After selling all the corpses, the duo left the building and headed towards the inn. Elara transported the coins they had just obtained into the ‘Incomplete Complex World’.
“So, how much money do we have?” Alex asked.
“840 silver coins.” Elara answered.
“So we can stay at the inn for… two and a half months.” Alex said as they passed the bar and took a left turn towards the inn.
“We’ll probably be allowed to stay for about a week.” Elara said.
Alex looked at Elara and asked, “Hm? Why?”
“Did you not hear what the people in the guild were talking about?” Elara asked.
Alex shook his head, “Not really.”
Elara sighed, “Learn to observe the environment, then.”
“Anyway, some important people will be visiting and they’ll be staying in inns.” Elara said.
Alex nodded his head, and they arrived at the inn in silence.
The bell rung as Elara pushed the door open, which made Kria look up from the paper stack on the counter, “Hello again.” She said with a smile.
Alex and Elara walked up to the reception desk and Elara asked, “Can we get one room with two beds? We have the money now.”
“One night?” Kria asked.
“How many can we stay?” Elara asked.
“5 nights is the most we can offer as of right now.” Kria answered.
“Then we’ll stay for 5 nights.” Elara said before creating a pouch out of Xen and transporting 55 coins from the ‘Incomplete Complex World’ into it. Elara handed Kria the pouch and Kria immediately placed it on the shelf under the counter.
Kria turned around and took out a key from a shelf hanging on the wall, “Enjoy your stay.” Kria said, handing Elara the key.
“Up the stairs and it’s the last room on the left.” Kria said.
“Thank you.” Said Alex and Elara.
They went up the stairs and to the last room on the left side. Elara unlocked the door with the key and pushed it open. Right opposite of the door were two beds with nightstands between one another. On the wall were several paintings of the landscape outside the capital city. On the right side stood a table with two chairs and a small candle on the table. The room also had a soundproof barrier inside the walls.
Alex sat on one of the beds and looked around the room, “Feels… kinda primitive.” He said, looking at Elara for her reaction.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Just because there’s no TV or PC doesn’t mean it’s primitive.” Elara responded. She sat on the edge of the other bed, facing Alex before falling back onto the bed and staring at the ceiling.
“That’s not what I meant, but whatever. I have a question but I think I already know the answer.” Alex said.
“Go for it.” Elara replied.
“When we left the guild and were walking in silence, it was really quiet.” Alex said.
“Damn, really? Who would’ve thought that it would be quiet when nobody is talking.” Said Elara, her tone as monotone as she could make it.
Alex ignored what she said and continued, “Normally, I hear a ringing in my ears all the time, but it was gone.”
“The ringing in your case happened because the hairs in your inner ear were damaged due to exposure to loud noises of all the farm machinery and so on. But since this body is not the original and is something I made, I decided not to include the damage, which means you won’t hear the ringing.” Elara explained.
“Thanks for that one.” Alex said.
“No problem.” Elara said before standing up.
Alex looked up at Elara and asked, “So, what do we do now? We don’t need sleep, we don’t need to eat or drink, so what now?”
Elara thought for a moment and responded, “Wanna play some games?”
“Such as?” Alex asked.
“Whatever video game you want.” Elara said.
“A video game? We don’t have a TV or a PC or anything to play a video game.” Alex responded.
“Magic exists.” Elara replied and immediately after created a small TV standing on the nightstands and some controllers laying next to it.
She picked up one of the controllers and handed Alex the other one, saying, “What do you wanna play? If you want, I can create a completely new game for us.”
Alex took the controller and asked, “How will it work if there’s no console or something to run the game?”
“The code will run in my brain, so no need for a console or anything.” She replied and the screen suddenly turned on, showing the menu screen of a game that Elara chose.
“I would ask how, but at this point I’m not even surprised that you can do that.” Alex said.
“Glad you know that I’m superior.” She responded.
They started the game, and after a few moments Alex suddenly asked, “How do you even know how to write code?”
She shrugged her shoulders and answered, “Why not?”
“Well, you only have memories from me, right? So, since I didn’t code in my previous life, how can you?” Alex asked.
“You didn’t code, but you still watched a lot of videos and tutorials about how to code, so I just learned from those.” Elara said.
“I guess.” Alex replied.
They continued playing, and just before Alex was supposed to win, his character suddenly died for apparently no reason. “HUH?!” He yelled.
“Damn, it looks like the game glitched.” Elara said calmly.
Alex’s head turned to her, “Like hell it did! You made it do that!” He said.
“You’re so smart Alex, to find out a genius’s plan so quickly.” Elara mockingly praised, but she did reverse Alex’s character’s death.
Alex leaned forward and concentrated, and they continued their game. After a few minutes of dodging in the game, as well as real life as if it would do something, Alex won by a hair’s breadth.
He jumped up from the bed and started shadow-boxing in victory, “HA! Suck it, cheater!”
Elara rolled her eyes and replied, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I let you win, anyway.”
“Like I’ll believe a word from a cheater’s mouth.” Alex responded, “Just admit inferiority.” He added, his tone as smug and proud as he could make it.
“Don’t get cocky.” Elara said.
“To make it more fair to you, let’s play again so I can prove that I’m better and more experienced than you.” Said Alex, sitting back down on the bed and picking up the controller that fell onto the floor.
“Now I won’t hold back, brat.” Elara responded and they started playing again.
Just like a moment before, Elara sat calmly while Alex’s body twitched every once in a while as if to dodge. The difference was that this game was a lot quicker than the last, with Elara coming out on top with a lot of health to spare.
“Ha! Would you look at that, a brat like you got humbled by the best player in the world.” Elara said smugly, her arms crossed and her chest puffed out.
Alex sighed and replied, “Whatever. This smugness isn’t very attractive on you.”
“What makes you think I want to attract you?” Elara asked and a small smirk appeared on her face.
“Uh-… damn, I was speaking more like traditionally attractive.” Alex responded.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re still wrong. And that doesn’t change the fact that you lost.” Elara said.
“Let’s play again so we can see who is truly better.” Alex said, and, yet again, they got back to the game.
For the next couple hours, more specifically until sunrise, they played countless rounds. Some won, some lost, the overall score at the end was 103 to 14.
As the last round came to an end with the final win for Elara, she changed the TV’s screen to show the overall score.
“So, who’s superior now, huh?” Elara said, looking at her overwhelmingly bigger score.
Alex put the controller down and rolled his eyes before falling back onto his bed.
“Whatever, it seems that it’s just my unlucky day.” He said, stretching his arms and legs.
Elara glared at Alex, as if looking deep into his Soul before saying, “So you’re saying that I only won through luck?”
“It was your first time playing the game, obviously I’m more experienced, so it’s just unlucky that I lost.” Alex explained, his eyes closed and his hands under his head as he laid on the bed.
“I have the exact same experience and knowledge of the game as you do.” Elara said.
“That… may be the truth.” Alex replied.
“The reason I won is because I’m better at thinking.” Elara said proudly before falling onto her bed.
Alex opened one of his eyes and looked at Elara. He then closed his eye and sighed before saying, “Whatever you say.”