Approaching the capsule curiously, it didn’t take him long to realize that it was indeed the same capsule he had received yesterday. Putting his hand on the glass, it quickly recognized him and opened the door.
“Wow… The fact they were able to get into my apartment, take the capsule, and mount it on the plane this quickly is a little… terrifying.” Arthur muttered with a frown. ‘What the hell is wrong with this company? Are they hiding some kind of wizards within their working force?’
So far, Arthur has only two direct interactions with someone from Divinity Corp, and each time, he is shocked beyond words. They were doing things in such an unorthodox way that he could only find himself wondering how they were able to do it.
“Well, if they brought it here, then that means I can use it, no?” Arthur rubbed the back of his head before he looked over his shoulder. “Oh well, time to play then.”
Saying that, he sat in the capsule and closed the door. Immediately, he lost consciousness, and his mind was sent into the game world. In a few seconds, the boy found himself floating in the sky above a massive forest that stretched far and wide.
Then, before he could even react, his body suddenly shot down to the ground like a meteor, landing in the heart of the village gently like a leaf being carried by the wind to where it was going.
“Woah! Haha, that was cool!” He muttered as he looked at his body. He was now clad in the same clothes he had in the game. After making sure he was moving properly, he headed toward Nina’s workshop to see if she already sold the skin.
‘Then, I think I’m going to go out and hunt and level up even more. I don’t know if I will be able to level up fast enough considering that I’m almost at level 10 now. But, maybe if I go deeper into the forest, stronger enemies will show up.’
As he was contemplating his next moves, he found himself standing in front of the shop. The time was early in the morning and the village was bustling with players as usual. Most of them took a few days off to play the game continuously.
Arthur assumed that the activity would slowly accumulate in particular hours of the day when everyone wasn’t either working or studying. But, till that happens, the game will be bustling with players all day long.
Opening the door, Arthur walked inside the shop. There, he found the old man Miro sitting in the same position he had left him the day before. He was reading a piece of paper seemingly very focused on it.
When Arthur walked in, he put down the paper and looked at him.
“Hey, old man Miro.” Arthur greeted him. “Is Nina here?”
“…” The old man squinted his eyes before he shook his head. “She’s still asleep.”
“Oh, did she sell the skin I gave her?” The boy asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
The man went silent for a few seconds staring at Arthur with a strong stare. The boy could only awkwardly stand there, waiting for him to speak. ‘Why is this man always grumpy? Does he have no other expressions or is his face frozen in that state forever?’ He mused.
Miro seemed like a rigid, serious man who didn’t like any nonsense or jokes. Arthur was never good when dealing with that type of person since he was naturally a sarcastic person who liked to joke even in the worst possible situations. It was his way of coping with whatever he was dealing with.
Many thought that he was simply insane because he was never actually serious. But, in reality, Arthur was simply trying to bear that pressure using his crude humor. It made many people avoid him, but he didn’t care at all. The world was never nice, so why would he pretend he is?
As he was like that, the old man moved his hand beneath the counter and pulled out a pouch before throwing it to Arthur. The boy caught the pouch with one hand only to realize that it was quite heavy.
“Hm? How much did that skin go for?” He asked.
“85 Silvers and 50 Coppers.”
“So expensive!” Arthur blurted out as he opened the couch. Expectedly, there was a huge pile of coins inside. The pile reached the tip of the pouch and was threatening to explode outside.
‘This has to be a lot of money. Damn, I’m definitely buying something with this. Maybe armor.’ He thought to himself.
So far, Arthur had almost 100 silvers which was supposedly a lot of money. Granted, 100 silvers is only 1 gold coin but that only made him believe the gold coin was simply that valuable.
‘Haha, I can’t wait to become filthy rich in the game. Hunting down stronger monsters and selling their stuff would definitely make me a lot of money and then I can convert that money into real-world money. Instantly become rich!’
“Can I repay her in some way? This is really helpful!”
“Don’t worry about it. She won’t take anything from you.” Miro replied.
“… Why?”
“Because she wanted to do it. That girl doesn’t usually extend a helping hand to everyone, but she did want to help you. Consider it her courtesy.” He replied.
“If you say so,” Arthur muttered. “Well, if she needs anything, she can tell me. I’m going to be around the village for some time.” He said as he turned around to leave. At that moment, Miro stopped him.
“However, can I request something from you? It’s something that girl wishes to ask from you but can’t build up the courage to do so.” He said.
“What is it?”
“When you’re about to leave this village. I want you to visit this shop one last time. I will tell you then what it is.” The old man said as he picked up the piece of paper and started reading again.
Arthur squinted his eyes before he turned around. “What kind of request should I expect?”
“Something that is… Dangerous, but if you can do it, I am certain the reward would be desirable to you.”
‘Dangerous, huh? I can smell a secret quest from a mile away. How did I trigger this one, though? I didn’t do anything special.’ Licking his lips, Arthur nodded his head. “Understood, I will remember to pay you a visit when I’m about to leave. see you later then.”
After that, the boy left the shop and headed to the exit of the village. “A dangerous request, huh? But, why wait for when I’m about to leave? Wouldn’t he want me to do it now? Or maybe is it something that requires me to leave the village and go somewhere far away? Ugh, that’s confusing.’
Feeling his head drowning in thoughts, he decided to put the matter to the side for now and focus on his next task since it was far simpler and more straightforward.
“Time to start the actual grind. I want to hunt down as many monsters as I can before the night. Hmm, three or four levels and a good number of items should be the goal.” He muttered as his eyes shone with a bright light.
His true leveling experience was about to start.
A//N: Hand me all your PS!