*Ringing...*
As the bell rang, a middle-aged man appeared at the doorsteps. He had an above average-looking face with black hair and a French beard with a fit body. He was about 180 cm tall and was wearing a black suit. He reminiscent a classical butler. Had it not been for the difference in height and the radiant countenance on their faces, people might mistakethem for the same person (the one earlier and this one). This was the true butler send from the house of gold to invite all the talents to the party. He has just arrived at Bittu's house after sending letters to the others.
After waiting for a while, the door opened and a young man in his late-teens appeared before him. He had black hair and brown eyes. He was about 175 cm tall. He had an above average face. He had a healthy and a fit body that looked fine. He was clad in a blue suit.
"Good morning, Mr. Bittu" I said and became slightly bewildered because the young musician looked at me in suprise.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Bittu ?" I asked
"Ohh.... It's nothing. I just wasn't expecting anyone to visit me now. So, why are you looking for me ?" He said with a knowing smile on his face.
***********
After spacing out for a bit I got out of it due to the bell. I stood up to open the door but I kept feeling that something isn't right, like I forgot something very important and since I couldn't think of anything I thought that I was overthinking things and shrugged it off.
"Good morning, Mr. Bittu"
I heard when I opened the door but was instantly suprised and a little speechless because I just knocked out some who looked almost the same as the man before me. While I was a little baffled, he asked
"Is there a problem, Mr. Bittu ?"
'Ohh...he knows my name then this guy should be real.' while thinking this I responded,"Ohh.... It's nothing. I just wasn't expecting anyone to visit me now. So, why are you looking for me ?"
" I, the butler of the house of gold, am here to officially invite you to the banquet. My master hopes that you would join us." The Buttler said while handing the letter to me. I was still a bit suspicious of the man but when I saw the insigma of a house made of gold on it, I believed him. Why you may say? It's because I can see the insigma on all sorts of advertisement board and shops so, I knew that it was real.
With a polite smile I took the letter and asked with cur," If I may ask, what is the banquet for ?"
"Certainly, our lord loves to make friends, especially with talented people no matter the talent in. In recent days, a lot of talented people has arrived here in the sunlight city and my lord wants to make friends to all of them. Hence, the organized banquet." The butler said with a smile filled with sincerity.
Hearing that I was surprised and looked forward to the guy who makes a lot of friends." I will definitely attend the banquet."
"We look forward to it. Now, we should take our leave. We need to deliver the letters to others too." The butler said while bowing a little in etiquette befitting a butler and took his leave.
I then closed the door and sat on a sofa near the center of the hall while in thought. The butler just said that a lot of people has arrived in the city, could they be players just like me ? If that is the case then I could get a lot of information from them. It would also let me know about the people that could be very influential in the city. Of course for the period of time we stay here; six months. I need to be on a look out for them in the near future, to live like the way I want i.e without encountering any problems.
"Arrgg....Arrgghh"
While I was thinking, I heard a sound and looked towards the place I kept the thief at. He was waking up now while making painful grunts.
I looked towards him and said,
"Since you are up, why don't you answer my questions a little ?"
Hearing my voice the guy was a little shocked then, started to search his dagger in his pocket but not finding any realisation hit him. A look of despair appeared on his face when he remembered that the technique that he was proud of, the technique that made him the leader of thieves was utterly ineffective in front of this guy. Moreover he has become a convict, what could be worse for a thief than this ?
"..."
Seeing that the I didn't get an answer I stood up and moved towards him while speaking again but in a slightly cold voice and a frown on my face,
"Since you are awake, why don't you answer all my questions?"
A chill ran down the thief's spine when he heard the cold voice and replied hurriedly while shuttering,
"Y...ye...yes"
"Who are you and why did you come to rob me ?"
"I am John...John johnson." The said this while hesitating to answer the second question but seeing the face of the guy who caught him get colder he said," I didn't..... come to rob..your money but.....but the music instruments because I always wanted to play a guitar but couldn't and seeing a new guy in the city I thought of robbing you."
" You wouldn't rob me just because of that, right ? Tell me, why you wanted to rob me or else ?" I said while clenching my fist.
John instantly said," I wanted to make quick money." Taking a peek at me he said in a low voice," while keeping a guitar for me."
Hearing john I asked again," Really, if you lie to me you won't like the consequences." But seeing him shaking his head I was instantly disappointed. I was expecting some scheme and action but it turned out that theirs no such thing.
"Okay....then, tell me about the house of gold ?"
John was shocked at my question," you don't know about house of gold ?" He said with wide eyes and looking at me like I was a country bumpkin but seeing my fierce face he became scared and said
" The house of gold, like the name suggests is a organisation that deals with gold. The gold all over the city is controlled by this gold giant. Even the money of the city is produced by them. They are the biggest merchent organisation of both the cities. Allmost all the shops in both city are related to them."
"There are only two cities here ?" I said totally confused. How could there be only two city in a world.
John was once again baffled by my ignorance But still answered remembering the fierce look on my face. " Yes, there are only two city left in this world. Outside the city it's total ruins as far as eye could see. Nobody knows what really happened in the past. Only some villages and towns that survived the passes of time became the home of people in the four directions. Our city being in the centre of east and south while the other city being in the centre of west and north."
'Hmm...the city has some history. I probably found something to spend my time on while I relax.' I thought and asked him another question that was bothering me for a while.
" Is there something about to happen in the city ?" I said in a low voice. John became a little confused as to why I was speaking in a low voice. But still thought and said,
" I don't think anything's going to happen."
"Hmm, Think again, like any type of conflict or fight that may affect the whole city."
John touched his head while trying to remember anything like that. After thinking for a while he hesitatingly said," Although I don't know if this will be helpful but there are rumours going around for a while that the twin flowers have fallen for the same guy which may result in conflict between the city."
"Twin flowers...?" I asked, confusion and suprise apparent in my voice. When I said this, John glanced at me for a while, sighed a little and said while looking at me," Before comming here, did you live in the mountains or something. How come you don't know the twin flowers ?"
When I heard this a deadpan expression appeard on my face," Just answer the damn question....!" I said while getting embarrassed due to my ignorance seeing him look at me like that all the time but didn't let it show on my face. I just arrived in the city, how the hell would I know anything...
John seeing the deadpan expression on my face said hastily," The twin flowers are the twins that each own one of the house of gold of the cities. Not only that, they are both beautiful and charming. They are the dream woman of all. Their father that died last year due to unknown reasons left his legacy for his daughters."
"Okay..., so how can their little love affairs affect the city", I said with curiosity apparent in my voice.
".....sigh....you really don't know anything.....This world works on money. To live, you need wealth and without it you can only die or commit crimes. Therefore, since they posses absolute control over the wealth of the city because they are the owners of the house of gold they have absolute control over the city because any and everything in this world has a price."
"Moreover, they are both in their early twenties so, if their emotions took the best of them, then they can really ignite a war between both the cities." John said with fear in his voice as he thought about what he said, if that really happened then the city will not be safe anymore.
When I heard what John said I was incredibly shocked and thought,'Two women in their early twenties control all the wealth of both the cities and he is right, women can be jealous and angry really fast. Furthermore, since they were rich from their birth they must be spoiled so, the city really can't be safe anymore if the rumors are correct. Adding to the fact that they must have a large amount of influence because of their father and a large amount of wealth to back up their influence it could evolve into a huge threat.'
After hearing and thinking about johns answer, I found answer to a question that, I was botthered about from the time I read the mission given by the he system. In particular, bothered by the line...
[Main Mission: Survive for six months, 0/183]
It gives me an ominous feeling, like it means something more than its literal meaning and remembering what the system said, that we will be knocked unconscious for a period of time if we died. It seems that a big conflict will happen in the city that will threaten our lives and our performance in the tutorial.
While I was remembering these details while walking, I also remembered that the system said that,
(Hint: The Beginner's Dungeon is a great opportunity for every player.)
Looks like we can learn a lot of skills here that will help us survive the tutorial. As I was thinking things through I reached the window, drawing the curtains I saw that it was already late in the evening. Thinking that I should not stay in a new city at night I decided to log out of the game.
I called out to the system to log out. I waited for a while but nothing happened. I thought that maybe the voice command doesn't apply in this system so I opened the status and searched for the log out option but all I could see was;
Name: Bittu Sah
Age: 19
Race: Human (male)
Stats: Strength -> G
Agility -> G
Stamina -> G
Constitution -> G
Spirit -> Locked
Perception -> Locked
[Abilities: None]
[Alias: None]
[Equipment: None]
[Inventory: Empty]
*Badump*
A frown appeared on my face as my heart started to beat faster as I searched for the log out option again and again in the status but I couldn't find any. The more I couldn't find the log out option while even saying it aloud hoping for a voice activation, the more my heart raced faster and the bigger the frown on my face. With these things going on, in my body, a faint sense of fear appeared in my mind.
Before the fear could over take my mind I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. I thought that may be there could be a problem because of the huge number of players that joined the Nexus on the first day so many would want to log out which caused the bug and the developers are fixing the problem. When I thought this, I calmed down thinking that this should indeed be the case.
After calming down, I thought about what I should do in the mean time the bug is fixed. After thinking for a while I decided to check the street I stay in, afterall I would be in this street for six months. It would be helpful to know the place I live at. Before I was about to do the same but the arrival of the butler disrupted my plan. Anyway after confirming what I will do, I called John to follow me and show me around the street.
John was a bit scared a bit because he was paying close attention to bittu all this time while he was thinking, waiting for a chance to escape but seeing the frown suddenly on his face which increased with each passing second, he gave up any idea of escaping and followed Bittu out of the hall.
The moment I left the hall and appeared outside the door, I saw a bustling street with a lot of people ranging from children to adolescent, adults and old people. The sence in front of me was in sync; I saw a child happily taking a candy from the shopkeeper while in his mothers embrace. I saw a group of young man wearing uniform chatting. I saw a middle aged man buying flowers maybe for his beloved. I also saw an old man walking with some kids probably his grandchildren. Looking at it, It makes us feel at peace.
After seeing the sence, I looked at the street. The street was the same as the ones we can find in our modern world particularly from well developed cities in the west. It was packed with the shops that we can find in those cities such as malls, hotels, restaurant, school, offices, shops, etc. and I was in the music studio available on the street. It felt quite weird seeing these beautiful schene won't last long.
Following Bittu, John too came out and waited for Bittu's momentary blankness to go away and then followed after him seeing him move.