…
Seoyeon stepped into the lobby with bloodied clothes and exhausted eyes as he saw his teammates sitting on the seats.
Gorou grinned and Roderick laughed.
"Well… I wonder what happened." Gorou said as Seoyeon approached them.
Seoyeon could only let out a faint smile as he walked past, the others standing up and following behind him.
*Swing* The door opened as they all stepped out.
Then, Alice—walking behind the group—had a brilliant idea, her face lit up in excitement as she walked up and tapped Seoyeon's shoulders.
"Hey, Seoyeon."
"Yeah?" Seoyeon turned his head to look at her.
"You were transported just yesterday, right? Do you have any other clothes?"
Seoyeon took a moment to think, "I don't think so." He said as he saw Alice's eyes shimmer.
"Let's go shopping then!" She said, "We got some credits from the dungeon earlier, didn't we?"
Roderick nodded, "Good idea! I want to find a better shield anyways" He said as he pulled out his wooden shield lined with steel. "This thing's great but it just won't cut it for higher-level dungeons."
Fritz simply smiled as Gorou sighed, "Well… I also think we should go shopping, I need some energy restoration potions for future raids."
Alice raised her arm up in excitement, punching the air, "Alright! Let's go!" She happily exclaimed.
Seoyeon smiled, "Fine. I have some credits to spend anyway."
He opened up his interface,
[Credits: 4,650]
"This should be enough." He thought to himself.
…
The five of them arrived at the mall after some time, Seoyeon checked his phone;
[4:12 PM]
"C'mon, let's go!" Alice yelled out.
They all walked into the mall as Seoyeon's jaw dropped, a smile formed on his face, the mall was bright and lively, there were people everywhere, players and non-players alike.
Roderick rushed ahead as he sprinted to a store named; "Blades & Busters", with large greatswords all the way down to small daggers on display—and even shields, despite being a shop for weapons—visible from the windows. His face was like that of a child walking into a candy store as he happily checked out every shield within the shop.
Meanwhile, Gorou began walking towards a store called; "Spellbrand" with wands, staffs, and potions on display.
Fritz turned to look at me and Alice.
"I guess we're buying clothes for Seoyeon." He said.
Alice raised her eyebrow and glanced at Fritz, "Don't you wanna buy anything?"
He shrugged, "Nope."
Then, Alice grabbed my collar and began nagging at me as I walked with her, Fritz walking closely behind.
Seoyeon looked up and saw a sign, "Veria" with a small subtext written underneath, "Women's Apparel"
"H-huh!? Wait— What!?" Seoyeon yelled out.
…
Meanwhile, in Blades & Busters, Roderick saw a beautiful, shining, majestic silver shield adorned with golden patterns and red designs.
"I-Is this love at first sight?!" He said as he rushed to look at the shield, beholding it in all of its supposed glory.
A salesman walked up to him as he coughed to clear his throat, "I see you have an eye for good shields, sir!" He said, startling Roderick.
"O-oh! Yeah! I was just looking at this masterpiece!" He blurted out.
"Well. You have a good eye! This right here is the "Alauere D'enfrie," a shield imported from our western neighbor bordering the Republic of Ferausier—The Kingdom of Frelon—it was made by master blacksmith Veiss Raufier!" The salesman knocked on the metal of the shield as it made a distinct clanking sound.
"A-awesome!!! How much is it?!" Roderick yelled out.
The salesman smiled, "It costs 1,200 Credits, sir." Roderick replied instantly, "I'll buy it!" as the salesman directed Roderick towards the counter with the shield in hand.
The shield was placed onto the counter as Roderick handed the payment over to the cashier.
A saleswoman—a colleague of the salesman—walked up to him and grinned, "I heard what you said earlier, is this why you're getting so many sales? By scamming people?"
The salesman laughed, "What're you talking about? I didn't lie about anything… The shield was made by master blacksmith Veiss, I just didn't tell him that it's one of his worst creations since he primarily only makes swords."
"Lying salesman," she said as she chuckled while walking away.
…
In another part of the mall, Gorou began looking at the potions on display at Spellbrand as he looked around for an energy restoration potion.
The staff saw him and commented on how handsome he was as one of them approached him,
"Hello, sir! How may I help you?" She asked,
Gorou replied in a cold tone, not even bothering to look at her, "I'm looking for an energy restoration potion."
"Ah! We have energy restoration potions right here for only 100 credits each!" She said as Gorou took 3 and paid for them at the counter.
As soon as he finished paying, he walked out of the store paying no mind to anything else.
Gorou took a step out of the door as he noticed Roderick leaning on the glass of the store,
"You're as cold as ever, Gorou." He said,
"Hm?"
"Y'know they liked you, right?" Roderick chuckled at Gorou's smug face.
"Oh really? Wow. I didn't know… By the way, that shield you bought is a dud. It sucks." Gorou replied in a sarcastic voice, walking away without so much as a glance back.
"W-what!? Hey— Wait up!" Roderick yelled out as he ran to catch up to Gorou.
"What do you mean this thing's a dud!? I paid 1,200 credits for it!" He shouted.
"Then you got scammed, sorry to be the bearer of bad news." Gorou shrugged.
"Huhu…" Roderick began to feel disappointment, "Damn that lying salesman!" He screamed out as the salesman from Blades & Busters felt a chill run down his spine.
…
Meanwhile, Fritz and Alice waited outside of the changing room. Then, Gorou and Roderick walked up to them, "Why're we in a women's clothing store, aren't we picking out clothes for Seoyeon?" Roderick asked.
Alice smiled at the two as Gorou and Roderick looked at Fritz who had the face of a father tired of his daughter's shenanigans. The two then immediately understood the situation.
"H-hey… So, I think we should actually pick out proper clothes, no?—" Seoyeon said as he opened the changing room's door.
Gorou wheezed as Roderick desperately began holding in his laughter.
Alice commented, "Oh my goodness!... It looks so great on you! You're prettier than me!" As she saw Seoyeon in a frilly white dress which reached to his knees, with white heels and a white bow on his hair.
"I wish I could just sink into the ground right now…" He commented, drowning in embarrassment.
Seoyeon's face was monotone, his eyes dull and his face frowning, although Alice could tell that he was burning up in humiliation.
Seoyeon looked at Fritz who simply gave him a thumbs up, nothing more. He then turned to look at Gorou who simply smiled and said, "I think you look pretty…"
…
Seoyeon looked at Gorou with a serious face as he slowly began laughing—ticking Seoyeon off even more.
He slammed the door shut, "I'm taking this off!" as Alice knocked on the door loudly, "Hey! Wait! We still have six more outfits to try!" Roderick couldn't hold it in anymore either and began laughing loudly too.
…
Later, they proceeded to visit a department store as they headed for the clothes section.
Seoyeon looked at a black longcoat and white button-up shirt.
"This looks great."
Roderick replied, "You'd look dapper." While Gorou asked with a puzzled look, "Why're you always wearing what is basically an office uniform?"
Seoyeon looked back at Gorou, "Maybe because it's easy for the author of a webnovel to draw? I mean, y'know that one anime, Single Leveler? Doesn't the main character only wear things like that?"
Gorou clicked his tongue, "So you're trying to look like a manga protagonist."
He nodded, "Well… More like a Manhwa protagonist, but yeah."
"Manhwa, Manga, Manhua, it's all the same. Anyways, are you sure you want to buy that?"
"Yeah, I'm positive!" Seoyeon replied.
"Then get some more clothes at least, you're not just going to wear that everyday." Gorou said as he stepped back and brought out his phone. Seoyeon smiled, looking at the black longcoat, and happily grabbing it.
…
The five walked out of the department store in their new gear as Seoyeon swished his longcoat back, confidently walking.
"You look awesome, Seoyeon." Gorou said, "Still, you looked even cooler in that… Dress…" Roderick could barely finish his sentence before laughing once more,
"Hey! Shut up!" Seoyeon's face turned red.
"Are we going to eat dinner together?" Fritz asked the group,
"Nah. I have something to do." Gorou replied,
Alice got a notification on her phone, she looked at it, then began running;
"I just got some urgent news! I'll be busy! See ya guys! This day was fun!" Alice shouted as she slowly ran into the horizon.
"Well, Roderick, Seoyeon?"
Roderick spoke up, "We were planning on just getting dinner at our hotel… Wanna come with us?"
Fritz shook his head, "I'm good. I'll just get takeout, I'll see you guys next time." He said as he waved back at the group before walking off.
Roderick and Seoyeon began walking back to their apartment, passing by roads and stores on the way.
Seoyeon commented, "The sky's beautiful." As he looked up, staring at the glorious sunset illuminating the clouds a faint orange.
Streetlights turned on as the night set in, right in time as Seoyeon and Roderick arrived at their apartment, "Mattea Apartments"
Roderick opened the door, "It's good to be back." as he gestured for Seoyeon to follow him.
Seoyeon and Roderick went through a separate door from within the lobby and found themselves in a quiet and peaceful restaurant. "I heard they make some really good lasagna." Roderick remarked.
They sat themselves down on a table as they ordered their food, most of dinner went by without so much as a word from the two as they busied themselves with their own tasks—Roderick started doing math on his phone, calculating his earnings and what he'd spend his credits on next.
"Damn that salesman…" He muttered as Seoyeon looked at him, "Hm? What'd you say?"
"Oh, it's nothing."
The cafeteria became quiet once more—only the sound of jazz music echoed throughout—as well as the occasional chatter of the waters, who were simply standing by with no customers in sight aside from the two.
Seoyeon took a sip of the tea on the table as he scrolled through his phone on an app Gorou had recommended him earlier, a social media app for players.
Headlines were abuzz about tower clears, dungeon raids, and the like, as well as the occasional content creator.
"I guess they still have to make a living, even in another world…" Seoyeon thought.
…
Later, after dinner, the two returned to their respective rooms with full stomachs.
Seoyeon lied on his bed as he opened his phone.
[You have been invited to the groupchat:
He smiled, putting down his phone, and staring blankly at the ceiling above him.
…
Seoyeon opened up his interface,
[Level 11]
"I'm level 11 now…" He said…
"That means I have access to the gacha system." His mind once again began racing with thoughts and memories of when he used to play Withering Moon.
…
Then, he took a quick glance at his wardrobe—now filled with clothes—as a notification lit up his phone.
*Click* Tapping on the notification, it opened up the group chat that Roderick had invited him to which also had Fritz, Gorou, and Alice.
The notification was of a photo sent to the groupchat, a photo of Seoyeon blushing in the dress from earlier with Gorou and Alice laughing in the background, Fritz stoically smiling, and Roderick smiling with his mouth open in the foreground, facing the camera.
Seoyeon smiled, clearing up his thoughts, and closing his eyes.
"I'll worry about the gacha system tomorrow." He said to himself as he soon fell asleep.
…