Chapter Sixty-Eight: A Strange Mission

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“Wuuu~” Lancer stretched lazily and then sat up.

“I’ll go scout out the next floor first.” An email appeared in Lancer’s inbox. Just from the content, it was obvious it was from Kirito, along with a few other messages from the strategy group sent yesterday. After replying to each of them, Lancer left the inn, noticing Asuna had also departed and was no longer inside.

With a helpless, bitter smile, he mused that a strong-willed girl wasn’t so easily won over. By now, Lancer had even forgotten he didn’t have any real “conquest” mission to begin with—or maybe it was just that, as an M, he was naturally attracted to S-type women? First, there had been that somewhat old-fashioned King of Knights—though it was mostly verbal, she had managed him for two years. Then came the thoroughly sadistic Queen of Light, who even declared her intention to conquer Lancer. Now, Asuna, though not as excessive as the previous two, was clearly no soft girl either.

“Never mind, I’ll just wander around the second floor for now.” Lancer knew that even if he went out to level up at this hour, his efficiency wouldn’t be great. It was better to use the time to get familiar with this unfamiliar new city.

He arrived on the second floor via the teleport gate, stepping into another city of Western-style architecture. However, compared to the first floor, it was much quieter. Both NPCs and players were sparse, and Lancer’s first priority was to find a blacksmith. His weapon had been completely destroyed in the last battle, beyond even repair. Though he could use other weapons, he still felt that short swords or daggers gave him a greater sense of security.

“I’m sorry…” After finding the third blacksmith, he was once again given a negative answer.

“Are you kidding me?” He had guessed that this item was rare, but he hadn’t expected that even the starting town on the second floor didn’t have it. “Was the last time a hidden quest or something?” Lancer wondered.

Still, he quickly thought of a solution.

“Tch, if it’s not for sale, can’t I just make it myself?” Decisively, he picked up the forging skill, only to immediately encounter a problem—

“Come on! Are there seriously no ores for materials?” Lancer felt exasperated. Nearly every monster dropped materials—furs, fruits, meat, all sorts of things—but not a single ore.

“Could it be…” Lancer recalled how some games had crafters buy materials in shops to sink gold. There had to be ores in the game somewhere; otherwise, wouldn't all the players who chose forging as a side profession have to rely solely on NPCs?

Having gained enough experience from the last boss, Lancer was now level seven—among the top ranks compared to everyone else. So, he decided to spend some time on forging. After all, he couldn’t keep using weapons he wasn’t comfortable with.

“Kirito, do you know where materials drop right now?” Knowing his own limits, he decided to rely on Kirito for the time being.

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Less than five seconds later, Kirito replied, “Where are you that nothing drops materials? Tell me, what strange place is this?” Seeing the message, Lancer stared at the email, both amused and exasperated.

“I need ores; I’m planning to learn forging.” Time was of the essence, so he didn’t bother with sarcasm and got straight to the point.

“Ores? On the second floor, only the Rock Tortoises in the Rocky Gorge drop them.” Kirito replied after a while.

“Rock Tortoises? Send me the map, would you?” Lancer responded as well.

“That area is pretty complex. I’ll take you there myself. Wait a bit, I’ll be back by noon. For now, you should go buy a forging hammer to carry with you. Given your luck, if you grind there, your inventory will probably fill up fast. You can forge on the spot—even if you don’t make anything great, at least you won’t waste materials, and you’ll raise your proficiency.” Seeing the reply and noting that noon was near, Lancer decided to spend some time picking up ordinary quests related to the Rocky Gorge around town.

But as he was wandering the streets, a man in a cloak suddenly blocked his path.

“Young man, you seem quite troubled. Do you need my assistance?” Only then did Lancer take a closer look. The man was obviously not a player—no health bar, only a name. The look of him suggested some kind of hidden quest. Without hesitating, Lancer said, “Of course.”

“Very well. Gather twenty types of meat from the floor bosses for me, and I’ll give you this.” The man produced an ordinary-looking knife.

“Butcher’s Blade: Said to be the sidearm of a man who feared not even the gods. When revealed, any non-human creature’s morale drops by 50%, and there is a 30% chance they will flee in terror. The chance increases for enemies lower level than the wielder, and decreases for those higher.”

This was clearly a powerful weapon. Few of the bosses were humanoid, but he was curious how this was possible. By all rights, Akihiko Kayaba wouldn’t let something like this appear in his game. Yet, he soon remembered another unusual item he possessed.

“Lianhua, what’s going on here?” He knew Lianhua was watching him from somewhere.

“Oh my, are you actually complaining about such a good thing? Or are you just not interested in an opportunity that’s practically being handed to you?” Though he couldn’t see her, he was certain she was speaking to him with a queenly air from above.

“Well, whatever. Even if it’s a trap, I’ll jump in!” With that, he turned to the mysterious, cloaked figure. “I’ll take the quest! But do I have to come back and find you after each boss? If you’re not here after I finish, that’s going to be a problem.”

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“Don’t worry. I’ll be waiting for you in the plaza of the next floor.” With that, the figure vanished.

“Whatever, I’ll ask Kirito if he still has any of that boss meat when I get back.” As Lancer pondered this, Kirito returned to town.

“Ready?” Kirito didn’t comment on Lancer’s penchant for spending time on non-combat skills. Given Lancer’s peculiar luck, he didn’t want to say any more.

“All set. This time, I’m mainly after ores, but when I get back, I plan to pick up tailoring or something similar too. No sense wasting all that fur.” Lancer was already familiar with the coming events. Though not every detail was written out, he knew the major incidents.

“Let’s go farm Rock Tortoises. If we get anything good, I’ll help you make some gear,” Kirito offered, which was exactly why he supported Lancer picking up these skills—it was safer to deal with someone you knew.

“Alright, I know what you’re thinking. I’ll give you half price for future commissions!”

“No way! You’re actually going to charge me?”

“Tch, what, you want me to work for free? Let’s go, we’ll eat lunch on the way.” Without waiting for Kirito to rest, Lancer pulled him along and headed out.

Now then, time for my favorite kind of parody scene—tilting my head at a forty-five-degree angle to gaze dramatically at the sky…