《I'll Pay2Win in Another World!》 Chapter 00: Jackpot

Jackpot!

?Congratulations!?
I wasn''t sure what it was I was being congratulated on, but those were the words that popped into my view moments after appearing in the middle of a desert.
?You''ve hit the Jackpot, and won a vacation to another world! We''ve liquidated your personal assets and made your money available through the Pay Store!?
Putting aside where these bizarre screens were coming from, I had trouble processing what the display before me was trying to convey. Jackpot? Come to think of it, I was at the casino just a moment ago, wasn''t it? I wasn''t one to normally gamble, but I was dragged along by my parents and given a Benjamin to waste. I wasn''t going to turn away free money, so I found a good machine and¡­ I somehow ended up here¡­ Is this supposed to be a vacation? Is that a joke? The sun was scorching hot, and all I could see for miles was sparse vegetation, and dry earth. Worst of all, I was naked. "Shit," I grumbled, trying to find some kind of shelter. One might think I was lucky no one was around, but I would have rather been embarrassed than be out in the hot desert alone. Without any shoes, the ground below was irritating. Liquidated your personal assets, was what the display say. In other words, in addition to this rip off "vacation", my belongings were taken and sold away. There was just one last bit of the display I hadn''t quite gotten yet. "What Pay Store?" As soon as I uttered those words, a new screen appeared before me. Contrary to the alert messages of the previous screen, this new screen was more like a catalog. It had a scrollable grid of items, with a section to the side labeled Featured Items, and at the bottom some items labeled Suggested For You. Among the suggestions was a "Complete Desert Attire Set (350p)", but in the Featured category was "Fully Adaptive Clothing (~~700,000p~~ 500,000p On Sale!)". This store¡­ It definitely knew about my predicament and was targeting items I was likely to splurge on. There was a clear price-difference between the two products¡ªan over 1000% difference! However, even if I had no intention of being left here naked, I wanted to verify what exactly these units were, and the reason for the price difference. I reached out my hand, and tapped the "Fully Adaptive Clothing" item as I would a touch screen. Understanding my intent, the display changed, bringing up a page about the Adaptive Clothing.
Fully Adaptive Clothing 700,000p 500,000p (28% Off!)
A set of magically enchanted clothing that always adapts to the user''s needs. All environments and occasions are perfectly adapted too! From deserts, to forests and tundras, these smart clothes are good for both casual sleepwear and formal dances! Disclaimer: Adaptability is not guarantee in combat situations.
I see. It made sense why there was such a huge price difference. This wasn''t just a full set of clothes, but one that changed shape to meet the need. Well, that''s assuming this isn''t all a stress-induced hallucination, of course. I groaned, irritated by the heat of the sun and dirt below my feet. I wanted to stop and think logically, but my situation already implied I was out of my mind. Price? Do I have enough money? What''s this currency anyways? Does it really matter¡­? Fuck it, I''ll buy it and worry later. I can''t think like this¡­ And so, without the leisure to think my situation through, I tapped on the "Buy" button. A verification screen popped up, asking to confirm my purchase, but I had already made up my mind. An instant later, light and shadow seemed to gather around me, materializing and pulsating as new matter was birthed around me. Just moments later, I was covered from head to toe in thick, comfortable robes that blocked out the harsh sun''s rays, while also protected me from the hot air without trapping my own body heat with me. At the same time, simple footwear materialized around my feet to protect them from the burning sands. It was a simple garb mirroring the "Complete Desert Attire Set" I saw earlier, that did the job of protecting me from the elements well enough. "It really works¡­" I muttered, touching myself all over, as if to confirm the unbearable heat was now gone. "Is this some kind of shape-shifting nanobot cloth? Or some kind of alien living clothes?" Despite being the one to go through with the purchase, I was completely baffled. No no, this also kinda makes sense. After all, if I''ve gone completely crazy, it''s not so weird for me to trick myself into feeling alright. Heck, the scorching heat earlier might have been the dream, and this now was what''s real¡­ ¡­ ¡­ "Hah¡­" I gave out a loud sigh. I didn''t know what to think, really. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. But¡­ perhaps it''d be a good idea to take this weird "Pay Store" seriously. That message did say this was a vacation to another world, so what if it was true? What if I got Narnia''d? An absurd thought, but it was better than thinking I suddenly had a schizophrenic episode.
I spent the next hour exploring the Pay Store, trying to make sense of this strange phenomena. As one might expect, it seemed to imitate a commerce website, selling strange products in exchange for a currency. It didn''t take long before I found out how to check how much money I have. On a "History" tab, I was shown how much "money" I have have, and what I''ve spent those points on so far. The only entries so far were: And my current money was: 5,501,500p In other words, I started off with about six million "p". What is that, points? Probably¡­ But then, that extra 1,500p looks very unnaturally tact on. Does it mean something? Although I thought to just dismiss it, I recalled a certain part of the notification earlier: My liquidated assets. In other words, all of my belongings, my clothes and possibly other possessions ultimately amount to a little over a thousand points¡­ Given a full set of robes and a turban with appropriate footwear was around 300 points, I kind of doubt the casual clothes (with much less material) was worth five times as much. If that amount included my computer back home and the rest of my clothes¡­ I had no way to be certain, especially given I wasn''t sure what kind of value a "p" had. It''s also possible that rather than being based on some abstract monetary value, it may instead represent a raw energy to produce the items in question. Ugh¡­ Forget about it. I''m thirsty. I looked into the catalog, and found a section on drink. There was a wide array of beverages, from water and soda, all the way to fine wines and elixirs. Most of the cheaper drinks like water and coke were all just 1p, although some were two or three points. In fact, I noticed that it looked like a point was completely indivisible; all the items in the catalog sold for whole numbers. Well, seeing as there was no difference between a cup of water and a similar sized can of soda, I went ahead and purchased the soda. Right in front of me, just like before, blobs of light and dark materialized in front of me as they morphed together and manifested a simple and familiar red can. I snatched the can from the air and immediately opened it, before downing the contents to replenish my lost fluids. Ah¡­ Nice and cool, I thought. The flavor of the drink was subtly different, but I didn''t pay much attention to that, and gulped about half of the can before stopping and letting out a satisfied sigh. Perfect¡­ If I can make about three of these a day and maybe one of these cheap meals for 3p to 5p, then I''ll have enough food for¡­ a couple thousand years? At least my food situation is solved. Now I needed to find my way out of this desert. Living out here... wasn''t the worst idea, but I didn''t find it pleasant. I could probably find something to make a home in the catalog, but I felt it was better to keep my points in reserve and find civilization. "Anything here that can get me somewhere safe?" I asked aloud while taking sips of my coke every now and then. Navigating the catalog was fairly easy, with items tagged with functions and categories I could search through at will. Although I used my hands to drag and scroll through much of the menu, I could issue commands by thought, such as "Search Water" or in this case, "Search Map". There were a number of maps. Countless maps, actually. The majority of them were normal static maps drawn onto a variety of surfaces. I was somewhat curious of maps like "Map of Antioch; Outdated (1p)" and "Map of Atlantis; Outdated (1p)" and confused by bizarre diagrams like "Maps of Anthony''s Body (4p)"---why was there a collection of x-rays of my insides here? But those were only the static maps drawn onto a surface of some kind. For only a few hundred points, there were devices that scanned the surroundings, those that filled themselves in over time, and maps that could even draw out the "mindscape" of another person. Reaching into the thousands of points, there were even more mysterious maps, many of them having harder to grasp names that sounded like trademarks or marketed products. Among these was the most suggested map:
Hi-Spec System Map 10,500p (Suggested for you)
A special map tied to the same system governing the Pay Store! Automatically maps out any location you visit, and allows for searching and marking of entities, with a wide variety of fine-tuning features. Never get lost, or lose anything, ever again! Disclaimer: Does not guarantee loss-prevention of unmarked items. or items sent to another world.
It was extremely convenient, to the point of being absurdly useful. And yet, it didn''t appear to be the most expensive map. No, that award went to the Omnimap (96,000,000,000p), whose price was so far outside my budget I didn''t even bother looking at the description. After only a few moments of consideration, I parted with 10,500 points, and felt my mind ache for a moment. It was as though someone or something was doing construction inside my brain. After just a few seconds of annoying buzzing, it was all gone. "Now, let''s see... I guess I just have to think about the Map, and... there it is." Right on cue, the strange transparent screen manifested in front of my eyes. Just like all the previous windows, this one was translucent, as if both there and not there. The information displayed was fairly easy to understand---there was a wide area of the desert displayed, with various plants and animals marked. The map also displayed blacked-out areas which weren''t recorded. In fact, it seemed the map had accurately drawn out everything in my environment that I could see, for as far as I could see. Evidence of this was that the furthest point on the map was about 3 miles away, which if I remember right, was the furthest a person could reasonably hope to see on a Earth''s rounded surface. I guess this "other world" was about the same size as Earth then? Well, I didn''t know whether or not I was actually in another world. Concluding that, I began to trek straight north. I figured if there was any kind of nearby civilization, I would eventually come across some kind of road, and follow that to a city. Ah... well, I don''t know what kind of world this is yet, do I? It''ll be dangerous if the people of this world are hostile, so how about I buy a weapon?
Magic Handgun Blaster 60,000p 40,000p (33% Off)
A weapon designed after the handguns on Earth. The patented magical enchantments engraved into the item harness the user''s Might to produced solidified air bullets that are propelled at high speeds! No physical ammo needed! Warning: May cause migraines if used repeatedly. We are not liable for injuries caused during usage.
I wasn''t sure how strong of a weapon it was, but I decided it was better than nothing. Just in case, I marked the weapon with my Map and started on my long, perilous journey. Chapter 01: First Contact

First Contact

"So then I walked for 6 days and nights, using as little of my water and food as I could." "Uhuh..." "Well, I ran into some beasts, but I managed to outwit them and escape, thank the heavens." "Uhuh..." "And that''s how I eventually came upon your turf. I swear, it''s an honest mistake!" "So, is that all you have to say?" "..." Turns out, North was the worst possible direction I could have headed in.
Indeed, my six day trek was grueling, with nothing to do but walk north for as long as I could during the day, and sleep out during the night. Thankfully my Fully Adaptive Clothing were able to transform into very cozy pajamas that kept out the desert cold, and had a built-in pillow. When I finished my first can of coke, I thought to just toss it, but wondered if I could get something for the can, like recycling or whatever, so I stored it away. But after a couple days I had a few water bottles and soda cans, and no where to put them. That''s when I found the Hi-Spec System Storage (106,000p), which provided a fairly large and configurable pocket-dimension to use for the storage of items. Figuring this would come in handy, I went ahead and bought it, before dumping my trash inside. Now, after buying 6 Bottled Water (1p), 6 Canned Coke (1p), and 2 Fried Chicken Set (4p), I was now left with 5,344,979p. So I was off to an OK start, I''d say. There was just one little problem. "Put him in the crypt. We''ll figure out what to do with the human after the festival," the dark skinned man before me spoke. At his word, the three spear-men surrounding me approached, and roughly tied my arms together. Unsure of what else to do, I obediently cooperated with the elf-like people surrounding me. I decided that these spear-men were some kind of police equivalent Half an hour ago, I realized there was a settlement here when it was registered on my map, and I was barely able to make out a speck in the horizon. It was built on an oasis alongside a river, and was named "Alrakne". However, as soon as I noticed the settlement, I saw a number of dots on my map begin to approach. Unsure of whether this was a welcoming committee or whatever, I kept my magic handgun around just in case. When they surrounded me with spears, there was the slight issue of not knowing each other''s tongue, but after I obtained Omnilinguistics for 21,005p (it being at a 93% discount for off-worlders) communication went (mostly) smoothly, and they told me to explain what I was doing in their territory. At this, I was mostly relieved that I didn''t have to fight off or kill anyone so soon after arriving in this world. These strangers were willing to talk, so I spoke. I did my best to tell them how coming into their turf was all an accident. I left out anything about the Pay Store and Map, hid away my gun for now, and gave an abridged tale of how I was kidnapped, had all of my valuables sold, and left in the desert with practically nothing. It didn''t seem like my story really helped though, and I ended up dragged along to the village in rope. Well, not dragged, but kinda pulled along... I considered at multiple times to make a run for it¡ªeven if I wasn''t the most physically fit of people, I had the points to change the situation at any time. My situation wasn''t as bad as it seemed. In a way, I pretty much allowed myself to be captured so I can learn about what sort of world I was sent to. What have I learned so far? There are elves, and they apparently have a festival soon. They plan to decide what to do with me after it. Actually, I don''t know if these are elves. Are they elves? Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The folk all around me had a sort of caramel skin, sharp eyes and black wavy hair, but of course their pointed ears is why I called them elves. But that''s not all. As I''m dragged into the village and gaze around, I notice that everyone looks rather youthful. It appears to be a village of young people, no older than their twenties, although there were a few strange people mixed in with white hair. Perhaps this youthfulness was a result of that mythical, elven longevity? But, beyond their appearance, it felt like a normal sort of town. There were poor and wealthy all around, with a wide variety of walks of life. Actually, it felt somewhat lively, with an excess of people moving to and fro, possibly due to preparations for the aforementioned festival. It didn''t feel like these people were some High Fantasy race of Elves. At least, it wasn''t how I expected a town of elves to be like. For a moment I wondered if people in this world just had pointed ears, but the guard back then referred to me as a "human". I trusted the Omnilinguistic ability I bought, enough to conclude that even though they said something like "firrem", I intuitively understood that he was referring to a race of foreign people that match my features. Question is, are humans seen as some kind of "bad guy" race around here? There''s no shortage of fantasy stories that depict humans as some corrupt evil. Of course, the simplest answer is that these elves are merely a bit xenophobic... "Hey, umm..." "No talking," the guard pulling my rope along said. "I just wanna know what''ll happen to me is all." Silence. For a long few moments, I walked without saying a word until we reached a stone building. There, plenty of warrior-like people frequented, dressed in light armor and long spears as they entered and left the building ahead. "This some kind of barracks?" I asked. "Quiet," he repeated. I grumbled, being pulled along towards a flight of stairs leading underground. Here, the other two guards that were escorting me parted ways, and I was guided into the crypt. As we headed down the stairs, now completely alone, I decided to ask again. "So what''s gonna happen to me, anyways?" Silence once more... or so I thought. As we reached a sort of prison cell, the guard spoke. "You''ll probably be ransomed off to the nearest human city, or any passing merchant. Whichever is willing to take you." Now that''s weird... "I can''t just stay here?" The guard opened up the gate and guided me in. "Who''d be foolish enough to allow some foreigner with no one to vouch for him, walk about unattended?" Ah¡­ I see¡­ So that''s how things work around here. I could be some kind of foreign spy or criminal, so given I''m some weirdo walking out in the desert, they plan to give me to any human that''ll take me. "If you''re lucky maybe one of the High Elves will fancy you," he explained as he shut me in the cell, and began to undo the rope around my wrists. Wait, did he just say High Elves? That alone has a lot to digest. But¡­ I didn''t like what he was saying. "What, I might become a slave?" "A what?" Oops. It appears they don''t have a word for "slave". I could understand anything other people said, even if they say words and ideas I''d never heard of, but there was no guarantee for the reverse to be true. "I mean, like, a forced servant?" I tried to define what I meant, but the guard shrugged. "Maybe." That wasn''t very reassuring. Having explained as much as he felt I deserved, the guard walked off, leaving be behind in this dark underground hole with only the faint light of torches and whatever light from the surface made its way down here... At the very least, I was glad I was being given some kind of shelter, and had the opportunity to talk with someone. I also learned, that despite the unwelcome reception I received, I wasn''t going to be executed. I wasn''t too bothered by the accommodations I was given, either. It appeared the town didn''t have many prisoners, either because few crimes were dealt with by imprisonment, or because actual criminals were kept at a separate locale. Regardless, I appeared to have this little dungeon to myself, and if they intended to ransom me off to others as a slave, then they probably intended to keep me fed, so I didn''t have to waste my precious points on food¡­ probably. It was better to not spend points on things I could get without them. My only complaint thus far, was the possibility for enslavement. There might not be an institutional system of slavery, but it appears the elves don''t differentiate much between different kinds of "servants". I''m not sure what that entails for me. I hope this society didn''t have anything like magic obedience collars, or whatever. Anxious of what the future may hold, I began to look through my catalog for countermeasures against various situations. For now, I''m playing along with this world''s rules, but I''m ready at any moment to turn the tables on the situation, if I need to. Of course, my worries may be for naught. Heck, maybe instead of becoming some sleazy merchant''s towel boy, some cute High Elf girl will come get me. ¡­For the record, I didn''t expect that to actually be the case. Chapter 02: Make-A-Friend

Make-A-Friend

I yawned, stretching my limbs as I woke up. I looked around with groggy eyes. I¡¯d gotten used to seeing nothing but sand and sun for miles in all directions, so half my brain was surprised to realize I was now in near total darkness, surrounded by a stone and wooden cell. Looking at my map, I was still underground, below a building in a city full of elves. Elves? Hrmm¡­ I guess they¡¯re something like Sand Elves? As I tapped a moving dot on my map, a panel popped up.
Please acquire the Hi-Spec System Scanner to use this functionality!
I grumbled for a moment. I¡¯d already seen this notification back in the desert, while trying to determine what kind of wildlife and such was around. I was tempted to dish out the 50,100p required to obtain it, but so far I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve actually had a need for it. This ¡°Pay Store¡± ability is extremely useful, but I feel kinda dirty using it. Like a legit cheater. That¡¯s why everything I¡¯ve used it on so far has been for things I absolutely needed. On top of the cheating aspect, it¡¯s just a good idea to save on points for things I can get through normal methods. I guess if I think of it like that, one could say I¡¯ve been thrown into a Survival Game, and I don¡¯t want to abuse the Pay2Win system to much¡­ Putting all of that aside, I stand up, my clothes reshaping from it¡¯s half-sleeping-bag form into a normal robe. I was worried about what might happen if a guard checked in on me while I was asleep, so I transformed my Highly Adaptive Clothing into a kind of insulating sleeping-bag with a built-in pillow, that on the outside still mostly looked like the robes I was wearing when I was apprehended. My clothes were mostly spotless, having shaken clean any dirt or grime accumulated during my nap. ¡°Hrmm¡­ Am I too clean for a man that just trekked through the desert?¡± I hadn¡¯t considered that until just now. That may have caused some suspicion, now that I think about it. It might be a good idea to try to not stand out too much, at least not before I understand what sort of place I¡¯m in first. After that, I¡¯ll be free to stand out as much as I want. That said¡­ I still wasn¡¯t sure about the place I was in. Apparently this dungeon had about 4 cells, with only mine being occupied¡ªand only by myself, of course. There wasn¡¯t much to learn down here¡­ I wanted to go out and explore the city¡ªthis was my first glimpse at civilization in six days after all. At the same time, I wasn¡¯t willing to immediately ruin my position in society just yet¡ªif I even had one. So, I sat down on the ground against a wall, and began to look through my Pay Store for something useful. Yes, I complained about not wanting to use it for cheating, but this waiting is fucking unbearable¡­ Besides, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s certain I¡¯ll actually buy something. Just to be sure, I go ahead and set up an alert on my map in case anyone enters the dungeon. The map may not be able to accurately identify what kind of creature any point on it is, but it can still warn me if something of a specified size or larger is approaching. So, I began to search the catalog, hoping to alleviate my boredom.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
¡°The fuck is this?¡± My question was heard by no one, of course. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but mutter to myself while munching on a bread-like food. Just a little while ago, a guard came in to leave me with some food. It wasn¡¯t luxurious, and as an American I felt it was lacking, but it didn¡¯t seem like they planned to starve me. The guard yesterday mentioned planning to ransom me off, which I suppose is a euphemism for sell me¡­ do they just have a different word for ¡°selling people¡±, and that¡¯s how my translator interpreted it as? ¡­ Whatever the case, if they want to make money off me, I have to be healthy, right? But what has my attention isn¡¯t anything about the quality of the food. ¡°Make-A-Friend workshop? Is this some kind of gag?¡± Before me was an incomprehensible page of my Pay Store, that I discovered just now, hours after awaking. It seemed to be a hidden functionality of the store that sold a different kind of item. It was similar to those web shops where you¡¯re given the option to customize a product to your specification. For example, phone cases for different phone models, made of a variety of materials and textures, with different features and colors. Except in this case, the product was a ¡°Friend¡±. At the top of this sub-store, was an explanation.
Make-A-Friend! Good companions are hard to come by. Here at Make-A-Friend, you can create any sort of companion you can imagine, with a variety of skill-sets and personality settings, fine-tuned to our customer¡¯s specifications! Need an artist, a musician or a martial artist? One of each? All three in one? Make-A-Friend has your back! Purchased items compatible with Make-A-Friend companions: Disclaimer: Make-A-Friend is not liable for damages caused by after purchase.
The snarky disclaimer as usual¡­ No, this can¡¯t be real, can it? I wondered for a while¡­ but, does this mean I can create life? Below the explanation at the top was various ¡°templates¡± to start with, many of which were very familiar animals and even humans. Base price is¡­ 1000p?! I was shocked. Why is it such a low price?! I heard human bodies should be priced in the millions! Ah, wait¡­ I see. That high estimate was pricing humans based on how much people are willing to pay for organ donations, which by their very nature are rather rare. Diamonds for example are overpriced as fuck because the people selling them intentionally limit how many there are in the market to create artificial scarcity. So, perhaps this value is based on the worth of a human¡¯s components? Well, that, plus maybe the work to arrange the cells into place and whatever other kind of value the system seems to think may add value to a human. Still, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in need of a ¡°companion¡±¡­ Well¡­ One thing to note is that they seem to be compatible with the System Map I have. In other words, they may be able to fill in more of my map. I can¡¯t see most of the city right now, but with someone scouting out¡­ Ah, but they¡¯d have to be sneaky for that¡­ Or blend in¡­ And elf? As I considered the idea, most of the templates seemed to vanish, leaving only a few dozen ¡°Elf¡± templates. Actually, all of these templates were labeled ¡°Male Elf¡± and ¡°Female Elf¡±, despite their various appearances. Wait, there¡¯s also weirder options like ¡°Futa Elf¡±, and some things that look like entirely different species like a ¡°House-Elf¡±, which was drastically different. Still, most had duplicate names, so I guess the need to distinguish the different types of elves wasn¡¯t really considered except for extreme cases. What a strange interface. That said, I decided No. I doubt this created elf will have implanted knowledge of elf culture, and so they won¡¯t know their way around the city any better than me. Instead, it might be better to have something small¡­ A variety of small animals, rats, insects, and so on appear¡­ there¡¯s even some tiny humanoids that appear to be dwarves, goblins, halflings and so on¡­ ¡°Hey, what about¡­ something like¡­¡± a certain kind of creature came to mind¡­ What happened next, was a little¡­ different. Where before my thoughts and ¡°search queries¡± were answered by popping item boxes in and out instantly, this was the first time that all of the items disappeared, and I was given a Loading screen for the first time. ¡°That¡¯s new¡­¡± I muttered, but it only lasted for a moment. What appeared was¡­ Chapter 03: First Companion

First Companion

¡°Ku ku ku ku! It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you!¡± The small girl before me boisterously greeted me, fists on her hips as she looked at me eye level with her chest puffed out. She was clearly proud of something, but it didn¡¯t appear that she was being intentionally arrogant towards me¡ªat most she seemed to be elated. Elated about what? About everything, probably. ¡°Nice to meet you. How are you feeling?¡± I asked cautiously. She was just birthed into this world, wasn¡¯t she? I wanted to make sure the configurations I made weren¡¯t a hindrance, or caused any weird side-effects. ¡°I¡¯m in perfect working order!¡± She seemed hardy and full of energy, evident by how she seemed to buzz around in excitement. I couldn¡¯t help but smirk at how overly excited the tiny girl was, zipping about on her just-as-tiny wings. This turned out better than I expected, I thought.
The Make-A-Friend store was capable of creating a variety of creatures. In fact, the variety and capability was so great, that I was reminded just how much of a cheat-code this Pay Store was. Shit was broken. Cementing this conclusion, was what appeared after I thought that a ¡°fairy¡± would be a good helper. It was a classic trope in RPGs for fairies to take on the role of ¡°guide¡±, so I thought it¡¯d be useful to have one. However, after the loading screen, what appeared was not quite what I expected. Rows of new templates appears labeled ¡°New!¡±, for a variety of creatures that didn¡¯t quite look like the fairies I was thinking, but were tangentially related. I saw a strange black cat, a weird dog, some other bizarre creatures, some even looking quite like humans¡­ The interface had literally searched ¡°Fairy¡±, found nothing, and generated a grand array of creatures that were loosely called ¡°fairy¡±. The cat and dog for example were probably the Cat s¨¬th and C¨´ s¨¬th from Celtic folklore. Other creatures on the list were probably from similar fables, and all of them were noticeably more expensive than the human template before. In fact, even the elf template was worth more than humans. When I went back to check, I confirmed the very obvious reason; magic. I wasn¡¯t sure by what process magic worked yet, but the information given by the store itself seemed to imply that magic had both a voluntary and involuntary component. Humans could apparently use magic, but they had to do so voluntarily, which isn¡¯t something that¡¯s easy to figure out by accident. This revelation had me wondering if magicians existed back on Earth. If so, could that explain my current situation¡­? But most of all, does this mean I can eventually learn magic? Well, whatever the case for humans, it appears some creatures can use magic subconsciously. In fact, some of the bigger mythical creatures need to just to stay alive, biology be damned. Which brings me to the companion I ended up making in the end. A small, tiny fairy that could fit in a pocket. She was about eight inches tall, wearing a simple sundress, with three pairs of long insectoid wings sprouting from between her shoulder-blades. They were thin and translucent, but decorated with various shifting colors. Each pair of wings had a distinct shape, meant to give her perfect control of her flight. Her original template only had a few configurations. A proportionally tiny human, whose only real magic¡ª¡®involuntary phenomena realization¡¯ as the Pay Store called it¡ªwas that their consciousness operated at human levels, despite their brain-mass being the size of a rat¡¯s. Just this much was worth 300p. Without the magic it would have been about 8p, but I wasn¡¯t interested in a feral fairy¡­ yet. But this fairy would have been less so a ¡°magical wonder¡±, and more so a ¡°biological oddity¡±. So I began customizing the template to my desire. I gave it the ability to naturally control wind so that it could fly at lightning speeds and even attack with it. I bumped up its wing number, and gave her the membrane the ability to contract and expand to produce different colors, in the same way octopus can change colors. Part way through, I realized her tiny eyes may have trouble processing images at a human scale, so I found an appropriate ability to process that. At the same time, I boosted up her durability and regenerative ability to an absurd degree¡ªshe was a tiny fairy with all the fragility that came with it, and I was paranoid about her being stepped on or crushed. These specs were easy to add from a list of countless options. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The hard part came afterwards; shaping and adjusting her appearance. Like any self-respecting character creation screen, there was an absurd number of sliders and switches, buttons for this and that. A texture editor that allowed him to determine her skin and hair down for individual regions, allowing him to add and remove blemishes like freckles and control how prominent a blush was. So, I gave her long and wavy dark blue hair, deep violet eyes, and slightly tanned skin, with faint freckles dotting her face. I spent an hour sculpting a cute face and figure, before eventually going back to her wings and reshaping them to be both beautiful and functional. And once it was all done, I gave her a white sundress with light embroideries. There was also various personality adjustments that were possible, but these were more loose, less well defined, and seemed more like ¡°general traits and temperaments¡±. Changing these didn¡¯t really affect the price at all. By the way, the final price: 221,253p The second most expensive item I¡¯ve purchased. Apparently a fire-breathing dragon was less than a hundredths of that. The biggest price-jump was from the ability to freely control wind as second-nature. This was actually a number of different abilities that I wrapped into one. Dragons meanwhile only had the ability to ¡°produce and propel fire from a designated point¡±, (mouths) and to ¡°control air density at a designated point¡± (under their wings). The extreme flexibility my creation has, as an innate ability, was apparently very unnatural. I did stop short of giving her complete innate control of wind¡ªmostly because any more than what I gave her would require more brain power, and the price would skyrocket further, apparently¡ªbut even without that, I still figured she¡¯d be broken. ¡°Umm¡­¡± I¡¯m suddenly brought out of my thoughts, back to the cute girl floating a few feet from my face. Her face looked like she wanted to say something, but didn¡¯t want to interrupt my thought. ¡°Yes? What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°A name,¡± she declared, her prior anxious expression turning serious, getting down to business. So they don¡¯t come with a name, I mused. I considered it was a possibility the Pay Store would prepackage companions with a name, but it made more sense that they didn¡¯t. Thankfully, I had already come up with a name for her while crafting her. ¡°Aya. Your name is Aya, and you are a Sylph. You are Aya Sylph.¡± I paused for a second. Did she know my name¡­? Well, just to be safe¡­ ¡°And I¡¯m Anthony. Once again, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Aya.¡± ¡°Aya¡­ Sylph¡­¡± She muttered the name to herself. The first possession granted to her after birth. Her lips curved up into a toothy grin, as she became childishly jittery. ¡°Aya!¡± she repeated the name as she began to dart around the cell at high speed, easily controlling her movement through the air at an unnatural and fantastical level. Then, she stopped once more in front of me face, still ecstatic about her name, but also curious about something on her mind. ¡°What¡¯s a Sylph?¡± A simple question, but one hard to answer. The Pay Store didn¡¯t seem to label any kind of explicit species, and instead searched and organized things based on features I asked of it. It was different from how it treated objects from the normal store. So, given there seemed to be many types of ¡°fairies¡±, I decided to give her a name that was more specific to her qualities. ¡°It¡¯s the name of your species, you could say. A tiny humanoid with command over wind. For now, you are a unique existence, so I went ahead and used it as your family name.¡± Well, that last bit assumed she ever creates a family, and that depended on whether or not I created another of her kind¡­ Wait¡­ Was she compatible with humans¡­? She has the durability so¡­ L-let¡¯s not go any further with that thought for now. ¡°A unique existence?!¡± Aya said, her chest puffing out more than before. I guess she likes being special, huh? ¡°Well, that¡¯s right¡­¡± for now, I thought. ¡°Anyways, Aya. I¡¯ve created you with a few tasks in mind,¡± I said, deciding to get back to business. Her expression turned serious at those words, as she quickly steadied herself with her thin, flexible hovering wings, and crossed her arms into an attentive pose. She sure switches gears quickly, I mused. ¡°You are my scout. A shadow in the wind,¡± I said, trying to sound as important as possible. Going by her personality, I figured if I was as grand enough in her assignment, she¡¯d take her job more seriously¡­ maybe. ¡°Yes sir!¡± She answered in an elaborate manner, nodding as she waved her arms and legs around, her serious expression having broken already. I wonder if being so tiny makes her too jittery¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll be your eyes and ear!¡± She affirmed with excitement, as if she were playing some game. ¡°Well anyways, right now I¡¯m staying in this cell, but I need you scout around the city and learn about what¡¯s going on. At the same time, you¡¯re to stay hidden from site. Your wings can change color, so you should be able to camouflage yourself if the need arises. Don¡¯t put yourself in unnecessary danger¡ªI put a lot of resources into creating you, so you don¡¯t have the right to die.¡± I went over the general mission I had for her, but at the same time I wanted her to stay safe. It was true what I said about spending a ton of points on her¡ªbut I genuinely didn¡¯t want such a cute girl to be harmed. Aya nodded seriously, taking my words to heart. Or at least I hoped so. Once she understood her task, I began debriefing her on my current situation, and what exactly I wanted her to collect. Soon enough, Aya had zipped off, completely unimpeded by the thick wooden door which had a big enough gap to fit food through. Hopefully things pick up soon. Chapter 04: Meeting

Meeting

¡°I heard there was a human, so I¡¯ve come to grace you with my presence.¡± My dungeon cell had a single, locked door to the outside, from which the only other openings were a long waist-level slot where food was occasionally slid into, and a head-level window with some brass bars to prevent escape. From this window, I saw the face of a young girl, speaking in an overly haughty tone as she looked down at me. I couldn¡¯t see much of her body through the door, but she appeared to be wearing a sort of head-dress made of almost translucent material that I could only guess cost a pretty penny or two. In addition to her apparent wealth, my visitor also had a very young and youthful appearance. Of course, being in a town of elves (I could even see her pointed ears between strands of light brownish, almost red colored hair), this was little surprise, and it was impossible to tell her age by her face alone. But I kinda had that feeling about her. In other words, I was graced with the presence of a rich brat. What am I supposed to do with this girl, exactly?
It was barely the day after creating Aya, and two days after meeting my first other-worlders, the lightly tanned elves of this oasis town called Alrakne, and so far I¡¯ve been mildly comfortable. I was fed decent enough meals each day, and wasn¡¯t forced to undergo anything all that embarrassing, beyond having to learn how waste is handled here. Something I¡¯d learned on my first day here was that the town was preparing for a festival in a couple days. They wanted to cart me off to some human settlement, but anyone who¡¯d be willing to take me was currently busy with the preparations. As for the nature of the festival itself¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure. I hadn¡¯t managed to worm that out of the guards yet, but from what Aya gathered it was some kind of celebration relating to the sun. What¡¯s more, today was day of the festival itself, so I expected I wouldn¡¯t be getting any visitors, besides my one or two meals. So then, why is this girl here? ¡°Stand,¡± she ordered in a demanding tone. I remained seated on the ground, wearing only the simple robes I¡¯d been wearing since arriving in this world. I worried for what might happen if my Adaptive Clothing was ¡°confiscated¡± for being too luxurious, but it would be weird if they were suddenly replaced with lower quality garbs. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t seem the guards cared enough to bother, and probably figured they¡¯d be proof of my value or something. Dunno. ¡°I was told you could speak?¡± My nosed scrunched up for a moment. What¡¯s with this girl? ¡°Yes, I can speak just fine,¡± I replied in the same language as herself. I¡¯d almost gotten use to speaking with Aya, who was able to speak English with me. ¡°Oh! You speak in the tongue of the High Elves! I wasn¡¯t told of this,¡± the young girl said, as if finding something amazing. Tongue of the High Elves? Is she a High Elf? I thought for a moment. She wasn¡¯t speaking a different language from all the other elves. No, wait. There¡¯s some kind of dialectal differences, like comparing Californian English to Cockney. The core words and how they were put together were the same, but there were clear differences in phonology and diction. ¡°I speak many tongues, little one,¡± I answered. ¡°All tongues, even.¡± A little advertisement wouldn¡¯t hurt. ¡°Is that so?¡± She asked, both amazed and skeptical of my claim. The girl seemed ready to test my claim, but instead asked for an explanation. ¡°Then why did you ignore my order?¡± I tilted my head to the side, as if to look at the young girl like she was stupid¡­ Though she probably couldn¡¯t see my expression in the dark very well. In fact, she likely couldn¡¯t see me very well at all, given her eyes occasionally squinted in the dark, trying to make out my outline. ¡°A kid appears unannounced while I¡¯m enjoying my peace and quiet, and without even introducing herself, she begins making demands of me as if I were her servant. That, is why I ignored your order.¡± Lecturing people while in my position was probably a bad idea. But¡­ She gave off the impression of being a child, that I felt admonishing her was natural. Of course, I still felt it might be a good idea to make sure that didn¡¯t undermine the authority she probably had, without realizing it. I wasn¡¯t sure what kind of status she had. I wasn¡¯t that stupid. ¡°Hmph. Shouldn¡¯t it be obvious enough that I¡¯m a High Elf Royal?¡± She spoke in a boisterous tone, as if proud of her lineage. So not just a High Elf, but some kind of Royal? Still, she seemed reluctant to give her name. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Wait, perhaps being a ¡°High Elf¡± is some kind of nobility title? The girl herself didn¡¯t look all that different from the other elves I¡¯d seen, beyond being better dressed. ¡°Well, how am I to know that?¡± ¡°Obviously by the fact I am speaking to you in the the High Elf dialect!¡± ¡°Then I suppose that makes myself a High Elf?¡± I responded with complete snark, amused by the stumped expression she gave. How was she expected to answer that? I wanted to see how the girl would prove her status, and was abused by the way her expression seemed to contort between various emotions, before she finally came up with a response. ¡°It¡¯s rude to talk laying down while the other party is standing!¡± She announced, as if proud of her reasoning. I smirked. But I don¡¯t want to talk, I wanted to say¡­ but I decided to humor her. ¡°A fair point.¡± Without further complaint, I pulled myself up, although taking my time. Once I was on my feet, I approached the gate, and looked down at the small tiny girl. 6¡¯1" was a bit above the average height of men in my old world. However, in this world, for one reason or another, the average height seemed even smaller than on Earth. It wasn¡¯t by a ton, not enough to consider the people around me midgets, but it was significant enough that I towered above most people, including the young girl in front of me. The small window on the door was too low for my to look through it without crouching my head, but inversely, it seemed it was too high for the royal brat to look through without standing on the tips of her toes. Thus, with just a little bit of distance I could easily look down at her, straight through the door¡¯s opening. Her eyes observed me from the moment I stood, until I arrived, and even now, with her neck tilted slightly upwards, she surveyed my appearance. ¡°Do you not descend from a Gladiator Lineage?¡± She asked me a weird question. ¡°Not exactly, no.¡± I figured from the way the term was translated, it was some kind of family of warriors. Did she make that judgment based on my height? That was more likely a result of my diet growing up, but I didn¡¯t know how to explain that. Still, I was curious. ¡°What¡¯s a Gladiator Lineage, anyways?¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ You don¡¯t even know that?¡± She looked at me as if I were a weirdo asking why dogs can¡¯t walk upright. ¡°They are lineages bred with combat in mind, both for sport and war,¡± she explained in a kind of lecturing tone, as if what she was saying were common sense. Wait, bred? As in, crossbreeding for particular traits and all? Are these weird warrior families that are just really particular about their mating? Although, the usage and tone of calling it breeding feels like there¡¯s something more to it¡­ ¡°So? What did you want with me?¡± I asked, still mulling over the implications of what I just learned. The girl crossed her arms, and turned her head away, as if pretending to lose interest in me. ¡°I heard there was a strange human caught wandering about the desert, so while the festival is going on, I decided to see it for myself,¡± she explained. Am I some kind of zoo animal? Hold up, did sneak in here unsupervised? She continued, ¡°I thought you could entertain me, given how far you must have journeyed to arrive here. Alas, it appears you¡¯re just a fool whose lost his way.¡± So, she was hoping to talk with an adventurer of some kind? Yeah, she won¡¯t get anything like that from me. I¡¯ve been to foreign countries and experienced a quite a bit, but there was nothing from this world that I could tell her about. Ah¡­ ¡°What is it?¡± the girl asked. She saw my expression change, and put up her guard. ¡°If you wish to see the world, how about coming with me?¡± It was a perfect idea. She likely knew some of the common sense and politics of the region, so she¡¯d make a nice companion to bring along, for someone who knew nothing of the world. Besides, Aya was nearly done mapping out the entire city, and every building in it, so I almost had nothing else to do here besides appreciate the quiet. However, at my suggestion, the young elf crossed her arms, not amused by the idea. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be in the position to make such offers,¡± she stated in a dry tone. I smirked, stepping back away from the door. ¡°Oh, you mean all this? I¡¯m here because I want to be,¡± I stated, as my clothes changed from the plain white robes form they¡¯d held for so long, into a black business suit. ¡°I could probably escape here pretty easily. I¡¯m just new to this world, and need a guide to teach me the norms,¡± I explained, as my clothes once more changed form, becoming an elaborate trench coat, fluttering as its newly expanded volume pushed against the air. The young girl looked into the cells, surprised by what she saw for a moment, and even leaning into the window to make sure her eyes weren¡¯t deceiving her. ¡°Are you¡ª?!¡± She began to ask, clearly surprised, but stopped, eyes wide. ¡°¡ªA mage, perhaps?¡± ¡°No, a wielder¡­¡± she said, as if realizing something about my ability. ¡°Something like that?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what those terms meant to her, even with my translating ability, so I answered with vagueness. ¡°I¡¯m something of a visitor from another plane of existence, and I¡¯ve been kinda lost, you see¡­¡± At these words, although there was amazement written on the girl¡¯s face, there was also skepticism. I wouldn¡¯t blame her. Sounds like a ludicrous story. ¡°So you claim to be a hero?¡± A what? ¡°Not sure I¡¯m familiar with that usage.¡± Although I expect her to answer and explain what a hero is, she instead goes into thought. I have some idea of what this ¡°hero¡± figure might be like, but I don¡¯t know for certain. Silence fills the crypt. I¡¯m curious about what her thoughts are, but I don¡¯t want to interrupt whatever¡¯s on her mind. While waiting, I realize that my next meal should be arriving soon¡­ Then, after waiting for a long five minutes, she speaks. ¡°Hey, about your offer¡­¡± ¡°Yeah? You want to leave with me?¡± ¡°No. Instead, I want to ask that you postpone any plans to leave,¡± she says. ¡°Just give me a bit, so please don¡¯t leave!¡± Then, without giving me an explanation, the young sand elf ran off.