Chapter 9: Reunion and Departure

Before everyone could disperse, Hal Taifeng motioned toward the six who had been on the stage. This was a call to meet, so one by one, the selected people gathered around the Beyond Grade A Super. Once all had arrived, an assistant appeared from behind Hal Taifeng and started handing out communicators. She had the appearance of a beautiful and stern secretary, with the addition of elven ears. Han Xiao's secretary quote came to Min's mind. 

Speaking in his typical, elegant voice, Hal Taifeng spread an arm, using the other to hold his cane. "For your bravery and persistence, I will be transferring 1,000 Enas to your accounts. The other survivors will also receive compensation from me, but this is something extra."

Everyone, including Min, looked at each other excitedly. 1,000 Enas was a vast sum, more than most people's yearly salary. Even Kerlodd, the Grade C Godora Investigator that Han Xiao kidnapped and robbed, had an income only slightly higher than this.

Hal Taifeng bid everyone farewell before turning and leaving. These communicators were essentially mass-produced tablets with a slightly futuristic design, and though Min had seen them before, the communicator's design still made him feel disappointed. On the bright side, there were probably zanier communicator designs out there, so he could just buy those if he wanted one.

He turned the communicator on and was prompted with a login screen. As he did not know his account's username or password, he used a biological login option. One could use fingerprints, a retina scan, facial recognition, and many other ways to log in. These options could be calibrated in an account's settings and were optional.

The communicator's detector scanned his eyes before confirming his identity and giving him access to the account. It gave Min the option to sync device settings, but he declined. The previously tech-savvy kid's settings would probably confuse the now grandpa-like Min. So, he tapped the complete reset button.

Min looked at the blank slate of a communicator that he had and frowned. Since he wasn't the type to not ask for help in an effort to preserve his ego, he looked up from the communicator. But almost everyone else had run off! The only one present was Gin, someone he only had a cordial relationship with. They respected each other's space back in the Arena, but they were both free men now.

"Yo, Gin. Can you help me out? I'm a noob when it comes to these communicators."

While he would call himself a grandpa, this would not make sense in the Universe. After all, communicators had been around for centuries, so almost every grandpa was used to them by now. Gin nodded and stepped to Meng Min's side and helped him navigate the program store.

But the Elf thought back to Gin's story. Was he truly a Grade E Mechanic? It would line up with Gin's character information since it was all question marks when Min had last checked, but the paranoid Min always thought of every possibility. His question should be innocent enough, so Meng Min decided to ask.

"By the way, Gin… is what he said true? That you're a Grade E Mechanic native to this planet?"

"It's as His Excellency says. I downloaded the essential apps for you, so farewell. May we meet again in a better setting."

Min hesitated. It seemed like Gin was telling the truth, and the only way to confirm his gnawing suspicion would be to whack the guy. With the sight of Gin's shrinking back, Min decided that randomly assaulting someone was a bad idea, so he let it go.

As Meng Min returned to Damira, tens of spaceships flew above them. Residents were both arriving and leaving to pick up their loved ones. Many of those kept by the Arena had been local Baluk residents, after all. Though, some came to collect the corpses of the guards. They, too, had families.

Amongst the incoming traffic, a small spaceship hastily pushed past the others like a bad driver during rush hour traffic. It landed relatively close by, and before the landing gear was fully deployed, the back hatch opened. Someone barreled out of the spaceship with inhuman speed and yelled a name.

"Damira!"

Damira's turned toward the voice and quickly enlarging figure. Upon her brain properly functioning, her eyes sparkled. She recognized the voice.

"Berik!"

One step before knocking into Damira, Berik slowed down to a human speed. His muscular physique gave off the vibe of a Pugilist. He opened his arms and hugged Damira tightly while she returned it with a similar intensity. 

Min looked over with a light smile. 

'Ah… family. What a blessed thing.'

Min shook his head helplessly. His situation wasn't something that could be changed now, or maybe ever. While Han Xiao could return home for sure, Min wasn't so lucky. Perhaps his home universe was connected to this one, or perhaps some weird trickery separated them. Whatever the outcome, it was useless to guess now. Meng Min could only put the thought away so he wouldn't dwell on it. He had other things to worry about now- like what he would do next! Now that he had escaped from the evil clutches of the Arena, he could travel around the universe and start his preparations. 

The first thing to consider was his class advancement. Given his existence within a Star Cluster-level civilization's market, and his status as a citizen, basic knowledge could be cheap. Advanced Knowledge was more of a mystery- if Godora's organizations did not give it out for cheap, it was unlikely for Halmetistan's to do so as well. Though there was a civilizational difference between the two examples, that level of Super knowledge proliferation may be frowned upon. After all, governments aimed to use Supers as tools and would thus make moves to control them. Whatever the case may be, he had to accumulate as many knowledges as possible.

Looking further into the future, Min had to consider the Ancient Star Desert's novice planet. Staying among the stars had its advantages, but with [Everlasting Journey] and the NPC model, Min believed going to a novice planet would be the best course of action. Though Exp was plentiful in the Galaxy, he had to build a relationship with the players to compete with Han Xiao. But Meng Min's goal was not to overshadow Han Xiao- it was to work alongside him. And that was due to his biggest weakness.

Han Xiao knew Galaxy incredibly well. This allowed him to know the results of storyline missions, the backing and morality of important characters, and the location of special quests. On the flip side, our main character only knew the effects of Han Xiao's butterfly effect and more high-level secrets. While that was important, running around and yelling out spoilers would just get BGAs like a certain Soul Emperor on his ass.

The next point that should be mentioned is Han Xiao's attitude. As a Leek farmer, he was always looking to expand his field. Someone like Min, with two Esper abilities and his very own leek field, could be seen as a high-tier golden leek. If Han Xiao felt this way toward Meng Min, it would be incredibly difficult to strike a fair deal between the two. After all, four years of reading simply could not compare to decades of in-game experience.

Thus, his goal was to establish the image of "the leek farmer down the road". While they were competitors in some sense, the two would be unified against something that threatened the prosperity of their fields. 

Min returned to reality and noticed the gaze of the two lovebirds. "Hmm? What is it?"

Berik released Damira and extended a hand with a warm smile. "I'm Berik Tursyn, Damira's husband. Thank you for helping her, even if it was… not required."

Min scratched the back of his head while shaking Berik's hand. This husband had a similar racial mixture to his wife, which is something Min thought was curious. Through just the handshake, he could feel Berik's sturdiness, let alone the visual of Berik towering over him. Our Elf was a mere 5'9, which while average, paled in front of the 6'6 husband. 

"We're all here and alive. That's what matters."

A weird, awkward air was all that was left. While Min and Berik continued to shake hands with stiff smiles on their faces, Damira grabbed both of their arms.

"Ahem… Since we are free, do you want to come over for dinner? Even though we met in a strange place, I think we can be good friends."

Min let go of Berik's hand and turned his attention to Damira. "That would be nice, but I can't. I think we should stay in contact, though… so can you give me your communication device number?"

"Wouldn't it be better to put yours into my husband's communicator? You and I lost our physical devices because of what happened."

Min ground his teeth in his mind. 'Stop being smart! I don't know what communication number this kid had before I took his body!!'

With a cough, he pulled out his new communicator and started fishing for the information. Communicators could fold to fit into tight spaces, allowing them to be more portable. While this folding was not as advanced as Compression technology, the principle was the same.

"Lemme find the number…"

Before Meng Min could find it, the burly man in front of him tapped on a smaller communicator a few times before putting it away and waving a hand dismissively. "I got it already. You should increase your communicator's security."

Min returned the communicator to his pocket before smiling again. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Anyhow, since we're all sorted, I'll head out. Hope to see you guys again soon."

He bid the two farewell and left. After getting some distance away, he stood by a pile of dirt and pulled out his communicator. While he knew that Planet Brighton was this Star Field's novice planet, spending some more time in the galaxy would be a good thing. Thus, he hoped to find a hub of sorts so he could get some work. Before he could even pull up the search engine, however, a soldier came up to him.

"Mr. Meng? His Excellency Hal Taifeng's assistant asked us to offer you transportation. Is a nearby colonial planet a good destination for you?"

"Uh… Could I change my destination? I don't know where to yet, but I'll tell you guys ASAP."

"Hmm… If it isn't too far, we can accommodate that. Just tell us in due time."

"Of course."

With a nod, the soldier led Min to a spaceship. The surviving Arena members were in this moderately sized military spaceship. A majority of these members were female attendants since they were all holed up in their rooms during the raid. He was led to a resting place in the ship which was packed with other former Arena members.

A few gave Min a nod as the soldier left him in the room. He took a seat in one of the cushy chairs before retrieving his communicator. Now was the time for some learning!

While searching for Planet Brighton's coordinates, dots abruptly connected in his head. Most of the player names he saw on the Brighton forum were French. Since the Beta test was primarily professional players and those who played for profit, this meant that Planet Brighton was extremely likely to be France's home base. 

The memory of reading the hateful comments toward the pro league chapters popped into Meng Min's head. He was personally rather neutral toward the pro-league chapters, but he understood why people disliked them. They typically had important developments in them, so they had to be read regardless.

'Planet Brighton, home of the Franks. So this will be my first leek field… I should look up the planet's details before trying to remember the main storyline. Not like TLM gave much info on other storylines.' Bringing up the communicator, he inputted Planet Brighton's name into the search and got a result.

<Planet Brighton is the third planet from its star with a mass of .979 SPM (Standard Planet Mass). Chlorophyll's presence makes plants green in color, and atmosphere's combination gases colors sky blue. An Early Space-age civilization present focus on Magic. The planet's strongest Supers are Grade C+. contains A anomaly originating below crust. After multiple failed investigations, Danuk Civilization abandoned this operation, Halmetistan failing to follow up. According ancient documents native consultation, massive catastrophe dubbed "Arcane Tide" occurs every 50,000 years. Magical energy built up underneath crust before being released onto surface, modifying it greatly. Prior Exploration Era, event drew many C-A Mages due potent magical surface. estimated begin again soon, but exact timeframe unknown. located within True Bend Star System's Eleventh Zone.>

'Oh thank god, it's very close by. I was worried that I would have to travel halfway across the Star Field. It's a very magical place, which reminds me of its floating city. The difficulty on this place is high, so more prep than I initially planned may be necessary.'

Now that he knew Planet Brighton's location, he could decide where to be dropped off. Finding somewhere similar to Juberly Hub was Min's current plan. A hub was more focused on trade and transportation, so it would probably be easier to find a way to Brighton from there. In no universe would Halmet military personnel drop Min off on a primitive planet just because he asked.

A quick search for a nearby hub showed Agonlu Hub. It was a smaller hub in the True Bend Star System, located within the 9th Star Zone. Min left the waiting room and found the soldier he spoke to earlier. After receiving confirmation that he could be dropped off there, Min returned to the waiting room.

'Let's see what other things I have to settle… Ah, my class advancement! I should be able to complete it now. The only issue is the cost of knowledge. I know Advanced Knowledge costs a few thousand Enas per, but Basic Knowledge is an unknown. I'll check the culmination of human- I mean, civilizational knowledge in my pocket.'

With some searching, Min found his answer. Basic Knowledge usually ran one tens of Enas, with the most expensive being Mechanic knowledge. Mechanic knowledge did not matter too much to him since he was an Esper. 

While Meng Min wasn't flat broke, he was a money-grubbing cheap bastard, so finding a bargain was a must. While reading the reviews of a knowledge seller, he saw a certain comment thread.

<These Basic Knowledge prices are absurd! You can literally just get your class knowledge for free by registering as a Super or attending school. What scam.>

<Some of us aren't Star Cluster Citizens, you know. Us System Citizens can only get a few basic knowledges when we register. Stop acting like everyone lives in your elite world!>

<Please remain civil in my comments section. I am only a small seller trying to help people fill out their knowledge base.>

Min's mouth hung open.

"YOU CAN GET THAT STUFF FOR FREE?!?!"

Everyone's heads snapped to Min, who covered his mouth and laughed awkwardly.

'Anyways, that is a pretty good deal. I wonder if Halmetistan does this.'

With a quick search, Min found a government registration page. When he tried to register, an error appeared.

<In the interest of keeping our records accurate, one must submit their information at a physical, trustworthy site. We apologize for inconvenience.>

'Argh, do I have to go somewhere to get my energy rank read? There really are no free lunches in this world.'

Min shook his head with disappointment. Halmetistan definitely had an incentive for this program, which was probably related to a civilian to government personnel pipeline. He had looked into the Super academy after seeing that comment, and it would give select advanced knowledges for free. However, they were earned each semester, and long-term attendance at such an institution would effectively tie someone to Halmetistan.

While an academy arc would be rather peaceful and full of hotties, that wasn't what he needed right now. The far-off prospect of fighting a Demon Lord did not compare to the threat of the World Tree Civilization and everything else that came before it. To match Han Xiao's pace, he had to plunge himself into danger. Only a novice planet could do that while providing him with valuable leeks.

'I should be able to find something to officially read my energy at Agonlu Hub. Han Xiao was able to have his energy rank read when he registered to become a mercenary, so I should be able to do the same. I do hope they will let me use the reader without becoming a mercenary- as I'm not certain about my path for after I leave Planet Brighton. Now, time to relax- I haven't done that in a long, long time…"

Min put his communicator away and cleared his mind before melting into his seat with a sigh of satisfaction.