Note : By the way, from the poll I concluded that I would just use the style I'm currently using. So thanks for voting guys

Brukshgig was walking away from the village, he is currently on a roadside surrounded by trees on either side

he was counting how much he had made from the transactions in the village when..

“ Hey you ! Stop right there you thieving merchant ! “

3 girls ran towards him

Rave was just about to start the attack with Po when it occurred .

Rave : “ Huh ? Are those girls players ? I didn't think anyone else would start here “

Rave was bewildered, he had been in the village for more than 2 months and he saw not a single user beside him and Po.

“ Even if I locked myself in the library for 3 weeks, I should have noticed if there is another user “

Even if he got food from the librarian he still needed to get out to the well to refill satiety and he didn't see anyone at the time.

“ Did they just arrive ? “

There could also be a chance where they traversed the forest to reach Numeda Village

“ No, no that's impossible, even Master Po had a rough time traversing that forest “

His Master, Po had barely survived when he arrived..even surviving all those danger showed how much of a monster he is.

“ Hmm…..ah! Could they be..the new batch users ? Well that make sense “

The 2nd batch users ! Compromising of 20 000 new users to add the 1100s users already playing.

“ But to think that there are other people who listened to that 5 h long conference.. “

He didn't think anyone would notice the detail, even more to keep their attention at a 5 hour long conference

The girls are now confronting the merchant head to head

A red haired girl was bickering in front of the merchant

“ I know you tricked me ! Give us our money back ! “

“ Haah..Lily, Chikusa this is why I told you guys to wait for me right at that time “

Kaede could only swing her head around

“ B-but.. “

Chikusa is looking pretty down after realizing the two of them had been tricked

“ But my dearest adventurer, the price I sold you is justified ! It requires bravery and strength to go across the forest to reach here ! “

Brukshgig was acting quite nicely to get out of the situation

“ Does selling us the potion 3 times the price in the city and healed only 5 hp sounds right to you?! “

“ Well..well that may just be a defective product my honored adventurer, I could replace it if you still have the item with you “

“ Wh-What ?! “

Lily Could not believe what he just said

“ Well you see, I couldn't just believe that my product is defective right ? I need proof ! “

Lily and Chikusa had only bought 2 potions, and that was using up all their money they had already

“ Y-youu !! “

Lily was about to hit the merchant when Kaede interrupted

“ Stop it Lily. he's not a red player..if we attack him, we’ll be the ones branded as a criminal “

“ Oh ? That girl.. “

Raul stared at Kaede from above the tree

“ Why are you staring at her from awhile ago Raul ? Do you like her ? “

Po smirked at his student

“ What ? C'mon Master, and please..I'm Rave here “

They whispered in a very low voice to avoid being noticed

“ Ahaha avoiding the subject are we ? then is she not beautiful to you ? “

Po was still laughing at his student, he had never seen him attracted to a girl before so he was quite happy at the situation

“ Well I would be lying if I say she isn't beautiful..but I'm honestly praising her judgment here “

“ Gahaha, alright lil Raul let's just watch the situation unfold “

“ …It's Rave here master “

Even the legendary cold bladed Ronin could not face his own master

“ How about this, there's a cave there on the far right. I put my belongings there, follow me and I'll give you a new potions “

Kaede thought about it for a while

“ His status said that he's level 15..so we could beat him anytime something happened “

The ring of concealment hided the true status of the Dark Merchants and changed it with a normal looking merchant status

“ Not to mention merchants can't fight no matter how high his level is “

Merchants are well known to be unable to fight, even a level 100 merchant may be unable to beat a warrior at level 10

“ But the problem is if he had friends..I don't know how to handle them “

That's right, a merchant usually had a bodyguard to guard them from monsters since merchants are weak in nature

“ Okay, I'll just stay vigilant and if I sense another person we'll immediately run away “

“ Okay, lead us to the cave..but if there's nothing there..you know what will happen to you “

“ Ck..wrong choice little lady, she's blinded by his low level and merchant class “

Rave just watched them from the trees

“ Let’s go Master, we shouldn't lose them “

“ Right “

The two of them kept following the merchant at a safe distance

………………………………………

“ There we are, the cave is right there “

They finally arrived at the cave, it is surrounded by a dense amount of trees so it's quite hard to discover it

Kaede crept and looked at the cave

“ Wha..there's nothing inside mister ! Are you trying to trick us ! “

The cave was not deep, one could immediately see the end of the cave. And inside it was nothing

“ Oh..well well that's too bad then “

Brukshgig the merchant clicked his fingers and 3 traps immediately launched tying the 3 girls in a rope

“ Wh..what ?! “

“ What's happening ?! “

“ Guhh..dang it.. “

The 3 are surprised and confused at the sudden trap

“ BWAAHAHAHAHA.. I thought that I would only earn a small amount here, but look at this ! 3 young adventurers ready to be sold GAHAHA ! “

“ Wh-what ? You can't do that ! We are adventurers ! “

Lily could only scream in horror

“ No Lily, I already checked..we can't log out “

“ Wh-What ?! “

“ Guhuhu of course I knew you adventurers could suddenly disappear in a blink, but the rope that is tying you is not normal lady..it does not allow the user to escape N-O M-A-T-T-E-R W-H-A-T happened..GAGAHAHA ! “

“ N-no way ! “

Chikusa screamed

Po who was watching the scene unfolding couldn't resist to go save the girls

“ Wait a sec Master “

“ B-but.. “

“ Please master, I need sometime to think “

“ Alright if you say so “

“ This situation..i thought he would just attack them but capturing them ? This game..this world..the Npcs..I don't know but everything looks alive. Their thoughts, their actions..they are beyond Npcs “

What Rave concluded is right, the Npcs of EverWorld had a thought for themselves to the point they actually unable to be classified Npcs anymore

“ Are they..AIs ? How much is it going to cost to create that many AIs “

Rave was bewildered, even a single AI costed a million to make

“ Do they have a system that could give birth to AIs ? “

If they created a system that automatically create a new AI and save cost but..

“ That's against the law ! To create an AI that isn't monitored could be dangerous “

An AI is a powerful being that could think for itself, if it has knowledge of the real world then imagine the destruction it could cause

As Rave kept on pondering, Po kept on calling him to start attack

“ Raul, let's go already..before they get a trauma on virtual reality.. it's better to hurry “

“ Eh ? Yeah, ok let's do it..but I want to talk to that guy first, keep hidden here. Come out only when I give the signal Master “

“ ..Alright “

Po was unwilling to wait any longer but he knew how smart his disciple is

“ Raul definitely know what's best, now I could just wait “

Meanwhile Brukshgig was covering their mouth and is ready to bring them up to his wagon

“ Hey Old Man “

Rave suddenly appeared In front of the cave

“ Huh ?! “

Brukshgig turned back and saw the young adventurer he met a week ago

“ Kid..don't try to play hero, you'll die you know ? “

Brukshgig only laughed at Rave's arrival

“ Hey old man, I want to ask you something..what are you planning to do to them ? “

Rave said, as he gestured on the 3 girls

“ Guhuhu, that is none of your business kid “

“ Okay, if you want to play like that… “

Rave kicked of the ground and closed their distance in a split second

“ Die “

“ Ohoho, Kid if you think I'm a normal merchant then you're very wrong “

Dark particles began seeping out of the ring the merchant had

[ 3rd Perspective off ] [ Rave's Pov ]

That thing coming out of his finger..I don't like it

I swing my sword using my two hands but at the same time, the dark particles began to gather in one place and..

*Bduushh *

As if the dark particle is a dense liquid my sword was stopped halfway

The dark particles began to form a humanoid figure, with a sharp fin like shape on top of it's head

“ Identify ! “

Dark Spirit [ low class ] lv. 34

A low class dark spirit, born from the soul of a human that seeks vengeance.

However, the human is too weak to form a spirit with intelligence. It now operates on instinct

[ 3rd Perspective on ]

“ A spirit ?! “

Spirits are a spiritual being in EverWorld, they are rarely seen and unless contracted to someone, Is unable to be seen by normal eye except those who have a high affinity to the spirit

“ Guhuhu yes kid, this is the power that the community gave me ! Ahahaha “

“ Dark Merchants Community huh “

“ Huh ?! How did you know that kid..Since you're an adventurer if I kill you, you'll just revive. No choice, I'll capture you too then “

A wide smile crept on Brukshgig’s face

“ What are you planning to do to the ones you captured ? “

Rave kept calm and questioned him again

“ Hah ? Again why should I tell you kid ? “

“ I thought he’s stupid but looks like he have brains too “

Rave cursed at the merchant’s unexpected intelligence

“ Oh well, looks like I’ll just beat you till you blurt it out “

Rave is preparing his sword for another attack

“ Blah big talks kid, Dark spirit go but don't kil him “

The moment the merchant finished his sentence, the dark spirit stretched it's arm and aimed for Rave's shoulder

Rave jumped to the left immediately, barely avoiding the spirit’s outstretched hand

“ looks like this will be quite tough “

Rave smiled at the opponent in front of him

Ps : I'll edit my previous work in the near future, me or a proofreader. So if you can't handle my mistakes then I ask you to wait till it's proofreaded.