After a day of rest yesterday, Luca woke up in a gloomy, silent room…how boring.
Luca thought for a while, unsure what to do, then remembered he had a job. He sighed, grabbed a change of clothes, and headed to work, and of course, he walked.
As he had predicted, Vien was waiting for him outside the door.
"Good morning, Luca."
Vien smiled brightly and hugged Luca tightly again, making it hard for Luca to breathe, but Luca didn't resist at all. Vien's visits like this every day would probably make Luca consider Vien a member of his own family, even though he didn't have any yet.
Vien looked at Luca with a worried expression.
"Hey, you should buy some new clothes too, or how about we go shopping together after work today?"
"Sure, whatever you want."
Luca nodded. Vien wasn't wrong; Luca was indeed thrifty, but given Vien's personality, he'd pay for it, right? So Luca had no reason to refuse.
Luca entered the museum through the back door. As soon as he got inside, he saw Theron, a young boy, clutching a stack of books that completely covered him. Seeing this, Luca approached him.
"Do you need help?"
Theron was startled when he heard Luca's voice. Perhaps he was still shy about meeting Luca, shaking his head repeatedly. After taking a few more steps, Theron's clumsiness betrayed him.
The stack of books fell, and Theron bent down to pick them up one by one. Luca helped him, since he had almost nothing to do anyway...or so he thought?
Luca and Theron went into a room that looked like a potion-making chamber from a wizarding comic book. Theron put his stack of books in a corner, and Luca did the same.
"Thank you."
Theron hesitantly uttered those words while Luca nodded.
"No need to thank me."
Theron just nodded repeatedly and went to the desk drawer to take out a bottle of medicine.
"For you…"
Luca took it and held it up to eye level.
"What does it do?"
"It makes the body stronger."
The boy's eyes lit up, but the light quickly faded when Luca asked about the potion's purpose. Seeing that Theron was also uncomfortable, Luca found an excuse to leave.
"Thanks, but I have to go now."
Luca left the room, putting the potion in his pocket. He didn't know where to go when Amelie appeared and looked at him; she had just come out of the break room.
"You're here!"
Amelie approached Luca.
"Lord Orion just told me to help you improve your stamina for the next challenge! And Cassian will be there to teach you how to conceal the mark and some other skills!"
"So, that's my only job today?"
Amelie nodded. Luca thought to himself, perhaps this job wasn't so bad after all.
Amelie then smiled.
"Of course, we players can't train outside. Let me take you to the real guild!"
Luca stood still, wondering if this wasn't their real guild hall. Curious, Luca nodded repeatedly like a child.
Amelie led Luca into the break room, and the two sat on a sofa.
Luca noticed a mark on Amelie's bicep, perhaps a divine symbol shaped like the face of a monster. It looked ferocious, with sharp, iron teeth, but that was insignificant as Luca found himself slowly dissolving on the spot, and Amelie was no exception.
...….
Luca opened his eyes again and found himself in a strange place. Around him were many different people, all looking very different and of various types.
"This is called the game hall!"
Amelie introduced Luca.
"Game hall? Is it like a place where players gather together?"
Amelie nodded with a bright smile, and nearby they saw Cassian approaching.
"They've arrived."
He looked at Luca and nodded.
"You look less like a skeleton now."
Luca could only chuckle at those comments.
"To put it simply, after the game is finished, you'll be transported back here, not to the real world. Only first-time players like you get this kind of transport. You'll return here for subsequent levels."
Luca nodded as if he understood and looked around. If he was right, it seemed they could also change their appearance, but it wasn't very common.
Out of 20 people, he only saw about 5 with unusual outfits and striking hair colors. At that moment, he suddenly thought of the words "hair dyeing."
Why do I only remember useless things?
Luca ignored it and confirmed his own suspicion.
"Can I change my appearance here?"
Cassian nodded.
"That's right, but they usually have a limited number of uses, so very few people use them."
"What?"
"Apparently, you get one free time, but the rest come at a rather high price."
After hearing this, Luca looked at the people who had changed their appearance and sighed. There must be a reason for it, or only a fool would use it so thoughtlessly.
"Anyway, let's go practice now! Actually, we were planning to choose a game, but then we realized you're still too weak to practice that, so let's go to the 'backstage' area instead!"
"The 'backstage' area?"
Luca was genuinely confused seeing him like that. Amelie wanted to burst out laughing but managed to hold it in.
"It's understandable that you don't understand."
Cassan sighed and gave Amelie a look as if to say, "Don't tease Luca anymore." Amelie, receiving the signal, began to calm down.
"Do you remember what the system said when you started your game?"
Cassan looked at Luca to see if Luca remembered anything and could explain. After seeing Luca nod, Cassian explained.
"As the system has stated before, we are on a 'stage.' The stage here is when we enter the game; the gods will watch and judge, hence they are called 'audience,' and we are 'players,' or some might call them 'actors.' Of course, the word 'actors' is used more often."
"But many people felt they didn't want to be puppets, so the 'player' was created. You don't need to remember all those nicknames. Just understand that outside the game we are 'players,' but inside the game we become 'actors.'"
"Let's get back to the main point. The 'stage' is the main area where 'players' like us are forced into roles as 'actors,' and the place where we stand is called the game lobby or 'backstage,' where people socialize and conduct transactions—basically, almost everything."
"Finally, we're about to go to the 'backstage,' where there will be simulated gameplay."
"A simulation game?"
Luca immediately asked.
"That's right."
Cassian replied and continued to explain.
"This simulation game has two types: one is 'behind the scenes,' and the other is 'on the main stage.'"
Luca sighed.
"Why do the 'players' always give themselves such hard-to-remember names?"
Amelie patted Luca on the shoulder.
"You think so too, right? I don't even remember their names anymore!"
Cassan looked on helplessly.
"Don't ask me."
Luca nodded.
"I understand. So, should we choose 'backstage' or 'main stage'?"
Cassan gave a wry smile.
"Just listen to my explanation first."
"Although these two areas are both 'behind-the-scenes,' they are quite different. One is like a rewind videotape of levels you've already played, or a teammate to replay with you. However, it also allows you to randomly select a completed level."
"What levels are considered complete?"
Cassan explained as they walked, and the other two followed after Luca asked his question.
"Levels are considered complete when they achieve a true ending."
"True ending?"
"Yes, if you know, games have many different endings, such as bad endings, normal endings, good endings, and true endings."
"So, according to you, if I play my first level after achieving a true ending, it will disappear?"
"As you suspected, the remaining endings can still be played by other players, but the true ending will be permanently closed and will never appear on stage again."
Luca nodded. He now realized that the levels and this place were more complicated than he had imagined.
"As Orion said before, the levels only appear once and then disappear, and that's when you achieve the true ending. The other endings will still appear, just very infrequently, so they can be considered as having vanished."
"As for endings like bad endings, they disappear and become consequences, as Orion mentioned."
Luca now fully understood Orion's explanation.
"So what about the 'main arena'?"
"It's simpler than the 'main arena,' like a fighting ring."
"Arena?"
"Just as you thought, the 'main arena' is like a place to fight. Don't worry, it's called a simulation game for a reason. You'll get a clone of the person you want to fight to practice or coordinate with, although it's rarely used for that purpose."
"Most people either do simple training or try out props or weapons alone. If they want to practice coordination or train recklessly, they'll either join a game behind the scenes or just jump into one."
Luca was about to nod when he heard an interesting piece of information.
"So, you can just join a game whenever you want?"
Cassian nodded.
"Yes, you can log into the game whenever you want, but if you don't log in for too long, it will force you to... the rest you can figure out yourself.
Luca finally understood. Amelie then spoke up.
"How long are you two going to stand there?! We're almost there!"
Luca turned to Amelie and saw a dark space inside, quite different from the 'backstage' he was about to ask about, but Cassian and Amelie had already entered and disappeared from his sight.
"I was just about to ask if they chose the 'main stage' or the 'backstage' and they're all gone."
Luca hesitated to enter until a man in a hooded cloak, completely covering him from head to toe, approached.
"Aren't you going?"
The man asked in a cold voice that sent a shiver down Luca's spine, causing him to quickly run inside.
"What did I do wrong?"
The man asked himself.