I materialized in the middle of a broad grass clearing—it looked like some kind of training field. The grass rippled in waves in the breeze, brushing against my ankles like a green sea. My hair fluttered with the wind like raven black ribbons.
I looked down at myself…
…aaaaaaaand immediately wanted to log out.
The game had oh-so-kindly dressed me in a short brown skirt, snug black shorts underneath, boots, and a long-sleeved white lace-up shirt. It was cute, sure. Practical? Not in the slightest.
It stopped halfway down my thighs—decent enough coverage in theory, but on me it felt like I was one stiff breeze away from a public indecency lawsuit. My cheeks burned as I fiddled with the hem, trying to tug it lower.
Nope.
The stupid thing stubbornly refused to budge.
Was this the game's way of punishing me for not changing…?
At least the shorts were there. Without them, I'd be flashing passersby like I was a walking anatomy lecture.
Speaking of the shorts—they were the other thing. While I appreciated them underneath, they were… a bit too short. They even clung really tight, squeezing my thighs in a way that made them look squishier than reality.
…
Okay, I said I liked my thighs, but… isn't this a bit much???
I sighed.
I felt like I was going to cry. My cheeks burned pink with embarrassment (As in the cheeks on my face, idiot. Not down there. You degenerate. Perv. Hen.)
I really, really, really should have changed before putting this on… now half of my thighs were in plain view for the entire world to see. God, this was so humiliating.
A rough, tattered cloak drooped around my shoulders like the developers' last-second attempt at modesty. At least it was long and ended by my calves.
I'd have to send the devs a strongly worded email about their game generated clothes later.
Safe for work my ass…
I turned my attention back to the floating window in front of me.
Would you like to do the Tutorial? [Yes] [No]
It had been some time since I last played, and with the new update, I was sure that a whole new slew of content had been added. Besides, this was VR, so I wanted to know how the controls and such worked.
I flicked [Yes]. The game walked me through the basics. Inventory, status screen, voice commands, how to navigate the UI… Towns and cities were safe zones, while mana, health, levels, and basic information floated in a HUD off to the right hand side of the user, etc.
It was all pretty simple.
Then came combat.
Oh, boy, combat! This was where I got stumped—and I can't lie, I'm not used to being stumped. I was fuming as the tutorial tossed me weapon after weapon. I failed spectacularly with every single one of them.
Cwyge.
Normal swords were too heavy. Greatswords, axes, and hammers all nearly dislocate my shoulder every time I try to swing or even lift them, while polearms made me look like a baby learning to walk. Bows… well, let's just say I almost managed to shoot myself. Please don't ask…
Even staff magic felt wrong like my brain was misfiring every time I tried to cast a fireball, even with simple commands.
Now, you'd think that healing would be my thing. I'm a doctor, after all. Nope. Apparently real-world medical experience doesn't translate into glowing anime magic. Who knew~?
I went through almost the entire arsenal plus some more random weapons before collapsing to my knees, exhausted.
"Huff, huff… I swear to god. This can't be that hard." I grumbled as I pouted.
I was slowly forced to confront the realization that, while my fine motor skills were excellent, my body coordination sucked. Plus, I was weak as hell. My arms were almost as useless as wet noodles.
I groaned and dragged myself upright, sighing. "Some genius I am… can't even swing a dagger."
The only thing left on the weapons-to-try-shelf was a small knife. I looked at the thing doubtfully. It was close in size and balancing to a scalpel. Compared to monsters or enemies that I assumed would have real claws and weapons and such—it probably wouldn't do shit.
I gave it a couple test jabs—awkward little pokes, like the world's most uncoordinated surgeon doing laparoscopic surgery with oven mitts. This was going to take a while to get used to… eueueueueue.
I looked down at the knife.
"Info."
A small screen popped up.
———
Item: Common Gathering Knife
Description: A beginner's gathering knife. Can be used to harvest herbs, meat, and other suitable resources. Is the favourite tool for a certain class. It doesn't look like it's good for combat…
———
"Guess that's what I get for being purely academic," I sighed. Maybe I regretted skipping workouts… just a little.
Sweat trickled down my face and down my shirt as I gasped for breath, worn out from cycling through so many weapons.
…No, wait. Scratch that. I don't regret skipping workouts. I hate being sweaty.
I sheathed the knife—or rather, waved it into my inventory. "Well, combat's overrated anyway," I pouted. "There has to be slice-of-life stuff to do. Gathering, cooking, fishing, relaxing…" My voice trailed off.
"Mmmmmn~" I stretched and straightened my back. Yeah, I was looking forward to some relaxing. Maybe I could get a lakeside cabin or something in-game?
"Alright, then. Exit tutorial."
My surroundings began to fade in a rush of scenery.
Loading…
Teleporting: Agëmon, The City of the Beginning.
I was momentarily weightless before I fell through reality and into the middle of a bustling city—and holy hell, was it overwhelming.
"Wow." The game certainly lived up to its hype.
The outer walls of the city reached skywards, thick, stalwart palisades of strong stone that protected the city against the threats beyond while fluffy white clouds lazily drifted overhead, carried by the warm wind.
The sun shone down from high in the sky, wrapping everyone in its warm embrace. The distinct chatter of thousands of voices met my ears as NPCs filled the streets, chatting, haggling, laughing.
How had they managed to do this? It all felt so, so, so real.
Behind me, a massive city hall loomed, banners snapping in the wind. Guards in chainmail stood at attention with pikes. My gaze drifted upward, following the flagpole that stabbed towards the sky like a spear.
I almost forgot to breathe at all, but the chatter of players around me dragged me back, their voices overlapping like nurses at shift change.
I noticed that above them hovered the same markers as the PC version, just now modeled in 3D—their username, level, and health bar. Some were already level 15.
Now where would I go from here…?
Oh, right. Back in the PC version, this was where you'd do class selection, wasn't it?
Classes would define a player's playstyle, gear, their role, their abilities… in Lucidia, you first choose a class by entering one of twelve 'school' buildings and receiving the class from a 'master' NPC.
I had to hand it to the devs and writers; it was a pretty creative way of having the players choose a class by walking into a school instead of the boring 'select-in-character-creation-screen'.
Each school ringed the square, marked with banners. They were split within four categories: Tank, Weapon DPS, Magic DPS, and Support. Twelve schools total—three more than the old PC version from what I could remember.
I rubbed my temples and tilted my head to one side. I pursed my lips. "Hmmm~"
Last time, I'd played Assassin. Back then on PC, I could leverage my fine motor skills and APM. But here, especially with my coordination? Tanks and Weapon DPSes were out. Magic classes felt weird. Healer sounded like too much pressure—even in a game, I didn't want lives in my hands. I came here to take a break, for fuck's sake.
That left the support classes.
My gaze snagged on a building marked Alchemist, presumably one of the new classes added in the update.
I bit my lip and pondered for a moment. There was little to no information about the Alchemist class. Should I wait until someone tries it and learns about it before I lock it in?
You weren't able to change classes after you chose one, so I didn't want to squander my break playing a class I didn't enjoy.
"Hmmm… I don't know…" I paced back and forth in the town square. People were staring at me like I'd gone crazy, but when you 1, run off of caffeine and 2, are the smartest and most capable person in the area, you learn to ignore them.
Before I could commit to my choice, a quest window popped.
———
Tutorial Quest: [Having trouble deciding?]
Objective: Learn a class and choose it.
Time limit: 20 minutes.
Reward: +1 Lesser Potion of Leveling
Description: Having trouble choosing a class? How about some incentive? Of course, we don't want to rush you—if you're not up to the quest, feel free to decline. But if you accept, then you'll get a nice bonus to your start in this world!
———
"Huh. Quests just pop up now?" I blinked. This was definitely new. But fine, a bonus potion didn't sound half bad.
I pressed accept with a *ping!* and walked over to the Alchemist building, my boots softly tapping on the paved cobblestone square.
I could visibly see from the flood of newbies that Alchemist was by far the least popular choice. The Assassin and Berserker schools had crowds in themselves jostling to get in the door.
The Alchemist building, in contrast, didn't have a single newbie lining up to take the class. In fact, there wasn't even a line. It was completely empty.
I gave the building a once-over as I approached. Moss crept over the wood, vines dangled from pistachio-green glass windows. Cracks spread across the paving tiles. Not the most inspiring first impression, but hey—it had a nature-y vibe, and I was all for it.
I knocked on the door. "H-Hello?"
No response. There were no NPCs, no players. I opened the door and let myself in with a creak.
"Wow. This place is cute."
I meant it. Looking around, the lobby was pretty cozy. I half-expected a jumble of mouldy glass vials, but this much nicer.
There were some hanging plants from the ceiling along with bright lanterns that lit up the room in bright circles of light. Huge pots sporting all kinds of flowers and vegetation were arranged beautifully next to the furniture, which consisted of a handful of stools, couches, lawnchairs, and tables.
In the corner, there was an orderly organization of glass bottles, jars, and bundles of ingredients ranging from colourful red herbs to what I thought was a dried frog.
The lobby seemed really… peaceful. That was something I could appreciate after all the stress and get behind. Honestly, just sitting down here on a couch and resting for a while sounded amazing.
In the center of the room was a reception desk with no receptionist. I walked over. There was a handwritten note: 'Bathroom break. Be back in ~5 mins :D'
I chuckled. Well, didn't this building seem to be full of personality? "Even in VR, the receptionist vanishes right when you need them."
I sat down, sinking into a couch. For the first time since spawning, I let myself breathe. Maybe this wasn't so bad!
I stretched my hands above my head and leaned back.
Normally, during the stretch, this would be where the female protagonist's chest jiggles, and sorry to disappoint, but I don't have huge badonkers.
I'm quite small, actually. Quite pretty. Quite demure.
Hey, don't you boo me. I'll have you know that being small is elegant, modest, and graceful. There's no shame in it. Rather, shame on you degens for being leches.
Either way, sitting down only made me realize even more how bad this outfit really was. Like… about the skirt? It did absolutely nothing to cover me, and the 'shorts' might as well have been slightly longer underwear. I tried to cross my legs—while wearing boots. After a short while, I realized that even crossing my legs wouldn't work. The sturdy boots dug uncomfortably into my skin, and I uncrossed them after not even ten seconds.
…I hate these clothes. As soon as I get the chance, I'm going out to buy clothing that's not aggravating. Though on second thought I suppose it was my fault for not changing…
But still!
Like—please, game, if you're going to enforce your TOS, at least give me pants or something less revealing. This is like—like—I don't know, borderline—y-you k-know what! It's practically against your own TOS!
If I'd known that this would have happened, then I wouldn't have thanked the game or even pressed that 'load in with game generated clothes' button.
There was nothing I could do now that I'd already loaded in, but I was absolutely burning with embarrassment on the couch. My soft thighs squished against each other as I tried to make do by pinning down the skirt between my legs and pressing my knees together.
I pulled the itchy hood over my face to block out the light while I pulled on my cloak to try and cover myself. It was so rough against my skin that I gave up and let it fall around me.
I settled down on the couch. For now, I guess, I'll keep an eye on that quest timer and wait…