Chapter 4: Baby’s First Monster Encounter!
Diegi and the sludgy ape-like tutorial monster face off, the former with his hands on his hips in the grass and the latter about to take a swing at a girl standing nearby on the path. Oh, did I forget to mention? Yes, a MYTH Infinite Fantasy NPC girl— Gloria— is standing right in front of the tutorial monster without the faintest inkling of her current plight. Next to her is her treasured food cart, laden with grain and delicious baked goods.
Even as the standoff between man and monster continues, Gloria makes no indication that she realizes she’s in danger. For some reason, she’s too focused on looking at Diegi with her mouth slightly agape instead.
What a strange girl, thinks Diegi. And then, she speaks.
“Um, sir, are you… sure you’re alright? Not… lost, or anything?”
Diegi, confused at why she would be showing such concern, looks down at his body. Everything seems fine— he has all his limbs, he’s not bleeding anywhere but his cheek, his belly button’s still an outie. Wait a second. He can see his belly button?
“Oh, heh heh, I see the problem. I’m basically naked, ha ha!”
Diegi had completely forgotten. Since he’d never gotten to the cosmetic aspect of avatar creation, it makes sense that he had only the MYTH default male outfit on: a pair of skinny black underwear. The whole misunderstanding was pretty funny in his eyes, and so he begins to laugh— please keep in mind that Diegi may be 17 in body, but his spirit has yet to catch up.
“Eh heh heh, heh heh heh. Ah, yeah… wait, am I supposed to be doing something?”
“Um…?”
Upon seeing Diegi’s underwhelming reaction to his lack of clothing, Gloria tilts her head to the side in confusion. And it’s lucky she did. The very moment after she does so, a sludgy limb pierces the empty air where the side of her head once was.
“Huh? M- monster!” As soon as she notices the ape-like creature’s arm thrust into her peripheral vision, Gloria leaps and rolls away in a rather graceful manner. Diegi slaps a palm onto his forehead, realizing that he’d been ignoring a very important variable in the whole situation.
Oh shit, right, the monster! I knew I was forgetting about something.
Thinking this, Diegi stops dully chuckling and begins to walk forward with a confident grin on his face.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Gloria. It’s just the tutorial monster— basically a walking punching bag. We MYTHers even started calling the guy ‘Terry’ cause we’ve beat him so damn often!”
He recalls from his gaming memories that Gloria’s a fairly capable fighter herself, but has a phobia of monsters, which is why the player has to step in during the tutorial and fight the sudden aggressor. First the player fights by themself, then they work as a duo with Gloria to kill the monster for good— thus learning the basics of solo combat and party combat respectively. Since Gloria’s essentially a one-off NPC, her personality isn’t explored much in MYTH, but judging by her in-game role alone it made sense she would be so quick to respond to the monster’s attack.
“Yeah, this’ll be a piece of cake—”
“How do you know my name, what are you talking about, and who are these ‘mythers’ you keep referring to!?”
Gloria interrupts Diegi’s ramblings with a barrage of shrieked questions, before seeing that he’s ignoring her and continuing to walk towards the monster. She continues to yell:
“Hey, don’t fight that thing! You don’t know how strong it is— you might die! For all we know, it’s attacking the cart, just let it have the food! Sir, you should run!”
Hmm? This dialogue is way different from what I remember. Isn’t she supposed to be an NPC?
Regardless, Diegi figures he might as well use the chance to show off. He finally draws close to the tutorial monster, standing only about a meter away. The monster, except for its previous swing at Gloria, has stayed stationary the entire time. It makes sense— if the first monster the player encountered didn’t even give the player a chance to fight, it might turn off some potential new MYTH players.
Once he squares up with the beast face to face, Diegi lets out a chuckle and responds to Gloria’s yell.
“Nah, I’ve got this. Watch and learn.”
I guess she can’t help it with her phobia of monsters, but there really isn’t anything to worry about. It’s just Terry the tutorial guy. He’s so generic, the devs didn’t even bother to base him off a real mythological beast. Ah, well. I’ll just have to show Gloria what a real MYTH veteran can do.
As such thoughts cross his mind, Diegi gets into an impromptu fighting stance and declares:
“This’ll only take a minute.”
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Diegi, running as fast as he can (which isn’t very fast at the moment), barely dodges a sludge-covered arm as it swooshes over his head.
“Holy shit! What am I even supposed to do here!? Someone help meeee!!”
Suffice it to say that the battle’s been going on for much longer than a minute.
“Man, this blows! Am I really that weak? How!?”
The most disappointing part is that Diegi’s battle performance hasn’t even been that bad. He actually started the fight strong, landing multiple hits on the monster and dodging all of the counterattacks. But then he had started getting tired, and the monster showed no signs of wear for all the times it had been punched in the face. Nothing made sense— the tutorial monster was literally designed to be weak, so how was the thing shrugging off all of Diegi’s attacks?
“And I’m so damn tired… why!? I wasn’t a fitness superstar before in the real world, but I feel so much worse now…”
*bing*
In the middle of Diegi’s incessant complaints comes a game notification. As if mocking his efforts to flee, what he sees is:
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
[ Agility Level Increased! ]
“Oh, shut up! Stupid game!”
Whining pitifully as he shambles along, Diegi just barely manages to stay ahead of the slothlike, oozing tutorial monster. The scene is reminiscent of a car chase— if both cars were running on empty and had a couple popped tires each.
Wavering between her desire to run and her unwillingness to completely abandon someone in danger, a stunned Gloria watches the bizarre spectacle from the sidelines.
“P- please hang in there…”
Without even a trace of faith in her self-proclaimed savior, she simply watches, still too scared to engage the monster in battle.
Oh, right. In the original, she only joins in after you knock Terry around a bit. That gives her confidence, or whatever. Wait, no, bad brain! Stop nerding out and just run from the scary monster! Oh, dodge that, dodge that!!!
The monster, caring little about Diegi’s runaway thought train, swings again and again. Unlike Diegi, it doesn’t seem to get tired. It doesn’t seem to be thinking consciously or adjusting its strategy either, however. Even after Diegi’s umpteenth successful dodge, it just keeps mindlessly attacking in a predictable manner. Upon noticing this, a glint surfaces in Diegi’s eye—
“Oh, maybe this could work?”
Panting, Diegi makes a 180 degree turn and slides backwards slightly, keeping his eyes on the encroaching tutorial monster. Just as it steps in for another wide swing—
“Gotcha!”
Diegi hits the ground hard, landing on his back. It hurts like hell, but he finally has an opening. Using his hands to prop up his body, he kicks out his legs in a sweeping motion— and trips the monster, sending it crashing to the ground and spattering Diegi with black monster-muck.
If I can’t hurt the thing with my punches, I can use its own weight against it! Now you know how it feels to fall flat on your ass! Ha ha, that worked… I really am a genius— WHAT!?
Unfortunately, it takes barely a moment for the growling tutorial monster to pick itself up off the rough dirt path and leer at Diegi once again. It doesn’t look harmed in the slightest. He can hardly believe it— Diegi’s having the standout fight performance of his life (well, only fight performance, but he feels he’s doing great) and even when he comes up with an actually good idea it does absolutely nothing.
“Well then, it’s time for my second great plan. You could even call it the Martinez Family’s special move.”
The monster, continuing to leer, reaches out a goop-covered arm and resumes its lumbering chase with a low, rattling groan.
And Diegi, doing his best to keep a confident grin on his face, turns on his heel once more— and continues running away.
“Avoiding responsibility, go! Ahh— shit, could you be a little less accurate with those damn arm swings? Or just look a little tired or hurt? Come on!!”
Diegi’s meandering escape route has now left the tutorial path and entered the lush green fields. He’s been heading towards the white-barked fruit tree he saw earlier. The destination must have been chosen entirely subconsciously. Not even he is sure why he’s approaching it— well, that’s not entirely true.
“Huff, huff… if I’m gonna die here… I’m gonna do it on a full stomach! Fruit, come to papa!”
Yup, a certain someone’s priorities are still out of order.
Making a last-ditch ploy for a late lunch, Diegi throws himself against the trunk of the tree as hard as he can. To no avail, of course— he slides off as quickly as he got on, unable to even start climbing the trunk. The tree trunk isn’t that thick, and a small snapping noise can be heard as he ricochets. But…
Does it really matter? Terry’s right behind me. It’s over. I’m really gonna die to the fuckin’ tutorial monster.
The monster rears back with a sludgy arm and makes a wide swing, launching the finishing attack—
*CRACK*
“Sir, watch out!”
Gloria’s voice rings out again, this time in warning.
“Wait, I’m not dead? Oh— SHIT—”
Looking up, Diegi notices himself and the ground underneath him tilting closer to the tree. No, it’s a matter of perspective— what he really notices is the tree falling closer towards him. He manages to scramble out of the way, just before the tree hits the ground with a loud CRASH. As soon as he makes the move, he whips his head back and forth, looking for the monster. But then it dawns on him.
“Oh, hey! The tree trunk hit the monster, eh? We’re saved, ha ha!!”
The tutorial monster’s unmoving body is pinned down by the fallen tree trunk, seemingly having been defeated by sheer chance.
Giving a cheer of pure exultation, Diegi gets to his feet and surveys both himself and the scene. He’s looking pretty bad, spattered with monster sludge and a couple bruises. As for the tree, the entire trunk seems to have fallen except for the very bottom, leaving only a small stump behind. The sudden impact with the ground seems to have knocked some of the golden leaves loose from its branches— but the juicy-looking fruit is still mostly intact.
“Oh… it looks like when the monster tried to attack you, it split the weakened tree… and ended up indirectly hitting itself with the falling trunk. How fortunate.”
Gloria, who had worked up the courage to stray off the path and get a little closer to the fallen fruit tree, chimes in with her own observations.
Still overwhelmed with joy, Diegi jumps up and down— until he suddenly doubles over and begins having a coughing fit.
What the hell? Why am I feeling so weak out of nowhere?
Diegi can’t fathom what’s come over him lately. Can you get a common cold inside of a video game world?
Gloria reacts to the violent hacking coughs with a small jump of fear, before rushing to check on him.
“Oh! Are you sure you’re okay? No, that’s it, I need to be sure. I’m casting Appraisal. Please remain still.”
Gloria holds out a palm over Diegi’s body and mumbles a quick chant under her breath.
Appraisal— a low level spell that lets the user check the status of the target. Not as powerful as Status Project or Absolute State, which portrayed much more information, but still somewhat useful in the early game. Though, it was usually used to check on enemies and objects, rather than other friendly adventurers.
An orange glow, inlaid with faintly flickering sparks of light, surrounds Diegi as he crouches, still wheezing heavily. Gloria takes a few minutes to confirm what she sees, eyes wide with shock, before turning to Diegi and asking:
“Sir… not to be rude, but what could you possibly be doing out here?”
Diegi, somewhat confused but still out of breath, manages to squeeze out a reply.
“The hell are… ya talkin’ about… is something wrong?”
Gloria tilts her head, a drop of sweat running down the side of her face as she wonders how to answer. She has to put this delicately.
“Sir… you’re not fit to be an adventurer. No— you should be bedridden somewhere. I’m amazed you can even move. Strength, Toughness, all your attributes… level zero! The only exception is Agility, at one! I’ve never even heard of something like this before! And, your health… sir, it’s currently at two! Two out of a maximum of ten! I cannot check your mana or stamina, but I suspect—”
“WHAT!?”
Diegi, finally having recovered from his coughing fit, instantly straightens up and interrupts upon hearing the bad news— only to have his own panicked scream tear up his throat and make him wheeze a bit more.
“No wonder I can’t run for shit… or climb that tree… or even hurt that super weak monster! My attributes are all stuck at ZERO! How’s that even possible? And does this mean that I lost the majority of my health from being scratched by a tree!?”
Even if the player actively tries to put together the worst build possible, any starter avatar created in MYTH Infinite Fantasy begins with attribute values of at least 15. Diegi had 0! Even the absolute minimum for starting max health was 300! Diegi had only 10!!
“Oh, wait… does this have something to do with how I ran outta the Starter’s Hut without finishin’ before?”
Thinking back, Automod did try to warn him not to leave. He probably should have listened…
“So these are the consequences of my actions, eh? Well, I hate them!”
Stomping his foot into the lush grass, Diegi huffs and crosses his arms, pouting at no one in particular.
Gloria, confused by Diegi’s words and a little taken aback to see someone around her own age throwing such a childish tantrum, shakes her head of brown-blonde curls and works up the courage to interject.
“Sir… well, even if you didn’t really… beat the monster… you put your life on the line for me, someone you don’t even know. At the very least, let me offer you something from my cart as repayment?”
Not much of a compliment, but hey— I’m not gonna say no to a free lunch.
“Even if you’re covered in monster sludge and smell like a sewer, sir, I’d be happy if you’d accept my gift.”
“Okay, that’s DEFINITELY not a compliment!”
Though he throws his hands in the air in mock protest, a positively ravenous Diegi, thinking more with his stomach than his head, nods in agreement and begins wandering over to Gloria’s grain cart.
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“Hey, this is good! Do you bake all of this yourself?”
“Yes, I do. Ever since my father left on an adventure, I’ve had to carry on the family business on my own. I’m glad you enjoy it.”
Diegi, munching on a loaf of tough but faintly sweet bread, throws Gloria a casual question. Her face briefly darkens when she answers, but the words roll off her tongue easily enough. A more attentive person would probably have noticed the slight change in expression, but, well— it’s Diegi. Cheerfully oblivious, he decides to move the conversation along with a rhetorical question.
“Hey, you know what would make this even better, though?”
“No, what?”
“A side of fruit salad! Wait here.”
Getting to his feet, Diegi hustles off the path over to the fallen fruit tree and the tutorial monster’s corpse. He doesn’t know why it took him this long to realize— now that the trunk is toppled, all the juicy fruit are just lying on the ground, free for the taking!
Gloria, seeing what Diegi plans to do, widens her eyes and instinctively offers a warning.
“Oh, but sir— the monster!”
“It’s alright. Look, it’s already dead! I’m just gonna grab a few fruits and be back in a sec, so don’t sweat it.”
Diegi nudges the protruding arm of the monster’s presumed corpse with his foot, as if to demonstrate its deceased state. Still lying motionless beneath the fallen tree, it seems well and truly dead. So Diegi, humming a light tune and crouching over, begins to gather fallen fruits. After a few seconds, his face twists in a show of minor displeasure—
“Aww, some of them are kinda squashed. Oh well!”
Almost at the same time, Gloria’s face also twists— this time, into an expression of fear and anxiety.
“Sir, wait! Please come back!”
Diegi, noting that Gloria’s fear of monsters is still going strong, simply chuckles and shakes his head.
“Oh, come on. I know my fight wasn’t impressive, but that doesn’t matter now. It’s dead. D. E. A. D. There’s no danger! Oh— is it sunset already?”
As a crouched Diegi continues to gather yellow fruit, he hears a few odd crunching sounds. Then, a shadow falls over him and the ground surrounding him.
That’s confusing. I thought it was still close to midday? Surely that much time hasn’t passed… oh, wait! Maybe a cloud just blocked out the sun—
Interrupting Diegi’s thoughts is another of Gloria’s shrill screams:
“Sir, watch out! BEHIND YOU!”
Only then does Diegi think to turn around and check out the sky.
He then promptly drops all the fruit he’s gathered in his arms.
Because right behind him, blocking out the sun’s rays, is not a cloud— it’s the sludgy form of the tutorial monster with an arm raised high, having apparently escaped from underneath the fallen fruit tree’s trunk.