The Earth After Rebirth

He looked at both Hiro and Nikolai. They looked at him expectedly, as if waiting for orders.

"You'll both have to pay for the building of the base. I just paid 500k for that land. Building a base will probably cost around a million, so split it.

"Can we also discuss what kind of base we want? I was thinking a Manor, but fortified like a castle. You know, so it'd be hard to get attacked and taken over."

Hiro simply looked at Nikolai, who just nodded, then at the NPC lady, "what he said!" Nikolai didn't argue either, he nodded in agreement.

Hiro and Nikolai paid half each, luckily theirs cost 900k in total. Land and buildings were still very cheap now. It was going to be in the millions in a week, once they introduce guilds and everything else.

"Your Manor-Castle will be finished in 2 days. In-game time. Please only go there once it's been 2 days exactly."

They thanked the NPC and quickly got out of the bank. Kiro was glad they finally got this one thing out of the way, now all he needed was rest. That's when he got a system notification.

[Isla wants to be your friend. Accept? Y/N]

It took Kiro a whole 10 seconds to figure who this was. The time at the labyrinth had messed with his head, so much that it felt like he hadn't seen her at all after coming out of it.

The road to the capital after the Labyrinth felt a bit hazy. It was like watching an unfocused film. It was honestly, all a blur.

He quickly clicked accept. Immediately after, he got a call from her. Why didn't they incorporate texting in this game? Even calls are just video calls. What a pain! Kiro lamented internally.

"Hey," he said

"I respected your wishes back then, but I'm worried. Are you okay?" She asked, concern plagued her voice.

Kiro was confused. Were they that close? But he could tell, just from her voice that she was genuinely concerned for him. Then he tried to remember the time before the labyrinth, as mentally exhausting as it was, he put together the fragments.

'So we are, kind of close.' This scared him a little bit, how could a game make you forget something like that?

"Hello?" Isla impatiently flailed her arms across the screen.

He had zoned out without really meaning to.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." He gave her a reassuring smile.

She sighed and smiled, "what are you guys planning? a dungeon run? can I come?" She asked.

"No. We aren't going to a dungeon. We're going to take a break from this game, maybe two days, we're really mentally strained, when we come back we're going to the mines for coins and minerals.

"I suppose coins aren't something you're very interested in," he said nonchalantly, as if it was the most obvious thing.

"oh." She felt a ping across her chest.

'Why does she look dejected? does she need coins?'

"We just came from the bank, we bought land. You better also go and buy some. There aren't many left that are inside the capital. They're very cheap too." He tried to change the subject.

"You already bought land? Just how fast is the service."

"Yes. Even we need a base. They're pretty quick, well it may have something to do with the fact that we were the only ones."

She shrugged, "thanks Kiro. Later."

She hung up. Hiro was staring at him dumbly.

"Why do you get to be the only one added?" He asked with a tinge of jealousy. Getting closer to Isla, meant getting closer to Saanvi.

"I don't know. Probably because my name is easier to remember, besides, isn't it Saanvi you like." Kiro said absent-mindedly.

"I do not!"

Kiro ignored him completely. They stopped in front of the bank, Kiro looked through the skills they amassed over the quests and monster killing back at the beginner village, there were about 50 skill books.

He contemplated whether or not to give Nikolai some, they had about 3 assassin skill books.

"Hiro, what do you think, should we give Nikolai some skill books? Since he has joined us and all."

"I don't see why not." Hiro shrugged, he didn't seem to care, he had no idea how much money they truly were.

Nikolai looked a bit surprised. He had never seen a skill book before, I mean he had in other games, but in this one, they were quite rare.

"How did you guys get skill books?"

"We were the first to enter the C ranked labyrinth at beginners village. We also cleared an S ranked quest." Kiro answered as if it wasn't a big deal.

"THAT WAS YOU?" Nikolai couldn't help but shout.

He couldn't believe he never put 2 and 2 together, this was the Kiro and Hiro, the two people who broke the forums with world announcements, and he somehow joined them?

As aloof as Nikolai was, he paid attention on things that mattered. This one slipped through his fingers for sure. He was utterly amazed and glad he asked to join them.

"Haha, yeah, buddy, calm down." Kiro pat him on the back and handed him the 3 assassin skill books.

Nikolai didn't waste any time and quickly consumed them. He immediately checked them out, one could mask his presence. He could be one with shadows, he could go in and out of shadows.

One was dual wielding since he was a dual wielder he appreciated this one. The other was killing intent, which caused even multiple NPCs to freeze with fear at its activation.

Kiro felt envious because to him it seemed like no other class required understanding before using a skill. When he really thought about it, he realised that even regeneration hadn't been usable. If it weren't for potions and a healer, he may as well have died.

"I'm sure none of you will be against this. How about we take a two day break? I'm mentally exhausted."

At Kiro's words, both Hiro and Nikolai heaved a deep sigh of relief. As if they were also thinking this. They both gave Kiro a look of appreciation.

"Great leader."

So they all logged out.