System Jazz

The talk about sickness, sleep, and eating ticks off the health part.

The system bombards the avatar with boring messages while Tank shares his lunch, and that's it.

These things might be new for rich gamer boys, yet surviving every day is my forte.

The only odd thing is how the days go by here.

They last an hour, and the system only forces you to eat and sleep like it's real-time.

How cool it would be if it were enough to take a short nap every three weeks while snacking every other day.

The second part cuts close to home with my terrible eating habits, although it has more to do with the lack of funds.

Well, as long as they don't kick me out of this program, the drone will return with a similar pack tomorrow to take care of it.

That would be great.

There is that nasty govt task in the way though.

[Government Issued Quest: Reach Level 10 within 3 days. Importance: Utmost. Difficulty: Average. Progress: 1/10, Exp to next level: 63/100. (48/72 hours left).]

"All right, Noob, there isn't a lot more to teach you."

The trainer says once the food is gone.

He dusts himself off standing up, and points into the distance.

"You should be ready for your first errand. Go, register at the Adventurer's Guild, and ask for an entry-level errand."

The first one he says, when the main one is there for a day now, and progress is slow.

This is also a mission so that will be the third.

Still, is there an Adventurer's Guild to hand these out? That's what you're supposed to do here?

[CineMraft is a Sandbox-style game with infinite options. You can adventure, fight other players, and establish a humble shop or a mighty kingdom. The choices are up to you, we provide entertainment and options for every type of player. From beginners to pros.]

That sounds ambitious, although the Trainer is more useful than expected.

It shows options to rookies, even if these should have been obvious from the start.

So if you ever feel lost, take a task and hoard a fortune; once you find a goal, the system will let you explore it.

Too bad, it's not how it works in the real world.

Life has no tutorial either, you must find your Jazz alone. And the school they have us attend teaches nothing, only excels at brewing conflicts.

At least after the fourteenth birthday, I won't have to take part in that fool's errand anymore.

Instead, the feds came up with this bullshit.

If the controller still tries to read my mind, it might get depressed or at least confused.

The message updates, giving no surprise Exp, so it's one zombie and seven trees away from the next level.

[Tutorial: Follow Tank's instructions. Importance: N/A. Difficulty: Easyest. Progress: 4/5, Reward: 500 Exp. Part One: Fencing. Part Two: Archery. Part Three: Crafting (Skipped, Premium only). Part Four: Health. Part Five: Taking Quests and Exploration.]

Is part five him pointing at the Guild, and having me figure it out?

That's disappointing compared to the rough combat ones.

It curbed expectations and kept the mind open.

We say our goodbyes and I follow the pointer.

[The Guild will offer you an easy contract after registration. You'll have to return to the Training Ground to claim the rewards, and that subquest has its rewards too. Until you finish it, the system messages will guide your tasks.]

"Oh, so as long as it's not finished, you'll remain this helpful?"

The question must shock the game because it gives me no answer, even speaking out loud.

It's fine, the streets are still empty since it's around noon in the real world.

At least it is in the Container Park.

What about the other time zones? Or do only Dutch kids play this game?

This didn't occur to me before. From the subwroddit, this title seems brand new, so what about its players?

How many of them are here because of the feds?

They all spoke English like everyone nowadays west of the Urals except France.

Does that mean everyone plays in the same region too?

Or do they separate the starter villages by language?

Does this Crime Prevention crap work outside of Europe as well?

The system remains silent, meaning it didn't prepare for such a flurry of questions, or it's a secret.

Where did these questions come from anyway?

The Guild shows up soon, it was the first building to see after registering, and now it's time to enter. It's a prominent structure in the village's center.

[Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild!]

You can tell it's an important place when such a message pops up.

Passing through the huge doors reveals a mess hall, like it's a glorified tavern, yet only a few people are there.

They stand by the billboards, looking at the papers pinned to them, rather than sitting at the tables.

If they work the same as in the generic animes, those are the jobs, and the adventurers pick the ones that suit them.

There are only a few though, and the characters shake their heads too.

They appear yellow on my minimap, so they must be players.

The single grey dot in the hall stands behind a counter.

It's difficult to tell because the minimap doesn't show the interior of the building, only the roof.

The dots appear over that, and the tutorial's all-knowing message explains it.

[The Proximity Map shows what you'd see from the sky, and indicates the sentient beings nearby. They will appear on the map if they are within your line of sight or make a loud enough noise. Otherwise, only the amount of souls will show as a number.]

So that's what this is!

The number is the people within a set radius, and the dots appear if they are visible to me.

Specifying souls indicates they won't display monsters or animals.

And why the bird's-eye-view?

What if it's a dungeon or a cave?

[The Proximity Map shows what you'd see from the sky, and indicates the sentient beings nearby. For navigation, use the Map, when you are in the open, or the Floor Plan if you are indoors. Those don't display the nearby characters though.]

Okay, so it's helpful, but not too much, or it would be too easy to avoid ambushes.

And what's with the repetition?

This sounds much closer to how AI tends to communicate, and Tank never did this.

A grey dot indicated him until now, so the game says he's an NPC.

"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, traveler! I haven't seen you before."

The woman behind the counter opens with a similar greeting.

She wears her black hair in a bun, characterized by a grey lock.

She gives off a librarian vibe.

"Are you registered with the Guild?"

"Um, no, that's why I came."

Should I mention the tutorial?

How do you handle these kinds of situations?

Would it be better to keep up the roleplay, or does it matter if the immersion breaks with these NPCs?

Let's settle with a middle ground.

"Tank sent me to take an easy quest."

It's hard to tell if this was a kind smile or an evil grin on her face.