I see the scene dissolve before me and form into something new. A moment of darkness before light, and then I stand before a fountain of streaming water.

I've arrived.

There's a sun in the clear sky, birds hopping on the rim of the fountain, and an array of noises. I can't help but take a breath in and take a step back, thump.

"Ow-" A short grunt behind me notifies me about something. The something, of course, being I accidentally bumped into someone!

With that realization, I also notice something else. You see, looking at it now, there's a lot of people here isn't there?! What am I thinking, of course there would be!

The starting place of many players, one of the ten 'Starter Towns'! I swivel around to see a man turning, the person I bumped into, as well as numerous other players. It seems that we've started in the plaza, but first things first...

"Sorry about that!" and thus, let's run off! What? Take more responsibility? For what? It was an accident see, and I already apologized!

Excusing that, I've managed to avoid bumping into anyone else and have arrived in a more deserted alleyway. Say, how much did I run? I think that guy was saying something as well, but it's nothing important for certain.

Now that I have a chance to catch my breath, I can think a little more freely after the initial entryway.

Y'know...this game seriously feels like real life.

Me saying I had a chance to catch my breath wasn't just a saying, I really needed to do that. I could feel the wind on my face, the heat from the sun, and even my heart beating in my chest. Say, this is a bit insane, isn't it?

The tabloids are going to explode again.

Leaning against the wall, I can't help but think such a thought, but ah, it isn't my problem. What is, however, is this blinking thing on my wrist that's been humming for a while.

Lifting my right hand, I observe the object with a little more than a bit of curiosity. It's an odd translucent bracelet, not touching the skin, but floating roughly an inch above it. It brightens and dims rhythmically and has a soft noise, if you didn't notice it, you probably wouldn't hear it. Of course, this bracelet isn't unique to me. While I was running past the other players, I spotted this bracelet on their hands as well.

Well, what do you do with this situation? It's obvious, though. Touch it!

And as soon as I did that, a few screens popped up.

The screens show a majority of my information. Presumably, I could get a more in-depth explanation of what the stats do, but right now, I want to investigate this skill I got. Though, I suppose [Slash] being level three is from my class?

Anyways, let's check out what this skill can do!

…

Oi? What’s up with this skill??

Rather than hiding or editing the information to a different likeness, it masks it! I mean, it’s not a bad skill, and I think it’ll work out, but shouldn’t this have been called ‘Masquerade’ or ‘Impersonate’? Also, what's up with that absurdly low MP cost and effects?!

Huff, huff, huff....my exasperation seems a bit hypocritical, right? But even so, I have a belly full of complaints for some reason. Though, it's not like there's anything else I can do to vent it out. Let's come to terms with it and move on.

To get my mind off of that, let's scroll through what these stats can do. I can roughly guess, but different games, different mechanics! Also, this reputation statistic as well.

Hmmm, except for reputation, the stat descriptions give very basic information. I guess the developers want us to discover more of their usages when we really get into it. 

Well, then let’s do just that!

Tossing that window aside, I gaze upon the smaller screens, or rather, buttons that had popped up as well.

A greyed-out chatbox, a log-out button, a bag, and a scroll.

The chatbox only has a message that says to become an Adventurer first before using the chat function, while the log-out button is self-explanatory. The bag is my inventory, though it has nothing right now; it seems the things on my person don't appear in the inventory unless I put stuff in myself.

Then, the scroll button. This is sort of vague, but I suppose it has something to do with quests?

Huh? This is a bit…mmm…

How to say but, does this game have something against introverts or something? Talking to a random NPC as the first mission, truly? But, even though I say that…

Like it says, speaking to an NPC is a great chance to gather more information, and judging by this design, the Adventurer's Guild should be a pretty important feature of this game. Usually, it'd also give a chance for players to form parties and take on quests, right?

Also, despite my misgivings about being made to do this thing first, it’s a reasonable first quest. The only fact that has me wanting to hide in my shoe is a simple reason.

Yeah, this is an incredibly realistic game.

Normally, I’d be able to chat just fine with NPCs in other games! Even other players as well! Face-to-face is an entirely different experience!

Even if I say that, NPCs are NPCs after all, they likely won’t be able to do anything that would directly cause you harm.

Most of the time.

But enough of this exposition, let’s talk to some NPCs and figure out our next step, shall we? Seriously, my head is bursting with information, getting into the gameplay is the best thing to do after all, isn't it! I want to explore this world already!