A life-threatening job the moment he got back

He sat up in the temperature-controlled recovery pod, nutrient solution running down his somewhat thin, pale body.

Wang Shui removed the breathing apparatus from his face. Air smelling of disinfectant flooded his nose and mouth, filling his chest.

His first order of business after waking was, of course, to take his clothes out of the cabinet beneath the recovery pod and change... yes, into another set of hospital clothes. He had brought these clothes out of the world of Sword Art Online. Since they had no special effects, materializing them had cost nothing extra.

I'm back. Perhaps it was because he had spent so long under time acceleration, but Wang Shui's thoughts felt a little sluggish. Even his experiences in the fantasy world were gradually growing hazy, as though it had all been a dream the night before.

In his field of vision, his biological brain computer, [Array: Computing Terminal], told him that fifteen days had passed since he set out on his mission.

So I spent thirteen days lying here? (The original mission had 300-fold time acceleration.)

Dressed in hospital clothes, Wang Shui walked unsteadily out of the morgue-like recovery room and left the self-service hospital. He headed toward the repair shop in his memory, trying hard to recall things as he walked.

Fortunately, only his experiences had become hazy. His memories of the knowledge he had learned were still clear. And his memories of certain people also became clear as long as he deliberately thought about them.

It seemed to be a way for the time-acceleration technology to protect his mind from the effects of the time difference. The sensation was quite extraordinary.

Wang Shui shuffled along, taking stock of his gains and expenses as he readjusted to his body.

His first mission had not consumed many supplies. Of all the supplies he had bought in bulk, he had only eaten a little of the food and had not fired a single bullet. The admission ticket and orphan certificate had been his biggest expenses.

As for his gains, after deducting the points spent materializing the NerveGear and restoring his body, his monetary income was around two thousand points. A massive loss.

His transcendence level had gone up by one. There were many ways to raise the upper limit of one's physical attributes, and advancing one's transcendence tier was a fairly safe one. But this tiny level increase was useless. He needed to advance a tier.

There was also a gold-quality item that Wang Shui was very eager to try. It was currently sitting in his nearly bursting awakener space.

[Hermit's Hand (Gloves · Gold)]

[Tier: None]

[Attribute bonuses: Perception +2, Thought +2]

[Trait 1 · Secret X-Ray Vision: Grants mechanical X-ray vision. The ability to observe through objects increases with the Perception attribute. Only works on nonliving units or mechanical units.]

[Trait 2 · Silver Thaumaturgy: The gloves contain an array system that draws upon Alchemical Silver Coins, allowing mechanical damage to be repaired remotely within X-ray vision range.]

[Trait 3 · Mechanical Affinity: Increases mechanical lifeforms' base favorability toward the equipment's owner.]

[Special equipment requirement: The wearer must be able to use any one of the Alchemy Arrays numbered "00" through "09."]

[Description: These gloves once belonged to a fifth-tier master repairman. They healed the hidden injuries of countless mechanical lifeforms and were deeply cherished by the master. Until one day, the master met an introverted mecha girl...]

An extremely thin, tough pair of leather gloves with understated luxury... When Wang Shui first saw the word "hermit," he had thought they were some kind of occult item. He had nearly forgotten that lifestyle-type awakeners generally only received rewards related to lifestyle professions.

Were they powerful? Absolutely. Their gold rarity spoke for itself. This was one of the few pieces of gold equipment Wang Shui had personally seen since transmigrating. The attribute bonuses alone were terrifying.

But as for what use they were... Wang Shui had spent half a year repairing mechanical products without ever using an [Alchemical Silver Coin]. Besides, which of the things he worked on had not been opened right up? What did he need X-ray vision for?

And Wang Shui did not know alchemy... Right now, selling them looked like the more valuable option. Or should he learn some alchemy and test their effects first? It would be a shame to get his hands on gold equipment and never play around with it.

Aside from this piece of equipment,

Wang Shui's biggest gains were his attribute growth and two new skills-[Computer Fundamentals] and [Foundation of Martial Arts]. Both looked basic, but Wang Shui had spent a great deal of time on them and taken plenty of vicious beatings. Sigh, he would take it slowly. It counted as a good start. Wang Shui was quite satisfied with this Sword Art Online trip, though he regretted missing the industrial revelry at the end.

Before the [Mind Lock] was finished, Wang Shui had also slipped out for another match with Kirito. Equipped with [Sword Skills Blade Bullet] and the [Blade Bullet Powered Upper Armor], Kirito had lost to Wang Shui, whose hand-to-hand skills had shown some progress. That was one of the last things Wang Shui had been happy about.

If he had had the time, Wang Shui would also have liked to reproduce the [First-Generation Mobile Armor] in the world of SAO. No, wait-the first generation had no [Super-Mobility Module]. It should have been called [First-Generation Powered Tank Armor].

Wang Shui's head held plenty of things already obsolete in the Infinite Safe Zone, but to SAO, which had only just entered the industrial age, they were practically alien technology-actually, they really were alien technology, weren't they?

What a shame. Unfortunately, by the time Wang Shui slipped away, the floating castle Aincrad had already been cleared up to the ninety-ninth floor. Kayaba had left at the time precisely to lead the Knights of the Blood's strategy meeting. He was already preparing to clear the hundredth floor alongside the players.

Wang Shui had run out of time. Once SAO was cleared and all the server files were deleted, he would no longer be able to transfer his data and such. But as soon as he put [The World Seed] into his NerveGear, there was a ninety-percent chance the main mission would end.

He could only blame himself for not shutting his eyes and filling in the numbers when he helped redesign monster strength before the industrial revolution. The later the game progressed, the more terrifying the productivity generated by over two hundred thousand players became. What Wang Shui had worried about before entering the game had happened in the end.

Wang Shui had actually considered other ideas at the time, such as transferring [The World Seed] to Shino's NerveGear headset first. But Akihiko Kayaba might discover it. Although they had been teacher and student, Wang Shui did not want to toy with the mind of someone about to commit suicide.

It was all for the sake of playing it safe. As for the regrets over things he had never gotten to try, he would let them become profound, beautiful memories.

Comforting himself, Wang Shui kept walking. The sky was darkening, and the surrounding buildings changed from a steel jungle to shabby brick and stone.

Strictly speaking, Artisan Street was not part of the slums. To its north lay the palace complex in the old city district where Flower Street was located, though it had already been converted into an enormous bathhouse and numerous entertainment facilities. To the south was the heavily steel-built new district, while to the east were clusters of private villas, generally the bases of awakener squads or hunting groups.

To the west lay the enormous slum district, where struggling locals, outsiders who had inexplicably arrived here, penniless awakeners, and incompetent gangs all congregated.

Artisan Street was not in the city center. Looking at [Iron Edge City] as a whole, it lay somewhat to the northwest, merely making it convenient for its eastern and western neighbors to come get things repaired.

The repair shop where Wang Shui worked stood on a side lane toward the western end of Artisan Street. Yes, it was merely close to the slums.

When Wang Shui wandered up to the shop in his hospital clothes, he found the door open and walked straight in. There was no sign of Kazan, the mixed-blood little giant, but the iron gate at the foot of the stairs to the second floor was open.

A burglary? No, ordinary thieves would run at the sight of Kazan, and anyone who could beat Kazan probably wouldn't come to a dump like this. It might be something even more terrifying:

Brother Hei was back?

With a grave expression, Wang Shui climbed to the second floor. It had originally been the repair shop's storeroom and had also served as Wang Shui's temporary residence for the past half year. The entire second floor was one large, open room, holding a few repair machines and several storage cabinets against the walls. At the far end, beside a window, stood a single bed and a small desk.

The light was dim, but Wang Shui still spotted the bastard on his bed at a glance.

Snap.

A snap of his fingers brought on the lights. Braving the increasingly strong reek of alcohol, Wang Shui walked over to his desk with disgust all over his face and settled into his beloved upholstered armchair.

"Mm... morning again? Hmm... oh, Shuizai's back. Why were you gone so long? Huh? You got hurt, too?"

After half a year-no, counting the subjective time in SAO, it should have been two years-Wang Shui saw his dear Brother Hei again.

The handsome blond young man currently booting up through his hangover was Wang Shui's boss, the owner of the repair shop, Flower Street's most familiar face, a humanoid alcohol filter who spent half of every day dead drunk and the other half drinking, and the legend of Artisan Street with a three-digit number of girlfriends from assorted races-Brother Hei.

"Fifteen days. Made it back alive."

Sigh. Wang Shui had nowhere to vent his anger. Although he was always cursing Brother Hei to meet with disaster, Brother Hei was actually a good guy. When he took Wang Shui in, all he had imposed was an exploitative clause taking a seventy-percent cut.

"Hmm? You went to a low-intensity battlefield?"

"No, a fantasy world."

"Tier and danger rating?"

"First tier, level one."

"And you still got hurt?"

"Uh... sort of."

Brother Hei wiped his face in some distress and said with complete sincerity:

"Have you considered taking clients on Flower Street? I know a newly opened place. The hunting group backing it helps newcomers through combat missions, and you're a lifestyle type, so you only have to do one every six months. With a slightly smaller cut, you should be easy to sell..."

"Brother Hei, you ****, Brother Hei! Getting booze stains all over my bed wasn't enough, now you fucking want to sell me off! Your brain is ****!" Wang Shui stood straight up and cursed.

The handsome blond grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

"That's better. You came back looking so solemn, I thought you'd gained some great enlightenment after a bloody battle. So, how was the haul?"

"Fuck your **. Lifestyle-type gains, my **. The world was long and shitty, though I did get new skills. I can fix computers now."

Although Wang Shui was fairly satisfied with himself, his meager gains would not make Brother Hei think any more highly of him even if exaggerated tenfold. Better to keep it modest.

"Oh? You learned skills? I thought your talent would keep you stuck until you died. Speaking of which, I found an awakener with the same talent as you. Cost me two girls to get information on acquiring skills from him. Tsk, what a loss."

That actually touched Wang Shui quite a bit. Though half a year late, Brother Hei had still been thinking of his bro.

"Oh, I've more or less figured it out. It's just sufficient foundational knowledge combined with enough practice and actual combat."

Come to think of it, Wang Shui was not all that certain either. Some skills in SAO's system had been easy to acquire and others difficult, with no pattern at all.

"Huh? Isn't it sufficient base attributes? Get a rough grasp of the fundamentals, then have enough of the corresponding attributes, or even more than enough, and you can learn the skill. Isn't that how you've been training?"

"Huh?"

The two stared at each other blankly. The handsome blond Brother Hei laughed first, then deftly fished a small tin from his pocket, tipped out a powerful sobering pill, and swallowed it. Only then did he shakily stand up and say with a laugh:

"That's hilarious. Your talent's rare enough, and most people with it can't bear to switch to lifestyle professions. I only found one who'd survived to second tier, and your information still doesn't match up at all. Why not reconsider that Flower Street job? The down-and-out look's pretty popular lately. You'd definitely make more than tinkering with machines every day."

Wang Shui did not curse again. He just felt like crying without tears. So he had been unable to learn skills because his attributes had always been low. He had wasted half a year.

"No need to be so down. You switched to a lifestyle profession early anyway. All it means is you learned a few skills late. They wouldn't help much with making money. Don't tell me you were hoping to get rich through manual labor? Cheer up. Look at those guys with your talent who refused to accept their fate. Aren't practically all of them dead? Be good and come relax on Flower Street with me."

The more Wang Shui listened, the worse he felt. Aggrieved, he replied:

"Brother Hei, you're such a bastard all day long. Aren't you afraid of divine punishment, or your girlfriends dismembering you someday?"

"That's hilarious. Mere dismemberment? You really lack imagination. I'm really not trying to sell you this time. How about it? I'll treat you to a look in~side and show you a whole new world!"

"No, Brother Hei, don't. You're scaring me. I see what's going on. Just tell me what you want. Last time you treated me to a meal, good lord, dozens of suppliers thought I was your agent. I couldn't even use the toilet without debt collectors lying in ambush above the ceiling. I'm begging you as a brother. Or maybe we could discuss taking clients again."

"Huh? Why are you still using the toilet? Haven't you inscribed [Array: Annihilation Cycle] on yourself?"

"Bro, that set of Alchemy Arrays costs seventy or eighty thousand. Even second-tier awakeners don't all have one."

"Get it inscribed. Tomorrow! I'll pay! Today, us brothers are going to enjoy ourselves on Flower Street first!"

As he spoke, Brother Hei, now completely sober, pulled Wang Shui up. He was around 1.9 meters tall, and with a tilt of his body, he slipped an arm around Wang Shui's shoulders. Then he leaned toward Wang Shui's ear and whispered:

"All right, stop looking like you're about to die. I know you're sharp. Let's speak plainly. I've got a good job for you. Absolutely no danger to your life. Even someone with Kazan's brains can do it alone. And he's already made two round trips. He's finished the handover on his third and is on his way back. Fifty thousand a trip, just five days there and back. Only driving, no fighting. How's that?"

Not good. No matter how much of an idiot Kazan was, he was still second tier. With his mixed-blood little giant racial bonuses, his Constitution was over twenty fucking points. He could chew steel raw and gulp down lava. Would a normal person dare rob him?!

"No, Brother Hei, there's no need. It's only thirty-five thousand for you in five days. That little bit of money is nothing to you. Look, you took me in for half a year. It wasn't just to watch me die for fun, right?"

Wang Shui dared curse Brother Hei because he knew Brother Hei did not mind being cursed. But precisely because he knew Brother Hei, he was especially wary of his enthusiasm. If this bastard was being so kind, he was definitely up to no good.

"Who said you'd be earning it for me? All the money from the runs is yours, and I really will give you a set of Alchemy Arrays. There's just one condition. The job was originally to deliver goods to [Rusty Sword Fortress]. I want you to spend a little extra time and hand them to Silvia personally."

Huh?!

"The leader of the [Penumbra of Destruction] hunting group, [Silvia, Penumbra of the Moon]?! That killing god who can summon a blood moon with a look!?"

Wang Shui's legs went weak on the spot.

"Brooo! She's a fifth-tier big shot! The pillar holding up our whole region! You're sending me off as a sacrifice!"

"What are your legs going weak for? Stand up straight! Where's the danger? Silvia's at [Rusty Sword Fortress]. It's the safest zone after [Iron Edge City]. You're just delivering a package. Combat-type awakeners can't enter the governor's castle, so I'm asking you to run an errand. How about this? A hundred thousand for the first trip, fifty thousand for every trip afterward. This is long-term business. Where would an ordinary person find a connection like this?"

Not good. The more generous you are, the more I panic. You can't even be bothered to open your arms when hordes of girls throw themselves at you, so why are you so determined to court the queen of the controlled zone, bro?!