A Gift
2055…
The small towns and villages of the interior were surrounded by high walls of concrete and mud to protect all the invading creatures.
Thirty years after the disaster known as The New Big Bang, the world had to adapt to the new way of life.
As with all MMORPG games, the starting villages were where all players started before setting off on the real journey.
In today's world, it was no different, all children need to stay in the initial village until they are sixteen years old before leaving for the adventure. But they could go to the other cities through the transport portals, unfortunately, that was very expensive and only rich people could do that.
This rule only applied to the poor and underprivileged, the richest had helpers and could level up faster by staying as a leech.
However, they must deal damage to the creatures, otherwise, all experience will be given to the helper.
…
In one of the initial villages…
The place was surrounded by high walls of mud and stone, the houses were made of straw and mud, some vegetable plantations, and animal husbandry.
As a village far removed from the big cities, the place was low-rise and undeveloped area. Despite this, the place had television, cell phones, and other technological things that everyone uses.
It's the same thing as in MMORPG games.
The initial areas were always the simplest and had almost nothing.
The number of people who lived in the village was almost a hundred.
Most were old and children, few were adults, young people approaching sixteen.
All the houses were placed in a circular shape and in the middle, there was a small square where people gathered to talk.
Tong... tong...
The bell started to ring and many young people and children started from a small building in the northern part of the village.
The building wasn't big, but it had two floors and could fit a lot of people. A large sign was placed at the entrance with the words written on it: Training School.
All of them were school students.
In addition to learning the basics of living in society, students also learn to fight the creatures around the village.
Even though they didn't have the most advanced equipment of the current era, they still had simulation training rooms.
About thirty young people and children left school and went to their homes.
Following one of these young people, we can see that he was an ordinary-looking guy who didn't stand out in the crowd.
His clothes were made of cotton and cloth along with worn leather shoes.
Upon arriving at the simple house made of straw and clay, the young man showed a slight smile as he was finally arriving home.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back" He spoke in an excited tone.
For in a few days, the most important day of the coming age will come.
"Son, welcome. How was the class today?" A young-looking woman appeared and hugged the young man. She looked to be about thirty-three.
Her clothes were simple like the young man's, but more worn from use.
A warm and loving look could be seen on her face.
"Was very good. We are getting ready for the Coming of Age Challenge" The young man responded excitedly.
But his words left the woman a little discouraged, she could only sigh because that day would come.
Everyone needs to go through this challenge, no matter if it was a boy or a girl.
"Son, go take a shower. Your dad has a surprise for you when he gets back from work." She plastered a beautiful smile on her face before speaking.
As the situation could not be avoided, she could only accept it and wait for the results.
"Okay" The young man went to the back of the house to do what was asked.
…
During the night…
The little family was eating dinner at the table, but there were two more people, a man, and a baby.
The man looked almost middle-aged and had a few gray hairs, but his strong, tanned body showed that he might be younger. Being a field worker was tiring and required a lot of energy to withstand the hot sun and carry a lot of weight.
The baby looked to be two or three years old, he was cute and he made some funny sounds when he tried to eat.
The four finished their meal while talking about random things.
The woman took the baby to sleep and only the young man and the man remained.
"Liu Yang, your day is almost here. You need to be prepared for the test. Are your simulation classes okay?" The man asked worriedly, he knew how difficult the test was because he had already been through it.
"Yea. It's going well, but the village elders say real life is more dangerous than the simulation." Liu Yang knew that the simulation only served to show what the creatures were like.
So the difficulty was greatly reduced.
"That's true. Liu Yang, the simulation helps to understand only the basics. More than that, you will only learn by experiencing it in real life. Here. Liu Yang, take this"
A sword sheathed within a worn, ancient leather scabbard was shown to him.
"A short sword?" Liu Yang recognized the weapon.
The short sword was shorter than an ordinary sword but bigger than a dagger.
"Yea. This is the sword I used when I did my Coming of Age Challenge. My father forged it for me. Now, I'm passing it on to you." His tone was nostalgic and homesick as he talked about the sword.
"Dad, why is it rusty?"