《SC to MC》


 Chap 1: Intro

    "C¡¯mon. Try it. I''m telling you, you won''t regret it!", said my best friend, Yuko.


    "Hell no! I''ll definitely regret it!" I reply to this guy who''s trying to force a pair of glasses on my face.


    Let me make the introductions. I am Rota Kigand and this person in front of me is Yuko Romi, both in sophomore years of high school. To be blunt, he''s a genius. And not just the kind of academic genius to ace all his tests, but the kind of intellectual genius to build a fully functional maid robot at the age of 11 after watching too many Japanese animes. And as for me, I''m this guy''s only friend....I must be amazing to be friends with such a genius, you say?  Not even close. I am the very epitome of a side character.


    "You don''t wanna find out if she likes you?"


    "Of course, I do! But..."


    "Then wear it and go talk to her.", he said while pushing me towards a certain girl.


    Right now, we''re in class and its lunch break. The above talk was regarding Pauli Chroma, the girl of my dreams. She''s sitting three desks away from where we are and eating her lunch alone.


    "Even so.. What do I say?"


    "Just say whatever. Like ''would you like to a watch a romantic movie with me?''"


    "As if I could say that, idiot! Haaaah.... I''ll just think of something."


    I walk towards her while feeling nervous and once I get close enough, I ask-


    "Umm.. Pauli, could I talk to you for a moment?"


    She gave me a glance and just nodded once. She looks like the smart type with her glasses on and short hair reaching to her shoulders. I wouldn''t say she has a shy nature, but I¡¯ve rarely seen her talk to other people. Well, maybe she likes books. She does have one of the highest test scores in class, second to only Yuko. And right now, I can see a ''4'' floating over her well-endowed chest.


    "What? Is there something on my clothes?" saying that, she looks down and up again, at my face, "Do you normally wear glasses? I never noticed?"


    "Yeah.. Its..."


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    I took at quick glance at Yuko. He''s showing me the thumps up.


    "hmm?"


    Pauli noticed my gaze.


    "Don''t tell me. Its another one of HIS inventions?" she asked me with narrow eyes.


    "Yeah.. I just..."


    "What does it do?", she says without letting me finish.


    The number on her changes to 6. Looks like she''s interested. By the way, this is a ''positivity gauge meter'' but I''m not sure what that''s supposed to mean. Yuko said ''It detects the signals emitted by the neurochemicals of the target and converts it into digital data represented on a scale -10 to +10. -10 would mean absolute hatred and +10 would be like complete satisfaction.''


    (So I guess if her ''satisfaction'' is high enough while talking to me, it must mean she likes me? Hopefully.)


    "umm... This.. "


    (Ugh! Why is this so hard!? Couldn''t that bloody genius have made a more convenient device? What''s up with "It won¡¯t work unless you''re in a 1 m radius of her. Also, you won''t be able to see any changes unless you go and interact with her"?)


    "........"


    (Shit! She''s staring at me! What do I do? What do I say? I cannot tell her that I was trying to find out how she feels about me using this! What do I do!?)


    "It.. allows you to.. see though clothing."


    (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! That¡¯s not what I wanted to say!!!!!! But why did I even say that? Did I subconsciously hope to have such a great item like that? Hmmm.. Maybe I¡¯ll ask Yuko to build something like that next time. Wait! It¡¯s not the time to think about that!)


    "No.. Pauli.. I mean.."


    While I was racking my brain for something to say, the number changed to 7 and my eyes were inadvertently drawn to the number displayed on her chest. Well, the number is not the only thing there. As much as I don¡¯t want to admit it, there''s an apparent negative sign before it. But looking down after saying that was a huge mistake.

 Chap 2: Depressed

    "Aaargh! I wanna die!"


    "There, there."


    School''s ended and right now we''re sitting on a bench in the park with me super-depressed while Yuko is trying to console me.


    "Pauli must hate me now!"


    "Well you WERE looking at her chest over and over, and after saying it lets you see through clothes, you''re bound to be doomed." he chuckles after saying that.


    (DID THIS GUY JUST LAUGH!?)


    This is one of the worst day of my life! Not only did Pauli slap me after that, all the other girls also gave me despicable looks while hiding their chest with their arms.


    "And so many people came asking me if I would sell it to them"


    Yeah. Just like he said. I lot of male students came to him hoping he would to sell the ''see through clothes'' glasses to them.


    "Haaaahh..... And some even asked me to help convince you"


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there."You know, Mr Harashi offered me 50 grand for it."


    "WHAT!? When!?"


    "When we were called to the dean''s office."


    "Aaahhh... Don''t remind me of that!"


    "What are you so worried about? They can''t do anything since the glasses don''t even let you see through clothes."


    "But it¡¯s been the second warning this month."


    "Hahaha... That¡¯s true."


    With a pat on my back, Yuko got up.


    "Wanna come to my house today? I''ll show you something cool."


    I heaved a heavy sigh and got up from the bench.


    "Haaaaahh... Sure. Whatever. I don¡¯t even care anymore. Pauli hates me now."


    After that we headed towards Yuko''s home which I haven''t been to in a while. I wonder how Maria and the others are doing. Who is Maria, you ask? You''ll find out soon enough.

 Chap 3: Giant Mansion and Laboratory

    We''re standing in front of a giant mansion like those of higher aristocracy. Pure white walls and all around it is a wide garden spread out. This is Yuko''s home. Even though he lives alone, he''s got it all set. His monthly income is a few hundred million dollars! Sometimes, I envy this guy. Well, "sometimes" might be a little modest.


    "haaaah.. I''m amazed every time I come here.", I sighed again. It feels like I''m sighing a lot today.


    "You wanna stand there and stay amazed or come inside?" he said after completing the retina scan, finger print scan and voice recognition scan.


    Just so you know, Yuko built the security system for his house himself. And there have been numerous attempts by thieves to break into his house, but I''m proud to say that I''m the only outsider who''s ever seen the inside of his house *smirk*.


    "Welcome home, Master", came a voice from the garden.


    I can see someone in a maid costume bowing to Yuko. As she lifts her face up, I can only see metallic parts throughout. She started working on the garden again as we go past. Her name is Rebella, if I remember correctly. This is what I meant when I was wondering how ''Maria and others'' are doing. Maria was Yuko''s first maid robot. He built 2 more later, one''s Rebella and the other is...


    "Welcome home, big brother." another voice came, this time from the door of the mansion.


    This is Nazuna-chan. Yup! That''s her name! Nazuna-CHAN. Even though she''s also wearing a maid outfit, Yuko programmed her with the ''little sister'' personality. Earlier, she would come running and jump into his arms as soon as he got home but he got injured since she''s too heavy with those metallic parts. So he reprogrammed her to only greet him at the door.


    "Have you been a good girl today, Nazuna-chan?"


    "uh-huh!"


    She nods as he pats her head. You might think of this as such a good atmosphere, but to me it just looks weird since she''s got metal on her face and the only facial expression you can see (if you can even call it a facial expression) is her eye-shutter thingy closing. Yuko notices me staring at her.


    "Hey. Even if you''re my friend, if you ever lay your hands on my Nazuna-chan......" he said in a threatening voice.


    "As if that''s ever gonna happen!" I almost shouted.


    "Good thing you understand" he turned and went inside the mansion.


    (I can''t believe he was serious.)


    I could feel a cold sweat running down my back. And I don''t wanna hear it from him when he knows that my sister(a human!) has a crush on him. Huh, you''re surprised? Haha.. Well, I guess you would be but lets leave that one for later. I followed him inside. Nazuna-chan also followed suit afterwards and disappeared off somewhere. We went straight to his lab room where he again did scan checks before the door opened.


    "I was wondering.. What would happen if you don''t do the scan and forcefully try to open the door?" I asked him.


    ".........You''ll probably get incinerated." he answered nonchalantly.


    *gulp*


    I offer a prayer to the poor souls of the thieves who believed they were clever enough to break into his house.


    "Just so you know, that''s never happened before. No one''s ever made it this far." he said as if he read my thoughts.


    "so you''re saying he''ll only get incinerated if he tries forcing open the door of your lab?"


    "Yeah. I''d normally prioritize their capture in case someone breaks in but its a different story if you get to my lab. Its more precious to me than anything else. All my life''s research and experiments are here."


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon."umm.. Is it..okay.. for me to enter? I mean, you don''t care.. if I look at your research?" I ask while stuttering a bit.


    "oh, that''s okay. You''re stupid. You won''t understand anything anyway."


    "Hey!"


    "What? You''re saying I''m wrong?"


    "You''re right... But you could at least be a little more considerate!"


    "Hahaha.. Sure sure. Now come on in."


    I entered in the grand laboratory which is full of advance looking stuff. It should probably be around 15 m long and 12 m wide. Its just a guess on my part but it might even be bigger. There are several machines and weird computers here and there with wires connecting to some other weird things.


    "Don''t touch anything" he said while walking towards a certain machine attached to a chair.


    "I know, I know."


    By the way, Yuko keeps his successful inventions in another place which he has built like a museum. That place is like heaven for gadget lovers. Last time I went there I saw laser guns and a face duplicator among many other things. I wonder what new things are there now. Last time he didn''t let me touch the laser guns but he did show me how the face duplicator works. He connected his phone to it and after fiddling a little, wore it like a collar on his neck. And his face changed into Pauli''s!


    "This is my newest work. I call it ''Virtual Transmitter''. As the name suggests, it connects you to a virtual environment." he had already starting fiddling with the computer before his explanation finished.


    "Oh I''ve heard of this. The virtual reality games where your consciousness dives into a virtual space and you can move around like in real life and the senses which are recreated are sent directly to the brain."


    As I said that, Yuko turned back instantly and looked at me with huge surprised eyes and a gaping mouth.


    "What? Even I know I few things.. Haha.." I felt my nose grow a few inches long.


    "ahem..", clearing his throat, he started again, "well I guess it makes it easier for me since I don''t have to explain. Now sit on the chair. I''ll show you how it works."


    "Its safe right?" I ask doubtfullly.


    "its safe.......probably." he said the last part in a rather low voice.


    "what? I couldn''t hear you."


    "oh its nothing, just sit down already."


    I sat down comfortably in the chair.


    "Take off your shirt."


    "WHAT!?"


    "I need to attach electrodes to keep track of your heart beat and breathing."


    "but........."


    "What are you so shy about? Don''t tell me you''re actually a girl? Don''t worry I have no interest in your breasts."


    "GET LOST, YOU BASTARD!"


    I took of all clothes I''d been wearing on my upper body and one could now see my (not so) amazing body with my (non existant) bulging muscles. Yuko converted the comfy chair into a comfy bed and attached a few wires on my chest. After checking some things on the computer screen, he brought over a large object with a hole wide enough to put a head in. After removing the headrest from under my head he put the huge thing on and everything went dark. The large thing covering my head, I think I''ll call it ''headgear''. The headgear covered my head upto my eyes. I thought it would cover the entire face. But I guess it WOULD be pretty stupid since I''d suffocate that way.


    "okay. I''m starting."


    "wait, first tell me what kind of virtual environment you''re sending me to."


    "haha.. Too late for that."


    That was the last thing I heard before my consciousness faded.

 Chap 4: A New Experience

    The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a large meadow. There was grass as far as I could see.


    (Looks like I made it into the virtual environment successfully. Truth be told, I was a bit nervous.)


    I tried moving forward but my body felt a little weird.


    (hmm?)


    I looked down but there was something weird there.


    (Don''t tell me... This is....?)


    I turned my neck around and my fears became reality.


    "THAT BASTARD MADE ME INTO A FUCKING HORSE!!!!!"


    Yeah.. My body was that of a horse. But that wasn''t all. I even had wings somehow.


    (wings on a horse?)


    I tried moving the wings on my back but couldn''t.


    (well I guess that''s probably because my real body doesn''t have any wings)


    I left the wings for later and tried moving forward.


    (lets try, left front leg forward. Ahh.. Its not that hard)


    It was confusing at first but I surprising became adept at walking like a horse.


    (now for running!)


    I put strength in my hind legs, leaned my body a little forward and got ready to dash.


    "aaaaaaahhhh....."


    A legendary fall, people! Its  because I couldn''t coordinate my legs properly.


    "ouch ouch ouch.. It huuuurts......"


    It hurt like it normally would but surprisingly there weren''t any wounds.


    (lets try slow running first)


    With quite a bit of practice, I finally managed running at full speed.


    (I never knew running this fast could be so much fun and especially not feeling any exhaustion is soooooo gooooooooooooood!!!!)


    "The wind feels so good pressing against my body, even though its a horse''s body."


    (Maybe I should try my wings now? But I wonder how long I''ve been here. Must have been a couple of hours atleast.)


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "damn.. Mom''s going to get real angry when I get home... Haaaahh... Oh well, lets enjoy as long as I''m here"


    (but how to get my wings to work?)


    I tried a lot of times but i just couldn''t get the sensation of my wings.


    (ahh forget it.. Maybe its impossible.. But I wonder if there''s anything else I could do? I just hope Yuko hasn''t forgotten about me being here. Nah! Like that could happen! Actually it could, now that I think about it.)


    "Can I eat this grass?"


    ...........


    "What the hell am I thinking!? I''m becoming more and more like a real horse! I wanna go hoooome~"


    I started rolling on the ground and felt a tingly sensation.


    (this is.....?)


    "aahhhh.... I can finally feel them."


    So that''s how it was! Don''t you know that feeling? Take your ear, for example. Normally you don''t know its there, but you can feel it once something touches it!


    "ohhh....!!! I can move them! I can move them!"


    (I don''t remember the last time I was this excited.)


    "Now there''s only one thing left to do.........''"With a stern face(of a horse) I made a running pose, "....... To take off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


    I again started running at full speed while continuously flapping my wings, getting more and more used to the stimulus and finally....


    "I''m......flying......"


    I couldn''t believe it. I was actually flying.


    *sob*


    (shit.. I''m crying! But it feels so good.)


    "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...!!!!!!!! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE..!!!!!!!!! Hahahahahahahaahaha... *sniffle* haahahaahhaahaha..."


    It was a weird laugh mixed with sobs.


    Then my consciousness suddenly turned weak again and everything went blank.

 Chap 5: K.K.Kidnap!?

    I felt my consciousness return to me but everything was still dark.


    (hmm... Didn''t I come back to reality?)


    Soon my other senses started to return and I could feel the headgear on my head.


    "Hey Yuko.. You there?"


    "Took you a while to respond."


    "Can you take the headgear off?"


    "Headgear? Oh you mean this? Just wait a little more the checks are almost complete. You know, so there aren''t any problems later on with your body."


    "I see."


    ...............


    "I''m gonna take it off now."


    Yuko took off the headgear and the wires on my chest. I tried sitting up but....


    "ahh.. My body is so stiff. How long was I gone?"


    "2 hours and 4 minutes."


    "what!? It felt like way more than that."


    "Your brain can process information much faster in a dream like state, so that''s understandable. But more importantly, what happened when you came back? I tried calling a few times but you didn''t respond."


    "Really? I didn''t hear anything. As a matter of fact, I couldn''t even feel anything."


    "I see. So there''s some delay........murmur.......murmur...." Yuko started thinking and I couldn''t hear what he was saying in such a low voice.


    "So what do you suppose happened?" I asked him when it seemed like he finished thinking.


    "When you''re in virtual reality, you experience a dream like state, but there''s difference between the two. When you''re dreaming, your brain can still send ''electrical pulses'' or ''signals'' to your body, though limited. But when you''re in virtual reality, your brain activity increases since it feels like you''re in the real world. So it continuously sends signals, but this time, its sending those signals to your body in the virtual space. So it just ''thinks'' that its sending those signals but its not doing so actually. As this happens, the signals in the real world are cut off. You can say that your body is in a paralysed state now. That is why when you come back, there is a delay since your brain has to readjust to the body again. But this is limited to the senses you actually need in the virtual world, for example, the involuntary actions, like breathing, functioning of organs, control of hormones is not affected. This is important, because if it was, you''d die. And even your sense of taste and smell should not be affected since you''re only using touch, sound and vision in the virtual world."


    "That...went on for a while."


    "You understand?"


    "Nops."


    While Yuko facepalmed, I got up, put on my clothes and started stretching my body. I could still remember the feeling of having wings and four sturdy legs.


    "Now that this is done. Let me show you something else.", said Yuko "there is another thing I needed you here for."


    "?"


    "I feel like my explanations are wasted on you so I''ll just cut to the chase."


    "Well, sorry for being stupid."


    "Yeah yeah.. Now stop glaring at me and get your ass over here."


    Yuko had already gone over to another machine and started doing something. This was at least 6 feet long horizontally and 3 feet high. It was big enough to fit a small person and a line was running through the middle. It looked like it could open as a door. And open, it did! But what came out of it was..........


    (another maid costume?)


    But that wasn''t all. It wasn''t another one of the maid robots. It was a real girl this time! A REAL GIRL!


    "I.I.I...knew it was only a matter of time! I knew your fetishes wouldn''t be satisfied with those robots of yours! You''ve finally kidnapped someone!"


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit."What the hell are you going on about?" Yuko said while smacking me on the head, "And what do you mean, "finally''?"


    "......" I continued shifting my gaze between the girl and my friend.


    "haaaaaaah.. Look here.." saying that, he reached for the girl''s skirt.


    (Is he going to lift it up? No way, am I finally going to get a glance of the forbidden territory!?)


    I shook my head.


    (No! No! No! Go away evil thoughts! But now that I look at her closely, she is pretty cute.)


    Though I am obviously not a paedophile, but I did find this girl with an appearance of a middle schooler really attractive. She had long black hair and a beautiful face like that of a doll. She was showing very little skin, only on her arms and face. Her legs were covered with the skirt upto her knees and the rest by long socks. As Yuko lifted her skirt up, I covered my eyes with my hands before I had a chance to look. But...


    (umm... A little peak doesn''t hurt anyone, does it?)


    With that thought, I took a little peek through the crevice between my fingers and....


    .........


    .........


    "YOU BASTARD! GIVE ME BACK MY HOPES AND DREAMS!!" I shouted and threw a punch at Yuko.


    Yup, you know it. THERE WAS METAL INSIDE! She had metal legs!


    Yuko easily dodged my punch and tripped me.


    (Damn. This guy is also good at martial arts. I can''t win in anything, can I?)


    "This is Trichia, my newest piece.", Yuko started speaking without paying any concern to me who had fallen on the floor, "but she''s quite different from the others. First and foremost, as you can see, I made special skin for her with synthetic fibre so she could resemble a human."


    I got up and dusted off my clothes, which didn''t have any dirt since the room was as clean as it could be.


    Yuko continued, "Secondly, look at this."


    Saying that, he started doing something on the computer again which was connected to Trichia''s... resting place, I should call it?


    "oh.. Even her eyes look like those of humans."


    She opened her eyes (or more like Yuko opened her eyes from the computer). Her pupils had a beautiful greenish shade to them.


    "This is just the start. Now look at this!"


    (hmmm?)


    "whoa! Awesome! That''s soooo amazing!"


    Just like I said, it was truly amazing! She was smiling! And her smile was so pure! It didn''t look faked at all. Even the eyebrows curled in perfectly. After that, he showed me many other expressions like anger, pouting, surprise and most of all blushing!!! She looked soooo cute with her slightly red cheeks!!!


    "Now for third and fourth, I don''t have anything to show you, so you''ll just have to listen to me again. As you know, for the other maids, they utilized a command recognition software and can only repeat preprogrammed dialogues but I built a completely new software for Trichia for the purpose of ''learning and adapting''. She can understand most of the stuff you say to her and if you explain whatever she doesn''t, she''ll remember it next time. For now, she can only comprehend our language, and I''ve input some of the basic etiquettes but everything else has to be learnt and adapted to. This is the main purpose of the experiment, to see how well the software does."

 Chap 6: A Little Sister for me?

    Right now I''m going home. I don''t mean to brag but everyone''s eyes on the streets are on me. They must be admiring my handsomeness, right? Haha, as if! There are are certainly looking in this direction but not on me but on the little girl walking with me hand-in-hand with a maid costume on. Yuko''s experiment required Trichia to learn of society as a normal person, so he forced her on me.


    (HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS TO MY FAMILY!? Mom will definitely kill me when she sees me bringing a little girl home and moreover, to ask mom to have her live with me? I''m coming to meet you in heaven, grandpa and grandma!)


    "Rota, why is everyone looking at us?" asked Trichia without the slightest of expression.


    By the way, for those of you who have forgotten, my name is Rota Kigand. It hasn''t been mentioned for a while so I thought I should remind you, just in case.


    "Well, people don''t usually wear maid costumes, unless maybe if they''re cosplaying."


    "Maid costume? Are you referring to what I am wearing?"


    "Yeah. Its not something you wear everyday."


    "But big sisters wear it everyday."


    "Big sisters? If you''re talking about Maria and the others, then its because their Master is a pervert and forces them to wear it everyday" saying that, I had a hearty laugh in my mind.


    "Master? Yuko?"


    "Yeah Yuko''s their master."


    "Why is he their master?"


    (whoa. This one''s a curious fella, isn''t she?)


    "Well.. maybe because they live in his house, I guess?"


    "So is Rota going to be my master?"


    "........"


    (wait wait! Its not time to feel good about a little girl calling me master! If someone hears it, I''ll definitely be arrested!)


    "ahem.. No I''m not your master. There''s a difference between him and me."


    "difference?"


    (ugh! Why does she ask so many questions!?)


    "yeah..... Because.. Ummm..... Oh yeah, because he''s a pervert!"


    "Oh."


    (looks like her curiosity if finally satisfied. Sorry to do this to you, Yuko. Your sacrifice will not be in vain. *evil laugh*)


    And during our chat, we had already reached my house and meanwhile, I had already thought up a story for what to tell my mom.


    I rang the bell and shouted "I''m home!"


    There no actual reason for shouting like that and I know I could''ve just rung the bell, but I used to do it when I was little and its kinda become a habit now.


    "I''m home!", Trichia shouted.


    "What? Why the hell are you shouting?" I looked at her with a surprised face.


    "I just did what Rota did." saying that, she tilted her head while looking at me.


    (Ahh.. Why is she so cute?)


    "Its okay", with that I patted her head which had fake hair but felt unnaturally real.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.My sister came bursting through the door "I heard a girl''s voice?"


    My sister is 2 years older than me and in her third year of university. You must be thinking that the age and year of study don''t match, right? Well, my sister is also a genius and skipped a few grades, but obviously not to the level of Yuko.


    As my sister glanced at Trichia, she lifted her skirt a little and bent her knees as a greeting and bowed her head.


    (What the hell did Yuko mean "she knows basic etiquettes"? DON''T TEACH HER SOMETHING FROM THE LAST CENTURY!)


    "Nooo! I knew it. It was only a matter of time. You finally kidnapped someone!" said my sister with obvious overacting.


    (why does this scene give me a sense of deja vu?)


    I ignored her and went inside with Trichia and my sister followed.


    "Mom''s not home?" I asked while heading to the living room.


    "Nah. She went to the market just 10 minutes ago." my sister replied while curiously looking at Trichia.


    "Is she a robot?" asked my sister while shifting her gaze to me.


    "Huh!? How did you know?"


    "She has heavy footsteps. Either she weighs more than a hundred kilos or you picked up a girl who has only started walking recently. And I doubt an idiot like you would find someone like that in today''s society. Moreover, you forgot the most important thing."


    "What?"


    "She''s wearing a maid outfit."


    (Crap! I completely ignored that simple fact!)


    "Looks like Yuko''s newest model." said my sister while looking over Trichia.


    "You know something about it?"


    "Yeah. I remember him saying something like that a few months ago."


    "What? You guys talk to each other?"


    "We exchange a couple of e-mails from time to time. Yes."


    Damn! How come I never knew!?


    "Rota. Who is this?" Trichia finally spoke after watching our foolish act.


    "Oh yeah, I completely forgot to introduce you two. This is my sister. She''s 2 years older than me." I said while pointing at my sister "and this is Trichia. She''s umm.. Yeah, how old are you Trichia?"


    ''12"


    (hmm.. I guess that''s how much Yuko programmed her with.)


    "What did you mean, I''m a robot?"


    (Oh shit! She''s not supposed to know that!)


    "We''re.. kidding obviously. Don''t take it seriously. Hahaha..ha" I tried to laugh but what came out was pretty awkward.


    "We were doing a little skit to entertain our guest. Hope you liked it." my sister probably realised something was amiss and said confidently.


    *clap* *clap* *clap*


    Trichia did a small applause.


    (Looks like she believed it.)


    I looked at my sister who was doing a little bow. Today, the respect I had for my sister increased a bit.

 Chap 7: Early in the Morning

    After explaining the circumstances to my sister, she had agreed to help, though I am pretty sure she had an ulterior motive for doing so. But anyway, I was easily able to covince mom, with my sister backing me up. The story we had made was that Trichia is Yuko''s cousin and her family had died in an accident. She lost her memories due to the shock and Yuko wanted her to live in a familial environment so he begged me, his only friend, to help her. Well, this is just the summary. What we actually told mom was filled with a lot more sentimental stuff like "The poor child has no where else to go" and "she was abandoned by all her other relatives" and so on. It seemed to be TOO effective since mom had been wiping her eyes with a tissue continuously during our story. By the way, Trichia was sleeping while all this happened. She suddenly declared she was sleepy, a little before 8 pm. So I had led her to my room upstairs and tucked her in bed. And just for clarification, I had slept in the guest room. Anyways, I thought that she might be out of power so I called Yuko to ask him what to do.


    "Don''t worry, she has a self charging system." said Yuko.


    "Self charging?" I asked back like a parrot.


    "haah.. Do you really want me to explain?" Yuko asked with a sigh.


    "ah, that''s alright." I replied with a wry smile.


    "By the way, I''ll send Maria to your house with Trichia''s clothes early in the morning. There''ll be a school uniform in there so get her changed and bring her along when you come."


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences."What!? She''s gonna enter our school?" I asked another question.


    "No. She''s gonna repair the building."


    "Repair?" I asked yet another question.


    "Of coarse she''s gonna attend school! Don''t you even understand sarcasm?"


    "Wha? How was I supposed to know you were being sarcastic? You speak in such a monotone voice!"


    "haah.. Whatever. Just make sure to not be late."


    *kachak*


    And just like he said, Maria came to deliver Trichia''s clothes in the morning.


    *knock knock*


    I woke up to the sound of someone knocking.


    "yaaaawn..."


    I got up and opened the door but no one was there.


    (weird. I''m pretty sure I heard someone knocking)


    I closed the door and turned around and..


    *knock knock*


    (is it coming from the window?)


    *knock knock*


    "I''m coming!"


    I moved over to the window and opened the curtain. Maria was standing there. I opened the window and she just handed me a large bag and left, without saying a word.


    (Why didn''t she just come from the front door? Was it to not disturb my family?)


    I realised it was quite dark outside. I looked towards the clock and it was only 2:30 in the morning.


    ("she''ll come by early in the morning", eh? Haaah... I don''t even have enough energy to react to it.)


    And with a thud, I collapsed on the bed and pulled over the soft blanket on top.

 Chap 8: No Way!!!!!

    I woke up again, this time in the early morning when normal people tend to wake up. After stretching my body a bit, I noticed the bag, which was supposed to be in the corner, was gone.


    (Sis must have took it.)


    Thinking that I went to check up on Trichia in my room. She wasn''t there but instead my room was all tidy.


    (Heh. So Yuko did enter some maid functions in her.)


    The bed was perfectly made. The books lying around until yesterday night were now all beautifully arranged in the shelf. There wasn''t a speck of dirt and the room even had a refreshing fragrance to it.


    I went downstairs to the dining room after washing my face. Trichia and sister were already sitting there next to each other with food on their plates and mom still in the kitchen. Trichia was already out of her maid outfit and wearing our school uniform. Must have been my sister''s doing.


    "Good morning"


    "Good morning"


    "Good morning"


    We greeted each other and I sat down opposite to Trichia who was eating her breakfast with perfect manners. While mom got my breakfast ready, I checked my phone. Huh, you''re wondering how Trichia is eating too? Oh c''mon, after knowing what all Yuko can do, is this really all that surprising?


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    (Oh, speak of the devil. I have a mail from him.)


    I opened the mail and it read-


    "I asked Maria to clean your room as a thanks for helping me. Also, I confiscated anything that seemed ''hazardous'' to Trichia''s learning."


    (Oh, so it was Maria who cleaned my room, and not Trichia. But what does he mean by "hazardous"?)


    "Oh. No."


    I just realised something and dashed straight to my room.


    "What happened, Rota?"


    I could hear my sister''s concerned voice but I couldn''t care less at the moment.


    (Please don''t let it be that! Please don''t let it be that!)


    I kept repeating that as I ran up the stairs, and as I entered my room, I quickly pulled forward my shelf and stuck my hand in to look for the ''package''.


    (Its still here.)


    "Thank god!"


    I could feel my breathing slowly calming down.


    (but then what else could Yuko be talking about?)


    I had a feeling of foreboding, so just to be sure, I checked inside the ''package''.


    ".......sniff......."


    Tears started coming of my eyes. He took it! He took everything! My R+ prized collection!


    "Yuko, YOU BASTARD!!!!!!"

 Chap 9: Messed Up

    Right now, Trichia and I are heading off to school.


    "Rota, why do you look so depressed?" She asked while looking up at me from the side.


    "I look depressed?" I asked back.


    She nodded.


    "Haha, its nothing. Just a little sleepy that''s all." I said that and patted Trichia on her head.


    Btw, nothing major happened in the morning after that. Only notable thing might be that mom was talking compassionately to Trichia who always replied in brief and without any expressions, which made her a little sad(and me a little guilty for making up that story). It made me realise another thing. Even if Yuko made Trichia capable of expressions, that doesn''t mean she knows how to use them. I decided that I''d teach her. But currently, I have something bigger on my mind.


    (Yuko''s gonna pay for laying his hands on my treasure!)


    Just then, a voice came from behind and cut off my thoughts.


    "Good morning."


    (Wait. This voice!?)


    I stopped instantly in attention and hesitatingly turned my head around like a rusted robot. It was Pauli who called out to me.


    "P..P...P..Pauli?"


    My mind went blank as she kept walking towards me.


    ............


    "Aaaaahhhh!"


    With a shout, I grabbed Tricia''s hand and started running away from her. I kept running without looking back until I reached a broad alley.


    "Huff.. Huff.." I was breathing heavily.


    I leaned on a wall for support and Trichia looked at me like she was confused.


    "Was that a dangerous person?" She asked me without looking the least bit worn out.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    But her words opened my eyes, and I suddenly realised what had transpired.


    "Noooooooo!!!"


    (Why did I have to run away!? And it was even the perfect opportunity to apologise to her! She even called out to me!)


    *bang* *bang*


    People going past started giving me strange looks as I started hitting and kicking the nearby dumpster but I had way more important things to worry about.


    (First I told her I was trying to see through her clothes and now I shouted in her face and ran away from her. Why does this always happen to me!?)


    After cursing my destiny for a while, I calmed down and started on my way to school again.


    "You look even more depressed than before, Rota"


    ".....Yeah. I can imagine that."


    Somehow we managed to reach school and I met Yuko on the front gate.


    "I told you not to be late", he said with a smack to my head.


    "...Sorry."


    "Huh? Looks like something happened. Well, right now I need to get Trichia up and ready to attend classes but I''ll be in class soon to listen to your problem. Go on without me."


    "...Yeah."


    "Looks like its serious. Either you were disowned or something happened with Pauli again........... And judging from your reaction, I''d say its the latter. Well be sure to tell me when I get back."


    With that, Yuko hurriedly took Trichia inside the main school building, most probably to the dean''s office and I set off towards class with heavy footsteps.

 Chap 10: My Love finally blossoms!?

    I reached class and peaked inside. Thankfully, our teacher hadn''t come yet. I quickly entered and my eyes met Pauli''s. I quickly averted my eyes, not being able to look at her. I made way to my desk, desperately trying to keep my gaze to the front and as soon as I reached my desk, I slumped over and wrapped my hands around my head. But I could still feel Pauli''s gaze on me.


    I looked up and our eyes met again, but this time I didn''t look away. More like, I couldn''t.. look away. She had gotten up from her desk and was headed straight towards me. My heart felt burdened and it beat faster with each step she took. I could feel myself being crushed under her overwhelming presence. And when she reached me, everyone froze. Everything froze. Like heaven and earth themselves were just waiting for her to continue. I was still looking at her, in her eyes, between those long black eyelashes, beside that slender nose, beneath those thin eyebrows and into those deep brown pupils. I could feel myself losing. The burden was gone. The overwhelming presence was gone. What was left was a wonderful specimen of nature''s beauty. I felt a sudden urge, none like ever before, to grasp it. The urge to possess. The urge to obtain. To dominate. To never let go. In that moment, I knew if I didn''t act, it would be too late. I got up, still staring in her eyes. For the first time, by mind felt clear, clearer than snow. I knew what was to be done. My body moved by itself. My legs trying to get me closer to her. My hands trying to get her in an embrace. My eyes trying to burn this moment in my memory. And when our faces were close enough for me to hear her breathing, it happened. A slight touch. I could feel her soft lips on mine. The touch grew intense. Our tongues intertwined and my mind went blank. But it only lasted for a moment. Our lips separated and I could see a red glow on her face. Her breathing was ragged and eyes half closed. I lost into temptation, closed my eyes and initiated the second time. Just then, I heard a voice........


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Rota.. Rota.. Are you alright?"


    ............and my delusions came to an end.


    I noticed I was still sitting on my chair and it was Pauli who had said that. She was standing right in front of me looking at me.


    "I tried calling you a few times but you were just looking at me in a daze." She explained realising that I was back to my senses.


    And I finally understood the situation.


    (What the hell was I dreaming about right in the middle of class!?)


    I could feel my face getting hot. I had the urge to run away again but this time I controlled myself. I knew I couldn''t afford to make the same mistake twice.


    (This is my chance to apologise!)


    I gathered my courage and stood up. I thrust my head forward in apology....


    *bang*


    ...and my head crashed into Pauli"s. She probably bowed at the same time as me.


    "Ow ow ow ow."


    I held my head in pain and felt my vision distorting. Finally, everything went black, YET AGAIN!

 Chap 11: My School Nurse is Cute

    The first thing I saw when I regained consciousness was an unfamiliar ceiling. I was on an unfamiliar bed surrounded by unfamiliar curtains. But the person next to me was quite familiar.


    "I can''t believe you fainted from headbutting a girl." Said my best friend with a mischievous smile.


    "Sh..shut up." I relied with embarrassment.


    "If you''re feeling fine, then let''s go back to class. The wound on your head isn''t that bad. Just a bump."


    I touched my head and there, in fact, was a bump and it hurt when touched. Then I suddenly remembered the circumstances leading to this situation.


    "What about Pauli?" I asked with a tinge of nervousness.


    Suddenly, the curtain on the front opened and appeared a person in a white coat and round glasses. She had her hands in her pocket and had an aura of kindness. She had beautiful black hair and a slightly plump face, just enough to call her cute. Her stature was fairly small but she was undoubtedly my school nurse, Ms Sweet Pumpkin. As you might have already guessed, that''s not her real name, but due to her kind and slightly klutzy personality, she''s loved by all high school boys and has been given that nickname. I doubt anyone even remembers her real name anymore.


    "She too had a bump on her head but its not too bad. It''ll heal in a few days time as so will yours."


    "Huh?" I let out a weird sound.


    "Y.. You were asking about Pauli, right? I..I''m sorry if I heard incorrectly" she said getting a little flustered.


    "Ah no. It''s completely fine. You did not mishear, miss Patisa."


    (Whoa. As expected of Yuko to know her real name. But miss Patisa? I wonder why that reminds me of a certain something to eat.)


    "Oh.. That''s umm... Yes! How are you feeling now... Rota, is it?"


    "I''m completely fine now. It doesn''t hurt unless I touch it."


    "I see. Also, do you see any blackness around your eyes or something like light rays coming out from the tube light?" She said while pointing at one of the tube lights on the ceiling.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I looked at one of the tubelights and squinted due to the brightness.


    "No." I replied, turning towards her again.


    "Alright. That''s good. There is nothing to worry about. The cause of you fainting could be due to high blood pressure just prior to your head colliding. Did you go through any scary situation or embarrassing situation or such?" Ms Patisa asked with a completely innocent face without thinking about the delicate heart of a high school boy.


    "Umm.. Yeah.. Something like that might have happened." I remembered my embarrassing fantasies about Pauli and could feel my face going red.


    Ms Patisa probably misunderstood something and her face also went red.


    "No.. I.. Um.. I''m s.s..orry to ask such a w.w..weird quetton... Aahh.."


    Looks like she bit her tongue.


    "Are you okay?" I asked her while Yuko got up and brought some water.


    She nodded to my question with tears building up in the corners of her eyes. She took the glass Yuko brought in both hands and drank the water in mouthfuls. This inadvertently brought a smile to my face. I understood why the guys in our school called her Ms Sweet Pumpkin. She was just so....cute!


    "I think we should go now" Yuko butted in, "the third period is about to start."


    "Oh right." I quickly got up, "thank you Ms Pumpkin.. I mean.. Ms Patisa."


    She looked like wanted to say something but held back, probably due to her tongue still hurting and just waved at me with a smiley face(and teary eyes).


    (I wish my sister had been more like her. Haaaah...)


    *trin* *trin* *trin*


    Just then the bell rang and we hurried back to the classroom.

 Chap 12: Picking up my little sister

    Time passed and I didn''t get a chance to talk to Pauli. Between the periods, either she was surrounded by others or I was and during the lunch break, she wasn''t in the class. Now it was after school and everyone was packing up their stuff. I had a feeling that this was my chance(this was my 24th time having this feeling) but..


    "What are you gaping around for? Come quick. We need to pick up Trichia." Yuko said from behind me which almost got me startled.


    "Oh right! Trichia!" I shouted quite loudly without thinking which made everyone look towards me.


    I got embarrassed as a heard a few laughing sounds from here and there. Then I looked towards Pauli but she was already leaving the class. I gave up trying to talk to her and left it for tomorrow.


    "I''m waiting...." This line from Yuko brought me back to my senses and I quickly finished packing my bag and followed Yuko.


    Our class is at the third floor and I had to go two floors down to where the middle schoolers have their classes to pick up Trichia. By the way, Yuko got called by a teacher on our way here so he had to leave. I alone reached her class, 7-B and peeked inside. Trichia was sitting at the corner bench and two other girls were chatting to her. Well, chatting AT her, more like, since she wasn''t saying much. I guess it''ll take her a while getting used to. I felt bad about leaving her just like that for the day so I put on my best smile and went inside the class.


    "Trichia, you ready to leave?" I said and then looked towards the two middle schoolers who were talking to her earlier, "are you two her friends? Thank you looking after her."


    "Oh.. Its a different big brother this time." One of them said and started walking towards me, "hello. I''m Julian and this is Lucy." The girl with a high pitch voice introduced herself as well as her redhead friend who was also standing before me by now.


    Well, in normal situations, I would reply back with a "nice to meet you" but something was really bugging me.


    "Um.. Do you have any idea why everyone is staring at us?"


    All those left in the class were looking towards us and it was kind of creeping me out.


    (Do I look weird or something?)


    "A transfer student is a pretty rare sight, so everyone''s curious." This time it was the redhead who spoke. "She''s especially famous among the boys."


    What was that about being famous with the boys!? I looked around and those looking this way averted their gaze.


    (Don''t tell me they wanna..... No! How dare they look at my Trichia like that!? If anyone even.. touches her, I''ll slice off their hands, chop them into tiny pieces and feed it to insects!!)


    "So scary." This little whisper from the girls brought me back to my senses.


    (Huh?)


    I turned towards the two girls again and they were looking at me with scared looks.


    (Did I really make such a scary face?)


    "Ahh.. I''m sorry. I guess I got a little angry when I heard she was the focus of all the boys. You can understand the feelings of a big brother, can''t you?" I said with an apologetic tone.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    (I think I understand some of Yuko''s feelings for Nazuna-chan now.)


    "Oh yeah I forgot to introduce myself. I am Rota from class 11-E."


    The girls finally calmed down after a while. Since, the school had already ended, almost the entire class was empty except for the ones on cleaning duty. The girls left after chatting some and said goodbye to Trichia. Trichia got off her seat and hanged her bag on her shoulder, probably trying to imitate what others did. I corrected the shoulder straps which she had gotten upside down and took her hand.


    "Let''s go."


    She just nodded and started walking along. We had to go out the class, across the broad hallway, down the stairs, across another broad hallway, and out the main school building, then finally onwards to the main exit gate where Yuko would meet us. Normally, the time would pass in the blink of an eye but today, it felt like a long journey.


    "So how was your first day at school?" I asked trying to start up a conversation.


    "Fine." She gave as short a reply as ever.


    "Did you make any friends?"


    "No."


    (Um.. That was unexpected.)


    "Why? What about those two girls who were talking to you after school? What were their names again? Umm.. Juliet and Lacy?"


    "Julian and Lucy. And no, they are not my friends. A friend is a person you trust."


    (Hmm.. I guess what she says is correct but I dont think that kind of philosophy will work in today''s society.)


    "So do you trust.. me?" I asked with high hopes.


    "Yes, obviously."


    "Obviously?"


    "Obviously."


    (Obviously! She said obviously! That means trusting me is obvious, right? Oh.. I''m soo happy.)


    "Rota, are you crying?" Trichia asked me with wide eyes, a rare expression.


    "No.. Its just.. Something got in my eyes." I frantically made an excuse as I rubbed my eyes.


    We had already reached the school gate at this point and Yuko was waiting there.


    "Do you ever come on time?" said Yuko with half closed eyes.


    "And there you go, ruining the moment. Hahaha" I said cheerfully and gave my best friend a hug.


    "Your speech and your actions don''t match." said Yuko, returning my hug.


    "You want something to eat? My treat."


    "What''s with you? Weren''t you depressed before because of Pauli?"


    His words reminded me of earlier and I got depressed again.


    "Ah crap. I shouldn''t have said that." Yuko said with a wry smile.


    "Is Pauli the person we ran from this morning?" Trichia asked with a innocent look not realising she was just adding oil to the fire.


    "Oh, so that''s why you looked half dead in the morning." Yuko nodded as if he had just understood everything, "well then, how about I treat you to something instead. I know what''ll cheer you up."


    I consented to his offer half heartedly and we started walking. From the direction we were going, we were most likely headed to Yuko''s house.

 Chap 13: Giant Mansion and Food

    After walking for 15 minutes, we reached Yuko''s mansion which left me gaping no matter how many times I saw it. After Yuko completed his various security scans, we entered.


    "Yesterday was an experiment to see how well an average person can adapt to an unusual body part. The experiment was successful since you were able to fly." Yuko started speaking again without any cue as usual.


    "So, in short, you used me as a guinea pig?" I said in a slight angry tone.


    "Well, it wasn''t particularly harmful since I myself had tried it with a couple of different creatures like your Pegasus, a lizard, a dragon, many kinds of fishes and even inanimate objects."


    We reached the inside of the mansion and headed to the living room first to get something to eat. By the way, Yuko sent Trichia away to play with Nazuna-chan and we were sitting here chatting, while Maria prepared the lunch.


    "So why did you say it was a experiment with me?" I asked.


    "As I said before, it was to see if an ''average person'' can get used to it" Yuko said with a troubled look.


    He was probably worried about saying "average" to me. Its fine if it is meant as a joke, but Yuko was being serious here and thus, probably worried if I would take offence. But I knew he wasn''t being arrogant or condescending about it. There just wasn''t a better way to put it.


    "I made the entire interface, so I know how everything works. It didn''t take me 5 minutes to fly after I entered the body of a Pegasus." He continued after confirming I didn''t mind the ''average''.


    "5 minutes!? It must''ve took me a couple of hours!" I almost shouted.


    "7 hours and 14 minutes to be precise."


    "Whoa."


    "Well I hope you see my reasoning now."


    "Hmm.. I guess so."


    As we were chatting, Maria brought in some extravagant looking dishes which I hadn''t seen before in my life. She placed some of everything in two plates and handed one to Yuko and the other to me. But I guess I''m kinda used to his lifestyle by now, so I didn''t have much of a reaction.


    "No reaction?" Yuko said as if he read my thoughts.


    "Yeah.." I replied with a wry smile.


    (He, in fact, might actually be able to read my thoughts. Its him, after all.)


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Just so you know, I can''t read your thoughts."


    "........"


    (Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard. Yuko''s a bastard.)


    "I know you can''t." I finally said with my brightest possible smile.


    He gave me a weird look and started on his lunch with great manners. I tasted some rice with the weird brown gravy.


    "Delicious!"


    There simply weren''t any other words to describe it.


    "So where were we?" Yuko continued from where we left off, "Oh right, I built some stuff you can do in the virtual environment. Its much like a live action game."


    "That sounds interesting. What sort of stuff do you have?"


    "Hmm.. Let''s see. Wanna kill some bad guys?"


    "Hell yeah! No wait.. On second thoughts.. It''ll hurt if they hit me right?"


    "Don''t worry. Even if you get hit by a bullet, the most pain you can feel is as if you were hit by toy hammer."


    "Umm.. What else do you got?"


    "There are many others but they''re just simple activities. Like swimming, catching falling apples, flying though hoops. I didn''t create an actual game but more like small simulations. Also in the ''kill the bad guys'' category, you can go as a commando, taking on everyone at the same time or an assassin, using stealth and deception to take down your enemies one at a time." Yuko explained.


    "There''s not much choice considering you''re the one who built everything." I evaluated my best friend''s capabilities whom I''d known for years.


    "That''s obvious, since it wasn''t my goal to build a game but just the interface. Well, that''s nothing for you to worry about. Do you wanna play or not?"


    "I guess I''ll try out the assassin."


    "Well then, follow me."


    Yuko got up and headed to his lab.


    "Wait! Let me finish this first!"


    "How slow do you eat?"


    "Cahn''t whelp it. Itsh juft sho tashty."


    "Speak after you swallow. Haah..."

 Chap 14: Getting Ready

    We went on to Yuko''s lab.


    "Wait till I set everything up" he said while operating the biggest computer in the lab.


    After about 5 seconds, the computer popped out a disk. Yuko took the disk and inserted it into the other computer-ish thing connected to the ''virtual transmitter''. I''ll call it VT for short. Then after doing this and that and something-something, it looked like he was finished.


    "All done."


    Hardly took him 10 minutes.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "The arena is our school. Its not an exact replica but close. You''re a badass assassin for hire. You''ll be briefed on your mission ingame." He said as he got everything in place.


    I took off my clothes and got on the chair next to VT. Yuko converted the chair into a bed and put the electrodes on my body like last time. Finally, he readied the headgear and fitted it onto my head.


    "Best of luck."


    With that, I lost consciousness.

 Chap 15: An Assassins Job

    I regained consciousness and found myself in an alley. It was night time but not that dark. The moon was full and its light alluminated the surroundings but there was nothing mentionable in particular. Only mentionable stuff was me, or more like, the stuff ON me. I had a transmitter in my right ear, a bag on my shoulders, and a long katana on my left hip. I was wearing tight black clothes and a belt with pockets. I took out the katana.


    "Beautiful"


    I couldn''t help but admire its beauty. It seemed to be dancing in the moonlight as I moved it. Its balance was perfect, that, even an amateur like me could tell. I held it and made a few strikes into the thin air. It felt so light, yet so strong, as if it could cut though steel but I dared not try, for the fear that its awesome power might overwhelm me. I carefully sheathed it after I had practiced a few times.


    "I will now brief you on your mission."


    Suddenly, a voice came from the transmitter. It was a female monotone voice.


    "You have a map in your bagpack. On it, is marked the location of the building where the hostages are held captive. Your objective is to rescue those hostages using any means necessary. Good luck."


    (Huh.. That''s it? No backstory?)


    "Haah.. So much for briefing me on the mission." I heaved a sigh and emptied out my bagpack.


    It had a flashlight, a pistol, a silencer, 3 cartridges, 5 hand grenades, a first aid kit and finally the map. I first turned on the flashlight and checked the map. It had my current location marked as well as the path I needed to take to get to the hostages. It seemed like it was about 2 blocks away but since I didn''t have too much experience reading a map, I couldn''t be sure. The next thing I did was take a look at the first aid kit. I know how to use a first aid kit, so I shouldn''t have much problems, thinking that, I put the first aid kit back into the backpack. Lastly, I checked out the weopens. I had never touched the stuff in real life but had seen enough movies to know how it was supposed to be used. The pistol was heavier than I expected. I tried putting on the silencer and shot a few rounds at the nearby dumpster.


    (They make it look so easy in the movies.)


    I removed the silencer and stuffed it with the pistol into the bag along with the extra cartridges. Finally, I put one of the hand grenades into my belt pocket and the rest in my bagpack. I wasn''t stupid enough to try and test-use a hand grenade.


    Now that I was all set I decided to move on to my objective. After taking a few deep breaths, I started towards the building where the hostages were, according to the map. In a few minutes I was in front of my destination.


    (That was easy.)


    It was just 5 minutes away and I reached in 3, by jogging. But now came the hard part. The lights here were turned on and I could see 5 men patrolling in front of the building. Even in the building a few lights were on, here and there but unforunately that wasn''t enough to estimate the number of enemies.


    (But if what Yuko said was true, then maybe I can gain the upper hand.)


    I remembered that Yuko mentioned this place was modeled after our school. I knew our school building like the back of my hand, so I circled around it to find the rear entrance.


    (Damn it.)


    The rear entrance had 2 people guarding it. I was naive to think that these guys would just leave it unmanned. I took out out the pistol and put on the silencer. Next, I put the extra cartridges and 2 more grenades in my belt and got ready for combat. I left my bag behind and moved closer to the gaurds as quietly as possible. Thankfully this place was darker than the front due to having only one small bulb as the source of light. I revised my plan which I had thought up on my way here.


    (I need to finish this as quietly as possible. Thus, using hand grenades is out of the question unless I''m stuck in a tricky situation. The enemy is holding rifles so I need to finish them before they have a chance to use it or else, it would alert the others.)


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    I took out the pistol from an unsafe distance. I knew if I missed, it would be the end. I aimed properly at one of them and breathed deeply. Suddenly, there was movement among the guards. One of the guards got up and said something to the other and went inside.


    (Phew. This makes it easier.)


    I quickly aimed the gun at the remaining guard, fearing the other might return. And shot it...


    "Aaaarghh!"


    It hit the guy''s leg. I aimed at his head!


    (Damn it!)


    I quickly tried to make the second shot but the other guard returned.


    "What happened?"


    He saw his comrade shot in the leg and went full on alert.


    "To shoot with such accuracy, you must be a professional. Here to rescue the hostages? Not a chance, no matter how experienced you are. We got 50 guys in here." He said examining at his comrade''s wound while still being on alert.


    Then, he grabbed his comrade and dragged him inside while I was still hesitating on what to do.


    (Its too dangerous to stay here now. They''ll definitely come after me in groups. And what the hell was he talking about ''accuracy'' and ''professional''? I tried to shoot him in the head, his freaking head, I tell ya!!)


    I ran away from there, making sure no one was following me. And when I was finally at a distance I could feel safe, I remembered what my brain was instinctively trying to deny.


    "50 guys!? Are you shitting me!? How the hell am I supposed to kill 50 guys when I couldn''t even shoot one of them properly!?"


    I had the urge to throw all my grenades inside the building randomly. But I took a deep breath again to avert my panic.


    "This is way too hard for me. I guess I''d better go back."


    ............


    (Wait. How am I supposed to go back?)


    "Crap."


    I tried to think of something and came up with two options- die or win.


    (But what if I don''t get out even after dying? Don''t tell me I have to finish this no matter what.)


    "I feel like crying."


    (Wait, wait wait! Why am I so scared? This is just a game! Its not like everything will end after I die here. Even if I get out of here or respawn, its a win-win situation for me either way, isn''t it?)


    I suddenly found my lost determination and readied the pistol.


    "Haha! I''m coming for you, bad guys!"


    This time I went to the front gate with a haughty attitude but surprisingly there was no one there. Taking heed of my surroundings, I went up to the front gate but it was locked. I remembered it from the movies, so I shot a few round at the lock of the door and it opened. And as it opened,


    (Shit.)


    There were 7 people waiting with their guns ready. As they started shooting I instinctively jumped to the side but I still got 2 bullets stuck in my stomach.


    (Fuck, it hurts! Aaaaahhhhh!!)


    I had the urge to scream but I controlled myself and made a note to myself to unleash all my anger at Yuko who said its like being hit a "toy hammer".


    After a while, the guys stopped shooting and waited for me to make the next move. They were sure I wasn''t dead. In terrible pain, I suddenly had an inspiration. I took out 2 grenades from my belt with trembling hands. I could feel my body had started to stop listening to me. I somehow managed to take the pin out of the grenade and made an effort to throw the grenade in.


    "Shit. Its a grenade!"


    "Run!"


    I barely managed to throw the grenade but I knew it worked. But I wasn''t done there I took the pin out of the second grenade but before I could throw it, the first grenade exploded.


    *boom*


    "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh..."


    "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"


    There were some horrifying screams. I could sense the earth trembling but my body couldn''t feel it anymore. Then I looked at the second grenade at my hand.


    "Haha.. I guess I can''t deny I had fun."


    Those were my last words.

 Chap 16: Mission Complete

    As I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar alley.


    "Haah.. I was hoping to get out but I guess this is more acceptable now."


    I didn''t even think about what to do and took out the pistol, hand grenades and extra cartridges. I again shot a few rounds at the nearby dumpster and tried to hit all the bullets at one point. I didn''t succeed even once but it didn''t make me disheartened in the least. I also practices with the katana a few times and mission briefing started. It was exactly same as the last time, so I had already started towards the objective building before it ended. I went straight to the back door and readied myself. As soon as the second guard left, I shot the first guard 5 times.


    (So what if I can''t take a headshot? The enemy will still die if I shoot him again and again.)


    The guard lay dead on the ground before he even realised what was going on. I went to him and surprisingly, didn''t feel anything at the sight of a dead body covered with blood, probably because I thought of this as a game. I checked the number of wounds on his body .


    (One in the chest, another in the stomach and the last one in the arm. Looks like I missed twice.)


    I carefully analysed my momentary victory and moved on. The door, this time, wasn''t locked. I went in while being careful of my surroundings. I suddenly heard sound of flowing water. Normally it would be hard to notice, but at such a quite place, it was perfectly audible. But that posed another problem.


    (The other guy must have went to the washroom. I can''t let him see the dead body outside. Need to kill him here and now.)


    I hid just outside the door of the washroom and held my breath. The other guard failed to notice me when he came out and headed straight to the door I came from. He suddenly stopped. I was about to pounce on him with my katana but held back at the last moment. He suddenly dashed towards the stairs.


    "What the hell?"


    Then I realised my mistake.


    (Damn it!)


    The door was closed when I came in but now, it was slightly ajar and though hard to notice, you could something lying there, which in this case was the dead body. This second guard was unnaturally smart and cautious. Without a moment to lose I rushed after him still trying to make as little sound as possible, but that inadvertently slowed me down. By the time I reached the first floor, he had already grabbed a few of his comrades. I could tell this from the sound of the footsteps heading my way. Thankfully it was a lot darker here and there were a lot many rooms so I easily slipped into one of them. I waited there for a while and tried to calm down. My heart was pumping like crazy and I could hear myself breathing heavily. I took a few deep breaths and as soon as the footsteps went downwards, I came out of the room and ran upwards. They will definitely find the dead body and alert the others so I tried to find the hostages before that and hoped everything would pan out somehow. But that hope was was shattered with ease. I ran up straight to the third floor and heard a few sounds. This was the noisiest place I had been to till now. I was sure the hostages were there. And I was right, but with the hostages were 20 guys, fully armed. I noticed them and they noticed me. Without a moment to spare, I dashed straight towards the stairs but what waited for me was more despair. The footsteps were coming up, and this time the number seemed way more than the last time.


    (Damn it! Should I run up? But its the roof above. It''ll be suicide trying to fight so many people in open. Shit, there''s nowhere else to go!)


    I ran up the stairs and bolted the door once I was on the other side.


    "This is how it ends huh?"


    Before I even had a chance to plan my next move, they broke down the door and I was riddled with so many bulleted through my body, that it felt stupid to even start counting..


    I got similar results even after trying 6 more times but what surprised me most, was that each time I failed, my courage grew. I managed to slay more and more enemies on each try and on the 14th try I finally managed to kill 38 of them. By now, my skills with the weopens increased considerably. Not only did my shots become more accurate, but I could now run full speed without making any sound. In fact, I found myself using the katana more than the pistol.


    It was now my 16th time waking up in the same alley. This marked my 15th death but by now I was so familiar that my hands and feet were moving by themselves. While jogging towards the objective building, I took out the gun and extra cartridges as well as 3 grenades and stuffed them in my belt. I first went to the front gate and waited. I had found that there were 2 guys always going round the building whom I failed to meet the first couple of times. It would be hard to get so many hostages out safely, so these two became my first targets. Btw, I had gotten a good look at the hostages once and they seemed to be a little more than 30. In a while, I could see two figures turning this way. I hid behind a nearby lamppost and waited for the right time. The two soon passed the front gate and were about to take a turn at another corner when I carefully ran to them and cut off their necks with smooth movements of the katana. Around this time, the second guard from the back gate comes back from the washroom. I ran to the back gate and shot the first guy thrice while still running. Just as the first guard collapsed, the second guard opened the door. Before he even had time to realise the situation, I was already on him with my katana jabbed in his heart. I nicked out a handkerchief from his pocket and pulled out my katana while wiping it clean.


    "Beautiful"


    It really was just too beautiful. I could have sat, staring at it for hours, at its beauty, without getting bored but unfortunately I did not have so much leisure time.


    Even though, I knew the location of many of the enemies it was not all accurate. It was impossible to keep track of what so many people were doing at the same time so I had to be on constant alert. But I had gradually gotten used to being on high alert. I ran up to the first and then to the second floor. The first and the second floor did not have too many enemies as most of them were concentrated where the hostages were. And no matter how experienced I may get it was impossible to take on more than 20 armed enemies at the same time. I killed everyone on the second floor with little difficulty and then headed down to the first. Here, I had to be careful. To tackle the third floor I had to somehow disperse their forces. For that, I had to kill everyone on the first and second floors but one. And if he found out I had left him alive on purpose, they might see through my plan. This was the plan I came up with during my last attempt but failed. I moved ahead and got to the room where those guys were. I waited outside until one of them came out. As soon as he was gone, I pulled out the pin of a grenade and threw it inside the room and ran away at top speed to the roof. Though I ran to the roof I didn''t actually go there but waited over the stairs. As soon as the explosion had sounded, two of the guys came out from the hostage room and headed down to see what happened. Soon after the guy I had left alive at the first floor came running to the third floor. I assumed he had already met with the two guys who headed down. After a while 9 more guys came out including the first floor guy and headed downstairs. This was the cue I had been waiting for. I started my pursuit of the guys who had come out but before going down, I also saw two more guys coming out to stand at the door of the hostage room.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Even though 11 guys had already gone down, I didn''t flinch in the slightest. To find me in such a large place, they had to disperse their forces. I took advantage of this fact and took out everyone who was going around in small groups. By this time, darkness had become my friend and stealth, my weapon. From a normal high schooler, I had become a full fledged assassin in a single day after dying 15 times! They say experience is the best teacher and I truly learnt that first hand. In a while I had taken care of everyone who was in the building and below the third floor. I had only got shot once in my leg and I had wrapped a lot of bandage on it. Thankfully the bullet hit my leg on the side and went on its merry way, so my bone was intact.  But the wound wasn''t so light either. My muscles were torn and it hurt a lot even with the reduced pain. This wound was a huge obstacle. It took away my speed and reduced my ability to dodge and escape. But I wasn''t going to give up now. I rested for a while on the second floor to catch my breath and also hoping more guys would come down as I wished to fight only a small group of enemies at a time. Even after waiting for sometime, no one came which was strange.


    (Shouldn''t they be worried that their comrades didn''t come back?)


    I felt something was wrong as a cold sweat ran down my back. But how could I be nervous? I had died so many times, so what was once more? Even though I had courage, I made sure to keep it under control and not let it run rampage. I had enough to try, but not enough to jump into a fight I knew I couldn''t win. Thus with extreme caution, I started on the stairs. I took out my katana and used it as a mirror to see what was happening on the other side of the corridor. But in the reflection, I couldn''t see the two men who had come out to guard the door earlier.


    (Shouldn''t they be on high alert?)


    The feeling I had that something wasn''t right, grew stronger. After weighing my options at the time, I decided to take a risk. I readied the pistol and a grenade and moved to the hostage room. Since the door was open, I used the same technique I used in the hallway. I put the grenade back and quietly took out the katana.


    (Damn!)


    The hostages weren''t here anymore and 4 guys were waiting here to ambush me. But this just meant I didn''t have to waste any time on them.


    (lol, keep waiting for me.)


    I laughed and went away to look for the hostages. I easily found them in another room on the third floor. It would have been hard to find them since the lights were closed and they were trying to be as quite as possible. But that was the problem. They were ''trying'' to be as quiet as possible but couldn''t. Even the slightest sounds could be heard in such dead night if you listened closely. But even if I found the hostages, it wasn''t like I could just go in and rescue them. There were bound to be more enemies in there.


    (Oh right! The guys waiting for me in an ambush.)


    I suddenly remembered those stupid guys I laughed at.


    (They''re gonna be excellent bait.)


    I still had 5 more grenades and I threw 2 of them into the former hostage room.


    *boom* *boom*


    As the sounds of 2 explosions reverberated, the building shook and I could hear scared sounds of the hostages. The door of the new hostage room flew open and the rest of the guys came out into the dust cloud.


    (Stupid.)


    I laughed at these guys again and easily slew one after the other with my katana. They were helpless against me in the cloud of dust. Even if I just swung my sword around, I was sure I would get them. But they had to aim properly with their guns and even then, had the risk of killing their comrades.


    Making sure everyone was down, I entered the new hostage room and met their eyes. They had their mouths and hands tied. Some of them looked at me scared while some of them looked at me with expectant eyes.


    (I finally made it!)


    I was rejoicing inside but I didn''t show it on the surface. I freed one the of the hostages and gave him a small knife I picked up from a dead body.


    "Free the others and wait here until I get back. Its not safe yet."


    I always wanted to say something cool like that! The hostage nodded blankly and got to work. But what I said was true. I was not yet finished. I had only killed 45 guys by now. I had never got to killing the first 5 guys I had laid eyes on. The ones in front of the building! Even though I knew I could easily lead the hostages out the back and win, but I just wasn''t satisfied. I was able to complete the mission, but I wanted to do it thoroughly. Leaving like that when I worked so hard just didn''t fit. I casually went down and onwards to the front gate from where Trichia and I had gotten out holding hands just earlier in the afternoon. I remembered that sweet memory as I took out my katana which was at my left hip with my right hand and the pistol which was at my right hip with my left hand at the same time with an awesome pose.


    (I should be in the Hollywood!)


    Killing the other 5 was a breeze. I did have a bit difficulty due to my injured leg, but it wasn''t something I couldn''t handle. Finally, the mission was over.


    (No. Not yet. But what to do now? I did kill all the bad guys. What else is there to a rescue?)


    If I had truly rescued the hostages, something would have happened by now.


    (Oh crap.)


    I suddenly realised what was wrong.


    (The mission never claimed there were ''only'' 50 guys! I just heard from the enemy that there were 50 people from the enemy, but it could have easily been a round off figure.)


    I dashed at full speed to the third floor. My wounded leg started hurting more but I ignored it. More like, I didn''t have any time to pay attention to it.


    (All my hard work will be in vain!)


    I reached the third floor but it was too quite.


    (Am I too late?)


    I ran again, to the room the hostages were in but...


    (Huh?)


    They were completely fine and all of them were untied.


    (Did I worry for naught?)


    They all looked at me at once. Not one uttered a word.


    "Umm..." I started to speak, "..... You''re.. free?"


    It somehow turned into question in the end. But that didn''t matter to them in the slightest. As they finally found their freedom, some of them started to form tears.


    "Uwaaaahhhh... Uwaaaaahhhhh...."


    After one of them started crying, a few others followed suit and soon everyone was shedding huge tears and hugging each other. Then one by one, they came to thank me.


    "Thank you...sniff. Thank you so very much..sniff..."


    In their extremely emotional state, some even grabbed onto me and started crying again. I started leading them outside. Many of them shuddered at the sight of dead bodies and so much blood but they supported each other. Even though it was virtual reality, all of it felt so real and heart warming. Even though I could be called a cold blooded murderer having killed more than 150 or 200 people during my 16 rebirths, I was still weeping inside. As soon as we got out of the building the first ''unreal'' thing happened.


    "You win!"


    A message appeared in the thin air. And from the looks of the (not-so-anymore) hostages, they couldn''t see it. Soon the message changed-


    "Do you wish to log out?"


    It had two options below it - yes or no. I selected yes and my consciousness faded.

 Chap 17: The End? Beginning? What the hell!!??

    It had gotten late returning home. When me and Trichia rang the doorbell, it was already 9 o''clock.


    "I''m home." Trichia shouted.


    (Huh?)


    I looked at Trichia but she didn''t show any reaction.


    (I can''t let her be the only one, now can I?)


    "I''m hooome~" I shouted louder than Trichia and even stretched it a bit. Then I looked at Trichia and gave a competitive smile.


    Unfortunately, she didn''t understand my intentions and just tilted her head.


    "Haah.." I heaved a sigh and patted her head.


    (She''ll get used to it soon enough.)


    I felt like I changed a lot due to that experience in the virtual environment. Among all the changes, the most I felt was that I became more optimistic.


    Then the door opened and mom came out. She seemed angry. Yuko had already called and told her that we were at his place. But a mother''s a mother. She''s bound to be worried about her children.


    "Get in quick, the food''s gotten cold." That was all she said.


    I could feel the kindness behind her angry tone. I hugged my mother, probably the first time in many years and went in. Mom just stood at the door, baffled. I went inside and my sister was reading a book on the sofa. I gave her a hug too. From the looks of it, even my sister could not comprehend what was happening.


    "Sorry mom, I''m not hungry. I ate at Yuko''s. I''m going to my room to study."


    I shouted and went upstairs to my room. In the corner of my eyes, I could see sister and mom whispering something to each other with an intense atmosphere. I ignored it and went into my room. I had left Trichia downstairs for mom to satiate her curiosity. I lay down on my bed and just stared at the ceiling.


    "I had fun today."


    I recalled today''s events.


    (Wouldn''t be bad to do something like that once in a while.)


    I got up from the bed and did a bit of exercise. All my sleepiness flew away as the blood circulation in my body increased. After that I studied for 2 hours before retiring to bed.


    Next day, I went to school in high spirits. Mom and sister were looking at me with scrutinising eyes all morning and whispering something among themselves but I just had a hearty laugh at their weird behaviour and didn''t mind it too much. I took on the job of escorting Trichia to class, so when I went to school I first went to Tricia''s class. I saw her friends again whom I met yesterday and we shared some small talk. I didn''t remember their names, but thankfully the need to use them didn''t come up in the conversation. I know what you must be thinking. Trichia doesn''t consider them friends, so I shouldn''t call them as such. But I feel its only a matter of time before Trichia opens up to everyone around her.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Having parted with Trichia, I was heading towards my class with great determination.


    (I''ll definitely apologise today!)


    But when I entered the class, the person I needed wasn''t there. I went to my desk, put down my bag and waited. I talked to various classmates but my attention was fixed at the classroom door. Then suddenly the door opened and everything became quite.


    " " "Good morning, sir." " "


    It was our homeroom teacher. All those talking in groups quickly dispersed and everyone got back on their seats but THAT desk was still empty. THAT person was still missing. But I didn''t have to dispair for too long as the door opened and a person appeared. THAT person appeared.


    "You''re late , Ms Chroma"


    "Sorry sir."


    "Its alright. Take your seat."


    Pauli quietly headed towards her desk.


    "She''s heere~." Said my best friend, Yuko from the desk behind me in a voice only I could hear.


    But what a twisted fate it was, that I was delayed in my mission again. Unfortunately, I had to wait for another suitable time.


    The day kept getting by and by and it felt harder to apologise to someone, than to go against 50 guys by myself. But the new me wasn''t one to give up easily. Half the day had already gone by and my classmates were packing their bags to head to their homes.


    (I''ve waited too long.)


    I decided this was where I had to make my stand. She was already turning to leave but I hurried and blocked her path.


    "Pauli."


    I called out her name. She looked up at me.


    "Wuhoo! Is he finally going to confess?"


    "What, really?


    "Rota and Pauli?"


    "Kyaaaa~"


    *whistling*


    My friends in the class started spouting nonsense. Others also got caught up in their pace. Girls shouted and guys whistled but I ignored them and focused on my goal.


    (Dont worry. Its just 3 simple words. "I am sorry". No big deal.)


    "I love you."


    (Haha. That''s it! That wasn''t so hard, was it?)


    Suddenly the whole class went quite.


    "Holy shit. He actually did it!" Someone said.


    "No kidding." Someone else followed.


    And I just realised what had actually happened.


    (WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!?????)


    -----------------------------------------------------


    And this marks the end of volume 1.


    Like the cliffhanger? (*evil laugh*) ;)

 Vol 2: Chap 1: Changes

    AND we''re back people!  So exciting!! xD


    Here you go with the first chapter of volume 2,


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Kya~ its Rota!" shouted a girl, as I entered the class.


    "The handsome prince!" shouted another.


    "I wish he''d hold me in his arms." shouted yet another and it continued between the groups of girls in our class.


    "Haaah.." I signed as I reached my desk and hung my bag on the chair.


    I could hear a few more screams as I stretched, from the girls and could feel some of the hateful eyes from the guys side. But this had become commonplace so I didn''t particularly care... Okay, maybe just a little.


    You wanna know what''s going on? Hmm.. Lets see. It all started a little less than 3 months ago. Or was it more than 3 months? Ah, who cares? Anyway, I confessed to a girl I liked in class in front of all my classmates, and I was rejected. Just so you know, I don''t care about her anymore. I''m totally over her. I may have cried myself to sleep that night, but I''ll completely deny everything if the topic ever comes up.


    So anyway, where was I? Ah yes, I was rejected. And I''m sure you know how rumors spread. This incident spread like wildfire and it was known throughout the school by the next day. But even though this made me famous, it wasn''t exactly in a positive light. I might have been ''The Sympathetic Prince'' or to some who liked the shorter version, ''The Pathetic Prince'' by then, but definitely not the current ''Handsome Prince''. The incident for THAT happened around two weeks ago.


    *Flashback starts*


    I''m heading home from the supermarket.


    I witness 4 delinquents surrounding a girl and getting all touchy.


    I beat them to a pulp.


    I escort the girl home.


    *Flashback ends*


    That was pretty much what happened but as it turns out she was from our school, just one grade younger than me. And since you already know how rumors spread, I''m sure you can guess what happened next. This is basically the reason for my upgradation to the title of ''Handsome Prince'' of which every girl dreams, that he would come and rescue her. Well, I didn''t even know the girl or the delinquents at the time, so I guess you can say that I did it on a whim. Its just that I was pretty confident that I could take on the 4 of them without a problem. It was partly because I''d been training my body the last couple of months and mostly because I had overcome way tougher opponents by myself (in virtual reality).


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    But I guess what''s done is done and its not like I''m particularly unhappy with the developments in my life, is what I thought at first but soon the guys started to look at me with eyes full of jealousy and disgust which hurt a bit.


    Well, it''s not like all the guys hate me. Yuko''s there (though he''s not here at the moment) and some others who talk to me.


    Ah, speaking of them, there they are! The small group of 4 people in my class who still talk to me waved at me when they realised I was looking at them and resumed their conversation thereafter. Well, even though I say they talk to me, its with kind of a reserved feeling. I know they mean no harm, but its hard to go against the majority, so they mostly try and keep their distance, not that I blame them.


    *clunk*


    As if to interrupt my thoughts, the classroom door opened, and a person with glasses appeared. Behind those glasses, were pretty brown eyes which looked around as she entered the class. She waved to some of her friends who had noticed her, with an expressionless face as always and headed towards her own desk. I''m sure many of you already guessed, but I''ll say it just to make it official. This is Pauli Chroma, the girl who rejected me.


    Just then, our eyes met and I felt as if she gave a faint smile towards me before she looked looked away.


    *dadam dadam*


    (Did she smile at me? Ah, no way. Definitely my imagination)


    *dadam dadam*


    (Also, what''s with that weird sound?)


    I could hear a weird thumping sound from somewhere. I tried to ignore it, but unfortunately, it was coming from me.


    (Shit! My heart''s beating like crazy!)


    Well, I MAY have lied a teensy-weensy bit when I said I was over her.

 Vol 2: Chap 2: Surprise?

    More mysteries revealed! xD


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The school went on as usual, for everyone else, that is. I was extremely bored since Yuko wasn''t here. Oh yeah.... That reminds me. Yuko''s on a trip to Egypt, Japan, India, France and Africa with Trichia. He said that Trichia was growing remarkably and now it was time to have her interact with people of different cultures, thus moving on with his experiment, which also included her finally parting with our family. Because of Trichia''s absence, home has gotten a bit gloomy too, especially for mother who came to think of Trichia as her own child. As for me, well, I''d be lying if I said that I didn''t miss her. I used to teach her various things, all the way from human ethics to properly talking with people to making appropriate facial expressions in different situations. She already had a fair grasp of most of it by observing those around her. Other than that, I must say she has an amazing memory which, I guess is kind of obvious since she''s a robot. But she also has amazing understanding of concepts. Once, she made up a joke and was pretty happy about it. I guess that''s because she understands the concept of humor? Ah Trichia, I guess I will miss her a lot.


    *Ahem* No! I wont think about it anymore! I already said my goodbyes. Yes, its all for the best. She had to leave us sooner or later. Its useless to think about something you can do nothing about, so let''s put our minds in more productive places, like the maths class I''m in.


    *trin* *trin* *trin*


    Ah, just when I thought of seriously putting my mind to study, the period ended.


    (Looks like I''m destined to be bored today.)


    I purposefully stopped my chain of thought from going to the earlier topic and kept the Maths textbook back in my bag.


    (Which period is next?)


    I looked around to see which textbook everyone was taking out but what came into view were either my classmates heading to their respective friend''s desks with lunchboxes in their hand or going out to the cafeteria in groups.


    (Yipee! Its lunch break!)


    And you know what that means................... Oh yeah, I guess you don''t. Well... I forgot to mention another very important thing. Truthfully, I didn''t exactly forget it. Its just that..  Umm, I dont know how to say this. You see, it''s a bit complicated. *deep breath* Okay, I''ll just come out with it, and I promise this is the last secret I''ve kept from you guys.


    Ahem.


    *cough cough*


    *gargle gargle*


    *breathe in*


    *breathe out*


    *breathe in*


    *breathe out*


    Okay. So it''s something like this. Remember the girl I saved from the delinquents? Yeah, her.... Umm.. Turned out she was Puali''s sister. Quite a coincidence huh? Hahahaha.. Haha.. Ha.. Ha.. Ahhhem. Okay, time for details!


    Well, since I did escort her home after the incidence, obviously I would be invited in. Though I tried to refuse, I just couldn''t once I saw Pauli. And, we got to talking about various stuff (though I was profusely sweating the entire time) and I don''t know if it was due to the feeling of gratitude for helping her sister, or some other reason, she opened up to me quite well and we became good friends despite what happened 3 months ago.


    So how is it related to the lunchbreak, you ask? Well, I''m sure everyone already has an idea. It''s spot on, of coarse. We eat lunch together.


    Hahahahaha....


    Hahaha..


    Haha..


    Ha..


    Ha..


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    So anyways, that''s how it is and even though I still sometimes have the delusions as if we''re feeding each other like couples while going ''aaahhh.. ?'', I''m proud to say that I''m slowly getting used to it.


    "Are you okay?"


    "Huh?"


    I looked at the person who called out. Pauli was already standing in front of me with her lunch in her hand.


    "Whoa.." I almost got a shock as I came back to my senses, "Oh sorry, I spaced out for a moment."


    I hurriedly took out my own lunch from my bag as I sat down.


    "You space out quite a lot. Although its getting less than before, I''m still worried. I''m telling you, you should go see a doctor." Pauli said with a look of worry on her face while dragging a nearby chair to my desk.


    "Dont worry. I''m sure it''s nothing." I said with a wry smile.


    (No need for a doctor. I already know the cause. It''s right in front of me.)


    We started eating our lunch while talking about various things. Since my boredom flew out the window, time now seemed to flow quicker than before, a fact that I loathed. I wished this could go on forever but alas, time won''t change its pace for the sake of a love-struck high schooler. So I decided to enjoy while I could.


    We talked about various things while offering some part of our lunches to each other time to time. Well even though I say that, we didn''t talk all that much. Pauli''s somewhat the quiet type. She doesn''t say much in particular unless necessary or if spoken to. So we just spoke about a few subjects here and there and I asked her a few riddles which I ''happened'' to read last night on the internet. Its not like I was intentionally searching for conversation material, you know.


    There is one important conversation I had with Pauli a while ago that i wanna tell you about. This happened in Pauli''s room after I had saved her sister from the delinquents. It goes like this-


    "Hey Pauli, mind if I ask you something?"


    She just looks at me as if permitting to speak further.


    "Umm.. How do you feel about Yuko?"


    Her gaze suddenly gets sharper.


    "Why do you ask?"


    I get a bit tense due to the obvious change in her demeanor.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Well, he''s the only person whom you.. don''t seem too fond of."


    She made a complicated face at my remark.


    "Ahh. I''m sorry! Forget I said anything!" I said frantically. It felt as if I got too personal.


    "Haaaahh.." She sighed with a bit of amusement at my reaction but it soon faded.


    "Its alright. And you''re right. I''m.. ''not too fond'' of him. I''m sorry. Its not like he ever said or did anything to me but....."


    Then she again made a complicated face and paused, as if choosing her next words carefully. Then she heaved another sigh, this time, albeit, in a defeated manner.


    "......Its jealousy."


    "......." I was a bit shocked but didn''t say anything and just waited for her to continue.


    "I know its wrong of me to think like that but I can''t help it. It doesn''t feel good to always be the second, you know."


    Ohhh!!!! So its that! I kind of had the feeling but frankly, I didn''t think Pauli to have that kind of character. I had the feeling she was a nonchalant type. I probably got that from Yuko and my sister. Not every smart person in the world is carefree. But in the end, I guess its good that she is atleast honest with herself.


    "......I was always the first in my class no matter which school I was in. Everyone would look up to me as the brightest student...... Until high school, that is. Then your best friend came along and...took my spot." She said the last bit with a hint of malice in her voice.


    Something was bugging me and just now I realised what it was when she said ''your best friend''. She didn''t once call Yuko by his name. Its like she doesn''t want to recognise his existence.


    I looked at her and her shoulders trembled. She bit her lip and looked down to avoid my gaze.


    "I...i''m s..sorry. I..I......" Her voice started getting heavy as if she was about to cry.


    "Its okay." I said with the kindest tone I could muster.


    She lifted her head slowly. I could see her eyes a bit watery. I started creeping closer to her, opening my arms to the side, constantly observing her for any signs of reluctance. When I saw none, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight hug. She first went limp, as if unable to comprehend what was happening, then slowly her arms started behind my back and her head on my shoulder. Her arms also wrapped around me, though without any strength and she silently wept on my shoulder.


    Then I realised.


    (Damn it! What the fuck am I doing!?)


    I completely forgot about my stupid heart and right now it was beating so fast, I''m pretty sure even a bullet train would bow down before it!


    (I can''t even get away!)


    Well ''technically'', I could get away but ''morally''!?


    Even though I say that, I was so happy right now that I could jump off a cliff!


    But! But! AAAAAHRRGG!!


    (Calm down! Yes, I need to calm down!)


    It was time to tap into my soul and look for that ancient technique passed down from generation to generation. To count prime numbers!!!


    (1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Pauli. Pauli. Pauli. Pauli. Aaaahhh!!! Pauli''s not a prime number! And even before that it was normal counting! Aaaaaahhh!!!)


    (Shit! Shit! Shit its not working! My heart''s gonna burst!)


    I tried moving a bit to try and make a little distance but I only ended up rubbing against her breasts.


    .............


    ...........


    .........


    .......


    .....


    ...


    (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*kachak*HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhaa?)


    I heard a sound from the ''real'' world as my inner world was in a frenzy. Fortunately(or unfortunately?), my head was facing the door over Pauli''s back, which, I was still in the process of hugging. And what I saw was Pauli''s sister standing at the now open  door looking at us while going red as a tomato. As our eyes made contact, she closed the door and ran away. I felt Pauli shifting. She left my embrace and looked aback.


    "I..I think I should go." I said to Pauli''s back.


    As Pauli faced me again, I could tell the confusion in her eyes. But before she had a chance to ask anything, I opened the window and jumped out.


    Why jump out the window, you ask? I HAVE NO IDEA MYSELF! Fortunately, her room was on the ground floor, so I made an easy landing and ran away towards the horizon.


    So now I stop my story and remind you that we''re in the middle of the lunch break. What? Antinclimatic? Well, what else did you expect? Its the real world, not a dumb light novel written by a dumb author.


    So where were we?


    *Trin* *Trin* *Trin*


    .


    .


    .


    I think the school bell might be my arch enemy.


    Everyone started returning to their desks, even Pauli.


    "Dont go!"


    Pauli turned around to look at the me who shouted after her.


    (Crap! Did i say that out loud?)


    "Umm...", I was looking for words to say, "Which period is next?"


    (Ohhhh! Nice save!)


    "English." She said and returned back to her seat without giving any thought to my weirdness. I think she got used to it.


    (Phew..)


    I breathed a sigh of relief and got ready to prepare myself for the upcoming battle, which was against my boredom.


    (Haaahh.. Lets just study.)

 Vol 2: Chap 3: The Genius Returns

    Two weeks have passed and today is finally the BIG day! Are you curious? You are, aren''t ya? Well, Yuko and Trichia are finally coming back!!


    I recieved a text from Yuko yesteday night that they''d be boarding the flight soon and that they''d reach here by 10 am of the next day, which is today!


    I''m already on my way to the airport. Thankfully, its Sunday so I don''t have school. Mom also wanted to come at first, but then said something about it being too painful and decided against it.


    And now, here I am! On the airport! Waiting for them! Their flight has already landed! They gonn'' be out any minute!


    Quite a few people are coming out, so its hard to spot them. Oh oh oh! I see them! I see them!


    They''re at the end of the crowd. I still didnt see Trichia. She was hidden from my view due to her being smaller than most people. I see Yuko and 3 of his escorts. Didn''t he leave with five? Oh, there they are. They were hidden behind the first 3 escorts and their gigantic backpacks.


    (They left with with 5 medium sized backpacks and are returning with 5 extra large ones. How much did those guys shop!?)


    They were finally close enough for me to see Trichia. Yuko had already noticed me. I waited for them to come closer till there wasn''t anyone between us. When they came in full view, Trichia saw me. I smiled and waved at her. She widened her eyes.


    (Umm.. Guessing from her expression, Yuko probably ''forgot'' to mention that I''d be here.)


    She halted in her steps for a second then ran towards me. Thankfully she wasn''t too fast, since the impact of her jumping onto me made me fall and groan from pain. If she''d been coming at full speed I''d probably be waking up in the hospital.


    "Rota. I missed you!" She hugged me tight around my neck.


    "Yeah. I missed you too Trichia." I said while gently caressing her hair.


    "Hihihihihi." She laughed a girly laugh.


    "Get a room, you two." Yuko came over and said with a grin.


    Trichia got off of me while pouting and Yuko extended his hand to me who was still lying on the ground. We shared a look and I took his hand to get up. Without dusting my clothes, I gave him a manly hug.


    "I missed you too, bud." I said.


    "Yeah yeah. I''m touched."


    After our reunion was over, Yuko''s expression turned grim.


    "I need to talk to you." He told me.


    I could feel the seriousness emitting from him but it was hard to tell whether he really had something important to talk about or was just pulling my leg.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Uhm. Ok?" I decided to play along.


    He looked back to his escorts and said "Go ahead and deliver the luggage." With that, the 5 escorts left. Trichia was still here though and without me realizing, had come over to me side and was holding my hand. It was just like the first time we met, just this time she was wearing a cute white one piece and a pink hat, instead of the maid costume. Without minding her, Yuko started.


    "My experiment to create an artificial intelligence was a success."


    I knew what he was talking about. It was about Trichia. Since the day he made her, he left her out in the real world to see her progress. There were regular checkups, sometimes he asked for my feedback and finally his world trip. It was all to see if Trichia was capable or not.


    I looked at Trichia through the corner of my eyes to see her expression. It was again like the first time we met. She had no expression. But the feeling this time was different. To see a person who ''doesn''t know'' how to make an expression compared to a person who ''chooses'' not to make one. There''s a different kind of sadness in each. And this one caused an unpleasant feeling.


    (She knows, huh?)


    Even I wasn''t so stupid as to not notice. Yuko must have already told her the reality of the situation.


    "But my mission is not yet over. There is still the last stage to go over. I don''t know how long it will take, but when I''m done, believe me when I say this, the world as you know it, will change."


    That was certainly dramatical. I was wondering whether he practised it on his way here before he said his final words.


    "Goodbye, my friend."


    With that, he turned around and left with Trichia. I just stood there. Trichia waved at me. I kept waving back till she was out of sight. But in my mind, was a single thought.


    (Did he just go Hollywood on me!?)


    But was he said wasn''t a lie. After exactly 250 days, the world was in an uproar. It was the birth of the first virtual reality game.


    ''INFINITY OUTBREAK''


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The next chapter is extremely small, so I''ll be uploading it in a little while only.

 Vol 2: Chap 4: Infinity Outbreak

    About 8 months had passed since I''d last seen Yuko. We were now in our last years in high school. Today, there was a single topic of discussion in our class. No. That''s an understatement. There''s actually only a single topic of discussion in the whole entire world: Infinity Outbreak or IO.


    Yesterday was the announcement of release of the game. Today is the actual release and it will be on sale on every major game store, online or offline. Estimates say that the sales on the first day may go up to 10 million, but thats only because of the limited availability. News channels were playing live recordings of some game stores, where hundreds of people had set up tents in the middle of the night. The online stores were flooded with a huge number of users constantly refreshing the pages.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Yuko was right. The world was going to change. And as for the change, he was the one to have caused it. But he himself, was nowhere to be found. A new company had been set up for the sole purpose of running the game, going by the same name as the game. But his name was not mentioned. Not once. No one knew it was all him. Well, none but me. Maybe there were people who knew but keeping quite. Maybe the real owner of the company was himself, just not on paper. Maybe he was pulling the strings from the shadows. I couldn''t tell. But what I did know was that he was out there, definitely. Probably laughing at the state of the world he caused. But I was certain, that he was happy.

 Vol 2: Chap 5: A Gift inside is A New Start

    Later the same day of the release of IO, I was watching the news when a courier arrived. It was a parcel, kinda big. After signing the courier off, I opened the letter that came with it.


    ''Thanks for always agreeing to be a guinea pig for my experiments.


    Your best friend.''


    (Well. Well. Well.  Somebody''s getting cocky calling himself my best friend. And who''s a guinea pig!?)


    Was there a need a open the parsel anymore? I knew what it was and I''m sure you guys have also realised.


    (But who am I kidding? Even if I know what it is, still it''s awesome as hell! Can''t wait to try it out. But.......)


    No one was home other than me. If I dived in, and mom or sis were to be back, I wouldn''t know. They''d have to wait outside till I logged out.


    (Well, let''s open it atleast.)


    I took the parsel to my room and opened it. In it was the ''headgear''. But this time it had a single cord, a power cord attached, unlike the one at Yuko''s lab which had wires connecting to all sorts of machines. With it, was also an instruction manual.


    (Well, now I know what to do to pass the time.)


    I opened the instruction manual and it rolled down to atleast 20 PAGES!! Damn, it was long. I skimmed through it reading only the more important parts, like how to connect or troubleshoot. Mainly, you just had to connect it to the power socket and it''ll do the rest on its own. It connects to the server and scans for any problems. There were lights on the side of it which would light up for different problems, but I wont go into such detail. If all clear, you''d automatically dive in. There were also some precautions and such, but nothing too important.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    *ding dong*


    (Ah finally. Someone''s back. Most probably mom.)


    I went to open the door and it was indeed my mother.


    "Mom, I''ll be busy for a while so please dont disturb me. Also, put my part of the dinner in the fridge, I''ll eat it later."


    "Okay. But dont stay up too late, alright?" She said with a gentle tone.


    "Sure mom." I replied and went to my room.


    "Now to get started." I said to no one in particular(well not that there was anybody here).


    I connected the headgear and put it on and lay on my bed. After a few seconds, it made a *beep* sound and my consciousness started faded.


    (Been a while since I had this feeling.)


    Everything went dark.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Last chapter was the most comments I received in any chapter. (A thing of pride for any author?)


    Don''t know about the pride, but I was delighted to see people trynna'' predict what happens next. Though I was surprised to see people hate Pauli that much. xD


    I wont reveal anything about the future but I''ll atleast tell you that ''originally'',  Pauli was going to be a heroine. (Now I''m not so sure). xD

 Vol 2: Chap 6: Reunion with my Cute Little Sister

    I came to, in a pure white space. It was like there was light everywhere. In fact, it was too bright. I tried to cover my eyes with my hands, but I didn''t have any. I probably didn''t have a body AT ALL since I couldn''t even close my eyelids. Then after around 3 seconds, I just happened in a room similar to my own and on the bed (my bed?) was someone familiar.


    {Author: Note that there is no grammatical error above. The MC feels himself a phenomena that ''happened''. (Perks of being in a VR).}


    "Trichia!?"


    "I knew it was you!" She said and jumped on me as if finally delighted at my reaction.


    She clung to my neck but this time I didn''t fall, unlike the time at the airport. She wasn''t heavy at all.


    "How are you here?" I asked, still surprised.


    "I''m the administrator." She replied with a smile as she got off me.


    "Well, I kind of guessed why Yuko was building an AI, but I didn''t think he''d... Umm..." I stopped my chain of thoughts.


    "Let me retain my personality?" She finished my unfinished words.


    "Yeah... But I guess no one can guess what goes on in that genius''s freaking head."


    "And so. Here I am." She said with another big smile.


    I gave another cuddle to my cute little sister. Yeah, I still consider her my cute little sister.


    After that, we sat down on the bed(my bed?) and I faced her.


    "I have a few questions, do you mind?"


    "Go ahead." She tilted her head a bit.


    (Ah so cute! Gotta stop the urge to hug her! Aaarghh!)


    Hiding my inner thoughts from her (thought I was pretty sure she somehow knew), I proceeded.


    "That bright light when I came in. Was that you doing?"


    "Yes. When I noticed your wave patterns, I realised it was you, so I prolonged your login so I could build myself a form and this room." She gave me another cute smile.


    (Okay. Too many things to retort in that answer, but lets continue.)


    "Okay.... Next question. What did you mean you''re an admin? Do you look over the players?"


    "No silly. I look over the system." She said with a giggle.


    (Again! Too many things to retort! I think she''s doing it on purpose!)


    *stare*


    I gave her a detective like  glare. Was she playing with me?


    "Haaahh.."


    I sighed in defeat. She had the upper hand and I didn''t have a chance to begin with, if she was actually serious.


    "Okay then. What do you mean by the system?" I asked, helpless to change the pace.


    "The system is.. The system." She again tilted her head as if confused.


    (SHE''S DEFINITELY DOING IT ON PURPOSE!)


    As if realising she had won, she giggled again.


    "Hihihihi... I''ll explain. The system is what let''s you be here. It is what defines you. It is what runs everything in this world. As for me, I am what runs the system. If we use your world as an analogy, I will be something akin to a god, the system will be the forces of nature and you will be.. well, you. So I define the laws of nature, and the laws of nature define you. Let''s take an example. In this world, there exists stats. So I say to the system, ''make a stat called strength''. The system will create that stat for every individual. And the individual will have a value for the stat himself. So, in short, I created the ''stat system'' and the system generated that stat for you. Just like a god defined gravity, and gravity itself is now what holds you and your planets together. You get it?"


    "Ugh.. Somewhat? So you''re like a god who controls everything."


    "Hihihihi. I do not ''control'' everthing. I define it. There''s a difference. But don''t worry yourself too much. Knowing it wont affect you any. Hihihihihi."


    "Umm.. Okay.."


    "So you finally want to log in?"


    "... Sure"


    Right as I said that, the room disappeared and appeared:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Welcome to INFINITY  OUTBREAK</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was accompanied by a bgm and after 2 seconds, came a loud husky voice saying "Welcome to Infinity Outbreak."


    Then I was.. sort of, teleported to a field. There was a grassland as far as I could see with no one else in sight. And then a pretty female said:


    "New user detected. Please enter your name."


    It was probably for the name in the game.


    "...Rota." I chose to keep my real name.


    "Please repeat the name to confirm. To change your current choice, please speak another name. Note that once a name is chosen, it cannot be changed in any circumstance."


    "Rota."


    "Name confirmed. Hello Rota. Would you like to take the tutorial?"


    "Skip it." It wasn''t me who answered.


    I don''t know when but Trichia appeared beside me.


    "Why?"


    "It is basic exercises to get used to virtual reality and a bit about the system. You don''t need the exercise since you already have a lot of experience. And about the system, I can tell you WAY more than what the tutorial will."


    "Point taken."


    "I''d like to skip it." I said to the pretty female voice


    "Confirmed. Please select your starting location."


    Just as she said that, a huge list of names appeared with 3 columns. The first was the Name of place. Seconds column was Population. Third column was Users. This one showed how many people who logged in selected that place. The list was sorted in descending order of number of users. The top spot had a whooping 8,901,039 users. Almost 9 million! The second spot had 126,766 users. It went on and on and on and on and on....... and on. There were quite a few of the lower numbers from 1 to 5. Most probably friends who decided to play together.


    I looked towards Trichia for help.


    "I dont suppose you have a recommendation?"


    "What do you need?" She asked.


    "Umm.. Somewhere I can level up fast and without much hinderence."


    "Hmm. Let me see."


    She just stood there for a few seconds like a statue.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Try Kinshin." She said suddenly.


    I started looking for the place she mentioned but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    "All the places with a church or a temple have been mentioned in the list. This is so that everyone has a respawn point. That is where you go back after you die. Respawn point is selected as the last temple or church a user visited."


    As I was looking in the list, Trichia started explaining about something. I listened intently and acknowledged with a nod.


    "Also, you can search for a place in the list by saying ''search'' and then the name of the place."


    I almost fell down.


    "Why didn''t you tell me sooner!?"


    "You never asked. Also, it was funny. Hihihihi."


    "Haaaaah.. Search Kinshin." I sighed and searched for the place as Trichia directed.


    The list scrolled down quickly and a highlighted row appeared. It was the place I was searching for but..


    "Umm.. Trichia. You sure this is the right place? There''s a popoulation of only 50 and no users."


    "Thats the one. Its a secluded enough place so you can level up without drawing too much attention."


    "If you say so."


    I selected the highlighted row and was now standing in a church.


    "The system''s too quick. It should make a warning that you''re going to be teleported." I said to Trichia.


    "There was but it was patched. The testers said that once you get used to it, it is better to not have the system ask confirmation for every little thing." She told me.


    (Testers huh? Well its kind of obvious that there would have been, if you think about it.)


    "Okay, so now what?" I asked Trichia.


    She just stood there looking at me.


    "You''re right. I should make my own decisions." I told her.


    "I didn''t say anything." That''s what she said but I could tell she was happy her point got across.


    Where I was right now, was right outside a temple. I started walking in a random direction looking to see if I can find someone.


    "Trichia, tell me about the system, would you? The stuff I''d need to know from the tutorial."


    "Right. Say ''Status''."


    "Status."


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 10</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 1</td><td>HP : 100/100</td><td>AGI : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 100/100</td><td>INT : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Title :</td><td>MP : 100/100</td><td>LUC : 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "You can tap on anything to know more details about it."


    I did as she was told and tapped to check what everything was. It was simple actually. Pretty obvious I would say. Starting from the top, my name, race, title, health, stamina, mana, strength, agility, intelligence, luck and the remaining stats points I have. The description on the stats was a bit interesting though. Every point in strengh increased health by 10 points and a bit of damage. Same for the others. Agility affected SP and my speed. INT affected MP and casting speed. The most interesting was Luck.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Stat: Luck


    Every point in Luck increases drop rate of monsters by 0.1% and critical hit chance by 0.1%.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    So if I have 1000 points in luck, the monsters will have twice the rate of dropping loot and every hit I do will be a critical hit.


    (Nice.)


    "Saying ''skills'' will open your skill list but you won''t have any at the moment." She started speaking again as she realised I was finished.


    "Okay."


    I tried it anyway and Yup! It was empty.


    "Next, try ''inventory''. Every beginner receives 10 pieces of bread and a copper dagger."


    "Inventory." I said, but before I could check, we finally came across our first group of people.


    "Who are you!? Where did you come from!?" It was a group of 2 guards holding spears in their hands and one of them who spoke.


    Now that I look at it, I''ve reached the village gate. They must''ve been surprised that I approached the gate from inside rather than outside.


    "I... I came from the temple." I decided to go with the truth.


    "You lie! How can you come from the temple when we''ve never seen you enter our village!?" The said point their spears at me.


    It looked pretty bad. Whatever phenomenon called us users here, they probably weren''t aware of it. Trichia did say this place was secluded.


    (What do I do? Do I make a run for it? The gate is in front, I''m sure I can run away.)


    A few people were starting to gather and I was running out of time. Also, I didn''t want to rely on Trichia for everything.


    I decided to try to talk my way out and keep running away as last priority.


    "Hey hey. There''s no need to be hostile here. I''m just a random traveller. I don''t mean nobody no harm." I raised my hands half up to show I didn''t hold any weapons.


    They lowered their spears but still kept vigilance.


    "You''ll come with us. The chief will decide what to do with you!"


    (Okay. Bad situation. I have no idea what the chief is like, so this is like taking a gamble. He could, for all I know, turn me into his slave. But he could also be a good man, maybe giving me a place to stay. Do I take the risk?)


    (NO!)


    The guards had lowered their weapons and one of them was walking towards me. I quickly ran to the side and escaped the first guard but the second saw me move and ran after me. I was moving to the gate in a curve while he was running to me in a straight line. He''d easily catch me. When he was close to about 1 meters, I slowed my running and dodged his spear. Since I slowed my running a bit, he was now running past me from my front. I easily tripped him and ran out the village gate.


    Victory!


    -----------------------------------------------------


    killerdoomc guessed it right that Trichia was our ''AI Goddess''. Congo!

 Vol 2: Chap 7: A Fight and a.. Spoon?

    After I ran out the village I ran for a while making sure I wasn''t followed. I found myself in a forest. My SP had gone down quite a lot and I was feeling hungry, so I sat on a rock and looked at my inventory once again. As Trichia had said, there were a few pieces of bread, so I took one out and ate it. As for the person herself, she disappeared when I met the guards and reappeared just now right next to me and was leaning against me.


    "Where did you go?"


    She looked up at me and tilted her head.


    "During the stuff at the village." I continued.


    "Hihihihihi." She giggled again, "not being able to see doesn''t mean I''m not there. In fact, this form is more unnatural for me. I only have it so you can feel the interactions directly.''


    I just patted her head.


    (Better not to dwell on complicated stuff.)


    I smiled at my stupidity.


    After a while of resting, my SP had finally gone up. I got up and stretched my back.


    "Ready for levelling up?" Trichia asked with a smile, "though I was hoping you could get some EXP at the village by doing some quests, it can''t be helped."


    "Alright." I gave a vague reply.


    I took out the dagger from my inventory and practised a bit. The dagger was crude, but still better than nothing.


    "Shall we?" Said Trichia after she finished.


    I gave Trichia my hand and we started walking in a random direction. I had already enabled a few things in my settings while I was resting and now my view had the HP, SP and MP bars at the top left corner, the amount of money I have in the top right corner and a minimap in the bottom right corner. Now it really felt like a game. The money I had was 10 urz, urz being this world''s currency. The minimap displayed a 10 metre radius around me with any enemies in range marked by a red dot.


    Soon, a single red dot enter my minimap and I got ready. Trichia disappeared again with a "call me if you need anything". I took out the dagger and moved slowly towards my target.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Rabbit LVL 3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was munching on some grass nonchalantly. I quietly circled towards its back to make a sneak attack. Just as I came out from the bushes to attack it, another predator came out from hiding. A snake came out from right under the rabbit and swallowed it in one swoop. And now that I was out of hiding, it''s gaze fell on me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Snake LVL 12</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a normal snake but it was pretty high levelled and it didn''t look like it''d let me run away.


    (So the minimap doesn''t show hidden enemies. Gotta be careful with that.)


    I readied my stance. Seeing my will to fight, the snake hissed at me but it waited. I moved a step backward and it moved a bit forward. I was clearly disadvantaged so I looked for a plan. It was probably useless to hide since snakes have thermal vision. I don''t know if it''s the same in the game, but knowing Yuko, he''d probably make it as close to the original as possible.


    (So maybe, if I can produce a fire.....)


    But I had nothing to light with. And it wasn''t like the snake was simply going to wait as I lighted a fire.


    (Hell with this shit!)


    I dashed to the side. Seeing my sudden movement the snake quickly jumped at me with its mouth wide open.


    (Fast!)


    It was fast. I barely managed to dodge by dropping to the ground and rolling. It was too fast for hit and run tactics. I had to face it head on.


    As I got up, the snake was already up and vigilant, as it probably didn''t expect me to be able to dodge. I again dashed to the side but a bit slower to have a better control. The snake got low and also started moving in the same direction just a little bit more towards me. It was coming closer and closer.


    When it was pretty close I went for my simple plan. Going around a tree to the snake''s front, I prepared to attack. Suddenly seeing me in front of it, it raised its head to attack. But I was quicker due to the element of surprise. With the dagger, I slashed anywhere I could hit and continued running. I was now at it back. A health bar appeared over the snake and was about a quarter down. I made another slash at its head. I instinctively knew it was a critical hit and its health bar disappeared.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    I won. Frankly, it wasn''t that hard. I only lost a little HP and that too only because of random actions like hitting a branch while running or falling to the ground.


    I looked to the snake and it had disappeared. In its place was an item. I looked at it. Carefully. From different angles. But no matter what I tried, it still resembled a spoon. It WAS a spoon.


    (Why the hell does a monster drop a spoon!?)


    I sighed and picked it up. It''s color was silver but I wasn''t sure what it was made of. I didn''t have the appraisal skill either to check. I put it in my inventory. Maybe sell it later, or use it myself?


    "Hey Trichia, how do you get the appraisal skill?" I said into the air.


    Trichia appeared next to me and said, "You can learn it from a person who already has it. Most merchants have it. But it will cost a lot."


    "Hmm..." There wasn''t anything I could do about it if that was the case. Trichia could probably manage something but I already decided to not rely on her too much.


    "Status."


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 10</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 4</td><td>HP : 94/100</td><td>AGI : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 23/100</td><td>INT : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Title :</td><td>MP : 100/100</td><td>LUC : 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 30</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    I levelled up to 4. I remember hearing a sound after I defeated the snake.


    (So that sound was to indicate I levelled up.)


    Also I had 30 points remaining. That meant I received 10 points every level.


    I made some changes and my status looked something like this.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 20</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 4</td><td>HP : 196/200</td><td>AGI : 30</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 230/300</td><td>INT : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Title :</td><td>MP : 100/100</td><td>LUC : 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 0</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Some HP and SP already regenerated while doing this and that.


    "That was a good fight. Are you going to continue?" Trichia asked.


    "Umm.. Do you know what time it is outside?"


    "At your time zone? Let me check." She stood still for a moment, "Its almost 9 O'' clock."


    "Ahh. In that case, I''ll go grab dinner. Don''t worry, I''ll be back in a jiffy. But time sure does flow fast in here. If I remember correctly, Yuko told me that it was 3.5 times faster."


    "That is correct." She confirmed.


    "Alright. One last thing. Do I need to find a safe spot for log out or I can do it anywhere?" I asked.


    "You can do it anywhere and anytime, as long you''re not restricted to. For example when in a fight, you cannot logout to escape. Also, some special places like the inn, give recovery speed bonuses after you log out." She explained.


    "An inn''s a bit too much to ask for in the middle of the forest. Not that I have much to spend either. Well, I guess I''ll see you after sometime. Bye Trichia." I patted her head and said "Log out."


    -------------------------------------------------


    The table was a real pain in the ass. Like it? It didn''t come out like I originally intended but I felt it was good enough. :)


    Also, can anyone tell me if there''s a way to edit previous chapters? Now that I know how to add tables, I think I''ll to go back and edit a few chapters to insert some.


    Thanks in advance!

 Vol 2: Chap 8: A New Task

    Having gotten something in my stomach, I logged in again and Trichia greeted me with a ''Welcome back''. I wanted to get to hunting right away but I was getting hungry again(ingame hunger) and Trichia had something important to tell me. With another tasteless bread in my hand, I listened to Trichia.


    "Fight some and get hit enough to bring your HP down to 2."


    I choked on the bread that I was eating.


    *cough* *cough*


    Well, didn''t exactly choke since I didn''t need to swallow ingame, but the feeling was right there.


    "What!? Why!?"


    "Just do it!" Trichia did a cute and angry pout, "and then reduce the enemy''s complete HP in a single attack!"


    I got it. That must be the requirement to attain a new skill. But it was easier said than done. To not hit an enemy at all and get hit enough to leave only 2 HP. Then to be able to kill the enemy in a single strike? It was almost impossible. Well, ''almost''. But I was up for a challenge. If it required such harsh conditions, it must be an awesome skill, otherwise Trichia wouldn''t have brought it up.


    "Alright!".


    "Hihihihihi." Trichia giggled seeing me excited, knowing I was going to do it.


    "Tell me something. Do I need to have my HP reduced by the enemy for this to work?" I asked, hoping for a way around.


    "Yes. You need to have full HP when the fight begins and then reduce the enemy''s HP to 0 from full when you have less than 1% of your total HP remaining."


    Hmm. This was going to be hard. With only a margin of 2 HP, it could prove fatal very easily. If I had atleast a margin of 4 or 5, maybe I could.


    "Okay. Its decided. I''ll go level up till I have more than 500 HP and then do it."


    "Do it now!"


    "What?" I was startled.


    Trichia made another angry pout face and turned her head away with a stomp on the ground.


    (Where''d she learn these things?)


    "Umm.. Trichia?.... You don''t want big brother to die, do you? Please go easy on me."


    She looked at me from the corner of her eyes. She pretended to consider for a moment and then came closer with her head lowered. She stopped right in front of me and grabbed my left sleeve at the corner with her right hand. Then she turned her face up and looked at me with upturned eyes.


    "Only if you promise to come here everyday." She said in a weak tone.


    I couldn''t hold back anymore and lifted her up in a hug.


    "Of coarse!!" I shouted.


    She wrapped her hands around my neck and giggled.


    I know I''m easy to fool, but when faced with such a cute sister, I''ll gladly be a fool!


    After rotating on the spot with her a few times, I put her down. I was huffing and my SP was reduced to half. But it was totally worth it!


    After that Trichia disappeared again while still giggling and I decided to continue my hunt. I got 2 rabbits with easy sneak attacks. I experimented with a third to see how much damage it could give me. Each hit reduced about 20 HP but I could lower it further by various methods like dodging at the last second so it only grazes me or by bending my body back at the moment of impact to reduce the momentum. Right when I killed the third rabbit, I heard another *ding* indicating my level up. I put all 10 points in agility. I needed HP but investing in AGI in the beginning was better since that meant I could hunt for longer. Also, I used more hit and run tactics, or sneak attacks rather than frontal assaults, so it was all the more wiser for me to invest in AGI.


    As I was roaming around looking for more monsters, I saw a group of red rots on my minimap. Some thwacking sounds could also be heard from the place. I quietly went to see what was happening.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Goblin LVL 7</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Goblin LVL 6</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Hobgoblin LVL 17</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Tusked Boar LVL 25</td></tr></tbody></table>


    There were about 10 goblins and a hobgoblin fighting a boar with huge tusks(probably the reason it was called ''tusked'' boar). The goblins were in the LVL range of 5 - 7, used clubs and were easily getting beaten by the boar. The hobgoblin was using goblins as bait and slowly working his way on reducing the boar''s health with his longsword. The boar''s main attack was a straight charge at his opponent, but it was quite powerful and fatal, if hit.


    "So much EXP." I licked my lips at the sight.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I made my way around to the other side where 2 goblins were lying on the ground groaning in pain. Their HP bar was slowly reducing and they were on the verge of death. As I got closer and got a better look at the creatures, they were ugly. Green skin, bones showing, only a single cloth to cover their nether regions. Yeah, really ugly. With a quick precise stab with the dagger, I made the two disappear. As I heard another *ding*, I smiled and moved again to get a better view of the battle. There were 2 more goblins lying on the ground waiting for death, but I couldn''t get to them without blowing my cover. I let them go, hoping to catch the bigger prey: the hobgoblin and the boar.


    The fight went on and the hobgoblin looked to have the upper hand with his minion goblins but soon they all died. The boar had about 1/4th of his HP remaining while the hobgoblin had almost full. With its better weapon, a longsword, it was almost sure to win. From what I had observed so far, it would take 2 attacks from the hobgoblin to do enough damage to completely finish the boar. Now to make those two attacks was incredibly hard with the boar''s speed as well as the risk of getting hit. A single hit from the boar could easily pulverise a goblin or leave it at death''s door only if the goblin was lucky. If hit head on, even the hobgoblin stood no chance.


    I waited in a stance, ready to run at any moment. The boar charged at the hobgoblin. I was to the boar''s back so that meant he ran in the opposite direction from me. The hobgoblin dodged at the last second but couldn''t get a strike in. This time the hobgoblin was towards me. The boar charged again.


    (Now!)


    I threw the dagger at the hobgoblin. It struck him in the back, not enough to do any significant damage, but enough to distract it long enough so the boar''s attack hits. And hit, it did. The hobgoblin was sent flying towards me. I ducked and the hobgoblin flew over me and away. I made my way to see its condition while the boar was dancing at its victory. The hobgoblin was lying unconscious with a deep wound in the stomach and its HP was dropping steadily but fast. It probably had only a couple of seconds.


    Since I didn''t have a weapon I started hitting it with my leg. I wasn''t sure if it would count as my kill but I kept at it and was pretty satisfied at the outcome as I heard a couple of dings. I checked my status and added a couple of points here and there. It finally looked like this.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 50</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 10</td><td>HP : 500/500</td><td>AGI : 60</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 572/600</td><td>INT : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Title :</td><td>MP : 100</td><td>LUC : 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 0</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    As I happily closed my status, what came into my view were a pair of leather gloves and a shortsword. They were drops from the hobgoblin. I instantly equipped the gloves. They fit perfectly, most definitely a blessing of the game. I took the shortsword and got ready. I didn''t have the appraisal skill but even a noob could tell that it was leagues above my stupid dagger.


    (Thank god, I didn''t get a spoon this time.)


    With better equipment, I got back to the boar. I already had a strategy in mind and it was the same as the hobgoblin: Avoid and hit. The boar was fast, but since it couldn''t change directions mid-charge, it was easy to dodge. When I got to the boar, it was still doing its winning dance. I picked up a stone and threw at it. It hit right on its behind. The boar turned towards me and glared.


    (So easy to aggro. *smirk*)


    I positioned carefully in front of a thick tree and got ready to dodge. The boar charged.


    (NOW!)


    I jumped to my right and dodged the boar''s charge.


    (Is it just me, or was it easier than what the hobgoblin made it out to be?)


    The boar stuck the tree behind and and I didn''t waste this chance to stab it in a vital spot. Atleast I think it was a vital spot, not that I knew anything of a boar''s anatomy.


    It took 2 stabs and the boar was down. It disappeared and left behind some meat.


    "Is it pork? No, that''s pig. What do you get from a boar?  Ah, who cares."


    I put the meat in my inventory and went to rest. I got 5 more levels from the boar but I decided to not use the stat points for now and complete Trichia''s mission.


    I went to rest for a while so all my status bars were full and then went to look for a Rabbit.


    <hr />


    The blue screens make it look so much better. I added some in the previous chapters too. :)

 Vol 2: Chap 9: Leveling Up

    I found a rabbit easily but the next part was gonna be hard. I needed to get hit, ALOT! And with precision. Also the bars in my view don''t tell me exact numerical values. They''re just bars. To know how much HP is remaining I''ll have to open my status in the middle of the fight. But well, all things considered, this was the precisely the reason for choosing a rabbit for the opponent. It was the easiest monster in this forest.


    I got ready for battle.


    (More like, get ready to hit, huh?)


    I couldn''t even throw a stone as I had to keep it''s HP at max throughout the battle. I went close to it and stomped on the ground. But it just ignored me.


    (Wha!?)


    How do I aggro this guy? In all my fights I used to hit them with my dagger, so they registered me as an enemy. But if I don''t attack, it wont attack either? What''s with this humble creature!?


    I bent down close to it and observed it. It looked at me with its red monstery eyes, but it was strangely cute, enough for a girl to go ''kyyaaaaa~'' over it. I tried poking it in the side and it showed me a glared.


    (Oh this might work!)


    I started poking it again and again to annoy it. After about 10 pokes, it stood up and attacked.


    (Ah finally!)


    But I instinctively dodged.


    (Whoops. Need to get hit.)


    Then I purposely took a couple of attacks.


    (So boring. So weak.)


    I had to get hit more than 20 times to get my HP down to 100. I took 2 more hits and got to 63.


    (Another?)


    The next one, I let it graze me and got to 54.


    I decided to make the rest of the attacks as grazes.


    After 3 more, I was down to 27. Then 19, then 12 and finally 6.


    (Seriously!? 6 HP!? WHAT THE HELL!?)


    With 6 HP, even a graze could kill me. I needed atmost 5!


    (So annoying!)


    It was time to decide my next step. Do I continue, or kill it. The least damage I''d ever got was 5. I could try for it again, but it was too much of a gamble. It was better to kill it now and try again later.


    (Maybe?)


    I had a sudden epiphany.


    (No harm in trying, is there?)


    I took a distance from the rabbit, opened my status and increased strength by 1. Now I had 16 HP. I don''t know if it contradicts with the requirements of the skill, but I was soon gonna find out.


    I took another graze and had 11 HP left.


    (Yeah. NOW IT DECIDES TO DO 5 DAMAGE!)


    I took another light hit and my HP was down to 3.


    (Finally.)


    I easily dodged its next attack and cut it in half with my sword.


    And nothing........


    Looks like I didn''t get the skill.


    I didn''t sulk on it and added some points to strength. This way I wouldn''t die if I were to have an unexpected fight.


    "Congratulations on your first skill!"


    Trichia came out of nowhere and hugged me.


    "What are you talking about? I didn''t get the skill." I said to her. There would be some indication if I got one right?


    "Really? I was sure you would have with that fight. Did you check your skill list?"


    "Skills." I opened the skill list without a moment''s delay and there it was.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Insta-kill   MP: 100


    Instantly kill an enemy with current HP lower than 1% of your total HP.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Oh!!!!! My first skill and I got it on my first day!


    "Shouldn''t there be pop-up or something notifying you if you gain a skill?" I asked her.


    "Oh that. You can enable it in the settings."


    I threw her way an accusing glare but she cocked her head to one side, stuck her tongue out and just went "Tehe~".


    I was about to retort but..


    RRROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    The earth shook at the sound of that deafening roar. My hair stood at its end and I faced what could only be called a living embodiment of a natural disaster.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dragon Emperor: The Destroyer of Worlds LVL 1000</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *gulp*


    I don''t know whether the reason that I didn''t piss myself was due to being brave, or because I couldn''t, in the game. It was still a distance away, flying in the sky but gaining fast and straight in my direction.


    It was HUGE! Taller than any building and wider than any stadium. It was so huge that it could probably make love with a mountain. Its body was completely dark with thick golden lines making patterns all over its body. The contrast was so surreal. On one hand, the sunlight seemed to want to avoid it as even its immediate surroundings were dark while on the other, its golden lines themselves seemed to emit some sort of fluorescence. I could only make out its body due to the background being bright. I could only imagine what it must look like in the dark, with only those huge red pupils to look at while they gaze back at you.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Then I noticed something else.


    It had more than 10 HP bars!!! How much health did this monster have!?


    But there was something else that was bothering me. It''s HP bars were coloured differently than any other monster I had faced as of yet. The normal monster''s HP bar was red and turned grey over the area where it indicated loss of HP, but all The Monster''s HP bars were grey.


    I came back to my senses and realised the situation as I heard a voice. Everything started to soon make sense. Why such a Godly Monster was here and why its HP bars were different colored. All of it became clear when I heard Trichia speak.


    "That is the last boss of the game. It currently has 1 HP remaining. Best of luck~" Trichia told me and disappeared.


    ....


    ....


    I took me only a moment to realize what it all meant.


    (I can Insta-kill it!)


    "INSTA-KILL!!!!!!" without any time to waste, I aimed my palms towards the monstrosity and shouted at the top of my lungs.


    I didn''t know how to use a skill or what to expect out of it, but what happened next was pretty anticlimactic. The dragon just disappeared and the peace and quite returned once again. Well, the peace and quite apart from the constant dings in my head.


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    (Ah.)


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    (Stop!)


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    (Fuck.)


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    "Log out."


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Cant log out.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    A system message appeared in front of me, but it kept dinging.


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations for being the first person to cross LVL 100.


    Title obtained: Champion


    Effects: Player recieves 20 stat points for each level up.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    Somewhere along the dinging, I reached level 100 and gained an amazing title.


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    (Is it possible to go mad in the game? Cuz, this sure is driving me nuts.)


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    *ding*


    The dinging went on for what felt like a really long time and after it ended, I checked my status.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 60</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 327</td><td>HP : 380/600</td><td>AGI : 60</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 430/600</td><td>INT : 10</td></tr><tr><td>Title : Champion</td><td>MP : 100/100</td><td>LUC : 10</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 5540</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    (HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, I AM LEVEL 327!!!! AND IT''S STILL MY FIRST DAY OF PLAYING!)


    Trichia was in front of me, waiting for me to sort everything out. I was too tired to deal with this shit. Don''t get me wrong, I was happy and all from levelling up so much but there was another headache coming like the constant dinging.


    "I think that''s it for today Trichia, I''m pretty tired. I''ll go and rest. Though, I''ll probably be back early in the morning since tomorrow''s a Saturday."


    "Umm. Okay. Bye bye." Trichia could probably tell that I was a bit upset.


    "Bye." I said and forced a smile.


    Again, don''t get me wrong. I''m not mad at her or anything. On the contrary, I feel grateful that she''s helping me so much. But when I think about what''s waiting for me, I get seriously depressed. The system doesn''t have a way of adding points in bulk. So tomorrow morning, I''LL HAVE TO CLICK ON MY STATUS SCREEN 5540 TIMES! Just thinking about how long it''ll take is giving me an headache.


    (Whatever. I''ll just go and rest for now.)


    "Logout."

 Vol 2: Chap 10: Im OP

    A big thanks to Edradred! Your comment in last chapter really made my day. :)


    <hr />


    Next day, after having breakfast and freshening up, I dived in again.


    "Welcome back!" Trichia greeted me with her usual smile.


    "Good morning. Or good afternoon?"


    I noticed the sun was high up in the sky.


    "Hihihihihi." She giggled.


    I sat down on a nearby rock and opened my status window.


    (Let''s do this!)


    I had already decided how I was going to set up and status build in the morning. I was a agility oriented player, and I''d still be, though with a lot of HP and MP to boot. I think the reason there were only 3 main stats(not counting luck) was so that players could do everything they want.


    I took a huge breath in and started clicking. Trichia quietly came and sat to my left and leaned on me. I was clicking with my right hand so I didn''t have any problem. Why don''t I ask for her help, you say? That''s because I''ve decided not to. I made a decision to not rely on Trichia anymore. She already did too much for me. I know she just wants to help me, but..... Well, I''ll just come out with it. I don''t wanna become a lazy bum who gets whatever he wants. I''ve decided to use my own strength from now on to get better(Probably too late to say that, huh?).


    Somewhere in the middle of the clicking, we started talking. I don''t remember who initiated but I was still grateful, since the clicking was boring as hell. Trichia told me she missed mom and sis, and I told her they miss her back, but it turned a bit awkward since we didn''t know what more to say. So we moved on to other topics. I told her about my school life while they were away and about my new class. She gave me a suggestive look and asked about my progress with Pauli. I proudly told her that we were great friends. She facepalmed, then giggled and hugged my left arm. Soon, after doing this and that, I was finally done. My status screen now looked something like this.


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 1580</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 327</td><td>HP : 15800/15800</td><td>AGI : 2100</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 21000/21000</td><td>INT : 1000</td></tr><tr><td>Title : Champion</td><td>MP : 10000/10000</td><td>LUC : 1000</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 0</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    I even increased my luck to 1000. Now all my attacks would be critical hits. For someone like me who uses hit and run tactics and sneak attacks, the more I finish the fights in less hits, the better. Just for checking, I had tried adding another point to luck but it didn''t work. There seems to be a limit to this one. Well, that should be obvious, since there''s no reason having a 101% of critical hit, right? Satisfied, I closed my status and..


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations for being the first person to have over 1000 points in strength.


    Title obtained: Strongest


    Effects: Each point in STR increases HP by 20.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations for being the first person to have over 1000 points in agility.


    Title obtained: Fastest


    Effects: Each point in AGI increases SP by 20.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations for being the first person to have over 1000 points in intelligence.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Title obtained: Smartest


    Effects: Each point in INT increases MP by 20.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations for being the first person to have over 1000 points in luck.


    Title obtained: Luckiest


    Effects: Everyday the first monster killed will drop the best item.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I gained another bunch of titles, which made my status go even more ridiculous.


    "Status."


    <table><tbody><tr><td><table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''2''>Name : Rota</td><td>STR : 1580</td></tr><tr><td>LVL : 327</td><td>HP : 31600/31600</td><td>AGI : 2100</td></tr><tr><td>Race : Human</td><td>SP : 42000/42000</td><td>INT : 1000</td></tr><tr><td>Title : Champion, Strongest, Fastest, Smartest, Luckiest</td><td>MP : 20000/20000</td><td>LUC : 1000</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''3''>Points Remaining : 0</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Holy. Mother. Of. GOD! This is too OP! My stats were already close to that of a level 1000! And that''s the max level! And my actual level is still far from it! The potential!!


    This is because of those titles. They doubled each each stat. Well, not exactly, now that I think about it. They doubled the HP, SP and MP but the damage and speed remains the same?


    Haaaah. I sighed.


    I got up feeling a bit exhausted.


    "Are you done?" Trichia asked.


    "...Yeah." I somehow had the feeling that there was more and I was not yet ''done''.


    "Open your inventory." She said with a smile.


    Instead of asking her the reason, I chose the easier path.


    "Inventory."


    I opened the inventory.


    And there it was. A ring.


    I took it out and examined it. It looked straight out of a fantasy even though it was very plain. With a smooth and constant colour throughout, it had a weird shine. Then I realised something...


    This...


    This...


    THIS...!


    (I don''t have the skill to appraise this!)


    I sighed again and put it back in the inventory.


    "Where''d it come from? The dragon emperor, I presume?" I asked Trichia.


    "Yes. It is one of the rarest items in this world and can only be equipped by the person who killed [Dragon Emperor: The Destroyer of Worlds]. Thus, as a special item, it is stored in the inventory of the person who made the last hit."


    "Alright. I see. I get it. One other thing though, are there other items from the dragon emperor?"


    "There ''were''. Dropped items stay in this world for an hour before they disappear or if someone picks them up. Since you logged out and no one else was here, they disappeared. Do you want me to tell you about the drops?"


    (Do I want to have salt rubbed on my wounds? No thank you.)


    "That''s alright. Forget about it." I said.


    "How about the ring?" She asked again.


    "Na. I''ll figure it out on my own. Just tell me one more thing though, would it be better it I equipped it?"


    "Definitely." She answered with confidence and puffed out her chest.


    (Maybe the ring was the main reason she had me do all that?)


    I smiled and patted her head. She giggled and knowing I didn''t have more to ask, disappeared.


    I equipped the ring but didn''t feel any different. There wasn''t any change in my status either.


    (No clues, huh?)


    I left the thought and decided to continue hunting.

 Vol 2: Chap 11: Finding New Information

    I found quite a few monsters after that but each one was easy to slay. None of them even exceeded lvl 50, so it probably wouldn''t be wrong to call them small fry. The max was a red bear at level 47 and even though I''m sure it was a boss of some sort, it died in one hit. I think this is also because of my every hit being a critical. I also gained alot of items due to my extremely high luck and I discovered that similar items could be stacked in the inventory. I already had 8 spoons. There was also change in my gear. I was now wearing full leather clothing I obtained from a single hobgoblin. It was actually my first kill of the day, so it dropped the best item it could: a full set of leather clothing, including leather pants, leather jacket, leather shoes and leather gloves. Though, I already had some leather gloves so I put the new ones in my inventory. Though everything was going smoothly, a problem soon arose. I was out of food. I had just finished eating my last loaf of bread. Even though I had obtained some meat from the monsters, I couldn''t cook. So I finally set my destination back to my home(?) village.


    (Though I really don''t wanna go back, I don''t have much of a choice, do I? Well, I could hopefully find someone to teach me the appraisal skill. Its annoying having so much stuff and not knowing a single thing about anything.)


    Reluctantly, I made my way back to the village, thinking of all sorts of possible scenarios and outcomes.


    Soon, I was at the village entrance.


    "Oh! An adventurer. A rare sight in these parts. Welcome!" The guards greeted.


    (Gotta admit. Did not see that one coming.)


    "Um.. Yeah.. Thank you." I replied a bit awkward and entered. All that thinking and planning on the way seemed wasted.


    (Do they not remember me?)


    Or, maybe the guards were different! Yes, that''s gotta be it! It must be different guards than the last time. Either way I thanked god it turned out so easy. Wait, since I''m in this world, should I thank Trichia? She did say she was something akin to a god in this world.


    (Thank Trichia.)


    I tried but felt awkward. Also, I felt as if I heard someone giggle but I disregarded it as just my imagination.


    Soon, I met the first villager since entering. It was a woman sweeping the street. She gave me a look and continued with her work. I didn''t know if I should say anything so I awkwardly went past her. Soon, I saw more people but no one said anything in particular. I asked a person who was just walking by if I could find something like a shop here to sell and purchase goods. He instructed me to take a left from the first intersection in the road and I''d see it. I did as he told and it was hard to miss. It was the first shop-like place I''d seen since entering. There were daily use commodities, weapons, armour, clothes books, practically everything, but nothing in a large variety. I went inside the shop and saw a young man putting down a book, probably one he was reading before I came in, and got up.


    "Oh, an adventurers. Quites a rare sights in this place. What cans I do for ya?"


    He looked like a friendly person at the first glance, though his way of speaking was a bit wierd.


    "Do you buy.. Umm.. Stuff?" It was my first time doing this so I messed up a bit.


    "What sort of stuff ares we talkings about?" The shopkeeper asked.


    I took out the items from my inventory. There was quite a lot. Cutlery, weapons, materials for clothes, ores, meat etc. He was, to say the least, astonished.


    "Umm.. Is everything alright?" I asked, hoping I hadn''t done something stupid.


    "I''d heards you adventurer folks could pull shit outta nowheres. Its my first times seeing it." He said but immediately got back to his business like attitude. As expected of a professional. He took a few items in his hands and looked at it.


    "Can''ts do nothing for the meats, you can sell thats to the inn here. The rests of it, I can gives you 3000 urz for its." He said.


    I didn''t know the market price so I didn''t know if he was trying to rip me off, though somehow I was pretty sure he was.


    "How about a trade?" I decided to take a gamble.


    The shopkeeper raised one of his eyebrows. I took that as a cue and continued.


    "All this stuff, and in exchange you teach me the appraisal skill."


    The shopkeeper laughed.


    "What makes you thinks I got its?"


    "A hunch." The way he was examining the items seemed off, was how I convinced myself..


    He laughed again.


    "Even if I gots it, yous thinks I give it to ya?"


    "I was hoping you would."


    The shopkeeper went quite for a moment and seemed to consider something.


    "Say what, if yous can defeats the red bear livings in the woods, I''ll give it to ya."


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Quest: Defeat the strongest monster living in the forest near Kinshin village: Red Bear.


    Award: The appraise skill.


    Accept? Yes/No</td></tr></tbody></table>


    A quest was generated. I accepted it.


    Though I was pretty happy about him accepting to give me the skill but...


    "I already defeated it." I told him.


    "What!?" He looked at me surprised.


    (Was it that big of a deal?)


    The shopkeeper''s calm and composure was gone and he was looking at me with incredulous eyes once again.


    "Do you haves any proof!?" He asked, not willing to believe my words.


    "What sort of proof?" When I asked him that, he calmed down a bit and seemed to consider.


    It was hard to prove you killed a monster since its body disappears.


    "Did it drop anythings?" This time he looked at me with serious eyes. Extremely serious eyes.


    "Um. Let me try to remember."


    (Did that fatty drop anything?)


    I checked my inventory to try and find something.


    (Ohh! This is it!)


    I found a fang which I''m pretty sure was what the bear dropped. I didn''t think it would be useful for anything. I took it out and handed it to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took it and examined it, probably appraised it. For a moment, his hands trembled and then looked at me with disbelief.


    "You really dids it." He said slowly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Quest completed.


    Reward: Appraise skill.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    (Hell yeah!)


    I finally obtained the skill. After that I did some small talk with shopkeeper who was now acting a lot more respectfully towards me. I asked him the directed to an inn I could find. He gladly told me that the village had a single inn and gave me directions towards it. I bid him farewell and headed in the direction he guided me to. I soon reached the place he had mentioned.


    It was a 3 story building, a bit wide, probably enough for 6 rooms on a floor. Outside and above the entrance, hung a wooden leaf inscribed with a cross made with a fork and a spoon. It looked a bit run down, as if needed repair in some places, but that was just outside opinion. When I went in, I saw that it was very clean and wholeheartedly maintained. I stood near what seemed like the reception but there was no one around, not a single soul. Feeling awkward standing there like that, I called out.


    "Helloooooo.... Is anybody here?" I said moving in all directions with both my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice.


    Suddenly, I heard some sounds in the room behind the reception. Soon, a woman came out and greeted me.


    "Welcome Adventurer! I am Shirley. Do you wish to stay in this fine inn of mine?" She added a little advertisement.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Rota. And, I''m sorry to disturb you. Were you sleeping?"


    "Oh not at all, please don''t worry about it." She said with a smile.


    (Liar liar, ass on fire. You got drool at the side of your mouth Missy.)


    The drool thing, I didn''t point it out. Felt weird. On a ditzy character, it may look cute but here it just felt wrong. She was thin, VERY thin. Though she was wearing newish clothes, probably to appease her customer, one could tell, and not just from her face. It made me feel bad for the thing I was about to say next.


    "I won''t be staying the night, I just want a good meal." She looked a bit disappointed. But I wasn''t finished and here comes the worst part. "Umm.. Also I don''t have any money, so.."


    "Get out."


    She said that without letting me finish. She had angry(more like, pissed off) eyes and was pointing to the exit.


    "Wait! A trade! I got some fine meat to trade!" I said in a fluster.


    She put down her arm pointing to the exit and said "Show me.", without changing her expression.


    I took out all the meat I had got from hunting and placed it on the counter. There was a single boar meat, 3 rabbit meat and a large bear meat(not from the red bear).


    As I looked back at her after taking out the meat, I noticed the change. She was looking, no, staring at the meat and her breathing was ragged. She looked like she had been hungry for ages. She probably didn''t even realise that I pulled it out of nowhere. I took that as a positive sign and said.


    "So we have a deal?"


    She looked up to me with a "huh?", then probably realised what I was talking about and what she was doing. She hurriedly wiped off her new drool(thankfully) and shouted "Deal!", and quickly grabbed the meat as if worried I would change my mind.


    "Please take a seat in the dining area. Its right behind you. I will bring your supper right away. Do you have any preference?"


    "Na. I''ll leave it to you."


    "Surely." She replied and bowed and went inside.


    I went to the dining area as she instructed and grabbed a random seat. It wasn''t that big but not so small either. There were 5 round tables each with 4 chairs. There were more chairs in the corner should the need ever be but I doubted that the need would ever be.


    Sitting there bored, I decided to take a look at my skills.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Insta-kill   MP: 100


    Instantly kill an enemy with current HP lower than 1% of your total HP.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Appraise MP:100


    Find the details of an object.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I had two skills now with the addition of [Appraise]. Surprisingly, appraise also required MP and a fairly high amount at that. This meant that beginners wouldn''t be able to use the skill a whole lot(not that they''d get it that easily in the first place.)


    I was different though. I had too much MP and only one skill to use it on, not counting insta-kill obviously, since I rarely need to use it.


    I finally decided to use my long awaited appraisal.


    .


    .


    .


    (Again. How the hell do I use this skill!?)


    I remembered insta-kill working with just my saying it so I tried the same here.


    "Appraise."


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Old Wooden Table.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I had tried to appraise the table. I tried it on other things.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Old Wooden Chair.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Oil Lamp.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After doing it to the surroundings a bit, I brought my attention to the real stuff. Namely, the ring I was wearing that I had gotten from the dragon emperor.


    "Appraise."


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ring of Immortality.


    This ring was given by the God of the Underworld to its mighty servant for sending 10,000,000 souls to His realm.


    Effects:


    No penalties on the bearer on death.


    Requirement:


    Slayer of [Dragon Emperor: The Destroyer of Worlds]


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    "How about that? I didn''t even know there was a penalty on death."


    I wanted to laugh. It had to be an amazing item since it was obtained from the last boss of the game but I don''t even know what it was good for.


    "Umm.. Trichia? What is the penalty for death?"


    Trichia appeared in my lap and leaned back on me.


    "You lose 10% of your current level and equivalent stat points from your strongest stat."


    *boom*


    I felt like something exploded in my head.


    (THIS. IS. CRAZY!)


    10 percent, she said. 10 percent!! Though that didn''t mean much on the lower levels, to a high level player, it meant everything!! The higher level you are, the harder it is to level up. If you die....*gulp*... all is lost. Oh, the RISK!! If you die at level 1000, you''ll be brought straight back to 900! Those 100 levels that would have taken years to put up, crushed instantly! Even for me, I would lose 32 levels and 320 points in agility! Just thinking about it makes me want to hide somewhere.


    This.


    This..


    THIS....!!


    (This is an amazing item!!!!)


    I looked at the ring in a daze. It had such a weird description but the effects were too good to be true.


    (I''m never taking this thing off!)


    While I was still admiring the ring on my finger, the innkeeper came in. I came back to my senses and realised Trichia had already disappeared.


    The innkeeper (shit, I forgot her name), placed a bowl in front of me. It was soup with vegetables and meat in it.


    "Please call me if you need anything." She said curtly with a bow.


    "Wait." I said and she stopped as she was about to walk away


    "Can you pack something up for me to eat? I''m hunting in these parts but it would be troubling to come back again and again, though I will be back tomorrow. As payment, I''ll give you all the meat I collect." I suggested to her. Though from her earlier reaction, when I took out the meat from my inventory, I was pretty sure she would accept.


    "Definitely. Please count on me." She said with a blooming smile and returned after another curt bow.


    I watched her go away and then faced back to the bowl in from of me. As I took a bite, my mouth was filled with flavor.


    "This is pretty good."


    It was good. Leaps and bounds better than the bread atleast. Especially the meat was delicious. It had a very... interesting... texture. Nothing I had ever eaten in real life. It could''ve been due to being in a VR, but that didn''t change the fact that it was delicious so I didn''t dwell on it.


    After enjoying the meal thoroughly, I got up and went to the forest. While leaving the inn, I had praised the innkeeper for her cooking.


    Now that I was back here, I could start hunting again but it wouldn''t be good to be here for too long. Real life was kinda really important, and I had to study too.


    "Bye Trichia. I''ll see you later."


    "Bye Bye."


    Trichia appeared and I patted her head before leaving.


    "Logout."

 Vol 2: Chap 12: Trying out New Things

    I was in RL for about 4 hours. Most of it was spent studying and exercising with rest of the tidbits in eating, or freshening up.


    When I finally dived back in again, Trichia was waiting for me.


    "Welcome back."


    Or atleast that''s what she made it look like. She probably sensed my wave thingy(whatever she called it) and appeared just now.


    "I''m back."


    Anyway, I just patted her head and went on to my merry hunting.


    (Oh.. Before that...)


    Yes. I had to eat the lunch that the innkeeper packed.


    After finishing that, I made a mental note to commend her for her cooking skills, and got back to the real reason I was here. This time, I decided to go as far into the forest as possible. It was for the purpose of scouting as well as in the hope of finding more powerful monsters. I decided to use a simple trick for this. With my crazy strength, I could jump crazy high(an act I already performed and lost 10% of my HP doing). So while moving, I would jump with a restricted strength, high enough to look over the tall trees to the village, then move in the direction exactly opposite to it. This way, I could travel in an almost straight line, going as far from the village as possible while still making sure it was within sights so I could return.


    At first I had a bit of a trouble restricting my strength, but after dozens of tries and losing a few hundred HP, I finally got used to it. I encountered many monsters on my way, but I didn''t kill any because I wanted to find a strong monster to get its best loot.


    I reached the point in the forest from where the village looked like an ant. I dared not go any further for the fear that I should lose my way.


    (That was disappointing.)


    The highest level monster I found during my journey was LVL 31, another bear. I started to think that there was nothing else here that could be challenging enough. I could go wandering in search of unknown lands but the main problem was food. Though I could eat the fruits and vegetables in the forest, should the need be but what if I come out of the forest to a grassland or a volcano or an arctic? I didn''t even know how to cook so even the meat was useless. In emergencies I could still just put it above a fire to cook it but I didn''t even know how to build a freaking fire!!


    "Haaah..."


    (I give up.)


    Right now what I most needed was skills. I already had too high of a level, so that was a worry out of the way, not that this stupid forest was good for hunting anyway. For this, I decided to try out various acts. I got insta-kill by completing certain conditions and appraise as an award of a quest. So I knew 2 methods of gaining skills and I was going to try out the first one, while at the same time doing some hunt. Though I said that hunting was useless in the forest, that was for exp. I still had to collect items and meat, not to forget that I had to complete my daily quota of getting the best item from a high level monster.


    I remembered that on the way here, I encountered some deer-like creatures that I hadn''t seen before. While roaming around looking for the LVL 31 bear for my first kill, I encountered one.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Deer LVL 14</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a normal deer except for the two tails. I noticed that most of the monsters here were just a slight variation of an original species. For example, the bears three eyes and the rabbit two nose.


    (They just gave one extra body part to it and called it a monster. So stupid.)


    Getting back to the deer, it was drinking from a stream. I took out some fruits that I collected on my way and went closer.


    The deer looked back suddenly and then turned towards me completely, having seen me. It looked cautious so I advanced slowly as to not startled it. When I got close to it, I reached out my hand towards its head to stroke it. At first, as if confused, it started smelling my hand. I advanced more and finally placed my hand over its head and stroked it. It was smooth and its ears were extremely soft.


    (I could get addicted to this.)


    I had a very nice feeling and a completely new one for me. With my other hand, I tried feeding it. What I had, was a red cherry like fruit. I had already tasted one before and it had a sweet favour. I thought it was extremely delicious.


    The deer ate the fruit easily and looked up to my face. I couldn''t tell what it was thinking and just took it as a sign that it wanted more. Taking out more of those red fruits, I fed it and it ate happily. Though I didn''t get any new skills yet, I was hoping for something like monster tamer. Right then, I heard a rustle behind me. The deer stopped eating and looked from my side. I also looked behind.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Jackal LVL 23</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a two-headed jackal. It was growling at us, ready to leap any moment. I felt the deer move. As I looked back, the deer was already out of my hands and running away. I turned to face the Jackal once more.


    "You just had to piss me off! Insta-kill!!" I shouted at the jackel.


    I was angry. It made my efforts worthless. I aimed at it with my palm and shouted the name of my most powerful skill(well, I only had two and appraise wasn''t a combat skill). The result was....


    It leapt at me.


    (It must have more than 300 HP. Doesn''t matter!)


    I unsheathed my sword and sliced off its two heads with a single swing.


    *clink*


    As it disappeared, a silvery something fell to the ground. On a closer inspection, it was a silver colored dagger. It was too silver to be steel. I realised it was the first kill of the day.


    "Appraise." I said with anticipation.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Silver Dagger


    Effects:


    STR+5


    AGI+5


    STR+10 when fighting undead.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Ohhh...."


    It was a good item, atleast better than anything I had ever gotten. I immediately swapped my current weapon with the dagger. I was no longer angry at the jackal and thanked it in my heart.


    I hunted some more and tried other methods of gaining skills but nothing worked. Instead, while gathering some fruits..


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations. You have passed the requirements to gain a new skill.


    New skill obtained: Gather</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I immediately opened my skill list and read its description.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Gather MP 10


    Collect all the fruits in sight in the user''s inventory.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was an okay skill. Not too shabby. Probably good for a beginner. The most that I can get out of this skill is getting lazier, so I probably wont be using it.


    Another thing to note is that I obtained the skill while collecting some fruits. And its not the first time I did so. That means a condition to obtain the skill must be to gather fruits a number of times. There may be some restrictions like ''do it in given time'' or ''any fruit a minimum number of times'', but it was hard to tell. Though the concrete conclusion was that I shouldn''t stop trying.


    After hunting some more, I was starting to feel hungry. Having collected enough items and meat for the day, I decided to head back. On my way, I collected more fruits and also some herbs. Once they were taken out of the ground, they could be appraised. I didn''t have much of a need for the herbs but I did it anyway in hope to gain a new skill of some sort. That reminds me, I also tried feeding a rabbit today but that didn''t give me anything either. But I wont get too discouraged! The Gather skill was proof that I was on the right track.


    As I got back to the village, instead of going through the gate like I previously did, I jumped over the fencing towards the back. The fencing was as tall as a human adult, but for me it wasn''t even worthy of being called an obstacle. I had carefully chosen the part of the fence which would be closest to the inn so I reached my destination in no time at all. Having given the innkeeper the meat, I asked her if the herbs could be used for anything. She told me that it could be used for cooking or in making other things like ointments, potions etc. Though, it was regrettable that the village did not have an alchemist, so I just gave the herbs to her.


    Then, after another supper and taking with me a boxed lunch, I headed off again, this time in another direction.

 Vol 2: Chap 13: Every Pubescent Boys Dream!

    Sorry about the late chapter. My PC got f*cked up and was gone for repair. It came back today and posting this chapter is the first thing I do!


    <hr />


    A few days passed with same same routine. I hunted and tried new ways to get skills, then took any items I obtained to the village merchant(the shopkeeper) and the meat/herbs to the innkeeper.


    I managed to obtain the following skills in the meantime.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Jump      LVL 4


    Increased max jumping height by 40%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Soft Landing      LVL 4


    Decreased damage by 40% when falling from a height less than max jumping height.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dagger Mastery      LVL 1


    Increased change of critical by 1% when attacking with a dagger.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dig      MP 10


    Dig out a herb from the ground.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The first two were probably gained due to jumping too much. The next, Dagger Mastery, as the name suggests, was gained because of using daggers to fight. These 3 were different from every other skill that I had obtained yet. They were passive. Also, they were level based, so they had to be grinded. Well, the dagger master was useless to me. Each level gave me 1% increase in critical hit chance but I already had a 100% critical hit chance. I had already changed my weapon to an ordinary claymore I purchased from the village merchant, but had yet to obtain something like a Sword Mastery skill.


    The last skill was pretty similar to Gather, just that it worked on herbs rather than fruits. The only benefit to this skill was that I could get the herbs with the roots intact.


    Now lastly, let me tell tell you more about Shirley and what happened to her in the last few days. (Yeah, I found out her name, finally.) Apparantly, the meat I used to give her many a times contained rare pieces which the villagers had never even seen before, much less tasted it. So she advertised the fact and about a dozen people had come to try it during this time. I don''t know but I''m pretty sure that this was the most customers that the inn had ever had. The reason I''m so sure is because one day when I came back, she started crying and hugged me. Obviously, those were tears of joy, which was pretty evident from the fact that she kept saying "thank you" continuously and asking whether she could do anything for me while burying her head in my chest.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    I saw this as a good opportunity and asked her to teach me about the stuff that every pubescent boy of my age wants to know about. She pulled back her head from my chest to look at my face. Her face was red, whether due to the earlier excitement, or due to what I said, I wasn''t sure. Seeing the seriousness in my eyes she looked down and whispered "if you''re alright with me......". Frankly, it was pretty cute. She had put on some skin due to her better meals and looked quite young. She was definitely older than me, but probably not that much. Due to the situation, she looked younger and this situation kinda remined me of a certain incident with Pauli. That brought another thought to mind.


    (No no. What I''m doing here is not cheating on Pauli. This is merely to get experience so I can impress her next time.)


    I convinced myself by saying things like that. The fact that I was going to going to do it in virtual reality probably wouldn''t change the fact that I did it and the experience would carry over with me to the real world. Either way, the experience is what matters and if I''m able to become good at it, the skill would become indispensable.


    This all happened yesterday, and tonight was the night were it all went down. She had suggested that we could also do it in the day, but I was resolute. At night, we could go on uninterrupted. There was no chance of anyone coming in and demanding ''a piece of rare meat that everyone is talking about''.


    As soon as night came, she took me in the back where she lived. To the right was the bedroom and to the left was the kitchen. She went right to the bedroom and I went left to the kitchen. I let her prepare whatever she needed before we start. Meanwhile, I looked around in the kitchen. Since it was so quite, I could easily hear the rustling of clothes from her room. My excitement was reaching its peak knowing what was to soon follow. Soon, she was done and appeared in front of me with an apron on. Why, you ask? Well, obviously because she was going to teach me how to cook. What else did you think?


    <hr />


    Every teenage boy loves to cook, doesn''t he? xD

 Vol 2: Chap 14: A new Companion

    A few more days passed and most of my time was spent learning to cook while hunting on the side. Though its not so important, I''ll mention it anyway that my level rose by 1.


    More importantly, due to going into the forest everyday, I had gotten pretty much used to it and everything had become much easier. Now whenever I required a certain kind of herb or needed to encounter a certain monster, I had a general idea of where to look for. This was even more helpful in my cooking course since I could easily obtain the desired ingredient without wasting too much time or effort.


    Yeah. I was starting to think of this as a waste of effort. And by ''this'', I mean hunting. Such low level foes died in a single hit of my sword. Once, I got pissed and punched a monster in the face and its whole body was blown to smithereens. This made me realise that even the single hit from my sword is too much of an overkill. I seriously needed to go out and fight stronger enemies. And for this, I had to somehow manage my food problem. And that brings us back to the main topic. Though I had learnt only some of the basics, I was confident that with enough trial and error, I could manage somehow on my own, and with time, it was only going to get easier.. Though, I won''t deny the fact that most of that confidence is induced by my boredom of this place. Still, I was able to manage to get the cooking skill.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Cooking LVL 1


    The food cooked by the user is more delicious.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a bit vague. Rest of the skills that were similar had a clear numerical value that defined the limits of the skill. So it was a bit hard to measure the effects of it. But either way, I was glad to obtain a new skill. Also, gaining this skill made me realise something. All active skills used mana and their effects were fixed while the passive ones were level depended and had to be grinded for better output. I confirmed this with Trichia and she told me another interesting thing to note. It went something like this-


    "You can have an active fireball skill and a passive fire damage skill. The active skill will remain the same no matter how many times you use. On the other hand, the passive skill will rise, thus creating a synergic effect, increasing the damage of the active skill."


    This had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that the passive skill not only affected fireball but also other skills of fire category. This also meant that the passive skill could be increased more easily due to a variety of active spells affecting it. In short, each spell you cast effected the entire system of spell(fire, water, etc). Now the disadvantage was that it was necessary to have the particular skills which compliment each other. The main problem for this was the unpredictability of conditions to obtain a skill. Because if you didn''t know the conditions, you couldn''t obtain the skill and if you couldn''t obtain the skill.. well any further comment is useless then.


    I don''t know how many times I''ve drifted away from the main topic but not anymore(hopefully).


    Yes, so I had finally decided to leave this place and wander around. In technical terms, I''ll be going on an ADVENTURE!


    Right now, I was heading back to the inn after hunting and thinking about how to tell this to Shirley. She was probably going to be dejected since her main source of income was saying goodbye to her face. While walking, I was preparing an entire script in my mind and playing out many different scenarios, just like I did when I entered the village. Somehow, I had the feeling that this was going to all go down in the gutter again, and so it did. Because what happened was obviously out of my expectations. I''m starting to think God loves playing with me, and considering the god is Trichia, I''m pretty sure I''m on the right track. So anyway, here is how it all went down-


    "Welcome back! Got any new monsters today?" Shirley greeted me. This had become something of a routine now.


    "Umm.. No, I didn''t. Hey listen Shirley, I have something important to talk to you about?" I started with my opener to create the mood


    "You''re finally leaving?" She asked with a smile.


    "Huh?"


    Was I hearing right? Did she just sound happy?


    I looked at her and she was smiling.


    What?


    Was I... actually a nuisance here?


    Had I overstayed my welcome?


    I felt like I was hit by a truck.


    I didn''t even think about doing all that wasted planning for her. My mind was suddenly filled with all the happy memories we shared. When she hugged me and cried her eyes out. The time when the dish made with the Puckleberry burst on my face and she laughed her ass off. And many more.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    I saw her face... from when I first appeared, next to to her current one. The difference was heavenly! I... I... I was happy here. Somewhere in my chest, I felt a pinch.


    (No this is for the best.)


    I tried to convince myself. It was better to say goodbye while smiling. But that pinching feeling in my heart was a constant reminder.


    I tried to smile but couldn''t. I definitely wasn''t going to cry here either. Somehow, I build up my resolve, my courage, my guts, my everything and said.


    "Yes. I''m leaving." The tone that came out was a bit harsh but I couldn''t help it.


    "Good. Let''s go."


    She pulled out a sort of jute bag from under the counter and hung it on her back. With that she took my hand and pulled my out of the inn and starting locking up. While she was doing all this, was my mind was in a frenzy? No. In a trance? No. It was freaking blank!


    She was closing up the main entrance and I was currently standing behind her. This was the situation when a bit of my senses returned.


    "WHAT!?" I immediately shouted.


    She got startled.


    "What happened? Are we under attack?" She looked around cowering and then looked at me.


    "No.. You? Me.. Wha..? Inn? Its.. I... Leave? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!???" Now my mind was in real frenzy!


    "Hey hey. Calm down. I''m obviously coming with you."


    "How? What? Why? When? Where? How? I don...." She placed a finger on my mouth to stop me from speaking and did a "shhhh...." With her mouth.


    "Calm down. Its not too hard to understand, is it? I''m coming with you."


    "Yef, buf why?" I spoke while her finger was still on my mouth


    She put down her hand and started speaking.


    "Do you think I want to stay in this hell hole for the rest of my life? Before you came, the only thoughts I had were of dying. I probably wouldn''t have been able to live much longer had you not come when you did. What do you think I''m supposed to do after you''re gone? Sit in a corner again, waiting to die from starvation or commit suicide altogether?"


    "But its dangerous where I''m going..." I said.


    "Anything!" She interrupted. "Anything would be better than this place. I don''t care even if you use me as bait or as fodder for some monster. I don''t care if you use me in any way you like. I''ll satisfy your every want. I''ll cook for you, wash your clothes, carry all your stuff. When you''re tired, I''ll feed you and wash your body. When you''re sleeping, I''ll stay up all night and guard you with my life. When its sunny, I''ll take the high ground and keep you in shade. When its raining, I''ll hold up the umbrella until my hands go numb. When you''re hungry for sex, I''ll let you use my body, in any way you desire. So please! Please take me with you."


    She had said all that with great seriousness. I could tell that she had made up her mind long before and was resolute.


    The earlier pinching in my heart was gone and it was replaced by a different kind of pinching.


    I took her in a hug and whispered in her ear.


    "I''ll take you with me. But there''s no need for you to do anything like that."


    Her body trembled slightly in my embrace and I could tell she was weeping silently. I tightened the hug and rubbed her back.


    I''ll keep this to myself but the gap moe was kinda cute.


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    .


    We stood there like that for I don''t know how long, before she whispered in my ears.


    "How long are you going to press against my boobs?"


    I immediately separated.


    "No. That wasn''t my intention, I swear!" I said trying to defend myself.


    She just laughed at my reaction and I realised she was only teasing me.


    "You..." I glared at her.


    She kept laughing.


    "Hahaha.... Oh my god.. My stomach... Hahaha.." Her stomach probably started hurting from laughing that hard. She was still laughing and almost fell on the ground.


    I just ignored her and walked away.


    "No.. Hahaha.. Wait for me, Rota.. Hahaha.. Wait." She tried walking while still clutching her stomach while laughing.


    There''s probably a looong journey ahead of us.


    <hr />


    I''m not really good at writing emotional stuff. Did you like it? (Though in the end I couldn''t resist adding some humor xD)

 Vol 2: Chap 15: Making a Party

    lol I just realised that I forgot to title the last chapter. Did it now though. :p


    <hr />


    When she finally stopped laughing, I took her bag and put it in my inventory. As if realising something, she asked-


    "How much can that inventory of yours store?"


    "I''m not sure. Never tried to test its limits." Was the only answer I could think of.


    She then asked me if I could bring the entire the inn with me. I immediately refused. I told her that only those things which registered as an item could be put in the inventory. She quickly asked back for her bag, and taking out the key started opening the lock. Then she had me put everything in the inn into my inventory till there wasn''t a single item remaining. It was almost ghastly, the way the inn looked now. Shirley seemed satisfied and nodded her head, and we got out once again for her to put the locks back on. Right now in my inventory was her every kitchen utensil, cutlery, spices, any other food stuff, her clothes, daily items, her entire freaking bed, even her chairs and tables from the dining area, then all the lamps, quilts, paper and other things including the smallest of items. She had me put inside everything. I was starting to wonder who among us was the one leading the journey.


    "Do you have anyone you want to say goodbye to?" I asked her once she was done setting up the locks.


    She looked at me as if saying "are you stupid?". Then she said-


    "Have you ever seen me get friendly with anyone here?"


    "Well... in that case would it be better if we got out from the back?" I didn''t bother answering her question as I understood it was rhetorical.


    "The back? You mean there''s a secret passage or something?" She asked, excited.


    "Over the fence, I mean." I told her.


    "You do know that the fence is 6 feet high right?"


    "Haha. Come with me."


    I just laughed at her weird expression and pulled her to the place when I usually made my exit from. I turned to face her after reaching the place. The fence was exactly my height but Shirley was about half a feet smaller. There was no way, especially for someone like her to climb the freaking thing.


    She just stood there waiting for my next action. I got closer to her and swiped her off her feet in a single smooth motion. Then I tightened my grip around her and without giving her a moment to prepare, made the leap. Even when using the bare minimum of my strength, I was easily able to reach the other side. But what just happened was pretty unexpected.


    "You didn''t scream?" It was a question more directed towards the ''why'' part.


    "I have nothing to fear as long as I''m beside you. I already decided to give you my everything anyway."


    I got a bit flustered, but then realised she was probably teasing me again. As revenge, I let her down all at once.


    "Aaaa!" She finally screamed.


    *thump* She fell right on her behind.


    She got up while rubbing her butt and sent my way more than just a couple of glares.


    "What was that for!?" She exclaimed.


    I just gave her a meaningful smile and headed towards the forest.


    (Revenge successful!)


    I gave myself a mental thumbs up and saw in my minimap that she was starting to catch up.


    .


    .


    .


    .


    We continued on for a while, but we were faced with another obstacle. Shirley was huffing really bad. Turns out she wasn''t much suited for this adventure stuff. It was one of the things I had already predicted but this was too disappointing. Even if we were in the forest, we had only walked for about 10-15 minutes and already taking a break. This inadvertently made me cry out-


    "How little SP do you have!?"


    "huff.. only 120.. oh mighty... adventurer." She replied in a sarcastic tone.


    But it was weird. I didn''t expect an answer. Well yeah, I asked the question, but it wasn''t actually a question. I mean, I didn''t know NPCs even have SP. But that meant they should have an entire status.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "Wait. Do you have a level?"


    "Of coarse I do! *huff* Who doesn''t!? *huff*"


    Well that was new, at least for me.


    "What level are you?"


    "............" She turned away her head at my question.


    Well I could tell she was probably very low levelled since she had only 120 SP.


    "..two." She finally said averting her gaze.


    Well, I already guessed it. But this was also a good thing. If she had a level, all we needed to do was level her up. Then, I had another idea.


    "Can we form a party?" I asked her.


    "I don''t mind." She replied.


    I actually asked if it was possible to do but she probably took it as me asking for her consent. That was in itself, a good and a bad thing. Good because she didn''t realise I didn''t such an obvious thing(obvious to her). Bad because I really did not know such an obvious thing.


    (How the hell do I form a party?)


    "Well? What are you waiting for?" She was looking much better having recovered some of her strength.


    Her question was another problem though.


    (Trichia! Help!)


    I called for Trichia in my mind hoping she could do something.


    Just then, I heard a voice in my head. I say ''in my head'' because Shirley did not have any visible reactions and I was most definitely able to hear it.


    "Say ''Invite'', then the person''s name and then ''to party''. In your case, ''Invite Shirley to party''."


    It was a 100% Trichia''s voice!


    (Thanks, my cute little sister!)


    I shouted in my head and heard a giggle.


    "Invite Shirley to party." I said at last, just as she was starting to give me her ''what''s wrong?'' look again.


    Then she looked at something, probably a pop-up asking for confirmation. I heard her say "yes" and this time a pop-up appeared in front of me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Shirley has accepted your party invite!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Current members in your party:


    Rota(leader)


    Shirley</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "You can also change the percentage distribution of EXP sharing. Say ''Set Party Experience''"


    I heard Trichia''s voice again. What she told me was pretty incredible. A system like that had many advantages and I''m sure everyone in the game would have already found numerous ways to exploit it. I was going to do the same.


    "Set party experience." I called out without a moment''s hesitation.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Set the distribution of sharing of EXP:


    Rota - 50 % +


    Shirley - 50 % +</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Equal distribution was good and all, but in a place where 100% was useless for me, 50% was even more useless. After I was done, it became something like this.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Set the distribution of sharing of EXP:


    Rota - 0 % +


    Shirley - 100 % +</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Satisfied, I closed the window and looked towards Shirley. Realising I was done, she finally spoke.


    "Should I prepare something to eat?"


    The offer was tempting and all, but I had other plans.


    "No, we''re first going to power level you." I said with an evil grin.


    "*gulp* .......Okay."


    And so the hunt begins.


    <hr />


    The squeazy levelling up system is what I came up with to counter the crazy death penalty. ;)

 Vol 2: Chap 16: Guardian Angel?

    After that, I slew every monster that I came across and in no time, Shirley was level 32. I had told her to put 7 points in AGI and the rest in STR on each level up. The points in STR were important to increase her HP. Even though I''m with her, there could come a moment where she had to take a hit or two. This would atleast ensure her survival. The points in AGI were obviously, so we could travel faster and longer. Thus, I told her to put majority of her points in AGI. By now, she had about 20 times her previous SP.


    Also, I gained another skill.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Sword Mastery LVL 1


    Increased damage by 0.1% when attacking with a sword.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    We finally took a break as we were starting to get real hungry. We found a small patch of land and settled down. Taking out the cooking items as per her orders, I started thinking about our future coarse of action. If Shirley was really going to travel with me, she had to be more than just a cook in the journey. I was planning to go to dangerous places. In such places, she would only be a hindrance and would most probably end up dying. It was better for her to participate in the battles. But from what I had seen, she was no way in hell suited for close combat. Having absolutely no training since young, she probably couldn''t use any weapon, whether it be a sword or a bow. In my opinion, it would be better if she could somehow obtain magic skills, but even was a huge problem. I didn''t have the faintest idea how to obtain one.


    Since I couldn''t come up with anything, I decided that I will leave it for later and would go back after eating.


    (Oh crap.)


    How could I have not realised this sooner. I had to leave for the real world.


    (Is it just me, or I have only faced one problem another since Shirley came with me? I guess its probably not such a good idea for a user to get close to an NPC.)


    Regretting now wasn''t going to help. Even if she knew I had to leave (she once said to me "I''ve never seen one of you adventurers but I''ve heard stories you''re from another world and have to leave from time to time"), the fact that she''d get eaten by some monster during that time, wouldn''t change.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    (Trichia! Help please!)


    Seeing no way out, I asked help from my guardian angel.


    "What do you need?" She asked in my head.


    I had decided to not ask for Trichia''s help unless it was to enquire something about ''the system'', but this was an emergency.


    (I''m worried about Shirley''s safety. Is there some way to protect her once I''m gone?)


    "You want me to help your affair behind Pauli''s back? A flower in each hand. I didn''t know my innocent big brother would grow into such a womaniser."


    (Wha..wha..what are you talking about? We''re not having an affair! I''m totally dedicated to Pauli! Shirley is just....)


    "Yeah, what is she to you?"


    (Just a travelling companion.)


    "In a princess carry?"


    (That was inevitable! We had to cross the fence!)


    "Tight hugging to press against her breasts."


    (That was an accident! An accident I tell ya!)


    "An excuse for everything. Where did my innocent big brother go? Rota~~ Where are you~~?"


    (.....There''s really nothing between us.)


    "Well, I''ll believe you if you insist so much. Either way, I think it''d be ''entertaining'' to get into big brother''s body. Guehehehehe."


    I felt a chill run down my spine from that laugh.


    (I don''t really like the sound of that. What do you mean by getting into my body?)


    "I''ll control your body to fend off any monsters that come. And in the meantime, have some intimate chat with Shirley. *wink*"


    Even though she was speaking in my head, I still somehow felt her wink at me.


    (I got nothing.)


    It was probably better to shut up. Debating against a god could only result in me being squashed like a bug.


    Thus, after eating Shirley''s delicious cooking, I logged out and let Trichia take over. Whatever happens in my absence can only be sorted out tomorrow.


    -------------------------------------


    Another small chapter. But no worries! I''ve planned for the next chapter to be considerably longer!! xD

 Vol 2: Chap 17: Another Potential Companion

    I changed dialogue sentences to a new type in this chapter. It became a bit confusing with more than 2 people talking together. I think I''ll keep the new style.


    Also, I promised you a long chapter and here it is. (It turned out longer than I expected and now I don''t have a writing lead so the next will probably be in 2 days)


    <hr />


    Today was a working day and I had to go to school. Though I was worried about Shirley, I couldn''t miss school. 2 days will probably pass in game time by the time I return and it''ll be the same for every day I have school.


    (I really should have thought it through when I let her accompany me on my journey.)


    "Haaah..." (Me)


    I sighed and got out of bed.


    After doing some stretching and basic exercises I got freshened up and put on my uniform.


    "HEY MOM, WHERE ARE MY SCHOOL SOCKS?" (Me)


    I shouted from my room on the first floor.


    "THEY HAVEN''T DRIED YET. WEAR SOMETHING ELSE." (Mom)


    Mom replied from the kitchen downstairs.


    I took out another pair of socks and put it on. Thankfully, after getting into high school no one cares to check our uniforms.


    Having eaten breakfast, I grabbed my lunch and dashed out of the house. I was getting late. Playing IO yesterday turned out too long due to the unexpected events and so I had to study late into the night to complete my daily quota, which is the reason why I overslept today.


    I could have reached the school easily if I ran, but it wasn''t good to run right after eating. So I half jogged - half walked and barely manage to reach on time. By the time I entered, I could see our homeroom teacher walking towards our class from the opposite direction.


    (Safe!)


    I gave myself a mental thumbs up and got to my seat.


    After that, everything was pretty much according to routine. We had our attendance taken. Then, had our different periods. Teachers came and taught. We listened and made notes. Everything was just like usual until lunch break. Pauli came over with her lunch and we started eating. Then she asked-


    "Rota, do you play Infinity Outbreak?" (Pauli)


    "Sure, I do." (Me)


    Obviously, I told the truth.


    "Where are you?" (Pauli)


    "What do you mean? I''m right in front of you." (Me)


    Was she alright?


    "In the game, I mean." (Pauli)


    She said without minding my stupidity.


    "Oh, near a village called Kinshin, why?" (Me)


    "Father gifted me a IO set on my birthday and I was a bit confused where to start from." (Pauli)


    Oh yeah, it was Pauli''s birthday yesterday. I got her a small muffin cake, by the way. I wanted to get something better, maybe something like a wedding ring but she''d be too embarrassed so I decided to go with something simpler.


    "So I figured I should go to somewhere I can find someone I know." (Pauli)


    (Wait! Wait! Wait! BAD situation! I''m with Shirley right now!)


    I didn''t immediately realise that my thoughts resembled those of a man who was having an affair behind his wife''s back.


    "Its better if you don''t come to me. I''m already very high level and far from the village. Also, Kinshin is a pretty bad place to start. Its completely secluded and there''s no inn(well not anymore) and there''s not even.........." (Me)


    I suddenly came to my senses.


    (Pauli wants to play with ME!??)


    (What the fuck am I making excuses for!!??)


    "No wait.. On second thoughts, I''m actually quite near. And you''re right. It would be better to start in a place where you know someone. Hahaha.. Haha. Ha.. Ha." I made a quick roundabout in my speech.


    She gave me one of those looks that she did when I ''spaced out'' but didn''t say anything.


    "Then I''ll select.. Kinshin, right?" (Pauli)


    "Yeah!" (Me)


    (Two saves in one day! I''m on fire!)


    We continued having our lunch while discussing various details about the game. It was a good thing, since I could power level her too. But this meant I had to find a combat job for her too. Living in our modern world, it was stupid to expect anyone to have experience with a weapon. I asked her anyway, if she did, by any chance.


    "I keep a taser with me. Does that count?" (Pauli)


    (A taser? Haha, she''s so cute.)


    Though the taser was a good weapon, it wasn''t actually a ''weapon'', if you know what I mean. It''d be more than useless in the wilderness.


    "No, it doesn''t count as a weapon. Also, I haven''t come across a taser like item in the game anyway, so its better not to get your hopes up." (Me)


    I decided I would give her a bow for practice. I had only one and it looked pretty bad but since I was going to go back to the village anyway, I''ll just buy a new one from the merchant there.


    After a little more discussion, it was decided that she would log in after an hour of reaching her home. This wouldn''t give me enough time to reach the village but since I told her to take the tutorial, I just decided it on instinct.


    Also, during the discussion she asked what level I was, but I was somehow able to sidestep that question. I decided not to tell anyone of my high level, lest I get into trouble.


    After the lunch, everything went back to the same old routine. Teachers came and taught. We listened and made notes. Finally, the last bell rang and school broke. While heading back home I confirmed the details one last time with Pauli and then we went our separate ways.


    (I''m the man! I''m the man! I AM THE MAN!! HAHAHAHAHAHA.)


    During the entire walk home I kept praising myself. The reason, obviously because I was going to have Pauli all to myself. Haha! I''m sooo happy!


    After reaching home, I had lunch and changed out of my uniform and straight away dived in to IO.


    I appeared in the same place I had left and Shirley was in front of me cooking.


    (Looks like I came at a good time.)


    The smell of the food was drafting away and alluring my senses.


    " "Welcome Back!" " (Trichia & Shirley)


    Two voices greeted me at the same time.


    "I''m back." (Me)


    I said as if replying to both the voices.


    "You hungry?" (Shirley)


    This time it was only Shirley who spoke.


    I had just eaten before diving in but I was still feeling hungry. The only conclusion could be that everything worked different in VR.


    "Bring it on!" (Me)


    " "You''re in a good mood today." " (Trichia & Shirley)


    Again came the two voices.


    "Really? It must be your imagination." (Me)


    I tried to change my tone to normal one.


    "Umm.. Could be." (Shirley)


    "Definitely suspicious!" (Trichia.)


    Trichia was sharp. Probably because she had known me longer.


    (Being a super computer must have its perks.)


    Anyway, I chose not to reply. Trichia would realise anyway once ''she'' comes.


    While in the middle of eating Shirley''s cooking, I decided to start the conversation. I had 2 topics, but I kept the easier and more obvious one for later, so I could change the first when I feel like(smart, right?).


    "Shirley, we''ll be heading back to Kinshin." (Me)


    It was probably a bit too abrupt, since Shirley choked on the food she was eating and started coughing. I quickly got up and rubbed her back(I remember mother doing the same to me when it happened to me). After coughing for half a minute, she started feeling a bit better but there were tears in her eyes, probably due to all that coughing. I gave her some water and she just breathed quietly for a minute. Then she finally looked up, and I could tell that the tears in her eyes had grown. And then came to me an epiphany.


    "Oh no! You have it wrong! I''m not going there to leave you behind! We''re going to have a new companion, from my world." (Me)


    I quickly clarified.


    Shirley visibly breathed a sigh of relief and started wiping her eyes.


    "A new companion from ''your world''. Based on the way you were grinning earlier..... OH MY GOD! PAULI''S COMING, ISN''T SHE!!!!?????" (Trichia)


    (Wha..wha...wha? H.h..how did you come to that conclusion? No, she''s not!! I..i..its someone else!)


    "That reaction! OH MY GOD!! HOW? WHEN? WHERE? GIVE ME ALL THE DETAILS!!" (Trichia)


    (D..d..details? There''s no details! Nothing''s happened yet!!)


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Nothing''s happened ''yet''? So you''re expecting for something to happen ''soon''?" (Trichia)


    (Okay okay. Pauli''s the one coming. Please stop teasing me.)


    I gave up.


    "Hihihihi. Its better not to hide anything from me, big brother." (Trichia)


    (Just so you know, I will definitely have my revenge one day! One day, I tell you!)


    "Dream on, big brother." (Trichia)


    She just giggled and her voice disappeared.


    I finally got back my attention to Shirley, who was now eating happily.


    "You''re better now?" I asked her.


    She just smiled and gave me a big nod. That act made her seem like a little girl.


    Anyways, I was glad that she didn''t ask me any questions about our new ''companion'', so I just brought up the second topic without having to use it as a topic changer.


    "How did your training go?" (Me)


    "Not too well." (Shirley)


    She looked a bit down.


    "Don''t worry it was your first time." (Me)


    I tried to console her.


    When I left yesterday night, I handed her a few weapons to try and use. I told her to train with whichever one she found more comfortable. Looks like she didn''t. I was still a bit sided towards teaching her magic, but I didn''t yet have a method to do it.


    Having had our lunch, we headed towards the village. On the way, I killed any monster we came across to get EXP for Shirley. While going back, Shirley was strangely quite.


    "Are you sure you''re alright?" (Me)


    I asked with concern.


    "I really don''t want to go back to that wretched place." (Shirley)


    She said that without hiding the hate in her voice.


    "Oh, cmon! It can''t be that bad, can it? It was your birthplace. You lived there for like....." (Me)


    I felt it there for her to finish.


    She narrowed her gaze and looked at me with half closed eyes.


    "I''m not telling you my age." (Shirley)


    "Found out, huh? Whoops" (Me)


    I stuck my tongue out as I got caught.


    "Anyways, don''t worry. We wont be there for long. We''ll pick up our new companion and make a final stop at the merchant''s place." (Me)


    "You mean at Mr. Hardy''s?" (Shirley)


    "Maybe that''s the guy. I''m not really good with names." (Me)


    I spoke the truth.


    "Yeah, I know. You forgot mine the day we met." (Shirley)


    She narrowed her eyes even further and gave me a sharp look.


    "Found out about that too, eh?" (Me)


    I averted my gaze due to embarrassment.


    (Is it just me, or all the women around me are too sharp? Is this what they call a woman''s intuition?)


    "It was really obvious. Just calling me with ''Hey'', ''umm.. Listen'' and once when I was set on ignoring you to check if it was true, you even called me ''miss innkeeper''. Also, the tricks you used, also pretty obvious. You started with a random topic to get my attention before shifting to what you needed." (Shirley)


    I almost fell down! I always thought I was clever for having fooled her all the while!


    (I want to hide my face!)


    Now I was REALLY  embarrassed. I actually did this with many people. To think if it was this obvious, how many would have found out!? Its not MY fault I can''t remember names!


    "Just so you know, I don''t care about that anymore."  (Shirley)


    She said in a gentle tone and hugged my arm.


    Were my feelings THAT obvious that she had to come and console me? Though there was another problem right now.


    "Umm.. Shirley.. I can feel your boobs pressing against my arm." (Me)


    There was a soft(and a really nice) sensation on my right arm.


    "So? Are you getting excited?" (Shirley)


    She said that in a teasing manner.


    "NO!" (Me)


    I denied the accusation.


    "Then its not a problem, is it?" (Shirley)


    She won, again.


    I just let her do as she pleased. Not like I could say anything anyway.


    "So tell me a bit about this new companion." (Shirley)


    She started another topic. There was still a while till we got back to Kinshin.


    "Its just a friend who''s coming to your world for the first time." (Me)


    "So he asked you to show him around?" (Shirley)


    "You can say that." (Me)


    "So you''ll be power levelling him too?" (Shirley)


    "Most probably." (Me)


    "What weapons does he use?" (Shirley)


    "None yet, just like you." (Me)


    Her questions coninued and I replied with concise answers.


    "Oh she''s here!!!" (Trichia)


    This time came Trichia''s voice in my head.


    (What!? How do you know!?)


    "I was going to check out all the users who registered as ''New Players''. She was the only one today and she logged in just now!!" (Trichia)


    (Really, how much free time do you have.)


    "Being a supercomputer has its perks, you know." (Trichia)


    Crap. She probably heard that from me.


    "Oh, now she taking the tutorial!" (Trichia)


    Trichia started doing live commentary.


    "She chose a spear for her first try. But her stance is really bad. Her swings have no power. AND! She just fell on nothing. Oh wait, she''s getting up. And here comes the butt cleaning. She''s rubbing her butt. Yes, yes, nice and slow. Now she''s taking another stance and another swing. Oh, she fell again. But she didn''t give up hope. She decides to change her weapon to a bow while thinking about a certain somebody whose name starts with the letter ''R''! She hangs the quiver on her back and takes out her first arrow. While stretching the string of the bow, she aims at the target in front of her. OH, she''s not firing! She just looks and aims properly while maintaining a steady breathing. Looks like she might actually do it. AND SHE LETS IT RIP AND THE ARROW HITS ITS TARGET! COULD THIS BE?!?! THE BIRTH OF A NEW CHAMPION??!!!" (Trichia)


    Looks like she got a bit too much into it. Though I wanted to ask about ''the certain somebody whose name starts with R'' but I was just as curious as to how she would do so I refrained.


    "The trial is not over yet! Another target appears, this time a bit further from the first, and she lets it rip again! Oh, it misses. But she doesn''t give up hope! She pulls back another arrow, aims carefully and.. and.. And it misses again! Was the first time a fluke? Was all our excitement all for nothing? She''s not giving up hope yet. She takes out another arrow and lets it fly! Itsgonnahit! Itsgonnamiss! AND IT HITS! OHHHH!!! Everyone''s going wild!! But wait! What''s this? Looks like she''s not done yet. She takes out yet another arrow from her quiver and fixes it on the bow. Keeping one eye closed, she looks with the other from over the arrow. Pulling the arrow with her right hand, she fixes the direction with her left. Moving the left index finger 2 millimetres up she relaxes the right hand a bit and gives it a twist and pulls it back again. Oh! Is she trying a new technique!? She adjusts her left hand again and looks, adjusts, pulls, deliberates, concentrates! Calmly, smoothly, carefully, truthfully and beautifully lets it go! What''s this? THE ARROW IS ROTATING!!?? Its way faster than the previous ones, but will it hit? And it hits! RIGHT AT THE CENTRE OF THE TARGET!! THIS IS LEGENDARY PEOPLE!! TO SEE A SPECTACLE LIKE THIS, ITS LIKE A DREAM COmmm......" (Trichia)


    (HEY TRICHIA!)


    I shouted to interrupt her.


    (You''re getting a little too excited.)


    "Oh, but I am! Its Pauli we''re talking about here!"


    (But still... I guess its maybe my first time to see you that excited.)


    "Thats not true. This is nothing compared to when you came! You can''t even imagine how glad I was. To finally meet my big brother again!"


    Truthfully, I was blushing a bit when she said that. If Trichia was here right now, I would have inadvertently picked her up in a tight hug.


    (I..I.. was really happy to see you too.)


    "Aww. Big brother is being shy. So cute!)


    (A..anyway. How long do you think Pauli''s tutorial will take?)


    I tried changing the topic.


    "Hmm. She is still practising with the bow for now. Including the descriptions that come after this, probably around half an hour."


    (Oh. It''ll probably take us about the same to reach there. Its a good thing then.)

 Vol 2: Chap 18: Shes here!

    Right, I was. After exactly half an hour, I was standing with Shirley right outside the part of the fence where we exited.


    Pauli was already done about 2 minutes ago and waiting at the temple where I first appeared, according to Trichia. Since she was here, I picked up the pace a bit more.


    "Shall we?" I said to Shirley. This time I asked for permission, rather than just picking her up.


    She stood in front of me and turned to the side. I took that as a consent and picked up her legs with my left hand and grabbed her upper body with my right. Unlike the last time, she had her hands wrapped around my neck.


    With one easy jump, we crossed the fence and I let her down. Walking for about 2 more minutes, the temple was finally in sight. Someone waved at us and was running over. At first I thought it was Pauli. Well, it should have been, I mean who else could it be? But...


    (Who IS that?)


    Wait, now that she''s coming closer, I recognized that face! It is actually the  non-glasses Pauli. She looks so weird without them, or maybe I''m just too used to seeing her wearing her glasses. You probably don''t need those in VR?


    As she was coming closer, I started deliberating over what to say. "Hi", "Did you wait long?", "You look good without your glasses.", or just take her in a plain old hug.


    (Is it just me, or I hug people a lot?)


    "I like it."(Trichia)


    I left Trichia''s comment for later and focused on what was in front of me. I decided to comment on her glasses but... Have my plans EVER come to fruition!?


    When Pauli was about 2 metres away, Shirley came in between and stretched out her arms, one towards Pauli and the other towards me which caused Pauli to stop her momentum.


    "Don''t tell me this is the new companion you were talking about!?" (Shirley)


    "Yeah. This is Pauli." (Me)


    "You told me it was a friend!" (Shirley)


    "She is." (Me)


    "Then why does your ''friend'' have these!?" (Shirley)


    Shirley cupped her hands and moved them up and down under Pauli''s breasts. I got a bit embarrassed from that but controlled myself since Pauli didn''t seem to care and was only looking at Shirley with a weird look.


    "That''s because she''s a girl?" (Me)


    "Exactly! And you said that it was a guy!" (Shirley)


    "Hey hey! I never said that, you assumed it yourself!" (Me)


    "But you didn''t correct me." (Shirley)


    Shirley was totally glaring at me. She was telling the truth too, so I had nothing to retort with.


    "What''s going on Rota? Who is this?" (Pauli)


    Finally spoke my beloved Pauli and saved me from the devil-like glare.


    "Oh yeah, this is Shirley. She''s a travelling companion." (Me)


    "I''m his wife." (Shirley) She interrupted.


    "You told me you were alone?" (Pauli)


    I gave Pauli a mental thumbs up for ignoring Shirley. Haha! Serves her right!


    "Well you see, that was in regards to another user. Shirley here is a resident of THIS world." (Me)


    "What? You mean like an NPC?" (Pauli)


    "What''s an NPC?" (Shirley) She interrupted again.


    "Its what we adventurers call the people of your world." (Me) I answered Shirley''s question, thus answering Pauli''s too.


    I could tell Pauli was satisfied but Shirley was still glaring at me.


    With a "hmmf", she walked away. I shrugged visibly towards Pauli and we started walking in the opposite direction from where Shirley went. I invited Pauli to party and changed the EXP sharing.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Set the distribution of sharing of EXP:


    Rota - 0 % +Shirley - 20 % +Pauli - 80 % +</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I set it so majority of the EXP went to Pauli.


    Oh yeah, why were we walking in the opposite direction to Shirley? Well, she stormed off in her anger and probably forgot that we had to go to the merchant''s place. She went in the direction that we had to exit from so she''d probably stay there anyway knowing we had to take the same route.


    Anyway, I took Pauli to the merchant''s place and asked him to show us his best bows. He showed us some and I let Pauli chose since it was going to be hers anyway. Meanwhile, I decided to ask him if he knew of any methods to obtain magic. He told me it was rare to come across a person who could use magic and he himself had never seen one in this village. I thanked him anyway and paid for the bow Pauli selected. Though Pauli looked like she wanted she say something, she refrained in the end.


    After we got out the merchants shop, she thanked me and told me she''d repay me. I told her not to worry about it and went on.


    After a short walk, we were finally at the place where Shirley was waiting for us.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!"Why come here?" (Pauli)


    She asked that while looking around. Seeing that it was fenced, she was probably wondering something along the line of ''weren''t we going to leave this place?''.


    "This is where we exit from. The guards on the village gate don''t aren''t too fond of outsiders that appear from the inside." (Me)


    She was probably convinced. Or maybe not. It was hard to tell. She just gave a nod at my answer and faced towards the fence. She was probably waiting for me or Shirley to go first.


    "Hmmf. I''ll go first." (Shirley)


    Shirley made a ''hmmf'' at Pauli and came and wrapped her arms around me coquettishly. Without minding, I picked her up and jumped over to the other side. Shirley reluctantly let go and I went back for Pauli. Seeing the scene she was probably speechless since she didn''t say anything. Actually, she doesn''t say much to begin with, so I guess I could be wrong.


    I pointed towards the other side of the fence with my arm while facing Pauli as if to ask her if she wanted to go or not.


    "Crouch." (Pauli)


    She said a single word and I understood her meaning. She was probably asking for the piggyback version of the ride. Well it might be a good thing, actually, since I cant imagine what would happen if she was that close and right in my arms.


    I did as she said and crouched while facing my back towards her. She hopped on and I stood up.


    "*whistle*" (Trichia)


    I realised another problem. Virtually Reality probably doesn''t have the concept of bras.


    (HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!! THE PEAKS ON THE MOUNTAIN ARE HARD!!)


    In my excitement, I jumped a bit too high and instead of the original 2 metres, I jumped about 15 metres. On landing, the surroundings got blurry with dust. Pauli hung on till the dust settled and got off. I could still feel the place on my back where the hills met the plain. Especially the peaks. Shit, I was petrified.


    Thankfully, Shirley came over and woke me from my trance.


    "I wanna do that do! Jump with me!" (Shirley)


    She was pleading like a little child.


    "I lost half my HP from that." (Pauli) She said from the side.


    " "What?" " (Me and Shirley)


    We were both surprised. She lost half her HP even though I was holding her. Doesn''t that mean that she would have died otherwise?


    "Still wanna go for a ride?" (Me)


    "T.. That''s alright. I..I''ll make do without it." (Shirley)


    We decided to continue onward letting Pauli''s HP to heal on the way. I told her to stay at the back while I power levelled her and to do the same thing as I told Shirley, to focus on SP first so we could hunt longer. Normally, HP was more important, but with me here, it wasn''t going to be a problem at all.


    I again killed every monster we came across and made our way deeper into the forest. Pauli was surprised to see that I could one hit practically every monster we came across. I had her keep the items in her inventory since mine was too haphazard with Shirley''s stuff. Pauli also wanted to hunt but I stopped her and told her to first level up. This had more than one advantage. Not only would it make our hunts easier, with more SP we could also hunt for longer and at the same time, have less chance of getting killed.


    We decided that today would include only levelling up and from tomorrow on, we would hunt together. At least Pauli and I will. Shirley still couldn''t use a weapon and was useless in a fight. Even so, she was an indispensable part of our team with her cooking skills. Though I had learnt some, there was no way in hell that I would ever come close to her level. I could have continued learning but I didn''t. I don''t know if you would call it being considerate, but I did so, so that Shirley wouldn''t feel useless. Though, I was still practicing a bit at home with mom(she was really surprised to see me know more than she expected).


    After hunting for about 7 hours(2 hours in RL), we decided to call it quits. Pauli was level 42 and it was more than enough for me to stop worrying about her.


    Having said her goodbyes, Pauli was the first to log out. I also said goodbye to Shirley but didn''t log out yet. Having given her her cooking equipment and some weapons to train with while I''d be gone, I reassured her of her safety telling her that my ''Guardian Angel'' would protect her(just like the last time).


    I went to another part of the forest and found a good place to spend time with my ''Guardian Angel''. With Pauli and Shirley travelling with me, I didn''t get any time to spend with Trichia so I came here like this to do so.


    I called out to her and she appeared on my lap and I hugged her from behind. After talking some, I finally bid farewell to her too.


    "Log out."

 Vol 2: Chap 19: A bit of Training

    My PC got f*cked up again. Apparently it wasn''t fixed properly the last time. It was suppoaed to come back today but got delayed for two more days. Thus I''m uploading this from my phone(first time trying it), so please be gentle.


    <hr />


    The next day was full of news about a single guild in IO. It was a group of players who PK''ed high level players to bring down their level. Recently the player who was considered the highest level in the game turned lvl 99(apparantly some people publicise this information), was killed 5 times by the same guild and now his level is 59.


    Well, I didn''t care much for the information due to a variety of reasons. Firstly, I was in such a secluded place that it was almost impossible to find me. Secondly, with the bonuses from my titles, I was close to a lvl 1000 player so to kill me, they''d have to bring an entire army. Thirdly, even if, by some chance, some one in a million chance, they do manage to kill me, I wouldn''t lose any levels due to my [Ring of Immortality].


    (Aren''t I these guy''s natural enemy?)


    Anyways, I soon forgot about this information and went on with my daily deeds which mainly included going to school.


    School was the same, teachers came and taught. We listened and made notes. Even the lunch break felt ordinary nowadays even with Pauli coming over to eat with me.


    Soon the day was over and we were heading back to our homes. Pauli came to me and asked-


    "Do you mind if we walk together for a bit?"


    "Sure." Why would I refuse?


    By the way, the paths we took to our home had a common route for some of the way(remember the time I was taking Trichia to school and she popped up from behind?). Well, I''d seen Pauli''s home before(remember when I saved her sister from those delinquents and dropped her?) so I knew that there was more than one path that she could take to school. She took this one most of the time anyway, since it was quiter. The other went though a large market so she only went there when she specifically needed to buy something.


    Okay, that was unimportant. Anyways, we were heading out. By the way, most of the commotion which caused me to become secluded from the other guys had died down after we finally came in our third years. By now, Pauli and I were ''officially'' a couple in everyone''s eyes(we weren''t) and everyone had gotten used to it.


    More importantly, now that we were out of the school, Pauli finally told me what she wanted to talk about. It was about Shirley. She wanted to know why I was travelling with a NPC and a non-combatant at that and whether it was only for the food. I decided it was okay for her to know, so I told her about my days in IO before her. Obviously I skipped any information about Trichia, the [Dragon Emperor] or my level.


    By the time we reached our parting point, I had already finished my story(in brief). Pauli finally accepted the fact that the NPCs were too much like real people and we were, in fact, only just ''otherworldly'' to them. We were intruding upon their world and did whatever we pleased. To make an analogy, it was like an alien''s invasion for our world. On top of that, the aliens were actually immortal(or atleast they respawn when they die). This was the main difference. The NPCs wouldn''t come back if they died. This realisation probably hit Pauli hard as she looked muddled with thoughts of her own.


    I soon reached home after we parted ways and like my usual routine, changed out of my clothes and had lunch before diving in.


    I finally realised the bugging feeling I had. It was boredom. Real life had gotten extremely boring, following the same stupid routine every freaking day.


    That realisation came from coming into VR, breathing a difference air, seeing a different sight and feeling a different mind. This was exciting, this freedom, this power, this immortality. IO was a major stress relief. Not knowing what dangers lurk around, going on adventures, meeting new people! It was all so much more than one could wish for in our mundane world.


    (So this was Yuko''s dream.)


    I remembered my best friend''s face. He was probably a once in a millennium genius and fulfilled humanity''s greatest desire - Change.


    I hadn''t seen the guy for about an year now. I don''t know where he was or what he was doing. But I was sure, somewhere in my heart I knew, that he was safe and smiling.


    (Wait! Is it just me, or I''ve had this feeling before?)


    I quickly dispersed that thought and took a deep breath. The air was cold and refreshing. It was morning in the game.


    Having greeted Trichia on my return, I made my way to where I left Shirley last time. To my surprise, Pauli was already there and Shirley was cooking somethig up for her.


    "Welcome back!" (Shirley)


    She greeted me with enthusiasm. I could only imagine how hard it would be on her to be alone in the forest filled with monsters. How hard would it be for her to sleep at night. This made me decide that I quickly wanted to give her power so she could fend for herself.


    "I''m back." (Me)


    I didn''t realise that in my thoughts I had come over and patted her head like I usually did with Trichia.


    "Umm.. Rota?" (Shirley)


    That brought me back to my senses and I could see Shirley''s face a bit red.


    "Oh, I''m sorry. I was lost in my thoughts. Anyway, what are we having today? Smells good!" (Me)


    I apologised and quickly changed the topic.


    "I was able to gather some herbs and fruits from around here. Its just a simple dish. I didn''t have any more ingredients." (Shirley)


    Yeah. We kept the meat in our inventory and only left some for her since it would get bad soon, so herbs and fruits were the only option.


    I quickly took out some rabbit meat and handed it to her.


    "Can you quickly make something with this? I''m starving!" (Me)


    She happily took the meat and started with her work.


    "You want to train in the meanwhile?" (Me) It was directed towards Pauli.


    "What do you have in mind?" (Pauli)


    We were in a open clearing. I went to a directed opposite to Shirley and away from Pauli. Now I was in Pauli''s direct line of sight with no obstacles and Shirley was far enough so no harm would come to her.


    "Shoot me with your arrows and I''ll try to dodge." (Me)


    "Are you sure? I can be dangerous." (Pauli)


    "Don''t worry. You''ll never hit me." (Me) I said in a taunting manner.


    But it was Pauli, so she just answered calmly.


    "If you say so." (Pauli)


    She took out the bow and quiver of arrows from her inventory and got equipped.


    Taking a stance, she got ready to shoot.


    The arrow came flying at me and went about 2 cms right of my head. I didn''t even need to move.


    "That was so slow! You dont need to go easy on me! Again!" (Me)


    She shot once more. This one was directed at my chest. I grabbed it with my hand just before it touched my chest and dropped it to my side.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "Faster!" (Me)


    I caught the next one too. The next one too.


    "Don''t give your enemy time to think! Keep shooting!" (Me)


    I caught the first one and dodged the second. Realising that it would be a hassle to go look for the arrow later, I grabbed it at the last second even though it had already flew past. Similarly, I dodged and caught every arrow that came my way. I could tell that her aim was getting better so I started moving in a bit haphazard manner still catching every arrow.


    After about 5 minutes, she had emptied out her quiver and was on her hands and knees breathing heavily. I went over and handed her some water. At the same time, I grabbed the quiver from her back and collected all the arrows in it. I had broken the first few, so I decided that it was also good training for me to learn to restrain my strength even during a dire moment.


    I left Pauli to catch her breath and went over to Shirley. She probably needed to think about her strategies and mistakes, so I gave her some time.


    When I got back, Shirley was looking at me with a look of excitement.


    "You''re a monster!" (Shirley)


    "What?" (Me)


    "No, I mean! You''re so strong!" (Shirley)


    "Oh. Thanks?" (Me)


    "You gotta tell me! What level are you!?" (Shirley)


    I heard Pauli''s breathing stop. She probably didn''t want to miss my answer.


    "Oh, c''mon. Its not important. The food is what''s important! Smells so good! How much longer?" (Me)


    "Tell me!" (Shirley)


    "I''ll just tell you that its high." (Me)


    "Okay. Is it greater than hundred?" (Shirley)


    "....Yes." (Me)


    "Well, that was actually an obvious one. Once more! Is it greater than 500?" (Shirley)


    I could see the excitement on her face. She probably wanted it to be true. I even felt Pauli''s heart skip a beat at Shirley''s question. Though it was true that my stats were higher than a normal level 500 player, thankfully the answer to her question was still ''no'' since my level was not that high.


    "No, its not. And thats the last question I answer." (Me)


    "Muuuu..." (Shirley)


    Shirley pouted as she had to give up.


    Pauli seemed to finally regain her breath and came over.


    (Is is just me, or she''s looking at me with respect?)


    "You want me to tell what she''s thinking?" (Trichia)


    (.........No.)


    "Sure?" (Trichia)


    (No. It''d be wrong of me to listen to someone else''s thoughts.)


    "Oh well." (Trichia)


    .


    .


    .


    Having finished our breakfast in this world, we went out to hunt. This time, I was acting as tanker/support and Pauli was the damage dealer.


    Our first target was a monkey. It was pretty hard to hit as it kept jumping around. Pauli missed 3 shots and the fourth grazed it on its right arm. I thought of trying to slow it down so I threw a dagger at it. One of its arms got cut off from its body with the hit and it fell down as it was in the middle of jumping. It tried running on its feet but a quick arrow to the head from Pauli silenced him.


    We hunted more monsters in a similar manner before finally Pauli ran out of arrows. We had tried to recover as many as we could after every fight but with a few being lost every fight, this situation was inevitable.


    Since we were getting hungry, we decided to take a break. While Shirley cooked, I did another training session with Pauli to teach her how to use a sword. She had a clumsy stance and I had to touch her body in various places to correct her posture. I had to, I tell ya! I had no other choice! It was all for the sake of training!


    After I was satisfied(with her stance, mind you), I told her to try swinging the sword. She did. Many times. Again and again. But no matter how much she did, it just didn''t feel right. Maybe she really wasn''t suited for one.


    Next, I gave her a dagger and she seemed to be handling it a bit better. I didn''t know any training methods for a dagger so I just told her to try and hit me while I dodged.


    My thoughts: She was extremely slow and clumsy. None the less, she was a hard worker. She kept going at it till her SP was left in single digits. She was left so tired, she couldn''t even move. I had to pick her up and move her to a better place to rest than the cold ground. My thoughts: She was extremely light so I didn''t even feel her in my arms(which was depressing in its own right).


    Even after we had eaten, we still had to wait for a while before Pauli recovered her SP, so this time I stated training with Shirley. It was only light training, so there wont be too much strain on her SP. Still, she just had to stand back during the fights so she did not need that much SP anyway.


    To start with, I gave her a dagger and told her to come at me. She was actually better at it than Pauli, way better. Even I was surprised. Obviously none of attacks hit me and her footwork was a mess, but the way she handled the dagger in her hand was almost as good as me, maybe even better. I could only conclude this as a result of using knives her whole life for cooking. That would explain her handling of the dagger.


    This meant that she could also participate in battles. I taught her some foot techniques and told her to practice when she had time. Also, I asked her if she had clothes suited for combat. She told me that she had only a single pair which would allow maximum movement in a rugged environment but nothing suited for combat. I made a mental note to buy some for her in the next time we would come across. And since we''re on the topic of clothes, I''ll explain what we are all wearing.


    For me, as you all know is the leather set from the hobgoblin.


    Pauli was wearing the same clothes she was wearing originally(we probably needed to get her new clothes too). It included a short, tight fitting trousers reaching long enough to just cover her knees. From when I gave a piggyback ride, it felt cotton and was very thin to provide any protection. Same for her torso. She had the same type of cloth, cotton most probably. This one was again tight fitting and had sleeves till her elbow. Finally, she was wearing sandals, normal sandals. I never had a chance to observe them from close, so I can''t tell you more about those.


    Now for Shirley. She had on what you would normally imagine a common women of middle ages wearing. It was something like a tunic but long and covered the whole body. I think its called a Kirtle. In fact, most of her clothes were of the same design. It didn''t provice much trouble in movement on a plain but in a forest, it was a lot of problem due its length.


    I made a mental note to buy clothes whenever we next encounter civilisation. We all needed new clothes. Pauli and I owned only a single pair while Shirley''s were a problem in this terrain.


    After the two looked well enough to set off, she headed forward and it was then that we encountered ''it''.


    Our first Dungeon.

 Vol 2: Chap 20: Entrance to our First Dungeon

    Its entrance could only be described with one word: creepy. It was made of stone and was oozing out darkness. Yeah, the darkness was like a fog coming out of it. I tried touching it, and it dispersed like normal fog. I could only come to a single conclusion for its presence, to inflict mental abnormalities on its bearer. The ones with a weak mind would turn away instantly but I found myself grinning at the scene.


    *thump* *thump*


    I was excited! My heart was beating heavily.


    (A dungeon! Fuck yeah!!)


    I could only imagine what lay behind that wicked entrance. What kind of powerful monsters would I get to face? What awesome drops would they have? It was unbearable!


    *thump* *thump*


    It had been a long time since I had felt this much excitement. I took a step forward before I was stopped by something. Breaking out of my trance I looked to my left and found Shirley hugging my left arm. Her eyes were begging me not to go, because she didn''t want to enter such a place. I looked to my right at Pauli. She was expressionless as always but her left hand was clutching the sleeve of my right arm. She was also prabably scared as even this was a big thing for the cool and calm her.


    (Should I go in alone?)


    Since we were a party, I couldn''t make all the decisions myself. From the obvious looks of it, these guys might refuse, so I was considering to probably just go in by myself. I had no idea about anything as to what would happen inside, but one thing was clear. I was NOT going to miss this opportunity.


    "What should we do? I''ll make my thoughts clear first. I really wanna go in."


    I talked while walking away from the obvious sight of creepiness to calm their heads.


    "I''ll come with you." (Pauli)


    "You know that you don''t have a weapon right?" (Me)


    Pauli had answered me with resolution but I reminded her of reality. Without a weapon, she was practically useless in a combat situation.


    "Same goes for you." (Me)


    I said this to Shirley and her shoulders visibly shook.


    "But its going to be worse for you." (Me)


    I continued saying to Shirley. She probably guessed this too since she didn''t seem suprised at my next words.


    "Pauli and I will just disappear when we need to rest but you''re different. You''ll have to stay inside the dungeon: camp or roam, either is suicide." (Me)


    Shirley was looking down while biting her lip. She was probably conflicting in her mind as to what to do, when in came Trichia''s voice.


    "Even you cannot log out in a dungeon." (Trichia)


    (To tell you the truth, I had a feeling that might be the case.)


    "But there IS a solution to all your problems." (Trichia)


    (I''m listening..)


    "Oh no. Its not going to be that easy! You have to promise to do one thing I say in exchange for this information!"


    (You do know that I''d do it even without you making a deal like this, right?)


    "In that case, kiss Pauli right now!" (Trichia)


    (You were right. I don''t need the information.)


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    There was no way in hell I could do that!! Kiss Pauli?! Right now?! She''ll never talk to me again!!


    "Muuu... You''re so boring! Okay I''ll change the task. Kiss Shirley." (Trichia)


    (Why do I have to kiss anybody!?)


    "But I''m bored!" (Trichia)


    (How can you be bored!? You''re a freaking computer!)


    "I have too much free RAM?" (Trichia)


    (So you wanna have fun at my misery!?)


    "Muuu...." (Trichia)


    (I''m not kissing anybody, whether you tell me or not.)


    While I was having a back and forth with Trichia, Shirley was still trying to make up her mind.


    I could tell she wanted to come but it was really dangerous. She had left her old life behind to come on this journey, but to risk losing it in a place like this, was the main question.


    "Okay, I''ll tell you. But i.its not like I w.want to or anything! Baka!" (Trichia)


    (Oh, the tsundere act! Suits you.)


    "Really? Thanks! I mean.. I.i.i.i.i.i.its not a b.b.big deal! Baka!" (Trichia)


    (A little too much.)


    "Really? I thought it was perfect! Anyways, the solution to your problem is very simple. There is always a safe room before every boss room at the end of a dungeon floor. There, you can logout or set up camp." (Trichia)


    "THAT REALLY IS TOO SIMPLE!!" (ME)


    I didn''t immediately realise that I had said that out loud. It was only when I noticed the eyes of my companions one of which seemed to say ''Has he gone crazy?'' and the other ''Is he okay?'', did I come to my senses.


    To escape the situation, I used my secret techinique: Change the topic!


    "H.hey Shirley. Good news! You can come with us without any problems! There''s a safe room before we face a boss monster and we can set up camp there!" (Me)


    Hearing what I just said, Shirley''s expression changed. It turned brighter as she slowly comprehended my sudden statement. Finally, as it seemed to settle into her head, she jumped onto me with happiness.


    "Yayyyyy!!!" (Shirley)


    "How did you come to know about the information now?" (Pauli)


    Though, Pauli was looking at me with suspicion.


    "Suspicious." (Pauli)


    She actually said it to my face.


    "I just remembered hearing it somewhere. Hahaha.. Haha.. Ha..ha.." (Me)


    I know it was a stupid excuse but what else could I say!?


    After Shirley overcame her joyfulness, she got off of me and took my hand in hers as if ready to enter the dungeon together. Frankly, I was a bit taken aback seeing the big change in her from her unwillingness to enter and this. And I don''t want to sound too self important, but this was probably due to me, or more exactly, her trust in me that I would protect her.


    Having Shirley on my left, I looked towards Pauli and extended my right hand to her. She looked at it for a moment hesitatingly but finally took it.


    Finally, we entered the dungeon.


    (Hmm. A flower in each hand. I can''t say I dislike it.)


    "Finally! The accused pleads guilty!" (Guess who?)

 Vol 2: Chap 21: Fighting in our First Dungeon

    We were finally inside the dungeon and it was extremely dark. There was probably some source of light as we could atleast make out our surroundings but it was hard to tell where the light was coming from. It was just everywhere in an equal distribution which was physically not possible if it actually came from a single source. And we couldn''t see any light sources here. So either these walls emit their own light or the laws of physics in this world are warped.


    We started forward on the only visible path. Pauli was a little behind and had already let go off my hand. Conversely, Shirley had gotten closer and was tightly gripping my hand. She was probably scared.


    Unfortunately for her, I had her let go of my hand and walk a little further behind with Pauli. This was because I was the only fighter in the team and had to be ready. I took out two swords, one in each hand. They were normal iron shortswords, completely identical and obtained from the same type of monster. I actually still had one more of the same. Anyway, the reason I took out two swords was to try out a new style: dual-wielding, and was hoping to gain a skill.


    We walked forward with me in the lead. I had already set party experience to be distributed equally. You can''t divide 100% into 3 equal parts, so Pauli(who was the lowest level among us) got the 34%.


    Anyways, we were still walking, and we came across our first enemy in the dungeon.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Lesser White Skeleton LVL 50</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a skeleton with white bones. And thats it. It neither had a weopen nor a piece of cloth.


    (Its level 50! The first monster we come across is higher levelled than any monster outside!)


    I was excited. And in my excitement, I dashed in and slashed it with the sword in my right hand. My sword went through its ribs and shattered every bone in its way. The skeleton died before it could even attack. As I was admiring its disappearing body and waiting for any drops, I noticed my sword with which I attacked.


    (Its ruined!)


    Yes, it was ruined. Its blade was gone. Not just chipped, it was gone! It was like a blunt sword but without the smooth/straight edge. If you looked at it from the side, it was like a miniature model of a mountain range where the blade used to be.


    Shirley noticed it too.


    "I''ve heard that skeletal monstors are resistant to slashing or piercing attacks." (Shirley.)


    Yeah. I''ve heard it too. Also, that they are weak against blunt attacks.


    I put back the two swords and took out 4 wooden shields. I only had shields made of wood so I didn''t have much choice. I did have 2 iron shields at some point but since I never intented to be a tank like character, I sold them to the village merchant.


    I gave 1 shield each to my two companions and held the remaining two in each of my hands. Since iron was useless, wood wasn''t going to do anything to the skeleton but it could atleast block their attacks. This was the reason I gave these two the shield. As for myself, I kept them for training. Even though they couldn''t do much damage but if I were to aim at their weak points, which were their joints, I could manage, or atleast try to and see what happens. If it works, then it would be great because I have alot of these wooden shields. They were common drops and we picked up a lot. Right now, most of them were in Pauli''s inventory.


    Having gotten equipped, we moved on. By the way, the skeleton didn''t drop anything.


    (Was it THAT weak?)


    It was the weakest monsters who had a high no-drop rate. Then this probably really was the weakest monster of this dungeon.


    Another white skeleton appeared without us having walked for 1 minute.


    As I was fighting with the shields for the first time, I decided to not go for the one-hit K.O. battle.


    I went in front of it and took a stance. As it noticed me, it started running towards me. As it reached me, it raised its arm and brought it down on me as an attack. It was extremely slow but I took it on with the shield to see how it held up. The attack blew some splinters off the shield but didn''t break through. Looked like the shield could take on 3-5 such attacks before breaking.


    As I had blocked the attack, I brought down the edge of the other shield on its elbow and broke its arm.


    The skeleton didn''t look the least bit affected and attacked with its other arm. I had learnt my lesson as to not block the attack with the shield, so I simply parried it and this time went for the knee joint. With a smooth turn, I brought the edge of my shield to hit its knee joint from the side. A lot of momentum built up due to the rotatory motion and after breaking the first knee joint, it crushed the second one also. Having lost its legs, the skeleton now fell on its back but it still looked unfazed(not that I could tell even if it was in pain). With its last attached limb, it turned itself over and started crawling towards me.


    The battle had gone on long enough, so I just broke its spine at the place it met the skull with a simple kick.


    My thoughts on the battle: Too easy. The skeleton was so slow that its attacks would never hit but the other party''s(me) always would. What good is an opponent who can never hit but gets hit alot?


    Anyway, we left behind the disappearing carcass and moved on. I was even more confindent in my theory that this was the weakest monster of this dungeon. Despite it being higher levelled, it was weaker than the monsters outside.


    As me moved forward, we came across 2 of those things together.


    "Any of you wants to try and fight?'' (Me)


    If these were weakest monsters of the dungeon, it was probably a good idea to get a bit of experience with these guys.


    "Fight? With the shield? Are you serious?" (Shirley)


    "I want to try." (Pauli)


    "What!?" (Shirley)


    "Its useless if we just stand back." (Pauli)


    "If you''re going to do it, I''m coming too!" (Shirley)


    "Okay then. I''ll kill one of them and leave the other to you." (Me)


    While we were walking, I had had an idea, so I tried it out. Since the wooden shields were round, I held one of them in a frisbee hold and threw it at a skeleton. The shield missed and went on and disappeared somewhere in the darkness.


    "Hihihihi." (Trichia)


    "Hahahahahaha!" (Shirley)


    "Pfft." (Pauli)


    I heard everyone laugh. This was a bit emabarrassing.


    The two skeletons had noticed me and ran towards me. With a quick motion, I destroyed the spine at the base of the skull of one of them and it collapsed. What collapsed? Not the skeleton, just the skull. The headless thing was still moving but it had more than lost half its HP.


    (I was right. This is a weak point of the skeletons.)


    Even without the head, the skeleton could target me, which led me to conclude that it probably didn''t ''see'' its enemies but sensed or something like that.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I destroyed its spine at the bottom(the place it met the hip bone) and its HP finally plummetted to 0.


    But this caused my shield heavy damage. The spine was probably a lot stronger here and the side of the shield with which I attacked was now useless. What happened was like when you pin down a piece of wood and hammer it hard on one end till the part it barely falling off.


    I kept the shield back in my inventory and took out two new ones. The reason I kept it back was that it was made of wood and could be used to upkeep a fire.


    As only one skeleton was left, I shouted at my companions to get ready while easily dodging its attacks. Then I ran back and behind them so they could take over.


    It first came attacking Pauli who was a bit more in front. She managed to dodge its arm swinging attack but with large movements. The skeleton attacked again but due to her previously large movement she was in a bad place to dodge so she hurriedly brought up her shield in an attempt to parry. Maybe due to her uneasy footing or maybe the force of the attack was too much or maybe both, she stumbled a few steps back and fell.


    "Shirley!" (Me)


    I shouted as the skeleton moved in to attack the now defenseless Pauli. I was standing back ready to intercept but I decided not to move in until the last moment and shouted out to Shirley to take the lead.


    She let out a wierd cry and rammed into the skeletob with her shield, causing it to fall down and then stood between the skeleton and Pauli.


    "Pauli, are you alright? Can you continue?" (Me)


    I shouted to Pauli to confirm her status.


    "Yes, I''m okay. I can continue." (Pauli)


    "Good! And you too Shirley. Though the attack was bad for the shield, its more important to save your companion than a piece of equipment!" (Me)


    I praised Shirley.


    Pauli got up and took a stance beside Shirley. The skeleton got up too.


    "These things probably dont have a concept of stamina so you better finish this quick!" (Me)


    "But how are we supposed to attack it if we use the shield to defend!?" (Shirley)


    "There''s two of you and one enemy. Coordinate your attacks!" (Me)


    By this time, the skeleton had starting moving towards them. Now that I looked at its HP bar, Shirley''s attack seemed to have done some damage but it was far from enough.


    I saw Pauli say something to Shirley and they started moving in opposite directions a few steps at the time.


    The skeleton went towards Pauli again and raised its arm to attack. I was standing ready should anything happen. Just then, Shirley moved in from behind and attacked at its knee joint.


    (Ah! Their plan was to first immobilise the enemy and then take it out easily. Nice! But..)


    The feat wasn''t that easy to manage. Shirley probably tried to imitate me from the previous battle but their was a huge different between us. My strength stat was over 1500 while hers was a little over 100.


    And the result was as expected, the attack didn''t break the joint but the force was enough to deflect its attack from Pauli who was preparing to parry.


    For the next 5 minutes, they used similar tactics. While one of them defended, the other attacked. Their were some moments where I felt I had to move in but they somehow managed by themselves and finally were able break its knee joint. Yeah, that was all they managed in full 5 minutes of battle and were huffing badly. Their SP was considerably low.


    "I think you should stop there. We still have a distance to cover." (Me)


    Even though I had said that, I waited for their reaponse before moving in. The skeleton was now crawling on the ground and would be a lot easier to finish, so I would let them if they said so.


    "*huff* please..*huff* take over..." (Pauli)


    It was Pauli who said that. I never expected it from her. I always thought that she was the more ''dont give up'' type.


    Anyways, I moved in and made quick work of the skeleton. Only when the skeleton disappeared, did they seem to find relief and fell down at the same time. They were huffing pretty badly so I started bandaging any injuries they sustained during battle while being alert to any incoming enemies at the same time. I was happy they did so well. Well, not defeating a single enemy could probably not be called doing well but for non-combatants like them, they did great. Their teamwork was good and I praised them for it. I also gave some advice but neither of them replied as they just lay there breathing heavily.


    Finally, as they seemed to regain some breath, did they open their mouth and Shirley was the first to do so.


    "You''re a monster!" (Shirley)


    (This again?)


    "How can you fight these things and make it look as if its so easy!?" (Shirley)


    "Its a difference of experience. You might also get this good someday." (Me)


    I wasn''t lying. This was not only because of my high stats but mainly because of skills. I had trained many a times before in RL as well as VR even before this game ever came out. If you don''t believe me, try and remember the fights I had before meeting the dragon emporer. I think I was level 1 and my first opponent was a level 12 snake. I''m not bragging or anything, this is just the truth. Its all a matter of experience and I''m not talking about EXP.


    "I highly doubt that." (Pauli)


    Even Pauli seemed depressed at her lack of ability. Having someone right in front of you who was leagues above you probably wasn''t the best remedy for confidence.


    "You will. Believe me." (Me)


    I inadvertantly patted her head to lighten her mood. She didn''t react to it but her face got a bit red.


    "Hey! I''m also sad!" (Shirley)


    (Did she get jealous that I only patted Pauli?)


    I smiled and patted Shirley too. Shirley made a pleased face but the moment was destroyed by her stomach rumbling.


    "Hahahahaha.." (Me)


    "H.hey! D.dont laugh at a l.lady!" (Shirley)


    "Didn''t you laugh too when my shield throw missed?" (Me)


    She averted her eyes at my statement.


    "Anyways, its getting late and we''re all probably hungry so lets quickly find the safe room and we''ll set up camp." (Me)


    " "Yes." " (Pauli and Shirley)


    We kept moving forward after that and I destroyed every skeleton we came across.


    After about half an hour, we found a narrow path that opened up into a big space. At the other end of the space from the narrow passage, was a big door. It was probably the boss room behind it, so this had to be the safe room. I asked Trichia just to be sure and she confirmed it.


    Pauli and I set up Shirley''s stuff while she cooked. We weren''t going to stay so there wasn''t a need to set up a place to sleep for us.


    Having finished, we ate together and said our goodbyes for the day.


    "Log out."

 Side Story: Shirleys POV

    Shirley''s POV


    (Author''s Note: This is all before Pauli''s entry to the game.)


    Every day of my life had been worse than the one before. I could only imagine when my time would come and how I would pass away lonely, without a mortal soul to even know or care. But one day, HE came.


    The first time we met, I was glad. I had finally a new customer after what felt like an eternity.


    I wouldn''t call him a hunk, but he was definitely a treat for the eyes. Even though he was an adventurer, he had a clean face, not a single scar. His eyes were sharp but merry, a weird combination but at the same time enticingly alluring. His hair was short and black, not too rough and a little fluffy, something I would get to confirm later. He was also tall, a head taller than me and beneath that leather armor, I could tell he had a well built body.


    But all of that didn''t matter, for in the end, he was only a customer, or maybe he wasn''t even that for one of his first words was enough to send my heart rumbling.


    "I don''t have any money, so.." (Customer)


    "Get out." (Me)


    I was pissed. Extremely pissed! How dare he walk in here when he doesn''t have any money!? And then he dares demands for hospitalilty!?


    "Wait! A trade! I got some fine meat to trade!" (Customer)


    His words put a stop to my inner rumble.


    (A barter?)


    It was not always the most convinient route to barter, thus the need of coinage. But its never always a bargain unless you can effectively deduce the value of goods of both sides.


    "Show me." (Me)


    I was still pissed but somewhere in my heart, I had hope seeing that frantic expression on his face. It was hard to describe but somewhere behind that frantic expression, almost as if what was infront of my eyes was an illusion, I felt confidence. Confidence that he had in himself and an ability to pull others into it too.


    Then he took out the meat out of nowhere. At first, I was surprised at that magical phenomena but what he took out was more astonishing. 3 pieces of rabbit meat, which even though was the most common of all meat, was still hard to obtain. Then a boar meat.


    (No way...)


    To get a boar meat was incredibly rare. Granted, it had a high drop rate of its meat but... to defeat it..? It was incredibly hard.


    Then the last of it. Bear meat.


    (...)


    My mind was blank when I realised what it was. To get a bear meat...impossible!! That had to something out of legends!! No one in our village would dare fight one and even if they did, they would never come out unscathed. Yet here HE was, casually bartering the incredible item for a petty midday meal.


    It was almost too good to be true and I would never waste a chance like this.


    It wasn''t my intention but I instinctly grabbed it all as one would try a lovely dream. The only difference was, this wasn''t a dream for me, it was reality.


    Then I gave him the best business smile I could muster and decided to serve him to the best of my ability.


    At that time, I didn''t immediately realise but the winds of change had already started blowing.


    The next few weeks were the best in my life. I had never seen so many customers! I only had to advertise a little and word spread from mouth to mouth in this small place and almost every villager came at least once to try out the rare sorts of meat.


    My original customer, the adventurer, had struck a deal with me to bring me any meat he obtained in return for making him food. It was too good a deal for me. The adventurer brought back more, even herbs and fruit that I had rarely seen. To get those, you had to go into the forest so deep that it was almost crazy!


    Then one day, he asked me for cooking lessons. I knew what it meant. He wanted to become self sufficient and leave this place at some time. I knew it was inevitable but the realization caused something to change in me. I noticed my feelings, what I really wanted: to follow this man. I had stayed in this filthy place long enough, but no more.


    I taught him well, the best I could manage as to try and repay even a little of his efforts but it was obvious, he was impatient. I could tell he wanted to leave as soon as possible for this place was a walk in the park for him. And the day came very soon.


    But I was ready. I had already decided it would be like this and there was no turning back. I would make him realise how important I could be that he would readily accept me, I''d be a natural! But I knew I was wrong. It was only a little girl''s fantasy and when the time came, I broke down. I wept in front of him, begging him to take me with him, knowing I shouldn''t be doing this and it would only make me look weak... But he embraced me. He took the weak me in his gentle arms and held me close to him. The feeling I felt right then was something I had never experienced before. It was like my whole body was on fire. But more than my entire body, a certain part of me was on fire. If I had the courage, I would have pushed him down right then and there and had him have his way with me.... But what if he was repulsed by it? That single thought stopped me. I was a coward and I hadn''t changed.....yet.


    When we entered the jungle, I witnessed the most amazing scene ever. I knew my companion was a powerful adventurer since he brought back items from the strongest of monsters but in reality he was more. So much more than I could have ever imagined. He could slice apart the mightiest of monsters in a single swing of his sword. And even the sword was the worst of its kind, something beginners used. Yet, the way he wielded it almost gave it legendary status. A single strike was enough, that was all it took, no matter how strong the opponent. Sometimes, I could tell that he himself was furious at such power. He would abandon his weapons and go into a fight barehanded. But in the end it made no difference: all it required was a single strike. The enemy would be blown to pieces and all that surrounded it, covered in blood. But as the remains of the fallen monster disappeared, so did its blood and all that was left was him and his eyes, full of disappointment. I could never understand that, having lived a life of misery and worthlessness. To be strong was what I aspired, what ANYONE in the world aspired, but here he was, with such strength, but at what cost....? Loneliness. It reflected in his eyes rarely, but I managed to catch brief glimpses of it. I tried cheering him up, letting him know he had me and no longer needed to carry such emptiness. I talked with him like we did during our cooking sessions. Sometimes, I would make funny remarks and he would counter with his. Other times, we would just have a back and forth between the two of us(something I tended to win more than often). I thought I was doing it for him, but I felt like I was the one who got cheered up instead.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Soon, it was time for him to leave for his own world. I knew it would come sooner or later but I still couldn''t help tensing up. Camping out in the jungle at night was dangerous, almost to the level of crazy. I tried to hide it but he probably still somehow felt my anxiety as he told me his "Guardian Angel" would protect me. I didn''t know if he was telling the truth. Normally, I would never believe something as cheezy as that but who was I to doubt him? It wasn''t possible for me to comprehend someone with such power, much less question his credibility. Even if he were lying, I could only believe such false truths. What was the most that could happen anyway? Some monster would eat me? It was atleast better than dying off starvation.


    I sent him off with a smile. There was still some time before night took over, so I trained. He had left me a variety of weapons to try my hands on. I half did it to tire myself out so I could sleep easily at night. But contrary to my expectations, I couldn''t sleep. I was too anxious. My mind was going crazy with imagining beasts ravaging my body, biting off chunks at a time and slowly but painfully pulling me in closer to death. I shook my head, slapped my cheeks and tried to think of anything happy: about HIM.


    It was in the middle of the night that I woke up. I didn''t even realise when I slept. Thinking about him should''ve really calmed my mind to make that happen. I had a sudden urge to relieve myself. I slowly got out of my tent trying to make as little sound as possible. It was a half moon today and the light was barely sufficient to make out my surroundings, but I dared not light a torch for the possibility of attracting a predator.


    Suddenly, I saw a flash of light.


    "Eeekk!" (Me)


    I put my hands on my mouth to stop the shriek.


    I felt the flash of light too close for comfort.


    *thump* *thump*


    I almost felt as if my heart would burst out.


    "Haah.. Haah.." (Me)


    I didn''t even realise when I started breathing heavily.


    I walked closer to where I''d seen the flash of light, holding back my cowardice.


    I was almost in time to see a [Wolf] disappearing. Someone had killed it.


    I looked to my left but there was no one. I looked to my right but there was no one either. No. There was. I could see a silhouette in the distance but it was hard to make out due to the limited visibility.


    "W..Who?" (Me)


    I almost felt as if it was HIM. But before I could blink, he.. it disappeared. I almost felt as if I heard someone giggle with a "hihihihi" but I disregarded it. All of this was probably just my mind playing tricks due to the induced fear. I quickly finished my duty and went back in to sleep. Somehow, this time I felt much calmer and was able to go to sleep right away.


    The next day was mostly spent on training with the weapons that HE left in his absence. I trained imagining him as a role model. It was a mistake that I soon came to realise. I couldn''t imitate him: it was impossible. He was on a level which if you saw from my position, felt as if you were revering to a God. The way he wielded his weapons was heavenly. It was as if they were his extensions of his own body. It wasn''t something I could duplicate. It was stupid to even think about it. So I tried something else and any other thing that came to my mind. I felt the result clear: I was a failure. But this time, I didn''t lose heart. HE had decided to help me and I wouldn''t let his good intentions go to waste. I trained and trained. Till I was on the ground unable to even move. And when I recovered, I did it again. But it didn''t make a difference. I was too clumsy, too weak. In the end, I could do nothing but watch him from the back.


    The next day when he came, he told me we were going back to the village.


    (!)


    I choked on the food I was eating.


    (Please.. No...)


    I looked at him with tears in my ears.


    It was too hard. I had finally left that place just to go back again? How could the world be so cruel to a single person? These were my immediate thoughts. But I was wrong. Wrong to doubt him. Wrong to waver my faith in the kind him.


    He told me we were going back to get a friend of his. He wasn''t going to abandon me! Oh, I couldn''t tell how releaved I was! My heart beat was starting to calm down. I didn''t even realise when it started beating that fast.


    As I calmed down again, it was probably then that I was hit by the biggest truth of my life. The truth from introspection: what you really desire.


    And what I desired was... is HIM.


    HE is Rota, my savior, my champion, my angel, my First Love.......


    <hr />


    This chapter was probably the hardest for me to write. Its hard to imagine the story from a female side.


    On another note, did you see what I did there with the combination of ''gaurdian angel'', Rota''s body disappearing and the accompanying giggle? (I''d be really sad if you didn''t.)


    On a completely unrelated note, when I wrote the chapter, the editor autocorrected POV to poverty. I only noticed it while PRing and had to hold myself up for 2 minutes while I finished laughing my ass off. XD

 Vol 2: Chap 22: Boss Battle

    Next day when I logged in, Pauli wasn''t there yet and Shirley was sleeping.


    Having nothing to do, I challenged the boss. There were multiple reasons for that actually and not just because no one else was here yet(or they were sleeping). In fact this is also one the reasons that even if they were here and ready, I wouldn''t have let them fight the boss. They couldn''t manage to kill a single while skeleton, so the boss was most definitely a far cry. I''ll probably let them fight against those skeletons 2 vs 1 more to let them gain some experience. Second reason was..... I was just too excited to wait. Though I was hungry since I just came back, my excitement was higher(though I already had taken out a bread from my inventory and was munching on it). The third reason was that this would be my first kill of the day and you know what that means right? The best item a boss could drop! That was the main reason for my excitement! Also, I didn''t want to let anyone know of this ability. I wasn''t particularly against telling them, but the explainations that come after were annoying. They''ll probably find out someday anyway, so let''s let it be for now.


    Munching on the bread reminded me of the old days when I first entered the game. It was my only source of food for a while before gathering fruits and finally meeting Shirley.


    While still muching, I opened the door to the boss room. At first it was dark but right as I took the first step in, it brightened up and just like the rest of the dungeon, there was no light source here either.


    (How the hell do they do that!?)


    While I was wondering whether dungeons and physics are not the best of buddies, I finally saw the boss. It was just waiting in the center of the room.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>White Skeleton Knight LVL 60</td></tr></tbody></table>


    (Ohhh!!! A knight!!)


    It was just like any other white skeleton but this one had armor on and was holding a broadsword, which made it completely different from any other skeleton knight, contrary to my previous statement.


    The wooden shields were going to be useless here so I took out a shortsword and a dagger in my right and left hand respectively. This dagger was something you may remember.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Silver Dagger.


    Effects:


    STR+5


    AGI+5


    STR+10 when fighting undead</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Its strengthening effects were wasted on me but I expected something else from it. Most weak swords would break when they come in contact with something as hard as a bone, but maybe this dagger, which was made specially for fighting the undead, wouldn''t break so easily.


    The reason I chose a shortswort in my dominant hand was for parrying. It would just be stupid to block a sword as heavy as my opponent''s with my shortsword. Also, if I chose a longer reaching sword, it might hinder me due to the disparity between its own length and that of the dagger.


    Having chosen my equipment, I got ready for battle and so did my opponent.


    We rushed at each other at the same time but I was clearly faster even though I wasn''t at even half my full speed.


    I let my opponent strike first. The skeleton warrior brought down the large swords on me from above. The skrike had a lot of power, but as a result, its user was full of openings. I carefully dodged to the side at the last moment, and used my dagger at the enemy''s right arm. With the downward motion of the skeleton warrior and the upward motion of my strike, its right arm shattered easily.


    (Hmm. This dagger is good.)


    The skeleton warrior looking unfazed, picked up its sword with a single arm and rushed at me again. It did a similar attack, but its power and speed were considerably less than the previous attack. I used the same trick and dodged at the last moment, this time claiming its left arm.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    *thump*


    The broadsword fell down as it lost all support. The victory was clearly mine at this point, but the skeleton warrior charged again, without any weapon, trying to use something like a headbutt or a body slam. I used similar movement for the third time(it was good against enemies like this) and this time, I was confirmed of my victory as I saw the skull of the skeleton warrior fall to the ground.


    Due to the momentum, its body kept going forward for about 20 metres before finally coming to a halt and disappearing. I went over and found my best item of the day.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Spike Shield


    Crafted by a master dark elf, this shield has seen countless battles but has never suffered a scratch.


    Effects:


    STR+10


    Skill:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Spike Out   MP 10/second


    Cause the surface of the shield to change into sharp protrusions.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    (This is awesome!)


    This shield had a skill of its own! It was my first time seeing something like this.


    I immediately tried it out and about an inch long protrusions came out of it. It was was great for bash attacks against live enemies. Even for undead opponents, this thing was WAY better than my wooden shields.


    Delighted at my equipment upgrade, I made my way around the boss room just for the heck of it. There was nothing mentionable in particular other than the 2 doors on either end of the room, one where I came from and the other most probably leading to the next floor. I decided to return but I found no one was here yet either.


    (Well, my fight only took about 5 minutes, so I guess that''s alright.)


    As I had exited the boss room, the door had closed by itself so I decided to head in again.


    The boss was there again.


    It was right as I had hoped. The boss respawns every time you enter its chambers irrespective of the intervals of battle.


    I fought the boss again with the same equipment for practice(and time pass). This time the drop was a normal iron sword but I obtained something else.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dual Wielding LVL 1


    Increased damage and speed when attacking with weopens in both hands.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    (Ah. Finally.)


    This skill was the main reason I had been using 2 weopens at the same time. In the end, I felt that dual wielding had both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages being greater number of attacks. With a single weapon, once you attacked, you had to pull back for a bit to attack again. This was also a disadvantage though. For enemies like the skeletons, you didn''t need more number of attacks but powerful ones which can be delivered more easily with a single weapon. Doing a large number of attacks to ''wound'' the skeleton and wear it down bit by bit is useless. Another advantage is what I used just now, 2 different weapons in each hand. This gave diversity. In my case, I could''t use the sword to attack as it would break and couldn''t use the dagger to parry since it was too small, so if I had used one of them, there would have been something lacking always. But using dual-wielding, I was able to overcome that. Though, this is only suited to me since I can use my left hand almost as well as my right hand.


    Delighted at having gotten a new item and a skill in two consecutive fights, I made my way back again. This time, there was someone there.

 Vol 2: Chap 23: Despair, Desperation and Delectation

    This chapter marks the end of Volume 2. There will be a short break before Vol 3. A week maybe? Two weeks? (Okay, maybe not 2 weeks :p )Not sure but I''ll want to get some stuff sorted out and create a general idea of where it should be heading before I start writing again.


    Enjoy the chapter~


    <hr />


    When I got back to the safe room, I found Pauli munching on a piece of bread while sitting at the side with her back against the wall. She got up as she saw me and came over.


    "You were fighting the boss?" (Pauli)


    "Yeah. It was a good fight." (Me)


    "What kind of boss was it?" (Pauli)


    I could see a bit of excitement in her eyes.


    "A white skeleton knight. It was just like any other white skeleton, just with armor and a sword." (Me)


    Pauli''s eyes seemed to shine more.


    (Is she a kid?)


    "You''re one to say. You were practically jumping up and down in excitement saying you wanted to fight the boss." (Trichia)


    (..... I choose my right to remain silent.)


    I showed Pauli the new


    shield I had gotten from the boss. She seemed even more excited. She didn''t have the appraisal skill so I told her about the [Spike Out] skill and she


    used it, though it retracted after 10 seconds. Seems like Pauli never put a


    single point in INT.


    Anyways, since we were here and Shirley had yet to wake up, we decided to take the shield for a test run and train Pauli at the same time. This time I was going to act as a complete support and only get involved if I deemed the situation necessary.


    I was obviously NOT going to let her battle the boss, so we came out of the safe room from the same narrow passage we had gotten in. With a stroke of luck, we found our target immediately. A [Lesser White Skeleton] was there at a distance of about 10 metres. Due to the small distance, it noticed us too and charged at us immediately.


    Pauli instantly moved in to intercept. She was equipped with the spike shield as the only weapon.


    As the first attack came, she dodged to the side trying not make any big movements. She was probably trying to imitate me and was able to pull it off half-successfully. Seeing an opening after the skeleton''s attack, she rammed the shield into the ribs of the skeleton causing it to fall backwards. Without wasting the opportunity, she quickly made 3 swift strikes at the knee joint and backed off. She used good hit and run tactics at the moment and as a result her enemy was now crippled. The skeleton now got up, half crawling-half hopping towards Pauli. But there was another problem. Even though it was slower, it became harder to dodge because now it didn''t(couldn''t) come rushing in but slowly and right at its target. Pauli took the right approach and moved around in circles to find another opportunity but the status quo maintained. Unfortunately, her opponent was an undead so dragging the fight out was the worst thing you could possibly do so trying to find the right opportunity against a tireless opponent was hard. Still, Pauli kept moving around in circles. This went on for about a minute before finally fed up, she rammed the shield in the skeleton''s face... but it was a mistake. Since the skeleton was leaning forward, it didn''t fall on its back and grabbed the shield instead. Pauli tried to shake the skeleton off but it kept on and creeping in slowly, it managed to grab Pauli''s arm behind the shield.


    She seemed to panic and moved the skeleton along with the shield in a circular arc, building up a lot of momentum to slam it into the walls of the dungeon.


    *bam*


    A loud noise reverberated in the dungeon upon the impact but the skeleton hadn''t let go and I noticed Pauli flying in a similar manner to what she did to her enemy. The skeleton too seemed to make use of the continuation of the momentum to try and slam Pauli into the wall while using itself as a pivot.


    (Shit!)


    That was dangerous! Extremely dangerous! If she hit the wall like that  there was high chance she would die instantly losing many levels in the process.


    I quickly accelerated to my max speed and reached just in time to act as a cushion between Pauli and the wall.


    "Ughh..." (Me)


    It hurt. Alot! I collided with the wall at my top speed and at the same time, had Pauli crash into me. I definitely should have lost a lot of HP from that but the good part was that Pauli was safe......or not.


    As I recovered from the aftereffects of the hit, I noticed Pauli on the ground writhing in pain with the skeleton creeping in on her. Then I noticed my own condition.


    I was stuck in the wall.


    .


    .


    .


    "Fuck this shit!" (Me)


    With a swift pull, I freed myself and jumped over onto the skeleton breaking its ribs and finally putting an end to the fight.


    Pauli was still on the ground, so I picked her up and moved over to the safe room. On the way, she managed to tell me that she had 300 HP and losing at the rate of 2 HP per second.


    "She''s bleeding somewhere. If you don''t stop it, her HP will drop to zero soon." (Trichia)


    Right in came Trichia''s voice, notifying my of the circumstances. From what they said, she probably had somewhere between 2 to 3 minutes left.


    I picked up my pace and safely made it to the safe room but another problem posed itself.


    In front of me was Pauli, in a critical state and bleeding out from somewhere. It was obvious what I needed to do but....


    (Do I... take off her clothes?)


    *gulp*


    What other method did I have to find the bleeding!? I already had a general idea from the wet feeling at her back but time was running out and I didn''t have any other options. I could have gotten her to Shirley but it was a risk that I wasn''t willing to take.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I lifted Pauli''s back to get her in a sitting position and grabbed her shirt from the bottom ends and started taking it off. When I was halfway done, the shirt coverted the whole of her head and her hands were hanging straight, which was when I realised my mistake. I took off her shirt from the front. And. She didn''t have a bra on.


    Now, in front of me were 2 round mounds. Even though it was virtual reality, I didn''t doubt that they were as pretty as the original.


    .


    .


    .


    I don''t know how much time I spent staring staring before I came back to my senses.


    (What the fuck am I doing!?)


    Hoping Pauli didn''t realise what I was just doing, I quickly moved over to her back and found the wound. It wasn''t anything big but right now it was anything but small.


    I took out some water and some alcohol that I stored from Shirley''s inn. Pauli moaned from the pain when I disinfected the wound and I got distracted again.


    (Focus idiot! She''s gonna die!)


    I slapped myself with my left hand to snap myself back to reality.


    I didn''t have any bandages so I tore out a piece of my shirt and quickly washed it and tightly wrapped it on her wound.


    (That should stop the bleeding.)


    I finally sighed in relief. Pauli shouldn''t lose anymore HP.


    It was just now that I realised my own state. I was covered in blood: my hands, clothes and even my face(I could atleast see my nose). I was so focused on Pauli that I didn''t realise. Though the blood wasn''t my own, it was Pauli''s. I was sure of this since my HP was steadily increasing and not decreasing.


    Then I realised another thing. Pauli''s shirt was still half up and her breasts were in full view. I was probably too tired(mentally) so I forgot about it once I stopped the bleeding.


    I was about to pull her shirt down, when I thought of something else and took it off completely instead.


    Hey! Hey! I''m not a pervert! I didn''t do it for that kind of a reason! Her shirt was dirty and covered in blood so I was going to wash it. I took out one of Shirley''s gowns from my inventory to put in on her. I had practically everything that Shirley owned in my inventory, so I also took out her bed.


    I somehow managed to get Pauli into the gown with one hand as I had to hold her up with the other. That done, I put her on the bed to let her rest. I didn''t know whether she had logged out but she hadn''t spoken a single word since after she told me about her constant HP decrease.


    NOW I was finally done. And right then, came out Shirley.


    "AAAAAAHH!!!!" (Shirley)


    She screamed when she saw us and came running.


    (Oh crap. She''s probably misunderstanding something from Pauli''s change of clothes and the bed.)


    "No. No. No. No." (Shirley)


    While saying that she started taking off my clothes.


    "Wh..what are you doing?" (Me)


    "Th..there''s s..so much b..blood! No. No. No. You c...can''t die! I w..won''t let you!" (Shirley)


    (Okay she definitely is misunderstanding, though its different from what I thought.)


    I tried to calm her down but she was going on in a frenzy and since my leather jacket was already off(I took it off when I needed to tear off a piece of my shirt to wrap around Pauli''s wound), Shirley was attacking my shirt. And since I was resisting, it tore off more and completely so now my upper body was bare.


    Carefully inspecting, when she didn''t find any wounds, she started undoing my pants. This was going a little out of control as she wasn''t listening to a thing I said and just kept mumbling "I wont let you die." Without any other options, I restrained her in a hug and whisperped in her ear while caressing her hair.


    "Shh... It''s alright. Noone''s gonna die." (Me)


    "B..but the b..blood?" (Shirley)


    "It''s not mine, it''s Pauli''s. She was......." (Me)


    I told her what happened.


    .


    .


    .


    She was sniffling at first but seemed to regain her composure as my story went on.


    After I finished telling her of the incidents, she seperated from me but still kept close.


    Now, she was standing right in front of me while looking down, so I couldn''t see her expression.


    "You won''t leave me right?" (Shirley)


    She said in a weak tone but I could atleast tell she wasn''t crying anymore.


    "I wont ever leave..mumhh" (Me)


    Shirley sealed my lips with her own before I could finish.


    (What!?)


    Shirley had her eyes closed and her hands on my cheeks. I could tell this because MY eyes were wide open in surprise. But inadvertantly, they started closing by themselves and my hands found their way to her waist. I don''t know how much time passed before a voice snapped us back to reality.


    "Ahem." (?)


    My eyes opened suddenly and my lips seperated from Shirley''s. I took my hands off her waist and looked behind and found Pauli sitting upright looking at us.


    She got up and off the bed.


    "Pauli, I..mummhh" (Me)


    This time it was Pauli who sealed my lips.


    (WHAT!?)


    "*whistle* Talk about sudden development." (Trichia)


    I couldn''t calm down this time since I was conscious of Shirley standing right behind me.


    (Un)Fortunately, Pauli seperated after a brief moment.


    "Thanks for saving me." (Pauli)


    My mind was still in a frenzy as it couldn''t possibly register the events that happened just now.


    Pauli and Shirley seemed to share a look and both took one of my hands to lead me to the bed.


    Whatever happened next... Let''s omit that.


    "Wait! Let me get the camera ready!" (Trichia)

 Side Story: Paulis POV

    I was really surprised when I saw the positive responses on my Shirley''s POV. Thus, even though I had no such intention in the start, I somehow ended up righting a Pauli''s POV. So here''s a sneaky side chapter for you guys. *wink* *wink*


    Though this one''s a bit on the shorter side. I was intending to make it into a R18+ chapter but I didn''t, hence it ended up like this.


    Also, a bit of warning. Pauli''s thoughts are a bit complicated(she''s that sorta character after all). Even I have trouble understanding her! XD


    <hr />


    Pauli''s POV


    I''m going to die.


    The HP and SP bars in the top corner of my vision are steadilty depleting. Its only a matter of time before everything dissipates away. At least that is how all should have transpired.


    But that man, Rota. He''s weird. He jumped in between myself and the wall I was going to collide with to lessen the impact.


    Little good did that do. It only delayed the inevitable. Now I am going to die slowly rather than quickly.


    But... Let me say it again. Rota, he is weird. As I lay there unable to move, he picks me up and carries me over to the safe room. There he is putting in an effort to save me. But why? That is something I find hard to comprehend. Why bother yourself with a helpless cause? I am much of a nuisance here anyway. With a power as stupendous as his, saving me is just a formality, no an act of pity. It is as if I''m a plaything. But then again, if I were a measly plaything, why bother saving me? I contradict myself, unable to reach a conclusion and left to drown in my own scepticism.


    I look up just to catch a glimpse of his face. It isn''t enough make out his expression before it all goes dark. But the darkness isn''t associated with death. I am very much still alive. I can tell as much from the touch of his hand on my bare body. It feels warm, almost hot. But I know it is because of the disparity in our own temperatures. He isn''t hot: I am cold, being on the verge of death.


    It is a feeling most surreal. That heat, that warmth is the only thing I can perceive. Everything else has dissipated. His touch is the only thing I can believe in. It is the only entity convincing me of my own existence.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Soon, the darkness falls and the curtains of light opens. Now I realise why I couldn''t see. He had turned up my shirt to bandage my wound. Then comes to me another realisation. My vision did not return due to having had my shirt pulled DOWN but due to having it pulled OFF. Right now my upper body is completely bare and both my hands are held up by a single one of his above my head. With my SP plummeted, my body is absolutely his for him to do as he pleases. I brace myself, aware of what would follow.


    But let me say this for the third time, Rota is weird. Even though I could tell his gaze was occasionally on my breasts but he never even touched them. I was there, helpless, unable to retaliate to his actions but he did not take advantage. He clothed me instead and lay me on a bed to let me rest.


    Alright, he isn''t the only weird one. I am in the same boat. At not having been touched, instead of solace, the only feeling I have at the moment is disappointment. It is something new for me. I have never experienced it before. It is almost... mortifying! I can''t fathom why. In my heart.. there is a yearning..for him...his touch..that warmth.. It is again something unfamiliar.


    Then I see him with Shirley and I had another unpleasant feeling but I am experienced with this one. Its jealousy. It makes me remember back to the time in my home when He hugged me. I never told anyone of my feelings ever, but I did him, at that time. And he conforted me. It was again something new for me.


    Then I see them kiss, him and Shirley. Everything in my heart disappears and is replaced by a realisation. Realisation that its me who has to be there, in that place, sucking his saliva.


    Having recovered some, I get up and interrupt them.


    (Yes, this is right. He is mine.)


    As he turns to me, I steal his lips. Its a pleasent sensation. I can feel my body getting hot. I have already stopped counting how many new feelings I have come to know in the same day.


    (With this, I finally know what I should have known long before: He belongs to me.)


    As we separate, I look at Shirley, her expression bewildered. It made me smile.


    (But I wouldn''t mind sharing.)

 Vol 3: Chap 1: New Developments

    AND we''re back in bysiness fellas! (Actually I wanted to name the chapter this xD)


    Anyways, ENJOY!!


    <hr />


    ''A flower in each hand.''


    This was once said by a God. But I disagree with that God.


    The statement is vague. Extremely vague.


    Questions like "What kind of flowers?", "What are those flowers doing?" or "Are those actual flowers?" come to mind.


    Instead of answering those questions, isn''t it better to just reform the statement with hightened precision?


    ''A naked girl in each arm.''


    Now that''s what I call "to the mark".


    Some questions may still arise but its leagues better than the original.


    Oh you''re wondering why I''m saying this? You''re not? Don''t tell me you already know!?


    For whomever is confused, that statement is custom made to suite my current situation.


    Does that mean I have a naked girl in each of my arms?


    Yes. Yes, I do.


    Currently, we''re on the eleventh floor of the dungeon and six weeks have passed since we entered. I know eleven floors is little progress in six weeks but there are reasons for that. 3 reasons to be exact.


    Firstly, to train my two naked women.(Okay, that came out wrong.)


    What I mean is, Pauli and Shirley training in combat. I''ve been having them fight against a single skeleton opponent at a time to build up experience. The number of skeletons they could simultaneously take on increased and now they can handle a group of 4 at a time(but that only includes normal skeletons).


    The second reason is that we were running low on food supplies so we had to come out of the dungeon to hunt for meat and gather fruits/herbs. Unfortunately, the


    dungeon only has undead monsters so they don''t drop meat.


    The third reason is to obtain items. Some of the floor bosses dropped incredibly nice items so we would stay a couple of days on the same floor to get it again. The only problem was that we had to wait an entire day before we could obtain the item again. The items I''m talking about are the best drops a monster could drop and my ability to get them worked once a day. The items were so rare that you wouldn''t obtain one even if you fought 50 times(believe me, I tried). Though, it all worked out well enough since it gave me more time to train my two naked women(I mean it both ways *wink*).


    Alright. Now that I''m done with the brief information session, let me get back to my original description of my current situation.


    Hmm.. To my right is the Shirley Mountain Range. And to my left are the Pauli Hills. And I love both of them. Who is to say which is better? The Shirley mountains are higher while the Pauli hills have harsher conditions. Climbing up each is a different experience but the result is the same: Bliss.


    For anyone who didn''t get it, I''m talking about boobs. Lovely pairs of boobs on my lovely pair of women. That''s right. MY women.


    In this time interval of 4 weeks, I found out a lot of things about both of them. Firstly, Shirley is extremely kind and gentle but also the more jealous type. She loves to foreplay more and works hard to please her partner. But if I pay more attention to Pauli, she gets upset and refuses to talk to me. But again, due to her kind personality, she doesn''t stay like that for long.


    Pauli is a complete opposite. I never would have guessed that she''d be like that in bed. The best phrase to describe her is a wild animal. A mostly carefree wild animal at that. I say carefree because she almost never cares if I''m doing Shirley first as long as she gets a go until she''s satisfied. Yes, until she''s satisfied. This is the part where the wild animal comes in. Once we start, she goes out of control! She doesn''t stop until her SP drops down to absolute 0! I can only imagine what would happens once her level gets high enough to supply enough SP for the whole day. Even though I''m confident in my own SP, it still gives me the shudders just thinking about it.


    But either way I''ve come to love both of them and in very different ways too. Pauli had been the love of my life so you can say she has had the upper hand but not so much actually. This is because of her reserved nature. She doesn''t open herself all that much even after coming this far and I can rarely tell what she is thinking. Even though we''re officially a couple in real life and she still comes to eat lunch with me, she doesn''t show her feelings very much. Just rarely and even that doesn''t last long.


    Shirley, on the other hand, is like an open book. And I don''t mean it in a bad way. Neither do I always know what she''s thinking. But the fact is, she tells me that herself. She''s shared quite a lot of stuff with me about her past life, the life she left behind so she could follow me in my adventure: Her parents had died when she was young and was taken in by her aunt who was also the owner of the inn. The inn didn''t have many customers at that time either but occasionally a few people would stop by from their own village for some food and rarely an outsider or two. She told me how after her aunt had passed away, she tried her best to keep the inn up and running in her memory but eventually, she realised it was all for naught. She told me about the numerous times she''s considered ending her own life but always chickened out in the end. She called herself a coward but she soon got to the brighter side of things. She told me how she''s thankful everyday that I came to their village and to her inn or otherwise what may have happened. She told me that I was her saviour. She told me she loved me...


    To the previous me, a talk like that may have been extremely embarrassing but something''s changed. I don''t know if it always works but I do have a theory behind it. Once you see someone naked, the things you do or share are not embarrassing anymore.


    Anyways, back to my current situation one more time. We finished fighting on the 11th floor and are now taking a rest in the safe room after some more ''tiresome'' activities. The monsters we faught here on this floor were the original [White Skeleton]s as well as the new [Grey Skeleton]s. The [Grey Skeleton]s are a more powerful version of [White Skeleton]s. They started appearing since this floor, so it makes me wonder whether it''s a new monster every 10 floors.


    It''s almost time to be logging out soon. Our next fight is with the boss monster so we''ll be doing it the next time for the best item. We always do the boss fights on a new day for the same reason.


    That reminds me, before I log out, let me tell you about the items we obtained from the bosses. We defeated the floor 1 boss once more so I have another one of the spike shields, so now I use both dual-wielding.


    From the second boss, I obtained this.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Alther Boney Necklace


    Made from the remains of the last of the Alther race.


    Effects:


    Defence +10


    Magic Attack Resistance +5%


    Physical Attack Resistance +5%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a necklace made out of bones(probably why it was called ''Boney'' lol). Also, it boosted some stats I had never seen before so I asked Trichia about it. This was her reply.


    "There are many stats as such which cannot be directly interfered by the user and can be only be increased by items or spells. For example [Defence] is a stat which decreases the damage you take. Each piece of clothing you wear has a definite value for every such stat but it is not usually known to the user.    You can only find these descriptions on items such as the [Alther Bony Necklace] that explicitly affects the stats. Also, for the sake of comparision, let me tell you that your current clothing provides 2.75 [Defence] altogether. The value is very small when you consider the individual items that its hardly useful to the user. Its only the system that keeps track of everything." (Trichia)


    I could see what she was getting at. And considering that the necklace in question provided provided 3-4 times more defense than the leather armour that I was wearing, it was definitely an awesome item. We had gotten 3 of them and each of us was wearing one.


    The item from the 3th floor boss was-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Rhombic Sphere


    Designed and crafted by Kaliif, the least favourite desciple of a dark mage.


    Spells:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Blot           MP: 1000


    Absorbs an incoming spell and saves it in the Rhombic Sphere for later use.


    (Only one spell can be saved at a time. If cast again, the new spell replaces the old one.)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Unbind      MP: 1000


    Release stored spell.


    (The Rhombic Sphere gets destroyed after one use of this spell.)</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    This item was amazing too(apart from its name). It could practically block a user against any and all magic attacks. Though, the mana requirement was a disaster. Its more correct to say that it could block any spell as long as the user had mana. Right now I was the only one who could even use it but I wouldn''t, for I duel-wielded the [Spike Shield]s and I didn''t have a third hand, unfortunately. So this one was going to stay in my inventory.


    The fourth floor boss yeilded this-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dark Mana Crystal(1000/1000)


    A Dark Mana Crystal forms in an area when Dark Mana is present in extremely high concentrations.


    Effects:


    Generates 1 mana/minute.


    Spells:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Intake


    Absorb the remnant mana in the crystal into the user''s body.</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a good item too. But we didn''t have any magic users yet so this should have went into my inventory but actually, we did have a magic user now so this item went to her. Which is the reason why we actually got two of those. They were given to Shirley. She only became a magic user recently so you''ll have to wait till I finish my other explainations before I come to that.


    This was our reward on the fifth floor-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dark Plum


    A fruit that only grows on the Dark Plum tree.


    Effects:


    +100 all stats for 10 minutes on consumption.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Its description was one of the wierdest yet. If the Dark Plum didn''t grow on the Dark Plum Tree, where else was it supoosed to?


    Either way, its affects were amazing. It was something you should eat before going in for a boss fight but unfortunately we only got one of these and moved on. The reason was that both of my female compatriots refused to eat it. The thing resembled a plum only in shape. The color of it was pitch black, and really ominous. It actually reminded me of the wierd fog at the entrance of the dungeon. The reactions of my two companions were sort of similar to when we encountered the black fog, though only this time, they were more inclined towards disgust than fear.


    Anyways, let''s move onto our next item on the list. The 6th floor bounty-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Proscelian Robe


    The Traditional Robe worn by every Wrath King of Proscelia on his day of coronation.


    Effects:


    Charm +50


    Requirements:


    Effects only valid when worn by one of the masculine gender.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    No comments on the effects of the robe. (Though the girls did say I looked more handsome in it.)


    It was a dark coloured robe but not as much as the [Dark Plum]. The cloth was black but silky which caused it to reflect light at certain angles. It was embroidered with silver linings and had a picture of a man''s face burning in a green fire on its back. That picture was the only creepy part but we ignored it and got 10 of those robes. Shirley said that she could make some clothes from the robe material. This was also something good for her as she had quite a bit of free time when we were gone and she used to get bored. This was good for us too because we really didn''t have much in the way of spare clothes.


    From the items I had in my inventory that I had taken from the inn, I took out any and all sewing material I could find and handed it off to Shirley each time we would log out. By now, both Pauli and me had a new set of clothes made for us exclusively, by Shirley. The robe material was incredibly comfortable and Shirley''s skill with weaving made it even better. Thus, I used it to finally replace my Leather Armor that I had gotten from the hobgoblin. It was a lot of appreciation from my part since after my shirt was torn away, the Leather Armor felt really uncomfortable.


    Anyways, next is the seventh floor item, which was strangly enough another [Dark Plum]. Since I had thus gotten two, I ate one for the fight with the 8th floor boss. The taste was blunt. It was nothing like a normal plum and even I didn''t feel like eating another when I could get Shirley''s awesome cooking.


    Now onto the item from the 8th floor boss-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ripening Rapier


    The favourite weapon of Blutanos, the dark king of Fersmanland.


    Effects:


    STR +50


    12% chance to inflict a slow working poison when attacking an enemy.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Well, what can I say? It definitely was the best weopen we had obtained yet but again, useless against undead opponents. This one went in Pauli''s inventory since mine was too full of random stuff.


    Our victory on the 9th floor led us to this-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Mask of Malevolence


    This mask was worn for the unholy ceremonies of the Crimson Tribe.


    Effects:


    +40% chances of success when performing an unholy ritual.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This one went straight to the inventory. Considering the fact that I got it as a best item, it was supposed to be amazing but unfortunately none of us here wanted anything to do with it. Maybe, it could be sold for a high price later on.


    Now for the one that I can without any hesitance claim is the best one yet. The item from the level 10 boss-


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grimoire of Adlan


    Written by one of the Necromancer Princes known for bringing down an entire army by himself.


    Spell:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Learn    MP 10


    Learn the secrets of the spell contained within this Grimoire.


    (Once this spell has been used, the item is destroyed).</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was risky. The description of the book gave no information about the spell but the possibility of it being an awesome overpowered spell led us to try.


    I decided to use it on myself in case it was something bad but my worries were unneeded.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Lesser Summon Undead Soldier MP 200


    Summons a [Lesser White Skeleton Soldier LVL 20] to fight for the user.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Lesser Summon Undead Archer MP 200


    Summons a [Lesser White Skeleton Archer LVL 20] to fight for the user.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was these 2 spells that I obtained. My reaction at the time was:


    "This is AWESOME!!! This spell is bloody amazing! An actual active spell that I can use in battle! And the spell is definitely a high levelled one!" (Me)


    I had immediately tried out the first and a [Lower White Skeleton Soldier LVL 20] rose from the ground. It wasn''t like the ones we had met on the first floor as they attacked with their bare hands and this one had a sword. We had actually encountered enemies like these on the floors below 5, though they were way more high levelled than these summons.


    I tried the spell in fights and the skeleton attacked anyone automatically that it perceived as an enemy of mine.


    We stayed on the floor for 3 days and now each of us had these 2 spells at our disposal.


    This was the moment when we actually decided that Shirley would take on as a mage. She herself felt useless in battles and thus, readily accepted this proposal. Thus from now on, it was decided that she would be putting most of her points in INT so she could have a big enough supply of mana. Right now she could only use the spell twice at a time before she ran out of mana but it would soon change. This is also the reason why she was given the [Dark Mana Crystal]s. And if you were to take those into account, she could use the spell 6 times.


    Well, I could use it about a hundred times but I won''t. The reason is that it was an active spell and using it won''t increase my mastery. But more importantly, it was going to be Shirley''s thing and I definitely wasn''t going to take her spotlight.


    Phew, that was long. Now that I''m done, I think I should get on my way.


    I grabbed a greedy kiss from either side and contendedly said:


    "Log out". (Me)


    <hr />


    My first time trying sexy stuff. Tried to keep it low or moderate. Tell me if its over. Thanks in advance!

 Vol 3: Chap 2: Tests are coming

    I went to school next day as usual.


    Our mid-term exams were to start from the next week, so you could see everyone in the class putting their minds into studying.


    This was also a topic I had yet to discuss with Shirley since the tests would take a lot more time out of IO.


    The tests were going to last 3 weeks. And if you equal that to IO time, that makes it about 2.5 months. Though its not like I won''t be able to play at all but the time spent would be hardly worth it.


    I would have to break this to Shirley sometime and I was thinking of doing it today as it would give us some time to plan and prepare.


    Well we''ll see whatever happens but for now, lets get back to study.


    "....and this is called Interference of Light leading to maximas and minimas of different intensities at........." (Physics teacher)


    I listened to our teacher explain the wave nature of light and made notes in my register.


    .


    .


    .


    Time passed similarly and soon came lunch break. As usual, Pauli came over with her lunch.


    We had already gotten past just sitting together while eating and now would also share our lunches. Pauli always commented that my mother was a great cook(not that I disagree) and mostly just ate from my lunch. In fact, sometimes the lunch was made by myself to see the fruits of my practice(I was taking cooking lessons from mom since that trouble in IO), so I was happy to be complimented. Today''s lunch was made by mother though. Its rare to get enough time in the morning to prepare your own lunch, and with my late night study sessions, it becomes even harder.


    Anyways, since my ''official'' girlfriend was here, I thought of initiating some conversation. Not of the romantic type, mind you.


    "How are studies going Pauli?" (Me)


    "Well. You?" (Pauli)


    I had already gotten used to Pauli''s short answers.


    "Its going okay, I suppose. Though I''m having some problems in chemistry, mainly the reasoning parts." (Me)


    I told her I was having trouble with chemistry. I never could wrap my head around chemistry. It was all too vague for me. There were laws but there always had to exist exceptions.


    "Need any help?" (Pauli)


    She looked up from her food and asked me that.


    "Oh that''s fine. I''m sure you have your own study to do." (Me)


    "Its fine by me." (Pauli)


    I think she meant that she''s okay with teaching me.


    "Are you sure?" (Me)


    I really didn''t want to take up her time. We already spent too much time in IO so even she must not be getting alot of study time. Also, her sleeping habits are on the good side(early to bed, early to rise), so that also makes a difference.


    Pauli seemingly nodded to my question.


    "Can we get the study material in IO? It would be advantageous since it would give us more time." (Pauli)


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Hmm...." (Me)


    What she suggested was a brilliant idea. I considered it for a momemt.


    To enter IO, you just had to plug in the headgear and put it on. It was hard to tell how you could manage to take external stuff with you. As far as I could tell, you would have to remember everything to be able to bring the information in the Virtual World. But if you could do that, there woundn''t a need to study it, would there?


    The only solution I could see was to ask for Trichia''s help. But could I do that without revealing her to Pauli?


    "I don''t think so." (Me)


    I would ask Trichia about it once anyway but in the end I don''t think we should do it. If we do it once, we''ll be doing it again. This would take our time out of reality even more. Its better to keep Real Life and Virtual Life separate.


    Pauli seemed to be thinking of a way too but couldn''t come up with anything either.


    "Then..." (Pauli)


    "Its alright. I''ll manage on my own." (Me)


    "How about a study session at my house?" (Pauli)


    I interrupted her to decline but she made her offer anyway.


    (A study session at Pauli''s house? Maybe... )


    I was considering it again.


    "I think we can do that, if you''re okay with it?" (Me)


    Pauli nodded again and ate another bite of food.


    "I''ll go home first and tell Shirley that we won''t be coming and then come to your house. How does that sound?" (Me)


    "We can just do that at my house." (Pauli)


    Well she had a headgear too so she could''ve also done it. But I needed to log in myself to talk to Trichia.


    "I''ll be needing a change of clothes so I''ll be going home once anyway. So its not a problem." (Me)


    "Right." (Pauli)


    She agreed and took another bite of food from my lunchbox.


    "It should take me about half an hour to get to your home after. Should I just come in through your window?" (Me)


    "Why would you come in through the window?" (Pauli)


    This time Pauli was looking at me with a weird look.


    "Well.." (Me)


    I don''t know why I suggested it either now. I just... said it, as if it seemed obvious. I think it may be due to what happened last time when I was at Pauli''s.


    "Only Sol would be there." (Pauli)


    Sol is Pauli''s younger sister.


    I don''t know why she even mentioned that actually. Did she think I didn''t want to meet her parents? I really can never tell what she''s thinking.


    In fact, I knew her parents wouldn''t be home as they''re both working.


    "I..I''ll come in through the front." (Me)


    I was a bit embarrassed but Pauli ignored it and packed up her lunch now that it was finished and started returning to her desk.


    I ate what was left of mine and packed up too.

 Vol 3: Chap 3: Mama Mia!

    There''s a lot of stuff happening in the chapter so I was confused what to name it. So I just went with something crazy. (As you can see) xD


    <hr />


    "Welcome back, brother." (Trichia)


    Trichia appeared in front of me and gave me a welcome hug when I dived in.


    Right now we were in the dungeon in the eleventh floor''s safe room. Shirley was still in her tent, probably sleeping.


    "Hi Trichia." (Me)


    I greeted my little sister with a cuddle and a pull of her cheeks.


    "It hwurts brother.." (Trichia)


    "Oh yeah? Then how about this!" (Me)


    I grabbed her and started tickling her.


    "Hahah.. No.. Big brother... Hahaha... That''s cheating...hahahaha" (Trichia)


    Suddenly she disappeared from my grasp and reappeared hanging on my back.


    "Hihihihihi" (Trichia)


    "Oh, so you wanna go for a piggyback ride huh?" (Me)


    "Un hn!" (Trichia)


    She said with a big nod.


    "Off. we. GO!!!!" (Me)


    "Wohoooo!!!" (Trichia)


    I started running around in a high speed and did some complicated maneuvers for the thrill. Trichia was shouting and laughing on my back.


    "Go faster!" (Trichia)


    "Hahaha... Like that Trichia?" (Me)


    I asked while doing a Summersault 3 meters above the ground.


    "Yeah!!" (Trichia)


    I kept running around for a while without care for my SP.


    .


    .


    But after a while something felt wrong. It had gotten too quite.


    "Trichia?" (Me)


    There was no reply.


    I looked behind and she was gone. Suddenly I felt a cold stare from the side.


    There SHE was.


    "How..long have you been there?" (Me)


    "Long enough." (Shirley)


    I failed to realize when Shirley came out.


    (Crap.)


    I know how it must have looked. Knowing Trichia, she definitely would have disappeared the moment Shirley came so what she witnessed was a lone man jumping around while shouting for absolutely no reason whatsoever.


    If I knew someone like that, I''d probably break all ties with such a person too, so I understand the reason behind her cold look.


    "........Mama Mia?" (Me)


    *zip*


    She just went back into her tent.


    (I''m doomed, aren''t I?)


    "Yes you are~" (Trichia)


    Trichia reappeared hanging on my back.


    "Why didn''t you tell me she was out!?" (Me)


    "Aww.. But you looked so cute jumping around like that!" (Trichia)


    She got off my back and did a cute pout.


    "Haahh.. I can''t even get angry at you." (Me)


    I said while pulling her cheeks and she giggled with a "hehe.." instead of a "hihi.." due to my cruel technique.


    "Tell me something, you cute little devil of mine. Is there any way to bring stuff here from the real world?" (Me)


    "Depends on what sort of stuff are we talking about." (Trichia)


    We finally started a bit more serious discussion.


    "Well, actually I was thinking of studying in here. The time difference could help me get more covered in less time." (Me)


    "Hmm. So you want to bring in your study material?" (Trichia)


    "Yeah...." (Me)


    "While normally it is impossible, I can make some sort of an exception since it is you." (Trichia)


    "What do you mean?" (Me)


    "While you cannot get in anything, I can create it for you as a game item. Just tell me the names of whichever books you need and I''ll download them and have the system generate it as a drop from a monster." (Trichia)


    "Why take such a roundabout way? Can''t you just give it to me." (Trichia)


    "You see, I told you this once before: I don''t control anything but define everything. What I am permitted to do is interefere with The System. I cannot dirrectly influence any player. And in fact, neither can The System, apart from banning somebody. I can only control the System and have it control your surroundings. If you want to go into a bit more technical talk, first of all know that none of this is real." (Trichia)


    I nodded at that.


    "Whatever you see, hear, smell or feel in this place is a brain signal created by the headgear you are currently wearing in real life. The brain signals are of limited type. Thus, you can call it a restriction." (Trichia)


    I nodded again.


    "So The System can''t tamper with anything in your brain except producing limited sensations. Thus, there is a defined outline the System can work in. Even if something goes wrong, it just CAN NOT do anything since it does not have the means to do so in the first place." (Trichia)


    I nodded a final time.


    "I CAN have the system make you feel a lot of pain though. There is no way to stop you from speaking so you can log out any time. But, in the end, its a question of whether you do not go insane in the first place." (Trichia)


    *gulp*


    She said the last bit with a cute smile. The contrast was ghastly enough for me have cold sweat run down my back but at the same time, enticing enough to willingly bear all that pain for it.


    (I have an incredible little sister, don''t I?)


    Trichia smiled a bit more and continued.


    "Enough with the pep talk, tell me which books you need." (Trichia)


    (Pep talk?)


    "Its fine. I just wanted to know if it could be done. It''d be troublesome to explain to Pauli how I got those in here." (Me)


    She shrugged at me as if saying ''Its your problem.''


    "In that case, you should probably go look after your ''other'' girl in there. Let me know if you need anything else." (Trichia)


    Trichia disappeared after that.


    *sigh*


    I went over to the tent.


    "Hey Shirley. You in there? Please forget whatever you saw earlier." (Me)


    "Where''s Pauli? And what took you so long?" (Shirley)


    She said as she came out of the tent. She was probably just acting earlier. She does that sometimes to brighten the mood.


    "...You can say that it takes a while for the crazy to die down." (Me)


    As she was out of the tent and standing right in front of me, I gave her a deep kiss.


    "As for Pauli, she''s not coming." (Me)


    I spoke again after the kiss. The contents of my speech caused her to raise an eyebrow at me.


    "Which is actually the main reason I''m here. We need to talk about something important." (Me)


    "Umm. Okay." (Shirley)


    She stiffened up a bit noticing the serious atmosphere.


    I took out Shirley''s bed from my inventory to make ourselves comfortable.


    "Me and Pauli won''t be able to visit much during the next couple of months." (Me)


    I got straight to the point instead of just beating around the bush.


    "Is everything okay?" (Shirley)


    She asked with concern. Seeing that inadvertently brought a smile to my face. I got closer to her and caressed her hair.


    "Its nothing you would need to worry about. Its just some important stuff in our world that we have to take care off." (Me)


    Probably due to the contents of my speech, she didn''t look satisfied.


    "We have our school exams." (Me)


    I said just to clarify.


    "School? Are you two by any chance, nobles?" (Shirley)


    Yeah, exactly the reason why I didn''t tell her originally. I kind of guessed that this world wouldn''t have a great concept of schools. Now, though I don''t have any problem explaining it to her, it could better be done some other time.


    "In our world, there are no nobles and everyone goes to school. But its not about that. I can tell you all about it some other time, so lets discuss the more important matters for now." (Me)


    Shirley seemed surprised at my first sentence and wanted to say something but had quickly shut up at my next one.


    "We need to discuss what YOU are going to do? You know as well as me that there''s no way for you to fight alone on this floor." (Me)


    She nodded.


    "Also, there''s the issue of food. So, I was thinking of escorting you to the first floor and make its safe room your temporary home." (Me)


    "...." (Shirley)


    She probably didn''t see my reasoning so I decided to explain.


    "You should be able to fight on the first floor so you can level up while we''re gone. Also, if you''re on the first floor, you won''t need to go through any boss monsters to get out of the dungeon and can easily secure some food." (Me)


    "..." (Shirley)


    She seemed to be thinking about something. She had been too quite during all this. This had probably come as bit of a shock for her.


    She finally decided to speak.


    "I think I can manage on the first floor with my summoning spell." (Shirley)


    It looks like she was fine with my proposal.


    "And just you wait! I''ll become extremely powerful by the time you''re back!" (Shirley)


    She looked pumped up for some reason.


    "I''ll be back tomorrow." (Me)


    I would be. I only said we won''t be able to visit ''much''. We''d still come though.


    "...." (Shirley)


    AND she was glaring at me.


    "What?" (Me)


    "You just had to go and ruin the moment, didn''t you!?" (Shirley)


    "Ummm.. Oopsie?" (Me)


    "Haaah.." (Shirley)


    Shirley sighed and got up.


    "Let''s go" (Shirley)


    She said and extended an arm out to me. I took it and got up too. We shared another kiss and started packing after.


    I told Shirley to pack up her tent and other stuff while I took a look in the boss room.


    I could still get my best item of the day, and I wasn''t going to waste it on some random skeleton.


    I opened the big-ass doors of the boss room and entered.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Clown of Ponte Brisko LVL 150</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Was that supposed to be funny?


    Ignoring the name of the monster, I got ready.


    It was like a clown, just more evil looking. It had a big round nose, huge lips and merry clothes. The only difference from a normal clown was that everthing it wore was black. The only white thing on its entire body was its face which gave it a remarkable contrast due to its big round black nose and huge black lips. Even its eyes were black. Also, its weopen of choice was: a Stick.


    Since I was short on time, I didn''t care to see its attack patterns and went out at my fastest speed to punch it in the face. The result was: I met only air.


    (Wha!?)


    It was impossible to even see my attack at my top speed, much less avoid it, then how!?


    I looked around and the clown was standing a distance away from me in the direction where I came from.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grey Skeleton LVL 90</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grey Skeleton LVL 90</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grey Skeleton LVL 90</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Three new monsters appeared around me.


    "Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier." (Me)


    I summoned 5 Lesser White Skeleton Soldiers.


    (Its annoying to say the spell again and again.)


    The reason I summoned these was to keep the Grey Skeletons company. I had to take out the Boss Monster first for my best item skill to work. These low-lives could be handled later.


    Leaving the new monsters to my summons, I again attacked the Clown, though a bit slower this time. And thus, I saw clearly this time. The Clown didn''t move an inch. My punch actually went through it and it disappeared after. It was in no way an after-image. It was an illusion!


    I looked around the clown was again at my back in the direction where I came from. It was probably another illusion. I looked around again to find anything resembling its real body. The boss room was wide and large and huge and whatever word is associated with ''big''. The only place I could think of for the clown to hide was behind any of the 8 fat pillers around the room but I somehow had the feeling that he wouldn''t be there. Where else could it be? Then I finally noticed. UP.


    The Clown was at the ceiling, flying.


    (Flying!?)


    It was flying, or at least floating from what it looked like.


    I looked over to the fight of my summons and the grey skeletons. 2 of my summons had been destroyed and none of the grey skeletons. I summoned another White Skeleton Warrior to join the fray. Then I picked up a skull of my summon that had yet to be destroyed(and thus disappear) and threw it at the Clown.


    The skull bounced off something in front of the clown and the ''something'' seemes to shine for a moment at the point of impact.


    (Something like a shield or a force field?)


    I got to the falling skull that I threw earlier and caught it, then threw it again with a speed much greater than before. The shield seemed to hold but the force was enough for the Clown to tumble and try to regain its balance.


    That was all the information I needed. It was trying to maintain its balance. Over what? Its a clown so its not too hard to guess. It was probably standing on a string going across the ceiling.


    My summon whose skull I was using was destroyed. It was evident from the fact that the skull disappeared mid-air. But I didn''t need it anymore anyway.


    I took out a copper dagger and threw it at the place I assumed the string should be. It was too far to even see the stupid thing. And I wasn''t taking any risk jumping lest my head get stuck in the ceiling.


    It would''ve been nearly impossible for anyone to hit the string from this distance, but I somehow managed on my first try. You can call it luck or ability. Though whichever it was, didn''t prevent the clown from falling.


    As the clown reached about 5 metres above the ground, a balloon started getting inflated below it and thus it landed safely, atop the large balloon. The clown would had to make its entrance at some point so this was probably how it would have done it anyway. Well, I didn''t care. This fight had gone on long enough and there were people waiting for me. So I accelerated again and threw a punch at the real clown this time. My attack met its shield but it easily shattered and my fist made its way to the clown''s face without losing any momentum causing its head to explode. Apparantly, the clown couldn''t survive without a head unlike the skeletons as its HP bar turned completely grey after that one hit.


    There was a round object remaining after the clown''s body disappeared. It should have been the item drop. Though I left it there for now and left to destroy the grey skeletons first. I took out my spike shield and destroyed all the skeletons including my white summons, then got back to the item.


    "Appraise."


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Orb of Deception


    The most prized treasure of Duke Volhard stolen by his mistress on the night of a new moon. The mistress having nowhere to run to, joined a circus and soon became famous as the ''Clown of Ponte Brisko''.


    Spells:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Invisible  MP 20/second


    Cause the User to become invisible.


    (Invisibilty is broken by physical contact with another being.)</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    Was that actually a woman in that clown!? I hope not!


    Either way, it was a good item but for very specific scenarios such as infiltration or escape or playing pranks. I don''t think there''ll be much use of it in a dungeon. Still, I will use it for an experiment to test an earlier theory of mine.


    As I was finally finished with the boss fight, I was preparing to get out of the room back to Shirley and I was about to put the Orb in my inventory but then I didn''t.


    "Invisibility." (Me)


    I didn''t feel any different and I could see my own hands and feet.


    It should have worked but I couldn''t tell.


    It was time to exit, so I opened the same door I came in from. As the door opened, I could see Shirley sitting on her stuff waiting for me, suddenly look up.


    Just in case I wasn''t invisible, I waved at her but she didn''t show any reaction but looked a bit confused a few seconds later.


    Now that I had walked out completely, the door of the boss room closed automatically. Shirley looked even more confused.


    "Rota?" (Shirley)


    She said out loud expecting some kind of answer.


    This proved that she really couldn''t see me. I went and stood right in front of her to see if she could detect anything. And nothing. She was looking right through me at the door of the boss room.


    I crouched down and got my head to the height of her breasts and gave her a hug, thus burying my head in her breasts and breaking the invisibility at the same time.


    "Kyaaaa!" (Shirley)


    In her panic, she let out a scream and punched my head with both her fists.


    "Ugh." (Me)


    I fell on the ground as my head felt a little wobbly.


    (I probably deserved that.)


    "Rota! I''m so sorry! Are you okay?" (Shirley)


    Finally coming back to her senses, she realised the situation and started rubbing my head where I was holding it.


    "Yeah.. I''m sorry too..." (Me)


    "You ought to be sorry! What the hell did you do!?" (Shirley)


    She did a complete roundabout, seemed to forgo her earlier sympathy and brought out her fury.


    "This.." (Me)


    I showed her the orb in my hand.


    "It grants invisibility." (Me)


    "Confiscated!" (Shirley)


    Shirley took the orb and put in in one of her bags.


    "Nooooo!!!!!" (Me)


    She took away my toy!


    "You''re not getting it back." (Shirley)


    She said it in a firm tone. She was really pissed. I really shouldn''t have done that.


    "Huggies?" (Me)


    I said with the puppy eyes asking for a hug in a childish manner.


    "Don''t give me that look! This is your punishment for being a bad boy. Now get you ass off the floor and get a move on." (Shirley)


    "Okay.." (Me)


    I got off the floor and started walking while acting depressed.


    This only lasted for a while before we were flirting again and had some ''fun'' on the 9th floor''s safe room.


    Afterwards, I safely delivered her to the first floor''s safe room and took out most of her stuff from my inventory that she may be needing. It was enough that now the safe room resembled her home.


    I also did my experiment that I thought of when I obtained the [Orb of Deception]. Something I found weird was that the skeletons could still attack me without their skulls and thus without their eyes. So I was let to conclude that they somehow had a way to sense their enemies. If that was indeed true, my invisibilty wouldn''t work on them. But it did. They didn''t attack the invisible me. They didn''t even react when I threw a stone at them. This made me even more confused than before and I gave up.


    In the end, I had gotten a bit late due to the boss fight, the 9th floor''s ''activities'' as well as my random experiment, so I quickly bid Shirley farewell and logged out.


    (I hope Pauli won''t to be pissed at me for being so late.)

 Vol 3: Chap 4: A Visit to Her House

    As I got back to the real world world, I realised that quarter to an hour had passed and I was indeed late. I quickly picked up any and all books that I may need(I didn''t take that many since Pauli would also have her own) then went my way onwards to her home. I had already told mother that I would be going to a friend''s house to study.


    On the way, I bought some snacks to take with me. I guess you can call it a courtesy? I wonder if its a tradition to take something along when going to someone''s home? Well, I didn''t have anything the last time I visited. Actually, I was Pauli''s sister''s deliveryman, should that count? Never took anything to Yuko''s house either, did I? Well, he took me to his home himself so there was never a time to.


    It took me 20 minutes to reach Pauli''s home. I was effectively more than half an hour late than what we had planned. As I got closer to her house, I slowed my pace that I had earlier picked up due to being late. Finally, when I reached the place, I rang the doorbell.


    And Pauli came out to greet.


    "You''re late." (Pauli)


    "I.." (Me)


    Before I could give any excuse, she had already walked back in leaving the door open for me to enter.


    "Haah.." (Me)


    I sighed and walked in, closing the door behind me. When I turned back, she was gone.


    ...


    I stood there blank for a second.


    (Where is she!? I don''t know the way to her room!)


    I had only been to her house once and even then, I exited through the window. How the hell does she expect me to know which room was to go in to!? I only remember that it was on the ground floor.


    Like a great detective once said, ''You see, but you don''t observe.'' Let''s try deducing my way out.


    Lets see. To my front is what looks to be the drawing room with the sofa and tables. To the left of this room, are two openings. One is the stairways to the first floor, while the other, I''m guessing to be the kitchen according to what little I can see from this angle. Weirdly enough, the lights were on in there. Then, to the right of this room, is a single passage. Should I try going there? Only place left.


    I moved onward to that small corridor and faced another predicament. There was a room on either side. Now which one is Pauli''s?


    (She didn''t even keep her door open for me. Did she want to mess with me?)


    One of the rooms was definitely Pauli''s and the other most probably her sister''s. Knowing my luck, I''ll probably get the one with her sister and that too while she was changing her clothes.


    *breathe in*


    (It going to be alright! Its nothing to worry about!)


    I took a heavy breath in and opened the door to my left.


    (Right, I forgot the universe hates me.)


    It was indeed the sister''s room and indeed she was in the middle of changing her clothes. Now the good thing was that she already had her underwear on. She was in the process of putting on her bra. Thus she was a little bend forward and had both her hands at her back to close the hook. She was bent towards me and head was up, facing me. Even with the angle, I couldn''t see anything down there since she''d almost put the bra on...except I could, a little bit.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    As our eyes met each other''s, we stood there like that for about 5 seconds before I finally opened ny mouth.


    "I''m guessing.. Pauli''s room is the other one?" (Me)


    I said in a slow tone. She also nodded slowly, very slowly.


    "You need any help with that?" (Me)


    I again said slowly. And this time she shook her head, albeit slowly again.


    "It was nice to meet you!" (Me)


    This time I said it quickly and closed the door.


    *breathe out*


    I was leaning against the door that I just closed and breathed out heavily. Then I noticed Pauli beside me, in her hand a tray with some food and drinks.


    (So she was in the kitchen.)


    She stood there for a second before finally opening her mouth to speak.


    "My room''s that one." (Pauli)


    (I already know that!)


    She had said her words in a slow tone too. If I didn''t know any better, I''d think she was making fun of me.


    .


    .


    .


    The rest of the day went normally enough with nothing major happening. Please believe me this time! I won''t give you any crazy flashbacks later on!


    Pauli and I studied for about 4 hours before we decided to wrap it up. I didn''t even see her sister again the whole day, so that was something. It really would have been awkward after that since we barely knew each other. I only knew her as the girl I saved from the delinquents or just as Pauli''s sister. Pauli did alteast tell me that she also played IO and was in a very distant place with some of her school friends.


    Anyways, the main reason to come here was to study and I should say that it was a great success. Pauli is a good as well as a strict teacher. She explained everything calmly and readily without minding how ''obvious'' it should be. Also, there wasn''t a single break in between the study so it was like a 4 hour marathon. I usually studied for 1 or 2 hours at a time so at first I felt uncomfortable but as Pauli wasn''t minding it, who was I say? In the end I sat still and it turned out well. I should probably attribute that to Pauli''s great teaching skills too. Her explainations were really easy to understand and made things easy to remember. I was confident in scoring good enough marks in the Chemistry test now(we were studying Chemistry). After we finished, I thanked her and made my way home.


    I don''t know something she''d want but I''ll definitely do something to return the favor.


    When I got home, I had dinner and answered some of mom''s questions on how the study session went. She was glad to know it went well.


    After dinner, I went to my room and did some light stretching and entered IO.


    I was in the first floor safe room. Shirley was probably out fighting some skeletons or collecting food as she wasn''t here. Pauli wasn''t here either as she was probably in the real world, then I realised something.


    (FUCK!! I LEFT PAULI ON THE ELEVENTH FLOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)


    {Author''s note: For those of you who don''t get it, Rota came to the first floor with Shirley only. Whenever Pauli dives in, she''ll be where she last logged out, i.e. the 11th floor.}

 Vol 3: Chap 5: A New Fight in a New Way

    I quickly logged out and called Pauli.


    ..


    She wasn''t answering.


    (Crap.)


    I relocated Shirley but didn''t take Pauli with me. Now whenever she''ll dive in, she''d be on the eleventh floor.


    As she wasn''t picking up her phone, I dived in again to make my way to the eleventh floor. Even if she wasn''t logged in right now, I''d have to make my way there whenever she did. So I guess it''d be better to go there now so as to save time later.


    I dived in again and Shirley wasn''t here this time either. Without minding, I entered the boss room and finished the fight in less than 3 seconds. I got another [Spike Shield]. It was probably already the next day in this world.


    Anyway, I equipped the newly obtained [Spike Shield] and blasted away any enemy that came in front of me with ease. In about 40 minutes, I was back in the eleventh floor''s safe room and found Pauli sitting with her back against one of the walls.


    "Late again." (Pauli)


    She said calmly.


    "So thats why you weren''t picking up your phone." (Me)


    I went closer to her and sat down beside her.


    "You were trying to call me?" (Pauli)


    Then I told her what happened.


    .


    .


    .


    "So what now?" (Pauli)


    She asked for our next coarse of action.


    "We can either go to the 1st floor too or continue on in whatever little time we have." (Me)


    "What about food?" (Pauli)


    Hmm. Good question. Shirley wasn''t here and we needed food to survive.


    "I can handle that." (Me)


    I had some of Shirley''s cooking equipment with me as well as practically all the food we owned was stored in either my or Pauli''s inventory. We couldn''t give it to Shirley since she couldn''t use inventory and it''d rot otherwise.


    "You can cook?" (Pauli)


    If I could cook, then our food problem would be solved.


    "A bit." (Me)


    And cook, I indeed could.


    I never told Pauli that sometimes the lunches that she praised were actually made by me.


    "Its decided then?" (Pauli)


    She was probably referring to moving onwards.


    I got up and extended my hand out her.


    "Shall we?" (Me)


    She gave a faint smile and took my hand.


    "Lets go." (Pauli)


    I pulled her up and we walked over to the boss room.


    Pauli breathed in heavily as if to get ready. I gave her the new [Spike Shield] and myself remained bare-handed. As the door opened, we walked in to face the boss.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Clown of Ponte Brisko LVL 150</td></tr></tbody></table>


    (We meet once again, Mr Clown.)


    "That one''s an illusion. The real body is up there." (Me)


    I told Pauli while looking at its real body. Pauli looked at me first and then followed my gaze. While still looking at the real enemy on the ceiling, she spoke.


    "You''ve fought it before." (Pauli)


    It wasn''t a question but I still answered.


    "Yeah." (Me)


    "How''re we supposed to bring him down?" (Pauli)


    This time she looked at me when she said that.


    "Leave that part to me. Do you think you can handle 3 [Grey Skeleton]s alone?" (Me)


    The [Grey Skeleton]s hadn''t appeared yet, but it was only a matter of time.


    "I doubt it." (Pauli)


    She was LVL 84. Handling 3 [Grey Skeleton]s was probably too much to ask for.


    "Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier.


    Lesser summon undead soldier." (Me)


    I summoned 5 [Lesser White Skeleton Soldier]s just like last time.


    "How about now?" (Me)


    "I think I can manage." (Pauli)


    Pauli wouldn''t just stand there and watch me fight and I wasn''t going to let her battle the boss, so that only left the to-be-summoned [Grey Skeleton]s.


    Having decided upon our respective battles, we got ready.


    My summoned Skeletons had already perceived the illusion as my enemy and had automatically went to attack it, causing it to disappear and Pauli''s enemies to be summoned. She took that as a cue and started running towards the enemies, ignoring the new illusion of the boss that had appeared a distance away.


    As for me, I was thinking of fighting the boss on its home ground, so to speak  the string that it was standing on... What? I just want to try it a bit.


    I jumped upto the reach the ceiling. I didn''t know how much strength to jump up with, so I just went with my instinct. The result was: both my hands were stuck in the ceiling and I was hanging from it.


    The force had been a little too much and it caused my arms to be buried till half my elbow length. Thankfully, my head was out, otherwise I wouldn''t have been able to see the boss attacking.


    The boss pointed his stick at me and from its end came shooting some sort of energy bolt.


    I swung my body forward and dodged as the energy bolt thingy passed below me. Since it was going behind me, I couldn''t see but I felt the tremor as it made contact with the wall behind me. The sound of debris falling was also hard to miss.


    (I should probably avoid getting hit by it.)


    Right then I noticed the boss charging another shot. It took about 2 seconds of charging before it could shoot it. I quickly extracted my right hand with a jerk and swung about my left hand to thrust the right one again a bit forward. As I did, the energy bolt barely missed me again. I needed about 3 more swings like that to cover enough distance to land on the string. And I needed to do it quick as the boss didn''t have any intention of stopping. I could already see it charge for another shot.


    With the same movements, I made another hop forward but without stopping, went on to make two more this time. I was now right above the string. I pulled my arm out gently and carefully landed on the string. Right then another energy bolt came flying at me. I couldn''t dodge to the sides so I jumped up in a hurry, just to have both my hands stuck in the ceiling again. So annoying.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    But what happened next was much more annoying. As my enemy and I were both were on the string earlier, the energy shot went parallel to the length of the string and destroyed the part of the wall where it was connected to.


    "Oh c''mon! I worked so hard to get here." (Me) I couldn''t help but exclaim.


    Now the stupid boss who broke his own footing was falling and I was stuck in the ceiling. Our positions were completely reversed from what it was in the beggining.


    I looked over to Pauli''s fight.


    "Good." (Me)


    She had managed to destroy all the [Grey Skeleton]s and was looking over from a corner at my fight with the boss... except that the boss and I weren''t exactly fighting.


    I swung again, bringing my feet upto the ceiling and using it as a foothold to free as well as launch myself at the boss at the same time. Midair, I took out a [Spike Shield] and covered my front with it as I was falling headfirst.


    "Spike out." (Me)


    I spoke out the name of the skill of the shield causing sharp needle like protrusions to come out of its front.


    As I had used extra force to jump off, I reached the boss at the same time it hit the ground with its balloon.


    *BOOOOOOOM*


    A loud noise reverberated as I made impact with the boss.


    ..


    I have no idea what happened after the impact as when I got up and out of the dust cloud that had formed, the boss wasn''t there. I remembered hearing a *ding* so I checked my status.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>NAME: Rota


    RACE: Human


    TITLE: Champion, Strongest, Fastest, Smartest, Luckiest


    LVL: 348


    HP: 36578/38000


    SP:  12761/42000


    MP: 19180/20000


    STR: 1900


    AGI: 2100


    INT: 1000


    LUC: 1000


    Points remaining: 80</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I barely lost any HP due to my skill:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Soft Landing   LVL 10


    Decreased damage by 100% when falling from a height less than max jumping height.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This skill had MAX''ed out long ago.


    I had 80 points remaining but I was was waiting for another level so I could add it all at the same time to even out the strength stat.


    My SP was so low because I was making my way here fast though numerous floors.


    ..


    I walked over to Pauli and waited for the dust cloud to settle down so we could find any drops the Boss left behind.


    Pauli just gave me a sigh when I came to her to show her incomprehensiblity at my method of fighting. Hey! I battled normally the last time I was here!


    She told me she was getting hungry, so I took out some food and started cooking in the boss room itself. The dust cloud was a distance away so it wasn''t a problem. Also, I hadn''t witnessed the boss spawning again once defeated while the players were still inside, so I guess this was also sort of a safe room. Unless, if the boss does respawn, I will be more than happy to kill it again.


    While I managed to conjure up something good enough to eat, the dust clowd had already settled down and Pauli brought over the Boss item drop.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>ClownStick


    Effects:


    STR+10


    INT+10</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Even though it said ''ClownStick'', it wasn''t the same as the one the Boss was using. I probably won''t be using this one so it went right into the inventory.


    As the food was finally done, we sat down to eat. Pauli looked satisfied with the food so I was satisfied too.


    Afterwards, we decided to move on to the 12th floor


    safe room before logging out instead of going back to the eleventh floor''s safe room


    On the way, we fought


    against [Lesser White Skeleton Soldier]s, [Lesser White Skeleton Archer]s, [Lesser White Skeleton Mage]s and the normal [Grey Skeleton]s.


    The [Mage]s weren''t so much of a pain in the ass for me as their only attacks were [Fireball], [Waterball], [Windball] and the rare [Darkball]. They are only tentative names used by our party to refer to the attacks. The first 3 should be pretty obvious as to what they do from their name. The [Darkball] is like a [Fireball], just that its made of darkness. And when I say its made of darkness, believe me that there aren''t any better words to describe it. It is similar to the dark fog that we witnessed at the entrance of the dungeon. The [Darkball] makes no impact on landing unlike the other balls but in fact, does more damage.


    Actually, I rather enjoy being hit by the balls as they do really insignificant damage to my HP and are in fact, refreshing, especially the wind and water ones(Though Pauli looked at me with a weird look when I told her that).


    Anyways, the main problem is the archers. They are similar to mages as they attack from the back, but their attacks hurt if they land, so its unpleasent. Also, the arrows they fire disappear once they get defeated, so I can''t even have Pauli use them.


    So now, whenever I face a fight where the enemies contain an archer, I destroy it first, which isn''t much trouble with my speed.


    The rest is all well. I let Pauli take on the weaker opponent while I finish off the stronger ones. Sometimes when there is less danger, she requests to fight alone so I just support from the back.


    The fights have become considerably easy and it took us about 2 hours to reach the next safe room, where we said our goodbyes.

 Vol 3: Chap 6: Fights, Physics and Fairies

    Next day, Pauli and I decided upon a particular time to log in again. The time we decided on was a little late into the night but not that late either. We aimed to make it to the next floor''s safe room.


    Also, there was some interesting news I happened to overhear in school. There was some sort of tournament that was going to happen in IO a week from now in the Great Kingdom of Dian. As it turns out, it was the first major event in the game and everyone was excited at the prospects of the potential grand prize offered by the King of Dian. Well, it was useless information for me since I wasn''t going to take part. Bringing alot of attention to myself was the last thing I wanted to do right now. Also, I had no idea where or how far the freaking place was. Neither had I the time, with my exams coming up soon.


    Since there was the discussion of IO going around, someone mentioned something interesting. Atleast, I found it more interesting than the tournament. Apparantly, the [PK] guild was wiped out. It was the guild that worked to kill high-level players to bring down their levels. It seems like a some sort of justice loving group got together and made the [Justice Prevails] guild, which took help of some other guilds and users to do to the [PK] guild players, what they did to others. So now, those guys were at most level 40.


    Somewhere in my heart, I felt a bit disappointed. Truth be told, I wanted to take care of that ''evil'' guild myself. I don''t know whether it was for the Hero feeling or to test myself or to just go for a plain old smackdown. Well, what was done was done, nothing to be done about it now.


    Anyways, after school ended, we went our separate ways and got back to our homes.


    Pauli and I had decided to meet up for a single hour in RL duration which would give us 3.5 hours in IO.  We estimated it to be enough to reach the next safe room.


    Since there was a lot of time for our meet up, I decided to study. I changed out of my uniform and did some exercise and finally got down to studying. It went on for a few hours before I realised it was 10 minutes before our appointed time.


    I decided to log in early. Putting back my books in order, I got ready and lay on my bed and put on the headgear. After a few seconds, the headgear made a *beep*. It was my cue to dive in.


    As I opened my eyes, I found myself in 12th floor''s safe room. As expected, Pauli wasn''t here.


    "There are some users headed your way." (Trichia)


    Suddenly came Trichia''s voice. I was startled a bit as this was something completely unexpected. But then again, it should have been obvious that someone would come sooner or later. Millions play the game. Their probability of coming here has to be finite.


    "How many?" (Me)


    Since it was just me here, I didn''t need to send back a thought.


    "3 of them. Levels are 83, 87 and 91. I can''t say for sure whether they''ll find the dungeon or not." (Trichia)


    "Are they friendly?" (Me)


    I asked the important question.


    "They''re known to harass NPCs and have committed some PKs but have never went over the line. Otherwise, I would have banned them." (Trichia)


    "Shirley......" (Me)


    I was worried about Shirley. She might have grown enough to handle one of them if they decided to attack, but not all three. It was even more troubling as I didn''t know whether they''d be hostile. If I clearly knew, I could have straight away head out to kill them.


    "You''re already here." (Pauli)


    I heard a voice behind me. As I looked back, Pauli was standing there. She seemed to have just logged in.


    "I just got here myself." (Me)


    (Hey Trichia, how long do you think before they reach here?)


    "Should we go in for the boss fight, or eat something first?" (Pauli)


    "I''d say somewhere between 2 to 4 hours depending on how many monsters they have to face." (Trichia)


    It was a little confusing to have 2 conversations at the same time, but I managed.


    {Authors note: If you''re getting confused too, know that whatever the girls say is directed to the MC. MC''s (thoughts) are for Trichia and "direct lines" for Pauli.}


    "What do you want to do?" (Me)


    (What is Shirley doing?)


    "She''s fighting on the first floor, though not for long. She''s been fighting for some time and is bound to take a break soon." (Trichia)


    This time Trichia replied first as Pauli took a moment to think.


    (Can you let me know if the 3 users get in range of half an hour of here? I''d need some time too to reach the first floor.)


    "Sure thing." (Trichia)


    (Thanks.)


    "I think we should go forthe boss first. We can eat in there again, like the last time." (Pauli)


    "As my lady commands." (Me)


    I made a sort of a joke to rid myself of previous thoughts.


    Pauli didn''t seem to mind and started checking her equipment. I should probably do that too since we have no idea what kind of boss it''d be.


    Pauli got equipped with the [Spike Shield]. It was a good idea since she''ll most likely be fighting any skeleton lackeys.


    As for me, I also got equipped with a [Spike Shield] but along with it, also an iron sword. The shield went on my left and the sword on my right hand.


    Seeing that we were both equipped with our respective weapons, we gave each other a nod and moved on to the boss room. As we opened the door, what we witnessed was a similar boss room to the ones before. In the distance stood our enemy.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Doom Poodle   LVL 160</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Seriously, who names these monsters!?


    Our opponent was a poodle atleast, but only in shape. There were a few differences from a normal one in that the one in front of us was huge and looked as if someone mistook black for white and vice versa. The entire body of the creature was black except for its eyes and nose which were white. This gave it a more surreal feeling than ever. Even its teeth were pitch black. Actually, it would be better to call them fangs due to their sharpness that I could make out even from this distance.


    It looked like there wouldn''t be any skeleton underlings this time so I told Pauli to stay back.


    I carefully moved ahead and the [Doom Poodle] gave a deep growl.


    I had already replaced the spike shield with another iron sword so now I was dual wielding the same weapon in each hand. I was always an offence oriented player so the shield was useless for me. I only ever used it against skeleton opponents due to their sheer toughness.


    As I got well within range of the monster, it begun its move. It jumped up and towards me.


    It was a simple attack and easy to dodge. I just ran in the direction the Boss jumped from.


    I saw the boss turning its body mid-air to land with its face towards me. As it landed, it bent its body low and opened its mouth large.


    It looked as if it was going to launch some sort of attack so I dodged to the side. Right then came out of its mouth a [Dark Ball], only this one was much larger than the one the [Skeleton Mage]s shoot. MUCH larger! It covered a semicircle with a radius of 2 metres. Sadly enough for my opponent, I was one step ahead. Since I had already dodged before it even attacked, the opening I got was too broad, the moment it actually did. I made a dash, and slashed at the boss from the side. Having a strength stat of 1900 and every hit critical, none of my enemies ever survive my first hit(except skeletons because I prefer not to hit them directly). So I was pretty surprised when I saw the Boss get up from its position and took a stance to launch another attack.


    I looked at its HP bar on its head and I could see the tiniest of redness. (Red over grey shows the remaining HP).


    It just barely survived the attack. Its remaining HP must be in 2 digits at max.


    Anyways, it had been a long time since I used it, so I used my most powerful skill.


    "INSTA-KILL!!!!!!" (Me)


    I still have no idea how to get it to work since I don''t to use it too often. So I just pointed my palm at my opponent and shouted on the top of my lungs!


    The boss which had just made a jump at me disappeared mid-air.


    "Phew." (Me)


    I wiped the non-existant sweat on my forehead.


    Then I noticed Pauli was heading towards me and coming closer and closer. I started getting confused when she didn''t show any signs of stopping even at a distance of 1 metre.


    "Umm.. Wh.." (Me)


    As I was about to ask what was going on in her head she still didn''t stop and passed me.


    (Huh?)


    As I looked back, I saw her moving towards the boss item and pick it up.


    (Forgot about that, didn''t I?)


    Then she brought it over to me.


    "What was that skill?" (Pauli)


    Before she handed me the item, she asked. She was probably talking about my most powerful skill that I used just now.


    (Crap. I forgot Pauli doesn''t know about that. Well, no harm in telling her.)


    "Its called Insta-Kill. It lets me defeat any enemy with remaining HP lower than a hundredth my total HP." (Me)


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I told Pauli as she came closer.


    Thankfully, she didn''t ask more as I would have been troubled had she asked me how I got it.


    Then I finally took the item from her hands.


    (That''s.. Big.)


    "Appraise." (Me)


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Massive Mace


    When the giants waged war on the other races, there appeared a hero wielding the Massive Mace and massacred hundreds of giants.


    Effects:


    STR +600


    AGI -100


    Requirement:


    STR more than 400</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ohhh.... This one was a crazy item. If you had 400 strength, it''ll jump you up to 1000! The reduce in AGI was a small price to pay when you consider the massive gain in HP and damage. And speaking of massive...this Mace is a little too big to be used in the dungeon. A Mace was probably the best weapon to destroy the skeletons but it will be too hard to swing this in the dungeon other than the boss room. Its handle was 3 metres and its head was another half a metre.


    As for its appearence, it was completely red, a deep dull red except for the protrusions on its head which were black. The prostrutions on its head.. I don''t know how to describe them. There are 3 of those and in the shape of a distorted ''S'', with the pointy part up. The head itself wasn''t a sphere either. Though it was MOSTLY spherical, the sides were a bit flatter and the top was again pointy.


    Pauli should also have the necessary STR to wield this, but it wont be going to her. Its not that, I want it especially but..if I see the small Pauli use something humongous like this, I''d probably cry you know.


    Anyways, it went to my inventory to be used at the next boss battle.


    Then we started cooking in the middle of the room. I made some soup with herbs and deer meat. Deer meat is soft so it goes well with soup.


    The end result was good enough. You can''t compare it to Shirley''s but its still good enough that a person eating for the first time can say its delicious.


    Anyway, after that we moved on to the next floor. I asked Trichia the status of the 3 adventures and she told me it''ll take 2 more hours. That wasn''t an exact time, just an estimate.


    Two hours was what it normally took me to complete a floor when I didn''t know the way. Obviously, it''ll take much longer for anyone else. Even then, I fought a bit more aggressive on the floor and made it to the safe room of the thirteenth floor with a complete hour to spare.


    "Stressed?" (Pauli)


    ".....You can say that." (Me)


    Pauli mistook my hurriedness for venting out anger.


    "Exam tension?" (Pauli)


    "Umm. Not exactly...." (Me)


    "You know you can talk to me if you need anything right?" (Pauli)


    She came closer as she said that. But this time, instead of passing by, gave me a small kiss. This inadvertantly brought a smile to my face.


    (She was worried, huh?)


    "Thanks." (Me)


    I told her and gave her another kiss, a bigger one than hers and one that may have included the use of our toungues.


    After we separated, she gave me a nod and logged out.


    I was supposed to do the same but I moved on to the boss room instead. I had some time to spare and I wanted to try out the mace. To head back, I would probably need around 30-40 minutes to reach the first floor. One had to take the exact same path to get out that the used to get in, so the only fight I needed to do was the boss battles. I could just ignore other enemies and run past. When serious, even the boss battles took only a single second to finish, so I can complete each floor in about 2-3 minutes at my top speed. With this calculation, I surmised that there would be enough time for me to get back even if I took part in the boss fight.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Rocky  LVL 170</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was some sort of rock golem. It was the same height as the [Doom Poodle], but not the same length, so in effect was smaller than the previous boss. Also, it was completely made of rock so ANY of my weapons would have been useless against it.


    (Looks like I got the mace at the right time.)


    I had a giant mace and in front of me was a giant target. Talk about compatibility!


    As I got closer, it took a pose and started running at me with the intent of a body slam. But it was incredibly slow.


    I''m guessing that attacking isn''t one of its strong suits. Well, its defence is enough of a cheat in the first place. If you couldn''t damage it, it''d just be useless. A party can get completely annihilated against it if they don''t have a heavy damage dealer.


    Each step it took caused the ground to rumble and send out mini-quakes. Just from that, I could tell that it weighed ATLEAST a few tons.


    I easily dodged its attack and the golem slammed in a pillar. That''s when I noticed that the boss room was different from the others. It had a large number of pillers. I didn''t notice it earlier as my attention was towards the boss.


    As the boss got out of the debris, I could see that it had lost a tiny bit of health. But it was still negligible compared to its remaining HP.


    Then the boss came running for another body slam.


    *boom* *boom*


    This time, I swung the mighty mace at my opponents feet and..missed! And I was sent flying! Even though the boss never touched me! And the direction I flew in was opposite to the boss.


    I landed on my feet and regained my posture.


    (So physics and dungeons are actually brothers.)


    I remembered the time where I was confused where all the light came from(still am).


    The effect of physics this time was.. amazing! I would have never believed had I not felt it myself. This is what happened:


    Boss runs.


    I swing the mace.


    Earth shakes due to boss running.


    I get elevated in air due to the tremor(losing friction).


    I get thrown in the direction of motion of my and the mace''s centre of mass.


    If you''re still confused, thing of what happens when you swing a stone in a circle with a string and then let it go. It doesn''t continue spinning but moves in the direction of its instantaneous motion at the moment it loses support.


    In my case, I lose support(friction) when I''m pulled in the air. And the mace being physically heavier than me, pulls me with it in its instantaneous direction of motion.


    (Awesome...)


    Experiencing something you can only study about feels great!


    *boom* *boom*


    Ah, I was so happy I forgot about the boss. If I look closer, I can see its HP dropped a bit more and there''s a destroyed pillar behind it.


    This time I jumped as I swung to not be caught by the tremors.


    *BOOOOOM*


    An incredible sound reverberated as the mace met the head of the boss at full strength.


    I was thrown back a bit due to the rebound of the collision but managed to safely land on my feet.


    The boss, on the other hand, was sliding though the floor due to the earlier momentum without a head while destroying the floor.


    It started disappearing even before it came to a stop.


    I walked over to where the Boss took its last breath before it disappeared. Obviously it didn''t actually breath though. It was a freaking Stone Golem with the name [Rocky]!


    Anyway, I made my way over to check for any item drops. Even though it wouldn''t drop the best item, it was still a boss right? No harm in expecting, is there?


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Fairy Underwear


    A high quality item sought after by the nobles in the past.


    Effects:


    Magical Skill +40 when worn by a member of fairy race.


    Pervertedness+10 when in possession of a race other than the fairies.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    What the fuck is this!? I don''t even want it in my inventory!


    What was in my hands was a pair of panties the size a kid would wear. They were light pink in color and had a small ribbon on top.


    (I better throw it before someone sees me.)


    "Photographed, itemized and sent to Pauli''s inventory. Hmm. That should do, right?" (Trichia)


    ....


    "NOOOOOO!!!!!! Please Trichia! Have mercy on this mortal soul!" (Me)


    What would Pauli think if she saw me holding a kid''s underwear!? Actually, its hard to tell. She might actually not care, given her personality. But I can''t take that risk!


    "Hihihihi... I''m just kidding, big brother. You''re so easy to trick~" (Trichia)


    "...I''ve learnt my lesson to never question a God''s credibility." (Me)


    "Aww.. You''re so cute." (Trichia)


    "Haaah... I think I should start heading back now? Its a bit early though." (Me)


    Trichia didn''t reply this time and let me make my own decision.


    Yeah. I think I''ll go.

 Opinion Reqd.(Not a chap)

    Hi guys, Author-san of SC to MC here.


    So, I''ve encountered the condition most authors face after a while into their novels. Simply said, its the Writer''s Block.


    Well, making up stuff for the story isn''t hard but somehow, after a while it turns hard to keep it interesting. And its impossible to keep writing when you yourself don''t enjoy it anymore, unless its your job(dont worry, I''m not gonna ask for money.)


    I think that my novel ended the moment Rota and Pauli got together. You can consider him the Main Character once he gets the girl, right?


    Thus, I''ve decided to stop this novel. I might write again but that would be something new and definitely something that doesn''t go on for too long.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    So here''s what I require your opinions for(atleast to those who cared to read this).


    I usually liked to write ahead a bit to keep myself some leeway so I can come back and make any required chances such that it doesn''t affect what the reader knows. So I have a few chapters written in advance.


    Should I post them? Or should I take volume 3 off the website?


    Note that if I take the first option, the story will be ending in the middle of nowhere.

 Vol 3: Chap 7: Encounter

    Thanks to everyone who commented in my earlier post.


    I''ve decided to not end it like this and write to atleast finish the dungeon arc.


    <hr />


    I''m back to floor one''s safe room.


    "Huff.. huff.. huff.." (Me)


    Even though I reached in the time I imagined I would, the take on my SP was a little too extreme. I, who has my max SP at forty two thousand, am only left with about a thousand of it left.


    "Huff..Note to self: Never..huff.. run at top speed..huff.. for extended..huff.. periods of time..huff.." (Me)


    I flopped down in a corner to regain my breath. Shirley was sleeping on her bed in open view. Me and Pauli were expected to not come for a long time so I gave her most of her stuff back which included the bed she was sleeping on.


    "The three adventures are fifteen minutes out. They will most definitely encounter the dungeon." (Trichia)


    Right then, Trichia gave me an update to their position. Her details aren''t always exact as she can''t actually predict their next coarse of action. I mean, what if they decided to rest for some time or get down to eat? Maybe they suddenly decide to walk in a new direction? Or they encounter an enemy they can''t win against? There are numerous things to look out for.


    Well, I guess it was better I came early here. Now I have enough time to regain some of my lost SP. It won''t up to full but should regenerate enough for a decent fight.


    I lay on the dungeon floor to rest. Even though I''m sure there aren''t any sweepers here, the floor was quite cleen. Well, it looked dirty but was still clean.. Its hard to describe.


    After resting for about 10 minutes, came Trichia''s voice again.


    "Time to get ready. They''re at the entrance." (Trichia)


    I was a bit taken aback by the suddenness.


    "That was earlier than expected. Status." (Me)


    <table><tbody><tr><td>NAME: Rota


    RACE: Human


    TITLE: Champion, Strongest, Fastest, Smartest, Luckiest


    LVL: 349


    HP: 40000/40000


    SP:  8321/42000


    MP: 20000/20000


    STR: 2000


    AGI: 2100


    INT: 1000


    LUC: 1000


    Points remaining: 0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I had regained about 7000 more SP. Even though it was a far cry from my originial, it should still be more than that of my opponents combined. Well, we''re not even sure here whether there''ll be a fight or not. Maybe they''ll be nice people who believe in peace and negotiations.


    5 minutes later..


    *boom*


    *slash*


    *rip*


    *thump*


    *swish*


    *plup*


    *whoosh*


    What the fuck is with these guys!? Right as I came out to talk to talk to them, they looked at each other and gave me a most devious smile. Then said something about ''getting lucky'' and started attacking me!


    (And what''s with these guy''s skills!?)


    Each of them were using a variety of skills. I had already seen at least 2 kinds of fireballs, the normal orange and one white. Then there were those strange buffs that suddenly increase their speed. They use that right before a slash to gain advantage with an element of surprise. My shirt was already ripped in a few places and a few cuts could be seen here and there. This buff also helped them evade me easier. Even their coordination was amazing. Even though they''d die at a single one of my strikes, but I couldn''t do it without getting stabbed in the back.


    "There are auctions in your world where you can buy ingame stuff from other users with real money." (Trichia)


    As I dodged another slash, in came Trichia''s voice explaining their skills.


    (Rich bastards.)


    Well, only a minute had passed since the starting of the fight and I was yet to get serious. But before I go and bang their heads together, let me tell you a bit about what I can see about them.


    All three of them were versatile in that neither of them was a single stat oriented. They had agility based equipment but still used occasional spells here and there. All of their equipment were light, making their movements nimble. One of them had a rapier, another had an estoc and the last one had a dagger and I had no doubt that these were high quality items. Although I couldn''t see but they must have had some accessories too just like my [Alther Bony Necklace] which increases defence. Last but not the least, they are probably friends in RL or have atleast travelled together for a long time as they can coordinate their attacks without any signals. Even my party wasn''t that united.


    *swish*


    I dodged a swipe from a dagger.


    *whoosh*


    And a thrust from the estoc.


    Its a pain to attack back also. I thought that going in without a weapon would increase my chances of peace talks by looking less threatening but they mistook my intentions and took it as ''easy prey''. Well, there''s a first time for everything. Atleast I''ll remember it next time should something similar happen again.


    *jijijijiji*


    Suddenly there was sound of electric charges jumping or moving or whatever they''re supposes to do in air. I could see the guy with the estoc back off and prepare for a spell. It looked like a big one as it took some time to prepare. It looked dangerous so they were probably saving it for something troublesome. I guess they found me troublesome enough, huh?


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    While the lightening guy prepared, the other two attacked with more aggression probably to keep me off him so that he wouldn''t be interrupted.


    *burst*


    Ah.. My punch finally landed. Looks like they were running low on mana  and decided to not use their buffs. The one on whom my punch landed, his head burst open and blood splattered everywhere.


    (Ugh.)


    Though I had done this kind of crazy attack before, it was a first where the remains were a headless human body. My attack got the dagger guy and the ones left seemed to panic. The one who was preparing magic launched his lightening attack at me without proper aiming in a hurry. It was so fast that it would have been hard to dodge even for me. I dropped to the ground right as the the spell caster pointed his hands towards me. The next thing I knew, there was a bright flash and a huge sound along with slight shaking of earth. As I looked up, I saw the lightening guy huffing with a single knee to the ground. Beside him was the rapier guy looking at me with disbelief. He probably didn''t expect me to dodge that. Though with my health, I doubt it would have killed me even if I were to be hit directly. Two might do the trick but a single one was unlikely. Well, even if I was sure I wouldn''t die, taking it head on is no fun task so atleast trying to avoid it is necessary. Whether it hits or not in the end, is a different matter. Taking the attack head on just because you''re sure you wouldn''t die from it would be.. well, stupid.


    Hmm. These guys don''t look like they''re in the mood to fight anymore. I guess that makes it easier for me to dispose of them.


    Ah, one of them starting running....away. The one who threw the lightening was still still on his knees so he wasn''t any trouble. The rapier guy just left him and made a run for it. Now that makes me angry. Why would you abandon your comrade? You guys fought together, so dying together is a must right?


    I instantly accelerated and caught up to him in the next second. He was probably running low on SP as he was very slow. Or were they always this slow? I decelerated right as I was beside him.


    "You want to race?" (Me)


    I gave him a smile and punched his face again. Now I was bloodied in the blood of 2 people.


    (Ah.)


    As I looked back, I saw the last one standing(or kneeling), eat something. In the next moment, he fell on his back and didn''t move again.


    (Oh, looks like he committed suicide.)


    "You''re so cruel. Hihihihi." (Trichia)


    Trichia degraded my status from cute to cruel with a giggle.


    "Not my fault they started attacking me all of a sudden. I tried to talk!" (Me)


    "I know, I know. But you COULD have gone a bit easy on them." (Trichia)


    "And you think going in to fight without a weapon isn''t going easy?" (Me)


    "Yes, but bursting their heads with your fists isn''t." (Trichia)


    "That was....inevitable." (Me)


    I tried to make an excuse in the end. Well, I do agree that I should have held back my punches a bit.


    As I waited a few seconds, the bodies of the three started to disappear along with any blood splatters. I also got cleaner, as a reault.


    "Phew. Guess I should head back?" (Me)


    I started walking while thinking about my next coarse of action.


    (I should go back to the second floor''s safe room. Going all the way to thirteenth will take too long and I don''t even have enough SP. Stopping on the first floor might get awkward as I would have to leave again soon to get to Pauli. Hmm. Also, I don''t think it''d be a good idea to tell Shirley that I just murdered 3 people cuz. she''s bound to ask me what I''m doing here if she sees me.)


    "Rota.. You....what.. are you doing here?" (Shirley)


    Aaaannddd I meet Shirley around the corner.


    (Oh Trichia why?)


    "Ohh... I really like the sound of that~" (Trichia)


    (Glad you''re happy and all, but I''m kind of in a bind here.)


    As I get my attention back to Shirley, I notice her eyes a little watery.


    "I missed you!" (Shirley)


    She said that and jumped on me, hugging me tightly.


    I was a bit taken aback at first but then hugged her back and whispered in her ear.


    "I missed you too." (Me)


    Suddenly, she sepearted from me and....


    Slap!


    Okay, this time I was more than just a ''bit'' taken aback.


    "Where the hell were you!? You said you''d be back the next day! Do you have ANY idea how worried I was!?" (Shirley)


    She shouted while grabbing and pulling my shirt.


    "I''m sorry?" (Me)


    Would it be okay if I told her I forgot?


    This time, she pulled me from where she was grabbing me shirt and gave me a kiss, a looooong one.


    (Does this mean I''m forgiven?)


    After that, we got engaged in some activities which caused my SP to plummet to single digits.


    Okay, I''m soooo gonna be late.

 Vol 3: Chap 8: Everyday Life with a Twist

    *YAWN*


    I heaved another long yawn. Last night I didnt get enough sleep for reasons you''re all aware of. When I told Shirley I''d be gone again, she just wouldn''t let go. She tried to squeeze every freaking drop out of me, I tell ya! Well, actually I didn''t retaliate either. I felt guilty for breaking that promise and truthfully, I was glad to see her too.


    (No, focus!)


    Right now, I''m in school with classes going on. Tests are right around the corner so this is a time when we need to all give our best.


    (Hmm. Lets substitute this here. Split it like this. Then inserting the limits...... Ah, done! Lets check the answer.)


    We were doing Integration in class.


    I checked my answer... and incorrect!


    (What did I do wrong? Lets do it again.)


    .


    .


    .


    Time passed slowly and steadily but once it passed it felt like only a brief moment. Soon it was lunch break. As usual, Pauli came with her lunch. Before I even had a chance to take my own lunch out of the bag, her lips parted.


    "Rota, I think we should take a break." (Pauli)


    ...


    "...WHAT!?"


    I was suprised. No, astonished. No, baffled!


    (Am I getting dumped!?)


    It was so sudden, I had stood up from my desk and shouted. Then I realised everyone was looking here, some amused, some confused and some downright saying I was crazy.


    I slowly sat back down, with my mind in a frenzy.


    I though it was going good between us!?


    "W..why?" (Me)


    I somehow managed to squeeze out.


    "I think we should focus on the tests." (Pauli)


    She gave that simple reason, but I could tell the meaning behind her words: "You''re a distraction."


    "T..then what about..after the tests?" (Me)


    "We can continue, obviously." (Pauli)


    "Huh?" (Me)


    Okay, there was something wierd going on here.


    "Umm Pauli... What are you talking about?" (Me)


    I felt my mind settle down a bit from its frenzy.


    "Playing IO, what else?" (Pauli)


    . . .


    Oh, I was so embarrassed!!


    (Fuck, aaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!)


    I tried to stay cool outside but my mind was going in another frenzy.


    Then I saw Pauli give an amused smile.


    "You thought I was breaking up with you." (Pauli)


    She analysed the situation perfectly, UNLIKE A CERTAIN SOMEBODY!


    (Calm down idiot! You''re a man! You gotta take it like a... WOAH!)


    Suddenly, I felt a wierd... sensation?


    I leaned back in my chair and looked down. Right there was Pauli''s feet in her socks caressing my...dick.


    *gulp*


    It was bold of her to do something like that in class but if I didn''t stop her now, my uniform would be ruined.


    "Umm Pauli.. I appreciate you ''cheering me up'', but please stop, before my pants get wasted(as in GTA wasted)." (Me)


    "Who said I was cheering you up?" (Pauli)


    She said with a suggestive look.


    (Oh God, please tell me she''s not an S!)


    "This is punishment." (Pauli)


    (God f*cking damnit!)


    It seems like Gods love playing with me, no matter the world.


    I love her either way though. But. This. Has. Got. To. Stop!


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I grabbed Pauli''s leg from her ankles with one of my hands and took off her socks with the other.


    "What are you doing?" (Pauli)


    I saw the previous expression on her face disappear and replaced by a tinge of worry.


    It was rare to get expressions out of Pauli and I wasn''t going to miss this chance.


    "You know what''s coming.." (Me)


    I said with an evil smile. Sometimes just imagining the probable dangers was worse than facing then. I let her mind run free for a second before I started.


    I traced my fingers around the edges of her sole.


    "!" (Pauli)


    Her expression changed again and she tried to struggle. In her position, while sitting on the chair, she had a single support to pull away from me: the table. But if she used the table to pull away, there were the chances of falling back(not that I''d let her fall). And people can''t consciously do something that harms them, it was human nature.


    As I traced her sole with my fingers, her panic grew more and so did the struggle. Not just the struggle against me, but also against the air in her lungs forcing her to shout.


    I had once found by chance out that Pauli was ticklish, too much at that. And just like any other ticklish person, the sole of the feet was her weak point.


    (Lets see how you handle...THIS!)


    I ran my finger from the base of her sole to the top of her toes in one sweep.


    *rattle*


    Her chair made a sound as she arched her back suddenly, trying to hold back her voice.


    As she calmed down after a second, and her face returned to me, I could see she was breathing a bit heavily. Right as she took her first breath, I did it again!


    *rattle*


    The chair rattled again as Pauli arched her back further. My eyes couldn''t help but get drawn to a certain place that was thrust out.


    As she calmed down a second time, she looked as me with pleading eyes.


    "...Please ....stop." (Pauli)


    "Did you stop when I asked you to?" (Me)


    I told her the taste of her own medicine.


    "No...please... I surrender." (Pauli)


    She was still breathing heavily, so her words came out in between deep breaths.


    I wanted to go more, but half the lunch break had already passed and neither of us had eaten a single bite. I didn''t even take my lunch box out yet! As much as I may enjoy teasing her, I didn''t want to be hungry for the rest of the day. I was already tired from not getting enough sleep, not eating would just be torture.


    Reluctantly, I let go of her ankle but not before putting her socks back on. I''m a gentle person, aren''t I? Hey, who''re you calling a hypocrite!? Earlier was just....revenge...? Okay, I''m sorry. I went a little too far.


    I took out my lunch and something felt different.


    I looked back at Pauli, her face a bit red(definitely my doing) and she was opening her lunch.


    It was only now that I realised... I really did get cheered up.


    (She did that on purpose, huh?)


    "Thanks Pauli." (Me)


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about." (Pauli)


    Though Pauli said that, she gave me the faintest of smiles before turning back to her lunch.


    (I have the best girlfriend in the world, don''t I?)

 Vol 3: Chap 9: All Alone

    "Haaah... Finally home." (Me)


    I finally made it to my home. I was incredibly sleepy in class especially after a full stomach. It felt like a sleep fairy was singing me a lullaby, or if you prefer the manlier version, it felt like a devil was tugging at my consciousness.


    (I''m so going to sleep for a while...)


    "I''m home~" (Me)


    I shouted as I rung the doorbell.


    *kachak*


    Mom opened the door and let me in.


    "Welcome back." (Mom)


    "I''m back." (Me)


    I went inside and saw that sis wasn''t here today either. Seems like she is working on some sort of a project and is mostly out these days.


    "Hey mom, can you put my food part of the lunch in the fridge? I''m going to sleep for a while." (Me)


    "Sure honey. But don''t forget your studies alright?" (Mom)


    "Yeah. Thanks mom" (Me)


    I went upstairs to my room and flopped on the bed without even changing my clothes.


    (Ahh.. I''ll do it later.)


    Then I lost myself in the fluffiness of the bed. No manlier version this time. Hmm.<3


    .


    .


    .


    "*YAWN*.." (Me)


    *rub* *rub*


    "Uhh.." (Me)


    I woke up, rubbed my eyes and looked towards the clock.


    (I slept for 3 hours.)


    "Hup." (Me)


    I hopped of my bed and did some stretching.


    *click* *cluck*


    "Aaahhhhh.... " (me)


    It felt good as I stretched and some of my bones made cracking sounds.


    "Phew. Shall we get to studying then?... Or maybe not." (Me)


    I remembered that I got to sleeping right away and still hadn''t eaten or changed out of my uniform. First, I did the latter and then went down to the kitchen to heat up my food.


    Finally having gotten something in my belly, I made my way to my room again, this time to study.


    (I can play IO once I''m done.)


    Pauli had decided to take a break but I was going to continue on. Obviously I wasn''t going to spend too much time in the VR, but somehow, I feel like I just can''t live without it. It had become a part of my life and thus a part of me. Apart from being a major stress relief, there was more in it for me. Namely, Trichia and Shirley. Trichia was practically family and Shirley was.... She was someone I''d come to like alot. It feels a little weird thinking like in RL but when I''m in there, in front of her, she feels more real than a real person here.


    (Ah, distactions!)


    I can think about that stuff later on! Right now I need to study!


    I studied for about 3 hours before I had to take a break.


    "ROTA! COME HAVE DINNER!'' (Mom)


    "COMING!" (Me)


    (Phew, I guess that''s it for today.)


    I put back my books in place and headed down to eat.


    Sis seems to have come back at some point.


    "Oh, look who do we have here. Its Mona Lisa!" (Me)


    "And what is that supposed to mean?" (Sis)


    "...........I have no idea." (Me)


    Okay, frankly I just wanted to say something witty.


    "A..anyway, how is your project coming along?" (Me)


    I said as I sat down across her. She had already started eating and I took a serving for myself.


    "Since when are you so interested?" (Sis)


    "Small talk?" (Me)


    I''ve never mentioned anything about the relation between me and my sister so let me take this time to do so.


    Our relationship is not at all complicated. Unlike most siblings, we don''t fight, ever. We talk normally to each other, even though neither of us is too keen on sharing stuff with the other. Exactly the reason why I have no idea whether she has a boyfriend. But somehow she knows about Pauli, even though I never told her.


    Even with the not so much sharing with each other, I guess its safe to say we love each other(sibling love, you perverts). For example, if I had to rely on my sister for something, I''d pretty much trust her and I myself would be ready to help her should she ever need it.


    The only thing I find ''dissatisfactory'' is that she knows too much. Like the thing with Pauli. Or that I saved her sister from delinquents. Or when I brought Trichia home for the first time, sis knew she was a robot. She''s, in a way, scary but also reliable.


    "Well, if you must know, its going great. We''re actually on the last stage and only the final touches have to be made. After that is the report and then the seminar." (Sis)


    "Hmm. Good, good." (Me)


    "You''re seriously happy? How did that happen?" (Sis)


    "...I was talking about the food." (Me)


    {Author ranting: Haha! BURN! XD}


    .


    .


    .


    "Welcome back!" (Trichia)


    I dived in IO after dinner and Trichia welcomed me back with a hug and a snuggle.


    "I''m back!" (Me)


    I returned the hug and the snuggle.


    "Anything major happen while I was away?" (Me)


    "Not anything in particular." (Trichia)


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She took a cute pose as if thinking with her head tilted and her right index finger tapping her right cheek.


    "The 3 adventurers you killed decided to not come back here. They are headed in a different direction." (Trichia)


    "Hmm. That''s a good thing I suppose." (Me)


    That bit of information was relevent to me cuz if those guys were thinking of revenge... Well you know what I''m saying.


    "I doubt anyone would want to return if you split their skulls open with your bare fists." (Trichia)


    "Hmm. Good idea. I''ll do the same next time someone pisses me off. Another thing Trichia." (Me)


    "Yes?" (Trichia)


    "Do you get EXP off of PK?" (Me)


    {Author''s note: Player Killing}


    "Yes. In fact the EXP is more than what you obtain from hunting monsters of the same level." (Trichia)


    "Really!?" (Me)


    That was news to me.


    "But then wouldn''t people go around killing other people? Compunded with the fact that the one killed gets their level reduded, isn''t this too cruel!?" (Me)


    I can understand why PKing is so common in this world. You get stronger while your opponent gets weaker.


    "There are penalties, obviously." (Trichia)


    She replied to my query.


    "For example, your name turns red and is forcefully displayed to other people along with your level. So everyone will know you''re a murderer." (Trichia)


    There is a setting in the game where you can choose to display your name and level above you just like that above a monster. I haven''t met many people but none that I have kept it enabled. In fact, it is disabled by default. I doubt anyone would do it.


    "If you''ve been marked as a murderer, others can hunt you down for even more EXP than you got with your murder. Further, they will not be inflicted with the murder penalty." (Trichia)


    Ohh. This was a good system to discourage PKs as well encourage punishing any who crossed the line.


    "Further, if you go too insane like mass murdering NPCs, I''ll just ban you." (Trichia)


    Well a fail safe like that is also important, I guess. I mean what if I was the one who went around PKing? I doubt any players was high levelled enough to take me down. And I''d just keep increasing in levels as I go though every single kill.


    "Wait! I just killed 3 players. I''m under penaly too!?" (Me)


    "No, you''re not. You would have been if you had started the brawl but you didn''t so it counts as self defense. And before you ask, no they are not under penalty either, since they actually didn''t manage to kill you." (Trichia)


    Hmm.


    (Well this was a informative session.)


    There were a lot of things that I learned and realised how orderly everything had been planned. There were merits and demerits in everything you did. Take the crazy death penalty, for example. Losing 10% of your level was a disaster for a high level player. To counter that was the party system. It was unique in the sense that the share of experience could be adjusted. Thus, power levelling a person was easy. Think about it with a hypothetical case of scenario: There is a party of 5. They battle a boss and one of them dies. Now when he comes back, they set the EXP to only go to that guy. So he would be getting 5X EXP, thus quickly bringing him back to his original level. This all in a sense, encourages the need to fight in a team.


    Well the information session was fine and all, but lets continue on to the dungeon exploring.


    I waste back to the first floor again so I was going to get another spike shield now.


    (So annoying.)


    I would have to fight all the way back again. I don''t even remember how many times this makes it.


    But now there were no diatractions. No one was going to come to the dungeon with the possibility to harass Shirley. Pauli wasn''t going to dive in. And Shirley was going to stay at floor one, like before.


    Phew, now I was alone and can go all out!


    Btw, Shirley wasn''t here right now. Maybe out to fight or hunt or gather supplies, I don''t know. Even though I was going to respawn here, it wasn''t like she''d keep waiting for me to do so.


    (Lets move on then.)


    I entered the boss room and that familiar ugly [Skeleton Warrior] appeared. I was tired of fighting this guy, so I just blasted him away with the [Massive Mace]. I got another [Spike Shield] and continued on.


    The skeletons I faced on the second floor, I banged their heads with the new [Spike Shield] that I got.


    This went on till I obtained a new skill after the 5th floor boss fight.


    [Mace Mastery LVL 1


    Blunt Damage +1%]


    It was similar to my [Sword Mastery] skill that I had obtained much earlier.


    [Sword Mastery LVL 9


    Slash Damage +9%]


    Delighted at gaining a new skill, I moved on and made it to the 13th floor''s safe room before logging out.


    "Haah. Rest for tomorrow." (Me)

 Vol 3: Chap 10: Moving Forward

    This is the first of the last 4 chapters, so stay tuned cuz I will be uploading them soon!


    <hr />


    Next day, after school and studying at home, I dived in again.


    My next fight was with the boss [Rocky] again. I didn''t really want another [Massive Mace] as dual wielding something like that was impossible for me, but my SP was dangerously low so I had to quit. In fact, I wanted to make it to the 14th floor''s safe room so I could obtain a new item.


    "Well, nothing I can do about it now." (Me)


    I resolved myself and entered the room of the 13th floor''s boss.


    "There it is again. Haah, lets get this over with." (Me)


    As the boss started running, I jumped up high and swung the mace at its head, bringing an end to the fight with a single hit.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>One-Hit  MP 4000


    Charge a single attack for 2 seconds to deal +800% damage.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    And I just obtained a new skill. And as I read its description......


    HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!!!! I OFFICIALLY HAVE A MOST POWERFUL SKILL!!!!!!


    This skill was the most awesome I had seen yet. And I can imagine how rare it must be to obtain this. Even for me, who practically one-hits every monster to come across it just now! And the effects! Oh. My. God!


    The damage wasn''t 800%! It was PLUS 800%! That meant 9 times the damage! If I use this skill with my STR at 2000, and considering the +600 STR from the [Massive Mace], the damage is equivalent to 23400 STR!!!!!!!!!


    OH. MY. GOD!


    I think I''m in love.


    .


    .


    .


    It took me a while to overcome the feeling and look for the boss''s item.


    Surprising it was NOT another [Massive Mace].


    (Oh yeah, that was the 12th floor best item.)


    I remember that I actually obtained the mace from the [Doom Poodle].


    "Appraise."


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Heavy Totus Armor


    This Armor was crafted for the most powerful person in the world but the person refused to wear it for its weight.


    Effects:


    Block damage upto 10% of the wearer''s.


    AGI -5%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    It was a good item but I wasn''t going to wear it either for the simple reason that the reduction in agility was a percentage and not a fixed value. That meant that the more I increased my AGI, the more the effects be reduced. If I wear it right now, my SP would drop from 42000, to 39900. It was a penalty in thousands! 2100, to be exact. Well, the armor was still pretty good as it absorbed a lot of damage. Maybe I could use it for tough battles only. The reduction was equivalent to 200 STR for the current me. Actually, I doubt that such reduction would matter in a fight which I find troublesome.


    Anyways, moving on to the next floors.


    I made my way to the 14th floor and fought my way through hordes of skeletons. The ones here came in groups of a maximum of 6. The archers at the back were the ones I found the most annoying so those went down first. Then any skeleton soldiers. And lastly the mages. The Magic attacks were slow and real easy to dodge. Even though they did major damage, it was at max about 1% of my total HP. It was enough to regenerate in the interval before the next battle. The attacks didn''t hurt much anyway, so it was all well and go.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Steadily, I reached the 14th floor boss room.


    As I entered, I came across the similar boss room. Most of the boss rooms were made identical with very few changes. This one was pretty normal with the big size, countable number of pillars and the weird light sourcing.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Catenip   LVL 180</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This boss was remarkably different from the previous few in that it was small, and round, and white. Well, sort of white. My foe this time was some sort of ball of light. Or maybe its better to call it an orb of light? Ah, who cares?


    I don''t know how but I somehow realise that its preparing to launch an attack. Seriously, I have no idea how! I mean, its not like it can take a stance or anything. Its just floating there about a metre above the ground, a bit wobbly.


    Suddenly, it rushed towards me.


    (Fast!)


    It was easy to tell that it was a completely speed based monster unlike its predecessor [Rocky].


    I dodged to the left and let the boss fly by. Thankfully, it flew in a straight line.


    It stopped at a distance from me and got ready to charge again. Again, I have no idea how I know that.


    This time though, I prepared the mace in a swinging manner. I held it up and behind me like a baseball bat.


    (Wait for it...)


    (Just a bit more...)


    (Almost there...)


    (Now!)


    I swung the mace as I imagined the incoming boss as a ball.


    *BAM*


    A huge sound reverberated. But the sound wasn''t from me hitting the boss. It was from the boss hitting the wall in the distance.


    The boss flew so fast after my hit that it crashed the wall in less than a second and that noise overlapped with the sound of my swing.


    (I really should have not done that.)


    Now I would have to go find the item drop in a mountain of debris.


    (Haah...)


    "Maybe I shouldn''t care? Its obviously not going to be another best item and knowing my luck, I''ll just get another [Fairy Underwear]." (Me)


    I said to myself.


    But the possibility exists. And when there''s possibility, there''s hope. And when there''s hope...... I don''t know what comes next in the series.


    I went and rummaged through the pile of debris to find what I was looking for.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Kitchen Knife


    Effects:


    Easier to chop vegetables.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Ah... There goes my hopes... There... Look up! There! In the sky, its flying away.... Never to come back... I feel so lonely....


    *sigh*


    Whatever. Lets move on, shall we?

 Vol 3: Chap 11: Unexpectedly Tough?

    Last two will be coming up in a few hours.


    <hr />


    I had planned to reach the 20th floor''s safe room before I quit for today. It was partly because my SP was running low and the other part because I expected great items from the 20th floor boss, so I had to do him on a new day.


    But I sort of ran into a problem... Well, its not exactly a problem cuz.. I''m actually enjoying the situation: The 19th floor Boss doesn''t die in one hit!


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Aqua Octo   LVL 230</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Its an ''aqua'' octopus. And I mean literally! It was made out of water and thus seemed to hold some sort of physical resistance. And physical attacks were all I had! I didn''t have a single magical attack.


    As I entered, the boss attacked with one of its legs(tentacles) like a whip. I dodged and attacked it with my mace. And the mace just passed right through. Though there was a bit of resistance, it didn''t do much.


    From the health bar of the Boss Octopus, only about 8-9% was missing. If my strength over 2000 was only able to do that, I could only imagine what would happen with any other party that comes here without a mage.


    Actually, it was a situation well suited for me. It had been a while since I got a fight, good or bad.


    I recovered from my surprise to dodge another water whip.


    Another came attacking to where I had dodged to. I held the [Massive Mace] in one hand and grabbed the whip with my other. Unfortunately, I didn''t think it through before I did that. The whip I caught suddenly changed in shape and engulfed my left hand. Unable to break free from the grip, I was sent flying and was thrown onto a wall.


    *crash*


    I got stuck in the wall.


    I freed the right side of my body with a jerk as another water whip came attacking.


    As I got freed, I looked to where the whip had hit and the wall had a long and deep gash. Then, finally I noticed my health. I had lost about 5-6% from the crash.


    *grin*


    It had really been too long since I lost that much health in a fight.


    It wasn''t that this monster was much stronger than the previous ones. Well, it WAS stronger but the strength increases gradually and there wasn''t an enormous gap from the strength of the previous floor boss.


    I was all a matter of compatibility.


    Its physical attack resistance was high, but its magic resistance was low. Well, it should be.. I didn''t actually have a way to check.


    I looked to the right while still dodging the incoming whips. There, in the distance was the mace. I had lost it when I crashed into the wall.


    I slowly made my way over to the mace while still dodging the whips.


    Even though the whips were fast, they were still easy to dodge since once swung, they couldn''t change direction mid way. The only problem was that that they came in rapid successions.


    I backflipped while dodging one and summersaulted while dodging another. I just made sure not to try and catch one of them again. If I had better footing or heavier mass, maybe I could lift and throw it, the way it did me but I had neither of those.


    Just one dodge more, and I reached the mace.


    (Hell yeah.)


    I finally grabbed it and destroyed the incoming whip with a swing.


    (Back in the game!)


    This time I dashed to the side, and fast. The whips were blowing up the ground behind me, so they actually looked like shockwaves from me running.


    The boss was tall, standing at the height of 5 metres.


    I leapt to attack its head(or atleast what I think is its head). All of its body was water so I went to attack the top part of its body that went *wobble* * wobble*.


    The boss tried to counter me midair. With a normal weapon, I''d just be a easy target but what I had was the [Massive Mace]. Thus, I used the same concept I learnt in the fight with the Rock Golem boss. My centre of mass was way off to the side, and thus pulling the mace, I was pulled instead, thus getting out of the way of the tentacle attack.


    Though I got shifted somewhat from my original trajectory, I still had an opportunity to attack back. Getting myself closer to the centre of mass of the mace, I rotated the mace over to my other side where I let it slip though my palm till it almost reached the end. Right as my hand was at the end of the Mace''s handle, I grabbed tight and swung full strength!


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    *blop* *blop*


    It made a wierd sound at the impact. Actually there wasn''t any impact as my mace only blew away water from the boss and I could see air following close behind forming a number of bubbles.


    As I landed in the distance, the boss immediately launched its counter attack sending a bunch of tentacles attacking at the same time.


    I quickly dodged to the side and looked towards the boss to notice another patch of HP missing from its health bar.


    I dashed again but this time I didn''t care to go to the side and did a frontal attack. The boss didn''t have much in the way of a face, much less to say anything about any potential eyes. Thus I had to conclude that using my speed to get to its ''blind spot'' was useless.


    I smashed any incoming tentacles with the mace and got into close enough range for my attacks to hit it.


    I attacked once, twice and again without backing off. At the sixth hit, the boss changed its attack and tried to expand its body in an attempt to engulf me. I quickly stopped my barrage and backed away just in time.


    As I was now at a distance with some room to breathe, I noticed that the boss''s HP was about a third remaining.


    Suddenly, the boss seemed to form a mouth and took in a large amount of air. The single huge air bubble was visibly floating inside the boss''s body. In a second, it formed another mouth and shot air and water. I think it would be appropriate to call it a bubble shot, or a bubble throw or maybe even a bubble bomb it you wanna go for something more...sassy.


    The boss shot those bubble bombs at me in rapid succession like a machine gun.


    I dodged to the side, running in a zigzag manner. The bubble bombs when hit the floor, cracked and ripped the earth, and soon a dust cloud formed.


    I went into the dust cloud, hopefully away from any sort of senses of the boss but the bubble bombs continued till the boss exhausted his air supply.


    But after that, it remained calm. I waited for 1 second, 2 seconds, 5 seconds but nothing. As the dust cloud didn''t show any signs of settling, I started channeling my skill that I couldn''t do yet. It takes 2 seconds to complete, and that duration is more than enough for the boss to kill me. But now that I had confirmed that the boss somehow couldn''t detect me, I called out my best skill.


    "One-Hit." (Me)


    As soon as I called out the skill, I could feel the strength building in me. There weren''t any external changed like my weapon would start to shine or something.. But I could internally feel it.


    (Such.. POWER!)


    I dashed straight, right at my target.


    At my top speed, the boss didn''t have time to launch a single attack before I was on it.


    "TAKE THIS!!!!!!" (Me)


    I shouted at the top of my lungs as I swung the mace at my full strength multiplied 9 times.


    *screeeeeeech*


    A high piched sound echoed as my mace made its way though the boss''s body.


    *splash*


    As my attack ended, the  body of the boss lost its shape and collapsed to form a giant pool of water which slowly disappeared.


    (Haah.. That was a good fight.)


    I got a spear as the item drop. Even though it had good specs, it was nothing compared to the [Massive Mace] so I put it in my inventory and forgot about it.


    Finally, I flopped myself down in a corner to rest. The fight had taken much more than I expected so I needed to rest and regain some SP if I wanted to make it to the safe room before the 20th boss. I could go back, but then I would have to fight this boss again. Though I didn''t have much of a problem fighting it again, I just didn''t want to go for a repeat. Also, the next fight would allow my abilty to get the best drop to work and I really wanted the item from the 20th floor boss. The 10th floor boss gave me the summoning spell so I had high expectations.


    I took out some cooking items and made up something to eat. Since Pauli wasn''t here, I just made something simple.


    After about half an hour, game time, I had gotten something in my stomach and enough rest to continue on.


    I fought my way to the next safe room and finally decided to call it quits.


    (Phew, that was a good day.)

 Vol 3: Chap 12: Comining my Two Most Powerful Skills

    The 20th floor battle was easy. The boss didn''t seem to have much in the way of any physical attack resistance so it seemed like my single hit annihilation streak had begun once again.


    As I expected, the item drop from the boss didn''t disappoint me.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Grimoire of Bushery


    Bushery was one of the few mages to discover the deeper secrets of dark arts.


    Spell:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Learn    MP 10


    Learn the secrets of the spell contained within this Grimoire.


    (Once this spell has been used, the item is destroyed).</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>


    I held the book in my hand and chanted.


    "Learn." (Me)


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill Learned</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dark Blow   MP 2000


    Shoot a Ball of Darkness at the target.


    Side Effects:


    If any incoming Dark Magic collides with the [Dark Blow], the Magic Damage is absobed. If two [Dark Blow]s collide, the one from the user with lesser damage gets abosorbed.


    Any player hit by the [Dark Blow] has a chance to be inflicted with the abnormal status [Blind] which is inversely proportional to that player''s affinity with dark magic.


    Restrictions:


    Effects reduced by 20% under sunlight.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Now I get a magic attack!?" (Me)


    I was almost tempted to go back to the [Aqua Octo] on the previous floor to try out this spell on it, but in the end I decided to move on.


    Though, as I looked at the description of the spell, I was getting more and more excited. I finally had a magic spell and it was so awesome! I immediately wanted to try it out, but I decided to use it on enemies instead of just firing it at a random space due to its high MP consumption.


    As I got out of the boss room to the 21st floor, the first enemy I encountered was sorta different.


    [Greater Black Skeleton LVL 150]


    Till the 10th floor, it was only [White Skeleton]s and then [Grey Skeleton]s started appearing from the 11th floor. Now there are these, the black ones from here on out.


    (So my theory was correct. There is, in fact, a new monster type every 10 floors.)


    There were 2 of those skeletons, normal ones. No soldier, no archer, no mages, nothing. If the pattern follows, I''ll meet those after the 25th floor.


    These would be perfect targets to try out my new skill.


    "Dark Blow." (Me)


    This time, there was no shouting on top of my lungs. I simply faced my palm towards my opponents and had said the name of the skill.


    In the next moment, a huge ass ball of darkness emerged from my palm and shot off at the two skeletons. The ball of darkness was big enough to engulf a grown up man.


    Surprisingly, when my attack hit its target, nothing happened. I was even more surprised when my attack actually passed though its target with nothing remaining behind. Complete annihilation. Even then, the ball of darkness kept moving forward.


    I couldn''t see ahead of it, so I couldn''t tell how many opponents it defeated. I just kept following close behind in a jog. It was only after a curve in the path of the [Dark Blow], that it came in contact with the dungeon wall and dissipated.


    Unlike the other magic attacks like [Fire Ball] or [Water Ball], the [Dark Blow](or [Dark Blow]) didn''t make any impact on contact with the target and only did damage. The [Fire Ball], for example, would have burst like a small bomb on impact. I surmised this as the reason why it continued on and on and only dissipated at the wall of the dungeon. The wall was something you could ''destroy'' but not ''damage''. Like, it didn''t have an HP bar, so no concept of damage but you can destroy it to produce rocks and debris or whatever.


    (Phew.)


    The experiment went better than I expected. The [Dark Blow] certainly did come in contact with and pulverise monsters in its path. I was sure of this because I heard a *ding* in the middle of it, indicating a level up. On these higher floors, it was becoming much easier to level up. It was 1 or 2 levels each floor, and I expected it to grow as I climed up higher over the floors.


    After that, I continued on till I reached the 25th safe room before quitting.


    I tried the [Dark Blow] in the boss fights on my journey. The result was: most of my attacks didn''t hit. The [Dark Blow], though incredibly powerful, was actually incredibly slow and thus easy to dodge. And when I say ''incredibly slow'', I mean it in relative terms. The attack was fast enough to match a speeding vehicle but if you compare it to the speeds a Boss Monster can run at, ''incredibly slow'' seems like the correct phrase. Thus, I mostly had to make use of my superior speed to confuse the enemy and launch the attack from a blind spot. Even though it was hard to make the attack hit, but when it did hit, the results were most glorious: Complete Annihilation. Even the bosses couldn''t survive for another one.


    But that wasn''t the end of it. I tried mixing up my [Dark Blow] with [One Hit] and result was..... Its hard to say if it made any difference, since the monsters still died in a dingle hit. Even if the damage was 9 times, I couldn''t really tell. Though the mana for both the skilla independently WAS consumed, I confirmed it. There''s only one solution to the problem: find a monster that doesn''t die in one hit. And the next day, on the 25th floor I found just the thing.


    [Hydra   LVL 300]


    It was the legendary beast, Hydra, known to be able to fight on par with the dragons(according to mangas and animes anyway).


    The one in front of me had 5 heads, completely identical. Just like most of the floor bosses, this one was black too, except the black wasn''t evenly distributed in intensity. Some parts of its body were darker while other were...not, that dark. For example, imagine a panda with a lightish black where it should be white. This makes up for its body. The heads where lizard like and the base of them had a thick line of the light black color running all the way down through its long neck to its body.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Lastly, it had a long tail, longer than its neck with the similar light black line running to its tip, except this one got thinner as it progressed as in proportion to the thickness of the tail itself.


    Oh, and don''t forget those eyes! The dull yellowish, evil looking, thin long eyes. The characteristic slit pupil of a lizard.


    Phew, I think that''s the longest description of a boss I''ve ever given. Well, the boss this time is very patient and is waiting for me to move first, so I had a lot of time.


    Hmm, I''m almost tempted to set up camp here and start cooking just to see its reaction. Well, that may be going a little too far.


    I attacked first with a [Dark Blow] as that is the only ranged attack I have.


    The boss took the attack head on. The boss this time had 2 HP bars and my attack shaved off 1 completely.


    "ROOOAAAAAARRRRR" (Boss)


    Mr. Boss Monster let out a huge roar. It probably didn''t expect that much damage.


    Then the boss Hydra''s body let out a weird light and the HP bar started filling up.


    At the same time, the boss started moving.


    The ground shook at the boss moved, but even then it moved quite fast. At a little distance away from me, it stopped its motion and while rotating its body.


    *SWISH*


    I dodged an incredibly fast tail swipe by jumping up, a mistake. In the air, where I had nowhere to dodge, I was attacked by two of its heads from each side. Normally, I could only defend against one of them. But I had the [Massive Mace].


    Since the center of mass of the mace was far towards its end, I swung a mighty swing towards one of the heads, thus also changing my direction of motion mid air.


    *BURST*


    The head that collided with the mace burst and I got showered in some sort of black liquid that I assume is it''s blood.


    I landed on the ground as the boss gave another roar at the loss of its head. I took a distance to analyse the situation but the boss came in attacking again with another tail swipe. This time I jumped backwards away from the range of its heads. One of the heads opened its mouth and in the next moment, I could see a [Dark Blow] coming towards me.


    "Dark Blow" (Me)


    I attacked with one of mine as well. According to the description, the weaker one would be consumed only to further strengthen the stronger one. As expected, mine was stronger and consumed the boss''s. What? My stats are that close to that of a LVL 600 player! Don''t call me overconfident!


    As the boss''s HP hadn''t regenerated fully, the aftermath of the magic attack left the Boss with less than half of one of its HP bar.


    The boss gave another roar and this time, [Black Skeletons] and [Grey Skeletons] started rising up from the ground.


    "Annoying." (Me)


    These small fry were really annoying in that if I killed them first, my best item of the day would be wasted.


    Unfortunately, it didn''t look like I had much of a choice since the boss retreated to the back, prabably to regenerate its health. I could have tried to bypass them to head for the boss, but the number of skeletons was too large. There was no way they wouldn''t be caught in a stray attack and die first.


    "Oh well.. One Hit." (Me)


    I called out the name of my mightiest skill and after 2 seconds......


    "Dark Blow." (Me)


    This combination took off 6000 MP at once and I wasn''t even sure if it works.


    The dozens of skeletons in front of me were completely annihilated and my attack made its way to the boss. Though I couldn''t see the skeletons in front of the [Dark Blow], I clearly saw the boss before the hit due to its humongous frame. And it was enough to witness its HP bar one of which was full and the other was about quarter. My normal [Dark Blow] wouldn''t have been enough to completely wipe out that much HP so I would know if the combination worked it the boss died. Unexpectedly, the boss..


    .


    .


    .


    dodged it!


    (Okay, I completely denied the possibilty that it could dodge.)


    I could see the 4 remaining heads of the boss in a circle with a large gap in between where my magic attack passed through.


    Even though my attack took out alot of skeletons, there were even more remaining. Without wasting a moment, they started attacking.


    "Tch." (Me)


    There were just too many.


    Each swing of my mace took out 4-5 skeletons. In a few seconds, just as the numbers seemed to have diminished to a large extent, the boss joined the fray again. This time though, its HP was not full.


    (I see.)


    The second HP bar was a little more than half full and its head that I previously destroyed hadn''t regenerated.


    That made sense. For a party which couldn''t deal large enough damage to take out the boss in one go would use this method: Destroy its heads one by one.


    The destruction of one of its head shaved off a part of its HP permanently. Destroying all 5 should do the trick.


    Ah, but I''m just too lazy.


    "One Hit." (Me)


    As the boss came running, I backed off enough to let my skill charge for 2 seconds.


    Once the boss was close enough, I launched my attack. At point-blank range.


    "Dark Blow." (Me)


    This time my attack hit and the boss''s HP disappeared completely.


    (Looks like it was successful.)


    After that, I made quick work of the remaining skeletons and collected any items I found useful and moved on.

 Vol 3: Chap 13: So this is how it ends

    Phew, I am finally on floor thirty.


    Yesterday, I barely made it past the twentynineth and reached the thirtieth safe room. As the floors progressed, the take on my SP got harsher and harsher and it didn''t look like I could do 5 floors per day any more as I originally planned.


    Anyways, my worries for that were unneeded as you will soon find out.


    [Prodemius Venemascus LVL 350]


    This is what I found in the 30th boss room.


    I had already stopped reacting at the names of these monsters. They were as crazy as they got. But the appearance of them, left me hanging every time.


    This time, the boss was a Soul Reaper. Or is it a Grim Reaper? Either way, its whichever one got the scythe, cuz this guy used one and it was HUGE. Maybe not as much as my [Massive Mace] but still considerably so. If my Mace was 3 and a half metres in length, the scythe was 3 metres, short by only half a metre, but as if to compensate that, the blade of the scythe was atleast a metre, if not longer.


    The boss''s appearence was mysterious, not terrifying or creepy. Well, maybe a little bit creepy.


    It was wearing a long black cloak. Its face was covered with a hood long enough to hide the entirety of its face. Even its feet weren''t visible. In fact, I doubted it had feet by the way its cloak was fluttering. It was almost like the boss was floating a distance above the ground. The only parts of the boss''s body visible were its skeletal hands which held the scythe. The hands were made of white bones, but I doubted it was in any way related to a [White Skeleton].


    With my mace in my hands, I got ready to battle. The boss swayed a bit and moved. Albeit a bit slow, its movements were unpredictable. It went some distance one side and then to the other. The way it changed directions almost seemed as if it could defy the laws of physics. Frankly speaking, the boss looked like it was drunk.


    But I didn''t let my guard down.


    Suddenly, the boss stopped.


    But it was only for the briefest instance before it dashed in my direction. There was no sounds of its feet.


    The boss came at me with the scythe at its back.


    As I got ready to intercept, the boss changed direction and missed me.


    But I was onto its little trick. The scythe was out at its back with the blade ready to claim my head.


    I pulled up my mace to intercept.


    "Aaarghh..." (Me)


    The next moment, I was holding my bleeding right arm with my left.


    Without giving me time to recover, the boss attacked again. But I wasn''t stupid enough to fall for the same thing twice.


    This time, I clearly dodged the attack instead of blocking it.


    I had a healing potion in my inventory but I doubted the boss was keen in giving me enough time to use it.


    Earlier, when the boss attacked and I blocked with my Mace, I saw it. What made this boss special.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Its scythe bypassed all materialistic items, it was that sort of ability. I made it just in time to not get beheaded but the aftermath left me incapitated and my right arm was now useless. Also, I was weaponless as I dropped the mace in shock as my left hand inadvertently parted to hold my right one.


    It hurt really bad. Even with the reduced pain of VR, pain was still pain.


    The boss didn''t give me time to even think and kept attacking relentlessly. Since it didn''t need to worry about me blocking or parrying, it attacked pretty straightforwardly, all of which I had to dodge. One mistake was all it required to end this fight.


    I kept dodging the attacks,trying to look for an opening.


    The mace was lying in the distance. There no way way I could get to it like this, much less properly use it with one arm. I had to do something. It had already turned into a blunder since the fight started.


    "Lesser Summon Undead Soldier.


    Lesser Summon Undead Soldier. Lesser Summon Undead Soldier. Lesser Summon Undead Soldier. Lesser Summon Undead Soldier...................Lesser Summon Undead Soldier. Lesser Summon Undead Soldier. Lesser Summon Undead Soldier........................" (Me)


    I kept repeating the name of the skill to try and put a shield in front of me even if for a second. I kept summoning more and more but each one would be sliced like paper and wouldn''t stop the momentum of the boss one bit.


    "Tch." (Me)


    I stopped calling out the name of my skill. Clearly it was useleas here. What could LVL 20 skeletons do against a LVL 350 Boss?


    Only if I could get a single hit in.... If I use my [One Hit], the fight would be over in lierally one hit. But even for that, using anything with lesser range than my mace would get me beheaded by that scythe.


    (No choice. Its do or die.)


    One last stand is what I was going to fight for.


    *dash*


    Barely dodging one more attack, I ran towards my mace.


    (Won''t leave me alone!)


    The boss didn''t waste a single moment and followed me right after.


    (Almost there!)


    Within an arms reach!


    (YES!)


    As I reached the mace, I grabbed it with my left hand and swung it behind me without changing my speed.


    (Huh?)


    Next thing I knew, I wokr up in my bed with the headgear on my head.


    (Fuck, I died!)


    It was wait for 24 hours and redo all floors for me now.


    (Isn''t this what the call GG?)


    {Great game, said at the end of the game or when you admit defeat.}


    "Haah, might as well study for my test." (Me)


    <hr />


    How was the ending? I wanted to add some sort of a twist.


    Normally, when I would read such a story, I would imagine the hero SOMEHOW overcoming all the obstacles and coming out victorious. That''s exactly what I didn''t want to do. XD