The old man raised his hand and made a small swish movement, which the two guards went out of the door to guard it. He then grabbed a drink of his wine, before finally speaking about what I asked.
"I can't tell you who did it, that's under our code, but I'll tell you about the item being disrupted to players."
I nodded while Beom just stood there, being confused on what's happening.
"There's this potion that acts like a drug, it has certain effects that cause others to mess up their skills but it also increases their strength. It has a purple-ish pink color. The reason of the person who's spreading it? I don't know. They only seem to give it to players who are strong... One of them disappeared. A woman who just seemed to be wiped off the map."
The npc knew about the difference between players and npcs, but they don't seem to know what happens outside of the game, which is a good thing, I think. The info the old man talked about clearly fits what could have happened to the woman.
The messed up skill and fighting, though the glitch effect might be different from what effect he might mean, the description fit it perfectly.
"Is there anything else?"
I asked while opening the menu window to see what time it was, it was currently 7pm. so I still had time, but I still wanted to go to the detective by today.
"Well, all I know it's a group, but as much as I know, that's all they let known about them."
I stared at him before bowing and saying my thank you. He then gave a wave before me and the white haired male stood up and headed out. It was quiet first before we reached our horses out in the plains.
We then continued our way to the capital city of Pasquin, going past the thieves Tree, feeling the eyes of the people of this city as we walked, but the further we went, the less threat we felt from those eyes that watched us, it slowly began to disappear as they left us alone.
"what was that about?"
Beom spoke as we kept heading towards the cave opening beyond.
"You could say I'm helping a friend, a detective."
I spoke as he just stared at me like I was the strangest person ever, then nodded and let it go.
Finally reaching past the summit of the cave, a large opening once again on a cliff, and beyond the Chute Daeu were beautiful hills with soft colored flowers, and beyond was Pinsquin's capital, Stella Urbs. The sky was as dark and blue as the sea, and you could clearly see the stars.
Stella Urbs was near the ocean, the most noticeable aspect of the city was the port that could be seen even from here, it was huge. The castle was at the side so from where we stood, the view was truly magnificent.
We continued our way down the cliff and to the city, but unlike AlanVan, there were only a few wheat farms, most were just animal farms. Cows, sheeps, pigs, etc. There were no self sustained vegetable farms around here.
The closer we got to the city, the stronger the smell of the salty sea was. Now that I think about it, when was the last time I went to the sea? I've been focused on work, I never really left Seoul after highschool. The ocean breeze, even from here, felt refreshing.
"It's nice and all, but don't let your guards down. This place is more carefree than AlanVan."
Even the prettiest places still have danger in them huh? I just nodded and followed along, and like what he said, there wasn't even any guards around the gates of the walls. The streets were filled with people though, players and npcs, there were many, but also behind the scenes were the npcs that represented homeless people.
"where do we go now?"
I asked while we got off the horses, having them stay at a stable. He looked around before putting his hood on, he did have that red colored username, and this way his username isn't as visible.
"We need to go to the red district. Remember this place replicated olden days so, don't be surprised."
I looked at him before grumbling.
"I'm not a child, hell I'm older than you, you should be calling me hyung."
I let out a sigh before walking beside him. The more I looked around, this city represented Eastern Asia more while AlanVan had the aspect of Europe in the older days.
The buildings had the visible triangular roofs, there were towers that had those roofs, buildings than resembled the Hanok but a mix of modern look in a way?
Either way, seeing resemblance of my culture in a western made game is amazing, it was truly beautiful.
Yet there was one thing, the further we went from the Main Street, the more hidden parts became visible. Like the alleyways at AlanVan, but here there's a district.
The red light district, it looked the norm here. There were a lot of people here. Now that I thought about it, there would be some people who'd come here even if it's virtual reality, since the grass felt the same then that meant..
I had widen eyes and just looked down at the ground. I do play games, but never thought of anything sexual with them. This is weird.
I thought to myself before I was pulled away once again. This time to a road away from the main road.
"Where going to the black market, it's a bit more hidden than the red district."
I just followed along since this was all new to me, I wouldn't know where a single thing would be. After a while of walking, we reached a brick wall, it looked like a dead end, but with a small knock, the wall slid open, showing some staircases that went downwards.
The door then closed behind then we kept walking, I was just following behind the other male carefully. The lower we got, the louder the sounds of people were. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, the place was just like the red district.
Yet the people were all in hoods or masks. The things that were being sold seemed very sketchy. Beom then gave me a hood as well.
"Here take it."
I grabbed it then quickly covered myself, it felt illegal to be here. I looked around, and most items being sold were what looked to be live beasts, there were books and jewelry, some armour as well.
"Most people sell their stolen goods here since it's easier to sell rather than selling it normally."
Seemingly, Beom noticed I was looking around and explained to me. I nodded as we continued to walk.
"How are we going to find the guy that stole that antique?"
I looked at the other male but he just gave me a little shrug.
"Since it's pretty valuable, he probably went to the auction house. These things are the normal kind of things, the auction house is more of the valuables and one of a kind yet illegal things."
My head was starting to hurt, there was so much in this game it felt so real, it was hard to believe this could be just a virtual reality.
"Are you sure we didn't get brought back in time?"
I spoke gently and confused while Beom looked at me like I was the craziest person in the world.
"D-don't worry about it, nevermind-"
I let out a sigh as we kept walking until a very visible view was seen, on the wall was a large marble like entrance with big doors.
"I'm guess that's the auction house?"
He nodded in reply, and now it was time for us to enter. Though we were stopped and we had to wait for a while before we were able to go in fully.
The auction room was just like the one back at AlanVan, yet everyone was either in hoods or they wore masks while showing of their fancy clothing, they were the nobles in the game.
The room was dark for a moment, before suddenly the lights turned on right in the middle where the auctioned items would be. The actions and looks of the place was exactly like the other auction house, yet it was eerie, a completely different feeling.
The items began to roll in, first they were normal items, then came the trapped beasts. It felt really wrong to be here.
"Isn't that.. illegal? Why would they allow this?"
I whispered to the white haired male quietly.
"The Oasis wasn't made to be a game. It was made with a mindset of creating another world. After the creator died, no one knows how to get rid of things, and it thrives like a real world."
I always thought it was just a game, at least most people did, but I did have a feeling it was different from other games considering how real it felt when I was talking to Nel.
"Hey, theres the item we need. We just need to pay attention to who gets it and steal it."
This kid said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. I let out a sigh and just nodded before looking to watch who was going to buy it. After a few debates, a man with a gold mask was the one who won, and I made sure Beom knew who it was exactly.
"Now we just wait."
The male spoke as I nodded, but then the next item was something that I didn't expect. At first I thought it was normal, but the more they spoke about it, the more it made me realize what it was.
"We now present you.."
The masked man spoke loudly on the stage.
"The wonderful potion that's been going around! This is for the adventurers only. Sorry nobles."
The man snickered before continuing.
"I present you.. The Angel's Tears."
He pulled out a bottle that held a purplish and pink coloured potion.
"Beom, we need to buy that."
To be continued...