The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 63 - Risky Stroll

18 February 2024

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

The innkeeper, who was definitely not an NPC, tilted his head towards the rooms without a word, as he eyed us intently.

He had some right to be suspicious of a group of 5 players suddenly giving him some business in his inn. Maybe he hadn't had great business in a long while, though if he had been grateful for the col he made from our decision to settle here instead of the other inns, he surely didn't show it.

2 rooms. Just 2 rooms rented, with the obvious grouping arrangements. I dared not to even flinch at the col prices which the innkeeper charged for each of those rooms, but all I could react about those prices was dearly missing the NPC innkeepers back in the safe zones, who would charge prices never even exceeding 100 col.

If you'd ask me, 5000 col per night was practically robbery at the very least, but what could I do in front of an orange player who was clearly having his eye on Meghan's green cursor floating among our orange ones?

"Is this the only inn you could find?" I turned to Meghan, as our group was walking to the rooms.

"Well, was there any other building with a sign that says it's an inn?" Meghan crossed her arms, her head shaking. "Unless you had spotted another one, which I assumed you didn't. I shouldn't even be surprised, for an orange city like this."

"Even if there were others, we wouldn't dare to find out," Alexis added. "Those dark alleyways gave us the creeps."

We stopped by the first room and entered. Its interior retained the same simplistic style as a normal inn, though there were 2 beds placed parallel to each other on either end. The window opposite the door overlooked the still bustling path of passers-by players.

"2 beds, but still not worth the 5000 col," Rakuno sulked, as she went for one of the beds. Though inn rooms usually only had a bed, this room had another one, though the amount of col that the extra bed was worth for the price of the room rent didn't seem to add up pretty well, compared to inns in the safe zones.

"A scam," I sighed like I always did. "Can't be helped, I guess. You wouldn't want to piss off that innkeeper. And speaking of that....."

I walked over to the window and took a peep out. Orange cursors swarmed the path down below.

"...You wouldn't wanna feel comfy around here," Frowning, I crossed my arms as I leaned at the side of the window. "This is an expedition, not a vacation."

"Heh, is there anywhere that's worth taking a vacation to?" Meghan smirked sarcastically as she stood staring at the window.

"The 22nd Floor, probably," Alexis took a seat on the other bed. "It's practically a safe zone all by itself."

"Well, where we are is the complete opposite," Tekion sat on a wooden chair. "I wouldn't be surprised if we're being Eavesdropped right now."

"Hmm....." I continued to look through the window. There was no reason not to heed the point that Tekion raised all too well. The Eavesdropping skill was a skill that, while useless in combat, could be a very dangerous factor that could jeopardize the expedition before it would even start.

"Then I'll just say this," I turned to face the rest of the party, keeping my voice low. "You guys can pretty much do what you want here, but don't get into trouble, and stay orange while you can."

"We aren't here to necessarily fight, but to get the feel of this place.....no, city. It's so damn big, so we do need to split up to explore as much area as possible. Roaming in pairs is great, of course, but it's easy to get lost here, so take note of that."