Sky World

Chapter 2: The Quest

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VOLUME 1

Chapter 2: The Quest
Part 3

Jun lay down on his plain bed and stared at the dirty ceiling.

It was already two hours past sunset. A small piece of magic augite rolled on the nearby table and lit up the room. Magic augite used the power of Mana to create artificial light. In Sky World, adventurers used them as light sources.

Residents of fantasy worlds all sleep at the same time. Entire inns quiet down all at once. Because of that, when a girl in black Lolita clothing appeared, Jun immediately knew what was going on and quickly got off of his bed.

“There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Is it about the night? You could’ve come earlier. I will do what I want to do. Even though you were the one who brought me here, I came of my own will.”

“That, I can understand.”

Jun and the girl made eye contact. Jun, being stared at by the girl’s golden eyes, opened his mouth. He did not know her intentions or the organization to which she belonged.

“I installed Sky World on your tablet.”

“Right. That was right after rumors started spreading about the sudden disappearance of Sky World players.”

“Unlike many other players, you actually wanted to come to this world.”

“Correct. I came here of my own will.”

“You had a task to do. However, all you have done in these three months was work on your completing quests. You haven’t made any progress on your real objective.”

“That’s just what I decided to do. That was supposed to be part of our agreement from the start. You may have led me into coming here, but I will do what I want to do.”

“Are you helping Kasumi Yukasaki?”

“Are you unhappy about that?”

After a short silence, the girl slowly shook her head.

“I will not object to your decisions.”

“If that’s the case, what did you want to ask me?”

“The reason for which you took Kasumi Yukasaki as your apprentice.”

The day after the players of Sky World all disappeared was the fated day. Jun, on his way home from school, heard her call his name.

He still did not know her real intentions.

Because of this, Jun was confused as to what he should do. There was no reason for him to reveal his real reasoning.

“It’s just gamer etiquette to treat newbies nicely.”

“Is that all?”

“This is surely a game world. That being the case, it would only be natural to follow gamer etiquette here.”

“Do you really think that this world seems like just a game?”

Jun sighed.

If all of the residents of the town, workers in the inn, and soldiers were just AIs, the AI would have to be extremely powerful.

That was not all. If all of the minutiae like the texture of the dirt or the scent of the forest were just created from virtual reality, that would require an immense amount of computational power. There were no computers in the world with enough computational power to even replicate a tiny fraction of this world.

For these reasons, Jun knew that this world could not be virtual reality. It had to be reality. Having spent 3 months in Sky World, Jun knew that to be the truth.

Knowing this, Jun shook his head and smiled.

“I guess it has to be reality. The creators of this world were surely mad to do such a thing.”

The girl, as if searching for something in him, stared intensely at Jun.

Jun sighed and shrugged.

The girl tilted her head cutely.

“What should I do? Do you want me to undress here?”

“Don’t pretend to be innocent. After I came to Sky World, did anybody else come? It seems like other people came randomly too. Why did they come?”

“I don’t know&h.e.l.lip; really. I did not invite them to Sky World. I only invited you.”

“So you’re following me around 24/7, watching me, and reporting back to your superiors?”

This was just a conjecture. Aside from her, Jun had never seen any of the members of that “organization.”

“Is Kasumi Yukasaki being my apprentice an inconvenience to you?”

“I would like to know why you were being so indecisive about it.”

“Okay. If I reteach her everything from the basics, it would take a lot of time. I would be stuck on this island for a long time. Nevertheless, it would not help me at all in reaching Aion.”

There was just one thing he knew. That black clothed girl wanted Jun to go to Aion. She had let that piece of information slip a while ago.

“&h.e.l.lip;Hold on. Come here.”

Jun invited her to come near his bed. She suddenly appeared in front of him and gently extended her hand. Jun felt her soft skin.

Her sweet scent ticked Jun’s nostrils. A little bit of the fragrance of perfume drifted around the room. Jun didn’t really know much about things like make-up or perfume.

“Is your libido strong right now?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking about. I just wanted somebody to talk to. I wouldn’t want you to hate me anyway.”

“Well, what do you want to know about me? If I can say it, I will.”

“Hmm, what about your current status, your intentions, or the intentions of the organization you’re affiliated with?”

The girl shook her head silently.

“Hmph. Okay. What can you say then?”

He didn’t really expect an answer. This conversation was sounding very much like previous ones, in which she would refuse to disclose any information at all. However&h.e.l.lip;

She murmured, “Alice.”

“From now on, I would like you to call me Alice.”

“Alice&h.e.l.lip; anything else?”

“I like sweet foods. I like to put lots of honey and milk into my black tea.”

“Really? I’ve heard about quests that reward tea. Next time, I’ll get you some.”

She smiled happily.

“Thank you.”

“When you smile, you’re cute.”

“Cute&h.e.l.lip;? Me?”

“Is that strange to you?”

Alice quickly went back to her previous emotionless self.

That conversation surely struck a chord in her, so she had to revert to her icy disguise.

Jun shrugged, thinking, “Well, that’s alright.”

“I got a quest.”

Confused, Alice tilted her head.

“That’s the reason I’m working with Kasumi Yukasaki. &h.e.l.lip; The system was set up that way. Adventurers are supposed to do quests. If it’s worth doing, I don’t particularly care about who the quest giver is.”

“Well&h.e.l.lip; who’s the quest giver?”

“I’m going to go up against him tomorrow in person.”

Jun laughed fearlessly.

“Or perhaps I should say I gotta teach him a lesson.”

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