Chapter 1-14 : New Equipment And New Skill (part 2)
「Oh, right. By the way, I noticed that the way the Outworlders treated us residents had changed. I heard from the other townspeople that some of the Outworlders were being kind to them.」(Nansa)
「Really!?」(Alice)
「Of course, there are still some of them who treat us badly, but the current situation is much better than a few days ago. It’s all thanks to you and your friends.」(Nansa)
「I see. That’s great!」(Alice)
「I don’t think it will change completely in just a few days, but I hope it will keep getting better from now on.」(Nansa)
「Un. I hope so too.」(Alice)
「Thank you, Alice.」(Nansa)
While thanking me, Nansa obaa-chan smiled and stroked my head.
She can be a grumpy old woman with a sharp tongue sometimes, but she’s actually a kind person.
「By the way, most of the Outworlders in the town have upgraded their equipment, but why haven’t you? You’re still wearing the same equipment as when the first time we met.」(Nansa)
「Ah, actually, I managed to get some monster pelts, so I went to an armor shop and ordered some new leather equipment yesterday.」(Alice)
「I see. So you ordered a leather armor.」(Nansa)
「No, not armor. I ordered a breastplate, a belt, and bracers.」(Alice)
「Wait. Are you planning to keep wearing that beginner clothes then?」(Nansa)
「Well, I kinda like this outfit. It’s really easy to move in it. I love to move fast after all. Of course, I will buy new armor in the future. I think it will be light leather armor or something.」(Alice)
「Hmm, if you like to move fast, then you might want to wear fiber armor rather than leather one.」(Nansa)
「Fiber armor?」(Alice)
「Yeah. You can make it from the wool you get from erst sheep. However, the quality won’t be that great. We used to import good-quality cloth from the south.」(Nansa)
「Do the people in the south make clothes?」(Alice)
「Yeah. There are spider and silkworm monsters that can produce high-quality thread in that area, but unfortunately, the southern highway is currently closed due to monster attacks.」(Nansa)
「Come to think of it, I heard there was a port town in the south that is currently invaded by monsters.」(Alice)
「That’s the reason why the road is closed. We won’t be getting good-quality cloth until someone gets rid of those monsters.」(Nansa)
「What a shame… I heard that the port town was known for its marine products. We need to get through the southern highway and free the town for the sake of delicious seafood and high-quality cloth!」(Alice)
「Hahaha! We’re counting on you Outworlders. Speaking of threads, I heard there were monsters who can produce threads too in the west.」(Nansa)
「Really?」(Alice)
「Honestly, I don’t know if it’s true or not. I just heard about it from the guards. If you go through the western forest, you will get to a huge lake. There are water creatures called squidspiders in that lake. I heard that they spit out thread to attack their enemies.」(Nansa)
「Squid… spiders…」(Alice)
So… They’re like squids but spit out thread instead of ink…?
What weird monsters…
「They’re not aggressive monsters. They don’t attack people and other creatures, but when they feel threatened, they will spit out sticky threads to protect themselves. Like I said, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but if you manage to get to that place, please find out for me.」(Nansa)
「Alright. I’m curious about them too.」(Alice)
Before I can find that lake, I need to go through the forest in the west, right? That forest is huge. I don’t know if I will make it.
Also, since those monsters live in water, I think I will need a skill that allows me to move in water like a diving ability or something.
I also want to learn【Growth Acceleration】Nansa obaa-chan just told me about.
Umm… I feel like there are so many skills I want to learn…
Well, there will be no end if I worry about it.
While I was thinking, I noticed there was a red dot in my mail icon.
It seemed that someone sent me a message. I immediately opened it and read it. The sender was Lynette.
『Your equipment is finish-nya~ You can come here to pick it up-nya~』
Oh! Seems like she has finished my order.
She told me to go back tomorrow. I thought it would be tomorrow IRL time, but it appeared to be in-game time.
How could she work really fast? Don’t tell me… She hasn’t logged out since I left her shop…?
「Hm? What’s wrong?」(Nansa)
「Ah, nothing. It seems that my equipment is ready. I guess I’ll take my leave now and pick it up.」(Alice)
「I see.」(Nansa)
「Well then, Nansa obaa-chan, thank you for the valuable information. I’ll come again.」(Alice)
「Alright. You can come anytime. Have fun out there.」(Nansa)
「Un!」(Alice)
I stood up from my seat, bowed at Nansa obaa-chan, and left her house.
I didn’t want to make Lynette wait, so I went straight to her shop on the main street.
「Lynette-san, it’s me Alice! You there?」(Alice)
「Alice-chan…」(Lynette)
I heard her voice soon after I called her, but I couldn’t see her.
「Where are you?」(Alice)
「I’m here-nya~…」(Lynette)
Her voice sounded weak for some reason, but somehow I could tell that it was coming from the counter.
I approached the counter and…
「Welcome-nya~…」(Lynette)
…Found her lying face down on the floor on the other side of the counter.
「Ly, Lynette-san!? Are you alright!?」(Alice)
「I’m fine-nya… Fwaaaaahhh~ *yawning*」(Lynette)
While yawning, she slowly got up and leaned on the counter.
I could see black half-circles under her eyes.
「No, no. You’re not fine. You look very tired!」(Alice)
「Haha… I received orders from so many players, so I had been working nonstop without sleep for about two days-nya… Because of that, I got ‘sleep deprivation’ status on me-nya…」(Lynette)
「’Sleep deprivation’ status…?」(Alice)
「Yeah. It’s some kind of debuff-nya… Unlike the old conventional games where you just have to press a few buttons to craft something, in a virtual game like this where everything is nearly as real as the real world, you need to do it manually-nya… Well, unless you have high-level upgraded skills-nya… That’s why it takes time-nya…」(Lynette)
「I see…」(Alice)
「I used【Concentration】skill to stay awake all night. It was going well until I got this ‘sleep deprivation’ debuff-nya…」(Lynette)
「I didn’t know you could use【Concentration】like that… But, Lynette-san, don’t push yourself too hard. I think you should log out and get some rest.」(Alice)
「Nah, don’t worry-nya. My body is sleeping in the real world-nya… I’m just feeling tired because of this ‘sleep deprivation’ debuff-nya. I’ll return to normal when it’s gone-nya…」(Lynette)
Ah, I totally forgot about that. What we feel inside the game won’t affect our bodies in the real world.
I remember I once ate so much food and got stuffed in-game, but then I got hungry when I logged out and woke up in my bed.
She seems like she’s planning to keep playing. I wonder what she does in real life. Doesn’t she have a job or school?
I’m curious, but I don’t think it’s right to ask her that.
「Anyway, this is your breastplate, belt, and bracers-nya.」(Lynette)
She took out the pieces of equipment I ordered from her item box and lined them on the table.
「Whoaa… They look great! Can I equip them now?」(Alice)
「Of course. Go ahead-nya.」(Lynette)
I immediately opened the ‘Equipment’ window and equipped my new equipment.
Leather Breastplate
DEF + 2
Bonus stat : DEX + 1
Leather Bracers
DEF + 2
Bonus stat : DEX + 1
Leather Belt
DEF + 1
Bonus stat : DEX + 1
Wow, my DEF and DEX increased quite a lot!
For early-game equipment, these stats are really great.
「Thank you, Lynette-san!」(Alice)
「You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re happy with my work-nya.」(Lynette)
「By the way, can you make fiber armor?」(Alice)
「Fiber? Of course-nya. But, I don’t have good-quality leather-nya. You can get some in the south, but as you know, the road is currently closed-nya.」(Lynette)
「Hmm… If I bring you good-quality fiber materials, will you make some fiber equipment for me?」(Alice)
「With pleasure-nya!」(Lynette)
「Great! Alright then, I’m leaving now. You get some rest, okay?」(Alice)
「Okay~ See you-nya~… Fwaaaaahhh…!」(Lynette)
Right after she waved her hand at me, she laid down on the floor again and went back to sleep.
Doesn’t she have a bed here…?
Anyway, my next goal is to get good-quality fiber materials.
I can either go to the lake in the west to hunt squidspiders or go to the south…
Hmm… I guess I’ll look for information first.
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