Yung Jae's ebony leather boot crashed on the puddle-paved road, creating a ripple.
He took heavy, clean air and then released it hard. Twisting up his lips, Yung Jae admired the beauty of Terrish City, the first hub of the human race in The World.
There was a line of medieval stone buildings at the left and right of the main pavedway. The walls of those houses were colonized by vines and moss and green leaves, while the roofs were old red.
There were many colors of flags on the string connecting two buildings across the street. There was a rain of tiny, colorful paper. Then, a firework erupts in the sky with beautiful colors and a boom.
Chatters of players and NPC dominating around him were high as today was the first day of the Grand Opening of The World.
"Mister, can you help me?" A kid asked Yung Jae with a fierce voice full of spirit. He wore a casual white shirt with paddled brown breast armor.
He was seven or eight and came with a girl at the same age. The girl wore a white shirt, and her black hair was adored with two pony wings.
They were so adorable, holding hands together.
The kid reminded Yung Jae of his childhood Chae…. No, no, no. No, Chae Wo, dammit.
"What do you need, Kiddo?" Yung Jae asked nicely and knelt before him.
"I want to level up fast! Could you help me?"
Yung Jae asked, "Why do you want to level up fast?"
"Protect my friend!"
"Girlfriend?" Yung Jae whinked.
The boy's cheeks reddened like a plum. "No! Just… friend."
Yung Jae smiled as he thought the kid had potential. He should help him, but if he was a newbie, then it was better for them to learn from a trainee master.
"Do you already know how to hunt monsters?" Yung Jae asked.
The boy looked at his girlfriend with confusion on his face. He shooked. "No. Now you mentioned it. I didn't see any button to attack."
Pure newbie. New green leaf on MMORPG,
Yung Jae thought they were lucky to meet me here, or someone might have taken advantage of them.
"Then I suggest you and your girlfriend should go to academia." Yung Jae pointed out a tall building with a blue navy roof beside the main Keep of Terish. "They will teach you everything you need."
"Thank you, Mister." And the boy sent a friend request before going there with his girlfriend. And they were holding hands.
Without a second thought, Yung Jae accepted his friend request.
He had a soft spot for kids, especially kids like that boy. Who was full of energy and dared to venture.
Yung Jae craned his face to the main city garden.
There, a statue of a winged beauty lady on Greek cloth carried a shield and pointed a sword at the sky and was surrounded by a flower garden. She was the Terrish Goddess of Protection, the icon of Terrish city.
Meanwhile, the monitor floated on the statue of Terrish Goddess, showing Chae Wo ads, dancing, and singing, which hurt his heart even more.
"Shit, why… There is no use showing those ads here." Yung Jae fastened his step away, away from his sister's voice.
After a few minutes of walking, the commotion of those people was reduced to almost nothing.
He ended up in the Culinaire District. Many cafes were nearby, and the aroma of baked bread, beef steak, and kebab eluded his nose.
He was supposed to meet with everyone here. He looked left and right, from a thousand faces there, not a single player he knew.
"Now, where is everyone?"
He rested, seated on the fountain, opened the control panel, and many names were on his friend list. Many of them were offline, and many were already level five.
Many of his guild members on CBT were playing using other races' avatars.
"Ah crap," He closed the control panel. "Now, I need to hit level fifteen before we can meet. I guess now I'll be a solo player for a while."
Yung Jae moved on the sidewalk and rolled his blood-colored sleeve shirt, the same color as his long pants.
He went directly to the Adventure Pub.
As he remembered, this two-story wooden building was the palace for every player to gather and grab some quests.
Its location was on the crossroad between the blacksmith, market, and pastry district,
As he entered the pub and stepped on the wooden floor, the slow jazz welcomed him, and the thin cigarette haze clouded the mahogany room.
A bartender and many waitresses served both NPC and players who enjoyed the drink and food. There was almost no empty table.
Yung Jae hurried into the crowd gathered before the quest board. He was lucky to snatch many quest papers while others hardly had one.
"Hey, here, take mine." Yung Jae shared many of his quest papers with others. He knew he might never accomplish everything in a row alone.
With the quest paper in his hand, he was ready for adventure. But suddenly, a chapter of some player disturbed his pace.
"Chae Wo? She is a bitch!" The golden-haired young man was seated on a chair, talking with another player. "I will make sure fucking her hard and make her as toiled cum later after the event!"
Yung Jae clenched his fist. No one could badmouth his sister, not in his watch.
He gazed at them. There were four men on the table near the exit. They drank and guffawed. But one with golden hair made Yung Jae inches.
"I will suck her tits." The golden-haired young man said. "I could, I swear I could. Everyone has a prize. She is no different than any up-star."
Bastard…. Yung Jae moved slowly like a tiger on his prey.
Without a second thought, Yung Jae pulled the man's hair and slammed it on the table. His act abruptly stops everything, even the music.
"What are you doing, brat?!" a bald man yelled, and before he could move, Yung Jae snared at him like a killer.
"I have no business with you. Only with him."
The man with golden hair shoved Yung Jae away. He rose and faced him. "You scum! How dare you do that to me! Do you know who I am?"
Yung Jae punched him in the face, pulled him, and punched him again in the nose.
The golden-haired man limped and hit the table. He drooled on the floor and cried, and his white shirt was wet with beer.
"If you dare bad mount her again, I swear my dagger will kiss your neck." He turned and walked away.
"You scum, you… you shall die now!" The golden-haired man rose back and pulled his sword.