Back to Work, Forward to Gaming

"Ohhh… First time working in what feels like half a year…"

"You okay? No issues?"

"I haven't gotten rusty, so I'm fine… sigh, but seriously, it was really just one day? More like one hour…"

My coworker let out a sigh.

"I'd rather use it to increase my days off. Can't this become a regular few-days' worth?"

"Hahaha. Same."

"Wouldn't a four-and-a-half-day weekend lifestyle be amazing?"

That would be like adding an extra day of rest after work every single day, while also doubling your days off.

"If it doesn't strain the brain, I'm totally fine with it. Wouldn't that be the best?"

"Right? Given that I spent half a year in there without becoming a vegetable, it's clearly a perfectly safe acceleration system."

"Wonder if clearing the second heroine unlocked acceleration in the config…"

"Ah. Come to think of it, I haven't checked. If that's possible, it'd be even more ridiculously amazing."

Full-dive VR with delicious food and mental acceleration… yep, that's the best.

The kind of thing that makes you never want to return to reality.

"Reality is garbage."

"Totally agree. I can't deal with customer complaints anymore…"

"It's because you're working so hard that we stay afloat. Thanks, really…!"

"Hmph! You're welcome!"

Well, that aside.

"I got Home, so now I can do alchemy and stuff too."

"Nice. Sigh… I wanted to get Home too. But I ended up spending my SP on Nika-chan's treatment and upgrades, so I can't get it."

"Well, Penpen already has it, so you might not need it anyway."

"That needs testing. If there's an advantage to everyone having their own Home, I'll have to work on acquiring it too."

Since Home became available, I grabbed it right before logging out yesterday. Following Penpen's advice, I set up a field and planted seeds in my Home before logging out.

Also, instead of pooling SP into Tria-chan, I had Miitei-chan learn it.

Compared to the frontline combat-type Tria-chan, I'm thinking of raising Miitei-chan as a rear support type.

I think Miitei-chan would be great at alchemy, you know? She's a Slime. A Slime! Intelligent ally-type Slimes totally synthesize potions inside their bodies, don't they?

"So anyway, I'm thinking of making Miitei-chan an alchemy Slime."

"Wasn't she the murder Slime that massacred everyone in the lab?"

"I didn't take any attack skills, so she's actually weak in combat. Her attack methods are basically body slam, piercing, and eating."

"Seriously? How'd she manage to annihilate the lab then?"

"Ambushes and tricks did the job. I never even triggered the event where you fight other rampaging test subjects. My guess is the dialogue choices let me avoid combat routes, so I didn't run into any tough enemies."

There was probably a route where Annette-chan, the test subject heroine, turns into a demon and you fight her. Actually… oh yeah, I put that Red Horn in my inventory and brought it with me. What should I do with it… It'll just be storage fodder for now.

"Nika-chan overlaps with Tria-chan as a frontline melee type. Well, she's a tank-healer, so her combat style is a bit different."

"Nika-chan's got such a cute face, yet she's basically the incarnation of aggro management, huh."

"I trained her for half a year. She definitely synergizes well with Alto-chan as a rear-guard shooter."

Nika-chan holds the front line and endures while Alto-chan snipes from the back. That's definitely a good combo. Simple but effective buddy system.

"Can't work end already? I wanna log into the game ASAP."

"Same."

"There's a mountain of things I want to test, but trying to do everything would take forever. Gotta plan what to investigate…"

"Alchemy first, I guess? I've had Penpen-chan teach Miitei-chan some stuff already."

I'd set that up in Auto Mode, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much she's grown when I get back in. Tria-chan's gathering materials.

"That too, but aren't you curious about the Majark Republic?"

"Ah, well yeah, I do want to get back at that country. Zord-kun and… I want to check on how the beastkin slaves we rescued are doing too. Let's hit up the Adventurers' Guild for intel."

"About that, the wiki's map section covered this, but apparently they won't tell you where countries are unless it's for a quest. Plus there's no actual map; they just give you directions on how to get there."

"Huh? Seriously? Why?"

"Maps are military intelligence."

If you know the terrain and positions, you can plan strategies around them. Fight wars more favorably. In other words, it's information that's "game over if you leak it".

"So if you ask to see a map, they'll tell you it's fine to use the map feature you fill in yourself, but absolutely never share it publicly. You'd get arrested for it."

"For real? Was spreading it out on the table the other day a bad idea?"

"That's only visible to players, so it was fine."

Apparently what's off-limits is copying it onto paper and selling it. Huh.

…

The lab data I recovered had maps in it, right? Guess that's pretty rare info.

"Hope the beastkin managed to escape and survive."

"Yeah. Depending on the situation, we might have Penpen help us lend them a hand again… With six of us, there's a lot more we can do."

Chatting away about the game, I made it through till just past the end of my shift.

Alright, game time! Game time! It's gaming time!