I felt being judged here, yet it also intrigued me. I opened my skill to see its description.

Eavesdropping Level 1 Passive: Increase hearing sensitivity. Listening to someone or people will be easily focused

Range: 5 meters

‘Now that I think about it. I walked around this town while listening to people’s business. I must be like a creep. Wait... It's passive. It should be active, right?’

This game was really being rude to me. It was great to learn this skill, though. I’d rather do anything by myself first than asking. I would read or hear silently if I had doubt. Asking question to someone was the last thing I did if I had no clue at all.

Most people, however, would ignore you. They could be hiding some important information for themself too, or even misled you. I couldn't blame them, though.

I checked in-game bulletin’s board while waiting for my order. However, there was no useful threads yet. There were information in Tutorial Guide, but it was really limited. The rest? The Developer probably said ‘Explore it by yourself!’ indirectly to all players. I felt 【Eavesdropping】 would really help me a lot. An idea came to my mind to try something later.

The bartender came and put a glass of 【Grapple Burst】 in front of me.

“Here’s your order, lad.”

“Thank you.”

I looked at my order with curious look, but suddenly…

“Say, do you have a job?”

The bartender asked me as he lift his eyebrows and looked at me intently.

'This old man... Asking that question to a NEET. Leave me alone, please!'

Of course I didn't say that out loud. I understood what he meant.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“How about work at my bar?”

Ah! He was asking a part time job quest. I read about this on forum. Well, I didn’t have time for that.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I think I can’t.”

“Ah don’t worry, lad.”

The bartender picked an empty glass and began to wipe it with white cloth. A moment later, a skinny old man appeared beside me. He wore a tattered dirty clothes and held a wooden cane on his right hand. He looked at the bartender. The bartender sighed when he noticed him.

“Ah Halton, I’m really sorry. I don’t have a portion of food for you today. I still have some drinks, though.”

The skinny old man, Halton, looked down with a sad face. I suddenly felt bad. He was an NPC. An AI programmed to be a living being in this world, but it really pained me to see his setting was like that. I opened my inventory and took out one 【Beginner’s Food Set】.

“Umm… Sir, I have this... if you like... I will give it to you.”

Halton’s face brightened as he looked at me. He grabbed it gently with shaking hands.

“Thank you! Bless you, young man...”

He sat down beside me and immediately eating the 【Beginner’s Food Set】 I gave him. I smiled and took a sip on my drink. He paused for a moment and looked at me.

“Have you ever heard about Artifact of Melleth?”

‘What? Is this perhaps another quest?’

This one intrigued me. Artifact of Melleth sounded like a rare item to me. Then suddenly two NPCs three seats away beside him was talking with drunk manner.

“Here we go again with his fairy tales!”

“That beggar’s blabbering mouth! Don’t listen to him, kid! Heheheh!”

“Hey don’t make a fuss! Not in my bar!”

“Jeez, Paul. We’re just kidding! Hahaha...”

"Hahaha..."

The bartender, Paul, sighed with a guilty face as he looked at Halton.

“Pardon those troublemakers, Halton.”

“It’s fine... Thank you, Paul.”

It was like a scripted event. I became more interested. I looked at the old man Halton and asked him to tell me about Artifact of Melleth. Halton’s eyes became empty as he opened his mouth.

“Long ago, there was a mysterious merchant who could make unique items. His fame was recognized all over this land. Today, some of his creations are known as legendary items which bless all temples in this land. One day, he met a woman named Melleth in a forest. They met there within the sacred forest every day. Until they realized they were falling in love and decided to live together. However, she was a spirit. An immortal being. They couldn’t be in the same world forever. One day, he travelled around the world in search of knowledge to make something he never created before. Cough…cough…”

He took a sip on the milk bottle. Then he continued as his voice cracked.

“Alas, age beat him. But, he eventually made his last creation. Artifact of Melleth, a silver ring with unique ornament and this beautiful eye-shaped emerald on it. You will know once you see it. Then suddenly he was missing without a trace. There was no journal or notes. Only the ring was found at his workshop in Alkronia. Later it was sold, bought and traded by many nobles and merchants.”

I stared at my glass. He sighed and continued.

“The ring which is meant for Melleth is now lost. And Melleth’s whereabouts is also unknown.”

“I wonder what happened to them.”

I slowly drank my Grapple. Then he suddenly asked me with a smile.

“Do you want to help me to find out about it? Search the ring for a start.”

Suddenly a window popped out.

Artifact of Melleth

Quest: Find a silver ring with unique ornament and eye-shaped emerald on it. It is known as the last creation of mysterious artisan who made the legendary items which bless the temples.

Accept?

‘So this is a real thing, huh? But, how am I supposed to find it? One little ring in this vast land of Heallance. Do I have to destroy it later?’

Well, there was nothing wrong if I accepted it. I could search for the ring while doing other stuff.

“Okay, I’m also curious about it”

“Great! If you ever find the ring. Please come to me.”

You have accepted Artifact of Melleth Quest

He smiled and continued eating the bread.

‘I’m going to grind tomorrow. But I need to buy new equipment first.’

With that thought in mind I stood and looked at Halton.

“Excuse me, Halton. I have to go.”

“Ah yes. Thank you. Please take care.”

I left the bar and went to an inn.

・・・

The next day, I woke up and felt refreshed. If I counted it correctly, I slept around 6 hours in-game time. It meant that I rested for 1 hour IRL. Thinking like that, I wanted to sleep more.

I strecthed my arms while walking on the street. I tried【Eavesdropping】. Suddenly everything became quiet, or more like people around me were whispering to each other. I tried to focus my hearing to one of them, then a voice could be heard clearly as if that person was talking in front of me.

'This is new...'

It was a new feeling for me. It was really strange yet amazing experience.

Anyway, I heard a rumor that you could acquire skills by defeating monsters. Some people also said that they learned skills through certain NPCs, which they probably was being taught or buying skill scrolls from them. This answered ‘you can learn skills’ in every kind of ways. Even though you still needed a certain requirement for that, I supposed.

Just like my Eavesdropping skill. This kind of thing that made this game really interesting. I could imagine some possible ways to gain skills.

After I walked around 10 minutes, I finally found a shop with some good items in the western side of town. There was an NPC wearing a fine clothes and a turban. Looking at his face, his age could be around 30s. He was 2 meters slender man. He greeted me with a smile.

“Welcome to Heiden’s! A place where you can get best equipment and supplies! Please look around!”

The NPC said it fluently like it was a scripted act. I smiled and bowed. Then I looked around the shop. There were some shelves which were arranged by grade. I walked to the beginner one. I checked set items one by one.

After a while, I bought a pretty decent set.

Novice Sword (Common) Type One-handed sword Restriction 10 STR Durability 90/90 A sword that was made from sturdy iron. It is suitable for beginners. Effect: +2 STR Novice Set (Common) Type Light Armor Restriction 5 STR Durability 50/50 Comfortable and easy to move. It is suitable for beginners. Effect:

+250 HP

+100 MP

+5 All Status Set Skill - Beginner’s Will

Passive: Increase STR when using novice weapons.

Effect: +5 STR

I spent around 2 gold along with supplies. And I still had 2 gold left. Thanks to the training ground’s owner, I could afford armor set with set skill effect in early game. For supplies, most of them were potions and teleport scrolls.

【Teleport Scroll】 was a must buy item. You could use it to return to nearby town. It was really a convenient item, especially if you lost in a forest or a cave. For chaotic player, they should be teleported outside of town. Still, it was a good item even for infamous players.

In some MMORPGs, there was a certain place where you couldn’t use it. So the only way to go back to town was getting out of there or die. By dying, you would sacrifice your EXP. It would be really frustrating to lose experience even it was just a small portion.

I equipped my new gears and looked at the mirror inside the changing room. I folded my arms and nodded.

Before leaving the room, I checked my stats and skills.

Zeroth Race Aphu Job (Class) None Hobby None Stats HP 1000/1000 MP 790/790 STR 28 (Base: 13) VIT 15 (Base: 10) DEX 12 (Base: 7) AGI 18 (Base: 13) INT 21 (Base: 16) WIS 30 (Base: 25)

*Total Stats: 84(Base) + 40 = 124 points

Skill Active None Passive Wisdom Lv. 5, Curiosity Lv. 1, Day Dreamer Lv. 5

Low Appetite Lv. 1, Beautiful Mind Lv. 1, Sword Mastery Lv. 3

Eavesdropping Lv. 2, Beginner’s Will (Armor Set)

'I have a bunch of mana yet no active skill to use.'

It was really sad, or perhaps I was the one to blame. Should I buy skill scrolls or learn skills from NPC?

I shook my head.

‘Nah. I’m going to try learning skill by myself first.’

While I was there, I noticed an accessory display. Rings were placed neatly inside a fine glass. The shopkeeper came to me with a smile.

“W-which one do you like?”

Ignoring the NPC, I looked at the display intently. After a minute passed, I began to ask the NPC.

“Is there any emerald rings here?”

“There are some over there. Is there any certain one do you like?”

In response of NPC’s immediate reply, I walked to the display he was pointing at. There were dozens of rings with emerald gem in it. However, I couldn’t see the one I wanted.

“I’m searching for eye-shaped one”

“Is it a silver ring?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I heard the rumor that it is no ordinary ring. It is a beautiful ring, though.”

“Do you have it?”

“I’m afraid not.”

He put his right hand on his chin and hid his lips for a moment as if he was thinking something. Then he leaned on me and continued with a low voice like he was whispering to me.

“Because you just bought some items from me. I’ll tell you a story.”

I raised my eyebrows. In his still whispering voice, he continued.

“The ring is actually cursed.”

“Cursed?”

“Yeah, a friend told me this story. One day, a man bought a ring. Silver ring with unique ornament and eye-shaped emerald on it. It was really beautiful he said. The man always wore the ring. One night, the man said that he saw a white silhouette. The man thought it might be a dream. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Some of the man’s acquaintances began to notice that he was easily frightened. The man said that he saw a ghost every midnight after he bought the ring. I still remember when my friend told me about it with a pale face. Because he said that he saw it too. Then the man tried to sell the ring. My friend said that the man was really desperate to sell it. The man even had a thought to throw it away or gave it to random people. A few weeks passed, my friend saw him and asked him about the ring. But the man said that he lost it. Since then, he never seen the ghost anymore.”

‘Is it haunted by the mysterious artisan? This is getting creepy. But this is an artificial world, though.'

It could be an NPC or monster with spirit form or it was just a rumor. Anyway, I was actually really lucky for finding NPC with the knowledge of the ring directly. It would take pretty much time if I searched around the whole town, or even every town in this world. So I asked for a possibility of the ring whereabouts.

“Do you know where he lost it?”

“Hmm… I don’t know, but I’m sure my friend said that the man was going to Norwall Cave to find some herbs before he lost the ring. He probably threw the ring there. Heheheh!”

“Norwall Cave?”

“Let me show you on the map.”

He picked a map from a shelf and put it on the display. Then he pointed a certain place on the map.

“Here, it is northeast of this town. But you better be careful, though. Some goblins are spotted in the forest near the cave.”

“I see. I’ll be careful. Thanks, that really helps me!”

“You’re welcome. Please, come again!”

I left the shop. Then I began to plan my to-do-list in my mind. First, I would go to nearby hunting ground to test my new gears. Then I went to Norwall Cave afterwards.

I checked the quest again.

Artifact of Melleth

Quest: Find a silver ring with unique ornament and eye-shaped emerald on it. It is known as the last creation of mysterious artisan who made the legendary items which bless the temples.

Heiden said that the ring might be thrown away inside Norwall Cave.

As I thought, the quest was updated. Without further delay, I began to run.

・・・

I arrived at Eldan Meadow. It was a vast green field with a few lonely trees. Faraway forest and mountains could be seen within the scenery. Dozens of monsters were lurking on the meadow.

I spotted Slimes, Enraged Bunnies, and Meadow Foxes. They were all using physical attack. It would be a little bit hard considering my skills were best against magical attack.

‘I’m going to start with the easier one.'

Slimes.

They were the weakest monster in every RPG games. However, high level slimes could be really scary. Some had negative effect and nullification skills. But low level ones were not something to be worry about.

I stood nearby a slime and observed it. It looked like a crimson gelatin with sticky mucus. Black bead could be seen floating inside its gel body. It was probably its nucleus. And it might be its weak point.

I rushed at it and swung my new sword. My sword sliced through its liquid form and passed near the nucleus. I missed.

‘Crap. It must be because of my DEX is low.’

Even though I thought I aimed at it properly. It seemed stats still controlled my body. Suddenly, I could feel a force that pulled my sword. Then a strong push was flowing through my hand. The next thing I knew, my body was flying 2 meters backward.

You have received Counter Attack from Slime.

You have received 257 damage from Slime.

I sighed.

‘It’s going to be a long grind.'