62 Nikolai

Ren displayed the Map of Maze Forest on his screen and continued to follow the path towards Hubert's [Little Trinket] shop.

He didn't have time to marvel at the towering trees and canopies so large it blocked the sky and all the other types of flowers and mushrooms growing at the side, the harmless animals and small beasts hopping to their nest, or the little creatures at the side peeking at him from the bushes.

He was in a hurry.

Attention on the map, Ren didn't notice a kid blocking his path. He never did once even considered that there was another being beside from him. And he took a step back when they collided.

"Ofgh!"

Ren blinked and looked down at the Kid he had just bumped.

"Agh. A player!" said the boy with a childish voice. His sharp tone didn't match his bulky build, and his youthful face didn't match his harry look.

He had a face of a child in an adult's body, assuming the race of Beast with tiger ears, tails, and paws, walking on two sets of tiger legs with strakes of gold adorning its white mane.

"Finally! Another player like me! I thought I would go crazy in this place! I'm like exploring this area for hours now with no clue to where I am! I was going to give up and log out to return to the city when you came!"

Who?

Ren looked at the child in confusion. Was he an NPC? Did he triggered an event or something? He didn't remember there was one on his side of the map before.

Rather, his memory was all foggy since this area was so big and confusing that he himself didn't remember much of it.

"Ah. Sorry. Where are my manners? The name's Nikolai, by the way." The Kid introduced, accompanied by a toothy grin.

Nikolai?

The name didn't ring any bell.

"Are you an NPC?" Ren asked because he wasn't sure himself.

The Kid readily shook his head. "Nope! I'm a player! Just like you!"

"How did you know that I'm a player," Ren asked, even more confused. His face was covered by the hood of [Phantom Cloak]. There was no way that the Kid could see his face.

Could the Kid have some kind of an item that tells NPC and players apart?

Nikolai tilted his head to the side. "Know? I just assumed you are." He grinned, face breaming with ignorance.

Oh . . . Ren almost wanted to face palm himself. He was too serious and overthinking so much that he even became suspicious of a kid's innocence.

When did he become so tight?

But what made Ren shocked was the Kid had managed to enter Maze Forest before he was.

And he thought he was the very first one!

"You . . . how did you arrive here?" Ren asked, still confused.

Nikolai placed a finger over his lips. "How did I enter?"

"There are supposed to be a specific +30 on STR or INT restriction to enter towns. And the only way for you to enter this area is through Erendia Town . . . wait . . . don't tell me . . ."

Ren looked at the Kid, whose eyes were shining like stars.

"Y-you . . . is your STR already in +30?"

Nikolai nodded. "Yeah. What of it?"

What of it?!

Ren was shocked because there should be no players whose STR or INT is in the +30 at this point in time except for him.

Even Beta Testers should have a hard time raising their ATP to +30. Even though they played the game ahead of the others. All the bugs they found were reported and fixed, and not all had knowledge about the secret grinding spots.

"Are you a beta tester?" By any chance, did the Kid possibly know or accidentally stumbled upon a grinding spot and hidden bosses that was why he was ahead of the others?

"Beta . . . tester?" Nikolai's forehead crumpled. "I don't know what that is. I just grind and grind and grind and put all my EXP in STR."

He then chuckled. "And before I know it, I entered this forest and got lost."

". . ."

Ren sighed. So it's just a crazy kid who's a fanatic of grinding nonstop and leveling only a single ATP.

"Is that so?" Ren regained his calm. If that was the case, if he was only leveling his STR, then it was indeed possible to reach +30.

But that was just ridiculous to level only one ATP since the important stats of a Beast like DEF and AGI would be left behind.

But not his problem.

Ren then introduced himself. "My name is Ren."

"Nice to meetcha." Nikolai beamed. "By the way, why are you covering your face? Is your appearance hideous?"

The corner of Ren's lips twitched. "Somewhat."

"Anyway, if you're lost and alone, I suggest you log out and grind elsewhere. This forest is too early for you to try." Ren was indeed surprised that the Kid managed to stay alive this far. The monster and Beast in here were on a whole new level.

Ren had the map, and if he stuck to the right path, he would avoid any unwanted encounters with enemies.

But if you were lost and didn't know where you were going, there was a high chance that you'd take the wrong fork and be transported into an area full of Beast and monsters.

"Eh? What about you? Why don't we party together? In that way, we can watch each other's back." Nikolai gazed over at the Ren. He didn't want to go back and log out. He wanted to continue adventuring forward.

"This forest is too much even for me. Even if the two of us party together. I'm going on a short errand here, and after I'm finished with that, I'll also log out and go back to town."

Nikolai's expression fell. "Is that so?" he sighed, shoulders slumped.

"I guess I have no choice but log out and go back to town then. I kept getting lost in here. I lost count of how many times I was back at the same place. I've wasted too much time, and I'm getting dizzy from all the forks I had to choose."

Nikolai complained and kicked the dirt on the ground with a downcast face.

Ren looked to the side. He had to say that Nikolai's luck was indeed good for avoiding the fork that would surely land him into an area full of beasts.

Nikolai shrugged and sighed. "Oh well. I can do nothing about it. Guess I have to wait for my friends and party with them."

"Good bye mister. See you when I see you." Nikolai waved his hand and was about to press [Log out] when Ren stopped him.

"Wait . . . are you . . . a Monk?"

"Yes. Why?"

The corner of Ren's smile rose into an evil smirk. A [Monk] whose STR is already in the +30. Though his other ATP was left behind, it was still perfect.

"Do you want to party with me and attempt a dungeon?"

----

A/N

I still read comments though I rarely replied cause its just mostly hate comments. Lelz 🤣

Thank you for everyone's support, good or bad, you're still contributing to the story 😁

CHEERS!