While I was drinking tea at Penpen’s place and using the menu to expand my Home, a notification popped up for both of us the moment I increased my land size.
It read: "Home Connection with friends is now possible."
"Connecting Homes? What kind of feature is that?"
"You’ll see if you try it, ssu! Here goes... connect!"
"Oh, then I’ll approve it on this side, too."
Once I authorized the connection between my Home and Penpen’s, a low hum vibrated through the air, and a stone gate manifested in the garden.
"Oh? Oh—whoa! This is amazing, ssu! Tria-shi, come look!"
"What is it? What happened? Oh—!"
"Ah, it’s Lord Spirit. Welcome back!"
Stepping through the gate brought us directly into my Home, where Miti-chan, who had been working there, came out to greet us. I see. So that’s how the connection works.
It seemed to be a feature that created a direct gate between our properties.
"This is convenient. It was starting to bother me how long fast travel took every time I wanted to visit Penpen’s place."
"Wait, Tria-shi... is your house still just a 'shabby hut', ssu?"
"I-It’s just a hassle to pick out furniture..."
To be honest, since I only really used the warehouse and the field, the house itself had been a low priority. When it came to alchemy, it was actually easier to work when there wasn't a bunch of junk in the way.
"You should have just said something, ssu. I’ll give you some of the old stuff I don't use anymore. I’ll go grab it, ssu."
"Oh, thanks. But I’d feel bad taking it for free, so I’ll pay the market price."
"Right now, I want materials more than money, ssu. It's give and take. Besides, did you know that setting up a dedicated alchemy workshop increases your success rate and item quality, ssu?"
"Wait, there’s a bonus for that? I guess I really do need to put some effort into this."
Since she’d given me such a good tip, I decided to share some of the armor I’d received as an additional reward for the quest the other day.
"Oh, full body armor, ssu!"
"Don't worry, it's empty. Miti-chan already processed it."
In the background, Miti-chan struck a triumphant pose, looking incredibly proud of herself. "I processed it!" she declared.
"Well, even if there was something inside, I might have been able to turn it into a crafting material, ssu."
"What kind of material would a corpse be?"
"A skull cup, maybe?"
"What are you, the Sixth Heavenly Demon King Penpen?"
"It cannot be helped, ssu!"
Following her advice, I decided it was time to develop the hut. I started placing furniture to earn Home points. Penpen, put the sofa over there. Put the table here.
The points accumulated quickly, and soon the living room and entrance were looking much nicer. After placing even more furniture to rack up points, I rushed through the expansion to add the starter workshop.
"It got decent pretty fast. It reminds me of Penpen’s place when we first met."
"That’s because it’s the same furniture I was using back then, ssu. Though, it’s all very basic stuff, you know? Usually, you'd get this far during the tutorial, ssu."
"For me, the tutorial ended the moment the formal tutorial was over."
It was the classic difference between the "official tutorial" and the "early game that's basically still a tutorial."
"Anyway, this is great, ssu. Having a Home connection will be useful for long trips. Since I have the ranch now, I can't really go out using Home stowing very often, ssu."
"Ah, right. Because you can use my Home as a warp point."
Currently, the town of Tsudon was effectively our base of operations, mostly because Penpen had established her ranch there. Did other players also stay put because they’d put down roots in their respective starter towns? After all, we still hadn't run into any players besides ourselves.
"This is supposed to be a social game, even if it's a one-time purchase... It’s a mystery."
"Between that and the mystery filter, it’s all beyond me, ssu."
"Well, if we head to a different town, we might find new people."
I didn't know exactly where the Republic of Majark was, but going to look for Zold and the others was a solid option. We didn't have any other pressing goals at the moment. For all I knew, they might have joined a resistance movement to overthrow the government by now. If so, I’d be happy to help. A country that performs those kinds of experiments deserves to be dismantled, right? I don't have a problem with the citizens, but I'd love to replace the people at the top.
"Come to think of it, ssu... I'm in Tsudon, Tria-shi is in Wantos, and Alto-shi’s nearest town was somewhere else entirely, ssu. If it's one person per town, then new encounters are definitely possible, ssu."
"Wait, is it possible these aren't just 'My Homes,' but 'My Towns'...? Does that mean Alto and I are just leaving our towns abandoned?"
"There might even be ranch land waiting for Tria-shi in Wantos, ssu."
That was a possibility. A ranch just for me, though... I think I'll pass. Taking care of cows and manual labor seemed like a drag. If my daily chores increased, I'd have less time for everything else. In fact, Penpen barely had the freedom to go on long trips anymore because of her duties.
"When Alto logs in, we should probably start by traveling to see what her town looks like. Since we have the Home connection now, Penpen should come along for the sightseeing, too."
"I'm looking forward to it, ssu!"
I hoped it was a town with some unique character... well, I was sure there would be some nightlife spots, at least! They couldn't possibly tell me that Tsudon was the only place with shops we could actually enter.
I really wanted to visit that shop again. Should I go? Yeah, I think I will.