C12 Trash Friends

“Oh, it’s up that hill,” Mira stated, looking at her map. The area that was coloured in yellow meant it was a commercial area. It allowed for people to walk in and out. There was a small dash of green located inside a portion of the yellowed area that indicated it was a house.

“Is it through this cave?” Denzel asked.

“I think,” Mira pondered. “Uhhh, yeah. It seems the only way to access the larger area is to go through the cave.”

“I’ll take the lead, it could be an ambush,” Denzel said, stepping in front.

“In a commercial area?” Mira challenged.

“Denzel is right,” Viktor said. “We do not know anything about this area. Even if it is a commercial zone we can still be ambushed.”

“Alright,” Mira conceded. “We’ll stop by the green area and see what’s there.”

And so, the four party members trudged up the trash compacted hill and entered into the cave, not sure of what was ahead but acting with satisfactory caution. They walked for a few minutes until they came across a blocked off area. It wasn’t on the map and there was no chance of them getting through.

“Keep on going,” Viktor said, “Towards the big area.”

They kept on walking, and walking, down twisting corridors. They were getting used to the smell but it was definitely challenging.

“There’s a door,” Mira pointed out. “I wonder what type of NPC lives down here.”

“Probably a mentally challenged one,” Viktor described.

They all huddled around the door. Mira readied her hair and put on her NPC smile before knocking on the metal door.

“Sir, there appears to be someone at the door,” Frank said.

Eddie didn’t reply as he was prodding the fire in the forge. His mind also elsewhere; thinking about the dog he was going to build.

Frank decided to go and open it since it was rude to keep someone waiting. He undid the bolts at the top and pulled the door open wide.

“Good morning or afternoon, how may I help you?”

“A golem?” Mira squealed excitedly. “Sorry, I’m Mira, nice to meet you.” She stuck out her hand and Frank shook.

“How do you do, Lady Mira. My name is Frank.”

“I’m very well thank you, Mr Frank. I was wondering if you have any quests for me?”

“I do not, I’m afraid,” Frank said. “I believe my master may have some.”

Frank disappeared from the door for a moment and Mira turned to the rest of her group with a grin. “A golem NPC? That’s so cool.”

“Sir,” Frank said to him.

“What, Frank? I’m busy.”

“There appears to be someone at the door, Sir.”

“Don’t make jokes, Frank.”

“Sir, I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Eddie stopped what he was doing and gave Frank a weary eye. “Fine, let’s see if there’s people at the door.” He clanged a metal rod down loudly and strutted through the many rooms in his luxurious house. He stopped dead when he saw a cute asian girl smiling at him.

“Are you real?” Eddie asked.

“Uhh, I think so,” Mira responded.

Eddie slowly approached her, looking at her face. It had been a while since he had seen anyone in the game. He held his hand up slowly and poked her cheek. Since he was an NPC, she let it happen since she still wanted the quest.

“This NPC is really weird,” she whispered to her party.

“Uhh, Mira, that ain’t an NPC,” Denzel kindly explained.

Mira’s eyes drifted slowly up to his nameplate.

Human, Level 3

She gasped loudly, surprised and now afraid that a random man was touching her cheek. She raised her arm up behind her and went for a devastating slap on his face.

Eddie was too low level to think about even blocking it, plus, he hadn’t even seen it coming. His mouth was still open wide with a strange smile on his face. All he could think about was getting out.

Frank’s metal arm moved past Eddie’s head, catching the slap before it hit his master.

“Lady Mira, I understand my master may be strange but he truly means no harm.”

Frank’s arm was shaking under the pressure of such a high level. Mira dismissed the slap and took a few steps back. “Who the fudge are you?!”

“Oh, sorry,” Eddie said. “I’m Eddie. I’ve been stuck down here for a while.”

Mira and the rest of her team looked at the very dirty, still shirtless man in wonder and absurdity.

“Damn dude, what happened?” Denzel asked, genuinely worried for him.

“Some thieves robbed me and chucked me down here at level 1. Haven’t been able to find an exit since. Where did you guys come from?”

“We jumped from a staircase about an hour's walk from here,” Denzel explained.

“Ughhh,” Eddie groaned.

“Wait, are we stuck down here?” Viktor asked.

Eddie nodded reluctantly. “I’ve been mapping out the dungeon and trying to find a way out for ages now. Oh, and this is Frank.”

Frank waved innocently.

“Why do you smell like a changing room?” Viktor asked, taking his cigarette out of his mouth.

“It’s a perk,” Eddie bluntly explained.

Mira was still trying to process what just happened. “How are you level 3? You’re meant to leave the starter zone at level 5.”

“Oh, I just skipped it.”

“Why would you skip a starter zone?” Viktor asked. “It is like learning to ride a bike without wheels.”

“I didn’t know at the time,” Eddie stated. “You guys aren’t going to try and rob me are you?”

“No, no, we ain’t like that,” Denzel confirmed. “We came down here looking for monsters and quests from the event for experience. Do you know any?”

“Well, there’s no quests. I got a few from the system but there’s plenty of monsters. Like a lot of monsters,” Eddie explained.

“Where?” Mira questioned, finally joining in on the conversation. “And don’t touch my face again.”

“Sorry,” Eddie said, rubbing the back of his head. “You guys came from the Trashlands. On the other side of this hill of trash is the actual dungeon. Uhh, hold on, I’ll copy a map.”

Eddie went inside and left the door partially open.

“Holy fudge,” Viktor said. “Is he ok?”

Mira shrugged. “He’s so weird.”

“I like him,” Denzel stated. “How are we gonna get out by the way?”

“BLEED FROM MY NOSE AND CAPTURE GARFIELD!”

“Bear’s right,” Mira said. “That’s the least of our worries right now. We need to find some monsters or we’re going to get behind on the leaderboards.”

Viktor poked his head inside the room, finding it lit well; even seeing a bed, fridge, firepit and many more necessities. He turned back to his group. “He’s been living here.”

“I kinda feel bad now,” Mira said. “How did he even get a golem? They are going for like 10 grand right now.”

Eddie suddenly opened the door and the party took a step back. “Sorry for the wait, here you go,” he said, handing them a copy of the map he made.

Mira took it. “How much?”

“What do you mean?” Eddie questioned.

“Well how much do you want for it?”

“You can just have it,” Eddie said. “I explored all the way up to Hell’s Hole. I’ve also written the levels and how many monsters there are around there. Watch out for the trash goblins ‘cause they group up.”

“Thanks?” Mira questioned, he was being surprisingly nice.

“Here,” Denzel said, handing Eddie a silver coin. That was an entire 10 dollars. “Least we can do.”

“Oh, thanks,” Eddie said. “What are all of your names? My name’s Eddie if I haven’t said it twice yet. Woah, you guys are really high level.”

Human, Level 24

Human, Level 24

Human, Level 24

Human, Level 24

“We’re pros,” Mira boasted.

“Pros?” Eddie questioned.

“Damn dude,” Denzel said. “You said this is your first time gaming, is that like ever or?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Eddie said. “I uh, never got into it. It’s pretty fun. So what do pros do?”

“Well we’re ranked on the leaderboards. My rank is #13,107, that measures experience, skill and power.”

“I’m #9,861,” Mira added. “We grind and sell most of the useless loot. It’s good money.”

“I mean yeah,” Eddie said. “You just gave me 10 bucks didn’t you?”

“Uh, huh,” Denzel said. “Did you build that golem?”

“Oh, Frank, yeah I did.”

“We forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we? I’m Denzel, this is Viktor, Mira and Bear.”

Eddie’s eyes landed on the person called Bear who hadn't spoken at all during their conversation. He was perplexed at the absurdity of his dress sense but didn’t speak up. He also found it quite funny.

“Nice to meet all of you. Sorry, it's been quite lonely down here.”

“It’s cool, man, we understand,” Denzel said.

“How do I find my ranking then?” Eddie asked.

“Ask the system,” Mira instructed.

“System, show the ranking system.”

Your Power ranking is: #1,293,135,958

Your Wealth ranking is: #3,193

“Uh,” Eddie pondered. “I think this is broken.”

“Huh, show me,” Mira said.

Eddie swivelled the notification around.

“What?! You’re a higher wealth rank than all of us.”

“Lemme see,” Denzel said. “Damn, are you a millionaire or something?”

“No, I mean, I only bought the Bronze Soldier Bundle and I’m still regretting it.”

“Then how are you so rich?” Mira asked.

“Sir,” Frank said. “You do own all this land.”

“You own all this?” Mira questioned. “Like the whole hill and cave system???”

“Yeah?” Eddie questioned. “But I have like two silver.”

“It measures your entire worth,” Viktor explained. “Any land is worth something.”

“Cool, cool,” Eddie said. “Is land expensive or something?”

“Yeah, our guild bought a building for 12 million dollars in the city.”

Eddie’s eyes bulged, he couldn’t believe it. “Ha, I’m rich.”

“Well, we better get to grinding, which areas are best?” Denzel asked.

“Not sure really,” Eddie replied. He didn’t want to release too much information in case they found out what he did. “You know, I’m also level 3.”

“Yeah, we can see. See you later, Eddie, nice to meet you.”

Eddie smiled and nodded goodbye. He closed the metal door carefully and looked up at Frank while slowly sliding down it.

“Are you ok, Sir?”

Eddie let out an overdramatic breath. “I had to be normal for more than five minutes- feel like I’m about to pass out.”

Two revelations had hit Eddie. For one, he was apparently a multimillionaire from the amount of land he owned. Second, everyone else was going to be stuck down here with him which was a huge problem.

Frank helped Eddie back up. “Sir, we need preparations. People are going to flood around here in droves and there will be chaos.

“What do you suggest? We can’t just close the whole area off.”

“Well, Sir, we can actually. We can block off the entrance into the cave. The only other way in would be to scale around the steep incline that leads into the basin.”

“But what then? People are going to come anyway.”

“Hmm,” Frank pondered, for once he was answerless. After a few minutes of silence, Frank had a genius idea. “Well, Sir. We could set up a stall, we could sell maps at the front of the cave; even offer people rooms in the various cave systems and rent them out for a player's storage and respawn points. Everyone’s going to be here a while aren’t they? We should make some money.”

“But we’d need way, way more hands to help.”

Frank cleared his throat as he picked up the golem core that Eddie was planning on using for the dog golem. “We could still make what you were hoping to and double its uses, Sir.”

Eddie shot up and hugged Frank, there was something so warming about his cold metal plates. “You’re a genius, Frank.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Alright, we better get started.”