Hyper Luck

I woke up early in the morning and went for a light jog, taking in the refreshing morning air.

Of course, I’m talking about in real life, not in virtual reality.

Running at a pace that tests my heart a little bit, I stopped at a familiar playground while running a lap around the town.

I was struggling to grasp air the moment I stopped. I tried to soothe my throbbing heart, heavily panting for air.

I carefully brought my phone up.

And I’d been reading the same text message over and over again.

[ Your transaction history. ]

A transaction on the cash Auction House you requested has been completed.

Final bid: 2000 Gold

Total: 197,500,500 won (VAT not included)

Your total amount will be sent to your bank account and…

I checked the astronomical amount over and over again. After yesterday's reunion with the people of the 13th party, I exchanged the gold I got from selling 2 Ormachon tokens that I had in a hurry.

I’ve finally realized the true meaning of the value of the currency in virtual reality.

The fact that virtual reality objects that do not exist in reality have such value came to me so desperately real that I could feel it on my skin.

My whole body trembled the moment I saw the amount of money.

I never knew I could get my hands on this much money in my life. That was why I decided to go for a jog in the early morning.

Because I thought I could calm myself down a bit if I did that.

Mose in virtual reality, who had already read this text and regretted it a few times, ripping his hair out, promised not to ask himself anymore.

The Mose confused by the immersion that the virtual reality game provided was no more.

I was finally able to remember where I started from after meeting other players who played with me back then.

I was a player who went overboard until now.

If I were to describe myself in a harsh way, I’d call myself a game addict. If I wanted to describe myself in a good way, I’d call myself a sensitive player. If there was a difference in expression enough to feel an intense disparity between the two, it must be because of my selfish rationalization.

I didn’t withdraw this money into the real world in order to satisfy the needs I had right now. This was merely the result of the things I’ve done so far.

Results to be acknowledged in reality, results to show to my family so that they could trust me.

This wasn’t just money. Yes, this was more like a trophy.

I ran for another lap in the town. I reminisced about Khea, and Lairo who scattered in my arms. Now that I thought about it, the experience wasn’t that bad at all.

I thought cautiously about exploring the other world, whilst pursuing the goal I have in the real life. Just thinking about it made me put a happy smile on my face.

I took a shower as soon as I arrived home from the jog, ate some rice cakes that my mother had sent me, and chewed on them until my chin was sore.

My body wasn’t in the best condition since I haven’t been able to get the best nutrients for a while.

I knew the balance that I was barely keeping up through solely by exercising was going to fall apart pretty soon, at this rate.

After shoving the rice cakes into my mouth, I lay down on the machine while roughly setting the goal of properly managing my meal habits.

This spot was a place that my body was already too familiar with. I closed my eyes and whispered very softly.

“Connect.”

A thick quilt filled with cotton welcomed me as soon as I opened my eyes. It felt as if my body was floating in the sky in the warmth of huge cotton, very realistic yet one wouldn’t be able to find this feeling in real life.

I got up from the bed in a hurry, tied my hair back, and stretched to warm my body up. This superhuman-like body of Mose had no fatigue nor any stiffness in the muscles unlike my body in the real life.

“Sharma.”

A blade appeared with a cloud of smoke as soon as I called its name. After I put it back away, I opened my inventory and pulled out Attoria’s Stigma, put it on a leather sheath and wore it on my back.

That marked the end of my daily item maintenance. A small dwarf welcomed me as I opened the old wooden door.

“Oh, you’re going out now?”

“Yes.”

“In any case, I was surprised to see you decide to stay in a shabby place like this one with that seal of yours…”

I looked back at him at his words and said,

“This place is the most comfortable for me.”

Staying in an inconspicuous place like this one was the best for me.

This was the appropriate decision I made after hearing a lot of things from Sharan and Swordsman.

I’ve heard from them that a player named Mose was starting to get famous at a very fast pace. This was the result I caused upon myself, causing a fuss right after I have earned a very strong power in a relatively short amount of time.

However, thanks to the full-body armor set I was wearing the whole time, nobody seemed to know exactly what I looked like.

Not to mention that after the fall of rankers from the Number One guild, everyone in Asparagan tried to follow my suit by wearing full-body armor for a while.

I moved my light steps towards the Asparagan square. I noticed a few kids playing around with wooden sticks here and there, and someone in a robe had a pen floating in the air, skillfully drawing a well in front of them.

After passing through the narrow white brick road and passing through a tree-lined road where the tree barks were as smooth as a glass, a familiar square appeared.

***

The woman wearing a set of leather armor always recognized me before I recognized her and welcomed me.

“Good morning!”

I almost spit out the greetings used between the Sworders at her words without realizing it.

“Good morning.”

Thankfully, I stopped it almost coming out my throat.

“Where is our tank and support, anyways?”

She started to look around as she leaned against the outer wall of the fountain. Every time she turned her head left and right, her eyes twinkled like jewels.

I figured that she would have some amazing skills related to her eyesight since she was using a bow as her main weapon.

Soon Swordsman made it to the square.

“Alright, Mister. Hand over your fine.”

“Ah, fine…”

Sharan put out her hand as soon as she found Swordsman, and he pulled out a pouch with 200 silver inside it.

“A fine?”

She opened her mouth with a smile at my words.

“A fine for being late, it’s 200 silver. If we gather enough then we will go dining again together like yesterday.”

"Ah!”

I nodded my head shortly at her words. After that, I saw the figure of Guile running towards us. Everyone around was looking at him, because of the sounds his chain armors were making.

"Ah, I’m so sorry. I slept in…”

"Yeah, yeah.”

She said with her hands put out towards Guile, and he too handed over a pouch with 200 silvers in it.

"Alright, then. Shall we head out?”

Sharan took the charge in confidence, and Guile, Swordsman, and I followed after her.

After going up the hill and crossing the bridge under the beautiful building, we arrived at the Asparagan Information Guild.

Even though Information Guilds were located in every major city, and weren’t that hard to find, this was the first time I have ever entered inside the building.

Upon entering, there was a long counter in the center, like a post office, and the employees sitting in the middle were doing their jobs.

A huge man approached us.

"What brings you here today?”

Sharan answered.

"We’re here to purchase some information regarding the town or area where subjugation orders or harmful tide warnings have been issued.”

"Oh, you were adventurers! Welcome. You would find what you need on the 2nd floor.”

After giving her a warm welcome, he politely gathered his hands and led us upstairs.

"He just suddenly turned nice.”

When I talked about his action as we moved into the elevator that was operated by a floating crystal, Swordsman answered in a hard manner.

"That’s because we solve their problems. Residents of Asparagan sell or buy complaints and trivial news as information, so they’re not really worth that much money.”

There was a strange sense of disparity in the attitude of the information guild, which welcomed players and NPCs, not so much.

So the elevator went up and stopped after a while, and when the door opened…

I open my eyes wide.

"Wow…!”

And I couldn't help but exclaim.

The size of the room was utterly incomparable to the previous one we were in. And there was a tense battle of nerves between a large number of people and the staff who dealt with them.

Guile scratched the back of his head as if it was something he had seen before.

"Looks like we’re gonna have to wait for a while.”

"This is because you two were late!”

Sharan threw a counter at Guile’s complaint with a cheeky playful tone.

A large man similar to the previous one we saw approached us, who found us on the second floor.

"Welcome. We will get you a consultant as soon as one becomes available in about one or two hours…”

He paused for a moment as he looked at us with his eyes busily rolling to scout us. His words stopped at the same time as his gaze reached the area around my hand.

He suddenly bent down and bowed his head and said,

"My apologies. I did not recognize you. I should’ve recognized it on the first floor. Please forgive my rude behavior.”

In a very polite manner.

Sharan, Guile, and Swordsman started to look at each other in confusion.

And soon, they all slowly turned to look at me.

"I will guide you right away.”

Soon, the large man began to lead us through the waiting crowd without a second thought. Thanks to that, we got to receive their stinging gaze.

We were guided to a room where there was an elf silently sitting inside of it.

She had sharp-looking eyes with a dot under it and glasses that matched her eye line. 

She turned her green eyes towards us, with her curled hair tied with a hairpin in a gorgeous uniform.

"My, I was lost in thoughts for a moment. It’s been a long time since anybody’s ever come to this place.”

The elf got herself up after she took off her glasses and placed them on top of her desk.

"Adventurers are truly wonderful. Inventing things that this world has never seen before, such as that.”

She said as she looked at her glasses placed on top of her desk in a strange tone mixed with faint laughter. She guided us towards a gigantic couch in the room, and she sat down when we all took a seat on the couch.

And after she confirmed the seal on my finger she hurriedly opened her mouth to speak.

"Our precious guests, my name is ‘Silverhead Karina’.”

She said with words that were familiar to me already. Then on top of her head,

<Lv. 41 Karina>

Her level and name showed up. The Silverhead she mentioned earlier was the same title as the Information guild member Keah and I met in the Bing Caravan.

Although his memory was erased after he finished his mission, I remembered his name fully until now.  Russell, I remembered the last facial expression he made like it was yesterday.

"How come we were guided to a place like this?”

Guile asked Karina with caution, and she immediately looked towards me, waiting for my approval.

I slightly nodded my head at her and she cleared her throat before she spoke again.

"This valued guest over here is a person who belongs to a special mercenary group called the Sworders. They are dispatched in order to solve the mysteries and disasters that occur in various places.”

At her next words, Sharan and Guille were looking at her in awe, and Swordsman looked at me with a faint smile.

"They always solve difficult problems confidentially, so it is difficult for us to even meet them in person. Personal information about them is designated as high-level confidentiality, which I also cannot access. This is about every information that is accessible to anyone at a surface level.”

Then she greeted me one more time.

"Then, I will bring information that you are allowed to browse through. Please give me a moment.”

Then she walked out of the room in a hurry, and the moment she disappeared into the shelves beyond the room, Sharan and Guile almost flew at me at the speed of a cannonball.

"Sworder?!”

"What is that?!”

After Guile was finished with his exclamation, he started to nod to himself.

"I knew you were different…”

Sharan also asked me with her heart bouncing and her lips shaking.

"You really are a ranker…?”

I shook my head in a cold sweat at their reactions. It wasn’t like I was trying to hide this from them anyway, because in my heart I already recognized them as my colleagues.

Colleagues who helped me in reminding me where I started from.

Karina soon brought a glass case with crystal spheres rowed in a straight line in it, and carefully placed it on the desk and introduced it to us.

"The information I can give you, for now, is this.”

She very carefully picked up one of the crystal spheres.

The sphere emitted light in an instant and soon a message window popped up in front of our sights.

[ Eliminate the Invasive species in Logeras ]

Received information that there is one of the  ‘continental invasive species' in the underground sewers of Logeras Village. Eliminate immediately upon encountering. 3 of the investigators have been killed by this invasive species. The reward will be 5 Ormachon tokens which the Chief of the Logeras village offered himself. The Lowsvan Empire, which governs Logeras, has also officially placed a bounty on it.

As a result of the initial analysis, the difficulty rank was C, but it was increased to B+ after the death of the investigators.

Difficulty: B+

Reward: 5 Ormachon tokens

As soon as Sharan, Guile, and Swordsman read what was presented in front of them, they all astonished to see the reward.

"F-five Ormachon tokens?”

Guile started it off, and following him was

"The difficulty is B+…”

Sharan also seemed to be turning white in astonishment. Swordsman was keeping silent with a stiff facial expression.

Just as I was about to worry that I was just putting a load on them, Sharan jumped up from her seat.

"I-is there anything other than this one?”

It seemed that I was overthinking. After checking all the information, we were able to finally come to an agreement after going through several consultations.

And the quest we decided on in the end was,

[ Removal of the harmful animal colony in the mines of De Munt Hill ]

A report that a colony of harmful animals was found at the bottom of the mines of De Munt Hill, which is considered the largest mine on the Asparagan continent, was discovered, and two Silverhead and one Goldhead investigator were dispatched to investigate.

The scale is ‘Wyvern’ rank. One thing to note is that these ‘Commuds’ which are known to be very aggressive even against the same species are living in accordance with laws and regulations as one community.

The expansion speed of this colony is faster than ever recorded. If this continues, there is a high risk of the mine site collapsing. In this case, the village located above can disappear in an instant.

Difficulty: B+

Reward: TBA, the least amount offered by the lord of the De Munt Castle was 5500 gold.

This one.

It was because it felt like a good decision to effectively reduce multiple entities rather than defeating a single strong entity.

It was the first time that they encountered such difficulty, so if they were dealing with a single strong entity, they could suffer irreparable damage at once.

And it was better this way for them in order to not become a burden for me.

This was the conclusion they came to after the discussion between Sharan and Swordsman.

They didn’t want to mindlessly rely on me. It seemed that they were actively trying to find ways to assist me.

"Understood. I shall now let other Information Guilds know that this information had been sold. It is the rule that we do not receive the cost of the information from those who own the seal of the Sworder, so please make sure to complete the mission accurately.”

Karina alerted us in a very polite and serious manner, and we quickly moved out of the building.

"This is my first time doing a quest like this one.”

Guile said without his usual confidence. On the other hand, Sharan seemed to have a burning passion for this quest.

"Oh, come on now! Think of the levels we will get if we beat those things down! Not to mention the items and money!”

Swordsman also jumped in on this 

"We have to try it even if it means our bodies will be shattered.”

He answered.

"I assure you it will be different from the last time, Mose. We too have been playing this game in a very great way!”

Sharan continued her speech with confidence, and Guile also shouted out loud with his chin tightened as if he’s made his determination.

"We will clear this no matter what!”

After such a long time, '13th Party' took the first step towards a new mission.