Chapter 5 - First Step Into The Game

Chapter 5 – First Step Into The Game

Adrian finished making his choices for the special stats. He chose the Farming Tools, Plants, Animals, Genes, and Minerals as his special stats. Immediately after he made this decision, he needed to make another decision.

[Please choose where you want to start?

Orchid Settlement – Grade B.

Blue Orchid Settlement – Grade D

Yellow Orchid Settlement – Grade C

Red Orchid Settlement – Grade D

Green Orchid Settlement – Grade E

Warning: Once you choose one of these places, you will become the permanent resident of that place]

"So, is this to determine the 'resident' in my stats?" Adrian asked Future.

[Yes] Future gave a simple reply.

"All this name is the villages, towns, and city around here," Adrian spoke. The Orchid Settlement on the list was Orchid City where Adrian was studying at the moment. As for the Blue, Yellow, Red, and Green Orchid Settlement, they were the villages and towns nearby.

Green Orchid was a village where Adrian's parents were living. Adrian's hometown. His family's farm was located in Green Orchid too.

[The game uses the real-life location and name but you don't need to worry. They are not similar to real-life at all. The game only borrows the name and location of the places to give familiarity to players] Future replied.

"Guys, are you going to ask me where to start?" Adrian asked.

"Are you done? Let's start at the same place. We can form a group together," Keith spoke.

"So, where should we choose? I think Orchid Settlement looks good. Since it is Grade B, there will be a lot of advantages starting there," Ceylon gave his opinion.

"Hmm… it is indeed the best out of all in this list," Adrian nodded.

[Adrian, here is a tip for you but either you want to follow it or not depends on you] Future spoke.

'Another tip. The perk of having Grade C Authority Level' thought Adrian. "What is it?" Adrian asked.

[As you are aware, Progress is a mandatory curriculum for students in middle school and high school. How they play this game will affect their final evaluation at the end of the year. As for college students like you, it is not yet mandatory but it will depend on your College]

[This is insider info but no matter if you are a college student or working people, mandatory or not, your progress in Progress can help you in society. If you want to have a good result playing Progress, I suggest you choose the lowest grade settlement in the list] Future gave his tip.

"…" Adrian was silent for a few seconds. 'Progress… settlement… hmm~,' Adrian was thinking and he smiled. 'So, this is the reason Future advised me to choose the lowest grade settlement.'

"Adrian~ Let's choose Orchid Settlement. We can get a good start there," Keith spoke.

"I agree," Ceylon agreed.

"No, let's go with Green Orchid Settlement," Adrian suggested surprising Keith and Ceylon. "I know you guys disagree with me but I have a feeling choosing the lowest grade is the best," Adrian spoke.

"How is that the best? I don't know what the game will be but choosing the highest grade place will be the best for new players like us," Keith disagreed. "We can buy better equipment there too."

"…" Ceylon was silent as he was thinking of something. He glanced at Adrian and saw he was confident in choosing the lowest grade settlement.

After thinking for a bit, Ceylon made his decision, "Let's go with Adrian's suggestion." Keith was shocked.

"What? You too? Are you sure this will be good?" Keith could not agree with them.

"If you want to choose Orchid Settlement, go on. I am not stopping you but I am going to Green Orchid Settlement," Ceylon spoke while nodding at Adrian.

"Are you guys serious?" Keith spoke again but there was no answer from the duo because they had closed their eyes after they made that decision. Adrian and Ceylon made their decision and dived into the game.

"…" Keith was speechless. He was reluctant but, "I choose Green Orchid Settlement," Keith ended up following his friends.

Adrian floating in a vast white space after he chose the Green Orchid Settlement. "What happens?" Adrian was confused. He thought that he would appear at Green Orchid Settlement.

[Welcome, Player Adrian. Please choose your starting equipment] Future spoke and immediately after that, there were many clothes, pants and shoes appeared floating in the white space.

"Do I only get to choose one?" Adrian asked.

[Yes. One clothes, one pair of pants and one pair of shoes. Just choose whichever you like. No need to think too much because all of them are the same except their color] Future replied.

Adrian checked a blue t-shirt and the data of the shirt appeared in front of him.

Name: Cotton T-Shirt [Blue]

Tier: Normal

Grade: F

Effect: Endurance +1 [Base: 1]

Adrian checked the pants and all of them were the same. The clothes and pants all have the effect of increasing his Endurance by 1 point. The shoes increased his Dexterity by 1 point. All of them were Normal Tier and Grade F.

Adrian did not think too much because Future was right. All of them were the same except for their color. So, Adrian decided to choose White Cotton T-Shirt, White Cotton Pants, and White Shoes. He decided to go all white.

Immediately after that, his previous clothes disappeared and he wore the three beginner equipment.

[Please choose your beginning weapon. You can only choose one. Since you choose Farming Tools as your special stats, your weapon will be related to this] Future spoke, and immediately, many basic farming tools appeared around Adrian.

There were a hoe, fork, rake, shears, pruners, shovel, sickle, and a few more farming or gardening tools. All of them were Grade F with Strength +1.

"What do you think I should choose?" Adrian asked for a hint. If he was to follow his instinct, Adrian would choose a hoe or shovel. They were useful in farming.

[Sickle] Future replied bluntly.

"Will sickle be useful?" Adrian asked again.

[Extremely useful. Just trust me. I cannot tell you what will happen but I can only give you this advice] Future spoke.

"Then, I choose sickle," Adrian made his choice without any hesitation. 'Sickle is useful too. It can be used as a real weapon and also useful in farming. Hoe and shovel can become a weapon too but it is harder to attack with them. They are heavy unlike sickle,' thought Adrian.

Name: Farming Sickle

Tier: Normal

Grade: F

Effect: Strength +1 [Base: 1]

After Adrian had chosen his equipment, they were listed in his game menu but he could not check them at the moment. Future said that he could check it once he started playing the game.

[Do you want to go now?] Future asked.

"Yes," Adrian replied, and immediately after that, the white space converged, and slowly and steadily, Adrian's surroundings started to change. While Adrian was floating on the white space, his feet suddenly felt it was standing on a surface.

The white space disappeared and Adrian appeared in a middle of a forest. He looked around to see that everything was trees and bushes. The trees were not that tall and thick. Adrian could see the blue sky above his head. Not only that but Adrian could feel the smooth breeze of air hitting his body.

"This is not Green Orchid Settlement," Adrian mumbled and he understood why Future asked him to choose sickle. He would begin in the wild and his target might be to find the Green Orchid Settlement.

While Adrian was looking around, a few notifications arrived. Adrian opened his game menu and there were eight options on the menu. They were Status, Skill, Equipment, Storage, Map, Mission, Chat, and Notification.

On the Notification option, there was a small red circle with the number 3 at the left top side of the option. Adrian had three unread notifications. He chose the Notification option and he read the first notification.

[Mission: Green Orchid Settlement

Description: Go to the Green Orchid Settlement. The location of the settlement is marked on the map. You can view the map from your game menu.

Grade: F

Requirement: Level 1 to 10

Rewards: 20 Bronze Coins and 5 Experience Points]

"A mission. So, I just need to go to the settlement using the map. That will be easy and the rewards are not that much too. Nothing to worry about," Adrian spoke. He closed the mission notification and the mission was registered at the Mission option. Adrian clicked on the second notification.

[Congratulations. You have been working hard studying plants and animals for many years. The accumulation of knowledge about them gives you a free skill, Encyclopedia of Plants and Animals. You can check the details of the skill in your Skill option]

Adrian was surprised. He never thought that he would get a free skill from the moment he started playing the game. The name of the skill looked impressive too.

"I don't think I studied much about plants and animals? As for plants, I only learn about vegetables and fruits and as for animals, only the livestock animals," Adrian was a bit confused too.

[That is enough to gain this skill. This skill is not that amazing either. It is only an encyclopedia] Future spoke.

"Still, a skill is a skill," Adrian was happy. He moved on to the last notification.

[First-time login reward. Farming Sickle Emblem Rank 0] once Adrian clicked on the notification, a massive shining emblem appeared behind Adrian.

The emblem had the shape of the common farming sickle. When the emblem activated, Adrian could feel his stats increased a little bit.