Chapter 27: Not Enough Time
The door creaked open before he could respond to the Wood Elf's message so he quickly dismissed the chat interface.
"I heard you finally woke up." Timothy sauntered in the room and turned the lone chair backwards before sitting on it. He leaned on the chair's backrest. "You took your time, didn't you?"
Han managed a grin. "Oh, did you worry about me? I'm quite touched."
"Who wouldn't worry about the boy who passed out due to seeing some blood." Timothy rolled his eyes, "You should have been more alert. Goblins are supposed to be tricky and cunning creatures—it's a good thing that they happen to be cowards."
Cowards? He remembered the rage of that one goblin when he killed its companion. The way it carelessly pounced on him without any regard for itself. "Well, I'm fine now. So thanks for checking up on me."
"I'm just bored, that old man is drinking with the fellow travellers who happened to be staying at the inn."
"Huh, not a drinker?"
"And you're a drinker?" The young man gave him a doubtful look.
He laughed, "It's a way to raise the spirits, but it's not like one drinks to get wasted you know? There's moderation." Except for those nights he had blacked out—the man in front of him wouldn't get it, and well, he'd rather forget it. "Anyhow, you didn't tell me you were a fire mage or something. You could have blasted the Gargoyles to bits if you wanted to, you know?"
A somber smile played on Tim's lips, "You're flattering me too much. That wasn't magic casting, idiot. It was a [ Skill ] from a [ Class ], a normal [ Class ] and nothing like a [ Mage ]."
"What? What [ Class ] and [ Skill ] do you have?" Han inched forward and clasped his hands together. What kind of Class allowed one to wield fire?
The young man sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's rude asking for one's Class and Skills you know?"
"But we're buddies, teammates! It'd make more sense if we could work together if I know your skills and you knew mine. For starters, I have [ Unarmed Combat ] and [ Unerring Throw ]—that's why I tend to have some stones on me for throwing."
"That's quite a convenient skill. Did you gain it from throwing rocks at the Cliffs?" Timothy chuckled.
Han rolled his eyes, "Come on, tell me what Class you have, or at least the Skill?"
"[ Firestarter ]"
"Woah that sounds cool!"
"...is it? I mean, it does sound pretty neat, but it's nothing compared to the spells a [ Mage ] or [ Wizard ] can produce." Timothy muttered, for once, not exactly putting himself up at a high pedestal. Well, kind of not praising himself this time.
How bad could the guy's [ Class ] be?
"Well, whatever your [ Class ] is, I'm itching to get something useful. I'm still a [ Peasant ] after all this time." He admitted.
"What?! How could you never have gained any [ Class ] aside from that one? Did you keep rejecting it? Or did it never pop up once in your life? You've been doing odd jobs to support yourself but never gained a single [ Class ]?"
Han Jing had a feeling it was because he had entered the game recently, but this 'Han' seemed to have a background story and a relationship with the people around him yet he didn't gain any [ Classes ]? He sighed inwardly. Well, this was a Virtual Reality Simulation and not a Transmigration after all!
Everything around him wasn't real right?
It was another session of him wondering how this world worked. The people around him had Classes but they didn't seem to have any System Interface or something—at least as far as he could tell.
A hand waved in front of him. "Earth to Han? Is your head really as empty and hollow as I think it is?"
Could the Creators actually create life? He cleared his throat. "Head was in the clouds. Can you tell me how your [ Skill ] works? You seemed to have paled from using it."
"Well, there's clearly a limit to how many times you can use it in succession. You're lucky that I happen to be a prodigy in terms of my [Skill]."
"My thanks, you were a great help! And Old Man Joe Light was pretty neat too, huh?"
"Well, he is older than the two of us combined. Of course he'd gain great [ Skills ] even as a [ Farmer ], you know?"
"Do you think he's a [ Level 100 Farmer] ?"
Timothy snickered. "Of course not. It's not like he has all the time in the world to level up, plus your level does not simply increase with age but with the hardships that you face."
"Will you tell me what your [ Class ] is now?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"You're not fuun."
"I don't get why I should be revealing information carelessly like you. Even if we're low-classed, there's still benefits in keeping it a secret and keeping one's opponents on their toes."
Han raised a brow. "Is that how you did it with the Goblins? You bluffed them?" And also with Old Man Joe Light's assistance, but he wouldn't say that aloud. "Made them think that you were stronger than you actually were?"
"So you can understand, that's good. Anyhow, it's getting a bit late and I'm heading off to my room." Timothy stood up before noticing the empty dishes on the table. "I suppose I'll have to return this to our Miss Innkeeper."
"Forgetting about Miss Becky so quickly?" Han grinned.
Timothy shot him a glare. "I'm only doing this because you can't do it on your own. It pays to be kind and thoughtful to our hostess, you know? It has nothing to do with Miss Becky."
He winced, "Sorry, I didn't know it was a touchy subject—I mean you're right. I'm awful, but I think I can try getting it down myself." There were more people inside the inn, it could always be nice to swap stories or at least listen in.
"If you want to topple down the stairs? Be my guest." Timothy still held onto the tray. "I suggest you get some rest, we're leaving earlier tomorrow."
Or he could do some more checking on that feature that was really akin to Kingdom Building. There was a good reason that the Wood Elf was interested in it after all. "Thanks! I'll consider it! Have a good rest, Tim!"
Timothy sighed and waved him off, "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow." The door thumped as he closed it.
Now what could he do? Should he check if the fact that Timothy was his [ First Companion Aquired ] would allow him to see his stats like some character sheet? They were kind of a party after all. Wait, he hadn't seen his own status in awhile now. Or maybe he should gather some [ Resources ] now? And he had left the Wood Elf hanging—
A ding notification appeared in front of him.
[ Earth Time: 18:00: You Have Been Logged In For 5 hours and Twenty Five Minutes! ]
[ Earth Status: Two Individuals Have Entered Your Abode! ]