The town looked smaller from a distance. We’ve been walking for a while now, so it won’t be long until we can finally enter. The sun’s still out, so I hope it’s not too late in the real world yet. My phone says it’s not, but it’s been a while since I last looked at it. I’m walking side by side with Ririna, so if I use my phone too much, she’s gonna notice. It’s still bright on this side, so I hope it’s still bright in the real world. I really don’t want to walk through the forest in the dark. The few times Katja and I had to do that were enough for me. After I saved Ririna from the monster that was attacking her, I had to wait a little for her to loot the monster and gather the materials she needed for her alchemy, but even that didn’t take too long. Her clothes had lots of pockets and pouches, which she filled to the brim. She also ended up filling two larger sacks, and I offered to carry one of them for her. I had to, I saved her from the monster, so she’s gonna be all over me if I’m nice to her, right? She’s a real beauty. Her hair is brown with some green on the inside, and I just can’t resist multicolored hair! Just like how I can’t resist any cute girl… Maybe being irresistible to me is not that high of a bar to clear.

[Iroha Shinohara: Lv.6]

[HP: 540/560]

[MP: 244/280]

[Skill Points: 10]

Hehehe… I also got another level from that whole ordeal, so I’m pretty pleased! I’m not sure what I’m gonna get with my new skill points. I wanted to get Crushing Blade and work towards a hybrid build of strength and agility, but I think I’ll get Stamina Boost first. I don’t like getting tired, and it’s so easy to get tired just by doing basically anything. It’s kinda boring, but I think it’s gonna be a really helpful skill long term. Maybe I should hold off on buying new skills for now. I have something that is kinda working right now, so I should save up for when I really need to buy a skill.

[Skill – Stamina Boost acquired.]

There, I bought it. I hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass. My level is still low enough that I can spend a little and not have to worry too much. I’ll be getting more skill points soon enough, I hope. The Stamina Boost skill increases the amount of stamina I have and the rate at which it recovers, so I felt its effects as soon as I bought it. We’ve been walking for a while, and I was starting to get a little winded, but now I’m good again.

I still have a long way to go. I may have gotten another level, but I’m still only level 6. What level was the final boss again? How much can I remember? I think the final boss was in the early 70s, but I remember being stronger than the boss in my playthrough. Like level 80 or something? Yeah… still a long way to go. Not like the level matters that much, the real power is in the skills that I get.

We only really go to the demon territory near the end of the game, so most things there are around level 60. The research facility is a bit of an exception, and the enemies there are lower level since we go there earlier, but does that apply now? I’m not exactly inside a game, am I? If it doesn’t apply, does that mean I was chased around by a bunch of level 60 demons? Wow… I’m surprised I managed to get away.

We haven’t passed by anyone yet. That’s strange. We’re in human territory, it shouldn’t be like this. In the game map, the biggest human city appears right in the middle of it and in the middle of the ocean. It’s a giant city that floats around the ocean with some kind of method that’s a combination of magic and technology. To the left of that city on the map, there’s a continent filled with forests and nature where the majority of the human population lives, and that’s where I think I am. I mean, it has to be. It’s the only place with proper green forests in the game world. The actual area is too big, so I really don’t know the specific location. The point is, since the big floating city is isolated and disconnected from the land, the human territory was supposed to have a very robust trade system, so where are the caravans? Am I thinking of the right game?

Doesn’t really matter, I guess. The level of enemies in this part of the game varies between 5 and 30. The story starts in the floating city, but the first place where there are fights is here on the continent. This is essentially the first area in the game. The levels vary a little depending on the exact location, but since that flower monster was so weak, I think I’m in a location around level 5 or so. Good thing I decided to look for this portal. Who knows where another portal would have taken me? Can’t be worse than where the first portal took me. Well, actually, it could have. I stopped playing after beating the final boss, but the game had some post-game content. I have no idea what we fight there or what their levels could be. Is it level 99? That would have been worse, for sure.

Below the human territory to the left, there’s an area called the Endless Silver. I think it’s one of those post-game areas because the first enemy I found there one-shot me, and I never went there again. The Endless Sivler is a huge chunk of land that is completely covered in silver and white flowers. I think there aren’t a lot of cities in there, but I saw a screenshot of one there, and most of the buildings were also covered with flowers. Quite the beautiful place. I would have liked to go there myself, maybe I shouldn’t have stopped playing right after the ending.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I remember a lot more than I thought. The protagonist of the game fights one of their childhood friends in the floating city at around level 50, and that’s the same level most high-level humans have. The content in the continent area ends with some kind of weird dragon, level 30 or so? Can I even call that a dragon? I think it was based on some fairy tale, so it looked really weird. But I guess that’s all I remember. No, wait, there’s also the wasteland area, which was also post-game. Oh! And that fractured place after the dragon.

Yeah… I’m nowhere near their levels… Good thing it doesn’t matter. I have no reason to get involved with all that scary stuff. I got lucky enough to find a way to this low-level area, so I’ll just stay here and grind all the cool skills I could ever want. The protagonist of the game will take care of that. And if something goes really wrong, I can just stay in the real world and say goodbye to this one. So for now, I’ll just focus on getting stronger and enjoying my time with Ririna.

“How are you holding up? That’s not too heavy, is it?” We’ve been walking in silence for some time, and now Ririna speaks up. She points towards the sack I was carrying with an apologetic face.

“N- no. I can handle this much. Don’t worry about it.” I’m not just saying this to impress her or something. Compared to swinging this heavy sword of mine, this is nothing. Stamina Boost also helps. “Why do you need so many materials?”

“Oh, that’s because I received a special request from someone in this town. It’s a funny story, believe it or not, most of these are just to make dirt.” Ririna made a surprised face to sell the ridiculous part of her story. “Though the monster parts and some of the plants are for my personal research.” Ririna showed me an honest smile while also looking sorry for making me help her carry the stuff for her research. I don’t think it would make that much of a difference, so I don’t mind.

“You’re making dirt?” Is that something alchemists normally do in this world? Isn’t it a waste of her talent? What kind of job is that?

“Yep, dirt. It’s actually dirt with some magical properties. Pays a lot, apparently. It’s a recipe I’ve never seen before, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it works.” Is learning new recipes that big of a deal? She looks really excited. I don’t remember how alchemy works in this game. “I can tell you more about it later, but for now, you can return that sack to me. We’re nearly at the gate.”

She’s right… I didn’t realize we had gotten so close. I can see some kind of checkpoint, but there aren’t any guards standing outside. Makes sense. I certainly wouldn’t want to stand in the sun while wearing armor for hours on end.

“Let’s go in, Iroha. Follow me!” Ririna picked up her pace and started running for the gate. I watched for a moment before going after her.

Ririna did most of the talking, and the two of us got into the town without any issue. “Here we are, Iroha!” Ririna ran ahead of me and spun around energetically. “Welcome to the town of Rocky Ridges! Though I’m not the best person to be welcoming you like this, this is more the kind of thing a local would say.”

“You’re not from here?”

“Not at all. I’m living in the capital right now, since that’s where the alchemist’s guild is, but I’m originally from a pretty remote village. I’m only here because of the request I told you about earlier.” That’s impressive. She looks like she’s the same age as me, and she’s already traveling around the world for work. I can’t imagine myself living like that.

“Isn’t living like that hard?” Maybe her lifestyle is the norm for alchemists, and she knew what she was getting herself into.

“Not really. I’m doing what I like, so it’s really fun. I go back home plenty of times, and I’ve made some friends, so it’s never really that hard. The worst is when the senior alchemists start acting like huge snobs. Alchemists are supposed to help people, so we should all be working towards the same goal, but sometimes it really doesn’t look that way.”

“I see…” Is it pride? Do they cause trouble for Ririna because of pride? I don’t know how good she is, but if she’s some kind of prodigy, I bet they hate that and lash out at her.

Ririna had a tour to give me, and the two of us started walking. As we walked down the main street, I came to realize that this town is not one from the game, at least I’m not recognizing anything. I noticed I was getting a lot of looks, and figured it must be because I came here wearing a school uniform, but the looks were not as bad as I expected. I saw a lot of other people wearing all sorts of excentric outfits, so after taking a quick look at me, most people would just start ignoring me, which I appreciate. I’d rather not be stared at for being weird. I’m so glad the game went all out in making the NPCs stand out, looks like that carried over.

The difference in people walking around between the outside and the inside of the town was huge. The streets were big enough that we didn’t have any problems walking around. How is this a town and not a city? The streets are large, they have walls, most of the buildings that I’ve seen seem to have two floors, and all of the wood and stone look really high quality. Is this another thing from the game? The devs just make whatever they want and call it a town? I see how it is.

“Here you have an inn. It’s pretty cheap, and apparently the rooms are really big, but there’s absolutely no service. I don’t know if you’re gonna need to rent a room, but don’t worry, there’s a few taverns on this street, so you’re always gonna have something to eat.” An inn, huh? I’m not really planning on spending the night in this world, but I never know when I might need to. I have school tomorrow, so that’s absolutely out of the question for today. “If you keep going down this road, you’re gonna find some barracks that the soldiers use and a few guilds. If you need some extra cash, they’re a good place to find some work. As long as you can fight, there’s always something for you. It’s where my client is, so I’ve come here a few times already.”

“Is this where the alchemist’s guild is?”

“No, no, they have a branch in the capital, but this town is too small for the alchemist’s guild.” Too small? It looks like we’ve seen everything on this street, so we left and continued with our tour. “This here is the town center. And here is the place you were probably looking for.” I looked towards the building Ririna was pointing at, and I couldn’t really tell what it was. The only thing I saw was a line of people trying to enter and a healthy stream of people coming out.

“This is…?” She didn’t really explain, so I hope my question doesn’t come off as weird.

“Isn’t it obvious?” No, not really. There are some symbols carved into a wooden sign, but they don’t tell me what I need to know. “This is the fast travel station! You probably want to register it, so let’s go inside.”

Ah yes, this is obviously the… What did she say…? Wait… “What?!”