After our small trip to the grocery store, we quickly rushed home and gave Mom the groceries she needed for tonight's dinner. We would’ve stayed a little while longer to chat with her, but considering how antsy my brother regarding the game, all we can do for the time being was kiss her on her cheeks before we head back upstairs to our bedroom. Thankfully, by the time we put on our [VeilCons], it only has 27 minutes left before we can go back to the game. Since we still had some time to relax in the real world, I decided to take a short rest on my bed with the helmet still on me. As for my brother, he’s writing in his journal while laying on his bed, which I guess is about our adventures and encounters in [Isekai].

"Hey, Hayate. I was wondering about something." I quickly sat up and look at my brother. "It's about those items that your friend mentioned. I know that those items help you with the game itself, but what about the game's lore and the world?"

I raised my eyebrow as I listen to his question. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Sure, the costumes and items can make you stronger, but I don't know if they fit in with the lore we were given so far." Just as I look at him, Kazuki then stands up from his bed and put the pen on a nearby desk. "I mean, what's the point of the fantasy game when you ignore the flavor texts of each item?"

Huh... Now that he mentioned it, he does have a point there. I’d been so focused on the fighting and the players in the game that I hadn't had the chance to see the game's items. The only items that I’d read the flavor texts for were those potions and that strange [Shrouded Lily] herb. Maybe I should check my equipment's flavor texts once I have the time to do so. But back to point...

"Yeah, you have a point. But from what Brig told us, I think those items are meant to motivate us to buy more [Adaments] to purchase those items if we want to get to a higher level quicker than others. To tell you the truth, I feel that the developers are bribing us with virtual currency by wasting our hard-earned cash from Mom and Dad. And don't forget, not all the players are playing the game just for the story. Most of them only care about strong equipment, abilities, and advantages, and being the strongest in the virtual fantasy world. Not to mention they often look down at certain races and characters as weaklings in the game."

Just saying this reminds me of those punks who criticized our choices for our characters. I even cringed just remembering the very moment the leader criticized Kaz's race. "But as I said, ignore those kinds of people. We have our opinions on how we play the game and our choice to have fun is one of them."

Well, at least I chose my words right this time. Just seeing Kaz's grin after my explanation was enough to brighten my day. As I just mentioned before, I don't care about their opinions. Kazuki helped me make my character and I'm happy with it just the way it is. As long I'm with him in the game, I'm satisfied with our choices.

Before we could continue any further, we heard a beeping sound from our [VeilCons]. When I noticed mine, I see it’s about to boot itself up, a sign that [Sleep Mode] was almost up. "Well, we should get back into the game right now. We promised Zac to meet up with him when night time is over and we can't be late."

"You're right. We’re supposed to meet up at the in . I hope he remembered our promise as well."

"Same here. I don't want to take Damon's job to call up to him just to remind him of our promise." I wasn't kidding about this. Zac often has a habit of forgetting important stuff like school and meet-ups. And he usually says I'm the forgetful one. "Let's go."

I took a last look at my [VeilCon] before I put it on my head and laid down as I waited for the inevitable.

[Re-logging in as . detected, access re-allowed for . Turning off and resuming gameplay.]

Once the transfer is completed, I open my eyes as the light began to shine through my vision. As I stand up, I realized that I’m back in the bed in the same inn we were staying in. Guess that [Sleep Mode] feature literally meant that our avatars were sleeping when we logged out with it. How weird. Just thinking about it made me wonder if our small real-life adventure was a dream in this virtual world.

I yawn as I got up from my bed when I see Kaz getting up as well. "Kaz, get up. We're going to be late."

As I pull up my menu to equip my weapons and armor, Kaz managed to wake up as he approaches me, yawning loudly. "W-What time is it?"

"About 5:28 on my clock," I said as I turn and look at the window. I’m surprised. In one minute, the sun is already up by the time I woke up. For a VR game like this, it sure knew how to confuse my concept of time. "Did you at least know where the is located?"

As I turn my attention back to him, Kaz opens his menu and brought up a holographic map in front of him. "Hmmm, it says it somewhere between the shopping district and the training hall. Sorry, I haven't read more about how I can read this kind of map here."

Well, I don't mind. Besides, we already knew where the training hall was anyway. "Good enough. Let's check out and get going."

As I expected, finding the was easy with just half of the knowledge we knew about . When we reached the destination marked on Kaz's map, we are shocked to see a large decorative three-story building right in front of us. For a building that only focused on giving out [Quests], it did make sure that no one would miss it. Just as I can say anything about it, I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, guys! You made it!"

We turned around and saw Arthur running up to us as he waved his right arm very wildly as if he was some crazy sports fan. "Really? I could say the same for you as well."

Arthur frowns when he gave me a slight death glare. "Seriously, Wind, would you expect me to be late for our meeting?"

"Well, real-life or VR, you were always tardy at everything." I hear Kaz starts to giggle at what I just said, considering that it’s true. Zac had always been tardy to school for one reason or another. Whether it was to catch up on his homework or getting distracted on the way, he couldn't find any luck in saving himself from his own tardiness.

"Yeah, yeah. But don't expect me to blame me for your tardiness soon." I doubt that would happen. Or even make sense. "That aside, what do you think of this big beauty?" He asked as he pointed at the large building that we just saw.

"T-That... is really big. Are you sure this is where the is?" Kaz asked with a hint of uncertainty from his voice.

"Yep. Sure, it's really big and fancy, but I guess they made it look iconic for the game. Follow me." Arthur begins to walk to the doors of the large building, which we then followed him without a word.

As we entered the guild building, we are surprised at the sight inside of it. There are several crowds of players lined up in front of several bulletin boards on the right side of the area. There are five NPC women behind the counters on the left side of the area, talking to some other players, sort of like bank tellers. We also see benches and tables lined up near the boards, which I guessed that that’s where we can rest from a crazy day outside. From what I just saw, I can guess how this place could attract many players who were interested in [Quests].

"So what do you think? Pretty cool or what?" I can't say. Other than Arthur's seemingly goofy grin, I have to admit that it was pretty unreal but impressive. Just seeing this reminded me a lot of a bank or payment center.

"You aren't kidding. This is completely impressive."

"Yeah. Though, I don't know about the crowd. I don't know if we’ll able to get a [Quest] with these many people."

Now that I think about it, there are so many people in the building. Even if the players were entering and exiting from left to right, I doubt we could tour around the main floor. "You're right. More importantly, how did you get a [Quest] any way?"

"Hey, don't get all suspicious glare at me already. Let me explain. First off, we have to browse through the bulletin boards over there."

Bulletin boards? I just look at the said boards, which all of them are blocked by crowds of players, and turned to Arthur again. "You mean the ones that those players are looking right now?"

Arthur also looks at the boards and grinned sheepishly. "Yes..."

Of course. I just gave him a death glare as a response.

"H-Hey! I didn't think that there wouldn’t be a crowd! I just managed to take a sneak peek of them before I decided to head off to do some quick training! By the time I returned…"

Again, I glare at him for his poor thinking skills.

"Oh, man... How are gonna get to them now?!"

I don't know, Kaz. I just don't know.

"Maybe I can help!"

My eyes widen when I hear a familiar voice right behind me. When I turned around, I saw...

"Mari! I didn't expect you to be here again."

Yup, the "black mage-in-training". I’m happy to see a familiar face even though Kaz and I only met her yesterday. "Yep! I see you two are interested in taking some [Quests]."

I’m not the only one who was happy to see Mari as Kaz pushed me out of the way so he could approach her. "Yeah! Wind's friend introduced the mechanic to us and we're hoping to try taking one to give us a head start."

"Well, we were until someone neglected to tell us about this game's version of 'rush hour'!" I said as I glare at Arthur again for obvious reasons. All he can do is chuckle sheepishly before he also pushed me and Kaz away to approach the black mage.

"Don't mind Wind's brutal remarks, my fair lady. He's just a bit... testy when situations like this come up." Yeah, right. I just roll my eyes in response. "By the way, some introductions are needed. My name is Arthur, knight-in-training. Pleasure to meet you."

"H-Hi... Arthur. I'm Mari, black mage-in-training. Are you friends with Wind?"

"Well, you could say he's one of my allies, and a potential member of my very own Round Table, like with tales of old."

I don't want Arthur to say anything else stupid about me, so I quickly push him aside so I can speak next. "And I'm actually one of his friends in real life. Which by the way, I'm really sorry for his behavior."

"That's okay. The more friends you know, the better. As for your current problem, I may able to help you bypass the crowds without any hitches."

"Really? Can you do that?"

"Yep. The bulletin boards are not the only places to get a [Quest]. Follow me and don't forget to add me to the party."

As soon as Mari walked in front of us, Kaz, Arthur, and I became confused at her words as we glance at each other, before following after her. As we did, I open up my menu and added Kaz, Arthur, and Mari to the party window, which they accepted. We reached to one of the counters where an NPC blonde-haired woman resided.

[Hello, adventurers! Welcome to the ! If you want to take a [Quest], I suggest you check the bulletin boards for any available ones.]

We would’ve, but just seeing the crowded people made me shiver to my core.

"That's okay. But I was hoping if you have any quests that you may recommend for a party of 4."

[Oh, I see, so you're interested in the [Urgent Quests[ then. It’s a relief to know that some adventurers are willing to take them.]

I raised my eyebrows at what I just heard while the NPC began to duck into her counter. "[Urgent Quests]? Is that another type of [Quest]?"

"Yes. But the main difference is that while getting these [Quests] is much easier, their difficulty level is a bit harder compared to a normal one. Though, the one I just saw from another player should be easy enough for us to take on without any problem."

Just as she said this, the woman stands up once more with several papers in her hands as she places them on the counter for us to see. [Sorry for the wait. Here are the current quests we have for you so far. And since you four are new in this guild, I suggest this [Urgent Quest] for you to start.]

I became curious as we take a closer look at one of the pamphlets she has given out.

[Urgent Quest: Subjugate a Wild Bear **

Residents reported of a Wild Bear attacking people the nearby woods of Initio with many woodcutters injured in the process. The guild requests adventurers to hunt down this beast before it can create more damage.

Recommended Party: 4]

"Huh? "Subjugate a Wild Bear"? What does that mean?" My brother asked first, which is no surprise since those words like "subjugate" still confuses him.

"Subjugate means to overcome or vanquish. I think it means we have to defeat it, correct?"

"Yeah. There are several types of [Quests] you can take. [Subjugation] focused on defeating several monsters, [Gather] focused on gathering requested items, and [Delivery] focused on what it says: delivering an item from an NPC to another. Regardless of the type of quest you get, it will be ranked based on its difficulty." Arthur explained to us in full detail, which I am surprised at how he explained it very clearly.

"That's right. The difficulty is ranked by the number of stars next to the quest’s name. The more stars it has, the more difficult it will be. Not to mention the rewards will be greater than lower-ranked [Quests] such as rare equipment and items."

Huh, it makes sense. If anyone completes an easy quest, you may get one reward or two. But if anyone completes a more difficult quest, their rewards will increase, which can help them in the long run of their time in [Isekai]. But what’s surprising is how Arthur and Mari seemingly explained these as if they’d friends for a long time. It’s weird and a bit creepy for me to witness.

"I see. So if we do a hard quest, we may get some awesome items and weapons in return! I can't wait!"

As usual, Kaz became ecstatic when he hears what we could get when we take a difficult quest. I won't expect much since he wants to discover new stuff in this game.

"Yeah, but we're talking "difficult quests" here, Kaz. If we take it without being prepared or strong enough, we might get killed a lot easier." I said as I cross my arms.

"Wind's right. A newbie mistake would be to take a 3-star [Subjugation Quest] with a high-level monster on Level 1 skills. I’m sure you can guess the results of that scenario. If we can get enough levels on each of our skills, we may able to complete the quest no problem."

Well, Arthur might be a total goof, but he does make some good points. Kaz and I had already trained most of our Skills from our hunts, so it might be enough for this quest.

"Well, in any case, I guess we could try this [Urgent Quest] out. Some of my Battle Skills are already at Level 5."

"And my [Arcana] and [Thunder] skills are already at Level 6! So that means we're ready on taking a huge bear!"

Mari begins to chuckle silently while Arthur's eyes widen, which I could guess that he might be surprised at our current levels. "Well, guess that means we're ready. Ma'am, we accept this [Quest]."

The NPC smiles as she took the pamphlet from my hands and tacked a stamp on it. At the same time, a window pops up right in front of us, which contained the same info that we read from the pamphlet. [[Urgent Quest] approved. Please return here when you're done and be careful.]

We thanked the NPC as we left the counter, but not before we heard Arthur shout as he pulls out his sword and raised it in the air. "Alright, my fair lady and my faithful companions let us venture off to the woods to subjugate this evil monster lurking in our woods!"

"Yeah, yeah, we know. Now come on before embarrass us with your theatrics!" I quickly grab his collar of his armor and drag him to the others as we headed off to our destination. But I suddenly wondered about something:

Did that NPC seem like a real receptionist back there? As if she was a real person?

Nah, it can't be.

Current Quest: Subjugate a Wild Bear **

Status: In Progress

Party Members:

[Wind]

[Kaz]

[Arthur]

[Mari]

Wind's Masteries

[Archery] Level 5

[Woodcrafting] Level 1

[Swordsmanship] Level 6

[Cooking] Level 1

[Wind] Level 5

[Physical Enhancement] Level 1

[Hunting] Level 4

Kazu's Masteries

[Arcana] Level 6

[Thunder] Level 6

[Wind] Level 5

[Alchemy] Level 7

[Magecrafting] Level 1

[Magical Affinity] Level 5

[Scribe] Level 1