Second Life: Welcome to Gaia

When Ye Yan got on the bike to go to the Teleportation Hall, he got a system notification.

System: You have been affected by the curse [Stink].

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[Stinky] (Curse - Level 1)

Description: You haven't showered in 7 full days and started to stink, please take a bath URGENTLY. Take note that personal hygiene is important no matter where you are.

Effect: You are stinking. It will attract certain kinds of monsters and keep others away. Charisma - 10.

Duration: The effect only will end after you take a bath.

Note: Every time you stay 7 full days without a shower, you will stinky. This curse will get worse with time.

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As soon as Ye Yan heard the notification, a vile stench reached his nose, making him cover it but to no effect because the bad smell was coming from himself and was too strong. Now he can understand why the equipment Pox Faulds that he used in a previous game could deal high poison damage to the people and monsters around him. He may not have taken physical damage but the psychological damage he suffered is high and he is feeling like throwing up. He started to get desperate to get the bad smell off him.

Ye Yan is not the only one that could smell the stench coming from him, his friend felt it too and they took many steps away from him, trying to get as far away as possible.

"What in hell is this? You are stinking!" Spell Bound said while covering his nose. "You need a bath!"

Ye Yan didn't stay to explain to them about the curse, he just ran to the nearby inn to take a bath as soon as possible. They soon will understand what is happening without the need of him telling them. Ye Yan was affected by this curse first because he didn't stay long creating his character and entered the game very fast compared to his friends.

The curse only takes effect after 7 full days without a shower. And it just completed 7 full days that Ye Yan first entered Gaia. His friends took a lot more time in the character creation, delaying their entry into Gaia, so it will take a little more time for them to be affected by this curse.

Luckily for Ye Yan, there is an Inn near the Adventurers' Guild, or else, not only will he have to stand this stench for more time, he would have received a notification from the guards, saying that he is disrupting public order. Basically, he would be known as a pig by the guards of the city, and this humiliation is not something he wants to pass. Anyone that receives a notification by the guards would get a penalization of -1 point of reputation, or more, depending on the level of the crime.

Players with a negative reputation would be known by their infamy in the NPC cities. If the infamy is high, the NPCs can become aggressive and even try to kill players on the spot. The infamy can be acquired by being reported to the guards for killing, stealing, and many other ways, but become infamous because of lack of hygiene is the worse of all.

Only later, Ye Yan will know that he escaped getting this stain on his reputation. He was really lucky for being near an Inn and reacting fast enough.

The Inn is a four-story building with a big signboard written 'The Purple Pig" above a wide door.

When Ye Yan entered the inn, he saw a balcony with a female attendant just in front and he went directly to her, but when he got near, the female NPC took a few steps back and look at him with disgust.

"I need a room and a bath." He said quickly, ignoring the reaction of the female NPC. He doesn't know if the rooms are equipped with showers or bathtubs, so he requested it in the reception to not waste time.

"You sure do. It will cost 10 silvers for the room, plus 10 silver coins for a simple bath. You can request a VIP service too, but that will cost 1 gold coin." The female NPC said while covering her nose and little impatient because Ye Yan is polluting the air of the inn with the stench emanating from him.

Ye Yan put 20 silver coins on the balcony because the NPC didn't want to get near, not even to receive the payment. She just asked one of the employees to show Ye Yan to his room, gesturing him to make haste because she wants Ye Yan out of her sign as soon as possible.

The manservant led Ye Yan to a room on the third floor and left hurried. Ye Yan was feeling downcast. He thought if he was outside, he would start to attract vultures because he smells more like carrion than a human.

Ye Yan looked around and saw only a bed, a wardrobe, and a bathtub. He didn't waste time and took off his clothes in a haste to enter the water.

When he entered the bathtub, the stench disappeared right away, letting him breathe freely. And when that happened, he finally remembered he didn't tell his friend about the curse before leaving, so he got his communication stone and called them to explain the situation. Luckily, they hadn't got cursed yet. They were already in the inn because they follow Ye Yan after seeing him acting so strange but at a distance, of course.

After bathing for 5 minutes, a system notification sound again.

System: You are no longer cursed.

System: You received the buff [Clean and Fragrant].

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[Clean and Fragrant] (Buff)

Description: After a good bath, you feel light and refreshed.

Effect: You will restore 10 healthy points every 30 seconds.

Duration: 24 hours.

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"Wow! Good buff!" Ye Yan didn't know that he could get buffed by taking a bath. He didn't know that he needs to shower in the game too, but now he will remember to bathe once a day if possible.

He got out of the bathtub, dried himself with the towel, and wore his clothes again. The equipment can be put on almost like clothes, they are bigger when the players wear it but adjusted themselves to the players' build later. Like that, the equipment is easier to wear but it is impossible to change during battles. Only weapons can be changed while a player is fighting.

When he got downstairs, he finally could ask the attendant about the VIP option. As a simple bath could give him such a good buff, maybe the VIP option could upgrade it.

"The VIP room is more spacious and luxurious than a simple room and enables the guest to receive visitors, to a maximum of ten people. In the normal room, the guest can only receive a maximum of three visitors." The attendant explained with a friendly tone now. "And in a VIP bath, the guests can soak themselves in a luxurious place with servants to help them wash their backs, male or female, guest's choice."

Ye Yan gave her a strange look after listening to the explanation, making her explain further.

"This establishment does nothing considered illegal, sir." She said with a serious face.

Ye Yan remembered that in all those classical dramas that he saw before, rich people always had servants helping them to bathe. Thinking of it, the feeling of strangeness disappeared.

Ye Yan waited for his friends downstairs, sitting on a chair in the corner next to the stairs. Soon, his friends started to get downstairs. Every one of them was exhaling the scent of lavender, just like himself.

They talked a little about the stinky curse and the buff they gained, and soon, everyone went on their own way.

Ye Yan left the Inn, got on the bike, and went to the Teleportation Hall.

The Teleportation Hall is a three-story wide building with runewords written all over it. When Ye Yan entered the building, he went further inside, where there is a huge map painted on the wall. The map is a representation of the Yan Empire with all the teleportation points shown as blue dots. The map is very similar to the China map but with some differences due to the terrain and the difficulty of the humans to delimit the region.

Ye Yan looked at the map and chose to go to a port city not very far from the City of Ji. He spoke with one of the NPCs from the Teleportation Hall that took him to the array that leads to Tientsin City.

He bought a [Return Scroll] linked to the City of Ji for him to come back to the city after he gathers all the items for the quest, and paid 40 silver coins to use the array. Just like that, he said goodbye to a good portion of his money.

Ye Yan entered the array and the NPC activate it, teleporting him to the port city, Tientsin.