kscans

Chapter 865 - A Bustling Interlude

A turtle, a dragon, or perhaps a hippo.

In place of the colossal body of [Green Connect, Jehatreglie]—over which, I hear, a pointless debate about its most fitting name still rages—the roots of the [Key Tree] now fill the basin.

Built upon them is the second Vestol district, steadily expanding its territory… Whether it’s a blessing from the [Key Tree] or the result of some NPC technology, the reason remains unclear, but the area has transformed into a bona fide “safe zone.”

It’s just like the initial player town, the [Safe Area], in the Garden of Divine Creation. You can log out anytime, anywhere in the city, and actions normally restricted to safe zones, like accessing your clan home, are naturally possible.

Furthermore, with helpful facilities like the [Private Guild Hall] I visited the other day popping up, Key Tree City has blended into the world as Arcadia’s sixth “city.”

That’s right, the sixth.

Following the districts of the eastern, western, southern, and northern factions, and the [First Base (Safe Area)], it is the sixth city. Sadly, this means our [Second Base (Frontier)] has been completely overshadowed.

That place is also open to the public now and seems to be reasonably lively, but… it stands no chance against this place, which boasts the ridiculously massive content that is the [Key Tree].

“Turned out to be a peaceful city opening,” Goldow had remarked half a month ago, smiling with a look of relief.

…Anyway, putting that aside.

Just the other day, with stocks replenished after the last Four Pillar War, the installation of the [Alv Portals] was approved. And so, the five-hundred-kilometer journey that might feel quite long for some has been shortened to the blink of an eye.

These days, the new “city,” Key Tree City, is overflowing with people and commerce.

"—…In a way, Tetra’s the strongest of all the rankers. No, I’m dead serious. You’re number one. Thank you for being in my life. I owe you big time."

"You’re treating me like a convenience item. I’m going to smack you."

"At this point, I think I’d just laugh and forgive you even if you punched me in the face…"

And so, there we were, in the middle of the crowd.

It was evening in real-world time. Sora-san logged out to battle the maid for the duty of cooking dinner, so we were taking a short break from conquering the [Key Tree].

My dinner tonight was decided—special somen noodles by Chef Chitose—so I didn’t have to spend time on supper preparations. I grabbed Tetra, who also seemed to have nothing to do, and we headed out into the city, which brings us to now.

I just brushed it off when Nagomi-san mentioned it this morning, but what on earth are “special somen noodles by the chef”?

Anyway—

"Seriously though, this is amazing. What kind of stealth doesn’t break even when you’re constantly bumping into people? We’re way beyond the realm of stealth or invisibility, aren’t we?"

"Well, mine is a mix of my [Anima], [Terror Armament], and [Skills]. When you stack three fantasy miracles on top of each other, I guess this is what you get."

"Is this really something you can just brush off with ‘what you get’…?"

I was being led by my junior… or rather, I was tagging along with my junior as we drifted through the sea of people.

Everywhere on the main street was so congested it was beyond the level of trying to dodge people; avoiding contact was mission impossible. Yet, everyone who crashed into the invisible us would just give a puzzled look and walk away.

This wasn't on the level of not being seen.

It was more like they couldn’t even perceive our presence.

…Well, I’ve known for a long time that this junior of mine (who isn’t actually my junior) is a total balance-breaker in many ways. I suppose this is nothing new.

Flattery just gets brushed aside, so I'll just quietly worship him in my heart.

◇◆◇◆◇

So, where were we headed?

With the aid of the one-and-only Tetra-kun, a must-have for every household (clan), our destination was…

"—…Whoa, it’s huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge."

"It’s an instance area. They can do whatever they want."

It was another convenient NPC-run facility, much like the [Private Guild Hall] we used the other day. It was called the [Market]. The straightforward naming was refreshingly nice.

Just like the guild hall, what was set up in the city was an object shaped like a “door.” Touch it with intent, and you’re instantly teleported here. That’s the gist of it.

To this place—an explosive space so vast I couldn't even guess its area, far beyond any real-world sports stadium or dome.

As I looked around, I could see an ocean of people that was, without exaggeration, probably thousands strong. And yet, it was a ridiculous world where everyone could comfortably maintain their personal space.

I looked up, and the sky was a brilliant blue.

This was a true open-air market. Despite the absurd number of people in my sight, the air on my skin was perfectly cool and pleasant—

"This is actually… kind of creepy."

"I know what you mean. I’m not a big fan of it either."

I’m not trying to diss all the players swarming around. It’s just that the disconnect between the information from my eyes and my skin is so severe that my brain is throwing an error.

…But will I ever get used to this?

I feel a certain atmosphere here that, as a fundamentally introverted person, I don’t think I can ever fully adapt to. I don't really want to stay long.

I mean, I can tolerate the roar of human voices constantly washing over me, but….

"What do you want to do? Leave?"

"Hmm…"

We came here with a destination in mind, but not a specific purpose. We just came out of boredom, for a walk to see something new.

Still, since we went to the trouble of coming…

"…Nah, it’s not unbearable. I think. Can we look around for a bit?"

"Yep, got it."

It's nothing to brag about, but back in my part-time warrior days, no matter how menacing the atmosphere of a workplace was, I was a man who never turned tail on the first go.

First, I’d give it my all, and if it was truly awful, I’d slap down my resignation notice with a huge smile. “Experience is everything” is my motto, after all.

And the key is to show my firm resolve with a notice of resignation, not a letter of resignation. But that’s completely irrelevant right now—

"This is a textbook manifestation of chaos…"

"Some people must really like it. …From our Eastern Faction, I bet Hinayo-san would, surprisingly."

"Seriously? …Well. Yeah, surprisingly… surprisingly, she might… like it, huh…?”

I quickly gave up on trying to pick out individual voices from the clamor erupting in every direction. My hearing was focused solely on picking up Tetra's words, delivered by the system assist.

Instead, my vision took over the information gathering, though it was also on the verge of a capacity overload. It was… well, you know. That feeling of being in the middle of a huge festival.

There are stalls. They're selling all sorts of things. I can grasp that much, but the sheer volume of information, including the clamor, is too much for my brain to process.

In a word, I feel all floaty.

"…Senpai, you okay?"

"I might not be."

When I answered honestly, Tetra sighed and gave a faint smile.

"You're interested in [Key Tree]-related items right now, right? Shall I lead the way?"

"…Oh, yeah. ………Yeah, I guess so. Please."

He pulled on the sleeve of my more-or-less brain-dead self and started walking without hesitation through the bizarre space.

What’s with this self-proclaimed junior of mine? Is he always this reliable, no matter where we are?

---

Waiwai (Bustling).

Anyway, this impromptu date with Tetra-kun will continue for one more chapter. Probably, maybe, most likely, one more chapter.

I’m describing it in a rough and vague way because there's no other choice given the sheer volume of information, so please use your imagination. It might be good to picture something about ten times the scale of Comiket spread out over an area a hundred times larger. If that's not enough for you, feel free to make it a hundred and a thousand times larger.