Though you can't starve in the imaginary world, hunger still exists. Based on Yuu's gaming experience so far and the information he's gathered through observation, the game's currency—Cor—isn't just for combat. Resting at an inn, eating, and other activities also cost money.
Of course, since can log out, he always felt the inn function was a bit excessive… Who plays a game just to sleep? Unless the bed is used for other purposes…
"It's amazing how I can feel hungry even though it's just a game."
A melodious voice drifts in the breeze, sunlight filtering through the leaves at an angle, casting dappled shadows. The chestnut-haired girl sits sideways on the grass, her posture graceful, staring curiously at the black bread in her hand.
"Maybe to maximize realism and also boost players' desire to spend."
Under the same tree's shade, Yuu sits cross-legged a short distance away, opening his inventory. He finds a pork sandwich bought from the shopping district and materializes it in his hand. He doesn't know how this hunger value is calculated—he's only played for a little over an hour, but he's already hungry.
"Your statement is so realistic…" The girl is halfway through speaking when she turns and sees the sandwich in Yuu's hand. Her beautiful eyes widen, and she asks in disbelief, "What's that? A sandwich?"
Yuu looks at her, puzzled. "Yeah, why?"
"Where did you buy it? Was it a monster drop?" The girl asks eagerly, no longer caring about the black bread in her hand, her eyes sparkling as she stares at the pork sandwich. "If I may ask, please tell me where I can get one!"
Under the girl's faintly longing gaze, Yuu unabashedly takes a big bite of the sandwich, chewing heartily while answering vaguely:
"You went to the general store, right? Of course, they only sell black bread there… Head south from the shopping district; there's a bakery called Aunt Susan's Bread Shop. You can check it out… The pork sandwich costs 200 Cor, but if you bring your own pork, it's half price."
If Yuu hadn't forgotten to mark the shop on his map, it'd be quicker to share the map info directly.
"I see, thank you." The girl nods seriously, seemingly committing the information to memory.
She glances at the sandwich, quickly devoured by Yuu in two or three bites, then looks at the dry, hard black bread in her hand. After hesitating for a few seconds, she finally swallows, opens her small mouth, and bites into the bread.
"I'll eat—ugh!"
As the dry thing enters her mouth, her beautiful brows furrow unconsciously, a look of disgust in her eyes, and her usually upright, graceful shoulders and back slump.
Though screaming internally about how bad it tastes, to avoid wasting food, she struggles to swallow the fist-sized black bread. Then, she pats her chest, gulping, and gasps as if she just survived a disaster.
"Hhh…"
Perhaps because there's no digestion process, once the bread reaches her stomach, the hunger in her belly vanishes instantly.
The chestnut-haired girl no longer bothers marveling at the wonder, instead slightly puffing her cheeks, her eyes glaring sharply at the young man beside her licking crumbs off his fingers.
No comparison, no harm. Others eat soft sandwiches, while she's stuck with something hard, dry, and tasteless…
It's decided—she'll use the boar-killing sword skill she just learned to wipe out all the boars in the grasslands!
"By the way, didn't you read the game instructions after entering? The ones at the bottom of the menu, level with the logout option."
The young man's voice snaps her back to reality.
"Game instructions?" Dropping her unfriendly gaze, the chestnut-haired girl blinks in confusion, her index and middle fingers quickly swiping down to open the menu. Her lively eyes scan, and she soon exclaims softly, "Ah, there really are…"
"Yeah, while normal attacks are useful, when facing high-HP enemies, you need to rely on sword skills to kill in one hit."
Though he just entered the game, Yuu speaks with a veteran's tone: "Those Orcs were level three; you're probably below that, right? Otherwise, normal attack damage wouldn't be that low."
"Level? Normal attacks?" Her fingers pause on the menu, and she looks at him with a blank expression. Unlike her resolute posture when drawing her sword, the chestnut-haired girl now seems a bit cute and naive.
"Alright, I can tell you're a total beginner…" Sighing resignedly, Yuu directly shares most of the basic info he knows. It's simple and easy to understand, so she doesn't need to check the game instructions herself.
After a field tutorial, the girl nods with sudden understanding: "Oh, I see… As soon as I entered the game, I just wandered around, only knowing to buy a weapon and head out to fight. After killing a few Frenzy Boars, I went straight into the forest, completely unaware of these things."
So, besides her low level, she could only use normal attacks against enemies. She held the mindset that she could defeat monsters by slashing repeatedly, so when facing the five Orcs, she felt she had a good chance and didn't retreat but advanced.
"Thanks for helping me earlier and telling me so much." The girl bows politely, then asks him in confusion, "Have you been playing this game for long?"
"No, just a bit over an hour."
"A bit over an hour?! Your movements didn't look like that at all… Sorry, what's your level now? Around what level can I use more complex sword skills like yours?"
"Your sword swings didn't look like a beginner's either." Propping himself on the grass behind him, Yuu observes her. "My character's level five, and sword skills depend on your mastery. The higher your mastery, the more sword skills you can unlock."
After that battle, he just leveled up once, and his One-Handed Sword mastery reached 150. This is just the beta; when the game fully launches, for longevity, RECT will surely increase the difficulty of raising mastery.
"Mine's only level two, and Rapier mastery… just 15? That's so low." The girl frowns reluctantly, her neat fingertip touching the system panel, muttering softly: "150 for a two-hit sword skill… So, I might need to kill a few hundred more Orcs?"
"Uh, you're misunderstanding something." Seeing her lost in thought, Yuu kindly clarifies, "Based on the Sword Skill description, a two-hit skill requires 200 mastery or above, and advanced four-hit skills like—"
Shifting her gaze from the panel, the chestnut-haired girl gasps in shock: "Then how did you…"
"It's a secret, not something to casually tell others." Yuu smiles mysteriously, giving her a meaningful look, as if hinting at something.
"You…"
The girl pauses, not sure what she misunderstood, suddenly crossing her arms over her chest, shrinking back, and looking at him warily.
"Sorry, is this some new online dating method?"
"Who's trying to date you!"
His mysterious expression collapses instantly, and Yuu shakes his head resignedly, sighing: "I just meant, playing alone in this world is pretty boring. If possible, let's be friends and occasionally team up to level together… That's normal, right? I'd do the same even if you were a guy."
"Oh, I see. Sorry for misunderstanding."
The girl quickly grasps his meaning. After firmly apologizing, she awkwardly swipes the menu, bringing up the friend interface.
"Playing alone is kind of boring… This is my first time gaming, so please guide me."
She smiles shyly at him, her eyes radiating pure, childlike joy.
Yuu returns a friendly smile: "Me too."
Then, he clicks to confirm the friend request from "Asuna."
Though her agile movements aside, Asuna seems like a 100% beginner in the game. But whether it's sword skills or gameplay methods, as long as someone teaches her, she can grasp it in the shortest time and apply it creatively…
Beautiful and smart, completely unlike that idiot Yuuki Kouichirou—she doesn't seem like his sister at all. In his heart, Yuu sighs as he looks at Yuuki Asuna (Asuna) in front of him.
"「Yuu」…"
But for some reason, as the chestnut-haired girl sees the name on her friend list, her expression slowly changes.