Chapter 2.4

While looking around the public market, I found something strange. An announcement was being distributed by an NPC. I took one pamphlet and looked at it. At first glance, I thought it was just another product ad, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an announcement for an upcoming event.

"Hey. What's up with this?"

I pulled Reina away from the herb shop and showed her the pamphlet. It was showcasing the ten supreme bosses from SOLA PC Online alongside character mascots from different job classes in the game. The words written on it were:

[ The SOLA VR International Event!

Clash of the Alliances and Supreme Bosses.

Register your Alliance and win the biggest prize pool of all time. ]

"The SOLA International?" Reina muttered.

Reina also seemed to find it odd, so she took a pamphlet from the NPC. The SOLA International was the biggest event in SOLA PC Online, and now we were receiving an announcement for it happening in the VR version.

"It’s been two years since the game launched, so it was only a matter of time before the SOLA International happened again. In fact, I’m surprised they lasted two years without holding their biggest event," I said.

I wondered how the biggest gaming company held back from launching the most profitable event they could throw.

"Hey! Are you gonna pay or not?!"

A sudden, loud voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Come on, hurry it up! There are other players who want to buy!"

"Oh yeah? If they’ve got a problem, we can settle it in the arena with PVP!"

A commotion was brewing at a nearby potion shop between a warrior and the merchant, who wasn’t an NPC. Wait, wasn’t that the black spiky-haired boy with the rude attitude at the event hall earlier? Why does he always look so angry? In front of him was a table full of red potions.

"Hello. What’s going on here?" I asked, trying to help. After all, he’s my fellow alliance mate.

"Huh? Who are you?!"

I tried to appear approachable, but the guy with the black spiky hair scowled at me. Sigh... he must think I’m siding with the merchant.

"My name’s Ryuujin. I’m from the same Alliance. No offense, but I just wanted to help."

At my words, the black-haired guy’s intense expression relaxed a bit, and he scratched the back of his neck. "Oh. Yeah, yeah, I remember you. You’re that guy with the funny introduction earlier. Yeah, right."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Liar. You left before I could even introduce myself.

"So, what’s going on?" I asked.

"Nothing. Our budget’s just a bit lower than expected." He glanced at the dozens of potions on the table—about fifty bottles, if I had to guess.

"Boss, I’ll just put them back. Sorry for the commotion," he said.

I found it odd that he had this side to him. But regarding the budget issue, didn’t our alliance give out a hefty sum of kipo coins earlier?

"If you don’t mind, I can cover for you this time. It’d be a hassle to run out of healing potions during raids."

"Really? That’s true. It’d be annoying, especially if our healer runs out of mana. Thanks, okay?"

The merchant didn’t mind, and I successfully paid for the potions. I just hope he’ll pay me back.

"My name’s Kurogane," he said. "I’ll remember this. Thanks for helping me out. I owe you one."

"It’s alright. Nice to meet you, Kurogane."

He walked in the same direction as us, probably heading out of the city as well. After watching me help Kurogane, Reina sighed, clearly not pleased.

"You’re helping too much from the start. Do you intend to be his wallet? His servant? Or is this for that social circle you were talking about earlier?" she asked.

"I don’t care about the social circle. I just wanted to help. It’s not that big a deal."

"You’re not afraid of him?"

"Afraid? Why? Because he looks like a terrifying adventurer?" I asked.

"Normally, people would stay away from players like him. He looks intense, like he’s always angry, and he has a dark aura."

"I guess, but he doesn’t seem that terrifying to me. And you don’t seem scared either, Reina."

"Why would I be scared if you’re not?"

Sometimes, I have a hard time understanding Reina’s words. Why does she always use me as a power scale? Did I somehow become a standard for power rankings?

"Let’s finish shopping quickly. It’s nearly dinnertime. Ayaka must be waiting," she said.

We didn’t find anything else to buy as we headed out of the public market. Since everything was paid for digitally, shopping here was easier compared to the real world.

"It’s still a large amount. Do we really get this much every Monday?" I muttered, checking my kipo coin balance.

There was a transaction history carefully arranged by shop. The payments had gone through without any issues, and we had bought dimensional pockets for our items, so there was no trouble buying too much. Though the dimensional pockets had limited inventory space.

Anyway, playing the VR version felt strange—especially our contract with the 7th Alliance.

What could they possibly gain from forming this alliance? Most of the guild masters earlier didn’t seem promising, and considering we had 40 guild masters in the alliance, each receiving 500,000 kipo coins, or about 500,000 yen per week in real-life money, that alone was about 80 million yen per month. Even for a top-tier game company, I’d have doubts about spending that much. It seemed excessive.

"How do the sponsors benefit from this level of investment?" I asked Reina.

"I wonder that too. Relocating players to team buildings with benefits and a little salary should be enough. But they’re giving out so much. Players who should be taking the game seriously might start slacking off."

Maybe there’s some hidden mechanic in the VR version that makes fighting monsters more difficult, and the money is a reward for hard work or defeating supreme bosses. In our case, we joined the alliance because of our daughter. But for other guild masters, they just handed out 500,000 yen for what? Just to stand beside the top alliances?

"My gut tells me there’s more to this. It might be best if we save our money for emergencies, for Ayaka. It’ll be difficult if they suddenly change their minds. There’s no telling what might happen tomorrow," Reina warned.

"You’re right. I’ll contact our accountant later and transfer the remaining balance. I’ve stocked most of the important materials I need for now."

Reflecting on it, it was a relief that I hadn’t wasted money on junk items. Reina was always right.