Zeno was a groundbreaking technology. Its capsules included nutrition compartments capable of storing 10 years' worth of sustenance. When your body became hungry, it would send signals to the brain, making you feel hunger in the game. Eating in the game would prompt Zeno to release the required nutrients.
Zeno also managed all other biological needs, though no one knew exactly how—such was the sophistication of this technology. Studies have even shown that people who spend 15 hours a day in Zeno are healthier than those who don't. It didn't make your body stronger as you get stronger in the game, though.
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"Let's have a festival!"
Situ looked confused, which I completely understood. Everyone was trying to finish preparations before the launch, and Trion was in danger. Yet here I was, suggesting a festival in response to his request for help.
But I had a great idea, so I gathered the attention of some NPCs and shared my plan:
"First, I think a festival would be a perfect way to welcome our saviors. It could last for a week, allowing us to enjoy ourselves while helping each other out. For example, Elves are great with flowers, but they usually wouldn't care about selecting a few for decoration. What if we make it a competition? The same goes for the fire mages—we could have them compete to see who can melt the signs the fastest." This was a tactic we used often on Earth. By framing it as a friendly competition, I'd get everyone involved in the preparations while making it fun.
To be honest, the festival idea wasn't entirely mine. In my past timeline, the Dakarta starting town—one of the few frontlines that wasn't breached by Keldars—held a festival a few months after the game launched. It became a big hit across Trion, though we couldn't see how they prepared, as it happened over a weekend while we were logged out.
I still can't believe I get to see all this behind the scenes. In other games, I'd always wonder how NPCs supposedly prepared events; usually, it's hand-waved as "The villagers have prepared this event for the players." But in reality, there's no actual process since those games are not real. In 'EVR', though, everything is real, so there's a genuine process behind every event.
Since the launch is tomorrow evening, we have about 24 hours to prepare. As a level 10 warrior, I'm relatively weak here. This is a frontline, so even the weakest beings are around level 25, and Charon might be over level 300. If they knew I was a player, they'd probably be more receptive, as they respect their saviors, knowing that while we're weak now, we'll grow stronger. But since they see me as just another weak NPC, I have no say in this town's matters. So I need allies. If I can convince a few key people, we might actually pull off a festival.
"But isn't this a bit deceptive?" asked Situ, clearly a little too innocent.
"Yes, we're tricking them into having fun. Isn't that a good cause?" I really didn't like lying to them, even if my actions suggested otherwise.
With that, everyone around me—Situ, Yuma, the Elf woman, and the others—began spreading the word, and soon the town agreed to turn this event into a festival.
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After helping the villagers create a list of supplies needed for the festival, I found an inn to stay the night. Although sleep isn't necessary when you are in Zeno, that doesn't mean you can't sleep. You can still sleep in Trion, and as a bonus, there's no need for an alarm. Thanks to Zeno, you'll wake up at the time you want to.
Even though Zeno takes care of my physical needs, establishing a regular routine would help make my act more convincing and support my mental health. My physical health is covered by Zeno, but if I never log out and skip sleep indefinitely, my mental state might suffer.
So, I decided to rent a room in the town inn for 1 gold a night. "I think 4-5 hours of sleep should be enough each day."
With time left before bed, I decided to check out the loot I'd gathered from killing Wild Wolves. Surprisingly, I had some good items—though mostly valuable now because I'm still low-level. In the past timeline, I wouldn't have bothered picking them up, and with the excitement over my title, I involuntarily overlooked them at the time.
First of all, I gained 75 gold by killing the wolves. Normally, I wouldn't gain more gold than I spent on the poison enchantment potion since it cost 93 gold. I didn't care about it anyway, since my priority was leveling up first. But thanks to Charon, who sold it to me for 73 gold, I ended up recouping most of my expenses.
Aside from that, I'd picked up some quality wolf hides and fangs. These could be sold to merchants, clothing shops, or blacksmiths, each of whom offered different prices for each piece of loot. Even though players didn't need to skin the hides, the items dropped automatically after defeating a monster and the quality still depended on how the monster was killed. For example, if the wolf was taken down with an explosive, it wouldn't drop anything valuable since the hide would be in tatters, and the fangs would be shattered.
Buyers could also appraise the quality of the loot and even refuse to buy it if it didn't meet their standards. So, it was important to handle loot carefully. Fortunately, we had inventories with a UI feature, just like in games, that allows us to view each item. By keeping loot stored separately in the inventory, we wouldn't need to worry about items getting damaged. Of course, these low-level hides and fangs weren't worth much.
Lastly, I came across a crate in one of the caves that held a decent Iron Sword and a skill book. In 'EVR', skills come in book form, and considering the cave was filled with Wild Wolves, I hoped it might be something rare. But it turned out to be a common dash skill:
Dash: Makes the user dash forward for 1 second.
Of course, "common" didn't mean useless—Dash is a life-saving skill in many situations, so I went ahead and learned it immediately. Then I threw the rusty sword to a corner of my inventory since no one would buy it, but you never know when it would be needed, and equipped the Iron Sword. After checking the loot, I decided to sleep and wake up early tomorrow.
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Charon's POV
"How are the preparations coming along, Villard?"
"Everything seems fine. I think we'll make it, Sir Charon."
"Good. That Arlon boy is interesting. Keep an eye on him when he's in town, and report to me if anything unusual happens," I said.
'If he thinks he can fool me, he's still naive. I'd see through any disguise if there were one. He'd need a legendary artifact to fool me, but that's impossible at his level.' I had my doubts about him being one of the saviors, but they shouldn't be here yet.
Trionians are strong. That's why, when the Keldar assault began last year, we weren't afraid. At first, we killed those mindless creatures with ease. Even a child could take some of them down. But then, one of the Demons attacked. Demons are the Keldars' twelve strongest fighters. They're intelligent and powerful enough to give us a real challenge. But that didn't mean we couldn't win. Our strongest fighters are much stronger than the Demons—something we know because we can see their levels. Levels are visible in Trion; everyone can see their own by looking in a mirror. However, one can only see another person's level if they're of a higher level. Otherwise, all they'll see is three question marks.
We quickly dispatched our warriors to fight the Demons, and we won without losing a single one of our own. But then, the Demons came back to life. We couldn't understand how that was possible until Lady Rael had a divination. We learned that the Demons couldn't be killed permanently—but that help would arrive. Following her vision's instructions, we prepared, and now, the prophesized day has come.
Anyway, if that boy is one of the saviors and has a good heart, that's all that matters. I won't interfere for now. Let's wait and see.
Charon then turned to look at his own reflection in the mirror. Above his head, he saw only three question marks (???) instead of his level.
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"It was a sunny day in Istarra. When Arlon woke up and headed into town, the natives of Trion, or NPCs, were bustling about, getting ready for the festival. Everything looked different from Istarra on the launch day in the previous timeline, thanks to the festivities. Arlon had expected that preparations might take all day, making his idea of using the townspeople by 'tricking' them into helping each other less effective. But, contrary to his expectation, the festival was ready before noon. It must be a perk of having magic in the world.
Arlon decided to take a walk through the town. He saw fire mages melting down the old signs. The reward for their efforts was a 'free staff repair coupon,' redeemable at Situ's shop anytime (starting after a week for unknown reasons).
Arlon could see his plan had worked. Of course, he hadn't suggested the festival just so people would have fun and help one another—he wasn't that good of a person. There were numerous benefits he could gain from it.
First, the NPCs now knew his name, giving him some influence in town.
Secondly, Charon probably liked him better.
And though he'd only initially shared this idea with Situ, Yuma, and a few others, the other NPCs soon adapted it to their own needs. As a result, whenever someone else helped out or joined in the competition, some of the credit came back to him.
But these were secondary reasons. His primary objective was different.
At 5 p.m., the servers opened, and light flooded all around Istarra. As it faded, new people stood where the light had been.
'It's finally launch day!'