- Kuroka -
"W-woah. That was amazing." Gaspy spoke from beside her.
She had bought him a mask from the market and surprisingly, he was able to walk out when his face wasn't seen.
Gaspy had told her that he used to make contracts on the internet and he was actually quite good at talking to people when he was not facing them directly. In fact, he had no problem talking to people over a phone either.
He only became afraid when his face was seen by others.
From that, she had an idea to hide his face and see if that would help him face others… and it turns out that her plan had succeeded quite well.
Sure, he was still a bit jumpy but he was able to come to the stadium and watch a competition with her, this alone was monumental progress compared to anything he had done before.
The Blacksmith had taken Gasper in as an apprentice after being pleased by his skill level. In fact, he had been very happy to find a student like Gaspy and had even pointed them towards a cheap place to rent nearby.
They had noticed the sudden increase in the crowd in the city and especially the people going towards the inner city and asked the old Blacksmith about it and found out about the annual competition held in Greenfrost. He even told them that they could visit the tournament as work was light for the day. It would also be a rare chance to visit the inner city which was usually only open for selected people… and so here they were, having fun.
"Hmph, if I had my full power, I could have blown them up alone." She snorted.
"R-really?"
"Obviously. Who do you think I am? These guys are not even High Class level yet… I could totally destroy them with my full power."
She wasn't even lying. Sure a few of them were reaching the top of Mid Class and were only a bit away from High Class level but they were still not there and even if they were, they still couldn't match her.
"But these NPCs are quite strong. I will have to increase my leveling speed to catch up to them." She added.
As they were talking, another player came on the stage.
Blue hair, golden eyes, wearing full armour… those things looked high quality…
"K-kuroka-san… that… that guy… he… he… he is a player." Gaspy suddenly exclaimed.
She took a moment to register what he was saying and when she did, she quickly looked closer… and sure enough… that was a Player.
But… wasn't this a T5 competition?…
Suddenly remembering something, she used her Scan Skill to check his stats.
His information was obscured by something and she couldn't get anything except his name and level…
A Level 28… T5… Arthas…
"What the hell, nyaa~ Who is this guy?"
But the surprises didn't end there.
As soon as the match started he moved… and Kuroka couldn't see anything… she totally missed him moving at all. It was almost as if he had teleported from one place to another… and took down one of those golems in one slash…
The rest of the match ended so fast that Kuroka was sure that she could have missed half the match if she had blinked a few times more…
"W-oah! That… was awesome…" Gaspy whispered beside her and this time even Kuroka was unable to say anything about it.
Just what the hell has this guy been doing?
Actually, just who is this guy?
Is he cheating?
She hadn't even heard of any T5 Players let alone someone who is almost half way through T5 already. And even if he was that level… why was he so freaking strong? Not even the max level T5 people had that kind of power…
Not only her, even the audience was stunned at the performance of the guy and even doubted him of cheating but turns out that he wasn't cheating at all.
She watched the rest of the fights but all her attention was fixed on that guy.
"Umm… K-k-kuroka-san… do you think we can join that guy's team?" Gaspy asked. "I… I mean, he is strong. You can join his team. That way you can level up faster."
…
That thought did come to her head but… she had to think of many things before that?
And if he was at this level, surely he would also have a team of his own. Will he accept someone else, especially someone who had just become a T4?
But more importantly, what kind of person was he and what kind of people his team members were?
"I… will investigate him first. Let's go back home for now. You have work at the shop too." She got up and Gaspy accompanied her.
Arthas…
At least she had some goal for now.
- Game Master -
"Did the last batch of players all enter the game?" He asked, looking at Red who was finishing up her side of the work.
"Oh yeah. They are all registered and in the game now."
"How many are there?"
"Fourteen thousand."
"Hmm. Send them all to a different country, maybe in the Pirate World side of the world. The Warcraft Continent already has more than enough players. We don't need more crowds."
"But didn't many players die and get… removed from that continent? Surely they could get some place there? That one is a higher danger level area with frequent pirate attacks and all…"
"Well, aren't these people here to complete this game? They have come here despite knowing the danger… so give them a chance to face that. Moreover… don't you think it would be unfair for them to just jump in and get carried by higher level players… without actually facing the same difficulties as the first generation?"
Red shrugged. "Whatever you want. I will drop them in one of the blues."
"How is the progress of the players going, Ophis?" He asked looking at the quiet Ophis who was nibbling at her cupcake in front of the screen. She looked in his direction after listening to him.
"Good. One and half months more needed to reach there."
"That's great."
Progress was great then.
Suddenly remembering something, he looked at Tiamat and asked. "Actually, how about my cute Kouhai? I haven't heard any new Achievements being activated recently."
He had only triggered the Buffy reference but had gone almost quiet after that.
Was he getting the Classes too easily? Hmm, knowing the triggering condition of some of the classes, he didn't worry about it.
"He is training." She replied, uninterested and passed over the information to him. He looked at his progress and nodded.
"Looks like the group has figured something out after realizing the pattern of magic and skills in the game… no, perhaps they haven't figured out the reason but only discovered the patterns. At least they are going in the right direction. He has slowed down his levelling speed but has been constantly grinding his Skill levels… yeah, he figured out the trick, alright."
Training the skills was the actual way to play the game. That was the real goal of the game after all…
And for that reason, those who followed that, get rewarded too.
Greenfrost…
Hmm, going there so soon.
He had expected him to go there after a month or two. Ah, it was the devil milf wanting to expand the guild business…
Ohh… suddenly he realised that he would absolutely notice the clues in Greenfrost.
He wondered how his face would be on realising where exactly he was… especially with that name…
Oh the irony…
Suddenly he noticed something strange on the screen observing him.
He was going on a run?
He looked at Tiamat and asked, "What is he doing?"
She shrugged. "No idea. He has been doing this everyday for the last few days."
"Going for runs?" Well, while odd, it wasn't unbelievable. Some people did like running so it wasn't that strange either…Greenfrost was a beautiful place. He can see anyone wanting to explore it more.
"Not only going for runs but also exercising… it's nothing major to even call training at his level but he has been doing it everyday for the last few days, the first thing after he wakes up." Tiamat added, getting his attention.
"Huh… what exercises?" He asked, curious at the information.
She opened up a screen and read out from it. "Ten kilometers of running, one hundred situps, one hundred pushups and one hundred squats…"
He blanked out for a moment… and then a smile lit up his face…
"There is no way…"
"Huh? What did you say?"
"There is no fucking way… are you sure he does exactly that?" He asked again.
Tiamat just rolled her eyes and forwarded him the information. He checked it and sure enough… that's exactly what it was…
"Hahahaha… oh Kouhai-kun, it seems that I have truly underestimated you. Are you really prepared to do all that… for three years without even knowing if it would give you any results? That's the same kind of spirit as Luffy searching for the One Piece without even knowing if it exists… Hahahaha… well done. Truly, well fucking done."
The other three in the room looked at him strangely while Red couldn't help herself and asked. "What exactly is he doing? Isn't it just an exercise?"
"Just exercise? No, no way, my dear. He is probably attempting the biggest gamble in the game… attempting to get a three year long reference… This is something even I wasn't crazy enough to put in… My dear Kuohai is showing potential to surpass me in craziness." He laughed again.
"No… this won't do. Now I need to make this happen. If he can actually keep the thing going, then I will also give him a reward worthy of his efforts." He pulled up his keyboard after a long time and started working.
It had to be something good… no, something grand… something suitable for the reference he was currently attempting.
After all, unlike Saitama, he would have a much harder time keeping up with the routine, especially with all the hunting and raids being thrown his way in future…
That's why the reward had to be equally good. Sure, he couldn't make him Saitama… but damn if he wouldn't try his best…
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Author's Note:
I am back with another chapter of 'Soul Art Online'.
So, Arthas is in Greenfrost and has entered a tournament.
Our boi is growing up so well that even the NPCs are thinking he's hacking lol.
Kuroka and Gasper have seen him and she wants to investigate him more…
Lastly, the Game Master is fired up by Arthas' new exercise routine.
What will be his reward and what will the tournament be like… we will see…
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.