Walking through the bustling streets of the village, Arthur was fascinated by what he witnessed. All the people around him looked very realistic in the way they behaved, walked, and even spoke. There wasn’t a single instance where he thought that this was fake, or perhaps this looked quite like a game.
Everything was nailed down to a degree where he started questioning how this was humanly possible. It simply felt far too real to be a game. Yet, by some kind of miracle, it was indeed a game and the proof was right in front of him.
The world felt like it was completely detached from him, moving on its own, whether he existed or not. He was but a new part of it and he liked that feeling.
‘Their attire is also what I would expect from a fantasy world. I have the same clothes too.’ Looking down at his own body, Arthur was clad in brown pants and a brown shirt which was a very typical peasant attire in a fantasy world.
But, Arthur really didn’t find it that demeaning to wear it. If anything, he felt like he was actually a part of a completely different world now and he was now but another villager going about his day.
However, there was one single problem with that logic.
“Hey, beautiful, wanna have fun with me?!”
“Look at him, goddamn! His face has so many details! I can even smell his stinky breath!”
“How do you even create something like this out of computer code? This is wild!”
‘It would’ve been a goddamn good fantasy to live in if it wasn’t for these dipshits!’ Arthur clicked his tongue with a glare.
Looking around him, Arthur noticed several players surrounding some villagers while examining them as if they were some kind of exotic animal.
“M-Mommy! What are they doing?” One of the villager little girls asked her mother with a worried look.
“Shh, don’t look at them, honey. They’re the ‘Gifted’. Let’s move.” The mother put her hand on her daughter’s mouth and pulled her away.
“Gifted?” Arthur heard that and raised an eyebrow. “Did she just call the players gifted? Now that I think about it, how do these villagers see us?”
With a frown, Arthur focused on the villagers passing by. That was when he realized that something really weird was happening. The villagers were staring at the players with a mix of fear and respect. It was a very distinct look so Arthur was able to read it rather quickly.
‘Gifted, huh… Is that the term they chose for us to represent the new players? Well, that does make some sense.’ He thought to himself.
Still, Arthur had some questions about it. For example, did the villagers have the same powers as the players did? If not, then how do they get stronger? Then there was also the notion of these ‘Gifted’ people. How are they integrated into the lore of the world? What was their purpose or role?
He did ask Fermen that question and the only answer he received was that he could do whatever he wanted while keeping in mind the consequences of his actions.
A lot of questions and no answers. Arthur wished to ask one of these villagers, but he felt that perhaps, they wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted. So, he decided to put these questions aside for now till he can come across someone who can answer them.
With that, the boy ignored the weird fellow players and continued his exploration of the place. On the way, Arthur noticed many distinct shops that sold a plethora of things like food, clothes, and even weapons.
Many players naturally entered these places to explore. Seeing the sheer number of these players, Arthur immediately decided to ignore these shops. He didn’t like crowded areas.
‘I will just find somewhere else to look for a quest or something.’ He shrugged. Looking at the players around him, he noticed the urgency in the way they walked as if they wanted to reach something as quickly as possible.
“I could never understand for the life of me why people hurry when they’re playing RPG games. It is supposed to be a slow burn. Just enjoy the moment instead of trying to level up as fast as possible like some power-hungry protagonists in cheap stories.” He rolled his eyes. This behavior was quite common in this particular genre of games.
People liked to get stronger as fast as possible as if it was some kind of challenge and forget the most integral part of an open-world game, which was exploration.
Arthur wanted the latter, and while doing it, he would get stronger too. He wasn’t aiming to be the strongest player in the world or anything like that. He left that to those people who like to stand out and be the heroes of this story.
‘I would happily give them the role of heroes even in my own story. Take care of the trouble for me while I enjoy the side stuff.’ He laughed to himself as he walked. However, before realizing it, the boy had found himself on the other side of the village.
Some players were moving left and right, but the numbers had dwindled as most players perhaps found some quests in the more crowded areas of the village.
“This seems to be a rather calm place.” He muttered as he looked around him. The streets around him had turned quiet. The beautiful sun cast its light upon the buildings and the trees planted across the entire path. The fresh air Arthur breathed felt quite rejuvenating and fulfilling. Even the weather wasn’t too warm nor too cold, indicating that it was perhaps the spring season in this region.
“That’s good.”
Since Arthur had no actual destination, he decided to start moving into the more remote areas of the village and he immediately found the best path to actually go through. To the side, there was a small alley that led somewhere. Yet, nobody seemed to have gone there yet.
‘Hmm, ok, we can start there I guess.’ He shrugged and walked into the alley, vanishing from sight rather quickly.
“This is some really tight alley, goddamn. I can barely fit in it.” He muttered as he continued walking. At the end of the alley, he found two paths that went to his left and two to his right. With no actual indication of what to do, he decided to choose a random one.
Then, for the next several minutes or so, Arthur kept walking left and right, going deeper and deeper into the more remote areas of the villages. The walls of the houses and buildings closed upon him from both sides and only left two possible paths for him, either move forward or go back.
After what seemed to be a dozen or so turns, he found himself in front of a dead end. But, surprisingly, at the end of it was a small shop with an old hanging sign above it.
The boy stood there for a while with a blank expression. Then, he sighed and said. “Isn’t this too obvious? I get that exploring can bring me to areas people haven’t reached before, but this is too goddamn obvious! A shop in a remote area of the village. I bet there is some kind of eccentric old man inside that will give me this insane quest and I will earn a really good item from it.”
Arthur had seen too many instances of this happening for him to ignore it. He didn’t know if this was a deliberate setup from the developers or not, though.
“But, even if this looks obvious. Who am I to deny such an opportunity? If it’s a good quest, I might do it.” He smiled and started walking toward the shop.
On the sign, Arthur read ‘Open’ indicating that the shop was available for customers. However, he still didn’t know what the shop even sold as the rest of the sign had weathered away rather quickly.
So, with no other option, he opened the wooden door and walked inside. However, before he could even look at anything or register anything, he was assaulted by something.
*BOING*
Something soft hit his face and made him fall back to the ground.
A//N: Thanks for reading.