Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

[You have formed a new group with player 'Jayaa'].

[Congratulations! Now, you and 'Jayaa' can complete quests together and share experience points earned].

After Kaizen accepted Jayaa's invitation, he saw that another life bar appeared just below his HP and MP bars. This other bar displayed the life of the only other member of the group, Jayaa, and this was clear because below the bar there was written in all the letters 'Jayaa'.

"Dude, did you put your real name as your nickname? How old are you? That's understandable when you're between 1 and 5 then only from 50." scoffed Kaizen when he finally realized that detail.

Without a fair answer to this matter, the bard laughed and was sincere, "What can I say? I'm not very creative with names and neither are you by the looks of it. Klaus, aren't you afraid that someone from Myth2 will recognize you by your nickname?"

"Someone from my past or a fan? In both scenarios, that's impossible. My career in Myth2 was short and it's been almost a decade since all that happened. It would be like remembering every sub-celebrity that appears seasonally on television."

"I hate to admit it, but you might be right... You know, I was never really into games and stuff until I met this current girlfriend of mine, so I don't know much about the famous games of the past, but I'm sure you impressed the world, man." Jayaa gave Kaizen a friendly pat on the back to console him. "So where are we going? I know a really good hunting area nearby, but it's also where some sons of bitches killed me and my girlfriend. What do you think about going there?"

"You want to try to find the guys so I can kill them, right?" Kaizen clenched his eyes, staring at his new partner.

"That's what group partners are for!"

"All right, I agree to go in this hunting area, however, first I have a few things to take care of. Will you accompany me?"

At the same time Kaizen asked, he already started walking. Although it was still technically early, he didn't want to waste a single second.

Jayaa was curious and trotted over to catch up with the tall black haired boy. "Of course I will accompany you, we are a duo today. What do you need to do that is so important?"

"I would love to say that I would test your skills, but we can do that when we go to the hunting area. At the moment, I need to sort out something bureaucratic. By any chance, are there real estate agents in this game?"

Since Kaizen had lost a few tens of thousands of dollars on the Auction House's abusive sales commission, he was much more determined to set up a business of his own, preferably a blacksmith shop where he could also work to earn mountains of money using Therkara Ironstone's teachings.

Somewhere deep inside Kaizen, he believed that some of the small fortune he now had might be enough to be able to buy a nice property within Rise Online. However, when Jayaa took him to the municipal real estate office and he heard the amount from the realtor's mouth, his reaction was unique.

"Five thousand gold coins?! Sir, I asked for a house, not a palace!" Kaizen exclaimed, incredulous about what he heard.

"You see, dear scandalous man, the location is very nice and it is in the lower district, which is very close to the business district. You would love it... I can put down five hundred silver coins, but that is the maximum discount I can do." The broker, desperate for a sale, tried to relieve the customer.

Jayaa put a hand on Kaizen's right shoulder and said, "I didn't want to say anything, but... I told you so! Why don't you listen to me? When a friend warns you about something, you need to listen to him. Real estate in the Royal City is expensive like this because millions of people move around here every day, right, sir?" He sought reinforcement from the old broker named Verzano.

"Yes, your friend is right. In this city real estate is very exp... cheap, you don't know what you're missing, it's take it or place."

Jayaa was so charismatic that she almost got Verzano to agree about the value of real estate.

Massaging his temples and trying not to stress, Kaizen inquired:

"Isn't there some place a little cheaper that is in the business district?"

The broker thought for a second and still seemed hopeless, so he sighed. "Sir, I can check the older real estate catalogs of the old broker who worked with us, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Wait a second around here, please, I'll be back in a minute."

After Verzano went to the other room through the door that was behind the counter, Jayaa stopped holding her questions.

"What are you doing?" He inquired, gesturing vigorously with his hands.

"Trying to buy real estate?"

"You can afford that since when? Do the math, Klaus, 5,000 gold coins, which converting works out to $50,000. Aren't you in debt?"

"Do you remember that I killed a mythical creature, or rather, a Mythic Rank Boss, and that made that Taznaar guy hate me? So, that creature dropped a Beast Mount called a Druid Mount and that luckily it was Epic Rank. I tried to use it, saw that it was not that useful, and sold it. That yielded 30,000 gold coins, which is around..."

"Three hundred thousand dollars." Jayaa completed Kaizen's sentence while almost drooling his clothes from having his mouth completely open. He then wiped some of the saliva that dripped out and asked, "We met an hour ago and you just thought it was opportune to tell me that you won all this money now!? Let's leave Rise Online and go on a trip to Europe. No, we have to go to Japan!"

"We're not going anywhere. The Auction House took 20% of the 300,000, and I had to pay bills, give some money to my family, and I'm with 100,000 to invest in something that will give me a return, and since I got the blacksmithing profession, I want to try to invest in that business because I read on a website that the blacksmithing profession is very rare."

Jayaa's eyes were teary from rolling them wide in surprise. "Are you also a blacksmith? Bro, how many hours a day have you played in the last week to be able to do all that you've already done?"

"I just played in my spare time and on the weekend. Erh... So much has happened that even with me saying it out loud it doesn't ring true. A week ago, I would never have imagined that I would be doing what I am doing today, trying to live with games once again..."

Just as Jayaa was about to say something, the creaking of the door behind the counter stopped him.

Verzano appeared with a book in his hand and asked Kaizen, "I shouldn't tell you this kind of thing and I know it's silly to question, but would you be willing to live in an old house that is said to be haunted, sir?"