The high noon sun lit the cloudless, blue sky. A large bird swooped down in a loud screech and snatched up a caterpillar as it rushed past a tree branch over Luna’s head. A few leaves floated down and landed on Luna’s head.

Luna, sitting against the tree, glanced up but just missed it. She looked back down to her holoscreen in front of her, scanning her Water Wizard skills. Oh right, she still had Sako’s “Light Blast” from her Skill Swap unique skill. She had no use for that sadly. But she loved having it. It was like having Sako with her!

After running through her long list of locked skills, she decided: the skills of a Water Wizard weren’t that impressive. She needed something that could absolutely decimate Kiyomi’s Dark Wizard class. An effective counter. Even if she somehow managed to catch up to those Kiyomi and Sako in levels, she needed a surefire way to outclass them.

She ran through the list of classes. Wizards… Necromancers… Those basic classes… Spellweavers… Then she got to the locked classes, and one in particular caught her eye: Chaos Manipulator, an elite class. After reading through some of the abilities, her jaw dropped. No wonder it’s locked. And there was a long list of demanding requirements.

Shit. She thought about it. Alright. She decided that she would commit herself to getting it: grind, unlock the class, grind again then have a sweet reunion with Sako. Her Sako. Sweet Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Sako. Just thinking about her began to get her excited… The things Luna could do to her once she got her hands on her…

Luna found herself salivating at the thought and swallowed her spit then wiped the drool off her chin with the back of her hand.

She checked the quest log and scrolled through the list of quests she had to do. It was a long questline, but she would do it. Anything to get to play with Sako again.

The questline had prerequisites though, so she had to meet those requirements first. It would be a real pain.

She got to her feet, pulled up another holoscreen, and stared at the world map.

The prerequisites to start the questline included leveling up a few side skills and doing some miniquests and tasks for NPCs. Great, she had to interact with people. “Ugh.” Although they were just NPCs, they looked real enough.

The recommended level to start the questline was 700. Fuck that. She wasn’t going all the way up to 700. If it turned out that she really needed the levels, she would find some other way when the time came.

Luna scanned her map for Fishing icons with drops and drop rates and found a few ideal spots. Making money off fishing at the same time wouldn’t hurt. The closest ideal spot was a lake, Daychill Cove, a little south of Aria’s capital in an open field. She would need a horse to travel around too. Even if she unlocked Teleport Gates by arriving at the locations once, not every place had a Gate, so a horse would be convenient.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She went to the Auction House, bought a cheap horse, saddle, and reins, and tapped the horse icon in her inventory to summon the horse in a flash of light. She skimmed through the manual that came with the horse. After skimming, the small book vanished from her hands and riding was suddenly clear as day to her. She put the saddle on it, strapped on the reins around its head and muzzle, and climbed on. It was like riding a bike for the first time.

She started off slow and steady in a trot then moved a bit quicker when she was more confident.

~~~

The doctor in his lab coat sat in his office chair, his face grim as he tried to force out the heavy truth. He looked at Mom and Dad who sat in their own chairs next to Luna across the room. Mom was already weeping on Dad’s shoulder. Dad put a hand around her, trying to comfort her. He blinked back the tears and remained strong as he looked back at the doctor. The door in the corner was closed, and everything was still and quiet.

Luna couldn’t for the life of her understand why they all looked as if the world was coming to an end. Mom cried sometimes when things were super tough. But now, even Dad was struggling not to cry. He was a stout, tall, and confident man, always ready to take on the world with a smile, even in tough times. But this time, he wasn’t smiling. The fact that a big, grown-up man who knew how to be positive no matter what life threw at him was crying meant something was very wrong.

Luna felt uneasy. She glanced between the doctor and Mom and Dad, but couldn’t figure it out.

The doctor didn’t say anything. He sighed as he stared down at the clipboard in his lap. The fear was eating at him, gnawing at his very soul. The words were stuck in his throat, too weighty to cough up. He managed one word without looking up. “She…”

“Is it that bad?” Dad’s voice was so soft and hushed. He was also looking down in his own lap.

The doctor nodded. “Yeah.”

Mom bawled her eyes out. Her high voice drowned everything in the room.

“Tell us,” Dad finally met his eyes when Mom calmed down.

“Luna is… schizophrenic, which is the reason for her psychotic episodes.”

“What’s the cause…” Dad continued.

“The illness is complex and could be as a result of many factors. But her genes are largely responsible. Her brain has a chemical imbalance, and she has an abnormal brain development. We also noticed irregular brain waves. We’ve concluded all of that from the EEG test.”

“Oh…”

“What does that mean?” Luna asked.

Dad turned his head and stared at her for a long minute. It was as if he was looking at a stranger—someone he had never seen before in his life.

She had never seen so much pain on his face.

“It means you’re… different.”

“Is that bad?”

“No, you’re alright. We’ll work things out.” Dad never smiled again.

~~~

Sometimes, I play with my new friends, and they fall asleep by accident. I don’t understand. Why do they fall asleep by accident? Why? Even when I’m gentle and I give them my love, they fall asleep. Sometimes, they never get up again. I don’t get it. I don’t get it at all. I don’t get tired so easily, so why do others fall asleep by accident? It’s not always nighttime, so I don’t get it. Nighttime is for sleep, yet they fall asleep in the daytime too. Something is wrong with them. Wrong with them. They need to be fixed. Fixed. Yes, fixed. Fixed. Something is wrong with them. I don’t get it at all.