow on the draw of getting my camera out to take a picture so I missed it. At least one type of bird. I’d have to look for nests later and really explore the woods to see if I could find them.

The trees cleared a bit more, the underbrush rapidly looking more and more trampled the closer I got to the edge of the woods. The forest spread out, revealing a small town nestled next to the swift moving river.

[Discovery: Town]

The compendium chirped as it updated. I was finally somewhere! There were maybe thirteen total buildings in the whole place as I passed through the stacked log fence that created the border around it. It was definitely more of a village than a town but the compendium called it a town so I supposed it knew more than I did. A blacksmith station sat alongside the river, accompanied by the splashing of the working water wheel. The streets weren’t bustling but there were some people about and they looked at me just as much as I looked at them.

“H-hi!” I said cheerfully, trying to contain my excitement at finding another human person as I approached the first woman in a simple brown linen dress. She seemed a little bit older than me but still young enough to be youthful. Her hair was pulled back in a braid that wound around her head, a few stray strands poking out framing her forehead. She was busy at work pulling up weeds in her small front lawn garden, bits of dirt crossed her forehead. The woman stopped to face me, a surprised smile crept across her face as she gave me a full look.

“Oh hello.” She chuckled, “Something tells me you aren’t from around these parts?”

“What gave it away?” I smiled sheepishly, looking down at my ridiculous ensemble. Beach Bum was showing a lot of skin, definitely not a local style. “Could you tell me where I am right now?”

“This is Green’s Peak on the First Floor.”

[New Compendium Entry: Town- Green’s Peak; Floor 1]

“You guys wouldn’t happen to have any maps for sale around here would you?” I asked. The woman shook her head.

“We don’t have any cartographers here but there might be one in Seamyst. If you head up the road a little ways you’ll find the general store called The Dapper Crate; which might have a map but Plyne might try to cheat you on the price since you’re from out of town.”

[New Compendium Entry: Town- Seamyst; Floor 1]

[New Compendium Entry: Shop- The Dapper Crate, Green’s Peak; Floor 1]

[Owner: Plyne]

“Thanks for the heads up.” I smiled. My HUD focused on a set of plants that were in the garden. Two blank icons pulled up in the corner of my vision. There were things planted there that I needed for the compendium. I summoned the camera.

“This is going to sound weird, but may I take a picture of your plants?” I winced inwardly, grateful for the sunglasses hiding the pain in my eyes behind their dark lenses. I didn’t have a good ‘in-world’ explanation for what I was doing yet and just asking for a picture out of the blue was more awkward than I thought. The woman looked back at the plants, clearly not the question she’d expected to hear.

“As long as you’re not stealing them that sounds fine with me.” She said as she scooted over. I creaked the small waist high gate and entered the lawn crouching down beside her. Ker-chunk. Ker-chunk.

[New Compendium Entry: Magical Reagents- Thistlebloom]

[New Compendium Entry: Magical Reagents- Frostward]

“What’s this for?” She asked, watching me work.

“I’m a travel photographer.” The words came out faster than I’d meant for them to, but seemed to satisfy her. I continued to read off my HUD that scrolled at the bottom left of my vision. “I’m collecting pictures across all the floors to turn into a visual guide book for other travelers who want to explore the Tower.”

The woman nodded. “How fun! Have you been anywhere exciting yet?”

I shook my head. “This is my first stop. Although I do have this really great shot—” I pulled up the Viewpoint I’d taken a picture of at the top of the mountain and showed it to her on the small viewing screen.

“Oh that’s up the mountain isn’t it? Yeah, you can get a good view of this half of the floor from up there.” She nodded approvingly.

“What can you tell me about these flowers?” I asked pointing to the Thistlebloom and Frostward. “Any information is helpful for my compendium!”

“Well, I grow Thistlebloom for my stews, it helps to give you more stamina to get through the day if cooked, and Frostward for my foraging trips into the mountains. Both of them can be combined together to make a general Potion of Cold Resistance.”

My compendium pinged several times with new information being added. I ignored them out of politeness for the conversation at hand. A cooking skill sounded exciting as did the hinted alchemy for potion creation. She’d provided me so much information in our short conversation. Noodles, I hadn’t even introduced myself to her yet. My ID said my name was MykaReviews but I felt compelled to go by my real name rather than my handle.

“I’m Mica by the way, thank you so much again for letting me take pictures of your plants! They look wonderful.”

“Fyera, and I’m honored you think my plants are worthy of a compendium.” She smiled back. Another towns person stopped by leaning on the fence as he looked at the two of us talking. He looked strong and muscle-y, and wore a full chest of sculpted leather armor. It wasn’t dirty.

“This lady bothering you Fyera?” He asked, eyeing me closely. I gave my best clueless tourist impression.

“Oh shove off Waelen.” Fyera rolled her eyes, her hands resting on her hips. “You can’t be suspicious of everyone who walks into town. It’s by their coin that we can continue to live as peacefully as we do.”

Waelen frowned, his sight still set on me as he stared disdainfully at my wardrobe. “I’ve got my eye on you [Tourist]. No funny business.”

He moved along, muttering to himself as he walked back down the main road. He took up a leaning post against the corner of the blacksmith’s building where he continued to watch me with a rather obvious glare. I tried my best to ignore him. Of course I was going to draw all kinds of attention, I was a [Tourist] and I had no idea of any of the local customs. I closed up my camera and dismissed it back into the fanny pack.

Fyera turned to me, apologetically. “Sorry about Waelen. He’s the strongest in the village, next to Rowen the Blacksmith and he seems to think it’s his job to be the big protector. Truth is I’m more scared of the wild boars beyond the walls than I am of the people who come through.”

Another compendium update and another animal I’d have to find. “No he’s right to be wary of outsiders like me.” I said thinking of some of the other streamer’s styles of play. Murder hobos and looters who had no regard for the world they destroyed so long as they got what they wanted. “Not that I’m going to do anything bad but a healthy amount of suspicion is warranted when you live far away from real help.”

Fyera nodded, seeming to understand. “Well. You’re always welcome to come back here and take pictures.”

[New Compendium Entry: Home- Fyera, Green’s Peak; Floor 1]

A blank icon sat in front of me for the mundane compendium entry of ‘Home’. I looked around at the outside of the small cottage Fyera lived in. The cream colored boards of the walls were accented with white lattice and green clinging vines. A small covered porch with a chair and side table, on which was a book. It almost looked like my grandmother’s home in rural Mississippi.

“Fyera, may I take one picture of your home for my compendium?” I asked as an idea struck me.

“Sure.” She said stepping back out of the way. I stopped her.

“Actually, I was hoping you could pose in it for me. As the first person I’ve met I’d like to include you in the entry if that’s alright.” I said. Fyera seemed surprised but not opposed.

“My picture in the compendium?” She asked as she blinked, quickly looking over the state of her clothes. “Will that be alright?”

“Of course it’s alright! I’m making it so I get the final say in what pictures get added and I want the owner of this lovely home to pose with it.”

Fyera shuffled awkwardly over to beside the front door and dusted her hands off on the back of her dress. Oh no that wouldn’t do, her nerves showed through the first few pictures I took. She noticed my frown as I went through them.

“Did I ruin the compendium?” She asked with a small voice, her brown eyes filled with worry.

“No not at all!” I said sharing the tiny viewing screen with her. “This standing by the door seems a little stiff and very much like I asked you to pose for a picture. I think something more natural will make the compendium feel more friendly to readers. I want them to be envious of your home.”

“This rundown place?” Fyera asked looking back at the cottage.

“It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a home.” Truly it was. Something simple with enough space for me, my cat and my future spouse. A garden to tend to, a book to read, and a porch to read it on. A home.

“And you still want it for the compendium?”

“Yep.” I smiled. Fyera nodded and walked inside just long enough for me to worry I’d offended her when she came out again. She’d let down her hair, which cascaded in loose waves dusting her collar bone. Wearing a different scooped neck dress, a pale dusty peach in color with a starched white apron wrapped around the waist, it accented the color of the house’s walls. Her bare feet peeked out from under the fabric that almost found the ground.

“Fyera you look amazing!” I gasped as she sat down in the chair on the porch. She smiled, color flooding into her cheeks as she sat as primly as she could manage.

“Is this better?” She asked nervously, tucking a stray strand behind her ear. She was taking this way more seriously than I was. Her posing looked better, but it could use a bit more naturalism.

“Almost,” I said gently, getting my camera ready. “Try picking up the book and reading a little bit.”

Fyera picked up the book awkwardly from the table and opened it up. My journal pinged with an updated book as I could see the cover through the camera: Legends of the Frost Maidens. I waited, watching through the lens for the exact moment when she focused more on reading than on my presence. Ker-chunk.

[Compendium Updated]

[Skill Increase: Photography level 2]

I’d leveled again. I scrambled to pull up the picture of Fyera. It was perfect, like out of a magazine advertisement, even I was surprised. The light peeked through the clouds, casting a shining spotlight across the porch, highlighting her. A wind had shifted her hair delicately enough to make it look dreamy. She was fully engrossed in her book, a small smile sat on her face as she read. A perfect encapsulation of the life I wanted to live.

“How’d it turn out?” Fyera asked, suddenly right beside me. I nearly jumped, I’d been so engrossed at the picture I hadn’t heard her approach.

“It’s perfect.” I showed her on the tiny viewing screen. She gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth.

“By the Gods, is that really me?” She beamed as I nodded, her face flush with rosy color. “Thank you Mica!” She hugged me tight. “Oh this is so wonderful, I’m going to be in a compendium!”

“If I can figure out a way to get these printed I will definitely send you a copy!” I hugged her back. She pulled away from me and crouched down in her garden, being careful not to get dirt on her dress. When she stood up she held out a small bouquet of leaves and flowers from her Thistlebloom and Frostward plants.

“Here. Thank you for letting me and my home be part of your compendium.”

“Of course, thanks for agreeing to let me take pictures.” I smiled as I took them, slipping the bundle into the inky abyss of my fanny pack. I sent the camera away now that we were done with it.

“Do you want me to show you through town? I know you were looking for the general store and I could introduce you to Plyne.”

“An introduction from a local would be nice.” I agreed, especially if it lowered the chances of him trying to make me over pay for being a [Tourist.]

“Give me just a moment to go change again.” Fyera said, smoothing her dress out.

“Why?” I asked, gesturing to the dress she was in. “You look fine as you are.”

“Oh!” She blushed, taking the compliment as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Okay.”

And that was how I was introduced to all forty eight residents of the town of Green’s Peak.