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[Legendary_mechanic has sent you 3 messages!

LM: Yo bro, you wanna meet up for dinner?

LM: There's this really good spot I've been meaning to try. 

LM: It'll be my treat! Just meet me here…] 

Vega awoke from the notification sound that reverberated inside his mind. 

Despite it being well into the evening, he still hadn't gotten out of bed. In actuality, he hadn't left his room for at least 2 days by now. 

He wasn't sure if it was some guilt, or whatever, but it took him a while to really come to terms with what he'd done. 

He had killed someone's friend, a parent's daughter, a sibling's sister, but most importantly, he killed someone, period. 

Vega wasn't stupid, though, he knew that eventually, in this new world, he'd have to kill in order to survive. 

He just didn't know it would be so soon. His plan in order to slowly get accustomed to killing was through completely out the window. 

While he was rotting in bed for the past two days, though, some of the posts on the forum had caught his attention. 

Some people still seemed to view this new world behind the lens of it being game-like. Strangely enough, he had seen people talking about NPCs. 

And while technically they were non-player characters since they didn't have the system, calling people NPCs made them feel less real. 

Either way, it was time for him to get off his ass and start doing some shit again. Speaking of which, her body was still in his inventory… 

Now mind you, Vega wasn't keeping it for some sick reason, it was simply because he hadn't had the chance to find anywhere to dump it. 

[Would you like to relinquish the body of 'Heavenly_demon' to the system?] 

The sudden prompt from the system brought Vega to a complete stop. Just what use did the system have for a dead body of all things? 

"What are you gonna use it for?" He asked. 

[You are not authorized for that answer!] 

"Do I get anything in return?" Vega asked. 

[You may choose a reward of 20+ levels or a class advancement token!] 

"What's a class advancement token?" 

[When certain requirements are met, a user may be prompted a class advancement quest. Upon completion, the user's class would advance by 1 rarity. A class advancement token, on the other hand, allows the user to skip the quest entirely, leading directly to an increase in rarity for the user's class.] 

Vega considered it for a moment, contemplating whether it was moral to give up a body to an enigmatic figure such as the system. 

At the same time, though, he had just killed a person; he couldn't be talking about morals now, could he? 

Simply put, the system was giving him too sweet of a deal. There had to be something going on. 

It was for that reason and more that he declined the offer. He had already killed the girl, the least he could do was bury her with respect. 

He wasn't a monster, at least not yet, to trade a dead body for a shortcut towards his goal. 

[The system urges you to reconsider your decision.]

[Class item 'Memoir' reacts to your decision!] 

[Initializing chain quest '???' (Unique): Find out what happened to the girl who stole your gold coin.] 

Ignoring the first prompt, he focused on the latter two. It still felt strange to him that his personal Memoir of all things was labeled as a class item. 

The third and final prompt though was the one that caught his attention. Not only was it his first quest, but it happened to involve the girl who robbed him. 

Looking out his window, the sun was already beginning to set; he'd have to start his quest the following day. For now, he had plans to meet up with Hans. 

***

While the nightlife in Cleargate wasn't anything to scoff at, it wouldn't hold a candle to the ones back on Earth. 

The soft glow from the street lanterns caused the commercial area to shine with a dim orange light. 

Inspecting the lanterns closely, it seemed that the light emitted from a refined square material. 

Vega wasn't sure what it was, but he was enchanted by the mysticism of it all. Although back on earth they did have glowing rocks, these emitted light similar to LEDs. 

Looking around, he saw people wearing Victorian-era clothing roaming the paved streets, clearly having just gotten off from their work. 

It had been a while since he had gone outside to smell the fresh air, it was something he missed dearly. 

Strangely enough, he noticed that he was receiving quite a lot of glances from the people passing by. 

Looking down, he saw he was wearing his only white t-shirt and black cargo pants. Though common back on Earth, on this planet he stuck out like a sore thumb. 

He had planned on buying clothes the previous days, but sadly, his plans had been abruptly canceled by one individual. 

It seemed he had something besides just his quest in his itinerary for tomorrow. 

It was then that someone grabbed his shoulder. At first, he assumed it was Hans, but his heartbeat quickened when he saw the presence of a guard. 

Countless scenarios ran through his mind. Did someone witness him killing Mei? Or was it because of the vague warning from the top player about not letting people know you were a player? 

"Your friend Hans told me to inform you that he's changed the meeting designation to some other place. I'm here to lead you there." The guard informed. 

A sigh of relief went through Vega's mind when he heard Hans's name being mentioned. He was glad it didn't have anything to do with the scenarios he was thinking of. 

But something felt strange. Why would Hans get a guard of all things to tell him to meet him somewhere else? 

They could simply message each other through the system, there was no need for a third party to get involved. 

So then what the hell was this guard talking about. 

[Vega: Hans, did you get a guard to tell me to change the meet-up place?

LM: Nah I didn't what happened? 

Vega: Shit. I gtg. 

LM: Did you get into trouble or something???] 

"Sorry, but I think I'm gonna have to decline your offer." Vega rejected. 

"I wasn't asking." The guard replied. 

Noticing the guard signaling something, Vega didn't wait up to find out what they had planned. 

Exactly like his first day here, he was running away from a group of people who wanted him for some not-so-great reasons. 

Only this time around, he was running from the relatively safe area back into the slums. He wasn't sure why a bunch of guards were chasing him, but he knew the wealthier areas didn't have great hiding spots. 

Considering how discreetly the guard acted, they probably weren't chasing him for committing a crime. It seemed more like someone had ordered them to do so. 

He didn't know how he'd offended such a figure, but he wasn't gonna stick around to find out.