Chapter 16

Jhin was able to get home with no problems. He took a brief shower and dinner and by the time he was done, the maintenance was already finished.

And so, lying on his bed with the headgear on his head, Jhin took a deep breath and logged in once again.

The moment he logged on, He was greeted with the sight of a little girl with blonde hair, smiling beside the bed.

She looked at him with a wide smile and spoke with a bright tone.

"Welcome back, Mister!"

Jhin nodded and patted her head. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Mhm!"

He rose from the bed and said, "Give me a few minutes. I'll listen to your report after I fix a few things."

Lily nodded cutely and obediently left the room.

Thud.

After the little girl left, only then did Jhin read the wide game notice in front of him.

[Regional Server [South East Asia] has completed update.

* Daily Quests has been added.

- Since gaining experience points and leveling up has been an issue for majority of the players, we have decided to release daily quests from NPCs that would give a fair amount of exp. (P.S. We will not adjust the difficulties of the dungeons.)

* [Goblin's Nest] has been limited to three entries per day.

* New Monsters added near [Beginner Village] map.

- Goblins

- Greater Slime

- Giant Rats

- Bandits

* New Monster Locations added in [Beginner Village Outskirts] map.

-Underground Crypts

-Bandit Lair

* First Server to Update Reward.

- Congratulations! Regional Server [South East Asia] is the first server to have been updated. Rewards are sent into your mailbox. ]

'Hmm...' Jhin held his chin as he thought, 'As expected. There were changes.'

In his previous life, the appearance of Underground Crypts and Bandit Lairs were only added on the second update of the game where a month or so has passed since the opening of the servers.

'...It's nothing too major. However, at this rate, players are bound to level up faster and get stronger than before. After all, there are many available monster locations to level up and earn money from.'

'Not even the leading guilds are capable of monopolizing all of these areas.'

As for the limited entries to the dungeon, that was already within Jhin's expectations as well. After all, now that the players' growth are faster than before, that would mean that they could start to repeatedly entering the dungeon and earn everything there.

Which would beat the point of adding new monster and locations.

That was why the entry has been limited.

'I should also start setting up a shop for buying monster materials.'

With many available monster location available now, Jhin could buy bulks of monster materials for a cheaper price than they would be in the future. Additionally,

In the end, Jhin concluded that he will have to readjust some of his plans and hasten them due to the development of the game.

His gaze then shifted to the mail icon beside his character health bar.

'The reward gift should be free uncommon primary and secondary weapons for specific classes.

At this stage of the game, uncommon weapons were by far, the most powerful weapons that a newbie could get.

'This would greatly help players in clearing the dungeon.'

And just as he was thinking about opening the mailbox, he suddenly received multiple notifications as his chatbox was flooded with direct messages.

[Discord: You finally went online, you bastard.]

[Discord: And I also know that you were the one who cleared the Dungeon.]

[Discord: Answer me bastard, how did you do it?]

[Discord: Hey!]

[Discord: I know you're there!]

[Discord: Don't ignore me, you narcissistic f*ck!]

All these messages were sent in less than five seconds making Jhin consider whether to block this person or not.

[Discord: Hey!]

[Discord: Hey!]

[Discord: Hey!]

[Discord: Hey!]

[Discord: Hey!]

Seeing that she doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon, Jhin sighed and finally responded.

[Hoarder: What do you want? Also, stop spamming my DMs or I will block you.]

[Discord: Oh? You dare to do that despite knowing who I am?]

[Hoarder: I do? I mean, I made an additional 200,000 USD from you after all.]

[Discord: It was 300,000 you bastard!]

[Hoarder: Yeah, I don't care.]

[Hoarder: Just state your business.]

[Discord: Like I said earlier, I want to know how you were able to clear the dungeon. Additionally, if you recorded your dungeon run, I would like to have that as well.]

A smile appeared on Jhin's face as he typed his next message.

[Hoarder: And your offer?]

.

.

.

.

.

Somewhere on the other side of the Beginner Village, a beautiful woman with sharp crimson eyes could be seen. She was surrounded by a group of players who wore the same black linen tunics which were uncommon grade equipment.

She too was wearing the same tunics and black trousers except her tunics were crimson in colour. Additionally, she had expensive staff hanging from her back.

This woman was naturally Discord, also known as Jasmine De Bevillion.

She clicked her tongue and grumbled, seemingly very unwilling to send her next message.

In the end however, she gritted her teeth and sent it anyways.

[Discord: What's your price?]

'Ugh... I hate those words.'

She already had a vague feeling that she as about to lose money again.

However, as much as she didn't want to buy it, she knew that the information she could buy from him was precious. What's more important is that her intuition told her that this would be a beneficial deal for her.

In the same time however, she feels as if her authority and power was being provoked. Had it been any other person in the world, they would never dare nor have the audacity to make her, the heiress to the Bavellion Family to say those words.

[Hoarder: 1,000,000 USD for the method and 5,000,000 USD for the video.]

"!!!" Jasmine's eyes grew wide at Jhin's answer.

[Discord: You!!!]

[Discord: That's way too overpriced!]

However, just as she said those words, she remembered what happened during their previous trade and immediately sent another message.

[Discord: Don't you dare say you'll raise the price again or I'll cut your tongue!]

[Hoarder: Are you buying or not?]

Jasmine clenched her fists as she gritted her teeth. She could imagine him rolling his eyes, not caring whether she would actually buy or not.

'Somehow... the price he stated was a reasonable one. After all, calculating the impact of this video as well as the profit to be made for being able to clear the dungeon...'

Jasmine held her chin, seemingly in a deep thought.

'However... I'm sure he knows that he could sell his video for a much higher price if he offered them to the leading guild masters.'

She contemplated for a moment and came to a conclusion.

'...He probably wants to keep his identity a secret.'

Then, A sly smirk appeared on her face. 'Maybe I can use that to my advantage.'

.

.

.

.

.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Mister, are you finished?"

Jhin could hear Lily's voice asking from outside the door to his room.

He didn't necessarily need the money from Discord which was why he gave her a consensus.

[Hoarder: The offer is off in 3...]

[Hoarder: 2...]

[Discord: Alright! Deal! Deal!]

[Hoarder: Meet me in the same place and same channel.]

[Discord: When?]

[Hoarder: Right now.]

With that, Jhin finally dismissed the chatbox and turned his attention towards the door.

"It's alright Lily. You can enter now."

The little girl then entered the door with a lovely smile and walked in front of Jhin.

"Hehee.... Mister! Check Lily's level!" Lily urged with a giddy smile.

She was looking forward to getting praised for her hardwork.

Jhin patted her head again before checking her character information screen.

[ Name: Lily Level: 10 (EXP: 12%)

Title: Little Adventurer

Class: Sorcerer

HP: 400/400

MP: 480/480

Status: Healthy

-

Strength: 60

Agility: 47

Intelligence: 48

Vitality: 40

-

Available Attribute Points: 0

Available Skill Points: 8

-

Active Skill(s):

-Fire Ball: Available

Passive Skill(s):

N/A ]

She had indeed done as he asked and even reached level 10 in the process.

"That's great. You've done very well." Jhin patted her head and praised her.

"Hehe...." Lily bashfully looked away but her twitching lips shows that she was happy to get praised.

'It is as I thought... she really is growing similar to a player despite being a resident of this world....'

Although he knew that NPCs were the same as players, he still couldn't help but find her freedom was comparable to one.

The difference between a player and an NPC is that NPCs were given 'roles' that they must fulfill. Subsequently, if they were required to join a party according to a quest, they shall obliged and shall only fulfill their roles on that quest.

But Lily however.... she completely diverged from the role she was given and is now given the freedom equivalent to a player.

'But that would be impossible.... no, It should have been impossible because that would mean that... she managed to escape or changed the system.'

'The only question is.... how?'

His contemplative eyes lingered on Lily who was still looking at him with a warm and joyful expression.

With no apparent clues or answers to his questions, he put his current thoughts at the back of his mind with a sigh.

"It's time to get your second skill." Jhin said as he stood from the bed and prompted the little girl to follow after him.

'Could it be? Maybe Mister would give Lily a really powerful skill as the reward!'

With such thoughts, Lily happily walked beside her benefactor, looking forward to what skill he would get for her.

.

.

.

.

.

"That equipment... did you receive them for being the first to clear the dungeon?"

Standing in front of the Brown Wolf's Inn, Those were Discord's first words as she saw Jhin and Lily appear from the place where they previously traded.

"Oh, it's that Auntie again!" Lily smiled and waved her hand as they walked towards Discord and her companion, The GreatButler. "Hello Auntie!"

"A-auntie?" Discord's eyes twitched as she pointed to herself. "C-could you be referring to me?"

Lily nodded innocently. "Yes, pretty auntie."

"...That first part was correct but the second part? No." Discord leaned down and tried to make a gentle smile. "This pretty sister isn't old enough to look like an auntie so call me sister instead, alright?"

Although she tried to appear friendly towards the child, her smile was far from it. Instead, she looks like she was threatening someone.

It didn't seem intentional however.

"L-Lily is sorry!" The little girl, seemingly terrified from Discord's smile, briefly bowed her head in apology before running behind Jhin's legs.

"...Huh... even threatening a child to compliment you... it seems that you're quite the narcissist yourself." Jhin teasingly remarked while shaking his head as his gaze met Discord's.

Discord only scoffed before standing back up again and approaching closer to him.

"You're late." said Discord.

Jhin rolled his eyes. "By what? A few seconds?"

Discord nodded seriously. "Indeed. As business partners, I expect you to be punctual."

"..." Jhin stared at her for a short while before shaking his head and getting straight to the point.

He extended his hand towards Discord, requesting that she gives her side of the trade first.

Discord looked at his hand before looking back at his gaze and said, "Shouldn't I check the goods first and verify if it is actually worth the price you're selling it.'

"..." Jhin just stared at her, not bothering to response to her worthless probing question.

Seeing the other party remaining silent, Discord only clicked her tongue while rolling her eyes.

"Fine."

As if moving by her affirmation, the old man behind her, The GreatButler called someone and a few minutes later, he turned to them and said, "It is done."

"It should have been sent to the previous card that I gave you." Discord said.

Jhin then briefly checked and confirmed that the agreed amount was indeed there. After doing so, Jhin opened the mail system and sent the video through that method.

"Check your mail." Jhin said before turning around and starting to leave.

Discord frowned at his actions and was about to call out to him.

"Hey wai-"

But she was unable to finish her sentence as spoke while glancing behind them.

"As business partners, should we not respect each other's privacy? I certainly do not appreciate you, snooping around and trying to trace my bank account."

"That..." Discord's face slowly grew cold. "So you knew."

Jhin only scoffed lightly before completely walking away.

Lily stopped, turned around for a bit and bowed her head again. "Goodbye pretty sister!"

She then hastily followed after Jhin who was already fairly distant from them.

Discord's narrowed eyes continued to follow after their figures until their backs completely faded.

"...Should we send someone to follow after them, My Lady?" The GreatButler asked after seeing his master's lingering gaze.

"..." Discord didn't answer and turned her gaze towards the mail icon that had one new notification.

Discord opened it and a system window appeared in front of her.

[ To: Discord

From: Hoarder

Title: I am better as a friend rather than an enemy

Record_GoblinNest_01.mp4

Mail Received at 8/12/XX 04:45 In-game time ]

'How arrogant.' Discord scoffed after reading the title.

She then opened the video and watched in silence.

"..."

The GreatButler who was standing beside his master, started to frown as he saw his master's expression go from tightening in confusion to gaping in silence. Her eyes widening in disbelief.

"...My Lady?"

He tried to call out to his master out of concern but he received no response. The GreatButler couldn't help but turn his gaze towards the empty space where his master must be watching the video.

'Just what could be so shocking that could put such an expression to my usually stone faced master?'

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, in different channel of Beginner Village, Jhin and Lily could be seen walking towards the plaza.

"Mister... Are we getting a different class skill for Lily this time?" Lily asked since she knows that this wasn't the path towards the Sorcerer Establishment.

"Oh, we are." Jhin answered. "However, we're waiting for someone who will join our party."

Lily gasped with a smile as her eyes twinkled.

"Mister, we're going to have a new party member?!"

Jhin chuckled at her enthusiasm. "That's right."

"Oh! Who will it be?!" Lily looked around the plaza in excitement and began pointing towards the other players.

"Mister, is it him? or her? Could it be him? How about that mister over there? Is it him?"

Jhin looked at the chatbox and said, "Unfortunately, it is none of them. Don't worry though, she'll get here soon."