Kai immediately learned the skill Earthstrider at the cost of 1 SP. He now had only 2 SP remaining, but this level-up to 20 should grant him 1 more, meaning he would soon have 3—just enough to get another good skill. Some skills were mandatory to learn, with no option to decline if players wanted to use basic game features. It was an annoying system, but ultimately, a simple hurdle to overcome.
However, what followed was another matter entirely.
"37 Gold! My DarkSmile is just that precious to me!" declared the fat owner, pampering the black horse that neighed beside him.
"Come on, anything above 30 is more than double the price.." Kai pleaded.
The guy wouldn't budge. Kai recalled buying a horse in Stonebinder City once for 10 gold. This one had started at 42!
"Look at the pristine coat of the beast, boy. Nothing within 100 kilometers could rival such elegance.." the owner boasted.
Kai squinted at him, unimpressed, then turned around to leave.
"Where are you going?" the owner asked.
"To check 100 kilometers," Kai replied flatly.
"Fine.. fine! You are one very rude boy! But since you spent two days learning everything here, I can make do with 30 gold.."
Kai sighed. This NPC had never sold the horse to any player before, so he was stuck with their inflated village prices. He'd had enough. Handing over the 30 gold, he took the horse and immediately rode out of the small town.
As he passed through, many players took notice. Some whispered among themselves, while others snapped pictures. Kai had expected this—he wanted this. By riding off from inside the town, he ensured people would talk, spreading the word about him and would end up searching for his videos.
Just as he reached the town's edge, a group of players was returning from a dungeon. Their eyes met.
Xterminate07.
Kai's brows furrowed in recognition. He knew the guy—or at least the old character he used to play. Now, he seemed to be a Warpblade, with a long blade strapped to his back. He was the leader of a well-known guild and a solid player. Kai had killed him a few times in the past, which had put him at the top of their guild's wanted list. They had annoyed each other a lot.
And when they met in real life on Stonebinder Planet.. things hadn't gone well.
Kai had tried to reason with him, suggesting they drop the enmity, but by that point, their hatred ran too deep. They had attacked him on sight. He had halved their group. The survivors had then joined other nefarious factions just to survive in that hellish world—including their leader.
For now, Kai ignored him and rode on toward Mimi's location. He felt a twinge of guilt for what had happened, but it wasn't entirely his fault either. Still, in the years since, he had spared people far worse than them—simply because human players had become so scarce. They needed every fighter they could get to assault Deimos's base city.
The land stretched ahead—vast grass fields with small forests in between. Thanks to the Earthstrider skill, Kai instinctively absorbed years of horse-riding knowledge in just a day. But once he removed his headgear, he wouldn't remember any of it. This technology had a bright future, but it was still far from fully realized. People debated whether such an instant learning process would truly benefit humanity.
Kai, however, didn't care.
He had firsthand experience with this kind of knowledge transfer in real life on Stonebinder Planet. And at the end of the day, humans used every tool they had to seize power and terrorize others.
After riding for a full in-game day, killing monsters that came in the way of his majestic beast, Kai received a friend request from someone called Call_Me_Prince07.
Kai furrowed his brows but accepted it—then also accepted another request he had received while offline and had ignored till now: IgnisBellator.
Call_Me_Prince07: Okay, I did as you told me. This thing is too weirdly real.. Is this really a game or a movie?
Kai blinked.
Guess it really was his mother.
He wanted to slap his forehead. How was he supposed to introduce her to others when her name was "Prince"?!
Sighing, he called her holo instead of texting.
The moment he said hello, he heard nothing but oppressive silence, followed by a loud heartbeat. He had already given her a heads-up that voice communication in this game was possible, but she hadn't taken it seriously. They had tried countless text-to-speech gadgets over the years to give him a voice, so he understood her shock.
After a long minute of silence, she finally whispered:
"You can talk.."
"Yes, Mom. This game is special," Kai replied.
"It's the best thing in the world if I can hear your voice every day like this.." she said. He heard a faint sob but tried his best to ignore it. He could only imagine what was running through her mind right now.
They chatted for a few more minutes as she shared her experiences in the game. Eventually, Kai got her coordinates—she was north of Mimi's location.
Hmm..
Kai called Mimi too. She was online, and the three of them discussed how to meet up. In the end, Kai decided that Mimi should travel two days from her village to a designated spot. He would arrive at the same time. Then, together, they would head to his mother and return as a group.
Kai wished there was another town nearby, but Somnium was the closest. The other towns on the online map were too far. Hopefully, after four to five days, they would be back in Somnium without too much trouble.
The wild monsters weren't as bizarre as the alien creatures he had seen in his beginner village, but they were still high-level and could kill players easily. Worse, they blocked key paths, forcing players to either waste time circling around or die ten times over trying to brute-force their way through.
This game was devious.
But with Kai around, Mimi and his mother wouldn't have to deal with any of that. They could skip the hassle, level up in dungeons without losing EXP or items, and start their journey on solid footing.
For Kai, though?
These monsters were nothing but blessings.
He hunted them like a rabid beast.