Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

When Kaizen left the tavern where he made the transaction with Klank, he was excited because now he was finally free to go hunting a bit with Jayaa and finally test him, but just as he was about to close the door, he also realized that a trio of people were about to enter.

One of these people was a blond woman who was wearing predominantly white armor. This armor had magnificent golden ornaments, indicating by the level of detail that it was not low-level, which explained the confident countenance of this woman who walked side by side with Dathan and Bleeding Lily.

Kaizen was astonished to run into the red-haired archer so suddenly. This was the first time their eyes had met. They both stared at each other for mere moments, and then Kaizen went a little to the side and gently held the tavern door so it wouldn't close by itself.

"Thanks." thanked Araxie, the woman in white armor.

"Thanks a lot, man." Dathan smiled kindly and entered the tavern right after Araxie.

Unlike her colleagues, the Bleeding Lily looked at Kaizen the hardest and by the time she remembered to thank him for the boy's politeness it was too late because the door closed as soon as she entered the tavern.

Dathan soon signaled to the NPC waitress, who gave him a huge smile. Quickly, the woman began to prepare three mugs of mead. Araxie spotted Klank sitting at a table by himself, busy looking at his system, and approached him, as did Dathan.

Bleeding Lily shook his head a little to get back on track, and when he sat down at the table with Klank, Araxie and Dathan, the first thing he said was:

"Did you guys see that man who was at the door when we arrived? I'm sure I've seen him before."

Klank's eyebrows widened, because he knew that the person she was talking about was Kaizen. "Are you sure he doesn't just look like a generic character?"

"Erh? I think I recognize a generic appearance when I see one. He had the shape of oriental eyes, and there are few people who build characters like that..."

"You're right." Dathan propped his elbows on the table and as soon as the waitress placed the mugs beside his hands, he whispered to her while blinking with only one eye. "Thank you~."

The waitress blushed and left to serve another customer. Klank looked at that and wondered:

'How many points does this bastard have in charisma?'

"Anyway, boss, we have to think about what we're going to do about the next raid." Araxie started the subject. "We still don't know if the Kaizen player stole the centaur because someone passed on the day and time we would be there or if it was just a coincidence. If the former is the case, we have to prepare better for the next raid, considering that we now know that at least he is still in the vicinity."

"You're right," said Bleeding Lily. "Klank, the next important raid will be in three weeks, we can count on your support, right?"

"Definitely. I am ready to accompany you all the way to Hel if need be."

Dathan put a hand in front of his mouth in a failed attempt to contain his laughter. "Ah, man~ You're not ready to go to Hel yet."

Bleeding Lily laughed briefly as well. "Hahaha! That place is too dangerous even for me who is only fifty levels away from becoming an Evolved."

Klank was a little embarrassed and took the last sip of the mead he had in his mug.

***

As soon as Kaizen left the tavern door closed, he left the game to tend to his human needs and when he returned it was already around nine o'clock at night. He probably still had two hours left to hunt with Jayaa before his group partner needed to leave.

At the same time that Kaizen returned to the deep immersion world, he opened his friends list where there was only one user and sent a message to this one friend.

[Kaizen: Hey! Have you finished singing your ballads in a square?

Jayaa: Hahaha! You're an idiot!

Jayaa: I just finished a few minutes ago helping Isabella with her class mission, so I'm free now.

Jayaa: And you? Have you finished everything you had to do?

Kaizen: Yes, I bought some things for the new house.

Jayaa: Good! How about meeting me at the northeast exit of the city? There's a hunting area called Light Lands that's not that far away.

Kaizen: Okay.]

The northeast exit of the Royal City was geographically quite far from the business district, but with Black Cloud's help, Kaizen was able to get to the area with enough time to find another stable to leave his mare in before meeting up with Jayaa.

"You came flying in, man?!" Jayaa asked, incredulous and slightly breathless from climbing so many hills.

Kaizen smiled. "Something like. Where's your girlfriend, that Isabella~?" He nudged Jayaa with his right elbow, making him laugh shyly.

"She's already left because she's going to study for a while and then she's going to sleep because she needs to wake up early to go to college."

"You're dating a college girl? Ow, you really aren't the least bit silly."

"Hehe!" Jayaa was proud for a few seconds. "Hey! That was your tone of irony, wasn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kaizen said, putting both hands on the back of his head and starting to walk to the exit, which was a small bridge that went over a creek. "By the way, Jayaa, is it okay if we go hunting at night?"

"Um... I think it might be especially good for us to go hunting at night because the monster spawn will be bigger, but we have to be on our guard because the road to the Light Lands can be dangerous. Luckily, it's not that far from town."

The world of Rise Online at night was magnificent, and this became more noticeable as they got further away from the city.

There was not a cloud in the night sky, which was filled with stars so bright that they drew attention by their faithfulness to the constellations. Moreover, the strip of the Milky Way that divided the sky in two could be seen with the naked eye by anyone.

The distant howling of wolves, the crunching of crickets in the bushes beside the dirt road, and the harmonious rustling of trees created a peaceful ambience for the two players, but this friendly atmosphere was interrupted when they heard sounds of laughter coming from one side of the forest.

"HAHAHAHA! Don't make me laugh to the point of peeing my pants!"

"I'm serious! HEHE! The guy was so scared of me that he paralyzed! Tell them, bro!"

,m "It's true! Then the guy begged for his life, saying he had kids and all, but we solved it by killing him and his kids! HAHAHA!

"I wish I had been there to have seen that!"