[The Hand We’re Dealt: Tutorial pt.1]

—THE WILD GULES - 𝘈𝘍𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘓𝘐𝘍𝘌—

"Wait, what happened to living out my dream?" She questioned aloud, eyeing the overgrown verdant plants lying lazily in the oppressive humidity. She then peered curiously at the new tutorial SOULS, a rust-colored fox the size of a large coffee mug whose fur just screamed to be touched. The cuteness factor nearly doubled when a fluffy ear twitched as it brought a tiny black paw near its mouth to lick.

[Your dream, your efforts.] Her lips twitched at the SOULS' automatic response. Satisfied after dropping wisdom, it returned its attention to marking down the new entries of the gathering gHosts. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨. Turning her head away from the small creature, she restarted her perusal of the other gHosts and their Guides. The growing group thus far was eclectic, to say the least. An eye on those below, she allowed her thoughts to wander back to her arrival, sighing again at the wonder of this world.

When she had earlier phased over to this area, the first thing she wanted to do was survey her new location. As her svelte leather boots touched the ground, the vibrant beauty wasn't what she noticed, but it was the suffocating feeling as if she was choking on water. The wet air, that had rushed into her nose and mouth as she gasped, burned and felt heavy in her lungs. A natural sauna room filled with the cleansing agent of eucalyptus. The only time she remembered experiencing such discomfort was when she was traipsing through Bandar Mahshahr back in 2015 to recover classified government intel. She softly clicked her tongue, boxing those bitter memories up in the back of her mind once again.

Only after blinking away the stinging tears formed from nearly choking did she take in the scenery. Adjusting to the heat glazing over her skin, her coppery eyes wandered. Her view was filled with towering trees of dark red wood. Though the base was surrounded by greenery that covered the roots, instead of regular leaves above, the wooden fingers were decorated with what looked like fireflies glowing brightly at their tips.

Climbing one of the trees by a little fox, she perched herself atop a low branch, feeling her imagination further expand as she relaxed against the pulsing thrum of the wood beneath her. 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 "𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮" 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.

Her gaze above, the deep red flecks in her eyes flared to life against the sun's strong glow poking through the bright "leaves". Shifting into a comfortable position, she decided to take advantage of the lull. She had Ace access the system to reopen her gHost interface, wanting to inspect it more closely.

With Ace peering along from over her head, his pudgy little hands pressed against her shoulders to keep his position steady on the branch as his legs dangled below. The window appeared once again.

Alias: King 👕 System: Ace

{Roman Belmont / September 9 (age, 23) / Born in Eze, France}

Learning Path: N/A

Merit Coins: 0

Skill Progress: No current skills

Ongoing Missions:

[_] Complete Tutorial

*𝘙𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥(𝘴): 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 "𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘩"

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴

Personal Goal(s): (Select to transcribe goal.)

Lifeline: 0 contacts

This time, she paid closer attention to the information listed below her personal data.

Curious, she pressed her finger to select a couple of sections for more details. Merit coins served as a form of currency in this world, which wasn't surprising. She figured that might be the case—well, that or the possibility of using them as skill points. When she pulled up the last subslot, Ace leaned forward until he was leaning his weight against her silky strands of hair. Hearing her mumble that he was heavy, a mischievous chuckle escaped as he leaned against her even more. He retorted by mocking her for having no friends.

Ignoring the breathing mini boulder pressing on her head, she read the new small window that hovered in front of the menu. "Lifeline. 'Only when others remember you can you prove your existence.'"

[Ah, kind of like, if a tree falls in the forest, but no one is there to witness it, does it make a sound?]

𝘏𝘮𝘮, 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵. "So basically, if no one knows you and you cease to exist, your disappearance probably wouldn't be noticed... Pretty deep for it just to be talking about a contact list." She exited the new screen, returning to the first window.

"Are you sure this isn't a game?" She reconfirmed the world's setting, thinking of what she had experienced so far. Although Ace agreed that there were several game elements at play, he stated that the creators classified the product as a "Virtual Reality Life Companion". Hence the task log, clothing accessories, etc.

"But are the merit coins and reward system really necessary if the goal is just self improvement? I imagine being able to physically see your skill progress would be enough encouragement." She tilted her head back with some difficulty due to the extra burden, meeting Ace's gaze when he slightly shifted back.

[I can tell you haven't played any of the app requests sent to you before. Everyone except you understands the toast analogy.]

"This is one of your weird ideological theories, isn't it?" she sighed, unenthused.

[Say what you will, but like the others, it's applicable.... It's simple. Just like toast, you've got to butter people up and keep them warm. *𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘬*]

"And then?"

[They'll work even harder just to reach the rewards and hear a couple words of praise. Until they're willing to do almost anything. At that point, they're yours for the taking.] A wicked glint lit his eyes playfully as he smirked with bad intentions.

"Please stop. A facial expression like that should never appear on a face so young." She cringed.