Versatile: Alternate World

That very same day, Janus moved his things to the mansion and Riko called some movers to transport the Reality Verse Cabin to my house. I may be rich but I am still far from the kind of Riko who can just call on her phone and the job is done.  My phone only has contacts with my friends and family and nothing more.

"I want to see your cabin Manato! Since we will be playing together, I wanted to see how wonderful the cabin looks before mine arrives."

"Cabin? I don't have one."

The two looked at me with weird gazes after I said that. But it is understandable.

"I don't own a Reality Verse Cabin since the one I got is the upgraded version of the Reality Verse, the Reality Verse Nexus."

I showed them the tattoo of the White Tiger that signifies the presence of the Reality Verse.

"Using this, I can access the game without needing to go inside the cabin and use it. I can use the cabin anytime, anywhere I wanted. Heck, I can even log in to the game right now without any problem at all."

"Reality Verse Nexus? How come I didn't hear it?"

"Of course you won't since it was the reward of the people who bought the cabin first. They got an easy upgrade from the cabin to a tattoo immediately."

"An upgrade? So that means we can also upgrade ours?"

"According to the higher-ups of the Nexus company, the tattoo version will be available once it is announced. It won't be available for now but once they say that it is ready to be distributed, players who previously bought a cabin will have the chance to get the cabin upgraded into a tattoo version."

"Damn, the design looks badass. I want to also have something like that soon. But since I am just borrowing the cabin, I will have to play hard to buy my own cabin and use it," Janus said.

"Then, how about you join us? Since Manato is already level 100, we can tackle some hard bosses and we can start farming your experience and gold much earlier. We can carry you to reach a high level immediately."

"I disagree with that Riko. As someone who played the game and experience the game, I can say that carrying someone to a certain level will only bring the carried player to more harm than good."

"Why?" Riko asked.

"Alternate World is a game where your achievements are rewarded and hard work is also rewarded. What if you got carried? Did you have a good combat experience? In my opinion, no. A level is only a number but actual combat experience is the real deal. Even in PVP, if you are high leveled, have good gear and good weapons but have sh*t tier of level in fighting? Then a level 1 player equipped with a beginner sword good at fighting enemies will beat the sh*t out of you without any problem."

"Now that I think about it, the level doesn't matter in the arena. Even healers can defeat players with just a few attacks despite being a healer," Riko said.

"Yes, even a healer can defeat a player without experience. So in my opinion, we will accompany Janus in leveling since parties have a boost in exp gain but we will just support him if needed. He will be the one dealing the necessary damage to defeat enemies," I suggested.

"That sounds nice. It would be boring if I play and get a high leveled character without any experience."

I am not lying about my opinion. In the past timeline, many rich players who are late at the game and wanted to reach a high level and flex hire mercenary players to power boost them. That was the job of Iron and Topaz in the past timeline and gain money from those kinds of commissions. They thought it would be easy if they have good gear, a good amount of level, and a good amount of stats to handle the enemies, but no. Many of them died after tackling some bosses and they didn't last long and usually get demoted to level 1 after repeated dying. It is kinda funny and sad at the same time.

A few minutes later, the cabin arrives and Janus's eyes were fixated on the cabin. The cabin looks like a cryogenic capsule but has a smaller build and the player who will use it will need to sit down inside. It looked like a small room which is why it was called a Cabin and not a capsule. After all, it doesn't have the shape of a capsule either.

"Are you sure I can play the game for free by using this? Aren't this expensive Riko?" Janus asked.

"Yes it is expensive as hell but since my parents do not see it expensive and see it as a small expenditure, you can say I have no problem letting someone else use it, it will only gather dust in the storage room since no one will be using it since Manato don't need it anymore. I didn't give it to you immediately either since your home is not that trustworthy. Now that you are in a place where you can just forget things and get to work without a problem, I am allowing you to use it. If you want, you can also buy it for me, with a discount of course. It will never be free since there is no such thing as free lunch. Even friends needed to pay."

"That's fine. I don't expect to receive things for free and that is the life I learned while living alone. I need to work hard on it."

The installation was easily done so when it was finally done, Riko decided to leave.

"I will be going home now guys. Since Janus will be playing, I will be going home to access my account. I also wanted to have a similar console like you Manato but I guess I have to wait for the announcement for them to upgrade the cabins. Until then, I can only play at home."

We bid farewell to Riko after that and I let Janus arrange his things first. It only took a few minutes since he has only a few things with him and most of them are just essentials needed when you are living alone. When he was done, Janus decided to start playing.

"After the tutorial, search for the name "Bladeheart" and send a message. I will send a friend request and will join later. I will be the one contacting Riko after."

"Alright," Janus said before closing his eyes and begin to dive into the game.

"Time to play the game again."

...

...

[Welcome Back, Bladeheart]

I appeared in the workshop where I was smithing during the last time. Since I left after getting bored creating fodder weapons, I left many of those fodder weapons on the floor, making my workshop a little messy. Taking all of the fodder weapons and putting them near the forge, the workshop that was a little bit messy is now cleaned up a bit. Though I think I needed time to at least look for a new way for me to make the workshop better in the future.

"Right, my stats. I can't just forget about the stats I gained without realizing it. Because I was too lazy to open my stats tab, all of the stat points left are also left without any use. Until I distribute them, they will be useless...

"Looks like I have to manually distribute them. After all, I will be having a hard time leveling with the amount of exp needed to level up. My only companion that can help amplify my damage and my combat prowess is my stats.

Just as I was about to distribute the undistributed stat points, an unknown player started chatting with me. Turns out, it was Janus. He named his character Hagane. I sent a friend request which he immediately accepts. 

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Hagane: Are you there? This is me, Janus. I just finished the tutorial, where are you?

Bladeheart:  Are you in the beginner town right now or did you went out and started hunting?

Hagane: I am in the neutral area outside the town right now and hunting some rats and lizards. There are lots of beginner players here so I am not alone in killing the mobs.

Bladeheart: What class did you choose?

Hagane: I choose the Paladin of course. Out of all the classes here, the Paladin is the one that focuses on defense more so I decided to choose it.

Bladeheart: Paladins might be primarily on the defensive side but they are good hitters too. If you decided to use the Paladin and wanted to go on the defensive mode, make sure to spend your stats on END and STR. Don't spend them on other stats just yet. Once you get more than one stat point gained every level up, then use the extra ones on other stats, the INT would be the third option to your priority. DEX and AGI would also be good but they are not that impactful on Paladins so ignore them for now.

Hagane: Alright, done.

Bladeheart: Just farm like usual and decline any other party invites from others. A Paladin is one of the most popular classes that would be likely flocked by beginner players in the first town so don't hesitate to decline them. I will be right there.

After that, I close the chat and sighed. It looks like his motivation in the past timeline and the current life is not that different.