“Huh, Moldy Bread? I wonder if I will be fine if I eat this?” I put it in my mouth then watched my status bars. The bread tasted a bit of a cross between bread that hardened and cardboard. Wait, I haven’t tasted cardboard before… And I don’t know how the technology has approximated the taste of certain foods but I knew that several spinal port programs could transmit taste.

My satiety went up a bit while my life ticked away a few points, probably that was supposed to represent that I got sick from the molds?

“My Ancestral Constitution was not procced by the damage from the food? Interesting,” I said. I should take note of this peculiar mechanics. I chucked the bread into my inventory and trotted off, looking for more barrels or chests or boulders to overturn.

I was having so much fun trying out the [Item Detection] of the Pathfinders. Since I was poor, I figured that I should look around for free stuff. The places where possible items could be hidden had a faint greyish tinge. If this skill was leveled, I would be able to find better freebies. Of course, I won’t be able to get the advanced version of the skill unless I joined the Pathfinders, or find a hidden quest way, but I’m contented for now.

So far, I found food pieces, some metal scraps, herbs, mostly miscellaneous items. I scoured the entire village while using my skills to level them up and not waste time.

Earlier, I also visited the Hunter-Warriors and got the [Urus Stance] from them.

Lvl. 1 Urus Stance: Shoulder to shoulder, with their shields held high, each Mardukryon warrior benefits from the protection of their fellow warrior's shield as well as their own.

Armor: +10/+15

Chance to block projectiles: +7%/+7.5%

Small chance to resist knockback

Mardukryons using the Urus Stance share the bonuses of their skill as well as benefitting from the bonus of others using the same stance.

Maximum stacks: 3

Duration: 45 seconds

A pretty good skill, even better with a party.

The Mardukryon who taught it to me said that Mardukryons who carry a spear and a shield encircle the weaker or support Mardukryons, like healers, forming a protective wall and fend off attackers. Their shields overlap each other and their spears point outwards, deterring any monster who dared to attack. The image I had in mind was the way some horned animals form a circle around their young to protect them, like the bison; I think elephants do that as well.

Were there any elephants left that were not cloned? They nearly went extinct a decade ago. Should I buy an elephant stuffed toy to show my support?

Anyway, there were three choices for stances, representing the main group of fighters from the Hunter-Warrior Lodge. Urus Stance was for ones who carry a shield. Another group was the spear throwers and lancers, and the last one were those who carry heavy blunt weapons or large bladed weapons, like Battle ax guy.

According to the Mardukryon who gave me the skill, Urus stance and formations have fallen out of favor. Mobility was prized by the current Bearer of the Hunter-Warriors. The Bearer was the leader and supposedly the strongest Mardukryon NPC; he bears an ancient weapon, hence the title.

Apparently, the current Village Elder was a former Bearer a few hundred years ago.

I tried getting the [Hunter’s Instinct] but I couldn’t find the dialogue path wherein they would offer me the skill. Fortunately, a player saw and understood what I was trying to do and told me that I couldn’t get that skill because the guy who was supposed to teach me was out on a “Hunt”. Battle ax guy did say that there was a “Hunt.”

It was times like this that make me think that Eclairs was right when she said that majority of people were actually nice. So far, most of the people I met in the game were helpful.

I opened another barrel. Nothing. In RPG games I used to play, many items could also be found in nooks and crannies all over the map. I would open every chest or coffin, anything that could have an item hidden inside, exploring all the rooms, doing all side quests. That’s the reason why I hated side quests; I just couldn’t help but do them.

“Maybe I should explore houses as well? If I could enter a room, then it’s fine to look for things inside.” The barrels I was opening were lined up against the wall of a house. I followed the wall of the house and came upon its front steps. The door was large so its occupants were probably one of the older Mardukryons. I shrugged as I pushed the heavy wooden door. “Who knows,” I muttered to myself, “I might get a quest here or a skill.”

It was a simple log cabin, quite roomy to accommodate the large bodies of Mardukryons. No chairs, of course, just those square mats where one was supposed to rest. I stepped softly, taking care not to make noise. I don’t even know why I was tiptoeing, not that I had toes. I could simply waltz in, loot everything, and go out.

I laughed at myself and walked normally. Clop, clop, my hooves went in the quiet house. “No pots for me to break? Might as well just open this cabinet,” I said.

“Who are you?” an angry voice said.

Turning around, I saw a female Mardukryon. I’m guessing, but I think female Mardukryons were smaller than the males. She already had her two horns out and a tusk. She raised a frying pan and waved it menacingly.

I raised up my hands and said, “I’m sorry ma’am. I’m trying out my skill. I’m dirt poor and just want to find items. I’m sure you won’t miss some virtual reality bread or something.”

“You shouldn’t enter people’s houses.”

“I don’t know if our race has a Bill of Rights or rights against unreasonable searches and seizures by poor players but I haven’t taken anything at all.”

“You better get out of this house right now.” She shooed me away with her frying pan. When I said female Mardukryons were smaller, I meant that relatively to male Mardukryons who have their horns out as well. She was bigger than me and level twenty-five versus me, a level six? No contest there.

“Maybe there’s a Sneak or a Steal skill that I could learn. There were some games that had those,” I said as I went to the door.

A large shadow blocked the door. I looked up and saw staring down at me. “My darling, who is this person?”

“I was on my way out,” I said. “I’m very sorry if I disturbed Shala, here.”

“How do you know my wife’s name?” he said with a growl.

“It’s written on top…Oh, I get it.” I chuckled. The developer of the game probably inserted this as a joke. I bet this was the response of the NPCs if I call them by name even though I wasn’t supposed to know them.

“Shala, who is this?” he said, ignoring me.

“Honey, I don’t know. He entered our house. I thought it was you and… I was scared I grabbed the frying pan.”

“Scared? You have nearly twenty levels over me,” I said with a laugh. This was probably a triggered encounter when a player trespasses this house and searched for items. I should meet with those people who wrote this in the game. Surely an amusing bunch.

“Were you going attack my wife?” He lowered his upper body so that our eyes were leveled. “The beauty of my wife have invited unwanted attention from you scum."

“Dude, I’m still a kid, technically.” I pointed to my temples. “See, no horns yet.” And because I was curious what would happen if I said his name, I added, “Just relax, mister Apason. I’ll go out now and level up peacefully.”

And that’s how I ended up in Mardukryon jail.

Imagine that. We actually have a jail.

“Comfy office,” I said, sitting back on my chair. JYE Corporation has given me my own office, fully furnished but the shelves were still empty. “Art of War is definitely going on there. What other books should I add in there? Les Miserables?” I don’t really like those books, but they were good conversation pieces, especially for cultured people or people pretending to be cultured.

Obviously, I was not a cultured person. I liked my fair share of crude and juvenile jokes.

I went to JYE Corporation a couple of hours earlier than I had planned because, well, I got jailed and I couldn’t go out. The Mardukryon warden told me that I had to stay there for a day. Even though an hour in the real world was equal to four hours inside the game, I still couldn’t just stay around there doing nothing but leveling my skills. Charging around my small cell while stabbing myself…that would drive me mad. So I just logged out and went to work.

I made up some story that I was excited on starting my work and seeing my office that was why I was earlier than expected arriving at JYE Corporation.

“What a stupid…” I said, remembering that I was jailed. Instead of dwelling on such a dumb thing, I opened the financial report of the corporation for the past year. I had everything that they submitted to the government for the past year in front of me. I’m sure that they didn’t miss anything but I just wanted to make sure. Hey, I’m actually doing my job.

In the corner of my eye, I saw someone outside the glass walls of my office. It was Mr. Armand accompanied by two persons. He waved at me. I smiled and pushed a button on my table to open the door.

“Glad to see that you have settled in,” Mr. Armand said.

A woman, most likely in her sixties, set down a pie on my desk. “Here’s your welcome pie. I give every new member of our family a pie. I hope you like apple pie.”

“Thank you very much,” I said. “I really like apple pie.” I wasn’t lying. My mother used to make apple pie for us way back…before my father died. During my years in the university, I would buy some apple pie just to remind myself why I was working hard. Enough bullshit sob story.

Mr. Armand said, “This is Mrs. Fiddle. She’s one of our character designers. She might not look like it but she creates beautiful gods, fearsome demons, and all creatures in between.” I immediately offered my hand to Mrs. Fiddle; a reflex of mine.

“Oh, Ernest,” she said patting Mr. Amrand’s arm. “You’re exaggerating.” She turned to me and said, “I thank you too, for your help, Mr. Stone. If the production of the virtual reality pods were stopped, who knows when will be able to release the game. And I don’t view it simply as a game. The creatures inside are like my children.” She leaned down and whispered, “My real children are just normal boring humans so I make dragons, elves, giants.”

She was joking but rather than laughing, a put an awkward look on my face, unsure of whether to laugh or not. I glanced at Mr. Armand with a brow raised then half-smiled at Mrs. Fiddle.

“I’m joking, Mr. Stone,” she said, laughing a cute grandma laugh. “You lawyers are always so uptight.”

Heh, nailed it. I knew that was supposed to be my reaction.

“And this is Mr. Jefferson. One of the writers for the story of the game.”

I smiled at him and shook his hand. “I played the game, Mr. Jefferson. Although I played for only a bit, my work’s getting in the way. I must say, the story is amazing. A game about a godlike entity making a game world for some mysterious reason and creatures in his game world have no idea about it. They have their own belief and god, never even expecting that they’re all only a game. It’s like a game inside a game.”

“Thank you for understanding that,” Mr. Jefferson enthusiastically said, with his arms outstretched. “Many people forget the Dalkanus, always forgetting that it’s a game within a game. I’m not going to spoil it for you, Mr. Stone, so I won’t say anything more, but I’m really happy that you understood it. Humans are play pieces of the Dalkanus.”

“It’s not even simply breaking the fourth wall, right? It’s an actual continuation of our world? Well, supposedly, since the Dalkanus knows about our Earth.”

“That’s an aspect of it,” Mr. Jefferson said. “This guy’s good,” he said to Mr. Armand.

“Mr. Stone, I did say that I could help you with being able to work inside the pod,” Mr. Armand said. “We can link your WeeCee—”

“I don’t have a Wee Cee,” I said holding up my wrists. “I’m using my phone. Everything connected to my work courses through my phone. My phone is also connected to the SmartEngine of our law firm.”

“We can easily sync your phone with the pod,” Mr. Armand said. “Even older models of laptops and personal computers could connect to the pod. Our player could access their files, the internet, whatever they want. We don’t expect them to be playing all the time.”

“My children and their families even have family picnics inside the game,” Mrs. Fiddle said.

"The sceneries are divine. I understand that. Most people want to play casually, they need to have a way to be attached to the real world. I assume that most people aren't into immersive roleplaying."

"Right you are," Mr. Jefferson said, nodding.

"I'll send a couple of men over to your unit, Mr. Stone," Mr. Armand said. "You'll be able to browse all our company records while you kill monsters."

I spent some more time chatting with them. Really nice people; my bullshit sense wasn't tingling.

Maybe Eclairs was right after all.