"I just bought a VR helmet for Nova Online," Gabriel said in excitement.
"Really, how did you get the money for the helmet, I thought you were short on money"
"Well I bought it and now I'm really broke, I came to your house because I'm hungry but you were at a restaurant, this is fate"
"You are hungry, can't you cook?"
"I don't have anything to cook at home, order something, I'm really hungry"
"Don't tell me you sold your things to other students just to buy the VR helmet..."
"We are ready to order" Gabriel shouted and avoided Alex's question.
"Is this where she works?" Gabriel asked Alex.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Her" Gabriel pointed to the blond girl that came to take his order before.
"Yes I think, do you know her?" Alex asked.
"She attends the same school as us, don't you know her"
"We'll take a pizza and two drinks," Alex said as another waiter came to take their order.
"Okay, anything else?" the waiter asked.
"We'll take some fries as takeout," Gabriel told the waiter.
"Take out...are you paying for it"
"I don't have any money, besides we can now log in at the same time and see each other in the game," Gabriel said.
"You are right, that's a great idea, we can go hunting together, and kill NPCs together," Alex said.
"Kill NPCs together...are you killing NPCs, why?"
"Hey I'm currently level 2, how do you think I achieved that, one more NPC and I will level up," Alex said.
"Here is your pizza," the waiter told them.
"S-So you mean k-killing NPCs is better than hunting," Gabriel said as he greedily munch on the pizza.
"Yes," Alex answered before taking a slice.
"So did you log in and create your character?"
"Yes, though I haven't leveled up or done anything yet, I just logged in and then I logged out, I wanted to tell you about it"
"You want to tell me that you bought the VR helmet?"
"No not that, we can work together in the game, you know...hunt together, fight together and help each other level up, that would make up move to the top faster," Gabriel told Alex.
"You know, that's a good idea, but many other already tried that and it didn't work out, when a powerful equipment is found who gets to keep it, who gets to make kills and stuffs like that"
"We are different, we have been friends since childhood, do you think an in-game item would break our friendship?" Gabriel asked.
"What if we found the Excalibur, who gets to wield it?"
"Haha, no mythical weapon has been found since four months of Nova Online's release, do you think we can team up and find the Excalibur in two days" Gabriel sighed and shook his head.
"I'm just saying..."
"Well we should log in and see"
"That's a good idea, I already miss playing the game," Alex smiled and took another piece of pizza.
...
"So how do we meet in the game, you are still in the newbie village right?"
"Yes, we should meet in front of the merchant shop, you know there right, if you don't check your map"
"Okay, I'll meet you there," Gabriel said and walked away.
They were currently close to Alex's apartment, and Gabriel lived close by, the both of them were going to log in and meet up in the game.
Alex quickly went upstairs with the french fries that Gabriel ordered, he ended up paying for everything that they both ate.
Alex entered his room and quickly carried his VR helmet, after setting it up, he wore it on his head.
[Connecting...]
[Scanning ID...]
'Scanning ID, I didn't upload any ID card to my account, what is it scanning' Alex wondered.
[Face ID complete...]
[Welcome back Reaper...]
'Oh, so it's face identification, that way no one can log into anyone's account without permission, that's pretty slick'
Alex appeared in front of Elyria village, he looked sideways and some players also appeared close to him.
'It seems anyone who hasn't left the newbie village will appear in front of the village'
Alex slid his hands into his pocket and walked towards the merchant's shop where he and Gabriel would meet up.
Alex arrived at the merchant's shop before Gabriel did, instead of just standing outside he went inside so he could sell the items he obtained from the NPC he killed.
The merchant shop was the busiest place in the whole of Elyria village, players who went into the forest to hunt and complete tasks always comes to the merchant shop to sell items they obtained.
Alex joined the line inside the shop and in front of him stood a weird looking guy.
He was dressed like an NPC for some reason and wore a hunting bag, maybe he murdered an NPC and stole the clothes.
"Hey bro" Alex spoke.
He couldn't help but wonder the reason why the guy wore NPC clothing, people might mistake him for an NPC and it could cause a problem.
"Hey, how are you doing"
"Oh, I'm fine, but dude why are you dressed like an NPC?" Alex asked.
"NPC...is that a new dressing style, I didn't know," the guy said smiling.
'Wait... what's this dude saying, doesn't he knows what NPCs are'
"What's your name?" Alex asked.
"Oh, I'm Kent, nice to meet you..."
"I'm Reaper, nice to meet you too" Alex answered.
"Reaper...what kind of name is Reaper, hahaha" Kent laughed.
'What a wired guy, this is a game, of course all names are allowed no matter how stupid, why is he laughing at my name' Alex sneered inwardly.
Alex felt a light tap on his shoulder and the person at his back came close to his ears and whispered, "He's an NPC, not a player".
"What! he's an NPC, then what is he doing in the merchant shop?"
"He's a hunter who came to sell his items," the voice said.
"Hi Kent, what do you have for me today," the merchant said to the NPC.