Bet

Robbi asked Hugh for help in dealing with a clan that harassed their village. He saw Hugh's strength and his humbleness that made him decide to enlist Hugh's help.

"....."

Hugh stayed silent and just looked at Robbi. He didn't reject nor accept the proposal but stayed indifferent at Robbi's plead. He weighed the pros and cons of accepting the mission and there were a lot of unknown variables to determine his success in the mission. He couldn't guarantee the money he needed quickly so he was hesitant to accept.

"How long is it gonna take?"

"A day at the least."

Knowing that the mission would take at the very least a day, he would not accept the mission today. Robbi saw the slight change in expression in Hugh's face and guessed that he was disinterested in accepting the mission.

"Their loot will definitely have armor and weapons you can sell for a high price. I also heard they had a chest full of crunchmoney (CM)"

Robbi saw that Hugh was still disinterested in cooperating with him so he was in panic mode. He had to recruit a strong person like Hugh in order to repel the clan. He remembered that Hugh picked up the sustenance pill instead of the armor and the necklace.

"How about the sustenance pill? We have a ton of those back at our village you can have every single one of those."

At the mention of the sustenance pill, Robbi saw a slight glint in Hugh's eyes indicating interest in the subject. This was his chance to recruit Hugh and the benefit he had to give was just a mere sustenance pill.

"We can buy more of those for you. We'll even buy the 1-week sustenance pill for you or even the 1-month sustenance pill."

Robbi finally saw Hugh openely interested in the discussion. His hopes were reignited and he smiled in anticipation. He didn't know that Hugh was just interested on the fact that there were 1-week pill and 1-month pill.

Hugh was tempted to take the mission right there and then just because of the pills but he stopped himself. He needed to focus on the money he needed to earn in order to finish his daily mission. This game that he was in was only second in priority and he shouldn't forget his daily mission for the pills that could only be used in the game.

"How much money do you have right now?"

Hugh asked Robbi if he had enough money to tempt him to accept the mission. If he earns money upfront, then it was a win-win situation. He gets money for his daily mission and he gets the pills.

"I don't have that much money on me. I only have 1,000 CM right now. I can sell my items but it would take a whole day for it to be appraised and sold."

Hugh felt that it was a shame he didn't have enough money. He could have helped them with their problems and even if they lost, Hugh would have enough money for his daily missions. He had to reject the proposal.

"I don't have a day to spend to help you. Goodbye."

Hugh turned to leave to the dismay of Robbi. His smile faded as the only hope he had rejected him. He needed help but he just didn't have enough money to persuade Hugh to help him.

"When you have the free time, can you help me?"

Hugh heard Robbi's last plea to him. He turned around and faced the pleading man with an expressionless face. In truth, he didn't care that their village was getting ransacked by some clan. He only cared about the benefits he was getting.

"I won't promise anything but sure, I'll do that."

Robbi's frown turned into a smile as he clung on to the last string if hope cast by Hugh. Even if it was not a definitive answer, he was willing to take any last bit of help he could get.

"Let's exchange contact information."

Robbi immediately stood up and walked towards Hugh. In the game, anyone can contact their friends through the system. This was the first friend Hugh had in this game and it opened up a new option for his game system.

The two of them exchanged informations and they went on their separate ways.

"Thank you sir Hugh. I wish you all the best!"

"....."

Hugh went on his way back to the beginner town. There were the same amount of people when he returned, indicating the popularity of this game. There were still and endless amount of people registering and ending up on the beginner town so the devs created multiple designated beginner towns to help assimilate the new players.

There were also some players who started at different planets other than the one Hugh was in right now. There are others who were a major powerhouse in the real world so their character in the game were boosted through connections and favoritism by the devs.

Hugh walked towards the npc that gave him his mission. He was still being overwhelmed by the newbies that wanted to get their own mission from the npc. He walked forward and talked to the npc.

"I completed it."

"Thank you sir Huge! As a reward for your bravery and your strength, I shall award you 1,000 CM and 5 Ruby Berries."

Hugh got the notification in the game's system and he saw the change in his virtual wallet. He also got the 5 ruby berries that he picked himself. The rewards for this mission was really bad but it was expected for a beginner mission. Hugh got 1,000CM from that which meant that he had 1,000 points in the real world because the conversion rate for this game and the special class currency was 1-1. The only thing Hugh had to do now was to find a place where he could double his money.

"Heh, you think you're better than me?"

"Yeah, I'm better than you. There, I said it."

"You must be joking, I'm stronger than you and I can prove it."

"Oh yeah, let's see who is the strongest in the ranking facility."

Hugh heard some boisterous conversation at his back. He turned around and saw two men who wore simple steel armor were arguing about their strength. They walked towards the so-called ranking facility. He decided to follow them since it could be an opportunity where he could earn money.

Hugh followed a few steps behind the two fighting men. They talked and insulted each other as they went on their way to the ranking facility. Nobody minded the two since it was a normal occurrence that two fighters would want to test out each other's strengths.

They walked towards a white building with four pillars surrounding the corners. It's magnificence is clearly felt by all who walked near it due to the size and the blinding white paint on it. It was also more intricately carved and constructed compared to the shabby wooden stalls beside the building. This was a beginner town so the buildings here were less than par. Only the ranking facility looked decent.

They walked to the entrance that was guarded by nobody. Inside, the same white paint could be seem with colorful paintings of men and women wearing gowns and eating grapes. The paintings gave a relaxing feeling relaxed compared to the noise produced from the shouting men inside.

The inside was filled with people of all genders and sizes and they cheered on whatever was in the middle. Some were waving papers in their hands and some were waving handkerchiefs but they all looked excited at the action.

The two people that Hugh followed was already gone and disappeared in a door to the right. Hugh walked forward and looked into what was happening in the middle.

He saw two men bloodied and exhausted facing each other with no weapons in their hands. One of the men fighting raised his hands and the ground around the other man started to enclose him. The other man retaliated by opening a hole in the middle of the enclosure by using pressurized water inside his hands.

The crowd went wild as they cheered on their favorite fighter. A man suddenly approached Hugh, which he noticed before the man put his hands on Hugh's shoulder.

"Hey man, you new here?"

Hugh nodded in affirmation. The man had a simple white shirt and long pants but he had a long roll of paper that he held in his hands. An uncapped ballpen was stuck in his right ear.

"Would you like to make a bet?"