บท 2: Noodle Time
The noise of the city generally bothered Felix a lot. His increased brain activity not only made him smarter and more easily exhausted, it also amplified his senses. Or rather, it increased the quantity of information he processed every moment. So the myriad of different noises generally gave him headaches.
Yet today, Felix did not feel a thing as Yasue sped through the city in his beloved car. Felix did not care enough to name the model of the gray car nor why it was so cherished by Yasue, but he did know it was from a German brand. He was almost sure.
The two arrived at the game center by 09.54, six minutes before its opening. As Yasue parked his car, Felix watched the queue in front of the shop with wide eyes. There were hours of waiting. Maybe the ones in the back wouldn't even be able to get the game today.
It was mad.
Despite that, Yasue took extra care in finding a good parking lot. Felix was pretty sure he was simply flexing to him though, and for a good reason.
Felix followed Yasue as they did not head for the back of the line, but instead walked around the building, to an unassuming back door. On the way, Yasue sent a quick text on his phone, and so by the time they arrived, the door was opened, with a young man looking around vigilantly.
As Yasue and Felix walked up to him, he nervously bowed down in a hurry as he exclaimed louder than necessary, "Welcome boss!"
Yasue nodded stiffly and asked, "Are the chips ready?"
The employee gulped and nodded, before taking out two black chips. They looked rather unassuming, but they were actually a marvel of technology, as it was the only equipment required to link one's consciousness to the game, and play it.
Following Yasue's gesture, Felix took out a thick pile of cash, and handed it to the employee. There was three thousand dollars in each stack, the price of the chip.
This was the reason why Felix had not been able to pay rent for the last few months. Yasue knew this, of course, and found it perfectly reasonable that Felix intended to make money within the game to repay him.
This was 2089 after all, many people earned a living playing video games, and with the player base Epoch was estimated to get, that is more than a billion people, the economy in the game would definitely affect the economy in real life.
But those were complicated matters that did not have anything to do with Felix for now. The transaction finished, the young man bowed once again at Yasue, before closing the door.
As they walked back to the car, each with a chip in hand, Felix remarked, "He called you boss?"
Yasue had already told Felix that he had a way for them to skip the queue entirely, but he didn't know much more than that.
"From another life."
Understanding he wouldn't explain beyond that, Felix decided to change subjects as he asked with a large smile, "So, excited?"
Yasue remained stoic as he replied, "I'm curious about what my Innate Talent will be."
Felix scratched the bridge of his nose as they got in the car, "They said the Innate Skill would be decided according to our talents in real life. I'm not sure how, but I guess what we're good at in real life, we'll be good at in the game?"
Yasue nodded softly, and Felix couldn't help but notice something wrong. Even as Yasue drove off the place, he did not look happy. Instead, his face had remained cold ever since they bought the chip.
Although a big part of him was telling him to shut up, Felix couldn't help but ask, "You alright?"
This seemed to bring Yasue out of his mood as he suddenly snickered, "You think I need a punk like you to worry me?"
Felix smiled and said nothing. After a moment, Yasue also started smiling.
Much to Felix's shock, he offered, "Do you want to play with me?"
Felix looked at Yasue in shock, wondering whether he was pulling his leg.
Keeping an eye on the road, Yasue casually knocked on Felix's arm, who reeled back in pain. Yasue ignored the yelp as he said, "Our stats won't be evened, they will more or less reflect reality. Thin as you are, I don't see your stats being very good. You're going to struggle."
Felix couldn't help but feel touched at the yakuza looking landlord of his. From what he saw today, Felix guessed there was more to Yasue than meets the eye. And even if that wasn't the case, Yasue's talent as a fighter was obvious to Felix.
So accepting his request would be quite the boon to Felix. However, he smiled and shook his head.
"Thank you, but I want to repay you on my own. It wouldn't mean much if you carried me through monsters and I used their loot to pay you off, would it? Besides, if I fail to stand on my own feet, then I could follow you in the game or something."
Yasue took a good look at Felix as the later spoke his piece, and scared Felix doing so, not because of the intensity of the stare, but because he had his eyes off the road.
Thankfully, Yasue's driving skills were among the things Felix did not know about as the older man easily drove. Looking at Felix up and down, he finally said, "Good. What kind of play style will you play?"
Yasue's eyes returned to the road, pacifying Felix's feelings.
"I'm not really sure. I think magic would really suit me, but since our avatars will appear without a class, it's reasonable to think that if I want spells I'll have to somehow find them and learn them."
Yasue said, "Polearms would suit you better than any weapon."
Felix's eyebrows shot up as he asked, "Is that so?"
Yasue nodded and explained, "A weapon should complement your strengths. Your body is weak, so large weapons are out of the question. The two weapons that would suit you more would be the sword and the spear. Picking up the sword would be a waste of your height though, so you should use the spear, until you get a spell. That will make your life easier."
Felix nodded slowly, before asking with some hesitation, "What about you?"
To Felix's surprise, Yasue showed a savage grin as he replied, "Me? Nothing better than my good old fists."
Felix got quiet as his mind started connecting the dots. He wasn't exactly sure what kind of life Yasue's 'past life' had been, but it probably hadn't been a peaceful one.
The rest of the ride back to Yasue's place was quiet. But once they arrived, Felix hardly hid his excitement.
Here it was!
But as Felix was about to head to his room and start the game, Yasue said, "The servers only open at noon. Come on, let's eat something."
Felix literally deflated as he heard what Yasue said. So, with a sigh, he put the chip onto the desk in his room, and joined Yasue in the kitchen.
The two chatted while Yasue cooked a generous breakfast for the two of them. He was an excellent cook, who saved Felix from having to eat pasta every day of the week.
The two made idle talk as they ate, but at some point, Yasue suddenly said, "When you're in the game…"
Felix looked at the older landlord quizzically, and Yasue continued, "Don't rush into farming gold as soon as you appear. Take the time to build yourself a foundation, level up, learn to fight."
Felix hummed in approval, eyeing Yasue for further explanations or advice, but that was all Yasue had to say.
So Felix returned to… his noodles.
Well, sometimes you can't avoid pasta.
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