Chapter 12 – Stopped at the City Gates

“…”

Mark remained still, staring at the guard with a calm expression.

Identification?

Entry fee?

For a second, he felt a brief sense of disorientation.

The idea of needing an authorization scroll or explaining his reasons felt almost alien. What the hell was a “scroll”?

How was he supposed to explain his reason for visiting Luminaris? Say he had come to see what had changed over the last thousand years after being reborn inside the game?

Certainly not.

He would just make something up.

The guard let out a dry cough, shifting his gaze from Mark to the clipboard and back again, waiting for an answer.

“I asked for your name and purpose, sir.” He repeated, his authoritative, mechanical voice edged with impatience.

“I am a lone traveler.” Mark finally replied. His voice carried a stiff cadence. “My name… you may call me Vaelin. I came to Luminaris for a visit.”

He paused, his dark brown eyes fixed on the guard. “And I have no identification.” Mark finished dryly, offering no excuses or lengthy explanations.

The guard stopped writing. His forehead creased into a frown, irritation clear on his wrinkled face.

“A visit? No identification? Luminaris is on alert due to activity in the East. Travelers without guild papers or merchant seals must pay the Risk Fee and undergo Mana Screening.”

‘Mana Screening?’ Mark froze.

He did not remember anything by that name in Age of Blood. And it did not sound good.

Noticing Mark’s confusion, the old guard pointed to a small stone pedestal beside the post, where a dull crystal sphere rested on a bronze base.

“Five silver coins for entry. Then you place your hand on the Screening. It is a basic alignment test to ensure no one enters carrying plagues, active curses, or monster signatures.” The guard spoke with a suspicious look, clearly used to visitors like Mark.

‘So that is how it works…’

Mark looked at the crystal sphere.

He could feel the mana drifting inside it.

If he touched it with his true strength, the crystal would likely do more than glow. It would explode. Mark needed to mask his essence now, or his “visit” would end before it even began.

“Five silver coins and the test.” The guard reminded him, eager to move Mark along and continue his work. A small line had already formed behind him.

‘Five silver coins…’

He did not have that much.

In Age of Blood, there were no silver coins, only gold, so everything in Mark’s inventory was sack after sack of gold. He also did not know whether that currency was accepted in this world.

But he had no choice.

Mark slipped his hand beneath his cloak, out of the guard’s sight, and mentally commanded his inventory to open. A dimensional rift opened before his hand, and after searching for a few seconds, his fingers brushed against the rough fabric of a cloth pouch.

‘I hope this works.’ Mark discreetly opened it. As he pulled a single coin from beneath the cloak, the metal reflected the artificial light around them with an almost divine intensity.

The guard’s gaze snapped to it instantly.

“Will this do?” Mark asked, extending his hand. Between his long, pale fingers, the gold coin rested like a small star.

The guard, who had expected a few worn, oxidized silver coins, was stunned.

He had never seen gold so pure, so… alive. The color was a deep gold, almost orange, and it seemed to shine with its own faint luminescence. The craftsmanship alone made the coin appear extraordinarily valuable.

Valuable enough to make him suspicious.

“This is all I have.” Mark added, his tone dry and impatient.

The guard took the coin cautiously. He held it close to his narrowed eyes and, under the light of a nearby mana crystal, tried to assess its weight and origin.

The metal was too heavy, too dense. Then he noticed the crest.

It was not the sun of the Empire of Solis. Nor the tower of Luminaris. Nor any crest he recognized, such as the eagle, the lion, or the moon.

At the center of the coin, engraved with precision, was the emblem of a large inverted triangular structure surrounded by stylized flames.

The guard looked Mark up and down, taking in the plain cloak and youthful face. Then he looked back at the coin.

A flicker of contempt crossed his eyes.

“What is this? Some kind of joke?” The old man tossed the coin back into Mark’s hand and cleared his throat. “This is fake. Gold does not shine like this, and that crest does not exist in any exchange record. Do you think you can enter my city with toy money or medals from some backwater place?”

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Mark’s expression darkened instantly.

Fake?

He looked down at the coin in his hand.

His eyes, once calm, seemed to darken, and a subtle pressure began to seep out, making the air around the checkpoint feel noticeably colder.

This was a piece of pure gold, forged by the game system itself. It was impossible for it to be fake. Lifting his gaze, he stared at the guard, who instinctively stepped back, his hand drifting toward the hilt of his sword.

“Gold is gold, regardless of the design it bears.” Mark whispered, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice.

“Counterfeiting is a crime. You should be grateful I am not arresting you. Take your coin and turn around before I call security.” The guard shot back, irritated by Mark’s insistence.

He believed the young man was not only trying to deceive him with counterfeit gold, but now attempting to intimidate him.

Mark’s expression was one step away from turning lethal when the tension was broken by a slightly provocative female voice.

“Let it go, old man. I’ll cover the stranger.”

Mark turned his cold gaze to the side. A red-haired girl stepped forward with one hand on her hip, followed by her group, all wearing clear expressions of disapproval.

He recognized them immediately. They were the adventuring party called Iron Wolf that he had seen minutes earlier.

Kael, the leader, snorted and crossed his arms, while the archer Garret muttered something about not wasting coins on wanderers.

The guard frowned at Lyra’s interruption, his wrinkled face tightening in irritation. “He has no identification and attempted to pass counterfeit currency.”

“I know the rules.” The girl replied, tossing six silver coins onto the wooden table. The metallic clink seemed to soften the guard’s scowl slightly.