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(Elayne's POV)
After cooking the skewered crow meat with glowing mushrooms, we had a nice meal with Rita. The meat was warm, tasty, and very soft, and the mushrooms became sweeter and delicious together with the meat, it was a surprisingly nice combination.
"Wow… I never thought eating inside a game would be so nice… Elayne your cooking is nice even in here." Cried Rita, feeling rather nostalgic. "I remember when you used to make me bento too! Uwah, I want you to make me bento again!" Rita ran to my side and hugged me.
"E-Eeeh? We are not in high school anymore, Rita…" I sighed. "Those lunch boxes I gave to you were because you never ate anything in high school other than chips or other things… You were always hungry because that stuff doesn't fill your tummy."
"You always made my day brighter with the tasty lunch you made for me… Back then they always joked about how we looked like girlfriends, haha." Laughed Rita while resting her head over my shoulder.
"T-That's… a bit embarrassing to recall." I sighed. Rita is as always very open with all sorts of things, talking about these embarrassing memories doesn't even bother her, but it really bothers me.
"Fufu, wanna become my wife in the game here? I heard even same sex can marry!" She said jokingly, hugging me and trying to kiss me.
"S-Stop it, dummy!" I sighed, smacking her head gently.
"Haha, that's no damage, we have PvP disabled… Now become my wife!" Laughed Rita, attacking me by tickling my stomach.
"Hahaha! Stop, dummy!" I laughed. I couldn't help but enjoy the moment with my friend, I was rather surprised by how realistic the physical feelings in the game were though, tickles really felt like tickles.
I managed to push Rita away from me before she were to tickle me even more, and I petted her head. She looked slightly different than in real life, but the game make our avatars based in our body scans, so she was still very similar. She had those beautiful an shiny eyes I've always liked from her.
"Now calm down, we gotta clear this dungeon, okay? It is your beginner quest after all. After we are done with that you'll gain a lot of EXP and other prizes, it's gonna be fun!" I said.
"A-Alright! Okay… You seem so pumped up that I cannot really disappoint my bestie~" Sighed Rita, stretching her arms a bit. "But!"
"But?" I wondered.
"Mooch~"
Rita kissed my cheek as I immediately grew slightly redder…
"W-What was that for?!"
"I just wanted to kiss you like the old time! We used to greet each other with a kiss in the cheek, right?"
"Geez! Y-Yeah, I guess…"
"Fufu, you never change, you get so cute when you get so shy, my friend!"
Rita hugged me again as she rubbed her nose in my neck.
"Haha, okay! You're awfully clingy today! Geez, are you feeling lonely lately or something?" I sighed.
"N-Not at all, I just missed you! We haven't meet in almost a week. I need my daily dose of Elayne or I can't keep going~" Giggled Rita mischievously, as she started to touch my belly. "Ooh, you got a belly here… Maybe eating too much will get you fat, huh?"
"S-Stop it! L-Loki!"
"Grysha!"
Loki quickly helped me from my slightly perverted friend, as she was wrapped in vines.
"Uwah! T-This thing is really annoying!" Rita sighed while crossing her arms.
"Okay but stop acting so horny!" I said.
"Okaaaaay~" Sighed Rita, acting like a bratty girl she once used to be.
"You're acting like the bratty girl from high school again." I sighed. "You never changed, huh? Are you just keeping a façade of a motherly woman to your family?"
"Ahahaha! You got me! I am still a lazy bratty girl~" Giggled Rita, as Loki let her go. "But! I am now an adult, and that means I am not so stupid, so let's have some fun completing this quest- Oof, aren't I a bit under leveled though?"
"You are! You're only level 3 after all…" I sighed. "But that's not so bad, I am Level 9 and I got a lot of buffs from my Title and other Skills and items I've gathered, so we'll be fine. Let's go for now, the path is straight forward."
"Okay! I am pumped up! I gotta practice these dark powers I got after all! I leveled up that one Dark Spirit Skill to Level 10 so I expect to get buffed, healed, and protected by them." Said Rita.
"I am also curious, so let's move forward!" I said.
"Alright!"
"Yeah!"
"Wait, why are you not walking?" Asked Rita.
"Belle!" I said, summoning a white goat.
"W-White goat?!" Asked Rita.
"This is my Summon, it is a farm animal! Farmers got a skill that let them summon them. Belle is my precious girl. She's very nice and strong, right? Right?" I said, as I petted my adorable goat, she rubbed her face over mine and began to lick them gently.
"She's so cuteeee!" I said, kissing Belle's forehead. "My precious girl!"
"You're really nostalgic about your farm animals, huh? Being a country girl does that to you?" Wondered Rita.
"Of course! Belle is my precious white goat… I named her after the one I once had when I was younger…" I sighed.
"Elayne…" Rita looked at me as if she was pitying me.
"B-But it is nothing bad! …Now, onwards, Belle! Rita, come, sit over her back, she's surprisingly strong!"
"She's a mount too?!"
"Meee!"
And with Rita at my side, the two of us moved forward atop Belle, rushing through the dungeon at a fast speed. Using the game's map, I quickly was able to detect branching caves at long last, and a big group of mushroom monsters in the branching caves to the left, there was also a… a treasure chest icon!
"Let's go there, Belle!"
"Meeee!"
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