“Ahahaha! Take that! And that!”

Vivi continued to blast Waterfloras even beyond the number Erika requested. She was like an excited kid in an amusement park.

“Vivi, you can stop now. Here’s the chocolate.”

Erika smiled at the hyperactive brat and took out a piece of Dragon Chocolate. She already had 22 Waterflora Seeds in her inventory, more than enough for Silveria’s quest.

“Hmph, fine. Like, the generous Vivi will let these idiots off the hook for today!”

Vivi announced with both hands on her waist. She looked down on all the weak Waterfloras; they never managed to graze her with their attacks, not even once.

As if to punish the snobbish pixie, it appeared out of nowhere. One moment nothing was there, then in the next... a Waterflora. Right beside Vivi.

“V-Vivi! Look out!!”

“Like, what’re you fussing about?”

Vivi slowly turned around, retaining the confident smug of the strongest creature in the universe. Her expression turned pale in the next instant.

“Blegh!?”

“Vivi!”

The Waterflora swallowed Vivi into its watery head. The little pixie found herself entrapped inside a suffocating prison.

“Blegh! Ugh!!”

Vivi punched and kicked through the liquid, to no avail. She tried to blast the cage from within, but no force came out of her frail arms.

“C-curses...!”

Erika rushed forth with the Silver Knife in hand. She didn’t want to think of it, but there was the possibility that Vivi could be killed by this vicious flower. The pixie would be digested alive, until all life force would be sucked out of her.

C-calm down. I only need to defeat the flower, that’s all. D-don’t think of pointless things...!

There was no time to second-guess GoVe’s mechanics. The more she thought about the possibility of permanent death, the faster her mind raced. The more her mind overworked, the more hazy she became.

She had to terminate the flower. She had to rescue Vivi. Channeling these precise thoughts into her arm, Erika slashed the flower’s transparent body. The Waterflora was too occupied with digesting Vivi, it neither resisted nor retaliated.

Through the stem. Though the head. She attacked and attacked, but it was the same as slicing water. Water spilled all over the ground, but the Waterflora’s body didn’t collapse.

It’s not use! At least I should get Vivi out...!

Erika shoved her free hand into the Windflora’s face. Her fingers dug into the thick mass of liquid, but failed to get through. It was impossible to reach inside, impossible to rescue Vivi.

“C-curses! What do I do then!?”

“Hey! Titan! Try punching that fucker!”

“I’m TRYING!”

Erika slashed the water cage from different angles, but the Waterflora didn’t show any signs of defeat. It was an absurdly tough mob for early game, making Erika wish to dig her knife into the game designers.

“Don’t SWOOSH, Titan! Just literally punch that fucker! Like WHAM!”

“What...?”

Revert back to punching? A ludicrous idea. Erika first-handedly experienced how much the knife empowered her combat performance.

Nonetheless, it didn’t feel like a prank by Mina. On top of that, Mina’s odd advice helped Erika in her battles before.

“Blagh...!!”

Vivi was close to her limit, kicking violently and pitifully. Erika didn’t have time to process anything She exhausted all her options.

Curses, curses! Here goes nothing!

She clenched her left hand and shot it forward. The flower was rammed straight in the face, bending backwards from the impact. A burning red circle remained on its face, painting the injured area.

I-I think this can work...!

She dropped the Silver Knife and whammed the flower with her right hand. It still felt like striking water, but something was different. The enemy wasn’t nearly as indifferent as before.

Each punch left a burning injury. Each blow splattered tons of water. Somehow, her hands were a lot stronger than the knife’s slashes. These tiny, soft hands were rending the foe asunder.

Die, die...!

Erika lost herself in a frenzy. She repeatedly thrust her fists and the Combat Aid made sure they connected. All her rage and frustration exploded in the Waterflora’s face, ripping it apart.

【Defeated Waterflora. Obtained 8 [Water] pieces and 2 Waterflora Seeds.】

“Vivi! Are you alright!?”

“Gah... y-yeah... l-like, totally... geh...”

Vivi’s face was pale and her petite frame trembled. She gasped for air as she choked out scattered words.

Was it that painful for her? Poor thing...

Back when Erika herself was stuck in a water cage, she quickly recovered after being rescued. However, even now that Vivi was outside, a shaking emote still hanged beside her. Then near-death experience continued to traumatize the little pixie.

Did she stay in there for too long...?

Erika gritted her teeth and clenched her trembling hands. If only she was faster. If only she was smarter. She could have rescued Vivii much sooner.

“It’s alright now.”

Erika gently pulled Vivi toward her chest and hugged the trembling fairy. Normally, Vivi should have blasted Erika’s face and fired high-pitched complaints. However, in her current miserable state, Vivi couldn’t squeeze out even an ounce of resistance.

“It’s all over, Vivi. You can rest now.”

“H-hmph... like... I know that... much...”

Vivi relaxed her body on Erika’s chest. Where was Vivi’s usual vigor? Where was that cheeky fairy who always had something to yell at others?

Curses, this is all my fault...

Being bad at combat wasn’t an excuse. No matter how hardcore GoVe was, it was still a video game. Enough practice should have allowed Erika to handle things better by now. Yet, she messed up. Horribly.

Erika sat down and allowed Vivi to rest on her lap. Vivi always skipped from side to side in midair, but right now she didn’t express any will to fly and her glittering wings were limp. Without uttering a single objection, Vivi accepted the offer and laid down on Erika’s lap.

“Here’s some chocolate that slips from my hand.”

Erika smiled faintly and brought a chocolate piece toward Vivi. The treat was accepted without any emotion and Vivi quietly ate it, without getting excited.

“I’m so sorry, Vivi... you could have died there, right?”

“Hmph... like, I’m not... immortal, you know...”

Vivi mumbled while taking small bites from the Dragon Chocolate. It wasn’t a 100% confirmation, but Vivi’s words suggested that she could have truly perished in this event.

With all said and done, Vivi was still an “escorted NPC”. It wouldn’t be much of a quest to escort a completely immortal NPC, even in the early stages of the game. At least, God Vessel Online didn’t strike Erika as such a merciful game.

Vivi could have really died...

This thought was eating Erika up. In any normal PC game, Erika wouldn’t be too shaken. Character death was always tragic in immersive mediums, but it was in a whole different league inside VR.

Erika could touch this little fairy with her own hands. She could feel the weight of Vivi’s body resting upon her lap. Vivi was light and fragile, much unlike her loud and confident attitude.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll make sure to properly protect you from now on.”

“Hmph...”

The Waterflora sucked out all the energy and liveliness which Vivi possessed. It took about five minutes of repose before expressions returned to her pale face.

“Ahahaha! Like... I just let that idiot catch me!”

Vivi flapped her glittering wings and ascended into the air.

“The generous Vivi felt it was... too easy. So... she set herself a handicap!”

Vivi did her best to draw excuses, but she lacked the usual punch. She didn’t entirely regain to her former self, but it was a huge improvement that allowed Erika to breathe in relief.

Erika now had way more Waterflora Seeds than she requested. Thus, she planned to stay away from sadistic flowers for as long as she could. Alas, she didn’t expect the next thing she saw...