Chapter 42 - Yuki’s Advice, Preparing for a Long Adventure

A line of players had already formed in front of the shop, waiting to get in and spend the few coins they had earned from quests and monster kills.

Ray had rushed the opening for some reason. Arthur wasn’t sure why.

’I’ll ask him later.’

The upside was that there were tons of players in the city, so the shop would have plenty of customers right off the bat. Plus, with the opening happening earlier, Arthur would be free from that obligation sooner. He was going to have to spend some time away from the city, so it was great not having to worry about the shop anymore.

When he showed up outside the shop, the players went crazy.

"Cinder, you’re the best!"

"My mom is single. Wanna be my stepdad?"

And of course, the fangirls were in full force, jumping and screaming for him. Arthur still hadn’t gotten used to this level of fame.

Honestly, one of the things he wanted most was to get the hell out of that city as soon as possible. For that, he needed to reach the top of the level rankings and stay ahead of most players.

That was the only way he could find isolated spots with fewer players around...

Anyway, Arthur waved at the players and did the part he’d been ’hired’ to do: drawing people in.

As soon as the doors opened, the two guards at the entrance controlled the flow of players. They couldn’t let everyone in at once. If they did, the shop would descend into complete chaos.

Players came in, and the first thing they did was walk over to Arthur and snap a picture using the game’s screenshot feature. The NPCs working in the shop had no idea why the players stood frozen for a second. They just assumed it was some strange behavior among the Chosen Ones.

And it went on like that for about two hours...

Arthur had to pose for a lot of photos, which was exhausting as hell. But he liked to look at the bright side of things. Everyone who came by bought at least one item from the shop, so the money was already starting to come in—and a percentage of that would be his. Excellent.

And of course, he enjoyed the compliments too.

"How do you already have that full armor set? Did you buy it at the shop?" a player asked him.

Arthur smiled. "No. I crafted it myself."

"What? So your profession is leatherworking?"

That interaction was obviously being recorded to be shared later. The way the player asked his questions felt like an interview. There was a good chance that guy was a reporter in real life too.

Arthur let out a long sigh. He wasn’t sure whether he should talk about it or not. On the one hand, it could bring him trouble. On the other, it could boost his fame and the mystery surrounding him even more. And that could mean more ways to monetize!

"Yes and no," Arthur replied. "Let’s just say I’m a master of all professions, haha. I guess that’s my edge."

After spending so long attending to the players, Arthur went up to the top floor of the shop and sat down, looking out the window.

No player could come up here, so he finally had a moment of peace.

Yuki, who was almost always hiding inside his armor or under his cloak, came out to talk.

"I don’t know exactly how your powers work, but I believe you’re not bound to any class. Am I right?" Yuki said.

Arthur frowned but didn’t deny it.

"I can get a rough idea of what you’re thinking. I wouldn’t call it mind reading, more like a feeling. You want to switch classes and maybe lean more toward the magic side, right?"

That was indeed Arthur’s plan. He still didn’t know if it was the best choice, though. With a contract from a mage player, he could get three class skills.

Just three skills as a mage was a bit low. He could take another contract and have six magic skills in total, and that’s when things would start getting interesting. But was that really ideal at this point in the game?

Yuki helped clear things up.

"I’m a magical creature. Soon, I’ll learn my first attack spells, along with support spells for you. I believe that right now, it’s best for you to go with a more physical class. Of course, things might change in the future. Besides, to become a good mage, you need to be skilled at enchanting and staff crafting, and neither of them is very common in this city."

"So you think keeping me in melee combat is a good idea, then? Maybe becoming a swordsman wouldn’t be so bad?" Arthur asked.

It felt strange to ask a creature for advice, even more so Yuki, who could be a little full of himself sometimes. But there was no denying that Yuki was a different kind of creature, and his intelligence was far above average.

"I think it could work. Maybe get a bit sturdier in close combat, and also have options to attack from a distance, like with a bow."

It wasn’t a bad idea. The Swordsman class used two main attributes: strength and agility. It was a mix of both.

In other words, damage scaled with a percentage of each attribute. Some Swordsmen focused more on strength, others on agility for extra movement and attack speed. Each player followed the build that best fit their playstyle.

’With a contract for Swordsman plus one for Ranger, I’d get bonuses to two attributes that are useful for both classes. Could be an interesting combo...’

He had already considered this combination before. Now, after hearing Yuki out, Arthur was leaning more toward actually trying it. It wouldn’t be permanent, but it was a start.

’I can switch to magic classes later, once I’m able to make three or more contracts. That’s when I’ll be able to stack a lot of spells and mix several magic classes together.’

Yuki had made a good point about enchanting and staves, though. There were no good materials in that city, not even decent crafting stations. Even though Arthur had every profession unlocked, he still needed to learn each one, and without the proper infrastructure he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of his special class to craft good items.

It made no sense to throw away that benefit at this stage of the game. Any advantage he could get over other players was essential.

Anyway, the plan had changed. Arthur needed to prepare to leave the city and start his adventure far away from the flood of players who would be arriving soon. Snow Pine was about to become complete chaos.

’I need to craft new daggers for Shadow Cloak, give them to her, and see what I get in return. After that, make two swords, one for me to equip and another for a contract with a Swordsman. And finally, craft two bows, one for me and one for Point Blank for the contract... Man, that’s a shit ton of work!’

Just thinking about it left Arthur exhausted. On top of that, his stomach growled so loud that even one of the employees nearby heard it. The game had a whole survival system, and Arthur had been neglecting it a bit, which was starting to show.

"I’ll bring you something to eat, sir," the employee said, then walked off.

Arthur waited for the food to arrive. It was hard to think on an empty stomach. In the meantime, he decided to talk to Shadow Cloak and break the news to her that he wouldn’t have any more items for her.

Shadow Cloak: You’ve gotta be kidding me. How am I supposed to stay at the top of the rankings without your items? Please, please, craft something for me. I’m your best friend. I’ll help you with any quest, I swear.

She couldn’t see it, but Arthur smirked when reading that. He already knew of a way she could help him in the near future.