Second World

The afternoon before the day he gathered with the others to depart for the pet's armor, Jack visited Thereath. He visited Amy's Bakery and met with Ellie to check on things as well as give the draconic meat to the cook. Ellie was visibly happy because she said she had been looking for this ingredient and Dylan could still not find any for her. Jack didn't stay long to find out what she needed the meat for, though.

Jack reaped a huge profit of 321 gold coins from the two establishments.

Previously when he became an Earl, his properties received an 8% discount on tax instead of the 5% he received when he was still a Baron. Additionally, another effect of becoming an Earl was an increase in the popularity of all the business properties he owned. This popularity increased the number of native customers to Ellie's restaurant and Amy's Bakery.

He donated 100 gold coins to the guild. He then used some of the coins to restock on potions and other necessities. He bought a few recording stones, he didn't have any plan for them but having a few ready would not hurt. He also bought a few Wind Jet, Walls of Vines, and Haste scrolls. He did not need offensive magic scrolls anymore. The current players had grown past these scrolls. He just bought some that might still help in unique situations.

He visited the mage academy to imprint his Magic Shield spell. He had finally found enough tower shields to fuse them into a super-rare grade after his time at Mount Draygetos. He imprinted this tower shield into his Magic Shield spell. Now, the magic shield he summoned would have a very large surface for more effective protection.

He also went to report his chain faction quest. He was worried at first that he would be thrown the continuation of the quest immediately but he figured that since he had talked to the prince directly about taking a break, it should be okay.

He received exp, coins, and most staggeringly, 20,000 merit points. He was now only lacking 19,030 merit points to become a Marque. As expected, he was not forced to continue his chain faction quest. The description in his quest was "Wait for the prince's summon or continue gathering support from different powers."

Jack used 2,500 merit points to again buy the training boost and building boost for the guild.

After finishing with his tasks around the capital, he spent a night at Amy's Bakery and had a long chat with the cheerful girl before returning to Heavenly Citadel to meet with the others the next morning.

*

The eight players teleported to Therimdell, the main city not far from the border of the Sangrod Empire. But they didn't head for the Sangrod Empire, they followed Fierce Flame and went in a different direction. All of them already had at least rare steeds, so their traveling speed was fast. But still, Pandora needed to slow down to match their speed. Jack ended up asking for the general direction and just went around a half-day journey ahead of them to hunt nearby monsters, regrouping with them only after they approached.

<br/>When Jack was about to head off again, Grace held him and said, "Hold! You can't just regroup with us for a few seconds and head off again just like that. Do you consider as your team or not? If a member of a team is slow then you should follow the pace of that slow one. You can't just leave us behind like that! If you want to farm for exp, we do it together. If we encounter monsters, we take them out together. Even if the exp is split but we will also farm the exp faster."

"Uh, um…," Jack was lost for words. These words were something Grace had said to him in the past. He always liked to head off by himself. That's why he gave himself the alias of Lone Wind. It was because of these words of Grace that he started to farm and do quests together with her and Paytowin. However, these words were not wrong in the past, but with the current him, it was actually the same speed whether he farmed alone or with others. So, he was the one who lost if he followed this advice this time. Still, he complied. He stayed behind and had Pandora match the others' speed, which caused the Nightmare to regularly huff disdainfully.

Jet was cheery throughout the journey, and chatty as well, especially with Salty Trade and Wondrouslife. Jack gave him a side-eye. These girls could practically be his granddaughters, but the guy acted like a teenager. Weird Trap didn't want to lose to this energetic geezer, so he said something once in a while to draw attention, but it was pretty clear that his art of smooth-talking was not as advanced as the experienced old-timer.

Sturdy Serpent was mostly quiet, while Fierce Flame was ignoring everyone. The two were like composed adults leading a bunch of rambunctious kids on their first school trip.

"So, Master Jet, I heard you joined the world martial art championship in your younger days," Salty Trade asked.

"I did!" Jet replied genially.

"You must be a great martial artist then."

"Now, now, little lady. Don't hurt my feeling. I AM still a great martial artist now."

"So, did you ever win the championship?"

"I won the second place a few times."

"In other words, his answer is no," Weird Trap interjected.

"Well, have you ever been to a martial art championship?" Jet asked Weird Trap.

"I, uh, no…"

"Then being the second winner is still much better than being a nobody, don't you say?"

"Yeah, the second winner is also impressive," Wondrouslife exclaimed.

Jet beamed hearing that. "Now, you are truly an angel, miss! The man that catches your heart will truly be the luckiest man in the world."

"Aw… Mister Jet, you are embarrassing me."

"Don't be. Let me be the one being embarrassed. Being on the road trip with you pretty ladies truly makes my old bones feel lively again, so please forgive me if I talk my heart out."

"Hey, old man, can you tone it down a bit? I am having goosebumps hearing you," Jack said from the side.

"If you don't like to hear, you can move further away. Don't disturb me in dispensing wisdom to these fine ladies," Jet said.

Jack was just about to heed the words and moved away when Grace came up beside him, blocking his path.

"Going somewhere?" She asked.

"Ah… haha," Jack simply laughed. He was caught before his ploy was even carried out. Grace must have been keeping an eye on him.

"Tell me about your past," Grace asked. "What did you do before this? Before the world turned. Do you played lots of VR games before?"

He thought for a bit before answering, "Yeah. I played some VR games in the past."

"Really? Which games?"

Jack was still under the impression that Grace didn't know about his past, so he carefully tried to remember the older games where he had not met Grace and told her about those ones.

"Hm… You didn't play any newer games?"

"Um… I don't really remember that well," Jack shrugged anxiously. He hurriedly tried to change the topic, "What about you? I heard you are a very well-known idol in the real world."

"Oh? And where do you hear that from?"

"Um…, from one of your boybands," Jack lied. "So, it's true? How does it feel to have the life of a celebrity?"

"Very stressful," Grace answered. "You have to always consciously think of your every act, your every word. It was like living under a microscope. People scrutinize you for every single thing you do."

"I see… Well, if it was so uncomfortable, why didn't you just quit?"

"It's not… It's not that simple. Things are complicated…"

"Is it?"

"… I don't know. Perhaps I'm just afraid of change. I'm not sure what I can do if I quit. I'm also afraid of letting down the people who have supported me along the way, and I'm also afraid of letting down my fans… Or perhaps I'm still enjoying the spotlight even with all the inconveniences."

"Well, whatever it is, you have the second chance to figure out your life now, for good or bad."

"You are right. And I think my place is with you, people."

"Really? So you like the guild? Phew… And here I am worried if we are good enough for an idol like you," Jack made a show of wiping his brow.

Grace giggled. "What about your real life, what do you do?"

"My real life is boring. Not much to tell."

"With a world martial art champion of a grandfather? I don't see how that can be considered as boring."

"I haven't lived with my gramps for a large portion of my adult life. And don't you think a martial artist's life is exciting. It's just training every day and every day and every day. Doing the same kind of thing again and again. How can you call that exciting?"

"Isn't exp farming in games the same?" Grace asked.

"Well… When you say it like that… Hey! New monster!" Jack uttered and rushed off abruptly.

"Hey! Wait! Let's do it together!" Grace called and tried to chase after him.

Before she could catch him, she saw Jack jump down from his steed and run toward the monster. Grace was amazed that even his running speed didn't lose to her steed. Jack then gave the monster a few blindingly fast slashes. The monster disintegrated soon and he then jumped to Pandora and rode back.

"Yes?" Jack asked her.

"… Never mind," Grace answered.