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Chapter 298: Btog 298 — Zeronoa Upper Floor, Market And Trading Post

As soon as they reached the upper layer, a myriad of shops stretched as far as the eye could see. There were places like open-air stalls, and some that resembled large warehouses, offering everything from fresh food and daily necessities to furniture and accessories, and of course, weapons.

“It’s getting dark, but the lights of the market are dazzling, shining brightly, filling the air with overflowing energy.”

“It’s not as big as Rungis, but it’s certainly a substantial market. In this game, it’s undoubtedly the largest.”

<Rungis?>

<It’s probably the Rungis market near Paris, said to be the world’s largest, spanning the size of 50 Tokyo Domes.>

<Thanks for the info, bro.>

<It’s unique to games that such a diverse array of items can coexist without issue.>

<The fact that fresh food and exposed weapons are sold side by side is subtly insane.>

<It’s lively even at night.>

“There are quite a few ordinary people around. Maybe because it’s dinner time?”

“That’s part of it. By the way, this is the Orca Market, considered the lowest tier in the market hierarchy here.”

“Lowest tier?”

“In Zeronoa’s markets, there’s a hierarchy. Basically, it’s like a rivalry between trading companies.”

At the heart of trade between the Empire and the Kingdom, it’s not just a bustling market. It’s a whirlpool of merchants’ schemes and ambitions.

The Orca Market is for the citizens… more for everyday life. It mainly deals with food and daily necessities.

At its center stands a large building, the “Lila Liro Trading House,” akin to a department store or a large commercial facility. This place is home to high-end shops – stores with prestige and patronage.

I heard later that within this trading house, the rank of the shops varies depending on their floor. The differentiation is quite detailed, whether they are outside or inside, and whether they are on higher or lower floors. You see such classifications in reality too.

“It has a strange ring to it.”

<A high-end department store, huh…>

<Like Isetan?>

<It’s more like a fortress than a department store.>

<Lila Liro Store.>

<It does have an interesting ring to it.>

<Isn’t it derived from the Sword God?>

“Sword God? Ah… um… now that you mention it…”

The mention of the Sword God triggers a faint memory, deep in their mind. The battle with Nocturne and the supreme skill of the “Sword Saint” unleashed by Arthur.

“Sword God Li=Lar… that was it, right?”

“You remembered well. The Sword God Li=Lar, who governs the swordsman profession, and her twin sister, the Divine Princess (Shinki) Li=Lor. It seems the Lila Liro Trading House was named after these sword goddess sisters.”

“Such impressive names. If they’re sisters, then the Sword God is a goddess, huh?”

<Interesting names (feeling somewhat ordinary).>

<Actually, it’s impressive.>

<There seems to be a resemblance in the sisters…>

<I wonder if this place is like their hometown since it’s named after the Sword God.>

“It seems so.”

“It’s not their hometown. The sister served the Empire while the other fought as the sword of the Kingdom. Eventually, after her death, the elder sister was revered as the ‘Sword God,’ and the younger became ‘The Seventh of the Seven Stars.’ If what Sukuna heard from Hakuyo is true, she became a vanguard of the Creation God, guarding Iris’s treasure.”

“So, it’s in their honor?”

“Seems like it. Nowadays, they’re referred to as the ‘Infallible Sword God Li=Lar’ and the ‘Shimmering Divine Princess Li=Lor.’ In this city, where people from both the Empire and Kingdom mingle, the Lila Liro Trading House stands as a tribute to these two legendary women.”

Hearing this, it feels quite… emotional, in a way.

Still, it’s interesting to think that these twins, one a god and the other a royal figure, might have had similar talents due to their close kinship.

“If we were to buy something other than food, we’d have to go to the central part of Orca Market. The closer you get to the Trading House, the better the quality of the goods, as they gradually decrease in quality the further away you are.”

“I don’t particularly need anything… But since the Trading House is the highest point, we don’t really have a choice but to go there.”

Their equipment was recently upgraded, and they had an excess of healing items.

If they needed anything, it would be items with heat resistance for exploring the Dosorca Active Volcano, home to the black wolves. Something like the cold Tomatton they ate in Fias’s Eternal Scorched Caverns. But such items would probably be sold anywhere in Orca Market. They were commonly available in Fias, so they could even buy them there.

That said, the highest building in the upper layer is undoubtedly the Lila Liro Trading House.

For the investigation of the “girls,” who are fewer in the upper layer compared to the lower and middle layers, it was indeed crucial to reach the higher floors of that building.

“Hmm, let’s just enjoy the night market for now.”

“That sounds good. With so many shops, it feels like a date.”

“Right.”

<Please don’t leave the viewers behind.>

<Whoa…>

<Ahh^~>

<Effortlessly expanding their domain.> {date domain expansion!}

<I’m used to it by now.>

<The old-timers are accustomed to it.>

☆

“The meat here is mostly rabbit, wolf, or boar, huh?”

“There’s quite a variety of vegetables and fruits though. How about this one?”

Rin-chan tossed me a fruit from the produce stand that looked suspiciously like a durian. When I sniffed it, it smelled like an unripe durian. Durian’s scent usually intensifies as it ripens, so these here, the Dodododurians, are probably unripe.

“Dodododurian… Despite the name, it doesn’t smell too bad, probably because it’s still green.”

“Well, you wouldn’t exactly sell a fruit with a strong odor in the middle of the market, right? Here in Orca, every shop carefully selects the green ones.”

“Ahaha, true.”

Nodding in agreement with the fruit shop owner, I decided to buy one, knowing that it won’t ripen further if kept in the inventory.

As we continued towards the Trading House from the center of Orca Market, the atmosphere of the goods changed drastically.

Firstly, there were fewer fresh food stores and stalls. The number of weapon vendors increased, along with shops selling pickles, dried food, and grains or their processed forms, like pasta or udon noodles.

“I was just thinking, in this world, food mainly serves to fill up your hunger, right? Why bother separating main dishes and side dishes?”

“You notice strange things. To answer seriously, it’s probably because this world was created with Earth’s culture and history as a foundation. The fact that the skill names in this world are mostly in English makes it clear that these elements were embedded from the world’s inception.”

“That’s a meta perspective.”

“It’s a fantasy world built by human imagination, after all.”

<If you tried to make a real alternate world simulator, life probably wouldn’t even emerge.>

<Earth is a planet of miracles.>

<Is it true that VRMMOs usually use a World Seed to create their worlds, for this reason?>

<Yeah, it’s mainly to simplify development by skipping basic settings.>

Melty once said that this world was created by the administrators giving a world seed to ‘Iris’ to design. Considering the comments and Rin-chan’s words, it seems this world seed contains basic settings to nicely shape the world. It’s similar to those game software used to create RPGs, which Rin-chan once tried and quickly lost interest in.

“There’s a lot to it… Ah, I think we’ve arrived.”

“This is the Lila Liro Trading House. This is actually my first time coming here directly.”

The “Lila Liro Trading House” was clearly a massive building, even from a distance. Up close, it was impressively majestic.

“This feels as big as a dome.”

“That’s an interesting comparison.”

Indeed, this building stood out more for its breadth than its height. Of course, there are department stores in the real world much wider than any baseball dome. But in this world, this building is second in size only to Fias’s Imperial Castle, which probably makes it appear even larger.

“Looks like the top is about 70 meters off the ground. From what I can see, it doesn’t look like there’s a way to get out from the inside.”

“Of course, there wouldn’t be. There’s no reason to.”

“And it doesn’t seem to have anything like balconies… hmm.”

To accurately pick up sounds from a wide range, I want to be as high up as possible. This is to minimize directional interference – at least to exclude sounds coming from above – and to reduce obstructions as much as possible. Naturally, from this perspective, conducting the task indoors is a definite no-go. It’s likely impossible to capture all the necessary sounds from inside the Trading House.

Currently, we’re in the upper layers, which is relatively high compared to the middle or lower layers. Maybe borrowing the roof of one of these warehouses could give us a bit more altitude.

“Guess we’ll have to make do. Let’s find a suitable spot around here…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh?”

As I scanned the area, thinking of negotiating with a store or warehouse owner for a higher vantage point, Rin-chan looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Just climb to the top.”

“Really… for real?”