'Ah, so that's what karma does!'
Bjorn took a quick glance at his stat dashboard.
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Player: Eric The Red
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Level 10 (+5)
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Health: 294/294
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Mana: 150/150
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Karma: -63 (Murderous).
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Title: Overmatched
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Class: None
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Stats:
STR- 17 (+3 ATK, +2 HP)(+5)
STM- 16 (+10 HP)(+5)
AGL- 21 (+5 SPD)(+5)
INT- 26 (+5 MATK)(+16)
WIS- 20 (+5 MANA, +2 MATK)(+10)
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Free Stat Points Available: 0
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Skills:
Gambit Lvl 1(Passive), Dagger Mastery Lvl 1(Passive), Blade Flurry Lvl 1(Active).
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Items: (Expand for more).
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Aside from putting 4 points into WIS, everything else was pumped toward his INT. Bjorn had gotten a single bonus point from eating the food back in town, boosting it up to twenty.
His total kills on players over the previous two days surpassed 60, and he was now appearing on the listing boards of powerful enemies to look out for.
'Hmm… I wonder if this will cause any trouble for me. Will the guards try to stop me if I go into town? They are probably still way too strong for me to take on.'
Bjorn rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Apparently, his cool red name carried some consequences with it.
"Hey, hunter dude. What is the bounty on my head?"
"F- forty coins, Mr. Eric…"
'Only forty?! I've picked up more than that from players I've hunted, and that's not even counting how much the items I've gotten are worth.'
"Hunter, what else does having a red name do?"
The hunter slowly backed away as he answered.
"Uhh… Sir Eric the Red, do you not know? It is a common mechanic in MMO games…"
Bjorn shook his head.
"Nope, I've never played one before. Pvp is a lot more fun."
"Okay… Well, it does a few things. You'll drop more loot if you die, and sometimes bounties will be put on your head. Ah, and NPCs will treat you with more suspicion. I think you can still enter towns, though."
'Ah, so this thing is a buff, then!'
Nothing mentioned by the player scared Bjorn. As long as he was still able to enter the city to sell off his goods, he would be happy.
After thanking the terrified hunter for this information, Bjorn went back to happily walking toward the city. The path he was on was pretty well-traveled, and while Bjorn didn't escalate any conflicts intentionally, he did somehow reach a karma score of -71 by the time he reached the city.
'See? Buff! The loot just walks right to me!'
There were a few more guards manning the city gate this time, but Bjorn immediately headed over to one that looked a bit familiar. It was the same guard he'd spoken with a few times before.
When the guard saw him, he had a conflicted expression on his face.
"You, ah… I don't think it was a coincidence that you were with that group yesterday, right?"
The guard eyes Bjorn's crimson name tag warily.
"Hey, when I see loot, I have to pick it up."
The guard shrugged.
"Just don't do anything inside the city, it won't go over nearly as well for you. Out there we won't step in, but don't make a mess here."
Bjorn didn't plan to, so he just continued walking past.
The guard's hands opened and closed a few times as the young man walked past, and he seemed like he wanted to ask Bjorn something. His face continued to twist as he debated his personal morals, but he wouldn't get a chance to open his mouth quite yet.
Bjorn had already walked past him and into the city and then headed over to where a twenty-something dude was standing. It was another player, and Bjorn recognized him right away.
"Ma- ah. Ragn, how's it going?"
Bjorn nearly called the young man "Manager", but managed to catch himself on time.
"Eh? How did you know it was me?"
Bjorn pointed up at his name, and Ragn gave a hesitant laugh.
"I only used my real name because I wanted to look into this for business opportunities."
Ragn eyed Bjorn's bright red nametag, then recalled the warnings posted around the city's exits.
"Wow. You are one of the three everyone is talking about. I guess my little bro wasn't lying when he said you were the god of PvP games back in school."
"Three people?"
Ragn nodded, then pointed at one of the bounty listings.
"You, this other RootbeerManiac._. fellow, and the Sapphire Thief NPC."
"Eh?"
Bjorn was surprised when he saw the listing. The fellow PKer was only a few coppers short of Bjorn's own bounty.
As for the Sapphire Thief, apparently a few players spotted her and tried to capture her, but failed miserably. Even with a large group surrounding her, she managed to escape and even ended a few of their lives on the way out.
As a result, her epic ranked class, 'Phantom Blademancer' was revealed, and the majority of players completely gave up on hunting her down.
Classless people facing up against someone with a powerful class was sure to end in despair.
"I'll look into that later. I want to sell the stuff I've gathered and head back out hunting as soon as I can, I'll pass most of the money I make over to you to start up the guild.
Bjorn had no qualms about placing his full trust in Rogn. Behind Bjorn himself, the manager might've been the most committed to bringing Iceland to the main stage in his previous life. He was smart business and management-wise, and was also trustworthy.
There was no one Bjorn would rather have at the helm than him.
"Here, I'll pass over my free coins to you first."
Bjorn tapped on Rogn's shoulder, sending him 40 coppers in one motion.
"So many?!"
Bjorn nodded.
"I've also got quite a few items to sell. Here, I can introduce you to a contact I made when I first arrived in the city, we can still make a lot more money here!"
Pulling Rogn with him, Bjorn headed for the same merchant shop he'd gone to when he first arrived in Northun. It was a bit busier than before, but the merchant he'd previously worked with came right over when he saw Bjorn.
"Guli- I mean, valued customer! Have you brought me more items today?"
Bjorn smiled happily, then patted Rogn's back.
"This guy here is my new manager, he'll probably be handling this type of stuff in the future. Please keep working with us!"
Bjorn didn't notice the merchant's eyes narrowing in annoyance at the introduction of another party.
"Here, take a look at what I gathered this time!"
Bjorn emptied his entire inventory out onto the counter, with the exception of a few items he wanted to save.
In total, there were 7 items left to sell, and many of them were a bit better than the initial items gained by the first training missions.
"T- this… I'll give you 40 coppers for all of this!"
The merchant started pulling the items toward himself, and even Bjorn frowned at the low-sounding sum.
"Piss off, mate. Are you trying to scam my new boss?"
Before Bjorn even had to say a word, Rogn stepped in.
"This haul is worth way more than your life, merchant. Look here."
Rogn pointed at the crimson name hovering over Bjorn's head.
The merchant's greedy face turned as pale as a sheet of fresh paper when he saw the deep shade of red.
"I- I'm sorry! I missaw, these are worth a lot more!"
Rogn picked out one of the items from the pile, then pushed it toward the merchant.
"What do you think this is really worth? Answer carefully."
The item was the ornate rapier that had been dropped from the poor girl who got mauled by wolves. It was easily the highest-quality item there, both in terms of appearance and stats.
"F- fifteen coppers, probably."
Rogn nodded.
"Alright, fifteen coppers for each item, then. There are seven of them. That will be 1 silver, 5 coppers, please."
"B- But…"
Rogn pushed the items toward the merchant while staring into his beady eyes.
"A- alright, I'll make the deal! Here!"
The merchant practically tossed the money to Rogn before gathering up his new items and rushing out of the room.
Bjorn gave a thumbs-up to his new manager.
"See? I knew you were the right guy to go with."