[F01 - PP] A Fine Lesson <<The First Few Lessons are Free>>

[Kimihito 0]

It was late in the morning. The weather was nice and sunny as many players were used to. Kimihito was wandering the town aimlessly, trying to think of things to do. "I'll finally leave this place,i have to" He thought, and wanted to. He avoided most players, wandering alone to the south of town. He passed the market stalls, a square and some taverns and inns,alone. Meanwhile,as he walked, he was thinking of things to do to enjoy this world. Even if it was digital, there must be something to make people happy. He had seen people enjoying themselves, forming relationships, having drinks or enjoying quiet days outside the town. That made him somewhat determined, to leave the town and try and live his life to its fullest.

Walking in the town, he reached a square next to an inn and took a seat on a bench. He looked around, seeing almost nobody in the square. He got out some bread and started eating "I sure wish i can find something good in this world, something to help me enjoy my days.. Two years now in here, doing nothing is time wasted.."He mumbled to himself and sighed. He finished eating the bread he had, and unsheathed his rapier. He looked at his reflection on the rapier's blade and thought. "Soon enough.."He thought to himself, just looking at the rapiers blade.

He remembered the words of a player he had met "Enjoy this to it's fullest, Even if it is a digital world, us people are real." These words were the only thing worth remembering for him. And he thought about these words,while mindlessly staring at his blade, his face full of determination. He even smiled a bit, although it was kinda rare for him. "Soon.."He spoke outloud.

@Neopolitan

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori was coming back from finally being able to get some downtime. Though she had mostly just been helping people who were slightly lower level than herself, it was still giving her some decent progress. There was something to be said about teaching others to gain a better mastery of a subject yourself. It really meant she had to question why she did things besides blindly follow other teachings. Perhaps there was some place or puzzle in the game she could apply that more. Filing it into the back of her head, she walked out into the Town of Beginning's Central Plaza. She noticed that there was someone who seemed to be on their own at the moment, just eating bread on a bench in the plaza. There weren't many people milling around at the moment, and she noticed that they still had fairly basic gear. She decided to approach them, thinking what's the worst that could happen. She was in a safe zone, so there was no way she could die unless it was in a duel loss. With no intention of dueling, Hokori knew that she should at least try to extend her network. Though she knew she would need to meet with some higher level players sooner than later, it would be best for the moment if she could just make new friends.

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito would be mindlessly staring at his rapier after finishing his bread. He seemed to be lost in thought. After a while he mumbled to himself one more time "Soon.." Then he looked around, noticing a Girl approaching him. He sheathed the rapier and sighed "What's the worst that could happen. You have to socialize if you want to enjoy your time here.."He thought to himself and scratched the back of his head, blankly looking over at first. He thought of what to say, afraid of what that girl would think of him "Just do it, you've got nothing to lose.."He mumbled to himself.

Then,after a minute of being silent, he found his determination returning to him. He slowly got up from the bench he was sitting on and stretch his arms "Hello" That was all he could say for now, it was obvious he was shy, since he didnt hide it at all. He sat back down on the bench,staring at the ground and thought of how the girl would take it. He hadnt met a lot of friendly players lately, being alone for almost the whole time "Nice um day isnt it?" He looked up, forming a small smile, trying not to be too awkward.

@Katagawa

[Katagawa 0]

As Hokori approached the person on the bench, they stood up. She wasn't expecting them to, but continued to make her way towards them. After they greeted her and sat down again, Hokori gave a nod. She remained silent until they asked about the weather. "Bright, sunny, and a good temperature. Pretty normal for this floor. The name is Katagawa by the way." She extended her hand out towards them in an offer to shake it. "Saw you alone and figured you were a lower level player like me by the quality of the gear you have. If you have the time, I would suggest finding some of the player run shops around here, there's quite a good selection. For now, I thought I'd ask to join you if you were looking for some help in anything. I may not be the most powerful player out there, but I've learned my way around the floor pretty well."

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

As the girl introduced herself,he nodded his head. Then remained silent for a bit. He looked around then stared at the ground. Finally he looked up to the girl "I am Kimihito. Nice to um,meet you Katagawa" He was reluctant at first but then accepted the handshake,extending his own hand. Then she asked to join him on some time of an adventure. He was surprised that someone he barely knew wanted to even adventure with a person like him, but he was fine with it. After all, he had to make friendships. "Okay um. Sure thing. So you suggest we party together and do a quest?" He asked calmly,getting up from the bench again.

"If we do end up doing a quest, i am not very familiar with the area so i'll need some help to figure out what quest to do if thats okay with you." He said,rubbing the back of his head and then looked at her. "You dont look like that much of a newbie. Heh.."He chuckled lightly "Well, i hope this will be a fun experience." He looked around one more time,seeing a few players being around and sighed lightly. It was finally his time.

@Katagawa

[Katagawa 0]

"Glad to meet you Kimihito." Hokori put her hand down after shaking hands with him. "Though I have already done it, there is a good line of beginning quests that are still avilable to the low level players. I'd be willing to accompany you on that if it's fine with you of course." At the mention of her not being such a newbie, Hokori's hands drifted subconsciously to her legs to smooth out the dress underneath her armor. "I'm still quite new, though admittedly I seem to be progressing faster than others. If you do want to take on that quest I can send the party invite and we can be on our way." She waited, a little awkwardly, for Kimihito to give his response. She could tell that they were quite shy about things like this, but she had already made her offer. It would be very rude of her to back down now. Regardless, she figured that she could find a few good things while giving pointers to the new player. It seemed to be something she had a knack for.

@Kimihito

 

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito listened quietly to her, as she was explaining about the quests. "Yeah, you can accompany me if you want. It's fine. I prefer to have some company after all." He said with a light chuckle. Then he smiled at her and looked at her hands,then away trying to not make her think of him as a weird person. He listened as she explained her situation,saying that she is progressing faster than others. He was somewhat impressed "Thats really impressive,that you are progressing faster than other people." Then she mentioned the party invite and such. "Well,it'll be my third time in a party so lets do this. And we can be on our way indeed." He could tell she was somewhat awkward but didnt say anything because he didnt want to make it worse.Then,he looked at the ground,thinking to himself. "First quest,this ought to be fun" He thought, and with some pleasant company too so it will be alright.

@Katagawa

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori began to lead the way towards the NPC's shop after he had accepted the party invite. She knew that this was the way, having been there quite a few times to help others. She wanted to make sure that she could be as helpful to people as people would be to her. If she didn't teach those below her, the front lines would eventually run dry, no matter how much they tried. Once there, with occasional checks behind her to make sure that Kimihito followed her, she gestured inside. "This is where you can pick up the beginner quest I was talking about. Once you're inside the dialogue should start up. I'll wait out here, but I'll come with you when you need to start up on the objectives." There was little else she could do but wait for them to enter. Perhaps they would turn around now, becoming indecisive. Either way, she made sure that there was effort put behind her actions. No point wasting actions when she didn't mean them.

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito looked around as he followed Katagawa.He had been around the area since he was living in the town of Beginnings for two years now. He often saw other people going either solo or in parties for such quests. He never knew what they were granted for completing them or what they needed to do in order to complete such a quest. He calmly looked around and when they reached the workshop,he dusted his right shoulder,then adjusted his black coat "Thank you Katagawa. I wont be long" He said in a calm demeanor then walked in the workshop. After the dialog finished and he accepted the quest,he walked back out to Katagawa, calm again. "Well..I need to go fetch 5 tier one Materials for Zakariah. Where exactly do i get these?" He was being honest with her,not hiding that he didnt know where to go since it was his first quest. He looked around then back to her "Also,i wanted to thank you for helping me out. Not many people do that." He smiled a bit at her,then adjusted his coat again.

@Katagawa

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori didn't have to wait outside for too long before Kimihito came back out. She listened closely to his question, as well as making sure she knew what knowledge he already had. "You can get materials from just about anywhere. I've found them in the forest or along the plains for this floor. Only really helped out twice, so I don't know which would be a better one to go for." Hokori smiled as he gave his thanks. "It's not a problem. Everyone should get some help with these earlier quests. Even if they are just basic stuff to do on your own we need to help each other out to have a shot at escaping this death game. Besides, I can do some material gathering of my own while you work on your quest. Not that I have a profession yet. I do plan on going for one eventually though."

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

He would nod his head quietly as she explained to him the places she went to get materials for said quests. After giving it some thought,he finally spoke "How about we go to the Forest? I havent actually been there yet so it might be fun too."He smiled a bit,then adjusted his coat and looked to her again after looking through the quests objective. "Thats a great mindset to have. I wish more people down here thought like you. Maybe when i get out of this level,i'll do that too. All in good time i suppose" He chuckled a tad,then stretched his arms and listened quietly again as she explained that she had to get some materials anyway. She also mentioned she havent found a profession yet "Well,im planning to find a profession myself after i level up a bit. Will be interesting i suppose."He started walking towards the town's gate "Lets go Katagawa!"

@Katagawa

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori nodded in agreement from the decision for the place to go. From her limited data set, she would conclude the forest was a better location for material gathering. In the end, she had only been out to do this twice and was therefore unable to properly judge which of the two would be better. Ensuring that her equipment was all properly in its place, Hokori made her way with Kimihito to the exit of the Town of Beginnings. It wouldn't be too far of a walk, and she was getting rather used to the need to walk large distances. At least it wasn't like some games that she had heard of where you had to manually get everywhere. Rumor had it you could also have mounts in that game though, so it couldn't be too bad. Pulling her mind towards the quest at hand, Hokori pointed towards the forest. "That's where I went to find materials with the first person I helped. I don't think we will be attacked by anything, but keep a lookout just in case."

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito stayed silent as they were making their way towards the forest. It was very easy to tell that he wasnt very talkative during trips. He was too busy looking around the scenery of the plains,obviously enjoying what he was watching. The wide plains of the first floor of Aincrad were a sight to behold,and trully fascinating for him as he hadnt been out of town a lot. But he promised himself he would leave this floor at somepoint and that meant he had to work for it. Then, Katagawa broke the silence saying that the forest was where she went to help another player to find materials for the same quest. He silently nodded and when she mentioned that he should be on the lookout he nodded again "Will do. Uh..Lets see.."He started looking around the place. At somepoint he kneeled next to a bush and noticed some berries were waiting for him to [censored]. He got out his guidebook and read that they were used for potions so he picked up the only berry that matched the description in the guidebook. "Found one..Need more tho.."He said outloud and continued looking for more.

@Katagawa

Spoiler

Searching for Crafting materials:

Roll ID: 105484

LD:20 [Success]

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Kimihito

[Katagawa 0]

(OOC: Sorry for the long wait. Missed the notification for the response)

Hokori continued to lead the way towards the forest, not offering any more in terms of conversation. She didn't feel the need for much idle chatter, but it could always be welcome as a way to pass the time. She glanced behind her and noticed that Kimihito had already stopped to gather a small plant that was on the side of the road. She waited patiently for him to finish gathering it, as he seemed to be cross-referencing in some sort of guidebook that he had. She knew that there was information brokers around that you could buy info off of, but she didn't think it would be that pertinent. At least in this stage of the game, it was rather lenient in what could be used as materials. She had no idea if that leniency extended to the higher floors, but figured it likely did to some degree. "Don't worry, take all the time you need. We're not in a rush to reach the end."

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito continued to follow Katagawa,looking around from time to time in order to find any more materials to gather. Unfortunately,he didnt seem to get any so he followed quietly "Thanks Katagawa for being patient. I didnt expect that"He said and walked up to her,going along. He surveyed his surroundings,trying to figure out if he missed anything but he didnt seem to find anything more "Well damn,looks like we need to go deeper into the forest. Materials are nonexistant in this part of it."He said outloud and kept walking,remaining silent. From time to time,he looked around to admire the beauty of the forest they were in,as it was his first time out in this part of the first floor. "This place is quite different from the plains huh? Quite the difference"He noted,and kept walking along

@Katagawa

Spoiler

Searching for Crafting materials:

Roll ID: 105639

LD: 6 [Failure]

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by Kimihito

[Katagawa 0]

It didn't take them long to reach the forest, but to her dismay there was nothing that was obviously there to be gathered. The game was generous, but still quite picky. "It's no problem. I'll still get some experience from any materials I do gather while out with you. Besides, the more I have the better off I'll be. At least, that's what I hope." Hokori picked up a small rock and chucked it a fruit hanging a little too high in a tree. It did begin to shake loose, but it wasn't quite enough to break free of the branch. "Let's. The first floor has a lot of different biomes to it. I'm surprised that they would put this much within reach of early levels. I guess it would make for good marketing if there wasn't the whole death game involved. This would've easily been one of the most lucrative games for years to come and they squandered it with their almost masochistic ideas."

Spoiler

Roll ID: #105641

LD: 14 - no mats

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito listened quietly to Katagawa talk as he continued his search for materials. Unfortunately,he couldnt find any more plants that would be usefull for the potions which made him frown "Damn,this place looks explored already.."He mumbled and continued walking along with Katagawa "Yeah,it's beautifull even if this is a death game. I honestly think that this game would be topping all the top lists in the world if only it didnt end up like this."He said with a nod of his head to show that he agreed with her. He continued walking along with her,keeping an eye for any materials to be gathered in the meanwhile "Well..Katagawa,since we arent doing anything but walking right now,tell me about yourself"He said,smiling a tad as they continued walking.He thought it would be a nice way to spend their time instead of silently searching.

@Katagawa

Spoiler

Searching for Crafting materials:

Roll ID: 105674

LD: 8 [Failure]

 

Edited September 10, 2018 by Kimihito

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori tried to find some materials of her own, but noticed she was as unsuccessful as Kimihito. "That's strange, they usually respawn rather quickly. Perhaps someone has been through here recently." She was stikll pondering the thought when Kimihito asked about her. She didn't seee any harm in reveling some information about herself, though there were hesitations where she would choose her words carefully. "I was born in Japan, but I've been studying in Germany for the past 4 years. I study nanotech engineering, and was accepted into the masters program at my college shortly before being trapped in this death game. I wanted to use the degree to help get my parents out of the poverty that awaited them, now they'll probably be stuck there for a while longer." Hokori looked down a little bit. It was sad, knowing she wouldn't be able to help her family while they had to pay for her hospital bills. Perhaps she should end it quickly if she knew she couldn't make it out. At least then she wouldn't make them pay for her mistakes.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #105716

LD: 9 - no mats found

@Kimihito

[Kimihito 0]

Kimihito continued his search for materials,not being successfull yet again. Seeing that Katagawa was unsuccessfull aswell made him facepalm "Damn it..We need to go further i guess"He shrugged and sighed "This will take a while wont it?"He laughed a bit at their situation,trying to atleast make himself feel happy or thats what he thought. He listened quietly to Katagawa talking about herself. He was surprised to hear that her family was living in poverty,as he never lived like that "Might be tough i suppose..Well,my father is a bussinessman and my mother owns a flower shop. We never were rich nor poor,we were just there. Im 18 currently so no studies like that as of yet so yeah. I hope i'll return one day to see them.I miss them a lot.."And he did,it was one of the things he constantly thought about from time to time. "Anyway,lets get going Katagawa"

@Katagawa

Spoiler

Searching for crafting materials

Roll ID: 105768

LD: 3 (Failure)

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Kimihito

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori listened, feeling a little down after both of them had shared their stories. It was sad that the game had to have ripped that all away from them. She knew that the game's immersive style of play would've already ripped several relationships apart, but that would be on the fault of the people who played it too much. Now, it was being taken from everybody without a choice or a chance to right their wrongs. She moved in silence with Kimihito deeper into the forest to find materials. The trees Began to block out more of the afternoon sun and the air grew slightly cooler. It was strange that there was still no materials to be found, perhaps they respawned slower than she initially thought. Of course, there could be a player or two that is just ahead of them and they didn't realize it. There were several possibilities.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #105770

LD: 9 - no mats found

@Kimihito