I and Gothra had come up with a concrete and coherent plan of action, so we were now on our way back to the village to buy and get what we need for it.
But...
"Hey doesn't that man look familiar?"
"Yeah! It's gun bear!"
"But it doesn't seem like he's even a player?"
"An NPC then?"
"No, no. He's a summon!"
"What!? Where'd anyone even get that on the first day?!"
"Idiot! It's a unique skill! Is yours forgetfulness and stupidity!? I already told you earlier!"
"Okay... No need to be so mean about it!"
"Shut up, you're both stupid! I think that girl is the summoner!"
"Ohhhh! I remember her! She was laughing maniacally! Really leaning into that roleplay."
"Yeah, yeah! We should do that too! I could be like your cute futanari wife!"
"...What?"
"Nothing! Look, gun girlll!!!"
Oh shit. People remember them. Well, it is weird, especially for the first day.
I look over at Gothra and her gaze was wandering around all over the place..
"Eh? Guns? Where!? Someone has guns already!?"
"They're talking about you, idiot!"
Chop!
"Ouch!" She cried rubbing the top of her head, "Bereo, make like a big bump appear on my head like they do in anime!"
"That would be a breach of the game's laws."
"Eh, no one's really losing out of it!!"
"Hey, Gothra...! You've really made a name for yourself now."
"Hm, what? You jealous or something? Maybe you should've gotten the envy unique skill instead, bwahahahaha!"
"What- I'm not! I wouldn't wanna draw that much attention anyway!"
"Hehehe..." she put her hands over her mouth like a typical villainess! "But you would like attention, just not THAT much??"
"No. Sheesh, stop being stupid, and let's go."
"Hey, everyone! This is my duo, Fira, the sin of Envy and he would also like you to notice--!"
"Wahhh!! Idiot!" I covered her mouth and dragged her away from the busy scene.
"No...tic...sen...pai...Firaaa!!!"
"Ah, sorry about that, people..." I muttered under my breath, finally letting Gothra go when we were out of sight.
"What was that for? I was helping your popularity!"
"No thanks!"
...
"Okay, sorry sorry," she said raising her hands, "So we're buying shit?"
"Yeah... but you stand out too much!"
"O...kay?"
"Eh?"
"Well, what? What about it?"
"Well... I mean you attract a lot of attention..."
"Uh-huh..."
"Isn't it embarrassing?"
"Maybe? I don't know, I don't really care."
"You don't!?"
"Nope."
...
Okay, yea, that makes sense.
"Well, if you really don't wanna go then we can buy our equipment separately..."
"Ah, eh, no!" I have to admit, she's really fun and... I wanna enjoy this game with her. Been a while since I did an MMO, and as much as I wasn't sure what to expect, I'm already having so much fun without even having started on the actual game yet. "Sorry, I guess I was just a bit anxious. Too many people, too many stares. It's stupid but I haven't gone out in a long time or anything, though maybe I've always been like this..."
"Oh... no, no. It's my fault. Sorry, really. I didn't expect you to be kinda shy, honestly, because you seemed so outgoing to me. I mean we were shouting and hollering earlier, like at the big fountain, and I'm pretty sure we were attracting a lot of stares already even before the guns came out."
...
Wait, is she right?
No, that does make sense...
We were... really loud.
"Gah! You're right! I'm an idiot! I didn't realize at all!"
"Hahaha! Yes, you are! Bahahaha!" She laughed triumphantly, but then tapped my shoulder with her hands, "But well, don't feel too down over it. I've had my own series of failures with... well, you know. People. So don't worry about it!"
"Hmm, yeah, I figured as much," I said with a smug.
"Geh! No, no, I take it all back! You're an idiot! A big dummy dumb dumb!" She hit my shoulders with her hands, like that childish tantrum you often see in anime.
"Hahaha! Relax, I'm kidding."
"Yeah, hahaha!" She calmed down and did some stretches. Not that these avatar bodies need any of that. Nor our real bodies for that matter.
"What, you about to run a marathon?"
"You bet! But seriously, let's go? I'll try to uhh... not attract attention?" She said, offering me her hand.
"Nah, it's already done. People... remember your face I guess? I mean long black hair twin tails... is that enough for people to recognize you immediately though? Doesn't seem so uncommon to me?"
"I don't know, it's probably Bereo. and I don't really wanna hide him... So let's just go! There is blood waiting yet to be spilled!!" She extended her hand out to me.
"Alright, alright." I said giving up and taking her hand, standing back up. People will probably forget about her anyways as the days pass, it was just a funny event that happened on the game's first day, where people were just getting to know the world. Right?
She pulled me along and we ran across the beautifully decorated streets... Until she realized that we weren't getting to the weapon's store.
"Ah where..."
"Eh, what's this, you lost? Fufu, what are you a kid?" I actually noticed midway through, but didn't say anything! Hahaha! All for this moment!
"What- no! You also just got here, not like you know the place inside out!!"
"Well yea, but we can use the minimap."
"Oh... yeah... I also do use the minimaps in other games, I'm not very good with directions... It's cause' you distracted me! Idiot!"
"Hahaha! Tantrum tantrum! Lost kid over here folks!"
"I am not a lost kid!" She pouted like a brat, just before she couldn't hold her own laughter anymore. "Hahahaha...!"
"You noticed earlier didn't you...?" She asked with a sharp glare.
"Eh? Notice what?" I averted my gaze and played dumb!
"Sigh... Well, let's go." She's now looking at her minimap, hahaha.
We walked back to the starter fountain and then past that until we finally reached the weapon shop. There was only one in this town for now, NPC run.
We looked over the choices as I pondered my weapon of choise. I think I want to be like a berserker type Juggernaut, so I don't think I'll need the shield, and maybe instead dual-wield some axes?
Gothra had already bought hers, a mace, the round ball kind filled with spikes, and she's now adjusting her status.
"Oh hey, there is a strength requirement for stuff, except for staves and the like, but the starting 5 strength stat is actually enough to equip this. I'll focus on speed and HP for now then."
She ended up with 10 points towards speed, and then another 5 points into her HP. HP adds 5 points for every stat point you use. Same goes for MP, and at a base level they regenerate by 0.5% every second.
I also began to think about my own spread. The normal stat points for every level is 10, but Gothra gets an extra 5 because of her unique skill, and I get double!
"I got better abilities, you know!" She said when I bragged.
"I don't know about that! Growth boosters are OP."
"I basically get double stats with my Bereo on top of my own boost."
"Heh, well... Shit you're right."
"Hehehe, feel fear! Fear me!!"
"Eh, my unique skill is better for skilled players. You just rely on your broken build!"
"Eh? No, I don't! In fact, it's your unique skill that carries you like a baby! Players with great reaction times can do that on their own!"
She's... right! The more I suck, the more useful the skill is, at least the second one, [System Algorithm]. The third one is probably useful regardless. Seeing things in slowmotion would be really nice.
"Anyway, I'll take this hammer please," I said as I pressed some menu buttons.
"Hey don't change the subject! You don't even need to talk to the NPCs!"
"Tsk, tsk. Don't be rude Gothra. What did your parents teach you, hmm?"
"I, well... not much... hahaha."
...
Shit. I shouldn't have brought that up, huh?
"Uhh, sorry, Gothra..."
"No, no, it's fine! Nothing too bad will ever happen anyway, what with The System and all. They can't hurt me even if they wanted to!"
"Oh... yeah, you're right. But still."
"Right, right! Anyway, do your stat points, and let's move on! We gotta do some quests as well."
"Okay, alright. You got anything in mind?"
"Nope."
"..."
"Wait! Don't look at me like that! Yet! I don't know of anything specific, but I'm sure there are generic ones we can grab that would reward us for things we'll do anyway. That way more profit, for zero extra effort."
"Ah! Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense."
"Eh, what was that? All hail Gothra-sama?"
"Yes! Bombard her with ice!"
"..."
"...You don't... get it? 'Cause hail... as in... the ice rain..."
She tapped my shoulder as if out of pity. "Yes, what a clever idea, Fira boy. Gold star!"
"Wahhhhh!!!" I pretend to cry and she just laughed at me, even rolling on the floor.
Oi! It's not that funny!
Man, why didn't I play MMOs for a long time if they're this fun?
...
We ran outside the weapon store and looked around.
"There, over there!" I said, pointing at a lady standing by the roadside with a [!] mark right above her head.
We ran towards her as she just stared at us blankly.
"Wait!" Gothra suddenly grabbed my shirt and pulled me back.
"What?"
"Don't be fooled by her innocent appearance..."
"Huh?"
"Can't you see? That stare that pierces right into your soul, as if it is an endless abyss... I see, so that's how it is..." She suddenly took out her mace as she muttered those words and struck the NPC with it!
"What are you even doing!?" I really thought it was just a bit!
"I'm just kidding!" She laughed, after she already swung her weapon, "I was just messin with ya, and confirming that the NPCs are also the gods of this game."
"Gods?"
"Yeah, they're indestructible, invulnerable, immortal. What are they if not gods?"
"...Wow, that's kinda deep."
"Yeah, right?"
"Yes! Deep up your ass!"
...
"Pervert."
"What? No! I didn't mean it that way!"
"You just said it was deep up my ass!"
"Well, don't make it weird! I mean deep up your ass... in a platonic way!"
...
"Hahahahaha!" She laughed, "Okay sure. And you fuck Ciraphim in the most platonic of positions."
"Hahaha yeah... Wait, NO!"
"Gahahaha! So you finally admit it! Fira the system fucker!"
"What!? You're the one who fucks Bereo you fucking furry!"
"Heh, proof? Where's your proof? Unlike you, I would never admit it!"
...
"You just did-"
"No."
...
"Furry."
"Isn't fucking robots kind of similar to being a furry though?"
"The System is technically a program, basically a robot, so you also do that."
"Eh 'also'? So you really do admit it!"
...
"We're getting nowhere with this. Truce?" I asked, extending my hand for a handshake.
Gothra shook it and nodded. "Yeah hahahaha! It was just funny. Probably everyone does it anyway."
"Ehhhh, I wouldn't say 'everyone' but a lot definitely."
"Yeah, yeah. I think it's like the vast majority at this point."
"Eh, well about those resistance fuckers?"
"Eh... They probably do it more than you think."
"Eh, what? Why? Some psychology thing? Like... a hate fuck?"
"Yeah, that! Anyway, let's go get the quests!"
"Oh, alright." I said following behind her and reaching the quest lady.
_______________________________________________
[Available Quests]
[Goblin Murder]
[Kill 10 goblins] [500 exp | 500 gold]
[Goblin Homicide]
[Kill 100 goblins] [7500 exp | 7500 gold]
[Goblin Massacre]
[Kill 1000 goblins] [100000 exp | 100000 gold]
[Goblin Genocide]
[Kill 10000 goblins] [300000 exp | 300000 gold]
___________________________________________
"Oh wow..." I muttered after taking a look at the quests, "She must really hate goblins."
"Yeah, those little green rapists."
"...What?"
"You know, like in that one anime?"
"Oh yeah, I know that. But maybe they're the civilized kind like in that other anime where they just build towns and do normal people things."
"Well, don't say that! Now we'll feel bad killing them!"
"Gah! You're right! Little green rapists it is!"
"Yeah! Let's go for the genocide!"
"Alright, let's take all the quests!"
And like that, we now had 4 active quests.
"There should be more like this," I said, "Like for all the common monster encounters."
"Yeah, we gotta take them all so we can get my gun faster!"
We looked around for all the [!] marks we could find and took the common slaying ones. There were some for the classics such as boars, slimes, skeletons, and so on. There was even one for bandits, so it's not all monsters. There are human NPCs you can kill.
"Hehehe... They shall scream in pain and beg for mercy!" And there was Gothra, saying the most edgy of shit once again. I'm getting used to her already.
(For those who'd rather fuck wet sandpaper. Futanari is the next step in human evolution. The ideal body. Da Vinci's "Perfect Man" is missing a vagina.)