Silence permeated a courtyard filled with rubble, with cracks in the ground and dead monster bodies scattered all around the area, ruined by the destruction of battle.

The present master of the lair, a giant Borejawn Crowncelp, laid miserable will all its arms dropped to the ground, unable to fight back with all the wounds and injuries it had suffered.

Pulling out her Barnacle Whip and a few more lengths of rope, Luda called out to me.

“I’ll tie one of the arms down and get the Borejawn Enamel, KC; you collect the stuff on the ground.”

Replacing the power cells for my weaponry in the inventory space, I surveyed the area.

“Just the nautilus shells? Or…”

“All of them.” She stated. “All the ones that look useful, at least.”

Ah, alright, I nodded.

Even if we didn’t really need them for our current assignment, we could always use the parts for something else.

As Luda began working on the restrained seaweed-like monster, I swam around the courtyard, picking apart any bones, scales, or the like from the creatures we defeated. Most of the remains were mutilated in one way or another, so it didn’t really feel nice to bring the whole thing back in our inventory.

‘Madstain Serrate’

‘Fritten Collagen’

Quite a few of them were tough to the touch. Sharp and resilient materials seem to be a characteristic of carnivorous or hostile animals in this world.

‘Nautilus Mammoth Shell’

I descended onto the crater left by an explosion after harvesting the fragments from Luda’s two kills. Among a few more shell fragments, a few splinters of off-white material were also present.

Picking them up,

‘Eminent Borejawn Enamel’

Eminent?

“Luda, did you get Eminent Borejawn Enamel from the Crowncelp too?”

“…Yes, I did. I wonder why?” Came her reply.

“Looks like the Crowncelp we fought was special after all.” I suggested.

Both of us thought that that was a plausible explanation for things, so we didn’t think about it any further.

After I finished cleaning up the battlefield, I returned to where Luda was.

By the main stalk of the Crowncelp, she had already gone through one arm and was now working on a second. Without the huge enamel boulder connected to the tendon limb, it ended in a plain stump. The tip still looked like it’ll pack a punch, so I made sure to stay away.

After mining the second crown completely,

“Done. I’m sure we got more than we need.”

Luda stretched her body and opened her inventory window.

I approached the stubbed arms and untied them, handing the rope back to her.

Double-checking that my shield and armour were recovering, I ran through Carthena’s list one last time, comparing it against both our inventories’ contents.

That should be everything.

“Well, then.”

Pointing towards the partly demolished coral forest, Luda asked.

“We’re done here, right?”

Picking up the lantern that fell to the ground,

“Yep.” I nodded. “I could use dry ground right about now.”

---

On the way out of the courtyard, we saw a twisting purple-green lifeform by a few branches of destroyed coral trees.

Right, that thing.

At this point in time, even the Crowncelp didn’t have the energy to go against us. Surely this thing wouldn’t?

“Say, Luda, how about we k—”

*BLAM*

With a shot right in the centre of its soft body, Luda extinguished the Lesser Pocka-Jonn’s life and helped herself to a few more Bourt Sacs and materials.

“You were saying?” She turned back to me.

“…Never mind.” I shrugged. Neither of us said anything more about it after that.

Going through the coral woods, we reached the entrance to the valley after a while. It seemed like the situation had mostly recovered to normal on this side, with all the smaller creatures swimming around their nests like nothing had happened.

I wonder, though,

With the Crowncelp’s minions gone, is it going to recruit new ones from these communities? Did it have any control over the valley beyond the courtyard in the first place?

More important, however,

“…It looks like the ocean currents have picked back up.” Luda spoke.

“Looks like it has.” I peered over the edge of the valley, looking for our tethers.

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem, though.”

The rope was still there, secure with its picks on the mountain. Seeing the tethers hold up against the currents without loosening any of its anchors,

Luda’s efforts in spreading them out have really paid off.

Securing a steel pick to her hip and adjusting her flashlight, she wound the rope back around her body and began to descend from the valley.

Doing the same with my lantern, I tied the second tether to mine and followed her lead.

We considered leaving the tether out for other people to use to get to the valley after we were done, but it doesn’t look like the longweed rope will last that long before withering away.

Several minutes passed in silence as we retraced our route along Tavummen, following the path marked by the picks we set down before. We were fortunate that the fight between the Flat-mouthed Shark and that unidentified centipede didn’t rip our tethers off, though with an active navigation system we wouldn’t have gotten lost anyway.

“KC,”

Luda spoke up.

“Yeah?”

She waited for me to catch up with her, before pulling out a gun from her inventory.

“Oh, right.” I recalled. “Thanks.”

“Didn’t have the chance to link it to my energy transport system. Would have liked to see what it’ll do with all that power.” She commented.

I took the Bitter Howl off her hands and replaced it in my inventory, taking care not to touch the monster parts in one side of the space.

“By the way,”

As we continued our climb down, I brought the topic up. “What do we do with the leftover materials after we meet Carthena?”

“Sell them, like we always do?” Luda raised her eyebrow.

“All of them?” I pondered. “I would like to keep some of them for crafting as well.”

“Yep, same here.” Returning her attention on the path, “We’ll think about that when we get back.”

After a while, we finally reached the beginning of the tether and safely left the highlands. Without the danger of strong ocean currents, the two of us fired up our movement upgrades and accelerated towards Mara Artemis.

As we reached the Artema Longweed forest, we agreed to go through it like we did before, the other option of going above or around it posing unnecessary risk. Along the way, we chopped down a few more longweed shoots, seeing how useful they were on this journey.

As I replaced the power cells on my jet module, we came out of the other side of the forest onto the open underwater grassland, and soon enough,

“Home sweet home.” Luda sighed.

The dreamy nightscape of Nadeum’s largest city appeared before us, its glimmering lights illuminating the barrier dome set against the abyssal darkness of the ocean.

---

As we approached the gate of the city’s western boundary, I ran through the equipment on my body, preparing to take it off once we’re through the outer hatch.

The jet module should be fine, but I can’t wait to take off this breather.

The Aquifer breather served its purpose well, but it made it more difficult to reach for our face, so having it off of me would be great.

We reached the front of the gate, and I tried looking for a switch or a doorbell, anything to open the first hatch or get the city guards’ attention.

Can’t really find anything like it here…

Just as I decided to try a shout, a large window appeared before us, and inside the screen was the eel-like lifeform we met before we left.

“Oh, it’s you guys! I was wondering when you’d be back.”

The officer swayed side to side as it fiddled with a few windows. Soon after, a series of latches releasing could be heard from behind the gate, followed by a pouring sound.

As we waited,

“I was even thinking about posting a missing notice for you two, you know.”

It tilted its head.

“Wouldn’t want to see people like you die so young after all.”

Hearing its words,

“…Thanks for your concern, I guess.” Making eye contact with Luda, I gave our thanks to it.

Before long, the outer hatch of the city gate opened, and we walked into the intermediary layer to stand by for the rest of the entry process.

The closed chamber depressurized the atmosphere around us and drained away the ocean water without issue. As soon as the water level fell below my neck, I pulled off the breather and enjoyed the first taste of dry air in a while. Luda took hers off a bit later, combing through her hair which was becoming rough and dry from the seawater.

“Should we take a shower after this? I did see something like a changing room nearby.” I suggested.

“Mm.” She nodded, concerned about the strands of hair between her fingers.

After the pressure in the chamber equalized to that of the city, the inner hatch finally opened, revealing the western edge of Mara Artemis to us.

“Aaah~”

Moving around and stretching my limbs, I savored the freedom moving around in dry land allowed me, unrestrained by the weight of the seawater. As fun as floating above the ground was, it wasn’t worth the slowed travel the ocean gave us.

Underwater levels, huh.

Luda left the chamber and went straight over to the officer’s counter at the booth. After I caught up to her, the eel-like lifeform handled the rest of our entry process, which took the most of ten seconds after it started.

“The changing room will be over on the right, past the small convenience store by the path.” It advised us.

Luda nodded to me and quickly left, leaving me at the booth.

“There are towels and stuff you can get from the store, if that’s what you’re worried about?” The officer looked at me.

“It’s not that,” I began. “About the Crowncelp…”

“Oh, the Chiggubas? Annoying to deal with, aren’t they?” It showed me a tired expression.

“Not as difficult as the crazy strong minions it controlled.” I replied.

“Wait, minions?” The eel-like lifeform froze in its aquarium, its eyes locked onto mine.

“There was nothing mentioning its ability to control other monsters in the ocean hunting guide,”

I continued.

“…So I was wondering if you would know anything about it as well.”

Bringing its tail around for its head to rest on, the officer looked like it was deep in thought.

“Tell me everything.” It asked.

I recounted our encounter with the Borejawn Crowncelp in the coral forest valley. The different creatures that attacked us in an organized fashion, the giant enamel boulders that would take any unshielded person out in one blow, even how it didn’t care whether its punches hurt the nautiluses or not.

Taking in everything that I said,

“I have never seen a Crowncelp as big as you said in my whole life.” The officer stated.

“They’re usually the size of the bushes you see outside Mara Artemis, and the largest one I know isn’t any bigger than a coral tree.”

I had no idea how to respond.

What did we fight, then?

“You must be lucky to find a special one, then.” The officer went on. With a chuckle, “Or unlucky, depends on how you see it.”

“A bit of both, I guess.” I shrugged.

“Strange things can happen to a creature that has lived for a very long time.” It concluded, straightening its long body. “Crowncelps can have impressive lifespans, though most don’t because of their declining strength past maturity.”

I inquired about the other monsters we saw, including the unknown giant centipede that took down the Flat-mouthed Shark. The officer confirmed that the Crowncelp’s minions were no different than typical of their species; as for the latter,

“That must be a Seabed Centipede, from your description.” It answered. “Dangerously close to challenger territory, you were wise to stay away when you saw it, in my opinion.”

In contrast to his thoughts,

You mean challengers are even scarier than that thing!?

I was once again reminded of how terrifying the deep can be.

---

After talking with the eel-like officer for a bit, I bought the towel and some toiletries from the convenience store and headed for the changing room. The officer was happy to answer my questions the whole time, probably because no one was around this late at night.

The facilities in the changing room reminded me of the ones swimming pools or water theme parks had. Taking off the spacesuit and storing it in my inventory, I hung the towel on the door of the bathroom and took a proper shower for the first time today.

I did change clothes once on Udepra, but nothing beats a proper bath.

Also,

*CLACK* *CLACK*

I took out all my weapons and washed them down with the shower head. As I did the same for the arrowhead construct, it wriggled and morphed into a four-legged spider-like shape. Seeing no further reaction from it, I put everything back in the inventory window and finished my bath.

The return trip should have taken 40-something minutes… Let’s round that up to an hour.

So we should have two more hours before the Assaudine Solution stops working; that would be plenty of time.

I dried off and changed to the new clothes: The ones I bought back on C’ssun-R, which was fortunately already in my inventory. The familiar dry fabric on my skin was a welcome sensation.

Leaving the changing rooms, I saw Luda walking around in the convenience store with a bottle of water in her arms. Wearing a light pink blouse and jeans, she looked just like during WJSN schedules.

“Hey,” I called out to her.

“Hey.” She responded.

“Buying something to eat and drink is a good idea.” I entered the shop again and picked up a few snacks and another water bottle for myself.

“Dinner would be great, though.” She glanced at me.

“That too.” I nodded.

We paid for our stuff at the counter, thanking the Mun Shaen that operated our transactions.

“I’ll call a taxi for us again.” I suggested after we left the store, walking over to the nearest road.

“Then I’ll look for a good place to eat.” Luda followed up, “And also where we can sell our hunts.”

Accepting the unit charge for the call, I contacted Jetxi Rentals again, asking for a ride from the Western Boundary to Massar Boulevard.

While waiting for the taxi to come, I sorted the materials I got from the cave and Tavummen Highlands. Some of them were harvests pulled out of our kills, but there were also whole monster bodies in my storage. I made a mental note to try and clean them before selling them off.

Around ten minutes later, a transporter arrived, driven by an elderly Human.

“For KC, to Massar Boulevard?” He asked.

“Yup.” I nodded, and the two of us got on. I took the front seat beside him, while Luda sat in the back.

We walked (well, traveled) to the gate from Carthena’s place on foot last time, so the ride back shouldn’t take too long.

“Found it.”

During the trip, Luda piped up from back in the vehicle. Soon after, the notification in my system beeped twice, corresponding to the messages she sent me.

Luda: [Location: Kinip’s Socket]

Luda: [Location: Bia Yingtal]

“Kinip’s Socket is in Bia Yingtal,” She explained. “While there were some other parts traders in the city, the person who runs this shop claims to be part of the systemwide hunters’ exchange hub. I think he’s worth taking a look at.”

“Sure.”

I accepted her suggestion. However, looking at my chat window,

“Did you send another message to me by mistake? Surely the first location is enough?”

“The second one is for the block in general.”

Her eyes remained on me, as if she was asking for something.

“I found out that this place has a lot of street food stalls… Maybe we can stop by one to get our food?”

Hearing her words, I felt my stomach rumbling a little.

“Fair enough,” I concurred. “We’ll see if there’s something good there.”

“I feel like grilled seafood this time of the day.”

“Seafood, huh. Prawns, clams… Phew.”

The rest of the trip consisted of us bouncing ideas for dishes at each other. The driver didn’t really join in, but he did nod when we asked if there was good seafood in Bia Yingtal.

The transporter stopped by the east entrance of Massar Boulevard. I paid the driver his fare, and we stepped out of the cab. Roused by our appetites, we went inside the half-finished shopping arcade without wasting time.

Retracing our previous steps, we soon reached Mewseal Domestics and Cultures, relieved that the aquarium store was still open.

Our entry inside, however, was a little difficult; a customer was at the counter, finishing up their purchase of a marine lifeform. Apparently the only one of the staff handling the store, Carthena was handling the transaction, nodding at us to acknowledge our presence.

Standing in the corner of the store opposite the counter, I could see the Mun Shaen explain to the customer what to do if something goes wrong with caring for their new pet, including recommended veterinary and specialist services.

“I wonder what they’re buying.” Luda whispered.

Peering over their shoulder from this far away, I could see the glowing worms in the small container wriggle, seemingly content with their temporary home.

“Worms?” I guessed.

“Sea worms.” She added.

None of us continued the guessing game.

What makes a pet ‘normal’ or exotic in different parts of the Frontier, really?

There are already more alien races than I could count. Adding the diversity of domesticated creatures to the mix will be too much for me to handle at this point.

Finished, the customer thanked Carthena and left, and she sighed as her back leaned onto the wall behind her. Explaining all that information must have been tiring.

After a few moments,

“Right.”

She straightened her posture again and turned to us.

“You got everything on the list?”

“I hope so.” I answered, bringing out the inventory window. As Luda took hers out, we compared the materials we got against Carthena’s list.

The Mun Shaen went under the counter and pulled out a hard-plastic container, shaped like the miniature version of a cooler box.

“Put everything in this box and we can get on with it.” She nodded.

“The box? How do we—” I stopped mid-sentence as my hand reached for it.

As soon as my fingers got close, a hologram showed up, floating still above the box. Within the screen was an interface that looked identical to our storage window.

Oh, I see!

Selecting correct materials and quanitites according to the list, I brought out the context menu and found a prompt to send them into the box’s own inventory space.

“So how was the swimming trip?”

Behind the counter, Carthena watched me transfer the stuff she asked for into the container.

“It was pretty mad, actually.”

I answered her. Finishing the transfer, I moved aside to let Luda send her share of the harvest.

“The Borejawn Crowncelp we found not the usual kind, apparently.”

“Hm?”

“Wait, what?”

Hearing my words, both Carthena and Luda focused their attention on me. The Mun Shaen notwithstanding, Luda wasn’t around when I told the boundary officer about our adventure, so it made sense that she didn’t know either.

“I talked to someone about it and they thought it was apparently an elder variant?” I recounted its words.

“An elder.” Carthena repeated, and I nodded in response.

“No wonder it felt so much like a boss enemy!”

Luda was taken aback, seeing how much of the Crowncelp’s characteristics the elder title explained.

As she finished storing the materials inside the inventory box, Carthena brought out its window and checked them out.

“I’d like to hear more about your encounter with this ‘special’ Crowncelp, KC.”

“Sure.”

I repeated what I told the eel-like lifeform before, this time mentioning that we left the giant seaweed-like monster alive at the end.

After my story ended, she examined the Eminent Borejawn Enamel in the box. After a while, she finally made another gesture; a slight nod.

“So…?”

Seeing my recount make Carthena think of something, I asked.

“A self-coalescent material of the eminent grade,” She muttered. Then, turning to me.

“It’s been a while since the last time I’ve been this interested in a project.”

“Then…” Luda interjected.

The Mun Shaen showed us a smug grin.

“It won’t be as elegant as Isket’s artifacts, KC, but you can look forward to what I’ll do with your Everest Accolade.”

---

After spending a minute or two in the storage room, Carthena came out wearing a coat and holding a tote bag in her hand. Stuffing the inventory box in the bag, she then walked over to the entrance of the aquarium store and gestured for us to leave.

At this point, most of the lights and ventilation were turned off inside the shop. The only parts still running are the appliances regulating the aquariums’ environment and climate as well as a minimal amount of air conditioning for the space. Clearly, the store was closing for the night.

After we stepped out, the Mun Shaen fiddled with a latch on the upper part of the entrance, pulling down a grey, metal panel to close the shop.

As she finished locking the panel on the floor, I asked.

“Were you keeping the store open for us to come back?”

Standing up, Carthena shrugged at us.

“Pretty much, though if you took an hour or so longer, I’d put up a note for you to come back tomorrow instead.”

“Fair enough.” I answered. There was no reason why we had to take up her time, even with Isket’s recommendation.

“Before I forget,”

Pulling the container back out of her bag, she moved around the inventory inside it, then,

“Your Everest Accolade, please.”

Turning the whole thing around, she held the floating screen out towards me.

“No point having all these materials if the object itself isn’t around to work with.”

“Ah, right.”

Bringing out my own window, I transferred the charged shield to the container’s inventory.

“Much appreciated.” She returned the box inside the tote bag and indicated for us to start walking.

As we went down the stairs of the shopping arcade, the two of us kept our distance from the scaffolding materials laid down on the steps, while Carthena passed by them without much difficulty.

“How long is the forging going to take?”

Sweeping away a few steel beams with her foot, Luda asked her.

Without much thought, the Mun Shaen gave her answer.

“I’d give it an hour with the workshop I usually use. Despite their public nature, the community workshops are pretty well featured; that’s one of the perks of living in Mara Artemis as an alchemist, if you ask me.”

“That should give us enough time to sell our parts, KC.” Luda turned back to me and said.

“That’s good.” I answered her.

“Which shop are you going to?”

Leading the way as we walked down the boulevard atrium, Carthena asked.

Looking at her window,

“Kinip’s Socket. It’s a shop somewhere in Bia Yingtal, near the centre of the city.” Luda explained.

“Bia Yingtal… That works out pretty well.”

She showed us a relieved expression.

“It’s not that far from the forges I’m going to, so we can go there together.”

“Really? That’d be great.” I immediately accepted her suggestion.

Carthena warming up to us was not something I expected, but I certainly won’t take it for granted.

“Do I call in a taxi? Or…”

“No need.” The Mun Shaen stopped me from bringing out my system window.

“We’ll just use the underground network to get there. You’ve used them before, right?”

Luda shook her head while I tilted mine in thought.

I did use the carriage from the overwater hangar earlier today, but I’m not sure if that counts.

“It’s nothing special, really. You won’t feel out of place.” She reassured.

The three of us went out of the shopping arcade and crossed to the other side of the road. There were few vehicles around, so we ignored the pedestrian traffic light as soon as it was clear.

The lights around this part of the city was as dim as before, but the stairway down a tunnel by the side of the street couldn’t appear more obvious than it already did.

After several musty corridors, we passed by the ticketing counter and headed straight through the terminal gates.

*beep*

The barriers gave away as soon as each of us approached them, letting us through. At the same time, a notification appeared in my system, displaying the travel fee automatically deducted from my account. It was markedly cheaper than the taxi fare, as expected.

Underground, the station looked pretty much like the ones in Seoul. If you ignored the different colour scheme of the tunnels and the hologram displays showing information in unreadable characters, you’d feel right at home in the terminal.

Our wait behind the glass barriers to the railway didn’t take long, and a line of dark blue carriages arrived to welcome us on board.

“So many seats.” Luda commented as she entered the carriage after Carthena.

Following behind them, I took one last look at the station and line labelled on a wall on the terminal. Despite the strange characters, I could read the labels perfectly well.

‘Massar Sprawl Station’

‘Westbound Line’

Sounds about right.

Seeing nothing particularly out of place, I sat next to the two of them and waited for the gates to close.

---

I didn’t really keep track of the journey on the transit line because I spaced out, coming back to my senses only when Carthena stood up from her seat.

Was it around ten minutes? Fifteen?

Putting my thoughts aside, we stood close to the carriage doors as the line slowed down to our stop.

The trip itself was what you’d expect from a transit network like this, alternating between completely dark tunnels and the artificially lit spaces of its stops. Other commuters periodically boarded and disembarked, and I largely forgot the station names a few seconds after seeing them.

“Anyways.”

As the carriage came to a halt, I peered through the windows and saw the name of our stop.

‘Becavry Station’

I don’t recall seeing such a name before. This must be a new place for us, then.

“I’m hungry.” In the queue, Luda spoke up.

“Same.” I added.

Other than the one humanoid lifeform who smirked, none of the other commuters paid our exchange any attention. Carthena herself had an indifferent expression the whole time.

The doors opened, and we left the train to make our way out of the station.

The final stairs brought us onto the corner of a plaza, filled with a lot of people walking around. The station seemed to have dropped us off in the middle of a commercial district.

“Now,”

Carthena called our attention to herself.

“We’ll meet back up here in an hour or so.”

She pointed to the entrance of the station, a clearing by the stairs we just used.

“Of course, if you’re late I’ll just bring your shield home with me.”

“Got it, I’ll keep watch of the time.”

Not wanting to bother with the hassle of waiting for tomorrow, I stated my resolve.

“Mhmm.” She nodded.

Pointing a finger to our left,

“Bia Yingtal should be… around there, I think. Well, with your navigation system you should be fine.”

“And the workshop?” Luda asked.

“In the opposite direction.” She slung the tote bag onto her shoulder. “If you finish earlier, you can come by.”

“Sure.” The person beside me noted.

“See you around.” Settled with the plan, the Mun Shaen turned around to leave.

“See you soon.” I responded, seeing her off.

Watching her disappear into the crowd, I turned to Luda.

“Well then.” I said.

“Let’s go,” She nodded. “The sooner we’re done the sooner we can eat.”

Selecting the location data Luda gave me, a route appeared in my window towards a block about twenty minutes from here.

“Twenty minutes…” I lamented.

“Doesn’t look like we can use our movement modules here, huh.” Luda looked around. The crowd was dense in places, and sudden forceful movement could very well get them hurt.

“On foot it is, then.” Giving up, I relayed our plan to her. “We can shave a few minutes off the trip if we speedwalk, at least.”

Sure, she nodded.

Orienting our position on the navigation map, we quickly set off for Bia Yingtal. The hypnotic, dreamy lights of Mara Artemis’s commercial district came close to carrying me away on several occasions, but the promise of keeping time kept me focused on our path. On the other hand, Luda scanned every billboard and streetlight advertisement she could find with her eyes, trying to find anything that could be useful.

Traveling past the city’s various buildings and structures, our route to the destination was filled with urban sights and wonders we’ve only seen in movies and comic books. Using pedestrian traffic lights and walkways that coiled over and under the roads, the trip allowed us to take in the atmosphere of the city much more directly, unlike the melding repetition of scenery I gazed through the taxi windows.

Eventually,

“We’re here.” Luda said.

I saw her point to a small gap in the wall of buildings on our side of the street. Warm red-orange lights spilled out from the artificial crevice, flickering as if coming from a source of fire. At this point, the smell of grilled meat also wafted around the street, assailing our senses with promises of delicious food.

With a gulp,

“Focus, Luda. We have to sell our monster parts first.”

“Says the person virtually drooling from his mouth.” She retorted.

Oops, I recomposed myself.

Checking that Kinip’s Socket was indeed through that gap, the two of us entered the alley without wasting any time.

The spectacle that greeted us in that place could best be described as ‘lively’. Numerous lanterns, lightbulbs and neon signs synergized with each other to create a lightscape of a perpetual festival, and the sound of ingredients sizzling against the pans of cookers contrasted with the clink of cutlery against tableware throughout the widening alley further into the gap.

Unlike the crowds of the commercial centre, the people in here were sat around the tables laid outside the stalls, enjoying their choice of dinner or a helping of street bites.

Between two concrete pillars, an archway displayed the name of this place in red, raised characters.

‘Bia Yingtal’

‘Where home finds its way’

Taking in the view,

“Damn it.”

I heard my stomach gurgle in rebellion.

“Hurry, KC.” Trying to take her mind off the meals they enjoyed, Luda checked the navigation and went ahead of me.

“Lead the way.” I responded.

Trailing behind her, we passed through the wealth of food stalls and restaurants populating the alley. Along the way, I could see special ventilators installed on the walls or on the street, itself in the smoke that came out of the stall grills and keeping the air around the road clean.

“A right here, then…”

An entire zone on its own, Bia Yingtal had its own network of streets to navigate; we had to bring up the map several times because the route could never stay it our minds. As with many places, some roads were full of people, while others were quiet and devoid of activity.

The place we eventually arrived in was of the latter, a narrow walkway deep inside the region and away from the liveliness of the food areas. Looking into the dimly lit path, it seemed more like a residential neighbourhood rather than a commercial district, with low laying flats in place of open, welcoming stalls.

“Is this the right place?” I asked. Any shop would feel out of place in this area, let alone one that dealt with monster parts.

“It should be.” Luda answered. “The search results did mention that it’s a bit away from public view.”

“Huh.” I pondered.

That might make sense, but won’t the shop bother the residents with noise from its business? I had no idea how boisterous explorers like us would be, but I had a hunch that they wouldn’t be the bookish, quiet type.

As we went into the walkway, keeping the minimal level of noise, Luda looked around for a certain sign or landmark on each house.

After a few seconds,

“Here it is.”

What she found was a flight of stairs down, located to the side of an unassuming building. From the basement door at the end of the stairway, a roof jutted out in an arch. Dark red paint lined the underside of the extension.

Bringing out the location data for Kinip’s Socket, it coincided exactly to this place, right down to its position slightly to the side of the house.

Walking down the stairs, the two of us reached the door.

“You do the honors.” Luda stepped to the side, gesturing towards the wooden door at me.

With a nod, I stood in front of the entrance, and knocked.

---

…

Having made three knocks on the door, silence remained around us. I couldn’t hear any sound behind the door at all.

“Hmm.”

To get the message across, I knocked on the door another three times.

Immediately after,

“Just a minute.”

A weighty voice answered from further inside, accompanied by the sound of switches and moving furniture.

Before long, the noise ended with a few pats. Just as silence returned,

“Good evening.”

The door opened to reveal a stout, casually dressed stone lifeform, four emotionless eyes on its horned head staring at us.

“How can I help you two today?”

Unlike his appearance, however, the voice from within its head was jovial and welcoming.

“…Oh, right.” I recovered from my surprise. “Is this Kinip’s Socket?”

The person in front of us nodded its grey, smoothened head. Holding out one of its three hands,

“That’s right. I’m Kinip, nice to meet you.”

I extended mine out and shook hands with him.

“Evening. I’m KC, and this is Luda.”

“Good evening.” Following my introduction, Luda also greeted him with a small bow.

“Well, come in and make yourselves warm.”

Inviting us in, Kinip went back inside and rummaged through a few things further in the room.

Going through the door, we found ourselves within the space of a workshop. Various tools were arranged on tables or hung from the walls, and several machines laid themselves out throughout the relatively large room.

“Ooh.” Luda exclaimed.

Between some of the tools and put aside on certain tables, workings of bone and leather could be seen, as do other materials none of us were able to identify.

“Looks like you got it right after all.” I said to her.

A few seconds passed and Kinip came back with three chairs for us to sit down. Taking two of them off his hands, I placed them by the tables in the workshop. He put the third on the opposite side and sat down on it.

The stool must be really strong to bear that weight, I thought, seeing him move over what looks to be a third leg to a more comfortable position.

The two of us followed suit, sitting down and facing one another.

“I apologize that you had to come during our down period.”

Kinip began.

“I’ve been looking at a few places to open the storefront around the city, but negotiations are still in the early stages for now.”

Opening a terminal window in front of himself,

“But business should go about unhindered, no matter where we are; that’s what’s so good about having a merchandise channel, after all.”

Returning his attention to us.

“So, what are you looking for? I trust you have the qualifications for it?”

Luda and I looked at each other. Then,

“We’re looking to sell the monster parts we gathered, actually. Other materials too, if possible.”

I explained.

“Monster parts?” He jerked his shoulders back.

“From our hunting trip outside the city.” Luda added. “You can accept things from the local wildlife, can’t you?”

“Oh, definitely. Once you’ve sorted your inventory space, I’d be happy to take a look at it.”

“Okay.”

I stood up from my seat and turned to Luda, gesturing for us to come together for discussion.

While the two of us huddled over to one side of the room, Kinip walked over to a covered doorway and called out to us.

“Do you want some tea? Or anything hot to drink.”

“Oh, we’re fine, thank you for the offer.” I responded.

The stone lifeform nodded, then left the room.

Luda and I brought out our windows and showed them to each other.

“Are we selling everything, KC?” She asked.

“I think I will, Luda; aside from the candlebrush bulbs that is. Some of the materials look useful for crafting, but I’m focused on the Everest Accolade for now.”

Seeing that inventory windows were going to be used for the trading process, I relievedly put the body of the Madstain Sturgeon along with the rest of the stuff for sale.

“Me too, the circuits I work with don’t really deal with organic material that much.”

Sorting the stuff in her storage, an idea struck her head.

“Right, KC, can you give me some of the teemed metal? You’re going to sell it anyway, right?”

“Sure, how much?”

I had no reason to refuse; the huge amount of Nysertium untouched in the corner of my inventory was enough for my needs.

“Just this amount, thanks.” Luda interacted with my inventory window and set the quantity for each metal she needed.

About half, huh. That’s really not a lot.

After we dumped our materials in Carthena’s box, I had only a small amount of teemed metal left. We prioritized survival more than hoarding materials during Tavummen, so there wasn’t much on us except the stuff we hunted unrelated to Carthena’s list.

“I’m keeping some Garrote Bulb stuff as well, along with the longweed stems.” Luda said to herself.

“My lantern too, plus the construct’s body when it stops working.” I muttered.

Kinip returned with a mug of tea just as we were about to be done.

“Are you two new explorers?” He asked. “You came here because you knew I’m a moderator for the hunters’ exchange hub, right?”

“Yes, we did, right?” Answering him, I turned to seek confirmation from Luda’s face.

“I knew you had connections to the systemwide trade centre for parts.”

Finished with her inventory management, she put her window away and faced him.

“That’s enough for us to go to you, and…”

Done with mine, I also brought my attention back to the shopkeeper. However, my words trailed off seeing what he did with the mug in his hand.

Kinip’s head, which ended directly in his torso, lacked anything that resembled a neck. Where his shoulders would begin, though, a ridge extended all around the body, resembling a sort of natural armour on the stone lifeform.

In the gap between the layers where the collar would be… Kinip poured down the tea in his mug in a relaxed motion, and the brown liquid disappeared between that bit of space.

“Huh.” I voiced.

It should be noted here that the shopkeeper was in full normal clothing, wearing a sweater and a pair of trousers befitting someone in his own house.

“What is it?”

After savouring his drink, Kinip asked the two of us, both staring wordlessly at him.

“Your clothes will stain if you miss, right?” Luda brought her question up.

“Sometimes, yes. Happens to everyone.” He replied. Putting aside the mug, the shopkeeper straightened his back.

“Now, I trust that you have decided on your offers?”

“Ah, yes, we have.” It took a second to process what he meant, and I nodded my head.

Motioning to Luda that I would go first, I approached to his side of the room and pulled out my inventory window.

He brought out his own, a pale red holographic screen, from which a few lines extended to one end of the workshop.

Must be the trade channel, or something like that.

Soon after, a trading request appeared on my own screen, which I accepted.

“Let’s see.”

He browsed through the materials I had earlier allocated to sell.

“Bourt Sacs, Bulb Lipid… Serrates? And Teemed Metal too!”

His four eyes looked at us.

“You’ve had quite the adventure, didn’t you?”

“I guess.”

I only shrugged in response, while Luda nodded along.

After some time,

“What do you think?” I asked Kinip, who seemed to be mulling something over.

“…Ah, yes.” He returned his attention to the matter at hand.

“I’ll take most of them, KC. They’re reliable, useful parts, albeit nothing really special or rare. You’ll get a good rate for the Madstain Serrate and teemed metals, since they’re in demand right now.”

Lucky~ Luda quietly pumped her fist.

However,

“On the other hand… This Eminent Borejawn Enamel,”

He pointed at the fragment of the boulder in my inventory.

“I’ve not heard of Crowncelp parts reaching the eminent grade before. The best I’ve heard was of the ‘greater’ level, and that’s only from the sap contained in their main stalk.”

“So…?” Behind me, Luda asked.

“…It’s stil Borejawn Enamel, though; you’d be hard pressed to find someone in the Frontier to buy it as a material instead of a collectible.”

Kinip shook his head. Even so,

“Still, I’ll take a piece off of you, KC. Maybe I can find someone who can appraise its usefulness.”

“Alright, thank you, Kinip.”

Kinip stared at us, unmoving, for a few seconds.

Then,

“Hahah…”

He laughed.

“HAHAHAHHAAH…!”

His heavy voice resounded throughout the workshop.

Seeing him break into laughter all of a sudden, we didn’t know how to react.

“…Was it something we said?” Luda asked.

“Oh,” Kinip returned to his senses. Turning his attention back on us,

“…I’m sorry if I scared you two. I’m just so glad I stuck with my gut this whole time.”

He continued,

“All the other people from the exchange hub advised me to move to a smaller town. Stay away from large populations, pursue deeper waters, all that nonsense. They don’t believe that the wilderness on this planet could grow and prosper alongside civilization.”

He fiddled with the trade channel terminal, and a prompt appeared on my window, asking to approve the transaction and subsequent transfer.

Checking the credit amount displayed for the sale, I nodded towards him and proceeded.

“And look what came in today; something I have never seen before in my life, and it originated from right outside this city.”

Receiving my items, Kinip took a piece of the Eminent Borejawn Enamel and set it down on the table. Taking a hammer from among the tools hanging nearby,

*BAM*

He smashed it against the fragment; as expected, it didn’t budge at all.

“Woah!” I recoiled from the sound.

“The lustre is different, but this is Borejawn Enamel, all right.” He confirmed.

Why didn’t he just use his hand? Or is the stone he’s made of not that strong?

Shaking off that thought, I moved away from his side and gestured for Luda to go next.

She walked up to the stone lifeform and tried to show him the contents of her inventory. He shook his head and pointed to the red screen instead.

“Ah, right.” She responded, pressing the button to accept the trade request in her own window.

While handling Luda’s share of materials,

“Still, my friends deserve some credit for being right, if only partially.”

Kinip rambled on.

“Everyone who comes to Mara Artemis does it for the booming industry, the beautiful scenery, what have you. No one sets foot in here thinking about exploring the waters outside.”

Hence the down period happening in the first place, he sighed. Monster parts were the last thing normal civilians wanted to deal with, and his business felt it in spades.

“I see.”

Unable to provide my own input towards his conjecture, I only echoed my understanding.

After a few presses, Luda also finished her transaction, putting the window away after confirming that the exchange had passed through.

“Thanks for buying our stuff, Kinip.”

She made a small bow to the shopkeeper before returning to my side.

“The pleasure is all mine, Luda.”

He chuckled.

“It’s reassuring to see such young, new faces in the explorer trade, gives me some hope that someday Mara Artemis will be a focal point of exploration on Nadeum as well.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” I concurred.

We talked a bit more after, him showing us the bone and claw knives he’d been crafting as a hobby. The tooth-like blades were well made, despite the old-fashioned techniques (even by our ‘present day’ standards) involved in their construction. As more decorative collectibles than practical weapons, however, I didn’t hold any real interest in them.

---

“Guess I can see you around more often, right?”

As we left the workshop, Kinip saw us out the door. From his tone of voice, I could tell that he was thrilled to have met explorers like us here in Mara Artemis.

“We’ll drop by your new shop next time.” I responded, with no real intention to keep that promise.

With a nod, he closed the door behind us while we climbed up the stairs, back into the walkway where all the flats were.

“How much time do we have left, KC?” Luda asked.

“About half an hour?” I estimated. Bringing out the system window, I looked at the time displayed on it, making sure that it was local, planetary time instead of that for the actual game.

“Yup, more or less.” I confirmed my prediction.

“And getting here from the station took, like, fifteen minutes? Twenty?” She mulled.

“So we have only ten or so minutes.” I nodded back.

As soon as Luda asked for the time, I already knew where the conversation was heading; it was also something I looked forward to.

“That should be enough for some street food, at least!” I shot her a mischievous glance.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” She grinned in return. “Don’t want to keep Carthena waiting!”

Taking care not to make a lot of noise, we left the neighborhood and hurried back over to the busier streets of Bia Yingtal. Our noses and hungry stomachs took over and guided the rest of the way.

---

The end of our journey of instincts was a grilled seafood stall with the name of… Bia Scrumptiousness Grill? For some reason, the signage displaying the shop name looked weathered, despite being set above the roof.

Fortunately, the line was very short, the two of just queueing just behind two other parties: A mechanical lifeform, and a pair of Mun Shaen and another race I couldn’t identify.

More important than that,

“Everything looks so good.”

Both of us were drawn to the menu board hung to the side of the counter. Skewered seafood, various broths and noodles, even a selection of whole piping-hot dishes, impossible to enjoy while standing up.

There was less in-game jargon among the items in the menu, so it was easy for us to know what we were getting. Even so,

“Mynn udon, grilled Buchi crab, Panefurn strips…”

I read off the more unrecognizable dishes offered by the stall.

“Wait,”

My eyes laid on the name of the next dish.

“Fried Hama-Jonns!”

I exclaimed, startling the person in front of us with my voice. Apologizing and waving them off, I turned back to look at Luda.

“Ah, so people eat them here… I see.” She sighed, close to losing her mind.

“I don’t know how closely they are related to the Pocka-Jonns, but I don’t think they’ll be that different.” I continued.

“You’re getting them?” She asked.

Thinking about how elastic and chewy the anemone-like monsters felt in my hand back then,

“I think I will.” I nodded. “How about you, anything in mind?”

Luda read through the menu again. After a few seconds of contemplation,

“I’m definitely getting the skewers. The prawns look so juicy, and the squid rings too.”

Seeing the seafood sticks grilled behind the counter, I couldn’t help but agree.

“Sounds good, I’ll get one as well. And then,”

To complete the two other dishes,

“The fishcake bowl.” I settled on the final order.

“We’ll share that one, KC, if that’s okay with you?” Luda suggested, seeing that broth dishes are a bit difficult to carry around and eat from.

“Call.” I agreed. We could always come back to eat more after meeting Carthena at the station.

Decided on our order, we waited until it was our turn at the counter.

“Two, three…” I muttered, then, “Six prawn and squid skewers, please, as well as one fried Hama-Jonn.”

“We’ll have the fishcake bowl as well; with two spoons, thank you.” Luda added.

“Coming right up!” The attendant nodded. Relayed our order to the two other colleagues, the snail-headed employee went to wash their hands and began working the grill as well.

“They’re the same race as the one from last time, right?” I quietly asked Luda.

“From the souvenir shop?” She replied, but immediately after,

“Didn’t the manager say that they were working multiple jobs?”

She leaned over to whisper back in my ear.

“Do you think it’s actually the same person?”

Bruh.

Realization came over me.

They really might be, honestly.

The stall attendant’s attitude was a little different to them, from what I could tell. However, I couldn’t rule Luda’s theory out, seeing that I was still unable to tell individuals of this alien race apart.

While the two of us mulled over this new development in the workplace drama series, Bia Scrumptiousness Grill’s employees finished whipping our order up, setting the food by the counter before us.

“Your food’s ready.”

The attendant called out.

“Guys?”

Waving towards us, they brought us back to our senses.

“Ah, yes, of course.”

Saying nothing of our previous discussion, I processed the payment on the terminal and thanked them for the food.

Passing a wrap of three skewers over to Luda, I held the other wrap in my left hand. That left only my right free to pick another dish up, and there are two left on the counter: The fishcake bowl and the fried Hama-Jonn.

“I’ll hold on to this for you, KC.”

Luda reached for the covered plastic bowl, carefully lifting it off the counter.

“Thanks, Luda.”

Picking up the paper bag containing the fried Hama-Jonn, I decided to store it away in the inventory for now.

After that, opening the cover on the bowl,

“You want the first taste? I can feed you a spoon if you like.”

I scooped up a piece of fishcake soaked in broth.

“Nah, you go first. You can hold the bowl for me after.”

“Sure.”

Holding it up, I brought it to my mouth and slurped all of it at once.

The taste that spread out in my mouth was comforting, the rich flavours of the soup held by the clean, lightweight meat of the fishcake.

“Phew~” I gasped.

Then, taking the bowl off of Luda’s hand,

“Your turn.”

She used another spoon to take a sip of the broth. After helping herself to a fishcake of her own,

“Haah~” She let out a relieved sigh, feeling the warmth spread around her body.

“It’s good, right?” I asked her.

“It’s well made, and familiar too.” She nodded.

However,

“It’s difficult to eat like this, don’t you think?”

Luda held up her other hand, still holding the wrap of skewers untouched. Only after she mentioned it did I realize that enjoying all the food would be impossible while standing around, like we were doing now.

“Oh well.” I sighed.

Closing the cover on the fishcake bowl, I brought the inventory window out again, storing all the food inside, arranging them beside the paper bag from earlier.

“I don’t think we’ll have time to find somewhere to sit down and eat, do we?”

Luda looked around the area. Skimming the street, it didn’t look like there were empty tables for us to use.

“Guess not.” I pursed my lips.

Shrugging, Luda put hers away as well, before stretching her arms out.

“We’ll eat the rest after meeting back up with Carthena, then.” She said.

“Yep.” Agreeing with her, I wiped the broth off my lips and looked down the street.

“Let’s go.”

Taking the lead, Luda walked towards the entrance of Bia Yingtal, and I trailed after her.

---

The two of us left the area from the entrance before, heading back to Becavry station to meet back up with Carthena.

Along the way, I thought about what I would do next, once I received the Accolade back from her. Mulling over the Path detailed in my status, my mind wandered over to the person beside me.

“Say, Luda.”

I asked her.

“That cosmic storm or something that’s going over where you work, how long is it going to last?”

“The one on Kaxam?”

She tilted her head.

“It should have passed over by next morning, if the climate broadcast is correct.”

As the traffic lights indicated our turn to cross the road,

“Either way, it’ll be Day 3 before I can go back there again. Why do you ask, KC?”

Among the crowd of people walking in the same direction as us,

“Well, you’ve been accompanying me on my adventure since the afternoon, and I can’t help thinking I’m taking up your precious gameplay time with my own quests, you know…?”

I told her what I felt.

The issue had been plaguing the back of my mind ever since we landed in Mara Artemis, what with Luda just helping me with upgrading the Accolade all this while.

“Ah, that.”

She replied, an unfazed pout on her face like she’s always known to do.

Approaching the neon-lit streets of the commercial district,

“You can say that I’m looking for ideas to play the game.”

She began.

“The full version of Hyperspace Frontier is coming out in a few months, right? And we’ve already heard how the other members have been playing HF in their own ways from the chat group and all.”

“The fact that there’s no overarching, unifying aim to HF leaves it with near-limitless possibilities, but at the same time makes it so daunting, overwhelming the player with all these various ways to progress.”

She continued.

“I do have my position on Kaxam to run, which, by the way, I can quit at any time with little effect in real life; and the energy transport technology I’ve been working hasn’t even begun to reach its full potential.”

In the end,

“Maybe hanging out with you is just a way of taking a break from my own path in the game.”

Luda showed me an honest smile. I nodded back to her, indicating my understanding.

Then,

“What about you, KC?”

It was her turn to ask.

“From what I can see, you’re intent on finishing the quests in your Path, right?”

“For now, yes.” I answered her.

“Then what comes after that?”

“After the Path?”

Luda’s eyes remained on mine.

“You know that Day 3 will be our last day in this world, right? At least for now.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you aim to do by the time we finish that session? What drives you to play this game and not just stay cooped up in your ship all day?”

“…Hmm.”

It was a good question to ask.

In the beginning, I was just excited to see and play with the WJSN members in a setting so close to the group’s concept.

Strictly speaking, that’s still the strongest reason I have to keep turning up to the sessions so far; exploring the game together was an amazing opportunity I was incredibly fortunate to have.

However, coming in contact with this world and experiencing all I did; I can’t help feeling that my goals have changed somewhat.

It wasn’t easy for me to come up with an answer.

“A bit of a tough question, huh?”

Luda’s serious face broke into a helpless smile.

“I’m sorry for asking you that so suddenly.”

“Ah, no worries, Luda. I’ll come up with an answer for you soon.” I reassured her.

Beside me, Luda brought out her system window.

“Something simpler, then: Where should we eat our food? After meeting up with Carthena, that is.”

“Hmm.” I pondered over her second question instead.

Anywhere would be fine, but I can’t help thinking that my response would eventually help answer a few other questions.

Where, I wonder?

---

A) “A quiet place would be nice, chill for a while before dealing with whatever trial we have to go through next.”

B) “The port terminal, I guess. If someone needs our help, we can fly to them straight after.”

C) “After we land on Kamag, maybe? The ’98 line can join us for dinner if they want.”