Gabriel remained motionless for several seconds, reflecting on the old man’s words.
The heat of the smithy still saturated the atmosphere while the tallic tools emitted faint creaks from the temperature.
There are n who surrender themselves so completely to ambition... that they end up buried beneath it.
The phrase lingered inside his mind with uncomfortable clarity. Not because he felt accused, but because sothing inside him recognized the real danger behind those words.
He still rembered the ruin, the blood, and the hunger with painful clarity. The danger truly existed inside him now.
And even so, Gabriel simply remained silent.
He was not that kind of person. People who grew up like him learned quickly that pretty words rarely changed anything.
So he rely gave the old man a respectful gesture before silently leaving the smithy.
The virtual night slowly covered the Novice Village. Torches began illuminating the stone streets while players and NPCs continued moving between taverns, shops, and plazas.
Gabriel wandered aimlessly for several minutes until he arrived at a plaza widely known for its beauty.
The place had been built around a large pond of crystal-clear water where several listone sculptures decorated the surroundings.
The soft sound of water and the warm glow of the lanterns created an oddly peaceful atmosphere.
Gabriel eventually sat near the pond, observing the reflection of the lights upon the water. The old man’s words still lingered in his mind.
How was a monster truly born? The answer seed ridiculously simple. Hunger, ambition, and eventually, power.
People who began by justifying small steps until they ended up completely consud by the very thing they desired to obtain.
Gabriel could understand it perfectly. Especially now, because hunger also existed within him.
A hunger capable of pushing extre boundaries. The hunger to rise, to abandon misery, and to never feel weak again.
But with a silent sigh, he did not indulge in pointless contemplation. He had seen the darkness and limits of humanity. He had abandoned his naivety at an early age.
Gabriel made a silent promise to himself.
He would remain faithful to himself and his ideals. To the few people close to him who truly mattered, or could matter, to him.
As long as he could preserve that... then he would still remain himself.
Shortly afterward, he logged out.
The virtual night disappeared, and he awakened once again inside his small, dilapidated apartnt.
It was already quite late. ntal exhaustion began striking him the mont he fully disconnected from the neural synchronization.
Gabriel set the helt aside and lay directly upon the improvised bed. But before sleeping, he remained staring at the fragile ceiling while reviewing everything that had happened during the day inside the ga.
His encounter and battle with the strange woman, the hunt, and the old man’s words.
And for the first ti in a very long while, he allowed himself to feel satisfaction.
It was a rare, genuine, and profound satisfaction.
The kind of feeling born from truly moving toward sothing better.
Gabriel slowly closed his eyes with a faint ntal smile.
He did not sleep very long. He needed to wake up early.
The faint, monotonous light of Neo-Atlas Inferior partially crossed the window when Gabriel slowly rose from the bed. His stomach imdiately protested.
He was hungry again.
Gabriel let out a small sigh and left the apartnt. The streets were already filled with workers, drones, and couriers moving through the industrial levels.
The sll of fuel and rusted humidity saturated the air. He walked toward a small authorized synthetic food center where he used part of the social credits earned the previous day.
He had completed several bonus objectives in the delivery app, allowing him to purchase sothing slightly more decent than usual.
"Decent" was still a generous word. The package still resembled lightly seasoned plastic, but at least it would fill his stomach.
He quickly returned to the apartnt and began eating silently while holographically browsing the ga forums.
Once again, it dominated the trends, filled with guides, theories, popular streams, discussions about hidden classes, and rumors regarding mysterious players.
So people even proudly claid to have witnessed users capable of using completely unknown special abilities.
Gabriel eventually let out a faint nasal laugh. The routine was already becoming hilarious.
Eating trash food while obsessively reading forums about the most popular video ga that would probably change his life.
If soone had told him that a few months ago, he probably would have thought they were delusional.
That day would be different. He would take a day off work.
He would invest the entire day inside the ga.
Gabriel finished the synthetic al, quickly cleaned the container, and grabbed the neural helt once again. Excitent appeared almost instantly within his chest.
Synchronization completed.
The virtual wind struck his face once more.
With voices and footsteps becoming part of his new scenery.
Life within the Novice Village returned around him. Gabriel could perfectly hear the cacophony of players talking, trading, and discussing strategies.
So bragged about new equipnt, while others searched for groups to clear beginner dungeons.The noise was universal.
But Gabriel simply advanced among them like a shadow. He needed to resolve sothing important before continuing his progress.
He needed a mask.
Concealing his identity was becoming increasingly necessary. Especially after the encounter with Bella. If he continued standing out too much, people might eventually begin seriously investigating him.
That was why he headed toward the Village General Store.
The place was fairly crowded. Various conversations filled the exterior while players compared basic items and beginner consumables.
Gabriel ignored all of it and quickly crossed the entrance.
The interior slled of old wood and treated leather, with shelves packed with tools, backpacks, cloaks, and equipnt decorating the place.
A rchant NPC slightly raised his gaze when Gabriel approached.
"I’m looking for masks."
The rchant imdiately nodded and pointed toward a side section of the store.
"Facial accessories and aesthetics are in the back."
Gabriel walked toward the indicated section.
And then he slowly began examining the masks. There was everything imaginable.
Simple cloth masks, tallic masks. So had elegant designs, others intimidating ones, while a few imitated beasts.
Gabriel observed them one after another while trying to decide what kind of identity he wanted to build within the ga. He needed sothing useful, but also discreet.
Then he saw it.
Partially hidden behind several more common masks.
A Jester’s mask. It was strange and intricate.
Elegant in an unsettling way. It possessed carved patterns around the eyes and an exaggerated smile painted across the dark porcelain-white face. It did not appear ridiculous, but disturbingly refined.
And the strangest thing of all was its cheap price.
Slightly cheaper compared to the other decorative masks.
Gabriel remained staring at it for several seconds.
Sothing inside him reacted imdiately upon seeing it. It was a choice he felt satisfied with.
Without fully understanding why, Gabriel picked up the mask.
"I’ll take this one."
The NPC did not even seem surprised.
The transaction was completed quickly, and the mask disappeared into his personal inventory.
Gabriel imdiately opened the panel to observe it once again.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[JESTER’S MASK]
Rarity: Common
Description: "Those who laugh behind a mask rarely show their true face."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Gabriel slowly closed the window.
There was sothing uncomfortable about that description.
But there was no point dedicating too much thought to it.
He needed to level up. That was his primary objective.
And he already knew exactly where to do it.
The Abandoned Mine.
A publicly known dungeon intended for players between levels five and ten. Dark and narrow, covered in uncomfortable humidity. Filled with tunnels and aggressive creatures.
The mont he rembered its description, he knew it was perfect. Especially for soone with enhanced senses and vampiric abilities.
Gabriel slowly left the shop while the mask rested silently inside his inventory.
And for so reason, he felt as though he had just made an important decision.
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