That’s right... Your character’s initial setting is that they’re “a new adventurer who wandered into some ruins.” They release the seal on some dangerous item and get chased by an undead monster... Or at least, I think that’s how it went. I’m pretty sure the tutorial begins while you’re running to the north from the ruins in the south. And if you stray from the path, an Undead Knight is sent after you.
As the thoughts crossed my mind, the Undead Knight lunged at me with its spear aimed in my direction.
H-Hang on! This is way too much right off the bat! Guess I don’t have a choice—I’ll try to counterattack for now! I don’t know how to use magic, but I’ll just try saying it out loud!
“Grade 1 Fire Magic: Fireball!”
Oh hey, something hot flared up in my heart, flowed into my hand, then shot out like a flame!
Undead monsters are weak to fire magic. They should stagger right after they’re hit... Nice, it’s stiffening up because of the fire! This is my chance!
I pulled the short sword off my back.
Thwack!
The sword collided with the staggered Undead Knight, just as I’d planned. It hit its right elbow, causing its forearm to fall to the ground with a thunk.
All right, I did some damage!
Stagger it with magic, then strike it with my blade. The typical solo techniques for magic users seem to work here too. Plus, Undead Knights can have their limbs torn off, so this thing should be a lot weaker now. Really lucky that this battle went exactly as it should have in the game.
La Vita Online was very action-oriented. Even if you were underleveled, your battle techniques and ability to target an enemy’s weak points could turn the tide in your favor.
“I’m gonna keep at it!” I shot Grade 1 Fire Magic and then followed it up with another blade strike. The Undead Knight’s left arm was sliced off; then I gave it a good kick to the knees. Its joints broke with a crack. I jumped back after it fell to the ground.
“Did I manage to win my first fight...?”
The fallen Undead Knight attempted to stand, but all that resulted in was the clicking of its bones to no avail, since I’d destroyed all of its arms and legs.
But right as I let out a sigh of relief, an extreme pain struck my neck, and I was hoisted into the air.
“An Undead Rock Bird?!”
Looking up, I could see the shape of a gigantic bird. Oh, right. Undead Knights and these birds come in a set.
Its feet had grabbed hold of the scruff of my neck, and it was letting me dangle as it steadily raised its altitude.
Then it dropped me to the earth.
I would say I fell roughly twelve meters. On the intense impact, I felt like every part of my body was being stabbed.
“Ow...” My lungs let out a hoarse noise. Sure enough, my right hand was twisted in a direction it shouldn’t have been.
This pain...
This isn’t a dream...
It’s real.
“How much HP...do I have left...?”
When I opened up my status screen, all of the words were red, meaning danger.
Name: N/A / Race: Human / Class: Summoner / Level: 1
HP: 1/225 / MP: 340/350
Power: 5 / Strength: 5 / Speed: 10 / Magic: 15
Acquired Magic: Grade 1 (Magic Class Bonus)
The number 1 shined next to my HP.
This is the same way I died in Japan too.
There’s nothing funny about this.
As the number dropped from 1 to 0, my consciousness melted into the darkness.
†
A huge plain, as far as the eye could see. Small clouds dotted the sky.
Upon opening my eyes, a dialogue box floated in front of me. This was written on it:
Welcome to the world of La Vita Online!
Now, let’s begin the tutorial.
Yep. That sure was written on it.
“What in the world is going on?” I whispered as I tilted my head.
Oh... I remember now. If you died during the tutorial, you didn’t get penalized for it. So I was revived back to the starting point with my stats intact.
“So... This really is the world of La Vita Online?”
But this wasn’t a game. If nothing else, that pain I’d just gone through was real.
It really, really hurt when I died. Which meant...
I clicked my tongue. “That bastard...”
In the world of La Vita Online, once you reached level 50, you stopped being a human and became a Transcendent. So I should’ve been able to turn that Undead Knight and Undead Rock Bird to dust with one finger, with how high my stats were.
Before my account was deleted, I’d hit the level cap—99.
That’s right. I worked diligently, every single day, and finally reached level 99.
In the game’s story, it’s said that I would’ve had the entire army of a small kingdom in the palm of my hand, and could have redrawn an entire map with my Destruction Magic. I was supposed to be the outlier of all outliers.
“Show me my stats.”
Name: N/A / Race: Human / Class: Summoner / Level: 1
HP: 225/225 / MP: 350/350
Power: 5 / Strength: 5 / Speed: 10 / Magic: 15
Acquired Magic: Grade 1 (Magic Class Bonus)
As you can see, I was back at level 1. This was what I’d been reduced to because of that bastard’s childish tricks.
In the story, a proper adventurer would be around level 10. Knights and civilian warriors were around that level. Once you reached level 30, you’d be considered a master swordsman, or famous enough to have bounties put on you.
To put it bluntly, at that moment I was, for sure, the smallest fry of all small fries.
The voice played in my head.
—Your player name has not been set yet. It will be officially registered once the tutorial ends, so please set it before then.
—If you do not set one by the end of the tutorial, your data will be deemed foreign and subsequently deleted. In other words, you will die.
—Let’s begin the tutorial. Follow the path along the plain that leads north.
“I’m just going to have to hurry on before another Undead Knight shows up.”
Despite being level 1, my situation wasn’t all bad. I had knowledge of La Vita Online, so that would probably come in handy, at least a little.
Although, I can actually die once the tutorial ends. That’s the worst part.
†
I followed the tutorial instructions as I was ordered, walking along the straight path through the plain that led north, into a mountain range.
If I’d been playing the game with my phone, I could’ve traversed that length with the click of a button. But actually being in this world, I had to physically walk the whole way.