Chapter 20: Annoyed Janus

"I didn't think about it before, but how am I supposed to go back? There are 15 kilometers of distance between me and my house, "He muttered as he walked on an empty road.

"I better call an uber," He muttered as he took out his phone.

He placed the request for an uber on his phone and continued walking ahead as he thought about things. His life had turned so awkward all of a sudden. He couldn't help but think about it.

Just a week ago, he was one of the top members of the 3rd rank guild in Divinity, and now he had come back in time to when it all began.

'I won't join Divinity again,' He determined as he continued walking.

'It has been so long since I woke up this early. It feels surprisingly good to take a morning walk,' He thought, but right then, a car stopped right beside him.

It was a black four-seater SUV, which looked quite luxurious.

"Sir, Are you Ryder Flynn? Did you call for an Uber?" The driver asked as he lowered the car window and looked at him.

"Ah, yeah, right. I'm Ryder," Ryder replied with a smile.

"Nice. My name is Max. Come on in," He said as he unlocked the doors. Ryder opened the doors and sat on the back seat.

"Where do you want to go, Mr. Flynn?" Max asked him as he started driving.

"Oh, right, take me to 42nd Street," He told the driver as he unlocked his phone and started scrolling down the news feed.

"Sir, do you mind if I turn on the radio?" Max said out of nowhere as he glanced back for a brief moment.

'Oh well, I can't deny now, can I? It's your car, after all,' He smiled bitterly in his heart as he nodded his head.

"Sure, go ahead," He told Max.

Max turned on the radio, and unexpectedly Max started listening to the news instead of the songs.

"Today is the release date of the world's first fully immersive video game Divinity. The game will be available for purchase in all the outlets from 4 pm. Let's hear from our friend Jill Maximoff. She is standing at one of the largest stores in the country. The New Jersey branch of Games Forever," A woman's voice sounded.

"Jill, what is the situation there?"She continued.

"Well, Jane. There is heavy excitement in the crowd to get the game, and a few people have already started lining up for the sale that will begin at 4 pm, and it's just 6:30 am right now. You can judge the craze of the game from just this single fact," Another woman replied.

Ryder heard the news but decided to ignore it. He didn't want to be related to the game at all.

"Divinity is really an incredible thing. Even I'm excited to play it. I even sent my girlfriend to buy a unit for me while I'm working. What about you, sir? Are you hoping to buy it as well?" Max said out of nowhere.

" I'm not interested in that game. It's quite dangerous, in my opinion," Ryder shook his head as he replied.

" Really? You're probably paranoid, sir. The IMC has certified the game to be 100% safe, after all. You haven't even played the game," Max told Ryder in a friendly tone.

'Maybe," Ryder sighed and didn't say anything. He couldn't tell him that he was saying it because he had already died because of Divinity.

[Ding… Another Main Mission has been assigned to the host]

That sentence was enough for Ryder to start sweating. He could feel that the mission would be tough since he had previously offended Janus. It was the primary mission, as well, just like the mission of killing the human.

[Mission: Become the first person to reach level 5 in Divinity and pass the Novice Village.

Reward: 100 origin points, Access to the next level of the store, and a secret reward.

Punishment for failure: The host will die from a heart attack.

Time Limit: Undefined]

Janus finished and went silent, leaving a stunned Ryder sitting with his mouth open.

'You're doing it to get back to me, aren't you? I'm sorry for talking back to you. Don't give me such a mission,' Ryder said to Janus in mind with an annoyed look on his face.

[The mission has been given and can't be taken back. Also, Janus isn't angry. He's just thinking about how it can follow the kind suggestion of the host and 'go fuck itself']

Janus let out in his childlike voice, but Ryder could sense some sarcasm in Janus' tone. Ryder couldn't help but doubt that Janus had some emotions.

He realized that no matter how much he begged, Janus wouldn't change the mission.

'The time limit is Undefined, but I know that I have less than four days since the first person reached level 4 on the 4th day. If he gets to level 5 before me, I will fail,' Ryder thought as he wondered about the mission.