n

n

n

nClang Clang Clang

nClang Clang Clang

nLoud sounds echoed from within an empty mine in the depths of the forests. A single man was standing amidst several scattered corpses of green-skinned goblins.

nHowever, he paid no heed to these corpses. He simply stepped on them and continued hitting the mining pick monotonously on the node of metallic ore in front of him.

nSeconds passed. Minutes passed. Hours passed. And yet the young man's actions did not change at all.

nTargeting the three different nodes in front of him, he kept mining one after the other without taking a single break.

nAnd weirdly, the ores he was mining were nothing special. They were just common iron ores.

nIn between this, one or two goblins also attacked him every now and then, respawning directly at the spot where he was standing.

nBut it took the young man merely seconds to cleanly finish them and then he was back to monotonously mining the nodes.

nDing. 50 Experience points gained

nDing. 50 Experience points gained

nLiam cleared the notifications, kicking aside the last two goblins.

nHe didn't bother to pick up this loot which was mainly loin cloth and rusty weapons so the bodies remained longer than usual on the ground.

nJust as he once again began mining, another notification popped up.

nDing. Incoming call from Rey. Do you wish to answer? Y

/N

n

"Hmmm.

" Liam didn't pause his movements and continued working on the node. Nevertheless, he muttered

"Yes.

"

n

"Hi bro! Congrats on the server announcements! You are awesome!

" Rey's cheerful voice rang and Liam shook his head helplessly.

n

"Thanks. Anything else?

"

n

"Ahh… Alright. I will get to the point. Alex wants to meet with you. Can you tell me your location please?

"

n

"Huh? Why?

" Liam was surprised. He was sure that the woman hated his guts considering the way she had treated him all throughout their dungeon run.

n

"Ahh… so this is weird but she won't tell me. She says that she will only talk to you.

"

n

"Hmm…

" Liam paused for a moment, only the clanging sounds resounding in the silence.

"Fine. Ask her to call me then.

"

n

"Alright. Thanks, bro. Tell me when you are free so we can party again! Bye.

"

nA beep sounded and Rey ended the call quickly as if he was afraid that he would be blocked if he continued disturbing him.

nA couple of seconds later, Liam checked the friend requests and among the hundreds that he had received, he saw Alex's name in the most recent request.

n

"Accept.

" He muttered and the next second the call arrived.

n

"Hello. Is this Liam?

" A hesitant voice came through.

n

"Mhm. Who else would it be?

"

nAlex ignored the condescending remark and pressed on.

"Where are you? I want to meet you in person right now.

"

n

"Not possible.

" The immediate blunt reply came out.

n

"What? Why?

"

nConsidering the way men usually treated her, she half expected him to fawn over her as soon as he heard her voice and that she wanted to meet him, but this turn of events surprised her.

n

"Because I am in the middle of something.

" Liam indifferently replied. The other side suddenly became silent, and he shrugged and continued his work.

nA few more seconds of silence ensued and he was about to end the call when Alex quickly asked again.

"Then when will you be free? I will wait. This is urgent and I… It will be worth your while. Can we meet?

"

n

"Hmmm?

" There was a sense of urgency in her voice that piqued Liam's interest. Besides, he was not going to lose much by talking to her for a few seconds.

n

"Alright. We can meet tomorrow. I will be in Yleka city. We can meet up at the local inn around noon.

"

n

"Ok thanks. You will not regret this.

" Alex felt relieved and quickly cut the call, but she only realized what had happened after everything was over.

nShe had thanked him and she had also blurted out that he wouldn't regret it. How humiliating! She was furious.

n

"What happened Alex? Are you alright? What did Liam say? What did you ask him?

" Rey walked over to her and asked as he was extremely curious.

nHe also didn't know why his sister had suddenly decided to be serious about this game.

n

"Nothing. I have something to do. I will be back later.

" Alex turned around to hide her face and hurriedly threw out some vague words.

nShe then quickly ran out of there, leaving behind the very confused guy.

n

"Well, whatever the quest was we could have done it together? Why is she running away like this?

" The guy scratched his head in confusion.

nBecause of the leaderboard, there was a sudden hype about leveling faster so Rey quickly forgot about Alex and focused on what he was doing.

nMeanwhile… Liam as well continued busily mining. His schedule was fully packed for the next 24 hours and he didn't think about anything else.

nDing: Your Mining skill proficiency has increased to Intermediate Level

nNormally, it was hard to increase mining skill proficiency just by mining common ores like iron, not to mention inefficient.

nBut Liam had already sunk more than 24 hours of game time into this and he wasn't planning on stopping for the next 24 hours as well.

nAfter all, unlike others, his main concern was neither bringing his level up on the leaderboard nor amassing any sort of wealth.

nThose things were only going to become irrelevant in the future, while the thing that he was targeting would still accompany him.

nLiam grinned in excitement. Tomorrow was extremely crucial and all his future plans heavily relied on it.

nAnd if he somehow managed to become successful, then he would have taken the second step forward.

n