*Let's see... Cinnamon Buns, Cinnamon Ariosha... Hell, I could eat a raw cinnamon stick at this point. But that might not be a good idea.*
Jisha was sitting at a booth, ordering copious amounts of food to stock up on consumables for her journey. At this point in the game, it was impossible for normal players to even think about heading to another location, but Jisha was almost ready.
The natural rate of HP recovery in the wild was slow. As of now, Safe Zones were the only feasible place to recover quickly, and there wouldn't be one for a while where Jisha was headed.
*That's right! They're consumables for recovery! I'm not addicted to cinnamon sweets!*
She justified these sweet purchases in her mind, but she knew deep down how dangerous these types of addictions could be.
Synergy wasn't real life, yet it didn't feel far off from it. As technology advanced, sensations would become more and more realistic. In the far future, it may even be possible for virtual worlds to feel "more real" than the real one.
In a way, virtual worlds could discard the negative aspects of reality while only keeping the positive ones. For example, you could eat as many sweets as you wanted in Synergy without consuming an excessive amount of calories. And since nothing physical was affected, every bite tasted like the first.
Sweets were innocent, but what about other highly addictive pleasures, like sex or hard drugs?
Sure, nothing was physically addictive, but psychologically, it was a whole different story.
Jisha looked at the massive Cinnamon Bun she was holding as if it represented the sins of mankind.
It was bigger than both of her hands.
*The developers of this game... Are pretty sadistic.*
Jisha took a massive bite out of the Cinnamon Bun.
As she contemplated the future of morality, she noticed three players enter the building. They, along with a fourth that was already inside, blocked her escape from the booth.
*Two blonde, two black-haired. I wonder what business they have with me?*
She pulled down the hood of her Nightwalker so they could recognize her face.
Of course, Jisha recognized them as the "Asunder" players that attempted to block her from entering the restaurant.
The blonde girl, Ivonna, spoke up before Jisha could even say anything.
"So it *is* you. What org are you a part of?"
"... None."
"Really? Then join our group."
*Huh?*
Jisha was surprised at first, but it was obvious once she thought about it. Anyone would want to recruit a highly skilled player to their Guild or org. It was no different from what Jisha herself was doing with the Sun Dragons.
"Sorry, I'll have to decline."
This was probably the first of many recruitment offers she was going to receive, so she would have to get used to saying this.
"Then we'll force you to join!"
The blonde guy, Yaele, was clearly dissatisfied with her response.
"You... Are you guys a bunch of idiots?"
"What did you just say?"
Jisha was even more surprised at Yaele's response.
"Give me 3 good reasons I should join."
"Uh..."
"You're hot?"
Yaele hesitated, but the black-haired guy, XiNalaSlave77, said something extremely unexpected. Of course, this resulted in a slap from the black-haired girl named Muyonnu.
"Are you jealous she's prettier than you?"
Jisha smacked her face with her palm.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, but that's not the point here. What's in it for me? Why should I join you guys instead of staying as I am now??"
*What am I doing with these guys... No wonder I haven't heard of Asunder. They're hopeless.*
Jisha inadvertently ended up teaching these newbie players recruitment 101.
"Hmmm... What's in it for you? If you don't join, we'll hunt you down forever!" Yaele adamantly said.
"... How?"
"We know your name from the recording of your fight in the War Zone. That'll easily be enough to track you down."
"Really, now? I wonder about that. Don't you see this convenient item that hides my name and face?"
"So what? All we have to do is find an item that can appraise you anyway. You won't be able to hide forever."
"Is that so? If that's all, then have a nice day."
Jisha shook her head as she took another bite out of the Cinnamon Bun.
Their line of thinking wasn't entirely inaccurate. Items that solely hid name and level were extremely common, but so were ones that were able to break through these disguises. However, only Rexian's Eyes, another legendary NPC's item, could see through Shahar's Nightwalker. In addition, Synergy was a massive world. It was fairly easy to run off and hide somewhere if you weren't tied to a location for various reasons.
"... Hey, are you really ignoring us? It won't end well for you if you do. Just agree to our terms, and you will receive opportunities that come with being a member of the Asunder organization," Muyonnu said kindly.
*This sounds like a marketing scam.*
"Playing good cop? Unfortunately, you guys don't even have terms I can agree with. Sorry, but I'm leaving. You've spoiled my delicious Cinnamon Bun."
Jisha effortlessly snuck by their pitiful attempt of a blockade and left the Eatery.
---
"... Are you stupid?"
"No, are you?"
Muyonnu couldn't help but bury her head in her hands after witnessing Ivonna and Yaele quarrel once again.
"... Stein's gonna kill us," she worriedly said.
*>XiNalaSlave77: Yo Stein, the hottie got away again. She declined our offer~*
"WHAAAAAAAT ARE YOU DOING???"
Yaele immediately tackled Xi after seeing the snitching message. A Safe Zone meant that no damage could be taken, but it didn't mean that tackling another player wasn't allowed.
*>Stein: Are you kidding? I'll assemble troops to find her myself. Keep an eye on where she's headed and report back to me. How's the situation in Uval?*
*>Muyonnu: It's relatively peaceful. It doesn't look like any other organization is trying to claim this hamlet. Fae Sol is our only obstacle. She keeps avoiding us, and she said she wasn't from any org.*
*>Stein: And you believe that? Regardless of whether she's lying, it doesn't look like she has any conflict of interest with us. Like I said, just report her whereabouts to me and I'll deal with her sooner or later.*
*>Muyonnu: ... Roger that.*
"Wow, he really went easy on us, huh? He must have had a change of heart after reviewing that battle footage."
Ivonna sighed in relief after seeing the org leader's lenient messages.
"Right? He's not normally like that... Maybe she'll be a worthy opponent for Stein and his crew?" Muyonnu questioned.
"Nah, there's no way. She's good, but there's no way she can beat all of them at once. You know how good they are at pretty much all VR games," Ivonna refuted.
"Nooooo! My queen Fae Sol will reign supreme!" Xi wheezed from a chokehold on the floor.
"Come on, you two. We need to find her so we can report on her position to Stein."
"Oh, yeah."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Though the reason each obeyed differed, Yaele and Xi snapped to attention when Stein's name was uttered by Ivonna.