Man with an Umbrella

Blake cursed himself for not minding about his avatar's condition and went inside the trading center without preparation, he doesn't know whether players could fight in this place, but that could've gone way worst.

Thank God that it didn't, he would've been overwhelmed.

"I hope there are no bounty features amongst the player, or else I'm screwed" Blake mused.

Some of the MMORPG games that he played before have a bounty feature for the players, it's a feature that punishes players for killing other players in a neutral zone and would reward those who managed to kill the wanted player.

Most of the MMORPG he played had that feature, and the wanted player would get bullied.

"Don't worry, there's no such thing like that amongst players. But there will be inside the game world. If you become an actual criminal then yes, you will be a wanted man and other players can aim for you" Salana explained from the side.

But this is way better, Blake wouldn't need to worry much about it then.

On top of being a hunted as a player killer, the players would probably want information too.

Someone like Blake who suddenly got an EX-grade race on the second day of the game is definitely the luckiest person alive, and that would also beckon other players to want to extract information from him.

Nobody wouldn't want an EX-grade race for themselves, nobody.

If Blake was caught, then it would be difficult to convince them that it was a pure accident.

Even Salana was surprised by that accident.

A one-in-a-billion probability. Just imagining the thought of having to explain himself to the other players alone gave him a headache. And even if other players try the same thing as him, there's no guarantee that it will work again.

But thankfully, he managed to escape, and those players shouldn't remember how he looks.

Since he's in another sector now, he could breathe easily again.

[Sector: G3 - Gold Exchange]

[Current Total Online Players: 11,131,299]

Reading the panel on the side of his vision, Blake was not surprised in the least.

Despite there being 11 million plus players online in this sector, he's not surprised considering that the Gold Exchange feature has only been launched by the developer and government. Many players definitely wanted to try cashing out their in-game Gold.

Looking around the crowded place, Blake finds that the place he's in is completely different.

Unlike the sector from earlier, the time here is night time. On top of that, the sector earlier retains more medieval themes with small buildings made mostly of timber and stones, while this sector is more modern-like with asphalt streets, street lights, and also neon lights along the street that lighten up the place.

At the side of the street, there were ATM-like machines, and there are thousands of them.

Cashing out the in-game Gold is also quite simple.

Blake looks at the guide sign on the side and finds the process easy to understand.

Instead of having one fixed method, there are a couple of methods for cashing out in-game Gold to make it easier and also protect the privacy of players. Blake picked the method where he would only need to take out the gold from his inventory and puts it inside the machine.

It's way more private considering the other options require him to input his game tag.

Since the last part would need him to input his card number, providing his game tag would allow powerful people to link his bank account as well as his game tag. It's unclear whether this exchange feature came from the game itself, but it's best to be safe.

Blake wanted to be safe, so he chooses the latter method.

Just like that, he pours 10,000 Gold into the machine and cashes out.

After a brief moment, the process was a success and the money has been transferred.

'Okay, now I only need to log out and check my bank. It's quite convenient and fast. But then again, those powerful people want players to cash out so obviously they would make the method easy when they have unlimited real-world money' Blake thought.

But as he thought of that, a cold wind breezes against his skin.

Players that are near him complained about the cold wind, yet Blake didn't feel cold at all, he's a Spectral Vampire after all. Despite not feeling cold, a frown appeared on his face as he felt a bad omen blowing alongside the cold wind.

It was then he felt someone staring at him from the back.

Feeling this uneasy sensation, Blake turns around and saw a figure across the street.

Standing across him was a man wearing pumpkin headgear with glowing orange eyes, he was dressed in a fancy modern black suit that is steaming with orange energy and is also holding a closed umbrella in his hand that he used as a cane.

Without even needing to check his equipment, Blake could tell that they were all high-grade.

"That guy must have a lot of money for a starter, he managed to upgrade his gears to +12 and gained that orange effect" Salana commented from the side, she was genuinely surprised by the man's gear.

Similar to Blake, the man's information menu is also hidden, adding a mysterious aura to him.

But as the two fixed their eyes for a couple of seconds, Blake's body stiffens and his pupils slightly dilated in surprise when catches a shocking sight. Similarly, the man also seemed to be surprised as Blake was right now.

Looking at the avatar behind the man, Blake finds that it was not a normal avatar.

Instead of the man's avatar being how he looks in the real world, the avatar takes the shape of a burly and hulking black-skin bearded dwarf with molten lava coursing inside his veins that can be seen through the cracks on his skin.

The Dwarf's right hand is also a hammer instead of his own hand.

Of course, the sight of this dazzled Blake's mind for a second. But when the Dwarf moved, he immediately snapped out of his senses as he realized who the man standing in front of him was, 'Another Privileged Player?!'

Upon seeing this, Salana's eyes burn with white and red flames in excitement.

Just catching the sight of the Dwarf alone seems to incite her battle intent. She was clearly itching for a fight seeing that her body emits a crimson aura, and the excited smile that she plastered across her face.

But Blake didn't want any of this, 'Fuck this, I'm out!'

Not even wasting a single second, he quickly logs out from the trading center.

A moment later, he takes off the VR Helmet with beads of cold sweat drizzling down the side of his face. Having been accustomed to seeing regular avatars, he was surprised and terrified when he saw one that moved like that.

'That guy is definitely a Privileged Player...' Blake thought, gulping harshly.

Blake wasn't exactly terrified by the man or even fighting the man inside the game, he was terrified by the fact that the man is one of the strongest people in the entire real world, and that's what scares him.

Dealing with mercenaries is quite scary, but this is a different level of scary.

"What was that for? We should've challenged him right there, he's probably not that strong anyway aside from his good gears. It's an opportunity, you idiot! We could steal his gear by killing him" Salana scolded, surprised that Blake ran like that.

Upon hearing this, Blake takes a couple of deep breaths first.

It was too sudden and he was mentally not prepared for that, he was too focused on the fact that the man is a powerful person in the real world that he forgets that inside the game, he's quite strong.

Moreover, he has an EX-grade race, it's hard for him to lose.

Sitting on the sofa roughly, Salana crosses her arms underneath her breasts angrily. She even turn her face away from Blake and seemed to be genuinely angry, "PK is our forte, and you ran away. How is that logical?"

"I'm sorry alright, I was unprepared to meet that man" Blake apologized with a wry smile.

Out of a couple of days of being together, this is the first time he has seen Salana actually angry. But then again, as a duelist, this kind of thing is definitely sensitive for her, and she probably felt disrespected.

Upon realizing the situation, Blake sat on the sofa beside Salana awkwardly.

'Damn it, I've never had a girlfriend or even have that close of a female friend. What do I do in this situation?' Blake also crosses his arms, frowning with his eyes closed as he was in deep thought in search of the answer.

Clearing his throat, he then asked, "Are you mad?"

"No" Salana replied coldly.

Receiving that answer Blake could only curse himself inside his head. Of course, she was mad, he didn't have to ask if she was mad or not when she clearly is, "Do you want to log into the game? I'll use the upgrade ticket instantly so you'll have a physical body!"

"Hmmm..." Once again, Salana replied seemingly disinterested.

Scratching his hair out of sheer frustration as he was not good at this at the very least, Salana secretly smiled despite still having her face turned to the side, away from Blake that is stressing about the situation.

After waiting for a moment, letting Blake suffer a little, she then finally opens her mouth.

"Promise me you'll not do something like that again" She suddenly said.

Blake quickly straighten his back and nodded repeatedly, "Of course! I promise that I'll challenge every single Privileged Player out there to a duel, beat them with these fists, and force them to say that you're cute!"

Upon hearing this, Salana tries to hide her smile from Blake.

In actuality, she was struggling to not move her feet from hearing that promise.

"O-Okay then, I'll forgive you," Salana said, and this made Blake ecstatic as she plays around a lot, and would be bad if she suddenly becomes cold. But then, she pulls her white silvery hair to hide her flushed face before she added, "But you still owe me an ice cream in return for forgiving you"

Like a soldier, Blake saluted instantly, "Yes, ma'am! I'll get you ice cream!"

Chuckling lightly, Salana then waved her slender hand as she forgive him this once.

Seeing that she was back to smiling again, Blake could finally feel at ease. He then went over into the bedroom and grab his phone. Looking at the notifications, his eyes then sparkled at the sight of the first notification from the bank.

"Oh...! It's real! I got the money!"