“Sigh.”
Freya gritted her teeth. Since they already invested in The Endless, there was no way to pull back at the moment. She was testing the waters with Jason. Besides, she was too surprised to hear that Jason had that much in-game currency with him.
‘Is he a Beta tester? But there was no Beta testing.’
Compared to Jason, their pro-gamers looked like immature children. If not for the fact that she trained them for a month, things would have been much worse today.
“Fifty!”
She knew there was no currency available for sale. Honestly, she already checked the available channels.
‘Huh?’
Jason looked at Freya with a puzzled mind.
“One hundred, each.”
Freya clenched her fists, thinking Jason was trying to refuse. She wondered if he was lying.
“D… Done.”
Jason took a moment to process the information.
‘Did she say one hundred, each? Should I scrap more silvers? I should rather decide after receiving the reward for the message.’
He thought for a moment before deciding. Even though the price was way higher, the edge they could gain at the early stages of the game would be better. Honestly, this would be a great opportunity for the Black Steel Guild.
“Do you want me to send it to him?”
He pointed his thumb at Ben.
“Yes… Do you have a way?”
“Go to the nearest Chamber of commerce and open an account there. Then send me the details.”
He directly turned to Ben.
“Is there… Such a way? But… The town I am in is pretty small….”
“There may be one. If not… We have to use the Adventurers Guild. But the transaction fee will be high. Let me know what you can find by tomorrow.”
“Ah… Yes… How do you know… So much…?”
Not only Ben but everyone else was also surprised. No one even heard of such methods until now. Everyone was wondering what Jason did on his first day.
“I talk to people.”
“People?”
“NPCs… Talk to them properly and you will get many things done.”
This was the last advice he had for them.
Jason turned toward Freya.
“And… Ms Freya… Don’t call me for every Guild meeting. I am not going to come.”
He thought that he made his point clear enough. He was their temporary employee. Although he was grateful to Ashley, there was a limit.
“Wait!”
He was about to move when he saw the girl who had asked him a question earlier standing up.
“Is there really no way to avoid getting hurt?”
‘Is she for real?’
He thought this woman was joking with him.
“Kill yourself if things got out of hand. It is an easy death.”
“Are you kidding me? That is painful too. We can’t log out during a battle. And even if we die we have to go through an eighteen-hour penalty before respawning.”
The woman looked triggered, but this was actually valuable information to Jason. He thought the respawn would be instant.
“Become strong. Then nothing can hurt you.”
It was the best advice he could give to her. If she thought about living everyday life in Yuriel, there was no reason for her to worry, but she was a gamer who was playing The Endless. These people were looking for action and opportunities to grow. Besides, living a normal life wouldn’t be possible in ten more years.
“Huh?”
The woman looked confused.
“Wait!”
‘What now?’
He turned toward Freya.
“Spar with me.”
“Huh?”
Jason was confused by her proposal.
“Fight me.”
“No.”
He had no reason to entertain this girl.
“What?”
“I have no reason.”
Jason walked toward the entrance.
“Ten thousand.”
“Hm?”
“I will pay ten thousand to you if you win.”
“Oh… Will it be deducted from my contract?”
“No. It is not possible.”
“Alright.”
To a person like Freya, that amount was nothing.
Even though he would prefer to take that amount out of his contract, he was happy to earn easy cash. If he could save up some money, he could focus more on paying the hundred thousand to the Steel Corporations.
“So….”
“Just get ready. I want to go back.”
“Now?”
Freya looked surprised.
“Put something on, Ms Freya. Unless you prefer to fight in a business suit.”
“What about you?”
“I am good with this. Besides, it is nothing impressive.”
His worn-out T-shirt and pants were nothing, and he had a doubt if Freya could do anything to him at all.
…
“Young man, Freya is my best student. She must be really unhappy with you to challenge you.”
“Oh.”
Jason simply responded before finding a place on the mat to sit. He didn’t care about how unhappy Freya was or if she was the best student. He just wanted ten thousand. It would make things much easier for him.
“You sure are confident, kid. Well, best of luck.”
“Thanks!”
Jason gave a smile to the man who seemed to be mocking him. He knew martial arts were good. It would work on anyone who hasn't learned to react or respond. However, for a martial art to work against a person with skills, it should be used and honed in battle. If not, all the lessons and practice would be useless.
A real battle had only one rule. The survivor could walk out alive and the dead would be left behind.
His memories rushed to the past where he fought countless times on the battlefield. When the Cervians invaded, all hell broke loose in Yuriel. Dark factions that always wanted to take advantage came to light.
‘I killed countless humans just as I destroyed those drones.’
Honestly, he never fought against a Cervian. All they met on the battlefield were drones and machines. The level of technology that the Cervians had made the latest technology on Earth look like toys.
The only time he saw a real Cervian was when the Angel of Death killed one and brought its corpse. It was a humanoid creature with a bold head and yellowish skin. The creature was around eight feet tall and had four arms with six fingers on each hand. It had a pair of legs with two fingers on each foot.
The very next day they lost four human cities due to continuous bombardments from the Cervians. He remembered the horror of seeing those millions of broken bodies of humans.
‘Sigh.’
He was always a nameless warrior because he never managed to surpass the Master level. However, he never lost a battle when he fought against someone at the same level since he reached that stage; until the last day when they lost everything.
Even though he couldn’t use the aura or the physical strength of a Master. He and Freya both were just normal humans. To him who experienced so many life-and-death battles, Freya was a mere child who wanted to play.
…
“Are you ready?”
“Huh? Ah… Yeah.”
Jason got up from the mat, looking at Freya who was now in a tight purple suit. Her figure was honestly exceptional. Coupled with her natural good look, Freya looked like a heroic spirit.
“Here, protective gears.”
“Hm….”
Jason simply took the two gloves since he didn’t want to hurt the girl who was about to pay him.
“You need the helmet.”
“Put them on, Ms Freya. I will try my best not to hurt you.”
Jason wasn’t sure about how his body and his instinct would react, so he decided to use the gloves. He removed his shoes and placed them aside. These were not his comfortable enchanted boots.
“You… Hurt me?”
Freya shook her head in amusement.
“Are you even that strong?”
“No.”
Jason didn’t try to remind Freya that he didn’t have to be that strong to hurt someone like her.
“Are you ready?”“Yes, Master.”Freya didn’t break her eye contact with Jason as she answered her master. She carefully studied the young man in front of her. The reason for all this to start was Jason’s fault. She was annoyed by him to the point where she had to vent her frustration.Jason was the first man she met that had no regard for her words. He simply said whatever he wanted and did whatever he felt like doing. Of course, she admitted that he was capable, at least in The Endless. What he delivered to them so far was obviously valuable, but she had to teach him a lesson. On top of everything, she hated his arrogance. He refused to put on any protective gear and simply used the gloves saying he didn’t want to hurt her. Not only that, but now he was standing there with one arm behind his back like an idiot. The more Freya thought, the more she became angry. Jason had no respect for her. Still, she refused to forget all the practice she had over the years. It was never good t
‘Sigh. I am finally out.’Jason felt relieved when he finally stepped out of the village. He now had a total of thirty-five silvers and a couple of sapphires the villagers exchanged for meat. The gems weren’t as valuable as they were on Earth, but he could earn at least another fifty silvers from these. After breakfast, Logan and Dawn trusted him to sell the things they got from the village and bring back the money. There was a reason for those two to stay behind, and it almost cost him his life. “Damn… I should be careful when I am talking with her….”He almost crossed Amelia for the second time when Logan and Dawn asked him to teach them swordsmanship. Since Amelia was better than him, he looked at her instinctively. Luckily, he didn’t receive much trouble other than a sharp gaze and a terrifying little chat of ten minutes. Finally, she agreed to teach Logan and Dawn instead of him.Even if he reached the level he was in his past life, he would never be able to match with someone
“Young man, do you know about the Lost Kingdom?”“No, I just heard that name yesterday.”Jason had never heard about this story before.“It is a kingdom that was supposed to be where the Dark Forest is.”“Supposed to be? What is the kingdom's name?”He frowned. Rather than truth, this sounded more like a story. “You are sharp, kid. But can you bear the consequences of knowing the truth?”“I think I have to know.”Honestly, Jason started to feel like this was a game. If Xanders said the same thing to another player; especially one who didn’t know the truth behind The Endless, they would have thought this was a story with rich lore. “Very well, keep this to yourself, then. The truth is that even the name of the kingdom is erased from history.”“Huh? Are you sure there was a kingdom?”“Young man, if you explore the Dark Forest you may find many ruins.”“Then why is the name erased?”Jason raised his brow.“Listen well, young man. The story started about two thousand years ago. It says
Jason sat inside the small stone house with Master Merlin.The living room gave a slight scent of herbs and he felt some intense mana coming from one of the rooms. He didn’t care much about that since it wasn’t very useful to him at the moment. Magic stones were good to increase the opening rate of magic nodes in a person’s body, but not until he reached the novice level. “Jason, before teaching you the magic, let me give you the knowledge about how magic works and what it is.”“Yes, Master.”“Very well then. Listen, my young student.”Jason saw a content smile on Master Merlin’s face. Of course, he knew many things about magic, but he wasn’t lying when he told Master Merlin that he was ready to learn. What he knew was the knowledge that came out during a time of catastrophe, and he never had a high enough position to learn everything. He would listen to everything even if there was no change in his knowledge.…Jason tried his best to add what he knew and listen to what he learned
‘Hm?’Jason received an alert on his armband as he entered the Forestedge. ‘This still amazed me.’He wondered if players started to realise the alerts coming from the armband weren’t audible from outside. The sound directly came to the brain, instead of the ear. ‘What does this supposed to mean?’It was a private message from Ben or Poseidon. He was asking him to delay the transaction until tomorrow. ‘Huh? Freya and Ashley? Did they use some connections to buy the cabins? Or did they have applied before?’According to Ben, Freya and Ashley entered the game today. He was asking Jason to delay the transaction until they were ready to receive the money.Jason had to wait two weeks to get the clarification, and he didn’t think these two women would have applied to play The Endless. That questionnaire wasn’t the only thing that should be a part of the evaluation. It wasn’t hard to copy the answers. There should be some investigations involved in the process. ‘Was it because of our fig
‘That is a lot of people.’Jason sneaked out of the back of the Inn to avoid all the players waiting for him outside.‘The war might start within a one-year to two-year period. What should I do?’Unless he could gain enough strength, his only other option would be to leave Alexandria. ‘I will first do what I came here to do.’First, he had to scout the locations of bandits. According to Boris, there were possibly three bandit groups in the area. ‘I can get more information if I meet the mayor. But I will just go to him for rewards.’With his status as a Wizard Initiate, he could easily meet the mayor of Forestedge, but he was too lazy to do it at the moment. ‘I should buy some basic equipment.’He at least needed a pair of shoes for the time being.“Excuse me….”Jason was about to enter the small shop when a voice interrupted his thoughts.“Do you need a map?”Jason immediately noticed the armband on the man’s arm. Even without that, the white clothes made his identity obvious. “A
Jason didn’t look up as he walked into the streets of Forestedge. He was in deep thought about the situation. Early morning, neatly organised groups of bandits left the stronghold for different missions. He even noticed a couple of Elites among those people. It wasn’t a good sign for him. They weren’t a simple group of bandits. He felt depressed and didn’t want to log out until he figured out the situation. If this was simply a game, he wouldn’t care, but he knew he was running out of time. He needed a stable place to grow strong. Magic came with practice, knowledge and patience. ‘Sigh. I should wait a bit more.’It was too early and not even a single shop was open in the town. He was hungry and sleepy, but he decided to wait a bit. ‘Ah… Players. Why are they so early? Phew.’The last thing he wanted was the passionate players asking him a thousand questions. He saw a small alley and found a corner to sit and rest. “Damn… I am hungry.”“Hig… Hig….”‘Huh?’He got alarmed by the
“Have a seat, Sir Initiate.”Simon showed the seat to Jason.“Hm….”Jason sat on the couch, but his eyes were on the two older men behind the mayor. He felt the vibe of the Elites from them.“Let’s get to the point. I am here about the bandits.”“Ba… Bandits?”Simon wiped the sweat off his forehead. He didn’t expect to hear something like this from a Wizard Initiate. ‘Was he robbed?’If so, he would be in deep trouble as the mayor.‘Which idiotic bandit would rob a Wizard Initiate? Even if they did, why let the man walk alive? Wait! Did they kill him? Then this alien must be very angry after coming back to life.’Simon wanted to strangle the stupid bandits. “Sir… We… We are ready to compensate.”“Huh? For what?”“You… Weren’t you robbed?”‘Are you dumb?’Jason simply stared at the mayor, failing to speak.“Sigh.”He took out the map after an awkward silence and placed it on the table.“There are two bandits groups, here and here….”He showed the X marks he put on the map. “Small gr
"Shit," Amelia cursed under her breath as she deflected blow after blow, desperately trying to protect Jason from the relentless attacks.It wasn’t just her previous enemies; there was another massive threat looming on the horizon. She could feel the presence of a greater demon, its oppressive aura emanating from afar, finally ready to make its move.'I can't take on this thing,' she thought, parrying another strike aimed at her.She didn't have the luxury of time to grab Jason and flee. Besides, with the monstrous force approaching, running seemed pointless. This new threat was undoubtedly stronger than her.'If only he can fight,' she lamented, her grip tightening around her sword. She couldn't even afford a glance at Jason to check if he was still holding on. All she could hear were his painful grunts, each one a stab to her focus.…"Daddy, Daddy, no, I have to go!" Hanna cried out, trying to rush toward the mine entrance.Before she could take another step, Nocturne leapt from her
'This is not going to end well.'Jason barely caught his breath as he hid behind a stone column, narrowly evading the swing of a giant demon's sword. He felt a growing sense of helplessness as his spells failed to inflict any significant damage on these monstrous enemies. Surprisingly, his Arcane Spawns managed to restrain one of the demons temporarily. However, the limitation was clear—he could only summon three Arcane Spawns at a time, and that number was far from enough to take down even a single demon.'I don't think Amelia can hold on much longer.'While Jason was barely managing against a single demon, Amelia was handling all five of the remaining demons on her own. She moved with incredible agility, skillfully evading the swords and other weapons targeting her, striking back whenever she saw an opening. Her blade flashed, leaving shallow cuts on the demons’ thick skin, but it was clear that even with her skill, she was being overwhelmed. Five demons were far more than she cou
"Hanna, you have to be good and stay here, alright?""Alright, Daddy," Hanna responded, her voice tinged with sadness, but she kept her composure.'Hanna is a big girl. I can't cry. Mommy and Daddy promised to come back,' she reminded herself, trying to act brave.Floating behind her, Nocturne extended its tentacles, imitating the action of wiping away tears as if to comfort Hanna in its own eerie way."No, Hanna is not crying, Little Cuttlefish," Hanna tried to argue with Nocturne, waving her tiny fist cutely at the eldritch horror."Make sure everything is okay." Jason gave Hanna a quick peck on the forehead before turning to Samson and Butch."We will handle things while you are gone, Sir Jason," Butch assured him. Despite not being from Earth, he had learned to mimic Samson when addressing Jason. Many of the bodyguards, even those from Yuriel, had learned to act properly under Samson's guidance.Jason's gaze shifted to Dane, who was responsible for maintaining the outer perimete
“Eh….”Hanna turned her head around as she felt a familiar ominous feeling. “What is it, Hanna?”“Little Cuttlefish is here, Mommy.”She didn’t know where it was, but she felt its presence. A moment later, a ripple appeared near them and a small slit expanded in midair. An eerie dark feeling seeped out of it as several small tentacles slipped into their world. “Whee!”Nocturne floated toward Hanna making a cheerful noise. “Hiss.”Ancient Wraith hissed at the foreign creature. “Grr….”Nyx growled at the creature in anger, but it didn’t try to attack it. First, Nocturne was Jason’s pet. Second, her little master had no anger toward this thing. However, Nyx knew that the horrible disease had the same scent as this creature. It was a dangerous and foreign feeling that made them uncomfortable. “Gu! Gu!”Nocturne immediately released a defensive sound and hid behind Amelia, trying to protect itself. “Don’t harm Little Cuttlefish. It is not his fault.”Hanna gently patted Nyx’s head
“No! I will not let you go in.”Brood’s voice was sharp and loud, and Jason felt the surrounding air vibrate with her voice. “It is already spreading. Send out one of your Drones and check the caves to the north. There is a crack.”Jason didn’t care about Brood’s rant at the moment. He was much stronger than before. Even if he failed to defeat Brood, he was confident enough to survive against her and escape. Besides, Amelia should be already on her way here. “But… But… This is the only place I am supposed to protect. I… I didn’t let anything escape.”Brood’s voice broke a little as she tried to suppress the agitation. “Check it out. I can feel the monsters roaming beneath those cracks, and it won’t be long before they escape.”“But….”“There is no time. She is coming, and she is angry. So check it out. We will go in there and finish it, Brood. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not. It is too dangerous and we are going to end whatever is down there.”Jason had no idea what kind o
‘This is bad. This is very very bad.’Jason stared at the crack on the ground with a frown. He thought the corrupted land was beneath the spider mines, Brood’s lair. However, it seemed to be extended beyond his scope of imagination. He felt the pulsating mutated life roaming beneath the ground, and he had to use a lot of willpower to suppress himself from roaring. The mutated monster within him smelled the delicacy. Still, alerting them wouldn't be a good thing for them at the moment. Only two Grandmasters were at Light Shone while the others followed the bandit exterminators in secrecy. Only a Grandmaster could face a hunter, and anything above would be too much for this world.The red mist leaking through the crack corroded the mana in the surroundings.‘Is there a way to stop it from spreading? Should I repair the crack? But we better deal with whatever is inside first.’Jason didn't feel like angering Amelia anymore.‘I better see Brood. She must know what happened here before.’H
“You… You are Jason.”“I am.”Jason smiled at the man as he finally opened his eyes. He felt relieved to slip away from Amelia’s fiery gaze. “My… My arm….”The player panicked as he hurriedly inspected his arm. “The wound….”“It is gone now. Honestly, it wasn’t a wound. It was an infection.”Jason shrugged.“What exactly happened? I don’t think you were in Spider Mine.”The lower level of the Spider Mine was a forbidden place. Even if it weren’t, very few would dare to wander into the swarm of spiders. “No, Jason. I was working in the Northern Mine. We had a small quack at the lowest level, and a new crack popped up in the floor.”“And you were the closest to it?”“Yes.”“How big is this crack, did anyone else come into contact with it?”Jason didn’t want to drag out the discussion.This wasn’t exactly unexpected, but an open crack meant there was a hidden space underneath the mine that was contaminated by radiation. He needed to find out how big the hidden space was. ‘I really h
“Jason! We need to see Jason!”“What is going on?”Amelia came out of the house as she heard the loud voice. No one dared to shout in front of their home, and she wondered why Jason’s loyal guards didn’t act. “Madam…!”“Grandmaster Amelia! We… We need help. He can’t log out, and we don't know what to do.”“Hm?”Amelia frowned as he looked at the people from Jason’s world. She knew these were the selected people of the Crystal Pulse. Even though Samson and the other guards prevented this group of people from entering the house, they also looked worried. She looked at the man they brought in, and her eyes widened for a moment. There was a purplish wound on the man’s arm, and a dark purple smoke came out of it. He was groaning in pain and it looked as if the man was going senile with pain. He was twitching and rolling on the ground as the others held him. More people were gathering near their house, and she knew many wanted to know what happened to the fallen man. “Mommy… That unc
“Is it online?”“Yes, Chief.”“How is the reaction?”“I think it looks very violent, Chief. There is an outburst of responses.”“Good.”Despite his words, Magnus’s face showed no hint of comfort. “And Jason?”“He will stay on Yuriel for the time being, Chief. Amelia said she is keeping him there indefinitely. As long as this problem isn’t solved.”“Do you think she knows something?”Magnus rubbed his temple. Technically, there was no way for Jason to know the gaming cabin could transport him to another world. Even if an NPC told him so, it would be impossible to believe. ‘It isn’t like he could handle that kind of secret with such grace.’He believed it would be too much for even a man like Jason Hope. However, Amelia’s behaviour made him suspicious of her knowledge about their world. She knew how to arrange security and cover blindspots against modern weapons. This shouldn’t have happened if Amelia was from a magical world. Besides, her plan looked almost flawless, and even Magn