Ethan stepped out of the adventurer's guild, his hand clenched on the quest slip. The sun above was way dimmer than the sun of Earth, it was casting a copper glow over the cobbled streets of the ember town.
Ethan took a deep breath and said. "I flirted with an actual woman." A grin formed on his face.
Not just that—he also had gotten his adventurer's pass, he also picked up his quest, and now he hasn't stuck in his room anymore. For the first time in the last four years, he didn't feel like a loser who was rotting behind a screen.
Ethan made his way to the nearest gear merchant. The shop was on the roadside, the owner was a toothless old man who barely looked up from his lap when Ethan approached him.
"Sir, I need a sword," Ethan said politely.
He started to think. 'As polite as I be, the amount of discount will get more.'
The man yawned and tossed him a rusted blade, it looked like it was chewed by the dark wolves. "This is rookie special, take it, young man."
Ethan asked. "And what about armor?"
The man pointed with his chin towards a patchy leather vest that was hanging from a rusty nail.
"And also one health potion please."
The guy said. "Sure, sure. That'll be 2 silver."
Ethan paid the money for the stuff he just bought, trying to ignore the look of pity in the vendor's eyes.
Ethan smiled and said. "Don't worry. I'll come back to you when I am rich."
The vendor scoffed. "I'll believe it only when I see it, I heard the same thing from many. But, they never came back."
Ethan picked up his starter kit and strapped it to his back, he bowed to the vendor to show some respect before leaving.
Ethan left the town gates behind and followed the map which was glowing faintly in his system window.
The world outside of the Emberlight was nothing like the normal tutorial zone from which he remembered the game.
The Ember forest was stretched out like a haunted painting—the mist was creeping along the earth's surface, trees were made like skeletal hands and they were reaching the sky, and the distant howls.
"I am not going to lie but this is so awesome," Ethan whispered, goosebumps started crawling up his arms.
Every step that he put forward made his heart pound faster and faster, but it wasn't fear—it was thrill, excitement. He was doing it. No respawns, no second chances. Just do or die.
"Alright." He whispered under his breath. "Let's do this. Time to do my first quest and start this journey to become the Overlord and have the greatest harem." His expression turned lewd.
He started thinking about what he would do when he got his first member of his harem. His mind started showing him dreams of naked women in his bed.
But he regained his composure. "Let's start leveling up and do something better."
He started his journey. After a mile of trekking, the system map appeared in front of his eyes by itself.
[Quest Area: Shadow Fang Den]
A dark cave opened ahead, thick black mist was coming out of the cave it felt like it was the breath of some ancient beast. The air grew colder.
Ethan took a deep sigh and took his first step toward the cave.
"Hey, rookie. Where are ya going?
A voice cut through the air like a blade, it came from his behind.
"You're going in there alone? You will die, you know what I mean, don't ya?"
He turned around quickly, grabbed his sword's handle and pulled it out of the sheath.
It was a girl. She was wearing light armor, had an athletic frame, dark hair that was tied back into a high ponytail. A massive greatsword was resting on her back. Her eyes were sharp, expression of her's was unreadable—like someone who'd seen more battles than most of the soldiers ever would.
She looked strong, way too strong. Maybe even stronger than to be in a Tier-0 zone.
Ethan's mind went blank, it started to race with multiple thoughts. 'Is she an NPC? A player?.'
The girl tilted her head a bit, then she said flatly. "You're gonna die in five minutes if you go in there without backup."