Chapter 3

Typos and omissions are being corrected continuously...

VRMMO

A simulated world that the brain can recognize.

Reproduction of visual, auditory, tactile, taste, and olfactory senses... Anyway, when superficial sensations, deep sensations, cortical sensations, and others appeared, I quietly closed the VR manual.

I couldn't wait for the start of the game I had purchased, so I started flipping through the thick manual that I usually wouldn't read, having already skimmed the simplified manual to pass the time. However, the unfamiliar words lined up, and my eyes still tended to skip over them.

When it comes to VR, it used to be that a simulated visual world was constructed in an existing space, and people would wear a dedicated visor to view that space and move their bodies in it. But now, a complete digital world has been built, and the mainstream is one where the body does not move in the real world. I've been looking forward to this VR game because it's the first one being released by the company that produces my favorite game series.

The visor I purchased for this game allows character creation, but the game itself will start only after the online service begins. The service starts at 8 PM on Friday, three days from now.

As someone who works, I appreciate the start time.

My workplace has a two-day weekend, but the regular day off is Monday.

Thinking that my friends would be logged in all day on Saturday and Sunday, I designated my other random day off as Sunday and took a paid day off on Tuesday. I told myself that the first day of the game might be ruined by emergency maintenance due to bugs, but I didn't have the courage to take both days off because I would be busy on the weekend.

So, the long-awaited game start day.

Wearing the visor, I log into the virtual space. Because the system is designed so that you can't log in if you're not feeling well, I've been living a regular life recently to avoid catching a cold. --I hope I don't get caught by my blood pressure from being too excited?

The characters are saved in the visor itself, and I have two other characters I like saved, but only one can be registered in the game. Incidentally, they are in their underwear.

After creating and deleting characters many times, I finally settled on a male human character.

The initial selectable races are Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Beastman, with the latter further divided into dog-type and cat-type. In the CM, a wolf beastman ran ahead while a tiger beastman chased after it, both throwing punches, so there are probably more races in the game.

The visor has several base models for character creation, but for those who find it difficult to create their ideal character, the visors can be connected to exchange character save data. However, it seems that the data can only be moved, not copied, and both visors cannot save the same data. If you want to play with twins, you'll have to create the same character again.

I chose a young adult base model and selected a slightly muscular build. This can be adjusted with sliders. I heard that some people have six-pack abs and others have eight-pack abs, and I remember that in middle school, I managed to get a three-pack, which was a good memory... but splitting them further vertically is quite difficult.

After three days of work, the character I created has silver hair with a bluish-purple tint, reaching down to his waist, and deep purple eyes. I set his height slightly below the maximum for the human race. It was challenging to adjust the hair color so that it didn't look like gray hair. Long hair might be a hassle in the real world, but in the virtual space, I can do it.

The name is 'Homura'.

Birthday: April 4th, the same as a certain character.

The character name is fine even if it overlaps with others because each player is assigned a unique ID, which is the visor ID.

When purchasing this visor, you need to show identification, and it is only sold to those over twenty years old, with biometric authentication required on the spot. If you want to transfer it to someone else, you need to reset it, so you can't sell the game character to someone else or say, "The person inside is different today!"

Normally, you can choose from various games compatible with the visor, but this visor is essentially dedicated to the game I want to play.

Due to the issue of children mistaking the abilities in the VR space for those in the real world and jumping off balconies, the age restrictions for VR spaces are strictly regulated based on the realism of the experience and visuals.

Therefore, while the purchase regulations are strict, the regulations within this game, which is only for adults, are relatively lenient. Since the target audience is adults who have completed puberty, men can play female characters, and women can play male characters. There are also humanoid enemies and warnings about character deaths in the story.

To prevent a complete disconnection from the real world, there are regulations against being logged in 24/7, 365 days a year, even for R20-rated games. However, if you work, you naturally clear these regulations, so you don't need to worry about them.

With all that said, there are three minutes left until the service starts.

I wait, staring at the gray login button on the semi-transparent window.

The color, transparency, and size of the window can be adjusted to your liking. The operation feels similar to using a smartphone or tablet. You can set it to be visible or invisible to other players.

I fidget while thinking about my planned job and skill setup. Since there was no public beta test, there is little information about the game, but the initial jobs and races have been announced.

Incidentally, because the game's OS and visual systems are completely different from those of PCs, taking screenshots and posting them on external bulletin boards is not possible. Instead, an in-game bulletin board is planned.

The gray login button is now colored.

It's the start of the service.

《Welcome! The service has started.》

An announcement is made in a bright but somewhat flat female voice.

《In this game, there are various opportunities where player names will be displayed, such as in quest rankings. Would you like your player name to be public?》

"I'd prefer it not to be."

《Do you have any data to convert?》

"No, I don't."

It seems you can connect visors to pre-register friends, but my friends don't live close enough to meet up with their visors.

《First, please choose your 【Job】. You can select one each from combat and production jobs.》

《【Jobs】 can be chosen from both combat and production job lists.》

《The list of available 【Jobs】 may expand based on your in-game actions, so try various options.》

I open the job list and choose 【Mage】 and 【Alchemist】.

Other combat jobs include Swordsman, Fist Fighter, Healer, and Thief. Production jobs include Alchemist, Blacksmith, Carpenter, and Tailor.

《Please set your chosen 【Jobs】 in the slots.》

《Jobs not set in the slots will not be reflected, even if you remember them.》

I set 【Mage】 and 【Alchemist】 in the two job slots. The left slot is the 'main job,' and the right slot is the 'sub-job,' also known as the main and sub-classes in the game. It seems that when leveling up, the stats that increase more easily are those that align with the main job.

《Your stats have been determined based on your chosen 【Jobs】. Please allocate 2 points to your preferred abilities.》

STR 10 (0)

VIT 9 (0)

INT 13 (0)

MID 12 (0)

DEX 9 (0)

AGI 10 (0)

LUK 10 (0)

↓

STR 10 (0)

VIT 9 (0)

INT 15 (+2)

MID 12 (0)

DEX 9 (0)

AGI 10 (0)

LUK 10 (0)

I allocated both points to INT.

Choosing a job updates the skill list to match. Since having the skills for your job is essential, the SP required to acquire skills that align with your job is lower.

The skills available for my job setup are as follows:

【Long Staff】SP1

【Short Staff】SP2

【Magic Enhancement】SP2

【Intelligence Enhancement】SP2

【Spirit Enhancement】SP3

【Fire Magic】SP3

【Earth Magic】SP3

【Metal Magic】SP2

【Water Magic】SP1

【Wood Magic】SP2

【Mixing】SP1

【Alchemy Mixing】SP2

【Weapon and Armor Appraisal】SP1

【Item and Medicine Appraisal】SP1

【Gathering】SP1

【Plant and Food Appraisal】SP1

【Mining】SP2

【Mineral and Metal Appraisal】SP2

【Fishing】SP1

【Animal and Monster Appraisal】SP1

【Skill Appraisal】SP2

The initial SP is 15.

I acquired 【Intelligence Enhancement】, 【Fire Magic】, 【Metal Magic】, 【Water Magic】, 【Mixing】, 【Alchemy Mixing】, 【Item and Medicine Appraisal】, 【Gathering】, 【Plant and Food Appraisal】, and 【Animal and Monster Appraisal】.

I later found out that the skills from 【Weapon and Armor Appraisal】 and below are available regardless of the job chosen, and the required SP differs based on the race, not the job.

For a Dwarf, it would look like this:

【Weapon and Armor Appraisal】SP1

【Item and Medicine Appraisal】SP1

【Gathering】SP2

【Plant and Food Appraisal】SP2

【Mining】SP1

【Mineral and Metal Appraisal】SP1

【Fishing】SP1

【Animal and Monster Appraisal】SP1

【Skill Appraisal】SP2

Mining is indeed a skill suited for Dwarves.

Elves and Beastmen, who are set to live in forests, have lower SP requirements for 【Gathering】 and 【Plant and Food Appraisal】. Each race has a total of 12 SP to allocate, and many skills have uniform SP requirements.

I considered focusing on combat skills but decided I also wanted to produce items. I might end up with a mediocre character, but in this virtual reality, I want to try various things. Additionally, the feature where appraised items are registered in the menu as an encyclopedia appealed to my collection spirit. I wanted to take 【Mineral and Metal Appraisal】 but held back. As long as I can see monsters and the items I produce or gather, I'm fine. I thought I could roughly estimate the value of weapons and armor based on their prices, so I excluded 【Weapon and Armor Appraisal】 and planned to take it later.

I chose 【Water Magic】 because it only costs 1 SP. I couldn't help but worry that it might be a useless spell, but I speculated that the difference in SP costs for the same magic type might be due to elemental compatibility based on birthdays and names. I thought the SP cost might vary based on compatibility. In my case, I have good compatibility with water and poor compatibility with fire... Is this a Western magic system or the Five Elements?

I took 【Metal Magic】 because I couldn't predict what kind of magic it would be. I thought I could generally guess what most spells would do, but this one was completely unknown.

After selecting my skills, a confirmation message appeared, and upon accepting it, the game finally began.

The name of the game is 'Another World.'

Well, what kind of world is it!?

□ □ □ □ □

Homura Lv.1

Jobs: Mage, Alchemist

HP: 84

MP: 116

STR: 10

VIT: 9

INT: 15

MID: 12

DEX: 9

AGI: 10

LUK: 10

Skills (0SP)

■Magic and Spells

【Fire Magic Lv.1】【Metal Magic Lv.1】【Water Magic Lv.1】

■Production

【Mixing Lv.1】【Alchemy Mixing Lv.1】

■Gathering

【Gathering】

■Appraisal and Concealment

【Item and Medicine Appraisal Lv.1】【Plant and Food Appraisal Lv.1】

【Animal and Monster Appraisal Lv.1】

■Enhancement

【Intelligence Enhancement Lv.1】