I had no control over my body; it was like being trapped in a dream. Oh, I must have fallen asleep.

“See? Nobody’s around! Relax now, Charlie,” Lucas yelled in a sweet voice right into my ear. His big hand patted my long hair and assured me with his smile. I looked up at him and bitted my lip; the fear building up in my belly dissipated, and I grabbed his hand.

“I will protect you, so don’t be afraid.” He had to yell because of the plane’s engines, and I still couldn't hear him properly, so I just smiled as he caressed my cheek and lips. Loud sound of siren rang, and the ramp lowered. My heart leapt into my throat as I looked out and saw just how high up we were. We walked together to the edge, but with each step, my fear forced me slow, ultimately to a crawl.

“You can do it! I believe in you, Charlie!” His warm breath reached my ear, and it tingled. For some reason, a pleasant feeling spread throughout my entire body. Oh, I knew the reason, but didn’t want to admit it. My inner hesitance notwithstanding, his confidence gave me the push to take the last step and finally jump out.

 

Back in my apartment, I woke up on the floor and massaged my temples. What happened? What was that? It felt so real to be a dream. Was I imagining things? Crap, gaming long time in these old… I meant, in these brand-new-but-still-bad capsules could do that to my body for sure.

Putting on a spare bra that was lying next to the sofa, I asked, “Tin-can. How long was I out?”

“Twenty-Six minutes.”

Hm, yes, I passed out, damn. “Call Lucas.” I could feel the cold metallic surface of the capsule against my back as I crawled closer. It still smelled like a brand-new capsule - the smell you often found in hospitals. Ugh.

Connecting to his device didn’t take long, and soon his face popped up on the tv. “Hi Lucas,” I waved at him. “It took me longer than I expected. Y’know, the old creep wanted to touch all over me…” I half-joked.

I struck gold, because his face twitched before he sighed. “Charlie… Do you still want to go to Patrick’s?”

“Yup, we could,” I nodded. “But before that… I passed out, and I had a strange dream. Do you remember if we ever tried to jump out of plane and I feared heights? You helped me to calm down and jump.”

“What? Wait there!” he yelled in surprise and closed the call. What the hell?

 

shrugged my shoulders, realizing I should at least tidy up before he showed up. To Lucas’ credit, he arrived in a record time of ten minutes; just as I finished my shower and walked out with only a towel.

“Charlie!” He hugged me with a trembling voice. “Your stupid computer let me in. What were you thinking? We need to crush it! You can’t trust anyone! We need to talk about all of this, your change, your memory, future, you hear me?”

I nodded, but kept quiet. I hadn’t shared his sense of urgency; why was it so important to talk? Was it because I passed out when I exited my experimental capsule? I sent him to the kitchen for beer, while I put on a shirt and my old black hoodie. He brought my last beers, and we moved to my couch, where I pulled legs to my chest and rested my chin, my new favorite position.

“Lucas. You were in the military as an operative, right?” I asked in a quiet voice. He nodded, so I continued with a smile, “That’s the difference between us. When I try to solve problems, kingdoms fell. When you try to solve problems, you create empires.”

Lucas was silent for a while, deep in thought, but then he grabbed my shoulders and asked, “Charlie. Let’s make a plan. I need you to tell me what are you planning.”

“Okay,” I whispered, more to myself, and snugged the loose hoodie. “The big picture is to make money, obviously.” He only nodded. “Maybe get my body back, but that’s only a very long-term goal.” No reaction there, so I let out a sigh.

“We need to power up, so I signed up for a main quest. It should take me only a few days, and I can reach a Queen Irwen. She is going to attack the empire and create a civil war.”

“Wait!” Lucas interrupted me with wide eyes. “She is going to attack us? Our fortress?” I confirmed his suspicion with a nod. “I actually improved it! Instead of leveling more myself! Charlie, you should have said something!” Lucas’ face turned crimson with fury.

“Wait!” I repeated his response, and moved to hug him, which actually stopped his outburst. “I was counting on that, silly Lucas. Emperor is giving out compensation, you know?” I whispered and softly pressed my cheek against his firm chest.

Lucas reciprocated the hug, and then said, “Renumeration? We are borrowing to… Oh, I get it!” Finally, he figured it out. “Okay, that’s a good plan. So you go to meet Irwen, then what?”

Slowly pulling out of the hug, I grinned. “I know about a place that can enhance our defences, but I need allies for that. Ian, you and me are not enough. So I’ll try to recruit one streamer I know, or maybe Lisa. I don’t know yet.” I tactfully skirted around the fact I liked her. Them, both. Damn. “That’s about it, other things? Nah, who needs to solve it when you’ve got whiskey?”

“Charlie, you can’t just ignore problems. It will destroy you from the inside.” He carefully caressed my shoulder. I forced a smile, but that small thing made me smirk and feel uneasy. It showed how much he cared, but not as a brother anymore. Different thing, but similar at the same time.

I hope my body won’t change me; I prefer girls. Beauties like Katherine.

“I’ve been this way since forever; you know that. I have been a coward. When I faced bigger problems, I fled to the pub, and the problems disappeared,” I said after a while of consideration, lowered my head and rested it against his shoulder; it felt somehow natural. Was it the hormones, or maybe something rewriting my brain? We lived in a simulation, after all.

“I trust you, Lucas; I trust you will do the best for both of us. Now, I need to do what I can do the best - play the game. Just keep doing what you do.” He didn’t answer. I finished my beer and smiled at him.

“We are stronger together than alone. Don’t worry, if you tell me to jump, I will kick you to the butt.” As Lisa taught me, I hugged him in a same fashion, and added, “I have a main quest coming, I need to prepare for it, thus I need sleep. Please take care of yourself and do not destroy Tin-can. I need him to reconstruct my body back.”

He finally came to himself, clenched his fist and resolutely said, “I understand. I will help you. Together, we can do this.” With that problem out of the way, my mind calmed once again and the pain in my chest subdued.

No, you won’t consume my soul, mister fear, or whatever are you!

 

With a loud ringing sound, Tin-can woke me in six hours; that damn idiot! I wanted to storm into the living room and smash him to the pieces, but my memory of setting the alarm came in time to stop me from touching an empty bottle of beer. I had to take another shower because my improved sense of smell made me realize how unpleasant I stank. Great.

After logging in, I made a beeline for the village armory. My pathetic stick would not cut it, so I searched for a better weapon.

As the torches flickered, the shields, swords, and spears on the wall gleamed in the warm light. The owner decorated the supporting wooden beams with miscellaneous items like horseshoe or nails. Neat.

At the back of the armory was a counter from one wall to another, and a village soldier nervously stood in front of it. “I am running low on everything! You can’t just barge in and say nonsense. Scram!” a sturdy man sitting behind the counter yelled at him and gestured even to me to go away.

The young soldier shook his head and sidestepped from my way, but stayed. Merchant's direct stare stung at my pride of the veteran gamer. I wasn’t some village punk rubble, but I calmed myself and said, “Sir, I want to buy things, not receive. I am-” 

“A paying customer?! Why didn’t you say that sooner? What does your heart desire?” His transformation into a kind merchant was scary.

“As a Priest, I require your advice because I have skills that require me to use a melee weapon. I know there are excellent weapons with a long reach, but I don’t know exactly what type would be the best,” I said in a low voice, because the soldier looked at me with an odd stare. After I checked him by sideway glance, I caught him examining my butt. Oh, I see, no problem.

Wait, no, every problem!

“A long-range melee weapon, you say? Hm, for your level I have only a rare whip, but it is expensive. Folks are using swords, lances and such classics, not whips.”

He pulled out the whip from an old dusty chest, and it sparked in the dim light. A black leather covered the handle, and at it had a blue crystal fitted on the bottom. Its long main body was made of many strips of dark blue leather. Damn. The whip completely mesmerized me, and he caught my hungry glance.

“That’s fine, I take it.” Without a second thought, I handed him ten gold, to which he blinked a few times. Have I overpaid? I’m rich for a day, and that’s the result. Terrific.

Before I could change my mind, he quickly grabbed the gold coins from his counter, and added, “Young Priestess, the whip is only a one-handed weapon. You can buy something to hold in the other hand.” That’s true. I almost left the shop without getting the most of it! What’s wrong with me?

“I would love to have a shield, but I can’t. I am a Priest. So perhaps a dagger?” I debated out loud and was searching through the display cases behind him.

“I have a shield exactly for you!” The man ran to the storage and room and dragged back another old, almost broken chest. It creaked as he pulled it over the floor and opened with an enormous wave of dust. After a few curses because of the dirt, he handed me a cute silver bracelet big enough to put it to the middle of my forearm.

What?! I always thought Magic shields were magic swordsman exclusive! Wait. I bit my lip to stop my excitement from showing on my face and shook my head. No more overpaying!

“How long did you store this junk? Someone must have made a joke of you,” I said, as calm as I managed to. Hiding one’s excitement is the way, isn’t it?

“I thought a fine priestess like you would find good use of it. I was wrong.” He stored the shield back, and my greedy eyes followed it.

“Alright, better than nothing. I’ll give you fifty.”

“Fifty? I paid seventy gold for this heirloom! I can’t go lower than eighty.” His face palled as he hid the chest. Was he bargaining or serious?

“You got cheated, right?” I let out a fake sigh and sweetly smiled. “I’ll reimburse the cost for you and sprinkle it with five gold, seventy-five then.”

“You cheeky… Fine, it's yours.”

 

I happily strode out of the Armory and headed to my next stop - the Enchantment-Alchemy shop. As a nouveau riche, my thoughts were about how to spent the fortune, so I browsed the most expensive things.

The ring was a stunning, with intricate red runes etched into it and twinkling ruby stones. But the price was high. That meant that only I, The Exploiter, could justify it. Well, if this exploit is going to work. Even though the shop was void of any customers, I grabbed the ring before anyone could snatch it and presented it to the lady at the counter.

“Welcome again, dear! You chose a lovely ring, but you are at the start of the Enchanting journey. You should reach Enchanting at least at the beginner stage before delving into alchemy.”

“Lady, I am an Expert Enchantress now,” I explained to her with a big smile and clutched the ring. My precious.

With a warm laugh, she offered me a quest. "The ring is yours, and I'll throw in two bags of supplies for free, but only if you're an Expert Enchantress."

That hurt my pride as an exploiter. "Watch me work my magic," I confidently responded. I made my way to the center of the shop, where the open space allowed me to enchant freely.

With great care, I removed my tiara and anointed it with an essence, making sure every inch was coated. Next I focused on the rune and drew gently all the contours. Maybe I was talented after all.

As the old pervert taught me, I took my sweet time and gradually pushed my mana in, not rushing it. It was harder to focus, but I didn’t struggle as much with keeping the mana in. The rune glowed and sucked the dust from Tiara and it was the first time I had experienced this, so I quickly replenished the dust.

When I presented the lady with the red snowflake on the tiara, a soft red light illuminated its crimson color.

Her eyes widened and handled the item with care. “I’ve never seen someone so talented. For you to reach an Expert in one day! Amazing! Even though your enchanting speed is slow, worse than most novices, you can improve. Remember, the speed isn’t everything, but you need to work it.”

I shrugged. Even exploiting has its flaws.

As a reward for the quest, she handed me two bags full of supplies, one for each profession. The bags were a lifesaver, as they could hold up to eighty different stacks of items, making enchanting a breeze. Finally, some decent gear.

As for other items on my shopping spree, I put a pile of recipes on the counter. “Dear, have you forgotten you can learn only a three recipes per stage? Yes, you can learn twelve runes as an Enchantress, but only three for Alchemy.”

Damn, yes, I forgot. I had a hard time as a blacksmith, because I learned recipes for three swords and not small daggers as I should have. The memories of the time wasted in mines flooded back as I let out a heavy sigh, and I disposed of most of the recipes. 

The last thing I needed was ten cauldrons. One cauldron was as big as a small pot, at least the iron-black one, short enough to handle in one hand. I smiled politely at the lady's warning that I need only one, knowing that my plan required ten, and no amount of persuasion could convince me otherwise. The newly found Exploit was waiting.