Chapter 11 – Only When I Sleep

The guard firmly denied Karlo entry if he didn’t explain himself first. So he was forced to give an overview of what happened, which the guard was clearly surprised by, and after that, he was allowed in.

It was dark, and his prior injuries had been worsened by him running the whole way to the village. Karlo wanted nothing but to go to his room and fall asleep. But, there was something he had to do first.

‘Damn it, I’m too nice.’

Going down to the residential area again, he found Old Man Garber, still shivering on his front porch.

“Why don’t you go inside?” Karlo called out.

When the old man realized who was talking, his face screwed up in anger. “And there he is, the outsider I commissioned to get me a coat a day and a half ago!”

“Hey, things got complicated. I also have a note from Mrs. Dandy for you.”

“From the old lady?”

Karlo took off the coat he was wearing and handed it to the old man, along with the piece of paper.

“You’ve even been wearing it?! What is this world coming to?” Despite what he said, he took them quickly.

[F Grade Mission Complete: Old Man Garber’s Coat

Mission Objective: Purchase a coat from the tailor, Mrs. Dandy, and give it to Old Man Garber (1/1)

Reward: 1 Silver Coin (minus price of coat)

Claim Reward?]

‘Claim.’

Karlo felt... nothing appear in his pockets. Apparently, the coat counted as having costed the full silver.

At the same time, he received another notification:

[F Grade Mission Completed!

Progress towards unlocking F+ Grade Cultivation: (2/3)]

Only one left to go, and he already had a mission for it. Even if it was one he would rather not do.

Without even looking at the coat, he anxiously read the paper.

His exaggerated expressions disappeared and his face became solemn. When he had finished reading, he rested his head in one of his hands and sighed.

“Damn that man!” he suddenly yelled.

Knowing that the old man was probably a cultivator, Karlo would rather not have to speak to him while he was angry, but now the situation concerned him.

“By ‘that man’, you wouldn't be talking about Jovie Tops would you?”

Garber gave him a fierce look. “You know him?” he replied in a dark tone.

Karlo suddenly felt like he was back in front of that polar bear charging towards him. He hurriedly answered, “I was the one who met him in the bathhouse. Me and Coral told Mrs. Dandy about the situation.”

The old man’s gaze softened. “Yeah, that’s the guy. What about it?”

“Well, who is he?”

Garber sighed again, “Someone very dangerous. Don’t go poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. You’re better off not knowing.”

“I admit, I was curious about who he was before, but I wasn’t going to go looking for answers. But now things have changed. I have a mission to deliver something to him.”

The old man looked at him in shock. “Where’d you get a mission like that?!”

“When I left Mrs. Dandy’s tailor shop, I ended up in the middle of nowhere in the tundra. But I have a good sense of direction, so I was able to find the way back to the village. On the way, I met a group of travelers who were heading to Green City. They had been planning to stop in Green Village just to deliver one package, but when they saw I was an outsider, they gave it to me as a mission. Only then did I know whom I had to deliver it to.”

Garber nodded in understanding, “I see.”

“The only thing that’s been bugging me is why I ended up out there in the first place. Mrs. Dandy had said I would still be in the village when I exited.”

That got a bit of a chuckle from the old man, “That sneaky old woman. You said you met Jovie Tops?”

Karlo nodded.

“If that’s the case, the old lady must’ve sent you out there on purpose, so you’d be safe while all this passed over.”

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“All what?” There were many questions Karlo wanted to ask after that statement, including asking himself why his talent hadn’t picked up on Mrs. Dandy’s lie, but the most pressing concern was finding out what happened while he was gone.

Old Man Garber looked at him judgingly. “I guess... it’d be fine to tell you some of the details. If things played out the way I think, right now Coral and the old lady should be in either the Blue or Yellow Kingdom. That man, Jovie Tops... he’s a member of the Water Dragon Sect.

“It isn’t an immensely powerful sect, but it’s still a far greater power than any single person could contend with. Their influence lies mostly in the Blue Kingdom and extends to parts of the Forest as well.

“Then there’s Jovie Tops. The reason he’s dangerous isn’t because of his cultivation, which is a problem in itself, but because he’s a member of that sect. Attacking him is like attacking the sect directly, they’ll come after you like a pack of wolves.

For reasons I won’t get into now, Jovie has been searching for Mrs. Dandy for a long time. He even went into the Yellow Kingdom’s territory to find her. She’s had to take on new identities and escape all over the place, all because of that man!”

“Why doesn’t she just escape to the Red Kingdom in the mountains?”

“When you say it like that it sounds so easy, but in reality, travel between kingdoms is extremely difficult. As an outsider with yellow and blue affiliations, you have an advantage in this regard.”

At last, Karlo got some confirmation that his original choice was good. That wasn’t what concerned him now though.

“What about Coral?” Karlo asked. “She was in the bathhouse too, Jovie Tops could’ve taken her hostage.”

“Ha! Although that psycho is completely out of his mind, he still thinks of himself as someone from a righteous sect. Doing something like that might put his position at risk. Instead, he probably placed something on her to find the old lady’s location.”

Looking back, Coral had mentioned something about the reception lady touching her hair.

“You said if things played out the way you thought. What if they didn’t?”

“If they didn’t... in that case, I’m sure you can figure out what happened.”

“Huh...” Karlo thought for a while. “Then I just have one more question. Where do you fit into all this?”

The old man was taken aback at the question but still answered. “Mrs. Dandy and I... I guess you can say that we’re old friends,” he said with nostalgic eyes.

There was clearly more to it, but Karlo didn’t mean to pry. He was about to get up to leave, but he abruptly had another thought.

“Wait. Is Jovie Tops even still here? He wouldn't have left to follow Mrs. Dandy, right?”

“Even if he did, what does it matter to you- Oh, your mission!... Well, there’s a chance he’s still here. He’s usually pretty lazy, he’ll send his attendants ahead of him most of the time. But if he is gone, you don’t have to worry too much. My understanding is that you won’t be punished if the mission is impossible for you to complete.”

Karlo hoped that, by now, people on the forum would have more information about these things. He had heard so many natives talk about punishments, but missions had no time limits, so he wasn’t even sure how he could fail one.

He said goodbye to Old Garber and started limping towards his room.

‘Damn that accursed panel,’ the old man thought to himself. ‘If it wasn’t for that, I would’ve seen what was in the package that Jovie wants so badly.’

It was about midnight when Karlo finally got back. The second he was in front of his bed, he collapsed onto it and fell asleep.

That night, his dreams were extremely vivid. He saw the people he had met in this world; vague connections between them that he hadn’t noticed started to become apparent. He felt as though he was on the verge of discovering some great secret, but until he awoke, he still couldn't grasp it.

“Knock knock! Karlo are you in there?”

It was the sound of Ethan, the first fellow Earthling he had met in this world.

Karlo groggily replied as he got up, “Yeah yeah, I’m fine.” When he opened the door, all 4 of the others were standing there.

“You’ve been in this room for- Wait, where did you get those clothes?”

Karlo looked down at himself. “Oh, these? I completed a mission yesterday and these were the reward.”

“So you must’ve completed that booklet then!” They all looked excited.

Over the time he had spent on the booklet, they knew what he was doing.

“I did, but... I don’t think it was useful. It seems I’ve only acquired the same technique as all of you.” He lied. Honestly, he didn’t feel like being pressured into giving away a major advantage that he only attained with a lot of hard work.

“Wow... I’m sorry to hear that.”

“So, what brings you all to my room this morning?”

“Well firstly, we wanted to make sure you’re still alive, and secondly-

“We’ve decided to go on a joint mission.”

Ethan had been the one talking, but now Bob had taken over. He was the one who had begun cultivating first.

“I’m sorry to say, and I hope you understand that we can’t take you with us. While you’ve been sitting in your room, we’ve been working hard at missions and improving our abilities. We came here out of courtesy so you’d know what we’ll be doing over the next few days. That’s all. Let’s go guys.” Then Bob started walking away.

Karlo could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces what the situation probably was. They had hoped he had something to show for all his efforts on the booklet. Unfortunately for them, Karlo felt that this wasn’t the time to reveal anything.

Soon after, they all followed Bob, only Ethan saying goodbye.

The truth was, Karlo was glad they were gone. He already had 2 important matters he had to deal with.

One was the delivery mission, which, on top of all the other stuff, would be the last mission he had to complete before he could advance his cultivation.

The other was, to him, while not as pressing, still far more important. And that was finding a way to become stronger.

He could tell he couldn't rely on simply advancing his cultivation. Completing missions was going to be an uphill battle all the way. He needed to acquire new techniques that would allow him to fight if need be.

His injuries hadn’t completely healed, but his Qi was full and the capacity had increased again, from 11 to 12.

Karlo didn’t waste any time searching or asking around. He instead activated Qi Sense. Even more so than when he saw Qi for the first time, it was as if the world had changed. He then remembered that after completing the challenge with the snake, he had leveled Qi Sense up.

Instead of the specs of Qi he had seen floating around before, now the air was full of Qi, with concentrated points here and there.

There were also different colors. Before, all the Qi he saw was a glowing white. Now, the Qi in the air appeared more dull, with a tinge of grey. The Qi of the people walking by were varying shades of blue. And, most importantly, the string of Qi connecting him to his mission was red.

One side pointed out of the village, along the line separating the desert from the tundra. Karlo assumed this must’ve been the travelers. He wasn’t sure how far away it was, but the line of Qi indicated they had already reached Green City.

The other side pointed into the village.

No matter how Karlo had walked while exploring the village, he hadn’t been able to see any walls or any end, except at the front entrance. So, he hoped this meant that Jovie Tops was still here.

Although fearful, Karlo was ready.

‘Jovie Tops... you will be a stepping stone for me to become stronger.’