5 years ago....
AI online was released publicly. For the time, it was one of a kind. The game had no administration. Everything was handled by 1 mega AI super computer. It would handle everything basically acting like the god of that world. It would give quests handle the game. But most importantly of all, it would roam around like a normal npc. The game's developers implemented an Easter egg so the game would receive traction. The game had a feature where you could have in-game "girlfriends" or "boyfriends". Not for a romantic purpose but just for small rewards. Usually these would have prewritten dialogues but not the head AI. This game had a challenge for players to find and date the head AI and whoever did it would be rewarded with a huge cash prize. Players went insane to search for this girl. They played day and night but to no avail since this game was set in a huge planet with billions of women.
Now comes our main character, tadashi. An average japanese, highschooler, you could say he was pretty lucky, never got into trouble and was a star child. But he could never fit in. He heard about the craze of this AI online and decided to give it a shot. It was a rather expensive setup but lucky for him, his parents were quite well off and this was the first time, he had asked for something normal. His parents were quite used to him asking to join tuitions and classes, buying books but never a gaming setup. His parents did say yes and were ecstatic and also a bit worried about this change of attitude.
A few days later...
ding dong
"I'll get it mom!"
He goes and sees a huge truck out on their front porch with a bunch of employees.
They say, "Have you ordered a mind connector along with a copy of AI online?"
"Yup that's me. But what is a mind connector?", tadashi said
"It's basically this machine that connects your brain waves to the server of the game allowing you to control your game character just like your normal body."
Tadashi was in awe and asked them to help bring the stuff in.
A few hours later....
"Thanks for the help, here's a tip", tadashi said
"So should I just jump straight into it?"
His mom said, "Yeah sure, give it a try"
"Ok"
This was the first time playing an online game for tadashi, a boy who never understood the appeal for games.
A voice spoke,
[Welcome User 1000000, Congratulations for being our millionth player, you wil be awarded with an in-game item. What will your username be]
Tadashi never knew about game id's so he utters his real name as his ID.
Tadashi goes on to select everything as per his real life self.
The first game related aspect in his character customization comes in the form of classes or jobs.
Once again, being oblivious, he considered what he does in his real life clubs, he delivers many speeches and does public speaking. So he said that and the AI chose the closest possible job to that which was the messenger along with the attribute: leader.
Finally, he joins the game and is greeted by the tutorial. It said stuff about how he can open up the game's ui by thinking 'menu' and a lot about the game functions.
[Welcome, Player! You've just logged into AI Online, the world's first fully self-learning virtual experience.
Here, you can do literally anything. Fight monsters, bake bread, sing to trees, start a business, or punch an NPC — your story is whatever you make it.
Choose your looks, pick a class, gain exp and try not to die. The system adapts to you, so your actions will shape the world around you. Be smart… or at least, try.
Oh, and one more thing — we're not responsible for emotional damage caused by bad decisions.
Welcome to AI Online — Good luck, hero. You'll need it.]
"Hmm... Wait? Punch an npc? I can do that?"
Tadashi walks up to a kind looking old man selling bread and punches him in the face.
[System alert: You have assaulted an innocent citizen. You are a criminal.]
A girl in the distance goes unnoticed by Tadashi as she smirks in intrest.
Guards in heavy metal armour rush in and detain Tadashi.
[You are under arrest for disturbing public order. Jail time: 10 minutes. Reputation -10 with Arvane citizens.]
"What? The game told me to do it!!"
A guard says, "Life ain't a game kid, wish it was though."
Tadashi has no choice but to wait in there for 10 minutes or that's atleast what he thought. After waiting the 10 minutes and being released he gets another system message
[Title received, 'Sincere inmate'
Wait in prison instead of logging off.]
[Title effect: Reputation +5 for rehabilitation.]
"Ooh that's nice!"
"So I'm out now?"
Guard says,"Yeah have fun kid and don't punch people"
"Yeah sure."
Tadashi exits and goes on to the starting area again to explore.
He asks a random shopkeeper about his stock, "Hey, what you got here?"
Shopkeeper replies, " Ain't none of a criminals business, whatever it is. Scream kid."
A system message pops up
[This behaviour is because of your low reputation stat. Try doing good deeds to fix it.]
As this is happening the girl from before is yet again watching from afar with a smirk on her face.
Tadashi says, "Alright, I'll show these digital peasants how good I am!"
He sees a little girl alone on the sidewalk and thinks she's lost. He goes to her and picks her up and asks her, "Where are your parents?"
She bursts out crying at the top of her lungs and her mother comes running to save her and shouts, "You creep! Let go of my daughter!"
Tadashi tries to explain but the woman snatches her child from his clutches and takes her away.
Tadashi realizes that the kid was waiting for her mom who was in the nearby shop buying something for her.
[-5 reputation, you scared a single mother and her child.]
What? I was trying to save her!
[Doesn't matter, think better next time]
Wow, didn't think you would be this unreasonable.
[...]
Ok it's fine. Definitely can't mess up twice in a row... probably.
He sees someone looking like a priest walking around asking for donations but not receiving anything. He said anything works as long as it has value.
Since Tadashi didn't have anything, he decides to explore some stuff to get something to donate. He knew that going to any shops wouldn't do him good from his previous interaction.
[Try exploring your 'menu' by thinking the word.]
Tadashi was quite taken aback cause he was not saying anything out loud. He said, "Can you hear my thoughts?"
[...]
Ah leave it...
(Menu)
A large blue screen opens in front of him, with several options. The only one ehe cared about for now was the player shop where people would auction or sell food.
[Shop: ]
[Shop listings: ]
[10 loaves of bread 10 apples ]
[$10 $10 ]
Why are they so cheap?
[Veterans often have lots of food stacked up and sell them for cheap as charity to get rid of them.]
Oh that's nice. So right now I have the starting $500 so I'll buy the 10 loaves of bread. Ok, and done!
Tadashi walks up to the priest and offer the 10 loaves of bread as a donation for the greater good. The priest thanks him and leaves to a different area.
A guy with a big frame comes up to tadashi and says, "Ha! So karma is real ain't it? The criminal gets conned."
What do you mean, Sir?
"Well, the guy you just gave to was a con artist. It's the average priest scam that you'll find anywhere in the world. Now don't get me wrong, some are legitimate."
Don't the knights do anything about this?
"Oh them? They're a corrupt lot. They barely pay any heed to criminals. Oh and I notice that you gave to the priest guy, why?"
What do you mean, why. I was trying to redeem myself for my crimes.
"That's marvelous, here take this dagger and use it to protect yourselves. And if someone hurts you, stab em in the heart or the noggin."
Thanks, I'll make sure to use it well.
[Your reputation loss from bread was neutralized by the reputation gained from this interaction.]
Tadashi decides to see what the priest's doing and follows him. He sees that the priest's trying the same thing on someone else.
"Ma'am would you like to donate to our cause?"
"Sure, sir."
She chooses a very valuable item. As soon as she gives him the item, a guy comes along and tells her that he's a scam artist.
The priest says, "No I'm definitely not and even if I am, no refunds."
The priest starts running as he's been found out and the guy starts chasing him.
The priest goes in an alleyway and runs into a dead end. Tadashi was following them. The priest throws a knife at the random guy but then....