Sticking Together

"Alright, before we log out," Luke said, "we should distribute the evolution gems."

He brought out a pouch, half full with a few types of small gems. Under the gazes of the other two, Luke poured everything out on the table they were sitting at.

"While most of them did come from our recent fight, I had seventeen Physique, twelve Agility, and three Recovery gems stored up with this." Luke then started to calculate what they received from the recent fight. "Taking into consideration, I guess the battle got us, Twenty-seven Physique, Eight Agility and six Recovery enhancing gems."

"That's quite a number for such a short fight," Rin mused, easily believing every word of his old friend.

"Rin, since your contribution is the most in this battle, you can take your pick first." Luke turned his head towards the only teen in the group. "Elise is fine with it."

Rin grunted, looking at the mostly red and orange gems. "I guess you guys don't have any green ones. Then I fear I can only take Physique Enhancing Gems at this moment."

"Spirit Enhancing Gems seemed to be one of the rarest," Luke commented offhandedly. "We barely managed to get four in all of our playtimes."

"I guess you haven't kept them for me." Rin exhaled.

"No, Elise used all four of them the very first day."

"Where did you get them, anyway?" Rin asked, interested, as those gems were what he lacked the most.

Of course, he hadn't seen a single Mind or Fortune enhancing gems, but they weren't his top priority at this moment. And probably would never be.

Luke narrowed his eyes, hesitating for a bit. "From a tree," he said vaguely. "Since you're here, we can search for such trees later. Anyway, I can only take Physique enhancing gems, and from your tone, it seemed only Elise among us has Agility and Recovery."

Rin cocked his head to face the adorable girl, glimpsing at her in a new light. "How many attributes do you really have?"

Elise was a little slow to answer as Luke butted in. "Rin, that's impolite to ask."

"Dude, I'm merely curious about some virtual property which doesn't have any practical value in the real world, not about her sizes."

"But they do have real-world values," Luke argued. "If you consider how virtual reality took over the world, it is one of the most valuable resources one could possess at this moment for most people."

"Not to me," Rin snorted and turned to face Elise. "Anyway, if you're uncomfortable or simply don't want to, don't bother to tell. It's completely fine."

"No, it's alright," Elise said, her face still reddish from the sun and vomiting. "I know most pro players like to keep their stats and skill levels as much of a secret as they could, but I don't really aim to become a pro. Other than Agility and Recover, I have Physique, Spirit, and Charm."

"Five awakened attributes," Rin laughed to himself. "I guess I'm not really a top dog."

"I merely have two," Luke grumbled. "Physique and Mind."

"Haven't seen even a single gem related to Mind yet," Rin commented, rubbing his cheek. "Anyway, you should be aware you need at least four attributes to rank up."

"I have done my homework," added Luke, nodding. "According to my sources, most players have two or fewer attributes. It seemed only you and Elise are the lucky ones."

"How about the player who got an Origin Mark out of the lottery?"

"I haven't heard of it yet, though I fear most people would conceal all about it as you did."

"Dude, I'm not concealing anything, just find it a bother to explain everything to you," Rin grunted. "Fine, I'll show you the details of it. Let me find it on the status page first."

Rin scrolled through the metallic wristwatch to find the tab of his Origin mark. Upon finding it, he maximised the holographic tab for everyone to see.

"It's merely a seed," Rin added, as their entire attention moved to the information in the tab.

"Interesting," Luke said unwittingly as he got to the end of the read. "The Demerit will make the game more annoying, I guess."

"Or more enjoyable," Rin countered, "depends on your perspective, I guess."

"Anyway, back to the distribution," Luke said, pulling everyone's attention back to the small pile of gems. "Since this is an early beta, I have a proposition to make."

Luke seemed to have a lot on his plate, but Rin could easily detect Luke was coming with mouthfuls of boring phrases to get to a point. Rin was already tired after the long day and the fight. He didn't want to be bored anymore.

"If you're going to say: let's help each other and grow to the best of your abilities and propose that we stick together, then I'm out."

Luke shot him a glare, evidently more upset at Rin 'cause he cut him off than what he actually said.

"I'm just proposing to stick together for early adaption in the game." Luke could only cut to the chase now, as Rin hit the mark with his comment. "If you don't like it, we can go our own ways. Besides, isn't that you who said, 'This is the beauty of virtual reality. It brings people of different origins and cultures, as they impacted others' life.'?"

"When did I say that?" Rin asked, as if he couldn't believe in himself.

"You were probably quoting Aunt Alina," Luke said, "but that's beside the point. I remember you like to explore, banding together with new people every now and then. Did you abandon that too after you retire?"

"Nah, I'm simply against you slaving me day and night in this game." Rin cranked his neck in both directions. "As I told you before, I can't bother to put in all that effort anymore. I merely play for fun."

"It seemed your definition of "fun" has changed too," Luke commented, narrowing his eyes. "Before, soloing a boss was fun for you, or PK-ing a group of elites on your own. Now, is it simply chilling around on your own?"

"People change," Rin said. "Moreover, I assure you a boss raid or player-killing. None of that would be fun if you're alone in this game. The pain and brutality of this game are off the chart."

"That should convince you to stick together even more."

Rin blinked, considering his formal captain's words. "You got a point there," Rin said as he exhaled.

Worrying about other things, he simply forgot about the simple truth. He guessed it happens to him just too often. Alone, he would have to fight and survive painstakingly against those disgusting monsters if he wanted to keep playing—which he absolutely would like to do. However, with a couple of capable individuals around him, it would be a lot easier, and could even be fun.

"So you'll stick around?" Luke asked, hopeful.

"Hmm," Rin hummed in agreement. "I guess so."

"Wait," Elise joined the conversation for the first time. "Wasn't that transition just a bit too quick?"

"What are you talking about?" Rin and Luke asked in unison.

"He took an u-turn on his opinion so easily," Elise said, gesturing to Rin. "I thought he would grumble for more until you'll finally be able to convince him after a lot of promises."

"Well, it isn't over yet," Luke laughed. "But Rin can be reasonable when he likes to be."

"What are you talking about?" Rin snorted. "I'm the most reasonable man in the world."

"Apparently, not the humblest."