Chapter 0027

They reached the central hallway shortly. Sylphie and Erica was waiting for her. Change that sentiment. Erica was flirting with a tall, dark blue hair Tajin Nost. Sylphie was talking with a Perrian Let. Altreyes couldn’t see their name tags. There’s way to remove the name tag off a character? Altreyes want to learn how to do it. Jumping other players would be safer if they can’t see who attacked them. Not that Altreyes would entertain the idea of attacking a defenseless player. No siree she would not. She’s too much a coward to initiate an attack. The option would be there.

The Assassin walked up to the flirtatious Erica first. “What are you two talking about?” she asked the pair. The Tajin Nost bright green eyes widen in surprise then darken in pleasure to see Altreyes.

“We are talking about the pros and cons of the Assassin class. Soliel here doesn’t under how well designed the class is.” the Tajin Nost replied. From his words and tone, he wasn’t trying to get away from Erica, yet he was happy for the interruption. Altreyes wonder what Erica was saying to upset him.

“I just think a Sword Dancer is better. My class has a higher dps potential than an Assassin.” Erica exclaimed.

Ahh, directly insulting the class and indirectly insulting the guy. Nice tact Erica. “The numbers might indicate Sword Dancer have a higher dps potential. I don’t know if it’s true or not Soliel, since I didn’t study the class, but I do know that numbers aren’t everything. The execution of the skill also affects the damage dealt.” Altreyes turned to the player, “Oh yeah, I was wondering how you hid your name tag? I would like to learn how to do that too. It would be so awesome to ambush, kill and escape without anyone knowing.”

“Sneak attack, how noble.” Erica’s sarcastic comment did not go well with the Tajin Nost.

“How impolite of me not to introduce myself. My name is Altreyes. And yours?” She really want to know how he hid his name tag. Politeness was never her strong point. She had to put effort into being polite.

Survival Instinct, “.... Mouth, why can’t you be like that all the time?”

Mouth, “What?”

Brain, “Takes too much effort, not enough incentive.”

Survival Instinct, “Bastard.”

“Ah, my game name is DeepDestruction, but call me Kevin.”

Really, DeepDestruction. Isn’t it overcompensating it a bit “Okay Kevin.”

“Players can’t hide their name tag. You have to turn on your ability to read the name tags though. Go into the main menu and click display and check the name tag box.” DeepDestruction said animatedly.

“Oh thanks for the information. It’s silly of me not to know it. Most MMORPG I’ve played always have name tags as default.” Altreyes said. She admit it. She was flirting a bit. Erica was much more beautiful than Altreyes am in real life. She fancied herself a ‘fashionista’ and dispense advice accordingly. In game, fashion doesn’t matter. Body type doesn’t matter. Players can choose the perfect body. So visual appeal goes down in importances, while personality increase.

“Didn’t you claim to be the queen of geekdom once?” Erica snipe, disliking a guys directing his attention off of her.

“No, Conquerer of the Eastern Realm in Dark Drake Kingdom. My old guild, Slaughter, was the first guild to kill the Black Drake of Ruir on our server.” Altreyes answered frankly. DeepDestruction was quite impressed.

“I’ve heard of you guys. You guys were the first on the server to attempt it and you killed the dragon in one try.” DeepDestruction answered excitedly, “You were the seventh guild to kill him in the North American servers.” The boy voiced turned towards awe and hero worship.

“I wouldn’t say we finished it on the first attempted. We actually spend 3 days attempting him before actually downing him.”

“What strategy did you used?” he asked excitedly.

“What are you guys talking about?” Sylphie interrupted our conversation. Altreyes didn’t see her conversation partner walking towards them. Frankly Altreyes was glad for the interruption. She didn’t want to talked about my old game. It was nothing special. The raid on the Black Drake tired her out. They had to farm for a week before they set out to kill him, and by they Altreyes meant her. She farmed for a week to get the materials for the special potions and raid buffs.

“Assassin vs Sword Dancer damage.” Erica replied, trying to turn the conversation towards the original topic where she can contribute to the conversation.

“Both have the potential to be high damage dealers if they have the right gear and take the right talents.” The comment was directed towards Erica for questioning Sylphie’s recommendation on talent distribution earlier.

“I’ve run the numbers Sylphie, Sword Dancers can deal 5% more damage than Assassin up to level 200. Afterwards it the difference would be about 10%.” Erica touted the advantages of her chosen class. Does she realized she in The Temple of the Fallen, where would be Assassins come to get their ghost? Talking down on Assassin in their own ‘home’ would alienate any would be Assassins against her. Even worst, if she’s right, her I told you so attitude makes them want to kill her more.

“Did you include utility, player vs player applications and burst damage?” Altreyes asked. She had to defend her class.

“I thought we’re talking about sustain damage over a long period of time?” Erica retorted.

“So you didn’t.”

“It’s the sustain damage you want. Burst helps with overall damage but it isn’t sustainable, and utilities helps you live, but if you’re skilled enough, you don’t need to survivability skills.”

“You don’t deal any damage if you’re dead, Soliel.” DeepDestruction didn’t know how to deal with Erica’s position on Sword Dancer dps. Altreyes assume he was a gamer like her family. In most MMORPG, guys outnumbers girls. Most of the males don’t know how to handle females in real life situation. They comes across females gaming before, and in that aspect, they know how to interact within the concept of the game, but Erica bring out a social aspect VR games has that everyone hates.

In short, it’s the torture of high school all over again. Erica is the queen bee, the head cheerleader, and DeepDestruction, the nerd beneath her notice.

“You’re right Deep. Skills comes into play here. A good players doesn't need survival crutches to be live.” Poor Deep, squirming from Erica’s scathing implied insult.

Thank god Sylphie here. The poor boy ego won’t be able to stand another round with Erica. “Are you done Altreyes? We should head over to the inn and get a room before it’s all booked.”

“It’s dark already. Laurie what took you so long? I want to rest before bags formed under my eyes. A woman should sleep eight hours a day to refresh her body. And moisturized before going to sleep. I always use a hydrating cream before going to bed, an SPF 15 day wear before going to school and sunblock when walking anywhere under the sun. With the thinning of the ozone layer, ultraviolet rays does more damage to the skin.”

Erica continued her lecture on basic skin care. Altreyes didn’t want to hear it and DeepDestruction definitely doesn’t either. To save us the trouble, the short Perrian Let started walking. Sylphie and Erica followed her. Erica kept up the monologue the entire trip to the inn.

You have received 1 endurance point.

Huh? How did she get the endurance point. The only thing she have been enduring recently is Erica’s nagging. Erica’s nagging falls under cruel and unusual punishment at any family gathering. The gaming systems give out endurances point if you have to ‘endure’ painful stimuli or if you push yourself to the limit. Erica’s cruel and unusual punishment, endurance point, Erica’s cruel and unusual punishment, endurance point.

Damn it. Erica’s nagging considered mental torture, so the gaming systems hand out endurances point for it. Noooooooo. Oh the gods of gaming, this is too cruel. In order for the experienced player get points she have to actually listen to Erica’s verbal abuse. Noooooo. Family gathering are torture enough. Now in her recreational time, she have to deal with incessant nagging as well. There is no god!

The short Perrian Let gritted her teeth while listening to Erica’s bitching. After 15 minutes, it's not a conversation, lecture or nagging but straight out bitchfest. Endurance points, endurance points.

They went back to the Hall of the Chosen. Altreyes turned in her quest, then they headed to the inn. Erica doesn’t know how to shut up and Altreyes is too greedy. She wished it never came her attention. The Assassin could go on blissfully unaware of this boon to the endurance stats. She didn’t want to be tortured this way. It’s already almost breaking her. Help! Someone save Altreyes from herself.

Finally! The inn at last. “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep now!” Altreyes said as she ran through the throng of players loitering at bar, pushed her way straight to the innkeeper, booked a room and beelined towards it. Once she closed the door to my room, she sagged in relief. Tears stream down her face. The experienced player pulled her legs up to my chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, pressed her forehead on her knees and took a big shuddering breath. “God help my greedy self.”

Comforting arms encircled her. Asalia. In her need to get away from Erica, she forgot all about them. The Assassin leaned into their loving embraced. Times like these, she was glad she became an Assassin.

They said nothing, offering comfort through touch. Once Altreyes calmed down, she surveyed her surrounding. The room was sparsely furnished with a queen sized bed, a small dresser to the right, a small dining table and two chairs. The short Perrian Let test the bed right away via a run and jump. It was soft and springy. Altreyes rubbed her face into the inviting softness of the pillow. She crawled under the covers, snuggled into the bed sheets and fell asleep.