"Dual-wielding shields?" I asked Eclairs. I didn't want to admit I chose Mardukryon. Her reaction to that was something I couldn't predict.

Perhaps she'd be delighted I was playing something not-so-popular these days. Or she might judge me for making—to her eyes—a pretty poor choice. My reasoning for picking the Mardukryon race wasn't exactly easy to explain to others.

And thus, I pretended to have selected one of the more popular builds with an Unarmed State and snuck in my question about it. I researched the Unarmed State during my business meeting earlier and wanted to hear opinions from players.

"Shields?" Her forehead wrinkled in confusion from my weird question. "But Kishin monks don't use shields? Unless there's some change in the meta, what I know is that the Kishin monks using fist builds use Ocadules that trade weapon slots for more rings or amulets slots. Some crafter classes also do it—the bakers, for example—because any weapon available for them usually sucks so bad."

"Perhaps there's a Kishin monk build that uses shields?"

"Not as far as I know. The Kishin monks with kick-based builds do go for stuff to hold. Like scrolls, tomes, maybe orbs? I think some hold statues." She raised her hands apologetically. "By the way, I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. MCO is about freedom. You do you."

"Is that so? Thank you for the information, Ms. Manager," I said with a slight snort so she'd know I was keeping up the joke by calling her that. "I've tried other characters, but none that required an Unarmed State. I was wondering if they'll be fragile, and I'll need more survivability since I'm also casually playing on my own and don't have a steady party. "

"Don't worry, Mr. Customer. Monks have plenty of defensive skills. They don't need shields. But as I said, you do you. Don't let me discourage you if you want to play a certain way. Like if you're that keen on dual-wielding shields, I think it might be better to use a great shield instead."

"A great shield?" My ears tingled at that.

"You know, those two-handed bigass shields—whoops, sorry for my language. I'm trying to be professional here since I'm the manager, but my crass side shows when talking about games."

"I don't mind, Ms. Manager," I replied. I hadn't encountered a two-handed shield in RPGs, only two-handed weapons like swords and axes. I had seen a game with dual-wielding shields, but Nornyr Online didn't have a feature like that. Imagine my delight in finding out it was possible in Mother Core Online. "But why do you say a great shield is better than two smaller ones?"

"There are certain defensive attributes of shields that don't stack—I mean add, you know, like merge," she hastily clarified herself, probably unsure if I knew what she meant by 'stack'. She continued, "Take 'Block Chance'. If you equip two shields, their Block Chances don't add together. Otherwise, it'll probably go past a hundred percent for the high-level shields. Those kinds of stuff. Personally, be it in a game or real life, I don't want to pay for an item with parts I don't use."

"So, that's why you say I should go for one...what was the term you used? 'Bigass'?" I gave her an obligatory fake laugh as I filed away her advice. "One bigass shield instead of two."

Eclairs might not be an expert in tank builds, but her advice was sound and in line with how I valued things, whether in-game or in real life. That was the main reason I couldn't decide between [Fiery War Stomp] and [Cleansing Flames] as my second Cidule skill—I couldn't use their 'full value'.

"Anyway, what brings you here today, sir?" She emphasized that last word to end our random conversation about MCO.

Indeed, it had gone on for too long. I got too caught up in it, enjoying the opportunity to discuss a game I played with another player; something I hadn't had the chance to do for the past decade and a half. I was too absorbed thinking about MCO that I was even distracted from Eclair's abyssal eyes from the void—would it be impolite to ask her if she wore decorative contact lenses?

Better not. She might already think I was trying to hit on her—something she certainly experienced plenty of times given her attractiveness—with how long we chatted about random matters despite having only met once before.

"I want to buy a foam neck brace for the helm," I said, massaging the nape of my neck. "I think I have a stiff neck from using it." I only noticed the pain in the car, and I recalled Vanguard Gaming was selling an item that looked like a neck pillow.

"Oh, that usually happens if you lay your head on something high. Like maybe you're used to having lots of pillows when you sleep? And then you wear the helmet, your head is elevated, and your neck gets strained. Personally, I don't use pillows when using the AU-VR Helm."

"Ah, so that's the problem." I was going to buy pain relievers for my stiff neck, probably add in an ice pack, and follow Eclairs' advice so this wouldn't happen again. I couldn't concentrate on work the whole day. Herald Stone, the literally stiff-necked man—sometimes, figuratively too.

"No pillows and a foam neck brace should do the trick." She tapped on the counter, and out came a hologram for their selections. She explained each of them, taking samples from their backroom for me to try. Eventually, I settled on two kinds, both with the latest memory foam technology. While wrapping my purchase, she asked. "Anything else, sir? How about currency?"

"Currency?" I raised a brow at her.

"Premium currency for Mother Core Online." A few more taps on a holo-keyboard and a price list appeared before me. "These are the packages we have available. We have great discounts if you buy larger amounts."

Eclairs explained all its uses in the game, ranging from the simpler ones, like exchanging it for Artas, and buying unidentified Shards, to those that gave considerable boosts to a character's strength, like buying limited edition equipment.

This was understandable, for how else would AU Corp. keep MCO going? I heard they underpriced their VR Helms so more people would buy them to play MCO. The company would earn back the deficit from microtransactions—those were more palatable to the average person than a substantial one-time payment for an expensive VR unit.

In some ways, this was comforting to find the same as during my teenage years. Sixteen years and nothing has changed.

"Oh, I'm not going to buy any premium currency," I told Eclairs, politely cutting her off when she paused to breathe in the middle of her energetic sales pitch. I was resolved to stay free-to-play—do people still use this term?

Her face noticeably fell. "Why not?" She blinked. Catching that what she said might be too blunt and improper to ask a customer, she hurriedly modified her question. "I mean, our smallest package is very affordable and includes freebies for your first purchase.

"A few unidentified shards, a beginner armor set of your choice, and various consumables. Or you can go for the starter pack and even save more money. It really helps a new character a lot for an affordable price."

"I'm fine with having to grind more," I said. "It's an experience unto itself. The world of MCO is beautiful; there's no need to rush anything."

"If you don't want to feel like you're getting too strong too fast, then you can just buy accessories and skins instead," she continued to press.

Maybe I should tell her the actual reason why I didn't want to use any premium currency. "And I'm trying to play like I'm a kid again. I didn't have any money to buy premium currency in the game I used to play, Nornyr Online. Boady played it too, and I know he spent a ton on it back then."

"I heard about that. I think I remember Auntie Mikayla scolding him about something like it."

"My allowance and anything I'd earn from chores for the neighbors was just enough to rent a unit here when this was a PC Cafe. Now, I can spend on premium currency, but I’d rather not so I can experience the game like in the past. Brings back memories.” I added in my head, and it’s also in keeping with the circumstances of Goal #1.

Eclairs had a slight smile; that was the gentlest expression I had seen her wear. "That's nice. Really nice to think like that." Did Boady tell her about my past? She gave me a sheepish grin and added, "But not nice for me as a seller." She handed me the paper bag with the foam braces I had bought. "Do tell me if ever you change your mind. Don’t buy from another place, get it? Thanks for your purchase and have a good day!”

"This must be the place," I said, reviewing the added details to the quest that Sharulrath gave me. For each monster, a torn piece of the Golden Forest map would appear, giving me clues to each place where my target was located.

I was sure I had never been in this part of the Golden Forest before—I combed through every inch of it when searching for plants or other items that could help me kill the Mirdabons. If I wasn’t mistaken about my location—Herald the Navigator was but a dream—everything to the east of Mehubanarath’s hidden base was blocked off by densely packed trees I couldn’t fit through.

But after I resolved the Big M’s quest and accepted the next one, the pathway opened up, the trees receding their lush branches and gnarled roots.

“…where the earth opens its maw,” I reread the clue. “Well, this seems like the only opening around here,” I said, nodding at a small cave entrance that descended to the ground on a steep ramp.

Looking around, other things caught my eye.

The cave was in the middle of the ruins of a small settlement. In the past, there appeared to be a small building over the cave entrance. Only parts of the wall remained, and one broken column. There were other traces of buildings constructed ages ago. There were even a couple of broken Mardukryon statues lying on the ground.

Weird plants I had never seen before that could probably be farmed also grew in this place. And strange creatures flitted behind the trees, hiding in the shadows. From their silhouette and size, they weren’t Mirdabons.

New area, new flora, and fauna. And plenty of new things to discover.

But for now, let’s find this Craggy Crabore.