"Here ya go. Same amount as last time, Bell." Two figures stood near a small shopfront, in a little alleyway, away from the eyes of the masses.

Daru took out a cloth bag filled with a dozen health potions. A blue screen popped up in front of both of them. Bell took one out, examining it before placing it back gingerly. He handed over a small sack of Zil, and the screen closed. He clicked his tongue.

"Are you serious? 18%? How are you doing this?"

Daru stuck his tongue out. "Trade secret," he replied.

"Aw, come on man, tell me already," Bell pleaded.

He grinned. "Sorry, but my brother told me not to tell anyone. Besides, it's not that hard to find, anyway."

"Are you sure? My skill level hasn't been going up lately, no matter how many potions I make."

"Oh, that's not what I meant, but go for it," he ended, walking away.

For the past few days, he had had a few changes to his routine.

On Monday, at school, one of his classes assigned him a project for Thanksgiving break. This cut into his playing time, especially since his parents would also be home longer. And it's not like he only had one class to worry about, so it was time for a change.

He talked to his brother and decided to focus more on crafting than fighting. At the moment, it was a good decision considering that he had an advantage in that field. Gavin had sat down on his bed with a notebook, jotting down a list of objectives.

"In the shopping section of the town, players can set up their own little stalls if they have enough money. Stalls cost a lot of money though, and right now, only players with a lot of backing like streamers can buy one. If they're good enough, you can get an NPC to help you sell your potions. This is the primary reason the ones shown in NPC shops are the same as the ones made by players. If you can't, you'll have to walk around asking people to buy your-"

Darius held up a finger, cutting him off.

"One of my friends is a crafter, so couldn't I ask him for help?"

"Wow, you have friends?" Gavin raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, shut up," his brother growled.

"Tsss~, anyway, if you trust him enough you can. They're most likely peddling, but that's fine since he'll be selling the stuff, not you."

"There's an option that allows you to trade with other people from the Friends List. Figure out a deal for how you want to split the profits after he says yes since again, he's the one that has to sell them, not you. Then, after you've talked to him about it and he's said yes, open up the Friends List and tap on his name. A little box should come up with the options, and one of them should say Trade."

"Couldn't I just hand him the potions?" asked Darius.

"You could, but then he could run for it. The trading system's there to make sure you don't get scammed."

So he had gone and talked to Bell. After he showed him the goods, they made the deal; the profits split 8:2. Bell sold potions for between 10-20 CZ, meaning that Daru would get around 40-50 CZ a day.

"Normally I do 7:3, but I feel kinda bad for you so I'll give you a little extra," Bell had said.

People had been looking down on him ever since he became a mage, so he didn't really care that a kid younger than him felt pity for him. Besides, he got extra money, so he wasn't complaining.

He walked into the library, browsing the sections. His Comprehension skill had gone up another level in just a few minutes, along with his Examine skill. Thanks to making potions rapidly over the past few days, his Potion-Making skill had risen by 2 levels, making it his highest leveled skill at Lvl 5.

Even though it had risen by an entire level, he still could only read a few of the books. Currently, it was just the children's books and some fiction. Actually, the library had a surprising amount of chapter books.

Luckily, these weren't dark and morbid like the children's books. Instead, they were about topics taught in schools such as history, math, and science. Which made sense but was also weird, given the missing feeling of "technology" in this game. He couldn't read most of them, but the ones he could read were pretty interesting.

His eyes skimmed through the shelf, looking for any recognizable words. It was nice to have some fun every once in a while, and by that, he meant not reading an encyclopedia.

Daru sat down at a small table, reading a book titled, Catherine.

It had a typical plotline: a naïve young girl, named Catherine, and her dog Rosemary, lived with her sickly grandmother in a tiny village. One day, they went into the deep, dark, scary forest to look for pretty flowers to give to her grandmother.

And they didn't come back. The villagers never found their bodies. The end.

In memory of her, the villagers named the forest after her, naming it Catherine's Garden, the story read.

Ok, so wait, is that the forest near here? He thought.

However, the last line caught his eye.

It is said that her spirit roams the forest, beckoning at both humans and monsters alike.

Hmm... Is this a clue? For some kind of event? He shut the book and got up. Just like usual, it was only him and Kathy, the creepy librarian who was looking outside, her hand under her chin.

He walked up to the desk, carrying the book. Naturally, she heard him coming and turned to face him.

"Is there something you need, Daru?" she asked, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, uh," he held up Catherine, "Do you know anything about this?"

"Oh, that book? I don't know a lot about the event. Honestly, that book might be the best-kept record we have of it. I can tell you that most of it is real, however, and that Catherine really existed. But it happened so long ago that there just aren't enough records detailing the event."

She continued. "To put it another way, it's been so long that the name of the town's been changed twice, once to Agira and to the one it is now, Alf. Now then, is there anything else you need?"

He flipped through the book once more, turning the pages carefully. The paper was slightly worn out and rough, making it fragile.

Hm... "most of it is real", not all of it. Still, it has to be there for a reason, right?

"Do you know if the part about her becoming a ghost is true?"

"I can't tell you for sure, because you would need a specialist to confirm it."

There's gotta be something more behind this. Oh, wait- he looked back at her.

"Are there any other records on this?"

Kathy exhaled slowly. "There are more records, but we keep them up under lock and key in the town hall. Only the town's mayor and a few people around her have access to it. And with the town's current circumstances, I doubt she would hand over the keys to an unknown traveler."

She took a breath, sounding slightly exasperated. "It's really more of an urban legend around these parts anyway, so don't look too much into it."

"Still, it could be true. Who knows?" She added.

"Hm... alright then."

A dead-end on that, huh. Maybe I'll go exploring in the forest later. Oh, but if I do that, I'll have to train my AGI and Stealth skill...

Whatever, I was going to do it, eventually. Actually, let's start it up right now.

It hadn't taken too long to increase the effects. After reaching Lvl 4, the skill description had changed.

Stealth(C) Lvl 4: Costs 3 MP per minute. Increases ability to hide with level. Chances of being discovered increase while moving. More MP will be consumed if moving.

It not only worked while moving, but it also cost MP now as well.

He tried hunting the day before, to test the skill. It did not go well. He had barely made it a couple of steps before an arrow whizzed by his head.

He activated the skill. His outer appearance fluctuated slightly, as if he was an apparition. Anyone who looked at him with a quick glance might not notice his existence. Of course, there was only the librarian, and no matter what he tried, she would always see through him. Not literally, of course, but you get the idea.

He pulled up his skill list. Is there anything else I can train? No.

He placed Catherine back and surveyed the shelf, selecting a rather large and heavy-looking book next. The title read, History of Katar.

Hm... now that I think about it, I actually don't know that much about the game world. Maybe this'll be useful.

Some time later...

"This is boring as shit." He flipped through the book, skimming the pages halfheartedly. A few minutes in, his MP ran out, causing him to be fully visible. He put his hands behind his head and stretched.

Still, at least I learned something that might be useful. And I got a skill level too.

According to the book, the known world was one large continent, split up into 7 main kingdoms. There was land left over, but it was unexplored or left alone for whatever reason, whether it be the territory of a monster or "unholy" land or something other reason.

The history of the kingdoms was that a long time ago, it was one large kingdom under one ruler and his vassals, who represented the strongest of each starting class. The ruler was kind and just, and the kingdom lived in peace, occasionally fighting off the random monster horde.

However, one day the ruler died, and for whatever reason, he had no children, so he left it to his vassals. There were 7 vassals, and each of them took a part of the kingdom, splitting it up. Of course, this didn't happen peacefully, causing a rift between some newly founded kingdoms.

The one he was currently in was Katar, founded by the Rogue vassal.

Katar was a kingdom known for freedom, as unlike the rest of the kingdoms, it did not impose a religion or anything else seen as too "restricting".

There were 5 major cities along with a few villages scattered here and there. Alf, the starting town, qualified as one of those cities.

Unfortunately, that was all he learned. Everything else was gibberish to him.

He checked the time. Roughly an hour had passed, meaning he lost half his playtime just like that. He got up, putting the book back, and left quickly. Kathy waved goodbye, looking outside the window.

Next, he walked to the outskirts of town, where the training area lay. And just like usual, no one was around.

During the past few days, he had gained a few new skills at the grounds. One was Training(C), which helped improve his skill levels without having to battle. The other was Cleaning(C), which he had gotten after setting some scarecrows back up and cleaning up a bit.

At first, it just sped up the cleaning process, but after getting it to level two, the description changed.

Cleaning(C) Lvl 2: Increases cleanliness with level. May restore the durability of certain items.

He tested it on some of his equipment, starting with the gloves he won from the duel. The durability increased by 2 points after washing them in the river, and they didn't smell as much as they did before.

Daru began organizing the area, taking out the things he needed while making sure everything else looked nice and neat.

Once finished, he stuck a scarecrow on a pole and grabbed his staff from his bag. The top of the staff had several badara leaves wrapped around it to prevent durability from dropping and increase damage.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He swung the staff like a baseball bat, bashing the scarecrow repeatedly. The body of the dummy let out a small thud, only absorbing the blow slightly, causing the wood to resonate against the pole behind it.

Staff Mastery has become Lvl 3

Finally. That took so damn long.

He pulled up his skill list.

Skills

Common

Potion-Making Lvl 5, Examine Lvl 4, Comprehension Lvl 4, Stealth Lvl 4, Gathering Lvl 3, Staff Mastery Lvl 3, Cooking Lvl 2, Close Combat Mastery Lvl 2, Cleaning Lvl 2, Poison Resistance Lvl 1, Sneak Attack Lvl 1, Strangle Lvl 1, Dodge Lvl 1, Blind Resistance Lvl 1, Training Lvl 1

Semi-Rare

Mana Manipulation Lvl 1

Oh yeah, I had that SR skill... How does this work again?

He took a vial from his bag. It had a clear, light blue liquid inside.

Low-Quality Mana Potion(C): Restores 18% MP

He grabbed a few more, gulping them down until his MP was about half full. They tasted sweet, like sugary water.

He took off his gloves and focused on his left hand, trying to emit the blue wisps that came out from before.

After some time had passed, nothing happened. However, when he pulled up his status page, his mana had decreased by 3.

The hell? If it's working, why can't I see it?

Going even smaller, he focused on his index finger on his left hand. And on the tip of his finger, a tiny curl of blue smoke formed.

"Yes! I did-Fuck." He lost focus, and the smoke dissipated.

He experimented with it some more, wrapping it around his finger, making it move left and right. A few minutes later, his mana ran out.

Alright, so that wasn't too bad. He paused.

Wait. How the hell am I supposed to use this to make potions?

Originally, he visualized a stream of blue smoke coming out of his hand into the pot, but considering he could just barely conjure up a wisp of smoke, that didn't seem very plausible anymore.

Am I going to stick my finger in when I make it or something? Putting his finger into a pot full of boiling water didn't seem like a good idea.

"I guess I'll have to train it more before I use it..." he muttered.

"I'm running out of potions, though..." He bit his lip. "Maybe Gav can get me some mana stones."

He grabbed his gloves, dusting them off and putting them back on. Back to grinding.

Half an hour later, he patted down the scarecrow, did a quick tidy-up of the area, and headed over to the inn to log out.

"Which video are you on?" Gavin looked over his brother's shoulder as a man droned on about the Civil War.

"The third one." Darius turned his head slightly. "I thought you watched these already. There's different people in each of them, ya know."

"Really? They all look the same. Whatever, so anyway, how much do ya still have to write?" Gavin asked.

"I still got about half a page left. I'm almost done with the third paragraph and then I got the conclusion." He clicked on the bar, going back a few seconds.

"Okay, well tell me when you're done and I'll check it over." Gavin left, closing the door behind him.

He went downstairs into the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the fridge. His phone dinged. A delay. Dad was working overtime. Mom would be home in an hour, but she'd be too tired to do anything like usual.

Good thing D learned how to cook.

He opened the freezer. Underneath the frozen veggies were a few pizza boxes, unopened, so they'd be fine. He tossed the apple core into the trash and grabbed a bag of chips from the closet.

A sound came from upstairs. He turned his head and saw Darius coming down.

"You done? Where is it?"

"Just finished. It's on the table upstairs," he responded. He grabbed a cup on the counter, rinsed it, and poured himself a glass.

He frowned, looking at his brother. "Are those my chips?"

Gavin tossed another chip into his mouth. "No."

"Have you been eating my snacks?"

"No..." He ate faster, finishing the bag and tossing it into the trash.

His brother stared at him some more, an incredulous look on his face.

"Buy your own snacks next time," he said, reaching in the closet and taking out a can of pretzels. Gavin didn't respond, picking up his phone and heading upstairs.

Darius sucked on a pretzel while scrolling leisurely on his phone. Several people were streaming the game online. He picked the one at random and started watching.

The streamer was in a forest, hiding in a bush. They looked up for a moment and peeked through a gap in the trees. He could see a team of three newbies some distance away, fighting off a pack of goblins. They were struggling pretty badly.

One of them, an archer, got clawed by a goblin who knocked their bow away. They attempted to throw a punch, but the goblin ducked underneath and clawed at their face. He recoiled backward, screaming and stumbling into the bushes and falling down, as another goblin joined the first. The other two players, a supporter and a warrior, could only look on as they struggled with the rest of the pack.

The viewpoint shifted as the streamer slowly got up. The grass crinkled underneath their feet. Their hands became visible, revealing a bow and arrow. They stretched the bowstring back, an arrow notched, and fired.

The arrow hit the supporter in the side, causing them to stagger. Another arrow made them topple over. As the pack swarmed the warrior, both his teammates dead, he looked around frantically for the attacker, but soon succumbed to the onslaught and fell to the ground, dead.

A blue box popped up in front of the streamer.

Gained 67 EXP Infamy has increased by 1.

"Dang it!" They cursed, slinking away. "It didn't work! Stealth is absolute garbage!"

Wait, what the- infamy? What's that? Darius stared at his phone, waiting for them to explain or give any clues. Unfortunately, they didn't.

He closed the stream and opened up a tab. A few seconds later, he found out.

The game had a system known as Fame, aka "popularity" or "charm." It would show up on your status page as an additional stat, right below LUCK.

You could gain fame by doing various tasks, such as quests, but not the ones considered being "default" or "system generated." In order to gain fame, you either had to interact with players, NPCs, or do something big.

For example, if you created a piece of armor and someone noticed that you made it, you would gain fame.

Unfortunately, it could also go the other way. Committing crimes and other evils would open up a stat called Infamy.

Too much infamy caused several problems. NPCs would bar you from entering towns, or if you were already in one, would send you to jail. Enough infamy would set a bounty on your head that both NPCs and players could take. Plus, there would be a mark floating over your head visible to everyone, showing that you were a criminal.

There was also the death penalty. Upon dying for the first time, you wouldn't drop anything. After that, however, you had a slight chance of dropping something on you but couldn't drop anything inside your bag. But the chances of dropping items increased the higher your infamy was.

There were two key requirements to gain either fame or infamy. One was to perform some good or evil deed, and the other was to get "recognized." For example, in the stream that he had just watched, the player hid in the bushes and killed another player, but the warrior noticed the attack and thus was "recognized."

It was easier to gain infamy than fame, but the consequences were much greater, though what fame did no one really knew yet. There were probably other things, but for obvious reasons, few players with infamy had publicized that fact.

"Hey, D?" His brother shouted from upstairs, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm? What?" he shouted back.

"Yeah, I can't read your handwriting, so could you come up here?"

"Are you k-" He sighed, put his phone down, and went upstairs, just as mom's car pulled into the driveway.