Returning to the Village, Arthur was welcomed with a loud ruckus. All the players there were talking about what happened. Passing through, he listened to what they were saying.
‘Hmph, I guess this was expected. This is going to make national news quickly.’ He thought to himself. Although that sounded scary at first, it didn’t feel as terrifying anymore. He was learning how to handle this new fame even if it didn’t directly affect him.
‘I’m living the life of a star… Without the fame part.’ He laughed to himself as he strolled through the confused masses as if it was none of his business. If they realized that the person they were talking about had just passed by, they would think the world was laughing at them.
Yet, because Arthur was as inconspicuous as any average kid, he was immune to standing out. He liked that and didn’t find any problem with it.
‘I left standing out to those who are the main characters of this world. I’m not bothered.’ He shrugged as he reached the shop he was heading to.
Walking inside, Arthur sold all the stuff he gathered from his hunting trip. Since he had killed dozens of wolves, rabbits, horned deer, and other weird creatures. He had a pile of fur, skin, fangs, and eyes.
After having a back-and-forth with the merchant, Arthur was able to get almost 30 silvers from all the items. That naturally made his money pouch even heavier and he was satisfied with that.
‘I’m gathering as much money as I can before leaving the village. Who knows what the main cities in this world require? I’m sure they won’t be cheap.’ He mused as he finally left the shop and walked into a corner to log out.
“Ok, let’s make sure I didn’t forget to do anything before that.” Saying that, he went through his day again before he finally decided to log out. Although he wanted to play more and explore more of the village, he knew that he was on a plane headed toward an unknown island.
He can’t just relax in such a place and play as he wishes.
When he woke up, Arthur left the capsule and stretched his limbs. That was when he noticed something weird.
“Hm? Am I hallucinating… or am I a little taller?” He asked himself with a confused look. Although the change was subtle, it was still big enough to be noticeable. Arthur wasn’t accustomed to this height as he knew how short he was.
To confirm that, he quickly rushed toward the mirror in his room and stood in front of it. Much to his surprise, he looked taller in the reflection. He stood there, not moving for a second as he blinked. Then, a wide grin appeared on his face.
“Hahaha, the miracle is real.” Grabbing the mirror, he leaned over and looked at his face. “They said things about you. ‘0.5 boy’, ‘The most down-to-earth person alive’, ‘The king of goblins’. They even said that I would never grow taller. But, I’m proving them wrong! They don’t expect such a comeback from me! Hahaha!” He kept laughing loudly for a while before he finally calmed down.
“Ehem, with that over with. What time is it now?” Looking at his phone, it was 5 in the morning. The entire plane was very quiet except for the sound of the engine roaring outside. Leaving his room, Arthur looked left and right but there was nobody around.
The plane was still dark except for some lights that kept it dim.
*Grumble*
Hearing the sound of his stomach screaming for food, Arthur decided to head to the kitchen first. The hostess had told him to ask for food whenever he wished, no matter the time.
The kitchen area took up a big space of the massive plane. It had several comfortable seats surrounding large tables and a section for the chefs to cook. Gentle music played in the background and the smell of flowers filled the place. Even though it was this early, the smell of food reached Arthur’s nose and made his mouth water.
Walking inside, he was welcomed with a rather calm atmosphere. On the other side, he could see workers going about their jobs cooking and cleaning. The rest of the kitchen was empty, except for one single seat in the corner.
That seat immediately took Arthur’s attention. ‘Mr. X?’
The man occupying it was none other than Mr. X. He was reading a newspaper with his legs crossed and a hot cup of coffee on the table in front of him. He looked like a typical elegant businessman going about his morning and his aura only amplified that.
The man seemed to have noticed Arthur’s presence as he put the newspaper down to take a look at him with his usual stoic expression.
“Good morning, Mr Arthur.” He said.
“… Good morning,” Arthur replied after snapping out of his thoughts and walking into the kitchen.
“Would you like to join me for breakfast?” Mr. X asked respectfully.
‘Uh, I guess I have no reason to say no.” Arthur shrugged and sat down in front of him while looking around rather nervously.
The waitress immediately approached him and took his order. Arthur made sure to request several things since he was feeling really famished. He was never accustomed to such a treatment so he wanted to make full use of it.
“Why are you awake this early may I ask?” Mr. X picked up the newspaper again and started reading.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I logged into DO for a while. What about you?”
“I’m not much of a sleeper, you see. Three hours is all I needed my entire life.”
“I was running on for four hours a day for a few years now and it almost killed me. You must be some kind of monster to be fine with only three.” Arthur frowned.
“I do not know if that’s the case. The human body is a wonderful thing.” He replied.
Then, the two went completely silent for a while. Arthur felt a little uncomfortable just sitting there, not saying anything. Until he finally was given his breakfast which instantly switched off any sense of embarrassment.
He instantly went down on his food, devouring it. The food was amazing which made him even hungrier.
In the middle of his meal, he stopped and looked at Mr. X. “Say, can I ask a question?”
“What is it?”
“Why was I sent an invitation to the Blue Crest Academy?” He asked as he wiped his mouth.
This was a question that had been in Arthur’s mind ever since he received the invitation. He had his suspicions, but he had no clear answer yet. Now that he was sitting in front of Mr. X, he felt like he could get an answer.
Surprisingly, the question seemed to capture the man’s interest as he put the newspaper down.
“Why do you ask?” He replied with a question of his own. It was calm and even gentle, but Arthur felt an underlying pressure to it that cannot be described.
Still, he didn’t back down. “A curious thought. I do not think I’m good enough for whatever Divinity Corp is planning. I’m but a normal kid, sir.”
“… I do not think so.” Mr. X squinted his eyes. “No, it simply could not be so. We do not invite ‘average’ or ‘mediocre’ talents. The Headquarters had done the calculations using extremely intelligent computers and harvested a lot of information about each player to reach the conclusion of who are the ones deemed worthy of an invitation.”
“Could this computer not make a mistake? I mean, it’s still a machine in the end no matter how smart it is.” Arthur retorted. He knew that the answer he had gotten was sufficient, but he still wanted to push further and see what they were hiding from everyone.
It was a risky thing to do, but he was just going with it.
“No, that is also impossible, sir.” Mr. X replied. “The chances of our computers making a mistake is near zero if not zero. You are indeed worthy of this invitation.” He shook his head.
Arthur remained silent for a few moments before he muttered. “I guess there is no refuting it. Uh, can I ask another question?”
“Sure.”
“Mm, how should I put this? What kind of training are we about to go through?” He rubbed his chin before asking.
“Sadly, I cannot disclose any information about the island or the academy. I left that to the people responsible for taking care of the talents.”
“Tsk, bad luck.” Arthur sighed. He knew that he wasn’t going to receive an answer, but it was still a bummer in his eyes.
“However, I can tell you this, Mr. Arthur. Upon landing on the island, things shall change. While it is an extension of our plan, Divinity Online, and Blue Crest Academy are completely different entities that complement each other. You cannot excel in both if you don’t aim to excel in both. Even the best of the best in Divinity Online could easily be crushed in a few days in the academy and you shall see it with your own eyes.”
“Huh? So being good at the game won’t guarantee your success?” Arthur frowned visibly as he felt the weight of Mr. X’s words falling on his shoulders.
Picking up his coffee cup, he sipped on it before continuing.
“As I said, our wish is to create heroes of this world. A hero is far more than just pure strength, after all.”
