Post by Haneroze on Oct 29, 2016 14:35:07 GMT
All of the people around Haneroze were already gone. She had spawned on top of an hill, with nothing of real interest. Just a calm place. There were other people around her, but they all went somewhere else. Haneroze could tell they were players, just like her, as they were all confused as of where they were. She thought they must have left toward the main part of the city.
Haneroze did not follow them, and was left alone. Despair was shrouding her mind. She needed to make some order, sway away negative thoughts, and set a focus on what she should be doing next. As much as she wanted Dimitri to be there, her priority was elsewhere.
She needed answers to her questions. What exactly is this place? Or rather this world? How long will we stay in here? What can we do to return to our world? And until then, what should be doing?
Setting up a goal to answer as much as possible before the end of the day, she stood up and walked away. She took a good look at the view of the city from this elevated place and took a guess at where were the main places of the city.
The first place Haneroze wanted to check was what seemed to be the Main Square. Lots of people were gathered there and exchanged information with no concern of the others around. This was ideal for her, as she could listen to conversations and gather information without having to ask anything. But it seemed that it might also be a dangerous place.
Male Monk: This is all your fault! You're the one who dragged me into this!
Male Sorcerer: Don't throw the blame on me! All I did was invite you, there's no way I could have known this would happen!
Male Monk: It's always like that! I always get in trouble because of you!
Male Sorcerer: Like I wanted that trouble in the first place!
Male Monk: And here's that trouble you always wanted!
The Monk pulled all his anger into a punch in the face of the Sorcerer. As if they were not standing out enough, suddenly a huge armor appeared next to the two people. The monk barely time to let out a scream that the armor slashed him, making him disappear in particles. The Square grew even louder, with a lot of people panicking and deciding to run away.
Haneroze's heart started racing. A monster was just a few dozen meters away from her, and she would die if it decided to target her. But she sensed that many people were actually remaining calm in front of it. They knew what they were, and that they posed no threat. And shortly after, this armor simply disappeared.
Female Swashbuckler: What in the world was that?
Male Cleric: Royal Guards. High level monsters that kill anyone who attempts to attack within a safe zone.
Female Swashbuckler: And so, what if I accidentally hit someone?
Male Cleric: Don't worry. It seems that we are safe from death. I've seen some people respawn at the cathedral, just like in the normal game.
This was very good information. As long as she stays within a "safe zone", she wouldn't have to fear dying. And even if she died, she could just respawn like in your average game. However, there was no guarantee that this could happen indefinitely. Maybe there was a maximum amount of times one could resurrect. Or maybe this would some day be gone.
Haneroze decided to stay a bit longer in the Square, sitting besides the fountain. Listening to conversations around, she had learned some interesting things for survival in this world. Many game elements remained in this game, such as levels and skills. While being able to use magic sounded really special, actually fighting in a first-person perspective sounded scary.
Another thing she learned was that eating was seemingly necessary, as certain people already felt hunger. Even within this new body, we surely still needed food and sleep. It would be ideal to get at least a little money to be able to buy some basic food and a place to sleep. She would surely need to have to give a try at hunting monsters, but she wanting to confirm some other things beforehand.
Else than that, Haneroze couldn't get any information. A lot of fights were erupting, and she was starting to get used to the appearances of the Guardians. A lot of people were trying to find ways to return, but seemingly without success. If there were hints, they are well hidden. And this meant that everyone was stuck in this world for at least a good while.
It did not seem that she could fetch anymore information like that, so she wanted to head to the next location.
The Market was her next destination. Unlike the Square, this place would be teeming with NPCs rather than players. These NPCs were the direct link between us and this strange world. If there was a hint somewhere as to how to return to real life, the chances for it to being from an NPC seemed pretty high. She imagined however that said NPC would surely not be easy to find, and might not even be in this starting city. She imagined an old wizard, living in an isolated hut beyond dangerous lands.
Regardless, there was still information to be found from regular NPCs. This world seemed to mix game elements with realism. In that case, how were the NPCs? Were they just mindless people following a script? Or did this world also grant them realism? She also needed to find the prices for purchases she would need for this initial day. It wouldn't do to return from the first hunt without enough money for basic needs.
She noticed that something might have happened. While there were indeed merchants as she expected, it seemed that most of them were doing reparations on their shop. The shops were opened and articles ready to be sold, only that a few things were broken here and there.
Very soon after arriving at the Market Place, an armored person ran past her. Hand on his weapon, he screamed in rage and confusion at the same time.
Male Guardian: GIVE US BACK OUR WORLD, YOU STUPID MINDLESS BUNCH OF DATA!
He jumped on top of a table placed for an exterior shop, brandished his sword out of its sheath, and slashed the man standing behind the counter. The seller screamed in pain. The aggressor had time to get in another slash at him before a Royal Guard appeared and killed the player. The next person in the next stall immediately rushed to his help.
Those two were NPCs. They have been here for much longer than players have, or at least they believe to have. They might have been born today with memories from years ago. However, one thing was certain. They were alive, with emotion. Right now, they were more human than most players, who fell into despair and confusion. If players continue to attack NPCs like that, they are going to view all players as monsters, without exception. At the very least, it was necessary to show that not all of them were bad.
Haneroze rushed to the wounded man. As she got closer, she could feel it, that man was fearing death. As if he didn't know he could respawn after death. Or maybe NPCs actually cannot revive. They probably have never heard of someone reviving within their memories. They will desperately try to stay alive. Although regular merchants like his man couldn't do much to defend themself.
Wounded merchant: S-stay away from me, m-monster!
Second merchant: I don't know where you came from, but leave us People of the Land alone!
They referred to themselves as Landers. Haneroze remembered reading something like that on the game's site, apparently that's the lore's term for NPCs. If players have to live with them for a long time, it would be best to refer to them as People of the Land.
Haneroze ignored their warning and sat on her knee in front of the wounded man. One of the things she learned in the Square was how to manually use skills. She opened the Menu and navigated through it to manually use her healing skill, Prayer of Recovery. And it worked without any problem, healing the wounded merchant. The two merchants calmed their fear a little, but they were still having doubts. The heal wasn't very strong, but had a very little cooldown. So Haneroze used it twice more before standing back up.
Haneroze then replaced the few articles that fell on the floor. The two merchants were staying in place, unsure of what to say. Then as Haneroze finished replacing the last object, the previously wounded merchant decided to try saying something.
Wounded merchant: Um... Than--
Haneroze quickly turned toward them and swiftly bowed down, as an apology to what happened. For the first few days, this would surely happen many times again. It was surely going to be hard on them. For now, this was all Haneroze could do. She walked away, leaving the two merchants alone.
As she walked around, she learned by overhearing a group of Landers that there was an earthquake before every player appeared. Or rather, Adventurers. She remembered reading on the website that players were called Adventurers. However, in this world, Landers have never seen a player, and they certainly don't see them as adventurers right now, so it might take a bit of time before they start calling players so. If this phenomen also happened in servers already opened, they surely would already be calling them Adventurers already.
Haneroze managed to confirm the price for basic food and for a stay at the Inn. However, those were just numbers for now. Without trying to obtain money, she had no idea how much time it would take. Maybe a monster or two would be more than enough. Or maybe even dozens of monsters would not be enough.
She stood at the city gates. There were a lot of Adventurers passing by the gate. A few early fighters were returning from their first hunt, but most people, including herself, were actually leaving the city, with no experience to fighting yet. And so she walked out of the safe zone, taking her staff in both of her hands.
Haneroze did not follow them, and was left alone. Despair was shrouding her mind. She needed to make some order, sway away negative thoughts, and set a focus on what she should be doing next. As much as she wanted Dimitri to be there, her priority was elsewhere.
She needed answers to her questions. What exactly is this place? Or rather this world? How long will we stay in here? What can we do to return to our world? And until then, what should be doing?
Setting up a goal to answer as much as possible before the end of the day, she stood up and walked away. She took a good look at the view of the city from this elevated place and took a guess at where were the main places of the city.
The first place Haneroze wanted to check was what seemed to be the Main Square. Lots of people were gathered there and exchanged information with no concern of the others around. This was ideal for her, as she could listen to conversations and gather information without having to ask anything. But it seemed that it might also be a dangerous place.
Male Monk: This is all your fault! You're the one who dragged me into this!
Male Sorcerer: Don't throw the blame on me! All I did was invite you, there's no way I could have known this would happen!
Male Monk: It's always like that! I always get in trouble because of you!
Male Sorcerer: Like I wanted that trouble in the first place!
Male Monk: And here's that trouble you always wanted!
The Monk pulled all his anger into a punch in the face of the Sorcerer. As if they were not standing out enough, suddenly a huge armor appeared next to the two people. The monk barely time to let out a scream that the armor slashed him, making him disappear in particles. The Square grew even louder, with a lot of people panicking and deciding to run away.
Haneroze's heart started racing. A monster was just a few dozen meters away from her, and she would die if it decided to target her. But she sensed that many people were actually remaining calm in front of it. They knew what they were, and that they posed no threat. And shortly after, this armor simply disappeared.
Female Swashbuckler: What in the world was that?
Male Cleric: Royal Guards. High level monsters that kill anyone who attempts to attack within a safe zone.
Female Swashbuckler: And so, what if I accidentally hit someone?
Male Cleric: Don't worry. It seems that we are safe from death. I've seen some people respawn at the cathedral, just like in the normal game.
This was very good information. As long as she stays within a "safe zone", she wouldn't have to fear dying. And even if she died, she could just respawn like in your average game. However, there was no guarantee that this could happen indefinitely. Maybe there was a maximum amount of times one could resurrect. Or maybe this would some day be gone.
Haneroze decided to stay a bit longer in the Square, sitting besides the fountain. Listening to conversations around, she had learned some interesting things for survival in this world. Many game elements remained in this game, such as levels and skills. While being able to use magic sounded really special, actually fighting in a first-person perspective sounded scary.
Another thing she learned was that eating was seemingly necessary, as certain people already felt hunger. Even within this new body, we surely still needed food and sleep. It would be ideal to get at least a little money to be able to buy some basic food and a place to sleep. She would surely need to have to give a try at hunting monsters, but she wanting to confirm some other things beforehand.
Else than that, Haneroze couldn't get any information. A lot of fights were erupting, and she was starting to get used to the appearances of the Guardians. A lot of people were trying to find ways to return, but seemingly without success. If there were hints, they are well hidden. And this meant that everyone was stuck in this world for at least a good while.
It did not seem that she could fetch anymore information like that, so she wanted to head to the next location.
The Market was her next destination. Unlike the Square, this place would be teeming with NPCs rather than players. These NPCs were the direct link between us and this strange world. If there was a hint somewhere as to how to return to real life, the chances for it to being from an NPC seemed pretty high. She imagined however that said NPC would surely not be easy to find, and might not even be in this starting city. She imagined an old wizard, living in an isolated hut beyond dangerous lands.
Regardless, there was still information to be found from regular NPCs. This world seemed to mix game elements with realism. In that case, how were the NPCs? Were they just mindless people following a script? Or did this world also grant them realism? She also needed to find the prices for purchases she would need for this initial day. It wouldn't do to return from the first hunt without enough money for basic needs.
She noticed that something might have happened. While there were indeed merchants as she expected, it seemed that most of them were doing reparations on their shop. The shops were opened and articles ready to be sold, only that a few things were broken here and there.
Very soon after arriving at the Market Place, an armored person ran past her. Hand on his weapon, he screamed in rage and confusion at the same time.
Male Guardian: GIVE US BACK OUR WORLD, YOU STUPID MINDLESS BUNCH OF DATA!
He jumped on top of a table placed for an exterior shop, brandished his sword out of its sheath, and slashed the man standing behind the counter. The seller screamed in pain. The aggressor had time to get in another slash at him before a Royal Guard appeared and killed the player. The next person in the next stall immediately rushed to his help.
Those two were NPCs. They have been here for much longer than players have, or at least they believe to have. They might have been born today with memories from years ago. However, one thing was certain. They were alive, with emotion. Right now, they were more human than most players, who fell into despair and confusion. If players continue to attack NPCs like that, they are going to view all players as monsters, without exception. At the very least, it was necessary to show that not all of them were bad.
Haneroze rushed to the wounded man. As she got closer, she could feel it, that man was fearing death. As if he didn't know he could respawn after death. Or maybe NPCs actually cannot revive. They probably have never heard of someone reviving within their memories. They will desperately try to stay alive. Although regular merchants like his man couldn't do much to defend themself.
Wounded merchant: S-stay away from me, m-monster!
Second merchant: I don't know where you came from, but leave us People of the Land alone!
They referred to themselves as Landers. Haneroze remembered reading something like that on the game's site, apparently that's the lore's term for NPCs. If players have to live with them for a long time, it would be best to refer to them as People of the Land.
Haneroze ignored their warning and sat on her knee in front of the wounded man. One of the things she learned in the Square was how to manually use skills. She opened the Menu and navigated through it to manually use her healing skill, Prayer of Recovery. And it worked without any problem, healing the wounded merchant. The two merchants calmed their fear a little, but they were still having doubts. The heal wasn't very strong, but had a very little cooldown. So Haneroze used it twice more before standing back up.
Haneroze then replaced the few articles that fell on the floor. The two merchants were staying in place, unsure of what to say. Then as Haneroze finished replacing the last object, the previously wounded merchant decided to try saying something.
Wounded merchant: Um... Than--
Haneroze quickly turned toward them and swiftly bowed down, as an apology to what happened. For the first few days, this would surely happen many times again. It was surely going to be hard on them. For now, this was all Haneroze could do. She walked away, leaving the two merchants alone.
As she walked around, she learned by overhearing a group of Landers that there was an earthquake before every player appeared. Or rather, Adventurers. She remembered reading on the website that players were called Adventurers. However, in this world, Landers have never seen a player, and they certainly don't see them as adventurers right now, so it might take a bit of time before they start calling players so. If this phenomen also happened in servers already opened, they surely would already be calling them Adventurers already.
Haneroze managed to confirm the price for basic food and for a stay at the Inn. However, those were just numbers for now. Without trying to obtain money, she had no idea how much time it would take. Maybe a monster or two would be more than enough. Or maybe even dozens of monsters would not be enough.
She stood at the city gates. There were a lot of Adventurers passing by the gate. A few early fighters were returning from their first hunt, but most people, including herself, were actually leaving the city, with no experience to fighting yet. And so she walked out of the safe zone, taking her staff in both of her hands.
