When Liam entered Merida's apartment with big shopping bags in hand, the doctor and Serena stared at him in surprise.
"Serena, look! I bought you a phone."
"Really?"
The young girl beamed happily. Recently she had spent a lot of time with Kathrin who always showed her funny videos on her phone.
"Of course, here."
"Welcome back, Liam."
While Serena eagerly unpacked her phone, Liam noticed the skeptical and questioning undertone in Merida's voice.
"I earned the first bit of money in Fate of Crunaboul today. In a while I might make even more. I can look for a nice flat then."
Liam spoke in a reassuring tone, but Merida didn't appear enthusiastic, waving him off.
Her gaze swept over Serena, showing a faint smile.
She is really lonely, isn't she?
Liam sighed as he put away the clothes he bought.
Suddenly an idea came to his mind.
C? Can you connect my phone with the console?
[…]
C?
[Player Liam, receive your next challenge.]
[Cook a meal for your sister and the doctor.]
[Reward: Your phone will be connected to the VR console.]
Liam was surprised. It had been a few days since he got his last challenge.
But what's the point?
Despite not understanding C's purpose, Liam felt that it was a good idea. Merida had done so much for them it was time to give back, even if only a little bit.
"Merida. How about I cook for us today?"
"You? Can you cook?"
"Well, how difficult can it be?"
Merida had a bad feeling, but she agreed, willing to give Liam a chance to prove himself.
The young man smiled brightly as he stood in the kitchen, sorting through his memory for recipes. But his eye twitched as he only came up with difficult, high-class meals.
I do remember watching our chef create noodles with tomato sauce when I was a kid, delicious and simple. This should be doable, right?
Liam encouraged himself as he heated up water, meanwhile cutting all kinds of vegetables.
Twenty minutes later he put the food on the table, satisfied with his performance.
"Serena, put your phone away. We're eating."
The young girl complied reluctantly as she sat down on the table.
"Enjoy your meal!"
Filling their plates, the trio began eating with bright smiles.
But with every bite Merida and Liam gradually scrunched their faces, finding it difficult to endure, their stomachs rolling in protest.
Only Serena continued eating happily, considering her brother's cooking a highlight ever since living on the streets.
Liam forced another bite down while asking Merida:
"How does it taste?"
"Good, good.
Although I would've put salt into the water.
And pureed the tomatoes."
"Oh, my bad.", said Liam sheepishly.
"And give more pepper into the sauce. And don't put chilly in. And thicken it. And…"
Merida clearly found it amusing, listing mistake after mistake.
"Ok, ok. I got it. It's bad."
"Brother's cooking is the best! Don't lie!", disagreed Serena with a pout, causing the others to laugh.
After the meal, Merida dragged Liam into the kitchen. She couldn't understand how the young man made such a mess cooking such a simple meal.
Liam felt embarrassed as he helped the doctor to clean up.
"How did you get sauce below the stove?"
"Hehe…"
Finally, an eventful evening came to an end as everyone went to sleep.
The next day Liam decided to order a ride with his new phone, spending his money to save time.
The driver was silent along the way. With a screen installed into the car, there was no need to entertain the guests.
Liam scrolled through the programs. Right now, there was only one popular topic, Fate of Crunaboul.
Suddenly Liam stopped, narrowing his eyes as he came across the replay of an interview.
Anchor: "Star Gazer, right now you are regarded as the number one player on Falva Star. Are you satisfied?"
Star Gazer: "Of course not! Our Falva Star isn't considered important in the federation, but I will prove those doubters wrong!
Not only will I be first on Falva, but first in the federation!"
Anchor: "A noble goal! Any plans?"
Star Gazer: "Within five days I will clear the first dungeon! And from then on, I will only speed up!"
Anchor: "Where does your confidence come from?"
Star Gazer: "It is not a secret that my family has explored the ancient ruins, contributing greatly to humanity.
With the information I have in hand, I can't help but be confident."
The anchor smiled, glossing over some controversies in this statement.
Anchor: "Some people don't consider you the best player, since someone else managed to clear the first unique quest. Any thoughts?"
Star Gazer: "What does it matter? Only luck! While I was working towards the first dungeon, others still cared for the quest. Ridiculous!"
Liam turned off the interview, his face stern.
So this is Star Gazer…
The fine, beardless face, with dashing eyebrows and short black hair branded itself deeply into his mind.
Five days? Groundless boasting! Lucky? Heh!
Liam scoffed inwardly. He couldn't help but look forward to reigning in the rich young master's parade.
A short while later Liam reached his training room. Wearing the console, he entered the game, finding himself back in the Ratkin village.
One by one his party members appeared.
"Morning guys."
"Morning."
"Hurry up! We have a dungeon to clear! Expert, go!", urged Cyclone.
Bloody Edge looked at Cyclone with tired eyes.
"Maiden, how can you be so eager on this thankless morning?"
"Didn't you guys watch the interview yesterday? Star Gazer wants to clear the dungeon in five days!"
Most of the party shook their heads. Yesterday they negotiated with Silver Blade, not having much time to do anything else.
In the end Silver Blade made everyone fair offers, naturally not paying them as much as Bleary Mirage.
"Cyclone is right.", agreed Silent Acacia suddenly, appearing more serious than usual.
"Now that we officially took on a job, we have to put some effort in."
At this moment notifications popped up before everyone.
[A contract concerning Fate of Crunaboul was detected.]
[Do you wish to copy it into the game?]
[Punishment for breach of contract: Permanent ban from the game.]
[Accept]
[Decline]
"What? We can do this?!"
Everyone was surprised, with Quickstep showing a pleasant smile. She had already experienced a company trying to scam her out of her payment before, causing a tiring legal battle.
But if the contract was enforced in the game, no one would dare to mess around.
"You guys can all accept.", stated Silver Blade.
The party members didn't hesitate. Only Liam looked at Silver Blade, knowing the risk she was taking.
Since the contract was made in the company's name, a potential breach would ban the company from the game, taking away all advertising opportunities.
Naturally Silva would become a sinner in her family's eyes.
However, this was only the worst-case scenario.
No one expected something like this to happen. Thus, the party was in a good mood as they followed Liam to meet the village leader.
He was a hunchbacked Ratkin with white spots in his fur, looking at the party through thick glasses.
"You did a great service for our humble village."
The old Ratkin was pleased as Liam handed over the gathered tokens.
Although the quest didn't bring substantial rewards, Liam was after something else.
[Congratulations. Relationship with Ratkin Village increased.]
[Hostile -> Friendly]
Liam smiled as his plan worked, gathering enough tokens yesterday to directly skip the neutral relationship.
But his smile froze as the village leader didn't continue talking. Liam rolled his eyes sending out his secret weapon Silver Blade.
"Elder. Is there something else we can do for you?"
As soon as the young woman spoke, the elder reacted, two sharp front teeth sticking from his mouth as he grinned.
"Yes, brave adventurers. You see, those dirty bandits usually don't stand a chance against us…"
Silver Blade was surprised by the village leader's words, using a quick [Inspect].
[Village Leader Rathol
Level: ???
HP: ???]
Surprisingly Silver Blade couldn't see through the old rat, who continued as if nothing happened.
"… but those bandits acted before we knew it, taking Lersra, our precious healer, hostage. Please, adventurers, help us rescuing her."
The party quickly accepted.
Following the quest description, they approached another young Ratkin with formidable claws, good at digging.
The Ratkin introduced himself as Scrarn, leading them through the forest, carefully avoiding the scattered bandits until they reached an inconspicuous hole.
Under Liam's lead, the party entered, finding themselves in a dim and moldy tunnel. Fortunately, the Ratkin were considerate enough to make the tunnel suitable for Nephilim.
While the party advanced below ground, the village leader set off as well. The old Ratkin showed of impressive strength, weaving through bandits and reaching the fort within seconds.
Immediately alarms went off, with most bandits facing off against the village leader with trembling knees, counting themselves lucky since they had taken a hostage beforehand.
A few second later Liam's party reached the end of the tunnel.
"That's it. If I dig through here, we should enter the fort. The village leader is buying us time. You guys need to hurry up and save Lersra.", explained Scrarn.
"You can count on us!"
The young Ratkin nodded as he swung his claw, getting rid of the last layer of dirt.