Noa quickly got dressed, putting on casual clothing.
He glanced at the mirror, seeing his appearance for the first time.
"Noa Osborn," he muttered, touching his short, black hair.
His features didn't stand out—his handsomeness was average, just like an ordinary extra from the novels.
Yet his eyes felt like an almost infinite dimension—deep and shrouded in darkness.
'So that's how I look now.'
After getting dressed, he quietly ate some of the leftover pizza without waking the others.
Then he wired $2,000 to Aeris and left a note for her, sticking it to the fridge.
"I'm heading to the association. Buy everything we need for the house, but spend most of it on yourself. I'll send you more soon, and I'll be back by evening."
After neatly writing a message to his sister, Noa left the home just as silently, heading toward the association.
He chose another branch to visit.
Also, he was weirded out because no one had questioned him until this moment.
Based on how the government worked, they should have already done enough research and taken him for investigation.
But it didn't happen, surprising Noa quite a bit.
Because of the two subsequent events that had occurred on the same day, no one paid attention to him.
'Not that I am going to complain.'
He wanted to sell his orbs before challenging the abyss for the second time.
His goal was to collect some capital for various purposes.
Not only to gather more resources to strengthen himself but also to invest in upcoming projects that he knew would bring more wealth in the future.
However, that was the plan for later—the most important thing now was to get ahead of Arthur Ashe and other big names.
Helping his family was also a top priority, and after catching a taxi and giving instructions, Noa reached the association at 10 in the morning.
It was a different building, even larger than the last one.
Even though it was the day after the national awakening, the branch was still busy, hosting hundreds of Embers who came for various purposes.
It was also packed with reporters and various officials who tried to figure out the situation.
After Noa asked around for directions, he was led to the underground floor.
The majestic yet old walls created a unique atmosphere, offering Noa familiar sensations from the game.
He descended the stairs, basking in the magical world around him.
Then he found the great hall.
There was one big vendor in it, with a huge, muscular guy standing in front of it.
"Morning!" Noa called out.
"Good day to you, young lad," the man answered in a crisp voice. "How can I help you?"
"I am here to sell some orbs."
"That's what I like to hear. Hand them over for inspection!"
Noa reached for his belt, taking out the loot he wanted to get rid of.
With 11 Primitive Frail Spirit Orbs and 1 Evolved Frail Spirit Orb in his stash, he handed them over and waited eagerly for evaluation, hoping that his calculations would be close to the final result.
The muscular guy didn't take too much of his time.
"This is the standard price," he stated. "$100 for each Primitive orb and $500 for the Evolved orb. Your total is $1,600. Do you want to complete the deal?"
'Just like I remembered,' Noa mused.
"Sure," he said, finalizing the transaction.
"Can you inspect my weapon as well?" he asked, talking about the shabby blade he got from the goblins.
The moment the trader saw the sword, he shook his head immediately.
"Sorry, but I am not interested in buying that crap. Not only is it of inferior quality, but I can tell without even holding it that it's on the verge of shattering. I wouldn't take it even if you paid me for it."
"Fair enough."
Noa didn't argue, understanding the situation.
The money he got was pitiful compared to the struggles he had to go through, but low-level goblins and their remains weren't rare, resulting in their cheapness.
If he had actually gotten their corpses, it might have been a different story.
And with only one spider's orb, he lost a great opportunity to make more money.
But Noa didn't regret being cautious.
After the first part of his daily goal was done, he walked through the underground floor, searching for the chamber.
Noa knew its location from the game and found it with ease.
The chamber was almost the same as the one they had in the academy, but it was much bigger, holding hundreds of Embers at a time.
"ID!" the uniformed, short woman demanded, blocking his way to the room.
Noa took his new identification card and showed it to her.
The woman darted her eyes between Noa and the picture, checking the resemblance.
"It will take ten seconds for you to teleport to the First Abyss. The location is random. How long are you planning on staying inside?"
She explained, noting what time he wanted to spend in the Abyss.
The academy would continue its activities in a week, meaning Noa had seven days to spare.
But he didn't want to worry his siblings this early on, focusing on getting enough money to take them to a better neighborhood.
He also had to collect money for the twins, as their education was just as important.
But Noa also wanted Aeris to escape her office job and follow her dreams—though he didn't know what they were.
"One day," he answered the guard.
Time dilation didn't exist in the abyss, flowing in the same way as on Velrox.
The woman gave him back his ID, opened the private chamber, and let him in.
"May you survive," she whispered, closing the door and locking it tight.
Ten seconds were quick to pass, as Noa was enveloped by magic.
It felt alive.
Powerful.
Divine.
Pushing him from one realm to another.
An additional ten seconds or so later, his darkened vision gained clarity.
The force that guided his body and mind alike stopped working, spawning Noa in a completely new environment.
He was no longer in Velrox but in the First Abyss—the place filled with enemies that would hunt him if given a chance.
Noa had to be careful and swift with his movements.
"Shit!"
However, the gacha gods didn't favor him, as his random location was anything but hopeful.