Spectator - Chapter 20: Gear Up

“Another promising traveller approaches~ Hohoho.”

The black man now stood in front of Geron. His voice was confident and bold.

“Elder, I have acquired another title. Please update the register, I think I am the first in the village to get it.”

Geron pulled another parchment out and examined it closely.

“Indeed it’s an amazing achievement, but you’re not the first, young man. Someone else already has acquired that title.”

“Who?”

“Who else but Scarlet! Sorry to say young man, but she was the first.”

“That bitch.”

“Haha. Chet, you are always 1 step behind her.”

The man grunted as Geron smirked at him.

“First that blasted kaiser with his quick sword and now this bitch.”

“Well young man, if you help Farren out by finding her missing husband then perhaps you can catch up with those two.”

In the meantime I carefully slipped behind the fruit tree and made my escape. If I would have stayed there then Geron would force me into registering.

Yeah registering had its benefits and made the game a lot easier. But that would put me directly under the sight of Z&F.

Even if I keep a low profile after registering and don’t bother to be the highest ranker on the leaderboards. I will still be under the risk of detection if they decide on taking a look at why some players were doing good on the leaderboard.

Yes, it was a bit too much speculation, but I am not taking any chances.

That aside, if I remember correctly ‘Kaiser’ was the ID of Taejin. Kaiser of the quick draw.

Prior to the regression, I remember him showing me his character when I was over at his place. He was overjoyed to reach Lvl 30 and receive that title. But that was when I had already graduated and started working in a company.

‘-How fast is this guy leveling up!?’

Taejin clearly wasn’t shying away from using his knowledge from the future to get an upper hand over the other players.

‘-Well, if he sucked at the game even after having that much experience…’

I chuckled.

‘-I hope you do well and don’t get frustrated, old friend.’

Standing still, I muttered a prayer. I wasn’t very religious, but this was a prayer for the success and safety of my friend.

And if Devils exist, who knows, perhaps god does too.

***

Now it was the time to learn a few secondary skills.

Secondary skills are skills that can be easily obtained as a livelihood-type auxiliary skill. An example of one such skill is cooking.

Although it doesn’t have much of a use when you are in the village or any other settlement, when out in the field, it becomes a necessity. At Least one member in your party must know how to cook at all times.

Of course because it is a virtual world where hunger doesn’t exist, eating food is linked to the restoration of HP or stamina or other related stats.

Also, the stats don’t transfer from real life into the game in the case of cooking.

Whereas martial artists and such gain additional buffs in-game regarding their physique, the likes of chefs and cooks have to start from scratch as none of their skills are carried over to the game.

As for the ingredients required for cooking, meat is highly accessible due to the fact that hunting is quite easy when out in the field.

In-game chefs can make dishes that add certain buffs along with restoring stats. It is recommended to at least carry those premade dishes along if you don’t have a party member that can cook or are traveling solo without learning how to cook.

Another useful auxiliary skill is camping. When learned, it allows the player to set up safe zones for a limited amount of time.

I planned on learning both cooking and camping as my secondary skills. I don’t know if there were other secondary skills open for me to learn right now.

All of those were future plans. As of now I planned on getting the beginner’s cloth set and going on a trip…

For that, I go to an old woman called Pirette.

If I am lucky I might get to learn her skill of sewing and repairing clothes. Just that I wasn’t sure if it even was a secondary skill.

Before I headed to her cottage, I stopped by at the butcher’s place and sold the remaining rabbit meat for 50 pens.

But when I arrived at Pirett’s repair shop and grabbed her doorknob, I heard a melody coming from the other side.

This meant that there was a quest going on nearby.

You can call it a security model; it is one of the many in-game mechanics, implemented to reduce eavesdropping. This lets players interact with the NPCs in a one-on-one environment, so that important details regarding quests don’t leak out.

How this is done is by placing both the player and the said NPC in an enclosed space. When the said quest is triggered by a player, both the player and NPC will be momentarily locked in that enclosed room. Which in this case is the room. And while all of it continues, a song plays in the background.

This is so to alert players so that they don’t interrupt the conversation.

If however, a player decides to enter and interrupt on purpose. The NPC becomes more hostile and less favourable towards the player.

As I held on to the doorknob, a window popped up.

[Please wait. Do not enter]

It wasn’t supposed to show this message, but perhaps since the game was still new, they thought of including that.

I let go of the handle and listened to the song. As I listened, I started appreciating it.
I had heard it somewhere before, but I don’t remember the title.

‘-It is pleasing to hear’

The song conveyed a feeling of beauty. It sounded like heartbreak; something representing love that reached its peak, only to pummel down to its demise later.

I stood and I listened. It struck a weird chord in me.

I waited patiently. I couldn’t interfere in any way and it was best to let them take their time.

The melody however, sounded like it had something to do with the quest.

“That’s nice, Kowa. It’s an unfamiliar rhyme but your sincerity touched my heart. I will cherish it. Thank you, thank you so much.”

I heard a feeble voice say from the other side of the door.

‘-Has the system glitched?’

I was able to clearly hear what they were saying from here.

‘-Did I do something wrong??’

Nevertheless, I stood there listening.

“Oh my, it brings back memories buried by the years.”

The voice was unmistakably Pirette’s.

Next I heard creaking sounds, as if someone was opening an old box. Soon after that the rhyme disappeared.

As my ears tensed, trying to hear what was going on inside. All I could hear was the same old voice speaking again.

“When I was young, I too wandered the world, trying to put my heart in rhymes; some of love, some of sorrow and some of joy.

It all felt like a dream… when I met that man… we had a family together…

But that was a long time ago. Now I am just here… adding years to my age.

The times when I used to play with a lyre are long behind me. Now I am here with my needle and cloth.”

Her tone felt lost in time.

I didn’t know much about music, but I would call her tone melodious. It was as if there were paragraphs upon paragraphs hidden in-between each line.

I felt as if the life of a woman was unfolded in front of me like a panorama

‘-It reflected life’

I heard Taejin say that a quest that is triggered along with the NPC’s past does not only contain a reward, but also a special skill.

Right then, I heard footsteps behind me.

I saw a man trying to enter the store. He walked past me and placed his hand on the doorknob.

Normally, I would mind my business and let him face the penalty for opening the door, but I was in a good mood after hearing that sweet melody.

So I stopped him by gently tapping on the guy’s shoulder.

He turned around and by the twist of fate, it was none other than Mr Taekwondo.

He looked back and asked

“Is there a problem?”

“No… but you should wait outside for a bit. The owner is busy with someone and won’t appreciate it if we disturb her.”

“Oh! Thanks for letting me know.”

He squinted his eyes.

“Aren’t you the one who was hunting for rabbits in the bushes a while ago?”

“Yeah… I saw you there too.”

“Really? Then how was the kick?”

“It was amazing. Wasn’t it obvious? After all, it did gather a big crowd.”

“About that… Most of them wanted to know how I did it.”

“I had the same thought. Was it some secret skill?”

“You just need to distribute the stats on the leg side, and you can just use the skills. I am practicing Taekwondo outside. It’s not like a skill, but it is also like one (?)

Look, It’s difficult to explain. In short you use it with your body, so you can go to the dojo and learn it”

“Ah. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I wouldn’t have explained it if you had asked me back then?”

“Why now then?”

“Well… just cause.”

“Okkk…”

‘-Trying to thank me for stopping you? Huh.’

He gripped the door handle again.

“What happens if I go in?”

“As far as I know it angers the owner. Which isn’t a good idea because she hands out quests frequently.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Somewhat.”

“Fine. I wanted to take one of her quests, if she is busy I will just return later. What about you? You wanted to do a quest too?”

“Oh. No no. I just wanted to buy some beginner’s clothes.”

“Here, you can have these. I have an extra pair from a quest I did.”

He opened his inventory and pulled out a set and handed it to me.

My inventory opened up automatically and the clothes were sucked in.

I tapped on the inventory window that popped up. It displayed the details and stats of the beginner’s clothes.

It was definitely an upgrade from what I was wearing. Unlike what I was currently wearing which offered +1 DEF, these had +5 DEF.

“Thanks a lot, but why?”

“Think of it as a gift.”

I wasn’t going to complain about it. These did definitely have higher durability, and they didn’t disappear when their durability ran out, but instead they would turn into rags and NPCs would start thinking that you are a beggar if you kept wearing them.

“Well, well, well… If it isn’t big bro James!”

A familiar voice called out.

It was Vincent.

“What’s up? Big bro James and Hwarang?”

‘-So this guy is called Hwarang.’

“You know him?”

Hwarang nudged me with his elbow.

“Oh right, I met big bro James in the forest. After you left.”

“I see…”

“It was quite a spectacle, the show you put up with your kick. I thought you were a warrior or a thief but turns out that you are a wizard. How unexpected.”

Vincent Smirked at him.

Hwarang was clearly taken aback.

“….. …. How did you know that.”

“Ohh~! Nevermind that.”