Rain stared blankly at his phone.
He was back in his apartment that night, his mind a blank. It was already one in the morning, but Rain refused to sleep. His spirit might travel back to the Spirit Realm again.
He didn't know why this was happening to him. He was just an average guy with nothing notable about him. Things like this only happened to the main characters in novels, not to someone as unremarkable as him.
What was he going to do now?
His parents were abroad, and he was living in an apartment alone. There was no one he could confide in or ask for help.
And if ever he told anyone, they would surely label him as mentally ill, and his parents might admit him to a mental hospital.
Dean said there was no way around this. If he wanted to survive, he had to defend his territory, or his spirit might get killed, and then he would definitely die in the real world.
Rain stared at the card Dean had given him.
The man was right; the easiest way out of this was to give up his title and territory to someone more capable.
After all, he wasn't cut out for this. Building and defending a territory was far beyond his capabilities.
Rain thought about it long and hard. He even tried researching information about the Spirit Realm but found nothing. It seemed to be a tightly guarded secret, and the Player Association had likely deleted any news about it.
Then, like a godsend, a notification made Rain smile for the first time. It was from Dean.
[ From: Dean
Subject: Player Forum Access
Hello Rain,
I hope this message finds you well. I forgot to mention the forum that is only accessible to players.
In this Forum, you can ask all sorts of questions, and veteran players will answer them if they're online. You can also get tips there, so it's very useful for first time players.
See attached link for the Forum]
Rain didn't waste any time and clicked the link.
|| F O R U M S ||
Player #: I'm only going to make this offer once, newbies you should just surrender your lord title and give up your territory to me. I will take you all under my wing. I'm already an Adept Lord, and my territory is Level 20.
Player #: You're a troll.
Player #: Demons and Devils are good troops and all, but they can betray you in a heartbeat. Nothing could defeat Dragonborns.
Extraction: 0/1
Soul Elixirs: 0
Evolution Points: 0
|| E N D ||
Rain read the information about [Extraction] in the [Library], and realized this was what Dean and the ball of light had mentioned before: he could bring anything from the Spirit Realm to the real world and vice versa.
How does this work? Rain wondered, and a notification appeared.
[Choose what to extract]
Oh, with just a thought again.
Rain touched the table.
[Small Table, weight 5kls. Cost of extraction to the Spirit Realm: 500mL of Soul Elixirs]
Soul Elixirs?
That's probably the currency. Rain thought, and he touched the bed. It would be nice if he had a bed in the Spirit Realm.
[Single Bed, weight 20kls. Cost of extraction to the Spirit Realm: 2L of Soul Elixirs]
Whoa. It increased!
So it charge by weight.
Rain speculated and continued reading the information in the [Library]. He learned a lot, including the crucial point that he shouldn't leave his territory undefended for long. If his [Lord Statue] was destroyed, it would be equivalent to his territory being obliterated and him being killed.
". . ." Rain panicked at that thought.
Statue? There was a statue?
Rain thought back to his time in the Barren Wasteland. He did see something sparkly out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't make out its form because he was in shock when he was first transported to the Spirit Realm.
"Oh shit! I have to get back there! ASAP!" Rain jumped onto his bed and tightly closed his eyes. He didn't have to wait long, as he was exhausted from everything that had happened, and he quickly fell asleep.
Rain's soul traveled out of his body and was transported to the Spirit Realm.
In a blink, Rain found himself back in the same area where he had been standing before. The barren wasteland was still the same, with its unforgiving and lifeless nothingness.
Then Rain saw it: his statue.