Being a recluse wasn’t glorious, but in James’ mind it certainly beat working a 9 to 5.

And in his quest to avoid working a 9 to 5 when he was still on Earth, James spent a long time researching ways to make money.

Of course, he never actually succeeded. He ended up being a nobody and living off the backs of his loving parents till the day he died.

But even if he never actually became an entrepreneur, he still had that entrepreneurial spirit, that deep yearning in his soul to make something of himself.

And perhaps in this new world, he could finally fulfill that dream.

“To make money, you need to find out what people need. What are their problems, what would they pay for? I need to provide some sort of value.” James muttered to himself for hours, contemplating the same questions over and over, trying to find an answer.

He now remembered his problem. How could a recluse be an entrepreneur? He doesn’t know anything about people and their needs or their problems.

He thought that he’d have an advantage because of his knowledge from another world. But now that he’s actually trying to think of a way to make money, it turns out he doesn’t actually know anything all that useful.

He's just not as brilliant as the characters he used to read about, who reincarnated in a new world and brought knowledge of engineering and physics with them.

But what James lacked in knowledge, he made up for in wisdom.

James lived vicariously though countless books. While he didn't know many useful things, and he could make a lot of silly mistakes and have half-witted plans sometimes, he had a lot of wise insights about life.

James understood one truth about life even when he was on Earth. but he could never actually bring himself to put it into practice because he was too antisocial by nature: life is all about others, about the relationships and connections you make with others.

Even now, the idea of friendship was still uncomfortable for James. However, Helios and Lunaris are great people, so he’d have to push past this barrier of discomfort and truly be their friend. He not only felt grateful, but he truly liked them as well.

And the first step in growing up is being able to ask for help. And that also happens to be the solution to his current quandary.

Since James lived right next to Lunaris, he went and asked her to join him first, then they both went to Helios’ house.

Though house is a loose term when it comes to Helios. Looking around, James was confused.

“Lunaris, is this the right place? I don’t think this is his house, this is a gym.”

The front lawn was full of workout equipment, such as enchanted weights that were so heavy that they sunk into the ground, or arcane workout devices so complex that James had no idea what they were for.

“Yeah, this is the right place.” Lunaris rolled her eyes and sighed, too used to the sight. “Let’s just go in.”

Lunaris knew that there was no point in knocking on the door, the meathead wouldn't have heard them anyway. When they walked in, they saw Helios doing squats with something that looked like a like life preserver around his waist.

“That's a weight. Depending on the enchantment, it can weigh up to several tons.” Lunaris explained when she saw James’ perplexed expression.

“I thought exercising isn’t an effective way of leveling up?” James distinctly remembered being told about this, and yet Helios worked out all the time.

“Aye, at your level it’s not effective compared to just going out and killing the strongest monsters you can find. But later on, it won’t be that easy to find monsters of your level to kill, and they become much more dangerous. At that point, even if your levels are matched, every single monster is a hurdle to be feared and respected.” Helios clarified while still working out.

“But every bit of training helps, so working out can sometimes be a good use of your time, even though it’s not the most efficient. Remember what I said about effort? Progress is all about pushing yourself. If it’s not easy, if your mind doesn’t want to do it, if your body is screaming at you to stop, that’s how you know you’re improving. That’s why I’m using these weights to make my workouts tougher, it’s a lot more efficient this way.”

As he was saying this, Helios was still working out, but he was also shoving handfuls of Lunaris’ enchanted sweets in his mouth. He must have been using those as a way to replenish energy.

“Also, I’m not really training to gain levels. My work-outs are designed to increase my proficiency with several skills, not my overall level.” Helios exclaimed proudly.

“I don’t see other people working out all the time though. Why do you work out so much harder than anybody else?” James asked innocently. He always hated working out so he admired Helios for being so hard-working.

Helios stopped working out. He then smiled shyly. “I wasn’t always like this. I used to be quite lazy actually. I wasted years just playing around and not doing anything, and I was also quite weak and scrawny. It took me way too many years to gather the motivation, but at a certain point I was just so disappointed in myself and who I’ve become that I finally decided to change.”

Helios then flexed and smiled brightly. “Also, you don’t get these babies just by killing monsters.” He was flexing his biceps so hard that his head turned beet red.

“Stop flexing you big oaf, I think I liked you more when you were scrawny.” Lunaris then conjured a ball of water over Helios, drenching him from head to toe.

“Thanks, I needed a shower!”

While the three were having some delicious biscuits baked by Helios, James explained his struggles with entrepreneurship.

“Don’t worry about that, we can just give you money for all your needs.” Both Helios and Lunaris exclaimed at the same time.

Hearing that, James was very touched. But it also made him feel uncomfortable. These people were so kind and generous it put him to shame in comparison. He felt that he wasn’t even worthy of having such friends.

He couldn't take advantage of them like that. He came here to pick their brain, not leech off them.

“Thanks guys, but there’s nothing more satisfying as a man than building yourself up with your own two hands.” That wasn’t the real reason he denied the offer, he just didn't want to be more of a bother to them. But there was a grain of truth to that as well.

“I don’t think you’d have much success with your current skills. Hedonia is full of mages that can mass produce anything you’d try to sell. The only way to make money is to specialize in something, but that takes time.” Lunaris explained to James, whose pessimistic side predicted this outcome, while the optimistic side still had faith that he can figure something out.

“But there is that one thing.” Helios said while looking at Lunaris.

“Yes, there’s that. Your link to the Darkness. As we told you before, Hedonia does have ways of acquiring drops of Darkness, but I haven’t heard of anybody getting them directly from killing demons like you did.” Lunaris said giddily.

“They’re not that expensive or rare, but you can acquire them with less effort than other people at your level. And people at a much higher level just wouldn’t bother acquiring them in the first place, they have much better things to do.” As Helios was saying this, he was popping biscuits in his mouth while barely even chewing. “Oh, these are enchanted too, they're great for recovering after a workout.”

The three chatted for a while, after which James returned to his home.

Once he made some money, he’d definitely have to buy them a nice gift, these friends of his were so nice to him, and he did nothing to deserve it. A nice gesture would make him feel better.

But now he has a way to make money. He can finally stand on his own two legs and feel like a man.

There was a problem though. There aren’t any demons around his level, so he’d have to go back to the Jungle and fight those same demons he fought before. But they won’t give any xp now since he's level 15.

Killing them will be harder than when he was level 1, because now, instead of the feeling of danger and excitement pushing him forward, there's only boredom. That wouldn't be a problem if he was leveling up and getting stronger. But if he’s working hard and not leveling up, that's basically as boring as a 9 to 5.

But this is what a man must do. Whether on Earth or in another universe altogether, work and discipline is what separates a child from a man.

And James was tired of being a child. He had the wisdom of an old man and the temperament and patience of a child. It was time to buckle up and grow up.

He swallowed all of Lunaris’ candies that he had left and he went to work. His heart was racing, those candies had a powerful energizing effect and he had eaten way too many. But it was worth it, the process will be a lot more enjoyable now that he was hopped up on candy.

Fireballs would have been overkill and they’d have consumed too much mana. So James decided to kill the demons with a conjured icepick, sent flying right into the demons’ brains, through their eyes.

Thank god he became desensitized to violence when he was a recluse, watching gruesome movies out of boredom. He might’ve died back when he was trying to kill the first demon if he didn't have the stomach and courage to pierce their eyes.

The demons’ glowing red eyes were perfect for target practice. They were like a bullseye glowing in the dark which James could use to practice his aim. It actually turned out to be quite fun, it was like playing darts in a pub, except he was jamming icepicks in demons’ eyes instead.

James played darts till his bag was full and he couldn’t carry any more drops of Darkness. He knew he had to do something out of the ordinary to make the big bucks, so he went overboard and killed so many demons that there were almost none left in the jungle. He told himself he'd go above and beyond, and he did.

It was a good haul, he had definitely make a good amount of money from all this loot. It was time to go back and cash in.

But he had overlooked one detail.

[By absorbing essence of the Darkness from so many demons, your demon side has grown much stronger]

He forgot that other than receiving drops of Darkness as loot, when he killed demons he also directly absorbed some Darkness from them.

His goal was to empower the demon soul in him anyway, it would make him more powerful, so he didn't see that as a problem. It was actually a great boon.

But unexpectedly, his head started hurting as if he was the one who got an icepick shoved through his eye. The pain was so bad he considered headbutting a tree so he could pass out and not feel it anymore.

A few minutes later it passed. But something changed. His vision became … darker, as if a veil was covering his eyes.

And then he heard a voice. “Kill.”

He looked around, but there was definitely no one around him.

He kept hearing faint whispers, so faint that he kept wondering if it was just the leaves rustling. But then he heard it again, clear as day. "Kill."