Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 84: Improvements

Damn... I'm exhausted...

Between my final exams before winter break and working on my new compound bow, I've had no time to take a break. Hell, I haven't even checked how many hours I've lost whenever I take a breather from reading my textbooks. So lo and behold, I lie down on the table as I wait for my order of Chocolate Overload Parfait and sigh without a care in the world.

"Whoa, this is very new. Hayate lying on the table, not caring that he's in the public area... Who are you and what happened to the real Hayate?"

I wish I have enough energy to smack Zac out of his joking mood, but I can't even raise my arm to save my life.

"Hilarious, Zac... I'm not the only one who's struggling the whole exams," I say.

"Yeah. All I get is a headache after that. As for you, you seem like you're ready to go to your own funeral," Zac says before I hear a whack. "OW!!!"

"Hey, keep your black humor to yourself, Osborne. Besides, Hayate isn't the only one who's exhausted from this week," Damon said. "Heck, I don't know if you can log in into [Isekai] tonight."

He's right. I carefully turn my head without lifting it and notice my younger brother lying on the table. Unlike me, however, it seems that he's completely knocked out with his mouth drooling as Damon wipes some of it from his face with a tissue.

"I can't blame him. He's also working a lot on his tomes for the past two days and between his studies and browsing the game's wiki, I think he'll win the "Most Exhausted Brother" award."

"I understand you guys are working on the clock, but at this rate, you might as well name yourselves as the "Workaholic Brothers"."

I roll my eyes in response to Zac's snarky response.

"Don't worry. The compound bow is almost done and once the assembly's done, we might be ready to venture back into <Hill Forest> once more."

"Speaking of which, are you sure you two won't need our help for the forest?" Damon asks. "It would be better if there are more people to hike through it this time."

"Thanks, but Kazuki and I discussed it yesterday and we've decided to try tackling on <Hill Forest> with just the two of us as usual. Sure, we might get another [Hidden Quest] like with the <Tested Wilds>, but it's the risk we're willing to take for an important reason."

I wish I can tell them more about Kazuki's strange book and the connections to it. But since we now know how the [Hidden Quests] work, I feel that their presence there will just give us an ordinary [Urgent Quest].

"Well, maybe we can accompany you two until the entrance of the forest. Will that be good enough?"

"Maybe. But we'll see once that day has come. For now, we need to log in to do some final preparations and stock up on our trip there," I answer. "But first..."

With a brief jolt of energy, I quickly raise my head and smack my brother's head. This causes him to scream before he looks around and shouted, "Is it my turn?! Are there monsters attacking us already?!"

Of course, I let him look around to make him realize that one, he's in the cafe, and two, he's just embarrassed himself in front of the public.

"I was drooling and daydream again, wasn't I?"

"Yep," we say in unison as I flash a grin to my now-awake brother, who slinking under his seat in embarrassment.

----

A few hours after our usual cafe visit and family dinner obligations, we log back in the game, and rather than heading to [Force Blade's] crafting hall, we, Azel, and Wallaby decide to head to <Initio> instead where I've promised to meet up with Razul's friend at the town's <Crafting Hall>. It's been a while since we craft in this building. The only reason why we haven't visited is the fear of the paparazzi and other players trying to bug us about our accidental achievements, especially after that duel with that rude player, whom I'm glad is gone from the game forever. Thankfully, everything seems to calm down after a while, which is enough for us to meet up since we can't stay in the guild house for long. According to Azel, they are having a meeting about the upcoming expansion, and I'd rather not disturb them with our presence for now.