Chapter 26

[ Example Text ] - Original Gamer System

Example Text - SAO System

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Harry Potter POV

'That didn't level the interdimensional trader skill up... too bad.' He thought that Lisbeth had left the store.

Well, it would have been fast if every trade leveled the skill up, and even though he connected to a second world, the trade wasn't as valuable as learning the ancient language.

But Aincrad, the game World of Sword Art Online, had a ton of potential to grant him some really valuable goods.

It took him a bit to remember who she was, with her brown hair. In the anime, she had colored her hair pink. That was the blacksmith girl.

And most importantly, he somehow managed to gain a good level of affection for her on our first meeting.

[ By comforting and giving Lisbeth hope, the player reached the 'Loved' Affection Level. ]

He would take it. Having contact with a blacksmith with a game system was valuable; he had no problem equipping her with some good weapons for cheap with that future potential. She would give him a lot in return, without a doubt.

Unfortunately, she was still a bit too early in the game to even equip the lightest of his swords.

'You should have entered that world and checked whether you could use magic there!' Tiamat said to his mind. Being his bonded family gave her access to parts of his system, including his codex, that contained all his knowledge.

Part of the knowledge was anything he had watched, like movies and anime. The little winged lizard got instantly hooked on them.

'Who are you calling a winged lizard?' She complained.

'Just joking!'

'He also forgot to make her check the skill essences.' Jura the green Eldunarí added.

She was right; he had totally forgotten it. He had been distracted by all the items and fictional goods he could gain through Lisbeth's access to his story.

'It doesn't matter. The girl will return.' Miremel interrupted, 'Now that the distraction from our training session is gone, it's time to continue. We were talking about how to use energy from your surroundings! You will need to finish your training to beat Galbatorix.'

One of the most useful techniques he could learn right now. A way to lessen the burden on his own mana reserves.

Miremel was the most dedicated to killing Galbatorix; while Jura's rider had been killed by one of the Forsworn, hers had been killed by Galbatorix himself. She had been there.

———

? POV

A petite gold-brown-haired girl observed a brown-haired girl from behind some bushes, her brown eyes closely watching the fire in front of the girl.

A camp?

She actually created a camp?

How?

Did the game change from the beta? The earliest form of Fire Starter was available on the third floor with the large multi-floor elf war quest.

Campfires were one of the earliest and easiest accessible forms of transportable crafting stations; they also gave decent buffs.

At a camp, players could get additional health regeneration. It also lowered the speed of their hunger and thirst. Plus, it could be used as a crafting station for simple chef recipes with a skill mastery requirement of 30 or less, like grilled vegetables and kebabs.

Until the early stages of the Second Floor, there wouldn't be any proper Chef Crafting Station, and even so, it would be overcrowded because people wanted to see the first crafting profession and 'grind it to a higher level'.

A similar situation happened in the beta, and there were far fewer players. The same goes with smithing and tailoring.

And here she was, watching a girl that made a camp fire. How the hell did this girl manage it? The first day isn't even over yet.

She held out her hands, creating a box with her fingers.

Click-tzzzz

She took a snapshot of the girl.

There was one person who needed to see this—the only person who possibly knew the game better than her.

Opening Chat

11-6-2022

Argo {20:16}: Explain, Kiri-bou

Attached Image

For a long moment, nothing happened, until a double checkmark appeared behind the message.

Kirito {20:33}: What the hell? Is that a campfire?

Argo {20:33}: It sure is.

Her eyes widened before she took another snapshot.

Argo {20:34}: Okay… How?

Attached Image

Kirito {20:34}: That doesn't look like the bread and water available in the Town of Beginnings right now... Are these meat rations? I don't believe it's possible to get them before the second floor. They are one of the earliest regeneration consumables.

Argo {20:34}: It sure looks like it. 1 HP regeneration per minute.

Kirito {20:35}: You have to learn how she got them. It could save our lives if her method could get us more advanced items early.

Argo {20:35}: Doneso, Ki-bou. I'll be on the lookout from now on. Get me an Anneal Dagger, and we'll call it evens.

Yes. I know what you are doing. Who was the one to discover that quest, after all~

You should be able to run it twice before anyone else gets there—once to get their only sword and once for the dagger.

Normally I'd do it myself, but, y'know, I've got bigger fish to fry.

Kirito {20:36}: Fine.

Closing the chat, she realized that she wouldn't get any sleep tonight. She needed to watch the girl like a hawk.

Damn.

———

The gold-brown-haired girl peered around the corner of an alley her target had just entered.

It's a dead end. What was she doing here?

She yawned and rubbed the dark circles below her eyes; her stealthy skill ensured that she remained undetectable.

Her target held up a hand, a small holographic compass appearing above it.

Eh… What kind of skill is that?

She watched the brown-haired girl use that strange, almost magic-looking skill to approach a wall.

Quickly, she took a snapshot as she watched the girl pull something, and the wall peeled back only to reveal a wooden door.

A Secret Shop.

She quickly rushed forward, making sure not to let the door out of her eyes as the brown-haired girl opened it and walked inside.

The door closes behind her, the brick wall seemingly enclosing back around the door, hiding it from view, but she had remembered the location.

Quickly, she approached the location to see whether she could find something out of place, as long as the girl was inside. On first glance, it seemed like a normal brick wall—nothing special about it—until she touched something that she couldn't see.

Something metallic and round.

A Doorknob.

There really was an invincible door here. And she could open it.

Before she could return to her hiding spot in order to wait for the brown-haired girl to leave the shop, the bricks once again peeled aside and revealed the door.

For a moment, she could see a raven painted onto the front of the heavy wooden door before it moved back, revealing the inside of a store. There was that brown-haired girl holding the door open while saying, "Sure, we can try to see if you can enter. Here."

Besides, there was an unfamiliar person. Didn't elves appear on the third floor first?

She was looking into the greenest eyes she had ever seen.

They belonged to an otherworldly and ethereal-looking boy who clearly had elvish features with his slightly almond-shaped eyes and slightly pointy ears. He also had the wildest black hair she had ever seen.

And he was looking right at her with these mesmerizing emerald orbs.

Suddenly she heard a male but melodious voice say, "Oh, it seems you already brought me a new customer, Lisbeth."

"She must have followed me. Probably because of the campfire. It isn't supposed to exist on this floor. I really have to thank you, Regeneration Buff, for making hunting easier!" the brown-haired girl called Lisbeth said.

"No Problem. Most people probably didn't even realize that the campfire was strange. That game must have had a beta test; there is no way they could sell such a technology as the Nervegear without one. Maybe she is a participant in it." The black-haired boy said.

Isn't he a Shop NPC? How is he breaking the fourth wall? Besides him, she couldn't see anyone else in the shop. There was no way a player already owned property.

They must have noticed the astonished look on her face. "Don't worry too much about it. I will explain it in a moment. Argo." He said this while looking at the name floating above her for a moment.

Wait, he didn't have the name above his head. "Sorry, can you step out of the doorframe for a moment? We wanted to try whether I could enter this world."

This World? It was too confusing without an explanation. Argo moved out of the way and watched how the boy stepped out of the door into the alley.

For a moment, he stopped right at the step, but then he was out in the alley.

A text appeared above his head.

Harry Potter, Lv. 36

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