《Game On!》


 Prologue Monolith Capsule

    ¡°I am bored., way too bored.¡±


    Lately that was the only word that stuck to my lips as I was mumbling alone. Playing online games made me bored, watching anime that I loved so much now seemed like boring. I was not like this before.


    No, in fact, I still thought that that I am not like this. I was a man filled with dreams and ambition, wanting to get into a good university, getting a good job and settle in with a beautiful wife and live the life of a happy family.


    But my dream shattered the second it was announced that I didn¡¯t get into the university that I applied to. Of course I did applied for a few more university, but I did not get any sort of info from them which indirectly told me that I ¡®failed¡¯ even before taking their interview.


    My dream of becoming a teacher and working half day had fall down to the drain. Of course the reason why I wanted to become teacher was not because they work half day and get weekend rest which is Saturday and Sunday.


    Now that I think of it, I wonder why do I even wanted to become a teacher in the first place. Was it because the stable income? Or was it because it is a good job that contributing to the future generation?


    I can¡¯t think of any good reason.


    The more I think of it, the reason why I shouldn''t become a teacher is becoming a lot more apparent rather than why I should become a teacher.


    The only legit reason why I wanted to become a teacher was maybe because of my mother whom was my teacher when I was in kindergarten.  I do remember there was a time when she asked us what we want to be when we grew up and I answered I wanted to be like her, a teacher.


    ¡®I want to be a teacher¡¯ kind of mindset had stuck to me since then.


    Maybe it is about time for me to think of an alternative occupation. Who knows, maybe a job that let me rake in cash without having to work hard.


    If only I was born rich, with good looks and great muscular yet slender body. I could have just become a lover boy or something, but I guess that might be pushing the limit a little bit too far.


    But instead, I was the sixth child in my big family. Not that I hate being born in as the sixth child in my family. But I just wish for something else, I wish for something that I don¡¯t have right now.


    I wish for something to change.  But not a drastic change like what you read in manga or watch in anime where there are suddenly aliens who came visiting your house making you their fianc¨¦, or finding a robot on your way home, or get a slave through a slight misunderstanding or something like that.  I want things to change, but in a lot more subtle way.


    All I ever wanted was maybe win a lottery or something or hit the jackpot and earn cash in one swoop.  I could save half of the money in a bank and used another half of it to start a business. I would run a good business like a book store or a wineries, whichever that gives me good profit and within my ability.


    Having that kind of mindset I began buying a lottery ticket every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. My siblings called me as a dreamer because the chances of winning the lottery are 1/100000. But still, I paid no heed to them and continue buying myself lottery tickets.


    In the end, I won a few hundred thousand Yens


    It caused me to become a lot more ecstatic about lottery. I started to buy more and more tickets to the point where I¡¯ve become completely broke.  I tried asking a little bit of loan from my sister but I was rejected. I was broke, completely broke, I don¡¯t even have the money for my own food.


    Not knowing what to do, I walked around the city. Tthe lively city that was busy with people with career somehow made my stomach ache.


    Is this some kind of new inferiority symptom?


    Regardless I found myself the nearest toilet available and let all the frustration that I had right into the toilet bowl. It feels good; I might even take my number two.


    Once again I marched into the city, the noisy sound of the vehicle including the amount of black smoke that it let out truly give off the feeling of ¡®urban city¡¯.


    ¡°Wait, black smoke¡­?  Geez, send your damn car for a maintenance would you?! You rich bastard with vehicle have enough money to buy a car or a damn motorcycle; don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t have the money for a maintenance that needed to be done once every six months! You¡¯re ruining the good air that my body was taking in. What are you going to do if I got sick or something?!¡±


    Well, swearing to myself; would surely attract people attention. There was a little girl, who looked at me with curious eyes and said,


    ¡°¡­Mama, that man is talking to himself.¡±


    ¡°Shh¡­ Don¡¯t point your finger to people, it''s rude.¡± That little girls'' mother reprimanded her.


    There was even a case where a middle age dad with his daughter having a conversation that goes like this,


    ¡°Daddy, that man is talking to himself like you always do¡­¡±


    ¡°No honey, he wasn¡¯t talking to himself, he was talking to his air-friend. Surely you don¡¯t think papa is someone odd who would talk to himself right.¡± The man said in reply.


    ¡°Un!¡± The kid nodded her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s right; he¡¯s talking to an air-friend. His fried is there but it just not visible to our eyes, just like papa air-friend. He¡¯s visible to my eyes but neither to you nor the others.¡±


    This time the middle age man was the one who nodded. When he realized that I was looking at them he immediately bowed down politely while excusing himself.


    Sad life, he must have it hard too.


    As I was thinking what I¡¯m supposed to do with my life, soft winter wind came blowing towards my pure and innocence face.  It was a cool and cold wind, as cold as my sisters¡¯ heart who doesn¡¯t listen to their little brother pleads. My fashionable hat was toppled down by the wind and fall onto the ground.


    Of course I who was deep in my thought paid no heed to small details like that. Let it burn or washed by the waves, it¡¯s not like it can protect me from the shine of the bright sun like it supposed to do.


    During winter time like this, barrages of clouds always block away the sunlight cause a dim lighted atmosphere, as dim as my future. Oh damn, the thought of my future made me feel like crying.


    As I was staring into the nothingness, a little boy came into my field of vision. He was holding a floating balloon with an image of a clown who was holding a big ass knife with a big ass smile. Just where the hell did he got that kind of balloon from.


    The little boy nose was running a number 11 on his nose. The boy inhaled deeply and the 11 immediately goes back to its cave. Now, what does this kid want from me, ice-cream?


    Seeing the boy who was staring deeply into my eyes not moving an inch, I replied his action by looking straight at his eyes.


    If it¡¯s about staring-fight, I won¡¯t lose. I was known as the Death-Stare who owns the stare of death back in high school period, I won¡¯t wink. Not even once, give it up kiddo. Tremble before my power of stare and be amaze, I who own these pair of beautiful chocolate eyes are staring right into your eyes.


    The boy blink his eyes once, slowly he opened his mouth with his eyes bewildered.


    I won!  Haha!


    Or so I thought, but I was wrong.


    The kid threw 1 thousand yen bill onto my hat that was on the ground and he ran away.


    ¡°¡­¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t able to say anything. Do I really look that pathetic to the point I can be mistaken as a beggar so easily?


    Do I, this pure and innocence man with beautiful eyes and fashionable outfit was just mistaken as a beggar?!


    Wait¡­


    That can¡¯t be true, even if he¡¯s still a kid he would¡¯ve known that this attire of  mine are no beggar attire.


    That was not it. I who own a beautiful pair of eyes with such a fashionable outfit must¡¯ve been mistaken as a God. Yes, that¡¯s it. It was not because I looked like a beggar; my existent was simply match that of a God that he threw one thousand ye bill as a token of respect.


    I freaking knew it!


    I then took the hat with the money inside.


    My boy, I shall accept your donation and bless you with internal luck. But, please don¡¯t come and find me if you became unlucky instead.


    Well then, what do I do with this money?


    I can¡¯t do much with this one thousand yen bill, other than buying a few breads or possibly a bento at discounted price.


    Or¡­


    I can try my luck for one last time¡­ I¡¯m feeling lucky today. Ah but then if I were to win nothing then I would lose the money that I can buy breads with. I¡¯m missing out food for 2 days now as I was not able to borrow some money from my sisters.


    Should I gamble it on lottery?


    Or should I just buy my breads?


    While I was hesitating between two options a sudden light of blessing with the background music of glory came into my way. I turned my head around trying to find the source of that background music which complimented my divinity.


    When I was wildly looking around, I realized that everyone within my field of vision was stammered.  All of them were looking at the same point, the big screen of Einstel Organization Live Broadcast station that was in front of me. It was showing an advertisement.


    A rather peculiar advertisement if you ask me, it was not a shady item that actually had no use in daily life kind of weird item.  Instead, it was actually about a game, a cutting edge game which I was at that point was not interested in.


    Accompanied by the bright light that was emitted from the big screen, the glorious background  music kept on playing while a voice of a young woman narrating an introduction to the game.


    ¡°¡­ popular among teenagers and the elderly. With the unlimited possibility of profession change and phase up, players can travel through 5 continents and 25 cities. There''re up to 5 pick able races that player can select during the first initial stage of the player inside the game.


    From the dexterous Elf to the durable Dwarf, the powerful Orc and the nimble Beast which outclass the human race. Players are free to choose their own destiny! Einstel Online, come and get a copy of your own!¡±


    Soon as the advertisement finished, the noise that seems to have died down began taking it place once again, and again I was forced to move away from the warm bench which I had been heating with my bump for almost an hour.


    I was walking aimlessly as I listen to the chat of the people surrounding me.


    The all of them seemed to be busy talking about the same topic, which is Einstel Online.


    Einstel Organization Live Broadcast is owned by Einstel Game.


    Apparently, Einstel Online was the first ¡®Virtual Reality¡¯ game that was actually became reality. A lot of games with the theme of virtual reality had failed before due to the graphic that was deemed incompetence.


    Like the recently so-called virtual reality game that came before Einstel Online. Rather than becoming a high tier game, it ended up becoming the most criticized game with the least popularity amongst all of the game that was recently gained their place in the market.


    Einstel Online was deemed as a very successful game because of the actual ¡®high tier gaming experience¡¯ that it¡¯s boasted.


    Virtual Reality, or in short VR¡­


    The essence of VR is that Players are able to use all of their senses that they can use in reality in this VR game. They are able to move their own limbs, see with their own eyes and smell things with their own nose. They are also able to make an expression with their face unlike casual computer games where players are provided with set of emotion in chat interface.


    Above all, players are able to chat directly with the others just like in real world. There is no need to type in message just to chat with the others, although the messaging system was still applied to Einstel Online as whisper.


    Like what the narrator had said in the advertisement, players are able to choose their own race from the 5 selectable races which are Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Beast and Human.


    While I was thinking that, I found myself in front of the lottery centre.


    Eh?


    Have my habit of buying lottery subconsciously brought me here?


    ¡°Oh Nii-chan, come for another try?¡±


    An old man named Tanaka-san who was wearing a bandana greeted me. He was wearing a Hawaii patterned shirt with a short pant.  He walked toward me with his oddly styled slipper and said,


    ¡°We got a new set of tickets that came today,¡±


    Tanaka-san was busy managing the boxes that almost took the whole lottery shop entrance space. I wonder if that was the new set of ticket that he got today, if it was. I doubt he will run out of lottery ticket for a few months.


    ¡°New set of ticket¡­?¡± I asked for confirmation.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He answered short.


    ¡°Lottery ticket?¡±


    ¡°Well, you can say so¡­ how about it, want to try?¡±


    ¡°How much is it for 1 ticket?¡±


    ¡°Usually it would be 500 yen for one, but as these tickets are new there are not so many people that know about this ticket. Selling this ticket is five times harder than selling the normal lottery ticket.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡±


    ¡°A new stock came even though the last one didn¡¯t even have 0.10% of the amount decreased. It¡¯s really troubling me, geez. I called the headquarters that I don¡¯t need any supply for that EG ticket but they sent it anyway.  Now not only I don¡¯t have a good income from it, I also got a deficit from it.¡±


    ¡°What is EG?¡±


    ¡°Einstel Game or something, I don¡¯t quite sure.¡±


    ¡°I see, well that¡¯s bad¡­ isn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah it¡¯s bad¡­ Say nii-chan.¡±


    Tanaka-san looked at me while holding five tickets in his hold.


    ¡°Want to have a go at these ticktes?¡±


    ¡®¡±Eh?¡±


    ¡°I mean, you are my regular after all¡­  Come on, five tickets¡­ Who know it might be your lucky day. You might actually win something today.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but I am no longer in the position to do so.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The Tanaka-san asked.


    Letting out a sigh I showed him both of my pockets that was left with nothing but dust,


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°¡­ I am literally broke.¡±


    Yep I said it, due to my NEET lifestyle and the way I was spending my money with lottery, I¡¯m broke. That was also the main reason why I cannot say anything in objection to my sister when I was asking them to lend me some money and they refused.


    ¡°I see¡­ well anyway, how much do you have now?¡± Tanaka-san who doesn¡¯t seems to give up in selling his unpopular lottery ticket asked again.


    Giving up, I take off my hat and took the 1 thousand yen bill.


    ¡°Well, I do have 1 thousand yen with me.¡±


    ¡°Okay Nii-chan, because you are a regular of this Lottery Center of mine¡­ I shall give you a special offer. 200 yen for 1 EG ticket, how¡¯s that sound?¡±


    ¡°200 yen¡­¡±


    I who was already weak with things called discount and special offer was thrown off from my track. The thought of buying breads with that money no longer reside in my train of thought, hesitantly yet not so hesitant I let go of 1 thousand yen bill.


    ¡°5 tickets!¡±


    I slammed the money onto the reception desk with a ¡®bam¡¯ resounded from the surface of the desk.


    ¡°I knew it that I can count on you Nii-chan¡­¡± Tanaka-san handed me over the tickets in reply.


    I looked at the tickets; it was definitely different than usual. Normally the lottery ticket that I bought was as big as a business card patterned with black dots with [Scratch Here] words imprinted on it. But this one was small, as small as the train ticket.


    Instead of [Scratch Here], the word that was imprinted on it was [EC].


    ¡°What does this EC word means?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ah, it stands for capsule or something¡­¡±


    For some reason I got a bad vibe from this.


    I asked Tanaka-san for the scratcher, though I said that I was only borrowing a 10 yen coin from him.


    I scratched off the first ticket.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    [Loser]


    And the second ticket,


    [Loser]


    The third ticket,


    [Loser]


    The fourth ticket,


    [Monolith Capsule V. 1.5]


    The last one was scratched off too,


    [Loser]


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I took the ticket with the [Monolith Capsule V. 1.5] written on it and discarded the others into the shredder.


    ¡°Looks like I won something¡­¡± I said to Tanaka-san.


    ¡°Ohh¡­ to actually win something for the first try, you sure have good luck in you.¡±


    Though it was actually on my fourth try that I won that thing, but I will keep my mouth shut about it.


    I then handed the ticket over too Tanaka-san. Tanaka-san was inspecting it with his glasses neatly placed on his ears. He frowned as he was looking at the ticket.


    ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hnn¡­ nope, nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± Tanaka-san said and took out a box out of nowhere. ¡°Hmm let me see, monolith capsule eh?¡± he said and fixed his glasses position that was about to fall down.


    He opened the box and took out a card, it looks like a lottery card but it was actually a business card. Wait, business card?


    ¡°Here you go.¡± He said and gave me the card.


    When I look at it carefully it was not a normal business card, written on the card was actually a description of something that is very lottery like but written in a very peculiar, or so I thought. Anyway, the things that was written on the card was this,


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Congratulation!


    You are a person who was born with luck; you are a person who was born with skill. You are deemed worthy by the Goddess of Luck and you are blessed with this card.


    Dear adventurer, your adventure had just begun. Come and join us, brandish your sword and polish your armor. March toward the glory and create a name of yourself throughout the history of Einstel World.


    We shall be waiting. <tr> Please Bring this card to EOL Main Branch in your nearest city to claim our limited edition of [Monolith Capsule] </tr></td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°What the heck¡­¡±


    ¡°What the heck indeed¡­ what is this thing called Monolith Capsule actually?¡± The old man asked.


    I thought he knew what the thing was. Truth to be told, I don¡¯t know anything about it myself. All I know was; to be able to connect to Einstal Online you need to get inside some kind of big box. And  from what have the rumor of the wind told me the box was a pod.


    This is the first time for me to see a capsule being used to connect to Einstel online. Though, not like I¡¯ve seen pods before.


    ¡°It¡¯s something like a pod that connects us to Einstel online¡­ I guess.¡± I replied.


    ¡°So it¡¯s like some kind of alternative gear to connect into Einstel Online?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps so, I¡¯ve never seen an Einstel Pod before. I¡¯m not really sure but from what I¡¯ve read from the card it is something like an Einstel Pod but this one is capsule version of it. It is limited edition after all.¡± I added.


    ¡°Hnn¡­¡± The old man frowned as he made a difficult expression. I bet he didn¡¯t understand a single thing that I¡¯ve said.


    Monolith Capsule¡­ Limited edition¡­ Wait isn¡¯t this¡­


    ¡°Tanaka-san¡­¡± My voice was faltering; I just had an incredible idea. It was too ingenious of an idea that I¡¯d like to nominate my brain as the world brightest idea holder. ¡°Do you know how much does an Einstel Pod costs?¡±


    ¡°The price you mean?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe it¡¯s about 100 thousands yen or something. I don¡¯t even know what Einstel Pod was so I¡¯m just assuming things here.¡±


    Wha wha wha wha¡­ WHAT?!


    100 THOUSAND YEN?!


    If Einstel Pod priced about 100 thousand yen then does it mean this Monolith Capsule can reach a higher price than 100 thousand yen?


    WHAT LUCK!


    I better look for some info later for the possibility of this Monolith Capsule being priced higher than that Einstel Pod. Einstel Pod being prized at 100 thousand yen was just a price that Tanaka-san had assumed after all.


    I shall do that.


    ¡°By the way Nii-chan¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t planning on selling that do you?¡± Tanaka-san asked.


    ¡°Eh¡­?!¡± My eyes widened, what¡¯s with this Old man, some kind of mind reader or something? ¡°¡­Why? You¡¯re planning on buying it from me?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Nah¡­ not that, I was just thinking that it would be a waste when you got yourself a good haul from a lottery and you¡¯re planning to sell it just like that. Though if you can sell that thing and buy even more lottery from me  it would be great in its own essence ha ha ha!¡± Tanaka-san laughed.


    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t sell it¡­¡±


    I lied.


    ¡°Oh good then, here¡­¡±


    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked when Tanaka-san handed over a book with colorful images imprinted on its cover.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s an extra that was included along with the EC Lottery ticket¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, this is an introduction book for Einstel Online. I wonder if they were planning to advertise and explain the game a little bit to spark people interest to buy their lottery tickets.¡±


    ¡°Who knows¡­ As long as they rake in money for me I won¡¯t complain about extra goodies, though these boxes of introduction book for Einstel Online do trouble me a little bit.¡±


    Oh¡­ So inside those boxes was actually the introduction book. I thought it was the new lottery tickets or something.


    ¡°Ah, I see¡­ Well then, should I help you a bit?¡± I asked offering him my help.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re a life savior nii-chan. Please do.¡±


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    3 days after I won the Monolith Capsule lottery ticket.


    I got it.


    Monolith Capsule,


    Now let¡¯s see, from what I got in the internet¡­ I¡¯ve come to know a few things.


    First, no one had actually got a Monolith Capsule before, which means I am the first one ever to won the lottery.


    I see, so I am the first one huh. That also means that currently I am the only one who owned this limited edition Monolith Capsule.


    Second, the Einstel Pod cost 150 thousand yen and above after the game popularity boom for the past 3 months.


    Third, apparently the time in Einstel Online is 3 times faster than in real world, which means if its 3 days of Einstel Online equals to a day in real world. But who cares, I don¡¯t do the math.


    The time system sounds so bogus but I¡¯ll leave that behind for the mean time.


    Now,


    I¡¯ve asked a few of my net friends, who are playing Einstel Online. Apparently there was no one who was interested in buying it. I had even put it up for auction but there was no bidding, and the view count didn¡¯t even reach 3 digits.


    I wonder if there was even a meaning in this Monolith Capsule if no one willing to buy it. Oh wait there is, to connect to Einstel Online. Duh! Silly me...


    Oh well, I guess I¡¯ll try it out first and see what I can come up with.


    I¡¯ve set up the Monolith Capsule like what the introduction book to Einstel Online showed me in the misc chapter of the book. There were a lot of new terms that I had to search via internet as not to mess up again and again while I was dealing with the colorful wires that needed to be joined here and there.


    After almost an hour, I finally finished setting it up.


    I let a small sigh as I wiped off the sweat from my forehead. After long years of living a sedentary life, it looked like I¡¯ve became somewhat¡­ weak (?)


    Well not that it matters anyway.


    I turned on the power.


    The monolith capsule began to light up in bluish white color; it was letting out a small groovy sound like an old computer with poor maintenance. I wonder if it¡¯s really okay for me to get inside this thing.


    Now that I think of it, rather than capsule, this thing looks a lot more like a coffin.


    Regardless I open the door of the capsule and get inside it; it was almost like an air-conditioned coffin. I hope my electricity bill won¡¯t be affected greatly. As soon as I lay down inside of the capsule, the door that was left opened before closed down automatically.


    Before I got in I made sure to eat something, Tanaka-san gave me a few bentos after I finished helping him, I heated one of the bentos in the microwave and gulf it down like a wolf. One must eat before heading out to battle. I was full and ready for a try out.


    I was engulfed in darkness for a few second when I got inside the capsule until a bluish transparent notification popped out in front of my eyes. Apparently there was no need for me to register for an account like what I have to do in normal computer games.


    There was a memory slot inside the capsule that saves the player data. All I have to do is to take out the memory and stick it into the port of any capsule or pod to continue playing the game. In short, the memory card was the account.


    I clicked ¡®okay¡¯ after skipping through the License Agreement thingy. Seriously, who the hell even read that?


    It was as if I was sucked into a black hole, my mind went blank for a few moment¡­ When I realized I was in an empty space, together with a woman wearing an outrageously sexy costume.


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    ¡°Welcome to Einstel Online.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°What is the name that you desired?¡±


    ¡°Just4Fun¡±


    ¡°Sorry but the name is taken.¡±


    That name is taken huh, then what about ¡­


    ¡°¡­ShinyEyes?¡±


    ¡°Sorry but the username ¡®ShinyEyes¡¯ is taken.¡±


    How about¡­


    ¡°¡­kingkong?¡±


    ¡°Sorry but the username ¡®kingkong¡¯ is taken.¡±


    Seriously? If kingkong is a no then how about gorilla, surely there is no one that would want to have that as a name would they?


    ¡°¡­gorilla¡±


    ¡°Sorry but the username ¡®gorilla¡¯ name is taken.¡±


    ¡°Holy mother of lottery! Who the hell would even normally name themselves as gorilla?¡± I shouted in surprised.


    ¡°The username ¡®Holy mother of lottery, who the hell would even normally name themselves as gorilla¡¯ is not taken, however it has exceed the allowed limit of 16 characters long.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°Please choose another username.¡±


    ¡°Ichiroku.¡±


    ¡°The username Ichiroku is available; would you like to set it as your username?¡±


    ¡°Please do.¡±


    ¡°Username Ichiroku, please choose your race.¡±


    ¡°Human.¡±


    ¡°Please choose your base city.¡±


    Base city? What is base city? ¡­Some kind of starting city or something?


    ¡°¡­recommendation please,¡±


    ¡°Would you like to set Beginner Town as your city?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°User name Ichiroku. Base city, Beginner Town... Please choose your race¡­¡±


    ¡°Human!¡±


    Really, why do you even need to ask twice?


    ¡°Are you sure you want to set your race as human?¡±


    The woman asked me as she leaned over and stared at me with a blank expression. She''s floating by the way.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°User name Ichiroku, base city is Beginner Town, race is human. Would you like to save this setting?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Your character data has been created, good luck in your adventure.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    <table><tbody><tr><td></a>


    Next Chapter


    </td></tr></tbody></table></a>


    ________________________________________________


    Thank your for reading! I''m sorry if there are any unusual narcissism that goes beyond comprehension. I''d  like to thank my friend Aru-kun for the illustration that he provided. (was actually meant for my other book last year but I used it here instead - in case you saw the date it was signed with)

 Chapter 1 - The First Step

    Unfolded before my eyes was the reflection of a vast sea. The humid salty sensation that can be felt in the surrounding was floating in the air. A group of seagulls was soaring high up in the sky. I somehow remembered about a flash game where the player has to throw a balloon at the seagull before it laid their bomb of poop onto the player.


    It was a nasty flash game.


    The virtual reality is pretty much like a real reality, which is confirmed by me. Considering that I can hear the sound of waves hitting the beach, looking at the seagulls above the sky, smelling the foul salty smell of the sea air and able to stand on two foot on the dock.


    It was none other but the sense of reality.


    I tried to move my hands, pick my nose, and touch my silky hair. I can truly feel it.


    Big ships are all over the dock, some look like marine ship, some look like a pirate ship. There were a lot of people, or rather players who were running around. I started walking when I saw a group of people flocking over one person, there was a big question mark [?] yellow in color on top of the person head.


    After I heard the conversation that the players had with each other, apparently the person with a big question mark on her head was an NPC.


    That was a surprise, in every game that I played before never did once I¡¯ve seen an NPC who can interact freely with players, I wonder if that NPC was one of the so-called Artificial Intelligence that people were talking about. She was a Starting NPC for beginner player who had just started playing the game.


    It took about one hour and a half before the people that was flocking over the woman began to take their leave. I then took my time and walked my way to the woman,


    Of course I didn¡¯t just stay down and wait patiently until those ants that were swarming over a cube of sugar scram. I was walking and checking things out in the city while waiting. Before anything else it was a give thing to check your inventory, there was 10 gold and 100 silvers in my inventory bag, a few slice of bread and two pet bottle of mineral water. Obviously it was for satiety.   I then proceed by viewing my own info.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Player Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ichiroku</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Level</td><td colspan=''3''>1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Race</td><td colspan=''3''>Human</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Profession</td><td colspan=''3''>N/A</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Stat Info:


    Strength : 2


    Stamina : 2


    Dexterity : 5


    Agility : 5


    Intelligence : 0


    Wisdom : 2


    Endurance : 1


    Luck : 100


    Additional Stat Point : 0


    [/tds]</tr><tr>[td6]Attack : 5 ~ 10


    Health : 100


    Mana : 0


    Defence : 6</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Enhancement


    N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Apparently you only got 100 bag space available when you first log into the game, as time progress the bag space will be unlocked one by one when your online time reach a certain amount. I¡¯ve unlocked two spaces just now. The first cool down time was 30 minutes while the second back space took me 1 hour. The total of bag space that is available after all of it unlocked is 250.


    Soon after I finished checking my bag I walked through the gate that connects the dock with the main city. The abundant city with flourish economy; certainly a  city for beginner where the economy hit the peak with newbie boastful spending attitude on items and potion along with merchant who wanted to take an advantage by selling items for newbie.


    When I entered the gate there were already a few merchant who came toward me offering me their help with charges applied, they were calling them self as a guide to the game. But most of the thing that they were offering where things like I can find easily through online means like hunting ground, NPC that gives the best quest for fast level up, and profession counselling.


    Though I doubt they would offer profession counselling in the internet.


    As I walked freely throughout the city entrance I saw a building with a very interesting signboard hammered above its entrance door.


    [Game Centre]


    Needlessly to say my legs brought me inside the building subconsciously. I was baffled when I entered the premise. It was a casino. There were pachinkos, round table of black jack and numerous other machines which I don¡¯t know the name of lined up. In my whole life the only gamble kind of games that I ever played was lottery after all. It¡¯s not surprising if I don¡¯t know the name of the machine that they use.


    ¡°I wonder if they have something like lottery here¡±


    I walked briskly in the game centre which is a lot more like a casino if you ask me. After walking quite the distance I found it, the ticket cost about 10 silvers. That is so freaking cheap if you ask me, I bought 10 tickets and used up all of my silver that I had.


    I scratched off all of it in haste but ended up getting an annoying notification.


    Tough luck.


    Try again, maybe you will be luckier next time.


    Well true enough, I converted all my gold into silvers and I got 1 thousand silvers at the nearest counter, there were explanation for the currency rate.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    100 silvers = 1 gold


    100 gold = 1 diamond


    100 diamond = 1 Einstel


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    The highest currency value was Einstel.


    After I used up all my silvers and bought 100 lottery tickets, I finally won a few items and gained a few levels. This game is nice, I never thought just by playing lottery you can gain level without having to fight mobs right at the start or doing any sort of quest.


    The item that I won was a dagger, a set of card and a piece of dice. I was absorbed in examining the item that I got. I retrieved the dice and deck of card and stuff it inside my inventory bag. The same goes to my dagger. My first weapon that I got through lottery!


    I don¡¯t understand the fuss about players who were giving a guild to a beginner to set out for a quest, meet this NPC, meet that NPC and gain 10 levels in less than 6 hour for a job change.  I was only playing lottery for less than 2 hours minutes and already gained 7 levels.


    This is easy, easy I tell you.


    After that I was left with 0 silver and no gold. I pulled out the dice from my inventory bag and decided to roll the dice. If I got small number which is 3 or lower I will go back to that Starting NPC, if I got big number which is 4 or higher I will continue on checking out the city. I threw the dice just below my feet, the dice spun on the ground and stopped after some times. I got small number.


    Well, I have 0 silver left and I think it is about time for me to earn few load of money and try out the lottery again. Whit that said, I made my way to the Starting NPC to attain the newbie quest.


    I reached the destined place.


    The woman was shrouded in a white robe. She was holding a thick book that was black in color. I cannot see her face well so I cannot tell what kind of expression that she had when I was looking at her.


    ¡°Hello there.¡± I greeted her politely.


    Even though she was an NPC it was a written rule in Einstel Online to greet every NPC nicely due to this thing called intimacy. Or at least that was what my net friends who played Einstel Online before told me.


    Apparently if you have a high intimacy point with an NPC you will get a secret quest from them. But not that I really care though, as I¡¯m only testing this game out until a  buyer who is interested in buying my Monolith Capsule appear.


    ¡°Hello adventurer, what can I do for you?¡± She replied and asked me a question at the same time.


    ¡°Hello er¡­.¡± I paused, thinking what kind of words should I use. ¡°¡­I¡¯m wondering if you have some quest for me to do¡­ Or something that will give me reward as I am pretty new to this game. I¡¯m kind of short in money.¡±I replied honestly.


    ¡°Oh, well then you are in luck. There is one thing that I need your help with. By the way the name is ¡®Mysterious Woman.¡± The woman said and began to flip over her book, pages by pages she went as if she was looking for something.


    Mysterious Woman, that is a naming sense that only 10 years old kid would blurted out.


    After a minute passed by she stop and said ¡°Here it is.¡± She then point her index finger onto her book, curiously I leaned over and looked at the book that she was holding. But it was written in a character that I do not recognize. It was neither kanji nor alphabet. It was something that looks like Arabic writing but I¡¯m pretty sure it was not that.


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry; of course you can¡¯t read this¡­ Your intelligence stat needs to be at least 50 before able to decipher a book.¡± The woman said haughtily.


    What the hell! Is she implying that I¡¯m idiot or something? Even though I am a NEET I was one of the few who scored high in national exams you know, I am by no mean an idiot.


    ¡°¡­ I understand.¡± Regardless, I replied in polite manner.


    ¡°There is a severe case of merman attacking the villager that was living in a nearby island. Their corps was destroyed and they livestock were eaten. The villagers are living in depravity right now due to lack of food and security.


    They sent a letter for help from the Baron of this city a few days ago, but as the letter just came to the Baron¡¯s possession last night he can only send food and medical supply for the villagers as he still need to command a force to subjugate the merman.


    Can I ask you to send these food and medical supply to the villagers and wait for the arrival of the Baron¡¯s subjugation force?¡±


    As soon as she finished talking a notification box pop out of nowhere.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    -Do you want to accept this quest?


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I would certainly accept the quest; it is in my blood to help those I need.¡±


    I lied, yet again.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>-You had accepted the quest.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.A supply transportation quest, this should be easy. It would be okay as long as I sent the supply goods. The reward going to be enormous!


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Quest Accepted!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>A server case of merman attacking the villagers that was living in a nearby island had been reported. Their crops were destroyed and they livestock were eaten. The villagers are living in depravity right now due to lack of food and security.


    They¡¯ve send a letter for help to the Baron of this city a few days ago, but as the letter just came to the Baron¡¯s possession last night and he can only send food and medical supply for the villagers as he still need to command a force to subjugate the mermen.


    You are to send the food and medical supply that was provided by the Baron and protect the villagers until the arrival of the subjugation force.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Objective : Go to Verlassen Island and deliver the food and medical supply. Protect the villagers from the mermen attack while waiting for the subjugation force arrival.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Time Limit : N/A


    Quest Difficulty : F


    Reward : 1 gold 50 silvers</tr></td></tbody></table>


    ¡°What, only 1 gold and 50 silver? The reward is way lower than my initial starting money. Shouldn¡¯t this type of quest usually ranked as D or C difficulty with higher reward prizes, and what is this ¡®protect the villagers from the mermen attack¡¯? You only told me to send the supply and wait for the subjugation force!¡± I asked in disbelief. The quest difficulty and the reward were too absurd for something that is can be describe as hard.


    From my experience from the previous game that I¡¯ve played, usually quests that require the player to protect a certain NPC would be given a good reward, and these kind of quest are only give to player who have reached a certain level, mostly after player reached level 70.


    As the difficulty of this quest is unprecedented for lower level players, given the newbie item and low stat due to their level; it would take a lot of effort just not to get killed, moreover to protect an NPC. It¡¯s like asking a new born calf to kill a veteran lion.


    Certainly it¡¯s not a bug isn¡¯t?


    The Mysterious woman chuckled, as if she was able to read my mind she opened her mouth and said,


    ¡°The mermen itself are easy to kill, as the villager themselves are able to kill it themselves. But the numbers was way beyond what they could handle and the villagers had gone tired from the restless attack from the mermen to the point they need help from the royal family. The mermen are weak when they are alone; you can handle it just fine as long as you deal with them one by one.¡±


    She made it sound so easy as if it was as easy as counting sheep to sleep. But as I already accepted it there¡¯s nothing can be done, it¡¯s not like I can cancel it anyway. But still, I¡¯m unsatisfied with the rewards. 1 gold and 50 silver, geez!


    I opened the quest map; there was an [X] and [O] mark on the map. The [O] mark was the place where the supply was located and the [X] mark is where the Island was located. The island that I¡¯m heading to was Verlassen Island. What a weird name for an island.


    I then head over to where the [O] mark pointed out to. The pointed destination was a ship, a ship that contained the food and medicine supply. It was a large ship, large enough that I can say it was about 3 storey building tall with the width of your average playground. Aboard on the ship were boxes that I think where the food and medicine kept at.


    There was a thin yet sturdy looking plank that was placed on the deck which was connected to the ship. When I stepped onto the plank I heard a very familiar sound ¡®pak pak pak¡¯ that I¡¯ve heard in a pirate themed anime.


    I raised my chin and an old man appeared in my field of vision. He was wearing a triangle like hat, a long dark mustache, left wooden leg and an eye patch, simply the stereotype definition of a pirate captain.


    ¡°Aye mate, you¡¯re the man huh?¡± He says and holds out his hand offering a handshake, or not¡­ I took his hand and he pulled me aboard the ship. ¡°We almost took off because we need to unload these goods as fast as possible. These supplies won¡¯t last long in this humid air.¡± He explained further.


    ¡°I see and thank you¡­¡± I paused. I was frantically trying to look for his name, in normal online games usually an NPC name would¡¯ve been stated just above their head. But, apparently in this virtual reality game, there was none at all. Well, truth to be told it would be quite weird if I suddenly saw my name floating above my head whenever I go.


    ¡°No Hair, the name is No Hair¡­¡±


    I see, because you¡¯re bald so the name is no hair eh? What a simple naming sense this game have, the previous NPC, because she was wearing a white robe with a hood and her expression was hidden she was named ¡®Mysterious Woman¡¯.


    Seriously Einstel Game how lax can your naming sense be?


    ¡°And here we have sailor 1 and sailor 2.¡± No Hair added. He was pointing to two men who was washing the deck and another who was transferring fresh water using a broken pail.


    I was stupid for asking.


    ¡°Well then mate, do you have any sort of sea sickness or anything?¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of...¡± I replied.


    ¡°Not even a slight motion sickness?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°That is good then, the travel going to be pretty rowdy due to the raising tides and I can assure you it won¡¯t be a ride that you¡¯re going to enjoy. The monsoon are coming after all, the food and medical  supply was supposed to be transported along with the subjugation force but I¡¯m afraid it would be too late when we get there, the villagers might¡¯ve died due to hunger. So we decided to go earlier than planned.


    There are also the probability that when we got  hit by the storm the food and medical supply are going to get bad due to the seawater. Even thought the supplies are all tightly sealed in these boxes, during stormy situation, anything can happen.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± I replied short.


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    The black cloud was spitting thunder all over the places. Bright blue sky that I was feasting my eyes before had gone and changed with dark and gloomy atmosphere. As the cloud began to pee on us with its droplets of water a cold shudder entered my bone.


    The wave that was calm before moved wildly as if it was dancing to a rock song.


    Only a few hours passed and I¡¯m thinking to revaluate my opinion about this game.


    ¡°Bueekkk¡­¡±


    My throat was sore, my head was spinning.


    ¡°Are you okay mate?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ okay¡­¡± I replied, almost unable to let my voice out trying to stop myself from vomiting.


    ¡°I thought you said that you don¡¯t have a seasickness or any sort of motion sickness.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ thought the sa?- bueekk¡­ too.¡±


    Of course I don¡¯t have that ¡®slight motion¡¯ sickness¡­ But the way this ship swing from left to right isn¡¯t what people normally call ¡®slight,¡¯ this is way worse that the highest and roughest roller coaster that I¡¯d ever rode. If the normal roller coaster ride is mode is easy than this swaying ship level along with the waves and thunderstorm would be at Nightmare level.


    ¡°For 1 gold and 50 silvers reward¡­ this isn¡¯t worth the effort at all!¡± I screamed out.


    Due to the rodeo like ship travel I had to use all my strength just to hold onto a rope. Due to that my satiety dropped from 100 to 0 as I used up all my energy. My hp was gradually decreasing as time passed. I wonder if it was due to my satiety bar being empty yet I was still struggling trying not to fall over.


    ¡°Here mate, drink this and get a rest at the room downstairs¡­¡± No Hair handed me a small potion, without hesitation or anything I grabbed it and drank it right away.


    When I finished drinking the potion a small notification popped out.


    +All kind of disease and sickness has been cured.


    +1 permanent stat has been added to Endurance.


    +1 permanent stat has been added to stamina.


    Wow¡­ this old man potion had such effect?


    ¡°Feeling better now mate?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, thank you.¡±


    ¡°We work together so we need to hold each other¡¯s back. Plus I know how it feels like when you got a sea sickness¡­¡± No Hair said and stares at the distance; as if he was reminiscing something he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to give up.


    I wonder if there¡¯s anything that I can give up in the first place.


    I¡¯m getting sick of the sea smell¡­ I wish we will land on the Island soon.


    As if my prayer has been heard, the sky was cleared and I was once again bathed under the glorious sunlight. Of course I didn¡¯t forget about the supply. The supplies were all good and dandy, protected in the perfectly closed boxes.


    ¡°Ahh¡­ the sun! It¡¯s so bright¡­ Just like my future after I sell my Monolith Capsule.¡±


    ¡°Even thought you looked as if the world going to end just a few minute ago, you sure are energetic one mate.¡± No Hair said in response to my reaction.


    It can¡¯t be help, it was true after all. I mean, who the heck would not be happy after going through that horrendous storm that come visiting out of nowhere. I am no masochist! I don¡¯t enjoy getting in trouble or in pain.


    From afar, I can see the island. There were no mermen sighted during our way here, I thought there were going to be some ambush during the stormy weather that was the reason why I stand on guard even though I was on the verge of collapsing. Knowing that we¡¯re going to arrive soon, I took my time to check my profile again.


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Previous Chapter</a></td><td width="25%">Next Chapter</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 2 - The Verlassen Island

    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Player Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ichiroku</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Level</td><td colspan=''3''>8</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Race</td><td colspan=''3''>Human</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Profession</td><td colspan=''3''>N/A</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Stat Info:


    Strength : 2


    Stamina : 2


    Dexterity : 5


    Agility : 5


    Intelligence : 0


    Wisdom : 2


    Endurance : 1


    Luck : 100


    Additional Stat Point : 40</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Attack : 5 ~ 10


    Health : 100


    Mana : 0


    Defence : 6</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Enhancement


    N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow I got an additional stat points. Now where should I invest it on, for now let me invest it on Luck stat.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You cannot invest any point to Luck Stat.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Oh dang, of course I can¡¯t invest any point to luck stat. If I can surely everybody else can, it would be like a cheat when playing at the casino. Now that I know I can¡¯t invest point in luck, what stat should I invest it to?


    There are strength, stamina, dexterity, agility, wisdom, intelligence, and endurance. Now that I look at it isn¡¯t dexterity and agility is the same thing? The same goes to wisdom and intelligence.


    After I give a give a good look on those stat I realized there was a stat info button. I then proceed accessing each of the stat info that showed up in my profile information.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Strength ¨C Strength is power, it affect your physical defense and your physical attack. 1 strength stat gives you 5 attack power and 3 defense point. Strength is the most essential stat that is needed for a close range attack.


    Stamina ¨C Stamina effect your hit point, for a long and hard battle having a high stamina is very essential. Having a high stamina increase your survival rate, 1 stamina point gives you 50 hit points.


    Dexterity ¨C Dexterity is what affects your accuracy and aim and your critical strike rate. Every 1 point of dexterity allows you to increase your attack range of 5 meters. Dexterity is the most essential stat for rangers.


    Agility ¨C Speed, it increases your damage per second, your critical damage and your travel speed by foot.


    Intelligence ¨C Intelligence is important when it¡¯s about deciphering an old ancient tome. Intelligence also affects your experience level and skill level up.


    Wisdom ¨C With great knowledge, you are awarded with great power. Wisdom affects your mana point that lets you activate a skill. Every 4 wisdom stats gives you 100 mana points.


    Endurance ¨C Endurace affect block rate and parry. You cannot distribute point to this stat


    Luck ¨C Every great gambler need Lady Luck by their side.  High luck rate gives you a lot more chances to become successful in gambling on whatever games you are playing. You cannot distribute point to this stat


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    In my whole gaming experience, I think this is the first time I actually know what all the stats are for in games. The whole time I thought dexterity and agility was the same thing, same goes to intelligence and wisdom stat in games.


    My whole childhood is a lie!


    After I finished reading all the information about the stat, I found something that is quite interesting to leave behind.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    When a certain stat reached a certain amount, a new stat will be unlocked prior to automatic profession change


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Now that I think of it, the woman announcer did say that there are unlimited possibilities for profession or job change in this game. Just like in reality. I wonder if there are red district in this game too. Oh wait, better forget about that, why


    would they allow a red district in a game that allows even 12 years old kid play? This game is about adventure and youth.


    Though personally walking into a red light district would be quite an adventure itself.


    I wonder if there are such things as max stat. If only I can max out my luck stat, I¡¯d be making a fortune in gambling.


    For the mean time, I think I¡¯ll just invest it on strength and agility and a few stats on stamina. As of now I don¡¯t have any skills yet, I don¡¯t have the need for mana. I hope I would get a skill once I get a profession.


    It would be awesome if I got some kind of hidden job like what I¡¯ve read in manga and light novel.


    ¡°Hey mate, we¡¯re almost there¡­¡± No Hair who suddenly spoke out awakens me from my deep thought.


    ¡°Yeah, I can already see the shore.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the scent of my village is as good as always.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ Your village?¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± No Hair said with a big grin from left ear to right.


    Does that ¡®aye¡¯ supposed to mean ¡®yes¡¯?


    ¡°I heard about the mermen attack but I don¡¯t see any mermen during our travel, is there any particular time where the mermen would come and start attacking?¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of, as far as I know the mermen would come unnoticed. By the time the villagers became alarmed the mermen have already advanced pass through their security. Even though the merman are only Level 1 compared to the villager who are mostly Level 12, their numbers is not something to be taken light of as I too have fought them before I became a navy. I may look shabby as I am right now but I am Level. 70 Navy Captain.¡±


    Level. 70 Navy Captain!


    I thought you were a pirate captain!


    That explains it, so No Hair is supposed to help me protecting the villagers while waiting for the subjugation team huh?


    Geez, I almost thought that I¡¯m going to fight all of those mermen alone. Now that I heard that I can somehow calm down.


    ¡°Ah, now that you remind me¡­ The mermen won¡¯t come attacking near the harbor. We got pet sharks there so they won¡¯t dare to come. Our shark level is higher than those mermen after all. Hahaha!¡±


    ¡°I see, if that was the case then wouldn¡¯t it be better if you move the shark to where those merman would come attacking?¡±


    ¡°Like I said before the mermen always come unnoticed, if we could predict where they are going to show up then we would¡¯ve done it long ago. Besides, these shark are no ordinary sharks, these sharks is a territorial shark. They¡¯ve marked this harbour as their territory so they won¡¯t budge even an inch to move to another place even if we ordered them to do so.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    Damn, I thought I can use those sharks to reduce the mermen amount when they come attacking. But then again, I can always count on No Hair if something went wrong.


    The ship soon reached the harbour, after dropping the anchor, the captain than command Sailor 1 and Sailor 2 to unload the boxes. I was about to help them but then No Hair asked me to scout the surrounding to see if there are any possible danger that would¡¯ve come to them when they were unloading those boxes.


    Although I don¡¯t know what kind of possible dangers that he was mentioning about other than the sudden attack of the mermen, but which could¡¯ve been settled by the sharks. I moved my legs and began scouting.


    About two hundreds meter from the harbour was a beach. There was a lot of big bedrock scampered alongside the beach area. It was most as if I was in Okinawa enjoying my summer vacation. But then again the air here was different.


    I can feel it in the atmosphere.


    The stagnant air that surrounds me filled with foul smell. It was the smell of corpses, dead animal corpses. Wondering if it was the animals that were killed during the mermen attack, I followed the foul smell.


    After climbing a few steep hills, I found the most atrocious view that I had ever seen. Animal corpse were everywhere, the soil was showered with red darkish blood. The corpse condition was truly like an abomination that I insist for it to be mosaic. How I wish there is a gore censoring here.


    Whenever I stepped onto the groud, there was a squishy sound that could be heard. Small foam of blood was created whenever I raised my foot. It was utterly disgusting. This virtual reality is too real, can someone ¡®nerf¡¯ it please?


    As I walked through the animal corpses which I finally managed to identify after stopping myself from vomiting, I found a few corpses that were not an animal. It was two meters tall; head was off to a fish, legs that was much more to a mermaid but with 10000 times the ugliness.


    No matter from which point that I see it, this merman is a humanoid fish. Totally and completely not to mention thoroughly a fish! Not some creature that had the physical of mermaid that you can see in Disuni Channel.


    It was not like the mermen that I expect to see. The mermen in front of me were blue in color, having no nose and thin pale lips, dead eyes and fins like ears. There was no trident or whatsoever in their possession. It got the look of You-Know-Who.


    I used my legs when I moved one of the mermen corpses away, literally by kicking it little by little. I was thinking maybe there was actually a trident under their dead corpse but apparently I was wrong. These mermen were marching toward the battle field naked without armor or weapon. No wonder they died easily.


    I wonder if it was because their huge number that they don¡¯t have enough weapon and armor to go about? This virtual reality is a game, but it is sure an elaborated game.


    I looked at my inventory; there were a dagger, a dice and a deck of card. Though the things that I won from the lottery were mostly useless like dice and card, I did won something good. I then proceed by selecting the dagger info.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Weapon Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>The Heart Of  Jarius</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Type : Dagger</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Requirement : N/A</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>A poorly made dagger that was crafted by a young boy who wish to become the greatest craftsmen in whole Einstal. He put his heart and soul into every swing that he made, reverberating the metal with his very own passion and put a shape into this dagger.


    The wielder of this dagger will feel the surge of passion of the maker whenever he equipped this dagger as his main weapon during fight.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Weapon Stat


    Endurance : 25 / 25


    Attack : 10 ¨C 19


    Block Rate : 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Additional Info


    Dexterity +25


    Agility + 25</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I equipped the dagger. Rather than using it for killing my opponent, I used its first time to skin off the mermen instead. This skin would have a good price as loot, even if it sold at the price of one silver I¡¯m all good.


    I was a bit reluctant to skin the mermen, but as I think the loot as a lottery ticket I got a sudden surge of motivation to skin them all. I was even thinking to skin the animal corpse if it would sell at the general store.


    If I can sell one hundred of this I can buy another lottery ticket.


    After skinning a few of it and put it inside my inventory bag a horde of notification popped out.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    - You have obtained mermen skin.


    - You have obtained merman fins.


    - You have obtained mermen claws.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Claws¡­? So this finger nails were actually claws. I see, so this is their weapon. No wonder it was dyed in clad red color. I thought these mermen were into fashion or something. After finished skinning the mermen and stuff those soon lottery-ticket-to-be loot into my inventory bag I then got up and began scouting once again.


    I tried to find the train of where the mermen came from but I found nothing. Well it can¡¯t be helped, I am no expert hunter. I never even step a foot into a jungle before, moreover to hold a gun, though it would be an advantage if I can track it and set a few basic traps by making a pit fall or something with the help of the villagers.


    After spending a few tenth of minutes, or was it an hour? I was finally used to the scenery that was reflected before my eyes. I¡¯m amazed at my own adaptability rate. I was no longer bothered with the foul stench of animal corpse.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Even though the step that I took still produced little foams of blood, I was no longer felt like vomiting. Instead I was feeling elated as if I was some kind of hero who was the last man standing after a great war happened.


    How I wish I can put on some background music to compliments the moment. I wonder if there are options like background music here.


    I continued on scouting for a few more minutes when I finally decided to go back to the harbor. When I reached the harbor they have already finished unloading the boxes. The boxes was now been loading into a series of carriage.


    After reporting to No Hair that there was no potential danger that might come into our way, I proceed the day by helping them loading the boxes into the series of carriage.


    The road to the village was not that far, by rough calculation it was about five to six kilometers from the harbor. The village was at the center of the Island. Apparently they were living near the shore before but gradually they have to move deeper into the island due to the mermen attack.


    I was quite amazed that the mermen still found their way into the village that was located at the center of the island. As my memory serves me, mermen cannot live that long without water. I wonder how they managed to reach a village that was about five to six kilometers from the sea with no river, pond or whatsoever during the travel there.


    About half an hour travel, we finally reached our destination. It was already evening when we set our foot at the village. The villagers were living in shacks. There were no children that were out playing, there was no noisy chattering. The village was dead silence, when we arrived there. There were only a few villagers outside their house, holding either a hoe or a rake as a weapon.


    When the villagers see our faces they have a slight change in their emotion, the pale look that they had painted on their face was somehow became a little bit brighter like the morning sun that messed with my sleep today.


    They were glad when they the help that they asked has finally arrived. They do become slightly restless when they saw there was no man from subjugation force could be seen. We explained the situation and they finally breathed out in relief.


    Most of the injured were asked to group inside a portable large tent that was brought along with the medicine. Little to my surprise, Sailor 1 was actually a doctor, or at least he work as a paramedic in their ship. While sailor 2 was a chef!


    My impression of them has gone up slightly from normal henchmen to a useful subordinate. Be glad for that Sailor 1 and 2! Even though the medicine cannot help them to fully recover, with good food and given time. Everything¡¯s going to be all right.


    It was quite hectic when we were tending the injured villagers. Even though I was not physically tired due to the food that the chef presented to us somehow refilled my satiety, I was tired mentally. But after seeing the smile of the villagers and the happy face of the kids, the mental fatigue somehow flew away.


    I don¡¯t have a maiden heart or helping heart or whatever they called it, but seeing the faces of people that you helped changed their expression from a near-death-experience kind of like looks to a bright smile really gives you a good feeling. If I was a woman it would be a scene where I would be moved and jump at the children crying while nodding my head and say ¡°Everything is okay now¡­¡±


    But of course, that is a story if I was a girl. I am a man, from head to toe.


    When I opened my character profile I realize that there was a small circle above appeared above it. I didn¡¯t see it before, but apparently it was something like a clock. The only thing was it does not show the specific time, but only things like morning, afternoon, evening, night and dusk. The sentence evening was shining; supposedly it meant that the time now is evening.


    Even though we just ate a while ago, Sailor 2 was already preparing a dinner. Seeing him working so hard I walked toward his direction and offered my help. Working for free from time to time is not bad; after all I¡¯ll be joining in for dinner. The food that he cooked tasted good.


    I¡¯ll eat lots and lots of food and stuff my stomach until it can no longer stuff anything in. Apparently the quality in taste would drop a little when my satiety bar maxed out and I¡¯m still eating. This was something that I made certain just a few minutes ago.


    Sailor 2 was a good person, he was easy to converse with and his story is pleasant to the ears. I wonder who his programmer was; he must be a cheerful person with a lot of topic, or maybe a person with a lot of time to woogle for story.


    I latter found out that Sailor 2 was not really the chef name. His name was Eden, but as No Hair was so bad at remembering things he just named Eden as Sailor 2. These AIs are sure unique; they were given personality that resembles human so much that I almost forgot that they were NPC.


    ¡°How do you like the cooking was it good or was it bad? How was the taste, it¡¯s not bland isn¡¯t? I tried to mix in a few herbs that I found on our way here so it was a little different from what I usually cooked. It was my first time cooking not by the book; it didn¡¯t taste weird doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    Eden who was looking worried asked me with his eyes moving restless. He had been stirring the stew that he made for quite a while now, but still he didn¡¯t let off the ladle as he thought that the stew needed to be stir a few more times.


    Does stew even need stirring?


    ¡°It taste good, I¡¯m amazed how it tasted so good even though it was your first trial on new recipe. You are very talented in cooking.¡± I coated my words in compliments, ¡°Rather than that, to think that you¡¯re already making dinner just after we finished eating is even more amazing. You really work hard; I truly admire you for that.¡± No matter how simple or nonsense the compliments were, it always brings a good effect if you don¡¯t overdo it.


    My sensei once told me, ¡®compliments are the ingredient for good relationship; praises are the catalyst in partnership. Do it in moderation without exaggeration, and everything¡¯s going to be all right.¡¯


    Which means do it in moderation you can even praise or compliment yourself to gain self confidence!


    That¡¯s right, whenever I praise myself I was not a narcissist, I was merely gaining a self confidence!


    ¡°Ah, cooking is just something that I like to do. It was nothing compared to Sheldon who was treating the injured without stop since we arrived here.¡± Eden said and pointed his index finger at Sailor 1 direction.


    Oi Oi! Pointing your index finger to other people is a bad manner, didn¡¯t you know this? Oh wait, I bet his programmer doesn¡¯t know that. Anyway, Sailor 1 real name was Sheldon.


    ¡°I see.¡± I replied short.


    ¡°That boy always work hard, he never stop working until he made sure that everyone is well tend. Now that I think of it, the reason why Captain Baldy recruits him was due to his kindred heart. You see that right eye of Captain Baldy was patched right?¡±


    Captain Baldy? Is he talking about No Hair.


    ¡°Yes, was it due to injury?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we were fighting with pirates who were attacking this island a few years ago and he was heavily injured. There were too much pirate at that time while our Navy forces was short-handed, even though we managed to won the fight a lot of our comrades died.


    Sheldon was one of the slaves that were going to be sold at a neighbouring country. Captain was about to send him back to where his belong until he saw Sheldon tending the injured Navy, it was that time when Sheldon become one of ours.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ That must¡¯ve been very unfortunate right? Losing so many comrades during a fight¡­¡± I said in a sympathetic tone.


    ¡°No not really, most of the sailors are jackass so I was actually happy for the turnout.¡± Eden said without a slight doubt or sadness traced in his tone.


    We got a badass here!


    ¡°Oh Ichiroku can you bring this to Sheldon,¡± Eden hand me over a bowl of a hot soup. ¡°He has yet to eat anything since we arrived so I guess it¡¯s about time he feels hungry.¡±


    I took over the bowl and replied, ¡°I got it.¡±


    I then moved to where Sheldon was.


    Sheldon was moving agilely towards the injured villagers that occupied the emergency portable beds. He was applying bandage with utmost concentration. After he finished applying bandages he then wiped off the sweat on his forehead and sat onto the nearest seat.


    With the bowl on my hand I greeted him,


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work.¡± I handed the hot bowl of stew to him.


    ¡°Oh thank you, sorry for the trouble¡­¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t much, the pleasure is all mine.¡±


    ¡°Ah I see, but then again you saved me. I was about to head out for dinner after I finished things up here but looks like it wasn¡¯t needed.¡± Sheldon said and drank the soup. ¡°Hmm¡­ This soup taste different than the usual, was it stew or another kind of refreshment?¡± Sheldon asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a stew, but Eden added a few herbs into it so you can say that it was not your usual stew.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°Rather than that, does Eden always cook stew when it¡¯s about time to eat?¡±


    I asked him a trivial question, just to create a leeway for further interaction.


    ¡°No, not really¡­ He cooked various kind of food but during time like this he always make stew.¡±


    ¡°So that how it was¡­ But this time it¡¯s looked like the stew he cooked a little bit special as he mixed some herb inside it.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Now that you said it, I¡¯m running out of medicine.¡± Sheldon said. His eyes widened as he looked at the medicine supplies.


    ¡°That¡¯s bad isn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, can you help me out a little?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s within my ability, sure why not¡­¡±


    ¡°I need you to find a few herbs for me; this herb can be grinded and be made into medicine. Can you do it?  I wanted to do it myself but there are still things that needed to be done.¡±


    ¡°I can definitely do it. Finding herbs is an easy work, besides it¡¯s for the sake of the villagers. Heading out to the forest a little bit won¡¯t be much harm.¡±


    ¡°But please come back before midnight, I need to feed the injured the processed medicine by then. In exchange I will teach you on how to make a medicine.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Quest Accepted!


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>The medicine that was sent by the Baron of Beginner city is running out. There won¡¯t be enough medicine to treat the injured. This has greatly troubled Sheldon. He needs to find these five herbs to process as a medicine.


    The herbs that he needed to find are these


    Arols Root 0/5


    Bran Leaf 0/5


    Ergen Leafs 0/5


    Mangdora Roots 0/5


    Odel Bark 0/2</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Objective : Head out to the nearest forest and find these herbs for Sheldon. The quest will be completed when you managed to get your hand on every herb that needed and hand it over to Sheldon.


    Time Limit : Before midnight falls.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Quest Difficulty : G</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Reward : The secret to medicine processing.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow¡­ the secret to medicine processing? This is a good reward! Better than that 1 gold and 50 silvers thing.


    ¡°Oh by the way, go and meet Eden as I think he had stuff the he might need your help with too.¡±


    ¡°Okay I got it,¡± I then went on my way and see Eden as fast as I can.


    Eden gave a box of bento with delicacy that enough to make my mouth water, I then made my way into the forest.


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Previous Chapter</a></td><td width="25%">Next Chapter</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 3 - Rekt

    It was already night time when I got inside the forest. It was a dark and eerie atmosphere, every step that I took, and every breath that I exhaled, I can hear the sound of it; I was taken aback when I stepped on a dead branch which caused me to jump backward. Night forest isn¡¯t good for my heart. I knew that this was only a game but the sense of realism that it had caught me unguarded.


    The owl was making a weird sound when they sensed my presence. Bats, snakes and all other kind of nocturnal animal was ¡®partying¡¯ inside my head. I forgot how many times I had to remind myself that it was a game, it was only a virtual reality game.


    After hypnotizing myself with the same sentence over and over again, I was finally able to calm myself down. I pull out the dagger that I equipped as my main weapon to the distance. Pushing the dagger using my left hand onto the darkness whenever I heard a weird sound resounded throughout the forest caused me feeling a little bit tired. I hope my satiety won¡¯t drop due to this.


    By minutes I was getting deeper and deeper into the forest. It was at the point where I couldn¡¯t see anything that I remembered about the light stick that Eden gave me.   It was literally a stick that works out as a match.


    After I lit it up I then continued my journey. There were several [x] marks on the island map. Usually a map will only available when a player discovered the place and mapped it by themselves. But since I was running on a quest, Sheldon gave me a map and marked the place where the herbs location might be.


    But as he himself was quite unsure of the location because it has been a year since he last visited this Island, there are high probability that the plant habitation had either destroyed or changed due to the geography condition was changed when the Mermen attack. Well, that was what he told me.


    To be honest, I don¡¯t even sure how can the Mermen attack who by far all I know was using claw to attack can change a terrain, more over a Level 1 Mermen. Putting that thought aside, I was forced to re-map the forest and the herb location. I should¡¯ve got an extra reward for this!


    While keeping the map interface opened, I walked deeper into the forest with a dagger on my left hand and a light stick on my right hand. The [x] mark began to start blinking when I began to get nearer to its location.


    So far so good, there was no random monster that appeared out of nowhere. If things continued in this fashion, I might even be able to warps things up in less than an hour.


    The first herb that I found was the Arols Leaf. The Arols tree was quite short, and the leafs are easy to pluck, I don¡¯t even need my dagger for it. I plucked ten leafs of Arols. Even though Sheldon only asked for five, knowing that the reward for the quest was <<The Secret of Medicine Processing>> I took another extra five leafs for self use.


    The leaf has a peculiar smell on it; it smells sweet like a perfume that my sisters always use but also emitting a darkish purple aura just like my sisters does. Great, looking at these leafs somehow reminds me of my sisters. I better stuff it inside my inventory bag now.


    I then continued further into the forest. I might have already said it before but I will say it once again, this forest is freaking creepy. Those crawling roots that goes as far as the eyes can see are main contributor for this forest creepiness.  Not to mention the sudden glint of the owls eye, also the sound of bats moving from one tree to another.


    It was quite bothering me why I was the only one that received this kind of quest, while most of players that was flocking over the Mystery Woman  like  a bee waiting their turn to sip on the honey only do quests that goes as  far as the city boarder.


    They must¡¯ve read this quest and its sub-quest somewhere in a forum that I don¡¯t know and avoiding it because the low reward and the ultra creepiness. I should¡¯ve done a lot more research about this game, but for now I have to endure it.  Once I sold my monolith capsule I will be forgetting about this virtual reality game and focus on getting rich in reality, by lottery!


    AS I was deep in my thought, I reached the marked location before I knew it. The [x] mark on the map was blinking, the herb that I found was Ergen Leaf. I clicked on the quest info and clicked the Ergen Leaf, for information.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ergen Leaf is some kind of herb. This herb is only available in Verlassen Island. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I was quite surprised, I mean¡­ That¡¯s it? The information was so lacking that I was dumbfounded. How can they not state what kind of potion or medicine it would work as? Even flash game provides better ingredient information!


    On the ingredient info interface a picture of the leaf in question was provided. According to the map I¡¯ve reached the place where Ergen Leaf would be, but after looking around for a few minutes there was nothing that looked like an Ergen Leaf sighted.


    Even though I am no professional hunter, one can know that this place or rather this terrain was never tempered with. There were no sign of Mermen invasion that happened at this place or some kind of battle which destroyed the terrain. I was beginning to feel tired looking for something might not been there in the first place. Sheldon must¡¯ve marked the wrong location.


    I mean, the last time Sheldon visited this place was a year ago. Won¡¯t he remember things incorrectly? I may sound stupid but he is an AI after all. There exists such thing as bugs and glitches. I bet his memory became all fuzzy due to server lag or something. But I was just assuming things here; it might not be the case after all.


    I gave up on finding Ergen Leaf and decided to leave it for last, for now I should go and find the next nearby herb.


    I continued my journey by walking in an orderly fashion. Slash first then walk, before every step that I took, I slashed my dagger into the thin air about three times. Even though I know there was nothing in front of me, I still do so because who knows what might come jumping out of nowhere.


    I also set my focus on the surrounding area, using my ears to its utmost capability. I was able to discard the annoying creepy sounds like snakes slithering and owls ¡®night disco song¡¯ that was playing non-stop since the time I entered the forest.


    My eyes were somehow able to adjust to the surrounding lightning. I can somehow see further into the distance without the help of my light stick. I was no longer afraid of this dark and creepy forest like I once did.


    I¡¯ve said it once and I¡¯ll said it twice, I¡¯m amazed at  my own adaptability rate.


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    ¡°Sailor 1!!!¡± The husky voice of No Hair resounded throughout the village.


    ¡°Yes captain!¡± Sheldon replied in an obedient manner.


    No Hair who saw Sheldon poking his head out from the tent replying to him, moved his hand calling him over. Sheldon nodded and walked in reply.


    ¡°Where did that lad go?¡± No Hair asked.


    ¡°Ichiroku?¡±


    ¡°Yeah that lad.¡±


    ¡°I asked him to find me a few herbs to be processed into a medicine. Why, is there anything that you need from him? If there¡¯s anything that you need right now I can do it instead. I just finished with the second phase of the patient treatment.¡± Sheldon said.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ It was nothing serious; I was just about to ask him to accompany me to the southern side of the island.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything that you need to do there?¡± Sheldon asked as he was getting quite interested in what his Ship Captain was saying.


    ¡°I received some report from our fellow navy that a group of Mermen was sighted at the southern side of the Island. There was something weird going on there. I wanted to bring him along to exterminate those vile creatures.  But seeing as he had gone for an errand looks like I have to bring you instead.¡±


    Sheldon swallowed hard, he had never liked fighting even if it¡¯s against monster.  As the only skill that he learn was treatment skill, most of the time he stand useless when there was a sea monster subjugation request. Captain No Hair can handle any sea monster single handedly and Eden made a great supporter with his skills with knives.


    Due to Captain No Hair being an expert in fighting on sea he was never left with injury, which literally rendered Sheldon ability useless.


    Sheldon was having a complex about this as he feels good that no one was injured, but at the same time he felt useless because he cannot fight on equal group with his comrades.


    Realizing that on Sheldon face was painted an expression of complexion No Hair said, ¡°Which reminds me, where did that lad went to?¡±


    ¡°He went to the forest,¡±


    ¡°Hm, then I will go and do a little scout at the north area. By the way which forest did he gone off to?¡±


    ¡°The forest where there is a huge Mangdora tree. He left a few hours ago; he might already be too far inside the forest.¡±


    ¡°I see, Mangdora Forest is like swamp, there are lots of herbs that can be found there.  If I¡¯m not mistaken that was the place where a new sub-species of Mangdora tree were sighted. It will be quite hard to differentiate between a real Mangdora tree with roots and Mangdora tree sub-species that have legs that look like roots.¡±


    ¡°A new sub-species?!¡± Sheldon asked bewildered.


    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t know it myself. There were no such things as Mangdora tree sub-species when we left the island a year ago. Before we set out to retrieve the supply from Beginner town, I ordered Scout Boy get to the island before us to investigate the area.  Supposedly he were to get an information about from where the Mermen might come attacking, we can prepare an early counter-measure. But the investigation didn¡¯t go too well because of the Mangdora tree sub-species. Those creatures begin attacking him out of nowhere and now Scout Boy was bedridden. ¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t you know about this Mangdora tree sub-species?¡±


    ¡°I just know it now.¡±


    ¡°That lad is in danger¡­ Our Scout Boy is level 25 and he was heavily injured and that lad is only level¡­¡± No Hair paused; he raised one of his eyebrows and asked, ¡°¡­ What was his level again?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t quite know Captain but I guess it¡¯s lower than level 10.¡±


    No Hair exhaled deeply. He raised his chin and focused his sight onto the starry night.


    ¡°Rest in peace lad...¡±


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead I¡¯m dead!!


    I am so dead!!


    What the hell is that thing? Is that supposed to be Mangdora tree? That is not a tree that is a freaking monster!  Did Sheldon trick me? No, he¡¯s an AI and a quest NPC he doesn¡¯t have the brain to trick people. But if he didn¡¯t then what the heck is that? A Mangdora tree does not attack people, or at least from what I¡¯ve learned from the quest info.


    Or is that a Mandgore tree?


    It has the same appearance of a Mangdora tree, even the roots look the same. No matter from which point I looked at it, that thing is a Mangdora tree. Am I supposed to kill it to retrieve its root? But Sheldon said nothing about killing a monster to obtain the herbs.


    I ran using all my might, the trees, the branches; I was no longer in a stat that I can be mindful about it. I just kept on running, turning left and right and sometimes moved in zigzag fashion to shake off the Mangdora tree away.


    But my efforts were rendered useless when I heard a thundering roar resounded throughout the forest.


    ¡°Grawwrr!!!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    - You have heard the cry of Mangdora Creep


    - You are stunned for 3 second


    - Your are in a confused state, unable to use any skill


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    It¡¯s not a freaking Mangdora tree! It was a freaking creep.


    As I was stunned for 3 second the Mangdora Creep managed to close the distance between us. The creep moved its flailing roots towards me, thankfully the stunned effect has gone before the root hits me and I managed to avoid it by hair breadth.


    I was so lucky.


    I jumped backward like a protagonist in an action hero anime and somehow managed to increase the distance between me and the creep by 10 meters. This jump power is surreal! I feel like I¡¯m a superhero in a certain action pack anime!


    So far so good, I have yet to receive any sort of heavy damage other than the flying debris from the tree that the flailing root of that creep destroyed.


    Those debris slowly chipping away my HP, but I let it slide because it only reduce my HP by a slight amount. If I can keep running and escaping like what I¡¯ve been doing, I can come back alive. Ask help from No Hair and kick this creep ass!


    That is, if I managed to get out from this forest. I don¡¯t know what the penalty for dying is, and I don¡¯t feel like knowing it now.


    ¡°Grawwrr!!!¡±


    The creep thundering roar resounded throughout the forest once again, and like before; I was stunned for 3 second. Every time I was stunned there was nothing inside my head other than ¡®dead by the branch¡¯.


    As if it was toying with me it used its roots and flailed it around aimlessly. I was forced to ¡®break dance¡¯ in order to avoid all of those roots that moving without significant pattern. One of the flailing roots hit me. I was thrown away and only stopped when my back slammed hard on a tree.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I coughed so hard for a few times that I thought I was coughing blood. But gladly I was not, but the pain that I felt was indeed real. I know they are striving to make a virtual reality game which is a lot more like a reality, but can¡¯t they left out the sense of pain away and changed it with tingling sensation on the foot or something?


    If I were to die in this game, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll be dying for real in reality.


    Another flailing root reached out to me, I was of course evaded it as fast as I can by jumping forward with all my might. The dead leafs that was on the ground was flown above the air as I was screeching through the ground.


    My breathing was hazard; I can feel the blood rushing through my head.


    ¡°¡­ Puha¡­¡± A small voice was heard from the Mangdora Creep, ¡°Puhahahaha!¡± The Mangdora creep burst out laughing. ¡°You weaklings, what a noob. Stop running and fight me!¡±


    The creep talked?!


    ¡°What are you dazing out for noob. Is that human sized brain of yours unable to comprehend what I am talking about?


    This creep is surely talking isn¡¯t?


    ¡°This is why I hate human; you humans are too stupid¡­ Running won¡¯t help you, sooner or later you are going to die and become my exp! Why don¡¯t you just surrender and let me kill you, it will be easier for the both of us! Don¡¯t waste your time.¡±


    This creep is pissing me off.


    ¡°Seriously, I¡¯m saying that this is for your own good¡­ You human are weak! Why don¡¯t you just accept that and cease that futile running of yours. Look at your appearance; you looked even worse than the beast dog!¡±


    Shing!


    One of the Mangdora Creep flailing roots was cut off.  I was so pissed off by the creep trash talk that my body moved even before I command it to. I jump backward a few more times, trying to increase the distance. I know that I¡¯ll be a dead meat if I were to clash with the Mangdora Creep head on. I thus looked at the inventory and saw the card.


    Without any hesitation I equipped the card on my right hand exchanging with the light stick that I thrown away before. Without wasting any more time I jump upward and threw one of the cards that I had in my inventory toward the creep. It stuck perfectly on its head.


    I was in trance, the intention that I had a few moment ago to get out from the forest and ask for No Hair assistance was no longer resided in my train of thought. All I was thinking about was to kill that little piece of trash and make its body parts as fire woods.


    The Mangdora Creep roars once again, but I was not stunned. Instead I kept on using my cards as shurikens and threw it all at that Mangdora Creep head.


    The Mangdora Creep roars became even louder, and my attack became even faster! Keeping a safe distance from the creep, I attacked him restlessly. Cards by cards flew from my hands, even though I was never good with darts surprisingly the card that I threw hit perfectly where I wanted it to hit.


    I wonder if it was due to my dexterity and agility stats. I¡¯ll make sure to check it later after I beat this Mangdora Creep ass.


    The Mangdora Creep was surprised when his roar didn¡¯t stun me. It was now keep on flailing its numerous roots in a speed that was entirely different from before. I was left with no choice but to jump backward a few times to avoid from being hit.


    But I was unfortunate as one of the roots was hidden underground; it attacked me when I was in mid-air.  I was unable to change my trajectory as there was no ground under my legs to do so. The root hit me from my blind spot and I was slammed onto the ground.


    I felt an excruciating pain spread throughout my body. The pain was nothing to joke at. It felt like my eyes almost popped out when I was desperately trying to endure the pain. My HP was reduced by a quarter.


    This is by; if I get another 3 attack from that creep I¡¯ll die. The creep hp was only reduced by 7%. I guess attacking just using the card and hoping to kill it was pushing the limit. I had to think of an alternative way to attack it without having to face him directly. Regardless, I kept on attacking it using the cards ran out. By the time I was out of cards to throw with, the creep hp is reduced by 20%.


    It was then that another barrage of attack came, this time it was not a flailing roots. But instead a straight thrust by countless roots that look almost like a spear when it¡¯s blurred because of the thrusting speed.


    I was severely mistaken, with this kind of attack; I will be history even if 1 attack hit me. There was no opening for me to charge in directly using close range attack. And even if I keep a distance and throw things at it, the barrage of roots thrusts will parry it even before it reached the creep. Rather than parry, the roots will literally destroy it.


    I then jumped off the ground and land on a branch of a big tree. I somehow managed to grasp the essence of moving my body in this virtual reality. I can really jump high, I don¡¯t know how high I can jump but from the previous movement that I made I think it was about 10 meters.


    After the creep saw me standing on a tree branch it moved its barrage of attack once more and destroyed the tree that I was standing at. I managed to avoid its attack by leaping from tree to tree circling the creep.


    I took the scattered debris at any chance I get and threw it at the creep. Instead of parrying it, this time it caught the debris and threw it back at me. The debris flew at me with the speed of a ball that was pitched by major baseball league player.


    I was able to evade it by a hair breadth, but still it grazed my cheek. It was painful, but not as painful as getting hit from my blind spot like before.  There was a trace of blood that could be seen. This trashy creep, even my dad had never slapped my cheek before, how dare you!


    There was no debris nearby me, and I don¡¯t have any more cards to throw with. Having a quick glance at my inventory there was still 1 item left. It was a dice. A great queen once said, if there was no bread and let them eat cake. If there are no more cards, this dice would do.


    I equipped the dice as my secondary weapon. Jump off from the tree and land softly onto the ground. Took my stance, wiped off my sweats, I was literally posing like a pitcher that going to pitch a winning ball. But of course, I was merely throwing my dice at the creep.


    Putting my entire strength onto my right hand, I took a deep breath, not minding about the barrage of roots thrust that was going to hit me and moved my tightly gripped fist vigorously like I never did before other than the night grip exercise that I never missed for the past 6 years


    Pow!


    A sound wave was created from the instantaneous movement of my hand.


    Just kidding, there were no sound wave, it was just the sound of the roots thrust that missed me and hit the tree behind my back instead.


    The dice hit the creep head directly.


    ¡°Puk.¡± A small comedic sound was heard.


    I looked at the creep HP. There was not even 0.01% damage dealt. Great, just my luck¡­


    Or so I thought, but the sudden notification popped out surprised me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Lucky Dice Roll</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>You rolled number 6


    ¡®The Eye¡¯ are watching you, seeing you fighting without fear has ignite ¡®The Eye¡¯ interest in you. You received the blessing of ¡®The Eye¡¯ for 5 minutes.


    All stat are tripled.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Progress : Blessing Phase 1 Normal 10%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    What the!


    My stat! I better check my stat!


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Player Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ichiroku</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Level</td><td colspan=''3''>8</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Race</td><td colspan=''3''>Human</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Profession</td><td colspan=''3''>"The Eye Apostle"</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Stat Info:


    Strength : 75


    Stamina : 60


    Dexterity : 15 (+25)


    Agility : 69 (+25)


    Intelligence : 0


    Wisdom : 6


    Endurance : 3


    Luck : 300</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Additional Info:


    Attack : 375 -  385 (+10 ¨C 19)


    Health : 2250/3000


    Mana : 100/100


    Defence : 225


    Attack Speed: 34.5 % (+12.5%)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Enhancement


    Lucky Dice Roll (6) - ¡®The Eye¡¯ are watching you, seeing you fighting without fear has ignite ¡®The Eye¡¯ interest in you. You received the blessing of ¡®The Eye¡¯ for 5 minutes. All stat are tripled (Stat bonus given by item are excluded).</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Holy what?! My basic stats are tripled! Including my luck! And my profession changed from nothing to ¡®The Eye Apostle¡¯. This isn¡¯t a glitch isn¡¯t? Does this came from the dice that I threw? Seriously¡­?


    I was rendered speechless.


    ¡°Guehehehehe!¡± I smiled and unintentionally let out my voice. ¡°Gahahahahahaha!¡± and I screamed louder than before. The creep who was startled by my sudden change in attitude was bewildered. It halted all of its attack.


    I am OP! I can feel the power! I can even beat Onii-sama! Oh wait, Tatsuya OVERPOWERED level is way over your normal OP so¡­ I can beat Miyuki!


    Now feel my rage!


    I put all my strength to my right legs, lowered the upper side of my body and jumped with all my strength. My freaking 75 strength! I dashed toward the Creep, way faster than before. The Creep lashed all of its roots right at me.


    I tried to avoid, but then I found that it was no longer necessary. The damage that it dealt was so little that I didn¡¯t even lose 5% of my total HP. My right fist went straight at its head, but I didn¡¯t stop moving. More accurately, I wasn¡¯t able to stop from moving forward.


    The momentum that brought me forward didn¡¯t stop when I got to where the creep was. The result was I dragged the creep forward with my fist on its face. I pulled my fist and gave the creep an upper jaw nabs, and the creep went straight above the air.


    Before the creep went further away I grabbed one of its roots, and pulled it down. It was so easy, as easy as pulling an oxygen filled balloon. The creep fall hard onto the ground, and a small crater was created due to the impact.


    But I didn¡¯t stop there; I took my dagger and slashed the creep head where I deemed that was where the cheek was.


    ¡°This is for my cheek that you grazed with your petty counter-attack!¡± I said menacingly.


    The creep used all of its roots and thrust it directly into me from every side, but all I feel was the sensation of tingling pain on my entire body. The damage that it dealt was only 3%  Even after thrusting it over and over and over again the total hp that I lost was only 16% if I were to calculate from the very first attack since my stat were tripled.


    I caught one of its roots and pull it until it was separated from the main body. It only damaged the creep by 5%. This is good, if it were to damage him like 20% of its hp then this will end too quickly. I pulled another and a few more.


    The creep was screaming, it was writhing, it was crying in agony.


    ¡°Tell me noob mob... You noob! You noob! How does it feel to be tortured by a stupid human? Hahaha!¡± I mocked the trashy creep.


    It feels good! Being able to trash talk the one who trash talked you before just because they are stronger than you is the best feeling ever.


    ¡°Curse you human!!¡±


    I mustered all my strength and pulled out all of its roots in one go. The creep HP becomes red indicating that it was lower than 10%. I once again pull out my dagger and with both of my hand; end the creep pitiful existence from the virtual world.


    Well it actually took me more than 50 slash on the creep head but, I¡¯ll omit that part. I won¡¯t sound as if I¡¯m OP if I need more than 50 slash on the creep for it to die.


    Or at least that was what I wanted to think. But it seems there was a countdown on the grayed Mangdora Creep corpse.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>23 hours 58 minutes 25 second before revival</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    - You have killed the South Mid-Boss of Verlassen Island.


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have gained a level!


    - You have 35 additional stat points to be distributed.


    - ¡®The Eye¡¯ blessing period has ended, your stat has returned to normal. As a side effect you are not able to use the dice for 6 days and you will not receive any fame reward from the quest that you were doing.


    - A new profession has been unlocked; would you like to change your profession to a Gambler?


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    A new profession?


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Previous Chapter</a></td><td width="25%">Next Chapter</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 4 - Aww Yiss!

    Author Note : I''m sorry for the grammar mistakes or sentences that is too hard to understand which need you to re-read it for 2 times or more to understand it.  I''m too lazy to check for mistakes and honestly, I''m sucks at finding my own fault. Though I''m pretty good at finding my sisters fault.


    _______________..^^._______________


    There were so many surprising thing that popped out one after another. That Mangdora Creep was a Mid-Boss? I have yet to fight a trial mob and here I am alive after I managed to defeat a Mid-Boss monster and gained 7 levels.


    And it looked like the enhancement that I got before had a side effect. I am not able to roll the dice for another 6 days, and I won¡¯t get any fame or reward from quest if I used The Eye enhancement. Which means, if I were working on a quest that have 1 thousand fame as reward, if I used The Eye enhancement the reward will be null. Well that is troubling, if I were a normal player that is. Fame¡­? I don¡¯t need fame. I want money!


    SHOW ME THE MONEY!!


    And last but not least, Gambler?!  Is that even what you call a profession? What happened to ¡®The Eye Apostle¡¯? I thought I had become The Eye apostle? Or was it my profession when I received the blessing from The Eye? If that was the case then it makes sense.


    Now, what do I do with this Profession Change?


    I clicked on the gambler profession and an info pop out.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Gambler!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value which is sometimes referred to as "the stakes" on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Gambling thus requires four elements be present: consideration, chance and prize also luck.


    You are a man chosen by the Goddess of Luck! Within your palm is the center of the economy. Your luck is higher than average person. To unlock the Gambler profession a certain conditions must be fulfilled.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Required item for Profession Gambling :


    - Level 10 or higher [/]


    - Own a set of card [/]


    - Own a dice [/]</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Required action for Profession activation:


    - Rolled a Dice with bad enhancement once [/]


    - Rolled a Dice with good enhancement once [/]


    - Draw a Pair [/]


    - Draw a Flush [/]</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>By accepting this profession a certain locked stat will be unlocked.


    - Luck  - You can distribute points on this stat. [0]</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>¡°The thirst for money is real!¡±</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Accept or Decline? Of course I would accept! Who the hell need swords and armors if you can sell it for money and gamble all day? I can get a good weapon or even a set of item if I¡¯m lucky enough, no wait. I will be lucky I will invest all my point to luck stat and won each and every bet that I do! I don¡¯t have to grind, I don¡¯t have to face the pain anymore.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You have accepted the profession of Gambler! May the Goddess of Luck be with you!


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Another notification popped out.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Gambler!


    Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value which is sometimes referred to as "the stakes" on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Gambling thus requires four elements be present: consideration, chance and prize also luck.


    You are a man chosen by the Goddess of Luck! Within your palm is the center of the economy. Your luck is higher than average person. To unlock the Gambler profession a certain conditions must be fulfilled.


    Required item for Profession Gambling :


    Dice rolling skill (passive): Phase 1 Normal 12%


    Card Drawing skill (passive) : Phase 1 Normal 56%


    ¡°The thirst of money is real!¡±


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Now that I read the description carefully, I do I get the feeling that they were just copy pasting the information on minipidea?! Anyway, I got 2 new skills, but those skills were passive. Not that I mind because these passive skill can be a great asset in gambling! I accepted the profession and looted the Mid-Boss monster drop. Rather than drop, all I did was took out its bark, root also its sap, again, using the dagger that I have equipped as the main weapon.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    - You have obtained Mangdora Bark


    - You have obtained Mangdora Roots


    - You have obtained Mangdora Sap


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I then proceed by checking the Dice info; it was an important thing as the dice is one of the items needed in the requirement to unlock the Gambler profession. Before, I threw the dice randomly without knowing its effect, gladly I rolled something good. If I were to roll a number with bad enhancement, I don¡¯t know what would¡¯ve happened to me.


    But there was something that intrigue me ¡®Rolled a Dice with bad enhancement¡¯?


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Lucky Dice!


    Lucky Dice is one of the items needed to unlock the Gambler profession. Each side of the dice gives out different enhancement.


    A lot more of dice ability will be unlocked as the player become a lot more prominent in Gambling.


    You can only roll a dice 3 times a day, there will be 2 hours delay from each rolls.


    Roll Count : 2/3


    Cards resonance : 50%


    Dice resonance : 0%


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I knew it, other than good enhancement there are bad enhancement too! There are these things that were called as resonance, I wondered what it was. I thus selected the Cards and click its info.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Cards Of Lucia!


    These cards were made by the Goddess of Luck Lucia. There are 56 cards in one set. Each combination in this card gives different types of enhancement. These enhancements varied from time to time even if the same combination of card was drawn.


    Draw Count : 3/3


    Dice resonance : 50%


    Card Resonance : 0%


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    This card had that resonance thingy in it too. I wonder what these resonances really are. Dice resonance and card resonance, are they supposed to compliments each other power by any chance?


    Do I have to get another set of card and shuffle it together to increase the resonance?


    Do I have to find another dice and roll it together to increase the resonance?


    There were so many things that were floating inside my brain, in the end I decided to leave that thing out and opened my player interface, or what I always call as; profile.


    ¡°Now time to check my stat.¡±


    There was no one there but I still said it out loud. I can¡¯t helped it, it has been proven scientifically that a person tend to talk out loud to their self.


    Yep, my stat has returned to normal.


    After I viewed my profile and invested all of my 35 additional stat points to luck, I continued my journey to retrieve the desired herb by Sheldon.


    Today was the first time I fought a monster, and a Mid-Boss at that. If it weren¡¯t for the cheat-like dice that I never thought I have up in my sleeve I would¡¯ve experience my first death in this game. Honestly I was still surprised at this game realism; the sense of pain was so real that I almost forgot it was all in my mind.


    Though, it got the pain got nulled the second I become ¡®The Eye Apostle¡¯.


    After the fight with Mangdora Creep the rest of the journey was smooth sailing. I managed to get the needed herbs and even took twice the amount then what had been asked by Sheldon. Of course I did not forget about my dice and set of cards.


    Apparently once you equipped it as your weapon it will return to your hand after a certain period of time if the [equipped item] did not moved or changed location.  My light stick that I throw away when I was suddenly chased after that Mangdora Creep has returned into my inventory too. But it was another story for the dice.


    As the dice was unusable for 6 days, it was not able to return to my automatically. So I had to look for it myself¡­ It took me quite sometimes before I was able to find it. Next time I will throw it just under my foot so I can pick it up quickly before I lose it. Yeah, I shall do that.


    ***


    ¡°Here are the herbs that you wanted me to find.¡±


    ¡°Oh thank you!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Quest completed! Reward ¡®The secret to medicine processing¡¯


    +50 Intimacy with Sheldon


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Here it is the secret to medicine processing.¡± Sheldon said and handed over a thick red book to me.


    I observed it carefully; all I saw was nothing but weird characters that was neither kanji nor alphabet. Does it mean that I need a certain amount of intelligence to be able to read this book or something?


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°You need to have atleast 50 intelligence to read the book.¡± Seldon who noticed my grim expression exclaimed.


    I stuff the book into my inventory bag. My leather clothes that were died in red began to let out a putrid smell. Now that I think of it, I wonder why my clothes weren¡¯t given any defense. I should at least able to get 2 or 3 defense point from a newbie clothes.


    If I were to have a better defense maybe the Mangdora Creep won¡¯t be able to deal a lot of damage to me. I lose 25% of my total hp when I was hit once by the roots before I got the cheat-like enchancement.


    ¡°Here let me patch you up.¡± Sheldon said.


    He looked at my tattered clothes and disheveled appearance. He was about to say something but he then shuts his mouth.


    Isn¡¯t he going to say anything? Like are you okay, or I¡¯m sorry for sending you out into the forest without telling you that there are high chances you will mistake a Mangdora Creep as Mangdora Tree.


    But I guess he must¡¯ve not known about it too. There is this feeling guilty kind of expression painted on his face.


    From afar I could see No Hair waving his hand at me. I waved back in reply. He soon came to where I was.


    ¡°Wow lad¡­ You looked terrible! What happened?¡±


    ¡°I found a Mid-Boss Mandgore Creep, and somehow able to defeat it¡­ though as you can see I¡¯m all tattered up. Its attack was harsh! I almost die back there.¡±


    It was the true, even though after I gain the cheat-like enhancement for 5 minutes and able to overpower the Mangdora Creep, I was already dying mentally due to its trash talk damage. I got to admit; sometimes, words can be sharper than the sharpest blade.


    If I know who was the programmer for that AI I would be more than please to give him a hug, on the neck, with a rope!


    ¡°You are one lucky person lad! Wait, wasn¡¯t that Mandgore Creep was a subspecies of Mandgore tree? ¡± No Hair asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but from the appearance of it you can say so.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Wew mate! Are you for real? Our level 25 scout boy met with that thing and was bedridden until now!¡±


    If it weren¡¯t for the lucky dice roll, not only bedridden; I would¡¯ve died right there and right then.


    ¡°I was lucky indeed.¡± I said in reply to No Hair amazement.


    ¡°Well, as things turned out, we might actually able to defeat those Mermen by ourselves without having to wait for the subjugation force. I was a little bit reluctant to attack those Mermen because my best man Scout Boy is bedridden due to injury. But with you around, things will be different don¡¯t you think so?¡±


    No no no! I definitely don¡¯t think so! It is true that I was able to defeat that Mangdora Creep but that was only after I got a cheat-like ability for less than 5 minutes. Moreover it takes another 6 days before I can use the dice! And even if I can roll the dice I doubt I can get another roll of 6!


    I can only roll the dice 3 times a day with delay of 2 hours every roll! Once I used it all up I will be left with nothing, plus I don¡¯t know what the other numbers enhancements were. There are high probabilities of me getting a negative enhancement instead of good one. I even got a bad enhancement at first roll for deed that I don¡¯t know where and what time did I done it.


    So my answer is no! Period!


    Why do I feel my strategy in distributing all my stat point to luck is going to be a bad idea? I will check up the internet and find out a lot more things about this game. This game is quite fun I say, but it was not fun when you feel the actual pain! Seriously, sooner or later people will start complaining about this and I will be one of those people.


    ¡°But¡­ Wouldn¡¯t it be better if we just protect the villager rather than going out to exterminate those Mermen?¡±  I tried to object.


    ¡°Early bird catches the worm lad! It might be too late to protect the villager when the army of merman came here.¡± No Hair overruled my objection.


    What? Prevention is better than cure? Is that he wanted to say?


    And it might be too late to say it now but, since when did he changed from calling me mate to lad?


    ¡°¡­but-¡°


    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing lad. These Mermen are not like the Mermen it was before. I got my scouts telling me that these Mermen are getting better and better from each battle that they had with the villagers. They are starting to understand strategies, weapon making and what not. If we strike them now we are able to weaken their forces. They are no longer the Level. 1 Mermen that we used to know.¡±


    That is the more reason for me not to go isn¡¯t?!


    ¡°My plan is, we get into their main travel point at the southern beach. Destroy their base and exterminate as may merman that we can.¡±


    ¡°Wait, southern beach? Do we have to pass through the forest?¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, the southern forest is the fastest route to the southern beach.¡±


    ¡°The forest was where I met the Mid-Boss, I almost died there¡­¡±


    Seriously, this is getting even troublesome. Now he¡¯s asking me to pass through the forest where that Mangdora Creep will spawn in a day. Forget about reaching the southern beach, we won¡¯t even get pass the forest.


    No Hair was silence. He kept on messing with his non-existent hair as if he was thinking about something.


    ¡°A new subspecies of Mangdora Tree was found on the southern forest, what¡¯s more a mid-boss level at that, if wonder if this thing is somehow connected with the Mermen advance for the past month.¡± No Hair said and looked straight into my eye. Emitting a seriously aura from his pupils he added, ¡°Okay how about this lad. If you help me exterminating the Mermen base I will teach you my most honored finishing technique.¡±


    ¡°C-Captain are you sure you¡¯re going to teach him that just for helping you destroying the Mermen base?¡± Sheldon who was quiet the entire time raised his voice.


    ¡°The reward that I¡¯m going to give it represents how important it is for us to destroy their base as fast as we can.¡± No Hair explained.


    Finishing technique! The deal sounds pretty good, as of now all I have are passive skills that can¡¯t possibly be used in battle continuously. If I can get an active skill I can probably level up by feeding off the weak mobs. Besides, I think it¡¯s a good chance for me to gain levels by EXP auto distribution.


    If I were  to meet that Mangdora Creep again, there would be no problem as this time I got Level. 70 Navy Captain No Hair with me. But first, I need to confirm the validity of his offer.


    ¡°First thing first, are you going to teach me directly or are you going to give me a book to read and learn the technique?¡±


    I won¡¯t do troublesome stuff that leads me to another troublesome stuff.


    ¡°Of course I will be teaching you directly, what kind of method is left other than teaching you directly.  This technique is my personal technique that I created when I was fighting the Kraken! This isn¡¯t some boring moves that I learned from books!¡± No Hair exclaimed.


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to say that much then¡­ fine, I accept it.¡± I replied without any strength in my answer. Well at least I can use active skill when I learned the technique.


    ¡°I knew that I can count on you lad.¡± No Hair let out a big grin and showed his golden teeth.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Main Quest Updated!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>One of No Hair ship Scout reported that there were changes in the Mermen Army.


    The Mermen were no longer like it was like before. They are able to make base, devise strategy and forge weapons


    In order to weaken their army, No Hair proposed that the base are to be destroyed and exterminate as my merman as possible.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Objective : Join No Hair Party and destroy the Mermen Army base. Exterminate as many merman as possible to weaken the army forces.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Time Limit : Before the Subjugation Team arrived.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Quest Difficulty : D</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Reward : No Hair [Finishing Technique]</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I then joined No hair party.


    I don¡¯t know how long had I been playing the game, but it was about time for me to log out. I opened the player interface and clicked log out. There was a warning that tells me¡­


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Exiting to real world in 9¡­


    Exiting to real world in 8¡­


    Exiting to real world in 7¡­


    Exiting to real world in 6¡­


    Exiting to real world in 5¡­


    Exiting to real world in 4¡­


    Exiting to real world in 3¡­


    Exiting to real world in 2¡­


    Exiting to real world in 1¡­


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    The capsule burst opened.


    I immediately checked my whole body carefully and thoroughly, even though I was healed by Sheldon. I was wondering if it would have a side effect to my real physical body. Luckily, my body was as sexy as always.


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Previous Chapter</a></td><td width="25%">Next Chapter</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 5 - Weakens the Mermen Army

    After I got out from the capsule, I went for a hot bath and hit the bed afterwards. Though I was not tired physically, I was severely exhausted mentally. It didn¡¯t take long before I was sound asleep.  Plus, the softness of the bed felt way better than the springy sponge inside the capsule.


    I woke up, heated up the bento inside the microwave, cleaned the house a little bit and turned on my computer. I lived alone, but sometimes my sisters stopped by to do a check up on me, if they were to see my room in a total mess, they are going to clean my ears from inside out.


    Saying things like, ¡°You¡¯re an adult now, even if you can¡¯t act like one at least keep your appearance like an adult.¡± or, ¡°Is this room or a dump site?¡± not to mention the award winning phrase, ¡°What am I going to do  with you¡­¡± I''ve heard those sentences over and over again, I heard it a lot of times to the point that I can imitate the exact tone and the exact expression that they had when they said those sentences.


    After my computer finished loading I opened my all reliable browser Woogle. As expected from Woogle, when I entered the key ¡®E¡¯ it gave a lot of recommendation and even sometimes completes my sentences.


    I appreciate your efforts Woogle but, please let me finish my own sentences.


    I entered the keyword ¡®Einstel Online¡¯. There were about one hundred thousand results in 0.32 seconds. I scrolled my way through the results, the result was astounding.  There were many threads related to Einstel Online showed up but none of it fits what I was looking for.


    I keep scrolling my way down and found one interesting thread. It was called ¡®Making Money through online games¡¯. Sure enough it piqued my interest. The thread was a single page guide. It was a wall of text; there were so many words to read. Luckily the all-important things were highlighted and I was able to scam through the content.


    I was able to find the short version of the guide which goes like this,


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    ¡°Hai guys, in this guide I¡¯m going to teach you how to make money in online games. No matter what games you play, as long as it is an MMORPG you can make money through it. But the how-to that I¡¯m going to teach you today is how to make money through Einstel Online.


    Well before you can making money in games you need a sufficient level and knowledge about the game so I included the link to my ¡®Guide in leveling and in-games hunting spot¡±


    We all know that every player want to be strong, and the fastest way to do this is by getting good equipment. In Einstal Online there are 5 grade of item which is Normal, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary. You can sell this item for real money through bidding in the official Einstal Online which is made by Einstal Game website to the other players.


    Now let us begin, these items can be obtained through Forgery, Shop, Monster Drop and quest reward.


    Normal grade and Uncommon weapon can be obtained easily from the shop so I won¡¯t say much about it.


    Rare item are mostly obtained from dungeons, you have to explore dungeons for rare weapon drop. You can also get it by field monster drop but the drop rate is so low that to the point that only field boss monster drop rare item. So my best advice is to form a party and get into the dungeon and start grinding.


    The only known way to obtain an Epic item is through quests and tower. Chain quests always gives out Epic item. Not many people managed to complete Chain quest due to its increasing difficulties as the quest progress further but, never give up. The reward is worth the effort! I just completed a chain quest myself and got myself a good sword.


    The next one is Legendary Item, Einstel Games had revealed in their website about the Legendary item. Einstel Games had stated that the only way to gain Legendary Item for now is from tower, though they did hinted about getting the legendary item through another method. Those who leveled 100 and above are urged to try out the tower and get the legendary item.


    P.S I tried climbing a tower before but I only managed to get into floor 78. It was damn hard. The mobs evasion are too OP and they got mana drain. Eventhough my race is Elf with high mana point I didn¡¯t even last 5 minutes on floor 78. BTW I¡¯m level 253


    P.S.S The Epic item that I got from the quest is now on auction! Please click my profile for more info xD!


    P.S.S.S As a professional gamer, Einstel Online is a gold mine!


    P.S.S.S .S I''m sorry for my bad english xD


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Professional gamer? Oh, and don''t worry about your English, mine is worst! Honestly speaking, I don''t even know either I should ''color'' or ''colour'' when I was chatting with my friend who came from overseas.


    Now,


    So how do I identify my item grade? There is no description that revealed its grade. Or is it a grade that is determined by the weapon color or aura¡­  The online game that I played before uses aura to determine the grade. Uncommon was green, blue was rare, violet was epic and gold was legendary, while the normal item have no aura at all.


    If I were to follow that standard, does it mean that my dagger is just a normal item? Or that might not be the case at all. This is Einstel Online that we¡¯re talking about; it¡¯s a Virtual Reality game that boasted its realism. There must be some kind of method to determine an item grade.


    Dammit,  dude if  you¡¯re going to make a damn guide please make it properly¡­ You left me hanging on a thin rope here!


    I¡¯ll check the Introduction Book to Einstel Online instead. Oh wait, I can just ask my all-knowing-browser Woogle!


    Once again my fingers danced on the small button of my keyboard. Much like a pianist that was playing his masterpiece, my finger moved flawlessly on the keyboard without a single typo.  I dare to say that I would at least get into the final if I were to join ¡°World faster¡¯s typewriter¡±.  No, I¡¯m not bragging, I was merely stating the truth.


    ¡®How to determine your item grade +Einstel Online¡¯


    180 000 result in 0.52 second.


    This time search result showed a lot of player asking questions in Einstel Game forum¡­  Looks like there are a lot of beginners in Einstel Online, just like me. For some reason I¡¯m happy, and I don¡¯t even know why.


    Reflected before my eyes was nothing other than another wall of texts. I wonder if it is really necessary to make a long post that could be made into 1 volume of light novel just to guide players on how to determine your item grade. Seriously people! I¡¯m not here to read your story of having a hard time grading your item because you have so many items in your storage. I came here to read on how to grade my weapon!


    To make it short, to grade my dagger I need to see an Appraiser. The Appraiser will identify my item grade using their skills or something. I can also buy an Identifying scroll. The only item that needed to be appraised is monsters drops and item that is won from lottery. The item that you got from Quests and Towers are automatically Identified or appraised by the system.


    An item that has yet to undergo appraisal will have a ¡®basic stat buffed¡¯ on it. Once it has undergone appraisal it will retain its original ability. A normal grade weapon sometimes has a lower stat than the ¡®basic buffed stat¡¯. For example, my current dagger is buffed with basic stat. Once it has been appraised and graded as normal, there is 60% probability that the current stat it had will be halved or worse, it have no additional stats at all.


    But if my dagger is graded as uncommon or rare, there will be additional stat point added or maybe even a weapon skill unlocked exclusively for my dagger.


    So, it¡¯s a gamble.


    I¡¯m good at gambling, I bet all my additional stats for luck for this!


    Now it¡¯s time for me to find¡­.


    Oh dammit! What was it again? What is the thing that I was searching for in the first place again? Gosh how I hate it when this happen!  I still remembered it when I in game. Now that I¡¯m in front of the computer, I forgot all the things that I was looking for.


    Oh well, it can¡¯t be helped. I remember about it sooner or later when I get in game.


    But now I know something good. A professional gamer! Player than sell item in-game for real life money! Maybe I don¡¯t have to sell this monolith capsule after all? I can just sell items for real life and earn real money! That¡¯s it!


    But before that I had to make sure that I won¡¯t die because of this game. The pain is real!


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    ¡°Lad, good thing that you woke up¡­¡±


    No Hair greeted me as soon as I logged in.


    Apparently when you logged out from the game the NPC will take it as sleeping. And if I¡¯m not mistaken, 1 hour in real life is 3 hours in Einstel. So rhetorically speaking, if I was logged out from the game for 8 hours, would it not become 24 hours? That is like, sleeping for a whole day! What happened to the quests, does it get postponed or something. If the quest was a quest with time limit will I fail the quest?


    That sucks.


    ¡°I''ve sent my backup scouts to work. From their report, the Mermen are readying itself for another attack. The Mermen are still in post-war phase so I think this is a good chance for us to sneak in and land a hard blow on them while they are preoccupied doing their works. What do you say?¡± No Hair suggested.


    In all honesty I wanted to refuse, and cancel the quest. But I was not in the position to do so.


    I took deep breath, deeper than the one who was rolling in the deep. Let out a relaxed exhale. Slapped my cheek thrice and agreed to No Hair suggestion, it¡¯s not like I can refuse it anyway. I did accept the quest to weaken the Mermen force. My quest from sending supplies and protect the village has been updated to weaken the Mermen forces.


    Once again I step afoot in the dark and gloomy forest. According to No Hair this forest was actually a swamp. A big swamp!


    No wonder I got the feeling as if something might just jump in front of me out of nowhere. This place resembled a certain horror movie that was based on swamp.


    We have yet to stumble upon the Mangdora Creep that I killed. I don¡¯t think that I took more than 8 hours for my sleep. It was pretty close to 4 hours of sleep and 15 minutes of surfing the internet. Which means it has only been 12 hours and 30 minutes?


    Great! I would be seriously doomed if the Mangdora Creep come attacking out of nowhere. I¡¯ll be dead even before we reach the Mermen base.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    We walked in a group of three. No Hair acted like a vanguard, while I guard the rear and Eden was the one in front. We walked stealthily but speedy through the bushes and the rain of roots from above.


    Damn roots, I wonder if it was me being nervous or I just watched too many Henta¡­ I mean, Anime that somehow this roots looks like tentacles or some sort. I think I just had a gross imagination where these roots¡­ Wait never mind, it is better for me to not to say it.


    There were a few mobs that came on our way. I did nothing but stand firm while Eden and No Hair pulverize the mobs easily without mercy. It was snakes and bats. I wanted to take my sweet time skinning those mobs but considering that we have a very limited time.


    At least, I think that we had a very limited time. Skinning those mobs will probably take time. Even though I am no longer bothered by the blood or the sight of pink muscle when the mobs was skinned, gore things is gore! Trying to look away while skinning the mobs might even take more time than weakening the Mermen forces.


    It was about halfway through the forest that No Hair suddenly stopped. Putting his index finger on his lips he told us to duck down and hide our presence.


    So how do I hide my presence again? Put leafs all over my body or paint my entire body with mud?


    While I was frantically covering my body with leafs and what not. Eden looked at me with one of his eye brow raised with a weird complexion painted on his looks. Well, what can I do? My class is not thief, or assassin or any ranger or rogue related profession.


    I am your humble gambler that you can found right about anywhere.


    Apparently to hide my presence I simply need to slow down my breathing, do not make any sudden move and make sure not to let out a voice.


    I calmed down myself, slowed down my breathing and closed my mouth with my right palm on my lips.  After I stayed in that condition for 5 seconds, suddenly a notification popped out in front of me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    +New Ability Learned


    +Invisibility


    The action of slowing down your breathing and being in a relaxed condition had caused your presence to diminish.  The effective range is equal to your [dexterity stat]. Ability is cancelled when a player starts attacking, or attacked or disturbed while being in a state of invisibility.


    Phase 1 |Stealth Normal ( 1%)


    - Increase your agility and critical strike.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    What?


    I learned ability; ability that completely had nothing to do with my class or whatsoever. Invisibility that usually can only be learned by hunter class is now learned by a gambler. I guess this game do resemble reality after all. No wonder it¡¯s so popular! You can learn other profession ability as long as you know the process.


    While using invisibility, the all of us stay low. Without doing any sort of sudden movement, No Hair moved his hand and pointed out to a mob that was 15 meters away from us. From the look of it, the mob has yet to notice our presence. Looks like this ability is doing its job well done!


    I was surprised.


    In front of us was not a Mangdora Creep, but tons of Mangdora Creep. It almost cost me my life when I was fighting only 1 Mangdora Creep before. With this amount of Mangdora Creep, forget about dying, I might not even be revived after I died.


    There were about 50 or more Mangdora Creep in front of us. It had the same sickening appearance like the one that I defeated before.


    No Hair didn¡¯t move a step, surely he didn¡¯t thought about attacking those Mangdora Creep would he?


    Luckily I was right; No Hair didn¡¯t attack those Mangdora Creep. We just lay down and walk passed them slowly. I almost got a heart attack when one of the Mangdora Creeps turned their attention to where I was. Only God knows how relieved I was when it was looking at the rabbit that passed through us.


    Seriously, aren''t there any better detours for this?


    If I knew that things would end up like this I would¡¯ve skinned those mobs earlier! After about a few hours or at least that was what I thought. We finally arrived at the destined place. The shore, beach or whatever people may call it. We¡¯re finally there.


    The mermen base that we arrived at weren¡¯t exactly as what I have imagined it to be. There were no organized mermen soldiers; there were no mermen that were training by sparring each other. Rather than that, the mermen were roaming around aimlessly. They looked like the mobs in zombie games that goes about anywhere without any definite destination.


    But of course, we cannot let our guard down. True enough No Hair told us to continue hiding our presence as he walk slowly through the crowd of mermen. This invisibility ability is truly magnificent; I wonder what the restriction of this skill is. Taking my type of profession into account, as a non ranger, hunter or whatever they might call it. There should be a limit and restriction to this ability.


    In the previous game that I played, as a warrior using stealth ability, the ability will not work well against assassin or player with 20 levels higher than me. The reason for this was to let the player use the skill corresponding to their main job or class better than the sub class do. This is all for the sake of balancing the class skill.


    Einstel Online is a virtual reality game, following the rules of reality. As long as I work hard in raising the level of this ability I can raised it as much as my own profession skill right? There wouldn¡¯t be like -20% in ability due to profession difference right?


    No Hair moved 10 meter from where I was standing at. He raised his palm high as a sign for us to wait for him. After a few minute passed he came back and gives both me and Eden a task.


    ¡°I¡¯ve scouted the perimeters of this base; I have good news and a bad news. Which one do you prefer to hear first?¡±


    ¡°Let us hear the bad news first.¡± Eden said anxiously.


    ¡°I second that¡­¡± I added.


    ¡°Well the bad news is there is less Mermen that what my scout had reported to me.¡±


    What¡­ Bad news? Isn¡¯t that supposed to be good news? What are you talking about old man? Surely you don¡¯t think that having a lot of Mermen would be good you. These Mermen are going to attack your village. What are you even talking about!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that supposed to be good news?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, surely it is a bad news.¡± Eden replied.


    ¡°The thing is, from the report that I got there are about 500 Mermen waiting in the base. But the Mermen we got here are less than 100.¡± No Hair explained while scratching his bald head. ¡°Now the question is, where did the other 400 gone off to?¡±


    Now I understand. So what no hair wanted to say is, the other 400 is off at somewhere else. The Mermen might be on their way to the village, or they might even already there. This is bad isn¡¯t?


    ¡°Oh well, nothing can be done about that. We will deal with it when the time comes, for now we  will just do what we can.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Both me and Eden replied in unison.


    ¡°Here is the good news, now that the Mermen are fewer than what we had thought it going to be. Destroying their base and exterminating them would be easier. I¡¯ve prepared a few dynamites. Each of you takes 2.¡± No hair split up the dynamites that he had in his possession evenly. ¡°I will create a commotion and start exterminating those Mermen. During that time, Eden¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Eden replied energetically in low voice.


    ¡°I need you set those dynamites at their armory and weapon forgery.¡±


    ¡°I understand!¡± Eden said firmly.


    ¡°You Ichiroku.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°I need you to set those dynamites at their lodging and stuff¡­¡±


    ¡°..Err¡­ Lodging and stuff?¡± I asked for confirmation.


    Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t even understand what does he meant by lodging and stuff. Isn¡¯t Mermen is that thing¡­ amphibians? Don¡¯t they live in the sea? How the hell am I supposed to set up dynamite underwater? Leave blowing up aside, the fuse won¡¯t even light up once it hit the water. Don¡¯t tell me that these dynamites are waterproof or something.


    ¡°Ah by the way, the dynamites that I just gave your just then are waterproof. It will blow up even when underwater¡­¡±


    You¡¯ve gotta be kidding me!


    ¡°So am I supposed to get into the sea?¡± I asked, praying from the bottom of my heart, hoping from the very core of my soul for the answer ¡®no¡¯. But my expectation betrayed me, yet again.


    ¡°Yeah, or at least I love to say so. But I haven¡¯t got any information about their resting place so I can¡¯t say that for sure.¡±


    You¡¯d love to say so?


    It¡¯s still earlier in the morning, the fog is thick and the sea water isn¡¯t so good to be warm up before I dive in. I will definitely going to freeze to death or at least freezing until my satiety dropped to zero.


    And you said that you¡¯d love to say that the Mermen lodging area is underwater. What the fuuuuuu!!


    ¡°Objection! I think there is an injustice in this task distribution. I am neither navy nor a sailor; I am your mere gambler! I think the task of blowing up the mermen lodging and stuff should be given to Eden instead! He is an experienced and well seasoned marine or navy or whatever you may call it.¡± That is what I wanted to say but looking at No Hair expression that was brimming with expectation I can¡¯t bring myself saying my objection.


    I am too kind hearted.


    ¡°I understand!¡± I replied in obedience.


    Eden who knew what his tasks were left without a sound. I didn¡¯t even notice since when did he gone. I was about to switch task with him after No Hair left but it seems that he already knew my intention and went on his way first. That damned chef! I mean that good damn chef who cooks really good food!


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Previous Chapter</a></td><td width="25%">Next Chapter</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 6 - Into the water!

    I took a deep breath, and calmed myself down. Once again I activated my Invisibility , though I don¡¯t think that I¡¯ve deactivated it before, but for safety measurement I re-activated it once again. Who knows what might come.


    ¡°Now where do I find their lodging area¡­? I hope it¡¯s not underwater¡­¡± I said to my air-friend.


    I know it pointless saying it now of all time. But air-friend is good, they never complain, badmouth you behind your back or argue with you. They will always listen to your problem, and will always be there by your side.


    That is why; I insist that everybody should get an air-friend!


    I held my head high like a giraffe and scouted the perimeter. I found nothing. As I don¡¯t want to walk aimlessly without having some sort of direction I kept on looking frantically as if I was some kind of protagonist in a romance drama trying to find his girlfriend in the crowds.


    Nope, nothing¡­ negative.


    I then got reminded about something that my parent usually said in the past when I was not able to find the things or item that they asked me to find.


    ¡°OPEN YOUR EYES BIG!¡±


    I opened my eyes wide, widened enough that it almost pop out from its socket. Guess what did I found?


    I found myself being stupid as my field of vision is still the same with no change, it¡¯s not like I can get a great eye sight that can see miles away like Arale or exert  light from my eyes like Franky does. Wait¡­ was it from his eyes or his nipple? Either way it¡¯s impossible for me.


    With that conclusion,


    I walked slowly while in invisibility state. The sand left a little trace of my foot print as some of it got washed away by the tide. Now , do morning weather bless me with raise in tide or the other way around? I failed my geography class so I don''t really know it for sure. God! How I wish I listened carefully to my geography teacher when she was ¡®actually¡¯ explaining things during class.


    For the record, I am a very diligent person. I do stuff seriously when I had the heart to do so.


    The reason why I didn¡¯t listen carefully to my teacher when she was explaining things wasn¡¯t because her class was boring, well it was boring but it was all due to her talk about her life. Study diligently, get good grades, get into good university and pass with flying colors and find a good man to marry.


    But apparently she was too focused in getting into good a university and passed with flying colors that her chances to find a good men while in university flew along with her exams results.


    Note to myself: Never focus on a single thing, that you forgot the things around you.


    I should make that as a gospel to my future descendent. Yeah, I shall do that.


    I passed through the crowds of mermen and get into a small hut that was built above the water. I remembered they call this as something like¡­ shacks on shore¡­ I¡¯m not really sure but I guess it was just a name that my brain randomly made up when I desperately to came up with a name.


    The inside was quite spacious for a small hut. There was nothing but tree barks that resemble the barks of Mangdora creep. I wonder if these barks have anything to do with the Mangdora creep. I think I just jinxed myself.  I hope nothing bad will happened as what I''ve imagined it to be, finger crossed. Amen.


    I work my way with the barks, this is loots! I can sell this to the general store later. After I swept clean the hut with my looting skill which I can regard as advance at the highest level. I walked slowly, making my way through another hut that was even further off the shore.


    It was a hut with nothing but a chest, a treasure chest that usually can be seen in some adventure RPG games. By the way I hate those kinds of games, not because the game was boring but simply because the game needs a high spec computer to be able to play it smoothly as smooth as butter, or as smooth as my sisters¡¯ skin that spent hundred thousands of Yen to buy beauty products and what not.


    Now now, I was never a thief nor do I have some sort of sub-class as thief. I never picked a lock during my high-school era, as I am your average diligent boy¡­ or man... or¡­ Well screw it, I am your average all ever diligent teenager.


    Seriously, does being 20 years old count me as a boy or man? The boundary is so thin just like the boundary between good and evil, truth and lies.


    I think I¡¯ll call myself as your average, youthful 20 years old guy.


    The treasure chest in front of me was clotted in golden lining. It shone a faint golden light when I touched it with my fingers, traced its very line. This treasure chest really does emit the aura of what people normally call as ¡®treasure chest¡¯.


    I don¡¯t have a pick. So what should I open this chest with? My guts or my will? People always says, ¡®When there¡¯s a will there¡¯s a way¡¯.


    So¡­ how do I open this chest with my will? Do I have to be a ninja with the will of fire, burn away and melt the lock?


    Okay that was stupid. What am I doing here thinking about ways to open this treasure chest when I¡¯m supposed to find the Mermen ¡®lodging and stuff¡¯¡­I left the chest alone. Be glad treasure chest, for you are safe for now. But remember, it won¡¯t be long¡­ Whatever loot that you might hide inside yourself¡­ I will get it, by hook or by crook.


    I WILL BE BACK!


    I just hope that I won¡¯t regret this.


    I continued on my ¡®journey¡¯ to find their ¡®lodging and stuff¡¯ that No Hair mentioned. So far, all that I¡¯ve encountered are empty shacks, a shack with treasure chest and a shack that that I can¡¯t even call as shack.


    There were no sign of the Mermen lodging, withevery step that I took, every breath that I exhaled and every view that entered my line of sight. I got myself convinced that the Mermen lodging and stuff are located underwater. As by the time I reached the end of my ¡®journey¡¯, there was nothing but a small dock with nothing worth mentioning sighted around the perimeter.


    There were no Mermen lodging sighted among these shacks, and I got no message from Eden saying that he found the Mermen lodging on his side either.


    Well¡­ shit.


    I touched the sea water with my index finger. 1 inch into the water and I can already feel the cold sensation entering my bone.


    Think fog + cold + water = I''m gonna die, I am so dead, RIP ME CONFIRMED!


    I really want to punch No Hair for this, I¡¯ll get my revenge. I¡¯ll polish his bald head so much that people screams ¡°Arghhh!! My eyes!!¡± when they saw his shining head. Or I¡¯ll glue a stupid looking wig on his head, with the amount of hair that complements his IQ level and patience. Wait, I don¡¯t think I need to give him a wig for that.


    HAHA!


    I jump into the water as I am, taking off no clothes or shoes. I get into the water with fully equipped with my clothes and equipment on. It worries me a little bit thinking that my deck of card would get wet and tear up. But after realizing that it was made from plastic, my heart was left rest assured.


    I¡¯m inside the salty water. I used to hear people warning about how opening your eyes inside the sea salty water are bad for your eyes. But I put that warning aside, this is a virtual reality, even if the water is salty and my eyes gets bad. The most it can do is to reduce my eyesight ability in-game and does not give any kind of effect to my physical in real life.


    Though I have a slight doubt about that because the pain that I felt when I was fighting the Mangdora Creep was painfully real.


    But again, I let that train of thought depart from my track of attention.


    I moved my hand with the same style of a frog; I don¡¯t know what kind of swimming style this one is named so I¡¯ll call it ¡®Froggie Swim¡¯. I move deeper into the water. Weird enough I do not feel suffocated even though I was already 100 meters underwater.


    People said that deeper you get underwater, higher the pressure it would be on you, but I felt no pressure at all.


    I moved my head around. It was then that my eyes caught the shape of an underwater cave. By the way, there was a small clock that started its counting when I started diving. It was the count-timer. As average person can hold their breath for 2 minutes before they gave in, I was able to hold my breath for 20 minutes. Well, rather than holding my breath I was literally breathing underwater.


    This is all thanks to Sheldon¡¯s magic potion, the Oxygen leaf.


    I got the feeling that this leaf is some kind of plagiarism from a certain gourmet anime but,  I''ll just let it pass. The Oxygen Leaf allows me to breathe underwater for 20 minutes. I swim toward the cave direction and not long after that entered the cave. The cave was pretty dark at first, but as I progress further into the cave I¡¯m beginning to see more light came to my sight.


    The light came from the purple crystals that were embedded along the cave¡¯s wall. It was a beautiful sight, I would¡¯ve stay a lot longer in the cave passageway and mine those crystals if it¡¯s not due to the time limit that I had and the quest that I need to complete. But then again, after all of this end, after all of the monster got exterminated,


    I WILL BE BACK!


    After a few minutes of swimming I¡¯ve finally reached the destination, the place where I had been looking like ¡®forever¡¯!


    The place where their lodging and stuff located¡­ Now I understand, by ¡®lodging and stuff¡¯¡­ No Hair literally meant the lodging place and their stuff.


    This place looks like a dormitory or some sort. Is this a military base camp or what? There was double deck bed. And on one of the bed there is a picture of a fugly mermen or was it merwoman, I don''t know if there''s even such things as merwoman, but the mermen was definitely a female one. It was wearing somekind of sickening lipsticks color, it was a color that my sisters usually use.


    There were some writing on it, I can only read those writing when I got 50 intelligence stats, but seeing a love mark written on the picture I can already guess that it was a picture of a girlfriend that one of the dormitory dweller  had.


    Wasting no time, I planted the dynamite with 15 meter distance among each of it¡­ I then combined the both of the dynamite fuse with one long fuse so I can light it up from far away and escape before it detonates.


    After I finished setting up the dynamites, I paused a little bit and began to do some random searching. As useless it might be a loot is a  loot, even if it only priced for 1 silver, if I keep saving it up, it will eventually reach 100 silver.  100 silvers are enough to buy 1 lottery ticket, along with my luck I can get a good deal from it.


    I¡¯ve searched everywhere and found something hidden under the bed. Cautiously, I push my hand under the bed and reach out for the item in question. Is this what I thought it was? Slowly I pulled out the item that I was holding out from under the bed. As soon as I laid my eyes on it,


    My mental capacity instantly overloads with grossness and automatically put on mosaic on the item with aggressive mode at its best. It¡¯s a fucking mermen porn book! What the hell man! This crap won¡¯t even worth a shit! Fuck this shit I¡¯m out of here!


    I swam away with my utmost effort when I realized that the timer showed me a  countdown less than 2 minutes, with all my strength, I put my  energy into my Froggie Swim and get the hell out from the cave. It only took me less than 1 minute to get out as I paid no heed to the crystals that before too me some time because I was admiring it.


    I light up the fuse, and it actually works. I had my doubt before when No Hair said that the dynamite is ¡®waterproof¡¯, as I¡¯ve never seen a waterproof dynamites before. But seeing the cave entrance blew up into smithereens, it blew my doubt away along with the rocks.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    The impact from the explosion was truly devastating, I was hit by the shockwaves that my body thrown away by the waves of impact 30 meters away with my body positioned like this ¡®<¡¯. Thousands of small bubbles could be seen escaping from the explosion and went on its way above the surface.


    As if the God or the developer or whatever people called those who work the system in the game, make their compensation to me for having trapped me into seeing an abominating sight with the mermen porn book. I was blessed with the sight of purple crystal that emits light. I can sell this for a good price at the market.


    I hit my time limit, but by the time the countdown reach 0 I was already above the surface.  I took a deep breath, deeper than any breath that I had took before and got myself inside the water once again.


    I started collecting the Crystal, and stuff it into my inventory bag.


    Oh yeah! I¡¯m going to be rich!


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    Eden moved discreetly along the mermens. He made sure to hold his breath and walk slow enough not to make even one single sound when he made his step. He moved so suspiciously while being in invisible state that one could almost mistake him as a thief.


    He had his sight lock at the Mermen forgery and armory.


    It was then that he heard the sound of explosion that coming for the sea direction. He, he was no longer moving discreetly. The mermen shriek a deafening sound! Eden who was taken aback by the got his invisibility canceled.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You¡¯ve heard the shriek of the Mermen and. You are in a state of confusion, all of the skill that you are activating will be cancelled and you cannot use any skill for two minutes.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    No Hair who was also nearby heard the explosion as well. He began exterminating the mermen that were on his sight.


    On the other hand Eden had quickened his step, as he was no longer in invisibility state. His stature was in plain view for the mermen to see. Almost like an exhibitionist, where he was halfway removing his chef apron trying to reach for the dynamite that he hid inside his outfit.


    ¡°Come¡¯ere ya little bastard! I¡¯ll turn you all into sushi for today¡¯s breakfast!¡± No Hair screamed out, activating his roar skill [War Cry].


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You¡¯ve heard an ally War Cry. All state of confusion are cured.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Swiftly like the wind. Eden re-activated his invisibility once again.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost there, I need to be quick!¡± Eden thought to himself.


    He ran pass through the mermen who were all getting toward No Hair direction. No Hair was not even fazed; instead, what was painted on his face was no other than the looks of excitement when he looked at the incoming mermen.


    Leaving no second wasted, Eden planted one of the dynamites that he had in the forgery. Extend the length of the dynamite fuse by attaching it into another long fuse. He ran toward the armory and set up another dynamites and again, attaching its fuse with the long fuse.


    He then exited the armory.


    After making sure that he had walked quite the distance, away from the armory and the forgery, he lit the fuse. Less than 10 seconds the buildings blew up. Throwing up everything that it had inside it way out to the outside.


    Trident, mace and wooden staff that was made from the tree barks was hurling towards Eden. Hurriedly Eden ducked down with both of his hand holding his head together. Barrage of black metal could be seen flying all over the place.


    The swarm of mermen that was running towards No Hair was left injured with the explosion impact. Some of the mermen got a spiked mace attacked into their back, some got their legs disabled by the crushing impact of the armor, and some was literally blown away and fall to their death.


    It was a sight of joy for Ichiroku if he was to see this, but that was not the case for No Hair. There was a trace of dissatisfaction left on No Hair face when he realized that his opponents, the Mermen numbers were left so little.


    ¡°Dammit, I shouldn¡¯t have ordered Eden to blow up the forgery and armory if I knew that this thing would happen.¡± No Hair said.


    No Hair screamed once again and activated his second Phase War Cry skill. The effect of it was increased the healing rate for all nearby allies and throw the enemy into a state of confusion.


    Using his bald head, he smashed the mermen skull opened by sheer strength of head butt. The head butt was so strong that if he were too use during football matches the ball is surely going to explode rather than getting passed over to his team-mates.


    No Hair formed a fist using his right hand. A silver lighting began to shine from inside his formed fist. He then launched his right hand out into the open with his palmed opened wide and shout ¡°Silver Palm!¡±.


    There was silver after image of a giant palm hurling towards the Mermen. Blowing all the Mermen in front of No Hair away, the path in front of No Hair was made clear. True enough, a mere level 12 Mermen can¡¯t possibly match the skill of a Navy Captain who was already level 70.


    Mermen, who were not affected by the skill, took the opening that was made after No Hair launched his ¡®Silver Palm¡¯. They opened their mouth, revealing a sharp like razor teeth in plain view.


    CHOMP!


    They bite No Hair limbs. Hads, legs, even his bald head was filled with bite-mark.


    No Hair on the other hand didn¡¯t even flinch, he only smiled and pulled away the mermen that sunk its fang on his body as if he was plucking out an overly grown nose hair.Grabbing a merman by its head, he increased his gripping power and turned the merman head into a scene that had been aggressively mosaic.


    Dyed in dark red color, No Hair was laughing loudly.


    All of the merman that had sunk their teeth into No Hair had been taken care properly with such fashion. Eden who had been watching the gore scene the entire time can only looked away every time a merman head was about to be crushed.


    Eden already knew that his Captain was this kind of a man. Sometimes, he even wondered if his captain is really a Navy or just a Pirate, because the way No Hair laughing was none other than the laugh of an evil pirate that just got hold of a fresh new virgin in his ship.


    But of course, he never told other about what he had thought.


    Less than 1 hour, all of the mermen had been exterminated. After the eventful singlehanded slaughtering by No Hair, Ichiroku had finally shown himself...


    Luckly because he was at party effective range, he had gained enormous EXPs and Allies aura blessing. His hp that was left about 78% filled itself to 100% when he got No Hair War Cry aura blessing.


    Hidden behind his dumbfounded looks was no other but smile of satisfaction.


    ¡ì¡ì¡ì


    Guehehehehe!


    EXP! Hahahaha¡­. I got another 5 levels! Now I¡¯m level 20! This is good. I just love how others do the killing while I only need to loot the items and gain EXPs. No damage inflicted, no pain gained.


    And what the hell was that technique before? Buddah Palm? Wait no, it was Silver Palm. That technique was so overpowered! Those mermen were given 1 hit K.O by that technique. Is that technique is what possibly No Hair want to teach me? I am all ears if that is the case. I can fend of monsters with that technique and buy myself time to run away.


    Oh great! This is just great! Those mermen were easily killed by no hair.


    I checked the party status before but No. Hair is really strong. He got over 200k Hp! And even thought he was faced with swarm of mermen his hp only went down to 1%


    The difference in level and skill, not to mention stat is really obvious! My hp goes to 3K when I got the stat buff using ¡®The Eye¡¯ enhancement. And I managed to kill one Mangdora creep without having to struggle for my life.


    Barely though,


    But with No Hair by my side, even the swarm of Mangdora Creep won¡¯t give much trouble. I¡¯ll just let No Hair handle it all and just hide away, get EXPs and loot the items. This plan is perfect!


    But first I had to maneuver the conversation so that we fight the Mangdora Creep without me having to step into the battlefield.


    ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re okay.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m glad that I¡¯m okay.¡± I replied Eden with a smile.


    Thought the shockwave underwater thrown me into a state of confusion for a while and made me lose tenth of my hp, I was not inflicted with any sort of heavy damage which is what I am truly grateful for.


    ¡°I¡¯ve destroyed their lodging and stuff¡­¡± I said.


    Along with the abominating mermen porn book!


    ¡°Job well done lad!¡± No Hair praised me.


    Even though he praised me, looking at his entire body dyed in clad darkish red blood condition. His praise somehow sounds like sarcasm. Though I bet it was only my imagination.


    ¡°So, we destroyed their armory, forgery, and lodging and exterminates the mermen that was left in the base. What is our next move?¡± Eden asked.


    I was about to ask that¡­


    ¡°We¡¯re going to find other mermen¡­ I think they already moved out. But considering the time needed to get here from the village. I don¡¯t think they are halfway to the village yet.¡± No Hair added.


    This is it!


    ¡°It is just my conclusion but, wouldn¡¯t it better if we exterminate the Mangdora Creep? They are over 50 of those creeps and I think it is better if we, or rather Captain No Hair to launch a surprised attack! Who know what trouble it might bring when we were fighting the Mermen army and those creep suddenly came attacking!¡± I said.


    No hair was rubbing his overgrown mustache. Raised on of his eyebrow to me and said, ¡°I think you got a point there lad.¡±


    Exactly as planned!


    ¡°But Captain, I do not think that is necessary.¡±  Eden said.


    ¡°Why is so?¡± No Hair turned his attention to his chef.


    ¡°Killing the creeps might take too much time and by the time we finished exterminating those creep the Mermen army might have already reached the village.¡±


    You damned chef you!


    The villagers already ate to their full and healed from their wounds (maybe). They can protective themselves already. I bet they can hold the mermen army for one or two hours. What are you even talking about!


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± No Hair exhaled meekly.


    @#$%^!@!#$


    There goes my EXPs, killing those Mangdora Creep would¡¯ve give me a lot more EXP rather than those mermen. This is just great!


    You better cook me a delicious feast later after we finished exterminating the mermen or I will never forgive you!


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Previous Chapter</a></td><td width="25%">Back to Main Page</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 7 - The calm before the storm

    Thank you to Enze for proofreading!


    Just a small chapter spanning about 3 pages.  But hey, I include a side story.


    __________^^__________


    After the complete massacre that deserved an aggressive mode of mosaic and censorship, I moved out and collected the loots. I took every usable weapon and armor that I can and stuffed it into my inventory bag.


    As for the mermen¡¯s bodies, I left them for now and I¡¯ll skin them all later when we finished the quest. It won¡¯t be long. That is why, wait here my most precious soon-to-be-looted dead bodies. It won¡¯t be long, I promise you.


    I can already see the ending!


    Joke aside; it seems I¡¯ve unlocked quite an amount of my inventory bag slots. From 100 initial slots at the first time I logged in, I now have 153 usable slots. Nice, I can fit a lot more loots than before. From the mermen here alone, I already filled over 100 slots of my inventory with weapons and whatnot.


    When I first heard about ¡®virtual reality that is identical to the real reality¡¯, I thought it applied to everything, and when I said everything, I mean EVERYTHING! The very thought of having to hold the burden on my back with a big stuffy bag had already discourage me. But it looks like I was wrong, and for the first time ever I¡¯m glad that I¡¯m wrong.


    No Hair gave the signal and we went on our way back into the village. Looks like we were using the shortcut again and we¡¯re going to pass through the Mangdora Creeps, but this time, I was not worried. In fact, I was hoping that something would happen.  But putting that thing aside, I still activated my invisibility when we reach the place where the Mangdora Creep was sighted. No matter what the situation is, never let your guard down. Not long after, we reached the location where the Mangdora Creeps were.


    ¡°Eh? Is this not the same place where the Mangdora Creeps were?¡± Subconsciously I blurted my question that I intended to ask myself out loud.


    ¡°It is,¡± Eden replied. He fall on one of his knees and swiped the dirt with his index finger. I don¡¯t know what that was even for. ¡°They left.¡± Eden continued.


    Well, thank you Mister Obvious. I can see that very clearly.


    ¡°I got a bad feeling from this.¡± Eden added, he got back up and stare straight at No Hair eyes. Painted on both of their expression was no other but a grim look.


    ¡°The village!¡± They said in unison.


    No need for words, or at least that was what I thought. We ran using all of our might towards the village.


    ¡°I knew it¡­.¡± Eden broke the silence while running. ¡°The Mangdora Creeps, the sudden change in Mermen military system¡­¡±


    Okay¡­ I¡¯m sorry but I think I lost you there Eden. I knew that I¡¯ve been doing the quest since I was at the Beginner Town but honestly speaking, I don¡¯t even know what nonsense that Eden was spouting about.


    You have been speaking in fragments Eden!


    Is this nonsense supposed to be the <<Quest Background Story>> like every game does? Or just another spice for the quest to make it interesting? Sorry dude but I always skip things like this¡­


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What is it Eden?¡± No Hair asked, needlessly to say, he was still running. I know it pointless to say this but, how the hell can one talking while running and not even panting? I¡¯m not even saying anything but I already gave out a hard breath, as if I have a dumpling chocked in my throat.


    ¡°The Gospel¡­¡±


    What?


    ¡°The Gospel, you say?¡±


    ¡°Remember the incident a few years ago when pirates came attacking the island?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I still remember the day as if it had just happened yesterday!¡± No Hair shouts out.


    ¡°At that time, we were fighting the pirate, and chaos had befallen inside the ship¡­ Do you still remember that Captain?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember which chaos; there were always chaos when we found a pirate ship.¡± No Hair added.


    ¡°The pirates were fighting for the treasure chest¡­ Inside the treasure chest, there was a bottle of potion, and inside the potion there was a <<Lost Teaching>> of Asgard. While we were busy fighting I noticed how the pirates tried desperately to hide the treasure chest. In the mid of confusion, I charged at them and the chest that was on their hold was accidentally thrown outside the ship and fell into the sea.¡±


    ¡°How do you know all these things?¡± No Hair stopped his step and looked deeply into Eden eyes.


    ¡°¡­Err, because I was there.¡± Eden replied short.


    ¡°O-o-ok-ay¡­ So.. wha-what, does it has to do with the ¡­.¡± I need water¡­ ¡°Mermen military?¡± I asked, almost running out of breath.


    ¡°If my deduction is right, the potion had mixed into the sea water and somehow polluted it. The mermen who had been breathing the sea water for all these year somehow got a lot more intelligent, and they might¡¯ve found the Gospel that was hidden inside the bottle. They read it, and gained even more experience and knowledge from it. As time pass by, they managed to decipher the <<Lost Teaching >>.¡±


    The lost teaching? Like what, how to read Alphabets?


    ¡°¡­and that is where the Mangdora Creep came from¡­ am I right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are Captain¡­ the existence of the creep has something to do with the mermen, but I can¡¯t say for sure when and how is it connected to the mermen.¡±


    ¡°¡­following the flow of event, the probability of the creeps being summon are bright.¡±


    Yeah, as bright as your bald head under the sunshine!


    ¡°But my deduction is correct. I also had the doubt that the gospel is some kind of method or Plant Synthesizing.¡± Eden added.


    Oh my god! Everyone is a ''Sherlock Holmes'' here!


    At the end of the journey or should I say, marathon¡­ I was left 50 meters behind when we reached the village. Those 2 AI¡¯s stamina is monstrous! I wonder if it has anything to do with our level of differences.

 Game On Side Story I - The Sukiyaki War

    Just a little Note :


    Aneki | Nee-chan | Ane - Elder sister


    Aniki - Elder brother


    Imouto - little sister


    I wrote this side story originally in Japanese. While I was translating it, I found that it was hard to understand the context if I were to eliminate the honorific. So if you don''t understand anything or had doubts about the using of chan,san, and sama. You can refer to the WIKIPEDIA LINK HERE</a>


    _____^^_____


    This story happened a few days before I won the lottery for the Monolith Capsule. It was late in the afternoon that I got a call from my elder sister. They were calling me over for dinner. Needless to say, I knew what their intention was. It would be none other than the ¡°counseling session¡± that would be held from dinner, become what you can call as supper.


    I don¡¯t hate my sisters. In fact I love my sisters. Well maybe a little, if they stopped complaining how I live my life, stop complaining about whatever that I do or maybe when they learned to not nag about every single thing that I do. Sometimes I even wondered if they are my sisters or my step mothers.


    My sisters are¡­ well, how should I put it. I have four Aneki and an Imouto.


    And oh!  I am not a Siscon.


    That evening, I took a warm bath, put on my best clothes and pull back my hair and made myself presentable. You may wonder why I put on such efforts when I was only going to meet my family. But I can assure you, this is all for my well being, mentally and physically.


    Now then, where was I? Oh yeah¡­


    I arrived at my sisters¡¯ apartment, rang the intercom a few times and finally got myself invited in when my little sister came out and greeted me.


    ¡°Ah, Onii-chan¡­ Come in.¡± My little sister is a good sister, Otsuka Eri-chansa, 17 years old. She¡¯s still in her high school. Her growing rate is incredible, even though her chest wasn¡¯t anything worth mentioning, her height almost matched me. I wonder if she was too tall or was it just me that¡¯s too short.


    ¡°Where are the others?¡± I asked, inquiring about the presence of my elder sisters. ¡°Mea Onee-chan is in her room.  Eruna-nee is out buying ingredients for tonight¡¯s sukiyaki.¡±


    ¡°Irina nee-chan ¡­ did Irina nee-chan go together with Eruna-nee?¡±


    ¡°Mm¡­¡±


    ¡°Guhh¡­ How about Eva nee-chan nee-chan?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s indulging herself over Korean dramas.¡±


    I see. Korean Wave is on rage all over the world after all. With Japan being so close to Korea, it wasn¡¯t surprising that my sister who used to flounder about ¡°Hey Say Jump¡± found her new interest. I have to admit, those Korean guys with their tall stature and muscular body that I wasn¡¯t born with, and those Korean ladies that have beautiful legs and smexy body which my sisters weren¡¯t born with sure are able to sway the hearts of every people.


    And you heard me right, it¡¯s smexy which is an abbreviation of ¡°smashing your head on the wall trying to contain yourself due to the sexiness aura that was emitted from the other gender.¡±


    Mea nee-chan, Eruna-nee, Irina nee-chan, Eva nee-chan nee-chan and Eri-chan-chan. They are my sisters, I also have an aniki, but he¡¯s married and living overseas with his family due to work. My parents stay with my aniki. As they are too reluctant to leave their grandchildren alone, they decided to ¡®trouble¡¯ my aniki for a little while.


    I went into the living room and sat on the nearest sofa. Damn, the sofa here is so soft and comfy, different from what I have in a single room that I¡¯m living in.


    I picked up the remote and moved my finger freely, randomly looking for channels.  I found an interesting channel where it was rolling on ¡°Gaki no Tsukai¡± re-caps, I put away the remote and later had a stomach ache due to over laughing. Honestly, Hamada-san and Matsumoto-san is the number one comedian in Japan for me.


    It was not long when I was watching the show when Eva nee-chan slammed the door and told me to hold my pipe down. Well what can I say, funny shit is funny! But regardless, I only looked down on the floor and turned my volume down obediently.


    After an hour passed Eruna-nee and Irina nee-chan finally came home.


    ¡°Chiro, you¡¯re here already?¡± Irina nee-chan greeted me. On the other hand, Eruna-nee said nothing and headed straight to the kitchen. Yeah she said nothing, for now¡­ She¡¯s going to let her complains all out when we had finally put back the plate into the dish shelves. I had known her for 20 years and I can say this one for sure.


    You might¡¯ve realized this by now, but I did not call Eruna-nee as Eruna nee-chan. The reason for this is simple; she simply doesn¡¯t have anything in her that I can call as ¨Cchan! Out of all my elder sisters, she is the only one that I¡¯m scared of the most!


    Her lips were nothing but a mass-destruction weapon. Her words were sharper than the thinnest blade. And her glare! Uhhhhh¡­ please don¡¯t let me start with her glare, the very thought of it had already thrown my mind into a state of chaos. But of course, she will only let this side of her when she¡¯s ¡®lecturing¡¯ me.


    It¡¯s not like I am the only victim to her bizzare razor sharp lectures though. My other sisters will get her sharp and pointy words too whenever they do something that Eruna-nee deemed as ¡®foolish¡¯.


    Not long after, the 6 of us siblings were circling the sukiyaki table. Eruna-nee put vegetable first and then the meat.


    ¡­¡­


    I don¡¯t know how many minutes had passed but it was that time that the Sukiyaki War was about to began.


    ***


    Nobody moved their chopsticks. What had escaped from their eyes was the bluish light of hunger. The wait for the meat to be cooked had already passed.


    MEAT MEAT MEAT!


    That was the single word that I felt from the aura that my sisters emitted. But nobody had meat on their chopsticks; instead, it was vegetables like shiitake and negi. My sisters were all raging for meat, but none of them dared to make the first move as Eruna-nee-nee had yet to touch the meat, as Eruna-nee only went for the vegetables and tofu.


    The hierarchy can clearly be seen!


    The reason was simple. Eruna-nee-nee is the ¡®moneymaker¡¯ in this family. Mea nee-chan is still with her online business that doesn¡¯t seemed to be working well. While Irina nee-chan is working but she¡¯s still trying to sort her life out. Eva nee-chan nee-chan and Eri-chan-chan is still studying so they are very dependant of Eruna-nee-nee. And there is me, the unproductive little brother who is still a ronin, literally a NEET, the lowest person in this hierarchy.


    Eruna-nee ¨Cnee knocked her head slightly with her hand that formed like a cat¡¯s paw and she said, ¡°Ara- I forgot to bring the soy sauce.¡± She stood up and went into the kitchen.


    It was then that Mea nee-chan moved her chopstick like a wind and put her hand position by an inch before the thinly sliced beef meat. Irina nee-chan who had foreseen that moved like a lightning flash and blocked Mea nee-chan chopsticks.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait for Eruna-nee first Mea nee-chan?¡±


    ¡°W-what are you talking about? The meat is going to be overcooked if we leave it like this.¡± Mea nee-chan responded by pushing her chopstick even further towards the meat.


    ¡°No it won¡¯t  Mea nee-chan.¡± Irina nee-chan said.


    Both of their hands were trembling in attempt to overpower each other.


    Eva nee-chan who saw the opening didn¡¯t let go of the chance and slid her chopstick below Mea nee-chan nee-chan¡¯s but her chopstick was stopped by Eri-chan.


    ¡°My my Eva nee-chan¡­ Sliding your chopstick in while others are still trying to pick up the vegetable is a very bad manner you know.¡± Eri-chan smiled as she said those words.


    It¡¯s scary! So scary! There is no way my little sister can be this scary!


    ¡°What are you saying Eri-chan, I wasn¡¯t trying to be rude. I was only trying to wash the tip of my chopstick into the water.¡±


    ¡°THAT IS EVEN WORST ISNT IT!¡± Eri-chan screamed.


    From afar the voice of Eruna-nee could be heard, ¡°Arguing in front of food is a bad manner you know?¡± she said. We could felt a cold shudder entering our bones.


    ¡°Irina-chan, as the eldest here I think I have the right to gain first blood, don¡¯t you think so?!¡±


    What do you mean by first blood, are you planning to kill someone here?


    ¡°No no no¡­ Mea nee-chan, Eruna-nee is coming back now. Let us cease our struggle.¡± Irina said. Hearing the word ¡®Eruna-nee is coming back¡¯, all my sisters ceased all fighting and fix their position in a proper manner.


    ¡°Ah, I forgot my apron¡­¡± and Eruna-nee went back to the kitchen.


    Looking at the tofu that was dancing inside the soup, I tried to move my chopstick but then I found four demons¡­ I mean sisters staring right into my eyes.


    ¡°A-a-a-a-ahh¡­ I wonder if the tofu is ready to be eaten.¡± I took the tofu.


    I almost cried. I think I wet my pants.


    And once again the Sukiyaki War began when Mea nee-chan made her move. Eruna-nee, as usual taking her time chatting about which one they should eat first, dearest sister make you decision fast! save me from this living hell!


    ***


    Irina-chan slammed her chopstick on mine.


    ¡°Che!¡±


    I said as I retreated my hand from the hot pot. Irina-chan¡¯s eyes showed no mercy at all, it was as deviant as a wolf that is looking at its prey that is sleeping peacefully like a lion leEri-channg at a sleeping rabbit. I had to make my move fast. The boiling sensation had raised my patience to its max. I move my hand a little bit to the left.


    Eva-chan launch his left hand right to the center of the hot pot. ¡°Guahhh!!! ITS MINE!¡±, she screamed. Irina-chan who seemed to have predicted this development moved her chopstick in a blink of an eye and snapped the deviant chopstick that was above the hot pot, putting Eva-chan¡¯s hand on halt.


    ¡°What are you doing Eva-chan? It¡¯s a bad manner to eat before saying your gratitude you know? Where is your ITADAKIMASU!¡± Irina-chan glared sharply at Eva-chan.


    ¡°Heh¡­ I Don¡¯t Know What Are You Talking About!¡± Eva-chan said. Her hand trembled as she was struggling her fight to the hot pot.


    ¡°Heh¡­¡± Irina-chan snickered wickedly.


    This is no longer a grouping for a Hot Pot. This is a war between the beasts that hadn¡¯t eaten for years. I cannot even reach the hot pot, moreover the meat.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s decided then, I¡¯ll leave the meat to you Icchan since I¡¯m not really into meats¡­¡± I said to my little brother setting up the stage.


    ***


    There she goes; the flag for my death had been raised. Why don¡¯t you just take the Meat?! Mea nee-chan! Wait¡ª what about you Eri-chan!!!


    ¡°Uwah¡ª It looks so delicious. Let me try so¡­¡± Eri-chan moves her hand over the hot pot.


    Pak!


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Eri-chan pulled back. I see, even Eri-chan, the Legendary Captain, cannot hold her feet against the giant Eva-chan and Irina-chan. Come on, save me ANGELS! It was then that I hear an angelic voice that came by like that moment when God called on Moses for the first time.


    ¡°You started eating already? I bought some extra meat.¡±


    ¡°Irina nee-sama.¡± I said as I was trying to cling on her beautifully fair legs. ¡°You brought us some extra meat. When we have not even started to eat any in the hot pot, how gracious can you be¡­¡± I said.


    Today I will call you Eruna nee-sama!


    ¡°Here, Mea nee-chan. Take it.¡± Chiharu handed over a bunked plastic.


    ***


    ¡°Meat!!!¡±


    What is this angelic voice that I heard, Eruna-chan! NICE! I know you wouldn¡¯t leave me alone fighting in this battle field. Now! Come! MY MEAT!


    ¡°Here, Mea nee-chan nee-chan. Take it.¡± She handed the meat to me. It was the most glorious moment that I had ever felt, the meat that I¡¯m going to receive shine brighter than that of the [One Treasure] from the era of the pirates. The glorious light that it emits is even more precious than that of the seven balls with stars in it. Just from the look of it, I knew it tastes better than the [God] ingredient that the blue haired guys tried to reach their hand upon. NOW COME MY¡ª


    ¡°ZAP¡­¡±


    Guh! Who did that, where is my meat. Where is the glorious shine that I¡¯m about to receive? Where is the meat that value higher that the [One Treasure]? Where is my MATSUTAKE MEAT!!


    ¡°Let me take care of it Eruna nee-sama.¡± You brat Eva-chan! How dare you take my MEAT! But it¡¯s okay. Now that her position is settled as sukiyaki caretaker, all I have to go against now is Irina-chan. It¡¯s settled. Those meats are mine.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to eat Mea nee-chan nee-san?¡± Eruna¡­ I never thought that you cared for me that much.


    ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m going to eat n¡ª .¡±


    ¡°Emm¡ªthis taste so good, the meat fluffiness, the juicy texture. As expected from a high quality meat. Yum yum¡­¡±


    Eva-chan!!! Y¡ªyou fooled us. As expected from her, the symbol of gluttony itself.


    ¡°Here Icchan, eat some too.¡± Eruna-chan handed over a slice of meat to Icchan.


    ¡°Uh¡ª Okay.¡± Icchan said. ¡°Em¡ª . It tastes great.¡± He added. Oh well, since it must have been long since Icchan had a feast like it, it¡¯s okay I think.


    Icchan!!! And here I thought you don¡¯t have anything to hold on to your feet in this war. Icchan, a little brother to be feared!


    ***


    By the end of our little Sukiyaki party, I was not lectured after all. Looks like my sisters aren¡¯t bad after all. And yeah, I was trying to loan some money from my sister when I was on my way back but I got badly lectured instead.


    ______________


    sorry for the double nee-nee... fixed it

 Chapter 8 - Human Vs Mermen I

    Warning! Contains abusive cursing sentences!


    ___________________________________________________________________


    It didn¡¯t take long before I realized what was happening. Balls of fire were flying everywhere, almost like the spectral of ghost that can usually be seen in some ghost movie. Craters were made around the village outskirt.


    Hundreds of Mermen were sighted


    ¡°What the¡­!¡± Eden couldn¡¯t manage to finish his sentence as he was looking at the scenery in front of us.


    The Mermen were holding staff, blunt, mace, swords and other different kind of weapons which I couldn¡¯t identify.  Mermen who I deemed as ¡®Defender¡¯ stood as the main defense against the villagers. The Defenders were holding a shield and wore and exaggerated visual fashion of an armor.


    ¡°This is weird¡­¡± No Hair said.


    Well if there is anything that was weird, it was no other than seeing the Mermen attacking the villagers and No Hair was only standing looking at the surrounding.


    ¡°Certainly, the Mangdora Creep is not here.¡± Eden said while he was reading himself once again.


    ¡°I hope this would turn out to be a good outcome¡­¡± No Hair said and jumped into the warzone.


    As I watched the war that was almost looked like a scene that came straight out from the movie, I activated my stealth and walked discreetly into the battle field. Whenever there was an obstacle in front of me I made sure to take a detour to avoid from engaging in a battle.


    ***


    I opened the party interface.


    I don¡¯t know what limitation does this game partying system have, but I guess this is the right time to find out. I was walking sneakily taking my detour¡­


    *Whoosuu Boom!*


    Woouw!!! What the hell was that?


    My invisibility was cancelled out as I was surprised by the fireball that hit the ground and blew up 1 meter from me. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t that strong of a fireball that it only created a scorched ground. 3 Mermen locked their sight on me. They were Defender, a normal henchmen and a Mermen Mage.


    ¡°Err¡­ Hi?¡±


    ¡°UuuaaaRRR!!¡± The Mermen shrieked.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You¡¯ve heard the shriek of the Mermen. You are in a state of confusion, all of the skill that you are activating will be cancelled and you cannot use any skill for two minutes.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Oh great!


    The Mermen Mage fired a shot of fireball towards me, which I brilliantly evaded by my Godly dodging skill.


    Hmm, I smelled a pungent odor.


    Okay I admitted it; it did manage to burn some part of my hair, and shoulder... Thankfully the leather armor was firmly worn on my body so I didn¡¯t really feel the burning sensation and only left with the heat. I lost 6% of my total hp.


    And the Mage throw another shot of fire ball. I jumped forward to where the Mermen Mage was, pulled out my dagger and sunk its tip into the Mermen body.


    Straight in the kokoro!


    I think I landed a critical hit as the Mermen turned gray in one attack only. Looks like my luck really played it role here.


    The Mermen Mage itself does not have any armor around its body to begin with. It was only wearing a leather robe, with the distinction of a Mage and a staff made out of wood. Just like in every game, though Mage are bestowed with great offence power, but they have a very low physical defense.


    I took the staff which the Mermen dropped as loot and threw it at the normal henchman. The henchman HP immediately turned from green to red. I put my strength into my legs and ready to jump at the henchmen.


    Boom!


    But instead, I was thrown away five meters to my right. It was the Mermen Defender. Using the shield as its weapon, the Defender while it was ducking down, hurled its entire body toward my direction.


    I was feeling confused a little as I think the shield bump my head so hard, I got a severe headache for 2 second. Literally I was stunned. Thankfully the Defender have a slow attack speed. I jumped to the left, avoiding its charge by a hair breadth. Hold the dagger using both of my hand and stab its back that was 10 inches away from my face.


    CLANK!


    Damn! Its armor has a sturdy defense.


    Knowing that I won¡¯t be able to penetrate the Defender defense, I took a strategic retreat and ran toward the henchmen instead. The henchman who by far was only watching me and the Defender as if it was watching a Marvel movie widened its eye when it realized that I was aiming for its head.


    Using my right hand, I hold the dagger firmly and beheaded the Mermen in front of me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td> The Mermen War Cry effect has wore off.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ssap!


    The henchmen had its head separated from its neck! Before the henchmen turned gray, I took its head and threw it at the Defender who was already charging back at me.


    I activated Invisibility!


    The sound of the henchmen head crushed by the impact of the Defender shield could be heard. It sounded like a watermelon that was ran over by a heavy truck. The sound of it was still fresh inside my head; it was when I went to Okinawa with my sisters as their errand boy that I accidentally saw an accident which involved a heavy truck with a small truck carrying lots of watermelon.


    Thinking that it had crushed me into a lump of meat, the Defender stood its ¡®stand at ease¡¯ position.


    Think again big ass Mermen with a big ass armor!


    I jumped ¡®playfully¡¯ in attempt not to cancel out my invisibility. Aiming for its nape, I thrust my dagger into the Defender. Thrusting it faster and even more vigorous than what I ever did during my night exercise.


    HELL YEAH CRITICAL HIT!


    The Defender fall into its demise!


    Luckily there was no delay for the invisibility skill, as long as I can calm myself down fast enough, I can already use it. Thus, I reactivated it again and I went back on my way, my destination is to where Sheldon is.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have gained a level! You have 5 additional stat points to be distributed</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I gained another level!


    Great! I keep getting EXPs from No Hair and Eden, now if only I can reach out to Sheldon and invite him to the party I can get a lot more exp! More exp equals to more level! More level equals to more stat points! Just imagine how much point on luck I can distribute later.


    I was about to distribute my stat points when a wild Mermen came out of nowhere and hit me.  Well it was more like, the merman was thrown away and it hit me. It was a Mermen warrior. I¡¯ve lost 15% of my total Hp since the beginning of the war, and now I¡¯ve lost another 2% which make the total to 17%.


    I can feel my bone breaking, the pain is real¡­


    I moved the dead Mermen warrior away and helped myself up. The Mermen warrior immediately turned gray afterward. I scanned my surrounding, it was Sheldon. He was hitting the merman warrior using Eden¡¯s pan.  If I were to get bashed by that pan straight into the face, I would get K.Oed in less than 2 second.


    ¡°Ichiroku!¡± Sheldon screamed out with delight! ¡°You¡¯re back?¡±


    No, I¡¯m not ''back'' yet!


    Seriously these AIs! They sure love stating the obvious! He already saw me in front of his eyes, back from exterminating the Mermen at their base, and he asked ¡®You¡¯re back?¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re back, where are Eden and Captain?¡±


    ¡°They are fighting the Mermen outside.¡±


    ¡°I see, well we have to make our way to them¡­¡±


    Err¡­ How about no?


    I don¡¯t want to fight those Mermen again; I¡¯m planning to invite Shelden to the party and left them fighting the Mermen while I hide away. Okay, maybe I¡¯ll try to save the villagers that I found in need of my help. But seeing how they manage to fight off the Mermen so magnificently back then, I don¡¯t think my help is needed. Not even the subjugation force.


    ¡°Okay but first, get into my party.¡± I said and send him a party invites.


    ¡°Let me join you brave adventurer!¡± A male villager said and it was followed by a few other villagers. After I sent party invitation they all accepted it, and the party consist of 20 people including me, Ichiroku and Eden. We then make our way to where No Hair was.


    I don¡¯t know what battle formation a party usually takes when they were fighting monster, or travelling while being cautious. For the mean time I was in the center of the party, Sheldon was in front. We were moving as if we were inside a circle.


    There were a few Mermen Warriors came to our way, but the villagers fight it off easily. They punched the Mermen head causing the Mermen Warriors to experience dizziness; the villagers than proceed by taking over their swords can split the Mermen into half with their sharp swing.


    That¡¯s it, that¡¯s right! Do the work for me, kill the Mermen for me! Protect me as if I am your king, as if I am your Salvation!


    Boom!


    A big fireball went on our way and exploded before it hit us. It took me a while to figure out that it was Sheldon that parried the fireball using the pan. Weird, I thought he doesn¡¯t know how to fight?


    ¡°Are you guys okay?¡± Sheldon asked.


    ¡°Yeah we¡¯re all right!¡± the men answered energetically.


    We continued on our way, with the same orderly fashion. It wasn¡¯t long before another consecutive balls of fire went on our way. Sheldon was unable to parry it all, resulted in more than five fire ball managed to hit us.


    We were all thrown away. Some of the man was dead; their character info was grayed in party interface. I got the feeling that I¡¯m going to fail this quest! But the quest had already been updated from protect the villagers from the Mermen into ¡®weaken the Mermen forces¡¯. So I don¡¯t think there would be any penalty for the dead villagers.


    ¡°Sheldon are you okay?¡± I screamed out.


    ¡°Y-yeah!¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked.


    The Mermen Mage that I fought before need time to recast its spell and there was a delay between every spell. But the one in front of us was nothing like that, it had the same appearance as Mage but he was not holding a staff, but rather a spear.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Spell Caster?¡±


    ¡°What? Spell Caster? What difference does it have with a Mage? Don¡¯t Mage cast spell too?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ For starter there is a big difference in power!¡± Sheldon raised his voice.


    There was a loud deafening sound that came from the tip of the <<Spell Caster>> spear.  The very tip  of it began to emit a bluish light.


    ¡°Ku pangir rangit, kemon ke lembing ku! karualla gingging ku sakalian! Ancurkan setansetan ni!¡±


    The Spell Caster screamed out its spell. Whips of lightning came toward us. One of the lightning whips caught me by my leg, sending an electric shock throughout my body. I can feel the pain as if it was melting away my cells. I also saw a vision of my own skull and bones as the electric current pass through my body.


    Free X-Ray analysis! Thank God there were no broken bones when a Mermen warrior was thrown at me earlier.


    After a few seconds that was almost forever for me, the lightning whip was cease off from existence.


    In front of me were no other than a Mermen Spell Casters, a Defender and two Mermen Warriors. Saying words that I don¡¯t understand while chanting their spell, the Spell Caster locked me as their target.


    I was unable to move as I was bind by their thorny vines skill. Each one minute it shaved off my total hp by five percent.


    Using every bit of strength that I had in me, I slash the vines using my dagger. I was damaged by the poison thorn but I couldn¡¯t care less as I was going to die at the end of the rope if I didn¡¯t get out from the binding.


    I jumped sideways and regroup with Sheldon. On the other hand, Sheldon who was still being cautious was chanting something.


    ¡°<<Healing Hand>>¡± Sheldon said and activated his skill.


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">You are in effective range of allies¡¯ aura - generate 1000 hp for 30 seconds.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    My hp that was already red from the lightning whip became green once again. Looks like I was not at total disadvantage after all. We are lacking offensive power but our defence is quite sturdy. Or should I say, we¡¯re like cockroaches that won¡¯t die easily due to Sheldon healing.


    My HP bar kept on going red due to the Mermen attack, and by went green with Sheldon healing technique. It really feels good when I was being healed; it felt like as if I was being messaged on my whole body. I might develop an addiction for this, I don¡¯t mind getting hurt if I can experience this healing all day.


    Oh crap, I almost turned into masochist there.


    ¡°Ichiroku.¡± Sheldon called out to me.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can be much of use here,¡±


    What are you even talking about? You are being very useful¡­ by keeping me alive. If it weren¡¯t for you I¡¯d be long dead, killed by those Mermen combo attacks.


    ¡°No, you are being very helpful, you might not have the offence power like Eden or no hair had but you got the healing technique. I¡¯ll think of ways to fight them, but I need you to keep healing me.¡±


    ¡°I-I understand.¡±


    Sheldon does not have the offence power like No Hair nor Eden, but his healing technique is magnificent! But of course it would¡¯ve been better if his offence power is as magnificent as his healing technique.


    Dragging this battle against these Mermen could be dangerous, sooner or later Sheldon will run out of mana, and by that time we will be nothing but a pair of sheep in front of the tigers.


    I brazen my heart and asked Sheldon.


    ¡°Do you know any other healing technique? I might be going quite reckless here; honestly speaking I don¡¯t think I can beat these Mermen without having my HP being spammed heal.¡±


    Yup, I said it. I¡¯ll be attacking those Mermen instead. Even though my offence power isn¡¯t that great, it is better than Sheldon who doesn¡¯t have any offence ability other than using Eden¡¯s cooking pan as a weapon. Plus, my attack speed is quite reliable as I got the additional stat given by my dagger.


    ¡°I do know a few other techniques¡­¡± He answered.


    ¡°Great, cast it now¡±


    ¡°<<Trinity Healing>>, <<Healing Pillar>>, <<Mana Burn>>, <<Light Regen>>¡± Sheldon screamed out.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You are in allies positive aura range.


    <<Trinity Healing>>


    +50 HP regeneration every second.


    <<Healing Pillar>>


    +Invulnerable to any stunt or confusion.


    Poison damage are reduced by 40%


    <<Mana Burn>>


    5 000 Hp regeneration in 5 minutes.


    <<Light Regen>>


    64% chance to block 234 enemy daMage.


    32% chance to counter-attack


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    As soon as he finished casting all of his spells. I hurled toward the charging Defender and clashed with it shield head on. My HP went downright red colored but went back green in less than 10 second as Sheldon healing buff were already stacked on me.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I activated invisibility, and sneak around the Defender¡¯s back. Putting forth all of my strength and aiming for its nape hoping that critical hit would land, I thrust the dagger right at it target.


    Bam!


    I was thrown away instead when 4 consecutive fireballs hit me directly from my left side. It hurt so much that I subconsciously placed my palm on my scorched skin. The Defender didn¡¯t let of the opening that I made and charged toward me, I was blasted away by the impact of the shield.


    Looks like invisibility is not working against Spell Caster, and thanks to Sheldon healing technique, stun and confusion is not working on me anymore.


    Or should I say, I was no longer experiencing the pain that stung my consciousness and left me stunned. Instead the impact felt like a huge teddy bear being thrown right at me. I can feel the impact, but it doesn¡¯t hurt.


    The sight of my HP bar going red and went straight back to green, and from green declined instantly to red colors a few time almost gave me a heart attack.


    The Mermen warriors on the other hand were already cornering Sheldon. Sheldon managed to avoid their attack as the Mermen warrior movement were quite slow, not as slow as the Defender but for Sheldon who was already used to move agile and fast to treat his patient, the Mermen warrior movement were considered slow for him.


    Spell Caster 2 finished casting its spell, another whip of lightning appeared and was lashed at my direction. I jump forward and moved to left side before the whip reached me. I then activated my invisibility once again and went to Sheldon aid.


    I stabbed my dagger onto one of the Mermen warrior. The Mermen warrior who was already heavily injured from the friendly fire that was caused by Mermen Spell Caster 1 consecutive lightning whip that went about randomly, died immediately.


    I grabbed the greyed warrior¡¯s sword and swung it as hard as I can. The other Mermen warrior¡¯s head fell down onto the ground before it greyed out. Both me and Sheldon was thrown away when the Defender charge right at us with its shield.


    God I really hate the Defender.


    If it wasn¡¯t to Healing pillar I would¡¯ve kept being in a stunned mode. The healing technique that Sheldon activated kept on pulling my hp from red to green zone. That¡¯s it, when I got back to beginner town later I¡¯m going to find a friend who have good healing technique.


    Mermen Spell Caster 1 casted its fireballs.


    By now I already understand the pattern of this Spell Caster. They can only cast 2 spell which is lightning whip and fireball, there are delay of 15 second to each skill so it alternating between those skill.


    By the time it was chanting, Defender would come and charge at us to buy some times, keeping the Spell Caster casting undisturb-able. It was a truly a fearsome combo. But that was only if I don¡¯t have Sheldon by my side.


    With Sheldon healing technique, I can defeat it.


    The dropped warrior sword was still in my hand. The Spell Caster 2 casted its lightning whips again. A bluish colored lightning whip came at me, but I didn¡¯t evade it, more like I wasn¡¯t planning to evade it.


    I caught the whip with my palm. As the result, I was hit by electric shock. Looks like the whip is not something physical¡­ it was only a current. Damn, I thought I can grab it or something.


    Whoop!


    I managed to evade the charging Defender again, but that was not the case for Sheldon. He clashed with the shield head on, and instead of getting thrown away. He fainted there and then.


    All buffs and auras were cancelled out.


    But it was my chance; the Defender was a few tenths of meter away from me and the Mermen Spell Caster 1 was still chanting its spell. I activated my invisibility again and faced the Mermen Spell Caster 1 head on.


    Even though I knew that invisibility won¡¯t work against Spell Caster. I still had it activated for critical hit chance.


    I swung the sword at its head but the Mermen Spell Caster 1 evaded it by jumping backward. It then used its staff and used it like a golf stick and aimed for my leg. I step in forward and kick one of its legs and made it lose its balanced.


    Spell Caster 1 fall on its ass.


    I stretch my hand high into the sky with my sword, and sunk its tip into the Spell Caster head. It turned grey soon after. What looked like happened in a minute was only happened for a few second.


    BAM!


    5 consecutive fireballs were shot on my back. Once again my HP turned red; the fireballs burned my leather armour causing an intense pain throughout my back.


    I turned on my invisibility again and disappear into the thin air before the Defender reach out to me. I evade the coming shield by moving a step aside. Realizing that it was not hitting anything, the Defender put on a dumbfounded looks and turn its head around searching for my presence.


    As there was no longer Spell Caster 2 to mess with my nape stabbing activities. I took the Spell Caster 2 spear and threw it at the back of the Defender¡¯s nape. The distance between us was only 3 meters so it was impossible for me not to get a bull¡¯s eye.


    The Defender turned grey and left nothing but EXP and loot.


    Only one left!


    Another consecutive shot of fireball was shot. I tried to evade it, but apparently the fireballs weren¡¯t aimed at me. It was aimed at the unconscious Sheldon who was lying meekly on the ground!


    Sheldon was blasted away 6 meters from his original location. He looked like limp seaweed that was thrown away.


    Uhhhhhh!!! It must¡¯ve hurt a lot! I mean, I¡¯ll come to your aid now!


    Did I run toward Sheldon direction? Pfttt of course no, this is the perfect chance for me to kill the Spell Caster 1. I activated invisibility, and reappear in front of the Spell Caster 1. But seemly that invisibility does not work against Spell Caster; the merman in front of me had already foreseen my movement and used its spear as a guard against me.


    I jumped backward a few times and threw the sword that I had in hand instead and activated invisibility once again.


    The merman parried it by hitting it away using its spear. By the time he parried it, I was already behind its back. I was about to stab the Spell Caster using my dagger when I realized 5 fireballs were aimed at me at point black direction.


    I was blown away by the impact.


    I can feel my baby face looks melting due to the heat, my bone were probably crushed as I was hit at point black and I slammed hard onto the ground from the impact. My body was heavily injured, I probably looked like those who was hit by extremely high voltage of electric current.


    I tried to rise my hands up, but I wasn¡¯t able to do so.


    Weird enough I don¡¯t feel any pain, I wonder was it because of it intense pain that I¡¯m feeling that I don¡¯t feel anything due to a certain chemical reaction, or was it because my pain receptor was burned along with my entire body?


    Either way I was already dying.


    The Spell Caster 1 moved towards me. It raised its spear high into the air and threw it right into my vital point. My heart!


    I¡¯m dead, probably in real life too.


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">You have died! 25% of your EXP will be deducted from your total exp to reach the next level!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ***


    The capsule burst out opened.


    My whole body was trembling and my I was drenched in sweat, I think I just wet myself.


    The last images of the Mermen throwing it spear right into my heart still stuck at my train of thought. It was like a short video that was set on repeat mode, and played continuously inside my mind.


    The pain that I felt from having my heart stabbed with the spear still lingered in my mind. Though physically, I am all safe and dandy. After experiencing a surreal death I don¡¯t think I can work up my courage to get inside the capsule once again.


    That was what I supposed to feel, but it wasn¡¯t like that.


    Rather than being afraid, I just wanted to get back inside the game once again, because what was inside my mind was not fear, but rather an unknown feeling. I don¡¯t know why but I just want to shred those Mermen along with No Hair altogether.


    I got up from the capsule, took a quick shower for 5 minutes and get back inside the capsule. I¡¯m going to kill each and every single bit of the Mermen! Even if I have to die many times!


    And once again, I jumped into the capsule and got back on my ass.


    ***


    Invisibility!


    I activated my one and only active ability that I know. Creeping slowly while scouting the whole area, I moved on in try to search for Sheldon. I was revived at the Treatment Tent which Sheldon used to treat his patient. I was the only one there, I guess the patient are all healed up and by now fighting off the Mermen.


    Mermen corpses were everywhere. Left side were Mermen, right side were Mermen, even in front of me were none other than Mermen, The Mermen corpse were almost looked like a lying silvers and gold just by the very thought of looting it later.


    After a few more minutes walking, I finally arrived at the place where I was killed.


    That shitty Spell Caster, where did it gone off to?


    I wasted no time by staying around there, I continued on my way by getting to where No Hair and the others were. As I saw there was no corpse of Sheldon, he must be alive. Though I wonder how did he managed to not get killed by the Spell Caster as by the time I was killed he was still unconscious,


    The bloody path gave away a foul stench of blood. I tried my best not to bother with the smell, but the stench was too strong. I wonder how did the developers even created a system that enable us to use our sense of smell here.


    I picked up a sword, and a spear that was used by the Spell Caster. But then I decided to take the shield instead and decided to put away the spear. I will gladly pick you up later spear, but for now I¡¯ll arm myself with these warrior and Defender item.


    I moved out again. How I wish for all these greyed out Mermen would just be gone and left the loot alone. I can¡¯t stand the scenery of it. Even though I am already used to the view of it, scenery and view is two entirely different things.


    Thinking that it can¡¯t be help, I covered my mouth and nose using my left palm.


    Wuow!


    Damn, the end of the sword almost touched my abs. Even though I was wearing leather armour, well¡­ Half burnt leather armour, the thought of it grazing over my skill is still scary though.


    Proceed with caution!


    100 meters away from me I can already the ¡®lively¡¯ Mermen and No Hair with the other. I was about to kill those Mermen while being in an invisibility state, but halt all of my motor when I saw a certain monster which I knew very well.


    The Mangdora Creep!


    Well¡­ What did we know; I might going to die a lot of times, not by the hand of the Mermen but instead, by the handy work of those trash talker Mangdora Creep.


    You know what Mr. Developers and Story Planning board?


    Fuck this shit! Fuck that shit! Fuck everybody! Fuck you until your birthday, even if your birthday was yesterday!


    I mean, why now? Why the hell did you have to include the Mid-Boss Mangdora Creep into Human war against Mermen? You already made those Mermen so powerful; they even had a huge advantage with their numbers! Can¡¯t you cut me some slack? I was just about to plan my revenge against those Mermen.


    Look at me, I¡¯m so weak¡­ Well maybe you can say that it was partially my fault for being too greedy and invested all of my additional stat points into luck, but that is another story!


    Okay, I think I¡¯ll just log ou¡­


    ¡°Ichiroku! You regained your consciousness!¡±


    ...Ouuuuu? Did someone just called out to me?


    ¡°I¡¯m here, behind you¡­¡±


    Somebody just whispered into my left ear. I don¡¯t know who you are but I need you to stop it! My ears are very sensitive and delicate part.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I positioned myself in my ¡®battle stance¡¯, gripping both of the sword and shield firmly, I scanned the whole area.


    ¡°It¡¯s me Sheldon¡­¡±


    ¡°Sheldon? Where are you?¡±


    ¡°Right at you back...¡±


    It was then that I felt a sudden sensation or rather presence emerged behind me.


    ¡°Whoa, you scared me!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I was looking out the area.¡±


    ¡°What happened? Weren¡¯t you supposed to be unconscious?¡±


    ¡°Well I did, but only I already regained my consciousness when you were fighting against the Spell Caster.¡±


    You little! If you were conscious then why didn¡¯t you activate your healing technique?! You got me killed back there you know! Do you know how it felt when a spear was stabbed into your heart? I almost wet myself!


    I cursed him to my heart content, but of course I didn¡¯t let the words out form my mouth.


    ¡°When I regain my consciousness I realized that I ran out of mana, I wasn¡¯t even able to stand up. I didn¡¯t bring any mana potion with me so I had to lie down and wait for my mana to regenerate.¡± Sheldon continued,


    I¡¯m sorry; I just cursed you without knowing the real situation.


    ¡°But then again, I¡¯m amazed at your fighting spirit. You were injured badly by the Spell Caster fireballs, and here you are standing all fine and dandy. I thought you were already dead when I moved you tho the treatment tent before.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ you moved me? You mean you were the one whom transported me from here to the treatment tent?¡±


    ¡°Yeah why?¡± Sheldon asked.


    So, when I died I was considered as heavily injured. Sheldon just said that he was the one that moved me into the treatment room. What if I were to die in a normal hunting ground with no one there? Would I revive at the same place?


    ¡°Anyway, we had to move fast, we will kill the Mermen and left the Mangdora Creep to No Hair and the others. I¡¯m sure they can handle the Mangdora Creep by their self. It would be impossible for us with low offence to fight those Mangdora Creep who have an absurd defensive power.¡± I shrugged off Sheldon question and told him our current situation.


    ¡°I think that would be a nice plan too¡­ Honestly, I think we will hold them down more than helping them if we were to go there.¡±


    You don¡¯t even think twice before you said it huh? I knew that I was the one who said we can¡¯t possibly beat the Mangdora Creep due to our low offence, But after hearing you saying it without any hesitation somehow made me feel sad.


    ¡°We just need to hold the Mermen down until the Subjugation Force come, they scout had reported that the subjugation force are 10 minutes away from here.¡±


    What? Subjugation Force? They¡¯re finally here? Great, now let me calculate my survival rate after the arrival of subjugation force¡­


    IT¡¯S OVER 9 000!


    Well well... what do we know? Apparently those men in-charge of story board planning isn¡¯t as stupid as I thought they were.

 Chapter 9 - Human Vs Mermen II

    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">Time until the arrival of the <<Subjugation Force>> left : 9 minutes 01 seconds</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I would be lying if I say that I¡¯m not relieved when I heard that the subjugation force will arrive in 10 minutes. Just imagining the loots that I would be getting after they exterminate all those mermen, sent goose bumps throughout my entire body!


    I rubbed my palm together, not because it was cold. I was only exercising my palms a little bit so I won¡¯t feel any cramp when I¡¯m looting the items later. Just imagine how many lottery tickets I can buy with the money I earned from this quest.


    To be honest the reward¡¯s sucks, but considering that I¡¯m going to get my hand on all of these loots after the war, it might not be that bad after all.


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± I asked Sheldon.  The plan was to hold the Mermen down until the Subjugation Force come, but that doesn¡¯t sounds like a plan at all. I mean, hold them down? Using what, our hand?


    ¡°I think we need to regroup with captain and the others.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I was rendered speechless.


    I clearly said that No Hair and the others are fighting with the Mangdora Creeps. You yourself had stated that we would only become a hindrance if we were to get there. Now you¡¯re saying that it would be better if we regroup?


    ¡°..or not, gosh! I forgot that we would only become a hindrance if we get there.¡± Sheldon said flustered.


    I said nothing but nodded in agreement.


    I knew it, Sheldon does not have anything good up to his sleeve when it comes to fighting and battle tactic. Not that No Hair or Sheldon has any but, at least No Hair knows how to distribute a task that doesn¡¯t cost my life. I just experienced my first death trying to protect Sheldon from dying.


    Now that I got reminded about it,


    ¡°How did you survive the Mermen Spell Caster anyway?¡± I asked.


    ¡°After you were heavily injured, the Spell Caster came towards me. By that time I had enough mana saved up and activated <


    >. I lift you up and brought you to the treatment tent.¡±


    ¡°Phantom Step?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Phantom Step¡­ Surely you know how to use it right? As I saw you already knew how to use Invisibility.¡±


    ¡°In fact I don¡¯t, enlighten me please.¡± I locked my sight at Sheldon.


    ¡°W-well, even though we don¡¯t have time for this, I will explain the details to you.¡± Sheldon said.


    His lips were trembling and he was cowering behind me, he made sure to scan the surrounding are before he settled down on a box and began explaining.


    I was going to do that, but seeing he was the first one to move. I found it was unnecessary for me to look out for any potential danger. We were hiding behind the mountain of boxes 100 meter away from where No Hair and the others were located.


    Sheldon opened his mouth, but there was no voice came out. He looked to his left and right, and rolled his eyes wildly as if he was looking for something.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m just feeling a little bit thirsty.¡±


    Indeed, after trembling and sweating that much of course your body is asking for water to replace the one you had discard from your bodily fluid. He finally found a water container that was made out of leather and sucked clean the water. I mean, he drank it all up.


    ¡°The very foundation of Invisibility came from phantom step. Invisibility is a high level technique where you turn transparent, enough to disappear into the thin air; it let you move from one place to another without being spotted by anyone as long as they don¡¯t have the ability to counter your invisibility skill.


    On the other hand, Phantom Step is the very basic form of Invisibility. Phantom Step is a skill where you move from one place to another with a very fast speed.¡±


    ¡°Fast speed? Like what, mach level of speed?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know what does ¡®mach¡¯ meant by but I think you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t even know what ¡®mach¡¯ means how you can know that I¡¯m right?¡± was what I felt like saying out loud but I¡¯ll hold it in for the mean time. Now is not the good time for a witty comeback.


    ¡°The thing is, you just move from one place to one place in a really high speed movement that you look as if you¡¯re almost invisible or teleporting, in short instantaneous movement.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ I see,¡± I replied.


    I don¡¯t understand ANYTHING at all.


    ¡°So, how do I do that high speed movement thingy?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You just do this¡­ and this!¡±


    Sheldon just teleported from the box that he was sitting on, to behind my back! I don¡¯t think I can learn this technique.


    Anyway, I won¡¯t know it for sure if I don¡¯t try it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try doing it¡­¡±


    I first set on my travelling distance, it was 5 meters. I put forth my strength into my right legs, bent my body down and straighten my field of vision onto my path. Sheldon mention that Invisibility is a higher level technique than Phantom Step.


    The essence of Invisibility is to calm myself down and do not do any sudden movement. But opposite to invisibility, Phantom Step is one where I have to in high speed movement which can be considered as sudden movement.


    The foundations between these two skills are definitely contradicting with each other. I don¡¯t see anything that can be considered as foundation to Invisibility from this Phantom Step.


    Or was it like what I thought it would be?


    There was a story in Chinese Era where there was a chef who mastered the way of knives. He was cooking a living fish; his hand movement was so fast and his slicing speed was superb that the fish didn¡¯t even know that it was already dead. The chef hand was deem invisible when he was conducting the act.


    Or at least that is how the story goes.


    If I were to follow that logic then,


    First, get into my stance. Second, calm myself down. Third put forth my energy into my legs for explosive movement and lastly ¡­


    Whoop!


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%">+New Ability Learned


    +Phantom Step


    By putting forth your strength into your muscle, you had summoned the explosive energy within your limbs. You can move instantaneously from one place to another.


    *The ability to travel over distance will be influenced greatly by the amount of player¡¯s Agility.


    *The accuracy to travel over distance will be influenced greatly by the amount of player¡¯s Dexterity.


    Skill Proficiency : 1%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I knew it! I managed to do it in one try (LOL)


    I moved instantly about 7 meters forward. So I need to increase my accuracy in order to land correctly.


    ¡°W-wow! You   had done it in one try!¡± Sheldon exclaimed in amazement. His eyes were widened and he was half stood up.


    I was surprised myself. I was just going with the flow but it seems like the flow brought me into the right place. I learned a new <<Ability>>, never thought that it would work exactly as I imagined it. Though I still need to work out on my accuracy rate, but heck¡­ The accuracy is greatly influenced by my dexterity. I need a lot of dexterity to make sure I stop where I wanted to.


    Apparently there are 4 branches in the <<Skill >>


    I accessed my skill menu, or interface, or whatever it was called as.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Skill</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Technique</td><td width="25%">Ability</td><td width="25%">Passive Skill</td><td width="25%">Talent Skill</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I clicked on the ability box.


    <table><tbody><tr><td width="25%"><table><tbody><tr><td>


    Ability


    +Invisibility


    The action of slowing down your breathing and being in a relaxed condition had caused your presence to diminish.


    *The effective range is equal to your [dexterity stat].


    *Ability is canceled when a player starts attacking, or attacked or disturbed while being in a state of invisibility.


    *Increase your agility and chances to deal critical strike.


    Phase 1 |Stealth Normal (46%)


    </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td width="25%"><table><tbody><tr><td>


    +Phantom Step


    By putting forth your strength into your muscle, you had summoned the explosive energy within your limbs. You can move instantaneously from one place to another.


    *The ability to travel over distance will be influenced greatly by the amount of player¡¯s Agility.


    *The accuracy to travel over distance will be influenced greatly by the amount of player¡¯s Dexterity.


    Phase 1 |Phantom Normal ( 1%)


    </td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Hmm¡­ My stealth proficiency is now 46%. It has been bothering me for quite a while now but what does that ¡®normal¡¯ supposed to mean? Is it supposed to be some kind of ranking like in RPG where there was a difficulty level that goes from beginner, intermediate and advance?


    If that is the case then how will my skill proficiency level rose when I reached 100%? I wonder what happened when I reached 100% of my skill proficiency. But wondering about that now won¡¯t give me any benefits.


    I activated my Invisibility once again and use Phantom Step to travel 10 meters forward, passing through the opening through the boxes. No Hair and the others were still fighting the Mangdora Creep. I opened my <


    >, Eden is still alive. I was feeling a little bit unrest as I did not see Eden¡¯s figure fighting with the Mangdora Creep. I bet he got his hand full dealing with the Mermen from interfering No Hair¡¯s fight with the Mangdora Creep.


    5 minutes had passed.


    Great, I wasted 5 minutes learning a new ability instead fighting the Mermen, which is good in its own essence. I didn¡¯t get hurt, and instead gained a new ability. I knew that we already planned to hold down the mermen until the Subjugation Force arrived. Well, what can I say, we can always make a plan but we don¡¯t always have to follow it.


    Now how should I waste another 5 minutes of the time remaining? In all honestly I really want to fight the Mermen, but I seriously don¡¯t want to get myself  killed by those Mangdora Creep!


    ¡°Ichiroku¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± I answered turning my attention from the warzone that was in front of me to where Sheldon was.


    Sheldon was staring deep into my eyes. His lips were no longer trembling and his legs were firmly rooted on the ground. With his back straightened up, he opened his mouth.


    ¡°Let us¡­¡±


    BOOM!


    I don¡¯t know what happened. All that I knew that that time was I was in the mid-air, frantically trying to stabilize myself and regain my footing. Sheldon on the other hand, had his mouth wide open. It looked like as if he was screaming while riding a jet-coaster.


    The boxes that was kept us hidden before was nothing but debris now. The debris flew throughout the mid-air. It was as if the time was slowed down, I moved my limbs in frantic motion trying to  evade the incoming fragments of the boxes . I got a few cut on my body when I finally reached the ground with a loud thumping sound.


    ¡°Uuuuuuurghhhhhhhhhhhh¡­¡­¡± I tried to spoke out and ask Sheldon if he was okay, but apparently that was the only voice that I can squeak out. I sounded like Loki when Hulk smashed him onto the ground in the movie that I watched last year. I don¡¯t know what the movie title was but it was something about heroes¡¯ vengeance.


    I coughed a few times as I was having a hard time to breathe.


    Once again I found myself looking at Sheldon  as he was lying down on the ground limp.


    ¡°Seriously dude, had it become your habit to lose consciousness whenever we were blown away?¡± I screamed out my dissatisfaction. Sheldon who was passed out didn¡¯t budge even a little bit when I finally let out my complaint. Well, that is a given as he could not hear a thing about what I was saying.


    BOOM!


    Another sound of explosion could be heard.


    Is it what I think it is?


    There was a big ass merman with a big ass spear. The merman was 5 meter in height and it was as large as a truck. By the look of its appearance, it was a Mermen Mage. There is no doubt that if I were to say that it was the last boss of this quest, The Mermen King. I can do nothing but pray for No Hair and the other safety. Though I am more concerned about my well being, I will be dead if I got hit even once by the fireball that it casted.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    I activated my Invisibility; stealth would work against Mermen Mage so I got nothing to worry about. I then proceed by moving slowly and pick Sheldon up, I tried activating Phantom Step to flee instantly from the danger range but it seemed like the instantaneous movement only work on me.


    BUMP!


    Sheldon dropped down like a rotten apple.


    Once again I moved instantly toward Sheldon and picked him up. I was left with no choice but to run for my life with Sheldon behind my back. I felt like I was running naked when I was fleeing the warzone without Invisibility activated.


    I laid him down on the bed inside the treatment tent.


    I activated my invisibility and exited the perimeters.


    I don¡¯t know what is going to happen next. But I surely don¡¯t want to miss this one out. The Mermen last boss is already here. There are definitely going to be some kind of raid from the Subjugation Force. The exp going to be huge! More additional Stat Points, the luckier I get!


    ***


    The time left for the arrival of the Subjugation Force around 2 minutes.


    A sudden notification popped out, it was a warning that a party member is in a critical condition. It was No Hair, his HP already turned red. I rushed out to the battle field, disregarding either I was in stealth mode or not.


    The distance left for me to reach where No Hair was at was 25 meters. I activated my Instantaneous Movement and reached where No Hair was in a blink of an eye.


    The Mermen breathe out fire at No Hair. I picked up No Hair weakened body and threw him away that he slammed with Eden. The breath of fire hit me mercilessly. My HP went down less than 1%, thankfully I took a few <<Great HP Potion>> from the treatment tent and recovered my HP in no time.


    ¡°Ichiroku!¡± Eden and No Hair screamed in unison.


    ¡°Gahhhhhh!!!¡± I screamed out as the pain began to get the better of me.


    I can feel my back getting cooked as if I was the highest grade of beef that needed to be cooked in intense heat. I drank 3 Great HP Potions.  I glad that I took twice the amount of leafs that Sheldon asked me when I was running on the quest under his demand.


    I was unable to learn the secret to medicine processing as I don¡¯t have enough Intelligence to read the book. In the end I asked Sheldon to process those leafs instead and were given 25 Great HP Potions.


    I was not able to take it with me when we were destroying the Mermen Base because Sheldon was still processing the medicine by that time. But thankfully I managed to get my hand on it now. Though I wish I grabbed it earlier before I was killed by the Mermen Spell Caster.


    The Mermen King finally stopped its attack.


    Had I not drank the Great HP Potion, I would¡¯ve experienced my second death in this game. I activated Instantaneous Movement and get to where No Hair and Eden were. I was pretty much crashed landing when I got there as the intense pain still lingered throughout my body.


    ¡°Here drink this.¡± I had over 3 Great HP Potion to No Hair. No Hair only retrieved over half of his HP. Seriously, how much HP does he have?


    ¡°Thank you lad, it really helped me.¡± No Hair said.


    The Mermen King saw us and we immediately activate our Invisibility. The villagers who were deemed unable to fight had fled inside the room that they made underground. The only human that can be spotted on the warzone were me, Eden and No Hair. No Hair killed so many of those Mangdora Creeps, I never realized it until I saw my level when I was checking the Party interface.


    From level 15, I jumped to level 38! I gained 115 additional points.


    I¡¯m having a huge dilemma either I should spend it on Stamina and strength to survive in this war or invest it on luck.  In the end, I invested it on a completely different stats then what I had planned to.


    I invested 20 points to wisdom for mana which I might need when No Hair taught me his ¡®Finishing Technique¡¯.  50 points to agility and 45 points to dexterity, the only way I can survive this war is by utilizing the ability that I have to its maximum. It sadden me that I can¡¯t invest it on luck, but I¡¯ll get my chance to level up when this is all over and invest those points on luck!


    I took a quick glimpse on my character profile.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Player Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ichiroku</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Level</td><td colspan=''3''>38</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Race</td><td colspan=''3''>Human</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Proofession</td><td colspan=''3''>Gambler</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Stat Info:


    Strength : 25


    Stamina : 12


    Dexterity : 50 (+25)


    Agility : 73 (+25)


    Intelligence : 0


    Wisdom : 20


    Endurance : 1


    Luck : 135


    Additional Stat Point : 0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Attack : 120 ~ 125 (+10 ¨C 19)


    Health : 600


    Mana : 500


    Defence : 75</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Enhancement


    N/A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    We were overpowered, we were surrounded, and we were most definitely cornered. Mermen King, Defenders, Mages, Spell Casters, Warriors and normal henchmen!  The whole Army of the Mermen race was present in front of us. To make it worst, the Mangdora Creeps are here too.


    ¡°Why the hell are those Mangdora Creep doing here anyway? They were not here when we arrived earlier!¡± I whispered in a voice that was audible to No Hair and Eden.


    ¡°They were not¡­ but they are now.¡± Eden said in a gapped voice.


    ¡°Those Mangdora Creep were summoned by the Mages.¡± No Hair said.


    ¡°We were busy exterminating the Mermen when of the Mage raised up its staff and began enchanting. It opened a portal 10 meters above the ground and began spitting those Creeps onto the ground.¡± Eden exclaimed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any problem fighting with those Mermen as I can already overpower them. Those Mangdora Creeps however, is a different story. They are leveled 40; the difference in our level is small. I can handle it easily if it was around four or five creeps, but the Mages kept on summoning creep that it felt the spawning creep rate is endless! I had to use my <<Water Purification>> skill to keep healing myself.¡±


    ¡°I was fighting off the Mages with a few other villagers. But the Mangdora Creeps attacks were way beyond what the villagers can handle. Most of them were inflicted with heavy injuries. We were lucky there were no death causalities.¡± Eden said as he tried to catch up his breath.


    ¡°Certainly, it weren¡¯t for the villagers help. I would¡¯ve died fighting the Mangdora Creeps as the number was too many. I was left with a very little mana when the Mermen King made its appearance.¡± No Hair added.


    ¡°What the hell¡­just how strong is that monster?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know lad, this is the first time I¡¯ve ever seen something like this.¡±


    ¡°That monster is stronger than what we had seen before; it¡¯s even stronger than the kraken that we fought Captain. The Mangdora Creeps were quite troublesome but this Mermen King is on a whole different league.¡±


    ¡°I attacked it using my Silver Palm, and launched a consecutive Navy Punch that would normally blow a sea creature to bits. But it seemed like there was something that was protecting it, it was almost like a shield.¡± No Hair said, he was staggering as he tried to stand firm on his feet. Dissatisfaction was clearly shown on his looks as his attack didn¡¯t left any impression against the Mermen King.


    ¡°We are doomed if we failed to figure out how to deal with this Mermen King.¡± Eden added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we have to worry about that¡­¡± I said.


    Both Eden and No Hair turned their attention towards me.


    I don¡¯t know why but they looked at me as if I have cookies to give away. But no I don¡¯t have any cookies!


    ¡°The Subjugation will be here any minutes now.¡± I continued.


    ¡°Is it true?¡± A clear voice could be heard from Eden.


    ¡°Yeah, Sheldon told me that they scout had reported that the Subjugation Force is coming. They should be here by now.¡±


    ¡°Well you hear that Eden? We might have some chance after all. Gha ha ha!¡± No Hair laughed out so loud that his voice resounded throughout the village. Both me and Eden who was ¡®startled¡¯ by No Hair sudden laugh got our invisibility cancelled.


    No Hair stopped laughing and had his eyes fixated at the sigh behind my back.


    ¡°Do you by any chance still have the Great HP Potion lad?¡±


    I don¡¯t like where this is going¡­.


    ¡°Split out!¡± Eden shouted out loud!


    I didn¡¯t bother to turn around and look what was their looking at as I already knew what was behind me. I activated my Instantaneous Movement and got away from the Mermen King fire breathe range.


    Seriously, I think there is something wrong with a Mermen King which has a high affinity with water to breathe out fire instead of water blast from its mouth! It¡¯s like a Magic Carp who can execute the skill ¡®Ember¡¯ instead of ¡®Splash¡¯.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can fight for a while.¡± No Hair said and looked at my direction; he was unable to escape from the fire breath. His legs were still weak from the damage that he received.


    ¡°Human¡­¡± The Mermen King spoke out with a hoarse yet golden voice, it sounded like those men who narrated the action preview movies.


    I was no longer surprised at talking mobs. To be honest, I was never surprised seeing a monster talk. In online games that I¡¯ve played before there would be always some sort of text in above the monster head. There were times when I killed a monster, the monster let out a dying cry in message form.


    The reason why I was surprised at the sight of Mangdora Creep talking was due to its ability to trash talk. In all honesty, the fight against the Mangdora Creep when I was doing the herb quest was the first time where I seen a trash talking mob.


    ¡°Humans¡­ You have soiled my race¡¯s water. You have poisoned my children, and you have killed my brethren and you dare say that we are the Evil one?¡±


    The Mermen King stomped its feet onto the ground. Cracks were made open by the strength of the stomp. The Mermen King had the appearance of the Mermen Spell Caster. But what The Mermen King was holding was neither a spear nor a trident. It was an old stick usually seen as a tool to chase away dogs in Chinese historical martial art drama and movies.


    The Mermen King was moving about the area, not


    ¡°Only because my race had fins but not ears, had claws but not nails, had rough scale but not smooth skin, you humans labeled us as impurity, filth and devil! You invaded our sea and killed our children, you cooked them and eat them and threw their remains back at the sea, and you dare call us as heartless murderer who killed a human child?!


    While you caught my brethren and kill them mercilessly without heed to our pleading you dare call us as vicious demon?! Dare me now for I am about to release my wrath that long had I kept caged inside my heart! Dare me now for I won¡¯t plead for mercy but a word for death!


    Know your place human! You are nothing but a small existence in this vast world! The world that you know is only amounted to a speck of dust then what it was actually in reality! I had enough of your foolish conducts human! I shall burn you to no more but a dust, and spread your entire body in the sea as an offering to my dead brethren that you have killed!


    <<King¡¯s Wrath>>!¡± The Mermen King screamed. Its eyes were colored in darkish red color. Steam was being released from his entire body and afterward sent a shockwave throughout the village surface.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    -You¡¯re within the enemy <<King¡¯s Wrath>> effective Range, as long as you¡¯re inside the enemy effective range these penalty are applied.


    * Maximum HP decreased by half.


    *All Stat decreased by half.


    *You cannot activate any Ability.


    *33% Chances to be stunned by The Mermen King¡¯s Stomp!


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± The three of us who were present at scene were unable to let out a sound. The menacing effects from The Mermen King skill were disastrous!


    Eden had already distanced himself from the Mermen King by 50 meters.


    ¡°Lad...¡± No Hair said in a trembling voice¡­ ¡°Please tell me the Subjugation force is here!¡±


    I would love to say so, but my eyes were fixated at the sight of angered Mermen King.


    I think I just shat myself.

 Chapter 10 - Human Vs Mermen III

    A single drop of rain was felt by Ichiroku.


    Ichiroku who felt the cold sensation touching his cheek moved his trembling hand, he rub his cheek with his palm in attempt to see what had caused the chilly sensation that he felt. But he failed to do so, as his eyes were fixated at the sight of Mermen King that was in front of him.


    The Mermen King¡¯s wrath had brought upon them a stormy weather. As the dark grey sky roared, bluish light of electricity was connected from one to another as the sky roar again and again. It was such a frightening weather that Ichiroku''s leg trembled.


    He was unable to unable to say anything, his lips moved. But it was only due to the sight of the giant mermen in front of him, for his lips were shaking out of fear.


    Ichiroku tried to activate his Invisibility. He calmed himself down, slowed down his breathing and tried to become one with his surroundings. Unfortunately his stature was in plain view. He began cursing at himself at his failure.


    ¡°Well¡­ Shi-.¡± Unable to finish his word, Ichiroku jumped a few meters backward.


    The breath of fire that The Mermen King expelled from his mouth sprayed over the ground. Sizzling sound could be heard as the water vaporized at the contact of the Mermen King¡¯s fire breath. Some part of the ground was dried off, and some was still wet, while the ground that was directly hit by the Mermen King¡¯s fire breath had it grass shaved off.


    ¡°No Hair Captain!!!¡± Ichiroku screamed to his throat.


    ¡°I got it covered lad!¡± No Hair screamed. No Hair who was barely keeping his feet planted onto the ground move forward to Ichiroku aid. With Ichiroku behind his back he activated his Silver Palm. ¡°Silver Palm! Second phase <Shield>¡± he added.


    Silver Palm is a technique where a player manipulates his mana and turned it into a form wall. He used this technique before during their quest to weaken the mermen army. The effect of it was the mermen who were by far weaker in level and power were brushed away easily and killed when the ¡®palm¡¯ hit them.


    But this time, the Mermen King was far superior compared to the Mermen that they had fought before. It was not an exaggeration if one were to say that the Mermen King has the same strength as No Hair, or even far superior than No Hair. No Hair had no other choice but to activate the next level of his Silver Palm. The Second Phase <Shield>


    The breath of fire directly hits No Hair¡¯s [Silver Palm Shield]. No Hair was pushed a few centimeters away from due to the fire breath pressure. Trace of No Hair¡¯s foot being pushed away was visible on the ground.


    Even though the fire didn¡¯t reach where No Hair was, by the pure heat of the fire No Hair¡¯s HP had started to slowly declining.


    ¡°Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!¡± No Hair screamed. ¡°Lad, I might sound selfish but¡­ Mind giving me some of your Great HP Potion that you have left? I don¡¯t think I call last longer while without those potions!¡± he added.


    ¡°Take it take it take it! Take all of it!!¡± Ichiroku said frantically.


    Ichiroku took out the potions from his inventory and hold the potion for No Hair to drink. He could feel the intense heat as he moved his hand closer near No Hair¡¯s beard. No Hair took it by his teeth and gulped down the whole potion content in on shot. ¡°Puu haaaaaa¡­¡± He exhaled.


    The Mermen King stopped its attack.


    ¡°Human¡­ Your resistance is nothing but futile. Drop your weapon and wash your neck, it is not too late to atone for your sins that you had done to us Mermen.¡± Mermen King spoke. He raised his staff high into the air. ¡°Come to my aid my loyal servants!¡±


    The sky roared again.


    From the drops of rains formed creatures that had never been seen by No Hair nor Eden before. The Mermen King had summoned the Mermen that had died in the war back into life in a water form.


    Their body was bluish but transparent. However they emit a purplish dark aura with red menacing eyes. They were the same size as the Mermen King. It was the Mermen Titans, Mermen who was summoned using the dead Mermen souls as catalyst.


    ¡°The Mermen King had just summoned the titans!¡± Ichiroku exclaimed in a terrified voice. His hand, his legs, his entire body was shaking violently. His eyes were bewildered by the sight that he was seeing. If it were not for the rain, long would have No Hair and Eden found out that Ichiroku had wet his pant.


    ¡°<<Discerning eyes>>!¡±  Eden screamed from afar.


    Discerning eyes was a skill that is exclusive for Eden profession, a chef. It was a skill that allowed a player to view the details of an item such ingredients, utensil and monsters. It was a skill that is highly sought by players with Chef Profession for the skill itself is rare and hard to obtain.


    ¡°The Mermen King has a total HP of 1 million! I don¡¯t know what his defense is at but his mana had been halved. His hp went down from 1 million to 700 000. I guess that his HP had been distributed to Titans that he had summoned.¡± Eden screamed out loud. The stormy weather had washed Eden¡¯s voice away and he was forced to repeat the sentence again.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL!¡± Ichiroku said in disbelief. ¡°Wait¡­ what¡­ wa..¡± He was lost for word because he deemed the Mermen King was way too strong for his first Main quest.


    It was understandable.


    For starter, Ichiroku had only spent 2 days inside the game, which is 2/3 day in real time. He was only playing around at the Game Centre and gamble at his first day at Einstel world. His first experience fighting in Einstel Online was against a Mangdora Creep, which had almost killed him if it were not for the cheat like ability that he had.


    No Matter how hard he tried, he still cannot get used to the bizarre sight that was in front of him. Surely he had seen such unbelievably strong monsters in movies and games, but to actually see the monster in person is a whole different story.


    The Mermen Titans came at Ichiroku party at once.


    They executed a straight punch onto No Hair¡¯s Silver Palm. The sound of water splashed on a hard wall reverberating throughout the static air was heard. No Hair fall on his knees, pushed down by the pressure.


    Ichiroku on the other hand use No Hair¡¯s back as a stepping stone and jumped high into the mid-air. He chopped off one the Titan¡¯s head. Or that was what he thought. The Titan, who lost its head, was slowly regenerating it back using the rain water that fall on its body.


    ¡°How the hell do we even defeat these monsters¡­¡± Ichiroku said.


    ¡°I¡¯m still waiting for the Subjugation Force to come!¡± No Hair added.


    ¡°You said they are going to come by any minutes now, but I don¡¯t even see their shadow¡­ Are you sure they are coming?!¡± Eden screamed from afar.


    ¡°God I hate this!¡± Ichiroku said. ¡°Every single damn time the monster¡¯s effect had been getting repetitive. The effect is definitely going to be stun or either skill disabling. Does every single monster in this game have stun effect?!


    I know that logically thinking, when you felt pain you will be stun, disable or whatever name it was that made you stopped your movement for a while as you can¡¯t focus on doing anything but to endure the pain. But turning it into a damn stun or confusion effect is damn annoying!


    Why can¡¯t they let me learn some damn technique! I¡¯m already level 38 for God sake! Even in the game that I played before by level 30 You already have like three or four attacking skill!¡± he continued, cursing on his bad luck.


    Ichiroku knew this deep inside his heart that his class was not an offence class. This is a reality that was re-created in a virtual world. As gambler, all stat and skills that he got are from his profession change are skill that were closely related to his profession.


    Surely as a Gambler he cannot execute a technique that a Warrior can use. He can only use the technique that was difference in essence from his profession by having learning it manually, which are by reading the book or have someone to teach him the technique.


    Being able to execute a skill that was not related to his profession without having to learn it manually is like No. 16 who can give birth to a child without having to undergo a surgery to make her human.


    In its own essence, Ichiroku profession <Gambler> was almost the same as a Merchant.


    His whole experience in the game was only amounted to 2 days of gaming. He had no other skills but his passive skill and two ability skills.


    ¡°Dammit! I wonder if this had something to do with being a human race! The woman from the character setting asked me if I really wanted to have Human as my race. I should¡¯ve asked what the hell is wrong being a human¡­ Is this some kind of drawback that human have? ¡± Ichiroku continued.


    ¡°What are you talking about lad¡­? If you have time for monologue then you have time to back me up!¡±


    ¡°I am trying! I¡¯m just pissed off at these monsters skills. I mean, every time a new monster appears it has different move but the same effect. I mean seriously! War Cry, Shriek, Lightening Whip, the Defender¡¯s Charge all of those thing have damn stun and confusion effect!¡±


    ¡°Eden!!! Can¡¯t you do something about those Titans!?¡± No Hair raised his voice so Eden could hear his voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry captain but I got my hand full against the Mermen!¡± Eden replied in the same manner.


    Even though Eden was not able to see No Hair who was far away from him, No Hair nodded at Eden¡¯s word. He then diverted his attention to Ichiroku.


    ¡°Look lad, I don¡¯t really have the time to explain things for you as we are in a very peril situation right now. I don¡¯t know about Mangdora Creep. But every monster race has its own specialties.


    Mermen technique is all based on stun effect. How the hell do you even think the villagers can lose in the first place if it weren¡¯t for the Mermen stun effects? I do admit that the Mermen had already overpowered the human by sheer number alone.¡± No Hair explained.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Ichiroku said nothing. He was jumping from one side to another as the Mermen King made him run for his life. On the other hand, No Hair was still defending himself using his Silver Palm''s Shield.


    ¡°But the level difference between the Mermen and the villagers are huge. When the Mermen were still level one, the villagers¡¯ levels are mostly level 12.


    The Mermen now are probably level 25 but our villagers are mostly level 35! If it weren¡¯t for the Mermen Stun effect that was spammed over and over again by the huge numbers of Mermen against the villagers, we won¡¯t even be fighting this war right now.¡±No Hair paused and took a breath. ¡°Behind you lad, 3 o¡¯clock!¡± he warned Ichiroku as another Titan punch was thrown.


    ¡°B-But the Mangdora Creeps are not Mermen!¡± Ichiroku jumped sideways again, narrowly escaped the Titan fist.


    ¡°Why were you even wondering why does Mangdora Creep have the same stun effect, they are summoned by Mermen Mages, of course it have the same stun effect as it followed the will of their summoner! Now, on your left side!¡±


    One of the Titans punches land perfectly on Ichiroku side. Ichiroku fell on four. He was too engrossed listening to No Hair explanation that he had let down his guard for a mere second.


    ¡°Think! Think! Think! There must be something that we can do against this situation. In manga and anime there will be always a situation where the author made the enemy too strong that it was almost there is no way for the main character to win the battle. But the main character always win because there will be always some kind of twist!¡± Ichiroku said to himself and slapped his own cheek a few times.


    5 titans cornered him when he was too busy thinking about what he was going to do. The Titans launched their attack at the same time, Ichiroku on the other hand evade the attack by jumping straight against the Titan in front of him.


    Shinnnngg!


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The Titan was split into two, only to regenerate later.


    Ichiroku landed right in front of the Mermen King. The Mermen King opened its mouth and breathed fire once again. Ichiroku managed to evade the attack by a hair breadth. Although he had some part of his hair burnt away, he was okay.


    Looking at his burnt hair, while his head was closely pressed onto the ground, Ichiroku said ¡°¡­ Great! Now  I look as if I had an afro for a hairstyle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it lad!¡± No Hair screamed.


    ¡°What?¡± Ichiroku replied with a question and turned his look back to where No Hair was.


    ¡°The Mermen''s King fire breath! Mermen King¡¯s fire against water Titans!¡±


    Ichiroku was unable to grasp what No Hair was trying to say until he saw the Titans that was cornering him before was no more.


    The Titans that was on his back before were nothing more than a vaporized water which had turned into steam.


    ¡°I knew it!!¡± Ichiroku screamed out in joy. ¡°I knew it there was something wrong when a magic fish used ember instead of splash!¡± he exclaimed, delighted.


    ***


    Far from them was Eden who had been fighting against the mermen. All by himself, he had ended the existence of the Mermen Spell Casters, Defenders, Mages and Warrior. Eden himself was level 102. It was not weird when he had a higher level than No Hair.


    Eden was the one who had always out hunting for food ingredients under the sea. Many had died upon his trusted knives. Many had fallen prey into his technique. Using the two knives that he had always brought with him, he had fed all kind of monsters blood to his knives.


    If No Hair was all about power and vitality, Eden was all about speed and accuracy.


    With his trusted knives on both of his hand, he danced under the rain with his twin sharp knives moving beautifully cutting through the wind. The Spell Casters fireball and lightening whip was beautifully evaded by Eden.


    The Defenders offence with their shield was easily parried by Eden. While Mermen Warrior and normal henchmen who were not even worth mentioning for Eden, were exterminated at where they were standing.


    Eden was on an entirely different level than Ichiroku. When Ichiroku had a great difficulty and even experienced his first death fighting against the Spell Caster, Eden easily killed numerous of the Mermen Spell Casters, Defenders, Warrior and normal henchmen.


    With movement that was as smooth as butter on a hot frying pan, Eden killed the last Defender by stabbing his knives on its nape. His attack damage that was already higher than the Defender defenses, along with the critical hit for hitting the monster right at it vital point, all he needed was 1 attack to end the Mermen life.


    The Spell Casters that was in front of him that were frantically spamming fireballs and lightning whip at Eden when they saw the Defenders that were protecting them was nothing more but corpses.


    He cut through the consecutive ball of fires that was hurdled at him with no difficulty.


    ¡°This is nothing compared to those Titans¡­¡± Eden thought to himself.


    The balls of fire that easily killed Ichiroku before was brushed off easily.


    Eden silver hair was painted red, his white chef clothes was dyed with darkish blood color. At the end of his lips were smile that was never shown to his Captain or Sheldon.  It was the same smile that No Hair had on his face when he was exterminating the Mermen back at the Mermen base.


    Unbeknownst to Eden himself, he felt joy when his knives passed through the meat that touched the tip of its blade smoothly. The joy of killing his ¡®ingredients¡¯ had never ceased his amusement. He looked like a clown who was on a night underground subway, randomly swinging his knife around.


    ¡°<Knife>¡± Eden said in a barely audible voice.


    His knives that were only as long as his arm before turned into a gigantic knives. It was almost like a katana as the knives from were completely different from before. A long slender body, slightly curved as the blade reaches the tip.


    Eden then proceed by holds the knives in on hand.


    ¡°<<Knife>> Second Phase!¡±


    Both of the gigantic knives began to emit a dazzling light, and were engulfed in a pure bluish light. By the time the light had gone, the knives had completely changed it shape. It was no longer knives that resemble a katana. Instead, it was a genuine Katana.


    Eden readied himself in a ¡®quick draw¡¯ stance.


    He put forth his strength in his legs and arms. As he was chanting something, a dark purplish aura began to accumulate around him. The Mermen Spell Casters were spamming their skill against Eden. But the fireballs and lightning whip were all deflected by Eden¡¯s aura.


    ¡°Iiai Namikiri!¡± Eden shouted out loud.


    It was a quick draw technique, what was left of Eden when he execute the technique are the blurred image of his silhouette.


    Sssap¡­ The sound of katana being put back into its scabbard was heard.


    The aura that Eden emits was completely different from before. He wore a triumph smile on his looks.


    Ppak¡­ The sounds of the Spell Casters head fall onto the ground were heard afterward.


    Eden was already moving on his way to aid Ichiroku, but he stopped when he heard voices behind him.


    ¡°Hei  look at that¡­ The noob human are going frenzy against the weak mermen. A small victory with a triumph smile like that, what a joke.¡± The monster had bark as its skin.


    ¡°kekekekeke! Brodah, it can¡¯t be help¡­ He is a human after all. They always become ecstatic over every single win that they had.¡±


    ¡°Well that little shit is already running away from us, whaddaya say my brodah! Should we play tag, seeing who can catch him first?¡±


    ¡°Kekekeke¡­ I agree.¡±


    The Mangdora Creeps were talking amongst themselves.


    ¡°What the fuck did you just fucking said about me, you little shit? I¡¯ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy, and I¡¯ve been involved in numerous secret raids on Pirate Hideout, and I have over 100 000 confirmed kills. I am trained in <Gorilla Dojo> and I¡¯m the top chef in the entire Gourmet Association.


    You are nothing to me but just another ingredient. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this fucking world, mark my word you dip-shit!¡± Eden said with words that were even sharper than his knives.


    ¡°Huuuuhhhh??!!¡±


    ¡°What fuck are you giving out human?¡±


    ¡°My brodah! This little shit is underestimating us brodah!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have his legs.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take his arms.¡±


    ¡°My brodah! You can take whatever you want, but leave his head to me. I want to hang a new head on my tree¡­ kekkeke¡±


    ¡°kekekekekekekeke¡±


    ¡°kekekekekekekeke¡±


    ¡°I heard human eats bull¡¯s balls.¡±


    ¡°Then let us try eating this little shit balls. Kekekeke.¡±


    The Creeps were talking among themselves, they were 10 in total.


    Eden began to give out an even menacing aura than before. His eyes were slant, and he was looking at the creep with utter disgusted expression. This had incurred the Mangdora Creep anger as they were being underestimated.


    ¡°Brodah!!¡± one of the Mangdora Creeps cried out loud.


    ¡°Yahhhhhhh!!!¡±  The rest of them replied with the same intensity.


    ¡°I say, we kill this sonuva bitch first and split his body part between us later for souvenir!¡±


    ¡°Ruuaaahh!!  Ruuuaaahh!!  Ruuuaaahh!!  Ruuaaahh!!  Ruuuaaahh!!  Ruuuaaahh!!  Ruuaaahh!!  Raaahh!!¡± The Mangdora Creep was chanting in unison. Their hoarse voice, their bulky body, and their red eyes, they had such appearance that it would not be weird if one of the Mangdora Creeps suddenly screams ¡°I am Gruutt.¡±


    ¡°Captain seemed to have a hard time dealing with you because of your shitty numbers. You shitty monsters were so many before, but now you creeps number is not even a quarter of what you creeps were originally was.¡± Eden said.


    He was already on attack when he was uttering those words. Nevertheless, he evaded all of the incoming attack by doing a basic sidestep. He was moving so fast that he almost seems like he was using instantaneous step.


    The Mangdora Creep attacks stopped.


    ¡°My blood is my blade, my blade is my cage. It has been your fate, to die upon my rage.<Knife> Third Phase, Izanagi!¡±


    The katana that he had before was no longer on his hold. At his left side was an enormous sword colored in red. But soon after the enormous sword disappeared into the thin air, re-appearing on his hold was the katana.


    Tang!


    As if the sound of metal bars hit each other. The sound reverberated and shook the surrounding air. The sound came from the direction of the Mermen King who had one of its hand cut off by Eden <Third Phase Knive> skill. Izanagi!


    The Mermen King who was too occupied breathing fire at Ichiroku had lost sight of Eden. He let his guard down; Eden who had been monitoring every monster using his <Discerning Eyes> skill had already found a loop hole in the Mermen King defense.


    On the other hand, the Mermen King had yet to realize that he lost one of his arms. He kept of spamming his fire breath at Ichiroku and No Hair.


    Eden was almost like the legendary chef in Classic China Era that cooked a living fish, without the fish knowing that it had been cooked.


    The Mangdora Creep who had seen the swift feat by Eden had fall into silence.


    ¡°Do you really think that I would waste my strongest attack on you plebeians¡¯ level of mob? Truth to be told, you¡¯re not even worth my time. My stats and total HP had been halved by this rain. But you know, stats had nothing to do with the fighting style and forms that the person himself had. ¡± Eden added.


    His katana reverted back to two normal knives.


    ¡°I ran out of mana¡­¡± He thought to himself. Activating Discerning Eyes and executing his strongest attack had surely drained his mana away. Nevertheless, the light in his eyes was not changed. It was still filled with firm spirit and confidence. ¡°Now let me ask you bitches¡­ Who the fuck amongst you that put my little brother <Scout> onto his sick bed¡­?¡± Eden spoke out.


    The hate is real!


    The Mangdora Creep said nothing, but their roots were already pointing on a certain Creep. It was the Creep who called his brethren as ¡®brodah¡¯.


    ***


    Hey, Ichiroku here... I got a few announcement to make.


    As I ran out of holidays, the updates are  probably going to be delayed by 3 days a chapter or maybe 4 days a chapter. I''m working 10 hours a day and sometime takes Overtime and usually hit the bed afterwards after work so I might not get a lot of chance to write.


    Also, as you guys had notice I use past-tense for almost all chapter that I wrote. I originally wrote the chapters in Japanese and translated it later on into English. There might be inconsistency in my usage of past-present tense so I hope you guys can put out my mistakes when you found some.


    Thank you to <Toobadman> for pointing  out something which I myself didn''t realized before. Your comment remind me that I need a review for my story. I only have 10 chapters posted but, I hope you guys can give a review so that I can improve further, and enhance my writing style and story progress. Your feedback are mostly welcomed.


    Sorry for my Grammar and thank you for reading. ^^


    P.S The war against Mermen might be long so I will try my best to drag the war and just go on with the story.

 Chapter 11 - Well… that escalated quickly.

    Correct me if I made any mistakes. Sorry for the late update!


    Tell me if it is too hard to read as I''m using ''Verdana'' font for this post, unlike my previous posts. (but I find it easier to read in Verdana font)


    ------------------------------


    The sky was dark and the atmosphere was grim.


    The horrid stench of blood and the unfathomable sight of corpses were not avoidable. Even though the corpses were all grayed out, the blood that had sprayed all over the ground was still red. The sweat that Ichiroku excreted was washed away by the rain. His breathing was heavy and his field of vision was narrowed.  His satiety had long dropped to 0 and now experiencing a decline in his HP due to overexerting himself.


    Nevertheless Ichiroku was still standing still. There were a few times when his legs gave up on him and he fall on the flat ground, but he got back up when he reminded himself about the huge exp that he would going to get afterwards. The war against the mermen that started since afternoon was dragged on until late at night.


    Even so, the surrounding area was not dark like what it supposed to. The yellow colored full moon was at its zenith. There was a small opening in the luster of black cloud allowing moonlight to reach them.  Ichiroku threw a side glimpse on his character info that he opened for less than one second to see the time indicated by the small icon on his profile.


    Midnight!


    ¡°Have we really been fighting for that long?¡± Ichiroku thought to himself.


    Eden who ran out of Mana was busy protecting No Hair. The subjugation force that was promised to come had never show up their face. The party of three knew that they could not defeat the Mermen King. They have no other choice but to drag the fight even longer while waiting for the Subjugation Force that supposed to come a few hours ago.


    ¡°Haaaaa.. Haaaaaa¡­ Haaaaaaa¡­¡± Ichiroku could hear his own heavy breathing.


    It had been a few hours for him to continuously evade the Mermen¡¯s King fire breath. All those hours, he had been directing the Mermen¡¯s King fire breath towards the Titans. The plan succeed, but it took a lot of time and considerable damage.


    The Titans, Mangdora Creep and the Mermen with their King excluded, they were all exterminated. Unfortunately by the time they completed the feat, the party of three had their HP bar colored red. Even more perilous for them, their hp was declining every 1 minute as their satiety had dropped to 0.


    During the helpless situation, Ichiroku opened his mouth.


    ¡°You know¡­ I don¡¯t have a great endurance; I don¡¯t even have a good reaction time¡­ I¡¯m living a sedentary life since I was in secondary school. In reality, I can¡¯t even do such feat as jumping backward, moving instantaneously or even turn invisible.


    I¡¯m as weak as fuck that when you touched me I¡¯ll probably crumble onto the ground. Every single day I had to keep on praising myself, putting myself in delusion that I am somehow competent.¡± Ichiroku said.


    The one that he was talking to was none other than the Mermen King. However, the Mermen King was in no mood to join in Ichiroku conversation. The Mermen King who had been spamming the same attack with the same attack pattern had exhausted almost 5/6 of its Mana.


    ¡°¡­ It even amazes me that I survived all so many near death experiences. Honestly, I don¡¯t even know why I am even playing this game right now. I get bashed by fire balls, I get whip by lightning and I even got a spear planted on my heart. I wet my pants, I shat my pant¡­ I tried to run away so many times¡­ But that fucker behind me won¡¯t let me off the rope. ¡± Ichiroku continued on talking.


    On the other hand The Mermen King halted its attack. Either he was listening to what Ichiroku was saying, or it was merely waiting for its Mana to regenerate. He stood still, saying nothing, doing nothing¡­


    ¡°¡­You must be thinking that I¡¯m stupid, doing this for the sake of lottery tickets. I know¡­ I know that I¡¯m stupid. That is probably the reason why I didn¡¯t get into the University that I applied. They don¡¯t need stupid shit¡­ All they need are those bright headed people to pass their exams.


    Now that I think of it¡­ It was not really for the sake of lottery tickets. Who the hell even willing to take this much of a beating for a few gold? I would rather work my ass off on a part time job rather than getting hit like a masochist for some virtual money. Wait, the quest had already been updated, so there is no more 1 gold and 50 silvers reward.¡±


    Ichiroku swallowed hard. His breathing had become even heavier than before as he was screaming to his lungs.


    ¡°But that is not what I¡¯m trying to point out here. What I wanted to say is¡­ I hate your face. That tundra arctic expression, that cold voice and that looking down kind of eyes! I hate it! I hate the way you preaching saying you''re fool; I had enough of your foolishness and shit¡­


    The world that you know is only amounted to a speck of dust then what it was actually in reality you say?


    You don¡¯t even know the meaning of thing that you had just said; you are just an Artificial intelligence. What do you even know about life¡­ ¡±


    Ichiroku fist was gripped hard. The word that the Mermen King had been repeating over and over again had finally got into Ichiroku¡¯s head. Ichiroku had somehow got reminded about something when he heard the words.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to kill you¡­ You know why? Not because I¡¯m a racist human or some evil reincarnation like what you have been babbling since your first appearance. I simply had enough of your shit¡­ And another reason is because my <deck> timeout had finally gone.¡± Ichiroku said and pulled out a deck of card from his Inventory Bag.


    Ttring!


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Cards Of Lucia!


    Cards are very essential to a Gambler. It is the Gambler very weapon in their own battlefield of wits and luck. Players are now able to use the Goddess of Luck Lucia blessing in their battlefield.


    The chances to Win the Goddess Good Blessing increased with every ¡®Luck¡¯ stat that the player have.


    The draw count for the Cards of Lucia had been reset.


    Draw Count : 0/3


    Player must shuffle the card one time for the first draw.


    Player must shuffle the card two times for the second draw.


    Player must shuffle the card three times for the third draw.


    Each draw time has an interval for thirty minutes.


    Blessing will only occurs when you get one of these combination,


    ?	Straight flush


    ?	Four of a kind


    ?	Full house


    ?	Flush


    ?	Straight


    ?	Three of a kind


    ?	Two pair


    ?	One pair


    ?	High card


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    The deck enchantment was unlocked the moment Ichiroku accept the profession of a Gambler. However, there was a time out for 1 day before he can use it in battle. One of the main reasons why Ichiroku prolonged the battle was to wait for the card''s time out to gone.


    With this hand trembling he shuffled the deck once!


    The card that he drew was four of a kind, a set of four suits of number 8 and Ace of Spade.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Goddess of Luck Lucia blessing!


    The Heroes of Four of a Kind.


    The brave Heroes of Luck had heard of your great fortune. Your battle and your fight had surely aroused their admiration that had long stayed dormant. Their Swords, Shield, Magic, and Vitality are entrusted to you.


    Summoning time 4 seconds (x Luck Stat)


    Mana Cosumption: 500


    Phase 1 | Summoning Normal 0%


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Pu.. Puhahahahaha¡­¡± Ichiroku laughed in almost inaudible voice.


    The ability to summon Heroes¡­


    ¡°What the hell is this¡­¡± He thought to himself. Even though he thought of that, what was carved on his lips was not dissatisfaction, but his smile of amusement. ¡°I¡¯m not even a necromancer and here I am able to summon heroes, hopefully they are not dead.¡± He said to the Mermen King.


    The Mermen King however, was still the same as before only stood still.


    Truth to be told, Ichiroku himself did not know what did he even started the conversation with the Mermen King other than trying to buy some time waiting for his deck time out to cease and allocating his additional stats point. His frustration had pent up to the point of exploding. Alas it exploded and he kept on talking.


    White text was clotted in silver light emerged in front of Ichiroku. It was a spell that needed to be chant to summon the Heroes. Truthfully Ichiroku needed 50 intelligence stats to be able to decipher the writing in front of him. But the text in front of him was not written in an alien writing system, instead it was written in alphabet.


    However, Ichiroku did not spoke the words of summon.


    ¡°Are you not going to summon the Heroes?¡± The Mermen King solemnly spoke out.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ichiroku let out a surprised looked. One of his eyes was blinded by blood that was flowing from his forehead, thus he was looking at the Mermen King with only one eye. He started the conversation with the expectation of him being ignored and talking to himself.


    But The Mermen King spoke to Him.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± No Hair and Eden who had been watching all the time was surprised as well.


    ¡°Are you not going to summon the Heroes?!¡±Once again the Mermen King said it out loud.


    ¡°What? After knowing that you¡¯re going to die you finally have the heart for some conversation?¡± Ichiroku added.


    ¡°Long have I fought with human¡­?¡± The Mermen King spoke out. ¡°I¡¯ve seen their animosity; I¡¯ve seen their cruelty. Human are heartless being who kept on killing my kindred without any sympathy. What was on their lips was never a word but smirk of devil. What they have in their eyes is nothing but indescribable evil.


    But you¡­  Never did I see human like you until now. What I¡¯ve seen in your eyes is different from the human that I have encountered by far. Even though I detected a high level of animosity from you, I sensed no evil¡­ What are you exactly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what crap you are trying to say¡­¡±


    ¡°Anyhow, words are useless now¡­ I¡¯ll confirm it myself. Summon your Heroes human, for I will use my full strength! I¡¯ll let myself to confirm who you are.¡±


    ¡°Pfttt¡­ bring it on!¡± Ichiroku said out loud. He raised forth the Four of Kind cards on his hand. ¡°I am the follower of the Goddess of Luck. My stats are the offering, my winning are her blessing. I summon forth the Heroes of Lucia! Come to my bidding!¡± Ichiroku read the sentence that had been floating in front of him since he drew the >Four of a Kind< cards.


    Four different suits of number 8 card emits a blinding bluish light flew into the sky, leaving only one card left on Ichiroku hand. The Cards dropped down onto the ground, creating a small crater. From the light came the stature of four Heroes of Luck.


    ¡°Hero of the Sword, the Spade comes to your bidding My Honored Master.¡±


    ¡°Hero of the Shield, the Diamond is at your service My Noble Master.¡±


    ¡°Hero of Vitality, the Heart is here, Master.¡±


    ¡°Hero of Magic, the Club is yours.¡±


    The four heroes came prompted.


    ¡°Your wish is my command!¡± The Heroes said in unison.


    The rain had stopped.


    Or to be precise, they stopped moving in the mid-air. Moving at one direction at a very high speed, a sphere of water began to circling around above the Mermen¡¯s King Stick. It started slow, but as time progress the movement of the circling sphere had became even faster than before.


    Alerted, Ichiroku shouted out to Diamond.


    ¡°Diamond, use your shield to intercept the incoming attacks!¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Diamond moved forward and sunk his diamond shield in front of Ichiroku.


    ¡°Heart, heal the whole party!¡±


    ¡°I got it covered Master!¡± Heart replied with her utmost enthusiasm.


    ¡°¡­and Club.¡±


    ¡°Yes Master?¡± Club answered her Master¡¯s call.


    ¡°¡­do whatever you can, just don¡¯t go ¡®disco¡¯ on me.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Club was speechless. ¡°Uhhh¡­¡±


    It can¡¯t be helped.


    Spade was fully equipped in Knight Armor.  Diamond was fully armored in heavy metal plating clotted with diamond and Heart was wearing a leather Red Robe¡­ On the other hand, Club was wearing a skimpy outfit and a staff that was usually seen in some Magical Girl show.


    The Mermen King shot a consecutive water balls at Ichiroku. The water balls were moving at a high velocity that usually used to cut a diamond. The water balls hit Diamond¡¯s shield perfectly. However, Diamonds defense sturdy, leaving only a few scratches which could be seen on his diamond shield.


    On the other hand, without the need to be ordered, Spade, was moving from one place to another, avoiding the water balls that were coming right at him. There were a few occasion where he could not avoid water balls and had to cut through it instead. This had caused Spade¡¯s HP   chipped away little by little.


    The Heroes who were summoned by Ichiroku were naturally included in his party. The healing effect that was casted by Heart had naturally regenerate her allies HP including Eden and No Hair. However, due to Ichiroku, Eden and No Hair satiety had dropped to 0, their HP was still declining even when being healed by Heart.


    ¡°Lightning Spear!¡± The Mermen King shouted out.


    The sky began screaming. Lightning flashes could be seen being connected one by one in the dark cloud. The sky roared, and shook the entire ground as lightning bolt began forming above the dark clouds.


    ¡°I who control the flow of mana, summon thee to my command, Dimension Weaver!¡± Club chanted her magic with no delay as soon as she saw the accumulation of mana above the sky. She pushed both of her palms with her wand floating   into the mid-air. Transparent aura began appearing from the very palm of her hand and moves in a semi sphere direction.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    The whole party was engulfed in a semi sphere transparent aura that Club had created. However, it was a different story for Spade who was already at the back of the Mermen King. The lightning bolts fall down mercilessly onto the ground.


    Right at the very contact of the lightning bolts with the semi sphere aura that Club created, the lightning both dispersed as if it was glass that fall onto the ground.


    Ppaatanng Ppaatanng Ppaatanng Ppaatanng Ppaatanng Ppaatanng!


    The sounds of the lightning bolts being repel echoed inside the semi sphere aura.


    ¡°Club¡­ how much longer can you maintain this aura?¡±


    ¡°Until my mana burns out¡­¡± Club explained.


    Dimension Weaver is a technique where the summoner used their mana to continuously fuel the dimension field that was created by the summoner. Until the player cancelled the mana channelling or either ran out of mana, the dimension field will not cease of its existence.


    ¡°Can you give me an approximation?¡±


    ¡°About five minutes¡­¡±  Club replied.


    ¡°Five minutes huh?¡± Ichiroku who was on the verge of dying had his HP went back up to green. Even though his HP kept on declining before, as soon as Club activated her <Dimension Weaver> the decline in his HP had stopped. The same goes to both No Hair and Eden.


    Thinking that Spade will not last longer with any defense, Ichiroku ordered Diamond to Spade¡¯s aid. Even though Spade was fully armored, his armor is a high electricity conductive metal. It was the same as running naked into the battle field. On the other hand, Diamond had his armor clotted in diamonds which was the exact opposite of metal.


    The rain had already stopped pouring when the Mermen King turned it into a circling sphere above its stick. Ichiroku who was no longer affected by the Mermen¡¯s King <King¡¯s Wrath> had activated his instantaneous movement and travelled 14 meters away from the Mermen King location.


    ¡°I really need to work on my accuracy.¡± Ichiroku thought to himself.


    It was true indeed, he was aiming to land right before the Mermen King and activates his invisibility and thus used his dagger to attack to land a critical hit. But he landed further away than where he initially planned to, thus ruined his plan.


    Spade had already landed a few attacks.


    But it was to no avail. There was an invisible shield like aura that had been protecting the Mermen King. Spade wanted to give out a concentrated attack on one point. But it was obstructed by the Mermen¡¯s King lightning bolts that flew right at him.


    Thankfully, Diamond was there to parry the lightning bolts. While Diamond was occupied covering for Spade with Ichiroku who was spamming his phantom step to evade the incoming lightning bolts. The Mermen King began changing its form.


    The circling sphere of water that The Mermen King had above of its stick flew into the sky and created a round ball of aura above the Mermen King head. Second after, the Mermen King bathed in a blue light that was emitted by the aura ball.


    A few second after he was consumed by the light.


    What was revealed after the blue light disappearance was a stature of a man. He had a long curly white hair, with dead fish eyes and a stern expression. His body was slender yet muscular with the right amount of muscle on his every limb.


    Covered in sparks of lightning, his Stick had turned into a Trident.


    With his hoarse voice, with his dead expression he spoke out.


    ¡°I am the God of the sea, Poseidon.  I have deemed you worth for my full strength. Now show me who you really are!¡±


    The Mermen King had turned into The God of the Sea, Poseidon.  One of his hand that was cut off before had reappeared, or rather was made anew inhis Poseidon form.


    ¡°¡­. What on earth.¡± No Hair muttered to himself.


    ¡°Well¡­ that escalated quickly.¡± Club said. She had her Dimension Weaver deactivated.


    It was not because her Mana ran out. It was because there were no longer Lightning bolts that could be sighted.


    Spade moved forward and thrust his sword onto Poseidon, aiming for the heard of the God of the Sea. However, Poseidon tapped the tip of Spade¡¯s sword lightly.


    Fiuungg!


    The sound of the sword flung into the open area was heard. Poseidon landed a straight punch into Spade¡¯s stomach. Spade was thrown a few tenths of meters away. Even though Diamond managed to catch Spade, he was thrown along, due to the momentum and velocity of Poseidon punch.


    They landed hard onto the ground with Diamond¡¯s shield at his back and Spade on Diamond¡¯s hold. Luckily Diamond had put his shield as their ¡®cushion¡¯ to absorb the impact and to avoid the heat caused by friction.


    Heart who saw the event had immediately rushed over to heal the both of them.


    Poseiden launched his body forward; a small crater was created at where he was at. Trails of shockwave were seen on the air as Poseidon moved at a very high speed movement towards Spade.


    Poseidon brought forth his Trident and thrust it right at Spade.


    Tang!


    A small friction of fire was created as it hit Spade¡¯s heavy armor. Poseidon pulled his trident once again, this time he began channeling mana into his Trident.


    ¡°Silver Palm!¡±


    A gigantic silver palm slammed hard onto Poseidon causing him to flinch. Ichiroku appeared in front of him out of nowhere and stabbed Poseidon shoulder before disappearing once again into the thin air, only to be repelled by Poseidon invisible aura.


    As the Mermen King had turned into Poseidon, Invisibility once again worked against him.


    Invisibility and Phantom Step that does not need any mana had been utilized by Ichiroku at any chances that he had.


    Far from them was No Hair who was back at his full HP. Eden who was unconscious right when Club¡¯s Dimension Weaver was activated due to mana exhaustion had his HP at its max too. Spade, Diamond and No Hair worked as the vanguard, while Ichiroku worked as DPS dealer, Heart and Club worked as their backup.


    Even though they had put themselves in formation, they are literally everywhere. No advance raid formation could be seen from the way they fight. They kept on attacking on every single chances that they got.


    Ichiroku kept on turning invisible at every chance that he get.


    Poseidon put forth his strength on his Trident and stomp the hill of it onto the ground. The ground shook as if there was an earthquake. Ichiroku lost his footing and fall like a rotten apple. This however, was not missed by Poseidon as he readied his trident and launched it at Ichiroku.


    Club immediately coil a Dimension Weaver around Ichiroku, thus deflecting Poseidon¡¯s Trident.


    Spade and No hair pressed forward.


    The Trident turned into water, and reappear in Poseidon¡¯s hand.  He holds the Trident using both of his hand and parried Spade sword and No Hair¡¯s Silver Palm altogether. Using all of his might, Poseidon swung the Trident three times.


    Spade''s Knight Armor was cut through as if it was paper. No Hair on the other hand had lost half of its total HP.


    However Spade did not falter, he mustered all his strength onto his right leg and push his body forward. His sword that was seemed like swinging around aimlessly had somehow pushed Poseidon a few step backward.


    Poseidon swung his Trident, but Spade quickly evaded it by jumping high above Poseidon, he bolted into the sky by a one hundred meter. Diamond who was hiding behind Spade the whole time, charged against Poseidon. Poseidon stopped Diamond¡¯s shield advance with his right hand and threw his Trident into the air.


    Ttang!


    Another sound was heard reverberating throughout the stagnant air as Spade used his sword to battle out Poseidon Trident by swinging his sword downright at the Trident. However Poseidon summoned his Trident back into his hand once again. He threw the Trident at Club.


    Club¡¯s heart was pierced!


    She disappeared like a broken glass and returned as a card.


    ¡°One down¡­ Three to go...¡± Poseidon spoke out in his hoarse godly voice that was usually heard in some epic movie trailer.


    ¡°Yoouuu Bastard!!!¡± Spade screamed out. ¡°Imperial Wrath!¡± Spade¡¯s sword emits a blinding golden light.


    Spade who was falling down high above Poseidon looked like as if he was holding a gigantic golden sword. Sadly. a blast of water ball at a very high speed went through Spade¡¯s head easily. Spade disappeared like a broken glass and returned as a card, the same fashion that Club did.


    ¡°And now¡­ It¡¯s your turn¡­¡± Poseidon said and averted his attention to where Diamond was.


    Poseidon knew that Diamond had a very sturdy defense. He once launched his concentrated water ball against Diamond¡¯s shield but it did not even leave any scratch. Out of all enemies that was present there, Poseidon had identified Diamond as the one with the highest defense.


    He put all of his remaining mana in his Trident. His Trident had turned into a lightning bolt. Even so, it retained the same appearance of a Trident.


    Using all of his strength Poseidon threw the trident right at Diamond¡¯s shield with the intent to pierce through Diamond defense. The Trident flew from Poseidon hand, cutting through the wind, piercing through every obstacle that obstructs its path.


    Little did he know that it did not go like what he had planned!


    Appearing out of nowhere, Ichiroku grab the Trident hilt from a sideway. An immense electric shock had passed through his body.  His HP had begun dwindling from green to red colored. However, with Heart¡¯s help his HP bar kept on changing color form green to red.


    It was as if his hand was roasted alive, he felt indescribable heat punching his body¡¯s meat from inside of him. Intense paralyzing shock passed throughout his body. He felt as if thousand of small needles had pierced his vein from inside out. Ichiroku let out a deafening roar.


    ¡°Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!¡± and he threw back the Trident to Poseidon, and it flew right at Poseidon direction.


    For Poseidon has long ran out of mana, he was not able to summon the Trident back into his hand. Posiden took a defensive stance, ready to grab the Trident.


    Ichiroku whom had foreseen that activated his Phantom Step.


    ¡°Please let me land correctly this time, I beg of you my lucky stat!¡± He prayed. As if his luck stat played its role, Ichiroku landed correctly where he wanted to.


    The Trident was 1 meter away before it reaches Poseidon, however Ichiroku who had activated his instantaneous movement grabbed the Trident before Poseidon, and use all of his strength and thrust the trident right into Poseidon heart.


    He landed a critical hit.


    Poseidon HP took a sharp decline, and finally had its HP turned to 0. However Poseidon did not grayed out like any other mobs that Ichiroku had fought with before. Ichiroku who fall on four out of energy, and Poseidon who fall on his knees had their eyes met. With energy that Poseidon had left he said,


    ¡°Human¡­ You hold a tremendous potential that I had not see for the last few hundred years. You have the same power and strength as the Alpha that I had befriended, humans that can be proud of, before they became of what they are now, the era where it all begin.


    That Era was the era of liberation and peace. Human were once a peaceful being. What was human greatest weapon were not swords and magic, but love and compassion. No discrimination, no massacre. It was truly a peaceful Era.


    It was understandable that the reason why human had turned to became like what it was right now is mainly due to our fault. I myself believe so. I had intended to set things right by wiping human from the surface of Einstal. But it seems it was no longer needed.


    I don¡¯t know what is in your heart. I don¡¯t know who you really are. But you are the man who defeated the God of the Sea, Poseidon. You are the man who possesses the power of Alpha. I believe if such a human like you still exist, there are still hope for human race¡­


    I pr¡­¡± As Poseidon turned into a small particle of light, his last word was swallowed by the wind.


    10 minutes had passed since Ichiroku summoned the four heroes. All of the remaining Heroes had returned into card and Ichiroku had once again kept it inside his inventory bag.


    When the particle of light had gone, a small letter written in goat skin was seen. Ichiroku who had run out of energy mustered his strength and grab the letter. He didn¡¯t bother to read it. All that was inside his mind that everything is over!


    It was indeed over.


    They had defeated The Mermen King who became Poseidon.


    ¡°¡­.Such plot twist, much wow!¡± He laughed out loud, staring at the clear sky that was decorated with numerous beautiful star.


    ¡°We won lad!¡± No Hair screamed out.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Eden was still unconscious.


    ¡°I think I will sleep for a while.¡± Ichiroku said.


    He really did.


    He log out from the Einstel Online and hit the bed afterward. He was excited about collecting the loots, skinning the Mangdora Creep and the Mermen. Sadly he cannot loot Poseidon because Poseidon had turned into particles of light.


    But he put all of those thought aside.


    Because what was he really need at that time were not the loots and quest reward, but a rest for his brain that had been working hard for the whole time.

 Chapter 12 - The 7 Gospels

    A little bit longer than the usual chapter. I''m looking for a proofreader. Anyone that is interested do send me a PM (Hopefully there is someone)


    ????????| - |????????


    I woke up at 4 PM after sleeping for a whole day.


    It has been long since I last had a good sleep. I wonder was it because I always had something in my mind, thinking about my future? I guess that must be it. I got my brain ¡®overloaded¡¯ yesterday by the fight that I had against the Mermen King, who had turned into God of Sea, Poseidon.


    What!


    A!


    TWIST!


    It really surprised me that I was loss at word.


    We were really at disadvantage yesterday. Thankfully I managed to summon the Heroes. My plan on buying time by talking to the Mermen King was working well beyond what I thought it would. I honestly don¡¯t think that it would stop attacking and listen to my word. Damn, it was really a gamble of chances either he would listen to me or not. My luck must¡¯ve played it part there; it was a gamble after all.


    My good luck had helped me getting through the quest, I knew it. My strategy on investing my additional stats point on luck is very helpful indeed. The Heroes that I summoned are greatly influenced by my luck. Well, at least their summoned time is affected by my luck stat. I will look into it later.  But really, a skill that is exclusive for my card. Can I regard my deck of card as S class item? Anyway I get up from bed, my back starting to hurt.


    I cook myself a breakfast¡­ Or wait. I don¡¯t have anything to cook, and it was no longer morning. I took the bento that Tanaka-san gave me. He really did give me a lot of it. I¡¯d say, it was so many that you can take it as a month worth of bento.


    I was reluctant as first as all I did was helping him moving the boxes and sorting it out. Even though there was a lot of it, giving me a one month worth bento is just generous. Well, it would be a bad manner if I keep on refusing Tanaka-san good intent, in the end I took it with a big smile painted on my looks.


    At least I don¡¯t have to worry about food now. I¡¯ll worry about it one month later.


    I took one of the bento, and heated it up in the microwave. Make myself a cup of green tea and sat peacefully in front of the television. I grabbed the remote and turn on the television, as my finger danced on the remote keypad, I kept on changing channels.


    I suddenly got the urge to watch some anime that I usually didn¡¯t bother myself to watch it. It was Magical Shoujo¡­ Or not! I don¡¯t think I want to watch Magical Shoujo. I must¡¯ve been affected by Club in one way or another. Because she was holding a stick that usually seen in Magical Shoujo show, I somehow wanted to watch Magical Shoujo show after seeing her heroic death trying to protect me.


    In the end I stopped watching television and went into my shelves instead. My shelves are my national treasure. Anime BDs, OST, Special Edition and Manga are all well sorted there. Of course I got more goodies than what I have now, but I left it in my room at my parent house. I took one manga randomly and looked at the cover. One Punch Man, an OP main character for an OP story. I doubt even Onii-sama, Miyuki and the whole Bloom can defeat Saitama.


    I know that I¡¯ve said G*ku is the strongest man in the universe before. But I took it all back. Nothing can beat Saitama! I re-read the manga that I had in my hand and I went back to the microwave when it gave out a sound ¡®ding!¡¯ indicating that it had finished its job.


    I had my fill and I finish reading the halfway done manga. I booted up my computer and began surfing Einstel Game homepage, looking for anything new. I was scrolling through the page until I saw a thread that interests me.


    <Re : Anyone up for World Boss at Beginner town?>


    Beginner town was the town that I started at. What¡­ is there some kind of raid that will be on?


    Looking at the details of the thread I found that the thread was started a few minutes ago. So it was not an old thread.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    I¡¯m looking for party with players¡¯ level 250 and above. Currently I¡¯m in a party of three, I am a Priest and I already have Holy Templar and Magician with me. We are looking for DPS dealer, if possible level 280++ fully equipped with rare equipments.


    Any player that is interested you can pm me in this forum... I¡¯ll be checking the forum for a few more hours until the time for World Boss to spawn. Or you can find me In-game. The name is ShinyEyes


    PS. We are looking for player who can speak English.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    They were looking for player who can speak English. This game is played by people around the globe after all.  There was a lot more people that posting about how they are looking for party. But I was too lazy to read it one by one and just scam through the post.


    After I made sure that my food had settled down inside my stomach, I turned on the Monolith Capsule power and get inside.


    ????????DAMN THIS NEW LINE BREAKER IS FANCY????????


    I logged into Einstel World.


    ¡°My eyesss!!!!!!!!¡±


    What was first reflected before my eyes was the sight of No Hair rubbing his bald hair under the blazing sunlight. His triangle pointy hat was on the ground with No Hair half bent down trying to pick up his hat. The moment I saw No Hair shiny head I thought I was attacked by k@meh@meh@ or something.


    I effortlessly cancelled my battle stance.


    ¡°Aye lad!¡± No Hair greeted me.


    I felt like there was something wrong with the way he greeted people but I let it pass. No Hair personality is so random at times that I don¡¯t even know how to describe him in person. One time he called Eden as Sailor 1, and the other time he called him as Eden. What? Don¡¯t tell me that No Hair will only call Eden as Eden when they are on exterminating mission and call Eden as Sailor 1 in normal situation.


    ¡°You have been asleep for more than three day and a half. We thought you aren¡¯t going to regain your consciousness for another two days or more. But hey, look what we got here. You¡¯re all up and dandy. Looks like we don¡¯t have to patch you up like we did with Eden, but your armor really need some tailoring.


    How about this, go and get yourself an armor at Elsia, She got the best armor that this village can offer and meet me later. I¡¯ll teach you my finishing technique. Also,  if it¡¯s about Sheldon, you don¡¯t have to worry about him. His injuries were nothing serious.¡±


    So Eden has yet to regain his consciousness eh?


    ¡°I understand.¡± I replied short.


    I was at the exit of the Treatment Tent. I turned my eyes around scamming the area but apparently there was only me and Eden there. Eden was still sleeping on one of the bed; on the other hand, No Hair was outside the tent. I wish our position was backward. Now my eye balls felt like it going to pop out anytime.


    I went out from the tent to the broad view of nature. The mermen bodies were still there, laid down on the ground in grey color. I can feel the aura that it emits as if it were calling me to pick it up. I couldn¡¯t help but smiled.


    ALL OF IT IS GOING TO BECOME MY MONEY! FOR LOTTERY!


    I began looting the item one by one. Without missing even a single weapon or armor that is sellable. As it would be impossible for me to fit all of the items into my inventory bag, I used the wagon that we brought from the Ship to put all of the loots there. I¡¯m going to sell it later at the general store. There were a lot of damaged weapon; it¡¯s going to be useless¡­ Or maybe not! No Hair told me to visit Elsia, as she sells armor she¡¯s probably knows how to do smithing.


    In the end I separated the useable items and the damaged one into two different wagons. We have three wagons anyway, I will use the third wagon as a place for the Mermen and Mangdora Creep skinned loot.


    It took me 2 days and one night to finish looting the items. I can¡¯t be any faster as there were so many mermen laid down on the ground and I had to skin it one by one. I thought about leaving it aside as the item that the Mermen dropped are more than enough. What can I say¡­ my greed got the best of me! Well, at least it¡¯s better than regretting it later.


    It was already afternoon when I finally made my way to Elsia. Her shop was further away from the Treatment Tent. The door gave out a creaking sound when I pushed opened the door. A sweet melodic voice visited my ears as soon as I stepped inside the armory.


    ¡°What honor do I owe for your visit God Slayer.¡± Elsia bowed down to me when I entered her premises.


    God Slayer?! Is that supposed to  be me?


    ¡°Err¡­ Is that God Slayer that you called out to is me?¡± I said in a hesitating voice. Well of course I¡¯d be hesitating. What if the person that she called out to was a man who killed hundreds of Gods to attain the name of God slayer and he made himself invisible to avoid attention.


    I am not a Campione!


    ¡°Of course sire, certainly there are no other powerful presence that could be felt here other than yours is it not?¡±


    I turned my head around; certainly there is no one else that gave a powerful presence that matched a God other than me. Now that I think of it, when I was out in the city warming the bench, a boy gave me an offering due to sight of my divinity. Now that I think of it, I am the God Slayer!


    ¡°That seemed to be the case.¡± I said, trying to sound like a dignified warrior.


    ¡°Now, how am I be of any help sire?¡± Elsia asked. Her eyes were squinted and her lips was stretched that her dimples were seen. I know the way I describe it was weird, but believe me it was not weird at all if you find yourself in my shoes right now.


    ¡°No Hair Captain told me that my armor needs some ¡®tailoring¡¯. So I wonder if you have anything that can be any use to me.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Elsia let out a long ponder and put her hand under her chin. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have anything that can compliment your stature.¡± Elsia continued.


    ¡°It don¡¯t have to be anything grand.¡± I said.


    I probably can¡¯t equip it anyway.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay if it¡¯s just above the tier of the armor that I have on my body now.¡± I added.


    Elsia came towards me, and walked on circle with me at the center. She was inspecting my body as if she was a wolf looking down on a fresh meat.


    Pak!


    She clapped her hand. ¡°I think I got the right armor, but first¡­ can you un-equip your armor?¡± She added.


    With no question asked, I unequipped my armor. I was planning to throw it away but she took it away from my hand. If that leather armor can be of any use to her, she can do whatever she want with the armor. She looks as if she¡¯s good with her hand anyway.


    Elsia went inside her room. Loud banging sound could be heard but I paid no heed to it and began looking around the armory. There were a lot of armors that were arranged neatly on the shelves. There were some armor that was placed on the floor too because the size was too big.


    I tried putting on some of the armor; it was too big to fit neatly.  I look at the armor properties, it grants the user 15 Strength stats and 20 Stamina and 50 defenses but in exchange player¡¯s agility is deducted by 30 points.


    Weird enough when I put it on there was no apparent change in my stat. My Strength, defense and Stamina didn¡¯t even budge and my agility was not deducted. When I gave it a good look once again, I realized that this armor was for Barbarian. No wonder, I¡¯m a gambler.


    I was able to equip it but I didn¡¯t get the stat that the armor has to offer. Hmm¡­ I see, certainly they would do something like this. It would be weird if I tried to equip it and a restriction came out saying that I can¡¯t, this game follow the logic of reality after all.


    After I tried putting on a few more armors and get a good look of myself in front of the 1:1 scale mirror. Elsia came back with leather armor. However, this leather armor is different than the armor that I had before. The one that I was wearing was a half burnt armor, which was light chocolate like colored, while the one that Elsia brought was silver colored.


    ¡°I present to you, the gracious human armor that had ever been made.¡± Elsia said and bent on one of her knees.


    I don¡¯t know what she did that but I felt weird. I took the armor that she presented and equipped it. There was a huge stat boost in my stats! I was baffled! Without any ado I click on the armor info.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    The Armor of Man


    Made from the sturdiest element that can be found in human realm, this armor was forged 7 days and 7 nights for it to be completed. However, this armor is with the skill of poor craftsmanship. It did not have the output like it supposed to have given the material properties.


    However there are rooms for further improvement.


    +25 Strength


    +25 Stamina


    +10 Dexterity


    +10 Agility


    +20 intelligence


    +15 Wisdom


    +30 Endurance


    Item Grade : Rare


    Restriction : Human Only


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    What the heck! I never know that I can get this kind of awesome item! It must¡¯ve cost a fortune!


    As if my tongue was pulled in, I took a great time to ask for the armor price.


    ¡°Oh no! Certainly I would not be ungrateful enough to ask for the armor fee. What you have done for us is more than what we can ever repay you. Please take this armor with great pride, for you sire are more than worth it.¡±


    I want to cry!


    In my whole live I¡¯ve never heard those kinds of praises before. Oh my God, now I feel like staying here for my whole life as their hero.


    Leaving that aside, I asked Elsia if she can do anything about damaged item. Best she can do was directing me to the Blacksmith for the damaged item dismantling and convert it back to plain metal for a new forging at the blacksmith store. I planned to sell the loots here but apparently there aren¡¯t much of economy activities here. Thus I decided to sell it later at the Beginner town.


    I made my way to the blacksmith. Entirely different from the Armory attended. The sm


    ith didn¡¯t welcome me in exaggeration. He greeted me normally.


    ¡°What can I do for you adventurer?¡± He said.


    ¡°I got a lot of damaged weapon that I wanted to be converted into plain metal, and also can you repair my dagger?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Sure thing! Let me see your dagger.¡±


    I pulled out my dagger and gave it to the blacksmith.


    ¡°Hmmmm¡­.¡± He gave out a long exhale.


    ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nope¡­ Not really. It just that, I don¡¯t think I can repair this dagger?¡±


    Huh? He can¡¯t repair it? Was it damaged too much that I can no  longer use it? Dammit, now that I think of it I did use it along against the mermen. The endurance 25/25 endurance that it had must¡¯ve run out while I was fighting Poseidon.


    ¡°Did it got damaged beyond repair?¡±


    ¡°Nah, not that. Your weapon is a living item, only the owner can do the maintenance and repair the weapon.¡±


    ¡°Err¡­. Living weapon?¡± I asked again uncertain of what the blacksmith had just told me.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He replied short.


    ¡°Does it mean that it can transform into human or something?¡±


    The blacksmith looked at me with a blank expression and soon after burst out laughing.


    ¡°Hahaha¡­ what are you saying. Living weapon is a weapon that levels up just like adventurer does. Right now your dagger does not have any grade with it right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°You see¡­ After you reach a certain swing and unlocked a certain requirement, your dagger can move into the next grade.¡±


    ¡°You mean like from normal to uncommon?¡±


    ¡°Mhmm..¡± The blacksmith nodded.


    ¡°Can you explain it further?¡± I said. ¡°I am very interested in this topic.¡± I added.


    ¡°To make things short¡­ Just like adventurer, <Living Item> can level up and obtain a technique or skill that is unique for the item. Let say, the dagger now is normal dagger with a basic buff enhancement.


    After it level up it will sometimes gain either half of the stats that it has or even twice the stats it had before level up.  Sometimes there will be a change in appearance but I can¡¯t make sure of it as this is the first time I ever laid my eyes on a Living Item.¡±


    ¡°I see...¡± I replied short. In other word I won a fortune in lottery! I was smiling so broad that the tip of my lips almost touched my ear.


    ¡°For a Living Item to get into the next level, you have to fulfill a certain requirement. But as the requirement was not stated in the item info it will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Unless you have a lot of money to see Fortune Teller or get extremely lucky, it is almost impossible for you to level up your weapon. What¡¯s more, a Living Item can only be repaired by its owner.¡± The Blacksmith explained further.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± The upside is as much as the downside. How do I even level up this dagger? Swing it one hundred thousand times?


    ¡°But worry not¡­ As I will instead teach you the art of smithing!¡±


    ¡°Whoa seriously?!¡± I said in monotone. Seriously?! I¡¯m too lazy for smithing.


    ¡°Not only can you repair your weapon anywhere you want. It also saves your money as you don¡¯t have to pay for repair expenses.


    Let¡¯s learn smithing! I love learning!


    ¡°Here¡­ hold this hammer and hit the bent that it got in this armor that I¡¯m trying to fix.¡±


    Ttang Ttang Ttang!


    The sound of metal echoed throughout the premise.


    Ttiring!


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    I learned a new ability!


    +smithing


    By using your strength and hammer to pummel down the metal. You have learned the art of metal craft. You are now able to create and repair weapon.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Phase 1 | Smithing Normal (1%)


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    After that I took my time repairing my dagger. There were a lot of fault with my way of handing the hammer and had to be taught countless time for me to get it right. After almost an hour of pummeling and what not, I had finally repaired my dagger.


    I had also talked to the blacksmith about the damaged loots so he will dismantle it and turn it into a plain chunk of metal the next time I stopped by.


    ¡°Thank you for your guidance.¡± I said as I was on my way leaving the premise.


    ¡°Nah¡­ its nothing worth mentioning compared to what you have done for our village. Come by next time!¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± I added.


    I got my dagger repaired and the damage loot things settled. It¡¯s time for me to get back to Beginner Town. I heard there is a raid coming to town. I better ask No Hair if he know anything about it.


    ????????They see me breakin¡¯ they hatin¡¯????????


    ¡°Oh world boss? Yeah there will be one. It¡¯s the Sea Demon King.¡± No hair said. ¡°Though I don¡¯t think you would want to fight the monster¡­¡± he added.


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t want to¡­ I just wanted to know that¡¯s all.¡± I said in replied.


    Who on their sane mind would want to fight the world boss if they just fought Poseidon who was defeated by pure luck?


    Yep! I said it. I only managed to defeats Poseidon due to pure luck; I didn¡¯t even know that using Poseidon Trident against himself would kill him easily. I mean, I was going to kill Poseidon using my dagger, but my dagger durability was in critical condition, given a limited choice of action I had no other option other than using their weapon against themselves like what I¡¯ve  been doing while  I was fighting with the Mermen.


    It was all due to pure luck.


    ¡°Can you tell me more about this Sea Demon King?¡± I asked again.


    ¡°Well¡­ Sea Demon King are said to be the 8th strongest World Boss. I myself had never fought this creature before. But from what I¡¯ve heard Sea Demon King is the manifestation of an ancient relics that was lost in the sea. As time goes by the power of the relic accumulated in the sea and summon a Demon King. Demon King are said to be far powerful than Gods.


    After the defeats of Sea Demon King, the real form of the relic shall be revealed. People from all over the Einstel  World are rushing over to fight the Sea Demon King. The <Relic> are indeed rare after all. It might even unveil the existence of the Legendary Item that are said to be lost during the Solomon War.¡±


    ¡°8th World Boss? So there are more World Bosses?¡±


    ¡°Of course they are The Azure Dragon of the East, Vermilion Bird of the South, White Tiger of the West and Black Turtle of the North. I forgot the other three but Sea Demon King is the weakest amongst them all.¡± No Hair explained further.


    I swallowed hard.


    ¡°¡­heh.¡± A small voice managed to escape from my lips.


    Talking about boss. I remembered about the letter that Poseidon left after he turned into particle of light. I took it out and hand it over to No Hair.


    ¡°By the way, when I defeated Poseidon yesterday I got this letter.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hmm!¡± No Hair said in an alarmed tone. ¡°This is no letter, this is the Gospel!¡± He added.


    ¡°You meant the Lost Teaching?¡±


    ¡°Well you can think of it that way too¡­¡± No Hair said as he open the Gospel simultaneously. ¡°Anyhow, with this Gospel in our hand, this is the prove that you have succeeded the mission.¡±


    As soon as No Hair said the word, a window notification popped out.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    +Main Quest Completed


    You have succeeded in your mission. Not only have you managed to fend off the Mermen, you have managed to kill their Entire Force by killing their God, Poseidon.  This feat has earned you the trust and good will of the villagers. You have been blessed with the title of <God Slayer> by the villagers. Bonus will be applied when you are fighting with sea creature.


    +250 damage


    +50 defense


    Reward : No Hair Finishing Technique


    Hidden Bonus : God Slayer Title | 2 500 prestige


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    So I got a title and a prestige? Well that¡¯s cool. But it would have been even cooler if they reward me with some gold instead of title. Though I am grateful for the bonus that it gives, but it only applied when I¡¯m fighting with Sea Creature. What is this prestige thingy? Is it not supposed to be fame? Oh well, it¡¯s better than nothing.


    ¡°Now I will tech you my finishing technique.¡± No Hair said.


    ¡°I¡¯m in your care¡­.¡±


    After 20 minutes of explaining, I finally learned No Hair finishing technique. It didn¡¯t take long. The technique that No Hair taught me was basically a combination of Phantom Step with normal thrust. All I need to do was build up mana in my weapon, and using my instantaneous movement I will strike the opponent vital point. This will result in a whooping 5 times damage than a normal thrust.


    It sounds so simple that I can¡¯t believe I fought Poseidon for this.


    ¡°Well then lad, now that the security of the village is secured. We can travel back to Beginner town anytime you want.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, but for now I think I will take my time in this island until Eden wakes up.¡±


    ¡°By the way, I believe this is yours. You are the one who defeated Poseidon so I think you are the one who deserve to hold it¡­¡±


    I took back the Gospel.


    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you going to read it?¡± No Hair asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m opening it.¡± I replied.


    I had level up a lot during the fight against Poseidon. Though it worries me a little when I stopped leveling when we were fighting Poseidon because the EXP is huge, or at least that was what I thought. But considering that I didn¡¯t level up means that the exp that I got weren¡¯t that high after all. I was too exhausted that I didn¡¯t bother to check the exp value.


    Before I defeated Poseidon I managed to level up from 38 to 50, Eden had killed all of those Creep singlehandedly. His skills with his knives are top notch. I can¡¯t even imagine myself dealing with the Mangdora Creeps. I managed to buy some times talking with The Mermen King and at the same time distracting him. I was investing 50 additional stats point to intelligence and 10 of it to strength.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Player Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ichiroku</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Level</td><td colspan=''3''>50</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Race</td><td colspan=''3''>Human</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Profession</td><td colspan=''3''>Gambler</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Title</td><td colspan=''3''>God Slayer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Prestige</td><td colspan=''3''>2 500</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Stat Info:


    Strength : 35 (+25)


    Stamina : 12 (+25)


    Dexterity : 50 (+35)


    Agility : 73 (+35)


    Intelligence : 70


    Wisdom : 35


    Endurance : 31


    Luck : 135


    Additional Stat Point : 0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Attack : 300 ~ 305 (+10 ¨C 19)


    Health :1850


    Mana : 800


    Defence : 180</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Enhancement


    ? God Slayer (Poseidon) - Whenever you are fighting against marine monster, these bonuses shall be applied. +250 damage +50 defense</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I looked at my character info and almost cry. I¡¯ve come a long way from the level that I fought the Mangdora creep, I got a title and prestige. I think I can even beat the Creep on right now.


    Having my hand on the Heroes is the best ¡®enhancement¡¯ that I could get. Even though their stat are not quite balance due to their type of cards, I will somehow able to utilize their strength sooner or later. I wasn¡¯t able to fully read the description of the Four of a Kind yet as the situation was at chaos that time. But next time, I¡¯ll make sure to properly read it.


    As I got more than enough intelligence to read the ¡®alphabets¡¯ that is used in Einstel, I can already decipher the wording, that was the reason why I managed to summon the Heroes a few days ago. I spread opened the Gospel. The Gospel began emitting a golden light and golden text appeared floating above the Gospel.


    And I were somehow brought into a scene much like a Movie Trailer that was so awesome I thought it was directed by Micheal Bay and narrated by *ptimus *rime.


    I hope they don¡¯t get sued for copyright infringement for this.


    ????????Preview of the First Gospel????????


    The Era was year 0000 after the relapse.


    Apocalypse! That was what we phrased the world after the Great War happened between the humans and the supernatural. It was not a war that could be avoided or can be evade. It was a war that was destined to happen. Vampires, Werewolves, Deities, Hybrids and all other kind of supernatural beings ganged up against humans.


    And there was nothing that human can do against it. Human was weak, compared to the supernatural beings. Humans were not strong like the vampire does, nor do they''re agile like werewolves do. Human do not have super power like the deities does. And human are not all knowing like the hybrids did.


    But not until the Celestial exist.


    Celestial are humans who had reached the next phase of evolution.


    In the brink of extinction a pair of youth came out of nowhere and began the slaying of these creatures. Their existence was like a ray of hope for the dark despair of human. Their strength matched the vampire, their speed matched the werewolves, their power matched the deities and their knowledge about the supernatural are on par with the hybrids knowledge on human.


    The Celestial were, Allison and Grant.


    They were the first Celestial which later called as the Alpha.


    Allison and Grant managed to ease the rage of the supernatural, but not for long. The second wave of the war came when the Deities began to run amok pulverizing human with their power. And there, emerged the second pair of Celestial,


    Latisha and Leona, with their help they manage to prevent the deities from bashing the human for a long time.


    They were the second pair that called Omega.


    With the appearance of Celestial that match the supernatural beings, Celestials began to emerge one after another and this lot later called Beta.


    But, that was not the end for the supernatural.


    In the year of 3055, Vampire and werewolves began to join forces. Their combined strength was like no other and they become the Shadows. Not even a thousand group of Beta can match the Shadow, it was utterly despairing.


    It was then where Alpha began to make their move. They had engage in a battle against the Shadows and fought for 100 years. However, normal human who does not have the power like Beta, Omega nor Alpha was consumed by fear. Every day they lived in fear of what might come. Their home and civilization was left with nothing but hazard barren land.


    Until one day, human sought helps from the seers. There the seer said, ¡°The war shall end when the blood of the Strongest Human pair had first fall onto the ground, enriching the soil ending the war. Human who was blinded by the light of the fake freedom and rich land, put an end to the war with human sacrificing Alpha.


    Alpha who was betrayed had fallen into despair and had spoken with their utmost hatred and vengeance.


    ¡°Human! I hate you humans! I¡¯ve fought the war in your stead injured and spilled my blood for your stead. And this is what I got as my reward?!¡±


    ¡°We are no longer your savior we are no longer your slaves!¡±


    ¡°We curse you and hate you from the bottom of our soul, from now on! Human will be the weakest race amongst the races that exist in this world. There will be numerous restrictions in your ability and capability so that there will be no more Human that will rise to Beta.


    The only way can you can get rid of this curse is by killing the contractors that we had learned and get our powers from. But be in despair, for they are foes that you puny human can¡¯t ever hope to defeat. ¡±


    ???????? Fancy ????????


    Ttring


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You have gained new Skills


    +Slash


    With every swing that you made, it improves your damage dealing technique and removes unnecessary movement.


    Phase 1 |Slash Heroic(88%) +15% Attacking Speed


    +Pierce


    With precise aim and straight movement of your hand. Your ability to pierce through enemy defense will be enhanced.


    Phase 1 | Armor Break Normal (0%)


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wait what? I learned two new skills?


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You have unlocked a hidden Quest


    Human Liberation!


    There are numerous restrictions that had been put on human race. Find the Gospels that were left behinds by the Celestials. The Gospels are said to be protected by the 7 holy guardians that used to be Alpha¡¯s mentor.


    You cannot reject this quest!


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Great¡­


    I unlocked a hidden quest, and I can¡¯t reject it. Oh well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to do it anyway; I¡¯ll just accept it for now and leave it rot in my quest log.


    But wait¡­ Restriction by Alpha?


    I remembered the Alpha said ¡°There will be numerous restrictions in your ability and capability so that there will be no more Human that will rise to Beta.¡± I wonder what are the restrictions in abilities and capabilities that Alpha had mentioned.


    Leaving that thought aside for a moment, I accepted the quest.


    Ding!


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    You have accepted the Quest


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Human Liberation!


    Human who was once a peaceful race who put love before anything else had turned into devilish creature! This had caused a great dissonance in balance of Einstel. Unveil the truth that was hidden inside the Gospel that was left behind by Alpha. The Gospel was said protected by the 7 holy being in Einstel.


    Poseidon of The Sea | the First Gospel


    Unknown | the Second Gospel


    Unknown | the Third Gospel


    Unknown | the Fourth Gospel


    Unknown | the Fifth Gospel


    Unknown | the Sixth Gospel


    Unknown | the Seventh Gospel


    Time Limit : NONE


    Restriction : Human Only


    Reward : Unknown


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I was not able to squeak out a tiny voice.


    Protected by the 7 holy beings in Einstel world? The first Guardian was The God of Sea, Poseidon. So there are high chances of it being even stronger than Poseidon. If Poseidon is the first Guardian and he holds that much of tremendous power, I don¡¯t want to think how powerful the Seventh Gospel Guardian is.


    There are just too many questions in my head that I wasn¡¯t able to sort it out right. Anyhow, as time pass by, I got the feeling that the question that I had will be answered. I don¡¯t think I need to do anything big yet like battling another boss just after I fought with Poseidon. For the mean time, I think it is best if I finish what I wanted to do in this island.


    With that said I went into the shore and dive into the ocean and start stuffing the crystals into my inventory bag. I also took my time by going into one of the shacks bringing along a set of pins which I borrowed from the Armory, but unfortunately I was not able to pick the lock. Thus I have set one of my objectives as to find an NPC or book that will teach me the Pick Lock skill.


    It took me a few days adventuring half through the entire Island. The island were pretty big, there were also a mountain at the east side of the Island. But I was too lazy to even bother going there. God knows what kind of ordeal that I might had to go through if I went there.


    Eden had finally regained his consciousness. He apologized so many times that I think I might need an ear plug. I¡¯ve told him that he had done great job dealing with those Mangdora Creeps. Honestly, just thinking about the trash talking Mangdora Creep had already given me the creeps.


    With three wagons full of loot we take our sweet ride back into the ship. No Hair told me that I am welcomed to come back anytime that I wanted. I don¡¯t know if I ever coming back there again. But I think I will if I ever ran out of money, those crystals looks like they can rake in a lot of money after all.


    No Hair told me that we are going to reach the Beginner Town in a few more days. Usually it only takes one day to arrive there but as there will be a big ¡®event¡¯ in beginner town, the sea around Beginner Town will be in hazard condition and we need to take a long detour to get into the safe side of Beginner town.


    That Sea Demon King apparently going to be spawn near Beginner Town harbor. What can I say, Einstel Online is so random that I don¡¯t even have any words to describe it if people asks me either Einstel Online is good or not.


    I mean, seriously! What are the developers thinking spawning a Demon King level monster at where beginner player first starts their virtual life? Just one hit from the Sea Demon King and I can already bid farewell to the beginner. Dying is painful, I pity them all.  As it going to take a few days in to reach Beginner Town, I logged out from the game and start doing some chores in real life.


    ????????| - |????????


    What are the restriction that had been put onto human?


    What are the secrets in human race hold?


    What are the 7 Gospel....


    Be prepare...! Even though it sound so grand it wont be anything special like what you hoped for...


    Once again, looking for proofreader :D if anyone interested send me a PM.

 Einstel Online Players Log | Ichiroku

    Player¡¯s Log | Memory Stick Saved Data


    ????????| The Skill level and Grade|????????


    Skills are highly sought by players for they are very useful in combat. There are 3 known phase for skill.


    Phase 1 | Phase 2| Phase 3


    The moment player learned their skill; their skill level would be at its lowest which is,


    Phase 1 | Skill Normal (1%)  As soon as the skill normal percentage reached 100%, the skill involved will jump to its next level, Phase 1 | Skill Heroic (1%), which will be followed by, Phase 1 | Skill Nightmare (1%)


    Whenever a player had reached the maximum skill proficiency at their current phase, it will jump into its next phase. The highest known level phase that had ever been reached is Phase 3 | Normal.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Phase 1 |Normal


    Phase 1 |Heroic


    Phase 1 |Nightmare


    Phase 2 |Normal


    Phase 2 |Heroic


    Phase 2 |Nightmare


    Phase 3 |Normal


    Phase 3 |Heroic


    Phase 3 |Nightmare


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ????????| List''s of Monsters Encountered by Ichiroku |????????


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Mermen ¨C Mermen are the sea creature that had long ruled the sea under the Guidance of Their God, Poseidon. The Mermen were said to be a weak race of the sea, however this was countered by Mermen popularity boom in the sea which outnumbered the other sea races. After the battle between No Hair with his crew against the Pirate, the Mermen began to a huge evolution in their


    civilization. Mermen can be classified based on their profession.


    All Mermen possessed the special trait of the sea, they are able to send out a deafening sonic wave from their shriek and left their opponent in stunned and confused condition,</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Type</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">Description</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Normal</td><td width="25%">1</td><td width="25%">The former Mermen that have yet to undergo evolution phase.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Henchmen</td><td width="25%">12</td><td width="25%">A new type of Mermen that had undergo the first evolution. They are exels in doing what they are told, they does not have high enough intelligence to


    move on their own.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Warrior</td><td width="25%">20</td><td width="25%">Mermen that had undergo Second Phase evolution. They have a high attack damage due to their high strength stat, however they are left venerable with low


    hp and defense. Mermen Warrior does not have any attacking skills other than swinging the sword blindly due to their low intelligence.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Defender</td><td width="25%">28</td><td width="25%">Mermen that had undergo the Second Phase of Evolution. The Defenders are the main tanking force due to their high defence value and high HP.


    Attack : Charge (Normal)</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mage</td><td width="25%">30</td><td width="25%">Mermen that had undergone the Third Phase of evolution. The Mermen mage are specialized in summoning technique, they have a very high level of wisdom that


    is used in their summoning technique. The Special Abilities of Mage are able to summon Mangdora Creeps.


    Attack : Fire Ball</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Spell Caster</td><td width="25%">35</td><td width="25%">Mermen that had undergone the Third Phase of evolution. The mermen have a very high intelligence. This allow them to cast multiple type of spells


    consecutively.


    Attack :


    Lightning Whip


    Fire Ball</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Titan</td><td width="25%">Unknown</td><td width="25%">Summoned by Mermen''s King.


    Attack : Normal Punch</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">King</td><td width="25%">80</td><td width="25%">The king of Mermen, Mermen King was actually the Alma Mater of The God of Sea, Poseidon. Mermen King has an extremely high HP and Mana value. It also has


    the ability to summon the Titans of their race.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Attack :


    Fire Breath (Heroic)


    Water Ball (Nightmare)


    Defence : Invisible Aura (Nightmare)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Sub Species


    Sub Species are Hybrid that was made from crossbreeding one or two types of monster. There are more than one thousands identified Hybrids in Einstal World with various abilities.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">Description</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mangdora Creep</td><td width="25%">45</td><td width="25%">A crossed breed between Creep and Mangdora Tree (?) Mangdora Creep was considered as mid-boss of South Verlassen island due to its high level compared to the other monsters.


    Attack :


    Trash Talking (Badass)


    Root Whip


    Root Thrust</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Deities!


    Deities are the divine beings that had ruled Einstal World before the appearance of the Supernatural. They are the supreme ruler and each of Deities has their own territory to protect. Deities


    are considered to be one of the Strongest Field Monster in whole Einstal. Deities have their own specialities depending on their elements. Deities hold the authority to rule a land thus they


    are the last boss that Players need to defeat in order to conquer the land.


    There are over 100 known Deities in Einstal World.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">Description</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Poseidon</td><td width="25%">Unknown</td><td width="25%">Poseidon is the Ruler of the Sea, he is known as the 2nd strongest God in Einstal online. There is not much of an info that can be extracted from


    Poseidon as he had always shrouded in mystery.


    Attack :


    Thunder Bolt


    Thunder Trident</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ????????|Quest¡¯s Location Info |????????


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Verlassen Island


    Verlassen Island is a long forgotten island that was placed in the middle of the sea.Verlassen island used to house a lot of villages and community, however as time passed by a lot of people


    began to migrate to the mainland due to the economy boom. It was said that Verlassen Island was once a perosper country, however all that is left in the island is a village that house no more


    than 200 villagers.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">List of Monster that had been found in Verlassen Island</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Normal Mermen


    Mermen Henchmen


    Mermen Warrior


    Mermen Defender


    Mermen Mage


    Mermen Spell Caster


    Mermen Titans


    Mermen King


    Mangdora Creep


    Poseidon</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ????????| Player¡¯s Info |????????


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Player Info</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Name</td><td colspan=''3''>Ichiroku</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Level</td><td colspan=''3''>50</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Race</td><td colspan=''3''>Human</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Profession</td><td colspan=''3''>Gambler</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Title</td><td colspan=''3''>God Slayer</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Prestige</td><td colspan=''3''>2 500</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Stat Info:


    Strength : 35 (+25)


    Stamina : 12 (+25)


    Dexterity : 50 (+35)


    Agility : 73 (+35)


    Intelligence : 70


    Wisdom : 35


    Endurance : 31


    Luck : 135


    Additional Stat Point : 0</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Attack : 300 ~ 305 (+10 ¨C 19)


    Health :1850


    Mana : 800


    Defence : 180</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''6''>Enhancement


    ? God Slayer (Poseidon) - Whenever you are fighting against marine monster, these bonuses shall be applied. +250 damage +50 defense</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 13 - The Goddess of Luck

    This was originally 2 chapters, but I combined it into one.


    ?????????? Chapter 8: The Goddess of  Luck (?) ??????????


    2 days and a half had passed in Einstel World and we finally reached the Tindal Harbor. It¡¯s a harbor that was located even further away than the Beginner Town harbor.


    It took quite a time for me to unload the loots that I had, I was planning to sell the loots later but it seemed like No Hair had volunteered to sell those loots in my stead. I agreed and decided to check out the village that we arrived at.


    The area was quite crowded; it was filled with players with exaggerated fashion and weapon. Damn, their outfit looked so awesome, compared to my outfit, it was like heaven and earth. I wonder if I should focus more on making myself presentable.


    When I got myself out from the ship and took my first step on the ground. I could feel an intense staring coming from multiple directions, and for some reason my stomach began to hurt. It can¡¯t be ''that'' new inferiority syndrome right?


    Anyway, leaving the intense staring that I received from the players surrounding me I kept on walking. I wonder if there are something wrong with my outfit that they kept on starring at me. I looked at my outfit, my armor is looking good. The armor that I had on my body now is way better than the half burnt armor that I wore when I was fighting the Mermen.


    In the end, unable to stand the intense stares of the players around me I ran into the forest. It¡¯s not because of the inferior symptom that I had, but it was purely because I feel like peeing. Now that I think of it, if I took a leak while being inside this virtual reality, does it mean that I''ll wet myself in real life? For some reason I don¡¯t feel like peeing anymore, instead I just wandered around the area began reading Sheldon¡¯s The Secret to Medicine processing.


    For the sake of reassurance I logged out from Einstal Online, went to the toilet and let it all out. After a few minutes of ¡®investing¡¯ inside my toilet I went back inside the Monolith Capsule and continued on reading The Secret to Medicine processing.


    It was then when I heard a voice of a man screaming for help.


    ¡°Someone¡­ Can someone help me? Preferably a woman within 18 ¨C 26 years old, Asian and not in relationship. I need help here!¡±


    There were so many things that I wanted to comment with the way he was asking for help, but I hold it in as I was trying not to be rude.


    ¡°Err¡­.¡± I said and pulled out my dagger into plain view.


    The man that I saw was an Elf; I don¡¯t know what kind of Elf but if there is such things as kinky Elf in the game. He would probably be the Race Chief.  For now I¡¯ll just call him the Weird Elf.


    The Weird Elf was hanging upside down; one of his legs was caught in a trap. Basically, my eye sight was aligned perfectly with his crotch. I¡¯m going to make things clear, I am damn straight and I don¡¯t have any interest in people with the same gender. I actually felt kind of gross staring at his crotch area right now.


    ¡°¡­Should I?¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± The Weird Elf kept silence. His face was dyed in red, I¡¯m not quite sure if it is due to blood rushing to his head or he was embarrassed as the person that was in front of him was not  woman, but instead another man who gave him a weird look.


    ¡°Do you need any¡­¡± I did not finish my sentence, instead I moved my dagger.  ¡°¡­should I?¡± I added.


    The weird Elf closed both of his eyes using his hand, much like the Emoij of monkey that I saw in facebook.


    ¡°¡­ Please do.¡± He replied in a small voice.


    I cut down the rope and he fall onto the ground with his face first. He then rubbed off the dirt that had soiled his white robe and offered a handshake with me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t usually shake hand with the same gender people, but as you¡¯ve saved my life. I¡¯m very grateful of your deed.¡± He added with a big smile on his face.


    ¡°Uhh¡­ Okay.¡± I answered short. ¡°This is the first time I ever see people who was caught in such an old trap¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°I know right?¡± He said in a cheerful expression, but not long after that his body weakens and turned into the shape of ¡°orz¡±


    ¡°I was chasing over the love of my life, but she got too angry with me that she set a trap to teach me a lesson. Of course I would not fall into such an obvious trap myself, but considering how good did my love of my life created the trap, I couldn¡¯t help it but to step on it.¡±


    You¡¯re just a damn masochist aren¡¯t you!


    ¡°Anyway, thank you for your help. Though I would be much grateful if the one that saves me to be a woman¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I was not able to say anything in reply.


    I tried to check for his info but a notification of restriction appeared. This man is an adventurer just like me. He is not an NPC.


    ¡°It¡¯s a rare sight for me to see a human player, or rather you are the first human that I had ever laid my eyes on.¡± The weird Elf added. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, the name is Orhis.¡± He added.


    The weird Elf name is Orhis. What a befitting name, even his name is weird.


    ¡°My name is Ichiroku.¡±


    ¡°Can you speak Japanese?¡±


    ¡°à©¤ì¤ë ¤±¤É... ºÎ¤«¡­?¡±


    ¡°Woah!  You¡¯re Japanese?¡±


    ¡°Err¡­ Yes.¡± I replied short.


    ¡°Wow¡­ This is the first time I¡¯ve seen Japanese in online games.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ As expected from Einstal  Online. The players are really from all over the world.¡± He added. ¡°Sorry for my behavior, but I only played this game for around 1 month in Einstel world. Let me introduce myself properly, my name is Orhis, HighElf level 82.¡±


    ¡°Ichiroku, Human level 50..¡±


    ¡°Whoa, I knew it. You are really a human! I never thought I¡¯d see a human in front of my eyes. So, how did you become one? You must be really rich eh?¡±


    ¡°Err¡­. No.¡± I answered.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­ I know¡­ You must¡¯ve had someone pulling the string for you inside Einstel Game right?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh damn¡­ I wish you can tell me but I know it must be some sort of secret. It¡¯s not something that you can tell anybody, right?¡±


    ¡°Err Yeah¡­¡± I lied, I tried to smile but my cheek muscle cramped. My smile must¡¯ve looked weird because I was forcing it.


    ¡°Anyway¡­ I glad that I met you. But I really need to get going now, there are about 2 days left before the Sea Demon King re-spawn. I got the feeling that we¡¯re going to stumble to each other later, how about becoming friends with me eh?¡±


    Hmm¡­ Becoming friends with this masochist guy... Let see what is the profit that I will get, first; a guy who can I party with, a person with information, and a person who can be sacrificed to take all the damage and still loving it.


    Friend Registered!


    Before we bid our farewell, Orhis gave me an  ear accessories as his way of gratitude for saving him. It was called as an Elf ear or something. It didn¡¯t give any buff or enhancement worth mentioning. I tried putting it only to find out that my ears had become pointy and I looked like an elf. I heard Elves are beautiful and handsome race.


    Well, not that I need this ear accessories to make me even hotter than I am right now. But I think I¡¯ll keep it equipped.


    ??????????Part 2??????????


    I stormed out into the open; I did not get the intense stare that I felt during the earlier day. As I thought letting it all out in the toilet was a good thing.


    I walked back to the village; there were still a lot of players. However there was a new group of player that had just come from the harbor. They were a group of five, it was that time when I felt as if the time was slowed down and the voice of Frank Sinatra began singing inside my head.


    She has a pair of blue eyes, golden hair and fair white skin. Her eyebrow was a little bit thicker than the usual girl¡¯s eyebrow that I saw but I had no any complain for that. She was cute. I honestly thought so. I was looking at her intently when she realized that I was leering at her.


    "Wo guckst du mir hin du Affe?!" She said sternly.


    I don''t even understand what she had said. But I only nodded at her words. Her golden hair was dancing on her shoulder as a soft breeze of wind blew on her direction. I was taken aback a little when she suddenly closed the gap between us. I could see her tan lines clearly in a certain parts of her body that was not covered by her armor.


    ¡°Bist du mich h?ren?"


    Her eyes red crimson eyes, her pink puffed cheek and her long dazzling hair. Her arm skin that was as so smooth that you can compare it to a newborn baby was pressing against her two bountiful watermelons.


    I swallowed hard. She¡¯s definitely European! She gave out an alluring sensation around her air. Her perfume was like a love potion, for I was already her prisoner of love.


    Or no.


    She was really beautiful, even prettier than my sisters.


    "Warum schaust du mich so an? Wenn du ein Problem hast, komm her und sage es mir ins Gesicht und gaff mich nicht so an!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t say anything. More like I don¡¯t know what the heck is she even talking about. Was my appearance really that attractive? I only put on the Elf ear accessories and I already hooked one definitely-not-Asian young ¡®fish¡¯.


    I swallowed hard, yet again.


    I tried to open my mouth; I think my tongue got twisted. As all that I said at that time was a gibberish question with stuttering voice. I blinked my eyes twice, thrice and even more. I thought it was my delusion, but apparently it was not.


    ¡°Sagst du sof?rt, oder ich werde dieses Messer, die ich hatte in meiner Hand im deinen Rachen schieben¡±


    I felt a cold stingy sensation pressing against my throat. It was a beautiful golden blade, as beautiful as the lady in front of me.


    I had never ever seen a beautiful ¡®European¡¯ lady since I become a NEET I had always cooped inside my room. I am not a shut-in, it just that I rarely go outside, because I got an inferiority syndrome to deal with.


    ¡°H-helo?¡± I finally able to squeak out a voice after a few minutes.


    ¡°Was willst du??¡±


    ¡°Do you speak english?¡±


    ¡°English?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°I can speak the language; now tell me what you want from me. I noticed that you had been leering at me since I got here.¡±


    If you can speak English why didn''t you speak it from the start!


    ¡°Eer¡­ N-No... I was not leering, I mean jeering, no what I really mean is staring at you! It just that I had never seen Euphoria, I mean a European lady before. And I was thinking that foreigners really do have different air around them.¡±


    Oh damn! My lack of conversation with ¡®real¡¯ woman had turned me into some kind of incompetent man in conversation. The only woman that I had ever converse with are my Sisters. Since my day of Elementary School through High School, I had always attended all-male school.


    But no worries, my adaptability rate is at advance. Even talking to woman can be as easy as a pie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to say. But I will take it as a compliment.¡±


    ¡°Well, what I was trying to say was. You are the first European lady that I had ever laid my eyes on in this game.¡±


    I was not lying, it was all true. From the first day when I spawn at the harbor and the time when we arrived at the Tindal Harbor, all I see was male. Well actually, they were all had a very unique appearance which made it hard for me to determine their gender. I even had my doubt if there are even woman playing the game. But now all my doubts now had been washed away.


    ¡°I see.¡± She replied short.


    The golden blade that was pressed against my throat before was pulled back. Her friends that had been looking at us since before began moving at their own destination. I wonder if such things as greeting people with blade pressed against their throat is a normal occurrence in this game that no one bothered to batter us an eye.


    ¡°The name is  Ziina.¡±


    ¡°¡­.?¡± She was looking directly into my eyes. After I realized that I had yet to introduce myself I offered my hand. ¡°Nice to meet you, my name is Ichiroku.¡±


    We exchanged our greeting and shook our hand.


    ¡°Ichiroku, race Elf, level 50¡­¡±


    ¡°Wha-?¡± I let out a dumbfounded voice. How did she know my level when I only told her my name, and did she really mistook me as an Elf?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I took the fancy of looking into your profile for a quick glance. Don¡¯t worry my <Insight> is not really at high level enough for me to able to look deeper into your character details. I was only able to see through the surface of your profile.¡±


    ¡°Haaaa¡­¡± I exhaled.


    That is some nice skill she got there. The ability to check other player info, if I¡¯m not mistaken you can only check monster info and restricted from checking other players info. Or maybe checking other player¡¯s info was one of the restrictions that had been put onto human?


    ¡°We are looking for people who are willing to join us in Sea Demon King raid. You look you can be of some use, do you want to join us?¡±


    ¡°Oh, unfortunately my level is still low. I can¡¯t join you. If you don¡¯t mind, can I know what the average level of your party is?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s between 180 and 200, but there is one of us who are level 260.¡±


    I swallowed hard.


    ¡°I see¡­ It would be such a huge drawback if I were to join your party.¡±


    ¡°I understand, I guess it would be a huge trouble for you too. As the area is open map so player can kill each other in order to land the last hit to Sea Demon King. You¡¯ll die in less than 3 minutes when it happened. Anyhow, let us register as a friend first. We are in hurry to fill the position in raid party; the Sea Demon King is going to spawn in 2 days, so levels are not really our main concern.


    We only managed to gather 6 people including myself, so there are 4 spot left. It would be hard finding the right people for the raid, my party has enough Tanker and Healer all we need is Damage Dealer. Looking at your ears, you¡¯re an Elf so I thought you can become our vanguard. But I guess it might be pushing the limit.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Oh¡­ I see.¡±


    I¡¯m going to die in less than 3 minutes. I hate dying, dying is painful.


    Not long after that she walked away. It looked like she went back to where her friends were. Alexanderia, what a name¡­ Such name is the name of a beautiful girl that had just been registered in my friend list.


    Okay I think I had enough dreaming for now!


    I went back to where No Hair was. It took me a few more hours waiting for them No Hair whom I thought was already back at the ship. I got the most prized gold and silvers from No Hair. I got about 32 Gold and 15 silvers. I searched the perimeters before but I didn¡¯t manage to find any Game Centre. So for the mean time I will get back to Beginner Town and try out my luck.


    ¡°Well then. Thank you for sticking up with me for the past few days, if it were not for your help. We certainly can never defeat the Mermen Army.¡± No Hair said, he took off his triangle hat and bowed at me with his hat placed on his heart.


    ¡°Please, use the finishing technique that I taught you for good. The technique that I taught you is never meant to be used against fellow human.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± I replied. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever become a player killer.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to give you my thanks too, Ichiroku. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would not able to make the Medicine and saved the villagers'' life. For that, I¡¯m eternally grateful to you.¡±


    ¡°It was my pleasure being able to help the villagers.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Ichiroku¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you too Eden.¡± I replied.


    Thank you for dealing with those Mangdora Creeps, their trash talk deals more damage than its roots attack.


    After I bid my farewell to the three of them, they began to set sail once again, back to Verlassen Island. I went on my way to buy breads and potions. Looks like they don¡¯t sell Great HP Potion here, only Small HP Potion is available in the market. For safety measurement, I bought a few antidote and cure potion too, in case I ran across some random wild monster on my way.


    Now that I think of it, I might as well spend a few more gold on HP and mana Potion. I can go out and hunt monster to raise my level, and invest it all later to Luck stat. I¡¯ll do that!


    With that said, a few more gold were spent on potions. In the end all the gold that I had left was 18 gold and 56 silvers. I also bought a pickaxe. In case I found some crystal in some cave, I can dig it up for extra money.


    FOR LOTTERY!


    As everything that is needed for a long trip back to Beginner City is almost ready, I made my way to the general store to buy the Continent Map and have it registered in my own map.


    Apparently there are 5 countries in this Continent. And the Continent that I am at right now is Esphalt. What a weird name for a continent. Also every Continent is divided into a few regions. To obtain the region map you need to register it down at the region hall, or at that region¡¯s guild hall. What a hassle.


    Well, I got my destination marked. All I need now is to re-map the area that I¡¯m going to explore later.


    ¡°We are looking for a Mage with AOE healing skills! Preferably level 200 and above, Priest and Monks are most welcomed!¡±


    ¡°Come and join us! We are one of the strongest party available. We are sure to get into top 10 damage dealer group; we are looking for Cleric and Enchanter with stun ability. We have a lot of free spot!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m level 180 Chef. Looking for players to party with, my Knives skills are at Phase 2 and I can cook a lot of different cuisine. Party with me please!¡±


    ¡°We are a group of Artisan; we¡¯re looking for a leveling party.  We have buff and enhancement Phase 1 Heroic! Anyone there willing to level up together and make sweet memories of adventuring with us?¡±


    There were a lot of people screaming and shouting with their palm placed on their mouth acting as if it was a megaphone. The group of Artisan that I saw were consists of painter, singer, dancer and bard. From the look of it none of them are combat-related profession. At least my profession still has something to do with combat, which is the ¡®battle of wits¡¯.


    At the center of the village was a wide open area that was bustling with players selling items, trading stuff and chatting with each other. They looked like the random pedestrian that you can usually see at Akihabara. Though, in this case they are all wielding a dangerous looking weapon with thick armor around their body.


    Rather than players, they looked like more of an animal. There are a lot of ¡®unique¡¯ race with unique stature. There was one woman that looked like a cat. She has cat ears, cat tails, and of course furs all around her body. She was not like the cat-girl which had been portrayed in Anime and Manga that I¡¯ve read. I honestly had my expectation betrayed, first the mermen now cat-girl, I mean woman!


    At the center of the wide open area there was a water fountain. It was a magical water fountain where just by standing the area your will get a great bonus of HP regeneration. If you drink the water it will fill your satiety to its max. I tried looking for empty bottles and even went to the general store, but apparently there was none. Left with no choice I went to the forest and wander around once again hoping for wild rabbit or wolf or any monster to appear and fight it. Thus, I¡¯ll be able to put my HP potion into a good use instead of throwing the content away just to get the container.


    The Artisans were singing and dancing near the fountain. They said about being a leveling party so, instead of going alone I went to their place and ask if there is any spot for me. One of the Dancers was delighted when I greeted them.


    ¡°You want to join us? Certainly, we are in a dire need of damage dealer. As you can see we are all artisan, we don¡¯t have a single player that can fight monster normally.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying Hye Yoon!  I can fight just well. If you let me fight as the vanguard we can go and hunt anytime now! Look at these muscles of mine; I can take care of those pathetic wolves and rabbits. I¡¯m not afraid, to take a step!¡±


    ¡°Yoon Jae! How many times have you said that and how many times did you die? Just look at your levels, you died so many times that you level went from 98 to 86! You were the one with the highest level before, well you are still now compared to the most of us who are only level 70 but if you go any further one day your level will dwindle even further than us!¡±


    Whoaw! So if you died so many times you will eventually lose your level? I died once and got 25% of my EXP deducted. That means if I died more than 4 times I¡¯ll eventually lose my a level huh?


    ¡°But Hye Yoon!¡± Yoon Jae said, dissatisfaction was clearly seen in the light of his eyes. He was staring at me as if I¡¯m going to steal his meat that he had been looking for since the start of BBQ party.


    ¡°Say anymore words and I will stop playing Einstal online!¡± Hye Yoon replied.


    Such tactic, much threat!


    Yoon Jae say no more after he heard Hye Yoon reply. Hye Yoon closed the gap between us and ask, ¡°What level are you, and what is your profession?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m level 50 and I¡¯m a Gambler.¡± I replied honestly.


    The bright look that she had before had now gone away and exchanged with the look of disappointment. What? Does my level and profession was really that bad that she had to put on that look?


    ¡°But my subclass is Rogue. I can fight as the vanguard as long as there are enough healers to heal me.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Okay Yoon Jae. You can fight as the vanguard,¡± She said while turning her head to Yoon Jae direction simultaneously.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Yoon Jae said while making a victory pose.


    ¡°Along with our new party member¡­¡± Hye Yoon added.


    The look that Yoon Jae had on his looks before had turned sour.


    In the end, I was accepted in the party. The average level of the party are 68 due to my low level 50. Hye Yoon was reluctant to add me at first but considering that their time is limited they decided to go with it.


    They are a group of friends in real life. They have the same course in K University, if I was not mistaken their course was art. Ah! So that explained what they are artisan in this game, I bet the profession that we had in this game are influenced by our real life activities eh?


    The party was consisted of 5 players including me. There are Singer, Dancer, Bard and most random profession that I had ever run across Einstel Online, a Beatboxer. Singer was Yoon Jae, Dancer was Hye Yoon, Bard was Zach and Beatboxer was Jejemon01. That Jejemon01 name though.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at that naming sense. Okay, I¡¯ll call him Jeje instead.


    ??????????Part 3??????????


    We went deeper into the forest. The forest was not eerie like the swamp back at the Verlassen Island. And it wasn¡¯t even night, so I was walking confidently as their vanguard. The surrounding area was quite quiet, other than the sounds of wind and birds flying across the trees there were no abnormalities that could be felt. I wonder if there are even monsters that could be found here, or it was just me who got used to Verlassen Island creepiness.


    It took us a whole 20 minutes before Yoon Jae suddenly told us to stop. He went out from the formation and began investigating a boulder. I don¡¯t know how he did it but he managed to find a hidden door on the boulder. He signaled us with his hand, and we went inside the boulder.


    It was a dungeon!


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Ttring!


    You are the first one to ever step on this dungeon. +50 prestige and 1 week double exp from the monsters. Monster¡¯s drop rates are high for the first week of discoveries.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Yoon Jae spoke out. ¡°I¡¯ve read it in the forum before, if you ever found a weird boulder, bushes or a hole. The probability of it being a hidden dungeon is high!¡± he added excitedly.


    ¡°You did it!¡± Jeje said and gave Yoon Jae a Hi5.


    There were a lot of monsters that could be sighted; there are wolves of all time, red colored dire wolves, and gray wolves. Without wasting time Yoon Jae jumped into the crowed of monsters and began ¡®dancing¡¯. To be precise, he was using a martial art that looked like dancing. What was it called again, I forgot. Well not that it¡¯s important anyway.


    As if the world is his, he went on rampage without care of his own health. He didn¡¯t even bother to evade the attack that was hurdling at him. All that he knew was land an attack after attack. Zach and Jeje was busy doing their ¡®music enhancement¡¯ thingy. As their vanguard Yoon Jae and I received a lot of attack buff and defence buff.


    ¡°Yoon Jae! What are you doing fighting blindly like that, get back into formation!¡± Hye Yoon screamed out.


    ¡°Grahhhahah!¡± Yoon Jae said nothing in reply but instead kept on screaming as he punched a hole through the wolves.


    Yoon Jae was moving agile moving from one place to one place with his dancing fighting technique. But he wasn¡¯t as fast as me when I use my instantaneous movement. Also I am not that reckless as Yoon Jae. I made sure to observe the wolve''s moving pattern. Observation is very important when you are dealing with a heap amount of monsters.


    Zach began to give me a weird look when I kept on observing the wolves. He must have thought that I was only going to look and gain EXP while leaving Yoon Jae fighting the wolves alone. Well he was half right and half wrong; I was only going to leave the fighting to Yoon Jae until I managed to grasp the fighting pattern of the wolves.


    Yoon Jae HP bar was rapidly declining as he was surrounded by wolves from every direction.


    By that time I had finally grasped the pattern of the Wolves attack Yoon Jae HP was already at red. Not that the wolves attack pattern was hard to identify, but I was literally mesmerized by Yoon Jae fighting skill, or should I say; Martial Art. Putting aside that his HP was rapidly declining, his movement was so beautiful. It would be nice if his ¡®dancing¡¯ could be accompanied by an upbeat techno song.


    I activated my instantaneous movement, and re-appear right before Yoon Jae face. I could see his bewildered face when he suddenly saw me in front of him out of nowhere. I grab his shoulder and threw him back at Hye Yoon side, to where he belongs, at the side way for a side character.


    I will show you how to fight ¡®beautifully¡¯ without getting any hit from the lowly monsters.


    5 wolves charged at me simultaneously. I evaded by jumping backward two times, I pulled out my most trustworthy dagger and slashed it horizontally. The wolves¡¯ throat was sliced opened, bloods bursting out and sprayed all over my whole body.


    Damn! The blood graphic was so exaggerated; I doubt the bloods would burst out in that manner in real life.


    As the wolves blood would become thick and sticky when it¡¯s dried out. I forget about fighting beautifully and aim to finish the monster¡¯s life fast. I activated my spontaneous movement again and again and again, ¡®teleporting¡¯ from once place to another aiming for the wolves nape.


    All I need was 1 stab right into their nape and the wolves will die immediately. Due to the staked up buff that I received from Hye Yoon, Zach and Jeje I was able to finish it a little quicker than before.


    Zach and Jeje buffed up my damage and defence, while seeing Hye Yoon dance raised my fighting spirit which increases the chances of me dealing critical hit. Forget about raising my fighting spirit, something else had already risen up when I saw Hye Yoon dancing on the floor. Swaying her bountiful body to the left and right, making a delirious movement while shooting left eye winks towards the monsters.


    Wooooo Hooooo!!


    The dungeon first floor was cleaned up in less than 10 minutes, as the dungeon first floor perimeters itself was not that wide; it was only as wide as my high school football field.  My face felt so sticky and its stink!


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ Wow!¡± Hye Yoon said out loud. Her eyes were widened and her palms were placed together.


    On the other hand, Yoon Jae was looking at me with his mouth hung out opened. I could say the same to Zach and Jeje.


    Unable to stand their ¡®what the hell did I just saw¡¯ kind of expression, I said.


    ¡°Should we proceed to the next dungeon floor?¡±


    The four of them nodded simultaneously. Even though I said that, we took considerably a lot of time looting the wolves before we make our way to the second floor. After we made sure that all monsters had been loot and there are no left over monsters in hiding, we planned a strategy with a real formation.


    As I and Yoon Jae are the only two that have the ability to fight, I will act as the vanguard and Yoon Jae as the rear guard. Hye Yoon does not have any fighting skill; however she has the mesmerizing dance to put monsters into a stunned status using her skills. On the other hand, Zach and Jeje are both musician who only have buff skill unlocked.


    Poor bard and Beatboxer, they can only be functional when they are in party. Though I think that it would not be impossible for them to buff themselves and fight with manually learned skill like mine.


    After a few minutes of short discussion, I will act as the Vanguard; Yoon Jae will act as the rear-guard. As for Hye Yoon who doesn¡¯t have any fighting skill, she will act as the bait to lure the monsters and stunned them with her atomic dance.


    Wooooo Hooooo!! HOOOOOO!!!!


    Zach and Jeje¡­ well, they will use their buff skill to buff us up and watch us fight heroically at the side.


    ¡°I am sorry for putting you through this.¡± Hye Yoon said apologetically. ¡°But seeing your amazing fight just then, I knew that I was not mistaken. You are really a great damage dealer; you managed to overpower the wolves with a single hit!¡± She added.


    ¡°What kind of skill was that anyway?¡± Jeje asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen other people use such skill before.¡±


    ¡°Well obviously it¡¯s a skill that you had never laid your eyes on¡­¡± Zach said in retort to Jeje question. ¡°Anyway, where did you managed to learn that skill? Was it from a tome? Or a skill scroll?¡± Zach said while turning his looks from Jeje to me simultaneously.


    ¡°Eh?¡± I was quite shocked when they threw the question right from the bat. ¡°I learned them manually.¡± I said.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Jeje exclaimed. ¡°Do you know where we can learn it?¡±


    ¡°Really you want to learn it?¡± Zach said and turned his sight to Jeje once more. ¡°Have you forgotten the incident when you tried to learn my barding skill saying that it would be awesome if you can dubstep and playing bard at the same time, creating a new music in this Einstal World where everything is possible? Learning a skill based on your profession itself is hard, how can you ever think to learn other profession skills?¡± Zach smirked at Jeje.


    ¡°I almost got it! I almost learn your barding skill if it weren¡¯t for the fact that my art stat is too low.¡±


    ¡°Art stat?¡± I said confused.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Why?¡± Jeje said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have an Art stat.¡± I added.


    ¡°Well, each profession have a stat that is exclusive to their profession, for us artisan, we have Art stat as our main functional stat. Even though strength, stamina, agility and all other stat are important, for us Artisan Art stat are very crucial in learning a skill. Hmm¡­ Let  me give you an example, you¡¯re a Gambler right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I replied.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken gambler are those people who do stuff at casino right?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not quite sure but I think it is.¡±


    ¡°In short, your crucial stat is agility.  You need to be agile in shuffling the card and doing stuff; agility is very crucial when you¡¯re cheating.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ That makes sense¡± I replied. Though in my case I believe it would be my Luck stat, and I don¡¯t cheat okay. I maybe a Gambler, but I will be a Gambler that will win everything with pure skill and luck.


    ¡°I was 10 stat away to learn that barding skill¡­¡± Jeje said as he fall on four, he lift his head and looked at Yoon Jae directly in the eye ball. His face was turning ugly as his teary face came to view, ¡°If it were not for Yoon Jae selfishness to attack those Dodo birds blindly and got us all killed, I would¡¯ve gain 2 level now instead of losing 2 level. All the stat that I got was rolled back to zero.¡± He paused, ¡°Give me back my 10 additional stat points!¡± Jeje screamed out and grab Yoon Jae by his collar.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry? Tee hee.¡± Yoon Jae said in a half embarrassed manner.


    ¡°Okay stop fighting, you are making Ichiroku feeling uncomfortable!¡± Hye Yoon said.


    ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m okay.¡± I replied.


    After having a little chat we proceed by moving downstairs. Whenever you finished exterminating all of the floor¡¯s monsters, a secret door will be opened revealing a path to the next floor. I¡¯m not really used to dungeon as I¡¯ve never play a game with dungeon before. All of the multiplayer games that I¡¯ve played used Towers instead of dungeon.


    ¡°So this is how dungeon looks like huh?¡± Jeje voice broke the silence. He placed his palm on the wall and walked on just like that, leaving his fingers marks on the wall.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been into one. This is the first time I get into a dungeon.¡± Hye Yoon added.


    ¡°It¡¯s awesome right? We can hear the sounds of our voice echoed throughout the dungeon¡­¡± Yoon Jae turned looks behind his back and gave Hye Yoon a glance.


    Hye Yoon on the other hand kept on moving forward while observing the dungeon area.


    ¡°It would¡¯ve been nice if we got hunter, hunters can scout the perimeters fast.¡± Zach said.


    ¡°Want me to do it?¡± I said, voluntarily.


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± Hye Yoon gave out a dumbfounded expression.


    ¡°Yeah, I have learned an invisibility skill in my previous quest.¡± I added.


    ¡°Not only teleporting but invisibility too!¡± Jeje said, ¡°Are you really sure your profession is a Gambler?¡± he added while giving out a suspicious stare to me.


    ¡°I am¡­¡± I gave out a small laugh. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me you can see at the party info, there¡¯s, my profession is a Gambler.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me where I can learn it! I¡¯m begging you!¡± Jeje added.


    ¡°Give it up Jeje, there are those who are born Genius. The very fact that he managed to learn other professions skills is the proof that you are not a genius, you can¡¯t even learn a skill from other profession that have the same foundation as your profession, and you hope to learn other skill that has entirely different foundation.¡± Zach said with his index finger moving in a ¡®no-no¡¯ motions.


    ¡°Oh yeah?! I almost learned your skill! If it weren¡¯t for¡­¡±


    ¡°Not this again, guys please! The both of you, do you guys really need to argue over every single thing?¡± Hye Yoon reprimanded the both of them.


    Somehow she looked like a mother who was scolding her children.


    ¡°Shhh!¡± Yoon Jae suddenly spoke out, his right hand index finger was put over his lips and his left palm was shown to us as a sign to quiet down.


    ¡°What was I¡­.¡±


    Whoosh!


    It dropped down like a meteor summoning deafening shockwave and cloud of dust. It was a monster that was as big as a normal truck; it had 6 eyes and 8 legs. Its body was covered by black furs. It¡¯s mouth was hung out opened and small sphere of ball was seen being formed.


    ¡°Spider¡¯s web! Everyone duck down!¡± Yoon Jae screamed out.


    Ppuk!


    The Spider¡¯s shoot out its web at our direction, I tried to slice my way through the web but it was so sticky that I was captured along and got plastered onto the wall. It was an ambush by the monsters; I guess the loud voice coming from Jeje and Zach had attracted its attention. My reaction time was not fast enough to deal with the sudden attack.


    ¡°Ichiroku!¡± Zach and Jeje said in unison.


    ¡°Dammit! Guys buff me up, I¡¯ll deal  the Spider. Hye Yoon get Ichiroku down.¡±


    ¡°I got it!¡± Hye Yoon run at my direction at Yoon Jae direction.


    ¡°Take my dagger!¡± I screamed out to Hye Yoon while guiding her with the tip of my lips.


    ¡°What?¡± She answered back looking confused.


    ¡°My dagger! On the ground!¡±


    After she turned her sight around, she finally saw my dagger. She grabbed hold of it and stat cutting through the web. I was released from the web trap in less than a minute. On the other hand Yoon Jae was having a hard time fighting the Spider. There was not only one, but around a hundred of Spiders. The last time I saw a group of monsters that was as many as this was at Verlassen Island. Furthermore, it was no one hundreds, but more than five hundreds if I were to count the Mangdora Creeps and Titans along.


    I fall onto the ground on my knees.


    ¡°Hye Yoon, distract the Spiders attention, and Yoon Jae!¡±


    ¡°What? I¡¯m busy here¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry but I need you to bring your fight further than us¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee but I will try my best!¡± Yoon Jae replied. He leapt into the air and did a triple turn and kick hard on one of the spiders killing it in one blow. The green blood that spurted out from the dead spider had driven the others away from us. ¡°I don¡¯t know what are you planning, but you better do it fast!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­ I will try out my technique that I have learned but did not have the chance to try it out.¡±


    ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re doing¡­¡± Zach said. His fingers were moving furiously over his bard while Jeje was puffing out bass tone from his mouth.


    I retrieved my dagger from Hye Yoon, hold it with both of my hand and pulled at back at my right side as if I wanted to launch a K*meh*me*ha.


    I put forth every mana that I have in my hand. The finishing technique that was taught by No Hair required me to channel my mana into my weapon. However, there is no specific amount of mana needed to execute this technique. Which means, if I keep pouring my mana into my weapon, then my finishing technique will become even powerful.


    My dagger was set ablaze with red fire, weird enough I did not feel any heat from it. Instead I felt very comfortable warmth filling my entire body. Another 10 second passed and the red fire turned into a blue, from there, the blue fire takes form of my dagger, however the blue fire was so fiery that my dagger looks like Poseidon¡¯s Thunder Trident. My mana was left less than 50 when I began to feel the fiery blue heat getting into my skin.


    ¡°Whooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!¡± My voice escaped my mouth as I began to feel the burn in my hand. ¡°Make a way!!!¡± I said out loud.


    Zach, Jeje and Hye Yoon who was looking at me with their mouth hung opened quickly made a way for me. Yoon Jae who kept on driving the Spider¡¯s away from us took notice of this and jumped to the side.


    I tried to activate my instantaneous movement; however there is a restriction that saying I cannot activate any other ability while I¡¯m executing my finishing move. Thus I tried putting my mana into both of my legs. I poured every mana that I had left; by the time I couldn¡¯t feel my legs any more. I launched my body forward.


    A huge crater was created, and a shockwave was seen in the air as I was moving in a very high velocity toward the spiders. I went through the crowds of spiders in split second. They were burned, scorched down to ashes. From hundred, what was left of the amount was nothing more than a few tenth of spiders.  I ran out of mana, but that does not mean I can¡¯t fight.


    ¡°There are only a few of the spiders left! Kill them!¡± I screamed out to Yoon Jae.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me, I already know what I¡¯m supposed to do!¡± Yoon Jae replied.


    I activated my instantaneous movement. Spamming it like crazy and soon ran out of stamina, my satiety bar had already hit 0. Occasionally taking a quick break, I refill my empty stomach.


    It took us 20 minutes to finish exterminating the remaining spiders.


    ¡°Wew¡­. That was quite tiring.¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you serious?! What the hell was that technique back then?! You were like ¡®gaahhhhhh¡¯ and then ¡®roaaarhhh¡¯ and went ¡®ssshiuuuuuu¡¯ and 80% of the spiders were scorched to ashes.¡±


    ¡°Another technique that I learned from my previous quest¡­¡± I replied honestly.


    ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t even bother asking where he learned that skill Jeje, and you Zach! Don¡¯t even bother to give a witty retort!¡± Hye Yoon said even before they managed to say anything.


    ¡°You¡¯re strong¡­¡± Yoon Jae spoke out.


    ¡°Well thank you.¡± I replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how did you become that strong for your level, but I¡¯ll have you know that I am strong too.¡± Yoon Jae said and while blowing his long hair away from covering his sight.


    We spent a few more days in the dungeon. I think they logged out a few times and left me alone, in the dungeon. I logged out only twice as I need to fill my empty stomach and take care of my hygiene.


    We only managed to reach floor 15 of the dungeon as we ran out of food and potion. I think I¡¯ll have more than enough empty bottle to fill it with the fountain¡¯s water. We have registered each other as friend. Though I am pretty sure I¡¯ll delete Yoon Jae, Zach and Jejemon01 from my friend list later. But as we have kind of become quite close, I think I¡¯ll  leave your guys name in my list.


    I¡¯ve gained 13 levels and now I¡¯m level 63. I got 65 additional stat points.


    We went to the general store together and sold all the  loots that we had.


    ¡°We will see each other again!¡± Hye Yoon waved both of her hand to me when we bid our farewell.


    ¡°Thank you for the party!¡± Zach bowed down.


    ¡°Next time please tell me where you learned all of those awesome skills!¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Yoon Jae said nothing and only raised his right hand without turning back.


    On a second thought, I¡¯ll delete you from my friend list Yoon Jae.


    ??????????Part 4??????????


    I was left with exactly 200 lottery tickets, I mean 20 gold. I purposely taking a slow walk as I was dreaming what kind of awesome item would I get from the lottery? A big smile was carved on my lips.


    I just realized that I have yet to invest my additional stat points. I opened my player info and invest it all to luck. I have finally got 200 luck stats.


    POMFT!


    A small explosion accompanied by a thick smoke appeared in front of me.


    She has long blue braided hair up to her hips.. His eyes was blue like the Caribbean Sea, her lips was cherry colored light pink, she has a fair tanned skin and she was wearing a skimpy dress that was made from white satin.


    Wait I know her!


    ¡°Hello, nice to meet you. I am your Goddess of Luck.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re my what?¡±


    ¡°I am Clarissa, your Goddess of Luck¡­ Tee Hee...¡± She replied.


    She was the one who asked me if I¡¯m sure to set my race as human!


    Even though she sticks ¡®tee hee¡¯ at the end of her sentences, she doesn¡¯t sound cute at all. Because what was painted on her looks was tundra arctic expression added with her monotone voice. Clarissa, the Goddess of Luck.


    And this! Was where my adventure had truly begun.


    ??????????Author¡¯s Note??????????


    Translation for NON-ENGLISH Sentences.


    ¡°à©¤ì¤ë ¤±¤É... ºÎ¤«¡­?¡± = I can speak it but¡­ is there anything¡­?


    "Wo guckst du mir hin du Affe?!" =  ¡°What are you looking at you human ape?!¡±


    ¡°"Bist du mich h?ren?" = ¡°Do you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Warum schaust du mich so an? Wenn du ein Problem hast, komm her und sage es mir ins Gesicht und gaff mich nicht so an! ¡± = ¡°Why are you looking at me with that kind of looks? If you a problem come in front and say it clearly and don¡¯t jeer at me like that!¡±


    ¡°Sagst du sof?rt, oder ich werde dieses Messer, die ich hatte in meiner Hand im deinen Rachen schieben¡± = ¡°Speak out or I will push this blade that I had in my hand into your throat.¡±


    ¡°Was willst du??¡±= ¡°What do you want?¡±


    cliffhanger cliffhanger cliffhanger


    Preview for Chapter 14 - Clarissa, the Goddess of  Luck appeared out of nowhere.  Ichiroku unravelled the secret and mystery of Monolith Capsule and Human race that he ought to know before his character creation. He learned the secret behind the difference that Human Race and the other races. And he...


    Fasten your seat''s belt and ready your grammar gun because the Game is On!


    [quote] Thank you Silberwolf325 for the German grammar fix, I had asked my germany friend to translate it for me but he said that your''s are correct to so I change line 2 and 4 according to what you have stated. xD [/spoiler]

 Chapter 14 - Einstel Game!

    ?????????? Part 1??????????


    The skimpy satin outfit was fluttering as the soft wind blew softly.


    ¡°Hello, nice to meet you. I am Clarissa, your Goddess of Luck.¡±


    Once again, her peach colored lips muttered those words.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m lost here¡­¡± I said and I took a few steps backward.


    However, the lady in front of me tilted her face sideways and said, ¡°Sigh¡­ I am your Goddess of Luck. You have reached the minimum amount of Luck enough to summon me.¡±


    What the heck is she on about? ¡°Err¡­ Is that so?¡± I pulled out my dagger out for caution sake. I hid it behind my back. I don¡¯t remember using my Cards to summon her (?)


    ¡°Yes. To be honest, I am put in charge of you so that you won¡¯t put all your additional stats into Luck stat.¡±


    The word just she just uttered had caught me unguarded.


    ¡°Wait what?¡±


    I raised my voice. Seriously! What the heck is going on? She just came out of nowhere, told me that she¡¯s my Goddess of luck and she was put in charge on me so I won¡¯t invest my entire additional stat points in Luck Stat!


    ¡°Excuse me but my train of thought is in disarray right now¡­ Can you explain by you mean by ¡®put in charge of me¡¯?¡±


    The lady sighed, she flicked her fingers and a fluffy cloud that looked like Waze app icon appeared in front of her. She then took her time and sat on the cloud comfortably.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think Einstel Game would just stand by, watching you distribute all your additional stat points to Luck stat and go to the lottery centre and won due to your abnormal amount of Luck do you? That is like ¡®cheating¡¯ to get easy money.


    Furthermore, it would be quite troublesome for us if you do so.¡± She spoke out. Our eye balls were locked onto each other. She pulled out her index finger and pushed it into the mid air, as though she was checking through something.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, I do not expect you to finish your first mission on Human liberation so fast. You got me all worked up you know. Don¡¯t you know that it is a normal sense for people to do their beginner quest and then moved to one of the main quest available?¡± She said while smiling in delight; however what was seen on her eyes were a blank stare of displease.


    ¡°What are you talking about, that was the quest that I got from the mysterious woman. I don¡¯t even know what quest that I should get; I only follow what the other beginner had done!¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± She clicked her tongue.


    ¡°You don¡¯t ¡®sigh¡¯ me! I don¡¯t even know what the hell is going on. Can you explain all of these one by one?¡±


    ¡°It looks like your brain is even smaller than what I thought it would. Well, that explains why you chose human race. I¡¯ll explain things from the very basic of basic.


    You are an owner of Monolith Capsule. Monolith Capsule are very special capsule, there are very limited supply of this. As far as I know there are only 25 of these capsules available in the entire world, and you are one of those owner of the capsule. As you know there are 5 available races that you can pick during the player¡¯s character creation phase. Every race has its own race traits speciality, for example, Dwarfs have a high stamina and strength, and Elf has a very high agility and dexterity.


    The reason why Monolith Capsules are very rare is due to the bonus that it gives out. If you¡¯re a Dwarf you will have 50 strength and stamina stats as starter, but that is if you are using  a pod. But for moonlight capsule owner you will be starting with 150 starting stats, which is 3 times the normal amount.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ but my stats are lower than 10!¡±


    ¡°Exactly, because you had chosen Human as your race! You are the first NON-NPC Human character in Einstel World! I don¡¯t know why do I have to explain things to you when you already know the answers by looking at the foreshadows of events.


    Regardless, human race is the weakest race among the entire race available in Einstel World. Even if you¡¯re a Monolith Capsule owner your stat won¡¯t even match the other player with different races who are using pods.


    This is because of the Human Liberation Quest. Human abilities are restricted due to this quest, thus, in order for you to remove the restriction you have to complete the quests chain.  And in the end gain the same ability and capabilities to stand tall among the other races.¡± She explained.


    ¡°I knew that already¡­ but anyway. You mean if I chose Elf as my race I will have 150 agility and dex as my starting stat at level 1?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU¡­. I¡¯m such a fool!¡±


    ¡°I know right, that was why I asked you twice if you really wanted to have human as your race!¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I was not able to give out a retort to her follow up. ¡°Anyway, why am I the first human anyway? Certainly there are thousands players out there who wanted to have human as their race.¡±


    ¡°Those who have Monolith Capsule are the only people who can choose human race.¡±


    ¡°That is different from what I heard in the advertisement.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Also, I''ve met a lot of capsule owner and none of were interested to have human as their race. The drawback is too huge for them. So I was a little bit surprised to see you chose human as your race. Oh I almost forgot! Human race will be unlocked to public once you finished the Human Liberation Quest.¡± She continued on talking.


    ¡°Dammit, if only I know it earlier¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have chosen human as my race. Now I have to shoulder the fate of human race. What a bad luck!¡±


    She jumped from her cloud seat.


    ¡°Actually you are kind of lucky if you take things from a different angle. First, as a human you are able to learn other profession skills freely; human is a being of limitless possibilities. As long as you have the desire you can reach the unreachable. For example, did you not learn a skill that was exclusive for Ninja <Invisibility>, RedCross Warrior <Instantaneous Step>, and one of 7 Alpha Celestials Arts?¡±


    ¡°One of 7 Alpha Celestials Arts?¡±


    My head hurts. The flow of information that was too many and unorganized made my head hurt! I don¡¯t get what was she talking about. Not even a single sentence!


    ¡°Yes. It is a unique skill that is exclusive to human race, or should I say, Celestial who had become Alpha.  After you killed the Guardian that possessed the Gospel, you will be able to learn their most powerful technique. In your case, you obtained Poseidon strongest attack technique.¡±


    ¡°So are you saying that the finishing move No Hair taught me was the strongest technique that Poseidon knew?¡±


    ¡°Actually it was more to recycled technique but you can look at it that way. Wait a minute... you don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°Well it was news to me¡­¡±


    I started to see the flow of things.


    ¡°Oppst! I shouldn¡¯t have told you that, it should be very confidential information. You supposed to know it by advancing through the quest slowly.¡±


    What with this sense of nonchalant that this lady has?


    ¡°Forget about that, you said about Monolith Capsule being rare right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and what of it?¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me what the other bonuses that it gives out?¡± I asked, throwing another question at her.


    ¡°Other than having 3 times the stat compared to normal player, you have the option to choose between feeling the real pain and die only losing only the allotted amount of EXP or reducing the pain level and die thus losing a level.¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡±


    ¡°Is it really hard for you to understand?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know what you are talking about right now.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ let me put this in a very simple way. For a normal user they only feel 35% of the real pain inflicted from injuries. This is to protect the player mental well being, if we somehow let them experience the ¡®real¡¯ level of pain, no normal player would stay around to play Einstel. However, every time they died they will lose a level.


    On the other hand, for Capsule User who was awarded with 3 times the stat than normal are given chance to either feel 35% of the real pain inflicted from injuries and lose 1 level when they die or feel 100% the pain level and only lose 25% of their current EXP allocated in their EXP bar to reach to next level. You can change between these two options in the small button below the memory card in your Monolith Capsule¡±


    ¡°Well that makes sense¡­ No wonder Jeje lost 2 levels when he died twice. He was not a capsule user eh?¡±


    ¡°That group of Koreans was not a capsule user.¡±


    ¡°Wait... How did you know they are Koreans and now that I think of it, how you knew that I¡¯ve fought with Poseidon before? Did you keep an eye on me the whole time?¡±


    ¡°Ah! There¡¯s that too... But first of all, please refrain yourself from making me sound as if I am a stalker.¡± She said and diverted her attention away from me, while making small jump in the mid-air while circling around me she said, "Do you even read the License Agreement before you agree to it?¡±


    ¡°License Agreement?! What, what does that had to do with the current situation?¡±


    ¡°EVERYTHING! From the Monolith Capsule speciality compared to the pod, until the difference between races! Everything! Including the right to observe your adventure as one of the Monolith Capsule Owner!¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I swallowed hard. Everything she said. How can she expect me to read all that wall of texts?


    ¡°Anyway, the reason why I am here because I want to relay you an offer straight from the Einstel Game.¡± She added.


    ¡°And that is?¡±


    ¡°Einstel Game is offering you to let them broadcast your adventure as a human who strive to liberate the Human race status in Einstel World.  I don¡¯t want to talk much about it so you can just check the offer when you log out from Einstel Online, pull the memory card that is inside the capsule and attach it to your computer. You¡¯ll know what to do when you run the program inside the memory card. I¡¯m too lazy to explain such a simple thing.¡±


    ¡°Ookay¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh by the way, if you¡¯re thinking to invest all of your additional points to your Luck stat. You¡¯re going to regret it.¡±


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    ¡°Now that work is done, I¡¯m going off. I have a movie to catch.¡±


    And she left, leaving me with a lot of questions and ponders. Rather than answering my questions. She¡¯s making me questioning things even more. I mean, Monolith Capsule speciality against pod, the first human, and the offer from Einstel game?! What the hell!


    In the end, I decided to log out and pulled out the memory card inside the Monolith Capsule.


    ?????????? Part 2 ??????????


    I booted up my PC and connect the memory card into one of my super fast USB port.  I was guided through an installation wizard and had to carefully read everything that popped out during the installation as I don¡¯t want to miss anything, again.


    There were a lot of tabs inside the application that I had just installed. I tried to click on the Preview tab but suddenly a notification popped out saying that I had just received a new message. I clicked [Open] on the notification box and I was led to the message that I got.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Greetings!


    I, Van Petrol, on behalf of Einstel Game would like to thank you for your utmost response to our call.


    As you know. You are one of a very few users who had obtained the Monolith Capsule which our Company Einstel Game had distribute secretly.


    You may or may not know of this fact however, only a selected few are able to obtain this New model of engine that is required, for you to connect to Einstel World. As to what you have heard from one of our many messengers had told you. Human are a race that is only selectable for the Owner of Monolith Capsule.


    It is in our greatest interest to know that you had selected your race as Human regardless the huge drawback and downside of being a human. However, we also like you to know that this drawback and downside of being a Human is a play with a cause.


    Our genius programmer Mr. Satty had set the plot of Human Liberation as one of the SSS level quest in Einstel World. This quest is supposed to be dealt with by hundreds of human raid groups. We planned to implant this quest with the new update after unlocking the fourth race to the public.  Soon after the update has been implemented, Mr. Satty had retired.


    Unfortunately, there are some unlucky circumstances that happened when we launched the update.


    Our server was experiencing a heavy lag and this had caused a severe glitch in our system. Human race that supposedly able to be chosen by anyone was locked for a normal POD user was locked. The only players are able to choose Human as their race is Capsule user. However, Capsule gives an enormous bonus and no other Capsule User wanted to have human as their race due to this fact.


    We have tried everything that we can; we even tried contacting Mr. Satty who had gone secluded in his retirement days.  Thankfully, he sent us a message that foretold the ways to unlock the Human Race to pubic.


    In his message he told us that the he himself does not know how to fix the glitch. He revealed that the only way to unlock the Human race to public players (POD users) is by completing the quest. We are well aware that this is a really hard task to be accomplished alone, because this is a SSS quest, the highest level of quest available.


    Thus we have decided to send one of our back programmers to help you with your adventure.


    While we¡¯re at it, we would like to ask for your right to broadcast your adventure for public view. We have concluded that your adventure in Verlassen Island was truly amazing, added with your ¡®monologue¡¯ while you were at the forest. Your adventure had caught the attention of our staffs and investors.


    Rest assured, for we are definitely going to compensate your hard work with a monthly pay of 5 000 dollar. You will receive a bonus for your videos based on the viewers rating.


    We have taken the first step by ¡®following¡¯ your adventure in Verlassen Island. Below is the link to the video of your adventure in Verlassen Island which had been edited by our most pride staff.


    CLICK HERE!</a>


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I closed the message.


    Wow!


    5 000 dollars? How much is that in Yens? Imagine how many lottery tickets I can buy with that?


    I closed the message box. Not even after   second passed after I finished reading the message, another message notification popped out.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Hey,


    Van Petrol here!


    I just wanted to tell you that I really like your fight against the Poseidon; you were so awesome back then! I can¡¯t believe that you actually manage to defeat a Deity Rank Boss on your first mission when you are only level 50.


    You are awesome! Please don¡¯t get discourage on having so many drawback and downside for choosing Human as your race. I just wanted to say that I¡¯ll be following your updates if you ever decided to broadcast your adventure.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Without wasting any time I decided to reply to the mail. As I was too impatient, I made sure to make it short and compact.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Hello,


    I am very interested in your offer to broadcast my adventure. Can you guide me further on what should I do?


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    And I sent the message.


    Ding!


    Another new message!


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Hey!


    I¡¯m glad that you decided to broadcast your adventure. I will try to explain it as simple as possible.


    The Memory Card that you pulled out from Monolith Capsule contains all the adventure that had been recorded for the past 1 month, which is 3 months in Einstel World. Whenever you  plug it into your computer/laptop, a window pop out will ask you to convert your adventure to videos  or open a normal Einstel Game window.


    Do not choose the ¡®Convert adventures to videos¡¯, instead. Open the Einstel Game application, go to the submit section and click on the big submit button. It will guide you through your adventuring days. From there, you can choose what day, what week and what month you want to send your adventure to us.


    Easy right?


    With that said, I¡¯m looking forward to your adventure soon!


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Thus I replied, with a short.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Thank you.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Now that ¡®everything¡¯ is done (?) I swallowed hard.


    Monthly pay of 5 000 Dollars, just for playing game and sending videos!


    WOW!


    I can pay my electric bills, my food and everything that I want to with that kind of money.


    I don¡¯t know what to say. I was simply dumbfounded. I think I will take a nap for a few hours to calm myself down.


    ?????????? Part 3 ??????????


    I was woken up by a warm light of sunshine that was at its zenith.


    Damn! Who the hell pulled the curtains of my room!


    I randomly moved my hand around, trying to find the eye patch that I used to cover my eyes whenever I had problem with falling asleep. But my effort was futile as my hand reached out at nothing but a soft sensation¡­


    Hmm¡­ Is this what I think it is?


    That pattern where you have a childhood friend, everyday she will come into your room and wake you up. Is this that pattern? But wait, I don¡¯t have a childhood friend. Which could only mean?


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    I opened my eyes.


    What was in front of me was no other than the reincarnation of devil herself. Her dark straight and smooth hair that was up to her shoulder, her pink colored cheek due to over applying of blusher make-up and her red colored lips that woman of Red District usually used greeted me.


    ¡°KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!¡± I screamed out using the voice that I pushed out from my diaphragm.


    A folded paper fan was pulled out and slapped me!


    Ppat!


    The sound of paper folding was heard.


    ¡°E-Eruna Nee¡­¡± I squeaked out a tiny voice.


    ¡°Geez! What am I going to do with you?¡± Eruna-nee said her award winning phrase. She looked at me with very displeased eyes and put away my blanket. I fall onto the floor like a rotten pear when one of my legs was caught in the blanket.


    ¡°Y-You¡¯re early¡­¡± I said while being in a prostrated condition.


    ¡°Early? What time do you think it is huh?!¡± She replied.


    Judging from her tone, I can clearly say that she¡¯s angry. Really! Really angry!


    ¡°Er¡­¡± I was unable to reply.


    What time is it again?


    My sense of time is messed up since I played Einstel Online. Well, not really messed up but I didn¡¯t bother looking at what time did I wake up and what time did it went inside the Monolith Capsule. Besides, Einstel World time is 3 times faster compared to real world. I can¡¯t be bothered to look at the time every few hours.


    ¡°It¡¯s 9 in the morning!¡± Eruna-nee said angrily while folding my blanket.


    Well that¡¯s early; I thought its 12 pm already. However, following Eruna-nee and the entire social society standard, it is late.  If you wake up later than 6.30 am you are late, if you wake up at 7 am you are really really late, and if you wake up at 7.30 am. Sooner or later you will end up loitering around at the park, staring blankly at the ground while sitting on a swing. In other word, you got fired.


    However that is not the case for me. Waking up at 9 am is the standard for a NEET. Needlessly to say that I¡¯m playing Einstel Online, lately I don¡¯t get enough sleep and even if I do, I slept in a very ¡®weird¡¯ order.


    ¡°What are you doing lately, it has been 1 week and you didn¡¯t even give me a call. I thought you¡¯re dead or something. Didn¡¯t I tell you that we¡¯re going to be busy and won¡¯t be able to visit you for frequently this month? I told you to give us a call at least 3 times a week? I¡¯ve been waiting for you call for the past 2 days and not even a message was sent to me. I bought that phone for you is not for decoration you know.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I wanted to give a retort. But I can¡¯t.


    ¡°Seriously!? What are you doing with your life? Do you think the monthly allowance that I sent to you is a God sent money? I worked hard for those paper bills. I actually don¡¯t have time to lecture you today.¡±


    You already did.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to go shopping with your sisters, look at your imouto, she¡¯s only 18 and she already got herself a part time job. You¡­ Have you ever seen yourself in the mirror?¡± Eruna-nee sighed and pushed her small make-up mirror in front of me. ¡°What did you see?¡±


    ¡°Whow!¡± I screamed out in disbelief. ¡°I thought it was J-Pop idol, but it was actually me¡­¡± I replied.


    Ppat! Ppak!


    Wolverine cross combo moves was done on both of my cheek.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I apologized and bowed down deeply before my sister. I hate to say this but, if Poseidon has 1 Billion HP with base attack of 100k damage. Eruna-nee HP would be even more than the billions that Bill Gates have, and have even greater base damage than the entire Russian military forces.


    I may be exaggerating it a little. But only a little.


    ¡°Look at your unshaved beard, look at your dirty clothes, and look at your bed or rather look at your life. You look so disorganized.¡±


    ¡°What no¡­ I just cleaned my room yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me this is what you called as ¡®clean¡¯.¡± Eruna-nee said and picked up the tissues that I used last night using a long chopstick that she usually use when picking up my clothes.


    ¡°Err¡­¡­¡­.¡±


    She shook her head and put the tissues into the dustbin.


    I woke up from my prostrated position and tried to sweep the tissues clean and throw it away into the abyss.  However Eruna-nee shouted from afar,


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think to move away from that position.¡±


    ¡°Haiii¡­¡± I replied obediently.


    30 minutes had passed since I¡¯m in this position. I¡¯m used to seiza position so there are no real difficulties staying in this position for a long time. It is true that when I was first put into seiza I felt an intense stinging sensation dancing around on the surface of my feet. However I had level up from the experience and no longer felt that sort of sensation.


    I lied.


    This is actually the kind of expression that I had on my looks right now, (o¡÷o)


    After some time had passed, Eruna-nee finally sat comfortably on the cushion, a cup of green tea was placed in front of her.


    ¡°So?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Even if you ask me, I don¡¯t know what to answer if you said it out of the blue.¡± I replied.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± She let out a sigh and took a sip of her green tea, ¡°You can sit normally now.¡± She added short.


    ¡°Haaaa¡­¡± I let out a long exhale as my legs had finally freed from the tingling stinging sensation that I felt for the past 15 minutes. ¡°Why did you come here anyway?¡± I asked, throwing her a quick glance.


    She put down the tea cup onto the kotatsu.


    *Rustle*


    She pulled out an envelope from her pocket.


    ¡°I took the liberty to check in firsthand.¡± Eruna-nee handed over the envelope to me.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I kept silence. It has been that way since a few years back.


    Mea Onee-chan was doing retail. There are a few times when Mea Onee-chan bought a lot of items for her online job, however the items that she bought for the past month were actually a scam and she was left with debts and received a lot roll payment bills. This was actually happened when Mea Onee-chan got a shady letters in envelope. I don¡¯t really know what happened as I don¡¯t have enough guts to ask what happened. But since then it has been Eruna-nee who will check the any shady envelope first hand.


    I opened the envelope. Inside it was a letter of agreement and contract. It was quite thick. I took a quick scam throughout the contract and let out an exhale. So this is the reason why Eruna-nee didn¡¯t say anything when she saw the Monolith Capsule. The content of it was a contract with Einstel Game for the broadcasting right and everything related to what I had been offered yesterday through my message.


    ¡°I never thought that I¡¯m going to say this but...¡± Eruna-nee paused and took another sip of her green tea, ¡°Who would have know that you can get paid just for playing game.¡± She said, however she added a sigh at the end of her sentence.


    ¡°It¡¯s a news to me too.¡± I replied honestly.


    ¡°So, what are you going to do? Playing that Einstel Online thingy all day long and become a hikikomori?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anything better to do. Besides I get 5 000 dollar as basic.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not going to say anything about this but,¡± Eruna-nee paused and looked at with her eyes half closed.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± I gulped down my saliva, in anticipation of what she was going to said next.


    ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t forget to exercise; you¡¯ll be lying all day on that thing,¡± She said, ¡°and starting from tomorrow, you¡¯ll be living with us.¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± I was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Didn''t you hear me? You¡¯ll be living with us. Just look at yourself. You look so disorganized. Those bentos, is filling out your fridge. You need to eat home-made healthy food, warm food digest better in your stomach. Besides, who¡¯s going to look after you if something happened to you while you¡¯re inside that coffin looking thingy?


    Also, not to mention the electricity bill, are you in any position to pay the electricity bill? You who don¡¯t have even a penny right now? Your pay for playing that game maybe good, but it¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to get to money right away. I¡¯ve told the land lord about you moving. I¡¯ve also paid the electricity bill.¡±


    What is this¡­


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything. Just pack your things. I¡¯ve called the transporter; they¡¯ll arrive in 3 hours.¡±


    What the hell is this¡­


    ¡°I already prepared the boxes needed, so you can take it from my cars and bring it here. I¡¯ll help you to pack up your things. Seeing how ¡®little¡¯ your things are, cleaning up will probably took 2 hours. But don¡¯t worry; your sisters will come later.¡±


    What the hell with this warmth that I felt inside my heart.


    ¡°Wait, Hi-kun¡­ Are you okay? Are you hurt in any place? Did you have a stomach ache?  Geez, this is why I told you that you need to eat healthy food.¡± She added. Eruna-nee came closer to me, she placed her right palm onto my fore head and tap my back lightly.


    ¡°Are you crying? Does it really hurt?¡± Eruna-nee added. Her restless expression that I had not seen for years was painted on her complexion. I can feel her hands trembling when she pat me softly on my back.


    ¡°N-no¡­¡± I added I looked down onto the floor trying to hide my tears, ¡°It just that I got dust in my eyes.¡± I replied.


    All these years,


    I had always thought that my sisters dislike me, especially Eruna-nee. There was not a day when they would not stop ganging up on me and made me feel miserable. I even moved out as soon as I graduated from high school to this small room just to get out from my sisters sight because I thought they don¡¯t like me.


    But the glint in Eruna-nee eyes just then had shown me the complete opposite of things. I should¡¯ve noticed it earlier when she woke me up. She was looking furiously at me, but that was because I did not give them a call. But it was because she was worried about me.


    Unlike usual, whenever she came she will lecture me until my ears become deaf. She will sit comfortably on the cushion while ordering me to clean up. However this time she was the one who does the cleaning. It was weird, but I guess it was because she was too restless that she decided to do something to avert her attention until she calmed down.


    She even settled down everything.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Again, her voice that sounds so worried reached my years.


    ¡°Damn¡­ My eyes¡¯ are leaking.¡± I said.


    ¡°Haii Haii¡­¡± Eruna-nee said and embraced me softly. The both of us said nothing, the way we are now was the same they way we were many years ago. Slowly, I settled down in Eruna-nee arms. Weird enough, I don¡¯t remember having such drama in my life.


    The thought of not having to pay the electricity bill, the room rent, and take out bentos had moved me to tears. I love you my sister! No Incest!


    ?????????? Part 4 ??????????


    The Monolith Capsule that I dissembled placed back in the box from where I retrieved it before is now placed in my new room, at my sister apartment. I had some help from a muscular man who looked like No Hair to put out the box from the lorry. All of my manga collection and anime BDs, I sorted it out carefully in a box which I labeled as ¡®treasure¡¯. I sent in back to my parent¡¯s home.


    As for my clothes and others, well. I just crammed it in one big box. I didn¡¯t fold any of it as I thought I¡¯ll just sort it out later when it¡¯s time for me to unpack things. I regretted it now. All of my clothes had wrinkle on it. But never mind, I¡¯m not going outside anyway. I¡¯m going to stay hole up in my room and play Einstel Online.


    When I was re-assembling the Monolith Capsule, I noticed that there was a small microphone attached near the electricity plug. I must¡¯ve missed it when I was preparing the Monolith Capsule for the first time. I was quite excited at that time to try it out so I wasn¡¯t really paying any details while assembling it.


    By the time I finished unpacking my things it was already late at night. I was busy examining the Monolith Capsule, in case there is any other feature that I might miss. I heard a knock on my door.


    ¡°Nii-chan, its dinner, Eva nee-chan, Irina nee-chan and Eruna-nee are already ¡± My imouto called out to me.


    ¡°In a minute,¡± I replied.


    Taking a last look at the Monolith Capsule, I took my leave with a light tap on the Monolith Capsule. My money maker! 5 000 dollar a month! That means 3 month in Einstel Online. I don¡¯t know what kind of person is the programmer that Einstel Game going to send. But I surely hope that person would be useful.


    If that programmer can be as strong as Eden or even stronger and got all kind of technique and skills, it would be even better! Fighting Poseidon was initiated by a Quest with Grade F, or was it G? Liberating the Human race is SSS level quest! I need to find a strong ally to complete the quest.


    I already had a person in my mind. Yoon Jae!


    Yoon Jae might be reckless and goes into the battle field blindly, but his fighting skills were very remarkable. He doesn¡¯t even have any fighting <Technique> but he can deal a lot of damage over time. I have yet to see he execute any Dancer¡¯s skill. But I¡¯m pretty sure it would be awesome.


    I don¡¯t have any use for Zach and Jeje. As for Hye Yoon. Hmm¡­


    Woo Hooooooo HOOOOO!


    ¡°Ah Hi-chan.¡± Eva Nee-chan called out to me when I sat down on one of the chair. ¡°What? You finally decided that you can¡¯t live without food and decided to crawl back to your sisters for help?¡± Eva Nee-chan added while jokingly while pointing her chopstick at me.


    ¡°Eva-chan!¡± Eruna-nee said calmly. However, deep inside her calm front, what was hidden behind her tone was a stern warning. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to never point your chopsticks at others?!¡± she added with a smile.


    I could felt an intense chill knocking down the calcium on my bone when I saw Eruna-nee smile.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Hi-chan, you¡¯re here. What? You ran out of food at your home?¡± Mea-nee chan who just came out from her room casually greeted me. She took her seat right in front of me.


    ¡°Mea nee-chan. What did I said about the way you greeting others?¡±


    ¡°Gek! Eruna-chan! D-didn¡¯t realize that you were there.¡± Mea nee-chan said when she saw Eruna-nee was staring at her.


    ¡°Well then, now that we¡¯re all here. Let¡¯s eat.¡±


    ¡°Itadakimasu.¡±


    I finished eating. Helped my imouto washing the dishes, watch Gaki no Tsukai Arehende and went to bed. I don¡¯t really all that Gung Ho to get back into the game; the Monolith Capsule is not going anywhere anyway.


    I woke up at 6 AM sharp. I had promised my imouto that we would go for the radio exercise together. I think it is time for me to build my physical strength too. I heard that being active physically in real life brings a lot of advantage to you in Einstel Online.


    At 7 am I had my breakfast.  Get my business done  in the toilet and leave a message one a paper stick,


    ¡°There¡¯s a microphone that you can use to talk to me while I¡¯m inside the game. It is located near the electricity plug.¡±


    With that settled I got back into the Monolith Capsule and,


    Game On!


    ?????????? END ??????????


    Joke.... With this chapter, I finished writing volume 1. I will take a few days off (Probably a week) as I need to thought of a new quest, with a new character, new type of monster, new map, new villian, new trash talk. I wonder if I publish this into E-book and sell it at amazon would someone bother to buy it


    Anyway. Please correct me if there are lots of typos and sentences that does not make sense. *Threw a meaningful glance at VincentAtd*


    Also, check 2 of my new story that I wrote for fun. Don''t worry as I will  priotize Game On! over the others.


    Hi!  My name is Satan!


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    As you can see from the title My name is Satan is this is just a blog of my weekly life (?) This is not a story about re:birth or Virtual Reality. Those who had that in expectation, you can hurry on and find another title like Game On! Or whatever.


    This is just a story about me and my life in hell, who loves human world. I advise for reader discretion as I¡¯m going to spout a lot of 18x crap.


    Because why?


    I am Satan. What do you expect?


    MATURE due to Language and possibly future sex scene. Read at your Own Risk.


    Categories: Comedy , Horror , Crossover , Reader Interactive , Original ,


    and also,


    There is no way my childhood friend can be this cute!!!


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Do you know what is love?


    You don¡¯t? Same here. People said that when you¡¯re in  love your hearts tightening and it would not stop beating fast.


    I somehow felt the same, toward a certain someone. Lately, the way I looked at her somehow began to change. But it must be  my imagination right? Because there is no way my childhood friend can be so cute!


    Categories: Original, Romance, Comedy

 List of Characters (Future)

    A little bit rant. I was quite taken aback when I saw the chapter 1 got 58 k views and I somehow ended up in top 5 most viewed. Well that was weird. Even the prologue have only 2.7k views. Anyway, this is the list of characters that I plan on using from now onward. Please feel  free to give a suggestion for characters personalities, I''m sucks at creating side-characters personalities.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>List of future characters (Based on Guild)</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Guild ~Einx~ (Koreans)


    So Young


    Soo Jun


    Min Soo Ahn


    OMEGA


    Hye Yoon


    Yoon Jae</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">~Eclipse~ (Japanese)


    Eris


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Kurogane


    Megane Ko


    Kurosawa


    Leader</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">~Gana~ (Germany)


    Alex


    Alexa


    Alexanderia


    Ziina</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cresent Sun (Chinese)


    Zhao An


    Min Jue


    Xiao Yue


    Siusiu


    Soi Yan</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">~LBTW~ Sabahan


    Alson


    Gentui


    Killiu


    Piazau</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I already had a few thought of quests that our MC going to unravelled. However, I am OPEN for suggestion.


    If any of you had any ''type'' of monsters that you would like to see in action. Do not hesitate to tell me your opinion regarding its attack pattern or speciality.

 Volume 2 - Chapter 1 - New Companions : part 1

    ?????????? Part 1 ??????????


    Tidit! Tidit! Tidit!


    The alarm that Hichiroku had set before he went to bed rang loudly. Turning off the alarm, He lightly tapped on the digital clock that he had put near his pillow. A big yawn escaped from his wide opened mouth as he descends from his bed. He looked at his digital clock.


    5 AM.


    ¡°It has been quite a long time since I last wake up this early.¡± He thought to himself


    Hichiroku is Ichiroku real name. He had dropped the alphabet ¡®H¡¯ in his name when during the character creation. He had thought about using a random name during the character creation phase. However the names that he had chosen had already been used by other players.  Thus he adapted a new name, from Hichiroku to Ichiroku.


    While many others spent 20 hours or more in Einstel Online a day in real world, he had spent about 11 ¨C 16 hours regularly and often went to sleep when he had his brain worked over. Had he have another things to do, he would only play the game for 5 hours max.


    He had made his character randomly without looking for information in the official page. He was never serious in playing Einstel Online because he had planned to sell the Monolith Capsule, get money and continue on playing lottery in real life. The very prove of it was his never ending complains and half hearted action when playing Einstel Online. The only reason why he desperately tries to finish the quest that he had accepted was due to his desire to gamble and play the lotteries at the Game Centre.


    However, Hichiroku has entirely different reason now. To be accurate, he had a new reason for playing Einstel Online. A few days ago his presence was asked at Einstel Game. Bringing along the documents and the contract offer, he was received at the receptionist as a VIP. He was not to be kept waiting; as two young ladies led him directly to the CEO of Einstel Game office.


    Einstel Game was founded by a person called Mr. Le Roy Basel.  Starting from a small company a few decades ago, he and his comrades thrive to make a game that can satisfy human desire. Starting from Visual Novel to RPG, they had released countless game that cannot be count by fingers. Nonetheless it was until a few years ago, Einstel Game was a no-name company.


    The uprising of Einstel Game began when they introduced a game that could set human limit free in a new world call Einstel World; it was from the help of their main programmer Mr. Satty that the virtual reality was made.


    However, it was just a few month ago when Einstel Online server was brought online. People are most fascinated by the game for the essence of realism that it had. The disabled can walk, the blind can see, the mute can talk. With the slogan ¡®set your limit off from human¡¯, Einstel Online introduced 4 main races in the game.


    Elves, Orc, Dwarf and Beast,


    A few months after the server was brought online, Einstel Game has introduced another race that can be chosen by players, the Human race. However, unforeseen glitch had happened when the update was ongoing due to a severe lags, this had caused a major problem with the update patch. Players were not able to choose human as their race.


    Einstel Game had tried a lot of things to fix the bugs and error but it was to no luck.


    Mr. Satty who was their main genius programmer had retired from game making and no longer working with Einstel Game.  Fortunately they managed to get in touch with him; however Mr. Satty the genius himself was not able to resolve the issue. Thus, he had sent one of his students to crack the code and fix the error. At best that they managed to done, was changing the patch index and create a new series of quests to unlock the Human race instead of unlocking it altogether.


    Human race is now selectable by player who has Monolith Capsule. There are only about 25 Monolith Capsules that had been distributed across the world. About half of Monolith Capsule owner had logged into the game. Although Human race are selectable by Monolith Capsule users, none of them desired to be human because of the huge drawback and limitless unknown restriction that had been put onto human.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Einstel Game had thought about making a new Monolith Capsule and hires a person to do the quest for them. However, Monolith Capsule was personally engineered by Mr. Satty and there is no other mean for them to obtain Monolith Capsule other than getting it directly from Mr. Satty. Unfortunately, after Mr. Satty sent his disciple there was no more news that was heard from him.


    They had tried to convince every owners of Monolith Capsule during their character creations to play as human; however there is no one that interested even if there were cash included in the offer.


    But their search had finally come to an end. The man who shoulders the fate of Human race is now standing in front of the Einstel Game CEO, Van Petrol.


    Looking at Hichiroku with a smile full of delight, Van Petrol offered his handshake. Van Petrol was a man of 2 meters tall, wearing a black suit with a nicely pulled back hairstyle, wearing fashionable glasses completing his ¡®white collar¡¯ looks.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you can make it here.¡± Van Petrol said.


    ¡°Same here.¡± Hiciroku replied short.


    ¡°Please take your seat.¡± Van Petrol added while showing his hand to a long sofa at one corner of his office.


    Van Petrol took out a thick envelope from his table walked to his way near Hichiroku. He took out the content of the envelope and placed it softly onto the small table in front of Hichiroku.


    ¡°This is the official contract that our company had prepared beforehand. I take that you had completely read the agreement and offer that we had written down.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I read it.¡± Hichiroku said with a smile.


    ¡°I will state down the agreement that we had offered once again for confirmation. As what I had said from our recent chat, we will be broadcasting your adventures in Einstel Organization Life Broadcast. From every views and rating that you got, we will be giving you a downright payment as soon as you wish for it to be made, which is a week after the video brought online at Einstel Game website.


    As you sign this contract, you will become one of our thousands employees. Your monthly pay would be 5 000 dollars, please be aware that we are using real life month rather than Einstel World month. However! We realize that 5 000 dollars alone won¡¯t be enough for you as this quest is a high level quest. Thus, we will increase your wage based on your performances.


    Not only that, we are also willing to pay for your electricity bill in your stead. Having Monolith Capsule for 24/7 would surely put a bang of load on your electricity bills. We are also willing to hear your opinion on the matter regarding to Einstel Online. Now, any question that you want to ask or hear?¡± Van Petrol said.


    ¡°There is only one thing. You said that there will be a programmer or some sort that will accompany me in my journey right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and what of it?¡±


    ¡°Do you have any info that I can rely one for future reference?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is a need for that as you had actually met her, but I only say that she¡¯s a very reliable person. She¡¯s the first disciple of Mr. Satty in programming. Well she still has her issues but, I think you will get along just fine with her. Also, we cannot help you regarding money in Einstel Online. You have to work on your own to fund your travel expense in the game just like a normal player.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Hichiroku only nodded. Deep inside his heart he already knew who the person that Van Petrol was talking about was. ¡°Get along just fine? Pftt¡­.¡± That was what he thought.

 Volume 2 - Chapter 1 - New Companions : part 2

    ?????????? Part 2 ??????????


    You got a new message!


    Such notification was received by Ichiroku. He opened his private message inbox and saw Yoon Jae message. Ichiroku had been in contact with Yoon Jae since they went to into the hidden dungeon that Yoon Jae found last time. They had been on their separate ways for a few weeks in Einstal World and decided to re-challenge the dungeon once again after they had level up. Since the day Ichiroku had met Clarissa, the Goddess of Luck. He had level up quite a lot by killing the monsters that he met during his travel to Beginner town.


    Since the day Ichiroku obtained his first Gospel. There were a few changes that he had experienced. First, he is now able to learn a skill manually without having to learn it from book or passed down by an NPC. As long as he knows the condition and requirement, he can learn it.


    For example, by slashing his dagger continuously he was able to learn a passive skill; <Slash> which enhances his dagger base damage by 3%. Not only that, a few days ago he was fighting against an army of low level slime. Due to the large level and stats difference, Ichiroku only need to step on the slimes to finish them off. Thus he learned <Stomp> which gives out 23% chance to deal a stun effect to the nearby enemy.


    One of the most obvious changes that he had experience was his stat. His stat description had taken great change in details.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Strength ¨C Strength is power, it affect your physical defense and your physical attack. 1 strength stat gives you 5 attack power and 3 defense point. Strength is the most essential stat that is needed for a close range attack.


    Stamina ¨C Stamina affect your hit point, for a long and hard battle having a high stamina is very essential. Having a high stamina increase your survival rate, 1 stamina point gives you 50 hit points.


    Dexterity ¨C Dexterity is what affects your accuracy and aim and your critical strike rate. Every 1 point of dexterity allows you to increase your attack range of 5 meters. Dexterity is the most essential stat for rangers.


    Agility ¨C Speed, it increases your damage per second and your critical damage and your travel speed by foot.


    Intelligence ¨C Intelligence is important when it¡¯s about deciphering an old ancient tome. Intelligence also affects your experience level and skill level up.


    Wisdom ¨C With great knowledge, you are awarded with great power. Wisdom affects your mana point that lets you activate a skill. Every 1 wisdom stats gives you 50 mana points.


    Endurance ¨C Endurance affect block rate and parry. You cannot distribute point to this stat.


    Luck ¨C Luck plays great roles in your activity. Drop rate for item are greatly affected by the amount of luck that you have. It also enhances your critical rate, skill execution success rate, evasion success rate, extra damage rate, and increase the probability to find a hidden dungeon.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Two of his stat had undergone a great change in details. Each 1 point of his wisdom now grants him 50 mana points. And his Luck stat description that was only revolving around things like gambling and games had began to show its real usefulness.


    ¡°Enhances your critical rate, skill execution success rate, evasion success rate, extra damage rate, and increase the probability to find a hidden dungeon¡­¡± Ichiroku repeated the word that he read from his stat info.


    He was told to stop spamming his additional stats point and focus on his other stat too. He was also told that he can raise his luck stat manually by winning a game or bet in any sort of competition that he participates.


    Thus, without deviating from his original plan after he reached Tidal Harbor. He went on his way to Beginner town, or rather to Beginner¡¯s Town Game Centre. However, he was not travelling alone. He was travelling with a young lady who looked pretty much displease with their current situation.


    ¡°Hey¡­ ¡­¡± A soft maiden voice visits Ichiroku¡¯s ear.


    ¡°What?¡± Ichiroku replied without turning his head towards the voice direction.


    ¡°Do you mind explaining what exactly are we doing right now?¡± The soft maiden voice was once again heard. However, there was a trace of irritation could be felt from her tone.


    ¡°What do you mean by what we are doing Clarissa? We¡¯re travelling to Beginner town where else?¡± Ichiroku replied, sounding quite irritated himself.


    ¡°I know that you idiot! What I mean is why do we have to travel by foot when we can get a carriage?¡± The owner of the voice was Clarissa, the Goddess of Luck.


    ¡°Right¡­ about that¡­ It was your fault wasn¡¯t it?¡± Ichiroku threw Clarissa a side glance.


    ¡°What do you mean my fault? It was your fault!¡± Clarissa retorted with a menacing glare.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t stop me from catching those wild horses we can get ourselves a ride already!¡±


    ¡°What are you, an idiot? Wait you are an Idiot. Those monsters are not wild horses, those are Centaurs! There are 30 level differences between us and the Centaurs. You may only lose 25% of your experience if you die, but I will lose a level!¡± Clarissa shouted out loud baring her fangs on Ichiroku.


    Clarissa is a Pod user. She¡¯s a Beast with the appearance of a cat. Beast has the appearance of a humanoid animal. Beast players will have their entire body covered by furs. However, their appearance can be altered with player¡¯s customization. But of course, only those with money can afford to alter their appearance.


    On the other hand, the only thing that is ¡®catty¡¯ about Clarissa was her ears and her tails. Clarissa is the first disciple of Mr. Satty, she was the person who was in charge of changing the patch index to enable a player to liberate Human race and unlock the race for all Pod users. There is no surprise on how she looked like because she can easily alter her appearance. She had thought about ¡®patching¡¯ her character¡¯s stat too. But it had caused an unforeseeable bug, and she reset the changes made later on.


    ¡°Wait what? Are you serious? I can spam my Instantaneous Step and kill them all in a jiff.¡± Ichiroku replied.


    ¡°Seriously?! You will run out of satiety even before you can kill them all.¡± Clarissa retorted again. ¡°You can¡¯t spam your Instantaneous Step like what you had done in Verlassen Island.¡±


    True enough, Ichiroku had not only experienced a change in his learning ability and stats functions. His Instantaneous skill that seemly to be the most useful ability that he had had also degraded in quality. His Instantaneous now had somehow affected by his satiety. Using Instantaneous Step repeatedly will cause a sharp decline in Ichiroku satiety.


    This is the main reason why he and Yoon Jae group only managed to get to floor 15 of the dungeon.


    He had experimented this before, the result was; spamming Instantaneous Step for 3 minutes will caused his satiety goes from 100 to 0. However if he use it with a delay of 1 minute of each instantaneous movement there will be no apparent change in his satiety. For argument sake, he utilized his instantaneous step to its max when he was fighting with monsters.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Ah! I guess you¡¯re right. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Ichiroku said in reply. He is used to apologizing to the opposite gender due to his sister¡¯s strict education.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you know that.¡± Clarissa replied while sighing.


    In reality, Ichiroku still thinks that he can handle them somehow; his evasion technique had been upgraded with the change in Luck stat¡¯s details. However, he kept his mouth shut, in order not to incur another sharp reply from Clarissa.


    Along their way, they will stumble upon a group of monsters that came attacking out of nowhere. There were no real difficulties when they were dealing against the monsters. Acting as the vanguard, Ichiroku would always be the one who first launches his body forward.


    Clarissa and Ichiroku are in a party. Regardless who were the one that does the killing, both of them received the same exp.


    Seldom Ichiroku would initiate a conversation with Clarissa, trying to break the awkward silence. He had asked about Clarissa statement when he first met her about being his Goddess of Luck. Only later it was actually revealed that she¡¯s not an actually Ichiroku¡¯s Goddess of Luck. But she will become Ichiroku¡¯s Goddess of Luck if Ichiroku followed her guide and order.


    Ichiroku could only nod at her explanations and say no word of disagreement. Clarissa''s profession is a Priestess; all of her skills are at Phase 2 Heroic. She does not have any other special skills like Ichiroku, but that does not mean that she¡¯s weak. She was able to fight against a Spider on the same footing. However she is weak if compared to Ichiroku.


    Clarissa¡¯s beast race itself gave her a great boost in evasion. Even though her damages are considerably low, her nimbleness and healing skills confirms her survival. However, she too was the same as Ichiroku. She may have experience in fighting monsters on one on one, but she does not have any confidence facing off a group of monsters. But different from Clarissa, Ichiroku had gained his own share of experience fighting a lot of monsters right of the bat in his first quest.


    Facing with a different situation, dealing with unnatural atmosphere, all sort of alien environment was fed to him right off the bat on his first day playing Einstel Online. This had caused a mental fatigue for Ichiroku. Ichiroku who was only a NEET before was not able to stomach the current situation that he was facing; he complains a lot and cursed a lot. However, he had gained enough confidence to fight against the monsters and explore into new unknown places.


    Ichiroku, who does not have any sort of Martial Art skill in real life, had utilized every skill that he had learned during the fight in Verlassen Island. Through luck and perseverance he managed to defeat Poseidon. From there on, he had gained great boost of confidence.


    ¡°I find it quite weird for a programmer to have Priestess as a Job.¡± Ichiroku spokes out.


    ¡°I find it quite weird myself that I have become a Priestess. I would¡¯ve work better as Dancer.¡±


    Clarissa and Ichiroku started a conversation as they take a slow walk on a long empty road, under the shades of tree.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Ichiroku could not find word of reply to a conversation that he himself initiated. For some odd reason he was reminded of Hye Yoon dancing sexily on the dungeon floor wiping the ground clean with her voluptuous body.


    ¡°I mean, I can dance just fine. I tried dancing so many times but I just can¡¯t seems to unlock the profession requirements.¡± She said.


    ¡°What are the requirements?¡±


    ¡°Dancing using your hand only, dancing using your legs only and dance with your entire body.¡± Clarissa replied short.


    ¡°Well that was easy; you only have to do 3 things. I need to have a certain item and a certain action before I was able to gain the Gambler profession. Now that I think of it, I am really lucky.¡±


    ¡°Was that supposed to be a pun?¡± Clarissa stopped walking and diverted her attention to Ichiroku.


    ¡°What pun?¡±


    ¡°Never mind¡­¡± Clarissa sighed and continued on walking.


    They kept on talking about how they managed to unlock their profession. Ichiroku had also told Clarissa about how he fought against his first monster. To his surprise, Clarissa only knew about his quest in Verlassen Island, and not the details on how he managed to finish the quest. Clarissa kept on staring at Ichiroku with her mouth hung opened.


    Clarissa gave Ichiroku a series of slow clap.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you had to fight that hard¡­¡± She said. ¡°I would¡¯ve run away instead of fighting those monsters. Having to fight more than 500 Mermen, and a battle against Mermen King, I didn¡¯t know that Poseidon was actually a Mermen King. I was actually busy leveling up when the higher up told me that you have defeated Poseidon, and told me that I have to meet you to explain the current situation.


    I took the liberty to look at your player¡¯s info directly from our server data base and found out that you had invested all of your additional stat point. I guess I was pretty much pissed off because you invested all of your stat points to luck instead of strength stats when I had difficulties to finish off a monster due to my low attack ability. I may have sounded very arrogant and rude at that time, for that I apologize!¡± Clarissa bowed down.


    ¡°Wait, no!¡± Ichiroku tried to stop Clarissa. ¡°You were right actually. I should¡¯ve thought more about investing my stat points. After all we are going to do quests that is almost impossible to be completed by 2 players. It¡¯s about time for me to think carefully on what stat build that I should do.¡± Ichiroku added.


    ¡°Even so I am sorry. When I saw your video feed when you were fighting alongside those Koreans I thought you were a showoff. But apparently I was wrong.¡± Clarissa said, she raised her head and looked at Ichiroku with her cat ears moving cutely.


    Ichiroku, who saw that event, placed his right palm and covered both of his eyes. His face was beat red. ¡°There is no way my helper can be this cute!!!¡± he thought to himself.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s okay.¡± He added while moving his palm away from his face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my knowledge about the monsters can be a great help in our adventure. I know almost everything about the monsters in this game; my teacher had told me almost 87% of monsters and their specialties. I even made a log of it in my computer.¡±


    Clarissa does not have the ability to deal a great damage, however she knew almost all the details there is about monsters in Einstel Game. The reason to this was, her Teacher, Mr. Satty had always talked about the monsters that he had created and its behavior when he was teaching Clarissa online.


    Clarissa, on the other hand was a good student. She never questions her teacher¡¯s way of teaching and always put forth her attention at every single thing that her teacher taught her. This was also one of the reasons why Mr. Satty had sent Clarissa in his stead.


    ¡°Well then, please take care of me from now on.¡± Ichiroku said and bowed down humbly before Clarissa.


    ¡°You can count of me!¡± with a complete attitude change, she gave Ichiroku her thumbs up.

 Volume 2 - Chapter 1 - New Companions : part 3

    ?????????? Part 3 ??????????


    After 1 week long travelling by foot, they had finally reached the outskirt of Beginner Town. Beginners could be seen fighting against Wild Rabbit in a group and solo. Wearing leather armor and a long braided pant, the beginners fought the Wild Rabbit diligently with a smile on their face. On their hands was a normal sword for beginner. Different from Ichiroku, Ichiroku does not have any sword when he started. If it weren¡¯t for the dagger, he would have fought the Mermen barehanded.


    Ichiroku went straight to the Game Centre with the excuse of raising his luck stat by gambling. On the other hand, Clarissa made her way to the Adventurer Hall to obtain the entire map of Einstel World. Different than regions map that needed to be registered from the region¡¯s hall.


    Beginner town looked exactly like what Ichiroku had first thought. It was a busy city, abundant with economy activities and newbie players. Merchants were seen along the busy sidewalk, screaming to their throat.


    ¡°Vincent Art Armor! Vincent Art Armor! I got a few Vincent Art armor for a cheap price. It will boost your defence and your appearance, a very matching armor for any new players with Artisan¡¯s variation profession. 40 silvers only! First come first serve!¡±


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I brought you the latest loot that we got from Beginner¡¯s town outskirt dungeon! We have fought the Orangorang bravely and managed to retrieve the most exquisite weapon and armor that you can ever find in Beginner¡¯s Town. I bring you Ronjest Spear and Scarecrow armor, both for 1 gold and 20 silver. We have only 4 set of this.¡±


    ¡°I am looking for party! I¡¯m level 15 Merchant, I don¡¯t have any spectacular skill but I can become your bag. I have thrice the amount of bag that you normally have. Can anyone party with me; I need to reach level 30 before next week.¡±


    ¡°Can anyone spare me some bread? I don¡¯t have any silvers with me, but I will sure to pay it back twice the amount later!¡±


    ¡°Nervous because this is your first time playing this virtual reality? Confused about what you need to do? You don¡¯t have enough courage to fight against the monster? You don¡¯t have any battle tactics when you¡¯re fighting against more than one monster at a time? Well do not fret! We will give you a tour and guide you on every single aspect in game for beginner with the price of 1gold and 5 silver only.¡±


    Such screams were heard everywhere in the middle of Beginner Town city. However, Ichiroku took no heed to it. He walk in a fixed pace, moving without paying any attention to his surroundings. Reflected in his eyes was only one thing, Game Centre.


    He entered the premises. He then drew a big smile on his looks, and slowly his mouth was hung opened. Without any delay, he moved to the one usual spot that he found familiar. The lottery corner, he spent 5 gold on lottery tickets. However, much to his grimace he did not get anything good other than a few Great HP Potions.


    ¡°Weird¡­ my luck supposed to be a lot better now. This is weird.¡± Ichiroku thought while scratching his head that was not even ecchi, I mean itchy.


    He thus, spent a few more gold on the lottery. However, the result was worse than before as he did not win anything. His gold that is on his possession is now less than 10. Ichiroku stopped buying the lottery when his gold amounted less than 10 gold. ¡°My luck stat is 200¡­ What the hell is going on?¡±


    Ichiroku spent an hour inside the Game Centre. In the end, he fled the scene almost empty handed. As he exited the premises, two dry eyes stare into the empty sky, unable to perceive anything. Much as God who was not able to understand the will of fallen angels Satan and Lucifer.


    He let out a long exhaled breathand he took a step only to fall on his knees. His eyes were showing whites as bubble began to flow out from his mouth. He looked like a CEO that had his company bankrupted due to his assistant using the company¡¯s money to gamble and lost.


    Ichiroku dazzling light of hope disperses into the thin air with the cries of the crowds. However, there were no players who bothered to bat an eye on the man who came out from the Game Centre looking so pathetically.


    After a few minutes later, Ichiroku got back on his two legs. He began walking aimlessly blending perfectly into the crowds of side-characters. His weakened legs walk sloppily along sidewalk in front of the Game Centre. It was not long before a soft pat visited his right shoulder.


    ¡°I understand your feeling¡­¡±


    Ichiroku turned his head. An old Elf that looked like a magician was nodding his head repeatedly. He was wearing a long white robe; however he had a black colored hair and beards.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but who are you?¡± Ichiroku said meekly.


    ¡°My name is Gandarf. I myself am an avid fan to gambling. I¡¯ve been gambling at this place since the first day I played the game. However there was not a time when I was able to hold the loot of my bet.¡± Gandarf sighed. He raised his looks and stare at Ichiroku eyes, ¡°But what I see in your eyes is unprecedented amount of luck, you are on entirely different level than me! Maybe you can somehow work it out?¡±


    ¡°Work out what?¡±


    ¡°Here, after 3 months playing the lottery I had won this map. But I don¡¯t know what kind of map it is, but I bet it must¡¯ve been some kind of treasure map or something. Anyway, I¡¯m willing to trade this map for little gold¡­¡± Gandarf added and while rubbing his palm against each other.


    ¡°You mean you¡¯re selling it to me?¡±


    ¡°Well, you can put it that way.¡± Gandarf added.


    ¡°How much?¡± Ichiroku asked bluntly.


    ¡°For you, it would only cost about 10 gold.¡±


    ¡°What? That is way too expensive. I can buy 100 lotteries tickets with that.¡±


    ¡°But try to think of this, this map is a very rare map! I¡¯ve tried to search for the location that was shown in this map at the Adventurer Hall¡¯s world map but there was no showing where this map might be. So I¡¯ve been thinking that this might be some special, or what they call as secret map?! Surely the reward would be more than 10 gold.


    I wanted to go and find for it myself but I¡¯m too lazy to do it. After all I just like gambling, not treasure hunting. I actually ran out of money right now and in need for quick cash. How about it?¡±


    ¡°But I only have 5 gold left.¡± Ichiroku replied and pulled out  5 gold coins from his pocket.


    Gandarf swallowed hard.


    ¡°Gold is okay too.¡± He snatched the gold from Ichiroku¡¯s palm away and gave him the treasure map in exchange. ¡°THANK YOU!!¡± Gandarf said while running to the Game Centre.


    Ichiroku  had actually 7 gold and 12 silver left, he lied about having only 5 gold because it would left a bad taste in his mouth having no money while travelling even though he got a lady as companion.


    He opened the map. The map shows a location that he does not have any clues about. Thinking that Clarissa would know something about the map, he put it away inside his inventory bag and continued on walking. They had made an arrangement to meet at the Guild¡¯s Hall to search for information.


    Even though Clarissa managed to a re-patched the patch index, thus made unlocking the Human race availability through quest possible, Clarissa herself does not know any further information about the continuation of the quest.


    After an hour of walking around, finally they had found each other. Without any other further delay Ichiroku pulled out the map and asked Clarissa if she have any idea regarding the map.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever heard about this map before. My teacher had never told me something like this, are you sure this wasn¡¯t forged?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s forged, the map looks legit enough.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve asked a few questions here and there and there is only one thing that I know. I don¡¯t know how to explain it but, things are going to get difficult from now on.¡± Clarissa added.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°The info that I got are different from the info that I had read from the storyboard planner. Actually Sea Demon King was one of the Boss Monster who owned a Gospel. However, the Gospel that it supposed to have was the First Gospel. But you had defeated Poseidon and obtained the Gospel from him instead.¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°..and?¡± Ichiroku added with a very confused complexion seen painted on his face.


    ¡°The Einstel world that Einstel Game had created, might not be the same ¡®world¡¯ that they had imagined it to be.¡± Clarissa added.


    Unbeknownst to Ichiroku, due to the glitch that happened during the update, the game had been evolving through the AIs. The glitch caused all connection to AIs had been cut off, and now the AI are moving on independent without a single string of code attach to the main server control system. In another words, The AIs had been moving about without any sort of command. The only things that it had are its personality, and background story, which they lived with inside the virtual world.


    ¡°Actually, at first we thought it was only a little bug, however the game is changing in a direction that the story board planning had written it. And I just confirm it just now, after Sea Demon King died, he will leave an artifact, and the artifact could be a clue to our next destination. But the Sea Demon King did not leave any artifact behind when it died. What was left was only a huge EXP and great amount of prestige. It was as if the game is evolving.¡± Clarissa explained.


    ¡°The game is evolving?¡± Ichiroku said in an amazed tone, he had always read about a game evolving without the consent from its maker in stories. But this was the first time he experienced the change itself.


    ¡°Now that you said it, the map might be some sort of clue for our next destination. Who knows what there is in this map for us!¡± Ichiroku said excitedly. He had tried to sound cheerful in attempt to make himself feels good about the ¡®bad investment¡¯ that he had in the Game Centre.


    Clarissa frowned. She spread opened the map in Ichiroku¡¯s hand and looked at it very carefully. She tried rubbing her palm against the map trying as though she was trying to clean it. Ichiroku on the other hand only looked at Clarissa without blinking.


    ¡°You find something?¡± Ichirou asked.


    ¡°No¡­ However this map somehow intrigued me.¡± She replied, ¡°You said about a man who looked like Gandalf right?¡±


    ¡°No, I said nothing about Gandalf. I was saying that his name was Gandarf.¡± Ichiroku added, but his answer was only to be replied with another question.


    ¡°Did he say anything else about this map other than the potential of it being a treasure map?¡±


    ¡°Well, he did say about the location that was shown on this map cannot be found at the Adventurer Hall¡¯s world map. I have yet to see what does Einstel World Map looked like so I can¡¯t say it for sure. But I had a good feeling about it so I bought the map.¡± Ichiroku said, ¡°But I¡¯m pretty sure that there would be some use and meaning in this map.¡± He added.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Clarissa replied, simultaneously turned her attention to Ichiroku.


    ¡°Yes!¡± He replied, ¡°Because I have a freaking 200 luck stat and I wasted more than 20 gold only to get a few crappy items. It would be weird if that map isn¡¯t some kind of event item that triggered by my bad luck, when I¡¯m supposed to be lucky because I have 200 freaking luck!¡± Ichiroku screamed inside his little heart.


    After Clarissa heard Ichiroku answer that was filled with brimming confidence, once again she looked at the map, trying to notice every single detail that she might have missed due to her impatience. She took the map from Ichiroku¡¯s hand and raise it up above the air, facing against the sun.


    ¡°Aha!¡± Clarissa screamed out.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I think I know what to do with this!¡± She replied excitedly. The map was put onto the ground. On the other hand, Clarissa began moving her hand restlessly until she realized that the thing she was looking for was inside her inventory bag. ¡°Open Inventory.¡± She  said.


    As though she was poking the oxygen that floats in the air, Clarissa pushed her fingers maneuvering her way through her Inventory. She screamed out ¡°This is it!¡±, and pulled out a torch from her inventory.


    ¡°I have seen this in the movie, in every detective story there would surely be a scene were they put the map against the heat and the hidden image will be revealed.¡± Clarissa added and moved her torch above the map. She had made sure to put some distance between the torch and the map so the map would not get burnt in the process.


    Slow but surely, a new layer of the map was seen.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Ttring!


    You have found the secret map to Amun¡¯rah Garden!


    Amun¡¯rah is the son of the Sun God. He who holds the power of light was blessed with power and authority. Rich was his name and Glory was his seat. He was the supreme Emperor of Mirufeim.


    He who had the blood of God was revered as one of the most powerful Deities who rose to the rank of an Olympian. Amun¡¯rah was one of the 7 Gods who had powerful ties with the Celestials.


    Mourning for the fall of Celestials, he had made a Castle on the Sky in the remembrance of Alpha. Decorated with walls of art, embodied with light of grace. Sky Castle was truly a place to be remembered.


    Only those with remarkable luck will be able to find the gate of Helheim that connects Mirufeim with Sky Castle!


    You have seen the secret Map of Sky Castle.


    +5 Luck


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ichiroku couldn¡¯t help but smile. After all, he had wasted a lot of gold at the Game Centre, and somehow it was not for naught. Ichiroku had truly won a jackpot. Word alone cannot describe how happy and delighted he was with a raise of 5 luck stat. In addition, the map was another clue to their next Gospel.


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Ichiroku said out loud bursting with excitement. ¡°I was not mistaken when I bought the map!¡± He added.


    In all honestly, Ichiroku does not have any interest at the map at all. The only reason he bought it was because the excuse that he can make to cover up for his loss. ¡°I didn¡¯t win anything big, but I got this map.¡± That was the sentence that he was going to say when he was asked about his progress in raising his luck stats. Much to their delight, the map was actually their ticket to the next Gospel. With his 200 luck stats, Ichiroku was truly lucky.


    ¡°Now all that we need is enough travelling expense and a quick and efficient travelling method!¡± Clarissa clapped her hand and gave a side glance to Ichiroku.


    ¡°How about taking our time leveling up and device better strategies when we¡¯re fighting? As I don¡¯t want to experience the same thing that I did in Verlassen Island, I want to get stronger in any way possible regardless it is technique or ability.


    How about we look for a few companion before we starts our journey. I know a few people who might just be perfect for our party.¡±


    ¡°Ohh, you already have someone in your interest corner. I reckon they are people that we can  place our trust at?¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°Of course! They are one of a few people that I had partied with other than you. You yourself know who are I¡¯m talking about.¡± Ichiroku replied.


    ¡°Those Koreans?¡± Clarissa said.


    ¡°Yep!¡±


    With that said. Ichiroku sent Yoon Jae another message. He had made an arrangement; they will meet at the Tindal Town.


    Before they left the town, Ichiroku made sure to do all of the Beginner quests that he had missed during his first day. Less than 2 hours, he had complete over 50 quests including first monster hunt, animal skin and a few more others. Ichiroku did not know it himself, but his name was recorded as one of the fastest players that completed more than 50 main quests in less than 2 hours. Little that he knows, his name was on top of Beginner Town¡¯s adventurer list in Einstel Game homepage.

 Volume 2 - Chapter 1 - New Companions : part 4

    ?????????? Part 4 ??????????


    With the money reward that Ichiroku had gained from his quest. They were finally able to buy 2 horses with a carriage. It had cost Ichiroku 10 gold in total. However, due to his prestige and intimacy that he had gained from completing all of the quests available in Beginner Town in 3 days, he had received quite the amount of discount. In the end he only needed to pay 6 gold and 87 silver. 3 gold and 13 silver was used to attach a roof for their carriage.


    Even though the quests that Ichiroku had done did not give him any experience worth mentioning, he had obtained the trust of the townspeople and their hospitality. Ichiroku managed to get a nicely carved carriage that was made from a big oak tree. It was big enough that one can mistake it as caravan because of the roof that was made using a perquisite metal that cannot be found in Beginner Town.


    Clarissa herself had finished all of the quests in Beginner Town; however she did not manage to finish it as quickly as Ichiroku even though they shared the same quests. Even as a party, there was a limit on the percentage that they can contribute to their party members. In the end, it took Clarissa a whole 1 week in Einstel online for her to finish the quests.


    During the time of their stay there, Ichiroku had learnt the basic market value of items. Little that he know, there are many weapons and armors sold with a considerably good stat for less than 2 gold. Had his eyes were no blinded by his greed in Game Centre on his first day at Einstel Online, he would have been able to equip himself with decent weapons and armor before setting off to Verlassen Island.


    Ichiroku sat comfortably on the front seat, holding the reins. He was humming a silent tone of peacefulness as they travel using the main road back to Tindal Town. On his right hand was the Secret to Medicine Processing book that Sheldon gave him.


    It was almost two month in Einstel Online since he got the book as reward. Ichiroku had learnt 2 potion making skills. One was HP potion and another was Rejuvenating potion. The book also teaches Ichiroku the type of herbs that can be used as medicine, and the type of herbs that can become a lethal poison if processed.


    During his travel back to Tindal Town, Ichiroku had processed a lot of potion using the basic of making HP potion using various types of herbs. However, at best, he could only create a Small HP potion. But, his proficiency in making potions had rose up from Phase 1 Normal to Heroic. This had caused another smile on Ichiroku¡¯s lips.


    Clarissa on the other hand was busy making a log of Monsters that her teacher had told her. Whenever she got tired of writing down, she will come out from the carriage and sat near Ichiroku while having an empty talk together. Their travel was seemed as boring, will sometimes filled with cluster of laughter and joy.


    Occasionally, they will run against wild monster that appeared out of nowhere during night times.  A great difficulty could be felt by Clarissa when fighting monsters with limited field of vision. But for Ichiroku, he found it quite easier dealing with monsters attack at night. The reason for this was there are fewer monsters that come attacking at night compared to day time.


    ¡°I will not make such blunders again.¡± Ichiroku firmed his resolve having learned his lesson.


    Along their way back, they will sometimes stopped by at the travelling merchant tent. They resupplied the mana potions that they had used during their fight; they also sold the loots that they had gained. Slowly, but surely advancing to their destination.


    After a long travel, they had finally reached the outskirt of Tindal Town. From afar, Ichiroku could see Hye Yoon waving them with both of her hands. Ichiroku waved back, however with a slight awkward smile on his lips as he noticed Yoon Jae was giving off a weird aura.


    ¡°Ahh! Ichiroku!¡± Hye Yoon said energetically. Her long dark hair flutters behind her shoulder as she ran towards Ichiroku, her white and fair skin was sparkled as her skin reflected the sunlight.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Ichiroku replied.


    Seemly bashful (?), Clarissa came forward and introduced herself and exchange their greetings. Yoon Jae and Hye Yoon entered Ichiroku¡¯s party. They had planned to finish the dungeon that they found a few weeks ago. Even though the double EXP bonus is no longer applicable as one week since the dungeon founding had passed. Ichiroku feels like not finishing the dungeon would leave a bad taste in his mouth.


    Of course, Ichiroku had another reason for this. He was trying to recruit Yoon Jae for the Quests that they are going to do. Even though the quests that he was doing are the Human Liberation, there were no restrictions that said players from another race couldn''t offer their hand to complete the quest.


    ¡°Do you have what I asked you to bring along?¡± Ichiroku asked Yoon Jae.


    ¡°Yeah, I had filled 20 bottles of fountain waters as what you had told me. Anyway, what are you doing with these fountain waters anyway? I think it would be better if we buy HP potions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got more than enough potions already.¡± Ichiroku said simultaneously shows his inventory bag content to Yoon Jae. Yoon Jae on the other hand had his mouth hung opened.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Hye Yoon slowly pushed Yoon Jae¡¯s jaws back up, shutting his mouth close. Hye Yoon looked at where Yoon Jae was looking, this time Hye Yoon was the one who got her mouth wide opened. ¡°It must¡¯ve cost you a fortune. With potions that many, it would at least takes 50 gold.¡±


    ¡°I actually processed this from the Herbs that I found along the side road.¡± Ichiroku honestly explained. ¡°It cost me nothing but time and efforts. Anyway, Zach and Jeje doesn¡¯t seems to be here. What happened to the both of them?¡± Ichiroku added.


    ¡°Zach is busy in with his Band, Jeje¡­ I don¡¯t know what happened to him. Since he got himself a girlfriend that he met here in game. He had been going online less.¡± Yoon Jae explained. ¡°By the way Miss. Clarissa, you don¡¯t have to be alarmed. I may have Singer as my profession but I can fight fairly well against the monsters.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true, though he is pretty much 60% weaker compared to Ichiroku.¡± Hye Yoon spoke a cheerful laugh.


    ¡°I-I see.¡± Clarissa said. Clarissa does not know anything about player¡¯s profession and race. All that she had heard from Mr. Satty were things regarding Monsters and matters that related to Human race. Due to that she had an alarmed expression painted on her face when she heard that her new friends¡¯ profession is something that is quite out of the ordinary, a dancer and a Singer.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, in term of fighting we are almost on an equal ground.¡± Ichiroku said merrily.


    With everything said and settled they entered the dungeon. The hidden dungeon was a normal dungeon, thus the floor only reach until floor 50. Starting from wolves at floor 1, Ichiroku does nothing but stand in guard while Yoon Jae wiped clean the floor with his fighting skills.


    Advancing to floor 2, the floor which Ichiroku first used the Finishing Technique that he had learnt from No Hair was easily dealt by Yoon Jae. Without wasting time, they advanced smoothly to floor 15.


    From the moment they had stepped into the dungeon, the one that does all the fighting was Yoon Jae. Not even once did Ichiroku step in to help him. Ichiroku had intentionally let Yoon Jae deal with the monster to plant a sense of assurance in Clarissa. Surely when Clarissa show Yoon Jae fighting off the monster she would feel safer and a lot more settled down because the ¡®Singer¡¯ that she thought to be useless can fight fairly well compared to her.


    However, different from his expectation, Clarissa wore a blank expression. She even yawned a few times and gave Ichiroku a signal using her hand gesture asking, ¡°This is way too slow, when are you going to step in?¡±


    Ichiroku could only sigh in dismay. As soon as floor 15 was cleared, Ichiroku walked towards Yoon Jae and said that he will act as the vanguard and Yoon Jae will act as the rear guard. Yoon Jae nodded in agreement and the advance as planned.


    Floor 16! It was the first time they had stepped onto floor 16. However Ichiroku wore his normal expression.  Floor 16 was the home of giant Dragonflies, 8 fireballs were shot at him consecutively. However Ichiroku only walked on straight without changing his course. Weird enough the fireballs passed through him as if he was an illusion made of mist.


    Once Yoon Jae and Hye Yoon was bewildered by this event! Thinking that it was some kind of illusion, they opened their party interface and looked at Ichiroku¡¯s. However there is no ¡®hidden¡¯ icon in Ichiroku status.


    Ichiroku was seen walking calmly toward into the centre of the Giant Dragonflies, however countless giant Dragonflies fall to their demise even before they managed to reach Ichiroku.


    The reality was, Ichiroku had recently reached Phase 2 Normal in his Instantaneous step. The Phase 2 was Unfathomable Step; this allows Ichiroku to move at the speed of sound that is even faster than Phantom step. However, the distance is limited to 25 meters.


    Ichiroku rushed forward.


    Ssap! Ssap! Ssap! Ssap! Ssap!


    He was seen fighting 5 giant dragon flies at the same time. However it was not a body splitting technique that was used by Ninja. Instead it was Ichiroku after images that he left when he moved at the speed of sound. In less than 5 minutes, floor 16 was cleared.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯m stronger than you already. But it looks like I¡¯m falling behind even further than before.¡± Yoon Jae said with a slight sad expression traced on his looks.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that strong.¡±Ichiroku said politely. However deep inside his heart, he was screaming, ¡°Hell yeah I¡¯m strong, how many times do you think I spam Instantaneous Movement while dealing with monsters that we found when we we¡¯re travelling until my Instantaneous movement raised to Phase 2 Normal !¡± and gave of a faint smile.


    From floor 17 and onward, Ichiroku dealt the entire monsters single handedly. However, his satiety was quick to deplete and thus he had to consume 16 potions that was made from the fountain water of Tindal Town.


    At floor 30 the increase in difficulty rate starting to show its true color. Ichiroku no longer dared to use his Phantom Step when he realized that the fountain water would not last long as he continued on fighting using the same fashion.


    Ichiroku changed his attack pattern.


    He will first attack the monsters while launching his body forward and Hye Yoon will stun monster using her dancing skill. In that opening, Yoon Jae will press forward and deal his power damage little by little. As Yoon Jae fighting skills is where he completely disregard his defence. Clarissa was forced to keep healing Yoon Jae before his health bar drop below 60%.


    They had finally reached floor 45. It was a floor which was guarded by a Normal Mid-Boss level.


    With a Dark Horse of Liorain! Without wasting any time, Ichiroku activates his Phantom Step and moved at a deafening speed. His enhanced dagger was pushed forward using both of his hand.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    TANG!


    It was deflected.


    Dark Horse of Liorain was horse colored in jet black color. Using its tail that was clotted with metal as whip, it can easily extend the length of its tail.


    Ichiroku jumps backward, and equips his deck on another hand. However, unequipped it again thinking that it should only be use against the Master Floor, in other words; the dungeon Final Floor Boss!


    ¡°Yoon Jae, we¡¯re going to attack him at the same time!¡± Ichiroku spoke out.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the first hit THEN!¡± Yoon Jae rush forward. Using a long stick that was actually a microphone stand, he landed a few attack directed at the Mid-Boss floor.


    Nevertheless Dark Horse of Liorain easily parried all of Yoon Jae barrage of attack. However an opening was made when Dark Horse of Liorain did not take any heed against Ichiroku.  Ichiroku channeled his mana into his dagger.


    Unable to use any skill when pouring his mana into his Dagger, Ichiroku rushed at Dark Horse of Liorain. The distance was 5 meter when Dark Horse of Liorain had finally took notice of Ichiroku. Ichiroku stopped channeling his mana, and activated Phantom Step and hit Dark Horse of Liorain before it managed to react.


    Dark Horse of Liorain''s HP was halved. Yoon Jae leaps into the mid-air, execute a triple spinning kick and,


    BAMM!


    Dark Horse of Liorain was thrown away and slammed against the wall. Causing him to lose 7% HP.


    ¡°A little bit more!¡± Yoon Jae screams.


    A long barrage of thrust was aimed at Yoon Jae. Nonetheless Yoon Jae didn¡¯t even bothered to evade, instead he began singing a melodious romantic song that seemed out of place by Ichiroku and the others.


    As if Dark Horse of Liorain¡¯s heart mellowed. Its attack was weakened and his defence awareness had dwindled. Once again, Yoon Jae leapt into the mid-air and spun the microphone stand. The spinning microphone stand took a great change in appearance,


    ¡°Idol¡¯s Love Spear!¡± Yoon Jae screamed out a technique name that sounds so buttery.


    On the other hand, Ichiroku was found dumbfounded. His brain was busy processing what kind of attack does ¡®Idol¡¯s Love Spear¡¯ exactly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Critical Hit!


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Yoon Jae had landed a critical hit and Dark Horse of Liorain died instantly.


    ¡°Well that was something¡­¡± Ichroku said with his unblinking eyes.


    ¡°I know right¡­¡±


    ¡°Cool technique¡­¡± Ichiroku said while scratching his hair that was not even itchy.


    On the other hand, Hye Yoon was ¡®face-walling¡¯.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    REF :


    Clarissa however, had her face seen red beat like a ripe tomato¡­


    Advancing through the floor 46 until 49 was without any real difficulties¡­ They had finally reached the last floor.


    Centaur! A monster with a horse lower body, but human¡¯s on the upper body. It has 2 long horns that twirled at the tip. A muscular body with manly vein on plain view, dark circle on both eyes and a bloodshot.


    ¡°Ahhh.. Ahhhhh¡­ Ahhhhnnnnnnnnnn!!¡± A voice of screaming in agony was heard echoed throughout the dungeon last floor. Two figures of mosaic human of opposite gender ¡®wrestling¡¯ against each other were seen displayed on a small LCD TV.


    Without any delay Yoon Jae hurriedly closed Hye Yoon eyes using both of his palms,


    ¡°What? What? What is happening?¡± Hye Yoon asked innocently.


    Ichiroku tried to do the same with Clarissa,


    PAT!


    However his hand was slapped aside even before he was able to do so.


    The Centaur heard the sound of Clarissa¡¯s slap and turn his head around to see what had the sound which disturb him during his time of fun. As soon as his eyes laid his sight on Ichiroku and the others. He quickly moves forward to cover the small LCD TV with his body.


    ¡°D-d-d-d-d-d-d-dduuuuuuuuudeee! W-w-wtf are you guys doing here?¡± The Centaur asked. He was drenched in sweat. ¡°Damn Liorian, I told him to guard the door! What the hell is he doing?¡±


    ¡°Are you by any chance had killed the Boss of This floor?¡± Ichiroku asked. Seeing there are a lot of Beast race players, there is a high probability that the ¡®man¡¯ that was watching an 18sx movie just now was a player. ¡°Rather than that¡­  Where the hell did he get that video from?¡± Ichiroku thought to himself.


    ¡°Wa-what are you talking about? I am this floor¡¯s Boss.¡± The Centaur added. His eyes were moving wildly while pushing the LCD TV off button desperately.


    Clank!


    The TV had finally turned off, and the Centaur gave off a ghastly exhale. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell the Supernatural Organization about this please.¡± The Centaur bowed down desperately.


    The four of them, tilt their head sideways and thought of the same thing. ¡°Is this Centaur really the Floor 50 boss?¡±


    ¡°Why do you give me that look?¡± The Centaur said, ¡°I know that I am just a low rank field boss, but please spare me some dignity. Even though I looked like this I Fabulouse, am still strong!¡± The Centaur, Fabulouse added.


    ¡°Haaaa¡­.¡±  Clarissa gave out a long exhale.


    ¡°Is this what you mean by the game is evolving?¡± Ichiroku said while giving Clarissa a side glance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why but he had the same aura as my teacher.¡± Clarissa said and falls on four.


    The Field Boss monster that her teacher, Mr. Satty had always told tell her as a strong monster that always had their body red painted by was looking so pathetically trying to cover up the thing that he had done. Instead of looking like a strong demonic Boss Level Monster, he looked pale like a high school boy who saw his mother¡¯s reflection on screen when he was watching porn.


    ¡°The whole image that Mr. Satty had told me about this game had shattered into pieces like a mirror that fall onto the floor.¡± Clarissa sounded as if she was crying.


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡± Yoon Jae who was still confused at the current situation gave Ichiroku a side glance.


    Ichiroku nodded and asked Fabulouse the Centaur, ¡°Are y¡­¡±


    Before Ichiroku could finish his sentences, Fabulouse cut in and ask, ¡°Are we going to fight or what? If you just want to ask a few question just ask away and leave immediately.¡±


    Yoon Jae sighed in disappointment, the thought of having a passionate battle and intense skill spam had rendered him speechless. He raised both of his hand trying to initiate a battle stance, however he lost the mood for it and fall on his ass instead.


    In honestly, the scene before them was already a turn off for their passionate and intense adventure. Even Hye Yoon who had prepared herself to dance her chumi-chumi dance hides in a corner instead. Clarissa, who seemed to be out of it, was left alone by Ichiroku.


    On the other hand, Ichiroku came forward and asked, ¡°Do you know anything about Amun¡¯rah?¡±


    ¡°Amu¡­ Amun? Ah! Amun-rah! I know that guy, that guy used to be a human, but he befriended with the legendary Alpha and become a Celestial. Then he made himself a name throughout Einstel World and had a continent of his own.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where he is?¡± Ichiroku added.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, he built a Castle on the Sky when Allison and Grant died. He left the Einstel world after his Masters was sacrificed by the people that his masters trying to protect.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where the Gate of Mirufeim is located?¡±


    ¡°Mirufeim? Oh right! He used to be the ruler of Mirufeim. If I¡¯m not mistaken the continent now is named differently when there was a change in command. The Gate of Merufeim is located at Nerufeim. If I¡¯m not mistaken it was in one of Amun¡¯rah secret room.


    But I wouldn¡¯t go there if I were you. No ¡®human¡¯ is safe in Nerufeim. If any of subordinates of the Dark Lord finds you, you will be eliminated with extreme prejudice.¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ ¡­¡±


    Yoon Jae and Hye Yoon eyes widened. Both of their mouth hung opened.  There were a lot of things happened which was like a spark of fire that lit the light in their curiosity and excitement.


    ¡°Your race is a Human?¡± Both Yoon Jae and Hye Yoon said in unison.


    ¡°Well yeah.¡± Ichiroku replied coolly.


    ¡°Does it mean that you were the One who fight Poseidon at Verlassen Island? The one who fight against More than 1 thousands monster altogether, fighting against the Mangdora Creeps, The Variant of Mermen and Poseidon!  You¡¯re that GOD SLAYER?!¡± Yoon Jae screamed to his heart.


    Ichiroku was shocked. ¡°How did you know about that?¡± he added.


    ¡°Are you serious?! Your fight was featured at the Einstel Game Homepage. It was stated as one of the premier videos of Human Liberation Quest to unlock human race to all players! It¡¯s the hot news in Einstel Game forum.


    Completing  the first quest in less than a week! A humans fighting against Poseidon for 10 hours long! Completely exhausted but never did once they surrender! He kept on fighting until the awesome finally come to an end when he brings forth the Heroes of Lucia! No wonder I feel like I¡¯ve seen your face before.¡± Yoon Jae said, filled with excitement.


    ¡°I-is that so?¡± Ichiroku said, trying to hide his embarrassment.


    ¡°Please let me call you Onii-sama!¡± Hye Yoon said out loud.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t supposed to be Oppa since you¡¯re a Korean?¡± Was what Ichiroku thought but he was too embarrassed and only shook his head, saying ¡°P-please don¡¯t, I prefer if we call each other the same as we are now.¡± He replied.


    On the other hand Fabulouse whose existence was completely forgotten fled into back into the corner of his TV and turn it back on, hurriedly change the channel showing a man rapping in Korean. ¡°Calling 999 cuz my heart is on fire. Seeing you wiping the floor with you sexy dance made my brain gone haywire! You got a ticket to spare? cuz I''m a buyer! Tonight we roll, just like muh half burnt tyre!¡±


    With the intention of seeing them off, Fabulouse opened his mouth and said, ¡°Now that I¡¯ve answered your question please¡­ WAIT!¡± Fabulouse sudden shout echoed in their ears. ¡°Isn¡¯t that you?¡± Fabulouse said looking at Yoon Jae while pointing at the TV.


    It was indeed Yoon Jae. He was wearing an outfit that screams of intense feeling of ¡®chuuninbyou¡¯. Wearing a dark outfit that was severely lacking in some part while moving in a cool transition of moves, was no other but Yoon Jae¡­ However, that plot is another story to tell.

 Volume 2 - Chapter 1 - New Companions : part 5

    ?????????? Part 5 ??????????


    The cold wind of the dawn that smears into the bare skin could be felt by Clarissa as she hugged her body while her lips teeth were clattering. After finishing the dungeon that we had went yesterday, we had set a new destination for their next adventure with our new companions in the adventure to liberate the human race.


    Yoon Jae and Hye Yoon, who agreed to my offers after inviting them, sweet talked Hye Yoon, and sugar coat the advantage to Yoon Jae.


    And Fabulouse,


    Who we brought along as our ¡®tour guide¡¯¡­


    My expectation was betrayed¡­ I already knew that this game is so random. But never did I think that it would be so random to this extent. Level 50 dungeon Floor Boss, living like a shut-in, watching Idol concerts on a TV¡­ Just thinking about it made me lose my motivation.


    Fabulouse who said that he is tired being in the dark side wanted to change his alignment. Thus, he had made a contract with Clarissa. Fabulouse had now become the Familiar of Clarissa the Priestess. I guess, she really is a Miko as she was able to make a contract with the Supernatural.


    I know that it¡¯s too late for me to explain this but, anything that is not human is supernatural. Which is said, Beasts, Elf,  Orc, Dwarf, and a lot more races that I¡¯m too lazy to mention.


    The thick fog was still covering the road that we travelled on, while Fabulouse walking in-front of us, we followed his lead without any complains. Clarissa had showed me the entire Einstel World map. From what I see, the journey to Nerufeim Continent won¡¯t be a short one.


    We are now at Esphalt. One of the largest Continents in Einstel world, contrary to its name, the road that we use now isn¡¯t even tarred. Well, not that it really matters though; travelling on a slight bumpy ride is what makes the adventure feels really like adventure right?


    While the travelling become somewhat sweet and fun when it was only me and Clarissa. The atmosphere had become a lot merrier with Yoon Jae, Hye Yoon and Fabulouse presence. For instance, Fabulouse, a dungeon Boss he might be, he does not have any sort of Boss character aura that could be felt.


    Instead, he looked like just one of that chatter-box character in every manga and anime that you can find talking about random things.


    ¡°Do you know about the Faries?¡± Fabulouse said, initiating a conversation while tending his long hair.


    ¡°Faries?¡± Clarissa asked.


    ¡°You mean Fairy?¡± I added.


    ¡°No. Faries, not Fai but Far.¡± Fabulouse continued.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve never heard of it before.¡± Clarissa replied, she had her personal log book in her hand, ready to write down the information that Fabulouse about to say.


    ¡°I heard they are the close relative to Fairies. While Fairies are light alignment, Faries are the opposite of it. I don¡¯t know why but during the Floor Boss association. I heard that Faries had recently gained a great influence in the Supernatural Round table.


    I know that, it is not my place to talk about such things. But I am a floor boss too. While I may be a low rank boss, I am ought to hold some influence in the communities. But do you know what those Faries said when I stated out my opinion?


    ¡®Side Character¡¯ has no place to talk, you a lowly low level dungeon boss has no right to question the way we do our things!¡¯


    Side character my ass, I¡¯m going to kick their asses when I become powerful enough.¡± Fabulouse said angrily.


    Clarissa, without blinking wrote down the information that she got.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡®The supernatural has an organized association called the Supernatural Round Table.¡¯


    ¡°Moreover, do you know what did they said when I told them that one day I¡¯m going to be strong enough to kick their asses?¡±


    ¡°Er¡­ No?¡± I replied.


    Well, how can he expect us to know the thing that he hadn¡¯t told us?


    ¡°They said, ¡®Go back to your cave, a lowly underground boss want to reach the height of us Tower bosses is impudent enough!¡¯. This is bad isn¡¯t? I may be a low class Boss I still have my dignity as a BOSS!


    Where am I going to put my face when my subordinates know that I hold no influence in the Supernatural Round Table!¡±


    Big word coming from a Centaur that followed the people who killed his subordinates voluntarily.


    ¡°Anyway Master.¡± Fabulouse said and looked at Clarissa, ¡°Can you stop your purifying aura from getting on me continuously? I¡¯m getting cleansed here to ashes. I know that I¡¯m still considered as an Impurity being a dungeon boss. But now I am your servant. Your wish is my command.


    If you ask for it I would even wipe the floor clean and laid out the Red Carpet for you to step. I can be your Romeo when you want to be Juliet.¡±


    That was so buttery that I don¡¯t even know what to say. Apparently our Fabulouse here is an avid fan to makjang. (Korean Dramas). And he learned (?) all the sleazy line from there. I don¡¯t know what to say, rather than an AI, Fabulouse looked more like a player to me.


    ¡°Ahh!! The feels better¡­¡± Fabulouse added.


    To turn Fabulouse alignment from Dark to Light, apparently Clarissa needs to channel her to light alignment to Fabulouse. In another word, prestige transfer. Fabulouse has a negative 150 prestige, being a boss floor himself; he had quite the negative amount of prestige. Thus, Fabulouse need at least +1 prestige to become Light alignment.


    I had suggested for him to do a quest and gain prestige through quests. But being a Dark alignment made people fear him. Instead of getting quests, he will get a flying kiss, on his neck, with a sword.


    Clarissa cancelled her prestige transferring. She let out a breath of ease and turned her looks to me. ¡°We will be going through a thick forest in less than 15 kilometers. The monsters average level is 75. But I don¡¯t think there would be any problem with our current lineup... However, I ask of you¡­¡± Clarissa said and turned her attention towards Yoon Jae.


    ¡°Please take care of your body. The way you are fighting is good and flashy, but if you keep disregarding your defence, I don¡¯t think I can hold up any longer. My mana isn¡¯t infinite. There will be time when I¡¯ll run out of mana and potion.¡± Clarissa added bluntly.


    Hye Yoon smirking mockingly towards Yoon Jae. Yoon Jae on the other hand got his face become red beet and only nodded in acknowledgement of Clarissa advice.


    Thus, the adventure of 4 players and 1 AI had started.


    ***


    Alas chapter 1 vol 2 had finished. It was actually a 40 pages long, but I decided to split it into parts as it would be hard for me to fix the post when VincentAtd gives his correction :D


    Also, as I''m going to increase the pace of the story. Expect a cluster of unexplained things and a lot of ''crap''.


    Tried to create some riddle, and my brain froze  for a few hours.

 v2 Chapter 2 - Nerufeim : Part 1

    The outburst of scenic view spread wide into my field of vision. The blinding light shone as the sun reaches its zenith. Fabulouse was running around with unfathomable speed as we were reaching the town. After 1 week of prestige transfer, Fabulouse had finally gotten himself +1 prestige thus changing his alignment from dark to light. He is now able to enter towns and neutral area without getting hunted down.


    The average of our levels is 120. However, Fabulouse is lagging behind us by 20 levels. Looks like we need to grind for level again, not that I¡¯m not used to it though. Also, it looks like Clarissa is starting to get used to fighting against a lot of opponent at once. She had gained a new skill when she reached level 100.


    It¡¯s an active skill that ensnares a multiple target at once, and absorbs their health and mana. It cut down the time for us grinding and killing our opponents.


    Since the fight in Verlassen Island I was not able to use neither my Dice nor Cards. I drew a pair and a lot more winning combination that I will surely become a millionaire in a day in if I were to play at Las Vegas. But there¡¯s nothing happened. I wonder if this had something to do with side effect of uplifting the first few restrictions that had been put on human like what had happened to my Phantom Step.


    We went on our separate ways. Hye Yoon and Yoon Jae, I don¡¯t know where they had gone to, but Clarissa said that she¡¯s going to do a quick quest to increase her prestige. On the side note, she¡¯s going to investigate more about ¡®human¡¯ history from the NPCs. For some odd reason, Fabulouse had been following me wherever I went.


    For me, on the other hand went to the general store and sell all my loots. I still had the appearance of an Elf; I¡¯m starting to like how I looked now. The general store really sells a lot general items; I went about the perimeters and found myself a mirror. Inspecting it carefully I put my index finger on the mirror. Reflected before the thin glass was an image of an Elf with short and wavy dark hair and wearing a brownish colored armor.


    ¡°You sexy bastard¡­¡± my voice escaped as I looked at the mirror.


    Fabulouse however, was trying to smooth talk the general store attendant, needlessly to say the attended is a female.


    ¡°Are you a monkey? I can be your banana¡­¡±


    PAM!


    Well, he got a nice red mark of palm on his cheek in reply. It could be worst. If it were my sisters, he would at least get 3 straight punches, 1 sharp jab hit and 5 spinning kicks. It could be way worse; their technique will reach Phase 2 Nightmare if they are on period.


    With that said I went to the Blacksmith and got some of the damaged item dismantled for their core materials. I have yet to reach Phase 2 in Blacksmithing so I don¡¯t have the ability to dismantle items yet.


    After a few hours passed, we grouped back together.


    We continued on our journey to Nerufeim without doing any quests at towns that we visited. I want to finish the second Gospel quest fast and find out the next restrictions that going to be lifted. I can no longer use my Dice and Deck of cards, and I finally know why. My profession was changed, though I can¡¯t say it for sure, but what had been listed in my character profile is no longer Gambler. It is Hunter ¨C the profession that Allison and Grant had had.


    I have a very complicated feeling about this. A sudden profession change without any notice is like changing from vanguard to support with no prior plan and having someone screams ¡®LEEEROOOOYYY JENNKINNSSS!!¡± at you. I mean, seriously? It¡¯s not like I hate being a Hunter, considering the type of skills that I had learned at Verlassen Island, not to mention the stat build that I had ever since I stopped investing luck into my stat. But¡­ Urgh!


    I asked Clarissa about this when I got back from the Smithy. Apparently when I reached level 100, I can have another sub-profession or to call it with a lot more familiar word, sub-class. However in my case, Hunter has become my main class and Gambler has become my sub-class.


    Like the change in Phantom Step that does not need any mana to be activated and now affected by satiety instead, human seemed to have their sub-class skill restricted.


    We leave the quests in town behind for the time being, until I obtained the second Gospel and lift the restriction that bans me from using my sub-class¡¯s skill. I won¡¯t be doing any minor quests.


    We reached the town but left for another. On our travel, with the same formation that we had planned before hand, we eliminate any obstacle that obstructs our way. We slashed through the odds, we pierced through the wall of trouble and we killed the sinister, we were bathed by blood and dyed with redemption of red.


    ¡°Kill them!!¡±


    ¡°Take their belonging!¡±


    ¡°KIIILLLLL!!!!¡±


    ¡°Bewb is where dreams and hopes dwells within!!!¡±


    ¡°BURRNNN!!!!¡±


    Wild screams of bandits that tried to rob us off our possession were heard throughout the night forest. We were surrounded and outnumbered, however the bandit¡¯s greed can never surpassed mine. My thirst for money in gambling is far greater than them; I mustered my energy in both of my legs. I rushed forward, pulled out my dagger and slash and split the bandits¡¯ body into two.


    I activated my Phantom Step and killed the bandits on sight. Having invested my stat into agility and dexterity, I managed to land where I wanted to land. I pushed my dagger on the bandit¡¯s nape and blood smears on my dagger.


    Ignoring the brutal sight that was in front of me, I kicked the ground and launched my body upwards simultaneously activating my instantaneous movement. I channeled my mana into my left leg while I was in the mid-air and executed a triple spin kick that I learned from Yoon Jae and activated <Stomp> as I reached the ground.


    The grounds were shattered and one large crater was created. Impact of shockwaves could be seen expanding from a circle of air into violent waves of wind and left the bandits stunned for a few seconds. Using the opportunity, Yoon Jae, Hye Yoon and Fabulouse dashed into action.


    My <Stomp> did not deal a great damage, however the ability to stun opponent about 25 meters radius is very helpful. Fabulouse, being very agile is a great DPS dealer. Yoon Jae on the other hand had started to mind about his defense, even though the change was not visible. But certainly the difference could be felt, as Clarissa did not have to keep spamming her healing skill on Yoon Jae and started to buff our stat instead.


    The bandits by any mean are not weak. They are as strong as they can be, however their strength are not comparable to my skills that  I had learn and utilized at every chances that I got.


    We finally reached our fifth town when we decided to take a little rest. At every town we had stopped for only a few hours, however we planned to spend the night at this town, Kaingaran Town.


    The village that appeared to be dead was getting nearer as we¡¯re entering the main gate. There was no life, no laughter nor liveliness that could be seen at the town outskirt. Much different from the Towns that we had visited before, the air in this Kaingaran Town was terribly different that it looked so out of place.


    I told the others to look out for the carriage while I went for a scout. I entered a bar; the sound of armored players gulping down beers as the NPC serves the drinks happily was not seen. What I had found was the opposite of it, an old man that looked like he¡¯s in his sixties wearing a rugged clothes were seen wiping the tables with a dead fish eyes.


    I came forward and asked a question.


    ¡°What happened to this town?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Town? It has been a long time since the last time people call this place as town. This place is nothing but a haunted village. You better leave this place fast if you still love your life.¡± The old man replied with a low tone, his old and wrinkled face was looking at me with no energy embedded in his eyes.


    ¡°Can you explain to me what happened?¡± I asked, ¡°And add 1 glass of beer to that.¡± I added.


    ¡°Well, you might be my last customer¡­¡± The old man said and placed one glass of beer that was filled with bubbles as topping in front of me, ¡°This is on the house.¡± He added.


    He took a seat comfortably in facing against me.


    ¡°It was half a year ago. This place was once a beautiful town, abundant with lives, laughter and vigor. Children could be seen running around the area with a big smile on their face, adventurers with dreams and hopes filled the bar while telling their adventurous story.


    We got the economy running and good. We are becoming closer to achieving the status as a city. However everything changed when the Faries race attacked. Our children and woman were abducted and our man was killed.


    The adventurer had fought to the end of their lives; however the Faries are not a race to be taken light of. Their magic is on another level; a mere human adventurer cannot hope to defeats the Faries. A lot of adventurer had offered their help to bring the life back to Kaingaran Town. But it was to no avail.


    We also had asked adventurer of another race, but none of them dared to fight the Faries for Faries are being of another world. They lived in the forbidden land of Nerufeim. The Sea is violent and the sea demons are terrifying. Unable to bear the thought of a hard journey that awaits them; they dropped out even before they started.¡± The old man said solemnly.


    I couldn¡¯t help but think that this incident has something to do with the glitch. In response I said, ¡°It saddens me that no one was willing to bring judgment towards those filth of Faries. This should not be left alone; it left a bad taste in my mouth when I think about those poor children and woman. Please! Allow me to help you!¡±


    Sudden gleam of light was seen in the old man eyes. His lips were trembling as he tried to give me his words of gratitude. However I grab hold of the old man¡¯s hand and rest him assured. ¡°There is no need to worry; it is natural thing for me to do. We are a fellow human are we not?¡± I added.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Tears of happiness flowed down from the Old Man''s eyes and he was mumbling words that do not seems to be understand. I only nodded and gave him my words. NPCs as they may be, I couldn¡¯t help but think that they are real human beings, never in my life had I seen such genuine tears flow down from the feeling of gratitude.


    ¡°P-please help me free my townspeople¡­ I will give you the last treasure that I had for reward.¡± The Old Man said.


    ¡°Leave it to me.¡± I answered firmly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Ttring!


    You have accepted the quest!


    The townspeople of Kaingaran Town had been abducted. The Faries dark nature had made them one of the strongest race in Supernatural. Living in the land of Supernatural that was void of human. They had abducted the children and woman of Kaingaran Town to serve them.


    The Town¡¯s Mayor Melilik had offered a great reward for the release of his townspeople; however none dared to take the offer. Even if there was, they are no adventurer but con artist.


    Objective: You are a brave warrior that had sought to help the need. Free the Kaingaran¡¯s townspeople and sent them back to Kaingaran Town safetly.


    Restriction : Human Only.


    Difficulty Level : B++


    Reward : A precious heirloom of Melilik Mayor that had been passed down for generations.


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I swallowed hard. The difficulty level is B. But I¡¯m not afraid though. I now have companions that can look out for my back and I have enough battle experience. Though I can¡¯t say much for strategy, not everybody can become Zhuge Liang and win gloriously using strategy alone right? Our party is a lot more like kill the bill type.


    I sent a private message to Clarissa asking them to come over and accept the same quest that I did.


    ¡°Let me become your sword, Sire. I¡¯ve heard the story and I wanted to help.¡± (Yoon Jae)


    ¡°I want to help too.¡± (Hye Yoon)


    ¡°Please let me help you. The atrocities that had been done by those Faries are no something to let off unpunished!¡± (Clarissa)


    ¡°Those Faries again, HAH! Looks like I¡¯ll be sweeping the floors with their wings.¡± (Fabulouse)


    We bid our farewell and began sorting out our strategies. We extracted as many


    information that we can get from the Old Man, and combined it with Fabulouse information. Apparently the Faries are very racist and proud being of their self. They demand to be respected and to be served under, they are the rule and the rule is them. They also love to use others to do their bidding and they are extremely ugly (?)


    Or at least, from what I heard, Fabulouse said those Faries are extremely ugly.


    We decided to go to the nearest maritime town and depart to Nerufeim Continent. From what I¡¯ve heard from Yoon Jae, Nerufeim Continent is one of the most dangerous places in Einstel World. No one had dared to explore the place yet as the average level of the monster would be level 250.


    I know that it would be suicide if we were to go without any sort of plan. Thus we decided to level up as much as we can while fighting the sea monsters where I can use my God Slayer¡¯s Title bonuses to its fullest.


    We reached the nearest maritime town called Feig Town. Without any further ado, we went to the Adventurer Hall in search for information for ship that is willing to travel to Nerufeim. Much to our dismay, there are no ships that were willing to do so. Left with no luck I went into the Bar and start asking the Master for any clues about Nerufeim.


    ¡°Nerufeim?¡± asked the Master while looking at me with one of his eyes closed.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I replied with no hesitation.


    The rowdy and noisy bar fall into silence as the mention of Nerufeim was heard.  I can feel the glares from the other adventurer stabbing at me from every direction. Nevertheless I ignored the glares and only focus on the Bar¡¯s Master.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s either you are too brave or you just too dumb¡­ Just go home before you get hurt.¡± The Master added.


    ¡°I¡¯m running on a mission, I need to save the people of Kaingaran¡¯s Town. I had made my promise with the Mayor and I don¡¯t think I can ever betray the promise that I had made with him. Please let me know if you have any clues about ships that are willing to transport us to Nerufeim.¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry young man. We all know about the unfortunate event that had happened to Kaingaran Town. However, that was an event which they had triggered themselves. You are just a travelling adventurer; you have nothing to do with them. I admire your kind soul, so I¡¯m going to say this clearly and bluntly. If you do not wish to meet your end early, don¡¯t even think of going to Nerufeim.


    Do you know why no one had managed to step into Nerufeim yet? The answer is simple. It was due to the weather. There are 3 gigantic whirlpools that surrounded Nerufeim; this had cause a great current speed that went about the Island. Forget about getting killed by the Faries, no one had ever managed to pass through the whirlpools¡¯.


    I¡¯m telling you this out of goodwill. It is not too late to stop from going to Nerufeim. The Supernatural there are irregular, they are nothing like what you had seen here in the mainland of Esphalt. They are too strong to be called as monster, they are demons!¡± The Master told me with his voice shaking while looking at me directly at my eye balls.


    ¡°I am willing to sacrifice my life if it¡¯s for good¡­¡±


    As I know that probing further won¡¯t give me any good. I decided to take my leave. Honestly, I don¡¯t mind dying. Well it is really hurt because I can feel 100% of the real pain directly sent to my brain, but I will only lose 25% of my exp. It¡¯s not like I will lose a level.


    Having no luck in my search, I gave Clarissa and the others a message.


    The three of them have no luck either. I didn¡¯t send any message to Fabulouse as we left him with the duty to take care of our carriage. First thing first, I decided to resupply my potions and foods before I went back to the carriage.


    By the time I got back to the Carriage, all of them had already arrived before me. However there is an addition to the group. It was a middle aged man wearing a full Navy Outfit. He introduced himself as Taiv.


    Taiv was a Pirate Captain. However due to an unforeseen circumstances he had found his enlightenment and went from being a Pirate to Navy. Because he had quite the same story as Fabulouse they had become close and he is willing to lend us his old Pirate Ship which he had left unattended at the harbor.


    Rather than lend, we are exchanging it for the carriage that we had. I found it quite hard for me to trade it in because the Carriage was made out of the good will from Beginner Town¡¯s townspeople. But I traded it off anyway. Better than having nothing.


    It took us 3 days to fix the ship that long has been abandoned. We are in need for a navigator, but there was no one that willing to throw away their lives for other¡¯s sake. What can I say, typical of us human.


    I asked Clarissa and the others if they know anything about navigation. However they are as just as clueless as me.


    We¡¯re doomed!


    I went to the Adventurer Hall and ask for direction to the Library. Unfortunately there are no libraries in this place. Wait, what makes me think that there are library in the first place anyway?


    Having no other option, I logged out from Einstel Online. Once again after so many days, my finger danced brilliantly on the keyboard looking for a quick guide for navigation. But what can I say, my mind tends to slip away when I surf the internet. I don¡¯t even know what I was doing and 3 hours had already passed.  In the end, with a mountain full of navigation knowledge that I had learned from 1Pis, we continued on our journey to Nerufeim Continent.


    It¡¯s a joke. It looks like during the time we all went on our way to find for a navigator, Fabulouse had asked Taiv to teach him the basic of navigation and wind reading. Seriously, is there anything that Fabulouse couldn''t do?


    With everything ready, we set sail to Nerufeim!


    ***


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''6''>Party Info</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Level</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Ichiroku</td><td width="25%">Human</td><td width="25%">Level 118</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Clarissa</td><td width="25%">Beast (Nekomata)</td><td width="25%">Level 115</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Yoon Jae</td><td width="25%">HighElf</td><td width="25%">Level 132</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Hye Yoon</td><td width="25%">HighElf</td><td width="25%">Level 128</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fabulouse</td><td width="25%">Centaur (Familiar)</td><td width="25%">Level 99</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ichiroku and Clarissa had finished all the quest in beginner town, and they had fought a lot of monsters during the 1 month travel forth and back from Tidal Harbour to Beginner town and back to Tindal harbour (Including the 1 week time that day stayed at beginner town).


    Ichiroku who was already level  63 when he first met Clarissa, had level up to lvl 90++, not to mention that they had also finished their first Dungeon his level jumped to 110++ and finally they travelled through more than 4 towns and fought valiantly against wild monsters, bandits  they gained level quite fast.


    That explains the reasons why they had leveled up quite fast.


    ***


    As I said that I''ll increase the pace.  I literately done so by cutting short the details. But if some of you still like the slow pace and easy going way, I can try to balance the pacing.