CHAPTER 22: “OCEANUS”

After walking a few more distances, Ai could finally see Oceanus, the Siren Village.

Well, he could see part of it. 

The village vicinity was covered in what seemed to be a layer of chilly mist. Ai could see the tips of tall tower type buildings and some roofs, but overall he couldn’t see anything much. It was to be expected since the game lore did say that Oceanus had closed itself off for a very long time and was only now starting to invite people, the players, to take a look around.

Though Ai felt nervous about the amount of players that were there, he was still keen on visiting it, especially it being a new area. That meant that he was experiencing it at the same time with everyone else. The prospects of finding new secrets, quests and pathways not yet known especially made him giddy. 

As Ai got closer to the village, he could feel the air getting colder than the air of the forest. The greens also slowly turned into more blues, reds and purples. The previously hard dirt was now mixed along with sand.

Getting closer now, he could see that other than the mist, the village was also protected by blue walls lined with seashells, seaweed and nets. There were also corals growing on the nets, each with their own beautiful colors and shapes. Beyond the walls, there were bubbles and mist floating to the sky and disappearing. It certainly gave the vibe of an oceanic village.

The entrance gate wasn’t open freely, instead there was a post, two NPC guards and a line of players that Ai didn’t expect. There were all kinds of players with different classes, looks, weapons and accessories. They didn’t look low leveled either. It made Ai slightly conscious of his low tier gear. 

The other players didn’t notice him as he took his place at the back of the line, the blue seashell pin attached to his tunic lapel now, the bright blue standing out against the brown. 

The line didn’t move that slow. In fact, the NPC guards were very practical and quick in their checking. Though they looked humanoid enough, as Ai got closer, he could see the aquatic features that made them different. The two of them had blue tinted skin and he could also see the shimmer of scales on some parts along their face and hands. Their eyes were bright yellow, and although had humanlike irises, gave off an eerie glow that was akin to deep sea creatures. The guards were wearing armor so Ai couldn’t see other features beyond those, but he could maybe see wisps of greenish hair just below their helmets.

Ai thought for a bit. How long had they been standing there? He saw no water nearby, so how did they keep hydrated being sirens and all? He shook his head. He only just arrived, they probably took shifts or something like that or maybe it was something to do with the chilly and misty air around them.

As the line silently moved forward, Ai slowly almost reached the front of the line. Other players had also come after him and were standing behind him. They were mostly quiet, but some were looking at each other. Most likely, the players here were in parties and chatting amongst themselves.

[World Symphony] had a simple party system. It was probably the system that they didn’t twist or modify too much. It followed the standard party rules that MMOs have used since they were still games on a screen. 

Two players or more, with a maximum of 6 players, can join together to farm a party. Each member can see the other member’s statuses in their [Thought System]. Parties also could access a sort of chat system through the [Thought System] as well. It worked sort of like telepathy in a sense that party members can say what they want to other party members without opening their mouth or making a sound.

So that was probably why most players in the line were quiet, only making eye contact with people they partied with. Ai supposed it was logical for most to go with parties instead of alone. It was a new region with new surroundings and new types of NPC. Since it was VR and everything felt real, the feeling of being overwhelmed by exploring an entirely new area alone also felt too real.

Suddenly feeling a lot more nervous, Ai stood up just a bit straighter as he waited for his turn to get checked by the NPC guards.

His eyes watched intently as the players in front of him showed a letter to the guards and entered the village, their form disappearing into the chilly mist. It almost looked eerie, how easily the mist swallowed them. 

Ai backtracked on his thoughts just a bit. Wait...papers?

He didn’t have time to think much before he was pushed forward, now face to face with the guard checking the players. The second NPC guard stood just inside the post, their yellow eyes watching his moves ever so carefully.

“Your permit?” The guard asked, their voice deep and so incredibly melodic that Ai wondered if this was the specialty of the Sirens, their beautiful voice.

“Umm…” Ai pretended to rummage through his pockets, his mind racing with what to do. 

Nebule hadn’t exactly given him any papers. He could try giving the letter...but then decided against it. The letter had felt way too personal and deep to be shown to this guard. He had a feeling that showing the letter wouldn’t do anyone any good.

Sighing, Ai could only point at the blue shell pin that had been encompassed within the letter.

He could see the guard raising their eyebrows in suspicion. They glanced back at their partner and gestured towards the pin that Ai was showing. The other guard left their seat and came forward to inspect as well.

At this point, Ai could feel the burning sensation of the other players’ gaze as they curiously looked at the situation and the invisible sweat that rolled down his back.

As Ai was thinking that he was going to be rejected, turned away or worse captured and thrown to jail. The second guard went back to his post and sat back down. The first guard followed but soon quickly returned, now with a letter in his hand. He handed the letter to Ai, then motioned for the elf to pass through.

Ai was too nervous to even look at the letter. He bowed his thanks then robotically walked inside the mist.

As expected, the temperature was almost freezing as he walked through it. It was hard to see and hard to breath. It was so dense that he had to close his eyes. He could feel the mist along his skin as if he was padding through water. He wondered if this was why all this mist was here.

After seemingly endless wandering through the mist, the freezing cold finally ceased. Though the air was still cold, Ai could still feel a sliver of sunshine on his face. Slowly, opening his eyes he found himself in a place that was completely different to Pymule.

He was standing on top of a hill. Which meant that the towers he saw from beyond the walls were extremely tall, almost as tall as the giant trees in Pymule. There were many spires with twisty and jagged shapes, all blowing bubbles and more mist into the air. All sorts of colorful plants were also present along the walls of those tall spires. The color scheme for the buildings were mostly blue and green. Paired with the blue sky and the ocean just beyond, it truly felt like he was underwater in Atlantis.

Remembering the letter he got from the guards, he quickly looked at it. He was confused since he didn’t think he saw the guards giving the players any letters.

The letter was incredibly fancy. It was a blue envelope etched with gold ink on the sides. There was cursive writing on the front, but Ai couldn’t read what it said exactly.

Opening the envelope, he took out a green paper, etched once again with gold on the corners, then carefully read the contents.

Dear Envoy.

I wish to welcome you to our village of Oceanus.

I hear that you hold immense prestige as a mediator.

With this letter, I wish to invite you to a tea gathering at the palace located at the center of the village. 

I hope we can talk about many things. I do so feel excited to hear of your tales.

• Oceana

Who was Oceana?

Judging from the letter, it seemed like they were someone important since the guard had the letter and the letter itself looked incredibly fancy.

Tucking the letter into his inventory, he supposed now he should at least get down to the village and start finding an inn to stay at. 

Making his way down, Ai glanced at the owl drowsily sitting on his shoulder.

“I think I’ll call you Athens.” The owl glanced at him confusedly. “Hmm, there was a wisdom deity symbolized by an owl. Don’t you like being called wise?”

Athens simply tilted its head in response then hooted once before going back to drowsily napping on his shoulder.