The Grand Duelist

After Joseph paid his utility bills for several months in advance. He then shopped for groceries and made sure that he had enough food to last him until next month since he placed all of his remaining money inside a high-yield savings account that he couldn't withdraw from until next month.

Joseph didn't mind it. After all, the annual interest rate was at 4%. But of course, Joseph only did these after making sure that he wouldn't starve before next month arrived.

When Joseph moved upstairs and saw the closed door of the bedroom where both his parents used to live in...

A small smile lifted on his face as whispered into the air: "Mother, Father... I disappointed you in these recent years. But now, now that I have Victory. I will earn lots and lots of money so that the two of you can be proud of me as your son."

He bowed his head for a moment before returning back to his room where he saw the dozens of post-it notes that he had on his walls about the final boss of the Festival of Battles.

"Hahaha, I really didn't expect that I would be this dedicated towards that boss." He lightly laughed. Joseph frequently had everything handed over to him without any effort on his part when he was still a young boy. He always thought that if he just waited, everything would fall into his lap.

But the tragedy that happened three years ago told him otherwise. It gave him a hard lesson that without effort, and sacrifice. Nothing could be achieved.

Staring at post-it notes. He contemplated removing them all. But in the end, he decided on keeping those post-it notes as a memento of his struggles against the Great Magician Lilibeth.

[You arrived at the City of Reinhardt, capital of the Kingdom of Nether.]

[You are in an area where the average player level is at least a hundred levels higher than yours.]

[You are despised by everyone thanks to your weakness.]

[NPCs will openly mock you and some may not even acknowledge your presence.]

When Joseph opened his eyes, a bitter smile emerged on his face when he saw these system notifications.

When Joseph purchased a Gaming Capsule and entered the world of Victory. He did all of these because he wanted to win the Festival of Battles and acquire the million dollars.

But whenever someone wanted to join the Festival of Battles, they couldn't do anything other than to move to a nearby city and for Joseph, it was the Capital City Reinhardt. Unfortunately for Joseph who had no time to waste on leveling-up. He had to move towards the Capital City as a Level 1.

Joseph was sure that his level was the reason why he was hated by everyone. Yes, Joseph knew that everyone in this City hated him. Even the coachman that he hired just so he could enter the City of Reinhardt charged him three times higher than the market price.

Joseph sighed and erased all unnecessary thoughts. The first thing that he should do was find a way of returning back to one of the Beginner Villages.

He couldn't possibly defeat any monster within the outskirts of this City. After all, there was a real reason why the Beginner Village was called the Beginner Village in the first place.

Joseph finally moved from his initial location and surveyed the area. At the northern entrance of the City. There were a bunch of coachmen with their carriages in a line while hawking their services towards NPCs and players alike.

Joseph approached one of the coachmen, but before he could even open his mouth to speak. The coachman stared at him with cold eyes and clear disgust as if he was staring at utter garbage before he said.

"Get out of my face, trash."

"Ah, I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Joseph froze in his tracks before he repeatedly apologized. He inwardly cursed the coachman in his heart, but he knew that he had no other choice but to move away and try another coachman. After all, Joseph didn't know about what would happen to him if he offended an NPC at his caliber.

He deeply sighed and moved away from the coachmen.

Just as he turned his body around, he was suddenly thrown towards the ground.

"What the fuck!?" Joseph cried out and he hurriedly stood up. Scanning his gaze around the area, he found a young boy that looked to be at the age of ten staring at him with disdain.

"I didn't expect that someone as weak as you mister would dare to enter the City of Reinhardt. Even my cat is stronger than you..." The young boy sneered before petting the cat that he had in his bosom.

Joseph's eyes narrowed, 'Are NPCs this goddamned rude nowadays?' He stared right into the cat who growled at him in return. When this happened, the level of the cat in the bosom of the young boy popped up and Joseph felt shaken about what he saw.

[Cat Alexander - Level ???]

What are those question marks? At first, Joseph didn't know that answer to that question. But with his two months-long experience in the City of Reinhardt. Those question marks only meant one thing if they were located beside the word "Level".

The level of that particular NPC or player was at least ten levels higher than him. In short, even the cat had a level that was higher than Level 10!

"Impossible..." Joseph fell to his knees. Now, he was thoroughly scared of the Capital City Reinhardt.

He was scared of this City back when he first arrived here...

But this was the first time that he was thoroughly shocked.

How ridiculous was this? Even a domesticated house cat was at least Level 10 above?

Joseph fell into a trance-like state as he contemplated his chances of returning back to the Beginner Village. He had the money, but his money wasn't enough to the extent that he could pay three times the average market price of renting a carriage.

"Ah, fuck it... I guess I'm stuck..." Joseph inwardly cursed, he reeled too much on his misfortune that he didn't notice the commotion happening around him.

"Oh, isn't that the Great Magician Lilibeth?"

"Wait, let me skip the line and I'll give you five copper coins. It's an honor that I can have the chance of carrying such a Great Magician in my carriage."

"Fuck you! Even money will not let you skip the line and give you that honor! I came first so I am first!"

"Wait, why is she going towards that trash?"

The coachmen didn't expect that the Great Magician Lilibeth would instead approach Joseph that had his knees on the ground like a beggar.

"What are you doing, kneeling on the ground like that?" Her voice sounded cold as ever. But when Joseph heard this voice, he quickly suffered a Vietnamese flashback as he shot up and stood straight.

"Great Magician Lilibeth!" He cried out and Lilibeth stared at him in amusement.

"What were you doing? Is that some kind of meditation?" She said in a distant manner, yet Joseph felt like he could feel the sarcasm within her words.

But just as he was about to reply, the coachman who mocked Joseph earlier suddenly spoke up.

"Great Magician Lilibeth! I will be your coachman for today, it is my honor that someone like me can have the chance of carrying such a great person like you towards your destination."

Joseph stared at the coachman and he couldn't see the mocking and disdain that the coachman had for Joseph earlier, in fact. His attitude changed too much that Joseph doubted his eyes.

"Is this the power of levels?" He mumbled to himself.

"You haven't answered me yet, why were you kneeling on the ground?" The Great Magician Lilibeth didn't even spare the coachman a glance. She just stared right into Joseph as if she wanted to see through his mind and body.

Joseph gulped a mouthful of saliva. His mind quickly spun as the spectating players around the area sneered in disdain.

"Look at him acting in a fluster in front of that beautiful NPC."

"Hahaha, a toad lusting after swan meat?"

"Who knows? All I know is that what's happening is kind of amusing so I'll continue on watching."

"Hahaha, yeah right."

After a short moment of contemplation. Joseph finally found a plan and his expression turned solemn. He stared right into the cold maiden's eyes before saying.

"I kneeled and prayed to the gods so that we could meet and see each other one last time before fate separates us again..."

Before the Great Magician Lilibeth could react. Laughter erupted in the surroundings as the spectating players couldn't help but laugh out loud when they heard what Joseph said.

"Pffft~!"

"Holy shit, that's cringey as fuck!"

"What in the..."

"Did he really say that?! Lmao!"

But despite their blatant mocking...

Joseph's expression remained determined, while the Great Magician Lilibeth now stared right into his eyes.

"Ready the cameras! We're gonna capture the spectacular slap coming from a Great Magician NPC!"

"Okay, wait, wait, wait. This is gonna be a hit!"

"Are you guys serious?"

"Of course, we are! It wouldn't be a problem since that bastard right there obviously has a problem with his brain. He cannot possibly sue us all since I doubt that he could even comprehend the word 'sue'."

"…"

But the reply that the Great Magician Lilibeth said, baffled everyone.

"You're strange... You are saying those words as if you're proposing to me, but I cannot feel any desires coming out of your eyes..." Her cold expression finally had some cracks, while her eyes flashed in amusement and interest.

"Wait, you are clearly in desire for something... But it's not my body... Interesting, you remind me of someone." She said before turning around and walking towards the direction of the coachmen.

"Wait!"

Joseph screamed, he had to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him as he once again cried out loud: "Great Magician Lilibeth, please take me with you!"

His scream pierced through the skies.

Normally, one would be amused if they witnessed someone saying these words. But towards Joseph whom everyone thought that was as weak as an ant. The NPC in the surroundings looked like they would beat up Joseph if not for the presence of Lilibeth.

"Damn this is bad, if she ends up not taking me away from here then I may get beaten up by these crazy bastards..." Joseph felt the killing intent of the surrounding NPCs. He glanced at the side and found that even the cat that had the name of Alexander stared at him with malicious intent.

The Great Magician Lilibeth stopped in her tracks. But she didn't even turn around as she replied.

"If that's what you want then follow me. As someone who managed to defeat me in the Festival of Battles, I am quite interested in your skills." She then continued walking towards the coachman who first offered his services towards her.

"Wait, Festival of Battles? Holy shit! That mental bastard is the Madman of the Festival of Battles?! No wonder that he had the balls on asking out an NPC at the level of a Great Magician!"

"What in the actual heavens... I didn't expect that."

"Yeah man, like what the... In the first place, why would someone as strong as him look like a beggar on the streets."

"Maybe he did it on purpose so that he could eat the pig by pretending to be a sheep."

"Then who are the pigs..."

"It should be... us?"

Silence ensued.

"Well, I can only admit that he really did us dirty right there..."

The spectating players simultaneously said before they turned around and left the area.

On the other hand, Joseph cried out once again.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" Lilibeth stopped in her tracks again.

"Can we not board the carriage of that coachman?"

"Wha... You... How petty..." The coachman couldn't help but speak up and glare at Joseph.

"How petty? My attitude depends on how you treat me. Since you treated me with disdain earlier. Why would I respect you?" Joseph sneered at the coachman before running towards Lilibeth who nodded her head and boarded the carriage that was second-in-line.

"By the way Ma'am Great Magician, where are we going?" When the carriage was finally moving, Joseph couldn't help but ask.

"Well, where do you want to go?"

"I want to go to the Begin- ah no. The Village of Baguhan." The NPCs referred to the Beginner Village as the Village of Baguhan.

The Great Magician Lilibeth frowned and she replied: "Why do you want to go to such a remote place? Going to that place will only inhibit your growth!"

Joseph's eyes widened in shock for a moment before his shock turned into excitement when he saw the hidden meaning behind the Great Magician Lilibeth's words.

"Then, does Ma'am Great Magician have a recommended place that I could go into so that I could further improve my skills?"

She stared at Joseph with a frown before saying: "Leave out the Ma'am Great Magician. Just call me Lily, you are someone that defeated me in the Festival of Battles. I do not deserve such an honor of being called like that by you."

Joseph froze for a moment before smiling: "I will never let her learn the truth about how many times I had to challenge her before I managed to defeat her..." He inwardly swore.

"Okay, Lily..." When these words came out of Joseph's mouth. The Great Magician Lilibeth trembled for a moment before shifting her head away towards the side.

"What place does Lily recommend that I go so I can further improve my skills?" Joseph continued, but when he saw that the Great Magician Lilibeth was acting in a strange manner. He couldn't help but slowly ask...

"Ermmm, could it be that Lily's embarrassed of being called as Lily?" Every time that the word "Lily" came out of Joseph's mouth, the Great Magician Lilibeth's shoulders visibly trembled. If that wasn't embarrassment, then what was it?

"Quit speaking nonsense!" A cold and unfeeling aura burst from Lilibeth's body.

"..." Joseph gulped a mouthful of saliva in astonishment.

But before he could apologize, Lilibeth spoke once again.

"It's the Divine Sword Sect! You should go to the Divine Sword Sect! That place suits you the best. Find a drunkard called Juzo, tell him that I sent you there and he will lead you the way."

When she finished her sentence, a bunch of system notifications suddenly appeared before Joseph.

[The Great Magician's Recommendation]

Quest Difficulty: F

You caught the attention of the Great Magician Lilibeth. She recommends that you go towards the Divine Sword Sect and present yourself to Juzo, who will lead you the way once he knew that you came due to the Great Magician's Recommendation.

Quest Clear Conditions: Present yourself to Juzo.

Quest Rewards: Become a disciple of the Divine Sword Sect. A status envied by everyone.

(Disciple of the Divine Sword Sect) - Everyone, including commoners and nobles, would be amicable towards you. It will be easier for you to find jobs and your affinity with some members of royalty and specific commoners would rise.

Quest Failure: Kicked out of the Divine Sword Sect.

You are no longer able to enter the Divine Sword Sect.

Any disciple of the Divine Sword Sect will be disgusted at you and openly mock you.]