Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 14: All Together

After our small trip to the grocery store, we quickly rushed home and gave Mom the groceries she needed for tonight's dinner. We would've stayed a little while longer to chat with her, but considering how antsy my brother regarding with the game, all we could do for the time being was give her a kiss on her cheeks before we headed back upstairs to our bedroom. Thankfully, by the time we put on our [VeilCons], the time showed it only has 27 minutes left before we can go back in the game. Since we still had some time to relax in the real world, I decided to take a short rest on my bed with the helmet still on me. As for my brother, he was writing in his journal while laying on his bed, which I guessed was about our adventures and encounters in [Isekai].

"Hey, Hayate. I was wondering about something." I quickly sat up and looked at my brother. "It's about those items that your bag boy friend mentioned. I know that those items help you with the game itself, but what about the game's lore and the world?"

I raised my eyebrow as I listened to his question. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Sure, the costumes and items can make you stronger, but I don't know if they fit in with the lore we were given so far." Just as I looked at him, Kazuki then stood up from his bed and put the pen on a nearby desk. "I mean, what's the point of the fantasy game when you ignore the flavor texts of each item?"

Huh... Now that he mentioned it, he did have a point there. I'd been so focused on the fighting and the players in the game that I hadn't had the chance to see the game's items. The only items that I'd read the flavor texts for were those potions and that strange [Shrouded Lily] herb. Maybe I should check my equipment's flavor texts once I have the time to do so. But back to point...

"Yeah, you have a point. But from what Brig told us, I think those items are meant to motivate us to buy more [Adaments] to purchase those items if we want to get to a higher level quicker than others. To tell you the truth, I feel that the developers are bribing us with virtual currency by wasting our hard-earned cash from Mom and Dad. And don't forget, not all the players are playing the game just for the story. Most of them only care about strong equipment, abilities, and advantages, and is the strongest the virtual fantasy world. Not to mention they often look down at certain races and characters as weaklings in the game." Just saying this me reminded of those punks who criticized our choices for our characters. I even cringed just remembering the very moment the leader criticized Kaz's race. "But as I said, ignore those kinds of people. We have our opinions on how we play the game and our choice to have fun is one of them."

Well, at least I chose my words right this time. Just seeing Kaz's grin after my explanation was enough to brighten my day. As I just mentioned before, I don't care about their opinions. Kazuki helped me make my character and I'm happy with it just the way it is. As long I'm with him in the game, I'm satisfied with our choices.

Before we could continue any further, we heard a beeping sound from our [VeilCons]. When I noticed mine, I saw it was about to boot itself up, a sign that [Sleep Mode] was almost up. "Well, we should get back into the game right now. We promised Zac to meet up with him when night time is over and we can't be late."

"You're right. We're supposed to meet up at the <Adventurer's Guild> in <Initio>. I hope he remembered our promise as well."

"Same here. I don't want to take Damon's job to call up to him just to remind him of our promise." I wasn't kidding about this. Zac often has a habit of forgetting important stuff like school and meet-ups. And he usually says I'm the forgetful one. "Let's go."

I took a last look of my [VeilCon] before I put it on my head and laid down as I waited for the inevitable.

[Re-logging in as <Wind>. <Guardian Player> detected, access re-allowed for <Kaz>. Turning off <Sleep Mode> and resuming gameplay.]