Kode patted Cinder on the back. The Newbie was clearly struggling with the realism of the best VR game on the market.
"I could help you look if you want," he offered, taking advantage of Cinder's weakness.
Cinder nodded after a moment.
"You won't get what you find, though." But Cinder was no fool. He would not let Kode take his hard-earned loot.
Kode, who had already started inspecting the boar stood up.
"Doesn't look like there's much to find anyway," he said.
"You barely looked."
"Tokens from killing monsters usually appear pretty obviously. If not right next to them, on top of them. If you didn't find anything, and I didn't find anything, there's probably nothing to find. Guess you were unlucky." Kode shrugged. It wasn't like it mattered to him. He had met a funny newbie and seen someone kill a boar on their first try. He didn't need to get paid for that.
"...So, I died for nothing?" Cinder asked, depressed.
"Huh? Not at all." Kode pointed at the dead boar.
Cinder looked at the dead boar. He looked at Kode. He was not amused.
"I'm serious here. You might not have gotten any Tokens, but you got an entire boar. Its fur and meat are in a good state. If you haul the entire thing back to Rata, you'll probably get a few Tokens for it. Of course, you can always dismantle it and bring back the more valuable stuff."
Cinder stared at Kode. He looked at the boar. He looked at his mace. He looked at his skinny arms.
"That thing fucking weighs a ton," He said in a deadpan voice. Hauling it back to the village would be impossible. And how was he supposed to dismantle a boar with a mace? If he was an expert at dismantling, he might be able to figure something out without destroying the materials too much.
But he didn't know the first thing about dismantling.
"I know!" Kode said with schaudenfraude.
Cinder sighed and plopped down on the ground. Why was the game so darn realistic he even felt mentally exhausted in it?
"Ah, if only you were a Traveler," Kode mused. Since Cinder wasn't asking him any questions, he would have to fish for attention.
"That's right! Can't you put that in your Inventory? I'll give you a share of the profits," Cinder said excitedly. Even if he didn't get all of the money from the boar, some was better than nothing.
Kode repeatedly and rapidly clicked his tongue while shaking his head.
"Unfortunately, it's not that easy. There are multiple reasons why that wouldn't work. I'm pretty sure that boar is recognized as your property for another few minutes or so, at least by the system. I can't stuff it in the Inventory but if I'm strong enough, which I am not, I can carry it away. Secondly, something that big won't fit. Lastly, your Naturalist benefits will be reduced if the system recognizes my help."
Cinder stared at Kode for a moment, both processing the information and waiting for a request for payment. Fortunately, it seemed Kode was merciful. Cinder sighed and hung his head.
"Is there nothing I can do, then?"
"With this specific one, probably not."
Cinder's eyes narrowed as he raised his head to look at Kode's annoying face.
"Can you get to it already?"
"..." Kode stared back at Cinder before sighing.
"...Fine. Travelers don't need to dismantle monsters. The system does it for us as soon as we kill one. We get a bundle of drops we can pick up and store in our Inventory."
"...That seems awfully convenient."
"It is. But we don't get a full boar, so there's that."
"But even if you got a full boar, there would be nothing you could do with it."
"...That's true."
"Anyway. What you're getting at is that if we team up, we get the best of both worlds?" Cinder wanted to confirm.
"Not the best of both worlds, but I'm thinking it might be worth a shot. You killed one of these suckers on your own, after all. If we work together, we might be able to do it without you dying. We work together. I get the kill, you sell the loot, we split the profits. Since we'll be in a party, your Naturalist benefits will be slightly reduced, but some money is better than none, right?" Kode asked with a smile.
"Hmm." Cinder thought about it. He agreed with Kode. Some money was better than none. The problem was if he could trust Kode.
'Fuck it.'
"Alright." Cinder nodded and stood up. He reached out with a hand.
Kode shook Cinder's hand with a firm grip.
"We have an agreement."
The two nodded.
But before they left to look for a monster, Cinder pointed at the dead boar.
"What do we do with this?" He asked.
"Oh, the cleaners will take care of it," Kode answered nonchalantly, waving Cinder's question away like it was barely worth an answer.
"The cleaners?"
"The cleaners." Kode nodded.
"Who are 'the cleaners'?" Cinder asked for clarification.
"Fuck if I know." Kode shrugged.
Cinder stared blankly at his new partner as he walked away.
'Is it too late to back out?' Cinder regretted agreeing to work together with Kode. This newbie helper didn't seem very reliable. He knew more than Cinder, that was true. But Cinder was catching up.
It also seemed like the information Kode had that Cinder didn't was very basic. It was helpful but only because Cinder knew nothing. Any information was helpful.
Cinder sighed and jogged to catch up with Kode. They had to discuss how their cooperation was supposed to take place before they encountered the next boar.
Since Kode was so experienced, professional, good, and awesome at the game, Cinder would make sure to put some pressure on him.
"Hey, what is a party, by the way?" Cinder asked when he caught up to Kode.
Kode looked at him.
"What, have you never been to one?"