“It really is you!” The familiar voice continues.

I turn around to see a player standing five feet away from me. He has a slender body type and a height that is only a few inches short than myself. Equipped with full bronze plate mail armour with a shield on his back and a longsword at his waist, he looks like a full on knight. A helmet with a nose guard sits upon his head, obscuring his hair, but I can immediately recognize this guy. His bright heterochromous blue and green eyes are a defining characteristic of his face and they are clearly visible.

“Phil!” I move over to him and embrace him in a bro hug, slapping his back, “Ahh, where have you been all this time?”

“Umm,” He scratches his face in embarrassment, “I’ve been been busy training a lot of skills, but ever since the first island was cleared I’ve started doing more combat.”

“So, is that why I never saw you at the boss fight?” I look above his head, and sure enough, he’s only level 12. Exactly how much time did he spend on skills? This is far from what I had expected from him, but when I think of our past I can see why he might end up like this. We’ve known each other for many years, and he has a habit of being all talk, but no action.

“Yup!” He answers shamelessly, “However, It’s not as if I didn’t contribute. I am a level 3 alchemist after all.”

*Pfft*

“Level 3 alchemist!?” Alchemy is considered the hardest popular skill to raise. Each potion creation only gives a small amount of experience, but not only that, it is near impossible to gather ingredients in the market at reasonable prices.

“Yup, and level 2 fletching, tailoring, trading, and mining.”

At this point, I feel like vomiting blood. This guy says it like it’s nothing. If I didn’t already have level 3 blacksmithing I would be tempted to slap this guy in the face. Within the last week I managed to get to level 3, which is how I’ve managed to obtain iron armour.

On each of my creations, next to my insignia, I have carved a number based on how many I have created of a certain type. Therefore, I know it took me 10 bronze helms, 5 armguards, 5 greaves, 2 plate legs, and 2 plate bodies to get to 7,260 experience. I had spent so much time focused on weapons earlier, hammering out many short swords, that it had gotten monotonous as if it were a production line.

When I finally reached level 3, I received a message stating I was the 12th player to reach level 3, so I’ve improved in speed since I was the 16th to reach level 2. Iron armour is the next tier, which takes around the same amount of time to craft compared to bronze, but also gives twice the amount of experience. However, after upgrading the bronze equipment to iron, I took Gem and Ilyena hunting, and had been there ever since.

My awkward silence seems to have reached Phil, because he changes the subject: “So, how did you get all of that iron gear?”

“Oh, this?” A smirk comes to my face, “I made it.”

“Haha!” He looks at me in pleasant surprise, “Us brothers each have one of the rare skills. With my fletching and your blacksmithing we could earn a fortune!” His eyes shine with greed.

“Don’t you make enough money with the alchemy?” Last I checked, players with level 2 or higher alchemy were rich. After all, having potions could mean the difference between life and death.

“There’s always room for more!” He smiles and then looks around, “There are too many people here, follow me!”

He starts walking in the direction of the residential districts. Wait. He couldn’t possibly own land here all by himself. Could he? I quickly catch up. “Wait! Before we go anywhere, let’s add each other to our friends list. What’s your username?”

“Oh, it’s Prayergod. You?” Hmm, Prayergod was Chris’s username in the last game we played. Very original.

“Mine is Quinn.”

“Wait, you made your username based on your real name?” He starts laughing, “A couple of my acquaintances had mentioned a Quinn, maybe they were talking about you. Here, let me send the invite”

Player: Prayergod wishes to become friends. Do you accept? Yes No

I hit yes, and then we continue forward. While walking I ask: “Umm, so how much money do you have?”

“Oh, right now I’m broke.” He states as a matter of fact, his expression one of indifference.

“I see. Then why are we going into the residential area?”

“Well, to become broke I would have had to spend my money on something, now wouldn’t I?” Amusement flickers in his eyes.

The residential districts are separated from the main island by way of bridges in the same style as the one to the portal plaza; however, these bridges are at least two times as long as the aforementioned bridge and have a slight decline. On the other side, is a mountain of cloud. Pathways snake up it’s side connecting the various plots of land for sale. There is the occasional building, but as the altitude increases, these buildings become more and more sparse.

"How the hell could you afford a plot of land here?" I exclaim in disbelief. Then again, I obtained the most expensive plot using a backhanded method.

"Well, I didn't say I was alone." He laughs, "There are four of us who banded together to get a plot. It's only one of the million Tor plots near the base of the mountain, but it's large enough for us."

"Hmm, but where did you find three others willing to share the land?" It's not like getting roommates to share in renting an apartment. They are sharing an investment.

"I made a few connections when selling my potions. Oh, by the way, two of them are females." A perverted aura radiates out when these words escape his mouth. "I'll introduce them to you. They should be there right now."

"Alright, but just so you know, I’ve already found someone I'm interested in."

"What!?" He stops dead in his tracks, "Who is she? What's she like? Does she have any friends?"

I feel like I am in the witness box with this bombardment of questions. "Her name is Gem, and she has radiant bright red hair, deep crimson eyes, and a personality that perfectly compliments my own. As for friends, she knows a lot of people at the Prancing Mare inn."

"Wait a second." He pauses, "You said bright red hair and the Prancing Mare?”

"Yes... Why?"

“You aren’t referring to the idol of countless men’s hearts, the Scarlet Angel are you?” He says this as if I should know what he’s talking about. I haven’t spent much time out in the common area of the Prancing Mare.

“Huh?” I stare in bewilderment with one eyebrow raised and my jaw open, “Scarlet Angel?” That sounds like some cheesy nickname.

"Yup." He nods, "She occasionally helps out at the Prancing Mare inn. Many guys hit on her whenever she is there, but none of them have managed to sway her heart so far." He pauses, and then abruptly holds his finger up in exclamation, "However! There are rumours that this angel has already found a partner!”

"A partner?"

"Yes. Ever since the second week of the game she has been smiling more frequently and this increased exponentially ever since the first floor was cleared."

"Umm, do you have nothing better to do? Maybe she was just happy that the first floor was cleared."

"That may be so, that may be so.” He strokes his non existent beard, “But! Sources have seen her walking with a male, one about your height I guess, and they were holding hands!" This guy is getting too excited over this. "Take my advice, you had best give up on her."

"Why do you know so much about this?"

"Hehe, have a look at this!" He opens up his user menu and brings up a book from his inventory. Books can be made from the scribe skill and can be used to pass around knowledge such as in a newspaper. The physical copy can also be uploaded to the UI, where it can be read, but this consumes the book. Information brokers use this method to sell their information, and since a physical copy is need, it helps prevent theft; however, there are of course methods around this. One method to combat this is that they make the user consume the book in front of them.

"This was put out a few days ago. It is a list of the Top 100 most beautiful women in the game." Of course he would have something like this. “She is ranked number 9 on this list.”

"There was such a thing? Where did you get this?" It seems professionally done, but only number 9? I disagree with that, but obviously someone has a lot of spare time.

"Hehe, they can be found everywhere. A new issue comes out each week, and at the back of each issue is a place to vote for your favourites. That way the list can be updated frequently based on the reader's preferences. It even provides a short bio of each." Seriously, are these guys middle schoolers? I give him back the listing and continue walking forward. He takes a second to gather himself before running up beside me.

We soon come to the edge of the bridge where an archway made of white marble stands tall over the pathway. On the left and right sides of this archway are maps of the area. From this, I can see the trail spirals up in a helical shape. The path to the right is a dead end, but it wraps around the mountain to make efficient use of the space. There is also a staircase that continues on straight from the bridge. This is designed for those with properties higher up, as it would be tiring to have to walk the entire length of the main path just to get to your plot.

On these maps are the symbols to mark out the plots of land and to indicate which have been sold and which are available for purchase.

"Oh yeah, those maps are a nice addition to the area. Us land owners can choose to leave a 20 character message for an extra fee. Basically, the 1 million Tor price tag only covers the land and everything else costs superfluous fees.”

Despite this area being open for a week, I haven't wandered from the main island. The land ratio of the main island to one of the residential areas is 1:2. If one were to look down from above, they would look like giant wings attached to a small body.

The trail around the bottom of the mountain is laid against the very edge of the island. Only a simple guardrail separates us from it. At least once a day someone will choose to end their lives by jumping off the island. The first island of fairhaven makes it more challenging to do since they would have to travel far to reach the end. But, here, where the edge is only a short leap away, this problem has become more prevalent.

The sounds of birds and small animals are missing from the island, and all that can be heard is the sound of players going about their lives. Every once and a while a refreshing breeze blows through the island. The scene below is near indescribable. It is like being in an airplane and looking down at the ground or being on the top of one of the tallest buildings and looking down at the city below.

“How much further until we reach your plot?”

“We’re almost there.” He replies in a carefree tone, “Don’t worry.”

We pass by many of the Million Tor plots that have already been bought up. Some have buildings already, while others only have a ‘sold’ sign near the road. Not many players are travelling around this winding path, but those that are have a higher than average level and are equipped with better armour than the majority.

After 10 minutes of walking, Phil finally speaks up. “Here we are!” He stops outside what appears to be a vacant lot. Three tents surround a campfire in the centre, and voices can be heard from within. The plot of land doesn’t look any larger than a regular sized one in a city suburbs, but to see that they haven’t even started building yet is surprising.

“Where’s the house?”

“Ahh,” He scratches his face in embarrassment, “That is... We ran out of money.”

“How much could it possibly cost to build a simple, temporary log cabin?” I haven’t looked into the building costs yet, but if they cannot afford to build something on this land, how will I afford it on that central plot.

“Let me put it this way, to lay a basic small foundation would cost 100,000 Tor.” So expensive. “And that’s the cheapest option.”

“What determines the prices?”

“They are set by the system for the generic building options. You pay the money and a team of NPC workers comes within a day to build it for you. Of course, you could choose to hire players, but then you have to cover the cost of building materials yourself. If you choose this option, there is not a guarantee on the quality of work. Besides, the highest level of construction a player has at this point is level 3.”

Ugh. This is going to be a pain to construct the building I want. I was thinking of a large scale guild hall equipped with a store, a bar, a restaurant, an auction house, information centre, and living quarters. The works. Why not use the most of the space.

“Is that so...”

“Mhmm. We could scrounge up the money in a day if we need to, but we want something of good quality. We can’t be like those bastards those bought up the shop space on the central island. What lucky bastard can afford to spend 5 Billion Tor on a plot of land.” His voice escalates, “I mean, who the hell even has anything remotely close to that amount of money!”

Umm. That lucky bastard is right in front of you, you know?

“Hehe, I heard the Sacred Order is pissed and are secretly observing anyone who pays too much interest in the land.”

“Wouldn’t that not be a secret then? Those guys supposedly secretly observing the land were fairly obvious. Their faces were obscured by hoods sure, but who dresses like that in a safe zone?” As I say this I am reminded of a certain assassin who only goes around with her face covered, but that’s beside the point.

“Ahh, those are just the decoys. The real observers are inconspicuously dressed in plain clothes and blend into the crowds.” Phil opens up the gate to his plot, “Hehe, I saw you staring at that plot earlier. Maybe they’ll come after you.”

As I enter the plot, my map updates and I can now see two green dots on the map. Strange. There should be only one. Who do I know that would be rich enough to afford buying a plot of land? My friends list is fairly barren, so there are not many choices.

At this time, Phil starts to introduce us, “Everyone! I’d like you to meet my good friend Quinn. Quinn, these are the people I told you about.”

When I get closer to the campfire, I can see not one, but three familiar faces.

““It’s you?”” All four of us simultaneously speak.