Sword Art Online Gameverse x Reader

Chapter 37: Off-Limit Info

A couple days later and I've made some decent progress in the field. At this point I've now exhausted all the grind spots to a point where the exp gained isn't worth the time or effort so I decided to teleport back to town and give Argo the data I'd recorded thus far.

Argo: "Ayup, I've received your mappin' and mob info. Want the Col now or later?"

Y/N: "I'm in no rush, I'm done with the field for now, just the Labyrinth to go now... and I- ..."

Argo: "hmm? What's that ya sayin'? Ya mumbled that last part."

Y/N: "Ah, i-its nothing. Don't worry about it, I'm gonna go for a walk or something-"

Argo: "-Wait jus' a moment! Ya reminded me about a couple things we gotta talk 'bout just now."

Y/N: "I did?"

Argo: "Indeed ya did, first of all: ya power level, ya been keepin' it real close to ya chest- even from me, lil' ol' Argo! Why? What's ya damage?"

Y/N: "... you can never be too safe."

Argo: "And what's that meanin'?!"

Y/N: "Players can be envious and cynical, if my stats got out-"

Argo: "-they'd harass ya..."

Y/N: "And anyone I associate with, like my preferred info broker! If I don't tell anyone then there's no chance it gets leaked to the wrong people. As it is, the current rumours that players are telling about me have mostly underestimated my stats so I'm not doing anything about them for now"

Argo: "Argh! Ya really teasin' me with this tantalisingly outta reach info, ya know that right?"

Y/N: "Not my intention, but it's safer that way. For all of us."

Argo: "Yeah yeah, but y'know ya can't keep up that hero act forever. Ya gonna need allies eventually and if ya always up there on ya own then how are we ever meant to catch up to help... y'know?"

Y/N: "There's no secret I'm keeping when it comes to training, it's just that I spent nearly every hour I'm awake out in the Field, and a combination of basic mathematics and logic to know how long to stick around grinding a spot before I move deeper in."

Argo: "..."

Y/N: "It's just that I put 110% effort in at the beginning of this death game, so as long as I keep going I will always have a slight lead on the other players- that's it... If I took a break from levelling for a while then players would catch up and I'd be just like any other front-line player."

Argo: "'Xcept that isn't all ya rockin' now is it?"

Y/N: "... what?"

Argo: "That Dragon Tamer ya sent to me last week, Silica right? She told me what ya did to scare off those brutes harassin' her. She didn't even recognise the equipment ya had equipped!"

Y/N: "...I gotta start getting these people to sign contracts or something!"

Argo: "Soooooo... is ya equipment meant to be a secret too or can ya show me? Because I bet that middling-tier equipment ya got equipped right now ain't ya field armour is it?"

Y/N: "I'm less conspicuous in lower-tier equipment, so I prefer to wear this when I'm around other players-"

Argo: "-How come ya shared ya secret equipment with those sightseein' brutes but not with ya best pal Argo?!"

Y/N: "All info has a price, better to be safe than sorry."

Argo: "So ya don't trust me then, that it?"