*Let's see... Cinnamon Buns, Cinnamon Ariosha... Hell, I could eat a raw cinnamon stick at this point. But that might not be a good idea.*
Jisha was sitting at a booth, ordering copious amounts of food to stock up on consumables for her journey. At this point in the game, it was impossible for normal players to even think about heading to another location, but Jisha was almost ready.
The natural rate of HP recovery in the wild was slow. As of now, Safe Zones were the only feasible place to recover quickly, and there wouldn't be one for a while where Jisha was headed.
*That's right! They're consumables for recovery! I'm not addicted to cinnamon sweets!*
She justified these sweet purchases in her mind, but she knew deep down how dangerous these types of addictions could be.
Synergy wasn't real life, yet it didn't feel far off from it. As technology advanced, sensations would become more and more realistic. In the far future, it may even be possible for virtual worlds to feel "more real" than the real one.
In a way, virtual worlds could discard the negative aspects of reality while only keeping the positive ones. For example, you could eat as many sweets as you wanted in Synergy without consuming an excessive amount of calories. And since nothing physical was affected, every bite tasted like the first.
Sweets were innocent, but what about other highly addictive pleasures, like sex or hard drugs?
Sure, nothing was physically addictive, but psychologically, it was a whole different story.
Jisha looked at the massive Cinnamon Bun she was holding as if it represented the sins of mankind.
It was bigger than both of her hands.
*The developers of this game... Are pretty sadistic.*
As she contemplated the future of morality, she noticed three players enter the building. They, along with a fourth that was already inside, blocked her escape from the booth.
*Two blonde, two black-haired. I can easily leave if I want, but I wonder what business they have with me?*
She pulled down the hood of her Nightwalker so they could recognize her face.
Of course, Jisha recognized them as the "Asunder" players that attempted to block her from entering the restaurant.
The blonde girl, Ivonna, spoke up before Jisha could even say anything.
"So it *is* you. What org are you a part of?"
"None."
"Really? Then join our group."
*Huh?*
Jisha was surprised at first, but it was obvious once she thought about it. Anyone would want to recruit a highly skilled player to their Guild or org. It was no different from what Jisha herself was doing with the Sun Dragons.
"Sorry, I'll have to decline."
This was probably the first of many recruitment offers she was going to receive, so she would have to get used to saying this.
"Then we'll force you to join!"
The blonde guy, Yaele, was clearly dissatisfied with her response.
"You... Are you guys a bunch of idiots?"
"What did you say?"
Jisha was even more surprised at Yaele's response.
"Give me 3 good reasons I should join."
"Uh..."
"You're hot?"
Yaele hesitated, but the black-haired guy, XiNalaSlave77, said something extremely unexpected. Of course, this resulted in a slap from the black-haired girl named Muyonnu.
"Are you jealous she's prettier than you?"
Jisha slammed her head into the table.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, but that's not the point here. What's in it for me? Why should I join you guys instead of staying as I am now??"
*What am I doing with these guys... No wonder I haven't heard of Asunder. They're hopeless.*
Jisha inadvertently ended up teaching these newbie players recruitment 101.
"Hmmm... What's in it for you? If you don't join, we'll hunt you down forever!" Yaele adamantly said.
"... How?"
"We know your name from the recording of your fight in the War Zone. That'll easily be enough to track you down."
"Really, now? I wonder about that. Don't you see this convenient item that hides my name and face?"
"So what? All we have to do is find an item that can appraise you anyway. You won't be able to hide forever."
"Is that so? If that's all, then have a nice day."
Jisha shook her head as she took a bite out of the Cinnamon Bun.
Their line of thinking wasn't entirely inaccurate. Items that solely hid name and level were extremely common, but so were ones that were able to break through these disguises. However, only Rexian's Eyes, another legendary NPC's item, could see through Shahar's Nightwalker.
"... Hey, are you really ignoring us? It won't end well for you if you do. Just agree to our terms, and you will receive opportunities that come with being a member of the Asunder organization," Muyonnu said kindly.
*This sounds like a marketing scam.*
"Playing good cop? Unfortunately, you guys don't even have terms I can agree with. Sorry, but I'm leaving. You've spoiled my delicious Cinnamon Bun."
Jisha effortlessly snuck by their pitiful attempt of a blockade and left the Eatery.
---
"... Are you stupid?"
"No, are you?"
Muyonnu couldn't help but facepalm after witnessing Ivonna and Yaele quarrel once again.
"... Stein's gonna kill us," she worriedly said.
*>XiNalaSlave77: Yo Stein, the hottie got away again. She declined our offer~*
"WHAAAAAAAT ARE YOU DOING???"
Yaele immediately tackled Xi after seeing the snitching message. A Safe Zone meant that no damage could be taken, but it didn't mean that tackling another player wasn't allowed.
*>Stein: Are you kidding? I'll assemble troops to find her myself. Keep an eye on where she's headed and report back to me. How's the situation in Uval?*
*>Muyonnu: It's relatively peaceful. It doesn't look like any other organization is trying to claim this hamlet. Fae Sol is our only obstacle. She keeps avoiding us, and she said she wasn't from any org.*
*>Stein: And you believe that? Regardless of whether she's lying, it doesn't look like she has any conflict of interest with us. Like I said, just report her whereabouts to me and I'll handle her.*
*>Muyonnu: ... Roger that.*
"Wow, he really went easy on us, huh? He must have had a change of heart after reviewing that battle footage."
Ivonna sighed in relief after seeing the org leader's lenient messages.
"Right? He's not normally like that... Maybe she'll be a worthy opponent for Stein and his crew?" Muyonnu questioned.
"Nah, there's no way. She's good, but there's no way she can beat all of them at once. You know how good they are at pretty much all VR games," Ivonna refuted.
"Nooooo! My queen Fae Sol will reign supreme!" Xi wheezed from a chokehold on the floor.
"Come on, you two. We need to find her so we can report on her position to Stein."
"Oh, yeah."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Though the reason each obeyed differed, Yaele and Xi snapped to attention when Stein's name was uttered by Ivonna.
---
*Alright... If I recall correctly, Inkling Village is this way.*
Before she could arrive at Orchid Town, Jisha had to cross through a place known as Inkling Village first. Though it was technically possible to go directly from a Hamlet to a Town, it was much easier to visit a Village beforehand, as it was smaller than a Town and bigger than a Hamlet.
*Looks like the frontier shop is in that direction, too, so that works out.*
After about a minute of walking from the Eatery, Jisha arrived at a small wooden shop that was labeled "Rai's Adventures". Synergy's universal frontier symbol was engraved at the top of the building, so Jisha knew what to expect when entering it.
The frontier symbol was a circle with a sword and compass in the middle, indicating that it was a go-to shopping spot for the adventurous type.
And that's exactly what it was. If you wanted to go on an adventure in the wild, visiting a frontier-type shop was a necessity. Even Jisha would end up dying without a couple of valuable items from one.
*Well, I won't die in a low-level area like this one, but I would certainly need some of this stuff beyond level 500.*
As Jisha entered the shop, armor, weapons, ammunition, and all sorts of odds and ends could be seen lining the walls and stands. A couple of players were looking around at the items for sale.
There were lots of level 1 common items for sale, and most of them were priced at 10 Copper or less, which was conveniently the same amount of money everyone would start with.
However, what Jisha was here for was neither weapons nor ammunition. Instead, she walked over to a shelf that held some strange pieces of blank paper.
*Looks like they're here.*
The little tags beneath the pieces of paper read the following:
*>Mini Local Map: Free (Maximum 1 per player)*
*>Small Local Map: 10 Copper*
*>Medium Local Map: 25 Copper*
*>Large Local Map: 100 Copper*
*The Large Local one should be good enough for now.*
These map sizes were extremely small compared to what Jisha was used to seeing in the past, but that couldn't be helped. She took one of the Medium Local Maps off the shelf and headed to the clerk to pay.
"One of these, please."
"That'll be 25 Copper for a Medium Local Map. Thank you for your business."
As she was paying, she heard some chattering from within the entrance of the shop.
"Really? That costs 25 Copper??? Why would someone waste money on a map?"
"Right? It doesn't even do any damage!"
Jisha couldn't help but smirk.
"Haha. New players always say the funniest things. ... Oh, it's you guys."
The source of the chattering was none other than the Asunder clowns she had encountered earlier.
"What do you mean by new? This game just came out."
*Whoops. It looks like I'll have to be more careful about what I say.*
"Uh, anyway. The point is that maps are important. Just because it doesn't do damage doesn't mean it isn't useful. Knowing what's around you before your enemies do is vital to winning battles."
*Ah, why am I lecturing them?*
Jisha found herself reminiscing about the past; maybe she saw her old self in these newbie players... But she didn't have time to teach right now.
"Sorry, but I really can't play with you guys. See ya."
She was about to slip by them again, but the four of them were completely body blocking the door.
Instead of kicking them aside, she decided to humor them.
"Do you guys have any business with me?"
"Of course we do! May my queen emerge victorious in the upcoming battle," the black-haired boy named XiNalaSlave77 dramatically said.
Once again, he earned a slap from Muyonnu.
*What's with this guy? That username seems vaguely familiar... Oh!*
Jisha figured out the reason behind this guy's strange character. She had trouble remembering since it was from such a long time ago, but in the southeast, there used to be a popular supermodel by the name of Nala Xi.
*And since he has "slave" in his name... he's THAT type of guy.*
Everything made sense.
"I apologize for his behavior. Actually, we're supposed to report your position to our org leader, so we'll keep you trapped until he gets here," Muyonnu said.
"Really? You think you can do that?"
"Of course."
"Well, pardon me."
With a simple front kick, Jisha knocked several of the Asunder crew off balance, easily skating by them once again.
As she was leaving, Jisha heard the following conversation at the edge of her hearing.
"... Are you stupid?"
"No, are you?"
"Ugh... Let's just report her movements to Stein and keep track of her."