“Finally! I feel like I’m getting so close! When I ended up in this video game world my life got turned upside down! It didn’t help that I took over my main game avatar which happened to be left at the edge of the world in the highest level area but you could say I was a little distracted because my game avatar happened to be female... and I am not. Or at least I wasn’t. It’s been months now and I’ve gotten so used to it I don’t even notice the change anymore. I just kind of adapted. My character I took over was an end game character that had completed one hundred percent of the game.

No, you don’t understand. I finished it all. Every side quest, every dungeon, every area to explore plus some that you weren’t supposed to be able to get to, and my most note worthy achievement, I managed to complete every hidden achievement. Things like killing one thousand enemies with every weapon.

That doesn’t seem hard until you realize that some of the weapon categories don’t normally do damage.

Having to find one of the rarest drops in the game in order to kill one thousand goblins with a dinky bell focus because it’s one of the only focus items you can actually do damage with just to let it rot in your bank when you’re done because it’s also one of the worst focus items in the game really makes my blood boil. But that also just happens to be one of the achievements I’m most proud of because I’m one of only a handful of people in the world to complete it.

I’m also the highest level player in the game right now, Or I was. I had speed ran the new expansion and had grinded out to the max level before everyone else, but now that a few months had passed I’m sure I’m just one of many at the new high level.

*sob* I get a little worked up every time I start reminiscing about the past. But now that I have gotten all that off my chest I feel a bit better”

The mermaid I had been grappling had given up a while ago and was now just giving me a glare. I really needed someone to talk to and I got a bit ‘distracted’ when I was swimming across this lake and got attacked by a school of mermaids. They all tried to flee when they realized their most powerful attacks couldn’t even scratch me which seemed weird because I didn’t even attack back... I mean, tackling the beautiful woman fish monsters and trying to hug them isn’t really an attack...

“you can’t get mad at me right. You’re a monster and you tried to kill me. I just wanted a hug.”

I feel bad now that I remember how many of these creatures I slaughtered when this was just a game.

“I think I’ll let you go now. Sorry for all the senseless violence I may or may not have committed in the past.”

The mermaid just floated there with a look of terror after I released her. She didn’t swim away and just looked at me with wide eyes. I smiled wanly at her and started to swim off.

“Why are you following me? You are free now. You can go back home. Shoo, shoo.”

The mermaid gave a hesitant look of uncertainty back to me.

I started to swim off again only to have her continue to follow.

“You aren’t going to be able to follow me when I get back to shore and go up on land.”

The mermaid still looked a bit confused at my words.

“Fine, you’ll find out soon enough.”

I swam another long trek before I could see the shore, the mermaid in tow the entire way.

When I climbed out of the lake onto a rocky shoreline a little ways from the nearby town the mermaid swam as close as she could to the shore without ending up out of the water.

“Okay, I’m going now. You need to go back home.”

The mermaid gave me a sad look with her large green eyes glimmering in the morning sunlight.

“Go on. Go home.”

She continued to watch me from the water.

I walked into the tree line and slipped behind the tree to wait for her to leave. After a moment I peeked out to see the fishy woman look back and forth between the forest and the lake behind her.

It took a few more minutes before I gave up and stepped out of my hiding spot. The mermaids eyes immediately locked on to me with her sad puppy dog pout.

“If I promise I’ll come back later to visit you will you go back home?”

The mermaid looked to think on that a moment before she pointed to the east horizon.

“You want me to meet you on the other side of the lake?”

The mermaid shook her head and then pointed at the sun and then back to the east horizon.

“Oh! You want me to meet you back here tomorrow morning at sunrise.”

The woman nodded her head in agreement and then smiled and swam off.

That solves that problem. I guess I can stay in town today and relax a bit. I haven’t been in a village for a few weeks. Off to find a bar and drink the rest of my troubles away.

The town was a small one centered around fishing. Though I’m not sure how they get any fishing done with a hoard of monsters terrorizing the lake.

It looks like there is a bar near the north end of town. I already changed out of my swimsuit with the magic of the system menu. I had collected all the unlockable cosmetic outfits so I had a huge selection of stuff to wear.

The cosmetic menu worked a little weird. It hid your armor and made it look like you were wearing an outfit but all the stats from your armor where still in effect and if you dropped the disguise your armor would reappear. Normally you would automatically drop your disguise when you entered combat but now that I’m in full control of my character if I chose to not fight back I would keep my disguise. Likewise if I just thought about attacking someone it would fall away. But for a disguise it was as if I was really wearing different clothes. If my costume were to get dirty or wet and I dropped out of it, my armor would be perfectly clean still, and when I turn the costume back on, it would be clean too.

The way this world works is super strange in a lot of ways. It’s hyper realistic when it compares to the original video game but when you think about how reality is supposed to work, it breaks all the rules.

One thing I noticed is that all the buildings are real.

I know that sounds obvious, but in the game most buildings were just decoration.

The bar I’m heading to is an inn that you could go in and take a random fetch quest if I remember right. Something about delivering an expensive alcohol.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I strolled in to the dining area and scanned the room.

There was a stout man with a beard eating something off a plate behind the bar. I think that is the owner. And that woman over there wiping down tables and chairs must be a waitress.

“Hey, pretty lady! Bring me your most expensive liquor.”

I wasn’t teasing. The waitress was acutely pretty if you look past her disheveled red hair and tired look. I think she would be quite the charmer if she got a good nights rest and had a spa day.

The woman startled when I called out and walked over to her. She seemed to get really nervous when she saw me walk up to her smiling.

“What?” The woman spoke out in a voice so quiet any normal person would have trouble hearing her. “Pretty?” She flushed when she saw me just stand there smiling at her like an idiot. I couldn’t be the only one that’s ever hit on her. Is she just really shy?

The woman backed away slowly fidgeting with the rag in her hands and trying to avoid eye contact. As soon as she got a few paces away from where I stopped she turned and bolted off to the back room.

“Huh. Guess I’m too much for her?” I shrugged it off and walked over to sit at the bar.

“How about you uncle? Are you going to run off too?” The grumpy man behind the bar frowned and gave me a cross look.

“What d’ya want? I ain’t got patience enough ta deal wit you dandy types. Order a drink or fack off.”

Oi, how is this grumpy bastard still in business if he treats his customers like that. If he is willing to spit at a pretty young lady like me I would hate to see how he treats a belligerent drunk.

“I’ll take your finest liquor. Make that a double.”

The man grit his teeth and flared his nostrils. “I ain’t gonna waste good drink on a tramp like you. The ‘best’ booze I got would kill ya at your low level. I bet ya drank some level 15 wine once and think ya all that.”

This idiot is getting on my nerves. “What, you actually got some good stuff in a dump like this. It’s probably just some level 30 swill.” I wasn’t joking. At my level a level 30 meal or drink would just taste like dilute garbage water. I was hoping I could buy him out and try to get drunk on a couple gallons of something or other but because this is a level thirty zone I would be surprised if I could even get a buzz.

“Fack off. Ya tink level 30 ain’t nothin? Ya tink ur some big shot? I ain’t gonna pour ya a damn drop.”

The short man was talking pretty big for a level 25 bartender. He would get wasted on a couple sips of level 30 cider.

“You seem to talk pretty big for pipsqueek. I may be in commoner clothes but I’m pretty sure I’m still recognizable at this distance.”

“Pipsqueek! Ya think I won’t toss ya out ‘cause ya some noble lady. I got news fer ya, ur talking to the highest level guy in this village. I ain’t gonna take shit from ya and let ya walk out a here without a good thrashin.”

The grumpy little man rolled up his sleeves like he was about to throw fists when I slammed my head down on the counter just soft enough that I only cracked it.

“You really going to throw the hero Xylia out of your bar?” I spoke out through my teeth. I had gotten used to a bit of fame in the past couple months. It turns out I wasn’t just the hero of the video game. All of the achievements my character made transferred over to this world. Everywhere I’ve gone on my journey so far I’ve been recognized as the famous hero Xylia.

The man spat on the counter at my remark.

“Ya think I’m gonna believe ya the hero Xylia. Ha! Ya don’t look anything like her. She wouldn’t be caught dead in a bar like this. She ain’t even on this continent any how.”

“I wasn’t, but I’ve been making my way back home to Queenshold for the past few months. You, sir, are in way over your head.”

“No! The hero wouldn’t need to travel on foot back to Queenshold. She got those Azure Gates to warp anywhere in the world in an instant..”

“I used to. They all reset a couple months ago in some glitch and I’ve needed to go re attune to each of them before I can use them again.”

When I got to this world all the gates reset and I have to go back to each one before I can use them. It’s a huge pain. There are thousands of those buggers and now I only have access to the few I touched between the outter lands and here.

“Bullshite!”

The man reaches out to grab my collar and I took that as the start of combat. Which means my disguise fell away and I was suddenly in a gothic, lacy dress adorned with many small bones and gems. It was a frightening sight to behold.

*gulp*

The man paled and I heard a quite squeak of a gasp from the back room. It looked like the man was facing death himself as he took in my now much more convincing form.

“I... I’m...” the man couldn’t form a complete sentence.

I looked over to the door behind the counter and could just make out a figure spying on us from the back room.

“I don’t feel like drinking anymore.” This whole ordeal was taxing. I really didn’t want to torment this man anymore now that it looked like he lost the will to live.

“Wait! Please, take this! It’s my most prized bottle of dragon fire whiskey. I know it doesn’t make up for my actions but please, forgive me. If there is anything I can do to apologize, tell me.”

So the man can speak clearly after all.

Dragon fire whiskey is level 80 so that would probably get me pretty drunk if I tried. I guess this would work as an apology but this man really put me in a sour mood. I don’t even feel like drinking anymore.

“It’s a start.” I said while eyeing the peeping eyes peering out from a crack in the door. “Get out here.” I tried to sound less angry but it still came out a bit too commanding.

The waitress from earlier slowly slipped out from behind the door and stood next to the bartender with her eyes never looking up from the floor.

“What’s your name sweety?” I tried to smile calmly at the trembling girl.

“Anna.” The woman whispered all the while still looking down.

“Anna is it? How do you like working for this oaf?”

“He’s my father.” Again the woman spoke softly.

“So that’s how it is? There here is what you can do for me little man. Give your daughter over to work for me back at my manor in Queenshold.”

“”What!”” They both spoke in unison.

Hey, she didn’t whisper that time.