After an excessively long loading screen, she was finally instantiated into the world of Coro?en. She materialized in a forest grove: the air was fresh, sunlight dappled through the dense canopy, and she could smell the rich, moist earth beneath her booted feet.
She took a deep, completely unnecessary breath. It was lovely in its realistic simplicity. She truly could make a life here. Too bad this beautiful, simulated reality would be dead in two months, forcing her onto the next digital refuge.
She pulled up her interface. Health, Mana, all full, there was no stamina stat which seemed like an oversight to her. She had a zero in Divine, which tracked since she wasn't a Cleric. She was, predictably, Level 1. A massive list of other skills could be unlocked and leveled, all starting at Level 1, and her core stats were all hovering in the low two digits. Yep, in a game, she confirmed again, though she already knew that much.
She swiped to her equipment screen to admire her avatar.
She looked more like a tabaxi then a neko but not the tall thin lepard like kind she was cute. Big, expressive eyes; a small, button nose; chubby cheeks and large, fluffy, pointed kitty ears sprouting prominently from the top of her head and she was also undeniably short. Four-foot-eight short.
“The AI said there were scaling issues with the Dwarves, but they made Cat Beastkin this small?” she muttered to the silent air. “How minuscule were those deleted Dwarves?”
There was no answer, only the sound of leaves rustling.
Her default outfit was a practical ensemble of brown and beige: a simple leather skirt, a utilitarian apron, a cotton top, and matching leather boots and gloves.
“Why does it all have to be leather?” she grumbled, twitching her tail in annoyance. “I’m just going to assume it didn’t come from an actual digital animal since it’s starting gear.”
Then she noticed a button labeled Summon Weapon. She pressed it, and instantly, a giant, comically impractical hammer appeared in her hands. It would have been far too heavy for her four-foot-eight frame to lift in the real world, but here, it felt perfectly balanced.
She checked the hammer’s description:
Big Hammer
It’s a hammer. It’s useful for doing things. Like woodwork, or metalwork, or hitting things with. Crafters like hammers.
Lv 1
Enhancement Rating: 0%
Noobkitty shook her head with a weary smile. “The AI truly lives for the minimalist item descriptions.”
She considered the game’s mechanics. All her gear was Beginner level. While she could wear it past Level 1, the higher her level climbed, the less effective the equipment became. The game discouraged crafting and encouraged players to find randomized new equipment often, which is likely why the enhancement system, despite being listed on every piece, was rarely utilized.
She swiped to the Quest page.
First Quest: Pest Control
The forest has rats. Kill one so you understand how combat works.
Reward: Enough XP to reach Level 2.
(If you are already Level 2 or higher, why are you doing this quest so late? You receive 20 XP instead.)
A blinking quest marker appeared on her minimap, indicating several rat locations. She shrugged and strolled toward the nearest one. Sure enough, there was a rat, living its best rat life, nibbling on what looked like a glossy acorn. Cool, there are acorns, she thought, already mentally formulating recipes: acorn flour, nutty pastries, maybe even some gourmet cookies.
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The rat spotted her towering presence and the gigantic hammer she held. It instantly panicked, unsure whether to flee or fight, and cowered against the base of a tree, looking at the absurd weapon with abject dread.
Noobkitty looked at her hammer. She looked at the cowering rat.
And made a swift decision.
“NOPE,” she declared loudly, startling the rat further.
She dismissed her weapon and walked away.
“AI, you have completely lost your mind if you think I’m going to purposefully harm someone showing such obvious fear and distress,” she lectured the sky. “Maybe in self-defense, but even then, I’d rather avoid it.”
The world remained silent as she walked off, playing with her quest settings. She hid the rat-killing quest, she had a use for it later, but dismissing it allowed new, non-lethal quests to pop up. Skill Quests. She grinned.
“Now, this I can work with.”
Quest: Nature’s Bounty
There are lots of useful things in the forest. Collect three useful things to advance the Gathering skill.
Reward: You learn to gather things.
She turned around and headed straight back to where the rat had been. It had wisely scurried away. She picked up three acorns.
Quest Complete:
Gathering Lv. 2
Her map interface now glowed with new indicators showing low-level gathering items scattered throughout the forest. She pulled the rat-killing quest back up, and now her map showed her the location of every rat. Her plan was set: gather things, and avoid all rats. A simple, effective plan for the ages.
She spent the next few hours in a gathering frenzy, filling her pack with valuable components: Herbs (dandelions, nettles, elderberry, wild onion), Spices (mint, sage, pepper), Berries (blackberry, wild strawberry, raspberries), and Nuts (pecans, walnuts, and, of course, more acorns).
She leveled her Gathering skill relentlessly until it was so high that no new low-level items populated when the skill increased. She checked her inventory and was thankful the game didn’t implement an encumbrance mechanic; in the real world, the sheer volume of her gathered loot would have buried her.
Spoiled by her success, she started following the well worn path toward the nearest town. She saw the rustic, sprawling settlement in the distance and smiled. She could sell some raw materials and unlock the Cooking skill by creating a batch of acorn-raspberry cookies with a hint of mint.
As she neared the gate, she heard a triumphant, mildly angry yell:
“Git rekt, noob!”
The next instant, she felt an arrow pierce her chest. Her health bar flashed to zero, and her vision went black.
The moment after that, she was back in the forest where she had started with a notification staring her down:
You died. 0 of 0 XP lost. Level dropped due to low XP. Level dropped from Lv. 1 to Lv. 1. Some items and gold were dropped where you died.
Please set your respawn location. Respawn locations are set inside of towns and cities.
“I tried to get to a city! I got stopped!” she screamed at the world's indifference. Nothing new happened.
She checked her stats. Still Level 1. No loss there. Her skills were still intact: Gathering Lv. 12.
She checked her inventory. Half of each of her meticulously gathered items were missing.
“You bastard!” she cursed, stamping her leather boot on the ground. She pulled up her map, determined to find another path to town and avoid that specific PvP player, mentally planning to re-gather the lost items on her way.
A few hours later, now at Gathering Lv. 14 and with her pack suitably refilled, she headed for the town's east entrance. She followed the winding path, the town walls in sight, her hope surging and then she felt a sharp stab in her back. Her health bar drained instantly.
She heard the words this time, spoken in a different, deeper voice.
“Get good, Noob.”
Her vision dissolved and she was back in the forest.
You died. 0 of 0 XP lost. Level dropped due to low XP. Level dropped from Lv. 1 to Lv. 1. Some items and gold were dropped where you died.
Please set your respawn location. Respawn locations are set inside of towns and cities.
“Fuck,” she swore, rubbing her furry temples. “Okay, fine. Avoid the paths entirely. Paths get you killed. Maybe if I enter the town between the guard posts…”
She picked a spot on her map and formed a careful, stealth-based plan.
A few more hours passed. Now at Gathering Lv. 15, and her pack appropriately restocked, she made her way to the low, wooden fence that surrounded the town. She scanned the perimeter, no people in sight. She climbed and crossed the fence.
Two things happened simultaneously:
First, a welcome notification popped up:
Welcome to the town of Starter
And then, she heard a gruff voice yell: “No entry without passing the guard point!”
She looked up and saw a heavily armored guard barreling toward her.
Quickly, she yelled, “I activate respawn point!”
The guard’s massive fist smacked her. Her last sliver of health vanished, and her screen went black, again.
When her eyes opened, she was standing in front of a stone fountain, a bustling town center surrounding her. She sighed dramatically and collapsed onto the smooth cobblestone. She looked up at the virtual sky and started to laugh, a low, slightly hysterical chuckle. The full, brutal realization of the situation dawned on her as she noticed the familiar text in her log again:
You died. 0 of 0 XP lost. Level dropped due to low XP. Level dropped from Lv. 1 to Lv. 1. Some items and gold were dropped where you died.
She groaned, sitting up.
“Damn it! My berries!”
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Message from GobMouse:
Hey Noobkitty,
Viewers absolutely love that you keep dying! Maybe do it a few more times before the novelty wears off. ??
