Green Plum
Zane blinked his eyes. He was lying in a transparent pod. This was the resurrection centre in the capital city of Bevan. Each city had a resurrection centre near the city gate.
Zane opened the old pod and stepped out. Next to him, another pod was opened and a young girl also stepped. She had pink hair and red eyes.
A little smile appeared on Zane's lips before it disappeared. He was not playing that persona here anymore.
The girl's eyes lightened as she saw him and she walked towards him.
She wore a white shirt and skirt. Her face was exquisite.
"Hello, I am Green Plum. I am a Mage, Level 8. What about you?" A clear and pleasant voice said.
Zane recalled that on the forums, it is said that the worst thing one can do is online dating in Parallel. you had no single idea how the person looks outside the game.
Moreover, he was playing a calm and mysterious persona in this account. He stared at the girl for a while, his voice low as he responded, "You can call me, The Book Keeper."
Green Plum reexamined the man before her. She was sure he was not an NPC but his name was truly NPC like.
"Oh! Book Keeper, that's a unique name."
"Kind Fan!" A thin man howled as he forcibly opened the cover of his Pod. He quickly climbed out and rushed to the resurrection centre. His face was twisted, looking like someone out for blood.
"It seems like he was killed by someone now."
Zane thought as much. Although a large number of the deaths in Parallel were due to dungeons and ruins. Pvps we're not rare either. It was a favourite sport and many people frequented centres where Players would battle other players.
Zane did not respond as he walked out of the resurrection centre. His stride was fast and he did not bother to look back.
The girl quickly caught up with him, "Brother, Ah! Please wait up." She smiled pleasantly, "I just waited to ask you if you have joined any guild or party yet."
The handsome man looked at her. His silver eyes were unnerving. It was less of a grey and more of a stone white. The gaze of those eyes was piercing.
However, for every person you invite into the Rogue Guild, there is an amount of money paid. For the money, Green Plum ignored those eyes. After all, ignoring her was one of the best reactions she had gotten when scouting.
Green plum chuckled awkwardly, "I am a scout from the Rogue Guild." She began to speak, eyes glowing as she fell into her element. "Rouge Guild is one of the best guilds you can find. It accepts every class and you will form a party with the most trustworthy people. We always have the back of our members."
"Not only that, Rouge Guild has a very high rank. Our guild leader, StoneCrypt is number fifteen on the main tank ranking. Our guild also offers amazing benefits, unlike many other guilds. What do you think?"
The surroundings still remained silent as her audience quietly gazed at her. Green Plum coughed. She had said so much and this man had not even replied. Was this person human?
Letting loose a sigh, she asked, "Are you an NPC?"
Zane's eyes twitched. A bold idea began to dance in his mind.
"I am the BookKeeper. Would you like to purchase a book?"
Green Plum's eyes widened. That standardized way of talking was something only an NPC could possess. Of course, someone could just be playing pranks on her. She felt a little indignant.
"Yes, I would like to purchase a water element AOE skill for a low-level player." She said, a little smile trying to appear on her lips.
AOE skills were not rare but most of them were skills available to high-level players.
It is extremely hard to find an AOE skill book for a mage under level 10.
Zane felt a sense of relief. He felt that he had not thought it over and had even been a little impulsive. However, the skill book Green Plum had asked for was nothing special. He had loads of such skill books.
"In Parallel or reality. Or both?"
Green Plum swallowed, her eyes were completely fixed on him, not blinking once, "Can I see the skill book?"
Zane passed her a skill book. A greedy look appeared on her face as she almost grabbed the book from him.
Green Plum's face contorted with surprise, shock and joy as she stared at the skill book that the book Keeper had taken out.
{Skill: Water Web
Skill Description: Every day, the Long Fin Spider spins a web. This spell would continuously flood the earth for four seconds and those within its Area of Effect would be subjected to continuous damage that grew weaker with every passing second. Consumes 100 MP
Level Requirement: Level 5
Skill Cooldown: 12 hours
Class Limitations: Mage, Elementalist}
She clenched the skill book tighter. The skill was not one that continuously consumed MP. Her throat felt dry.
"How much is this skill book?"
"It costs 5000 Rands in Parallel and 50,000 Rands in Reality." The prices were very fair. Not too cheap or expensive. Just right.
Green Plum forgot everything about recruiting him into the Rogue Guild. She earned around 7,000 Rands a month and she intended to save to buy a wand at Nicole but this moment...
Green Plum hastily bought a buyer contract and signed it, passing it to Zane to sign.
"I will buy the skill book."
Zane signed the contract without any flair. It was another one of Parallel precaution. With the contract, the delivery of the goods will be done within 24 hours. Of course, the seller is permitted the use of a Parallel delivery service for a certain price.
The moment he penned down his name, he could hear a familiar beep signalling the transfer of the money into his account.
Green Plum took back the contract. The notification that announced the reduction of the money in her account by 55,000 Rands made everything more real. A large smile donned on her face.
"Thank you. Where would I find you again?"
"At the Book Pavilion."
Green Plum nodded in confusion before she logged out. Zane also hurried to log out.
He got up from the game capsule. The mysterious and calm look was nowhere to be seen. Instead, his brows were furrowed. Rumours we're good for a starting business. He just hoped that he was not making a mistake playing an NPC today.
He picked the transporter and inputted Green Plum address before placing the skill book instead.
The transporter did not move or disappear. Zane was a little confused, he opened the transporter but the book was gone.
****
Green Plum had the weirdest day. She had died during her party raid at the Boulevard Dungeon. The new healer, Marigold was standing there, and watching her with a panicked look on her face as her health dwindled away.
She had gotten up at the resurrection center, intending to make her way back to the dungeon when she met a handsome man in ancient robes.
Parallel was not empty of good looking men as even the ugliest of men would configure their looks. The man's skin was paler than what was deemed a healthy skin tone and he had the oddest pupils. In a VR game with different hair and eye colours, he stood out.
She had tried to start a conversation with him but he had just continued to watch her in that unnerving way. No human would gaze at someone like that, he had to be an NPC.
He said that he was a Bookkeeper. Was he a new story quest that Parallel released? She had bought an AOE skill book from him. Hopefully, with this skill, she would join a better party and start raiding RP dungeons.
She yawned and got out of the game capsule. She checked the nutrient chamber, refilling it and resetting her alarm. She needed to start around to receive the delivery from Parallel. They are normally fast so, within the next six hours, the skill book would be in her hands.
Her Atlas beeped and a message from Fred, the party leader entered.
'Sorry about today. Marigold said she panicked. She is still new so let's bear with her."
Green Plum rolled her eyes, If it was in reality, she would be dead. Finished. Gone.
She brought out a bottle of water and drank it as she headed to the parlour.
She paused.
Her eyes had got the sight of something weird on her bed. Green Plum went back into the bedroom. It was a black book that looked extremely familiar.
She opened it. It was the Water Web skill book.
"Ah! What…"
She felt her day was getting even weirder. She could only seek advice from the experts.
She turned her Atlas to tablet mode and logged into the Parallel Forum.
"Today was the craziest...."