A New Man
Melissa inspected Nico's damaged and bruised body, while also holding up his right arm, inspecting his health bar.
Her eyes slightly narrowed. "How'd you get like this...?"
Nico smiled faintly. "... Would you happen to know how I got here...?"
Melissa sighed. "You walked in through the glass doors," she retorted as she faced her palms against his bare back.
An ethereal green glow appeared, along with vines that wrapped around her wrists and the crevices of her fingers.
Melissa gathered her mana and carefully directed it towards Nico's wounds, slowly healing them without wanting to overstimulate them.
One mistake and the spell would not only fail, but his wounds could reopen.
"That's not what I meant," Nico added after a few seconds, wincing as the stings of Melissa's mana touched his damaged and wounded skin.
"I meant... How did we end up in this video game world?"
"Well, I've been here for at least 5 years. But, I can't tell you how I got here," Melissa responded.
"I see... Do you know any like, special conditions that this world has?"
Melissa contemplated before answering. "There are events that happen four times in a month."
"Events?"
"High-risk, high reward game events that force every player in a specific location to participate in them."
"They're compiled of different games with different difficulty levels. The easiest is ranked E and the hardest is ranked S. But, we've never had such an S-rank event in Pyrros."
Nico nodded. "I see. And, they're random?"
"Yeah. They can catch you off guard. If you go the entire month without participating in a single event, the system kills you."
Nico's eyebrows curled into a frown.
It appeared that the system prompted players to actively seek out violence, all for the entertainment of the gods.
Even if players didn't do as the system wanted to, the system managed to spread bloodshed by using the monthly compulsory game events.
He gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows. Before he knew it, Melissa finished healing him and sat next to him.
"Don't put on such a scary expression. You're wrinkling up," she teased without smiling.
Nico didn't respond. Instead, he stared at the ground and kept quiet.
Melissa tilted her head. Then, she smiled.
"You know, you're the first guy who hasn't hit on me ever since I got transmigrated," she said with a smile on her face.
"Your beauty must have withered over time," Nico teased, shocking Melissa but making her chuckle. "That's for saying I have a scary face."
"You're so mean!" Melissa exclaimed before sighing heavily. "That's it. You're fully healed, so get the fuck out of my guild."
"Whoa, let's not act crazy," Nico abruptly responded as he stood up.
Melissa furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "You're quite interesting. Even after staring at my boobs, you won't make a single move. Are you okay with just watching from afar?"
Nico's cheeks flushed as he stormed out of the room.
Melissa had been half joking, but Nico would never find out for as long as she lived.
***
After choosing a brand new outfit, buying a weapon and distributing his stat increase points, Nico stood in front of the receptionist's desk, waiting for Melissa to offer him a mission.
「PLAYER STATUS – [V777 (Vortex_7)]」
◆ Level: 5
◆ Race: Phoenix
◆ Class: [Locked] (Lvl. 30 Required)
◆ HP: 110 / 110
◆ MP: 155 / 155
◆ Aestrol Coins: 0.00
— ATTRIBUTES —
◆ Strength (STR): 15 (+4) "19
◆ Endurance (END): 20 (+4) "24
◆ Dexterity (DEX): 18 (+4) "24
◆ Luck (LUK): ★☆☆☆☆ [Fate Hates You]
— RANKINGS —
◆ Overall Value: 1,600th Place
◆ Location: Pyrros
◆ Allies: None
— ABILITIES —
None Unlocked
— INVENTORY —
8 / 30 Slots Used
Here is how Nico distributed his coins:
「Basic Longsword: æ15,000 coins」
「3 Healing Potions: æ500 × 3 = æ1,500 coins」
「4 × 4 worth of meals: æ1,000 × 4 = æ4,000 coins」
「Healing: æ500 coins」
「Black Cloak of Reverence: æ500 coins」
「Black set of Pants and Boots: æ1,000 coins」
「Black set of gloves, set jewels and black shirt: æ1,000 coins」
「LED: æ500 coins」
By spending more money on a better weapon, he reduces the risk of getting hurt again.
He also bought healing potions to avoid reaching critical conditions. His vision was fucked when it got to that point, and it also put him in danger.
Although others were of utmost importance, one crucial item he bought was the LED.
This implant was drilled into the side of his head and acted as a secondary system for accessing his system screen and processing transactions.
It was also used for communication amongst players with allies, which Nico had none of at the moment.
The LED wasn't expensive because, according to the players, was useless.
But, Nico knew there was something that could be exploited from using it, so he purchased it.
But now, he was completely broke, hence why he patiently waited while Melissa scrolled for a decent quest.
"Here's one."
「QUEST ARRIVED:
– Head North and kill the Stalagmite Salamander, bringing peace to Pyrros once more
◆Reward: æ10,000 coins
◆Penalty: ???」
"Once you've completed the quest, the guild will take 30% of the profits you've made," explained Melissa.
"Understood," responded Nico.
He then thanked Melissa and began walking out of the door, but stopped when she called out to him.
"Nico?"
He turned his head and lifted an eyebrow.
"Try not to die, idiot."
Nico frowned. "I had one goddamn conversation with you and now you're throwing your panties at me? Sheesh..."
"That's not what I'm doing!" Melissa shouted while her eyes narrowed. "Whatever! Just get out of here!"
Nico chuckled and walked out of the Adventurer's Guild, the rain falling onto his skin and washing away his sense of security.
This was the same rain that pierced his pale skin as he bled, crawled through the mud and felt his stomach churn.
He was back in the wild...
Back to where he was robbed, back to where he almost died, back to where he couldn't trust anyone but himself.
He opened up his map and ran towards the quest location, doing his best to avoid players and NPCs alike.
But because of his terrible luck, he encountered players who tried robbing him. Without killing them, he managed to defeat them and continue trekking towards the quest location.
The closer he got to the location of the quest, the more quiet and desolate it became.
Normally, Nico would hear a few murmurs here and there, signalling that there were people around.
But, since this was a quest area, there were monsters, so low-level players and NPCs had no reason to go there.
Nico arrived at the open location and his eyes slightly widened.
A few hundred feet away from him stood a Stalagmite Salamamder.
It stood at a length of 6 feet, its skin ashy and grey. On its spine were rocky scales, sharpened to deliver deathly blows to anything that tried to attack from behind.
In addition to that, the salamander was packing sharp claws and powerful jaws that could snap small prey or weak humans in half.
Depending on their level, Stalagmite Salamanders were relatively easy to deal with.
The one Nico encountered was feasting on a human being.
It was well aware of Nico's presence but chose to finish its meal. Then, it slowly turned its head, its grey and bleak eyes staring at the player.
With a bloodied maw and crimsom-stained nostril, the salamander licked its lips and growled.
Then, turned around completely, ready to face Nico.
「Stalagmite Salamander: Lvl.7
HP: 150 / 150」
Nico drew his longsword and took a glance at it.
The blade was silver and lean with a cross guard that was perfect for a good grip in case enemies tried to knock his blade out of his hands.
The handle was black and had a cross pattern on it. The grip on it was both comforting and reassuring, which was what Nico needed.
「Basic Longsword: Lvl. 6
Durability: 300 / 300
Enchantments: None」
His longsword was good, but it wasn't perfect.
He'll need to aim for weak spots and create openings to land critical hits.
Fortunately, all of Vortex's skills in swordsmanship have been drilled into Nico.
His eyes began glowing red and he charged for the Stalagmite Salamander, the monster doing the same.
He sucked in air through his gritted teeth and glared at the monster. It was kill or be killed, and he wasn't ready to become pet food.