Chapter 12 “The girl with golden hair”

-dad, I going the gym!

-be careful on the way Lia.

The girl with long golden hair said good bye to her father and walked out from her house. After a long sleep, she decided to go to the gym. It was not that she was doing any sport seriously but rather it was just a simple exercise that would keep her body in good condition. She was doing it regularly for many years now. She might have skipped here and there but she always returned to it. She was doing her best at it but she didn’t do it for herself. She just wanted to look good before her father so he didn’t have to worry about her health. Because, he had to worry about all other things that she was doing.

Those who didn’t know her would look at her and thought that she was normal girl, raised in good family. They would think that she is a hope of modern society, where people her age are destroyed by their environment. Still, those who really knew her also knew very well that this was definitely not true.

Normal girls don’t play games all the time since they were 10 years old and that was the case for Lia. Even if with birth of VR, the games and especially “eye of Adventure” become popular so now it happened more often, the time when Lia stared to play was way before the popularity boom of games began or even before VR was accessible to normal people.

That’s why those who knew her would call her a ‘game maniac’ although she was rather proud of that title. When normal girls would put posters of famous singers and actors on their walls, she would put ingame avatars of players from best guilds from the game she played.

As soon as Lia reached the gym, she started to run on treadmill just as she always used to. She was in especially good mood today as she got somewhat lucky in her new game.

When holiday started Lia decided to switch the game that she was playing so far, to other game that was called often called ‘a new world’. She decided to do that mainly because compared to her previous game ‘RagnarVR’, the new one ‘eye of Adventure’ was considered hardest of all and best developed VR game of all VR games that were available. In games, Lia was always looking for a challenge despite the fact that many times she couldn’t complete them. Still, this time with a new game, she decided to step on the highest level of play.

Having experience in MMORPG and VRMMORPG she was doing great job in EOA. Even without information, based on her experience she could somewhat choose her class the way she wanted. Although not everything went the way she planned and in City of beginners many unexpected things happened.

Lia wanted to be a healer for two reasons. First, healers were always needed in group so she could easily found parties for dungeons. Second, she already had a lot of experience playing as a healer so this should help her get to the top.

After first month, she continued her play. She passed the forest trial without any problems and went to Loris. From there on, she decided to go for the dungeon right away. Healers have it easier in search for groups because as long as they can keep party alive, no one will complain about their level. Lia ended up finding the party quite fast as when she started looking for a group there were at least four groups that were looking for the healer at that time.

The dungeon she went to was called Stoneground and monsters in it weren’t that hard as she suspected and her group was doing okay. Still it was going way too slow for Lia. That’s why she gave up on her party after two hours by saying that something came up and she doesn’t have any more time to play with them.

“So many newbies.”

Thinking like that, she decided that for now she should just focus on hunting alone, at least until she find some people that won’t annoy her by their sole presence. Having to deal with newbies who never played a MMO game before was not something she could do.

Still hunting alone as a healer was not that easy and also rather slow, so after Lia got to level 15 she decided to look for a party once again, and this time she was going to choose the players on her own or at least check the party she join with care. She went back to the Loris and looked around the information board. Unfortunately there weren’t any good groups there and when she considered looking for it herself she gave up after half an hour.

“No choice but to continue the hunt alone or maybe I should try to do dungeon on my own. I read that some people can do it. If I want to be at the top, I should be able to do it as well.”

With this resolve she decided to try her best in the dungeon. She thought that as long as mobs wont ‘one shot’ her, she should be fine somehow. She already saw them before and they didn’t look that strong to her. Still, in the end she did not went back to stoneground again.

Just as she was passing the eastern gate of Loris, someone stopped her. He was a man with blonde hair similar to her. Although. Her hair was more of gold than blond and his were much lighter so the color was different.

The man wore expensive looking black leather which actually looked similar to a suit. Lia didn’t think that items like that even existed in the fantasy setting games but it turned out that they did.

“

-hi there, do you mind if I take a minute of your time.

The man didn’t look like ordinary person so she didn’t mind. She also thought that she should ask him if he doesn’t want to go to the dungeon together, as in the end the idea of soling it wasn’t that appealing.

-no, I don’t mind. By the way, I was looking for a party to a dungeon and you look stronger than anyone else here so do you want to join?

Lia was not wasting any time.

-and here I thought that I am scouting you.

-scouting?

She didn’t understand right away.

-one question before that. Do you think that you are skilled enough to do impossible challenge? Something that normal players wouldn’t be able to do.

She didn’t know what the man was talking about but she answered.

-I am not normal player, I am planning to be on the top one day, and impossible challenges are not impossible to me.

The man looked at her once again then he said.

-sorry, but to be honest you don’t look like it.

Lia got angry at that remark.

-what are you saying that I don’t look like it!? I will be the best healer in this game in the near future, no best player! I also plan on joining strongest guild out there.

Lia did not like to be underestimated because of her look. Well in other games it didn’t happened but even simply by reveling that she was a girl, it already leaded to it. And in this game where she took her real life look, it was even worse. Well, she did except it to happen but she also knew that it was the best option to choose if she wanted to be comfortable in her avatar’s body. She once tried to play as a large two meters in height green troll in another game but she was actually falling to the ground every five steps or so. Since then, her avatars in VR were always of similar height that she had. In EOA however the avatar would look either like you or you would go for random and going for random was not really safe choice. Especially when you couldn’t redo your character.

-I see that you have big ambition at least. Well look can be deceiving after all. Anyway if you want to join soon to be strongest guild, here is your chance, pass the challenge and you won’t regret it.

The man answered. It looked like he didn’t have any ill intentions by what he said earlier but he was simply honest.

For Lia who knew what the real strongest guilds are like, what the man said didn’t seem real at all. The guy who just looked around for people in low-level area was talking about having strongest guild? However he did say it seriously and he didn’t look like someone who would just joke about things like that. He also looked tired for some reason. Probably because he spend so much time on ‘scouting’ and it didn’t go so well.

-even if your guild won’t become strongest I can stay there for the time being. So what’s the test?

To that the man honestly answered.

-too put it simply, its hell.

“

After that Lia went for the challenge. The name of that man that invited her was Loki and just as he said, the challenge was hell. She had to complete the dungeon which was for level two times higher than hers and even though her party members were way better than ones in her previous group, they weren’t that talented either. The first pack was the hardest. She had to do her best in healing as her useless team was taking tons of damage, but she managed somehow. But every pack would take a long break after it to replenish mana so it was really annoying.

However, the experience was great and after few packs she got to level 20. Compared to normal hunting that she did before, it was 100x times faster.

At level 20 she got a new spell which created magical electric shield in the air. If a monster hit that shield, he would take damage. It also defended her from hits. At that point Lia decided that it is just better to continue alone instead of wasting her mana on her team. That wasn’t the fastest way but the most profitable for her. Two of her party members already gave up earlier, which meant that she just had to get rid of other two so she simply let them die. Still, it wasn’t easy to kill a whole pack for her as she first thought it will. She chose the best tactic. Run around and shoot enemies from afar and when they come close enough defend yourself with shield. The tactic might look bad from the outside but it was effective and it was common MMO tactic for range called ‘kiting’. It took her few days to kill every monster within the dungeon still it was fast leveling. The only thing that was left was a boss. But when she saw him, the creature five meters in height with hands in size of small cars, she quickly gave up. She at least dinged up to 32th level so it wasn’t wasted time.

She decide that from now on, she will go to dungeons with little higher level that hers and kill mobs in it, as it was good method to level up and when she level up she will then look for a good guild.

She soon found Loki who was sitting at one of the chairs in one of previous rooms. He was looking up the celling while smoking the cigarette. Lia started talking to him.

“

-it’s not healthy to smoke you know.

She said to him first.

-it’s a game so I don’t have to care about it, anyway Kotori did you finally finished it? I didn’t say that there is any time limit but there are some people waiting for me.

-yes about that… sorry, I give up.

-you do what!?…

Loki’s first reaction was a surprise but then he continued calmly.

-at first, I was considering that you might die few times before, for example when you started to fight alone. But then I just thought that you will be fine, right until the end as you were doing a good job. I also considered that you won’t want to join our guild after completing the challenge, but after 5 days you say that you give up? That is something I didn’t except.

-emm, maybe it wasn’t the best idea to let those two die. I could manage to heal them when they would fight the boss.

She knew where she did a mistake still she didn’t really regret that decision though as it was unfair for her to boost them.

-yea, that was cruel of you, but I can’t really blame you, sorry for picking bad team. Unfortunately there weren’t any better people out there. Still, I think you did well enough. Actually you did the best out of all participants we had so far so I will give you a passing grade. As I said, you don’t have to join the guild only because you passed a test, although it would be good if you did. For now, let me give you a reward for your trouble.

-reward!? What is it!?

-you probably could use some items from that boss so I will kill him for you. When we are on our way back you can ask me any questions about the guild if you have any. Give me the answer if you are joining or not before we reach Loris.

“

Following Loki to the boss room again, Lia already was interested in joining the guild even if only for a short period of time as finding good party without it was tiresome and if the guild had a test like this then the players in it should be good. But then after the boss fight she decided that she will stay in this guild for long time.

“Where people like him are coming from? Completely different from anything I saw before.”

Lia though that when she was remembering Loki’s fight.

He didn’t use any weapons nor did he use magic. What Loki did was actually really simple. He run up to the boss dodged one swing, kicked him in his belly, jumped five meters up to the face and finished him of with another kick. The second kick made the boss fly and crush into the wall, while damaging it a lot. Loki landed without breaking the sweat as if the whole thing was a playtime for him and Lia did believe it to be true as while he did all that he didn’t take his hands out from his pockets.

Lia heard that there is endless number of professions that suit player but profession which weren’t even close to any MMO she played or known was incredible. How did he end up with it, she didn’t know.

After the boss Lia got a nice present which was her new robe. White and gold colored not only if fit the image of healer but also it fit her really well. Even before they leave the dungeon, without asking one question she joined the guild.

“Ah I still have two more hours.”

She now looked at the clock while running. She had to go back to playing soon as she was going for a quest with another guild member that she met. Lia really couldn’t wait for it. A great adventure that she always yearned for. But not only that. This time she was going with Arata.

“Having an adventure with legendary Arata after joining a good guild what luck I have.”

Just as she was thinking that an old man that she knew, came to her. He was one of the coaches that worked in the gym. He was also the one that once taught her how to use all the equipment inside the gym. If she wanted to ask something or get advice on training, he would be the one to ask.

-Lia, it’s good that you are working hard, but you should inform people if you are going to extend your stay.

-but I still have half an hour.

-ah so that’s why you didn’t say anything.

-hmm?

-you probably don’t know it but the clock got broken two days ago. Right now it is 13:30 so it’s already one hour pass of what you said.

-it’s now 13:30!?

Lia asked hopping it was not the truth.

-yes it is. But I see that you want to stay longer, right? It’s not a problem I will sign it down.

“13:30 so it’s means I don’t have two more hours but only 30 minutes. So it means…! How did that happened?”

When she woke up after sleeping Lia didn’t check the time and assumed that she had enough time. She went to sleep on usual hour and she also was usually waking up at the same hour every day. But she didn’t know that she was that tired after the test so it was a long good sleep. Playing EOA somehow destroyed her time balance. There was also the fact that Lia was way too excited before going to sleep by what happened to her in the game.

-no! I need to go, bye!

She quickly changed herself, left the gym and run to the bus station. To get to the gym she usually used the bus. 20 minutes of ride. When she arrived at bus station she checked the time for next ride.

-40 minutes!? The last one was 10 minutes ago!

Unfortunately it looked like her luck today wasn’t as strong as she thought. Or maybe she already used it all.

“No, what should I do? There is no way that he will wait for me that long, he will get angry and eventually go on his own. I need to get there faster!”

Lia took out the cell phone and called her dad.

-dad can you give me a ride!?

-I can but can’t you just take a bus. It’s a nice weather today so why don’t you just run like you sometimes do.

-I don’t have time for that! It’s a matter of death and live! Dad, please!

-hahaha, when you say that, it’s always about the games.

-you have to come!

-fine, I will. You are at the bus station near the gym right? I will be there in 20 minutes.

-drive on red lights and break speed limits but be faster!

-hahaha, I will see you in 20 minutes.

“Ah, if I could at least call him, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

She wanted to call Arata and tell him that she will be late but of course she didn’t know his phone number. Waiting at the bus stop was a torture for her. It also felt like hours despite the fact that just after 22 minutes her dad came already.

-what took so long!?

-ah a postman came and I needed to sign something. Anyway if you are in hurry you should get in already.

-hurry dad!

It took another 17 minutes to get back, together with leaving the gym and entering the capsule it become already 14:25, which meant she was 25 minutes late on promised time, which in game time was… .

-two hours…

Kotori was welcomed by this remark.

-how can you be late by two hours?

-sorry.

She quickly apologized to the man that was standing before her. His name was Arata and he was the member of her new guild. But she also knew him as someone who was once the best young player in the game that she used to play. She was even his fan. As strange as it might sound, she really was.

-Kotori, if you needed more time you should have say so.

-no, I just lost the track of time and it ended like that. Anyway Arata, give me your phone number.

-ha? You are already back to this, even though you just got here?

When she recognized that he is the one that she once had a poster over her bed, she decided to play around a little. She thought it would help her get along with him in the future. Also she said that she liked good players and she really meant it. Although, she didn’t plan anything serious of course, she just wanted to play around. Well, at least, at the beginning.

It turned out that Arata is really good guy, more than she though. She also heard him saying some embarrassing thing about her which she never expected to hear. He didn’t plan to say them and he still probably didn’t know that she heard him but she did. Arata also helped her when she heard words which she didn’t want to hear. Words that made her remember something that she buried deep in darkness corner of her mind. With all those things happening one after another, right now, she wasn’t sure anymore if she was still joking and playing around or not.

-well, do I want your cellphone for that reason too. But the main reason is that I couldn’t tell you that I will be late. I knew that I will be late for about one hour already.

-if you knew that you will be late, you could try to not be late.

-sorry, I lost a track of time and when I realized it was already too late. Remember the gym that I told you about. I went there but the clock was broken and I didn’t know the time. There were no busses available….

-you don’t need to tell me details. Anyway if you really need it then sure no problem it’s 506682876

-506682876 I could make a note about it and use it later but let me just call you to be sure, you log out as well.

-right now?

-yes.

The two of them once again disappeared under the tree.

-hey Arata it’s you?

-yea you got it right. Let’s go back.

-wait, I want to talk on the phone with you.

-why? No never mind let’s just log in. We can talk there.

-but on the phone it’s different!

-see you there!

Soon enough they appeared under the same tree once again.

-Arata your voice is the same as here.

-its natural, isn’t it? Your voice is the same as well.

-no, in last game I played voice communicator changed voice somehow especially when you played different race.

-I see. Anyway it’s time to go, you are okay with running?

-lets walk for ten minutes, I was in hurry just a while ago and that was after a gym where I run few kilometers.

-I also run few kilometers before it, in normal environment.

-dad said that it’s better to run in gym as it’s safer, although I often run back from the gym after the training.

-I see. But sure we can walk for now.

-sorry for slowing you down so much.

Kotori didn’t want to slow down for that reason though.

-don’t worry about that. We have much time and it’s not like I have anything important to do after this quest.

-yea, even if we take the break for whole week they still won’t be done with recruiting.

-hahaha, I feel you.

-anyway Arata how did your test go?

The reason why she wanted to walk for now was simply to talk with him as while running it probably would be harder.

-how it went? It’s hard to tell. Well, I did manage to kill the last boss in the end.

-oh, as expected of legendary Arata, I gave up on mine, looks like I still have a long way to go.

-don’t be so hard on yourself. Also even though we defeated the boss, the minion still nearly killed us and Gerald had to save us.

-I see, so even you had a problem in it.

-it simply that after I got hit by that minion once I couldn’t move too well and then I fly for like half a minute in sky and landed on the ground with 5% hp remaining so yes I had problems.

-why were you flying?

-the main boss was riding his seven meters high minion so I had to get to him somehow.

“Seven meters? Good, I didn’t have monster like that.”

-you were in different dungeon that me?

-yes we ended up in dungeon for level 30 instead of 28. Not like it made huge difference. And how did yours test?

-mine was dungeon for level 29 but it was hell. My party members were useless and I had to do everything alone. I let them die at some point because I couldn’t stand them anymore.

-well, my test went the same. Although I found some purpose for my party and in the end, they even tried to save me when I couldn’t move.

-sure, it’s good to have party no matter how useless they are but they would just take your exp.

-no I had all experience there was and they didn’t get any exp as I didn’t invite them to party.

-that’s not very nice of you.

-says the person that killed her own group. Mine were even happy that they can see the dungeon.

“I might have been a little unfair to them… At least to last two who were trying their best and didn’t give up.”

-so what did you used them for?

Kotori asked.

-their job was pulling mobs and run with them around so I can focus on less number of targets.

-hahaha. Good idea. Ah right, I also wanted to ask, how did you fought against those monsters when you had such low level. In my case I was running around and shooting my spells at them meaning I was simply kiting them. But you couldn’t do something like that as melee.

-I see you had a good tactic for a caster. In my case I just fought them straight on.

“Straight on?”

-but wouldn’t you just die if you do that? Like in one hit?

-I will have to continue on doing the same again when we get to the mountains so you can watch how I dealt with them then. Anyway it’s time to run so don’t fall behind.

-haha, you are talking to a person who is going to the gym for over 6 years already. You should be the one that have to worry.

-oh, you sure are sure of yourself. Want to do a penalty game? The loser have to do one thing that other ask no matter what it was.

-okay but you will regret it.

Arata and Kotori made the most stupid thing they could do which was waste all their strength on race that was 20 kilometers long.

After four kilometer.

“Even if it’s legendary Arata I will definitely not lose, ah what should I make him do? I also wonder what he would ask of me. He came up with that idea, so he should have something in mind.“

Eight kilometers.

“I still can keep up.”

Twelve kilometers.

“How can he move so fast, he is already so far.”

Sixteen kilometers.

-Arata! Wait! I give up! You win! Wait for me!

Arata slowed down and together they run last four kilometers.

“How did that happen!? I lost!”

-this is what you got for being overconfident.

Arata was happily decelerating his victory when they arrived at the edge of some forest.

-you are legendary Arata after all, I should have thought about it more before I agreed. Anyway let’s get to it right away so what do you want me to do?

-hmm.

-sure the debt said everything but have some reserve.

“Well he is not bad guy so I don’t have to worry much.”

-it’s not like I have any secret desires but I have a perfect task for you.

-oh, what is it?

-smile.

-…

Kotori first didn’t get it.

-smile, that’s the task?

-yes.

“I didn’t expect that. Wow. He really must like it that much. He even said so nice things about it. Well, it’s good that he didn’t have ideas for the task like I had. And if it makes him happy, then sure.”

-like this.

Kotori showed him her usual cheerful smile that she shown him yesterday. Arata was stopped for a moment.

“He really likes it!”

Was what Kotori thought but soon Arata said.

-well it’s as great as it was yesterday but isn’t a little forced and somehow different…

“What does he mean different?”

-…ah you can forget about it. You probably think it’s strange to ask something like that but you didn’t smile today so I just said it for a change of mood.

-well it’s hard to smile and run at the same time.

-true, anyway let’s go on with the quest, the mountain awaits us.

Kotori and Arata started to move up to the mountains. Right now they were in coniferous forest with spiky trees. It was thick and hard to see anything too far. Also the sun was nearly down as well so no much light was coming here. It the forest, they carefully looked around to spot any enemies. Kotori started.

-hey Arata wouldn’t it be better to start at morning. You know, we would have more light, better visibility.

-my plan was to find out what enemy we face here and train with their attacks patterns. Then we wouldn’t have problem at night. But a small problem accrued and we somehow got here two hours late.

-sorry.

-well we can wait for the sun but we already wasted enough time so we will have to manage somehow. We won’t go to the mountains anyway until we get some decent level, that’s for sure. Let’s look for some monsters inside this forest.

-anyway, what plan do you propose to fight them?

-well first we need to know what we will fight. Then we will create some basic fight tactic. We are in the forest so it should be some animal type monsters.

-well we had a trial in the forest already so we have some experience, and on guild test we already fought high level enemies. It shouldn’t be that hard.

-I am not that sure. For me at least, animal type is far worse than humanoid type. It’s harder to read their attack patterns as I am not used to fight them. Well, for now I just hope we won’t meet any bears.

-why is it harder? Normally in games any type has about the same strength.

“It’s not like it changes much when they are on same level.”

-say, what you would do if the dungeon you were in weren’t against humanoid but for example some kind of dogs?

-dogs at least don’t have weapons.

-you said that you used hit and run tactic. How will it do against dogs that are faster than humans?

“Well he has a point here.”

-but it doesn’t matter to you if you if you are going head on, right?

“I still have no idea how are you going to do that thought.”

-its big difference as I have higher experience in fighting against humans. Ah… be quiet for a second.

Arata started to look around then looked in one direction to the right. Kotori spotted that exactly from opposite site a gray wolf jumped at him.

-Arata, watch out!

[Golden shield]

She instantly summoned an electric gold shield in between the place that Arata was standing and the wolf was attacking him. Wolf hit the shield but it didn’t stop him at all and continued to fly at his direction with fangs ready to tear the flesh but Arata was already as wolf’s right side and was countering with his sword. With rotation he dodged wolf’s attack and landed a hit.

“What was that? Some spinning attack skill?”

-Kotori no time to look around, at least one more is here…

[Holy bolt]

Kotori spotted another wolf that was getting close to her. She attacked him with her holy bolt but it didn’t do much as wolf was way higher with level than her. As he was coming close, Kotori summoned the same shield what she used before but just as before it didn’t have any effect. Wolf was getting close and was already meter away from her.

“What to do, another shield?”

Just as she tried to do that Arata ran at unbelievable speed to her. He caught her in his arms and moved her away from the attack.

-don’t block it. They have higher level, you forgotten?

-sorry. Watch out, they are coming close.

Kotori looked as the wolves soon followed after them. Arata quickly jumped on one of the tree, three meters up in height. Now Kotori knew for sure that he used a skill. At the top of one large branch he said.

-anyway for now just stay on the top.

-I can fight as well you know. That was just a little miss on my part.

-you are a healer so your job is to support, isn’t it? It’s definitely not tanking mobs. You can damage them from here if you have enough mana to spare.

-even so my spells don’t have big effect.

-sure they have, whole 3% health from a shied hit isn’t bad, it’s the same as my swords. Anyway you do your best and I will do mine.

-but they are fast and all. You will get hit if you go down there.

-if that happens you will heal me up right? I will believe in you.

-right, no matter what I will heal you up from any damage so fight without worry.

Arata jumped down and engaged wolfs. Kotori was full prepared to cast her best healing spells the moment he would need them. She just hoped that he won’t get one-shooted. It looked like every wolf’s attack could kill him in one go so it was really nervous for her as healer. But in the end Arata didn’t get one-shooted, or rather he didn’t get hit even once. He danced with wolves, dodging their attacks and countering them every time they jumped at him.

“How is he doing it? No it’s not a time to get distracted, he still can be hit any time.”

Kotori was drawn to his fighting style but still kept her guard.

Arata was dodging wolfs attack left and right. Even when third wolf came, and then fourth one, it didn’t changed much as they still attacked one at the time.

“What is the level of this wolfs?”

Kotori crossed her fingers and checked their levels.

“55 he will really get one-shooted if he get hit! But it doesn’t look like it is going to happen any time soon.”

Kotori continued to observe Arata’s fight. He was like a wind, fighting against five wolves without fear.

“Wow. Emmm, all I can say is that’s legendary Arata for you. But shouldn’t he be just a good gamer that used his keyboard to control his character?”

Arata was continually fighting against wolfs, their hp didn’t get down too much but it was steady falling down.

“Even if it’s VRMMO and not normal MMO, Arata is still the best no matter what. I think I have to take out my poster out of the closet again. Maybe I should make a new one? Still now that I think about it what use healer has, when people don’t get hit? I have to start doing something else that just gazing at him.”

After Kotori realized that she is standing on the branch, doing nothing but looking at Arata, she started to use her attack spells on wolves. She had two of them, holy bolt and golden electric shield. Her others spells which she still didn’t used were healing centered and right now, she really didn’t need to use them. She still observed Arata in case she would need to heal him but he switched to dpsing. Because it was hard to hit fast moving wolfs with the holy bolt she focused on summoning shields in their way as it was a better option.

It took them a while to finish and it became dark, even Arata’s movement become somewhat slower at the end but already having experience in it, he didn’t get hit until the last wolf was defeated. Five wolfs with levels which were 25 more than them was a great boost, every wolf gave nearly half experience needed for level so they both dinged two levels after the fight.

[You have leveled up by 240%]

[You have gained level. Current level 34]

“I will put it on you tube. With a title. Legendary Arata is back or maybe legendary Arata fighting against wolves. No, I have a better idea it should be called, ‘how to play VR games’, people could use this reference.”

The VR capsule had a storage disk on which it saved last month of adventures so if someone wanted to show someone their experience they could save it on the computer and do with it what they wanted. Kotori decided that she will definitely save the adventure that she is having right now. Having all wolfs defeated Arata called Kotori down.

-hey Kotori, we are done, you can get down now.

-are you sure?

-it’s dark so I am not, but nothing is attacking us right now so it’s not like they are around the corner.

Kotori get down and went to where Arata was standing. She didn’t even know where to start. But when it came to saying anything she simply said.

-Arata I love you.

-he, don’t joke like that.

-no I really mean it, you are the best guy I even know, and you are everything that I would like my boyfriend to be.

-… .

When she putted it like that Arata did not know how to answer.

-hey say something. Girl just confessed to you.

-you are just saying it, anyway didn’t you hear that decisions like that shouldn’t be made on rush…

“Well, I knew that he won’t take it seriously. It’s strange to say it to a person who you just meet. But still.”

-hey Kotori, you will find someone who you will really love one day…

“But Arata I really think I love you. I already said that what else should I say?”

While normally she had no restrain in speaking her mind, this time the words she wanted to say did not come out.

-hey, say something, it’s getting strange here…

“Strange, he must think that I am strange. Well everyone calling me a game maniac and strange girl after all, ever since…”

-Kotori…

Arata tried to say something but when he saw Kotori face turning from usual into the one she started to make, he didn’t know what to say.

-hey Kotori! What happened!?

Arata didn’t except to see reaction like that so he shouted. For a moment he thought that it was his fault as he might somehow hurt her feelings, he definitely didn’t have experience in being confessed but that wasn’t a face of rejected girl would made.

It was face of despair. Kotori’s eyes lost their light. Then she fall down on knees and she was kneeling on the ground without moving, with blank expression. She didn’t react to anything that Arata was trying to say, and for most part he was saying her name.

“ha?”

After five minutes some of her senses returned to her.

-Kotori! Kotori!

-Arata?

-yes it’s me Kotori!

Without saying anything else she quickly summoned menu and disappeared from that world.

Lia get out from the capsule and jumped on her bed. Soon after, her phone started to ring. She looked at who it was. The name that appeared was legendary Arata.

“No, he must want know what had happen he will ask, no I can’t tell anyone.”

She didn’t want anyone to know about her past, even small touch could break her down. She definitely couldn’t tell anyone about ‘it’. Even thinking about ‘it’ was too painful for her. Her mind often cut her out from reality as self-defense system when ‘those thoughts’ appeared in her head. When that happened and when she regained her mind later on, most of the time she found herself back in her bed.

She ignored the phone but after ten minutes the ring has sounded again.

Hearing the phone over and over again, her dad came to Lia’s room. Normally when phone was calling no stop it meant that his daughter Lia was inside the capsule and forgot to turn it off. But this time he found her lying on the bed. He seemed down for a second but soon enough, he came near the bed and put his hand or her head. But he didn’t say anything. Then he looked at the ringing phone. He was really surprised to see the name that appeared there. He once heard her daughter telling him about someone whom she called “legendary Arata”, but that was like 5, 6 years ago. Nevertheless he picked up the phone and turned it off. Although it took him more time that it usually should have for someone to click on single button.

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