"Excuse me, but can you take a look at this map and tell me where this village is?"
Keith was currently in an underground pub with his new getup and identity in toe. People were eying him with suspicion as he was a new face in the underground scene.
But just as people were suspicious of him, many were intrigued by him as well. Keith was sure they were observing him to see what his real intentions were.
"Hmm, let me see the map. What the hell is this? I cannot read anything on it. Man, you got scammed hard times because of this map. You might want to get your money back for it."
The bartender looked at the map, tilting it up and down but he was unable to read it. Keith had expected this outcome so he quickly snatched the map back in his hands.
The people on the side looked even more intrigued by his behavior now. They were taking note of him and who he was. Some were even beginning to try and approach him by now.
"E-Excuse me. I saw you from behind and could not help but notice that you look familiar. Have we met before?"
A kid asked Keith as soon as he was alone. The kid looked nervous, most likely being forced to come here by everyone else. Everyone pretended like they were not interested in his conversation but they all kept an ear up as Keith was asked this question.
"Kid, go back. Whatever you are selling, I don't want to buy it."
Keith denied the kid before the kid could make an offer. Keith already knew what the offer would be - to join his team or to help with a mission. This kid was not the first Keith had approached for such a thing.
And this bar was not even the first Keith had visited this evening. He had visited three more bars and left without ordering anything. He was not risking drinking in his new body until he knew his alcohol tolerance.
"O-Oh, I see. B-But you can come over to my group, right? Our boss wants to see you for a second. I am sure you will change your mind once you meet our boss."
The kid asked nervously. He looked over to his 'boss' who was a lady and flinched. It was easy to tell that the kid was threatened to bring Keith over or else…
'I am sorry kid but I am not going to fall for a honey trap. Your boss is not even my type with all her bulky muscles. She looks like she can snap me into two.'
Keith mentally flinched as soon as he noticed how much buffer the boss was than him. Thankfully, his mind did not spark with any memories which meant that this boss was not in the original MMO.
Leaving this place should not have any problem for Keith.
"Sorry kid, but you tried," Keith spoke this openly and then continued in a whisper, "If you have any problem, go to the guild and give them this card. They will help you out."
Keith slipped a small card into the kid's pocket. It was a card the grandmaster often carried around on him to give out. Keith only knew about it from a special in-game event.
Now, Keith was not generally a good person and he did not help people out from the goodness of his heart.
But this child seemed pathetic and a little too much in trouble. He made Keith feel sorry for him so Keith helped him out.
The child looked startled at the favor that had been bestowed on him. He places his hand on top of his pocket and his eyes narrow in suspicion. But when Keith did not give any other indication that he had seen this action, the kid decided to turn away and go back dejected.
Keith left his fourth bar for the night and decided to call it off for the day. He had made enough appearances to get people talking about him.
Now, what he needed to do was to get involved in a small scene that would get his name out there.
Luckily, Keith got his break soon enough.
He reached the central plaza, the prime place where the crime took place at night. And as one would expect from the game, a monster had somehow managed to slip inside the barrier.
Luckily, Keith had prepared for such an occasion and he subtly took out a mana gun from his hidden dimensional pocket and shot the monster.
Everyone looked at the mysterious black-haired figure who killed the beast. He was someone they had never seen before and this man had acted even faster than the guild members.
Everyone was frozen stiff as soon as the monster appeared so they were not ready to stop Keith as well.
"W-Wait right there. You are under arrest right now so do not try to run away. You need to come with me to the police station and give a statement-"
The police officer finally unfroze from his state and decided to come after Keith. But Keith had planned this incident so it was easy for him to slip away. He watched the poor police officer walk all around, looking for him from the top of the building.
'Let us see. I got the people in the underworld talking and now I have got the police talking. I just need to create a small rumor about myself now and my new identity would be set.'
Keith was happy to see that things were going fantastic for him. Now he was going to disappear for a few days and no one would be able to find him.
So, when rumors about him appeared in other villages as well, his new identity would become more and more solidified.
That night, Keith left the main town and followed the map toward the south. It was difficult to read for him as well but Keith at least knew the basics of where he needed to go from here.
...…
"So, do you know this man or not? I do not want excuses. I just need an answer."
Shinzou held up the shot of the black-haired man the police and lower guild members had passed on to him. There was something familiar and suspicious about this man that tingled Shinzou's senses.
He felt like he had seen this man before but nothing struck his mind for the time being.
And this double feeling of knowing but not knowing was irritating Shinzou. He needed to know who this man was to sate his curiosity.
"M-Master Shinzou, I am sorry but I don't know. He just came in here and ordered us to look at his map. It was something I had never seen before and I told the man he was scammed. He left after that."
The same story, the same excuse. These people had nothing new to add for Shinzou. He was tired of getting the same excuse no matter where he went.
'Just how good was this man? He left no trace for us and his mana is untraceable. At this rate, he might be even better than the grandmaster in hiding-'
Shinzou hit himself mentally for even daring to think that. Grandmaster was the grandmaster and no one could overcome his might.
This new man in the town could be dangerous for all Shinzou knew. He had been here for one day and he had stirred the masses. He could not be allowed to roam free.
"I see. It is fine if you do not know anything. But I need you to call me when he comes back. I need to talk with this mysterious messenger of yours."
The bar helper was all too eager when he agreed. It was an honor to help Master Shinzou out and no one wanted to deny him a favor.
Shinzou left his work contact with the bar and went to the next one. He had two more to cover for the night before he needed to go and look at the dead monster. It had been shot dead in a matter of seconds.
Usually, it was not a big deal. But this unknown man had no reputation and had shown too much awareness. This attack could be a planned thing by this 'new helper' after all.
And if that was so, Shinzou would make sure the new threat disappeared.
'That darn man. I will drag him by his neck and kill him if he dared to cause problems for the grandmaster.'
Shinzou yelled in his heart.
Somewhere along a rural way, Keith sneezed. He had a feeling someone was talking about him but Keith could not prove that.
"Oh dear, it looks like you are catching a cold. Here, try my homemade remedy to keep to warm."
Keith denied the old woman's favor. Her last two drinks had not had the…best taste. The less Keith drank, the better he would be.
