Jack was happy to find two people not very concerned by the Joke. Nothing needed to be discussed as it was obvious they also didn't believe the pile of bullshit that the giant Monster spewed out. He put his hand up declining the offer for the weapon. "I'm a Tinker so I only use Guns and stuff like that. Thanks though! I think it is a good idea to get going though." Jack said with a wide smile, standing straight with his hands at his hips.

"Well... We could get moving to the nearby dungeon. While everyone is still being spooked, we could get an advantage with getting more exp for just us three. Although lets be careful... It would be a shame to get booted of the game this quick."

Before either could reply Jack accepted the Party invite and started heading off to the Dungeon known as 'The Ravine' location. Hopefully there would be a few monster on the way to get warmed up to the combat before they had to engage anything that took all three of them to fight. Jack zoned out a little thinking of all the cool things this Game had to offer. Before being ripped from time and space and sent here, he was just battling this little Goblin. He didn't even get to attack it before the rather rude interruption of his gameplay.

---

The two were both surprised by Theo's sudden arrival, but that was to be expected. He was significantly taller than the both of them, and was arguably the best equipped thanks to his starting buckler. That, combined with his well defined physique, he was worried they might think he was trying to lure them somewhere dangerous and kill them for their equipment. N-not that Theo ever did that, especially when he played as Dirk. Luckily, they both agreed to accept his party invite, and while Dirk was relaxed and cocky, Theo was immensely relieved. He had highly specialized his starting attributes, and he doubted he would be able to kill even low level mobs with his current stats. As they did so, the girl was the first to speak.

"I'd... I'd be happy to join you both. I'm Aster, a swordsman. Kajin Najin? Do you have a nickname, maybe something a bit shorter? Kajin, or just Kaj? And you, Mr. Davidson, do you prefer to just go by Dirk? I-I'll be honest with you both. As much as I'd love to be in a party with you, I'm not actually very experienced with games like this. I plan to improve, so that I can survive, but as it stands now, I've never even fought a monster or player before."

As soon as she finished, Theo started his usual process - he entered deep thought, doing his best to pick what dirk would say. Perhaps he would offer assurance that he would keep the fair maiden safe, or offer advice on games... for some reason, the process was significantly easier than it usually was, most likely because of the acting skill. The thought that a skill in a video game was effecting how he thought was quite disturbing, in all honesty, but Theo was too busy to focus on it for long. Instead, he was silently thankful that Aster was a swordsman - it allowed the party to have some actual DPS without wasting Kajin's mana. Before he had the chance to speak up, Kajin spoke.

“Thanks for the party invite. What’s the point of having me around if I don’t keep you alive? So I’ll do my best as well! Absolutely call me Kajin! I just expect everyone to call me that anyways, no need to use my last name if you don’t need to.”

After saying that, Kajin's attention was drawn to Aster's attire, causing Theo to do the same - she had no armor. While this was normally no problem, she was a swordsman, which weren't the most agile class that needed low armor to achieve their full potential. Along with this, she was dressed in nicer clothes, akin to what the NPCs wore. While that was nice, it did mean that she wasted money on a purely cosmetic item... But whatever. Dirk wouldn't care if a girl wanted to wear nice clothes - he'd just fight hard to make sure they were safe. Theo had to do the same.

“So Aster, the game can be taught. We all have to level anyway so we’ll do some grinding to get you in shape! However, there is a minor issue that occurred to me. Really it’s trivial but its best to cover all our bases. Now see this here? We call this armor. When you take damage, it reduces the amount taken depending on several variables. Useful in a death game, I’m sure you could imagine. I can’t help but notice you aren’t wearing any but you are wearing nicer clothes than most. You wouldn’t happen to have some floating around in your inventory no? Maybe some Renn to purchase some? Because if not, I’ll need to make some for you because I’m not taking anyone out that doesn’t have some form of protection."

After that, he turned towards Theo, and continued to speak.

“Oh Dirk, have you played around with the actions command yet? I’m not sure if they trigger the same as spells since I don’t have any actions yet. Probably should have taken staff block but Mana Payback was too nice to pass up!”

Lightheadedness overcame Theo as he attempted to think of a response, and he resorted to his response to Aster's earlier question to buy himself time.

"Have no fear, Aster! I promise to keep everyone in the party safe from harm, so you can learn from me and Kajin."

Theo stopped. Shit, SHIT. His mind was drawing a blank... Dirk wouldn't stop, keep the conversation moving. Sound more relaxed, straighten your posture...

"B-but don't worry about not knowing much about the game. You two just gotta think about it like a regular MMO - only difference is it's a lot more immersive. Graphics are better than normal, that kind of stuff. Just focus less on the details, and it'll feel way more natural."

"But the armor issue... Well, just avoid drawing too much attention. I got a spell that draws aggro, so you just have to make sure to deal some damage, and stop for a bit when the enemy starts to get angry at you. Besides, you're a tough gal - You got 1000 HP! I doubt many monsters could 1-shot you on this floor, and I'll be able to draw aggro while you get healed up by Kajin. Hell, if you're worried, take him up on his offer to make you armor - he probably has a crafting skill in something."

Theo patted Kajin on the back, putting in enough force for it to be a little uncomfortable - Dirk's the kind of guy who's so strong, he doesn't know his own strength.

"And sorry Kajin, I don't have any idea how the actions work - My only action is a passive."

Theo opened his menu, selecting the actions section to display his single ability, Inspiring Presence. Theo actually chose that over Shield Raise solely for the name - Dirk was an inspiration, and that action was perfect for him. He closed the menu and continued speaking.

"I got a pretty good understanding of the skill system so far though. But enough of that - We should start doing something, grind a little while all the good spots are empty. I'd recommend searching for a quest before hand - we'll be able to use some of the Renn to buy armor for Aster or something."

After accepting Aura party invite, Karma sat at the table along with the rest of the party as he listened to Aura and the group as they come up with a plan to make him their support. "Very well. I am Noa-i mean Karma. through i only have one support skill right now, i will get more in the future to help support you guys if. I am an Avid gamer who favors handheld RPG's and have been playing MMO's when my overbearing parent would allow me to. When i do i usually the one who does the number crunching since i go at it, now I'm and college so my parent has been less strict about it since I became 18....well, my mom, at least...moving on." Karma didn't seem to want to give out his real name.

"Are you sure this party would be acceptable cause we only seem to have one melee fighter on this team. Through i have a dagger all my stats presides my intellect and mana are at 4...Cause I never plan on getting put in this kind of situation." Karma told them seeming a bit worry. He doesn't of course Just plan and letting this Aura player handle all the danger because sexist or not it would make him look like a bitch.

“Actually, I’ll be buying a drink now. I changed my mind,” Dubstepp bellowed. He took his time responding to the woman. “I was meaning to find the highest cliff and jump off of it after this drink, but your inspiring words have brought motivation to my life.” Dubstepp’s voice did have a sense of sarcasm and he even attempted to wipe a fake tear.

Christ! was that a joke or a cry for help? he thought. He then notices something "Wait will that alcohol actually have an effect on you? Not just your character but you yourself?" wondering how to realize this game can get...no wait when you can smell and taste things in the game is not about how realistic the game can get...it about how realistic the game is willing to become. If so this then Holy shit this game, theses VR games are perhaps a way to get around alcohol laws like never before. Karma then when to the counter and got himself a mug of alcohol.

Aster mentally cursed herself for her vanity. In choosing the nicer clothing, she had both left herself under-defended, and revealed her extreme inexperience with the finer points of the game. It was a small thing, but it forced her to make a decision which she wouldn't have even considered in a less mortally-threatening situation. She would simply have to put her faith in these two relative strangers, and allow herself to be a bit vulnerable with them, at least until she figured out the ins and outs of the game. It was ver much against her natural instincts, but this was no normal situation, not by a long shot. There was no way that she was going to die for her pride, especially as her vanity had already proven dangerous.

“So Aster, the game can be taught. We all have to level anyway so we’ll do some grinding to get you in shape! However, there is a minor issue that occurred to me. Really it’s trivial but its best to cover all our bases. Now see this here? We call this armor. When you take damage, it reduces the amount taken depending on several variables. Useful in a death game, I’m sure you could imagine. I can’t help but notice you aren’t wearing any but you are wearing nicer clothes than most. You wouldn’t happen to have some floating around in your inventory no? Maybe some Renn to purchase some? Because if not, I’ll need to make some for you because I’m not taking anyone out that doesn’t have some form of protection."

"I... Um. I don't have any other clothing, just these and the quality shoes. I figured there had to be some benefit to using nicer items, so I... may have used all of my Renn." She looked away, flushing slightly with shame at her ignorant choice. After half a moment, she met his eyes once more. "If you'd be willing to make me some armor of some kind, I'd be very grateful, but I don't have any cloth or sewing tools. I don't really have any practical skills to pay you back with, either. I put my points towards health, combat, and..." Her voice became much softer, almost as though she didn't want either of the other two to hear her. "And dancing." She looked up, blushing furiously, eyes narrowed, daring either of them to comment on her admittedly unusual choice of skill.

"Have no fear, Aster! I promise to keep everyone in the party safe from harm, so you can learn from me and Kajin."

"B-but don't worry about not knowing much about the game. You two just gotta think about it like a regular MMO - only difference is it's a lot more immersive. Graphics are better than normal, that kind of stuff. Just focus less on the details, and it'll feel way more natural."

"But the armor issue... Well, just avoid drawing too much attention. I got a spell that draws aggro, so you just have to make sure to deal some damage, and stop for a bit when the enemy starts to get angry at you. Besides, you're a tough gal - You got 1000 HP! I doubt many monsters could 1-shot you on this floor, and I'll be able to draw aggro while you get healed up by Kajin. Hell, if you're worried, take him up on his offer to make you armor - he probably has a crafting skill in something."

"I got a pretty good understanding of the skill system so far though. But enough of that - We should start doing something, grind a little while all the good spots are empty. I'd recommend searching for a quest before hand - we'll be able to use some of the Renn to buy armor for Aster or something."

Aster's face had by now returned to its natural porcelain tone, all traces of her vividly red embarrassment vanished entirely, a fresh facade of feigned competence and confidence having replaced it. "I think that I agree with Dirk. The best thing to do for now would probably be to get some experience and, with help from you two, figure out how this game works. You're right, I do have quite a bit of health. If you're willing to try it, I'd like to attempt a basic quest, and maybe see about getting ahead of the other players."

Though she didn't say so, and though she would deny such thoughts if questioned, Aster was reluctant to expand their little party any larger than it was now. In the real world, she'd never had many friends, and as much as she liked these two, she rather disliked the idea of opening up to any others. Her rational mind knew that she hadn't shared much yet, and that it was really a matter of survival more than anything else- safety in numbers and all that- but even so, she preferred to imagine that it was possible for their surprisingly-balanced little group to survive on its own. If she was going to keep the group together as it was, she'd have to prove herself capable, and certainly not share the reality of her life back home.

"I... Um. I don't have any other clothing, just these and the quality shoes. I figured there had to be some benefit to using nicer items, so I... may have used all of my Renn. If you'd be willing to make me some armor of some kind, I'd be very grateful, but I don't have any cloth or sewing tools. I don't really have any practical skills to pay you back with, either. I put my points towards health, combat, and… And dancing."

Kajin nodded his assent. He’d figured she fell into the “noob trap” of pretty clothes and although her skill choice was a tad odd, he was fairly confident they’d find a need or use for it. Perhaps she could use it to define her fighting style. That was an interesting possibility. But we’d have to discover that later. Priority was equipping Aster then finding a few quests to take on.

"But the armor issue... Well, just avoid drawing too much attention. I got a spell that draws aggro, so you just have to make sure to deal some damage, and stop for a bit when the enemy starts to get angry at you. Besides, you're a tough gal - You got 1000 HP! I doubt many monsters could 1-shot you on this floor, and I'll be able to draw aggro while you get healed up by Kajin. Hell, if you're worried, take him up on his offer to make you armor - he probably has a crafting skill in something."

His eye twitched. Yes she had high HP but the point was to mitigate incoming damage as much as possible to reduce the amount of healing required. Healing magic wasn’t cheap. At 200 MP, he could cast healing beam six times before his mana hit zero. And that’s if he didn’t cast anything else. Mana payback couldn’t be relied on to generate mana consistently so healing spells had to be spaced out appropriately. Kajin turned to Dirk, intent on reminding him that death was very much a possibility and high HP shouldn’t be the only resource we depended on to get through encounters, when Aster spoke up.

"I think that I agree with Dirk. The best thing to do for now would probably be to get some experience and, with help from you two, figure out how this game works. You're right, I do have quite a bit of health. If you're willing to try it, I'd like to attempt a basic quest, and maybe see about getting ahead of the other players."

Kajin’s jaw dropped. What? Not one but both of his party members decided to hold off on armor for her, a basic necessity of any game even when the imminent threat of perma death didn’t hang over their heads as a very real consequence. He took a deep breath and relaxed a little. It’d be okay. He’d just have to make sure he kept an eye on his mana and communicated when they needed to turn back to restore it at town.

“Okay. That’s not a bad idea either. I still think it’d be best to equip you with even cloth armor but if we are confident we will be okay without it, we can hunt down a quest.” Kajin sounded anything but confident, “However, if I run out of mana we need to back out. Healing spells at this level are expensive and I can only cast six before I’m out of mana, seven if my passive triggers on four of the six casts. Dirk is right, I doubt anything outside of dungeons will be excessively challenging but we should keep a high safety margin until we get a better understanding of the game. And since I can’t afford a first aid kit yet, we don’t have any secondary resources in the event things get hairy.” Saying he was nervous was an understatement. If he couldn’t get a heal out at the right time or they made a poor judgment call and tried something too high, they ran the very real risk of dying and he didn’t know if he could handle being responsible for that. But they had to start sometime and no better time than the present. Right?

“So this is what I recommend we do then. Let’s hunt down a few quests. The first thing Aster spends her Renn on is armor then we keep questing until level 3. After that, depending on how we feel, we could try poking our noses in one of the dungeons on this floor. If the first pull is too much, we run like hell.” Kajin looked at his two party members and then a light bulb went off. He opened his menu and sent the pair friend requests. “If we get separated or have to leave party, we can always find each other through this. Just in case you know? Not sure what we’re going to run into after all! And once we do this, I think our brave and daring tank can lead the way to our first quest, yeah?”

Fyaira’s eyes narrowed a smidgen when Alisea offered the group a buckler and longsword. Something about the mage’s tone of voice made her think the items had not just been given to her by a friend who was too scared to fight. But making assumptions wouldn’t help, so she cheerfully resisted the urge to take the items and vendor them immediately and said, “No thanks!

Alisea appeared to be taking her new predicament very seriously, as shown by her desire to get to farming before the masses joined in, but the tinker who had joined their group was showing an opposite attitude. His suggestion that they tackle a dungeon already was a dangerous one, but Fyaira didn’t think he was making it due to overconfidence. Jack just seemed legitimately unconcerned about the danger.

Fyaira’s eyes darted between her two new companions, and her smiled broadened. She could already see a storm brewing.

“Aren’t dungeons supposed to be for when we hit a higher level?” she asked. She had played more than her share of RPGs, and usually, dungeons were not the first destinations in the game. “I guess we could prob’ly beat up a few monsters three-on-one, but I bet the experience gain from doing that wouldn’t be all that good compared to just grinding in the fields. Besides, I don’t wanna risk dying right out of the gate!”

While she was not afraid as many of the other players were, Fyaira felt almost certain that the demon king’s threat was real. By kidnapping her and putting her in this new world, Talrae had given her a second chance. No way was she gonna blow it by getting too cocky! Especially not since she was the one likely to face the brunt of the damage – her partners were both playing ranged classes – and rogues weren’t exactly built to tank.

“How about we just start small in the fields outside and see how that goes?” she asked. “If it’s too easy, he can fight harder and harder enemies until we find ones that are suited to us!”

@TaroAndSelia @Thecrash20

"Booted off the game." That was an incredibly mild way to phrase death. Sleeping with the fishes, Davey Jones' locker, passed on, gone to a better place--and now booted off the game. At the back of her mind, Alisea wondered if that phrase would catch on. At the front of her mind, Alisea was picturing trying to enter a dungeon with three people, neither healer nor tank, and no actual experience with battle. She eyed the tinker, face impassive, trying to estimate his skill compared to his apparent self-confidence--or recklessness, or even just ignorance. The magess couldn't tell which it was.

Fyaira's words, on the other hand, were far more sensible--and practical. Alisea found herself nodding along as the rogue spoke. "Right, we need to start in the fields. If we run about ten minutes south, we will run into some wild boars. I suspect any other direction will have mobs at about that distance."

Alisea cast her eyes about the plaza one more time, intending to pick out any other figures that looked combat-ready--when her gaze fell upon the royal palace directly east of where they stood. "And we should check with the town clerk to see if quests are open yet. When I checked earlier there weren't any, but now that we've been... properly greeted I do believe we will find a request of some sort."

Alisea started walking that direction, trusting her comrades would follow suit. Anything more they had to discuss, they could do it while traveling. Standing around just meant more time wasted, and this was no time for wasting time.

---

Theo nodded slightly as Aster agreed with him - good. Dirk was the kind of guy that helped others, so Theo needed to help her, both with learning the game, and defending the two of them. The dark thought that, with less armor, he'd be more important flashed across his mind, but was quickly dismissed. Dirk wouldn't think that. Still, they were wasting time - some people in the crowds were already starting to recuperate, and while most would be too afraid to go out and grind, it would be best to stay ahead of the curve. When this is all revealed to be some sick joke, they would be some of the strongest people in the entire game. Hell, who knows - maybe a strong guild will be formed, and Dirk will be invited as the strongest tank in the game... Well, wishful thinking isn't needed right now. The thoughts rushing through Theo's mind stopped him from noticing Kajin's twitching, and the lack of confidence in his voice.

“Okay. That’s not a bad idea either. I still think it’d be best to equip you with even cloth armor but if we are confident we will be okay without it, we can hunt down a quest."

Dirk gave a thumbs up and winked slightly, with the same toothy smile he had been giving the entire time. Theo was definitely getting too good at playing Dirk.

“However, if I run out of mana we need to back out. Healing spells at this level are expensive and I can only cast six before I’m out of mana, seven if my passive triggers on four of the six casts. Dirk is right, I doubt anything outside of dungeons will be excessively challenging but we should keep a high safety margin until we get a better understanding of the game. And since I can’t afford a first aid kit yet, we don’t have any secondary resources in the event things get hairy.”

"Of course. I personally have no idea how healing works in this game, but if you say so, I won't argue. Besides, we don't know how fast the regen in this game is. If you run out of mana, backing off is the smart choice."

Theo personally thought he could go a little longer without any healing, purely based on his pool of health, but that was because of his experience with other games, and the fact he had not yet accepted the fact they could all actually die. In other games, starting area monsters are usually weak, and a single player can reliably solo them, so of course, Theo thought the caution was a bit too much. But then again, if they don't regenerate health or mana after a fight and have to rest, backing off would be a smart choice. Dirk would follow a teammates advice. Kajin was a healer for a reason, he knew how to heal - No reason to question him on something Theo didn't even bother to read during character creation.

“So this is what I recommend we do then. Let’s hunt down a few quests. The first thing Aster spends her Renn on is armor then we keep questing until level 3. After that, depending on how we feel, we could try poking our noses in one of the dungeons on this floor. If the first pull is too much, we run like hell."

A friend invite popped in front of Theo, and Kajin continued.

"If we get separated or have to leave party, we can always find each other through this. Just in case you know? Not sure what we’re going to run into after all! And once we do this, I think our brave and daring tank can lead the way to our first quest, yeah?"

Dirk hit accept. Smart thinking - Theo wouldn't have thought of using the friend system as a communication device, and it's always good to be prepared. Theo noticed at this point that Kajin was a little uncomfortable. A few seconds pass before Theo thinks up a response.

"Smart thinking. man! Good to know we're all already buddies!"

Theo gave Kajin a swift pat to the back, before wrapping his arm around Kajin's shoulder. Then, in a low, much more serious tone, Theo spoke.

"And don't worry about the whole dying thing... As long as I'm alive, I'll make sure you and Aster don't take a single point of damage."

He said it low, almost whispering into Kajin's ear. After all, he was trying to ease Kajin's worries, not embarrass him by comforting him in front of a girl. He clapped his hand on Kajin's shoulder 2 times, before readopting his Dirk voice.

"And you're right to leave the quest-hunting to me! After all, the best way to find a miscellaneous quest is to find..."

Dirk began to look for something, leaning forwards and being very exaggerated. Then he pointed at the bulletin board, located near the front of the city square.

"There! A quest would be super hard to ask around for in this kind of game, so most should be written up and in a place everyone can easily get to."

Theo trudged forwards, his snail pace, carrying him reliably towards his goal. He silently prayed that their was an item or something that increases speed... But eventually, they make it there, revealing countless pieces of papers stuck to the wooden board. 4 in particular stood out, as they were on the front and the paper color was attention grabbing. They were long, and had the signatures of the respective quest givers at the bottom. 4 separate quests appeared in quick succession in front of Theo, all of which he declined after reading. He wanted to talk with the party before deciding. He half-turned, to look directly at the two behind him, showing them the 4 options from his menu.

"What do you guys think? I say we accept them all, and do the Boar and Blacksmith quest first. Then, when Kajin runs out of mana and we come back, we can do the other two. But if you guys would prefer doing it another way, I'm all for it."

An extended arm, thumbs up, wink, and... big smile. Perfect. Dirk wasn't the kind of guy that took control of people - he gave them choices, had them make the decisions. Besides, he was completely useless without a damage dealer, and would run out of HP fast without a healer - he needed them. Even though he thought that was the best plan, he was going to let them choose - he wanted them to like Dirk.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
His attention was directed towards Dubstep after he seemed to reconsider the drink he ordered, he couldn't exactly blame someone for wanting some alcohol with a situation like this. Reylan had a strong aversion to drinking himself plus he couldn't afford it right now. A small laugh escaped his mouth at the dire statement, he really appreciated a dark sense of humor and theatrical jokes "Well if you were going to do that you should of bought two."

Reylan scratched his head thinking if they were indeed missing any classes. It was the first floor so as long as they played smart and didn't take on more than they could handle, the four of them would be fine. Three of them would of course be in the back but together they could probably keep most of the monsters off of Aura with their ranged attacks. With his agility he could probably kite the monsters as well, allowing his teammates to focus fire. "This is only the first floor so we should be alright. We'll be fine Karma as long as we work together." he chuckled a little "Although all I have is a small knife for melee as well." They would need to head out soon to start leveling up or they would fall behind the others.

The line about the about the alochol went past his ears, though he did catch the part about his skills and his name. Dubstep...like the wub wub music dubstep? Reylan settled on calling him Dub, it was short and easier to say. "Dub it is then." Back in other online games people would always shorten his name to 'Rey' even though he never asked. The way Karma responded with such eager curiosity was funny, his parents must have been overbearing "We're living in a virtual world where you can taste and feel stuff. It'd be a rip-off if the booze didn't get you a little buzzed." What would be the point in even buying it then?

Reylan felt strongly about this group deep in his chest, like they were going to survive all this. Since Aura made the party he guessed that made her the leader, though he was inclined to let her be it anyway "I managed to see a message board with some quests on it. There was one to kill 10 boars, that sounds easy enough. We could also score some delicious boar meat!" He brought up. They shouldn't have any trouble taking down a few boars with all their power combined.

“So this is what I recommend we do then. Let’s hunt down a few quests. The first thing Aster spends her Renn on is armor then we keep questing until level 3. After that, depending on how we feel, we could try poking our noses in one of the dungeons on this floor. If the first pull is too much, we run like hell."

"That seems fair to me. And thank you in advance. For the armor, that is. I'm all for staying alive, so long as that's an option. And seriously, I'll try to get better at making the right choices in this game. I just... I'm going to rely on you two for most of that. At least until I figure out the tricks to making this game work for me.

A friend invite popped in front of Theo, and Kajin continued.

"If we get separated or have to leave party, we can always find each other through this. Just in case you know? Not sure what we’re going to run into after all! And once we do this, I think our brave and daring tank can lead the way to our first quest, yeah?"

"Smart thinking. man! Good to know we're all already buddies! And don't worry about the whole dying thing... As long as I'm alive, I'll make sure you and Aster don't take a single point of damage."

Aster stayed silent during this exchange, accepting the invite and then considering the circumstances. Not a single point of damage, huh? That's a nice thought, but this is basically the real world. If there's an archer, or some kind of area-damage person, then we're going to take at least some damage. I mean, I didn't dump so many points into health because I thought I'd avoid every hit. Even so, Dirk seems confident enough... and Kajin is definitely on his guard 24/7, so that'll be worth something at least. She was no expert at this sort of thing, but their team certainly seemed pretty balanced. If anyone could survive a few quests, it would be them. With that in mind, she rose and followed Dirk as he lead the way to the quest board.

"That sounds fair to me. As long as you think we can to it, I'm all for trying." She examined the quest board for a moment, deciphering the descriptions slowly, very slowly. After staring at the board for a good while, she nodded and said "I think I'd agree with you." She turned away from the board and started for the door, footsteps light on the floorboards. "Hurry up, you two. I'm no good with directions."

Karma could help but laugh at his nose for a second. "Pfff...Yea, and the mastermind behind this already made this game realize but making it for we apparently die in real life if we die in the game. Why all of a sudden he or she draws the line at virtual underage drinking?" He told him sounding a bit cheered up. He then begins wonder what kind of food he will taste in this game.

"I managed to see a message board with some quests on it. There was one to kill 10 boars, that sounds easy enough. We could also score some delicious boar meat!"

Karma though about that a little. "I could go for some pork right now, but on the other hand, i would have to be careful if a Boar makes a B-line towards me. But I'll be alright assuming they do not do too much damage." He told them seeming calm but was a bit nervous inside. "I mean they shouldn't do too much damage what kind of game will do that?" he asked himself.Honest, he didn't know how to feel about this, on one hand, there wasn't any proof that he will actually die if he killed in the game, on the other hand, if this was just a prank why has the mastermind let them out yet, why would he risk going to jail for trapping everyone in the game over a practical joke. this shit isn't looking too good, it a good thing this game has alcohol so he would at least know what it would feel like to get drunk once before things go to shit.

OCC: I feel a bit awkward being the second one to type.

---

While Reylan was a more laid back and all around easy going, Dubstepp was a little... peculiar. Aura didn't even have to ask what his favorite music genre was with a nickname like that; then again, she couldn't particularly criticize someone's creativity with their nickname. Laura and Aura being prime examples of how absurdly creative she was with her nickname creation. Noa- well, Karma was too open. He gave them details of his personal life outside the game as soon as he could which wasn't bad at all, Aura found him trustable for some reason. Trustworthy face, eh?

But, Aura wasn't keen on going ahead and telling them who she was and why she's here, not now, at least. Her thoughts still processed the last event and tried to put sense into herself. Karma seemed slightly worried about his stats, something Aura, at the other hand, felt confident about. Her class gave her a whopping bonus of 10 attribute points which were pretty helpful to give her a few steps ahead of others already. She was certain that other classes had their perks too, though.

"Don't worry about it, Karma. I'm sure you'll do well - and I... well," Aura paused and briefly glanced over the others, exhaling a soft breath as she brought a hand up to her chin, resting it between her closed index finger and her thumb. "We will protect you." At least, she hoped they would. Even if there was no literal death involved, she wanted the three to be successful.

Reylan mentioned a quest - to kill 10 boars. Before being teleported to the center of Genesis City, Aura was about to take one of them down. They weren't too hard one on one, but she did saw some players struggling when they got outnumbered. Thing is, if you're in a group of four, being outnumbered is very hard.

"Alright, that sounds great. How about we go ahead and take it right now? We better begin to move," With that, Aura began making her way towards the door, moving her right hand up to gently move some loose strands of hair from her face. "I just hope it doesn't turn into a two men quest because half of our group will be drunk when we arrive there." Aura said in a jokingly tone, referring to the fact that both Dubstepp and Karma had surrendered to alcohol.

Karma bought his alcohol for 5 Renn and bought it to the table. He hesitated to drink it for a few seconds before finally building up enough courage to take a sip. Karma brought the cups to his lips and allow the Ale to past his lips, the disgust on his face was clear, his drink didn't taste very good. "Ewww god!" He said out loud. He said putting down the drink and wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "I could do without that taste." he remarked before sitting up straight in his chair. By the way, Karma almost always sits up straight, no sitting back no putting his elbow on the table. the only table rule was he broke was wring his mouth with his hand cause he could not yet stand the taste of alcohol.

"Don't worry about it, Karma. I'm sure you'll do well - and I... well," Aura paused and briefly glanced over the others, exhaling a soft breath as she brought a hand up to her chin, resting it between her closed index finger and her thumb. "We will protect you." At least, she hoped they would. Even if there was no literal death involved, she wanted the three to be successful.

Karma looked at bit awkward hearing that. "Mhhh thank...i appreciate that...i truly do. But feel free to criticize me if you see me doing something stupid or being a burden also...please do not die on my account" He told them hesitating to say that last part. Aura's words did taste him touch and lighten his mood. "Also do not fight on the front lines if your health gets to low, we do not want to take a chance that you will actually die."

”Nice to meet you, Noimeankarma,”

”I like music

Karma then looked to the side and saw his username. "I can tell..." He simply stated. This dubstep guy seems like he quite a character but he wonders if he will take deadly situations serious then again his wise cracks could boost their morale in combat. Afterwards, he then finishes his drink after several digesting sips.

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Time Skip - It is now 5PM

Karma was a bit buzz but was still capable of fighting and reasoning. "Well, that was anticlimactic...i barely feel any different." He told them though he did seem more cheerfully and relaxed than before. Hopefully, dubstep was the seems so the group could have a three man party.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From what he could tell, Karma seemed to be the most concerned about taking hits which wasn't an baseless concern. He had to stifled a laugh at Dub's name for Karma, it certainly had a dad-joke feel to it. Reylan didn't consider Karma's quick personal info to be that odd at first but it did worry him that he was so trusting. At least for now they all had a quest to start working on, a few boars between them shouldn't be hard and it would save him a few arrows as well. A quest like this would offer more than just game experience, it would let them learn how exactly combat works in this game without death looming over.

A firm nod in confirmation came from Reylan as Aura pledged they would protect their healer friend. He might not be a tank but he was going to make sure they all got through this. His attention shifted to Dub as he heard him question how the quest would go "I don't know for sure myself but more than likely it will count it for all of us since we are in a party." he gave his own thoughts on the matter. Secretly he really hoped that was the case, he really didn't have enough arrows to hunt 40 boars.

"Sounds good to me." Reylan slid the chair back to stand up shortly after Aura did, following behind Dub as they left the inn for their first quest as a party. Her joke was a welcome surprise and he expressed so with a grin as she said it, glad to see that she was thinking in the now. Humor was a good way to bond he always believed "You're not gonna get really buzzed on a cheap drink, maybe after four you'd feel it." Though he hardly drank himself, he had been around enough people to know quite a thing or two "Right behind ya Dub." Reylan enthusiastically replied, this was a important milestone on their journey to beating this game. He couldn't but feel excited despite the grim warning given to all players.

Once back out into Genesis City, he checked the time on his in-game menu "It's 5 p.m. right now, we should have plenty of time to complete the quest and get back." Did time move faster or slower in this world? There really wasn't a way to tell at the moment but he imagined days would 24hrs just like in the real world. They might be able to pick up extra party members on the way but there was no reason to go out of their way to do so at the moment. A few other parties seemed to be on the move as well meaning they would need to move even faster. As they walked towards the gates of Genesis City, Reylan decided to try and form a bit of a group strategy "Just from looking at our current party, Aura should be at the front and Karma will focus a majority of his healing on her.
Dub and Karma can support in the back and I will be in between to catch anything that might pass Aura. We should also focus on taking out targets on Aura's flanks to limit the damage she will take." This was just a rough idea and his voice suggested he was open to their thoughts on it, unaware that Dub was a 'mage' who fought by summoning a monster.

Alisea's choice was the safer one and Jack knew it. Regardless if he wanted to rush straight into thing, he should probably wait until everyone was ready. Jack turned around with a sigh. If the team didn't want to do a quest instead then who was he to deny? She was right too. Their was no quest in the game. He originally didn't think they had any and it was more of a freedom to explore and make your own quest kind if game. It was the time to look if they had been updated.

So, Jack followed suit with the others. He was hoping they would find a suitable quest for them all to get ready for the dungeons ahead and then finally the Level Dungeon. While on their way, he thought maybe he should get to know his new Team Mates a little more. Make working together just a little more smooth.


"So, uh... Where are you ladies from?" Jack softly said with his hands behind his head and relax lean in his walk. He hoped it didn't come out the way he just had heard it. It sounded so much more casual in his head.

Kajin closed his quest menu and looked over the fields that surrounded the city gates. Wild boars wandered across them. A familiar chill rushed through him. They don’t look like much but every time their little party took on one of these creatures, death wasn’t far behind. One slip up or misjudged hit and they were gone forever. Kajin drew a shaky breath. The reality of their situation started creeping back into his head. He opened his quest menu again.

He accepted all four quests for the party. He had read each one thoroughly and decided none of them should be difficult. The boar quest was the closest so it had only made sense they choose it first. Perhaps it would have been better to accept guard duty over boars. See how people fared before trying something first. That would have been the safe route. Instead, they went for boars. Fantastic. What had he’d been thinking agreeing to that without some sort of argument? Well, he’d made his bed as the saying went and now he had to lie in it. He glanced at his teammates.

"Everything is fine. We have a solid party comp. Everything is okay. Take it one target at a time and we’ll make it through this." He muttered to himself. "And don't worry about the whole dying thing... As long as I'm alive, I'll make sure you and Aster don't take a single point of damage." Although the situation felt awkward as anything, Kajin wouldn’t deny the reassurance helped. Even if it seemed cornier than a day time soap. Seriously, who in the world could say something like that with a straight face? Apparently Dirk. At least he felt confident about this whole ordeal. He took one last breath, checking the area around them for any other issues before turning his attention to his teammates.

The best way to approach this was to draw everything in one by one from a safe spot. Kajin had spent the short travel time discussing their separate abilities. Although Dirk’s aggravate did work at range, it only lasted a few seconds so it had to be timed properly to work. Using it to pull would be a waste. Aster put skill ranks into throw and had a dagger though there was also a throwing dagger item in the shops so he wasn’t sure if it worked. Attacking the boars where they were put the party at risk of initiating combat with other boars if they aggro on sight like other games. It made most sense to use frostbite to bait enemies where they wanted them and have Dirk aggravate off of him followed by Aster flanking. He checked the quest menu one more time before dismissing it.

“Alrighty ladies and gentlemen, I guess it’s time to get down to business! I think we should stay here and let me use Frostbite to pull aggro initially and when they get closer Dirk can aggravate them off me, allowing Aster to follow up with attacks from behind without getting in harm’s way. I’ll stay close to Dirk so the time it takes to change targets doesn’t get me hurt either.” Kajin tried to keep his voice steady as he explained, the nervous edge just managing to slip out. He gripped his staff tightly and pointed at a boar. “Unless you guys want to try something else, just let me know when we want to start this.”