Chapter 1: A very normal life in this world.
Slurp, slurp.
Boom boom!
It rains very hard. Occasionally, a flash of lightning struck, followed by a loud thunder.
“The sky is really noisy today. Thor seems to be bored.”
Ivan, who was casually muttering like that, soon laughed bitterly, recalling what he had said.
Since when lightning strikes you for being religious, it refers to Thor’s name.
That was just a phenomenon of electricity discharging in the air. Positive charge, negative charge, plasma state something. I don’t know in detail because I’m majoring in liberal arts, but anyway, something like that.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so tainted.”‘
I have been in this strange land for too long. Now, the memories of my hometown are blurred, and only useless memories are filled.
He did not want to know the secret stories of the world and the gods, the profound knowledge that the mortal would never reach, or how to effectively split the enemy’s head.
Honestly, all of that was cumbersome. Including the present life of not being able to die.
“…I’m doomed.”
The leather bag held in one hand felt empty for no reason.
There were five heads of robbers who tryied to attack Ivan. They are in a fresh condition becasuse only been cut off for less than half a day.
“I can’t believe I cut off a person’s head and carry it around. How did this happen?”‘
A sense of shame came in anew.
Was it a problem with yourself who adapted too easily to this world, or was it a problem with this bloody world?
“Splash! Smack!”
Ivan, who spit on the floor as if shaking off his unpleasant feelings, opened the old door and entered the mercenary guild.
Squeak!
Although it is usually crowded, it was quiet today, perhaps because the rain and wind are so strong.
“Home, hmm!”
The receptionist, who disapproves of the wet floor, straightened his posture, half leaning against the chair.
There was no such thing as a beautiful employee like in the game. All of them are old men with rough faces.
Obviously, in order to deal with rough people like mercenaries, the receptionist had to be rough.
Most of the time, a muscular bald macho man with a knife mark on his face became quiet if he was a receptionist, even if he yelled at a woman who looked weak and made all kinds of crap.
“What brought you here?””
“Report on completion of the request.”
“What is the request?””
“Catching robbers who were hanging around nearby. There are five of them.”
The receptionist glanced at the bag Ivan was holding. He looked very nervous to think that there were robbers’ head in it.
“Oh my god, I was going to eat, but it’s not tasty enough. Leave it there and go. Because I have to send it to the security to see if they are really robbers. It’ll take a few days to get a reward.”
“How much?”
“That’s… I don’t know. It depends on how greedy the guards will be. But I won’t eat it, so relax.”
Upon hearing that, Ivan snorted inside. It was clear that the guards weren’t the only ones greedy.
This is why requests such as robbery treatment should have been avoided as much as possible. Dealing with people means creating useless resentment, also the compensation was poor and the process was complicated.
The problem was those stupid robbers attacked him, but in fact, Ivan didn’t intend to meet them in the first place.
“I think you’re good at catching people. Are you a reward hunter? Your face looks strange”.
“It hasn’t been long since I came here. And rather than catching people, catching monsters is the specialty.”
“Hmm, I see. Robbers and monsters are like that.”
It was a world where security was not properly established. While eating kalbap, I caught a monster while catching a person, and when I went out to catch a monster, I caught a person.
“Anyways, is there any nice accommodation nearby? It’s my first time, so I slept in anywhere roughly, and my bed has been very terrible for the past few days.”
“Accommodation, doesn’t that depend on the money?””
“Something reasonable.”
“Hmm, then go to the Wind Sound Inn. It’s a new place, and the room is a little small, but it’s clean and quiet.”
“I guess it’s not from your experience”.”
“My house is right next to this. Why would I go to an inn? That’s from what other people say. Oh, the beer and snacks there are definitely okay. I’ve tried those before.”
Ivan, who asked the mercenary guild staff for a detailed location, did not hesitate to head there.
“Anyway, it’s better than the first inn.”‘
It was really the worst there. There were bugs in the poorly washed bedding.
Since moving on to this ruined world, Ivan has given up on many things. But it wasn’t to the point of sleeping with bugs trying to bite their bodies all night.
Sliding down.
Smack!
The door was well oiled, so it opened smoothly as if it were a new place.
Light from a magic lamp that lights up the inside subtly, alcohol bottles and oak barrels piled up on one side. Although not luxurious, the overall atmosphere was quite elegant. It wasn’t too loud either.
‘It’s nice because it’s clean. I hope the room is okay, too.’
Ivan looked inside, so the maid quickly approached and talked to him.
“Oh, my. Customer! You got rained on a lot! What do you need? Alcohol? Meal? Bed?”
“All three of them. I’ll stay today and consider staying for a long time if it’s okay.”
“Is it a single room or a multi-person room?”
“In a single room.”
“Then it’s 20 coppers per night. If you want to take a hot bath, you only need four more coppers there. Breakfast is included.”
It was twice as expensive as the previous inn, but Ivan gently took a fairy tale out of his arms.
If the bed was really clean, this was enough to pay. It couldn’t have been better to take a warm bath there.
“Yes, take the key here. It’s the room at the end of the second floor. I’ll let you know as soon as the hot water is ready.”
Ivan, who went straight up to the second floor and checked his room, was very satisfied.
A small bed and a closet for luggage. As I heard, the room was not big, but it was clean without any dust. This was a very good inn.
“It’s worth the price.”
With a satisfied smile, Ivan first took off his damp clothes.
Not only the cape over the top, but also the whole body was wet. It was very uncomfortable to leak water into the leather shoes and clingy.
It’s dripping.
When I flipped my shoes, the water flowed down from there. The water that was with my feet until now.
Ivan’s expression turned grim.
‘If you don’t wash it properly and dry it, it’ll smell a lot.’
It’s a relief if it smells, maybe it’ll turn into athlete’s foot. If it’s worse, you can get cellulitis.
Anyway, Ivan, who put damp clothes in the laundry basket, wiped his wet body and changed into comfortable clothes. I’m going to wash up soon anyway, but I couldn’t stay wet.
The new clothes were dry without any moisture. It was stored in an inventory that had nothing to do with rain and wind.
Inventory, status window, skill, quest, level and experience.
All of that was a factor that informed me that Ivan was a stranger. A being that has not originally lived in this world, but has been handed over for entertainment from another world.
Of course, this is just a setting in the days when it was a normal online game. Ivan is here.
Over the years, I couldn’t feel the existence of other strangers at all.
‘What do you mean, you’re going into the game? There can’t be two people who have such a dog-like experience.’
Then why me?
Ivan had such a question, but he sighed and emptied his mind.
It was a topic that I had been thinking about for the past few years, but I couldn’t know the answer. Maybe until I die.
Now that my head is getting complicated for no reason, I decided not to worry about it. Living day by day, it was a world that was too much to do just that.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Hot water is ready!””
It was the perfect news to shake off the bitterness.
Ivan asked Yeo-class to wash the clothes, holding out a pile of clothes piled up in the basket. Of course, I handed over two more copper coins.
“I’ll make it clean for you!”
In a better accommodation, the room was filled with private toilets and private showers, here, except for the bed they were shared.
Four coppers to wash with hot water and two coppers to wash with cold water. Anyway, it was a subtle price that I couldn’t estimate whether it was cheap or expensive.
This neighborhood is basically priced on a different basis than modern times, but the magic was developed so it can’t be called at the level of medieval Europe at all.
“Haha!”
Take soap out of the inventory and wash it from head to toe.
I felt uncomfortable because of the rain and blood, but when I poured hot water on it, Ivan felt relieved of his fatigue.
Then a translucent message window popped up in front of Ivan’s eyes.
Ring!
[Emergency quest: Catch the robber! (Completed)]
[Reward: Small amount of experience, 3 silver 75 coppers]
3 silver and 75 coppers.
Since one silver was 100 coppers, the value of the five robbers’ heads was only the cost of accommodation to stay at the inn for 15 days.
Of course, this was the compensation of the system, and there was a separate amount left to be received from the mercenary guild. However, Ivan knew from experience that it would not be much different.
‘Life is cheap.’
As the water cooled down, Ivan’s mood also cooled down.
Ivan, who quickly finished taking a bath, came down to the first floor and ordered rye bread, soup, roasted chicken, and cool beer.
Fortunately, the food was delicious, and Ivan felt a little better.
That day, Ivan spent one life of a robber on lodging, bathing, laundry, and food.