14 And thus, the grind begins

Cyrus took a minute to process the events that ensued today in the game world.

From chasing dangerous-looking individuals to acquiring a strange scroll and subsequently receiving a class.

At certain moments, he almost forgot he was inside of a virtual world.

Yet, the aging beauty of the city around him, the lush greenery surrounding this place, and the pristine waters of the ocean were all unfortunate reminders that he was not currently in the depressing urban world.

'Speaking of the ocean...' Cyrus recalled that he was going to go hunting with Chu near the coast.

Next to the door of the apartment, there was a coat rack, and below it, a few keys shined in a metallic manner under the moonlight.

Bartholom had forgotten, perhaps purposely, the keys to his house.

Cyrus wasn't someone who would take advantage of this.

When he left the house, he placed the keys in an inconspicuous position in a slit between the door and the walls of the structure.

There was also a pot covering the slit, so it was unlikely that someone would ever notice them.

*Howl*

Cyrus looked around.

Heuveltop district was calm and peaceful, and at nighttime, there was simply no one in the streets.

However, even the rest of the city seemed to freeze in time, if not for the occasional light making the silence more tolerable.

Going down the artificially raised terrain of Heuveltop, he was back in the downtown area of the city.

Fishermen were just coming back from their nightly trips, and their heavy buckets were an indicator of a bountiful harvest.

As he walked by one of the fishermen, the man kindly proposed, "Young man, you seem rather lost, and it's the eve of the night, do you need somewhere to stay?"

He had a heavy accent, and his beard muffled the sound of his voice.

Cyrus bowed and politely refused, "Thank you, mister, but I've something to do."

"Oh? Be careful, then."

Cyrus nodded and resumed his 'journey' to the coast.

He found his way to a port, but a patrolling guard stopped him, "It's rather late, what is a young man doing out here?"

"I'm an adventurer, I'm going to hunt a few monsters, as it is rather calm at night."

The guard observed him suspiciously, and sighed, "There's been way too many of you adventurers in the past week, let me guess, you also don't have a certificate from the World Bank?"

'He's referring to players...'

Cyrus shook his head truthfully.

"I'll let this go this time, but there are a few rules you should remember."

"Don't expose your weapons in the city."

"Show your insignia at all times if you are a registered adventurer."

"And, just follow the law."

Cyrus nodded repeatedly, and the guard waved his hand and dismissed him, "Don't go too far out of the city, the monsters can get quite fearsome there."

"Thank you for the advice."

Then, he made his way to the rocky beach of the city.

There, a cloaked woman he was very familiar with stood next to the waters.

She was barefoot, and the water gleamed a silver light as small waves rolled on her.

She turned around as she detected his presence, and sighed, "You're late."

Chu Wang was very punctual.

It was not because she was a perfectionist or a busy person, but because of her past.

'If my closest kin were able to leave me without notice, then anyone can, right?' Such thoughts spiraled into her head every time someone was late.

She and Cyrus weren't exactly friends, but since he was her very first party member, and after going through the fight against the bear, she felt that they understood each other a lot.

"I've found a good hunting spot near the Toerbel Swamp outside of the city, do you want to go there?"

"I don't mind, I've gained a few levels, and I'm itching to see how strong I've become."

Chu nodded from below her cloak and climbed up the rocks.

Then, they went east.

The city's coastline didn't stretch very far, so they quickly found themselves in the middle of nowhere.

The soil below their feet also gradually became moister, and there were many muddy puddles around.

"Are you comfortable with that fighting strategy, Cyrus?" She asked him about a discussion they had earlier.

Due to her peculiar powers, she needed a corpse before she could do anything in a battle at all.

So, Cyrus would defeat some monsters, gaining EXP in the process, and allowing her to use her necromantic powers.

It was a win-win strategy for the two of them.

"Yes, let's proceed with it."

As they spoke, they heard the sound of crawling and splashing.

From the thick mangroves of the swampy area, a terrifying monster emerged.

The size of a truck's wheel, it had eight legs, and it was hairy all over its main body, and its legs.

Six eyes of different sizes all glowed in an unnatural pink color.

(Nocturnal Swamp Arachnid - Level 9)

Fortunately, neither of them had arachnophobia, but this spider-like monster was horrifying nonetheless.

Next to the big arachnid, numerous smaller arachnids followed.

'Bingo.'

This was favorable for them since it would be easier to defeat the smaller ones and make them undead than to try going for the spider mom first.

"Be careful of webs, and potential poison,' Chu warned him.

Cyrus nodded and charged at the monsters.

The spider was swift, but his new scythe had a high reach, and he avoided the big one entirely.

Instead, the scythe instantly pierced into an unlucky spider that was not swift enough to dodge.

(You defeated Small Noctural Swamp Arachnid - Level 3)

Like a fork, his scythe stuck to the spider's corpse, and he immediately brought up the weapon into the air.

"Chu! Catch!" As she shook the scythe, the corpse detached itself and launched towards the necromancer.

Chu nodded, and her skeletal arm touched the spider corpse.

As usual, the spider underwent reanimation, even though it looked pretty different from an undead spider.

The zombie spider eerily crawled towards him, and as another small arachnid tried to attack him, the small teeth of its former kin dug into its body.

The big spider looked at her zombie child and made a strange screeching sound.

She was a bad match-up for his weapon.

The spider had immense swiftness, but low defense, and whenever it tried to attack him, it would almost lose a leg.

This battle of attrition continued until half a dozen zombie spiders were now present on the battlefield, and they all attacked their mother.

*Screech*

The big spider managed to fend off her children, but from all of their attacks, her hair was a tangled mess, and pink flesh was exposed.

Suddenly, a string launched towards him from the mouth of the spider.

'Ouch!'

As it stuck to his skin, it had a burning sensation and using this moment as an opportunity, the injured spider attacked him.

Creepy claws took hold of his lower body, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

Instinctively, his scythe swung towards its body, and...

(You defeated Nocturnal Swamp Arachnid - Level 9)

(Level Up!)

Chu remained on the brink of leveling up to Level 8, whereas Cyrus immediately became Level 7.

"Good fight."

She smiled from beneath her cloak.

*POW*

As they were in the midst of celebrating their victory, the obvious sound of a gunshot came from the inland direction.

Cyrus's grasp on the scythe turned weak, and the sharp weapon dropped to the ground.

His body fell into a fetal position, and his breathing became heavy.

'Fuck.....'

He felt bad at himself for having this reaction, but he could not stop it...

Every time he heard the sound of a firearm, the worst moments of his life would surface back.

Every time he heard the sound of a firearm, his surroundings changed into those of the Helinski Cathedral, and his parents would be in front of him, except with glaring bloody holes in their chest.

"Cyrus!"

"Cyrus!"

Chu shook his body, but it was to no avail.

Then, his body dissipated into thin air.

He had logged off.

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