The Immortal Player

"Of course, grandma…" Pedro said with a bitter smile.

His grandma simply sighed in response and said, "Good! You're lucky that your doctor stopped me from giving you your lecture materials and such. Else… You'd be studying by now! Anyway… Enjoy your free time while it last!"

"Ma… Please take it easy on Pedro. He just got transferred from the ICU. I am sure that he'll be able to find a way to catch up with the lessons and lectures that he missed in the past month." Mrs. Caroline Armaz said respectfully. Then, she added, "I even talked to his professors and said that they would do their best to adjust their lectures in consideration to Pedro's case. So, you don't need to worry much about it."

"Aish!" Pedro's grandma could only flick her tongue and murmured in response, saying, "I am just reminding him about his responsibilities—now that his recovery is almost finished!"

Everyone could only force out a smile deep inside in response. They all know that old people like Pedro's Grandma only cared about their future. They have experienced the most in life, including the hardships that came from being uneducated. So, they understood where Pedro's grandma was coming from.

Pedro simply smiled in response and said, "You don't need to worry about my school, grandma! I'll do my best to catch up with the lessons, as soon as my body regains back its strength. That aside… The doctor suggested that I enroll in some kind of sports clinic once I can stand and move my body once again… Considering that outdoor sports won't even be a possible choice while I am here in the hospital, Why don't I train some kind of martial arts instead? I mean… Wouldn't it be good to learn self-defense along the way?"

"Self Defense?! Self Defense?! Stop spouting nonsense!" Pedro's grandma scolded. Then, she swung her hands with full force as if she was slashing someone with a machete, while saying, "All you need is a machete and you can chase anyone who dares to mess with you to their deaths!"

Everyone could not help but laugh in response. After a few seconds, Pedro calmed down and said, "Aish, grandma! I only said to defend myself not to kill someone. Besides… How can I bring Machetes in broad daylight, nowadays? I would get reported to the police if I do that! Hahaha!"

"Aish…" Pedro's grandma could not help but surrender this time. Well… His grandma was just telling Pedro how they did 'self-defense' during their days. Without the presence or availability of guns, civilians back then only have machetes with them that are often used in farming.

At this moment, Sabrina approached Pedro's grandma and handed her a plate with fried rice and fried chicken with matching gravy, together with a pair of spoon and fork. She said, respectfully, "Grandma, here's your lunch po."

"Ah… Thanks!" Pedro's grandma nodded with a smile towards Sabrina. Then, she continued saying, "What a good girl! P-Please have a lot of patience with my grandson, ha!"

Sabrina bowed respectfully with a beautiful smile on her face and said, "Yes, Grandma! I will po!"

Pedro's nodded with a smile in response. Then, she averted her gaze towards Sabrina's mother and said, "Mrs. Conception, thank you very much for the food! You and Sabrina even went out of your way just to visit my grandson!"

"That's nothing po!" Marisa Conception, Sabrina's Mom, said respectfully. Then, she smiled and said, "That's the least we can do for Pedro."

"Nevertheless, thanks!" Pedro's grandma said—full of gratitude. Then, she raised the plate on her hands slightly, and said, "Let's eat! The food will get cold!"

"Yes, po!" The three ladies said in response as Pedro could only make a bitter smile out of envy from everyone else.

'Ugh… That fried rice and fried chicken… Plus the gravy! I want to eat one too…' Pedro grumbled deep inside—together with his stomach.

At the end of that day, it was decided that Pedro and Sabrina would be enrolled in a Tae Kwon Do class to be taught by Sabrina's Uncle who was a Tae Kwon Do instructor himself. Well… Sabrina herself was a brown belter in Tae Kwon Do, during her elementary days. But because it has been a long time since he last practiced the said martial arts, she decided to take the class from the start once again, with Pedro.

And since it would be awkward if Pedro and Sabrina were the only ones who would be taking the class in the hospital, they invited Aldo, Loren, and even Pedro's cousin, Weyron, to join them. Well… Truth be told, Pedro wanted to learn martial arts not only to maintain his body's strength but to also gain the chance to master a specific fighting style and even apply it in in-game use.

Although it was not in-line with the goal of such martial arts group most of the time, they can't still avoid the fact that through VR simulation could they be able to showcase the advantages of their fighting style against others. In fact, amongst the professional leagues in the Bearth Online on Pedro's past life, most of the gaming organizations in Tier-C Rankings had recruited masters in various martial arts—or even real-life mercenaries, ex-soldiers, ex-police, or even ex-professional players of different sports, just to be included in the rankings.

However, Pedro knew that such things have limits. Yes, they are a step higher in terms of physical ability compared to professional players of VR Games. But, they lack the experience and knowledge in surviving at VR Games like Bearth Online. Thus, their recruitment could only become a temporary solution—like a substitute once the main player is not available.

That said, it was a different story if they, an experienced player, would try to improve their physical abilities. Well… It's not that their body condition would degrade after long hours of playing. The miracle solution Lifo was developed to counter that problem. In fact, Pedro's recovery was thanks to that miraculous liquid.

But… It would not hurt them if they would move their limbs as usual in real life. That is why Pedro always involves such training, even in his past life. It can only be said that he's casually taking steps forward in integrating real-life training with the in-game development of players.

Back in the game, Pedro had needed to return a couple of times to the Tarala Kingdom and create as many Aron Burners as he can for the Adventurer's Guild's disposal as they expand to other strongholds. As for the Market Sector of the Adventurer's Guild, Pedro had handed over its temporary control to Neerak Axutar since Weyron was able to fully gain control over the management of the Adventurer's Guild.

Since Pedro's knowledge and mastery of Blacksmithing was not yet profound, he had no choice but to outsource the weapons, skill pages, and everything else sold in the Adventurer's Guild's Market. At this moment, Pedro had event contracted several Blacksmiths to directly sell their creation under the Adventurer's Guild's Market.

Well… The establishment of Adventurer's Guild was an outstanding scheme by Pedro. Players would be given quests—such as material gathering or monster hunts. The players, then, would be given a payment in return—or 'reward' as they call it. Afterward, the players would use that money to buy food and replenish their resources so they could take more quests and consequently increase their level and strength along the way.

On the other hand, the Adventurer's Guild would supply the materials gathered to blacksmiths, cooks, and even alchemists, to produce products that the players can buy later on. With the 'crafting fee' that is equivalent to the 'profit' that the crafters would get by producing such items on their own, many crafters—such as blacksmiths, cooks, and alchemists, chose to simply work under the Adventurer's Guild, where they can simply craft without worry and earn money non-stop. The remaining profit was split into two. A part goes to Pedro as commission while the other half goes back to the Adventurer's Guild to be used as budget in issuing quests.

Of course, the Adventurer's Guild knows that the crafters would consequently increase their proficiency on their respective jobs so, they required the crafters to take on apprentices—which were the human slaves that Pedro kept buying. That way, in case Pedro needs to mass produce a certain product, he can leave such troublesome matters to his slaves.

With all of that in mind, it could be said that it was a 'win-win situation' to all sides. The Strongholds gets aid from the unified adventurers… The adventurers—or players, gets stronger along the process… The Crafters gain profit like they never did before… The Adventurer's Guild obtains influence and Authority—under Weyron… And Pedro earns a lot of coins while being able to develop the crafting abilities and being able to increase the experience of his slaves.

It was a perfect scheme that Pedro had established. Well… It would be difficult for such thing to be taken down. After all, the cause of the Continental Quest was already in his hands. In other words, he dictates on how long this scenario would last.

Add up the fact that the player count—even in Asian Server alone, were increasing exponentially as time goes by, the demand on the Adventurer's Guild had even increased to the point that players from other Servers even tried to establish the same thing but only to miserably fail.

Unfortunately, due to the damage caused by unmanaged adventurers, majority of the human strongholds in other servers had even destroyed their own teleportation platforms—consequently slowing their non-stop summon.

And instead, the various strongholds had start to establish teleportation portals in the wild and far away from their territory. This way, the NPCs could use 'the nature'—or in other words the monsters, to trim the adventurer's population and only leave the best among them to be able to survive and eventually reach their stronghold.

With that, only those adventurers whom they have a use are the only ones that they needed to take care off. As for the others… They are pretty much on their own. Such players could only form in groups and try to survive whilst envying the players in the Asian Server—who are able to develop and level up with ease.