2 Welcome to Sapphire (1/2)
[Welcome to Sapphire]
A woman's voice sounded throughout my brain. Or was it my brain? I couldn't tell, everywhere I looked was white, I couldn't even see myself.
While contemplating in my thoughts, dark blue gem faded into view and a timer could be seen carved into it. The seconds slowly ticked down with a satisfying click every time. I could probably easily fall asleep listening to the steady countdown. Above the sapphire, words could be seen.
[The game will be released shortly, please be patient.]
The current player count could also be read, already at a whopping 45 million users before the game had even been released.
Dad, good job, you really did it this time.
Before I knew it a new announcement could be heard.
[5]
Oh boy, I can imagine the number of players getting hyped up because of this.
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
Huh, here we go then, hope I'm not the first death in the game at least. That would suck.
[Player, please design your avatar! But remember, you can only change up to 15% from your real appearance, thank you for your patronage!]
Hmmmmmm, okay, let's just keep my appearance as it is. Too much of a hassle to change it if we're only allowed 15%, you know?
[Please enter your username:]
I inputted the username that I had thought of earlier into the given slot.
[Nice to meet you Lynx, please select your class]
Errrrr, class? No showy ones, please. After all, being a swordswoman sounds really cringy after I read all those isekai light novels, yeah, no thanks. I don't think I would like to be one of those sexy mages either. Um, I doubt I would like to be seen much and the only thing I like doing is running from stuff...I'll be a ranger then, they look cool with those hoods. Also, rangers always tend to run away first, right?
[Please select your region and starting country.]
Zircon sounds like a cool place, I'm not surprised my dad added that in here, it does hold a resemblance to 'her' after all.
[Thank you very much for buying this game! We will now be transporting yo—]
H-huh, the voice was cut off? Hey, don't tell me there's a bug already, seriously, did they forget to check for mistakes in the beta tests? Wait, were there public beta tests in the first place?
Oh, I bet dad just played the entire game while making it.
{Congratulations User #000000001, for your devotion in the game as the first player, you will be awarded a special item and title. Keep up the good work!}
This is a scam, major cheat, the heck...well, I guess he always liked reading those books where the protagonist gets a head start.
Wait, but I'm not the main character or anything, I just want to stay in the shadows?!
Ahhhhhh...how did this happen…
[Thank you very much for buying this game! We will now be transporting you to your favored starting city. We hope you have a fun time!]
Slowly, my white surroundings became blurred, and soon I had found myself in the midst of a large town square with not a player in sight.
Um, this is awkward. All the NPCs are staring at me like some magical girl...I'll just put my hood up real quick…
After finally getting the gazes of the town folks off my back I resolved to take a good look around the town while it was still empty. Firmly deciding on my next course of action, I searched around for a good place to climb. Climbing's okay right, cause all magical girls love climbing buildings right? Yup, let's just leave it at that. Let's just head towards that tall clock looking thing.
Heading towards what I presumed to the town clock tower, I circled around it and found a rusty old door.
Oh, the door's unlocked, well isn't that handy. Crap there's a lot of steps, as I recall, stairs are my worst enemy, or at least a certain panda's. Yosh, let's do this.
”Koohk!? The stairs were so hard to climb. Why is my stamina so bad…?” I muttered to myself while desperately trying to catch my breath at the top of the tower.
Looking down at the town square I had spawned in, I saw a large swarm of players with more constantly spawning in.
Thank heavens that I left early, I would've gotten claustrophobic, like that poor boy down there...ouch.
Spending my time in a carefree state entranced by the scenery this game had to offer, I suddenly heard an old man's voice come from behind me.
”Mysterious adventurer, who I cannot inspect, do you find joy in watching those tiny gnats swarm the city?”
”W-wha, when did you get here?!”
Flustered, I quickly turned around and saw a man with military-style grey hair wearing an officer uniform staring at me with sharp and unrelenting eyes.
”I asked you a question ranger, why can I not inspect you, and why do you smile while watching your kin tumble around like newborn?”
”W-why, I just wanted to enjoy the scenery from here, sir” I responded with a twitching eye, trying my best to smile at the very extreme NPC.