Chapter 19. Demonic bat boss, Krysil (2)
To work in a restaurant or a cafe, one must know how to smile. It was one of the essential qualities one must have to work in a place like that.
Even in places like a convenience store or even a regular office, just a smile could help you get past some obstacles.
An employee that can smile is more valuable than an employee that can't, and Lu Fei knew this very well.
Although his reality was cold without any warm breeze, Lu Fei would still smile every time it was his shift at work. It would just be a fake smile, but it will do the work for him.
There are many times in life when one would have to act a bit, and Lu Fei was doing just that. His acting was also effective as he would be praised by the employees as well as the customers.
But for the past few days, it had changed.
Most of the people wouldn't have noticed it, but it couldn't get past Zhao Na's eyes.
She was the woman who had started the Forest cafe alone when she was just 25 years old, and now, it had become a famous cafe with tons of regulars.
There was no way she would not notice the change on Lu Fei's face, especially when he was one of the 'star' employees in the cafe.
"What's wrong with you?"
She didn't like to talk in a roundabout manner, so she directly asked Lu Fei during one of his breaks.
"I don't think anything is wrong with me."
"You should know this, but you are terrible at lying."
Lu Fei smiled wryly when he heard that. It was true that there was something wrong with him, but it wasn't a problem he could discuss with Zhao Na.
It was because it was related to Ark!
'How can I defeat Krysil?'
For the past few days, Lu Fei was thinking about the same question over and over again, and his frustration was also rising.
There was no way he could remain calm in this situation.
It had already been a few days since he had last fought against Krysil.
After logging back in the game, Lu Fei first looked at his items. Most of his items were there, but he had lost the beginner sword he has gotten from Gran.
He was not very sad at it as it was not keeping up with his level, but still, it was a loss.
Thankfully, the Nar herbs were still there, and Lu Fei had already given them to Gran, completing his quest.
After that, he had only hunted in the field, leveling up to 25. Clara and Ria had also called him up, and they had hunted together twice.
But the frustration that was in his mind kept increasing. It was making his mood sour.
It was the frustration of not being able to defeat Krysil. The frustration of dying to his hands.
Lu Fei even wanted to go to the hidden dungeon again and have a fight with Krysil, but he didn't have any way to oppose that mind attack.
It made him more frustrated!
"If there is something that I can help with, then you should tell me. Maybe I can help you with that."
Lu Fei slowly nodded his head when he heard that. There are not many people who treated him well, but if there are any, then he would not hesitate to treat them with sincerity.
Zhao Na was one of them.
"I will tell you if there's…"
Creak!
As Lu Fei was speaking, the door to the cafe opened with a creaking noise and a familiar face that Lu Fei didn't want to see entered the door.
'He's here again.'
For the past few days, there was someone who was constantly bothering Lu Fei, going to the point of increasing his frustration.
The familiar face was the same fatty he had saved from the delinquents.
"Brother Lu!!"
"Your friend is here again."
Zhao Na laughed slowly when she saw Xiao Ming entering through the door.
In the past few days, she had gotten acquainted with Xiao Ming. She couldn't help but laugh seeing Xiao Ming trying hard to stick up to Lu Fei.
Lu Fei didn't have any friends from the start, so she felt happy for him, but Lu Fei didn't think like that.
"He's not my friend."
For him, Xiao Ming was just a bother.
"Whatever you say."
Zhao Na went into her office to work after that, leaving Xiao Ming and Lu Fei standing in front of the counter.
"Why are you here?"
"I was free today, so I thought, maybe we should hang out together."
"We are not friends who would hang out with each other, and I have to work either way. Anyways, why are you sticking to me?"
Lu Fei didn't know how but Xiao Ming had found out about where he worked, and he was even bothering him in school, always trying to stick with him.
It was to the point that he regretted giving out his name.
"Brother Lu, you saved my life. My grandfather once told me that I have to pay back a hundred times if someone helped me once. I would disappoint my grandfather if I didn't listen to his thoughts."
'His grandfather again…'
Till now, Lu Fei had heard several quotes from Xiao Ming's grandfather. It was to the point that he wanted to have a 'discussion' about life with him.
Unfortunately for him, he was not alive anymore, and Lu Fei had to bury his thoughts.
"I don't need any help."
"Even if it's..."
As Xiao Ming was speaking, one of the employees suddenly changed the channel to one of the gaming channels.
Gaming channels were channels that focused on game-related content. For the past year, they had become prosperous with a high number of viewers.
It was mostly because gaming channels had started broadcasting content related to Ark.
-Today, we will be talking about one of the topics that have been trending a lot these days.
-Yes, it is a topic related to the so-called 'hidden classes.'
On the TV screen, the same two broadcasters were talking about hidden classes. Hidden classes, just like their name, were hidden, and a player had to work hard to obtain one.
In short, they were special classes, and almost all of the players want one for themselves.
-Just recently, someone has spotted a player with a hidden class near the Berk Kingdom. There is a rumor that the hidden class is a magic-based class.
-Yes, the class is apparently called an Illusionist.
-What is the specialty of this class?
-It's rumored that an Illusionist can create illusions that can directly attack the mind. The attacked player will get confused, and it is easy to kill him after that.
-It looked like a class with a lot of potential, and there are not many ways to protect oneself, as it would be a direct attack on your mind.
'Isn't this similar to Krysil's attack?'
Lu Fei pondered in his mind, but suddenly, he heard Xiao Ming say something unexpected.
"Illusionist seems to have a lot of potential, but it doesn't have any potential in PvP as a player can just raise his magic resistance."
"What did you just said? Is there any way to fight against those mind attacks?"
Lu Fei turned towards Xiao Ming as he asked that. His expression was strange, but Xiao Ming just shrugged his shoulders as he began to explain.
"Yes, even if it's a mental attack, it's still magic in the end, and in Ark, one can raise his magic resistance to block against it."
"How can one raise their magic resistance?"
"There are several items for that, but they are expensive. Well, you can also learn some magic resistance skills. Still, the cheapest way is to find some herbs that can temporarily raise one's magic resistance."
"Herbs?"
"Yes, you can find them in a forest area..."
As Xiao Ming was explaining, Lu Fei suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed.
"That's it!! I was an idiot to not be able to think of this before."
He then looked at Xiao Ming, for the first time in a while, there was a bright smile on his face as he suddenly hugged him tightly.
"Xiao Ming, we are friends from now on!!"
"Huh?? Brother Lu?? What are you doing? I, I don't swing that way."
As Xiao Ming was confused, the customers sitting in the cafe were whispering among themselves.
"What's with them? Why are they hugging?"
"What's going on with Lu Fei? He was weird for some days now, and now he is hugging another guy and tightly to boot."
"I never saw him getting close to a girl, but he is hugging a guy now!!"
From that day onward, some weird rumors started in the Forest Cafe, but Lu Fei was oblivious to all of this.
* * *
"Today is the day that I will kill Krysil and conquer the dungeon."
Ian laughed as he looked at the pile of Red spirit grass in front of him.
Red spirt grass was usually used as an antiseptic and in the making of some potions. It will mostly be used by potion masters and alchemist.
The reason he had collected it was because Red spirit grass could give one some resistance to magic and mind attacks if it is eaten in large quantities.
Of course, the effect would be temporary and wore off just after 5 minutes, but it was the only thing that Ian has managed to found.
Ian has already dug through many books on herbs in the public library. It was to the point that the librarian was wondering if Ian wanted to become a herbalist or an alchemist.
After searching for three hours, Ian had finally found about the effects of Red spirit grass.
He had found about it in a book on Alchemy.
It wasn't like there were no other herbs more effective than Red spirit grass, but it was the only herb he could find in the Grenuo forest.
There were some magic resistance herbs in the market, but they were expensive.
Ian could not afford them at all.
That's why Ian had decided on the Red spirit grass in the end. After searching in the Grenuo forest, he had even collected a stack of it.
'I just have to fight against Kyrsil now!!'
With the Red spirit grass with him, Ian's probability of winning had gone up by several times. However, it was still not a hundred percent.
But no one in the world is a hundred percent sure as there's is always a little chance of messing up.
Ian moved towards the steep cliff with those thoughts in the end. As he reached closer to it, a fragrant smell suddenly entered his nose.
'Is someone cooking food here?'
He thought in his mind, and as he reached the cliff, he saw that the man he had met a few days ago was cooking in front of his house.
He was even humming a song while cooking.
'What's going on?'
Ian felt something weird seeing that. It was not like there was something strange about the man's cooking. It was something else.
The Grenuo forest was an area that had many packs and tribes of monsters living in it. Most of them would kill for food.
Ark was a game in which monsters and NPCs would have all the five senses, which means that they could smell like normal human beings.
There were many cases in which a monster had attacked a player just for food. That's why. Ian felt that there was something wrong.
The man was able to simply cook his food without any monsters attacking him.
How could it happen?
It was a question that Ian didn't have the answer to.
"Oh! You are again here. I never thought I would see you again. Come here and have a meal with me."
The man was quick to notice Ian's presence. With his overly familiar attitude, he invited Ian to have a meal with him.
Ian would never let go of free food, whether it is a game or reality.
That's why he accepted the chance to eat a free meal!!