Chapter 002

Nero opened his eyes.

In front of him was what could be best described as a small village. Below the hauntingly beautiful blue sky was a landscape dotted in brick and wood houses. If one looked closely enough, it would have been obvious that a few of these houses were in fact, stores. Additionally, around these houses, out on the streets were several stands that promised to sell a bountiful myriad of goods and services.

Coupled with the bustling activity of people in cloaks, armor, and peasant garb, it was quite a lively scene.

Nero, who saw all this for the first time, gawked with his eyes wide open and mouth agape. For a minute, he just stood there, taking in all the various, harmonizing sights, scents, and sounds. Of course he couldn’t persist for long, since his statue like actions warranted him more than just a couple of equally as curious onlookers.

Nero shook his head and slapped his face in a vein action to calm himself down.

Once he had recollected himself, Nero began erratically moving his body. It might have been an unnecessary action, but Nero wanted to confirm this new life(body) of his. He raised his arms up, performed a couple of knee lifts, cracked his neck a few times, and so on and so forth. After he was satisfied with the feedback and control of his new virtual body, he smiled a wry, yet pleasant smile, one that found itself out of place on Nero’s normal continence.

He then abruptly sat down, and slowly closed his eyes.

For a minute or two, he just sat there, within a small patch of grass that was part of a much larger plain, and he listened. Nero wasn’t really listening for anything specific, he was just… listening. Listening to the all too real sounds that surrounded him; from the whimsical chirping of birds, the frantic arguing of a couple a few paces away from him, to the rough sound of a cart moving through the street. He sat there, listening to all the noise while his mouth formed crescents.

-It really is amazing… 99.9% realism wasn’t just a joke…-

He couldn’t help but sigh out in satisfaction. This game, this reality that had promised him so many possibilities… so far, it was shaping up to meet those very possibilities.

After satisfying himself with his quiet musings, Nero opened his status window. Naturally, after arriving in a new world, the first thing Nero wanted to confirm was information regarding himself.

With a single thought, a blue window panel floated in front of him. It displayed all the relevant information regarding Ansel’s character as “Nero”.

--Nero Lv. 1

HP: 100/100

Mana :100/100

Vitality: 10

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Dexterity: 10

Wisdom (Mana): 10

Intelligence: 10

Luck: 0

Leadership: 0 --

Nero had read a little bit online about the game beforehand, and while not a whole lot of information was available, he naturally knew what each starter stat confirmed. Aside from Luck and Leadership, Worldview started a player off with 6 stats. Strength, Agility, and Dexterity were pretty self explanatory stats, they of course, corresponded with power, speed, and hand eye coordination.

Vitality was somewhat unique, as it influenced HP. Vitality and HP had a 1:10 ratio. Wisdom followed the same format, except it corresponded to the mana bar. Intelligence was what decided magic power, sort of like a mana version of the strength stat.

Later in game, other stats were obtainable through various, undisclosed means, but for now, newbie players started off with these 6 stats - plus luck and leadership.

Not much was known about the luck or leadership stat. While its effects could be more or less guessed from their names, nobody had confirmed anything yet. Even now, one year prior to the launch of WV, these two stats remained a mere mystery.

After looking over his stats and finding them all to be what he had expected, Nero closed the status window, and opened up his inventory next. Like before, another blue panel popped up, this time, showing Nero what items and how much cash he had.

He wasn’t at all surprised to find out that he had absolutely nothing in his inventory. Although he had expected something like a beginner weapon, or maybe some food (Rye Bread), it wasn’t at all unreasonable for newbies to not receive anything. Fortunately, the game did at least start him off with 100 copper, sort of like starting funds.

By the way, the way currency works in the game follows the simple system of, 100 Copper = 1 silver, 100 silver = 1 gold, and 100 gold = 1 Mithril Coin.

Finishing up, Nero closed the inventory panel and abruptly got up. As he dusted himself off, he wondered what his next course of actions were going to be.

Truth be told, prior to playing, Nero had done little research, but not for the lack of trying. All his attempts at gathering useful in-game knowledge proved to be fruitless. For some reason, the game makers had disclosed very little information about World View, instead most of the information he got were first hand accounts from veteran players.

Due to the unreliability of such a source, much of the information circulating around the Net were very suspicious and were often under question.

Information for newbie players were especially hard to come by, and even when he did stumble upon them, most of it was fraudulent.

Sighing at his ineptness, for now, Nero decided to make his way into the village, in search for a helpful NPC that might guide his way.

****

Nero wandered the streets, wide eyed fascination plastered on his face like a kid at a candy store.

As he walked, he could immediately tell the difference between the NPCs and the Players. While physiology wise, they were practically indistinguishable, what set both parties apart were clothing.The NPCs had much more modest clothing, outfits with brown and beige palettes were the norm for these people. This was quite a contrast to the players, who often wore extremely flashy clothing. Decked in armor, robes, and cloaks, more often than not, their outfits were a mess of assorted gear, no sense of cohesion to be seen.

In comparison, Nero resembled the NPCs more than the actual players. With his brown pants, and beige colored undershirt, it wouldn’t be odd to mistake him for a village boy on his way back from the family farm.

Nero continued to walk. He had no real destination in mind, although he did look out for any helpful NPCs. Maybe something like a Village elder, or a Chief Guard might be able to help him start out. He was hopelessly lost, and the atmosphere and vibrancy of the village soon took hold of Nero, and little by little his inhibitions and earlier plans diminished.

It didn’t take long for Nero to become a “tourist”. With his fascination and curiosity, he visited many of the shops and stores - from the alchemy lab, the Blacksmith’s forge, the tailor store. Thankfully, all the items he ogled were a bit too expensive for this 100 copper beginner, but nonetheless he stopped by each and every store.

Unfortunately though, his whimsical window shopping came to a trifling end.

Nero’s downfall came in the form of the stalls. The vendors that sold food and other goods on the street were what completely emptied out Nero’s 100 copper budget.

After buying 3 kebobs, an apple, and two cups of something resembling pudding or flan, Nero’s once 100 copper wallet had dwindled down to a measly 7 coppers. By the time he had realized this, Nero was well on his way to eating his third kebob and had already slurped up the last of his pudding.

After spending money like a drunken sailor, Nero finally regained his self control and with a dejected sigh, he resumed his original intentions and began his search for a helpful NPC.

For a few minutes, on the unpaved dirt streets, he just aimlessly wandered, not sure what exactly a “helpful NPC” was. He played with the idea of asking one of the more experienced players for some guidance, but ultimately decided against it. As expected, talking to actual people was still too much of a hurdle for the inexperienced Nero.

Finally, after his heart had plummeted greatly into turmoil, he spotted someone who just might be a little helpful.

A stoic, middle aged man wearing a light set of leather and metal armor. Unlike the players around the street, the cohesion between the rusted armor and the worn out, dark brown leather mixed quite well. The man held a simple spear in the cusps of his bear like arms and stood besides the edge of the village, directly next to the gate that overlooked out into the forest.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

-That guy, he’s obviously…-

With hurried footsteps, Nero regained his vigor and speed walked to the man.

It was obvious, but the middle aged man with the spear was a village guard.

As he neared the guard, Nero’s hurried pace slowed, until he came to an abrupt stop in front of him.

The guard was a whole head taller than Nero, causing him to look up at the gruff looking bear of a man. In return, the guard looked down on Nero, shooting the newbie with a curious stare.

“Ah-Umm…” Like usual, the words that Nero wanted to convey caught in his throat. The awkwardness and Ansel’s overall lack of social aptitude was affecting Nero.

As Nero struggled to form his words, the guard in front of him looked down on to the boy’s almost trembling figure. The curious, penetrating gaze of the middle aged bear merely increased Nero’s neuroticism as sweat began to trickle down his back and his face visibly reddened.

-Damn it, he’s just an NPC. Not a real person, not a real person! Just like Luna… this person is just like Luna….-

Forcibly regaining his composure, Nero shook his head, as if to dispel the growing redness on his face. He shot a willful stare at the guard, as if to convey his full intentions of a normal conversation to the man.

Unbeknownst to Nero, his natural glare, coupled with his stare, was quite a sight to behold. Like a debt collector harassing an old man, Nero’s stare held as much intimidation and terror, despite the young man’s innocent intent. In fact, it was enough so that the seasoned veteran unintentionally took a step back in the face of this mysterious youth’s sudden vigor.

Having calmed down, Nero gulped decisively, and spoke, “I-I-I n-need some help…”

His words came out choppy and stuttery, but nonetheless his intentions were conveyed. The guard, who was a bit relieved to find that Nero hadn’t shown up to pick a fight also began to calm down as he began to speak.

“You must be a new traveler, correct?”

In front of the guard’s unblinking inquiry, Nero struggled a nod.

“I see, I see…” The guard crossed his arms and nodded understandingly. “It must be tough, being in a new place without a hint of a clue as to where you are. I completely understand. In fact, it reminds me of that time when I went to visit the Empire….”

This guard NPC was unexpectedly quite talkative. In front of Nero’s twitching visage, the guard rambled about his past exploits, tales which Nero couldn’t help but wonder whether they were all true, or whether they were just constructs of an AI’s creativity.

Nero allowed (well more that he got swept up in the atmosphere) the guard to continue talking, waiting patiently as he kept rambling on and on about various tales and past exploits. Eventually, the guard seemingly finished and asked, “So what did you need exactly?”

“I need…” Nero thought for a moment. What exactly did he need? What exactly should he ask? He can’t simply say, I’m a newbie player, can you give me a quest? It seemed rather rude, plus he can’t mention terms like NPC, or Player to the guard. To him, this world was real. The guard wasn’t an NPC, nor did he view Nero as a player.

After struggling for a few seconds, in the end, he couldn’t think of anything specific to ask, so he just went with, “I-I’m new to the village…i-is there anything someone like me should know?”

A rather vague question indeed.

The guard thought for a moment before saying, “Well, first let me tell you a little bit about this village.

In actuality, Renthein village is just a small section of the Renthien Settlement. This section of Renthein is actually the Eastern District of the village. It’s where most new travelers start of…”

The guard then went on to further explain Renthein’s situation. Renthein was a new up and coming city on the edge of the Greater Wilhelm Empire. It was the largest frontier city that overlooked the Northern Plains and acted as the first defense against the monstrosities that resided north of the Empire.

Aside from the village districts, which surround the city, Renthein’s inner city is where most of the commerce and activity lies in. It is guarded by a 15 meter, all enclosing wall, which has 24/7 security.

“Once an adventurer gets strong enough, they can seek a pass for entry into Renthein’s inner city from any of the stationed soldiers guarding the inner gates..”

-’Get’s strong enough’... Does that mean level? So there’s a level restriction…-

As Nero quietly absorbed all this information, the friendly guard quickly wrapped up his explanation.

“Seeing as how you look a bit too flimsy at the current moment, I’m afraid you’ll be confined to the village districts for a while. Although don’t worry, common amenities like Inns, the Blacksmith’s forge, and other places are still accessible within the confines of the village.”

Afterwards the guard directed Nero to a nearby inn, where it was possible to purchase a map of the city.

With an awkward thanks and goodbye, Nero dashed off towards the inn, leaving a bemused middle aged guard in his wake.

****

After walking for a few minutes and almost getting lost more than a few times, Nero finally arrived at an old, yet lively location. Reading over the sign that said, “Maple Inn”, Nero flashed a scowl with the intents of a smile, and walked inside.

At the inn, Nero was once again faced with his own personal challenge in the form of talking to the innkeeper. Through his tireless efforts, and a few awkward greetings, Nero was able to successfully purchase the Ranthein Settlement Map. Unfortunately, the purchase of the map had costed him 6 copper, leaving Nero with a measly 1 copper in savings.

Quickly shuffling himself of to a secluded corner within the Inn’s downstairs restaurant, Nero read through the map with excited haste. He blocked out all the lively noise and commotion, as his eyes seemingly sparkled at the first, “Otherworldly” map he had acquired.

Like the guard previously stated, Renthein was composed of an inner city as well as the village districts that surrounded it. In truth, there were five distinct separations that divided the city; the inner district, Northern Village District, Southern Village District, Eastern Village District, and Western Village District.

For now, Nero focused in on the Eastern Village District, seeing as how this was his current position.

The Eastern Village District of Ranthein was one of the smaller districts and its key features were the Blacksmith’s forge, Alchemy Lab, Maple Inn and Restaurant, Apprentice Magic shop, and Training Facility. Aside from these key places, Players (as well as NPCs) could purchase and/or sell items through the numerous vendors and stalls sprawled along the streets.

In short, the Eastern Village District was the prime example of a top class newbie village.

Reading over the map, Nero constantly nodded to himself, as if affirming his own understanding. Eventually, Nero decided his course of actions.

-I really want to just ignore this village and wander outside but…-

When one thinks of MMORPGs, one of the first things a person would think of would be the aspect of monster hunting. Nero wasn’t a stranger to such romantic desires, but in his current state, it would be pure suicide to venture out of the confines of the village.

For one thing Nero needed a weapon, but unfortunately he spent his starting funds on food, a rather stupid mistake that Nero was still reflecting on.

“Since I’m broke right now, it would be best to visit the places that don’t require payment first. Places like.... the training facility! If I’m lucky they might give me a free sword or something. One of those wooden ones… do they give those out?”

As Nero quietly muttered to himself, he quickly walked out of the Inn, and proceeded forward.

His first goal, in this bountiful new world was the beginner training facility in Eastern Ranthein Village.