This time Leonel was calling via the game's messaging interface, which incorporated real-life phone numbers to enable your friends and relatives to call you when you're both playing in the game.
Ren's heart thumped once more, and he answered the call with jumbled thoughts.
"Ren! Where are you? I'm already in the game. Are you here yet?"
Ren cleared his throat and said, "Yeah. I'm at Euclid Village."
"Huh? There's another village? I'm at Ironto village. Where is this?" asked Leonel with a scratch on his head.
Ren sighed. Yep. Leonel didn't change. Not one bit. "There is. There are hundreds of newbie villages, and the one you're in is miles away from me."
"Oh, no! Does that mean we can't play together?"
"Just wait there. I'll go to you via the Teleportation Crystal."
"Teleportation Crystal? What's that?"
Ren sighed, and he shook his head. Leave it to Leonel, who didn't read even just one paragraph of the guide. He was the type of guy that would venture into the unknown unprepared and enjoy the thrill of the surprised.
While I hate surprises.
"I'll explain to you as soon I get there. Don't leave the village and wait for me."
"Alright. Hurry. Others are already getting firstbloods here and there. We're already soooo behind!"
Ren ended the call and made his way toward the entrance of Euclid Village. Along the path, he caught sight of Silvia entering, and without thinking, he averted his gaze—even though she had no way of recognizing him.
Silvia, for her part, didn't spare him so much as a glance. She strode straight past him toward a girl with pink twin buns, whose beautiful face was clouded with worry. The girl's head turned frantically from side to side, and her trembling blue eyes looked ready to spill tears.
And based on her get-up, white robes, and staff, she was a White Mage.
"Pamela!"
Ren heard Silvia say before he went out of the village.
Pamela. Ren thought. He knew who she was. She was Silvia's best friend. Whether in the game or real life, the two were often seen together.
Ren shrugged the women off his mind. He would retrieve his hundred thousand from Silvia once he made an account with New Era Bank tomorrow.
Ren pressed his palms against the glowing crystal post at Euclid Village's entrance. A gentle warmth spread across his hands as light enveloped them, marking his save point. Now, if death caught him off guard, he would respawn safely back in the village.
The game system listed the available newbie villages, and Ren pressed [Ironto Village] before being engulfed with blinding white light.
When he came to, he was at the entrance of Ironto village. The newbie villages all had the same NPCs and quests, so Ren didn't bother with the NPCs here and went straight to Leonel with shaking steps.
On his way, Ren found his thoughts drifting to Leonel's class—a Dwarf Defender. It was the only race that could naturally take on a tank role. But because of the dwarves' short stature and heavy build, few players ever chose them. Add to that the fact that no one wanted the burden of being a tank—a class stuck on the frontlines, carrying the team's survival while receiving little glory and plenty of blame—and the result was predictable.
Dwarf Defenders were rare, and precisely because of that, highly prized by guilds—especially the skilled ones. In fact, they were often in greater demand than damage dealers. Unfortunately, Leonel was just playing for fun. He had little grasp of his skills or a tank's true responsibilities, and because of that, no guild was willing to take him in. He was only a liability than an asset.
Leonel just wanted to be short, so he chose the Dwarf Defender on a whim.
Ren slightly shook his head and chuckled.
No matter. He would make sure to personally 'guide' Leonel to become the greatest Tank there is in the world of ARCADIA.
There were many scenarios in Ren's head as to what his and Leonel's encounter would be like after ten years of not seeing the guy. But Ren never would have thought that the first thing he felt upon laying eyes on his best friend was . . . dread.
The excitement and happiness Ren felt took a sharp dive the moment Leonel appeared. He had the stout build and short stature of a dwarf, but his handsome features looked completely out of place with the race. To make matters worse, he'd slapped a thick beard onto his baby face—one that looked more pasted on than grown.
Passersby stole glances at him, some biting back laughter, others failing to hide their smirks. Yet Leonel remained utterly unfazed. He simply stood there, blue eyes alight, his whole face glowing with unrestrained excitement.
Nope. Don't know him.
Ren was about to turn back when Leonel spotted him.
"Ren! Ren! REN!" Leonel waved his hand and jumped on his toes.
Upon Leonel's voice, every attention flickered at Ren, and the latter could only lower his head and look at the ground in hopes that everyone wouldn't see his face.
"Man! What took you so long?" Leonel greeted with a grin stretching from ear to ear. He spun around, front to back, left to right, proudly showing off his new form.
"Look at this! I'm really short now! Everyone has to look down on me—and I don't even have to worry about tripping over anything anymore!"
Ren's face was indignant, and he asked with a monotone voice, "Leo . . . why did you add a beard?"
"Eh? This?" Leonel rubbed his long thick beard, chest forward, beaming with pride. "As a Dwarf, you have to have the beard. It's a staple for this Race! Don't you know? And here I thought that you know everything!"
". . ."
He then winked and posed in front of Ren. "Does it look good on me?"
". . ." Ren wanted to whack his head. But only managed a wry sigh.
This was also Leonel's past appearance, but Ren didn't care at that time.
Ren thought that something would change in this time due to him making ripples with the events and really thought that Leonel wouldn't choose a beard in this timeline, only to be left disappointed.
Leonel was actually a good looking guy, but due to his weird taste and . . . even more bizarre mindset, girls distance themselves from him.
"Saya and Mike said that they'll enter the game tomorrow. And they wanted us to accompany them buy their gaming pod."
Ren's heart thudded hard against his chest.
"Have you received their message to meet up at Highland Mall?"
Ren shook his head. "I didn't check my phone."
Leonel placed his hand on his hips. "I'll be flying to Zone A tomorrow, and they said to meet up for lunch. Then we can enter the game together after we finish buying their gaming pod!"
". . ." Ren didn't speak. If he did, he'd only disagree with meeting with Saya, and Mike and Leonel would never stop asking why.
In this timeline, the four of them were still close.
Leonel didn't overthink Ren's silence since he was indeed a quiet guy, to begin with.
"Ren, let's go! Let's do some quests together." Leonel grabbed Ren's hand and pulled him to every NPC he saw.
This was also the reason why Ren didn't do the normal/errand quests in Euclid village. He wanted to do the quests with Leonel so he wouldn't suspect that he entered the game way before him.
In the end, Ren still became an errand boy for the NPCs together with Leonel.