Wizard Of Cosmos

17 - We Really Need Some Money

“Jason. Come and have a seat.”

Freya’s voice sounded cold. 

Jason nodded to Freya, who seemed to be a bit hostile toward him. He noticed fifty or so people giving him odd eyes. 

He actually didn’t mind them as he knew they were looking at his worn-out clothes. He received similar looks when he entered the massive skyscraper. If not for Ashley's personal card, he wouldn’t be even able to get here. 

He ignored everyone and found a chair at the end.

It was the building's 11th floor, and he saw many different gaming cabins and other facilities on the way there. This room looked more like a gym and had several mats on the ground. The steel chairs and the light table looked as if they were carried here in a hurry. 

They were playing several recordings people had in the game. 

Jason liked the recording method of the videos, but he knew the secret behind this first-person view. The armband was directly connected to the human brain and these footages were what people see in their view. 

There were two others standing near the projector with Freya. One was a young man with a pair of thick glasses who had messy hair. The other was a middle-aged man who had a pair of sharp eyes. He looked more like a martial artist than a gamer with his gym outfit.

“Everyone, this is Jason. He is a member of the Black Steel Guild in The Endless. Jason, these are the people who are playing The Endless for us. This is Ben, he is the current guild leader in The Endless. His in-game name is Poseidon.”

“Hello. I added you to our Guild Channel.”

“Yeah. Thank you for that. I didn’t get any time to check it, though.”

Jason muted the channel the moment he accepted the invitation. He wasn’t too keen on looking at what they all had to talk about. 

“Is he too busy?”

“Yeah. What is he busy with? Running around?”

Jason frowned when he heard a couple of disgruntling voices. 

“Why am I here, Ms Freya?”

He decided to raise the question. Obviously, The Endless was difficult, but this was just the first day. 

“Because this is a Guild Meeting.”

Freya raised her brow.

“Then this has nothing to do with me. My agreement is to help out the Guild if needed. Not participating in every small meeting.”

He had a clear agreement with Ashley and wasn’t willing to go out of the way. 

“Well… What do you think? We are wondering if it was even correct to invest in this?”

“Really? Didn’t it deliver the promise? The best graphics and immersive?”

“It did. But no one can do anything. There are no quests. No starting point and nothing players can do, except for getting injured.”

‘Can this be that difficult?’

Jason was sure there were plenty of things to do around Yuriel. Obviously, there wouldn’t be many opportunities to fight and clash in the early stages. There were huntable animals like rabbits, and fishing was a possibility. There were fruits that could be collected and people would pay them to run errands. 

After all, not everyone was in a dangerous place like the Dark Forest.

‘Sigh.’

He couldn’t do much to help, especially since he didn’t play The Endless in his previous life. He knew many things related to Yuriel that were bound to happen five years later. 

‘I can give them basic hints and more information on the Central Continent. But I don’t know anything about other places.’

He fell into thought.

“What? Don’t you have anything to say? Remember your contract, Jason? You have to pay us with in-game currency. But for that, they have to have value.”

“Even if you give up The Endless, I can guarantee that the currency will be valuable.”

Jason got up from his seat, moving to the front. Luckily he asked Logan and Dawn to send the recording of the explanation from Boris. Surprisingly, both of them had told him he could sell it if needed. 

‘Can I do it?’

He thought the video would be definitely valuable, but this wasn’t something he recorded, so he wasn’t keen on that. 

“Can you connect my phone to the projector?”

“Ah… Yes.”

Ben was startled by the sudden question, but he felt Jason wasn’t a simple employee of the Steel Corporations. 

Jason logged into his gaming account and started playing the video. This was obviously a good introduction to Yuriel. Even though he didn’t listen at the time, Boris had explained almost all the basic details about the world in the video. 

…

“That is the basics about Yuriel. The first thing all of you should do is to figure out where exactly you are. The easiest way is to ask the Envoy that talked to you today. He will have the basic information.”

Jason started talking when the video stopped. 

If he was the guy who just left the High School, he wouldn’t be able to talk like this. However, he had extra thirty years of experience in his mind. 

“The best you can do at the start is fishing, hunting birds and rabbits, and collecting fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants from the surroundings. There may be Adventurers guild, Temple of Justice or some similar organisations near your spawn point. They might hire people to run errands. If the country you are spawned in is at war, you might get an opportunity to join recruitment. This is one of the easiest ways to get a weapon and decent armour with a salary.”

These were not in the video but the things he knew as fact. Even after five long years, when all the people entered Yuriel, wars weren’t rare and many people got opportunities to enter into various armies. He also didn’t mention the organisations like the Assassins league and the Thieves guild. 

There were darker organisations that caused much trouble in Yuriel. Even if the players were immortal, there were ways to stop them. He remembered several massive protests that came online in the later stages of the game. It was just because the players failed to continue playing because of their own actions. 

“Are there any other questions?”

He finally looked at the group before looking back at Freya.

“Is this everyone?”

He was amazed to see the number the Steel Corporations putting into such an important game.

“Huh? We are… Just experimenting. Besides, not everyone can get into the game.”

Jason raised his shoulder. He noticed how the looks these people had on their faces changed. He kind of expected this. People who would get selected to play The Endless wouldn’t be people who were going to start conflicts at a moment's notice. 

“Can we avoid getting hurt?”

‘Hm?’

Jason looked at the girl with long blond hair. She had her hand raised high.

“Hurt? You can cut a piece of your clothing to wrap your feet.”

“No, I mean like not getting hurt in the game.”

Jason shook his head before showing them the penalty message on his account.

“Twelve… Twelve hours? What happened to you?”

Ben got startled by the penalty. 

“Broken ribs.”

“Was it painful?”

“You guys might get a chance to experience it.”

“Damn….”

“This game is getting scary.”

‘Are they afraid of pain…?’

Jason shook his head, listening to these complaints. 

“Jason, sell me the video.”

“I can’t.”

He flatly rejected Freya.

“Why?”

“As you can see, it is not mine. I am just a listener.”

“Huh? You didn’t record it?”

“Nope.”

He didn’t want to take advantage of someone else's work. Besides, selling them meant owning a favour to either Logan or Dawn. 

‘At least those two are reliable.’

Both Logan and Dawn helped him in the hunt and didn’t chicken away. He felt it wouldn’t be the case if it was people like this. 

“Is there anything else you can do?”

Freya lowered her tone. Even though she couldn’t buy this valuable video, it wasn’t hard to find this information. On the other hand, what Jason shared until now could be the key points to develop in the Endless. 

“Either you have to train them here for weapons or they have to find someone to train them in-game to learn the weapon skills.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Didn't you see the post? The only way to unlock a skill is to learn it and execute it perfectly.”

“WTH man, stop joking.”

“Try it yourself. There is a method called Mana Breathing. Find someone who can teach you that.”

Jason ignored the guy who wanted to argue with him. He had no time to waste on these children. Honestly, he felt it would be better to log back in and practice Mana Breathing. However, he had to wait until Master Merlin officially taught him the method. 

The place he was staying will be too close to a Wizard. Even if Master Merlin failed to notice it, Ameliya would easily detect his practice. 

“Sigh. I can send you about 10 silvers.”

“What did you say?”

Freya thought she heard it wrong.

“I can send your guild ten silvers. If I can send more tomorrow, I will let you know.”

“That is a joke, right?”

Ben looked at this shabby-looking man with surprised eyes.

“Name a price.”

Jason looked at Freya. Everything he sent to the Black Steel Guild should be deducted from his contract.

“One dollar for one silver.”

“Forget it.”

His bottom line was ten, which he heard as the standard price during his last life. However, it would be far more valuable later. Also, he was sure there wouldn’t be many who had that much money on the first day of the game. 

“Five.”

“We are done.”

He pulled out his phone from the projector. He could simply pay them when the price reached a standard point.

“It is just ten silvers, what can it do?”

Freya tried to argue.

“Buy some crude weapons, a simple seat of clothes and good shoes. Bare necessities for the beginning of the game.”

Ten silvers could do many things for a starting player.

“Miss… Freya. We really need some money….”

Ben thought this was a joke, but Jason seemed to be serious.