Counting her supplies once more, Acacia resisted the urge to pout. She knew, deep down, that she liked to over-prepare when facing new challenges. If anything, that was her biggest flaw. She'd hype up the experience in her own mind, imagining complex traps, convoluted plots and deadly abilities. She'd waste time fighting carefully, instead of quickly, to the point where it often drove her party-members to tears. But that's just how she played. This game was no different.<br/><br/>And like many games, Sword Art Online was stingy on its starting money. "Maybe if I sold some of..." She muttered to herself, glancing at her inventory. She'd bought too many healing items. Far too many. How was she to know that there were stronger ones on the market? Stronger ones that she could no longer afford, thanks to overstocking. "Ugh... Maybe I'll take up crafting." That did tend to help, making potions and the like herself. She'd spend days at a time picking up ingredients and toiling away, all for that satisfaction of being completely independent. For as long as that would last, anyways. Games like this tended to smack down anyone with an independent streak, hard.<br/><br/>Which is what she was quickly learning. "Let's see..." She idly played with a dagger, drawing and dismissing it from her inventory, mindful of the brief flash it gave as she did so and noting that, nervous habit or not, she shouldn't do it while sneaking. "Excuse me, do you-" She cut herself off, clicking her mouth shut as the pair of girls kept walking, completely missing the fact that she'd spoken. Was she not being loud enough? "Hello, sorry to-" She tried again, this time approaching a trio of cuties, all of whom continued to walk through the market area.<br/><br/>Maybe the market area wasn't a good idea to find a party? She really only need one, perhaps two more people. It was a relatively simple quest, but the rewards were good enough that she could resupply, and perhaps do it properly this time. "Hey!" She called, stepping towards a tall and graceful beauty. "Would you be interested in this group quest I've-Or not..." She sighed, pulling her hat down further over her short blonde hair. At the character generation screen she'd thought it'd make her look tough and capable. Instead, it just seemed to clash with the starting equipment, making her look almost boyish.<br/><br/>Not that such a look was bad, really, but... "Gah, what the hell is up with people today?"<br/><br/>"Well it's launch day, isn't it? People are scurrying about like ants in a kicked nest." Acacia spun in place, startled by the voice behind her. It was deep and gruff, matching the burly young man that leaned on the wall behind her. "What's got a cutie like you all riled up?"<br/><br/>Acacia bit the inside of her cheek, forcing down her displeasure. It wasn't like she couldn't stand men, boys really considering the amount of muscles the character had, it had to be an overcompensating kid. But this was obviously an attempt to pick her up, and she was<em>so</em>not interested. "You said something about a quest, right? If you need an escort somewhere, I can take you anywhere in town."<br/><br/><em>So can any shithead that can read signs!</em>Acacia mentally screamed, but she forced a smile onto her face. "Sorry, it's a bit more involved than that, and you seem busy so..." She shrugged, stepping back.<br/><br/>"Oh! You need me to kill something for you? I can do that. I'll show you how to use Sword Arts while I'm at it." The young man grinned.<em>They're called Sword Skills dumbass!</em><br/><br/>"Yeah... Sorry, not interested. Best of luck to you, not my type, got to go-" Acacia smiled, backing away and spinning on her heel.<br/><br/>"Oh, I get it. You're one of those 'Guy In Real Life' players, right?" The man taunted. "What are you trying to do, pick up some d-"<br/><br/>"Yep!" She blurted, forcing a large awkward smile on her face. "That's it, you caught me. Totally a dude. Totally not interested. I'm going to be leaving now!" She was making a scene. People were looking. Oh god, people were looking. What if they remembered her name? What if they pegged her for some kind of... She took a deep breath, stepped into the crowd, and vanished. She'd try again somewhere else, maybe near the gates. There had to be<em>someone</em>looking to run a simple quest. Someone that wasn't a complete slimeball.<br/><br/>By this point, she was beginning to give up on that dream of finding a cute princess to escort around. At least for today. A girl had to have dreams, after all.