After meeting Zac in Isekai, the two of us sat on the grassy ground of the plains as we caught up with each other. As he explained, he was playing as a warrior who dreamed to be a knight in order to protect the princess of his dreams, or at least for him, a girlfriend. Yeah, he needed to work more on his social (and courtship) skills... In any case, I'm just glad he was in the game as well. "So I told you everything about my build. What about you? What kind of character are you playing as in here?"
"Me?" I asked as I scratched my temple. "Well... I'm just playing as... me, I guess. I'm just here to keep an eye on Kaz. Besides, if I'm not available to play, he can't access Isekai, due to the [Guardian Player] rule. And you know how loud he can be when that happens." I'm not kidding. Kazuki has a terrible temper and I seriously don't want to get on his bad side, especially after what happened back during our trip to the science museum.
"Tell me about it. Which reminds me, why did I tag along on your family trip again?" Yikes. He was giving me that death glare again. I tried to be silent about it, but in all honesty, my Mom was too busy at that time, okay?! "Don't answer that. And don't worry, with you by his side, at least he won't suffer the same fate of some newbies in MMOs. Remember those scammers and trolls from those MMO news articles we discussed after school?"
Oh yeah... he tended to talk a lot about those news articles every day. People scamming oblivious players into buying useless junk, provoking players by sending controversial and off-topic comments... Even in an online world, there were people who liked to create chaos and commit shady deeds for their own gain. "Good point. The last thing I ever want during out Isekai Online experience is my brother buying something useless or dangerous to our VeilCons. I seriously don't want our Dad's gifts to be infected by malware or something."
"Yeah. And you should also keep an eye out for any bot avatars around here. They may be harmless to players like us, but they can be a bit detrimental to the game itself. I would go on and on about the unfairness of those autonomous players, but I'd rather not waste your time with my ramblings." Good call. The last thing I needed was to end up dozing off from it. "Seriously, they advertised Isekai as the first real ADVR MMO with a high-tech security system, and yet, they didn't bother to try finding a way to detect scammers, trolls, and bots."
"Why do think I was so paranoid about playing VRMMOs in the first place?" I mumbled as I let myself fall back onto the grass, yawning as I looked towards the blue sky. "But to tell you the truth, this game isn't half bad. It might actually be a good excuse for me to lie down and relax on a grassy field like this."
"At least you find something good about VRMMOs, Mr. Pessimistic. I told you that you needed to just relax and enjoy the game." I could only respond with a sigh. I seriously hoped he would stop calling me "Mr. Pessimistic". "By the way, should you be looking for your brother already? It's been an hour since you guys split up."
Now that he'd mentioned it, I hadn't seen Kaz for a while now. I hadn't gotten any alarms from my HUD, but he was supposed to meet me back here after a ho-
"WIND!!!"
I gasped and jumped up from the ground, before turning around to see Kaz running towards me. Zac also turned around at the same time as he noticed Kaz as well. "Kaz, there you are! Where have you been? I thought we agreed to meet here in an hour."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I got so caught up with the slimes that I lost the track of time. I even encountered a [Savage Boar] and a [Mini Python] on my way here!" Of course. Kaz wanted to get more experience whenever he had the chance, so it was no surprise to me hearing the reason for his tardiness. Though, I was surprised when Zac gasped and quickly ran up to my brother with his eyes wide open as if he found a beautiful girl or a brand new game console.
"A [Mini Python]?! Are you serious?! Please tell me you're not joking!" I raised my right eyebrow when I heard this. Just what was so important about that monster? I guessed that from the name, it might be a small snake of some sorts, and possibly a rare monster too. "I tried to take down one of them to get some snake venom. I heard that it's in high demand for anyone who has the [Alchemy] skill."
"Really? I hadn't realized that venom from a snake was an alchemy ingredient. What recipe are they trying to create?"
"Don't know. Something about a paralyzing potion or a potion that grants you immunity from poisons for a few minutes just by lathering it around your body."
My eyes widened as I heard this. Sure, some snakes were poisonous, but why in the world do they even put something as dangerous as snake venom on their skin. I couldn't stay silent over this conversation. I quickly stepped forward and cleared my throat. "Um... I think some introductions are in order before we continue. Kaz, this is Zac. Kaz, Zac."
At least my introduction to my brother was less blunt. Zac already knew my brother and I knew they'd recognize each other. It sufficed to say that it didn't surprise men when they gasped in some sort of shock. "That's your brother?! He looks a bit... bluish than before."
"Y-Yeah. My race is supposed to be <Insignis>, though I don't know what they can do in terms of abilities. But what I do know is that it gives me Intelligence and Wisdom stat bonuses."
I expected Zac to just raise his eyebrows and call my brother's appearance "weird". But to my surprise, he took a closer look at his hair and eyes. Not too closely though, which might be already too weird and creepy for our standards. "Huh, I expected them to be some sort of a magical race. Though I was also expecting them to look like elves or emotionless humanoid AIs or something..."
"Humanoid AIs?" I asked with a raised voice. I seriously had no clue what Zac was talking about. In fact, I doubted artificial intelligence existed in a fantasy setting.
"Oh, yeah. You're new in Isekai, I forgot. Well, just to give you a quick rundown on the game's lore, there seems to be a strange legend regarding this race. I haven't read much about it, but it seems that the <Insignis> race is known for their specialty regarding some kind of special magical art. However, their race became endangered and most of the knowledge on their magic was lost. The official site said that anyone playing as that race may have a chance on unlocking the mysteries behind the near-extinction and the lost of this magical art. Though so far, I can see that no one is even interested in playing as an <Insignis>."
I see. So that explained that strange [Storyline Bonus] on the character creation screen. That race is likely connected to the game's lore somehow. But there was one more thing I wanted to know. "Why is that?"
"Do you have to ask that? For the hardcore players, they only want to play as the other races for the stat bonuses. And even though the Intelligence and Wisdom bonuses are beneficial for a magic user like your brother, most magic using players prefer the <Elf> race as its bonuses are focused more on magic-based skills. Not to mention, some casual players often pick them for the fanservice outfits and some cleavage action."
"Fanservice? Cleavage?" My eyes widened as I glanced at my own brother staring at Zac. Don't tell me... "What's are those words? Did some Isekai fans came up with them?"
"Oh, that? Well, fanservice is actually where there are scenes or pictures of girls who are weari-"
"ZAC OSBORNE!!! DON'T YOU DARE EXPLAIN THAT STUFF IN FRONT OF MY YOUNGER BROTHER!!!" I screamed at the top of the lungs without any second thought. I seriously couldn't help it. Kazuki was still 12-years-old and there was no way I'm letting him be exposed to any sexual content at his age. However, when I saw Zac fall to the ground with his eyes still wide and my brother staring at me with hesitation that made me realized that I overdid it again. Goddamit... Even in an online video game, I couldn't seem to control myself when it came to protecting my brother. "S-Sorry about that. But seriously, keep those inappropriate explanations to yourself. Unless you want to suffer more than an arrow to where the sun don't shine."
Zac sighed in dismay as he looked at me with most of his composure restored. "I understand. But still, this is why I always tell you to take a chill pill every once in a while. Just look at what happened with your brother."
He's right. I saw that Kazuki was horrified at how I snapped like that. I just sighed and turned to him with a frown. "Yeah. Sorry for scaring you like that, Kaz."
"T-That's okay. I know you didn't mean it, Wind. You were trying to protect me, that's all," Kaz said as he approached me. I noticed he was still shaking, so I have to give him a hug to calm him down. "Besides, I don't really like Zac's stories and lessons anyway."
"HEY!!! What's that supposed to mean?!" Kaz and I began to laugh at Zac's hilarious outburst, at which I was relieved that he managed to regain his happy-go-lucky self. I would not forgive myself if he never smiled again. As for Zac, he just frowned at what I said to him. Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to drop it, as he scratched his chin while his face began to turn red. "Anyways, what are you two planning to do next after you guys leveled up your combat skills?"
We suddenly stopped laughing once Zac asked that question. Now that I thought about it, we were just planning to continue on hunting monsters and gaining more experience. "To be honest, we have no clue. I was hoping we could try gathering some more herbs for Kaz's [Alchemy] skills."
"After that, we might try to log out early since that's all we have planned for today." Yeah, we don't have any plans for this weekend, but we don't want to burn ourselves out doing the same routine either, even in a video game.
"That's lame! Have you forgotten what kind of genre Isekai is?! It's about exploring a new world, helping out citizens, and vanquishing evil! It's our way to carve out our legacies as heroes of <Volo>! You know, save the world from an evil Dark Lord or something!" Well, that was true if you were following the standard Isekai (Another World) genre (though it would've been a better explanation if Zac hadn't posed by raising his sword like an egocentric knight). Someone from our world being summoned into a fantasy world, becoming a hero, defeating a Dark Lord and saving the world. A bland formula, if you ask me.
"But I thought that the developers hadn't added the part about the Dark Lord yet since it just the first week of official gameplay?" He had a point. Kaz had even shown me the official site of Isekai Online about the developers' future plans for the game. "Besides, all I want to do right now is to play with my brother in Isekai and discover new things in the game world."
Kaz's words should have put a damper on Zac's mood. But he was still grinning and chuckling like an idiot before he put his sword down to the ground with the tip slightly stabbed into the grassy field. "That's true. But what if you discover more when you take up a <Quest> or something?"
"A <Quest>?" Kaz and I repeated, confused.
"Yeah. They're special tasks that the NPCs at the <Adventurer's Guild> can give you that reap you special rewards when you complete them. Money, special equipment, even access to special areas and dungeons! Just think of them as like part-time jobs to support your big adventures in the future."
I see. So if we complete these <Quests>, we might able to earn some items and money to buy some emergency supplies. Sounds reasonable enough. "That makes sense. What do you think, Kaz? Should we take a <Quest>?"
As expected, Kaz nodded "yes". Considering what Zac had explained so far about this feature, I knew he would be interested as well. "Yeah, it sounds like fun!"
"Glad that you're interested at my cra- I mean, great ideas for once." Seriously, once he said the first part of that word, I could what he really meant. "I'll give you guys some time to finish up here and rest back in <Initio>. It's almost night time and there is a chance we might not survive with those monsters out at that time."
That sounded like a good idea. Time moved differently in this game after all, and we still need to adjust it so that we wouldn't stay for too long. "Right. Just send us the directions to the <Adventurer's Guild> later then, Zac."
"Right. And just for future reference, don't call me 'Zac'. Right now, I am known as <Arthur>, Knight in Training! You better remember that!"
<Arthur>, huh? Wow, how original...
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Wind's Masteries
[Archery] Level 5
[Woodcrafting] Level 1
[Swordsmanship] Level 6
[Cooking] Level 1
[Wind] Level 5
[Physical Enhancement] Level 1
[Hunting] Level 3
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Kazu's Masteries
[Arcana] Level 6
[Thunder] Level 6
[Wind] Level 5
[Alchemy] Level 4
[Magecrafting] Level 1
[Magical Affinity] Level 3
[Scribe] Level 1