The message flashed in front of Takeru's eyes as he was still enveloped in darkness. After a few moments, the message disappeared, and after a brief flash of light, he found himself standing in the middle of an open air plaza. Around the plaza are buildings made from bricks reminiscent of ancient European cities, and roads made of cobblestone surround the plaza, with large roads leading away from the plaza before branching into smaller streets. 

Scanning the buildings around, Takeru found a few buildings that looked significantly different from the others, and he approached them one by one in order to find more information.

The first building is built mainly from wood, as opposed to the other buildings that are built from bricks. A large signboard that said "Mission Center" was attached to the top of the door frame, and numerous other players went in and out at a high frequency and volume. Takeru gazed in wonder as players entered and exited the building seemingly far more than the building could contain. Feeling intrigued, Takeru entered the building, and was surprised at the sight once he was inside.

He found himself inside a wide hall, with the players gathering in front of a huge board where numerous papers were attached. Beside the board, people that look like receptionists lined up in front of a long countertop, some interacting with players while others remained idle. Seeing one of the receptionists standing idly, Takeru immediately approached her, and once Takeru was standing in front of the countertop, the receptionist sprung to life.

"Hello, Takemiya. My name is Grace, and I will be assisting you this time. Is there anything you need?"

"Actually, I was wondering about what I can do in the mission center. Would you mind giving me a short explanation?"

"Most certainly. Here in the mission center, as the name implies, you can accept various missions from both NPCs and other players. You can accept the mission from either the mission board over there, or by talking with one of the receptionists here, like you are doing now.

"To accept a mission from the mission board, you can simply tear off the paper containing the mission, and the details will be explained to you via a pop-up window. You can then choose to either accept or refuse the mission. Should you choose to accept, the paper will be added to your inventory, and the mission will be logged in your 'missions' tab on the menu. Should you choose to refuse the mission, the paper will disintegrate from your hand and it will be instantly reposted on the mission board. 

"To accept a mission from a receptionist, you will have to interact with one of the available receptionist. The main difference between accepting from the board and the receptionist is that should you choose to ask for mission from the receptionist, we will offer you choices of missions that are curated based on your level, job, stats, and various other considerations. You can also request specific quests, and we will try our best to oblige based on the available missions. You can then choose to accept or reject the mission that we offer, as well as request for other missions if you are not satisified with the options we give you. You can also ask for more information regarding the mission from a receptionist if you want, or you can consult the general information from the encyclopaedia beside the mission board.

"For missions taken from the mission center, once you've successfully completed your mission, feel free to interact with a receptionist in order to submit your mission paper so that you can receive your mission clear reward. Please note that some missions have a deadline, and missing the deadline will constitute as failing the mission. Failing a mission by missing the deadline, not meeting the completion requirement, or by withdrawing or abandoning the mission will incur a penalty, so please take care when accepting missions. Please remember that a mission from the mission center is considered a success when and only when you submit the mission paper to the center. To make it easier for the players, you can submit missions from mission centers from other towns instead of being limited to the town you accept the mission from. That would be everything regarding the basic information of mission centers. Do you have any other questions?"

Takeru thought for a little bit before replying,

"Actually, there is. From the way you spoke, it seems that players can work as receptionist as well. Is that correct?"

The receptionist smiled before answering.

"Yes, that is correct. As a matter of fact, some of the receptionists here today are players. However, whether or not they will disclose their status as a player is up to their own discretion. Please note that any attempt to coerce information or... forcefully soliciting companionship... will result in a penalty depending on the severity of the violation. Should you aim to improve your organizational and administrations skill, working as a receptionist could be a great way to train. Would you like to apply to work here, Takemiya?"

"No, thank you. In that case, can you show me some missions that is related to cooking?"

"Cooking, is it? Would you like missions with realism turned on?"

"It would be ideal if there are any."

"Understood. Please wait for a moment... My apologies, Takemiya, but the only mission I can give you right now is this one," The receptionist said as she put a sheet of paper on top of the counter. Takemiya took the paper, and the detail window popped up, showing the details.

"It seemed that you have never actually cooked in game before, so the system is unable to evaluate your skills. This ended up blocking you from almost all of the available missions, and the ones available are mostly missions where you will end up doing something for the first time in game. For now, let me explain the details of this mission.

"This mission takes place in Divega's diner, located a little distance away from the plaza. Considering that this mission is a system-generated mission geared towards new players, the characters involved will all be NPCs. For this mission, you are to go to Divega's diner, where you can find and interact with Divega, the owner of the diner. You will then be prompted to create a dish of your choosing using ingredients available there, with Divega being the judge for your completed dish. Should you fail to meet a minimum requirement set by Divega, you will have to pay the penalty, which in this case is the price for the ingredients that you used for cooking the dish. 

"Should you succeed, Divega will provide you with details for further missions, and although unconfirmed, some said that passing a certain grade will enable you to work at his diner, so do your best for the mission. Of course, after Divega finished evaluating the dish, a proficiency for cooking will be added to your status, with the value depending on the result of the evaluation." 

"Proficiency?" Takeru asked, looking a bit confused.

"Yes. This is something that is not included in the tutorial, so I will explain the basics here for you. In this game, there is a mechanic called proficiency, which, as the name suggests, details your proficiency with a certain activity or equipment. Unlike the others, proficiency is unique since your real world knowledge can affect your proficiency level, and the value will increase or decrease in accordance to your performance in game. The higher your proficiency is, the easier it is to perform certain skills, or to create certain items. You may also find at times that the cost for activating a spell or a skill will decrease as your proficiency increases. Some missions will also make it necessary for you to reach a certain level of proficiency before being available for you, and high level missions may need you to be proficient in several fields or equipments.

"In cooking, at least as far as I can confirm, higher proficiency will give the food you create higher bonuses. You will also be able to purchase a plot of land and open your own restaurant with full freedom to arrange the menu and the price later on. While dealing with NPCs, high proficiency in cooking may sometimes cause NPCs to give a mission regarding cooking for you, or give you permanent or temporary discounts when you shop for raw ingredients. So, would you like to accept the Divega's Diner mission?"

"Yes, please. On that note, can you tell me how to get there?"

"Most certainly," The receptionist replied while touching a few buttons on the pop-up window on her end. On his end, a pop-up window emerged in front of Takeru's eyes, notifying him that an active mission had been added to his mission log.

"The mission Divega's Diner is now active and had been added to your mission log. In order to reach Divega's diner, after you go out of this building, take the main road heading north. Divega's diner is located in the second intersection on your left-hand side if you are travelling from the plaza. Once you've found the diner, you can bookmark the location on your map so you can have an easier time finding the place from the next time onwards. Is there any question?"

"Go north, left-hand side on the second intersection from the plaza, is it? Thank you very much!" Takeru replied, turning back and exiting the building with vigor.

The receptionist's eyes were glued to Takeru as he made his way out of the building. Once he had left, she breathed out a sigh, and retreated from the counter to the staff room located behind the reception area. Once inside, she sat down on one of the sofas, and gazed on the ceiling absent-mindedly. 

"Tired?" One of the other players working as a receptionist asked her.

"No, it's just..." The receptionist assisting Takeru replied, still glancing at the ceiling while relaxing her body. "No, never mind. Must be just a coincidence, but his name is similar to the name of someone I know in real life."

"Oh, really? An old interest of yours?"

"..." She didn't answer, and simply let her gaze hang around the ceiling for a little bit more.

"This must be it," Takeru mumbled while gazing at a signboard that says "Divega's diner". Steeling himself, he opened the door, and stepped in to the diner. Contrary to his beliefs, a silent yet serene atmosphere welcomed him as he stepped in. The interior exuded a bright and warm feeling, making Takeru feel as if he was invited to sit down and relax at his own pace. The only thing out of place is the absence of life inside the store, with no one in the serving area nor sitting on one of the many available tables.

"Excuse me, is anybody here?" Takeru raised his voice as he spoke towards what he assumed to be a kitchen. As soon as he said that, the door opened and a middle-aged man wearing white clothing and an apron came out.

"Hear ye, boy! What can I do fer ye?"

Takeru was taken aback a little bit by the way he spoke, before remembering what he came here to do.

"Excuse me, mister Divega? I'm here to-" 

"Yes, yes, ye want to take the test, right? Come on right in!" Divega replied while heading back through the door.  Takeru quickly followed suit and entered the kitchen, upon which he was greeted with a surprising sight.