Chapter 1-26 : To The North
After leaving Lake Clar, I explored the western forest and hunted monsters to level up my skills for hours. I lost track of time while grinding, but I somehow managed to get back to the town and log out before midnight in the real world.
Before sleeping, I checked my phone and saw a notification. It was a LINE message from Shougo.
“Yo, Arisa, we’re going to explore the northern area tomorrow. Come to the north gate of Erst Town at six in the morning (IRL time) if you want to join us.”, he said.
It’s Saturday tomorrow, and we don’t have class ーNo. Today, to be exact. It’s already past midnight after all.
I didn’t mind joining them, so I replied to him, “Count me in”.
He said six in the morning, so I need to go to sleep now.
ーーーーー
The next morning, I woke up, had a quick breakfast, and immediately returned to my bed with my VR headgear on.
I’m going to play NWO all day! I love weekends!
As soon as I spawned in Erst Town, I walked down the street and headed to the north gate.
There were already a few familiar faces there.
「Good morning, guys.」(Alice)
「Morning, Alice~」(Rin)
「Good morning, Alice-san.」(Kururu)
「Good morning to you.」(Gaul)
Waiting by the gate were Rin, Kururu, and Gaul.
Not just them, I also saw Leone sitting inside the carriage parked next to us. She noticed me and waved at me.
Seems like we’re going to the north on that carriage.
「…Hm?」(Alice)
When I waved back at Leone, I noticed she wasn’t alone. Ruka was with her. She was sleeping on her lap.
「Ruka?」(Alice)
「Ah, I messaged her yesterday, and she said she wanted to join as well.」(Rin)
「I see.」(Alice)
Ruka only met Rin and the others once in Lynette’s shop the other day, but she has already gotten along with them. I’m glad for her.
「So, where are the other two?」(Alice)
「Shougo has logged in. He’s currently buying some supplies. As for Shuuー」(Rin)
「ーI bet that idiot will be late again! If he’s not here when Shougo returns, we should just go without him.」(Kururu)
「Yeah, I agree.」(Rin)
「Uhh… Is he often late to meetings?」(Alice)
「Yeah, that lazy guy… He once made us wait for almost two hours, you know?」(Kururu)
「Two hours!?」(Alice)
「You see. Time flows three times slower here than in the real world. Back then, he said he was only forty minutes late to log in, but here, we waited for two hours.」(Rin)
「I see…」(Alice)
Now I can understand why and I agree with Kururu. We should leave him if he doesn’t show up on time.
「By the way, Alice, your new armor is not finished yet?」(Rin)
「Yeah, unfortunately.」(Alice)
Lynette will message me as soon as she finishes my new armor, but I haven’t gotten any messages from her.
The reason why she couldn’t finish it quickly was that the level of her blacksmith skill wasn’t high enough. Seems like leveling up blacksmith skills is not easy.
I wonder what kind of armor she will make. It requires a high level of blacksmith skill, so it’s gonna be great, I think.
「I see. That’s too bad. Well, we’re just going to explore the area, so I think you’re gonna be fine.」(Rin)
「Right. ーFwaaahh~…」(Alice)
I only slept for four and a half hours last night. Feeling the drowsiness getting stronger, I couldn’t help but yawn.
「Alice, are you sleepy? You can get inside the carriage and sleep. Don’t worry about us.」(Rin)
「Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Thanks.」(Alice)
Sleeping in the game won’t affect my body in real life at all, but I can’t stand this drowsiness. I think I can understand Ruka’s feelings now.
I headed to the carriage and got inside.
「Welcome, Alice-chan~」(Leone)
While stroking Ruka’s head gently, Leone welcomed me with a low voice so as not to wake Ruka up.
Seeing Ruka’s peaceful sleepy face made me even more sleepy.
「Hello, Leone-san. I want to take a nap for a while.」(Alice)
「Fufu, looks like we have another sleepyhead here~ My lap is occupied, but you can lean on my shoulder if you want~」(Leone)
「Uhh, but…」(Alice)
「Come on, don’t be shy~」(Leone)
「…Alright then.」(Alice)
I sat next to Leone and put my head on her shoulder.
「Ahh~ Two cute girls are sleeping on my lap and my shoulder. I can die happy now~」(Leone)
「Ahaha… Please don’t die…」(Alice)
It feels a bit awkward but I feel like I can fall asleep on her warm shoulder.
After reacting to her joke, I closed my eyes.
………………
…………
……
…
.
「Mmmhh…?」(Alice)
I could feel vibrations and swaying. Seems like our carriage has finally moved and we are currently traveling on the main road.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Rin’s face.
「Oh, you’re awake.」(Rin)
「…Rin?」(Alice)
Apparently, I’m sleeping on Rin’s lap now. I thought I was sleeping while leaning on Leone’s shoulder.
By the way, I often sleep on her lap while waiting for the next class on campus. I should raise my body up, but I kinda want to stay like this for a while.
I glanced around and saw everyone.
Ruka is still sleeping on Leone’s lap. Gaul is driving and Shougo is sitting next to him on the driver’s seat. I also see Shuu who’s sitting next to Kururu. He made it on time, I see.
「Ahh, seeing these two makes me want to sleep on a girl’s lap too. Say, Kururu, would you lend me your laー」(Shuu)
ーSLAP!
「Ouch!」(Shuu)
Kururu quickly slapped Shuu’s face before he even finished his words.
「That’s a lot of physical damage! I thought you could only do magical damage!」(Shuu)
「Hmph!」(Kururu)
She then quickly looked away from him.
Well, I can understand. Shuu’s kinda annoying after all.
「Physical damage and mental damage, to be exact.」(Rin)
「Ugh…」(Shuu)
And Rin’s words hurt him even more.
「Guys, just a reminder, it will be seven in the morning soon IRL time. You better open Mytube now.」(Shougo)
Shougo turned his face and said that to us.
I wonder what’s going on.
「Hmm?」(Alice)
「Alice, did you forget? There will be a second official livestream soon.」(Rin)
「Ah!」(Alice)
I totally forgot about that.
It’s been more than a week since this game was released, and there’s going to be another live stream from the game developer.
「I heard that they have a big announcement. You don’t want to miss it.」(Shougo)
「A big announcement, huh? Some game feature updates or something like that?」(Shuu)
「Could be. I only heard it from the forum, so I don’t know exactly what it is. Anyway, let’s watch it together.」(Shougo)
On Shougo’s suggestion, we opened our UI altogether.
While still lying down with my head on Rin’s lap, I opened the in-game browser and accessed Mytube.
By the way, not only can you access the in-game forum, but you can also access websites from the in-game browser, including Mytube.
I got to the NWO’s official Mytube channel and opened the ‘live video’.
『Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a pleasure to meet you all again. I feel blessed to be able to deliver this livestream to you for the second time. I’m Shinji Todo, the president of Avenir, the game development company of Nostalgia World Online.』
I remember this person very well.
The first livestream before the game’s launching has gone viral. I wonder what news he has this time.
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