Since it was around 12, I planned to eat my lunch I acquired from the Quest Guild.

I headed towards the Item Shop to eat with my friend and arrived just in time to see her closing the shop for lunch break. She noticed me and said, “Liza is having a lunch break, please return after lunch for the shop.”

“No. I’m not here for business.” I took out my lunch and told her with a smile, “I wanted to eat with you, can I not?”

Liza did not react for a few seconds.

Did I ask too much? Was I out of line?

“Of course!” she said the brightest smile I have seen from her that made her even more beautiful.

Liza invited me into the shop before closing the door. She led me to the second floor where she lived. I arrived at a dining room. The dining room was a simple table for four with chairs around it. The room was lighted by a large clear window.

Now that you mention it, windows it this world were one-way. You could not see inside a house from the outside.

“This is the toilet.” said Liza as she pointed towards the room on the left. “The two doors on the right are bedrooms; the one further from here is the Master’s bedroom.”

“Liza, do you live here alone?”

“Yes. Liza wanted to bring Father with Liza after Liza rented this place, but he was stubborn and refused to leave the house.”

“Hey! Why don’t I live here with you? There’s an empty room here.”

“Liza apologizes for that is not allowed. Players cannot sleep in houses owned or rented by Characters.”

“You can buy and rent houses?”

“Yes. You should be able to find them in many side streets. They are quite expensive though. Liza’s rent here is 10,000 Fitts per month.”

“10,000! How much if you were to buy it?”

“240,000 Fitts.”

Seeing these astronomical costs multiple times higher than my current money, my head ached.

“Where do you get the money?”

“Liza uses the money earned from the Item Shop. When I first rented this place two years ago, my father sold the ring to a merchant for 50,000 Fitts. I used the remaining money as capital for the business.”

“Merchant? Was the ring rare?”

“Yes. Merchants were quite common. It was only after the second generation players arrive that this City became closed. The ring… was an Artifact Rarity item… it one of the few things that survived.”

Artifact Rarity… it meant that the item was one of a kind… and extremely rare, valuable, and powerful.

For the first time, I saw Liza with sadness in her face. Trying to change the topic, I asked, “Hey! What’s the history of this City?”

After hearing the question, Liza’s face became sadder than before. She stared at me blankly for a few seconds.

She finally sighed and said, “Until two years ago, Naut City had an amazing Mayor named Eric. Not only was he amazing financially and politically, he was also one of the greatest knights in Reality. His ability with a sword rivaled Players; a worthy feat considering Characters are inferior to Players in skill. Then one day two and a half years ago, an army of Goblins attacked and invaded Naut City. Eric fought valiantly with Players in the front line. In the end, the Goblins were repelled, and both Character and Players praised Eric. However, that was only the calm before the storm. When he returned home, he fell into despair. His wife and 20-year old child at that time, were victims of the battle.

“Eric lost his will to live. He abandoned everything and shut himself in the room. Over the course of six months, Eric, unable to fulfill his payments and duties, was deprived everything and forced to leave the house. All that he had left was his sword, their wedding rings, and his second child. Eric fled to the slums. Selling one of the rings, he bought one of the better houses at the slums and lived there with his child. Regretting his decisions, he tried to change his life and work hard; however, reality wasn’t so kind. During his depression, he had lost his abilities, both physical and mental. He could not return to his days of glory… he became phobic of his sword… Now he spends his days at the slums, treasuring his child who now worked and provided for him and the only person who accepted his mistakes.”

“This child… it is you, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Due to being his child, Liza cannot become with friends with other Characters, which is why Liza was so happy when you became my friend.”

“So the ring you sold to make business here…”

“Yes. It was the other wedding ring.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. This is the result of Father’s mistakes.”

Not knowing what to say, silence filled the next few minutes as we finished our lunch.

“It’s about time Liza prepares to reopen the shop.” she said as she went to the sink to wash her hands.

I approached Liza and embraced her from behind, causing her cheeks to glow red. I whispered, “You wanted to talk to someone about your story for a long time now…”

Unable to hold back her emotions, Liza burst into tears.

A person wouldn’t normally tell a person her story to a person she met the same day. Liza was emotionally in need… a need for a person to listen to her… a friend… even just listening was fine… she needed to get it out of her.

Liza cried for a few more minutes as I embraced her. After a while, she gently removed my arms and washed her face.

“Thank you.”

I left the Item Shop as Liza reopened it. I’ve become friends with someone quite important. Was it luck? Probably. There are many Characters in reality. However, it matters not, if a hidden quest related to Liza appears then I’ll do it, not because it’s a quest, but because Liza is my friend. Well, there is no quest for now at least.