"Hmm~"
Argo let out a meaningful hum as she looked at the four of them standing in pairs.
"Kirito-san, the Last-Hit Maniac, and Yu-san, the gloomy loner who only grinds the jungle and dreams of dying from cigarettes. How much would each of you pay for information on the rumored beautiful female player?"
"Why is my description so long and so derogatory?"
Satoru's brow twitched slightly.
"It's not what you think."
Kirito also stepped in on Satoru's side.
"What's this about a rumored beautiful female player anyway…"
Asuna gave a wry smile.
"Speaking of that, it was originally just referring to you, Asuna-chan."
Argo blinked.
"After all, being part of the assault team with a face and figure that make people drool, you're bound to become a hot topic. Quite a few people have already been asking me for your information."
"Ugh…"
"I don't really get why some players get so hyped whenever they run into a female character in a game."
Satoru shook his head, walked over, and sat down at the narrow bar counter beside Argo.
As if a bug had crawled next to her, Argo shifted away from him in disgust.
"And isn't it you, filthy Yu-san, who abducted that latest 'beautiful girl' player?"
"After all, if it weren't for that dramatic duel at Urbus Plaza, this story wouldn't have spread so fast. There were quite a lot of spectators, you know."
"I've been the victim from start to finish."
Satoru spoke to the NPC bartender behind the counter.
"Give me a dark beer."
The attendant nodded respectfully and presented him with a large glass.
Without warning, Satoru raised it and drank a third in one go. The fizzy bite of foam against his lips and throat, along with the swelling satisfaction as it flowed into his stomach, made him let out a long breath.
When it came to food and drink, Aincrad's level of detail was incredibly high. It was even possible to experience flavors that didn't exist in the real world.
After all, in reality, you couldn't exactly eat something like a Windwasp the size of a human head.
Though he didn't think that needed to be on the menu.
"You… you're actually drinking!"
Argo pointed at him.
"I'm just having a bit of beer. I don't see the problem."
"How can a minor drink alcohol?!"
"How am I a minor…? I'm twenty. No, wait, maybe twenty-one."
Satoru paused to think. Age was strangely abstract without the ritual of celebrating birthdays, and since he hadn't celebrated one in a long time, even he wasn't sure anymore.
"Tsk. So that's how it is. No wonder you give off that decaying, rotten aura of society. You're already a corrupted adult whose very soul has been stained."
"Hey, I'm still in the prime of my youth, okay?"
"Huh, Nero is already that old?"
Sheeta looked at him curiously.
"But you still look like a kid."
"Are you complimenting me for looking young? Thanks."
"What does beer taste like?" she asked innocently.
"You can try it."
Satoru answered casually.
"Anyway, it seems alcohol in this game doesn't actually make you drunk. In a way, that's a bit disappointing, but on the other hand, just tasting it won't cause any problems."
As soon as he finished speaking, an odd silence fell over the group.
...
Five minutes later, all five of them were sitting at the bar, each holding a glass that was already more than half empty.
Satoru fell into deep thought.
Do high schoolers these days all crave rebellion this much? I only said it casually… and they all went ahead and drank more than half a glass.
"Then, a toast to reaching the Second Floor!"
Argo raised her glass boldly.
Didn't you already use that excuse before?
Still, after a few voices chimed in, Satoru drained the rest of his drink.
"So, Kirito, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Argo spoke again.
"Oh right. Yu-san, don't get that smug look on your face. You're still paying for my meal later."
"Another one. Make it stronger."
Satoru gritted his teeth as he spoke to the bartender.
"Let's start from the beginning."
Kirito spun his glass on the table, lowering his voice.
"A week ago, Asuna and I went to a blacksmith to upgrade a weapon. Unfortunately, it failed, and the weapon ended up shattering."
"Same here."
Satoru took his new drink.
"But enhancement success rates are unpredictable. If you don't approach it calmly and just hope for a huge success, you'll only end up taking a double hit mentally. You probably weren't prepared enough."
"You've upgraded weapons there too?" Kirito asked, surprised.
"Yeah."
"And your weapon shattered too?"
"Hmm… I think two of them."
Satoru shrugged.
"But that's not anyone's fault. It's just the system. If you keep at it, you'll eventually get what you want."
Kirito's expression suddenly turned sympathetic.
"But… in Aincrad, failed upgrades shouldn't destroy a weapon outright. That only happens when all upgrade attempts are used up, when the weapon is basically scrap."
Satoru froze.
"To be precise, at least during the beta that never happened. Of course, things might have changed now, but we confirmed Nezha's fraud because later, we recovered the rapier that should have been destroyed."
"We should thank Argo for that."
Asuna smiled at her.
"She told us about the 'Show All Items' option. It let us retrieve the weapon that was only in a 'transferred state.'"
"It's fine, Asuna-chan. Kirito-chan paid for it anyway."
"…"
Kirito fell silent.
"Wait… what's going on here?"
Satoru's face darkened.
"Our theory is that Nezha used some method to swap out customers' weapons."
Asuna explained calmly.
"He used a similar-looking weapon to deceive them, then deliberately broke a worn-out weapon with no upgrade attempts left, making it seem like the customer's weapon was destroyed. Meanwhile, the actual upgraded weapon ended up in his inventory, which he then resold for a profit."
Satoru pressed a hand to his forehead, eyes wide.
"I… got scammed?"
"Nero, I told you that success rate was way too low."
Sheeta huffed and poked his shoulder.
"You didn't believe me and even lectured me like some expert."
"I actually… got scammed?"
Satoru muttered to himself.
"And you were even going on about it with that proud 'I'm not unlucky' attitude."
Argo added coldly, clearly enjoying his misfortune.
I, a professional power-leveler, a player who's even scammed others before, actually got scammed?!
Satoru sank into deep self-doubt.
"It's not surprising. His technique is just far too refined. Even now, I still don't know how he managed to pull off such a flawless swap right in front of someone. Honestly, if I hadn't felt something was off and used a stealth skill to follow him after he packed up, I wouldn't have thought much of it."
Kirito gave a wry smile.
"What happened after that?"
"Nezha is actually one of the 'Legend Braves' members. They're the reserve team we saw this evening. Pretty distinctive, right? Their names are all famous heroes like Orlando, Beowulf, and Cúchulainn."
"That group… now that you mention it, their levels and skill proficiency lag behind the front line," Argo said, frowning. "They make up for it with high-end, even excessively upgraded equipment. That's why Diavel allows them to participate. Looking at it now, there's a good chance that equipment was bought with money from Nezha's scams."
"After all, having gear like that at this stage is just too unbelievable. Unless each of them works as hard as one and a half Yu, it wouldn't be possible."
"So I've been working for someone else this whole time…"
Satoru sighed in deep frustration.
"So, what do you want to do? Report him? I've got plenty of channels to make this spread everywhere by tomorrow."
Argo grinned confidently.
"That's rare… you didn't even name a price this time."
"Oh my. No matter what, I still value our personal relationship, Yu-san. I deeply sympathize with your loss. And besides… if it comes to picking sides in something like this, there's really no question."
Although her tone still carried a hint of sarcasm, her principles were sound.
After all, the people currently seeking upgrades were all players pushing the front lines. Exploiting them for money would indirectly weaken the top players, slowing down or even jeopardizing the progress of clearing this death game. It was a completely selfish act. Even a shrewd merchant like Argo sold strategy guides in her shop without charging Col.
…Wait. No. She scammed me out of tens of thousands of Col. I can't exactly call her selfless.
"For a merchant, reputation is everything. If those guys dare to pull something like this, they should be ready to face the consequences."
"But it's not that simple," Satoru said. "If you accuse him without solid evidence, you'll be the one taking the hit for spreading rumors."
"Even if you confront him directly and accuse him of swapping weapons, someone like Nezha, who can swap items without you noticing, could just switch it back in the next instant and show you the original weapon. You'd have no argument left. And after that, he could just repeat the process, throw the blade into the furnace, and break another weapon right in front of you. You'd be completely helpless."
"Besides, their goal is already being achieved. It's all for their guild's benefit. With high-end equipment, they can quickly catch up to the front lines. Making money requires brains, but grinding EXP just takes effort. And the upcoming floor boss drops a huge amount of EXP."
"Once they've firmly established themselves and become a top-tier, even the strongest group, exposing the scam afterward won't mean much anymore."
"Time… is running out."
Satoru spoke slowly.
"You're really experienced with this kind of thing, aren't you, Yu-san?"
"In a competitive environment, it's not strange for people to do this sort of thing."
Satoru shook his head.
"As the victim, of course I'm annoyed. But if I were one of them, I might also take the chance."
"After all, no matter how terrible something is, as long as it doesn't happen to you, it just feels like another story."
"Nero really is strange."
Sheeta held her glass as she spoke.
"Hey… you're still drinking?"
"So the only way is to figure out how he swaps the weapons and expose him so he can't deny it," Kirito said, nodding. "But… I have no idea what method he's using."
"To switch that fast, and without any visible movement…"
Argo, Asuna, and Kirito all fell into silence, deep in thought.
The only sound left was the quiet gulping of Sheeta drinking.
"Hey, you're not getting addicted, are you? I'd feel guilty if I led an innocent girl astray."
"Burp."
Sheeta let out a cute burp.
"So, does Nero want to take responsibility?"
"Absolutely not."
"So it was just for fun? You clearly won, yet it was Nero who forced me to stay by your side."
"You followed me yourself! You scheming little devil!"
"We're discussing something important here. Can you two stop flirting, Yu-san?"
Feeling that sharp, needle-like gaze, like he was being looked at as if he were something filthy, Satoru could only sigh helplessly.
"Isn't there already a method for quickly swapping weapons?"
"You figured it out?" Kirito asked in surprise. He had been thinking about it for days without any progress.
"It's not that I figured it out. I learned that skill a long time ago. You were all too focused on thinking he was performing some kind of trick, which made things more complicated than they needed to be. This is a game. Everything follows system rules."
"That guy Nezha is still running his stall, right?"
Satoru stood up.
"I'll expose him face to face."
Compared to losing to Sheeta's talent, getting scammed like this was what truly irritated a no-life gamer.