I'm in a city square, surrounded by buildings with thatched rooftops and flowers decorating the windowsills. The sky awakens with a robin-egg blue, and plains stretch long in the distance. Below me, cobblestone feels hard beneath my feet—I wear a basic pair of sneakers now, along with a cotton shirt and pants. All around me, players gather and make loud conversation. Their names hover above their heads, and they hold various weapons specific to their class. A tavern nearby boasts a line snaking around the building. An armory and weaponry sit nearby, selling basic equipment in open stalls.

"Oh my gosh!" Aileen's voice echoes in my ear. "You're actually online. Where are you?"

I cringe from her volume and the surprise of hearing her—the game's designer must have a buddy function that allows friends to whisper to each other. "Aileen," I say, trusting my voice will find the right person. "I'm in the beginner town. There's so many people here, it's insane."

"Oh, right, I'm a dummy." She sighs in wonder. "I can't believe it. Josiah Li playing Starlia. Finally."

"Just come here already," I say, rolling my eyes even though she can't see.

I wander the town for a few minutes, amazed by its vibrancy. The medieval houses and shops stand out with paint in warm tones—orange and tan and yellow. A healthy amount of greenery, shrubs and oak and cedar, fill up the gaps between buildings. I find the main city square, which has the name Star Town written on a huge billboard, on top of a bunch of notices—probably by the game masters.

Players come from all walks of life. There are little kids dueling in the square with wooden swords, college-aged people gossipping on the benches and picnic chairs. Middle-aged players show off elaborate outfits such as showy dresses and shining armor that must require a high level. And elders stroll on the cobblestone paths without worry.

Aileen shows up riding on a tiger of all things—white fur with black stripes, large enough to carry my friend and probably one more. Its eyes greet me with a striking blue, and it purrs upon letting my friend down to the floor.

"Josiah, this is Simba." Aileen pats her pet and then my shoulder. "Simba, Josiah."

"Nice to meet you, Simba," I croak out, my eyes on its sharp teeth as it yawns and opens its strong jaw.

"Relax, Jo," Aileen runs her hand across Simba's mane. "Simba doesn't bite."

"Okay," I say, not entirely convinced. "What should we do now?"

She points to my chest. "Let's head to the plains nearby. You're only level one, and you need to do some serious leveling to catch up to me." She gestures to her outfit, a metallic blue armor that makes her seem like a warrior goddess. She strapped a broadsword across her back, along with a lightweight shield. Her cosmetic differences are minor—a violet sheen to her eyes, and her dark hair a bit longer and curlier.

"I guess I should walk there?" I ask, hopeful.

"No way," Aileen jumps back on her ride, like a professional tiger tamer. "Simba can hold two. Get on behind me."

The wind whips against my face, and I feel nauseous as Simba bounds across the cobblestone and toward the plains. Aileen yells at people to get out of the way, and a few people barely scramble out of our path. Everything is so real—the breeze, the rough fur that brushes against my thighs, and the sunshine that warms my skin in the perfect amount. Here, I can forget about the destruction of the world, how our lives are constantly threatened by the ruined weather. I can breathe again.

The plains stretch before me, bright green in every direction and seemingly endless. Simba lets us off, and Aileen uses what looks like a Poké Ball to retrieve him—its large form minimizes into a small figure inside the device.

I look around, spotting a few beginner players nearby. They test out their skills, gasping in surprise at the graphics that shoot out from their fingers. They create an air of wonder about them, and I guess that it's the same case for me. After all, I was expecting less than half of the genuineness of this game.

"These plains are slime city," Aileen says. "They spawn here all the time."

As if Aileen summoned them herself, the slimes begin to form. It's like they've sensed our presence and are hungry to face us. Even though they do seem mostly harmless.

"Now, what class did you pick?" Aileen asks, brandishing her sword. She carries it like it's weightless in her hands.

"Bard," I say, expecting a neutral response from her.

Aileen looks at me like I've grown two horns. "Bard? Why did you pick that class out of all of them?"

I'm instantly put on the defensive, my enlightening time with Maria James coming to mind. "Why? Do you have a thing against bards?"

She gestures with her free hand, making aimless squiggles in the air. "It's just that... bards might just be the most useless class in existence."

It feels like I've been struck in the chest with a fist. I look at my friend, trying to hide the displeasure that wants to jump to my face. "Well, so sorry for being useless. Here I was thinking that you'd be happy that I'm finally joining you to play."

Regret flashes across my friend's face. "Josiah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Let's just... kick some slime butt. Any class will have no problem with them."

Wanting to put the offense behind me, I breathe deeply and try to forget what she just said. A slime comes bounding toward us, as slow as a snail. "Okay," I say. But everything that Maria taught me blanks from my mind. "What do I do now?"

"Just whisper your skill underneath your breath," Aileen says. "Your power will come out without a problem. As long as you have enough mana, of course."

Right. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I don't know why I feel infinitely more nervous than when I started the game. "Play," I say. A harp forms in my hand, small and golden. Its sudden weight surprises me. As the slime approaches, I quickly run my hands against the strings. A melody plays out, a more basic one than what sang from Maria's harp earlier.

The slime bounces backward. Its wobbly form trembles, and it pauses to recover before bouncing once again in my direction. Again, I play the harp. Even though I've never touched the instrument in real life, it feels natural at the moment.

This time, the slime melts and evaporates, changing form into shimmering dust particles that scatter in the breeze. Immediately, I break out into a smile of victory. Aileen gives me a thumbs up. In my immediate view, as if I'm wearing programmed visors, white semi-translucent letters pop up before me.

Slime defeated. 10 EXP gained.

I pump my fist toward the sky. Aileen squeals. "Your first kill," she says. "This is the start of your grand adventure."

I stay in the plains for what feels like minutes but probably adds up to a whole hour. The whole time, I play my harp and inflict damage onto every slime that approaches. I gain two levels, which puts me at level 3. At times, when the hoard of slimes becomes too great, Aileen jumps in and helps me deal with them. She shows off one of her skills, bonecrush, which shatters the ground beneath the slimes and eliminates them in an instant. Aileen is level 35, so she's only fifteen levels away from the second job promotion.

"You're really getting the hang of this," Aileen says. "Hey, maybe bards aren't so bad after all."

I grin, dizzy with glee. "Yep. I'll be the best bard in Starlia pretty soon."

"That won't be too hard," Aileen, eliminating a slime with one of her basic attack skills, cut. "There aren't too many bards in Starlia. You'll have less competition."

I roll my eyes at her backhanded statement. "You're gonna keep making me feel bad about choosing to be a bard."

"It's not that," Aileen says, even though it's clear that it's that. Then, changing the subject, "Hey, do you want to do a bit of exploring? I'm at a higher level, so I can protect you."

Admittedly, I do feel safer around my friend. She seems like a warrior goddess who will face no challenge from any mob in the game. Aileen is the type of person to take everything seriously, and if she's dedicated to a cause she'll go all in. If she says that she's comfortable taking me around and protecting me, I give her no doubt. And besides, it shouldn't hurt to be killed in this game, no matter the dark places my imagination takes me. All the thousands of ways I could be butchered by stronger monsters.

"Should we hop on Simba this time?" I ask, kind of dreading her answer.

To my delight, she shakes her head. "We won't go far." She points to a nearby forest, where the foliage blocks out most of the sunlight and shadows crawl abundant. A perfect place for deadlier monsters, though I don't want my fear to show.

Deadlier monsters? Let's hope Josiah and Aileen will be okay!

How's your September going? In a little more than a week, we'll be in October already! Maybe I'll be inspired to dress up like a Starlia/fantasy character this time for Halloween. 

A big thank-you for making it to chapter 3. Are you ready for Josiah to start gaining some levels? Slimes are such classic monsters, but if you have any guesses about what other mobs will look like, leave them here!