Chapter 1-18 : Changes
After today’s lectures at the university ended, I went straight home, ate dinner, took a bath, put my VR headgear on, and logged into the game.
「Hm…? Where am I…?」(Alice)
As soon as I spawned in the game world, I found myself lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room.
This is certainly not in the inn.
While I was wondering, the door opened and a security guard came in.
「Oh, you’re awake.」(town guard)
「Ah, he-hello…」(Alice)
「Are you alright? This is the town guard station of Erst Town. I found you lying in the forest nearby, so I brought you here.」(town guard)
「Aa…」(Alice)
I remember now.
I played until late at night last time. I was too sleepy to go back to the town, so I logged out in the forest. Luckily, it seemed that this man found me.
「Th, thank you, and… I’m sorry for troubling you…」(Alice)
「No, it’s alright. I’m the one who should thank you. You’re one of the Outworlders who fought the monster swarm the other day, right? Thanks to you, we can now go to the port town.」(town guard)
Seems like we’ve become famous among the residents. This is a good thing. I hope the relationship between players and NPCs gets better with this.
By the way, after we defeated the boss of the monster, the rest of the monsters in the area, including the ones who invaded the port town left.
It seemed that the giant wolf monster we killed was the main boss in the area. No wonder it was very strong.
In any case, now I can go to the port town and get myself seafood! But, of course, I want to try cooking it myself, and to do that, there’s something I need to do first.
Yup. I’m thinking of buying some soy sauce. After all, seafood is best with soy sauce in my opinion.
I don’t know where to get it, but the barmaid at the bar on the main street might know something. I think I’ll go ask her now.
I thanked the guard once again and left the guard station.
When I walked down the main street, heading for the bar, I saw a structure with a glowing magic circle on its floor by the street.
It’s a portal.
We couldn’t go anywhere before, but now that the players have access to the town in the north and the port town in the south, we can use it to go there.
However, a portal is not a super convenient device that can send you anywhere you want. After all, you can only teleport to towns or cities you’ve already visited once.
I approached the portal and tried standing on it. Right after, a half-translucent notification window appeared.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
ーSelect Your Destinationー
→ Erst Town (grey font)
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
There’s only Erst Town on the list because I haven’t been in any towns other than this one.
By the way, it’s in grey font, meaning that I can’t select it because I’m already in Erst Town.
The list will expand as I keep exploring this world and visiting other towns.
For now, there are still only two towns that have been discovered by players; the town in the north and the port town in the south.
I want to eat seafood as soon as possible, so maybe I’ll head to the port town today after I finish my business in the bar.
While thinking about my next plan, I continued walking down the main street.
However, when I got to the bar, I saw a sign hanging on the door saying, “Closed”.
「It’s closed… Hahh…」(Alice)
I couldn’t help but sigh.
「Hello there~」(barmaid)
Suddenly, someone called me and tapped my shoulder from behind.
I turned around and saw the person I was looking for.
「Ah, I thought the bar was closed.」(Alice)
「Ahaha. Sorry about that. I was busy helping my friend with her shop. She has gotten a lot of orders since the road to the south reopened. Come in.」(barmaid)
After explaining, the barmaid unlocked the door and let me enter the bar.
There’s no one but the two of us here.
「Erst Boar steak and Erst Bear stew, right? I have to prepare first, so it might take long.」(barmaid)
「Ah, no, no. I didn’t come to eat.」(Alice)
「Ara, is that so?」(barmaid)
「Actually, I want to ask you something about seasonings.」(Alice)
「Seasonings…? Aa! You’re not after my family’s secret recipe, are you?」(barmaid)
「What? No! I just…」(Alice)
「Fufu. I’m just kidding~」(barmaid)
Ugh… She’s teasing me…
「I’ve eaten your stew several times. I just wanted to ask you if you use soy sauce to make it.」(Alice)
「Oh, you can tell? Yup, I use soy sauce.」(barmaid)
Just as I thought!
「Can you tell me where can I get it?」(Alice)
「Hmm… Unlike other seasonings, soy sauce is kinda rare. I bought it from a traveling merchant.」(barmaid)
「A traveling merchant? So, you can’t find it in this town?」(Alice)
「Yeah, unfortunately. You have to wait for his next visit if you want to buy it.」(barmaid)
「I see…」(Alice)
「Well, I can ask him for more details about the soy sauce for you the next time he comes.」(barmaid)
「Really!?」(Alice)
「Of course. You’re my regular customer after all.」(barmaid)
「Thank you!」(Alice)
「You’re welcome~」(barmaid)
「Well then, I’m counting on you. I’ll come again later.」(Alice)
「Alright. Have a nice day~」(barmaid)
I thanked the barmaid and left.
I didn’t get soy sauce, but I’ve confirmed that it exists in this game. However, it seems to be a rare seasoning that can only be obtained from traveling merchants.
But… I wonder why it’s rare…
The climate and the temperature in this region are perfect. It’s not too cold and not too hot. It’s not that we can’t cultivate soybeans in this area, right?
Hmm… Maybe I can start cultivating soybeans myself? Nansa obaa-chan told me about a useful cultivation skill I could learn.
However, the problem is that I don’t have the seeds…
Well, I can think about it later. For now, I think I’ll head to the port town.
It’s gonna be a long way. I might have to walk through the night.
「Soybeans~ Soybeans~ ♪ They turn into a black sauce that makes your food taste better~ ♪ Hmm~ Hmm~ ♪ …Hm?」(Alice)
When I walked down the street while humming, I saw a few horse carriages parked near the south gate outside the town.
I had never seen them before. Perhaps they were back to business after the road reopened.
First, the portal, and then the merchants in the town started to get busy, and now these horse carriages returned. This town has started to change since we defeated that swarm of monsters blocking the road.
As I passed through the gate, I heard the loud voice of the coachman on the horse carriage parked at the front.
「To the port town! We’re going to the port town! Don’t miss out! We’ll leave soon!」(coachman)
My guess was right. They’re going to the port town.
「Umm, excuse me.」(Alice)
「Oh! Outworlder lady, do you want to go to the port town?」(coachman)
「Yes. Can you take me there?」(Alice)
「Of course! It’s 100G per person!」(coachman)
100G, huh? That’s a fair price, I guess.
「How long will it take?」(Alice)
「About five to six hours.」(coachman)
「I see. Normally, it takes an entire day to go there on foot. It’s quite fast.」(Alice)
「Right? Well, it’ll be even faster if you ride a dragon. But unfortunately, I just have some horses. Gaahaha!」(coachman)
「Ahaha… I think I’m fine with horses.」(Alice)
A dragon, huh? Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a dragon in this game yet.
I opened my【Storage】window and took out 100G. Soon after, the money automatically materialized in my hand as coins. I then handed them to the coachman.
It costs money, but it’s much faster than going on foot. I think it’s totally worth the money.
「Thank you! You may get on!」(coachman)
I nodded to the coachman and got on the carriage.
There were already a few people on it, so I decided to sit on the edge. Some of them were carrying weapons and wearing armor. They seemed to be players. The ones without weapons must be residents.
I thought I would be walking through the grassland for the entire day. I’m lucky to find this horse carriage.
I wonder what I will find at the port town.
A new town with new residents to befriend, new monsters to hunt, and new local specialties to try. I can’t wait to get there!
You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]