*Evan POV*

I was rocking back and forth on a wooden chair with my legs on top of the wooden table. I looked around at all the things I had made - a small room with small windows fitted among all the wooden walls, floor, and ceiling. My workshop tools were lined up on one side of the wall and the table and chair were exactly in the middle. It resembled an interrogation room, but the torches and light coming from the windows made it look more like a pseudo-interrogation room.

As long as I don’t have to pay taxes, this house is good enough. Or at least until my house is found by some kind of tax collector, but even if they do, what are they going to do? Sue me? I’ll just make another house somewhere else… I can’t believe it’s only my second day in this world, and I’m already thinking about tax fraud.

My mind had been wandering, but I finally decided to focus on my next move. Firstly, I opened up the systems map function which showed me the black, unexplored part of the world around me. My house was in the very middle of the map, with some forest I had explored, and two kingdoms - one ruined and one flourishing. Secondly, my gamer mind wants to explore the Ruined Kingdom first, but frankly, I don’t want to waste time. I want answers.

I doubt I’m going to find much of anything in the ruined castle, so I’m going to the not ruined kingdom first to get some answers.

Anyway, I better start preparing for the journey. The kingdom is a bit far away to go by walking, so it’s a good idea to go now since the sun just rose some time ago. I looked at my inventory before finally getting up from the chair and walking towards my workshop table. I checked my inventory and made some extra lesser healing potions, some arrows, and some fire arrows from the leftover materials I had.

I started having thoughts about whether or not I will find something there, but either way, if I don’t find anything in the Kingdom, I could always mine the entire thing out for materials or just live there. This is Terraria after all. I can do whatever the hell I want.

While I was considering all my options, an ominous notification interrupted my thoughts.

Jeff the guide has arrived!

I was flabbergasted for a moment until I remembered why I had created this house in the first place. It was not for me to live in, but for the NPCs to start coming in.

Suddenly, I heard someone knocking on my door before a man with messy brown hair walked in. He was wearing a white, brownish buttoned shirt, blue pants, and black boots. He looked to be in his 20s and seemed carefree.

"Greetings," said the person whom I assumed was Jeff the guide, nonchalantly, as if it was a normal thing to do.

I was not expecting this, so the only thing I could do was fumble in my response. "Um, uh... hi?"

He smiled like an old friend meeting after a long time. "Hello, my name is Jeff, and I will be your guide."

I kind of figured that part out.

"Wait, hold on!" I yelled out as soon as I noticed something wrong. "Where did you even come out from!? I explored this whole area last night, and there was no one nearby! Did you just pop into existence?"

I had so many questions held inside me, but he only smiled back in an understanding way. "I see that you are confused, but it's not a problem since I am your guide," he said as if it was natural. "Let me explain, I and some Chosen ones will go towards the Chosen Heroes to help them in their sacred quest."

"That's all cool and all, and I get where you're coming from. But that doesn't explain where the hell you popped out from!!" I thought to myself. "And, aren't you all supposed to be NPCs? You know, lifeless dolls who follow their A.I. or something?"

"What do I do now? I wanted NPCs to come to this place, but this is a little absurd. NPCs do exist in the game, and the guide is there from the beginning of a new playthrough. But... should that guide really exist here as well?"

I guess it doesn't matter in the end. I need help, but more importantly, I need answers. So, first, let's test his authenticity.

"Are you a person or an NPC?" I asked calmly.

"I am simply whatever you call me," he responded with a smile.

So, he neither agreed nor disagreed, which means he at least knows what an NPC is. But, just in case, let's ask that as well.

"What I mean is, are you an actual person or just a non-playable character?"

"Well, I am breathing, and it doesn't seem like I'm a playable character."

It's almost as if he's trying to play with me.

"How did you come here? Did you spawn out of nowhere?"

"In a way, when I sense that you could use my services and the fact that I can come to your aid, I spawn here."

Hey now, we're finally getting some answers. Let's keep the question train going.

"What will happen if you die?"

There was no change in his behavior or expression, even though what I asked was completely out of the left field. "I will come back later," he replied calmly.

So, he's kind of the same as he was in the game...is what I would like to say, but you can't really talk to him in-game aside from getting advice and asking for crafting recipes.

"What will happen if I die?" I asked curiously. As long as I'm not a hardcore character, I can come back alive if I die, which would be the best-case scenario.

"If you die, then you simply die," he shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn't do anything about it.

"Yeah, that was very helpful," I thought sarcastically. "What I mean to ask is, can I respawn or be resurrected?" I asked with desperation in my voice.

He responded by tilting his head with confusion and saying, "Maybe?"

"Yeah, I'm already hating this guy. Okay, let me think, what else is there that only the guide can answer? Maybe... Why do zombies come out at night, and where do they go during the day?" I asked as I put my hand on my chin.

In the game, the zombie would just spawn and despawn, so let's see what's at play here.

The guide took a deep breath before he started explaining. "Zombies are types of humanoid monsters that hunt at night. Daylight can easily blind them, so they bury themselves in the ground before daytime. Those that aren't able to bury themselves before night will become blind and passive. They usually hunt for mana in living creatures as it is their main source of food."

"That... actually makes some sense. But there are some holes in his explanation. For example, his explanation means I can't randomly dig holes in the ground, otherwise a zombie might just pop out... Actually, I haven't done that, so I can't prove it right now. But still, feeding on mana, huh? Wait, that reminds me, why do I have two mana stars?"

My focus went towards my mana pool, and it showed me my stats.

Mana: 40/40

"You always start with one mana star or 20 mana in short. Not 40 mana that I have... Oh well, thinking about it now isn't going to help me with how little I know about this world. Aside from that, more mana is always a good thing. Well, I guess I can trust him for now. If I let him stay with me, I'll get some company and a walking Wikipedia. It's a good return. Now then, let's start asking all the important questions."

I started thinking for a little before asking, "Who are the chosen heroes?"

Jeff raised four fingers. "Four in total. Hero of Strength, Hero of Magic, Hero of Range, and lastly, the Hero of Skill. As the name implies it, the Hero of Strength has an insane innate strength, the Hero of Magic is extremely good in magic, the Hero of Range has great mastery over all ranged weapons, and lastly, the Hero of Skill can learn and master anything."

My eyes narrowed a bit. What he said does make sense since these heroes are just the different types of classes you can be in the original game, but there’s only one problem. In the game, the four classes are melee, magic, range, and Summoner. He didn’t talk about the summoner; instead, the summoner got replaced with the Hero of Skill. Why? It’s a bit different from the game, and I don’t like it.

“Why is there no Summoner hero?” I quickly asked.

“That’s because…” he stopped talking mid-sentence before he looked at me, confused. “This is weird. I don’t seem to remember anything about the Hero of Summons.”

Huh?

“So, you’re saying there isn’t a Summoner Hero?”

He shook his head. “I do not know.”

I was confused. Not because he didn’t know anything about the Summoner Hero, but about the way he said it. It’s not that there isn’t a Summoner Hero, but rather he forgot about him. I smell a conspiracy, but let’s put a pin on this problem for now and ask something else.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“So, what’s this quest that we’re supposed to do that you spoke of before?”

“I… don’t remember?” He looked a little irritated. “I do know that they will all have the same mission, and it's said that they would bring peace to the world from a terrifying evil that lives within the sky above.”

I don’t know why he doesn’t remember much about the heroes, but maybe he actually can’t remember a lot right now. And the evil in the sky that he was talking about. Isn’t that the Moon Lord? The final boss of Terraria?

You know what? Who cares! My mission right now is to skedaddle the heck out of here and go back home. He doesn’t seem to be in the right mind, so I’ll leave him alone for now. Maybe he’ll remember more as time passes on.

“Okay, Jeff, I want you to guard my house against any intruders. Just try not to let them inside the house.”

He nodded his head. “Understood.”

I smiled and nodded in satisfaction before I headed outside. I better make some more houses later, so more of them can come in and I can get more information.

I closed the door behind me and opened the system’s map, as soon as I figured which direction to go to, I ran towards it. Because of pain immunity, I can run for hours and won't feel anything, so I made a straight beeline towards it.

I think I kept running for an hour or two before I finally saw a giant wall in the distance. According to the map, this kingdom has a circular stone brick wall surrounding it with four entrances, one for each north, south, east and west side. Right now, I'm going towards the west gate and I see some people guarding the front giant door.

So, this already concludes that I’m not the only person in this world. Okay, I really didn't expect people to be here but I'm nearly there as well. So, the question now is that what am I going to do once I reach there? Act like I belong there? I swear if they start attacking me the moment I come near then we’ll both be sorry.

There were 2 guards who looked human unlike me, their features were hidden behind their silver helmets, So I couldn’t tell how they looked like. They were guarding the 2 meters tall wide gate that was attached to the 2 story tall wall. This is the entrance to the Kingdom and they were equipped with normal spears with Silver armor from head to toe.

I noticed there were some guards above on the wall too equipped with bows, and… do I see a Gun? I think I see some guy carrying a musket.

… There has to be a way I can steal that isn’t there?

My thoughts were broken by the two guards who screamed towards my direction.

“Halt!” Screamed out one of the guards, “Who goes there!” Screamed out the other one as the both brandished their spears towards me.

Oh shit! A Conversation! A normal Introvert would just die here but thankfully I’m not one.

With my hands slightly raised, I reassured the guards, "Don't worry guys, I'm not hostile." Their spears remained pointed at me as they exchanged a quick glance before turning back to me. "State your business," Guard 1 demanded, his voice firm and unwavering.

…

Greetings and welcome to Evan's 101 on the art of conversation! By the end of this course, even the most introverted among you will be able to confidently engage in coherent dialogue with another human being.

Step one: Master the Helpless Face.

If you want to get away with anything, the first step is to make the other person sympathize with you. However, it's hard to tell if this is working when your conversation partner is wearing a helmet.

Moving on to step two: Embrace the BS.

Sometimes, all you need to do is say some nonsense and hope it works. It might sound crazy, but you'd be surprised how effective it can be in certain situations.

"It's actually really embarrassing," I scratched my head as I continued with my act. "I was on my way to visit my uncle and got lost. When I saw the huge walls, I came here looking for some shelter for the time being."

The guards exchanged a quick glance before nodding and turning back to me. "Fine then, you can proceed. But if we hear about any troubles, you won't be spared," Guard 1 warned.

That worked? I mean Of course that worked! Well, This concludes the first chapter of Evan’s 101 on how to make a conversation. There’s no second chapter, so go get yourselves some bitches.

… I don’t know why I’m talking to myself like that, guess I really am that bored.

"Thank you so much! By the way, could you tell me where I can find a place to eat and a library?" I asked the guards. My hunger needed filling, and I was hoping to find some answers to my questions in the library.

One of the guards kindly gave me directions, and I thanked them before making my way inside. As I passed by the guards, I overheard them talking about me.

"Did we let him go too easily?" Guard 2 questioned.

Guard 1 replied, "Yeah, but he looks like he's part of the silver daemons race. I've met some of them before. They're really passive, trust me."

Welp. I didn't know racism would be a good thing for me.

I found myself in the western part of the kingdom surrounded by medieval-style buildings, some of which were two stories tall while others were only one. I could hear children playing nearby and see people going about their daily work, some equipped with armor and weapons, while others carried tools and materials on small wagons.

There really is a whole working community here in Terraria. Which shouldn’t even be possible in Terraria…

Which makes me ask…

Am I really in Terraria? Or just a place that’s similar to it in almost every way besides a few things like this? Because that makes much more sense.

Well, no point in thinking about it with no information. I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough, for now it’s chow time!

Following the guard's directions, I walked along the cobblestone road towards the Hare's Leg Inn. As I made my way down the road, something caught my eye that made me question whether I was truly in Terraria. For the first time, I saw people riding horses, which didn't exist in the game. I watched in awe as the horse galloped away, wondering how I had ended up in this strange new world.

Despite my confusion, I continued to follow the guard's directions until I eventually reached the inn. It was a charming two-story wooden building with a rabbit sign, just as the guard had described.

Excitement bubbled up inside me as I heard the rowdy sounds of people having fun coming from inside the building. I pushed open the door and stepped inside, but the bustling atmosphere immediately came to a halt as all eyes turned to me.

It felt like a scene out of a wild west movie, and I couldn't help feeling self-conscious as I stood there in the silence.

" Uhh, How do you do fellow humans," I attempted to break the awkwardness, but the response was lackluster. People went back to their business, and some even looked at me with hostility.

Weird. Please don’t tell me that racism has helped once and now it will kick my ass.

As I looked around the room, I noticed several round tables with four chairs positioned around each one. At the back of the room was a counter, and beside it, a staircase led up to the second floor.

Approaching the counter, I was greeted by a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties with straight brown hair tied up neatly at the end. "Oh, it's rare to see a demi-human here," she remarked.

I responded, a bit surprised, "Um, did you notice that quickly?"

The woman smiled and explained, " I've been working here my whole life. And no human eyes sparkle like that, honey."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her keen perception. "I guess you're right," I conceded.

{Author note: I'm getting twilight vibes.}

Alright Evan, I know you’re not good with talking to girls but you can do this, just act natural.

“Anyway, I'm looking for a place to stay and eat, you know of one?”

I couldn’t help but be cringed at my own awkwardness and wanted to slap myself, but the woman seemed to not mind it and chuckle before replying, "Well, you're in one right now. What can I get ya?"

"Anything edible would be preferable," I responded, feeling embarrassed.

She suggested the recommended dish, which I agreed to. She then told me to sit in an empty table so I made my way over and sat down next to a tough-looking man with a large scar over his left eye. I didn’t do this out of spite since he had been staring at me since I came in here, but rather… Yea it’s out of spite I can’t help it.

He had deep amber-colored eyes, black ruffled hair with some gray mixed in, and was drinking from a large metal cup.

Despite his hostile gaze, I smiled at him, determined to act natural and make the best of the situation.

I couldn't understand why the man next to me seemed so hostile, but thanks to my Pain Immunity senpai, I didn't feel any fear. In fact, I even had the Fearless skill which provided resistance to fear itself, but Pain Immunity gave me complete immunity.

"What do you think you're doing?" the man growled, his voice harsh and quiet.

I rolled my eyes at his obvious irritation. "Why? This place is an inn, so I'm pretty sure it's easy to figure that out," I replied, smirking at him. It was hard to tell if he was being racist or just having a bad day, but either way, he looked like he wanted to kill me. And the day had just begun, so I was assuming it was the former.

"Listen, kid, I'm not in a good mood. If you don't want to start a fight right now, then you better leave," the tough looking man warned me.

"Hey, come on. I'm new here, and I just wanted to ask some questions," I protested.

He let out a sigh. "I don't know what you're planning, but I'll play along," he reluctantly agreed.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, giving him a wild smile. "Firstly, why is everyone armed to the brim here?" I asked.

"Are you serious?" he replied, looking at me as if I were an alien.

"Well, it makes sense if you're going outside, but everyone I saw on my way here was armed to the brim," I pointed out.

The man's anger boiled over, and he smashed his metal cup on the table in frustration. "You think you can just waltz in here and joke around with us?" he snarled.

I was taken aback by his sudden outburst and the fact that the whole crowd had gone silent. Thankfully, the beautiful lady from before came to our table and scolded the man for breaking her mug. She then proceeded to kick him and his team out of the inn. She looked at me too, but I assured her that I was the victim, and I got away scot-free.

The man glared at me with pure hatred even as he slowly walked out of the inn

"God damn it," I muttered to myself. I hadn't expected to get caught up in some race war the moment I stepped into the inn, but I guess that's just how things were. I made a mental note to leave as soon as I got what I wanted.

Just then, a petite girl around 12 years old with black hair tied in a ponytail approached me with a plate in her hand. She set the plate down in front of me, containing what looked like mashed potatoes and a chicken leg.

"One recommended dish, rabbit leg with mashed potatoes. Please enjoy!" she said cheerfully.

"Ah, thanks," I replied with a smile on my face. I was about to say more, but she quickly scurried back behind the counter. Her small stature made her difficult to see, but I caught her peeking out curiously at me.

Am I really that out of place here? I really need to do what I came here to do and skedaddle before I find myself stuck in some weird trouble.

I focused my attention back to my meal of rabbit leg and potatoes. But wait, potatoes don't exist in Terraria, So that’s that.

Putting that thought aside, I took a bite of the chicken and found it to be quite juicy and flavourful. It was actually quite nice, but I quickly finished my food and headed to the counter to pay.

"Would you like to stay?" the lady behind the counter asked.

Yea, I’ll be honest with you chief, that ain’t happening, plus I don’t think I need sleep?

"Nah, I can go some days without sleeping, If you know what I mean." I replied, making some finger guns for emphasis.

She chuckled as she brushed off my words and put on her business smile again.

"Well, good luck on your journey, little rookie," the lady said as I paid for my meal and prepared to leave.

I waved my hand in farewell before stepping outside. Taking a deep breath, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the new world I found myself in.

"This is gonna be a long day," I muttered to myself, bracing myself for whatever challenges lay ahead.

*3rd person POV*

The man with the scar who had broken the mug at the inn was consumed by anger as he stormed out of the establishment with his group. He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing passers-by to guard up and avoid him.

One of his teammates tried to calm him down. "Boss, calm down. We can't risk ourselves being found out," he said.

The man with the scar slowly calmed himself down, but the anger had not left him. "He's playing me like a fool. No matter, he may have somehow got back on his feet, but the fact that he's here means that there might be more of his kin here," he said.

Another henchman asked, "What if it's a trap, boss?"

The man with the scar's face twisted into a sinister smile. "He's the only one among a handful of others left. Besides, we almost killed him once. We can do it again. Just need to be discreet about it," he said.

They made their plans as they disappeared into an alleyway.