Chapter 13: Another Player
"I am someone from a lineage of people who live deep within the mountains. I unlocked my powers one day.. My family excels in swordsmanship. They take serious pride in it. But the Main I got was more of a magic type, and my family opposed the nature of magic, so I ran away and ended up here." Aria explained.
'God, it's such a pain trying to cover up. I already got my money, so should I just..?'
Aria's thoughts wandered off to the negative side. The kid before her was a nuisance.
Now that she had regained some of her strength back, killing the kid off would be easy.
'..No. I'm being too extreme. What am I thinking?' Aria controlled her emotions and stayed calm as she faced the child.
"Then, what you said to the man just now was wrong, huh?" He had recorded their past conversations in his mind.
Aria told the man that her current state was because of a gate she just took down, but her statement contradicted that.
"That part- I wasn't lying when I said I destroyed a gate right before this." Aria coughed. She was confident in her ability to continue her lies. She only needed to not mess up. "It's just that I'm not with the Association. I just came down, and I only know the basic stuff. I'm a bit lost since I've never been separated from my birthplace..."
"May I ask your name?" The child asked.
"..Aria. Aria Schreiner."
Now, the kid in front of her was probably the only one who knew about her name in this huge world. She didn't have any reluctance in telling him her real name.
"Miss is not South Korean? Your features are pretty sharp, but I didn't think that you were foreign... Anyways, I am called Yoo Jin."
Yoo Jin introduced himself, lifting his right hand to offer a handshake.
'South Korea.. the name of this country, I suppose.' Aria had to be aware of everything he said.
Picking up small clues would help her to familiarize herself with the absurd changes that happened.
'It would be easier if I could just tell my true story and form a cooperation with him, but I can't trust him fully. Ah, maybe memory loss was a better excuse? I messed up...' Aria felt dejected.
She lost her golden chance. She had a bout of panic earlier, so her thoughts were in disarray as she answered him.
As Aria was having an internal strife, Yoo Jin continued observing her.
"Miss Aria, do you know about the existence of <Players>?" Yoo Jin asked.
Aria's eyes widened.
Her mind spiralled off into chaos.
'If this kid knew.. Then, are <Players> actually common? No, I'm the seventh <Player>. Seventh. In this damned world, there can only be seven. So the only way this kid can know would be..'
She was seventh out of God knows how many people lived in the world, correct?
'Is he a <Player>, just like me?' The doubt came to mind.
Was there such a coincidence, in which the first person she met after waking up included someone in the same situation as her?
"Judging by the reaction, I'm guessing that my guess was correct."
"Then, do you know what a <Player> is? Have you ever met one before?"
"No, I don't. Miss Aria should be the.. seventh, right? I am the sixth to be titled <Player>. In fact, I didn't know if you were a <Player>. The system gives us a notification signifying the coronation of the new titles, and the fact that you appeared not long after the notification was issued, combined with your strange attire and knowledge made me think that you were the one in question."
His words confirmed Aria's thoughts. She really came across another <Player> this early into the game.
"What about the perks of being a <Player>? Do you know anything about it?"
Yoo Jin successfully attracted her interest.
Such a coincidence, she was not willing to fully believe that no foul play was at hand. But the boy did possess some interesting elements.
"Well, I can definitely tell you that the System windows, notifications, and the statuses are not something other people possess." Yoo Jin clarified.
"Hmm.. Then, do you a job too?" Aria wanted to inquire about her <Adapter> profession.
"I do, but I think it differs from person to person. Mine is called <The Dragon>. What about Miss Aria?"
Yoo Jin was open about his powers, contrary to Aria's expectations.
'<The Dragon>.. If it's literal, then he is the embodiment of a real dragon?' Aria thought back to the her time. There had been some people who possessed the ability to morph.
She even had the opportunity to morph halfway with her own summons in the past.
"Mine is called <Adapter>. I don't know what it does."
"<Adapter>? Ah, in that case, why don't you try fighting over and over again? My power came to me naturally after I played around with different kinds of situations. I'm still at level 7, I couldn't go into dungeons without risking my life. My experience points are all gathered through training."
"Training? You can gain points from just training your powers?"
"That was the case for me. However, my Main <Dragon Arts> is rather focused on martial arts and practical skills. Training increases my attack power directly as I progress through the techniques, so I can understand why training yields experience points." Yoo Jin reasoned.
"Then, what is Miss Aria going to do next?" Yoo Jin chuckled lightly.
"Explore this dungeon? Together?" Aria pointed at the complex, branched paths that seemed to have no ends.
Before, she wanted to kick the boy out to continue on with the dungeon, but things have changed.
Now that she knew that Yoo Jin was the same case as her, she had little to no qualms about letting him follow her into the dungeon.
Perhaps he could even be of help for her in discovering about this matter deeper?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
illeannne
illeannne Damnit Aria is alone again! T^T
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What else did I forget?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone