Forgetting something?

The glowing path continued on, now with open plains on both sides; Knockback Woods ended about five minutes away from the goblin encounter and ten minutes out from the town gates. They were a pair of large wooden doors, round at the top and reinforced around the edges with a crude metal. Each door held a burning torch in its middle. The walls surrounding Tyro Town were made from the same wood and were just as tall, maybe ten meters. The tops of buildings poked above the walls. 

Stationed in front of the gates were two guards, each clad in medieval armor and wielding spears with hooked, curving blades at the end. They were both leaning against the gates in casual conversation. The torchlight revealed that their armor was rusty.

Gina waved her hand as she approached. 

“Good evening Ford, Sheila.” 

The two guards, a man and a woman, waved back. 

“Evening, Gina,” the woman, Sheila most likely, said. “Finally got one, eh?”

Gina grinned. “Right in the middle of the Knockback Woods.” The corners of her mouth raised higher. “You wouldn’t believe what happened when this guy encountered his first goblins.”

I nudged her. “Alright, no need to get in specifics,” I said.

Ford knocked his lance thing against the gate three time. The gates groaned as they swung outward, slow as slugs. Ford and Sheila stepped aside, allowing the two of us to pass in. Gina tipped her head in appreciation. 

As we stepped through, I looked at Gina. “Finally got one?”

“I’m a tutorial NPC,” she said. She kept her eyes forward. “It’s my job to help out new Players in this strange, unfamiliar world and I hadn’t encountered one in a while. Now hurry up, we need to get to the Green Horn before it closes.”

All the buildings inside were also wooden, but unlike the untreated walls and gates, these wooden houses had coats of paint on them. Some were white, some yellow, some blue. Aside from the light colors, they all looked pretty much the same: vaguely medieval European, two-story buildings. They were arranged in an approximate grid to form broad, dirt streets. Gina and I weren’t the only ones walking around but since the sun went down a while ago, most people were indoors.

“Those guards out front didn’t seem all that battle-ready,” I said.

“Ford and Sheila? They don’t have to be,” Gina said. “Tyro Town is an extremely low-level town meant for beginners. There are zero threats nearby. Like I said, most new Players spawn here, so they can get acquainted with the culture, the power system, all that stuff. You had some rotten luck spawning out in the woods.”

I sighed. “Yeah, rotten luck seems to describe it.” 

Before I could cry myself a river, Gina hit my arm and pointed ahead. One of the buildings was wider and more ornate than the rest. The windows oozed warm, orange light and even from this distance I could hear laughter and conversation. The street sign that invited all guests in confirmed my suspicions: this was the Green Horn.

“For a beginner area, they actually have a very nice inn here.” She looked at me. “You know what an inn is, right?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

She held up her hands defensively. “I just want to make sure. But like I said, a very nice inn. Great tavern, too.”
At the front desk, Gina plopped down some gold coins to reserve us a room. We got the basic suite, a room with two beds.

“Thanks for covering for me,” I said after I crashed face-first into my bed and pillow. It wasn’t a high-end Earth mattress but it was still surprisingly soft. 

Gina was already lying in bed, wrapped in the covers but still awake. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t scammed out of all your money.”

“Why an inn? Don’t you have your own place to sleep?” I asked.

She arched an eyebrow at me. “Asking for an invitation to a lady’s bedroom? You haven’t even bought me dinner yet.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” I sputtered, sitting up.
She laughed with that same impish grin, and I crashed back into my bed with a huff. I pulled the covers up to my ears to hide my burning cheeks.

“I’m just teasing,” she said. “Yes, I do have my own place. And I was planning on sleeping there after renting you a room for one, but seeing how clueless you are here, I figured it was better safe than sorry.”

I rolled over, facing away from her and towards the wall. “Thank you,” I said. Somehow it felt like the most embarrassing thing in the world.

I heard her roll over so that she was facing away from me. 

“Don’t mention it.”

The next morning I was treated to a complimentary breakfast, courtesy of our room reservation. Sausage, eggs, and orange juice. Not the most flavorful but it was still packed with nutrients and, most importantly, free.

“Alright,” Gina said, setting aside the empty plate in front of her. “Time to get you familiar with all the stuff a beginner should know.”

So began my tour of Tyro Town. With every step, Gina pointed to a new building and explained the importance and purpose of each. The inn, the blacksmith’s forge, the library, the apothecary, the marketplace, and so many others. All of the names and locations were swirling around in my head, trying to find a place to roost. What I noticed (aside from me getting confused and tired) was just how small Tyro Town really was. I could walk from one end of town to the other in about ten minutes. No wonder Gina knew the guards on a first-name basis.

We stopped in front of the largest building I had seen yet in Tyro Town. Large, imposing, and made of sculpted stone. Half the town was passing in and out of its front doors. This building could have passed for a church or some other religious building on Earth. It radiated elegance, intrigue. It was also stationed right in the middle of the town, near the public fountain, so that’s how you knew it was important.

Gina gestured with her arm wide-spread. “This is the guild hall. This is where all the quests get posted, where people get their class assigned, and a lots of important points necessary to survive in this world. These steps are crucial for your journey throughout the game, so listen carefully, because I’m going to outline how this all works.”

Despite the high foot traffic, the inside was still packed. The guild hall offered long, sprawling tables for people to sit and discuss things like quest planning, which many were doing. We sat down as Gina explained why she brought me here.

“Yesterday you likened classes to jobs. I see where you’re coming from, but it’s not quite the same. Many different classes exist within Questia, and—”

“I’m sorry, Questia?”

“Yes, it’s the name of this world.”

“That’s so… ugh. Whatever.” What a stupid name.

“As I was saying, you may understand them as jobs, but they’re more than that. They have strong cultural backgrounds and provide you with the potential paths you can have in life. They sculpt out who you are in the eyes of the broader public and even shape your very definition of self.”

“Right,” I said. “Like a job.”

She sighed. “Whatever, it’s something only we NPCs understand. But you can’t just walk around without a class. Because that means walking around without a skill tree.”

My eye twitched. “What do trees have anything to do with this?” I asked.

“Skill trees are metaphysical, not physical. So they affect you and your growth but don’t exist in the physical world. A skill tree is what allows you to grow and develop new abilities, and by choosing the right skill tree, you can make certain feats much easier and much more effective, like breathing fire for example.”

With each word, my eyes glazed over more and more. There were so many words. Too many words. Who made words? I want to punch them in the face.

Gina was too busy explaining things to notice my suffering.

“The basic class is Adventurer. Most Players choose that one as it’s the most versatile. Adventurers get a good mix of physical stats like strength and magical stats like intelligence. It’s a general jack-of-all-trades type. On the other end of the spectrum you have sorcerers, which are the most powerful, but are incredibly complicated, so I only recommend those for ones willing to spend a lot of time studying.”

My head kept spinning…

“Then there’s thieves like me. Thieves excel in stealth and reconnaissance.” 

…and spinning…

“Monks and paladins may seem the same upon first glance, but there are a number of complex and nuanced differences between them.”

…and spinning…

“And once you understand classes, there’s also aspects. For example, my aspect is light, which makes me—”

Until I couldn’t take it anymore. 

I clutched my head, yelling, and banged it into the table. There was so much conversation in the guild hall that nobody noticed except Gina.

“Daisuke? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just too much. There’s so much stuff. Thieves and monks and wizards…”

“Uh.” She scratched her cheek. “I haven’t gotten to wizards yet.”

I sat up and glared at her.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Gina, I really appreciate everything you’re trying to do for me here, but I’m not built for this. You saw how I handled that fight with the goblins. I didn’t even know what they were! I was sent here by mistake. I was sent to the afterlife as a mistake. I just want to go back.”

I turned my head to avoid her pitying gaze. I didn’t want her to see me tear up. I couldn’t take it. 

I let out a bitter chuckle. “If my brother were here instead, he would’ve had a blast.”

I sat there as the words echoed in my head.

My brother.

My brother.

I stood up, horrified, and screamed at the top of my lungs, “OH FUCK I FORGOT ABOUT MY BROTHER.”

This time I turned a few heads.