The car stopped right before Ryder, and the door opened as a man stepped out of the vehicle.
"Shu?" Ryder muttered as he saw the boy.
"Brother Ryder, You got a Whirlwind? I thought you liked the 2047 model? If you had told me that you were getting a Whirlwind, I would have asked them to get me a Whirlwind as well!" Shu told Ryder as he stepped closer to him.
"I shouldâve guessed that you were rich when you told me where you lived. Did you bug your parents to buy you that car? If Iâm not wrong, even though itâs an older model, it should still be worth 2 million in the market," Ryder told Shu as he closed the door of his car.
"Something like that. Letâs go in," Shu said.
Both of them started walking towards the Yumyum Cafe under the watchful eyes of others on the road. Everyone was shocked to see two rich guys coming to their poor neighborhood.
The girls wanted to try their luck, but just by seeing their car, they gave up as they realized that these two were way above their league.
Ryder and Shu entered the cafe and found a seat for themselves.
They ordered coffee for themselves that was served by a girl in a maid uniform.
"Alright. So tell me, whatâs the Quest and how you got it?" Ryder asked.
"It happened when I was fighting a monster outside the Estella Kingdom to gain some experience. One of the Monsters dropped an item when it was killed. When I checked it, it turned out to be a guild token," Shu told him.
"What the heck? You found a guild token? That shouldâve dropped in the Matris Kingdom 2 months later!" Ryder exclaimed in surprise.
"Whatâre you talking about? You know that the Guild Token is a rare item that doesnât have a certain dropping location," Shu answered him.
âMy time travel seemed to have caused a ripple in the events. That shouldâve been expected as some of my decisions directly or indirectly influenced the decision of other players,â Ryder thought as he drank the coffee.
"You found a guild token; why donât you start a guild then? Also, how is that related to the quest you were talking about?" Ryder asked Shu.
"Iâm not making a guild now as Iâm not strong enough to operate a guild. I was thinking of getting more levels before I start my guild. Anyway, I was talking about that because the guild token wasnât the only thing that I found. I also found a small key. As I held the key, a quest screen was opened in front of me," Shu said.
âA key related quest? I donât remember something like that happening in the least timeline,â Ryder thought in full seriousness.
"Whatâs the quest?" Ryder asked.
"The quest talked about a D-Rank dungeon in the South of the Stech Kingdom. From the information that Iâve gathered, it seems like that place is still undiscovered. We need to enter the dungeon and conquer it. Thereâs a box on the deepest floor of the dungeon which can only be unlocked with the key," Shu explained.
"A D-Rank dungeon? The Monsters there should be level 10-15. Whatâs your level?" Ryder asked Shu.
"Iâm level 12 now, but Iâm sure that we can do it. Weâll have something like a raid team with the help of other adventures. We can share the rewards with them equally. Iâll get most of the experience and an equal share of the reward. Doesnât seem like a bad deal, right?" Shu said, smilingly.
"That should be the most logical option, or you can spend some more time hunting to increase your level," Ryder suggested.
"Thereâs a time limit of 4 days in this quest. If I delay it anymore, itâll be bad. Iâve already selected ten players for our team. Including you and me, weâll be 12 people," Shu replied.
"Since youâve already planned everything, itâs alright. Whatâs your class?" Ryder asked Shu.
"Iâm a thief in the game. Also, there are three mages, three warriors, two priests, and two hunters in our team. Whatâs your class?" Shu inquired.
"My class? Itâs somewhat complicated," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face.
"Keeping it a secret? Itâs alright. Iâm sure weâll get to see you in action during the quest," Shu chuckled.
"Itâs..." Ryder was about to respond when someone placed their hands on his shoulders.
"Ryder?" the person said.
Ryder looked back and saw a blonde boy standing behind him with a girl.
"I was right. Itâs you. What happened, man? You never come to our class reunions? Do you hate us that much? Or are you still angry because someone joked about you being poor last time? Come on, man; thereâs nothing to be embarrassed about being poor. You canât ghost your friends for such a small matter," the blonde-haired man said to Ryder as he chuckled.
"Jason? Whatâre you doing in this area?" Ryder muttered as he looked at the blonde guy with a frown.
"I was taking my girlfriend on a date, but she started asking for ice cream. I had to stop the car in the first place I noticed. Amazingly, I found you here. You never told us your address. Do you live here?" Jason asked Ryder.
"No, I came here because a friend suggested this place," Ryder responded.
"A friend? Oh right. I didnât notice this guy sitting near you, which is strange considering his large size. I pity you, man. You used to have such a rich and handsome friend like Bastion in college. I canât believe you stooped to a level like that," Jason laughed out loud.
"You didnât grow up, did you? The arrogance can be bad for you, Jason," Ryder said as he stood up.
"Donât get angry, man. Iâm not trying to insult you; I was just talking about reality. Also, even if you get angry, whatâre you going to do? Do you know who I am? Iâm the General Manager in the marketing branch of Dream Corporation. You canât even imagine how high my position is. Even if I kill someone, the police wonât dare to arrest me!" Jason said in a proud tone.
"Anyway, you mustâve already received a reunion invitation, right? If you happen to grow some balls, I hope you will attend it. Itâs not fun without having someone we can joke about," Jason chuckled as he said.
"Please leave before I break that smug face of yours," Ryder warned Jason.
"Hmph, poor trash," Jason muttered as he walked out of the cafe.
"Donât mind his words. Heâs always like this," Ryder comforted Shu as he sat down, but he was visibly surprised as he saw the smile on Shuâs face.