Ch-2 Part-2: New Avatar, New Stats, Obviously

After selling the leftover magic items I had inside the bag at the magic shop, I headed to the weapon's shop Mr. Hesub reluctantly recommended me to go. It was after I reached the shop and saw the unjust behavior done by the owner to the little girl when I realized why Mr. Hesub didn't want to recommend me this place.

I wouldn't say I hate such situations where the owners try to take advantage of the incompetent buyers, since these are nothing but only business for them, but it ain't like I don't know how to handle crafty merchants like him. Benefits of being a solo player once, I guess.

After the transaction ended, the total amount of money I had - along with the money I earned by selling the magic items - summed up to 750,000 tyches. If I'd sold them in a city, I'd have earned at least a million tyches. Furthermore, if it weren't for the extra pouch deep inside the bag, I wouldn't have any place to store the enormous amount of money I had.

I decided to give the crossbow I bought to the little girl who seemed to have wanted it very much - as an act of kindness.

But later after conversing with her a little, I figured out the reason why people were staring at me the whole time when I walked around the town.

At first I thought it was because I was dragging around a large suspicious bag all around town, but then I remembered it was because my dragonscarf was untidily wrapped around my neck.

"Uh.... Rayka?" Tia asked me as she showed me the way to the Adventurer's Guild, located in the center of Riberfree.

For giving her the crossbow, Tia asked if there was anything she could do for me in exchange of the crossbow. Even though I politely declined her help, she persisted. So I asked her the directions to the Adventurer's Guild.

"Hmmmm.... What?"

"Um....why..did you wrapped the ends of your scarf around your arms?"

"....."

Because the way I wore the dragonscarf around my neck looked indescribably messy, I decided to wear it normally and wrap its remaining long ends a couple of times around my arms.

Although I found this way of wearing the scarf pretty cool, it may have seemed pretty odd and immature in the grown-up's eyes.

"...Rather than wearing it untidily around my neck, wrapping its ends around my arms like this looks better, doesn't it?"

"...Wouldn't it be better if you don't wear it?"

It's true that I can just shove this nuisance inside my bag full of money, but...

"If I take it off, I'd feel like I have lost to my past rival."

"Past rival..?" It was obvious she would have a bewildered expression for what I said.

"Ahh, it's nothing. Just some sort of a childish challenge I agreed to long back."

"...O-Okay."

But I still wonder from time to time - why and who gave him this dragonscarf. Also, I worriedly wonder how many people who had seen me today have the image of me being someone who dresses up messily - all because of this messy scarf.

'Messy scarf' huh?.....

Back in the beta version, my past rival who originally owned this long dragonscarf wore it perfectly. Perfectly enough that it's overlong characteristic became negligible when it was glanced upon by others.

The only moments when we noticed his scarf was very long were during the time when he took it off during our visits to the beaches or the public baths in-game. That's just how perfectly he wore his scarf.

Argh, now I wanna punch past me to have thought that wearin' it would be easy.

"Ahh look, the guild's right up ahead." She said, pointing at the big building situated in front of us.

The guild itself looked pretty normal from the outside. The exterior was made of bricks and planks painted in brown and red, with loudspeakers above it - probably for broadcasting purposes.

"Well then, let's go."

-Adventurers Guild-

The interior of the guild looked pretty much normal as well, except for the impressive lighting inside which was of the same level as that of a city tavern of this world. Plus, it was sure lively with people - with most of them seeming to be adventurers.

The large clock hanging high above the wall far back in the hall struck eight at night. Judging from the current time, it should have been nearly about three hours since I've started playing this virtual game.

"Welcome!" A waitress with long, black hair pulled up into a ponytail greeted us. "Oh, if it ain't Tia! What brings you back? Also who's the other girl?"

The name of the waitress who halfway greeted us and started interrogating Tia about me was Hefa Stein - or so Tia informed. Her and Tia seemed to know each other pretty well - judging from the way they were conversing with each other about me.

She seemed to have completed her interrogation with Tia and walked towards me, and said, "Hello! So your name's Rayka, right? I am Hefa! Hefa Stein! Let's get along from now on!"

"...Y-Yeah, let's get along..."

Her chummy nature might be a bit of a hassle to deal with though.

"So I heard from Tia that you are new to town and looking for a job at the guild. If that's true, do you have enough money to pay the registration fee?"

"Oh, um, yes I have."

Wait a second. I'm kind of worried now because I don't have any small change with me.

As I said this, I noticed Tia who had slowly cupped her hands over her ears and was looking away from us.

"Well then, go to the counter situated at the far right corner of the guildhall. The receptionists will guide you through the registration process. Yes okay, I'm coming. Well then, later..."

"...O-okay, thanks" I said as she left to take the orders of the waiting customers, and headed towards the counter.

Tia, then, followed me to the counter. As we reached the counter, I noticed there were three receptionist. Two were occupied with a small line of people. I went to the unoccupied one.

"Hello! How can I help you?" The receptionist was a young lady with short red hair and was wearing a pair of glasses. "Oh, it's Tia. Who's the girl with the bag?"

Finally someone described me by something else other than this dragonscarf! Thank you very much, miss!

"Her name is Rayka Miler, and um...she came here to register for a job..."

"I see... Well, a registration fee is required. Will that be alright?" She directed her gaze towards me.

"Um...Yes, surely.."

"Okay. That'd be two thousand tyches."

Two thousand tyches...

That's too cheap! Back in the beta version, it took ten thousand tyches to register oneself in a guild - even in a town more underdeveloped and tiny than this one!

Oh well. Let's just call it a positive change for now...

I rummaged through my bag full of huge stacks of money, hoping to find a two thousand-tyche note. Unfortunately, none of the paper money in my bag were worth less then ten thousand tyches.

The receptionist stared at me curiously as I rummaged through the bag, and for some reason Tia again looked away from me.

"Um..here, I don't have change...so.." I handed the ten thousand note to the receptionist, who later wore a surprised look.

"...Were you doing some other job before coming here?"

I shook my head in response as I fastened the mouth of the bag.

"Um.. okay, so what job would you like to register for? If you haven't decided a job yet, would you like to read the occupations booklet and go through all the jobs issued by this guild and what entrails them?"

Occupation booklet... Those didn't exist back in the beta version, but I did hear a rumour that one of the small guilds came up with an idea similar to this back then. Maybe the idea was popularized in the span of six hundred years...

I concurred with the receptionist's suggestion of reading the booklet, and she brought forward a moderately-sized booklet from below the counter.

"Hmmm... Tia, what's your job?" Since Tia vaguely kept stealing glances at my bag for some reason, I thought of conversing with her to break the awkward situation.

"I-I'm an archer."

"An archer, hmm? Are you planning to register for a crossbow archer's job as well?.."

"Ah... Yes, I had planned to register for that job as well after I bought the crossbow."

"Hmm.."

I opened the booklet and checked it's contents. The jobs listed at the booklet were pretty much the same as back in the beta version, except for some new jobs added to the list which didn't exist back in the beta version.

"What job would you take, Rayka?" Tia asked as she too read the booklet while standing beside me.

"Hmm... Let me see..."

In this world, jobs were nothing but labels that categorize people according to their best talents and stats.

For example, if someone has high intelligence, dexterity and mana, then he's well-enough qualified for the job of a mage or a priest of the Magic-user class, and if someone has high strength, vitality, dexterity and stamina then he's qualified for the job of a knight or a swordsman of the warrior class or the tank class.

Well, one can just hone his skills and increase his status to get the job he prefers. Also with further hardwork and levelling, one may even become qualified for top-tier jobs.

But if someone were to picks a job incompatible for him, he's bound to face multiple hurdles while continuing his career and eventually stress out. It ain't like anyone can do just anything.

Back in the beta version, I'd seen too many people and players changing their jobs after experiencing what our world's people refer to as 'Workplace Depression'.

Back then, I decided to pick the job of an adventurer since anyone could easily take it, no matter what their stats were. Luckily, I had unexpectedly high mana, dexterity, strength, and intelligence stats back then so I was able to level up pretty much easily even with that masters-of-none job.

Guess I'll pick adventurer once again...

"Have you decided, miss?" The receptionist held a blank card and a small shiny blade ready for registration.

"Yes, I want to um...become an adventurer."

"Well then, drop a few drops of blood on this status card so that it may analyze your status and evaluate it." She handed over the status card and the blade to me. "Don't worry, only a small cut in the finger will do, okay? You don't have to cut it very deep, okay? Don't be scared, it will hurt only for a while, and if necessary, we have bandages ready too..."

"Um... Yes, I.. I understand." Why is she being anxious and fidgety?

Well, nevermind that, even the registration process hasn't changed since then - except for the low registration fee.

(Drop, drop)

Ouch... Even this pain has become more realistic than before. Totally feels like the one time when I accidentally cut my finger during one of the home ec classes back in elementary school.

After dropping few drops of blood above the card, I used the bandage the receptionist provided to stop the blood dripping out of my finger.

Hmm.. healing-imbued bandages, huh? The sensation is slightly different than back in the beta version, but way better!

"Well then, it should appear soon... Ah! Here it is!"

The status card slowly gave off a whitish light and small letters started to form on one side of the card.

"Hmm... Let's see... Rayka Miler... Okay, you will be able to read your status from now on whenever you pour even a little bit of magic of your's into it."

"That's great. Then thank-- um.. what's wrong?"

"Miss Helia will get your card washed and cleaned before you can take it so... you know, the blood above the card..."

Tia informed me right after the receptionist backed off when I tried to reach my hand to grab the card.

"Oh, I see... Wait, miss Helia?"

"Mmm.. that's the receptionist's name."

Back then, the guild staffs didn't even clean it for us. Seems like the guild services have improved.

"Rayka, um... Earlier while coming here, you said that this is your first time in Riberfree, right? So from where did you come?"

Tia asked as we waited for the receptionist who was wiping off the blood on the card with shaky hands. Again, why is she being fidgety?

"Hmm... I was hunting monsters in the forest about five miles away from here before coming here..."

"Eh...that's not what I meant. I mean like, from which town, or village, or someplace like that?" Tia replied.

The residents of this world, that is the Magicafarians, are aware of the existence of us players living in this world. For us, this world might be just an unbelievably ginormous game map, but for the Magicafarians here, this world is their home, their planet, their dimension, everything. Just like how we feel about our planet Earth, it's the same for them as well.

Players can either play with or without their identities as someone from another world exposed. Of course the angels and the yet-to-encounter gods of this world know our identities, though.

As we refer to this world's residents as Magicafarians, they refer to us players as humans from another world.

"I am from the another world, what about you?"

As I said this, Tia looked at me surprised with a delighted expression.

"So you are also a player!? Great! I'm a player too! Glad to meet you, Rayka!"

She became so happy upon knowing that I was of her kind that she joyfully shook hands with me vigorously - and here I was having trouble in speaking properly due to my arms flailing up and down with great force.

"Ah, ye-e-a-ah, sa-me here..."

To be honest, I wasn't that surprised. Judging from Tia's actions so far, I got the feeling that Tia wasn't someone who belonged in this medieval-fantasy world.

"Wait a sec," Tia, looking puzzled, "since you're registering in the guild, does it mean that you are a newbie?"

"Well, y-yes..." I am technically a newbie in this game with my new avatar, after all...

"Oh, Rayka, you are also from the another world? Isn't that great, Tia?" The receptionist came back with the neatly washed status card, and said in relief, "Good thing that someone from your world finally came to our town."

"Yes!" Tia nodded cheerily.

"Good for you, Tia!" The waitress Hefa suddenly popped up near us and proposed, "Oh I know, lets have a welcome party for our new guild member!"

Being unable to apprehend the euphoria of everyone in knowing that I am a player, I asked them.

They, then, explained to me that this town was rarely visited by us players, and after Tia's arrival here a month ago I was the next player to set foot here. So they were glad for Tia that someone of her kind had finally visited this town.

Well, it's not that I can't understand the lonely feeling of being the only one to tread in an unknown land, full of strangers, provided the fact that I was once a solo-player and roamed inside scary and dangerous dungeons, brimming with frightening monsters - but that was back in the beta version.

Currently, about two or more billion people regularly login to this game and about thousands of new players register themselves at AWA pretty much everyday, so it's obviously strange for there to be a scarcity of players in a town - especially in a lively one like this.

Well, lesser the players in this town, more it's suitable for me to stay here. Great thing this town was my first choice.

The guild chefs started preparing drinks and dishes for my welcome party which I deemed unnecessary, but then I thought it wouldn't be bad to have a party after all the pressure I've been through this past three months.

Well, I guess I should check my status by now.

I poured a little of my mana onto the status card and few characters emerged on the blank side of the card.

Like every beginner, I too became excited at this moment where my status would be revealed - although this would be my second time knowing my own stats. I hope it would be as good as my past stats.

"Well, here I go!" I muttered as I lifted my fingers slowly from my eyes which were blocking my vision.

Status- [Current Level Average- 150]

Level [LVL]: 2 Experience [EXP]: Legendary

Strength [STR]: Low [65]

Mana: Extremely Low [28]

Vitality [VIT]: Pretty Low [52]

Agility [AGI]: Good [340] Stamina [STA]: Very High [573]

Dexterity [DEX]: Great [495] Intelligence [INT]: Great [476]

...Heh....?

What's with these numbers?! Strength's low? Mana's extremely low?! Vitality's low too!? What's good 'bout havin' low mana in a world where magic is fundamentally a basic necessity for everyday life!?

Furthe'more, what the hell does it mean by 'Extremely low'?!?! This card's mockin' me or somethin'?

Well, this does explains the reason why I wasn't able to cast any magic properly with this new avatar, but this status, no matter how you see it, is unreasonable!

Plus this avatar's weak! Altho', it's logically normal for a woman to start with a little weak avatar, but I still had better strength back in the beta version.

And my vitality is low too? No wonder I felt a lot more pain while makin' that tiny cut at my finger before than I expected.

"Rayka! Have you checked your status yet?" Tia cheerfully came up and inquired me, "Woah, why are you looking dejected?"

"Heh...My stats..."

"...Your stats?"

"...Yes, my stats..."

"Um.. what about it?"

"...It's nothin' like I expected! Rather, it's worse than what my mind had prepared for!"

[Rayka Miler/Sharrel Welmiller - after experiencing various kinds of misfortunes continuously since the past three months - has unknowingly developed a unique conditioned reflex which unconsciously prepares her from various possible future shortcomings]

"It cannot be that bad. Would you mind if I look at it? You can look at mine as well." Tia suggested with the clear motive to somehow cheer me up before the party. Her somewhat assertive and kind expression gave away her motive like a book.

I didn't think much and concurred with her suggestion out of curiosity.

"Name's Tia Cezha... Occupation's adventurer and class is archer and... Wait, what's a freelance labourer?"

"The ones doing normal labour work. Like woodcutting, construction, and the likes."

After looking at my stats, I was sure - the game had changed a lot from six hundred years ago.

Well no point in thinking about this for the time being, I'll be just enjoying this party first!

[TO BE CONTINUED]