Translator: P411

Editor: Shard

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 20 – It’s Me!

“Blegh, it tastes strange…” 

It seemed I had gotten some in my mouth. The taste that was somewhat sweet yet bitter spread across my tongue. 

The liquid consistency itself was pleasant and it didn’t make anything scratchy or sticky, but my favourite robe, which I always wore, was stained pink in several places.

“Now, I’ve done it…”

With a sigh, I wiped the liquid off my face with my hand and then wiped the floor with a nearby cloth. 

When I tried to change my dirty clothes with clean ones from the equipment column in my inventory, it was as I expected; my underwear was tightly stuck to me and was already stained pink. 

“Like I said, I don’t have an extra pair of underwear…”

Then, I sighed again and put on a new robe.

Most of the time I bought armour, robes and shoes; I had never ever bought underwear.

Fortunately, the robe I was wearing today was long so it covered the stained area on my pants. Maybe I should use this opportunity to buy more underwear for the future? 

I had absolutely no idea about where they sold underwear as the armour shop only sold armour and armour related things.

For the time being, could I ask Crash’s advice on shopping?

So I decided to visit Crash’s shop for his advice.

———————————

I walked down the familiar street and arrived at Crash’s shop, which was not too far from my workshop. 

I saw the [OPEN] sign hanging proudly off an antique door with a doorbell and opened the door confidently.

“Good afternoon! Crash!!“

“Hey-y?! Ma…c?”

Crash turned around upon hearing my greeting. Crash was standing at a counter and froze suddenly.

“Umm, are you Mac’s brother? You look very much alike. Welcome to the shop, how may I help you today?”

Crash corrected himself and greeted me like the first time we met. 

I laughed because I thought he was joking, but Crash tilted his head with a blank look.

“What can I do for you today?”

When he asked again, I was still laughing but my laughter sounded more strained. 

“Please don’t joke like that. Today I made a new medicine so can you please take a look at it?”

“Um…”

I looked at Crash suspiciously, and frowned a little. 

“Crash? Um, really? It’s me. I’m Mac!”

“Eh…? Are you for real? Mac…? You’re not his brother…?”

“I’m really Mac!”

Crash didn’t really recognise me. Why not?

When I tilted my head, Crash looked at me as if I was some suspicious person. 

“How did you grow up all of a sudden?”

“Grow up?”

What did he mean I ‘grew up’?

I was still frowning, uncertain of what Crash meant. Then, Crash rummaged under the counter and held out a hand-mirror in front of me. 

“Have you seen your face yet?”

“No, I haven’t…. who the hell is that?!”

I looked at myself in the hand mirror while shaking my head and cried out in surprise.

My avatar looked much older than I was!! 

My usual face looked slimmer, my nose bridge which looked babyish had become sharper, and I now looked more like a young man.

Why?! 

“Wh-why?! How?!”

Crash noticed I was upset, and attempted to calm me down.

“Calm down for a moment, Mac.”

Players couldn’t change their avatars after the initial settings unless they paid for it, right? It was quite expensive so I had decided I wouldn’t change my avatar. 

My usual boyish avatar had vanished and I had become a young man. 

It was strange, what was going on?

“I can tell it’s you from your reaction, it’s quite a relief.”

“You’re the one that’s relieved?!”

Crash was laughing now so I was somehow relieved, too. 

It was a game avatar, so I’d be fine. No biggie!I was going to miss this face when I went back to reality. It was awkward to still have a baby face. 

“But why did you suddenly grow up? Is there a cause for this?”

Crash was shaking his head with his arms crossed.

The cause… the cause…

“Ah! That must be it…!”

I had forgotten about the [Growth Activator] but maybe this was because I drank some on accident.

I pulled the [Growth Activator out of my bag.

“Did you make this Mac? Is it another high quality potion you want to sell anonymously?“It’s not that. I was planning to use this at Kyle’s place, so can you take a look at it?”

I saw Crash activate his appraisal skill as he looked at the potion I handed him, and his eyes opened wide. 

“This is for crops, right? Did you drink it by mistake and grow up like this?”

“No no no, even I wouldn’t drink potions designed for crops! I got a little wet when I dropped the bottle! I don’t know if it was because I got some in my mouth accidentally or because I came in contact with the liquid!”

“Hmmmm.. That sounds interesting. How much would you want for a bottle ”

“It’s not for sale!”

“What a bummer!”

Crash had a strong merchant spirit and shrugged his shoulders disappointedly at my response. 

He was seriously planning to buy them! 

An item that could affect a human on contact might be a little dangerous. If this was a potion, it would be fine.

I put the item I was showing to Crash quickly into my bag and changed the subject. 

I turned to Crash and asked,“What should I do to recover from this?”

“I don’t know.” Crash’s reply tapered off with uncertainty.

I had expected this reply and my shoulders dropped at his immediate reply. 

Perhaps I would be stuck playing ADO with this appearance forever. 

I didn’t think there would be any problems, but I wondered how Vidello-san would react when he saw me. 

Would he still like me? ¹

I could only sigh at myself for my biggest concern being Vidello-san’s opinion.For the time being, I wanted to inspect my whole body with the full-length mirror at my workshop, so I headed back to my place.

———————

When I returned to my workshop, I removed my robe and equipment. 

My presence had become completely different, despite the pink stained underwear. 

I really did look like my own big brother. 

I noticed there was [Growth Acceleration] attached to my status when I removed my equipment. 

What was this?

I probably looked older now because the [Growth Acceleration] status had caused me to grow up.

As for my status, there was (+5) added to all parameters so I guessed this was ‘growth’? It was reasonably certain it was from the potion. 

I wasn’t sure if these changes were a good thing for me or not.

I sighed and checked every corner of my body again.

My underwear was badly stained and it looked quite awful which was why I had thought of buying new ones…

But I had completely forgotten to ask Crash about the store where underwear were sold.

I wondered if Vidello-san would recognise me in this appearance.²

I would be upset if he didn’t recognise me like Crash. 

When would I return back to normal?

I put all my equipment back on and slid the robe on top to hide the stain. 

I wouldn’t be able to resolve my worries if I didn’t show Vidello-san my appearance first. Fortunately, it wasn’t yet evening so the gatekeepers would probably have some free time. 

If it wasn’t too much trouble for Vidello-san, I would ask him about where I could buy some underwear. Let’s do it!

I left my workshop again with my goal in mind. 

*****