Chapter 008: Prince Andrei.

Sien then exited his gaming capsule and wash himself in the bathroom, as he forgot to take a bath yesterday because of excitement to play the game.

「I stink of sweat. After I earned a lot of money, I'll buy a high-end gaming capsule for sure.」

He swore to himself after sniffing his shirt, because the one he bought were only a third class gaming capsule that's why it doesn't have a lot of features including proper ventilation. The only good thing about this have is that it doesn't affect his gameplay when using it.

Sien then took his time showering and after a while he came out of the bathroom. He change to a casual clothes then go out to buy some nutritious foods, as he doesn't have enough money yesterday to buy food for today so he have to buy now.

Sien didn't last long outside for more than 2 hours, he only bought what needs and came back home.

When he looked at the time, it's only 7:49am. He then decided to perform a 1 hour exercise, even though he's body is in good shape because of doing different kinds of part time jobs to support himself ever since he started to live on his own, now that he started playing 'Paradise Worlds', he can't neglect the condition of his body, Sien needs to make sure that he's body were strong enough to handle the awakening process when the time comes.

After he's done exercising, he took another bath, eat and then immediately log in to the game.

〈Welcome to Paradise Worlds.〉

Now that Sien's level reached 5, he can now accept the special quest he have in mind. Yesterday, the sole reason why he chose the Dark Forest map is for so that he can immediately increase his level to 5, as he would need that as a minimum requirements for accepting a special quest.

The rewards he got on the way wasn't really planned at all, it's unexpected even for him.

Sien then went to the west side of the town, in this place where he would find the man who will give him the special quest.

After walking for a 20 minutes and passed through different streets, he's now in front of rows of houses made of wood with a design from 16 to 17 hundred century. This place are homes of npc's who's not rich nor poor. The one's who lives here are mostly people who works for the town or someone who retired.

After Sien walked for more several steps, he then arrived in a house that's not so different than the others. He knocked three times on the door but even after a few seconds passed no one opened the door to greet him, then he knocked again and still no one answered the door for him.

Sien didn't find this odd, as he knew why no one's coming out even after knocking for two times. The owner of the house was bedridden because of a serious mysterious illness he unknowingly catched from his adventure.

He then knocked again for the third time and directly opened the door. What he saw inside were a small desk in the middle of the room beside it with a lamp on top, a bookshelf full of dust near from the door side and a bed far across the room where a man laying on his back.

「I'm sorry for not being able to open the door for you-. 」

Cough!

Cough!

The man in the bed didn't even manage to finish what he's saying as he cough hardly signifying that his illness has corroded his body long enough now.

Sien immediately moved to the side of the man in the bed, he kneeled down how a knight would kneel on to a king while bowing down and said-.

「I'm sorry for barging in to your house Prince Andrei, I've been searching you for so long ever since you left the capital. I'm Sin, an adventurer who once idolize you when I was a kid. Please tell me your majesty if can do something to help you.」

Instead of giving a reply to the man from the bed Sien utter those words with full of respect that can be feel from his voice. This man was none other than Prince Andrei, first-born child of Emperor Justine The Second of the Joaquin Empire, one of the numerous empires scattered throughout the Terra Continent.

Prince Andrei was once a strong man who leads a massive army enough to eradicate a whole kingdom. He's even revered as a hero by the adults of the empire and idolize by the young childrens and his fame wasn't only limited to their empire, it even stretch to different parts of the continent.

Whenever a conquests was issued by the emperor, he would always leads the army from the front and for sure he would be bring the victory to the empire. That's how he spread his fame like a shooting star, he's also the reason why Joaquin Empire's possessed territories 3 times more than the other empires. Prince Andrei achievements surpassed even the emperor in this term when he's in his prime.

That's the story of the man laying on the bed with a body as fragile as a glass in front of Sien. After 15 years, now both those stories and him can only be regarded as a long forgotten legend in history of the Terra Continet. That's the background story of a dying npc who cannot do anything to save his life.

Sien said those line to Prince Andrei knowing this stories of him. Prince Andrei was once too popular back then but what happened to him?. A once strong man yet gentle, a once ferocious man yet revered by people, but a once admire one yet now in this kind of condition?, how is this possible?.

What happened to Prince Andrei that can start and go sieging an entire city yet survive and win in the end?. What is the reason why he suddenly disappeared from the public's eye?.

And after days, weeks and months of not showing even his shadow, Prince Andrei started to receive criticism from the people of the empire. The nobles who doesn't like him started to defile even more of his fame as they spread different kinds of bad rumors of his "Malevolent" doing in the shadow unbeknownst to anyone.

Different kind of questions keep popping here and there that came from different peoples 15 years ago, as they wanted to know why those nobles slandering Prince Andrei?, why he isn't coming out to defend himself?, why the emperor isn't stopping those who's bad mouthing his son?.

A lot of different kinds of reactions came out from the many people who doesn't know the full of story of Prince Andrei, the majority of it was even on the negative side, who only knows what the surface would let them see, who doesn't know the work, the sweat, the sacrifices he made for the empire!.

Sien knows all the stories pertaining Prince Andrei's background, all of it. The reason why he's not in the emperial capital or why he have the sickness that keeps breaking his body, or even why those pesky nobles keep spread false rumors of him.

When he accepted this quest in his previous life, the prince was already at his death doorsteps as a month and a half already passed since the launch of the game. That time, he's just basically skin and bones that keeps talking about getting revenge and because of that shitty gaming company, he hadn't been able to touch the quest for along time, only after with great effort that he manage to continue the quest and for his perseverance that he completed it.

The only thing that the prince wants that time is to get revenge, if I just arrived much earlier, I might have successfully heals him from his curse.

'This time I'll make sure to finish this quest before he dies. '

Sien swore to himself, because at first when he received this quest, he just thought that it's just a normal special quest that he'll be able to complete after a while but he's wrong, he was gravely mistakenly wrong. As this quest impacted the whole Joaquin Empire in its entirety possibly even the whole Terra Continent.

「What a lively young man you are, you don't need to kneel in front of me, I'm not a prince anymore. That's only been history of the past. Haven't you heard what I did 15 years ago?, I did a lot of bad things that's why I currently have this curse. The gods have been punishing me this entire time.」

Prince Andrei replied to Sien with a traces of sorrow within his eyes. Sien can easily read those kinds of emotion as he had met too many different kinds of people before regressing. As Paradise Worlds were like mirror of earth, that's why npc's here act like the same as humans, they have different kinds of emotions just like humans, they can feel pain just like humans, they can genuinely be happy like humans.

That's why Sien, can feel sadness, pain, regrets from what the Prince Andrei told him even though he's smiling, he use to do this kind of gestures to that's why he knew there's something behind the Prince words and it's heavy, too heavy for someone to carry even for Sien but he decided to help him anyway, because he knows the feeling of being betrayed by someone you thought know the most, by someone you thought that you can be at ease with them but at the end they break you to pieces without a second thought, that's why Sien will do complete this quest.

Even if the Prince is just an npc, when the times comes as the Paradise Worlds can't no longer be called game anymore, Sien will be able to laugh and celebrate with him nonstop as long as they want. He deserves to be happy too.

「I will not stop calling you Prince your majesty. Yes, I've heard about all of it, I know all of those rumor even from the little bit but Prince Andrei, you and I know that you can't do that and will never do any of that, the gods will never punish someone as gentle as you. I also know the reason why you have that curse, and the reason why you're here, at the edge of the empire.

The night of your banishment, I'm also there just trying to find food for my stomach and accidentally eavesdropping all of your conversation with the emperor. That night I can do nothing as a child who doesn't even have a parent but only stay silent in horror of what might happen to me.

But now, I can do what I want, so please your majesty, please let me help you, the man who I once recognize as a hero!.」

Sien without raising his head as tears started to come out from his eyes. What Sien currently performing wasn't an act but genuinely one, the story of Prince Andrei was enough to stirr the whole world when it came out of public after he finished it, although no one know it was Sien who completed the quest after a few years, his story still gain a lot of attention from the gamers and people world wide after the system released the whole story.

'If only I or other player arrived at his doorsteps much earlier in my previous life, he would have become a core figure of the Terra Continet'.

「You... was there?. You heard..... them all?.」

The Prince answers with a trembling voice and also with a teary eyes.

「Yes!, Everything.」

Sien replied without hesitation and fear from his voice even though it's a lie, as the Prince wouldn't really be able to tell if he was lying or not with his current health condition.

「Oh my god.... so there's still an..... idiot who's believing..... from this idiot prince even after..... all what happened?..」

This time as Prince Andrei is talking, he can't help but cry from what Sien have told him. Even though the Emperor himself cast out his own son, all the nobles betrayed him because of the emperor and spread false informations throughout the empire, even the people who he thought his loyal friends betrayed him and also joined the others who keep defiling his name, there's still one person who keep believing on him and at the end found him to tell him in person.

With that in mind the prince who have lost everything suddenly saw a new ray of hope coming from the young man who hadn't move since earlier the moment he knelt. The prince can feel the passion from this young man's words and he can't help but admire.

After a moment, Prince Andrei stopped his tears from flowing and thought deeply, what he needs right now wasn't revenge but a cure for his illness, this illness was a form of a curse that will eat the target's body the older they get, and because of the Emperor's casting another spell on him as to why he can't tell and can't personally do anything about this curse and the reason why it had worsen this much.

If the Prince tried to do one step that would heal the curse or even tell others about the curse, he would feel pain all over his body every single time. The only thing he manage to do is to create a list for the making of the cure with great difficulty, as for giving the list or trying to collect the items for the cure, he would immediately pass out everytime he do that. That's how cruel the Emperor to him after all what the Prince did for him.

*Ding!*

〈You have discovered a Side Story Quest of a Main Story Line.〉

*Ding!*

〈[Side Story Line Quest - (Special Quest)

Quest Detail (1st Part): You found the former Prince that had been banished from the Joaquin Empire for 15 years because of multiple criminal cases. As you got more information from the Prince himself, you found out that he was framed up by the very Emperor of the empire himself and at the same time being cursed by him too.

Quest Completion Requirement: Find a way to remove the curse from Prince Andrei's body before it completely corrode him.

Quest Time Duration: 45 days.

Quest Rewards: Rewards will be stack up until the last part is done.

If the player failed to complete the quest on time, Prince Andrei will die and his sealed power will forever curse you. Do you want to accept or not?.]〉

A system notification appeared before Sien and when he reads the content he immediately accept it, although the quest change a little as Prince Andrei still far from his death's door.

After accepting the quest, he stood up and brought out something from his inventory, 4 glass bottles that have a delicate design in its external part.

「Prince Andrei, this is a potion that can lift the curse that's been plaguing your body for years.」

When Sien's buying several important things earlier, he didn't forget to buy this anti-curse potion as this one is the most important thing he have to buy. Although this anti-curse only have a rank of a basic potion it is enough to remove Prince Andrei curse, though he have to take one glass every 7 days for a month to fully remove the curse.

Thanks to the emperor casting only a low ranked curse to the Prince Andrei, Sien found a different way to remove the curse and didn't have to invest a lot of time for it.

「This, it seems that you really are serious for helping someone who's basically a cripple like me.」

Prince Andrei then took the potion and immediately opened the lid of bottle to drink it.