[F1-SP] <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>> [COMPLETE]

[Mina 0]

Going through the streets of the starting city, <<Town of Beginnings>>, under normal circumstances, it would be a surprise to see desolation among the beautiful buildings and the azure sky. But the situation Mina in was not normal. Not at all. She, like the thousands of players in this city, couldn’t believe her eyes when the Log-Out Button which was supposed to be there, had disappeared. And then came the teleportation to the town plaza, and the dreaded announcement made by the creator himself turned cheerful players into sorrowful messes. This had to be a dream, or so she thought, when she saw some players running out into the plains, wanting to escape their fate, but only meeting their demise as their bodies turning into millions of polygons and breaking apart from the wild boars’ charges. She then ran back to the plaza, finding an empty bench and slumping on it, wondering what to do with her life from now on.

After hours of feeling lost, Mina finally overcame the shock and realized that if she needed to escape, if THEY needed to escape, they had to do something about it. Flipping the beginner’s handbook open, she read through everything carefully, and that the first step to freedom was to embark on a quest called <<The First Few Lessons are Free>>. It was a beginner’s quest, it seemed relatively easy, and it paid well with items needed for the trip back out to the real world. Putting the coordinates on her map, she followed the route, stopping in front of a small wooden house with round windows. The time now was 11pm. Mina would be sleeping by now, but today, tomorrow, or in the near future, it’ll be a while before she can sleep peacefully again. Peeking inside the window, she saw the unaccepted quest marker on an old man, rocking in an old, wooden chair. Rapping the door with her knuckles, Mina then turned the door handle, stepping into the dimly lit house, the old man surprised at the stranger who barged into his place. “You must be Zackariah.”

Edited November 15, 2017 by Mina

[Mina 0]

Did she not spoke loudly enough? The old man, conforming to the standard NPC appearance among all the many RPG games, was at first surprised at the sudden intruder, but continued on with his chores, walking towards a table. Holding a potion bottle filled with red-liquid in one hand, and a test tube with green in another, he mixed the two liquids, the resulting solution bubbling, gleaming with a sparkle before settling down.

“Potion making huh…” Mina mumbled to herself, her eyes gradually making out the shelves in this small, cozy place of this old man. The quest marker above his head still blinked and spun, signifying that the quest was still unaccepted, and Mina decided on a sharp cough to get his attention, prompting him to turn towards her direction once more. 

“You must be Zackariah,” she repeated, albeit a little louder this time, praying that she’ll get a reply in return.

Edited November 10, 2017 by Mina

[Mina 0]

Thank goodness he did. “Yes I am. You must be a new player?”

“Yes.”

“Then you must be here for one of my lessons.”

A quest pop up appeared right in front of her, titled <<The First Few Lessons are Free>> with options of accepting or declining the quest. The beginner’s handbook was certainly helpful. Tapping on the <Yes> button without any further thoughts, the quest marker above Zackariah’s head turned into an accepted one, and he began to follow his scripted dialogue. Mina listened intently, not wanting to miss out on any important stuff.

“So, I just need to gather the 5 materials on the outskirts of the town?”

“Yes”

“Alright, then I’ll be back shortly.”

Gathering materials through non-combat. It was an easy job, but she still had to be alert for any wild boars in that area. She had witnessed the amount of damage these boars could do, especially sudden charges, which caused quite a few deaths to players who were unsuspecting or thinking that these boars were just critters. At level 1, players like Mina were considered critters to the mobs as well.

Stepping out of the house, she breathed in the cool, night air, wondering what condition her real-life body was in. The streets were empty now, as it was the middle of the night. But it was going to be a long night for Mina.

[Mina 0]

Making a beeline towards the gates of the city, Mina took a quick look at her navigation. As told by Zackariah, there were quite a few places where the quest materials, <Red Herb> could be gathered, the nearest one right outside the city itself. Further into the wilderness, there was a spot that was quite abundant in <Red Herb>, but there was also the risk of being attacked by one of the boars out there in the open. “If this is a beginner’s quest, the loot parameters of gathering a <Red Herb> should be the same, no matter which spot I go to. The only difference that this ‘abundance’ would make will be the spawning rates of the herb bushes,” Mina mumbled to herself, walking briskly along the street. Should she take the risk and go further?

Turning a corner, she found the entrance/exit of the city, guarded by two gatekeepers, who were burly and menacing. Stopping just right before the exit, she opened up her equipment window, changing her vanity dress into her <Dark Leather Armor of Heavy Speed>, whilst equipping a <Draining Blade>, which appeared on her back with a pixelated glint, both the sword and scabbard. Brandishing it lightly, getting used to the weight, she sheathed it back, stepping out of the gates into the grasslands stretching far towards the horizon, moving towards the further spot. That was the choice she made, both fighting and gathering, killing two birds with one stone. 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Mina

[Mina 0]

On the outskirts of the city, the boars looked huge and scary, but in reality, they were only Level 1 mobs. Mina, slightly shocked by their appearance, placed her hand on the hilt of her blade, slowly avoiding the aggro radius of the mobs, while making her way towards the herb bushes. If Level 1 mobs were already this intimidating to her, how was she going to fare against higher level mobs on the floors above?

Finally reaching the herb bushes, which were indeed abundant compared to the spots just right outside town, Mina glanced behind her, taking a quick look at the boars who didn’t seem to be that interested in the player. She imagined them as various types of pork dishes: braised, stewed, grilled, fried… reducing her own fear of them, but also feeling her stomach growling at the thought of food. “Damn, is it possible to be hungry in a virtual world?” she chided herself. “Alright, time to concentrate.”

Moving towards a safer spot, she pulled up her sleeves, searching the bush right in front of her, a <Red Herb> appearing right in front of her eyes almost instantly. “Well, this is easy.”

Spoiler

ID# 90626 results:

LD: 19

Quest items gathered: 1/5

 

[Mina 0]

The first herb Mina found dissipated into beautiful pixels when she placed it into her inventory. Feeling pleased with herself, she kept up the momentum, moving towards the next bush and searching through the leaves, trying to find a red one amongst all the green. The sensation she felt from brushing, the color and smoothness of the leaves, and even the veins on it as well, all of it seemed to replicate real-life, and it was a wonder how the creator managed to do it in the first place.

Finding another <Red Herb>, Mina tugged at it gently, easing it out from the soil, but to her dismay, it broke into pieces once the last bit of root came into the sunshine. “Damn it,” she cursed under her breath, sighing. What she said about this being easy had clearly backfired. Thankfully, she was alone, and there was no one to mock at her plight. With that, Mina dusted the soil off her hands, and moved on to the next one.  

Spoiler

ID# 90694 results:

LD: 7 (Failure)

Quest items gathered: 1/5

[Mina 0]

The spot here was indeed good. Already clearing 2 bushes, and with 1 <Red Herb> found, the 20 or more bushes here was certainly able to produce 4 more <Red Herb> materials. Looking around to see if the boars spotted her, which they didn't, Mina moved in deeper towards the central area, where she believed that there'll be a higher chance of snagging one. Once again, she searched among the leaves, finding a red colored one, then tugging at it, removing it from the soil. "Please let this be a success..."

Blue pixelated crystals scattered into the night sky, the moonlight gleaming brightly onto her empty hands and her sculpted features. Yet another failure. "Are you kidding me? Seriously..." Mina slumped on the floor, wiping the sweat off at her face. Maybe her luck just wasn’t that good after all. “Come on, girl, you’re better than this!” Groaning, she got up, and moved towards the next.

Spoiler

ID# 90698 results:

LD: 8 (Failure)

Quest items gathered: 1/5

 

[Mina 0]

"Please let there be one..."

Mina moved to the next herb bush, just right beside the one she had pulled up from the soil. How long did these herb bushes respawn anyway? Looking at the bottom left corner of her visual field, the current time now was 2am, which meant that she had been digging roots up for the past hour, and there were only 4hours left till daybreak. Aiming to finish by then, she pulled up her black sleeves once again, fingers searching through the bush until she spotted a familiar red color.

Moving her fingers meticulously, she tugged at it, before pulling it out with a soft grunt. This time, the <Red Herb> stayed in her hand, the pop-up showing that she had collected the second one out of five. Pumping her fist in the air, she mouthed a soft, “Yes!” before placing the gathered material into her inventory.

Spoiler

ID# 90699 results:

LD: 11 (Success!)

Quest items gathered: 2/5

 

[Mina 0]

2 out of 5 amongst the 4 herb bushes she worked on. That was a 50% chance. Mina's mind, as a straight A student, often had subconscious mathematical processes in it. However, she didn't read into things deeply, usually brushing just the surface. Combined with a hunch, it would pull her through move through difficulties and to think on the ball. Eyeing the wild boars nearby to ensure her safety, she waited till they moved further away from her, before she began searching the next herb bush.

As usual, the <Red Herb> appeared in her field of vision almost instantaneously. Abundance, as the old man Zackariah stated, although with that 50% chance, she was unsure whether she'll be able to pull it off this time round. Though in this case, it was pulling the <Red Herb> out of the soil. Repeating what she had done, she pulled it out, the item breaking into pixels the moment it came into fresh air. “What the-"

Spoiler

ID# 90700 results:

LD: 9 (Failure)

Quest items gathered: 2/5

 

[Mina 0]

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. Keeping these words in her mind, Mina kept herself from lying on the grass, which seemed like a soft bed for her at this point in time. This was just a small step towards greater heights. There were a hundred floors to this place. If she gave up at floor one, what would be the rest of her in the future?

Standing back up on her two feet, she worked her way into another herb bush, finding a <Red Herb> after minutes. Just then, a thought came into her mind. What if, instead of carefully pulling it out, she yanked it instead? Two times she pulled it out carefully, and two times it resulted in failure. If the probability of gathering was the same, then yanking it out wouldn't make much difference, would it. It'll be a time saver as well. 

Holding it by the stem, she yanked it hard, the <Red Herb> easily giving way, breaking into shards. Okay, maybe that wasn't a good idea after all.

Spoiler

ID# 90701 results:

LD: 5 (Failure)

Quest items gathered: 2/5

 

Edited November 12, 2017 by Mina

[Mina 0]

"This sucks."

Who'd knew that gathering 5 herbs would be this difficult. Furiously stomping the ground, she let out a huge sigh. When was she going to complete this quest? The quest was beginning to get repetitive and boring, and there were still 3 more <Red Herb> items to gather. "You little piece of red shi-" she groaned, picking up a stone on the ground and tossing it into the bushes, the leaves rustling in this silent night. Not believing in her fate, she moved to the next bush.

"Let's do this again." Searching through the leaves with her fingers, finding yet another red stalk, she pulled hard, the item giving way again once more, disappearing into thin air. Maybe yanking it wasn't really going to help. Mina was slowly beginning to lose focus, her energy level draining from the tough work she did for the past hour or so. 

Spoiler

ID# 90723 results:

LD: 3 (Failure)

Quest items gathered: 2/5

 

[Mina 0]

Wiping off her sweat, how is it possible to even sweat here, Mina turned towards the next herb bush, determined to gather the remaining 3 <Red Herb> items. Giving up was not part of her dictionary, and within this death game, giving up to her meant giving up her life. She certainly didn't want that. Looking at her hands full of soil and grime, she was once again, amazed by the replication of the real world into the game. Why did the creator turn it into a disaster then? She'll never understand. However, going into SAO, even if it became a death game, was the right choice for her. She'll never want to miss out on such an amazing place like this.

Finding another <Red Herb> item in another bush, she pulled it out carefully this time round, dusting the leaves free of soil and dirt. There it was, a successful gathering, which meant that she only had 2 more items left to gather. 

Spoiler

ID# 90724 results:

LD: 15 (Success!)

Quest items gathered: 3/5

 

[Mina 0]

With renewed energy, Mina skipped towards the left of the bush spawning area. She had cleared the last of the herb bushes in the center area with that last success, and she had to move on. However, this area left her digging and brushing for almost thirty minutes before actually finding one. 2 more <Red Herb> items. Can she pull another success off this time? 

Tugging on it, she made sure to pull it out as carefully as she could, only to find that familiar sight of items breaking into a million pieces. By now, Mina was used to failure, and the young woman simply shrugged and moved on to the next bush. When will she ever finish this task? There were not many herb bushes left anymore, and if she didn't gather the last 3 by then, it meant that she'll have to find another spot, which also meant more time wasted.

Spoiler

ID# 90729 results:

LD: 4 (Failure!)

Quest items gathered: 3/5

 

[Mina 0]

Nope... not now. Her feet trudged heavily among the soil; she groaned as she made her way to the next bush, carefully bending down and searching through the leaves. Just 2 more to go, 2 more <Red Herb> needed and she'll be done with this quest. But hold on a second.

"If the quest's titled <<The First Few Lessons are Free>> ..." How many more quests were there. Mina stood up, realising that what she had accepted a chain quest. "Let's hope that there won't be any more herb gathering, shall we?"

Resuming her search, she spotted the <Red Herb> deep within the many other leaves. Carefully making her way in, she brushed the soil and tugged at it, a pop-out sign appearing, signifying that it was a success. "Just one more to go... one more and I'll be done." 

There was hope at completing this by daybreak. "I can do this!"

Spoiler

 

ID# 90731 results:

LD: 20 (Success!)

Quest items gathered: 4/5

 

[Mina 0]

Keeping her hopes high with only 1 more <Red Herb> to go, Mina crouched low, starting on another search. Her hands, soiled from all the dirt around, were surprisingly not painful at all, considering the amount of work she had put into gathering. "Thank goodness the pain signals from my brain were not replicated in this game." If the game actually sent proper pain signals and not reduced ones, dying or getting cuts will hurt a lot more and make the game nearly impossible to clear. "At least the creator had some sort of heart." 

Finally finding another <Red Herb> amongst the leaves, Mina prayed to herself that this would be the success, and that she didn't have to search for another. "Here goes nothing," she mumbled, holding the herb by the leaves and slowly tugging it, exposing the roots into the fresh night breeze.

Crystals shone brightly against the moonlight, with the item shattering. "Not again!"

Spoiler

 

ID# 90735 results:

LD: 7 (Failure!)

Quest items gathered: 4/5

 

[Mina 0]

"Come on... Just one more!!"

The current time was 4am, which meant that daybreak wasn't too far away only slightly more than 2 hours left. Searching the one final bush in this area, Mina finally found a <Red Herb> perfect down to its leaves and stalk. "Please please please..." she prayed hard, digging into the soil and gently pulling it out. Holding the <Red Herb> in her hand for a few seconds, and realising that it wasn't going to disappear on her, she placed it into her inventory and pumped a fist into the air. "Yes!" 

Spoiler

ID# 90764 results:

LD: 13 (Success!)

Quest items gathered: 5/5

Finding an relatively safe area amongst all the bushes, out of sight from friends and foe alike, Mina laid down on the grass, the soft and carpeted feeling embracing her. The view of the sky was simply perfect, with little light pollution, she could see the bright moon and the artificial stars in the virtual sky. It's so beautiful, and yet, deadly at the same time. Staying this way for a good half an hour or so, and trying to keep herself from falling asleep, she checked her quest log, confirming whether she had completed the task, which she did. Swearing to check in at an inn after she got back to the old man's house, she got up, carefully avoiding the boars and making her way back to the gate of the main settlement.

[Mina 0]

Giving a smile to one of the gatekeepers and she passed through the gates, "Why did I smile at them for, they're just NPCs..." Mina took a deep breath of the air in the starting city. "Ahh... I'd never thought that I'd miss this place so much." It was relatively quiet, there were only one or two players walking about except for her, and all the NPCs would have probably retreated back into their houses. Even the NPCs had somewhere to stay, instead of being a simple immovable character in other MMORPG games. They all functioned to make the game as "real" as possible, but with the change of events, Mina had no choice but to admit that this was the "real" life now. 

Making her way back the old man's house (she was good at directions and she knew it), Mina stopped right outside his door and peeked in, wondering if he was asleep like the other NPCs. However, the house was pitch black, and she decided to rap on his door lightly instead. Once, twice, thrice, waiting a few minutes each time before he finally opened the door, his face looking dull and quite annoyed at the guest in wee hours of the morning. "Sorry to interrupt your sleep, but I'm done," she smiled meekly.

[Mina 0]

Entering the house, Mina took out the 5 <Red Herb> materials gathered for Zackariah, whose eyes sparkled and instantly became refreshed at the sight. He lit up a lamp, brightening up the whole place before taking the materials out of her hand, the herbs disappearing into crystals upon contact. Then came a pop-up right in front of her eyes, stating that the first part of the quest was complete. Wait, only the first part?

The familiar unaccepted quest marker reappeared on his head again, with him looking straight at her and speaking his scripted dialogue. "Thank you. May I request for your kind soul to help me out in crafting a potion?" Sighing, Mina nodded her head and mumbled a "Sure," agreeing to the next portion of the quest. If she dropped out now, she will not be able to obtain the completed quest rewards, and all her hard work digging for the herbs will go to a waste.

[Mina 0]

The old man lead Mina to his crafting table, the one she saw earlier when she first entered his house. Holding up the materials and some bottles, he instructed her on what to do, with Mina following his instructions, from tapping the materials and selecting the crafting equipment. "Hey, this is easy." If only making items were this simple in real life... Will cooking be the same in SAO too, just tapping the ingredients and selecting the oven?

Finishing up the last step, where she poured a solution into the grounded up <Red Herb> sitting in a potion bottle, there came a sizzle, with the solution transforming into a red liquid. Brushing her fingers on the crafted item, she saw that it was a <Perfect> quality HP potion, which meant that her first time crafting was a success. A <Perfect> success. Not even Uncommon nor Rare, but Perfect. "Well done, miss. You're a natural. Thank you for your hard work." Even Zackariah couldn't help it but to praise her, and the smile on Mina's face stretched from one end to another. "Thank you too!"

Taking the crafted potion from her, he handed over a package, with a note written on it. "If you don't mind, could you help me deliver this to Lyle Tealeaf? His workshop is right around the corner, a few hundred meters away." Then appeared the unaccepted quest marker, which changed as Mina agreed to his request without hesitation. Placing the package in her inventory. Mina bowed towards him, thanking him for his hard work, before stepping out into the streets once more. "I'll see you around, old man." 

Spoiler

 

ID# 90801 results:

CD: 10 (Perfect!)

 

 

[Mina 0]

Faint rays pierced through the clouds as the sun was almost up, with Mina catching the beautiful sunrise just right outside the gates of the town; the city walls didn't block off the amazing view in front of her eyes. It was times like this where she wished that there was a screenshot function in the game, Why didn't he implement that function. Maybe further up on the higher floors, there'll be a rare item which would allow her to do exactly that. 

Getting up, she made her way to a nearby inn, getting herself a room where she needed to take a good long rest. Changing into her vanity dress, she brushed her hair with a fingers, her long tresses somehow smooth and shiny even though she did a lot of work earlier on. Players here didn't need to go to bathroom nor bathe, but all she wanted was to take a long hot shower and relax. Swearing to make enough money to buy her own house later in the game, she made sure the door was locked, before tucking herself into bed. The quest can wait.

It was mid afternoon when Mina finally woke up. Players were gathering at the ground floor of the inn, some eating, some chit-chatting, feeling accustomed to the life in game. Getting herself a beverage, she gulped it down, the cool liquid satisfying herself, but not her real life self, which was probably lying in a hospital somewhere. Thanking the inn owner, she stepped out towards the streets, following the navigation to Lyle Tealeaf's workshop.

It was quite a long walk, around 15 minutes or so, stopping right in front of a dilapidated wooden house right around the corner. Knocking on the door and stepping in, she met eyes with a white balding man with a huge beard, somehow looking like the cheap version of Santa Claus. There was a quest marker on top of him, which meant that she had found the right person. Taking the package out of the inventory, she tapped on the male's shoulder, delivering it to him, and getting a scripted dialogue out. "Thank you so much, young lady!" Her first quest, <<The First Few Lessons Are Free>>, was complete, with the rewards appearing in her inventory.