...
The old man behind the counter suddenly stood up and walked towards Shin. And directly sat across the later when he arrived.
Shin knitted his brows as he saw the old man's actions. 'I thought that there are a lot staff personnel here base on what Lawless had said, but from what I can see this old man is the only one running this place. And an Old Man playing a VRMMORPG? For Real!?'
Regardless of those thoughts, Shin still tap his right hand index finger three times on the wooden table when the old man sat right across him.
The old man chuckles softly when he saw Shin's actions. Then he smile brightly at Shin as if he have met an old friend from the past before saying. "Quite an old school way of doing business, Huh? But I'm pretty sure that you are just a new costumer. And I don't remember doing business with you before, so tell me who recommend you here and I might give you a good discount if he or she is an old costumer."
Shin is still knitting his brows under his mask as he look at the old man. "I don't think that should be necessary for talking the real business."
The old man ignored Shin's unfriendly tone and said smilingly. "And a straightforward person, Huh? But I also like that. So who do you want to find? But let me remind you first, the price of the information varies how hard to find the NPC, Monster or Special Beings that you are looking for."
Shin state his business without further ado. "I'm looking for a NPC. And he might be a special one or even a hidden NPC."
"Oh... So you are looking for a quite costly one. If it is a special one that should be 15,000 gold coins, if he is a hidden one then that should cost 25,000 gold coins. But if he happen to be both, then the price is 35,000 gold coins." said the old man almost instantly.
'It is really expensive. It is just an information yet it can almost rival the price of a single piece of a Level 60 Platinum Rank equipment.' thought Shin before asking. "Then how about if I give you some clue? Like if I can tell you a major place where you can find him?"
The old man's reply came instantly, as if he is already used to these kind of transaction. "Ten percent. I can only give you a 10% discount at most."
"So let us form a contact then?" said Shin.
After forming the contract, Shin finally state who is the NPC that he is looking for. "The name of the NPC that I'm looking for is called Kentas. He might be a swordsman or an assassin, and he can be found in this City."
The old man give his reply immediately after. "Noted. Just give us a single day at most and we can find the exact whereabouts of that NPC. Of course, I'll be taking 5,000 gold coins as a deposit. If we fail to find him within day, then I'll be returning the deposit to you. And if we happen to gave you a wrong information, then you can get a full refund plus additional 10% of the total cost for the waste of your time."
Shin added the old man as friend, so that the later can directly contact him if they are finished with their investigation. The old man's IGN(In Game Name) that had been register at Shin's friend list is 'Dark Mystery'.
At the same time, The old man is frowning his brows because that name had been registered at his friend list is 'Nameless Swordsman'. He knows that it is not an IGN but just a pseudonym inside the game. 'An alias, Huh? This guy should really have some items that can completely hide his real identity. Heh, what an interesting young man.'
Before Shin stood up, he suddenly remembered something. "Old man. Didn't you also said that you have informations about Special Beings, right?"
The old man nodded his head as confirmation. When Shin saw that, he immediately said. "So.... Do you also have some information where can I find an Elemental Spirit?"
The old man raise one of his brows while having an interested expression on his face. "Oh.... That was quite a rare one. Actually, you asked the right person. But unfortunately, there are no available Elemental Spirit that can be capture for now. Maybe I'll just contact you the next time I've gotten an information about it."
Shin become disappointed after hearing that, then he bid his farewell to the old man before walking out the restaurant. When he is outside, Shin decided to logout for a moment to take some bite and do a quick morning routine.
When he login back in the game, Shin received a message from the old man from the 'Secret Recipe' Restaurant.
Dark Mystery: Our dear costumer, we've gotten the information that you want. Please go to our place to close the deal.
'Why do I feel that I'm doing some kind of illegal transaction after reading this message.' thought Shin when he saw the message.
Shin went back to 'Secret Recipe' Restaurant and saw that nothing have change. The place still have no other costumers beside him while the old man is still sitting behind the counter.
Shin walk directly towards the counter, before sitting across the old man and said. "So how much more do I need to pay."
Old man stroke his chin with his left hand thumb and index finger while saying. "Always straight to business, Huh? Alright, The NPC that you are looking for is a Hidden Special NPC so the total price is 35,000. And since you gave us some clue, that should only be 31,500 gold coins. But you are recommended by an old friend, so I can give you the information that you want at the price of 30,000 gold coins only. What do you think? Not bad isn't?"
Shin took out a pouch containing 25,000 gold coins and toss it in front of the old man. The old man form a satisfied smile while nodding his head. "I really like talking to a straightforward costumers."
Then the old man summon his personal map and place a mark on it. "Go to this place and look for a Blacksmith Shop named 'All Goods Are Here'. Beside that blacksmith shop you can see a beggar NPC called Loffy, that is the guy that you are looking for."
Shin knitted his brows and got confused. "Didn't the guy that I'm looking for is called Kentas? Then why are telling me to look for this Loffy beggar guy?"
"Kid. Players are not the only one that can use an alias and different personas, NPCs can do it too." said the old man nonchalantly.
Shin still doubtful at the old man's words, but since they are bound by the contract, this old man will not do some underhanded tricks. After some hesitation, Shin stood up and thank the old man, and planning to go to the place that the old man indicated.
When Shin walked out the restaurant, a Twilight Dark Elf suddenly materialize beside the old man. "What are we going to so now, Sir? From the looks of it, that guy earlier should be the one that the HeadHunter Guild is looking for. Should we sell this information to them?"
The old man chuckles softly and said to the Dark Elf nonchalantly. "Why would we? We are only selling information regarding NPCs, Monsters and Special Beings, and selling informations regarding wanted players are not included in it."
The old man pauses for a moment and release a chilling aura that enfold the entire room. "And let me warn you 'Blues'. That kid is off limits, he is recommend here by an old friend of mine. So if you do something stup*d, I'll reassure you that you will regret that decision for the rest of your life."
...
Shin on the other hand had no idea what happened at the 'Secret Recipe' restaurant, and just arrived at the place that the old man had indicated. He then directly went to look for the Loffy beggar guy. He didn't need to look for anywhere to find the guy, since the beggar is quite eye-catching beside the luxurious Blacksmith Shop.
Shin approach Loffy beggar and try to talk to him. Unfortunately, no matter what he do, the later ignored him completely. Shin even tried to give the beggar some gold coins but the later did even flitch after seeing the money that he is offering.
When the players walking along the street saw Shin's actions, they can't help themselves but to laugh at him.
"Look! There is another f**l that want to take a quest from that Beggar."
"Hahaha.... Why is he wasting his time and money on an NPC like that? Did he think that this game some kind of fairy tale?"
"Do this guy believed to the rumors stating that that beggar are giving some high ranking items in exchange for some coins?"
"That NPC Beggar is just a scammer. He is going to ask you to give him a lot of things but he doesn't give you any kind of quest, not even a trash item in return."
Shin ignored the busybodies and said to the beggar in a low voice. "Hey, are you the Phantom Swordsman 'Kentas'?"
But the beggar still remain unmoved, making Shin to almost gone crazy. Then a sudden flash of idea occurred at Shin's mind. He run off to somewhere, and immediately return few moments later.
Shin sat at the floor one meter across of the beggar, then he took out a bunch of food from his inventory bag one by one, and place it right in between of the two of them. The beggar's eyes suddenly turn bright when he saw the food in front of him.
Shin smile satisfyingly and said. "So are you willing to talk now?"
Loffy beggar shift his gaze between Shin and the food in front of him, before choosing to stay silent. Shin expected that, so he take out another batch of food together with some bottles of wine.
The beggar failed to control himself and started to salivate. Shin look calmly at him and said. "What about now?"
The beggar still wants to refuse Shin's offer, but the later is quite clever enough to take another batch of food. The beggar's strong willpower finally crumble down and admit his defeat.
Naturally, Shin is not going let himself to get trick by an NPC once again. He make sure that the beggar signed a contract with him before letting the later to eat the food that he brought.
And while Loffy beggar is busy gobbling the food in front of him, a voice suddenly sounded inside Shin's head. "So you are the one that gotten my invitation scroll?"
Shin almost jump from his sitting position when he heard the voice. He turn his head left and right trying to look for its source, but he still failed to do so. When he is about to give, that voice sounded once again. "Tsk, are you an idi*t? Where are you looking at? Other people will look suspicious if you keep doing what you are doing."
'What was that? A telepathy?' Shin was startled once again, but this time he didn't look around, but look directly at Loffy beggar instead.
Loffy beggar ignore Shin's gaze and use telepathy once again. "What? Is this your first time experiencing this. Well I don't care about that. What I want to know is whether you want to have my inheritance, and if you are worthy enough for it."
Shin was gotten confused at first after hearing that, but he still said either way. "So how can I get the right to undergo the trial?"
Loffy beggar thought for a moment, before saying to Shin. "First, you need to hunt some Monsters for me to showoff some of your strength."
Then a system notification sounded at Shin's ears together with a new quest at his Quest Information Widow.
...