"We're accepting trainees from real-world and Arcadia, are you gonna register?"
A lady on a front desk asked when Kane approached her to apply for their Dojo.
"Yes! I'd like to register."
"Okay, it's 15,000 dollars for the whole month of training."
"It's online on Arcadia, right? Is it still 15,000 dollars?"
"Yes, because sometimes people suddenly preferred doing it in person after learning from the game. Because of that, we include both real life and in Arcadia in our package. Your food and transportation fees are also included."
"Wait a minute, food and transportation? How about the VR equipment that I'll be using?"
"Ah, that's another 20,000 dollars for rent."
Kane turned around and left. Just like what he did in the past 5 dojos that he entered.
'This is bad. At this point, I'll lose all the money I got from Arcadia.'
In desperation, Kane suddenly thought of something that might help him get proper training from a dojo. He looked at the names of Dojos that still remained on his list and saw that there were still 3 left. Cherrybloom Dojo, Gragas Family Academy, and Majima Dojo.
'Cherrybloom Dojo looked stupid. I'm gonna go there.'
He went to Cherrybloom and saw that it was no longer there. Instead, it was turned into a restaurant—the Chickenfighter. There was even a poster for a job opening.
'No, you're not gonna fool me, this is a secret dojo, right?'
Kane went inside to check. He looked around like an inspector wannabe before sitting. The two staff managed the shop stared at him weirdly. One of them was Asian, while the other had both Asian and European features. There were a lot of seats, but only a few people sitting. For Kane, this shop was really doubtful.
He sat in one of the tables for almost an hour to check, but people just come to eat and then leave. One of the waiters, a young man who was most likely the same age as Kane, approached him.
"Sir, if you aren't gonna order, then you shou—"
"Ehem! Ummm... let me buy that, ah, this got a fancy name. People must've liked this. Let me buy, Salted Fish Belly."
As soon as the waiter approached him, Kane grabbed the menu on the table and ordered a set that he has been eyeing. The waiter gave Kane a fake smile before leaving. He turned around and proceeded to the kitchen while cringing at what Kane said.
'People must've liked this? Dumbass, it's just the cheapest on the menu.'
In just a few minutes, Kane got his order and saw that it was a medium-sized fish, sliced in half, along with a cup of rice. Kane got excited as the food looked decent. He took his utensils and then shoved a spoonful on his mouth.
"Blegh! *Cough* *Cough*. IT FUCKING SUCKS."
Kane spewed the food back to his plate as it was the worst food that he ever tasted that the expired food was even better. Kane's suspicions arose.
'How could a restaurant be this bad?'
However, no matter how much he waited, it was really a diner and not a dojo. People just go in and go out because of the bad food. In fact, Kane was the only one who stayed. In the end, Kane left with 8,500 gak dollars in his bank account plus a minor stomachache.
He came out sluggish and looked at his list. The next on his list was a Dojo called the Gragas Family Academy.
'Eh? Isn't this a bit excessive? Why do they sound like a mafia family? Let's skip that.'
And the last one left was a Dojo called Majima Dojo.
'Now, let's go here.'
After a few minutes of walking around the town, Kane finally found it. The Majima Dojo. It was a big establishment that looked like an old mythical Japanese building. Kane went to the alleyway beside it. He opened the dumpster and tossed his bag in it.
Afterward, he went around the Dojo for reconnaissance. He scouted the whole area, especially to identify the number of possible exits he could use. Satisfied on his inspection, Kane went inside to apply.
He approached the lady on the counter.
"Is this a Dojo that offers training?"
"Yes, we do training for both online and physically."
During their conversation, Kane kept on hearing the people shouting inside the room behind the wall.
YAH! YAH! YAH!
It came from a bunch of people that were currently training in the other room. Kane asked for the price. But once again, he lacked the money to pay. Suddenly, he started walking to the entrance of the other room. The woman was confused.
"Sir! What are you doing? Do you have an appointment?"
"I will have one."
As he had enough of shitty capitalist charging overpriced services, Kane made a desperate move just to train himself fighting against weapons.
Kane suddenly kicked the door open. Everyone stopped practicing and looked at the hooligan who had just entered.
"Is this the Majima Dojo?"
All of them were staring at him, but the silence was their answer. Kane continued.
"I needed to train with weapons such as wooden swords. Let's take a bet. I'll challenge this Dojo in a duel! If I lose, I'll donate 10,000 Dollars to support this Dojo. If I win, you'll need to train me for free."
Of course, no one would stupidly agree to that. The master was annoyed. He stood up and took his phone.
"Just get him while I'm calling the cops."
Five guys immediately pounced at Kane. In one of the scenarios, he predicted, they would abide by their honor code and fight him one by one. But he also indicated that they might not consider him as a worthy opponent to follow the code. Yet, he still got the guts to rant.
"Hey! Don't you have any honor! I'm just alone!"
"Trespasser! You're just a criminal."
The fight commenced when Kane dodged a student's attack by sidestepping and swept the guy's feet. As the guy fell to the ground, Kane kicked him toward his other classmates, which prompted all of them to fall to the ground. Kane immediately leaped forward by stepping on the other fallen students in their faces.
The master saw the situation and took an interest in Kane. The man dropped his phone and proceeded to watch from behind.
The students were surprised that Kane leaped toward them. He quickly elbowed a student on his nose, knocking him out.
Seeing that they couldn't take on him alone, ten of them ran toward him from all directions. But Kane couched and swept all of their legs. No matter how many of them would rush at Kane, he would always find a way to survive.
The master noticed that his students were going down one after another. He shouted.
"He came here to train with weapons, that means he doesn't know much about weapons. Get your weapons!"
All of them went back to the walls and opened the cabinets in the corners of the room, taking out their wooden swords.
'Shit.'
That was the only word he could utter as almost a hundred armed people were closing on him. With that, he got no other choice.
Kane ran back to the exit. He tried to push the door, but it can't be opened that way. Kane managed to open it slightly by pulling it, but he was stopped when a stupid tried to smack his back.
Kane swept that guy's leg and tried to kick the student in the face. However, another student also swung a wooden sword that forced Kane to retreated. Seeing that many students were converging on the door, Kane decided to abandon it for now and jumped back to the center of the room.
Some of the students were left guarding the door while some chased Kane. They were attacking Kane with their swords, but Kane could dodge everything, no matter how many they were. However, just like the case with Ryore, Kane couldn't find a timing when to attack.
As he sensed that this might exhaust him if it was prolonged, Kane decided to fight head-on. He dashed forward a student who tried to hit him in the head. Kane slightly sidestepped, hitting his shoulder instead of his head. Kane hugged and slammed that student on the floor, knocking him out and taking his weapon.
Now that he was armed, Kane clashed with another student wielding a sword. In just one swing, the student got disarmed by Kane's overwhelming swing and went directly at his neck, pinning him on the ground.
The students kept on swarming at Kane, but the force on Kane's swings was unmatched. Their swords were either getting deflected or disarmed. It was like that until the sword that he stole broke in half.
Seeing that, the students quickly swarmed and started smacking Kane's body. To escape, Kane carried a student and swung his body around, hitting other people beside them.
The attack opened a lot of space for Kane. He immediately ran to his right, intending to jump out of the windows, but the master spotted it.
"The windows! He'll escape!"
Kane managed to open the window but was too late to jump away as one of the students swung a sword at his back. Kane tried to jump again, but he will hit once more. To dodge that, he kicked the way and jumped away from the window. Once again, he abandoned his escape route.
Kane's body started to hurt. He never fought this many before. Not only that, he never fought too many trained fighters equipped with weapons before.
Having no other choice, Kane ran straight at the door, since the students were scattered into three groups. One was guarding the windows, the other was guarding the entrance, and the last one was chasing Kane, the number of students guarding the gate decreased.
Kane immediately ran toward the door. The master noticed it again.
"He's going to the door!"
All of the students ran straight at the door to help their companions that were guarding it. However, Kane suddenly changed his direction and went to the unguarded window. He ran swiftly and jumped out of it. He slid down the roof until he fell down to the dumpster as he calculated.
PAK!
ARRGGHH!
But Kane went to the asphalt pavement instead because the dumpster was still a meter away. Aside from the bruises that he got from the students, his back also started hurting because of the fall.
Kane opened the dumpster and took his items back. He went out of it and walked away limping.
The master stared at the limping Kane from one of the windows. However, the master also noticed an auburn-haired woman on the main street alternately looking at Kane and the master.
Back at the Chickenfighter eatery, the waiter on the counter handed a plate to his friend.
"Give it to Table 5."
"Okay."
The waiter took it and approached table 5. But the waiter shouted as he recognized someone.
"HOLY, SHIT! IT'S YOU AGAIN! AND YOU HAVE A NEW MAKEUP!"
At table 5, Kane was there with all the types of bruises in his body. The waiter mocked him before giving his order, the same shitty menu that he ordered earlier.
Suddenly, a group of baseball students entered the restaurant. One of them was angrily waving his baseball bat while holding a plastic bag on the other.
"Hey! What the fuck? My friend here ordered a menu from this shitty store. And guess what? It tastes so bad!! Why does that cost 300 gak dollars? Are you guys kidding me!"
That person kicked one of the tables, knocking some of the plates in it. The customers were startled and started leaving. The one on the counter was about to move out, but the waiter that was serving Kane immediately approached the one in the counter and stopped him.
"I'll take care of this. Try to restrain yourself."
The waiter confronted the students.
"Sir, if it sucks, then we'll just give you another set."
"What another set? Give me back my money five times because I had to deal with this shitty stomachache!"
"Uhhh, sir, we are glad to give you back. But first, can you go to the hospital and we'll reimburse it."
"What do you mean? Just give me money, dumbass!"
With this, the glare of the waiter has changed because he knew that these students were not having stomachaches at all since they refused to go to the hospital.
The baseball student kicked the waiter on his chest. It was strong. The waiter was tossed to the ground. But it got Kane's attention upon seeing that the waiter bent his head before falling to protect himself from concussions.
'This guy, he's also a fighter.'
Kane assumed that the waiter was an experienced fighter despite his small height. Suddenly, the man in the counter stood up and left his post. Kane was flustered and some of the baseball students because of how tall and bulk the guy was. No one could see it because he was just hiding his appearance behind the counter.
The baseball students were suddenly a little bit scared. But their leader, who kicked the other waiter, was unfazed.
"Hey, wanna fight? Fine. Let's do it!"
The waiter on the ground quickly stood up and gently pushed his friend away. He whispered.
"I told you to stay on the counter."
"No, I'm doing this my way!"
Because the waiter was pushing his friend away and his back was open wide, the ringleader slammed his bat at the waiter's head. However, Kane grabbed it with his hand.
Upon seeing them close, Kane immediately recognized those students. They were the same people who got him fired from the convenience store.
Their leader chuckled upon seeing that Kane was swaying. Seeing that, the ringleader swung his bat at Kane. Kane was already too weak, tired, and too dizzy to defend that he no longer knew what was happening.
But the ringleader stopped upon seeing Kane's bruised face. Kane was alerted.
'Shit! Did he recognized me?!'
The leader suddenly screamed.
"The fuck is this guy! Are you still alive?! Let's run! This restaurant is fucking crazy!!"
The leader got scared at Kane's horrid bruised face and ran away. The other bullies followed. At that point, Kane finally lost it and fell to the ground.
THUD!
Before losing consciousness, he saw the duo looking down on him.
"What the hell? Did they thought we did this to him?"
Suddenly, there was a third woman who came looking down on him. But Kane could only see her blurred face. But he noticed her auburn her. Suddenly, another woman came out of the kitchen. She was saying something. But Kane couldn't understand it anymore as he was totally busted, but based on her voice, he assumed it was an older woman.
***
Back at WALLACE TOWER, ARCADIA, Xvin, and his group waited on the 40th floor waiting area. Since they already spent some time waiting, Ryore wanted to move.
"It's been hours. Did you think he abandoned us?"
"No, he left in a rush last time. Something must've happened to him in real life. Let's wait for a few more minutes."
"How much longer do we need to wait? We'll be late on schedule?!"
"I don't know. But I believe he's not gonna struggle helping us reach level 40 just to quit midway. He'll be back."
***
While lying in darkness, Kane opened his eyes and saw his mom right beside of him.
"Mom... mom. Are you gonna take me back now? I'm sorry. I tried living properly, but life doesn't work that way. I'm tired. Can I go back? Can I go home? Will you guys accept me?"
Kane reached out his hand and tried to caress his mom's cheeks. His mom softly grabbed his hand, and then she snapped it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Kane woke up. As soon as he woke up, he saw a beautiful auburn-haired woman beside him. Despite his eyes still blurry, Kane could only see some of her facial features. Still, he categorized her features at the same level as the princesses in the movies he watched. She had a different kind of beauty than the mage that Kane met alongside Bastion.
Kane was too focused on scanning her blurry face that he forgot she was still holding his hand that she snapped. Kane tried to pull it back, but he couldn't.
'What's with this strength? Why can't I free myself from her? Is it because I wasn't fully recovered?'
SHHHH! THUD!
A man opened the sliding door and entered the room. It was the same small waiter. He giddily hugged Kane while tapping his back. The woman let go of Kane's hand and left. Kane was totally confused about what happened.
"Why… why are you hugging me?"
"Why? We're coworkers now!"
"What do you mean? I'm not working."
"What are you saying? So, did you come back because of our food? You said it's shit?"
"…"
Kane couldn't answer as he also couldn't think of any reason why he came back to the shop either. Seeing that he was silent, the waiter helped Kane.
"See… you didn't come here because of the food, right? Then there's only one reason. This! You're hired!"
The young adult pulled out the job opening poster and thought Kane came back to apply. Kane was flustered as to how he came up with that answer. He was about to bad-mouth him until he saw a sword in the room.
"Wait, is that real?"
"Nope. You're not gonna get that as a reward."
"No, I'm serious, is that real?"
"Yes. It is. You're not on Arcadia."
"Then, this is really a dojo?!"
Kane looked around and saw that the room he was in looked the same as the rooms in Ancient East Asian Palaces. The man noticed that he was mesmerized by the room.
"Why are you asking? This is my sister's house, not a dojo."
"Really? Was it not the Cherrybloom Dojo?"
"Cherrybloom, where did you hear that?! I haven't heard that name for a very long time. That name used to be legendary! Are you one of the students here? I doubt it since you looked like you lost in a battle."
"I saw it online."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, I searched the Dojos near my place, and this was on the list."
"Meh! So, you didn't hear it from a legendary story, and you're also not a student. Boring."
"Let's see who's boring after I kick your as—"
BAM!
The doors were slammed open. The same old woman from the kitchen appeared, and this time Kane could finally see her clearly as a woman in her 50s.
"Stop talking with our new recruit, and let's eat."
Kane was confused.
"Let's what?"
"Come on, dude!"
The waiter lifted the confused Kane like a baby that couldn't stand up.
"Uuugghhhh!! It hurts, put me down!!"
"Such as baby."
The man carried him out of the room, and then they went down the stairs.
"Ugh! Shit!"
"Sorry, sorry! Haha! It's okay, it's okay!"
Because the stairs were so narrow, the man slammed Kane's head on the wall. The man continued carrying outside of the house and then to a backyard. They crossed the backyard and went to another house on the other side using a back door.
Upon entering, Kane was surprised to see that they were already on the kitchen of Chickenfighter. The man gently helped him sit comfortably on the chair with a bowl of soup right in front of him and his bag right beside him. Mysteriously, there was also a wooden sword on the table.
As soon as he sat, he saw the back of the same beautiful woman leaving the store in a black suit.
"I'm going."
"Take care!"
Both the old woman and the waiter shouted while waving their hand. Kane also stupidly waved his hand at the woman, although the woman didn't see because she was already leaving. The waiter saw Kane and then grinned. Kane quickly lowered his hand, but the dude was still creepingly smirking at him.
"I saw that."
"You saw what."
The waiter waved his hand, copying what Kane did. Kane changed the subject by smelling the food.
"Does this taste good now?"
The old woman got mand and started kicking Kane in the legs.
"This guy! Just go! Dumbass, if you hate it so bad, then just go!"
PAK! PAK! PAK!
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Alright! Alright! I'll eat it."
Kane took a sip, and his eyes widened. It tasted good. But something came into his mind.
'I get it. These bitches really wanted me to work for them. I'm not gonna fall for this. Their main dish is still shit.'
Despite thinking, Kane kept on chugging the soup that he managed to finish it. The old woman asked.
"Was it good?"
Kane slowly nodded his head. The woman started laughing. She approached Kane and leaned toward his ears.
"WAS IT GOOD?!!"
Kane was flustered.
"Geez, geez. Yes. Yes. It was good. I enjoyed it. I'll order it next time."
The waiter replied.
"That wasn't on the menu."
"What?"
"It was cooked by my sister. She's a good cook!"
"Sister? You mean that woman?"
"Yeah. I mean this..."
The waiter copied Kane's waving again. The old woman interrupted their childish talk.
"Where will you go now? You seemed beat up."
"I need to go home. I'm going now. Thank you for the food. Since I helped you guys on the baseball dudes, we're settled now. We don't have to be indebted to each other. Thanks!"
Kane took his bag and slowly walked away while limping.
"I ASKED YOU, WHERE WILL YOU GO!?!?"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!! WHY DO YOU CARE!? WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SHOUTINGGGGGG!!"
"Look, you saved our shop. Therefore we will give you unlimited food. However, we saved your life, you have to pay us with life either!"
"What kind of shitty comparison is that?"
"Also, we heard the news from the other neighborhood. Somebody went inside Majima dojo and beat some of their kids. You're that person, right? Your injuries looked like it came from a recent fight with wooden swords and fists."
Kane was flustered. The old woman knew everything.
"Yes, it was me. So, what? Are you gonna report me?"
"Yes, I will. Do you want me to?"
Kane didn't answer. He will probably get arrested, but it was nothing new to him. But it was actually new to him. For the first time ever, he instigated the trouble, and he felt guilty as he actually hurt some innocent kids. He didn't answer the old woman as he knew he deserved to get arrested.
"…"
"What's with that face? Haha! Did you feel guilty after storming the place?"
"I mean, I just want some sword classes. I thought the master would send his students one by one, but they swarmed at me all at once."
"Then stopping feeling guilty about that. The master didn't even report to the police. Only us gossipers knew what happened. Their master covered it up since they knew it will tarnish their academy that they were beaten by a single person. Plus, he said it was some sort of free practice for his students."
"Aaahhh… what?"
"Since you're indebted to us with your life, then you have to work here forever, or maybe until we became successful. Since you're not really a bad guy, my son Jae Hwan will teach you."
"Indebted?? Hey, the fuck is this? You didn't even ask for a resume."
But the woman ignored him. The woman left the store to walk back to their mansion. Kane was left with Jae Hwan, the waiter.
"Hey! I can't do this, I still need to finish something."
"In Arcadia, right?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
"That's the only reason why you're studying wooden swords. Otherwise, you're really planning to kill someone."
"Okay. Let's say you're right. That's why I don't have time for this. And your food is shit anyway, why bother hiring another employee?"
"I'm gonna tell you later, but what we just needed now is another worker. I'll give you the morning shift so you can play at night. And then we'll spar in breaks. Are you fine with that?"
The situation was too eerie for Kane, but he doesn't think it was a bad idea. He reached out his hand, and Jae Hwan shook it.
"I'm Park Jae Hwan."
"Kane Walker."
***
On the 40th floor of Wallace Tower, most of the GM15 members already left and proceeded to the 41st floor. Ryore and Pixie looked at Xvin, who was still waiting for Kane. Ryore decided to stay while nodding back at Pixie to push forward. Pixie nodded back and went to the portal. Ryore approached Xvin.
"He's not coming. Something may have happened to him, but we have nothing to do with that anymore."
"..."
"Let's go, man."
Xvin stood up, and both of them started walking to the portal. But they heard some sound coming from behind them. Xvin looked back and smiled.
"Told you, he's coming."