A journey to another world starting from a sword

"Phew..." Feeling the pleasantly warm river water slide through her fingers, Asuna waved her arms toward the bank. "No problem!"

So they all put on their swimming rings and went into the water. It was really great that the fourth floor didn't change its weather according to the outside climate like the other floors.

If it were really as hot as it is in December... people would die.

"Let's go." Dante gestured for Asuna to walk in front, while he would bring up the rear.

Swimming in the game's river with a swimming ring is a wonderful feeling; the sensation and resistance of the water against the skin are also different from reality.

“You need to swim east.” With the few memories he had left, Mitt recognized the direction of the main street on the fourth floor.

"And be careful not to get separated by the river," she warned urgently. "Everyone, stay closer together."

“Listen to me…” Asuna, who had stopped ahead, turned around and said, “Let’s hold onto each other’s swimming rings.”

As she spoke, she reached her right hand into the space between Mitt's body and the swimming ring, while using her left hand to hold Silica in place in the same way, and the others followed suit.

That way you can rest assured.

So they formed an approximate straight line, swimming forward in a way that supported each other.

Chapter 95: The Water City "Robia"

If one had to describe the theme of the fourth layer in one word, then "waterway" would undoubtedly be the most fitting.

The cobblestone roads that stretched from the town to the suburbs have been transformed into deep waterways, and the gray buildings that were once under construction have been raised and painted a bright white.

The game design team probably used the real-life water city of Venice as a reference when building this town.

However, only a part was completed during the closed beta test, and they were forced to show a portion of it in a way that lowered players' expectations. Now, however, it is already complete.

"Wow! What a beautiful town!" As soon as she stepped ashore, she passed through a moss-covered stone archway at the end of the slope, and Asuna exclaimed with half the excitement she usually did.

She placed her palm on her forehead to shield herself from the light reflected off the white building.

She had just emerged from the water, and water droplets were flowing freely down her skin. Her wet hair clung messily to her forehead and cheeks, and her semi-transparent corset clung tightly to her body, revealing even a slight difference in color on her chest and buttocks.

Everything about them—the person, the clothes, the movements—was like a model in a photoshoot. I really wanted to take a camera and capture this moment, to preserve this beauty that was worthy of being on the cover of a top fashion magazine.

"Really?" "It's even more beautiful than the second and third floors."

Silica and Lisbeth began comparing the town to "Urubas" and "Zimford".

In fact, the main street on the second floor, "Urubas," is not famous for its scenery, since its theme is "ranch." The third floor, "Zimford," is a towering wooden building, which should be more spectacular than this floor. However, in terms of beauty, wooden buildings cannot compare with stone buildings.

"Is it different from the closed beta?" Dante asked, walking up to Mitt, who had stopped in front of the archway.

“Yes, the changes are huge.” Making no attempt to hide his surprise, Mitt turned to Dante and said, “My memories of the closed beta are starting to fade.”

"We can explore properly later, but anyway... let's put our clothes back on first." Dante politely turned his gaze to the empty space beside Mito, who was also in a terrible state. Meanwhile, Asuna, who was at the front, was already using the game window to put her clothes back on.

Since he needed to enter the city, he couldn't go in in his current state. Even if only NPCs saw him, most people wouldn't have an exhibitionist streak, so he changed into his new gear.

"It's a gondola! Wow, it's amazing! It's just like Venice!" As they entered the town, Asuna excitedly ran towards the dock again.

On the old-fashioned dock, rows of gondolas are quietly moored, their curved keels like elegant curves painted on the water.

A gentle breeze rippled the water's surface, causing the gondolas to sway gently, producing a dull, rhythmic clanging sound.

"We're going to activate the portal, aren't we?" Asuna called out as she turned around.

“Hmm.” Dante followed to the dock. “This should be the main mode of transportation in ‘Robbia’.”

"Welcome to 'Robia', everyone! Everything is only fifty cors!"

The boatman closest to them was loudly soliciting business.

Fifty cors may not sound expensive, but considering that you mainly rely on this for movement in town, it seems a bit pricey.

Because this is probably the most common mode of transportation in this town, much like a bus, it often costs several hundred Cors a day, since every time you need to move around a little, you have to spend fifty Cors.

As for the option of using the swimming ring stored in the inventory for movement, that's no longer under consideration. We can take it out and use it for swimming when we reach a more leisurely floor later, but then it will be for fun, not for traveling.

"Let's go." Dante jumped onto one of the black gondolas first, followed closely by Asuna.

“Ah…” Silica looked at Dante’s two-seater boat, which was already full, and her outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

"..." Seeing this, Mit invited Silica to take another boat, and she turned to Lingyin and Lisbeth and said, "You two should also find a boat and get on. Just say the destination is Transfer Gate Square."

“Okay—” Lisbeth obediently called out.

On the other side, after Dante closed the purple payment window, the gondolier standing at the stern rowed his long oar.

The small black boat moved forward smoothly, and Asuna, sitting at the bow, cheered in the wind.

"Wow--"

Is it so fun?

Dante's gaze gently fell on Asuna, who was looking around like a child. Asuna seemed to notice and turned to look at him.

The two gazed at each other, smiles twinkling in their eyes.

Okay, that's pretty interesting!

Gondolas glide slowly through the town, as if you've stepped into a fairytale world, carrying dreams as you stroll on the water.

The sound of water lapping against the gondola was like a gentle murmur, making him want to immerse himself in the moment.

"Look, look!"

Dante's sleeve was gently tugged, and he looked in the direction Asuna was pointing. On the left side of the river, there was a two-story building with a wooden sign that read "FOR SALE" hanging on the door.

"It looks like the houses over there are for sale!" Asuna's eyes seemed to sparkle even more as she said this.

“This should be the houses available for players to buy,” Dante said with interest. “I just wonder what the price will be.”

"It'll definitely be very expensive." Asuna pouted, looking like it would cost millions of Cors. "But, if we work hard, we'll be able to afford it someday!"

As for how long it would take, Asuna was quite confident, after all, she already had nearly 100,000 Corsos in assets.

"Hmm!" Dante smiled encouragingly at her, "However, you can't buy the guild headquarters here. Although Robia is indeed a beautiful tourist city, moving around here would be a huge hassle."

“Indeed,” Asuna agreed with Dante. “It’s really hard to imagine how the residents here buy things.”

"Because they're not as rushed as us adventurers, they have plenty of time to leisurely spend each day."

"Pfft, hehehe..." Asuna's laughter was as melodious as silver bells. She covered her mouth and chuckled, which made Dante shake his head and smile as well.

Pleasant times always pass quickly, and a rather large dock appeared ahead.

Typically, the transfer gate plaza is located in the very center of the main street, where gondolas are skillfully maneuvered to rest sideways on the dock south of the plaza.

"Welcome back again!"

When the boatman tried to solicit passengers, Asuna reached out and tugged at Dante's sleeve again, saying expectantly, "You have to take me back too!"

"Hmm..." Staring into Asuna's sparkling eyes, Dante seemed to realize something.

Give me back the cool, aloof young lady you used to be! What's with this current act of acting all cute and coquettish?

He sensed that after reaching the fourth level, the boundary between Asuna and him became much blurred. No, was it before that? When exactly did it begin...? Dante pinched the bridge of his nose, deep in thought.

This was the first time that the transfer portal had been made effective by Diabel himself, and he generously gave this opportunity to the LA player team that had obtained the Boss.

A beam of blue light rose from the transfer monument, reaching straight into the sky.

Although it was an opportunity to increase reputation, no one really wanted to be watched by the "City Expansion" players. So they walked to a corner of the square and spied on the many players jumping out of the swaying blue teleportation portal.

It's easy to distinguish between tourists and combat-oriented players. Those standing in the square cheering for the beautiful town in front of them are probably just tourists, while some heading towards the commercial district to buy slightly better standard equipment are mid-level players who are trying to catch up with the raiding groups.

Hunting lower-level monsters with newer equipment is safer and more efficient, but it's normal for players hunting on the front lines to earn more than those in the middle levels.

"Let's go too." Having seen enough, Dante took a step, and the girls behind him followed.

The noise behind me gradually faded away, as if it had never happened at all.

-----------------

Even on the second day, there were still many players coming and going at the transfer gate plaza.

Although she didn't know if appearing out of thin air could be considered "going in and out," Lisbeth firmly believed that since it was a "door," then that statement was correct.

It seems that everyone's enthusiasm for sightseeing has not been diminished, or perhaps the players who "expanded their cities" have returned to their starting towns and spread the word, which has made even more players interested in visiting.

"Business shouldn't be too bad this afternoon," Lisbeth thought to herself.

"Let's choose this spot." She turned back and pointed to a corner of the square next to an Italian-style food stall, showing Lingyin the area.

Located next to the transfer gate plaza, this place is sure to have a good flow of customers, and there are restaurants right next door, so you can buy something to eat if you're feeling peckish.

“Okay.” Lingyin, who was carrying the vendor’s carpet with Lisbeth, had no objections.

After tossing the heavy carpet to the ground, Lisbeth let out a deep breath and twisted her arms. "Ha—so tiring. Why does a blacksmith like me have to fight?"

“Haha…” Lingyin smiled wryly at Lisbeth’s casual complaint, “But President Dante didn’t force us to participate in the next mission.”

Argo, an intelligence broker familiar with the guild leader, discovered a quest that didn't exist during the closed beta test. It might be related to defeating the boss, but it seems to be a very troublesome quest.

“But—” Lisbeth spread out the carpet, “we spent the whole morning hunting monsters around town with Mitt and Silica.”

As a result, she had to come here to set up a stall in the afternoon, which was completely different from when she was alone.

During her activities on the first and second floors, she would carefully head to the mine, clearing away any monsters blocking her way, then using a pickaxe to mine the ore from the stone walls, processing and smelting it back home, and finally selling it to the NPC shop.

Thinking about it carefully, it's actually quite monotonous. Apart from the initial novelty, it becomes a mechanical task and a fixed two-point line life.

Now, you don't need to collect them yourself; players with various ores will come to you.

Once the guild grows bigger, Mit will no longer be able to guide him through leveling up in such detail. Of course, the "Crab's Shell" material dropped from the "Destruction Crab" he defeated this morning also seems to be able to be used to make something.

Lisbeth planned to take advantage of the time when no one was around to do her research.

As soon as the wooden sign for "Lisbeth & Lingyin's Blacksmith Shop" was put down, several players came over.

"Hello, we'd like you to help us craft a few weapons," said one of the players, whose equipment was decent (though not as good as the frontline players).

“Okay, do you have any materials with you?” Lisbeth glanced at the two-handed hammer behind the other person’s back. “Also, I only know how to fight two-handed weapons. If you need one-handed weapons, please ask the person next to you.”

She pointed at Lingyin, who had just set up her own stove on the carpet.

Although my proficiency isn't very high yet, it will never increase if I don't practice.

Within minutes of opening, several thousand Cor had already been earned. Lisbeth also bought some unused materials and items from them at prices higher than those sold directly to NPC shops, which would only offer the lowest possible buyback price for such materials.

Fortunately, Lisbeth had memorized the prices beforehand, and she was glad she had worked hard. However, she knew that there would be more and more types of materials to learn in the future, and she would have to rely on booklets to help her remember them.

No, perhaps at that time, she only needed to acquire ores; she could buy enhancement materials from other player merchants.

They are currently the only blacksmith shop/store in the square. I wonder when lower-class merchants will come and open shops here.

“Hey, over there…it looks like something’s happened?” Lingyin suddenly pointed in the direction of the dock.

"Ah~" Lisbeth exhaled in confusion and also stood on tiptoe to look in that direction.

It seems there was a dispute among the players queuing to ride the gondola. After all, the number of gondolas is limited, so if more players than the number of boats are crowded there, a queue will inevitably form.

But five fully armed players pushed through the crowd as if going against the current, intending to cut in line and board the large gondola that had just docked at the pier.

This behavior was naturally protested by the players who got the opportunity to cut in line.

"We are fighting to liberate you ordinary players, so it's only natural that you get priority boarding the boat." After saying this, the leader and his companions jumped directly onto the large gondola.

"Those people seem to be members of the Aincrad Alliance," Lingyin muttered to herself. The leader of them looked somewhat familiar; she must have met him during the Boss raid.

“That’s going too far,” Lisbeth said bluntly. “Even players from the Aincrad Alliance can’t cut in line.”

"After all, they're currently the only large guild." Lingyin sighed and shook her head. The arrogance of those people must be related to this.

Their guild leader is that "hero" Diabel, who seems to have a very good personality, just like their guild leader.

“They must be Lindt members,” Lisbeth muttered. “Only those self-proclaimed elites would do something like this.”

They had also heard their own president and vice president discuss the two largest factions within the Aincrad Alliance.

The seventeen players, led by Lind, advocated for the supremacy of elites, believing that only by concentrating resources on a few individuals could they more efficiently complete the game.

The group of thirty-odd people, led by Ya Wang, advocated resource sharing, which sounded wonderful, but was actually somewhat contradictory, because there were only so many resources, and it was impossible to benefit everyone. For example, right now only the thirty of them were enjoying the resources of a large guild.

“Well, no matter how chaotic things get, it won’t affect us.” Lisbeth’s furrowed brows immediately relaxed, and she lowered her head to continue hammering the ingot.

After all, they are members of the 'Eternal Garden'.

Chapter 96: The Small Shop in Business