Just like that, I arrived at Hibaien's stall with no incident.

...

Who am I kidding? Let's face reality for a moment!

In front of me is an oddly familiar man. No, it isn't Swift Sword...I really can't remember that guy's name. But, anyway, it's another familiar man or perhaps an older-looking boy. He has a bit of an annoyed look on his face.

I was just a few stalls away from Hibaien's, not close enough to see his silhouette, but I can hear his shouts.

As for the person in front of me? He suddenly pulled me towards an alleyway with only a few players talking in it. Thus, we are in the present!

"Oi! You...do you know how much trouble you put me through?" The player, let me take a peek at his username, [Festerous] coldly uttered.

I halt at their words, my brain turning as fast as it could. However, it seems like as a trade-off for my momentary clarity of the situation (sleepiness does things to you), my ability to recall previous events has been stunted. So, despite my efforts to concentrate on my memory, I catch sight of their reputation instead.

Say, how did I catch the sight of a delinquent in a game! It's only the second day!

While thinking backward, it seems that the player noticed my confusion and got even more annoyed. Ruffling their hair, Festerous utters another sentence, "Seriously, of all things to happen at the start!"

Hm, ruffled hair?

Actually, thinking back, didn't I get stopped like this once? In fact, wasn't it a person with disheveled hair?

As my buried memory returns, I feel my face get increasingly pale. Festerous notices as well, and a snide grin forms on his face.

"Finally remembered? I didn't know I was so unforgettable," He spoke with a self-deprecating voice.

Hmm hmm, what do I do, hey? What do I do? I feel like I'm frozen by his stare, icy-cold with a seething heat. I, under this spell, can't speak a single word. 

I mean, in the first place, what can I say? Sorry? How would you feel if someone who caused your reputation to go down says, "Sorry about that!" and then runs away?!

Apologies are moot, barely genuine, and hard to prove.

How long has it been? I can't tell if time is slow, or if it's speeding up. The player in front of me seems to be waiting for a reply. I know I should say something, but following that thought is much harder than I would like to admit.

Honestly, if it weren't for the type of shirt I'm wearing in-game, I suppose I'd be drenched in sweat, wouldn't I? Ergh, it's not the time to think about that! Speak!

"I..."

I barely manage out a croak before I stop speaking once more. Hah, can that even be considered speaking?

Festerous seems to have run out of patience, or perhaps he was just waiting for one reaction, as he speaks in a low tone, "Listen, I don't want that much trouble, but I can't let this go that easily. " Festerous continues, "How about this? As compensation you–" He points at me– "give me 510G. 500G for the guild's fees. 10G for the reputation you caused me to lose."

Ah! Something clear-cut and simple!

If I just do that the vendetta will return to null, I have an excess amount of gold too. Thinking this, I lift my hand up. If I just repay them then-

{Aren't you falling back into old habits?}

My hand freezes.

Old habits? This is just repaying debt, right? Why would that matter if it was a habit or not? It's just something you should do under the eyes of society!

At that time, I didn't think much about it. I thought nothing of it, in fact. Maybe, if I stopped and considered it more, the future could be a little less painful.

Right, Festerous might think I'm not willing to do even that.

Resuming my movement, I open the interface up to take some of the gold out, resulting in a rough brown bag filled with coins.

But, before I could hand it over, a rush of footsteps sent a current of sound towards the both of us in the alleyway. The sound of a sword cutting through the air ran through my ears as I see what has occurred.

In between Festerous and I was a black sword. The one holding it was another familiar face. I manage to recognize them instantly this time around because my memory was already jolted by Festerous. This other player was the one I had bumped into when I hopped away from Festerous's reach.

Between the sword, name, and reputation, I don't know what to comment on first.

"Oi! Are you threatening a player again?!" Light Frost, who, as you might expect, has white-blue hair, yells towards Festerous (I feel like they should switch usernames).

"Haaah? Didn't I already explain it to you dimwit? I didn't do anything like that!" Not one to back down, he counters with an even more irritated face than last time. I never knew someone's face could be that expressive.

"Listen," Festerous speaks before Light Frost could interrupt, "This is my business. You already got the benefit by telling the guards that I was the one who started the whole thing, and I was the one at fault. I am just breaking even."

As their argument continues, I start to form the narrative and understand the course of events. Most likely, Festerous had tried to speak with me for whatever reason, but I ended up bumping into Light Frost. Then, Light Frost assumed that Festerous pushed me, is that it?

Also, somehow along the way, Light Frost got more reputation points, and Festerous had to bear the brunt.

So, while Light Frost is doing it out of good intention, he's doing it out of a false assumption. Meaning, the fault is at my own heels, and I need this to stop, one way or another.

Well, how do I stop it? With words? Actions? Uhm, you know what they say, a combination of both is better than one?

I push the sword up and out of the way, hand the bag to Festerous, and, finally, use my words. Thankfully, there was an easy excuse nearby.

"They weren't threatening me please stop fighting the guards are coming let's forget about all of this," A series of words escape my throat. I was afraid that if I stopped for even a bit, then I wouldn't be able to speak anything else. I can feel my face scorching, and I pray that they understood what I said enough and cooperate with my words.

A half-second later, they both turn their heads and notice the guard, my excuse for them to stop. With a 'humph', Light Frost takes their sword back and sheathes it.

Festerous, taking this as a sign, places the gold in their inventory and leaves before Light Frost says anything else.

With my heart beating out of my chest, I let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, really, that could have gone bad. I say to myself, quite proud of myself, sort of...

Now, I thought I could just leave, go adios, and be free from this. However, my dream could not come true. As I moved to leave, I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. Turning back, I see Light Frost with a stern expression on their face.

Ahh...looks like I'm not off the hook yet.