One day, a capsule technology came to Earth, along with its VRMMO—Untitled Online. The capsule itself had a time acceleration feature when you play the game.
That meant, aside from eating, and work, I have four times the free time. When I saw the game description, it's a lot better than average VRMMO novels.
For one, it didn't force you to PvP. You couldn't player-kill in the world, only in the city Colosseums, after the match started. Even then, there's no penalty on dying from a PvP match.
Not only that, but the in-game moderators were also active to hunt down toxic players. It's easy to get banned, even permanently from the game, if you didn't behave yourself.
While you could make alternate accounts in this game, the perma-ban would even target your life signature. The moment you crossed the line enough, it's all over.
What if the moderators were abusive? From what I read, they were Artificial Intelligence.
On their terms-of-service, there weren't any rules against using exploits to get ahead or bot-farming either. That meant, as long you're not an asshole to others, you're free to do whatever you want—fine by me.
There weren't any Open or Closed Beta, so the only info were speculations and those the developers revealed.
In any case, there's still an hour before the server finally opened for the first time.
So I gave the capsule a good look.
I was one of the lucky ones to get the capsule free, for being the first ten thousand to pre-register. At a glance, it looked like a futuristic-styled coffin.
My character was a default human male with no customization. I didn't really like to stand out in online games, to be honest. I was never that big into cosmetics either.
For the username, something casual will do—like Hideki.
In this game, I didn't want to bother grinding or doing manual labor for EXP and Gold, and Items at all.
As such, I created six alternate accounts, since it's the maximum size for a normal party in this game. I'd just let the AI do their job, especially since they could just spec up their skills and class to fit the party.
I would just mod the capsule and add some way to browse the internet and connect my PC. I'd abuse the time acceleration feature to have more time in each day.
Since the insides were so damn comfy, would eight hours sleep in the game equal eight in real life? Ah right, I also need to go for bathroom breaks and exercise.
If there's a way to earn enough money from this game, I'd quit my job right away.
In any case, I and my six alternate accounts got teleported into the central area with a huge fountain. It's a medieval Europe styled town, and I wore such clothes as well.
The sensations in this game felt so real--it's like going to another world.
Just in case, I checked the [Log Out] button, and it's actually working. While it's kinda silly, I was glad I could return back and forth.
I spent a lot more effort into my alts than my character. Three guys, and three girls to balance things out. I could indirectly control my alts and we added each other to the friend's list, and trade at any distance, as long they're not in dungeons.
In any case, I wasn't interested in any of this stuff. I'd rather just laze around in the cities and have fun. That's why I made six alts, instead of five.
In my inventory were the starting gold and consumables like potions and the infamous hard bread.
There were a lot more people than expected. The NPCs were so lifelike, I couldn't really tell them apart from players.
A middle-aged man in light armor called us to line up. It's probably the Tutorial mission, like the novels.
At first, he told us to strike the scarecrows with a wooden sword and hunt enough chickens to level up before we left the starting town.
While it's a bit tiring, it wasn't that hard. While I swing my sword, I'd just think about my favorite novels. Before I knew it, I finished my hundredth strike.
For the chickens, it's quite simple, since the kill also count even if I didn't land a killing blow. I just followed my Alts, who ganged up on a chicken every time, and threw a pebble when they immobilized it.
I kinda noticed you couldn't really use a Bus in this game. The EXP and Gold reward was based on individual contribution, and that didn't equate to just damage.
If a high-leveled player completely neutralized the enemy, even if a noob dealt the most damage, they wouldn't get a lot of EXP.
To solve it, there were EXP pots. While defeating monsters, a small fraction of your experience will go towards the pot.
...but if you wanted to get stronger, it's probably better to defeat monsters on your own, or with your teammates. You could learn useful skills in battle.
In a way, I also learned several skills, but it's not that important to show. In a couple of chapters, it'd be irrelevant anyway, so why bother.
Unless it's something really special, I probably won't talk about it.
Hmm...
While players couldn't be toxic, what about NPCs? There's no rule that said NPCs couldn't harass players and even kill them.
...and what if we retaliate against the NPCs because they're being an asshole to us? What if the players wanted to harm NPCs?
As such, in the starting city, I traveled with my alts to avoid brigands.
Though the risk was low due to the lack of slums suspicious back-alleys, it's better to be safe.
I learned from the NPCs, that battles weren't the only way to increase your experience. While you'd get stronger as your level increased, skills and gears meant a lot more, when it came to prowess.
Despite that, it's not like you couldn't learn battle skills through everyday chores like cooking and cleaning. One of them said about a master who learned an earth-shattering martial art, just by immersing himself in daily life.
I also asked about the general safety of this place, and if it's possible to buy a house. There were indeed several Inns in this place, but I wanted something much personal to stay in.
The NPC told me about the Commerce Guild that also acted as a real estate broker. As for the specifics like the price and available properties, it's best to ask them directly
"What about the Adventurer's Guild?"
There used to be one in this city.
...but since the monsters were relatively weak, only menial tasks were available.
As such, it's now called the Labor Hall.
No wonder why a lot of players went to the next city right away.
This public order was excellent due to the Enforcers. The middle-aged man who told us to smack scarecrows was one of them.
They told me I could rest assured, as long I didn't forget to lock my doors each time.
Anyway, there's no [Fatigue] system in this game. If you felt like it, you could even grind dungeons nonstop. If you logged out, your in-game avatar would also disappear.
You're not prohibited from logging off, at any moment. After all, we lived in real life, and at any moment, there were things that require our attention, instead of copping up in the capsule all day.
...but if you're logged off at certain events, you might be unable to rejoin them.
Even if you could grind all day, there's mental exhaustion, and I wanted to experience sleeping in this game.
The other thing about houses, you could customize it however you want.
Seeing I had no more questions, I visited the Commerce Guild. All I could say, the decoration's pretty nice with the warm color texture, and lavish look.
I was led to a receptionist. They showed me a catalog, with the house's portrait along with their location according to the town's map.
Since I'd be living alone, most of the time, a small house will do.
The price was a bit iffy though—I don't think grinding non-stop in the starting area for a week would be enough to buy them.
It's millennial problems again.
"Can I pay in installations?"
I saw the monthly amount in the catalog; if we grind enough, it should be doable.
"Sure, but do you have a guarantor?"
"Eh..."
"We apologize, but rules are rules. You need someone to ensure us, that you could pay the installment."
"How can I find a guarantor?"
The receptionist listed several influential figures in this city, with the City Lord himself holding the most prestige. There were also several business owners, including the Commerce Guild's master.
Since I wanted to get the house under my name, I might have to do the Quests.
...but they're so much pain--I had enough being an errand boy.
Those fetch and escort missions should just kill themselves.
Oh right.
"Does the Commerce Guild deal with slaves?"
