Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 13

Drawing Near

It was a marshland.

The sky was cloudy. The atmosphere was gloomy and there was also the eerie cry of some birds.

With such player, few players wanted to visit here. The merit of this  place was that players wouldn’t need to compete for monster here.

Alfie stumbled because of the muddy ground.

Mud splashed and she lost her balance and fell because her foot slipped.

「D-damn i――」

Around her there were several skeletons wearing light armor. Some kobolds were supporting the skeletons.

The number of monster was many. They were too many and the environment made it harder to deal with them.

Alfie fell and became covered in mud. Ponsuke the orc leaped in front of her.

His silver hair fluttered. He got in front of Alfie and swung his  one-handed sword violently, turning the skeleton monster into red  particles.

Ponsuke got hit by the arrows that the kobolds fired and his body became riddled with arrows.

「They’re like flies buzzing around――COME AT ME YOU BASTARDSSS!!」

He swung his left arm and sent a kobold flying with Shield Bash.

Alfie stood up and thanked him.

「T-thank you.」

Alfie watched Ponsuke’s manly back while feeling her cheeks turning red.

(W-what am I thinking!)

She shook her head and tightened her grip on her sword’s handle to focus on battle.

The monk NPC they brought with them lifted his staff and casted healing magic on Ponsuke and Alfie.

「Yeah, your welcome. But, they made this place too detailed. No wonder other players don’t want to come here.」

Ponsuke stomped on the ground with his large foot several times. He  raised his shield and took position to protect Alfie and his other  comrades.

Then when a kobold aimed its arrow at Ponsuke――.

「Too slow!」

Mariela fired three arrows simultaneously. The three arrows hit the  kobold and defeated it.It fell on the ground and turned into red  particles.

Alfie cut down an approaching skeleton monster. Then she looked around.

「There are still more coming.」

Ponsuke sighed.

「Thanks to that we’re saving time because we don’t need to go searching for them but……as expected it’s still annoying.」

The field was gloomy and filled with skeleton warriors and kobolds.

In addition there were human and animal zombies…….

Sometimes ghost monster also came out, so the place was really eerie.

Mariela was gradually losing motivation.

「Let’s just go back. I’ll definitely get nightmare from this!」

Mariela sounded like she was going to cry. Perhaps she wasn’t good with scary thing.

The three thought that it would be okay because this was just a game,  but the scariness of this place surpassed their imagination. They chose  to retreat seeing the monsters gathering.

*

At the inn.

Ponsuke and others entered their room without even getting a meal first.

(Aa~, we’re more affected than expected.)

Ponsuke thought so while looking around inside the room.

Both Alfie and Mariela agreed to go to that field at first saying that the atmosphere didn’t affect them at all.

But after they tried fighting, all the monsters that attacked them had grotesque appearance without exception.

Mariela was sitting on her bed while hugging her knees.

「……That was scarier than some random haunted house.」

In a sense, the detailed environment of Pandora’s Box could sometimes surpass even the reality.

Just like attraction in amusement park.

Something that couldn’t be reproduced at all in real world could be manifested inside the game.

Ponsuke smiled bitterly.

「Yeah, that was scary.」

They could defeat the enemies, but the monsters just kept on coming and steadily tired them out.

Alfie was also covering her head with a blanket.

(Ah, she looks a bit cute.)

Ponsuke thought Alfie looked cute like that but, he didn’t say it out loud.

「As expected, I refuse going to there for the second time. How should  I say it, the temperature there feel cold, like there is this  unpleasant chill in the air.」

Other than the atmosphere, the temperature that they felt on their skin also felt chilly.

Alfie was completely spooked from that.

(Looks like this is it for her. She won’t go even if we bring  equipment that have heater with us. Well, I’m also scared so I too don’t  want to go there by choice.)

He had leveled up without noticing. Now Ponsuke’s level was more than 25.

It reminded him.

「That’s right. Then let’s go to receive the divine protection for you  two tomorrow. We’re going to rest for today, and then tomorrow we can  go play after you two go to the shrine.」

Mariela lifted her head a little.

「What about the leveling? Those orcs are waiting for us aren’t they?」

Ponsuke placed his hand on his forehead.

「Yeah. But we still have time, and there’s still preparation to make.  Besides, we won’t be able to last if we persevere too much.」

This was the difference between a fully immersive game and a normal game.

Player could continue playing by focusing on efficiency in a normal  game, but just perseverance alone wouldn’t be enough at all for a play  style that only focused to efficiency in a fully immersive game.

Just pushing a button with finger in front of a screen was far less  mentally exhausting than actually swinging weapon in front of monster.

Alfie muttered.

「I want to eat junk food……the ones that are really bad for the body.」

Ponsuke thought.

(Eh? You arrived there from the flow of talk just now!? Just what are you saying out of nowhere this whale gamer)

It seemed Mariela’s stomach was also empty. She looked up to the ceiling while speaking.

「Pizza and soda might be nice.」

Ponsuke came to a realization.

(I-I see. In other words this is that, the 「Go buy those for us!」  thing! C-certainly it was me who suggested that place to them……that  means, they’re really angry with me.)

Ponsuke was thinking like that. He stood up and moved toward the door in order to buy the junk foods that the two desired.

But.

「……What are you two doing?」

Alfie and Mariela clung on Ponsuke’s legs.

「That’s my line. Where are you going?」

「Don’t go off suddenly like that. It’ll be scary if you suddenly leave us alone that!」

Ponsuke couldn’t move because the two were clinging on both his legs like that. He explained his action to them in a fluster.

「No, I’m just going outside for shopping. You know, you two said that you want to eat junk foods.」

The two kept clining on Ponsuke’s legs. They seemed to be genuinely scared.

「……Just what are you two telling me to do here」

Ponsuke looked up at the ceiling.

*

In the end the three spent the night inside that room and left when morning came.

Right from the morning they went to a hamburger restaurant in the  Capital of Hope that seemed to be modeled after a certain chain store.  They had breakfast there.

There were quite a lot of players inside the restaurant. They were eating with delight.

Two players with male avatar were eating while conversing.

「As I thought you got to have this in the morning.」

「Why are you ordering something that you’re also eating everyday in RL huh?」

「It calms me down. Or rather it makes me feel strange if I eat anything else than this.」

「You should at least try eating something else when inside a game.」

It seemed the two knew each other even in the real life.

They were eating a simple hamburger that was filled with egg, ham, and vegetable. For the drink they were having coffee.

Steam was rising up from the coffee cup. The player blew on it before drinking.

In contrast the table of Ponsuke’s party was lavish right from the morning.

(They suddenly ordered double and triple hamburgers, with cheese and  fish and more. They’re also ordering juice and other things in LL size.)

The two were full of appetite, perhaps because they didn’t eat anything last night.

Alfie sank her teeth into a large hamburger. It made her mouth to be dirtied with sauce.

Mariela washed down what she ate with juice. She took a breather before she resumed eating.

(Even male high school student is still more well-mannered when eating compared to these two.)

Ponsuke compared the girls way of eating with when the time when he  visited this kind of restaurant with Rook. He was watching them with a  sense of repulsion growing inside him.

Mariela looked at Ponsuke while drinking her juice through a straw.

「Eh, you aren’t eating?」

Ponsuke sighed.

「No, I already ate. Rather than that, why did you two suddenly say  that you want to eat junk food yesterday? It was really abrupt.」

Alfie licked the sauce that was stuck on her finger. And then she wiped her mouth before answering.

「Haha~, we were so scared yesterday that we couldn’t go out. That was  why, when you mentioned playing, the junk foods were the first thing  that came to mind.」

Mariela also nodded several times to that.

「I get you! Normally I’m always holding back when it come to this kind of food, so I want to eat a lot of them while here!」

Alfie shook her head.

「No, I can’t come to this kind of restaurant at all. So I want to give it a try at least once,」

Mariela didn’t know what to say to that. She was making an awkward expression.

「I-is that so.」

(Alfie-san, is she really a rich person?)

Alfie said that when she was so scared that she couldn’t go out last  night, hearing Ponsuke’s offer of going playing reminded her of her goal  to eat junk food to her heart’s content. It was something that she had  been thinking about from even before this.

Ponsuke thought that all was fine if the two of them weren’t angry  with him. He watched the two eating until they were satisfied.

The two male avatars……players who saw that scene were whispering to each other.

「Usually, this kind of scene should be the reverse shouldn’t it?」

「It’s surreal watching the orc being the one who have the good table manner.」

「As expected girls should be graceful.」

「Perhaps that orc……is actually a girl inside!?」

How can you reach that conclusion! Ponsuke thought that while sighing and waiting for the two to finish.

*

At the so called tourist area inside the game.

Ponsuke’s party was stretching their legs out at that place. They  bought soft serve ice cream and sat down on a bench at the fountain  plaza to eat it.

Avatars with good looking appearance were walking around at the surrounding. They all seemed to be having fun.

Ponsuke licked on his ice cream while watching the other players. He then noticed something.

「Eh? It feels like there are a lot of similar face.」

Mariela crossed her long legs while sitting. She looked at Ponsuke while switching her legs.

「You don’t know? A lot of people created their avatar by simply using  the face of someone famous or a template good looking avatar with only  slight modification added. That’s why they all look similar like that.」

Alfie also got a comprehending look from hearing that.

「Aa, that’s why those who put too much effort in making their own  avatar stood out instead at this place. Though there are also avatars  that are too elaborate that it makes me question whether they’re really  okay with looking like that.」

Sometimes there were also avatars that looked like a mess.

But the people in this area only cared about having fun. It didn’t look like they were too fixated about their avatar.

「……As I thought there is no orc.」

When Ponsuke said that, Alfie ate the cone part of her ice cream and swallowed.

「That’s true. I can’t imagine what a good looking orc might look like.」

Mariela also finished her ice cream and stood up. She pulled Ponsuke’s hand.

「Come on, let’s go to the next place. We need to have fun playing today!」

As expected, the two was feeling down from doing nothing but battle. They were looking forward to have fun.

For Ponsuke he didn’t main focusing mostly on fighting. He never thought about playing around in this area but…….

(Well, it’s fine if they are having fun.)

It wasn’t like he was planning to become clearer.

There wasn’t any need to rush to progress. Ponsuke thought that he could just go with his own pace.

*

Evening.

The sky inside the game was dyed orange. The Capital of Hope was displaying another side of itself.

The three decided to distribute their job point first before heading to the shrine.

The priests were lined up from the left. Ponsuke chose the old priest  at the very left and there he was racking his brain about what job to  obtain.

「Production job is also tempting but, as expected I better improve what I already have right now……」

Ponsuke was crossing his arms as he was falling into thought. The  priest in front of him didn’t treat him coldly despite him being an orc.

「Hohoho, you seems to be at a loss. Your level as warrior has reached  the minimum required value. I recommend the job as knight to you.」

He only spoke game-like message sometimes.

「As I thought perhaps I should choose thief here? With that I’ll be  able to get various skills like presence detection and other useful  skills.」

The most convenient job to get was thief where he could get skills that specialized in scouting and the like.

But Ponsuke’s affinity with that job was low perhaps because he was an orc.

In contrast his affinity with combat job that fought as vanguard was good.

「I can still skip taking knight job I guess.」

Ponsuke didn’t take the knight job.

Somehow the priest NPC looked sad when he heard that.

After he finished his business, he left the counter. He found Alfie  and Mariela waiting for him. It seemed that they had finished faster  than him.

「Eh, you two are already finished?」

Mariela shrugged.

「It’s called divine protection, but in the end it’s just a simple  customization. I have decided from the start to improve on my strong  points. Also I got the thief job!」

Mariela made a peace sign. Ponsuke gave her an applause.

「Oo, we’ll be counting on you from now on.」

Mariela’s expression turned serious.

「What? You’re saying that you never relied on me until now?」

Ponsuke shook his head. Then Alfie made an intentionally cough and started talking about herself.

「I raised my speed and power. I also have my paid items, so with this  I’ll be able to become even more reliable vanguard than before.」

Mariela scoffed.

「Hah, Ponsuke is far more reliable than you.」

Alfie looked at Mariela with a twitching expression.

「Hou……I’m amazed someone like you who can only cook disgusting food can say that.」

「Aa?」

Ponsuke sighed and separated the two who were glaring at each other.

「Yes, let’s stop there. It’s pointless to have a quarrel here. Rather  than that, let’s go have dinner somewhere. We have no time left to go  outside anyway. Or perhaps you two want to go outside anyway?」

The two who had just gone through scary experience yesterday shook their head energetically in refusal.

Ponsuke smiled and led those two in the search for dinner.

*

Mariela’s friendship meter toward Ponsuke……66

Alfie’s friendship meter toward Ponsuke……68

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