You Acquired a Coin [2]

The water had a funny scent. It was not bad, but I was still not sure how I felt about smelling like woods. I kept wondering how the plumbing system worked in that place, considering that everything seemed so… Rustic and antique. On the wall, right above the bed, there was a map of the village yet I could hardly read or understand anything. The map was actually quite well drawn, however I had no idea what the location tags meant—it was written in a language I didn't know. French, Italian, perhaps even Latin? All the furniture was made of wood; the bed, the chairs, the table, the walls, the roof—it was truly a cottage in the middle of the wood. Although it was a village in the middle of the woods.

Oh dear, the trees' fire wouldn't spread to the cottages, right? It was raining cinders, but that wasn't enough to set fire to the village. Right?

I shook my head, trying not to think about that when I was naked. First, clothes. I left the shower with a towel wrapped around my waist, sparing a few seconds in front of the mirror beside the dresser to admire my new body. I could see the well-defined muscles on my abdomen, something I had tried to achieve time and time again with no luck. And although my arms were not overly muscular, nor did they have such defined muscles, they were still bigger and stronger than I thought they could ever be. My shoulders were wider and the more I looked and admired myself, the more it felt like my dreams had finally come true. This was the body of Park Eun-Woo, my new body. Those were my muscles, my arms, my shoulders; my new height, my new weight, my new self.

My heart felt so happy and over the moon, it could die from contentment. Yet deep down I was still afraid to smile, to accept and give in to that joy that grew inside me, fearing that the moment I acknowledged it and basked on that feeling Park Eun-Woo would disappear. Should I thank my parents or my past society for fucking me up like that? Or maybe what I really had to thank was life itself for never allowing me to remain happy for too long before things were taken away from me. Perhaps that was why I had been so lucky as Park Eun-Woo; it was all the amount that had never been used in my previous life.

I walked a few steps, making a silent prayer as I pushed the first drawer, relief spreading through my chest when I saw the clothes inside—my previous clothes were disgusting. I sniffed them, glad they did not share the scent of the water.

[You acquired 'Black Treasurers']

[You acquired 'White Linen Shirt]

...Honestly, who had made that thing? Would this system keep messaging me for every single thing I took? Could I even mute those notifications?

The twins responded to my message almost instantly, it even made me wonder if they were somewhere waiting eagerly for my reply. They instructed me to meet them at the plaza, in front of the fountain. At first I was not sure which direction I should take, everywhere I looked all I saw was more and more cottages. I suddenly missed my phone, the possibility of taking a picture of the map or opening a GPS to guide me through that strange place. Yet perhaps that was for the better. Starting with a new body, in a new world, in a new community—

That was how I would live my best life as Park Eun-Woo.

As I admired my surroundings, I was happily surprised to see there were plaques spread through streets and light poles—which was surprising since that place did not give the impression of being powered by electricity by any means. Well, it did have a plumbing system somehow, guess it wasn't so weird after all. In a matter of a few minutes I was able to find the twins.

They were quite easy to spot.

The moment Hil saw me she widened her eyes, running across the plaza in the most adorable pale blue dress, opening her arms to hug me.

"Mister! You really came!"

What kind of monster wouldn't?

I looked around, somewhat surprised to see the plaza with so many people walking around. It was almost too crowded for me, which was weird. Most of those faces were not familiar to me, and from the Trolley group, most players had to stay behind to have their injuries treated. That could only mean that there had been more challenges happening simultaneously.

I was dying to talk to one of them to see which group got the short end of the stick.

"You seem to be doing well, that's good." To be honest, I was kind of worried about the twins. They looked way too young to be participating in something like that. What about their parents or their guardian?

Hal walked in our direction, his hands inside his pockets. "What were you doing, sightseeing? You took way too long."

Wasn't someone a cute little angel?

"Is there anyone here with you? Your parents, maybe?"

"We don't have any."

"We have you now, mister!"

"Hil... You didn't forget what we talked about, right? We don't know how much we can trust him." Hal took his sister's hand, making her let go of my legs. He gave her a cold, harsh gaze yet she did not lose her smile.

"I know we can trust him. He saved us."

"No, your brother is right." They both turned to me, Hil in complete shock and Hal with a frown. "You know nothing about me. I am bigger, stronger, and smarter than you. I could be a bad person and take advantage of you both, so you should not let your guard down."

Hal crossed his arms. "We don't. And we know more about grown-ups than you do." There was acid in his words, a venom that carried more darkness and cruelty than I was willing to imagine. Who were those kids?

"Hal! Stop. The mister-"

"Just call me Eun-Woo."

"-is only trying to help. Besides, I told you. I have a good feeling about him."

From the death glares I was receiving from the brother, I realized I had to do something fast.

"He has no real reason to help us, Hil. You better not forget the 'help' we usually receive from the grown-ups."

"But mister is different from them, I can feel it!"

I knelt so I could look them in the eye, extending my hand to them.

"Listen here, you two."

"Let us make a deal. You stick with me and I swear I will do everything I can to keep you guys safe."

"And what's in for you?" Hal asked, his voice steady and defiant. He was quite smart, that one. I gave him a smile.

"Information. Whatever you can find about this place, the system, other competitors-like an alliance. I help you and you help me. What do you think?"

Hal squinted his eyes. "How do we know you will keep your promise?"

"The next trial. I will protect you both and make sure we win."

The brother chuckled. "You can't be sure of those things."

"I'm certain that I want to stay alive. If you just stay close to me or do what I do, you will survive as well."

They exchanged glances as if they were communicating in silence. Finally, they grabbed my hand; Hil with a smile and Hal with a grunt.

"Deal! We are happy to be working together, mister."

"I still don't trust you, even if you saved us..."

Yes, I did want to help the twins. Yet a proposal like that seemed to be the fastest way to make them agree to help me and keep them close. Also, Hil had been the one to have found the silver chain back at the tracks and Hal was quite the quick-witted boy. My intuition told me that having them close would not only help me; it could give me an advantage.

"I actually wanted to ask for your help with something. You can say this is my first compensation for helping you back at the tracks."

Hal started to open his mouth, yet the sister pushed him to the side, her curly white hair bouncing off her shoulders.

"Sure, mister! How can we help?"

I lowered my voice to make sure others wouldn't listen to us.

"Do you know anything about using and exchanging points?"

Hildr's eyes lit like candles while a smirk touched Halvard's lips.

And that was how I knew for certain that I had gotten, indeed, quite lucky with my findings.