After making their decision, Akimi and Asuna didn't waste any more time.
They went straight through the teleport gate to the main town of the 5th floor, Karluin, and headed directly to the location of the house Akimi had mentioned.
Once they arrived at the NPC in charge of property sales, Akimi haggled a little and then paid in full—2.8 million Col—to purchase the cliffside villa.
Akimi yawned, rubbed his stomach that for some reason felt slightly bloated, then took one of the two keys from the keyring and handed it to Asuna.
With a squinting smile and a small celebratory fist pump, he said,
"Mm-hmm, from now on, this is our home. Honestly, staying in inns for over half a year cost us almost as much as buying a house."
Asuna shot him a sideways glance and retorted,
"No way. The inns we stayed at were mostly mid-range, and in total we only spent about 80–90 thousand Col."
But Akimi didn't bother arguing.
He waved his hand dismissively.
"Ah, don't sweat the details… Besides, isn't 80–90 thousand Col still money? Now that we have a house, we basically won't have to spend on lodging anymore. As the saying goes—ride your bike to the bar: save when you can, spend when you should."
Asuna could only rub her temples in mild exasperation at his logic.
"Alright, enough about that. What we should be doing right now is stepping into this big—villa—and taking a good look at our new home."
Smiling, Akimi slid the key into the lock and gave it a gentle counterclockwise twist.
With a crisp click, the solid wooden door—carved with cedar patterns—slowly swung open.
The house had two floors.
Upon entering was an entryway lined with a row of redwood cabinets.
To the right was the ground-level section of the house.
This level held the living room, kitchen, and a rather spacious balcony.
The entire cliffside wall was made of floor-to-ceiling windows, with a sliding glass door separating the living room from the balcony.
There were six or seven flower pots on the balcony, though all of them were currently empty.
The open-plan kitchen was directly connected to the living room, fully equipped with a stove, oven, and other cooking tools.
The countertop was made of white porcelain, while the cabinet doors were of a dark wood, giving the space a clean and tidy look.
At night, starlight shone through the spotless windows, blending with the warm indoor lighting and casting a cozy glow over the still rather empty rooms.
Opposite the kitchen was a spiral wooden staircase leading down to the lower floor of the house.
That level consisted of three rooms and a single bathroom—though in SAO, there was no need for toilets, so besides a washbasin, the bathroom only had a large bathtub with a curtain for privacy—big enough for two people without feeling cramped.
Yes—no toilet, no squat-style lavatory.
Two of the bedrooms faced the cliff, both with a similar layout: large floor-to-ceiling windows with dark curtains.
The curtains could be dyed directly with pigments without needing to be removed—quite a user-friendly design.
The third room was entirely enclosed within the interior, with no windows or natural lighting, making it better suited as a study.
Behind the staircase, there was actually a very small room, only about three square meters in size.
Inside were two storage cabinets and two sword racks.
Although Akimi had already bought the house, it was missing many pieces of furniture—such as a bed, a coffee table, a desk and chairs, and some counters.
These would still have to be purchased from carpenter NPCs or player craftsmen.
All in all, spending 2.8 million Col to buy this house really wasn't expensive—in fact, it could even be called ridiculously cheap.
Maybe it was because it was on a low floor and in a rather remote location.
Asuna didn't say anything out loud, but from her expression, it was clear that she was quite satisfied with the house.
"Perfect!" Akimi nodded with satisfaction, then said to Asuna with a big grin, "Feels like we could move in today!"
"Come on, take a look at what time it is," Asuna said helplessly, poking Akimi on the forehead.
Akimi froze for a moment, then glanced at the clock and realized it was already past eight o'clock—by this time, most carpenter NPCs would have gone to rest, so finding one would be difficult.
And since they didn't know any player carpenters either, it would be hard to get the furniture they needed.
Sure, sleeping didn't have to be on a bed—they had camped in the wild many times before, and sleeping on the ground wasn't impossible—but laying out bedrolls in a newly bought house… just felt a little weird.
In the end, Akimi scratched his head and gave up on the idea of moving into the new house today.
Before heading to the inn, though, Akimi dragged Asuna to the "BLINK & BRINK" restaurant for an extremely lavish late-night meal.
Thankfully, in SAO you couldn't die from overeating—once your fullness reached a certain point, it wouldn't increase any further—otherwise, Akimi might have actually eaten himself to death here.
Out of the more than ten dishes served, over half ended up in his stomach, while Asuna only had a few bites.
Her exact words were: "Eating this much at night will definitely make me gain weight—so I'll leave it all to you."
At first, Akimi didn't think much of it and unhesitatingly stuffed all the leftovers Asuna didn't finish into his mouth.
It wasn't until he was lying on the inn's bed with his eyes closed that a thought suddenly struck him—wait… in SAO… will eating too much actually make you fat???
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