Distracted, Alice looked up to see who the person who came in was, but her eyes caught sight of the familiar tiny flying creature again.
Oh, she had forgotten about this little thing.
Alice thoughtfully looked at the person who had just entered, wondering if this person could also see the floating creature.
“Good morning, guest from afar…” The woman holding a food box paused for a moment, clearly not expecting to see the floating creature.
But she recovered instantly.
“Good morning, guest from afar.
I am an apprentice healer assigned by the village to take care of you, a wounded patient.
The village chief asked me to bring you some food and water, hoping to help you recover from your plight.”
She sees it.
Alice confirmed it.
She must be wearing those goggles they call AR glasses, but my neural interface removed them from my perception.
After Alice finished the meal, the apprentice healer finally began to speak in a strangely sanctimonious manner, as if she were reading from a script.
“Guest from afar, you traveled through the forest to reach this Hero’s Starting Village.
Are you also hoping to enter the path of heroes?”
Alice simply stared at the person, blinking at her in response.
The apprentice healer coughed.
“Oh my, the monsters must have scared you so badly that you lost your voice.
Do not worry.
Our village has the best healers.
However, they only take care of those in the ranks of heroes.
If you wish to receive their treatment, you will need to become an Apprentice Hero first.”
“Ah, so, you want to know how to become an Apprentice Hero?
Simple.
You just need to go to the Hero Recruitment Hall by the entrance of the Village Square.
The instructors there are always willing to recruit anyone who wants to step onto the path of heroes.”
Worried that the little girl would not understand her meaning, the apprentice healer added, “Please remember, they will only recruit you into the ranks of heroes if you can walk without assistance from any person or object.”
“However, you can take your time practicing here with the wooden crutches.
Once you are ready, you can proceed to the Hero Recruitment Hall.”
[Main Quest: The Road to Recruitment]
[The Sage of Wisdom has arranged a chance for you to begin your journey.
The Hero Recruitment Hall now awaits you by the entrance of the Village Square.
Unfortunately, your injuries have left your legs weak.
Train diligently and grow strong enough to reach the hall on your own without the use of wooden crutches.]
[Objective:
□ Improve your hero attributes.
□ Learn to stand steadily.
□ Learn to walk safely.
□ Reach the Hero Recruitment Hall and register.]
[Distance: 5 meters]
[Reward:
• Rank promotion to Apprentice Hero
• Access to training grounds
• Additional material bonus rewards]
Alice: Why did she feel like the last reward had been added rather vaguely?
In any case, she definitely would not be able to walk five meters on her own today.
The main quest would have to wait.
If Alice had to walk to the Village Square entrance without using the wooden crutches right now, it would be simply impossible.
Just take a look at her status window, where the numbers were depressingly low.
Alice must practice walking first and maintain balance.
Then, as if hearing her thoughts—
Ding!
Rewards: hero attributes]
No wonder the apprentice healer came to Alice this time, since she would be the one assisting Alice throughout the daily quests today.
But isn’t this daily quest too easy?
Alice thought.
What followed was the journey of a turtle trying to stand on its two hind feet.
Fortunately, it was achievable with the help of the apprentice healer and much easier compared to yesterday.
Alice felt her body getting slightly warmer, indicating that the nanofluid was at work again.
When Alice finally stood up tremblingly for the nth time without toppling down, the prompt of the daily quest rewards finally lifted Alice’s spirits.
[Mobility +1]
[Balance +1]
Alice’s eyes lit up.
Although she had just seen her status window earlier, she could not help but call out again in her mind to see her stats.
[Name: Alice]
[Rank: Civilian]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 11 / 100]
[Initial Hero Attributes]
[Vitality: 4 “How healthy your body is”]
[Mobility: 2 “How well you can travel”]
[Balance: 2 “How well you can stay on your feet”]
[Endurance: 1 “How long you can keep going”]
[Coordination: 1 “How smoothly you move”]
It really did change, Alice thought in wonder.
Like a placebo effect, she suddenly felt as if she indeed could move and balance herself a little better.
Unbeknownst to her, Alice was finally experiencing the greatest selling point of the AR rehabilitation program—the immersion at a psychological level.
[Daily Quest (2/3): Maintain standing posture for 30 seconds.
Rewards: hero attributes]
Unlike the first daily quest, where the apprentice healer helped her stand up, this act of standing by herself was actually much more difficult because Alice was no longer supported by the apprentice healer during the entire thirty seconds.
Because of her legs that felt almost boneless, Alice failed several times before finally completing it.
Fortunately, the apprentice healer was always ready to catch her before she could fall.
The reward was an attribute point that increased her balance attribute.
[Daily Quest (3/3): Walk 5 meters with assistance from the apprentice healer.]
Good, the apprentice healer will help.
I shouldn’t look so miserable later.
Again, Alice thought that with the help of the apprentice healer, things would be easy.
She had been able to walk to the entrance yesterday in the same way despite her powerless legs, what more now that Alice had much better conditions?
But apparently, the assistance from yesterday had been a one-time benefit, vastly different from the assistance offered today.
Alice stared at the apprentice healer blankly, and the apprentice healer smiled back.
“I heard from the guards yesterday that they helped you walk to the gate.
That’s an exception in an emergency to avoid the monsters, you see.”
Unable to refute, Alice gritted her teeth and moved her legs, while the apprentice healer simply acted as something for Alice to hold onto for support.
What ‘leg has gotten stronger,’ what increase in attribute, all nonsense!
Her legs were still made of jelly.
Yet undeniably, today her legs were a firmer piece of jelly.
This third daily quest went on for a long time.
They even had to stop and rest, eat their lunch first, before continuing with the unfinished quest.
“Young hero, there’s only one meter left.”
“Young hero, you are almost there.”
“Young hero, just a few more steps.”
Finally—
[Daily Quest (3/3) completed.]
[Mobility +1]
[Vitality +1]
[Balance +1]
Alice collapsed onto the straw mattress, exhausted and weak.
Fortunately, she was not so exhausted that she fell asleep, or else she would have wasted the bonus reward that showed up at last.
[All Daily Quests completed.
Reward: A sumptuous dinner prepared by the village chef.]
Delicious dinner, the bonus reward!
The dull eyes of the wilted Alice lying face down on the bed suddenly shone with brilliance, and she was revived.
She turned her head sideways to stare at the apprentice healer, who was busy wiping her back with warm water.
Alice was very hungry and wanted to eat.
The apprentice healer did not understand the little girl’s signals, but once she finished changing Alice’s clothes, she picked up the empty food box and dirty laundry, then stood up.
“Rest well for a bit.
Dinner is currently being prepared.
The village chief recognized your efforts to become an Apprentice Hero, so he asked the village chef to cook you some delicious food.”
Alice was inwardly happy again, and finally feeling a little more energetic, she called out in her mind.
Status window.
[Name: Alice]
[Rank: Civilian]
[Level: 1]
[Health: 9 / 100]
[Initial Hero Attributes]
[Vitality: 5 “How healthy your body is”]
[Mobility: 2 “How well you can travel”]
[Balance: 3 “How well you can stay on your feet”]
[Endurance: 2 “How long you can keep going”]
[Coordination: 1 “How smoothly you move”]
Alice stared happily at the increased values.
They were not much, but it showed her improvement.
Hmm?
She finally noticed something.
When she first saw the health points, it was clearly 12, but now it was 9.
Why was it lowered now?
System.
The flying little girl appeared again, and Alice asked the same question.
[The health points on your status window represent your overall body condition at the moment.
The better your body’s current conditions are, the higher your health points will be.
If you take damage, deplete your stamina, or feel unwell, the health points will decrease.]
So what happens if it falls to zero?
[Technically, young hero, it means you died.]
Alice: …
She remembered that Dr.
Mark said that this game was child-friendly.
It should not come to that point, right?
[Rest assured, young hero, it will not reach that point.
The Hero Training is focused on allowing you to grow stronger in a safe environment.]
Well, thank you, I guess.
Later, Alice forgot everything and poured all her attention on the sumptuous dinner delivered to her mossy cave.
She happily ate creamy pumpkin and shredded chicken soup, salmon in herbs and lemon, pesto mashed potatoes, and banana-oat yogurt pudding for dinner.
Delicious, gentle on the stomach, and highly nutritious, these words came from the Village Chef, whom Alice recognized as Vitto in a costume.
After drinking a glass of banana-milk smoothie, Alice felt that even if she needed to do all the exercises again a few more times, just for this delicious food alone, it was worth it.
It helps me a lot.