A Bath and a Tragedy

Money in the game is represented using the unit Darks. It also comes in a total of 5 denominations of coins.

1 D, 100 D, 1,000 D, 10,000 D, and 100,000 D.

A single coin's weight is negligible, but when an adventurer gathers a lot of money, it will become significantly heavier. Most of the time, loots from monsters always use 1 D coins. The market uses 100 D and 1,000 D. 10,000 D and 100,000 D are usually used for expensive shops and banks.

As money piles, the heavier it will get. This weight will affect the adventurers too.

Even with their magic bags that minimize the weight, at high amounts, coins end up slowing down their movement. Especially for 1 D coins as it piles up.

For this reason, banks are essential to adventurers. Not only can they exchange their denominations, they could even store money there.

However, unlike banks in the world where money will increase over time through interest, here it will slowly decrease over time.

This is due to the fee that is paid by users to have their money stored. At most, it was 1% every month.

This is the default. However, if the money is invested in the bank rather than stored, it may earn up to 10% interest per annum.

Users often choose to store their money than invest as their investment cannot be withdrawn anytime.

Those who store their money as investments are those who are thinking of the far-off future.

- - -

"You should change your class to an Archer or something… Your skills are quite superb."

It was after they finished hunting at the deeper parts of the forest. Marielle exhibited her high dexterity and accuracy as she shot arrows toward monsters.

Most of them died before even reaching their positions.

"B-But my stats are mainly focused on strength…"

Archers mainly focus on agility and intelligence. Since she was made to be a porter after failing to realize her talents, her strength stat was way above her other stats.

"Don't worry. Once you reach high levels, that difference will be nothing!"

The two girls continued chatting as they traveled. Their destination was the village off to the east of the town. It was around 1-hour travel from town on foot. Their group was not hassled by monsters much due to their stats so they traveled quite fast.

"… That's the village of Myre."

Zeus spoke as he pointed in front of them. There, a small village was located. It was surrounded by tall fences made of wood. Strong-looking guards were protecting the entrance.

Location-wise, this village was literally in the middle of the forest. The size was small, about a kilometer in diameter. The villagers too can be seen walking here and there.

The three then approached the guards. After exchanging greetings, they easily managed to enter.

"Their defenses are quite loose…"

"M-Maybe because we're not monsters?"

The two girls still haven't stopped their conversation. Zeus was too fed up to even complain. He didn't want to have another hellish dinner waiting for him.

They headed straight toward the village center where the chieftain stays. That man was the one who will give the first step at one of the greatest chain quests in the game.

Before they even arrived, the village chieftain went out of the door.

"What do you need this late at night?"

Annoyance was clearly visible in his voice. It was the hardest part pertaining to this old man. He was too stubborn to even persuade!

"We are travelers that are aiming to free this world from monsters. We came to simply offer our greeting to the chief of this village."

Zeus immediately started the conversation. His speech flowed effortlessly that one would think that he had rehearsed before.

"Is that so? Then please stay in our village as long as you want. We will provide support as much as we can."

However, the old man doesn't seem to want to keep the conversation running. Immediately noticing this, Zeus followed up with his speech.

"Then please tell us where we could stay for tonight. We were pretty tired fighting the monsters on the way here."

"… Go straight down this road then turn left at the end. There, the inn should have enough vacancies to accommodate you all."

"Thank you for the help."

"… If that's all then I'll go back."

Then, the chieftain entered his house once again and closed the door. His face still wearing a frown up till the last moment.

"… How about the quest?"

"We cannot get it instantly… By afternoon tomorrow, we might be able to acquire the prerequisites."

The quest itself was easy to acquire, but it was not too easy that simply speaking with the elder will get you the quest.

The most famous chain quest starter, that stubborn elder, is also famous as the reason why many players retired partway in acquiring the quest. It is too difficult to even begin.

The three then headed towards the inn and got a room for each.

The rooms were quite simple. A small bed, an oil lamp above a small desk, and a wooden chair. Sitting down, Zeus pondered about several things. He stared at the flickering flame of the wick as he went deeper into his thoughts.

"You can really feel the difference in culture…"

For Zeus, WEXO is also a reality. A different reality other than of Earth. This is not only due to the realistic feeling of moving around in this world. It was also, or rather because of, the high individuality of many residents of this world.

The only difference would be the game-like properties that most users experience.

One is that of sleeping.

Since the time inside the game passes 3 times that of the real world, the night too will come 3 times a day.

For a normal character, sleep is essential. At the minimum, 9 hours of sleep is needed over 3 days. If not followed, the body will slowly fall into a fatigued state and will lose the ability to move quickly. At worst, it could lead to a decrease in health and even death.

Zeus maintains a 4-hour sleep pattern since the beginning. Even in real life, it was the same.

"For gamers, sleeping is painful. It uses too much time. If there's a world where sleeping is not needed, then that's a paradise."

He often travels in the early morning to hunt. His sleeping time was around 10 PM to 2 AM. Since no clocks are present, all he could do was estimate the time that passes.

The time they reached the village was about 9 PM. Walking to the inn took 30 minutes. Then, he still had about 30 minutes left before he needs to sleep.

"… Maybe I should take a bath…"

One of the luxuries in this world, bathing!

Inns often have bathhouses installed. This inn too, despite being located in a rural area, had a bathhouse.

This too is the greatest factor of all that makes Zeus think that this world is a different reality.

The feeling of water and bathing is no different than the original world. Even soap bubbles are completely the same.

This alone was enough proof. This world is a different world. And this game is something that is forcefully integrated with the world. That was what Zeus thought.

He immediately headed off to the bathhouse wearing a bathrobe.

While he was heading there, he heard the two girls from his party chatting as they walked down the hallway. They too seem to be heading toward the bathhouse.

Zeus just ignored them and entered the changing room. He immediately removed all his clothes and entered.

The bathhouse itself wasn't that big. It was enough for around 10 people to bathe simultaneously with much ease.

The facilities were quite poor due to the low technology of this world. There is a large indoor hot spring located in the middle. Stools were lined up on one side with a bucket.

There are places where piping systems are already used. However, this inn seems to have the old model.

"Well… I expected this much."

He then immediately washed himself before entering the hot spring. The temperature was just enough for his body to feel warm.

"… Just perfect…"

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the water. Moments later, he heard voices from the changing room.

"…?"

Not having the chance to confirm, the newcomers entered the bath area.

"See? Nobody's here except us. It's like we booked the place!"

"F-Faye. Don't walk too fast…"

"Guh?!"

Realizing something wrong, Zeus immediately hid his presence. It was a skill he achieved not in the game but in real life.

'What's going on?! Why are they here?! And why am I hiding like I did something wrong!'

Analyzing the situation logically, he did nothing wrong. However, he missed one important factor.

"The mixed bath really is wider than the women's."

A mixed bath!

Zeus was careful enough to check the sign for the girl's bath. However, after passing through the girl's bath, he immediately assumed that the one right next to it is the men's.

'I must not be found! Clear your mind… Clear your mind…'

Luckily, the fog was quite thick and the light is dim. He was also at the farthest end of the large spring. Unless he made a large sound, he will remain hidden.

Since he was clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts, he lost track of the girl's conversation.

Then, a moment later, the sound of water being poured was heard. Slightly after, it was the sound of someone entering the water!

Zeus forcefully removed their conversation from his mind and started thinking of happy thoughts. However, their laughs every so often caused him to lose focus.

'UWAAAAAH! The last time I bathed with a girl was when I was 6! That was more or less a decade ago!'

If he didn't clear his mind, he would surely start imagining things. And so, he focused all his strength on not being found.

Thanks to his high vitality compared to his level, he could last for an hour inside the spring. Thinking that he waited patiently.

Minutes felt like hours. Every time he heard movements in the water, and when he heard laughter, his concentration will falter.

He was now under a different sort of torture!

'How long are they gonna stay here?!'

It was already 15 minutes and still, no signs of them leaving. Then, he felt another presence. It was the unknown presence of someone else.

"Who's there?!"

Faye immediately shouted. Zeus's heart jumped in fright at the thought of being found. Since the two of them trained under the same dojo, their detection skills were quite similar.

This means that if Zeus wasn't careful enough, he would be easily found.

The presence that they felt quickly revealed itself.

"A-A G-G-G-Gh-Ghost!!!"

A ghost. Specter. It was a monster that appears almost anywhere. Its average level was around 40. So there's enough reason why Marielle was afraid.

Marielle immediately fell into a state of fear. Faye, on the other hand, immediately cast one of her skills.

"Fairy Summon!"

At her call, a bright light illuminated the whole room.

"… Ah."

"…."

"...…!"

He was too late to hide.

After he was seen, and after he saw everything, he was sent knocking on heaven's door.

The next morning, Zeus felt an extreme headache. What the cause was, he didn't even have the slightest idea. All he could remember was the vague idea that he saw something wonderful last night. He couldn't remember what it actually was.

When he passed by the two girls, his heart will suddenly beat faster. The reason? Of course fear.

Faye's eyes as she stared at Zeus were cold enough to freeze a desert ten times over. Marielle, in comparison, hid behind Faye the moment they saw him, her face was flushed red like a tomato.

However, even if he asks them what's wrong, they seem to dodge the question by answering that nothing's wrong.

They didn't openly persecute him more than necessary because they were the ones who entered the bath later. It was their fault for not confirming it. Hence, they felt a little guilt over what happened.

However, once they saw him up close, they felt either embarrassed or wary.

Luckily for them, he seemed to not remember what happened.

After they were out of his immediate surroundings, they sighed with relief.

"Looks like the fairy queen did a good job."

"B-But, erasing memory… Is that okay?"

"Hmm… Psychologists say that when humans encountered something traumatic, their brain will try to forget what happened causing them to have vague memories of the exact event… Fayble assisted this process and did him a favor."

"I-In short?"

Faye slowly turned to Marielle with a refreshing smile on her face.

"By inducing excessive fear and then using her skill, anyone will forget what happened at that time."

Marielle shuddered involuntarily. I definitely must not make Faye into an Enemy!

"S-Shouldn't we apologize to him? Making him faint and all…" Marielle suggested, guilt clearly visible in her expression.

Hearing this, Faye paused. Remembering what happened after Zeus fainted, her face turned slightly red before she turned her head away.

"… T-That's impossible… Not me… I won't apologize…"

Faye said while blushing up to her ears.