For all intents and purposes, Gate 9 was finished. It wasn’t a scenario where they were forcibly booted out. Technically, if they wanted to, they could have chased after Goliath and killed him. They could have explored the Holy Land and searched for treasure. It was like a replayable level of a game.
Alas, even with the level ups, William was too burnt out to continue walking. His head throbbed madly and they collectively decided this would be it. That meant going back to Nulgupjisin Grill House. Black seats, black tables, and black grills that appeared like magic.
Simply entering and tasting the barbeque in the air, William felt like he was home again. At the same seat, with the same waitress, he opened up the menu and ordered grilled ribs. Recently, he had been getting a craving for it.
Generally, the party didn’t get drinks (AKA alcohol) because of Kazi. Either William had to go himself to a bar or Sun-young would give him a can from her inventory. Luckily for today, Kazi allowed alcohol since they had completed a gate and brought guests over.
“I'm glad you're here with us!” Kazi said. “I do wish Ksenia and Nikolai were here too.”
Matty and Jules were quite the pair. Where Matty was a scowling stone statue, Jules was a kind, comforting cat lady. Her black cat, strangely named Goldy, was on her lap, sleeping.
“That’s what happens when you’re in a guild,” said Matty. “Commitments and no free time.”
“I’m sure it isn’t that bad,” Jules said. She laid her right arm on the table, her left arm remaining limp. “By the way, any recommendations?”
“Grilled ribs—”
“Bulgogi—”
William and Marta spoke over each other, both very eager with their advice. Laughing, Jules said, “I will try to get everything then.”
“I’m curious,” said Marta, “how did you get your class, Jules? I’ve personally never seen it on another player.”
“Oh, Animal Tamer? Hm, well, it’s funny, actually. Remember the monkey from the first gate? I befriended him.”
William and Marta exchanged glances.
“That’s it?” Marta asked.
“Yep, that’s it. I gave him food and stuff like that. Unfortunately, he was too fast for me to catch and he ended up running after smelling someone else’s food.”
“Only two people were able to catch that guy,” William commented. “I wonder who it was.”
Beside him, Kazi chuckled. “Yeah, I wonder.”
“It must be quite a powerful class if Matty was confident you could defeat Goliath,” William commented.
Jules laughed off. “Oh, it’s just Matty being Matty.”
“Not true,” Matty said. “She puts herself down but trust me when I say that she’s the strongest player here. She would have taken care of Goliath, easy.”
Jules smiled, cheeks slightly red. “Matty, come on, please don’t exaggerate.”
“I’m not. I mostly work at a cat cafe.”
“Four days until Gate 10 opens. You should all be careful,” the waitress said, arriving with a tray of wine. Kazi shifted back, indicating that he wasn’t participating. William happily took a glass, as did Matty and Jules.
“We will do our best,” Kazi replied. There was a leftover glass, which was supposed to be for Marta. Hesitation clouded her, taking her teacher into consideration. Kazi, however, gestured at her to go for it. After one last nervous look, she did.
“By the way, you’ve been serving us for so long. We never got your name,” William said.
“Oh, my name?” The waitress pointed at herself, smiling. “You want my name, right?”
William tilted his head, perplexed. “Yeah?” Was that an issue?
“Sorry, sorry. My name is Ming.” The waitress smiled.
“Any advice for us?” Jules asked.
“Gate 10 is always a raid,” Ming said. “If you want to live through a raid…there's nothing really I can say. Prepare for unfairness is the best I can offer.”
“A raid, huh?” Jules hummed. “I think I’ve heard the term.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Me too,” Kazi said. “I believe, if I’m not mistaken, it’s a large-scale player versus player event?”
“Player…versus player?” William repeated, blinking. Did…did that mean what he thought it meant…?
“So you know.” Ming’s smile weakened. “The rules of a raid are different but there are two common elements: all players are in the same place and there is a degree of player versus player.”
“All in one place?” William scrunched up his face. “Aren’t there like…”
“There were ten thousand players at the start,” Matty finished. “We can’t say how many there are now, but it couldn’t be less than seven thousand.”
The sizzling barbeque suddenly seemed hotter than it should have been. Player versus player, all in one place…
A raid.
“A good way to measure someone's progress early on is whether they've landed a critical hit. A critical hit is a phenomenon that occurs due to the will of the System, so if you've managed to get one, then in my opinion you're really starting to get the hang of it,” Ming said. “So have you?”
“No,” Matty said.
“I haven’t,” Jules admitted.
“I recently did,” William said. “Against Goliath, I landed a crit.”
“I…haven’t,” Marta mumbled.
“I have,” Kazi said. “So has Ms. Sun-young. It’s easier with swords, I believe.”
“Don’t worry if you haven’t,” Ming said. “It was just a personal observation, that’s all.”
“Hey, what if you were a big deal in the Heavenly Games? Then what?” William pointed out.
“A big deal…I mean…” Ming bobbed her head left and right. “I did rank number four in my time.”
“...huh?” William did a double-take. “You were…number four!?”
“Bye-bye! Please give me a tip if you can!” Refusing to elaborate, Ming left to attend to another table.
“Wait, wait, wait…” William turned to the rest of the table. “Why is a lady that had the fourth most points still here? No, as a matter of fact, why is she a waitress?”
“You didn’t notice? She’s the waitress, but she also owns the place,” Kazi said. “The place doesn't have one waitress because the owner is broke. There's only one waitress because the owner likes it that way.”
An elbow on the table, William’s cheek fell into his palm. “Goddammit.”
The hours went by and so did the food. Jules was very adept with her one usable arm. Though weak to the point of struggling to hold a spoon, she took her time eating and would leverage the long handles of the grill to heat her meat. When necessary, Matty would help her out, which wasn't often and only when she politely asked for it.
All that remained was the alcohol in their systems.
William’s relationship with Marta had developed into a silent friendship. Whenever they saw something weird, they would exchange looks and funny faces. No words or jokes were necessary, and since Marta was naturally shy, he didn’t expect any more out of her either.
William expected wrong.
He had never seen Marta drunk, but that did not make up for Marta’s current condition. The blonde was shitfaced drunk and singing her heart out. According to Kazi, it was Poland’s national anthem. Her armour gone and wearing a white drawstring jumpsuit, Marta jumped on the table, singing and screaming, Jules giggled and hit the table to the beat. Then there was Kazi, who said he was going to go outside and let them calm down on their own.
That left William with…
“So…”
Matty. Yeah, William was left with the scowling Matty. A bit tipsy, his brows were softer than normal. ‘If I can’t talk to him now, then I probably won’t ever.’
“You and Jules, how did you meet?” William asked.
“Gate 1.”
…progress, right?
“Did you save her or something?”
“No.” His voice turned sharp and turned to look at him, irritated. “She saved my life,” Matty clarified. He sipped on his wine.
“She…saved your life?” William repeated. He drank as well. “That’s…um…interesting.”
At Gate 1, a woman that wasn’t able to move her arms saved a guy like him? He wasn’t tall or buff bt he certainly wasn’t powerless.
In a low mutter, Matty continued, “No one ever did that for me before. I owe her everything.” His mutters lowered and William barely managed to hear him admit, “I hate it when she puts herself down.”
A smile spread across William. He sipped on his wine again, feeling the tension leave him, and said in a sing-songy tone, “Awww, somebody has gotta a crush~!”
“Yeah, I love her. So?”
Oh.
“Oh, um.” William awkwardly rubbed his cheek. “Want another drink?”
“Sure. You’re paying.”
Did he not care that he was underage? Whatever. Honestly, it was better like this. Being treated as an adult was nice—
“Okay, no more drinks.”
“Huh?” William had barely gotten to taste his fourth glass when Kazi came back inside. His arms crossed, it did not look like William could argue. “Ugh, really!? Please, just one more!”
Kazi shook his head and pursed his smiling lips. He grabbed William by the shoulder. “Alright, William, come on.”
He was way too weak to resist and ended up zombieing his way out. “But Kaaaziiii~!”
“Fresh air, come on.”
The sky was dark. Weird. He wasn’t sure how the Nebulous Bazaar’s day and night cycle worked. At the very least, when night time did fall, it was after a very long period of day.
“I let you drink alcohol and wine because I know you’re mature enough to handle it. Today though, you went a little too far and I think you know it. I don’t want to be policing you, William.”
“Sorry, Kazi.” He gulped the night air and sighed in relief and guilt. He discreetly glanced at Kazi, who was focused on the stars. William also started looking at them. They were beautiful. “...do you really think I’m mature?”
“I know you are.”
William erupted into laughter.
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just…” William’s laughter tapered off, smiling without meaning. “...you’re more of a father to me than my actual father was. He would have never said something like that to me.”
“...I see.”
“Yeah, my father was…something.” He let out a sigh and rubbed his cheeks with both his hands. “God, what am I saying? Forget it—forget what I said. I’m…I need to go home.”
Kazi didn’t immediately respond. “Get some sleep.”
“I will. Oh, but what about—”
“Marta is fine,” Kazi said. “She’s breaking out of her shell. If she goes too far, I’ll step in.”
“Thanks. Um.” Man, how many times was he going to thank him? “Er, thank you for always looking for me. For all of us.”
Kazi gave a curt nod. Smiling in turn, William said, “Enter home,” and his world changed.
His lodgings were simple. White walls, a poster he bought at random depicting a NFL player turned player, and a long, fluffy white bed. There was a bathroom and shower stall, courtesy of Kazi. He wasn’t exaggerating about his skills in trade school, he was a bonafide jack of all trades. William flopped onto his bed and went to sleep.