<h4>Chapter 44: The Beginning of a stress-filled life</h4>


    "We better get going, guys; the sun is starting to set," Amelia hurried, marching back to the caves. A moody n and a silent Ashley followed closely.


    "You can visit us anytime you like, n Warden," Smudock, the leader of the Slimes, said as he escorted the group. "Just give us some notice if you decide to bring any new User."


    "S-Sorry, chief. It won''t happen again, I promise."


    "It''s okay. I didn''t detect any ill will from your new partner," the slime humanoid said in a neutral voice, though his wary nces at Amelia lingered. "By the way, since we''re already acquaintances, why don''t we add each other to our Friend Lists? That mighte in handy in the future."


    "Is that even possible? Aren''t you a... what was the word again?"


    "A NU," Ashley interjected, staring at n with empty eyes. "Non User. And yes, it is possible. They have regr System Interfaces, and we have been experimenting with them a lot while I was here."


    "Cool!" n grinned as Amelia urged them from the town''s entrance. "Ignore her. Add me, please."


    After a short moment, n received a new Friend Request, from ''Char_W1_021''.


    <i>Is this his original name? It''s okay. I think I can add a surname to it... ''Smudock''... That''s it.</i>


    "Neat." n smiled, before ncing at Ashley. "Wait, if you knew how to use the Friend List, why haven''t you sent me a Friend Request? We could have messaged us all this time."


    "I did," she replied, making him frown. "I could do it by just writing your name, but every time I tried, I got a ''Failed to send'' message."


    <i>That reminds me of the Error message she and I have in our User Interfaces,</i> n thought, ncing at the impatient Amelia. <i>But I''ve been able to receive messages and calls just fine. It''s as if our ounts have been restricted for some reason.</i>


    After noting that on his mental list of pending mysteries, he watched a small slime dashing toward Amelia. <i>Isn''t that the same slime that attacked her before?</i>


    "Don''t even try it, buddy!" he warned, but this time, the slime jumped into her arms and cuddled.


    "n?" Amelia called while consulting something in her User Interface. "It seems that I got the Monster Tamer skill while interacting with it. So..." She then grinned widely, hugging it protectively. "That means I can keep it, right? Is no one against me KEEPING IT?! Right?!"


    n hid his face in embarrassment. <i>It''s as if she was asking for permission to kidnap a child!</i>


    He turned to Smudock, who seemed to remain calm. <i>For some reason.</i>


    "What do you say, chief?"


    "If the system allowed it, I don''t have a reason to object," Smudock said, exhaling. "Take good care of Slomiack, Amelia Lamme."


    "Yay!" She held the slime aloft, beaming. "But that''s a hideous name for such a cute thing! So I''ll name you Sloochie from now on! Do you like it?" she asked, and the slime squeaked, seemingly happy.


    "Farewell, to one of our finest warriors..." Smudock said, adopting a solemn silence.


    "You will not be forgotten," the rest of the vige said, making a slow bow in the slime''s direction.


    "A-Amelia? Try not to say inappropriate things while we''re still here," n whispered, watching the suddenly awkward scene.


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    Night fell in the Beginner''s Area, where stars looked brighterpared to Londoru''s sky. While Smaio drove the cart to Unus Town, with a vignt Ashley by his side in case the Weasenox attacked, n and Ashley rested in the back.


    "I wonder if you could change your element to fire, hmm?" Amelia whispered to Sloochie while caressing it. "I could teach you all my fire spells once you level up. Would you like that?"


    The little slime only squeaked back as a reply, making n wonder if it understood humannguage. <i>Well, I suppose it does, since it''ll evolve into an Advanced Slime someday.</i> He then stared at Amelia, who was absently looking in the distance, looking rxed for the first time since they met.


    <i>She can be cute too, huh? She was not lying when she mentioned that she needed a vacation.</i>


    n grinned as he folded his arms and leaned back to take a little nap, but an image shed before his eyes. His brain stubbornly repeated memories of Amelia impaling him, decapitating him, burning him. All while she maintained a nasty re in her eyes.


    <i>Why? Why am I remembering that right now?!</i> He put a hand on his forehead and started sweating cold.


    "Dammit..." he muttered with shut eyes, getting her attention.


    "Is something wrong? Are you not feeling well?"


    He looked at her, as his brain superimposed a furious expression over her worried face. For n, she looked preupied and furious at the same time.


    "I''m low in sugar, okay? I just noticed that I haven''t eaten since I woke up today."


    "Now that you mention it, I only had beer for breakfast, too," she said, opening her User Interface. Secondster, she threw something in hisp.


    It was the first time n saw that brand logo, but he immediately knew it was a chocte bar.


    "Awesome!"


    When the sound of aluminum foil getting unwrapped reached the front of the cart, Ashley nced back, curious.


    Amelia sighed at the sight of her puppy eyes. "You can have one too, I guess..." she said, throwing two more chocte bars in Ashley''s direction.


    "Thanks, Amelia."


    "Thanks, User!" Smaio said.


    Only crunch noises were heard in that cart for a couple of minutes before Amelia decided to give the rest of her chocte to Sloochie and sit next to n.


    It was the first time he could admire her amber-colored eyes up close.


    "You seem to know these slime people quite well, so tell me, do you have any idea why they were saying, ''That the Goddess Vi blesses you''? What does that even mean? We have no gods in the Novus."


    <i>So not everyone knows the names of the Administrators. That reminds me of The Dragon''s Belly and the guy that implied that getting in contact with one of them was difficult.</i>


    "Vi Lang is the name of the Monster Administrator," he whispered in her ear, so Smaio could not overhear him. "She''s in charge of everything rted to the monsters and creatures inhabiting the Novus. Their respawning rate, their habitat, the damage they deal, to name a few examples."


    "So even the monsters know their ''boss''. That Vi gal must love herself so much to program them with that knowledge." She sneered while curling a strand of hair with her finger. "Now that you''ve reunited with your... partner, what are you going to do?"


    "Well... I heard what you said about starting a new guild..." he replied while carefully folding the candy''s wrapping paper and putting it in his jacket pocket. She observed the scene silently, noticing little marks around his thumbs and index fingers. "And I don''t know where you got that idea. This is supposed to be a secret mission, you know? We can''t go around announcing we''re part of a guild and try to be discreet at the same time." He then jerked his head to the side, grimacing. "Besides, who would want to join the guild of the weakest User in all of The Novus?"


    "But, n," she called softly. "I don''t think your secret is safe anymore. Look at what happened today."


    "The Weasenox!" Smaio cried, looking back at the cart. "It''sing from behind!"


    "Understood," Ashley said, readying her bow and arrow, but Amelia was faster. mes burst from her palm like a methrower, while she kept locking her eyes with n''s. "And I''m the one that suggested starting a guild, didn''t I? So I''d obviously join you."


    n looked at the charred beast''s corpse illuminating the road behind as if it were an improvised campfire. <i>Just two days ago, I looked just like it...</i>


    He could not find his words for several seconds, which prompted Amelia to sigh and fold her arms. "You don''t have to answer right now, but I''ll give you a piece of free advice anyway, okay? Being a member of an official registered guildes with all sorts of bonuses. Gold, equipment, XP... All of that stuff will be less of a pain in the ass if you gather it as a team." She paused, looking for his gaze, but he stubbornly looked the other way. "I thought you were taking this seriously. So much so that you even asked Marco Souza for help."


    "And that worked so well..."


    Annoyed, Amelia grabbed him by the cheeks and forced him to look her directly in the eyes. "Listen! You won''t be able to have an impact in this world if you don''t have the power and the resources! Or are you still feeling guilty about the fall of your ex-girlfriend''s guild to even start a new one and try to move on?!"


    "And who helped ruin Shooting Stars, huh?! Oh, right! If I remember correctly, just 24 hours ago you and your ''lord boyfriend'' were toasting to Astrid''s downfall! So let me say it straight out! If all of you hadn''t yed around and stayed, you could have stopped that albino woman and her pet dragon!"


    Amelia''s eyes glowed intensely. "That man is not my boyfriend..."


    "Well, you seemed to enjoy doing his bidding, didn''t you? So what''s with this sudden change of heart, huh?!" He got closer to her face, ring. "Do you want to know what I''m thinking? That maybe Marco ordered you to follow me as the ultimate mockery. To give me false hopes and make me think that I may finally overturn this streak of bad luck! So once he snaps his fingers, you''ll rejoin him and tell him all about how I fell into your game! A level 100 helping a puny five like me? Yeah, nothing suspicious about it!"


    "Guys?" An anxious Smaio called quietly. "We''ve arrived."


    n ignored Ashley''s gaze and got out of the cart first while Amelia decided to stay a couple of seconds longer to collect herself.


    "Let''s go," n said, stretching out a hand to her, but Amelia refused to nce at him. He exhaled. "This... has been a very frantic day. We''re both tired and hungry, so let''s talk about this tomorrow morning. All right?"


    "Whatever," she replied, jumping off the cart without aid and striding toward the woods without looking back.


    "Should we go after her?" Ashley asked as the little slime cried and rushed to catch her.


    "No," n replied dryly, walking in the opposite direction.


    After what felt like an eternity, both returned to the same ce where their mission was supposed to start, this time without any possible allies left.


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    n and Ashley walked through the main street, reaching Downtown in a couple of minutes. Having briefly visited the enormous Londorus and having seen the surrounding area from the sky, gave n a good idea of how vast the Novus was.


    And Unus Town is nothing but a tiny dot on the map.


    "Are we going to stay in an inn?" Ashley asked, getting a bitter sneer from him.


    <i>Yes, we''ve literally returned to ourst checkpoint...</i>


    "I don''t have any money. If I knew things would go south with Amelia, you and I should have stayed with the slimes. I bet their huts are cozy."


    "I have some gold," she blurted out, making him halt. "618 gold, to be precise."


    <i>So you appeared in this world with silver gear, a higher level than mine, and now you have money? </i>n shut his eyes momentarily, trying to clear his mind of suspicion. <i>If I can''t even trust Ashley, then who can I trust?</i>


    "Thanks, Ashley. Let''s go to the inn. I know the way."


    To n''s surprise, despite being a ce for new adventurers in the Eur region to rest, the Moonlight Inn was bustling with activity. After speaking with the NPC receptionist, he learned that most of Unus''s citizens also stayed there.


    Rooms were reasonably priced at 30 gold a night, which was cheaper than renting.


    Dinner was also affordable—10 gold for a loaf of bread and a bowl of tomato soup. However, since it was prepared by NPCs, known for their nd cooking, most residents preferred to order from User-run local restaurants instead.


    n''s mouth watered as he watched a man pull a juicy burger from a box stamped with the Dragon''s Belly logo. The man caught n''s gaze and scowled slightly, focusing on the number disyed above n''s head.


    Annoyed, n looked away.


    "n?" Ashley''s voice was soft and hesitant as she sipped her strawberry milkshake. "Could you tell me about your trip to Londorus? How did it go? Were you able to speak with Astrid Bradford?"


    "Sorry, Ashley. I''ll give you a full report tomorrow morning, okay? I... don''t feel like talking much right now."


    "Of course."


    "Actually, I''d like to rest now, if you don''t mind."


    "Not at all. We''ll talk tomorrow. Your room''s number is 36, and mine is 37, if you need me. Good night, n."


    At that moment, n wished nothing more than to be invisible. He wanted to sneak to his room without people staring at his level.


    He wanted to tell them to mind their own business, but he knew better than to anger the wrong person.


    <i>I''ll save in this ce''s downtown first thing in the morning, but right now, I just want to turn my brain off and have a dreamless sleep. No nightmares, no funny thoughts this time.</i>


    He easily found his room, and the door unlocked automatically for him. <i>I just...</i>


    "You look pale. Are you feeling alright?" a man asked as soon as n turned on the lights. After what had transpired that day, n''s first instinct was to return to the hallway, warn Ashley, and run as fast as they could, but the doorknob would not turn. "Ah, sorry! I locked the room so no one would interrupt us. I also made it soundproof as an extra precaution. Is this a good time to talk? I coulde back tomorrow if you want."


    n slowly turned around, finding anky ck man with curly ck hair, sitting on the bed. The bags under his eyes reminded him of his own.


    A system window popped up on the wall to his right.


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    <strong><i>NOTICE: You have exceeded the Maximum number of people allowed in a single room. If you would like to proceed, you will have to pay an additional fee.</i></strong>


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    "Oh, crap. I forgot to disable that," the man said, opening his User Interface, which n noted to be muchrger than the standard. "I don''t mind paying, but I''d rather not have my visit registered in this ce''s log."


    n saw the system''s message get erased until only a blinking dash symbol remained, as if it had been ''hacked.''


    "Who are you?"


    "Nice to meet you, n Warden. I''m Ricardo Silva, the Glitch Administrator."