The City of Sword Creation.
Even as a giant blacksmithing workshop that paled in comparison to the prosperity of Orario, when Kuroneko and Dekomori stood on the streets, they still felt the rich atmosphere of an otherworldly realm.
The hawking of goods from the shops across the way, the rhythmic clanging of metal from the smithy next door, and the passersby chatting as they walked to and fro—it was all quite overwhelming.
“Hey.” Kuroneko tugged on Xia Jia’s sleeve and asked softly: “Is this really a game?”
“Well, about that…” Xia Jia felt a bit guilty, but he kept a straight face: “Without a doubt, this is the real world!
As someone who has descended, I have already crossed the Invisible Boundary Line and arrived in a different world.”
Kuroneko gave him a deadpan look, playing along: “Not a bad artificial heaven; it’s not much inferior to my own Realm of the Dark Night.”
Fine, nobody believes the truth anyway.
Xia Jia shrugged, not intending to be too pushy.
Unlike Kuroneko, Dekomori had already gone wild with excitement; before Xia Jia could even pay attention, she had already darted quite far ahead.
Fortunately, Cecil had quick eyes and hands, catching her by the back of her collar.
“Let me go, death!
Dekomori is going to go slay the Demon King right now!”
“Calm down, this world doesn’t even have a ‘Demon King’ setting!” Cecil covered her forehead in exasperation.
Dekomori ignored her.
With a turn, she swung her twin-tail meteor hammer toward Cecil, but the latter caught it with one hand and tied it into a dead knot.
“Wuwuwu, I was wrong, please let me go.” She then looked at Xia Jia with teary eyes: “Master, help me!~~~”
Xia Jia looked at Dekomori, who had transformed into a wriggling caterpillar on the ground, and felt helpless.
“Hey, what is wrong with this kid…” Cecil asked, patting the non-existent dust off her hands.
“Cecil…” Xia Jia sighed: “Could I ask you to keep an eye on this child?”
“Hah?” Cecil gave him a deadpan look: “Why?
Why are you suddenly pushing this kind of trouble onto me?
Do you think I’d agree to that?”
“Hasn’t the outcome yet to be decided?
The time limit is three months.
Besides, whether one becomes the Captain depends on everyone’s approval.
Even if they aren’t children you recruited, as long as everyone acknowledges you as Captain, I won’t have any objections.”
Xia Jia cast the bait: “With your character, Cecil-san, surely you don’t think you can’t compare to me?”
As soon as those words were out.
“Hah?
Who do you think I am!” Cecil shot a look of disdain at the still-wriggling Dekomori, lifted her chin, and patted her chest: “Fine, leave it to me!
I will definitely act as an excellent senior and set a good example!”
Saying this, she kindly crouched down to untie Dekomori’s hair.
But before Cecil could say anything, Dekomori immediately retreated a step and then took off running.
“Haha, you fell for it, death!
Just a fake captain, try to catch me if you can!” She didn’t forget to make a face to mock her.
“[○･｀Д´･ ○]!
This brat!”
Cecil ignored Xia Jia and charged toward Dekomori with all her might.
As a blacksmith who had already been granted a Falna, her stamina and speed were no lower than Dekomori’s; catching her was just a matter of time.
Kuroneko looked up and asked: “Are you just going to leave them be?”
“Mm.” Xia Jia spread his hands: “Dekomori is positioned as a free-spirited, casual type.
Whatever she does can be treated as reference data for an anomaly.”
Actually, Xia Jia thought to himself, she’s just not following the ‘tutorial’.
For a troll player, this is just standard procedure.
“Besides…” Xia Jia looked at Kuroneko seriously: “I’m out of money.
Perhaps following that rich lady, Cecil, will be much easier than following me.
At the very least, you won’t have to worry about meals.”
“Money?
As the lord of this artificial heaven, do you even worry about such data?” Kuroneko was puzzled.
“This is a real different world, so it’s normal for me to be penniless.”
Another setting?
Kuroneko was thoughtful.
This was her first time experiencing this kind of full-dive game, and even as a high-level player, she was a bit lost.
The main thing was that this world was too realistic; there were no guides and no quests.
No wonder that bad guy kept saying this is the ‘real world’; it’s really impossible to tell the difference.
Xia Jia, meanwhile, had his own plans.
Unlike a player like Dekomori, Kuroneko, who was recruited with money, offered many more possibilities.
Although he invited Kuroneko and the others to help him under the guise of a game, it was actually very difficult to treat this world purely as a game.
Not to mention the ambiguous main storyline and the accidents that could happen at any moment, there weren’t even any dungeons for grinding levels.
Figuring out how to run a game well was a skill in itself, and Xia Jia needed advice and help from a hardcore player.
He glanced at Kuroneko, who was looking around.
This level of interest only gave players a good first impression; to maintain that affinity, he would need the support of other game content.
“Let’s go.
We’ll start by testing the quest and combat systems.”
Xia Jia said, leading Kuroneko in one direction.
A short while later, the two arrived in front of a circular building.
Those coming and going were mercenaries clad in armor.
This was the branch of the [Guild] in the City of Sword Creation.
Some of the passing mercenaries were adventurers from out of town who had been granted a Falna, while others were just ordinary people.
Unlike the headquarters in Orario, which functioned to manage adventurers, this place was more like a neutral platform for posting commissions.
Kuroneko followed Xia Jia with some trepidation; the mercenaries coming in and out were mostly fierce-looking, and even though it was a “game,” the level of realism made Kuroneko feel slightly uncomfortable.
Xia Jia brought Kuroneko to a massive wooden board…
“Over here are the commissions from the city.
Mm, it’s where you complete quests and receive payment.”
Looking over them, most were for purchasing various ores, rare metals, etc., though there were also requests for recruiting apprentices and assistants.
Xia Jia earnestly searched for a suitable quest, and in his concentration, he lost track of Kuroneko behind him.
At this moment…
“Ouch.”
A cry of pain came from behind him.
Xia Jia saw Kuroneko rubbing her backside, sitting on the ground.
Standing in front of her was a bald man wearing a black skull eyepatch.
He was burly and had a nasty look on his face.
“Where’d this brat come from?
You dirtied my clothes—how do you plan to compensate me!”
He looked at Kuroneko’s appearance: a short hemp shirt and shorts that hadn’t even been dyed, but her skin was unexpectedly snow-white.
He couldn’t help but curl his lips: “Otherwise, as compensation, why don’t you come home with me and keep me company for a night…”
The villain acted the victim, displaying the typical shameless temper of a mercenary.
His remarks not only failed to evoke disgust from the others, but instead triggered roars of laughter.
Seemingly encouraged by the laughter, the bald man leaned down and slowly reached his hand toward the terrified-looking Kuroneko.
But before he could touch her, his hand was seized by a tremendous force.
“Hey, a bit of banter is fine, but actually laying a hand on her is going too far, isn’t it?”
Crack, crack.
The sound of bones crunching exploded from the bald man’s arm.
The intense pain caused his face to twist.
He yanked his arm back and stared in horror at Xia Jia, who was squinting his eyes with a “kindly” expression.
“Adventurer…”
The bald man clutched his nearly deformed wrist.
His gaze first fell on his partners nearby, seemingly wanting to resist, but when he saw the “Sword and Wings” emblem hanging on Xia Jia’s chest, his pupils contracted violently.
The bald man’s partners behind him also quietly tugged on his sleeve, shaking their heads slightly.
“Tch, fine, consider yourself lucky—let’s go!” The bald man glared at Xia Jia, then turned around and retreated.
Seeing that the situation had been resolved, Xia Jia’s expression softened as he extended a hand to Kuroneko.
“Are you alright?”
“Mm.” Kuroneko breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed her backside, and said softly: “I was just bumped.
It hurts a little.”
Xia Jia sighed helplessly: “You saw it yourself; the game still has many issues.
That kind of pain feedback you just felt is exactly the point we are struggling with.”
“In pursuit of realism, perfectly recreating pain is inevitable, but this leads to the problem of: ‘Are there really players who can withstand this level of pain?'”
“Also, the ‘censored’ part for thugs like that hasn’t been implemented yet, so when you run into these kinds of issues, please whisper ‘The world rejects me,’ and you will be able to log out.”
Kuroneko nodded deeply: “Mm, so that was also part of the test?
Was that man also a staff member?”
Kuroneko was shocked by the company’s rigor.
Xia Jia shook his head: “Just a regular NPC.
The real employees are currently just the gods, who act as planners, and us.”
Xia Jia told a little white lie.
He noticed Kuroneko’s mood was a bit shaken, but still relatively stable.
As for why he counted the gods…
It was because the gods of this world would often say things that didn’t fit the setting, like literally talking about “RPGs” or “games.” He had to apply a “patch” in advance.
It’s a good thing I have this ‘game’ filter; otherwise, I’d have a massive headache.
Xia Jia attempted to use his words to incorporate Kuroneko into the “staff,” turning any further problems she might encounter into part of the “job.”
After all, he was the one paying.
Upon hearing this, Kuroneko was even more impressed: What kind of god-tier company is this?
So many NPCs, and they’re all AI?
How terrifyingly powerful must the computer be to handle all of this?
And that fake captain, Cecil, is also an AI?
Is that for real?
She’d heard that the AI technology in SAO was already highly advanced, but it couldn’t possibly make every NPC react differently at every single moment.
Kuroneko asked, following his lead: “If this were an ordinary player, wouldn’t that just have triggered a quest?”
Young lady, you certainly understand games!
“That’s right.
If my strength hadn’t been decent, a fight likely would have broken out.”
Xia Jia gave a stern warning:
“This is a completely real world; no one acts according to a program.
So, if you really encounter a similar incident, please log out immediately!
Be careful not to actually get dragged away to do ‘this’ and ‘that’.”
Xia Jia tried to subtly change Kuroneko’s mindset, encouraging her to accept this “false” game as much as possible.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught “Equilibrium”?
l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I’m a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh!
— Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220)
“Is this chat group even serious?” (Chapter125)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal!
(Chapter250)
Can Playing Games Save the World?
65
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I’m Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 115
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 110
My Harem Is Indescribable 100
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105
“I’m just a Valkyrie passing through.” 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 80
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85
What Should I Do After Switchi – Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon?
55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 80
Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85
My Best Friend Into a Slime?
80
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero?
75
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85
Why did they assign me to Uma 75
MYGO Beauties 70
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 75
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80
Honkai’s Otherworld?
Wait—Who Are You People?!
100
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 60
The Uma Musume Who Became 60
I’m Definitely Not the King of 80
After Maxing Out Every Class 80
Naruto: I’m Konoha’s Local Men 44
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 57
I, the Elden Sword Saint 50
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 43
No One Knows Pokémon Better 50
I, Sakazuki, Won’t Go Down Tha 45
From Trilobites to Titans 45
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 55
DanMachi:
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught “Equilibrium”?
l (Chapter 80) Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178) Zenless Zone Zero: I’m a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 165)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 ) TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110) Yu-Gi-Oh!
— Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter220) “Is this chat group even serious?” (Chapter125) I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal!
(Chapter250) Can Playing Games Save the World?
65 Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77 From Junkman to Wasteland 66 Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31 I’m Grinding Proficiency Like 46 From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 220 Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42 Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65 Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 185 From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20 The Way the Umamusume Look at 68 Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 248 Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65 Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76 Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66 My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65 Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 230 Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154 I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/40 The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 125 Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67 Uma Musume: From Beginner 145 Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85 Uma Musume: I Want All 120 I Can Copy Unique Skills 115 Summoning an Evil God, but the 75 Supernatural Multiverse 110 My Harem Is Indescribable 100 Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 105 “I’m just a Valkyrie passing through.” 67 Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105 Still playing traditional Honk 80 The Most Filial Son Under Heav 85 What Should I Do After Switchi – Volume2/3 Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 78 Hell-Difficulty Dungeon?
55 Transmigrated as Sukuna 80 Checking In in Demon Slayer 85 The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 100 I Refuse to Become a Heroic 85 My Best Friend Into a Slime?
80 A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 90 What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero?
75 Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 85 Why did they assign me to Uma 75 MYGO Beauties 70 DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 75 The Gacha Merchant Who Started 80 Honkai’s Otherworld?
Wait—Who Are You People?!
100 Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 60 The Uma Musume Who Became 60 I’m Definitely Not the King of 80 After Maxing Out Every Class 80 Naruto: I’m Konoha’s Local Men 44 Honkai: World Modulation Mode 57 I, the Elden Sword Saint 50 Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 43 No One Knows Pokémon Better 50 I, Sakazuki, Won’t Go Down Tha 45 From Trilobites to Titans 45 Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 55 DanMachi: