After they stood there, enveloped in the lingering warmth of the moment they had just shared, a comfortable silence settled between them. Time seemed to stretch, elongating the serene pause as they exchanged wordless glances, each lost in their own thoughts. Then, with a soft smile playing on her lips, Lillian finally broke the silence with a playful suggestion: "Maybe kissing you with emojis would be a nice thing to try one day... maybe, I guess," Lillian said.
As Larisa immersed herself in her ethereal reverie, the sudden intrusion of a strange voice shattered the tranquility. Larisa spoke up, "I know she said it, silly. But hey, thanks for letting me know she said it anyway. It was adorable, even if it wasn't needed. But seriously, if there's something on your mind, just spill it out to me directly. I'm all ears! You can share anything with me; I'm here to listen, always."
Lillian, slightly perplexed, asked, "What... I mean, who are you talking to?"
"Lil-Lilly, who is this person telling me you asked something? This VR thing is turning my brain into mush."
"You, Larisa, are one confusing ghost."
"Yay! The other voice has gone! We're alone again!"
"Yes, we are alone, and our viewers can't see anything we are doing," she said. She explained to Larisa about the closed eye icon in the menu, indicating their invisibility to personal followers and other players. "The overall viewers of the game surged to over 10 million... and who knows, maybe even pets or AI bots were watching," she mused. "Many must be really, really bored tonight."
Larisa squealed, "Eek?! 10 million people could be watching me right now?! I really want them to admire me, to think I'm amazing; maybe they even want me as a pet ghost," she squealed, her voice bubbling with delight. "I'm gonna allow them to see us! Bring on the fame and adoration! I'm ready for my close-up! Clout avalanche incoming. I want, I want, I want!"
"Allow people?! What?! You're a ghost meant to lurk in the shadows, be invisible, and shout 'boo' at people. Don't expose us to 10 million people! And how in the VR world do you even make yourself visible to them? This is getting weirder by the second. Aren't we supposed to, like, win this game or something? Exposing ourselves to the masses would be like... like an assassin wearing all pink and a neon sign that says, 'Look at me! I am here!'"
Larisa's limbs twisted in a strange, contorted dance, punctuated by flicks of her eyes and three graceful twirls, revealing her secret method of grabbing everyone's attention—the activation switch, so to speak. "Lilly, look at all those viewers! Both our personal viewer accounts jumped to 50k, with more and more of the overall 10 million viewers switching over and following our actions via our eBunnee profiles." She gasped with excitement. "They're all watching us!! I feel famous like you, Ms. Popular Girl Bunny of eBunnee!"
Chat went crazy after discovering that there was fresh flesh out there:
GhostClassCutieHunter: Who is that super cute girl that picked the ghost class we have here?!
ClassCritiqueCritic35: such a weak class, why'd she pick that junk?
AvatarEnvyExpresser: da face! how did she create her avatar to be this epicly cute?!
GlitterGossipGeek: I know, right? nvver seen this avatar combination before, and check out the glitter particles on her skin!
ProfilePicPuzzler: she apparently friends with lillian steel. just I checked larisa's profile, she had no pics at all what gives? I only saw photos of some creepy forest and a bathhouse.
CuteGirlInvestigator: need to find out more about this cute girl! my life depends on it!!
LifeSaviorSeeker: so does mine!
UltimateStalkerFan: Definitely gonna follow her... EVERYWHERE!
"What... why?! Did you do that?!"
"What do you mean by 'why'? We're attracting so much attention, way more than I ever did when I haunted a forest!" Larisa's eyes gleamed as she watched the rapid surge in views, followers, and comments.
Lillian interjected, "I enjoy seeing the views and followers skyrocket, but I can't shake the feeling that we've made ourselves vulnerable to attack."
"Va-null-bull, huh? What do you mean?" Before Larisa could finish, she interrupted herself. "Oh, look, it's Pensée, Eliza, and Kai. We've gotta say hi!"
Lillian's expression hardened. "This is an epic, blood-soaked, death-defying battle on the brink of annihilation, to the death! Not a social chit-chat!"
Larisa glided ahead, leaving Lillian to lag behind with her superior speed stat. Drifting effortlessly like a ghost within the virtual confines of the game, she moved closer and closer to the group. Her translucent form flickered faintly in the ambient glow of the digital world.
Eliza and Princess Pensée had hashed it out and discovered they shared much more in common than they originally thought. They both liked the same type of socks, shared the same favourite colour, and enjoyed the Pokémon named Persian.
Eliza asked, "So you sent Jason back to Crystal Lake? Hopefully, he stays there and doesn't come back."
Their shared loathing for Jason sparked a significant bonding session between the two girls. With an air of disdain. Pensée delicately wiped her sleeves, as though ridding herself of the unsightly remnants of plebeian interaction. Then, lifting her chin with regal haughtiness, she projected an aura of aristocratic superiority and proclaimed with the disdain of a princess addressing riff-raff...
"I do wish our Academy boasted more teachers than just him. Jason is dreadfully inadequate. Unfortunately, the Academy finds itself constrained by budgetary limitations, forced to settle for one inept teacher, it seems," replied Pensée.
Eliza's laughter brimmed with excitement. "I adore how you switch between posh and casual speak... I like it. It's good to have more than one personality; most don't even have one. Anyway, so, you vanquished the antagonist Jason from the game? Oh, how I wish I could've seen it unfold!"
Kai added, "Colour us impressed! I have never met Jason, but I am sure he is stupid. I am mostly self-taught at the Academy and don't ever see him."
"We're both all coloured in and in high definition... but there is something I don't get... I've never quite understood why protagonists and antagonists don't really get along. It's something that's always puzzled me. After all, we're all just people, right? We shouldn't judge others solely based on whether they're all antagonist-y or protagonist-y," pondered Eliza.
Pensée nodded in agreement. "Yes, absolutely. I never judge people solely based on whether they're Pro-tag, An-tag, or a blouse-tag. But we're all protagonists because there's strength in unity. It's my calling in life, my birthright, and all that jazz music to be the protagonist wherever I go." She gave Kai a thorough look, scanning him from head to toe, then nodded and added, "Kai can join us as a Pro Tag as well."
"Pro Tags? Is that our team name?! I love it!! That's the most INCREDIBLE name ever!!" exclaimed Eliza.
Kai felt a sense of relief seeing them finally getting along after enduring their 'hashing out'. With a smile, he naturally suggested, "So, how about fighting and defeating the rest of the antagonists? We've already taken down all the blue people, and it seems all the sock puppets have been dealt with. As you said, you took out all the plastic-bag people and the towel-bearers."
Pensée pondered the idea for a moment before responding enthusiastically, "Okay! The Pro Tags are about to show the VR world who's pro," she declared. Eliza glanced over as Gig-Git lifted its leg to tag the stone pillar he had spotted. "Looks like the Pros have their own tagger here," she observed with a delightful giggle, her laughter capturing the essence of an animated frame, where Eliza's cat-like canines playfully peeked through.
Pensée looked at the adorable doggo with wide eyes and exclaimed, "I suppose you, little fellow, can join the Pro Tags, too."
Larisa, thrilled to see familiar faces, bounded in front of Eliza, exclaiming, "Eliza! This game is absolutely WONDERFUL! I adore it! I finally feel like a real human girl again! And look, my body is tactile; you can touch it! It may feel a bit cold at first, but you'll get used to it. Touchy touchy! I feel so smooth and alive. Tee~hee with an extra hee!"
As Larisa's digital form materialised before them, Eliza's eyes widened in disbelief, her expression more bewildered than a pug staring into a mirror. "What in the blue monkey butt is Larisa doing here?! How did you join this game?"
Larisa's immersion in virtual reality granted her the unique advantage of experiencing the solidity of a physical body while effortlessly passing through walls, a capability that Kai envied, particularly in combat scenarios.
Still brimming with excitement, Eliza exclaimed, "We've got a ghost here! A real-life ghost! In the digital flesh! How did you even manage to join the game? You're not real, I mean, you are real, but in a transcendent, not fully physical form... Are you wearing VR glasses at the Academy?" Her words spilt out in a rush, punctuated by the awe in her voice. "Just look at her! I never truly appreciated her beauty before; she's absolutely stunning. Being all digital and semi-solid really accentuates your positive traits."
Pensée sniffed disdainfully. "I fail to see why she's such a fuss. Ghosts are usually a weak class and ignored. Sure, she's cute in a weird way, but stunning? Please. I'm just as good-looking as she is, and so are plenty of other girls, but mostly me."
Eliza interjected, "You don't understand, Pensée. Larisa is a bona fide ghost in the real world. She perished and returned to wreak havoc by haunting various locations; from ordinary places to toilets and, like the forgotten sock drawer, wherever a ghost must 'ghost'. She was even at the Academy yesterday, and I think she enjoyed it here. Apparently, she's at the Academy now wearing the VR headset? And you know what? She's also quite the fun companion when we're out and about."
"She's been to Estresey Academy, but why haven't I ever seen her? Seriously, it's like she's invisible or something. I see everybody and know everything," Pensée scoffed.
Kai integrated his understanding of ghostly abilities, acquired from Wiki articles and online discussions on eBunnee, following his initial encounter with Larisa yesterday in anticipation of the VR event. "Ghosts possess a multitude of abilities, such as traversing through walls, levitation, voice manipulation, temporarily rendering non-living objects intangible, and allowing passage. They can mesmerise with the glittering particles surrounding their faces, consume food without accruing weight, and exhibit messy eating habits, often dropping a significant portion of their food onto the floor as it passes through their bodies."
Eliza nodded along as though she grasped it all because it was coming from a person she fully understood. Yet, regrettably, only one or a few words truly resonated with Pensée: "That's... simply too much to remember."
"I was at your class yesterday, you know, the cake-creating class, when the window-cleaner made Amii all wet," Larisa recounted.
The clarity of that day's events sharpened as Kai discussed a ghost's ability to render non-living objects temporarily intangible, allowing them to pass through other things. Pensée realised that this was how Amii got soaked; Larisa must have made the window passable, allowing water to flow through. Understanding the series of events from that day, Pensée's frustration reached its peak as she exclaimed, "What did YOU just say!?"
Larisa elaborated, "The window-cleaner... he was cleaning something. I think it was the window, but I'm not entirely sure. What exactly does a window-cleaner do anyway? Can they fight? I forgot to ask. Maybe we should find out," she suggested, glancing ahead and sensing Pensée's mounting frustration.
"So whose side are you on?! Answer me!" Pensée demanded, her patience wearing thin.
"What's going on?!" Eliza interjected, her voice tinged with confusion.
"Why the sudden anger towards her?" Kai added, furrowing his brow.
Pensée explained, "Because she's solely responsible for Amii getting soaked by the window-cleaner with her little glass ability trick! So why are you siding with the window cleaner?! Anyone who supports the window-cleaner is an enemy to me!"
Kai persisted, "Why would she want to be hooking up with the window-cleaner?"
Pensée glanced at Kai, nodding. "I don't know; let's ask her. Why do you like window-cleaners so much? If you're a window lover, doing strange things with glass and whatever, you will NOT be joining the Pro Tags."
"I... don't even like window-cleaners," Larisa nervously responded, trying to think of something more solid on the spot, unlike the window. "My house... my bathhouse in the forest, where I live, has no windows... It wasn't an aesthetic choice; it was done to... keep the window-cleaners away."
"Is this true?" Pensée looked at Kai and Eliza for confirmation.
Eliza nodded, affirming, "Yes, I believe she does live in a dingy bathhouse in Heart-ling Forest, where there are no windows, and it's full of mould and rats."
Larisa said, "It's... an acquired taste, I must admit."
Pensée fixed her gaze on Larisa, emotions swirling in her eyes, while little sparkling particles danced around her face. Pensée shook her head, snapping herself out of the trance, and declared, "Alright, it's settled. You can join us, but not as a Pro Tag. You'll be a background character, alright? In the background... Back Tag, ghost girl."
Kai blurted out, "Holy pug! Have you seen her follower count on eBunnee? It's going C R A Z Y! She's gaining 1k followers per second!"
Pensée gave a subtle glance before addressing Larisa, "Like I said, you are now a distinguished member of the club, one of the esteemed Pro Tags. Now, walk with me. Stop hovering! I said walk. Walk with elegance and grace like me and... Eliza." She winced internally at the thought of associating Eliza with elegance and grace.
Larisa endeavoured to walk with human grace, but her ghostly feet passed through the floor, making the lower part of her ankles vanish. Instead of resembling a sleek catwalk model, her movement more closely resembled a clumsy dog slogging through mud.
Eliza smiled. "You're getting it! It takes practice to be really good."
Pensée scoffed dismissively. "Anyway, let's avoid any embarrassing moments. Remember, as the protagonist here, you're representing me with the Pro Tags, so keep that in mind, okay?"
Lillian charged towards the group, her arms flailing wildly and her feet stumbling in a clumsy jig. Despite her apparent haste, she moved at a snail's pace, barely managing ten pixels per second. With her low superspeed stat, she eventually caught up to her ghostly friend and the three others from the Academy. "My auto-walk isn't working, but I made it! Hi, everyone," she said breathlessly. How she lost her breath in a VR simulation was anybody's guess.
Pensée grumbled upon spotting her. "You're here... fantastic. Now, let's keep moving. I'd rather not waste dialogue discussing you... let's proceed."
Eliza nudged Lillian on the shoulder and spoke slowly into her ear, "She's the protagonist. I know you want to be the protagonist, but it's not going to happen. No matter how slowly you walk towards us and the camera, it won't change anything."
Lillian first encountered the word "protagonist" amidst a fiery debate between Amii Ling and Princess Pensée, with eBunnee members passionately arguing over who deserved the title. Pensée's initial reaction was fierce, lashing out at anyone who dared to claim the role. It was unusual for her to even consider accepting applicants for the position. Yet, suddenly, the idea of being a protagonist lost its allure. The prospect of Pensée turning against her made it far less appealing. There were, after all, far more enjoyable hobbies to explore.
Previously, the term "protagonist" never crossed Lillian's mind. Upon first hearing it, she found herself perplexed. Was it some sort of delicacy? Could one consume a protagonist? The thought left a sour taste in her mouth, akin to indigestion. Perhaps, she mused, it might be more palatable with a dash of spice. Or was "protagonist" some kind of malady, or perhaps a creature akin to those found in Pokémon games? The way Eliza said the word "protagonist" made it seem like it was a big deal—now she was doubly curious—naturally, she always had been quite curious. "What does a protagonist do? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to be one?"
"Well... um-mm... it's a good thing, truly the best thing, Lilly-poo, but... people can read your internal monologue when you are the protagonist, so you have no secrets," Eliza explained.
A montage of all the embarrassing moments from Lillian's life flooded her mind. Most of them were secrets she hoped nobody knew, and many she didn't want to remind anyone about. Worried, she said, "That's awful and a huge invasion of privacy."
In her mind, she thought, "I'm so glad people can't read my mind and know what I am thinking."
"Yes, being a protagonist is not for everyone. Not everyone can handle it," Eliza said. Eliza nodded in agreement as she updated her status on eBunnee.
"I don't want people reading my mind and finding out about the incident with the cheese. I also wouldn't want people to know about that big, gaping pimple on my butt that doesn't seem to want to go away."
"TMI! I don't need to know this," Eliza interjected.
"I was just saying, I would be mortified if people found out about stuff like that," Lillian continued.
"Moving on..."
"And I don't want people to find out about the green stain in my bathroom and what caused it..."
"Argh! I absolutely refuse to hear any more of this," Eliza exclaimed sharply, cutting off any further confessions. She signalled to Gig-Git, who joined in with her, both bombarding Lillian with a barrage of loud "YAK YAK YAK YAK YAK!" until she reluctantly ceased her unsettling confessions.
After the tumult, Lillian pressed on alongside the other protagonists, Pensée and Kai, while Larisa lingered behind. With genuine warmth, Larisa embraced and greeted Lillian, her radiant smile exuding boundless happiness. Her gaze remained fixed on Lillian's every move, filled with joyous fascination.
Lillian couldn't help but smile back, though she needed some matters explained to her thoroughly—like why she had dashed ahead and why she had joined the enemy team.
"Why did you join the enemy team? I thought we were a duo! Don't we make a good team? I thought we did."
"No, no, no! We're like... like this super-duper duo now, a mega duo, a duoooooo! Get it? One 'o' for each of us! You'll be the first 'o,' and Gig-Git, her doggo, gets in on the action too; doggo is an 'O' as well. We're all in this together, all protagonists; nobody left behind! And those nasty antagonists? Ugh, they smell of fish and soil and... other gross stuff. I mean, I can't smell, but my sixth sense tells me they're just plain stinky, okay?"
"How do you know this?"
With a snug but adorably cute look, Larisa said, "Nira telepathically gave me a lot of information about them."
How convenient. Telepathically now? Really?! I can't keep up with all this quickly advancing technology and the new ways people use to communicate. And Nira, the ghostly friend she knows from Heart-ling Forest—I had forgotten she even existed. Well, technically, she doesn't. What is this telepathic thing? I hope she doesn't go all telepathic on me. But I have more serious things to think about, like these antagonists. 'Antagonists?' Lillian already disliked them without even knowing anything about them—what they were, who they were, or who invented this word. She became immensely angry and clenched her digital fists. "So, where exactly are all these antagonists? I would very much like to meet them and see what their deal is."
Larisa checked inside her pockets but realised she didn't have any. She then checked under her heels, only to realise she wasn't wearing any footwear. She gave up searching and announced, "Maybe they're hiding because they're scared of me?" Lillian looked at her, her expression not entirely convinced of what she was saying. There was literally a goddess-princess beauty in its purest digital ghost form, epitomised. Then Larisa elaborated, "Because I'm a ghost and, uh, terrifying, I guess?"
Some alert popped up in front of the screen, which they nearly ignored but decided to read anyway:
** Xinx eliminated over 10,000 players in the game!! **
** Xinx gained the maximum amount of EXP points! **
** Xinx is not at maximum level! **
** Xinx learned Death Touch!! **
** Kiss of Death **
** Fish of Death **
** Death of Death **
** Fodder remaining for Xinx: Kai, Eliza (and Gig-Git), Lillian, Larisa, and PP (Princess Pensée) **