The Town of Beginnings... and Beginners

"This is Dreamscape? Holy sh*t!" Rico mumbled out as he continued to scan the majestic mountain valley. Mori Jan had started walking down a path on their left that seemed to head straight for that quaint town beside the lake. He whistled to get Rico's attention and motioned him to follow. Rico quickly caught up to him and continued to gaze at the awe inspiring vista around him.

"Everyone has a similar reaction," Mori Jan mused, "Mr. Anderson put a lot of work into creating a world, and he felt that the only way to truly enjoy the afterlife would be if the view left the soul in awe of its beauty."

"I know that this is a whole different world, but how can everything be so... detailed and bright?" Rico questioned. The color spectrum seemed so much larger than when he was alive. If he concentrated, the details of the surrounding would pop out more. Looking at one of the leaves on a tree, he could not only tell that the pink hue had variation between the outer edge and center, but could glean some of the texture of the leaf. This was all from 5 or 6 meters away!

"You know how I previously mentioned that this is Mr. Anderson's world? It is more like his universe or reality. He established this place in what he viewed the mechanics of the universe should be. This included broadening the level of colors you can see and allowing inhabitants to have sharper senses of perception. Currently the average person here has a perception depth and width that is 3 times that of those that are alive."

Mori Jan explained all this to Rico as they continued to approach the town. Rico tried to process this information as best he could. After a minute he spoke again.

"This Mr. Anderson seems more like a god than a man."

Mori Jan looked at Rico, "In here he is God. He is the supreme being here. Only Heaven and Hell could truly compete with him."

This sent a shiver down Rico's spine. A man who was a god? This seemed more like an idea from a fantasy novel or video game. This wasn't something that could happen in reality! Yet Rico knew instinctively that this was true. Rico's conscious struggled with this idea but his unconscious self had already accepted it. As such, the shock was less than it really should have been after hearing these words.

Deciding to move past the origins and principles that now governed the world he was in, Rico asked the next most important question,

"Why are we heading toward the town?"

Mori Jan smiled and said," All will be explained when we arrive. Also, you won't be the only one in this part of the orientation. You will be receiving the second part of the orientation with about 100 other people who have arrived here."

Rico mulled over this as they got close to the entrance of the town. He wondered what the other people would look like. Probably like his bedsheet self but he was still nervous.

They finally reached the town gate. It wasn't very fancy, just some nice white stone pillars in the Greco-Roman style that were 5 meters apart. There were signs on the middle parts of the pillars. Rico looked at the inscription.

[Town of Beginnings]

This made Rico smile. The name was very video game like in naming. They walked down the main road which was gray flagstone with a few generic red and white looking buildings on the sides. There was no one here. Directly at the end of this short street there was a building that looked like a temple , also in the Greco-Roman style but obviously enclosed to prevent prying eyes if there were any. There were a set of black double doors much like in the mountain that they had come from. Rico and Mori Jan walked up to them and stopped. The guide turned and spoke to Rico in a professionally sad tone.

"This is as far as I will take you. On the other side of these doors is where the next part of the orientation will take place. As soon as you pass through the doors you're ghost body will be replaced with a more human one. The process is painless so there's no need to get anxious. This will probably be the last time I see you so take care my young man." He stuck out his hand and they shook farewell. Mori Jan than turned around and, without looking back, walked to the mountain.

Rico watched him for a bit and then turned back to the door. He thought Mori Jan was a nice guy but he also knew that in the grand scheme he was only there to guide people to this spot. Looking at the black double doors, Rico took a deep breath and pushed them open, walking in with the anxiety the Mori had told him not to have.

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Anastasia sat in her chair with all the other souls around her. They were in a large white hall at the center of the temple in the Town of Beginnings. Anastasia didn't like the name of the town, it reminded her of the video games her no good husband used to play back when she was alive. It reminded her of a really bad time. But now she was dead and karma seemed to put her right here just to torture her. Struggling to push past the line of thought that would do her no good, she looked nervously around the room. There were 98 other people in the room and they all sat in rows facing a slightly raised platform of white marble. There was a low murmur as some of the people talked around her.

She was one of the last people to arrive and therefore she sat at the back. This however didn't give her the lack of attention she was hoping for. As soon as she had entered the room, everyone had stopped talking and had stared at her; some in lust and some in envy. The body she had been given was the most beautiful among all the other people there. She radiated a gorgeous appearance with her blue eyes, golden hair and European princess looks. There were also about a dozen other good looking people there, but she simply blew them out of the water.

She had blushed when she felt everyone's gaze and she quickly sat down in the nearest chair. After that people turned back to their whispered conversations, but she still overheard some of the nearby ones.

"Damn that girl is hot! Should we try talking to her?"

"Dude, no way. People like her don't talk to the plebs."

"Why did she get such a good looking body? Even the afterlife is super unfair."

"I know right!? While I look cute, I definitely don't compare to her. Oh well, it is what it is."

Anastasia kept her head down and waited until the orientation started. She hadn't asked for her looks when she entered the temple, but neither was she unhappy that she was now getting noticed because of them. As she lost her self into these thoughts, she felt a pricking of electricity across her neck. She shivered and turned around upon instinct toward the doorway behind her. Everyone else felt the same thing and turned too. The black doors opened and a shimmering view of light momentarily cascaded out, stopping anyone from seeing who had entered. Then the light faded and a man appeared.

Anastasia gasped. The man was absolutely freaking gorgeous, even more so than her. He had the perfectly defined v-cut of a body, covered in perfectly tanned skin. The white shirt and pants seemed tailored to him and showed his figure in the best possible lighting. The face that rested upon that body was equally as eye drawing. Medium length black hair framed a defined face. The eyes were like two blue sapphires and glowed with intensity. His whole being seemed magnetic and powerful as if he was lion in the wild; a king.

Anastasia leaned closer to this breathtaking man and her heart raced uncontrollably.

'I thought I was beautiful but damn this man is so much better than me.' Anastasia thought. She slyly looked over his body a glint of lust crept into her eyes. Then it immediately disappeared as she realized that she was doing exactly what others had been doing to her when she entered. Disgusted with herself, she felt embarrassed and decided to view the man more practically as just another one the people at this orientation. Secretly though, she wished that he would come and sit beside her.

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Rico looked at the people staring at him. It was quiet in the hall and he felt really self conscious as he walked to the nearest seat. Before he had emerged from the light behind the black doors, his mind had gone under a weird transition. He felt his body change as the ghost body folded and a humanoid body formed. The creation of flesh and blood was profound and definitely awkward as his new self formed in seconds. Then his mind had suddenly been disconnected from his body and he saw himself in the third person. He was surprised but really pleased with what he received and as soon as he had these thoughts he rocketed back into the body. Then he had been gently pushed through the light and into this room.

Still mulling over this, he looked around trying to be discreet as he observed the others that had gone back to talking to each other. To his left was a really pretty girl who kept her head bent down. To his left were a trio of burly men quietly talking amongst themselves. One of the men glanced his direction and their eyes locked. Hoping to appear friendly and open, Rico smiled in acknowledgement of the man. The other guy smiled back and then turned back to his colleagues. Rico was disappointed that the man hadn't invited him over. After so long of being alone...

'Wait I was alone for a long time?' Rico questioned. His memory still hadn't returned And besides a blinding light as his only memory, he had no idea who he was before besides the clues Mori Jan had given him. Now he had this certain feeling that before he arrived here he had been alone and lonely for a long time. A very long time.

"E-excuse me sir, what's your name?", a nervous and feminine voice said from his left. Shaken from his thoughts, he turned and looked at the girl on his left. Upon further observation he was taken back by the stunning contours of her face and body. The blue eyes sparkled like two rare gems and her pink lips were curved in a nervous smile. He felt like he could barely talk.

'Dude get a grip on yourself, it's not like you haven't seen pretty girls before! Or have I? It doesn't matter, there's no need to act like a beached fish.' Rico chastised himself.

"My name's Rico Validez. Yours?"

Rico smiled and stuck out his hand and they shook. She had such nice smooth hands.

"Anastasia. This is all really... different. It's not what I was expecting after dying. It's almost like a dream, right?" she responded. Rico grinned and agreed. They continued to chat with each other and he learned a few things about her and her experience here. Back when she was alive, she had a job in middle management at a large corporation before she had been in a bus accident.

When she asked about him there was very little he could tell her.

"Sorry, I have lost my memories for some reason and all I really know is that I was a scientist or something before I died."

"Oh! That's really sad, I really hope you recover. It must really suck not knowing anything about yourself." She responded sadly.

A large clap sounded across the hall and everyone turned there attention to the stage in front of them. On it was a thin man in what appeared to be robes. His name tag said: Boris Bell.

"Excuse me everyone, the second part of the orientation will now start. I am Boris Bell and it's my responsibility to give you the basics on where you are and what to expect in the afterlife. So without further procrastination, let's get started."

Boris snapped his fingers and in everyone's laps a small blue book outlined in gold trim appeared. There was a silver title across it.

[ A Basic Guide to Dreamscape]

"The book that you have received holds all the basic knowledge you need to survive the beginning parts of your life here. I will however give you a summary and a small introduction." Boris said other the slight murmur of surprise that everyone had after seeing the books appear out of thin air. The hall quieted again and Boris started to speak again.

"As you have been told before, you can't get into Heaven or Hell at this point because of the massive influx of souls. So our founder, Mr. Anderson, has created this world a place for new souls to reside. However, this place is unlike Terra. Mr. Anderson realized that the wait to get in line could be extremely long and so he created this world around one concept to keep everyone entertained: video games.

At this point I would like everyone to say [ Character Screen]. A menu should show up with some data on it."

After Mr. Bell finished, the room was silent with confusion and nobody did anything. Rico and the others looked puzzled and not willing to be the first to say something so stupid but then someone yelped in surprise. Everyone turned to the voice and a young man was staring off into space like he was reading something. He then spoke up,

"Dude this is so cool, it's just like a character sheet you would see in Skrim!"

After that everyone else started to try it and exclamations of surprise and delight sounded throughout the hall. Rico look at Anastasia and then he also called out his character screen. A light blue window of light appeared.

[Name: Rico Validez]

[Title: None]

[Type: Demigod Human (Max lvl)(Locked)]

[Unique Ability: ??? (Max lvl)]

Stats

[Strength: 14]

[Dexterity: 7]

[Perception: 7]

[Intelligence: 15]

[Charisma: 25 (neutral)]

Skills List (view)

Rico scanned his character list and was surprised at how high his charisma and intelligence was. After the brief scan his eyes returned to the Unique Ability and Type. They were both maxed out but he didn't know what one was and the other was locked. This was extremely puzzling as he had no idea what he had done to gain these things.

"Hey what does your stats look like?" He asked Anastasia. she was looking at seemingly thin air and he assumed that character lists and other personal data bases were visible only to the user. Anastasia turned to him.

"I'll tell you if you tell me yours", she said.

"Deal."

He told her and she also was shocked by how high his charisma was. She wasn't bothered by his intelligence.

"My intelligence is 14, strength 10, dexterity 10, perception 8 and charisma 15. I think that the standard is 10 so having 15 isn't that high but your 25 is ridiculous. Why is it so high?" she said. All Rico could do was shrug nervously. He decided not to tell anyone about his Type or Unique Ability as they would probably make things uncomfortable for him.

"As you all look over your character lists, I'd like to help you understand the data," Boris was saying. " The standard for a person who just arrived in Dreamscape is 10 for each stat. Higher then 10 mean you are more proficient in an area, and lower then 10 means that you are deficient or have a serious weakness in those stats. The indicator in the charisma section indicates your alignment in this world. Everyone starts off with Neutral despite what you might have been when you were alive."

"What if we have a stat that is negative?!" asked a short thin man. Boris turned to the man in surprise.

"Negative numbers indicate that the stat is actually sapping away you health and abilities. Usually you would need a curse to make a stat negative! Meet me afterward young man and I'll fix that stat for you. Nobody should have a negative stat when they start as you are too weak to fix that problem." Boris told the man. He was staring at him with burning curiosity and surprise. It was extremely rare for someone to have a negative stat straight out of the gate. Luckily there were protocols for those instances despite their rarity. Boris turned back to the crowd and continued.

"The next thing you should all look at is the skill list. While you have nothing in there right now, as soon as you enter the town proper of Town of Beginnings you will get a skill. This isn't like your unique ability which you should all see. As a last piece of info in this topic, to see more details on either a stat, ability, title, or skill... just focus on that section and a more detailed screen will appear. The guide book also has very useful info on this topic along with many other things."

Boris paused and then indicated to the group of people to follow him. He walked off the stage and over to a seemingly blank wall. As he approached, Boris made a complicated sign and flicked his wrist at the white wall. A shimmering mirage appeared on the wall and then as it disappeared a black door appeared.

"It seems that these black doors have some serious significance. First the mountain, then the entrance to the temple and now the entrance to the town proper" Rico silently thought. He and the group all arrived at the door and then turned to Boris.

"Before I release you all into the town there is some very important things that have come up recently. Since Dreamscape has been accepting souls for over 300 years, guilds have risen and political states have taken over in a lot of places. Be careful with whoever you meet out there. Recently two of the big factions have taken a serious interest in The Town of Beginnings and not all for pure helpful purposes. As such, you will all have a 48 hour grace period where no one can hurt or harass you. This doesn't guarantee that you won't be picked up by them, but it will make it easier for you to escape or not get caught in the first place."

Everyone looked at each other nervously. They were essentially going into a dangerous zone despite their noob level and they were expected to survive. This hardly made anyone eager to leave the temple. Boris then turned to the doors and pushed them open.

"Good luck everyone!" he said and then the light beyond the door started to suck them in. Some tried to back away but it was useless. As Rico was pulled to the door he grabbed Anastasia hand. If he was going to go out there he needed someone he at least kind of knew, even if it was only for 30 minutes. Rico kept his eyes open as he entered the light.