"Heyyyyyy theree. Wait for a moment. Helllooo."
Adrian cocked his head backwards and saw the silhouette of a girl appearing from behind the remains of a broken building. She was waving her hands up in the air to get his attention. Behind her was a boy, a little older than her. Theley were both running towards his direction.
'Oh so players are still here?' Adrian thought as he eyed the odd dresses they wore, the type that was associated with the players.
At first Adrian thought of killing these two and progress in the quest. But he hesitated...
Composing himself, he replied back in a polite manner, "Yes, my lady what can I do for you?"
Talk politely and respectfully. This was one of the guidelines that they had been given before the arrival of the players. Adrian also found out that whenever he talked with them using respectful titles, they would look too happy. How weird...
There they got happy when one called them "My Lord" or "My Lady" and here the actual lords and ladies were ditching their posts out of the massive workload.
Just like the girl before him,whose eyes sparkled a bit as she looked at Adrian. The other boy however asked him, "What has happened over here? Everything is in shambles since we arrived."
Adrian feigned sadness and said,"Even I am not aware. I have heard of some disputes between the revered saviours like you and the City guards. I came here to take away my family only to see this..." His voice broke at the end that made the boy look at him with slight pity.
The purple haired girl - the bouncing one - exclaimed,"Brother, how realistic this game is, isn't it? Even the interactions feel so real."
Adrian wanted to choke up blood at that. Here he was trying to evolw sympathy from them and in response, this was the first thought that came to her mind!
The other boy, who was also purple haired, just rolled his eyes at the obvious amusement of his younger sister.
Turning towards him, he asked "Say, can you take us to wherever you are headed to? This place is ruined now. It's useless staying here." The older one proposed, as he added, "In return we shall give you our protection. I am at lvl 20." Then gesturing towards his sister "and she is at lvl 18."
'Ahh they think I am too weak with my mere lvl 10.'
He thought over the offer. Some company wouldn't be so bad, especially when he could hear about their world. He currently had limited knowledge in it. And something told him he would get entangled with their affairs....knowing his luck, he was almost sure of it.
"Alright." He extended his hand forward with a smile and added,"I am Adrian. Nice meeting you two."
The older brother strode forward and took his handshake. "I am Ren. It's nice to meet you as well."
The younger one pushed her older brother and clasped Adrian's hands. With eyes twinkling, she said,"I am Rachel. Obviously I know you are glad to meet me!!"
Adrian's smile turned awkward. He wasn't accustomed to such excessive display of emotions.
He glanced at Ren who was looking slightly embarrassed at his sister's behaviour.
"Rach, what do you think you are doing? Just because this is a game doesn't mean you do whatever you want." Turning to Adrian,he said, "Sorry for her behaviour. She got excited, it seems."
He just chuckled in answer.
"It's completely okay.
But I am curious about something. Seeing you both, I feel like you are new here?"
Seeing them nod, he asked ,"Then how are you both already at such high levels?"
Internally he was praying, 'Not another Nyx or Evelyn. Damn, no!'
Ren looked at him, seemingly puzzled.
"Why not? We had been killing the monsters in the city. The fights gave us enough experience to level up."
'What the... Don't tell me they are mistakening the wild animals for monsters. Oh no...'
He thought of correcting their grave mistake but then glancing at Rachel, he chose not to do so.
'I am truly a devil haha' But then paused his thoughts as he remembered the way he himself leveled up a day ago.
They soon embarked towards Woodrock City. Small talks kept them from being bored out throughout their journey.
Adrian for the most of his part, remained silent, talking only when needed.
Now that he was free, he was calmly contemplating several things he had noticed since the last few days but didn't get the time to think about.
The system...how did it manifest? He guessed that all the players had one too. But it was different from his. The players' system helped them comprehend things instantly that would have otherwise taken a long time for any average person. That must also be the major reason why they were advancing too fast compared to others.
'But it's useless. Spoon feeding shall never compare to the hard work of the others who had comprehended things on their own. It shall never create the proper mentality for future progress and then they shall find themselves stagnated...they shall fail ultimately.'
Next came a simple pattern. When Nyx had appeared here for the first time, her level had been 26. And when she appeared physically in front of him? She was lvl 156.
An exact 6 times her initial level.
'My guess is whatever the technology they are using, their level gets suppressed by 6 times when they appear here. But again, if my theory is correct then why is it that her mental realm was only at lvl 58 instead of her actual lvl 156. Hmm...This I need to keep on observing.'
And lastly...Evelyn.
She was the most important one here. He needed to find out whether she was still an ally or ...his enemy.
Though...
'That little girl must have grown into a beautiful woman by now...'
"Hmm?" Adrian clutched his forehead tightly, feeling a migrane approaching. His thoughts again turned muzzy as he suddenly forgot what he was thinking moments ago.
'What the hell is happening with me...?'