Pride Online

Tomorrow came so fast like it flew here. Wisana did not take long to get ready for the trip. It was half-past six in the morning when Maysa and he started walking to the dungeon where the event took place.

This walk was more comfortable than his previous ones because the road was crowded with other players walking with them. So that he did not have to worry about monsters attacking him on the way as before.

On the way there, Wisana noticed the excitement on the players’ faces. They were all fully prepared for the fight. Some of them came with full knight armor and a long broadsword that could daze enemies simply with the force of its blow. And some of them were riding a big bird, pulling a cart full of weapons that got Wisana shivered down his back.

They were going to fight the whole army? Why did they have to carry this many?!

“There are so many people. Will we be able to join an event like this?” The guy asked, awkwardly.

“Sure. They said it was for everyone. There’re always rooms.” Maysa said casually. “Anyway, we’re not joining the hunt. We’re here to take photos. I know it’s highly competitive, but to take good pictures, they have to know the tricks.”

“And you’re confident that you do?” Wisana asked, tiredly.

“Just trust me.” She finished as she patted on her chest, softly. “It’s about having a good eye, and no one can top me with that. If you want a good photo, you also have to get close to the model. Well, do you think that that toughest boss will smile and hold peace fingers up for the camera willingly? No. This step requires running skills, too, this is where I'm most confident about it. See? The noob levels won’t be able to do this.”

“Yeah, sure, if you said so.” Wisana signed. “I’m just gonna join for fun, not aiming for the prize, anyway.”

“Come on. This morning you were farming on the way and already up to level 15, weren’t you? I think you’ll be able to take on most monsters in there. You don’t have to be afraid, big bro.” Her words made the one who had just been promoted to be her sibling sneer at the girl out of endearment.

“Sure, little sis!”

After joking and bickering for a while, they both rushed up and finally got to the abandoned prison’s area. The girl dragged the taller guy through the crowd until they could stop and stand in front of the gate.

One of the tall metal door panels was opened slightly, while the other seemed to be broken down and its wreckage was gone. The dusky surrounding atmosphere hit Wisana the second he laid his eyes on the building in front of him. It looked like ancient remains of tall, square-shaped buildings made of concrete that were decaying into ruins. The clearing they were standing on was covered in sand and dust that pervaded every time the wind blew, making them feel frightened down to their spines.

That was it. That was the abandoned dungeon.

The dungeon’s atmosphere was frightening; however, it was these people that rendered him... speechless.

“Gather in, gather in. Now is the hot sale promotion, ladies and gentlemen. Energy potion, Berserk potion, pixie potion, any explosive stuff, we got them all. Gathering in!”

“Left item service’s here, anyone wants your item to be taken care of? Please get in line for your convenience to process!”

“Fast weapon repair and upgrade!! Today, the best craftsman from Ziggard is here for your weapon service with the best quality and reasonable prices!”

“Testament service! Just in case you die today, the testament will transfer your lost EXP to your closest friend. Write a testament with us today and get fifty bottles of energy-restoring white potion for free!

Seeing these merchants shouting to sell their goods and services, Wisana dropped a sweat in surprise. The young man looked at how the players were turning this creepy place into a market fair and felt amused.

Well, this bustling noise kind of turned off his terrifying mood from the seconds ago completely.

“Wisana, let’s separate to buy the items we need, and meet up later at that well, okay?” Maysa said as she was pointing at an old, shabby well that was located away from the crowd.

“Okay.” He nodded. “And what should I buy?”

“A must-have item is a camera. You don’t have one yet, do you?” She asked, looking back at him.

“No, I don’t.”

“Alright, go buy a camera and some bombs for you to use to escape. You don’t need to buy those restoring HP potions, I already got them for you,” she finished speaking, then brought two bottles of potion out of her inventory window, one was black and the other one was blue.

“Will there be enough for yourself?”

“Of course, don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself since you’re so broke. Buy just what you need, got it?” She instructed him with a serious tone before tossing those bottles to him.

“Player Wisana earned 50 black potions.”

“Player Wisana earned 30 blue potions.”

Black Potion <Cola flavor health potion, restoring maximum 1,000 HP each.>

Blue Potion <Blueberry flavor dispel potion, washing off any kinds of debuffs, each bottle increases 50 Magic points.>

They nodded at each other when the item transfer was completed before they separated to shop in the dungeon market fair.

Wisana wasn’t focused on finding the items on his shopping list as much as observing these players. He got excited and carried away by their unfamiliar costumes and magnificent weapons. They came fully equipped with swords, shields, and shining armor.

Then, there was him.

Still in his white university shirt, worn-out jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a bandage that Maysa called a knuckle duster.

“Gathering in, low-cost, high-quality clothes, starter packs for starter levels. Accessories and handy weapons. Gathering in now, we’re having discounts and promotions!”

Such perfect timing!

It was like an angel guardian whispering in his ear. Wisana turned to the announcement to see a merchant with glasses on his long face, looking like a cunning man. He was sitting cross-legged on a red carpet, surrounded by floating hologram icons of clothes and accessories.

They looked very tempting to the one who wanted some. His eyes sparkled, pacing up to the clothes stall, immediately.

“Hi, do you have some cheap clothes for level 15?”

The question was asked, making the merchant stop chanting his advertainment. He turned to smile at Wisana, showing his bright teeth. He rubbed his hands together, getting ready to service his customer.

Alright, here’s another one!

“Yes, bro, I have so many, from head accessories to shoes. Which one do you want?

“I’m a melee attack, could you suggest me a set? Not higher than 10k, please.” He asked honestly since he did not know much about this kind of thing.

Hearing the customer's brief clearly, the long-faced seller pressed his lips together to form a smile. Then he enthusiastically brought out a large number of clothes from his window, placing them in front of Wisana to choose.

“I got you, bro,” he said with a clear voice. “You’re the type that fights barehanded, right? So, I suggest you wear something light to be agile, but I think that the clothes you’re wearing are already fine. So, I’ll recommend this vambrace instead.” The seller finished dilating as he held out an armed guard, which could cover from shoulder to the fingertips.

“Why there’s just for one arm?” Wisana wondered.

“Because it’s more of a defensive item. You wear it on one arm like a shield, so you can wear the knuckle duster on the other. This way your attack speed won’t decrease.

“How much is it?”

“The left arm guards are now on a 20% discount, so it’ll be just 3,500 coins.”

“Okay, I'll take it!” The customer decided so easily, bringing up his window.

“Thank you so much for purchasing.”

“Do you have anything else to recommend?”

“Of course,” the merchant said before he brought up a couple of items. “These are Windy Line, light sneakers that increase the efficiency of feet attack up to 15%. They also have level 5 of the full power jump skills with them, too. The other one is a fire dragon belt. It can resist 30% of the attack from fire element skills. For those items, I'll give you a special price for just 2,500 coins.”

Finished listening to another narration, Wisana blended down to look at the pair of black sneakers, which looked a lot cooler than the shabby Converse he was wearing. Moving on to the belt, it was a leather belt with a carved golden dragon on the buckle. With these unfamiliar styles, the young man felt the greed lingering in his heart. Wisana smiled, pleased, not wasting any more time as he said.

“I’ll take them all!”

“Oh, thank you a lot, bro.”

Wisana looked pleased with the shopping, his finger pressing on his information window. He pleaded with Jinnie, joyfully.

“Jinnie, babe. Can you transfer 6,000 coins to the merchant, please?”

“Yes, master.” His personal system said with a clear voice. The next few seconds, the seller with glasses brought up his information window, too, then he made a face like he just figured something out. He turned to smile at Wisana for another time.

“Say, bro, would you like to buy one more? I currently put on a promotion that if you buy 5 items from my stall, I'll give you 1 piece of accessories for free.”

“You do? Well, okay. Recommend me something.” The slave to marketing shouted in excitement.

“I’d recommend you this one.” After he finished speaking, he handed a mask to Wisana. Its design kind of reminded him of ‘the phantom of the opera’ since it covered only the eyes.

“A mask?”

“That’s right, bro. This is called Phantom; the mark that applies 50% of disturbance immunity for being blind, bleeding and silenced. I can say that you don’t have to worry about the cursing-type monsters anymore. And for the price, I’ll charge you for just 2,000 coins only.”

“Okay! I’ll take it.” Wisana said OKAY without thinking too much, even though he was kind of confused about the disturbances the other was talking about.

Well, whatever. He would just ask Maysa about it later.

“Alright, Jinnie, give him 2,000 more.”

“Done, master.”

All was completed. The lavish spender stored the new items in his inventory window quickly.

“Where’s my giveaway?” But he had not forgotten about this privilege, yet.

“Oh, here you go, bro. I crafted this one just a couple of weeks ago, it hasn’t been sold commercially in the market, yet,” the man with glasses spoke with a smile, then a dry laugh. “Actually, I haven’t patented it with the association of items, yet. So, you’ll be my first tester. Could you tell me later if it works well?

Wisana gave him a forceful smile.

“Aw, you’re such a smart ass, giving me an unofficial item for free to increase your sales, and to have a willing lap rat like this.”

The merchant with glasses' smile was fixed there, scratching in his black messy hair.

“Well, whatever. I don’t really care anyway. So, what’s the item?”

“Here, I am proudly presenting you this, the Butterfly Effect! It's a long scarf that applies a pair of light wings and gives the wearer the ability to

fly for a while.”

“Whoa, it is that great?!” Wisana yelled.

“But.”

“But?”

“I’m not really sure how it functions, since it was on and off when I tested it. That's why I gave it to you. I think you might help me figure out how to activate the wings.”

“Shit. So, it’s an incomplete item.”

“W... well. It’s just a giveaway, alright? Anyway, my name is Manoch, contact ID 025589DS. I’ll have to bother you to give feedback on the Butterfly Effect, will you?”

“Yeah, okay.” Wisana took the contact, adding it unwillingly. He glanced at his information window, under Maysa's name on the friend list, there was then ‘Manoch’, too.”

“Also, could I have your name, please? So, I can contact you, too.”

“Uh, my name is...”

“Hi, do you have any dragon leather belt?” The young man was interrupted by a clear, loud voice of a girl customer. And that Manoch was really a professional salesman. When the new buyer came to ask for his goods, he just forgot about Wisana, smiling to welcome the girl at the speed of light!

“Aw, of cause I do, miss. I sell them at a cheap price as well, just 1,000 each only.”

“Okay, I’ll get three.”

“Wow, thank you for purchasing, miss.”

Hearing the merchant’s enthusiastic voice made Wisana chuckle. When there was an event like this, it was an opportunity to have a good sale. If this kept continuing, Manoch would become a millionaire soon.

Lips on the smooth face curled up a smirk, turning to look at the newcomer girl beside him, and then,

PUUHD!!!

He flinched as he was choking on his saliva, his eyes were never opened this wide before. The girl looked familiar with the long hair letting down to her waist, the bangs and the front were layered to caress on her blushed cheeks. Her facial feathers were soft and beautiful with those big round eyes and a pair of pink plump lips.

Warunya!!!