Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure-Chapter 27: Gaining Wealth, Losing Integrity

After a few hours, Alex is startled by a loud buzzing sound and lunges forward.

"Damn, a message. Looks like Roja finally replied. Let’s see."

[Roja: Do not sell the soul crystal, and better yet, don’t even mention that you own one. Certain worlds aren’t peaceful, and in some, players can kill each other to steal items. Some worlds even force players to join opposing factions. From what I know, small soul crystals are worth around 10,000 FC, and they’re essential for upgrading any high-ranking skill up to level 5, and even used as a resource for special abilities. They also have many other uses, from what I’m told. Even high-level players need them when they unlock additional skill slots. The demand for soul crystals will never disappear.

If you’ve still got some of that cheap jerky left, sell it! You might actually get a few FC for it. Recovery items are in high demand, and prices are outrageous. The generic healing potion only restores 20 HP and costs a whopping 1,000 FC. Those jerkys heal half of that over 10 minutes. It’s slower, but still decent. I wish I had known this earlier and stocked up. Don’t sell them for less than 100 FC, and keep a few for yourself.]

Alex nods, thinking, "Looks like I made the right call about the soul crystal..." Then he remembers the jerkys—he’s got 14 left. He received some from side quests on the second and third days and even bought a few. He always thought they were pretty bad, but now he realizes he should’ve bought more. Jerkys only cost 10 contribution points... "If I’d spent 10,000 contribution points on 1,000 jerkys, I could’ve earned... 100,000 FC???

World: One Piece

Quality: White

Type: Bullet

Note: Required to shoot .44 Caliber weapons from the One Piece world.

Before leaving the trading hub, Alex comes across a small crowd gathered in front of a stall. Curious, he squeezes through to see what’s causing the commotion.

[Skillbook: Sword Proficiency]

Quality: Blue

Effect: Teaches the skill: “Sword Proficiency”

Note: Dropped by *Censored*

The price tag reads 20,000 FC, way out of his budget. Another interesting discovery is that the Sword Proficiency skill requires both Basic Close Combat Prowess and Basic Footwork. Alex begins to seriously contemplate whether learning this skill is even worth it. He only has one skill slot left. For now, he decides to move on but starts asking around: “Anyone know if Sword Proficiency is a requirement for Katana Proficiency or if it's separate?” No one seems to know, except for one guy who demanded 1,000 FC upfront for the information. Alex looks like he just stumbled across a dead rat and walks away.

As he heads back to his room, Alex checks his updated status screen, deciding not to display his remaining ammunition. "I don’t want my status getting unnecessarily long," he mutters. It’s getting late, and he has a lot planned for tomorrow, so heading to bed is the next logical step.

Alex Kerber:Lvl 1

HP: 80/80, MP: 80/80

STR: 7, AGI: 7, PHY: 7, SNS: 7, CHA: 7, MNA: 7, INT: 7 SPR: 7, LUK: 7

Available Stat Points: 0

Innate Skills: Genius Conjurer lvl 1, Statistical OCD lvl MAX

Free Skill Slots: 1/2, Free Basic Skill Slots: 0/8

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

Basic skills: Basic Close Combat Prowess lvl 1, Basic Footwork lvl 1, Basic Endurance lvl 1, Basic Long-Range Combat Prowess lvl 1, Basic Eloquence lvl 1, Basic Concentration lvl 1, Basic Meditation lvl 1, Basic Mana Control lvl 1

Passive Skills: Pistol Proficiency lvl 1

Active Skills: Annihilation Grenade lvl 1

Fantasy Coins: 2800 Soul Crystals: Small x1

Current Weapons: Mr. 5’s Revolver (Deep Blue), Solid Marine Saber (Light Green)

Current Armor: Navalia Fur Armor (White), Navalia Fur Boots (White), Navalia Fur Gauntlets (White)

Miscellaneous Items: Navalia Wolf Jerky x4 (Gray), Healing Potion (White)

Alex returns to his apartment, orders a pizza, and devours it in a matter of minutes after it arrives. As soon as he hits the bed, he falls into a deep sleep and, for the first time in a while, sleeps through the entire night, waking up at 9 AM, feeling surprisingly well-rested.

He gets up, showers, brushes his teeth, and even decides to clean up a bit, actually behaving like a decent human being for once. Around 11 AM, he heads to the local branch of his bank, which is just a few minutes away.

When Alex asks to withdraw 10,000 Euro in cash, he slightly shocks the bank workers. It's rare for someone like him to request such a large sum. They take extra precautions, double-checking his documents, asking him questions, and verifying everything thoroughly. After about 30 minutes, Alex stuffs a thick bundle of 100, 100 Euro bills into his backpack.

Feeling slightly paranoid, he walks behind the bank building and stashes the money in his inventory instead. “Can’t be too careful,” he mutters to himself. As a rather boring guy who usually doesn’t spend much money, he’s not used to carrying large sums of cash around.

Now that he thinks about it, “Why did I even bother googling how much cash I’m allowed to take to South Africa in the first place?” With his inventory, he wouldn’t need to declare it anyway. “Alex, you dumb idiot. You need to start thinking like someone with an inventory and stop acting like a normal guy.”

Still, to avoid drawing suspicion, he decides to carry some cash openly. “Yeah, better keep a bit on me just in case,” he reasons.

Alex thinks about what he's doing in the first place: traveling to South Africa to deliver a large sum of money—life-changing, really—to the family of a dead player, albeit one who saved his life not long ago. He feels conflicted. "Well, Thato deserves this much at least," he reasons. "I can always make more money."

After a quick visit to his local doctor, Alex fakes a list of psychological symptoms like burnout and stress, successfully scoring a 4-week doctor's note. “Guess my Basic Eloquence skill really boosted my lying and acting ability! I should’ve done this earlier,” he chuckles to himself.

One brief call to his employer later, and Alex manages to secure four weeks of paid leave.

*Author’s note: Never do this in real life. It’s such a scummy thing to do. Not only is it basically stealing, but you can and should get fired for it. Mental health disorders like depression and anxiety can destroy lives. Honestly, I’m slightly disgusted writing this, but trust me, this isn’t just ‘“for the lulz.” There’s a reason behind it that will be shown very soon.*

Alex returns home, packs a few things into his rarely used suitcase, and decides not to put it in his inventory, aiming to appear like a regular guy going on a vacation. He relaxes for a bit, calls his parents to let them know he’ll be gone for a few days, then spends a few hours in the Fantasy Realm, checking out the market.

Later, he drives to the nearest airport to catch his flight to South Africa, still cringing at the lame excuses he told his parents about his "holiday."

Alex checks his phone. “6 PM, two hours left until takeoff to Cape Town... let’s do this!” He proceeds with the usual check-in and finally sits down in front of his gate, glancing at his phone to gather some more information about South Africa.

"Hmm, I always thought Cape Town was the actual capital, but apparently, the country has three capitals—each focusing on executive, legislative, and judicial powers," he muses.

Looking into his trip, he feels relieved. "Thato’s family lives in a medium-sized city in the Western Cape, not too far from Cape Town. It’s only about an hour by car. Since taxis are cheap there, I’ll just take one, but I need to be careful not to get scammed."

He calculates, “Once I arrive, I should exchange my Euros for Rand. Looks like I get a bit less than 20 Rand per Euro, so I’ll have about 190,000 Rand after the exchange.”

He finally hears a woman announce over the speakers: "We are now boarding passengers for flight 8PM to Cape Town. Please proceed to Gate 12."

Without listening any further, Alex stands up and joins the line, ready to board the plane.