[Translator: Dawn]
[Proofreader: Karane]
My heart was pounding. Her voice was a vivid memory in my mind.
She was one of the members of the first raid party I ever joined back when I got my rare item.
"It's been a few months! I thought you weren't answering on purpose!"
There was nothing but content from her voice. I carefully opened my mouth to answer the crystal ball that her voice was coming out of.
"Ah, that's because I purchased the crystal ball only very recently due to some personal issues."
The back of my ear turned red in excitement. It's been such a while since I had a conversation with an actual player.
"Ah, is that so! Anyways, where are you right now? Asparagan? Perfect!"
"Yes?"
Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from beyond the crystal ball. I could hear the laughter from other people followed by Sharan's laughter. Those voices were also familiar.
"We're 'all' gathered here right now! You remember, right? Guile and Mr.Swordsman are here right now too!"
{T/N: From this chapter and on Gaeil's name will be changed to Guile}
The old memories in my head began to resurface at the sound of her voice. They seemed to have become friends since the party.
I could feel something pointy poking a part of my heart, envying the situation they were in. She spoke in a cheerful voice at perfect timing as if she knew what I was thinking.
"Could you come to the 'Kobold Beer' in Asparagan right now? It's a very huge pub located in the 3rd block left from Moonlight street!"
I couldn't help but put a smile on my face when I heard Sharan's words. It was because I thought they would fill my heart that had been torn after going through a lot here and there. Maybe that was why my voice popped out without thinking.
"Yeah, I'll be there. I'll be on my way right now!"
Then from beyond the crystal ball,
"He said he's on his way!"
I heard Sharan's voice and,
"Goodness!"
"That's great, really!"
The familiar voices of two men from my memories could be heard shortly from the crystal. I moved my steps which were noticeably lighter than before as soon as I hung up on my crystal ball.
After passing the stalls that were selling colorful trinkets, I went further and came across a street with a large silver bridge.
The silver bridge had a name called 'Pier of the Moon'.
Smoke with a sweet, bitter, and bland smell was coming up from the big boulevard under the bridge.
That place was Moonlight street.
***
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Dawn]
[Proofreader – Karane]
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***
I was hurriedly moving, and suddenly, as if something had passed through my mind, I opened my eyes wide and took a couple of steps backward.
I found it.
A three-story bar with an entrance decorated with the face of a giant beast, in front of it stood a cool sign saying Kobold Beer.
And,
A white arm popped out from among the full tables in front of the bar and swayed to and fro
When I moved my sight towards it,
"Over here!"
"Oh! There he is!"
"It's been a while!"
They were welcoming me sitting around the round table
They had a different atmosphere to them, but their faces were still the same as before.
My introverted personality came back to life, and I joined them scratching the back of my head.
"So we finally meet again!"
"Our raid party's MVP is finally here!"
"It's been so long!"
They were staring at me with dazzling looks in their eyes.
Sharan, whose red hair grew thicker and richer, was wearing a nice matte brown leather armor that was different from the armor she had worn before.
The Swordsman was wearing clunky and thick metal armor, and Guile was also wearing armor with a very cool design made of chains and thin iron.
"Where have you been all this time!"
Guile greeted me in a hot-blooded youthful voice. He cut off the beard that was making him look old so now he was giving the rather clean and dignified impression.
"I'm sorry, lots of things happened, so…"
"That's fine! What matters the most is that we are all gathered here today!"
Sharan spread her arms and stopped Guile from going any further with a firm yet cheerful tone.
Meanwhile, the Swordsman smiled modestly, sipping the large glass of beer in front of him.
"Hey! Can I get one 'Black Kobold' on this table!"
Sharan called for a person working in the hall with a loud voice.
I would've believed this was something that could happen in real life if it weren't for the weird name of the drink she just ordered.
Soon after that, a small boy with furry ankles hurriedly ran over to the table and handed over a beer mug the size of his own body.
"Aww, you've grown a lot, haven't you?"
Sharan kindly welcomed the approaching boy and received the mug from him.
The glass that was handed in front of me soon after was filled with dark beer with bubbles almost overflowing.
"He's the son of the owner of this place. That boy, he was like this small back then."
Sharan clenched her fist to explain his size to us. Then the Swordsman picked up his beer mug,
And Sharan and Guile picked up theirs at the same time soon after.
When I saw them do that, I picked up my mug also in a hurry, and as soon as four beer glasses collided against each other, the shrieking sound of the blunt glasses resounded across the room.
"For the glorious reunion of the 13th party!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
In response to Swordsman's shy words, Sharan and Guile followed right after. Feeling overwhelmed by the atmosphere, I too shouted out loud.
"Cheers!"
I took a huge sip from the drink, and I could not stand the heavy coolness that entered my body,
"Kyah"
I exclaimed.
The first taste was sweet and the finish was bitter, and the taste reminded me of the savory taste of a ripe grape.
"It's really good, right? This is the best local food around here, in Asparagan that is."
Guile smiled at me with an excited voice. I nodded back at him with a smile on my face.
"Now, then! Since we're all gathered here today! How about we talk about how we've been doing recently?!"
"Yeah, of course! I'm very excited to listen to our best, Mose's story!"
Sharan initiated a topic for the conversation and Guile supported it along with her. And the Swordsman showed a light smile watching that. As soon as I caught their attention again at once, my face started to turn red without me realizing it.
Honestly, it had been such a long time since I met another player so I couldn't help but feel very awkward. It felt as if I've become an NPC myself.
"A lot of things happened. I'm not quite sure where to begin…"
Guile rushed in as soon as he sensed that I was about to be very vague.
"Ahem, I guess it can't be helped then! Let the youngest boy of the party talk first, if you will!"
Sharan and Swordsman clapped as he got up from his seat. Swept away by the atmosphere, I too started to applaud him.
"Take a look at this!"
Soon he proudly stretched out his hand and showed us the back of it. There was an unusual purple ring with a quivering wave around it on his ring finger.
"I've decided to get a magic item couple-ring with my girlfriend!"
"Oh~"
" Pretty good, aren't ya?"
Swordsman and Sharan responded pleasantly to Guile's words.
Sharan turned to me so she could explain what was happening to me, just sitting there completely out of the loop.
"Guile's got himself a girlfriend! And she's an elf!"
I was drinking a beer while listening to the story, and when I heard the words, I spit out what was in my mouth. At this, the swordsman and Sharan started laughing out loud.
"An… elf?"
Guile said with a playful face,
"Hey, why do you look so surprised!?"
Honestly, I was more surprised by the fact that he was casually dating a character in the game than I was surprised by the fact that he was dating an elf, a race known to be beautiful.
"So how much did that cost you?"
Leaving me surprised, Sharan asked the question with her voice before her laughter tapered off.
"I bought it for 5 gold in total, for me and Silid."
"Wow, pretty expensive?"
"You must've picked some pretty great ones, huh?"
"Of course! It's the first couple-ring for Silid and me! It even gives a few intelligence stats, I bought it since Silid is a student haha!"
Considering the value of magic items in the old days, the price would have been considered ridiculously low, but this was also a moment of reminder that the current price of magic items had fallen to that level.
Because I lived only with people from the world in this virtual reality, I felt that I, as a player, was the most distant from the ordinary reality among 'players'.
"And Mose, no, can I just call you brother?"
Guile looked at me for a moment with twinkling eyes and began to fiddle with the watery glass of beer in front of him.
"Of course, you can."
He put a shy smile on his face after hearing what I said and continued to talk.
"Honestly, I didn't really do much back in that raid party, but I was still able to lay my hands on the leather from the Black Mountain. Nowadays, there is a huge quantity of it on the market, but it was very expensive back then."
Then he looked at me with a serious face.
"I was able to pay for my college tuition with that money. And I was able to use it as a base to go on adventures with better equipment, and now I make twice as much as my friends make with average part time jobs. I can't thank you enough for that."
After hearing that, it felt as if a bell rang inside my head.
Like someone physically struck me in the back of my head.
After zoning out for a bit, I suddenly came back to my senses and grabbed Guile's hands.
"Guile, since I'm your brother now, can I call you little brother now?"
"Of course."
"If you weren't in that party, Sharan and I would've been in a dire situation in order to rescue Mr.Swordsman who was stuck under a tree. You've done your part, and you've got what you deserved."
At my words, Guile tightened his chin, and put a faint smile on his face looking at me with a strong nod. He was holding my hand tight.
Sharan also started to speak, biting her thin transparent lips, with her chin resting on her palm.
Y'see, you are the reason why we gather around once in a while like this."
Huh?"
At my words, she looked at me blankly.
Dark eyebrows and long eyelashes that seemed to block the sunlight below made her pupil look even deeper than it was.
"We're all thankful for that."
Guile and Swordsman both nodded their heads at Sharan's words.
"If it weren't for you, then we all would've ended up becoming victims to the atrocities that bastard ranker caused, though he's not around anymore."
Then Swordsman quietly continued the conversation.
"I heard that the players who fell victim to that trap felt the burning pain through their entire body. Few of them even ended up with mental illness. Most of the people who were in that raid party stopped playing the game because of that."
Sharan continued,
"And to think that we were the party that defeated the strongest boss monster of that raid, what else would you call this than a miracle? If it weren't for such a strong person like you, Mose…"
Their words made my heart feel heavy, and warming at the same time..
Lairo's empty face passed by my sight for a brief moment. I shouted at his face that was making me sad within myself.
"The opportunity you gave me has led me to be a help to others this much!"
"And I quit my job."
She sang hurray with a meaningful smile.
"Ah, I knew this would happen someday!"
She started speaking again after she finished stretching.
"I made quite a fortune with the items I got from there. And the equipment I was wearing got stronger too. I was getting a lot of calls from many places who wanted to take me in."
Then she lowered her head for a moment.
"I was nothing more than just a consumable intern in real life."
She said with a playful, but somewhat bitter expression.
Then Sharan pulled out a thin iron handle in front of me and lifted it up.
It looked nothing more than just an ordinary stick, but as soon as she touched it, it turned into a longbow with purple energy radiating around it.
"How is it? It's a rare item I bought recently."
I was quite impressed at what she said.
The items that she obtained on her own seemed much more valuable than the rare items I had which I got so easily because I was lucky enough to get caught up in Lairo's plan.
Frankly, I didn't really do much during my time playing this game.
I was no more than just a trivial player with just luck and nothing more than that. The shock I got from what Guile had just said hadn't gone away either.
What have I been doing so far?
I was just a person with an undeserving power who was swayed by the emotions of the characters in this virtual reality.
I got the results of their growth so easily without much trouble, and I took those for granted.
I was frantically immersed in this world and was swallowed by it.
What was the reason why I first started playing this game?
Money.
It was for money.
I ripped and searched through the filthy insides of slimes just for that reason.
That sense of desperation was nowhere to be seen now.
I was immersed in the horrifying realism that virtual reality provides, using and throwing away things of great value without truly realizing what I was doing.
What have I been playing this game for so long for?
The bitterness that Lairo left behind in my heart disappeared in an instant.
Sharan, Guile, and Swordsman were all one step closer to the goal I originally wanted to achieve. I was so envious of them.
But there was nothing to be gained by just being envious. Slowly, the molars in my heart began to come together.
And at the same time, I clenched my molars.
It's time to remember where I started from.
From the time I scavenged through the inside of slimes.
Seeing me completely zoned out, Sharan opened her palms in front of me and began to wave them.
It made me come back to my senses and look at her.
Soon I managed to calm my boiling heart and opened my mouth, looking at them cautiously.
"How about we go on some hunting since we're all gathered here after a long time."
At my words,
Sharan, Swordsman, and Guile exchanged glances with each other. There were brief feelings of nostalgia and excitement during the exchange.
In a voice filled with excitement, Sharan opened her mouth to speak first.
"That sounds great!"
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