God Vessel Online

Discussion in 'Community Fictions' started by DarkClaymore, Aug 22, 2016.

  1. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 27: VR Shut-In

    “Haa...”

    Sophia sighed as she scrolled through her tablet. She went back and forth over the same list, as if hoping to wipe it out with her finger.

    “What’s wrong, Sophy?”

    Erika sat across the table, also occupied with tasks on her own tablet.

    “Nothing. It’s just... today is Friday. Haa..”

    “My, I knew you were obsessed with studying, but are you THAT depressed about having a weekend? Sure you shouldn’t see a doctor?”

    “It’s not that... it’s just, I managed to perfectly pile all my VR Visits for today. Haa...”

    “VR Visits?”

    Erika tilted her head with a dumb face.

    “Remember how I started doing home visits for VR Shut-ins?.”

    “Oh, yes. You call these ‘VR Visits’?”

    Sophia nodded and sighed again. Erika wanted to encourage her friend, but words failed to come out.

    It all began with the bizarre idea which Sophia brought up a month ago. As the class president of A-3, Sophia decided to deal with all the “VR Shut-ins” in her class.

    Shut-in students were by no means a new phenomena. Video games were always known as a popular cult, which converted normal teenagers into despicable shut-ins. Nonetheless, students who became shut-ins due to VR somehow evolved into special creatures: “VR Shut-ins”.

    It was a silly trend to attach “VR” to every problem that was directly, or indirectly, caused by virtual reality. Hence, the term “VR Visit” didn’t sit right with Erika.

    “It’s fine and dandy that you try to convince students to attend school. But, make sure you remember: there’s a difference between a class prez and a mother.”

    That was the best guidance Erika could grant her friend. Rather than encouraging the justice crusade, Sophia needed to stop bashing her head against a wall.

    “Naturally, I know that much.”

    Sophia put down her tablet and clenched passionate fists.

    “However, I must absolutely convince them. They won’t fit into society if they don’t properly graduate from high school.”

    “I understand your determination, but there’s no reason to push yourself so hard. You can at least skip a week when you’re tired.”

    “Absolutely not. If I slack off even once - they’ll definitely never take me seriously.”

    Erika realized that she wasn’t speaking with Sophia at all. The entity, which argued with Erika, was the unreasonable “VR complex” that assumed her friend’s form.

    “I see. Then, good luck out there, Sophy.”

    “Haa, thanks...”

    It was meaningless to go any further. Regrettably, Erika couldn’t think of a way to cure Sophia’s obsession with “VR problems”.

    “How many VR shut-ins you need to visit anyway?”

    “There are six in my class. Though, I’m afraid there’ll be seven starting next week... haa...”

    “Why is that?”

    “The guy went ballistic in class and had a fight with the teacher. He spewed utter nonsense, something about a ‘happy virtual family’ and his ‘respectful virtual job’.”

    “My...”

    “He was suspended for the rest of the day, and he swore to definitely never come back again. Haa...”

    Melancholy coated Sophia anew. No matter how strongly Sophia tried, VR corrupted everybody around her. There was no way to stop this virus from spreading around.

    “How is your class, Eri? How many VR Shut-ins do you have?”

    “Let’s see...”

    Erika brought up the class roster on her tablet and opened the filter. Conveniently, there was an option to filter students by the ludicrous “VR Shut-in” tag; Erika glared at the normal “Shut-in” tag, which hanged nearby and pretended to be a different creature.

    “There are four in my class.”

    Erika vaguely recalled that one of the tagged students only played Verdandi Blade Online, which wasn’t a VR game at all. Yet, he was still marked as “VR Shut-in”, probably because it made his situation sound worse.

    “There are many in your class too. Seriously, why did they even invent VR for? Haa...”

    Sophia stared at the ceiling with empty eyes. Of course, neither the ceiling nor Erika had a convincing answer for her.

    “I’m done for today.”

    Erika announced and grabbed grabbed her bag.

    “Are you coming to school tomorrow?”

    Sophia sighed again as she asked this odd question.

    “Tomorrow? What for?”

    “Don’t tell me you’re done with the preparations for the sport event.”

    “Oh, that...”

    Erika was nearly done with her share of the work, but not so was the case for Sophia. Obviously, a strict student like Sophia couldn't possibly slack off. In other words: asking “Are you coming tomorrow?” was an indirect SOS from Sophia.

    School on Saturday is such a pain...

    Erika secretly sighed, then smiled toward her friend.

    “Alright, I’ll finish my share tomorrow as well.”

    Erika could make the deadline if she continued the task on Monday, but she willed to sacrifice her precious weekend day for Sophia.

    “Besides, there’s a fair chance that our beloved A-5 class prez has been working very hard on his share. So hard, that we’ll need to do all the work for him.”

    Aside from the two girls, the class president of A-5 was also put on the same task... supposedly. Attendance records for A-5 showed, that their dear class prez ditched school for the last week.

    “No need to worry. I’ll definitely make sure he comes tomorrow as well.”

    Sophia made a bold promise, which deeply impressed Erika. Dealing with the slippery vermin of class A-5 was a noble cause, which guaranteed a headache for weeks to come.

    Erika collected her wares and clumsily wobbled toward the door. Her bones were shattered and her body screamed in pain at every twitch.

    “... are you alright?”

    “Oh, haha... did you know, Sophy? ‘Dodgeball’ is actually a synonym for ‘Hell’.”

    Erika gazed into the abyss with a philosophical expression, then left the student council room.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 28: Different Titans

    So, I’m here...

    Erika was in front Mina’s apartment. Her hand itched to knock, but she didn’t dare to do so. A little demon awaited beyond the gate of hell, Erika’s injuries from the Apocalypse Dodgeball still burned on her flesh.

    Here goes nothing...

    Erika gulped and faintly knocked on the door, but there was no response.

    “Mina? It’s me, Erika.”

    She knocked a few more times and rang the doorbell. Still nothing.

    Maybe doesn't want to let me in?

    Admittedly, a part in Erika urged her to retreat. It’d be easy to forget all about yesterday’s bizarre events and to pretend that Erika never played any VR.

    I may never reunite with the cute, little Vivi again, and I won’t have a chance to snuggle any fantasy critters, but it’s alright. It’s alright, really... it’s... alright....

    It was easy to give up, really. Erika could just turn around, pedal her legs and leave the apartment. It was that easy, she could do it anytime.... right?

    I never got the chance to apologize to Mini either. Is she going to be alright with that cursed arm of hers? She may hate me all she wants, but I doubt her ability to ever cure her ailment.

    More and more reasons compelled Erika to stay and ring the bell. Alas, no matter how much she tried, the gate of hell rejected her. Before giving up, she pressed the door’s handle as a flimsy last resort.

    Unlocked again!?

    The door opened with a menacing clack, hell welcomed Erika into its embrace.

    That Mini! She’ll get an earful for this!

    All her worries vanished into thin air. Erika entered “Mommy Mode” her sole purpose in life became the scolding of the forgetful shrimp.

    As she passed through the hallway, Erika heard a familiar voice.

    “Ah! No!! You dumb shit!”

    The shouts and curses were accompanied by furious tapping on a controller’s buttons. Mina sat in front of a TV and played a fighting game on a video game console. It was a niche product these days, overshadowed by modern PCs and the (in)famous VR technology.

    Mina’s left arm was still frozen, therefore she mashed buttons with just her right hand. Needless to say, that didn’t work well in a fast-paced game with complex moves.

    GAME OVER

    “Bah! That fucker!”

    Mina dunk-slammed the controller into the floor.

    “BAH!!”

    It bounced off like a ball, right into Mina’s face.

    “A-are you alright?”

    Erika dashed toward the injured kitten in worry.

    “Uuu...”

    Mina’s forehead turned red and she was dazed for a moment. She shook her head to snap out of it and finally noticed the intruder in her house.

    “Oh, Titan you were here?”

    “Ah, yes...”

    Erika stopped in her tracks once their eyes met.

    “...........”

    “...........”

    They stared at each other without uttering a word. There was a deep, bottomless pit between them and whoever took the first step bore an immense risk.

    “O-of course I’m here.”

    Erika was the first to speak up.

    “Because a little SOMEONE forgot to lock the door. Again.”

    “B-bah...”

    Mina shifted her eyes away and cursed, she had nothing to say for herself. Erika neatly delivered the first strike, but the cold war between them persisted.

    This won’t go anywhere until I address the elephant in the room.

    For the whole day at school, the two girls failed to reconcile. Mina stubbornly dodged Erika’s approaches and ran away from contact. But, in her own room, Mina no longer had anywhere to run.

    “About what happened at school...”

    “Oh!”

    Mina suddenly exclaimed and cut into Erika’s words.

    “There was some crazy shit at school today!”

    “Eh...?”

    “I met this dumb bitch called ‘Two-Faced Titan’! She was such a freakin’ goodie class prez!”

    “Is that so...

    Erika twitched a little, but she contained herself... for now. It was her fault that this relationship turned sour, hence she was obligated to let Mina speak. Besides, she was the only person with a [Listening] rune in this room.

    Mina continued to yell and to swing her right arm.

    “Bitch slapped me, so I smashed her leg!”

    You really almost did... my leg still hurts a little.

    “Bitch looked exactly like ya, but ya just a normal Titan! So, ya okay in my book!”

    Mina finished yelling and eyed Erika intently, to drill the morale of the story. It was a clumsy and roundabout way to go about it, but such were the limited social capabilities of the little beastie.

    So this is how it’s going to be, huh.

    The “Erika” at school and the “Erika” in this room - they were two different people. One was the despicable “Two-Faced Titan”, whereas the other was the friendly “Titan”. This allowed the girls to resume their secret relationship and to ignore their clash at school.

    “She really sounds like a horrible person, that Two-Faced Titan. I just hope you don’t bully her too much.”

    “Heh, that depends on how much shit that fucker gonna gimme!”

    Mina grinned dangerously, but a hint of relief surfaced on her smile. Her awkward way of making up really worked out, which made her happy. Granted, it was only possible thanks to Erika’s patience and understanding.

    Erika smiled back, to seal the peace treaty with the opposing force. Alas, her smile was filled with self-scorn.

    When she first revealed her dark secret to Mina, Erika believed that a big change took place in her life. Finally, the incompatible “Erika” and “FluffyCuteling” started to merge into one. In truth: nothing changed, Erika was still leading a double life.

    She was the honor student “Erika” in the morning, and she was the RPG veteran “FluffyCuteling” in the evening. FluffyCuteling stopped being a cyber ghost and was temporarily allowed to manifest in the real world, but that was all. The two entities were, nonetheless, forbidden to converge into one.

    “C’mon, Titan! Ya gotta reach that dumb city today!”

    “Sure, sure.”

    Erika put down her bag and proceeded to the bed. Two Voceans already waited for her.

    Did Mini reach all the way up there...?

    The two Voceans were supposed to be on top of the closet. Yet, somehow, the hyperactive doggie snatched the helmets and brought them to the bed. Truth to be told, Erika wasn’t all that surprised at this point.

    【God Vessel Online】

    【Please wait for your awakening...】
     
  3. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 29: Legendary Silver Knife

    Erika’s avatar materialized inside the Water Temple, back in Minerva’s hall. She successfully reunited with the rebellious Vivi and the escort quest continued.

    “Like, how slow can you be?! We need to reach Zelin city, you know!”

    “My, how impatient you are~”

    To calm down the pixie’s anger, Erika fed her some Dargon Chocolate. Of course, Vivi didn’t honestly accept the sweeeet treat.

    With everything in order, Erika left the temple to continue her adventure. While she passed through familiar areas, she examined the new pieces in her menu.

    When she first came across [Wind] and [Water] pieces, Erika assumed that each piece had an “elemental affinity”. However, now she had strange pieces in her arsenal, like [Speed] and [Communication]. Both names belonged to starter runes and each piece was worth 1 piece, same as [Water] and [Wind].

    It’s not about elemental affinity. These pieces must be fragments of actual runes.

    This explained the striking similarity between [Water] pieces and the [Water] rune in Erika’s inventory.

    Some pieces in her inventory had a higher worth than “1 piece”. An [Absorption] piece was equal to 2 pieces, whereas [Aura] and [Telekinesis] pieces were each worth 5 pieces.

    Following the same logic, the existence of these pieces implied that [Absorption], [Aura] and [Telekinesis] were runes which existed in the game. Their increased worth was probably related to the fact they weren’t starter runes.

    “Here we are again.”

    Erika and Vivi reached the unpaved road outside the temple. It was the only known path leading to their destination: Zelin, the first city.

    I wonder how stronger this knife makes me.

    Erika opened the Dimension Vessel and picked the Silver Knife, which was gifted to her by Silveria.

    Silver Knife

    【A small knife. Easy to handle and favored by beginners.】

    That was all the information provided about the knife. Erika poked every corner of the knife, but nothing made a convenient【ATK +1】message to appear. In other words: nothing clued her about the strength of the knife.

    “Say, Mini. How do you check the power of weapons in this game?”

    “Just swing it into some fucker’s face and you’ll know.”

    I really need to research what’s going on with this game...

    There were way too many vague mechanics in GoVe. Erika couldn’t tell her parameters, equipment couldn’t be analyzed and battles were dynamic. All these traits should have been alien to MMORPGs and they stumped the RPG veteran.

    Erika tried swinging the knife. It fit well into her small palm and it was light enough to not slow her movements. However, she couldn’t tell whether the knife added any strength to her strikes.

    “Swing it into somebody's face”, huh.

    Erika’s eyes laid on the Windfloras scattered around; she already fought many of them with her bare hands. If she challenged the same foes with the Silver Knife, Erika could roughly estimate her improvement.

    With that in mind, Erika dashed toward the closest Windflora. The enemy reacted right away and tried to shoot Erika down.

    “Ugh...!”

    She dodged the blast of wind by a hair’s breadth. Once within striking range, Erika raised her knife for a strike... but her mind turned blurry..

    Do I stab...? Slash...?

    Erika could hardly handle a kitchen knife, how was she to brandish a knife during combat? The Combat Aid was taken aback by her indecisiveness; it was a decision the system couldn’t make for her.

    The Windflora charged up for another blow. There was no time to decide anything!

    Eh, whatever! I’ll attack and see what works!

    She imagined shoving the knife into the enemy’s face. There was no clear indication how to do it, but the Combat Aid made her arms react.

    The knife smoothly dug into the Windflora’s face, as if cutting into a pillow. However, this stab didn’t interrupt the flower’s attack.

    No good!

    Her right arm immediately reacted and removed the knife from the Windflora’s face. However, she wasn’t fast enough.

    “Gah!?”

    Fierce wind whammed Erika and pushed her away. Despite being stabbed straight in the face, the Windflora looked energetic and prepared another attack.

    Then... maybe slashing is the way to go?

    Erika recovered and assaulted the Windflora anew. She had no idea how to properly slash, but her best buddy, Combat Aid, handled that part.

    She scratched the Windflora across the face, leaving red cutting marks behind. These scars motivated Erika and she continued to slash her enemy.

    However, her barrage came to an abrupt end.

    “A-again!? GAH!?”

    Her body was slammed and she nearly fell backwards.

    “Can’t you just die already?!”

    The battle dragged on way longer than she hoped. If she fought with her bare hands, then the Windflora would already be dead.

    Is this knife really making me any stronger!?

    She angrily shoved the knife through the Windflora’s face. The flower jerked and its petals wilted, then it collapsed.

    【Defeated Windflora. Obtained 3 Wind pieces and 2 Windflora Seeds.】

    The Windflora’s body turned into azure particles and vanished into thin air.

    “Haa... darn...”

    Erika sat down to recover from the tedious battle.

    “Why are you so useless!?”

    Erika glared at the Silver Knife and scolded it like a brat. Instead of improving her performance, the knife dropped her combat level even lower. Punching a Windflora to death was easier and required less hits overall.

    “Hey, Titan. Why didn’t ya cut down that fucker? Like WOOSH and done!”

    “Excuse me? I TRIED.”

    “But ya hit it like a bitch! Just slice down that fucker like WHAM!”

    Mina probably performed some passionate examples for Erika, none of which were visible to anybody.

    “You make it sound so easy... I slashed its face so many times, but it still didn’t die.”

    “Yeah, yeah! That! The face! Why did ya aim there, Titan!?”

    “Hm...?”

    “You should’ve chopped its dumb neck! Like CHOP CHOP!!”

    “The neck...?”

    Erika blinked in surprise. Windfloras had big heads, which were easy to aim at. It felt natural to attack that part when fighting against them.

    But, what about the stem supporting that big head? It was relatively thick for a normal flower, but it didn’t seem all that sturdy.

    Maybe I can cut it off...? It may not be that easy, though.

    The stem looked more fragile than the face, but it was also thinner and more difficult to punch. However, with the Silver Knife at hand, Erika could now efficiently slash that elusive stem.

    “I understand what you mean, Mini. I’ll give it a shot.”

    Erika jumped on her feet and ran toward another Windflora. Her injuries were completely restored by that short rest.

    Now, aim for the stem...! I’ll need to swing the knife from this distance, and then...!

    Her hands didn’t wait for her careful calculations. The knife sliced through the Windflora’s stem and should have chopped the flower in two.

    Not enough!?

    The slash only left a red cut across the stem, without beheading the Windflora. Now, Erika left herself open to receive another wind blast in the face.

    Curses! I can’t defend from this range...! Why can’t it just die!?

    Prepared to receive the Windflora’s shot head on, Erika decided to strike again. Her arm leapt forth and slashed the injured stem. She just wanted it dead, even if she had to take some damage!

    “Ugh...!”

    Erika shut her eyes after the attack, already imagining her body being blown away by a fierce gust. However... nothing hit her.

    When Erika opened her eyes, she witnessed the final moments of the beheaded Windflora.

    【Defeated Windflora. Obtained 5 [Wind] pieces.】

    Two slashes. That’s all it took to cut the stem and fell the Windflora. It was indeed “Like WOOSH and done!”.

    “Heh... huhu.”

    A devilish smirk formed on Erika’s lips. Slashing the stem was a lot easier than punching the Windflora to death. She didn’t even feel any fatigue from this short battle.

    I see how it is. I take it back; you’re not so bad, Silver Knife.

    Erika stroke the Silver Knife, as if praising a pet. She didn’t care for knives and she generally avoided them, but the short knife in her hand was very likeable.

    I bet you want to slash some more, don’t you?

    Erika smiled dangerously and let her knife have a slaughter fest. One by one, the Windfloras collapsed after being sliced in two.

    Now who’s the Raid Boss? Huhu~

    Finally, the Windfloras were reduced to the fodder mobs they were. They stood no chance against Erika and her legendary Silver Knife.

    “Haa... phew, that was fun.”

    Erika felt a hint of weariness after she took down six Windfloras in a row. Even normally attacking spent energy in GoVe.

    Erika had enough battles to prove her supremacy to the flowers; she was ready to move on toward Zelin.

    Now, where do I put the knife?

    Erika examined her clothes from side to side. She was provided short pants and a simple shirt, there weren’t any pockets for the Silver Knife. Storing the knife in the Dimension Vessel didn’t seem comfortable either.

    She tried to pull her pants away from the wait, in order to open a gap where the knife could be inserted.

    “Hm...?”

    Her pants didn’t separate from the waist, as if they were stitched to her skin.

    ERROR】【You cannot manually remove your main clothes with your own hands. Access the Equipment screen to change your clothes.】

    So much for fully immersive VR.

    Erika frowned at the message, but she sighed with understanding. Without a restrictive system like that, nothing stopped players from going nude. Sexual stunts like that weren’t appreciated in the real world, and they were unwelcome in VR as well.

    After she messed around some with the knife, the system recognized her troubles and a helpful tip popped up.

    TIP】【A weapon can be equipped to many different body parts. Simply press the weapon against the body part of your choice and leave it there.】

    Though the game was vague and merciless, Erika thanked GoVe for its spot-on tips. She brought the Silver Knife toward her waist and left it there.

    “My...”

    The knife didn’t fall down to the ground. Instead, a brown pouch magically appeared on Erika’s waist and safely contained the Silver Knife.

    Interesting.

    The pouch instantly vanished when Erika took out the knife. The pouch was a virtual item, which didn’t truly exist in Erika’s inventory.

    I wonder where else this could go.

    Erika managed to equip the knife on her back, on her legs and even on her arms. She also tried putting the knife on top of her head, but that didn’t fly.

    There were various restrictions in place, but overall Erika could equip the knife to any sensible area on her body. Satisfied with this information, she equipped the knife into her waist and returned to the unpaved road.
     
  4. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 30: Water Blob

    As the road continued, a village was visible in the distance. Based on the map, which automatically filled up, the village shared its name with the lake: Murph Village.

    The scenery changed slightly as Erika drew closer to the village. There were puddles scattered along the road and they glittered suspiciously.

    These don’t look like your average puddles.

    Erika poked a puddle with her finger, but nothing happened. Nonetheless, her inner RPG veteran whispered that these puddles were more than flat decorations.

    “Hm...?”

    A ripple resounded from another puddle. A mass of water formed together and created a tiny creature.

    Water Blob

    It was a chubby, little water person, small enough to fit inside a palm. It crawled out of the puddle and began walking around. Its water legs produced splashy sounds as they hit against the solid ground.

    The blob started running after a while, but it clumsily tripped and landed on its chubby belly.

    “S-so cute~!”

    Erika experienced a seizure as she watched the water kid struggling to stand up. She quickly approached the adorable creature and grabbed it.

    “P-pyu!”

    The Water Blob waved its short arms and legs while it was raised into the air. It was small and defenseless, making it all the more endearing.

    S-so cute~

    Erika smiled gleefully as she examined the sacred Water Blob. It was made entirely out of water and its cool skin felt nice against Erika’s palms.

    “P-pyu!!”

    The blob thrust its arm in Erika’s direction.

    “E-eh!?”

    A cold wave of water slapped Erika’s face. She was taken aback and blinked in daze.

    “Pyu!”

    The blob used this opportunity to jump out of Erika’s weakened grip. It safely landed on its round belly and began running.

    “Ah~ Wait~”

    It was easy to catch the fleeing Water Blob, but Erika wanted to see more of the blob’s clumsy running on these short, round legs. Whenever the blob tripped and landed on its round belly, it made Erika twitch in joy. It was the same as watching a baby performing its first steps.

    “Come to mommy now~”

    “P-pyu... pyu!!”

    “W-wait- haha~!”

    Cold water struck Erika again, but it wasn’t very effective. The blob’s frail attempts to assault Erika were more endearing than dangerous.

    “Pyu! Pyuuu!!”

    The little baby continued to run while producing funny sounds. Even with her [Communication] rune, Erika couldn’t translate the Water Blob’s squeaks.

    “Caught you~”

    Erika stretched her hands toward the Water Blob... but it vanished right in front of her. A destructive gust torn the blob to shreds and splattered it across the grass.

    Vivi defeated a Water Blob.】

    “Eh...?”

    Erika continued to stretch her hands with a frozen expression.

    What... just... happened?

    The cute water child was just there; it was right within Erika’s grasp. A moment later, it was brutally rent asunder and vanished from existence.

    “Ahahaha! Serves you right!”

    Vivi put both hands on her waist and laughed in mockery. It was a clean and flawless victory for her.

    “W... why!?”

    “H-huh!? Like, what’s your problem?”

    “Why did you shoot down that little blob!? It was just a baby!”

    “Hmph! Like, why do I deserve to be yelled at? Just because you’re a slowpoke idiot, the generous Vivi helped you exterminate that pest!”

    Vivi cross her arms and lifted her chin in arrogance. She was convinced she did Erika a service out of goodwill.

    “I... I wasn’t planning to attack it. It didn’t do anything wrong!”

    “Like, are you for real? It attacked you like three times!”

    “We were just... playing around...”

    Erika clenched her fists in a mixture of anger and despair. Vivi sincerely believed that the Water Blob was the very incarnation of evil, it was impossible to convince her otherwise.

    This is so wrong... but i can’t think of anything good to say...

    Erika’s scattered thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sound of ripples. A new baby blob emerged from a puddle and crawled toward the ground.

    “This is like free money! Take that!”

    “W-wait!”

    Erika was too late. Everything was too late. The newborn blob was blasted across the puddle and sunk into nothingness.

    “S-STOP!! Don’t hurt them!!”

    Erika yelled her lungs out. This massacre of helpless babies was unforgivable!

    “Hey! The fuck ya doin’, Titan!?”

    “E-eh?!”

    Erika froze in her tracks. When did she start dashing? When did she draw out her knife? Most importantly: why was her knife pointed straight at Vivi!?

    C-calm down, Combat Aid! I don’t want to harm her!

    Erika fought off the automated system and lowered her knife. If not for Mina’s well-timed warning, Erika would have committed an unforgivable crime.

    “Like, you wanna go?! Hmph!”

    “W-wah!”

    Erika was pushed away by a gust and landed on her bottom.

    “S-sorry, Vivi... I didn’t...”

    Erika stared at her hand in disbelief. It felt like the implanted limb of an alien, which had nothing to do with Erika’s own will.

    There was just a little bit of anger, Erika was just a little riled up. However, based on such shallow feelings, the Combat Aid decided to possess Erika’s arm and to assassinate Vivi.

    The thought of harming Vivi never crossed my mind! Not even once! I need to fix it. NOW.

    Erika couldn’t rely on a system which tried to murder friends over small disputes. She brought up the Combat Aid’s menu and lowered its level by a huge chunk.

    This is already the second time today... what is happening to me?

    First she slapped Mina, now she assaulted Vivi. Where did the peaceful Erika disappear to? When did she turn into a raging delinquent?

    Is this some form of Vireco as well? Was I corrupted by this aggressive Combat Aid?

    It sounded like a cheap excuse to justify her violent behaviour, but Erika had no better explanation to offer. There was no Combat Aid in the real world, but Erika’s hand nonetheless slapped Mina on its own. It felt the same as when the Combat Aid gave a “push” to Erika’s arms during combat.

    “My body moved before I could think”, huh.

    It was a popular excuse by students who got into fights. As a class president, Erika listened to a fair share of such stories. It was embarrassing to rely on such an excuse herself.

    The awkward incident helped Erika to cool down. Her thoughts flowed smoothly, and her protest against the extermination of Water Blobs turned more pragmatic, less emotional.

    “Anyway, please don’t shoot the blobs.”

    “Why? They’re like free money!”

    “They’re just small, defenseless creatures. Is the great Vivi actually a lowly bully?”

    “Small? Defenseless?! Like, are you for real?! You have no idea what an idiot you are, hmph!”

    Vivi spotted another blob and began channeling a wind attack.

    “You need to crush Elementals while they’re still young idiots!”

    Vivi fired a gust of wind, but it was blocked by a meat shield.

    “Geh...!”

    Erika stepped in and was slammed by the fierce blast. Thankfully, the little blob behind her was unscratched.

    “Move! I plan to earn easy money off them!”

    “No.”

    Erika stood firm and braced herself for any future wind attacks. A messaged popped up somewhere along their heated conversation.

    【Your [Communication] rune reached Level 2.】

    It felt as if the game reduced Erika’s righteous arguments to a cheap grinding for her rune. Erika didn’t appreciate that at all.

    “Don’t harm the blobs.”

    “W-why?! Like, they’re the enemy!”

    “No, they’re just harmless little cuties.”

    “Harmless!? Like, you’re even more stupid than I thought! If you let them be, they’ll grow into disgusting monsters who’ll bury you in the depths of the sea!”

    “Is that so...”

    Erika needed a moment to contemplate over this new information. In modern MMORPGs, It wasn’t uncommon for a roaming mob to gradually evolve into a stronger form. Perhaps Water Blobs had a very disturbing evolution tree, which included turning into tentacle monsters who grabbed innocent girls.

    But that wasn’t the case in the present. The only crime these blobs committed thus far, was to shoot an arrow through Erika’s heart and to mesmerize her with their cuteness.

    “I hate that dumb chick, but gotta agree with her here.”

    Mina made an invisible nod and supported Vivi’s stance. As far as she was concerned, these pesky blobs were enemies, meant to be slaughtered.

    “Mini, you too?”

    “They’re just dumb mobs. They exist to be killed!”

    “But that’s so cruel. Don’t you feel sad for them?”

    “Bah! I’d mop the floor with these scrubs any day!”

    Mina confidently puffed her invisible (flat) chest.

    “Mini is so heartless~ How can you hurt cuties like them?”

    “Huuuh? What’s so cute about them? They’re just water slimes!”

    “But they’re so tiny and chubby~”

    “Do ya have a fetish or something? I bet ya keep cockroaches as pets because they’re small, haha!”

    “Ugh... no, cockroaches are... well...”

    Erika averted her eyes and a shiver run through her body. Cockroaches were indeed small and harmless, but they were on Erika’s blacklist.

    Am I really the weird one here?

    Nobody supported Erika’s righteous movement. But, even if the whole world turned against her, she’d remain the ally of baby blobs!

    “Alright. If you want to keep murdering the blobs, then I hope you’re ready to part ways with this.”

    Erika took out the Dragon Chocolate and aimed it toward the lake. It was a dangerous gamble, but she was ready to go as far as needed to protect the poor Water Blobs.

    “H-hmph!”

    Vivi cancelled her wind magic and brought down her arm.

    “F-fine! Like, this chocolate is worth more than I can earn off these idiots, so I’ll bear with it for now! Not that I like chocolate or anything, though! Don’t get the wrong idea! Hmph!”

    “Sure, sure~”

    Erika smiled and sighed in relief. There was the risk of Vivi calling off the whole escort quest thanks to this threat, but everything worked out in the end.

    The little blobs remained sound and safe, as long as the Defender of Cutelings was around.
     
  5. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 31: Icon Sense

    Now, that Water Blobs were no longer in danger, Erika started appealing to the little blobs anew. Vivi wanted to complained about that too, but she was quickly subsided with a dose of Dragon Chocolate.

    Even though Erika was angry with Vivi just a moment ago, watching the little pixie happily nom on chocolate was very soothing. The passionate argument was now water under the bridge.

    S-so cute~

    A new Water Blob emerged from a puddle. Erika grabbed the baby before it could run away.

    “Pyu...”

    The blob examined Erika in suspicion and prepared to splash her with its chubby arms. Erika had the unbearable urge to pat and snuggle the adorable critter, but she restrained herself to not scare the baby.

    Communication: ON.

    Erika’s forehead shined and blue patterns stretched across it. Thanks to her heated debate with Vivi, Erika managed to level up her [Communication] rune. With a Lv.2 rune, she hoped to be granted the the bliss of understanding the Water Blob’s baby language.

    “Pyu...”

    Alas, she was unable to decipher the blob’s words; [Communication] didn’t become any better at translating after it leveled up.

    “Hm...?”

    One thing was different, however. A trembling icon hovered over the Water Blob’s head, suggesting that the abducted baby was afraid.

    “My, are you scared? It’s alright, mommy won’t hurt you~”

    Erika smiled toward the blob and carefully reached out to it.

    “Pyu!”

    The shaking icon exploded and gave birth to a raging icon instead. The blob splashed Erika’s face and jumped from her palm.

    “Ah~ Don’t go~”

    The blob tried to flee with its chubby feet, producing wet sounds whenever its watery legs hit the ground. Erika lazily pursued the clumsy baby, who tripped every now and then.

    “Pyu!”

    The blob turned its head every now and then, shooting water at the persistent pursuer. The aggressive icon around the blob’s head never faded; no amount of “safe distance”, between the blob and Erika, helped to calm down the fearful baby.

    After tripping many times, the Water Blob reached the lake and dived inside. It swam away and disappeared into the water.

    “Ah~ Come back~”

    Erika wanted to jump into the water and to swim after the Water Blob, but Mina warned her against it. Due to some vague restriction, beginners couldn’t swim in God Vessel Online.

    This is so frustrating... I need to hit the gas on collecting pieces for swimming lessons.

    Erika frowned at the pieces in her collection. She had a total of 218 pieces, but there were only 6 [Water] pieces among them. As far as paying Lakya for the pool was concerned - Erika hardly made any progress.

    Before she continued to harass the little blobs, Erika brought up her rune’s information.

    Lv.2】【You can sense the emotions and intentions of others. The sensitivity will improve as the rune levels up.】

    It was a vague description, same as with the rune’s Lv.1. The icons she saw above the Water Blob must have been her new ability to “sense emotions”. A trembling emote appeared when the blob was scared, and a furious emote popped up when the blob turned hostile.

    Erika tried to combine this information with the rune’s Lv.1.

    Lv.1】【You can communicate with most intelligent species. The smoothness of the interaction will increase as the rune levels up.】.

    Since [Communication] failed to translate the Water Blob’s squeaks, it was likely that the baby blobs weren’t considered “intelligent”; they didn’t have a language which could be coherently translated.

    Instead, their cute peeps were the primitive extensions of their emotions. Rather than figuring out the precise meaning of each squeak, it was easier to understand the blobs through their emotes.

    Feeling confident about her newfound method of communication, Erika set out to grab more Water Blobs. Alas, all her efforts were in vain...

    My, why do they get scared so easy? It’s so adorable, though~

    Erika could understand the blobs better, but it didn’t help her convey her love for them. The blobs were scared whenever Erika approached them, and fled in terror whenever she tried to grab them.

    In the end, all her abduction attempts ended with the the blobs escaping into the lake. The Water Blobs appeared clumsy and directionless at first glance, but they all shared a common life cycle.

    They were born from puddles and they instinctively reached toward the lake. Perhaps it was part of the evolution process which Vivi mentioned. By spending time in the lake, the cute blobs might have been transforming into dangerous krakens...!

    “Hey, Titan! Are you done with this shit yet!?”

    “Oh, right...”

    Erika was ready to spend the rest of the day on kidnapping babies, but both Mina and Vivi urged her to continue. In the end, they managed to force Erika to continue her journey... slowly.

    Hm? My body feels... heavy?

    Erika examined herself in confusion. She was dripping water all over, thanks to the mischievous blobs who sprayed her to no end. Her clothes were magically waterproof and stayed completely dry, but a layer of water stacked on top of them.

    Nothing else seemed to weigh on her, but she had to drag herself as she walked. Being soaked in water was turning her fat, for some reason.

    This experience was consistent with Mina’s story about drowning; Mina claimed that she was “sucked in” by the water. Most likely, the water turned Mina heavy and made her sink. Swimming in Lakya’s pool was probably going to fix this exact issue.

    The water eventually dried off and Erika’s petite body became light again. After leaving the “Baby Blobs Heaven”, Erika finally reached her first checkpoint.

    Murph Village

    It was a small and laid-back village. Nonetheless, Vivi was very excited.

    “So this is a village where idiot humans live!?”

    Vivi flew all over the place and examined the village from every corner.

    “My, Vivi is like an excited child~”

    “W-wha!? Like, I’m not excited at all! This is just a village for idiots! Hmph!”

    Nevertheless, an icon sparkled above Vivi’s head. Even [Communication] understood that Vivi was a bratty liar.

    “Hmph! Since the great Vivi bothered to come all the way to this dump, she might as well grace the villagers with her divine presence!”

    The pixie announced so and blitzed into the village.

    “Ah! Wait!”

    Erika stretched a hand to stop Vivi and hurried after the pixie. Nervous about losing sight of her dear pixie, Erika hurried into the village as well

    Right by the village’s entrance, Erika spotted a Warp Stone; she made sure to briefly touch it before continuing. The stone lit up and allowed Erika to set Murph Village as her new spawning point, which she gladly accepted.

    Finally, she felt she made some decent progress. It was still unclear how far Zelin City was, but Erika made the first big step towards that goal.
     
  6. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 32: Murph Village

    “Vivi, wait!”

    Erika caught up to the hyperactive pixie and blocked Vivi’s path.

    “Hmph, I’m bored hanging around an idiot all the time. Like, I wanna have some personal space, you know.”

    Vivi crossed her arms and lifted her chin. She was bent on exploring the village herself, without Erika.

    Why would she insist on that...?

    It was unclear from the game’s point of view. Escorted NPCs were bound to the player, they didn’t have a life outside the escort quest. Yet, Vivi clearly insisted to do “her own thing”.

    Erika heard that NPCs in VR games were often more vivid than usual. However, it felt too weird to her as an RPG veteran; she was used to obedient NPCs, who sheeped on her lead.

    It was unthinkable to let Vivi wander around by herself, but Erika failed to change the pixie’s mind. At the very least, she forced Vivi to agree on a rendezvous point.

    “Say, Vivi...”

    Erika tilted her head as she examined all of the village’s exits.

    Murph Village bordered with a lake on the east, but the other three directions led to unpaved roads. One such road led back to the Water Temple, but the remaining two were completely unknown.

    “Do you know which road we need to take to Zelin City?”

    “H-hmph! Like, of course I know!”

    Vivi puffed her cheeks, feeling challenged by the question. She tried to look confident, but a sweating emote popped near her head, exposing her inner turmoil.

    “Then, which way is it?”

    “I-it’s... that way! I think... like, I’m sure it’s there!”

    Vivi pointed to the west with shaky confidence.

    “Hm~ Are you sure?”

    “O-of course! Hmph! If you insist on being such an doubtful idiot, then figure it out yourself!”

    Vivi flapped her glittering wings and fled in embarrassment. She mixed in the crowd and vanished from sight.

    NOTIFICATION】【The quest Vivi’s Escort is put on hold until you reunite with Vivi (Velver Pixie)】

    The notification made Erika frown. She didn’t like the idea of letting Vivi wander alone, and the message only fueled her worries.

    Her sole source of comfort was Vivi’s solid AI. When Erika was trashed to death by a Windflora, Vivi loyally waited for her mommy’s respawn. Back then, Erika also felt uneasy, but everything worked out fine in the end. Hopefully, this time it’d be the same.

    Oh... I should turn this off.

    Erika started feeling hazy, due to the active [Communication] rune in her forehead. She enjoyed spying on others’ emotions, to the point she completely forgot to turn off her rune.

    Interestingly, the rune’s toll was much lower than at the beginning. She kept [Communication] active for quite a while, but she only started feeling a little dizzy just now. When she just activated [Communication] the first time, it almost knocked her out after half of this duration.

    Either Erika’s stamina increased thanks to her battles, or the [Communication] rune became less costly after leveling up. Perhaps even both.

    Communication: OFF.

    The rune retracted its powers and fell asleep inside Erika’s head. Her mind cleared up and she was ready to go.

    Before anything else, Erika decided to investigate the right path toward their future destination: Zelin City Per Vivi’s advice, Erika approached the western end of the village to confirm where it led.

    “I wouldn’t go there if I were ya, girl.”

    An old woman warned Erika.

    “My, is there something dangerous up ahead?”

    “It ain’t no place for little girls, that much I know fo sure.”

    The old woman kindly explained that Zelin City was to the south of Murph Village; Vivi dun goofed. The region to the west sounded like a more advanced area, which a beginner like Erika wasn’t prepared for.

    My, this village is nothing at all.

    As Erika continued to stroll, it became apparent that the village was small and didn’t offer much of anything. There weren't many named NPCs around, and there even fewer players.

    Pedestrian NPCs didn’t even deserve a name tag, as they existed solely to fill up the scenery. Erika tried talking to a few, but they all dismissed her with robotic responses.

    “I’m busy, kid!”

    “Please don’t badger me.”

    It was impossible to strike a conversation with these lifeless villagers. Even though the AI in God Vessel Online was impressive, the developers cut ends where they could.

    Compared to these nameless bots, players were honored with not one, but TWO name tags above their heads. This made it easy to distinguish players from other named NPCs.

    Luke】【DarkKnightZorg02

    The first tag was the player’s nickname, whereas the second tag was his username. One player even had a third tag, indicating the guild he belonged to.

    All other players in the village had avatars of teenagers or young adults. They were clearly more advanced players than Erika, who had a child avatar. Murph Village wasn’t a popular gathering area, but it must have offered something “special” to appeal to “advanced players.”

    I should learn what uses this village has, for future reference.

    Erika questioned the players she passed by. They were all busy running around, fetching and delivering items. They didn’t spare much time to idle chat, but Erika understood the gist of it from their brief responses.

    “I’m selling fruits for a neat price. ”

    “I have a time-limited fetch quest! Move!”

    “I own a field here... so, like, I need to tend to it and stuff.”

    There didn’t seem to be anything special about Murph Village per se. The village revolved around “farming” and offered simple services related to its theme. This included quests for delivering food, exchanging fruits or vegetables for a decent price and even owning a field.

    Based on the RPG veteran’s experience, most of these services appealed to players from a higher level of play. It must have been gibberish to an uneducated beastie like Mina, who only cared about beating the shit outta stuff. Unlike that light-brained warrior, Erika definitely hoped to capitalize on all these aspects of the village in the future.

    With these schemes in mind, Erika began interacting with the named NPCs in the village.
     
  7. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 33: Fantasy Food

    Most of the named NPCs in Murph Village either sold goods or offered quests. The merchants bought and sold items related to farming, but nothing else.

    NPCs in GoVe were picky about trading, they didn’t mindlessly buy whatever was shoved into their faces. As such, Murph Village was a great place to get rid of the seeds Erika collected from Windfloras. After all, there was no telling whether anybody would care to buy seeds in a city like Zelin.

    The average price she could fetch for a single Windflora Seed was 4 pieces. It was a decent trade for an item which was completely useless for her. Nonetheless, the RPG veteran in her whispered:

    “Keep the seeds until you check every corner of the village. You can always sell them later.”

    Heeding her own advice, Erika only surveyed the different merchants; she neither bought nor sold anything. She wrote mental notes on all the information she gathered and moved on to do quests.

    NPCs who had quests for Erika were marked with a letter icon above their heads. It was a standard MMORPG mechanic, but in GoVe these icons were only visible with a Lv.2 [Communication].

    As she suspected, the quests in the village were still aimed at beginners. “Deliver these apples to another NPC”, “Fetch some potatoes from that NPC”. These were the types of quests available to Erika.

    This is as generic as it gets.

    Such fetch quests were hardly engaging. Nonetheless, Erika wanted to finish all the four quests she spotted. Even if they were shallow and straightforward quests, there was a chance one of them would lead to another quest, which would lead to another quest and so forth.

    Fetch and delivery quests were easy in Murph Village. Erika was asked to go from one end of the village to another, but that took just a couple of minutes in such a small village. She had to carry big packages of food, but the Dimension Vessel was the perfect place to store everything.

    It doesn’t seem I can do more than one serious delivery at the time. If this inventory can’t be expanded, then I’ll be having a very bad time

    Erika frowned at the small floating island as she unloaded a bag of potatoes for her delivery. Her inventory had roughly the area of one square meter; it was nowhere enough for a hoarder MMORPG player. One bag of potatoes was enough to cover the whole space.

    “Say, Mini. Can I upgrade my inventory somehow?”

    “Yeah, ya can expand it in the cities. They give ya a quest and stuff.”

    “I see. This is great.”

    Erika sighed in relief. The future of this RPG hoarder wasn’t as bleak as she feared.

    Erika finished two fetch quests and only two more available quests were left. She thoughts they’d be a breeze, but...

    Wipe Out Water Blobs

    Erika glared at the NPC through the message box. It was a standard quest to hunt weak mobs, but Erika couldn’t possibly go through with it. How could she possibly bully the baby blobs!? It’d be blasphemy!

    This was one quest Erika had to decline. Instead, she went on to the final available quest. After a short stroll through the village, she arrived at a big farming field.

    “Heya, wanna buy anything, girlie?”

    The caretaker of the field was an old, tanned man named Jeff. Erika was greeted warmly, and a shop screen popped up in front of her. Jeff was both a merchant NPC and a quest NPC in one.

    The first options in the shop were plain: carrots, apples, potatoes and so forth. However, there were also oddly named fantasy products, such as: Wind Carrot, Fire Apple and Water Potato.

    “These are sure... peculiar names.”

    “Haha, them simple names are just easy for my business.”

    Jeff explained that the straightforward names existed for the God Vessels. Namely, for the players.

    “They sure sound bizarre. I can’t even imagine how they taste.”

    “Haha, here ya go. Give it a taste.”

    Jeff threw her a red apple.

    “W-wah!”

    Erika masterfully caught it... with her face.

    【Obtained Fire Apple.】

    The red apple was very warm, as if installed with a heater. Its red hue was brighter than the deep red of a normal apple, reminding a flame.

    Truly, the simplistic name “Fire Apple” may have been well-placed. It was literally just an apple, recolored to resemble a flame.

    Fire Apple.】

    【A nutritious apple infused with the element of fire. Spicy.】

    The word “spicy” made Erika frown. She already had a fun experience with a certain “sweet” chocolate. She carefully, really carefully, brought her teeth toward the small apple.

    “Mmm...! My, it’s very peculiar.”

    It had the core taste of a juicy apple, yet it felt like pepper somehow slipped inside. It was an unusual mix of light sweetness and light spiciness, which brought about a dual flavor.

    TIP】【The food you consume will affect your body’s development. It’s advised to regularly intake nutritious food.】

    Erika pondered about the message as she munched on the sweet-spicy apple. Silveria explained how the properties of the food greatly affected the growth of baby animals. Same as the little animals, Erika’s child avatar wasn’t going to stay that way forever.

    Sadly, GoVe’s system made the player grow up and develop their body over time. Eating food must have been one type of action to shape an avatar as it matured.

    Perhaps, same as baby critters, young God Vessels could improve their affinities by eating elemental food. She tried to confirm this theory with Jeff, but he drew blanks on the topic. As far as he was concerned, the element was used purely for flavor.

    “If ya interested in learnin’ more, maybe try asking yo Vessel fellas? Some of ‘em grow their own fields.”

    Jeff directed Erika to the corner of the village, where God Vessels could manage their own farming fields. Gathering information from more experienced players sounded like a good idea.

    “Thank you very much for the treat.”

    Erika enjoyed the freebie food, but she didn’t plan to carelessly spend money. Before emptying her pockets, it was important to establish the benefits of various food types. Jeff must have tried to lure Erika into buying more with that free Fire Appeal, but her businesslike attitude ruined his schemes.

    Erika closed the shop menu and Jeff suddenly changed the subject.

    “There’ve been lotta Windfloras hangin’ around lately.”

    “Oh, yes. You’re right.”

    Erika smiled and encouraged the old man to continue. The RPG veteran already knew that this was heading toward a quest.

    “Could ya hunt down a bunch of ‘em? Bring me 15 of ‘em Windflora seeds, I’ll make it worth yo while.”

    “Gladly.”

    Erika accepted the quest and checked the details. The reward was 120 pieces for 15 seeds, which meant 8 pieces per seed. It was lower than Silveria’s pay ratio, but it was still twice the amount that other Murph merchants offered.

    Good thing I wasn’t hasty selling these seeds, huhu.

    Erika smirked and brought up her Dimension Vessel. Thanks to her earlier killing practice with the Silver Knife, Erika had the 15 Windflora Seeds that Jeff requested.

    “Oh! Ya’re a fast one, girlie!”

    Jeff was pleasantly impressed and received the seeds. He was about the hand Erika the reward, but she interrupted him.

    “May I please pick myself which piece types I’ll be getting?”

    “Haha, sorry, girlie. Can’t do that. Ya see, it’s a taboo to hand ‘em specific pieces.”

    “A taboo?”

    “Yea, not sure why exactly though.”

    Erika made a face in response. Her guess was: “Because the game tried to be harder than it should.”

    Yet again, Erika’s reward was a mixture of different pieces, expanding her variety with [Power], [Synthesis] and [Ice] pieces. Luckily, she also received 10 [Water] pieces, which brought her closer to paying for Lakya’s pool.

    “Do you need me to hunt anything else?”

    “Haha, bein’ young is such a bliss! Come back another day, I may have more work for ya. And make sure ya buy something too!”

    Judging by the Jeff’s words, his stock of quests could refresh. It was either one of these infamous “Daily Quests”, or Erika had to satisfy some conditions, to receive the next quest in line. Either way, she could only try another day.

    “Seeya around, girlie.”

    The two of them parted ways and Erika headed to the far corner of the village, where players managed their personal fields.

    I hope these flowers are harmless.

    Erika was on her guard as she walked along Jeff’s long field. One portion of the field was occupied by big sunflowers, some of which bore striking resemblance to Windfloras.

    Luckily, the【Windflora】tag didn’t appear above these flowers; this assured Erika that the flowers were harmless. They must have been normal flowers, which grew from Windflora Seeds.

    “Hm...?”

    There was a suspicious rustling sound coming from the field. It was almost unnoticeable under Murph’s background music, but Erika was so cautious, that she noticed every moving atom.

    “Who’s there~?”

    Erika approached the field to take a closer look. She hoped to find a cute, fluffy animal stealing food.

    “E-eh?!”

    Blackness erupted from the ground. Erika jumped back in shock, nearly tripping.

    “Whoa! The fuck’s this shit?!”

    Even Mina was startled. She was bored with Erika’s village exploration, but this sudden development shook her awake.

    ?????

    A black sunflower emerged on the field. Its black petals were sharpened like blades, and eerily thin arms stretched from its dark stem.

    I-isn’t this a safe zone!? This shouldn’t be happening!

    A fight. In a village. Why? How!? Even the creature’s identity remained an enigma. Nobody and nothing bothered to explain this sudden development.
     
  8. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 34: Elven Support

    The black flower rustled and aimed it razor petals at Erika. From her experience with the Windfloras, Erika could tell that an attack was incoming.

    W-why is this happening!?

    Erika’s mind raced and she couldn’t collect her thoughts. She reached toward her knife in a daze, but the mysterious foe was faster.

    “W-wah!”

    Black daggers were fired from the dark flower’s petals. Erika’s lowered Combat Aid wasn’t as sharp as before...!

    “G-gah!!”

    The black blades grazed her arms, legs and torso. She was definitely cut all over, but no blood poured out. Instead, the blades vanished into thin air, and black ink marks formed around the injured areas.

    “H-huh...? M-my body...”

    Erika couldn’t feel the blackened areas of her body. Numbness was spreading throughout her muscles and draining her energy.

    I-I need to get closer and slash it...!

    Erika pushed her paralyzed arm to draw the Silver Knife. She took a few stiff steps forward, closing onto the mysterious flower.

    Erika already became an expert at wiping out flowers, she knew that they didn’t fare well in close quarters. However, her expertise with Windfloras betrayed her here.

    “G-gah!?”

    A black fist rammed into her chest and sent her pummeling into the ground. Unlike the Windflora, this black flower had ghastly arms stretching from it stem; it could fight at close range too!

    “Curses...”

    Erika staggered to stand up. Between the paralysis and the blunt injuries, her petite body was about to break apart.

    Am I going to die again...? Haa...

    Her fighting spirit was sucked out of her when she noticed the sharp petals on the flower’s head. The stack of black knives was completely refilled and stood ready to fire.

    “This is so unfair...”

    The black daggers pierced through the air. There was no chance to dodge, no chance to block. Erika closed her eyes and mentally prepared to be stabbed to death.

    ... but the attack didn’t reach her.

    “... eh?”

    A fierce gust blew above her. When Erika opened her eyes, the black daggers flew in random directions and scattered across the field.

    What...? Vivi...?!

    Erika raised her head to check out her savior. A powerful blast like this was something the little pixie could easily pull off.

    “Do you happen to be alright?”

    The young woman behind Erika was not a pixie. Her golden hair, sky blue eyes and pointy ears identified her as an elf.

    “Ah... yeah, I do happen to be alright...”

    Erika replied in a daze, unable to wrap her head around the situation.

    Alicia

    Based on the single name tag over the elf’s head, it was safe to assume this woman was an NPC.

    Is this part of a scripted event...?

    First, the evil flower popped into existence out of thin air. Next, a random elf rescued her. These were both bizarre events for a safe area.

    “Eh...?”

    Erika noticed a glittering puddle of water hanging in midair. The elf, Alicia, generated water from her fair palm... right above Erika’s body.

    “W-wha- aaaaah!”

    Erika was showered as if from a bucket. Her body was fiercely struck... or was it?

    “Hm? This feels... nice, somehow.”

    Unlike the splashes of the mischievous Water Blobs, Alicia’s water didn’t slam Erika’s body. Instead, the warm water was instantly absorbed into Erika’s skin, as if diving into a pool.

    A warm, tingling sensation spread across Erika’s body. The black ink marks dissolved and the numb body parts were rejuvenated. Rather than a “water attack”, Alicia’s splash must have been some sort of healing magic.

    Erika jumped on her feet up with her renewed body. Both the numbness on her limbs and the blunt pain in her chest were history now.

    “Thank you.”

    “There happens to be no problem.”

    Alicia smiled softly and aimed her palm in Erika’s direction. Wind gathered around Alicia’s palm in a spiral, foreshadowing a gust attack.

    “W-wha!?”

    A blast of wind grazed Erika’s ear. Behind her, another wave of flying blades was thwarted.

    “T-thank you, again...”

    For a moment there, Erika thought she was going to be blasted to the moon by Alicia’s attack. Everything Alicia did was sudden, but the elf was clearly on Erika’s side.

    “Hey!””

    Jeff came in running to investigate the commotion in his precious field. He shot looks at both Erika and the black flower

    “What’s goin’ on here, eh?!”

    “That’s what I’d like to know myself. This thing popped out of nowhere and tried to kill me.”

    “A monster in my field?! What a disgrace...”

    Jeff lowered his head in shame. From his reaction, it seemed that he wasn’t surprised by the event itself. Rather, he was only surprised he allowed such a monstrosity to be born in his precious field.

    Is this sort of thing common when farming in this game? Scary.

    Erika jerked as another set of black daggers approached her. Thankfully, all the knives were blasted away by Alicia’s absolute wall of defense. The dangerous battle no longer felt like a battle at all.

    “Heavens, this is so troubling...”

    Jeff was losing face as a farmer by letting a wild monster raise havoc in his beloved field.

    “Could ya please exterminate this pest here, girlie? I’mma make sure to compensate ya for the noble effort.”

    “Gladly.”

    Erika initially cursed this sudden event. But, now she had an elf on her side and she could easily get a compensation too.

    This is great. Together with Alicia, this evil flower is no big deal at all.

    Erika grinned at another array of flying blades. They were all shot down and destroyed.

    Something was off, however. Alicia neatly provided cover with her wind magic, but she never bothered to strike the flower itself.

    “Could you please shoot the flower too? I'm sure your amazing blasts will easily knock it out.”

    “I happen to dislike violence.”

    Alicia answered plainly, without even giving the request a second thought.

    “Eh...? But...”

    Erika was lost for words. Alicia could heal and protect, yet she refused to partake in the combat itself; this drilled a huge hole in Erika’s confidence.

    “Then I understand this is up to me...”

    Erika turned toward the black flower and prepared her Silver Knife. There was no immediate danger, so she took her time to tinker with the Combat Aid.

    Her slow reactions to the flower’s attacks were not amusing at all. Even though the Combat Aid was turning her violent, Erika still needed this cursed system for this one boss fight.

    This won’t be easy.

    Erika frowned as she observed the evil flower. She was safe from flying daggers thanks to Alicia’s cover, but getting into close quarters didn’t seem like a good idea. Erika already had first-hand experience with how hard the flower could punch with its thin arms.

    “Say, Mini. Do you have any advice about beating this one?”

    Mina’s earlier advice proved useful when Erika struggled to utilize her knife against the Windfloras. Erika hoped to get another good tip from her secondary “Combat Aid”.

    “Just charge in and SMASH that fucker! Like WHAM and done!”

    “I... see...”

    Erika immediately lost all respect for the little beastie. In the end, everything was up to Erika herself.

    As she prepared to charge, Erika heard an odd melody from behind.

    “Li la li~♪ Li la li~♪ Li la li~♪”

    Alicia’s eyes were closed and she repeated an upbeat tune. Musical notes flew out her mouth and tickled Erika’s skin.

    Hm? I feel... stronger, somehow.

    Energy surged through her veins. It was as if her muscles were all clutched, ready for hyperactive action.

    “Thank you.”

    Erika smiled with newfound confidence. The energy flowing through her body must have been an enchantment to her physical capabilities, a buff.

    A new wave of black daggers was blocked, and the flower was now busy recharging its stock. Without further ado, Erika charged in.
     
  9. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 35: Dark Seed

    Erika’s movements were swift and light, thanks to Alicia’s enchantment. She rapidly closed onto the black flower and aimed her knife at the vulnerable stem; it was the same efficient strategy she employed against Windfloras.

    However, it wasn’t as easy against this mysterious flower..

    “W-wah!”

    Erika dodged a fierce punch by a hair’s breadth. If she wasn’t faster than usual, she would have been smacked hard.

    “Geh!”

    The flower quickly thrust a punch with its other arm. There was no time to dodge, but Erika managed to blocked the attack with crossed arms. This was all thanks to the responsive Combat Aid which she leveled up.

    Curses! I can’t get any closer like this!

    Erika’s advances were continuously interrupted by the flower’s long arms. Every time she tried to charge in, she was welcomed by a brutal fist. She always ended up abandoning her attack, either to evade or to block a punch.

    While keeping Erika at bay, the flower refilled its missing petals. Time was Erika’s enemy in this confrontation.

    A shower of blades from point blank... it’ll be a one-hit K.O, no doubt about it. I need to settle this fast, somehow!

    Despite shouting so in her head, Erika struggled to find a winning strategy. Alicia couldn’t possibly provide any support either, as her strong gusts would blow Erika away along with the nearby flower.

    “Haa... haa... curses!”

    Erika decided to gamble and rushed in at full speed. She ignored her defense and swung the knife toward the black stem.

    “Gah!”

    A punch rammed her shoulder and trashed her into the field. Her face crashed into some flowers and smashed them.

    “Heavens! This is such a disgrace!”

    Jeff held his head in anguish as he watched his precious field getting messed up.

    “Curses...”

    Erika jumped on her feet, but a stack of blades was waiting for her.

    T-this is bad!

    The flower aimed its cannon and released a barrage of blades. Even with the sharper Combat Aid and with Alicia’s buff - there was nothing Erika could do!

    ... luckily, Alicia reacted fast. Since Erika was pushed a decent distance from the enemy, Alicia’s fierce gust safely annihilated the black daggers.

    “Phew...”

    Erika was granted a second chance. She didn’t have the luxury to relax and strategize, but she took some time to examine the flower’s arms. No matter where she looked, there was no weakness in the dark flower’s structure; there was no way to reach the flower’s stem.

    “Hey, Titan! Try cutting them dumb arms!”

    “Eh? Cut them...?”

    “Yeah! C’mon! Chop chop!”

    “Is that even possible...?”

    Instead of focusing on the stem, Erika shifted her attention toward the arms. They were stretching out from the stem itself and appeared to be as fragile as the stem. She was so obsessed with the unreachable stem, that the thought of striking the arms never crossed her mind.

    There was no telling whether the flower’s arms could be cut off, but it was worth a shot. Originally, Erika didn’t believe that the Windflora’s stem could be sliced either, so anything was possible.

    I’ll bait it into attacking, same as before. Let’s see where this goes...!

    Erika pretend to charge in for an attack, triggering the flower’s security system. She stayed at the very edge of the opponent’s reach, to have an easy time dodging its fists.

    The flower thrust its long arm as predicted. Erika sidestepped the strike and lifted her legendary Silver Knife.

    Cut it in half!

    The knife hacked through the flower’s arm and left a red burning mark. The dark flower shook violently, in either pain or fury; perhaps both.

    “This seems to be effective...! Great call. Mini!”

    Erika repeated the process with the second arm as well, digging right through the flower’s arm. One slash wasn’t enough to chop an arm, but two slashes sealed the deal.

    The flower was now missing both arms and staggered. Before the flower could regain its composure, Erika dashed forward and delivered the final strike. She hacked at the stem over and over, until it snapped in half.

    【Defeated Darkflora. Obtained 8 [Darkness] pieces and 5 Darkflora Seeds.】

    “Phew... haa...”

    Erika leaned forward to catch her breath. It was amazing how much trouble could flowers cause in GoVe.

    “Thanks, girlie! Here’s ya reward!”

    Jeff praised Erika and paid her 50 pieces. She felt that she deserved way more for this bizarre event, but she was in no mood to negotiate.

    “I’ll be on my way, then.”

    Alicia announced and prepared to depart. Erika was quick to stall the elf.

    “You aren’t going to investigate the cause of this incident?”

    “No. I just happened to be on an errand and passed by.”

    “Then, do you have any quests for me?”

    “No. I already happen to be on a quest with another Vessel.”

    “Oh, I see...”

    Erika blinked in confusion.

    Wasn’t she part of this event...?

    Erika hoped that the helpful elf would stick around for one reason or another, but Alicia lived up to her words and left the area. Apparently, Erika was rescued by dumb luck, not by a scripted event of any sort.

    This game is so much fun.

    Erika sighed at the game’s cruelty and interrogated Jeff about this scandalous event. She still couldn’t believe she was forced to fight in a SAFE zone.

    “Do you have any idea what was the deal with that black flower? I believe it was called ‘Darkflora’.”

    “Hrm, to tell ya the truth, girlie... I’ve never seen such a thing in my whole life.”

    Jeff crossed his arms and knitted his eyebrows.

    “I reckon it’s that peculiar seed I got from a traveler.”

    “A traveler?”

    “Yea, a grim guy he was. Gave me a black seed for free, he did.”

    “You mean a seed like these?”

    Erika took out the newly obtained Darkflora Seeds from her Dimension Vessel.

    “Yea, yea! That’s exactly it! Who coulda guessed it’d grow into such monstrosity... I’mma never grow one of ‘em black seeds again! Gotta make sure fellas in the village know to avoid ‘em too.”

    “Yes... you should do so...”

    With this, any chance to sell the Darkflora Seeds in the village was killed. Erika hoped that Jeff was just blowing hot air, and that none of his words truly affected other NPCs in the village.

    “It’s troublin’, ain’t it? That grim guy must be up to no good.”

    Jeff made a severe expression.

    “Nobody in here village can go after that grim fella, but maybe you can, girlie.”

    “You want me to pursue that suspicious man?”

    “Yea. Last I remember, he headed south. Must be to Zelin.”

    “Alright, I’ll look for him when I get there.”

    Erika accepted the quest【Seedcrumbs of Revenge】. She had a bad feeling about the word “revenge” in the quest’s title.

    Perhaps her killing spree on Windfloras made her rack up negative karma points. Now, all the strongest flowers in the world were seeking her death and prepared to assault her at every corner. This bloody chain of vengeance could only end once she defeated the Godflora itself.

    ... yeah ,right.

    Erika cracked a laugh and spat a sigh. The saddest thing about that silly idea was... that it didn’t even sound all that absurd at this point. Erika was gradually learning that anything could happen in the wacky world of GoVe, even random flowers attacking you inside a safe area.
     
  10. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 36: Farming Tips

    It’s very lively in here.

    Erika reached the area where players could manage their own farming fields. Alas, there was no player in sight. Only one field stood there and it was entirely flat.

    Strangely, the entrance to the field was blurry, covered by a white haze. It reminded Erika the back of Silveria’s farm; the area leading outside the Water Temple looked foggy and inaccessible too.

    Maybe I’ll see something different if I take a closer look?

    Erika approached the white fog, but it looked thicker and thicker. She stuck out her hand and tried to pierce through the fog.

    “Hmm...”

    Her hand couldn't go through. This must have been the game’s equivalent of “invisible walls”, which stopped players from wandering into undesired areas. She pushed against the fog with both palms, but the fog didn’t budge.

    【TIP】【Dimension Rooms are personal areas which can be bought or rented by God Vessels. They are invisible from outside and exist in a different dimension accessible only to you, same as your Dimension Vessel.

    In other words, this field is no more than decoration.

    Erika tilted her head as she examined the blurry field beyond the fog. It appeared empty and unused, but that wasn’t really the case. It was probably put to a good use in some alternative dimension, which was invisible and inaccessible to Erika.

    As an RPG veteran, Erika was familiar with such mechanics. Games allowed many different players to buy the same exact area, but each player had a separate instance of the field generated for them. This way, the same area could be recycled to satisfy as many players as needed.

    There might have been farmer players around, tending to their fields at this very moment. However, Erika had no way to contact them, and there was no indication whether anybody was coming out.

    She considering giving up for today, but then something invisible bumped into her.

    “A-ah!”

    She was pushed away from the fog, almost tripping. A teenage boy suddenly appeared from the other side of fog, seemingly out of nowhere.

    “Um, sorry...”

    He made an awkward expression and played with his blue hair, which entirely covered half of his face.

    “It’s alright. My fault for standing this close to the field.”

    Erika recollected herself and smiled back.

    “Um, that’s good...”

    The boy was at least 6 years older than Erika’s avatar, putting him somewhere in his late teens. He must have been a fairly advanced player, even though his gear didn’t seem particularly impressive. He looked like just another farmer, almost like an NPC.

    One thing that remarkably stood up, was the boy’s blue hair. Even though GoVe was a fantasy game, this was still a rare sight; the hair must have been modified in some way.

    【Zack】【ZackFairUltimax】

    The username informed Erika that Zack was most likely into Japanese RPGs. Erika decided to exploit the opportunity and to learn more about the field.

    “Do you own a field here?”

    “Um, yeah. I have a medium field.”

    Zack walked away from the white fog as he spoke, to not bump into anybody else. Erika followed suit, realizing it wasn’t a safe spot to linger in.

    “I’m a total newbie, so could you please teach me how these fields work?”

    “Um, sure...”

    Zack scratched the back of his neck and continued.

    “Um, you can rent a field or to buy it. Most fields cost at least 1 million, so people first rent them. That’s like 10k a week or 30k a month, depending on what you pick.”

    “My, that sounds costly. Is it worthwhile?”

    “Um, depends. If you wanna profit from it, then better study the prices in different areas.”

    Zack explained that items rarely had a universal price in GoVe. A carrot could be bought for 4 pieces in Murph Village, then be sold for 10 pieces in another village. The NPC market could be exploited this way to make quick profit.

    However, a careful market investigation was required to find such good deals. Prices went up and down all the time, and the game employed a counterbalancing system, to ensure players couldn’t abuse the same deals all the time.

    Farming existed to take a better advantage of this economical system. Rather than buying a stack of carrots and then reselling them, a player could grow carrots for free and then sell them for greater gain. To make profit with farming, it wasn’t mandatory to investigate each and every corner of the world to find the “best” deals.

    “Um, basically... well, you can just grow the same stuff that NPCs offer in their shops. But there’s more you can do, like...”

    All the time Zack was speaking, he kept giving Erika weird looks. He kept switching between twirling his blue hair and scratching his neck.

    Erika activated [Communication] to read Zack’s emotions. There was a vague icon beside him, which indicated something similar to nervousness.

    “Is something wrong?”

    Erika tilted her head and blinked.

    “Um, no. It’s just rare to see a gamer girl...”

    Zack shifted his eyes and scratched his neck again.

    “My, that’s such an outdated statement. There are plenty of girls playing games nowadays.”

    “Um, yeah. But not in Gove... this game is kinda messed up, heh.”

    Zack smiled wryly and hanged his head.

    “My, you don’t like GoVe?”

    “Um, it’s alright, I guess. But the combat is too much for me... I should have picked Skuld Online instead, meh.”

    “The combat is really a little hardcore, isn’t it?”

    Erika spat a sigh, recalling her challenges from yesterday.

    “I was ran over by a dragon in the tutorial. Then, a flower beat me to death.”

    “Heh, I feel you.”

    Zack nodded with a worn out smile, no doubt reminiscing over his own share of “fun” war stories.

    “Are girls really that rare in GoVe, though? There’s Rosemary Queen, for one.”

    Truth to be told, Erika had a very different impression of God Vessel Online when she watched RosemaryQueen’s fluffy videos. She imagined it as a colorful game with many cute critters. Instead, she got troll NPCs and assassin flowers.

    “Um, yeah... there’s Queen, I guess.”

    Zack didn’t sound too impressed. As far as Erika knew, the net idol “RosemaryQueen” was among the top tamers in the game, which should have been a big deal.

    “Not a fan of Queen?”

    “Um, nah she’s fine. Though, there are all sort of theories about her.”

    “Hm? Theories...?”

    Erika knew that there were many 18+ fanarts and fanfictions about Queen, which made Erika frown at humanity. However, she never heard of any conspiracies which cast doubt on Queen.

    “Um, well... for example, most top players right now are beta players. But... nobody from beta ever came across the username ‘RosemaryQueen’ before game launch. Isn’t that weird?”

    “My, that sounds like conjecture.”

    “Um, well... the thing is, they say she knew a lot about the game right away. Like, even stuff hardcore beta players didn’t know.”

    “Is that so.”

    It made sense for beta players to be at the top of the food chain right now, since GoVe wasn’t even one year old yet. These players had the most chances to experience the many aspects of GoVe, as the game evolved in beta version. Therefore, their experience was way superior to fresh newbies.

    However, that didn’t mean a wild genius couldn’t appear. Perhaps Queen was a very resourceful player and gathered a lot of information in a very short time. She could even have beta players as friends as far as Erika was concerned.

    “Dare I ask what’s the actual theory about Queen?”

    “Um, well... there are a few. The common theme is that Queen is a hoax, that the actual tamer is a beta player.”

    “You mean, Queen is used as a pretty face for advertisement?”

    “Um, yeah... pretty much.”

    “Hmm...”

    Erika couldn’t argue with this conspiracy idea. She didn’t like it, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. With all said and done, Queen only released videos about playing with her fluffy critters; there was no game footage of her combat or taming tactics.

    “Maybe Queen has somebody to fight for her, and she only handles the taming; like a princess and her knight. Isn’t it possible to tame without fighting?”

    “Um, I dunno... but it’s sure possible to make a living without fighting,. These days, I only take care of fields and trade goods.”

    “Huhu, you ‘farm’ in your own way.”

    “Heh, that’s true, I guess. Combat is just so hardcore...”

    They giggled as kindred spirits, who both had a bad time with GoVe’s combat. If Queen chose to avoid combat, then it was a decision they both could relate to.

    In the end, they didn’t reach any conclusions regarding Queen’s “mysterious” skill. However, the casual conversation helped to break the ice. Zack now appeared more relaxed and his speech sounded more laid-back.

    “Bah! What a wuss! That farmboy’s a waste of time, Titan!”

    Mina objected to the weakling in front of her. From the whole conversation, she only paid attention to how “good” of a player Zack was,.

    “Now, now. No need to be so harsh, Mini. There are many ways to play an RPG.”

    “Huuuh? Why would ya wanna play an action game to grow some dumb vegetables!? I don’t get.”

    Erika just smiled back, unsure how to explain this deep topic to the weak-brained beastie.

    “Um, sorry?”

    From Zack’s perspective, Erika just started talking to herself all of a sudden; he was completely out of the loop.

    “Oh, there’s a spectator connected to me.”

    It was the first time Erika had to explain this to someone else. All NPCs ignored her random chats with Mina, as if they were somehow aware of the spectator’s presence.

    “Um, I see. A sibling of yours?”

    “No, it’s my kid.”

    “W-wha!?” “HUUUUH!?”

    Exclamations roared everywhere while Erika smirked, huhu.

    “Who’s your kid!!? You dumb Titan!!”

    “U-um, I-I didn’t think you were so old... u-um, I mean, not old but... eh, adult, I guess?”

    Zack became entangled in his own words and his face was pale as a sheet. It was a huge shocker, the little girl in front of him suddenly transformed into a married lady.

    “Huhu, just kidding. She’s a little friend from school.”

    Erika giggled playfully, while her neck was snapped by Mina’s imaginary hands.

    “Um, haha... you sure pulled one on me.”

    Zack smiled faintly and color returned to his face.

    “My dear spectator here is wondering why you play GoVe if you don’t fight.”

    “Um, because I paid for five years in advance, I guess. They know how to make attractive deals, but they aren’t too hot on refunding.”

    Zack sighed as he recalled his negotiations with the company, which were equivalent to to banging his head against a wall.

    “Um, well... it’s not that bad, though. Farming is sorta interesting when you get deep into it, I guess.”

    His soulless words weren’t very convincing. They sounded more like an attempt to comfort himself after an embarrassing defeat.

    “Bah, what a loser!”

    Mina sneered at the feeble excuses. Luckily, the insult didn’t reach Zack.

    “Um, anyways. About more things you can do with products...”

    Zack continued to give more helpful tips about farming. Most of it couldn’t be utilized any time soon, but it was all valuable knowledge for higher levels of play. Erika hoped that Rosemary Queen gathered information in the same manner, thus justifying Queen’s position as one of the top players.
     
  11. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 37: Trading Basics

    “Um, you can make some special products too. For example...”

    Zack explained while fiddling with his menu. The area beside him turned blurry and half of his arm vanished into a hazy cloud.

    “Eh? What’s that?”

    Erika examined the fog from different angles. It was very similar to the fog which guarded the entrance to the farming field.

    “Um, this? It’s the DiVe.”

    “Dive...?”

    “Um, how was it called again... Dimension Vessel, I think?”

    “Oh, I see. I never saw others using it.”

    Whenever Erika brought out her Dimension Vessel, it appeared like a small island hanging in midair. However, for others around her, it must have looked like a foggy area, leading to another dimension.

    Half of Zack’s arm was completely erased, searching deep inside his DiVe. He pulled out a carrot out of thin air and the fog dispersed.

    “Um, I take it you’re from the Water Temple?”

    “Sure am.”

    “Um, water usually doesn’t taste good... maybe ice?”

    Zack drew out a few pale pieces, which Erika recognized as [Ice] pieces. He pressed the pieces against the carrot, and a brown sigil formed on his right arm.

    The carrot and the pieces were wrapped in bright light, morphing into a new item. The carrot changed color, from orange to light blue, and turned half transparent. It now a carrot-shaped icicle.

    “Um, you can synthesize a special product like this, then grow more it on your field. Here, give it a try.”

    Zack tossed the blue carrot to Erika, which she masterfully caught... with her forehead.

    Obtained Ice Carrot.

    “A-ah!”

    Erika nearly dropped the cold carrot once it reached her palms. The word “ice” wasn’t in the name for nothing.

    “Mm! It’s pretty good.”

    Erika happily licked the carrot-flavored popsicle.

    “Um, yeah... it’s good... very good, heh.”

    Indeed, the sight of a cute girl licking a long, stiff object was good. Very good.

    “Hm? Do you want a bite too?”

    Erika noticed strange icon hanging beside Zack. It had a face licking its lips, suggesting that Zack craved a bite from the popsicle.

    “Um, no... you can keep lick- er, eating it...”

    All Zack wanted was for Erika to: Just. Keep. Licking. Erika shrugged and finished carrot ice cream, bringing down the curtain on Zack’s entertainment.

    Zack explained that the Ice Carrot was made with the power of the [Synthesis] rune. The rune had many different uses, one of which included fusing items with rune pieces, to give them special attributes.

    Creating unique food was one way for players to make it big on the NPC market. There were NPCs who sold similar fantasy food, the way Jeff did, but they were rare and had a limited variety. Hence, many merchant NPCs gladly bought exotic types of food.

    Due to its versatile utility, Zack claimed that [Synthesis] was a must-have for most merchant-type players. Whether it was growing a field or running a shop, synthesizing special items was always important.

    It sounds like I should get further into the game before I consider farming.

    Erika needed to get more runes, to study the market and to collect money for renting a field. Though she was an RPG veteran, her experience couldn’t print money. As far as GoVe was concerned, Erika was fresh meat.

    “Um, that’s the basics, I guess. Anything you wanna ask?”

    “Hm... oh, yes. There’s one thing.”

    Erika brought out the Darkflora Seeds she obtained from the black flower.

    “Have you ever seen this sort of seed before?”

    “Um, let’s see... ah, t-this...!”

    Zack's eyes popped wide once they laid on the black seeds.

    I think I won the jackpot~

    Erika secretly grinning, sensing that she won the loot lottery and obtained a very special item.

    "Um, these seeds... I... I've never seen these before..."

    "My, that’s interesting~"

    "Um, Darkflora Seeds... I guess you got them from fighting a mob called ‘Darkflora’?"

    "Yes, it's a very friendly black flower."

    "Um, I don't think I've ever seen a mob like that... where did you fight it?"

    "In this very village."

    Erika briefly explained how she triumphed over the almighty, long-armed raid boss.

    "Um, so it's a special 'quest mob' drop, I guess. Must be something new... I've never heard of a battle event in a safe area."

    Zack scratched his neck in wonder.

    A fight inside a safe zone wasn't a big deal by itself. However, the player was normally informed ahead of time and their consent was requested. Neither of the two laws applied to the scenario Erika described.

    Erika also showed Zack the [Darkness] pieces which were dropped by the the same Darkflora. They were peculiar pieces, as each [Darkness] piece had the value of 7 pieces; it was the only type in her pocket to worth this much.

    "Um, I think I saw a [Darkness] rune on the wiki before. Never came across it myself, though. It may be a rare quest you stumbled upon."

    Zack twirled his blue hair as he eyed the black seeds. Two conflicting emotes wrestled with each other above his head: "I WANT IT!" vs. "Not sure about it...".

    "Um, do you already know how much NPCs offer for these seeds?"

    Zack’s eyes lit up. He was easygoing until now, but he suddenly turned pushy. He was only sorta and kinda farming because there was nothing better to do, but as a gamer he still thirsted for new experiences.

    “Hmm, I’m not sure.”

    Erika answered carefully. The friendly conversation was now over, replaced by a business negotiation.

    Erika was grateful for all the tips Zack provided, but she couldn’t allow him to exploit her ignorance. She saw enough MMORPG newbies selling rare loot for a meager amount, just because the crafty buyers offered an appealing price compared to NPCs.

    “I haven’t checked the prices yet, but NPCs said it’s a very rare type of seed. As you suggested, it’s a good idea to study the market first.”

    Erika fired Zack’s tip back at him. She made an indirect declaration of war, hinting that she won’t be an easy prey.

    “Um, I guess nobody will offer you more than 100 pieces for it. I could buy them off you for 200 pieces each.”

    “My, you want them that badly~? Makes me suspect they’re veeery valuable~”

    “Heh, they’re certainly rare, I guess. Not even sure they’ll even be of any use to me, though”

    A coweb icon appeared on Zack’s head, expressing his struggle with the negotiations. Erika was delighted to be recognized as a tough foe, for that decreased the odds of being ripped off.

    On the surface, 200 pieces for a seed sounded like a great deal. A generic Windflora Seed was worth 4 pieces in Murph Village. No matter how big was the gap between markets, it was unlikely for a mere seed to fetch 200 pieces.

    However, Erika still had the “rarity” advantage. If a farmer like Zack hasn’t come across such a seed until now, then its existence was something extraordinary.

    “Hmm... you said this quest I got may be special, right?”

    Erika tapped on her cheek in ponder, playing it hard to get.

    “It’s possible I’ll need these seeds for other parts of the quest too.”

    “Um, fair enough, I guess. I doubt you’ll need them all, though. How about selling me just a few? I’ll raise the price to 500 pieces.”

    “Hmm... HMM....”

    “Um, I’m not raising it any more than that...”

    Zack stood firm when he shot his ultimatum, but there was a frustrated emote above him. It might have been possible to push him further, but it was risky. Fetching 2,000 pieces for 4 seeds which she didn’t even need right now - it was a great deal.

    “Alright, I’ll sell you four seeds. I’ll keep the fifth seed to myself, just in case.”

    “Um, cool!”

    Zack exclaimed and sent Erika a trading request. She accepted the offer and two semi-transparent windows opened up. One window hovered in front of Erika, while the other in front of Zack.

    TIP】【Place the items you wish to trade into the empty slots and press Ready when done. Once the other party is ready as well, you will get to examine the items they are offering. After verifying the trade, press Confirm to exchange items.】

    The two windows had many empty square slots. Erika pressed four Darkflora Seeds against a slot and they got sucked in. Now, the flat slot displayed an icon of the Darkflora Seed and had a “x4” mark beside it.

    I wonder why the Dimension Vessel isn’t as simple as this.

    Erika tilted her head in wonder and pressed【Ready】. The straightforward trading screen was similar to how the player’s inventory was represented in most MMORPGs. Yet, despite employing this traditional design for the trading, GoVe had a strange, restrictive floating island as the player’s storage.

    “May I request the types of pieces I want?”

    “Um, sure... if I have them.”

    “Great! The cheapskate NPCs didn’t let me pick.”

    “Heh, I feel you. Trading pieces between players is practically a business in GoVe.”

    This was a great opportunity to get goodies. Erika’s first priority was [Water] pieces... which Zack had only 8 to spare.

    Other than that, Erika’s collection of pieces was a splendid mess. She had many [Wind] pieces thanks to driving Windfloras to the brink of extinction, but she also had 11 other types as well.

    In the first place, she had no idea which types to prioritize. Pieces were used as currency, but they were also requested by certain NPCs and they could even be synthesized to create a carrot popsicle; there were many factors to take into account.

    “Would you recommend hoarding specific types of pieces?”

    “Um, it’s hard to say. I think most players hoard pieces for the next rune they wanna get.”

    Zack scratched his neck, reluctant to dig himself a deeper hole by feeding the RPG veteran with tips. He decided to explain the most barebone reason for collecting specific pieces.

    The pieces were in fact “rune pieces”, as Erika suspected. By collecting 10,000 pieces of a specific type - it was possible to synthesize a rune of that type.

    “Um, I’d recommend sticking to the starter runes if you don’t know what you want yet. They are the cheapest pieces and the easiest to get.”

    Accumulating pieces of starter runes was effectively the same as hoarding pennies. They were the most common types and each was worth 1 piece.

    “Um, there are some ‘unusual’ runes, they’re worth two pieces. They’re niche and situational, so you better pay with them to NPCs, unless you really plan to get them.”

    Currently, Erika had only two types which fit this criteria: [Absorption] and [Azure]. She couldn’t tell what made these runes “unusual” or why they were worth 2 pieces. Other non-starter runes, such as [Ice], were all worth 5 pieces. And then there was the enigmatic [Darkness] pieces, which were worth 7 pieces

    Following Zack’s general guidelines, Erika agreed to receive many pennies from him. He made sure to live up to his own advice and also dumped “unusual” pieces on her: more [Absorption] and [Azure], as well as [Shop].

    Once Zack pressed【Ready】, the two trading screens switched places. Now, Erika could examine the pieces Zack offered her. Even though they were primarily starter rune pieces, the 2,000 pieces were nonetheless divided into many types. Erika sighed and pressed【Accept】.

    The trade was complete and Erika parted with most of her Darkflora Seeds. She was happy about owning more than 2k pieces, but she lamented the overflowing amount of categories in her pocket:

    [Fire] [Water] [Wind] [Earth] [Power] [Speed] [Synthesis] [Communication]

    [Absorption] [Shop] [Azure]

    [Aura] [Ice] [Telekinesis]

    [Darkness]
     
  12. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 38: Elf and Pixie

    While Erika and Zack were busy discussing game details, a familiar elf approached them.

    “I happened to finish your request.”

    It was Alicia, the pretty elf woman who saved Erika from the vicious Darkflora.

    “Um, great!”

    Zack smiled heartily toward Alicia and a heart icon appeared by his head. Needless to say, he wasn’t very good at masking his affections.

    Huhu, I just saw something nice.

    Erika giggled meaningfully as she watched the lovebirds interact. Peering into another player’s emotions was truly a fearful tool, Erika hoped to never be targeted by it herself.. However, as a user, it was a very delicous ability for her curiosity.

    “Hi again.”

    Erika smiled toward Alicia and joined the conversation..

    “Um, you know each other?”

    Zack scratched his neck while switching back and forth between Erika to Alicia.

    “Indeed. I happened to aid this Vessel in hunting a Flora monster.”

    Alicia nodded in response, but that was all. She didn’t bother to provide any additional details.

    “Um, wait... don’t tell me she helped you beat that Darkflora?”

    Zack turned to Erika, realizing that some of the Darkflora Seeds could have been rightfully his. For FREE.

    “She provided some support, but I was the one to take down the Darkflora.”

    Erika made sure to steal as much credit as was possible. She would have been 100% dead without Alicia, but there was no way in hell she’d separate from the 2k pieces she just earned.

    “Um, you got any loot from the Darkflora?”

    Zack directed the hopeful question to Alicia.

    “I didn’t happen to receive anything.”

    “Um, then why you didn’t ask to split the reward?”

    “I just happened to pass by and heal this Vessel. I didn’t fight the Flora.”

    “Um, yeah.... you never actually fight, but...”

    Zack twirled his blue hair with a grumpy face.

    Alicia’s stoic face made it clear how indifferent she was to the whole topic of “rewards”. She just happened to pass by, she helped a struggling player and then she left. That was all that happened, and she had no reason to think about it any further.

    “Haa... heh, you’re really way too selfless.”

    Zack both smiled and sighed at the same time. Erika noticed another lovely emote, fully confirming her earlier suspicion.

    “Huhu, I have the distinct impression that farming isn’t the only thing to keep you in GoVe~”

    “U-um, what do you mean?”

    “Secret~”

    Erika tilted her head and giggled at how Zack shifted his eyes away. There was no obvious indication on his face, but Erika clearly saw the faint emote of embarrassment.

    “So how are you two related? A quest?”

    Erika looked at both Zack and Alicia. They were a pair of player and NPC, much like Erika and Vivi; there were usually circumstances involved.

    “Um, it’s an escort quest. I... show her around the world, I guess.”

    There was an awkward icon beside Zack, for some reason.

    In essence, it was a series of escort quests. Alicia was interested in visiting many new places, and Zack fulfilled her wishes. Erika hoped that her escort quest for Vivi would also get such sequels.

    Alicia gave the impression of a very capable supporter. She could deflect projectiles with wind, to cleanse ailments with water and to buff with songs. Though she was an NPC, it didn’t feel like she’d lose face against an advanced support player. For Zack, she was as good as a loyal party member.

    To some players, NPCs felt more “approachable” or “trustworthy” than fellow players. Even outside VR gaming, the advanced AI of modern NPCs created a problematic trend: many preferred to form groups with NPCs, instead of contacting other players.

    It put the “multiplayer” aspect of MMO at danger and many companies struggled to erase this phenomena. Erika couldn’t say for certain, but Zack’s situation felt like one of these cases.

    While they discussed Zack’s and Alicia’s circumstances, the group was approached by a loud pixie.

    “Like, are we done here yet? We gotta move on to Zelin... oh!”

    Vivi exclaimed upon noticing Alicia. Her body turned stiff, like a soldier greeting his officer.

    “H-hello there! I’m Vivi, hailing from Velver Forest.”

    Vivi introduced herself like a nervous transfer student in front of her teacher.

    “I happen to be from Lux Village. Nice to meet you.”

    Alicia smiled politely. Unlike the confused Zack, Alicia was able to understand Vivi’s speech. Perhaps elves had powers similar to Erika’s [Communication].

    “I escort this idiot- er, this lost Vessel to Zelin City. Like, she’d never get there herself, so I’m landing her a hand out of generosity.”

    “I see. That happens to be a very noble cause indeed.”

    Alicia nodded in approval and Vivi grinned brightly, like a kid praised by their parent,

    My, the little liar is working so hard to impress Alicia~

    Erika giggled at how the brash and arrogant pixie pushed herself to behave properly. It was unclear whether Vivi acted this way because Alicia was an elf, or there was something special about Alicia herself.

    “Umm... so what’s going on, exactly?”

    Zack scratched his neck in discomfort; he was a tourist in a very foreign land. Without [Communication], everything Vivi said sounded like “pipipipipi” or “piipiipipi”.

    Erika briefly clued Zack to keep him in the loop. Just like her, Zack had no idea why a pixie brat would bother to act modest in front of an elf.

    “I happened to visit many places.”

    Alicia shared her experiences of the outside world with Vivi. They both harbored the same interest in visiting new places, as fellow races of forest dwellers. As the more experienced traveler, Alicia was looked up to by the little fairy.

    However, their opinions clashed regarding traveling with an escorting player. Alicia stated that Zack was a great source of help, despite being lazy at times.

    Vivi, on the other hand, had no words of praise for Erika. Though she did her best to stay polite and respectful throughout the conversation, Vivi secretly shot some “Will this idiot really be useful?” looks at Erika.

    Once the two finished their friendly discussion, Zack announced their departure to Erika.

    “Um, we’ll be warping to another city now.”

    “You mean by using the Warp Stone?”

    “Um, no. I have a [Warp] rune, so I can warp from anywhere. For free, too.”

    “My, that sounds handy.”

    Teleportation always had a huge role in the later stages of RPGs, once many different locations became accessible. Having the option to teleport from anywhere and for FREE sounded very appealing.

    Zack further explained that at a high level, [Warp] allowed him to transfer NPCs and players along with him; generic Warp Stones didn’t offer such advanced functionality. In addition to desiring the rune even more, Erika noticed a great opportunity to exploit.

    “Can you to deliver me directly to Trilz City?”

    “Um, not if you haven’t reached it yet. You need to activate the Warp Stone by the city before I can transport you.”

    “Tch, I see...”

    If Zack could transport Mina all the way to Trilz, then she’d get a cure for her arm in no time. Alas, Mina first had to reach the city in order to activate its Warp Stone, thus defeating the whole advantage of [Warp] in this case; Erika’s scheme fell through.

    “Um, why the interest in Trilz, though? Honestly, I haven’t visited it myself either.”

    “My, isn’t it the third city in the newbie region?”

    Erika blinked in surprise. Perhaps Zack wasn’t as advanced of a player as she was led to believe.

    “Um, I heard it was treated as the third city in the beta, but they patched the whole area for the actual release. Now, it’s considered too hardcore and Vaska is the unofficial third city.”

    “I see...”

    Erika frowned at her invisible little friend. Mina not only foolishly challenged the Grim Reaper, but she also desperately tried to reach a city which was too advanced for her.

    “My little spectator has a cursed arm, so we’re aiming to reach Trilz to cure her.”

    “Um, sounds troublesome, I guess.”

    “It sounds like a difficult area, so my current plan is to gather a big party and to break through. As such, I’d love your cooperation.”

    “Um, me...?”

    Zack reluctantly exchanged friend requests with Erika, making “ZackFairUltimax” the first entry on Erika’s fresh Friends List. He didn’t mind interacting with Erika, but helping her pass through the godforsaken Death’s Rift to reach Trilz City... that was a different story altogether. Honestly, it was a drag.

    “We’ll gladly aid you in this dangerous quest. Right?”

    “Um, I guess...”

    Zack awkwardly averted his eyes from Alicia’s righteous gaze. It wasn’t that Alicia tried to intimidate him into accepting the plea for help. No... it was worse than that.

    Alicia simply expected Zack to help, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He was too afraid to even imagine her reaction in case he refused.

    Luckily, there was a fine deal of personal motivation for him as well. He had a beautiful elf woman accompanying him, and he was asked to escort two little girls. On top of that, there was a chance for a cute pixie to join the ride as well.

    In other words: he could taste the divine feeling of being a protagonist in a harem story.

    “Heh... okay I’ll help, I guess.”

    Zack smiled gleefully, imagining himself surrounded by his personal harem. The request suddenly changed from a “drag” into a highly anticipated event. Erika could only tilt her head at the vague, sparkling emote beside Zack, unable to peek into its evil depths.

    With the matter settled and agreed upon, Zack activated his [Wrap] rune. Dark purple sigils were drawn across Zack’s forehead, stretching all the way to his cheeks. He had [Warp] infused into his head, same as it was for Erika’s [Communication].

    After charging for a few seconds, purple energy erupted from his body and swallowed him and Alicia. They both vanished into thin air, as if never stood there in the first place.

    With this, Erika’s exploration of Murph Village came to an end.
     
  13. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 39: Importance of Mundanity

    “This is enough for today.”

    Erika announced and she pressed【Logout】. Mina and Vivi complained about Erika’s meager progress, but it was already late and Erika had to head home.

    Once the 10 seconds counter struck 0, Erika’s DiVe popped up and swallowed her whole. There was darkness for a moment, then Erika opened her eyes and stared at the white ceiling.

    She slowly put down the helmet and tried to stand up. Her body was a little numb at first and she struggled to leave the bed, but she regained her senses faster than yesterday; her brain was definitely adapting to the black magic VR technology.

    “Hey, Titan! Why are ya quitting so early!? Ya haven’t done shit!”

    “My, don’t be so harsh, Mini.”

    Erika tried to cover up everything with a smile. In truth, she was aware: she was taking it easy. The urgency of reaching Trilz City and curing Mina were both important missions... which were pushed to the back of Erika’s head when she played.

    Once she was inside the immersive VR, Erika was tempted to fool around. The RPG veteran in her greatly valued exploration and knowledge, for they were the tools required for truly mastering an RPG.

    “I learned many important things about the game today. I’m sure they’ll help us in achieving our primary goal.”

    “What dumb stuff did ya actually learn? All I heard were some snoozers about farming.”

    “It’s important to know all your options, Mini. Farming may prove useful for us in some way.”

    “Bah! Farming is dumb, unless you can grow shit like missiles.”

    Mina’s negative opinion about farming was difficult to bend. This was largely thanks to Zack, who unintentionally painted farming as a quitter’s occupation. Mina was already of low opinion about everything that didn’t contribute to combat, and Zack openly admitted that he used farming as an excuse to not fight.

    “Well, we also learned many things about runes and trading, didn’t we?”

    Erika twisted the subject and tried to appeal from another angle.

    “I bet you didn’t know half of it, right Mini? For example, how Trilz isn’t the third city to aim for.”

    “H-hmph! I still think it was a waste of damn time! I wanna see how ya use all that boring shit to play better.”

    Mina insisted to deny the importance of wisdom to the very end. She refused to admit that Erika and Zack discussed many topics that flew over her head.

    “We also got our first ally today. We need just a few more and we could storm Death’s Rift with ease.”

    “Bah! Ya think that dumb farm boy gonna be any help?”

    “W-well, at least Alicia looks promising.”

    As a player who abandoned combat, Zack’s contribution for the future operation was questionable. Hopefully, Alicia would remain by Zack’s side when the time to tackle Death’s Rift would come.

    Realizing it was nigh impossible to satisfy the little beastie, Erika wheeled the conversation away.

    “How is your left hand doing?”

    “Hmm...”

    Mina stared at her tiny palm as she tried to stretch her fingers.

    “Still a useless fuck.”

    “My, this Vireco sure is persistent. I really think you should visit a doc-”

    “Oh! Look how smoothly my dumb arm can move!”

    Mina started waving her left arm... by pulling it around with her right hand. Erika made a face, but didn’t bother to retort.

    “Anyways! Tomorrow is Saturday! Come to play early so ya can freakin’ reach somewhere for a change!”

    Mina was yelling, but she wore an excited grin. Despite their unfortunate clash in the morning, their relationship restored to full health by now. Spending the weekend playing games was bound to be fun!

    Alas, Mina’s hopes were crushed.

    “Sorry, Mini. I have student council work tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to come over... if at all.”

    “Huuuh!? School on Saturday?! That’s so dumb!”

    Mina turned grumpy and rebellious. Erika tried to soothe the little beastie by promising to spend the whole Sunday on GoVe, but Mina still wasn’t entirely satisfied. No matter what, it was impossible to please the beastie once she turned sour.

    Before heading out, Erika made sure to confirm that the little child could survive through Saturday on her own, without Erika’s motherly supervision.

    “As you promised: no VR games until your arm recovers.”

    “Yeah, yeah.”

    “Are you alright with food? Eating only instant noodles is bad for you.”

    “Bah, I can order some pizza or whatever.”

    “Make sure you lock the door.”

    “Bah! Are ya my mom or something? Just go already!”

    Mina pushed Erika out of the apartment. They said their goodbyes and the door was slammed. However, Erika didn’t leave right away.

    My, what a careless little Mini.

    Small steps tapped away from the door. Yet, the door remained unlocked.

    “Mini~ What about the door~?”

    Erika pushed the door’s handle and peeked inside.

    “Bah!”

    Mina darted back to the door and slammed it again. She looked around for the key, but... she had no idea where it was, or whether her parents left her a copy in the first place.

    “Bah, stubborn Titan...”

    Mina hoped for Erika to give up and leave at some point. However, Erika firmly stood on the other side of the door.

    “Bah, what a pain...”

    Mina had no choice; she had to find a way to lock the door.

    “You fucker, making fun of me...”

    Mina glared at the door chain towering above her. Her short arms were laughly far from reaching the chain, even when she stood on her toes. She could reach it with a jump, but sliding the chain into the lock in midair - it was an olympic challenge.

    “BAH! Here goes nothin’!”

    Mina leapt high and grabbed the chain with her right hand. However, she was already falling downwards by the time she could slide the chain into the metal lock.

    “Bah! Fuck! Screw ya!”

    She jumped again and again, crashing into the door every time.

    W-what is going on...?

    Erika had no idea what chaos was taking place on the other side of the door. It sounded like tracks were ramming the door from within Mina’s apartment.

    Once she peered inside, Erika learned about the missing key and Mina’s short reach. They spent half an hour on finding a spare key in the house.

    Truly, mommy was very worried when she finally left the house. Erika promised herself to pay Mina a visit tomorrow, just to ensure that the careless critter was still breathing.
     
  14. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 40: Behind GoVe

    The first time Erika used VR technology, she was swallowed by fatigue on her way home. But today, on her second time, she had much more energy to spare. There was still a sense of weariness haunting her, but it wasn’t so bad that she wanted was to crawl into bed and call it a day.

    Instead of resting, Erika decided to stay up to research God Vessel Online. She felt a little guilty about her slow progress after she was accused by Mina. Even though Erika smoothly talked her way out of that argument, her mental armor was pierced by some of Mina’s words.

    Like for many players, RPGs were a time sink and a strong escapism tool for Erika. She enjoyed immersing herself in vast fantasy worlds and taking things easy. Hence, she ended up doing exactly that in GoVe, despite the important and urgent goal of curing Mina’s arm.

    Even with the RPG veteran residing in her soul, Erika had the habit of not researching MMORPGs too much. She preferred to blindly dive into a game and to learn everything while playing. She could spend hours talking to Zack about game tips inside the game, but doing dry internet research was a hassle; it felt like homework.

    She played Verdandi Blade Online the same way too. Her first avatar, the Lv.150 Archer, was leveled up without any pro guides. Erika only followed her intuition as an RPG veteran and had fun through trial and error. Her character build was far from optimal, but she was decent enough to join the renowned Vertus guild and even mingle with its top dogs, such as Opqai-kun.

    When guild members finally convinced her to check out the guides, she realized that she dun goofed. Hard. There were many pitfalls while allocating stat and skill points in Verdandi; Erika fell into more than a dozen of those.

    Nevertheless, she didn’t regret her decisions. Many guild members asked her to use guides in order to improve her avatar, but that never felt as fun as figuring things out herself. Sure, she got reasonably stronger and she felt like a noob for not figuring out some of the obvious strategies herself, but that was also part of the fun.

    Once the Summoner class was added to Verdandi, Erika made a second avatar to goof around. She regained the same sense of freedom which she had when she first started Verdandi, allowing her to pursue the bizarre build of a cutelengins armada.

    That sure was fun~

    Erika sighed with a nostalgic tone while surfing through Google. Along with googling info about GoVe, Erika also opened up a chat room.

    FluffyCuteling entered the chatroom】

    『You there?』

    This chat was originally made for Vertus guild members, but it became a ghost town after the guild was disbanded and everybody immigrated to Skuld Blade Online. At the present, there was only one person who could possibly lurk around.

    『whats up』

    Opqai-kun answered after a few minutes. He was probably absorbed in some game until now.

    『I started playing GoVe.』

    『cool』

    『why not skuld tho』

    As if I had a choice.

    Erika frowned at his question. As Verdandi’s successor, Skuld was the VRMMORPG better suited for Erika. However, it was already a miracle that she could use VR technology in the first place.

    『A friend invited me. It’s a really strange game though...』

    『haha no shit』

    『you need to ganbarimasu there』

    Opqai-kun agreed that GoVe was hardcore at times. Apparently, it was a widely accepted opinion in the gaming community; there were even “git gud” memes about it.

    GoVe and Skuld were the only VRMMOs on the market, with a few others in beta phase. As such, it would had made more sense to Erika if the first successful games in the genre were more “traditional”.

    However, GoVe couldn’t possibly be any farther away from “traditional”. No classes, no levels, no stats, weird NPCs, raid boss flowers and the list went on.

    『gove is like a test ground for a vr fighter』

    Opqai-kun explained that the company behind GoVe was, in fact, best known for its fighting games. Soul Claymore, which Mina obsessed over, was one of the company’s most popular console games.

    However, fighting games had always been a niche genre. On top of that, the gaming market was gradually shifting toward VR, whereas console gaming was dying for many years.

    Same as MMOs, fighting games struggled to evolve into the VR realm. MMOs required a rich, resource-heavy VR world and had to support thousands of players without latency and lags.

    On the other hand, for fighting games, the challenge was on a more personal level. The fun in these games stemmed from controlling interesting characters, all of which had unique movesets. VR technology allowed the player to smoothly control their avatar’s moves, but it didn’t teach them how to casually dish out a spinning kick in midair or how to deliver 50 sword slashes in one second.

    Feats of this caliber required to magically imprint martial arts knowledge on the players. There were multiple attempts, with various VRFighters produced. They were all lackluster and saw little success.

    Since fighting games failed to find a place on the VR market, the company had no choice but to reinvent itself. Thus, they made “God Vessel”.

    It was originally a test project for an action game, with some RPG elements incorporated into it. It had a small open world and supported online gameplay; that was all it contained.

    As the game was passed around among test players in order to collect data - strange happened.

    It happened in a time when many fresh VRMMOs were duking it out with each. Supported by the most successful company in the MMORPG field, Skuld Blade Online destroyed its competitors with ease. They all offered traditional gameplay mechanics, but Skuld was a league above in term of content and polish.

    In these heated times, some players brought up a bizarre idea: “Wouldn’t it be cool if God Vessel was a VRMMORPG?”.

    Most VRMMOs on the market were casual and easygoing, hoping to lure players who sought instant gratification. GoVe was the exact opposite; it was hardcore and unforgiving, with challenging and action-packed combat. By being different, it managed to gather a niche, yet faithful, fan base.

    GoVe also had a backbone structure which could be expanded into an MMORPG. Thus, the company decided to take the gamble They decided to transform an action game into an MMORPG.

    Luckily, through crowdfunding and community feedback, the revolutionary project became a realistic goal. In the end, all the newborn VRMMORPGs were mercilessly obliterated by Skuld and failed to survive on the market... except for GoVe.

    Only GoVe, the unusual and unplanned VRMMORPG, managed to find a loyal fanbase by differentiating itself enough.

    At first, it sounded silly when Mina called GoVe a “fighting game”. It was unlikely that the little beastie was aware of GoVe’s evolution history, but Mina must have “felt” how the game catered toward the same audience.

    Erika spent two hours discussing the topic with Opqai-kun and digging up relevant articles. She also briefly informed Opqai-kun of Mina’s cursed arm and their noble mission to cure it.

    Opqai-kun agreed to land them a hand. Erika hoped to borrow his help as soon as Sunday, for it was a day on which she could play for many hours. But...

    『sorry weekends are no good』

    『we have sugoi guild wars in skuld』

    『That’s too bad.』

    Erika sighed in defeat. She had more contacts from the disbanded Vertus guild, but most of them played Skuld as far as she knew.

    『besides』

    『youre still lolies in gove right』

    『i dont feel very motivated to help』

    『You monster.』

    Erika let out a laugh with a headshake.

    Then it’s all up to me until he’s free to play, huh.

    She began to legitimately search for GoVe guides and the chat room died down. Regrettably, she had school tomorrow, even though it was Saturday. She cut to the chase and searched specifically for taming guides, ignoring other aspects of the game. She also googled topics related to the little Water Blobs, to hone her abduction skills.

    Taming sure is popular...

    Erika frowned as she closed one useless tab after another. The best she found were stray forum questions by GoVe players. There wasn’t a single article or wiki page to cover taming in detail.

    The general advice was painfully simple and vague. Most mobs in GoVe could be tamed, including the baby Water Blobs. To pull it off, it was necessary to use the [Communication] rune and to appeal to the creature in some manner.

    The advice gave Erika the general idea, but she wanted specifics. What was the best way to abduct the adorable water blobs? She had to know!

    Erika also searched through RosemaryQueen’s blog. Queen was regarded as one of the top tamers in GoVe, and she evidently had experience in obtaining fluffy cutelings.

    Alas, Queen’s blog didn’t contain any posts about taming guides or tricks. This strongly reinforced Zack’s theory that Queen was a fraud, but Erika perished the thought. As a loyal fan, Erika wanted to believe in Queen to the bitter end.

    Apparently, Queen considered making the “Fantasy Pet Taming ♥” series before. However, the support and interest was very meager. Most girls watched Queen’s videos merely to enjoy the cute animals, without being GoVe players themselves. Guys, on the other hand, strongly voted for a joke series: “Fantasy Beach Episodes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”.

    After she exhausted all her options, Erika decided to write an email to Queen. It was unlikely that a busy celebrity like RosemaryQueen would find time to entertain a nobody like FluffyCuteling, But Erika had nothing to lose.

    In her email, Erika asked whether a taming guide existed in some undiscoverable corner of the internet. She also asked for tips about taming low level mobs, especially the Water Blobs.

    After she sent her email, Erika called it a day.
     
  15. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 41: Class President of A-5

    “Welcome, welcome back to Rosemary Queen’s Fantasy Pet Corner~♥”

    RosemaryQueen elegantly spinned in her gothic dress and winked sparkles into the camera.

    Queen sure is busy this week.

    Erika was glued to her phone, while dragging her foot to school on Saturday. Queen normally uploaded a video only twice a week, but Erika was now watching the fourth video for this week.

    Of course, with this busy schedule, Queen didn’t have the time to reply to Erika’s email. Erika refreshed her inbox multiple times this morning, but only spam arrived.

    “Today, Queen will be showing you how the cute, cute BatBunny reacts to different types of carrots~♥”

    Queen presented carrots of different colors to the camera. They were similar to the fantasy food which Erika got to see in Murph Village. A blazing red Fire Carrot, a jelly Water Carrot, etc.

    Queen gathered a pack of BatBunnies and let them nom on the various delicacies. There were various adorable reactions from the bunnies, depending on what they ate. One bunny sneezed from its furry nose after biting a Fire Carrot, whereas another bunny licked the jelly Water Carrot as if it was a bowl of water.

    The best reaction came from the Wind Carrot. It was a puffy, light-green carrot, which looked like cotton candy. A bunny happily chewed the green cotton and its fluffy cheeks got poofy. The bunny hugged the carrot and flapped its black bat wings in joy.

    S-so cute~!

    Erika was hit with spasms all over as she watched the snugly furball. She definitely had to get further into GoVe in order to tame such cutelings!

    “Look, look~ This cutie sure loves him some cotton carrot, doesn’t he~♥”

    Queen snuggled the bunny, who, in turn, was busy snuggling his puffy carrot. This created a very fuzzy scene, melting Erika’s soul.

    “It’s very, very important to know what your cuties like to nom~♥ Make sure you always get the right food to make them happy~♥”

    Queen gave a sparkling wink to the camera, and the video proceeded to show Queen playing with her BatBunnies.

    Normally, what Queen just said about feeding critters would easily fly over Erika’s head. Erika was always entranced by the fluffiness during Queen’s videos, to the point of being practically brain dead.

    However, today, Erika’s desire to tame cutelings kept her alert. She carefully processed Queen’s tip, and took a mental note to investigate fantasy food in more depth. Food played an integral role in raising critters in GoVe, there was no doubt about it.

    Even though Queen didn’t host a series dedicated to taming tips, there were small hints scattered across her videos. Erika considered rewatching some of Queen’s older videos, to dig up more information. Of course, that’d also allow her to relive some of the fluffiness anew.

    “Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more cuteness~♥ Ciao~♥”

    Queen waved to the camera with a bunny’s tiny paw, then the video ended.

    Queen sure knows how to brighten my morning, even when it’s Saturday and I’m at school.

    Erika let out a mixture of a sigh and a chuckle. Sophia was already waiting at the school gate, flawlessly on time as always even though it was Saturday.

    “Good morning, Eri.”

    “Good morning.”

    The exchanged greetings and went inside.

    “Say, Sophy. Did you manage to drag ‘him’ here?”

    “I made sure to pressure him. He will come.”

    Sophia answered with obvious disgust on her face. Both girls didn’t want anything to do with the class president of A-5, but he stuck to them like a curse.

    “Woo, woo. Check out these hardworking ladies on this fine and uncalled Saturday.”

    The boy to greet them was Kail, the class president of of A-5 and the lowliest scum on earth.

    “So what’s the deal? You wanted a group date with me so badly?”

    Kail shrugged with a smug.

    “You really didn’t have to use the student council as an excuse, you know. I’d accept your romantic offers any time, hehe.”

    Kail cracked a laugh and took a bite from the chocolate bar in his hand. Erika and Sophia politely responded by giving him a “please fuck off” stare.

    “I hope you’re aware that we’ve come here today to finish the assignment for the sport tournament.”

    Sophia spoke with a cold and sharp tone, piercing right through Kail’s clown act. However, he shrugged her off with a laugh.

    “Whoa, so serious~ Sophy, you’re so, so stressed all the time. You need to unwind sometimes, you know. Do you fap enough? Maybe find a guy?”

    Excuse me!?

    Sophia speared through Kail with her glare. Erika gently tapped on Sophia’s shoulder, in order to calm down her friend.

    Sophia took a deep breath and collected herself before continuing.

    “Haa... anyway, I definitely hope you’re aware of your responsibility to finish the task by Tuesday.”

    “Responsibility? Bitch please, I’m a student. My only responsibility is to burden society, until it can threaten me into giving an actual fuck.”

    Kail shrugged and took another bite from his chocolate. He had no problem munching right in front of others’ faces, even in the middle of an important discussion.

    This is going nowhere fast...

    Erika sighed as she watched Sophia and Kail lash at each other with words. It was the same as watching a dog barking at a stray cat.

    “Besides, what do you blame me for?”

    Kail shrugged with a sneaky smile.

    “I’ve been diligently slaving as a class prez for the whole week, you know. You could use your busy lips to reward me for a change.”

    Bullshit, your attendance record for the week is pure white.

    Erika was a smooth talker and could deal with pretty much anybody... except for that scum. Nonetheless, she gritted her teeth and stepped into the conversation.

    “Diligently, you say? Yes, I know how diligently you ditched school this week.”

    “Hey, hey! False charges aren’t cool, boss!”

    Kail licked his chocolate with a creepy smile, manically savoring the sweetness. Whereas Vivi’s chocolate addiction looked cute to Erika, in Kail’s case - she got the shivers.

    “I checked your attendance for this week. I know you’ve been ditching, Kail.”

    “Please, please, boss. I bet you saw what you wanted to see. You’re both so cruel for the fragile lil’ me, sob sob.”

    Kail pretended to cry like a wife accused of cheating. Determined to shut him up with evidence, Erika pulled out her tablet and dug up Kail’s attendance record.

    “Eh...?”

    Kail’s attendance was... perfect. He was marked as “Present” on each and every day this week. When Erika checked it yesterday, it showed a completely different picture...

    “You see, boss? I’m just a honest, diligent student, hehe.”

    “... so you are, according to this.”

    Erika drowned in bewilderment. Was she blinded by her hate for this lowlife? Was it possible that yesterday she checked Kail’s attendance for the wrong week...? Perhaps she accidentally read his attendance for next week, where blank records were only natural.

    “Tch, so annoying...”

    Sophia clicked her tongue after her respected boss was shot down. She decided to pull out her final resort and to make the scum cooperate.

    “We already gave you the smallest share of the work, so definitely make sure you finish it today. If you don’t...”

    Sophia glared at Kail and conveyed a silent threat.

    “Gee, gee, I got it! No need to be so scary, Sophy~ I’ll properly badger all these lazy sport teachers!”

    Kail smirked as always, but a hint of irritation slipped through his poker face. Erika had no idea what witchcraft Sophia practiced in order to submit this devil.

    After throwing a few more smartass remarks, Kail complied with the demand and went to do his job. Erika and Sophia sighed in relief, finally released from negotiating with the devil.
     
  16. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 42: Sport Bureaucracy

    The student council assignment for Erika and Sophia involved checking on sport clubs. They had to ensure that the lineups of all teams were agreed upon, for the upcoming regional high school tournament.

    For the most part, these matters were handled by the teachers responsible for the clubs. However, the student council had to supervise that there were no clashes between different factions.

    A problem often arose when one student was sought by two different clubs, which had overlapping schedules in the tournament. Each side conveniently ignored the fact that no matter how skilled the athlete was - he couldn’t clone himself to be in two places at once.

    “But he’s our strongest striker! Our team’s power will be cut by half without him! Tell them to find somebody else!”

    The manager of the soccer team yelled, unwilling to hand over his ace.

    “I definitely understand your position, sir.”

    Sophia nodded in agreement, but she nonetheless argued back.

    “However, Mike can definitely win multiple awards in track competitions. If he merely plays soccer, then he’s limited to getting only one award for the school.”

    “What do you know, girl? Soccer is the real star of the whole event!”

    Such debates often led nowhere in Erika’s experience. Each club claimed itself superior to the rest and pretended to be the pillar of the whole tournament.

    “My, these are such unfortunate circumstances.”

    Erika meditated between Sophia and the soccer manager.

    “This is clearly above our heads. We’ll arrange you a meeting with the manager of the track team. Please, sort out this issue with her.”

    Erika smiled politely toward the manager and made him accept the offer. Sophia didn’t feel in peace with this resolution, however.

    “Are you absolutely sure about this, Eri? The deadline is Tuesday, we definitely can’t leave any conflicts of this sort.”

    “Don’t worry, Sophy. There are over two weeks until the event, we’ll have enough time to sort things out.”

    Erika smiled casually, contrasting Sophia’s uptight posture.

    There were many good things which could be said about Sophia. She was a diligent girl, always meeting deadlines and flawlessly executing her tasks. Alas, she had one glaring flaw: she was wired like a robot.

    The deadline for the task was on Tuesday, therefore everything had to be perfectly settled by then. The slightest error was going to stain Sophia’s reputation for life and to make her lose face in public.

    Sophy is such a worrywart.

    Pushing some issues beyond deadline wasn’t the end of the world. The student council existed as a semi-club in order to let its members support each other, not to punish. But, for some reason, it was impossible Sophia to see things this way.

    Sophia sparked heated arguments with club managers in order to secure the deadline, instead of redirecting the issues to the right channels and relieving herself from misplaced responsibility. Hence, she made poor progress and Erika often had to help out.

    “My, this was so much trouble...”

    Erika spat a sigh of relief once they cleared up most of the big conflicts. Thanks to Erika’s support, Sophia was able to “resolve” many of the problems... by pushing the responsibility onto the club managers themselves.

    “Thank you for the help, Eri.”

    Sophia wasn’t entirely content with these resolutions, but she had to submit to Erika’s reasoning. No matter how strongly Sophia willed it, the student council had no position or power to handle real clashes between authority figures. They could bring the issues to everybody’s attention, but nothing more.

    “Do you have any remaining tasks? Let me help you out.”

    Sophia was eager to repay Erika for all the help she received. It was hard to admit, but Sophia had no chance of wrapping up her tasks without Erika’s guidance. It made her hate her own incompetence, but it also made her respect her “boss” that much more.

    “Hmm... let’s see...”

    Erika was exhausted from all the walking they did in the past hour. The blazing sun was melting her brain, to the point she wished to turn into a puddle of sweat and laze on the ground.

    “Here you go, Eri.”

    “Oh, thanks.”

    Erika received a bottle of water from Sophia and relieved some of her fatigue. Sophia was way better prepared for this adventure than Erika, going as far as carrying two water bottles around. There were times like these when Sophia’s strictness was a positive thing too, which made Erika respect her friend.

    “My last task, let’s see... I need to form the dodgeball team, it seems.”

    This task was a misfortune that befell Erika, for there was no official dodgeball club at school. She had to form the whole dodgeball team from scratch... out of volunteers. Not to mention, the schedule for dodgeball matches overlapped with many other competitions on the day of the tournament.

    Now that I think about it, I probably procrastinated too much with this...

    It seemed like such an impossible task, that Erika couldn’t even bring herself to begin it. Walking around and pleading to random students sounded painfully inefficient.

    “Very well, let me handle it.”

    Sophia volunteered with unwavering confidence. No matter how taxing the mission was, for Sophia the only course of action was to obey and fulfil it like a machine.

    “Are you sure you can handle it, Sophy?”

    “Definitely. I can’t let you do all my work for me without paying you back.”

    “Alright then...”

    Erika wasn’t convinced in the slightest, but she let Sophia inherit this painful task. As far as fairness was concerned, Erika truly deserved to be released of any more work after helping Sophia so much.

    Sadly, Erika’s fears regarding the task soon confirmed themselves. The most likely candidates for the dodgeball team were benchwarmers from other sport clubs, and Sophia employed spectacular conversation starters with them:

    “You weren’t picked to participate in any competition, therefore you should contribute by joining the dodgeball team. Your team already has enough reserves without you.”

    Most students didn’t want to hear a single word beyond that. They were pissed off and everything Sophia said afterwards fell on deaf ears.

    “Sophy... you need to appeal to them, not to rub salt into their wounds.”

    Club members, who didn’t even get to be reserves for the team, were already dispirited enough. They had zero motivation to help people who treated them as fodder.

    With some advice, Sophia managed to gather three boys for the team. She only needed five members, so three players were already more than halfway through. There was another hurdle, however.

    Unlike other team sports in the tournament, dodgeball was unisex. In fact, the rules demanded a minimum of two players from each sex on the team. If finding male volunteers was a challenge, then finding female volunteers was nigh impossible.

    Most girls didn’t appreciate a sport where the goal was to kill each other. They didn’t want to be rent asunder and Erika sympathized. After all, she was put through dodgeball hell just the other day.

    Mini seemed to enjoy dodgeball, a tad too much even. I wonder if I could sneak her into the list.

    Even with one paralyzed arm, Mina was a destructive force to be reckoned with. She wasn’t registered to any sport club, but there was no a shadow of doubt regarding her athletic skill.

    Time for a little revenge~ You wanted dodgeball? You get dodgeball!

    Erika registered the goddess of destruction to the dodgeball team. Mina almost wiped Erika out of existence with her strong shots, therefore it was Mina’s responsibility to participate.

    “Mina Park...? Why her? She’s not in any sport club.”

    Sophia narrowed her eyes while reading off her phone.

    “She’s... a little special. She’s not in any club, but I can guarantee her sharpshooting is top notch. She was the one to beat me up during PE yesterday.”

    “... did she agree to help?”

    “Yes, she expressed interest.”

    “... is that so.”

    Sophia was still unconvinced with this pick, especially since gathering the dodgeball team was technically her responsibility. It seemed like she had more to say regarding the inclusion of Mina on the team, but she had to give up. After all, no other girl volunteered

    “I...”

    Sophia mumbled and bit her lip. Even after taking the task from Erika, she failed to see it through. Not only that, but the team formed thus far was only possible thanks to Erika’s helpful advice.

    Sophia felt guilty about her incompetence. Therefore, she made a bold decision.

    “I’ll nominate myself.”

    “My, are you going to join the team?”

    “Yes, I’ll take responsibility to the end. I can’t let you do all the work for me.”

    Sophia was very reluctant at first, but her confidence surged as she spoke. The suggestion seemed a tad unreasonable, as Sophia was excused from most PE activities due to an old injury. Nevertheless, her pride and commitment defied such challenges.

    “I’ll definitely make sure our dodgeball team wins this year.”

    “Eh...?”

    How did this task escalate from “gathering enough members” all the way to “winning at any cost”? What scared Erika even more, was how dead serious Sophia was about this absurd idea.

    Sophy and Mini on the same team? I have a bad feeling about it...
     
  17. Joe Berridge Beale

    Joe Berridge Beale Member

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    Man, I had no idea LitRPG was this popular.
     
  18. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 43: Saturday Freedom

    With a dubious dodgeball team formed under Sophia’s leadership, all their student council tasks were done for the day. Finally, the girls earned the permission to head home, even though it was Saturday in the first place.

    But before then, they (unwillingly) rendezvoused with Kail. They had to make sure that the slippery scum finished his share of the assignments.

    “Hey, hey! You hurt my fragile little heart with your suspicion!”

    Kail exclaimed dramatically when Sophia interrogated him about his achievements.

    “I did a pitch perfect job today, you’ll be knocked out when you see my awesome submission.”

    Kail shrugged with a confident smug and took a bite from his chocolate. It was unclear how much chocolate he carried around, but he had a package ready in his hand at all times.

    I hope he’s not all words today.

    Erika opened the student council’s task management application and carefully examined Kail’s work. There was a likely chance that Kail made up random sport teams, just to call it a day.

    “... he seems to be clean. On the surface, at least.”

    Erika took her findings with a grain of salt, as everything else that involved Kail. Throughout the day, she made sure to interrogate every student from A-5 who crossed her path. They confirmed that Kail was truly absent from school for the whole past week; Erika didn’t imagine things when she checked his attendance.

    Yet, today, all records about his absence vanished into thin air. Black magic was the only explanation, but Kail pretend to be a pure and innocent fellow.

    “You see? You see? I’m just a honest diligent class prez!”

    “... alright, let’s call it a day then.”

    Erika declared as the unofficial leader of the team. The words flowed naturally out of her mouth, almost making her forget that Sophia and Kail two were no longer her henchmen.

    “Sure thing, boss!”

    Kail saluted with a grin and munched on more chocolate. Being called “boss” was as annoying as ever, but it was offset by a wave of nostalgia..

    It was just a year ago, back when Erika was the student council president in middle school. Back then, Sophia was the vice-president and Kail was also... kinda there for some reason. He always sorta did his job when pressured, but Erika never understood why he even bothered to be in the student council with his attitude.

    “Bye, Sophy.”

    “Bye.”

    “Ciao, girls~”

    Once the team dispersed, Erika pretended to go back home. She circled around the whole school, then walked in the opposite direction; her real destination was Mina’s house.

    Erika phoned Mina to ensure she could pay a visit, but the little beastie didn’t pick up. The first image to flash in Erika’s mind was that of a starving kitten, helplessly lying on the floor. The second image was that of a grinning brat, secretly playing VR despite the Vireco. Anything was possible when it came to Mina.

    Shortly before reaching her destination, Erika came across a park with a playground. Two boys stood at the entrance and stared into the park in awe.

    “Think you can do that cool thing?”

    “O-of course! If a girl can do it, then I can too!”

    One of the boys puffed his chest and lifted his chin in arrogance.

    “My, what are you looking at?”

    Erika casually approached the boys and joined their conversation.

    “Huh? We’re just... eh, just...”

    The brave boy turned pale when he saw a black mountain in front of him. Erika was possibly the tallest human being he ever saw, no doubt rivaling the giraffes in the zoo.

    “N-nothing! Let’s go!”

    The boy commanded his friend and they both ran away. The development stung Erika’s feelings, but the boys were just innocent brats; their rudeness was forgivable.

    My, this is cute.

    Erika tilted her head with a smile upon noticing the scene that entranced the boys. A small monkey hanged on metal bars and skipped from bar to bar. Interestingly, the monkey used only one hand to progress; this must have been the amazing stunt that astonished the boys.

    Erika’s soul was soothed as she a watched Mina fooling around. Erika felt like a mother spending time with her child on weekend, a feeling which turned the tedious Saturday into a much brighter day.

    Mina stopped a few bars away from the end and threw a glance at Erika’s direction. She stayed hanging on the bar for a few seconds, then jumped down and darted toward Erika.

    “Hey! Titan!”

    “Good job, Mini~”

    Erika smiled and tried to pat the kid, but her gestures of affection were dodged. At least Mina didn’t retaliate in any form today; she seeemd to be in high spirits.

    The girls went back to Mina’s apartment for another session of God Vessel Online. When they approached the door, Mina casually opened the door... without using a key.

    “Mini~ Do you remember we found the key yesterday~?”

    “Huh? Oh, sure. It’s right here.”

    Mina pointed at the shelf by the door, without expressing any hint of guilt or remorse regarding her forgetfulness. Locking doors was an entirely alien concept for the little beastie.

    Erika was too tired to deliver a lecture on the topic after her exhausting morning activity. She was getting hungry too.

    “Mini, I’ll invite myself to one of your noodle cups.”

    “I have better stuff to eat today. I ordered some pizza, so ya can have a bite.”

    Mina darted toward a table like an excited puppy and snatched a pizza box. Her hungry eyes glittered, making Erika feel guilty about sharing the pizza. Nonetheless, Erika was hungry and pizza was a much better deal than instant noodles.

    “Mmmmm!!! This is some god level shit! Nom nom nom!”

    Mina devoured her pizza slices like a predator. The fat cheese was crushed in her teeth and was sucked into her stomach as if pulled by a black hole.

    “Pizza is top tier shit, right Titan?!”

    “Eh, sure...”

    Erika quietly chewed on her pizza slice, unsure how to react to Mina’s fanaticism. It seemed like pizza was a holy dish for Mina; any offense toward pizza may have resulted in a broken spine for Erika. Gulp.

    Thanks to the pizza, Mina was in great mood and didn’t emit the usual hostility. This was a great opportunity to deliver the news about the upcoming dodgeball competition, to which Mina was sneakily signed up.

    If Sophia were to make the announcement, it’d probably start out like this:

    “You are registered for the dodgeball team. You must fulfil your responsibility as a student and do your best for the team”.

    A flawless, 10/10 conversation starter that’d turn MIna into a raging demon. Instead, Erika played it slow and safe.

    “Say, Mini. Do you like dodgeball?”

    “Huuuh? It’s cool, I guess.”

    “We’ll be having a sport tournament in a couple of weeks and we lack members for the dodgeball team. Would you like to join?”

    “Sure, sign me up.”

    “Eh...? Ah, I mean great!”

    Erika was confused. It was way too easy. Suspiciously easy. She was prepared to deal with a tantrum, but Mina accepted the offer without giving it a second thought.

    It was way too strange. Perhaps Mina was a demonic sadist who enjoyed firing balls at others. Or, maybe she nodded without even thinking about it, as she was busy performing her holy pizza consumption ritual.

    Such paranoia kept haunting Erika all the way to Mina’s room, until it was finally erased when she disconnected from reality.

    【God Vessel Online】

    【Please wait for your awakening...】


    I was also pretty surprised to discover that, since the first time I came acorss such a concept was in SAO. It seemed like something pretty unusual at first, then I got to read many more RPGLit stories and learned that this is a wide-spread genre these days and it's still growing from what I can tell.
     
  19. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 44: Waterflora

    Erika materialized in Murph Village and reunited with Vivi. Before heading out, she dropped by Jeff’s farm to check for new quests.

    As the RPG veteran’s intuition suggested, Jeff’s request to hunt Windfloras was renewed on daily basis; it was a “Daily Quest”. Such quests gave the player something to do when they couldn’t find a better way to spend their time, but the quests had little purpose otherwise.

    Erika accepted the quest, but she had no intention to start working on it right away. It didn’t seem likely that the quest was going to chain into another quest later on, hence there was no urgency to complete it.

    “Time to leave the village, Vivi.”

    “Hmph. Like, we spent so much time here that it’s a miracle we didn’t turn into fossils by now.”

    They made their way toward the southern exit of the village, which led toward Zelin City. The southern road resembled the previous path Erika traveled, as it was also sandwiched between a forest and a lake. Though, this time, the forest had a different name: Anukis Forest.

    Bloodthirsty Windfloras quietly awaited their preys along the forest’s entrance. Jeff asked Erika to hunt these monsters, but she had nothing of worth to earn from doing so at the moment.

    Instead, Erika’s interest was stolen by a new type of mob.

    Waterflora

    It was a big, blue sunflower, with a striking resemblance to a Windflora. In fact, they were so similar that the Waterflora looked like a cheap recolor of the Windflora. The biggest difference was the Waterflora’s semi-transparent body, which created the illusion of being made from water.

    Silveria’s second quest demanded Erika to collect Waterflora Seeds, in exchange for another opportunity to feed adorable baby chicks. It was an extremely important quest, on par with saving the universe; Erika had to finish it ASAP.

    She drew out her Silver Knife and creeped toward the new foe. If the Waterflora was truly nothing more than a reskin of the Windflora, then it was fated to be felled by Erika’s trusty knife. Still, she played it safe and avoided rushing at the opponent head on.

    So it begins. Let’s see how it shoots.

    The Waterflora twitched in response to Erika’s approach. The Windflora turned its head toward Erika and took aim. So far, the foe’s mannerism were in line with the average, run-of-the-mill Windflora.

    Is it going to throw bags of Water at me?

    The Waterflora’s big head was like an aquarium with small stones in it. Hence, Erika could only imagine the flower attacking by shooting water in one way or another.

    In the next instant, her assumption was proven wrong.

    “E-eh!?”

    A rock slammed her arm. It was so fast that she didn’t even see it coming. Instead of using water, the Waterflora fired rocks from within its liquid head.

    “W-wait!”

    Erika arms quickly reacted and braced for an attack, but the bullet was too small to block. It struck Erika’s abdomen and made her crouch in pain..

    C-curses!

    Erika tried to deflect another shot, but it struck her leg. The attacks weren’t nearly as powerful as the Windflora’s blasts, but they were much faster, harder to block and delivered more focused damage.

    Curses, I can’t do anything until I get closer! But how to do it safely...? Maybe I should just rush at it?

    Her legs began to move while she was still pondering. Somewhere deep in her mind, she already accepted that she wanted to charge forward and to see what followed. The Combat Aid simply give her the necessary push.

    “Ugh!”

    Her neck was whammed, but Erika continued to charge straight at the enemy. Surprisingly, the Waterflora didn’t dish out any additional blows. Instead, it began pecking the ground to absorb rocks into its head.

    Four shots and then reload. I see.

    It was a golden opportunity. Erika reached her foe and slashed right through its stem.

    “Eh...?”

    The knife smoothly went through the watery stem... too smoothly. It felt like cutting through air.

    The stem should have been cut in half, but instead its watery structure rapidly reformed itself. The slashed area had a red cut across it, but it was dull and dim; it didn’t look like a severe injury at all.

    Erika swung the knife and sliced through the stem again, but it wasn’t very effective. While she was busy doing that, the Waterflora finished refilling its ammunition and shot into her face.

    “AGH!”

    A rock struck Erika’s eye from point blank. She retreated with a stagger, almost tripping back.

    Luckily, this wasn’t the real world and she wasn’t blinded by the assault. There wasn’t any blood either, only the general sensation of daze and disorientation.

    “Agh...! Ack! Gah...!”

    The barrage continued. Rather than taking down its prey with a few powerful blows, the Waterflora was a merciless sadist who slowly tortured his helpless prey by flinging rocks.

    Erika’s body hurt in random spots and her concentration wavered. Fortunately, the enemy exhausted its ammunition and now was a perfect time to counterattack... or she thought.

    With no bullets to spare, the Waterflora stretched forward and banged its head against Erika’s.

    “W-wha!? Blrgh!?”

    Erika’s face was covered by a water tank. Her whole head was caged inside the Waterflora’s.

    “Blergh!? Bguah!”

    She blubbered incomprehensibly as she tried to pull herself out. She happazadely swung her arms in attempt to smack the man-eating flower.

    “Blgh... ugh...”

    It was all futile. She couldn't breathe and her body lost its vigor. Her arms dropped and she had no choice but to accept this fate. This fate... of drowning to death inside a flower.

    WOOSH

    Erika’s head was blasted out of the water cage. She lost balance and crashed into the ground.

    “Gah...”

    She spat a cough while staggering to get up. She nearly drowned to death, but her body wasn’t overrun with unrelenting coughs or lung ache. She had to thank the merciful virtual world for not being overly realistic.

    “Gah, what is...?”

    A gust of wind slammed against the Waterflora and rent it asunder. Water splattered across the ground and the Waterflora trembled pitifully.

    “Ahahaha! Die, you idiot!”

    The attacker was none other than the mischievous pixie. Vivi stretched her tiny arm and shot the crippled Waterflora again.

    The flower was blown to pieces and its watery insides spilled onto the grass. All that remained from the big flower was the lower half of the stem, which could no longer support itself and collapsed, getting absorbed into the ground.

    Vivi defeated a Waterflora. Obtained 1 Waterflora Seed.】

    “Vivi is so amazing~”

    Erika was very moved by this development. Until now, Vivi only laughed at Erika’s misfortunes and used her powers to bully baby blobs. It was the first time Vivi showed a hint of goodwill.

    “Like, that was too easy! Idiots like that are no much for the great Vivi, hmph!”

    Vivi pressed both hands against her waist and grinned in arrogance. She said it was “easy”, but she obviously enjoyed the praise regardless.

    Maybe I can abuse this.

    Erika tilted her head while examining the Waterflora Seed in her DiVe. She hardly gave the Waterflora a fight, yet she was still rewarded with loot after the flower perished.

    If the game allowed to share loot with escorted NPCs in the way she suspected, then Erika could send Vivi as a terminator to wipe out Waterfloras from the face of earth. Of course, she couldn’t just politely ask for a “favor” from the bratty pixie.

    “I wonder if Vivi is strong enough to defeat ten more of these flowers~? I have this chocolate here that may slip from my hand...”

    “Hmph! Like, of course the great Vivi can trash them!”

    VIvi sneered and channeled wind into her miniature arms. She nuked one Waterflora after another, tearing the flowers into shreds. The Waterfloras could quickly recover from knife slashes, but not so was the case when their whole bodies exploded into bits.

    “Vivi, be careful.”

    “Hmph! Like, these idiots can’t even lay a finger on the great Vivi!”

    Contrary to the expected, Vivi’s confident words rang true this time. She was continuously targeted by speeding rocks, but her tiny frame and nimble movements kept her safe.

    Vivi defeated a Waterflora. Obtained 1 Waterflora Seed.】

    Vivi defeated a Waterflora. Obtained 3 Waterflora Seeds.】

    Vivi defeated a Waterflora. Obtained 1 Waterflora Seed.】

    Huhu, I can infinitely loot Waterflora Seeds this way.

    The only catch in this arrangement was the pixie’s greedy nature. Aside from seeds, Waterfloras also dropped [Water] pieces. However, Vivi hogged all these pieces to herself and only gave Erika the “useless seeds”.

    If Erika could also get [Water] pieces to pay for Lakya’s pool, then it would have truly been a godsend opportunity. She consoled herself by reminiscing about how she ripped off 2,000 pieces from Zack the other day. Aside from lacking the sought after [Water] pieces, she otherwise held a lot of money for a newbie.

    Without lifting a finger, Erika collected 16 Waterflora Seeds thanks to Vivi’s diligent efforts.
     
  20. DarkClaymore

    DarkClaymore Active Member

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    Chapter 45: Splashed Vivi

    “Ahahaha! Take that! And that!”

    Vivi continued to blast Waterfloras even beyond the number Erika requested. She was like an excited kid in an amusement park.

    “Vivi, you can stop now. Here’s the chocolate.”

    Erika smiled at the hyperactive brat and took out a piece of Dragon Chocolate. She already had 22 Waterflora Seeds in her inventory, more than enough for Silveria’s quest.

    “Hmph, fine. Like, the generous Vivi will let these idiots off the hook for today!”

    Vivi announced with both hands on her waist. She looked down on all the weak Waterfloras; they never managed to graze her with their attacks, not even once.

    As if to punish the snobbish pixie, it appeared out of nowhere. One moment nothing was there, then in the next... a Waterflora. Right beside Vivi.

    “V-Vivi! Look out!!”

    “Like, what’re you fussing about?”

    Vivi slowly turned around, retaining the confident smug of the strongest creature in the universe. Her expression turned pale in the next instant.

    “Blegh!?”

    “Vivi!”

    The Waterflora swallowed Vivi into its watery head. The little pixie found herself entrapped inside a suffocating prison.

    “Blegh! Ugh!!”

    Vivi punched and kicked through the liquid, to no avail. She tried to blast the cage from within, but no force came out of her frail arms.

    “C-curses...!”

    Erika rushed forth with the Silver Knife in hand. She didn’t want to think of it, but there was the possibility that Vivi could be killed by this vicious flower. The pixie would be digested alive, until all life force would be sucked out of her.

    C-calm down. I only need to defeat the flower, that’s all. D-don’t think of pointless things...!

    There was no time to second-guess GoVe’s mechanics. The more she thought about the possibility of permanent death, the faster her mind raced. The more her mind overworked, the more hazy she became.

    She had to terminate the flower. She had to rescue Vivi. Channeling these precise thoughts into her arm, Erika slashed the flower’s transparent body. The Waterflora was too occupied with digesting Vivi, it neither resisted nor retaliated.

    Through the stem. Though the head. She attacked and attacked, but it was the same as slicing water. Water spilled all over the ground, but the Waterflora’s body didn’t collapse.

    It’s not use! At least I should get Vivi out...!

    Erika shoved her free hand into the Windflora’s face. Her fingers dug into the thick mass of liquid, but failed to get through. It was impossible to reach inside, impossible to rescue Vivi.

    “C-curses! What do I do then!?”

    “Hey! Titan! Try punching that fucker!”

    “I’m TRYING!”

    Erika slashed the water cage from different angles, but the Waterflora didn’t show any signs of defeat. It was an absurdly tough mob for early game, making Erika wish to dig her knife into the game designers.

    “Don’t SWOOSH, Titan! Just literally punch that fucker! Like WHAM!”

    “What...?”

    Revert back to punching? A ludicrous idea. Erika first-handedly experienced how much the knife empowered her combat performance.

    Nonetheless, it didn’t feel like a prank by Mina. On top of that, Mina’s odd advice helped Erika in her battles before.

    “Blagh...!!”

    Vivi was close to her limit, kicking violently and pitifully. Erika didn’t have time to process anything She exhausted all her options.

    Curses, curses! Here goes nothing!

    She clenched her left hand and shot it forward. The flower was rammed straight in the face, bending backwards from the impact. A burning red circle remained on its face, painting the injured area.

    I-I think this can work...!

    She dropped the Silver Knife and whammed the flower with her right hand. It still felt like striking water, but something was different. The enemy wasn’t nearly as indifferent as before.

    Each punch left a burning injury. Each blow splattered tons of water. Somehow, her hands were a lot stronger than the knife’s slashes. These tiny, soft hands were rending the foe asunder.

    Die, die...!

    Erika lost herself in a frenzy. She repeatedly thrust her fists and the Combat Aid made sure they connected. All her rage and frustration exploded in the Waterflora’s face, ripping it apart.

    Defeated Waterflora. Obtained 8 [Water] pieces and 2 Waterflora Seeds.

    “Vivi! Are you alright!?”

    “Gah... y-yeah... l-like, totally... geh...”

    Vivi’s face was pale and her petite frame trembled. She gasped for air as she choked out scattered words.

    Was it that painful for her? Poor thing...

    Back when Erika herself was stuck in a water cage, she quickly recovered after being rescued. However, even now that Vivi was outside, a shaking emote still hanged beside her. Then near-death experience continued to traumatize the little pixie.

    Did she stay in there for too long...?

    Erika gritted her teeth and clenched her trembling hands. If only she was faster. If only she was smarter. She could have rescued Vivii much sooner.

    “It’s alright now.”

    Erika gently pulled Vivi toward her chest and hugged the trembling fairy. Normally, Vivi should have blasted Erika’s face and fired high-pitched complaints. However, in her current miserable state, Vivi couldn’t squeeze out even an ounce of resistance.

    “It’s all over, Vivi. You can rest now.”

    “H-hmph... like... I know that... much...”

    Vivi relaxed her body on Erika’s chest. Where was Vivi’s usual vigor? Where was that cheeky fairy who always had something to yell at others?

    Curses, this is all my fault...

    Being bad at combat wasn’t an excuse. No matter how hardcore GoVe was, it was still a video game. Enough practice should have allowed Erika to handle things better by now. Yet, she messed up. Horribly.

    Erika sat down and allowed Vivi to rest on her lap. Vivi always skipped from side to side in midair, but right now she didn’t express any will to fly and her glittering wings were limp. Without uttering a single objection, Vivi accepted the offer and laid down on Erika’s lap.

    “Here’s some chocolate that slips from my hand.”

    Erika smiled faintly and brought a chocolate piece toward Vivi. The treat was accepted without any emotion and Vivi quietly ate it, without getting excited.

    “I’m so sorry, Vivi... you could have died there, right?”

    “Hmph... like, I’m not... immortal, you know...”

    Vivi mumbled while taking small bites from the Dragon Chocolate. It wasn’t a 100% confirmation, but Vivi’s words suggested that she could have truly perished in this event.

    With all said and done, Vivi was still an “escorted NPC”. It wouldn’t be much of a quest to escort a completely immortal NPC, even in the early stages of the game. At least, God Vessel Online didn’t strike Erika as such a merciful game.

    Vivi could have really died...

    This thought was eating Erika up. In any normal PC game, Erika wouldn’t be too shaken. Character death was always tragic in immersive mediums, but it was in a whole different league inside VR.

    Erika could touch this little fairy with her own hands. She could feel the weight of Vivi’s body resting upon her lap. Vivi was light and fragile, much unlike her loud and confident attitude.

    “I’m really sorry. I’ll make sure to properly protect you from now on.”

    “Hmph...”

    The Waterflora sucked out all the energy and liveliness which Vivi possessed. It took about five minutes of repose before expressions returned to her pale face.

    “Ahahaha! Like... I just let that idiot catch me!”

    Vivi flapped her glittering wings and ascended into the air.

    “The generous Vivi felt it was... too easy. So... she set herself a handicap!”

    Vivi did her best to draw excuses, but she lacked the usual punch. She didn’t entirely regain to her former self, but it was a huge improvement that allowed Erika to breathe in relief.

    Erika now had way more Waterflora Seeds than she requested. Thus, she planned to stay away from sadistic flowers for as long as she could. Alas, she didn’t expect the next thing she saw...