Chapter 46: Blob Rescue Operation Spoiler As she continued her laid-back adventure, Erika arrived in a area with glittering puddles. Little Water Blobs climbed out of the puddles and clumsily ran around. So cute~ Erika smiled from ear to ear as she watched a baby blob running on its chubby feet. The blob tripped and landed on its round belly, then stood up and continued running. Truly, this sight was heaven for Erika... until she saw the unbelievable. The blob approached the lake and prepared to jump in. Just then, a big mass of water crashed on the blob and absorbed the baby inside. No! That can’t be...! A Waterflora gulped the blob and caged the baby inside its watery head. The helpless Water Blob waved its tiny arms while being sucked dry by Waterflora. The flower and the blob were fellow mobs, but their relationship was that of a predator and a prey. “Vivi! Can you...” Erika bit her lip. Vivi just overcame the trauma of nearly drowning inside a Waterflora. Asking the traumatized pixie for help made guilt surge in Erika’s heart. However, precisely because of that guilt, Erika had to ask Vivi for help. By herself, Erika wasn’t strong enough to rescue the blob before it was completely digested. “Vivi, please! Can you save that little blob from the Waterflora?” “Hmph! Like, why should I care about idiots like that? He can drown in that flower for all I care! Ahahaha!” Vivi crossed her arms and enjoyed the spectacle of a mob devouring another mob. For her, the size or strength of the enemy didn’t matter; they were all idiots, worthy of being ridiculed and blasted to pieces. Vivi wasn’t going to lend a hand and it was difficult for Erika to find a good argument in the heat of the moment. Each second Erika would spend on failed negotiations - will drive the blob closer to its demise. N-not good! I need to hurry! Erika sprinted toward the gluttonous enemy by herself. Her hand instinctively reached toward the Silver Knife, but it froze midway. Punching was more useful, for some reason. She didn’t understand the logic behind it, but she prepared her fists instead. She whammed the evil flower right in the face, splattering liquid across the ground. Same as before, the Waterflora didn’t attack while it was busy devouring a prisoner; Erika’s real enemy was time. I need to hurry...! The punches connected and shook the Waterflora, but the enemy refused to surrender. With each passing moment, another part of the imprisoned blob was melted and mixed into the water inside the Waterflora. “Curses! Spit it out!” Erika slammed the Waterflora’s face until all of its water leaked out The trembling stem collapsed onto the ground and dispersed into azure particles. “Haa... haa... are you alright?” Erika picked up the freed baby. The blob dripped water like a squeezed sponge, losing more of its humanoid shape with each drop. “You poor thing...” Erika hang her head and gritted her teeth. Yet again, she was too slow. Even though she knew how to efficiently combat the Waterflora this time, the Water Blob was reduced to this sorry state. It was melting in her palms and fading from this world. “Can you be healed? Is there anything I can do for you?” “P.. pyu...” The blob choked out a weak, squeaky sound. It wasn't translated to any words by Erika’s [Communication], making her curse the rune’s incompetence. However, the second level of the rune did show something: a faint icon hanged above the dying blob’s head, with the drawing of water in it. The icon was vague, but it implied that the blob sought water. Or, perhaps it cried about missing water and drying out because of it. Either way, the lake was the only source of water available in the area. “Do you want to go to the lake? Will that save you?” Erika carefully brought the Water Blob toward the lake and dipped it inside. “P... yu... py... u... pyu...” The blob’s melting body began to reform by absorbing water from the lake. After a few seconds, it was as good as new. “I’m so glad~” Erika smiled in relief and patted the little blob. Alas, the blob immediately jumped from her palms and dived into the lake. It swam away, leaving his savior behind. I suppose it can’t be helped... Erika watched the departing Water Blob with longing eyes. She wanted to keep that cutie by her side, to make sure it stayed safe and sound. “Hm...?” The Water Blob stopped swimming all of a sudden. It turned around and stared at Erika for a couple of seconds, the swam back to the shore. “Pyu!” The blob clumsily climbed out of the water and ran toward Erika. “My, what’s wrong, little one?” Erika petted the little baby and her affection wasn’t reject. On the contrary, a heart emote sprouted above the blob’s head. 【NOTIFICATION】【A Water Blob would like to become your familiar.】 “T-this is...!” Erika’s eyes sparkled and she shot her finger into the【Accept】button. It felt like a dream that could fleet away at any moment. 【Place input a name for your new familiar.】 Erika glanced at the small, chubby blob. Its round body properties looked childish, therefore only silly names came to mind. The blob didn’t have a specified gender, but Erika decided to treat it like a boy. “Blobby.” She said the name out loud for the voice detector and completed the registration process. 【Blobby (Water Blob) became your familiar!】 “Y-yes!” Erika grabbed her tiny baby and tightly hugged him, almost crushing him to bits. At long last, after suffering through unreasonable battles, Erika felt truly rewarded. Blobby wasn’t a fluffy critter, but he was small and adorable enough to be showered with love. “You’re watching this, Mini!? I just got myself a cute familiar~!” “Ah... yeah, sure...” Mina didn’t know how to respond, she was stunned by the fact that a random mob could turn into an ally. She spent all her time in GoVe on methodically executing every mob in sight, but now the game looked more dynamic and deeper than ever before. In fact, many of Erika’s actions made Mina feel that way. Erika played the game at a snail’s pace: she wasted time speaking to useless NPCs, she aimlessly roamed in new places and she got distracted by small creatures. She did so many things that had nothing to do with fighting or improving combat skills. At first, Mina was irritated by Erika’s slow progress. She felt that Erika fooled around too much and achieved nothing of worth. However, now that she watched Erika snuggle the little blob, her opinion was completely different. Erika played in weird ways, but that was exactly the reason it was interesting to watch. In just three days of playing in GoVe, Erika discovered mechanics which Mina couldn’t even imagine. Perhaps she was just in a good mood today, but Mina was now convinced. Together with Erika - they’d definitely reach Trilz City and would cure the Grim Reaper’s curse... eventually.
Chapter 47: Blobby Spoiler “Look, Vivi. It’s your new friend~” Erika smiled fuzzily and held Blobby in front of Vivi. “Like, get that thing away from me! I’ll rip it apart!” Vivi twisted her face and charged wind energy throughout her arm. “Oh, don’t be like that~ Look how small and harmless it is~” “Hmph, you Vessels are idiots. Like, why’d you want such a stupid thing as your familiar?” Vivi glared at the harmless blob with clear disgust. Blobby studied the pixie with his crystal green eyes, then raised a hand. “Pyu!” Blobby shot water out of his palm. “A-ah!!” Vivi turned pale as she examined her soaked body. She trembled from fury and her voice exploded. “N-now you’ve done it!!!” “Calm down, Vivi.” Erika shielded the little criminal in her arms, afraid of Vivi’s wrath. With patience at its boiling point, Vivi wished to rend everybody asunder. However, for once, she put effort into subsiding her anger. “Hmph!” She arrogantly turned away and darted forward along the road. It wasn’t the prettiest or smoothest of exchanges, but Erika sighed in relief; at least she didn’t lose her new familiar five minutes after taming it. “What was that good for? Bad Blobby!” Erika lightly flicked Blobby on the head like a scolding mother. “P-pyu...” Blobby lowered his head and a confused icon circled around him. It seemed like the baby didn’t harbor any ill intentions when he sprayed Vivi. It may have been a form of greeting among blobs, as they absorbed water better than sponges. Or, maybe Erika simply couldn’t imagine a baby with such a round, chubby face doing anything bad. Even if Blobby submerged half of the world with a tsunami, Erika would forgive its cute baby face. “Don’t do this again, okay?” “Pyu...” Blobby answered something vague, but Erika wanted to believe he understood the message. She patted the blob’s head and went on to catch up with Vivi. With short and chubby legs, it was difficult for Blobby to keep up with the pace. Nonetheless, he did his best and run forward, tripping and standing up every couple of seconds. It made mommy very proud. When they finally caught up to Vivi - disaster struck again. “Pyu!” Blobby sprayed water again. “Ack! Y-you! Like, do you have a death wish!?” Vivi barked and channeled wind force into her palm. “No fighting!” Erika put herself in front of Blobby, serving as a meat shield. She was prepared to be blasted to shreds... but Vivi lowered her hand. “Hmph, fine! But like, you tell that idiot to not mess around with the great Vivi, lest he wants to water the grass!” Vivi lifted her chin and crosser her arms. If Erika hadn’t interfered, then Blobby would have been dead by now, no question about it. “Bad Blobby.” “Pyu...” Blobby lowered his face, expressing genuine regret. It seemed that Blobby understood he was scolded and he truly felt bad about it. However, he didn’t understand what crime he committed. Therefore, even after being scolded twice... Blobby splashed Vivi. Again. Erika had to rescue the blob for the third time in 5 minutes. I wonder if he’ll understand me better after I level up [Communication]...? At its current level, [Communication] couldn’t translate Blobby’s squeaks into coherent language. The same may have applied backwards as well, preventing Erika from properly explaining herself to Blobby. Either that, or the baby lacked the necessary intelligence to process her words. Erika kept Blobby by her side as they walked, ensuring that the baby stayed out trouble. Glittering puddles were scattered beside the road, giving birth to more adorable Water Blobs. Any blob which wandered near a Waterflora was scared away by Erika, thus avoiding the terrible fate of turning into a flower’s soft drink. While the urge to wipe Waterfloras out of existence was growing stronger, Erika began wondering about her recent fights. Her trustworthy Silver Knife didn’t help her at all in these battles. Instead, she relied on her bare fists and busted through the Waterfloras to a great success. She emerged victorious, but she didn’t understand the underlying game mechanic behind it. “Say, Mini. Why did you suggest punching against the blue flowers?” “Because fuckers instantly regenerated when ya whooshed ‘em. Ya gotta try other shit in such a case, like wham ‘em” In other words, Mina didn’t know squat; she relied on her instinct to carry her through. Since GoVe was originally designed with the mindset of a fighting game, mechanics of this sort felt natural to Mina. It wasn’t the same for Erika, however. For one reason or another, GoVe provided tips about every little thing she wished to know, expect for proper combat advice. She had no choice but to rationalize this with RPG terms. She both slashed and stabbed with her knife, but that didn’t bear any fruits. The Waterflora’s liquid body quickly reformed after each assault and there was no noticeable injury. Compared to that, Erika’s fists didn’t slash or stab anything. They smashed the Waterflora’s face made the flower chough water. In terms of gameplay mechanics, the RPG veteran translated this into “attributes”. The same way magic had elements like “fire” and “water”, physical attacks also had different attributes in some games. It wasn’t a very common practice in MMORPGs, but Erika played normal RPGs which distinguished between “slash”, “stab” and “blunt” attacks. If she reasoned this way, then the whole mystery was easily resolved. Warerfloras were resistant to “slash” and “stab” attacks, but not to “blunt” strikes. Even though they looked like palette swaps of each other, Windfloras actually had opposite properties from Waterfloras. Erika had to dish out many punches to fell a single Windflora, making it clear that the flower had resistance to “blunt” attacks. On the other hand, Erika’s deadly knife made quick work of the Windflora’s stem, exposing its fatal weakness to “slash” attacks. Satisfied with her deductions, Erika proceeded along the road with newfound confidence. These realizations were small things, but gamifying the harsh virtual reality made Erika feel better. She didn’t possess the same combat instincts as Mina, therefore deconstructing “fighting moves” into “RPG mechanics” made her feel at home. “Pyu...” Blobby’s sad voice resounded from behind. He was doing his best to run after Erika, but his tiny legs weren’t fast enough. “Ahahaha! Look at this idiot! It can’t even walk!” Vivi held her bursting stomach every time Blobby tripped. She also didn’t forget to shoot complaints every now and then, criticizing how stale their progress became. Indeed, Blobby was slowing them down. “My, you’re such a slowpoke~” Erika decided to spoil Blobby and carried him in her palms. The baby gazed at the passing scenery with curiosity, but he didn’t try to run away to explore; he was an obedient kid. The realism of virtual reality became a nuisance, as simply holding Blobby was taxing on Erika’s thin arms. In real life, Blobby would easily fit into Erika’s palm. However, in her child avatar, she had to carry the baby with both hands, and he wasn’t exactly light for her weak muscles. This led Erika to retry an old trick. She opened the DiVe and put Blobby on top of the floating island. He was small enough fit and the DiVe didn’t throw any errors. It wasn’t possible to stuff NPCs into the DiVe, but there were no objections regarding storing familiars in the inventory. Erika closed the DiVe and the island vanished into thin air, along with her baby. She immediately opened the DiVe again to confirm Blobby’s safety. He was properly sitting where she left him, and that allowed her to sigh in relief. On top of being an airplane to transport Blobby, the extradimensional DiVe was also a safe haven for the fragile blob. While Blobby was hidden in another dimension, no sadistic flower could possibly gulp him like a cheap soft drink. Familiars were normally expected to aid their master in combat, but Blobby was too small for that kind of action. Mommy had to take care of him instead~ Vivi mentioned that Water Blobs had a dangerous evolution process. However, until Blobby evolved into a legendary Leviathan, Erika deemed it best to keep him out of danger and carefully raise him.
Chapter 48: Drainer Bee Spoiler Erika pressed forward along the unpaved road. Her progress was continuously stalled, as she rescued little blobs from the clutches of evil Waterfloras. At one point, Erika’s motherly efforts backfired. She successfully chased a Water Blob away from a Waterflora, only to lead it toward a Windflora which blasted the baby to shreds. It was clear at that point. The Scumbag Flower Sect was bent on destroying everything that was dear to Erika. Mortified by the fact she led a blob to death, Erika delivered revenge onto a few Windfloras in order to repent. As the road went on, a distant city was in sight. They were still about five minutes of walking away, but they steadily closed onto their destination: Zelin City. The scenery undergone small changes as they progressed. Glittering puddles became more scarce, until there were none in sight. Instead, a new type of mob became part of the environment. 【Drainer Bee】 It was a big bee, about half the size of an adult’s arm. It nimbly flew around, despite being so oversized. “Ew...” Erika jerked at the sight of the giant insect. Bees were more “disturbing” than “disgusting” by the way she rated insects. Therefore, bees were normally “alright” as far as she was concerned. However, the huge size of the Drainer Bee took “disturbing” up to eleven. The bee was cartoonified to look more round and less repelling. There was hair on the bee’s upper body, which resembled a fur coat and nearly passed it off as “fluffy”. Nonetheless, the Drainer Bee wasn’t eye pleasing and it certainly wasn’t cute. It was somewhere out there in the uncanny valley, as its insect traits clashed horribly with other body parts. Especially, the paper-thin limbs were at odds with the otherwise chubby body. “A-ah!” Vivi exclaimed when she noticed the Drainer Bees in the field. She hid behind Erika and cautiously picked over the shoulder. “My, what’s wrong, Vivi? Are you scared of bees~?” “S-scared!? H-hmph! Like, the great Vivi doesn’t even know the meaning of ‘scared’!” Vivi pressed hands against her waist and stepped out into the open. However, she immediately changed her mind and hid behind her meat shield. “Hmph! Like, these idiots are too lowly to be basked in the great Vivi’s divine presence!” Vivi put up on an iron face, but there was shaking emote beside her. She probably had a bad affinity with Drainer Bees and couldn’t best them in combat. The game must be hinting me to keep Vivi away from the bees. Same as the rest of her cheeky personality, Vivi was very picky about combat choices. She stood neutral when Erika fought Windfloras, she greatly helped against Waterfloras and now she hid from Drainer Bees. At first glance, these actions portrayed Vivi as a moody brat. However, Erika realized that, in fact, Vivi was smart and cautious. Vivi didn’t engage in battles which could endanger her. Blasting Waterfloras and Water Blobs was fun for Vivi, for she had complete dominance over these enemies. The same didn’t apply for Windfloras, who could probably counter or withstand Vivi’s deadly gusts. Therefore, Vivi avoided combat with them. When she just started playing, Erika was disappointed by how little combat support Vivi provided. Now, after she better understood Vivi’s reasoning and watched the pixie nearly drown to death - Erika was relieved. She preferred that Vivi stayed safe and sound, avoiding putting her life on the line. Can I beat these bees by myself...? Drainer Bees were different from all the enemies Erika faced thus far. They could fly and they were nimble, two elements which none of the previous enemies possessed. With Erika’s child avatar, it was impossible to even reach the bees unless they drew closer. All Windfloras and Waterfloras grew a fair distance away from the main road. However, Drainer Bees freely approached the road, as if oblivious to its existence. This forced Erika to stay alert on a path which she previously considered safe. Luckily, the bees didn’t attack Erika, not even in close range. They were way more polite then the vicious flower mobs, who attacked anybody in range. Drainer Bees must have been the type to attack only after they were threatened. On top of that, Erika began to develop respect toward the Drainer Bees. The same way that flowers bullied Water Blobs, the Drainer Bees killed flowers. Whether it was a Windflora or a Waterflora, the Drainer Bee didn’t care. The bee snuck up to the flower and thrust its stinger deep into the prey’s head. The flower shook and tried to fight off, but it shortly wilted and perished. It was a bit similar to the real life relationship between flowers and bees, at least in the sense that bees collected materials from flowers. However, the similarity ended right there, as real bees didn’t harm the flower and definitely didn’t sting it. It was an odd game designing choice, but Erika loved it. Serves you right. She watched the wilting flowers with scorn and satisfaction. Finally, these sadistic flowers received a taste of their own poison; justice was served. Erika’s good opinion about the Drainer Bees came to an abrupt end when Vivi shouted an SOS. “A-ah! G-get away from me!” Vivi fired wind gusts and retreated away. A stray Drainer Bee snuck up to them and tried to sting the energetic pixie. “Don’t you dare touch my little Vivi!” Erika drew out her knife and threatened the bee. However, the bee ignored Erika and continued to aim its big stinger at Vivi. Curses, I can’t reach it like that! Erika brandished her trusty knife, but her short arm didn’t intimidate the bee. It may have been the first time in her life that Erika wished for a taller body. “Take that, you idiot! Like, you have no idea what it means to mess with the great Vivi!” Vivi fired and fired, but the Drainer Bee didn’t fall down. The bee was quick to dodge and none of Vivi’s attacks landed smoothly. Unable to fell the opponent, Vivi snuck behind Erika and waited for the enemy to approach. In order to hit Vivi behind the meat shield, the bee had to descend from its high ground. This put the enemy within Erika’s striking range. The bee was 100% focused on Vivi, it didn’t pay any heed to Erika This was the perfect chance for strike. Erika thrust her Silver Knife into the bee’s yellow abdomen. Tch, too shallow...! The nimble bee dodged to the side, turning Erika’s thrust into a poorly aimed slash; she merely grazed the bee’s abdomen, nothing more. The Drainer Bee used the same maneuvers against Vivi’s bombarding as well, never allowing anything to land perfectly.. Now that Erika clearly declared herself as the enemy, the Drainer Bee switched its target. It flew toward Erika and shoved its stinger into her face. “Agh!!” Erika’s eye was speared through, she staggered backwards and covered her eye. Rather than a bee’s stinger, she felt like she was pierced by a rapier. “Eh...?” When Erika opened her injured eye, the world was hazy. She suspected that the stringer had poison in it, though she only felt weariness around her eye. While Erika was dazed, the Drainer Bee drove its stinger into her face yet again. Her left arm quickly reacted and soaked the damage. “Ugh... what...?” The injured arm became heavier and partially numb. It was as if the bee drained energy from her veins. Worse yet, the faint stab mark Erika left on the bee’s abdomen now turned gray and almost entirely disappeared. There was no question about it. That bee was sucking Erika dry, same as it did with the flowers. It was indeed a “Drainer”, as the name implied. If Erika couldn’t wrap this battle quickly, then all her energy would be sucked out. Then, she’d wilt to death just like the flowers she despised so much. Curses, I can’t properly counterattack against it...! Erika became frustrated by her clumsy thrusts. Most of her attacks landed on the bee, thanks the guidance of the Combat Aid. Alas, none of the hits was a smooth stab and none of them dealt significant damage. On the other hand, the bee enjoyed its high ground and poked Erika at ease. Her arms, face and chest were all heavy and numb. She turned dizzy as her body’s vitality was drained out. Erika couldn’t do this alone. She needed something to distract the Drainer Bee in order to efficiently strike it down. “Curses... Vivi, could you please shoot the bee as well?” “Hmph, fine! Like, you’re so pitiful that the generous Vivi feels like landing you a hand!” Vivi aimed her tiny palm at the bee and shot a blast of wind. The Drainer Bee smoothly shifted its body and dodged most of the damage. However, that excellent maneuver rendered it impossible for the bee to evade a follow-up attack. Erika sliced through the distracted bee, leaving a burning injury mark across its body. The bee faltered after receiving this damage; the attack worked perfectly. Vivi sniped the bee again and Erika stabbed it chest, digging deep into its body. It was a deadly combo attack. 【Defeated Drainer Bee. Obtained 8 [Absorption] pieces and 1 Windflora Pollen.】 The slain bee bursted into azure particles, same as other mobs. In addition, an odd, yellow cloud erupted from its corpse and latched onto Erika’s skin. “Ew! What’s this?!” Erika waved her arms, trying to block the yellowness that creeped toward her. She thought it was icky honey that exploded, but she didn’t feel anything when it contacted her skin. Rather than a physical material, the yellow smoke seemed like an aura. It equipped itself on Erika and radiated from her. At first, she assumed that the vitality, which was drained from her, was returned to her body. However, she didn’t feel any healthier. It may have been poison that the bee spread as its last resort, but Erika didn’t feel sick either. In fact, Erika didn’t feel anything at all from this aura. There weren’t any system messages either. She decided to ignore it and instead celebrated the victory with Vivi. “Ahahaha! Serves you right, you idiot!” Vivi grinned widely as she watched azure particles vanish into thin air. Of course, she acted as if the puny bee was never a threat for the the great Vivi to begin with. “My, aren’t we a great team, Vivi?” “Hmph! Like, I could totally bust that idiot myself.” Vivi crossed her arms like a snob. Nonetheless, there was an unusually joyful emote hanging above the pixie’s head. Vivi must have been extra happy to overcome a strong foe. Perhaps, somewhere deep inside, Vivi was even grateful for Erika’s help. “Like, you should thank the generous Vivi for not letting a bee kill a useless idiot like you.” She was definitely grateful... somewhere deep, deep inside. While Erika giggled at Vivi’s cheeky words, she didn’t notice the approaching swarm...
Chpater 49: Bee Swarm Spoiler While Erika and Vivi celebrated their victory, a new enemy snuck up to them. “E-eh!?” Erika was stabbed in the back. She rotated around to counterattack with her knife, but the assaulter nimbly dodged; it was another Drainer Bee. What is going on? Weren’t they passive mobs...? The bee thrust its stinger again. Erika dodged by a thin margin and retreated to recollect herself. “Ack! What is going on!?” Another Drainer Bee stung her from behind. The bees should have been peaceful mobs, but now two of them attacked Erika at once. It didn’t make any sense! Wha...? In truth, the situation was far worse than two aggressive Drainer Bees. Every bee in the area was attracted to Erika and itched to drill her new holes. She was in the middle of a huge swarm! “W-why!? Curses...” Erika dragged herself around as she tried to dodge the incoming stabs. Each time a stinger dug into her flesh, a portion of her energy was sapped. Her face, her neck and her arms - they were all rusty cogs that struggled to move. There’s no way out... I need to... think of... something... More than six Drainer Bees swarmed her from all sides. It was a slow and efficient group bullying which erased a bit of Erika’s consciousness with each stab. Nonetheless, even if every other part of her body rotted, she refused to shut down her mind. She squeezed every available brain juice to analyze the situation. Strangely, the Drainer Bees didn’t express interest in Vivi. The first aggressive bee they encountered clearly aimed at Vivi, yet this whole swarm was focused solely on Erika. The RPG veteran had a hunch. When she killed the first Drainer Bee, Erika was sprayed by an odd, yellow aura. Her body still radiated this faint smoke even now; she was marked for execution by the bee colony. “Ah! Like, shoo! Go away!” “No, Vivi! Don’t shoot-” Erika’s words rang too late. Vivi released a quick gust and blasted a Drainer Bee. Regrettably, the bee didn’t perish and its attention now shifted toward Vivi; it was a grave mistake. “Vivi, you should run! They all try to kill me!” Erika started running, to draw the bees away from Vivi. Her upper body was almost entirely dead, but her unharmed legs moved just fine. “Ah! W-who do you think you're attacking!? I’m the great Vivi!” Sadly, Vivi didn’t heed the advice. She was startled whenever a bee approached her, fearing that she’d be attacked. Therefore, she struck first! ...thus, digging herself into a deeper hole. Seriously, that silly pixie...! Curses! Erika gritted her teeth and backpedaled toward Vivi. With three irritated bees seeking revenge against Vivi, Erika’s plan fell flat. It was mandatory to first kill these bloodthirsty bees, before doing anything else. “A-ah! Like, get away from me!” Vivi appeared tense and nervous, but she managed to dodge the incoming jabs. Same as the bees, Vivi was quick in midair and she was a tiny target to boot. As far as defensive play was concerned, the pixie could hold her ground. While the enraged bees were busy with poking Vivi, it gave Erika the opportunity to sneak up to them. She slashed down the distracted bees without much effort, they were squishy targets. Her vision was hazy, but the Combat Aid made the slashes connect. “Haa... haa... Vivi, run back to the village... while you can...” Erika choked out this final message. Her vitality was severely drained, she was going to collapse any moment now. “H-hmph! Like, if you beg so much, then the generous Vivi may as well comply!” Despite the loud words, Vivi made a conflicted expression. A vague emote over Vivi’s head notified that she wasn’t comfortable with this arrangement. Nevertheless, she obediently darted away as instructed. To ensure that Vivi could safely flee back to the village, Erika dashed in the opposite direction. She turned off [Communication], as she needed every last drop of energy to keep her legs working. “Agh... ah...” The Drainer Bees pursued her without mercy. They stabbed Erika in the head. In the neck. In the back. In the arms. In the shoulders. It was a miracle that her legs continued to function when the rest of her body was no better than a corpse. Even her thoughts were slipping away from her now. Now... it should be safe... to die... Erika threw a faint smile at the huge swarm behind her. She did a decent job as a decoy and Vivi’s safety was assured. Zelin City was already in sight, they almost reached their destination this time. Erika was going to die yet again, but she would fare better next time and would finally reach Zelin. “Eh...?!” Clarity washed over her for a moment. All her relieving thoughts vanished into thin air when she noticed a skyscraper in the form of a sunflower. 【Windflora King】 A short distance away from the city, this monster stood firm. It was identical to a Windflora, only it was bigger.... much bigger. It was at least 3 meters tall and its stem was no thinner than a bamboo tree. You gotta be kidding... Erika forgot all about the pain from the stings, forgot all about her fatigue. All her thoughts were fixated on the giant flower. The Windflora King directed its big head in Erika’s direction. She fought enough Windlofras, she knew what was coming next. The Windflora King bombarded the land. A tornado erupted from its face and shook the world. Ah... I’m flying... Erika was high in the air, flung like little rock. In her final moments, she entertained herself by glancing at the Drainer Bees; they were also caught in the same explosion and were ripped to shreds. Serves you... right... Her body pummeled into the ground and squished. 【Congratulations! You died.】
Chapter 50: Softening Brats Spoiler “That was just... I don’t even...” Erika sighed as she stared into the void. She was reduced to a fickle azure flame after being ripped to shreds by a tornado. Drainer Bees were alright, they weren’t formidable enemies and they only banded together under special circumstances. Erika could safely pass through their region as long as she didn’t deliver the first strike. However, that Windflora King.... It was the incarnation of disaster. The Windflora King was as friendly as a normal Windflora, and its wind gusts could casually blow up a building. Erika had no means to fight. Unlike the other times when Erika pitifully died, this time Mina didn’t make fun of her. It was strange, so Erika decided to confirm that Mina was still alive. “Say, Mini. Are you there?” “Yeah.” “That was awful, wasn’t it...” “Bah, ‘em bees are pussies for ganging on ya like that. And that huge flower is real gangsta, so ya have to figure out how to kick its ass.” There was neither ridicule nor complaints. Because of this death, Erika lost all of today’s progress and had to return all the way back the Murph Village. Yet, Mina didn’t accuse her of anything; it was peculiar. Perhaps the little beastie finally softened up to Erika, after spending lots of virtual time with her. Or, many Mina just became numb to how often Erika died... Erika respawned in the village and reunited with Vivi. She was glad that the pixie arrived in the village safe and sound, but Vivi wore an awkward expression. “Hmph. You sure have some nerve, ordering the great Vivi around like that.” Vivi crossed her arms with a grumpy face and an unexpected emote appeared beside her. The icon seemed to suggest... a sense of guilt? From Vivi? Impossible. For all Vivi cared, Erika could die a million times like the helpless idiot she was. At least, that’s how things worked thus far. Even back when they were surrounded by Drainer Bees, Vivi appeared conflicted about leaving Erika behind in the swarm. The pixie covered everything up with her usual arrogance, but she couldn’t entirely mask her concern. Perhaps, like Mina, the cheeky pixie also opened up to Erika a bit. This theory was further confirmed when Vivi willingly shared a personal story. In order to reach Zelin City, the great Vivi once tried to cross the forest where Drainer Bees lived. On the way, she ran into a stupid Drainer Bee and fought it to death. Even though she destroyed the wimpy bee, Vivi was then swarmed by the bee’s allies and had to strategically retreat. This story must have been the reason why Vivi was wary of the bees. Erika was aware that, most likely, none of these events “truly” happened. NPCs often had backstories to feel like believable people, but the events mentioned in said backstories were no more than memories imprinted onto the NPCs. Nonetheless, Vivi retold her story with a myriad of believable expressions. It felt as if she was truly there and experienced these battles; the story managed to draw Erika’s sympathy. “My, that sounds like a terrible experience. Say, were you also covered by a yellow smoke after defeating the first bee?” The theory of the RPG veteran was simple: a dying Drainer Bee marked its attacker with a yellow aura, turning all nearby bees against the killer. Vivi backed up this theory by confirming that she had a similar experience. Drainer Bees were normally civil mobs. But, once triggered, they’d swarm the offending player all at once. It was a nasty game mechanic which turned the area into extremely dangerous. Luckily, the duration of the Drainer Bee’s marking was finite. After Erika respawned, she was no longer covered in yellow smoke. Even without dying, the attracting aura would have surely worn out after a while. The next time Erika would visit that area, she wouldn’t be targeted right away. The only remaining mystery was the first Drainer Bee, which assaulted Vivi out of nowhere. Nothing marked Vivi as a special target at the time, yet the normally peaceful bee tried to stab the pixie. Even in Vivi’s story, the bee she met was portrayed as the enemy who struck first. “Say, Vivi. Is there any reason why bees attack you?” “Hmph, these idiots must be craving the great Vivi’s almighty magic. Like, they love to drain power from the strongest.” Vivi pressed both hands against her waist and lifted her chin in confidence. It was an arrogant theory, but it made some sense too. Drainer Bees openly attacked Windfloras, so perhaps possessing wind powers attracted them. In other words, bringing Vivi to the region of the bees was very risky for both of them. Still, Erika could think of only one strategy for them. “Next time, we should run through the area with Drainer Bees. Make sure you don’t engage in unnecessary combat.” “Hmph. Like, I know that much.” Vivi crossed her arms, but she didn’t seem particularly annoyed or irritated. All the poison in her words was directed toward the bees she had to dodge. With this, the strategy against Drainer Bees was settled. However, Erika still had no idea how to deal with the Windflora King, which awaited them further down the road. Considering her low combat capabilities, she had to borrow the internet’s help for this. It was already evening, hence Erika decided to wrap things up for today. She bid farewell to Vivi and Blobby and then logged out. Before leaving Mina’s apartment, Erika made sure to perform her usual routine as a makeshift guardian. “How is your left hand?” “Hmm... still a useless piece of meat.” “Make sure you don't play GoVe while I’m not watching.” “Yeah, yeah.” “Do you have enough food for tomorrow?” “Yeah. Worst case I’ll order more pizza.” After confirming that Mina was likely to survive until tomorrow, Erika patted the little beastie as if praising a child. “Eh...?” Erika... really patted Mina. Her hand was neither bitten nor dodged; she touched Mina’s messy hair for the first time. Locked in a daze, Erika continued to pat Mina until the beastie ran out of patience and kicked her outside. Step by step, Erika steadily tamed the small brats around her, both in RL and VR.
Chapter 51: Saturday Friend Spoiler While Erika spent her morning at school on Saturday, Mina had an adventure of her own. A day before, Erika left a vague declaration: “Sorry, Mini. I have student council work tomorrow. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to come over... if at all.” These words annoyed Mina for some reason. The concept of “school on Saturday” was alien to her. “Bah, that damn Titan must be lying about freakin’ school on Saturday... or is she?” Mina pondered about the topic for many hours, but she couldn’t figure out anything. It made her restless and she turned from side to side on her bed. Even when she woke up on the following morning, she still had no idea what to expect. “What an annoying Titan...” Mina picked up her controller and booted up Soul Claymore, her favorite fighting game. Even with one paralyzed arm, Mina insisted to maintain her daily training regime; she couldn’t allow her skills to rust. Her main character in the game was Reeyne, a tall amazon with a huge axe. Reeyne was a difficult fighter, requiring complex button inputs to execute combos. Reenye barely scratched the bottom of SoulClay’s top tier characters, but Mina was a technical goddess who transcended such facts... at least, when she could fully utilize both hands. “Bah! Shit! You fucker!!” Mina lost five matches in a row. All her online opponents were monsters of the highest rank, just like Mina herself. She normally maintained a decent win ratio against these pros, but she couldn’t do so when her crappy left hand didn’t move as she pleased. Thanks to taking a break from God Vessel Online, Mina’s paralyzed arm showed great improvement. At first, she couldn’t move the arm at all. Now, there was only faint numbness remaining in her fingers. It was a meager handicap for normal players, but split-second slowdowns were fatal for players of Mina’s level. “Bah, when’s that dumb Titan coming!?” After each defeat, Mina peeked out of her room. She felt that Erika would magically appear if she stared at the door strong enough. Alas, time flew by and Erika didn't arrive. Mina jumped every time she heard footsteps outside, but the footsteps never belonged to the Titan she waited for. “Is she really coming? She said maybe... bah! How annoying!” The more Mina thought about it, the more irritated she became and the worse she fared in battle, which in turn irritated her even more. Thus, a neverending cycle of negativity was formed. GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL Mina’s room shook as if hit by an earthquake. It was already afternoon, but only now she realized that she didn’t even have her breakfast yet. Frustrated by her continuous defeats and by the fact Erika didn’t come over, Mina decided to order tons of pizza. It was a godly dish which could bring her out of every slump. “Mmmmm!!! This shit is always the best! Nom nom nom!” She tore the pizza to shreds with sharp bites. The divine flavor of pizza sank into her and cleansed her soul. Her level of irritation was greatly reduced and she now reasoned calmly. “Well, it’s the weekend after all... it’s not like she gotta come especially for me...” Mina mumbled while chewing on another pizza slice, which refused to fit into her stuffed tummy. Erika had no obligation to come over on a weekend. The two girls vowed to cooperate until Mina’s arm was cured in GoVe, but there were no additional agreements like “playing on weekends”. Mina wished to resolve this problem quickly in order to keep playing GoVe, but Erika had no reason to share the same sentiments. “It’s not like we’re friends anyway...” Mina stared at her numb arm with mixed feelings. The only thing tying Erika and Mina together right now was the faint numbness in Mina’s hand. Erika was no more than a diligent class president who tried to restore a classmate’s condition. That was all to their relationship, they weren’t friends. Erika had no reason to sacrifice her precious weekend for somebody like Mina. When their mission would be accomplished, the two girls would part ways and would probably never speak again. The more she thought about it, the more it annoyed her. She decided to change the mood by watching some (illegally) downloaded Anime. A mainstream action series made her forget all about her negative thoughts. She entertained herself by watching how an overpowered protagonist went against his sworn enemies. Such power fantasies were awesome and Mina gulped them like water. The only parts which annoyed her were the blatant fanservice moments. “A-ah sorry!” The protagonist accidentally groped the heroine’s boobs. The gigantic melons jiggled and stabbed Mina’s eyes. “Bah... t-that’s so dumb and unrealistic...” Mina growled and examined her own chest. It was the same as staring at a paved road, raising up her irritation meter again. She slapped both cheeks and shook her head to perish the thoughts. She skipped ahead in the episode in order to enjoy the real meat of the show: the epic battle between the protagonist and his foes. “Oh!” Mina exclaimed when the protagonist was blasted away. The strong hero was on the losing side in this important battle and got beaten down hard. In this hopeless situation, the heroine called out to him. “You can’t do it alone! You need the help of your friends!” The protagonist’s friends joined hands to defeat the big bad. “Bah! C’mon, don’t be a scrub! Ya can beat that fucker by yourself!” Mina scolded the protagonist, but he didn’t listen. The hero accepted the help of his peers and they set off to beat the big bad together. The power of friendship was going to save the day. “Bah, that’s dumb.” Mina threw a tantrum, then glared at the entrance to her room. Nobody stood there, a fact which annoyed her for some reason. She had no friends, but the empty scenery still irritated her. “Bah, I got it! Of course the weekend is more important! Of course she won’t come! Rather, who needs that Titan bitch anyway!?” Without even thinking about her words, Mina leapt from her chair and dashed out of her room. The Anime show wasn’t enough to subside her irritation, hence she decided to exercise in the park. “Grrrr! C’mon, open up!” Mina fought with the door. It always opened so easily, but today it decided to give Mina trouble. It took her a while to realize that the door was, in fact, locked. “Bah, that annoying Titan...” Mina scowled as she looked at the key. It was due to Erika’s persistence that Mina was forced to lock the door. Erika didn’t even bother to show up, yet she made sure to place this dumb door in front of Mina. “Damn Titan...” Mina punched the door a few times, imagining her fists smacking Erika. She shortly lost her motivation and twisted her lips. “Bah, whatever!” Mina unlocked the door, ran outside and slammed the door shut. The park was merely two minutes away from her house, but she still dashed toward it. She hadn’t visited the park even once for the past week, ever since her arm was paralyzed. Her excitement was combined with the strong need to unwind. Along with attractions for kids, the park also had fitness machines. They weren’t as fancy as those in a gym and they were clearly designed for a young audience, but for the small Mina these machines fit just right. She worked out on various machines, until she noticed two boys challenging the monkey bars. “Not bad! You can do it!” One boy cheered, while his friend advanced along the monkey bars. The challenger was only halfway through, but he was already sweating and panting heavily. Mina could tell, the boy wouldn’t make it to the end. “Pwahaha! Lamer!” As she expected, the worn out climber soon gave up and forfeited from the challenge. “W-what’s so funny!?” The boy didn’t appreciate when his great efforts were ridiculed. “I’mma show ya how real pros do it, kiddo! Watch me do this shit with just one hand!” Mina strode toward the monkey bars and grabbed the first metal bar with her right hand. “Ha! No way you can do that!” The boy crossed his arms and prepared to watch how Mina would fail. Since Mina was only a tiny bit taller than the boy, he didn’t realize she was actually a high schooler. And he couldn’t possibly know that she wasn’t just any high schooler either... “Hah! Just ya watch!” Mina swung her body back and forth, then jumped forward and grabbed the next bar with her right hand. Normally, one was supposed to advance through the bars by switching hands around. However, Mina didn’t have that luxury. She had to swing, jump and catch the next bar. Each and every time. “Bah...” It was way harder than Mina expected. Her arm was nearly torn off whenever she grabbed a new bar from a leap. Her arm began to tremble while she kept approaching her goal. “Ugh! I can’t... gufu...” She was going to fail. The realization struck her three bars away from the finale. Her muscles were snapping apart just from keeping herself lifted. She performed remarkably well, but she promised the boys that she’d go all the way through. “Bah...” The boys were going to laugh at her. She reluctantly turned her head around, to check the expressions on the boys’ faces... “B-bah...?” The boys were no longer there. Instead, a tall titan stood at the park’s entrance. She... she actually came... Mina’s mind went blank as she stared at Erika. The titan didn’t stroll into this park by mistake, Erika clearly came here to search for Mina. She came all the way out here. Even though it was Saturday, even though it was a weekend. Erika came here, for Mina. “Hmph, what took you so long? You dumb Titan...” Mina muttered, without noticing the smile that snuck up onto her lips. “Bah...” She couldn't go any further on this monkey bar. She hated losing more than anything and letting go of the bar meant accepting defeat. However, the boys with whom Mina made a bet were no longer there; there was nobody who could criticize Mina for giving up. “You can’t do it alone! You need the help of your friends!” Mina remembered a random line from the trash Anime she just watched. It was one of these cheap motivational lines which Mina never connected with. “Heh! That’s just dumb!” She jumped down from the metal bar and ran toward Erika. Her excited grin from that moment secretly persisted for the rest of the day.
Chapter 52: Road Boss Spoiler It was past dinner time when Erika returned home. In recent days, this has become a routine for her. “May I ask where you’ve been hanging lately, young lady?” Laura approached her daughter right after the late dinner, without giving Erika the chance to flee to her room. “Hm? Haven’t I already explained?” Erika tilted her head in wonder, unsure which part of her bulletproof cover story was unclear to her mother. “I pay visits to a troublesome classmate, to help her catch up with the material she missed. While at that, I also make sure she doesn’t forget to attend school again.” “I see. What kind of girl is she anyway?” “Let’s see, if I had to describe her...” There was a lot Erika could say about Mina, none of which would leave a good impression. Especially, mentioning anything related to gaming was off-limits unless she was forced to cough it up through torture. “She’s... like a puppy.” “A puppy...?” “She’s short and looks like a grade student. She yells a lot, but she doesn’t bite... much.” Erika giggled as she imagined a fluffy puppy with Mina’s facial expressions. If one replaced Mina’s cursing and yelling with “wuff” sounds, then she’d become an adorable critter. “I... I see...” Laura was taken aback by this description. She expected very different things out of this interrogation. “Just to make it clear, that student is a GIRL, right?” “My, of course. I can show you the student list if you want.” “No, that’s alright.” Laura waved her hand to dismiss the proposal. It didn’t seem like Erika was lying, hence there was no need for extra validations. “Heh, I thought it was a boyfriend.” Laura tapped on Erika’s shoulder with a sly smile. When she was a teenager, Laura made up many excuses for her parents in order to hide her romantic adventures. Now, in the shoes of a parent, Laura was worried about Erika getting a secret life. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right Eri? Your dad can be an insensitive blockhead at times, but I’ll listen.” “Sure, mom.” Of course, Erika couldn’t really bring herself to discuss video games with her mother. If her mother approved of her dark hobby, then Erika’s life would become much easier. However, if the hobby were to be rejected... gulp. Laura had a hunch. Her hunch was supported by years of experience as a mother and as a businesswoman. She could tell this much: there was something on Erika’s mind, something that Erika didn’t feel comfortable sharing. Despite her young age, Erika was shrewd. For the better or the worse, she picked up many mannerisms from Laura. This included maintaining a smile in front of others even in distress, as well as making confident statements in order to misdirect the opposition’s arguments. Laura was proud of how smoothly her daughter adopted business techniques, but she also lamented the fact that these same techniques turned Erika into a complicated child to deal with. Laura was strong with driving people into a corner, her job practically required this skill to survive. However, she didn’t want to use this witchcraft on her own daughter. Erika appeared mature because of her height and mannerism, but she was still a kid inside. Having a worry or two at that age was normal. Not to mention that bloating worries out of properties was every teenager’s favorite pastime. With that in mind, Laura decided to give her daughter some leeway. She ended the interrogating and let Erika off the hook this time. Phew. Mom really makes me tense sometimes. Erika spat a sigh of relief when she finally entered her room, her haven. She felt like she was released from a police interrogation. The theory of Erika having a boyfriend was way off the mark, but that didn’t change the main issue: her actions were observed. She had to fully utilize all her years of experience, in order to lead the most secretive double life imaginable. She locked her door with three different locks and booted her PC. There was still time before bedtime, so she decided to do some research about God Vessel Online. Opqai-kun wasn’t available, therefore she turned to her other trusty friend: Google. The next challenge she had to face in GoVe was the Windflora King. It was a huge foe, unlike any other she encountered in the game. This time, she was dealing with a REAL raid boss. From what Erika remembered, the Windflora King was placed right beside the road. It was positioned exactly at the spot where the lake and the forest were very close to each other. In other words: the whole area was within the Windflora’s sniping range. Considering the size of the flower’s deadly wind blasts, it seemed impossible to rush through the area unharmed. Not to mention, Erika also had to take Vivi into account. Even if one of them safely made it through, the other may be struck... to death. It wasn’t an issue for Erika herself, for she’d simply respawn after being killed. However, Vivi claimed that she couldn’t revive. Once killed, the pixie would stay dead. It was a hardcore mechanic, the validity of which Erika had to research My, this is so cruel... Vivi’s harsh claim turned out to be true; NPCs and familiars could permanently perish in the game. God Vessel Online was a merciless game. To compensate for the ruthlessness, the game tried to make it harder for NPCs to die. For one, Vivi was a fairly “smart” NPC when it came to combat. She wasn’t without flaws, but she generally knew when to avoid battle and how to survive. In addition, many players mentioned that the NPCs they escorted seemed more “sturdy” than regular mobs. Thinking back on it, Vivi survived for a long time while she was digested by a Waterflora. The same couldn't be said for Blobby, who nearly perished inside the Waterflora’s cage within seconds. Granted, it was possible that a pixie was simply stronger than a baby blob in general. With all this information in mind, the Windflora King became an even bigger pain than before. Erika couldn’t aim for any careless strategies which put Vivi in danger. Instead, she had to search for more practical countermeasures against this raid boss. In most RPGs, big bosses like the Windflora King usually awaited at the end of a dungeon. However, GoVe didn’t abide by that rule. There were dungeons in a few advanced areas, but otherwise they weren’t common. Still, GoVe wanted to have bosses in order to torment its players; this is how “Road Bosses” were born. They were powerful mobs, positioned in carefully calculated checkpoints. The Windflora King was one of them. These bosses attacked players on sight and it was nigh impossible to slip by them. Once the boss noticed you, the area ahead would blocked off by an “invisible wall”. Based on screenshots, the wall appeared like a foggy illusion. After the road boss was defeated once, it would no longer initiate combat against the victorious player. This could also be achieved with a party, in which case the whole party would be regarded as the “victor”. Members of a victorious party wouldn’t be touched by the raid boss, as long as they remained in that same party formation. This was the first solution for Erika: form a party. Unfortunately, Opqai-kun wasn’t available for GoVe on Sunday, thanks to weekend events in Skuld Blade Online. She dug through other contacts from the disassembled Vertus guild, but everybody was playing Skuld at best. Spoiled casuals. All of them. I also want to play a classic RPG like Skuld.... Erika sighed and sank into the chair. She felt like a weirdo for playing a hardcore action game like GoVe, instead of a casual MMORPG which suited her way better. Alas, she had no say in the matter. Another potential party member was Zack, but Erika had way more expectations toward the elf NPC he escorted. Alicia was eager to help those in need, hence Erika felt confident about talking her into it. Nonetheless, Erika wasn’t satisfied with just one solution and sought alternatives for backup. Most of the advice on forums covered specific Road Bosses. Players opened question threads, asking how to defeat “this boss” or “that boss”. Among those, there was only one old thread about the Windflora King; it had a couple of interesting suggestions. One user suggested to swim around the Windflora King’s area. The Windflora King’s sniping range was huge, but it couldn’t possibly cover the whole lake. If Erika used Lakya’s pool to learn swimming, then she’d be able to safely maneuver around the danger zone. Erika downloaded GoVe’s mobile app to check her current status. The app didn’t let her do anything that affected the game’s world in real time, but at least she could read her avatar’s info and configure her Friends List. She registered Opqai-kun to her short list of pals. There were 38 [Water] pieces in her DiVe, out of the 50 pieces she needed to pay for Lakya’s pool. She could reach that goal by trashing some Waterfloras with her own hands, without relying on Vivi. Vivi could fly over the lake too, therefore Erika felt confident about the swimming plan. In fact, Erika realized that no matter which strategy she picked - Vivi could easily cross the area through the lake regardless. As such, Erika had to primarily focus on how to pass the checkpoint herself. Other suggestions in the thread seemed random. One user claimed he met a warrior NPC in Murph Village, and they traveled to Zelin City together via a quest. Another user wrote how a boat passed by Murph Village and gave him a ride straight to Zelin City. Erika couldn’t tell whether all these players were just lucky, or GoVe scripted these events. “Dynamic events” and “personal plotlines“ were becoming popular in video gaming in recent years. Modern technology allowed the game system to script unique and personal events, which fit the way the player interacted with the game. For example, Vivi must have been a unique NPC who was created especially for Erika. The pixie had an attitude and a backstory, but they were probably randomly generated to fit Erika’s choice of the [Communication] rune. As for “dynamic events”, the NPC warrior in Murph Village might have been exclusively spawned to help that one troubled player. The transporting boat might have passed by Murph solely to help out that other player. It was hard to tell whether these incidents were scripted or resulted from pure luck, which is why many players liked dynamic events. By the end of the research, Erika was armed with three main strategies: form a party, swim around the area or search for a scripted event. She wasn’t wholly satisfied with this tiny arsenal, but she felt pretty confident that at least one of these ideas should work. Every now and then, Erika also refreshed her email. RosemaryQueen still didn’t reply to any of Erika’s taming questions. Erika leveled up as a tamer today by getting Blobby, but she still wanted to receive professional advice from the idol she respected. Well, Queen is a busy person. Besides, who is FluffyCuteling anyway? I didn’t even make a name for myself as a player. Erika sighed and called it a day.
Chapter 53: VR Sunday Spoiler On Sundays, Erika usually hanged out with girls from class. She secretly wanted to spend the her weekends playing Verdandi Blade Online, but she had to barricade herself in her room for that. Needless to say, that’d look a tad suspicious, especially when her parents were at home the whole time. However, on this Sunday, Erika could safely decline of her friends’ offers. She now had the opportunity to play games outside her room, under the cover of helping a fellow student with studies. She woke up early and prepared to leave for Mina’s house. “Good morning, mom.” “Good morning... Eri...” It was a rare sight. Laura, who normally looked sharp and alert, roamed around like a zombie. This was the way Laura’s mornings usually went, until she consumed her daily drug: black coffee. One Sundays, when Laura woke up later than usual, Erika got to see such distributing scenes. Normally, more than 50% of the human body was made out of water. However, Laura must have been an exception to this rule.The liquid that flowed through her veins wasn’t not water; it was coffee. “Lau, didn’t we agree you’ll cut down on the caffeine?” Reidel scolded his wife. It was funny, as he was also sitting with a cup of coffee beside him. “Yeah... yes... I’m working on that...” Laura’s brain was too numb to process anything at the moment. She dropped on the sofa and injected the caffeine drug into her body. Reidel frowned, but let the subject to slide. “Hah. Eri, make sure you don’t rely on caffeine like your mom when you grow up,” “Of course, dad.” Erika nodded with a smile, eying the big coffee cup on her dad’s couch.His words were very convincing, especially since he proceeded to intake the exact same drug right after shooting the warning. Erika had to fight the surging urge to laugh, giggling internally. It was a normal Sunday morning, there was nothing out of place. Just by looking at this scene, nobody could possibly guess that, for Erika, this Sunday was very unusual. After all, she was going to spend the whole day playing VR.. Just the other week, such a scenario would have sounded like fiction to her. She was allowed to read about VR games on the internet, but never to own or play any. Nonetheless, by the whims of fate, her world flipped on its head. Now, she was spending every day inside VR; it was an absurd switch. To not raise any additional suspicion, Erika pretend she was going to hang out with classmates today. That was the usual Sunday routine and nobody questioned her. If I’m staying at Mini’s place for the whole day, then it means I’ll be having lunch and dinner there as well. This doesn’t sound fun... Eating nothing but instant noodles for the whole day wasn’t particularly appealing for Erika, and neither was it healthy for Mina. Pizza was a potential upgrade, but it was nonetheless junk food. Therefore, Erika requested two takeout lunches from the SmartCook. Her parents allowed her to stay out late on Sundays, so she also grabbed two dinner packages, for herself and Mina. “I’ll be going out.” Erika plainly left the house with this announcement, just like any other Sunday. Her mother told her to be careful, just like any other Sunday, Yet, today her destination was completely different than any other Sunday. Once Erika reached Mina’s apartment, she couldn’t stop herself from facepalming her brains out. Good grief... Mina’s door was unlocked. Again. Erika strode inside with the intention to scold the forgetful little beastie. “Oh, Titan! What’s up?” Mina dashed through the corridor like an excited puppy. When the little brat smiled so cheerfully and innocently, Erika lost any will to scold her. Instead, Erika rubbed the midget’s head and let Mina off the hook. I guess she can be a cute kid when she wants to. Same as yesterday, Mina didn’t immediately reject Erika’s rubbing hand. Erika was yet again allowed to pet the little beastie’s messy hair, until she abused the petting corner for too long and was dodged. “I brought two lunches for us. Living on instant noodles isn’t healthy for your little tummy~” “Oh! Real food!” Mina was deeply moved by the prestige lunch boxes. They contained plain rice and chicken, but for Mina they were on par with the feasts of gods. Of course, they still had a long way to go before reaching the super divine realm of pizza. Erika stored all the boxes in Mina’s refrigerator and moved on to the main business. “Hey, Titan. Did ya find a way to beat dat fatass flower?” “There are many ways to go about it. I don’t really need to fight that gigantic monster.” “If ya can’t beat it, then I can help!” Mina grinned, eager to play God Vessel Online again. Alas, her offer was shot down. “Nope. No GoVe for you until you fully recover from Vireco. Speaking of which, how is your arm doing? Still no good?” “Bah, it kinda moves... but not really.” Mina properly swung her arm back and forth, but it didn’t seem like she could freely bend her fingers. She still had a way to go before she could be truly considered “alright”. This is one persistent Vireco. Maybe I should have dragged her to the clinic on the very first day. Based on what Erika learned from her father, this sort of Vireco was unlikely to injure Mina. However, after the paralysis has persisted for this long, nothing was impossible anymore. Classmates often joked that when something involved Mina, then anything was possible. Even if it was unlikely or absurd - it didn’t matter; nothing could be ruled out. Erika used to ridicule these jokes and even disregard them as soft bullying, yet she joined the same circle without noticing. In case the Vireco wouldn’t lift up in two days, Erika promised herself that she’d drag Mina to the clinic. Though, for now, she had to focus on her own share of trouble: the vicious Windflora King. 【God Vessel Online】 【Please wait for your awakening...】
Chapter 54: Smashed Plans Spoiler Erika spawned in Murph Village and reunited with Vivi. “Like, in how many years we gonna reach Zelin anyway?” Vivi crossed her arms and sighed. However, she didn’t complain any further. Perhaps she grew tired of complaining to Erika each and every day. Or, maybe, she began enjoying their quest together and no longer cared about Zelin City as much. Time to put all my research to practice. Erika went over the possible solutions she accumulated. The easiest and fastest tactic was to form a party with other players. Opqai-kun already informed that he wasn’t going to play GoVe today, and Zack wasn’t connected either. Erika strolled through the village to find other allies. The village had some players when she visited yesterday, but today it was almost entirely empty. She managed to find two players, but they declined her request even when she made puppy eye. Erika’s next plan was to swim around the Windflora King. She left Murph Village and traveled along the unpaved road. “I can swim to the other side and you can fly over the lake.” Erika explained the foolproof plan to Vivi. “F-fly over the lake?!” Vivi’s reaction was odd. She eyed the still water with clear enmity. “My, is there a problem?” “H-hmph! A problem? Like, there’s plenty of them! If the great Vivi could fly over the lake, then she wouldn’t need anybody’s help!” Vivi yelled and kicked the air. With this declaration, it was established beyond a shadow of doubt that Vivi had a problem with water. Her hate for water must had been at least as strong as Erika’s antagonism toward GoVe’s flower monsters. “Is it dangerous to fly over the lake?” “Hmph, of course it is! Like, who knows what creeper would attack you! This lake isn’t filled with friendly idiots, that much is for sure!” Vivi insisted that the innocent lake was the most dangerous place in the world. Yet, all Erika saw were calm waters, which glittered beautifully under the rays of the sun. Is this game TRYING to make it hard for me?! This was the second solution to fall flat. Erika spent the whole night researching strategies, but everything betrayed her! “Oh! I know what that bitch means.” Mina also joined the discussion about the lake. “I came close to this dumb lake before, then some water fucker jumped on me! Bastard pulled me hard into the lake and I drowned!” “Is that so.” Erika threw another look at the silent lake. It was hard to believe that this beautiful lake was such a dangerous place. Besides, nobody in the comments ever mentioned any potential dangers lurking in the lake. With this new information, swimming across now sounded bogus as well. Still, Vivi was a pixie, she should fly. Surely the monsters in the lake couldn’t reach any height they wished. “Say, Vivi. Can’t you just fly very high and cross the lake safely.” “Like, you think the great Vivi is an idiot? Of course I’d do that if I could, hmph!” Vivi flapped her wings and flew upwards, making it look like she could reach any height. However, she came to a sudden halt, about two meters above the ground level. “This is it. I can’t fly higher than that. Like, pixies aren’t birds, you know.” Vivi crossed her arms and scowled. For the great Vivi, revealing that she wasn’t almighty was no doubt a huge blow to her pride. Seriously, what sort of physics is this? Flying creatures shouldn’t be limited to such low heights. It made absolutely no sense. It felt as if the world went mad, just so it could drop such nonsense on Erika. A pixie who couldn’t fly over two meters was a harsh restriction, especially when their main foe, the Windflora King, was at least three meters tall. “Still, Vivi. This height should be enough to safely fly over the lake. There’s no way the monsters in the lake could reach you this high, right?” “Hmph. Like, I’m not taking any risks. You have no idea what these idiots are capable of!” Vivi turned away, insisting to reject the lake to the bitter end. To make the proud pixie this repulsed, there must have been some dreadful sea dragons lurking in this lake. Curses. I thought I had everything figured out, but now... Erika’s shoulders dropped in defeat. Her great plans were smashed and crushed, leaving nothing behind. “I understand. Then, I’ll take on the boss by myself and see how it goes.” “Like, are you mad?!” Vivi was taken aback but this crazy declaration. It was suicide, no doubt about it. “Like, since you’re such a helpless idiot, the generous Vivi suggests going back to Murph Village. Some idiot human there may be able to help.” “That sure sounds great. Maybe a traveling warrior will drop by and will ask to be escorted. Or, maybe they’ll have a boat and will offer us a ride. Khaha.” Erika cackled. Her reasonable and promising plans were shot down so mercilessly, how could she hold onto any hope after this? Putting faith into a random event was even more absurd than the idea of defeating the Windflora King with her own two hands. Vivi argued again that returning to Murph Village was the best idea for now, but Erika rejected the suggestion. More so than giving solid advice, it felt like Vivi urged Erika to leave the area. It wasn’t surprising, considering many Drainer Bees hanged in the area. Erika managed to reach this far without triggering any bees, but there was no telling when they’d assault Vivi. Unlike the pixie, Mina strongly supported the absurd idea of facing the Windflora King. “Go go, Titan!” “You make it sound so simple, heh.” Erika smiled wryly at the cheer. Apparently, Mina seriously believed that Erika had a chance to beat the 3 meter tall flower. But, Erika herself didn't set any high hopes. She said she’d “take on the boss”, but, in truth, she only intended to test how long she could last against the Windflora King. Here goes nothing....