Finishing Up

"Why thank you, fine traveler! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to make the medicine my daughter needs to survive. You see, she has a rare illness that req- "

He just keeps going on and on huh? I get it, you needed the medicine, but I just saw like five other guys submit the same quest to you; just how much of these materials do you need?

"-but once again, thank you for everything!"

He gave a big smile to us, but a few seconds later he went back to looking panicked and begging for people to help his ill daughter.

"Well, I think I helped good enough for now. You got any questions? Anything you need some help with?"

Olivia fell into contemplation for a few seconds before responding.

"No, I don't think so"

"Alright, well I think I'm going to get off for now, I'll see you la-"

"OH, WAIT!"

I was taken aback, after all, who in their right mind just goes and shouts out of nowhere? I quickly calmed myself and responded.

"Ye- yes?"

"Oh, I was gonna ask if I could join your guild. Brother talks about it a lot."

She seemed a bit shy. Was it because she just shouted at me or because she was asking me for something? I couldn't tell you, but either way, it's not my choice who joins the guild since I'm not the guild master.

"You gotta ask your brother if you wanna join; he's the guild master."

She looked dejected.

"That being said, you have to level up some more, a lot more, so get some main quests done, and make sure you side with the Enjuhar Empire and NOT Wesphuy when you get the chance. If you do all that, I'm sure Mike will let you in. Probably."

Her expression brightened and her mood changed. She seemed to have been cheered up by that.

"Okay!"

"Alright, I'm heading out now; if you need some help later, feel free to ask when I'm online."

"Bye!"

I waved before opening my menu and clicking the log-out button on my hud. The screen went black, the game closed, then I then took off my headset and gear. Guess I'll relax for a bit and get back on later; I still have my daily challenges to do.

-Later-

I logged back on and teleported to the guild. As soon as I got there, I noticed a pile of random items on the floor. I looked over and noticed one of my guildmates, BrandznGL, sitting on the couch opening box after box with an insane expression on his face; it was a mix of constipation and extreme pain as he spouted incoherent nonsense. Across the table from him sitting on a different couch was another guild member, James#6074, and since he looked sane, I headed over to him to see what was up. As I walked over, he noticed me approaching and gave a small smile.

"Hey James, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much; just keeping track of how much money he's blowing."

As he said that, James gestured to BrandznGL. I could also hear slobbering and growling from across the room; he's becoming an animal. It was then that I sat down next to James.

"So, what is he trying to get?"

"I think he's trying to get an exclusive helmet skin. I think it gives you cat ears or something."

"..."

"So how much has he spent so far?"

"Well, he's on his 43rd box, and they cost about $2, so I'd say around $86 if he's not buying them in bulk."

"How many do you thi-"

"NO! NO! NO! NO!"

BrandznGL screamed and slammed his fists on the table with each consecutive no, then a few seconds later he went back to opening more boxes. Just what in the world was that about?

"So... uh... what was that?"

"Oh, there's a 1 in 10 chance you get a sticker with a black cat on it that says 'Better Luck Nyanxt Time'. He thought it was kinda funny the first few times, but that was over fifteen stickers ago. Now when he gets it it's just unbridled rage."

"uhh... cool..."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but we both continued watching him as if he was a wild animal each time he flew into a rage when he didn't get what he wanted. It was really amusing. A minute passed before I turned to James and asked another question.

"So how many of these do you think he's going to buy? Surely, he'll give up eventually. I seriously doubt the odds are in his favor."

"Well, I think he would normally have given up already, but if you open 100 of them you're guaranteed the item. I'm pretty sure he's just going to keep buying until he either gets the item or spends $200, whichever comes first."

I looked on in amazement as this actual human being more rabid animal noises while spending money like it was going out of style. We continued to watch, even recording some funny clips at times,

Another fifty boxes and twelve more cat stickers later, he was on his final box. Box number 100. He bought it but didn't haphazardly rip it open like the other ones, instead, opting to open it slow and gently. Yellow lights appeared from the box as a pair of cat ears floated up and vanished before appearing in his storage. He started crying and slowly caressing his inventory menu. I can't believe he spent $200 for that; I mean, to each their own, but this is just ridiculous. I can't decide whether to call him a loser or a degenerate. I looked online while he was opening the other crates and realized other people were only selling them for about $20 on the marketplace. He looks so happy, it would be a shame to ruin it right now. Maybe I'll leave an anonymous note later. I picked up one of the cat stickers off of the floor and asked if I could have it.

BrandznGL responded with "Sure, take as many as you want"

"Alright cool"

I picked up maybe five or six of the stickers and put them in my inventory.

Oh, that's right, the reason I came here in the first place was to see if anyone wanted to do some missions.

"Hey James, you wanna do some quests?"

"Nah, I was supposed to get off a while ago, but stuck around to see what happened. See you later."

"Oh, okay, bye"

"Bye"

A white light appeared around James, and when the light vanished he was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, what about you?"

I looked over at BrandznGL and noticed he was crying inconsolably on the couch murmuring something under his breath.

"two hundred dollars..."

"Umm... You good?"

"two hundred dollars..."

"two hundred dollars..."

I don't think he's good. As he was spouting, he eventually curled up into a ball and continued crying as he continued to murmur two hundred dollars under his breath.

It was funny to see his reaction before, but now I just feel sad for him.

"Ok, uhh... have fun, see you later"

"two hundred dollars..."

I quickly teleported to a high-level zone. Guess I'll finish some quests by myself. Again.