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As Emilia expected, the reaction of the governments to Arcadia's problems remained the same as it had been in the previous timeline.
In most regions, the 'harassment' laws were amended to include 'full-dive' simulations, and a parental advisory was issued to not let children play the game without supervision.
Of course, while many were happy with the 'prompt' response, this kind of action left many baffled and dissatisfied, not knowing why the 'developers' couldn't just be forced to remove said problematic features.
Their complaints were mostly ignored, and the few official responses only left them more confused.
Some stated that since the laws had to adapt according to the new technology, and the 'sensations' within the 'game' were so real, that kind of crime had almost the same impact as it would in the real world. Therefore, the punishment also had to be at the same level.
As for the specific situation of 'Arcadia' itself and the countermeasures that needed to be taken… it was supposedly still under investigation.
Naturally, Emilia knew that this 'investigation' was nothing more than stalling for time until they could figure out a way to actually block the game.
With the 'home' country of the game's developers sheltering them unconditionally, most outsiders remained unaware of the fact that Arcadia didn't really need any 'servers' to run, or that physically interfering with the 'game' was all but impossible.
They just assumed that there must be some 'advanced' technology that they hadn't yet grasped at play, and as long as their brightest minds kept working on it, it wouldn't be long before they figured a way out.
Compared to a measly little 'game', the prospect of such advanced and 'unstoppable' technology being used by their enemies for more nefarious purposes in the future was far more terrifying, after all.
Of course, a few more impulsive governments still forcefully 'banned' the game without much thought. But since they didn't have any means to actually stop people from logging in, such actions were bound to only make them look more incompetent later.
The crimson-haired girl sighed. 'It's a pity that none of the four major countries are taking this issue seriously yet, or maybe even Darryl would have had a lot of trouble.'
Cynthia chuckled. "There's no way to know the situation on his side for sure. Who knows, maybe he won't be able to 'play' much for a while?"
Emilia knew that it was only wishful thinking, but she still couldn't help but smile. 'In that case, I have to really seize this time to get ahead, huh?'
Of course, while the other members of her team may not have had the same level of motivation, they were also quite excited to log in and shoot straight to level ten using Emilia's secret.
Before entering their full-dive pods, Danielle once again gave everyone a stern warning. "Remember, you have to be careful and discrete while heading to the item's location, and don't attract too much attention while submitting the quest!"
Even Sylvia, who usually never missed an opportunity to go against her 'boss', nodded seriously.
After a few more minutes of waiting inside the pod, the countdown on Arcadia's 'welcome screen' finally came to an end, and they were all pulled into the game world.
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Resting at the inn allowed Emilia and Crystal to stay together in the same village as they had spawned in, conveniently avoiding the confused chaos outside.
Naturally, while most people were happy to spawn in a town instead of the forest like the last time, they soon realized that things weren't as they seemed.
"What the fuck…? Didn't Claude and I log out and log in at the same time at the same spot, where the hell did he go?!"
"Rumia! Rumia!"
"Ahhh!!! This…! T-This is not the same town I was in before?!"
Not many in the confused crowd were able to pay much attention to a pair of girls making their way out of the inn and heading towards the town's central plaza, despite their outstanding appearance and equipment.
Crystal was already aware of the teleportation formation after their talk earlier, so she just followed her girlfriend silently.
Emilia knew that the chances of one of her teammates randomly spawning in the same beginner's town as herself were negligible, and she didn't wish to dally around for a chance to kill the [Boar King] either.
Instead, it was better to head to the 'mainland' first, and meet up in the capital city when possible.
"Halt! If you wish to use the 'Divine Step Formation', you must pay the fee."
The players around the area were naturally shocked when the guard spoke so loudly, and were even more dumbfounded at what happened next.
Emilia paid the fee of two gold coins without a word and rushed into the formation unimpeded, followed by a white flash of light.
Then… both the girls vanished.
"What the hell happened?"
"Is that some secret quest?"
"Looking at the armor and weapons of those two, they must have definitely figured out some secret!"
A few players couldn't help but excitedly try to replicate the process, trying to stuff two copper coins into the guard's palm, but were cruelly rejected, and some even received a kick.
"Stay back!"
"The fee for using the formation is one gold coin per person. If you don't have it, don't waste our time. Only the deserving can head to the mainland."
The condescending words of the leading guard shocked the surrounding players silly, as they finally realized why the yellow coins that the crimson-haired elf handed over appeared shinier than expected.
"G-Gold coins?!"
"But where do we get those…? I only have copper and silver!"
Naturally, they could guess that the process of obtaining gold coins must be similar to that of obtaining silver ones, but what they couldn't figure out was how someone could have already made that kind of money so quickly.
"A-A hidden quest! T-There has to be a hidden quest!"
Based on the guard's words, many people quickly 'figured out' that the two girls must have received some hidden quest that told them to head to the 'mainland', and also gave them supplies and coins needed to do so.
Their assumptions were quite reasonable, considering that it was quite unlikely for someone to have the time to look around for a hidden quest, and also farm enough to be able to buy many 'rare' items at the same time.
"Where do we get it, though…?"
"Someone must know!"
As it soon became clear that everyone was equally clueless, they couldn't help but regret not stopping the duo in time.
"AHH, if only those two hadn't left so quickly, we could have just asked them!"
"Does anyone know who they were?"
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Emilia naturally knew that it was unlikely for their actions to go completely unnoticed, but there was no way to avoid the crowded central plaza if they wanted to go to the mainland, after all.
Instead of wasting time in the beginner's town while futilely waiting for the crowd to disperse, she felt it was better to just take the chance and hope there weren't many famous streamers around.
'Anyway, even if we got recorded, in such a vast sea of videos being posted about Arcadia every day, there's still some hope of going unnoticed, right?'
Listening to her partner's thoughts and then 'looking' at her face, Cynthia couldn't help but sigh. "…With how it usually is with you… I highly doubt it."
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