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nRise Online was in an uproar.

nFamous guilds sprang into action to find the mysterious blacksmith. In various media and on the Webnet, the Mutant Classification arrows appeared as the hottest topic.

nWho was the blacksmith with excellent skills and potential but devoid of reputation and fame, who managed to craft a Mutant Rank Arrow using only Primal Nature items?

nMany people were searching for the whereabouts of the blacksmith.

nThe players who had joined the blacksmithing profession and reached the highest possible level were now wondering where they had gone wrong.

n‘I have always done my best. However, is there a better blacksmith than me?’𝓞𝒱𝐞𝔩xt.𝗇𝓔t

nZofnys, the legendary Draconian blacksmith, had only experienced making a Mutant Rank item twice with Primal items. He held the title of the first Mutant item producer. However, the items he created were a sword and a spear, so his achievements didn’t even manage to get such attention.

nWho is the player who was able to make the first, second, and third Mutant Rank arrows in history, something that not even the number one ranked blacksmith managed even once?

n*Ttang! Ttang!*

nZofnys’ competitiveness was boosted to full steam with the emergence of the unknown blacksmith.

nMeanwhile, Klaus Park, the person who could get everyone’s attention if he revealed what he had done, was standing in front of a canned food machine in one of the corridors of the office where he worked.

n“What a rip-off…charging $10 for a can of soup? I only have five dollars. Does this place want poor people like me to starve to death?” he angrily said.

nKlaus continued to grumble as he ate the can of soup.

nEverything was going south in his day because earlier, he had rolled over until the last minute to get out of bed. He almost hasn’t slept. He didn’t get breakfast and didn’t even have time to prepare a lunchbox with the rest of his Sunday dinner. This was terrible.

nHe looked at the time marked on the lock screen of his cell phone after throwing the can of soup in the trash. It was still 11:30 in the morning.

nIt was Monday, but the office was as busy and hectic as it was on a Wednesday, even during lunchtime.

nWorking at Arc Insurance was like working in a war camp. There were days when all the rooms were in an uproar, and on other days everything was quiet, way too quiet.

nThe days when students came daily to find work were gone, so most of Klaus Park’s colleagues were frustrated and stressed middle-aged people. These days, young people are shying away from formal, bureaucratic jobs. Foreign workers had taken over long ago, so everything seemed like a stable mess at times. This Monday, shouting was bothering Klaus more than ever.

n‘Time does not pass…’ Klaus thought as he made his way to his desk.

nAlthough Klaus had worked in all sorts of places before, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol early in the morning was unbearable.

n‘I’m with a headache…’

nJust then, he walked in front of his boss’s office. She was a woman in her late thirties, maybe? Klaus wasn’t sure, but she had the air of a responsible older woman.

nHer name was Megan Saunders, and she was on the phone, but her eyes locked on the tall black-haired man passing in front of the glass wall of her office.

nKlaus and his boss’s eyes met. She propped her cell phone on her left shoulder to continue talking while she moved her hands to call for Klaus to come into the office and fiddled with the paperwork on her desk.

n“Excuse me, boss, do you have some business with me?”

nWith her right hand, she asked for silence for a second.

n“Ahem, ahem… Yes, I’ll set up a meeting with the manager of the warranty department. Okay. See you later~.” Megan picked up her cell phone, hung up the call, and already started talking to Klaus. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Are you coming back from lunch now?”

n“Yeah… By the way, you have to call the tech service to check the canned food machine on the fifth floor, it looks like some awesome guy broke the machine trying to get free food.”

nMegan gave a closed smile. “Oh… Is that serious? I’ll have Marcos take a look at it later, thanks for letting me know. You’re alone~ Why didn’t Jayaa come to lunch with you like he usually does?”

n“He didn’t tell you? He wants to take Friday off, so he’s not doing lunch hours and will be doing overtime.”

nMegan put her left hand on her chin and leaned on the table. “I think he said something like that when he came in today, but he also talked about five other different things… I don’t know how you can listen to him talk all day.”

n“Neither I do…”

n“Anyway, I didn’t call you here to talk only about Jayaa. Today, I got a call about you.”

n“About me?”

n“Yes, I just have to see where I left the recorder.” Megan again began to rummage through the sea of papers on her desk.

n‘Who would call my boss to talk about me? Besides, I hardly ever get calls that aren’t telemarketing or from my bank, so why would they call Megan just to talk about me?’

n“Here it is!”

nMegan found a small, thin, round disk with a button on it in a mess, which she pressed immediately.

n(Hello~ This is from the Financial Department of Happy Life Hospital – Surgical Services. This is a notice about Client Klaus Park.

nI am advising that the hospital invoices for November, October, September, August, July, and all previous months of the year 2027, and also some years before, are overdue.

nIf you wish to negotiate a settlement, payment method, or transfer, please contact us as soon as possible. Otherwise, we will file a lawsuit against you and your family.

nThe Happy Life Hospital thanks you for your preference, client. Have a happy day~!)

nThe call ended.

nAn Awkward silence dominated Megan’s room until that was interrupted by a sigh from Klaus, who massaged his temples with stress.

n“Ma’am, I’m going to take advantage of the fact that I’m already here and ask at once. Would it be possible to escalate me to two shifts or more?”

n“Klaus…”

n“I promise that my productivity will not decrease. In fact, I will work even harder.”

n“Klaus, you already asked me that weeks after you started working with us. An employee working for more than one long shift is against the current New York State Labor Laws. I… can’t.”

n“Not even if I agree to go out with you once as you proposed a few months ago?”

nMegan smiled, shyly. “Not even then… And don’t remind me of that, that was before I knew you’re only 21 and also that you’re in debt. By the way, hospital debt, huh? What did you do? Did you hit someone when you were in a bad mood or are you secretly a daddy? Births are expensive in New York.”

n“Actually… Yes, I hit a drunk slob on the subway. Well, if you’re not going to give me an extra shift, I have to get back to work and show you that I can become assistant manager.” Klaus got up from his chair and left his boss’s office.

nIt was painful to lie to a boss as nice and understanding as Megan, but Klaus felt that if he brought his personal problems to work, it would let the difficulties of these two separate worlds intersect. He didn’t want that. However, it seemed that the Hospital where Rhyzer was admitted was okay with that.

n‘Humph… I’ll try to make money this week with Rise Online, if I can’t make as much as that forum post mentioned, I’ll need to go back to working on construction sites.’

nKlaus was determined.

n…

nEdited by: DrHitsuji

nIf you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com

/NandoFalske

nMore character images in:

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