Welcome back, Ilaria.
A whole gamut of sensations opened to her as she materialized in front of the inn, in the exact same spot in which she had said goodbye to her friends a few hours ago. Logging into Virtual Connection from the VR lobby was akin to talking a huge breath in after being forced to hold the respiration. Lunch–the real life kind–had turned into a forgettable affair; she had been in quite a rush to get back to VC. Who would have imagined.
Ilaria–recalling the new player walkthroughs–proceeded to walk back to the plaza. There she filled her canteen in the fountain, before going to the Information Module. Every starter city had its own variations of the basic quests–therefore the need to ask around–but ultimately all were mostly the same.
Torinelo City's Information Module was a small stone counter located next to the main teleportation gate, in a corner of the plaza. There were two Non-Player Characters, a young couple, whose job was to guide the newbies.
The girl NPC was talking to what appeared to be a catgirl–one of the preset customizations for sale–so Ilaria went to talk to the guy.
“Hello, I'm new in this game,” said Ilaria.
“Hello, I am Larry,” said the NPC, with a big smile. “I am in charge of explaining how to play Virtual Connection, so ask me anything. You can also take the twenty-minute tutorial if you want to. I recommend it.”
The NPCs in Virtual Connection had an AI that was good enough for a simple conversation in their field of expertise, but wouldn't fool anyone into thinking they were real people.
“No thanks,” said Ilaria, who had already watched said tutorial plenty of times.
“Rather, I was wondering… how can I raise my level quickly?” asked Ilaria, not quite remembering the recommended wording of the question.
“You get experience killing monsters and doing quests,” answered Larry. "To raise your level quickly, you should get an extermination quest. Then you can get both the monsters' experience and the quest's.”
“I see, two in one,” said Ilaria, smiling. “I heard that dating could give you a lot of experience too.”
“Yes, going into a Dungeon Date is a good way to level fast,” said Larry. “But it isn't recommended for players under level 7.”
That she already knew, before level 7 you didn't have access to any magical skill, or even proper weapons.
“I see. Then who should I ask for an extermination quest?” asked Ilaria, finally getting to the point.
“For a level 1 player, we usually recommend you to join the rat extermination effort,” answered Larry. “You can sign up at any of the guardhouses, next to the city gates.”
Having gotten the information she wanted–there was usually one level 1 extermination quest per city–Ilaria intended to turn around and leave. But then, the NPC kept talking.
“That being said, if you really want to level faster, there's a new quest you could take on,” said Larry. “You can talk to Peter, if you are interested. You can find him at the butcher's store.”
This is unexpected.
Being intrigued by this 'faster' new quest, Ilaria went to the butcher's store and asked for Peter. He was a big man, wearing a white apron spotted with blood.
“Hello, I'm Ilaria,” Ilaria introduced herself. “Larry told me you could give me a quest.”
“A newbie, huh?” said Peter. “Then I shall give you a quest.”
Peter took out a small knife with rounded edges and gave it to Ilaria.
“You should kill and bring back the carcasses of ten wild rabbits. They are found in the grassland outside the city, leaving by the west gate,” said Peter. “If you do it within the day, I'll pay you a golden heart. On top of the experience, of course.”
“Not a bad deal, huh?” said Peter, laughing. “I'll even let you keep the knife.”
“I accept,” said Ilaria, while clicking on the ‘yes' button on the pop-up message in front of her.
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“Bunny, bunny, bunny.”
Ilara had been at the grassland for ten minutes, and she still hadn't gotten any carcass. The rabbits came to her when she called... And then she tried swinging her knife.
It was really hard to connect to a rabbit. And the few times she got one, the knife just bounced. The rabbit would shake itself off the ground and keep leaping like nothing happened.
This knife isn't working.
Then Ilaria looked at the knife, an information icon appearing in front of it.
She clicked.
˃ Butter Knife
˃ No level restriction
˃ Deals 0-1 damage on contact
˃ Great knife for spreading butter on a bun, just don't expect it to cut meat. It's called a butter knife for a reason.
“DAMNED BUTCHER!!!!”
After letting herself go with the yell, Ilaria got embarrassed at herself. She looked around to see if someone had heard her.
It seems I was lucky...
She heard a girl's laughter. Something moved at the distance; it was the catgirl she had seen before at the Information Module. She was wearing the same beginner robes as her, but she didn't have the cordon.
“I guess you took the rabbit quest at the butcher's,” said the catgirl, approaching Ilaria.
“Yeah, I did,” said Ilaria. “But that damned butcher gave me a butter knife.”
“If you had checked the knife before, he would have offered to sell you a butcher's cleaver for one platinum heart” said the catgirl.
“So I should spend money, huh?” said Ilaria.
“Yup, this game is shameless,” said the catgirl, laughing. “There are other ways to level up, but the rabbit quest is the fastest by far.”
“Then I guess I have no option,” said Ilaria, already resigned to dump even more real money in the game.
“Not at all. There's another way,” said the catgirl, smiling. “I need to deliver my quest, so follow me and I'll tell you.”
“What's your name?” asked the catgirl.
“My name is Ilaria, nice to meet you.”
“I am Diana.”
As they walked back to the city, Ilaria kept being distracted by Diana's cat ears swaying with each step. She couldn't help discreetly looking sideways, checking out her current companion.
Diana the catgirl was short and slim, and she seemed to be always smiling. She had black, shoulder length hair, but she wasn't covered in fur; the characteristic cat ears were her most distinct feature. Besides her long nails and a bulge in her rear–which should be a tail–she just looked like a cute, young girl.
After they entered the butcher's store, Diana took out ten rabbit carcasses from her backpack. They were neatly packed–each in its own airtight bag–like one you could buy at a supermarket.
“Here they are,” said Diana to the girl in the counter.
“Great! Master Peter will be really pleased. Take this,” said the girl, giving Diana a golden heart.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“If you can, please keep bringing the rabbit carcasses. Same deal,” said the girl.
“Did you buy the cleaver?” asked Ilaria.
“Nope,” answered Diana, grinning.
“Then…”
“Let's go back to the fields; it will be easier if I show you.”
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On the fields, Diana was a true catwoman.
She got in fours on the ground, making clicking sounds with her mouth.
The rabbits, the easiest monster in the game, were designed to be attracted to sound. Soon enough, a couple of them went leaping in front of Diana.
Diana flexed her legs and suddenly jumped, catching a rabbit between her hands. The rabbit tried to bite her, but she quickly took what seemed like rope from her pocket and tied it around the rabbit's neck.
She pulled the ends of the rope until the rabbit stopped moving. It was dead.
“Wow. That was amazing!” exclaimed Ilaria.
“Hehehe,” said Diana smiling. Her cordon-less robes had gotten tangled, flashing her panties and tail, which was moving side to side.
“So that's why you didn't have a cordon on your robes. The view is a little indecent, though,” said Ilaria, blushing.
“This is just my virtual body and we are both girls. So it's ok!” said Diana, laughing.
“Though I could see myself turning lesbian for you, nyan!”
Soon enough, Ilaria took out the cordon of her robes and started chasing the rabbits. After the first few tries, she didn't care about showing off her underwear anymore. The times she got bitten it just stung a little. Unlike the monsters, it seemed the players couldn't bleed.
The rabbit quest was great for gaining experience; way better than the one recommended by the walkthrough. After five hours of play, both of them got to level 7, the limit for that particular quest. And they got twenty golden hearts each.
“That was really fun,” said Ilaria, smiling. “And we leveled really fast too. I wouldn't have known what to do without you.”
“Don't worry about it,” said Diana. “Gaming is always better with friends.”
“We can't take the rabbit quest anymore, though,” said Ilaria. The thought made her surprisingly sad.
“It's ok,” said Diana. “The fun is just starting.”
“What should we do now?” asked Ilaria.
“Let's go shopping!!!!”
After hearing that, Ilaria accompanied Diana into the Clothing Shop. It occupied one whole side of the plaza, a big four stories building. Ilaria wondered how far twenty golden hearts would go. At level 7 she could get clothing with stat bonuses–albeit really small ones–but everything helped.
Just entering the building, they encountered a modern looking board showing the floor distribution. Even though the outside kept the aesthetics of Torinelo City, the inside looked like any modern department store, with mechanical stairs and touch-screen terminals. Even the music sounded mostly the same.
As Ilaria was looking around the store, a big display caught her attention.
Coming soon… the Magical Girl and Qi Warrior Costume Sets! Release your hidden power!
Greeting Diana and Ilaria, there was a couple of realistic-looking mannequins in fighting pose. The girl had a white miniskirt and a pink top with a huge golden heart. She was holding a heart-topped staff. The boy had orange trousers and long, spiky, blonde hair.
“Welcome to Torinelo City Clothing Shop,” said a smiling woman in yellow uniform. “My name is Tiffany and I'll help you today.”
The shop attendant had soundlessly approached them, making Ilaria blink in surprise.
“Hi Tiffany!” said Diana, like if she was an acquaintance.
Ilaria kept staring at the costumes. They looked so ridiculous that she didn't know if she should laugh.
“Those are the new costumes, arriving after tomorrow's scheduled downtime,” said Tiffany, mistaking Ilaria's stare for interest.
“They go over your armor, overriding the looks, but they won't get damaged on battle. They even give you additional bonuses!”
“Could she insta-try the Magical Girl one?” asked Diana, with a mischievous smile.
“Of course!” said Tiffany, snapping her fingers.
Suddenly, Ilaria felt enveloped in a soft light, and then her clothes changed over her. Ilaria looked at her image on the mirror and blushed.
This body looks well in anything.
“I must say, it really suits you, Miss,” said Tiffany, with sparkling eyes. “It will cost ten platinum hearts for the one-week version, and fifty for a three-month one!”
Before returning it, Ilaria checked her stats. The costume gave +5 to all stats, +12 to Magical attack and a huge +200 mana bonus.
She figured it wasn't that much for a high level player, but it more than quadrupled her current mana pool.
“It has some good stats,” Ilaria couldn't help saying.
“If you are interested, I can show you the costumes we have currently available,” said Tiffany, trying to push them into buying an expensive item.
“We just want to check out the level 7 equipment,” said Diana, taking control of the situation.
They followed Tiffany, towards a much smaller, secluded section, half-hidden by the escalator.
“Here we are: the Woman's Level 7 Clothing Section!” exclaimed Tiffany, recovering from her last setback.
There were rows of clothes of different colors, divided in three racks: light robes, medium armor and heavy plate. Though it was signaled like that, even the heavy plate section was filled with low cut tops and miniskirts.
“You are a total newbie, nyan!” exclaimed Diana, looking at Ilaria's dumbfounded face.
“Haaa,” said Ilaria, with her mouth opened. She couldn't believe one would go to a battle in a tank top and miniskirt, even if it was made from metal links.
“You know, in Virtual Connection what matters is the stats” said Diana. “If it says it gives you defense, it will protect you.
“Even if it looks like a thong!”
“Ok…”
In the end, all the clothing of each section had the same stats, so one could pick any combination based on the looks.
Ilaria went with a pair of blue jeans, a baby blue T-shirt and a leather jacket. The jeans and jacket were considered medium armor, so they gave a moderate defense without reducing agility too much. She also bought a pair of white sneakers that she was wearing sockless, since she had already spent her whole twenty golden hearts.
Diana ended up wearing tight leather shorts over black stockings, high boots, a bright pink tank top and a leather jacket that ended just below her breasts. Her tail was displayed in full, coming out from her shorts.
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“We should eat something good,” said Diana, after leaving the Clothing Store. “My satiety bar is getting kinda low.”
“I don't know…”
One needed to eat and drink every few hours in-game, more if you spent mana. Not that Ilaria was close to that limit, she had tried almost all the inn's menu that morning.
More importantly, she was out of game money.
Maybe I'll need to link my credit card to the game after all.
“Don't worry, my treat!”
Walking side to side, they looked like normal teenage girls taking a stroll in the shopping district.
They got inside a small coffee shop located on a second floor, with a balcony overlooking a pond. Inside there were only small, two-person tables, illuminated by a warm, yellow light; a soft violin piece complementing the faint roasted coffee smell.
A perfectly uniformed waiter–the first one Ilaria had seen in VC–escorted them to a table, leaving them two menu guides.
“This place is really nice,” said Ilaria, appreciating the candelabra hanging over the table.
“Yup, great place for a first date, don't you think?” asked Diana, smiling.
“Yeah…” said Ilaria, being taken by surprise.
“You are just way too cute, nyan!”
After receiving their coffee and cookies set, the girls settled in a comfortable conversation.
“You were amazing out there, with the rabbits” said Ilaria. “You looked a real cat.”
And she meant it; she had never seen someone moving like that, either in a real or virtual setting.
“There are people way better than me,” said Diana, blushing. “Besides, I have already played VC a lot.”
Ilaria raised her head, staring at Diana in confusion.
“I restarted with a new character,” said Diana, a hint of sadness in her voice.
So that was it; Diana was an experienced player restarting from level one.
Why?
That was Ilaria's unspoken question.
“I started playing as soon as VC launched, said Diana. “I didn't know anything at that time; most people didn't. Let's say I made very big, unfixable mistake.”
“Then, your other character?” asked Ilaria.
“She is gone,” said Diana, looking down. “An extra chara costs a whopping thousand platinum hearts. There's no way I could spend that much on a game.”
“Yeah, spending real money feels wasteful,” said Ilaria, immediately regretting having said that.
“I know, right?” said Diana, smiling. “But in the end I ended up paying for my cat ears.”
“Of course not a thousand dollars; that would've been crazy.”
“You really like cats, don't you?” asked Ilaria.
“Of course!” answered Diana. “They are the cutest, loveliest, most amazing creatures in the whole world, nyan!”
After having finishing their meal, Diana excused herself.
“Sorry, I need to go,” said Diana. “It's late and mom won't let me skip dinner.”
“I see. Thank you for everything,” said Ilaria. She was truly glad to have met Diana. It was really a godsend.
They registered as friends and Diana disappeared in a flash of light. Ilaria decided to call it a day and logged out too; the sweet and bitter coffee aftertaste lingering in her mouth.