Chapter 15: Temporarily Locked


    Walking out of the temple of Viera, Shinto was greeted by the warmth of the evening sun. From this afternoon till now, he had been in the dungeon. To put it into numbers, it seemed he was within the dungeon for more than five hours.


    Within the game, time works differently here. In Spiritual Warriors, time is four times of that than in real life, a day in real life represents four days in-game. Although a day would represent four days in-game when in-game you would actually feel as if you''re living within that four days time frame.


    Shinto looked around the outside of the temple to see many going in and out, just like the bustling temple, the outdoor was no different. The streets crowded with yers and NPCs alike, some leisurely taking a stroll, some rushing for dinner while others were chattery as they walked.


    Themps slowly lit up under the evening light reminiscence to that ofnterns, the sight was filled withfort that would warm up the heart when gazing at it. Enhanced by the evening light and the soon to be the moonlit glow of the starry skies.


    ''The town is the same as ever, huh?'' Shinto let out a faint smile from the nostalgia as he made his way over to the central part of the town, the main gathering spot of newbies.


    "Looking for level ten and above to go hunting in Kakerain''s Ruins!"


    "This rare sword is for sale!! Come and buy it if you''re interested! It is only for 400 gold!"


    "Looking for a party! Level six, warrior here with decent gear and control!"


    Walking through the crowds, Shinto heard shouts from every direction each one making a different statement, this was the town''s center, where usually yers would party up for dungeons or sell stuff.


    ''Crowded as ever huh? Anyways... I should deposit all my stuff and check my gold amount first before going to the marketce.''


    Ignoring all the bustle around him, heavily pondering, ''If I remember correctly...'' Shinto swept his eyes through the area, ''The bank should be around here...''


    Looking around the crowded area, his eyes locked onto a building by the corner of the central part of town, with arge sign on it, reading out ''Bank''. This brought forth joy in his eyes.


    ''Ah...! There it is!''


    Sessfully finding the bank, Shinto waltzed in a jiffy, heading into the bank.


    "Wee, adventurer!" A woman behind the counter heard a ring by the door as she quickly turned around, looking over towards Shinto. "How might I help you today?"


    Above the woman''s head, was the name [ Mia ], glowing a bright blue hue, indicating that she was an NPC.


    Just as Mia turned around towards Shinto while finishing her greetings. Her brows creased as she gave a look towards Shinto. Her face turned disgruntled seeing the shabby state Shinto was in, a newbie.


    Not noticing her disgruntled expression, Shinto heeded no time and said in a calm manner, "I would like to deposit my items."


    "Deposit?" Mia''s brows continued to crease, as she scrutinized Shinto, "What kind of items do you have to deposit? Do you have the money to?" The woman sneered, cocking her head in question.


    "A-Ah...?" Shinto stared nkly towards the demeaning Mia, unsure of why her tone was quite aggressive towards him.


    "I said, do you have the money to deposit? Heck, do you even have any items to deposit?" The woman mockingly said as she gave a suspicious look over to Shinto.


    "...?" Shinto continued to stare nkly towards Mia as he suddenly realized why he was being treated this way.


    He looked like he was in the starter newbie rags. His equipment seemed either extremely shabby or did not exist at all. To an untrained eye, he would look like your run of the mill newbie.


    But he was not a newbie. And this was increasingly apparent once one saw that he didn''t receive the friendly and kind attitude the NPCs had towards newbies.


    In Spiritual Warriors, NPCs weren''t just some AI constructs with fixed routines and pre-coded lines, they had personality. Each one had unique traits, voice, appearance, and even their life. They were practically indistinguishable from the humans of the real world.


    With the fact that NPCs have their own quirks and traits, it was a no brainer that each NPC would treat a yer differently, depending on how they look, how they act towards them and their affinity towards them.


    "Hey!" Mia shouted, quickly snapping Shinto out of his nkness, "Are you here to waste my time? Do you want me to call the knights?"


    Hearing the barrage from the woman, Shinto hurriedly coughed, "Wait wait! I have stuff I want to deposit. I really do and I have the money to pay for the fees."


    "Hmph! Then show it!" Mia sneered at his words.


    Shinto quickly opened up his inventory, quickly taking a nce at it. However... His eyes shook in despair, the items and equipment he originally had within in his inventory were all locked. ncing over to the item info of these items, each had one thing inmon.


    [ This item is temporarily unusable until you reach Level 201. ]


    [ You may ce these items into your storage to clear up space. ]


    Every item in his inventory had this same system prompt, he couldn''t bring it out nor could he sell them. It was locked until he had reached his original level which will take some time.


    "..." He dumbly stared at his screen, slowly moving his eyes over towards his currency amount, thankfully, he let out a breath of relief. It wasn''t locked like his other things.


    ''So that what it means, ''temporarily locked''... And here I thought it''d only be my equipment, but potions and scrolls too?'' Shinto inwardly sighed, taking out a few gold coins from his inventory and cing them on the counter.


    "A-Ah...?" Mia nced over to the gold coins that Shinto threw, "I see... I''m s-sorry for being judgmental... You have to understand that I''m on high alert with the number of thievestely in the area..."


    "..." Shinto stared at Mia, as he sighed, "It''s fine. Just... Open up my storage and let''s be done with it."


    Mia nodded her head, as she took a gold coin on the table, quickly she weed Shinto to enter into the storage.


    Thuck Thuck Thuck...


    Shinto opened his inventory once again, this time ncing over towards the storage option. Just as what he saw in his inventory, his storage was no different. His items and equipment within it were all locked.


    "Tsk... Is everything lock?" His eyes continued to skim through the storage as he locked his eyes on something in his storage that didn''t have the system prompt. The items categorized under materials.


    "...This" he sighed, "Well at least I can ask a cksmith to make items for me when needed or better yet, sell them."


    "Anyways, since everything is lock beside the materials... I''ll just deposit everything and leave it that way and just buy whatever I need in the marketce."


    Fully emptying his inventory into his storage, Shinto closed his inventory window as he made his way out.