[Player Liam has successfully established the first civilization and successfully guided it through its early developmental stage.]
[Developmental Stage successfully completed.]
[The Tutorial has officially ended.]
[Player Liam has been awarded: Short-Term Physical Manifestation.]
[Short-Term Physical Manifestation: Allows the player to temporarily manifest a physical body and physically interact with the world for a limited duration.]
[Player Liam has also been awarded: Player Interaction.]
[Player Interaction: Allows the player to communicate with other players within a radius of 10 light-years.]
Liam stared at the notifications that appeared one after another, his attention constantly shifting between them as he tried to process everything that had suddenly been thrown at him. "That’s so many things going on at once... This feels like déjà vu." He rubbed his nonexistent chin while looking through the rewards. "Let’s see what the rewards are..."
His eyes immediately settled on the first ability.
"Physical Manifestation, nice. I can finally interact with the world without using Consciousness Override."
Liam was already imagining the possibilities when his attention moved toward the second reward, causing his expression to change almost immediately.
"Wait, what?! Player Interaction? Is that some kind of messenger?"
[Correction. Player Interaction is a chat room.]
[Based on the player’s current location, there are currently eight distinct players within the 10-light-year communication radius.]
Liam froze. "Eight?"
The word lingered in his mind as he stared at the system notification. For so long, he had been completely alone. He had spent an absurd amount of time observing life, watching generations pass, yet throughout all of it, he had never once spoken to another person who actually understood what it meant to be a player.
"Shit..." Liam suddenly felt nervous.
"I’m feeling nervous just by the thought of talking to another human again." He tried to remember the last time he had actually held a normal conversation with someone from Earth, but after everything he had experienced, the memories had become strangely distant. "How many years has it been since I’ve actually talked to another human? I’m honestly so lost..."
He shook his head before looking back toward the system interface.
"Anyways, this chatroom is just a system UI, huh?"
Liam activated Player Interaction, and almost immediately, a translucent screen appeared before him. The interface was surprisingly simple, resembling the messaging applications he remembered from Earth.
[PLAYER INTERACTION]
[Please add a nickname before joining.]
Liam stared at the empty space for a few seconds before remembering the username he had always used back on Earth.
"RedRings."
He entered the name.
[RedRings has joined the message.]
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, almost immediately, three small dots appeared beneath the chat interface. Someone was typing.
Liam’s entire consciousness jolted.
"SHT! SHT! SHT! SOMEONE IS TYPING!"
He stared at the three dots as though they were some terrifying monster preparing to emerge from the screen. The dots disappeared for a moment before appearing again, indicating that whoever was on the other side was still writing.
Then a message finally appeared.
Dr. Diagnosis: Ohh... another player had joined. So this makes us two now.
Liam stared at the message.
Someone had actually talked to him. For some reason, the simple act of replying suddenly felt far more stressful than Liam had expected. The imaginary cursor remained over the chat box while he hesitated, completely unsure about what he should even say. Should he introduce himself? Should he ask how long they had been a player? There were so many possibilities that Liam somehow became even more nervous.
He remained silent for several seconds before finally muttering to himself.
"This shit is so stressful... More stressful than when I lost my virginity to some hookers back on Earth."
Liam immediately regretted the thought.
"Fuck..."
After so many years of isolation, with nothing but the system’s voice accompanying him and preventing his mind from completely deteriorating, Liam had finally encountered someone who was relatively similar to him.
For years, he had been surrounded by nothing but the endless development of his planet, watching creatures live and die while he remained an unseen observer above them. Now, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, there was someone on the other side of the screen who could actually understand what he had experienced.
Liam finally gave in and began typing.
"How much are you?"
It was a simple message, and in Liam’s mind, it had sounded perfectly logical. He stared at the sentence for several seconds after sending it, waiting for a response before suddenly realizing what he had actually written.
"FUCKKK! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ’HOW MUCH ARE YOU?!’"
Liam’s consciousness practically exploded from embarrassment.
"Oh my God, I could actually explode from embarrassment."
The system remained silent for a moment before suddenly displaying another notification.
[Does the player wish to commit suicide?]
"NO! NO! NO! I DON’T!" Liam immediately panicked.
"What is happening?! Why did I even say that?!"
He stared at the chat screen again, desperately wishing he could somehow retract the message. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and the words remained there for the other player to see.
Liam could only stare at the screen in complete despair, realizing that after waiting thousands of years to finally communicate with another human, his first interaction had already become one of the most embarrassing moments of his existence.
Dr. Diagnosis: What do you mean lol
RedRings: Must have been a bug. I actually meant, "How are you?"
Liam squinted at the screen as he typed, as if somehow narrowing his eyes could make the embarrassment disappear. He reread the message several times before finally sending it, silently praying that the other player would simply accept the excuse and move on.
Dr. Diagnosis: Oh, is that so... Anyways, did you also get this feature after having your first civilization?
To Liam’s surprise, the player he was talking to was much chiller than he had expected. There was no teasing, no awkward questioning, and apparently no interest in bringing up his embarrassing mistake from moments ago. Instead, Dr. Diagnosis simply continued the conversation as though nothing strange had happened.