CHAPTER 10
Strolling through the streets with a young woman of average height, tan skin and blonde hair, she was the perfect definition of 'gyaru', was a young man 175 cm tall, athletic build, black hair in dreadlocks styled in a ponytail, mocha skin colour and grey eyes.
They were michael and miku. They had already moved to a new town in search of stronger opponents and better quests.
"Forget about the useless ramblings of the masses and focus on what you can control" Michael stated nonchalantly paying no heed to the looks of annoyance people were giving him.
It began when he started moving with miku, and he already deduced the cause of their displeasure.
If he was still in the real world he would have tried to fly under the radar and try to avoid drawing attention to himself but the new persona he was playing has begun to have an effect on his thought process and he couldn't even care less about opinion of a group of he could slaughter in under a minute, not that he would but it was a comforting thought to him allowing him to be more unrestrained.
"Yea you are right, so what do you wanna do now that you are done hunting for the day" Miku asked cheerfully.
Michael was observing commotion going on ahead and from hat he could gather he saw a girl of average height, light brown almost blond long hair, but couldn't see her full features because of the red cloak she wore.
Her name as Asuna..... she was being ridiculed because she as in a hurry to log out of the game to get to an important meeting, which turned out to be an exam in the real world.
Ignoring the jeers from the mob characters, she began to make her way out of the town to the western forests where the secret log out location was said to be.
Turning to miku, he told her to relax for while and he had an errand to run, before she could ask what it was, he flashed out of existence, the only proof of his presence there being the snack wrapper he left behind shattering into fragments.
Shrugging her shoulders she decided to walk around the market area and into shops to keep herself busy.
Heading to the western forests, he took a detour to slay some monsters and gather some exp, but the monsters were too weak to get him engaged so he avoided them and went straight to the forest.
having no info other than the general location, he took close to ten minutes to find the entrance to the cave.
Seeing a familiar black haired youth, with black eyes, average height and skinny build covered by his black cloak, he was about to approach him when he began to leave the forest and spotting a downed asuna, he decided to listen to what she was saying to the small figure wearing a hooded cloak calling herself 'info' San.
"Drink it slowly and recover your strength, that was a close call there" info san said.
asuna remained silent.
"are you okay, she should be fine right, her HP is in the green range again" Info said out loud.
"Anyways what are you doing here, don't tell me you came for the log out point" she asked.
"So it was a lie" Asuna finally spoke with a hollow look in her eyes.
"yea such a thing existing is a lie, you shouldn't just believe whatever you hear" info said in a reproaching manner.
"Hey you said you sell information, That's what a broker is right?," asuna asked.
"Yes" info replied.
"Then i want to buy information, how do i get stronger?!" Asuna asked heatedly.
"since it's your first time, I'll give you this one for free as you don't look like you have the col to afford my services". Info said.
She began explaining the fighting mechanics of the game to asuna. As this was happening michael began to understand his interest in this girl.
His intuition told him that she was different than the rest and just by getting some theoretical knowledge about the game she immediately put it to practice.
Disappearing in a burst of speed displaying skills reminiscent of an expert fencer with her rapier. Striking multiples times in under a second, he knew she as someone special also shocking info san with her display.
"That as some amazing speed you have there, i thought i was alone here. Hi my name is mIchael" MIchael announced, a smile on his face as he came out from the woods to avoid looking suspicious.
Startled, both of them stopped talking and asuna took a fighting stance but quickly relaxed seeing it was another player as she had yet to have any experience with pkers yet so she was not as wary of other players yet but the same couldn't be said for info san.
Remaining quiet, the diminutive broker was intently scrutinizing michael as he introduced himself as it takes a skilled player to arrive like that without being noticed at this stage of the game.
Looking at his barista like get up, she remembered some intel about a team of two individuals usually seen in high level zones hunting monsters and he fits the description of the 'Butler' from the
" I had no idea the butler was so skilled, to suddenly appear without any indication, seems you are a high tier player just like the rumours say" Info finally said.
"Excuse me, what do you mean by the butler, who even calls me that and why?" Michael immediately locked on to the tiny broker and questioned.
Undaunted by Michael's gaze she replied" The rumour flying around is that you can usually find a a man and a lady at high level monster zones clearing the fields in large numbers with relative ease, they have taken to calling you both the
Hearing this, michael smiled wryly, Before shifting the conversation from himself to asuna.
" so what are you guys even doing here, I'm here to confirm the rumours about the secret log out location, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Michael asked them.
"I'm afraid that's just a rumour and nothing else" Info san replied while looking at asuna who suddenly felt down hearing her.
Looking at Asuna michael slowly said" I figured as much , but doesn't hurt to try" then adds " Say your skill with the rapier, that's some amazing speed, is it a sword skill?" Michael asked asuna tactfully noticing the depressed aura around her.
"Yea, it's a skill called
"Huh that's a beginner skill right, how did you get it so fast?" Michael questioned once more truly curious how she achieved it.
Seeing no harm in it, asuna replied while demonstrating said skill" It says to imagine said movements in your mind before taking the stance then activating the skill"
Michael was astonished that it was all it took for her accomplish such a feat and her image was elevated in his mind as a person of interest even more so than karma.
Wanting to leave a favourable impression on her, he began giving her pointers on how to better utilize her speed advantage to the maximum even without skills.
Info san was astonished as this was news to her and she felt this would be very valuable information to sell, who knew the butler was also a master teacher. Michael noticed the look from info san but ignored her as he doesn't mind such info about himself being spread.
When he was satisfied with her current progress he stopped and said" As of now, to get better, you have to fight monsters at your level, increasing the difficulty gradually to exceed your limits only then could you become truly strong" Michael said in a solemn voice.
Resolving herself to never land in such a precarious situation again, asuna promised to push her limits to become stronger with conviction.
Happy with her determination, He reminded her that if she became strong enough this death game could be cleared and everyone could go home to motivate her and it worked like a charm as it gave her a goal to focus on instead of focusing on depressing thoughts.
Saying his goodbyes to them both, he vanished from the spot like he was never there in the first place. Looking at the spot where he just left from, asuna thanked info san for her aid before going into the forests to fight more monsters.
Info san seeing all this, knew this as the origin story of a future first tier player being written in front of her eyes. Happy with this encounter she left the forests happily.
On his way back to the town, Michael was smiling unknowingly, filled with anticipation for what other surprises he would find in this game.
A light was beginning to flicker in the dark corners of his soul, without his knowledge he was beginning to genuinely expect things instead of just going with the motions.
This was the beginning of something greater at play, something much more complex than he has ever experienced.