"James?"

"Yeah?"

"That squirrel just waved and talked to us."

"Yeah."

"Okay, just making sure."

The squirrel skittered down the tree and looked back and forth between the two.

"This is your first digital realm, eh?" he asked.

Mouths slightly agape, the two nodded in perfect sync.

Vigat the squirrel nodded. "I figured. Only newbies we get here anymore are first-timers that get suckered into it. What'd they promise you guys?"

The mention of their bribe brought it back to their minds.

"Oh, snot!" James shouted. "Where are they?!"

Vigat held up his paws in a placating gesture. "Calm down, calm down. Whatever it is, it'll be in your stash. You gotta get to town to claim it, don't worry. Let's get you two squared away first, eh?"

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Squared away?"

Vigat scampered back up the tree and perched back on his branch. "Yeah, got to get you two started on your journey, don't we? As I said, the name's Vigat, and I... am your personal tutorial Guide."

Understanding dawned on the rookie adventurers. James nodded. "Oh, that makes sense, I guess."

Sarah crossed her arms with one hand on her chin. "Wait, this is a tutorial? What does that mean, exactly?"

Vigat rolled his little grey squirrel head. "You and every other newbie, nobody does their research ahead of time, do they? Just jump in with a life-altering decision and wing it? Sure, why not.

"Okay, here's the quick version: Every newbie wakes up under the same tree and gets attacked by the same crew of goblins. That's test one, and it decides your physical class. Go ahead, check your status screens."

Whispering the commands, James and Sarah pulled up their Character screens. Their stamina had recharged to full, but their health apparently didn't regenerate, it was stuck where the goblins had left it. The real change was in their classes: Sarah's now read SHIELD BEARER, while James's read WEAPON THROWER.

Their expressions both said it, but Sarah was the first to say it out loud.

"Shield Bearer? What the crap, man? That has to be the lamest class, right? Right?"

James agreed. "Yeah, Weapon Thrower sounds pretty gross, too."

Vigat gave an overly dramatic sigh, or, the best sigh a squirrel could give. "Yeah, like I said, that's your physical class. The next test determines your magic class. Once you have the two, you get to pick your true class. Every physical/magic combination has at least one, most have three or four. Some classes lean more physical, some more magical, some balanced, but every class has a bit of both."

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A thought occurred to James and he pointed back to the tree. "Wait, you said this tree was where every newbie starts, do we need to leave so the next people can go?"

The squirrel chuckled. "No, you're in your own instance of the tutorial, there are no other players here but you two, just us NPC's."

Sarah crinkled her brow. "It seems kinda weird that you know you're an NPC. I mean, it kinda ruins suspension of disbelief, right?"

Vigat actually looked impressed for a change. "Nice catch, not many see that. We Guides are a special case. Newest model AI, total system awareness. When you make it to town after the next test, you'll meet other NPC's, but they'll just look at you funny if you say things about the game or the real world."

James and Sarah looked at each other and nodded. James spoke for them. "Okay, sounds good. What's the next test?"

"Oh, that I can't help you with, I'm afraid. Here is where we part ways for just a bit. The tests put you in personality-compatible classes, knowing what's coming makes the placement accuracy nosedive. You'd probably wind up as a class you hated or at least liked less than your true class.

"So, tips before you go: First, James, those knives are only good for one throw, but they'll restock after a cooldown period. Game devs weren't big on consumables, so most things work on cooldowns like that. Second, loot is king. It doesn't matter what it is, take it. Kill something? Loot it. Find a chest or container not owned by a player or NPC you don't want to hate you? Loot it. Take. Everything. Gear is at least as important as skills, and you'll have avenues to make use of even the most useless loot. Start with those goblins."

James and Sarah turned to reappraise the goblins they'd slain, and when they turned back, Vigat was gone.

Shrugging, they went about their work. As it turned out, all they had to do was touch the goblins and a window presented itself. They could loot specific items, or tap LOOT ALL to take everything. When all goblins were looted, they were presented with a new pop up summarizing the total loot drop: nineteen copper coins and random gear that looked like it would fill the gaps in what their class assignment gave them. They each had the option to BID on one item, then they were able to take whatever they wanted from the rest. They took a moment to look at their inventories, then compare notes.

James Allen Quick: Inventory

Equipped: Basic Knife Bandolier (Damage: 150% DEX, Count: 6, Recharge Time: 30s per knife)

Equipped: Basic Leather Vest (Armor: 2)

Equipped: Basic Leather Bracer (Armor: 1) Equipped: Basic Leather Boots (Armor: 1)

Sarah Lynn Abernathy: Inventory

Equipped: Basic Wooden Buckler (Blocks: 50% STR, Cooldown: 1.5s)

Equipped: Basic Leather Breastplate (Armor: 3)

Equipped: Basic Leather Greaves (Armor: 2)

Equipped: Basic Leather Boots (Armor: 1)

After discussing it, it seemed obvious to the two that the gear the goblins dropped was meant for one of them or the other. Sarah took a Basic Leather Pauldron and a Basic Leather Vambrace, while James took a Basic Leather Bracer for his other arm and a Basic Overcoat. Equipping their new gear was as simple as tapping the icon in their inventory and selecting EQUIP from a drop-down menu that also included TRADE and DISCARD.

The pauldrons strapped over Sarah's boots and gave her armor from the top of her feet to just above her knees. The vambrace went on her shielded arm and covered her from wrist to just over the elbow. James's bracer meant he now had one on each arm, though they each covered less than Sarah's vambrace, and his overcoat was a heavy, sleeveless coat that hung to just below his knees and that couldn't close completely, leaving a six-inch wide gap down the front. Both Sarah's vambrace and James's coat popped on under their already equipped shield and bandolier.

After being looted, the goblin's bodies dissolved into glowing blue sparks similar to what they'd seen when they were assigned their first class. Gear equipped and nothing left to do in the clearing, James and Sarah scouted around until they found a trail leading into the woods. Wordlessly, they nodded to each other and started down the path.