[15] - Re: Veal


IF felt horrible. Her head was spinning. It felt like she'd dunked her hand in sand, and was finally breathing normally after hours of suffocating.

She groaned. What happened? She remembered cutting down the Stampede. She remembered how tired she felt at the end of it. But everything after that was blank. She couldn't remember what happened between that and her falling asleep. Did she walk all the way back on her own? Did someone else help her?

Ah, her head hurt. Trying to remember hurt.

She sat up, and winced. Her back felt sore, and her legs were numb. How long had she slept? She brought out her phone and pried it open, frowning as she saw the date. An entire day had gone by. She'd slept for an entire day.

So much Exp wasted.

Name: IF | [Dragon Slayer]

Lvl 20 [ 39780/75000 ]

HP: 1700/1700 | SP: 3350/3350

SE: 0/0 | NE: 12/800

Str: 31 | Vit: 21

Int: 38 | Men: 23

Agi: 39 | Tec 28

Oh well. She was fairly sure the Stampede she took care of more than made up for the day she'd just lost. The entire ordeal had also Ranked up her Dagger Mastery, so that was a nice bonus.

Not that she'd ever artificially create a Stampede any time soon. The guild made sure to caution everyone from creating it, and she finally knew why. It didn't mean she wouldn't make another one ever though. The abundance of Exp they gave was just too great to ignore. She'd do another one when she was stronger.

Although...This was probably enough for the moment. She'd had her fill of adrenaline from the Stampede, and she sorely needed a long soak in a warm bathtub.

Plopping her camping site back into her inventory, she brought out Soul Blazer and drove her way out of the plains, giving the dungeon one last glance before she sped away. Just like before, she passed by the entrance to the Underverse. She ignored it this time.

She drove silently, idly scrolling through the news feed on her phone to see if anything new had happened. New game releases. New weapons. Free game copies. Adverts about food. Discussions about the new-

IF slammed the breaks and scrolled back up. Free game copies? Something about it sounded familiar. She tapped the topic and read through it, a small frown growing as she read through the article. It didn't look too strange. The article was essentially a blog someone made about how expensive the new games were.

The comment thread looked far more interesting however. Of course, the first few comments were people giving genuine reasons for the prices, but then an anonymous user piped in about this legendary 'game broker' that could sell them games at extremely low prices.

IF followed the thread, jumping from one blog to another until she reached a small forum. People were commenting about the broker, about how awesome it was for them to get games at such low prices. Some were obviously concerned, but they were drowned out by the praises and blessings the others gave.

These 'brokers' seemed to always be on the move however, only stopping when someone requested to purchase something from them. Considering that the people in the thread came from different continents, it probably meant that there were multiple brokers working all throughout Gamindustri.

...

Hello. I'm looking to buy the new Diablu, but I'm a bit broke at the moment. Anyone know where I can get a cheap copy?

She typed her message and sent it, watching her screen as her comment was added onto the thread. Multiple users went online suddenly, and in minutes,

Where do you live?

That appeared. IF swallowed, nervousness gently crawling up her spine as she began typing her reply.

Leanbox. That okay?

She smiled wryly. It'd been a while since she last commented on secret threads like this. She hoped her wording wasn't overly formal.

That's fine. Got a name?

Her fingers froze. A name, was it? She hummed softly, idly sifting through the many aliases she'd used over the years.

KC.

...Since she was buying a Diablu game, using her username should be fine. Hopefully.

Got it. I'll be waiting 'here' at 5. That alright with you?

She tapped the hyperlink, and it brought her over to the world map, stopping right at an alley north from the Basilicom. There didn't seem to be anything special there. The factories around the area weren't suspicious, though she did mark their locations down.

That's fine. See you there.

She closed the thread and frowned. The entire thing seemed genuine enough, but who were these brokers? Were they just normal pirates? Or were they agents of ASIC? She dearly hoped it was the former, but with how her life went, there was a high chance the latter was true.

She sighed. This was the spark that'd eventually pull faith away from the CPUs. Even if Vert was to shut these brokers down, more would appear. Even if that thread was shut down, then three more would secretly form.

...

...Well, at least she'd have a new copy of Diablu to play at the end of the day.

Stuffing her phone back into her inventory, she placed her hands back on the steer and continued on her way. She softly hummed as she drove, idly thinking of what to do for the next four hours. She'd get back to the Basilicom, obviously, but her schedule after that was essentially empty. She...could spend some time with Vert, she supposed, but she didn't want to interrupt the woman's gaming time.

...Perhaps she could take a visit to the guild? She hadn't actually done that since she stepped into Leanbox; she didn't really have a reason to. It'd be interesting to see what quests would be available at the moment. Not that she was going to take any. She had her own plans for the next two weeks or so.

But she was curious, and curiosity had always been her vice.


As expected, there weren't any interesting quests being given at the moment. Pity. It was expected, but still. Pity.

The guild system was still a tad too rigid at the moment. Only monster elimination quests and the occasional fetch quests cropped up. It'd take another two years or so before the guild advisors essentially threw down their hands and simply allowed anyone to make any request they wanted and post it as an official quest.

Oh, it created chaos, alright, but the number of adventurers working around Gamindustri shot through the roof overnight. It'd be the best, and worst decision the guild would ever make.

Ah, she couldn't wait until pranking someone became a genuine quest.

She sighed gently, slouching onto the bench she was sitting on as she surfed through the internet. She still had three hours before the meeting, and she didn't know what to do. She'd gone to the Basilicom, she'd gone to the guild, and now she didn't know what to do.

She tried going to the arcade earlier, but the machine she loved hadn't been developed yet. The cat cafe Vert had often dragged her to hadn't been opened yet. The famous ramen stall she'd once heard about wasn't a thing yet.

Her memories she'd made didn't coincide with the world she lived in.

It was...jarring.

...

She sighed and stood up. She had three hours to burn. She might as well spend her time touring around Leanbox.

So she walked. She followed down the ever familiar roads, walking past sites she'd seen years ago. Some were noticeably different, the places they'd eventually be not yet finished. Some were exactly the same, unchanged even as the years passed by.

She kept walking, not quite knowing where her legs were taking her. She recognized some of the people she walked past. They were all younger, slightly different to their future selves. Their eyes were brighter, unknowing and unaffected by what was to come.

She couldn't quite look at them.

She walked and walked and walked, reminiscing and longing and regret pulling her along. The distant sound of crashing waves, the soft gentle chatter of the people, the constant humming of moving vehicles; it'd all been erased once. They'd disappeared, and now they were back, the scars from that unseen future cleaned away.

The police that patrolled the roads, the nurses that helped out at the hospital, the people at the guild; she'd known them once. They were acquaintances, pulled together by circumstance. They were strangers now, and her heart bled.

She walked and walked, and stopped. She'd somehow made it to one of the beaches, and she turned her eyes towards the ocean. The waters glittered under the sunlight, and the waves rolled and crashed onto the beach.

She wasn't one to visit the beach frequently. She found no reason to. She did go once, and it was the most fun disaster she'd ever experienced. She smiled wryly as she recalled that little episode she'd endured.

Ah, she was never playing beach volleyball ever again.

"Hyah!"

IF blinked. That voice sounded familiar. She quickly looked around, trying to find who that was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a patch of long gray hair, and her eyes went wide.

She went closer, walking faster as the girl's cries became louder. Eventually, she saw her, dressed in a school uniform and her hands covered in leather gloves. She shouted as her fists struck forward, her breaths labored as sweat trailed down her cheek.

That was-

"Excuse me-"

"AAH!?" Surprised, the girl over-extended her punch and slipped, digging her face straight into the sand. IF watched as the girl pulled herself back up and turned to her, mouth hanging open. Her cheeks turned a bright red, and IF smiled in amusement.

"You alright?" She asked. The girl stuttered for a few seconds before she shyly nodded. "Sorry for startling you there." IF began. "I wasn't expecting to find someone else. Were you training or something?"

Another shy nod. IF withheld a wince. Right, the girl was painfully shy to strangers, wasn't she? "Not bad. That punch of yours looks pretty strong." She said. The girl perked up immediately, and IF smiled. "You could probably knock out a Dogoo with a single hit."

"Y-You...think so?"

IF huffed. "I know so." And she did. The girl might lack a weapon, but her Unarmed Mastery far made up for it. That passive skill made her hands just as deadly as any other weapons.

"You know-?" The girl's eyes went wide. "A-Are you an...adventurer?"

IF grinned. "Yep." She said, and she could see the excitement in the girl's eyes. "I came from Planeptune, but I'm taking a visit for a couple weeks or so." The girl was practically glowing by this point, and she couldn't quite help but laugh softly. "Ah, I'm IF by the way."

The girl blinked, before she gasped. "A-Ah! I-I'm Tekken! It's nice to meet you, Ms. IF!"

IF twitched. "Miss again..." She whispered, before she coughed. "Y-You don't need to call me Miss, Tekken. We're about the same age after all."

"E-Eh? Really?" IF nodded, and Tekken smiled brightly. Perhaps a tad too bright. IF silently wished she'd brought out a pair of sunglasses before this conversation. "U-Um, can I ask something then?" She asked. IF blinked, before she nodded. Tekken took a deep breath. "Um, w-what-, how does it feel to be an adventurer?"

"Fun." She immediately said, and then added. "And tiring. Finding new places and fighting monsters is fun, but it's tiring. You'll need to grind for a while before you can advance to tougher challenges." She smiled wryly. "Dangerous too. I've nearly died too many times to count."

The excitement in Tekken's eyes got no less intense. "I-I-If you want to be an adventurer, w-where should you start?"

Ah, so that's what this was about. IF smiled. "It's a bit rough, but starting out at Virtua Forest over at Planeptune's probably the best way to go. You'd have an easier time starting out there compared to here."

And with that, the excitement dimmed, and Tekken deflated. "Ah..." Tekken sighed, and IF winced. It really wasn't fair. Planeptune had it far easier than others. The monsters at Virtua Forest were way weaker in comparison.

...

But that didn't mean this was the end. She didn't know how Tekken originally became who she was, but this was a chance to let the girl grow faster. IF wouldn't let this chance go.

"Can't book a ticket to fly over?" She asked. Tekken nodded silently, and IF allowed herself to grin. The girl blinked at her, confused. "I'm planning to return to Planeptune in a couple weeks." She continued casually, her grin slowly growing. "Wanna join me?"

Tekken's eyes went wide. "J-Join you?" She asked. "Y-You mean, join you t-to Planeptune?" IF nodded, and the girl stared back in wonder.

"But," IF suddenly said as she pulled out a bar of iron. "I'll only allow it if you can break this bar in a single punch."

This wasn't a test, not really. IF knew Tekken would be able to punch through the bar in a single blow. She knew her Unarmed Mastery would be more than enough for the task. No, that wasn't what she was testing the girl for.

She wanted to see if she'd step up, to see if the girl could gather enough courage to take on this challenge from a stranger.

IF needed to see it. She needed to see that the humble and brave warrior she'd come to know was there.

Tekken stared at her, then at the iron bar, and then back to her. Her mouth opened and closed, and she was clearly conflicted, her lips pulled to a small frown as she stared back. IF watched it all, a silent hope whirling in her mind.

...

Then, finally, Tekken nodded, her eyes narrowed in determination. IF smiled. There it was.

"Alright." She said, holding the bar with her two hands. "Strike whenever you want."

Tekken frowned, worry in her eyes. IF grinned. "Don't worry about me. Punch away." She said. It was true. Her Vit was high enough to nullify the damage, and in the event that the strike was stronger than she expected, she could simply dodge out of the way.

Tekken nodded. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she pulled her fist back. She waited for a second, then two, and suddenly-

Bam!

Like a snake springing towards their prey, her fist shot forward, easily snapping the iron bar into two. The two halves spun into the air before they landed onto the sand. A small wisp of steam rose from their cracked edges.

IF watched it all with a small smile.

She barely felt it, her Vit neutralizing most of the impact, but it was astounding nonetheless. She was also fairly sure Tekken had half-activated some form of active skill. Some of the girl's SP had rushed into her fist at the last second. It wasn't quite enough to activate whatever that was, but the possibility was there.

Ah, how nostalgic.

"Well," IF began. Tekken finally blinked, snapping out of the trance she'd fallen into. IF smiled. "Seems like I have the answer."

Tekken was confused for a few seconds, before her eyes fell onto the snapped halves of the bar. Her eyes went wide, and a bright smile formed on her lips. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, and IF could almost feel the sheer weight of all the hope in her heart.

The girl looked close to actually crying, and IF couldn't quite stop herself from giving Tekken a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Congratulations."

And with those words, Tekken finally cried. IF hugged the girl, carefully hiding her own tearful smile.

The Tekken she once knew was gone, swept away by time. This girl she was hugging, this girl that desperately wanted to journey the world; she wasn't the Tekken she knew. She wasn't the brawler she'd gone on adventures with. She wasn't the shy fighter with a heart of steel.

But that was fine. This Tekken was Tekken nonetheless. The universe had returned one of her friends, and IF could only smile.