Vivid Stars Online

This time, the receptionist sent me straight up to Bradford’s office once I arrived. It seemed he’d been waiting for me as he called me into the room as soon as I’d knocked.

“Back already, I see,“ he greeted me from behind his desk. “I take it you have everything, then?”

“Yep,“ I responded with a grin. I’d checked the Quest to be sure, and it had every entry checked off. “Wasn’t cheap, but I’m now all ready to go.”

“Excellent,“ he replied as he fiddled with the holographic screen In front of them. “Then let me be the first person to formally welcome you to the Explorer’s Guild, Trainee Member Jared Hope.”

“Trainee member,“ I questioned, heart sinking. Of course, it couldn’t be easy.

He smirked at me from across the desk. “You didn’t think we just handed out full memberships to anyone who showed up, did you? We aren’t that desperate for members,“ he finished with a snort.

“It's not like we're asking the world, though,“ he continued with a wave of his hand. “Complete one mission chosen by the Guild, and I'll hand you your full membership with a smile. Sound good? I can always reverse the membership if you'd prefer.”

There was no way I was going to back out after spending that much on gear. It didn’t sound too rough either; I was confident he wouldn’t give me anything too difficult. Well, mostly confident at least.

“That's fine,“ I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. “I said I’d be happy to help any Guild I joined after all.”

“Good man,“ he responded, a huge smile crossing his bearded face. “In that case, my duty as a recruiter is complete. I will now pass you on to our operations manager, Bradford.” He mimed swapping hats before continuing, “Welcome Trainee Member Hope, I will now assign your first mission.”

After that bit of levity, however, his face turned serious as he continued speaking. “You may or may not be aware that the city is facing several shortages right now. While the reasons for this are outside the scope of this briefing, what is important is that it’s all hands on deck to get the problem sorted before winter.”

“Is it that bad?” I asked as he paused for a moment. I did not want to be in the city if there was going to be a full-on crisis. The food riots back home had not been pretty.

He held a hand out and tilted it side to side. “Yes, and no. While no one is about to starve, it’s going to be a very lean winter if we don't up our food production. The Duchess is doing the best she can with the other regions, but none of them have much to spare either. In the end, it’s up to us,“ he gestured out towards the city rather than at the two of us, “to solve the problem in the short term, at least.”

I nodded in reply as he paused to fiddle with his screen again. I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going, he’d better not be leading up to a farming mission or something. That wasn’t what I’d signed up for. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“So that brings me to your mission,“ he continued a minute later. “We are looking for alternative sources of food that can we can exploit in the short to mid-term. Your task will be to find an appropriate food source, scan it and the surrounding area, then bring the data back to us. Make sure you observe it for at least two days to get an idea of how dangerous the area is.”

That sounded more like it. “So you’re not looking for farmland or the like,“ I clarified. “But something you can send people out to collect right now?”

“Correct,“ he said, grinning in response. “Farming’s always been too risky this far north. Too many beasts and the weather is too unpredictable. Though,“ he continued with a snort, “It’s been better than down south the last couple of years. So yes, a large animal herd, a field of wild greens, a grove of fruit trees, or a river filled with fish. That kind of thing.”

“Right,“ I nodded in reply, already thinking the task through. “Is there a map of what we've already explored? I’m assuming you’re looking for something new that hasn’t been reported before?”

He only smirked in response, pushing a button on his screen as he did so. A moment later, my watch pinged with a notification.

Receiving data transmission

Chief of Operations Bradford has transmitted Explorer Database

Accept transmission?

I confirmed the prompt before looking at him askew. “That looks like a bit more than just a map.”

“That,“ he said, pointing at my watch. “Is the entire repository of information the Guild has collected in this region. It does, of course, have the map you were looking for, however, it also has all the data we’ve collected on the local beasts, flora, and fauna. Keep it safe, more than one of the other Guilds would love to get their hands on it.”

That wasn’t the first time he’d talked about beasts as if they were something different from normal animals. I was curious about why, but didn’t want to look like even more of a noob than I already did. Hopefully, I could find what I needed in the database.

“I'll be careful with it,“ I responded before a thought came to me. “Does that mean I need to send the Guild everything I find out there?” I really hoped it didn’t, that would cut into my plans for making a profit.

“Course not,“ he said with a deep chuckle. “I'd say that less than half of the good stuff out there is in that database, while the rest is sitting on people’s personal computers. You have to at least send us something, though,“ he continued with a stern glare.

“We set the database up so it only synchs with our system when you add data to it. If you want the latest updates from every other explorer in the area, then you need to contribute as well.”

That’s pretty smart, I mused as I nodded in acknowledgment. Makes it in our own best interests to share information. Anyone who tries to go at it alone misses out on information from the collective.

“Anything else I need to know?“ I asked after Bradford had gone silent for a minute.

“Don’t die,“ he said, squinting at me with a frown. “I’ve had to bury more than a few new explorers in empty graves when they never came back. Be careful, don’t go too far on your first run, and if you’re sleeping in the wilderness, keep a fire going all night. Most beasts fear fire even more than regular animals.”

I gulped before nodding in reply. While I couldn’t really die in-game, it wasn’t an experience I was looking to have. I also had a bad feeling my expensive new equipment wouldn’t be respawning with me if I got myself killed.

“I'll be careful,“ I replied, keeping my tone as serious as I could. “It might take me a few expeditions to find what you’re after, though.”

“Hah,“ he laughed in response. “I wouldn’t expect anything else. No, you have a month to finish this mission. That will still give us plenty of time to take advantage of whatever you find before winter sets in.”

“Now be off with you,“ he finished with a wave. “And be sure to enjoy yourself as you go. Despite the danger, the rough sleeping, and the solitude, my years out in the field were still some of the best of my life.”

With that, he turned back to his screen in clear dismissal. Thanking him, I left and moved back down to the first floor. As I did so, I got a pair of System notifications.

Quest Complete

Congratulations on completing the Quest:

Guild Initiation (Path of the Explorer)

Rewards:

Ten XP

Guild Membership

Path Continuation

Quest Received

You have gained the Quest:

First Mission (Path of the Explorer 2)

The city of Elendes needs your help. With food running low, additional sources need to be located before winter.

Objectives:

Locate an area where the city can immediately begin gathering food.

Rewards:

Credits scaled based on the quality of your find

XP scaled based on the quality of your find

Upgrade to full Guild Member

Path Continuation

Scaling rewards huh, I thought as I looked over the new Quest. Best not half-ass it then, a good result here could really help me. The database Bradford sent me would be critical in achieving that; I'd have to sit down somewhere and go through it. Perhaps the receptionist could help with that.

“Hello again, Sofie,“ I address the woman behind the counter. “Is there somewhere I can sit down and go through a database?”

She glanced at her screen for a moment, before turning a brilliant smile on me. “Of course, Trainee Explorer Hope, and congratulations on taking the first step with the Guild. As a member, you’re entitled to use the hot desks on the third floor.”

“Take the stairs to the second floor, go all the way to the right, then take the stairs again. Any room with a green light on the door is free and I'll make sure you have access to the projectors,“ she finished while making notes on her screen.

“Thanks,“ I replied with a grin. That sounded perfect, hopefully, they would have one of the larger screens everyone seemed to use. My watch was nice, but awkward when used for long periods of time.

I followed her directions and soon came to rows of small wooden rooms laid out in a grid. Each had a light on the door, most of which were green. It looked like there weren’t many people in the building right now. Given what Bradford had said, I imagined they were all out looking for ways to help the city.

The closest available room opened as I waved my watch at it, revealing a small area containing a chair, a desk, and a small sink with a few cups by it. It was only upon seeing the sink that I realized how parched I was.

The VR pod had an automatic straw that should keep my actual body hydrated, so that meant it was my character’s body that was feeling thirsty. I had not expected that, thinking I’d just get debuffs or something when I needed to eat or drink. Being so linked to it was rather disconcerting.

Moving over to the sink, I had a few cups of water until I was feeling better. I could feel every sensation as the water flowed down my throat and into my stomach, it was as if I was actually drinking in real life.

The realism is insane, I thought for the tenth time since entering the game. Is this the difference between using a headset and the pod? After thinking about it for a minute, I gave up on worrying about the implications and instead sat down at the desk.

As I sat I got a message asking if I wanted to synch my personal computer with an external projector. Grinning at finding what I’d hoped, I confirmed the message and watched as a large screen filled the desk in front of me.

It had all the same information as my watch, with a far easier-to-read screen. The one that was projected above my wrist was only the size of a phone screen and could be hard to read large quantities of information on. The only downside seemed to be that it expected physical manipulation, that must be why everyone I'd seen kept touching theirs rather than using thought control.

I pulled up the new database, seeing a wealth of options available. Not only was the map I was looking for there but also hundreds of detailed entries on the plants and animals of the region. It even had a message board where it looked like people were posting requests to team up for harder missions.

With a grin, I pulled open the map and began to plot out my first expedition.