We began to leave the room and soon we found ourselves outside the building… It looked like we were underground until now. The sun was right above us in the sky, but the temperature was quite nice. The air was fresh and clean like I had never felt before…
Despite the appearance of the previous building we were inside a moment ago, the outside was quite weird. The buildings weren’t that high, actually, most of them were only two stories high, the tallest one not bigger than three stories high. At the same time, they were all completely made of some gray material that looked like marble, but the texture at close range felt a lot more polished and unnatural…
There were other people around, but they didn’t seem like us. Their clothes looked old, like the black-haired woman, like one hundred years out of season. At the same time, their presence felt a bit weird. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly, but it felt unnatural or perhaps artificial would be the correct word.
“What the hell is this place?”
It looked like my boss recovered his spirit now that the door closed and the intimidating black-haired woman was no longer around. This town or perhaps city made me feel like the places that a person can make in one of those city builder games. Everything was too identical here.
“It looks like the first group is trying to talk with the locals. Let’s check with them what they have learned so far.”
My boss groaned in annoyance. He didn’t like not having absolute control over any situation he was involved in, but he decided to follow my idea. When we got close enough, we were able to hear the response of the locals.
“You can buy information over there, with the information broker.”
“Why can’t you tell us something so simple?”
“We don’t know you and you have accomplished nothing yet.”
After saying that, the man turned around and then left like it was the most obvious thing to do, leaving the first group speechless for several moments.
“What the heck is wrong with these people?”
A tall man with short hair shouted. He seemed to be acting like the leader of the first group and while they hadn’t been here for long, it looked like they had been receiving some very annoying answers.
“Hey, you. What have you asked the people here?”
My boss stepped forward and asked. It looked like he realized that it might be a good idea to take charge while he could.
“Yes… we asked everyone who passed by where we were and who they were, but they only said the same thing. Where the information broker is?”
Something was odd. They were behaving like that, but they didn’t seem particularly averse to our presence. I checked the paper again, and I didn’t find anything that I might have missed… My only guess is that we had to figure things out by ourselves and do what we were told by that black-haired lady in order to be recognized by the people here.
I looked in the direction the other guy pointed and then saw a simple building that looked in front of an old bookstore. I decided to head there while everyone was talking amongst themselves. Along the way, I saw some buildings with similar appearances. They had a board made of the same material as the buildings above them with some weird letters that I couldn’t understand…
Still, I was able to see some people there working. They were skinning animals, stitching leather, and some of them were sharpening weapons.
‘It looks like the setting of the first city of a random game… but unlike in those stories, the people here aren’t treating us like heroes or adventurers.’
‘Hey look to your right side! Isn’t that a red-light district?!’
I sighed before turning to the side… he was right. There were some buildings there with some weird designs and I could see women in and men wearing some revealing outfits. Here I was wondering what was happening, and this moron was already thinking about how to fool around when we didn’t even know where we were.
I decided to ignore him when I finally arrived at the information broker… It was a man who had round glasses and a mustache. He was wearing something like the uniform of a waiter.
“Hello, how can I help you?”
The man seemed welcoming enough, but I had the feeling that it wasn’t because he was that he was that sociable. So, I kept my guard up.
“I heard that you are the information broker. I would like to ask what kind of currency you accept and what you can tell me for free.”
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“All the shops only accept origin coins. You can obtain them from monsters, from killing others, doing quests and by finding treasures. You can also obtain them by selling things around the town. To learn about other things, you will have to pay for them.”
The man made a silver-looking coin appear between his fingers. It seemed like an ordinary coin. On one side of the coin, I could see the number one and on the backside, I could see a spiral… it was quite the weird coin.
Regardless, this truly looked like the thing you would find in a game, a different type of currency and the ways to get it by killing monsters. Did we all die and ended up in a game-like world for some reason? Even though none of us could recall dying?
“How much do you need to tell where we are?”
“Five origin coins.”
“... What about why we are here?”
“250 origin coins.”
At least it was a question that could be answered… it was hard to say if I would receive the truth, though. Perhaps I should check what I could ask, and the price of the answers, but the next group arrived and began to make a lot of noise.
‘We are lucky that we arrived first, so we can take advantage of this not to get involved in the chaos… I need to talk with the boss and then…’
‘That fatass can’t be of any help. The moment he finds himself in trouble, he will throw us under the bus.’
He was right, so I immediately considered discarding the idea, but what could I do? If that guy couldn’t watch my back, I should look for someone who could… The other guy was too dumb to be of any use.
‘Even if you don’t put your thoughts clearly in your mind, I can still read them, you know.’
‘... Why are you so chirpy all of a sudden? I usually can suppress you more than this.’
‘I don’t know, I just feel full of energy today, since we arrived here. This is amazing.’
This was more annoying than anything… In any case, I looked around in order to have an idea of what I should do. If my guess was right, trouble will only get worse as time passes, so I had to move away from the chaos. I checked the knife in my hand and wondered how I could use this… if my only way to get information now was by fighting monsters to obtain coins, then I didn’t have a choice but to do it. The faster I accepted that, the better.
I followed the road that I was on to see the end of it, and by the look of things, it looked like it was one of the main roads in the town since I could see a gate in the distance with some guys wearing armor and holding spears. Those guys looked buffed and the type who had a hard time making friends thanks to their serious expressions.
‘Hey, one of the guards had some massive assets and asked for her number. No, wait. Let me ask her, you never succeed.’
‘Dude, shut the fuck up. I am seriously worried here. She has a spear too. I don’t want to be stabbed because of your nonsense.’
‘Relax, it is all about confidence. When I am doing my magic, confidence starts taking notes.’
‘Oh, I have confidence… confidence that you cause my death one day. The last girl you pulled off slashed all of my tires, you retard.’
‘So what? A hot girl like that is allowed to be a bit crazy. She was freaky in bed too, you know it.’
‘It doesn’t matter if she is freaky, that stops being a good thing when you see a girl with a knife in her hands pointing at you enough times. You definitely know it. Because morons like you keep ignoring that behavior that chicks like that are no longer an exception.’
‘You are such a whiny bitch.’
Being called a bitch by my own mind sure was annoying… in any case, I arrived at the gate and the guards didn’t stop me, but they kept looking at me, though. I looked behind the walls of the city and found some trees in a large green field filled with hills as well. It seemed a peaceful enough place, but I could see the tall grass moving in some places, and it wasn’t thanks to the wind.
I suddenly saw a shadow moving ahead and then found a large rat creature in the distance climbing a tree and then biting a branch and making a lot of fruit fall from it.
“... Are you heading out to hunt?”
“Yes, I am going to.”
I looked a bit surprised when one of the guards suddenly asked that, but I answered without looking like a fool. He didn’t look like an NPC by the way that he studied me, so I felt that acting confidently would be a good thing at the moment.
“Hm… Are you willing to accept a job, then? The Dire Rats are eating a lot of the fruits in the area, and that is making the production fall. I like my apple juice more when it isn’t very expensive. In any case, I can give a coin for every three dire rats you kill, and one coin more per extra after the fiftieth.”
You received a quest: Slay 50 Dire Rats.
Rewards: 17 origin coins + extra, 10 EXP and Guard Chark’s appreciation.
Time Limit: None
I was speechless, but I didn’t let that show in my face, I only blinked for a moment and avoided opening my eyes widely. This was truly confusing, but it was better to not think too much about it.
“All right, I will do it.”
‘Heh, showing confidence, huh? You learned from a true master.’
‘Shut the fuck up.’
I crossed the entrance of the town without turning back and then left the paved roads to see the area ahead with a bit more clarity. I could see some places on the ground with some large holes and I imagined that the dire rats had come from those.
I wondered if they carry some sort of disease that a single bite would make a wound become really nasty and then put me down a few hours later. My heart began to race, but for moments like this, I knew that just moving and acting were always better than feeling anxious.
In the end, I took my white long-sleeved shirt and then ripped it apart on two sides and then covered my forearms with the cloth. I had a sleeveless shirt and now I could show my not very well developed physique. There was no one to show off, but it was fine… right now, it was time to see if this was all a crazy dream that would end soon or I would truly fight monsters to level up.