Most of them were basic things with people thanking the author for sharing the info, while others were people replied to his comment asking if he’d discovered anything else.
Going to the class specific forums, it also showed his post about druid transformations stickied as well. More likes and upvotes for it showed on the screen and some of the same responses as the other posts.
He didn’t feel like adding anything to the forum right now and wanted to keep the information he knew about crafting and the game market to himself, especially now that his livelihood might depend on it.
One title caught his eye, and he clicked on it.
Log Out and Stay Out.
More has come to our attention, and the nefarious ways of Gaia Corporation have hit a new low. They are using your bodies without permission while you’re logged into the game. A time of reckoning is coming soon and everything will come to light. Stay out of Divine Genesis or risk losing yourself!
Humanity United.
The crazies were still at it. I’m sure the tinfoil mafia were truly interested in following these posts. Atlas noticed it was a different username than last time, so they must keep getting banned and posting on new accounts.
On a whim, he checked the forum for dungeons. Few posts showed up in the subforum, but one caught his eye and he tapped it.
Need a Healer for Rare Dungeon,
We are a full party LF healer for a rare dungeon we found. Must be below lvl 20 and have good healing skills. Prefer people who are versatile and can do more than blindly heal, though. Message FaceStomper55 in game if you’d like to apply. We will meet in Nirithan, so be somewhere close.
Sounds interesting. Didn’t know they had such a thing as rare dungeons, much less one that had a level cap.
Atlas noted the name so he could follow up.
Hopefully, my credentials as a winner of The Great Hunt will help me get this spot. I didn’t do a ton of healing, but it was enough and I’m definitely versatile.
With nothing else of interest on the site, he finally put his phone away with a sigh. Instead of staring at the ceiling for no reason, he turned on the TV and switched to a music streaming app to blare through the room. Electric guitar blared through the room as he rocked an air guitar.
After a few songs, he ceased his playing and worked to clean up the apartment. Sweeping and mopping the place was tedious, but he didn’t like things to get too dirty. He also hoped he’d get to bring Jean over before too long and wanted the place to be presentable.
With all the chores finished, he turned off the TV, grabbed his keys, and left the apartment. He had little time left to kill before he could log back in, so he spent the time finding something to eat. Now was the best time for him to get a good meal since he didn’t know what his financial situation would look like later.
Butter dripped over the caramelized edge of the steak as he shoved it into his mouth. A scoop of mashed potatoes soon followed, and he washed it down with a gulp of sweet iced tea. An excellent medium rare steak was almost impossible to beat. He finished the meal by practically licking the plate clean and scraped the last of the juice off with the complimentary bread served with the meal.
With his belly full and him feeling better about his current situation, he went back to Gaia Corporation. A small crowd of people milled around the entrance. Most looked to be his age or younger, so he assumed it was a fresh batch of gamers that just logged out for their break.
The lobby was fairly busy with people chatting. The few snippets of conversation he overheard were decidedly about the game and mainly just them bragging about their gear or level.
When he made it to his designated pod, his favorite beauty greeted him. Jean’s smile lit up his day as he approached.
“Good afternoon, Atlas,” she told him with a nod.
“Good afternoon to you as well. How’ve you been? I missed you when I logged out.”
“Just juggling work and the little time I have free. Was actually in a cooking class with a friend for some fun,” she said with a giggle.
“Cook anything interesting?” Alas asked as she prepped the pod and the lid lifted.
“Not really. A bunch of crap that’s far too healthy for me to eat very often, but it was fun. How’ve you been?”
“Been better. My job closed down today, so going to have to find a new one. May even consider playing this game full time for the real world market prices. Right now I just want to log in and take my mind off all the nonsense. Any chance you’ll be available in a couple of days?”
She looked up in thought before tapping a few times on her small tablet.
“Actually, if you end up playing your full amount of time, I should be ending my shift shortly after you log back out. You have something in mind?” She asked with a wry smile as he hoisted himself into the capsule and shifted his body to get comfortable.
“Dinner?”
“Sounds great… after you shower, of course.”
He smiled at the comment, “Naturally.”
“Then it’s a date. I’ll see you when you finish up in game,” One final big smile and a quick wave was all he saw before the blackness took him.
***
The house for the Master of the Wood greeted him and, as usual, nothing appeared out of place. Hefting his bag of goods, he walked out of the place and took in a breath of air. Being inside the city meant it wasn’t nearly as clean and fragrant free as he hoped, but it was still much cleaner than a lot of the air in the major cities outside of the game.
He examined his staff and sighed in
