Stranger I Remain

"Aww the tentacle girl ran away." Vea frowned. "I blame Nurul for this."

The knight in question couldn't be bothered to answer or rather, her reply was a massive thud into the ground as she had exhausted most of her stamina. Despite her gaunty and aggressive style that was akin to a berserker, she was still a knight and knights are supposed to soak up the damage.

The sorcerer winced before speaking his mind.

"Still, this game is pretty complex huh. The last patch actually made the game move more lively than it was." He darted his eyes to the tall mountain. "There is an ecosystem here and all of that. I admit that I felt bad when I saw the 'Imaginary Friend' trait, that child must've developed it when there was nobody to talk with. It felt a little bit close to home when some of them have a human trait."

"If only one of us had a Tamer built. We could probably give her a tour of Amor City..." Vea sighed. "Well, can't fret over every spoiled egg."

Meanwhile, Jack had traveled a good few hundred meters to the east. He managed to bring three of the good-looking jagged blades out of the destroyed clearing due to the explosion.

He decided to leave the precious Pomu's pelt and other materials in exchange for the blades and the truffle. Jack hoped that he could retrieve his resources later in the night after those players were gone.

Thankfully, he still had his utility tools on his apparel. With just a little bit more scavenging for material, he was able to fix his equipment again.

As he began to fix the former double-bladed staff that only had one blade after the incident, he snack on the earthy truffle that was surprisingly delicious if eaten sparingly.

[I'm surprised that you didn't choose to stick with them to uncover more information on this world. You might be made into a pet or a slave but it will surely have allowed us to extract more details.]

"They made me uncomfortable, you know?" Jack took a munch on the truffle. "Their eyes made me uncomfortable."

[Something bothering you? With their eyes?]

"When I looked into their eyes, it felt as if they didn't see the world as their own. One that belonged to a person that looked from afar, far from consequences, far from danger.

"Eyes that didn't truly exist within this world, the eyes of an immortal without any urgency in life. Hahaha. When you live long enough, you just kinda know what type of lad or lass a person is by just a single glance. Although they were not bad youngsters, I'm afraid that my ideology of life will conflict with theirs."

[I can back up your words on this one. Their souls felt artificial. Not to mention, this world doesn't see a metaphysical entity from the outside like me to exist in the first place. There must be something that act as a core to this world_

[Thanks to today's event, I suggest that we avoid any contact with the Players of this world. We could start to interact and blend with their community when the situation demands it, huge benefits most definitely. Preferably when you are stronger, Jack.]

"Ahahah, indeed." Jack then did a finishing touch on his equipment before pondering. "Could I see my Level within this world again?"

[Sure do, Jack.]

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[It seems like everything that you've achieved and cultivated in this world will automatically be recorded. We might want to be more secretive about the Tentacles System when interacting with another living being of this world_

[Unfortunately, I can't do the same information clairvoyance like the real Appraisal Gem did. Mostly because I don't have any authority over the information in this world.]

"You did well, now give me the stats of those Players."

Jack then compared his stats with the stats of those four Players.

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"Ahaha, my numbers are horrifyingly low." Jack sighed. "What's with the caged numbers that have a plus on it?"

[I think it was one of the perks that they were talking about when saying that they've found a newly discovered species.]

"I see, so they could attain strength by completing an achievement of a given target. After that, the world or something rewarded them with power."

[Your hypothesis is as close as mine, Jack.]

"What about the level?" Jack nervously grinned. "Everything on my screen is really low. It's like comparing a baby to an adult."

[But, you're still a baby, Jack.]

"Pfft! You're not wrong on that one." Jack stood up and closed the screens with his intent. "This information will be valuable. Although their worth are still as cloudy and misty as it could get."