Money Can Buy Everything

038: Leaving the Room

Momo didn't return.

Asuna had confirmed this fact dozens of times, yet she still found it hard to believe.

Momo didn't return.

There was no familiar sound of the door opening, no comfort from outside the door, and no cake placed outside.

Momo didn't return.

Asuna's stomach began to rumble with hunger. She brought up her menu to check the time; it was already past 6:00 PM. Momo had always returned on time around this hour, never missing.

Then, Asuna opened her friend list and saw that the name of her only friend, Momo, was still lit up. This brought her a bit of relief.

What had happened to Momo?

However, what made Asuna despair was that the friend list in Sword Art Online didn't have a function to send messages to each other. It seemed its sole purpose was to confirm if your friends were still alive.

Asuna didn't know what state the names of friends who had left SAO would be in, but as long as Momo's name continued to shine like before, it gave her some solace.

"Momo..."

Asuna muttered to herself. She hadn't seen Momo for over a day now, and a mix of regret and apology overwhelmed her. She couldn't wait to see him again. Yet, she had no idea what to say or do once she did.

Should she, like on the first day, cower in Momo's embrace like a frightened kitten?

Asuna knew that Momo would never reject her, and he wouldn't hold back his warm embrace. However, the last shred of her pride wouldn't allow her to do that.

"Shameless pride, huh."

Asuna chuckled at herself. She was completely reliant on Momo now—relying on him for food and drink. Although she didn't know exactly what Momo was doing, he was definitely working hard for the two of them, right?

Even though she had been depending on Momo all along, when it came to his care and concern, her pride would flare up. This prevented her from approaching Momo again. But wasn't this pride even more shameless?

"Come back... Momo... This time, I'll definitely apologize to you..."

Asuna curled up on the bed, unable to sleep, waiting for Momo impatiently.

Seconds turned into minutes, and the virtual scenery outside the window shifted into moonlight. Even though she couldn't see the real scene outside, Asuna knew it was now nighttime.

A sense of restlessness surged through her, and Asuna desperately wanted to check the time again. Yet, she resisted the urge, fearing and dreading what she might find.

Afraid of what? Dreading what?

She couldn't even explain it to herself.

Finally, she couldn't bear it any longer. She sat up and pulled up the system menu, checking the time again.

It was 00:15!

Momo still hadn't returned.

A deep fear gripped Asuna's throat, making it hard to breathe. She clung to this last lifeline and scrolled down the menu, confirming the logout button on the right.

It was still empty.

What had happened?

Had something happened to Momo?

Asuna couldn't believe it, because in her eyes, Momo was practically synonymous with invincibility. How could someone so young accomplish so much? Could he really fall in a game like Sword Art Online?

It was impossible, absolutely impossible!

Continuously hypnotizing herself in her mind, but her body refused to obey. She arrived at the door, her hand resting on the handle.

Having stayed indoors for more than a day and nearly two days, Asuna seemed to feel a sense of fear towards this door. Beyond this door awaited a hellish abyss.

Inside the door was heaven, and outside the door was hell.

Her hand retreated.

"Momo... Do you need me?"

Her hand shot out again, gripping the doorknob and forcefully opening the door.

Inside was Momo's room, but when the door opened, there was no one inside. There was no cake prepared by Momo, nothing.

Momo truly hadn't returned. It wasn't an illusion.

"Momo!"

Asuna called out loudly. Her worries about Momo finally turned into a driving force, pushing her out of the private room instance.

The familiar scene of the lobby came into view. The kindly smiling shopkeeper immediately appeared and asked, "Is there anything I can assist you with?"

Asuna quickly waved her hand to decline, then shook her head, frozen in place.

The empty lobby contained no players at all. Though it wasn't too early, it shouldn't be bedtime for most players. Could everyone have gone to the inns to rest?

At this time, shouldn't they be gathering to discuss strategies or chat?

Or perhaps, like her, were they fearful?

Asuna bit her lip, sensing something absurd. Something had been wrong from the very beginning.

Asuna stepped out of the inn, gazing at the dimly lit scenes under the torchlight, standing still.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she seemed to realize her mistake.

By the brightly lit inn, the streets on both sides were densely packed with players sitting together. All of them wore expressions of exhaustion and fear. Although many had their eyes closed, their shivering bodies proved that they were far from asleep.

Several players noticed Asuna stepping out of the inn and first froze, then began to mock her.

Despite their weary and fearful faces, taunting Asuna seemed to invigorate them.

"Little girl, hurry back to the inn. This isn't the place for you!"

"Haha, scared, huh? You'd better go back and enjoy your cozy room at the inn. But I bet in a few days, you won't be laughing anymore."

"Both of you, shut up. Watch out, all the girls might band together to hunt you down!"

A girl with pink hair stood up from an empty corner, pulling a girl with light brown hair along with her.

The two mocking players immediately fell silent and sat down sheepishly. They weren't actually bad people, just making fun of Asuna's ignorance. Their taunts even contained a hint of advice for her.

Seeing Asuna seemingly dumbfounded, the girl with pink hair walked over to the girl with light brown hair and said, "Ignore them. They don't mean any harm. I'm Lizbeth, and this is Silica."

"Hello, I'm Asuna..."

Asuna was still a bit puzzled, but since the other two were girls, she felt slightly less nervous.

"Asuna, have you been staying in the inn for the past two days?"

"Yes..."

"Sigh, it looks like you went into the inn right away. But luckily you've come out. I was just about to remind you, it's better to move out of the inn as soon as possible."

"...Move out?"

After Lizbeth's explanation, Asuna finally understood. Initially, a significant number of players had been staying in inns for the first day or two. However, towards the end, most had moved out.

They were worried as they watched their dwindling Col, feeling a strong sense of crisis. The daily black bread was practically essential, and even three of them couldn't be sustained by the 100 Col for long. Not to mention the 10 Col room fee each day.

More and more players, over nine thousand, chose to live on the streets. Players who knew each other or players of the same gender gathered together. They weren't too afraid of accidents, but rest was definitely uncertain.

"Asuna? Asuna?"

Lizbeth finished explaining and saw Asuna's dazed expression, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Wow, don't be sad! We'll definitely be rescued! Everyone is just being frugal and cautious. If you move out, come over to our side. There are a few other girls as well. We'll all be safe together."

Asuna nodded in gratitude but looked towards the dark streets in the distance and asked, "Can you tell me where the bakery is?"

After Lizbeth pointed the way, Asuna quickly ran towards the bakery. She needed to confirm something.

According to Lizbeth, everyone initially had only 100 Col. Unless they were among the few players brave enough to hunt, hardly anyone had any other income. Everyone was waiting, waiting for rescue, and they believed that rescue was imminent.

Asuna believed the same, but now she needed to see just how much money Momo had spent.

Her tears welled up as she realized from the inn NPC's explanation that her spacious room cost 50 Col per day.

50 Col!

That was half of most players' total assets!

Listening to Lizbeth, even if an average player hunted boars nonstop, they'd only make a little over a dozen Col a day. So where did Momo's income come from?

Arriving at the bakery, the rotund NPC lady stood faithfully in place, asking, "Young lady, what would you like?"

Asuna opened the dialogue window and looked at the item prices, her eyes widening in shock.

Black bread, 1 Col.

Fruit bread, 5 Col.

Fruit cake... 50 Col!

Mixed combo... also 50 Col!

Asuna pressed her lips together and stepped back. She couldn't believe it. Her daily expenses exceeded 100 Col!

She was using more Col in a single day than most players possessed in total assets! And all of this was provided by Momo!

What had Momo done? What was he doing?

Asuna was consumed by fear. She might not understand the game, but she knew the simplest logic: the greater the profit, the greater the risk!

For an average player, hunting boars for a little over a dozen Col a day was already a limit. How much danger was Momo facing to earn so much Col?

What made Asuna feel ashamed and unable to accept was that, as the recipient of so much Col, she had never realized it. She hadn't realized the immense effort Momo had put in.

Faced with Momo's considerable efforts, what had she done?

She had rejected and ignored Momo!

"I'm really... so worthless!"

Remorse and regret flooded her heart, blurring her vision with tears. In this moment of realization, Asuna suddenly snapped back: why hadn't Momo returned?

Could it be that he was in danger, all to earn this Col?

Thinking this, Asuna ran like a madwoman towards the direction of the Town of Beginnings' gate.

She had to find Momo!