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The Town of Parm—Greld's Tavern [ Morning ]

Quietly sitting by the table upon entering the room, Shinto and the rest of the group all awaited for the food that Greld was cooking up in the tavern's kitchen. With them not having eaten anything good as of late, they were starving.

"Mm... So hungry," Frey muttered out whilst her head rested on the table. "Are we supposed to feel that much hunger in-game?"

"Aha... It's only natural to feel that in-game," Shinto chuckled. "Despite just being players, we do need to eat. Though it does still makes me wonder how actually eating in this game feels rather—real."

For Shinto who had been playing till the first year's game anniversary which was coming up soon—he still had yet gotten used to the fact that all of his senses in-game was real. For a virtual game, it felt almost too real.

"Hmm true," Raina nodded her head. "I've only been playing this game for a few weeks or so and I can't get used to this feeling at all..." helplessly shaking her head, her eyes turned towards Kon who was still soundly asleep on the table. "And then there's the ability to feel anything... It's surreal, you know?"

As the group discussed the game's ability to allow one to feel their senses, the doors of the kitchen soon opened as Greld exited out of it. In his hands, multiple variety dishes were within his two hands.

"And, the food's done!" Greld said in a delighted tone of voice whilst carefully making his way over to the group with the dishes in hand. "I hope you don't mind, but, I've made quite a lot for today."

"Ahh! The food's done!" The mouth of Frey started drooling as she laid eyes on the food as it settled down on the table. With just a whiff of its fragrance, her stomach rumbled loudly than before.

Who wouldn't after looking at the delicacy before them? Tendered meat with sizzling red sauce all over its surface, fried calamari that looked to be especially crisp on its outer layer, a bowl of readily made stir-fried rice—and spicy rice cakes for dessert. It was a sight to behold after a long journey.

"G-Greld... You didn't have to make all of this..." Shinto blinked at the number of dishes in front of him. To count, it was up to four dishes total. However, for a group of adventurers such as them, such dishes were a luxury. "Just a few light dishes would do. You do know that it's still in the morning, right?"

After all, to eat something like this, one would have to go to some fancy noble restaurant to eat. it wasn't something readily available everywhere, especially not in a tavern such as this.

"Ahaha... I kind of got carried away..." Greld slightly coughed. "There were no customers at all and well, I couldn't really cook as much besides for myself. So... S-Sorry if it's too much..."

"No, no!" Frey shook her head. "This is more than enough! Ahh! Time to dig in! Thank you for the food!" with excited eyes, she hesitated no longer as she began digging into the dishes by slicing the tendered meat as her first order of business.

"So diligently eating like that," Raina chuckled. "But say... Do we have to pay?"

"Ah... Err..." Greld uttered out in awkwardness. "W-Well... I do still need to pay rent for this month..."

"...sigh," Shinto sighed as his eyes turned towards his gold count that was floating at the side of his inventory: [ 81,119 gold ]. "How much for the bill?"

"8-800... It's not too much, right?" Greld mumbled out. "I can discount it at 50% if you'd like if it's too much. Ahh... I should've considered the situation. After all, you all are benefactors of the tavern by paying for rent last—Huh? T-This is...?"

"Here, 1,000 gold," he said whilst taking out the gold from his inventory. Soon after, he placed it onto Greld's hand. "This should cover the initial cost plus tips."

"Wow... 1,000 gold like it's nothing," Raina blinked in a dumbfounded manner as she saw the sight before her. "Are you sure? Frey and me can split the bill if you'd like."

"It's fine," Shinto nodded his head whilst tapping his hand on Kon's back in order to wake him up to eat. "I've got enough gold to suffice for until I start needing it again."

Despite being in the 'poor range' when compared to other Veterans, he was still pretty well-off for the time being in his current level. In the future, obtaining equipment that would sell for a good amount of gold was easier. But by then, veteran gear would be extremely expensive. Even more expensive than the prices the scam vendor had set.

"You got enough gold to suffice until you start needing it again?" Raina tilted her head. "How much would that be?"

"...e-err..." Shinto blurted out with a dumbfounded expression. "Well..." Suddenly hesitant, his eyes averted elsewhere. "About that..."

"Huh?" Frey mumbled out whilst having food in her mouth. "How much? How much?" she continued to mumble as she finally swallowed the food. "You paid for that 10k rent and then for our equipment! Just how rich are you?!"

"...sigh," he was reluctant to show the amount of gold he had. However, he knew it would be inevitable. "Here," helplessly, he showed the number of gold he had currently totalling 80,119.

"80k!?" The group, including Greld, shouted out. "T-This is... How did you get that amount of gold?!"

"Of course! It's natural that Master would be rich!" Kon proudly said.

"...cough," closing his inventory, he was at a loss for words on how to explain. He was fortunate enough to not have the current amount of gold added together with his stash back at the guild. "...it's kind of hard to explain."

Shinto had been hesitant to share his amount of gold with his allies due to the reason of him being unable to explain. They were currently around the level of 40, where throughout the journey of levelling from 20 to now, he had been stuck with the group.

"D-did you scam someone?" Greld worryingly said. "You didn't, right? Surely..."

"...let's just say a friend of mine plays this game and he gave me this amount when I was starting the game," he stated. "I can't play with him right now as he's in an area far out of reach in my current level. So, there's that."

"...oh?" Frey muttered out in slight suspicion. "What level is he?"

"Err..." His eyes averted to his friendslist. Soon after, he turned to scrutinize the player name [ Kaisus ] who was at level 200. "He's currently level 143."

"Level 143?!" her eyes shone brightly. "Woah, that's a big level jump from us!"

"Yeah... He's been playing for quite some time now. About a year?"

"Woah! A year huh?" Frey's eyes continued to shine. "Alright, I believe you! You're not a scammer that scams people of their money! But wait—" she said. "—is he that blacksmith?"

"...huh?" Shinto gulped. He was digging his grave deeper. At the mention of the blacksmith's name, he turned towards Hideo's name that was on his friend's list. In the next moment, he opened up his profile just as he did with Kaisus. "...u-um... Well, y-yes...?" Hideo's current level was 134.

"..." A moment of suspicion appeared over Frey's face, however, she soon shook her head. "So this means I get to meet your friend soon?!"

"...I-I told you... H-He may be busy..." Shinto was struggling to continue to put up the act. His mistake, to begin with, was showing his gold amount. Did he have anything to back him up? No. "...so, it may not be able to work..."

"Ahem... Frey, the food's getting cold if you continue to pester Shinto like that," he sighed. 

"...I guess," Raina thought to herself in suspicion. "Ahem... In any case, while we eat this... Should we discuss what to do after?" she asked. "Perhaps we should go to the marketplace and shop for equipment? Or... Go out to a short dungeon and attempt for some rare drops?"

"...well, we can do either," Letting out a sigh as he was thankful for the fact that Raina had changed the topic, Shinto soon stated. "However... I-I can try something so we can technically cut costs."

"Hmm? What would that be?"

"For now... I won't tell since I don't know if it may work," Shinto sighed. "However, I can guarantee that if it succeeds, we will have suitable equipment for the long term."

"Oh?! Are you going to ask that blacksmith now?!" Frey's eyes shone in excitement. "I actually searched up some blacksmith stuff on the internet! It's so cool! They can make unique equipment for us if we give them materials oh and some blueprints too! Ahh! Let's go blueprint hunting after this!"

"W-Wait... Frey calm down for a sec..." Shinto continued to sigh. "Let me just ask him first, alright?"

"Alright!" Frey nodded her head.

"...phew," finally gaining peace in his space, Shinto soon averted to his friend's list as he then tapped on the player [ Hideo ]. In the next moment, he soon sent out a whisper. "...Hideo, are you there?"