George's heart stirred — but the feeling settled quickly.
'Riches an nothing if you can't show them off back ho, as the saying goes. But if going back ans only watching, without any ability to interact — you can't take anything, you can't say anything — what exactly is the point of returning?'
Besides, if visiting his personal Arbitrary Door less frequently ant greater safety, then that was plainly the sensible thing to do. Take good advice. Eat well.
Standing inside his Arbitrary Door, George turned to face the rain-grey park outside — empty of any living soul — and touched his forehead to the ground three tis in a deep bow. Let it be taken as a silent farewell. In whatever way the world that had known him continued on, that chapter was closed now.
He stood, adjusted his breathing, and looked down at his chest — the wound had begun seeping again. Real pain. The Grand Witch Luna had driven her blade deep; it had likely touched sothing vital underneath.
Which only went to show how impressive that One-Star Life Potion truly was.
One other thing: his equipnt and weapons had vanished entirely at so point, leaving him in a set of plain civilian clothes and cloth shoes.
'Recovery alone will take a month. Which leaves roughly four months to improve myself before the summons to the Chaotic Killing Battlefield arrives.'
With that thought, George extended his left hand and felt for the barrier before him — cold as glass, perfectly transparent. He pressed gently and pushed sideways, and it moved like a door on a hinge. The mont it swung open, the world beyond flickered — night and day alternating at speed, the sweep of countless shifting landscapes — and then it locked into stillness.
When he looked up, the park was gone. He stood in a quiet street at the deep end of night. The architecture around him was oddly familiar — buildings two or three stories tall, built from dressed stone, with attic spaces above the rooflines. On the first floors, solid wooden doors, shut; on the second floors, small windows, so dark, others warm with amber lamplight.
The rooftop attic eaves held window boxes and planters — herbs, flowers, vegetable vines. He even spotted a tangle of pumpkin creepers on one attic cornice, fat golden pumpkins hanging in clusters.
Strange, and yet sohow close to the heart.
A slow night breeze carried the unmistakable scent of autumn harvest — ripe fruit and earth-cooled air, nothing of the usual night-city squalor. This place was clean.
George looked around with sothing close to excitent. Further off, taller structures rose above the roofline — but nothing like the skyscrapers he had grown up with. These were fortresses. Ramparts. Sothing between a palace and a citadel.
Stone lamp-posts stood every fifty ters along the street, each holding a softly glowing stone inside. A patrol of soldiers in polished armor moved past at an unhurried pace in the distance.
They didn't seem to notice him.
Sowhere further still, a drunk was shouting and carrying on. A dog barked. But on the whole, the city was quiet tonight.
Creak.
A door nearby opened. A man in plain clothes stepped out, moving briskly toward George's position — and then, three ters away, made an opening gesture with his hand. In the next instant, he vanished.
An Arbitrary Door. He'd used one of his own.
Which ant — this whole area was an Arbitrary Door transit hub.
George looked up. Sure enough, a large lantern hung directly overhead, and on it was written a single blunt character: DOOR.
He looked lower. A scrolling text feed was running along the lower right corner of the transit marker, constantly refreshing.
【This public Arbitrary Door is: Weir City — Eastern Station. From here you may proceed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Note: you have no registered residence in the current city. You must complete identity registration and find lodging by midnight. A four-hour curfew will begin at midnight. Violations will be handled according to regulations.】
【Note: this is a public Arbitrary Door terminal. Weir City has five public terminals in total: North Station, East Station, West Station, South Station, and Central Station — a layout common to all cities. Public terminals facilitate travel between cities only. In-city transit between terminals is not provided. Please use other ans of transportation within the city.】
【Note: travel to other cities via public Arbitrary Door terminals requires paynt of one Silver Coin per trip.】
【Three-Star Lord status confird. You are permitted access to the following destinations: Weir City, Juniper City, Cadel City, and the Royal Capital — All-Heavens Alliance Headquarters Branch (territory of the great Six-Star Lord). To access the main All-Heavens Alliance Headquarters, please complete and submit an inter-dinsional Arbitrary Door travel request and wait for approval.】
【ADVERTISENT: Moon Hazy Tavern is open tonight! Full-service anities: bathing, sauna, spa, accommodation, and dining — all under one roof. Elegant atmosphere, attentive service, fair prices. On a hazy night, when you want a drink and good company — Moon Hazy is your guiding light in a new world. Moon Hazy Tavern: the beacon of your life abroad.】
George stared at the last notification for a long mont.
'This place is remarkably modern.'
He then started thinking: the world where his Rookie Mission had taken place — that would be a world under the governance of a Six-Star Lord. Surely this Weir City and Weir Province weren't so mirror-image duplicate of that?
He looked at the spotless streets again. Hard not to wonder.
Then again, Night Owl had ntioned this world had its own gods — and the native inhabitants regularly invoked those gods. Those gods would not be the Six-Star Lord. So this was categorically a different world.
And presumably, the residents of this Weir City were all players — while the Weir City in the mission world was populated by native inhabitants.
He turned the logic over and found it consistent. Without any further surprise, he stepped out through the Arbitrary Door. A mild night breeze t him, crisper and more real than what had co through before.
He got his bearings and walked in the direction of the distant shouting, which suggested life and activity. He couldn't sleep in the street tonight. The Moon Hazy Tavern sounded like a destination.
The street was long and still. A wild cat appeared on a rooftop beam and disappeared again, quick and silent.
Another patrol passed. They didn't bother him, but they didn't look like NPC guards either — more like rcenary players filling a role.
'A city this large still enforcing a curfew, with patrols running this frequently… Sothing troubleso must live on the outside of those walls.'
George picked up his pace slightly — but the shouting from a mont ago had gone quiet. The street fell into hushed calm. A gust of night wind ca through, and despite himself, a chill ran over him.
This was an unsettling place.
"Hss—"
George drew in a sharp breath. The wound across his chest had begun hurting badly. He couldn't walk quickly. Even those few dozen steps had him breaking into a cold sweat, moving like a man recovering from serious illness — ordinary, and very much not heroic.
'I dearly wish people ca with stats. Get hit, log out, refresh, and you'd be fine.'
'At this rate, I'm going to have to stop taking injuries like that in the future.'
He smiled grimly at himself. In this state — what kind of rcenary player was he going to be? A Lord-class lifestyle sounded considerably safer right now. And for just a mont, thinking it through, genuine unease settled in George for the first ti since the battle ended.
Clop-clop-clop.
A carriage ca up from behind. George stopped and looked back. The vehicle eased to a halt beside him. A middle-aged man with a tired, worn expression sat at the reins.
"My apologies — I'm the Internal Affairs intake driver for new arrivals. You ca through later than scheduled. Please get in."
Was this a scam? George wasn't entirely sure — but he climbed in anyway, which was more of a struggle than it should have been.
"You're injured? That looks serious."
The man glanced at him with the flat eyes of soone who had seen this a hundred tis before.
"I'd suggest a tavern or inn — they have One-Star-quality rooms, which accelerate recovery. The price is a bit steep, admittedly. Or you can use the Public Dormitory, which covers lodging and three als a day entirely free. Large open bunkrooms, and the food is standard commons — nothing remarkable."
"Thank you. What does the tavern typically run?"
Recovery speed mattered. He'd rather pay to be functional again faster.
"Starts at one gold per night, als not included. Factor in food and drink and you're looking at two gold a day all told. That said, One-Star food quality, taken in sufficient quantity, does restore your vitality, and accumulates toward Free Attribute gains. So on balance it's quite worthwhile."
Two gold a day. That was highway robbery.
"Actually, a new arrival in your position could simply rent a room or buy a property outright — not that expensive, really. Three to five hundred gold will get you a street-facing house with a garden, an attic, and a basent. Daily recovery rate of 1% Life and 5% Stamina."
The driver kept talking, but George had stopped responding. He had fewer than two hundred gold left. Purchase anything? Not a chance. Public dormitory it was. A month from now the injuries would be healed regardless.
Taking the hint, the driver said no more. He steered the carriage through four city blocks and stopped at a relatively out-of-the-way location — not neglected, but plainly not fashionable either — with a clear view of the city wall and a cluster of long, low wooden structures whose layout was unmistakably bunkrooms.
"Here you go. Five wooden buildings, all public dorms — open berths, first co first claid. Three als a day at fixed tis, no exceptions if you're late. Fighting is prohibited on the premises. If there's trouble, call for a guard — though I'd recomnd not needing to. If you need to go out, you can request a driver. One Silver Coin per trip."
He handed George a card before leaving.
【One-Star Driver Card: issued free to new players. Allows in-city hailing of carriages across all Alliance cities. Surcharge per use: one Copper Coin. Fare structure: base fee plus distance rate — varies by city. In Weir City: one Silver Coin per three kiloters; five Copper Coins per additional kiloter, with no distance cap.】
—
Familiar, sohow.
George thanked him and climbed down from the carriage with effort. The wound hurt badly. He had no real strength left in him — the feeling of being rapidly deflated from sothing capable into sothing rely human, with no fantasy about it.
'I sincerely hope this body can recover faster. Getting hurt this badly and then just having to wait it out — it's not fun.'
'That's settled, then. Lethal injuries are sothing to be avoided from now on.'
George smiled grimly to himself, limping through the dormitory gate. Lord-class player it was, then. Being a rcenary right now felt like a fundantally bad idea.
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