“Hnng…” Arthur opened his eyes slowly from the deep slumber he was in. Rising up, he slowly looked around him as he rubbed his eyes very slowly. He was still dazed as he was waking up so he couldn’t think well.
A few seconds passed before he finally started snapping out of it. “That was a really good nap.” He muttered to himself. “I haven’t slept in days so this is quite refreshing. I like how the capsule can replace sleep, but this is still nice to do every now and then.”
Although the capsule seemed to be able to replicate and even improve the sleep state of the user, Arthur still appreciated the traditional sleeping because that was what he had been doing his entire life. He couldn’t just completely get rid of it just because he started using another method in its place.
“What time is it now?” He muttered as he looked at the clock next to his table. “… 5:00 PM, huh. Well, that was at least 8 hours of sleep.” He muttered as he stood up from the bed and slowly walked to the bathroom to wash his face and take a shower.
His luggage that he brought with him was still unpacked so he had to quickly get some clothes. After a very long bath in the bathtub, Arthur felt a lot more refreshed.
“Fuh, now I’m fully awake! Well, Selia said that my capsule will arrive this evening. Did they come here earlier when I was still asleep?” He asked himself.
The moment he finished that sentence, Arthur heard a knock on the door. When he opened it, he saw a familiar face waiting there.
“Klaus!” He exclaimed as he smiled widely. “I didn’t know you were the one that would bring my capsule!”
The familiar man was none other than Klaus, the same person who brought him his first capsule. Even though Arthur only talked to him once, he still was happy to see the older man as he was the bringer of good luck in his eyes.
“Good evening, Mr. Arthur. We apologize for being late. Some logistical problems.” Klaus said politely.
“Oh! Don’t worry about it. You came at the perfect time.”
“Good, can we get inside then?”
“Of course.”
“You heard him, boys! Bring the capsule.” He yelled at the men standing behind him as he gave them orders. Almost immediately, Arthur’s room was invaded by several workers as they brought in the capsule and its parts along with the serum stacks.
‘Ah, this feels like it happened two days ago.’ Arthur smiled as he watched them work. ‘Wait, it did happen two days ago, idiot! Tsk, why does it feel nostalgic now?’
As he was struggling with himself, the workers quickly finished the work as they put the capsule in his bedroom, next to the bed. As for the serum, since the room didn’t lack storage space, they were put in the storage area.
“We have finished work, sir. You can access the capsule now.” Klaus said as he stood in front of Arthur.
“Thank you for your work, Klaus. It’s always appreciated.”
“No problem sir. If you face any technical difficulties with the capsule in the future please contact reception and we shall come as soon as possible to fix it.” The older man added.
“What kind of technical difficulties could happen though?” Arthur asked curiously. Till that point, Arthur had never thought that the capsule could break down or have some kind of problem. With how technologically advanced it is, that idea was wiped straight out of his brain.
But, now that he thought about it, it made sense that a machine like this would face problems. Ignoring the fact that it’s the first of its kind, the stuff it does is just ridiculously complicated. Implementing realism at that level in one’s brain is pure fantasy manifested in the real world.
“Well, the chances of a problem occurring are extremely minuscule. But, the ones that could occur are naturally bugs, sudden connection loss, or energy shortages.”
“That sounds awfully scary.” Arthur frowned.
“Fear not. None of these can harm the user. You are completely safe.” Klaus replied.
“That’s good to hear.” The boy exhaled a small breath of relief. ‘I don’t want to die from my brain being fried by this machine. That would be the dumbest death of all time.’ He mused.
“In any case, we shall leave now.” Signaling for his men, they immediately left the room followed by Klaus.
“Have a nice day, Klaus!”
The older man turned to look at Arthur before smiling slightly. “You too, sir.” and then closed the door behind him.
“What a nice guy, hahaha.” Arthur laughed to himself as he stretched his limbs. “Well, I guess since I have nothing else to do. Time to go back to the game.”
Arthur felt quite excited to continue his hunting missions. His plan was to leave the first village in a few days optimally. He heard that the journey from the first village to the last empire would take a very long time and would be very dangerous so he wanted to be prepared.
‘In the forums, they were talking about organizing a massive expedition of sorts that will leave the first step village. I might just join that one if possible.’
Arthur was aware that trying to cross the vast first-step forest region alone would be akin to suicide. He might be the strongest player in the world currently, but he knew that he was nothing in front of the stronger monsters roaming the forest. Even in a massive group, it was still going to be an extremely arduous trip.
‘I am not insane. I need to cooperate with others to actually make it out of that village.’ He thought to himself as he sat in the capsule.
“Well, we shall see what would happen.” He muttered as his brain connected to the game and lost consciousness.
***
“Hm, hm, hm…”
The village was weirdly even more bustling today than usual. The moment Arthur logged in, he found himself surrounded by hundreds of players going about their business. After walking around for a while, he noticed something interesting.
‘I can’t see any familiar faces in the masses. I guess this proves that I indeed changed regions when I arrived here.’
Arthur had this idea in his head ever since he got on the plane. Since this island was somewhere far away from where he used to live, he expected the region to change. That was instantly proven to be the case once he landed in the village.
“Hmm, what about the rankings?” He muttered as he opened the rankings. That was when he saw something rather shocking.
“Wait, Darkmoon is in this region too?” Arthur muttered to himself as he stopped. Looking at the regional ranking, he noticed that Darkmoon appeared right in the second spot behind him.
‘What are the chances that I will end up in the same region with them? Or maybe… Could they also be students like me?’
The possibility struck Arthur rather quickly and it felt really logical.
“So, the second-best player in the world could be on the Middle Island. Interesting. I wonder if I will be able to meet them.”
Arthur knew that if he could see that person in the game, he would instantly recognize them outside of it. However, that was naturally easier said than done. Not only because there are endless numbers of villages in this region and his target could be in any one of them, but he also didn’t know what to look for even.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. I might as well give up right here and now. If I’m destined to meet them, then it will happen sooner or later.” He shrugged.
With that, Arthur closed the ranking and continued walking deeper into the village. “I want to buy some potions before heading out. There is a popular potion maker around here if I remember correctly.” Looking around him, Arthur quickly located the shop he was looking for.
This particular potion maker was quite popular because they sold +2 health and mana potions which was slightly better than the +1 potions. However, their price was naturally more expensive.
‘I have no problem with money so I can buy a good number of them.’ He thought to himself as he walked inside.
The place was busy with customers as people bought all kinds of potions. From one that improves stamina to buffs that increase damage slightly over a period of time or increase defense. There were endless numbers of potions in this world and the possibilities were naturally uncountable.
Those who chose the potion maker class were slowly unraveling the vast, interconnected chain of potion chemistry. From what he saw on the internet, it was extremely deep and complicated but the reward for learning them was equally great.
‘Those potion makers are going to become a valuable asset in guilds and even in the world itself. Having them could change the tides of a battle easily.’ Arthur thought to himself as he moved through the line slowly.
When he finally reached the counter, he noticed that the line next to him was busy too. But, he didn’t really focus on the person standing next to him as he was reading the list of potions being sold. He didn’t also realize that the room had turned eerily quiet.
“Can I have 10 health potions +2, 10 mana potions +2, and uh, 5 damage buff potions +1?” He asked as he looked at the clerk working behind the counter.
That was when he heard the person next to him spoke. “Can I have all your health potion stock? All of it.”
A//N: Give me all your Golden Tickets!
