As I stepped through the door, I was now in an alley. When I looked behind me, the door was gone. Normal thing.
From Eldrin's information, and from the way he spoke about the 13th Lord, this 13th Lord has something to do with me being here.
And to get to this 13th Lord, I need information about wardens. I sighed. All of this was a drag.
My stomach grumbled.
Well, the important part is to survive here.
I went up, peeking out from the alley to look outside. It looked like a village, but modern.
The village was beautiful, filled with high-reaching Art Deco architecture and complex mechanical infrastructure. It looks like a 19th-century European metropolis during the height of the Industrial Revolution.The people here looked High-class, elegant, and technologically superior, also organized streets, public transport.
Well, I know the way I described it, nobody will understand. For now, the village doesn't matter. Though I could see big buildings far ahead. That might be the city.
I saw a drunk woman nearby. She looked drunk and poor but she had a watch that looked modern and rich.The thing I am about to do is wrong. But in a desperate situation, right or wrong won't matter, right?
With the clothes I'm wearing, people will know the truth easily. I went to the drunk woman. The drunk woman shouted,
"Hey, you ugly girl, what are you looking at? Huh?"
Ugly? Well, that hurts.
I smiled.
"Nothing, just going to make you useful."
I knocked her down.
"Sorry."I took her clothes off, making sure I didn't violate her privacy any more than necessary.
I wore her clothes and put her in mine. As I went up onto the street, I looked around me and saw an old woman feeding a stray cat.Well, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I can take the risk. After all, I need shelter and food.I picked up some nails from the alley. Good thing they were there.As I watched the old woman, she was still feeding the stray cat. I waited for a minute until I saw the woman about to cross the path as she stood on the footpath.I saw a vehicle coming.
Perfect timing.
I threw the nails onto the road just as the woman was about to cross. The tire of the vehicle got punctured, and it went straight toward the old lady.
I quickly grabbed the lady's hand. I pulled her onto the footpath as the vehicle crashed into a nearby post. Too bad the vehicle was a nice old model from the Victorian era.
I smiled at the old lady.
As the old lady spoke up,
"Oh my, thank you, my dear. You saved this old woman's life."
"Are you okay?"
"Oh yes, darling. Oh my, look at you. You must have been through a lot."
She probably said that because of my clothes. Well, at least I'll get some help from my plan.
"It seems like you have lost your watch—"
I thought to myself, A watch? Why does a watch matter?
"Yes," I replied.
"That's so unlucky. Do you live anywhere?"
Got to add some lies to make it look like I need help."No, ma'am. I lost my watch, and I couldn't-"
Before I could finish, the old lady spoke up.
"It's alright, darling. You can come with me."
Well, I hit the jackpot.
As I followed the old lady, I kept my guard up. Even if she does something, I will fight back. Some karate I learned will come in handy.
For now, I've got shelter.As the old lady led me to a house, it looked welcoming and normal.She gave me some proper clothes and food to eat, and showed me a room to sleep in.I ate my fill. After all, I was hungry.The old lady chuckled at the way I was eating.
Before I went to bed, the old lady handed me a watch.
The same watch I had seen on the drunk woman's hand.
The old lady spoke.
"I had an old one which was my daughter's. She left this village. You can have it."
I thanked her as I went to the bedroom.
I opened the watch.A big screen popped up. It was like a projector.On the screen it showed, "Access granted. Authorization changed."I pressed "OK."Wow. It felt like I was in the future.
The screen showed three parts:
"Coins"
"Orbs"
"Quest"
Curiosity hit me. I pressed the quest button.It showed, "Locked. Must be a warden."
Well, was it obvious that quests belonged to the wardens?
I saw a tiny help button. I clicked on it.Suddenly, a digital cat popped up. I was kind of shocked.The cat asked, "How may I help you, User16709204980?"
Wow, it was like talking to AI, but a more modern version.I told the tiny digital cat, "Show me how this system works."I hoped it would explain everything.The cat started.
"Welcome to System 203. It is a modern watch made for humans to do things more easily.The first part is coins. Coins are the currency and the main part of everything. You can buy anything you want with them.
To gain coins, you need to have a job where you can earn coins easily."Well, the coin part is obvious.The cat started again."The next part is orbs. This section is for wardens. Wardens hunt monsters, also known as wanderers.
After gaining the orbs, they submit them to their own sectors. For example, Section 1, or Group 1, of wardens obeys this system.
After giving the orbs, they get an option either to gain coins or to strengthen their physique, mind, and so on.Lastly, quests are for wardens to gain coins or orbs."
The cat explained everything and then switched off.Well, that was very informative.For now, I need coins, since my balance shows 0. I also need to know more about these wardens.More importantly, I need to change my username.It sounds weird.I registered my name.
Suddenly, a message popped up.
"User ### has given you 1,000,000 coins."