Nico's conclusion on being alone lingered for a few minutes, but he was right.
He was transmigrated alone, robbed alone, attacked twice alone, and traded in his value for coins alone.
New Olympus wasn't just actively making him suffer; it was reminding him what would happen if he even attempted to escape the suffering.
That little poke from Vanessa and the small amount of health points it snatched was evidence of that.
'Wise up or drown... You're no longer on Earth, Orsetto...' he muttered to himself as he clenched his fists and sighed through his nose, making Vanessa smile and walk ahead.
Then, he shut off his mind and began pacing himself as he slowed down his walking speed, unconsciously creating space between himself and the group.
A few minutes went by, and they arrived at their designated location.
A wide portal with white ethereal energy swirled, its aura intoxicating but sweeter than chocolate, drawing in the unknown.
Next to the portal stood two uniformed people, who went through the trouble of placing yellow tape around the area.
Their uniforms were blue with white accented shoulder guards that glowed beneath the Sun.
Unfortunately for them, no one had seen the sun shine in years.
Their eyes were covered by shades and the watches on their wrists buzzed, relaying static messages that only they could seemingly understand.
Nico raised an eyebrow. "There are cops in New Olympus?"
"Mh?" Raymond turned to him. "Oh yeah, Jasper, Oscar, Nico and Herald are newbies, so they don't know about the pigs yet."
"The original game never had cops..." Oscar commented as he rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"Yeah. The cops work for the gods," Raymond responded, his voice with a smidge of hostility.
"There's a separate system created by the authoritarian gods, like Zeus and the goddess Athena. That system overrides bloodshed amongst civilians and protects you from monthly events.
"But it's not flexible, not like the system created by Xin Tian. While cops get to play it safe, we get to earn more money and grow stronger than them," Alice added.
"So they're weak?" Nico inquired.
"So weak even you could beat them," Gary chuckled. "But getting tangled up with them is bad news. If they arrest you, they lock away your powers, and there's no guarantee that you'll be released early.
"Pandora's Vault is not nicer than the outside world."
Nico blinked, quickly piecing together that the law enforcement in New Olympus was relatively worse than that in the real world.
Mostly because actual players chose to side with the very gods that wanted the death of mortals.
"Do they kill other players...?" Nico asked cautiously.
"Are you an idiot?" Gary squinted his eyes at him. "The higher your value, the higher your bounty."
Nico was about to ask another question before he realised that Vanessa was staring at him once more, smiling eerily.
He sighed and turned off his mind again.
"Yo boys. Thanks for waiting," Raymond smiled and stood a few feet away from the police.
"Ray, you know, you're getting too cocky for our liking." Jason removed his shades and scrunched up his face.
"How many times should I tell you that what you're doing is gonna get us in trouble?"
Raymond smiled brightly. "Oh, come on, I thought you were saving up for a cruiser? Think you can get it with that cheap ass salary the department pays you?"
Jason grunted. "Fuck you."
"You know I'm right. So are we gonna do this or should we just fight it out right here and now?"
Jason smirked and waited patiently as Dwight pulled out a baton that buzzed with electricity.
"Don't test me, thug. Even if I don't take you down, Moore will have tracked you down in less than a day, and you know he won't have mercy."
"Not if he discovers that one of his people was a dirty cop," Gary said loudly as he stood beside Raymond, his hand grasping his sword's handle tightly.
Jason reached into his pockets, Raymond clenched his fists, Dwight spun his lightning baton once, causing the energy to strike the ground, and Gary almost drew his sword as his stance shifted.
But none of them moved, and all of a sudden, Nico was right between them.
Raymond's eyes slightly widened as he turned towards Nico, while Gary couldn't mask his astonishment.
The cops turned their attention towards Nico as well, wondering why they couldn't sense him approaching.
Then all four of them pieced together that Nico was still a new player, and that the floating skull above his head was the only reason why they calmed down.
'That silver-haired loser almost seemed like a threat with how quiet he moved,' Gary noted. 'But he's still new, mana's too low for us to sense.'
"Gentlemen, maybe this isn't the right place nor the time," Nico suggested.
"What is he doing?" Alice squinted her eyes.
"Playing mediator?" Oscar raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
"Raymond, if they cuff you, you can forget about being the strongest in our squad. Besides, raiding this without you would be walking into a death trap. Some of us new players need you," Nico reminded Raymond with a serious expression.
Raymond sighed and glanced at Jason and Dwight.
"And to you two, Officer... Fletcher and Officer Black. I understand you don't want to be threatened, especially since you're only looking out for yourselves.
"So, just this once, cut us players some slack. You'll get your usual payment once the job is done," he concluded.
Jason visibly softened up, which caused Dwight to put his weapon away. "Some silver tongue you got there, kid," Dwight spoke for the first time. "Jason, let's book it. Ray knows what to do."
Jason groaned and put his shades back on. "You're lucky, Ray."
Then, the two cops walked away, leaving the players behind. Nico sighed, and Oscar ran towards him with a wide smile on his face.
"Dude, that was badass how you diffused that situation!"
"That was impressive. Are you a mediator in the real world?" Harold teased with a light chuckle.
"We could've killed them and gotten rid of them permanently if you hadn't butt in," Gary charged towards Nico and pushed him, causing him to slip on a random banana peel and fall on his back.
He grunted on impact and just lay there for a few seconds before Jasper grabbed his wrist and lifted him off the ground with little to no trouble.
"You're strong," he whispered to her.
"You're just weak," she shot back.
Nico shrugged and noticed Gary approaching again, only for Vanessa to stop him. "Dude, cool your jets."
"If you think that you're a part of this squad, you're dead wrong! Don't forget that you need us! You said it yourself!" Gary pointed at Nico, his teeth showing and vein popping.
"You would've lost that fight. That other cop, Black, had a second weapon concealed. I would've let you guys fight until I noticed your stance.
"You could've realised that he had another weapon ready if you weren't too quick to jump to conclusions."
Gary grunted. "Bullshit!"
Vanessa slapped Gary's arm. "You need to calm down. He's telling the truth."
After Vanessa said that, Gary took deep breaths before finally flexing his shoulders so that she could release him.
He walked back and ran his fingers through his hair. "Let's just get this over with."
And without warning, he was the first to step into the portal. Alice followed shortly after, along with Oscar, Jasper, Harold and Vanessa.
Nico walked ahead, but Raymond grabbed his shoulder, gaining his attention.
"Good looking out, man."
Nico shook his head and gently tapped Raymond's hand away from his shoulder. "You're not like me. These people are your crew. Don't start fights just because you're mad.
"Because one day, you'll put them in danger and they won't have your strength to help them out."
After saying that, he walked into the portal. Raymond sighed through his nose and followed behind him, the white portal still brimming with power.
As they emerged on the other side, Nico, Jasper, Oscar and Herald felt their heads spin and their hearts pound before they fell to the floor.
Jasper, however, managed to catch herself, breathing heavily as she glanced at the other players.
"My head...!" Oscar grabbed his hair in agony.
"Why...?!" Herald scratched the ground while his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.
Nico lay on the ground and clenched his stomach, a wave of nausea dizzying his line of sight.
Then, in almost an instant, their pain began disappearing.
Jasper was the first to notice the ethereal green light that smothered her, like a home-cooked meal after a long day of hard work.
She opened her palm and clenched her fist. Then she walked towards Nico after noticing he was the only one who was still on the ground.
Without warning, she grabbed him by the collar, shocking him as he screamed for a second and took a deep breath.
'It went... black, just for a few seconds though... Was I dead?!' he pondered as he wiped his face while Jasper put him down gently.
"You're pathetic, you know that, mate?" Jasper commented.
Nico cleared his throat. "That's what I tell myself every day. Hearing that from you doesn't make it worse. But thanks."
Jasper rolled her eyes and pointed at Alice, prompting Nico to smile gently at her. "Thanks, Alice."
"Yeah, we didn't realise that dungeon travel was that nauseating," Harold added with a soft smile.
Alice ignored them. "Raymond, let's get started, shall we?"
"No problem."