2. Another Lucky Cat?! Bai XiaoYu was now standing in the middle of the Novice Training Camp"s castle. An NPC approached him, "Welcome, LuckyCat, to Asgard Online. I am in charge of guiding new players, NPC1. Would you like to start the tutorial?"
"Sure."
"Tutorial Lesson 1: Summoning the Menu. When you wish to check your equipment, look up Character Information via the System Menu and so on, please recite in your mind "System". Then, select what you wish to look up using the tab that materialised. Please summon the System Menu now, LuckyCat."
XiaoYu mentally recited "System" and a transparent dialogue box appeared in front of his eyes. The options listed at the very top were "Equipment", "Stats", "System Settings", "Real-Life Notification Settings", and more. He thought for a while and selected "Equipment" first.
A miniature Bai XiaoYu immediately popped into existence. There were only three pitiful items in the Equipped boxes: Top - Newbie"s T-Shirt, Def +1; Bag - Newbie"s Cute Little Knapsack, Bag s.p.a.ce 20; Bottom - Newbie"s Cute Little Suspender Shorts, Def +1. XiaoYu"s eye twitched. What"s with this name…It seemed like the first equipment to be changed would be these pants. Although it"s slightly stronger than the white underwear the System forces on players after taking the bottoms off, the name is just dreadful. No way. He must get them changed as soon as possible.
Bai XiaoYu tapped into "Stats". Other than Luck and Charm which were hidden, his stats were all at 5 with his Hunger at 20/100. Stats in AO are increased by levels. The game would give 5 points per level to be allocated as the player wished. As such though two players" levels, cla.s.ses, and equipment are the same, their health and attack power may not be the same. This increased playability, and also increased the number of guides and arguments in the forums.
The Hunger stat is for realism. To prevent any "Daredevil Third Brothers" from appearing, the game created this stat. When Hunger is 100, the player will die - from starvation. When Hunger is at -100, players will have a "Stuffed" status. Under this debuff, they cannot move quickly or eat any other food.
Within "System Settings", the most important are the few related to the game"s settings. For example, the Pain Sensory can be set from 10% to 50% with a default of 20% - Bai XiaoYu promptly changed it to 10%. Are they joking? He"s here to experience a different life, not to be tortured - Volume settings, Skill Effects settings, Log Off settings etc.
"Real-Life Notification Settings" provide the ability to check the player"s bank balance, notifications when the phone rings or when the doorbell rings, and so on. But these have little to do with him.
"Congratulations on completing the quest "Summoning the Menu", LuckyCat. EXP +10, Milk +1." After he looked at a few other options in the System Menu, NPC1 finally opened their mouth. "Tutorial Lesson 2: Check Inventory. When you wish to look at your inventory, please recite in your mind "Inventory" while tapping on storage equipment like knapsacks, waist bags, storage bracelets, storage rings etc. You can then access your inventory via the tab that materialised. Please summon the Inventory tab now, LuckyCat."
Bai XiaoYu examined himself up and down before realising the equipment he had on at the moment should be the little knapsack on his back. He stretched his arm behind and recited "Inventory" while touching the bag. A s.p.a.ce made up of tiles popped out before his eyes. The lower right corner displayed the bag"s storage s.p.a.ce and how much money he had at the moment. Looking at the great big "0 coppers", XiaoYu faintly felt like supporting his forehead with a hand. Never mind. He"ll have money in the future T-T The 2/20 indicated the bag could hold at most 20 types of items, two of which had already been taken up.
He raised his head to look at those two tiles. One was the Milk (HP +50. Hunger -5. Cannot use while in combat.) he"d gotten from the Menu quest. The other tile was a small little gift box. It"s probably the random gift the game mentioned when he registered. Gift Box: Greeting gift for the cute newbie. Please double-tap to test your "character". Ohohohoho~ What type of item description is this…This time, Bai XiaoYu actually lifted his hand to help support his head. Was he wrong to have chosen this game? The developers are so wretched. They"re really asking to be beaten up.
Just as he wanted to tap open the Gift Box and have a look at what he"d gotten, NPC1 suddenly spoke. XiaoYu was so frightened that the finger that was aiming for the Gift Box shrunk back like a thief who was spotted.
"Congratulations on completing the quest "Check Inventory", LuckyCat. EXP +20, Apple +1."
Alright. Just because there"s now an apple, XiaoYu will look at the description before opening up that d.a.m.ned box. Apple: HP +60. Hunger -5. Cannot use while in combat. From what he can observe it"s most likely these food-looking items all can"t be used while in combat, other than medicine. Now that he thought of it, that"d be the best. The possibility of witnessing a player stabbing at the Boss with a sword while munching on a roast chicken drumstick is just too weird = =.
"Tutorial Lesson 3: Use an Item. Not only can food replenish your HP and MP, they can also decrease your Hunger. The way to use an item is, upon summoning the Inventory tab, use your hand to take out the item then eat. Please eat an apple now, LuckyCat."
So in this day and age, eating is also a quest. Bai XiaoYu took out the apple and bit into it, then he saw the game"s System notifications display "HP +60, Hunger -5". Eating when his health is full is such a waste. His heart is bleeding.
"Congratulations on completing the quest "Use an Item", LuckyCat. EXP +20, Apple +1." The apple came back. It wasn"t lost. He didn"t lose it…
…
NPC1 then taught Bai XiaoYu how to drink potions, pick up items, change chat channels, look up his quest list and so on and so forth. Just before he"s rendered dizzy by NPC1"s lessons on basic gameplay, the Tutorial quests were finally finished.
The last quest is to walk into the portal behind the NPC to be teleported to a random Newbie Village and begin the true game experience. XiaoYu"s vision spiraled round and round like a mosquito coil. He wobbled over to the portal, mumbling, "I wonder what would happen if I chose not to start the Tutorial quests from the start…"
When he finally stepped into the portal, Bai XiaoYu heard NPC1"s voice for the very last time. "Players who chose not to accept the Tutorial quests will be instantly awarded 10 silvers and teleported to a random Newbie Village."
orz - this was Bai XiaoYu"s first action when he was teleported to the Newbie Village. Though the series of quests had raised his level by two and he"d gotten some items, he did not get a single copper. 10 silvers = 1000 coppers! :depressed: If only he knew that starting the game directly would get him some money. After all, anything can be bought. It nearly made him cry. T-T
After letting go of his grief, he sat down under a tall and st.u.r.dy tree, he began investigating his bag"s contents. There is one advantage for having a bag. Rather than summoning the Inventory tab, he could also open it up and have a look himself. However, the items are merely miniaturised versions of themselves. Equipment like storage bracelets and rings can only be accessed via the Inventory tab, but bags only provide so little s.p.a.ce.
5 Apples, 10 bottles of Milk, 10 Small Red Pots, 10 Small Blue Pots, a Gift Box, 1 Newbie Knife, and a pair of Average Slippers. His harvest was quite good, except for that pitiful 0 coppers indication. With a pair of slippers, he wouldn"t need to walk around barefoot anymore. He drank a bottle of Milk and took out the Gift Box sent by the game. He"s decided to have a look at what present did the almighty RNG G.o.d prepared for him.
As he opened the box, a blinding white light shone from it. He blinked open eyes that he didn"t realise he"d closed to find that there was only an egg left in his hands. The game notified him: Received Unknown Pet Egg +1. Unknown Pet Egg: Drip a drop of blood to set Owner. Account-bound."
He took out his Newbie Knife and broke the skin on his fingertip. System: Player self-harm, HP -1. Bai XiaoYu was speechless. If it wasn"t for this pet egg, he wouldn"t even harm himself…
The egg with a speck of blood on it rocked from side to side. Then, with a loud snap, a crack began to appear from the top. XiaoYu looked on expectantly as the crack grew larger and larger until the egg split open with a crash. The egg revealed the pet contained within it - a tiny black kitten.
So cute! Girls are not the only ones who are defenseless against cute things. Guys are the same. XiaoYu stared down at the newborn kitten. It demurely sat on his palm. Its big round eyes looked around blearily before finally settling on XiaoYu"s face. "Meow~~", along with a smiling cat"s face, Bai XiaoYu instantly struck down by its cuteness. Pink blossoms bloomed behind them.
When he called out the Pet tab, he was rendered speechless with mirth.
Pet (Account-bound; Untradeable)
Name: TBD, editable
Level: 1 (1 silver left to be picked up to next level up)
Species: Lucky Cat
Skills:
(Pa.s.sive) Beckon Fortune: Gain an extra 10%-50% more gold when killing monsters or receiving rewards. Cannot level up.
(Active) s.n.a.t.c.h $ to Level: Help the owner to pick up items. Items other than coins will be calculated according to NPC vending price.
(Active) Smackity-smack-smack!: When encountering a monster smaller than itself, it can a.s.sist its owner in combat. Attack power is 50% of the owner"s stats. Can level up. Maximum attack power is 100%
Hunger: 1/100
Intimacy: 100/100
It couldn"t be that the pet is a lucky cat because he called himself LuckyCat, right? It even s.n.a.t.c.hes money. It"d just be s.n.a.t.c.hing the money I grind out. Other players" items are all protected by the game for a period of time T-T. Although it has an attack skill, it"s obvious that the number of monsters smaller than this kitten is so few that I don"t even need to expect it to help me in combat at all. All right. For the sake of being able to increase gold gained, I"ll bear with it.
Bai XioYu thought for a moment as he pulled out a keyboard from the kitten"s Name text box. He"s decided. The kitten will be called "TinyLuckyCat".
"From now on, the both of us lucky cats must work hard together to earn more money!" To encourage himself, he put the kitten down, stood up and vowed with one hand at his waist and the other punching up towards the sky.
"Mroww~~" Upon hearing the kitten seemingly calling out loud just like him, Bai XiaoYu was about to say "You"re thinking the same as I am, right?" when the sight down below made him reel. The kitten"s tiny body was standing upright on its wobbly hind legs. One front paw at the hip and the other facing the sky as though it was imitating him. It really is true. Like owner, like pet.
Translator"s Notes:
Daredevil Third Brother: Reference to Shi Xiu of Water Margins (Shui Hu Zhuan).