Enchant Thunder proved to be incredibly effective for hunting Lizardmen.
"By the way, Alto. If your haul is huge or you have a massive number of items, it’s better to turn them in at the Dismantling Warehouse in the back."
"Eh? That sounds like such a pain, o. I just want them to handle everything at the counter, o."
"But doing it that way adds a bit of a bonus to the reward assessment."
"Oh! Well, in that case, that changes everything, o!"
And so, we delivered the mountain of Lizardmen we had collected to the Dismantling Warehouse in one massive haul. The rewards were quite substantial.
"Alright, delivery complete! With that hunt, I finally hit Level 30."
"Congrats, Tria, o! I’m at Level 29, so I’m almost there too, o. Did you unlock any new features, o?"
"I’ve noticed that things tend to unlock at nice, round numbers like multiples of five. Let’s see here..."
I opened the menu and checked the Config settings.
When I tapped the selection box for the display mode, I saw that "VR" had been added to the list, alongside the current "3D" and the "Voxel" mode that must have been unlocked earlier.
VR, huh? Interesting. Did I even have an HMD device...?
"Looks like a VR mode was unlocked."
"Ooh! That sounds like fun, o! Though I feel like I’d get terrible motion sickness."
"Tell me about it. My combat style is an Unarmed Combat type that involves a lot of aggressive movement; I have zero confidence I wouldn't get sick."
"Still, I’m using a mobile device right now, but the VR Display option is showing up in the Config menu anyway."
"Is it one of those things, o? Where you slot your phone into a VR Lens Box to look through it?"
"Ah. That ancient... wait, how would I even control it? A Cybernetic Chip?"
"Maybe with a Bluetooth controller or something, o?"
"That’s an idea. I want to give VR a try, so maybe I’ll look for a VR Lens Box on a mail-order site."
"Oho! I actually have one of those gadgets, so I’ll go grab it, o. I think I’ll go do some solo hunting to hit Level 30 while I'm at it, o!"
"See you later."
I closed the Config menu for the moment.
As I saw my colleague off on her hunting trip outside of Town, I switched back to my usual Strength Training Auto Mode and opened a mail-order site.
Let’s see, what should I search for? "VR," "mobile device"... Oh, there we go. This is it; this is exactly what I need. Huh. Shipping is free, and it’s cheaper than a rice ball from a convenience store.
I already had a controller, so that was fine. I added the box to my cart and clicked "buy."
"I’m back! I leveled up, o!"
"That was fast. I just finished ordering mine."
My colleague, Alto, had returned with blood splattered across her face. She casually tossed some mushroom monsters into the warehouse to turn them in. Apparently, they were called Myconids. I didn't even realize those lived around here.
"Ohoho! I only needed a tiny bit more, o! Now I’m Level 30 too, and the VR Function is unlocked, o!"
"Congrats. Well, why don’t you go ahead and try it out first? The VR Function."
"Even if you ordered yours now, the earliest it would arrive is tomorrow, o. In that case, I’ll take you up on that! I'm going to... try it... out... now, o!"
She was likely rummaging through her things to set it up. Her chat messages became intermittent.
...
"O...? Eh?! Ah?! What?!"
"What’s wrong, Alto? How’s the VR Function?"
"Wait, C-C-Colleague! Switch to VR Display on your end right now, o!"
"Hm? No, like I said, I just bought the box. It’s not going to get here that quickly."
"Just do it! Hurry!! Do it now, o! Right now!!"
That was unusual. I only ever saw my colleague this panicked when there was a simultaneous outbreak of Monster Claimers.
If she was going to be that insistent, I figured I might as well try switching the VR Display on.
...
A breeze blew past me.
"Huh?"
Yes, a breeze blew.
I should have been indoors.
I should have been looking at my mobile device.
I should have simply opened the Config menu on my device, changed the setting to VR Display, and tapped "Yes" when the confirmation dialog asked if I wanted to switch.
...
I was standing right in front of the warehouse I had been looking at on the screen just a moment ago. The sky was a mid-afternoon blue.
...
"What is this, o?! What is this, o?! Ah! Colleague, did you turn on VR too, o?!"
"Eh?"
A cute girl spoke to me. It was Alto, my colleague’s player character.
She was standing right in front of me. She had glossy black hair tied in twin-tails, blue eyes, and fair skin. She looked incredibly excited, directing her sparkling, jewel-like eyes toward me as she huffed with energy.
When I moved my head, my field of vision followed without a single hint of Time Lag.
"Still, isn't Tria-chan super cute? This really is your type, isn't it, Colleague, o?"
"Wait, hold on...?! My voice is... adorable?! Whoa, is this really my voice?!"
"It is, o!!"
When I looked down at my hands, I saw the small, slender hands of a young girl. I was wearing my equipped Gauntlets.
What on earth was going on? VR? Wait, wait, wait. I only just clicked "buy" on the box; it hasn't even arrived yet... What is this? How is this possible? What kind of technology is this?
A bit of dusty air entered my nose.
"Wait, it stinks! Whoa, it smells like raw fish! What is that?! Fish?!"
"Eh? What is it, o? It smells? ...You’re right, it’s nasty, o! Wait, I know what this is, o—it’s the Lizardmen I just turned in, o!"
"That’s it! Let’s get out of here!"
"Roger, o!"
Alto and I hurried away from the warehouse. The fishy stench faded slightly, but I felt like the smell was clinging to me... No, wait, the smell was coming from Alto. Probably.
Come to think of it, she had traveled all this way to Town and gone straight back out to hunt... Yeah, she hadn't changed at all.
"Hey, Alto."
"Oh, you're calling me that now, o? Roger. What is it, Tria, o?"
"You stink. You haven't taken a bath, have you?"
"Gasp?! Well, it’s true I’m still the same as when I finished my journey here, o! But a beautiful girl's scent is a reward, o!"
"No, it smells like blood. Straight-up blood. You've just been hunting monsters non-stop without washing up, haven't you?"
"Gah! An inn! Let’s go to an inn, o! It’s bath time, oooooo!"
For the time being, we decided to head for an inn.
Where was the place I was staying again... that way? Ah, this scenery looks exactly like it did on the game screen. Incredible.