Haroon

《Nice to meet you, Elser!》

"Whoa!" Haroon shouted.

His eye widened as unfamiliar surroundings appeared so suddenly. He was standing in the middle of the square, which seemed to be enormous even at a first glance. The size seems to be a few kilometers wide. He also could see numberless people of numerous races with different costumes gathered in the square.

"The Middle Ages?"

And yes, it was.
The style of architecture and the way the large buildings were built with bricks or stone slabs were very similar to what he learned in history cla.s.s.
He was expecting it to be a medieval themed game as it was most common theme the VR games are based on, but actually standing in the middle of the square and the scale of the square with medieval style felt marvelous, even dreamlike.

“This is amazing!”

He, shocked, was in idle for a considerably long time, and when he got used to the landscape of the buildings, he drew attention to his surroundings.

The square was crowded with so many people; Lovers dilly-dallying, an old couple enjoying the sunlight, kids who seemed to be friends to each other, the weary travellers who looked worn-out from the long trip from different continent, street food sellers, street musicians performing with their hat set in front of them, and artists drawing portraits. All these exotic views caught his eyes. Though no one was giving him any look nor attention to the sudden appearance of him.

He stopped looking around and closed his eyes. He spread his arms wide, wanting and trying to feel the new world with his entire body. The feeling of warm, feathery soft sunlight that can never be felt in the city covered by the barrier, and word carrying the wind that swims and flows in the sea of people surrounded him, just as he could grasp it with his hands.

Everything felt same just as the real world, from the slabs of the street to the walls of the buildings. The hardness and cold surface of it made it difficult to realize that he was in the virtual world. Just as they were advertising, they have implemented extreme reality that could never be compared to VR games Haroon has played. Haroon thought he never wanted to go back to dusty windy District F. Even if it was District A where union offered everything for convenience. Even if it was District S.

"I AM HAROON, NOT JUNGMIN ANYMORE!!!"

As he shouted like a crazy one, his mind opened wide that he could face the new world as if his life changed.

As if he was mesmerized, he wandered around the square with his eyes, nose, and ears opened, seeing different people, smelling the foods, hearing people talking to each other. As Haroon"s main goal playing the game was different than the other gamers, he was not obsessed with leveling up. Because the fresh and fantastic world of Beyond gave endless sensation to him, he couldn"t realize he was in the virtual world and lost track of time.

The sun was setting.
Between the tall towers of the palace where the emperor lives, the red burning sun was hiding his face.

Haroon has never seen a sunset before. Only the blurred silhouette of it because of the dust. He was admiring the great nature. Indescribable excitement rose in his mind that he wanted to shout out loud. The view that was only in the picture, was happening in front of him, real time. His mind was full of emotion. The sun went over, and street lights of the square were being ignited here and there. That was when he could cool down.

"Well, first things first, I should check my status."

Time just flew by while he was not himself admiring beautiful, great nature. As he checked out how real the environment of Beyond is, he should be focusing on the game.

“Open status window!”

With a simple command, the status window popped up.

Username: Haroon
Race: Human
Cla.s.s: –
Level: 1
t.i.tle: –
Health Point: 150
Mana Point: 150
Strength: 5 Stamina: 5
Intellect: 9 Wisdom: 5
Luck: 7 Agility: 5
S.P.: 0 Hunger: 98/100

As expected, the values of stats were lower than he antic.i.p.ated for. He was worried about it as he heard that Beyond applies player"s actual capability, and it was not far from what he expected for. Stats were given up to 10 for newly created characters, so except intellect and luck, stats were quite low.

Soul Point (S.P.) were empty and there was 6 kind of stats for now. He wondered how many kinds of stats he could get. Even though Haroon wasn"t really familiar with games, he knew that stats take a major part in the game.

"Intellect is high probably because I"ve been reading books, not going outside, and are the others on average at least? Guess I will find it out soon. Well, it"s not gonna be higher than other users. In Beyond, are stats gained by leveling up? or is it gained by doing certain action repeatedly?" Jungmin thought.

And indeed, that was most important thing to him as stats are character"s ability digitized into figures. Speaking of numbers, since there is hunger system he should care about eating too. Tutorial he took earlier told him if hunger drops below 10%, H.P. might drop rapidly or even die from it.

It"s time for him to check what he has.

“Open Inventory Window!”

1 Wooden sword
1 Casual cloth
10 Bread
Ident.i.ty plate

10 Silver

"What? This is it?” he was disappointed.

He sighed. There were 32 slots in total, and only 5 were filled. No other thing can describe a poor beginner more than this. Thin shirt and cotton pants with a sandal he was wearing were most shabby clothing of all people in the square. Well, yes it is more strange to have nice clothing as a total beginner.

"Hmm, A wooden sword, I guess it is pretty similar to other games that you level up by killing monsters." he thought.

First things first, he took out the only weapon he had and opened stat info of it.

“Wooden sword stat!”

Wooden sword
Cla.s.s: Common
Attack Damage: 2~5
Durability: 15/15
Requirement: none

An ordinary wooden sword crafted without much care. But depending on the user, killing power might vary. It is made with considerably solid wood.

"I should be collecting info as well. But, where are the other players?

The square was quite big, and there were a lot of people, but he couldn"t see other outlanders(players) with clothing just like him. Beyond didn"t have the t.i.tle and name indication of NPCs that the other games usually have, so it was even harder to find. But as the time goes, people with shabby clothing – which was one of the points that players differed from the NPCs – naturally gathered to one point

Maybe all players thought the same thing, that it is safer to stick together as they don"t know anything about this world.

“Hey! Have you find anything yet?” A stranger asked hitting Haroon"s shoulder.

It was quite painful that he couldn"t hide cringe between his eyes, but Haroon couldn"t show his anger and shook his head. In reality or in a game, he was still too bashful. Users shared their informa… well at least talked about what they found out.

"Harry, even you didn"t find how to level up?"
“Well, yes.” a man who was called Harry replied with a sigh.
"But you reached Ranker of the Another World. If you can"t, who can among us?"
"We shouldn’t have chosen this starting point. This city is just way too large it takes ages to walk to the hunting field. So inconvenient."

Users were mainly talking about hunting. Haroon walked between the users and gave all his attention to the talking, and it seemed no one found hunting field yet. Come to think of it, if they found a hunting field, they won"t be here. They will be hunting. At that moment, someone walked toward the crowd of users and shouted at them, frowning.

"For Union"s sake! They won"t allow us to leave the castle. The guards won"t let you leave saying we are too weak that we will die right away, no matter how we beg we are going to hunt!"
"Dang! Then how are we supposed to gain experience?"
"Maybe we need to complete some quests or train at the training hall?
"I"ve been asking around, and no NPCs seemed to know what training hall is. Is there one after all?"
"What kind of game never provides any info? Have they ever did beta testing?"

Disgruntled voices burst out here and there. Since there was no info provided in prior, everyone seemed to be a.s.suming Beyond will have the similar pattern the gamers should take in other games as well. And it wasn"t.

"And from who can you get the quest?"
"No idea. There is no NPC giving out quests at all. NPCs of Beyond are really like other users, not NPCs. No idea how to play this game."
"Maybe I should log out and what others did in the different area. We don"t know anything at this point."
"You got the point."

People decided to log out and search for more information as quite long time has pa.s.sed already. It hasn"t been long that the Beyond is launched, but there were already some people posting info, even it is minor things, hoping to gain some reputation, or just to show off.

Most of the users began logging out, but Haroon stayed and stood in the corner of the square, and stared at the night sky. It is clear that he was in a game, seeing unfamiliar surroundings and environment, but Haroon was so confused because it was more real-like than reality.

‘This is just so real. Even more than the reality.’ he thought.

As his thought, you could never find anything unnatural from the NPCs, even compared to the users. Except that they are not surprised by users appearing and disappearing, they were not any different from the real people enjoying the night sky.

"Let"s look around for more. I"m not in hurry of leveling up. Finding the way to develop myself should be my first goal."

Haroon left the square with a comfortable mind. The main road was dividing into four, which two were still bright. Haroon guessed out that those two were the merchant district. He leisurely continued his light steps to one of them.

“Wow! That is some kind of big deal!” Said Haroon.

The main road was wide enough for four carriages to pa.s.s at the same time. The sides of the road were full of shops selling every different kind of things. Not even the main road, but lanes and alleys were full of shops too. Haroon couldn"t figure, not even guess out how big the merchant district is.

There even were numerous shops selling products you cannot find in real life now. Handicrafts were the main ones. It was hard to find hand-made products in real life. No matter how detail it was, there were no products that computers with precision machines cannot make. Woods, metals, ores, papers, leather and glued handicrafts, there were so many kinds, and they were so beautiful, probably because of the cares of the craftsman.

Haroon couldn"t close his mouth wandering around the merchant district. Every shop had full of different stocks, and the roads were so lively, full of sellers and buyers.

‘I really want to live in a world, if it is like this!" He thought. "Only if I had money, No, only I had a job to earn money, this is the world I want to live in."

Considering how hard it is to get a job in real life, This world was full of dreams.

Unlike other games, there were no one giving him an attention, nor any interest. If the city doesn"t have any hunting ground, There is, of course, training halls, special events or NPCs giving out quests that could subst.i.tute the absence of hunting ground. It wasn"t so true in this world.

Why did Necomwall create a virtual world like this? What do they mean by they have not created a game, but they have created another reality? Haroon"s eyes gleamed for a moment while thinking of princ.i.p.al things.

"I should get a job, No, I should find a thing to do. To settle down in this world just as if I am living another life, I should melt into this world just like real world.

What he wanted to do is not only to train his body but to have an opportunity of education that he couldn"t have because of unwilling accidents. To do that…….

"I need to learn. Where should I be heading? Of course, to the school!. d.a.m.n, I really need overall knowledge about this world." he thought.

Haroon looked around. He couldn"t dare to ask anyone because they seemed too busy. Of course, Haroon was not really good at conversing as he was too shy.
Soon, a lady came into his eyes. She had an aura of, extraordinary? He didn"t know how to describe her in the words.

Tall height for a female and glamorous figured lady was wearing a leather armor and was carrying a long sword on her back. She didn"t seem to be a knight. She was walking and looking around with idly steps like as she had nothing to do.

‘She doesn"t seem to be a user…… She has a sword, does that mean she"s a swordswoman?’

Haroon couldn"t tear his eyes away from her. Her existence and aura were quite charismatic and unique. Her walks without hesitation made people stay away from her route, which made her existence stand out even more. She was wearing a full-flowing blouse in her armor, wide leg leather pants and wide leather belt. She was walking here and there, talking to people, picked up a blue fruit from a fruit store and ate it, chose a bracelet from an accessory store and wear it. Without paying.

"Wait, what is wrong with this girl? Is she a gangster of this district?" he thought.

He couldn"t make sure of her ident.i.ty, but it was clear that she and shop owners know each other very well. Many people walking in the street knew her too. He could tell because he saw there were a lot of people talked to her. They were just probably saying h.e.l.lo though. While watching her moves, Haroon noticed three people with a suspicious aura.

‘a.s.sa.s.sins?’ he thought

Probably not. a.s.sa.s.sins usually don’t appear in the bright place like this. Moreover, they won"t be showing their hostility in an open area. They were watching the lady behind the goods displayed high up in the front of a shop. Haroon saw a reflection of light from their waist. It was definitely a weapon. When he saw that, he felt that their looking of the lady was full of murderous intent. The lady didn"t seem to notice, but Haroon saw and conclude. They, have targeted her.

"It doesn"t seem good. I"ve got to tell her." He thought it is better to tell her that she is in danger, no matter what kind of person she is.

He was on the first step when those three guys began sneaking on the lady, hiding in a crowd. Haroon hurried his moves. One of them was putting his hand in his coat, which seemed to be the preparation of their attack. The lady was about to encounter them, but she held a person"s hand and started talking friendly. The a.s.sa.s.sins approached her back, Haroon saw a pointy knife when they took their hands out from the coat and shouted throwing his entire body on one of the a.s.sa.s.sin"s back.

"Look out!" Haroon shouted.
"Ugh!" an a.s.sa.s.sin cried.

Haroon falls to the ground after hitting the guy with hair tied with golden string. Alone. The a.s.sa.s.sin was surprised and swung his sword toward Haroon and cut a flock of Haroon"s forelocks. The lady noticed the existence of three a.s.sa.s.sins.

“Chaaaaap!” She shouted as she took her sword out and swung it.

The blades struck together and made metallic sounds. Haroon couldn"t see what was going on as he fell down, but from the sound of it, he knew the lady, fortunately, blocked the a.s.sa.s.sin"s attacks.

“Run!” It was a man"s voice.
“f.u.c.k! You f.u.c.king burglar screw everything up!"
“You fool! The witch"s eyes are on us!”

Only making one attempt killing her, they ceased their attack and ran away to different directions. The lady was about to chase them but stopped as she saw Haroon getting up unsteadily. Haroon"s nose was bleeding, he must have hurt hitting the ground.

“Are, are you OK?” Haroon asked the lady, with full of pains from his knees and nose.
“Yes, thanks to your help.” she replied.

Her looks on Haroon was somewhat strange and was far from thankfulness. So is her voice unlike Haroon"s expectation. It felt being yelled at after toiling for a work. Haroon relieved the feeling thinking that he wasn"t wanting to be paid back, nor for justice.

“I"m glad you are safe.” Said he.

The lady stared at him as a reply. Haroon couldn"t figure out where to look, so he just stood there like a dork, waiting for the nose to stop bleeding.

"The name’s Elser. Thanks to your help, I was able to avoid the danger.” It was her who broke the silence.
“I"m…… Haroon. I just saw them watching y……ou for an opportunity to kill you so…………. Do you know them?”
“They are probably from Dark Merchant Guild.”
“Dark Merchant Guild?”

Haroon was murmuring the name in his mouth because he heard it for the first time. Elser didn"t seem to think like that and was giving scary look at Haroon. Her gaze got intense, Haroon got chills.

‘Is she thinking I"m one of those guys?" He thought.

At once, Haroon thought wouldn"t it be better to get away from where he stood. It just wasn"t the att.i.tude of someone who just got help would make toward someone who helped them. Her gaze was very uncomfortable too.
He got angry a bit.

It was all because it was an emergency situation. If he was making a rational decision, Haroon, who saw a blade, wouldn"t have thrown his body to the attackers. He refused to yield at the gaze and look directly at her face.

At close view, he could see how sharp-features Elser had. Widely waved silver colored hair was tightly tied which seemed clumsy, but it was good because it wasn"t so formal. There were few points of face and neck bothering his eyes, but he couldn"t see clearly as he had to look away because he couldn"t stand her stare anymore.

After sharply staring at every corner of Haroon"s face, Elser finally disarmed the doubts and smiled brightly at Haroon.

“Thank you. Without your help, I could have been stabbed." Said Elser.
“No, don"t mention it. I was just worried…….”

She seemed to have figured out who the attackers were. Also, her firm confidence was shown very well on her dignified figure. He thought maybe she didn"t need any help at all.

“Are you a traveler?” Elser asked.
“Sorry? Oh yes, I am.”

In virtual worlds, users are considered as travelers. Of course, NPCs doesn"t know he is a user, but Elser thought he is a traveler, probably because of Haroon"s shabby clothes.

"You may have saved my life from them, what can I do to return your favor"
"You don"t have to. I don"t think I did so much."

Haroon felt chills from her sudden change in att.i.tude and smiling at him. He thought it was best to avoid her as much as possible. However, what Elser continued with her words changed his mind.

“It seems that you are a new traveler who just arrived here. Just tell me if you want some help. I will help if there"s anything I can."

That changed his view on her as well. She might be a lady with a kind mind, rather than first impression he had. It seemed she is warm hearted. Well, he didn"t have enough courage to check the beauty of her face.

“Well then. Indeed I am new here, so may I ask a few things? Said he.
"As much as you want." She replied.

She giggled, surprised as if she wasn’t expecting that. She liked how this new traveler is intending to only ask few things, even though she said she would help anything she could.

"Well, I was going to get some Ice cream. Let"s talk about it eating some."
“Sounds good. But I don"t have a lot of money though..….”

He wanted to hear a lot of things about this city, well, this world, so there is no reason not to rejoice her suggestion. He might be able to hear a lot from the talks while eating ice cream. But there was only 10 silver in his inventory. He was just worried about it as he doesn"t know how the price is like.

"Tee hee! I owe you a lot so I should be treating you. And Ice cream isn"t so expensive."
"I can"t let that happen. We"ve just met, and of course, I should be treating you as I"m the one being helped.”

Her expression changed to somewhat strange. She realized that he isn"t thinking he helped her. Elser has not told him who she is, but it seemed he already has guessed who she is.

"It is really important to me to know anything about here." Said Haroon.

Haroon was intending to ask general information about the place and how to get some education. Of course, Bell could find it out, but there is no way that kind of information would be up on the internet already.

“Let"s go whoever pays it. I happened to be boring as my friend went out for a date already when I got to castle late as I was busy today.”

Elser reached out her hand to Him first. He hesitated for a bit but held her hand at the end.

She was more active than she looks. If her hands weren"t so knotty and rough, he might have thought she is just an ordinary lady. Maybe she is broad-minded too.

“Haroon is an odd name. I"m not from here as well. When I was a little kid, I followed my parent who is mercenaries, all the way from Vottnis.”

How could he know where Vottnis is? It is important to have right subject to converse, and It doesn"t work already. Fortunately, Elser was open minded and was not the type who talks watching the opponent"s reaction. She saw Haroon"s confused face and said

“You said you are a traveler and It seems you don"t know Vottnis, where is famous for producing excellent wines.”
“Ah…… It is my first time to travel so I don"t know about anything. Even the Empire.…….”
“Oh my, then you are a complete beginner?”
“Yeah.”

He replied with a weak voice, but Elser wasn"t bothered by his att.i.tude. When they got to the Café, he was more concerned about the price rather than the conversation with Elser. It couldn"t be helped because of his timid personality.

"Thank Union!"

An ice cream cost 80 bronze. He didn"t know how much 1 silver is, but usually, it is 100 bronze. Only after then, there was a place in his mind to see around and sighed a relief.

"How old are you, though?" Elser asked.

He wasn"t sure why she is wondering that.

"I am 18. But why…?"
"Hehe, You are a same age as me. I guessed so. Then can I talk to you informally?"¹
"Sorry? l……Oh, sure."
"Haha! You are really like a fool."
"Pardon?"

He thought he chose wrong one to talk to. She was talented in bamboozling people around. This lady hurt his brain. The lady who is very mature and has a strange area made Haroon go crazy.

"Sorry if I am being too friendly to you as a person who"ve just met. Please allow me. You were the first man talked to me first. No man does in this town.
“Well that"s…….”

She was active enough to talk informally right way.¹ And she says there is no man talk to her? He wasn"t sure what she meant.

‘Maybe she belongs in the dark world." he thought.
"And moreover, you throw your body to alert the attack. You"ve saved my life," said she, smiling and blinking her eyes.

However it sounds, she was saying it as a joke. In fact, he wasn"t sure if he actually has been helped. From her att.i.tude, it seemed that she was already expecting it. It was hard to believe yet, but she also seemed she had the ability to sense that. He is probably right. Haroon was confident with his observation.

"Well, I belong to more of… rough side in this metropolis. I do look rough and I caused a lot of troubles, so no mans even try to talk to me anymore. Except for those capital city guards. Well, they are more like friends, not mans." Said Elser.

Haroon just kept nodding. There wasn"t much to talk. He doesn"t know who she is, so there was no word to respond.

"Looks rough? She doesn"t seem so." he thought.

A waiter came and turned on a small lamp which seemed a magic lamp. With bright light, Haroon was able to see her face more clearly. She was interested about that, and looked his face and said

"You are braver than I thought. Is it OK even I told you I am a scary person? Are YOU fine with that?"
"Sure am."

As he was speaking in a calm tone, Elser was pleased about it and smiled. Her face was not so pretty, but sharp, burning bright eyes were really charismatic. And her face is…….

‘What"s that?’ Haroon thought.

He could see something odd about the left side of her face. There was a long scar that wasn"t easy to see without a bright light or a daylight. From the forehead to right above the lips. There were long scars even on the chin and right below her ears. As she smiles, those scars wiggled.

There were even more scars. There was one on the deep part of her collarbone that was exposed, one on the neck. Now he could understand why the men wouldn"t talk to her. That, however, was not enough to make Haroon feel scary as he saw so many horrific corpses working in the cremation. Only the pity of having that many scars as her t.i.tles, considering her age.

"Am I odder not to be surprised by that?" he thought.

It felt oddly strange to feel calm seeing those many scars and her sharp eyes.

“Well, you said you"ve got things to ask?”
“Yup! Actually, I don"t really know about the world I am living in. Whatever it is, tell me about anything you know about this world..”
“Hmm, and it turns out you are a complete hillbilly. Is that all you"ve got to ask? But you didn"t have t…… Well, You"ve found a right person. I know every bit of this city.”
“And if you would, about the world as well. I… I was living in a q..quite remote village.”

Because of stuttering, Elser didn"t find it suspicious about Haroon not knowing anything about the world. There were plenty of people not knowing about the world except the around of their living place. There was a feudal system which limited moving and hostile monsters are spread out in the world. So if it is a place where soldiers or mercenaries are hardly found, it might be more common.

"Don"t worry! I will tell you everything." Said Elser.

He found her confidence quite cute. He suddenly wondered her ident.i.ty, but he didn"t dare to ask. Haroon focused on Elser"s voice as he eats ice cream.

The planet the virtual world is based on consist of three continents and four oceans. The continent he is on is Sirus. Muro continent is on the east, and Tyres is on the west. However, the oceans were twice larger than the continents, so there was no continental interaction except very few merchants.

On Sirus, there is three Empires and 31 countries. The one that Elser and He were in is Teronn. The empire was established 801 years ago. Depending on the situation, the Empire and other two check each other by becoming allies or enemies. Other two Empires are established around the same time. Some historians claimed the first Emperors of each Empire were friends to each other.

Sirus had more mountains than the fields, and there were a lot of big-scale raids by monsters were quite frequent, so there weren"t many reasons to have a war.
From common monsters like Orcs to the Trolls or ogres well known for being superior monsters. And their large habitat is widely spread all over the continents, so their raids on humans were quite frequent. So empire scale wars are very rare.

"Hmm. In this world, humans are not the most superior species. This state might be better." Haroon thought.

The war between the humans won"t occur a lot if they have a common enemy. In history, there were several wars killing each other between the humans, but that wasn"t the case in this world. If they don"t cooperate, they won"t be able to survive.

And Phiren, which is the capital city of Teronn is a large city with a population of millions, and the center of Empire"s economy, culture and politics. It was a city with the great role.

“But why did you come all the way to Metropolis? I don"t suppose you are lost, but it doesn"t seem you have ability nor qualification to travel."
“Well, that"s…….”

He didn"t know how to explain to Elser, who must be an NPC. She, however, is so real to be an NPC, so he had no idea how to deal with. In previous games he played, NPCs didn"t really have an expression, and they were more like guides who watches and a.s.sists user"s game experience. But it was different in Beyond. They are the live existences who didn’t so differ from him.

"Actually……"

Haroon was about to reveal his ident.i.ty as an outlander from the another world, but he lied because he didn"t know how she will take that. It felt odd to lie to her, but he couldn"t do else as it was like living in a real world. If it was one of the other games, he wouldn"t have to concern about this as NPCs already know that users are the users.

Haroon said he is an orphan, and lived in a deep mountain that is far from the metropolis that takes about a week, and he has been living with his grandfather who is so sick that he couldn"t even move. As the mountain was so bleak, there weren"t so many monsters so except for the foods, there haven"t been so many problems surviving. But after his grandfather has died, he couldn"t live there alone so he left his place and came to the city.

"Oh my! I"m really sorry to hear that. That makes sense how you know nothing about the world."

She nodded several times with expression full of sympathy.

"My body is like this as I was lack enough eat. You know, for two days I"ve been thinking that to survive in this world I will have to study and learn a lot of things. Do you know a place for that? 10 silver is all I have though."

Elser"s expression was changing several times with pitifulness, and as if she made her mind, she drank the juice bottoms up. Her eyes were burning with something.

"Alright! I"m recommending you because I liked the way how you didn"t scare my looks."
"T…to where?"
"Just listen following me. They will be closed soon.

Haroon hurried his way out holding Elser"s hand.

There were still a lot of people doing their things on the street. He noticed a thing different from walking alongside her.

People were avoiding Elser"s eyes as if they saw something wrong. Some people were hardly looking at her with fear in their eyes. Oddly, quite a lot of people with scary looks even ran away from her as soon as they saw her.

‘Who is this lady?’ Haroon thought.

Considering her scars she wouldn"t be an ordinary lady, but those shouldn"t be the reason for the people to avoid a girl with some charismas. Even if she belonged in a dark world, such as gangsters, this kind of reaction was a little bit too much. Wondering about it, Haroon walked about twenty minutes and arrived at a big building.

The walls were so long that he couldn"t see the end of it. He could see the buildings with vivid outline through the c.h.i.n.ks of the main gate, which was being watched by two guards.

“Stop right ther…Hugh! MISS!” One of them approached and retreat right away noticing Elser.
“Yeah, that"s me. Open the gates!”

The guard gave the sign over the gates, and the giant iron gate opened slowly.

"What is this place?"
"Well, one of the places I usually stay."

Elser"s explanation didn"t answer his question. Why she brought him here, and who she actually is. He walked with her again, and a building lighted with magic lamps came into their sight.

"This is the HQ of Mercenary Guild of Teronn Empire." Said Elser
"I see. The scale is amazing."
"Yup. There is a mercenary academy inside as well. The best place for a weak traveler, like you, to learn about the world, and learn several knowledge and skills to survive all alone."
"But… why?"
"Hehe, This is the place you"ll want to go. The building over there is the mercenary academy. Some a.s.sholes call it mercenary training camp.

He guessed out that she meant Knights by a.s.sholes, but he didn"t say anything. He could have never guessed even in the dreams that the place she would bring him to is an academy where they train some mercenaries.

"And This, is the place you usually stay?" Haroon checked."
"Yup. Usually, I would be in directing tour between the mercenary camps, but If I have time, I escorting the merchant as a leader of the squad, like today."
"Really?"

Yes, she does have some scars but he could have never guessed that she would be an instructor guiding the mercenaries. It was hard to believe she would be able to teach sword skill to others considering how she was not even 20.

"I will take care of everything, so just stand right next to me and do nothing. Then you will be able to learn the knowledge, and learn the skills, just as you wanted," said Elser.

Haroon couldn"t say anything, but to nod. He was dragged into some place he could not think of. As they enter the building, they could see a wide place. With some tables and desks at the end of the room.

"Ayyy, Elser! You got back early today."

He thought there was no one, but someone at the desk found her and greeted.

"It wasn"t so fun today. It felt so empty without Seria, and I couldn"t find any pal making trouble in the merchant district."
"I suppose so. Those folks must be sparing their bones and flesh as I beat the RedEagles up. But be careful, their superior guild, Dark Merchant folks might be sharpening their teeth to target ya. Those holed jerks use poisons as well, so one stab, that"s the end."
"You are too late. This guy over here saved my life today."
"What?" he shouted, surprised by Elser"s words, jumped out of the chair and ran to her.

He looked about 30s and seemed hard as if his body was made out of muscles. His overreaction showed how close they were.

"Are you okay? Are you not hurt?" said the guy.
"If this friend didn"t alert me those folks it would have been dangerous. I saw those blue blades as they run away, probably the poison you just mentioned. Only if it went wrong, I could have been dead."
"That"s a relief. If something happened to you…. Ugh. my heart"s pounding just thinking of it."
"Hehe!"

The guy seems to care Elser so much. Haroon thought if they might be lovers, but he couldn"t picture it. Probably just very close friends.

"By the way, did you just say "friend"?" the guy asked.
"Mmhm! Yes. We are friends."
"Friend? To Elser?" ²

This muscular, hard bodied giant"s face was distorted as if he saw something wrong. Haroon didn"t know what Elser was talking about, so he just stood there, saying nothing.

"Why? Can"t I have friends?" Said Elser, raising her eyebrows as if she was shamed by his att.i.tude.
"Yes, Yes you can! This was just my first time hearing that word from you. This pal does look weak, but he is a man. A boyfriend? To Elser, the Silver-haired Witch? How can I not be surprised?" He cried, raising his hands up in the air.

She is being called as Silver-haired Witch? She must be someone then.

"Hahaha! We are just friends. It’s no boy-girl relationship so don"t get it wrong. We became friends because he is the only man who has not feared even after seeing my face."
"Really? This weak pal didn"t?"
"Yeah! He even smiled at me."

The guy wasn"t saying it, but Haroon could see "No way!" in his face. Yes, she looks scary, not girly because of the scars, but it was hard to believe no man ever talked to him. But seeing the guy"s reaction, it seemed true.

"Is Elser that dangerous?" Haroon thought.

He couldn"t understand no matter how deeply he thinks about it.

"My name is Haroon." He bowed at the guy, who was still dazed as he got hit by a hammer in the back of the head, seeing Elser and Haroon alternatively.
"Ah! I"m McKin, the admin of Merc Academy. You are not really like how you look. Anyway, it is nice to meet a brave guy."

McKin looked over Haroon up and down with strong curiosity. Elser didn"t seem to like it and pulled McKin"s arm.

"We need to talk," said Elser to McKin.

They walked to one of the corners. Haroon, left alone, was still in a little bit of daze because he couldn"t keep up with what"s happening. But soon, those two"s voice got loud and Haroon could hear their conversation.

"You want to put him in a bazic training course? Elser, are you serious?"
"Deadly serious. He is weak because of poor diet, but it could get better if he get some training going. Also, one doesn"t really need physical ability to be a mercenary. Like Mr.Geros. He is rather frail but he is still a first cla.s.s mercenary."
"Well, he is, because he is wise, and I don"t think this pal"s body can take the training course."
"He does look weak but I"ve got a great feeling about this. Seeing how he calmly faces me and not fearing those a.s.sa.s.sins even after seeing their daggers covered with poison, He does have some guts. You know I have a good eye for picking up people."
"Yes, you do, but not for this time. He doesn"t look like he can pa.s.s it. Yes, you are on some position but your recommendation isn"t enough to accept him in."
"You know that"s why I"m asking you, don"t you……. Oh, right! If you think it"s gonna be a pain in the a.s.s, how about accepting him as a work-trainee?"

Elser"s eyes brightened with what she thought it was a good idea.

"Work-trainee? Right, that might do. I won"t get in trouble too. Doesn"t cost anything as they are paying the fee by doing labors. That"ll do." Said McKin, nodding.

He didn"t know about the details, but he could see that Elser was trying to help Haroon to take a basic training course.

"Elser, you don"t have to if it is for me. We"ve just met…… and I don"t want to be a trouble to you." Said Haroon.

And he meant it. He wasn"t dragged all the way here. He did want to rely on Elser as she knew more than he does. But that was only because the game wasn"t kind enough to tell the users what to do. He didn"t want to be a burden to Elser for any reason. It was just too much.

"Don"t worry about it. You don"t have to thank me too, "cause it is gonna be really hard to take the course and laboring at the same time."
"But I wouldn"t be able to take it without your recommendation. Thank you so much."
"Don"t. I am helping my first friend, and I"m using my rights. You don"t have to feel any pressure about it. You even tried to save my life."

Haroon couldn"t say anything after that. Even though it hasn"t been much from when they met, she"s been thinking Haroon is a friend to her, so he thought It would be best to be a friend. He was certain that the course he will be taking would be perfect for what he longed for. Of course, he couldn"t thank enough to Elser for making that opportunity. Haroon pleasantly could accept Elser"s offer.

"Thanks, Elser. I won"t be a burden to you."
"I said don"t. What else are friends for?"

They smiled at each other exchanging warm glances. Being an NPC or a user didn"t really mean anything now.

"Haha! I"m glad Elser finally befriend with someone. Haroon, just pa.s.s dis course, and Elser and I will put you on fire."

McKin laughed out loud. The giant scar on McKin"s face made him look like he is smiling.

"The course you are taking is 3 months long. Bad timing tho, I"ve taken the leader"s place of mercenary camp directing tour for this term so It would be hard to meet you again in a near future, but I"ll give some words to the trainers I"m close with. Tho, "cause the special trainers are in charge of the basic course, I cannot give you more help, but if you really, REALLY need something, ask McKin for help." said Elser.
"Thank you so much!"

Haroon didn"t have much else to say.
Only good things were happening to Haroon, both about the capsule and meeting Elser. It felt all the sufferings he had were paying off, he couldn"t hide tears in his eyes.

"Bud, now you are making me cry. Anyway, just take this course well and see you outside." Said Elser, smiling despite what she said.

McKin wasn"t in charge, but he kindly accompanied with Haroon to the dormitory of Basic course and talked with the trainers for a while, and guided to the room he will stay. Elser was also a trainer but she couldn"t enter the men"s dorm.

It was sad to part with Elser, but Haroon was nervous and antic.i.p.ating at the same time. Fortunately, the course happened to begin tomorrow, that he didn"t have to join in the middle of course. In fact, Haroon knew very well how hard it is to join a community that is already formed. He had suffered from it by transferring to different schools. Students usually didn"t welcome a new member, and Haroon couldn"t even try to join them as he was too shy. He always ended up being left out.

The dorm he was placed in was for the magicians, so he had to wear mana-restraining cuff, and he had to pretend he was one of them.

"The room is quite big. I like it." He thought.

The room McKin guided him to had a bed, desk and chair, small dresser and even a W.C with bathtub. It was bigger and more comfortable than his house in real life.

"Woah, The Mercenary Academy must have lots of money, seeing how they a.s.sign only one person per one room like this." he thought. Haroon couldn"t close his mouth.

Because Elser stayed at the HQ, McKin told Haroon some basic things and went back. Haroon was used to being left alone so he didn"t care about it. He lied down on the bed feeling tired.

"It was really fortunate to help Elser. I was able to be here because of her. It is so odd but this game feels more real than the reality." He spoke to himself.

It really felt like he was living in another world. He didn"t take a quest, nor worked part-time at the shop. He was accepted in a basic training course that no other users could take. It was unimaginable.

"Can this really be happening? If I keep living in this world, I don"t think I will be able to differentiate which one is real and which one is the virtual world," he thought.

He was going to log out and collect some data about the Beyond, but he didn"t want to for now. He was not playing Beyond to be a ranker anyway.

He tried to get some sleep. Actually, Haroon couldn"t sleep with a comfortable mind. Because he was adopted several times, he didn"t have any place to rest his mind. He couldn"t trust his foster parents which made Haroon feel always anxious. So even he lie down in his bed, it wasn"t easy for him to get some sleep.
For some reason, he knew he could sleep well tonight.

¹ In case if you don"t know, In Korean culture, there are generally two types of talking. "Respect form" and "Non-respect form". If you know about j.a.panese talking manner, this might sound familiar.

Basically, "Respect form" is used when one is not close to, is inferior of, or younger than the one they are talking to. They speak in this style to; be polite, be respectful, show honor. In very rare cases, this could be used for humiliation, and threatening purpose.

"Non-respect form" is used when one is the friend to each other to show their friendliness. When they are in same age, or one is older than the other, it is talking manner to ask if they can speak "informally" before they actually use non-respect form. It might look really rude if one speaks in non-respect form right away, except for old people to use the form to youth and kids. It also can be used for intending to be rude (like taunting).

² The term "friend" in Korean is for friends of the same age. Friends of different age are usually referred as acquaintances rather than using the term friend. For this reason, Korean tends to be closer when they have the same age, which is shown in Elser"s reaction hearing Haroon has the same age as she. In case if you didn"t know, age counting system is different. Basically, you will have the same age when you are born in the same "year". For uselessly detailed info, check here.