After watching the group of players get decimated by the matriarch, the group continued on their way towards the Forest of Fog. For the most part they rarely encountered any enemies, but those they did encounter were taken down quickly.

“Hmm…” Brie was currently staring at something in front of her.

“What’s up Brie?” Q asked.

“I have a friend request from a user named ‘Phanos’. Should I accept it?”

“Do you know the person?”

“I do not know anyone by that name, though it could be the person I have been waiting for…”

“Waiting for?” Q was curious for a moment, but didn’t question Brie any further. “Well, if you just want to figure out who it is then you can add them as a friend, and if you don’t know them you can remove them afterwards.”

“Really? Then that is what I shall do.” Brie began making some gestures in front of her, and soon enough her face lit up as she began ‘typing’ with increased speed.

“I take it that it was the person you were waiting for?”

“Yes, though it seems their level is too low right now, so we cannot meet up immediately.”

“That’s too bad. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of person could be your friend.” Q smiled, imagining all sorts of people who could possibly make friends with Brie.

“F-friend? Yes... I suppose that is true.”

“What’s this about Brie’s friends?” Kukis approached the two and asked.

“Apparently Brie has friends in real life.” Q grinned.

“*gasp* No way! You mean to tell me, that this prideful, arrogant and anti-social girl actually has friends!?” Kukis covered her mouth in mock surprise and looked over at Brie.

“Really now, you two…” Brie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and ended up letting out a defeated sigh.

“Well hey, would you look at that. She’s actually learned to take a joke now!” Q smiled. “Check that off the ‘Make Brie Social Again’ list.”

“Nn… If you two go too far with your jokes, I will get angry.” Brie put her arms on her hips and tried to look cross. The three girls went silent for a few seconds, but then quickly burst out into laughter.

“So this is the rumored ‘girl talk’...” Sir Albert looked back at the trio who were laughing and joking around with each other.

“To think that the mysterious realm we could never imagine, is right here in front of our eyes…” Magnus seemed to be deeply moved as his hand moved to cover his eyes.

“I’d say it’s quite the blessing that we can even talk with girls. Especially since we don’t know any girls ourselves.” Baldur chuckled to himself.

“Hey! Are you implying that i’m not a girl?!” Celinus looked at Baldur and gave him a hard death stare. Sal’ Karn watched this and simply shook his head, muttering “Idiot…” under his breath.

The group continued to walk until the sun began to sink past the horizon. “Everyone! We will stop here for today and make camp, then resume our journey at first light!” Sir Albert declared, and everyone besides Q’s group began moving.

“What can we do to help?” Q asked Sir Albert.

“Hmm… if you’ve brought your own tents, you can begin setting those up. Do not hesitate to call upon us if you need assistance!” Sir Albert looked quite determined when he said that. “Besides that, you can help us with preparing dinner. Only Celinus and Sal’ Karn have obtained the cooking skill, and according to them a meal becomes more delicious the more cooks there are.”

“Huh, that sounds interesting. So who wants to cook, and who wants to set up camp?” Q looked at Brie and Kukis.

“I’d like to cook.” Kukis raised her hand.

“I… will also cook.” Brie added afterwards.

“I thought you didn’t enjoy cooking. Did you change your mind?” Kukis raised an eyebrow.

“It is not like I particularly dislike cooking but…” Brie seemed to be reminiscing about her first experience cooking. “Well, it is mainly because I do not know how to set up camp.”

“Is that all it was? Come on, I’ll teach you how to set up camp.” Q began bringing out the items from her inventory, and showed Brie how to set up a tent. Baldur and Sir Albert returned from gathering firewood, and they soon had a decent fire going in the center of their camp. The group continued to prepare their items, and soon enough everyone was settled down and sitting in front of the fire.

“Ahh… Good food, a warm fire, and sleeping underneath the stars… Truly, this is the essence of adventuring with companions!” Sir Albert exclaimed.

“Yeah, though looking up at the sky really reminds you that this is a different world…” Q said while looking up. The night sky was filled with twinkling stars, each one shining brightly. The most striking things in the sky though, was two moons -one red and one blue- and they were close enough to see some details on it with their naked eyes.

“Are you saying the fact that we’re in different bodies, can use magic, and fight monsters wasn’t enough to remind you that we’re in a different world?” Kukis chuckled.

“Well no, it’s just that I’m amazed, you know? I mean… we’re able to experience a different world... technology sure has come a long way huh?” Q closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

“Truly, this is a wondrous world. Perhaps even the… True World? Hahaha!” Sir Albert laughed heartily.

“That’s great and all, but I think we should be getting some sleep by now. I’ll take first watch.” Sal’ Karn reminded everyone of the late time, and they all began heading back to their tents. Just as everyone was about to leave the fire, Brie asked a question which made everyone freeze.

“Instead of spending a night in this world, is it not easier to logout and pass the time in the real world?” She asked innocently.

“Th- that’s…” Sir Albert was at a loss for words. For a while, the camp was filled with silence before Q spoke up.

“You just don’t get it do you Brie?” Q put a hand on her shoulder. “This is the sense of adventure that Sir Albert was talking about. It’s like camping, you know? Also, there aren’t any bugs around which automatically makes it 10 times better than camping in real life.”

“I- I see…” Brie gently pushed Q’s hand away from her. “Let us get some rest then.”

Each player went to their tent, and proceeded to get some sleep. Although Q’s tent was in the same area as Brie and Kukis, she decided to move it farther away as she still had some reservations about sleeping near girls. As she lay down, she idly wondered about how sleeping in the game would affect her body in real life before slipping away into unconsciousness.

*****

“Psst, Q. Wake up Q.” Kukis whispered as she gently shook Q.

“Mmm… Is it our turn for watch?” Q let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

“Yup. I’ll be at the campfire.” Kukis got up and left.

Q got up and stretched her body out before slowly making her way to the campfire. Though I’m kind of tired, I feel strangely refreshed. Is it because of the fatigue meter being filled? Once she was at the campfire, she managed to catch Baldur and Magnus as they were leaving to go to sleep.

(A/N: I know that the whole ‘fatigue meter’ thing isn’t cleared up yet, but I’ll go back to fix it up eventually.)

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Hey Q, I think Kukis is making some drink for you right now. There’s also a pile of sticks beside the fire to keep it going.” Magnus yawned.

“Make sure to not let the fire die out.” Baldur noted. “It increases the chance of enemies appearing.”

“Can do.” Q saluted them. “Have a nice nap you two.”

As they left for their tents, Q approached Kukis who was holding out a cup. “Here you go, it’s hot chocolate.” Kukis said as she passed the cup to Q.

“Thanks.” Q said while taking a sip. “Wow, that’s nice. But when did you find the chance to get ingredients to make hot chocolate?”

“Eh, I got them here and there.” Kukis waved her hand nonchalantly. “Though some of the ingredients are substitutes from this world.”

“Oooh~.” Q raised her voice in admiration. “That must have taken a long time to create. How many tries did it take to refine it into this?”

“It took about seven times to get the ingredients right, and four times to get the precise measurements for them. Also, it didn’t take too long to get it to taste like this. I’ve been taking chemistry classes for a while now, so I already have quite a bit of experience with this kind of stuff... Ah crap!”

“What is it?” Q jumped a little when Kukis raised her voice.

“I forgot to work on my project! I’ll be back in one, no, two hours. Sorry about this Q.”

“Ahahah. Don’t worry about it Cookie. I got this.” Q grinned seeing Kukis’ flustered face.

“Thanks. I’ll be back soon!” Kukis said as she logged out.

“Hmm… this is some good hot chocolate.” Q took another sip. For a moment she felt quite content sitting and watching the fire, when she suddenly felt a cold breeze blow by. “*Brrrrr* I should have brought my blanket here… Oh wait, I have something better.” Q brought her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her tail around herself. She also spread her scarf as far as she could around herself, and continued to sip her hot chocolate.

With warmth spreading through her body, she continued to keep the fire going while occasionally looking at her surroundings. Seriously… this world is amazing. I couldn’t have imagined something this big seven years ago. I wonder if Sophie would have imagined this as well… Not that I can ask her though. Looking up again at the stars, she let her mind wander. Would Sophie like this world? Actually, does Helen like this world? Oh wait, Helen! How could I forget?

Q opened up her friends list and was about to add Helen, when she suddenly heard a faint rustling in the nearby bushes. She immediately got up and began straining each of her senses, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. For a while she heard nothing, but as she concentrated she began to hear slight movement just outside of their camp. What should I do? How do I wake up the others without alerting whatever’s outside? She wondered. A sudden *ding* sound shocked her though, causing her to jump a little and look up in front of her.

[New Skill] - Enhanced Hearing (Passive) Enhances your hearing range.

That scared me… They really need to change that. Q silently berated the game creators in her mind as she tried to think of something to do. “You sure picked a wonderful time to leave me alone Kukis…” She muttered. With her new skill, she was able to pick up more sounds, and eventually closed her eyes in order to concentrate on them. As she was starting to ‘feel’ the amount of enemies, another *ding* sound occurred.

[New Skill] - Sense Presence (Active, No Cost, 1 minute cooldown) Allows you to sense any presences nearby for 10 seconds. Range and duration increase with level of this skill.

Okay, that was convenient, I guess. Q closed her eyes for a moment, as she contemplated her choices. I should probably try to slowly wake up everyone one by one… Just as she thought this, she managed to catch a glimpse of whatever was in the dark, and what she saw surprised her a little. A black shadow with glinting red eyes stared back at her, and a name appeared above its head.

[Shadow Wolf] - Level 20

That wasn’t the only one though, as once the first one appeared, many more came out. Q counted at least ten before deciding to take action. Okay, screw the slow stealthy approach. Q opened her inventory and took out two pans. She inhaled deeply and raised the pans above her head, and then brought them clashing together while screaming, “WAKE UP! ENEMY ATTACK!”

Her words and the noise she made not only woke her companions, but also served to temporarily keep the wolves at bay as everyone got up. Strangely enough Brie was the first one to rush out of her tent, soon followed by Magnus and Baldur. Sir Albert and Sal’ Karn came out soon after, half-dressed in their battle gear, while a grumbling Celinus came out last.

“...Who’s interrupting my beauty sleep?” Celinus growled.

“Those guys.” Q pointed at the wolves. At first the wolves had backed off due to Q’s spontaneous actions, but now that they were given some time they returned back into their formation and began circling around the players.

“Sal’ Karn, how many are there?” Sir Albert asked as he finished putting on his armor.

Sal’ Karn closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them and answering, “... at least fifteen.”

“Tch, to think we’d be up against a wolf-pack on the first night. How unlucky are we?” Magnus’ eyes darted around the place as he slowly began chanting a spell.

“Q, where is Kukis?” Brie looked around her for any sign of the purple-haired girl.

“She had something to take care of in real life, so we’re stuck without her for now.” Q shrugged her shoulders.

“Up against a wolf-pack and down one member already… this is going to be tough.” Baldur hefted his axe as he prepared to fight the wolves.

“We’ll have to make do. All members, engage the enemy!” Q shouted as she grabbed a burning stick from the fire and ran forward.

“...She stole my line…” Sir Albert muttered as he also moved to engage the wolves.

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Emerald's Ramblings: Getting attacked while sleeping at camp is terrible. *Darkest Dungeon flashbacks*

This is released a bit earlier because reasons. Anywho, Some of you may or may not have noticed that I stopped 'updating' the previous chapters, and I've just decided to wait until the next update the site is doing.

Also, do any of you read mangos or watch animu? A personal recommendation of mine is Tasogare Otome X Amnesia. It's a story about a ghost girl, and a boy who can see her, filled with mystery, romance, drama, comedy... well if you search it up you'll get a general idea of what it's about.

That's all for today folks.

Fun-fact: One of the fastest fish in the world is the Sailfish, with an average speed of 109 kph (or 68mph)

Extra: Thanks to Squirrelk for the review.