3. The start of the first stage

"Welcome to the virtual reality beta test for your planet of what is about to come in 6 months in your world!

As you have already figured out you have a bracelet on your wrist called Link. Link will be what will help you survive and adapt, you only have to will it and you will see the applications in it. Each level has different applications unlocked and while some are free as soon as you level up, others have conditions to unlock. You can go to quests for that.

The more important application is the status, where you can see all your own details. And the second most important is the library where you can find endless information, in which every level up in Link you acquire a broader access to the library.

What you see in front of you is the light tower and your connection to the Universe. There, you will be able to enter the dungeons and the games you need to level up and acquire coins as well as the store to sell and buy.

In a kilometre radius from the light tower is prohibited to fight, if you want to you have to do a contract to start a duel and around the combatants will appear a space of not interference. The black buildings will be your residence in the few months to come, the blue buildings are workshops to acquire and progress with your professions and finally the green building is the hospital where you can get as good as new as long as you are not dead.

As a privilege to being your planet Pioneers, as soon as I finish your Link will level up to 1, as the one you have now is level 0. Best wishes for all of you and you can start now your adventure in the Universe with your Link's help!"

As soon as the voice ended the Link of all the Pioneers levelled up to 1 and new applications appeared. Then they started grouping as some were going to the residences, some to the workshops and some who had some health problem to the hospital to try luck and the rest or they starting to browse the Link or went to the Light tower.

Mike and Zack went to the residential apartments.

Zack: 'Why are we going to the apartments if it was early morning before arriving here?'

Mike: 'Do you want to end in the 20th floor to sleep this night or do you want to sleep with someone else?'

Zack: 'Of course not! I'm not separating from you and the 20th floor is too damn high.'

Mike: 'So we are acquiring a big double room in the 5th floor.'

Zack: 'Why the 5th floor?'

Mike: 'Because from floor 1 to 2 are small single apartments, in floor 3 to 4 there are small double apartments. From floor 5 to 10 there is half big single apartments and half big double apartments. From floor 11 to 15 are small single apartments and finally from floor 16 to 20 are rooms of 4 to 6 people for apartment.

I guess getting a big double apartment in the lowest floor available would be the best course of action for us.'

Zack: 'I guess so. Thanks to you having been here and know the basics we can have a head start!'

Mike: 'So now you know how lucky you are to have me with you?'

Zack: 'I always knew you were the best thing that happened in my both lives!' He said in a cheeky tone.

Mike: 'So how about having the one in the end of the corridor? We will be near the stairs and we will have less neighbours.'

Zack: 'Fine by me. Let's go then.'

So Zack and Mike got the furthest east apartment in the fifth floor. The double apartment had:

- A bedroom with a double bed, 2 wardrobes for the clothes, a big table with two chairs and a bedside table at the two ends of the bed.

- A complete bathroom with both bath and shower.

- A living room with a TV, a sofa and a dining table as well as a big room and a storeroom at the side.

- A kitchen with a place for cutting and deboning the beasts as well as a big storeroom for dead beasts to the right and for plants to the left.

Zack: 'You didn't tell me it was a big apartment instead of only a bedroom!'

Mike: 'Well last time I had a small room, and it didn't have all this. It was only a small bedroom, a half of the bathroom we have without the bath and a small storeroom. I wasn't quick enough to have a big room and I didn't want to share as you see you share the storeroom. If you don't have a good relationship with who you share can cause a lot of problems. I was in the 15th floor getting one of the lasts single rooms and could hear discussions from the floor upstairs every day. Thankfully, the rooms are sound-proofed if not I would have a hard time sleeping.'

Zack: 'So I guess that even though you were late, you were lucky in the end!'

Mike: 'I guess so. So we should start by the gathering quests to buy a weapon and acquire space stones to have a storage inside Link.'

Zack: 'Let's go! By the way, do you have some friend you want to meet here?'

Mike: 'If we are talking about friends I guess I have one called Tomas, but if I remember correctly he went to the wildness just ending the introduction and he had a big discussion about the spoils they acquired at the end at lunchtime. Let's meet him after his discussion, he needs to know to be more careful and not believe in everyone in the first meeting so easily.' As I started to laugh about it.

Zack: 'I guess if he is this trusting he will need a lesson first before we meet him.' While I started to laugh too as we walked to the wildness.

When we left the light dome of protection and entered the wildness I got shocked at the richness of resources I saw! As I saw that I couldn't help asking 'So last life you were rich?'

Mike: 'I guess so, but that maybe the reason I slacked a lot during the first years and got left behind.' As I smiled wirily.

Zack: 'So where are the space stones?'

Mike: 'Ha ha ha, I guess that since a lot of people aren't in the wildness yet and the ones there are focusing in herb gathering, they will be quite near. Let's start searching.'

So in less of 10 minutes we got 15 space gems and 20 different plants before we decided to return to the Light tower to acquire the space storage and a weapon with the gathering quests.

As soon as we arrived at the light tower we caught quite the attention as we were some of the few we got to the Light tower with so many plants.

But since we ignored them all we finished all we had to do before some bold people started to annoying us. As soon as we put the hand we had Link attached on the light tower a screen appeared:

LIGHT TOWER

-Dungeon (level)

-Game (territory) --- Regional/Continental/Planet/Galaxy/Universe

-Store (buy/sell)

-Quests (to complete) --- Link/Gathering/Profession/Private/ Create (the reward for the quest you create it)

We acquired the maximum storage possible with what we had from the quests that was the 5 lv.1 gems to get 5m3 of space. Afterward we completed the 20 gathering quests of the herbs we gathered and we got 20 universal coins from it, as in the virtual reality only exist the universal coins and the local coins we will have to wait until we return to Earth.

QUESTS GATHERING ___ (1 quest = 1 universal coin)

-Plants___20/100

-Fruits___00/100

-Vegetables___00/100

-Mushrooms___00/100

-Algae___00/100

-Coral___00/100

-Minerals___00/100

-Metals___00/100

-Elemental gems___00/100

-Pearls___00/100

-Animal parts___00/100

With the 20 coins we had the minimum for the simpler starting weapon. Zack got a short sword which putted in the waist and I had a machete I put in my back.

STORE___BUY

-One handed sword___20coins

-One short-handed sword____20coins

-Two handed sword___20coins

-Machete___20coins

-Hammer___20coins

-Spear___20coins

-Dagger___15coins

-Bow___15coins

-...

-Add weapon enchantment___30coins

-...

But as we wanted to leave we got surrounded with various people while saying: "How you acquired a weapon? Were went all the plants you were carrying? Is there a starting pack somewhere? Where did you choose the weapon from?" Thankfully I put the extra 5 space gems in the storage or it would be forced with more and more questions. I wasn't good with big crowds, thankfully Zack got to my rescue.

Zack: 'Didn't you see we completed the gathering quests to get coins to be able to buy a simple beginner weapon from the store?'

Passerby A: 'And how would we know?'

Passerby B: 'Yeah, yeah, how would be able to figure out?'

Zack: 'Didn't the voice said to get to know more to look at Link. Aren't quests in games a quick way to level up in the beginning? And the weapon we bought it in the store in the Light tower. How long have you been in front of it and you didn't take a look in the store and its prices?' As soon as I finished I caught Mike's hand left from there as soon as possible.

'Are you okay?'

Mike: 'Thanks, much better. I don't like large crowds.' As I got relived and got myself together.

Zack: 'So now where?'

Mike: 'I guess to the wildness to finish all the gathering quests we can and then start killing some beasts to have something to eat for lunch.'

Zack: 'I guess so. Let's go! I'm starting to get excited to swing a sword again! I missed it a lot during this time…'

Mike: 'I'm well aware how a battle junky you are, hahaha. Let's start then.'

So they went to the wildness and started their crazy gathering adventure, where they were able to acquire half of the plants, mushrooms, vegetables and fruits quests, as well as a quarter of mineral and metal quests as well as elemental gems.

When it came to plants, mushrooms, vegetables and fruits Mike only got one of each of them for the gathering quests and the rest went to Zack's storage. While when it came to minerals and metals as well as elemental gems Zack only got a single copy of each and the rest went to Mike's storage as they decided that Zack will go for alchemist and Mike for blacksmith as they did in their previous life so it would be easier.

When it came to beasts they didn't found much of them but enough for today lunch and dinner. In the downside, they didn't found a river or a lake to get pearls and fishes as well as algae and coral, but Mike promised to take him to a good river near a lake in the afternoon after buying a boat, a spear and a water sack to store large quantities of water afterward. They also need a dagger and a mining pick as basic weapons and Mike wanted a few kunai to use as a secondary weapon as well as second short sword for Zack to dual wield.

As it was starting to get to midday they decided to end their adventure in order to start getting some lunch, but first they decided to complete the gathering quests and buying the weapons they needed, a boat and a water-sack.

This time as they were empty handed they didn't attract anyone's attention. But as they saw the crowd of people they decided agans it. Lunch was first!

So, they went to the workshops to get to the butcher and kitchen as well as acquiring all the professions possible, but not without taking their main weapons to the waist as there were a lot more groups that went to the wildness in the morning in there.

#######

ZACK

Main weapon: double short swords.

Storage: plants, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms.

MIKE

Main weapon: machete.

Storage: minerals, metals, elemental gems.