I was sitting on a table in the tavern of the Sleeping Rose.
PinkyKitty was just in front of me and there was quite an awkward silence.
A voice broke that silence:
-So, why did you call me?
Oh! The super badass guy is here!
-Hey OneStokeOn-...Um... OneStrokeOneSeoul-...Um.... OneStrokeOneSoul!
-Hey.
Cold as usual, I see. It's a good thing for me that he does not seem to care about my pronunciation problems.
After saying hi, I invited him to sit at our table.
He sat just aside PinkyKitty, and if it was possible, her face somehow became even redder than before. It was more out of timidity than anything else than her head was so low that it entered her chest.
I barely had time to know her, yet I feel her education must be either severely lacking or severely flawed when it comes to the opposite sex.
I was about to start talking when I had a terrifying sight: she was gripping tightly at her magic staff, and it was starting to glow red.
So I did what I could, and tried to defuse the situation.
-PinkyKitty, you can come on my side if you are uneasy there.
However, it's too late when I notice I could've said to her to take one of the other sides of the table. How will I be able to stop myself from patting her head now?
Abort them mission! Abort the mission!
It was too late to abort, though. I panicked, I wasn't prepared for that, and now only did I notice my mistake.
What kind of group are we, by the way? I am not great with women, OneStrokeOneSoul could as well be xxXDarkSasuke, and PinkyKitty is the reactive kind of timid. With us three, the mood is close to absolute zero.
I might need to consider find a 4th member early. We need someone who can handle our terrible group sinergy.
But well.
While I was thinking, she sat on my side.
She was now gripping tightly my arm as if it was her staff while throwing timid looks at OneStroke (I decided to reduce his name as such, for it is more convenient for me to say without making a mistake).
This was so cute I wanted to pat her head, but I knew that if I did, it might actually break the feeble trust I built with her.
Resist… Resist… Resist…
You can always count on OneStroke to break the silence. Though not in a good way, this time:
-If you're here to show off your seducing skills, I am convinced. Now, can I leave?
You idiot! I am no death seeker!
-No! No! That's not what you think at all!
I reacted too late, the gentle feeling on my right arm disappeared as I felt the warmth of the sun at noon.
If someone told me I would feel the sun before leaving the tavern, I wouldn't have believed them. Yet here I was, with a gigantic fireball, like a literal sun, forming above me.
The tavern was forcefully made open-air as hundreds mana points quickly joined the fireball.
-Pinky! Pinky! It's a misunderstanding! Pinky!
Right as I was saying that, I looked down to check on OneStroke.
Fuck! Too late!
-OneStroke! It's not time to look for death!
A black aura was gathering around his sword.
FUCK IT!
-Pinky! OneStroke! Come on stop that!
I could say I didn't want them to fight, but what I actually didn't want was for two people with unique classes to clash right aside me.
Not only would I die, but once the tipping point is reached, they are also likely to refuse to work together.
There are some great things about the realistic experience of fulldive, but there are also a lot of bad points, including the tendency for people to treat social relationships way too seriously. It means that a beef is a true beef, and can't be forgotten easily. When they have a body, people forget to distance themselves from their characters.
[...]
[OneStrokeOneSoul]
I was enchanting my sword when he kept insisting it was a misunderstanding.
Not only can I not confirm if he's right, but I also can't trust someone who goes berserk so easily to stop at a critical juncture.
Let's slash her.
-OneStroke! It's not the time to look for death!
Or so he says. Even if it's dangerous, better slash than doing nothing.
Let's slash.
The skill is in its starting animation. Active skills have animations that come with it. What's annoying with them is that they take control partially or completely over your body. There exists ways to disable this, and to trigger skills manually, though the execution of the movement, but while it is easy for those that are humanly possible, when it comes to thing you can't do with a normal human body, it is truly hard to master. The stylized swordsmanship in rpg is such a thing that is not humanly possible.
One advantage of learning to execute the skills themselves, though, is that you can get rid of starting animations. The strongest skills have the longest starting animations, which is why, right now, I have a good length of time to think.
-Pinky! OneStroke! Come on stop that!
He's technically the leader, so I should listen to him and take his opinion into account…
But I want to slash...
Let's imagine he's right, what should I do?
Hmm...
Then, let's do that!
I cancel the skill and open my mouth.
-If you lied, I'll slash you.
Simple, direct.
[...]
[PinkyKitty]
-If you're here to show off your seducing skills, I am convinced. Now, can I leave?
Huh?
Since young, I've always drowned negative emotions with violence.
So what about the embarrassment I'm feeling right now?
I'll drown it.
-No! No! That's not what you think at all!
Die… Die… Die… Die… Die…
Die!
-Pinky! Pinky! It's a misunderstanding! Pinky!
Are you trying to save him? THEN YOU'LL DIE TOO!
-OneStroke! It's not the time to look for death!
ALL OF YOU DIE!
-Pinky! OneStroke! Come on stop that!
He… He said my name first!
I hurriedly cancel the fireball and the flight spell and hug him with all my strength.
-I…
I am sorry…
I say in my mind.
-And...
I whisper in his ears:
-I love you.
[...]
This is troublesome, can I pretend this never happened?
And what about the game, how did it detect such a thing as love? Is it from the words, or does it detect feelings somehow? Or maybe from a combination of heartrate and actions?
Urgh!
I'll think about that later, right now I need to survive to this hug first!
Gotta think about a way to have her stop hugging me…
Wait… That squishy feeling.... I watched enough h... er, animes to guess that I absolutely musn't let her notice it! If she does, it'll not only cement her feelings, but I'll get months of timidity and hesitation and I won't get to see, even less touch, boobs again!
I wonder though, I didn't think about it until now but I look like a middle-aged man. Does that mean she is actually into father figures? Wait wait wait, I'll stop there, it's dangerous terrain. Let's do something about the current situation first!
So I took my decision!
If I can't get her to stop hugging me, I just need to make sure she doesn't notice the direct access I have to her boobs!
-Hop!
I go to sit back at the table while carrying her.
I guess I won't breath for a while, but I shouldn't lose health. It doesn't seem to count as an attack.
Good.
I invite OneStroke to sit.
-Now let's talk about the name of the party!
Parties being temporary and having to be reformed everytime someone disconnects does not mean you musn't give it a name!
[...]
-I tell you the three musketeers is the best!
He insists, but I won't change my view!
-No! Yellow Rice is better!
-It isn't! The three musketeers is a cultural reference! It is perfect for a three man, em, people team!
A plumpy old man interrupts our conversation.
-Dear customer-
-Shut up! Don't you see I'm talking?
-Shut up! Don't you see I'm talking?
We both say at the same time.
-No! I AM talking! Not you!
-No! I AM talking! Not you!
Oh, you…
-Stop copying me!
-Stop copying me!
I notice at that moment that Pinky is still hugging me. We forgot her in the agitation of the moment, and it seems she fell asleep. I do wonder what age she has behind her character now. Does it means I should consider her as a daughter to protect? No matter what, it seems like I have no choice:
-Shh…
I ask for silence.
-Do you think I'll shut up because you told me to? Oh… I won then, so that's the three musketeers.
One understood midsentence when I pointed at Pinky, and lowered his tone. I more or less gave up because I wanted that meeting to be short, and avoid waking up Pinky. As I don't know her age, you never know if she would be a pain when woken up.
I do wonder though why she disabled the auto log-off. For a female player, it can be a security of sort, to ensure you don't fall asleep in-game when over 90% of the players are straight males.
Anyway, as for the other person that joined the conversation close to the end:
-Dear customers, we are closing soon. Here is your bill, with the damages and interests of the destruction of property included.
The good thing about player-managed businesses is that you can always negotiate.
-You'll get two things: a screen and an advice. But you won't be asking for any money after seeing it.
I hurriedly send him the screen to keep my dramatic effect. If I want to look good, I need to not leave him any time to react. That kind of badass thing only works without a minute of silence.
He receives it.
Then, I whisper in his ears:
-My advice: do NOT wake her up.
As expected, his face is white and all his limbs are trembling.
I mean, technically, this is a lie, because she probably wouldn't want to use that Defban skill.
Also, it's likely that if used, after any banned player makes a ticket and complain to the game company, it would end up with her banned, her character deleted and her sister fired.
-Now give me a room.
He hurriedly rushed to the npcs who are already fixing the inn.
He seemed to say something to them.
From how the inn was fixed within the minute, I can guess he used microtransactions to get some premium boosts.
Faster construction, premium money, loans, faster travels… All kind of things the game company makes money with.
They sell the console, then sell the game, and then services that are supposedly not affecting the game balance.
But anyone could tell that anything that isn't cosmetic must in some way affect the game balance.
Being able to travel anywhere fast could allow you to escape ambushes from PK players. You could also get quicker to some unique quests or events. That means you grow in power faster than others for the same invested time. From this, it seems obvious why the elites of the top guilds are all regular customers of the premium shop.
And it's the same for construction boost. You can't directly buy in-game currency with real-life money, but by a twist of fate, you can indirectly do it through building.
Property exchange is possible. If you build a market 1 month faster than others, if you build an inn in a few hours or even sell your building services to others… You just need a bit of luck to kickstart the business, then your reputation does the rest.
So it is safe to assume there are many more methods of indirectly generating in-game currency with premium services.
Because it was made so useful, you can buy everything with in-game currency so long as you have the money for it. You can even get players to let themselves be killed by you. So it could be said that in-game currency can be, even for non-pvp players, a way to safely pvp your way through levels.
The fact that premium services let you generate in-game currency, or at least optimize your earnings, with minimal effort is significant.
However, in this game, the premium is advantaged. But not unbeatable. It still all comes down to strength. The premium may be able to level up faster, but that also means they had less time to get used to their level. So at an equal level, a premium player may be worse than a non-premium player.
Still, there aren't that many whales, so affording premium advantages could also be the sign of an important dedication to the game. Some solo players and the top guilds' elite are good examples of premium players that are also great players above the norm.
Hmm… Seems like things became quite serious in my thoughts… Let's go back to more happy subjects.
I still held her and she didn't wake up!
Ha ha ha!
-See you tomorrow, I'm quite tired.
Oh, seems like OneStroke was leaving.
-Okay, see you!
Well, I have to say, today, I'll exceptionally sleep in-game!
I may have complained I couldn't breath and what-not, but in the end, having Pinky hugging you does not feel so bad, once you get used to it.
[...]
[PinkyKitty]
I don't know myself why I kept acting as if I was sleeping.
But it really felt warm…
He was holding me firmly and I quite liked that feeling.
I could almost really fall asleep if I didn't feel him taking advantage of the situation to grope my breasts.
But…
I guess that if it's him, like… It's not as if I liked him, but maybe it's a bit fine.
I just don't want to move, that's all!
I am just too lazy to move!
Yeah, yeah it's that!
It's not like I love him, baaakaaa!
[...]
-Such a good night!
-I-It-It's not like I lo-
I stop myself, hoping he didn't hear what I just said.
-What did you say?
Oooh, he's so perfect! Always meeting my expectations!
No! No! I don't like him!-
-NO!
I slap my face hard to clear my messy thoughts.
-Eh?
That's because of this night, how impotent can you be that you can't even take advantage of sleeping with a girl at night!
-Forget about it.
I would just die of embarrassment if I actually said what I thought. I already am half dying inside already.
-Okay, anyway, I slept really well, and you?
I don't know what kind of dream you had, but you groped me in your sleep! I couldn't sleep!
-Ye-Yes, me too…
-Sleeping in-game is really not bad, wanna do it again tomorrow?
No! No! Say no!
Offering to sleep with a girl, what are you thinking?
-Yeah, why not.
Idiot! Why did I agree?
-Anyway, I'll go to work, we'll meet up this evening at the same inn than yesterday.
-Okay.
Why? Why am I so stupid? Why, me?
[...]
-Hey everyone!
I just joined everyone, it seems like I was the last one to arrive. Are they all NEETs? Am I the only one working here?
-H-Hi...
-Yo.
-So anyway, I'm going to create the party this evening. As for the name… We'll take mine!
-Oh no… Not that yellow rice thing.
-No, that's your idea, Stroke, mine is The Three Musketeers!
-... Are you actually stealing my idea and saying it's yours?
-Not at all. Anyway, let's go for a walk.
He is left speechless before my greatness.
Oh, it rhymes.
-W-We should stay at the inn, it's quite cold outside. The wind is freezing…
-What are you saying, we're in the middle of sum-
I opened the door, it is snowing outside. I felt the shilling wind, and instantly closed it.
-Fuck, is this an event?
When I came, the weather was sunny! It was not even a minute ago!
-No, I heard that advanced weather is planned, but not implemented. So for now, the season changes are quite brutal in the game. Also, the game counts weeks as seasons, so it's just bad timing…
-Oh, okay. *cough* From what I managed to get through my own thinking, the weather is cold, so we should stay inside.
-Great… You really are stealing everything other says. Kitty, can't you say anything?
-So awesome! How did he manage to know that?
That's my Pinky, I can always count on you!
[...]
[OneStrokeOneSoul]
Fuck, her memory is even more fucked up than mine!
How come she forgot she just said the weather was cold a few seconds ago?
Is this what you call blind trust?
She just trusts more what he says than her own self?
What life choices did I make to get to this moment?
I'd like to be able to slash these choices...
[...]
-Okay, so let's go for the Three Musketeers!
I'm going to register it!
One inconvenient thing is that once it's done, we cannot change the name for the next six months unless we use some premium item, which translates directly into irl money, so it's out of the question.
-It's almost done! Gonna press confirm.
[...]
-Okay, so let's go for the Three Musketeers!
Oh, that name sounds so good, he is really too awesome!
-It's almost done! Gonna press confirm.
Oh, such a sense of suspense, he is a godly being even among gods!
[...]
-Okay, so let's go for the Three Musketeers!
I know, it's not as if you stole it from me…
-It's almost done! Gonna press confirm.
Can't you just fucking click on it???
[...]
My finger was about to reach confirm and…
-Are you the one?
I was interrupted.
-The one?
-Yes, the one researched everywhere by the #1 guild. The one who had the bad luck to pick a legendary weapon not even adapted to his class, and still survived the chase.
-No, sorry, you must have confused me with someone else, if you talk about ImperialShadow, he went this way.
I pointed to the exit.
-Oh, my bad. I have to go!
I sighed of relief.
This one was really dumb. For once, I was happy because of someone idiocy... My username was just above my head... It's small, yes, but as I wasn't moving much, he had a lot of time to read it!
-Or so you thought I would say!
Aaaah!
Fuck, that guy is creepy! I almost shouted out.
He just went back when I was turning my back to the entrance.
Fuck it!
-So, I just proved I am a better assassin than you are a ninja. Can I join your party?
-Eeehhh, sneaking behind me doesn't prove anything! And anyway, there's a problem that stops us from taking you in.
-Which one?
This was an easy question to answer.
-We're the Three Musketeers, so we can't take a fourth member.
The man in front of me pauses for a few seconds, then asks:
-Even if he's called D'Artagnan?
-Even if he's called D'Artagnan.
Do you think I would not see you just fucking changed you username before asking? Did you think that because you had money you could trick me?