Project Anima : A Virtual Reality / Reincarnated Tale

Chapter 2.1: The Glitcher

"Whether we are based on carbon or on silicon makes no fundamental difference; we should each be treated with appropriate respect."- Arthur C. Clarke

The burly leader chuckled and retreated his hand. "Welcome to the party. You're a rather strange bot. Anyway, I'm Gideon. And right here are my NPC companions."

"Hello, Raiden," the fennica cleric bowed with shyness and modesty. "I'm Molsie. Um, the team's healer."

"And I'm Henry!" the haman swordsman said. "Good to have you, Raiden."

Raiden nodded.

So these were supposed to be NPCs like him?

"Well, let's get going then!" the burly leader Gideon said. "Let's hit the market for supplies. Then we'll register Raiden here in the guild and then get our quest."

They began to leave the Jewel Plaza full of spawning and idle players and NPCs.

"What quest will we take, Mr. Gideon?" the cleric Molsie said, clasping a simple staff as they descended through the flight of plaza steps. They passed through a stone arch, and entered the city streets.

"Ah, we'll complete the starting quests for Raiden first, level him up a bit," Gideon said. "When he gets to Lvl 5, we can enter a more risky quest."

"Risky quest?" the swordsman Henry said. "Like what?"

The leader gestured with his palm. "Those important ones. I think they're called Main Quests. Anyway, remember that last one we tried?"

"Oh," the swordsman Henry looked apologetic. "I wasn't able to take out those pesky mages in time..."

"Don't worry," Gideon chuckled. "That's why I got a fast hitter like Raiden here. Things will change!" He turned to Raiden. "You'll strike those mages before they can cast magic on us, and our healer here," he patted the fennica on the shoulder, "will keep you sustained against other meddlers. Molsie, you can do that, right?"

"I think so," Molsie said.

Gideon gave a toothy smile. "Good! And those quests pay very well. If we complete it, we'll finally replace our old equipment. If I could just get my hands on that Dwarven Battleaxe on stock..."

"Greetings, new crusader!" a streetside harker with a feathered cap bowed at Raiden. "Welcome to Hogsmite, City of First Sin!"

A draft of wind blew through Raiden. He looked around at the starting city. The sun-baked cobblestone streets were packed with players and NPCs. Several medieval buildings can be seen around him. To his right, a splendid stone structure rose with pride and sanctity. As he inspected it, a floating tag marked it as such: The Crusader's Guild.

He focused on their pathway, and taking the left of the second bend of the main streets, they entered another stone arch and came upon a canopied lane. This road was full of erected stalls and establishments, frequented by cliques of buyers and hagglers. Hogsmite Market, the tag displayed. The scent of market goods wafted in the air.

Raiden eyed the stalls. There were a diverse amount of supplies in store—there were vegetables, fruits, and other ingredients and consumables. Displayed on another, seemed to range from crafting and alchemic items, to ornaments, accessories, and crude weapons. There were even stalls selling colorful assortments of crystal shards, which appeared to be monster cores.  When Raiden inspected the vendors, he found out that not all were NPCs—some were actually artisan players.

Gideon led them to the artisan player vendors. Raiden's guess was that these players offered a better discount compared to their NPC counterparts, thus gaining market advantage. This was confirmed when he saw most of the buyers converging around player vendors.