-----
How did Jenny know about this?! Well, she just said she eavesdropped on what I did yesterday when she was in the storage! W-What was she doing this for though? Why was she teasing me like this? Was she jealous? Wait, did she like Mark and was jealous of what I did? T-There's a possibility…
"P-Please don't misunderstand… I am an old woman, I am not going around doing this to young men, I just ended doing it on a whim without realizing…" I sighed. "Mark is just such a nice Boss, and he was just there and I was thinking about lunch, so I ended up inviting him…"
"Okay, okay, you don't have to worry, we can talk about this stuff all you want," said Jenny. "I know Mark a bit, I could tell you what he likes or what he doesn't like if you're interested. He's a pretty cool guy but he's terrible at making friends."
"Making friends?" I wondered. "Really?"
"Yeah he's not that good with the ladies either." She sighed. "Though to be honest there were a lot of women in here that used to be interested in getting a raise and they thought that he would give it to them if they seduced him, some had even tried to bring him to bed just to get a raise… He ended up firing them all, of course."
"Well, that's a bit harsh…" I sighed. "I-Is he okay with this?"
"That was some time ago, now he's comfortable with us," said Jenny. "I am only interested in getting paid and getting to drink soda and eat snacks—D-Don't tell him I am doing it behind his back."
"I won't say a thing but if he asks me, I will tell him the truth," I said.
"Ahh… Well, I guess you're way too honest," she said.
"Well, now… I-I am going out for now, see you tomorrow, Jenny."
"Sure."
I walked outside since I didn't want to extend this awkward conversation. I really just wanted to go back home and play the game for now, so I swiftly moved to my home and then decided to make a simple breakfast. Toasts with butter, some scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee.
The girls were lured by the scent of the delicious breakfast, and quickly flew in the dining room like flies, sitting on the chairs almost immediately. I was a bit shocked, I really thought they would just eat and drink their snacks and soda, but I guess a mother's breakfast was irresistible!
"Hehe, I see you're back for more mommy's breakfast?" I said. "Ah, right, I wanted to tell you girls something… Well, more like ask you something… How long did you play the game last night?"
"…"
"Erm…"
My daughter fell silent and her mouth suddenly looked as if it got shut very tightly, her eyes looked a bit alarmed, she didn't want to tell me, and she was already bad at speaking but now she turned even worse, she probably didn't even know what to say.
Meanwhile, Anna was smiling nervously at me as if trying to find some way to say it without being blunt. I already knew that they played until morning, but they really should turn it down for now, sleeping until so late was very bad for their health! Of course, the girls wouldn't listen to me anyways, but as a mother, it was my duty to ask them to stop, if possible.
"Well, I played until… 1 AM?" said my daughter.
"Agh… Come on, don't lie to your mom." Sighed Anna. "W-We played until 5 AM…"
"EEEEH?! That's way too much! I have been recently researching about this Full Dive technology, there are many cases of people that play too much and end up with headaches and some even suffer emotional distress… It is recommended to only play at most 6 hours a day, but you girls clearly played over ten hours…" I sighed. "It is important to also take breaks in between hours of playthrough! Are you still playing the game for fun anymore? If you get obsessed with stuff like leveling, you're just not enjoying the game well enough… they say it is like a second life, you have to experience other things than stressfully killing monsters."
"Ah… W-Well…Maybe…" said Anna.
"I did get a headache after playing…" Sighed my daughter. "We'll play less today. Also we have school tomorrow so we can't stay until it's too late."
"Good girl," I said. "See? Listening to mama is always important."
"…"
Elena seemed as expressionless as ever, but she then ate her breakfast rather happily. I really thought she would defend her game stupidly, but she's very smart and realized the game was a bad obsession sometimes, she played for too long and got a headache when she took out the helmet… That probably meant that it really was as I said, and not just some speculative rumor made by people that think that games are bad or something.
She also knew I was not ignorant in terms of games, I was not a mere "boomer" as I was born in the era where games were commonplace everywhere. That age where 'since I was a baby, my parents gave me a phone to play phone games or watch Youtube videos!' era… So I was a modern mom, as they say!
Well, actually I was not that modern, I was over 30… And I wasn't completely raised with a phone either, I only got mine when I was around 14? Truth be told, my husband was the one that helped me get accustomed to all of this, he was the one obsessed with games.
Sigh. I miss him.
Ah…
A-Anyways, I shouldn't think about it so much, it only made me sad.
"How's the breakfast? Good?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's nice," said Anna. "Are you inviting that guy today as well, Lady Elayne?"
"Oh, no, Mark isn't coming today, that was a one-time thing! N-Not for every day…" I sighed.
"Oooh. I thought he was like your boyfriend or something… You two spoke so lovingly while drinking wine…" she said. "Kyaa, it was so cute!"
"W-What?! B-Boyfriends?! With M-M-Mark?!" I asked in disbelief. Anna was way too free with what she said sometimes! She really should limit herself a bit. Sometimes she often spoke what was on her mind way too much for my liking!
My daughter looked at me with incredible contempt, as if she was waiting for me to say something regarding this, because it was obvious he wasn't my boyfriend… But her intense stare that seemed to peek into my very soul was very strong, it felt like she was getting angrier over it!
S-Seriously?! Why are you getting angry with your mommy? Sniff..
"H-He's not! He's not my boyfriend! Elena, don't look at me like that!" I said. "Y-You know I only love your father, right?"
"…I haven't said anything."
"Sigh… Anna please refrain from talking about everything you have on your mind, okay?" I asked. "It is a bit rude, dear."
Anna looked back at Elena with a bit of fear as well, the dark aura my daughter emanated was certainly not normal! Her stare was so intense it felt like the Oni avatar she had suddenly transferred to her real life body and gave her the same intimidating factor or something… Ugeh.
"Sorry! I am very sorry, I misunderstood…" she said.
"Sigh… That's fine, it's okay…" I said.
At the end we finished breakfast rather hurriedly, and then we all went our separate ways once more. My daughter and Anna went back to her room to play a bit more of the game, and funnily enough, I was going to do the same thing!
Also Anna had to leave after dinner, so I'd bring her home with my daughter because I didn't like the idea of two girls walking alone in the night, it was rather dangerous. I wish I had a car but I had to sell it back then when we needed money… Maybe one day I'd be able to save enough money for a cheap car? Although I was saving all my money for my daughter's college.
I moved back to my room and decided to log in back to the game, today I wanted to start off early and work into the game's quest, I kind of want to finish it today if possible! Can we pull it out? With my new Skills and magic, perhaps I should have better fighting capabilities against Dark Beasts. I also got Loki and Belle to assist me—oh right, and of course Acorn, his potions were pretty amazing, his explosive one's deal damage and then the healing ones for support, even Alchemist are competent fighters in this game, this just shows how much dedication and time the developers put into it!
I moved into the game and logged in, finding myself inside of Acorn's room once more. I looked around and he was not here, was he awake? I walked outside while calling for his name, and sensed him inside of his grandpa's house.
"Acorn! Are you there?"
I entered the house and found Acorn taking care of his grandfather. He gave hima small green-colored potion that alleviated the pain of the disease.
"Ah, Planta! You're back, glad to see you," he said.
"Oh! Spirit Lady!" said the chief.
"Hello, how is the chief doing?" I wondered.
"He's fine for now, but the disease is still there… We have to hurry and make the antidote soon." Sighed Acorn.
Here's the list as of now:
-----
[Dark Essence]: 5/10
[Black Core]: 5/10
[Morning Flower Dew]: 0/5
[Spiky Purple Mushroom]: 5/5
[Leaf of Youth]: 0/5
[Golden Sap]: 5/5
-----
"We still need five Dark Essence, Black Cores, Morning Flower Dew, and Leaf of Youth… Hm, I know a route so we can get the Morning Flower Dew and Leaf of Youth quickly, but the Black Core and Dark Essences are a bit tricky, the Dark Beasts are wandering the entire forest so it's hard to pick them up, they're better at surprising you when you least expect it!" said Acorn.
"I agree, we never find them around when we walk, but they show up when we least expect it to annoy us… That giant mushroom was really a handful… Oh right, I got an item out of it…" I said.
"Which item? A mushroom cap?" He wondered.
"Oh no… Look."
I took out a small glass orb from my Inventory, which had a bluish phantasmal essence inside, the figure of a mushroom sometimes would show up. This item was named the Mushroom King Soul, and I had no idea what I could use it for, but Acorn was an Apothecary, he's especially good at alchemy which used items to make other items, so he should know a way.
"Do you know anything that could be made with this?" I wondered.
"T-That's… a Summoner item!" he said.
"Summoner Item?" I asked.
"Well, I think it also works with any summoning-like Class, it helps them in choosing a Summon instead of making it random… You see, this is a Soul Orb, they're used by summoner-type Job Classes so they can use it as a catalyst and summon a monster based in the Orb."
"Oh wow…"
"Yeah, it is an interesting item, you're a summoner, right, Lady Planta? I think you can make something out of it!"
"Hmm… How though? Do I break it?"
"N-No! Don't break it or the soul will just fly away, you have to harbor your summoning powers into it, concentrate and infuse Mana into the item, it should activate automatically."
"That simple?!"
"Yeah, anyone with some Summon Skill can summon them as long as they get a Summon Slot."
"Summon Slot…"
The guide showed up at my side and stopped me from being disappointed after I tried to use the item once to no avail.
"Don't use it yet. It will not work and you may risk breaking it. You have your Summon Slots full, level up your Summoning Skills to get more slots…!" he said.
-----