Chapter 167 The Next

Having obtained Valyr's full agreement on celebrating the clearing of the dungeon tomorrow, Alfaera went ahead and discussed a few of the matters regarding the specifics of the celebration with him, considering how he was going to be the center of attention during the celebration itself.

Of course, even though it seemed that he was fully on board with the celebration itself, that was only due to the fact that Alfaera had enticed him with the promise that his rewards from the quest would be increased.

Unsurprisingly, Valyr was reluctant to do a few of the things Alfaera wanted him to do during the celebration. But fortunately, thanks to the discussion the two were having while they continued to walk, a compromise had been made regarding these aspects, giving Valyr a peace of mind as the three of them eventually arrived at Tristan's smithy.

"I still have to coordinate everything for tomorrow, so I'll be on my way first." Though, just as both Tristan and Valyr entered the smithy, Alfaera told the two of them that she would head back to her place first to prepare for the celebration tomorrow. In response, Valyr reminded her about the deal they made earlier, causing a light chuckle to come out of Alfaera's mouth as she nodded soon after.

"Would it be fine if I saved the titles for tomorrow?" she asked as a screen opened before her, prompting her to interact with it. Seeing that Valyr's eyebrows were raised in curiosity due to her words, she continued. "Don't you think the titles would get stronger the more people from Astarto know about it? After all, most of the titles you'll get have the name of the village attached to it."

After pondering over it, Valyr eventually agreed to Alfaera's words, eliciting a light smile to appear on her face as a couple notification sounds resounded in his mind not long after.

Ding!

[You have completed the quest 'Roadblock to Expansion'.]

[Some of the rewards from the quest have been withheld in the meantime.]

[You have received 150,000 XP.]

[Your affinity with Alfaera has increased by 500 points. Current relationship: Close friend.]

[Your Planetary Reputation (Veldanyr) has increased by 40 points. Current reputation: No-name.]

After reading through the notifications he had received from the system, Valyr went ahead and thanked Alfaera for having increased the rewards from the quest. In response, Alfaera replied that it was the least she could do since his achievement would allow the village to finally expand into a town.

Eventually, after talking with her for a bit more, Alfaera eventually left the premises to head back to her home as Valyr entered the smithy with Tristan. While taking off the armor he had worn for the dungeon, he could not help but bitterly smile as he looked at the slightly mangled chestplate, recalling the attacks the final boss had sent at him that led to this situation.

Making a note to repair the chestplate sometime tomorrow, Valyr went ahead and removed all of the armor making up the set and stored them in an area where it could be easily seen with the help of Tristan. While doing so, Tristan could not help but ask Valyr what he and Alfaera had been discussing earlier, telling him that he had only listened in on a few sections of their conversation.

​ A mischievous smile adorning his face, Valyr said to Tristan in response that he had to first give something exchange for that information, causing Tristan to lightly frown as he took Valyr's words seriously. Though, just as he had come up with a certain item to give Valyr for it, the latter told him he was joking, quickly spilling out most of the discussion he and Alfaera had along the way to the smithy.

Hearing from Valyr's mouth that a celebration regarding his friend's achievement would be done tomorrow, Tristan could not help but look at Valyr with an expression of pride, thinking to himself that he had contributed to who Valyr was today. Eventually, Tristan could not help but have the urge to forge something in preparation for the celebration, telling Valyr that he could head back to the barracks since it was already turning to night.

Of course, Valyr could not help but find it somewhat odd that Tristan was shooing him away from the smithy, prompting him to ask the latter for the reason. Though the man did give him a couple of reasons such as him needing to take a rest and whatnot, Valyr still thought that Tristan was hiding the true reason for him. Nevertheless, he still agreed with Tristan's words and headed back to the barracks after bidding farewell.

Once back at the barracks, Valyr swiftly made his way to his dormitory room and dropped off the bag he had carried into the dungeon before taking a shower, changing into a set of loose fitting clothes after he was done. After that, he made his way to the cafeteria and grabbed himself a hearty dinner, recalling the rations he had eaten in the dungeon while taking bites.

As he was in the midst of eating his dinner, he could not help but commit the current surroundings to memory, inwardly letting out a light sigh as he thought to himself that he had more or less done everything he could do in this village. Giving the tray now devoid of food back to the cafeteria workers, Valyr then made his way back to his dormitory room once more, lying down on his bed as he let out a long sigh, the thought of having to leave the village finally sinking in.

"Hmm… what should I do next?" Valyr thought to himself out loud, feeling as if he had already done everything the village had to offer. Though there was no problem with him staying in the village, continuing to stick around after it had expanded into a town, Valyr knew to himself that staying here would make his growth stagnant, reducing the rate of progress he was making in order to achieve his final goals.

With that in mind, he could not help but think about the things he wanted to do during the beta version as preparation for the first public version. As he thought about how he was going to begin with any of them, he commanded the system to show him the time that remained before the beta version truly began.

Ding!

[Version 0.1b of Greater Beyond starts in 9 hours, 25 minutes!]

"So, it'll finally begin tomorrow, huh," Valyr could not help but mutter to himself, reminiscing over the time when the beta version of Greater Beyond was first announced in his past life. At that time, many people, including himself, tuned into the livestreams of those lucky to be chosen for the beta, wanting nothing more than to enter the game after watching for a while.

"And now, I'm in the world of the game itself." Valyr chuckled at the thought.

After a bit more pondering, he decided that he should finish the quest Damian gave him for now, thinking that staying at Clossbay City in the meantime wouldn't be a bad idea. Nevertheless, now privy to the fact that the beta version would begin tomorrow, he could not help but find it disappointing that he would spend the first few days of the beta version traveling.

"Then again, all of the players during the beta version would be spawned in the cities rather than the starter villages," Valyr said, recalling what had happened during the same time in his past life. "I guess the company did it so that the players who joined the beta would only have an advantage later on and not at the beginning."

"I wonder if some players would spawn in Clossbay City once I'm there?" Allowing his mind to daydream of multiple possibilities, Valyr eventually closed his eyes as he fell into deep sleep sometime later, dreaming of what was to come.

"And thus, the current chapter ends…"

"And the next chapter begins."