{ Player: V-777 (Vortex_7)
LVL: 1
Race: Human
HP: 13/200
STR: 105/105
DEX: 99/99
CHA: 70/70
LUK: 7/7
Mana: 200/200
Value: #1600
Aestrol Coins: æ15,000.00
Location: Red Town
Companions: N/A
Weapons: N/A
Items: N/A
Abilities: N/A }
After Nico practically sold away 15 value points, he ended up receiving a whopping æ15,000 coins, which told him that each value point was worth æ1,000 coins. This also told him that the lower your value, the more trouble you're most likely going to find yourself in, which would explain why his Luck (LUK) dropped to 7, and why random NPCs were attacking him earlier.
As for the "NPCs" themselves, they were not in fact None Playable Characters. They were real people. According to what Melissa told Nico as he traded his value for Aestrol coins, those were people who were plunged into the world of Paradox of the Olympian Gods.
It made Nico feel even worse for killing them, but it was either him or them, and the last thing he wanted to do was to die at the hand of another player. Just like Nico though, Melissa is a player as well, who was also transmigrated.
Unlike the players he encountered, Melissa seemed calm and in control of herself, never lunging into a killing spree. Her clean clothes and poised demeanor also hinted that she was a veteran, indicating that she had been transmigrated a long time ago.
While Nico sat on the bed, Melissa applied some healing ointment onto his body, her soft hands dancing delicately on Nico's beaten and battered body. He couldn't help but blush at the situation.
Here he was, half naked while a beautiful woman rubbed some healing ointment on his body. It didn't help that Melissa was a curvaceous woman with an appalling E-cup chest size.
After applying the ointment, she faced her palms towards Nico and closed her eyes. With a deep breath, she began channeling her mana from her body and expelling it outwards towards Nico.
An ethereal green light surrounded Nico, his wounds healing along with his bruises. Then, he glanced at his left arm, where he noticed that his health bar was completely full; nice and green.
He smiled softly and looked at Melissa. "Thanks, Melissa. I feel a whole lot better now."
"You're very much welcome, Nico. Tell me, are you a new player?" she inquired without a single sign of amusement in her voice.
"Yeah... You can tell?"
"Besides the ragged clothes you came in with, I'd say you're pretty easy to identify as a new player. I mean, tag players didn't kill you. Also, you have this 'newbie' look in your eyes," Melissa replied.
"'Tag players?' And, what do you mean by 'newbie look?'" he inquired curiously.
"Veteran players are not allowed to kill new players within the first 3 days of their arrival, or they themselves will be brutally killed," answered Melissa. "Also, to answer your second question, your eyes are full of life. All new players start out like you..."
Nico looked at Melissa's face intently and tilted his head.
"Doesn't really matter though. That look in your eyes will disappear soon enough. The light in the eyes of new players quickly diminishes after a week or so. Since you seem pretty sharp, I'll give you atleast two weeks."
"Two weeks?"
"Within those two weeks, the world of Olympus would have completely changed you."
Nico scoffed and wore a cocky smile. "Sorry, but I'm not gonna allow that to happen. I may not be a good person, but the last thing I'd want is to be like those guys that mugged me earlier."
"Not those that tried to kill you?" Melissa queried as she tilted her head, her voice as silky as a cat.
"They're just trying to survive. Those who go as far as mugging others, distributing drugs and even prostitution do it because they want to. Then me... I'm gonna be different..."
Melissa listened intently and couldn't help but smile. "You're naive. You probably won't live long enough either," she chuckled.
"If that woman didn't use [Siren Head] on me, I would've been fine."
Melissa playfully roller her eyes. "Can I get you anything else?"
Nico nodded.
***
A couple minutes later, Nico stood in front of the reception desk, where Melissa typed on her computer, searching for something.
Now, Nico was no longer drenched in smelly, ragged and torn clothing. He draped black pants, red and black sneakers, a black shirt and a white hoodie. He also went as far as buying AutoSiphers, headsets that could relay messages without a status screen being opened.
He also decided that it'd be good to buy himself a weapon. As such, he went for the generic sword, which was only a D rank. It was all he could afford, but he'd definitely put it to good use.
Healing potions along with packed foods were also purchased. Nico was going away for a long time and the place he was headed to didn't guarantee that there would be an adventurer's guild to get some more supplies. As such, he poured every last cent he had into buying everything he'd need.
He stashed everything into his inventory and waited for Melissa's statement. After a while, she faced Nico.
"A large number of monsters have built a nest inside the abandoned subway on East Red Town. Your job is to dispose of all the monsters and reassure the safety of the citizens of Red Town. The time limit is 7 days and the reward is æ10,000 coins. Do you accept this task?"
{ A new mission has arrived! }
Nico's AutoSiphers chimed and relayed the same text that Melissa read to Nico.
"I accept," he replied.
Melissa nodded and clicked enter, registering Nico for the mission. "Once you've slain the monsters, a notification will pop up on my computer. You can get your coins once you've returned."
"Noted. Thanks for everything," Nico replied as he turned around to walk away. Until, Melissa spoke once more.
"You know, you're definitely not like the other new players. No one would be dumb enough to take on a rank D mission on their own, especially if they're ranked as low as you are," she said with a soft smile.
Nico returned the smile with his own confident one. "I'm not like the other players. Pretty soon, you'll see that for yourself."
With that being said, Nico walked away and stepped through the sliding doors of the adventurer's guild. He took a deep breath and began trekking towards his destination: an abandoned subway on East Red Town.
He was familiar with the area, so it wouldn't take him too long to get there.
***
"It appears a new one has arrived," a voice spoke from the shadows.
A tall man with a bare chest and long, green hair grunted while looking at Nico through a crystal orb. His eyes were devoid of pupils and a crown adorned his head, the colour of the crown as gold as the Sun.
In his right hand was a trident and on his face was an angry expression.
"What should we do, Lord Poseidon?" the shadowy figure inquired.
"Where are my brothers?" Poseidon inquired, his deep voice reverberating throughout the dark room.
"Lord Hades is still taking care of the Anais Noctis situation. Much like this Nico D'Angelo, she too is the spawn of a Phoenix and Nyx..." the shadow replied.
"As for Lord Zeus," the shadow continued, "he is currently battling Xingtian for the throne... once again..."
"Mh..." Poseidon grunted. "He has lost 3 times now... My elder brother is hopeless. No matter. If this spawn of Nyx poses an actual threat, I'll personally take care of him..."
After he said that, he clenched his trident harder, which caused the skies of Red Town to turn even more gray. Then, more raindrops began falling, causing those that were on the streets to either take shelter or to run under the rain.
Nico was unbothered by the rain and walked with his own pace, his hood up and preventing his face and AutoSiphers from getting wet. Not that he needed to be worried. Unlike the ragged clothes he had before, his new threads were water proof, like 98% of the clothes in Red Town.
Poseidon glared through the crystal orb and his eyes narrowed. 'What will that witch come up with next...?' he thought to himself before wiping the crystal orb, Nico's image vanishing from his sight. 'Whatever it is, I'll get sure to stop her.'
Poseidon turned and walked away, steeling himself with a task that was long overdue.