Versatile: Alternate World

Something must be wrong with my eyes. Did I just read something wrong? Not believing on the words that the quest line has given me, I rubbed my eyes to make sure I did not just read it wrong.

"Are you an idiot? You can't get blind in this world you know and if you do, that is a status ailment already. You are seeing it right," Almira said.

Of course I know. Forgetting something is hard for me who has an eidetic memory. What Almira said is true. If you are blind in the real world, you will gain a vision in the game world which is why I also suggested this to Sora who is blind. That way, she can at least see even though it was just a game. However, that was not the case with my situation.

"Choose their Fate" is something I rarely encounter in quest lines and if there is one, your actions will be accounted to the fate of the said person and the quest's outcome would either continue or end after the choice. You can say that it has a similar aspect with Visual Novels where every choice has a route it will follow.

As for this quest, I didn't expect it to contain one. Usually, "choose their fate" option only appears in characters where important factors and characters are involved. As for side quests, there are also some but that was due to the indecision of the requester's that the fate of a target will fall to the player.

Is this some sort of test? Will my rewards and progress to the quest will be affected? There are many possible things that will happen with this option and not just limited to the preprogrammed one. According to what Tojiro's team said in the interview involving this function, it was to make the players "make their own stories" and not just watch a story that is already programmed by developers.

"Oh yeah, I sold the ingots to you but what are you going to do with them? From what I can see from you, you are yet to be a full fledged blacksmith like me. Are you trying to resell them?"

"Nope, they are precious ingots after all. I will be asking you to accept me as your disciple for smithing."

"Huh? And did you think that by buying lots of ingots from me you will get a chance to get me accept you as my disciple?"

"Of course not. I am quite aware of how far you are as a master in Blacksmithing and asking you like that without much contribution, I am not going to be worth your time so I wait for my next visit. I will bring something that will make you accept me as your disciple."

"Hmph, you wish. I don't know what your plan is but I don't really care. As long as you don't take too much of my time from forging then it would be fine I guess. And I am not courteous so whatever you are going to give me, then I will accept it. Now scram if you are done with your business here, you are interrupting my forging business," Almira said before she returned to her forge and continue her ongoing work.

Leaving Almira's smithy, my next destination are those loan sharks. I have seen them before and I can say that they are pretty tough nuts to crack and they are not just some motley crew that has nothing much to do. But I am not that familiar with all of their information so I am quite grasping the straws here in exchange of knowing something new.

The rooftops are much ideal for unimpeded movement, more easier and faster to reach from one place to another without relying on a mount and a vehicle than in the road. Also, it enhances my parkour skills too without risking myself in the real world to try it.

PA!

Landing into the roof, a new vantage view to the surroundings appeared before my eyes. It was much more better indeed to move and run around. I opened my mini map, put a marker to where I am going to go which would be the base of the Loan Shark Mercenaries and immediately departed.

...

It took me 10 minutes game time to reach my destination and from the looks of it, the base was located near the slums of the Capital. Houses are dilapidated, rats and trash are scattered around the place, thugs and other people who are up to no good also gathered up in here causing the slums to be a sort of lawless area in the Capital. Here, you can enter combat with other players without being noticed by the guards. It's an area where those things occur so it is quite special for those players who like to start some player killings.

I didn't move down immediately and just observe the surroundings below the roof at first. Since I was in stealth, it was much harder for the NPCs to notice me up here and players who are lurking around doesn't keep on looking above the roof because most of them would be fixated around their surroundings so that they can immediately react.

After a short while of observing, I immediately notice a group of people in mercenary clothes go to some people in the slums and started to discuss something. In further observation, I realized they were what I was looking for. The warriors don't look the same as what I remember before but that is not the case much.

Within those group, one particular man seems to be the one holding the authority of everything in the group as he is the one who talks to the people and orders his men around. He is the only one who stands out from the crowd of the mercenaries too. Unlike the fellows that accompanied him, this guy is wielding two big axes that are hanging behind his back. Judging from the looks of the weapon, it was around the Rare Tier which is kind of unusual for a mob player like him. Looks like I found the man I was looking for.

Still, I didn't rush and attack. I assessed the situation first on why I have to choose their fate. There are plenty of reasons why you have to choose their fate. There must be some special circumstances that revolves around them that you need to be the judge, the jury and the executioner on them. It gives you test in your morales on what to do if you are in the situation.

Then, I saw a few NPC kids running on the street bump into one of the guys who are lackey to the axe guy. The bump must be strong since the lackey was taken by surprise and the kid fell down to the ground.

"Pestering kids, do you all want to die? How dare you bump into me?!"

"I'm sorry mister! It won't happen again!" the boy who bumped into the guy said shaking to his boots.

"It won't happen again because I will cut off your legs!" the guy pulled out his sword and raise it to the little kid. The kid burst into tears and started crying loudly but this guy didn't feel perturbed by it.

Just when I thought I have to step in, the guy with the axe immediately dashed towards the direction of the guy and slashed the guy's arm before he can swing it down.

"How shameless of you to raise your hands to innocent people. I didn't hire you to be a bandit so don't act like one."