LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 59: Hold on… Is that…
We're back in the game. After having our lunch, Sanae and I put on our Dive Gear and logged back in.
"Aah... After eating the pizza, now I want to try eating the food they have in the game." Sanae said upon logging back in. "I wonder if the restaurants here serve something good?" She added, looking around the city's eateries.
"Better not." I warned her. "The game's restaurants serve terrible food. It'd be better to make one yourself."
"I see. So then those chips we had were something you made yourself, I presume?"
"Yup. Although, I would like to make popcorn next if possible. So let's go buy them first before we explore the new region."
"Ok. And while we're at it, remember to buy some cups too." Sanae licked her lips, reminding me about it while expressing a face like she wanted more of my milk.
"You really love my milk, don't you?"
"Of course. However, I would prefer to try out another kind of 'milk' from you though."
"Ahem!" I suddenly coughed loudly. "Don't... Not in this family-friendly game, Sanae."
"Fufufu~ As if there's anything 'family-friendly' in this game."
We head to the food market after that. Buying whatever cooking ingredients I need to make the things we want. Once that was done, we temporarily booked a room at an inn to cook the dishes. During which, Sanae kept coming onto me from behind.
"Hey Akatsuki, I'm trying to cook here. Could you not...? Mm?!"
"Oh my~ And why can't I, Yoru? When you've presented yourself to me dressed in this fashion?" Sanae slid her fingers all over my bare thighs, gently and sensationally caressing them to my pleasure.
"This is just my cooking gear. I need to wear this so that the food I cook turns out delicious."
"Suuure~ Of course it is."
"I'm telling you the truth!"
Sanae continued to tease me a while longer afterwards, distracting me from cooking when I'm trying so hard to focus on it now.
I swear... I'm going to get back at her for this outside of the game when she's the one cook— No, wait... Sanae can't cook. Dammit!
"Mmmm~! This is delicious, Yoru."
"Thank you..." I sighed, already exhausted from trying my hardest to restrain my moans.
Why the heck did the devs go and adjust the pain sensitivity in the game? Because of that, I'm getting sexually harassed by my own girlfriend at any given opportunity! I forgive Sanae since she's just having fun, fooling around with my character. But god damn is it annoying!
Again, for the nth number of times... Curse you, devs!
"Hey, Yoru, do you think the food has some sort of buff to it?" Sanae then asked me while I was swearing at the devs in my head.
"Honestly, I don't know. I've made burgers and ate them with Hikari and Himeji before. But I didn't really notice any effect though."
"So there's no buff then? Well that's a shame. And here I thought the food in the game would have some sort of added effect to it." Sanae sighed in disappointment, but ate the meal regardless since it was delicious.
Even though we've eaten pizza for lunch, it's strange how we can still eat another full meal without virtually upsetting our stomachs.
But I agree with Sanae. The food made in the game should give a buff or something to the player as a feature. Or...
"Maybe I need to improve my Cooking skill to be able to apply a buff effect to my dishes?"
"You've got a Cooking skill?"
"Yup. It's only at the basic level so perhaps if I evolve the skill into intermediate or advanced, I can add buffs to the food I make?"
"Hmm... That is a possibility." Sanae thought about it and smiled. "In that case, after we've explored the new region, let's open a food stand in the city so that you can use that skill continuously while making some money doing so." She excitedly suggested.
"Sure but... will we be able to do all of that today?"
"If we can't, then we'll just do it tomorrow!"
"Fair enough." I agreed with her. However, there was still one problem. "So do you know how to open a shop in the game or not? Because I don't."
"Ah." was Sanae's response to my question. Answering everything that I needed to know.
I guess I shall ask Hikari about it over dinner. Or maybe Yura could work too? That kid is quite knowledgeable about the game. Plus, I have him in my friend list and I haven't seen him in a while.
Ah great, now I want to touch those fluffy ears of his, just thinking about them!
But other than those two, Diego would be another good choice for consultation. He is running a shop himself after all. I just hope he doesn't charge me some sort of consultation fee when I ask him...
But putting that matter aside for now, once Sanae and I have finished our in-game lunch, we proceed to make our way to the city gate that will lead us to the new region under the Umbra Lords' influence.
I have the Night Vision skill. But Sanae doesn't have a similar skill of the sort, so it'd be better if the both of us use our Lamp Bugs when we explore the new region.
Besides, it'd be the perfect opportunity for Top Hat & Monocle Lampy to shine! And I want to show my bug's new outfit off to the world!
Exiting the Holy City, Arialight, we made a beeline to the entrance of the newly added region, which was easy to locate due to the large wall of darkness separating the region we're in and the new region.
"The devs aren't really creative with this, aren't they?"
"On the bright side, it does clearly indicate that this is the new area they've added..."
Our opinions aside, we deployed our Lamp Bugs and took our first step into the new area, as I nostalgically entered the darkness once more.
I miss this spooky feeling.
"Hm?"
Hold on... Is that...
"Zanny?"
"Who?"
Not long after Sanae and I entered the new area in the dark, we spotted Zanny clad in crimson-red armour and wielding a big red longsword which looked like the Bloodsoaked equipment set I had put on auction. However, although his outfit has changed, I was still able to recognise him by his notable blonde hair.
With that being said, why are there so many corpses of other players around him?
"Oh!" Zanny turned, looking at our way as he immediately recognised me, judging by the bright look on his face.
"Yoru! Hey, what's up? And my goodness, who's this?" he greeted us cheerfully, as Sanae introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Akatsuki. Yoru's girlfriend." She said.
"It's been a while too, Zanny. How are you doing?" I returned the greeting.
"I'm doing fine, Yoru. Been grinding my butt off ever since you bested me in our duel. Next time, however, I'll win."
"Is that so? Well... Good luck, I guess."
"Ha! That's my line. Also..." Zanny then stabbed his new sword into the ground. "Thanks for the new gear. I really like it. Especially the sword." He said, with great swagger.
So it was the Bloodsoaked equipment set. I've really just strengthened my greatest foe, haven't I?
"No problem. Thanks for giving me your money. Did you buy the rest of the items I had put on sale too?"
"Nah. Red was the one who bought most of them. I only got the armour and the sword. And because of this sword, I can no longer dual wield my Schwarz and Weiss dual blades. But on the plus side, I've got an awesome big red sword." Zanny remarked, brandishing his new blade proudly in front of our faces. "By the way, it's my first time seeing this set. Where did you get it, Yoru?" He then asked.
"In a hidden dungeon called the Underground Catacombs. You can get it when you defeat the boss there. The entrance is located in the Shade Forest."
"Oh. That place. Right... I found the entrance to that place. But I didn't enter it though."
"Really? I'm surprised you didn't enter it. With your skills, it should be a breeze for you, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah. That's true. But the thing is... that dungeon is said to be bugged. In fact, I'm surprised you managed to clear it despite how buggy that place was. You're the only player I know who has ever cleared that dungeon as far as I'm aware."
"Umm... what?"
What is he talking about?
"Wait. You didn't know? Oh... Maybe it's because of that skill of yours that makes Bug-type monsters non-hostile towards you. You see... the other players who'd found the dungeon after you've cleared it, weren't so lucky in there."
"What do you mean?"
"At first, their progress was going well. But when they reached the midpoint of the dungeon, they were unfortunately defeated by this insanely unbalanced Centibane miniboss which destroyed them in one hit."
"E-Errrrrrrr...."
I think I know where this is going...
"And when they came back for a second try, that same Centibane actually got stronger since they've last met. And it continued to get stronger with every time they attempted the dungeon. It got so crazy strong to the point where one of those players complained about it on the forums. But other players just bashed them as said that they just have skill issues. That is, until they attempted it themselves and welp... The Underground Catacomb became known as a buggy dungeon that no one could clear except for Yoru."
"Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...."
Yeah... That's definitely Bane he's talking about. No wonder that boy got so strong...
"And you know what the best part is? The devs didn't even fix it after the patch. So I guess it shall remain a buggy dungeon forever. Hahaha!"
"..."
Should I tell him?
"Hey, Yoru..." Sanae suddenly whispered to me. "Isn't that—"
"Shh." I placed my finger on her lips.
Let's not say anything about it. It's better for Bane that way.
"Cool. Soooo... You want to tell me what's with the bodies here?" I quickly changed the subject after that. Shifting our attention towards the corpses of other players that were lying on the ground.
"Oh? These guys? They're just noobs whom I argued with on the game's forum and challenged me. And as you can see, I stand here victorious." Zanny answered with pride, boasting his accomplishment. "Also, I was live streaming the entire time when they came and I still am now." He added. "Speaking of which..."
Zanny quickly turned around all of a sudden and started talking to the air like there was a camera there.
"Check it out, guys! It's Yoru and her rumoured girlfriend, Akatsuki! Though, I'm pretty sure you all have already heard that." Zanny turned back to us next. "Hey. Say hi to the chat, will you?" He requested us.
Sanae and I looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged as if saying why not and did as the blondie asked.
"Hi umm, chat? Yoru here."
"And I'm Akatsuki. Nice to meet you, chat."
Then, we looked at Zanny.
"So what are they saying?" I asked him, since he's the streamer here.
"Oh, chat's going wild. Most of them are saying hi back. Some of them are screaming 'Mommy' excitedly. And Yoru, Akatsuki, would you two like to go out with me?"
"I've already said no before, didn't I?"
"Sorry. But my heart's for Yoru only."
The both of us instantly rejected Zanny's confession which he had unsubtly snuck in.
This guy really thought he did something there, did he?
"And now the chat is laughing at me again. Haha!" Zanny laughed, as if to hide his pain.
One deep breath in and out later, he asked us next. "So what are you two going to do now?"
"We're just going to explore the area for now. See what's new here." I answered.
"I see. Then chat and I shall bid you two goodbye. I'm off to find the next city where the Liberation Quest will be held."
"Ok. Bye, Zanny."
"Bye, Yoru and Akatsuki! It was nice meeting you two again! Also, I like your Lamp Bug, Yoru. See ya!"
"Bye-bye, Zanny~!"
Zanny waved goodbye to us and went his separate way. As for us, we decided to head in the direction where I could see some sort of an abandoned ruin from where we stood.
And so, Sanae summoned Bane into the field as the both of us rode on his back to our next destination.
