Jack feels a splitting headache come over his mind as he arrives back within the game world, his surroundings are burning as though a fire was recently struck all around him but he's far from the pathway and any town so no one should be here. He spreads out his spiritual sense and notices that it has a much lesser length, only 500 metres, luckily not noticing anyone nearby though. Jack quietly checks the area for anyone following him before returning back to the pathway that is devoid of anyone at all, another check through his spiritual sense confirms that there's no one around.

It hasn't been very long since he logged off so there's a chance he'll come across Jestue with their carriage but probably not. Jack sets off down the pathway towards the system city that heads through a couple of smaller regional towns run by residents. Luckily they're protected by the system cities so they don't need to fend for themselves but usually their city Lord is powerful on their own… that doesn't stop players from challenging them through as the guards all watch Jack carefully as he peruses various market side stalls.

Jack picks up a shiny orb that doesn't have any information coming up in the system, "What is this?"

"A shiny sphere, I'm not sure young man but my granddaughter found it one day. If you want it then hand me 10 gold coins otherwise leave,"

"10 gold coins? What is this? Made of platinum? No, I'll give you 5 silver coins for this thing made of unknown things."

"You don't even know what it is, it could be something special. It could be a legendary material even, 5 gold coins."

"If it were legendary then you wouldn't be selling it here, you'd have sold it to the official stores. There's no way it's worth beyond 8 silver coins."

"You have to at least give me a gold coin, if not then I am sure I can sell it to the next player."

Jack fishes out a gold coin from a pouch hanging on his waist handing it to the old man, "How did you tell I am a player?"

"Only players are worrying about finding treasures, everyone else is trying to survive what's coming up," the old man weighs the coin then puts it away into a bag causing it to disappear in a flicker of light.

"What's coming up?," Jack puts the sphere away.

"I can't say young man, it's just a feeling in my bones."

"Right, well thanks. Live long," Jack says while leaving the table.

"You too young man, good luck."

Jack returns to the main thoroughfare and looks into the distance, countless people are walking about the road as they go between all the stalls in this small town positions just before the main system city for this region that's only a short distance away.

He takes the orb out of the pouch and holds it against his bicep, 'come on Xueli…'

Jack only does it for a moment as he continues to walk towards the distant city, there's no reaction from the tattoo or the orb meaning it's another dud or something. He forces it to disappear into his consciousness landing on the land within his mind where the black dirt immediately engulfs the new intruder as though it's starved of nutrients reducing the orb into nothingness.

"White," Jack asks out loud not caring about the surrounding crowd, he's just one of many hundreds of people walking the road, "do I need to feed the dirt?"

'<No Master, it will remain dormant until it's activated. It does not consume energy while inactive.>'

"Good," Jack says with a smile, "is it beneficial to?"

'<It would only benefit Master if he could, if situations permit it then this Unit suggests accommodating it as Master's spiritual sense training is going well.>'

"Right, so it's still like that, fine," Jack says with a grumble thinking that he was beyond collecting everything he can to feed the ravenous blob of dirt within his mind.

Jack continues to look through the various merchants while also walking into the larger merchant houses trying to source materials, his earlier organising proving fruitful in working out that most people around here do not have stock of anything in large quantities. Not even dead creatures are able to be supplied in large quantities, it seems like all sorts of raw materials are sold out and that's for one simple reason.

Players are buying everything out, it doesn't matter how useful it is to them as they don't want to miss out on some sort of new discovery using all the materials they acquire.

It seems like as people are getting stronger and uncovering more of the game, they're finding out more of the sub-systems such as the crafting skills that most people won't immediately choose upon starting a game and given so many options.

Jack doesn't have those worries as his path was basically set upon finding that special city heart orb yet, he can't deny being curious about the systems that the normal player goes through but he pushes those thoughts out of mind and continues to walk down the main path as there's no need to connect to any of these people, they're just going to be strangers in each other's life and he has his own worries.

Jack exits the city and immediately spots what the system city in this region is famous for, a giant white city wall that extends excessively over the flat plains landscape encapsulating the fields that are required to feed it. The layout intrigues Jack he decided to enter through the agricultural entrance which will also hopefully lead to him being able to source more goods as having a single supplier is a good way of being let down.

A small yet majestic wooden gate is standing before him as he continues to walk down the road yet off to the side as countless wagons head in and out, mostly large amounts of wood yet there's some food at times too.

Jack walks up to the gate when he hears a yell behind him, "Oy, where you going?"

Jack continues to walk but watches through his spiritual sense, the man rushes over and tries to grab Jack's shoulder. Jack immediately turns around causing the man to abruptly stop lest he run into Jack, "Yes?"

"You didn't pay the entrance tax, if you're here as a merchant it's double."

"Entrance tax? I thought it was an exit tax?"

"New orders from above, can you pay? 3 gold coins or 3,000 if you're a merchant… if you're not a merchant you can't enter through here," the man with a clipboard says, his thin scattered hair and snivelling upturned nose and exposed upper teeth appearance elect one of sympathy alongside some repulsiveness. He's only the foot soldier relaying the orders.

"I'm not here as a merchant but I'd like to just poke around and check out the prices, you should know everywhere else is out of stock."

"Yes that's why the policy is in place, the larger towns weren't able to get their supplies to restrictions had to be in place. If you don't have 3,000 gold coins then please enter through the main entrance."

Jack frowns but behind him a yell can be heard, "HEY YOU YOU'RE HERE!"

A female voice comes from behind them causing the two of them to turn around, Jack immediately immediately waves in response, "Hi," he says softly causing her to run over to the two men.

"What are you doing here?," she asks Jack ignoring the snivelling man.

"I'm trying to get into the system city, I have to try to teleport somewhere but I'm being asked to enter elsewhere or pay 3,000 gold coins," Jack explains.

"Right," the woman says, "well I'm allowed to escort clients through the merchant area and you're a client of mine so I believe that qualifies you for entry here."

"Ma'am, it only qualifies him to be in the area. He still needs to enter through the main entrance and arrive here through the main market place," the snivelling man says with an airs of confidence as though he's not taking account of her opinion at all.

"Ok then he is undeclared goods, I will opt to pay the 50 silver penalty," the woman says with a smile.

"If he is to be considered goods then he can only be classified as a slave, they are only permitted through the city gates with prior approval and I don't see that anywhere."

"Yes but the penalty is only 20 silver. There is no restriction of movement, I am simply required to report to city hall within 48 hours," the woman responds with a smile giving Jack a wink.

"That's…," the snivelling man's face begins to twist up several times, "hold on," he runs away quickly.

Jack walks beside the woman, Jestue, "Thank you for the help."

"No problem, I studied so hard for the entry here and I'm glad to use my knowledge," she says with a confident smile.

Jack nods, the snivelling man comes back with a large round undeniably fat man holding a clipboard, "You can't come through here," he immediately says.

"Why?"

"You weren't approved," the round man says, "I can't let you in without it."

"That's not right, besides as supervisors you'd know the rules better right? I wouldn't have to inform your manager?"

"As supervisor I have discretion and I declare—

—I'll give you 10 gold," Jack says interrupting the man.

"Let me finish, you can enter after paying the 15 gold penalty," the large man announces.

"This isn't what you told…," the snivelling man grabs the collar of the fat man.

"It's business…," the fat man responds fending off the snivelling man after a moment.

Jack passes over the gold coins he has collected previously, "No problem," he grabs the woman's hand and pulls her away from the two people as she watches them argue.

"You always undermine me, you might have a higher rank it doesn't mean you know better than me I studied."

"You studied crap, I gave you all the answers you wrote on the tests. Your knowledge is thanks to me," the fat man responds.

Jack and Jestue leave the gate and enter the busy merchant area filled with countless gigantic barn buildings, Jack's brief experience reminds him of Horse city in his own home region, filter the people and load and unload carriages creating an efficient system. Jestue leads Jack on a short walk away ensuring they aren't interrupted again, he doesn't question her as she doesn't say anything.

They arrive before a smaller barn that's entirely unlabelled with rotten wooden planks falling from the side, one would assume it's abandoned.

"This is our headquarters, we're selling the cargo to a group of players…," Jestue says pointing inwards.

"Oh," Jack says uninterested, "thanks for the help back there. I have a few things to do like return to my home region so…,"

Jestue grabs Jack's hand as he turns to leave, "Wait, please talk to the players inside."

"Why?," Jack asks raising an eyebrow.

"You… can talk to them. I said to them I knew someone that could help so I walked to the gate and saw you," the woman speaks lowering her voice.

Jack listens to her words and realises what she's saying, "If I do this then you'll give me a good deal on the goods?"

Jestue clenches her teeth for a moment, "Ok, a good deal," she repeats.

Jack looks over the woman's body for a moment, her well endowed figure hidden under several scrappy layers gives her an endearing quality while her aged features gives her a worldliness.

Jestue notices Jack's gaze and tilts her body away, "What?"

"Nothing just thinking about how 'the goods' means something else where I'm from," Jack mutters, "right so what's going on?"

"Well…," Jestue speaks a short tale about how some players arrived then began talking about all these things like quests and system menus, they all relied on Jestue to find someone they could trust and translate for them as this is an important deal for them.

"I can't promise anything good but I'll give it a try," Jack says knowing that he doesn't have much experience in the usual player experience.

The two of them enter the large barn building with its rotting wooden planks creating many holes for the outside sun to peek through yet that doesn't matter as the piles of wood are loaded on the ground all over the place surprising even Jack at the amount laying there. The group immediately notices Jestue walking into the room along with Jack.

"I found someone that might be able to help," Jestue announces arriving near the people wearing distinct and glamorous gear that seems pristine and unsuitable to any sort of combat. They immediately look at Jack with a suspicious eye and huddle together whispering for a moment.

One of the players breaks the group, "Who are you?," the young man asks Jack.

"I'm Jack, I've ordered some supplies from these guys too," Jack readily says as there's no need to hide it.

"Right, well Jack… we just need to send this group a payment through the system mail function," the young man says.

"Ok well these people are residents so they aren't able to access the system like that. You could address the recipient to the village itself but they wouldn't receive payment until their city heart orb has banking functionality so that doesn't help them much."

"We can't stay here but we don't know how long we'll be gone for," the young man says agitated.

"Well can't you pay now?"

"We need to undertake a quest to get the city heart orb," someone in the crowd blurts out but are immediately quietened.

The young man standing beside Jack looks annoying at the person that blurted out then sheepishly looks towards Jack, "We need to organise things in advance. We didn't think they'd deliver this early as everyone else was saying it's possibly weeks until delivery."

"Alright well then I can't really help you much. It's up to them if they trust you to pay after the fact," Jack says shrugging his shoulders looking towards Jestue again.

The young man turns towards Jestue, "Is that ok?," he asks.

"It's not up to me… but I don't think anyone will have a problem with it, we have a backup contract so this is small beans for us," Jestue smiles looking at Jack.

"You remember my discount right?," Jack protests.

"Of course but quantity is important," Jestue says then turns towards the young man player, "you'll be taking these right?"

"Yes but we have some helpers that will be along soon. We are already late for an event," the young man says.

"What event?," Jack asks curious.

"A system quest, didn't you get notification of it?"

"I  have been offline for a large part of the day and haven't checked my notifications, could you remind me?," Jack says making up a lie as he never receives a notification from the system like that.

"It reads; The legend of Sidrock, a family who all befell in separate tragedies in quick succession after defeating a corrupted creature called the broodmother. A call to strike at the creature's children trying to wake her with exquisite and unique items as rewards."

"Sidrock… that's familiar…," Jack mutters while thinking for a moment then recalls, 'it is the family name of all those identical residents in the new cities.'

"Perhaps you read it, most players are heading to the event which is starting in…," the man pauses, "8 minutes, shit."

"I couldn't even find a ride to Plains of Sorrows because everyone is going to the event, it seems like this is the only region with it. So perhaps everyone will end up coming here," the young man laughs causing everyone else to join in.

Jack is able to piece together some much needed information from this, "I'll go check it out plus I could help ensure you stay safe for Jestue."

"Sure," the young man with short brown hair that's acting like the leader says, "though you better not slow us down."

"Don't worry about me," Jack smiles and looks towards Jestue, "am I going to get any further discount?"

"Maybe if you all come back safe, let's talk about it after," Jestue says without her usual cheerfulness A sombre expression is on her face yet it feels out of place to ask about it leaving the groups quiet for a moment.

"Well they have quest rankings and this is only E so it should be fine," the young man responds shrugging his shoulders, "we don't have time to chat here let's go," he says to the rest of his group.

They begin to pack up and walk towards the door leaving all the goods here, Jestue and her helpers are all standing around talking to one another quietly watching Jack walk up to them.

"Things settled here? Do you own this warehouse?"

"Yes, this is one of my families old warehouses that isn't actively used. We have another one along the main road so it's no problem," one of the people beside Jestue speaks up.

"Ok, if you need to contact me then leave a message, I can't say when I'll be able to respond though."

"That's fine, we are going to be hauling a lot of goods back and forth. We are starting up a business to sell directly to players and this is our start," she says with confidence.

"Good, take care," Jack says.

'You take more care," Jestue responds quickly leaving Jack to shake his head with a smile and walk out the door.

The player group is still equipping their gear back to their body after relaxing inside the building, countless straps for hidden or small weapons alongside six swords slung across the back for most of them. Most of them have even more weapons, one man has six more swords strapped to his hip while someone else has two crossbows instead.

Jack walks over to the leader, "I didn't get your name?"

"Ian," the man says bluntly helping someone with their weapons.

"Do you know how many people are going to the event?"

"Around 800 people should be there."

"Right, how are the rewards split?"

"I don't know, they just said that as long as you can kill at least 10 large creatures in a group you could get a village creation starter kit."

"That's strange, might be a game quest," Jack mutters to himself quietly, "sounds like it's not a very long event."

"No, it's only running for the next six hours after which we'll be teleported back here."

"Good, I'll probably be able to hitch a ride after it then," Jack says.

"Where do you need to go?"

"Plains of Sorrows… I heard there's lots of stuff going on there."

"Yeah, a death trap though. A lot of people have died while the victory points don't offer anything."

Jack shrugs his shoulders, "No point worrying about that stuff, it's a game," he laughs with his belly causing the others to repeat what he said.

"It's a game, that's right."

"Just a game," another player says as the gather around.

"Ok let's go quickly," Ian says before breaking into a run clearing a path, the rest follow along including Jack.