Zen finally logged in after delivering lunch. His inbox was flooded with notifications. His party members sent so many gifts that Zen had no idea where to start. They didn’t only send him pudding ingredients, even if that made for more than seventy percent of the mail. The game developers should increase the in-game item mail cap so that Zen did not have to deal with a hundred gift messages. His members also sent what they received from sixty runs of the mausoleum. It was too much to read, so Zen spent the next fifteen minutes mindlessly opening gifts and storing them in his inventory.
Thankfully, he had enough Steel Silk to work with. However, those weren’t the only things his party members sent. Zen spent a reasonable amount of time reading through the different talisman cards they gifted. Some of those talismans had wonderful effects. On the other hand, there were also talismans with random trash-sounding abilities. Either way, Zen was grateful.TWith little progress at the blacksmith, Zen left to check on Paul. However, the armourer wasn’t in his workshop. Hence, he decided to walk around town for a while to kill time. His crafting inventory was still hard at work when it gave Zen an idea.Stopping outside the restaurant where Martha’s fruit stall initially was, Zen saw Chef Marvin standing around. The friendly chef waved to Zen and warmly welcomed him with a heavy back pat.“It’s good to see you again! Have you been eating well?”If Gilda were here, Zen would have been glared to death for ‘flirting’ with Marvin. Smiling awkwardly, Zen asked if he could borrow the kitchen to make some slime puddings.“Of course!” the cheerful NPC grinned and showed Zen the kitchen at the back of his restaurant. “Let me know if you need any help!”Dismissing the touchy-feely chef, Zen looked at the kitchen.Cooking on a real range was faster than
Following the weaver inside, Zen noticed a massive loom near the back of the house. Closer to the window where there was light, Zen spotted a desk with many needles, threads, and unfinished products.“Here, let me show you the different basic stitching styles,” Annabel introduced after ushering Zen to sit on a chair in her living room. The lady brought her sewing materials over and passed some to Zen, who held it with uncertainty.The weaver turned out to be a great teacher. She was patient and clear with her explanations, even going so far as to give a demonstration. Zen listened attentively and followed her example. He picked up a needle and chose a thread with a similar colour to the fabric he was using for stitching practice.Annabel threaded the needle fluidly and watched Zen struggle with his. The thread refused to go into the eye of the needle as it was too thin.After five attempts, Zen finally got a small part of his thread through the needle
After crafting enough Steel Silk armour for his party members, Zen sent it to them with a message asking them to meet him at the starter town after they logged in. Then, he logged out to prepare lunch.Zen spotted other students ordering instant noodles as he whipped up something quick for himself. There were more instant noodle flavours now than before, but Zen couldn’t overlook the importance of nutrition. Out of the kindness of his heart, he prepared extra toppings that would go well with the noodles while he cooked for his guild members.“Can I place orders for other instant and frozen food on top of the regular ingredients?” Zen asked the kitchen invigilator on duty.The gruff lady with many tattoos raised a brow.“Why not? Write them down, quantity and all. We’ll still have to wait for the next shipment. By the way, instant noodles have become quite the hit. It’s good for us because we don’t know how to cook. If you
Unlike the others, it was easy for Sasha to pick a weapon from the pile. There were many melee weapons but only one gun.“I’m ready!” she announced to Ben. Together, they headed outside with Zen in tow. The three assassins sorted through the rejected pile of weapons and leisurely played with a few. Zen and Sasha wouldn’t be back for a while, so they could take their time exploring the options.As they approached the testing ground, Zen recognised the firewood chopping area. Ben set up a small shooting range using smaller wood chips and drew a line on the ground about fifty steps away.“Try shooting the wood chips from this distance. We will slowly increase the distance to find your ideal range.”Fifty steps was quite the distance. They were no longer in the woodcutting area. Zen did not know if getting any further was wise but stood behind Sasha with Ben to observe.The wind blew gently, but Sasha had no hesitation. Even w
Following Oritha and Ben to the edge of the forest outside town, Zen wondered why NPCs could leave the starter town’s borders. There had never been such an instance in any of the games he had played previously. The Godfather’s dungeon took gaming to a whole new level.Watching silently, Zen learned more about the weight-lifting Amazonian. He thought she was a melee combat specialist with a secondary talent for archery. However, according to Oritha, it wasn’t the case.“I was trained in archery with my tribe before getting kidnapped to the assassin camp. I learned how to brawl there as it was the easiest way to defend myself from the other backstabbers. Pure strength was the best way to survive. I came out top because of it. The other girls learned poison, knife skills, flexibility and speed, but nothing compared to muscles.”Zen listened as Oritha shared more details about her days in the assassin camp. The kidnapped children learned all
“There’s no need to see your abilities,” Ben grunted. “Just tell me what you’re looking for.”Zen gaped when his fussy teacher did not ask questions or demand a demonstration. What was with the special treatment?Glad that the NPC wasn’t going to waste his time, Liu Feng got to the point.“Give me something that covers my hands. I hate the feeling of blood and decaying flesh on my hands. Something filth resistant would be the best.”Ben was usually a temperamental person. Zen panicked. What if his brother’s flippant attitude offended his teacher?To everyone’s surprise, Ben launched a belly-aching laugh. The blacksmith cackled with tears in his eyes and hooted a few times before calming down.Not long ago, Ben asked Zen how his older brother fought with tricky enemies. Now, he knew for certain. Liu Feng was that maniac who would wash his hands with holy water to punch a wraith. Yet, the p
“We’re back,” Sasha called out, returning with everyone else who had met up on the fifth floor after their material hunt. “What happened?”Zen looked like a dried sardine from behind the blacksmith’s counter. They were gone for a while, but it should not be long enough for Zen to be this worn out. What did he do?Funnily enough, the grumpy blacksmith whistled merrily as he stacked crates at the corner of the shop.“Don’t worry about him,” Ben chuckled. “He’s a spring chicken, so he’ll bounce back in no time. More importantly, do you have all the materials?”Apart from the demon lord’s horns, Ben received everything else. There was no reason to delay work, so he made Zen get to work immediately. He wasn’t paid for overtime.“Hey! Start working the bellows again if you want to learn how to repair your friend’s weapons!”Jolting back to life, Zen jum
Zen fired a message to his party members as soon as Sasha’s gun and Liu Feng’s gloves were ready. They seemed fairly busy, and he was curious about what they were doing.When they appeared at the starter town’s stage entrance to collect their items and restock on supplies, Zen could only wonder what kind of monster they were fighting.“We’re back,” Sasha laughed crazily. The peaceful music playing in the background was like heaven to her ears compared to the intense heat on the twentieth floor that reminded her of hell.“How’s the progress?” Zen asked while handing over the newly forged weapons. Under Ben’s instructions, his efforts paid off. These were the first partially player-crafted weapons in the dungeon, but Zen looked forward to making more in the future without his teacher screaming his ears off.Sasha inspected her new double-barrel sniper rifle and became instantly enamoured with it. Eagerly,
From floor five to floor nine, Zen discovered many changing elements in the virtual world. The dungeon mechanics became more complex as they climbed the floors. It was difficult to believe that until floor ten, they were still in the tutorial stages.Damian’s game guide from floor five was very different from Zen’s version. The cyborg logged every single type of equipment and monster as an encyclopaedia page, including replicated screenshot images. He rated them according to their value, usage, frequency of occurrence, something Zen had not considered, and prices. The floor map was also marked to indicate where they could commonly be located, along with an estimated loot drop guide. Compared to Zen’s walkthrough guide, Damian created a very different and detailed directory.Although their styles were very different, Zen teared up with gratefulness for the guide Damian put together. If Zen excelled at game progression strategy, Damian’s information w
Liu Feng was not pleased to learn that Zen was already considering inviting another troublesome person into his circle after sparring with Akiko. Yet, he could not say he was surprised. In the brief weeks of meeting Zen, he had seen enough to know it would not be the last time either. From the get-go, even Liu Feng had been drawn to the young cook because of this attitude. It was both the young man’s charm and weakness.While the blind teen had enough respect for Chatura, a famous strategist, he hated dealing with snake-like personalities. They already had several ticking time bombs in the Godly Food Party, and the Lau Triad’s influence could only shield Zen from so much harm. Damian Gorski had provoked half the Round Table, and Zen had rejected everyone there. An omerta might be sacred, but it was not always upheld by both parties. There were many ways to cancel an omerta, usually involving the death of one party, and Liu Feng did not wish to crush his younger swor
After finishing his dinner, Zen sipped on the weird concoction called tea from a heavy stainless steel tool holder sterilised in isopropyl alcohol. The cyborg offered to distil and mix some of his alcohol supply into the tea for a ‘better flavour,’ and Zen smartly declined. He did not have a mechanical gut that could be replaced easily. It was best to stick to conventional instant tea in unconventional cups, even if Damian stuck two very different flavours of instant tea in one cup.Although Damian had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, Zen still told him what he knew from Bolt and asked if Damian had a way to verify the information. Due to the many rumours floating around Chatura, it was difficult to know the kind of person she was. It was obvious who spread those rumours.Within thirty minutes, Damian uncovered a lot more than Zen thought was possible. Then again, he should probably not be surprised that the Gorski had such an extensive information ne
Sneaking dinner back to the room, Zen thanked Bolt and Yelena for updating him about the new faction. Although neither invigilator liked the strategist, Chatura was a very powerful person whom Zen found intriguing.Unfortunately, Liu Feng and Akiko were out. They said they would be sparring in the training ground and were not back yet. Sasha and Oritha were still in the gym, making Damian Zen’s only option to discuss this new situation with them.Deciding to take a quick shower, Zen sent Damian a text and asked if he could come over to discuss something confidential in thirty minutes with his dinner. The cyborg took a while to reply, but Zen smiled when he received an affirmation in the middle of his shower.Thirty minutes later, Zen knocked on Damian’s door, freshly showered and with a packed dinner in his other hand. There was nobody in the corridor, so Zen relaxed.Damian opened the door within seconds and welcomed Zen in.“Pardon the me
When Bolt returned with the first aid kit, he was largely relieved to see how Yelena was taking care of Zen. Taking over, he checked on the burn injury that had greatly reduced thanks to the ice cream tub, although the same could not be said of the melting liquid inside.“That might have to go back into the freezer for now,” he gently told Yelena, who agreed.Now that the actual adult was back, Yelena threw the explanation to Bolt. She hated the woman Chatura. There was no way she wanted to explain all the complicated history to Zen when she could barely speak English. Besides, between the two of them, Bolt was supposed to be the smarter one.“Oh, Chatura. Yes… it’s a complicated story,” Bolt frowned. “There are so many rumours and versions about what happened to her before she had been turned into an invigilator here. I’ve never personally met her or talked to her in my time here. However, I don’t think we have a
After spending most of the day in the virtual world, the rest of Party Godly Food excused themselves to hit the gym and stretch their muscles. Damian returned to finish compiling the game guide while Zen worked on preparing dinner. Yelena and Bolt were present, so there was no need for anyone else to keep him company. Not to mention, the kitchen hands were very helpful. Most of the ingredients Zen needed were already prepared. The dirty dishes from the last meal were washed meticulously and left to dry on the counter.“Did you find anything new in the dive this time?” Bolt asked while Zen mixed his seasoning.Zen wanted to make something simple for dinner as they had a heavy tea. Fried rice and some soup will do. There was more than enough for everyone later.“There were new things,” Zen admitted, reluctant to reveal too much information about the new features and unique split-path quests he and Damian had discovered. “However
Collecting the rewards for successfully defeating John’s cousin, the party members of Godly Food jumped into the portal leading to the next floor. Zen knew that the dungeon had different themes on every ten floors. The tenth floor of each themed stage would be different from the other stages in difficulty. It was why the vanguard team struggled with the twentieth floor’s boss. In addition to the stage mechanic’s difference, the final boss was also tougher to deal with. If not for the monstrous capabilities of the combatants, Zen doubted they could breeze through the first ten floors as quickly as they did.Anticipating a village or town vibe similar to the other floors from before, Zen was stunned to find himself in a rocky cave full of darkness. It had ominous vibes, and only Liu Feng moved confidently in the darkness. Everyone else minimised exploring further without a light source.“We’ll log out here,” Akiko informed Damian. “Y
After entering the boss dungeon den, Zen shivered. It wasn’t similar to a wolf’s den. If anything, it appeared closer to an actual dungeon, as if someone had deliberately attempted to imprison the boss here. The stale smell of dogs and many broken chains of different sizes on the ground spoke volumes about John’s cousin.Unlike the short werewolf, who remained in his werewolf form constantly, the boss was a monster who could transform. Depending on the moon cycle, it could be a violent and bloodthirsty monster or a broken man who lived in constant fear and misery of his curse.“He changes according to the moon cycle once the rampage begins,” Akiko explained. “I took a while to figure out how to kill him, even on the first run. He’s immune to damage on a blood moon. We need to finish it as soon as possible.”With a full party participating in a boss battle, Zen had faith they could conclude it before even the blood moon p
Finally approaching the final boss’s cave, Zen wondered if the storyline would change because they had let Han murder John brutally. His body had been hacked into pieces and scattered around the rotting forest. The maggots would get to it soon and reduce it to bones. Yet, the cruel butchering session remained fresh in Zen’s mind.Everyone in the party knew that feeling all too well. Having lived in the underworld, they sympathised with Zen, who had lived like a civilian his whole life. Although not everyone participated directly in the act of murder, they knew what it meant to take a life. Even Damian had seen it happen. He knew how to interrogate for information and was quite adept at the craft when required.“Don’t think too much about it,” Liu Feng was the first to break the silence. “He wasn’t even real. This is a game designed by the Godfather to find the next successor. It’s just another test.”Even if it wer