>> You are still curious about the extent of the Everest Accolade’s potential <<

>> You decide to pursue the questline in front of you <<

---

“I think I’ll come with you to Nadeum as well.” I told Dawon, who was seated on the couch across the table.

As Timayther beside me looked on,

“It’s better to follow Isket’s instructions before I forget them.”

Carthena on Mara Artemis, then an assembler on Kamag.

Two people in two places; not a difficult thing to remember, but my mind had a way of conveniently forgetting about tasks too tedious for it to do.

As I jotted the details down on a notepad window, the sound of glass set against a wooden plate clinked on our table.

It was the pale-skinned receptionist staffed near the entrance of the lounge, who approached us and set down three drinking glasses on the table, serving them to the three of us.

Inside each short, ornamental glass was some form of cordial: A burgundy liquid, resembling a varietal of red wine.

Is this alcoholic? It wouldn’t match the glassware, if that was the case.

Done, the receptionist bowed slightly to us and left.

I picked one glass up and held it against the lounge’s warm lights, examining the drink inside. The consistency of the liquid seemed rather thick.

Before I could see anything more, Timayther took another glass in his hands and drank a good mouthful of it. I saw the fluid disappear down his neck as he savoured its taste.

“Gobnace extract.” He said, placing the glass back on the table. “It’s an herbal concoction, so it should be good especially for you two, Mr KC, Miss Dawon.”

As soon as Tim said that, the label ‘Gobnace extract’ appeared in a window in front of me, annotated on my own glass.

It looks like the liquid was distilled from a Human-cultivated strain of berry native to the planet Sadus. Gobnace fruits and their derivates are apparently fairly effective in alleviating fatigue and muscle soreness, the description said.

The receptionist must have seen my tired figure lying on the couch and prepared it for us.

Silently thanking him, I gulped down the berry juice in one go. It tasted somewhere between a cranberry and a grape flavour, but with a thickness closer to that of dragon fruit.

Dawon drank from her glass too, wiping her lips after she was done.

The effects of the Gobnace extract slowly spread through my body like an uplifting tonic, and I began to feel light and easy to move my arms around. The tiredness was still there, but it no longer weighed as heavy.

I should last for another hour or two from this. Gobnace berry, huh.

I made sure to note the name of the ingredient down, right below the details of my current quest.

Priorities, am I right?

“Is it alright if Luda meets up with us here on Daptel?”

I asked Dawon, as we were ready to leave.

“We’re gonna go shopping and have lunch here, right?”

“Yeah,” She nodded. “I’m not planning on staying long after, though.”

I opened up the private chat room with Luda and sent her the plan.

Soon enough, her reply came back:

‘Sure. See you in a bit.’

Ah, right. Of course.

“Don’t worry, Dawon.” I reassured the person standing up from her seat. “We received the Nexus star map from the Chinese members last night, right? Luda will reach Daptel in no time.”

“That’s good.” She nodded.

“Miss Luda’s coming over to meet us?”

Next to me, Timayther hopped as he listened to our conversation.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“…Yes, Tim.” I rubbed my hand on his head. “Yes she is.”

“What are you doing, Mr KC?” His eyes looked at me.

With Timayther’s height, I had to reach to touch his head with my hands. The scene of a shorter person trying to pat the head of a taller one looked ridiculous to everyone, not least himself.

“Nothing much.”

My palm moved to pat his shoulder instead.

Then, heading for the front entrance of the lounge,

“Let’s go.”

Following after me, Tim looked confused while Dawon could only sigh.

---

We asked someone at the information counter in the arrivals terminal where a good shopping centre was; one which sold everything from top-end branded clothes all the way to specialized explorer technology.

They recommended us to go to a complex called Caper Plateaus out of the city. It was a bit far away from the main airport, but that was so there was enough ‘room’ for them to sell everything.

From their words, I figured that they would offer some frigate or infrastructure parts as well. Perhaps the port for the cruiser-class and above ships should be nearby too.

Thanking them, the three of us left the stadium-like building and waited in line at the taxi terminal. For a change of pace, we opted for a flying transporter service instead of a road-based one. The fare didn’t make a significant dent on my savings, but it was still several times more expensive than the normal ride.

Paying the fare for our group, we got on a red-gray minicab and flew off towards our destination.

Gotta think of farming more credits sooner or later.

After checking my remaining balance, I gazed outside the window of the cab to look at Daptel’s urban landscape.

Higher in the sky, the height of the skyscrapers emphasized their might, appearing like pillars that held the low-lying clouds above the rest of the city.

Lava and water chugged along the canals that twisted and turned with the roads all over the city, as small as strings of thread to us high up in the air.

The harmony of steam rising from the industrial complexes of the city with the column of smoke exhaled from the volcano next to it was almost cathartic to watch.

Our driver, who introduced herself as a ‘digital lifeform’, flew the minicab by virtually possessing the network of its systems. Her mechanical host body was stored safe and sound somewhere in the trunk… At least, that was what she told us.

I asked her what she thought about A.I., and she told me that they were to her race what mannequins were to ours.

Trying to visualize her analogy distracted me from looking at Daptel’s scenery, so I opened up my inventory to move around and manage my stuff.

I selected the Everest Accolade, which had long since cooled from the alchemy process back in the Grand Apothecary, and ran myself through its description once again.

• Everest Accolade (fused)

“A full-body charged shield modified by the lifeforce channels of the Shaen. The presence of life gives the weapon a paradoxically heavier, more imposing form, yet better handling.”

“Both the shield and axe form can be superheated by activating the lifeforce of the Li Shaen inside it. The Mun Shaen vessel cools the weapon quickly once the heating ability is disengaged.”

A charged shield which can heat itself, huh?

It seems like using Shaen lifeforce as a component of a piece of tech imbued it with a basic form of their element.

“The alchemic Nysterium causes every blow to the Accolade to ring a particular chord, disorienting the coordination of an unprepared enemy. The Magna composites hold the steel plating stable against the channels, but their potential remains otherwise untapped.”

The disorientation effect must have come from the influence of their performances.

Reading the last sentence, however, I couldn’t help but sigh at the trial that laid itself before me.

Did Guinness know what we needed to do to fully utilize his parts when he offered them to us? Or did he not care at all?

Finished with managing my inventory, I closed the window and glanced at the two people behind me.

Like last time, I was next to the concerningly empty pilot seat, while Dawon and Tim sat on the other two behind.

“This is also your first time in a Udepran city, right, Tim?” I asked the cyan liquid friend of mine.

“Yeah, it is.” He answered.

“That makes three of us, then.”

“The first order of business should be food, right?” Dawon chimed in.

I’m starving here~

Her pouted expression was enough to tell us what was on her mind.

Me and Tim exchanged half-guilty looks with each other.

“…Don’t you have any snacks on you, Dawon?” I made my question. “We’re kinda travelling on the road after all.”

“I was caught up with everything happening before, so there wasn’t time to get something to eat.”

“Well,” I hesitantly began, “If you really want something to tide you over until lunch…”

Painfully taking one of three remaining Xetune ration bars out of my storage, I offered it to her.

Thankfully, she shook her head.

“I can hold on until we get an actual warm meal.”

“Sounds good.” I nodded, putting the food back in my inventory without delay.

At this moment, I realized that our minicab was flying away from the city. The buildings and factories passed by us as we zoomed through the arid, dusty high-altitude air.

Returning my eyes to look forward, I saw the compound over in the direction we flew.

Like gently winding, imposing solid waves, the stone formations arched over the collection of buildings and protected them from the reddened sun shining over the turning earth.

A distance away from the complex were three or four disassembled frigates, peppered with scaffolding structures where hundreds of people worked.

As for the main area itself, it was like a small town, except that every single street and every single building was filled to the brim with shops and stalls.

Even from the air, I saw the roads packed, but not so chaotically crowded that it was difficult for anyone to walk around.

This must be the place, I thought to myself; Caper Plateaus.

---

Contrary to my expectations, there were no airports for any space-faring ships to land, not even for personal crafts like ours. Even the minicab we rode on had to touch down on a station some distance away from the complex.

I thanked the driver inside the cab’s systems and confirmed through a touchscreen terminal that of her receiving my payment earlier.

“This place is a little cooler than Daptel or Mavacena, don’t you think so?”

Timayther stretched his liquid body as the three of us set foot on the open-air platform, one of many that were part of a network of above-ground spaces that made up the transport station.

“It does.” I answered him. “I wonder why… Ah.”

I looked around the area and saw several pieces of emergency and accessibility equipment packed among other storage compartments intended for personnel use. However, with most of the platforms automated to receive and send off transporters, I couldn’t see anyone that looked like they worked here.

A vending machine was installed on each of the major platforms, but several stacks of rations and bottles were curiously lined up next to them.

Looking at the type of supplies provided for the station, I figured that it would function as a makeshift shelter in case a disaster struck. The lack of a roof confused me at first, but I soon realized that there was an environmental barrier that formed a barely visible dome around the station.

The barrier was most likely the reason why the air inside it was not as warm and dry as anywhere else.

“What do you feel like eating this afternoon, KC, Tim?”

Behind me, Dawon asked as she browsed a selection of restaurants and eateries on a window.

Hmm, I pondered.

I had some Xetune rations and the Buffalo hamburger thing on Day 1, but I ate Korean barbecue yesterday as well, to celebrate WJSN’s wins this week.

“Something lighter, I guess.” I suggested. “Seafood or Italian should be good.”

Italian? Tim tilted his head. I tried to explain it to him and he understood once I talked about pizzas and pasta.

“Pasta sounds great, Miss Dawon.” He nodded.

“Pasta, huh.” She scrolled down the search results on her screen. “…Got it, Plateau Pastas and Nredils. That was easier than I thought.”

“That’s settled, then.” I showed her a thumbs up. “Might need to know what a Nredil is, though.”

“They’re kinda the same thing as pasta, Mr KC.” Tim chimed in.

“He’s right. They’re like…”

Dawon tried to describe them, looking at the pictures on the menu. However,

“…Yeah, they’re pretty much the same thing. I can’t tell the difference.”

“Uzzu?” I turned to get help from the other source I knew.

The alien mascot appeared in the air in front of us.

“Nredils refer to pasta products made from flour sources cultivated and reared on Bonzurn and its moons, Astronaut!”

It explained.

“The naming convention serves to differentiate them from the ‘normal’ pasta made from sources originating from the Earth. The wheat humans use to make them is incompatible with the nutritional capacities of some races, after all!”

“How about us, then?”

As we passed the walkways connecting the platforms and went down the levels of the station, Dawon asked her group’s mascot another question.

“Can we eat Nredil dishes without problems?”

“It should be fine for you, Astronaut! Uzzu nodded. “Your digestive system is compatible with a wide variety of cuisines in the Frontier!”

After we finished talking to it, our little buddy disappeared into thin air.

“What a helpful friend, Mr KC.” Timayther raised his eyebrows, impressed at our ability to call it for help at any time.

I belatedly realized that this was the first time he saw Uzzu come out and answer our questions.

“You don’t look too surprised, Tim?” I asked him.

“I heard that explorers don’t venture out into outer space until they get some help, one way or another.” He responded. “This is the first time I saw one like it, though.”

What awaited us at the ground floor of the station was a terminal, where a length of tramcar carriages stood by waiting.

There were only few people on the station departing for the main Caper Plateaus complex. Once all of us boarded the tram, it set off and glided towards its destination.

On the tramcar, I received a message on my comms system. It was from Luda, saying that she had arrived in Daptel.

You: You landed in that airport where you fly straight down, right?

Luda: Yeah, that one.

Luda: Where are you now?

You: Caper Plateaus. It’s a bit away from the main city perimeter, and you can’t really bring the ship there.

You: Got enough money for the taxi? The airborne ride is faster, but more expensive.

Luda: Hmm, how much exactly 👀

I sent her the receipt of the previous transaction for the fare.

Luda: That should be fine. I got a good amount of credits from selling salvage and repaired junk last time.

You: Alright, see you soon 👋

I closed the window and looked outside the tram towards the complex.

Several palm trees and cacti-like plants decorated the surroundings of Caper Plateaus, giving it sort of a desert or tropical look.

It was quite the glamorous venue, befitting of its claim as a premium shopping outlet and a getaway destination for Daptel’s residents who needed a break from the city.

I thought about the places I’ve gone to so far in this game:

The bustling cities of Erinome Epsilon, Cobalt Heights, and here on Daptel.

The quieter settlements on Tranquil Lakes, Meritus Selatan, and Mavacena.

On these places, when you’re on the ground among the streets and mingling with the people, there was surprisingly very little to remind you that this was a game where you fly around in spaceships to different worlds.

Disregarding the occasional volcanic, underwater and orbital location of the cities, as well as the non-human races of citizens that populate them… They were still cities where people lived their daily lives.

Together in a society that faced the same challenges, under the same sky… Quite often I found myself imagining what it would be like to actually lead a life here.

Moving away from my thoughts, I looked around the tramcar carriage and saw Dawon still looking at the hologram window in front of her.

Tim, on the other hand, listlessly stared outside the window into the distance, towards the scenery of arid soil and dry bushes.

“I guess you’ll be the one guiding us to the place we eat, Dawon?” I asked the person standing in front of me.

With the few passengers on the tram, there were plenty of seats available in the carriage.

I realized that I was also standing and took one of the side seats as well.

“Guess so,” She returned my words, “I always get lost easily in a new place, KC. Don’t you?”

“The charms of traveling, I guess. Never gets old.” I joked.

As Dawon had planned for our lunch earlier, I offered to handle the shopping part of our trip instead.

She agreed, and Timayther didn’t object to my suggestion either.

Searching through the system, I found a clothing department store and a marketplace for explorer tech before long. They were apart of each other, but walking between the two places wouldn’t take long.

Showing the two of them pictures of the store,

“Looks fine, KC.” Dawon nodded. “We can always look around nearby if we don’t find what we want.”

Hearing her words, I realized that I was unwittingly imposing my own shopping habits to her. These big department stores usually had everything, so I tended to go for them when I’m looking for clothes in real life.

“Alright,” I agreed, browsing for any other shops we can find around.

Being an outlet complex, Caper Plateaus wasn’t shy to show me the wealth of fashion stores it boasted, ‘The best choice of the mindful shopper curated to current trends’, it said.

Looking at the selection, I could see the distinct seasonal trend going through the market right now. The strong orange highlights were jarring at first, but they quickly grew on me afterwards. Matching Daptel and Udepra’s scenery helped make them work, too.

“Shopping around here should be fun.” I chuckled. An hour or two will easily go by if we’re not careful.

---

We set down from the tramcar and followed Dawon’s lead, hopefully heading in the direction of the Plateau Pastas and Nredils diner.

Being a city tram line, our stop dropped us stark in the middle of the complex, on one of its main streets. I could see the major stores and services within reach from this road alone, spacious enough to accommodate a crowd without blocking our view.

However, this was not where the diner was, Dawon told us. Plateau Pastas and Nredils was in a secluded, quieter place away from the central roads.

“We’ll still reach it in two or three minutes, though.” She reassured.

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Dawon,” The Mun Shaen waved his hands, “I can enjoy sightseeing along the way.”

I nodded along with him. The complex itself resembled the premium shopping streets I’ve seen around the world in real life, but the way the buildings and infrastructure interspersed themselves between the mighty, arching rock formations was a sight to behold.

Setting off for our destination, our eyes pried around the entire place as we walked. The rocks were smooth, wavy, and almost an enchanting coral in colour. They provided a contrast to the variety of shops and stalls that were constructed with rough-hewn stones and timber, a touch of coziness and hospitality in their architecture.

I almost tripped on flat ground on one occasion because I wasn’t looking forward. Timayther burst out laughing at my sorry figure trying to straighten myself, and Dawon giggled along as well.

“Oh well,” I shrugged, making an excuse. “The streets are a bit rough after all.”

“Be more careful next time, Mr KC!” Tim wiped a tear from his crystalline eyes, absorbing it back into his cyan liquid body. I can’t think of a reason why the Shaen body would mimic tear ducts, but something told me slapstick humour had a part in it.

“You look like you’re having fun, Tim.” I said to him. “Do you not go out into the city very often back on Nadeum?”

Aaah, recomposing himself, he replied. “I didn’t really feel the need to, busy with working on my music and other stuff.”

I listened on,

“All my friends are off doing their own thing, in different cities or even outside the planet.” He continued. “I do visit my hometown once in a while, though.”

“I see.”

How many months or years would ‘once in a while’ be?

I thought of asking him the question, but ended up letting it go.

Not long after our exchange, we reached the diner in a small street, a bit hidden away from the main junctions.

---

Plateau Pastas and Nredils looked like somewhere between a vintage pizza diner and a formal restaurant. The nostalgic neon sign hung on the front of the restaurant’s roof, sporting the name of the place, while tufted booths could be seen lined up on the other side of its large clear windows.

However, the lighting and furnishing inside the venue resembled a more elegant and traditional dining hall, with small yet fancy chandeliers hanging from its ceilings. The two themes merged unexpectedly well and felt nowhere as weird as I thought it would be.

For its hole-in-the-wall location, the place was unexpectedly filled with guests. Not enough for a full house, but I could see the staff hurriedly walking around to tend to the customers.

I took a photo of the establishment with the camera function of my personal system and sent it to Luda, along with the data for its location.

We entered the restaurant and approached the guest seater in charge, waiting for our table to be assigned.

“For four, please.” Dawon told the human employee, holding up that many fingers up to her. “We have a friend joining us in a bit.”

“Very well,” She answered. Looking at the monitor in front of her,

“Your table will be over there, and your server will be with you shortly.”

She showed us to a round table near the windows that overlooked the neighbouring building, another eatery that specialized in grilled food.

The table itself was as eccentric as the rest of the venue: Offbeat vinyl chairs contrasted with a glossy white stand, on which familiar tableware neatly laid themselves out.

The three of us took our seats, Dawon on my right and Tim across from me. That left an empty spot on the left, which Luda will fill once she arrives.

Before long, our server came to us with four menu leaflets tucked under his arm.

“Here are your menus, guests.” He handed them to us. “Please call for me when you’re ready to order. My name is Vanta, with a V.”

Heh, Fanta.

Erasing that joke from my head, I opened the menu in my hand and turned to the pasta section. On the very next page was the nredil dish selection, with several mains and combo offers on the pages after.

Nredils, huh?

Should I try them or stick to the pasta I know?

“What are you having, Dawon? Tim?” I asked the two of them.

“Hmm…” Dawon was lost in thought.

I could see her eyes focused on the menu, internally debating which dish to take. An understandable dilemma, to be honest.

“I’m going to stick with my Boevin Bolognaise, Mr KC.” Tim followed after.

“Boevin, I see.” I was familiar with that name. I someone ate a Boevin dish on Day 1, but I didn’t remember who.

“That’s pasta, right?” I asked him. “Are the Shaen fine with Earth wheat?”

He nodded in return. “Everything just melts inside us, Mr KC.”

“I see.” Understanding the nutritional capacity of our liquid friend, I opted for the nredil dish instead.

“…Thin Rasher Carbonara, then.” I settled on my pick, made with a long nredil that resembled linguine.

“Flapping Chicken Aglio Olio.” Soon after, the girl next to me made her choice. Hers was also nredil, which looked like spaghetti instead.

Being pretty much substitute pasta, I didn’t really expect their taste to be that different. The weirdest thing in our order was probably Dawon’s ‘Flapping Chicken’ dish, and even then that was only in name.

Still, I looked forward to the experience.

“Have you settled on your drinks?” I asked. “Who’s going to make the order?”

“We’ll just do it one by one, KC.” Dawon calmed me down. “For the drink, umm…”

“Why not splurge on something nice, Dawon?” I persuaded her, “It’s not like eating anything here will ruin your diet, you know.”

I saw a spark connect behind her eyes as soon as she heard me.

“You’re right, KC.” She nodded. “I’ll go for the chulberry milkshake, then.”

She told me she was going to stick with her dish, though. She was probably in the mood for it, or something.

“Chocolate milkshake for me.” I chose a more familiar flavour for myself.

“Make that two, Mr KC.” Timayther added.

“Order it yourself, Tim.” I neatly retorted at his sneaky attempt to make me do the work, and he stuck his tongue out in return.

Shaen mimicry, slapstick humour, all that stuff.

Done with everything, I called Vanta over to make our order, and he didn’t leave us waiting.

After I finished my own order, I looked at him as he listened to Dawon and Tim make theirs.

He looked human for the most part, except a subtle technical pattern that began from behind his normal-looking ears and extended over the back of his head. Otherwise, nothing else stood out from his uniformed figure.

Cybernetics? Or a hybrid species?

He saw me stare at him, and I embarrassedly waved my hands in apology.

“Sorry, I was just curious about the pattern on your head. Is it an implant or something?”

Realizing what I was talking about, he grinned from ear to ear.

“Oh, it’s not anything like that, customer.” He shook his head.

“It’s a tattoo I got for myself last year. Hella legit, right?”

…Oh.

He left the table with our orders smiling, while I covered my face in shame.

---

“That reminds me.”

I began, looking at the person to my right.

“What were your daily login bonuses, Dawon?”

If I’m not mistaken, she did tell me that she made the bonus draw earlier today. Unless her luck went completely bonkers, she should have had a chance to get a weapon from her freebies.

Saying she was underequipped would mean that the things she picked up weren’t weapons or defensive options.

“On the first day it was a Filmed Bubble, KC. Sort of a reusable personal barrier that allows me to move underwater for an hour.”

As for the second day,

“It was a Sonorous Flask. A kind of megaphone, except that anything I say through it is transmitted directly to the ears of everyone in range.”

“Hmm.” I thought,

“Did you just decide not to get anything to protect yourself with? You started out from a shipwreck like the rest of us, right?”

“Yes, I did. Repaired the ship with nothing more than what the blaster and all-purpose tool could get me.”

She shrugged.

“I made the Day 2 draw first thing in the morning, just like Day 1.”

“Hm. Even so…” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“I mean, I began the day preparing for my Hinagakure performance, KC. There’s no way I would know that we’d be fighting invaders on another planet a few hours later, was there?”

“That makes sense,” I bowed my head and apologized. “…Sorry.”

“It’s fine, KC. I’m not that mad.” Dawon sighed. “Thanks to the whole thing I found out about the Shaen challenge, after all. All’s well that ends well.”

“Challengers barely invade cities as large as Meritus Selatan.” Tim added. “That a newcomer like Miss Dawon wasn’t familiar with the invasions slipped right through my mind.”

“No, you’re right, Dawon.” I responded. “Yeoreum did warn me about getting into trouble unprepared.”

She nodded in return. Then, setting her elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand,

“I wonder how the three of them are doing?”

She wondered.

“The ’99 line?”

I checked the group chat again; still nothing from them.

We haven’t heard anything from the three in chat since a few hours ago. From what Yeoreum and Yeonjung told us, it should be a simple extermination task, but anything could happen.

Still, reviewing their last few messages…

Five of them, right?

I looked at Timayther across the table while recalling the Li Shaen fighters and Cindercoy band members, among other people.

The people I’ve met so far have been good people.

I decided to trust my instincts telling me that they’ll be fine.

At that moment,

“Dawon, KC.”

Calling out to us with her sweet, toffee-like voice, a petite girl walked over to our table in skittish strides.

Clad in a bubblegum-coloured spacesuit with violet highlights, she gave us a small wave and hurriedly took her seat, to my left.

“Miss Luda!”

Tim perked up, seeing the shorter person settle down to his side.

“Nice to meet you, Tim.” She returned him a kind smile.

“Hey,” I responded to her.

Looks like the fourth member of our group is finally here: Cutie-in-charge of WJSN and Dawon’s fellow ’97-liner, Luda.

---

“Did you rush all the way here, Luda?”

I asked the person next to me, while motioning to a nearby waiter for a copy of the menu.

“Yep,” She answered. “Did I miss anything?”

“Our food isn’t even here yet, so no, you missed nothing at all.”

I laid back in my seat while the waiter brought the menu over to us. Despite my nonchalant attitude, I was pretty worried that her being late would hold Dawon’s plans up, so her quick arrival took quite a weight off my shoulders.

As Luda flipped through the leaflet, I told her about nredils and how they differed from pasta.

“Yeah, I knew. Bonzurn-grown sources, right?”

Her answer took me by surprise.

“When I hauled all the stuff I picked up to sell in town, I also looked around for something to eat. One of the artisans in Bishinna told me about it.”

“Bishinna?” I tilted my head. I’ve never heard of that place before.

“A terraformed town on Rhea, Saturn’s moon.”

Ohh, I exclaimed by reflex. Recalling what Luda said about her first few hours in the game,

“Yeah, floating islands on Saturn isn’t very realistic, I agree with you on that one.”

“Mhmm.”

After a few moments, Luda closed the menu and called Vanta over.

“Pelof Alfredo, please.”

“And your drink, customer?” He noted down her order.

“Do you have Clear Cola here?”

“No, I’m sorry. Will Carna Cola do?”

“That’ll be great, thank you.” She accepted his offer for a substitute.

“Roger that, I’ll have your order out soon.”

With a slight nod, Vanta left us to pass her order to the kitchen.

From what I could see, the restaurant worked pretty much the same way as the ones I’ve been to in real life. I thought that some fancy, futuristic processing would be involved in making the food, but maybe they wanted to keep the dishes authentic?

…Well, it’s not like I could see inside the kitchen, anyway. They may well have a fully automated cooking system behind the doors, for all I know.

“Did you take a look at your new shield, KC?”

Luda’s voice shook me off my thoughts.

“How was it, Mr KC?” Tim joined in. Dawon leaned in to hear my answer as well.

I couldn’t come up with an answer so quickly with three people staring at me, especially when the Mun Shaen who contributed his lifeforce to the shield’s creation was one of them.

Shaking off the initial panic, I summarized the Accolade’s characteristics to the three of them.

“A charged shield that can superheat itself and disorient enemies, huh.” Tim folded his arms in thought.

“Glad to know that Isket’s repair worked out, KC.” Dawon smiled.

“Yep, we got lucky with meeting her and Khibu.” I answered her.

However, I saw Luda to my side giving me a serious look.

“What is it, Luda?” I asked her.

“…I think it’s best that you follow her advice and continue upgrading the Accolade, KC.” She stated. “You know what’s missing from it, don’t you?”

“Missing from it?” I tilted my head in confusion,

Luda glanced to her left, and at once I knew what she meant.

“Ah.” I nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to do it right away, after we’re done with our business here on Daptel.”

She affirmed, saying nothing more.

---

The food came before long, Luda’s Alfredo fortunately arriving soon after the rest of our food did.

I could see that everyone was starving after we began eating: No one said a thing as we helped ourselves to the piping hot food on the table.

I didn’t think I would get hungry so soon after eating the Xetune ration back in the airport, but then I remembered that that was before we got on the limousine and went to the Grand Apothecary.

Well, food is meant to be enjoyed, and eating together only makes it better.

“So how do you know each other, Miss Luda, Miss Dawon, Mr KC?”

Out of the blue, Tim asked us the burning question.

“I heard that Mr KC was a fan of Miss Dawon from before, right? How about you, Miss Luda?”

I barely held back from spitting out the chocolate milkshake in my mouth.

As I stumbled in my seat, Luda smiled and Dawon held a hand to her face, covering her full mouth.

Gulping down the milk,

“You don’t hold back, do you, Tim?” I called out to him. The Mun Shaen only tilted his head in response, confused.

“To put it simply, I’m from the same group with Dawon.” Luda interjected between us, answering his question. “Where we’re from, people like us perform on stage in a group, singing our songs and dancing together.”

“Like pop stars!” Tim added.

“Exactly.” She nodded, “There are thirteen of us in a group called WJSN, Cosmic Girls.”

Holding out her hand in my direction,

“KC is an Ujung, a fan of ours.”

Being introduced by a member of my favourite group herself, I stood up and formally bowed to everyone else.

“That’s amazing,” Timayther said, setting down his fork beside the plate of bolognaise. Turning to Dawon on his left,

“What brings you out here then, Miss Dawon? Coming all the way to Nadeum to make music when you’re already part of a group?”

He scratched his head. “Even Mr KC had to chase you here!”

This time, it was Dawon who was speechless.

It was a bit difficult to explain the fact that WJSN was a group from a different universe, and that the world he lived in was only a game in ours.

“She said she’s trying something different, Tim.” Luda came in with her explanation. “Don’t worry, we’re always in contact with each other, and her doing music with you won’t affect the group at all.”

Nice save, Luda.

Diverting the topic to involve Tim himself was a good move.

I let out a relieved sigh and scooped out a bundle of nredil from my plate.

“I’m glad to see Dawon doing well on Nadeum, Tim.” I followed along. “Plus, getting the chance to hang out with my favourite group is a dream to me.”

The two girls looked at me, Luda nodding her head and Dawon showing a gentle smile.

I shrugged in response, telling them that I was being frank with myself.

“I’ll do my best to make songs that won’t let you down, Miss Dawon, Mr KC.” Tim announced with a serious expression. “After Mavacena, I feel much more confident in myself.”

“I’ll cheer you on, Tim.” I raised my hand in a fist. Now that that’s settled, I shoved a mouthful of carbonara into my mouth and continued eating.

The rest of the lunch was filled with small talk about what everyone was up to today. Tim also asked the girls a few questions about WJSN’s career, which they gave simplified answers to.

At the end, Vanta came with a small pad containing the system to handle our bill. Each of us paid for our own meal, with the exception of me covering for Tim’s portion as well.

---

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with us, KC?” Dawon asked.

I stretched my body in the middle of the street, trying to shake off the sleepiness from eating the hearty lunch at the restaurant.

“Nah, it’s alright. I have new clothes I haven’t even worn yet.” I replied. “How about you, Dawon? You can get your weapon or shield here too, you know?”

“I’ll leave that for Nadeum, KC. I’m sure there will be more stuff that works underwater there.” She answered.

“Alright then.” I nodded. She certainly made sense.

“Just call us if you need anything, okay?” Luda told us.

To save time, we planned to split up and look for our own things in the complex, before meeting up again. The girls will look for new clothes and amenities for our ships, while Timayther and me are in charge of getting the technological modules and upgrades we needed.

I sent Luda the addresses of the department store I looked up, as well as a few upmarket outlets I thought fit their style of fashion. As she received it, I saw a checklist of materials in her window. Most of them had technical names, but I couldn’t figure out what they were.

“Why don’t you send me that list, Luda?” I offered. “I can do the shopping for you in the parts market if you like.”

“They’re quite complicated, KC. You’ll easily get them wrong if you can’t tell them apart.” She shook her head. “Just wait for me there, once you’re done.”

“…Okay, see you soon.” I conceded. Shopping for those parts must be quite the hassle, if she would say it like that.

“So, meet up at the explorer marketplace?” Dawon went over the plan again.

“Yep,” I answered. “An hour from now.”

“Got it.” She nodded.

“Have fun, girls!”

“Heh, you too.”

With that last exchange, we split up into our groups and went separate ways.

Ludawon’s destination was the retail arena on the west side of Caper Plateaus, while the market we were headed to was located in the southeast part of the complex.

As our stomachs were still full from the meal, Timayther and I took our time walking to our destination, admiring the buildings and the rocks around the area.

Recalling something, I turned to look at the liquid lifeform beside me, making contact with his crystalline eyes.

“I thought you’d go with the two of them, Tim.” I began.

“What makes you think that, Mr KC?” He responded.

“I don’t know, a feeling that you’d taken a fancy to Luda ever since you first saw her?”

The Mun Shaen exaggeratedly recoiled at my words.

“W-What!? I don’t think about anything about Miss Luda, Mr KC! What are you saying!?”

With a sigh, I placed a hand on his shoulders, which were higher than mine. Looking at his flustered face,

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re terrible at hiding your expressions, Tim?” I said to him.

The Shaen’s mimicry of Human features gave everything away about what he felt.

“Really…?” He rubbed his hands on his face. “Does it really show on my face?”

“Does what show on your face?”

“That I’ve taken to Miss L— Mr KC!!”

The Mun Shaen once again threw his squishy punches at my body. Enjoying that short bit of massage time,

“Well, you and me both know she’s a celebrity, right?”

Checking that we were on the right street walking towards the market,

“So get in line, Timayther. You’re not the only one who likes her.”

Awww, Tim cast his eyes down at my faux seriousness.

I was expecting him to use his career as an excuse to get close to Luda, but I guess he didn’t see himself there yet. In his defense, there’s a long road ahead of him towards success in the music industry, from what I’ve heard. It was an understandable attitude.

“Work hard, Tim, and maybe one day you’ll stand on the same stage as she does.” I reassured him.

“I will.” He renewed his motivation.

That’s all I can say, I guess. I don’t know if he’ll remember us once our three days are over.

---

“Setters’ Market”

The name of the marketplace was embossed on a sheet of metal riveted to an arch hanging over the entrance. Inside, a maze of stalls and open-air shops invited prospective customers in with the allure of product variety and competitive prices.

As the two of us stood before the arch, I turned to look at the person beside me.

“Are you looking for anything here, Tim?” I asked.

After pondering my question for a while, the Mun Shaen shook his head.

“Nothing in particular, Mr KC,” He stated. “Though if they sell some modifications that can fit my hypnoteal, I’d like to take a look.”

“The modifications here are probably suppressive rather than musical, Tim.”

I joked about that to him, but the idea of weaponizing Shaen influence for self-defense and crowd control made sense. The disorienting effect of my Accolade was proof enough of that.

“Maybe.” Tim shrugged. “Arming myself like Miss Dawon sounds like a good idea.”

“I see.”

On planets as chaotic as the Shaen homelands, having options to protect yourself was a wise decision. I wonder why Tim hasn’t already done so earlier in his over hundred years of living?

We passed through the entrance and walked through the sandy paths, diverging and twisting as it brought us through the bustling market.

Remembering what I wanted to ask Timayther about earlier before I got distracted,

“I think they would sell Depth Paint here, right, Tim?”

“They should be.” He tilted his head. “I’m certain Nadeum’s not the only planet in the universe that’s underwater, Mr KC.”

“Yeah, it probably isn’t.”

I called out a shopkeeper by the streets and asked for a place where I can find the paint.

“Depth Paint, ‘ay? You’re in ‘de wrong block of ‘de market for ‘dat. ‘Dis is where ‘de roadsters’ bits are.”

Through their loose mouth lined with appendages instead of teeth, the living construct of adipose tissue told us.

“’You’d best ‘dake ‘de first left from ‘dis road and go un’dil the green beast stares you in ‘de face. ‘Dat’s where ‘de personal crafts’ bells and whizzles are.”

“Green beast?” I asked them.

Setting down the spanner from one of their limbs,

“De head of a squid looking ‘ding. Some Shaen brought ‘dem down or some’ding in ‘de past. Kinda scary if you look at it for ‘doo long.”

“Alright, thank you.” I nodded and left, Tim following behind me.

The shopkeeper’s way of talking was a little difficult to understand, but at least it wasn’t in another language.

I haven’t seen anyone speak a language other than our own so far in Hyperspace Frontier. It might have been a decision made by the developers to facilitate people getting into the game.

Following the shopkeeper’s directions, we went through a narrow alleyway, passing several more of the transporter shops as we approached the light in the distance.

The path opened up into an opening, a space that cleared itself on a junction where multiple roads intersected.

There was no clear path forward at this point in our journey, but it didn’t take long for us to spot the green beast glaring at us with cold, dead eyes.

On one of the wider roads leading to this space, a preserved mount of a monster’s head was set on a pedestal, a cold expression on its smooth, ferocious face that looked like a squid with shark teeth. Elaborate lines of green lined the grey profile of the beast, like branches of jade lightning on its face.

Seeing the mount, Tim drew a breath.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“That’s a Fecund Trench-Shepherd, Mr KC.” He exclaimed, “A Nadeum challenger!”

“Really?” I reacted to his words. Moving my gaze back to the enormous monster head, “Why is it here?”

“I have no idea.” The Mun Shaen shook his head.

There must be some history behind this, I thought.

The mount of the Shepherd was placed to the side of a section of the marketplace, acting as its gatekeeper.

Our attention drawn on it, we approached the pillar holding the mount outside the entrance to the area. Reading the inscription on the bronze plate affixed to the side of the stone pedestal, we quickly got our answer.

Apparently, during the godhood days of the Shaen, a duel between a Li and Mun warrior took place on a landform in Nadeum. In the middle of the fight, this giant beast interrupted them, intending to destroy them both.

The duel took place on an uninhabited island away from civilization, so it was evident that the Shepherd interfered with their battle without observing the rules of the challenge, which was to invade a populated Shaen territory.

The two warriors cooperated to take down the monster with their full abilities, and the Shepherd paid for its interference with its life.

While the duel between the two Shaen ended in the Mun’s victory, it was the Li who dealt the final blow to the challenger, severing its head. Thus, the honour of receiving its body went to the Li, who brought it back to Udepra.

The body was dismantled for materials, while the head was preserved as a reminder of the honour and chivalry held between the Shaen races.

“The two of them alone?” Tim was amazed. “Even without the Guardian ability ban, it was impossible to take on a Shepherd without ten or more Shaen working together!”

“They must be strong warriors, then.” I suggested. “Somewhere around Khibu’s level?”

“Ah.” He realized. “That makes sense now.”

Back on Mavacena, Eretham and Taran were members of a band, after all. It would make sense if the rest of the fighting team were civilians as well, not dedicated fighters like Khibu and his Blazing Trails were.

Not wasting any more time hanging around, we made our way into the personal crafts section of the marketplace and looked around the shops.

Surprisingly, for the size of the ships they served, they weren’t selling many large weapons or components in these shops. Were these modules compactly packed, or did they have a way of transferring the larger stuff directly between inventories?

Not many of the well-dressed clients or shop attendants had their windows out, making their transactions through portable terminals instead.

Hmm, I thought.

I know that I was looking for Depth Paint, but I didn’t know what it looked like. Was it a bucket of paint? How large was it?

On any other occasion, I’d ask the nearest shopkeeper for information, but this time I was afraid they’d sell me something else instead.

“Do you know what Depth Paint looks like, Tim?” I asked the Mun Shaen whose eyes wandered around the bits and pieces displayed on the shelves of one shop.

“I don’t know, Mr KC.” He answered. Timayther told me that he wasn’t an expert in ships, not having owned one before.

Which means I’ll have to place my bets.

While I did mention that all the NPCs I met so far were good people, I wasn’t willing to risk meeting a bad one. Keeping a tight, miserly grip on my own money is a bad habit of mine.

At that time,

“Whatcha looking for, you over there?”

A voice called out to me.

In the corner of one street, a stocky, gloomy merchant beckoned us over, a gangly voice through teeth that chewed on a roll of straw.

I cautiously walked over to his shop, where he sat behind a counter surrounded by his wares. Under his bowl hat and coat, the shopkeeper seemed human, if a seasoned, hard-boiled one.

Shaking off any unnecessary thoughts,

“I’m looking for Depth Paint, if you know anything about it.” I told him.

“Ah, Depth Paint.” He nodded. Looking at Tim by my side,

“Dealing with the Mun Shaen, eh? You know how to make a living, kid.”

“What do you mean by that?” I responded.

“The formalization of Shaen law, don’t you know? There are opportunities abound for you to share your experience with them, as an active explorer no less.”

He stood up and left the counter, reaching for one of his display cabinets and unlocking the cover. Rummaging through the bottom shelf, he took out a cylindrical module about the length of his forearm, and a sealed black container no larger than a jug of milk.

“Here ya go, kid. One Depth Paint module and a jar of the coating.”

The merchant set both pieces of tech on the counter in front of us.

I examined the longer module, holding it in my hand in different angles.

“Depth Paint module? Do I plug this in my all-purpose tool and spray the coating all over my ship?”

“Spray the coating?”

He stared at me for a few seconds, before laughing out loud.

“You must have been in deep space for too long, kid!”

Me and Timayther looked at each other, clueless.

Calming himself down, the shopkeeper explained.

“If it was a few decades ago, you’d be correct: We did have to apply the paint on our own, back in the old days.”

Motioning to the other ship components in his shop,

“And with errors that came with manual application and the unique shape of each and every ship, you can imagine how inefficient that was.”

Adjusting the hat on his head, he pointed with his face to the module in my hands.

“These days, modules like this one can do the job for you; just install it directly onto your ship along with this container and it’ll auto-apply the paint to the entire hull, as it needs to. They can even retrieve the paint back and store it when you’re done.”

“Thank you for the information, mister.” I held my finger up, telling him that I was going to buy both of them.

“Keep your wits about you, kid.” He advised as I approved the payment on his terminal. “Knowing is half the battle, they all say.”

Having confirmed the purpose of both items from their system descriptions, I nodded to him in agreement.

As we left the shop, Tim leaned in my direction and whispered,

“That guy looks like he’s seen things, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah, probably.” I pursed my lips in thought. “People have their own stories to tell.”

Next up is…

I opened my inventory and went over the materials I had remaining. Apart from the pile of Nysertium ingots, I was running short on pretty much everything: Even the power cells to charge my saber and blaster were almost gone.

However, I then noticed the flashing red indication on my system windows.

Oh, right!

I still had to repair my mangled Hazard Shield, after having its barrier matrix battered by the Flagrant Roar back on Mavacena.

“I’m getting my Hazard Shield repaired next, Tim.” I told him. “Maybe you can get a used one for yourself?”

Tim tilted his head.

“I don’t know, Mr KC. Our membrane is stronger than most of them… Probably only the high-grade ones will be of any use to me.”

“But it’ll protect you from the heat, no?”

“There are better things for that… Oh, thanks for reminding me, Mr KC. I should look for a personal conditioner now that I’m here.”

“Okay, then.”

---

I wanted to stay and look around for more ship weapons, but we didn’t have all day to shop in Caper Plateaus. Moving away from the personal craft area, we followed another resident’s instructions and headed for the personal tech section of Setters’ Market.

Using the wider road, we had a more leisurely trip and reached our destination before long.

Like the rest of the marketplace, it was an area filled to the brim with shops displaying their products for sale. However, it was well quieter and more ordered compared to the others, and I could see a few security personnel and observation drones patrolling around the place.

It might be due to the kind of stuff the were selling here; after all, ‘personal tech’ for explorers included handheld weaponry, and the range of arms for sale in this part of the market left very little to ask for.

“Guess we should be on our best behaviour here, right, Tim?” I turned the Mun Shaen beside me.

“I’ll try not to hum.” He answered.

Yeah, you do that, I nodded.

We moved through the walkways a little more quickly this time, though I made sure not to rush or bump into the other shoppers on the way.

I knew what to look for this time, having seen my own Hazard Shield Core before.

After a minute or two snooping around, we came across a large store that sold and serviced the cores, among an assortment of other offers.

Communications plugins, weapons, components and upgrades… It had almost everything I needed.

They didn’t sell raw materials, though. I guess I’ll have to look for them somewhere else.

I talked to a shop attendant, who was coincidentally done checking the inventory on a shelf.

“Repairing Hazard Shield Cores?” She said. “Yes, we’re available right now. This way, please.”

The attendant directed me to an area in the store where a large piece of equipment was. Resembling a large ring of sensors around a seat, she explained that it was an installation that could access and perform repairs on installed cores, without having to pull them out from the user’s system.

The human girl instructed me to sit in the middle of the installation. As she hooked up a bundle of wires to a band and attached it to my spacesuit, I continued to look at her.

Clear skin beneath her sleeveless top and workshop trousers, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail, a beautiful face that stood out from clunky, mechanical components she tinkered with…

Pretty is an understatement.

“You look charmed, Mr KC.” Tim stated, loud enough for both of us to hear.

“Wha, I—” Alternating my gaze between the two of them. “I didn’t mean to stare, sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

With a giggle, she responded,

“You’d be wondering what someone like me is doing here, aren’t you?”

Deciding to play along, I nodded in return.

“I’m saving up for my own spaceship, just a simple commuter, really; I’m going into training after finishing my studies here on Daptel, in an institution in the Malia System.”

She went on,

“Sure, I could use a public warp line to get back home during the holidays, but the freedom of flying anywhere in my own ship has always been a dream of mine.”

“Huh.”

I recalled how we pretty much began the game with our own ships, something someone like her would have to work hard to afford.

It’s not like I would relinquish that privilege we had as players, but I noted that it was something we took for granted.

As she guided the equipment along the repairs of my shield core, I asked her about the weapons they sold here, as well as where I could find good materials for my travels.

Hmm, she pondered.

“Most of the firearms the market sells won’t require more than an explorer’s license to keep, but the really hard-hitting ones would need a letter of commendation from an approved faction or battalion.”

The installation made a low hum, and I felt the matrix of the Hazard Shield begin to recover.

“As for materials, you’ll have to go for the supply warehouses for them. They’re not far from here.”

“Alright, thanks for the information.” I thanked her.

It took quite a bit of time sitting still in the middle of the metal ring before the restoration was complete. I opened my systems window and confirmed that the Hazard Shield was now working properly.

“I’ll pay for the repairs later, um…”

“Yes?”

Hearing my words trail off, the attendant turned to look at me.

“…Never mind, I’ll take a look around the store first.”

“Sure, I’ll send the invoice for your repair to the counter. Call us if you need anything.”

Timayther joined back up with me as I left the repair installation, following me to another aisle in the store.

“You know, she’s a nice girl, Mr KC.” The blue liquid person jabbed his elbow at my side. “Are you sure you want to leave it at that?”

“It’s fine, Tim.” I assured him. “I’m an explorer, after all; I have places to go.”

“Okay, then.” The Mun Shaen caught my intentions and didn’t pursue the matter anymore.

Up next would be…

Surveying the variety of weapons displayed for sale on the walls of the store, I made sure to read the system descriptions that accompanied them as well. They looked low to low-mid grade at best, which was convenient for someone with little Prestige like me.

Having noted the selection they had in store, I picked out a few candidates and compared between them.

This store in particular focused on ranged arms that utilized solid ammunition, propelled by a variety of power options. There were energy-based and handheld weapons as well, albeit in more limited amounts.

To help with making my decision, I listed the available weapons I had.

The melee arms in my possession were the Pulsar Beam Saber and the fused Everest Accolade. I’d probably focus on using the Accolade in future fights, but the PBS should serve as a nice secondary option.

Suppressive and crowd control options included the Spined Rake and Bitter Howl. Along with the disorienting effect of the Accolade, keeping both weapons on me sounded like a good move, in case I encounter something that could resist either one of them.

That would leave only the standard blaster for my ranged attacks, the one I began the game with. It was compact, reliable and easy to maintain, but it was the only real gun I had.

From these findings, I settled on getting another ranged weapon for myself. Getting caught with a broken blaster and no other firearm was something I didn’t want to happen.

After running the candidates through maintenance and reliability considerations, as well as how well it complemented my arsenal, I ended up settling on a crossbow-type weapon for my second gun.

The Sver-Mod Crossbow I chose had the advantage of being able to fire bolts made from all sorts of materials, opening up opportunities to adapt my ammo loadout as necessary. The store sold it in a package that came with several steel bolts and a couple of vial ones, which could be filled with liquid or gel.

After shopping around for a little more, I brought the crossbow pack and a couple of physical reinforcement modules to the counter.

While there was merit in hoarding as many weapons as possible, they were only as useful to me as I was familiar with them. Keeping my repertoire to the few weapons I’m proficient in was a more reasonable decision, with the time limitation we had.

The cost of all the tech was well under my budget, and the payment went through without a hitch. Still, if I’m going to continue buying and repairing stuff for my exploration, I should secure a method of earning income soon.

I thanked the shop attendant and left the store with Timayther, who looked to be carrying a few things of his own.

“What is that, Tim?” I asked him about the piece of machinery in his hands.

As he held the white, compact module up to show me,

“The personal conditioner, Mr KC. They didn’t sell the hypnoteal mods I was looking for, but at least I got the more important thing.”

“Hmm, is your instrument just not popular enough here? With the Shaen musician thing and all.”

Hearing my thoughts on the matter, Tim only shrugged his shoulders.

“I could always get it back on Nadeum if we don’t find it here.”

Agreeing to his comment, I arranged the stuff in my inventory, moving all the stuff I bought to one side, ready to quickly unpack in one go.

At this time, the call notification on my communications system rang.

Bringing up the chat window, it was a voice-only call from Luda.

“Are you two done, KC?”

Her voice sounded in my ear. As the camera function wasn’t used, the internal audio was used to broadcast her voice directly to me instead.

“For the most part, Luda. I only have the supply warehouses left to go to.”

“How about Tim?”

“So-so. He’s looking for a mod for his instrument, but we should be able to get that on Nadeum as well.”

“Got it.” Luda reported. “We’re pretty much done on our side as well. You’re going to the Dustbowl Warehouse, right?”

“Dustbowl Warehouse…”

I brought up another window and typed the name of the place into the search terminal. Seeing the location that came up,

“That should be fine for me. See you there?”

“Yep, meet us at the front entrance.”

“Okay.”

We ended the call, and I relayed the plan to Timayther.

“Hope I can find at least one string modular shop on the way there.” He nodded.

“Can’t you just search them up in the terminal, Tim?” I asked him.

“I don’t have the exploration systems you and the others are using, Mr KC.” He responded. “I thought you already knew when I told you I didn’t have the Hazard Shield?”

“Oh.” I realized what he said was true.

Once again, the things that came ‘out of the box’ to us players weren’t as such to the other people in this world.

I searched up the list of string modular stores and showed it to him.

“You can go off on your own to look for them, if you like.”

There were a few of them, both in Setters’ Market as well as around the rest of Caper Plateaus.

Timayther, however, refused my suggestion.

“Using my communicator outside Nadeum is expensive, Mr KC. I’d rather stay with you instead.”

“Ah, I see.”

I no longer pursued the matter, well aware of the pain that came with network roaming costs.

Once we finished packing our belongings away, the two of us made our way out of the personal tech section and headed for the entrance of Setters’ Market.

The warehouses were apparently too large to fit inside the area, so another location was dedicated to them instead.

I got thirsty halfway through the trip and took out the bottle of water I bought back on Susan Square. I drank from it, then offered to share it to Tim.

“Thank you.”

He enthusiastically accepted my offer, took a few gulps from the bottle, and handed it back to me.

As I put it back in the inventory, I felt that both the bottle and the water inside had become quite a few degrees colder.

“Are you using your personal conditioner now, Tim?” I asked the Mun Shaen.

“Not yet, Mr KC.” He replied. “I have to buy the power cells first.”

Batteries not included, huh. I chuckled.

Luda’s conjecture must be correct, then. I don’t know when our next fight will be, but preparing for it was definitely the right step to make.

---

Being closer to the area, we were the first to arrive to Dustbowl Warehouse.

True to its name, it was a giant, one-level building with several huge steel doors leading to the expanse of space inside. On the side of the warehouse that faced the road, two centre doors hung open, serving as the entrance.

Even as we waited outside the place, I could see the numerous steel shelves towering above the people shopping in the warehouse, each level full of containers that held the materials and components for sale.

After a while,

“KC, Tim.”

We heard Dawon’s voice, then saw the two of them coming over from around the corner of the road.

They were still in their spacesuits, though Luda had a layer of clothing that draped over hers, covering the top part of her torso.

“What is that, Luda?” I asked her about it.

“It’s a cape to protect against the wind and dust, apparently.” She explained, holding a part of the layer up with her fingers.

“At least, that’s what they told us. It looked cool, so I got it anyway.”

Seeing the gray lavender colour of the cape go with her suit, I agreed.

“Found anything good?” Dawon asked as the two of them joined up with us.

“Got a crossbow and some reinforcement modules for myself, while Tim found something to keep him cool.”

I summarized our shopping list to them, mentioning that I also had my shield repaired on the marketplace.

“Oh, me too, KC.” Dawon nodded her head.

She explained that there was a core repair installation inside a health clinic where they were, and she was reminded of her damaged Hazard Shield after hearing another explorer say that she broke hers fighting a wild beast.

“Fortunately, the damage was minor, so it didn’t cost me a lot.” She smiled.

“That’s great.”

Recalling the scene of her burning her arms protecting Timayther from the Flagrant Roar,

“Let’s be more careful next time, both of us.”

I returned a helpless smile of my own.

“What about you, Miss Dawon, Miss Luda? How did your shopping go?”

“Pretty good, actually.” Luda answered. “Found some neat ship utilities and a couple of cute clothes for ourselves. We even got ice cream from a parlour on the streets!”

“Ice cream sounds good right about now…” I drooled, and Tim nodded along in agreement.

It hadn’t been long since we had our lunch, but the sunny weather in Caper Plaetaus did take its toll on our bodies, even with my Hazard Shield active.

“But the main course is here: Dustbowl Warehouse!”

She turned to look at the inside of the building with resolute eyes.

“I don’t really need anything here, so I’ll just walk around inside?” Dawon added.

“Me too, Miss Dawon.” Timayther followed.

“So it’ll be me and you, Luda.” I concluded.

“Mhmm.”

Affirming my words, Luda walked through the doors in brisk strides, as we followed after her.

---

Entering through the door, I could see a few other people walking among the shelves, examining the containers and the description written on them. To my surprise, none of the shoppers in the warehouse carried around a trolley or basket, and the only people handling the containers were the inventory management staff.

Dawon took the initiative to call over one of the employees, who explained that Dustbowl Warehouse operated under a catalogue order process: Customers would fill their order out with a form, then wait at the counter for the shopkeepers to bring their purchases to them.

Considering the bulk of the items we were dealing with, that was a sensible method to use.

The four of us went over and took the forms from a holding stand, by the entrance of the store. Rather than papers which needed a writing tool to use, they were flexible, touch-sensitive screens which we could interact with.

It was a little difficult to browse the catalogue on the form’s user interface at first, but I got used to it before long.

“What exactly are you looking for here, Luda?” I asked the person rolling up her form beside me.

“Electrical components, KC.” She answered. “I’m looking for the materials to assemble an energy transport system for my ship.”

“Energy transport,” I tilted my head. “You’re talking about the quantum sets thing from last time, right?”

She nodded her head in return.

“You just began studying that field on Day 1, didn’t you?” I recalled. Then, realizing that this was Day 2, I unintentionally raised my voice at her.

“Did you really manage to learn all of that in one day!?”

“You’re too loud, KC, calm down!” Luda scolded me.

Seeing me shut my mouth, she continued.

“Of course not, I can’t even remember how many books and references I had to go through to understand the little I do now.”

“Then…?” I asked.

“Somehow or rather, the crafting and designing system just expanded to include the technology, probably because I fulfilled some study or career requirement, or something.”

“I see.” I sighed. “I was just thinking that you were secretly a genius inventor behind your idol image, Luda.”

“Even I’m not that smart, KC.” She retorted.

I browsed the range of resources they offered in this store, including any sales or offers they may have now. There was a discount on ornamental and flooring wood, which was not in my interest.

“So, the transport system you’re making.” I continued. “I’m guessing that it’s to let your ship power your personal systems and technology, right?”

“Yup.” She answered. “The plant on Kaxam had compound-wide wireless power thanks of it. Let me tell you, KC, once you use it there’s no turning back!”

“Sounds interesting, Luda.” Following the conversation, “Is there any chance you can make one for my ship as well?”

“For a fair price, of course!” She politely responded, seeing through my scheme instantly.

Grrr, I showed her a sour face at being found out. She let out a small laugh, then went into an aisle to begin looking for her stuff.

I was curious to see what kind of materials she needed, but I had to make my own shopping as well. The shelves that had the materials I needed was on the other side of the warehouse, so we parted ways and I started going through my list as well.

I quickly shuffled through the aisles, seeing what was in stock and marking what I need on the form as appropriate.

Pure metal bars and alloys, check. Resin and polymer matrices, structural and optical grade glass, not to mention a slew of power options, both rechargeable and disposable…

I was building a decently sized inventory that could allow me to repair most of my stuff and easily craft other things as necessary.

“That should be all I need.” After around ten minutes or so running around the warehouse, I pulled myself back to reality. Like shopping for groceries, it was an enjoyable, almost therapeutic experience.

Once again, I praised my past self for listening to Meiqi’s advice and keeping the Daeciga monster parts for myself. The financial leeway I got from selling the parts was something I definitely appreciated, playing this game.

Back to the list, there were some organic resources I would have liked to get, but I guess I could just harvest them from wild plants on any random planet.

Regrettably, Luda finished her list before I could see what she got. I didn’t bump to her in the warehouse either, as she spent most of her time in the electrical components section; I got my own stuff entirely from the raw and processed materials area.

I looked around for the other two people and asked them what they got. Tim looks like he got the power cells he needed, and Dawon picked up a few pieces of tech as well.

Peering into her order on the catalogue,

“Pressure and oxygen graphing modules, huh.” I commented, “Are you really that worried about challengers invading when we’re on Nadeum?”

“Better safe than sorry, KC.” She replied.

“I guess.”

To be honest, that was part of why I bought the reinforcement modules back in Setters’ Market as well.

Making myself tougher and stronger… It was a short-sighted approach, really, but it fit my playstyle the best.

I queued up behind a short line for the counter, and showed my list to the teller when it was my turn.

“You don’t have to show it to us, sir.”

The Li Shaen working the counter shook his head.

“Our system will automatically connect to your form and obtain the information we need for your order.”

“Alright.”

Timayther had already received and paid for his power cells a few minutes before, while someone came to the counter with Dawon’s things by the time the warehouse’s system finished receiving the data on my form.

That only left me and Luda to wait for our own stuff. My own list was rather extensive, but I had no idea how big hers was.

Soon after, the store management team brought the materials I requested, carrying the containers on a motorized trailer.

Five large containers were unloaded to the side of the counter, checked for the correct weight and volume, and deemed ready for handover on payment.

I approved the transaction using the portable terminal by the front of the counter desk, then stored the containers in my inventory.

As the trailer drove back to get Luda’s stuff, I thought about just how convenient it was to have a storage inventory on my personal system; another feature of what Tim calls our ‘exploration systems’, probably. Without it, I’d have to ask the warehouse to deliver it to my ship in Daptel, which will take up another hour or two.

As for the shopping itself, the prices were on the expensive side of average, but still well under my budget.

Soon after, Luda got her three containers of material as well, which she paid for once they were verified.

“That should be our last stop in Caper Plateaus, right?” I looked at everyone, after we left the store.

“I think so, unless any of you remember anything important at the last minute?” Luda mentioned in passing.

Hearing her words, the three of us went over our belongings once again, making sure we didn’t leave anything behind.

I also took the opportunity to check my status for anything that felt off. At that moment,

==

Name: KC
Title: [No Title]

Prestige:

Industrion – 3
Communete – 24
Academium – 9
Artistice – 11

Path: Body of Magna, Blood of Shaen (0/2)

==

…What is this?

Why was my Artistice higher than my Academium? And I even got a few points in Industrion!

The ‘Path’ attribute wasn’t even there the last time I checked my status!

Unable to hold my curiosity, I pulled out the systems log and skimmed through the Prestige gain history. From the records, I gradually understood what was going on.

The little adventure I had with Tim and Dawon beginning from their performance in Hinagakure, all the way to fighting in the invasion and being recognized by Isket, was basically the source of most of the Prestige.

It was no surprise that Communete, which dealt with people, was the highest, but I also got points in Artistice for helping disprove the rumours Tim heard. The three Industrion points were for us volunteering in the challenge on Mavacena, thus helping resolve their security needs.

‘Path’, on the other hand, seemed to display a list of the questlines assigned to me by people in specific positions.

The description for my current path was something I already heard before from Isket: Find Carthena and a Magna assembler to complete the Everest Accolade.

The name of the quest did concern me a little, though: Body of Magna, Blood of Shaen. It was almost as if I was building a hybrid species of alien.

It couldn’t be, could it?

“Luda, Dawon,” I called out to the two of them. “Is there a ‘Path’ field in your player status?”

“Player status?” Tim asked.

“It’s like a progress recorder for our exploration, Tim.” Without missing a beat, I answered him. I figured that it was simple enough to explain game mechanics to him as ‘features’ of the exploring trade, rather than come up with a more elaborate lie.

“Hmm, I don’t see it in mine, KC.” Luda answered.

“I do.” Dawon brought out her own status window and showed it to us.

I read the name written on her Path:

‘Road to the First EP (1/5)’

“First EP,” Luda commented. “Did your label give the quest to you?”

“Kind of, Luda.” Dawon answered. “The director asked us what we wanted to achieve as DT Coastline, and Tim said that an album would be a good start.”

Luda leaned in close to us and whispered,

“We’re not going to see this world again after Day 3, you two know that, right?”

“Yeah, but aren’t you going to pick up the full game after it releases?” I asked her.

“Even then, won’t the development team reset the server after we’re done? Giving testers early progress isn’t really fair.” She responded.

“Hmm…” I mulled over her words.

Honestly, as much I’d like to keep in touch with Tim and the others, I haven’t played this game enough to have really invested in it emotionally.

“I’ll just do what I can, the two of you.” Dawon interjected. “That should be good enough, right?”

“I guess…” I hesitated. I knew that she wanted to pursue the Artistice route in the game, but being tied down to her questline on Nadeum felt too restrictive in my opinion.

Well, it’s her call, at the end of the day. Everyone plays games differently.

“I’ll just leave it at that, Dawon.” Luda held eye contact with her fellow member. “Just don’t leave any regrets, okay?”

The girl in front of her only nodded her head.

Once everyone was ready, we left for the middle of the complex, where the trams were. The first tramcar that arrived after we got there wasn’t really crowded, so we got on and left the Caper Plateaus complex on the line towards the transport station.

On the way there, while Tim rested his head and Ludawon talked with each other, I sat still on the seat of the carriage and reviewed the questline I decided to follow.

From Isket’s words, I had a pretty good feeling that Carthena was a Mun Shaen. Aligning Timayther’s lifeforce channels to be in tune with Khibu’s… I look forward to what that will do to the Accolade.

What comes next was the problem. My previous brush with the Magna wasn’t a completely pleasant one, so I’m not sure Kamag will treat me well. And the ‘true power’ she talked about… I hope I can find out what that is.

I could only predict so much with the little information I had on me. Like the merchant that sold me the Depth Paint said, knowing is half the battle.

Let’s just hope I can find out everything I need to know before trouble comes around. It may well be the difference between life and death, for all I know.

 

Addendum – Caper Plateaus’ Landforms

Being a geologically active planet, it was next to impossible to find rock formations on Udepra as intricate and majestic as the ones in Caper Plateaus were. Any naturally formed landforms of that nature will quickly be claimed by tectonic activity, volcanoes or destruction from challengers, whichever came first.

The rocks around the complex were special in that they weren’t naturally formed; they came from a horrible invasion on Daptel by a particularly highly developed Meldscale Lahar.

Being the only one of its species in recorded history to call itself by a name, the Lahar ‘Agate’ drew out the complex stone formations during its engagement with the main fighting team.

(Blazing Trails have long since disbanded at that time, and Isket was too valuable to go out and fight)

The aftermath of the hard-fought resistance turned out to be a windfall for Daptel and nearby settlements, as the rock formations raised by the Lahar contained valuable and rare minerals that were incredibly useful in the construction and development industry. It is a widely held notion that the advanced infrastructure of Daptel could only come about as a result of that invasion.

In the current day, the landforms in Caper Plateaus are the only ones standing, and even then, only a part of them remains untouched. All the other stone pillars and arches were mined and processed for their materials.