Ahrie and Min waved each other off, heading in opposite directions.

"Bye, fucker."

"Yeah, yeah. See ya."

Ahrie wandered the streets until he found an inn.

A room. A bed. Finally, rest.

Morning came.

He sat up, staring at his worn-out gear.

Tapped his light armor pads—

Crumble.

"Damn…"

He sighed, brushing the dust off his hands.

Time for a new set.

Ahrie headed to the nearest blacksmith.

The place was hot, loud, and smelled like burnt metal.

His eyes caught on a sleek display — black light armor, black cape, matching sword.

"Damn… that's cool." He muttered, touching the fabric

"How much for this?"

"For that set? Around five hundred bronze," the blacksmith said without looking up.

Ahrie froze. His coin pouch felt suddenly lighter. His soul almost left his body.

"W-where's your… cheap side?" he asked, voice cracking under despair.

The blacksmith raised an eyebrow, then pointed lazily to the corner.

Ahrie trudged off like a man walking to his own funeral.

He was eyeing a few light armors—something simple to replace his busted gear—when an old geezer shuffled up beside him.

"You…" the man said, squinting hard. "Where did you get that armor?"

Ahrie blinked. "This? Uh… Fog Village. They sell these in a shop there."

The old man looked up at the ceiling, eyes distant. "So… they're still operating as usual, huh…"

"Usual?" Ahrie tilted his head.

The geezer's voice dropped. "Those armors—they belong to the people they lure in and kill."

"Eh? For real?" Ahrie said, half shocked, half confused.

"Yep. One of those victims was my son…"

Ahrie froze. "…Okay."

"Why are you trauma-dumping right now, old man…"

The geezer kept going, rambling on about his son, the fog, the betrayal, the curse.

Ahrie's expression slowly died. His eyes glazed over.

"Oh my god… this old man's a professional yapper…"

He nodded occasionally just to survive the conversation.

"Thank you for listening to my son's story," the old man said warmly.

"No problem." Ahrie smiled.

"…To be honest, I don't remember a thing you said."

"As a sign of gratitude," the old man continued, "I'll let you pick one thing here. I'll pay for it."

Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, Ahrie bolted back to the black armor set he'd been drooling over earlier. He pointed at it like a man possessed.

The old man's eye twitched.

He turned to the blacksmith. "How much for that one?"

"About 500 bronze coins," the blacksmith replied.

Whack!

The old man chopped Ahrie's head with his palm. "You bastard, trying to rob me blind?!"

"Eh… worth a shot," Ahrie muttered, rubbing his head.

The old man sighed, paid for a much cheaper light armor worth fifty-five coins, and walked off without another word.

"Weird-ass geezer," Ahrie muttered, slipping into his new gear.

Ahrie was scanning the rack of rapiers, hand dragging down his face in thought.

"Too short… too thin… too damn expensive…" he muttered.

Then—

"HEY! HEY! HEY!"

That voice.

Ahrie turned.

Min.

He swaggered into the shop, dapped up the blacksmith like an old friend, and plopped his small shield on the counter.

"The usual?" the blacksmith asked.

"Yep, yep."

As the blacksmith started polishing, Min glanced around—then spotted Ahrie.

"Oi!" he called out.

Ahrie gave him a lazy nod. "Yooo."

"What you doin'?"

"Buying a rapier."

"Oooh." Min leaned in, eyes gleaming. "How 'bout you get that guy to customize one for you? Like—a rapier with a spiral hook. Or—or one that explodes when you stab!"

Ahrie grinned. "Now that's an interesting concept."

"Right?! Right?!" Min grinned back, nodding like a madman.

The blacksmith, overhearing them, chuckled. "Hah… fun ideas. But I'm too old for that kinda work now. I'll leave the crazy projects to my son. Kekeke."

"Boo! BOOO!" Ahrie and Min both jeered in unison, thumbs down.

Ahrie rummaged through the weapon rack, eyes locked on the rapiers.

Min, being Min, started grabbing random swords and handing them over.

"Nooo… I said rapier," Ahrie muttered.

Min handed him another sword.

"I FUCKING SAID RAPIER!"

Min froze. Looked at the blacksmith.

The blacksmith stared back, confused.

"Ragebaiting complete," Min said with a smirk.

"I hear that you dumbfuck—" Ahrie shouted…

Moments later…

"I'm done with your shield maintenance!" the blacksmith shouted.

Min bolted to the counter like a kid on Christmas.

"Ohhh—it's shiny again!" he said, hugging his shield.

Ahrie sighed, grabbed whatever rapier looked sturdy, and paid for it.

They stepped out of the blacksmith's shop.

"Ready for a quest?" Min asked.

"Heck yeah," Ahrie said.

"YEAAA!"

"HURAAA!"

An old lady hurled rocks at them.

"Shut up! It's early in the morning!"

"Ohh—sorry!" Both sprinted off laughing.

They turned a corner and skidded to a stop. A merchant stood there with a bunch of wares—one of them, a carriage.

They stared at it in awe.

"Imagine if we had this…" Min whispered.

Both suddenly remembered all those miserable hours pushing a cart.

Their heads turned toward each other.

"…We might need one," Ahrie said.

"Yea, yea."

They marched into the merchant's stall.

"How much for the carriage?" Ahrie asked.

"Eight hundred forty bronze co—"

They were already gone.

"Damn."

"Fuck."

Both muttered in sync.

Ahrie and Min rushed into the plaza, scanning for a party to join.

Dozens of gazes turned their way.

Murmurs followed.

"It's that useless tank again…"

"How's he useless?"

"He just dodges everything."

"Eh? What the hell."

"And that other guy?"

"Apparently he's a healer."

"Oh?"

"He punches people to heal them."

"…The fuck."

Min ignored the whispers and walked up to a rookie-looking team.

"Hi! You guys need a tank and a healer?"

"Eh… sorry, w-we're kinda full right now…"

"Okieee." Min smiled and backed away.

He tried another group—

—but they literally walked off before he could speak.

Ahrie and Min both sighed.

"Let's just go to the Seeker's Hall," Ahrie said.

"Yeah…"

Inside the hall, they approached the counter.

"Any quests we can do? Just the two of us," Ahrie asked.

The receptionist eyed them up and down.

"…Odd jobs? How about it?"

The two immediately remembered the carriage price.

"Any quest will do," Ahrie muttered.

"As many as you can," Min added.

"Hmmkay," the receptionist said, pulling out a long list.

They spent the day running odd jobs nonstop.

Picking ingredients outside Glimmerfen.

Finding lost pets.

Helping with farming.

Helping build a house.

Patrolling with guards.

By sundown—

"Huff… huff…"

Ahrie and Min collapsed on the grass at the park, drenched in sweat.

"How much did we make?" Ahrie asked weakly.

"...One eighty bronze coins," Min said.

Ahrie blinked.

"Wut. After all that?"

"Yea…"

"Haaaaaaah…" Ahrie let out a long, defeated sigh.

Then—

A faint glow pulsed from the ring on his finger.

"HELLO?" a voice echoed from it.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.