Pandora of Fantasy And Reality Chapter 74

Restart

Ponsuke arrived at the Capital of Hope and looked around.

A pretty city with a lot of greeneries. That was the Capital of Hope.  It looked sparkling surely in order to make the players who were going  to start playing Pandora for the first time to feel moved.

But, the number of rookie players was a lot compared to before.

He had spent a day at the Capital of Discernment before returning  here but, he could see players who had finished the quest for beginner  everywhere.

「There is also more orcs now.」

He could see some orcs here and there when he paid attention.

It made Ponsuke who was using orc avatar to feel happy.

After all there were only deviants around him.

He was thankful that there was a lot of orcs around. It would make it easier to invite rookie player.

「Now then, I need to gather equipment first.」

All the equipments that Ponsuke had right now were beyond him because of the level and status restrictions.

He once sorted his item box and dismantled his old equipments at that time to turn them into materials. That was a bad decision.

He could also ask Lighter and others to prepare beginner equipments for him, but that would take time.

Those guys were strangely perfectionist.

Now he was walking around with light equipment to procure equipments in the Capital of Hope after so long.

He looked around wondering who he should talk to. Then he called out  to some men who were having a pleasant chat with each other.

They had male appearance, but who knew what they like at the inside.

However that was just a trivial matter for Ponsuke.

(It’s fine as long as we can have fun playing together.)

He called out to them with a smile.

「Umm, do you guys want to play together with――」

The group of three turned around and made a blatantly disgusted look  when they saw Ponsuke. Looking carefully, all three of them had good  looking avatars.

It felt like he had seen their faces somewhere. Then he recalled that those were the faces of some idols.

「Aa~, this is the worst. An orc is talking to us.」

「I can’t believe someone is using orc as their avatar.」

「Get some decent face when in the virtual world at least. Perhaps this guy has uglier face in reality?」

Ponsuke was troubled.

「Eh, umm――」

The leader looked at Ponsuke and scoffed.

「You aren’t even wearing equipments. Are you a pervert? Besides, we  are acquaintances in RL and we don’t need someone like you in our party.  Begone from our sight already.」

They left after hurling such horrible insult. Ponsuke thought.

(I met such horrible people right from the start. Well, there are a lot of other people. Let’s try with other――)

If there were only beginner players around, he would be able to be of use for them with his knowledge and experience.

Ponsuke was thinking like that, but things just wouldn’t go well for him.

「Orc? It would be nice if you’re at least a girl. Ah, if you’re a girl in RL then let’s exchange phone number――」

「Are you interested with a seminar of self-development?」

「You know~, I want to be in a party that has stronger people in it~」

Playboy.

Promoter of suspicious activity.

Princess player.

A lot of the players Ponsuke called out to were players with some kind of problem.

Now he was sitting on a bench while feeling sad for himself who had failed to run into a decent player.

「It’s just as Sololy-san said. Certainly, when I look carefully I can see a lot of oddness with their avatars.」

The creation of avatar had been getting a bit easier recently, but  Ponsuke had become able to see through when a male was using female  avatar.

Nearby there was a playboy player and a male who was using female  avatar and acting like a pampered girl, a princess player. The two were  having fun conversing with each other.

Ponsuke was at a loss for words seeing that and let out a big sigh.

Then two familiar breasts――no, a duo called out at Ponsuke who was in such state.

「Are you a beginner too? Do you want to party with us?」

The one saying that was a blue haired woman who was holding a staff.

It seemed that she was choosing to use a priest type job.

Beside her was a purple haired female warrior wearing armor that exposed a lot of skin.

The two were using avatars that looked really unique.

The blue haired woman with priest getup had scales with pretty light blue color on the back of her hands.

「Are you a [half-mermaid]?」

The woman nodded.

「You’re knowledgeable. I was told that this is a new race. It has a good look so I chose it. It’s cute right?」

The woman twirled on the spot. Her name was [Noin].

She was using a peculiar avatar called half-mermaid.

It had few demerits but, overall it was a lackluster race. However it  seemed to be very strong when it was raining or there was water nearby.

The purple haired woman was shrugging.

He thought that she was wearing a helmet that had horn attached on it, but it seemed he was mistaken.

From her head――around the upper side of her ears, there were a pair of horns extending to left and right.

She was a [Dragonia] with a well trained body.

It was a very powerful race that became the centerpiece of the large  scale update this time. He could see a lot of similar Dragonia avatars  around them.

「They guys we were playing with just now were really annoying. That was because Yu――[Noin] told them your actual gender.」

Noin puffed up her cheeks.

「Because. I was just answering their question, and yet they suddenly  asked me for my phone number. [Fran]-chan was also bad for cutting them  off so quickly like that.」

The two were starting to argue but, based from what he saw they seemed to be acquainted in RL.

Ponsuke stood up while thinking that these two were really close with each other.

「Aa~, err……asking that kind of question is a breach of manner, so  it’ll be better if you don’t tell other people you just know about that  kind of thing. Please don’t tell me too. If you want to party together  with me, I can show you two around.」

Then Noin and Fran tilted their head and looked at Ponsuke’s body.

Fran seriously stared at him from top to bottom, then she said.

「No, you’re a beginner too right? You don’t even have any equipments on you. You are in even worse state than us.」

Ponsuke reflected on himself for not wearing equipments at all.

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Ponsuke purchased some equipments and then he went outside the city with the two women.

His level had decreased but, he still had his jobs and skills so there was no change to his fighting style.

He carried shield and swung around a sturdy broad-bladed knife as the party’s vanguard.

But, unlike Mariela and Alfie, Noin and Fran were really well-balanced.

「I see, so it’s like that.」

Fran stepped forward and blocked a monster’s attack with her shield, then she crushed it with her mace.

The monster transformed into particles of light. Then she immediately went to search for the next one.

It seemed that she was a capable person from the start. She was immediately getting used even to this game.

Noin who had a gentle atmosphere was also giving supports to the rest  of the party with healing magic and support magic from the rear.

「It’s easier to fight in this party compared to our previous party. Ponsuke-kun, you’re really not a beginner huh.」

The two wouldn’t believe him no matter how much he tried to explain,  but they finally believed him as experienced player after fighting  together like this.

「No, that’s what I’ve been saying since the start. Why didn’t you believe me then?」

Fran tried using a skill and sent a monster flying with her mace before replying.

「It’s troubling if you ask me to believe your story when your level  is so low. And about your job and skill was it? We weren’t that  knowledgeable about this kind of thing so we couldn’t judge based on  those.」

Noin also agreed.

「That’s right. But, after fighting together like this, it’s true that you do look like someone familiar with this game~.」

The two made their judgment after seeing his movement. Ponsuke didn’t know what to say about that.

「Well, at least you two believe me now.」

Fran put away her mace and confirmed something with Ponsuke.

「You’re restarting from level 1. Isn’t that something that the clearing group do? Are you also from the clearing group?」

Ponsuke shook his head and explained about his situation.

It seemed that the two had a little bit of knowledge, but there were a lot of things that they didn’t know as beginners.

He explained to them that he wasn’t from the clearing group but a player who had advanced until the Capital of Discernment.

Noin sighed.

「The third capital eh……we might not go until that far.」

The two of them had good moves as player, but it seemed that they didn’t feel attracted to the game itself.

Fran was also the same like Noin.

「Yeah. We’re just going to login sometimes and stop by at the sightseeing area I guess.」

In Ponsuke’s opinion, the two were moving very well in this game.

But, what was important here was the people’s own will, even though it would be a waste.

「That’s unfortunate. Even though it won’t take long to go until the Capital of Discernment if it’s you two.」

It was true.

At the same time of the resumption of service, the requirements to  move from the Capital of Hope to the Capital of Temperance and then to  the Capital of Discernment had been removed.

Noin looked slightly disappointed.

「But, Ponsuke-kun is a player who mainly follow the game’s storyline,  so you aren’t that knowledgeable about great places to have fun in here  aren’t you? Say, do you have any acquaintance who know where the  delicious restaurants are?」

Noin’s interest was already turned toward having fun.

Ponsuke had leveled up a lot in this outing. He decided to go to the sightseeing area with these two.

Player could play mental fatigue in fully immersive game like this because it felt like they were moving their own body.

Ponsuke believed that moderate amount of playing around was important in order to be able to play longer.

「Fufufu, I know the sightseeing area like the back of my hand despite  my look you know? Well, I have this acquaintance who loves having fun  in the sightseeing area. And there was an update just now, so there must  be some changes too, but I’ll be able to show you two around at the  very least.」

Fran looked surprised.

「Is that so? I heard that the game players don’t really like the sightseeing area players though?」

Ponsuke tilted his head.

「No. We don’t hate them to that degree. After all there are a lot of players who are here just to have fun like them.」

Noin clung on Ponsuke’s arm.

「Then, let’s go. Show us where the famous shops are.」

Ponsuke’s face reddened from getting such large breasts pressed on  him. Fran sighed and cautioned her 「This is why you’re often making men  misunderstand」.

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Sightseeing area.

Among Pandora’s players, there were a lot of people who used their  time inside the virtual world to have fun sightseeing inside the game.

In fact, the number of player also increased drastically since the sightseeing area was created.

Apparently there were also a lot of salarymen who sought healing from their everyday hardship in Pandora.

Noin was dumbfounded when they arrived at that sightseeing area.

「Eh, what’s this? It’s horrifying.」

Fran also had the same opinion.

「This is certainly horrifying. There are only familiar faces here, what’s more the balance is off.」

People wanted to live as good looking people inside the virtual world  at the very least. A lot of men and women thought like that. Looking  around, they could only see the faces of famous actor and actress  everywhere.

When there was new famous actor coming out, the number of avatar with their face would increase drastically.

Furthermore creating avatar was extremely difficult.

It caused a lot of avatars to look strange.

The two were astonishing seeing that.

「Aa, this is like the specialty of this place so please don’t mind  it. Err, if you want street food then there are a lot of great stalls  over here.」

Alfie and Mariela. He often went with those two trying out various  foods on their own, so there was no mistake about his selection.

Ponsuke brought them to the shops of his recommendation with confidence.

Food being delicious or not depended on each person’s preference but,  the two definitely thought that many of the shops he showed to them  were tasty.

Both Fran and Noin also removed their equipments so they could walk around in common outfit.

That was because they would be thought as boorish if they walked around wearing battle equipments here.

Ponsuke too had changed into a T-shirt and short pants.

The kanji of vegetable was printed on his back. It made his surrounding chuckled seeing it.

Noin was exasperated.

「Ponsuke-kun, wear something better than that.」

Ponsuke shook his head.

「No, this is like my uniform when playing around. My friend forced it on me.」

Alfie and Mariela forcefully recommended this attire to him.

Even Ponsuke didn’t understand just what kind of reason those two have for this.

While the three of them were heading to a stall, they found other players gathering.

「Seriously!?」

「Yeah, it’s true. Really, that Rubin-san is right there!」

「So the Holy Knight Rubin came!」

The gathering players were surrounding someone who even Ponsuke knew, Rubin.

Noin was surprised.

「Is that a famous player?」

「Yes. It’s true that he’s famous. Well, he’s famous in a bad meaning that is.」

Rubin who was surrounded by other players took a single rose from a  nearby flower shop. He kissed it and threw it toward the audiences.

The players squealed noisily. They dodged that rose and it ended up falling on the ground.

「Everyone, thank you for your support!」

Rubin waved his hand with a really nice smile. He looked like he  wasn’t harboring any doubt at his surrounding’s reaction. There was a  player nearby who was recording the event.

「Rubin is really great too today.」

「Yeah, he got kicked out of his party too today.」

「It’s already a kind of talent in itself when he’s taking it this far.」

Someone like Rubin was a person who would get chased out by the players who got exposed to his personality.

Ponsuke and co had also experienced his presence personally in the past.

Fran put her hand on her chin.

「Holy knight……that sounds powerful.」

Noin also held the same opinion.

「He looks strong isn’t he. If it’s you Ponsuke, can you win against him?」

Ponsuke made a troubled face.

He could win if he fought Rubin normally. He could but, there  wouldn’t be any merit at all even if he won. That was Rubin. After all  Rubin was a player who could get amazing number of view in his video  just from losing.

He didn’t want to fight him. If he fought him, he would get exposed to the public too as a mere extra.

「I don’t want to fight him no matter what, in various senses.」

Ponsuke put his strong feeling into his voice when he said ‘in various senses’.

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