The Beginner Village bustled with new life.
Players crowded the cobbled streets, shouting over one another as they compared their starting weapons and gear.
Some were laughing, others already arguing over forming parties, and still others ran off toward the training grounds to swing their rusty swords at straw dummies.
The air thrummed with a kind of nervous excitement, like the heartbeat of a newborn world.
Gale stood near the fountain in the square, where the guide had vanished in a shimmer of light only minutes before. The divine figure's words still echoed in his mind — especially that one phrase:
"A cheat at the dawn of your journey."
His hand twitched unconsciously, opening the transparent interface again.
The Key sat there in his inventory, nestled between his Beginner's Sword and a small loaf of bread.
It didn't shine, didn't pulse, didn't do anything extraordinary. Yet the description tag glowed faintly gold.
...
[Mysterious Key (Rare)]Description: A key wrought from silver and starlight. Its destination is unknown. Its purpose, hidden. But all treasures begin with a key.
...
That was it. No location, no instructions, no timer. Just a line of vague text.
Gale sighed, shutting the screen.
'Do I grind levels like everyone else… or figure this thing out first?'
Leveling was safe, logical, predictable.
He knew how to do that.
But this Key… the guide's words had made it sound like something enormous, a shortcut, maybe even a ticket straight to power.
And in a game like Mythras, where everything felt too real, power was more than just a number. It could mean survival. It could mean dominance.
He started pacing across the square, weaving between other players.
His eyes darted to the NPCs tending shops.
A baker kneaded dough behind his stall, flour clinging to his arms.
A blacksmith hammered a glowing ingot, sparks flying in perfect rhythm.
They didn't look like NPCs.
They looked like people.
Living, breathing, sweating people.
He tried asking one or two about the Key.
The baker only gave him a polite smile and shook his head.
The blacksmith grunted something about "too early for adventurers to know such things." Neither gave him so much as a hint.
'Figures. If it was that easy, the whole village would be swarming the place already.'
For the next hour, he circled the village again and again, peering into every alley, every workshop.
Nothing.
No glowing portals, no suspiciously locked chests, no quest-giving elder.
Just the same ordinary bustle of players and NPCs.
At last, Gale stopped at the fountain again, frustration gnawing at him.
'This is pointless. If the guide called it a cheat, then there's no way it's supposed to be obvious. And if it's not obvious… then someone, somewhere, is already talking about it.'
His lips curved into a faint smile as the idea clicked.
'The forums.'
Logging out felt like surfacing from deep water.
The helmet retracted its faint hum, and Gale blinked against the sunlight spilling through his bedroom curtains.
He rubbed his eyes, stretched, then rolled into his chair.
His computer booted almost instantly — he'd made sure of that.
He opened the browser, fingers hovering over the keys.
All he had to type was M. The autofill immediately exploded into headlines, threads, video clips.
"Mythras: The Most Realistic VR Game Ever Created!"
"Beginner Village Reactions — Are These NPCs Actually AI?"
"100 Players Receive Rare Key: Rumors and Theories!"
Gale's pulse quickened. He clicked the last one.
The forum page scrolled endlessly.
Post after post screamed across the screen:
[Player_Storm77]:Guild Hydra offering $10,000,000 USD for any verified Key. DM for contract.
[ShadowDancer]:Are these even real? Screenshots look fake af.
[Lynx-101]:Sold mine already. Don't regret it. With ten million I can buy a house, retire, whatever. Games are games.
[FoxFire]:You idiot, what if it's worth more than that inside the game? What if you just gave up the chance to be a god-tier player?!
He scrolled further.
Some people boasted about life-changing sums they'd gotten from corporations.
Others mocked them for short-sightedness. A few posted blurry screenshots of the Key in their inventory, earning them hundreds of replies ranging from desperate offers to death threats.
But no one — not a single person — seemed to know what the Key actually did.
Hours passed as Gale clicked through page after page, switching between forums, video platforms, even news sites.
Everywhere, it was the same.
Noise. Speculation. Hype. But no clarity.
He rubbed his temples, sighing.
'So it's not just me. No one knows. Not yet.'
The screen lit up suddenly with an incoming call.
The ID flashed across the corner: Babe.
His chest loosened a little. He grabbed the phone.
"Hey," he answered quickly, smiling despite himself.
Her voice came immediately, warm and teasing. "As usual, you forgot about me the moment a new game launched."
Gale chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "We spoke just this morning, babe."
"So you don't miss me?" Isabella's tone was playful, but he thought he caught the faintest edge underneath.
"You know that isn't true," he said softly, then cleared his throat. "Anyway, did you play already? I'm surprised you logged out so soon."
"Yeah. Created my character, explored a bit, then came out to eat. What about you? I expected you to vanish in there for days. It's only been three hours."
"Had to leave for research."
"Oh?"
Gale hesitated for a moment. Then, almost without thinking, he added, "You know about those rare Keys people got at the start?"
The line went silent for a moment.
He frowned, checking the screen to make sure the call hadn't dropped.
Finally, Isabella's voice returned, brighter than before. "Yeah, what about them?"
"Well…" He exhaled slowly. "I got one."
The silence this time was shorter, but heavier.
Then her words tumbled out in a rush: "Are you serious? The same ones people are selling for millions?"
"Yeah. Those ones."
There was a pause again, and Gale pictured her wide eyes, the way her lips always parted when she was stunned. The image made him grin faintly.
"So," she said carefully, "what are you going to do with it?"
"Not selling. I don't need the money. I want to use it. Figure out what it does. But…" He sighed. "So far, no luck."
Another beat of silence.
When she spoke again, her tone was softer, almost thoughtful. "Maybe I can help. Give me a little time. I'll call you back."
The line clicked dead.
Gale stared at the dark screen, frowning.
'That was… sudden.'
He shook his head, pushing the thought away.
She was always like that — impulsive, quick to leap at ideas. That was part of what he loved about her.
He buried himself in the forums again.
Thirty minutes crawled past.
Just as his eyes began to glaze over from the endless scrolling, the phone lit up again.
Isabella.
He answered instantly.
"I checked," she said without preamble. "Which Beginner Village are you in?"
"Oh—" Gale sat up straighter. "I didn't even look. Hold on."
He immediately slid the helmet back on, logged in, and blinked into the sunlit square once more.
A notification flashed in the corner of his vision: Beginner Village: Arvel, Continent of Thryne.
He logged out again and grabbed the phone. "Arvel Village. Thryne continent."
A sharp inhale echoed on the other end.
Then her voice broke into delight. "Perfect! I'm in the same one. And I've got a couple of friends here already. They might be able to help with the Key."
Gale froze.
'Friends? Already? She usually keeps to herself in games…'
But he brushed the thought aside, smiling despite his confusion. "That's… convenient."
"Great, right?" she laughed. "Meet me in the village square in thirty minutes. We'll figure it out together."
"Alright. Thirty minutes."
The call ended.
Gale set the phone down, staring at the darkened screen for a long moment.
Then he exhaled slowly, slipped the helmet back on, and let the light swallow him once more.