"O-o-o-o-o!! Found you-o!"
On the morning of my day off, my colleague finally arrived.
To be more precise, she had sent a message via Friend Chat saying, "I'll be there soon-o! Wash your neck and wait-o!" so Penpen and I had been waiting for her at the Adventurer's Guild.
A beautiful girl with black twin-tails came marching into the guild with an air of immense confidence.
"Man, I’ve finally arrived-o, Tsudon! It was a long and painful journey-o!"
"Hey, colleague—no, that name is probably bad to use in this world. Uh, Alto?"
"That’s right-o! Hey, hey, Tria! Meeting you here is the end of the line-o!"
"Haha, what’s that even supposed to mean?"
Since the game didn't have a specific motion to time a high-five between two players, I just used an attack motion to smack her hand.
"Guboo!?"
My colleague—or rather, Alto—was sent flying. A "56" appeared in the Damage Display along with a flashy Damage Effect.
"Ah, sorry. So Friendly Fire is actually on... Come to think of it, I’ve never tried to hit Penpen. That was close."
"I'm okay-o, I've been training too... though that actually hurt quite a bit-o. Time for revenge-o! Take that, and that!"
"Ahaha, my HP is actually dropping."
She began bashing me with her guns. They were called guns, but they were roughly the size of cannons, so they packed quite a bit of momentum.
However, her damage was pathetic. 12 damage, 12 damage, 11 damage, 13 damage. I wasn't even suffering any knockback.
Heh, that’s what happens when you have superior armor. Plus, there was the difference in our Unarmed Combat skills.
"...Hm? But this is the first time I've seen damage shown as a number."
"That’s the 'Damage Display (Numeric)' feature that unlocks at Lv 25-o!"
"I didn't know that existed. I must have overlooked it."
I couldn't believe such a useful feature had been unlocked without me noticing. I’d have to go into my settings and enable it later.
Wait, if the other person has it enabled, does it become visible to me too? Maybe it was a bug?
"Anyway, now that the greetings are out of the way, time for some recovery magic-o! Heal!"
"Oh, thanks. You learned recovery magic? That's a good move."
"I've been traveling solo this whole time-o, so I found a book and bought it along the way-o."
Accompanied by a Recovery Effect, our health bars filled back up to the top. This also displayed numerical values. I liked this display; it was very intuitive.
Come to think of it, I wondered if the Magic Shop in this town sold recovery magic too. I had completely forgotten to check.
"So, is this person Penpen-shi-o?"
"That’s right-ssu! Nice to meet you-ssu, Alto-shi!"
"!! Our choice of suffixes overlapped-o...! Well, it's a common way for the otaku crowd to talk, so I guess it’s fine-o."
"Right-ssu!"
Alto and Penpen exchanged cheerful greetings.
"So you're the Debt King-o? Tria told me all about it-o."
"Ah, I've already paid back fifty percent-ssu! Even the merchant was surprised-ssu!"
"Well, you paid back half the debt before the first week's Regular Collection even came around. Of course he'd be shocked."
"O-o-o! It’s best to pay back what you owe as fast as possible before you forget-o. Speaking of which, here’s the stuff!"
With a heavy thud, Alto pulled a Lesser Dragon Corpse out of her inventory and dropped it onto the guild floor. Had she really killed this with her guns? There was a massive crater in its head, looking as though a boulder had been driven into its skull.
It was massive—roughly the size of a compact car. If you hollowed it out, you could probably fit four people inside.
"Ohh! So this is the Lesser Dragon you mentioned-ssu! Ooh, I’m getting fired up!"
"E-Excuse me! P-Please do not spread out your hunting spoils in the middle of the hall!"
"O?"
The Elf Receptionist hurriedly called out to us, her voice strained.
She had a point; leaving something this big in the middle of the room was definitely an obstruction.
"Oops, sorry about that, Miss Receptionist. Penpen, hurry up and put it away."
"Roger! I'll take custody of it now-ssu. Hyah-ha! Lesser Dragon Materials-ssu!"
With a shimmering effect, the Lesser Dragon Corpse was sucked into Penpen’s inventory.
"Penpen-shi, if there are any leftover materials, you can have them all-o. In exchange, I want you to make me the best gear you can craft right now-o!"
"Seriously!? Yes-ssu, leave it to me! By the way, what are your design preferences?"
"I want something sleek that shows off Alto-chan’s pretty navel-o. And the color has to be black."
"Ah, going for the look that's accurate to the original source material, I see. Got it-ssu!"
"Oh! You know the original work-o! That’s reassuring-o... Ah, but I want you to change it just a little-o. We don't want the official creators to get mad at us. Besides, a bikini top probably has low defense-o. The main attraction is the coat, anyway-o!"
"That's the classic trope-ssu. Well, you have a bit more of a chest than the original character, anyway. Understood-ssu!"
Penpen looked overjoyed as she worked. I hadn't realized production classes could even handle the aesthetic design of equipment; this game really offered an incredible amount of freedom.
"...U-Um, excuse me."
"Hm?"
The Elf Receptionist spoke to me softly.
"Sorry, were we being a nuisance?"
"N-No, not at all. It's just... that new Spirit-possessed person who just arrived... is she an acquaintance of yours?"
"Yeah, she's a friend."
"............I see. ...Ah, please tell her that if she has reports for Slaying Requests or anything similar, she should come to the counter."
"Will do."
I thought she could have just told Alto herself since she was standing right there, but I simply watched as she retreated back to the reception desk.
I supposed even these little conversational events were part of the game's depth.
"O, well then, Tria. While Penpen-shi is busy crafting the gear, shall we go out for a hunt-o?"
"Sure. Let's see... a good spot around here would be the Lizardman Swamp. How does that sound?"
"I'll snipe those Lizardmen in the swamp one by one-o!"
"Also, before we go, you should probably report the Slaying Requests you completed on your way to town."
"That's a good point-o. I have some Gathered Items in my inventory too, so I’ll turn those in now-o."
Alto headed toward the counter.
The Receptionist worked diligently, confirming the quest completions and handing over the rewards. Watching a beautiful Elf NPC go about her work was actually a very soothing sight. She really was cute.