Chapter 15: Temporary Farewell

After a few solid minutes of browsing through the goods sold in the shop, Renan closed the merchandize window without buying anything in the end. First of all, he didn't have that much money anymore because of buying his current equipment, and the few that he did have come from the several goblins he killed. And lastly, even if he did have the money he wouldn't necessarily buy pet items if he didn't even own a pet.

Therefore, he said to the burly man, "Boss, your goods are quite pricey ain't they? Couldn't you perhaps offer a discount the next time we come to visit?"

"Oh? Well, I'll consider it, if you happen to purchase a lot of items at that time. So yeah, make sure to bring loads of money with you when you come here, alright?"

"Heh. Maybe… Anyway, we gotta go now boss. It was nice meeting ya, and we'll catch you later!"

Understanding that it was now time to bid their farewells, Ars stopped looking at the items displayed in the merchandize window and closed it before doing a bow.

"It was really a great help meeting you, Mr. Shopkeeper."

"Please, the pleasures all mine." The burly man smiled politely. "I'm just glad to have met new customers like you in the area. Don't forget about me and come back to visit sometime, okay?"

"Mhm. We'll definitely do that."

"Great! Well then, I hope to see you adventurers later."

The burly man happily waved a hand at them while on his counter, a cheery grin adorning his face up until they left through the door of his store. Meanwhile outside, the two of them were idly discussing some things as they walked through the streets of Elisa town.

"Guess we should be heading to the Adventurers Guild now, huh."

"Yeah, after we turn in our quests I think I'll be logging out."

"Oh, that so? Well, I did hear that there is a compulsory log out system implemented in this game. Is that true?"

"Yes. The developers specially set that rule by the request of the government. It was so that the citizens won't be investing their time more than necessary in a videogame or a virtual, digitized world. Because the government foresaw the traction that Fatal Fantasy would bring to society, they made it that you could only play the game from 7 PM to 7 AM."

"I see… I think it's not such a bad idea, I suppose. I mean, people still need to be a contributing as well as functioning member of society, so I can totally understand where they're coming from."

"Exactly." Ars nodded along with him. "How about you...? What are you going to do after this?"

"Me? I'm also gonna be logging out for the time being. I need to prepare for the day anyway."

And so, they continued their idle chatter till they reached the doors to the Adventurers Guild. When they entered the lobby it was still as crowded as before, with many players spread throughout the four corners of the room.

There was a separate arrangement of counters away from the reception, made for the purpose of handing in the quest terms or items. Renan and Ars went there together, intending to turn in the two Resource Gathering Quests they took which were one and the same. Because of the plight they were in due to a field boss suddenly appearing out of nowhere, they didn't get to complete the remaining three Monster Subjugation Quests.

Taking out her portion of quest items from the inventory, Ars put it onto the counter where a bespectacled middle-aged man was seated. He instantly moved his hands behind the counter, segregating each item and giving them a look over to see how many there were.

When the middle-aged man was finished counting the pieces, he gave an approving nod of his head and said: "There are a total of 20 Berdie Flowers, 15 Emerald Fruit Herbs, and 15 Ginseng Roots. The tally of items have been confirmed. Thank you and well done, adventurer."

[System Notification: Three F-tier, Easy Difficulty Resource Gathering Quests have been completed!]

A great amount of experience points rapidly flooded her XP bar, filling it all up and taking her to the next level. Before she could react to the sudden growth spurt, a clear 'Ding!' resounded in her eardrums as it announced her advancement to level 6. And Renan, noticing her level change in the party channel, immediately went and congratulated her.

"I see that you've risen a level. Congratulations Miss Ars, I'm truly happy for you." He said so while displaying a cool and elegant smile, which accentuated his handsome features even more.

Having such a good-looking person direct nice words of praise towards you can truly make the heart of any believer of love feel like it was being tugged at. Self-aware of her own feelings of innocence, Ars happily received his praise and sweetly smiled back at him.

Next, Renan moved to replace Ars and stood in front of the counter before placing his quest items onto the wooden top. The bespectacled middle-aged man did the same procedure again, and also gave a reapproving nod of his head followed by some perfunctory words.

Finally over with the quest procedures, Renan turned to Ars and was just about to say something, but she managed to beat him to the punch.

"First of all," She started. "I would like to sincerely thank you, Renan. I'm really grateful that you accepted a shy, good-for-nothing girl like me into your party. You probably already know this but when we first met I've been trying plenty of times to join a team, yet I was never able to do so due to my lack of courage when facing random strangers…"

At this instance, her eyes seemed to shine brilliantly like a pair twinkling diamonds on a sunny day as she continued on with child-like innocence, "Really, I'm so, so glad that you approached me and tried to stop me when I was going to run away. I had a fun time questing with you, and I hope that we can do this again next time around!"

After she was finished with what she had to say, she bended her waist and gave a deep bow towards him. Seeing her acting so formal with him, he couldn't help but find this situation somewhat amusing. And this time, it was his turn to speak his piece.

"Miss Ars… I feel the same way as you do. Even though you're pretty socially inept but who could fault you for that? We're all humans in the end, and we all have our fair share of weaknesses. But deep down inside I know that you're a kind, and more so, an amazing person. I'm honestly glad that you're the first person to join my party; let's both continue to work hard in the future, alright Miss Ars?"

"Definitely!"

She instantly agreed without a second thought, speaking as if he didn't even have to ask her that question. Aware that she was being too excited, she first calmed herself down before saying the next few lines.

"...Well then, I have to go now. Goodbye, Renan."

"Mhm. I'll see you later, Miss Ars."

Thus, the cat and wolf simultaneously logged off from the VR-MMORPG world of Fatal Fantasy.