"Oh, Alto. Here's your gear-ssu," Penpen said, handing over the items.
"Oh, thank you, Penpen! I’ll swap into it right now-o!" Alto chirped.
She immediately began stripping down to change into the new clothes.
"Hey, don't just strip right here!" I shouted.
Alto spared me a single glance and continued undressing, completely unbothered. Suddenly—whoa! A mysterious white light appeared!
By the time the glow faded, she had finished changing. It looked like she was still using the same belt, though.
"Oh, this is so cool-o! And yet so cute... You did a great job, Penpen!"
"Seriously, you," I sighed. "Don't just suddenly start stripping in silence. You gave me a heart attack."
"Eh? Did I strip-o? Ah, it must have been another Consciousness Cut. That means it was Alto-chan again-o."
"Ah. So that's how it works with the equipment changes."
In other words, the person who had started changing and shot me that glance hadn't been my colleague, but the other Alto—the one from the Auto Mode.
"I’d better make sure Tria-chan doesn't make a habit of changing in public," I muttered. "Normally, at least."
"O-o-o. I’ll make sure Alto-chan does the same from now on-o."
"Hm? Did something happen-ssu?" Penpen asked.
I suppose it was hard for her to tell what was going on, what with her still being a voxel-based avatar.
"Penpen, this is great equipment-o! By the way, what level are you now? If you want, I can help you with some leveling-o!"
"I'm level 27-ssu! So, are you going to give me all sorts of rare materials and items-ssu?"
"That would be good too, but... let's go to the Town of Wantos-o! There’s a great hunting ground there-o!"
Wantos? I wondered where that town was. Since we were using this town as our current base, I hoped it was nearby.
"I'll show you my map for a bit-o. The Guild Map lacks accuracy, after all... Right. I’ve enabled Map Sharing. Can you see it-o?"
"Oh. Yeah, I see it."
Alto displayed her map on the table where the food had been cleared. She really knew how to navigate the game's functions.
"This is Tsudon, the town we’re in now-o. And I came from this direction, so Wantos is right over here-o."
"Hmm... Ah, wait a second. Can I try overlaying my map with yours?"
"Go right ahead-o."
"How do you even do sharing-ssu? Ah, there it is. This one? I'll do it too-ssu," Penpen added.
We overlaid the maps of all three of us.
For Penpen and me, the area around Tsudon was well-detailed, and we shared almost the same activity range. However, there were parts where I had crossed over the mountains.
"...Ah. Looking at the distance from my Initial Point, Wantos was actually closer than this place."
"It's possible that for Tria, Wantos was the recommended town to use as an Initial Base-o," Alto noted.
"Well, because you came here, you were able to meet me, so it's actually a plus-ssu!" Penpen cheered.
"That's true."
If I had tried to meet up with Alto from the start, Tsudon would have been in the opposite direction. There was a high chance we never would have crossed paths. I felt like my growth speed had skyrocketed since teaming up with a Production Class player. But then again, Alto had reached the same level entirely solo.
"I'm used to these kinds of games-o. I know the tricks for controls and leveling. My aim is pretty good, too-o!"
"As expected of a pro gamer."
"Exactly-o! By the way, this is a secret just between us, okay? In this world, fall damage is insane-o... Especially for big monsters. If you drop a flightless one from a high place, it's basically dead-o. If it survives the fall, I just finish it off from above with my gun-o."
Wait, did that mean even large flying monsters would die if you shot through their wings and made them fall? Man, guns were powerful. It was impressive.
"So Alto's equipment is a gun-ssu," Penpen remarked. "I thought that thing Tria was hitting people with was just some kind of blunt weapon that looked like a gun-ssu."
"It is-o! You could even say I designed Alto-chan specifically after seeing this on the SP list. In a way, this gun is my true body-o! Ah, can you reinforce it or something-o?"
Alto produced her gun and showed it to Penpen.
"Hmm. It's SP Equipment-ssu. I can't reinforce it myself-ssu. To make it stronger, wouldn't you need at least some kind of SP Item for reinforcement-ssu? Like a Laser Sight to increase accuracy-ssu?"
"Hmm, I only use the scope when I'm sniping anyway-o. A Laser Sight would just give me away to the enemy, so it's only good for blinding or intimidation-o. It'd probably be better to just enhance Alto-chan's eyes-o."
"Whoa, she's a total hardcore player-ssu. We've got a real pro here-ssu."
"Because my combat style is close to Gun Kata, I don't have the luxury of aligning my sights every time-o. What I really want is more attack power-o. Like Elemental Attacks or Form Changes-o."
"Couldn't you just insert a Cartridge into an Empty Slot-ssu?" Penpen suggested.
"Seriously-o? Changing performance with a Cartridge is so romantic-o! I mean, was there really such an obvious Slot-o!?"
Perhaps because she was a Production Class, Penpen's Item Appraisal Ability was superior; she had spotted features that Alto hadn't even noticed. Production Classes really were indispensable for things like this.
"Ah. We ended up just talking about the game like normal," I interrupted. "Hey, Alto, didn't we have something we needed to ask Penpen?"
"That's right-o! That's right, Penpen! I have a favor to ask-o! We want to go to the Red-light District, so introduce us to a merchant-o!!"
"Eeeh!? Are you going to do adult work-ssu!?" Penpen squeaked. "Well, that's your personal choice, I guess, but I won't be joining you-ssu!"
"No-o, we're going there to play-o! Ah, I see. We haven't told Penpen about the VR Mode that gets unlocked at Level 30-o."
"VR Mode?" Penpen tilted her head to the side.
"Oh, that's right. Penpen, right now we're... to put it simply, we've actually entered the game."
"What are you talking about-ssu? I mean, it is VR, after all... Ah, now that you mention it, I heard you could do things other than the voxel display-ssu. I see, with our income, we could live it up at a club like that-ssu!"
"That's not all, Penpen. We were eating meat earlier, right? It had a taste. And we actually felt full, too."
"...Huh?" Penpen's eyes widened. "That's a bad joke-ssu. If you could mess with satiety in VR, people would be starving to death in reality one after another-ssu! It's technically impossible, and it's illegal-ssu!"
"There are other things that are illegal too-o," Alto added. "Actually, it seems our consciousness is being cut-o. I changed my clothes earlier, but I have no memory of it. Tria was the one who watched it happen. And for the record... I don't remember ever using a Cybernetic Connection-o."
"Hah!? Wait, you mean your consciousness was severed and your connection memories were erased too-ssu!? That's seriously illegal-ssu!"
"And get this-o. Tria over here doesn't even have VR equipment. He isn't using a cybernetic link; he's on Mobile Device Play-o. And yet, he's in the same situation-o."
"........................That's impossible."
I knew how she felt. I thought so too. But that was the reality of the situation. At least, as far as I could tell...
"It's impossible-ssu. You're lying, right, Tria?"
"If it means I get to eat my fill of such delicious natural meat every day, I almost don't care if it's a lie..." I paused. "Actually, sorry, every day might be a bit much. I'll have to ask for a rotating menu. I've realized that vegetables and grains are important too."
I answered while rubbing my still-bloated stomach.