Evening Game
Chapter 25

The following day, like usual, Chione waited for him after school in the guild. She was the first thing that caught his attention when he walked into the building. Her face definitely had something to do with it, being the only one that remained completely unchanged from their real-life selves, but probably also because of the unnecessarily dull armor she wore.

While the beginner’s clothing did protect her body from the elements, it could hardly do anything to protect her or boost her stats. Like usual, Chione made her way toward the receptionist. Unlike usual, however, Ethan reached out and grabbed her shoulder, prompting her to turn around.

“We’re going shopping today.”

Unlike weapons shops, armor shops tend to be mixed in the same complexes as clothing stores. This was probably because armor acted as clothes in one way or another, and vice versa.

“This is one big mall…”

Located not far from the city center was Hatasdei Shopping Center. The in-game description explained it as being a repurposed launch site. Above the building were large steel towers, probably meant for placing and launching rockets. The towers weren’t as high as Adastra’s, however, not even close. Still, it was quite a breathtaking sight.

“I don’t even know this place exists.”

“Adastra is the smallest capital in terms of size.”

Ethan headed for the entrance, Chione skipping to catch up with him. Upon entering, they were greeted with rows and rows of shops containing various colorful, sparkling clothing.

“Are all these buyable?”

Chione asked as she walked up to a store and checked the contents from outside. Each store looked smaller in terms of size, each only able to hold four to five people. There were still some larger stores, rows of clothing filling one end to the other. In between those stores were an assortment of other stores. Restaurants, cafes, toy stores, and even bookstores. It felt very much like a real-life mall. Some of them did have their doors closed, signaling no entry, but the majority were open to the public.

Chione approached one of the toy stores. She entered through the front door and looked around. The store was filled with stuffed animals and dolls. She took one of the teddy bears tucked in the middle and brought it close. The teddy bear had brown skin with black eyes.

“You want it?”

“No, I just think it looks cute.”

She returned it to its original position. Not thinking much, Ethan grabbed it and tapped on it. A screen appeared on his display, showing more information along with the price. This game didn’t require their players to bring the desired item to the cashier. With a few taps, the little teddy bear was in his inventory. Chione saw the item disappear in front of her eyes.

“I don’t know you like-”

She didn’t finish her sentence when a trade offer appeared in front of her, the virtual teddy bear in one of its slots.

“... Are you sure?”

“Of course. Why else would I buy it?”

“Umm… thank you.”

While fidgeting she tapped on her screen. The bear moved from Ethan’s inventory to hers. She brought it out of the inventory, holding the little bear in her palms. She brought it to her face and snuggled it, a smile appearing from behind the bear.

“Thank you! I’ll treasure it.”

“No problem…”

Only now that it sunk in what had just happened. Ethan realized that he had just bought her a gift, a teddy bear at that. He felt his face hot, but he couldn’t hold his grin after seeing how happy she was.

“Just think of it as a thank you for the lessons.”

He said while trying to hide his shyness.

“Umm… let’s go, we need to get you proper gear.”

“Alright.”

She smiled and followed him out.

“Whoa… I didn’t expect there to be these kinds of stuff as well.”

Ethan followed Chione as she darted from one store to the other. The armor was mostly located in the basement, one floor below the extravagant and expensive clothing stores that filled the floors above. Despite being a floor dedicated to armor and weaponry, the entire floor was sparkling clear, no different from the ones above.

“I think that one looks cute.”

“Don’t let the appearance fool you.”

Ethan was reminded of Calista, who wasted her money on clothing. It was a blessing that the ones she bought had agility-boosting properties, and her playstyle ended up making use of those properties.

“Which one should I buy?”

Ethan thought for a moment.

“Ah…”

“Ah?”

“No, it’s just… I completely forgot about the semi-auto sniper.”

For all their games up till that point, Chione always used the bolt action. In real life, it would be a one shot one kill type of weapon, but the various armor in the game countered it. It would take many more bullets to kill someone with a semi-auto, but at the same time better flexibility.

“Is choosing my build that important?”

“Yes. It depends on the kind of weapon you use. Since you’re a bolt action user, the best build would be a strength build combined with either assault or defense, depending on your playstyle.”

A strength build allowed players to carry heavier weapons and deal more damage when using something physical. The latter didn’t affect sniper rifles, but the former helped in moving from one place to the other. From there, the user could combine it with an assault build, which allowed them to more easily hide from their enemies. Things became hard when they were discovered, as their low defense would mean they were prone to get killed. The second option would be the defense build. These players were bulky, thanks to the layers of armor, making them easier to spot, but at the same time they could withstand more bullets.

On the other side of the spectrum would be the agility builds. Like strength, agility builds could go well with both assault and defense builds, but the appropriate weapon would be a semi-auto sniper rifle, one that can send multiple bullets to the enemy and immediately reposition themselves.

“But you haven’t tried a semi-auto so…”

It would be a waste to invest in armor now, only to replace that Chione preferred the semi-auto, but at the same time he couldn’t really let her go around without anything to protect herself.

“Heya heya, look who’s here.”

Ethan and Chione brought their eyes from the storefront to the direction of the sound. Coming toward them from the stairs was Kennard with someone beside her.

“... Fiona?”

“I told you to use my in-game name, dumbass!”

Fiona yelled at him, causing Ethan to jump back a bit.

“Fiona?”

Chione asked. Fiona probably didn’t say anything when she let Chione into his house a while ago.

“Sigh… I’m my dumbass brother’s little sister, Fiona. But call my in-game name when you meet me here, It’s Informant.”

“I see. Nice to meet you.”

Chione smiled and shook her hand. Ethan meanwhile pulled Kennard away from the girls and whispered into his ears.

“What are you doing with my sister?”

Kennard knew Fiona from Ethan’s middle school days, when he came around to play, but that didn’t mean he should have known that she played the game as well.

“It’s been a while since I left, so I thought of asking her about the updates.”

The game was updated often, especially considering that it was recently launched. Most of the updates consisted of bug updates and security fixes, hardly something the average player should care about. Kennard himself didn’t play for long, as he quit only a month after they played.

“... A month of absence isn’t much, though.”

“It’s enough to fall behind.”

“No, it’s not.”

Ethan then realized what his true reasons were.

“Are you sure you want to be with my sister, of all people?”

Ethan asked while whispering, wary of the two other girls. Done with their introduction, they turned around to approach the two, but Ethan pulled Kennard further away, his mouth still near Kennard’s ears.

“You’re blind to her good side, man.”

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Ethan threw Kennard away, slightly disappointed that he didn’t return for him.

“You’re such a meanie.”

Kennard complained, but Ethan ignored him and returned to Chione.

“Oh, by the way, are you two entering the event?”

“The battle royale? Yeah, we are.”

Fiona glared at Ethan while approaching Kennard.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Alright, alright.”

She glanced back at Ethan and Chione, a twisted smile forming on her lips.

“See you on the battlefield.”

“Yeah, good luck you two.”

The pair left them.

“Your friend and your sister sure have their quirks.”

Chione stated flatly, Ethan simply shrugging at her comments.

“We all have our quirks. So, armor?”

He asked as he brought his eyes back to one of the armors shining on the storefront. That one had a thick black vest with black clothing behind it, covering the wearer from top to bottom, most likely a defense-based armor.

“Ethan.”

Chione called, causing Ethan to look back at her. He realized that her red eyes were sparkling, her expression serious and motivated.

“Let’s defeat them.”

Ethan let out a faint smile.

“We will.”