Roy opened his eyes and spotted a black stone obelisk raised on a gray stone platform with steps leading up to it. He stood around fifty feet away and it looked like it had something inscribed on its shiny surface. When he set foot on the top step he could see his reflection contained within the edges of one of the Oblisk's faces. He had only a breath or two before a window surprised him with a small bit of musical and adventurous-sounding fanfare.
Welcome to Ostrand!
As a Human Swordsman, you have the potential to become someone great, unrivaled among your peers, and a legend worth songs and storytelling. At level 1 you are but a weakling in a world filled with peace and danger, lands unknown to you for which you must become strong to set a moment's gaze.
Fear not! Here is a little something to get you started. They will surely prove useful to you.
You obtained a storage bangle. You can now use the Inventory Skill. You can now use the Status Skill. Tools and materials useful for survival have been added to your inventory. A crudely drawn map has been added to your inventory. An Iron Sword has been added to your inventory. A minor mana potion has been added to your inventory. A warding lamp has been added to your inventory. A linen shirt has been added to your inventory. Linen trousers have been added to your inventory. Underwear has been added to your inventory. Leather boots have been added to your inventory.
"Wait what? Underwear?"
Roy looked down to see that while he now wore a bracelet-type accessory around his right wrist, he was otherwise naked in the middle of the clearing, standing before the obelisk in no more than what he was born with.
"Inventory! Inventory!"
A window similar to the previous ones opened in front of him and instead of words the window displayed a grid of pictures that represented the items he possessed, along with a number to indicate how many of each item he had along with their names. Roy fumbled frantically to figure out how to use the inventory skill. He quickly realized that he could either tap the items and they would appear in the air and drop to the ground before him, or he could reach into the window to grasp the items and pull them out of his storage. He moved quickly to pull on his only set of underwear and almost fell to the ground in the middle of pulling his pants up. With pants and a shirt on at least, he felt comfortable enough to take a quick 360-degree look around him and confirm that no one else saw him completely naked.
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"Man, that was awful. What if someone walked in on me? And just how did I end up naked anyway?"
He pulled on the set of boots and finally, he was ready to continue on and begin his journey of discovery and adventure. And he started that by consulting the new map he received. It was old, worn, and tattered with faded words, symbols, and images. In the state the map was in, it was no better than a five-year-old drawing on yellowed copy paper with a crayon.
"Geez, this map sucks! I can't read any of this. It probably says 'Forest of Something' but it's too faded to tell."
Roy approached the stone obelisk again in hopes of further enlightenment, but none came. No new windows popped up, no glowing words like he'd see in a video game, no new soundbite to indicate something happened. Roy looked upward towards the sky, seeing a few clouds slowly drift by overhead as the leafy trees around him quietly rustled because of the gentle breeze. At a loss for words, he picked a direction and started walking.
And just in case, he took out the sword from his inventory and slung the scabbard over his shoulder. The sword was hardly impressive in design, looking every bit as common and cheap as he'd expect a free item to be. But he'd keep it in hand, just in case.
Although this was all still probably a dream at the end of the night, so did it matter?
He wasn't sure. His senses told him otherwise, from the sound of the rustling leaves to the feel of the leather within his grip, it all felt real to him. As real as life itself. Perhaps, this was the kind of stuff that constituted dreams all the time but most people never came to remember them. In a textbook he read for class, dreams were sometimes seen as a behavioral evolution to teach things or the act of neurons in the brain randomly firing while the mind tried its best to interpret them.
Boing! Boing!
"Oh, I've heard of you!" A completely non-threatening ball of slime without any distinct features other than its clear body and round shape bounced--
"Aaaand you're dead."
You have slain Level 1 Slime. You gained 10 experience points.
Congratulations! You have slain your first creature, the weak and totally-not-a-threat-ever Level 1 Slime!
In recognition of this moment, you will receive an extra 10 experience points.
Congratulations! You have slain a Named Monster, Sam the Slime. You have slain a Named Monster for the first time.
In recognition of this moment, you will receive 50 experience points.
"Sweet! One slime and I'm almost at level 2. [Status]. I see, so I still have another 30 XP left. I guess I'll search around for a bit before I move on."
If there was one thing his friend Jeff taught him, it was never to blow through a game's introduction to reach the good stuff. Spending time farming monsters for experience or items helped him understand the game and how to play, and the items or money left behind were put to use at the next major town or plot point. It was inevitable that Roy would need to spend money to progress further.
"Shoot. I forgot to use my skills..."