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Chapter 2: The Confusion

Few days passed; I am trying to keep Varan's store tidy as I could. I mopped the floor, polished the weapons and gears that were all around, wiped the windows and I did anything that he asked me to without any question. In my free time, I would try and explore Tynewt so I can get used to interacting with the different demi-humans. I also would sometimes read a little about Tynewt and the other places so I can plan out my way back home the best way possible.

I have been staying in this small inn near Varan's store and he is kind enough to give me free meals on most days while he teaches me their language. I owe him so much for his kindness and I promise myself that I would pay it back to him someday. He might look nothing like a gentle creature, but the truth is, he has a very kind and gentle heart that I couldn't have imagined looking for in a creature such as himself. I guess it is true that we should never really judge a book by its cover.

Weeks have passed by quickly and I've been trying to think of a way in which I can pay back Varan's generosity and hospitality. I considered finding a way to earn money. Varan could use some of it since I observed that fewer customers are coming in. I even though once that it was because of my presence in the store but as the days progressed most of them seemed nicer to me as they slightly get to know me more; my exploration around the areas actually helped.

Since I have only learned a little of their language because of the time being, I am still struggling in reading posters that might indicate a job hunt and I am also struggling in communicating properly to a majority of the demi-humans although Varan has commended my learning pace since I am a fast learner than most humans. Only a few of them are actually fluent in English. That's why I decided to ask Varan himself if he knows something that could help me earn money.

He then told me that there are quests to earn money on the north side of the village. As I heard the word quest, it made me imagine myself inside of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG in short, and wouldn't that be so cool? Online games tend to immerse the players into their world, and I am one of those players. If I am not reading books, you'll find me in front of a computer screen looking like a zombie who cannot stand the sunlight once the curtains are drawn open inside my room. Then, my mom would yell at me and shove the books on my face, telling me how useless I am for wasting my time when I could've been studying or practicing for the final league of basketball in our university.

'Maybe, this was a dream after all and it's in a game setting! Or did my computer sucked me into the game I was playing last night??! Or am I in a modern version of Jumanji? You know that board game that came into life!' these thoughts came bombarding my mind and I suddenly liked the idea of me being here. Maybe this will be fun after all. My thoughts were interrupted as soon as Varan snapped me out of them. He started explaining the things he knew about the quest.

Varan warned me that hunting monsters will be dangerous and that the lack of experience in combat will result in failure. So, he advised me to prepare myself if I was planning to take the quest.


The next morning, he led me to a guild where different types of quests are posted. The difficulty of quests is listed from C to SS, making C the easiest and SS the most difficult. Varan chose a C-type quest consisting of killing slimes. The bounty is low but definitely will be a great experience for me.

Seeing the type of quests, I can engage in, I got a little bit excited because I love the questing in MMORPG, it is one of my favourite parts besides the storyline itself.

I then started packing the weapons and gears that Varan gave to me. I packed everything that I might need and prepared myself for the new journey ahead.

"Please be careful, my friend," Varan said as he bid me farewell. I thanked him for all that he's done and started off with my venture.

It's official, I am starting my life as an adventurer! And I feel great but a bit nervous as well. The quest will be a three-day journey and many things could still happen or could go wrong.

To be able to survive throughout, I have been camping, trekking, and hunting for my own food. I have attempted fishing and created small traps in which I learned from those survival documentaries in the discovery channel that I was into before. Luckily, I have caught a few that could sustain my energy and strength for each day.

Finally, I have arrived at the site of the quest. It was a small farm where the slimes are eating the crops. Honestly, from where I am standing, they look like normal slimes that I played with during middle school except they are bigger than normal and so I felt confident. I ask for confirmation from the village head and soon started with the quest.

As I take my position, the slimes started to multiply and now the farm was full of them. As I got to see them closer, I was stunned by how they actually looked. They looked hideous and gooey. Varan warned me that this type of slime will just gobble up anything that goes in its way. Everything that it consumes will be poisoned, dissolving it into a gooey fluid that could add up to the slime's massiveness. Varan suggested that I could use a special sword that he crafted generally for slimes; and that it could kill them off in one slice.

As the slimes drew nearer, the sword makes this swish swooshing sound as I slash it at the gelatinous monsters. To think that I was just eating gelatine for recess a few days ago makes me sick and yet thrilled. Slimes are basically one of the most common types of monsters in many fantasies' role play games and fighting it physically is hyping me up.

As someone who is addicted to gaming, I have mastered the strategy of balancing both the offense and defense but performing it physically myself is tougher than I thought it would be.

I am trying to use my shield to push back the incoming slimes and use my sword to swing it to the ones in range. The only loophole to this strategy is that the ones in my blind spot can sneak up on me anytime and they obviously can outnumber me.

"Arrrghhhh!" I yelped in pain as one of them was able to slightly bite me in one leg. I was right, that was one sneaky bastard.

I quickly ran into a small, open space but the leg that was bitten was getting numb and a mob of the opponent was heading towards me fast. I eventually tripped. The slimes were all headed in my direction, and they grew into this one gigantic slime which I know I can definitely fit into. I was about to be gobbled up by it when suddenly, an arrow shot the back of the slime slowing it down a little bit. Then suddenly, a barrage of arrows came showering from the same direction, shooting the slime to death.

As my body succumbs to the poison, the person in the mask who appears to be the one who was able to kill all the monsters appeared in front of me and held me as I almost stumble.

"Thannnk....Y..." I wasn't able to finish what I was going to say when I felt like someone punched me hard in the chest. Then a warm, puncturing sensation builds up in it. I felt sick as I saw blood squirting out of my body and everything seemed to slowly blur out and darkness just started to take over as I fell hard on the ground. The last thing I saw was the person in the mask holding up a knife completely covered with my blood. It was weird how that stab felt like a hard punch.

This was the dream I had! This was exactly everything that happened in my dream; I fell in the same position, got stabbed the same way, in the same place. This was the last thing I envisioned as my mind recalled everything before my very last breath.

~ To be Continued ~

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