A Note from the Guide, Kayne Sunfury, and his advice to remember when in the Basic Realm:
------
Do you wish to quickly increase your prowess?
Why not use the Special Potion: [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning]?
Available in the VIP store.
------
Again, another mention of the VIP store.
'[Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning]?'
Now that he had taken a look, the note turned out to be just that, a note that had neither a beginning nor a proper ending.
Zevrad still decided to leave his room, however, the only way to satisfy his curiosity was to check this [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning] with his own two eyes. The VIP store was located on the eighth floor. When he pushed the door open, he found a small room, a counter, and a maid sitting behind it. Her eyes grew wide as soon as she saw him.
"Huh?"
"?"
"Oh, my apologies. I didn't expect to see a survivor enter through those doors so soon. Are you perhaps here to window shop?"
"Is this the VIP store?"
"If you wish to purchase an item, please enter through here."
The maid pointed towards a small door to her side. It seemed that there was another room behind the one they were in.
"Unfortunately, it isn't possible to window shop in this store. You also need a minimum of 30,000 silver coins to enter, as well. If you're curious about the products available here..."
"Do you have an item called [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning] on sale?"
Seeing the maid about to pick up a familiar-looking pamphlet, Zevrad hurriedly interjected. The maid flinched and stopped. She then spotted the piece of paper gripped in his hand and an unreadable light flickered in her eyes.
"Ah~ of course! The Guide, Kayne... well then. The story changes a little bit in that case. Please give me the note."
After receiving the Guide's note, she opened up the huge closet right behind her. The interior of this wooden closet was packed full with rows upon rows of adult finger-sized potion bottles.
The maid pulled one out and placed it on the counter. Zevrad stared at this small bottle containing a milky white substance. He activated [Spectral Sight] but couldn't see their aura.
"You will also find [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning] in the regular stores down below. However, they pale in comparison to the ones found in this VIP store with their price, its effects, etc."
"What differences are there?"
"Mmm... well, the most expensive [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning] you can find in the regular stores is priced at 250 silver. Its effects last for 12 hours. The maximum amount of boost you will receive is four times the normal. That's not so bad if you consider the cost-effectiveness. Don't you agree?"
Zevrad honestly couldn't say as he remained silent in his confusion as he didn't know the difference between the VIP store yet.
"..."
"Oh, right, as for the VIP stores... there isn't even a need to say it out loud because the potion's effects and its duration are doubled. For a low, low price of 400 silver, the duration lasts for 24 hours while you receive eight times the boost! Training one single day will give you the same results as training for eight days straight, guaranteed."
Zevrad had to wonder whether he made a mistake when he thought the tone of her voice shifted subtly as if to ask, 'You'll buy it, right? You will definitely buy it after this sales pitch, right?'
"Isn't that just impossible? How can such a thing be..."
Zevrad displayed a strong sense of disbelief. While she was laughing with her eyes, the maid's overall expression was calm and composed.
"This is the Basic Realm."
"Yes, so?"
"This is the divine sanctuary created through the combined might of the Lords of the Illidari. As long as you are trying to complete the tasks found within this realm, no effort will be spared in supporting you."
"..."
"Of course, a part of this Realm's reason for existence is to test you. But the main objective is to help you develop your skills even further and to increase the odds of your survival outside."
The maid tilted her head slightly to the side and smiled radiantly and this caught Zevrad's full attention.
'The main objective...'
"That's what I'd like to say, but well, it's true that this potion is a little bit peculiar. Only 60 bottles are made available during each of the Basic Realm's openings. Also, not everyone can buy one. There are even restrictions placed where one needs to bring along these 'notes' from the Guide. That's just in case an Invited hears of the potion's existence before arriving at the Basic Realm."
Zevrad thought about this carefully. He felt like he could see the answer to his predicament. Until now, he had been blinded by the VIP store to have realized it, but the words 'trying to complete the tasks found within this Realm continued to tug at his mind.
"Will you buy one?"
The maid placed both of her hands on her waist and confidently asked him. Zevrad organized his thoughts for a bit, then raised his head to meet her gaze.
"Yes!"
***
After leaving the VIP store and heading back to his room, Zevrad ran into someone he was rather familiar with. And that was Kor'vas, looking somewhat anxious as she paced up and down in front of his door.
"Kor'vas?"
"Ah, Shan'do!" (TL: Shan'do is a title of respect in the language of the Night Elves, Darnassian, meaning 'honored teacher')
'Shan'do?'
While Zevrad stood there confused, Kor'vas ran to him with a look of worry on her face.
"Are you alright? Are you really alright?"
"W-what do you mean...?"
"You looked like you were in pain before. I was worried, so I followed you and tried to see if you were okay, but you weren't in your room..."
Zevrad realized that the knocking noise he heard earlier belonged to Kor'vas. She was most likely referring to the time when he came back looking haunted after completing the 'Hard' difficulty mission. He was out of it back then, so he must have looked rather odd. Zevrad could understand now why she was behaving this way.
"Have you been crying?"
'Crying?' Zevrad unconsciously touched around his face and found that the spring water he poured on himself hadn't fully dried yet.
"I guess so..."
"B-but, why?"
"Because I'm pathetic."
"Shan'do isn't pathetic at all!"
Kor'vas jumped up and down on the spot. She hurriedly scuttled towards him and carefully grasped hold of his arms.
"N-no, you are simply amazing, that's all. You even completed a Hard mission by yourself. Because of that, there's chaos unfolding downstairs."
Seeing her worry-filled eyes staring up at him, Zevrad felt like he was feeling a little bit better than before. Just a little. He slowly shook his head.
"That mission was not something I should've tried in the first place."
"The mission was… that difficult?"
"I attempted it without even realizing my own limits. And I almost died because of it. To be honest… it's a miracle that I'm standing here."
Kor'vas was about to say something, but she chose not to after seeing Zevrad's deeply wounded facial expression.
"I shouldn't have carried on like that. I shouldn't have tried that mission. Until now, I've only..."
His furrowed brows deepened even more. He closed shut his mouth for a second or two, the sounds of gritting teeth escaping from between his lips.
"I was… using my own life as collateral in a foolish decision."
And I even swore to myself I'd never, ever be foolish again…
"S-shan'do..."
Kor'vas fidgeted and fretted about while wondering whether there was something she could do to aid him. She then grasped his sleeves a bit tighter and tugged. Zevrad raised his downtrodden eyes, only to find Kor'vas and her gentle smile looking back.
"...would you like to run with me for a while?"
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, we should have a foot race!"
Zevrad ended up slightly panicking after that suggestion literally came out of nowhere.
"A race? Why a race, all of a sudden…?"
"Running is really great, you see! Your mind clears up when you're in the middle of your strides, and you'll definitely feel better after sweating a lot."
"But, uh, there is no space around here to run, though? And to run in the corridors is just..."
"Take a look at this~."
------
[A foot race (Number of available attempts: ꝏ/ꝏ)]
Lap the track ten times!
Difficulty: Basic
Success: none
Failure: none
Cooperation possible (up to 6 people)
------
These were the contents from the mission parchment the girl produced. And it wasn't just one or two pages, either. She was holding at least thirty of them! Zevrad looked at the bundle with a dazed expression, prompting her to go, 'Oops!' and explain herself.
"It's okay. The number of attempts for this mission is infinite, so I think it doesn't really matter if I take a few more than usual."
"But still, isn't that a bit too much…?"
"Oh. Uh, well, I need to run around for a while before I go to bed, or I won't be able to fall asleep."
She poked her tongue out and waved around the mission parchment slightly. Seeing her bright, innocent smile, Zevrad couldn't bring himself to say no.
The method of 'cooperating' was rather simple. Whether it was by holding hands or touching shoulders, it was fine as long as there was some kind of body contact when the parchment was torn in half.
The location they moved to was an athletic field. It was no bigger than what one might find in a middle school. Zevrad thought that doing ten laps around the track found here shouldn't be too hard, but well, he had to revise his assessment soon enough.
'W-was my fitness level this terrible?!'
Zevrad had no problems up to fourth and fifth laps. However, he began gradually slowing down on the sixth lap, and by the time he barely managed to complete the seventh, he couldn't even see Kor'vas' back anymore, never mind thinking of catching up.
He couldn't even tell whether he was running on the track or the track was running him out; his breathing was beyond rough, and his heart pounded incredibly hard while loudly demanding more and more oxygen to be delivered. Sweat poured out from his back as if it was raining, and a bittersweet odor leaked out from his throat.
'I… I… I can't… do… this!!!'
He wanted to plop down on the floor and pass out, but then again, that would be just too embarrassing. Why? Kor'vas had already finished all of her 10 laps and was waiting by the start/finish line while carefully regulating and calming down her breathing, that was why.
However, this was unsurprising. For many years, his body had been poisoned by the constant stream of late-night gambling, alcohol intake, and consistent smoking. So, there was no way he would be in a healthy state at all, especially when he rarely exercised in the first place.
"Change the way you breathe! Don't breathe through your mouth, but through your nose! Like this, hu-hu, ha-ha! Hu-hu, ha-ha!"
Zevrad heard her encouragement and gritted his teeth. Only now, the answer that was just within his reach became crystal clear. Just like his own words muttered out not too long ago, he had been foolishly doing things by simply gambling with his life as the collateral. Sure, he had received a favorable hand thanks to his unique demon, but if one single thing went wrong somewhere, then he'd end up dead without a doubt – like when he collapsed from the undead's jumping attack, for instance.
Also, the maid was right, too. The Basic Realm wasn't designed to be a place where you must find a way to survive. No, it was designed to help one learn how to survive.
Everything had an order to follow.
Zevrad finally managed to complete all ten laps and stopped just before the finish line. He crumpled to the floor like a collapsing building and roughly wheezed in and out. Kor'vas trotted to where he was and advised him to slowly regulate his breathing, before tilting her head a bit, looking somewhat surprised.
"I didn't expect Shan'do's fitness level to be this low..."
"H, how come... you… can run… so well?"
"Well, I've been delivering milk in the early mornings, you see? I did that for about one year straight."
"Sounds… rough..."
"Oh no, not at all! I've always enjoyed running, you know? Even when I was young, I was very athletic since I ran across the forest and fields almost everyday~."
Kor'vas drew a victory sign with her fingers. Zevrad always assumed she had a kind yet timid demeanor, and her good looks matched up pretty well. But as it turned out, she was a bona fide athlete instead! He gladly accepted her extended helping hand while opening his mouth.
"Thank you."
"Eh?"
She became flustered as his gratitude came out from nowhere.
"My mind's a lot clearer now."
"Oh, I… It was nothing. If I was able to help somehow, then I'm glad. Besides, you saved me so... I should be... instead..."
She quickly lowered her gaze and her cheeks reddened softly. Seeing her at a loss and not knowing how to respond, a certain streak of mischievousness tickled Zevrad's fancy.
"In any case, thank you."
"N-no. It's nothing at all."
"Thank you. I mean it."
"No, it's really nothing at all. It's me who's..."
"I really don't know how I should repay this debt to you."
"Shan'do."
Kor'vas puckered her lower lip in a pout and cutely glared at him.
"You are doing this to mess with me, yes?"
"Did I get caught?"
Zevrad winked at her and stood up straight. This was quite surprising. During the run itself, he felt like a dying man, but now that it was over, his mood had improved dramatically.
"It's not bad, this running thing."
"Right? Running is easily the best way to increase your fitness level. It increases your lung capacity, improves the way your lungs function, and it strengthens your heart. Plus, it even improves your blood circulation!"
Zevrad's eyes gradually grew wider as he listened to the virtues of running. He genuinely had no idea that something as simple as running could be this beneficial.
"In that case, shall we run together one more time?"
"Mmm... I'm happy with that."
***
After ending the running session with Kor'vas, Zevrad rechecked the noticeboard. Sure enough, he could see them. Right at the bottom of the board, he found huge stacks of parchments with 'Basic' written on them. With no silver coins offered as rewards. The mission that everyone had been ignoring until now.
Zevrad revised his plans completely. The first thing he did was visit the VIP store again. He then ignored the pleas of the maid there and bought the remaining 59 bottles of [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning]. After drinking a bottle, he began running again.
'If I can take it, I can make it!'
Shouting the famous slogan that encouraged people to exercise, Zevrad solely focused on improving his fitness level. He figured that before he could start doing any missions, he needed to be healthy and fit by increasing his [Attributes]. His [Aptitude] was deemed to be average, so he had to train a lot harder than most if he wanted to increase his strength.
As days passed, other survivors began to think Zevrad's actions were odd. After all, to their eyes, he possessed enough abilities to solo a Hard-ranked mission. Even so, he was only doing 'Baisc' training regimes that offered no rewards. Not only that, he was repeating them over and over, completely stopping other missions.
Zevrad also found it pretty hard in the beginning. His weak physique demanded rest way too often. And inevitably, he grew bored of repeating the same thing all the time. He was constantly haunted by his own inner thoughts that told him, 'This is enough, you can stop now.' However, when he sensed the gradual change his body was going through, he was able to throw away all doubts and temptations.
On the same track that he could barely run around ten times at the start of it all, now he could complete the distance without decreasing his speed one bit. Zevrad's breathing would be ruffled only a little, too. In the end, he thought this wasn't going to be enough, so he proceeded straight into the next training mission. And that was to run 20 laps around a slightly longer track.
There was one thing different for this 'mission' than the previous one, though – there was a reward of 1 silver coin. Regardless, Zevrad repeated this mission diligently for a while, and he could feel his body developing ever so gradually. Maybe it was all due to the effects of the [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning] potion, he could definitely feel the improvements the more he exercised.
And since the results were so tangible and palpable, Zevrad no longer found the training routine monotonous and boring anymore. They had become much more interesting and fun. Every time he succeeded when he thought he couldn't, every time he endured and achieved his goal, something within him was changing.
Zevrad got addicted to this euphoria of success and he began pouring all of his focus on training like a madman. He spent two-thirds of a day strictly on training. The big reason why he could continue doing this, though, was his room – the room that Ariana personally declared as the 'best in the Basic Realm for resting'.
Just one hour of rest washed away all the fatigue, and he only had to sleep for four hours to recover his stamina completely.
Soon, Zevrad realized that time was too precious to waste on anything else and thus became interested in how to recover his stamina even faster. Since there were potions like [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning], he figured there could be something else similar to improve one's recovery rate as well. He didn't hesitate to spend his silver coins in this regard.
After all, Zevrad had no other place to spend these silver coins, what with his meals and sleeping quarters being free to use. Soon, his exercise time increased to nearly 20 hours. He believed that he had finally begun making good use of the great starting conditions he was given, not just relying on them as if they were his crutch.
Yes, Zevrad felt envious of other survivors forming teams to tackle various missions. He still felt some attachment towards the Ambrosias, too. But when he ran around with all his might, all the negative thoughts filtered out of his system and he could control his mind better. He was determined not to take on any missions until he felt confident enough to tackle them again.
And so, two weeks went by, just like that.
For everyone else, it was 14 days, but for Zevrad, the past two weeks were more like 112 days.
***
"He's insane."
Mother Malevolence concluded as so while watching the events through a magical device. She was resting her chin on one hand at the same time with the rest of her arms folded across her chest. On the screen, Zevrad was running on the track without taking a break.
"Spending half of the month only on training his basic fitness? Hah! I really did not expect that someone like him would pop up. I'm sure the Lords are really happy right about now."
"Shouldn't we think about informing the survivors soon?"
The maid courteously waiting behind her spoke up. It was Ariana, the maid who offered to guide Zevrad around in the beginning.
"What? Oh, you mean the fake deadline?"
"The Basic Realm is in turmoil at the moment. The deadline has been shortened far too drastically. If the survivors learn of the original deadline then-"
"Then? What can they really do?"
Mother Malevolence focused her attention on the other devices that displayed the other survivors.
"Don't worry about it. We'll just relax and wait and then tell them, 'Oh, you're all so pitiful. I decided to generously extend the deadline'. Simple."
"But still-"
"Enough."
Ariana shut her mouth right away as a thin smoke slowly drifted out of Mother Malevolence's eyes.
"There's no problem. Besides, didn't I already send the word out that the Basic Realm's deadline will be left to my discretion?"
"There has been a debate as to whether changing the rules as you please is wise..."
"Hmph! Well then, tell me, what do you think would have happened if I told them that they can stay here for three months?"
Ariana could only sigh out after being on the receiving end of that pointed question.
"It's too obvious. They would take it bloody easy. I mean, even those with 0 coins would only need to spend 30-40 a day. Don't you know just how much price we had to pay to establish this Basic Realm? You think I'll just sit here and watch such a thing unfold?"
"That is... true, as well."
Ariana reluctantly agreed.
"Even the most worthless of fools can complete the Normal difficulty mission by the deadline as long as they build themselves up step by step. More promising eggs would be able to go beyond that. You've heard of Varedis Felsoul who started off from the Basic difficulty and cleared the Impossible difficulty on the final day, right?"
"Yes, I've heard the story."
"That's right. This place is designed to speed up growth by surviving. But what's the point of telling them that it's important when they don't even bother?"
"..."
"Hearing it thousands of times is far worse than seeing it once. If they can't feel it and sense it by themselves, there's no point telling them the truth hundreds of times. At least now, with the short deadline, they're forced to desperately give it their all."
'But they will reach their breaking point soon' was what Ariana was about to say, but she kept silent and just lowered her head. She didn't 100% agree with this notion of forcing people because there weren't enough of them voluntarily going for the optimal. But she didn't have any sound rebuttals to offer.
The countless cases of the past Basic Realm openings were ample enough proof of Mother Malevolence's assertion. Most importantly, the manager with the highest authority of this batch was her. Besides the basic rules that needed to be adhered to, the rest was left to her sole discretion.
'Well, I shouldn't be saying those words out loud, right? I too used to complete these missions like a loon, after all.'
Ariana returned her gaze to the screen and licked her lips slightly. Rather than dissatisfied, she looked somewhat envious as she covered her mouth and smiled softly.
"If I trained as hard as he did when I came to this place, then, I'd be twice as strong as I am by now."
"Hoh? Even the famous Ariana sounds jealous?"
"Of course. Every time I'm faced with my limits, I have regrets. If I could buy a chance to start from the beginning, then I would not hesitate to spend millions and millions of coins."
Mother Malevolence smiled brightly. She seemed to be really enjoying this.
"Returning in time, huh? That's an interesting topic. So, how would you do things differently?"
"Mmm, first, I'd try to amass as many silver coins as possible in the trial. Then once I reach the Basic Realm, I'd drink one bottle of [Excess Potion of Accelerated Learning] from the VIP store every day while fully utilizing the sleeping quarters provided to the top survivor. Since I'd have some coins left, even after that, well... I'd probably do the same thing that man is doing right now."
"That's right. It's normal to be envious."
Ariana nodded her head and shifted her gaze away from the screen. Within the eyes of Mother Malevolence was busily staring at the footage, an odd desire was visibly burning bright.
"I guess your instincts as a craftsman hasn't gone away. It's fine if you wish to help him out."
Mother Malevolence's sudden consent made Ariana blink her eyes in surprise.
"Pardon? Ah. But, that man is..."
"I know, he was invited by a sponsor. Here's the thing, though. I've heard of something interesting."
The ends of Mother Malevolence's lips began arching upwards.