As soon as he started walking towards Minston, a black bag was placed over his head. A blunt object hit him on the forehead and he lost consciousness. He got kidnapped.
Gatto slowly started to wake up. Still having a bag on his head, and a headache to go along with it, he could hear a voice in the distance. Or maybe it was multiple voices? He couldn't hear very well. Then he realized his hand and legs were tied. Trying to remove them proved very ineffective, so he decided to use his aching head instead.
Gatto took a deep breath:
"SOMEONE SAVE ME!"
His abductors heard him loud and clear, so they decided to do just that. They helped him with a very generous amount of cloth in his mouth so he couldn't scream.
A few minutes pass and a commotion can be heard from somewhere. His abductors became more and more uneasy:
"Has someone infiltrated this deep in the cave?"
"It can't be. The boss hired elite mercenaries to guard the cave for the duration of the mission."
"Then how do you explain the screams coming from the entrance?!?!"
The abductors guarding their prey didn't have much time to argue with each other, because an adventurer had entered the room.
"It's Theremin! We have to run!"
Theremin - a name known worldwide, belonging to the 3rd ranked player in Pangea. Even the NPCs were scared of him and his dual shortswords. He was well known for most people, except Gatto. While Gatto knew some basic concepts in video games, he was clueless about rankers, most of which were seen on TV quite frequently, doing interviews and competing with other rankers. Theremin was no exception.
He quietly said to the abductors:
"I'll end this quickly."
His enemies froze upon hearing his words. He didn't even need to use a skill to intimidate them! Just as he didn't need his skills to knock out both of them in one swing.
Having defeated the abductors, Theremin looked around and saw Gatto, sitting against the wall with the bag on his head. Theremin removed the bag and untied him.
"Those bandits got you good, didn't they?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Thank you for saving me!"
"Don't sweat it. By the way, what class are you? I cannot perceive neither your class, nor your race."
"I don't know. I just fired up the game and got a bag on my head the moment I started walking."
"Wait, have you even visited an Adventurer's guild?!?!"
"No?"
"Phahahat! I don't know how unlucky you have to be to get kidnapped before even finishing your character, phahahahat!"
Theremin laughed so hard, a tear went down his cheek.
"Ok, let's get you sorted with a class and race. Follow me!"
The colorful party of a level 0 player(without even a class or race) and a top ranker swiftly left the cave full of unconscious bandits. The cave was just on the mountain side that Gatto saw before his unfortunate adventure. They reached Minston without any hiccups. A guard greeted the duo as they entered, and gave them directions to the Adventurer's guild.
In the guild, many novice adventurers were gathered to form parties, socialize, or to just look at the pretty hostesses that served them drinks. A register was the first thing they saw upon entering the guild.
"Hello brave adventurers! How may I help you?"
The NPC standing behind the register was a woman in her early to mid 20s, with long black hair and two very big and very soft looking eyes.
"This newbie got kidnapped before he could become an adventurer. Can you help him become one?"
"Of course, all he has to do is write his name, his race, his class and his features on this contract!"
The pretty NPC gave them a piece of paper, that had a few unique features. Nothing needed to be written! The name got on the contract before Gatto even touched the paper, and all of the other options like race, class, height, hair color, eye color etc. were just selectable scrollable menus! It was like magic! No! It was magic!
"Maybe I'll go for a paladin... No! A mage!"
Mages were one of the most difficult class to play among the seven classes, because both their defence and health were extremely low, but Gatto didn't know that.
He had a choice among 7 classes: Warrior, Cleric, Mage, Paladin, Assassin, Hunter and Monk.
"Now for race..... I think I'll go with Half-Elf."
There were 3 races: Human, Half-Elf and Half-Beast.
Half-Elves had high intelligence and dexterity, but poor strength and health. Half-Beasts on the other hand, had immense strength and health, but lacked in intelligence and dexterity. Humans were a balance between both.
Gatto chose a good combination between race and class, but he didn't know that.
He was now a young, blonde, tall and skinny Half-Elf mage, with green eyes and charming voice. He didn't look half bad, even in his beginner clothes.
Theremin was glad he could help and that his waiting was over. He approached Gatto and said:
"I hope we meet again, Gatto! Maybe some day we'll be competing for a spot on the rankings. Now that you're a proper adventurer, I must go and finish my quest."
And he left before Gatto could thank him.
The beautiful NPC behind the register started explaining to Gatto:
"To be able to work as an adventurer, you need to do quests. Over there on the notice board you can see what quests are available. Depending on your badge, you can accept quests of higher or lower difficulty. You cannot, however, accept quests that are higher than your badge or two levels lower than it. If you'd like to accept a quest, you can come to me at the register so I can give you all the details about that quest! After completing each quest, you will be rewarded accordingly. Some quests give money, others may give items, titles and even land!"
Gatto was listening carefully to the NPC, or at least that's how it looked.
"Mister Gatto, this is your first badge. The copper badge! Remember, you cannot accept quests higher than a copper lever at the moment!"
Gatto got his badge and put it on his chest.
Having looked at his badge enough, he walked over to the notice board. It was full of all kinds of quests! From missing cats to clearing bandit hideouts. A particular quest got his attention.
Quest: Defeat the slime intruders (Copper):
[A bunch of slimes have entered the field of a local farmer and are destroying the crops. They need to be defeated before the crops are completely destroyed.]
Clear Conditions:
-Defeat 5 slimes
Quest rewards:
-12 copper
Time limit:
-No time limit
Quest failure penalty:
-None
Gatto was sure he can clear this quest, so he went to the register and accepted it.
Quest: Defeat the slime intruders (Copper):
Status:
-In progress
-Slimes defeated (0/5)
The field wasn't very big, and the wheat growing on it was almost ready for harvest. The slimes were barely visible over the wheat.
"Fire bolt!"
Gatto decided to try out his magic, so he started with a fire spell. It reduced the health of the slime to about 1/4. It was very effective! However, the fire was also very effective against the wheat too! There wasn't any penalty for destroying crops, but the panicking Gatto quickly chanted another spell:
"Water stream!"
A gentle stream of water swept up the burning crops, and some of the healthy ones around them. Having seen the destructive power of the dangerous spells, he decided to just hit the slimes with his staff.
Slimes were very resilient to physical attacks, but Gatto didn't know that.
Having fought 1 slime with magic and 3 with his staff, Gatto's health was at it's minimum. A single strike from the last slime alive was enough to knock him down. His vision went black, and suddenly, he was laying on a very hard surface. He was inside some kind of temple, laying on a very smooth stone table. A priest appeared in front of him.
"Adventurer, you appear to have fallen in battle for the first time. But fret not, because adventurers' souls are immortal and cannot be extinguished! You will always rise again at the temple of the city you last visited."
What the priest forgot to say, was that every time an adventurer dies, they drop a portion of their money. In the case of Gatto, the 1 silver he started with was now just 60 copper. And obviously, because it wasn't told to him, Gatto didn't know that.
He checked his quest tab.
Quest: Defeat the slime intruders (Copper):
Status:
-Failed