"Who..?" The other thief instantly pointed his gun at Chen while his finger pulled on the trigger.
At the same instant, Chen stretched his palm forward and made contact with the gun while his fingers were coated in a purplish glow.
To the thief's utmost surprise there was no sound of a gunshot. Instead, the gun suddenly split open and its parts dislodged from one another before falling to the ground in scraps.
His eyes widened as he raised his hand and stared at the only piece of the gun in his grasp with a look of disbelief.
"How did..." Before the thief could completely spout out the incoming question, a fist was already headed for his face.
Bang!
Chen's fist slammed into the side of the thief's face sending him crashing towards the ground as well.
The lady who was initially getting mugged stood at the side with a surprised look on her face. Both thieves had been knocked down by her handsome customer.
To her, Chen looked like a weak pretty boy so she hadn't expected that he would be able to come to her rescue successfully.
"Are you okay?" Chen questioned as he moved closer to her.
"...I'm fine," She was still astonished due to the scene that just finished playing out in front of her.
"Thank you," She added with a grateful expression.
"No I apologise, it's my fault you're still out this late," Chen said with an apologetic tone as well.
A bright smile appeared on her face as she watched Chen pick up the items the thieves took from her.
"I believe these belong to you," Chen voiced out while passing them to her.
"Thanks once again," She responded while receiving them.
"I have one minor issue..." Chen stated and proceeded to narrate how he forgot his keys here.
"This is why I came back I apologise if I'm being a bother," He added after explaining.
"It's no problem, let me quickly call the cops before so they can be on their way to get these criminals out of here," She said with a smile while taking out her smartphone to dial the number of the cops.
Minutes later Chen retrieved his keys and a few police officers pulled up with cars in front of the cyber cafe.
They asked Chen a few questions about being a witness as well as an aggressor since he had to physically deal with them.
Fortunately, they didn't ask Chen to follow them down to the station after getting the information they needed from him.
One of them offered to drive him home since it was currently around 10:30 pm. The lady also got into the cop's car while the other cops took the thieves to the station.
-
"Lucy... She's quite pretty," Chen said with a look of interest as he stared at his mobile device while standing in front of his apartment door.
He had exchanged contacts with the pretty-looking cyber cafe owner and names as well.
'Well, Pete you can't remain a virgin forever so don't blame me in the future if I decide to engage in any of those activities...' Chen thought as he pushed his key into the door keyhole.
Click!
'I'm already getting ahead of myself... there's still so much I have to do at the moment... no time,' Chen shook his head as he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
"Big brother..."
The instant he took a step forward a growling female voice called out to him.
"Uh oh," Chen muttered as he spotted Remi standing in the living room waiting for him.
"You're late... very very late..." She said while moving closer to him.
"Are you okay?" She began to walk around him while checking for any abnormalities.
"I'm fine Remi, just a small thieving incident," Chen spilt but regretted it almost immediately after doing so.
"Ah, I knew it! I told you it wasn't safe big brother!" Remi began to berate him for taking too long outside despite knowing the streets weren't safe at night.
-
Chen stood in his room a few minutes after having Remi's scolding and a little food for dinner. Remi had always been like that, looking out for him like a mother.
She would always be severely worried no matter how light the situation was. The same way Pete had the intense desire to protect and cater for her was the same way she cared about him being safe since this was the best she could offer at the moment.
Chen really couldn't get mad despite it being a bit annoying.
'So this is how it feels to truly have someone care for you... it's been too long... I forgot the feeling,' He said Internally before moving towards the pod.
"Time to grind," He muttered as he pushed it open.
He settled within after wearing the gaming helmet and the pod closed up as expected.
"PLAYER WILL NOW BE TRANSPORTED INTO OVERWORLD!"
Zhiiinnnnnnn~
His vision appeared all white again as his mind was pulled into the VR MMORPG.
"WELCOME BACK TO OVERWORLD, PLAYER CR5!"
Chen found himself standing in the middle of a city street in the next instant. This of course was Stancing City. The same city Chen had picked initially.
He was still clad in his original brown leather jacket and pants with boots to match. Two dagger sheaths were strapped by his sides and a sword was strapped to his back.
The instant Chen arrived he, turned towards a particular direction and began moving.
He had two things he wanted to do before logging off. Since he had to log off by morning, he only had around fourteen to fifteen hours within the game.
'I should grind first before I take the items I've gathered to one of the auction houses... I should be able to get a couple of gold coins from these,' Chen thought with a contemplative expression.
'Hmm which location to choose from today..?' Chen didn't want to pick a location he had frequented in the last few days so it took him a while to decide.
"The Giant Gremlin caves should do... although players below level twenty avoid that area like a plague... If I want to level up faster, I have to go the extra mile," Chen muttered with a decisive expression.
He had spent around nine days in this city grinding at the easier spots according to Overworld's time. Although he was still below level 15, Chen had noticed the more he levelled up, the lesser the EXP he acquired from killing the same creatures repeatedly.
Although he would still be able to grind from this and increase his level steadily, Chen decided changing locations was best for now as he had earned the ire of a couple of players.
Stealing kills were frowned upon after all. Not that he cared but it was best to be cautious as well.
After walking for a few, Chen arrived off the streets and found himself strolling across an area with uneven terrains filled with grasses.
-Few Minutes Later
"The Giant Gremlin Caves," Chen muttered as he spotted multiple large caves up ahead.
He of course wasn't the only player arriving at this location. Other players were also coming here to grind and some of them even had parties.
When this location was first revealed, it became a very hot zone and players came to try and defeat the boss first.
This was how a popular player got his first recognition since it was always broadcasted all across Overworld whenever a player or team beat the boss of such a location first.
Chen strolled towards one of the cave entrances and could spot people making parties here and there.
-"Level 20 players join us,"
-"Level 20 players let's grind together,"
One could hear the calls from different directions.
Chen walked past one of them that already had six players gathered.
"Level 20 players join... huh? a level 14 player?" The person voicing out stopped as he noticed Chen's level.
This drew the attention of players around as they stared in his direction.
-"Pfft what is a Level 14 player doing here?"
-"Maybe he came to pick stones,"
-"He would be better off carrying our items for us,"
Ridiculing glares, taunts, laughter and remarks were heard from the players around.
Chen ignored them and kept moving towards the first cave with an unbothered expression.
All of a sudden a 6'7 tall frame appeared in front of him, stunting his movement.
"Hey runt, make yourself useful and be my slave for the rest of the night,"