Editor: Krishy

<Access-4>

Ajin opened his eyes. Everything was white. He looked around and was surprised to find a huge mirror in front of him.

“Welcome to the world of ‘FIRST’. ”

Ajin turned back to the voice. There was a woman with short blonde hair standing. The woman smiled and their eyes met and she bowed.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Acacia. I will be helping you with the tutorial.”

“…system operator?’

Ajin asked the woman who just introduced herself as Acacia. Acacia smiled and shook her head.

“No. I am simply here to help you with the tutorial. I don’t have the authority of a system operator.”

So that means she is an NPC*. Ajin nodded. Acacia then asked him, “First of all, there is a process of customizing the avatar you will use in ‘FIRST’. Would you like to do that?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Almost all of the virtual reality games enabled players to customize their avatars. Even though it was a single-player game, the fact that one could look like one’s most ideal face and body was very appealing to people. That’s why most of the virtual reality game players customized their avatars, like making them taller, more handsome, and etc.

It was all useless. At least that’s what Ajin thought. Even if it was a virtual reality game, the one actually moving was the player. If the avatar was taller than their real body, the sight range changes. If the avatar was bigger than their real body, the player would have problems adapting to the difference in movement. Long story short, making the avatar similar to the player’s real body was the best. Also, on the contrary, if a player gets too used to their avatar, he or she would have problems moving with their real body. It was actually one of the precautions but virtual reality games had the merit of customizing avatars. It was inevitable since many players wanted it.

But Ajin did not customize his avatars. The efficiency of his real body and his avatar’s was what was important to him. Then one would think, “isn’t it fine to customize the face then?” But Ajin didn’t. Simply because he was satisfied with his face.

“Okay. So you are not customizing your avatar, confirm?’

“Confirm.”

“Then, the next step is to set up a name you would like to use in the game. Do you have a name in mind?”

“Ajin.”

He was going to use his real name as well as his real body. Acacia stared for a while and nodded.

“Okay, done. Player Ajin. Before proceeding to the tutorial, I will give you the specialized skill you will use in ‘FIRST’. “

Acacia flicked her fingers. Then, the white world reversed and now he was standing in the center of a huge library. It was massive. Ajin thought to himself while he looked around the library. There were three rooms in the library that were closed but he couldn’t think about them. The library was overwhelmingly huge.

“You can choose your specialized skill here.”

Acacia smiled, facing her back to the innumerable tables. She was changed to a black suit from the white dress she was wearing when they first met. She also had black glasses, perhaps to blend in with the mood of the library. Acacia lifted her glasses and smiled.

“That’s the book room of Martial Arts.”

Acacia pointed to a huge stone door. Then she pointed in another direction.

“That’s the book room of Magic.”

It was an old, antique door. Acacia’s hands pointed to another direction.

“That’s the book room of Superpowers.”

There was a shiny mechanical door. Acacia smiled and opened her arms.

“In ‘FIRST’, we provide three types of powers. Martial Arts, Magic, and Superpower. Players can choose two skills. You could choose two skills from Martial Arts, or choose one from Martial Arts and the other from Magic. If there is a book or information you would like to view, you can ask me for it or you can explore the library yourself. Would you like me to continue explaining?”

He already knew this information from the guideline. But Ajin nodded anyway. There was no certainty that all of the information was in the guideline. If there was an NPC specialized for such information, he thought it would be best to finish listening to the NPC.

“Martial Arts uses inner power, Magic uses mana, and Superpower uses mental strength. The types of powers are very different, so if you choose two skills from different types of powers, you should balance the two powers equally to use the skills to their full potential. If I may advise, I recommend choosing the skills from the same power instead of from two different powers if you are a newbie. “

Ajin went silent as Acacia added.

“If you find it difficult choosing, I can analyze your propensity and find you a skill that matches you. Would you like that?”

“Nah. I want to look around first, then choose. That’s fine right?”

“Yes, of course. Ah, and the skill you choose here can’t be changed but you can acquire new ones when you gain a new one while you play. However, if you acquire a Magic power while you already chose Martial Arts and Superpower, acquiring that skill is impossible if the terms of using Magic’s skills are not met. So please keep that in mind.”

Acacia then swung her hands lightly. Then a soft breeze blew and opened all the closed doors.

“There are no time limitations, so take your time.”

In that case, he had all the time to choose. Anyway, it was not urgent. The beta test would reset after a month so there was no pressure in choosing. But he could not just carelessly choose anything. A month. In that month, he had to collect as much information he could so later at the official opening of the game he could be superior to the other players. It didn’t mean that information was not important just because it’s a game. Same thing applied to making walkthroughs. To make perfect walkthroughs, he needs perfect information.

And to obtain that information he needed the power of information. It was only common sense to have the abilities that can beat the boss. Even though there was no pressure, he had no intention to choose them lightly. Since there was no time limit, he would pour in all his energy to skim through everything.

‘First, to Martial Arts.’

Ajin moved towards the room of Martial Arts.

NPC*= Non-player character