Chapter 13

“Oh, you’re here, Ian.”

“You’re back?”

“You’re here. Long time no see.”

As I walked behind the butler, the servants, who were passing by, greeted me as if they were seeing someone they just met yesterday and met again today.

I left for 14 years but they don’t even seemed to be glad about my return.

I’m about to get a little upset.

“Aren’t you glad to see me after a long time?”

As soon as I entered the room and sat down, I suddenly asked the butler.

The butler was confused at what he meant.

“Didn’t you always show your face every few years?”

“Did I?”

“Yes, you eat in an underground training center, and sleep. Also coming out once every three years. Even after leaving the mansion to fight monsters, you would return after many years. When Mary went to check you on the underground she didn’t see you there, and that’s when we knew you went to siege monsters.”

“Mary?”

“Yes. One day, she suddenly came to me and cried a lot because you didn’t came to eat for half a year, and she thought you died in the training center.”

Come to think of it, I left without saying hello to siege the monster.

No, I thought I’d be back in a week or so.

“I’ve been hearing about your activities of beating monsters in the newspapers from time to time.”

They knew news about me from the newspaper.

I had no idea.

Newspaper are the same in Earth and La Elta they write any article because there’s no article to write.

“About four or five years ago, I didn’t hear anything about you, so I was worried if you encountered some problem. I was thinking about whether to request help from information guild, but you came just in time.”

“But haven’t I gotten a little younger? Don’t I look a lot younger?”

I returned because I wasn’t surprised or happy to see him after a long time, I just wanted to show them that I became younger. He must have been envious of me right now.

“Oh, yeah, you look younger now that I think about it. You must have eaten something good while you were out.”

I was 50 when I first bought this mansion.

I was 60 when I ran out of the house to catch the monster.

Of course, I still looked like I was in my 30s.

As I returned to Earth, I returned to my early 20s.

We met again after being 10 years younger in appearance and several decades younger in spirit. What a warm response.

What a discouraging reaction.

Maybe I should have said that “I’m the son of Sir Ian.” If I did that,  I should have seen a really interesting response.

Somebody give me a few dozen minutes to turn back time!

“Isn’t this clothes weird? Veraford… No, it’s something you’ve never seen in La Elta. Why aren’t you surprised when I am dressed like this?”

“You’re way behind the trend, Ian. Isn’t it the kind of clothes that people who show up in Veraford have been wearing a few years ago? These clothes were in fashion until two years ago, but now they’re out of date.”

I’m shocked that I’m behind the trend!

The butler was like, ‘Yeah, you were reclusive in the mountains, and when you came out, you found people wearing clothes like this interesting, so I got the same attire. But we’ve already done it a few years ago.’

I’m not.

I’m from the world of making these clothes.

I’m not out of fashion or anything.

“Never mind. I’m going out, so don’t stop me.”

“See you in a few years.”

“I’ll be back in a few days!”

He let me leave the mansion ignoring my sulking look.

Somehow, I was a little sad, but as long as my mansion and property are safe I am done here.

I left the mansion and looked around.

There are a lot of people.

These are people who are obviously from Earth.

It’s like the beginning of a real MMORPG game.

“Quest Board. Where can I see the quest board?”

“Are you Newbie? You can go over there. Can you see that there are a lot of people?”

I was just talking to myself, but a person from earth who heard me decided to guide me.

Newbie…

I feel like I’m playing a real game.

As the passerby taught me, I saw the quest board when I went to the most crowded place.

Others need to complete the quest to get back, but for me, I didn’t need it.

Then why did I come all the way here?

Because I was wondering if I could get quest nd solve them like the other player.

I have no status window. But will the quest board react?

“When you touch the quest board, ‘activate’ begins… That’s what I lean in the lab.”

I didn’t know going to the lab would be this helpful.

I touched the quest board with the hope that I would have my status window if the quest was activated.

Now, start activating!

And give me a status window and a quest window too!

[Start updating the Quest Board.]

Oh! It’s my first time receiving this notice.

Now that I’ve see this next would be my status win… Huh?

Update?

Update, not enable?

Dozens, hundreds, and thousands of players who have been to La Elta must have said that…”First time you touch a quest board, it’s activated.”

Based on that information, I should receive that kind of notification.

I recall something that I read in LaElta.com. One in a hundred people said they got an update, not an activation.

[There are examples of “updates” instead of “activation”]

But I couldn’t read them beyond that.

[Update has ended.]

The update ended while I was thinking.

So?

So what’s going on? It’s been updated.

I tapped the quest board a few more times, but there was no more response.

“What’s wrong?”

I heard that if I touch the quest board again after activating it, the quest list will appear in front of me.

I didn’t see a single letter, let alone a list.

What is it? They shouldn’t have updated me so I wouldn’t expect anything.

What was the update anyway?

“Huh? I’ve never seen this quest.”

“Hey, I got a sub-quest.”

Suddenly, people standing next to me started talking out of the blue.

“You too? Is the quest called ‘Finding Sir Ian’?”

“Oh, I heard that just introducing yourself to a person named Ian makes your muscles stronger.”

“It’s crazy. This quest is a must-do!”

What?

This crazy quest board..!

You didn’t update my quest because I touched it, but you did it to everyone else except me?

Are you kidding me?