Chapter 106 - I Don't Stand In Queues

Liam had too many things on his mind. He returned to his room in less than an hour after finishing his dinner and ensuring that everything at home was working properly.

Mei Mei could only stare at the shut door as she had been taking a bath and missed him altogether. "Brother must be working very hard."

She wiped her hair and started reading more about the game and the different classes while eating her share of the food.

A couple of seconds later, she almost inhaled the food by mistake into the wrong pipe and coughed uncontrollably. "Liam?"

Mei Mei even rubbed her eyes not able to believe what she was reading. The current leaderboard's number 1 rank holder's name was 'Chang Liam'?

This was her brother's name!

Was it perhaps her brother who was currently the top-ranked player in the entire world?

"Should I ask him?"

"No. Not possible. Probably someone else." She shook her head. "I shouldn't ask such stupid things. He might feel bad that someone else with the same name as him is currently the first."

She put the plate down and sighed. "If only things were different…"

For people like them, who never had a single chance in their lives, how were such achievements possible?

"I should read more…" She quickly went back to reading about other things, scouring everything in the forums from top to bottom.

Back in the game, Liam received a surprise as soon as he logged in.

[Ding. Do you wish to enter the nether realm? Yes/ No]

He had originally assumed that he had to use the nether portal again, but it looked like this was also an option.

Liam quickly selected 'No' and found himself back in Yleka city. The city was now completely different from how it had been earlier and was jam-packed with players.

It looked like everyone who had started in the Gresh Kingdom was gathered in this city. 

Liam knew that this was not an exaggeration as many important quests started in the royal city and Yleka city. These were the two main star locations in the Kingdom.

Land slots, stall slots, and not to mention guild slots, every single available acre of land in these two cities cost astronomical amounts.

Moreover, just money alone was not enough to buy these slots. There were also other requirements. 

Liam casually strolled through the streets and since he had some time before the black market opened up, he decided to first pay a visit to the beast association.

Both his pets were ready to evolve. So this was also on his 'to do' list.

Liam walked into the gigantic beast hall which was in the shape of an octahedron. 

This place was the bread and butter of hunter class players as they loitered here day and night for special quests.

All beast companions and even just pet beasts that players did not intend to use for combat cannot evolve and grow without the help of the beast hall.

This was because beasts required certain other things apart from simply experience points for their evolution.

Without these special materials, their growth would stagnate and they wouldn't be able to even gain experience points after a threshold.

Of course, if one already had comprehensive knowledge about their beasts, then there would be no need for that person to visit the beast hall.

They could even hunt and acquire the necessary items by themselves and evolve the beasts on their own.

Liam, however, unfortunately, lacked that knowledge. 

Sure, he could possibly roam around the entirety of this realm and the other realms with his two beasts. He would then eventually stumble across some clues regarding their evolution paths.

But coming to the beast hall and directly talking to one of the trainers here was the simplest solution and Liam hoped that this worked.

He weaved through the crowd and stood in one of the many queues to meet up with the trainers.

"Hmmm… this looks like it is going to take a while…" Liam clicked his tongue and leaned towards his right and left to check out all the trainers.

His gaze then landed on a young woman who was blessed with good looks but not enough height. "This has to do." He then glanced at the fox lazily yawning next to him.

"Listen. Go to her and make your sad face. Actually, just go to her and play around, okay? Don't hurt her. She also won't hurt you. Do you understand?"

The small fox stared back at him, confused by his sudden command but Liam's words were its religion, so it quickly ran towards the trainer Liam had pointed to.

Kyuuuu

Kyuuuuu

Kyuuuuuu

The fox did a bunch of poses and within 2 seconds, a loud shriek sounded.

"KYAAAAAA! OH MY GOSH! You are so CUTE!" The short young woman ran out of her booth to come and pick up the small fox personally. 

"Where did you come from?"

"Ahhhh~~ So soft~~"

"Will you be my cutie~~~ Ah~~~ Ah~~~"

She began nuzzling and rubbing the beast against her cheeks and the little fox became extremely terrified. Since its birth, no one had ever treated it like this... affectionately?

So it didn't know what was happening. It even became scared and looked at Liam anxiously. Masterrr… 

Liam, however, casually stood on the side. It looked like he had no intention of helping it out.

In the end, the trainer's assistant was the one who finally came to its rescue. He spoke up, not able to bear it any longer. "Elder, that… everyone is watching." He reminded her.

The trainer immediately snapped out of her trance and flashed her eyes open. "Ahem. Ahem. Is this fox yours?" She looked at Liam and asked.

"Yes. I was fortunate enough to obtain it." Liam smiled politely and nodded. His plan worked and he was happy.

"I am Instructor Seraphina." The trainer muttered, still rubbing the fox to her cheek. 

"If you want, I can help you examine this beast and see how you can nurture it and take care of it the right way."

Bingo!

"Yes, I would be very grateful for your help, ma'am." Liam smiled again. 

Ignoring all the grumbling noises from those who had been standing in the queue for almost an hour now, the two of them walked into the booth.