CH 8

No players in sight

–It’s already been four days since I was unable to log out from the game.

When Crim woke up from her sleep, what welcomed her was an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Fah… Ah, right. I’m still in ‘Destiny Unchain Online’.”

Rubbing my eyes, I got up from the bed. The sun has just started to rise outside.

……Normally, if you fall asleep in a VR game, you will be automatically logged out, if you remain unresponsive for a set amount of time.

“Before, it was very unlikely, that I would ever wake up in game… so I’m still not used to it.”

“Also, it’s a strange to be a vampire who wakes up early…”

Even with the sun just beginning to rise through the curtains, I manage to soothe my already sick body and get out of bed.

“Pretending to be human isn’t easy, is it?”

Even though it was still early morning, Crim let out a tired sigh.

“Ah, Crim onee-chan good morning.”

A voice called out from above, while I was doing my morning exercises.

Looking up at one of the windows on the second floor of the Rudger family’s main residence, there was a girl, younger than George, still in her sleepwear, waving her hand at Crim.

She has the same reddish-brown hair as Ludger and the others, and it seems to be soft and fluffy. But her limbs were slender, and she was a fragile looking girl overall.

Ludger’s daughter, Juna, isn’t very strong and seems like a child, who usually can’t leave the house, but right now she’s looking relatively energetic as she’s waving at me. Crim’s expression relaxed and she waved back at her.

“Good morning, Juna-chan. You seem to be in a good shape today?”

“Yeah! Big sister, do your best to help father this morning!”

–Yeah, cute.

Over this short period of time that she got to know her, she became close to her, so much so that she wanted Juna as her sister.

That’s why she wrapped up her workout, after being warmed by Juna’s words for doing her best.

She can’t leave the house much. She’s been curious about Crim since the first time she met her. It was a given.

She waves her hand again, and she joins Ludger, who has already finished with preparations to enter the forest and was waiting for her.

It’s already been four days since Crim arrived in town for the first time and was taken care of by Ludger.

She didn’t feel comfortable by just freeloading, so in between collecting information and gaining proficiency, she was helping with Ludger’s morning work, which involved gathering herbs to make medicine.

How should I put it, Crim was a bit troubled by the fact that these days, he almost forgot that they were NPCs.

“Piggy” (Bersleid: Is this one supposed to be an SFX?)

The pebbles of darkness fired by Crim hit the tip of the nose of the rabbit that was relentlessly aiming for her neck.

Although it doesn’t have much power, it pierces the rabbit’s neck with a dagger, whose nose was literally crushed, when it flew defencelessly. (Bersleid: Yeah, I’m having trouble understanding these two, so sorry, no amazing fight scene for today.)

“…! ? “

The skewered rabbit disappears into glowing fragments without being able to scream.

“Fu, fu… and… now you’re the only one left…!”

Swallowing her breath from the series of battles up to this point, she regained her stance and faced the same kind of “Grey Bear” as on the first day.

So far, I’ve fought “Horned Rabbits”, “Giant Beetles”, and “Plant Monsters” that manipulates vines. Now the only one left is this bear.

His left-hand points forward to her target, her right hand is holding a dagger in reverse grip. She squats down into a low posture.

The system detected the initial movement for “Combat Art”, and assistance was initiated. Crim did not resist the auto assist, he jumped forward.

“…”Godspeed”!!”

Her small body dashes forward like a bullet, with her long white hair trailing behind, like an afterimage. The ground under her legs explodes.

I rushed in with my body submerged until the last minute… I jumped up in front of the enemy and struck its neck with my dagger.

It was a fatal blow.

A shadow dagger made from Crims high magic power. It was aimed precisely and has high speed.

Without being able to react, the “Grey Bear”, which had been cut at the middle of its neck, le tout a roar and fell to the ground, vanishing, leaving behind an afterglow.

Dagger, rushing combat skill “Godspeed”.

Yesterday, when my dagger proficiency level rose to 20, while it was a relatively early skill, but it was convenient and useful for closing the distance.

“… Huh. Ludger-san, you’re safe now.”

While wiping my sweat, I called out to him, who was hiding behind me.

…I feel like I’ve gotten used to fighting in this world.

I also understood most of the tricks for using combat techniques. In this series of battles, Crim felt his confidence strengthen.

“Oh, oh… No matter how many times I see it, the strength of the young lady is amazing. Especially at the end, I couldn’t see it at all…”

“My teacher was good.”

“It’s an AI,” Crim mumbled to himself.

However, the experience of being unconditionally beaten many times before, makes Kurenai think that dealing with almost all enemies are “better than dealing with master”.

“That’s why there must have been a meaning to the black stars that piled up so gloomy.” (Bersleid: IDK, so I won’t touch it.)

It seems that Ludger usually goes into the woods with care, so as to not come in contact with the enemy, but of course that greatly reduces his efficiency.

For that reason, Crim accompanied him as an escort, and he was delighted that by having the way cleared, he was now able to reach the rare medicinal herb colonies, which he could only see from far away.

“Okay, enough for today, let’s get back to town.”

“Ah, okay!”

Hearing Ludger’s voice and seeing his foraging basket full, she realized she had been immersed in her thoughts for a while.

She hurriedly put the medicinal herbs she had picked in the basket and started to walk beside Ludger.

On the way back, we proceeded while defeating the monsters, that appeared at times. After that we soon left the forest and arrived in town.

“If I could fight like a young lady, I would be able to do something about Juna’s illness.”

“…Huh?”

As he was walking down the road leading inti town Ludger muttered. He continued to talk to Crim who turned around.

“I know where the medicine my daughter needs and even where the rest of the ingredients are, but that’s where the owner of this forest lives.”

Yes, right after Ludger spoke with a frustrated expression, “A new quest has occurred” was displayed at the edge of my vision.

It seems that I triggered a hidden quest.

“But won’t ask you to do it. Even you won’t be able to do it.”

Rudger looks at me with a serious expression. He didn’t even tell me his next destination.

The fact that the quest NPC is holding her back so strongly… is it due to a lack of flags, or is it really a formidable enemy that Crim can’t handle right now?

There was nothing she could do now, so she had no choice but to reluctantly withdraw.

“Haa… I wish I had a party.”

Kurenai muttered while lying on the bed.

Perhaps the exchange with the Ludger family was some kind of continuous quest… while Kurenai was enjoying the exchange, she was thinking calmly.

And, judging by the other two empty beds in this room, she also expected that it would start with several well-trained people.

“It would be nice if someone conveniently came here.”

“But it won’t be that easy.”

With a sense of resignation, she threw herself down on her pillow.

–Come to think of it, I have yet to meet other players.

“Strange… very strange.”

Crim raised her head and muttered.

Players of MMORPGs are full of curiosity, and it is said that the day after the service starts, an adventurer will appear in an unexplored area, and three days later, a map showing the layout of almost the entire area will be distributed.

“But I still haven’t met a single player… This is very weird… I mean, how big did you make the map, Dad!?”

I wonder if this town is that far away from the “City of Beginnings, Windham”.

She didn’t expect something like this to happen in an MMO right after the service started, but isn’t this a serious problem?

…Come to think of it, I seem to have managed up until now, so I forgot, but this is a splendid GM call case, isn’t it?

That’s what I thought and without hesitation, I pressed the GM call button for the first time.

“――Hey, Kurenai-san. I was just worried that you forgot about me.”

“Ah, Dad. I have a question for you…”

With that preamble, Crim explained the circumstances of the forced solo play up to this point.

“I see. That’s certainly a serious problem.”

“So, I wonder if you can do something about it.”

“Hmm… I’d like to do something about this mistake, but… In that case, I’ll have to reset the contents of the game up to this point, you know?” (Bersleid: How “unexpected”.)

“That’s…”

Hearing Sora’s words, Crim thought, “Hmm…”.

It’s certainly easier that way, no doubt, but… What flickers in my mind are the faces of Juna, George, and the NPCs I’ve become friends with.

The correct answer is to reset and go to the city of origin.

However, Crim could not make that decision.

“… Ah, that’s right. If you just want to socialize, I’m sure there’s a transport plaza somewhere in town.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know, since I haven’t taken the tutorial ain Windham. Uh…’

Sora explains how to activate the device, which should have been taught in the tutorial.

As I was told, when I activated the device in the square in the centre of town… a number of intricately entwined rings emerged from the ground, around a blue crystal, that seemed to be the core.

At the same time, a window different from the status was opened in front of Kurenai.

“From there, you can fly to neutral or friendly towns you’ve been to, but among them, there should be a button that says go to Valhalla. You can go to a town where you can fly from anywhere without any power relations, so if you’re hesitating, why don’t you go play?”

“… Oh, I found it. Thank you, I’ll try it.”

“Yeah yeah, have fun”

After saying thank you to my father who was smiling and waving his hand, I hung up and immediately tried pressing the button.

Then, just as the ring that was floating around moved to envelop Crim… the next moment, she was enveloped in pure white light.

Immediately, a torrent of sounds hit Crim’s ears.

The world, which had been quiet until just before, was suddenly enveloped in the hustle and bustle of countless people.