Ferti looked around to see that she was in front of the shop where she had logged off. She checked her friend's list to see that only Dspects was the only one logged in. Her heart skipped a beat out of fear and nervousness but before she could do anything else, she heard a ranging noise.

Player Dspects is trying to contact you.

Would you like to pick up the call?

Yes or No

Additional options:

-Block

-Silence

-Ignore

A part of her was tempted to ignore the call but she mustered up her reasoning before answering the call.

"Hello," she said.

"Master! This is your loyal disciple, Dspects!" Dspects energetic voice came through. Ferti choked on her spit as she let out a cough. "Master? Master?! Master, are you alright? Do you need me to purchase some health potions for you? Please let your loyal disciple know!" Dspects called out. Ferti pulled the canteen out of her inventory and chugged some water before wiping her mouth dry.

"Aren't you embarrassed of yourself? Why do you keep acting this way and calling me master??!" Ferti didn't know how to act in front of Dspects anymore. She couldn't take this sudden rush of respect that was forced upon her.

"Master... to learn the art of wooing a woman... your loyal disciple is willing to throw away his pride... his dignity... his responsibilities... his own fam-"

"Okay, let's stop there!" Ferti couldn't take this anymore, "listen... I can't really be your master."

"Huh? Why?! Is it because I'm too stupid? Or ugly? Or annoying? Or trashy? Please don't give up on me like this, master!" Dspects cried out.

"N-no... it's none of that... it's just... I'm a natural," Ferti tried to make something up to avoid this awkward situation, "I... I don't know how to teach you something that comes naturally to me," she wasn't really lying at the same time. She, herself, is a female so she knows what females liked to hear. It's not like she could just tell Dspects to change his sex to learn what a woman wants and then change it again to... wait... a thought suddenly came to her.

"Master! Please! Help your loyal disciple out here! I've been single for 19 years already! I don't want to be single for the next 81 years."

"Next 81 years? You're trying to live until 100?" Ferti got sidetracked.

"You're missing the point here, master!"

"Dspects," Ferti interrupted Dspects before she lost her train of thought again, "have you ever... tried playing as a... female character before?"

"Huh? W-why?"

"Answer the question, my loyal disciple," Ferti demanded.

"No, master. Your loyal disciple has never played as a female character before," Dspects immediately responded.

"Then... I recommend you try it out."

"Hah?! M-master! What do you mean? How am I suppose to woo girls if I play as a girl?"

"Dspects, think about it. If you want to woo a girl then you need to put yourself in a girl's shoes first. What kind of words do they want to hear? What kind of actions do they like? If you are able to decipher these, then wooing a girl will be easy peasy!" Ferti felt like her explanation was pretty well sounded.

"Hmm... listening to master, this loyal disciple understands... however this loyal disciple will refuse master's advice and ask master to give a different advice," Dspects rejected. Ferti's jaw drop out of shock before she narrowed her eyes.

"Why?"

"Although this loyal disciple is willing to give up his pride... his dignity... his responsibilities... and even his own family... this one cannot give up this one's own manhood in order to learn how to woo girls. Please bestow upon this loyal disciple a different teaching," Dspects tone was sincere yet Ferti found it oddly annoying.

"Hmph. Not willing to take my good advice, go find another master to teach you to woo girls. I have nothing else to teach you!" Ferti declared.

"Ma-master!"

"Don't call me that. I never accepted you as a disciple. Now, where is Foggy and Elizabat? We should start hunting soon," she ignored him. There was a moment of silence over the call before Dspects let out a sigh.

"Foggy is... having some IRL problems so he said he will be logging in later today. Elizabat went to keep him some company first and will also log in when he feels better," Dspects replied, dejected. Ferti furrowed her brows before nodding her head.

"I see... you guys all know each other IRL?" she couldn't help asking.

"Huh? Oh, yea. We've been friends for a while. You're the only one we don't know IRL," Dspects answered. Ferti felt a sense of loneliness but decided not to dwell on it.

"Nice. Well just DM me when they get on. I'll be at the public library," Ferti was going to end the call when Dspects voice came through again.

"Wait! How am I suppose to DM you if you're going to log off?" he asked, confused.

"Log off? What do you mean log off?"

"Aren't you going to the public library?"

"... dude, I meant the public library in the freaking game!"

"Ohh... I forget that you use that shit, I mean, that resource. Well, catch ya later!" Dspects ended the call before Ferti could reprimand him. Ferti had a bitter taste in her mouth but she ignored it as she started jogging toward the library.

-

She walked toward the place she left off reading a book on to see a man standing there. The man had short pink buzzed cut hair and purple eyes, which contrasted strongly with his big eyes and square shaped jaw shape. He was reading a book, which just so coincidently happened to be the book that Ferti left off on. He pressed his thin lips together as a mountain of worries appeared on his forehead. Ferti frowned but walked up to the shelf he was standing in front of. She peeked at the title of his book and remembered that she had been reading volumes about insects that inhibited this game world. She felt a bit uncomfortable just skipping a volume so she waited for the man to finish, thinking that he would just look over the book quickly before returning it on the shelf. She was wrong.

She waited around for a while but the man kept flipping pages back and forth as if he was searching for something but couldn't find it. On his forehead, the mountains grew bigger and the valleys sunk deeper. Ferti couldn't help but tapped her foot. She narrowed her eyes at the man hoping that if she saw what she was doing he would hurry up, but to no avail, as she did not get a response. After waiting for an hour, her patience had run dry as she walked up to him and cleared her throat. The man didn't seem to have heard as he was too focused on the book. Ferti controlled her urge to roll her eyes before clearing her throat loud enough to sound like a trumpet. The man jumped before looking up at her. She stared back, waiting for him to say something first.

"Sorry... I'm busy right now. If you want to talk about joining the guild, do it another time," the man blurted out, giving her a disdain look. Ferti frowned before giving him a confused smile.

"Sorry, sir, um... I'm not here to talk about joining... your guild," Ferti assumed he was most likely talking about his guild.

"Then... can I help you with something?" he asked.

"That book," Ferti got straight to the point, "can I borrow it for a bit?"

"This book?" the man pointed to the book he was holding. Ferti pushed the urge to yell out 'what other book am I talking about' as she just gave a small smile and nodded. "Oh... sorry man, I'm still reading it," the man refused. Ferti bit her lip before forcing a smile on her face.

"Just for a moment, please, sir" Ferti didn't give up.

"Uh..." the man looked conflicted as his eyes darted around, "I'm so-"

"Just for a moment, please, sir" Ferti's smile grew bigger. The man let out a small sigh before he handed over the book.

"Then please hur-" he stopped speaking as Ferti flipped through the pages. After two minutes, she handed the book back to the man who stared at her with all the orifices on his face fully open.

"Thank you," she gave him a smile before picking out the next ten volumes off the shelf and walking away.

"W-wait!" the man behind her stammered as he walked up to her, "wh-what just happened?" he asked, flabbergasted. Ferti raised an eyebrow as she set the books down on a table before turning to look at him.

"Pardon me, sir?" she cocked her head to the side.

"Wh-what just happened? You just flipped through the book... did you even read it?" he asked.

"Of course, sir. That's why I returned it to you, sir," Ferti replied.

"A-are you serious?"

"Of course," she answered honestly. He kept eyeing her as if he didn't believe her.

"... are you an NPC?" he doubted. Ferti looked at him in disbelief for a moment before closing her eyes and rolling them under her lids. When she opened them again she just gave him a small smile.

"What do you think? Do you think I'm an NPC?" she asked back.

"Err... no?" he answered.

"No?"

"Um... no."

"No?"

"No. No. For sure, no," he said firmly.

"Okay then. Now if you'll excuse me," Ferti gestured toward the stack of books she brought to the table. The man looked at her with his big eyes before looking at the books, and then back at her.

"Yea... yea," he nodded his head before walking away. Ferti thought that he would walk back to the bookshelves as she was ready to let out a long sigh but instead, he just took a seat diagonally across from her. She wrinkled her brows together a bit annoyed for the only reason she moved to the table, was because he was by the bookshelves but decided to ignore him. She picked up the next volume and started to read. She felt his intense stare which made her reading pace a bit slower, but she just turned away so she wasn't facing him.

"Out of sight, out of mind," she muttered to herself as she continued reading. After about twenty or so minutes, she finished reading all the books. She picked the mall up and reshelved them before moving on the next book. She heard footsteps from behind her and turned around to see the man suspiciously staring at her.

"Um... can I help you with something?" she felt obligated to ask by the look he was giving her.

"Can I... ask for your help... I'm sorry I never got your name. My name is Rozay," he held out his hand. Ferti shook his hand and gave him an awkward smile.

"I'm Ferti," she replied as she let go of his hand.

"Uh," the man seemed confused again as he looked at her weirdly, "do you... know me?"

"Umm... am I supposed to?"

"Oooh... no wonder... nevermind... that makes everything better. Are you new to the game?"

"Why?"

"Just..." the man looked her up and down, "so you are new..." he commented. Ferti felt a chill run up her back before taking a step back. "Hey man, can I as-"

Player Dspects is trying to contact you.

Would you like to pick up the call?

Yes or No

Additional options:

-Block

-Silence

-Ignore

Ferti heard a ranging and saw the screen popped up in front of her.

"Excuse me," she stepped aside as she answered the call.

"Master, you picked up!" Dspects cheerful voice came through.

"I am not your master. Are Foggy and Elizabat on now?"

"Yes, master. We are all meeting up at your loyal disciple's house before going there."

"I am not your master, and I'll get there as fast as I can."

"Of course, master. Master, do you need me to get you any refreshments or something before we go? If you want I can also buy you some new gear? What abou-"

Ferti hung up before Dspects could continue. She turned back to Rozay and saw him staring back at her.

"Um, well I kind of have to go now," she announced.

"Oh... that's not a problem," Rozay responded. She nodded her head and was going to say her goodbyes when another screen appeared in front of her.

Friend Request:

Player, Rozay (Row-zay), has sent you a friend request.

Accept the friend request?

Yes or No

Additional options:

-Block

-Ignore

"Just DM when you are done," he said, as if they've known each other for a while.

"Uhh..." she didn't know how to respond to this stranger.

"Don't worry man. I'll pay you good for the favor," Rozay said as if he expected this. Ferti looked at his equipment to notice that they seemed pretty expensive before accepting his friend request.

"Alright," she nodded, "well then, see you around."

"Mhmm. See you around," he gave her a wave as she walked out of the library.

-

Ferti walked into Dspects home to see the group huddled around the table.

"Master, you're here!" Dspect waved to her.

"I am not your master," she pulled out a chair and sat down, "wassup, you two?" she asked Foggy and Elizabat. Elizabat didn't reply as usual, while Foggy just gave her a shrug. "Well... are yall ready to hunt?" she changed the question. They both gave her a small nod.

"Master, your loyal disciple is also ready to hunt."

"I am not your master," she repeated again.

"But ma-"

"I am not your master. Shall we get going?" she looked at the other two. Elizabat stood up from her seat and so did Foggy. She also stood up before looking at Dspects, to see Dspects looking at her with teary eyes.

"Master! You are harsher than those girls that resemble thorns. Pretty but spiteful," he sounded as if he had been treated unfairly.

"Wow... I'm impressed you can use the word spiteful in a conversation," Ferti stroked her chin.

"Master!" Dspects cried out. Ferti thought about what Dspects just said about the roses and then thought about the man she had seen in the library with a similar name.

"Hey," she suddenly blurted out, "do you guys know how Rozay is?" the room was silent for a moment before Dspects flew off his chair and stared at her with disbelief.

"Dude! Do you even play Road Builder? How the fuck do you not know how Rozay is?!" he asked. Ferti felt attacked by his outburst and took a step back.

"Well, then who the hell is he?"

"He's the second in command of the Pink Clouds Guild, one of the top ten guilds on Road Builder! We can only dream of getting to even talk to him," Dspects looked up in awe.

"Ohh... really?" Ferti pulled up her friend request and allowed the others access to see, "because he just sent me a friend request and I accepted."