Perhaps, there was a reason behind the strange intuition I had felt.
The interior of the pub was teeming with dangerous-looking ruffians… no, rather, dangerous-looking women.
Earlier, I had noticed that a beer glass had flown from a direction where they were clearly brawling amongst themselves.
Crash—!
“You son of a b*tch! Die, die!”
With the repeated thudding of fists, I turned away from the scene.
Later, perhaps, but picking a fight with those ruffians now would only lead to trouble.
“…… Just stay lying down for a moment.”
I decided to leave the still-unconscious Mado for a while.
After all, she hadn’t received a death notification; she would surely come to her senses after a few minutes.
Creak—
Clink!
I headed towards a bar table near the bartender and placed a gold coin on it.
Though it was my entire fortune, the bartender’s eyes glittered brightly upon seeing it.
“…… Hmm, what can I get for you?”
“A decent drink, and if you have any worthwhile stories, tell me one.”
Without a word, she brought over a bottle and poured a drink until the glass was on the verge of overflowing.
Had this happened in reality, I might have questioned if she was trying to pick a fight, but for now, I simply downed it in one gulp.
“Ugh—”
After letting out a hidden groan, I straightened my shoulders, pretending to be perfectly fine.
The aroma… is that Lagavulin?
In the previous game, whenever I ordered whiskey at a World pub, it always tasted like this.
It seems there’s quite an enthusiast among the developers.
The bartender, who had been subtly watching me, raised one corner of her mouth and looked at me.
She was a beauty with white hair, not from age, and tanned skin, appearing to be in her early to mid-thirties.
“If you want a story, shouldn’t there be a topic? I even tailor my pours to my customers’ preferences.”
“…… Is that why that last glass was poured like that?”
“Ahaha, personally, I just wanted to see you get a little drunk.
But, regrettably, you’re perfectly fine.”
[–LOL. Every NPC I meet tries to flirt with me.]
[–It probably wouldn’t be any different in real life… If I saw them on the street, I’d stare until they disappeared from my sight.]
[–It’d be ridiculously easy to max out NPC affection, lol. Just walk up, show your face, and it’s solved~ Done~]
[–Seriously, lol. Gifts for affection? Quests? Nah, get lost lololol.]
…… I found myself unable to refute the comments flooding the chat window.
Indeed, the message [ Bartender Melina’s Affection has increased by 8! ] was floating right before my eyes.
“The drink was a bit strong, you see.
As for a topic for a story, if I had to choose one, it would be something profitable.”
“Profitable, you say.
Hmm, as it happens, there’s been a certain rumor going around lately.”
The bartender, toying with her lips, exuded a seductive charm.
While her actions seemed rather cheap, her appearance was unexpectedly elegant.
The movements of her chest, flaunting its presence as if about to burst forth, also captivated my gaze.
For a while, I stared directly at her.
I saw no reason to avert my gaze.
However, it wasn’t long before I changed my mind.
‘…… I should stop staring.’
Feeling as though I might truly fall for her if I continued to stare, I averted my eyes.
As I turned my gaze away, she clicked her tongue, seemingly disappointed.
“There’s a rumor circulating that wanted individuals have been appearing in this vicinity.
There are also documents detailing their sketches and unique characteristics.”
“…… Can I perhaps settle this with the remaining drink cost?”
“Huh? Of course not.
The coin only covers this much.”
‘That’s a bit disappointing.’
As I, with a hardened expression, prepared to leave my seat, the bartender called out to me in a slightly flustered voice.
“Why, are you leaving already?”
“I’ve run out of money.
That one gold coin earlier was my entire budget.”
“No, that’s not it.
If you really want it, there are plenty of ways besides money… Oh my, why are you so impatient?”
Her chiding manner, lightly tapping my shoulder, clearly betrayed her fluster, which I found rather amusing.
Creak— I pulled out the bar stool once more and sat down, offering a slight smile as I spoke.
“Well then, I’m listening.”
[–Wow, he’s playing hard to get right away lololol.]
[–He’s really crazy lololol.
Hyun-oppa wasn’t a dullard (TL Note: A Korean slang term, ‘gom-saekki,’ literally meaning ‘bear cub,’ used to describe someone clueless or slow-witted) after all…!!!]
[–But isn’t that obvious from the start?
There’s no way this person lacks discernment.]
[–But why is Mado still…]
[–Who’s Mado, you nerd lololol.]
[–Ahem, that person is currently sleeping at the pub entrance.]
****
The quest lines in ‘World’ were almost identical to the previous installment.
Since the developers had commented that they wouldn’t touch the basic systems much, I had anticipated as much.
Quests given in hunting grounds, one after another, starting from the beginner village, had a simple structure and small rewards, but one could simply click to accept them.
In contrast, ‘World’ quests required players to compete for them autonomously, offering high rewards in return.
[ Quest – Bounty Hunter ]
[ ▶ Philemore, the former leader of the Empire’s notorious underground organization, was defeated after a two-year struggle and now lives in hiding. ]
[ News has it that his whereabouts have recently been discovered at a gambling den on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital. ]
[ Subdue or kill him, then report to the Imperial Family. ]
[ ※ Although his personal combat strength is weak, he is said to always be accompanied by a bodyguard. ]
Exactly, a quest like this.
I gazed at it, smiling contentedly.
It was likely that few other users had managed to acquire a quest of this caliber.
“This is perfect.
Don’t you agree, Mado?”
“……Yes.”
However, unlike my elation, Mado looked utterly miserable.
I generally understood why she was like that, but somehow, her expressions had been amusing me ever since.
During the entire time I was securing the quest from the bartender NPC, she remained sprawled on the floor.
While I was also quite thoughtless for leaving her there, it seemed she had been pretending not to wake up out of sheer embarrassment after a certain point.
Thus, she had been in that state ever since.
Yet, seeing her like that, I didn’t feel particularly worried.
‘Had my own mind gone a bit strange?’
One shouldn’t laugh so freely when seeing someone so depressed.
“Ahem, don’t worry too much about what happened earlier.
Even if I had been hit by that… *cough*… it would have been fine.”
[–Damn, he failed to hold back his laughter lololololol.]
[–Isn’t he subtly mocking her?]
[–The streamer is just the worst here lolololol.]
[–No, stop laughing so hard lololol.
Your eyes are giving it away lololol.]
“No, ahem.
Anyway, I’m just telling you not to mind it too much.”
“…… Haaaaaaahhh.”
She buried her face, letting out a strange sound that was neither a sigh nor a sob.
Upon hearing that, glances darted from all directions.
They were on a carriage, near the Imperial Capital, heading back to the player field.
This meant that everyone looking at them here was a user.
“Wow, a man making a woman cry.
I’ve never seen that before…”
“If it were the other way around, I’d have immediately drawn my spear, but this doesn’t make me angry.”
“For a man like that, he’d have to make dozens of women cry to live up to his looks.”
“I want to be scolded by that oppa and cry my eyes out, hehe.”
…… While I thought I heard something strange at the end, such gazes were, in any case, quite burdensome to me.
While it might be a relief not to be treated like trash, as I was in my original world, these glances weren’t particularly pleasant either.
Even in the world I used to live in, if a woman made a man cry on the street, people certainly wouldn’t look upon it favorably.
Though the feeling was a bit different from that, and Mado wasn’t actually crying anyway.
“Mado.”
“Eek?”
‘No, did she cry?’
Mado, with a nasal whine, simply nodded her buried head in response.
Indeed, if I had displayed such an embarrassing spectacle in front of nearly 25,000 people across two streams, it would have been quite a shock.
“You know, Mado, all sorts of incidents happen in this game.
Everyone just finds it amusing, you know?”
“……”
[–Honestly, it was super fun though lololol.]
[–To be fair, it was also ridiculously unfair, yeah.
How could it hit her head at that exact moment?]
[–But is ‘it was fun’ really a comforting thing to say?]
However, seeing her still dejected despite my words, a slight frustration welled up, and I instinctively raised my hand.
Pat pat—
“……?”
I then placed my hand on her head and gently stroked it.
Just as one would pet a dog or a cat.
The feeling was indeed similar.
Soft to the touch.
Whether it was because it was a game, or if this too was a characteristic taken from her original self during the auto-recognition customization.
Purr— It even sounded as if she was genuinely purring like a cat.
I wondered if it was a bit rude, but I continued as I felt her breathing gradually steady and her breaths become more relaxed.
Rustle, rustle— It was then, as I felt the texture of her hair and stroked her for a while.
“Mado, are you feeling a bit better now……?”
As I subtly questioned her to check her condition, I suddenly felt a slight sense of unease.
Her body had no strength.
It wasn’t a figurative lack of strength, like laughing or crying weakly as before.
Her body was truly completely devoid of strength.
Thud—!
When I gently nudged her body, she simply slumped against the carriage wall, her head hitting it.
“No, she passed out again?
Why?”
[ Party Member No. 2, ‘Mado,’ has disconnected! ]
Whoosh—!
Along with the message that appeared before my eyes, her corpse… no, Mado’s body, dissolved into light and vanished.
“…… No, why?”
[–’Why?’ he says.
Ugh, damn it lololololololol.]
[–You just killed her… You killed her…]
[–Hey, shouldn’t we check if she really had a cardiac arrest?
Is she even alive?]
[–At this point, she’s just gone, yeah.
Let’s pray for her soul.]
[–The cause of death was definitely death by pleasure (TL Note: A Korean term, ‘boksangsa,’ literally meaning ‘death on the stomach,’ typically referring to death during sexual intercourse, often used humorously to imply overwhelming pleasure.)… Well, at least she went happily, right?]
[–He just eliminated his competitor to monopolize the quest.
What a scary guy;]
