I logged out of the game, slept, woke up, and headed to work.
While handling my tasks at a steady pace, I figured I'd exchange some info with my colleague about Kite a Lise.
"Yo, how'd the first day go?"
"Oh! I spent eight hours on character creation yesterday, so I haven't made any progress at all, y'know!"
Eight hours? I knew they were the type to obsess over customization, but still...
"There was a time limit, wasn't there? I had a three-hour limit and used one."
"Style is everything, y'know! I managed to recreate my favorite character, so it's all good!"
They’d apparently modeled their avatar after some copyrighted character. With that level of customization, I could see the appeal of mimicking a favorite, but the dedication was something else.
"Well, thanks to that, I only just finished the Tutorial, y'know!"
"...Are you serious? You're already done with the Tutorial?"
"I made it all the way to the Adventurer's Guild, y'know. Hmm? How’s your progress, y'know?"
"I haven't even left the passage at the starting point. I've just been leaving her on Auto Mode to smash boxes, do strength training, and punch a turtle..."
"Are you serious, y'know? LOL! You haven't even moved from the start? That's hilarious, y'know! LMAO!"
Even though it was just a chat, I could practically hear my colleague's boisterous laughter.
"Anyway, it really seems like things change depending on the scenario you pick, y'know? Which one did you choose, y'know?"
"The Sacrifice for the Great Turtle scenario. You?"
"Prey of the Bandits, y'know! I just went with the one at the very top of the list!"
So that was it. That was the one I’d tried to pick, only to be told someone else had already snagged it.
It was you all along, colleague.
"It's possible all the scenarios are unique. That one showed up for me, but I couldn't select it."
"Seems that way, y'know. I checked the Fan Wiki they just set up, but the info is all over the place, y'know. Since no one's getting the same scenario, the system might be using an AI for the GM, y'know."
Apparently, not a single person commenting on the Wiki had the same scenario. While there were overlaps in the available options, once someone picked a scenario, it vanished for everyone else. Trying to write that volume of branching paths manually would be impossible—pure madness.
"Oh yeah, check this out, y'know! It's a screenshot of a battle from yesterday, y'know!"
My colleague sent an image through the chat tool. It showed a pale girl with black twintails flying wild, wielding a massive gun that looked almost as tall as her waist. A bluish-white light erupted from the barrel, blowing away a group of bandits on the other side of the screen.
"Whoa, that's impressive. You've got a perfect character recreation and you're using a gun... Wait, they have guns in this game?"
"Yup! Perfect recreation, y'know! And this gun is absolutely insane, y'know!"
My colleague excitedly sent a cropped shot of the gun's item description.
"It's an SP item called the Gun of Ancient Ruins, y'know. Which means—I just got spoiled on the fact that there was once a highly advanced Ancient Civilization, y'know!"
"What? A Gun of Ancient Ruins? I thought this was a world of swords and sorcery... and hey, just because you got spoiled, don't drag me into it!"
"Ahahaha! Misery loves company, y'know!"
"You're misusing the phrase... but fine. I guess that's a common enough trope in fantasy."
"Setting-wise, it's a gun that runs on Magic Power, y'know. It's probably firing something like a Stone Bullet spell instead of physical rounds, y'know. Here's the description."
I checked the new image. Sure enough, the text read: Magic Gun excavated from ancient ruins. Fires Magic Power as bullets; no ammunition resupply required.
"And the power is off the charts, y'know! It blasts bandits away in one shot, y'know! This is no time to be messing around with melee combat, y'know!"
"Easy for you to say. I'm over here punching a turtle shell with my bare hands..."
"Ahahaha! You're the Unarmed Combat type, y'know! Well, it looks like there's a huge variety of weapons, and your playstyle changes completely based on your SP items, y'know."
"I spent a good chunk of that SP just growing her arms and legs back at the start, though."
"Arms and legs? Why?"
"Because she was crushed under a pile of rocks."
I explained my starting situation—the whole bit about being a sacrifice for a giant turtle.
"Oof, you have my condolences, y'know. I guess I had it easy since my character was in one piece, y'know. Though I did blow almost all my SP on the gun."
"Really? I still have about half of mine left. Saving it for a rainy day."
"You'll probably get more soon anyway, y'know. Might as well use it now, y'know?"
When they put it that way, it made a lot of sense.
"The head start is everything, y'know! The Wiki is still empty, so just dive in before you overthink it, y'know! We're the pioneers, y'know!!"
"And if I end up with a fatally broken build? Or if SP is way harder to get than we think?"
"Then that's just more data for the community, y'know! If you hesitate, you'll miss your chance to leave your mark! Act first, think later! ...Besides, even if you mess up, you can just reset, right? It's still early days. You can always reinstall and start over."
"I hate how much sense you make sometimes, colleague."
"I'm full of wisdom, y'know! I haven't just been getting older for nothing, y'know."
I could practically see my colleague puffing out their chest through the screen. We’d never actually met face-to-face in the real world, and I didn't even know their age.
"Well, the controls feel good, and I bet Unarmed Combat could be amazing if you max it out, y'know. Plus, you used SP for those limbs, right?"
"Yeah. Limbs grown with SP."
"Then the specs might be the same as my gun, y'know! There's a chance they've got some hidden, god-tier performance... or maybe not?"
"Which is it?"
"That's for you to find out! That's what I'm saying, y'know! Besides, I'm too busy testing my gun build to help you out."
True enough. It was only the second day, and we were still in the early game. Everything was shrouded in mystery.
"This is the best part of playing a game from day one, y'know. Enjoy the struggle!"
"...I'd better get at least five onigiri's worth of fun out of this."
"LOL! That's the spirit, y'know!"
After that, we swapped a bit more info.
"Wait, grinding basic movements boosts your parameters? I didn't notice that at all, y'know! Maybe I'll make mine do some Push-ups too, y'know."
"Let me know if it doesn't work. It might be a bonus limited to the start of the Tutorial."
"Or maybe it's only because your limbs are SP-made, y'know. I'll let you know either way, y'know."
"By the way, how do you even order them to do push-ups?"
"Free designation in Auto Mode, y'know. You can give pretty specific commands. It's actually kind of amazing once you get the hang of it, y'know. I told mine to 'Take off your clothes,' and she actually did it."
"Are you serious? What's the rating on this game? Is it 18+?"
"The camera locked up and this mysterious light covered everything, so it's probably around R15? There's no point in taking equipment off anyway, so I had her get dressed again right away, y'know."
The chat had been lively enough that I felt I'd already gotten my money's worth.
I really hope I can clear the Tutorial today.