A scavenger swung his broken steel sword, aiming to cut the throat of the beast before him. He wasn't intelligent enough to contemplate why a group of wargs had suddenly appeared in their village. He only reacted to the aggression.
His sword landed, cutting deep into flesh. The warg fletched its teeth angrily. It retaliated, sinking its menacing teeth into the scavenger's leg.
The latter's HP dropped dangerously until only twenty something remained.
However, like a fearless warrior the NPC slowly raised his sword again. But before he could attack a sneaky ball of magic slammed into his head.
The scavenger's body froze. He dropped to the ground lifelessly. The warg appeared puzzled for a moment before looking for another target.
"Haha! So easy! I got 72EXP!"
Cyclone exclaimed happily, her joy shared by the others.
They threw subtle glances at Liam while picking out near-dead mobs and saving them from their suffering.
The strategy worked well for a while. But it quickly grew apparent that the ferocious wargs managed to take the upper hand.
"We need to balance the numbers! Here, focus on this one!"
Liam calmly directed the party. He pointed out one of the wargs. Instantly three attacks landed on it, sending it to the afterlife.
At the same time another scavenger fell. His opponent sniffed, scanning its surroundings. Something inevitable happened. The warg didn't find a scavenger close by, focusing its gaze on Watchful Eye.
Fortunately, Liam was on high alert, warning everyone:
"Careful! Attach this one immediately! Don't let it come close!"
The others were infected by the urgency. Cyclone didn't hesitate to use her [Lightning Strike] instantly.
Under the party's attacks the warg died quickly, not able to cause trouble.
"Keep it up guys!"
Liam encouraged the party, resuming his meticulous leadership. One by one the scavengers and wargs were killed. Soon the area was completely cleared.
"Nice job, expert! We got so much EXP!"
"Brilliant strategy!"
"I guess I can't upload this."
The party conversed happily, not forgetting to praise Liam who received it with a calm smile. Inwardly he felt a hint of pride as, contrary to some of his other knowledge, this strategy was indeed devised by him in the past.
A couple seconds later the party sneaked out of the village, making their way back to Striking Wood Town. Since they had to wait some time for the mobs to respawn, they didn't deliberately avoid the scavengers this time, fighting a couple of small groups.
Arriving at the training area, they faced the female guard captain. Liam asked for more bait which he generously received, beggining the entire routine anew.
For the rest of the day the party did nothing else but repeat the same actions. The joy at the beginning slowly turned into boredom but the party gritted their teeth and pulled through.
The leveling spree went mostly without accidents except for the one time where Bloody Edge was discovered and died unwillingly to a mob of scavengers.
When the time to log off arrived Liam pulled Silent Acacia aside. He took out the egg of the Mutated Grey-skinned Alligator he received during his last quest.
Silent Acacia's eyes immediately lit up with desire.
However, pets were incredibly rare, especially this early in the game. Naturally their price wasn't low.
After some discussion Liam and Acacia agreed on a price of ten gold.
"But I don't have so much gold…", stated Silent Acacia awkwardly.
"I know. You can pay me in credits. I estimate an exchange rate of 1:2000 should be fair."
Silent Acacia frowned, contemplating deeply. He compared the prices common in older games, trying to include the fame of Fate of Crunaboul in his calculations.
Eventually he slowly shook his head.
"No, I don't think that's correct. Gold, especially at the beginning shouldn't go for anything less than 3000 credits."
Liam mulled over it for a bit. All in all, they didn't have a real basis for calculation and could only guess.
Liam tried to depend on the worth of gold in his old life, but naturally this was a shaky foundation. Not only was Fate of Crunaboul more widespread in the new life, but credits also couldn't be converted one to one to the currency he was used to.
In the end the two friends settled on an exchange rate of 1:2500.
Both were satisfied as when they logged of. Liam opened his eyes with a smile. Silent Acacia would come by tomorrow night to bring him 25.000c.
Of course, Liam already handed the egg over to him. Every day was a day more for the hunter to rear his pet.
***
While Liam was on his way home a middle-aged man was sitting in a limousine. He wore a fine blue suit, glasses enlarging his contemplating eyes, his brown hair orderly gelled back.
Sitting silently, he emitted the aura of someone used to holding positions of power.
A few minutes later the car stopped. Someone approached immediately, opening the door and bowing deeply.
"Good evening, mister Colville."
Owen Colville didn't have the mood to acknowledge the worker. He got out of the car, looking up at the tall building located at the edge of the high-class district.
Top architects designed the office building, creating a skillful blend of modern and old-fashioned style. On top of the grand entrance the words 'Colville Constructions' were placed boldly, eliciting awe in everyone who saw them.
For the people going in and out of this building everyday it was a great honor to work here. They were responsible for constructing most of the buildings on Falva Star. Since civilization on this planet was still considered juvenile, construction work offered many challenges needing incredible brains to solve them.
Thus, Colville Constructions and similar companies enjoyed a good reputation even considering the entire federation.
Naturally, Owen Colville, as part of the ownership was also a man of high prestige. The receptionist greeted him with a deferential attitude, putting on her most charming expression.
In his youth Owen might have asked her to visit him later but he had matured long ago.
Thus, he went straight for his goal, entering the elevator and arriving at the highest floor.
A large lounge area with multiple doors appeared before him. Straight ahead was a tall door, artfully designed, with a prominent sign next to it. Owen scoffed as he read 'Silva Colville, CEO'.
He passed through the door, arriving in a small office. A neat man was seated on a desk, working busily. Hearing someone come in the man looked up.
Immediately his face appeared conflicted and apprehensive.
Owen ignored the familiar man, who was Silva's assistant and approached another door leading to his niece's office.
"Sir. The… CEO is not in her office."
Owen froze in place, turning his head slowly. Rage shimmered in his chest, but he hid it with a professional smile.
"Mr. Ontril. What do you want to say with this?"
Ontril shuddered under the gaze of Owen. In the past the two men had some shady dealings. But some rumors spread quickly in the company. It seemed that Silva had gained significant favor from the family, which still held the majority shares of the company.
And today, when the news arrived that Brayan had to relinquish his position as COO, many workers had to reconsider their behavior.
Owen naturally wasn't oblivious to these considerations. He suppressed his rage as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.
Without a word he slid it on Ontril's desk.
Silva's assistant felt a shudder running through his body. He stared unwillingly at the piece of paper. However, after having made similar dealings in the past his barriers were already ground down.
He grabbed the piece of paper, glanced at the many zeros and left the office.
"I… I suddenly need to go to the toilet. I haven't seen anything."
Owen cursed inwardly. Having to go to such lengths within the company, which should've been his, only increased his ire.
With gritted teeth he entered Silva's office, scanning it briefly. Soon, he found the black suitcase sitting on a large desk. It must've been Ontril who fetched it from Silva's home.
Click! Click!
The briefcase sprung open, revealing its contents to Owen. The experienced man was careful, taking out the contracts, not daring to damage them even slightly.
He slowly browsed them one by one.
This address... a college dorm? Great. Students can be bribed easily.
Those two are pro players. Quite the ego for someone I would've never heard about without researching beforehand. We should be able to poach them if we present a promising team.
These should be Silva's friends. Difficult…
That content creator. Should be poachable as well.
And this…
Suddenly Owen's brows furrowed heavily. One of the names appeared strangely familiar.
Liam Varsmith… It can't be a coincidence, right?
How did that boy get his hands on a console? I almost forgot about him. Didn't we drive him into homelessness?
And judging from the video he is quite good at the game. How? Did his parents leave behind additional information? Did we miss something?