Reas, or Reas Life Online, was a game I’d been obsessed with. Somehow—most likely because I’d died in the real world—I’d been reborn into the world of Reas...as the villainess of its spin-off dating sim.
But I was a villainess no more. My adventure had begun when my former fiancé, Prince Ignacia, had broken off our engagement and exiled me. Now, my exile had been revoked and Ignacia was the one who’d faced severe consequences. Freed from my assigned role, I was itching to explore this world of Reas that I loved so much until I’d seen every corner of it. With that goal in mind, I was living every day to the fullest...
✦ ✦ ✦
We were currently staying in Fule, the Oasis Village, a town in Laureldite Republic. It was a peaceful little village built around a desert oasis. After a few days of sightseeing, we planned to double back a bit and head north to the capital of Laureldite—Bahal, the Scorching City.
I was traveling with my party: Tarte, the Alchemist Cait Sith; Kent, the Dragonrider; Cocoa, the Lyrical Sorcerer; and L’lyeh, the Goddess of Darkness who had somehow become sentient after our battle against her.
Tarte, Cocoa, and L’lyeh were out shopping for supplies this morning, leaving Kent and me at the inn. We’d planned to go to the Adventurer’s Guild together, but now he had a weird look on his face.
“What’s the matter, Kent?”
“Well, it’s...” he said, then hesitated.
“Something on your mind? You can talk to me about it if you like.”
“No, it’s... Well, it’s not about me.”
My first thought was that this was about Cocoa, his sweetheart. From what I could see, though, it was smooth sailing between them. They hadn’t outright told me anything of the sort, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were officially dating now. That was how well they were getting along—even their jobs complemented each other perfectly.
“It’s about Tarte,” Kent finally said.
“Tarte?” I hadn’t expected to hear the name of the seven-year-old apprentice I’d taken on—with her parents’ permission of course. She still had a lot to learn, but... Did something happen to her?! Why haven’t I noticed?! “What? What about Tarte?”
“It’s not a big deal. I mean, it could be, but...” Kent started, hinting that something was bothering Tarte. When I met his gaze with an intent stare, he finally continued. “Tarte is an Alchemist. Because she has a special job, she can’t get an awakened job like we have. I was wondering how she could get stronger... We’re only going to face enemies with higher and higher levels, and people with combat-centered Skills like us have an edge in combat. On the other hand, Tarte’s only option for an attack is Potion Throw. I was wondering...if there’s anything we could do to help her on that front.”
“Kent...” Something swelled in my chest as I realized how much thought Kent had put into this. This is what being friends is all about! As Kent had explained, an Alchemist’s main strength lay in Formulation. Crafting items for the rest of the party—like power-ups and potions—was the main part of the job, but they were also capable of chipping in during combat. Actually, Tarte’s Potion Throw was very powerful. The drawbacks were that it was expensive and that there weren’t many other options when it came to participating in combat.
Maybe she feels like she’s not carrying her weight... If only she could craft enough Molotovs to use Potion Throw all the time. She was crafting as much as she could, but its ingredients were much harder to come by in real life than they had been in the game. With no players to farm and sell ingredients, most items were put on the market by adventurers with introductory jobs. We were able to shop for a decent number of those ingredients, but they were far from limitless.
Even with those drawbacks, I didn’t think switching Tarte’s job was the best move. As far as the general public of this world was concerned, it was impossible to switch your job—but I had game knowledge of how to do it. If Tarte asked, I could tell her how to switch to most jobs out there. I didn’t think that was what she wanted, though. She took pride in her alchemy and the fact that she had the same job as her grandmother.
If there was a job that could elevate Tarte’s potential in the way she wanted, it would be a unique job—a job only available to one person in the entire world, like my Holy Maiden or Frey’s Hero. There were unique jobs that branched off of Alchemist, but I didn’t know how to become any of them. Because each unique job had only been assigned to a single player, the method for obtaining that job and information about what Skills were available had never seen the light of day unless that player had decided to share them online.
No information on any of the unique jobs related to Alchemist had been made public. Perhaps those players had wanted to keep the ability to make rare potions to themselves. If Tarte were to attain any of those jobs, it would help her become stronger. My apprentice was right that she had exhausted her available Skills, but she could still improve her alchemy by crafting new potions and using better equipment. Maybe the best move was for her to focus on growing in those directions while keeping an eye out for an opportunity to attain a unique job. It might just happen if we traveled all over the world—just like how I’d stumbled across the chance to become the Holy Maiden.
“Thanks for looking after Tarte, Kent. I should have been the one to pick up on how she felt,” I said.
“No, no, I only found out by chance.”
“I’m not so sure. You’re very observant, and you’re always thinking ahead,” I pointed out.
“Stop it!” Kent protested, his ears red with embarrassment.
It was true, though. Kent was always thinking of how to best fulfill his role on the front line, and how we could improve as a party. That was how he’d picked up on Tarte’s conundrum. I really should have been the one to notice... What kind of master am I? At the end of the day, I still saw this world as a video game. I wasn’t trying to make excuses for myself. It was just that, compared to the others who only had memories of this world, I couldn’t help but let my excitement make me reckless sometimes. Staying calm in this world, which was more or less a dream come true for me, was kind of difficult. “Tonight, when we’re all together, let’s have a meeting on how to power up as a party.”
“Good idea,” Kent said, rolling his shoulders in anticipation. “More leveling?”
Not exactly. Well, we probably would gain some levels, but that wouldn’t be our main objective. “Pop quiz! What’s the next step after leveling?” I asked.
“What?” Stroking his chin, Kent began murmuring his thoughts aloud, trying to reach the answer I was looking for. “After leveling... Studying? Learning how different monsters act can help in battles. Boosting our basic strength? But that depends a lot on our levels. Besides, muscle memory improves reflexes. Other than that... Teamwork? More powerful monsters are harder to solo...” But our party already worked pretty well together. Kent knew that too because he added, “No, that’s not what you’re going for. Maybe just...getting better equipment?” He looked at me expectantly.
I grinned at him. “Bingo! I want to go get Tarte some better gear. What do you think?”
Kent mirrored my grin right back. “That’s the best idea you’ve had yet.”
“We’re back,” Tarte announced as she, Cocoa, and L’lyeh returned that night. Kent and I had just come back ourselves.
“Any cool finds?” I asked.
“Yes, Meowster!” Tarte responded energetically. “We bought enough food to last us for a long time, with lots of treats and fruit.”
“We bought some of everything,” L’lyeh reported, absolutely beaming. It seemed to be her motto to buy anything she hadn’t tasted before, which on this occasion seemed to have been “everything.”
Cocoa—their chaperone—chuckled behind them. “Nothing will go bad if we keep it in our Bags. We’re going to have some nice meals even when we’re in dungeons.” Cocoa listed off what they’d bought and how many of each; it included fresh boxed lunches as well as basic stores like bread and water. Having a hearty meal when you were worn out in the middle of a hunt could be a game changer.
Kent and I told them how we had gone to the Guild but hadn’t found any interesting quests. Having exchanged our reports for the day, I brought up to Tarte what Kent and I had talked about in the morning.
“New equipment that will make me stronger?” Tarte repeated with an inquisitive mew.
“Yep. A pretty common way to fight solo as an Alchemist is to wear equipment with high Defense or Resistance that mitigates damage from certain elements, and then attack with Potion Throw from a closer range,” I explained. Thanks to Kent, Tarte wouldn’t need to fight on the front lines, but having the option of placing her there would make our formation more reliable and efficient during hunts. I’d bring that possibility up once we had better equipment for Tarte. No matter how much you shored up your defenses, it had to be scary to face the wrath of monsters head-on. “The equipment you have now isn’t bad at all, but I’d like to track down something better... What do you think?” I asked the party.
To obtain the equipment I had in mind, we’d have to go to the dungeon Underground Volcano and defeat its boss, which had a chance of dropping the equipment in question. It would be a decently grueling process, mostly because of the scorching climate of Underground Volcano. That hadn’t been a problem when I’d been playing Reas through a VR kit, but now I was starting to worry that we were going to combust from the heat once we entered that dungeon.
“Let’s do it!” Kent immediately cried.
“Agreed,” Cocoa and L’lyeh chimed in cheerfully.
Like a gust of fresh wind, their enthusiasm blew away my concern.
Tarte’s face lit up with excitement at the prospect of a new set of equipment. “That would be purrfect!”
“Okay! Then let’s get ready!” I announced.
The party cheered in response as we set our course for Underground Volcano.