Edited 27/11/2023

Ai doesn’t know exactly what to think when he enters Pymule. The first thing he sees of the village is its tall watch towers made from polished wood, stone, and metal. There’s probably one in each corner of the village, protecting it from outside threats. He can’t see whether or not there are guards in them but he assumes there’s one in each tower, silently watching over the village as the days go by.

As he ventures deeper, the trees get bigger and taller, their leaves ever so colorful. By the time Ai reaches the village, the trees are already taller than most of the buildings, touching the sky.

The word ‘village’ definitely does not suit it. At least, it doesn't match the image of a village inside Ai’s head. When he thinks of ‘village’, he thinks of simple buildings that aren’t too fancy or expensive, he imagines a limited number of people going to do their daily chores or jobs. What he doesn’t imagine is modern buildings with some being over two to ten stories tall, busy streets bustling with many people, and the path is even lined with stone.

As Ai looks at the people going around, he realizes that not everyone is an NPC. He sees some players mixed in the crowd as well. They’re quite far off in the distance so he can’t really see if they’re also elves doing their starter quest or they’re just higher leveled players who needed to do a quest or are just sightseeing.

Ai can’t blame them if they’re coming to sightsee. The village of Pymule is beautiful. The buildings’ architecture is very elegant and royal like the elves are. Above the city are giant trees that cast big shadows, sunlight streaming through the gaps between the colorful leaves. It’s definitely a fantastical sight.

[Welcome to the Elf Beginner Village, Pymule!]

“Envoy, don’t stray too far.”

Ai snaps from his amazement and walks briskly to catch up with Athiel.

Now mixed within the crowd, Ai can see the other elves a bit more clearly. They were a mix of dark and light elves, telling Ai that [World Symphony] doesn’t separate the two as other games often do to create plot points or tension. Instead, they’re all part of one society. Though each elf is unique, everyone he sees is the same as Athiel.

Catching Ai’s wandering eyes, Athiel seems to register what he’s thinking and answers.

“I understand that a sheltered envoy such as yourself has not been taught of elf tradition and etiquette,” Athiel says matter of factly. “We do not trifle with matters such as genders. Elven society has passed the need for it. We simply love beautiful things whether it’s a beautiful dress or shiny jewels.”

Ai simply nods and continues following Athiel. He looks around at the society that simply loves beauty, they don’t care how they achieved it or what form it took as long as it’s beautiful. There’s almost something poetic about it, about the elven society in its entirety.  

The game has decided that this is the type of society that suited Ai if it was even trying to say something at all. If so, he isn’t sure what the game is trying to say, but he’s part of it now or he was about to be. This society that adored beautiful things is his kin now, at least in [World Symphony].

After walking for quite some time, passing more sorts of buildings and interesting people, the two elves stop in front of a two-story building that’s not too close to the bustling city, sitting at the edge.

“This is the inn,” Athiel says, waving at it. “Let me take you up to your room.”

The inside of the inn is just as elegant and grand as the outside does. There’s a chandelier hanging down the ceiling, a sunroom on the right with two elves sitting down while sipping tea, and on the left is a lounge with no one inside. The inside reminds Ai of what a manor would look like.

Behind the counter, an elf wearing a brown dress is staring at them. Ai supposes they’re the inn owner or receptionist.

“This is the lord’s envoy,” Athiel says, gesturing towards Ai. “They will be staying here for the night.”

The receptionist only bows in response. Then the elf pulls out a single key from behind the counter that they give to Ai, the room key. They don’t say a single word and Ai wonders if the game just doesn't have any lines for the NPC.

“This way, envoy,” Athiel says by the stairway, gesturing upstairs.

[Received [Golden Room Key] from Inn Maid Avra!]

So they aren’t the receptionist or innkeeper but only a simple maid, though they’re no different from other elves, all beautiful and elegant. 

Still…there’s something about this particular NPC, but Ai can’t tell exactly what was wrong. Maybe it was their blank expression or their lack of dialogue. It was almost odd for a game that was as resourceful and rich as [World Symphony] to make an NPC that didn’t talk or express much. But that’s not all. Something is nagging at the back of Ai’s mind, something that he should’ve remembered. But what…? 

Just as quickly, the feeling dips back under and Ai is left confused.

Ai looks away from the maid and follows Athiel as they guide him into his room for the day. While they walk, Ai takes the time to examine the [Room Key] object in his [Thought System].

[Golden Room Key - Grants player temporary use of the Golden Suite at the Pymule Outer Inn. Expires after 3 days]

Expiring in 3 days...does that mean the main quest would take that amount of time or less? Why so long? And the Golden Suite? Ai wonders if the whole room would be painted gold. He hopes not.

As Ai begins to feel suspicious of the quest in hand and what it entails, they arrive at the Golden Suite on the second floor. The door isn’t made out of gold but it does stand out. It’s located right at the end of the hallway, facing it. There’s much more craftsmanship put into this particular door with detailed etchings of curling vines and flowers.

“This shall be your room, envoy.” Athiel smiles, “Please rest, we will call for you when it’s time.”

Ai simply nods in response. Athiel bows deeply and then turns around to go back to whatever they were doing before they ran into Ai. To some degree, Ai feels bad for Athiel, for all the quest NPCs. He couldn’t imagine anyone in the real world dropping whatever important things they were doing just to take a random stranger to a hotel that was quite far away from where they met.

Turning toward the door, Ai takes out the key from his inventory and unlocks the beautifully etched door. 

When he gets a good look at the room, he finds that the room does have some gold in it, though it isn’t as much as he thought. The Suite is as big as a luxury studio apartment in the real world. The walls are layered with plain wallpapers that have faded gold etchings on them, it glitters as Ai walks inside the room.

On the left side, there’s a comfy-looking bed with fluffy pillows and warm blankets, the middle has a living area with two loveseats, a coffee table, and a flower vase on top of it then on the right is a door that Ai assumes leads to the bathroom. 

There’s no kitchen area, but Ai can see a bowl of fruits next to the bed. Picking one of the fruits up, Ai discovers that consuming one fruit will heal a player around 25% of their maximum HP.

About player stats, [World Symphony] has a standard stat system for the players. They have a very basic HP and MP system with no extra points like Energy, Stamina, or Hunger. Those three depend entirely on the player’s real physical body. If a player is overweight in real life, then their Stamina in the game would be lesser than those players who exercise daily in real life. 

In the [Thought System] Ai finally takes a look at his stats.

[Player Ai, Elf / HP: 500 / MP: 1000 / Class: Mediator]

Below is a list of his special skills, which, for now, is limited to two:

[Homestead] which will teleport him to the last [Safe Zone] he visited, and [Basic Heal] which is a standard skill that all the scholar-type classes have.

So far, no Mediator special skill yet.

Ai pushes the thoughts down and starts putting the fruits into his inventory. He might as well take these fruits since the healing skill didn’t heal for very much and had a considerable amount of cooldown.

After some time of lounging around in the Golden Suite, Ai hears a quiet knock at the door. Reluctantly getting up from the comfortable bed, Ai reads into the [Thought System] to see if it would notify him of who was at the door. 

[Player Eusyca_ has requested entry to your room!]