Appearing smack-dab in the middle of what seemed to be a medieval market square without any stalls present, William needed a moment to get his bearings. Hopefully, he would soon get used to this fading-in scenery that was no doubt Eterniums equivalent of a loading screen. It just lacked the helpful-yet-obvious tips and hints.

What struck him first was the aches of his own body, feeling more like an old man who could barely hold himself straight under a lack of strength - literally, in his case. So that’s the punishment for doing poorly on the physical trials? Hunching over to ease the burden on his spine, this strain alone was enough to get William huffing.

Unfortunately, that also drove the smells of a medieval city with its cornucopia of pungent flavours and odors right into his nose, making him gag. Otherwise pleasant rays of midday sunshine seemed to painfully sting his exposed skin like sharp needles. That must be courtesy of his irregularly high perception then.

William shuddered at the thought of not being able to escape this if he had access through a DIVE pod. At least with just the VR headset, he could take a literal breather sometimes.

All around him, there were players popping into existence every now and then, always accompanied by a small light show announcing their arrival. Quite a few of them almost immediately dashed off in some direction, and a majority of them wore a stony-faced visage that seemed frozen in place. Those must be the people going for the absolutely cheapest option with an out-dated headset and a mouse and keyboard for controls, turning this immersive simulation into nothing more than any other videogame.

William didn’t know whether to pity or to envy them.

“Ho there, lad! Welcome to Ardania, crown jewel of humanity's ingenuity!”, a hearty, bellowing voice seemed to call out to him, and just a bit too sudden for William's nerves - and ears - making him wince. “Ah, didn’t mean to startle you there, boy. Just tried to get your attention before you ran off like all these other folks”, the man continued as he approached William, the stranger's stocky frame and thick, hairy forearms immediately reminding him of Robert.

“It’s alright, I was just.. disoriented a bit. It’s my first time here”, managed to get out under his laboured breath.

“Heh, that much is clear as day! You travellers are all sporting the same kind of raggy clothes after all”, the man carried on with a chuckle, leisurely crossing his arms as he came to a stop in front of William. They had a bit of a height difference, but in no way was this man a dwarf, despite the braided beard and bald head.

“Travellers? Is that what they call us here? Fitting.”

“Sure is! Now, listen here, lad.. I don’t want to sound rude, but you’re clearly a fresh spawn here. And so far, we’ve had quite a few of you travellers end up in all kinds of.. unpleasant situations, not just for you”, the stranger explained to him while scratching the thick gruff of his beard. “So rather than letting all of you lose in the city like a horde of rabid animals, we’d rather show you along a bit.”

“That’s, err.. very kind of you! Thanks!”, William mustered enough attention to give a proper answer and not be rude to this man. To be perfectly honest, he was just absolutely entranced by the perfectly realistic depiction of every single detail. There wasn’t even a hint at frame issues or low-poly graphics. If he didn’t know any better, he would be convinced that all of this was real.

His stats were kinda awful and tortured him, but everything else was mostly awesome!

“Don’t mention it, lad. You seem like a decent young man and I’d hate to see you get in trouble just because you’re unfamiliar with this place. But let’s step aside a bit, looks like they just keep coming in..”, the stranger reasoned and motioned towards a good dozen of players appearing in quick succession.

Shuffling towards a nearby fountain that was gently splashing its water in small streams, the hairy man settled down on a bench and motioned for William to sit down as well, which he followed suit. Or at least as quickly as his body allowed.

If this was the introduction to the game, he wouldn’t want to miss out on any crucial details, or even any potential social quests from interacting with NPC’s.

“You see, this city has been around for some two hundred years now, but we’ve only been prospering for a portion of that time. City guards have to be strict to maintain order sometimes, and while we ordinary folk know the ropes, you travellers already tend to overstep the law more than enough. And they almost never go easy on you, even if you honestly didn’t know any better”, the gruff man continued his explanation.

“Sounds harsh, but reasonable”, William nodded along, as if to queue the man into continuing his dialogue. In any other game, this would be just with the press of a button.

“Right you are! But really, as long as you don’t try anything you were clearly warned against, you should be fine for now. And if you don’t know better, most folks would give you an answer if you ask properly.”

“I see, I see.. in that case, what are some things that other travellers often get wrong here?”

“Lad, you might just be the most reasonable of your kind I’ve seen so far”, the bearded man chuckled and stroked his facial hair with a thoughtful expression. “But to answer your question.. it seems so many of you don’t understand basic decency. They are either impatient, rude or overly curious, and sometimes all of those combined. Most of the time, this behaviour only upsets people and causes us unnecessary troubles, but some take it too far”, he continued with a heavy sigh. “I’ve heard about travellers blatantly trying to trespass in peoples houses, steal from homes or shops, and even outright attack inhabitants unprovoked.”

“Wow, that’s just.. I have no words”, William could only shake his head at these stories, but he could also very much imagine players just treating this like any other game, especially those that try to blitz through the content in an attempt to gain an advantage.

Most of the time, these actions had no consequences that couldn’t be rectified somehow, if anything at all. Waltz into the private quarters of the mage academy? No big deal, you might get some funny dialogue or be automatically removed from the area, but that’s it. Yet here, in this living and breathing world that was clearly far more sophisticated than anything before, one should also treat it as if it were real.

“I didn’t want to believe it myself, until one of them tried to break into my backroom and ransack my strongbox. Emphasis on tried, since even a blind beggar would have noticed their poor attempt at being sneaky”, the man snorted with a dismissive tone.

“Trust me, I have no intention to commit any crimes. Knowingly, of course.”

“Sorry, lad. Didn’t want to imply anything, just a fair warning for you, so you don’t end up on the wrong side of the law”, the man nodded along, but put on a more cheery face. “But enough of that! I know you travellers are here for a reason, and more than often, that reason is adventure. You should’ve arrived with a class to help you along the way, right? What were you gifted with?”

Gifted, huh? William wasn’t so sure about that. “Uhm.. it’s something called an Aspirant, I think? It’s a warrior class for beginners, as far as I know.”

“I see.. can’t say I know any more about it than you do, but you could approach the city guards and ask for some pointers. They told us to send any travellers with a warrior class their way, but..”, the man seemed to hesitate for a moment.

“What is it?”, inquired curiously.

“Really, I don’t mean to offend you, lad. But you don’t strike me as a warrior.. you’re barely holding yourself up as you are, let alone with armor and weapons!”

Gritting his teeth in frustration, William hung his head. This game certainly didn’t pull any punches, but did it have to be so cruel?

“I know, but.. I can’t go back on this decision anymore. I have to live with it for now.”

“Mhhmm, you’re not entirely wrong there.. but nobody’s forcing you to risk your life right away. You could try and find work that’s more cut out for you, or ask for training that would help strengthen your body.”

“Training? You mean I could improve my stats somehow?”, William lit up at this and momentarily forgot to keep up more of a roleplay attitude, now possibly having found a way out of his predicament. But apparently, the NPC’s in this world either didn’t register his lingo, or could seamlessly translate it for their algorithm.

“There’s a few ways, though I doubt you could manage most of them right now. I know that new guards regularly train by lifting weights for their strength, and bathe in icy or hot water to increase their endurance. Maybe you can convince them to at least help you out with that, if you really want to become a proper fighter.”

William nodded along, and it only made sense really. If the game gave you an actual body to operate inside the game, this body could be improved like his real-world self. But before he could ponder that any more than necessary, a notification popped up in his vision.

Quest alert! ‘Baby Steps’: Visit the City Guard to learn more about your class and to find ways to improve yourself as a fighter. Reward: One piece of class-appropriate gear, Variable: information about your class, Exp: 150. Accept/Decline?

Eagerly accepting the first quest in his career, William felt much better about spending all his time in the game so far just talking with an NPC. Not that it has been unpleasant.

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind! I really don’t want to step back from my decision, since I promised my friends I would fight with them as a frontline fighter. But I suppose that’s gonna have to wait until I’m better suited for that. Then again, who knows when and where they’ll arrive..”, William was rambling on, but the man next to him clearly followed along, and seemed to appreciate what he had to say.

“That is very much commendable, even if not the wisest decision. Tell you what, lad? If that quest doesn’t work out, or you just have enough of putting yourself in harm's way, come back to me and we’ll find you something that’ll help you progress along. Just ask for Bertram the Barber - that’s me, of course”, the man named Bertram offered him a hand with a grin and a wink. Everything about this man just seemed rather wholesome.

William cracked a smile at this demeanor, once again being reminded of Robert. If the ratio of facial hair was inverted, they would be even more alike.

Quest alert! ‘If One Door Closes…’:: Visit Bertram the Barber if you find yourself unable to further walk your chosen path. Reward: Exp: 50. Accept/Decline?

Well, every little bit of Exp counts if he wasn’t yet cut out for battle, and considering how friendly this man had treated him so far, it would be rude not to accept it - and so he did, along with the handshake.

“I appreciate it, Bertram. I really do. My name is William, nice to meet y--ouch!”, he replied courteously, but yelped in pain as the far too strong squeeze on his hand threatened to crush it altogether.

-5 health. Minor crushing damage.

Was this a joke? Just a handshake actually damaged him?

“Ah! Sorry about that, didn’t mean to hurt you there! Damn, looks like your constitution is really low, I even held back on that”, the barber offered his apologies with a nervous chuckle. “Hope I didn’t break your hand just now..”

Holding his aching hand, William not only winced from the pain, but also at the thought that just a too strong handshake easily shaved off ten percent of his total health. Maybe he should think this through.

“It’s alright, just hurts a bit.. or maybe a lot. What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, right?”, he tried to play it off, but watched in the corner of his eye his health trickle back in very small increments.

“Hah! That’s the spirit!”, Bertram shot back with a hearty chuckle, visibly at ease again.

You have encountered Bertram the Barber, a naturally good-hearted man who seems to be trustworthy towards most people, even a complete stranger. Is it misguided and naive trust, or an underlying confidence? Doesn’t matter, he likes you! (Note: this is very uncommon in an otherwise harsh and uncaring world as Eternium.) Current reputation: Friendly (2000).

“Alright then, William. I should probably get back to those lost little lambs finding themselves in a strange new world and make sure they don’t get torn apart by the wolves”, the hairy man quipped and stood up from the bench. “If you’re looking for the training grounds of the city guards, they’re near every one of the main gates. Closest one is that way, just straight down the road, you can’t miss it.”

William nodded and got up as well, standing on wobbly legs again. This would need some serious getting used to. And his body gave him another signal, with his stomach audibly rumbling. Or was that just his real body telling him to finally take a break? “Thanks, Bertram. Do you know a good inn around where I could get something to eat? I don’t want to start training on an empty belly.”

“Boartusk Tavern, that’s my usual place. They’ve got a great meat platter! But.. Do you even have any money on you? I’m pretty sure you travellers don’t wake up with anything except those clothes.”

“Ahh.. yeah, that might be an issue”, William admitted as he grasped for his pockets and couldn’t feel anything in them, not even a speck of dirt or lint. Wait, didn’t he deposit a few hundred dollars the day before? Where did his money go?

“I’ve overheard some travellers talk about money they send here prior to their arrival, and if you got any business with money, visit the banks”, Bertram continued and pointed down another road, opposite of where the city guard would be found. “Next one is that way, you can’t miss it either since it literally has ‘Bank’ written on it.”

“Right, makes sense. Thanks again, Bertram!”, William slightly bowed his head and gave the man a wry smile, mostly because his back already hurt just from standing.

“Bah! Don’t start kowtowing with me, I’m just a lowly barber”, Bertram waved him off, but still flashed a smile. “Then again, can’t really shake hands without sending you to the nearest healer. You be safe now, lad! Don’t get in trouble, and come visit me when you can.”

“I will, don’t worry”, the stat-screwed fighter waved goodbye as the stocky barber went off and tried to approach another fresh-spawn, but William had already turned towards the road that should lead him to the bank, so he didn’t see how that encounter panned out. Surely, yet another player would have the fortune of encountering this friendly soul.

With a distant bell tower striking the eleventh hour, if William counted correctly, he was suddenly aware of the passage of time again. How long had he already spent in this game? He still didn’t know how much time the trials had taken, and his conversation with Bertram wasn’t exactly a short one either.

Then again, all William had really thought about until now was just how fan-freaking-tastic this game was! He couldn’t remember the last time something sucked him in so much that he didn’t notice or even care about the time. Honestly, even if this game was just a medieval social simulator, with this kind of quality, it was worth every damn cent. And that just now was only a beginner's experience! So much to do, so much to see!

His lips turned into an excited grin, William almost forgot about his aching back and legs struggling to keep him standing, or rather walking. Sure, he hasn’t earned even a single point of experience so far, and even the lowest enemies could probably easily take him down. And yes, his hand still flashed with a dull pain every now and then just from getting his hand squeezed too tight in a handshake.

Actually, there really wasn’t too much to be excited about in his current state. One pleasant conversation that was most likely scripted to welcome new players didn’t make for a whole game. And until William could somehow get his characteristics up, he would probably have to stay within the city for now. Maybe Robert and Chelsea managed to do better than him, and they could balance out his abysmal stats?

With a slightly deflated sigh, William pulled up the ingame menu to log out for just a little bit. Maybe he could contact his friends somehow, see how they fared and then rendezvous for a strategy meeting? The game did have the option to contact the outside world once you were inside a DIVE pod, though William wasn’t entirely sure anymore how that worked. He didn’t even know their ingame names yet!

“Ehh.. I’ll figure it out somehow”, he shrugged that thought off and confirmed his choice to logout. For him, the world blurred out once again and his field of view turned white, momentarily showing the glaringly white surroundings of the “waiting room” again, before even that faded away and pulled him back to the real world.

For the citizens of Eternium, an unhealthily thin and lanky young man just collapsed in the middle of the street, with people rushing to his aid as he didn’t seem to move anymore.