"Downstairs."

"Take me to him."

Following the Boy downstairs, the shopkeeper saw the Shop Boy leading a young hero with an impressive bearing toward him, and hurriedly came forward, saying, "Is there anything this guest needs? Did our shop fail to serve you properly?"

Eric Ford was secretly delighted, just about to use this as an excuse to slip away, but the Boy was quicker to speak: "This guest says he forgot to bring money to pay the bill!"

Eric Ford quickly followed up with a laugh: "Ha, it's just bad luck, but that's how it is. Even if you don't believe it, I really did forget to bring money."

The shopkeeper couldn't even be bothered to look at Eric Ford, and replied, "Didn't bring money? I think you don't have any! the Boy, go report to the authorities!"

Eric Ford panicked when he heard this—who knows what kind of punishment he'd get if he saw the officials. Of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is the best! With that thought, he turned and ran, dashing out of the teahouse and sprinting down the main road without a second thought.

At this moment, the system's voice sounded: "Player Eric Ford drank tea without paying, reputation decreased by 10 points."

Eric Ford cursed inwardly, "I've helped so many people in the newbie village and never gained any reputation, but here, just for missing 10 copper coins, I lose ten points. What even is this reputation!"

He looked back and saw the Shop Boy chasing after him, shouting, and seemed to be holding a stool.

Eric Ford didn't dare to be careless. He followed the main road, ran straight out the city gate, and after running for a while longer, looked back to see that the Boy was nowhere in sight. Only then did he lean against a big tree to catch his breath.

His legs gave out, and Eric Ford collapsed to the ground. In front of him were green mountains and clear waters—no wonder people always say "the green hills remain, the waters flow on" before parting. This scenery truly is refreshing.

The wind swept across the grassland, waves of grass rippling before Eric Ford's eyes. He simply stretched out on the ground, and as he lay there, it felt as if he had left the noisy crowds far behind and become one with nature. After all, Kevin Young had grown up in the city.

Lying there, he actually drifted off to sleep.

He didn't wake until he felt someone pushing him. Eric Ford opened his eyes and realized he had left the game. It was the young man called Little Emily from the internet café nudging him, "Your overnight session is over."

"Oh!" Kevin Young hurriedly stood up, wondering when he had left the game.

"Heh, judging by your look, you must have fallen asleep in the game too!"

"How did you know!"

"When I took off your glasses and headphones, your eyes were still closed and you were smiling. This game is just too real! You probably found a place to rest in the game and accidentally fell asleep, right? It's happened to me several times!"

"You took off my glasses? Wasn't I still in the middle of the game? What happens then?"

"It's fine. During the open beta, the system does maintenance and updates every morning from 7 to 8, and will automatically log players out. I only woke you after everyone had logged out."

"Oh, thank you!"

Kevin Young smiled at Little Emily and went to the boss to settle the bill. Thinking of how he had fled in panic in the game over 10 copper coins, he found it quite funny.

Back in the dorm, the other three were already there.

"You're back. Why didn't you come find us last night?" the Leader asked.

"How was I supposed to find you when you didn't tell me where you were going!" Kevin Young replied irritably.

"Ah, we totally forgot, really forgot!"

Brian said, "The officials made a statement about your hidden quest yesterday, did you know?"

"I know, I heard people talking about it in the game!"

"Sigh, now none of us can do it anymore. You really are lucky!"

"What's so great about it? Last night I used that 'Lightning Speed' move, it costs 2 points of internal energy per second, I can't even use it for a full minute."

"Damn, you really don't know how lucky you are. Do you know, our lightness skills cost 4 points of internal energy per second—twice as much as yours—and don't even give as much movement speed. Your move is just overpowered!" Brian shouted.

"Really? But I only have 100 internal energy. What do I do when it's used up?"

"Geez, you can use medicine to recover! You've been playing for a whole day, try to be a bit more professional, stop asking such basic questions!" Brian shouted again.

"Damn, what level are you guys?"

"I'm level 52, Brian and Little Paul are both level 46."

"Don't you always play together? Why such a big level gap?"

"They don't focus on leveling. Brian is always thinking about getting better gear, and Little Paul keeps switching between practicing different martial arts and learning new internal skills!"

"That's because you're a training maniac!" Brian scoffed at the Leader.

"the Leader's level is pretty high. Right now, except for the top level 60 player, there really aren't many above level 50!" Paul Brooks said.

"Level 60? You mean Jack Armstrong?" Kevin Young asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Paul Brooks asked.

"Heh, the first person I met when I logged in last night was him. He even gave me a flying dagger." In front of his friends in the dorm, Kevin Young could finally brag a little.

Brian chimed in, "What's so great about level 60? It's his 'Seven Absolute Whirlwind Sword' that's enviable. It's the only rare weapon in the whole martial world right now!"