Okay, here it is.
Ilaria brought her hand forward, clicking on the twinkling red button floating on the upper left corner of her view. She had been looking for it as soon as she logged in. At least those buttons worked the same as in VR DrawRight, the program she used for university.
“Finally!” exclaimed a voice next to her ear, which she recognized immediately as Amelia's.
“Amelia?” asked Ilaria, for a confirmation.
“Parapapapa… Congratulations!” exclaimed Amelia. “Yesterday I tried to PM you all afternoon. I even wondered if Sandro had given me the wrong ID.”
“Sorry, I didn't notice the button.”
In her first day playing Virtual Connection, Ilaria had been so enthralled by the all-new VR sensations that her mind erased the existence of the extraneous red dot at the edge of her viewpoint.
When she logged off, her cellphone had several lost calls; all from Amelia. In the follow up call, Ilaria had to promise to meet in-game today.
“Are you at the inn?” asked Amelia.
“No, I'm in front of a coffee shop,” said Ilaria. “Barista Café.”
“Alright, I know where it is.”
“I'll be waiting.”
“I'll be there soon. Don't dare to move!”
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Amelia–or Amy, her in-game name–turned the corner of the street in a dash. Although Ilaria had been warned before, she still didn't recognize Amelia at first.
Her character had undergone major customization.
For starters, Amy was an elf–which mostly meant pointy ears and a willowy complexion. It didn't make any difference in game mechanics, though some people were willing to pay for it. But that was far from the only change. Her hair, brown in real life, was in a long blond braid; and her eyes, also originally brown, were now of an impossibly clear blue.
Amy was dressed in a V-necked white top and a black miniskirt, clothes unlike anything she had seen Amelia wearing in real life.
Ilaria couldn't help gazing at Amy's chest as she panted–it looked too big for a slender elf. But she was fairly sure that was the one part Amelia didn't customize.
“Do you fight in those?” asked Ilaria, instantly realizing she shouldn't had. But Amelia was almost like her sister!
I guess she's Amy now.
“Well, it's technically armor,” answered Amy, with her index on her lips. “Level 7 light robes!”
“Haaa”
It figures that people in a game would dress a lot more daring than in real life.
“Do you like them?” asked Amy, spinning on her stilettos.
“Anyway, you were gonna help me with that letter thing,” said Ilaria, changing the topic.
“You're no fun,” said Amy, frowning.
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Level 7 was an important milestone in Virtual Connection, since that was the point in which you could apply for basic training at one of the three class institutions: the Fighting Dojo, the Rogue Syndicate or the Mage Academy. After completion, you would receive a basic weapon and skill module.
The introduction letter quest–which rewarded a free basic training–consisted in helping the guys at the Information Module deliver messages around. In other words, a fetch quest; designed for new players to learn the location of the most important buildings in the city.
Of course, any new player could do the quest just by asking for directions or buying a map, but it was much easier for Ilaria to just follow Amy around.
Hey, she offered to.
They completed the quest after half an hour of running around Torinelo City, Ilaria still trying to get used to the new Amy. Maybe that's how Sandro felt before.
“Finally, that was the last one,” said Ilaria, breathing deeply. Her vitality stat was still fairly low.
“You didn't need to run, you know,” said Amy, who had been complaining about hurt feet because of the stilettos.
“Sorry,” said Ilaria, grinning.
Apparently market research concluded that women were happier with high-heeled shoes that realistically simulated ankle pain; the masochists.
“Now you should decide if you are going for the Fighting Dojo, Rogue Syndicate or Mage Academy,” said Amy. “It won't affect your class later, so you don't need to force yourself.”
The original Ilaria character was a wizard–had to be–since she wouldn't be strong enough otherwise. Moreover, the plan called for her to become a mage, since it would complement the best with Johnny's class.
Ilaria didn't have any strong preference anyway, and she wanted to get used to her weapon and skills, so Mage Academy was it.
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The Mage Academy was a tall and narrow building, with a spire that was the tallest landmark in Torinelo City. Amy left Ilaria at the door–not before making her promise to PM her after finishing–since she had to take the training alone.
“Hello,” said Ilaria to the NPC at the counter. “I am here for the basic training.”
“Welcome to the Mage Academy, I am Marco,” the mage introduced himself. “Do you have an introduction letter?”
“Yes. Here it is.” answered Ilaria, taking out the letter.
“Glad to meet you, Miss Ilaria.”
Marco stood up from his chair. The mage NPC was wearing a blue cape over cream-colored robes, which made him look even taller than he already was. He took out a thin wooden staff from behind the counter and gave it to Ilaria.
“All staves and wands have a normal attack that doesn't use mana and can be cast chantless. We call it ‘Force bolt',” said Marco. “At the beginning, it will be easier if you say its name when shooting. Later, only imagining it in your head should be enough.”
“First try shooting the target on the rear wall,” said Marco, pointing towards a line of targets. “When you get three bull eyes, come back here.”
Ilaria was doing her target practice, when she noticed the pulsating red button. She pressed it, expecting to hear Amy's high-pitched voice.
“Hi Ilaria. I wonder if you already forgot about me.” said a voice next to her ear.
“Hello Diana,” said Ilaria, smiling. “I am currently doing the basic training at the Mage Academy.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“That's great,” said Diana. “I just finished the Rogue basic training.”
“Should I meet you after I finish here?” asked Ilaria.
“Actually, I'm going out in a bit,” said Diana. “But I'll be back tonight!”
“Okay. By the way, what time is it for you?” asked Ilaria.
“Right now it's 4 pm.”
“Really? It's 4 pm here too.”
“What a coincidence!”
“I wonder if we live close to each other.”
“That would be nice.”
“Sh… I got to go. See you tonight, nyan!”
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After finishing the target practice, Ilaria received a basic two-spell module from Marco. It had the ‘Mana bolt' and ‘Healing touch' spells.
Mana bolt dealt about three times the damage of the Force bolt, but it took twenty mana per use. With her current stats, she could only use it twice. She couldn't try Healing touch, but the description said it was a low level healing spell.
And that ended the Mage Academy basic training. She kept the thin wooden staff that she was given at the beginning.
I guess I should call Amy.
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“So you already finished with the basic training,” said Amy. “Just wait in there for a bit.”
“Are you busy?” asked Ilaria.
“No, no,” answered Amy, flustered. “Hmm… could we meet at the plaza instead?”
“I don't mind,” said Ilaria. “But if you are busy…”
“I already said it's OK,” said Amy. “See you soon!”
Ilaria treaded the cobbled roads towards Torinelo's central plaza; which, as its name said, was exactly in the center of the city. At least that was the one place you could never fail to find.
After waiting for ten minutes, Amy finally arrived. She was wearing calf-length black pants, a strapless yellow top and ballerina shoes.
“Did you just buy that?” asked Ilaria.
“It's your fault, you know. Making a girl run in high heels,” said Amy, pouting.
Ilaria couldn't help laughing.
“Don't laugh, geez,” said Amy, breaking into laughter too.
Amy and Ilaria walked while sharing a popcorn bag. Ilaria had tried one of the free cereal bars she started with before, when her satiety bar got low, but it wasn't good. Well, she didn't like them in real life either; the rest of them left unopened in her backpack.
“I got the basic skills and weapon, and yesterday I bought my level 7 armor. What quest should I do now?” asked Ilaria.
“You could maybe try a Dungeon Date,” answered Amy. “At your level you could beat the first wave.”
“Is it worth it, experience-wise?” asked Ilaria.
“Maybe, about the same as the next extermination quest,” said Amy.
“But you could also get dating experience, and who knows... Interested?”
“Not really, I would have to date a guy after all.”
“Forgot about that!”
Dinnertime was approaching, so Ilaria decided to leave the date business for tomorrow. Moreover, there was another thing that had been going around in her mind.
It should be okay, shouldn't it?
“Could you keep me company for a bit?” asked Ilaria.
“Of course, I'll be glad,” said Amy.
“I want to buy a present,” said Ilaria “Something a girl around your age would like.”
“I see,” said Amy, lowering her gaze.
“Where should we go?” asked Ilaria.
“There's only one place: the Accessory Shop!” exclaimed Amy, walking ahead.
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The Accessory Shop was a small two-store building. It had a similar distribution to the Clothing Shop. Class-independent equipment on the first floor, class-restricted equipment on the second, and special commissions in the basement. Looking around the first floor, Ilaria could see several glass cases with assorted jewelry.
“Accessories with good stats go for thousands of golden hearts,” said Amy. “If you don't care about that, you should browse among the unleveled stuff on the back.”
“I should check those then,” said Ilaria, with a nervous smile.
Ilaria looked at the display on the back. There were tons of little trinkets, like bracelets, rings and medals. They looked cheap compared to the jewelry in the displays at the front.
“Do you know about her preferences?” asked Amy, since Ilaria seemed lost.
“She likes cats,” answered Ilaria.
“Look here,” said Amy, pointing to a white cat hairpin. “It even gives a +1 to Speed!”
“It looks good,” said Ilaria, a little worried to look at the price.
Sixty golden hearts, I have barely enough.
Ilaria had thought she didn't have any game money, until that morning. Opening her inventory screen to look for food, she had noticed a hundred unaccounted golden hearts.
The pouch from Sandro.
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Dinner had passed by silently. Minerva ate without talking and went back to her room. Amelia had tried a few things in the last couple of days, but Minerva wouldn't go out of the house for any reason.
At least she did leave her room.
Ricardo didn't know what to do, at least inside Virtual Connection he did have a plan.
He returned to his room as soon as possible, getting into the VR machine. He entered the VR lobby and resisted going into VC right away. Instead, he got into his bank account and, against his own best advice, linked his credit card to the game.
Ricardo knew the damned game would keep trying to make him and his money part ways. And he didn't want to depend on hand outs from Sandro either.
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Ilaria kept looking around the Accessory Shop, while waiting for Diana.
Prices for jewelry were really ridiculous. A +50 mana earing set cost almost a thousand golden hearts. That was a hundred dollars!
Finally, a quarter before 9 pm, the red button started to pulse.
“Hi Ilaria!” exclaimed Diana's voice. “Sorry, took longer than I expected.”
“Don't worry,” said Ilaria. “See you at the plaza?”
“Alright!” said Diana.
“Here!!!” called Diana, waving her hands. She was wearing the same clothes she had last time.
Now the plaza was full of people; she could see smiling couples meeting up.
“Quite a nice atmosphere, don't you think?” said Diana.
“I didn't notice before, but the game clock seems to be the same as ours,” said Ilaria.
While she was having dinner in real life, the sun also set inside Virtual Connection. The city lights gave it a romantic feeling.
“Yes. Torinelo City has the same time zone as us,” said Diana, laughing. “That's why I chose it!”
“Oh, it makes sense,” said Ilaria.
“Actually, we don't have much time,” said Diana, as she started walking.
Diana guided Ilaria through a residential zone, which Ilaria hadn't visited yet. They went up a boardwalk, towards a small hill inside the city. It seemed to be a popular location, since a lot of people were going in the same direction.
“Do you have to sleep early?” asked Ilaria.
“Nope, I am on my winter break,” said Diana. “But the scheduled downtime will start in an hour.”
“Ahh, what the clerk mentioned,” said Ilaria, remembering that time.
“Yup, the game closes for an hour to fix bugs and do updates,” said Diana. “It happens once a week, on Tuesday night for us.”
On the top of the hill there was a scenic overlook. Couples were sitting on blankets, talking in low voices while looking at the stars.
“This is my favorite place in Torinelo,” said Diana, taking out a blanket. “Please sit down.”
“Okay”
“Just before starting the weekly downtime, there is a special event of sorts.”
“Event?”
“But it only lasts for a minute, blink and you'll miss it!”
The night sky of Torinelo City was full of bright stars. And, unlike real ones, you didn't need to stretch too much to distinguish the shaped constellations.
“The small one at our lower left corner is called ‘The White Cat'. Isn't it awesome?” said Diana, with a big smile.
It was truly incredible; you could even tell where the whiskers were.
“That reminds me…” said Ilaria, taking out a small pink box.
“What's that?” asked Diana, excited.
“Here,” said Ilaria, putting the box on Diana's hands. “Just a little thank you for all your help.”
“Oh, a white cat!!!” said Diana, putting it on her hair. “And it even has a small bonus!”
“It isn't that good,” said Ilaria, lowering her head.
“My old headpiece has a level 30 restriction, so I'll use this for a while!”
Two minutes before 10 pm, everyone started to get up. Diana took Ilaria's hand and made her stand.
“It will start soon,” said Diana, putting the blanket on her backpack.
“…”
“Think of a wish, nyan!”
Suddenly the sky got brighter as stars started falling, leaving a trail of light. It was a meteor shower.
Wondrous.
Ilaria was lost in the view.
In a minute people started to disappear one by one, as the system disconnected them.
The last thing she saw was Diana's smiling face, surrounded by a brilliant light.