Chapter 7: The Pervert, Painfully Realizing the Price of Efficiency

I explained that I had way too many items, was in trouble because I had no means of starting a fire to deal with my hunger, and that I would give them some meat if they could start a fire for me. Thankfully, the three of them readily agreed.

"Umm... [Fireball]!!"

"““Ooh.””"

The moment Rina chanted the spell, a ball of fire appeared from the void and struck the gathered branches, turning them into a bonfire. Perhaps because these three were also beginners who had just started, we all stared at the bonfire as if looking at a gemstone.

"Oh, you can cook in bulk... This kind of thing is so convenient in games."

"Um... Sunraku-san?"

"Just Sunraku is fine. We're all ShanFro beginners, so there's no rank or hierarchy here."

"But you seem older, so I'll keep using '-san'. So, Sunraku-san... um, why are you dressed like that...?"

Rina seemed moved for a while by the sensation of using Fireball, but as I was bulk-grilling the meat, she asked me fearfully.

"In this game, you can sell your initial equipment during character creation."

"Eh, really!?"

"So, I sold everything except the headgear and weapons, and this is the result."

"Eh? But if you start in a town, couldn't you have bought equipment immediately?"

The thief girl, Kahho, raised that doubt. When I informed her that the "Wanderer" Origin has a random spawn point, I received a collective "Uwah..." and looks of pity. For some reason, my heart ached.

"By the way, that rabbit from earlier... what was it again?"

"The Vorpal Bunny?"

"Right, right. Is that Vorpal Bunny really that strong?"

"Let's see..."

They say seeing is believing, but since there isn't a live one here, a reenactment will have to do. I thrust a wooden stick at the boy who asked the question, Soma, at the same speed I use to parry a Vorpal Bunny's attack.

"It aims for the neck with precision at about this speed. Also, I'm pretty sure every attack is a Critical Hit."

"F-Fast..."

"Well, it only aims for the neck, so once you get used to it, it's an easy monster to deal with."

"Eh, what level are you, Sunraku?"

"12. Leveling is starting to slow down, so I was thinking of looking for a town after hunting a bit more."

"Ah, you're still going to hunt... Wait, that's high! It hasn't even been a day since ShanFro went on sale, and you're already that high?"

Unlike the two girls, Soma spoke casually without caring about age, which I found favorable. I believe that seniority in games is basically determined by playtime. I wouldn't go so far as to say age hierarchy is invalid, but my feeling is that players who start at the same time are effectively the same age, regardless of their real-world years.

"Well, even with breaks, I've been holed up in this forest for about seven hours straight. Thanks to that, my inventory is packed, and my hunger is reaching the danger zone..."

"Ah, so that's why you needed fire."

"Exactly. Oh, looks like they're all done... Here, this is my thanks."

Of the roasted meat, the Orc meat looked kind of gross, so I distributed the rabbit meat (Almiraj & Vorpal Bunny) to the three of them, while I bit into the Orc meat.

"Hmm... Is it generally thin?"

It has flavor, but compared to eating the same thing (well, pork) in real life, the taste and texture feel generally diluted. Is this a consideration to prevent players from being satisfied with in-game meals? Indeed, if I only ate this, I'd eventually be unable to stand it and would log out to eat some bacon... It's well designed.

"Ah, I want to log out and eat meat."

"...? Why don't you just do that?"

"No, I want to play this game more than I want that."

When I said that, the three of them nodded in agreement, going "Ahhh." Since I haven't been to a town even once, I haven't logged out since I started. Even if I could save and log out in a combat zone, it's not hard to imagine what would happen afterward. When a game is made this meticulously, it circles back around to making me want to label it a Trash Game...

"Oh right, sorry to be pushy, but can I ask a few more questions?"

It wasn't that I wanted information on the level of a strategy wiki, but after having them show me the map of the area and telling me the lineup of the weapon shop in the starting town, I decided on my policy going forward.

I parted ways with the three, who had apparently come to the forest for a herb-gathering quest. I decided to head in the opposite direction from where they came... towards the second town, "Secondil."

Author's Notes & Lore

Full Dive Mechanics: The Full Dive games in this work are based on the premise that "one's personal aptitude can overcome system barriers to a certain extent." Even if Player A and Player B have the exact same Level, Stats, Skills, and Equipment, the one with better "VR athletic reflexes" will be stronger. In a sense, this isn't much different from reality. However, rephrased, it means "even if you are inferior in reality, you can become stronger more easily than in real life through demon-like leveling and hardcore equipment." This is why games have come to be accepted in society... that sort of feeling.

Translator's Remarks

• Thin Taste: Sunraku describes the taste as "thin" (usui). This implies the flavor is muted or watery, a common trope in VR novels to distinguish virtual food from real food so players don't neglect their real bodies.