Ben looked around the small room but found nothing he could pick up.
Since he was among the first group to enter the game, there weren't any messages on the ground yet.
However, in the surroundings, he saw many white shadows.
These were clearly other players randomly appearing in the same scene as him.
This was one of the game's features, though it could be turned off in the system settings. Ben hadn't chosen to disable it.
It had its advantages. The simplest and most direct one was that if he got lost, he could follow the other white shadows; maybe they would find the way?
With a sigh, Ben pushed open the tightly shut large door. Outside was a scene of ruin and decay.
'Chapel of the Hallowed King'
The current location was displayed before Ben.
He explored the surroundings further. There was a large, tightly shut door that he couldn't open yet.
He guessed that he might get some items later and would need to return here to open it.
After all, this was a common trope in most games – doors or areas that couldn't be opened early on could be accessed later with the right items. Souls-like games generally had similar mechanics.
"This royal city is so grand! Just a bit too foggy," Ben said, looking at the royal city faintly visible through the thick fog in the distance, and the golden tree reaching into the clouds. He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.
The overall gameplay felt very similar to Dark Souls and Bloodborne. However, the character in the game could jump in place and even attack while jumping, which made him tear up: "We Tarnished finally have knees!"
He walked down the stairs, but at the cliff edge facing the golden tree, Ben habitually left a message: [Exquisite view ahead].
Ben wasn't particularly interested in interacting with unknown players.
In fact, when he played Dark Souls and Bloodborne before, besides occasionally teaming up with Zack to fight bosses or engaging in player-versus-player duels and item exchanges, he had never invaded other players.
But leaving messages was different; it could make his initial playthrough much easier.
Messages in the game not only allowed later players to see them but also served a crucial purpose: when a player commented on your message, your in-game character would recover half their health.
Imagine being surrounded by a group of weak enemies or getting hammered by a boss, with no Flasks of Crimson Tears left. Suddenly, a notification appears in the center of the screen: "Your message has been liked."
Then, your health bar refills significantly, and you're revitalized. How would that feel?
Now, in the early stages of the game, as a pioneer, if he left many messages, wouldn't his health bar shoot up endlessly when he got likes later on?
Wouldn't that greatly reduce the game's difficulty?
Ben happily explored forward and soon came to a statue of a goddess.
Then, a giant, spider-like monster descended from the sky, appearing before him.
[Grafted Scion]
The boss's name appeared on the screen.
Clearly, this was a boss battle, but Ben wasn't flustered at all.
He didn't even bother to fight back, letting the boss kill him.
"I knew it! It's a cutscene kill! I couldn't possibly beat this."
Looking at the screen transition to the cutscene, Ben had a look of "just as I expected."
He had already suspected it when the spider boss appeared.
After all, at that point, he didn't even have any Flasks of Crimson Tears.
Furthermore, combat systems like attacking, defending, and parrying hadn't been explained to the player.
Even though for him, an old Souls-like player, it was second nature.
But keep in mind that a game isn't only for old players; it's for countless new players too.
How could they expect players to fight a boss head-on in such a situation?
Considering the werewolves in Dark Souls, Genichiro in Sekiro, and the "big-butt demon" in their prequels, the truth could only be one of two things: either bypass this boss or a story-driven death.
When he first entered the courtyard, he noticed that all the accessible doors were blocked by yellow fog gates, so the answer was obvious.
Ben felt a sense of smugness as he picked up the Flask of Crimson Tears.
This was the experience of a wise old "linker of the fire."
"Next, there are two paths: leave directly or jump down for the tutorial?" Ben quickly scanned the surroundings and found two options.
According to an NPC-like spirit on a chair, jumping into the cave below should be for the tutorial, and he could also head directly towards the stairs above.
After thinking for a moment, Ben decided to check out the tutorial first.
After all, Elden Ring isn't Bloodborne, Sekiro, or Dark Souls; it's a brand-new game, and with the addition of the jump mechanic, there might be things he didn't know.
Grace, light attack, heavy attack, jump, lock-on, and weapon skills weren't much different from the combat system in Dark Souls, except for the added jump attack.
Soon, Ben arrived at the center of a wide body of water.
The path behind him was blocked by a yellow fog gate, and a heavily armored soldier appeared before him.
At the same time, a prompt appeared in the center of the screen: "Guard Counter."
This wasn't a shield parry; instead, when the enemy attacked him while he was guarding, he could press heavy attack for a guard counter.
"So, this is a fighting style designed for 100% physical damage reduction shields?"
Ben pondered this, looking at the guard counter.
After all, the importance of shields in Dark Souls was undeniable. How many Tarnished had cleared the game by hiding behind a greatshield?
So, was the guard counter very important in the new game?
Was this soldier the "Gundyr teacher"?
A boss specifically designed to teach players the guard counter?
Looking at the boss, named [Gretchen's Soldier], Ben's expression became serious.
It reminded him of Iudex Gundyr when he first encountered Dark Souls.
Back then, as the player's shield parry teacher, he had suffered countless losses.
Now, was Gretchen's Soldier just as formidable?
Becoming serious, he raised his shield to defend, then counter-attacked.
One slash at the boss's body, and its health bar dropped by half, as if he'd hit a major artery.
It wasn't over. With a dull thud, the boss in front of him staggered and knelt on the ground, losing its balance.
Instinctively pressing the attack button, Ben watched as his character in the game thrust a sword into the boss's chest, depleting the long health bar completely.
Then, he kicked the boss's corpse away, and it turned into ashes that floated into the air. Golden Rune energy flowed into his body.
Ben stood there for a long time without speaking, still a bit stunned.
That's it?
Who was the boss, me or this guy?
Did I start the game the wrong way?
(End of Chapter)