Looking around, Killian found himself standing in a clearing surrounded by long grass. Four people stood with him, though they were stiff and unmoving. As he walked towards them, the one in front looked at him and moved towards him while the three behind him disappeared.

"Welcome to the New World, brave hero. My name is Jarvus and I shall be teaching you the basics and to answer any questions you may have."

Jarvus had slicked back gray hair, a mustache, and was wearing a black suit. He looked like a stereotypical butler.

"The first thing I need to ask, is if you would like to skip the tutorial? We highly recommend going through it if this is your first time here. Even if this is not your first time here, it could still be beneficial and you can always learn something new."

Killian didn't hesitant in his answer. "No, I would like to do the tutorial." This was his first time playing this game, and from the little he heard while in the hospital, it was unlike any other game out there.

"Wonderful, then let's continue." Jarvus smiles. "The first thing you need to know is that the currency is the same as what you need to level up. In other words, you will need to find a balance between your equipment and your level."

"That seems a little unfair." Killian interrupts. "That seems like the definition of pay to win"

"Yes, that may be how it seems, but that brings us to the next topic, skills. In other worlds, you only need to say out the skill name, or even just want to use it, and the system will activate the skill. Here, there are no skills. Everything you want to do, you have to do yourself. The system still helps you, but only by showing you how to do it. You will see a projection of yourself doing the action, and this is where level comes into play. The higher your level, the less help you need, so the system will show these projections less often. If someone with a high enough level wants to learn something new, they will then need to pay a teacher to teach them. To use magic, they will need to know every symbol needed in their spells. So, there is not much of an advantage in boosting your level past your skill level.

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"Besides," Jarvus says and smiles, "there is greater reward with more risk. Killing a level 100 giant at level 1 will give you many more rewards than if you were of a similar or higher level."

"So how do you level up with money? Am I buying levels?"

"Mmm, in a way. The currency of New World is Hard Essence. This Hard Essence comes in many different sizes, which determine the amount of Soft Essence they give. You can consume Hard Essence, which gives you Soft Essence, then you use the Soft Essence to Level Up. You cannot turn Soft Essence back into Hard Essence, and if you die, all your Soft Essence is destroyed while you drop all your Hard Essence.

To Level Up, you call up your Stats, and if you have enough Soft Essence, there will be an option to improve one of your Stats. Your Stats are: Constitution, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Attunement.

Constitution is your overall health. It affects your endurance, toughness, and resistance to physical afflictions.

Strength increases your muscles. You can carry heavier things, hit harder, run faster, jump higher.

Dexterity increases your reflexes and nimbleness. Your body will more easily follow your commands, and be more flexible.

Affinity increases mana efficiency, using less mana for the same outcome.

“The most you can increase a stat is to 100, so the highest level is 500. However, after reaching max level, you can evolve, which resets you back to level 1 but doubles your level limit. You with me so far?”

At Kilian’s nod, Jarvus continues.

“Good, then it is time to demonstrate. All you need to do is climb over the wall,” Jarvus points to the side, where a 5-foot wall appears. “The system will you how to do it, and you just have to copy it. This may seem easy, but it is just to demonstrate how the system helps you. Now go on and try.”

Kilian moved toward the wall, and a transparent image of himself appeared. The image moved toward the wall, grabbed the top, and pulled itself up, mounted the wall, then lowered itself down the other side. Kilian easily copied it.

“Good,” Jarvus says. “Now we’ll increase your stats a bit and do it again.”

This time, the image ran and jumped at the wall. It grabbed the top and swung its legs over the top.

Kilian tried to copy it, but didn’t lift his feet high enough and hit the wall.

“Don’t worry about it, it takes some getting used to, just keep trying.”

This time, the image went in slow motion, giving a clearer image of its form and timing. Kilian tried to copy it again, and this time got over it, though not nearly as smoothly or quickly as the image.

“There you go, and with even higher stats, you could just jump over the wall.”

The image again appeared, and ran and jumped at the wall, easily clearing it. As Kilian attempted to copy it, he quickly fell. He had put too much force on the ground and tripped. Trying again, Kilian’s foot caught the edge of the wall, falling headfirst down a large pit. Before his scream could escape his lips, he hit the ground and his vision went black.