Sprawled out in front of Max was a large town, almost a city, with a thick stone wall at least 20 feet tall topped by crenellations and patrolled by armed and armored guards. A large gated entrance, with two guards posted outside, granted entry into the city.

Max continued walking and reached the gate 15 minutes later. As Max approached the two guards called out.

"Papers please?"

"I don't have any."

"Why don't you?" the guard on the right asked suspicious

Its ok Sophie reassured him, tell them you're a new player. They won't try anything.

"I'm a new player. I just arrived in this world."

"Oh! Why didnt you say so." The guard on the left said, weirdly excited. "Please enter."

"The Game House is straight down then make a left at the main road. Big building with a chessboard painted on the sign."

Max entered the gates after thanking the guards. Game House? He asked Sophie.

I was about to tell you to go there, the guide explained. It helps Players play. It's kind of like adventures or hunters guild of video games wich are modeled after it.

Which are modeled after it?

They've existed for thousands of years. What do you think came first?

Max had nothing to say to that so he began to rubberneck. The tunnel through the wall that was the gate was about ten feet long and had slits along the sides and top, presumably to allow defenders to rain arrows and boiling oil on attackers. He shivered at the thought of having to charge through a storm like that.

A few moments later he passed through the gate tunnel into the town. He was forced to blink for a second as the sudden brightness blinded him. Lining the road ahead were several inns and taverns, separated from the wall surrounding the town by a good thirty feet.

As he walked down the street he saw all kind of people going in and out of various shops. Elves, dwarfs, people with animalistic features, a few people with almost demonic appearances. Some weren't even people as ha saw what looked like a large wolf walk up to a stall set up on the main road, and began bartering with the shop keeper. After they came to an agreement the shopkeeper reached into the wallet hanging on the wolf's neck and pulled out coins one by one. When the agreed amount was reached the wolf nodded and the shopkeeper placed the item he had purchased into another bag on the animal's neck and the wolf walked away, seemingly satisfied. Stunned, Max kept walking until he saw the sign the guards had described.

The building it was hanging from was quite large, taking up at least 10,000 square feet and three stories tall. The chessboard on the sign looked so real Max felt an impossible desire to play a game right then and there. Shaking has head he turned to the massive double doors granting entry to the House. Walking up to the massive slabs of wood he grabbed the knob and heaved. Shocking Max, the doors calmly swung open, causing him to stumble back and nearly fall on his backside. A few groups of people were gathered just inside the door all of them looking over at him chuckling. "A newbie" someone called out.

Flushing furiously, Max walked through the doors and took a cautious look around. The room was quite full with most of the right side and center of the the room was taken up by a pud slash eatery. On the opposite side, half the back wall and most of the left was lined with counters, with receptionists behind most of them, dealing with customers and seemingly managing House business.

Go over to the counters, supplied Sophie. They'll help you get started.

Still embarrassed, Max walked over to an unoccupied counter, behind wich stood a lightly scarred, well muscled man in his late forties.

"Don't sweat it kid," he told Max. "Happens to all the newly descended Players."

"Descended?"

"Players that weren't born on The Board," he explained. "Now then, I'm assuming you're here for you're starter kit?"

"I guess?" he replied when Sophie didnt say anything.

"Great! Follow me." The House employee led him up the stairway, tucked in the front left corner of the House which Max hadn't noticed until then, to the third floor and showed him into a largish room with a pedestal in the center and a back wall lined with various weapons.

"Alright kid," the man said. "Pick your starter weapon. After that I'll explain a few things and get you started."

Max walked to the weapons rack and looked at the various weapons. There were maces, axes, longswords, broadswords, and many others. Max looked over them, picked a few up, gave them a swing or two but non of them felt right. He tried a few more, all of them still lacking until he saw a pair of blades tucked away in the corner. He walked over to them and picked the two up. They were both about eighteen to twenty inches long, somewhere between a very long dagger and very short sword. Max swung one then the other and it perfect, natural almost.

Max turned toward the House employee, surprised.

"Looks like you found the right weapon," he told him, chuckling. He rummaged around for a bit in a box on the side and pulled out a pair of sheaths. He took the blades from Max, sheathed them and then proceeded to help him put it on and adjust the straps until they were situated comfortably, a handle jutting out past each shoulder. The employee then pulled out a bag from behind the pedestal in the center of the room.

"Inside is gonna have most of the stuff you'll need besides for food. A small tent, a bed roll, a flint and striker and a few more miscellaneous items." He put the bag down next to Max. "Now that we got that out of the way, time for you to get your first quest."

"Quests?"

"They're primarily requests from The Game dor Players to do. Kill this, investigate that and other such fun and hearty business. Although Residents also often provide quests but the rewards are usually slightly smaller. Anyway, go over to the pedestal and place your hand on it."

Max complied and a window appeared above the pillar.

"F..five hundred!" the man gaped. "Did something glitch? It's supposed to be five!"

Sophie!?

I was not expecting that, came the reply. I should have, but I didn't. Your first quest is to introduce you to combat, get you started with experiencing The Game and to get you your first level up. Since you need a thousand experience that means five hundred slimes as opposed to the five you would need normally.

Great.

"It seems I need 100 times more Exp than most to level up," he continued aloud

"A hund... Oh! I understand now. Dont worry, all you information is completely confidential. None of this will be let known to anyone else. Hold on a moment." He waited a few seconds before reaching under the top of the pedestal and pulled out a small metal sheet.

"This is your identification papers. You'll need ot to get around on The Board. As a Player you have a bit more freedom of movement than most citizens. You can cross most border and enter most cities without trouble. Well, as long as you're not wanted. That's about it. Have a good hunt. And play on."

"Thanks," Max replied. Where can I find the slimes? he asked Sophie as he left the room and headed down the stairs.

They're found mostly in dark and damp places. Ask any of the Players where the nearest entrance to the sewers are. There should be plenty of slimes there.

When he got to the main hall a tall, slender female Player was heading toward the stairs. When she was about to walk past him...

"Exuse me ma'am, do you know..."

"The sewers?" She asked with a small smile. "Small door underneath the stairs. You can get in that way. Five slimes shouldn't take you more than an hour or two. Once you get the hang of it the rest should go easy. Good luck and play on." She pat him on the shoulder and headed up the stairs.

Five slimes, thought Max with a grimace. Try five hundred. If five take an hour how long will it take to do all five hundred. How long till nightfall? he asked Sophie.

About three hours, the guide replied.

Is that enough to finish the quest?

It's probably not enough time to find five hundred slimes let alone kill them all. You'll just need to take it slow. You should be finished by noon tomorrow if all goes well.

Max walked over to the door. On it there was a sign saying "Good luck newbie" and underneath it "Play on." Resigning himself, he opened the door and walked down the stairs behind it.

What's this "play on" everyone is going on about?

It's the standard farewell between players, answered Sophie. It's kinda saying "keep it up" or "dont give up". A Player's life is a hard, but satisfying one. So its polite to keep encouraging each other.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs there was another door, which he passed through, and another door behind that with a sign. "DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR BEFORE CLOSING THE PREVIOUS DOOR". Logical enough so Max complied before walking through the second door. And then gagged. The stench was bad. Really bad. But...

This is alot better than I expected he asked

Your nose. It can smell a bit better now but it can also block the more unpleasant smells from effecting you. Also the slimes. They help keep the smell down.

So why am I killing them?

Players regularly come down to cull their numbers so they don't take over and merely keep the smell down.

"Got it." The sewer was dark but Max was still able to see pretty clearly, most likely from the sensory upgrade as well as from the tiny bits of light entering from drains situated randomly throughout the sewer. He started walking cautiously foward, carefully drawing his blades from behind his back, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Wait a sec, can slimes even see or hear?

No but they can feel vibrations like walking or noise so maybe kinda?

Got it. Make as little noise as possible. He kept walking for a bit until he hit a crossroad. Which way? he pondered for a moment before shrugging and going straight. Of you're not sure, keep doing what you've been doing. As he passed the next crossroad he felt more than saw, something jump toward his head and he instinctively swatted it away. He partially succeeded as the thing didn't hit his head but instead stuck to his hand and he felt a somthing burning. When his head caught up to his body he looked at his hand and saw a brownish grayish silly-putty looking thing wrapped around his hand, eating away at it. Max then proceeded to panic, wildly waving his hand trying to get the thing off it. After a few moments he finally succeeded and the slime slid off and landed a few feet away and began to squirm away as fast as it could, wich in truth wasn't very fast. His hand still burning, he walked up to it and, pissed, stabbed at it angrily. When he pulled the blade out, the slime began leaking a slightly viscous red fluid and started deflating. It still tried running away but Max continued stabbing it until he felt somthing hard underneath the tip and he pressed down. He felt somthing break and the monster finally stopped moving. He slumped against the wall, his environment totally forgotten, and looked at his hand.

You could have told me slimes are ambush hunters, he complained to Sophie.

Yes, but you wouldn't have learned your lessons nearly as well.

What lessons? he asked annoyed

Sit down and think about them, his guide told hin sternly. He listened and sat, thinking over what he had done and what he could have done better. One, I should have asked Sophie or any other Player a slimes habits and weaknesses. Two, I should have been a lot more cautious and paid alot more attention to my surroundings. Three, I panicked. When I felt that thing wrap around my hand I panicked. I should have been a lot more calm and rational and thought thing through.

There you go, came Sophie's voice seemingly satisfied. Though you actually did the right thing shaking it off as apposed to cutting it. That would have spilled it acidic insides all over your arm, so good job with that at least.

Yay for me, thought Max. Anyway, I've been wondering. Are you a girl or ... Max trailed off not sure how to continue and not sure why he was even asking.

Of course I'm a woman!! Sofie yelled angry, her annoyance clearer than usual, despite her being a disembodied voice inside his head. What the hell did you think I am?!

Max tried apologizing but all Sophie did was sniff and refused to speak with him no matter what he said. While the drama went on inside his head, he gingerly sheathed his blades happy that at least he hadn't dropped them when he had been jumped. He then reached inside his pack and took out a bandage and a small jar of ointment. He carefully spread it on his hand, being especially careful with the patches missing skin, some of which showed bone. Despite his care, ot still hurt a fare bit but the ointment soothed the burn almost immediately. When all the raw and burnt areas had been covered, he proceeded to wrap his hand, careful to allow his hand the ability to hold his sword. Finished, he stood, shouldered his pack, then continued on, significantly more careful, paying attention to his surroundings and looking behind and around himself every so often.

Oh, Max, he heard Sophie say.

Hm? he asked absently as he looked around.

The one direction no one remembers to look, she said, is up.