"Ewwww!!! An old man has appeared! Get away from my sight immediately!"
Martin had to stop his hand from slapping the kid outright and cursing him in every language that he knew of, which he barely succeeded in doing.
'It's just a kid. It's just a kid. It's just a kid.' Repeating those words as if they were a chant, Martin kept his corporate smile and asked,
"Excuse m-"
Not even the second word got out of his mouth, the kid screamed again, cutting him off.
"Shut up! I don't want your gross old man voice to taint my ears! Just go away!"
The kid's hand shooed him away, and Martin's connection to his own body was severed. His body slowly began crumbling into pieces of light.
Martin wasn't even angry anymore. He just couldn't find a single word to say.
'Did Stephen add this cutscene just to annoy me? I will smack his head so hard a new one will pop out from the bump…'
As his body almost completely disappeared, the boy spoke once more,
"I can't believe I have to do this, but rules are rules. I will at least give you this. It'll suit an old man like you!"
A shining ball of light flew from the kid's back pocket, merging with Martin's disappearing body.
"You shouldn't move too much, old man, your back pain will kill you!"
'You damn brat! I will smack-'
Martin felt his consciousness transported once more, not letting him to even finish his thoughts.
However, he suddenly felt a tug, pulling him off course from the original route.
When Martin could open his eyes again, he found himself in a familiar surrounding this time.
The cold wind of the night blew, making the hair on his back stand on end. The countless colorful lights all around filled Martin's eyes.
He was standing on top of a skyscraper, one that towered over a bustling city at night.
The view in front of him caused him to take a long, deep breath.
It's similar to the view of his apartment, if his apartment had a climate recreation system, that is.
'I should go to one of those rooftop bars sometime…' He mumbled as he scanned his surroundings.
Martin remembered that he was still inside the game Stephen sent him, so he didn't want any more rude teenagers to ruin the moment for him.
Fortunately, there weren't any teenagers coming out of a magical door this time.
However, Martin was also not alone.
Standing just a few meters in front of him, a man who looked a decade or two older than him waved his hand and greeted Martin with a smile.
"Enjoying the view? Amazing, isn't it? Humans created all this for their convenience."
Martin gulped when looking at the older man, who just started rambling not-so-deep statements about humanity.
'I mean… I will probably be like that in a few years… Better not judge…'
The man then laughed, as if capable of hearing Martin's thoughts.
"You probably won't. You'll need to be at least a few millennia old if you want to be as boring as I am."
Martin quickly corrected his posture, giving the man the most polite smile he could muster.
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean anything bad. Just a rambling of a young guy."
The older man just smiled softly at him and nodded his head, as if saying he took no offense.
"So, young man, what is your goal?"
Martin blinked. 'My goal? What goal? KPI goals? I believed I messed those up already…'
Martin thought, forgetting for a second that the man in front of him could most likely read minds, and began regretting it.
But the older man didn't say anything this time, so Martin answered,
"Maybe, to find some excitement? You know how humans at this age feel, that quarter-life crisis just hits especially hard."
The man then walked closer to Martin and put his hand on Martin's shoulder.
"That's fine, everyone will have to go through them sooner or later. Besides, you will find more than enough of them in this world."
Martin tensed up when the man got closer, but it relaxed again after hearing the man's words.
"Alright, Martin, please remember this view, the things that you, humans of this world, had created, and that goal to find excitement. I will send you off now."
No one shooed him this time. The man just shook Martin's hand, and he disappeared once more.
And just like the kid, the old man also gave Martin a ball of light that merged with his body.
Before Martin disappeared for the second time, the old man spoke once more,
"You should try becoming an adventurer if you don't know where to start. There's always exciting people and places to see if you become one."
With those parting words, Martin's consciousness was transported once more, and he flew full speed towards the original route where he was supposed to go in the first place.
The black void filling his eyes disappeared as Martin opened up his eyes once more.
Sunlight immediately caused Martin to squint his eyes. Warm wind blew behind his back, making the lush trees all around him dance.
"It's so fresh!"
Just like the winds in the countryside back when he was little, not a hint of pollution entered Martin's nose. His stress seemed to just melt away, carried by the wind.
It made him forget for a second that he was currently inside a game.
Then, knowledge, unfamiliar ones entered his mind.
'This is really a game, isn't it? Such a shame this isn't the reality…'
With the knowledge he got, Martin spoke in his mind,
'Status'
============Status ================
Name: Martinus
Race: Human
Age: 31
Title:-
Job: -
Level: 0
Job History: -
Attributes:
Vitality: 1,1
Mana: 10,000
Strength: 2
Agility: 1,3
Endurance: 0,7
Intelligence: 4
Charisma: 7
Passive Skills:
-
Active Skills:
-
Unique Skills:
+Magic IDE
+Elderly Resilience
============================
The game-like interface popped up, showing Martin all kinds of interesting things he couldn't see in reality.
But Martin barely read any of them. The last line in his status screen hogged them all.
"Elderly Resilience…"
Martin read the word twice.
The words didn't change.
His hands and brows began trembling uncontrollably.
All the rage appeare- no, they burst out of his chest.
"FUC-"