Beatrice hands me her rifle, “Here, if you don’t mind. I need some help with the local wolf population. They keep attacking my chickens.”

“Chickens? I didn’t see a coop outside.”

“Oh, it’s behind the house.”

“Ah, sure. I can help with that.”

[You have received an Old Hunting Rifle from Beatrice.]

“You better get out there before it’s too dark to see them.” Beatrice said taking the mug of freshly brewed tea and pouring it into a thermos. “Here you go. Take this tea, it’ll help keep you warm and it also helps with concentration. I like using it when I’m hunting in order to keep me alert.”

[You have received Hunter’s Tea.]

“Just make sure you don’t damage my thermos. It’s the only one I have, and I don’t want to go back into the City to get a new one.”

“The city?” I prompt.

“Yea, you know, Telstra. It’s the big city north of here. It’s maybe 50 miles or an hour by car depending on the traffic.”

“Traffic?”

“Yea, the city can get pretty busy.”

This FTUE was turning out to be really strange after all.

“I’ll tell you all about it when you get back from taking care of those wolves. There should only be 3 of them out there, so keep an eye out.”

“Thanks, will do.”

“Oh, and don’t die ok? I don’t want you losing my rifle and thermos.”

“I’ll do my best.”

With that, I head out. On my first quest in DomeNET Online.

Rifle in hand I head back into the tree line and towards the clearing I started out in.

As I head away from the cabin I notice their is a mountain range ahead of me and start to wonder about directions. Normally I would open my map and check where I was headed, but that was out of the question. Instead I figured I could ask the AI.

Do you have information on which direction I am walking?

[This information is not currently available]

“You have to be kidding me!”

I decide to head towards the mountain range and consider it North for now. As I walk further north, I head back into the denser portion of trees and see that these aren’t just a tree line. The clearing must have been where the original cabin builders gathered the lumber. Pretty detailed world to be honest.

The floor is littered with fallen branches and the occasional fallen tree as I head further in. I notice their is mushrooms growing on a tree trunk and get curious.

Eden, can I harvest those mushrooms?

[This information is not currently available]

Does that mean I can’t pluck the mushroom?

[This information is not currently available]

That’s vague

No use in plucking the mushroom for now since I can’t store it. Instead I focus on trying to find the spawn point for the wolves when, I hear a rustling to my right.

Pulling the rifle up I don’t see anything other than more trees. There has to be wolves here, I’m sure of it.

That’s when I notice. I’m trembling! The anxiety and fear of facing a wolf is actually translated into the game world. Talk about advanced interfaces.

A momentary lapse of focus and suddenly a wolf dashes out from behind a tree and lunges at me claws drawn. I whip around and fire randomly.

The wolf yelps and falls in front of me not moving. I can see a red stain on its forehead and some gore that confirmed a critical hit. No system messages indicating damage or success were announced, but that was the least of my concerns as another wolf came out from behind a fallen log to my left.

This time I pull the rifle up to my shoulder and aim at the wolf before firing. Dirt kicks up next to the wolf and it hesitates, turning to run around me instead.

Wolves really do hunt in packs! I hear the rustle from behind me so I duck down and circle around with the rifle and fire. I miss again but the second wolf also avoids me.

A thought crosses my mind. This is a single shot rifle, but I haven’t had to reload yet. Then I look down and notice a small clip inserted just in front of the trigger guard. Panic shoots through me. I didn’t pick up any other bullets!

Run. It’s the first thought I have, but can I out run a wolf? Normally in MMOs the mobs would vary in speed, but for the most part a player could use sprint to escape aggression, or aggro.

Deciding to take the chance I take off running back the way I came. Jumping over fallen logs, bursting through shrubs, and dodging trees I run for my virtual life. I chance a look behind me and see the wolves are giving chase.

I’m almost to the clearing when I start to feel my legs burn and I start to slow down. This can’t be happening. I’m about to die and I just started! How can a FTUE quest be this hard? Or was it my fault for assuming I would have unlimited ammo?

There has to be a way to beat this quest. I decide to pull the clip from the rifle to check my ammo and see there is at least 2 rounds visible. I guess I’ll have to make this count.

I drop to a crouch on one knee and turn around. Taking aim, I fire on the closest wolf hitting it in the center mass. It yelps and stumbles to the ground. The second wolf doesn’t hesitate this time and lunges at me. Turning towards it, I fire. Miss!

The impact is the first thing I feel as it hits my shoulders. I lift the rifle like I’m trying to bench press the wolf and manage to keep it from biting my face off. Drool and spittle sprays at my face with each snap. With all my strength I shove the wolf to the side, letting it slide along the rifle barrel towards the firing end. Then pull the trigger with my thumb.

A bang then yelp echo in the forest.

I lay for a while, panting, washed in wolf spit and my own sweat. The rifle is a few feet to my left after it escaped my awkward grip during the last shot. My thumb and wrist are throbbing.

I’m not sure how long I lay there, but I eventually get up and pick up the rifle.

Eden.

[Yes]

How do I access my inventory?

[This information is not currently available]

“Seriously!?”

“Oh wow, you brought one back!” Beatrice’s eyes were wide as she opened the door to let me in. “Oh eww... you need a shower.”

It was true, I stank to high heaven.

“I thought maybe you could skin it and also use the meat.” I reply dropping the wolf’s leg.

“Oh, that’ll be great! Wolf meat sells for quite a bit in town since the majority of the folks around here avoid them. I’m actually a bit surprised you were able to hunt them without a knife or traps. How’d you do it?”

“It wasn’t exactly easy, but I managed.” I didn’t want to elaborate on my terrible skills in case it would limit the quest line from continuing. “I was able to get a few lucky shots in and picked them off one by one.” More like, I fired wildly and hoped I would hit them.

Thinking back on the events I was reminded of my stats. “Which way to the restroom.” I ask, being that she looked at me funny the first time I tried to talk to the AI. That and standing around talking in my head just felt weird in front of others.

“It’s the door on the left.” She said, dragging the wolf outside. “Go ahead and get washed up, I’ll prep the wolf out back.”

I head into the restroom and find that’s it’s actually looks like a normal bathroom with a toilet, shower and tub combo, toilet paper, and medicine cabinet. I figured the society here wouldn’t be as ‘cultured’ but that just goes to show I had poor judgment skills.

Eden, Can I see my stats

[This information is not currently available]

Then can you tell me my user information?

[ Username: Carrots

Role: Citizen

Rank: 2]

Wow! I’d leveled up already.

How do I know my health?

[Health is an indicator of your over all well being. It is represented by Endurance, Mental Fatigue limit, and Blood Loss limit.]

What happens if my base stats hit 0?

`[When base stats go below 0, you will become comatose until the levels recover.]

So basically I faint if one of those stats hit 0.

[Correct]

Guess I need to avoid that.

[...]

After my shower, I reach for my clothes on the counter and they’re missing. Wrapping the towel around my waist I open the door and call out. “Beatrice.”

“Yea?”

“Where are my clothes?”

“I took them to wash them.”

“Uh, what am I supposed to wear then?”

“Oh yea. I guess you’ll just have to wait a bit until they dry off. I have some extra pajamas in the cabinet that you can wear. They’re really oversized and we’re about the same height so they should fit alright.”

“Uh...”

Guess I’ll be wearing some pajamas for a bit. Pulling open the cabinet I wince. Pink pajamas with little giraffes and purple elephants.

“Yay.” I mutter under my breath.