Chapter 56: [56] Just A Little Late
Ark woke up the next morning feeling like a freshly baked loaf of bread. Although Skeletons did not require sleep, he had slept a couple of times as a skeleton.
The race awakening happened a few days before the tutorial, so during that time, he got acquainted with his new body, of course, that included how sleep felt like.
It was terrible.
Ark would just shut his eyes and mentally force himself to go unconscious, which was extremely difficult mind you, and whenever he woke up, he felt just like he did before he fell asleep.
But as a human, every single part of Ark’s body tingled with life. The tingling sensation on his skin, the warmth of the bed below him, the sleepishness that still hugged him like a blanket... Everything was indicative of life. It felt good.
He stretched and there was an audible pop as his bones clicked into place, then he got up from his bed.
"Wait, how come I didn’t stumble? Why don’t I even have a slight headache..."
Yesterday was already strange. Ark had never been a heavy drinker, but last night he had taken in far more than he normally did without issue...
And yet he felt fine the next morning? Normally, he would wake up with a splitting headache that would make him feel like decapacitating himself.
’Is it because of my stats?’ Ark smiled and stared at his hands.
Although the effectiveness of skills were severely dampened while not in your race form, all his other stats were still unaffected.
’Now it all makes sense.’
Ding!
Ark’s phone lit up by the side of his pillow. He grabbed it and unlocked the device, before checking his notification.
He had gotten an email from the player’s association. The email was brief, it was a simple reminder about his scheduled player registration.
Since players were more of a nation’s strength than even the military, the government kept tabs on a lot of information regarding players.
Information like the total number of players in the country, their classes, and their combat utility in the case of war, were some of the most important.
The meeting was scheduled for eight o’clock in the morning. "Hmm? Eight o’clock?"
He glanced at the left edge of his screen and nearly dropped his phone. "8:30?!"
Ark was not just late, if he did not rush over to the association, there was a chance he would completely miss it!
He quickly glanced around the room. "Brush, shower and then clothes—" Ark rushed over to his wardrobe and pulled it open, only for his mouth to drop.
This was his first impression in the association, but most of the clothes he had here were casual. The more professional clothes were clumped up at the bottom of the wardrobe...
Thankfully, there was a simple solution for it!
The floor below him darkened and four dark creatures rose from the ground. In front of them was the goblin king Sumo. He was about to bow when something suddenly landed on his hands.
Sumo raised the strange tool and eyes it suspiciously, before glancing towards—
Plop!
White shirt and trousers covered his face. Ark rushed to the bathroom door, already naked, a small white towel wrapped around his waist.
Sumo cocked his head to the side, as though to ask, "What the fuck?"
Ark frowned. "Insert that end into that switch." He did his best to explain as quickly as he could. "Then use the hot sword to beat those clothes into submission!"
"Get those clothes ready by the time I’m out, or you’re all dead!"
Slam!
A gust of wind washed over them from the sheer force he had used to close the door, small cracks appearing on the bed frame.
"..."
King Sumo glanced at the other soldiers. They all shrugged before staring down at the iron.
The knight pulled out his sword, the mage lifted one of the shirts. He was about to slice it in two when a voice suddenly caused them to freeze.
"What do you think you are doing?"
<•••>
Ark got out of the toilet with his tousled hair sticking to his face. What he had not expected was to find Cracker teaching his undead how to use an iron...
’What is with this kid? It was almost as if she had no fear whatsoever.’
The undead all watched her with deep focus, their eyes widening with shock as they watched the wrinkles on the shirt vanish.
Clap Clap—
The mage clapped as though she had seen the greatest magic trick to have ever existed.
"Come to think about it..." Ark thought out loud. "I still haven’t given them names have I?"
"Hi, Ark!" Cracker waved when she spotted him. "Who are these guys? They look so cool!"
Ark sighed. "They are my summons."
Cracker’s eyes brightened. "You mean you can call them anytime you wish? That is great!"
"I know right?" Ark smirked. "They can help me clear dungeons, act as body guards, boost my grinding time...."
"They can go shopping with me, they can clean my room, the tall one can reach the very high cobwebs...." Cracker chimed in.
Ark frowned. ’They aren’t your maids you know?’
"Alright, gather around my children." Ark motioned them forward. "Alright, he stroked his jaw as he stared at the knight."
Cracker placed her finger on her jaw as well. "What are we doing?"
"Trying to figure out a name.... Aha, I’ve got it! You will be the Heavenly Inquisition Blade!"
"Huh?" Cracker gave him an odd look.
"What?"
She placed her hands on her waist. "That is a stupid name."
"What do you mean? It’s a great name!" Ark glanced at the knight. "You love your new name, don’t you?"
The knight nodded.
Cracker’s frown deepened. "Now you’re just threatening him." She sighed. "Let’s just go with Inquisitor..."
"Alright, that sounds fair."
[Name Registered: INQUISITOR]
The undead stepped back and the next one came forward. He was larger than the last knight and wore a bulky shield on his back.
"I have the perfect name for him! Unshakable mountain knight!"
"..."
A few seconds passed in awkward silence.
"I’m beginning to think you have a terrible naming sense. How do you plan on calling that mouthful during battle?"
Cracker shook her head. "Allow your dear sister to help you out." She smirked. "Mountain, that will be his name."
She pointed her finger at the mage. "And we will call her Jenna."
Ark’s eyes widened slightly. "Wait, those are actually good names. Why didn’t I think of just naming him Mountain?"
[Name Registered: Mountain]
[Name Registered: Jenna]
Cracker tapped his back while laughing. "Huhuhu. It’s either you’ve got it, or you don’t brother."
It was at that moment that Bronya walked into the room. She frowned when she saw Ark standing in the center of his room, dripping water, and with a towel tired around his waist.
She raised a brow. "Were you... going somewhere?"
Ark’s body stiffened like a pole.
"Damn it!"
<•••>
Ark quickly dressed up and took a cab to the association, but as though the world was against him, he got stuck in traffic...
So he did the only sane thing a player would do in that situation.
He got out of his car and sprinted the rest of the way.
Although he could have always rescheduled his registration, it would mean delaying his trip back to Eden by a day.
It was mandatory to register in the players association for the safety of the players. If they had no information on him, then it would be considerably more difficult to find him if something weren’t wrong in Eden...
Ark did not stop running even after he got to the door. He pushed it open, eyes scanning the room, and legs moving until he got to the nearest counter.
The woman behind the counter was taken aback by his sudden entry. "Uhum... welcome to the player’s association?"
His freshly ironed shirt was wet with sweat, and his breathing was a sharp wheeze.
Just how long had he been running for? Should she call an ambulance?
"Good morning...? Are you alright?"
Ark raised a finger to stop her, then he took a long breath, before he straightened with a smile.
"Good morning~" He pushed his hair back. He was late, actually, late could not even be used to describe his current situation.
"Forgive my appearance." He shook his head slightly. "Nothing like a little jog to speed up the heart am I right?"
"I guess?"
There was only one way to get out of that mess. Ark had to attempt to pull off a technique he had only seen in movies and read on r-dit forums.
His face card.
He placed an elbow on the counter and leaned forward slightly. "Sadly, I might have wasted my efforts today."
"Really?" She frowned. "Why is that?"
"Well. If I knew I would find a woman capable of making my heart race just as fast, I would have taken the bus."
The woman blinked.
Ark blinked.
"I see. So how can I help you today?"
Ark felt like dying.
"I-I am P-Player Ark Karras. You see, I am actually here for my registration. But I am a...." His voice dropped low. "...little late..."
"Oh." The woman arranged her glasses and began typing. "That’s not an issue, as long as you are just a little late I am sure we can slot you in som—"
The woman paused, then glanced at him. Her eyes moved to the clock at the back of the room.
"Eight o’clock."
Those two words were enough to end his entire career.
"I am sorry Mr. Ark. But we can reschedule a meeting that was set for eight o’clock to twelve pm."
She shook her head again. "I’m afraid you will have to come back tomorrow. Oh?"
"Oh?"
The woman adjusted her glasses. "It seems the vice chairman would like a personal meeting with you." She pointed at one of the security guards. "He will lead you to his office."
Ark did not know whether to be happy or annoyed. On the plus side, he would be able to complete his registration, still, he couldn’t help but wonder—
Just why was the vice chairman of the player’s association looking for him?
<•••>
The woman watched Ark go with a stoic look on her face, but the moment he got out of sight...
[Skill, ’Poker Face’ has timed out.]
BADUMP—BADUMP—!
Her cheeks felt as hot as a furnace as her heart was pounding so hard that it felt as though it would leap out of her chest.
"Calm down, Charity!" She slapped her cheeks.
’Mommy said no good will come out of chasing bad boys!’
But still...
She bit her finger as she tried to picture his face once more.
Maybe a little taste won’t hurt?
"No! Focus!"
"Uhum hello?" There was a boy standing at the other side of the counter giving her weird looks.
"Eeeeek—!"
[Skill Poker Face is now active]
Charity immediately stood straight and adjusted her glasses.
"Good morning. How can I help you?" She asked the young man standing in front of her.
"I came to register as a player."
"Name?"
"Darius... Darius Arkknight."