If Beginning Town in two hours ago was considered as a desolated city, it should now be considered as overcrowd. Many players gathered around the stage in front of the Quest Building. The number of player here was exceeded the number of event's participators. It seemed even new players or ordinary bystanders were interested in this commotion.
"Mister Sila, Miss Varee, please come this way," said the female host while waving her hand on the stage.
"Mind you weight," said Varee prior for her to use "Slamming Psychic" to jump above spectators while holding Sila's hand. As Sila was circulating "Qi of Little Bird" to lower his weight, Varee could perform this task without any difficulty.
As they arrived at the stage, the attention was directed toward them. Then, there was an uproar when someone recognized Varee.
"She's Goddess of Purified Water, isn't she?"
The commotion seemed unlikely to stop. Goddess of Purified Water. Although she was an Individual Player, almost every player knows that Sword Emperor had a crush on her. There were rumors that he had invited Varee to enter his guild many times. But she had always been rejecting. Now she appeared in Beginning Town together with mysterious man whom seemed to be a new player. As a result, people began to discuss about this man's identity.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please be quiet, the award ceremony will begin soon," said the female host. It made the commotion to quiet down to some extent. "Okay, firstly, it's my pleasure to announce that the Beginning Town's Best Couple for this month is Mister Sila and Miss Varee here."
The host held up the Ocean Heart Aquamarine, which was shining its blue light brightly.
Instead of interesting in its beauty, people which now knew the name of Sila began to search for his information. However, there was no information regarding this name, even in the database of Blue Pigeon guild, the famous guild that specialized in gathering news.
Meanwhile, the female host started to talk about the event's sponsors and its history. Unfortunately, not a single one of them pay attention to her speech, including Sila who was on the stage.
"…and the prize this time is 3,000 gold coins together with item for couple, which is an S-graded item." She finished her sentence. It was that time that people finally pay attention to her speech again.
"Just like that?" murmured softly Sila. He thought Varee would want something more extreme than this.
"As Miss Varee had informed us beforehand, we have already prepared the prize," the host said before handing a silver box to Sila. It was small size similar to a ring box.
Sila wasn't surprised about its size being so small, since the box containing Right Arm of the Sealed One is also small like this. Perhaps all the boxes in this game have the same size. He also wasn't surprised that Varee already knew about the prize beforehand, since she was the one who told him she wants it.
"If you want to know what's inside, just open it," said Varee. Her eyes looked equivocal, though.
Sila frowned. He didn't really want to know about the thing that Varee wanted, but his curiosity prevailed. It was something he had put some work into, so just wanting to know what was inside is natural, right?
As soon as the boxed was opened by him, the system sound alarmed.
Player Sila has obtained Couple Ring of Commitment. Player is forced to equip it and it cannot be unequipped unless given the consent of both parties.
Player Sila is given the title status: Varee's Lover
'I'm forced to wear something again. Next time I open the box, I should be more careful than this,' thought Sila.
He was frowning again when he saw that the ring was worn on his left ring finger. He immediately opened the System Window to inspect it.
(S) Couple Ring of Commitment
A set item that comprise of two rings. Must be worn by two players.
When the ring's wearers fighting together, all abilities will be increased by 20%.
Each ring wearer can check basic status and location of other ring wearer, and contact him/her at any time with no constraint.
Each ring wearer has the right to enter other ring wearer's personal location as a place of his/her own. (Player still cannot use other ring wearer's private item nor participate in his/her personal quest. Player only has the right to enter house or special dimension that other ring wearer can enter, except some place that has special condition such as Mansion of the Seven Deadly Sins that limited to only those who possess its emblem.)
Sila gasped in dismay. This is a big problem. It meant from now on, what he did or where he went to would be clearly visible for Varee to know. This item must be for people that are very close to each other, mustn't it? He and Varee weren't that close!
Varee saw Sila's dismayed face. She then approached him and whisper in his ear.
"This is a payback for you entering into the game disregarding the promise you made with me and blocking my call. Now, you cannot block my call anymore. How is it? Do you like my present?" Varee grinned.
Stone looked at Varee's face. Did she do all this for that? He wasn't the type that sweated the small stuff so he thought that others must be the same. He didn't realize women are the most mysterious creature on earth. Small matter can become big problem, while big problem can become pointless in their perspective.
"Kyaa. Look at them. They're wearing couple ring together and whispering something. How cute," commented the host whom didn't know anything.
"Then, pardon me, but can we leave now? We have another place to visit," said Varee.
"Sure, sure. Teehee. May I ask where are you guys going to be lovey-dovey?" The host teased them jokingly.
Sila was now confusing with the situation so he didn't answer anything. It was Varee who said "it's a secret," before jumping out. Leaving a scream of envy from the host and some female players behind.
There're also eyes filled with fiendish from one group of players glaring as they left.
***
Sila was still confused while being dragged by Varee along the road. There were a lot of players here. Some of them looked at Sila and Varee but Sila had already accustomed by it.
Sila had got his chance to shake his hand off Varee and activate Invitation Card to Bamboo Hut. The white light glowing around Sila before teleporting him away from Varee. Sila smiled as he was the victorious. Strangely, he also saw the same smile from Varee just before he left.
Sila appeared on the walkway to the bamboo hut. He walked into the hut only to see that his teacher was currently weaving a basket (again.) Sila greeted his teacher while the old man showed an annoyed expression on his face as if he wanted to say 'this brat has come again' before continued weaving a basket.
Sila told the old man about his battle at the beach. The old man listened to it and felt glad that his disciple's ability had rapidly developed. This seemed to be one of the slime's traits that he had once heard from Divine. He hadn't planned to tell Sila about this fact yet, though.
"By the way, who did you bring with you today?" said the old man.
"Who did I bring with me?" wondered Sila.
"I'm referring to that girl behind you. Didn't you bring her here?"
Sila smiled as he thought that his teacher just want to tease him, "haha, teacher, stop it. I'm not the type that afraid of a ghost."
"Then, what are you afraid of?" The cheerful voice came from behind.
Sila's face went pale. He turned his head slowly just to find Varee, "how are you here!?"
Varee didn't say anything. She just lifted her left hand up to show him a shining silver ring on her finger.
Sila sighed deeply before turning his head back to talk with his teacher.
"Anyway, I would like to spend the night here," said Sila.
"No, no. I'm terribly sorry. This place is not a hotel and I also have my task to do." The old man rejected hurriedly. Despite he was saying sorry, there was a delightful smile on his face, "you may go now. I have some business to take care of."
Sila didn't sure whether the old man actually has business to take care of or not. Lately, he felt that the old man was always trying to chase him away. Anyway, the old man is one of his teachers now. Obeying the teacher is something he had been taught since childhood. Thus, he said goodbye before turning into light and disappeared. Varee also did the same after greeting the old man.
"Hahaha. Serves him right. Now that brat will know how he had annoyed me." The old man laughed before picking up a basket to continue weaving happily.
***
The two of them reappeared at the location where they left off.
Sila now run out of his patience, "when will you quit following me?"
"Until you go offline and have a doctor check your body," answered Varee.
Sila sighed, 'fine, I will log out now.'
"But don't do it now. It's currently 3am in real world. Logging out tomorrow should be more appropriated.
Sila frowned. He finally got the chance to ask what he had been curious about, "does the psychic-typed player be able to read other's mind?"
"Well, well, they do, or maybe they don't?" Varee said with a mischievous smile.
Sila felt he was defeated. He decided to keep this question for himself for now. He had to ask other player instead as Varee surely wouldn't answer this question.
"If you have nothing more, please come with me. I will bring you to a particular shop."
Varee said while dragging Sila into a shop that being closed by. He was dragged in too quick to know what kind of shop was it.
Upon entering, he soon realized that he was in a pet shop. Each corner is filled with animals. There were both real-life animals and animals that so weird that Sila didn't know how he should call them.
"A pet shop?" wondered Sila.
"Yes, sir, a pet shop. We are quite popular among players. What kind of pet are you looking for today, sir?" asked the salesman whom suddenly come to them.
"We're looking for a pet that cannot be used in combat," answered Varee.
Varee dragged Sila to pet shop because she wanted Sila to have something to do except practicing and fighting for revenge. Based on his ability despite the fact that he just started playing this game, in addition to his personal talent, he must be engaging into real battles non-stop. That meant he wasn't resting much. If he had some burden like a pet, he would enjoy a game more.
As for Sila, he was okay to keep a pet. In the past, he had wanted to have a pet but didn't have one. His teacher had told him that he wasn't responsible enough. Thus, it was good for him if he can have one in the game. Sila also agreed to Varee's statement that he didn't want a combat-typed pet. He wasn't the type that depended on others to fight in his place.
"Are you interested in horse, sir? You can even riding on it," recommended salesman.
"I can use qinggong myself," said Sila.
"What about hen, sir? It can even lay eggs for you to eat."
"A hen? No, please. Isn't it too strange?"
"Well, pardon me, sir, but could you please be more specific about what kind of pet you would like to have" asked the salesperson.
Varee didn't interrupt Sila as she guessed that Sila also want a pet himself. Sila thought about salesperson's request for a while prior to give his answer.
"A kind of pet that weak and useless, but not ugly. Oh, it should be easy for an ametuer like me to take care of too. Is there some pet like that?" Sila requested for an animal that easy to pet and hard to die.
The salesperson frowned. At first, he was about to recommend a chamelion, but it wouldn't do since it was quite ugly. After thinking about Sila's request for a minute, an idea popped up in his mind. The salesperson then asked Sila to wait here and went to a backdoor.
He came back with a birdcage in his hand. Inside the bird cage was an ordinary-looking brown sparrow.
"So cute," said Varee.
"Here, as you requested, it is very weak and useless. It's quite cute too, isn't it? Taking care of it is easy too, it won't die as long as you feed some rice and water to it. How about it? Do you like it?" explained the salesperson.
"I like it. How much does it cost?" asked Sila.
"1,500, sir," replied the salesperson.
Sila handed over 1,500 silver coins. But the salesperson shook his head.
"What's wrong?" asked Sila.
"My deepest apologize. My previous statement wasn't clear. I meant its cost is 1,500 gold coins, sir.
"1,500 gold coins! Didn't you just said it is useless? Why is it this expensive, then?"
"Erm… it has one strange skill, causing a fair price to be like this, sir." The salesperson replied hesitantly. He even didn't say anything about its skill.
"If you want, I can pay for it. We just obtained 3,000 gold coins from the previous event anyway," suggested Varee.
Sila didn't concern about money. He just felt that there was something fishy about this bird.
Actually, Varee also felt it too. But she thought that the more problematic this bird is, the better. Since it would cause Sila to take care of it more, resulting in lessen his practice time.
The sparrow tilted its neck and made a chirping sound. Sila couldn't stand its cuteness so he had to tell Varee to pay for it. Once the bird flew out of the birdcage, it landed itself onto Sila's hand as if it knew who its owner is.
Player Sila has obtained Brown Sparrow, Squire Rank, Level 1 as a pet. Please submit your pet's name.
"Which name will you choose for it?" asked Varee.
"How about Birdie?" answered Sila while Varee rolled her eyes. She had been expecting something like this.
She could sense that Sila was the type that is negligent about naming an animal's name. He would name a cat 'Kitty' and name a dog 'Doggie.'
"Poor thing. I'm the one who bought it. So please let me be the one who name it, okay?"
Sila wondered why Varee had to take it seriously. But he didn't care, "up to you, then."
"It's Sila's bird. What about Lookhin?" suggested Varee.
[T/N: 'Lookhin' means small rock, small stone, or pebble in Thai. By the way, I hope you guys still remember that Sila literally means rock or stone.]
"That's fine," answered Sila.
The name Lookhin has been confirmed.
Thus, Sila got a pet named Lookhin in possession. It was flying around playfully.
Afterward, Sila bought several bird foods and asked for information about the item that could be used to keep a pet as he once witnessed Juntrathep used the necklace to keep Luna away. However, the salesperson said that it was not available in this shop. He would have to seek it from merchants or buy it on Main Continent. Finally, both Sila and Varee left the shop with Lookhin perched on Sila's shoulder.
The salesperson watched the two of them off and let out a sigh.
"Wheww. Finally sold. That problematic bird that the Monster Department has created. Actually, if it wasn't for that skill, that bird would be weak and useless as he wanted. Nevertheless, that player seems poor. He even had to let the lady pay for him. He won't be able to obtain many high-tiered cards anyway. Yeah, there shouldn't be a problem."
He then welcomed another customer whom just entered the shop. At that time, he still didn't aware that the problem he concerned was soon to be emerged.