Chapter 3 - An Unknown Party

Not long after Theo left the area, a group consisting of two females and three males appeared.

"Captain. From the aftermath alone, I believe the turtle died in this place." One of the men informed a yellow-haired female.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and observed the cracks on the wall and craters on the ground. "Did someone kill it? I couldn't see any clues leading to a group killing the turtle. The turtle seemed to go down with just a single strike from the little amount of blood scattered around the area. It must be a vital part."

"But was there any high-level person in this area? This place is for new people who try to increase their level."

"It's true that the turtle was an Elite Monster, but it just evolved not long ago, so the level was pretty low. This person must be around level 20 to level 30 to have the ability to kill a monster like this. There is a high chance that the Pure Stone card dropped, so I want you to check if the card suddenly gets in the market."

"Understood. Do you want to recruit that person, Captain?"

"Yeah. This person must be special just by seeing how the turtle was killed."

"I will give you the report about the market every day." The man nodded.

Little did they know the one who killed the Elite Monster was just a level 7 young man. And that person was still running toward the base where he was registered, Art Beats Castle.

He stumbled upon two matters of importance and kept thinking about them on the way.

"I wonder when I should get my own revenge? I have finally got the power to change my fate, but I am still clueless about this power. Even the God of Mischief told me that I was lucky to kill the turtle. I should increase my strength first before thinking about revenge. Of course, I have no plan in forgiving them who sacrificed me and the others who bullied me in school." Theo's face was serious and his voice held a glimmer of killing intent.

The desire to fight back that had been suppressed this whole time could finally see the light even though it wasn't the time yet.

While thinking about the time, a giant metallic wall came into his vision as he raised his head.

It was a kind of traditional castle with a square wall and four outposts in each corner. The only difference was the materials. Instead of stone, it was built purely with metal.

Theo looked at the big gun on top of the tower. It had two barrels that could shoot a bullet as big as a normal car. This weapon was called a siege gun. Despite its size and menacing name, it didn't hold the almighty power like in everyone's mind.

It started when humans began expanding in this world. After having continuous evolutions, the guns had become more powerful than ever. It might not reach the level of a plasma gun or a laser gun, but a normal pistol already had enough power to create a giant hole in one's body with just a single bullet.

Yet, when they arrived here, they realized that this kind of power didn't even manage to kill the Rock Turtle. Humanity then brought tanks and any heavy-weight vehicles to crush them. Unfortunately, the stronger monsters came and crushed them again.

Hence, they realized that the cost was too much to bear and canceled the operation. It was at this time a mysterious power became famous and all countries around the world began researching it.

After a series of investigations, they confirmed that this power was the most effective and cost-efficient way to fight the monsters in this world.

The governments then started researching this new power and tried to incorporate them into their current military technology such as guns. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the composition of a bullet, it didn't fit well with the materials they could find in this world, resulting in the abundant cost just for a bullet.

The era of traditional weapons then became popularized again when all the blacksmiths around the world learned how to craft a sword, spear, and other things with the materials from this world. And unlike guns and modern weapons, the cost was so low, allowing mass production.

As for plasma guns or something similar? It was just a movie's concept, not how the real world worked.

The media kept informing the progress. Before long, every person in the world, even those who didn't read the news daily, knew about this.

Due to that, the advancement of mechanical weapons like guns and such stagnated. Even so, there was still a belief that they could modernize the weapon once again, but it was certainly not in the current era.

Thus, the reason why Theo got slightly concerned when seeing the siege gun was that he didn't mind about the money the government put on the development, but he realized that they shouldn't put too much there and help the small citizens like him instead.

"The turtle should be in the deeper part of the forest, so how could it reach my position?" Theo shook his thought off and furrowed his eyebrows while running. "I didn't think much about this earlier, but was there someone who brought this turtle here?"

As soon as he realized the real problem, he hesitated to sell the Pure Stone Card he got earlier.

He took out a four inches cylinder from his pocket and shook it as a blue screen appeared. Clicking a few times, he arrived at what he wanted to see.

ID: 280104977610

historical

Name: Theodore Griffith

Balance: 300 Zil

With modernized power, the currency had turned into one, and it became even more supported when they found this world. It made everything simpler.

"Haiz. This is not going to be enough to buy a weapon. It's barely enough for my cheap rent this month." While lamenting of his poor balance, he had arrived in front of the base.

There was a line of people wanting to get in through a small door right next to a giant metal gate. They never used the giant gate except for a big expedition that required big vehicles, so Theo immediately went right behind the last person, waiting for his turn.

After fifteen minutes, he finally got his turn. A middle-aged man with a green military uniform came to him and asked. "May I see your ID?"

Theo nodded and took out the same device and opened not his bank account but his ID Card.

ID: 280104977610

Name: Theodore Griffith

Status: Normal

The middle-aged man recorded his ID in his own device before giving him a thumbs up, telling him he could proceed.

"Thanks."

Theo walked in, seeing the bustling town. He could see a series of buildings on either side. Most of them were stores from restaurants to weapon stores, while the rest were either a hotel or hotel-plus that would let people relieve their stress and rest their body after coming back alive.

Without wasting a single second, he headed toward the weapon shop where he always bought his weapon, only to be hesitant at the last second.

'Pure Stone is still an Elite Rank material. If I suddenly come and sell this material, they will either suspect me stealing this or recording my data in their store when they know I am not an elite. Both cases will give me a headache..' He stroked his chin, falling into deep thought. 'I know that I am a bit paranoid, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I should sell it in another store and maybe hide my identity?'

With that thought in mind, a certain shop came into his view. It was just a stall, but it sold what he needed right now.

Walking toward the stall, he looked at the merchandise that this stall had to offer. He came across one pattern that he liked.

"Boss, I want this one." Theo pointed at the mask and asked the middle-aged man. "How much?"

"Five Zils for one mask."

Theo nodded and scanned the ID of the store, automatically sending the money.

"Here you go." The middle-aged man handed the mask. The mask didn't have any fancy decoration or patterns. It only had one smiley face, but that of a clown. Thinking about the God of Mischief, he thought this one would suit him.

He took the mask and walked straight down the road.

'Time to take a bath first. And I should put on a cloak since I need to hide my hair as well. If people knew that I got an S rank blessing, there would be a bloodbath, especially with those who often bully me.

'It's true that those who have a blessing are often recruited by big firms, but they won't have their freedom anymore. Other than becoming stronger, I still have another thing to do. It's a bit contradicting my goal, but who cares? I will do whatever I can to change this world whether with heroic deed..Or malice.'

Without him noticing, there was a slight smile on his face. 'I guess I need another identity as my cover.'

Theo then walked straight down the road for a few minutes before a big white platform came into his vision.

There was no decoration in the white platform other than seven pillars on the edges.

This was the mysterious thing that appeared on Earth when mankind opened the pandora box, Teleportation Circle.

He was planning to head back to cover his appearance before selling the Pure Stone. He climbed the stairs and saw a magic circle with many weird symbols around it.

Since the military only checked their identity when they left or came to the base, the people could use the magic circle as they liked except for the fact that they limited that every odd hour, the people could only come to this world, while every even hour, people could return to Earth.

This simple rule managed to keep the traffic here minimal since it only needed around one second to use it.

Pouring a little bit of energy, the magic circle glowed for a second as his vision turned white.

'Here we go.'