Temporal Pearls

Seth stood on a tall building watching players repel Beasts' attacks. His hand was furiously writing stop.

He was a Scribe after all!

He felt bored and wt back to the library. On the way, he met with Nanncy. They have grown a bit distant over the last two weeks.

He still takes lessons, but she no longer showed passion wh she pinpointed his shortcomings. Her character was changing gradually.

At first, wh her burd was lifted, she turned curious but as time wt on she began to disdain the game. Whever they speak she kept pointing out the imperfection of the game and th give out her insights

At first, Seth listed to her but th he realized it was her old self and pride that was tak over. Th they begin to move apart.

He managed to shift all his Arts to G+ and no matter what he did, they wouldn't evolve to F. And for that, she said she has to figure it out by himself.

Today he decided to give her a pep talk.

"Master Nanncy, Good morning!"

She glanced at him, taking a few seconds before she answered. "Hello!"

"With this mtality, you wouldn't go far in the game. Underestimating the game is the last thing you need to do. But what is worse? You have the same mtality as my sister. You take the game as a workplace. Using it to achieve something in life."

"Games are to be played, a sport. It should be joyable. Know the flaws and recognise the beauty. Swim in betwe and don't forget the fun part."

"As the Greatest Saint wh it comes to games, that's how I conquer other games I played."

He said these words before he walked away.

Ding

_____

[Book Of Guide Updated]

Verse 3: Know the flaws and recognise the beauty. Swim in betwe and don't forget the fun part.

____

Wh it comes to Art, Nanncy is the Empress! But wh it comes to VR Games Seth is Grand Master.

She th reflected on things that bothered her.  She wanted to use this game to rise again. But since they were trapped in a beginner's Village, she can't ev explore beyond it, let alone attempt to get her Weapon back.

But what if the goal was to joy the game. You can't die for real and you have no obstruction as in real life.

She smiled, her view changed as she sighed, "Thank you, Seth!" She whispers.

The world froze. This time only the Players can move

____

[ANNOUNCEMENT]

Asteroid Online will have three days of updates. All players should log out in t minutes!

_____

There was a commotion and Players were happy. After one month of playing the game, it was going to be updated.

Some were hoping the new features would be amazing while others were afraid the game would become harder.

Seth in particular was staring at the announcemt with a psive look. One month was ough to allow everyone to get a feel for the game. He knew for sure that shit will go wrong right from the momt players resume.

He needs to have a meeting with his family to share his thoughts.

Seth viewed Games as a place to joy but he knew this game was linked to the Real World. The fact that his Painting Talt in the Real World has improved leaps and bounds just by learning it in-game told him something.

Mostly bad news.

****

Seth was helped out of his Game Cabin. And he immediately asked for a meeting.  So that the players in his family did not go on with their business.

Seth had hidd the fact that his Painting Skills had ris due to the Game. Except for one person

Though his family did notice that sometimes his Cabin used more power than ev the Bronze Cabin of Anna.

They were afraid of what happed to him with the Head Gear happing again.  So, the momt they sse a little power surge, they will come and stand beside his Cabin.

It has happed two times already!

Seth realized the timing corresponded to wh his Skills were converted to Talts and wh the Talts moved from G to G+.

In the meeting, Seth explained his ideas and recommded some things. "That was my assumption,"

"So, what do you think we should do wh the towns are op? Leave or try to find a Hidd Quest!" Sam asked.

"Well, that was speculation. But if the towns were oped th yes. Look for a quest that will grant you access to a City..."

And th the discussion continued.

****

"So we are really going to update it?" Bello Ark asked.

"We need to. We need to have clear images of the Contints and their locations. Which among them do we influce and which ones we don't? And I'm going up the realism by %" Bala Ark explained.

"Good luck th. I hope we will have no casualties." Bello by the side said. He was troubled with something.

"That is the least of our concerns. In a year or two, we will be forced to divulge our secrets to the world. So that people prepare for it." Bala Ark said to his brother.

"Raining down an asteroid the size of pebbles from outer space as mini comets and the only thing that can save us is the Asteroid Online Game Cabin!"

"That sounds like something out of a fairy tale or Sci-fi. But they better believe it!" Bello Ark mumbled with a frown.

_____

Seth was sitting in his room ruminating. In his conservative estimate, his currt Real-life Art Skills were equal to G- minus talt in the game.

That was insane!

Because it was with that G- Talt that he created his first Painting Skill, "Haphazard Painting Skills"

As of now, in the real world, he can use the skill to make Haphazard Painting in two and half hours!

"What if it's not only skills we can bring?"

"What if there is technology or some things in the game that we can copy to the real world!" Seth wondered!

He picked up his PC and logged into the Asteroid Online Forum. He scrolled down seeing various groups.

The groups were made in the name of colours. Most admins were looking for players that have the same coloured outfit.

Ash Warriors Forum

Aqua Marine Forum

Milky Way Alis Forum

There were various Forums of differt colours but Seth did not see the Azure colour.

He tered every group and checked it out. In the d, he found that only the Ash Forum and Milky Way Forum were active.

The rest mostly have two or three members. There is one that caught his atttion.

Red Valley Forum

The Forum had only Admin as a member and he was looking for people of the same contint as him.

The guy claimed that he was the only player in the Red Valley Village! At first, there were Players but each time a player died they did not come back.

He thought that they changed the VR Cabin to spawn elsewhere away from the Red Valley.

Someone asked why he didn't do the same.

He answered that he can't afford to change the Cabin. Besides, he was earning money from the village that he can convert to the real world.

Many people bombard him with questions.

What methods did he use to achieve that? After taking donations he explained that it was through chain Quest from Village Chief.

Seth st the information to Sam, and the reply he got was they already knew about that.

He checked the other groups. In the d, he tered the Geral Group. The talk was about the Update and what it might bring.

Seeing that he was not getting what he wanted he exited. Knowing for sure people were keeping secrets, he dropped the PC and wt to his art room.

There was an unfinished painting he had started a week ago.

The result will be magnifict as he was using a new skill that he obtains in the game.

GG Skill

Glue Gaze Paintings Skills!

It was a skill he learned from Nanncy. It used differt combinations of colours to create eye-capturing portraits.

His mother, Sarah has figured out that his skills have improved and not wanting to be the only bearer of secrets, Seth told her the truth.

She was shocked and understood that the game is deeper than everyone thought. Her first reaction was to stop everyone from playing, but that also means a loss, if it will have more impact on the world.

In the d, she began to devise a plan to better take advantage of the situation. The world still values Art, specifically paintings, especially nobles, it was in their nature to collect them.

There was a saying,

"The world still appreciates Physical Art from the Mind and it is a profession that never gets old."

Sarah's first idea was to op a Painting ShowRoom. But wh she thought about it, she realized that was a risky deavour.

What if Seth was targeted?

They were after all newly ris Class C citizs and they have not found their putting yet.

What was later planned was for Seth to make Paintings and Sara finds a way to sell them.

So far he has made about t paintings. Five were already out, but only one sold and the money was good.

Sara was testing the waters, to see how profitable it would be and what better channel she should use.

The Painting he was currtly working on was of an old man. Their first ever king turned Presidt.

He was said to be a great man that used his wealth to help the needy during the chaos. And Both the poor and rich love him.

If a high-class wealthy man was doing charity, the highest honour is for him to be compared to the first Presidt.

Audu Makama.

A strange name for the new World but still respected. And many childr have his name.