Chapter 3: The First Page of a New World

“Soohyuk.”

Soohyuk responded immediately, as if he’d been waiting for the prompt.

[Would you like to set the character name as ‘Soohyuk’?]

“Yes.”

[The character name has been set as ‘Soohyuk’.]

[Now setting character appearance.]

[Scanning.]

As soon as the name was set, the process moved to appearance customization. A message indicated scanning, and shortly after, a replica of Soohyuk appeared before him.

Looking at his character, Soohyuk thought, Should I just go with this?

The appearance settings allowed changes to height, face, skin, and hair.

Just make it taller.

Increasing height was simple—just adjust the slider. Skin was merely a matter of choosing a color, which wasn’t difficult, and he didn’t want to change it anyway.

The face and hair, however, were the problem. The settings were so detailed that he could practically create an entirely different person.

That’d take too long.

Creating the perfect style would be time-consuming. Eager to get to the library as soon as possible, Soohyuk maxed out the height and finalized the appearance.

[Character created.]

[To connect, please interact with the created character.]

Seeing the character creation message, Soohyuk wondered, Does it decide the starting point?

He’d only set the name and appearance. The starting point hadn’t been chosen.

Do I need to connect to set it?

Could the starting point only be selected after connecting? Soohyuk reached out and touched his character.

Swish.

Instantly, his character glowed. A message followed.

[Connecting to character ‘Soohyuk’.]

[First connection.]

As the connection message appeared, the surroundings darkened again. Soon, the same house where he’d created his character reappeared.

What? Is the starting point random or fixed?

Soohyuk had assumed he’d choose the starting point upon connecting, but that wasn’t the case. Was it randomly assigned, or predetermined?

Lost in thought, Soohyuk opened the door to step outside.

“Whoa, this is epic!”

“It’s huge!”

As he exited, he saw several users curiously exploring the area. Just then, a message popped up.

[Quest generated: Find and meet Guide Kaz!]

[Quests can be checked in the quest window.]

Soohyuk opened the quest window.

Find and Meet Guide Kaz!

Go to the central plaza and meet Guide Kaz!

Quest Reward: 1 Gold

Why’s this so vague?

Frowning at the quest, Soohyuk was puzzled. He’d expected a detailed explanation, but the quest merely repeated the instruction to find Guide Kaz. It mentioned the central plaza, but how was he supposed to know where that was?

Just wander around to figure it out?

The quest felt unnecessarily abrupt.

“Where’s the central plaza?”

“No clue, gotta find it.”

“Man, this is so unclear, but I kinda like it.”

“Why? Feeling adventurous?”

Closing the quest window, Soohyuk listened to the users’ chatter and scanned his surroundings. More users had appeared while he was checking the quest.

Better get moving.

Seeing the crowd grow rapidly, Soohyuk started walking. Staying still might get him stuck in the swarm of users. Leaving the starting area, he walked slowly, taking in the scenery.

It’s like stepping into a novel.

The fantasy world he’d imagined while reading novels felt vividly real.

“Hoho, and then?”

“He just flipped it and took it down! I’m telling you, that guy was nuts!”

As Soohyuk walked, he noticed people approaching from a tavern and considered asking them.

They didn’t seem like users, judging by the vibe and their leather armor. No way a user could have leather armor so soon after the game opened—they were definitely NPCs. Deciding, Soohyuk approached them.

“Hello.”

“Huh? Who’re you?” asked a man in leather armor, looking curious.

“I have a question. May I ask?”

At the man’s question, Soohyuk replied.

“Go ahead,” the man nodded, seeming intrigued.

“I’m trying to get to the Central Plaza. Which way should I go?”

That was what Soohyuk wanted to know—the path to the Central Plaza.

“The Central Plaza?”

As expected, the man knew about the Central Plaza.

“Just keep going straight, and you’ll see it.”

“Thank you.”

Soohyuk let out a sigh of relief and thanked him.

“Haha, no problem. Anything else?”

“I have one more question.”

Soohyuk wasn’t done yet.

“What’s that?”

“Is there a library here?”

The library’s existence was his main concern.

“Library?” The man tilted his head.

“You mean a place with books?”

Like the plaza, the man knew about the library.

“Yes,” Soohyuk said, smiling.

“Sorry, I’m not into libraries, so I don’t know if there’s one around.”

Soohyuk couldn’t help but feel let down by the man’s response.

No library at the starting point, huh?

Just then, a woman who’d overheard their conversation spoke up.

“If you’re talking about a library, I know where it is! Hoho!”

Soohyuk, disappointed, turned to the woman. Her eyes met his, and she continued.

“It’s a bit tricky to explain exactly, but if you head north, you’ll find the library.”

“North?”

“Yes, are you going to the Central Plaza? There’s a kid named Kaz there. Ask them, and they’ll tell you.”

Kaz.

The name from the woman’s mouth was Kaz—Guide Kaz, no doubt.

“Thank you.”

Soohyuk thanked the woman as well. And because of that thanks?

“I don’t know if Kaz will tell you, but just in case,” the woman added, “you need something special to enter the library.”

“Really?”

Soohyuk nodded at her words, thinking.

Something like an entry pass?

He’d assumed he could just walk in, but apparently not. It seemed like an entry pass was required.

“Well, we’d better get going.”

“Have a great time!”

At the man’s words, Soohyuk finished his thoughts and thanked them again. The man and woman disappeared, laughing “hahaha” and “hoho.”

Just keep going straight, right?

Soohyuk started walking again. If he kept moving straight, he’d reach the Central Plaza and meet Kaz.

Soon, Soohyuk arrived at the Central Plaza. Scanning the area, he thought, Is that it?

While looking for Kaz, he spotted an unusual scene—a long line of people. They wouldn’t be queuing for nothing. Soohyuk approached the line.

“Is this the right place?” he asked a woman standing in front of him.

“Yes.”

The woman glanced at Soohyuk’s face, answered curtly, and looked ahead again. She seemed a bit cold, but what did that matter?

“Thank you.”

Soohyuk thanked her, and that ended their conversation.

Got here pretty fast.

As time passed, more users arrived behind Soohyuk. He’d thought he was late seeing the long line, but he’d actually arrived quite early.

“Next!”

Time flowed, and it was the woman’s turn in front of Soohyuk. He watched how she interacted and what the process was.

“Name?”

“Yura.”

“Yura, got it! Here you go! Have a good one!”

“Thanks, you too!”

Hearing the exchange between Kaz and Yura, Soohyuk tilted his head.

What?

Something felt off.

Just say your name, get a book, and that’s it?

She gave her name, received a book, and left. That was all.

“Next!”

While Soohyuk puzzled over it, his turn came. Still confused, he approached Kaz.

“Name?”

Thinking at Kaz’s question, Soohyuk decided, I’ll figure it out by doing it.

Yura had responded naturally and left. He’d understand by following along. Finishing his thought, Soohyuk answered Kaz’s question.

“Soohyuk.”

“Soohyuk, right?”

[Quest: Find and Meet Guide Kaz! has been completed.]

[You have received the reward.]

As Kaz said Soohyuk’s name, messages appeared, confirming the quest completion and reward acquisition.

But Soohyuk couldn’t focus on the messages. Kaz was handing him a book, and he was curious about what it was.

[You have acquired the Guidebook.]

[Quest generated: Open the Guidebook!]

Another message appeared right after. The book was a guidebook.

So that’s why it was so simple.

The quest was completed, he received the guidebook, and a new quest was generated. Yura’s reaction made sense now.

“Have a good one,” Kaz said.

“I have one more question,” Soohyuk replied, unmoved by Kaz’s farewell. He felt the glares of the users behind him but had something to ask.

“I’m curious about the library’s location and what I need to enter it.”