The carriage was uncomfortable, barely large enough for its two inhabitants. It was doubly uncomfortable as its first inhabitant kept purposefully kicking Kai's legs during the bumpy ride.

"Can you stop?" Kai eventually requested, earning more kicks for it. Kai could only stare at the other man in turn.

ShadowBlade51, level 19 nuisance.

"No wonder you were wearing a mask with a name like that." Kai grumbled.

"I'm here because of you, noob. I had like a thousand gold in that bag, I could've just gone to another bank, and I'd have rent paid for the next four months. Why. Did. You. Do. It?" The last words were each spaced with a click to Kai's shin.

"I… have a quest for it."

"Yeah? What's the reward, and why are you here with me then?"

"...ten gold."

"You… what? I just lost ten thousand dollars because of you. And for what, ten gold?"

"Yeah, two guards gave me a quest for capturing criminals. Ten gold per criminal captured."

"...They were clearly trying to take advantage of you."

"I'm starting to realize that."

"I mean, ten gold? And you're not even registered with the guards?"

"It was mostly because I thought it'd be fun, and a relatively stable income if I could capture someone every couple in-game days."

The constant kicking came to a stop, "Fair enough. Can't exactly expect much from someone of your clear intelligence. You want a stable income? Then help me break out of this carriage, and I'll give you a whole gold coin."

Quest offered: Escape from justice. Help ShadowBlade51 escape from the carriage that your actions confined him in.

Reward: 1 gold coin. -150 reputation.

Note: Hidden options for quest completion exist.

Rewards for hidden completion: +10 reputation.

Accept: Y/N

"Sure, why not. Would've wanted to break out anyways." Kai said, accepting ShadowBlade51's offer. "But is there anything other than your username that I could call you?"

"Call me… Shabe? Yeah, that'll work." Shabe muttered to himself more than anything. "Alright, it's time to escape. I've got a hidden knife in my boot, I can reach your knees, so grab the boot with them, and I'll pull my leg out."

Kai did as his fellow potential inmate told, and managed to grab the boot by squeezing his knees against it.

"Alright, good. Now grab the boot with your mouth, and throw it to me."

"What, no. That's disgusting."

"Do you want to get free, or not? Just throw the boot, with your mouth."

"What if, I just…" Kai said, as he shuffled in his seat, as much as he could being tied up, and tilted the boot towards his lap. A small sheathed knife fell out.

"Ok, good. Can you grab it with your hand?" Shabe questioned.

Kai tried leaning to the side, causing the knife to fall on the bunch he was sitting on, close enough to the hands tied behind Kai's back for him to grab. "I got it."

As Kai unsheathed the knife, and did his best to free himself from the rope with it. The carriage abruptly tilted to the side, as a loud thump could be heard from the roof, causing Kai to slip his grip from the knife.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"What was that?"

"How should I know what's happening outside? Probably just a bump in the road."

"No, really? I meant the metallic click I just heard."

"Oh," Kai paused. "I may or may not have dropped the knife." Kai said, once he realizes the knife had been thrown on the floor by the bumpy ride.

"Gods damn it, you had one job!"

"Like you're one to talk! Why not just have a knife in a sensible place, like your sleeve?"

"Just shut up. I've got a second knife in my other boot. This time throw it to me."

The carriage abruptly switched directions, causing it to nearly fall over.

"The heck is going on outside? I want a better driver."

"Don't worry about that, just take my boot!"

"Alright, alright." Kai said, as he once again squeezed the boot with his knees. Only this time, he grabbed the rim of the boot with his teeth, and snapped his neck in an attempt to throw the boot to the failed bank robber. The boot landed on the floor of the carriage.

"Don't worry, I can still try and get the knife with my feet."

Kai wasn't worried, as he watched Shabe fail again and again at getting either knife from the floor. After all, why would Kai worry when he'd already lost hope.

Eventually the carriage came to an abrupt halt, and moments after that, two hooded figures opened the carriage doors.

"Kai, did you seriously have to do this? I lost like fifty reputation, even with the hood." The familiar voice of Droozle asked to Kai's delight, as Arson unsheathed his sword to free Kai from his bounds.

"Thanks guys, but could I get my bag, I need to check something." Kai said, receiving his backpack, from where he pulled out the list of criminals the guards had given him. The guards might be taking advantage of him, but hey, 10 gold was 10 gold. Only, 'ShadowBlade51' wasn't on the list. "You can cut him free too, he's not on the list."

"What. List?" Shabe asked.

"You know, the list of criminals I can get gold for." Kai said, as Arson shrugged and cut Shabe free.

Quest complete: Escape from justice. Your actions resulted in the freedom of ShadowBlade51. Reputation has decreased by -150. Talk with ShadowBlade51 for further rewards.

"That'll be 1 gold please." Kai said with a grin, causing Shabe's eye to twitch ever so slightly.

—

Once Shabe reluctantly gave the gold coin to Kai, not wishing to deal with the penalties that came from not keeping to an agreed upon quest reward. Having done that, Shabe quickly parted ways with the trio, leaving Kai and his friends to make their way to another sector of the large city, in search of a bank that wasn't in the process of being robbed.

Once they came across a second bank, they quickly deposited the gold, and Kai made a bank account for himself. 108 gold, made in just a few days. It was nearly unimaginable, once again showing how ECLIPSE really was a second chance, and a great one at that.

"If we keep this up, I might actually quit my job," Arson joked. "But who wants to go shopping?"

The resulting trip around the city ended with Kai buying a gladius, more comfortable clothes and leather armor. Once they were done with spending money, Droozle confronted Kai with a simple question.

"Kai, if you're serious about permanently joining ECLIPSE, you need to understand that this isn't just a game. I understand that you've been enjoying yourself, having fun while making money playing a game of your dreams. But everything is simulated here, effectively just as real as reality. I can't say if doing something like murdering an NPC is any different from murdering a physical person, and so far, all evidence points to that it's not. You can be thrown in prison, lose everything you own, be tortured and a whole lot worse. For now, you always have the option to log out if things get bad, but soon you won't have that option. There's a reason this game is rated 18 and above. Everything you do has consequences, so before you do something you'll regret for the rest of eternity, think through exactly what you want."

For a moment, Kai was silent, running his thoughts through what Droozle had said. He did have a point after all. If Kai wanted to buy a house, instead of living in the streets, forest or prison, then he couldn't go around doing whatever he felt like. ECLIPSE was a game in his mind, when it should be reality for him instead.

Kai sighed, "You're right. I should figure things out before I join permanently. Maybe find a job, and a house I could buy."

"You know, you could try joining a guild. Some have big sponsors, and offer their members a monthly pay. You just need some special skills, and all the guild's will be throwing offers at you left and right. I got lucky with my healing skill, without one it can take days or weeks in-game time to heal injuries, so I've made some money by simply offering my service to guilds." Arson butted in.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll find something, you two can go do quests if you want." Kai said, "I'll try and figure things out". Now how exactly did one find work and houses without the internet? Many guilds probably had their own websites, and the wiki might have some information on a few jobs and the housing market. But Kai would soon be effectively a respawning NPC, he should get used to navigating the world like an NPC, no, like a denizen of ECLIPSE. That sounded much better in Kai's opinion.

Saying his good-byes to his friends, Kai decided to ask around to find a library. He could probably find some useful information from there.