We returned to Penpen’s ranch.
"By the way, are we going to do some digging too-uo?"
"Ack! I’ve been so focused on the ranch that it completely slipped my mind-ssu!"
With that, we headed to a corner of the ranch carrying the pickaxes we’d bought at the shop.
"Now then, I wonder what we’ll find-ssu."
"Maybe we'll strike oil or find gold nuggets-dao?"
"To be honest, even if we found stuff like that, we wouldn’t have much use for it, right?"
Refining oil would be a nightmare without the right recipes, and if gold turned up, the only thing I could think to do with it was make accessories. It might provide a lot of Experience Points for crafting since it was an expensive material, but... we already had gold coins. Real gold coins.
Besides, as long as we kept clearing commissions, we weren't really hurting for money. I was hoping for something interesting rather than just something valuable.
"Dig here, bow-wow-ssu!"
"Did you call, Lord Spirit?"
"A dog has come-uo, a dog. Weren't you a fox-uo? Don't you have any pride as a beastkin-uo?"
"Naturally, I have offered everything to the Lord Spirit?"
"That’s right. Then, Gin-chan, help us dig too."
I seemed to recall that foxes were part of the canine family anyway...
And so, we began digging.
First, we started with iron pickaxes and shovels. I wasn't sure if we needed upgraded gear to break through bedrock or if it was just a matter of efficiency, but we kept at it—hammering away, digging deeper and deeper.
Digging straight down was dangerous for several reasons, so we spiraled our way down as we progressed.
...Wait. In VR, did it really matter? No, looking at it, the hole was definitely about as wide as a well. Not that I’d ever actually seen a well in the real world.
"It’s only this efficient because we can dump the dirt into our Inventory-uo."
"Once a stack is full, let's toss it to Miti-chan. You can eat your fill."
"...Yay. It’s crunchy and doesn't taste good."
Ah, she didn't sound happy about that. She’d learned the taste of luxury... though I suppose that was a sign of healthy growth. For a slime, I figured dissolving and absorbing anything would count as growing, but I understood the feeling of not wanting to eat something gross.
"Penpen, can you cook dirt to make it delicious?"
"How do you even cook dirt-ssu? I mean, I get that it’s for Miti-chan, but..."
"Even if you season it, dirt is still just dirt."
It would be difficult unless it was organic material at the very least.
"Oh! Bedrock-uo!"
"Whoa! Roar, Iron Pickaxe!!"
Snap! My Iron Pickaxe broke. The handle snapped, and the head bent out of shape. I guess we really did need a higher-grade pickaxe...
"No matter, leave it to me-uo! Charge, Rock Shoot!!"
Bagoom! Alto launched an attack at the bedrock. The bedrock... shattered!
Wait... you could actually destroy bedrock?
"I did it-uo...? Does this mean we don't actually need pickaxes-uo...?"
"It feels a bit like cheating-ssu, but I’m grateful we don't have to go through the trouble of buying a high-tier pickaxe-ssu."
"But you’re going to buy one anyway, aren't you? You just get the urge to collect things like that."
"Hmm, I’m the type who only buys exactly what I need-ssu, so I’ll leave the collecting to Tria-shi."
As long as she had the best version available, she was satisfied. It seemed Penpen was that type of player.
"Buying them might grant an Achievement, though."
"Please let me know if you get an Achievement-ssu. I’ll buy them then. If the system prevents you from buying a new pickaxe without owning the old version, I guess I'll have to, but I'd worry about where to put them... Ah, I suppose storage isn't a huge problem in a game-ssu. We have the Warehouse back Home, after all."
"Exactly. I’m going to set up a Collection Room at our Home."
Even if it was just a glorified warehouse. Heh heh... I was already looking forward to lining them all up in order.
"Well, regardless, we need a new pickaxe-ssu. I’ll go buy one."
"Shouldn't you buy a few spares?"
"One extra is enough-ssu. Once I can buy the next grade, I’ll just switch to that."
"Uo-uo, wouldn't it be more fun to shop extravagantly since you're at it-uo? Going on a shopping spree or wasting money on things you can't do in the real world is the whole point of gaming-uo!"
"Hmm, about that... when I’m in VR Mode, the feeling that it’s a game starts to fade. I catch myself slipping into real-world thinking-ssu."
"Ah. I kind of get that."
"Is that so-uo?"
The sensations were just so realistic. It felt less like a simulation and more like it was more real than reality.
"I mean, Alto-shi, you spent half a year as Nika-chan, right? Didn't the sense of it being a game fade for you-ssu?"
"A game is a game-uo. I'm an adult, so I can keep those things strictly separate-uo!"
"Ah. You're quite proper-ssu. I guess that’s the normal way to be-ssu."
"I’ve definitely lost that sense," I admitted. "I’ve reached the point where logging in feels like I’m 'coming home'."
"Tria-shi! You're one of us!"
Penpen threw her arms around me. She swayed and bounced, then—squish—I hit something hard. Dammit, Ethics Filter. If only this didn't exist... things could be so much better...!
...A faint, pleasant scent of citrus wafted from her.
Just then, Nika-chan’s voice called down from the top of the hole.
"Everyone, it’s a monster attack!"
"Oh, I’m coming-uo!"
"I was just about ready to punch something that wasn't dirt."
"Perfect timing-ssu. Once we've finished them off, let's make some tea and take a break-ssu."
A defensive battle against monsters was a nice change of pace from digging.
Man, this was fun. Punching monsters definitely suited me better.