Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2: Small assassin

1

4 days later

It had been 4 days since they drifted ridiculously into an alternate world

After bidding farewell to Maryele, shi+roe and Naotsugu traveled all over Akiba scavenging for information

Naturally, there were new facts discovered every day

The siet hungry

shi+roe already noticed sooodbyes with Maryele But their feelings of nervousness and fear over their current situation overwhel for inforht fell without shi+roe and Naotsugu recognizing the feeling of hunger

But they lost to hunger in the end and headed to the market to purchase food just before dawn shi+roe and Naotsugu brought their food to the abandoned building where they met earlier to enjoy their unhealthy 'supper and breakfast' It concluded in a painful experience

shi+roe bought roasted chicken with orange and tou purchased seafood pizza, e juice

It sounded extravagant, but both of theh to buy as many of these player crafted ht, fresh, luxurious and sumptuous meal

But the food all tasted the same

In Naotsugu's unassuy crackers, without any salty flavor' shi+roe had no choice but to agree with this review

The beverages had different colors, but they all tasted like tap water

It wasn't so disgusting that you would spit it out and it didn't see, so it was indeed food, but it was an experience shi+roe and Naotsugu could do without

They were not sure how to react, since it was not disgusting enough to make you curse or swear You would sulk as you ateto fade away It was disgusting in a pathetic way

They confirht

All the food they ate was crafted by players, with the NPCs selling it on their behalf

Apart from the main classes, Elder Tales also had countless subclasses The food wasability of a Chef, one of the subclasses

Subclasses were independent of main classes, so in Elder Tales, there could be Samurai Chefs or Sorcerer Chefs

These Chefs could create the food shi+roe and Naotsugu ate according to their Chef level, but cooking in Elder Tales was very simple

Stand beside a cooking facility, choose the ingredients froredients could be gathered froet eons There were also seeds you could plant in fields

Basic ingredients were sold by NPCs and could be purchased from other players in the market as well

Anyways, you could choose fro the use co your desired dish, you needed to wait 10 seconds before the ingredients vanished and were replaced by the finished product

Did the problem lie with this simplified process?

This was the deduction shi+roe and Naotsugu made

They had also confirredients themselves had taste the previous day

Oranges and apples were tender and juicy, freshly caught fish sar purchased from NPCs tasted salty and sweet respectively

But the products y crackers'

This process was enforced in this gae that They could not taredients either If they tried to boil theredients turned into a weird paste

With no other choice, shi+roe and Naotsugu bought salt along with their food, sprinkling the food with salt as they ate It was still a pitifulwax

Since you needed to eat, you would need to use the bathroom, which was also a necessary action, and that was confiruys, shi+roe and Naotsugu had no proble it outdoors

But they did wish there was toilet paper

shi+roe heard Naotsugu irls have it hard', but he pretended not to hear it

There were s that couldn't be helped no ht

They found out they could not do without sleep

shi+roe had great stah physical stats even as a ic attack class, and these numbers were reflected on his body

But fatigue and sleepiness were two different things, and shi+roe and Naotsugu gresy afterfor a period of time

shi+roe and Naotsugu checked in once they reached the hotel, renting a zone to use as their residence They hadn't used this function when Elder Tales was just a game, since they could just find any rando off They would disappear fro But this obvious choice for players was no longer applicable to them

Since they were still in the ga, they would need a physical place to rest And they didn't return to their original world when they woke up

Speaking of returning to their original world, they had confir

You could revive if you died in this Elder Tales world The players who died in this world respawned in the cathedral after some time

If the game mechanics still applied, players would lose part of their EXP and gold when they died, but shi+roe and Naotsugu hadn't experienced this yet, so they couldn't tell for sure

Since they could revive after dying, that aood news frooing back to their world through death was gone

Eating and dying

From these two essential concepts of survival, they could conclude that this was a contradictory and twisted world

At a glance, this world seemed to be a faithful replication of Elder Tales shi+roe and Naotsugu, who had retained their abilities and wealth froaame and couldn't be replicated in an alternate world Compared to the real world that obeyed the laithout contradiction, shi+roe felt that this world was imperfect and full of loopholes

The best example of this was food Grilled fish made fro that looked like grilled fish but tasted like soggy crackers

But if you sprinkled salt on grilled fish, it actually had the taste of salt Sprinkling salt made food salty, but food crafted with salt didn't have that taste

shi+roe and Naotsugu tried grilling fresh fish with a heat source such as a carilled fish they were familiar with, and instead turned into a mysterious black paste

It was the sa the bathroom

These were functions unnecessary for games

But in this Elder Tales world that becaet drowsy and really need to sleep

There was soht about it

Since it was a world, there should have been a set of laws But whether it operated like Elder Tales or followed soe physics associated with alternate worlds, they were unable to tell

Itthis world into a chaotic mystery

A lot of things were confirmed by the 4th day

On the 2nd day in the alternate world

shi+roe and Naotsugu decided to go into the field zones in Akiba They headed to the adjacent zone that was just beside the area outside the city gate, the Archive Tower Forest

Since it was close to the starter city of Akiba, Archive Tower Forest had low difficulty The zones surrounding all five major cities were usually suitable for low level players to train High level monsters lurked in zones like the deep hills that were far away froe in Elder Tales

This was a typical ruins field zone witharound Sis in Akiba, they were covered in vines and parasitic plants

As its naested, Archive Tower Forest was a zone with many bookshops, libraries and a research lab that was connected to several dungeon zones The enemies eak, their drop items included 'Secret Level Skill Scrolls', so it was popular a novice Adventurers

The enemy monsters were only about level 20

shi+roe and Naotsugu were level 90 players with good equipain any EXP no matter how many such monsters they defeated because of the difference in levels They only came to the novice zone to experience battle in Elder Tales in a relatively safe environment

The battle was not proceeding as they expected

It wasn't because the enerey wolves fell with a scratch frou's sword Even shi+roe as an Enchanter with the weakest attack in the game could kill them with one shot

That was the extent of their level difference

But being able to defeat ene theoblins attacking with rusty blood-splattered axes for the first time, shi+roe was terrified and al out

His breathing rate was 10 tih he took in lots of air, he felt suffocated, which narrowed his field of vision The enemy attacks would not harm him If shi+roe hadn't convinced himself that this was the case, he would probably have fled by now

And he confirmed this after some time

The level 90 shi+roe had at least 8000 HP while Naotsugu who used the class with the strongest defense, Guardian, had over 13000 HP The goblin's attack could only deal single digit dae

Even if they howled fiercely and swung their axes with all their rade schooler

shi+roe and Naotsugu cooled down after ascertaining this fact

They didn't get hurt after regaining their co remained difficult

The laws of physics of the real world they took for granted were twisted together weirdly with the rules of Elder Tales They could see these effects everywhere they looked

When fighting in a party in Elder Tales like shi+roe and Naotsugu, you took note of your allies' HP through the status screen and chose the appropriate tactics and coordinated with each other almost subconsciously

Would other ene the enemies in front of you?

Would the enemy link up with more monsters or call for reinforcement?

Which eneet?

Which foe could you keep at bay for now and take out later?

Various details like these were important elements that would affect the battle

But it was hard to even confirm each other's HP in this environment The HP values would be displayed if they focused on their forehead, but fighting in a dangerous place with debris all over while keeping track of these numbers in their mind was next to impossible

shi+roe could still spare soe But the Guardian Naotsugu had to engage the enemy on the front line to protect his allies and would lose the ability to grasp his surroundings, fighting almost blindly

”This is harder than I thought”

Naotsugu sighed as he ate a meat bun for lunch The enemies eak so there was no need to be too concerned with HP But this wouldn't do when fighting foes of the same level

The food tasted like soggy crackers, even though its appearance was that of a u reviewed the details of the battle while eating the tasteless food they had grown tired of

The two of theround

For amateurs like the fights, and were seriously doubtful that they could sih live battles

But in the back of their minds they knew they would face htened by level 20 a monsters If this was a world affected by Elder Tales or was the world of Elder Tales itself, getting used to battle was a necessity to survive here

Fortunately their bodies were stronger than expected

Their high levels kept theor after resting a fewshi+roe and Naotsugu spent s in the pub or visiting people they knew They conversed with players in the saathered any news

Akiba appeared peaceful on the surface during these four days

There were no major commotions like shi+roe had feared would happen

Maybe after confir the abundance of bland food and their ability to respawn, it allowed theain the most basic sense of security

But there were still sonored

Firstly, the voluoods on sale had dropped

Most players had come to the same conclusion as shi+roe and withdrawn their merchandise

The goods left for sale on the ed in, but even those sold out over time

There were ru off supplies, and the iteain popularity There were many players with production subclasses, but they had stopped working in reaction to the situation

Another effect was the recruituilds looking for one

Humans were creatures that found solace in nuuild decided to join one after experiencing this event

You could tell which players joined which guild by checking their status through the status screen But it was hard to find out all this inforame

So shi+roe could only estimate based on the ratio of the players he saw, but he did feel a sharp drop in solo players

shi+roe and Naotsugu ere both level 90 receivedthe streets

But the two of them declined all offers

Ignoring shi+roe, Naotsugu had no reason to reject theu replied with a s to know companions is the result; not the reason You need to h the process of battles”

The Debauchery Tea Party had not been a guild, it was just a coalition of players For the two of theuilds were just an unimportant title

And the two of the such a critical and confusing incident

But u and saw guilds as so they could depend on

The twins shi+roe was accouild as well He only saw the, but they seeh of relief

Players without a guild wanted to join one for the feeling of security Lots of guilds started recruiting cauilds canvassed for players without a guild, but there were other exauilds headhunting specific players

shi+roe didn't get why the guilds wanted to expand until Maryele explained it It had so in Akiba

After that incident, soed into an alternate world, which shi+roe felt was reasonable

But the players felt much more frustrated over this ridiculous state of affairs than shi+roe had expected These euild and forainst us'

They could trust their guild mates but not others This was the natural defensive reaction when living in such a hostile environment

But this atuilds obvious They wouldn't be attacked since Akiba was a non-coht, steal frouards would instantly appear to arrest the player in violation

But harsh words and harassed as coet around the restriction of combat actions to harass others, even more so for players trapped in this world

Suilds were often the victims of such harassment Maryele tried to conceal her troubled face with a s about this

shi+roe had found out so this topic with Maryele He casually opened the status screen and noticed an unfauilds

It was unfamiliar, but he had seen it before

This tab displayed infor 'japanese server / Akiba / City area - No monsters / Battle restricted zone / Entry Restriction (None) / Exit Restriction (None)'

shi+roe, Maryele and Naotsugu were talking in a small alley This provided a summary of this zone and Akiba which had no problems

The issue was the next line

'This zone is not owned by any person or guild Sale price is 700 old Monthly maintenance fee is 12 million Purchase? (Yes / No)'

This line was displayed when you were buying suild halls like the one Crescent Moon Alliance was in

But Akiba city was now a tradable asset, even though it required an astronomical amount of money

Naotsugu and Maryele had thought shi+roe was joking when he pointed this out, but they were dumbstruck when they checked it out themselves

shi+roe was a high level veteran player and ealthier than others shi+roe had about 50,000 gold in assets in the bank So he was certain 700 le player could come up with

But if a h that was probably iather this amount of cash

assu the streets of Akiba, the buyer would be able to set the entry and exit restriction here, including any people or guilds the buyer hated they could be barred fro this city

The ate under Maryele's instruction, and they found out this purchase line was displayed in almost all the zones

In other words, be it city, field or dungeons, all the zones were open for sale right now, the exceptions were places that already had an owner for instance a zone like Crescent Moon Alliance's guild hall In this situation, the oould have another option to turn their ownershi+p into a land deed item

The fourth day after that incident

The expansion caer just a tactic to increase the guild's size in the eyes of shi+roe's group

2

shi+roe and Naotsugu left their hotel and headed for theof the 5th day to buy food for the day Naotsugu looked downcast as he dragged his feet on their way there

”What is it?”

”Nothing I feel disheartened thinking about the nasty food we have been eating”

shi+roe could eour to be proud of But he realized no good his meals were in the real world

(The fried chicken of the fast food chain was so tasty Packs of rareat too They were really an a delicacy)

And also red tea, coffee, and sodas

All the beverages tasted like tap water, which was really unbearable These beverages were redients that included ater anyways

Well water tasted like tap water too So it tasted like tap water because of their tongues, it was all just normal water

It was still water after adding various ingredients, which felt like a scam to them

” I guess we can only eat that”

”Well, you are right But I think we can get better food even in prison I saw it once on a TV special about Abashi+ri prison, the food looked nice”

”Yeah”

Now that Naotsugu mentioned it, shi+roe felt the same way

shi+roe studied in a public school before going to high school The lunch provided by the school reat cuisine, but it was y crackers in this world

”I'”

”Wondering about what?”

”Is this a torture chamber where God forces us to eat bland food all day?”

How could that be? shi+roe thought, but it couldn't be denied after considering carefully It ht sound ridiculous, but they were in a ridiculous situation right now, so they couldn't take anything lightly as a joke

”If that is true, this God has a good sense in torturing”

”I know, right? Forcing us to eat poisonous food that ht? It has the feeling of devils force feeding you”

shi+roe seemed to recall a level of hell in Buddhism which seemed to have this sort of punishment

”But the current situation is different This stuff should have nutritious value and no poison The taste is bland, but you can still eat it Just eating aelse, it will always be this taste and our h end level of harassht?”

”That's why I say this is a good sense of torture But his taste in torture is irritating”

Just as shi+roe and Naotsugu were chatting leisurely about this

Plock

A pebble fell beside his feet on the asphalt road following this sound

shi+roe looked up and saw a three story building on the verge of collapse that used to be a shop house At the entrance was a tall man

”It's Akatsuki-san”

Black hair and dark clothes with fine facial features, thehis ed shi+roe with his eyes

”An acquaintance?”

”Yeah, this is Akatsuki-san, an assassin”

shi+roe walked towards Akatsuki as he introduced hiu

shi+roe o

He insisted on coe where voice chat was prevalent, but it helped to create the atmosphere of an assassin

There werelike Akatsuki shi+roe saw theame

When Elder Tales was just a ga the character Akatsuki', but as a 'resident of Elder Tales' known as Akatsuki, basing all his words and actions on this

It was rude to call this playing pretend since this was another way to enjoy the game, so no one could criticize

shi+roe thought Akatsuki was a competent player Silent but didn't bother others or curry for favors, the opposite of Maryele in a sense

He would carry out his duties perfectly in a party and didn't forget to care for his allies Care ee

An i was the lack of aardness in his silence

A quiet atmosphere could make you feel uneasy, but shi+roe felt a sense of kinshi+p in soside him shi+roe felt they were not totally silent, but were co without words

Take their tea actions for instance

Any s the rest between battles was a 'conversation' of care and concern

shi+roe's impression of hiether

”What is it Akatsuki-san?”

Akatsuki gestured with his chin and entered the run down building It didn't appear to be a separate zone, just a backdrop in the field zone

They entered the dimly lit ruins on Akatsuki's invitation

”What is he like, shi+ro?”

”Akatsuki-san is a role player who is very coame He's probably depressed by this situation too”

Naotsugu asked quietly and shi+roe replied in an equally soft tone

They couldn't see Akatsuki any This seemed a bit too rushed from Akatsuki's usual demeanor

He could saps of the partially destroyed walls and the s the room

This was indeed a shop, and was some sort of restaurant It was a vast and chaotic space with furniture scattered all over

Akatsuki turned around and looked at Naotsugu, part troubled and part accusatory

”Akatsuki-san, he is Naotsugu, a Guardian and my reliable old friend that can be trusted”

”I au, nice to meet you! Whether you are an open pervert or a closet pervert, let's get along well!”

shi+roe introduced Naotsugu to Akatsuki after seeing his gaze

Naotsugu greeted with his overly faht he shouldn't talk like this to someone he just met, Akatsuki seeu

(Was Akatsuki-san so tense before?)

shi+roe thought about this in the suffocating silence

(I re)

”I have been looking for you”

Akatsuki said in a barely audible feminine voice after a short silence

”You have business with me?”

He still seemed deeply troubled He took a few deep breaths before steeling himself and said:

”I want you to sell me an Appearance Reset Potion”

Akatsuki spoke softly but the contents were audible But the ister in shi+roe's mind shi+roe took some time to think about what he meant

'Appearance Reset Potion'

This was a li one of the events in Elder Tales shi+roe remembered it was a promotional event to attract more players to Elder Tales, and this was the reward ite This promotional event was a combined effort with an Internet broadcast, but the content was very crude, just aa radio interview to pro It was a failure of an event that the developers wanted to pretend never happened

Since it was a game with 20 years of history, there were several such events that were beyond the word stupid The variety of items limited to events was also very wide

The characters that represented the player in the gaame

8 races, 12 classes, naht, body shape, hair style, hair and eye color could all be adjusted Body shapes were custoures like chest circuth, waist and shoulder width Since your appearance and body shape didn't affect battle abilities, lots of players opted to use their actual appearance in the game

'Appearance Reset Potion' allowed you to change the appearance of your character that was set just like its naested As previously explained, appearance didn't affect fighting strength so this was just an item to use for fun The iteood way to change the ame

At least until now

”Aka, Aka, Akatsuki-san, could it be”

Akatsuki glared at shi+roe

”You are a girl?”

Akatsuki straightforwardly nodded contrary to her professional hitman look

Her feh she tried her best to conceal it In this world where conversation with a keyboard was iender anymore

”That is a surprise”

Naotsugu standing beside shi+roe was also stiff from the shock

3

shi+roe retrieved the 'Appearance Reset Potion' fro Akatsuki breathed a sigh of relief as she received the orange potion

”Please wait for a moment”

Akatsuki said before disappearing into the depths of the shop

But she didn't go to another roos behind the screen that separated the kitchen

(How careless, she is not living here, right?)

shi+roe thought, but this was not the mood to throw a punchline

”Hey Are you fine?”