"Crap. I understand. Thanks for the heads up. Nothing going on here. We'll come looking if we don't hear from you in two months."

 

 

 

 

 

Mirror Andrew, who was now going by the name Andy, was placing a wicker basket up on a shelf. They had been in the town for about a week, yet Andy had swiftly earned enough money to lease a modest house on the outskirts of the merchant district. They intended to establish a small shop on the ground floor and reside on the second. As they unpacked supplies and arranged alchemy equipment, a message spell from the original Andrew reached him.

 

Mirror Miriam, now going by Mir, looked over as she was sorting the latest haul of herbs, "What's going on? Who are you talking to?"

 

Andy glanced over, saying, "Got a message from Andrew. It seems they had a bit of trouble in a town called Fort Triplethorpe. Someone attempted to ambush them in the room they had rented, so they decided to leave town. Oh, Andrew is now focusing on grinding supplies. He mentioned that we're welcome to take on any quests we like for the next two months, but he advises against it."

 

Mir narrowed her eyes, "Why?"

 

Andy shrugged, remarking, "I have a feeling he's concerned about us being traced through the Guild's records, leading to an unwelcome visit. The fact that he didn't provide specifics suggests he lacks concrete information, making it a bit of an overreaction – we're both a bit paranoid, after all." Descending the ladder gradually, he added, "So, essentially, he's suggesting we act as a decoy without explicitly making it a directive."

 

"He said all that?"

 

Andy shook his head and went back to unpacking things, "No, but I know myself and my shorthand. You only have twenty-five words you can send. When you send multiple messages a day, it can get garbled. It's not instantaneous, unfortunately." He took a deep breath, "Doesn't matter. Doesn't change our plans."

 

Mir blinked then settled on the counter, "How?"

 

Andy looked over, "Huh?"

 

Mir inclined her head, expressing, "This is incredibly strange for me. I've been through similar scenarios countless times in Hell, but being on the receiving end is new. I never thought it was possible to create a mirror duplicate of myself, yet here I am." She lightly touched the side of her head, confessing, "It's unsettling—only half of me is present. It feels like an itch I can't scratch. I'm... not entirely real."

 

Andy put the bottle of some sloshing liquid down and came over, "You're real." He poked her lightly, "See?"

 

She shook her head and walked over to sit on the edge of the counter, "No. I'm fake. A copy. A BAD copy, at that. I'm not even your familiar. You can't afford to take me as one. I'm so much weaker and dumber than I was when I was... no. I never WAS anything."

 

Andy frowned, "HEY!" He leaned in close, "Stop spouting nonsense."

 

Mir hung her head and sighed, "Maybe Andrew was right. Maybe we should have been dis- OW!" She looked up and rubbed the side of her head right where Andy had flicked her with a finger.

 

"I. Said. Stop. Spouting. NONSENSE."

 

Mir looked absolutely pained, "How is it nonsense?" She gestured towards him, "How can you deal with... existing?"

 

Andy paused briefly, then fetched a chair, brought it over, and seated himself in front of her. Leaning forward, he lowered his head to meet her gaze, saying, "In my original world, the one I come from, we don't have classes, experience, or magic. Life follows a simple cycle – you're born, you live, and eventually, you die, without ever advancing a single level."

 

Mir blinked as she thought for a second, "I... have vague memories of that, from the familiar version of me. but I don't remember any details. I lost access to your knowledge skills."

 

Andy offered a gentle smile as he spoke in a patient tone, "See, with the limited levels I currently possess, I'm restricted to casting only first-circle spells. I can't even employ circle break to overcast, as that requires experience. I appreciate that Andrew took the effort to dark chaos shuffle my perks into something more practical, but I'm still weak by this world's standards, but way stronger by mine."

 

"Dark Chaos Shuffle?"

 

Andy rolled his eyes, "It's an abuse of two spells to reset someone's spendable perks. Not that expensive, experience-wise, but not something I can do. It uses Dark Perk and Chaotic Perk spells in sequence to change the perk and then make it permanent. Everyone just calls it the Dark Chaos Shuffle. But, that's beside the point."

 

Andy looked out through the window, "Back home, you can learn new things, but only knowledge. You can improve your reaction time or exercise to improve your body, but in the end, the only thing you can improve is... your base stats? We don't have skills. Just... stuff we know. So... for me... this is just back to normal." He held up a finger and a small jet of flame shot out of the tip, "Except now I have access to Cantrip, which I know how to abuse like it was a red-headed stepchild."

 

Mir blinked, "You... are a... what did you say... power gamer? You said it yourself. The game is all about POWER and you'll never gain any more than you have now!" Her words were directed at Andy, but clearly, she was talking about herself, "Doesn't that bother you?"

 

Andy laughed, "A power gamer games power, now for power's sake, but for the sheer joy of figuring out how to abuse the rules." He shook his head slowly, "Abusing the rules of Alchemy, Blacksmithing, and Weaving is still abusing the rules."

 

Mir looked at Andy like he was mad, "You're... you're still... a nobody!"

 

Andy sighed and rubbed his eyes for a second, then froze. He slowly looked up, "Where is that box of reeds?"

 

Mir blinked like he had lost his mind. She pointed to the corner.

 

Andy held up a finger, "Give me a second." He stood up, walked over to a cabinet, opened it up, and took out two small flasks. he downed them each in quick succession, then walked over to the box of reeds and walked back to Mir. He dropped it down next to her, opened it up, and then pulled a handful of reeds out. They crinkled and crackled as he rolled them in his hand, "You ever sit on wicker furniture? It's very noisy. Oh, it's very springy and comfortable to sit in, but it creaks something awful."

 

Mir looked around, "SO? What does-"

 

Andy cut her off, "Crafting rules rely on hitting a target number based on the value of the item. This determines the quality and how long it takes to craft it. Most people don't know that the value of wicker armor is zero." He held up the handful of reeds and wiggled them at her, "Any idea what happens when you divide something by zero?"

 

"Divide by zero? What are you-" She stopped talking as she watched Andy start to weave together the reeds into something.

 

His hands moved like a blur as he talked, "There's a little-known rule called take the auto. If you can get the base chance of success up high enough, you can just take the automatic success. You figure on the absolute floor of your skill check, then you can take the auto. The advantage is, instead of spending hours, you can rush the check and do it in seconds."

 

Whatever it was he was making, was slowly taking shape, "Then, you just keep doing it, adding value to the item as you work on it until you reach the desired amount. In the case of wicker armor, because the value is zero, I can just keep taking the auto until..." After a minute he held up a suit of wicker armor.

 

It looked like something a samurai would wear. It had the iconic crested helmet with a wicker facemask. The back and front of a layered cuirass looked sturdy, yet flexible. it had a pair of shoulder guards that were surprisingly glossy. The arms and legs had similar forearms and shin guards. It was a complete suit of armor, from head to toe, right down to the wicker boots.

 

It was exactly the right size for Mir to wear.

 

"Put it on."

 

Mir looked both shocked and flattered, "Uhh... it's beautiful, but-"

 

Andy cut her off, "Put it on." He laid it on his chair behind the counter, then turned his back so he couldn't see her change. Mir looked up at his back, down at the armor, then hopped down to get changed.

 

A minute later, Mir spoke, "Finished."

 

Turning around, he found her standing there adorned in a suit of wicker armor that appeared as if it had been meticulously crafted by an artisan with a century of experience. Impressively, there was even space accommodated for her wings. Fluttering into the air, she landed gracefully next to Andy on the counter. At that moment, Andy retrieved a small pocket mirror to offer its use to her. She gleefully spun around to examine herself in her new outfit.

 

Andy smiled, "You know what's strange?" Mir looked up and just shook her head. Andy continued with a grin, "You are wearing a suit of armor made out of WICKER, and there are no movement penalties to stealth checks."

 

Mir blinked, then suddenly shook her arms and hopped up and down. Strangely, there was no creaking of reed grinding against reed, as one might expect. Instead, there was just the usual sound of a small person hopping on a countertop. Coming to a stop, she turned to Andy with a nervous half-smile, "H-how? This makes no sense!"

 

Andy shrugged nonchalantly, saying, "I have no idea. It's just a peculiar quirk of the system. Wicker armor is completely silent – no creaking, no matter how much you would expect it. Surprisingly, it comes with no penalties whatsoever. For certain character builds, it stands out as the best possible armor, with the only exception being a beekeeper's outfit."

 

Leaning in closer to speak with a conspiratorial air, he continued, "You see, power gaming isn't necessarily about becoming the most powerful. It's about accomplishing the seemingly impossible." Pointing at her armor, "Achieving that only required two different herbal elixirs to boost my skill checks." He frowned slightly, "I... had a bit of concern that the world might implode, but apparently, dividing by zero doesn't bring about the destruction of the fabric of time and space as the meme suggests."

 

Mir's smile turned into a scowl.

 

Andy held up his hands and chuckled, "I'm Kidding! I'm Kidding!" Mir punched him in the arm all the same. He let out an "Ow!", but it was quite apparent that he wasn't injured.

 

With a humph, Mir turned away but eventually looked back at him, "I'm... impressed, but your point?"

 

Andy gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder and said, "My point is, leveling up isn't the sole measure of improvement. There are various paths to enhance oneself, extending beyond levels or stats. It's somewhat liberating, in a sense." He shrugged, expressing, "Unlike the original me, I don't feel obligated to constantly strive for improvement, meticulously min-maxing every experience point. I have the freedom to relax, enjoy life, and avoid taking unnecessary risks just to get stronger."

 

Mir furrowed her eyebrows, "Obligated?"

 

Andy nodded thoughtfully, stating, "It's ingrained in the power gamer's code. If you don't construct the most optimal character, the rest of the party is forced into compensating for your shortcomings. If others rely on you and you've slacked off in building your strength, their lives could be at risk." Turning back to the work of tidying up the shop, he continued speaking, "If you don't maximize your strength, and one day a friend of yours is in peril, unable to receive the help they need, whose fault is it?"

 

"Wait... so... is that why Andrew is so driven?"

 

Andy nodded in agreement, affirming, "Exactly. That doesn't apply to me, and it doesn't have to apply to you either. We may not follow the traditional path of getting stronger, but what's important is that we get to savor our lives. I can be a small shopkeeper crafting unique and rare alchemical items to sell, and that suits me just fine."

 

Mir looked down at herself, "And you get to make amazing armor as well."

 

Andy shook his head, saying, "Nah." Glancing back, he added, "I believe that's the only suit I'll create. That one is for you and you alone." With that, he resumed climbing the ladder to arrange items on the shelf.

 

Mir turned away to hide the fact she was blushing furiously as Andy casually asked, "You feeling better?"

 

Mir raised her arms, admiring the strangely beautiful and unique suit she had been gifted, allowing herself a smile, "Yeah." Watching Andy's back as he worked on cleaning the shop for the upcoming grand opening, she answered, "I think so..." Her smile grew to a full-blown grin as she repeated herself softly under her breath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I think... so."