A New Game 1

"We're here," Illana spoke as she parked the car in front of the building.

It was as if a piece of stone had been dipped in shiny gold paint as the seemingly rundown building from yesterday had transformed into one that looked like it was just built recently. Besides the plastered sign that reminded everyone that the building was foreclosed and every single tenant had been evicted, the building was in perfect and pristine condition.

Trex's eyes are sparkling in various colors. It was as if a group of people is feeling thrilled. From Illana's point of view, it only looked like Marko was happy he gets to own his favorite place in the world.

"Let's go," she told Trex, who just left the car.

With a nod, Trex began to follow.

Reaching the door, Trex turned to Illana.

The door was locked.

"Where's the key?" he asked.

"Isn't it in your ring?" Illana asked back?

"Uhm," he mumbled as he looked through his ring again. Besides the papers, pouch, and the pyramid-shaped gem, there was nothing that resembled a key.

Illana stared at Trex, her face confused. She brought out the red gem shaped like a pyramid. "It should be like this, but green."

"Oh!" Trex exclaimed as he pulled out the green gem.

Illana was confused. In reality, the key in this world never looked like the keys from Earth. It had always been a magical gem as mechanical locks would never be able to provide security in a world where an average Joe could control physics itself.

The fact that Trex was aware of the concept of keys should've meant that Trex knew what a key is. But the fact that he didn't know what a key looks like confused her.

Looking at the still excited Trex, she shoved her thoughts to the side and taught him how to open the door with the key.

Once again, Trex is surprised. It works exactly like an RFID keycard except for the different shapes. It was another seemingly high-tech item in a pre-modern world.

Pushing the door open, the sound of the slightly creaking door was like the wind chimes of heaven ringing in Trex's ears.

The moldy air of the dark and damp room gushed past through Trex as it left the open door.

While the outside and the foundation of the building had been rebuilt, whatever that was left inside remained how it was before.

Even so, Trex inhaled everything. If he was human, he'd take the smell as disgusting and would even choke. But due to his nature as a Chede, he just thought the scent was similar to nature and nature's call. It didn't disgust him, unlike Illana, who hexed her nose with a smell blocking magic.

Seeing Trex act like he was home, she shook her head, step to the boarded window plastered with the foreclosed sign, and ripped it.

Trex, however, stepped inside and looked for a light switch. Then he realized that the appliances of the building are similar to his home. Raising his hands, he called out for the magical controls and turned on the lights.

One by one, the lights turned on, shining over the unpopulated hall filled with blocks of metal painted with colorful art. Trex had been expecting a typical arcade cabinet where a screen is stuck inside a glass with two joysticks and several buttons. Instead, the 'arcade cabinets' looked like a monument where an altar is seated in the middle of a platform.

Fortunately, Illana was still outside, waiting for the scent to altogether leave the building. Else she would've remembered the weird occurrence earlier to the key. The only thought she had now was even though Marko had forgotten his memories, the way he felt at home at the disgusting scent of mold and sweat was truly impressive. His love for gaming transcended amnesia.

And she was technically correct.

Trex began to move forward. As he reached the closest arcade cabinet, a holographic window appeared in front of him.

["Cross Arena" - three tokens per game. Twenty tokens for a new character card.]

Truthfully, Trex would've dived right in if only he had tokens at hand. Immediately he looked for something that resembled a counter or a token machine. In the middle of the arcade cabinets, he found a cube supported by a thin metallic pillar. Even though it lacked the features of one, Trex was able to tell this was the machine that outed tokens.

Reaching the machine, or rather, the archine. Another holographic window appeared in his face.

["Twenty Raprosian Dollars (RSD) = Eleven Tokens"]

Trex doesn't have a clear concept of the current value for 1 RSD, but from his given allowance, he figured that it shouldn't be too little nor too much. From what he remembered, a steak meal with garnish and iced tea cost 58 RSD. This was also from a restaurant where the business meeting is held. As such, it could be surmised that the value of 1 RSD is pretty high.

Immediately, Trex realized why the arcade went bankrupt. This was too expensive just for gaming. One new character card is equivalent to a meal in a high-class restaurant.

It could also be a misunderstanding, but he really has not enough data to know.

'Well, it's mine now anyways.' He mumbled as he pulled out the pouch containing a grand.

Opening the pouch, Trex was surprised.

Seeing the pouch, he thought that the currency was in the form of a coin or, at least, paper bills. But inside the pouch were green cubes with the estimated size of one cubic centimeter.

This was the fiat currency of the kingdom. The tricks of Earth where they just add various chemicals to avoid forgery would never be enough in a world of magic. Thus, the currency here is just as useless as a paper bill but imbued with magic and whatever metals mixed to form an alloy.

The fantasy novels using simple bronze, silver, and gold coins were just too simple for a supernatural world, especially for a developing kingdom on its way to modernity. Fortunately, as an AI in his past life, Trex was immune to culture shock and such were able to adapt almost immediately.

But now, he was faced with a problem.

'How do I even insert cubes in this just a little bigger cube.'

Scooping a total of 40 RSD, Trex attempted to place the cubes on top of the archinery.

The holographic UI of the archine changed.

["Current amount: 40 RSD = 23 tokens. Confirm?"]

Trex felt relieved. He immediately tapped on confirm as this should be enough tokens to buy a new character card and play a game of Cross Arena.

The cube suddenly glowed blue as the cubic currency slowly melded with the archine. After a few seconds, twenty-three yellow marbles appeared on top of the cube.

["Warning: Do not put the tokens into a storage ring as it may disrupt the imbued magic inside the tokens and turn it into a regular stone. Use a token pouch instead, also available in the prize counter.]

["Transaction complete, have fun!"]

Like a kid in a candy store, Trex grabbed all the tokens into his hands. The tokens he had were enough for a card and a game. He didn't need to store them. Just as swiftly, he ran back towards the Cross Arena cabinet.