There once was an arrogant and carefree prince who did whatever he wanted. He lived a life not caring for others until one day, a wizard turned him into a frog with the condition that he would only turn back with a kiss of true love.  

At the same time, there once was a princess who had a lovely ball. She loved playing with the ball and did so every day at the edge of a pond. One day a terrible wind blew the ball away. Distraught, the princess exclaimed that she would do anything to get her precious ball back. 

Upon hearing her request, the prince turned frog poked his head above the water and proclaimed that he would retrieve her ball. On one condition: That he could come with her to her palace home and sleep on her pillow and eat her food. Once the frog prince retrieved her ball the princess vanished, forgetting to honor their deal. 

The princess continued to live her life, waiting to be married off to a prince of a foreign nation. On the other hand, the frog prince persisted on honoring their deal and would turn up at her room at midnight every day. One day, the princess relented. She thought that by the light of dawn the frog would be gone. He was not. He continued this process for days. And eventually, days turned into weeks, then into months and then a year had passed. 

Eventually, the princess grew fond of the frog. She found him witty and charming. She would dream of what it would be like if he was a prince. The day finally came when she was to be married off to the prince of a foreign land. 

‘I don’t love him!’ She cried to the frog. Gone were days of playing with a ball by the pond. Gone were the days of picking flowers in the garden. Gone were the days of riding her pony along the palace grounds. Now was the time to become an adult. ‘Please help me.’ She pleaded to the frog, knowing that he could not save her.

He made one more request to her. 

If she would kiss him, then he would come to the day of her wedding and become the prince that she always dreamed of. 

And so she did.

But nothing happened. The frog prince was puzzled. Angry, and believing that he used her for his own pleasure, the princess told the princely frog to never return. 

He didn’t.

In the final moments of her wedding, the princess still had hope in her heart. She hoped and prayed that the frog would return as he promised and become the prince of her dreams. But as the bell chimed and her new husband turned to kiss her, the princess lost all hope. 

And then the door flew open. 

Standing there, dressed in regal garb and proclaiming her name, was the prince she had seen in her dreams. She quickly ran to him and the two of them ran. They ran far away from the befuddled and angry crowd. They ran away from the furious foreign prince. They ran away from all their troubles. 

“KIDS! It’s time for Dinner!”

Minjoo smiled and closed the book as all of the kids sitting down around her stood up and ran towards the large pavilion in the center of the village. She wiped away the dust that accumulated on her robes and stretched out her legs. The book in her hand glowed and the symbol on the cover morphed from an omega symbol to a 5-pointed star. For a moment, Minjoo waited for something to happen.

Nothing.

With a sigh, Minjoo stood up. She grabbed her satchel off of the log she was sitting on and made her way towards the local tavern. In the real world, she was underage. But in Oroboros, none of that mattered. Minjoo entered the tavern and waved at the bartender. She found a seat by the back entrance and placed her satchel on it before heading towards the counter.

“Just some ale. As usual.” She told the bartender. With a nod, the bartender slouched under the counter and handed over a large flask of ale. After thanking the bartender, Minjoo went back to her seat. Once seated, Minjoo reached for the glowing book and set it down onto the table. 

Another sigh passed through Minjoo’s lips. 

“Stupid book.” She muttered under her breath and was about to put it back into her satchel. The book then glowed and momentarily shocked her. The hairs on Minjoo’s arms stood up as a light surge of electricity went down her spine. An exasperated expression appeared on her face as the image on the book’s cover morphed once more. This time, into a smug smile symbol. For a moment, Minjoo thought just leaving the book behind for some other poor soul to be tortured by. And then the smiling symbol changed to a wagging finger. Minjoo felt her eye twitch. 

Once she had finished her drink Minjoo gathered her things and tossed a gold coin onto the counter. For some reason, alcohol had no effect on her bodily functions. Something that Minjoo would never have known had she not been found in a desert, so thirsty that she would down two entire bottles of wine. She gave the bartender a smile before exiting the tavern. 

A group of kids sprinted past her and towards the nearby forest. Minjoo gave them a friendly wave and headed towards the village center. There the villagers were getting ready for a festival dedicated to the gods of the land. They were surprisingly tolerant of those that didn’t follow their religion. Minjoo thought that was rather nice. But the vibrating and glowing book in her bag thought otherwise. 

The village doctor spotted Minjoo standing off to the side and waved her towards them. If Minjoo’s game knowledge was right, then the village she was in was the beginner village that all newly created characters arrived in. And if she remembered correctly, this very same doctor was the one to give your first quest. Of course, Yena-unnie would probably scoff and correct her. The doctor smiled at Minjoo and handed her a small pink orb.

“Take it.” He said. “For the pain in your head. If you need any more of those feel free to see me. This one is on the house though, so if you want more you’ll need to pay for them.” Minjoo and popped the orb into . Unlike the pills that she had to take in real life for her chronic colds, the orb dissolved instantly. Instantly the constant migraine that had been plaguing her ever since she arrived turned into a dull throb. 

“Thank you very much.”

“No problem.” The doctor sighed and sat down on a crate. “We need more people like you, so giving you something to ease your pain is the least that I can do.” 

“People like me?” 

He chuckled. “Yes. Heroes. Adventurers. A long time ago, there must’ve been thousands of your kind all over the world. But that was a worse time to live for people like me.” There was a twinkle in his eyes. “An age of monsters and demons. The era of constant war and suffering. I’m very glad that it’s all behind us now.”

“You speak as if you lived through it.” He chuckled again and crossed his legs. “But that isn’t that far from the truth is it?”

“Not at all young lady.” He reached into one of the many pouches strapped to his person and pulled out a small medallion. “I’ve lived a long life. Long enough to have gotten this medallion as a gift from this village’s only hero. And I’m going to give this to you.”

Minjoo’s eyes widened to the size of saucer plates. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” She said, all the while holding her hands out to receive the medallion. The doctor laughed heartily. 

“My dear, this medallion belongs to a hero. Not a doctor.” He closed her hands and walked her over to the stables where a white mare was saddled up. “Here. A hero needs a powerful, loyal and reliable steed.”

“But I don’t know where to go.” Minjoo sputtered out in between thanking the doctor and the stable master. 

“The medallion will tell you where to go. As will the Book of Truth.” The doctor let out one last laugh upon seeing Minjoo’s face. “Don’t be surprised. The Book of Truth is something that everyone on this planet will know they are in the presence of. They will guide you. I have a feeling you will need them in the future.” He helped Minjoo onto the horse and gave it a pat on the . Immediately the horse began to trot forward. The stable master held the reins. Once they had made it past the town gates, he handed the reins off to Minjoo.

Minjoo closed her eyes and bade the horse to gallop. Once she was far enough from the town, she let out a loud groan. The medallion sat snugly in the corner of her satchel, smothered by the continually glowing Book of Truth. Her eyebrows twitched at the thought of that book. 

It was the cause of all her problems. The sole reason why she was in this mess in the first place. 

And it also helped her out when she needed it most.

Because when Minjoo arrived in Oroboros, she wasn’t in the desert. At least not right away. Rather, she was above the desert. Over 2 kilometers above the desert. And falling. At terminal velocity. Nearly unconscious. 

As she was falling, the stupid glowing book flew out of her satchel and spoke to her.

Wake up you dumb frog! I don’t want my first owner to die so quickly! Sheesh. I’ll do this for you once. But you’ll have to figure everything else out by yourself. 

And that was the only time that the book spoke since. Minjoo didn’t remember what happened after the book spoke. Only that there was a bright flash of light and the next thing that Minjoo knew, she was half-buried in a dune, being slobbered on by a camel. 

Now she was being told to be a hero. Whatever that meant. Really, all Minjoo wanted to do was find someone she knew. She remembered that all three of her childhood friends were paralyzed just like she was. So the same thing must have happened to them. If there was anyone out of the three of them that Minjoo wanted to find first, it was Hyewon. It wasn’t that Yena or Sakura were bad choices, it was that Hyewon could probably protect Minjoo better than the other two.

Hours had passed and all Minjoo had seen were trees. There was the occasional messenger galloping by her, but other than them, the roads were empty. Minjoo scratched her head and looked all around her. There were barely any creatures in the forest. Only a few wolves here and there. And even then they looked alarmingly malnourished. 

Minjoo had made it to a crossroads. Literally. She looked at the sign and then the fork in the road. If she were to continue to go forward she would eventually reach the city of Flaremont. It was the city closest to the final Raid Boss. Should Minjoo go west, she would reach the city of Starmont. The largest city in the game and the central hub. It was where all the guildhalls were and where the weekly tournaments were held. It was also where the conflict driving the story of the game began.

And finally, if Minjoo were to go North-west, she would fi