Starting from Zero Vol 2 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – NPC Friends

Waking up from my nap I quickly check the time, which was exactly midnight. I had something to eat, went to the toilet and got ready to log back into the game. After a flash of white light, I reappeared in the alley where I logged off. Weird, when did it become so noisy! I looked around… No way!

You absolutely will know believe what I saw! “Ghosts!” In front of me was a kind looking Old Man with a hair full of white. His body was actually translucent and he didn’t even have legs, instead, below his waist were floating puffs of something that looked similar to clouds.

“Huh? Kid, how did you get here?” The Old Man, no rather, old ghost floated over in my direction.

I shook my head in order to calm down, this was a game, it should be normal for ghosts to appear in games. With this mindset, I was no longer afraid. “I was lost and ended up here, I came in the morning but there was nothing so I logged off, I only just logged on.”

The Old Man floated closer to my face, “You really are a visitor! We have not had a living being here for so long!”

Feeling that the Old Man was quite friendly, I felt relieved, “Why doesn’t anyone come here?”

“Sigh” the Old Man sighed, “Since you already know that i’m an undead, you can probably guess where this place is.

“This place should be where spirits and ghosts go to rest?” I asked tentatively

“That’s incorrect but you’re quite close!” The old man turned around and started pulled me out of the alley. The road outside had already been filled with many people… or ghosts to be precise. Looking at it now, this place now seems to be a lively city. “This place is a gathering place for dead souls, but it is not a resting ground. You should have also seen the city name on the gates!”

“It’s called the Lost City right?”

“Correct! This is place for those who have perished but are unwilling to rest, we are all lost souls!” said the Old Man while looking quite sad.

I immediately tried to comfort him, “You shouldn’t be too sad, this place is quite nice!”

The Old Man’s expression suddenly changed, “Forget it, let’s not mention these depressing things, follow me.” The Old Man then started leading the way while flying towards his destination, I had nothing better to do than follow him. Despite looking like my grandfather, he flew very fast. Sprinting all the way, I couldn’t even catch my breath. The place where the old man stopped was unexpectedly a huge plaza. The old man ran towards a stage and signaled me to come up. After I got up, the old man started yelling: “Everyone gather around! We have a living friend here!”

The Old Man took me by surprise, he was way too excited! What’s worse, I was surrounded by a large crowd of demons and ghosts. After using my appraising technique, I nearly screamed “Oh my G.o.d!”. There was a level 130 Undead Spirit, level 200 Goblin Spirit, level 320 Goblin Soul, level 150 Dullahan Spirit, and level 350 Undead Spellblade Soul. It was a mess of every single race, truly a monster’s paradise! Even more frightening, many dark type creatures started gathering around. I saw a dog with three heads as well as numerous devils! I could even see a Three-headed h.e.l.lhound in addition to a gigantic Dark Ghost.

The Old Man yelled towards them,”Can everyone see clearly? Beside me is a living friend. We haven’t received a living person in so long! Everyone, let’s celebrate!”

“Great! Welcome! Welcome!” I was in a daze! These monsters were quite lively and hospitable! Turns out I was wrong to make those judgements earlier! Looking at the monsters acting all crazy below, I didn’t know what to do anymore!

As I stood there frozen,a muscular and tall Dark Warrior walked towards me, “Greetings, I’m Clark, the boss of this city’s weapon shop. If you need any equipment in the future, you can look to my shop for business!”

“Aren’t the shops here closed? Earlier, I walked around the city for a long time yet didn’t see a single open store.”

The Dark Warrior chuckled loudly, “Of course there won’t be anyone around during daytime! This is the Lost City! There isn’t anyone besides the guards from early 8 in the morning till 6 in the afternoon!”

“How did I not realize, you guys probably can’t come in touch with sunlight right?”

“It’s not that we can’t, but that we don’t want to, that’s all. Look at that tower.” A tall and skinny man wearing a black robe walked behind me. This guy was really tall! Even though my 170cm height was quite average. The difference was so large that my head only reached his shoulder!

My sight followed where he was pointing with his hand. There was indeed a tower, it was quite square and looked similar to an obelisk. Although the tower looked black, it actually wasn’t, instead the color was very dark grey. From my point of view, you could estimate that it was around 300 meters in height. The buildings beside it were at most about 100 meters high. It really stood out. At the top of the tower, there was a big diamond frame. Inside the frame was a red-orange pupil that gave off a feeling of oppression. But right now, the pupil was contracted into a vertical line since it was closed. I have no idea what would happen if it opens it’s eyes.

“That is the Dark Tower of the Lost City, the thing at the top is called the h.e.l.l’s Eye. If the city were to be under attack or we were to attack neighbouring cities, it will awaken. When the h.e.l.l’s Eye opens, all the Dark monsters of the city will no longer have to comply with the nocturnal rule and not only that, all Dark Creatures will gain a 50% bonus their Attack and Defenses.”

“No way, so powerful! Wouldn’t you guys be invincible then!”

The shady robed man laughed, “Although we wouldn’t be invincible, we’d still be very strong. I still haven’t introduced myself yet, I am the boss of the city’s pharmacy, you can call me Medicine King! “

“Spirits also consume potions?” The system was really peculiar, all races had to use potions!

“Why can’t we use them! Let me tell you, my medicine is one of a kind in the entire continent, Not only is it extremely effective but it’s cheap and high quality as well! If you ever visit my shop, i’ll give you a 20% discount!”

Not long after, I was surrounded by a crowd of NPCs telling me about the stored they owned. They all told me they would also give me a 20% discount if I were to visit their shops. With no choice, I could only visit them all. Following the order in which they spoke to me, I followed Clark to his weapon shop. After walking pa.s.sed several streets, we arrived at his shop. I had actually pa.s.sed by here in the morning but it was closed at the time.

“How is it, my shop is pretty good isn’t it!” Clark proudly exclaimed.

I surveyed the shop, this was a very big weapons store. The walls and floor covered with wooden decorations, there were also a bunch of NPCs currently selling and buying things at the counter. It really did give off an atmosphere of a large shop. “Not bad! It looks splendid!”

After hearing me praise his shop, Clark was even more ecstatic. “How is it! Do you want to buy anything?”

“I’ll definitely buy something! My weapon broke yesterday and I only have equipment I can’t use yet, so I would need a practical weapon!”

Seeing that I was embarra.s.sed, Clark then said: “No problem, if you don’t have enough money, you can owe me for the time being.”

“I can’t accept that!” I put all the unequippable items on the counter and organized them in columns. “Take these, I also have three pieces gold coins. If it’s not enough, then I’ll have to owe you and return it to you in the future!”

Clark took a look at the equipment that I took out: “These items are worth around 13 gold in total and with the three gold you have, that makes a total of 16 gold. Then it’s settled, come and follow me!”