kscans

Chapter 8 - The Next Day, Alone

"This incredible sense of disconnect..."

—Day two of playing. My plan for an all-night marathon was thwarted by the pressure of my angry mother, so I went to bed early, woke up early, and returned to the virtual world at 5 AM.

Unlike the first time I logged in, where I was tossed around at will, there was no dramatic intro of being thrown into the sky or the sea this time. After the [Arcadia] title logo, a whiteout occurred, and my consciousness was once again sent into my avatar in this world.

My current location is the fountain square where I logged out last night. It's 5 AM in the real world, but in the virtual world, where time flows at a density 50% greater than reality, it's almost 8 AM. The sun has already fully risen, and the square is already bustling with activity.

Now, as for what I'm grumbling about with a grimace on my face, I'm currently unable to hide my confusion at the difference in physical sensation between my body in the real world and my body in the virtual world. In my initial state before allocating any status points, it was just a matter of "moving well," but after the boss fight, my level is now 17. This avatar, which has gained 170 status points, has already surpassed the specs of a normal human.

――――――――――――――――――
◇Status◇
Name：Haru　 Lv：17
STR(Strength)：15
AGI(Agility)：70
DEX(Dexterity)：70
VIT(Vitality)：5
MID(Mind)：5
LUC(Luck)：5

◇Skill◇
・All Weapon Aptitude
[Quick Change]
[Weapon Darts]

・Accel Tempo
――――――――――――――――――

This is my current status. Even before the boss fight, I was able to move in ways that surpassed an Olympic athlete... and compared to this body (avatar), which has gained even more points since then, the physical specs of my real-world body are garbage.

Perhaps because of the huge disparity between my physical abilities in both worlds, I feel an incredible sense of disconnect all over my body, even when I'm just standing still. I think I'll get used to it if I move around a bit... I'll just have to hope I get used to it eventually.

"...Now, what to do?"

I currently have no plan for what to do next. Now that I've parted ways with Sora, who seemed to have some prior knowledge, I'm forced to act like a foreigner lost in a foreign country again.

If I'm really in trouble, I could ask one of the senior players walking around for a lecture... but, well, everyone is decked out in shiny equipment, and they look dazzling, or rather, intimidating, you know?

"Ugh............Huh?"

As someone who is clearly a beginner in both equipment and atmosphere, I stand out even without Sora by my side, unlike yesterday. Feeling embarrassed to be standing still under theチラチラ glances, I opened my inventory to at least look like I was doing something... and the equipment section was completely empty.

"...I forgot."

I had completely forgotten that the set of initial weapons that had been so helpful yesterday were limited-time tutorial-only items that disappeared as soon as I cleared the mushroom forest.

The materials section of my inventory is packed with a large number of [Mushroom Caps] and what is probably a boss drop, an item called [Ancient Wood of the Mushroom Bed]—but these are useless for even mushroom hunting.

Yesterday, I was forced to hunt mushrooms endlessly, so the currency dropped by them has accumulated quite a bit. So, the place I should head to for now is—

"Excuse me, do you know where the weapon shop is?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. A weapon shop?"

Hey, you kind-looking big brother over there! Give me a lecture!!

◇◆◇◆◇

"Welcome."

Guided by a kind senior player, I arrived at an NPC shop—excitedly, I passed through the door and was greeted by a female NPC shopkeeper. I received a gentle healing from the smiling beautiful woman and, with a bow, approached the counter.

"What can I do for you today?"

"I'm in need of some weapons."

"The equipment we handle at our shop is all beginner-level weapons for starters, but..."

"Oh, I'm a beginner, so that's no problem."

When I said that as if it were a matter of course, the shopkeeper looked surprised.

"So, you're new to Istia? It's been over half a year since a new traveler has come here."

"Oof..."

Istia, huh... I thought it would be unpopular, but I didn't think it would be that bad. Well, I guess people who do their research before starting this game wisely choose other factions... What's a traveler? Is that what NPCs call players?

Anyway, as someone who runs a shop for beginners, she must have had a lot of time on her hands. I felt a warmth at her somewhat happy demeanor and asked for a product catalog.

"This is a list of the items we carry."

With a wave of her hand, a translucent, glowing system board stylishly deployed in mid-air. Wow, how game-like and wonderful.

"Hmm..."

Even for beginners, there seem to be some variations, such as iron, alloy, and forged steel. The types of weapons are also all the ones I used in the beginner series, and there are even some unusual ones like a transforming scythe and a chain flail.

But well... in my case, I don't really need to choose, or rather, considering my fighting style from yesterday, my general build is already set, so—

"I'll take everything in the iron series."

If it's the lowest-rank iron weapons, I can just barely afford all the weapon types in the catalog. After a quick calculation, I told her my order, and the result was,

"What?"

—a smile from the shopkeeper and those words, or rather, that voice.

It wasn't that she was trying to intimidate me. She was probably just confused about what I had just said. I was also aware that my order was a little (a lot) strange, so I had an explanation ready.

"It's just that I tend to switch between a lot of different weapons when I fight, and my build isn't specialized in any one weapon, so..."

"I-I see..."

Oh, she's surprisingly not convinced—or rather, what is it? She looks a little troubled.

"Uh... is there a problem?"

Did I miscalculate? Do I not have enough money... no, I haven't even told her how much I have... Hmm?

As I tilted my head in confusion, the shopkeeper, with a hesitant gesture as if she were unsure whether to say it, pointed to a spot on the catalog floating in the air.

It was a corner of the page that showed a simple description of each weapon, a place where a small but definite "number" was written—

"...Huh?"

Wait, was there a number like that? I don't think it was on the beginner series, right? So I must have missed it... and... —Item weight?

"..................Ah."

"Well............"

The shopkeeper seemed to realize that I had noticed.

—Ah, that makes sense. A kind shopkeeper like her... it must be hard to point out a customer's "ignorance."

I suppressed the heat rising to my face and quietly opened my own status screen. I found the item labeled "Maximum Carry Capacity" and compared it to the item weight of the weapons the shopkeeper had shown me.

Ah, I see... so even though it's a game-like extradimensional storage, the restrictions are still pretty strict...

"Well... for a beginner's capacity, considering the balance with armor, consumables, and loot from hunting..."

...It's okay. It's okay, shopkeeper. You don't have to look so apologetic.

When I smiled with a look of complete understanding, she smiled back apologetically and—

"A large weapon and a small one as a sub, or two medium-sized weapons like a straight sword, would be the limit..."

My dream of a walking armory (quick-change build), has come to an end.

◇◆◇◆◇

—So, what do I do now?

I can't just stay dejected. After that, we both bowed our heads apologetically an infinite number of times, and for now, I bought an iron straight sword and a great axe. After getting my weapons, I left the NPC shop and went straight to the [Plains of the Horizon], the beginner area with the lowest recommended level.

...And now that I think about it, was that lady really an NPC? Her emotional expressions and word choices made her seem like a real person—no, let's put that aside for now.

As expected of a beginner area in the unpopular Istia, there are no other players in the vast plains as far as the eye can see. The enemies in this area, the [Fool Boars], are everywhere, but it seems they aren't aggressive enemies. As long as I don't attack them, they won't attack me first.

The problem that has come up is my avatar's future development plan. I didn't even think about it yesterday, but it seems the beginner series I was using in the mushroom forest was a special type that didn't take up inventory space.

That's why I was able to carry so many different types of weapons. In reality, equipment naturally has weight. Daggers are light, while large weapons like greatswords and great axes are ridiculously heavy.

I also asked the lady if there was a way to increase my maximum carry capacity, but as far as she knew, the only way was to level up—in other words, there's no immediate solution. Case closed.

I had a theory that quick change was broken, but I never expected a pitfall like this... well, I still think throwing and switching is broken, but a technical style of switching between various weapons is probably not realistic.

"Basically, I'll fight at high speed with a high-attack-rate weapon, and switch to a large weapon for a decisive blow..."

For the time being, I plan to go with an agility-focused light warrior build, but it seems I don't dislike a big, one-hit-kill style either. For a while, my style will probably be a basic straight sword, switching to a great axe for a finishing move.

A fighting style where I switch between various weapons according to the situation, like yesterday, is impossible for the time being... but well, for now, I think I'll stick with this status point allocation policy.

I won't be holding a large weapon all the time, so I don't think I need to reconsider my STR allocation—and with that,

"Let the hunt begin."

By the way, because I forced myself to cram a straight sword and a great axe into my inventory, I'm at my maximum carry capacity. I can't even carry potions, let alone pick up loot. Welcome to my mysterious self-imposed challenge run.