'So the lore about the Dark realm continent and the god's continent(Bearth Central Continent) was true!' Pedro rubbed his chin as he analyzes the information and gets a grasp of the situation.
"My Team is composed of Myself, Joshua, and Beatrice. Since Beatrice is currently in the recuperative state, you would temporarily serve as her substitute!" Carlos showed a slight grin, like ridiculing Pedro for attacking Beatrice with too much power.
'Why do I need to cover for her?' Pedro was astounded inwardly. He knows that for NPCs to enter the area of the gods' continent, they had a strength way too strong for a player at their current stage to grasp. The incredible damage output and blinding fast attack speed of Alivia and the unfathomable slash of Kentaro was an example. Even with the Undying cycle, Pedro wouldn't last more than five seconds from the two.
"Senior... I am still too weak to substitute for Senior Beatrice! I even doubt that I could last a second when I step into the gods' continent!" He has a good set of starting skills, but he was still at level 1. Entering the gods' continent at level one was unheard of. It was like a day old baby going to a park. There might be no hostile people but the environment around it( the heat of the sun or rain) can kill the baby!
"It is not an order or request, but a privilege! If you want to learn, and experience and was willing to risk even your life, then follow us! But if you value your life that dearly, then don't! It is not like you have some use in battle, anyway!" Carlos raised his voice a little bit as he looked down to Pedro.
'No use... Excuse me! I have defeated Beatrice! Does that not speak for my strength?!' He chuckled as he was taken back to his chair from surprise.
"Whether you join or not is up to you! Remember one thing though, When you are in a perilous situation, I would save you... Only if it is within my capabilities! If not, I can only apologize and give you my deepest condolence!" Carlos stood up and left the area in a calm but terrifying manner.
'It was the ships number one rule after all! Prioritize yourself for you to contribute better to the greater benefit of the ship!' Carlos had an unfading resolve as he walks away from the bar area.
Seconds later Pedro also stood and was about to leave the bar area.
"Thanks, Senior for a good trade!" Pedro bowed slightly to Federico.
"Just call me Federico! I won't do another trade in the future if you call me Senior!" Federico replied with a smile.
"Very well! See ya!" Pedro waved as he left and went back to his room. Occasionally, when he passes by crews of the ship they often looked gossiping to each other as soon as they saw Pedro. He just ignored them and continued to walk.
When he was in the room, he suddenly felt bored. He thought of various scenarios and the possible gains he might get from their short stay in the gods' continent.
"It's too bad... Madame Soledad is not free as of the moment... I could have started learning the basics of skill making!" He softly complained to his self. While toying with the player interface, he accidentally opened his friend list and Happy Face Killer's name appeared.
"I guess... I could talk to him now!" Pedro pressed the message icon. The chat box appeared and he started typing his message.
Death: "Are you free?"
...
Somewhere in a mountain, four people were around a bonfire. Dead bodies of mountain wolves were scattered everywhere. A carriage was filled with blood and dead bodies of mountain wolves.
"The Bof is about to rise! We could explore one last time to that cave and then we will go back to the village!" Village Soldier Tam uttered.
"At last!" Berting sighed, as he was filled with relief and happiness.
"Don't get your hopes, high kid! When the Bof rises, cut three trees and place all the other dead wolf bodies in it! When we go back you pull one tree each!" Village Soldier Tam smirked to Berting who's morale suddenly plummeted.
...
[System Notification]
[Chain Quest: Wild Mountain Wolf Hunt!
Rating: S-rated
Current Mission: When Bof rises, cut down three trees and place the wolves' dead bodies in it.
Duration: 1 hour]
...
'This ruthless game!' Mathew can't help but complain. Unlike Pedro who had logged out of the game, Mathew, Bert, and Star played the game continuously. Their bodies in real life were fine thanks to the advanced features of VR boxes. They can continue to play as long as the VR box was refiled with "Lifo", a liquid food that may substitute to food to allow players to play on extended hours without affecting their real-life physical bodies.
Just as Mathew was checking his attributes his interface prompted that he got a message.
[Player Death has messaged you!]
'Ohh... Expert brother!' He was astounded. He planned to contact Pedro after the quest but he never expected that Pedro would contact him first.
He opened the chat box gleefully.
Death: "Are you free?"
...
'Why does Expert brother ask? Perhaps he had another sharable S-rated quest!' Mathew's happy face instantly turned into a grim look. The difficulty of S-rated was terrifying. Only due to their seemingly one hundred percent luck that the three of them was able to survive up to this point. They had long since forgotten the fear of dying. Hence, even if the chain quest was still not finished, they already grew accustomed to the flow of events.
...
Happy Face Killer: "At the moment... Still on the quest, has only limited time!"
...
'That's great! Hahaha!' Pedro chuckled in an evil manner.
...
Death: "This won't take long... :) :) :)"
Happy Face Killer: "Thanks for the understanding, Expert Brother! xD xD xD"
Death: "I would be straight forward then... Do you belong to any professional gaming organization?"
...
'Huh? professional gaming organization? why is expert brother asking?! Is he part of other gaming organizations?' Mathew was astounded by Pedro's unexpected question.
Pedro knew that Mathew was a part of a professional gaming organization. Knowing this, Pedro planned to recruit Mathew and make his 'Past Life All-Star Guild'! If his father agrees to his new proposal, Money would not be an issue and he could hire the best players in his past life.
Those who were just once students but eventually ranked among the top tier players were the easy ones. While those who belonged to existing gaming organizations were quite a challenge, however, to Pedro It was not a challenge.
Didn't his experience taught him that money can play a big role in such things, If he just offers them a high longterm contract (that were terminable only if he/she doesn't play Bearth online for two years!), the players would have no reason at all to refuse.
...
Happy Face Killer: "Yes I do? why did the expert brother ask?"
Death: "I am planning to start my own gaming studio! I wanted you to become part of it!"
...
'Join you? Too bad... I can't... I had a contract with the gaming organization, The Merchant Paradise!' Mathew had a complicated expression when Pedro revealed his true intentions.
...
Happy Face Killer: "Unfortunately, expert brother... I am in contract currently with a gaming organization! :bowingemoji: :bowingemoji:"
Death: "Don't think about those silly matters! If you agree, I would settle the cost of terminating your contract and would offer you twice the amount of your current annual salary! That's just the gist of how generous I am, other benefits would be specified later on!"
...
'??? Something is suspicious! Why would someone recruit me and offer something like this? I need to confirm first if expert brother recruits me because of Bearth or the former AVR game.' Mathew put his guard up. He suspected Pedro because of his last reply. He still had a vague understanding of the situation, of why Pedro wanted to recruit him. First, to the three who didn't log off, Bearth Online was still in closed beta phase. Hence, it was not a good idea to invest that early to the game. Second,
they barely interacted with each other, so why would Pedro be willing to recruit him that bad.
...
Happy Face Killer: "If it is not of inconvenience... Expert brother, can you tell me why would you go such heights just to recruit me? and... is the game you'd center on, be Bearth Online?"
Death: "Unfortunately... I can't tell you the details... It is confidential! and... Yes, It is Bearth Online!"
...
'I can't tell you that I'm have been reincarnated or had time-travelled to the past... right?' Pedro chuckled.
'It's suspicious! Sorry expert bro, but my answer is no!' Mathew wore a wryly smile.
...
Happy Face Killer: "Sorry, expert brother! I can't accept your proposal as of now!"
Death: "No worries... If you ever change your mind, contact this email! Pedr04rm4z_####@########.c##### or contact me by phone, here is my world number! 52###1-1##000-#33#... By the way! If you ever encounter a cylindrical container filled with a liquid and two eyeballs in it, Inform me... I'd pay 200,000 Philippine Peso!"
...
Real life money was available in the trade interface of players. The currency was changeable, Hence many players in Pedro's past life was scammed.
'Although, I could scam him... I would dare not to! He may not accept my offer now, but once father gave his approval... Let's see if he still dare to reject my offer!' Pedro wore a vicious evil smile.
...
Happy Face Killer: "Ok! Expert brother, I've got to go!"
Death: "See ya! Good talk!"
...