---------LEGEND---------
PLAYER/USERNAME
Alexander/AlexFae
Amber/Davina
Grace/Lasair
Xia/Genevieve
-------------------------------
[Genevieve: What is it? Suddenly your important business isn't going so well?]
[AlexFae: Um… my economy is stagnant for the moment, thanks for your concern. Are you angry?]
[Genevieve: I don't like people who don't keep their word, that's all.]
[AlexFae: I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry.]
[Genevieve: There's really not much else you can say.]
After making it clear that AlexFae shouldn't expect smiles and hugs from her, Xia sent a second chat message without waiting for her response.
[Genevieve: We are near Valynghana, Lasair and another player you don't know will probably arrive within another hour.]
[AlexFae: Okay, I'm coming.]
No sooner said than done: within ten minutes Xia saw the slender pink-haired Nightstalker approaching her, the direction was that of the city center, so she must have used the portal for fast travel, which use required an expense in Tarant, not that it required that many, just that personally Xia found it an unnecessary expense considering that she could reach the same place for free simply by walking.
Xia looked up over AlexFae's head and noticed that her level had gone up just three levels since their last meeting, while Xia's had gone up seven, reaching the eleventh level. Xia didn't know if this was because AlexFae was slacking or because leveling up was becoming exponentially more difficult, so she decided not to comment.
“And here you are,” Xia said, crossing her arms under her breasts and shifting the fake weight of her virtual body onto her left leg, “I didn't think you would have got there so quickly, unfortunately, my playmates haven't arrived yet.”
“I see, I see,” AlexFae nodded. Xia noticed her eyes pointing towards her chest since she was still wearing the skimpy premium dress Davina had bought her, so Xia coughed a few times and AlexFae flinched and looked back at her face with apparent discomfort. “so… do you want to wait for the others to arrive before listening to me or do you want me to start explaining why I was looking for you?”
It seemed unfair to start talking without two of the three interested being involved, but LotA, the virtual world, had a strange effect on Xia; it was like there was a switch in her head that turned depressed Xia into stoic Genevieve every time she logged in. “Not to sound arrogant, but in our trio the one best suited to discussing business is me, so… spill the beans.”
AlexFae smiled at Xia, “a little opinionated, hm?” However, she didn't have the courage to laugh, she knew she wasn't on good terms with her, "well, a friend of mine saw a live broadcast where you and your friends ventured into the Dungeon of the Waning Red Moon, he told me that you are most likely players from Nova Scotia.”
Xia nodded a few times, sometimes having an old device like hers meant she could show a poker face without even having to try.
“I don't know if you or any of your friends have heard about it, but a LotA championship has been announced where all players in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island will be able to participate.”
“In other words you're telling me that you would like to team up with us,” Xia said without confirming or denying that she had heard of it, in all honesty? First time Xia heard that news. “Why us? Why don't you join a group with your friends?”
“This is starting to sound like a job interview,” AlexFae confessed with a sigh, “many are not competitive players and only a few live in one of the three Maritime provinces. You seemed organized and capable for your level, so it's just the EXP you're missing."
“I simply want to be sure of your intentions, that's all”, Xia shrugged, “I understand, in other words we're your best choice”, Xia smiled to herself, if AlexFae was the one who needed them it meant that Xia could manage to come to an agreement so that, whatever the end result, Lasair, Davina, and her would have benefited the most.
A slight drop in Xia's FPS alerted her of Davina's approach when Xia hadn't yet noticed her; they were in a city, there were several NPCs around and therefore it was enough to add even just a few players to bring her frame rate between 10 and 20 FPS. Davina was approaching with brisk steps and with one hand raised above her head, Xia replied with a vague wave of her hand.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
"Here I am! I finished earlier than expected and..." Davina's light blue eyes peered at AlexFae from under her white bangs, "...and who are you? Nice to meet you! I am Davina!” She approached her and held out her hand.
Well, this was why Xia had tried to understand what AlexFae wanted on her own, Davina was too sociable for her own good and Lasair was too shy to argue against a deal that wouldn't benefit them... where would these two ever get without Xia's pragmatism? “This is AlexFae, she contacted us because she would like to join our team.”
As AlexFae shook her hand, Davina turned to Xia, “on our team? In the Nova Scotia Angels?”
“Yeah, speaking about that name…”
“I'm really happy to meet you!” Davina interrupted Xia without even letting her finish, “do you want to join our team? Of course you can! Hmm… let me see something though…” after the handshake she took a step back and studied the Nightstalker from head to toe, “pink or purple?”
“…Pink or purple what?” AlexFae asked, looking at Xia in a clear state of confusion. Xia imagined that after having dealt with her, being overwhelmed by the emotional earthquake that was Davina must have caused AlexFae some backlash.
“The dress,” Davina explained, spreading her arms, not at all afraid of showing off her chest, perhaps because she was self-confident or because they weren't her real boobs anyway, “if you're part of the Nova Scotia Angels, you need an adequate dress!”
“I vote to change the name of our party,” Xia interjected.
“It's like playing Might Rangers!” Davina trilled loudly trying to cover Xia's voice, was she trying to ignore her? “I'm the blue Might Ranger, Genevieve is the green one, and Lasair is the white one.”
“But there's no Purple Might Ranger,” AlexFae objected, much more at ease with Davina than with Xia, “and then why pink or purple? Can't I be the Black Might Ranger? The red one suits me too.”
Where the hell did Xia end up?
“I don't know, the ash gray of the skin would make you look like a ninja, while if we combine something with the pink of the hair... and then what's the problem if there is no Purple Might Ranger? We'll make it up", Davina put a hand under her chin, thoughtful, "what part would you like to have? I'm the fearless one, she's the curmudgeonly one,” Davina gestured to Xia with a nod of her head, "and Lasair is the shy one."
AlexFae wet her lips, “how about I do the tsundere?”
THIS WAS STARTING TO ESCALATE!
“Ok, fine, that's enough,” Xia intervened, taking a step closer and placing her hands, one on Davina's shoulder and the other on AlexFae's to push them to distance themselves as if that gesture could have broken their profound conversation between weebs. “Here we are putting the cart before the horse, no one has yet said that AlexFae will be the fourth element of our party.”
“I've voted yes!” Davina retorted.
“But I didn't do it, and neither did Lasair.”
"Girls..." AlexFae raised her hands in a surrendering gesture, "I didn't come to create problems, I wanted to make a collaboration proposal and if you don't like it I'll try to arrange it another way."
Davina squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Xia, “what kind of collaboration?” She asked to AlexFae, “are you a YouPiper too?? What channel do you have??”
“Uh, no…”
“She looked for us because a friend of hers saw your stream, she found out that we live in Nova Scotia thanks to your choice of our team name and would like to join us in a tournament because…” Xia looked from Davina to AlexFei , “because I guess there's a prize to be won for whoever gets there first, I guess?”
AlexFae nodded to her question, “twenty thousand dollars.”
“…twenty thousand in total or each?” Xia's interest surged suddenly.
"Total. It would be five thousand each.”
“I just casted my vote. Welcome aboard,” Xia said, nodding a few times. She nodded for at least thirty seconds.
AlexFae was amazed from the sudden change, what was there to be so confused about? With five thousand dollars Xia could have bought a latest generation NexNet and a computer powerful enough to not have RAM problems for years to come!
“I should have started talking from the prize,” AlexFae muttered to herself.
“Offer her the prospect of making money and she'll even fight a war with her bare hands,” Davina said, chuckling.
Xia was too absorbed in the various comments trying to paint her as a venal person to realize that Lasair had finally connected and was reaching them. Blessed are those who don't worry about money because it means they have a lot to spend! “Tsk, you don't understand: it's something I'm doing for you, for the good of the team. My computer is old and often slows down when it has to process too much information", Xia said, pressing her right index finger on her left one, "my NexNet gives me only auditory and visual feedbacks and therefore I've a limited ground control, moreover, I can't indicate things with my gaze because the system doesn't even register the movement of my eyes", Xia's voice tone lowered, "and also, a greater naturalness would be of great benefit for your channel, Davina. ”
“What a hero”, Davina replied to Xia in a teasing tone and starting to laugh.
“Of course these are two very big problems,” commented AlexFae, “if you have a drop in frame rate during a ranked match you risk a big one.”
"Here I am!" Lasair exclaimed, slowing down her pace and clasping her hands behind her back, "s-sorry for the delay, I... found traffic on the way home", she explained, bowing her head slightly. “Where is the conversation at?”
AlexFae greeted her with a nod and a smile, while the most extroverted was Davina, who threw herself at Lasair in a warm hug that caused a bizarre feeling of discomfort in Xia's stomach. “to the point that the Nova Scotia Angels team is complete!”
"Oh!" As usual when someone took too much liberty in violating Lasair personal space Xia noticed that Lasair tensed up and if the technology had allowed her to blush, she would have done so, “that's n-nice! W-why have you changed your mind?” She asked to AlexFae.
“Davina and Genevieve will explain everything to you…” AlexaFae said, not wanting to repeat everything again.
“Hug me back!” Ordered Davina pressing her face against Lasair's chest.
“P-please! Let me go!” Squealed Lasair while raising her shoulders in the attempt of assuming a defensive position, “this is em-embarassing!”
AlexFae and Xia sprang into action to try to separate Lasair from her assailant.
And Xia couldn't deny to herself that she loved that fake existence and the illusion of a life of easily solvable problems that it offered.