Races: Online

It was far too easy to let time slip out of one's hands.

Sometimes it just happened. The terrible convenience of not noticing the passage of time in one's life, and perhaps in that way, one could say that time did actually help mend the wounds that life bore on one's soul. Han Jing checked the date on his phone, and it was only three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

He could say that it was more than half a month, about nineteen days since he had come across the 'game' that had changed his life for good. If one wanted to add both the time he had spent on earth and that of the otherworld—he could have said that it felt like thirty-eight days to him.

Only because he was living dual-lives.

That of his own, and then of Han.

He marked it off like that.

Nearly a month of handling the device in his hand, and he had already accomplished more in this time than he had ever done in the past six months. It was a little pitiful to admit such a thing, but he was unaffected. If there was anything odd about these days, it was the fact that the Wood Elf, Faeranduil, or Faeran as he called him, was having the time of his life at one of the natural parks in his city.

He didn't want to make it sound like the Wood Elf was a hobo, but one could probably call the Wood Elf as such. Whatever the reason for it under the terminology as 'vacation'—Han Jing really didn't question it and had instead taken the opportunity to collaborate with Faeran or Hazelleaf, as the Elf sometimes insisted upon.

"Selling flowers!" Madam Dongxia cried out and grasped the clay pot in her hands. There was a beautiful bunch of yellow chrysanthemums in it. "You've done a great job of yourself, Han Jing. It's like these flowers were grown by magic."

"I guess you can say that?" he scratched the back of his head. The man kept the money he received into his pocket. "Magical green thumbs or something?"

But yes, in his entire life—in the history of him reading novels about people who encountered fortune in games or another world, he hadn't seen anybody selling flowers! Han Jing could say that the experience was both surreal and anticlimactic all at once. He had seen the Wood Elf make flowers bloom in the park and he asked for more. Now his mother was actually proud of him, and he was actually earning some decent cash.

Heck, Bo Lifen and Mou Gu both bought flowers!

The former bought a significant amount for her flowering tea, so that was like—good. And then she also advertised or recommended him to other people, so it was going great. Han Jing actually even placed an online market in one of the social media for those who wanted to purchase online. Really, nobody expected this from him, but everyone was actually on board with Han Jing being the flower guy.

"Well, tell me if you have osmanthus flowers to sell, Jing." the much older woman wagged a finger at him. "The Mid-Autumn Festival is happening on Monday, and I want my room decorated with them once my guests arrive."

"Haha, I'll uh… go check on them with my supplier? We have a limited supply."

The Wood Elf can grow them fast, and with the festival around the corner, sales were being made almost every hour!

.

.

.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Han Jing stared at the Wood Elf sitting on a bench and eating some fried ice cream.

Faeran shrugged his shoulders. "I've experienced thirteen sunsets with you already, Han Jing. My people shall be looking for me—it's probably not obvious, but I am actually a very important individual among my kind. You must understand that despite you being chosen by some unknown criteria, others Chosen by the Creators do hold some great positions amongst their own people."

It wasn't exactly a slap in the face, but even while he was bemoaning about being the flower guy and getting compared to a certain flower girl from the slums in a video game… it was actually going along fine. He had enough money in his pockets to rent a decent room all by himself if he wanted to move out. He wasn't actually all that worried about money recently.

"Do you not believe me?" the Wood Elf had taken the silence as disbelief. "Did you know that Jilanya herself is a great Demon Lord amongst her people? One of the great commanders—"

Han Jing was in the bargaining mode. "Can't you stay for like… I dunno, three more sunsets with me?"

"That sounds romantic when you say it."

"—I mean, I haven't been able to plan it out very well." He rubbed his face. "But uh, Odele and I have made an agreement to trade pearls, but I have to take her out to an amusement park. I mean, wouldn't it be great if you were there too?" he said. "I'm planning to tell my mother that I'll be out of this weekend to attend a gathering with friends at the beach."

He could at least escape the necessary family get-together when that happened. Everything was planned out in the back of his head, and he just needed Faeran to approach his mother and explain that they and other people already made plans.

It was supposed to be foolproof!

"Hmmm… that does sound tempting."

"Well, what do you say?" he grinned.

"Why not? However, I implore you to remember that it's far outside the boundary between our preordained agreement prior. You cannot expect yourself to be protected under the rules of a host and his visitor."

"Aren't we supposed to be friends by now?" Han Jing crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't you remember me buying all the earth and human food we've made and how I had to chase off a squirrel? I still don't get why it tried to attack you."

"I simply pointed out that its fur was shedding—it was offended." the Wood Elf clicked its tongue and glanced around the park. "However, it's not only them that I have to worry about. Some of your people have tried to chase me out of here for illegally settling, which is frustrating because the land is supposed to be for everyone."

Han Jing couldn't help but feel a little sad about this situation. The two of them had actually started to get along… probably because the Elf acted young and—

"Now don't look so glum, I know that you've been selling the flowers that you keep asking me to grow for you."

"Hey, all the money that I've been using to feed and buy things for you come out from that."

Faeran chuckled and stood up from the bench. He magically disposed of the ice cream container in his hand and nodded. "Understood, now let us go back to your grubby home and I'll charm your mother to let you come along to this beach and amusement park you've been promising about."

"First off—quit with the word charming my mother."

"Entrancing? Alluring her?"

"You're getting a kick out of making me uncomfortable, aren't you?"