"Look Soren. If you have any questions about the game, ask the some of the developers or beta testers later, or go to the Public Relations department on the upper floors. I'm not someone who has worked in depth with anything connected to the game, aside from developing the geography of a few maps, since I mainly work on the development of the different environments for testing purposes, as well as overseeing the testing procedures on those said environments." Dr.Vale explained, as she didn't have much knowledge about the reception of the game, or everyone's behavior during their playtime, before changing the topic coldly, to their main objective. "Anyways, just stick to playing or doing some quests until the end of the shift. If all goes as I'm currently expecting it, we should be able to get some actual results soon enough."

  "Got it doc..." Seeing as he wouldn't be getting any answers currently, Soren decided to leave that topic for later and decided to try out one of the easier purple rank requests, as he needed to get a good idea of the amount of work he'd need put in for a single purple rank quest, so the quest of choice was the Slothful Knight Hunt quest, which required him to hunt twenty of them.

  On paper, it didn't sound like much, but he knew that it'd likely take him quite a while to complete, as he'd have to go pretty deep into the forest. Aside from the amount of knights he'd have to hunt though, this quest was the most manageable one for himself, as not only he'd have to hunt a somewhat familiar enemy, but it was a solitary enemy, hence he wouldn't have to worry about being ambushed by a bunch of them. Not only that, but their only threatening move would be their wind slash, and with his current stats, it was a fairly predictable move to deal with, so Soren had nothing to worry about, aside from being blindsided by some other beast that was roaming the area.

  Once he finished resupplying himself with a few potions and tore off the mission paper for the Slothful Knights, Soren swiftly made his way towards the deeper parts of the forest and started his hunt for them. Time slowly passed and Soren slowly started amassing kills on the Slothful Knights, as they weren't much different than the squires he's been dealing with. While hunting for them, he'd run pretty frequently to other monsters, such as hogs, bunnies and even the occasional roller or two, but didn't bother wasting his time with them, except for the rollers, as their shells were pretty valuable.

  During his hunt, he occasionally engaged in a bit of small talk with Nora and Nicolas, as they'd occasionally talk about random topics, such as parts of their daily schedules, some of their work experiences and even some gossip about a couple of celebrities, whose relationship was slowly forming cracks. During this small talk, Nora happened to ask Soren something, that made him stop his hunt for a bit.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "So Soren, how come Dr.Morgan is one of your regulars? He doesn't seem the kind of person to visit a random coffee house, at some obscure corner of the city."

  "He isn't exactly a regular of mine... It's a bit more complicated than that..." Soren stated awkwardly, as he put away his sword and decided to sit on a nearby a protruding root, before continuing the conversation. "Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how to describe the start of my relationship with him... We do have an amiable relationship now, but back when I first started working on the Resting Grounds, let's say every meeting was complicated."

  "How come?" Nicolas chimed in curiously.

  "Hm... I guess I should explain a bit about how I got hired into the old coffee house." Soren stated, as he had a melancholic expression and thought back on his past. "I think it was around four years ago, when I landed my job on the old Resting Ground... At the time, I had gone through some rough events and was trying to recover through the aftermath, although I can't say I was doing well either, as I didn't even have a roof under my head, since the old apartment complex I was living in before, had shut down.

  Thankfully, I managed to keep all of my necessary essentials, but during that time, it was hard trying to find a place to stay, let alone rent, since it was during a time that landowners were trying to drive up the rent to nearly impossible prices. It was during that time that I managed to snag for myself my old apartment, although I had to pay around 2000 credits per month, rather than the 600 credits I was currently paying up until now."

  "600 credits for an apartment!? That's a bloody steal! How'd you manage to get yourself that?" Nora asked in awe, as it was extremely rare to find apartments that didn't cost over 1000 per month.

  "Stigmatized property, that's how."

  "What's stigmatized property?"

  "It's property that is mostly avoided by most buyers or tenants, since those are the sites of murders, suicides and other illicit activities. There's also the belief that those properties are also haunted, although that's a bunch of hogwash, since ghosts have already been disproved a couple decades ago." Dr.Vale explained casually, as she proceeded to drink from her coffee cup.

  "Anyways, that's not the point. At the time that I found my apartment, I was also job hunting, looking for something to help me sustain myself and keep a roof over my head. I did try for a couple of other gigs, such as a bartender at a night club or a cashier at convenience stores, but was unfortunately unsuccessful."

  "So that's when you were hired as an employee at the Resting Grounds?" Nicolas guessed, as that conclusion was the one that made the most sense to him.

  "Not exactly... I did actually manage to land myself a job at a convenience store after a couple of weeks, but I barely managed to work for a week, before I was forced to quit."

  "How come you quit then? What happened? Did they fire you for inappropriate behavior or something?" Nora asked eagerly, as she was itching with curiosity.

  "I wish it was the case. but there are times when the world has decided to screw you over and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it."

  "Hurricane Ophelia... It passed through Glaxion City near the end of September back then and cause a lot of damage to the southern half of the city... Is that what you meant Soren?" Dr.Vale asked, as she had a thoughtful expression.

  "Although there wasn't as much damage as expected at the time, there was still quite a bit of damage cause by Ophelia... The convenience store wasn't spared by the passing of the hurricane though, as it was turned into a broken building, with broken trees and vehicles protruding through the rubble. The owner of that convenience store did manage to rebuild it after a few months, but at that point, I was already working at the Resting Ground for quite some time. Funnily enough, I still haven't been paid for my work to this day." Soren explained, as he rose from his sitting position and returned into his hunt, while continuing his story.