V1C9

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Episode 09 – Preparations and Shopping are key!

“Can’t believe you actually finished that thing.”

Eyes locked on the cleaned out tall glass, I felt a mix of awe and primal fear at the sight.

The sinner in question was going one more time over the menu while elegantly enjoying her cocoa. Looking at her, one couldn’t possibly fathom the amount of food that was being consumed mere minutes ago.

Incidentally, there was still more than five minutes left on chrono.

“I mean, obviously I can’t do that in real life but here the laws of nature do not apply so…”

“Even so, don’t you feel mentally exhausted?”

“Hmm, not really, no.” She lightly tapped her stomach. “It was the right amount I’d say.”

No matter how you looked at it, there was no way the previously enshrined atrocity would fit in such a thin stomach.

“—more importantly, did you find us some juicy information?”

“Ah, right. Apparently, if you use a special camera along with the <Photography> skill, you can take pretty neat screenshots.”

“Yes well, I don’t really care about such things, though”

“It’s essential information for bloggers or Wiki editors, you know?”

But Letty still didn’t bat an eye. Looks like she has no interest in becoming a content creator.

“Also, the enemies we can find in the <Meadow of the Beginning> are listed on the Wiki,” I continued.

“Now that is what I am talking about, Ledge. This is the kind of information I was waiting for.”

Now that I had her attention, Letty turned on her chair and leaned close over the table. Her face was now only a few centimeters away from mine and I couldn’t help but blush a little.

“Ah— er, yes. We can expect mice and birds. There’s also some snakes but they’re apparently hard to find.”

“Mice and birds, you say… Aside from the mice, birds’ meat can be use in a variety of dishes if I recall correctly.”

How can she even bear the thought of food after this…? That’s youth for you I suppose. Though in her case I might think youthfulness was only part of the answer.

“It’s also written that meat also drop from mice. There’s a few recipes linked with it,” I added.

“Interesting. I wonder how that tastes like…”

I had expected a grimace but it turned out she was eager to taste it. I think it’s safe to say her appetite is innate at this point.

“Never eaten one myself so I wouldn’t know. Though, the birds in the meadow can’t fly so it might just taste like chicken. As for the snakes, it doesn’t say if they’re big or not, so I can’t say for sure until I’ve seen one.”

“Hmm, do you think the enemies that appear change depending on the time of day?” asked Letty.

“I don’t know, but I’d say yes. That’d be more natural.” The game tried to stay close to reality so I thought that might be the case.

And most of the players might probably assume that, too.

“But, well, we’ll just have to go and see for ourselves. Anything before that is just speculation,” I offered.

“I guess so. Shouldn’t we also try to gather information on skills and such?”

“Yeah, probably.”

With that said, not even a day passed since launch. Information on the Wiki was still scarce and, on the forum, updates came in dribs and drabs.

“For now, though, it looks like the <Camping> skill has been re-evaluated quite a bit,” I remarked.

“Yes, it will probably become an essential skill for nighttime activities from now on.”

After spending a night on Izanami, players were quick to move the skill up from trash tier to mandatory tier.

Now, the main opinion across multiple threads was that the [Lantern] had become a must-have item if one planned to go hunting at night.

In addition to that, the [Lantern] transactions had been booming since a player with the <Toolmaking> skill had discovered the recipe.

Speaking of which, while I didn’t really do anything to spread the word, I still felt weirdly proud about it.

“Ah— it says here that if you’re only planning to use it for night hunts, level 10 is more than enough.”

“Ow…” Letty delivered a direct hit. “It’s fine. I’m just walking my own path…”

The total skill level allowed was set in stone so there was not much room for minor skills depending on the build one was going for. Most players would level up a skill just enough to secure a certain effect.

But that’s exactly why niche players like me would shine— I guess…? Probably…?

Letty stood up. “Well then, we should get going.”

“Eh? It’s still night outside, you know?”

“Yes, but we need to do some shopping first. We cannot raise our skills level if we do not buy the corresponding Skill Cartridges.”

“Was there such a thing…?”

Skill Cartridges were items used to unlock new abilities. In the [Survivalist’s Pack], both the <Brilliance> and <Bonfire> Skill Cartridges were included.

In order to use the abilities, cartridges must be set in dedicated slots, and we currently had 10 slots available.

“I would like to get Skill Cartridges for the <Appraisal> and <Combat Capability> skills,” said Letty.

“Hmm, I get why you’d want some for the <Combat Capability> skill, but why would you need <Appraisal>?”

<Combat Capability>, as one would expect, included many useful combat related abilities. I think the very first ability was called <Intimidate> and had an area taunting effect. <Combat Capability> was strongly recommended if one were aiming for a combat build, but I felt I could manage without it, so I didn’t plan on taking it.

And then there was the <Appraisal> skill. This one could provide detailed parameters for items— I was planning on taking this one.

“—because, aside from the <Material Knowledge> ability, one of the first abilities for the <Appraisal> skill is the <Wildlife Knowledge> ability,” she explained. “With it I can identify weak points, so it’s a recommended skill for combat-oriented players.”

“Oh, I see. I’m going for the <Material Knowledge> ability so we won’t overlap.”

Still, I didn’t know <Wildlife Knowledge> was a thing. Information gathering is seriously not to be overlooked…

I was still impressed by Letty’s information gathering skills when we exited the coffee shop. It was still dark outside, but for us robots, it didn’t matter much. We once again merged with the mass of players on the main street and, a few minutes later, we entered another shop.

“Come IN! Come IN!”

The NPC skeleton greeted us with the same broken speech we were used to and led us into his cartridges shop.

There were a few other players carefully considering the many colorfully labeled cartridges displayed on the shelves.

“Let’s see… <Material Knowledge>, <Photography> and—”

“I see you are still planning on leveling up the <Photography> skill.”

“Well yeah, that’s what I originally intended.”

Despite being the first available town, it sure displayed a plethora of abilities. Every skill looked more interesting than the other and my eyes were pulled left and right across the shelves.

As for Letty, she came; she chose; she paid. Not a single minute was wasted.

“Are you done yet, Ledge?”

“Ah, please wait a bit— there’s this skill that looks really fun…”

I spotted Letty puffing her cheeks out of the corner of my eyes and felt a mixed of guilt and frustration. I resigned and quickly grabbed a few cartridges and went to the register. The cost was automatically deduced from my current Bits and the cartridges were moved to my inventory.

“Hey, sorry, did you wait long?”

“Long? More like forever…”

Aren’t you supposed to say something like “I just finished myself” here…?

“Oh right, I still need to buy my camera.”

“Can’t you just take normal screenshots?”

“Nah, the <Photography> skill only activate if you use a proper camera.”

Letty answered with a shrug.

I had her wait a bit longer and hurried to a general store I had spotted earlier. For 800 Bits I managed to buy the cheapest camera and a memory card that could hold 50 photos. A little fortune considering my meager finances.

“I’m gonna need to start making some money…”

My wallet looked like it had just taken its last breath and with the 400 Bits I had just spent on the cartridges; I was close to bankruptcy.

“In that case, why don’t we go and take on a few missions?” suggested Letty.

“Missions? —Ah right, I almost forgot about those.”

“That’s the basics, Ledge…” Letty drooped her shoulders and sighed.

As she said, missions were the core of this game. Amaterasu was issuing them in the name of the Reclamation. Players can take on those missions from the terminal in the central control area. Once accepted, and if the conditions for success were met, players could receive Bits or items.

To put it simply, this was the number one way of earning money in the game.

“It is almost dawn, let’s head back to the field once we got ourselves a few missions!” Letty’s voice was bright and I could tell she was as excited as I was to go back hunting.

Tips

◇NPC

Low-grade mechanical dolls that manage various shops set in vanguard bases. They lack advanced reasoning and are therefore managed by the main computer located in the central control area. They still possess a glint of an ego and can feel discomfort if treated roughly. It is recommended to show them minimum courtesy.

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