The gorgeous blonde elf gave Ali a warm smile while her eyes shined a slight brown colour, and immediately, as if on instinct, he lowered his head and stepped aside quietly, allowing her to leave the shop. She patted his shoulder gently and said, "Thank you," before departing to attend to her other duties.
Ali's neck bulged with tension, veins pulsing as he tried to move, but the previous moment she smiled, his body became paralysed. 'It was like a million tons of pressure were suddenly crushing me,' Ali thought, struggling even to shift an inch. 'I can't believe I'm admitting this, but… I'm really fucking weak right now,' he concluded as he watched the elf's long blonde hair sway behind her as she walked toward the tower.
"Excuse me, sir. How can I help you?" A woman's voice snapped Ali out of his reverie.
Ali exhaled, relaxing his body before turning toward the shop's owner, a woman in her early thirties who was blushing slightly as she looked up at his face. Ali approached the counter, his demeanour returning to its usual calm.
"How fast can you make a custom holster?" Ali asked, his voice steady.
The owner blinked, caught off guard for a moment before answering, "Oh, well… it depends on the design you want. Do you have a weapon to show me?"
Ali revealed the handle of his longsword, then gave the owner his upper body measurements. "I don't need anything fancy. Just make sure it holds the handle securely and doesn't cause any discomfort."
"Of course! I can have the holster ready in a couple of hours," she replied eagerly. "Is there anything else you'd like?"
"No, that'll be all," Ali said as he turned toward the door. After a few steps, he paused and glanced back over his shoulder. "You interested in making some extra PC?"
Ali left the shop shortly after, his mind briefly reflecting on what he'd learned. 'So, her name is Lorien. An elf rumoured to be strong enough to take on a player from the fourth floor. She was assigned to oversee the opening of a new shop in the Slum… no wonder I had the misfortune of running into her.' The encounter lingered in his thoughts as he made his way back to his apartment.
Meanwhile, in one of the trade houses where players could buy and sell anything they desired for the right price in PC, a stunning woman with purple hair stood beside an average-looking guy, browsing the wares.
"Thank you so much for the information. I barely made it out of there alive! What would I do without you?" the woman, Ashley, cooed, hugging the guy's arm and making his face flush red with excitement.
"Oh, come on, Ashley. It was nothing," the man replied, puffing out his chest with pride. "Let me buy you something to help you relax. I've got more than enough PC to splurge after getting a grade B, remember?"
Ashley gave him a sweet smile, her eyes feigning admiration. 'I wonder what he'd think if he knew… But that's the point. Guys like him will never realise what's really happening until it's too late. I'll make sure of that,' she thought, her gaze scanning the shop for something worth her time.
As the day turned to night, most players returned to their apartments to rest. Except for one—Ali. In his room, he stood in a ready sword stance, holding his massive longsword with his eyes closed, the muscles in his body tense but perfectly controlled. For an entire hour, he remained in this stance, focusing on every fibre of his being.
Ali's arms bulged with strength, black veins running down his limbs as the pressure mounted. A single droplet of sweat traced a line down his face as his heartbeat quickened.
SLASH
The air screamed as Ali swung the blade in a horizontal arc, the sharp edge tearing through the atmosphere with such force that the sound echoed throughout the entire floor, waking up several players from their sleep. Ali exhaled slowly, then pressed a button on the handle, retracting the blade back into the compact hilt. He sheathed the handle into the custom holster strapped across his back, which he'd collected earlier that day.
The holster had cost him 6 PC, and he'd tossed an extra two coins to the owner for the information she provided. Adding the three hamburgers he'd bought earlier, the total expense for the day was 11 PC, bringing his balance down to 121 from 132.
"Paradise Coins: 121." The number blinked in the corner of his interface, and Ali's eyes shifted to the countdown timer at the centre, indicating the hours left before his next world travel.
Ali closed the interface, undressed, and stepped into the bathroom for a cold shower. The water felt refreshing, cleansing both his body and mind.
The next morning, the sound of an alarm ringing inside Ali's head woke him—an alert from the interface. He'd set a timer to go off an hour before his next world travel. Though he hadn't truly slept, he had forced his body into a resting state while his was still fully functioning throughout the night.
Starting his day, Ali consumed twelve ration bars in quick succession before packing the remaining ones into a makeshift bag he'd fashioned out of the grey clothes every player is given when they first come to Paradise. His previous bag was still somewhere in Tokyo Ghoul, lost during the chaos. He dressed in the same clothes he was in when he came back fromTokyo Ghoul, strapped his new holster onto his back, and secured the black handle of his sword in place.
After drinking some fresh water from the apartment's bathroom—clean water that was provided freely to all players—Ali sat down on his bed, waiting in silence for the teleportation process to begin.
'I hope the next world has something to do with magic. I need to experience the spirit attribute,' he mused, his mind drifting to the free attribute points he had yet to spend.
'Speaking of attributes…' he thought as he glanced at the unused points in his interface. 'I'm going to wait until I unlock a magical ability before using them. My strength and speed are already more than enough for the Slum. Any points spent on other attributes right now would just be wasted.'
As the countdown timer neared its end, Ali's focus sharpened.
"Transportation Link opening in 3…2…1…"
———————
Any guesses where I sent our MC?
Please donate some of your power stones, it would help my ff massively.
Five chapters ahead of webnovel on patreon.com/Rondo312