Lily would have been content with their relationship as is but Luna was not. She had taken Lilys statement all too seriously and had decided to act like a true bodyguard in public settings, even going as far as signing up at a famous gym to train her body.

She had apprenticed under a retired pro boxer and researched other martial arts in her spare time which resulted in teasing from Lily calling her things like 'Macho Lady' and 'Tiny Terminator'. However, each stupid nickname earned Lily a flick to her forehead and always ended with Lily tearing up as she held her head in pain, promising never to do that again only to repeat her behaviour a few days later.

It was Lily who had first heard about Ascension of Souls and had pestered Luna to play it with her, trying to come up with various schemes to get her to play. Luna had felt like it was a waste of money for a sketchy game but relented when Lily showed up with 2 consoles.

"What should I set my username as?"

Luna fidgeted with her helmet while sitting on her friends couch, across from the bed where Lily sat examining her own helmet with barely concealed excitement. She was unsure about playing a game but still somewhat eager for a welcome distraction from her situation.

"Muu…. What about Lady Killer? You were popular with the girls no? and you can kick most boys asses too yeah~?"

Lilys suggestion made a vein on Lunas head throb, not pleased with being called a Lady Killer. Lily had a mischievous smirk on her face as she kept her distance, believing that she was safe from her friends lethal finger flick.

What she forgot though was that Luna had a good arm as well, a pillow hitting her squarely in the face, eliciting a small squeak from Lily

"In that case, your name should be 'Piggy' or Chonk!",

"Thats so Rude! I am NOT FAT!"

Lilys cheeks puffed up as she cried in outrage. However her complaint fell on deaf ears as Luna had already put on the helmet. Grumbling in annoyance, Lily put her helmet on as well and entered the game.

The two girls had found themselves in two very different areas for the creation of their characters. Lily found herself in the middle of a tropical rainforest, the muggy heat teemed with life and put her mind at ease plus her guide had been a cute lil animal eared boy who guided her through the process.

He had been so cute that Lily had wanted to hug and squeeze him as if he was a teddy bear. In the end, Lilys Avatar ended up being from the so-called [Wood Tiger] race which had modified her figure and hair. She went from being Blonde to a vibrant green akin to a luscious leaf alongside cat ears and a tail of the same colour. She thought it was so cute that she was tempted to act like a cat and talk with a Nya every now and then!.

Luna on the other hand was placed in an open grassland. However, various weapons were scattered across the field, The scent of blood hung heavily in the air which somehow made her heart beat quicker as if she was some sort of hunter seeking prey.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

However she felt her heart drop when her guide appeared. He had looked eerily familiar to her brother but the mannerisms were all off, he was too calm and unfeeling as if he was some sort of robot.

Ignoring the nausea that came from looking at him, her race was set as a [War Bunny]. Her already cute appearance became even more accentuated when her hair became snow white and her eyes became a dark red, reminiscent of blood. With a certain outfit, she would look like the perfect bunny girl but she mentally scoffed at the idea of wearing one, it was far too embarrassing to even think about.

The two of them had both started in a Beastkin village but had taken different approaches to exploring, agreeing to meet up when they were done. Lily had chosen to seek out the alchemist in the city, hoping to learn how to make potions to earn money to learn a taming skill while Luna found the Lumberjack, hoping to use the experience as his apprentice as a way to train.

The two of them had spent about a day training in their respective fields when they decided to log out to have food. Feeling somewhat hot after taking off her helmet, she asked.

"Lily what do you want to eat? I will have the chef make it for you…what is it? Whats wrong"

Lunas eyes furrowed when she saw Lily looking at her with a horrified expression, looking around to see what sort of danger had her so shocked.

"Y-y-your Eyes! H-hair too!"

Lily was stammering, unable to properly explain what was wrong.

"What?"

Luna was confused by her friends incoherent stammering and walked over to her friends bathroom to look in the mirror.

"WHAT?!"

Luna scream rang out from the bathroom when she saw her own reflection.

At some point while playing the game, her short brown hair had become a flawless snowy white while her eyes had gone from chocolate brown to blood red, reminiscent of rubies. It was almost identical to her in-game appearance!

KRRRRSH

The sound of the granite sink countertop cracking followed her scream. Looking down, Luna saw two massive spiderweb cracks on the counter spreading from the centre of her hands, even her own monstrous strength had increased massively in comparison to before!

Shock overcame the young womans mind as she struggled to comprehend why her appearance and strength had changed so drastically. It took her a few minutes to compose herself, needing deep breaths to prevent herself from having a panic attack.

It was then that she noticed a change that sparked something she hadn't felt in a long time: Hope. Part of the reason why she had agreed to play the game at the time was that she had injured her knee and had been ordered by a doctor to rest it for about 2 weeks or it could become much worse. Of course she didn't tell Lily as she didn't want her friend worrying about her more than she already did.

With every step she took, she felt her knee twinge in pain but refused to show it, pretending everything was okay. Now though, her knee felt better, in fact it felt even better than ever. If this game could fix her knee, could it also fix her brother?!

Without thinking too much beyond that, Luna turned to her friend and shouted "Lily! Could you get me another console please? I- I think this could help my brother!"

Lunas hands were shaking. She didn't want to get her hopes up too much as she feared that if this hope was dashed, she would be left even more devastated.

Lily had of course granted her friends wish without even a moment's hesitation and had waited outside of the hospital while Luna delivered the birthday present to her brothers room.

Lily even drove the car home when she saw her friend was on the verge of tears after leaving the hospital.

The phone ringing again brought Lily out of her reminiscence about the past that led up to this point.

"Hello? Speaking…"

Lunas eyes furrowed as she mouthed the word 'Hospital' to her friend.

Lily brought her hands to her mouth, nerves getting to the both of them as the thought of it being bad news inevitably crossed their minds.

Luna was silent as she listened to the doctor on the other end while Lily waited on pins and needles. All of a sudden Lily jumped in surprise as Luna shouted.

"My little brother is growing a WHAT?!"