As the server went live the players were transported to their individual starting areas in different sectors of the galaxy. In a flash of light, Prakash arrived at the starting zone. Looking around, he saw a wide expanse of matte black floor. Arranged in a wide circle of a few hundred metres were dark curving monoliths that reached into the sky. It gave Prakash the impression of standing in the middle of a hand that was about to close him in. Further out were skyscrapers that lit up the night sky. At the furthest point, he could make out a line that led straight up into the sky, with small dots moving along the conical line.
‘Must be the space elevator. That’s probably where we should be heading towards if we want to leave the planet’ Prakash thought to himself. Looking around, he wasn't the only one taking the sight in. Stumbling his way away from the arrival zone, he came across someone who looked like his friend.
“Diana?” he asked unsurely.
“Prakash? You look, different. I like what you did with the eyes” she replied after giving him a cursory inspection.
“Yeah, you too. Blonde huh? Looks good on you. I see that you chose to stay human as well” Prakash said as he walked up to her.
“Not really interested in turning into an angry fried chicken or any of the weird species available. Have you added the others yet?” Diana asked. He slapped himself on the head. How could he forget? He quickly added his friends’ usual id to his friend list and found his friends at the meeting place indicated in the group chat.
Prakash and Diana made their way to a group of friends waiting at the entranceway. The relatively well-built man who was looking around waved enthusiastically when he saw the two approaches.
"About damn time. Took you two love birds long enough" he cried out with a grin as they joined up with him which Prakash just replied with an eye roll. “What now?” asked another man with the brown hair. “We should split up and gather information. We were given complete freedom to explore this world. Not much was said about how to play and there were no tutorials as well. Other than tech progression, we weren’t even sure how individual progression were measured” replied Horn, a muscular man with brown hair.
“Good idea. Split up and meet near the space elevator in 3 hours?” asked Helix. With everyone on the same page, they each head in a different direction towards the bustling metropolis.
***
Prakash wandered around marvelling at the lively atmosphere of NPCs milling about, cars zipping between the towering skyscrapers that lit up the night sky and silhouettes of huge spaceships could be observed looming above.
The first thing he noticed was that every NPC moved with a purpose and every conversations were unique. It was everything Future Games promised and more. The sound, smell and lights created an experience and immersion that greatly surpasses any titles that came before it. If he didn't know better, he wouldn't have thought that he was playing a game but actually living in the real world with technology a few decades ahead of the current Earth.
Taking a moment to admire the night sky filled with spaceships drifting abound, a sense of melancholy washed over him as he recalled what transpired on Earth. ‘Space explorations were no longer feasible on Earth due to the abundant space debris floating around the lower atmosphere. Such a wasted opportunity. It used to be our final frontier, but now only explorable through an alternate reality' he thought to himself.
Prakash continued his aimless meandering across an old district filled with red-bricked buildings. He caught a lovely waft that made his mouth water. Following it, he turned into a narrow alley and arrived at a crowded food stand which sold meat skewers.
Noticing the young man standing around looking at his store, “New here?” asked the stall owner.
“Yes. In fact, I just arrived. What are those if you don’t mind me asking?” Prakash asked with curiosity.
“These are Kaoting skewers. A local delicacy. 3 credits each. Wanna give it a try?”
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Prakash wondered if the taste engine was as good as the other realistic aspect of the game he encountered so far. So, he decided to purchase one and pay the 3 credits with the hundred credits every player was given to help them get started. Putting the piece of meat into his mouth, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Wow," he said unconsciously at which the store owner just replied with a proud grin. The meat was juicy and had a pleasant unique taste that couldn't be found on any protein found on Earth. The spices that were sprinkled on highlighted the meat's flavour without overpowering it. Within seconds, he finished the skewer. Amazed with how good the food tasted in the game, he ordered another one, this time, slowly savouring the flavours while he eavesdropped on the various conversations of the other patrons to gather more information. One particular conversation between the rough-looking man beside him and the stall owner caught his attention.
“The newly arrived freshies aren’t making the situation any better. In fact, it's making our jobs as hunters more difficult. The planetary government is worried about the rebels recruiting them and expanding the rebel forces” complained the man to the owner in between bites.
“It wouldn't be a problem if you get rid of the rebels faster. Still having trouble finding the bases of those thieves?” the shopkeeper replied in between serving the different customers crowding around his little food stand.
“Thieves? Bah, please. They are professionals. Not any group of thieves can steal spaceships consistently or soup up a shipyard to the point of retaking them close to impossible.” the man grumbled. Taking a sip from the mug of beer he then added, “the small war they are waging with the ruling party is getting worse every day. This new influx of freshies will probably make the situation worse. They are an unknown variable.”
“You know, you could also do the same thing. Recruit those freshies and deny them to the enemy. Like this man here” as the stall owner nodded his head towards Prakash.
The man looked Prakash up and down. He scowled when he saw Prakash’s protruding belly, “What’s your name boy?”
Excited by the opportunity of a possible quest, he replied “Gulliver. I heard your conversation with the owner. My party and I are interested to help if you could elaborate more on the problem?”
“And what makes you think we need your help? You should look to exercise before you start helping others. Don’t want you catching a heart attack with what you’re doing” the man scoffed while chugging down his bear.
Unfazed, Gulliver put on his best sales pitch, “for starters, it looks like you severely need the extra manpower. We are more than happy to help if you wouldn’t mind showing us the ropes of how things work around here. My friends and I are after all, new here.”
The hunter mulled over if he should recruit a group of unimpressive strangers. But the hunter association were notified by the Planetary Council to recruit the incoming waves of explorers to bolster their numbers as much as to prevent them from aiding the rebels. They have been stretched too thin after being forcibly conscripted to not only fight the rising groups of local rebels seeking to overthrow the government on top of their usual jobs of hunting pirates and beasts in space. As far as the man was concerned, the council had it coming with how much they were exploiting the miners.
Sighing, he reluctantly said to Gulliver “Alright. Do you know where the Hunters’ Hall is?”
Gulliver nods his head since he passed the Hall while exploring the city earlier.
“Good. Meet me at the entrance with your group in 30 minutes. And don’t be late” as he finished up his remaining skewers and slammed his mug on the small stall. He tapped his bracelet to the store owner’s and left after completing the transaction.
“Yes sir. We’ll be there” Gulliver quickly replied to the man's back as he walked away.
A ding sounded in his head. He recognised the sound indicating that he had a notification. However, he tried willing the UI into existence as would any other game. To his annoyance, nothing happened. Prakash recalled that AO interfaces were performed via the smart bracelets on his arm just like how he added his friends earlier. Mumbling to himself that this really takes getting used to, he pulled up the notification and read:
Quest received. Rebel Scum (part I)
Meet up with Hunter Gabriel with your party in front of the Hunters’ Hall.
Quest time remaining: 00:29:38
Reward: Tutorial on the game combat mechanics.
He closed it and sent a message to the group saying he found a tutorial quest for the party. Gulliver explained to his friends that based on the conversation he overheard, it probably also serves as one of the main story quests for this planet. Phoenix or Diana as known in the real world replied "it's probably a good idea to take up the quest." Horn said he received a similar offer from a shady woman in the junkyard about liberating the city from the corrupt oppressors a few minutes earlier. He assumed it was probably from the opposing faction. This prompted an intense debate on which faction should they join.
They eventually decided to join the ruling faction and met up with Hunter Gabriel at the Hunters’ Hall.