[Two hours have passed]

The voice of the tower pulled me out of the arms of Morpheus. I grunted with a low voice. “Already? I barely got any sleep.”

I got up and stretched my arms as I noticed my surroundings transforming. The white walls of the rooms were slowly disappearing, replaced by a dusty brown background. I closed my eyes to avoid the dizzy feeling.

When I opened back my eyes upon hearing the complaints of several people, I found myself standing in the middle of an empty field. In front of me, was the entrance of what looked like a canyon. The air felt dusty.

Behind me, I found a small village in a poor state. The only building of the village that looked well maintained was the large tower at the entrance.

More importantly, around me, I found that it was not only my seven teammates who were present but instead, dozens of people stood in the middle of the field looking lost and disoriented.

[Welcome to The Grand Canyon. In this room, you will not be given any tasks. You will be allowed to leave this room and enter the first floor of the tower after purchasing a First Floor Ticket at the merchant tower.]

[Once per day, the monsters of the canyon will jointly attack the village. It is not your duty to protect your village but if the merchant tower is destroyed, you will no longer have the opportunity to purchase a First Floor Ticket.]

[Due to exceptional circumstances, one point will be automatically awarded for killing any monsters in the canyon.]

The voice of the tower left us all waiting, however, its announcement stopped there. The voice did not give us any instructions on how to proceed; we were left on our own.

I looked around me, evaluating the other groups. My eyes coincidentally met Jake’s, causing to me furrow my brows. ‘This guy… It seems like he is keeping an eye on me… Is it because I gave him some information? Anyway, I am not planning on becoming the leader or anything. You are the one who tried to take the lead, don’t push your responsibilities on me!’

I averted my gaze and instead focused my attention on the nearby village. Without a word, I took a step forward and headed to the village. What was the point of standing here to wait for help that was never going to come?

“Hey! Where are you going?” Jake shouted as he noticed my actions. His shout quickly attracted the attention of the other groups. Being the centre of attention made me uncomfortable.

I blurted out with a low voice. “Obviously to this village.” I sent him a meaningful look but clearly, he misunderstood me.

Not only did he quickly follow behind me, but the rest of my group also did so. With me at the front, it now appeared to the others that I was the leader. And with my group appearing to know what we were doing, all the other groups got behind and followed us.

Watching this scene worsened my mood. ‘I hope the other groups are not composed of idiots who will try to compete with me for idiotic reasons. It was not my intention to stand out!’

With the way I was walking, it was to be expected that everyone believed I was heading to the merchant tower. Everyone was curious about the price of the First Floor Ticket that would allow them to leave this room.

However, it was not the case for me. While I did not know the exact price, I knew it was much higher than 126 Points. For me, it was pointless to visit the merchant tower. And to everyone’s surprise, I walked past the tower and continued toward the village.

“Wait! Were you not going to see what is available at the merchant tower?” Jake exclaimed with haste.

“Did I ever say I was going to? I have more important things to do.” I casually said.

“More important things?”

“Of course. Think about it. We are probably going to spend some time here. Therefore, the most important thing to do is to first secure a roof above our head.” I chuckled and ignored their dumbfounded expression.

Instead, I walked to the first house on the street. It was not in the greatest shape, but it was habitable. I pushed opened the door and entered. Once inside, I slammed the door behind and pull the lever, essentially locking myself inside.

‘This guy is so annoying. Now, all that is left to do is to wait for the crowd to disperse before heading to the canyon.’

I looked around my new house. It did not have any furniture aside from a bed and a table. On the table, I found a lock and a key that would help me secure the house as mine. I jumped on the bed; it was not the most comfortable one, but I would not complain after sleeping on the floor and a tree branch.

I closed my eyes to get some sleep. It was the best immediate course of action. I would wait for the crowd outside to dissipate. It could take a couple of hours and it all depended on how the groups would interact.

‘Levi is not here. He must be having a meeting with the other fairies. These gossipy creatures are probably happily sharing information. If I remember correctly, my fairy used to be quite proud and have high self-esteem which matches Levi’s attitude. Maybe he won’t tolerate being last among the fairies and would have no choice but to cooperate with me.’

‘If he doesn’t, then I will have no choice but to go and explore the caverns of the canyon one by one.’

…

I slept peacefully for the first time in two days. For once, I did not have to worry about my surroundings. I did not know how long I rested but I did not hear any noise coming from outside anymore.

I yawned and stepped out of the house, not forgetting to put the lock behind me.

‘So tired. My body is not used to this irregular sleep cycles. A short power nap can only get me this far.’

I headed to the merchant tower, the most important building in the village. I suspected that every single person who came into this stage has already visited the tower. They were now either resting in a house or have already gone to the canyon to gather some points.

The village was not very big and there were not enough houses for each individual. Many would have to share their house or live on the streets. It was the main reason I rushed to claim a house. I had an overall idea of how long this stage would take; according to my memories, one month was the fastest a human could gather the necessary amount of points. I did not want to live on the streets for a whole month and neither did I want to share a house with a stranger.

The merchant tower was just a fancy name for a shop. The inside felt stuffy and dry. There was only a clerk standing behind a counter; the rest of the tower was empty. There was not a single item on display or decoration. The merchant tower did not care about its customers; it did not need any. It was the customers who needed it.

“Hello.” I greeted politely.

“Hello.” The clerk did not take the initiative to showcase any product.

“I would first like to have a look at the First Floor Ticket. How much does it cost?”

The clerk stared at me for a moment, sizing up my worth. “At least you are not completely broke.” He commented as he took out a plain white card. “The item you asked for. One thousand points. Come back once you have accumulated the required amount.”

“One thousand points?” I blurted out in surprise. ‘I did not remember the exact amount but as I expected, it will take a while to gather this amount.’

“Obviously, I cannot afford it,” I said and placed down the card. “May I have a look at the weapons you have available?”

“Sure.” The clerk dully answered and magically took out a series of weapons.

I shook my head. “No. I am not looking for low-quality weapons. I have about a hundred points available. I believe it should be enough to purchase an enchanted weapon.”

“An enchanted weapon?” The clerk was taken by surprise but soon, his expression was replaced by excitement.

“Yes. As you know, the monsters in the canyon are different from the ones I encountered earlier. Without a little help, I won’t be able to defeat them.”

“No problem.” The clerk smiled. “Which enchantment are you looking for?”

“Anything that will help me deal with the slimes. Ideally, something that adds to the damage like Smite, Scorch, or Static.”

The clerk chuckled. “It feels nice to finally converse with someone who knows his stuff. It has been a while since I did not have to answer questions until my mouth runs dry.”

He took out a rather wide assortment of weapons for me to choose. I quickly removed the ones I was not familiar with and in the end, chose a spear. While I was a swordsman in the past, for this situation, a spear was more suitable. It had a longer range, was lighter, and was easier to use. My current body was not trained to swing a sword all day long.

The spear I chose was priced at 90 Points. A rather hefty price that no one else could afford but it came with the Static enchantment. By absorbing my mana, the spear was able to unleash a small static discharge; depending on the mana absorbed, it could either paralyse the target or completely electrocute it.

“Thank you for your purchase.” The clerk said happily. After so long, he has finally made his first sale.