“I’m finally back at Clossbay.” Letting out a long sigh of relief, Valyr directed his attention to the walls that had appeared in his field of vision, which gradually grew larger with every passing second.
Though the boredom he felt during the past three days was alleviated thanks to him gaining access to the World Net, and the fact that adding a third steed to the carriage reduced his travel time by a day, there was a part of him that wondered if it was possible for him to reduce the time it took to travel between settlements any further.
Whether this was due to the fact that he felt like he could’ve used the time it took for him to get to Clossbay on interacting with the players, or whether it was due to the fact Valyr had recalled all of the creature comforts he had taken for granted in his past life after gaining access to the World Net, Valyr was uncertain.
However, he did know that he had the power to answer the question, having more than enough Technology Points to progress through the Innovation branch of the Technology Tree, which would give him access to the various pieces of technology that made up the creature comforts he came to know and love in his previous life.
Though, once he thought about it, he could not help but bitterly smile. After all, unlocking the knowledge that would allow him to create the technology was one thing, making it a reality was another. Nevertheless, it was a good enough reason for him to continue unlocking more of the Technology Tree, as well as recall the function the accessory around his neck contained.
With that, he made a mental note to unlock more advancements on the Technology Tree, as well as use the necklace’s ability once he had settled down in Clossbay City, eventually arriving at the city gates around half an hour later.
After being guided by one of the city guards to the area designated for carriages that came from outside the city, Valyr eventually hopped off the carriage, tossing a silver coin to the one of the people that took care of the carriages while the owners were away. Receiving a thanks in response to the kind gesture, Valyr lightly smiled in response before walking through the streets of Clossbay City, arriving at a modestly sized restaurant a few minutes later.
Recalling that he had not eaten breakfast earlier in the day, he took note of the sun’s current position, eventually deciding to order a hearty meal that would serve as his breakfast and lunch while one of the waiters came up and took his order.
While waiting for his meal to arrive, he went ahead and sent a message to Tryndall through the chat function, informing the latter that he had already arrived at Clossbay, as well as giving him information on where he was currently located.
Obtaining a response from Tryndall that he would be on his way, Valyr went ahead and closed the screen before him, letting out a light sigh of relief before continuing to wait for the meal to arrive once more. At some point, Valyr opened up a small screen on the side, allowing him to view the progress the players had made, specifically the ones that had appeared in Clossbay City for the beta version.
Surprisingly, within the span of three days, all of the players in Clossbay City had already reached the halfway point to ascending to Rank 1, with all of them kitted out in Common grade equipment that Valyr presumed was all enhanced to Level 5. Finding the rate of progress the players had made quite interesting when compared to his own speed, he then redirected his attention to the livestreams of the Five Leviathans, wondering how they were faring during the beta.
Unsurprisingly, the Five Leviathans were faring far better than the ones in Clossbay City, with their level and equipment surpassing all of the players in the other cities in general.
“As expected of the Five Leviathans.” While Valyr continued to watch the Five Leviathans’ livestreams, he took note of their progress. Within three days, they were able to raise their levels to either Level 7 or 8, with their Common grade armor sets being upgraded to that level as well.
Then again, what surprised him the most was the fact that a couple of the Five Leviathans had gotten their hands on Common+ grade weapons, showing the importance of higher grade equipment in the early stages of the game during the experience grinding sessions the Five Leviathans underwent through from time to time.
Returning his attention to the livestreams of those that had appeared in Clossbay City, Valyr could not help but take note that, unlike the NPCs, players did not have the need to sleep at all. Of course, he took into consideration the time difference that existed between the world of Greater Beyond and Earth, as well as the fact that some of the players would disappear from the world from time to time. Nevertheless, his thoughts still rang true.
“I guess it’s the fact that all of them truly treat the world of Greater Beyond as a game.” It did not take a long time for Valyr to find out the reason why, having experienced the game from the perspective of a player in his previous life. “Then again, most, if not all of the players that are part of the beta version revolve their lives around VRMMORPGs, treating the game as a job. If I were to compare their productivity to, say, casual players, then the latter would be more or less similar to us NPCs.”𝒪𝚟𝐿𝐞xt.𝒞𝑂𝐌
Just as Valyr muttered out his thoughts, the waiter that had taken his order earlier had finally arrived with the food, placing all of them in front of Valyr as the latter closed the livestream he had been watching. Coincidentally, a familiar man had appeared just as he was about to dig into his food, causing a light smile to appear on his face as he placed the utensils he had picked up to the side.
“So, did you take care of all the business you had back at Astarto Village?” Noticing that Valyr was just about to eat his meal, Tryndall lightly chuckled as he told the former to go ahead, seating himself opposite Valyr as he ordered a light meal for himself.
“Yeah. It’s more or less resolved now.” In response to the question, Valyr lightly nodded, only opening his mouth once he had chewed his food thoroughly. “But enough of me for now. How’s progress on the quest?”
“Well, let’s just say that the suggestion you gave me back then finally allowed me to make headroom once more.” Tryndall lightly smiled. “Once the scope of possible suspects was expanded to include those at the Rank 1, we’ve actually found a few people that have classes and skills that closely match the abilities of the Clossbay Killer.”
Hearing Tryndall’s words, Valyr’s interest was naturally piqued, prompting him to stop eating for a while as he reminded Tryndall that the two of them were in an open area. Then, with a hushed tone, he asked the man before him the question he wanted to know the answer to. “Is that so? How many of them do we have to keep track of?”
“At first, it used to be a few dozen. Though, thanks to the help of the Adventurer’s Guild, I’ve reduced that down to a more workable number.” Listening to Tryndall’s words, Valyr could only nod in response. Though, once he heard the number that came out of the former’s mouth, Valyr’s mouth went slightly agape, being left at a slight loss for words.
“At the moment…”
“There’s a high chance that one of the five people out of all the suspects I’ve taken note of so far is, in fact, the Clossbay Killer.”