TAP TAP TAP
I was inside my room, pushing the buttons before me. As for what I was doing, I was looking for things to invest in.
Know that, even though I was planning to invest in that girl and her guild, I fairly underestimated the money I could make from going to dungeons and selling the corpses.
The bracelet saved me a lot more money than I had initially expected. Therefore, there were a lot more funds than I could use on Emilia. She would probably not accept such money from a stranger, and that was pretty normal.
Therefore, I started looking at the companies and the guilds on the Internet and their stock prices. Even though I was not that engulfed in the stock market in the game, knowing the future events, maybe I could find a guild that would later rise or something.
TAP TAP TAP
I kept searching and surveying on the internet.
‘There are quite a few that I think get a lot more popular, but I am not sure.’
There were certainly some names that I knew from the game, but it was a little hard to read the stock market prices and convert the information to how they were doing right now.
Some of the guild’s stocks may not be as high as I expected them to be, but that didn’t necessarily mean those stocks were going to rise in the future. In the end, the stock market doesn’t specifically reflect how the guild is doing on their ranking or how their hunter job is going. There are other things that affect it, and this is what differentiates the real world from the game.
Just as I was looking at the guilds, one of the other parts got my attention.
Agency Groups, Mercenaries, and Free Lancer Works.
‘Right, there was such a setting.’ I thought. In the game, one could not only be a Hunter and join a guild, but they could also become a Mercenary that goes with commissions or Free Lancers that would venture around the guilds and join their operations.
‘Now that I think about it, is the Agency Group Ethan is going to find here?’ I thought and started surveying under the tab Agency Groups.
Since Ethan was a good kid that wanted to raise his strength, he naturally ventured around the world, and thanks to a talented agency he had found, as a player, we would have quite an easy time finding gates, dungeons, or monsters in the wilderness.
‘Though, they also brought quite a lot of troubles to him thanks to their unique past.’
Sitting before the laptop, I stared, pondering about this investment was worth it or not.
‘That little kid….He was really useful, his knowledge of computers and his trait being related to them.’
Having a hacker certainly would help, especially for my goal. But at the same time, not every people in this world would follow a person that wishes to murder every bit of demon and erase their existence, which left me in a dilemma.
‘Either I am going to make them extremely loyal to me, or I am not going to reveal my purpose.’ That was what I had concluded.
‘For now, this matter is far in the future. There is no point in thinking about this now.’ I thought, but I still took a mental note for the future.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t invest in their little agency.
‘Let’s invest around 20000 Valer. I don’t need immediate money for now.’
Since I had also visited the dungeon inside the Black Market, I now had around 70k in my bank account, and the debt of the academy had one whole year to pay, so I didn’t need to make it worse.
Though while investing in them, I used a small amount of money to commission a broker from the black market, making myself anonymous, though that kid would certainly trace me back.
‘Let’s teach you a little bit about the world.’
With that thought, I spent 25k investing in them.
DING 𝐎𝑣𝗅xt.
At that moment, a message came from my watch as I looked into its content.
DING DING
Though, following it was another two.
‘Must be clubs.’
I thought and opened the panel.
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Adventurer and Exploration Club
Thank you for joining our club!
We’re excited to have you on board. Don’t forget about the orientation trip next Sunday. It’ll be a great opportunity to get to know your fellow members and start your journey as an adventurer. See you there!
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History and Arts Club
Hello and welcome to the History and Arts Club!
We’re thrilled that you’ve joined us. Our club meetings are always filled with excitement and creativity. Get ready to explore the fascinating world of history and arts together! Looking forward to seeing you at our next meeting. It is refreshing to see freshmen being interested in Art and History, and we are very happy to have you here.
The orientation session will be on Saturday morning, and we will start with a small picnic inside the forest.
If you wish to, you can also bring the food you want, but it is not mandatory. I hope you are having a good week!
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Archery Club
Welcome to the Archery Club.
Make sure you’re serious about improving your skills if you’re here. We don’t have time for slackers. Training sessions are mandatory. Be prepared to prove yourself.
Orientation is on Friday Evening.
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Looking at the messages in front of me, I could certainly feel the differences between the clubs’ atmospheres from the tone of the messages alone.
Adventurer Exploration’s message was short, but its tone was simply polite and welcoming, while the archery club was arrogant and serious.
It was enough to show that how where this Archery Clubs’ egoistic reputation came from. Even their messages were arrogant.
And, as for the History and Arts Club, it was certainly showing the characteristics of that shining senior who is the club president.
‘That woman was too bright….I should maintain my distance from her.’ I thought as I closed the laptop.
The night was already there, and I needed to sleep soon.
******
“Hey, Sylvie, which Clubs have you joined?”
As three girls were walking towards their room, one of them asked the girl in the middle, who had a rather tired expression on her face, as if she was about to sleep as soon as possible.
“Sylvie?” Since she didn’t get an answer, the girl asked once again, looking at her friend.
“….”
“Kuhum. Sylvie!” Seeing this was not going to work, she cleared her throat and raised her voice slightly.
FLINCH
“What? What is it?” Sylvie, who woke up from her dream, looked into her friend.
“Which club did you join?” Her friend repeated the question as she looked into her eyes.
“Hmm? Haven’t we talked about this before?” As Sylvie tilted her head to the side, she asked.
“Well, I forgot.”? Her friend sheepishly said while scratching the back of her head, but Sylvie could see something was different.
The emotions of her friend….They were different. She felt suspicious, but thinking that she was having a bad time for some reason, she decided to ignore it.
After all, the feelings she saw were not that strong; only a small amount of darkness probably stemmed from stress.
“I joined the History and Arts Club only.” She answered, but her body momentarily flinched as she considered if her choice was right. ‘That senior was too scary.’
Even for her, who was mostly cheerful and happy, that senior was someone overwhelming, like a star that shone through the night and illuminated everything but made those closer to them blind.
“I see.” Her friend answered, lowering her gaze, though Sylvie’s thoughts were on the senior and her overwhelming attitude, so she didn’t hear, neither did she see the expression on her face.
‘What a stupid girl.’
Her friend, whose name was Daniella, thought with a small smile creeping upon her face. Though the one inside her was no longer the same girl, she knew.
Without knowing anything about it, Sylvie had already put herself in danger.
“Hey. What are you going to do about him?” Just at that moment, another voice echoed. It was the third girl who was typing something on her watch before.
“What do you mean?” Sylvie asked as she tilted her head to the side.
“I mean about that bastard who made you cry. Should I do something about it?”
Hearing this, Sylvie’s body momentarily stiffened as she remembered his words back then once again.
The words she was trying to forget.
“If you’re not willing to confront your weaknesses head-on, then perhaps you should reconsider being a part of the academy.”
However, the already tired Sylvie didn’t want to talk about him right now. She didn’t want to feel uncomfortable anymore. She had been studying for the whole day, and her brain was on the verge of exploding.
“Why are you mentioning him now?” Sylvie asked. Her friend knew she didn’t want to talk about him, but why was she bringing it up now?
“For some reason, I feel irritated with his attitude.” The girl spat out her feelings. “He acts edgy, and it cringes me whenever I see it. Does he think we will think he is cool if he acts like that? Bastards like him who acts cold and edgy to impress girls are the ones that I hate the most.”
As Sylvie heard this, she felt like she could relate to it. But at the same time, she knew that was how Astron acted normally. It was basically his character since she knew he had never had any intention of impressing others with his attitude.
That basically stemmed from his indifference, but that was what made him more irritating.
‘Couldn’t you be a little kinder?’ She asked herself.
Though, at that moment, she also remembered what she saw in the club room.
She saw Astron and decided to hide since she didn’t want to talk to him. A part of her knew she was escaping, but she decided to hide nonetheless.
However, when he was talking to the senior, she couldn’t help but stiffen at his words. He also wanted to join the History and Art Club. She even reconsidered her decision to join the club.
But she also felt a weird feeling when she looked at the senior talking to him. That senior constantly tried to give him potatoes while pressuring him.
And Astron was uncomfortable with it; Sylvie could feel it. But, in the corner of his heart, a small feeling of warmth was there, like he was slightly enjoying it.
‘He is enjoying it?’
This made her feel angry. He acted coldly toward her every time when they talked. No, not only her but others as well, Since Sylvie was watching him, she knew. But why was he now enjoying it?
She even forgot his sincere gratitude at that time, thanks to his harsh words at that moment.
‘Why are you enjoying it?’
Even Astron himself didn’t know he enjoyed the senior’s presence, but Sylvie, with her trait, could see it.
And, because she felt angry for some reason, she impulsively acted and went to the seniors in a bad mood.
Though, she wished now that she never did it since she walked to one of the toughest battles where chips could be a weapon.
“SYLVIE!”
At that moment, she heard a shout making her wake up from her thoughts as she looked at her friend in her front.
“What?”
“Why are you daydreaming now?”
“Ah…My bad.”
“Hey, it is fine. She is probably tired. And why are you bringing it up now? Don’t you know it makes her uncomfortable?”
“I know, but I feel angry whenever I see him for some reason….Sigh….Anyway, should I do something about him?”
“No, leave it be; it is fine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
“Your choice then.”
Just like that, the three walked together as they reached their dorms…..
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You can check my discord if you want. You can see the illustrations of characters there.
The link to the discord server is in the description of the book.