Chapter 1-22 : Sudden Celebrity (part 1)
The next day, after returning home from college, I finished my assignments, did some chores, took a bath, put my VR headgear on, and then logged into the game.
As soon as I spawned in the port town, Haven, I opened my ‘Friends’ window to check if Ruka was online. Her name was in bright white font, and I could see a green dot icon next to it, meaning that she was currently online.
I sent a private message to her saying, “Ruka, I’m in. Let’s meet by the entrance to the port town.” She then replied right away with a thumbs-up emoji.
After waiting by the gate for a few minutes, I saw her approaching from the direction of the forest.
「Good morning, Alice.」(Ruka)
「Good morning. Well, it’s morning here but it’s already evening on the other side, you know?」(Alice)
「I see. It’s already dark, huh? It’s almost been a day here since I logged in.」(Ruka)
「Almost been a day in-game time means you have at least played for seven hours, right? Don’t you have any assignments from your campus?」(Alice)
「I’ve finished them all before I slept last night.」(Ruka)
Before she slept…? Don’t tell me…
「Ruka… Did you sleep properly?」(Alice)
「Eh? O, of course, of course…」(Ruka)
She averted her gaze.
Suspicious…
「How long did you sleep last night?」(Alice)
「Umm… About… two hours, maybe?」(Ruka)
I knew it…
I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
「Well, I sometimes stay up late too, so I’m not the one to talk, but… weren’t we just talking about having a proper break yesterday?」(Alice)
「But, I slept here for a while after that.」(Ruka)
「I told you sleeping in-game doesn’t count as a proper break.」(Alice)
「I’m sorry, Mom…」(Ruka)
「I’m not your mom…」(Alice)
I start to worry about her health if she keeps living like this.
「But, look. I had been gathering fiber materials in the forest, and now I have enough to make new armor for us both.」(Ruka)
「That’s… Uhh, I don’t know if I should be happy or not, but… Good job, Ruka. I’ll buy them from you then. How much?」(Alice)
「No, you don’t have to pay. In exchange, treat me to some delicious food someday. You know a lot about food in this game, right?」(Ruka)
「Fufu. Alright then. Anyway, we have the materials, so… Shall we go make new armor now?」(Alice)
「Un.」(Ruka)
Thanks to Ruka, I can make my new armor sooner than planned.
Our destination is obvious; Lynette’s armor shop.
From the front gate, we walked to the portal in the center of the port town and teleported to Erst Town.
The scenery changed in a blink of an eye and it felt weird. However, I have to get used to it if I want to keep playing this game.
We walked down the main street toward the destination as soon as we arrived at Erst Town.
Just as we started walking, I felt gazes from the surrounding players.
I don’t know why but some players, mostly male ones, are looking at us for some reason.
Noticing their gazes, Ruka grabbed my arm and hid behind me as we walked. A shy girl like her can’t stand being stared at by other people. I can understand.
「Alice, why are they looking at us…?」(Ruka)
「I have no idea…」(Alice)
This is weird… Did I do something that attracted people’s attention?
I made a little bit of an impact in the raid a few days ago, and Eclair-san even invited me to join their guild clan, but there were many other players who were stronger than me back then.
Is it because the monsters I killed remained on the field? But, it was obviously a special skill. The members of the third squad I was in realized that too and didn’t even bother.
Many players have special skills, and some of them are overpowered. For example, the leader of The Silver Wing Brigade’s stun skill.
Compared to his special skill that could stun that powerful wolf boss monster, my【Hunter】Skill was nothing. Most players don’t even want this skill because no one wants to skin the corpses of the monsters they kill manually by hand.
I doubt my special skill was the reason…
Hold on… Most of the players staring at us are males… Could it be…
I think I’m misunderstanding something here. They’re not looking at us, but they’re looking only at Ruka!
That’s right! Ruka is super cute! She’s like a small animal who makes everyone looking at her want to protect her.
There’s no doubt about it. The one attracting people’s attention is not me, but Ruka!
「Say, Ruka, do you often get talked to by male players?」(Alice)
「Umm, sometimes… But, I always run away because I’m too scared to talk with them…」(Ruka)
「I think I can understand.」(Alice)
I knew it! Ruka’s cuteness is a strong magnet for male players!
「Alice, do you remember there was a male player sitting facing us in the carriage the other day? The reason why I sat next to you was because he scared me… You seemed like the most reliable person in the carriage, so…」(Ruka)
「I see.」(Alice)
「But… thanks to that scary person, I got to know you and we became good friends…」(Ruka)
Saying that, she glanced upward at me shyly with her face blushed.
Aaaahh~! What an adorable girl! I wish I could take her home!
I have to protect her at any cost! I can’t forgive these people for scaring her!
「Ruka, the shop is not far from here. Let’s run!」(Alice)
「U, un!」(Ruka)
I grabbed Ruka’s hand and then we ran toward Lynette’s shop.
The people staring at us looked surprised that we suddenly ran, but when I glanced back to check, none of them were chasing after us.
When we got to the shop, I entered the building with Ruka and closed the door right away.
「Phew… Hm? Wh, what’s going on here!?」(Alice)
However, I was surprised because the first thing I saw when I entered the shop was Lynette crying while kneeling on the floor facing Rin, Leone, and Kururu who were glaring angrily at her.
「Ara, Alice, welcome~ Please, don’t mind us.」(Rin)
「Fufu~ We’re just scolding this idiot cat girl. Alice-chan, can you please wait for a minute~?」(Leone)
「Alice-san, I hope you won’t stop us because we’re going to teach this empty-headed idiot a lesson!」(Kururu)
「Hwaaaaa! I’m sorry-nyaa!! I promise I won’t do it again-nyaa!!」(Lynette)
「Reeeeaally?」(Rin)
「Hmm~ I highly doubt it~」(Leone)
「Seems like she needs to experience ‘hell’ first before she genuinely regrets what she did. *grin*」(Kururu)
「Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyyー!!」(Lynette)
「…..」(Alice)
I’m confused…
While I was watching them with a puzzled face, I noticed three other familiar people in the shop watching them too.
「Girls are so scary when they’re angry…」(Shougo)
「Yeah. We need to be careful not to make them angry… Poor Lynette-chan…」(Shuu)
「No need to pity her. She’s in the wrong.」(Gaul)
「Shougo, Shuu-san, Gaul-san.」(Alice)
「Yo, Alice.」(Shougo)
「Alice-chan, it’s been a while~!」(Shuu)
Noticing me approaching them, Shougo, Shuu, And Gaul greeted me. Only Gaul greeted me with a silent nod. He doesn’t talk much as always.
「So, what in the world is happening here?」(Alice)
「Wait. You’re the victim, but you don’t know what’s going on?」(Shougo)
「The victim? Me…?」(Alice)
What is he talking about?
Does that mean that I’m the reason why they’re scolding Lynette?
But… What have I done…? No, what she had done to me…?
I became even more confused…
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