A New World, an immersive game experience

"Relax, it's fine," Eldrian said with a smile while taking out a random piece of clothing from his inventory. Seeing how he was about to use that to clean up the mess Lana freaked out even more. 

She wanted to stop him and quickly go fetch a towel, but she dared not speak up. 

"It really is fine, but you should still go get something to clean the floor," Eldrian said, smiling as the girl hurriedly nodded and rushed out of the study. 

"Is she new?" Elizabeth asked as soon as the maid left. 

"They all are, not sure what they were doing before but their situation isn't the best." Eldrian sighed and took a sip of tea. "Most of the time it seems like all citizens are treated well, but, I recently came to realize it is just hidden well."

Elizabeth sighed with Eldrian as she realized it seemed to be something constant in human history, and likely it would stay so in our future. For, be it medieval times or modern, there has always been the poor who live on scraps. Luckily, in modern times it at least seems to be less. 

"I guess most of us would ignore the signs, but you would definitely not. What do you plan to do?"

"Why do you think I plan to do something?"

"Come on, it's obvious you aren't happy at not being able to help more people. You're planning something."

Eldrian smiled and nodded, "Seems you know me better than I thought you did. Indeed, I have been thinking of a few things I can do."

"Going to share?"

"Not right now, I first need to sort out a lot of other things. Right, how do I give you the money? Is there a transfer system between players?"

"No, but you can deposit it to the guild. Just give me a sec," Fiddling with the guild settings Elizabeth smiled and said, "Right, now outside of Nikki and I, you can also access our guilds funds."

"Wait, why?" Nodding at Lana who hurried to start cleaning, Eldrian pondered for a second if it was fine continuing to talk. While pondered he called up the guild interface.

"Why give me full access?"

"Because we trust you."

Frowning, Eldrian didn't know what to make of that reply. After a few seconds, he deposited the 708 gold. 

"See, I knew you wouldn't cheat me."

"Yeah right, because I would be tempted by the measly three gold you have."

"Hey! Don't dish our savings! We worked hard to make that three gold."

Smiling, Eldrian continued to tease Elizabeth a bit longer before asking what their plans were going forward.

He still didn't quite feel like part of the guild, he felt more like he was a freelancer sometimes opting to join with them. Why Elizabeth insisted he stay a member he didn't understand. 

"We plan to continue doing simple clear quests to slowly increase the quality of our items while also building a name for ourselves."

"I see, and outside of that?"

"When we feel ready, we will attempt to complete some A-ranked quests to push us to level four as a guild. That, however, won't be easy."

"Right, I saw. Twenty-five A-ranked quests. That's quite the number."

Nodding, Elizabeth agreed, "Indeed, we won't attempt that until we have at least twenty Tier 4 members."

"What are you on now?"

"Still only five, but it won't take me long to catch up with Ilmadia and the others. Right, we're actually at six if I include you."

"Don't, you know I can't join you on your quests."

"I know, sounds like you are going to be very busy soon. But, you will help us when we try to push for our next guild level, won't you?"

"I can't guarantee I will be able." Eldrian wanted to say yes, but if he was busy with something else, something more important. Then certainly he would have to say no. 

"Ah! Really?!" Pouting, Elizabeth tried to guilt trick Eldrian for the next minute. Which didn't work. "Fine! Have it your way!"

After that, the two talked a bit more with Eldrian asking how everyone was doing. 

"Really, Nikki is getting married?" Eldrian asked in shock, she was still so young. Though, 28 wasn't really an early age for marriage. It was kind of average, but it still felt far too early to him.

"Yeah, she just felt the time was right after receiving the rewards from the tournament. I hope you realize that twenty-five thousand goes a long way in organizing a wedding."

"Sure, but isn't it..." Eldrian stopped himself before he said something rude. "When exactly is the date?" He asked to change the subject before Elizabeth picked up on what he was about to say. 

"Next month, eighteenth of June." Elizabeth smiled as she remembered the rush to try and get everything organized over the past month. There was still plenty of chaos, but luckily, most of the big decisions had been made and set in stone. 

Having no idea about anything about weddings, Eldrian happily asked the dumbest questions while enjoying tea with Elizabeth. Around an hour later Elizabeth was pulled away as the guild required her focus. 

Waving goodbye at the door, Ceph walked up, stood next to Eldrian, and asked, "Are you sure she isn't your crush?"

This time, Eldrian couldn't quite answer so honestly as last time. In the end, he still denied it. "We're just good friends." He said while roughing Ceph's hair. 

...

"Hey Jen," Eldrian smiled and greeted his sister from afar.

"Eldrian, you made it!"

"Of course, we agreed to meet. Come on, share how your assignment went." Eldrian smiled as he hugged her. 

"It went fine, I finally managed to figure out the last piece of the puzzle last night."

"That's great! You were stuck on that for two weeks."

"Yup!" She nodded with pride and asked, "What are we going to do?"

"I was thinking a walk. The park isn't far." 

"Sure," Nodding, Jen followed Eldrian's lead. The two walked in silence for a bit, during which Eldrian tried to make sure he wasn't being followed or spied upon. 

"Remember last time?"

"Of course," Jen didn't need any more clarification to realize Eldrian wanted to talk about a heavy topic. 

"I think my abilities are continuing to grow. I haven't tested it, but I am pretty sure. And..." Looking around, Eldrian still didn't feel confident so he leaned in and whispered the following. 

"I managed to detect mana, IRL."

Jen missed her step and nearly fell upon hearing this.

"Are you alright?" Eldrian asked, having caught her with ease. As if she weight little more than a feather. 

"Please... Tell me you were joking."

Shaking his head, Eldrian almost wished he was. It might have sucked on some level, but it would have made life plenty easier. 

"Anything else?" Jen asked, straightening up and pretending like the news was just momentarily shocking. 

"Yes, actually... I am going to become a noble in the game. A count at that!"

"Seriously?"

"Yup, going to get my own mansion and all. Though, I have no idea how I am going to handle the staff. I told you about the house I bought right, well, I also hired a few maids. But, it's so confusing."

"They're so scared of me, I just want them to relax and do what they want."

"Please tell me that isn't what you told them."

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support this novel on WN.