The next day, Maria completely forgot about the unofficial date in the park with the smelly man and spent the rest of her day conquering the dungeon where the boss monster resided in the game. She followed the trick the man from yesterday told her to do to annihilate the boss. Since she's not a talented gamer, she was not able to kill the boss right away. But nothing could beat her relentless persistence. On her 9nth try that day, she finally destroyed it while using all the buffs and expensive premium items she bought in the game. She was so unfortunate there was no item drop. Even so, she was still completely satisfied since she was able to kill it.
"Yes!" Goal achieved. The dungeon closed.
She was doing her celebratory dance when her phone beeped.
[How's it going? - Mr. Tan]
She ignored the message. But in a few, she answered back with a short message. [Hmmp!]
"Okay, I am going to the park again tomorrow. Perhaps, I will have an inspiration this time since I killed the boss monster." She was cheerful again. She slept early that day so she would be fresh and full of inspiration the next day.
***
"You are late by one day!"
Maria was dazed. She looked left and right to confirm if the person standing by the bench, she occupied last time was talking to her. "Are you speaking to me?" she asked as she stopped her bike and pointed her finger to herself.
"Yes."
"But why? Do I know you?" she asked while parking her bike. This person didn't look familiar. He was slender and tall. His face is chiselled and the eyes that stared at her were tantalizing. He was wearing a crisp white shirt that was tucked neatly on dark charcoal grey checkered pants. His black hair was gelled but tossed slightly to make it look natural. Overall, the person who was speaking to her was a very good-looking man.
"Of course. We are supposed to meet here yesterday, remember?" he doesn't seem irritated when he reminded her about the meet-up. He even smiled warmly at her.
(Meet up yesterday?) "Mister, are you mistaking me for someone else? My face is pretty generic."
"No. It's you. And you don't look generic to me."
Wait. The only person she remembered meeting here was the-- "S-smelly man?" she guessed. "Is that you, smelly man?"
"Hmmph!" He sat down on the bench. "For your information, I took a bath!"
"You look like another person. Who would believe that you were the person I met here a few days ago? And I agree, you don't smell anymore." She praised him kindly and sat beside him. "Actually, you smell nice today." She sniffed him unconsciously.
The man coughed and slightly blushed. "You didn't come yesterday."
"Oh, that-" She patted her forehead with her palm animatedly. "I totally forgot. You see, I played all day yesterday and finally killed the boss monster!" she said proudly. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she missed her appointment.
"I will forgive you since you look happy. But I didn't expect it would take you the whole day to kill the boss even if I already told you how to kill it." He was trying to hide his smile.
She automatically hit his arms.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"Don't worry, I didn't kill the boss in one hit."
"Pfft!" He laughed.
"You are really an irritating man," she mumbled. "Keep quiet. I will start working here." She brought out her drawing pad and pen again. After a few hours, Maria can't come up with an idea. The paper is still blank.
"Here." The man tossed a golden coin on her lap. "Take my lucky coin. It may help you get some influence."
Maria picked the coin. The coin is the size of a very old Philippine one-peso coin (33mm).
[Ting!]
[You obtained a lucky coin.]
"Huh? What's this?" she was startled.
"It is a lucky coin," he said.
Maria was confused. "No, no. This! This!" She pointed at the message in front of her.
"See what? What are you saying and why are you pointing your finger like that?"
"This message in a box." Maria pointed to the message box in front of her repeatedly. "This-"
"Are you messing with me or are you going bonkers?" asked the man.
"Here." She tossed the coin back to the man. When the man got the coin, she asked him. "Do you see it?"
"I see the coin."
"No, aside from that. Look in front of you."
"Are you making fun of me? What should I see in front of me?" asked the man who was starting to get confused. "You don't like this coin, do you?" He was about to put it in his pocket when Maria stopped him.
"No, I like it! Give it back to me."
[Ting!]
[You obtained a lucky coin.]
"Weird."
" No. You are the weirdo here." He was too puzzled about her behaviour.
She looked at the man. "Yes, yes! I am the weird one!" She agreed awkwardly. She decided to her keep her mouth shut in the meantime since she didn't know what's going on. Also, the man could not see the message she was seeing. (So how to remove the message from my sight?) She reached and tapped the message using her finger and the message box expanded.
[Lucky Coin: Usage 0/3]
She tapped it again and the message disappeared from her sight.
"Who made this coin, smelly man?" curiously, she asked the man next to her.
"Stop calling me smelly man! I have a name."
"Umm...I don't know your name, smelly man." She blinked innocently at the man while stressing on the word 'smelly'.
The man flicked his finger on her forehead. "I said I already took a bath. My name is Peter. Peter Mina. And I made that coin."
She looked at the coin carefully and was about to bite the coin when he shouted, "Don't bite it!"
"I was just checking if this is real gold."
"It is plated, okay?" Do not bite it, don't drop it, don't do anything that will damage the coin. I am just lending you this coin while you are having your artist block. Please return it to me after in good shape."
"Um, what is the condition when using this?"
"What condition?"
"I mean, how do you use it?"
The man scratched his head. "Is this the same person I met the other day? She seemed to lose nuts today," he grumbled.
"Hey! I heard that!" She was playing with the coin and flipped it without thinking. A message appeared again when she caught it.
[Do you want to use the lucky coin now? Yes/No]
The message was blinking as if it was waiting for an answer. (How do I answer this? Do I need to click it or say it?)
"Are you really having a bad day today? It looks like you are out of focus today," he commented after seeing that she was staring blankly ahead again.
"Wha- No," she said after realizing what he was asking. She must look like an idiot right now, she thought.
The message on her view was gone. It accepted her answer. (So, I can answer the option vocally.) She looked at the man who gave her the lucky coin. (How come he is not seeing what I am seeing if he made it? He's the creator but he really did not know about this coin's function, nor seeing the display. What the heck is happening?) Maria was too astounded by this information. "How many lucky coins did you make?"
"Just that. That's why you have to return it when you are done with it."
"Okay, I will accept it. Please, lend it to me. My name is Maria Cruz. As a manga artist, I go by the name of Blumock."
"Blumock? I have heard this name before. Hmm..." He tried to remember where he heard this name.
"Oh, probably you have read my manga-"
"I do not read mangas." He cut her sentence in the middle. "Where's your phone?"
She reached for her mobile. "Here. Why?"
He took her mobile. "Raise the coin near your face." Then he took their photo together and sent it as a message to his number. "That is my number. Contact me once you are done with the lucky coin."
"O-okay." She agreed wholeheartedly. (Did he mean after I am done with the three usages? It says there are three usages, right? This is a one-of-a-lifetime opportunity for me.)
"And since you killed the boss monster in The Legends of Arcadia, do you have a new game to conquer?"
"I don't. I have to research for another game. Do you have a recommendation?"
"If you want you can rent my console. I will accept a rental fee of 100,000 pesos."
Maria's jaw dropped. "WTF? What game console rental costs this much?" He suddenly became a scammer in Maria's eyes.
"It is not just an ordinary console. It is a gaming capsule." He looked smug when he said these.
"C-capsule... Do you mean-- No, it couldn't be... It is not allowed in the Philippines yet." She was talking to herself than talking to him in this sense.
"Yep, it's the Inheritance Kingdom." He confirmed her thoughts.
Maria almost choked in excitement. "H-how come you have it?" She got excited about the idea that she could play it. Since it is the Inheritance Kingdom, the price of 100,000 PHP (around $2000) was reasonable. (Wait. But what if this is a scam?) She reasoned to herself that a scammer would not let her borrow a lucky coin. It was a precious coin like no other. She smiled. (I haven't used the coin yet, but my luck is already starting. Hehehe.) She was thrilled about this idea.
"So?" he asked while looking at Maria's face ever-changing expressions between her confusion, excitement, happiness, frustration, and suspicion. He was containing his laughter because Maria looked like a girl with a thousand emotions. Her expressions were too priceless.
"But I do not have money right now." She voiced out her frustration.
"Then contact me when you have the money," he smiled at Maria.
"Don't lend it to somebody else!" She warned greedily.
"I won't. In fact, I want you to keep this a secret between us."
"Of course. Promise. Cross my heart." Jealousy was the root of all evil. People might resort to unscrupulous acts just to obtain the capsule. She understood completely why this information needed to be a secret. "Peter, I will call you when I have the money. Thank you for giving me this chance to play the most amazing VR game." She bowed to Peter even if it was not in their culture to bow as a sign of thanks and respect.