Chapter 1-24 : Next Plan
「Huu… You guys are terrible… I can no longer get married now…」(Alice)
「Alice, you’re exaggerating.」(Ruka)
「Hahh… You’re talking as if we just tarnished your purity as a maiden.」(Rin)
It’s been two hours since they started dressing me in various outfits in the shop’s backroom as if I were their dress-up doll.
After they argued so many times about which color fit me the most, they finally came up with a conclusion.
「It’s frustrating, but Rin’s choice looks the best on her.」(Kururu)
「Aa-ahh, I feel defeated but Rin’s right. Red with black and gold accent match Alice-chan very well.」(Leone)
「Agreed.」(Ruka)
「Right~? I’ve known her since we were little. Of course, I know what’s best for her!」(Rin)
Rin put her hands on her waist and made a smug smile.
She must feel good winning the argument, but not for me. I don’t feel good at all. I’m tired…
Seeing me sigh, Ruka asked me.
「Alice, you okay?」(Ruka)
「Hmph.」(Alice)
But I replied to her by puffing out my cheeks and looking away.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t mad at all.
「Alice, are you… angry…?」(Ruka)
「Hmph.」(Alice)
「Uuu… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you upset… uuu…」(Ruka)
She looked at me with teary eyes.
「Alice hates me now… Uuu…」(Ruka)
「Aa-ahh~ Alice, you make Ruka-chan cry~」(Rin)
Oh, shoot! I went too far!
「No, no, no! I don’t hate you! I won’t hate you over a small matter like this, okay?」(Alice)
「So… You’re not… angry…?」(Ruka)
「No! Of course, I’m not angry!」(Alice)
After denying myself, I stroked Ruka’s head and smiled at her.
I wonder if I’m too soft for forgiving her so easily, but…
I can’t resist her eyes… Those eyes… Her teary puppy eyes are too powerful!
「So, is it decided then? Red color with black and gold accent-nya?」(Lynette)
「Well, I don’t really understand fashion, but if everyone says that’s the best for me, then, yeah, I guess.」(Alice)
「Okay-nya~ I’ll get right into it-nya.」(Lynette)
「How long it’s gonna take?」(Alice)
「Hmm… Making fiber armor needs a lot of time and effort, so… I think it’ll take at least three days-nya. Ah, I’m talking about IRL time-nya.」(Lynette)
「Got it.」(Alice)
Three days in real life, meaning nine days in this world, huh? That’s a lot of time. I wonder what I should do while waiting for Lynette to finish my new armor.
Hmm… I can travel to the north and visit the northern town to open the portal there, but… I think it will be tough unless I spend my whole weekend.
Or, perhaps I can go grinding to level up my skills and learn some new skills.
Speaking of skills, I wonder how the others level up their skills and spend their skill points to learn new skills… I should ask them later.
I left the backroom with the girls and returned to the shop floor where Shougo, Shuu, and Gaul were waiting.
「You guys took so long! Why do women take so damn long when it comes to fashion!?」(Shuu)
「I thought we would die of boredom while waiting for you girls.」(Shougo)
「Right…」(Gaul)
「Huh? You could have gone buying food or something while waiting for us, right?」(Kururu)
「Yeah, and you would be mad if we were not here by the time you finished.」(Shuu)
「Of course, we would.」(Kururu)
「Gaahh! Why are women so unfair!?」(Shuu)
Shuu held his head and shouted. I think I can understand his feelings…
「So, are you girls done? Can we go now?」(Shougo)
「Yeah. Alice, you want to come with us?」(Rin)
Before they came here, Shougo, Rin, Shuu, Gaul, Leone, and Kururu originally planned to complete some quests from the guild as a party today.
Rin invited me, but if I joined them, Ruka would be all alone. After all, you can only have seven people in a party in this game.
「Umm, I think I’m going to play with Ruka for today.」(Alice)
「Roger that~」(Rin)
「By the way, how do you guys spend your skill points? How often do you learn new skills?」(Alice)
「Skills, huh? Shougo, you know better about this than me.」(Rin)
「Me? I focus on leveling up the useful skills first, especially the combat-related ones.」(Shougo)
「Me too. As a DPS, raising your combat skills is important.」(Shuu)
「Defensive abilities first.」(Gaul)
「I don’t really put too much thought into this, but personally, I prioritize magic skills first~」(Leone)
「That’s right! Magic above all!」(Kururu)
「Ahh, I kinda agree with you two!」(Rin)
Rin, Leone, and Kururu are witches, so it’s only natural that they prioritize magic skills.
Shougo and Shuu are DPS, so they raise their combat skills, and Gaul is a tanker who prioritizes his defensive abilities.
「Ruka, how about you?」(Alice)
「Simple. Whenever I feel like learning new skills while playing, I will learn them and raise them.」(Ruka)
「I see.」(Alice)
That sounds a bit nonchalant and easygoing, but I feel the same too. Seems like Ruka and I share the same thoughts.
「Shougo, any advice?」(Alice)
「Let’s see… There are tons of skills in this game we can learn. Common skills, hidden skills, and unique skills. Learning them can be fun, but learning too many skills won’t be a good thing. After all, raising too many skills will be very hard.」(Shougo)
「Makes sense.」(Alice)
「But then again, there are no rules saying you should focus on just a few skills. You can play however you want.」(Shougo)
「You’re right. Thanks.」(Alice)
「Good luck.」(Shougo)
After that, we parted ways.
Shougo and the others were heading to the guild, while Ruka and I returned to Hafen to hunt some more monsters in the southern forest.
By the way, I received a message from Lynette after we left her shop.
According to her, the problematic thread had been reported to the moderators of the in-game forum, and they are currently investigating it.
As for the screenshot of me and Ruka that had spread on the forum, Lynette said that she and some of her acquaintances had warned the players, especially the ones from that problematic thread to erase our photos and stop spreading them.
However, not all players would listen to her. Some of them would likely keep spreading the photos. Depending on how bad the situation is in the future, Ruka and I might continue to be treated like celebrities for who-knows-how-long.
Hahh… I hope it won’t get any worse… I want to play this game peacefully…
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