Authors note: Yes! I've gotten more than 420 likes! I'm gonna smoke this brisket I'm cooking to perfection, then I'm gonna get that weed pulled that has been growing on my flowerbed!
This chapter's over 5000 words.
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Null and Cici are walking towards Panford.
While they're walking, Cici asks Null, “So Null, what are we going to do?”
“Well first we need to find the dungeon. We'll plan from there after we find it.”
“How are we going to find it?”
“I have an idea. I'm not 100% sure if it will work though. Before that, I need to get rid of my materials. Let's go back to your place.”
“Oh my god Null! You could at least take me out to dinner first!” She says giving Null a look of pretend disgust.
“Damn you! None of that! I just need a place to store the items I don't need!” Null says flustered.
“Suuuure. I won't help you pick anything up off the floor with my back towards you.” Cici says pretending to be scared.
“Would you stop that!?”
She giggles.
***********
They make it to the shack Cici was loaned.
“Okay Null, place the items here, but make sure you don't scatter them on the-”
She hears a loud noise and turns around. Her eyes open wide and she looks up at the small mountain of items.
“I'm not cleaning this up Null!”
Null ignores her remark and says, “We probably won't be coming back into this town until we beat the dungeon, so you should take what you need.”
“Wait. Who made you leader?”
“I did. It's my mission. You're just a tag along. You can leave the party at any time. I won't stop you.”
“Ugh. I feel I've made a mistake somewhere. Well enough of that. Why aren't we going to be returning to town?”
“I need to prepare, and we need all the time we can get. We won't have time to be going to and from town. Also because I fucking hate people.”
“Okay, okay I get it. So now what do we do?”
“We look for the dungeon.”
“Okay. Who knows how many weeks it will be before we find it?” Cici says frustrated.
Cici gathers all the things she needs and takes it with her. With that done, they soon leave town.
“In order for me to test my plan, it needs to be dark, so you can go to sleep if you want.”
“Fine. I'll take a nap, but Null, if you step into my tent...”
“Yeah, yeah I won't. I need a break from you. Hurry up and go to sleep.”
They each make separate tents and sleep a few hours until it gets dark out. They then start their preparations. Cici hands Null her map of the area while performing the Light Orb technique. He takes out some paper and copies the map on his paper using the technique Ink Hand. It's nearly a perfect copy.
'Okay. Lets hope this works.' “Ingredient Finder.”
Null thinks of a specific ingredient and the area under his vision lights up. It takes around 30 minutes for him to look where everything grows. He went to a high ground and marked the areas on the map. When he finishes marking all the areas, he draws a new map.
'Now for the next one.' “Ingredient Finder.”
He repeats this process with all the high leveled herbs and all the common, but essential to many potions herbs.
It takes him several hours for him to complete this. When he's done, he intersects all the maps together to see where all the herbs congregate the most. There are several intersections. He goes towards one intersection, but he doesn't go in there. He stays far away from there just observing them in a hidden spot along with Cici.
Cici speaks to Null saying, “What are we doing now? I see that you're trying to find a place where lots of different herbs grow, but shouldn't we be looking for a cave nearby since this is the best place to start looking?”
Null shakes his head saying, “There are still far too many caves around here. It would take too long. You said that Plague sends monsters to do his dirty work right?”
Cici gets it. It looks like a light bulb goes off in her head.
She says, “Oh that is smart.”
They didn't even have to wait long.
Some salamanders start walking over.
Null whispers to Cici, “Turn off your Light Orb technique.”
Cici nods and turns it off.
Monsters looking like 2 foot salamanders walk over to where the herbs are and start ingesting different types of herbs. Each salamander only eats one specific type of herb. Null and Cici smirk knowing that they found what they're looking for.
Null thinks, 'It's unlikely that the salamanders are ingesting those for themselves. Some of those herbs are not necessary for them.'
When the salamanders eat their fill, they start heading back. Cici can't see them because its dark, but Null can see them perfectly because of his Essence of Mana skill.
Null whispers to Cici. “Follow me. I can see them. Don't use the Light Orb technique.”
“Okay.” She whispers back.
She grabs Null's cloak so that they don't get separated. They soon follow after the salamanders. The longer they followed them, the more monsters they saw. They didn't want to alert the salamanders, so they sneaked around the monsters to avoid fighting them. Soon, they saw the salamanders go into a cave.
“So I guess that cave is where we'll look first right? Let's go.” Cici says happy.
“I still have to prepare my arsenal.”
“But, but the cave's right there.” Cici says with a cute whine and pout.
“Do you think my bombs grow on trees? You may be a zombie cleric who can heal from most wounds, but I'm still a squishy librarian.”
“But with my powers, you'll be a zombie too! Not only that, you'll be a super powered zombie!”
“That still won't be enough.”
“Fine. Have it your way.”
They mark the cave's position on the map.
Null heads to one of the areas that had an intersection and starts picking the herbs.
When the amount he has is sufficient, he goes towards the mountain face, and heads into one of the random caves. He performs the Light Orb technique and starts mining. He mines out all the iron and coal he could. He mines all he needs relatively quickly since his mining is at Beginner level 4. Null then starts smelting the iron ores with his Instant Forge skill. After he smelts the iron, he starts making needles, arrow heads, and bomb cases. When he's done with that, he starts brewing his potions and poisons. Cici was watching the whole time amazed. By the time he's done, it's morning.
“Here.” Null says while handing over a bunch of mana potions.
“Thanks.” Cici says grateful.
“Okay, let's go towards the dungeon.”
“Oh yay!” She says with a smile.
“Ugh.”
This time, they're not worried about caution, so they are prepared to fight monsters.
When they get closer to the cave, a huge green python blocks their way. It's head is as big as Null. He does identify and sees that it's level 152. Due to them being in a party, Cici gets the information on the python as well.
Null asks apathetically, “Do you want to take care of that or should I?”
“Really? Sending out a cleric to fight?” Cici rebukingly says.
“Well I'm a librarian, which is far worse.”
“I'm not built for combat, and you have moves far more powerful than I could produce. You don't even need a buff from me.”
While they're talking the python decides to strike. They easily dodge it.
“Fine. I'll take care of it.” Null says indifferently.
Null manipulates his mana for dexterity to rush close to it, then manipulates his mana for strength to hit it. He punches the python on the bottom of its head. It sends a shock wave through its head that comes out the top of its head. This kills the python in one blow.
“Oh man. You're soaking up all the experience. I'm barely getting any at all.” Null says disappointed.
“Well, yeah. I'm 62 levels higher than you. Of course we're not going to be getting the same experience.”
“That makes sense.”
“Is this your first time partying?”
“Yes.”
“Why am I not surprised?” She sighs.
They fight many monsters along the way to the cave with Null doing most of the work. They kept getting increasingly more powerful, but were still no match for Null. After a while, they finally make it to the cave they marked.
They didn't notice it at the time because it was dark, but the cave is surrounded by a purple mist. Null examines the mist.
“Identify”
Plague's Deadly MistThis is the same mist that Plague developed. He uses this to infect people with a disease that's hard to cure. If you touch this, you will grow weaker and weaker and eventually die within a week if there is no one to heal or cure you.
Cici says, “That's the mist that infected all the towns isn't it?”
Null nods and then says, “You've taken the antidote already right?”
“Yeah.”
“We have nothing to worry about. Let's just go. Judging from the mist surrounding it, this should be the right cave.”
'No wonder Mr. Alchemy practically forced me to do this mission. You need to have found the cure before you could attempt this dungeon. I accidentally stumbled upon a chain quest.' Null thought.
They pass through the mist with no ill effects happening to them. When they both enter, a message pops up.
You are the first players to enter the C-rank dungeon, Plague's Hideout. 2X experience for one week.
“We did it!” Cici says excited.
Null ignores her and continues on into the cave. It's dark, so Cici uses her Light Orb technique. The cave looks like the E-rank dungeon Null did with the Deathroll's, only a lot wider and with a lot less stalactites and stalagmites. A new message then pops up soon after the first message in front of Null.
For discovering a new dungeon no player has ever been in, Dungeon Finder upgrades to 20% extra damage.
'My dungeon finder upgrades for every new dungeon I find? Nice.' Null thinks, satisfied.
It doesn't take long until they reach their first monster.
It's a giant black red-striped salamander that's 2 meters tall and 7 meters long. It's breathing out a red mist.
“Identify.”
Red striped SalamanderInformation: Known for emitting a highly poisonous substance than can take out a huge amount of health points a second. The area the substance spreads to is huge. The salamander's movements are very slow.Level227 Health ???Mana ??? Strength ??? Dexterity ??? Vitality???Charisma???Intelligence???Wisdom???Luck???Attack???Defense???
Since Null and Cici are in a party, she sees the salamander's stats as well.
“This doesn't really tell us anything does it?”
“Well, this monster is too high leveled for my identify to work properly. I need to see what it can do. Cici, can you buff me?”
“Sure. I'm not too familiar with the librarian class, so which stats do you want me to focus on?”
“Just intelligence, wisdom, and endurance. Focus on those. Anything else that you feel I need I'll leave to your discretion.”
“Okay. Null, also know that the higher level a monster is, the harder it is for me to debuff them. It takes more mana to debuff than it does to buff, especially if the monster is a high leveled opponent. This monster is also 60 levels above you. That amount is even greater usually than the difference between players and bosses during boss battles, so be careful.”
“Okay.”
Cici prepares her chant. “Ianuaria, grant all whom I wish the skills to solve. Intelligence boost! Ianuaria, grant all whom I wish the the skills to understand. Wisdom boost!”
Null is enveloped in a light. He looks at his stats and is shocked. “Oh my god! I have more than a 100% boost in my stats!”
“Hehe, that's because you're so much lower leveled than me that this is possible. It's also because I'm a powerful cleric.”
“Sheesh.”
Null takes out a bomb and starts running towards the salamander. The salamander sees that someone is running towards it. It starts to inhale deeply. When it does, Null throws a bomb in its mouth. It didn't do much, but it disrupted the salamander's technique somewhat. It breathes out and a red cloud comes out. It spreads fast, but Null is able to evade it while manipulating his mana for dexterity. Thanks to Null throwing the bomb, the poison mist didn't spread through the entire area. Null then takes out a jar from his inventory, and takes a sample of that poison mist.
Null throws some bombs at the salamander, noting what it does. It does more damage than usual thanks to Cici's boost. It looks like that red mist is something that takes a while to recharge, but it has a huge area of effect.
“Hey lets get out of here and go deeper into the cave.”
“You're not going to kill it? You could do it with my stat boosts.”
“Nah. Right now we're doing information gathering.”
“Oh.”
“Just hold your breath and don't breathe in that mist.”
Null throws a smoke bomb. They run through it while holding their breath. The salamander didn't give chase because it was so slow and it couldn't see them. When they were safe, they continued walking for a while. Soon afterwards, Cici's buffs run out.
“Hey, don't worry about buffing me for the duration of this trip unless it's an emergency.”
“Any reason why?”
“You need to conserve your mana, and this first trip is just for information gathering.”
“Okay.”
Null encounters more Red-striped Salamanders. He gets as much information as he can from them. When he stops seeing things he can learn from them, he just decides to sneak around them. They run across many enemies, but they were creatures that could easily kill Null and Cici right now, so instead of provoking them, he just sits there, watches them, and takes notes. He's noticing that all the creatures are poisonous in some way, but most of the poisonous creatures are poisons he could deal with.
Soon afterwards, they encounter a new troublesome enemy.
“Identify.”
Purple Striped SalamanderInformation: Spits out a vicious paralyzing poison gas that can instantly paralyze anyone under level 253, and slowly paralyze an opponent under level 302.Level232 Health ???Mana ??? Strength ??? Dexterity ??? Vitality???Charisma???Intelligence???Wisdom???Luck???Attack???Defense???
'...Well fuck me.' Null thinks to himself.
“You sure you don't need my stat boost for this one?”
“It should work similar to the Red-striped Salamander.”
Null goes up to it, and as expected, it starts to inhale. He attempts to throw a bomb inside its mouth, but this type of salamander is a bit faster than the other one. It releases its breath and Null runs for his life.
'Shiiiiit!' Null thinks while running away.
He barely makes it out of the poison cloud. Any slower and he would've become paralyzed. He takes out another jar and takes a sample of the paralyzing poison.
They walk until they are safely away.
“Okay, I've got all the information I need. Let's go back.”
“Huh? That's it? We're not going any further?”
“Well you can stay here if you want, but I'm leaving.”
“*sigh*”
It takes them several hours to leave the cave.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“So what now Null? That 2x experience boost only lasts a week you know.”
“I know. This won't take long.”
Null takes out all the poisons that he has collected.
He does the Potion Creation skill on the Red-striped Salamander's poison first. He's thinking of antidote to the poison so his Potion Creation skill can work. Null takes out all his ingredients, and the ingredients he needs start glowing yellow.
'Okay, let's get started.'
It takes him several tries and a lot of failures, but he finally finds the recipe for the antidote for the Red-striped Salamander's poison. It takes him 4 hours to find an antidote. He repeats this process for the Purple-striped Salamander. This one didn't take as long, as it only took 2 hours. Null does analysis on the potions to see how they work, and if they will cause harm with any other chemicals he might ingest, and then writes down all his results. He prioritizes making antidotes for the Red-striped and Purple-striped salamanders' poison, because of their huge area of effect. Maybe Null and Cici could deal with one or two, but 10 or 20? They would be killed quickly. Cici was watching him wide eyed with fascination.
He then takes out some paper, a canvas, paint, and charcoal. He draws and paints multiple pictures of the different monsters he has seen. One of the pictures of the Red Striped Salamander looks down and sad. He makes it so it can't even stand. The background is dreary. He does the same for all the other monsters.
He then starts drawing a person. It's a person who is being bitten by a multitude of different poisonous creatures. Despite being bitten, the man looks like those bites don't even affect him. When he finishes drawing it, he paints it, making it very detailed and professional. Cici was quiet the whole time just watching him. He finishes the painting, and a message pops up.
Poison doesn't work. This man shrugs off poison like it tickles. It inspires toughness and perseverance. For seeing this picture, 20% more resistance to poisons, 10% more attacking power to creatures using poison. These effects last throughout the day.
Cici's eyes open even wider thinking, 'His painting gives effects that powerful?'
When he finishes, he shrinks the picture down with Calligraphy Expansion and Contraction and glues it over his chest plate. Cici once again is surprised.
The last thing that Null does it write down all the information on all the different monsters he saw in the dungeon. Using ink hand, he rapidly writes down all the information. This part didn't take barely any time as all, as his ink hand makes it so he can write full pages in a few seconds. No matter how many times Cici sees it, she can't help but be surprised each time.
“Okay. Let's go back to the cave.” Null tells Cici.
“Right.”
They make it back to the cave, with Null fighting the different monsters along the way. Before they go in, Null hands Cici a potion.
“What's this?” Cici asks.
“The antidote to the paralyzing potion from that Purple-Striped Salamander. Its attacks make it so that it spreads throughout the area. You could stop the skill from doing much damage if it's one Purple Striped Salamander, but a bunch together would be impossible to stop. This will make you immune to it. Those are the monsters you will deal with. Me though?” He takes out another potion. “This is the antidote to the Red Striped Salamander's poison cloud. If you're hit with the cloud, it will subtract an unknown amount of health points a second, but taking this potion will reduce it to zero health points a second.”
“That's so amazing, but why can't we take both at the same time?”
“Because taking them both at the same time will cause a deadly poison. You have the paralyzing protection potion instead of the health protection potion because you're a cleric of great skill, and could easily recover your health.”
She blushes from the praise. It's the first time Null had ever complimented her.
“Okay, let's form some sort of strategy. When you're buffing me, only focus on my Intelligence, Wisdom, and Endurance stats. Anything more than that I'll leave to your discretion. Also, since you say its harder to debuff, and it takes more mana than buffing, don't worry about it. Just focus on buffing me. When you run low on mana, I'll throw you mana potions since your bag can't hold anymore of them.”
“Okay.”
They go into the cave and walk until they see their first enemy. It's the Red-striped salamander. Null takes out the painting of the Red-striped Salamander and says, “Art is Feeling.” The technique activates, it takes around 10 minutes for the skill to take effect. If it wasn't for Null having intermediate in that skill, it probably wouldn't have worked at all, due to the gap in levels between the monster and Null. Now it is considerably weakened.
Null runs towards the salamander while Cici says her chants to boost Null's intelligence and wisdom. The salamander prepares its technique, but Null rushes towards it. Seeing how fast Null is, the salamander releases the red mist prematurely, but it has no effect against Null. He makes it to the salamander and goes to its weakest point: Its belly.
Right now, Null has 20% extra damage due to the Dungeon Finder title, 10% more attacking power to creatures who have poison thanks to the painting he made, 10% extra damage due to knowing everything there is to know about the Red-striped Salamander, and its weak points are shown in red. There is also the more than 100% boost in his intelligence and wisdom stats.
All this resulted into a very nasty blow. Null manipulated his mana for strength, and kicked the huge salamander in its belly sending it airborne. That huge salamander could do nothing against Null. It exhaled, but it wasn't its attack. It was air that was kicked out. Null then jumped after the salamander it tried to fight against him, but it was too sad to do anything. Null then performed an ax kick slamming it into the ground. He then landed and stomped on its belly again, killing it.
Three blows. Null took out a monster 60 levels above him in three blows. If anyone were to see, they wouldn't believe it. The dust cleared and they were about to leave until Cici says something.
“Null, could you pick up that boulder? I dropped my ring of prosperity under it.”
“Fine.”
He picks up the boulder and Cici picks up her ring. She gives a big smile.
“Thank you!”
“Um, sure.”
Null is about to go forward when Cici calls out to him again.
“Null.”
“What?”
“You have intermediate in at least 4 classes don't you? Well, since the librarian class is your main class, I'm guessing it's 5. Right?”
This causes Null to freeze. He starts to sweat.
“N-No. What makes you say that?”
“Because of all the things you made. They are way too amazing for someone not to be at intermediate. I deliberately made you pick up a boulder that a person of level 167 wouldn't possibly be able to carry, even accounting for class bonuses. I know that you use some sort of unknown method to temporarily enhance your strength and dexterity, but it only lasts a fraction of a second.
You could have an item that could have given you this huge boost in stats, but right now, you aren't wearing any items that boost your stats to that extent. You could have them hidden on you, but from what I've seen by taking off your shirt and armor...”
Cici averts her eyes from Null. Null face turns red and averts her eyes from her.
“There are no such items that you can possibly have that will give you stat gains of that magnitude. You could have gotten the gains from hand to hand being at a moderately high level, but that skill only takes effect if you're in a battle. I've calculated what a level 167 person would have, even taking into effect the bonuses a person gets for each class. In your base form without using that enhancing technique, the power you possess belongs to someone who has intermediate in at least 5 classes.”
“You pulled that out your ass. I could've just saved some super powerful enchanter. You don't know. What you've calculated is just a coincidence.”
Cici smiles wide saying, “I also know the skills someone unlocks when they reach intermediate in the art, calligraphy, alchemy, and blacksmithing class. You've already used the skills someone gains at intermediate right in front of me.”
“Oh Fuck.”
Null facepalms. This is probably one of the dumbest things he's ever done, and that even taken to account his foolishness during the beginning of the game. Null feels like hitting himself.
'Dammit. Curse my wanting to make skills with my all.'
“Don't worry. I won't tell anyone.”
Null knows even if she does tell anyone, he has no one to blame but himself.
“Wow. 5 classes at intermediate? The number of people who have 2 classes in intermediate can be counted on 2 hands, and yet you have 5. That should be physically impossible, considering how long New Reality has been out, but knowing you, you pulled it off.” She looks at Null with an admiring gaze.
'I was so focused on preparation for the dungeon I forgot to hide my skills.'
“So how did you find a way to raise your stats in a split second like that? Can you tell me? Pleeeeeeease?” She says with starry eyes.
He tries the tactic of deny, deny, deny. It's the only think he can do now.
“I'm just a normal a librarian.”
“Normal librarian? Heh. A “normal librarian” would've deleted their account at level 25!”
She also has a point. Null sometimes forgets that she's the smartest person in their school. He's already in deep doodoo. Might as well just tell her. Can't get much worse.
“I got the temporary stat boost from Essence of Mana. It's at Intermediate level 2.”
This shocked Cici almost as much as learning about having 5 intermediate classes.
“How could you possibly grow it that much!? The highest known level for that is Beginner level 2, and it's still useless. You must be the first!”
“No, I wasn't the first to reach intermediate. When my librarian class hit intermediate, I was awarded extra fame for being the first. However, that didn't happen when my Essence of Mana hit intermediate, so someone must have leveled it up to intermediate before me.”
“Wow! Amazing! Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!”
“Geez. I thought you would start being less annoying to me.”
“Old habits die hard dammit! Besides, I'm being rather courteous after I've been dropped into a pit, impaled, blown up, stabbed repeatedly, and nearly beheaded.”
“Well that's what happens when you don't watch where you're going.” Null says with a shrug.
Cici squints at him.
*********
In Panford, the first people being healed are starting to head out. The town is slowly becoming more and more active.
“Old man Jenkins, you're looking more lively!” A guy says to him happy.
“Haha, do I? I honestly didn't think I would survive that disease. That Cici is amazing able to keep me alive so long.”
“And thanks to Null finding a cure, we no longer have to sit and wait for the disease to claim us.”
“Bah! Null that jerk! Cici was so easy on the eyes! Now she has no reason to see me anymore!”
“Hahaha! Jenkins you are too much.”
*************
A mother starts standing after a cleric is done healing her. The daughter starts crying tears of joy. She runs up to her mother and hugs her.
“Mom! You're okay! I'm- I'm so glad.”
Tears keep flowing from the child. The mother smiles and hugs her with one arm while patting the daughter's head with the other.
“You're doing fine as well.”
The mother starts crying too.
She looks in the air and then says, “Looks like he kept his promise.”
“Yes! I knew he could do it! I want to thank him.”
“I do as well.” The cleric there is confused and asks. “Oh do you mean Tamura? I don't recall her coming in here.”
The mother shakes her head and says, “No, it was Null who found the cure.”
“Null?”
The cleric thinks and then remembers someone who came in the house promising to cure them.
“Oh him! I totally forgot about him. I don't even remember what he looks like.”
**********
A Potion Commotion member runs up to their leader.
“Boss, boss! Did you hear? A person called Null found the cure! All the NPCs are talking about it.”
“Damn that Null, if I were to ever see him I'll kill him. How will I ever manage to impress Cici now? I know! I'll write a love letter!”
“Anyway.” Rick, the vice leader says, trying to avoid that subject. “That name does sound kind of familiar. I think we've seen him before, but I have no clue.”
“Hmmm... Wasn't there a person named Null who hung out with Cici?”
“Oooooh.” Everyone exclaims at the same time.
“I don't even remember what he looks like. He had such a small presence.” The leader says, disgruntled. “Oh we could bring up videos on our pods right?”
“No. The videos saved from the pod get deleted 24 hours real time, which is 5 days in here, if you don't save the content.” A member says.
“Well damn. How are we supposed to plan our revenge if we don't know what he looks like?”
************
At New Reality News station, there's a beautiful anchorwoman talking. Her name is Millie Noel, a person who uses her looks, flirting, and cunning to gather views for the network. She's one of the reasons New Reality News got so popular.
She speaks. “Hello and welcome to New Reality News, home for the up to date coverage for all the important events happening in New Reality! The war for control of the city Zane is getting intense! It looks like the Nightmare Crusaders Guild is pushing back the Braveguard Guild. This is an unexpected development, as the Braveguard Guild is the 72nd most powerful guild in the world while the Nightmare Crusaders Guild don't even have a known rank!
People at first thought it impossible for a newly established guild like the Nightmare Crusaders to beat a powerful force like the Braveguard Guild, but the Nightmare Crusader's growth has been scary. Rumor has it that their leader is ruthless, and would do anything in order to obtain victory.”
A handsome anchorman by the name of Conner London speaks saying, “If the Nightmare Crusaders manage to win control of Zane, it would mean that the Nightmare Crusaders will be recognized as the new powerful force within that city.”
She smiles her beautiful smiles and says, “I look forward to hearing the results of that battle. In other news, there has been a C-rank quest going on that's all the rage for clerics and alchemists. It was a mission to cure Panford from a deadly epidemic caused by someone the people call Plague. Judging from my sources, it appears that someone called Null found the cure, and get this. It only took him 12 days!”
“Is that good?” Conner asks.
“That's incredible! That mission wasn't estimated to be done in at least another 1 to 3 months!”
“Really now? Such an alchemist must be well known.”
“No one has ever heard of him. We don't even know what he looks like. We asked around and people don't seem to know either.”
“Well he must be trying to cast a mysterious image of himself. Well, in other news,...
***********
At One Winged Angel Guild, currently the 6th most powerful guild in the world, the alchemist branch members are talking about Null's mission.
“Someone named Null actually beat a C-rank in 12 days.”
“Really? That nearly rivals our top members' alchemy abilities. Maybe we should invite him here.”
“Nah forget it. If it was someone who wanted to join a guild, they wouldn't be so secretive.”
“You got a point.”
*****************
At Kurokage Guild, currently the 4th most powerful guild in the world and located in the Qudao Empire in the east, their alchemist branch members are talking about Null's actions as well.
“This Null must think he's the shit. I want him to come over here. Let's show him how he's just a speck in the sand compared to us.”
“People like that must be taught a lesson so that they don't become arrogant.”
“Too bad no one knows what he looks like.” One guy says depressed while kicking a pebble.
**************
The vast majority of people don't care about the news about Null, but a few alchemists, and alchemist branches of powerful guilds are all discussing Null's actions. Some are impressed, some are jealous, some are apathetic, but most agree on one thing: A new highly skilled alchemist has arrived on the scene.
************
A warrior and a merchant meet up to talk about what they had heard on New Reality News.
“Do you think that that could be him?” The merchant says.
The warrior smirks saying, “Of course. Do you know of any other high level alchemists named Null? Looks like he's doing part of the work for us. Now would be the time to put our plan into action.”
The merchant nods saying, “We're going to be so rich.”
The warrior does an evil smile saying, “Filthy rich.”
***********
Cici and Null decide to take a lunch break, and art currently eating some bread that Null had made. Cici is browsing and chatting in the chatrooms like she always does when she's on a break in the game. She sees something and cringes.
“Um, Null?”
“What?”
“Um, remember when you got that mission to cure the sick?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Um, you're now kind of famous among the alchemists. New Reality News talked about you.” She smiles apologetically.
“.......................FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-”
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Author's Note: Oh this should be fun.