Mr. CrockFace

_________________________

NOTE:

To navigate your way around, especially outside the city, you may need to purchase a detailed map from a cartographer.

__________________________

"A detailed map? What about the system map?" Allyn complained.

_________________________

You can upgrade your system map if you wish:

UPGRADE SYSTEM MAP?

Cost: 30XP

You do not have enough XP to make this upgrade.

XP: 0

_________________________

Someone with the username; 'Hellish-Freak' called out to him from a distance while jogging in his direction.

"I've been looking for you," he said, huffing.

"oh... why?"

"You accepted a quest from Mr. Wellington, right?" Hellish_Freak asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I also received the same quest by imitating you," he replied.

Hellish_Freak is a player, no doubt about that...

"We could team up,"

"I might be useless,"

"Same here, I am also a new player, and a poor one at that," Hellish_Freak admits.

"Where I can find a cartographer?" Allyn asked. It seems Hellish_Freak is still a little more experienced.

"How many coins do you have there?"

"30 coins," replied Allyn.

"This is going to be a problem, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it will... Buying a detailed map will cost over 200 coins, or more, depending on how detailed it would be,"

"That's a lot!"

"Yeah, it is,"

"Why so high?"

"The artificial world is very vast, practically endless," says Hellish_Freak. "So even buying a detailed map doesn't mean you could navigate every place. With every entirely new location you find yourself, you will need to find a new detailed map to add up with what you already have, and the same goes for upgrading your system map."

"I see," Allyn nodded in understanding.

"But I still have a problem. First, I don't have sufficient XP to upgrade my system map. Buying a detailed map from a cartographer is definitely out of the plan, it's too much money, on which I don't have,"

"Well, that isn't much of a problem. I just upgraded my system map. We should be able to find Mr. Wellington's specimens," says Hellish_Freak.

Allyn had doubts about this, so he could not agree right away.

For a few seconds, he began analyzing his next steps. Should he depend on Hellish_Freak to guide the way? Wouldn't it be better to have a separate map to help him find his way also?

_________________________

SYSTEM:

To gather enough XP to upgrade your system map, consider doing smaller quests.

________________________

"Smaller quest?"

That is indeed a good idea... But where to get smaller quests to accumulate XP

"How were you able to upgrade your system map as a new player?"

"I helped an old woman by getting her cat down from a tree," Hellish_Freak replies, "Are you planning_"

"Yeah, I will have to find a much smaller quest to do," says Allyn. "Just a tiny one is enough,"

"Hey, you!! don't even think of fleeing cause I'm gonna catch you again!"

A large man shouted from afar. If you look more deeply, this is not a man but an alligator. Sorry, I mean it's a man with a face of an alligator... Yeah; I know... weird.

"I should take my leave while you're at it," says Hellish_Freak. He seemed kind of nervous for an unknown reason.

"Is that thing talking to us?"

"He is talking to me, specifically," Hellish_Freak said, "Sorry, I hope we meet again," he lastly said before dashing off.

"Come back here, you prick!!" the large man shouted at the top of his voice in anger.

"Are you two an accomplice?" The large man named CrockFace, turned his attention to Allyn. He looked no different from a predator.

"N_ No, not at all,"

"And you expect me to believe that?!"

"It's the truth, I promise," Allyn quickly replies before he may end up getting crushed like a cockroach.

"Hmm," CrockFace walks closer to Allyn and sniffs him, which is very weird and uneasy.

"I see. It seems you are telling the truth," says CrockFace.

'He could tell by just sniffing me?' Allyn thought.

"What might he have done? If I may ask,"

"The same thing everyone does to me, stealing my masterpieces," says CrockFace in frustration.

"Masterpiece?"

"Yes, I am a mechanic and a Forge Master, and my creations are mostly inferior to no one. However, I do not have a very secure Forging Home where my inventions are stored, so many of them get stolen by poor folks who see me as easy prey." CrockFace's words sounded ironic.

"Can you help me in my quest to catch those criminals?" CrockFace asked Allyn with a great determination which only made him looked scarier.

"Uhh... I don't know if I'll be of any help," Allyn said. All he could think of is keeping a safe distance from this man... or is it an alligator?... Alligator Man should be the right word for this.

"I will reward you for your help. You can trust me," says CrockFace.

Not knowing what would happen if he rejects this man's request, Allyn had no other choice but to nod in agreement.

"Good! you made a wise choice,"

______________________________

NEW QUEST!

Catch at least two burglars to help Mr. CrockFace.

Reward: 70 XP

_____________________________

"Come with me, I have something that would be of great help to you," says CrockFace, he then walks in a certain direction with Allyn following right behind him.

Their journey lasted for at least 20 minutes until they got to the wall of the city and took the super stairs that were leading to the top.

The enormous wall looks way bigger up close, and railways were built on every side at the top of the wall.

The city looked so endlessly vast from this angle; it is unbelievably large that different layers of walls were assembled to cover every small part of the city with three main walls as its foundation. This makes it look no different from a very difficult maze, and this is also one reason railroads were innovated to help civilians get to their various destinations way more quickly than otherwise.

With CrockFace's help, both he and Allyn bud transport on the high-tech train. They were other players in here also, countless of them, to be more precise. Though Allyn still couldn't tell NPC and Players apart, and this is a problem that needed to be solved.

"I live very close to Foundation One," CrockFace broke the silence, "That's where we are headed,"

"Foundation One?"

"It seems you are still new to all of this,"

"Yes, I am," Allyn replied.

"Ok, then I guess a few geographical descriptions won't hurt," says CrockFace, "Foundation One' refers to the cities that are located and protected by the outermost layers of the titan wall."

"There are three Founding Walls namely Outer, Middle, and Inner Wall, and as you can see, this is where other wall branches are connected,"

Allyn nods in understanding. He could only imagine how much time and effort were put to develop such a realistic world.

The journey to CrockFace's residential place took a lot longer than expected, but thankfully, they were getting close, or at least, that's what it seems.

Several vehicles are all moving from one place to another. Many of them were levitating just a few meters from the ground.

AI robots are also a common sight in this world. However, what caught Allyn's attention was an enormous robot with multiple legs, like a spider. Inside the transparent glass, two persons are controlling its movements as they kept moving onward.

"Sorry, we would have gotten to our destination if I had my vehicle with me," CrockFace said.

"You left your car behind?"

"No, it got stolen,"

"As usual," Allyn mumbles.

They passed through a massive entrance that's currently wide open. In this area, they are multiple strange existences, just like CrockFace.

"This is an area where Beast Men are more commonly seen," says CrockFace.

This place is called The Intellect_MonsterLand, which gives an obvious emphasis.

These creatures, just like Mr. CrockFace, are quite similar to a magical beast, except they attained intelligence which puts them higher than their fellow beast counterparts.