Chapter 34: Surrounded With Traps and Turmoil
Chapter 34: Surrounded With Traps and Turmoil
In other words, now I could see that Sekandil really wasn’t that big of a town and that in comparison Thirdrema was bursting with energy. It was a city which fully embodied the idea of a “fantasy town”, with stern roads, street vendors trying to sell their merchandise to the people walking down the streets, and even beggars sitting in the gutters and back alleys. It was all making a busy and lively impression of a city.
Also, Firstia and Sekandil were erected on a flat land, but Thirdrema was built on top of a small hill, with a castle standing right in the middle of the town. It was a generic town in a fantasy game, but it was alluring enough to make me feel strangely motivated for some reason.
「Funya, as always, this city is so beautiful.」
「It sure is.」
「Muu, somehow your reaction is rather bleak, Sanraku-san.」
I mean yeah, the sight itself was beautiful, but let’s not forget that I am a pure-blooded gamer. Having cleared a fair share of games, I have seen many different towns and environments.
For example, a human colony hanging on the verge of the Earth’s atmosphere, where you could reach out your hand and go into the vacuum of space.
Or a forgotten castle so big and so secluded that one was asking himself if giants of some sort were living in it during the days of its glory.
Or a highly advanced shelter-town deep in the bowels of the Earth, where the blue sky and the rays of the sun were nothing more than an image generated by computers.
They were all creations of Full Dive technology, and suddenly remembering all of them made me want to stop in my tracks and tell Emul about them all.
「You know, it might be hard to believe, but I’ve been around many different places and saw many different things. Grand and wonderful things.」
「Oh, that’s actually amazing! I guess it’s just like Sanraku-san to travel around the world and visit many different places!」
I look at Emul. Even though he may look different right now, it was still the same old Emul. Glad to know that this hasn’t changed.
「Now, whatever shall we do?」
「……? Weren’t we supposed to look for an inn?」
「No, no, we are still going to do that. But I was just wondering whatever shall we do after that.」
Since every single town in this game was under the same time zone, it was natural that in the middle of the night we would only see but a small percentage of people who decided to make Thirdrema their base of operations. But even so, the amount of people here was surprisingly small. What’s more, quite a lot of people were going towards the swamplands and into Sekandil, as opposed to the exploration point that was beyond Thirdrema. Were they all going to level up or take on the area boss again? Or maybe there were still materials they needed to farm before logging out for the day?
I knew that my current getup was a little bit strange and that people would like to avoid having to look at me, but it was definitely different than usual.
I wonder what was the cause of such heavy traffic towards Sekandil? I would like to ask someone about it, but unsurprisingly, whenever someone would look my way they would look somewhere else in a hurry while whispering “Oh crap, it’s that bird-pervert guy? What’s he doing here?”
Strange…… I know that my appearance was weird, but I certainly didn’t do anything that would make be that recognizable amongst other players. Or maybe it was that those three started to badmouth me right after our encounter in that forest? I sure hope that wasn’t the case.
「Oh well, can’t really help it that I’m looking suspicious right now.」
I mean, what would you do if you were inside a forest and suddenly a masked pro-wrestler jumps at you instead of a wild bear? It was only natural that this whole scene would be so surreal that you couldn’t help it but to laugh.
「Come on, Emul, let’s find us an inn.」
「O, oh. Right.」
Just then, when we were about to venture further into the city, one of the passing players grabbed a hold of my hand, preventing us from going forward. So we were forced to stay near the city’s gate, and the gaze of the town’s guard was strangely hostile for some weird reason.
「Y, you there! That getup, you are Sanraku, aren’t you?」
「He?」
「Are you perhaps one of Sanraku-san’s friends?」
The one who stopped us was a female player. Emul thought that maybe we were friends for some strange reason, but it was the first time for me to meet that player. Let’s see…… “Animalia”? Yup, I don’t know anyone by that name.
For a moment there I thought it might have been one of my sh*tty game friends, but if it was one of them their manners would have been different…… At least my friends knew how to behave themselves.
「Umm, have we met somewhere before?」
Speaking of games, it was one of the golden rules that the further you go in them the better loot you get, and the strength of your items would be reflected in your overall appearance. Therefore, just by looking at Animalia’s equipment it was easy for me to tell that such equipment was not available this early in the game.
But if she was a high-level player, then what was she doing in the place such as Thirdrema, where mostly low-level players would gather? And how come she knew my name?
「When it comes to greetings…… I don’t really care about formalities like that. There is only one thing I would like you to listen to me……」
As she said that, Animalia grabs onto my arms and opens her eyes wide. Just when I was starting to think that she was acting rather weird, something happened to Emul. There was a huge puff of smoke over his head, and in the next moment a pair of bunny ears erected from the top of his hair.
「How is this!? You’re a Vorpal Bunny! Is it tamed!?」
「……!!!」
Oi, Emul, don’t get us busted like that all of a sudden!
While Emul was doing his best to try to come up with a cover story for that little accident out there, my mind was working full throttle to think of something as well, all the while thanking my luck that I was wearing a mask and no one could easily see the shift in my facial expressions.
How did she know about a Vorpal Bunny? No, it was entirely possible that someone might have seen me talked about it, that’s why. I totally forgot about the fact that people could actually see who I was talking to. Damn, what to do now? Make a run for it from this city? No, it was too early to resort to such drastic solutions.
Revealing the unique quest was obviously out of the question. After all, information was crucial in this game and those who monopolize it can have an overwhelming advantage. And even if I’m to disclose anything I know, it would only amount to something like “You must first prove your Vorpal Soul” or something like that…… Or would it be best to hide that fact as well?
Anyhow, I didn’t want to disclose any information about the triggers or even the “Invitation to the Bunny Country”…… And that is because……
「Umm, you see, even if you ask me, I’m not exactly sure myself……」
「That’s right, you know? Something like that should be shared with everyone else, don’t you think? Revolutionary Knight Sanraku……?」
That name was completely meaningless in this game.
It was a title from a completely different game.
There was only one person in particular who knew my title from that game.
It was a total surprise to hear that voice coming from just outside the gate leading to Thirdrema. Upon that I managed to break free of this Animalia chick holding onto me and jumped back, putting some distance between us. Only then was I able to understand just how dangerous of a situation I was in right now.
「Now won’t you look at that! If it isn’t Pencil Warrior!」
「Now, now, that might have been my name, but right now I go by Arthur Pencilgton, Sanraku-kun. That being said, you look simply monstrous.」
He looked like a beautiful woman in this game, and almost half of his face was being concealed behind a mask that resembled the ones that professional assassins would use while going on their missions. He once managed to assassinate both Modorokatsu and I in a futuristic game called “United Rounds”…… “Pencil Warrior”, now “Arthur Pencilgton, laughed at me in a joyous manner.