Samantha, “That isn’t advised. While nobody has confirmed it, there seems to be some anti-cheese going on. Sure, if you get stuck there isn’t a penalty for going back to character creation. However, whichever of the two games you py, if you reroll your character for the sake of rerolling, you’re in for a bad time.”

  Gem gnces around the area, “So, any reason we’re in a bnk white room, except with trees randomly dotted about?”

  Samantha shrugs, “Eh, I like trees. I’d have a more natural scene, but they limit how many objects we can pce in here after someone crushed a pyer by filling the entire room with marbles. You’re not even supposed to be able to take damage or feel pain while here.”

  Gem nods, “I guess there is only so much you can do when you’re simuting physics.”

  Samantha, “Anyway, normally at this point I’d bring up a mirror and let you py around with how you’ll look, but random doesn’t give you that option. Are you ready to go?”

  Gem fshes a wide smile, “Try and stop me!”

  Samantha shakes her head, “No, I don’t think I will. Have fun in there. The devs put a lot of work into making a fun fantasy.”

  And a trapdoor appears under Gem with an audible pop, then opens. They ugh as the air rushes past them. Clouds begin to fly past until they hit square in the middle one and it acts like you’d expect a cloud in a cartoon to act, like the softest cushion, and stops their fall.

  Though before they can look around, Gem sinks through the cloud and they’re now standing. The change in position disorients them for a moment, before they drop an inch and their vision clears. They gnce around and see a giant marble room.

  Gem had appeared at the center of a decent sized tile and all around her are simir tiles with people popping into existence. Someone to their right tries to walk off, but a barrier prevents them, which causes a bit of distress to spread through the gathered people. It doesn’t st long though as a handy dandy System message appears in front of them all to expin. Though before reading it, Gem can’t help but notice that not only can they see the other’s screens, the content is visible.

  {

  Welcome to SOULDIVE!

  At this very moment, you are located in the Hall of the Phoenix. Because of a recent surge in new pyers, we’ve had to streamline the onboarding process and put in a few safety rails. Once there are 50 new pyers or our algorithms predict there won’t be any new pyers that will fit your start location, you will be released. Please listen to the guides. They’re hired help for this amazing time of growth and we take their well-being seriously.

  Sincerely,

  The Dev Team

  }

  Then a number appeared after Gem closed the window.

  {37}

  Though it quickly began to count upward. Gem shrugged, they’d had worse new pyer experiences in the past. Besides, they practically don’t have to wait at all as the number soon rolls over to 50. This is accompanied by a handful of people falling over having been leaning up against the invisible barriers.

  Gem fshes a toothy grin at the closest guy who was sporting a green mohawk and now desperately trying to recover their cool. Not that Gem cared, their guide was more interesting. They were some sort of moss creature that looked like a dy wearing one of those old timey hoop skirts.

  “My name is Dewdrop and I go by she/them. I will be your guide or rather, I will be telling most of you the basics before handling those of you who chose random.”

  Someone closer to them raises their hand and tries to shout something. That doesn’t work.

  Dewdrop shakes their head, “I don’t get it. Almost like clockwork, someone will raise their hand only to shout out what they want to say without waiting to be called on. Now, what do you want to ask?”

  The minotaur coughs, “Can I go? I’ve got friends waiting for me and I’ve already watched a bunch of SD content. Not like there are controls to learn.”

  On Dewdrop’s head, the lips pull back in a toothy smile, except instead of teeth, there are tightly packed thorns. “Be my guest! In fact, is there anyone else who feels my information is useless, that you can start pying without a worry? You know, despite the fact that the devs went through all the trouble to provide a guide for you? The fact that they felt you needed a guide?”

  Gem covers their mouth and squashes a ugh, the “DM” had just asked if the pyers were sure about what they pnned to do. And as is often the case, those it was targeted towards missed the red fg. The minotaur, an orangutan, two humans, and someone who looked human all decided they didn’t need Dewdrop’s guidance.

  Dewdrop waits for them to leave and the door to fully close. She cps her hands and smiles, “Now that they’re out of here, I’ll warn you that you can’t stream or record this introduction to SoulDive and this city!

  “We are in the City of a Thousand Fountains. That is literal, by the way. Not one more or less. If you damage a fountain, well, just don’t do that. More importantly, avoid the Watercrest family. They’re the noble family in charge around here and frequent every single fountain. You can recognize them by their blue robes.

  “As new pyers, you will be prevented from using the teleport station for a week. Now, you can leave the area entirely like you could have left this room. However, I advise you to use the week to do simple quests around the city.

  “You won’t be paid and it won’t be anything important, but that is why they’ll let you do the tasks in the first pce. What you do get, is an opening to build their trust in you. Just as equally, don’t trust anyone who offers such a quest, but there is a money reward.

  “Not all of them are scammers, but there will be a reason they can’t ask people to do their task for free. If you’re lucky, it will simply be too dangerous.”

  Dewdrop continues on like that for another five to ten minutes, filling everyone in on the local drama. Then she used another five minutes to expin the basic functions of the status screen.

  More than a few of the people around Gem had zoned out by the end, having already watched videos of people pying the game. Though their attention was recaptured right quick when Dewdrop suddenly cpped her hands. “Now that about covers it. Well, except for those of you who chose random.”

  Akhier