The stone steps leading to the second level were longer than Lin Yuan had expected.
When he reached the end, the arguing behind him could no longer be heard. Outside the door, there was no open grassland like on the first floor, only vast stretches of low rocky hills. The wind blew through the cracks in the rocks, bringing a dry, earthy smell. Further away, a flat-topped mountain had been carved into a city, with lights illuminating the mountainside in concentric circles.
Lin Yuan walked towards the city. The black short sword from the first level was still hanging at his waist, with two small nicks on the blade. It was unexpected that it didn't shatter when he cut the Boss's sword.
But there won't be just one monster on the next level.
A road sign that read " Urbus " stood beside the city gate. Players came and went through the gate; some talked about the new leveling area, while others were in a hurry to find an inn. The first ones to arrive had already rushed to the city's transfer gate, hoping to bring news of the passage opening back to the first floor.
Lin Yuan glanced at the light on the door but didn't approach. He never used that thing to go up or down the stairs.
The weapons were laid out on the inside of the mountain wall. Several longswords hung behind the counter, all of which were a suitable length for his short sword. Lin Yuan picked one out and tested its center of gravity.
The sword was heavy, but the hilt was rather thin. He put the sword back and picked up another one.
"Which one do you like, sir?" The shop owner was a stocky man, speaking enthusiastically, but his gaze didn't follow Lin Yuan's hand.
"How much for this one?" Lin Yuan raised his longsword.
The shopkeeper quoted the price. Lin Yuan's first reaction was to hand over the sword and ask if he could pay part of the price with some materials. The man's smile remained unchanged; he simply repeated the price.
Lin Yuan tried placing the short sword at his waist on the counter again. The shopkeeper was still waiting for him to pay, as if the item in front of him had never appeared.
He encountered a similar situation on the first floor. Back then, he only wanted food, and he could always find a way by going to another stall. Now, he needed a sword that could withstand heavier blows; he couldn't keep waiting for someone to drop a suitable weapon.
He stood there for a while, holding the longsword, before finally hanging it back in its place.
"Hello."
A slightly hesitant voice came from the doorway. Kirito had just entered the store, his coat still covered in dust from the road. He first glanced at Lin Yuan, then looked at the counter.
"You didn't buy it?"
"Can't buy it."
Not enough money?
"No."
Kirito's expression shifted slightly as he recalled the missing reward from the Boss's room, but he didn't mention it. He walked to the counter and casually picked up the sword Lin Yuan had just looked at. The shopkeeper immediately quoted the price, and a semi-transparent purchase window appeared in front of Kirito.
Lin Yuan could see the light, but he couldn't see the words within it.
"Don't you have a window over there?" Kirito asked.
"No."
Kirito closed the purchase window and then pointed a finger at Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan dodged to the side, thinking Kirito was going to touch his shoulder.
"Don't move, I'm sending a trade request."
Kirito's finger froze in mid-air. Normally, the target's name should appear after contact; but right now, all he could see was the shop menu, and Lin Yuan was standing there, seemingly not even among the available targets.
"No response?" Lin Yuan asked.
Kirito tried again, but the result was the same.
He stopped hovering his finger in front of Lin Yuan: "Sometimes when a new floor opens, the menu might be wrong."
Do you believe it yourself?
Kirito didn't answer immediately. He had seen many illogical things on the first floor: Lin Yuan had no health bar, overwhelmed the boss with a short sword, and never triggered a final hit record. Individually, these things might be explainable; but put together, they were not so easy to explain.
"There's another way," Kirito said.
He took a small piece of bread from his belongings. The bread landed steadily in his palm without bouncing back out the window. Kirito handed it to him, and Lin Yuan caught it, his fingertips leaving soft dents.
"You can have the item." Kirito stared at his hand. "A trade is not an option."
Lin Yuan handed the bread back to him. "I didn't come here to beg for food."
"I know. I didn't come here to deliver anything." Kirito put away the bread and said softly, "What would happen if you just took that sword out of the shop?"
Lin Yuan raised his eyes. "I haven't tried it. And I don't plan to."
The shopkeeper continued to smile, as if their conversation had nothing to do with him. Kirito glanced at the players passing by outside the shop and lowered his voice even further.
Last night in the Boss room, you said you didn't have a level.
"I don't."
"Now I can't even choose your trading partners."
Lin Yuan didn't reply. He recalled the first day he arrived, when everyone else was sent to the square, leaving him alone on the street; he also remembered the grayish-white crack. This wasn't the first time he had failed, but finally, someone else had seen it.
Kirito put his hand down from the menu. "How did you do that?"
"I don't know either."
"That's strange."
Kirito looked at the blank space above Lin Yuan's head, his voice so soft that only the two of them could hear it.
"The system cannot find you."