《Soul Fusion Online》


 Chapter 1：Character Stats

    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: Specialist


    Cultivation Stage: Fortification Realm, Stage 8


    Level: 1/20


    [Health]: 553/553


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 422


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 20


    [Luck]: 5


    [Status Points]: 0


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    {Culitvation method }


    Heavenly Cycle

 Chapter 2：SFO Dictionary

AP = Ability Points


    SP = Status Points


    HOT = Heal Over Time


    HUD= Heads Up Display


    NPC= Non Player Characters


    LQ = Low Quality


    MQ = Medium Quality


    HQ = High Quality


    OCD = obsessive compulsive disorder


    OP = Over Powered

 Chapter 3：Chisaka Yuki

    "Did you hear about that new vrmmo, Soul Fusion Online?"


    "Yeah, I heard that you can make a killing off the game itself. I never thought you could easily make money off a game like that."


    "Yeah, it almost makes me want to try it, but I am afraid I will end up not being able to make much money."


    "Yeah, same here. But I still might try it out."


    "So sick of ramen..." A young girl mumbled to herself. It was hard to tell if this was a girl or not unless you spotted the bun that was half stuffed inside the baseball cap that was pulled low to cover her face. The men''s clothes she was wearing didn''t help either. But this was one hundred percent a young lady. Eighteen years of age and currently a freshman at one of the second best colleges in the kingdom. It was a place she really did not belong, and it took her a lot of effort and hard work to get into this college. Fortune College is the second best college in the kingdom. A place where the lower nobles and outcasts of the higher noble lineages go in order to try to make something out of themselves.


    Although Fortune College was second to Evergreen Royal Academy, it was still a reputable school. A place a poor person like this young girl truly did not belong. But even still, she went to college every day in order to hopefully change her life.


    Chisaka Yuki, roughly translated to one thousand hills of snow. She came from what used to be a country called Japan, now known as the Deserted Island. Mainly because during the great war between the Evergreen family and the world powers at that time, Japan was hit with a gravity bomb that the Evergreen family created, flattening the land, creating an uninhabitable wasteland. Luckily at that time, her ancestors had already evacuated along with millions of other Japanese. Otherwise, there would be no Chisaka Yuki here today. Now she lives in the Burnsworth domain, a noble family with a knight''s heritage that rules over what was once the northeastern part of the old United States.


    The entire world was now under a monarchy and ruled by the Evergreen family. How this came to be was due to a genetic rewrite of their DNA that made them smarter and stronger than normal humans. You could say their ancestors were mad scientists who tested their research on their own family. This genetic rewrite was inherited by each generation after that. Their biggest distinct feature was their silver hair and green eyes. Because of their superhuman like abilities that could match up to the top A.I. at the time, they were able to make money easily and began buying up properties in every country, and soon after, they were able to hold the world ransom, and a war broke out due to this. As such, the smarter and more money one has, the more likely they will win and win they did by a landslide. It was called the shortest world war in history. It lasted five days.


    After the war, there was a huge tech boom because now the world was fully united. New technologies quickly hit the streets, and now things like full dive vrmmo''s were not something of science fiction.


    But none of this mattered to Yuki. She was too concerned about her empty wallet and where her next meal would come from. She had no family left to speak of and lived in a rented room in a boarding house for women. She hated the place due to all the drugs that went in and out. There were a lot of strange people that came and went. But she had no choice but to live there. With the meager wage of a hundred and twenty crowns she got from her part time job every week, she was barely able to pay her weekly room rental and feed herself at the same time. The only thing she really had going for herself was the whole free college tuition, thanks to her studying her ass off in high school.


    Yuki finished off her ramen noodles and gathered her trash together before getting up from the stool she was sitting on. She still had to head to her part time job and then get home and write a paper. She figured if she was lucky, she would get to bed around two am. Letting out a long sigh, Yuki tossed her trash away and left the store.


    The days were cold as the steam from Yuki''s mouth formed in the air in front of her. She looked up at the tall skyscraper in front of her but was not able to see much past the flying cars in the air. "I better get going, or I will be late."


    Yuki walked down the street that was quite busy. Besides the lines of traffic both in the air and on the roads, the sidewalks were also full of people walking about. Luckily it was still daytime, or those of the nightlife would begin to appear. Only then did you really need to watch your back. Crimes of all kinds were a real problem nowadays. Because of this, since she was young, Yuki worked on learning martial arts. Of course, this was all self taught due to no money. But Yuki was able to make use of her naturally flexible body to form a style of martial arts that worked for her. She had no name for it, nor did she care to name it either. She only learned it and practiced it in order to protect herself. And it has come in handy on many occasions.


    There was nothing really girly about Yuki. She never dressed up or put on makeup. She was a loner by choice due to not wanting to get involved with those around her, whether she was at home, or at college. College only because she was afraid of offending some nobles'' sons or daughters. She could not afford the consequences.


    Instead, she kept to herself and tried to blend into the background. She had a strong sense of justice as well, but she had no choice but to hold herself back and not get involved. In other words, if she saw trouble, she would look the other way even if she truly wanted to run over and help. She just did not have the confidence or backing to offend the other party since nowadays it was hard to tell who was connected to who.


    People may say she was a walking contradiction when it came to this topic but to her, the number one thing she worried about most was herself. She had no family to rely on so she had no choice but to be this walking contradiction.

 Chapter 4：Desperate Search

    "You''re late." A middle aged man yelled as Yuki walked through the door of a small restaurant.


    "I am not supposed to start until six. It''s only a quarter to now..." Yuki pointed at the clock, which read 5:45 pm.


    "You are on the schedule for five o''clock. Kim said you took part of her shift." The middle aged man said sternly.


    "Huh? I never said that. There is no way I could ever make it here by five. I got out of my classes at 4:30. I only have enough time after class to get a quick bite to eat, then come here." Yuki really had classes until late in the afternoon, which was why she never asked for hours before six.


    "Are you saying my daughter is lying?" The middle aged man glared at Yuki before snorting. "Humph! It doesn''t matter. Becky came to fill your shift so you can go home. Here is the pay for the work you did this week. You do not need to come back."


    Yuki was left speechless. If she lost this job, she was going to have serious money issues. She was now regretting eating that ramen just now. Yuki bit her lower lip as she snatched the envelope, turned, and left the shop without another word. She knew it was useless to even try to argue. She knew the boss''s daughter had used her as an excuse. She was just a part timer, someone who was easily replaceable.


    After Yuki left the store, the tears she was holding back slowly rolled down her cheeks. Feeling depressed, she walked around the streets for a while, only stopping when she reached a storefront that had some TVs lined up in the window, on display. "On today''s news. The new vrmmo using the latest full dive technology has become one of the hottest topics within the kingdom. Soul Fusion Online is not only a game to relax and play to have fun but also a good business opportunity. It is said that many players are making a good amount of money playing the game. Darrel, what do you think about this?"


    "All I know is that unless I see some kind of esport scenario, I will not put my money into any company. But I do see the game is quite popular. But then again, I''m pretty old fashioned."


    "I am also not going to dive in just yet myself, but there have been many who have stated they have made decent money. Whether this is a publicity stunt has yet to be seen. Now on to other news¡­."


    Yuki lost interest when they began talking about some hijacking. But the idea of making money in a game did sound somewhat appealing. The only issue for her was the cost of the equipment. Just the basic gear, which was a bulky helmet that looked highly uncomfortable, was not something she really wanted to wear. And the cost was not something she could afford.


    But even with this in mind, Yuki''s legs still carried her to a game shop called Gamer Heaven not far from where she was. She walked in to see many people inside browsing the games on the shelves. No one really took notice of her as she made her way down the aisle. She had about sixty crowns on hand after getting her final pay from the job she was just fired from. But the idea of getting easy money through playing a game was highly appealing. The game itself cost thirty crowns, but the equipment usually ran for around One hundred and sixty crowns, which was why she walked straight to the back of the store in hopes of maybe finding an old used headset in the used bin.


    This was not Yuki''s first time here. She actually had an old school game console that she liked to play in her free time. It was from this store that she had gotten it from and she had found it in the bin. The bin in question was large, about two meters by two meters square, and it was filled to the brim with old equipment. You could say it was the holy land for people looking for old consoles.


    Yuki lowered her face mask as she began digging through the bin, piling up old consoles to one side as she began her search. One corner at a time, breaking the bin up into four sections as she tried to find what she was looking for. Some people were staring at her, but she ignored them. It seemed that she did not realize how her actions seemed to be desperate. But in a way, they were. She was taking a gamble. She was just fired from her job. Her total amount of funds, including what she had received today, totaled one hundred crowns. With the loss of her part time job and no ability to pay her rent in full, she had no choice but to try to risk it all and hope she could earn some quick cash from playing a game. But everything came down to whether or not she could find a full dive headset that would allow her to play the game for cheap.


    As she dug and was getting to the bottom of the bin on the final side, Yuki''s eyes began to water up. She was starting to feel frustrated at herself and at the world. She could not understand why the world was being so unfair to her. When she looked down at the bottom of the bin and saw nothing there, she slumped to the floor. She did not care for her appearance. She only knew she had no way out. Without finding what she needed, her hopes of getting any kind of funds to offset what she had lost this week to pay rent went right out the window. At this rate, she would go hungry just to pay enough of the rent to not be kicked out. At least she hoped anyway.


    "Sir, can I help you?" A staff member of that store came over and asked. He had thought with the way Yuki was dressed that she was a boy.


    Yuki ignored the fact that the staff member called her ''sir'' and looked up at him with watery eyes as she asked. "Do you have any used headsets?"

 Chapter 5：Returning Home

    Hearing the staff member''s words caused Yuki to jump up and grab the man''s hands while shouting: "How much!?"


    "Huh? Ahh! Y-Yes, we have them ranging from twenty crowns to eighty crowns." The staff member was completely caught by surprise by Yuki''s actions causing him to fumble his words.


    Hearing that one would only cost her twenty crowns, Yuki''s eyes opened wide with excitement. "Can the twenty crown one run Soul Fusion Online?"


    "It can with a few upgrades." The staff member replied. But he quickly saw the light in Yuki''s eyes dim.


    "It does! Thank you!" Yuki quickly nodded her head and beamed a smile. This caused the young man''s heart to skip before suddenly feeling very awkward as he told himself repeatedly in his head: ''This is a man, not a woman!''. His sudden reaction to Yuki was not uncalled for. Right now, she does look like a young pretty boy. If she actually dressed like a girl and fixed her hair, she would be very pretty. But her current life did not allow for such things.


    With her new game and equipment and her wallet now fifty three crowns lighter, Yuki made her way home. The place she lived was basically an old hotel turned into a boarding house for females. But to her, it was more of a hooker hot spot because no matter the time of day, all you could hear was either moaning or yelling. Usually, the yelling part was two neighbors arguing about noise, or there was one time when two girls went at it over one guy. After punching, kicking, and pulling hair, the guy ended up paying a bit more to have both of them at the same time. These girls were all on drugs as well, so finding needles lying around was also the norm.


    As for Yuki, she could only lower her head and walk as fast as she could to her room which had three locks on the door. Luckily she had not run into any serious problems yet. Every once and a while, a man would be hanging out on the pathway drugged out of his mind. There had been a few times where someone tried to grab her, only for her to throw them off and run away.


    But this was something that Yuki was used to. Ever since childhood, she has had to live in places like this. Even the orphanage she grew up in after her parents died was run in a bad part of the city. On this night, though, as Yuki climbed the stairs, one of the girls had just come out of her room. This was Mary. She was one of the girls she grew up with and was also highly addicted to neo. A drug that became popular after the technology boom when the war ended. It was said to be the only drug that never gave you a bad trip. This was, of course, what Yuki had heard since she never wanted any part of that scene.


    "Yuki! There is a handsome young man on my bed right now passed out. How bout I do you a favor and let you take a little ride. You have to lose that virginity of yours some time, right? Hehe..." Mary said with a smile as she pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. From what Yuki could tell, Mary had barely anything on, just a long white shirt that hung over her shoulder. But just taking one look at her made Yuki feel some pity for the girl. At the orphanage, she was a bright and cheery girl, but when she turned sixteen, she fell into the wrong crowd and got addicted to neo, and began selling herself to cover her habit. Back then, they were close, and Mary was still very kind. Just her personality got warped. Since living here, Mary has helped her on a number of occasions from guys trying to get her to sell herself. It was also thanks to Mary she could live as safely as she was now.


    "No thanks, Mary. I will wait for the day I find someone I truly love and will love me back." Yuki gave a forced smile to Mary as she answered: "I got a paper to do. Be careful, don''t overdo it."


    "Your loss! Hehe¡­ Take care, Yuki, and don''t worry, I can never overdo it~!" Mary said, smiling away. She snuffed out her cigarette and returned to her room.


    Yuki also returned to her room and walked in. She was only three doors down from Mary''s place, and her neighbors were both paranoid drug addicts that only came out once and a while to go buy more drugs. Other than that, they were fairly quiet. It was only the lady under her that would cause Yuki a headache. Yuki was starting to wonder if the girl was actually a sex robot with how much sex the girl has. Luckily she found an old set of headphones in the trash and was able to wear them while at home to listen to music on the world net.


    The world net was the only way to go online now and was completely free. If this was the days of old, she would have had to pay a monthly fee to a service provider. But after the Evergreen family took over the world, they changed all that. Electricity and the internet, and all other necessary things became free of charge, which made the cost of living much cheaper and caused the price of rent to drop. Otherwise, she would not be able to live where she lived if that was the case.


    Putting her things down and taking off her hat and face mask, Yuki pulled the stick holding her bun in place out and let her black hair fall down. Yuki was someone who was always inside, so her skin was fair and white. Her big brown eyes that were normally hidden under the brim of her hat also came into view. She quickly took off her sweatshirt and removed her shoes. After triple checking to make sure her doors and windows were locked. Yuki finally pulled the helmet out of the bag. She had the store load Soul Fusion Online into the helmet already. So all she had to do was lay down and start it up.


    "My paper is not due for two days, and I need to figure out how to make money from the game, so I guess it would be best to research that before logging in..." Yuki walked over to her small desk and pulled out her laptop. This laptop was something she found on the side of the road. She got lucky when she brought it in to get it fixed up. Instead of spending a few hundred crowns for a used one, she only needed to spend fifty crowns to get it fixed up.


    After it started up, Yuki quickly went to check the world net. In the search bar for Fuoogle she typed in: "How to make money in Soul Fusion Online..."

 Chapter 6：Log In

    As soon as Yuki pressed enter, many websites popped up with the information she was looking for. After going over about twenty sites all about Soul Fusion Online, there was one thing that each one had in common, turning the ingame currency into cash. The currency in game was broken up into different forms. Bronze coins being the lowest, while platinum was the highest. It went bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. The denomination of reaching each one was also pretty linear. One hundred bronze coins equaled a single silver coin, while one hundred silver coins equaled a single gold coin. But when it came to platinum, it was one thousand gold coins for a single platinum coin. This huge jump surprised Yuki, but at this time, not a single person in the game had more than a few gold, never mind enough gold to create a single platinum.


    But the information that Yuki wanted to know most was the way ingame money was able to make you money in the real world. At this moment and time, a single silver was worth two crowns. To begin earning money as a beginner, it would be best to sell materials to other players for the market price and slowly gain silver from there. If you find any uncommon gear, it would also make you a few silver quick. The game had just started, so these kinds of things were in very high demand. The exchange rate minimum would never go below one silver equalling one crown, but this did not mean it would not go up when the demand was high. All exchanges would have three percent of the profits paid to the game company, Lost Souls, the creators of the game Soul Fusion Online.


    Although there were many vrmmos out on the scene, none of them came close to the world and advanced systems of Soul Fusion Online. Their technology was so advanced that they were able to create a living world where even the A.I. interacted like real humans you would see every day. Each one had their own life, name, and even families. If they died, they died. There was no respawning for NPCs. The world itself developed on its own except for when expansions were to be added. It was truly a world of its own, living and breathing in the minds of those who played it.


    Yuki looked over at her kitchen area. Though small in size, it was still a small countertop and a sink. It had many potted plants with herbs growing out of them, taking up the small space on the counter. She had a habit of making home remedies for herself since medicine was expensive. She wondered if such a skill would be useful in game. "I guess I can only test things out¡­ It states here that crafting items of any kind requires some real world knowledge, but if I can use my meager skills that I have acquired over the years to make something that can be helpful in game, it might sell right?"


    Yuki rested her chin between her thumb and index finger as she pondered over these things. "I guess I will have no other choice but to try different things. Maybe I will get lucky. "


    "Now then..." Yuki switched off her computer and then stretched her arms. She looked over at the clock and saw that it was already reaching midnight. "I should probably hurry and do my paper¡­ I hate having to do computer science, though. And I just shut my laptop down too..."


    Letting out a sigh, Yuki switched her laptop back on and began work on her paper. It was not until almost three in the morning when she finally finished it. Yuki pinched her brow and frowned when she took her headphones off and heard the moaning going on down below. She turned her laptop off and went directly to get her full dive headset out, and pulled it out of its box. She laid its instructions out in front of her on the bed while tuning out the noises around her. "Instructions to calibrate the headset¡­ Put the full dive helmet on and switch it on. Follow directions on the screen to do movement calibrations. Make sure to follow the instructions precisely to get the best neural connection between the system and your brain. When all is green, you may select the game you wish to play and connect. Seems simple enough..."


    Yuki picked up the helmet off the bed and put it on. The noises she was hearing quickly disappeared, which surprised Yuki but at the same time put a smile on her face. "This I can get used to."


    She reached to the side of the helmet and pressed the ''on'' button. A light blue image appeared in front of her with some text.


    [Loading...]


    [New start up...]


    [Please calibrate the system...]


    The scene suddenly changed to that of a small town.


    [Please stay standing during calibration...]


    [Calibration will now begin...]


    [Raise right arm...]


    Yuki followed each step exactly as it asked. Each step she had to repeat five times. It consisted of lifting her limbs up and down, moving her fingers, bending over, jumping, moving her head, and many other maneuvers. Each one allowed her to do these things standing in place.


    [Calibration complete¡­]


    [You may now lie down...]


    [Warning¡­ You will be put into a sleep state while playing a game. While sleep is good, too much sleep can be detrimental to your health. As a safety precaution, please set an alarm to remind you to log out of the game before logging in to the game of your choice.]


    [Would you like to set an alarm now?]


    "I have no classes until noon, so set the alarm for 10 A.M., please." Yuki was happy she got to spend a decent amount of time in the game for her first time playing. It was only about six hours, but it was still quite a bit of play time. For Yuki anyway.


    [Alarm now set for 10 A.M.]


    [Please select your game.]


    Yuki only had one icon to choose from, so she quickly selected Soul Fusion Online and then felt herself become very sleepy. Seconds later, her eyes opened, and she found herself in a foggy area. A new window popped up in front of her.


    [Syncing Brain Waves¡­. 10%]


    As the number rose, the area around her became clearer and clearer. Once it hit one hundred percent, Yuki almost let out a scream when she found herself high up in the air. A big logo appeared in front of her.


    [Welcome to Soul Fusion Online, a world where fantasies become a reality.]

 Chapter 7：Character Creation

    "Let''s see. Registration needs a user name, password, email, and bio link. " As she was a new player, Yuki had to create a new account. After filling all the information in, she was finally able to log in completely.


    As the title screen changed to the character creation screen, her first option was to choose male or female, and this was something Yuki decided to put a lot of thought into. "From what I understand, many males parade around as girls in these games to get their fantasy kicks. But this is also because they can use the female avatar to swindle other male players to give them things. To be honest, I do not want to deal with males hitting on me. I deal with enough of that crap just trying to get into my room. Half of which, do not even realize I am female. So I will go with this."


    Yuki selected her gender as male. The screen swiped away, and a male figure stood in front of her in all its glory, minus a certain part. "Thank god! I did not want to have to walk around with that hanging between my legs. Then again, this is a game for early teens and up. Let''s see here¡­ In real life, I am short at one hundred and sixty one centimeters. Sooo¡­ let''s make him taller than me by the size of a normal male height at around one hundred and eighty two centimeters¡­ Now for muscles¡­ Eh, average build. I hate large muscles, and I do not want to be too big around the stomach area¡­ For hair... Let''s go black in color like mine, neck length, and tied back. Yeah, that looks good¡­ As for the face¡­ What if I use mine but adjust the sliders like this to make it more masculine¡­ Hmm, not bad, very handsome. Sadly still not my type but good looking at least."


    Yuki spun the avatar around multiple times, adjusting the slider here and there. When she was finally done, she smiled and nodded her head in approval. Even though it used her face with the sliders to adjust things a bit, it was almost impossible to connect her with the avatar. Although certain things still matched her features, she still figured no one would be able to tell it was her. Not that she had anyone who would recognize her.


    "Now to name my sexy new manvatar. " Yuki chuckled at her own joke. She was truly a master at amusing herself. "Let''s see¡­ Hiro? No, that is dumb¡­ What if I try to match my own name? Yuki¡­ Yuki¡­ Yuki¡­. Shiro? No¡­ Snow? Err¡­ Why can I only think of names for women? Men are supposed to be tough and manly, right? I know! Ryu! This works since it means dragons and dragons can be manly, right?"


    Yuki questioned herself as she tried to figure out in her head if dragons were manly or not. Unfortunately for her, someone who has zero interactions with men, other than those who try to hit on her, she could only make assumptions. But then a thought came to mind. "The game has been out for a while now, so I doubt I can use it..."


    Crossing her fingers, Yuki entered the three letters and hit enter. To her surprise, she was not notified it was taken, and the screen switched over to a class selection screen. Seeing this, Yuki became happy knowing her name was available. "So these are the classes for the game."


    Yuki looked at the long list in front of her. Each one displayed an avatar with a weapon except one. "The one with the sword in its hand is a Swordsman. They are a DPS(Damage Per Second) class. They have high mobility and can solo fairly easily. Next up is¡­ Shielder... This is a tank class that uses a large shield and no weapon. The shields can be swung around to hit things, bash into things, or block incoming attacks.


    "Next up is the Sword Dancer class which is a class that uses dual swords. They can deal decent damage with their swords alone, but they are mainly a support class that uses sword dances to buff the party members. Interesting. It is as if some of these classes were tailored for certain real life activities. A dancing class like this could not only help a person who wishes to learn dance or already is, but it can also help someone who dances learn to protect themselves.


    "I think my thought process can also be applied to the other classes as well. This game was really thought out in this sense. Besides Sword Dancer, there is a class called Shadow, which is more like an assassin class. Monk, which is a tank and DPS class that uses either bare knuckle or fist weapons. Priest for healing and Soul Wielder for magic. And lastly¡­" Yuki looked at the final class. It was generically named NoClass.


    "No Class, is a class that has no bounds but has lower abilities points, AP for short, for each level up. It is basically a jack of all trades class but harder to level up." Yuki stared at this class for a while before looking at the difference in AP. All classes got 3 AP per level up. These points could be spent on new skills needed to make life easier, such as killing monsters or healing. But for the No Class, you only gained one 1 AP per level, and even though you had access to all class trees, to gain a single spell from a class tree, it would cost 3 AP, and that was just for the starting skills for each class.


    "I am a bit conflicted. Although this sounds bad, it is actually not as bad as it seems¡­ If a player like me, who is just playing the game for fun and money, and most likely will end up solo, then this is a perfect class since I can use skills from the other classes to help me along¡­ While the other classes all have their unique qualities and have a stats boost that comes with each class, I find it hard to associate my loner self with these other classes, which may need me to have others playing alongside me. So I will go with No Class even if I am at a disadvantage later in game. " Besides the fact that she planned to solo, she really wanted a character that can do a little of everything. She did not like being locked to a single class and preferred the freedom to decide how she wished to build her character.


    The thing about her train of thought was that many felt the same way at first. That was until they discovered one fatal flaw. Soul Fusion Online was a very difficult game when it came to combat. So after many deaths and slow leveling, those who tried the No Class ended up rerolling for a class specific character. It was even spread on the internet that No Class was a useless trash class, and now no one even dared to try it.


    "Last is my in game voice¡­ Hmmm, Heroic! I, the hero, am here to save the day! No, this won''t work. Savvy¡­ Miss fancy meeting you here. Do you come here often? No? That''s a shame... Seeing an angel like you¡­ Akk... No! Deep? I am Ryu! Hear me roar! Feminine? She sells seashells at the seashore. The shells she sells are seashells I''m sure! No! No! Masculine¡­ Hello all, my name is Ryu¡­." Yuki thought for a moment before nodding her head. "Yeah, this is not bad. It takes my voice and deepens it enough to make it sound male. I will go with this."

 Chapter 8：Tutorial

    As the area lit up once again, Yuki found herself in a small blue room with white lights flashing by her. "This place is¡­?"


    "The second part is a system overview. You will learn the ins and outs of the system as well as what each button and icon do and an explanation on how world drops work and how death works.


    "The third and final part of this tutorial, we will put everything together, and you will be given a basic tutorial on fighting. Your first test will begin now¡­."


    Yuki found her surroundings changing, and she suddenly found herself in a town that seemed like ancient China with how the buildings looked. What amazed her was how realistic everything looked. "This is really amazing."


    "I am glad you think so!" A voice came from behind Yuki, startling her. She quickly turned around to see a young girl standing there. The clothes she was wearing looked very fitting for this setting. It was a blue Hanfu with white trim. Her blonde hair was rolled up into two little buns giving her an oriental vibe.


    "Umm¡­ Hello." Yuki said, giving a small bow of her head.


    "Hello! I am your tutorial trainer Mi. I will not waste time because no one likes these kinds of tutorials, so I will get right to it. As you are already able to turn around without issue, this saves some time. Please walk to the end of this road to the fountain and sit down. Then get up and run back. Once you have done that, we can then set you up with your starter gear. I am sure you do not wish to run around naked for too long now, do you? Although for a handsome young man like you, I would not mind it." Mi blushed slightly, averting her eyes but slowly taking peeks back and forth at Yuki. Yuki''s only thought to this was: ''This game has perverted NPCs?''


    Not wanting to waste time or walk around naked, Yuki did as she was told and quickly completed the task. She did, however, feel that moving around in a body that was not hers was quite amazing and seemed very natural. Even the extra height she added on did not affect her abilities. To do a quick test, she checked her flexibility, and it matched what she had in the real world.


    "Hehe, it is good you are enjoying yourself. Now then, let''s get some clothes on you, handsome. They say clothes make the man, so be sure to wear clothes, or you may just end up with quite a few girls chasing you down the street." Mi snickered and waved her hand. A system notice popped up in front of Yuki.


    [Received Beginner box!]


    "Now to go over the system information. This is all based on thought. To start, it is best to use a word activation, but once you get used to it, you can just think of what you want to open in your mind, and it will open. So to start, let''s have you say inventory." Mi instructed.


    Yuki nodded and said: "Inventory." When she did, a menu popped up and showed thirty inventory slots and with the image of a box taking up one of those slots. Below there was a trash bin icon and a line showing how much gold she had.


    "Good! Now go ahead and open the box. When you do, the box will disappear, and the items inside will fill up some of your slots. Equip your items after they appear" As Mi said this, she was doing a few circles around Yuki as if she was trying to imprint Yuki''s figure into her mind.


    Yuki did what she did best and ignored the strange NPC as she tapped the icon and made the box open. What spawned in her inventory was a grey colored shirt, pants, and boots. Along with it was a wooden sword called a training sword. Altogether the items gave 4 to Defense. The chest gave the most at 2 defense while the boots and pants gave 1 defense. As for the training sword, it was a wooden sword that gave 3 attack Power. Yuki opened the tab to the side that said equipment, and a window slid out, revealing equipment slots for the entire body, fingers, wrist, and neck. Along with a few extra slots for special items. Next to this was a status screen that showed all her basic stats. Currently, without equipment on her stats looked like this.


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: No Class


    Cultivation Stage: N/A


    Level: 0/20


    [Health]: 100/100


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 10


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 0


    [Luck]: 0


    [Status Points]: 0


    After equipping all the items, she received only defense, and Attack Power went up.


    [Defence]: 0 ¡ú 4


    [Attack Power]: 10 ¡ú 13


    "Not bad! Dashing almost. Sadly these clothes do not bring out your true charm, but I am sure as your level rises, you will be able to get some better looking items and look every bit the man you are. Anyway, as you can see, after equipping the items I gave you, the defense and attack power went up a few points due to the additional attributes these items give you. Even though these items are only beginner duds, they are not too shabby if I do say so myself!" Mi looked at Yuki, her eyes big and wide as if she was expecting something, but Yuki still ignored her and waited for the NPC to get on with things. She was afraid if she spoke, she might make the NPC mad at her because she actually wanted to know how these so called beginner duds, as Mi had called it, with all their holes and patched work done to them, along with the heavy musty smell were considered not too shabby. She was a poor person and mended her own clothes. Although her clothes looked alright, even she would never call her clothes not too shabby but pure shabby, and the clothes she was currently wearing in game were more like dirty rags someone tossed in the trash.


    Seeing that Yuki was not going to praise her and even looked at the clothes with a strange expression, Mi cleared her throat and continued: "Ahem¡­ Anyway, let''s continue with the inner workings of the menu system."

 Chapter 9：Menus

    "Since you now understand how to use the inventory and equipment menu, I will not elaborate more on that. But I will explain a few things about death. On death, you will drop everything in your inventory to the ground. Now¡­ If you die to a monster, you will not need to worry about people looting your corpse. Corpse looting can only happen when you are killed by a player. This means if you die to any player, no matter who it is, the items in your inventory will drop. The dropped items will then be lootable by anyone. So even your killer can be killed by someone else, and then their loot along with your own will become the third killer''s prize.


    Yuki followed along with Mi''s instructions and called up the trade skill menu. It wasn''t much of anything except a bunch of tabs that had empty lists and progress bars that showed a person''s proficiency in certain trade skills.


    After taking a deep breath, Mi continued her explanation, "As you can see, your trade skill menu is basically empty besides the tabs. Trade skills are honed in game and in the real world. You will need to study up on each trade skill in order to begin working with them in game. You can find some basic information about each trade skill for a price in towns and cities. Soul Fusion Online prefers if you learn about these skills in the real world and bring them in game. But a little tip since you are so handsome. All trade skills items in game can be made however you wish and will have different results based on the player who makes them.


    "As an example¡­ Let''s say Player A makes a low quality health potion using basic known ingredients. They sell their low quality potions for ten copper each. But then Player B comes along with their low quality potion, but not only does it restore more health than Player A''s low quality potion, but it also has a heal over time, or HOT for short, effect. They can then go and sell their low quality potions with its extra effects for fifty copper, making much more money than Player A. This is due to the ingredients used. So do not be afraid to experiment. " Mi smiled as she finished saying this. It might not seem too big of a deal for Mi to tell Yuki this info, but to Yuki, this information was very useful.


    "One last thing, for trade skills, unless you make your own tools, you have to use a trade skill room which comes with all the tools needed to make the items you want. You can rent these rooms at the trade skill guild for that profession. For more information on this, please visit the local trade skill guild. Now, moving on." Mi took another deep breath as she continued.


    "The second to last important menu you will see is the skill window. You can call it up by saying the keyword ''skill''. This will show you the skill of your class. As for you who chose the No Class class, you will see each skill tree. In order to unlock a skill, you will need to spend AP, which is rewarded by a certain amount upon leveling up. There is not much more to be explained about this, so play around with your builds as you please." While Mi was explaining things, Yuki was looking at the massive list of skills for each class and was very surprised at how many there were.


    "This now brings us to the last menu. The system menu. You can bring it up by simply saying System. On this screen, you will find buttons for setting alarms, reminders, and logging out. There is also a GM (Game Master) call button at the bottom if you really need to speak to one of the staff.


    "This now concludes the basic knowledge section of Soul Fusion Online''s menu system. Please note that in the future, things may change when patches and game expansions are introduced. So please read patch notes carefully. With all that said, it is now time for the final portion of your training! Combat! I will go over the HUD (heads up display) and leveling system. This is very important information, and I will only say it once. So please listen carefully. If you need a refresher on any of this information, please go to the Soul Fusion Online website for more information." Mi seemed to be getting bogged down by having to explain all these things. Yuki found it quite amazing for an A.I. to act so realistically. If Yuki did not know this was a game in a virtual world, she would think Mi was a real person.


    "In the upper left corner, you will notice your name and below that three bars with numbers on them. This is your health, mana, and stamina. Health is pretty much self-explanatory, but to sum it up, if you reach zero, you will die. Mana is how you cast some of your skills, and stamina is the same as well. This, of course, is based on your class. If you are teamed with other players, they will also appear on your HUD with similar displays.


    "Now for the leveling system. Every player starts off with no levels and no cultivation in order to reach the first stage of the fortification realm. You will need to level up to level 20. Each level will grant you 5 Status Points or SP for short. These points can be used to raise the stats you can find next to the equipment window in your inventory. The stats it can raise are Health, Mana, Stamina, Attack Power, Magic Power. Each point of SP will add 1 point to the stat you added it to. For example¡­ If your health is 100 and you add five points of SP, then your health will become 105 for its max. If this is still confusing, please refer to the Soul Fusion Online website.


    "In order to gain levels, you will need to accumulate experience points. This will come from the monsters you kill as you progress through the game. You can also gain small amounts of experience as you craft items as well. However, this method is much slower than killing monsters. Experience per monster is based on the level of the monster and type. There are many types of monsters, from normal monsters, mutants, elite, field boss, dungeon boss, to name a few. If monsters are killed within a team, the amount of experience for that monster is split up between you and your teammates.


    "For teams dealing with monster loot drops, the team leader can set up three looting modes. Free for all looting where anyone can loot whatever. Round robin where looting is cycled per monster kill for each player to loot. And finally, the need and greed method where you roll for the items. The winner of the roll will then receive the item. That is it for the explanation on looting. Before we get to actual combat, I need to ask if you have any questions." Mi explained as she smiled at Yuki.


    "I have one question. Where do I go to sell currency once I have gained it?" This was the most important question to Yuki. It was a question that dealt with her livelihood.


    "Each town and city has a market you can access. In the market menu, you will see a button for currency. The market deals with both regular items and currency. The only difference between the two is that the market value of currency has a minimum threshold. 1 silver will never be worth less than 1 crown. But prices may rise. Any other questions?" Mi asked.


    "No, that was what I was wondering about the most."

 Chapter 10：Practice Battle

    "Alright! Since there are no more questions, we will now begin the last part of the tutorial. And that is a practice battle." Mi announced excitedly.


    Yuki watched as the world around her suddenly changed. She found herself in an arena like those from ancient times. It was a large flat dirt area with high seating surrounding it. The seats were empty, of course, but Yuki could see the banners fluttering in the wind. "Okay, for this first battle, you will be fighting, mister strawman! "


    Mi''s voice filled the arena, but when Yuki looked around, she did not see her. However, she did see a strange straw man wearing metal armor standing in front of her. Yuki drew her wooden sword and got into a sword like stance, and readied herself for combat. "In this first practice battle, you can not die. So go ahead and get used to dodging, parrying, and attacking. There will be no specific instructions since everyone''s combat style is different, so feel free to use whatever style suits you best. With that said, let the battle of the handsome young man versus the strawman begin!"


    As soon as Mi''s voice finished, the straw man drew the sword at its side and charged at Yuki, startling her greatly. The strawman''s sword came thrusting towards her head, causing her to jump back and swing her sword in front of her. A clunking sound was heard as the two wooden swords clashed. "Ouch..." Yuki grimaced as the vibration of the contact shook her arm, almost making her lose her grip on her sword.


    "Seems I will need to learn more about weapons..." Yuki muttered to herself. This time she went on the offensive and struck out at the strawman who easily blocked her attack. Using her flexibility and the self taught martial arts that she has always practiced, Yuki bent her body forward, throwing her leg up from behind her, and kicked the strawman in the face with the bottom of her foot, sending it tumbling backwards. She quickly flipped back upright and stabbed out at the strawman with her sword stabbing it in the chest. The strawman stopped moving and slumped down to the ground.


    "Dumm dee dumm! Amazing! Very well done! Now for the real thing. The next match will be against a prisoner from the Fathhomed Depths. It is a prison built at the bottom of a gorge full of powerful monsters. This man is named the crimson hammer. He is a man who has killed many. For this tutorial, his level has been reduced to level 0, and his cultivation stripped. Now do not get too happy just yet. This man has years of experience and is still just as good at combat, even at his current level. Now ready yourself! Let the battle start!" Mi''s voice echoed throughout the arena.


    The man standing across from Yuki was a tall, burly man with an ear to ear beard and a bald head with a large scar across it. "Haha! They say I only need to survive fighting against you, and I will be set free. I can''t wait to go on a murdering spree again. So little pretty boy, you best die quickly, you hear?"


    Yuki frowned. She readied her sword and this time carefully watched the man in front of her. The man had a small dagger and was passing it back and forth between his left and right hand. She watched as he disgustingly licked his lips and then made his move. Yuki frowned at how much faster this man was. It was like she suddenly went from fighting a slime to the end game boss after a single battle. Although big, the man was very nimble on his feet. He did not move in a straight line but side to side. But what Yuki was mainly staring at was not his feet nor the dagger in his hand but the movement of his muscles in his arms.


    One thing she learned while watching martial arts training videos was to watch the muscles in the shoulders and hips because they can tell the general direction and kind of an attack that was coming at her. As soon as she saw some movement in the waist and a twitch of the muscles in the right shoulder, even if the dagger was not in the man''s right hand, she quickly moved to her right, spinning her body towards the man and lifted her foot up high into the air. The sword in her hand swept out in front of her all at the same time.


    Everything happened so fast that Mi, who was overseeing the battle, mouth fell open when she saw what happened. Even the man who thought that Yuki was going to be easy to kill was struck dumb at what was going on. The sound of wood hitting the ground could be heard as the man looked down at his stomach at the hand which was holding the dagger that was originally in his hand now stabbed deep into his abdomen. "How?"


    "Your shoulder twitched." Yuki said as she brought her leg down, slamming it right on top of the man''s head. The man slumped to the floor face first.


    Mi suddenly appeared at Yuki''s side, bent over, and checked the man''s pulse. "He is dead... I must say, although you are handsome, you are very deadly¡­" Mi paused and looked at Yuki, blinking her big beautiful eyes, grabbed Yuki''s hands, and coyly asked: "Soo¡­. How about you and me go have a bite to eat after you select your starting point? I can teleport right to you. What do you say?"


    Seeing this sudden change of attitude and the cringy way Mi was asking her out, Yuki quickly pulled her hands back, bowed her head, and said: "Sorry, I have plans as soon as I get in game."


    "Wha!? Fine¡­ Well¡­ If you change your mind, let Mi know, okay? I will surely show you a good time, handsome!"Mi winked at Yuki before changing the subject. "Now, as you have defeated your opponent, It is now time for you to pick your starting area. I wish you good luck on your adventures. I took the liberty to add my name to the friends'' list, which is not covered in this tutorial. Just use the keyword social, and it will bring up the menu. Don''t forget to contact me, handsome! Bye bye!"

 Chapter 11：First Steps

    As the scene in front of Yuki changed once again, a menu showing four different areas appeared in front of her. Above it was a message that said: [Please choose a starting village.]


    Each icon was an image of the village with its name and basic information. The four choices were¡­


    Flim Village, a village on the outskirts of the Wandering Forest. The surrounding area flourishes with flora and fauna.


    Miir Village, a village that sits at the bottom of the Gand Mountain range. Many types of ores and gems can be found in the area.


    Sloso Village, a village in the Eternal Plains. Many varieties of monsters can be found in the Eternal Plains.


    Kiloko Village, a village that sits on the edge of Deaths Gorge. Many sightings of rare monsters could be found around the area.


    "Each place seems to have its own specialty. But my choice here is not hard. Flim village is the only place I can start if I wish to hopefully make enough money in the next few days to cover rent and eat." Yuki, firm in her decision, hit the icon for Flim Village.


    The scenery instantly changed, and Yuki found herself in the middle of a village under a huge statue of a woman with swords surrounding her body. Her arm was stretched out as if she was commanding the swords, and by the way her feet were sculpted, it made it look as if she was floating in the air. Yuki looked around and was shocked to see how real everything looked. There were a lot of people all over the place running around. People were shouting left and right, trying to sell their goods. Yuki could only guess that those in the same kind of attire as her were players. Besides this little detail, it was hard to figure out who was an NPC and who was a player.


    Yuki looked around and tried to determine the road that led out of village. From which she could see, there was the main road that cut right through the village, which she was currently on. The buildings of the village seemed to be a fusion of ancient China and ancient Europe. There were no tall buildings from what she could see. The tallest building was only four floors. It was very different from the cities that now cover ninety percent of the real world.


    "For now, I will follow this main road to the end and see if it leads to the exit. If it doesn''t, then I will ask someone for directions. Although it would be kind of embarrassing to need to ask someone how to exit a village you were already in." Yuki mumbled to herself as she walked forward, heading down the road.


    A smile rose on Yuki''s lips as she walked around looking at the sights. For her, someone who was always in the city, in run down areas, to see such beautiful scenery was like a dream come true. Up until now, Yuki has only played the old Pac Station 20 that she salvaged from the used bin at the game store, Game Heaven. While the graphics were amazing on the screen, seeing it like this firsthand was a whole different experience.


    As she walked, she did not notice the females she walked by taking glances at her. This was to be expected. As a female in real life, Yuki was very cute. She had used her own facial features and adjusted them slightly to make them more manly, but in the end, she still looked like a young pretty boy, and most girls liked looking at handsome men. This was the same for the NPCs as well. They were not coded to be realistic for nothing.


    Once Yuki reached the gates of the village, her eyes were filled with lush greenery as a wide grassy area spread out in front of her, and just beyond that was a dense forest. Yuki saw many players out there killing what looked to be rabbits. They were the size of a large dog and had long pointy ears that pointed skywards. However, even though they were rabbits, they did not look cute at all. They had long, sharp fangs that hung from their mouth with drool dripping from them. When they opened their mouths, they had three rows of small razor sharp teeth. The most dangerous feature about them was the two pointy horns on their head resting a little under the ears. These horns were used to ram players, trying to skewer them in two. When Yuki focused on them, she could see a small bar at the top of her HUD that showed its level, health bar, and name. They were called Devil Rabbits and were level 0.


    "I do not think I should be fighting those just yet. I should work on my main task... " Yuki once again mumbled to herself as she scanned the plants in the area. ''Just in view, there are already a bunch of useful herbs. There is a ton of chamomile and lavender. If I were to make a Health potion, it would be useful, right? So what would a health potion be made of? Maybe I should have checked the market price and the trade skill guild first...''


    Yuki sighed as she realized she was in too much of a rush. ''At any rate, since I am already here, let''s fill my bag with herbs.''


    Yuki did not have any other way to make money as she saw it now. She could try grinding monsters and leveling up, but from what she read, the only good items at this level that might drop would be of the uncommon quality. But the drop rate on such things is so low that it would make farming for an uncommon item a waste of time. Especially since by the time you got one, you would most likely be way over its level, and it would be useless to you.


    "Time to get plucking, I guess..." Yuki said out loud, trying to hype herself up. She hoped that after everything, she did not make a big mistake. She was basically putting everything into one basket in hopes that it would bring in the income she needed. She knew this was a huge risk, and she was not usually one to gamble like this, but she was desperate at the time.


    But now, everything was set into motion. The one who would soon cause storm waves throughout all of Soul Fusion Online had taken her first steps to become one of the most legendary players ever known.

 Chapter 12：Lucky Find

    "Let''s see, that is 99 chamomile, 99 lavender, 50 basil, and almost 200 of this bluegrass¡­" Yuki mumbled to herself as she looked at her inventory. She had spent the past hour doing nothing but plucking anything she could put her hands on that looked worth it. She had already cleaned out a small area right down to the dirt with her foraging. "I should probably head into the forest a little ways and see what I can find there. If I can find a few more varieties, it will give me more to work with."


    With this thought in mind, Yuki walked into the tree line and scanned the forest floor. She found a few patches of mushrooms, which she would need to test to see if they were poisonous or not, but even without knowing, she still grabbed all she could. She figured she would have to take some time after classes tomorrow and head to the library at her college and take out some books on botany, forest foraging, and herbs. If there was really anything she was good at, it was studying.


    Yuki continued deeper into the forest, lost in her own little world, not realizing she was actually being stalked. While the field outside the city was good for levels 1-5, the forest was a different story. The level of the monsters quickly climbed, and the lowest was level 4. Besides devil rabbits, there were also horror mushrooms that hide under bush type plants and stalk their prey. These mushrooms looked cute at first glance with their big round eyes on top of their mushroom cap and the cute little ''eep eep'' sound they made as they bounced towards you in a friendly manner. But as soon as you try to reach out and pet one of these things, the cap on their head lifts up, revealing a disgusting mouth with rows of teeth and purple poisonous saliva. On top of that, they have a long tongue that acts like a frog''s tongue that can shoot out of their mouths and grab ahold of you. The name horror mushroom fit them well. In essence, they were the biggest swindlers in the game. That is, if you do not count chest mimics.


    Currently, as Yuki was in her own little world foraging away, right behind her was said horror mushroom. It bounced calmly out of the bush towards Yuki. Its soft body hardly made a sound as it did. Its cap raised up, revealing its horrifying mouth, and just as it was about to shoot its tongue out and wrap it around Yuki''s neck, a wooden sword was suddenly shoved into its mouth. "Do you mind? I am busy!" Yuki yelled angrily. She was currently trying to dig out the root of this plant that seemed to be a wild root yam. She had no tools but her sword to work with, and now the tip of her sword was covered in dirt.


    "EEEEEEPPPP!!!!" The horror mushroom suddenly let out an ear piercing cry. And before Yuki could even react, she felt five slimy things wrapped around her body. There was a loud cracking sound, and before she knew it, everything went dark. A window appeared in front of her that had a countdown.


    [You died! Resurrection in 5...]


    Five seconds later, Yuki found herself on a small platform with a bunch of angel looking statues looking down at her. "Ugh¡­ I was careless." Yukie frowned as she looked at her inventory that was now empty. "Well, I guess I need to go back and get my items¡­ I will be more careful this time."


    Thirty minutes later¡­


    "Damnit!" This time just as she was about to pick up her lost items, a devil rabbit appeared out of nowhere and drilled its horns into her.


    Another thirty minutes later¡­.


    "Really!? What the hell is this kind of luck! That thing was level 10!" When she returned to her first corpse where her items were, she was extra careful, making sure no monsters were around, but after picking her items up and going back to work on digging up the wild yam root, a treant appeared out of nowhere, and insta killed her.


    Yuki scratched her head in frustration before pursing her lips and heading back to the forest. She would not give up all the herbs she had gotten. Most people would have already given up and went on to do something else, but not Yuki. If she worked hard at something, there was no way she was going to give it up. You could say she was a stubborn person at heart. When she got to the edge of the forest, Yuki drew her sword and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "Come on, Yuki, get your items and dig up that root. We can do this!"


    She had not given up on that root yet. She had almost worked to the bottom of the plant and dug up a big batch of wild yam root, so there was no way she was giving up. Yuki made sure to check every bush she walked by, by stabbing into it. The whole area seemed to be clear this time as she arrived at her digging spot. She picked up the loot bag that had all her herbs in it and stored it away. She looked around carefully once more and even took the time to stab all the bushes again just to be safe before kneeling down and digging as fast as she could using her sword. Ten more minutes went by, and finally, Yuki''s lips curled up into a big smile. "Finally!"


    [Ring of Minor Luck]


    [Rarity: Uncommon]


    [Unique: Automatically bound to whoever picks it up. Only one of its kind.]


    [A ring that brings its wearer a little bit of luck.]


    [Adds 5 Luck.]


    "Not bad!" Yuki raised the ring out in front of her and looked at it. Although slightly dirty from being covered in dirt, it still glistened in the light that passed through the treetops of the forest. She blew off the excess dirt on it and wiped it down with her shirt. When she was done, she quickly equipped it.


    [Luck]: 0 ¡ú 5


    Yuki saw that the item was an uncommon one which made her even happier since uncommon items were already very rare. She looked at the shiny ring on her finger that was nothing more than a silver band and felt all her trouble was well worth it. With her loot in hand, Yuki looked at the clock to see she had about two hours left before she needed to log out. "I guess I will try to kill some monsters or maybe pick up some scraps of loot that people leave behind."


    With this thought in mind, Yuki headed out of the forest towards the entrance of the village.

 Chapter 13：First Meeting

    Yuki walked out of the forest and saw that the field outside the village was not as packed as before. But one thing she did notice was all the random loot that no one wanted, lying on the ground. With eyes shining, Yuki''s lips curled up as she said: "Don''t mind if I do!"


    She quickly ran over to the first loot pile and began looting the bones, hides, blood, and any other items that were lying on the ground. There was a silly grin on her face, so players who looked over at the scavenger who was looting all the waste loots shook their heads, wondering if Yuki had lost her mind.


    With people just leaving loot on the ground without much hint of picking it up, Yuki really did run around the field picking things up. When she felt she had enough, she decided to call it a day. She looked at her inventory and nodded in satisfaction. "This should do it for now. I got enough to mix and match."


    With so many materials in her inventory, Yuki quickly ran back into the village and headed to the one place she knew she could easily recover her stuff, the resurrection point. The reason why she was heading there was because she had quite a few plants that she did not know the effects of, and instead of just mixing them with other things, Yuki decided it would be best to test them out by the only way she knew¡­ Eating them¡­


    As she ran through the village, she saw that the streets were easier to walk through. But from the current time of day, this was a given since most were already at school or working. Yuki made her way to the resurrection point and found a spot next to one of the angel statues, and sat down. She then opened her inventory and took out the first mushroom. "This is called a conocybe filaris..."


    Yuki took a bite, and then a purple icon appeared next to her name. Now the mushroom she ate normally would take a while to show signs of being poisoned, but in game, things were different. Yuki watched helplessly as her health dropped to zero. 5 seconds later¡­ "Thank god I did not eat one of those in the forest..." Yuki mumbled as she picked up her items and took out the next mushroom.


    After dying and resurrecting over and over again, Yuki organized her inventory so that all the poisonous plants were all at the bottom and all the things that were safe were at the top. She checked her time and saw that she had about thirty minutes left before she had to get up so she decided it was time to log off. "When I get back from my classes, I will do a bit of research and begin trying to concoct some medicines. I will also need to figure out how to get some tools for making things. Maybe the trade skill guild can help with that."


    After thinking for a bit, Yuki could only let out a sigh as she knew she might need to make some money in game soon. Feeling a little frustrated that she was both poor in real life and in game, Yuki went to find a spot to log out. Once she did, her eyes opened, and she felt more refreshed than she had ever felt before. Normally she would be woken up a few times a night due to the noises around her, but with how the noise cancellation worked with this helmet, it made everything peaceful.


    This was the only time of the day where the building was quiet. After rubbing her eyes, Yuki got up and stretched before she walked over to her small sink and washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She took a sniff of her clothes before frowning a bit. She then sprayed some perfume on herself before balling her hair up and putting a hat on. She took some fresh clothes and put them in a backpack, and then grabbed what she needed for school.


    The building she lived in had a shower room, but it was not really a place you would want to shower. Especially since the door was broken and anyone could walk in on you. Now, this may not be such a big deal for the girls who sold themselves every day, but for Yuki, she refused to use the shower. She would take her clothes to school and use the shower room there where she knew it was sanitary and that she would not be walked in on.


    After double checking to make sure she had everything, Yuki grabbed her face mask, put it on, lowered her hat over her face, and headed out the door. She triple checked to make sure everything was locked before actually leaving. This was a major OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) that she had. She could not leave the house unless she had triple checked all the locks.


    She made her way down the street, which was not as busy as it was at night. The sounds of sirens could be heard all over, and sometimes things would be tossed out of the window of flying cars that passed overhead. After a while, she finally arrived at the gates to her college. She showed the guard her ID and continued on in. She was still early and had time before class, so she walked straight to the showers.


    "Are you going to move?" The silvered haired girl asked as she shot an annoyed look at Yuki.


    Hearing the girl''s attitude made Yuki frown. Yuki knew who this girl was. She was the college princess. No, she was actually a princess. Princess Trisha Evergreen. She was the 9th princess of the Evergreen royal family. She was what you would call the unwanted princess. This was why she was going to this college instead of the Evergreen Royal Academy, where the other princesses and princes went. The circulating rumor was that she was the daughter of a maid that the king slept with. Whether it was true or not, no one knew. But none of this mattered to Yuki since she never believed in rumors nor cared about others'' upbringing. What she cared about was what she saw at face value. And¡­ Yuki hated people like Trisha. She disliked the stuck up personality that Trisha had. Yuki narrowed her eyes as she said: "You know... It is more polite to say ''excuse me'' instead of being so rude. But as a commoner with no parents or correct upbringing, maybe I am wrong. So this subject will give way. Be careful not to trip, Princess. The floor can get slippery when wet."


    Yuki moved to the side to let Trisha through. She even bowed her head and motioned with her arms for Trisha to pass. Seeing all this, Trisha frowned as she walked forward without another word. Yuki paid her no mind as she walked into the shower room, letting the door close behind her.

 Chapter 14：Annoying People

    In the dressing room wrapped in a towel, Trisha looked at the closed door to the shower room and frowned. She was not mad at what Yuki had just said but at herself because of how she acted. "When will I be able to act like myself..." Trisha mumbled as she dried her hair. She was not in the best of moods.


    Inside the shower room, Yuki had already forgotten about her run in with Trisha. As soon as that hot water began pelting her skin, her whole body relaxed, washing away all her problems. It had been a few days since her last shower. She hated not being able to shower regularly. But such was life for someone who had no money and lived in the kind of place she did.


    After a refreshing shower, Yuki dried her hair, got dressed in some clean clothes, and put her things back in her bag before heading to her first class. She was taking computer science, so she had to go two buildings over. When she arrived, she was one of the first few there. In the front row, surrounded by a group of rich girls, was a certain someone who she had seen earlier.


    "Princess, it must be hard on you to come to class every day."


    "Princess, what do you think of this new outfit? Do you think it will become a hit?"


    "Princess, how about we go out after classes and check out that new shop?"


    Yuki saw this scene and rolled her eyes. All these girls were just sucking up to her because she was from the royal family. In a way, she pitied the girl but at the same time disliked her attitude. The reason she pitied her was because she knew all these girls did not really want to be her friend. They were all lower class people who could not match up to the noble class. Their only chance to make any connections to the royal family was by sucking up to the unwanted princess.


    With that said, Yuki found a spot in the back and sat down. She took out her laptop and began rechecking her paper, making sure it was all set before emailing it to her professor. Only when she received a confirmation that it was passed in, did she let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she would now have a few days of no homework.


    Yuki put her laptop back into her bag and laid her head down to wait for the lecture to start. But her peaceful rest did not last long when someone came over and kicked her chair. "Excuse me, but I want this seat."


    Yuki raised her head to see a young man standing there with a mocking grin on his face. Yuki gave him a look over before lowering her head again, not giving two shits about the young man. Seeing this, the young man ground his teeth and kicked the chair even harder this time. "I said I wanted this seat, so get lost."


    Hearing the young man yell out caused everyone to turn to look in Yuki''s direction. Even Trisha looked over to see what was going on. Yuki lifted her head again and stared at the young man. "Why should I give you my seat when you are being so rude? Did you sign your name to it? Did you buy this seat from the school? Did you happen to be the one who donated enough money to build this classroom? I see no reason to follow the demands of someone who is just being rude for no reason. So please find another seat. But just remember one thing. Next time you go and ask someone for something, remember that being nice will always give you better results than rude behavior."


    "You! A scrawny little boy like you sure has a way with words." The young man yelled. He was at a loss of words to Yuki''s remark.


    What looked like a pretty boy in the eyes of others, only Trisha knew that voice full of sarcasm. She had heard it not long before. So she knew the ''pretty boy'' was actually a girl. But when she looked at Yuki now, she could only see a young man with how her hair was tucked half under her hat with it pulled down, hiding the upper part of her face, baggy clothes that hid her female qualities, and the mask that covered the lower half her face. It goes without saying that if Trisha did not see for herself Yuki''s naked body in its entirety, she would have been like everyone else.


    The girls surrounding Trisha all began talking about the incident. "I thought they were going to fight."


    "I know, right? It seemed like Derek was going to punch the cute boy."


    "I would have been mad if he did. That boy is cute. I wish he would lower his mask and let me see the rest of his face."


    Hearing the girls chatting away, Trisha wanted to tell them that it was actually a girl but stopped herself when she thought of how Yuki seemed to be hiding her gender. Trisha took another glance at Yuki before turning back around. It was none of her business.


    Yuki''s classes were as boring as ever, but she still diligently paid attention and made sure to take notes. When they ended, she made sure to hurry over to the library. She wanted to take out a few books and begin reading up on plants. She also had to watch a few more tutorials online about mixing herbs. She decided she would allot four hours to research today before logging in.


    Luckily for her, the library was not as busy as it normally was. She walked over to the computer and did a quick search for the books she needed. Once she found them, she quickly went to pick the books up and returned to the front desk to check them out. The person behind the desk was a college student like Yuki, a young woman in her early twenties. She looked at Yuki and saw her old clothes, and frowned slightly. "Make sure you return them in seven days, or you will be charged for them."


    Yuki ignored the look she was getting and nodded her head without giving much of a response before taking the books and finding a table to begin reading them.

 Chapter 15：The Eye Of Destiny

    Yuki skimmed through the books and photocopied the parts she felt were useful. After about two hours, she decided to head back to her house so she could look up some things online. She decided not to take the books with her and returned them. When she did, the young woman behind the counter gave Yuki an annoyed look from being disturbed from whatever she was doing on her laptop.


    When she exited the library, the afternoon sun was starting to set, and the evening air was beginning to settle in. Yuki hugged herself as she felt a chill run through her body as a cool breeze passed by her. Not wanting to waste any more time, she hurried home. Luckily today was a clear day, and no one bothered her as she made her way to her room. After making sure her doors and windows were locked, Yuki plopped herself down in front of her laptop. With a pen and paper in front of her, Yuki began roaming the internet looking for people who have started crafting in SFO. Unfortunately, even after thirty minutes of trying everything she could think of to enter into the search bar, she came up with nothing.


    "Are people not crafting yet¡­? Now that I think about it. Didn''t the game say that cultivation was also part of the game? They have cultivation levels, but you have to grind levels to reach the next realm... I haven''t heard of anyone cultivating yet either." Yuki pondered this thought for a while and could only figure that maybe there was more to it. She began searching on this topic but after another ten minutes and finding no results or mention of actual cultivation, Yuki became frustrated.


    "Ahhh!" Scratching her head in frustration, Yuki bit the tip of her pen. "Forget it. I need to stay on track. I will worry about the cultivation thing later on. First comes money making."


    With her mind back on the prize, Yuki spent the next hour learning more on how to process plants as they did back in ancient times. Luckily this kind of information was still widely available and even had videos showing the processes of doing these things. When she was done, it was once again time to log in to the game again.


    When Yuki logged in, it seemed to be morning time in game. She looked around to see players running about, and the NPCs were starting to set up for another day of business. The morning mist was low, making the visibility shorter than normal. But luckily, today, Yuki did not plan to go outside the village. She walked over to a middle aged woman who was busy setting out her merchandise. When the middle aged woman saw Yuki walk up, she smiled and said: "Such a handsome man! To see such a handsome man so early in the morning sure has made my day. I tell you what, handsome, since you have brightened my day with your presence, I will give this to you."


    Yuki was stunned when the middle aged woman suddenly handed her a strange orb.


    [System notice: Unique quest: The Eye Of Destiny]


    [Because you were at the right place at the right time and able to brighten up Fran Willaims day, you were given the Eye of Destiny, an item that the president of the Trade Skill Guild in Flim Village has been looking for, for many years. ]


    [Quest completion: Give the Eye of Destiny to the president of the Trade Skill Guild in Flim Village. ]


    [Reward: A favor from the President himself.]


    The quest Yuki just received was a unique quest and could only be completed by one person. Unique quests were hidden and hard to activate. All the right conditions had to be met in order for a player to get the quest. Some were hard while others were easy, like the quest Yuki got just now.


    Yuki gave the middle aged woman named Fran a bright smile as she bowed her head and said: "Thank you. I am glad I could be of service to you. May I bother you to point me in the direction of the Trade Skill Guild?"


    The building itself looked like the others, but it took up much more land than the rest and had many chimneys that puffed out smoke. Even this early in the morning, people in work clothes were already gathering around the place. Yuki could not tell if any of these people were players or not since there was no way to tell unless she went to try to attack someone. Only monsters had visible markers if you focused on them.


    Yuki walked over to the crowd to see them all staring at a board with a bunch of posts on it. She read a few and found them to be requests from other people. It seemed when someone decided to take a request they would tear it off the board and run inside to go accept it. Yuki did not come here to take on any requests, so she went into the guild. The main room was very large and had ten windows lined up. Four of which were for requests, five for the trading of materials, and the last was an information booth. That was the only booth that had a short line. Yuki went and stood in line and waited for her turn.


    In the end, it took twenty minutes to finally reach the information window that had a young man sitting behind it. Yuki took one look at the young man, and even though he was very handsome, she lost interest in him quickly. The young man did not notice anything as he looked up at Yuki and asked: "What can I help you with today?"


    "I need to speak to your president. I have the Eye of Destiny." Yuki answered. What she thought would be a routine item turn in suddenly became something big when the young man jumped up from his seat and ran out of the room, not even saying anything to Yuki. Yuki could only watch the young man''s retreating back as she stood there stunned by the turn of events.

 Chapter 16：President Chen

    Yuki stood there wondering what she should do. She did not know if she should go to another window or not. She decided to wait a few minutes before actually doing just that, but luckily after just two minutes, the young man came back down with an old man wearing grey robes following behind him. The old man quickly walked over to the window and stared straight at Yuki. His eyes seemed to be feverish, and this alone was giving Yuki a creepy feeling. After almost two minutes of them staring at each other, the old man finally opened his mouth and asked: "What the hell are you waiting for? Show it to me!"


    Yuki quickly covered her chest even though she was currently playing a male character. You could say this action was a force of habit. But as she did this, she was also backing away from the window in a hurried manner. "President, if you word it like that, people will misunderstand you."


    The young man cut in, seeing what was happening. This old man was none other than the president of the trade skill guild. He was almost eighty years old but still looked around fifty. When he heard the young man chiding him, he realized his actions and words were easily misinterpreted. "Ahem!" The President cleared his throat, walked to the door at the side, and opened it to exit the room. "Young man, if you would come this way. I would like to speak to you about the Eye of Destiny in your possession."


    Yuki looked at the old man worriedly. She wondered if this game had NPCs that took advantage of young handsome men. After meeting the perverted NPC, Mi, when she first started this game, she wasn''t sure if these NPCs were all coded to be perverts or not. Seeing how Yuki was not moving, the president was starting to get antsy and was about to say something when the young man from before came over and bowed to Yuki. "I apologize for our President''s behavior. You see, he has been looking for this item for many years. Please come this way. He only wishes to make a deal with you. "


    Yuki finally nodded and followed the young man. The president noted the young man''s help and decided he would give him a fat bonus later. The three of them went to the third floor to a meeting room that had two soft and comfy looking couches facing each other with tables in between. "Please have a seat. I will go make some tea." The young man said as he motioned with his arms to Yuki.


    "It is nice to meet you, my name is Ryu, and it is fine. I was only startled by your words. Now about the Eye of Destiny." Yuki got right to business since she had no time to waste as she took out the orb from her inventory and placed it on the table.


    Seeing the glass like crystal orb sitting there, his eyes went wide with excitement as he yelled out: "Yes, this is it! I have been searching for this thing for so long! Where did you find it!?"


    "Umm, a woman at a stand on the streets gave it to me." Yuki replied. She did not say Fran''s name or which stall it was to help keep Fran from being bothered. Even though Fran said nothing to Yuki about not telling anyone that she got the orb from her, Yuki still did not want to anger such a nice lady or put her in a bad spot.


    "I see, so someone else had it. I will not ask who. Anyway, I tell you what, I will promise you one favor, and in return, you give me the Eye of Destiny.." The President said with a smile on his face.


    Yuki almost agreed immediately but stopped herself as she thought for a moment. When she finished thinking, to President Chen''s surprise and horror, Yuki reached out and took the Eye of Destiny back. Yuki did this for a reason. She remembered reading that the NPCs in game were no different from those in the real world. Since that was the case, why not try to bargain for a better reward?


    "You! You! You!" President Chen was at a loss of words and could only spit out the word ''you'' and point at Yuki.


    Seeing this. Yuki knew she had the upper hand by a lot which meant as long as she did not go overboard, she would not be denied. There were two things Yuki needed right now. Money and free access to a potion room for a while. She figured if she asked for a few silver and a potion room to use as she wishes for a while, she would not be asking for much.


    "I think a favor is fine and all, but since you have been looking for this object for so long, maybe a monetary reward added on would be nice as well." Yuki said as she raised her eyebrow, looking at President Chen. A small smile crept up on her lips that said: do you really want to reject me?


    "This..." President Chen wavered for a moment. He was not one who would normally bargain for anything. But here he was being held hostage by this young man a quarter of his age.


    "Hmmm? Then I wonder how much this would get me if I sold it on the market palace." Yuki fiddled with the orb in her hand, looking it over with great interest.


    "Wait!" President Chen yelled out. Yuki''s lips curled up into a broad smile as she looked at him.


    President Chen let out a long sigh¡­ He never felt so defeated in his life. "You win! I will give you ten silver plus a favor. What do you say? Is that not a good deal!?"


    "Very much so!" Yuki said happily.


    [System Notification: The reward for unique quest: The Eye of Destiny has been updated. The new reward has been upgraded to 10 silver and a favor from the President himself.]


    [Granted Title: Strikes a hard bargain! Equipped effect 5% discount from vendors. ]


    Yuki was surprised to see that she gained a title and smiled, making sure to set herself a mental reminder to equip it later. "That seems fair enough. As for my favor, I would like to use it right away. I wish to have access to a potion room."


    "Hmm? That is it? Haha! Simple indeed!" President Chen was a bit surprised by Yuki''s simple request. As such, he was beaming with smiles. "Such a simple matter. Here¡­ This will give you a free access pass to any of the mid quality trade skill rooms. They are always empty anyway. You can use them as much as you want for no time limit, and here is the ten silver as well... Now for the Eye of Destiny."


    President Chen licked his lips as he looked at Yuki, sending chills down her spine again. She took out the orb and placed it on the table before sticking both the pass and the silver into her inventory.


    ---AN: Hello all! Invayne here... Thanks for taking the time to read my novel. I want to let you all know that I am looking for ideas for this novel. Any and all ideas are appreciated. You can either post them here in the comments or in the Soul Fusion Online channel on my discord. Link in the synopsis. The ideas can be anything from a small quick quest to a massive arc that will span many chapters. Whatever the ideas are, I am open to them.


    As this novel is also part of the spirity awards, I hope for those who are liking the novel can take some time to leave a review and, if possible, give it a vote. Thank you all for your time, and thanks for listening to my ramblings.---

 Chapter 17：Cultivation

    Smiling away, President Chen quickly put away the orb before putting on a serious expression. "You have really helped me out this time. Because of this, I would like to ask you to help me with something."


    [Forced Quest]


    [Unique Chain Quest Activated: The Untimely Hero]


    [Part Completion: Enter the silver springs and bring back 10 Sweet Silver Grass.]


    [Reward: Fifty Silver and the Flaming Silver Cauldron]


    Yuki did not mind that it was a forced quest because of how high the reward was, but when Yuki looked at the reward, she was puzzled as to what the Flaming Silver Cauldron was. She pressed the highlighted text, which brought up a small window.


    [Flaming Silver Cauldron]


    [Mainly used for pill creation.]


    [Boost pill creation success by 1%]


    Yuki was even more confused when she saw the explanation. "Pills?" Yuki mumbled out loud.


    "Hehe¡­ Catch your interest? You may not know this since you are a mortal. But there are people called immortals in this world. They cultivate in order to reach the heavens. Although the reward is not the best, pill cauldrons are still very rare. Pills can help cultivators along their path of cultivation." President Chen explained.


    "I see¡­ But how does one cultivate?" This was one of the things Yuki had searched for beforehand. But no matter what she typed, there was no information at all.


    "Now, that is the hard part. Although it is said that if you kill a bunch of monsters, you can grow stronger fast, but for cultivators, they can become even stronger. They take in what is called soul qi and reforger their bodies from the inside out. Although the process is slower, it is said that if the two systems are mixed, you will be able to become one of the most legendary figures across the land. But none of this is possible without a cultivation technique, and those are so rare that I have only heard of them and have never actually seen one. But I have seen a cultivator before. So I know they exist. And the pressure that man gave off..." President Chen''s eyes seemed to be looking off into the distance. It was a look of yearning. Someone who wished he could have such strength.


    Yuki, on the other hand, felt like she hit the gold mine of information. There was probably not a single person in game that knew of this information. Yuki wondered why the game company never announced this. She also wondered just how much of an effect cultivation would have on stats or what rewards were granted by cultivating. However, even though this information was gold. It was not something that would earn her money in the short term, nor was it certain anyone would believe her. "President Chen, I must thank you for your time. I must hurry along and use one of the potion rooms so I can begin my quest to learn how to make potions."


    "Haha! Sorry, this old man just starts rambling as time goes on. Go go! Don''t let me keep you." President Chen smiled brightly at Yuki, but then his expression changed as he thought of something. He hurriedly took out a pen and a slip of paper. "Here is how to make the most basic of health potions. They are not great and only sell for a few coppers, but this should at least put you on the right track."


    With trembling hands, Yuki took the slip of paper and treated it as if it was the most treasured object in the entire world. Seeing this, President Chen smiled and nodded his head in approval. He felt this young man would one day make a name for himself with this kind of attitude. After putting the slip of paper away, Yuki bowed her head and said: "Thank you very much."


    "Haha, it''s nothing much. If you have any questions about anything, feel free to come find me. I wish you luck in your potion making endeavor." President Chen saw Yuki off with a smile. Once Yuki was gone, he quickly pulled out the orb, looked at it, and even kissed it before running off to his own room.


    After leaving the meeting room, Yuki headed back downstairs. Only when she got out to the main hall again did she realize that the young man who said he was going to make tea for them never came back. Not thinking much of it, Yuki went to the door that led to the trade skill rooms and then to the window just through the door on her left. Sitting on the other side was a woman in her later years reading a book. When she saw Yuki standing there, she gave a smile and asked: "Which trade skill would you like to rent a room for?"


    Yuki took out her pass and handed it to the woman as she said: "A potion room."


    "Oh? Now, this is a rare sight. Okay, handsome, you can use the best of the medium grade potion making rooms. It will boost your success rate by 10%. Just go up the stairs on the second floor all the way to the back and press your pass against the door on the right. It will open for you. Good luck, dear." The woman said as she handed the pass back to Yuki.


    "Thank you." Yuki gave her thanks and followed the directions she was told. When she entered the room, what she saw was a wooden table with a bunch of equipment on it. There was a mortar and pestle, a small clay pot, a holder for the clay pot that had a candle holder underneath to heat the clay pot, candles, flintstones, small, medium, and large glass containers, corks, and a place to get water. On another side of the room was a table with large knives and hammers. Yuki could only think these tools were for processing things other than plants. And in the middle against the far wall was a chest. This was what was called a material chest. It was something like an inventory but was not kept on your body. This was something that only those who rented a trade skill room could use. You could store all your materials in it, and even if you did not use the same trade skill room or went to another town to use their trade skill rooms, it would follow along with you, and you would not lose any of your items. It made it so that one would not need to always carry around their materials.

 Chapter 18：Potion Making 101

    Yuki pulled up the stool that was in the room and sat down. She took out the slip of paper that President Chen had given her and began reading it over. "So the first things I need are 1 Lavender, 1 Chamomile, and 20 milliliters of water. Grind the two herbs into a paste and then boil. Once boiled, drop a drop of blood and three slivers of bone 1 centimeter long. Bring to a boil again and let dissolve. Stir frequently. After that, a pinch of wild yam root. Continue boiling until the contents turn a solid red."


    "Seems simple enough..." Yuki quickly went to work. She shredded herbs first, then ground them into a paste by adding a little water to them. Once those were on the fire, she went to work on the slivers of bone and grinding some wild yam root. In about thirty minutes, she had her first batch of potions. "So this makes 10 small vials..." Yuki inspected her creation.


    [Small Low Quality Potion]


    [Rarity: common]


    [Instantly heals 30 Health]


    [Can be mass produced through trade skill window.]


    "Not very good¡­ Probably get a few copper for it. At least it can be mass produced now. But I wonder¡­. What if I changed up the recipe a bit?" Yuki''s eyes glowed with excitement for two reasons. One was that once you make something properly, it is able to be mass produced, and second, she loved experimenting. She went right to work and started trying out different combinations. After almost two hours of testing, she was only able to make a potion that was able to heal five extra points. "Hmm¡­ what am I forgetting?"


    Yuki went over to the storage chest and looked at her items. "Hmm? Basil and blue grass¡­ I have no idea what blue grass does, and it is common grass that is all over the place. There was a bunch of it growing outside the trade skill guild. I wonder if people think it''s useless?"


    Yuki took out both the basil and the blue grass and placed them on the table. She inspected it for a little bit and was about to put it down when she felt there was nothing special about it when she realized something from the batch lying on the table. "Why do these seem to have a slight glow to it..."


    She picked up one of the blades of grass but realized that as soon as she picked it up, the glow disappeared. She went to put it back down, but when she did, she saw the blade in hand began glowing brighter again. She moved it to the left and the glow dimmed. She went right and hovered over the basil, and the blue grass began to glow brighter than it ever had! "I see! Now, what if I do this..."


    Now wasting any time, she quickly hovered the blue grass over different herbs. But it only reacted to the basil. Taking the recipe she had for the small low quality health potion, she decided to find out what would happen if she added a blade of blue grass as well as a tiny bit of basil. She began to work grounding all the herbs together and adding a bit of water. When the water hit the ground herbs, it glowed brightly, causing the paste she made to glow along with it. Smiling, knowing that she was onto something, Yuki quickly went to work boiling the herbs. The water glowed as it bubbled up. But the most surprising thing was still to come. When she added the blood and bone slivers, the pot shined brighter than ever before. She let it all boil once more and dissolve before adding the wild yam root. As she did, the whole concoction turned a deep red! It was much more vibrant than the other potions. Seeing how it was done. Yuki quickly began bottling them up.


    As soon as the first one was bottled, a notification appeared on her screen.


    [New Potion Discovered: Please enter a name¡­.]


    [Rarity: Uncommon]


    [Instantly heals 50 Health, then 50 health over 20 seconds.]


    [Can be mass produced through trade skill window.]


    "What really!?" Yuki''s lips curled up into a big smile. "A name, huh? Then let''s see, since this is a game about cultivation, why not name it Heavenly Health Potion?"


    [Rarity: Uncommon]


    [Instantly heals 50 Health, then 50 health over 20 seconds.]


    [Can be mass produced through trade skill window.]


    Yuki''s eyes almost fell out of her head! "That is all of my health! So it heals half of my health right away, then 2.5 health every second for 20 seconds. That is kinda nuts. But¡­ If I were to mass produce these and sell them, I think I can finally cover my rent! Let''s see how many I can make!"


    Yuki quickly stored all her materials into her storage chest and then opened her trade skill window. She clicked on the recipe for her LQ Heavenly Health Potion and saw the craft button next to it lit up to process over 100 of them! "So 100 in total. If I sell them at 10 silver per batch of ten, meaning 1 silver per potion, that will allow me to really make some money. But wait¡­ Marketplace allows bidding, so¡­ I will set the min bid at 10 silver and let people fight it out from there. Hehe! Time to bring this big sister some money¡­ err¡­ umm... big brother..."


    Yuki happily went to work. The first batch she made, she put into containers and placed them in her inventory for her own use. But this was not the only surprise she got¡­


    *Ding!*


    Level: 0 ¡ú 1/20


    "Oh? I leveled up!?" Seeing her level rise really surprised Yuki, but she felt this was only fair since crafting takes a lot of time. Sadly by the time her crafting finished, she only got a quarter of the way into level 2. But she did gain 2 SP (Status Points). "Let''s see, I got 2 points. For now, I will just stick them into attack power."


    [Attack Power]: 13 ¡ú 15


    "Now I just need to head on over to the marketplace and begin selling things. Hopefully these sell quick!" Yuki could not wait to sell them all. She would be able to earn enough to not only pay her rent but also eat well for the week as well. And if she sold a lot in the next few days¡­. Yuki''s mind began turning. "I will farm and create these potions for an entire week and save everything. If I am able to get a few hundred saved up I can finally move out of that place!"


    Yuki was jumping with joy at the thought of moving into a more secure apartment away from all the drugs and sex. "Okay I need to calm down and hurry to the market place. I still got so much play time! I can farm and make a few more batches while I am at it!"

 Chapter 19：Marketplace

    Yuki quickly left the trade skill guild and went to the nearest NPC stall. She did not dare stop a player. She was afraid if she did, they might try to kill her and take what she had in her inventory. Right now, she had her livelihood in her inventory which was not something she could afford to lose. "Excuse me."


    Hearing Yuki''s voice coming from behind him, a middle aged man dressed in overalls who was opening a bag of fresh produce turned around: "Oh? Lad, what can I get for you?"


    "I was just wondering if you can point me in the direction of the marketplace," Yuki answered.


    The man looked Yuki up and down and formed a scheming smile on his face as he said: "If you marry my daughter, I will tell ya. How about it? She is really cute, so cute you wouldn''t be able to resi..."


    "Hal! What the hell are you saying!?" A woman suddenly cut in and smacked the man off the top of his head.


    "Mary, I was just..." Hal rubbed his head and looked at his wife with an aggrieved expression.


    Mary ignored him and walked over to Yuki. In her arms was a newborn baby girl. "Ignore that fool. The daughter he is talking about is right here." Mary bobbed the baby up and down a few times. Yuki couldn''t help but smile. She reached out and rubbed the baby''s head gently.


    "One thing is for sure. Your husband did not lie when he said she was cute." Yuki smiled warmly at the sleeping baby in Mary''s arms.


    "You are a kind person." Mary said with a smile. "Young man, I changed my mind. How about you marry my daughter after all?"


    Yuki chuckled. She could tell that Mary was just joking. "I am sure she will grow up to find her perfect love."


    "I do hope so." Mary said with a tinge of worry. "Anyway. The place you are looking for is in the town center. It is to the west of the Goddess Fina''s statue."


    Yuki bowed her head as she gave her thanks. "Thank you very much!"


    "No problem, dear. You take care of yourself." Mary smiled and then turned to go back into the house.


    "Young lad, before you run off, take one of these. If you roast them, they taste pretty good." Hal handed Yuki an ear of corn.


    Yuki took the ear of corn and thanked Hal before running off towards her destination. She quickly found the marketplace. A two floor building with the bottom floor being the place to do all your marketplace business. On the second floor, there were some small offices for the staff. There were about sixty players inside, on the first floor, all standing at different terminals. Yuki felt it was strange to see something so high tech in a fantasy style game. She made a note to look up more of the game''s lore later on.


    Her main objective was to post her items on the marketplace. She tapped the terminal, which caused a window to appear in front of her. "Let''s see¡­ A buy tab, a sell tab, and a currency exchange. Let me run a search for potions first, I guess."


    Yuki did a quick search, but the most she found were some LQ potions or MQ (Medium Quality) potions. But even those still lacked in comparison to her potions, and even those cost one silver each. "Looks like I can get 3 silver per potion instead. So each batch would be 30 silver. Let''s do 30 as my minimum for each batch and auction it off from there." Yuki was happy to know she could sell her potions for much more. With a tap on the screen, she went to stick in her first batch.


    [Crafted Item Detected: Please Create Company Brand]


    "Brand?" Yuki was surprised. She did not expect to have to come up with a brand name. After thinking for a moment, she decided to take part of the name for her potions and called her brand Heavenly Crafts.


    [Notice: Heavenly Crafts Brand created. Please select a brand logo.]


    Yuki was then shown thousands of images all at once, causing her brow to furrow. She could tell the game was injecting these images into her brain in order for her to register each image. Out of all the images her gaze fell on a lotus flower that had just blossomed. Thinking it was a good match for her brand, she clicked it.


    [Brand Logo registered...]


    With everything now set up. Yuki went to post her first item. "So now I just enter the starting price, which is 30 silver. The auction time will be 24 hours. Oh? It has a buyout option? Then¡­ 100 gold¡­ Greedy or not, I need money. What''s this?"


    At the bottom of the item, registration was a checkbox. "If you wish to remain anonymous, so only your brand name shows, click this box. 3% will be added to the original 3% marketplace cost for selling items."


    "So an extra 3%, I can keep myself anonymous. This¡­ Yeah, let''s do this, so no one knows it is me." Yuki clicked the box and quickly repeated the process until everything was posted. "Well, that is it. I can now go farm more materials."


    While Yuki was hoping for big gains, the forum for Soul Fusion Online exploded with excitement. Unbeknownst to her, as soon as her items were posted, it became a hot topic.


    @Freeloader: Did you see the potions on the auction place!? They are better than the HQ (High Quality) Potions which cost almost fifty silver to buy!


    @GreenHat: I saw them! Right now, there is a massive bidding war going on for them. The price for one stack right now is over 5 gold!


    @FingerSandwhich: Hah, when was the last time you looked? It has already reached 12 gold per stack. I wish I knew who started the Heavenly Crafts brand. I want to hug their thick thighs!


    @WhiteLotus: Do you think Heavenly Crafts'' owner is a guy? If they are, I will marry him!


    @GreenHat: Who wants to marry a dude pretending to be a girl! If you''re a chick, send me nudes!


    @WhiteLotus: Pervert! Who would send nudes!?


    @GreenHat: Sluts!


    @Rest of Forum: ¡­.


    As for the person causing such an uproar, she was happily back out in the field singing a song as she plucked herbs filling her inventory once again.


    "Every day I try~"


    "Every day I see the setting sun."


    " But I am blind~"


    "The world hates me~"


    "The sky detests me~"


    "Life is like, flowing water~"


    Although the song did not seem to make much sense. Yuki''s soothing voice calmed the hearts of those who heard it. Even the monsters who were scheming to attack her had settled down and all bloodlust disappeared.

 Chapter 20：A KIlling

    As Yuki continued singing her song and picking herbs, a rustle came from the bushes not far from her. But because Yuki was in her own little world, she did not notice the two yellow eyes staring at her. It watched Yuki closely for a while before disappearing back into the forest.


    Yuki was completely focused on the herbs. Her main goal was to collect all the items needed for the heavenly potions. While most of the ingredients were easy to get, she was having a hard time finding any more wild yam root. "What should I do?" Yuki frowned as she looked around the area she had dug one up before. But no matter where she looked, she could not spot another wild yam root plant.


    "Meow!" A cry came from behind her, causing Yuki to almost jump out of her skin. She turned around to see a palmed sized black cat with two tails and big yellow eyes.


    Yuki completely let her guard down as she saw the cat. She had a soft spot for cute animals. If it was not for the fact that she could not afford or have a pet in her current place of residence, she would have a few cats herself. She smiled and knelt down and held her hand out towards the black cat. "Are you alone?"


    "Meow!" The black cat called out before turning around and then looking back at Yuki.


    Seeing this, Yuki knew she would not get an answer, but she still asked: "You want to follow me?"


    "Meow!" The cat let out a happy cry and pushed its way through the bush. Yuki, who was surprised that the cat seemed to have answered her, decided to take the chance and follow after it, even knowing that she may die due to her own curiosity. The cat sped up when it saw Yuki was really following.


    After almost five minutes, Yuki came to a clearing where her eyes opened wide. "Wild yam root!?" She looked over at the cat who was sitting in the middle of the clearing licking its paws. "You knew that I needed this?"


    "Meow!" The cat gave a happy cry. It then walked over to Yuki and rubbed itself all over her legs. Then it did the most surprising thing. It hopped up Yuki''s body and perched itself on top of her head. Because it was so small, it did not weigh much at all, and Yuki did not feel bothered by it in the slightest.


    Yuki was very happy right now. There were at least a hundred or more wild yam roots here. She knew it would take a while to dig them up as well. So she quickly went to work digging. As she did, she kept her mind occupied by singing another random made up song. She did not notice the black cat on top of her head swaying back and forth to the sound of her voice. It seemed to be enjoying the song very much.


    After almost two hours, Yuki had finally pulled up the last wild yam root giving her 300 in total. She figured with this much, she would not need to find more for a while. "Okay, inventory full! Now I can go back and store them all and craft more potions. I wonder if I sold anything yet."


    Yuki walked her way towards the forest exit, but when she got to the exit, she remembered the little black cat on top of her head. She reached up and picked it up before setting it down on the ground. She knelt down next to it and patted its head. "I have to go back now. Hopefully, I will see you again when I come next time."


    "Meow?" The black cat looked up at Yuki, confused, before vanishing from where it stood and reappearing back on top of her head. Seeing such a thing, Yuki really did not know what to make of it.


    Sighing, Yuki asked: "Do you want to come with me?"


    "Alright, then you can come along. But you need a name, so how does Nergal sound?" Yuki asked. She felt this cat resembled an ancient Babylonian cat god Nergal with how it was black and had yellow eyes.


    "Meow!" The little black cat, now named Nergal, happily meowed. As it answered, a window popped up in front of Yuki.


    [Hidden Skill: Taming Unlocked!]


    [Sing a song to soothe the hearts of beasts.]


    [New Companion added: Nergal]


    [From the twin tail cat race holding the blood of the ancient God Nergal. Has a chance to ascend to godhood.]


    [Cultivation Stage: Fortification Realm/ Stage 5]


    [Level: 10/20]


    "This? Did I just unlock a skill!? Wait, what does it mean to sing a song!? My voice is always off key!" Yuki could really not understand what this game was thinking! How did her off key singing enable her to get a hidden skill!? "Well, whatever, this means that Nergal is now officially mine, right? But I wonder if it is a coincidence that I named Nergal after a cat god named the same, and the game also says Nergal has the blood of an ancient cat god in him named Nergal... I really should read up on the lore of this game..."


    "Meow!" Nergal meowed happily.


    "Still, it''s sad when my pet is stronger than me..." Although she said this, she also felt rest assured that she could rely on her little palmed sized cat to protect her. Well, at least she thought so anyway. As she began thinking about how big the little guy was, she slowly started doubting herself until it got to the point that she got it in her head that she would need to be the one to protect the little guy. But now, Yuki could say she was not alone. She now had Nergal to keep her company as she played the game.


    As Yuki was making her way back to the trade skill guild with her new companion, the Soul Fusion Online forums were going nuts once again due to her potions.


    @WiredToes: Who was the freak that bought up all the potions for 100 gold!


    @GreenHat: What!? Someone paid that outrageous buyout price!?


    @WiredToes: Not just paid, they bought every stack of potions! That''s a thousand gold!


    @SmexyInPink: Do you think the person who made those would let this ladyboy hug their thighs? If it is a female, I do not mind going straight!


    @WhiteLotus: !!!!! I already called that big thigh! Take your ladyboy ass and walk on out of here!


    @SmexyInPink: You want to fight!? I do not mind slapping a hoe!


    @GreenHat: Can you stop fighting! By the way, WhiteLotus, I am still waiting for the nudes!


    @WiredToes: Why did it come to this! You guys are missing the point! There is now a player in the game with 1000 Gold!


    @GreenHat: I bet a lot of gold sellers made a lot of money today then. Now that I think about it, I need to check my account!


    @WiredToes: I want to kill GreenHat!


    @WhiteLotus: +1 on killing GreenHat


    @SmexyInPink: +1 on killing GreenHat


    As for Yuki, who still did not realize she had made a killing, she was currently being surrounded by a bunch of girls, all due to Nergal. "He''s so cute! Just as cute as its owner!"

 Chapter 21：New Equipment

    Yuki looked very troubled at this time. It was not that she did not like people, but more of it was she was not used to so much attention after being someone who was always alone. Scratching her head, Yuki could only try to excuse herself politely. "Girl''s, I thank you for your kind words, but I must get going."


    "Aww!" The group of girls pouted.


    "Since you need to go, we won''t keep you anymore!" One girl said.


    "Yeah, bye bye cute kitty, and handsome man!" Another girl yelled.


    Yuki said her goodbyes and quickly left the area. She never thought a single cat would cause such an uproar. She went right to the Trade Skill Guild and into a potion room. After depositing all her materials into the storage chest. Yuki started up the crafting process from her trade skill window. While that was doing its thing, she played with Nergal until it was done.


    Level: 1 ¡ú 2/20


    "Another level¡­ I guess now I can start taking on monsters¡­ I will put my SP into Health this time." Yuki pressed the plus icon next to health twice. She knew 2 Health was not very much, but it might help her ward off a fatal attack.


    [Health]: 102/100 ¡ú 102


    With potions in hand, Yuki made her way to the marketplace to post her new potions and to see if she had made any money. But when she got there and looked at the amount waiting for her to take out, her eyes almost popped out of her head. "Someone bought them all for that high buyout price!?" Yuki was really wondering if this person was an idiot or not. She may not know much about the game just yet, but on the money side of things, she knew that no one had more than ten gold max on their person. Only the marketplace would have that much gold, and if someone went and actually bought all that gold¡­ Yuki''s head began to spin. Just thinking of the amount of money that was wasted buying so much gold made her feel bitter. But this also gave Yuki an idea. "Since you want to buy out my potions, let''s make it worth it!" Yuki entered her buyout price: 1000 gold...


    "Sam''s Weapons and Armor¡­." Yuki read the sign hanging over the door of a one floor building. She walked in to see armor and weapons lining the shelves, all on display, from leather armor to full plate armor. There were even robes for those who were casters. When Yuki looked at the prices of some of these things, she frowned because a lot of them cost almost one gold each.


    "What can I ge''cha?" A bearded man in a dirty white T-shirt asked as he came out from the back room with a sword in his hand.


    "I am looking for a weapon and a cheap set of leather armor..." Yuki did not want to use anything too expensive since she planned to make her own from here on out, but to make sure she had enough defense and attack power to get by until then, she had no choice but to buy weapons and armor. The starter gear was just not going to cut it.


    "A weapon and cheap armor, huh? Let''s see¡­ For a young lad like you, how about something like this?" The man walked over and pointed to a set of armor that was off to the side. It looked like something you would see in any game: a leather tunic with pants and boots. The tunic even came with a metal breastplate. "This set here is only fifty silver. I just made it last night while I was practicing adding some special effects to it. It''s made out of used leather, so it is a bit patchworky. No one really wants armor that doesn''t look too good. Sadly though, I was only able to add a boost to defense."


    "I will take it!" Yuki did not hesitate to buy it since the other armor was much more expensive, and they didn''t even have special effects. It was just the look and style that was a bit better than the set the man was trying to sell her.


    "Haha! Good, at least my hard work last night was not in vain. I will wrap it up. Go take a look at the weapons and tell me which one you want." The man happily grabbed the armor and went to go wrap it up before Yuki could even get a word in edgewise. Seeing the man run off to the back room, Yuki sighed before walking over to the area with weapons.


    There were all kinds of weapons, from bows, swords, shields, and daggers. Yuki looked them over. Even with such an array of choices, she still was more drawn to the swords. She picked up a few western style swords and gave each one a swing. But she felt they were too bulky for her liking. In the end, after testing the Asian style swords, she ended up choosing a katana. The price was 70 silver, but it added 10 to her attack power. It was the most expensive one in her level range.


    "Here you are. You buying this sword as well?" The man asked.


    "Yes, thank you." Yuki thanked the man, but she noticed the man''s expression was a bit strange. "Is something wrong?"


    "Err¡­ It might not be my place to ask this, but is that your pet?" The man pointed to the top of Yuki''s head.


    "Mmm¡­ Its name is Nergal." Yuki reached up and picked Nergal up off her head and held it out to the man only to see him quickly shrink back. "Something wrong?"


    "Son, I should warn you that that is not a cat." The man quickly stepped back, pressing his body up against the wall.


    "I know. I picked it up out in the forest. Don''t worry, it won''t attack you." Yuki said while placing Nergal back on top of her head. "Meow!" Nergal even gave a cry as if to say, I won''t do anything. But when the man looked into those big yellow eyes that narrowed slightly as it looked back at the man, he couldn''t help but feel a cold shiver run up his spine. Yuki could see the man was scared of Nergal for some reason, so she said goodbye before taking her stuff and leaving the shop. She quickly equipped her armor and sword and was now ready to go hunting.


    Once again, the forums were ablaze due to Yuki''s potions.


    @GreenHat: Haha! I bet that person who bought all those potions before is puking up blood with grief! But I must say this Heavenly Crafts person is smart. They saw that their potions were all bought out at max bid and raised the max bid tenfold! Haha!


    @IHaveNoName: Maybe it was a typo.


    @GreenHat: Really? They posted 20 stacks! How would it be a typo on all 20 stacks?


    @WhiteLotus: GreenHat, don''t you have a life other than playing around on the forums?


    @GreenHat: Says the person who keeps stalking me! I told you many times to send nudes!


    @WhiteLotus: Who is stalking who!? You keep asking me to send nudes every time I speak! Keep it up, and I will report you!


    @GreenHat: Go! Go! Report! I bet nothing happens!


    @FingerSandwhich: When will the two of you get married? All you two do is fight like an old married couple.


    @GreenHat: Shut up FingerSandwhich!


    @WhiteLotus: FingerSandwhich go die!

 Chapter 22：Kill Stealing

    Yuki now donned her new armor set, which had patchwork leather of varying colors from deep browns to greys, even some yellows, but the overall defense was very good. Compared to her previous equipment, her new armor gave an overall 20 to defense. Its base defense was only 15, but with the special effect on defense, it added an additional 5 defense.


    [Defence]: 4 ¡ú 20


    Her new weapon was also much better than her training sword boosting her attack from 15 to 22.


    [Attack Power]: 15 ¡ú 22


    Yuki now felt more assured when going out to fight monsters. Yuki had no idea for someone her level that her new armor was considered OP (Over Powered). But none of that mattered to Yuki right now since her mind was preoccupied with something else entirely. "Where or how do I find quests¡­ Ugh¡­ I spent all my time worrying about how to make money that I never really took the time to read up on how to tell if someone has a quest for you or not..."


    Sighing, Yuki could only decide to go out and farm since she only had a few hours left. As it was Yuki''s first time fighting actual monsters, she was somewhat excited. She wondered how much of her self made martial arts would be useful in fighting monsters. When she got to the clearing, there were still a lot of people killing monsters. Luckily the spawn rate was fast, so Yuki did not need to wait long before her first target was in sight.


    A devil rabbit stared at Yuki with murderous eyes before quickly charging at her with its head lowered, pointing its horns right at her. Yuki readied her weapon, and as soon as it got close, she moved to her right and slashed out at the devil rabbit''s side. A deep gash appeared with green blood spurting out of it. The devil rabbit let out a cry of pain as it tumbled to the ground. Yuki quickly turned around and was about to land the killing blow so she could get the beautiful experience points. But... A young man ran by and stabbed his weapon into the devil rabbit''s head, effectively stealing her kill. "Hahaha! Noob!" The young man yelled as he laughed and ran away.


    Yuki clenched her fist. One thing she hated was when someone stole something that belonged to her. Games had a kind of code where you do not steal other people''s prey. But this young man did not seem to care about that. Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her anger, Yuki slowly exhaled and moved on to her next target. But once again, the same young man stole her kill. Then again. And again¡­ On the fifth time, Yuki finally couldn''t take it anymore. "What is your issue?"


    "What? Is it my fault you can''t get the last hit? Why don''t you just get the last hit, and then I won''t be able to take your kills? Hahaha!" The young man answered as he let out a laugh. When he saw Yuki glaring daggers at him, he laughed even harder and asked: "What is that look for? Are you going to kill me?"


    "Mm¡­ I am." Yuki did not even wait before shoving her sword into the young man''s neck. She quickly pulled it out and then struck out 8 more times. Before the young man even had a chance to say anything else, his eyes opened wide in shock. He probably never expected Yuki to outright kill him. His body fell to the ground in a pool of blood. A small bag appeared next to his body. Yuki picked it up and looked through it. Anything that was worth keeping she kept, the rest she deleted before dropping the bag back to the ground. But before she left, she made sure to stab the young man a few more times before walking off.


    This was one aspect that Yuki had remembered reading about and the reason why she did not hesitate to kill the young man. But after she killed him and looted his body, she felt much better. Although she lost a decent amount of experience points, she was at least able to get back the drops she lost. As for the young man, when he returned to his body to find all his items missing, he clenched his fist and stared at Yuki, who was now fighting a devil rabbit. Then, out of pure rage, he ran towards Yuki, wanting revenge.


    Yuki, on the other hand, figured this might happen, so she had always kept an eye on the young man''s body. So as soon as the young man resurrected, she went on guard. She quickly killed the devil rabbit she was currently attacking before turning around and blocking the strike from the young man. The young man''s face was full of anger as he bellowed: "I will kill you! You bastard!"


    "You reap what you sow. I wouldn''t have killed you if you stopped stealing my kills." Yuki retorted as she parried the young man and slashed out with her sword. She then spun her body and roundhouse kicked the young man in the head, making him stagger back before thrusting out six attacks with her sword. Once again, the young man died.


    When the young man resurrected, he found out something even more horrible than losing his items. His level dropped. His level went from level 1 back to level 0. With how long it took just to gain a single level, you could hear the young man''s scream from the resurrection point all across the village. Yuki, the cause of this, had no idea that she had caused the young man to lose a level. She happily continued farming while keeping an eye on the young man''s body. But even after an hour, the young man never came to resurrect, and it was finally time for Yuki to log off.


    Before logging off, Yuki went to the marketplace to see if any of her gold had sold. To her surprise, of the 990 she had put on the marketplace, 500 of it had already sold. Seeing this, a broad smile formed on Yuki''s face. After a bit of quick math in her head with the new 4 crowns per 1 silver and after the 6% cut the game company takes from her, she had 188,000 crowns to her name. This was many, many years of paychecks from her previous job. "With this, I can get a new place..."


    Yuki filled out all the forms to transfer her money into her account before logging off. But when she pulled the headset off, her ears were filled with screaming and yelling right outside her door. "You are not to touch her!"


    "Fuck! If I say I want her, she has no choice but to let me fuck her! Otherwise, I will beat her just as hard as I beat you!" The man''s voice was loud enough that the entire city could probably hear it.


    "No, I won''t let you!" The woman''s voice was very familiar to Yuki, it was Mary. The man''s voice was probably her pimp. Knowing this, Yuki frowned and reached under her pillow and pulled out the knife she had hidden there. She never felt safe sleeping without it. She crept over to the door and peeked through the eye hole to see Mary being held up by her hair and a big rough looking man with huge muscles grasping her head.


    "Bitch shut up! What do you know? Soon as I stick her with some neo she will be begging me to do her!" The man let out a laugh as he said this. His gaze was filled with lustful thoughts, which made Yuki tremble. She wanted to go out to save Mary, but she was afraid for her own safety. She had lived in these hell holes for 18 years. She survived and did not wish to become an addict or someone who sold her body. She had her own morals, and she did not wish to lose them.


    That was until she saw Mary do something stupid. She had pulled a knife from her panty line and stabbed it into the man''s chest. "I told you, I will not let you touch her! You should just die!"

 Chapter 23：Killing To Protect

    The man grabbed Mary''s head and slammed it into the concrete column and then the metal hand railing. Seeing this, Yuki could no longer sit by and watch. She mustered up every last ounce of courage she had and opened the door with her knife in hand. She normally would never do such a stupid thing. But Mary was always looking out for her, allowing her to live in this wretched place with a bit of peace in mind. She could not let Mary''s actions of trying to protect her be in vain. She could not allow Mary to suffer any longer. She would use the money she just made and get a two bedroom apartment and find help for Mary so she could get off neo and live a proper life without needing to sell her body.


    The man did not expect Yuki''s door to swing open, nor did he expect the young girl inside to lunge at him without a word. Yuki did not hesitate in the slightest as she stabbed her knife into the man''s neck. Blood sprayed onto her face as she twisted the knife. But who would have thought this man was so strong. "Fucking bitch!" He roared in anger and swung his arm, elbowing Yuki in the face. Her nose instantly gushed blood as she was flung back into the wall, her head hitting the wall hard.


    Yuki''s body slumped to the ground, her head feeling dizzy after hitting the wall. She could only watch helplessly as the man ripped her knife out of her hand and begin stabbing Mary with it, "You fucking bitches! If I am to die, one of you is going with me to hell! Hahaha!"


    "No!" Yuki cried out as she forced her body back up. She struggled to make her way over to Mary. The man''s actions slowed as the loss of blood became too great, causing him to fall weakly to the ground. Yuki quickly took the knife away and stabbed the man again in the neck. She did not want this bastard to survive! She twisted the knife a few times before pulling it out again, once again being sprayed with blood. She then turned her attention to Mary, who was lying in a pool of her own blood, showing no signs of life.


    "Mary¡­ Mary¡­ You can''t die, okay!?" Tears began to rain down Yuki''s cheeks as she held Mary in her arms, rocking her back and forth. She looked around and saw no one. Even after all this commotion, no one came out. She could only helplessly call for help. "Someone! Anyone! Call an ambulance! Anyone, Please call for help!"


    Yuki had no idea who finally called the cops, but fifteen minutes later, a police car flew down from the sky. When they saw the scene and Mary in Yuki''s arms, they already had an idea of what happened. They also knew the man lying dead on the ground very well. "Miss, we will need you to come in for questioning¡­ As for the girl, I am afraid..."


    "No! You have to save her. If not for her¡­ If not for her trying to protect me!" Yuki''s voice choked on her own tears as she hugged Mary tightly. Deep down, she knew¡­ She knew Mary was already gone, but she felt that maybe just maybe, there was a slim chance. But when the EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) arrived, he could only shake his head. It was already way too late.


    The officer who was in charge felt pain for Yuki, who was refusing to let Mary go. Yuki felt that if Mary was gone, she really would be alone in this world. A world that seemed to look down on orphans like her. Why else would such a happy and friendly girl end up with such an end? Even when she was messed up on neo, Mary was always there to protect her. And now... She was gone...


    Finally, a female officer came over and knelt down next to Yuki. "Miss, your friend has already passed. If you wish to send her off properly, please let the medical team do their job."


    Yuki slowly nodded her head and let go of Mary. The female officer, not caring about how soaked Yuki was in blood, hugged her and helped her up. The officers allowed Yuki to lock her apartment so that she could follow them to the station.


    In a small interrogation room, Yuki sat with the same female cop from before. Her nose was now patched up, and her left eye was black and blue. "So when you logged out of Soul Fusion Online, is when you heard the two arguing?"


    "Mmm¡­ At first, I did not want to get involved but, when I saw Mary stabbing the man over and over and then get her face smashed off the concrete pillar and railing, I rushed out to try to save her. I stabbed the man once in the neck, which caused him to elbow me in the face. The second time I stabbed him, I did so to make sure he was dead. Miss¡­ Am I going to jail?" Yuki knew she did her actions in self defense, but she did not know if the police would see it that way.


    "No. Your story lines up to the camera footage from the building across the street. It seems you didn''t hear it, but the man was trying to break your door down. If you did not have so many locks, I am sure you would be in a worse state. As for your friend, she gave her life to protect you. She was a good friend." The female officer saw Yuki tearing up again and quickly got up out of her seat to comfort her. As a fellow female, she knew things could be rough for a girl her age. She was on her own, barely making it by while going to college. This was not an easy thing to do.


    After five minutes, another officer came in with a file in his hand and put it in front of Yuki. "This here is the details on your friend. As it goes, for all deceased, they are to be cremated. I have used a public fund to pay for the cremation. If you wish to say goodbye to her, now is the time to do it. Otherwise, you can come back in a week''s time to pick up her ashes. I am sorry for your loss. To be honest, I am quite jealous that you had such a loyal friend."


    Yuki stared at the file on the table absentmindedly. She did not know what to do now. She did not wish to go back to that place. There would be no way she would feel safe. As Yuki sat in a daze, the female officer stood up and asked: "Sargent may I take this girl back to her place to get her things. She can not stay in that place anymore."


    "Mmm¡­ You can. Right now, it would not be good for her to be alone. I already contacted her college and explained the situation to them. They will not hold it against her. Yuki, kiddo¡­ you need to be strong. Your friend gave her life to save you. So you need to honor her sacrifice by living and living well okay?" The sergeant gave these words of advice from the bottom of his heart. The last thing he wanted was for a girl who worked hard and was going to college to better herself to end up committing suicide over this kind of thing. It was sad but he hoped this girl would be strong and make something of her life and allow her friend to rest in peace.

 Chapter 24：Diary

    "Can I say my goodbyes?" Yuki suddenly spoke up. She was in a daze, but she still wished to say her goodbyes to Mary before she was turned to ash.


    "Yes, this way." The female officer said with a smile. "By the way, my name is Tina Watts. Just call me Tina."


    "Then Tina, thank you for your offer. But I will have to say no for now. I have money now to find an apartment. Do you happen to know anyone who is renting?" Yuki asked but quickly added: "Don''t worry, I have no suicidal thoughts. I will not give up this life that Mary gave hers for. She protected me with everything she had. There is no way I will allow myself to die so easily."


    Seeing how Yuki''s gaze was firm as she said this, not wavering at all, Tina let out a sigh of relief. "I do have someone who has an apartment, and it is even near your college."


    "Really, how much!? And who do I contact? I have plenty of money... The news about making money on Soul Fusion Online is true." Yuki''s eyes looked at Tina with expectation.


    "You are talking to them. It''s a one bedroom with a half bath, above my family''s bakery. Unfortunately, there is no shower. You would need to go to the bathhouse not far from there. But it comes with everything else. My parents were looking for 500 crowns a month, but I can knock it down to 300 crowns." Tina answered. She smiled warmly at Yuki, whose eyes were glowing with excitement.


    "Having no shower is fine. I am used to showering at college anyways. Keep the price at 500 crowns. I will pay for two years upfront." Yuki did not want to take advantage of Tina''s kindness. She was already giving her a new home.


    "Are you sure? That''s 12000 crowns..." Tina wondered if Yuki was going over her head or not with this. 12000 crowns was no small amount.


    "I know. As I said, you can make money in Soul Fusion Online. I kinda hit the jackpot last night." Yuki whispered the amount into Tina''s ear, causing Tina''s eyes to widen.


    Tina had no idea one could make so much money in a video game. "I don''t know what to say. Alright, after you say your goodbyes to Mary, I will take you home so you can get your things."


    "Okay, thank you." Yuki took in a deep breath as she walked into the morgue area of the police station.


    She was led to a room where Mary''s body laid on a table with a white sheet covering her body. The coroner folded the sheet down and left the room to give Yuki some time alone. Tina brought over a chair for Yuki to sit on. "I will be just outside. Take your time."


    "Mm¡­ Thanks..." Yuki sat down and looked at Mary''s badly bruised face, and frowned. She reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind Mary''s ear. "Mary¡­ I am sorry¡­ If I acted sooner, then maybe you would still be alive." Yuki''s eyes began to well up with tears again. "That bastard who did this to you is now dead. I made sure of it. Your death was not in vain. You protected me, just like how you have been for so many years now.


    "In the orphanage, you were bright and cheerful. Sadly you ran with the wrong crowd. But even to your last breath, you were still the sister I never knew I had. The time I spent with you made me feel like I had a family again. I have regrets¡­ If I had just moved a little sooner, maybe¡­ Just maybe you would still be alive. For this, I can only bow my head and apologize. But Mary... I know you would want me to live a good life. Why else would you go so far for me? I promise I will go to college and make something out of myself. I will live the life you were not able to live. I will live a life for the both of us. So you go off in peace, knowing the life you protected will not go to waste. And when I grow old and finally die. I will see you on the other side. Where the two of us can be family again." Yuki wiped her tears as she got up and leaned down, kissing the top of Mary''s head. She caressed the top of her head a few times before finally forcing herself away. She exited the room to find Tina standing there waiting for her.


    "All done? You can take more time if you want." Tina knew it was hard to say goodbye to someone you cared about, so she did not mind waiting for a while. She had already been prepared to do so.


    "No, I already said what needed to be said. Plus, she will always be with me. Please have them deliver the ashes to my new place." Yuki replied with a faint smile.


    "I will. Come, let''s go get your things." Tina put her arm around Yuki''s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. Yuki did not know what she would do without Tina and the other officer. Their words and support at such a time like this had really allowed her to keep her head about her.


    Tina drove Yuki back to her room at the boarding house and helped her pack all her things. Not a single soul came out when a police car showed up. Yuki packed her things up, which wasn''t much. Her clothes could all easily fit in a single bag. She had a few potted plants and some salves, as well as her normal toiletries. The biggest thing was the VR equipment. This was the only thing she gave special care to, afraid it would break. Although she had plenty of money, Yuki was not stupid enough to go out and spend it all. She wanted an upgraded helmet for better synchronization, but she still felt off about spending a bunch of money on one. She figured if she can continue making money for Soul Fusion Online, she will get a Pod, but those were very expensive. But only if she were to buy one of those would she be willing to dish out the money for new VR gear.


    "Mm¡­ You can take any keepsakes you may find in there. But I will need to enter with you." Tina did not know what may be waiting in the room, so she did not want Yuki entering alone.


    "That''s fine." Yuki had no objections. She only wanted to see the life Mary had to live and imprint it into her mind.


    When they opened the door, the room was surprisingly clean. It seemed Mary was a bit of a clean freak when it came to her place. Yuki looked around at the room that did not have much in it. Just a bed, nightstand, a small tv, and a coffee table which still had a stash of neo sitting on top of it. Both Yuki and Tina frowned at seeing this.


    Yukie walked over to the nightstand that had a small book on it with a lock. A small key sat next to it as well. Yuki picked it up and unlocked it, and looked inside. "Today, I saw Yuki running off to school again. As always, she is working hard to better her life. Sometimes I wish I could join her. But alas, I am so addicted to this neo shit I can''t do anything but sell myself. Do I regret it? I do. Maybe if things were different and I did not hang out with those people, I wouldn''t be where I am today. But when I think of it as if I was not the way I am now, there would be no way for me to protect Yuki."


    "I met Yuki as she came home from college. I couldn''t help but tease her for still being single and still a virgin. Maybe my mind is a bit warped from the drugs, but she still laughed it off as always. I see Yuki as my way of looking at what I could have been. She is my light in this dark world that I am now a part of."


    "As of late, Greg has been asking me about Yuki, but I keep changing the subject. I can''t let that bastard touch Yuki. I can not let my light be extinguished by that bastard. No matter if I have to give this life of mine, I will not let my light die. I would rather kill Greg and die in the process than let Yuki come to harm. She is the only thing keeping me sane. If by chance, I die because of this and Yuki, you are reading this, I want you to know you have always been my sister in my heart and that I will always love you as such, so fight on. And find that person who will love you. Make a family of your own and show this world us orphans will not submit to this hell of a world!"


    Yuki instantly broke down crying. Tina hugged her tightly and let her cry as much as she wanted.

 Chapter 25：A New Home

    The new apartment was much bigger than her room. It had a bedroom which was not big but enough room for a bed, dresser, and a nightstand. It also had a small closet on one of the walls. The other room was a kitchen/living room. It had a small kitchen that was much bigger than her old one and space enough for a couch and TV in the other half. As for the bathroom, as Tina had said, it was only a half bath. Just a small sink and a toilet. There was also a small patio on the far wall that had a clothes washer hookup. It was clean, repainted, and kept in very good condition. The best part of all was that it was in a good neighborhood and right down the street from her college.


    Yuki smiled faintly as she looked around. "Perfect. Tina, I can''t thank you enough."


    "No, I should be thanking you. My parents had been stressing over renting this place out for a while now. They have had many applicants, but none of them were able to pass my rigorous background checks." Tina chuckled as she said this. "I know it was hard to lose a bit of income for them on this place because I am so picky, but I did not want someone living here who would trash the place or give them a hard time."


    "I would have done the same." Yuki said as she placed her bag down. "I just need to buy a bed and some food, and I should be good to go."


    "Let''s go get the bed then while I am still free. I have no idea when I will get free time like this again." Tina knew Yuki had no way of getting the bed sent here easily, and she would not stop here when helping someone. She planned to help Yuki any which way she could.


    "But¡­ I do not think your car can hold a bed..." Yuki was thinking of how the police car was not designed to move things.


    "Ah! Haha! No, I have my parent''s truck we can use. We can fly to the nearest IKeeya and get what you need. It''s pretty cheap so you should get a dresser and nightstand or even some things for the living room. Also! Kitchen stuff!" Tina seemed more excited about shopping than Yuki!


    The two left and went to the closest IKeeya. It was a mega store that had everything one could think of. They even sold cars. The thing about this store was that it was one of the Evergreen family''s businesses. Luckily they sold quality goods and no cheap knock offs. Everything was of the IKeeya brand.


    When Yuki had on her usual face mask and hat with her hair balled up underneath. Tina found this strange to dress like a boy when Yuki was a cute girl, but when she remembered where she was living before, she realized it was a form of protection. But luckily, her normal style kept her bruised face and broken nose from prying eyes.


    The store had multiple floors splitting up each section. Yuki and Tina went up to the floor, which had all the furniture. When they got off the elevator, Yuki spotted a familiar figure with a group of girls and boys following after her. This figure was Trisha Evergreen, the princess in the flesh. Yuki noticed that Trisha''s face seemed to be forced. The smile she had on was not her true smile. Yuki could understand that smile. It was the same one she used in front of customers at her old job. "Must be hard..." Yuki whispered to herself.


    "Hmmm? Did you say something?" Tina asked.


    "Ahh¡­ No, I was just talking to myself. It seems the beds are over there." Yuki pointed at a sign that read ''Bedroom Furniture''.


    As the two headed in that direction, Trisha''s eyes followed the girl. She did not know why she was so focused on this girl. Ever since they met in the shower room and she was faced with such sarcastic words, she felt that the girl who hid her gender was one of the only people who was not fake around her. Her gaze stayed on Yuki until she disappeared from sight. Only then did she turned her gaze away. The words of the people chattering around her never entered her ears once.


    "Princess, what do you think? Should we check it out?" The girl next to her asked.


    Trisha had no idea what she was being asked. Annoyed by their prattling, she decided it was time to go home. "I have to head home for now. You girls go have fun." After saying this, Trisha did not wait for an answer before walking off.


    The girls and boys who were just smiling away at Trisha, expressions turned into sneers. "Who does she think she is!? She is nothing but an unwanted princess. If it was not for the fact that her last name was Evergreen, we wouldn''t even bother with her. We only need her so we can have a chance of meeting one of the true princesses or princes."


    "I know, if it was not for this fact and the fact my father makes me kiss her ass, I would have bashed her face in a few times already. I bet she thinks she is all high and mighty just because she has the title of princess. She doesn''t even have the abilities of a true Evergreen. She is only a bit smarter than a normal person." Another girl said.


    "I know, right? I bet her mother was so stupid that even the Evergreen family''s genes couldn''t even make up for it." This was the true nature of these so called friends that hung around Trisha.


    "Are you sure this is the bed you want? It looks unfinished!" Tina looked at the small bed that had no headboard or anything else, it was more of a cot than a bed.


    "It''s only 60 crowns. Why spend hundreds of crowns on a bed? I only need the base, and then I can get a comfortable mattress to go on top of it. So in the end, I will spend the same amount of money on one of the more expensive bed frames and get both mattress and frame at the same price." Yuki''s thrifty nature was in full force. Her old mattress was nothing but a thin stiff thing that could be mistaken for cardboard. So spending money on a mattress that was a bit thicker was already a luxury for her.


    "Fine, fine, it''s your choice but still¡­ Sigh, but let me buy you a blanket. I have a feeling if I were to leave it to you, it would turn into some kind of plastic bag." Yuki pursed her lips at Tina''s teasing. She didn''t feel she was that bad. In the end, Tina bought Yuki 2 blankets, 2 sets of sheets, and a fluffy pillow, and a few other items that Yuki did not see.


    When everything was bought, Yuki ended up spending 300 crowns on her stuff. She got everything she needed immediately. When they returned home, Tina pushed her way around the house, putting things away for Yuki. Yuki was speechless at this, but she also felt warmth in her heart. She wondered if this was what it was like to have a mother.


    "I do not think you will be seeing any guys by my side anytime soon." Yuki replied. There was no way she would want to date any man right now. Just thinking about it sent chills up her spine, especially after Mary''s incident.


    "Well¡­ Even if it''s a girl, they wouldn''t want you to be too skinny." Tina gave an awkward smile.


    Yuki really didn''t know what to say to Tina''s words just now, so she could only nod her head and reassure Tina she would eat properly. "I will put my stomach first, don''t worry."


    "Alright, remember to lock the door." Tina finally left, leaving Yuki alone in her new apartment.


    Yuki looked around at her new place and realized that there were many new things she had not even bought hanging about. She shook her head and smiled. Tina was really a nice person. "My rent is paid for the next 2 years, so I do not need to worry about that from now and My bank account is filled. With Soul Fusion Online, I should be able to save up a lot of money while still going to college. I have to make the most of my time but first, food!"


    After a bite to eat of her horrible cooking skills and triple checking all the locks and windows, Yuki went to her bedroom and laid down on her new bed. She slipped under her blankets and put her headset on before logging in.


    "Meow!" Nergal was the first thing she heard when she logged into the game.

 Chapter 26：Chi Part 1

    Yuki reached up and grabbed the small cat from her head and held it in her arms. "Let''s do some leveling today, Nergal."


    "Meow!" Nergal snuggled into Yuki''s embrace.


    Although Yuki did not do the research she had wanted to do to find quests. Right now, she only wanted to get lost in the game at this time. A sort of escape from reality. "But first, let''s check the marketplace."


    Yuki was already right outside the marketplace. She had logged off right outside. She went to the terminal, and after bringing up the window, her eyes almost dropped out of her head. All of her potions were sold. And the amount of gold she had now was 11,455. This did not include the gold she also sold at 6 crowns per silver. She made 276,360 crowns during the day. But what she couldn''t believe was people were actually paying her outrageous buyout prices! It was not like her items were worth that price. "Spendthrifts..."


    Although it was making her money, Yuki''s heart still ached seeing people waste so much money on an in game item that was consumable like that. "I will set 10,000 gold on the marketplace and keep 1,455 for myself. "


    With everything set, Yuki made her way out of town with Nergal perched on top of her head. But before she exited the town she saw a male NPC in butcher clothes standing there scratching his head. "Ahh, geez, what am I going to do?"


    "Everything okay?" Yuki walked up to the man and asked.


    Hearing someone suddenly call out to him, the man jumped and turned around. "Oh, Lad? Haha! You scared the daylights outta me. I think I just lost a few years of my life."


    "Ahh, well¡­ Maybe you could help..."


    *Ding!*


    [Chain Quest: Village Life Is Not Easy]


    [Help Ben The Butcher get the supplies he needs to finish his order.]


    [Part completion: Collect 20 Drogger meat]


    [Reward: 5 Silver, 1000 Experience Points]


    Yuki gladly accepted the quest. This was exactly what she was looking for. She liked doing quests in games more than grinding since it would give her a goal to work towards besides leveling up even if the quest was a grind quest. "You sure are a big help, Lad. I have an order due by the end of the month, but the Drogger meat supplier has not been able to make it past the Great Fordon Plains. You can Find Droggers just north of the Great Fordon Plains at the edge of the Forgotten Gorge. You can reach the Great Fordon Plains by heading north of the village."


    "Alright, I will head there and get what you need." Yuki said goodbye to the man and made her way out of town.


    She was a little excited to see more of this world. It was not like she could explore unexplored places in real life. She hoped Mary was watching over her so she could see the places she was venturing into as well. After exiting the town, Yuki headed straight north. She made sure to kill all the monsters she could along the way. This time though, she was being picky about what she picked up. If it wasn''t a material for crafting, she would not put it in her inventory.


    Level: 2 ¡ú 4/20


    As Yuki was passing through a forest, She heard the sounds of a female yelling. "What are you doing!? Do you think you can get away with this!?"


    Yuki frowned upon hearing this. Her mind instantly went to when Mary was yelling at Greg. Yuki went to step forward but paused for a split second before shaking her head and running towards the sound of yelling.


    "Haha! I agreed to help you power level, but I never said it was free. You are out here with no one else around, and you have yet to level once. You will die easily and will respawn in the closest town, meaning you will be stuck in this area since the closest town is Everwood. How will you even be able to progress? All the monsters here are level 5 to ten. It is easy to avoid all the hassle. All you have to do is have a bit of fun with me. It''s not so hard, right? It''s not like it''s your real body, but I did hear it does stimulate the mind. Hahaha!" The man''s words made Yuki grind her teeth as her eyes became as cold as ice.


    "You bastard!" The girl who had two fox ears on her head and a fox tail coming off her backside, all of which was pure black, glared at the man with her wooden sword in her hand. Her whole body was trembling with anger and fear.


    What entered Yuki''s eyes as she arrived was the scene of a man pinning an unwilling girl to the ground, causing her eyes to immediately turn red. Killing intent poured out of her body as she roared: "What the fuck are you doing!?" The man had already mounted the fox girl and was pinning her down, trying to restrain her. The fox girl''s wooden sword was tossed to the side. When he heard Yuki''s yell, he was startled and turned only to see the cold glint of a blade stab him right in the chest. Yuki didn''t stop there as she pulled her sword out and spun around, stabbing him right in the back. She then raised her foot and roundhouse kicked him to the ground before mounting him and began punching him, slowly whittling down the rest of his Health after already taking half of it.


    "Fucking bastards like you do not belong in this world!" Yuki was cursing left and right as she punched the man. When he only had 30 Health left, Yuki raised her sword and stabbed the man between the eyes. From start to finish, the man could not even get a word in edgewise. He was completely beaten without even a chance to defend himself. Yuki then opened the bag that was next to his body with his inventory items and took out all the items before walking over to the fox girl.


    The fox girl sat on the ground staring at Yuki with tears in her eyes. She was in utter disbelief as to what had just happened to her. She did not come out of her daze until Yuki had spoken. "Are you okay?"


    "Huh? Yes, thanks to you. But if you did not come, I probably would have..." The fox girl shivered at the thought. "I wanted to kill myself, but he took my sword away before I could."


    "Here, you should stand up." Yuki reached her hand out to the girl, who hesitantly took it, allowing Yuki to help her stand up. Yuki smiled, causing the girl to suddenly blank out at Yuki''s handsome smile. It was a half smile, somewhat sly almost but with Yuki''s good looks the fox girl couldn''t help but be lost in it. "My name''s Y-Ryu, what''s yours?"


    "My-My name is Chi..."

 Chapter 27：Chi Part 2

    "Well, Chi, it''s nice to meet you. But umm¡­ Can you let go of my hand?" Yuki''s hand was being gripped tightly by Chi''s hand, causing her to feel slightly awkward.


    "Ahh! Sorry..." Chi blushed as she lowered her head. In her mind, she was looking for a place to dig a hole and climb into. She never acted this way before! But at the same time, she was cursing Yuki''s character for being too handsome.


    "It''s fine. Anyway, with your level, you will not be able to move around easily. So why don''t you team with me for a while? I am making my way north to do a quest, but you can tag along and gain some experience and level up. By the time I am done, you should be plenty high enough for the area. Also, take these." Yuki opened a trade window with Chi. She put all the items that she looted from the man and then 10 gold on top of it to help Chi out. "The items are from the guy just now, and the gold is so you can get some equipment to match your level as you level up."


    "This¡­. I can''t..." Chi was hesitant to accept anything. She felt flattered that the man in front of her was willing to give her anything. But she also felt bad since 10 gold was not something easy to come by this early in the game, not to mention the items belonged to him for killing the man.


    "You can. Trust me, I got plenty." Yuki smiled and reassured Chi, who finally accepted the items and gold. Yuki then sent her a party invite allowing the two to talk in a special party chat where only they could hear each other. "Before we go, let''s sit here for a bit."


    "Huh, why?" Chi was confused as to why they would be waiting around.


    "Come with me and watch." Yuki said as she grabbed Chi''s hand and pulled her behind some bushes. Chi became nervous and was wondering if Yuki was about to make a move on her, but when she saw Yuki squat behind a bush and turn around waving for her to sit with her, she knew that Yuki had no such intentions allowing her to feel relieved. "Don''t make a sound. We will wait here for a while and see if he returns to his corpse."


    Only now did Chi understand. "Do you plan to kill him again?"


    Yuki gave a cheeky smile as she nodded her head: "I mean he tried to molest you, which means he must be punished. How could one time be enough? Plus, wouldn''t you like to beat him for a while?"


    Chi gave a faint smile and nodded her head. She did want to beat that asshole! "Yes, I do."


    "Then, I will hold him down while you beat on him. You can take your time as you do it." Yuki could tell Chi really wanted revenge. She could understand this very much. No one would want such a thing to happen to them and not be able to get revenge for themselves after.


    "Meow!" Nergal, who had been sleeping this entire time, stood up and stretched its little legs. It somehow did not fall the entire time Yuki was jumping around and beating that man just now.


    "Aw, a cute kitty!" Chi was instantly dawn towards Nergal and reached her hand out to pat it, only for Nergal to wave its tail, smacking her hand away.


    "Pfft!" Yuki couldn''t hold back her laughter. She found it highly amusing, especially with Chi''s expression just now that looked half heartbroken and stunned at the same time.


    Chi lowered her head in embarrassment as she puffed out her cheeks. ''He doesn''t need to laugh, does he?''


    Yuki then handed Nergal over to Chi, whose eyes glowed in excitement as she cuddled Nergal in her arms. "It''s so cute!"


    Yuki saw that Chi''s eyes were of a blue azurite color. She found them to be very pretty. Chi noticed Yuki looking at her and asked: "Is something wrong?"


    "No, I just felt your character had very pretty eyes." Yuki answered nonchalantly. She completely forgot she was a man right now and did not realize her words could be taken as her flirting with Chi.


    Chi blushed and lowered her head, smiling as she said: "Thank you."


    The two talked about this and that for a while when Yuki finally noticed someone coming over. "He''s here, I think."


    Chi instantly went quiet. She had completely forgotten about the man from before since she was so caught up in talking with Yuki. In real life, she could not talk like this with others so freely because she had no real friends. Talking with Yuki just now felt like she could finally be herself, even if it was only in game.


    The man from before walked into view from a small path and looked around a bit before running over to his corpse and picking up the brown sack next to it. "That fucker! He really took my items!?"


    "And you really came back?" The man froze when he heard a voice coming from behind him. Before he could even turn around, a sword was pressed up against his throat.


    "Wha-What do you want!? You already killed me and took my items!" The man yelled.


    "What do I want? Do you think after assaulting a girl, you would be able to just do whatever you want? Sorry, unlike the real world, this world is not as forgiving. Now then Chi, the vines we cut." The man had a bad feeling and wanted to kill himself, but Yuki swatted his sword away. Chi handed Yuki the vines and watched as Yuki tied the man up.


    The man looked at Yuki then at Chi and sneered: "So you used your body to get revenge on me, yeah?"


    Chi frowned as she walked over and stomped on the man''s face. "Not everyone is a scumbag like you." After saying this, she went to town, kicking the man in the face and body over and over. Her footprint could be seen all over the man''s body. The man''s Health slowly lowered, and when he was just about to die, Yuki force fed him a potion causing him to regain 70% of his health once more.


    "You!" The man was so angry that he wasn''t able to die and get things over with. He never thought that Yuki would force feed him a potion! Although this was a VR game, he still felt a bit of pain. It was nothing like what one would feel in real life, but it still gave the sensation of pain when hit or stabbed to add some realism.


    Yuki formed a big smile on her face as she knelt down next to the man. "Why did you think I would let you die that easily? My new friend here has yet to vent her frustrations. If we let you die, you wouldn''t come back. So sit here like a good boy and let her beat on you for a while. Don''t worry, I got plenty of potions to keep you alive. Maybe this will be a lesson for you so that from now on you will not try to take advantage of girls."

 Chapter 28：Friendship

    An hour later and 3 potions less, Chi seemed to be very content after beating the man. "I guess we can either kill him now or let him go..."


    "Hmm?" Yuki climbed out of a huge pit she had just dug over the past hour. Chi turned and saw the pit and was very confused as to what was going on.


    "This is for?" Chi asked.


    The man who was almost at death''s door frowned when he saw Yuki''s handsome face. He really wished he could rip that smile right off it. "Are you not done yet!?"


    "Haha! Don''t worry, my friend has already finished venting her anger. But you see, I have not vented mine yet, so to do this, you will need to spend some time in that hole over there. How long is up to you. Now open wide for me." Yuki grabbed the man''s chin and shoved a long skinny bamboo into his mouth so that it partially went down his throat. "Now then! In you go!"


    Yuki dragged the man over to the hole in the ground and dropped him in on his back. The bamboo shoved in his mouth extended beyond the edge of the hole. Yuki waved at the man before pushing dirt into the pit, causing the man''s eyes to open wide in horror. Never in his life did he expect to be buried alive like this. What was worse was he was not even allowed to die! It would be fine if he was crushed to death or suffocated from being buried, but with the bamboo shoved down his throat and the way Yuki was piling dirt on him so that it was light and formed around his body, no matter what he tried, he would not die! This was basically making his character useless!


    After twenty minutes of piling dirt on top until the hole was filled, Yuki added a few premade bent bamboo that was slightly bigger than the one sticking out of the ground on top so that rain could not get into it and cause the man to drown. Once Yuki was done, she dusted her hands off and nodded in satisfaction.


    "Ryu, remind me not to piss you off." Even Chi felt sorry for the man at this point.


    "Haha! What did I scare you with this?" Yuki asked as she chuckled.


    "No, I just do not want to get on your bad side. So where are we headed?" Chi answered and quickly changed the subject.


    "We will be entering the Great Fordon Plains soon. When we get there, we will roam around a bit and kill monsters. This should help the both of us level up some. I might need to level up a few more levels before I can even take on Droggers. I have no idea what level they are¡­ But if what that guy¡­ Now that I think about it, what was that guy''s name?" Yuki just now realized she had beaten, killed, and buried alive a man she did not know the name of. Yuki looked over at Chi, who was covering her mouth with red cheeks as she laughed, causing Yuki to rub her nose in embarrassment. "It''s not that funny, is it?"


    "No, but the look on your face just now was priceless." Chi said honestly. It was also because she found the expression Yuki made to be very cute as well, but she kept that part to herself.


    "Ah well¡­ It doesn''t matter. Anyway, that guy said this place was a level 5 to 10 area, right? So that means the further north we go, the higher the level. We will need to be careful as we venture on. How is your combat ability? I see you have a wooden sword." Yuki asked.


    "I am not too good¡­ But you seem to be very proficient in combat. The way you moved when you first showed up was like a pro fighter." Chi really thought that Yuki''s movements were very well refined. Not something a beginner like herself could do.


    "Ahh, well, it''s kind of a martial art that I made myself. I have been refining it since I was little. It is only good for those with really flexible bodies. As for the sword movements, I have been practicing mixing it with my martial arts and just kinda going with what feels right." Yuki did not know how else to explain it. When she moves when fighting, using her own footwork, the flow of the sword seems to mesh with her movements. It felt very natural now that she thought about it.


    "I see¡­ My body is pretty flexible. Do you think I can learn your martial arts?" Chi asked.


    Yuki scratched her head as she thought for a moment. She was not too sure if she would be any good at teaching someone. But seeing Chi''s hopeful eyes, Yuki found it hard to say no. "Alright, we can start off with the basics and work from there."


    "Really!? Thank you, Ryu!'' Chi jumped for joy. But stopped as she hopped over to stand in front of Yuki. She bent over with her hands behind her back, her tail wagging back and forth, and looked up at Yuki. "Hey, since you were calling me your friend earlier, that means we are friends now, right?"


    "Mm¡­ I mean, we get along pretty well, so why not, right?" Yuki answered.


    "Then how come you haven''t sent me a friends request!? Ryu, you are slacking!" Chi seemed to be in a good mood as she giggled and tapped the menus in front of her.


    *Ding!*


    [Player Chi has sent you a friends request. Do you accept?]


    Yuki had forgotten this function. She hit yes and called up her social menu, where she found her friends list. One of which was the perverted NPC Mi. Ignoring that, she now had Chi''s name in her friends list. As she looked at the name in her list, Yuki thought back about Mary and smiled faintly. "Since we are friends, I will need to protect her as best as I can."


    "Did you say something?" Chi asked. She couldn''t make out what Yuki was mumbling.


    "It''s nothing, just speaking some of my thoughts out loud. Let''s get out of this forest first and find the closest town. We need to get you some better gear and stock up on some items." Yuki felt it was not bad to have someone to talk to while playing this game. It was much different than her normal loner life. Whether things like this will change in her real life, she did not know. For now, she was protected behind the wall of the internet. The real world was much different and much more ugly. She didn''t know if she had it in her to take that first step to try and make friends with someone.

 Chapter 29：Meeting Again Part 1

    Yuki and Chi walked for an hour before finally exiting the forest. All monsters along the way were killed by Yuki, effectively leveling up Chi from Level 0 to Level 1. "We are finally out!" Chi said happily. She hated that forest after what had happened to her. But at the same time, she liked it due to being able to meet the first friend she ever had there.


    "Now, we just need to find the closest settlement." Yuki looked at the vast pains in front of her and smiled. "Such a beautiful place."


    Chi, who was standing next to Yuki, had her hands behind her back, looking out over the plains as well. "It is."


    Yuki looked up at the clock on her HUD and frowned. She did not realize it was almost time to stop playing. It was the first time in a while that she felt that time went by way too fast. "I have to log off in an hour, real world time. What do you want to do? We can make camp here and talk a bit, or we can continue fighting until I need to go."


    "Let''s make camp here. I also need to get up soon as well." Chi replied. She then ran over to a flat area and began clearing a spot out.


    "Alright, I will get a fire going then." Yuki went right to work and began collecting rocks and sticks. She had picked up a few pieces of flint while she was digging earlier. Even while digging a hole to bury someone, Yuki was always looking for materials. In no time at all, Yuki had created a campfire as the setting sun began to hide behind the horizon.


    When Yuki sat down, Chi sat right next to her and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "I wish I never had to leave this game..." Chi said suddenly.


    "The real world can be hard, that is for sure. It''s either you are born to have an easy life, or you are born to have a hard life." Yuki let out a sigh as she said this.


    "If I were to be able to choose, I am not sure which I could pick. Because even an easy life can be lonely." Chi also said as she watched the flickering of the flames in the campfire.


    Yuki was also not sure which she would choose either. Yuki looked over at Chi, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, reached over, and placed her hand on top of Chi''s head. Chi blushed slightly but did not pull away. Yuki ruffled Chi''s hair as she said: "Whether the world around us in real life is hard or not, at least in game we are not alone. So if you ever need to talk, let me know. We are friends now, so I will do what I can to help."


    Chi lowered her head into her knees. She wondered if Ryu knew that his words just now meant a lot to her. The two sat in front of the fire in silence. It was a peaceful time for the two of them. Sometimes even silence can be nice.


    "It''s time for me to log out. It''s around 6 in the morning for me. What time do you want to meet up tonight?" Yuki asked as she stood up and stretched.


    "Our times are the same, and I can get home around 4:30 in the afternoon. So 6 this evening?" Chi really did not want to log off. She hated going out to deal with those fake people. But because she could not sleep forever and play games, she had no choice but to log off.


    "Let''s make it 8 tonight then. I have a few things I need to handle before then." Yuki replied. She decided she would go to Gamer Heaven when she got out of class today and see if she can get a new headset. She would not do this if it was not for the fact that she had almost 500,000 crowns to her name. Because she had met Chi, she now had another reason to play this game besides just making money. She could now enjoy the game and play it with her new friend.


    "Okay, 8 tonight then!" Chi said happily. "I will log off first. Bye, bye, Ryu! And thank you!"


    Yuki watched as Chi vanished. Yuki smiled and then reached up and patted Nergals''s head: "I will come back on in a while. You rest up good, okay?"


    "Meow!" Nergal let out a cry and snuggled back into Yuki''s hair. It spent more time sleeping than anything else.


    Yuki logged off and then pulled the helmet off her head. When the view of her new home came into view, Yuki smiled and stretched her limbs. "Time to wash up and eat something then! I also need to get my things together and head to the showers at college. Hopefully, the day will go by quickly. Besides helping Chi learn my martial arts, I need to level up and make my way to the Forgotten Gorge to kill Droggers. But before I can log in, I need to look up Silver Springs and find out where that is for my other chain quest. I should also look into how to tell who has quests. I can not just hope to get lucky every time as I have been. I should probably make some more potions as well."


    Yuki went right to the showers and entered the dressing room. She took off her hat and mask and frowned, seeing her battered face. But this action caused her to wince since her nose and eye still hurt like hell. "I need to train more..." Yuki mumbled.


    Yuki undid her bun and ran her fingers through her shoulder length black hair. As she stripped down to her bra and panties, she heard the door to the dressing room open. She instantly went on guard and looked over to see who it was. But to her surprise, the one walking in was the college Princess, Trisha. Only when she saw who it was did she strip down fully before putting her things onto the shelf in front of her. She flipped her towel over her shoulder and began walking over towards the shower room door.


    "Wait!" Trisha''s voice called out from behind Yuki.


    Yuki paused her steps and turned around. "What can I do for you, Princess? Did you wish for me to wash your back? Or wait on your hand and foot? Since this commoner has no way to refuse, just state your demand, and I will do my best to assist."


    Trisha clearly heard the disdain and sarcasm in Yuki''s voice, but she ignored it as she took a deep breath and said: "Last time, sorry for my rudeness..."


    "I do not dare take a Princess''s apology. Anyway, it is rather cold in here, and with the way I am dressed right now, it is not a good idea for me to be standing here too long. So if you will excuse me, Princess." Yuki did not wait for Trisha to answer as she turned around and walked into the shower room.


    Trisha bit her lip and clenched her fist. "No¡­ I won''t give up. I made a friend last night in game. I can make a friend in real life too. Not a fake friend who is only following me in hopes of meeting my brothers and sisters, but a real one who will want to be with me because they like me for me. Out of everyone in this college, only she treats me indifferently. If I meet up with her more, maybe she will get to know the real me¡­ If only Ryu¡­ No! I can''t rely on him for my real world matters!"

 Chapter 30：Meeting Again Part 2

    When Trisha woke up in the morning she hurried to get her things together and came to college to take a shower. Like Yuki, although the apartment was slightly bigger, she only had a half bath. Even if she was an Evergreen, they would only rent a cheap apartment for her, and even if she was given a large sum to live off of, she was restricted to this apartment as a rule. She was not allowed to live a life of luxury like her brothers and sisters. She had no servants, nor did she have any guards. She was alone in this world. With only the money and apartment she gets in from the royal family, and this was just to keep face. It would be different if she had the full abilities of a normal Evergreen child, but unfortunately, this was her life.


    Trisha stood there and looked at the shower door. She took a deep breath and came to a firm decision. She quickly pulled a notepad out of her bag and tore off a piece of paper. She then wrote a small note and folded it up. She then hurriedly undressed and rushed into the shower room. She could not let Yuki leave before her.


    Yuki, on the other hand, was taking her time in the shower. She felt a little bad since she had been rude to Trisha earlier for no reason. It was only after the fact that she realized this fact. Sighing, Yuki used the shower wall to support herself as she stood there with the water spraying down on her head. "Well¡­ I guess what''s done is done. I guess in real life, I am just too on guard from everyone."


    Yuki heard the shower room door open, and shortly after, the shower next to hers turned on. Yuki knew it was Trisha, but she did not say anything. She only stood there, letting the water run over her white skin. After washing up, Yuki wrapped a towel around her and left the shower room. After drying off and getting dressed, Yuki turned to leave when the shower room door slammed open.


    Yuki turned in surprise to see a dripping wet, completely naked Princess standing there with a look of determination in her eyes. Yuki had to admit Trisha was very beautiful from head to toe. There was not a single flaw on her skin.


    "Wait! Yuki!" Trisha called out.


    Yuki sighed and asked: "Is there something, Princess?" Once again, she could not seem to act friendly.


    Trisha ignored the slight attitude and walked over to her bag, leaving a trail of water that dripped off her body. She took out the note she wrote earlier and pushed it into Yuki''s hands. "Yuki, I know I normally act very rudely to people. So I can understand why you are rude to me, but whether you accept my apology or not, I want you to know I am being sincere when I apologized earlier. I am not all that good with words, so please read the note."


    Yuki looked at the note in her hand and then at the dripping wet Princess''s eyes that were showing no hint of lying and were very sincere. Feeling a bit helpless. Yuki took out her damp towel and draped it over Trisha''s shoulders. "It''s not good to be standing around out here naked when it''s this cold. I heard what you had to say. I will read your note later. For now, go dry off. You can return the towel to me some other time."


    Yuki then picked up her things and packed them away. Only after balling up her hair and sticking her hat and mask back on did she head towards the exit. She raised her right hand, giving a slight wave as she did.


    Trisha stood there, slightly stunned at the turn of events. She watched as Yuki walked away and out of sight. It was only then that she clinched the towel that was wrapped around her shoulders and smiled slightly. "Maybe we can be friends¡­ But¡­ Why did she give me her wet towel?" Trisha chuckled softly to herself as she clenched the towel tighter to her body. "She is strange..."


    Yuki went to her first class and sat in her normal seat in the upper back. Since no one else was around, Yuki took out the note and began reading it. "Yuki, I want to once again apologize for being rude to you that day. As someone who is part of the royal family, I am obligated to put on this haughty attitude and act like a royal even if I am an outcast. If I do not keep up the royal image, I could lose everything I have. I need the money and apartment the royal family gives me in order to survive. Only when I can stand on my own two feet will I be able to finally act like my true self.


    "Because of my connection to the royal family, others see me as a ticket to get closer to my brothers and sisters. These so called fake friends float around me, acting friendly while behind my back they talk badly about me. I don''t want friends like that. I want someone who will see me for me. As you are the only one who does not kiss up to me, I can''t help but want to be friends with you. Although this seems a little one sided on my behalf and very selfish. I hope you will be willing to be friends with me. If you are willing to be my friend, please meet me in the shower room again tomorrow at the same time as today. It might seem like a strange place to meet, but at least there we can talk without others interrupting.


    "If by chance you decided to want nothing to do with me, I will also understand and will no longer bother you anymore. It''s enough to know you were willing to read my letter¡­. Also¡­ I do not know what happened, but anyone who hits a pretty girl like you, Yuki, needs to be beaten up¡­."


    The next hour was peaceful as Yuki rested her head on the table. She did not notice Trisha sitting in her normal seat, glancing over at her every so often. By this time, Trisha was already surrounded by her usual posse.


    *Bam!*


    "Hey, little shit. You can''t sit here." The same young man from the other day stood over Yuki with an arrogant expression on his face after kicking Yuki''s chair. Trisha, who saw this wanted to get up and say something because she knew Yuki was hurt right now, but when she saw Yuki raise her head and make eye contact with her, she felt a similarity in her eyes that was very familiar to her, that stopped her from saying anything.


    Yuki did make eye contact with Trisha mainly because she knew that since Trisha wanted to be her friend, she would try to stick up for her, but Yuki did not want this. Since this young man wanted to cause her trouble, she would make sure he understands the consequences. She was no longer going to hold back against these kinds of people. She hesitated before and look what happened. Seeing Yuki raise her head and the battered face she had, Derek began laughing and pointing. "Haha, looks like you got your ass kicked! Good! Good! If you do not want to prolong the healing of your face, I advise you to scram."


    "Do you not learn?" Yuki asked, her voice cold.


    "Huh? Learn what?" Derek was confused by Yuki''s words, but instead of getting a verbal answer, he suddenly felt his head slam off something hard, and everything went dark.

 Chapter 31：Sky High Prices

    A trickle of blood dripped down Derek''s forehead as his body slumped to the ground. He was out cold. The table his head was smashed into had a small indent in its metal surface. Yuki, the culprit of said action, looked at Derek with disdain before sitting back down in her seat and putting her head down. It was as if she had nothing to do with the young man passed out on the floor. For those who were watching, they were all silent. No one spoke a word. Even Trisha looked at Yuki in shock and a bit of amusement. For some reason, Yuki''s action reminded her of Ryu. A faint smile formed on her lips that quickly disappeared when she remembered she was in public. But even the girls who would normally be gossiping about what had happened didn''t dare make a peep at this time.


    "Huh? Didn''t Derek say he was going to class? Why is he not here yet?" A young man asked as he looked around the room. This was the same young man who had pulled Derek away the other day.


    "Umm¡­. Derek is on the floor up there..." One of the girls who was standing around Trisha finally spoke up as she pointed towards Yuki.


    The young man only facepalmed as he walked on up towards Yuki''s seat. When he saw Derek on the floor, he could only let out a long exhausting sounding sigh: "Just the other day, you got your ass kicked by a foreigner, now you come in here to be beaten again."


    "Tell your friend when he wakes up, if he bothers me again, I will do more than just knock him out. I will make sure he can''t leave the hospital for a few months." Yuki''s cold voice entered the young man''s ears, causing him to frown.


    "Do you need to be so violent?" The young man asked.


    "Yes." Yuki replied flatly. "People like him do not learn unless you inflict pain. He needs to be beaten over and over until he learns to pee on the newspaper instead of the carpet. If he still doesn''t learn even after that, then it''s better to just stuff him in a wooden box and bury him. And as the person who is friends with such an idiot¡­. Well¡­" Yuki paused and thought for a moment: "You can fuck off too."


    The young man looked at the pretty boy whose eyes were cold as ice and felt a shiver run down his spine. He felt that if Derek really continued to bother this pretty boy, then the pretty boy would definitely do as he has said. Not wanting any more confrontation with the pretty boy, the young man picked up Derek and left the room with his other friends, who had not said a single word. Just seeing this made Yuki feel that real world people were all selfish. They did not want to get into a fight, so instead of trying to stand up for their friend, they stayed quiet the entire time. Such friendships can not be called friendships. Yuki''s gaze fell on Trisha, who happened to be looking at her. Trish gave a faint smile and a slight nod of her head. Yuki nodded back before laying her head back down. Her mind went to the day when she hesitated and ended up getting Mary killed. She realized she was no better than those boys just now. But she would not continue like that. She will never hesitate again.


    After classes, Yuki did not stick around at all, she hurried to Gamer Heaven. The young man who helped her out last time was standing behind the counter. When he saw Yuki, he smiled and asked: "Everything okay now?"


    The young man looked at Yuki a bit surprised but seeing as it was a customer''s request, he pulled up the prices on them. "Hmm¡­ The going price for pods that are dedicated to Soul Fusion Online are around 2,000,000 crowns. It seems quite a few businesses have been investing into the game and buying them all up. I heard that there have been companies beginning to pop up that are sponsoring players and making real world sects. Any players with talent are able to join them, and they will pay them a pretty high salary. But that is only if they turn in so many resources a month for the guild to sell then turn into crowns. As Soul Fusion Online is the first game to make use of a player''s real world abilities, it is starting to become a second world instead of a game.


    "See here?" The young man pointed to his screen that showed an ad for nutrient supplements. "Even the brains of the Evergreen family know when to jump in to make a quick buck. These nutrients allow people to play for days without worrying about their physical condition. Now people can''t just go and quit their jobs either since these things are not exactly cheap. It''s 500,000 crowns for a single bottle."


    Yuki had never thought of making Soul Fusion Online a full time job, but when she thought about how easy she was able to make money, this new thought began to take root. She, of course, would not just drop everything for Soul Fusion Online. She worked too hard to get into college to let it all go to waste. She would decide what to do after she graduates. "How much is the most expensive headset?"


    "Umm¡­" The young man switched pages on his screen and said: "With a sync rate of 98%, you can get the Tranquil Dive headset which is now at 10,000 crowns¡­ Sigh¡­ since the game has been so popular, the prices of things have skyrocketed. Even the headset you bought the other day is now worth almost 400 crowns. You were lucky to get one when you did."


    "Do you have any Tranquil Dive headsets in stock?" Yuki asked. She was quite stunned at the new prices for headsets. To her, this was all unexpected. Luckily she had plenty of money on hand and 10,000 crowns was nothing to her now.


    "Not on hand, no. We will need to order one, and the waiting list is about a month long. Do you want to put in an order? You will need to pay half the cost upfront." The young man replied. He felt it was funny how this young man was barely able to afford the headset not long ago, but only after a few days, he was back wanting to buy one that was 10,000 crowns.


    "Yes, please. Umm¡­ If by chance I get the money for a pod, how long is the waiting list?" Yuki was not sure if she would ever get enough money to cover such a thing, but she figured she would ask.


    "Right now, it is on an order basis only. So you only need to order one. Everything is custom fit to your liking. They really went all out on these pods. But there might be a delay as, like I said, there are companies buying them up left and right." The young man replied as he entered Yuki''s order. "That''s 5,000 crowns down. If you for any reason decide to cancel, you will have the 5,000 returned to you."


    "Okay..." Yuki pulled out her card and swiped it. After signing a few things, Yuki left the game store and walked towards her home. But stopped when she passed by a mobile phone store. "I should get one just in case..." Thinking of how she did not have a phone before when the incident the other day happened, Yuki decided she should get one in case of emergencies. The services were free, but the phones were not. Making up her mind, Yuki walked into the store, causing the bell at the top of the door to ring.


    "Welcome! What can I get you?"


    --AN: Hello All! I want to thank all the people who are reading this novel and those who are voting for this novel. Because of how well this novel is doing, I have decided to begin voting goals for bonus chapters! Voting goals can be found in the synopsis, and the Authors note down below. They may be a bit high, but I am sure we will be able to reach them in the next few weeks. As for daily chapters, Yuki will be 2x daily. Once again, thank you all for reading! Please spread the word about our cute and loveable Yuki!

 Chapter 32：Forums

    "Yes, I need a phone." Yuki was a bit excited. She had never had a chance to get a phone before. Although these kinds of things were common and the service was free, the phones themselves could not be used by anyone who didn''t have their bio data imprinted into the phone. If someone were to try to overwrite this or reset the phone, then the phone itself would actually fry the chips inside. So even if she had found a phone on the side of the road, she could never use it.


    "What kind of phone are you looking to get? The newest model, the X-627 Ai Phone, is our newest product and has many functions plus a virtual assistant with the latest smart A.I. It can even connect to the new Soul Fusion Online game''s marketplace. Allowing you to buy and sell gold from your account without needing to log in game. It is an exclusive feature to the Ai Phone." The sales clerk, a young woman in her early twenties, gave her sales pitch very smoothly.


    As the young woman went over all the other features of this new Ai Phone, Yuki was already basically sold when the young woman talked about Soul Fusion Online. "I will take it. How much?"


    "You will? Good!" The young woman said happily. She, of course, would be very happy since she gets a percentage of the sales for each phone she sells. "This model is 2,000 crowns. Will you be paying cash or credit?"


    "Umm, cash... " Yuki bit her lower lip, thinking of how she was spending 2,000 on a new phone. But¡­ She knew it would be helpful in emergencies. After paying the money, Yuki had to go through the process of setting the phone up so that only she could use it. If down the road she wanted to add someone, she could do so easily with a simple drop of blood from the person.


    After she was done, she went straight home and pulled her laptop out. She began searching for how to figure out when an NPC has a quest. When she entered this in the search bar, the first link that popped up was a forums board. Yuki read the link and wanted to smack herself when she realized that it was the Soul Fusion Online official forums. "Ugh¡­ If I knew this sooner, I could have posted so many of my questions!" She truly felt stupid. But then again, she never really used the computer except for when she was doing homework. "Let''s see here..." Yuki looked at the threads already created, and one with a big fat bold print caught her eye. "Where is Heavenly Crafts!?" This was the title for the thread.


    @BraveSoul: What happened to Heavenly Crafts? After the last batch of potions, no more has been placed on the marketplace! I am willing to pay 2000 gold per stack!


    @GreenHat: Are you crazy!? 2000 gold!?


    @BraveSoul: You do not seem to understand. Those potions are perfect for dungeons or when you are out on the field.


    @GreenHat: But still¡­ you only get 10 potions¡­


    @WhiteLotus: GreenHat, you are just jealous that others can buy them while you can''t!


    @GreenHat: Damn it, sheboy! Don''t come trolling me as soon as I post in a thread!


    @WhiteLotus: Who are you calling a sheboy!? I am a full pledged girl from head to toe!


    @GreenHat: No nudes = full pledged sheboy. Take the extra baggage you have between your legs and take a hike.


    @BraveSoul: How did my thread become a place to fight between the well known married couple¡­


    @GreenHat: Whose married to this sheboy!?


    @WhiteLotus: Who would marry this poor boy!?


    Yuki chuckled at the conversation as she rubbed her chin. "I gathered a lot of materials while traveling through the forest. I can make about 50 stacks. This person wants to spend 2,000 gold per batch, so I will set buy out at 5,000. Even if they do not sell at that price, I might still get some rich idiot... I should make some for Chi as well¡­ I also need to improve the formula and try to make them medium quality. Anyway, this is something for later. "Yuki went back to the forums home page and typed into the search bar: "How to find quest NPCs."


    A bunch of threads came up under this search. Not all of them had anything to do with the quests, but the top three did. Yuki clicked the first link and began reading. After scanning the thread, she got lots of information. "Look for NPCs that seem troubled by something. These NPCs will normally have quests to give and are quests that anyone can take. Sometimes these quests will be chain quests which will take a while to complete. Then there are unique quests that come by chance. You basically need a lot of luck to get unique quests. It is only known that one person has gotten a unique quest."


    "Eh, but¡­ I got unique quests¡­. Well, it was a unique quest that, once completed, turned into a unique chain quest. Maybe I just have good luck..." Yuki pondered for a bit before reading on.


    "The main thing about quests is how you talk to an NPC, the choices you make, and the actions you take. Each one of these things can result in a hidden quest that is not obvious to others. It is best when entering a new town to search for the NPCs that look troubled. Normally these quests will be within the same area, allowing you to knock them out as you do other quests at the same time." Yuki''s bookmarked the page in case she needed to refresh her memory on things. Only then did she look at the clock on the side. "Almost 7¡­ I should eat and then get ready to log in. I do not want to make Chi wait for me."


    In another apartment not far from Yuki''s, Trisha''s eyes were glued to the clock. She wore a long soft pink shirt that went down to her mid thigh area and had pink fox slippers on her feet. She sat back on her bed, hugging her pink fox plushie, her VR headset sitting next to her. She pursed her lips as she looked at the clock. "Why is it going so slow!? I want to tell Ryu that I might be making my first real friend tomorrow! Stupid Ryu, why is he making me wait until 8!" Trisha kicked her slippers off as she pounded the bed with her feet in frustration. As for the one causing her frustration, Yuki, she was currently blowing on a fork full of instant ramen. "I really should stop eating this stuff... Maybe I should add an egg or meat..."

 Chapter 33：Plains Roller

    Yuki logged in ten minutes to 8. She set up a small campfire and sat down, waiting for Chi to log in. Yuki had never had to wait like this before, it was kind of a refreshing feeling. She did not have to wait for long, though. Almost exactly on the dot, Chi logged in. "Ryu! You''re so mean! You made me wait until 8!"


    Chi blushed as she gazed at the handsome face that was so close to hers. But she quickly pushed the strange feeling welling up inside her aside as she excitedly said: "Oh yeah, guess what! I might have made my first true friend in real life!" Chi clapped her hands together as her ears twitched, and her fluffy tail wagged back and forth.


    "Oh? Good for you." Yuki smiled, but by her tone of voice, it sounded more like, "Good for you, but I do not care..."


    Chi pouted and said: "You''re no fun. You have no idea how things are."


    Yuki sighed and patted Chi''s head: "It''s not that. I know you trust me, but I do not want you to trust people in game so easily. I mean, what if I was like the guy from yesterday, but I was the kind of person who got you to trust me and lower your guard around me? I am not saying I am such a person, but you never know."


    Yuki was only saying this for Chi''s own good. If she trusted people in game too easily or even the real world with her trusting nature, she would be easily taken advantage of. "I understand that, and I wouldn''t act like this with just anyone. I mean, even if I get this close to you..." Chi stepped right up to Yuki, stood on her tiptoes, and brought her lips a centimeter away from Yuki''s as she continued: "Will you take advantage of me?"


    Yuki felt awkward as she pushed Chi away gently. "Is that not embarrassing for you?"


    Chi''s whole face was bright red. She lowered her head to try to hide it, but it was already too late. Yuki let out a laugh. She not only found Chi''s reaction cute but very funny. Chi''s cheeks puffed out as she stomped her feet: "Stop laughing!"


    "Haha! Sorry! It was just too cute. Anyway, let''s get started on teaching you the basics of my martial arts. First, let me see how flexible you are so I can go from there." Yuki wanted to get right to work. There were many things she wanted to do today and so little time to do it. She watched as Chi did splits and brought her leg to her chest, allowing Yuki to see just how flexible she was. "Okay, so what you will need to work on is bringing your foot to the back of your head like so." Yuki explained and then demonstrated what she meant.


    "I see¡­ I never really worked on that before, but I should be able to¡­." Chi then watched as Yuki showed her how she did her punches. When Yuki said she was starting from the basics, she really meant it.


    "We should stop here for now. You should practice this every day. Throw a hundred punches a day to start, and as you slowly begin to learn more things, you will be able to mix them up and get a feel and flow that suits you." Yuki scratched her chin as she continued: "At least that is how I started. Once you have control of your own body and movement, you will slowly form your own unique style."


    "Then I will get up an extra hour earlier than normal. Thank you, Ryu." Chi knew this was going to be hard work, but she would not give up so easily. Since Ryu was taking the time to teach her his style of martial arts, she would make sure to learn it and not disappoint Ryu.


    "You''re welcome. We should probably head out. There is a road to our east that will lead to the closest village called Roland. We will kill all the monsters on the way and hopefully get you to level 2 and me to level 5." Yuki said as she put out the campfire. Before logging on, she had made sure to check up on the world map for Soul Fusion Online. She had found out that the place she was in was called the mortal realm and seemed to be just the main starting area of the game. What amazed her though, was that the said starting area was huge, and only one part of the world was visible on the map while the rest was hidden in a fog. The official site did not explain what lay beyond the fog, which left Yuki very curious. She planned to one day, when she was much stronger, to check out those foggy areas.


    As the two made their way to the road, they came across a rock type monster called a Plains Roller. Its whole body was covered in grey rocky armor. "Ryu, watch out!"


    Right as Chi yelled, the Plains Roller slammed into Yuki, sending her flying backwards. Luckily she held her sword out to block the attack, so she only lost 10 health. When she got back up on her feet, she only had a split second to react as the Plains Roller was about to slam into her gain. This time Yuki dodged to the side and slashed out and attacked only to have her sword bounce off the rocky surface of the Plains Roller. "Damn it!"


    "Yah!" Chi ran up to it and hit it with her wooden sword. The result was just how anyone would imagine it. With her level 1 level, the wooden sword bounced back up, throwing Chi backwards right on her butt. Yuki almost laughed out loud, but when she saw the pitiful look on Chi''s face, she swallowed it back.


    But this did give Yuki enough time to observe the enemy. She noticed that when it stopped and turned, it unfurled and exposed its soft looking stomach. Yuki waited for the Plains Roller to charge at her, and like before, she dodged to the side, but this time, she followed after the Plains Roller, and right as it unfurled and turned around, she stabbed it over and over six times until it fell down dead. "These things have low Health, but their defenses are insane."


    "Sorry Ryu, I was useless¡­" Chi really felt bad. She hit the Plains Roller with everything she had, only to end up falling flat on her butt.


    "It''s fine. Even my sword did not cut into it. It seems monsters in this game will not always be as easy to kill as devil rabbits. I have a feeling that as our level grows higher, the monsters will also take more skill to kill. If I did not spot the underbelly of the monster as it stopped to turn, we would still be fighting a hopeless battle." Yuki thought for a moment and looked at her skill window, which now had 4 AP waiting to be used. "I guess it would be best to invest in some healing for now..."


    [Acquired: Minor Soul Healing]


    [Heals 40 Health]


    [Mana cost: 10]

 Chapter 34：Instantly Rich

    After finally acquiring a skill, Yuki looked over at Chi, who was swaying back and forth with her hands behind her back. She seemed to be in a good mood. "Did you ever take any skills since you first leveled up?"


    "Skills? ¡­ Oh Yeah!" Chi smiled brightly before bringing up her menu. "Mm¡­ I can either do double slash or piercing slash..."


    "Well, what class are you?" Yuki asked. She had never actually asked Chi what her class was.


    "Sword Dancer! I wanted to be able to attack and help my team, so I went with Sword Dancer." Chi replied with a smile on her face.


    "Oh? Are you able to dance then? Because if I recall, the skills for a sword dancer required you to dance." Yuki had read over all the classes when she made her character. And one thing she knew was that the sword dancer class had the highest requirements since you had to dance and battle at the same time in order to cast some of its skills.


    "This..." Chi blushed¡­ "Ryu, your movements look kind of like you are dancing when you fight, so maybe I will get better too..."


    "Mmm¡­ Maybe." Yuki scratched her nose as she continued: "My movements are all due to the flow of things as I fight. I kind of react almost on instinct. Well, we will just see how it goes. I will also look up the sword dancer class as well and try to help you understand it better."


    "Thank you! By the way, Ryu, what class are you?" Chi asked. She had yet to see Yuki use any skills since meeting him.


    "Somehow, I think the no class, class, suits you well." Chi looked at her skills and closed them without selecting anything. "I will wait. I want to see how things go. I need to get more accustomed to fighting, I think, before I can really decide on skills."


    "Take your time. There is no need to rush." Yuki said with a smile.


    The two took about an hour to get to Roland. Chi reached level 2, and Yuki was close to Level 5. The first place Yuki went was to the marketplace to check if she sold any of her gold. But when she looked at the funds she had waiting for her, her hands began shaking. The numbers of crowns she now owned were in the seven digits. "2,540,876¡­"


    "Ryu? Are you okay?" Chi asked. She noticed that Yuki was shaking and was worried something was wrong.


    "Huh? Yeah¡­ Sorry just something surprised me, is all." Saying she was surprised was speaking lightly. Right now, Yuki really wanted to jump up and down with joy. Never in her 18 years of life has she ever thought that she, someone who has lived in poverty for so long, would be able to see so much money in her entire life and know that the money that she was looking at was all hers to spend how she saw fit.


    "Oh? What are we doing now?" Chi seemed to be getting bored. But Yuki did not care, she still had to make more potions to put on sale and increase the amount of money she had. Although she still had 3,000 gold left on the marketplace, this was far from enough for her. She wanted to have enough to order a pod and still have plenty left over as she saved for her future.


    As Yuki saw it, Soul Fusion Online was very popular as it was now, but if she looked at it a year from now or maybe even ten years from now, she felt that things would not be the same. Another game may take over that is better. By that time, there was no telling what the world''s situation might be in, so having a large sum of money saved up will come in handy at that time.


    "I plan to stop at the trade skill guild to make some items and stick them on the marketplace to sell. You can either come with me or look around town." Yuki could tell Chi was bored, but she wanted to get these things done quickly.


    "No, it''s fine. I will go with you." Chi was afraid if she did not go with Ryu that maybe Ryu would come to dislike her. Ryu was her first friend, so she did not wish to make her first friend dislike her.


    "Alright, it shouldn''t take long. Once I am done, we will do armor and weapon shopping for you. It would be nice to get you some leather armor, and 2 swords since Sword Dancers dual wield." Yuki also made note to keep some potions for Chi as well.


    "Okay! But you have to pick it out. I will wear whatever you pick for me, Ryu." Chi smiled brightly. She was in a better mood now, knowing she was going to get new gear.


    Yuki was true to her words. After crafting 300 potions and sticking 25 stacks on the marketplace. Yuki kept 2 stacks for herself and gave 3 stacks to Chi. "Umm, Ryu, are you the owner of Heavenly Crafts?" Chi looked at the potions in her hand with the trademark lotus flower on it. She knew that these potions were expensive, and now that Yuki had created a bunch of potions and was now handing her so many, there was no way to keep it hidden, not that Yuki planned to in the first place.


    "Mmm¡­ Don''t tell anyone, though. I rather not be bothered by requests right now." Yuki really did not want to have people asking her to make things for them. She would find it really annoying.


    "I won''t!" Chi smiled happily. She now had a secret between her and Yuki that only they knew. She skipped along happily, pulling Yuki by the hand as they headed towards the armor shop.


    @GreenHat: Holy hell! Heavenly Crafts really knows how to rake in the money! 5,000 gold Buyout!? This person must be the richest person in game!


    @WhiteLotus: I am paying 100 gold to whoever can tell me who owns Heavenly Crafts. I must snatch up this big thigh before anyone else!


    @GreenHat Damn, sheboy, no one wants you hanging on their thigh!


    @WhiteLotus: You are still calling me that, even after I sent you pictures!?


    @GreenHat: They were not nudes!


    @TradeSkiller: What I want to know is how this person made such a potion? I have tried many things and have yet to even create anything that is worth selling. Heavenly Crafts, if you read this, contact me in game! I want to collaborate with you and make better items!


    @GreenHat: You dog Tradeskiller! Collaborate my nut sack! You want to get their recipe so you can make some money!


    @TradeSkiller: GreenHat, I wish you would not slander me. If I really wanted the recipe, I would pay good money for it. Actually, now that I think about it. I am willing to buy the recipe for 10,000,000 million crowns! My Misty Clouds Trade Skill Sect will not be stingy!


    @GreenHat: Ahhh! You damn rich people piss me off! Fuck this, I am out! WhiteLotus, send me some nudes baby!


    @WhiteLotus: In your dreams!


    Yuki had once again become a hot topic after she posted her potions and would probably be swayed by the offer from TradeSkiller. But right now she was busy holding different armors up to Chi to see how they would look on her. Chi seemed dead set on Yuki selecting her armor for her.

 Chapter 35：Awkward Embrace

    In the end, Yuki picked a light armor that was designed for dancers for Chi. It seemed more of a wuxia style dress with long flowing sleeves but with Chi''s body and build, it really suited her. When Chi first tried on the new armor, Yuki couldn''t help muttering how she thought Chi was cute, causing Chi''s face to turn bright red and instantly deciding to buy the armor set. With the armor set, Chi bought two new swords as well. Everything cost her 1 gold 60 silver.


    "Okay, since everything is set, we should head out and start getting you leveled." Yuki said as the two stood outside the store. The NPCs and players around them, both men and women, were staring at them as they stood under the hot sun. This was an understandable thing since both Yuki and Chi looked very beautiful. Yuki''s male avatar took her original looks that were already very cute and made them more manly, making her male avatar extreme eye candy for girls. While Chi did the same thing with her avatar with a few tweaks to her face to make her originally already beautiful face even more exquisite and hard for people to recognize her. When the two stood side by side, it was like looking at a painting that drew in the looks of those around them.


    "Ryu, am I holding you back?" Chi asked. She felt bad because she felt that Ryu was doing things to accommodate her when Ryu had things he had to do himself.


    "Hmm? I said before that I need to level up. This area is already full of level 5 and up monsters. My quest is to kill Droggers at the edge of the Forgotten Gorge. So it will be a while before I can even make it there since we are at least one real world day''s journey from there. Plus, we will be walking around town first to find quests."


    Yuki felt this was also a good chance to test if the information she read was correct. If things were as stated, then her gaining levels would speed up a bit. She looked over at Chi, whose ears were dropping and tail was sagging, and sighed. She reached over and scratched behind Chi''s ear, causing Chi to blush, but you could easily tell she was happy when her ears twitched and tail began wagging. Chi even leaned her head on Ryu''s shoulder and closed her eyes. Yuki chuckled and indulged the little imp a bit before withdrawing her hand. "Come, let''s go."


    "Mm..." In a much better mood after being pampered, Chi followed along next to Ryu as they walked around town.


    In the end, they got 5 quests that were for the surrounding area, one of which was a quest to kill 30 Plains Rollers. Yuki frowned when she received this quest. Mainly because it was a pain. Although the Plains Roller was weak to the point that a few stabs would kill it, the main issue was the fact that it all came down to timing. Even so, she still took the quest, and with these quests, in hand, Yuki and Chi worked on completing them.


    "Ryu, it''s getting late. I should get up and get ready." Chi suddenly announced. She had been keeping a close eye on the clock since she had to hurry to the college showers and hope Yuki would show up.


    "Alright, I guess I should log out as well. I didn''t even realize it was so late." Yuki had once again lost track of time. "Do you want to meet up later?" Yuki asked.


    Yuki could sense whatever Chi had to do she did not want to do. She could only hope it wasn''t anything bad. "Then I will mess around for a bit. I have been wanting to make some new potions to sell anyway. Message me when you come on."


    "Mm¡­ I will¡­ I will see you later, Ryu!" Chi forced a smile and logged off. Yuki felt bad for seeming uncaring, but there was not much she could do for a person who she only knew in game. And there may not be much she could do for a person in real life right now either, especially if that person was dealing with the nobles.


    Yuki let out a sigh as she brought up her system window to log out. "Hopefully, she will be okay."


    After exiting the game, Yuki did her normal routine and headed to college to take a shower. When she arrived at the shower room, she noticed she was there by herself and let out a sigh. "I guess she must have changed her mind..."


    *Bam!*


    The door to the shower room slammed open, and in came Trisha breathing heavily. Sweat was even starting to bead up on her forehead. When she saw Yuki standing there frozen with her shirt half off, Trisha smiled and walked over to her. "I''m sorry, Yuki, I was held up with a phone call this morning. Umm..." Trisha began fiddling with her fingers as she lowered her head. "Since you are here, does that mean you are willing to be my friend?"


    "I would have been here anyway since I am always here at this time to take a shower. But if you really want to be friends, I do not mind. Just know I am one to speak my mind, so if any of your little followers'' talks shit, I will smack them." Yuki warned.


    Trisha smiled a true smile as she let out a laugh and nodded her head. "Mmm! That''s fine! I hate those fake people the most! But I am kind of held to keeping up the royal image, so I have no choice but to deal with them with a fake smile."


    "Then I guess that means we are friends from now on then." Yuki replied as she took her shirt off and undid her pants. But before she could even fully pull them off, Trisha suddenly hugged her while shouting. "Yay!"


    Yuki was frozen in place and feeling kind of awkward since she only had her bra on and her pants were around her knees. She stood there with her hands by her side for a few seconds before raising them to lightly pat Trisha''s back. "I don''t mean to spoil the moment, but I think people would misunderstand something if they saw us right now."


    Trisha''s cheeks flushed red as she let Yuki go and backed away. "Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself..."


    "No, it''s fine. I just don''t want people to think the College Princess was taking advantage of a girl in the shower room." Yuki joked, causing Trisha''s cheeks to turn a deeper shade of red.


    "We should shower..." Trisha said as she quickly began to undress. Yuki also finished getting undressed. But when she looked over to see that Trisha was caught in her clothes, she couldn''t help but let out a laugh as she flipped her towel over her shoulder as she walked towards the shower. Trisha saw Yuki walking away She pulled hard on her shirt almost ripping it in the process before finishing getting undressed and running after Yuki with a towel in her hand. "Yuki, wait for me!"


    Yuki''s first thought when she found out Trisha''s true personality: "She is kind of cute."

 Chapter 36：Confrontation

    After finally officially becoming friends, Trisha did not leave Yuki''s side. She took the shower stall next to Yuki''s, and the two chatted about this and that. After the shower and getting dressed, Trisha walked with Yuki to the first class and even took a seat right next to Yuki. Yuki wondered just how starved for a real friend Trisha was, but seeing how Trisha was happily chatting with her about random things, Yuki could only give a small smile behind her mask. For some reason, Chi popped into her mind as she listened to Trisha talk. The two had almost the same personality. But when Yuki remembered what Chi said to her first thing about how she was going to make a friend in real life. Yuki began to wonder if they were the same person. But she could not bring herself to ask. Plus, to her, it didn''t matter anyway. Chi was Chi, and Trisha was Trisha. Even if they were the same person, it didn''t matter. But the likely hood of that being true was very slim. So Yuki put this thought to the back of her mind.


    "And so the other day..." Trisha was in mid sentence when she heard the door open, and a bunch of her so called followers walked in. The real smile that was plastered on Trisha''s lips immediately disappeared as she saw the girls walking over.


    Yuki sighed and leaned over, and whispered into Trisha''s ear. "Do you want me to take care of them? I can make it so they will stop bothering you."


    Trisha felt warmth in her heart. Never had anyone wanted to stick up for her before. She reached over and squeezed Yuki''s knee, and slowly shook her head. Yuki nodded and put her head down. Since Trisha told her no, then she would not interfere unless necessary. But what she did not get was why Trisha kept her hand on her knee. She could only guess that maybe it gave Trisha a sense of security. And Yuki''s guess was right on. Trisha felt more secure if she touched Yuki, as if Yuki was giving her unknown strength. It was a feeling she did not wish to let go of right away. Only when the girls got close did she remove her hand.


    "Princess, why are you sitting here? Are you talking with him?" One of the girls asked as their gaze fell on to Yuki. When they saw Yuki''s clothes were all patched up, they frowned. They had never taken a good look at the cute boy''s clothes before, but now that they did, they knew right away that he was poor. The girl sneered as she looked at the poor boy. "To think a frog wished to talk to a swan. Princess, you should not talk to people with such an upbringing. Even if you are not well liked, you are still a member of the royal family. I suggest we move back to where we originally sit, or else we may be tainted by this poor boy."


    Yuki, who had her head lowered in her arms, peaked out at Trisha, who had her fist clenched. It seemed she was ready to explode. Yuki sighed. She knew this would happen, but she did not think the first to speak would, not only would she slander Yuki, but she would also badmouth Trisha at the same time. Yuki raised her head and placed her hand on Trisha''s shoulder to calm her down before looking at the girl with a smile that was not exactly a smile. Her eyes were cold as ice as she gazed at the girl. Her voice was equally as cold as she spoke: "I wonder which bitch you came out of? I mean, for you to spew nonsense all over the place acting all high and mighty just because you come from a good family? I am sure the dog your father impregnated must have really been a pampered bitch to not even want to make time to discipline her own daughter.


    "One thing you said here is enough to get your entire family wiped out for nine generations. You say Trisha is not well liked but so what? She is still an Evergreen, and Trisha is Trisha. Whether she is liked or not, she is still my friend, and I will not let others talk badly about her. And as her friend, it is also my duty to make sure bitches like you do not try to take advantage of my friend who has done nothing wrong for you to slander her. If you wish to come at me, come at me. Do not bring her into it."


    But unfortunately for her, Yuki only laughed in return instead of acting scared. "So you are basically an upstart bitch who comes from a family who is more of a commoner than actual commoners. Well, whatever¡­ Anyway, say anything again, and I will punch your face in and make it so your bitch mother will not recognize you."


    Yuki''s words were bitch this bitch that, causing the girl''s face to turn red in anger. If it was not for Yuki''s actions the day before, she would reach out and slap the poor boy, but she was afraid the poor boy would actually do something to her! She huffed and turned to Trisha with her arms across her chest as she asked: "Princess are you going to let him talk to us like that!? "


    Trisha was dying laughing inside after Yuki let into the girl. She was doing her best to keep her normal princessy look as she said with twitching lips: "Did he say anything wrong?" She even said he in order to keep the fact that Yuki was female hidden.


    "You!? Fine! If Princess wishes to side with his mongrel, then so be it! Us of the lower families can not go against the unwanted Princess''s comma..."


    *Bam!*


    "I told you if you keep talking, I will hit you. How does it feel? Does it hurt? Are you going to disrespect her again? I guarantee that even your fathers would not fault me for knocking some sense into you. " No one had seen when Yuki moved. All they saw was the girl''s face suddenly being hit by a fist right on the nose. Blood poured out of the girl''s nose as she fell backwards onto the floor.


    "You really hit a girl!? Are you not a man!?" One of the other girls finally spoke up.


    "Huh? What the fuck does it matter if I am a man or not? I said I would hit, so I hit? If I make a promise, should I not keep it? Once I fulfill that promise, you start cursing me? Should I hit you too!?" Even Yuki knew she was being unreasonable at this time but she did not care. For girls like this only by acting in such a way will they shut their big mouths. With Yuki''s threat, the girls all quickly shook their heads not wanting to say another word. They helped Claudia up and quickly left the room.


    "Hah!"


    "Hahahahahahahaa! Oh my god! I was dying on the inside. Yuki, you really have a way with words." Trisha was beat red in the face and tears formed in her eyes as she laughed to her heart''s content. It took her a few minutes to calm down before she seemed to come to a decision. "From now on this whole fake act is over. As long as I do not go against the orders of the Evergreen family all should be fine." After stating this she turned to Yuki and bowed her head. "Thank you for just now. I feel so refreshed. You spoke everything that I had been bottling up inside for so long."

 Chapter 37：Deans Office

    "It''s good that you are happy, Trisha, but I am nothing but a commoner and just hit a baron''s daughter. I am basically screwed¡­." Yuki slumped back into her seat and put her head on the table.


    Trisha reached out and held Yuki''s hand as she said: "Don''t worry, I will make sure nothing happens. If anyone dares to try to do anything to you because of this, I will use my name for what it''s worth. I may not be wanted by the Evergreens, but my last name is still Evergreen, and I am a princess. What you did just now was on my behalf. So do not worry."


    Yuki hoped this was true, but no matter what happens, she was glad she stood up for Trisha. She didn''t hesitate to step in to assist a friend. Even if that person is someone she had just become friends with, she would keep her promise and would not let her friends suffer if she is able to do something about it. She would not allow herself to hesitate like she did with Mary. As the other students walked into class, they were all confused as to why Trisha was sitting with the cute boy. And like a wildfire, word spread around the college that the Princess had taken a liking to a cute boy from one of her classes.


    About an hour later, the professor of the class entered the room. He stopped and looked towards Trisha and Yuki. "Are you Chisaka Yuki?" The Professor asked. He was an older man in his sixties. His grey air was starting to take over his clean cut short hair.


    "I am." Yuki answered.


    "I do not know what you did, son, but the Dean is looking for you." The professor knew this student was one of the scholarship students. He could only let out a sigh. Just now, he said he didn''t know what happened, but he did know. This kid had gone and punched a noble and a girl at that. Whatever the reason was or whether the girl deserved it, doesn''t matter. The fact is he hit a noble.


    "Alright, I will head over now." Yuki knew she couldn''t avoid it, so she gathered her things and got up. She looked at Trisha and said: "I''m off."


    "Yuki! I will go with you." Trisha hurried and got her things together. She would not let Yuki face this alone.


    Yuki nodded and waited for Trisha to gather her stuff. Once Trisha was ready, the two walked out of the room. Seeing the two leave together caused the room to explode in gossip. As for the professor, he looked at the two leave and finally understood what was going on. "Looks like he will be safe for the time being. But she can only protect him within the school."


    Inside the Dean''s office, a fat pudgy baron with most of his hair missing on top of his head sat on a leather sofa with his now bandaged up daughter next to him. "I hope you will deal with this properly, Dean Chen."


    "I can only do it based on what happened. Baron Briggs, you must understand one thing. If your daughter is in the wrong, then I will not punish a student just because you asked me to. And do not think your title of Baron will be able to push me to do it. You have to remember that this college is the second best in the world and is sponsored by the Evergreen family. What you say has no bearing here." Dean Chen replied calmly. He could care less what a little Baron threatened. He was always one to listen to both sides of the story before saying what was right and what was wrong.


    Baron Brigg''s face turned red with anger. He hated being talked down to just because he was of the lowest nobles. "Humph! We will see."


    "Dean, you wished to see me?" A knock was heard as the door opened. Yuki walked in with Trisha right behind her.


    "I did¡­"Dean Chan went to answer but paused when he saw Trisha as well. "Princess? Why are you here?"


    "Why wouldn''t I be here since this incident involves me. Isn''t that right, Claudia Briggs?" Trisha''s eyes narrowed as she looked at Claudia, who quickly lowered her head. The haughty attitude she had before was completely gone. She had never thought that the Princess would actually come and protect the poor boy!


    "Princess, what do you mean by this? In what way did my daughter cause you problems? From what I know, this young man here punched my daughter in the face for no reason. I, please ask you to stay out of it." Although he was calling Trisha princess, his tone of voice showed no respect whatsoever. This alone made Yuki want to punch the fat right off the man.


    "Can you watch the way you speak when you talk to a member of the royal family? From the way you are speaking, it is as if your rank is higher than a princess''s? When did you become king?" Yuki''s words were as sharp as ever. Baron Briggs stared at Yuki for a moment, unsure of how to answer. He only then realized how disrespectful he was being. It was true Trisha was the unwanted princess, but this did not change the fact that she was indeed a princess.


    "I apologize." Baron Briggs lowered his head. He knew if the princess decided to make a fuss, then he would definitely get in trouble. "Although I was rude just now, it still doesn''t change the fact that you punched my daughter. I think I deserve an explanation."


    "Explanation? Your daughter didn''t tell you why I punched her? Well, I can understand. I mean, how could she tell you that she was rude and insulted a member of the royal family all because the Princess was sitting next to me, a poor boy as she called me. Instead of just directing her words towards me, who would have left things alone, she had to go and insult my friend as well. I warned her not to talk shit, but she must have taken some kind of laxative because it just kept spilling from her mouth, which in turn caused me to keep my word and punch her. I am someone who likes to keep their promises. Now let me ask you, Baron Briggs, what wrong have I committed?" Yuki asked. Under her mask her lips curled up into a smile. Thanks to Trisha being here Claudia could not lie about anything.


    "This¡­. Claudia! Did you not tell me that this young man here punched you in the nose because you rejected him!? You called me crying saying that you rejected a boy and ended up being punched for it. Now tell me why is this story far from what was told to me!?" Baron Briggs could not get mad at the young man because things were done to protect the royal family''s dignity. Even if she was unwanted you could still not slander her to her face! His daughter was really trying to kill him and her entire family!


    "Father I..."


    Baron Briggs did not hold back hitting Claudia with his full strength causing her freshly bandaged nose to begin bleeding all over again as the side of her face began to swell up. "Did your mother not teach you right and wrong!?"


    "Baron Briggs, You need to hit harder or she won''t get it. I think she is a little slow¡­."

 Chapter 38：10 Million!?

    "Hahaha! Yuki! You are too much! Hahaha!" Trisha was laughing so hard. She could not keep it in any longer. The image she was supposed to uphold as a princess of the Evergreen family was nowhere to be seen. But she was not alone in this since Dean Chen was also covering his mouth as he laughed as well.


    "Hmm? I was just saying she doesn''t seem very bright. Why else would she be so stupid to insult a royal?" Yuki gave an innocent look as she said this. But deep inside, she was actually laughing as well. After holding back all her emotions towards these kinds of people, she was finally able to dish out a bit of revenge. Like how she disliked how Trisha acted before with the snotty stuck up attitude, she hated people like Claudia even more. Fake from the ground up. At least Trisha had a reason to act how she did. Her real personality was very likable and cute.


    "Anyway, things should be settled now, right?" Yuki asked. "I hit your daughter for good reason. We can leave insulting a royal as is, and no one will be none the wiser. Is this okay with you, Trisha?" Yuki asked. She was already missing a lesson, which she would now need to get all the notes for. There was no way she wanted to miss more.


    "As long as Yuki thinks it is fine, I am fine with it. Baron Briggs, I know you look down on me as many do, but please remind your family that I am a royal and that the Evergreen family''s blood runs through my veins. I do not like using their name, but if I have to, I will. Oh, and one more thing, if anything happens to Yuki after this, even if he loses a hair on his head. I will look for you first to give me an explanation. I hope you understand what I mean?" Trisha''s gaze fell on Claudia, who was glaring at Yuki only to quickly retract her gaze.


    Baron Briggs looked over at his daughter and snorted: "Don''t worry. From this moment on, you will not even see her in this college anymore. I will be sending her to another college far from here." Baron Briggs knew his daughter well. He had spoiled her too much. He would not have cared if he was dealing with a lowly commoner, he would then use his status to get his way this time, she had really screwed up.


    "Then that would be for the best. Dean Chen, if there is nothing left, Yuki and I are missing our lectures, so if you do not mind?" Trisha asked politely. Her words and manners showed just how much training she has undergone as someone with the status of a princess. Everything she was taught was only so she would not cause the Evergreen family to look bad in the eyes of outsiders.


    "Ahem¡­. Yes, this is fine. Princess¡­ Yuki¡­ You both may leave. Baron Briggs, I will handle the transfer papers for you later. Please have your people send me the college information you send her to next." Dean Chen then sent everyone off. After they all left and he closed the door, he walked over to his computer and looked up Chisaka Yuki. "Hmm? He was a girl!? Haha! So that is how it is! No wonder the Princess was fine with being so close to her. Haha! The entire time I could have sworn that she was a he. They even kept saying he as well. But this person¡­ Killed in self defense to try to save a friend. I remember now¡­ She was part of that incident a few days ago. Luckily it seems it didn''t affect her much. She is a good kid with good grades. The Princess has found a good companion."


    Out in the hall, Yuki and Trisha walked side by side. "Thankfully, that worked out well."


    When they walked into the room with arms linked, more gossip quickly spread throughout the campus grounds. Mainly about how the cute boy and Princess are in a lovey dovey relationship. This, of course, was something they would only find out about later. After classes for the day, Trisha let out a depressed sigh. "Yuki, will you meet me at the same time tomorrow morning?"


    "Mm¡­ I always come that early because my apartment doesn''t have a shower, unfortunately." Yuki answered. Although she had the money to get a new place, she had already paid 2 years'' worth of rent she did not want to waste or ask back since Tina was so good to her.


    Trisha smiled and excitedly said: "Then I will see you in the morning! I have to hurry and go. Oh! Do you have a phone by chance?"


    "Hmm? Yeah, I got one yesterday, one second." Yuki had almost forgotten she had gotten a phone. It was just sitting in her bag. She dug through it and pulled it out. When Trisha saw it, her eyes grew wide because it was the latest model that was not cheap at all! She was curious as to how Yuki could afford it, but she decided to hold her tongue. " I will register your bio data into it as well in case anything happens. This way, you can use it if you need to in the future."


    "Yeah, register with mine as well!" Trisha was very happy. She made her first friend and was now even exchanging numbers and bio data so they can share their things. This was what friends were supposed to be like.


    After exchanging numbers and registering each other on their phones, the two parted ways. Yuki looked up at the orange sky between the tall buildings and flying cars and let out a long breath that caused a puff of fog to form. "It has been a strange day, but it was not bad. Having someone to talk to at college is nice."


    Yuki splurged and bought a hot meal to go that had everything from meat to vegetables. Although all these things were now all lab grown, it was even healthier for you than the stuff from the past. She also stopped off at a clothing store to get some comfortable clothing for nighttime. Specifically, a long shirt that went to her thighs and a pack of comfortable panties.


    Yuki got home around 5 in the afternoon and did her normal routine. She then stripped down and put on fresh new clothes for the first time in a long time. Being able to walk around her apartment in loungewear like this was an amazing feeling for her. In the past, she could never do this, and she had dreamed of doing it for a long time. Being able to walk around barefooted with her legs exposed felt very relaxing. "In the future, I want an apartment with a big bathtub!" Yuki mumbled as she sat in front of her laptop and opened the forums. She scrolled around a bit munching on her dried meat snack until she finally spotted a thread. She stared at her screen in disbelief. Even the strip of dried meat she had in her mouth fell into her lap. "This Tradskiller guy wants to buy my potion recipe for 10 million crowns!?"

 Chapter 39：Two New Potions

    Yuki took a deep breath to calm herself down as she pulled out her phone and looked at her own bank account. "Just under 3 million, which was made in just a few days. If I were to sell my recipe and someone takes it and improves on it, then I would end up losing my source of income. So, while 10 million is very enticing, I will not sell. By holding a monopoly over these kinds of potions, I will be able to increase my profits tenfold, which makes 10 million or even fifty million not worth my time. Luckily I am not hurting for money, or I might have screwed myself."


    Yuki closed her laptop and leaned back, looking up at her ceiling. "I will make as much money as I can before things die down." With this thought in mind, Yuki stood up, fixed her panties, and walked to her bedroom to go log in.


    Inside the game, Yuki logged in inside an inn where she had logged off the night before with Chi. One thing she liked about the game was when you were teamed with someone, even if you both logged off, your team never broke, so they never had to keep reinviting each other. The only communication you could do at long distances was through either a sect or guild chat, team chat, or private messaging. As for the difference between a sect or guild? Guilds were formed by small groups of people and could only have a max of 200 players at a time. As for sects, they could only be created if you owned a mountain. This information was all written in detail on the Soul Fusion Online home page. The requirements for a sect were actually insane and were something only those who worked hard at the end game could achieve. They not only required high cultivation but also many resources.


    Yuki carried Nergal in her arms and petted its head as she walked to the trade skill guild to rent a room. She rented a medium quality room and went and sat in front of her storage chest to see what kinds of items she had. "I have almost 10,000 stalks of blue grass. Originally for the LQ Heavenly Health Potion, I needed 1 lavender, 1 chamomile, 1 blade of blue grass, 20 milliliters of water, a drop of blood, three slivers of bone, and a pinch of wild yam root. If I were to double the ingredients except for the water and blood as well as add in..." Yuki looked over the herbs she had harvested the past few days and spotted something that might work. "100 year old wild ginseng¡­ If I were to grind a bit of this up and add it, I wonder if it will boost the effects. But first, I will test a few things out..."


    Yuki''s idea was that the potion recipe''s ingredients only had to be doubled to make the effects stronger, but she also decided to concentrate the mixture so that it would condense the nutrients that made up the potion. "Now then, the concentration of herbs seems to be good so let''s add in 2 milliliters of blood to thicken the solution a bit, and instead of slivers of bone, let''s grind them down so they will dissolve better. 2 pinches of wild yam root and a pinch of 100 year old wild ginseng."


    The pot Yuki was cooking in suddenly glowed so bright she had to close her eyes, but when she opened them again, she saw a pale pink fluid in her pot. "Did I do it wrong?" Yuki frowned but still took out a vial and filled it up.


    [New Potion Discovered: Please enter a name¡­.]


    [Rarity: Rare]


    [Instantly heals 100 Health and 60 Mana, then 70 health over 20 seconds and 20 Mana over 10 seconds.]


    [Can be mass produced through trade skill window.]


    "This..." Yuki looked at the information of her new potion, feeling a bit stunned. "You can''t even buy mana potions! But here is a potion that recovers both Health and Mana!"


    Yuki thought for a moment before entering a name for her new creation. "Sticking with the Heavenly line, I will name this Heavenly Rejuvenation Potion."


    [LQ Heavenly Rejuvenation Potion]


    [Rarity: Rare]


    [Instantly heals 100 Health and 60 Mana, then 70 health over 20 seconds and 20 Mana over 10 seconds.]


    "Hmm? Even though it heals more than a regular potion, the system still marks it as low quality?" Yuki''s eyes lit up because this meant to her that she could make higher quality versions later on. "Now that I have made a new potion let''s back step my process and see if I can still make a medium quality health potion."


    After almost two hours of in game time, Yuki''s lips were curled up so high they almost touched her ears.


    [MQ Heavenly Health Potion]


    [Rarity: Uncommon]


    [Instantly heals 150 Health, then 100 health over 20 seconds.]


    "Finally! It took a while and tinkering to get the quantities right, but it is finally done. Now since I have plenty of materials, let''s mass produce these two potions. After which, I will head straight to the marketplace and put them on sale. Let''s see¡­ I can do 20 stacks of the rejuvenation potions and 50 stacks of the medium quality health potions. The rejuvenation potion is a rare item, so I will sell this at 500 gold minimum bid with a buyout of 15 platinum. As for the medium health potion¡­ 10 gold minimum bid with 10 platinum buyout. Now, if I were to sell my recipe, I could not control the prices so easily. It just now falls on some idiot to buy a bunch of gold. In a way, I am making myself money twice. Once with gold and once with crowns.


    " Wait¡­ Doesn''t this mean I am causing the price of silver to go up per crown? Well¡­. Not that I care. A bunch of big companies have been investing into the game that have millions or even billions. I am just taking my fair share. The higher the exchange value gets, the better it is for me. But just this alone will give me more money than that TradeSkiller guy was trying to give me." With happy thoughts of all the money she was going to receive, Yuki made her way over to the Marketplace.


    When she opened up the marketplace window, Yuki almost choked on her own spit when she saw that she made 4 million crowns. Even her potions had all sold, raking in another 17,536 gold or 17 platinum and 536 gold. "I really do not need any items¡­ and I plan to expand my skills to making my own armor and weapons, so I will just stick this all up for sale. As for my potions, let''s put this up for sale with my new buyout prices and see where it goes..."


    @GreenHat: I''m dying¡­ I am really dying here! My eyes must be deceiving me! When did Heavenly Crafts come up with such an OP item!? Mana!? Who the fuck is able to buy mana potions! No one! They don''t exist! Now here Heavenly Crafts has not only a new medium quality potion but this OP potion as well that does both! I don''t even want to get into these insane buyout prices...


    @WhiteLotus: GreenHat, you said you were only going to the bathroom, but now you are on the forums¡­ Come back to bed!


    @GreenHat: Damn woman! We already did it 4 times!


    @FingerSandwhich: Wait! Hold on!? Are my eyes deceiving me!? You two actually met up in RL? When is the wedding!?


    @GreenHat: Well, you see, WhiteLotus finally sent me some nudes, and I sent some back, and before we knew it, we were in a hotel room¡­ Now we are at my house¡­


    @FingerSandwhich: GreenHat, are you sure you are the one wearing the green hat or are you making others wear the green hat?


    @WhiteLotus: He better not, or he will be turned into a sheboy!


    @BraveSoul: +1 turned into a sheboy


    @Freeloader: +1 turned into a sheboy


    ---An: Been an amazing week with voting! I just want to thank you all for voting for this novel. The new cover is almost done and let me tell you from what I have seen so far it looks amazing! Once again, thank you all for your support!---

 Chapter 40：Player Killing Part 1

    While Yuki was causing uproars with her new items, Trisha was sitting in a private room at a 10 star restaurant. She sat there slowly eating her food in a dignified way while the old woman across from her watching her every move. "I see you have kept up your practice, good. While you hold the title of Princess and are of Evergreen blood, remember this is only on the surface. You may only request help if it involves the Evergreen name. Besides that, we will only give you the allotted amount of 10,000 crowns each month. With this you must pay your rent and food expenses. What you do with the money after that is fine. From the reports you have handed me, everything seems to match up as always. Now Trisha, remember that you must always uphold the Evergreen name and standards that come with it if you wish to continue as you are. If you do not, you will be removed from the Evergreen family line and will be forced to provide for yourself, and I am sure you do not have the means to do so as of now. Unless you wish to sell your body, that is."


    The old woman smirked as she stood up and picked up the documents and her purse. "Remember what I said. The meal is on me, so order what you like."


    Trisha waited for the old woman to leave before putting her fork down and looking at the plate in front of her. Drops of tears rolled down her cheeks, onto her chin until finally breaking free and falling onto her plate. She never hated her life as much as she did now. She was stuck under this curse of being the unwanted princess. She never asked for any of this. She never asked to be born as an Evergreen or for her mother to be a maid. She never asked for her genetics to not be good enough for the Evergreen family line. But each of these things was a stain on her life. There was nothing she hated more than how she was forced to live as she was at this time.


    Wiping her tears, Trisha did not even touch the food on her plate as she got up and left the restaurant. The night was bright, with the lights of the city lighting the way. She quickly called a cab and headed home. Her only salvation and escape from this horrible world was waiting for her at home.


    As soon as Trisha logged into the game, she messaged Yuki right away. "Ryu, where are you?"


    "Near the marketplace heading towards the inn where we logged off. Wait for me there." Yuki answered as she picked up her pace.


    When she entered the inn, Yuki saw Chi running towards her, and before she could react, she was embraced. "Chi?"


    "Just let me hug you for a while, please¡­ I have had a bad evening." Chi said softly as she hugged Yuki tighter.


    Yuki sighed and moved Chi with her as she moved to the side, so they were not standing at the entrance of the inn. She stood there and scratched between Chi''s ears to help calm her nerves. Only after a few minutes did Yuki see Chi''s tail begin to wag. "Feeling better?"


    "Mmm¡­ Thank you, Ryu. If not for you being here waiting for me, I would have been very lonely tonight." Chi said as she looked up at Ryu''s handsome face, with a smile on her face. She was still hugging Ryu tightly, not wanting to let go.


    Yuki sighed and scratched Chi''s ears a bit more, causing Chi to giggle. "Ryu, you are the best. Thank you!" Chi smiled brightly as she finally let go of Yuki. "So, what are we doing now?"


    "Well¡­ I am level 6 now, and you got to level 3. We should finish up the last of our quests and then head north. I want to take a peek at what level Droggers are. If they are around level 8, we can try killing one." Yuki wanted to finally finish her quest so she can take on the next task.


    What the two did not expect was that there was a group of people watching them from afar and tailing them as they left the village. "Blade, are they our new targets?"


    "Yeah, I have seen them around the past few days. By the look of their gear, they should have some good stuff in their inventory." The person called Blade answered.


    "Hehe, to think after all the games we have played, this game came out that lets you kill people and take their items. Most restrict you to a few items at most, but in this game, everything drops. It is our Rogue Nation guild''s dream come true. How many people have we killed over the years, and some of which I know left the game." A wolf man let out a laugh.


    "KillerT, you have a sick habit of spawn camping people. You make it, so they have no choice but to quit the game or delete and remake their character." Blade said with a chuckle. "Anyway, let''s get going, take five of our men and flank right. I will go left. When I start the attack, rush in."


    "Got it!" KillerT quickly pulled his men and ran off to get into position.


    Yuki and Chi had no clue they were being plotted against. They were currently standing in front of a group of Tiger Deer. A meat eating deer with sharp fangs and black stripes covering their brownish grey fur. "We need 5 deer antlers and 6 deer meat."


    "They are too grouped together. If we get too close, we will end up pulling all of them. What should we do?" Chi frowned. The Tiger Deer were clustered in a group of ten and were so close that if they tried to pull one, they would pull all ten at once, which would easily get them killed.


    "I can try throwing a rock at them?" Yuki said while scratching her head until she realized something. "One second maybe if I choose this..."


    After opening her skill window, Yuki looked through the skill trees until she reached the Soul Wielder class. "Maybe this one..."


    [Inferior Soul Bolt]


    [Mana Cost 12]


    "Okay, I will go with this. Chi, I took a ranged spell so we can pull from a distance. If I pull too many, just run." Yuki was about to get ready to cast her new spell when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. "Wait! Chi, get behind me!"


    Chi was confused but quickly did as she was told. She stood behind Yuki and saw a man with his sword drawn running right towards them. Yuki frowned, seeing the man charging at them. She had been so caught up in easy mode that she forgot this game was rather blood thirsty. "Chi, if you get killed, do not come back. Stay in town. I will either die too, or kill them before returning to town."


    "Oh? To think you two were such a beautiful couple. Too bad you two are going to die today. Well maybe I will keep the girl alive and play with her a bit before she dies. Hahaha!" Blade gave an evil smile as he swung his sword at Yuki.


    *Clang!*

 Chapter 41：Player Killing Part 2

    Blade''s sword and Yuki''s sword clashed together, sending sparks flying. Chi was confused as to what was going on all of a sudden. She did know why people would want to attack them. "Hehe¡­ Not bad, you were able to stop my blow."


    "Mmm. I was." Yuki said calmly as she waved her hand, sending out a Soul Bolt right at Blade. The sudden attack caught Blade off guard. He did not have enough time before he took the attack at point blank without any chance of guarding against it.


    "Ahh!" Blade flew back. His health instantly dropped to half.


    "You damn idiot, KillerT! Kill the man and capture the girl! If I do not get some fun out of this, I will no..." He never got to finish his words as Yuki stabbed him twice in the chest, reaping the rest of his life. She dumped all the status points she had into her Attack Power in order to make sure she could kill him.


    [Status Points]: 8 ¡ú 0


    [Attack Power]: 22 ¡ú 30


    "You!" KillerT''s eyes went bloodshot as he yelled out in anger. He waved his hands at his men and ordered: "Capture the girl! Don''t let her get away. I will kill this guy."


    Yuki turned to see five players charging at Chi and sneered. KillerT was coming towards her. She smiled as she dashed towards Chi. As she did, she shot a Soul Bolt at the spot in front of the five other players to slow them down before firing another at KillerT, allowing her to reach Chi before they could. "You people really want to die this badly?"


    "Humph! You are outnumbered! After casting three Soul Bolts, your mana must be almost gone right now as well, right?" KillerT sneered. But he watched as Yuki suddenly took out a potion and drank it.


    "Out of mana? I think I have plenty." Yuki grinned as she raised her hand, shooting a Soul Bolt at KillerT, who promptly dodged. Seeing this, Yuki chuckled as she looked at the six people standing there. "Now, let me ask you. What is worth more, fighting until one of us dies and losing all our items or living to see another day without losing anything? I will let you choose since I know I won''t be the one to die. But let me say one more thing if you touch a single hair on my friend''s body, I will make it so you can only delete your character if you wish to continue playing."


    As she spoke, Yuki had moved Chi with her as she made her way to Blade''s body. She then bent down and picked up the sack that was lying next to his body and opened it. "Oh? Not bad, not bad¡­ I will take this..."


    "You!?" KillerT couldn''t believe that this damn pretty boy actually dared to loot Blade''s body in front of him!


    "Oh! If I sell these, I can make a pretty penny." Yuki looked up to see KillerT staring at her, his teeth clenched to the point that it looked painful. "Hmm? Why are you giving me such a look? All I did was pick up my loot?"


    "Just kill them both!" KillerT knew Blade had a few uncommon armor pieces in his bag. There was no way he was just going to let them fall into the hands of someone else!


    Yuki grabbed Chi''s hand and whispered: "We run!" And with that, Yuki turned around and took off running. Even for her, she would die with six people attacking her at the same time. But she would not leave things like this. She knew the names of these two people and had an idea that would make their lives a living hell. A slightly creepy smile formed on Yuki''s face as she continued to run.


    "What!?" KillerT never expected Yuki to suddenly run! After all the crap Yuki said, for her to turn and run caught KillerT off guard. "Fuck chase after them!"


    Yuki and Chi were not able to run towards the village, so they could only run north. But between them and the forgotten gorge was another forest. With Chi in tow, Yuki did not hesitate to run right into the forest. Behind her, along with KillerT and his five friends, some monsters decided to join the fun. Luckily some of the slower monsters couldn''t keep up and turned their attention to KillerT and his five friends.


    "Ryu! They are catching up!" Chi yelled out as she looked behind her to see the monsters were running really fast. At the same time, KillerT''s voice could be heard cursing Yuki from far behind.


    Yuki looked behind her and then looked at Chi, who was having a hard time keeping up as Yuki pulled her along. With no other choice, Yuki pulled Chi''s arm hard and spun her to her front before scooping her up into a princess carry and dashing off. "Ryu!? Wha!?"


    Chi''s face instantly blushed. She never in her life thought she would be carried in such a way. At this moment, her heart was racing so fast. She looked up at Ryu, who was staring straight ahead. Her eyes scanned his handsome face before lowering her head once more. Something new was forming in her heart. But she knew she should not have such feelings. Especially since this was just a game, but even as she told herself this, she still couldn''t stop the seed that had just sprouted in her heart.


    As they were running, Yuki felt movement on top of her head. "Meow! Hiss!" Nergal suddenly stood up and hissed at the sky. Then with a swipe of its claws sent out 4 blades of light up into the trees.


    "Caw!" A bird''s cry was heard as it crashed down in front of Yuki.


    Yuki looked at the massive bird in front of her that was about 4 times her size and frowned. If that thing had swooped down to attack them, it would not have been good! The bird flopped around a bit before finally getting back on its feet and staring at Yuki with murderous eyes. The monsters that had been chasing her suddenly began slowly backing away. They seemed to be frightened by the massive bird. Yuki looked at the name over its head and knew it was not a normal monster. "Sky King Fermoth. I think this is a Field Boss!"


    Yuki slowly began to back away. With each step she took the Sky King just tilted its head back and forth, watching Yuki''s every move. After taking about five steps, Yuki was about to take another step when the Sky King suddenly let out an ear piercing cry. "Caaaw!!!!" It then flapped its wings and charged at Yuki. Yuki had no choice but to jump to the side, narrowly dodging the Sky King''s attack before she began running. Her direction? Right towards where KillerT and his five friends were still fighting the monsters from before! Seeing them still fighting, a cold glint filled Yuki''s eyes as she smiled mischievously. "Chi ready for a show?"


    "Huh, what!?" Chi, who had been struggling with the feelings sprouting inside her, was brought back to reality by Yuki''s words and was confused as to what was going on.


    Behind them, the Sky King was giving chase, not wanting to let Yuki getaway. Yuki, on the other hand, ran straight towards KillerT and began yelling out: "KillerT, I did what you asked of me and attacked the Sky King. Here it comes. Remember how you told me you would kill the Sky King then force his wife to submit? And even make his children work in a factory? Well, here is your chance!"


    Yuki was taking a gamble that the Sky King was intelligent enough to understand human speech. Luckily for her, it seemed her gamble was correct because as soon as she finished shouting this all out, the Sky King, who probably did not understand half of what she said, only understood one thing. The damn human over there wanted to kill him and make its wife submit! "Caaaaw!"


    KillerT looked over at Yuki, who had just yelled over, and his face went pale when he saw the massive monster behind Yuki. "Damn you, you bastard!"

 Chapter 42：Mystic Realm?

    "Oh! KillerT! You seem so excited! Don''t worry, I will let you kill it. I know how much you want to make his wife submit!" Yuki yelled as she ran right by him and darted behind a bunch of bushes in between some trees.


    "You! Ahhh!" KillerT seemed to be losing it. In all the games he has ever played and all the hell he has raised, he has never run into someone who was so shameless in his entire life! He wanted to tear Yuki apart, but he couldn''t because the damn bird was already attacking him and his people!


    "Caaaww!!!" The killing intent towards Yuki faded away as the Sky King turned its attention to KillerT. Yuki watched in amazement as the Sky King gulped down one of his friends in an instant.


    "It can really do that!?" Yuki exclaimed. She never thought monsters could actually eat people in this game! She, of course, would not let this opportunity to take a jab at KillerT slip by. "Oh! Look at that. Who would have thought KillerT was so generous to give a FINAL meal to the overgrown chicken... Ahh, excuse me, I only called you overgrown chicken because KillerT says it all the time about how he is going to roast you and add some seasoning to you then after he has finished gnawing on your bones, he would ride your wife for days on end. I have no idea why he is so fixated on your wife, but he seems to want to take her away and ride her hard no matter what."


    Yuki''s instigation and suggestive words caused the Sky King''s anger to reach its peak and suddenly release its ultimate attack. It flew up off the ground and hovered slightly in the air. With a flap of its wings, a gust of wind rose up when suddenly 5 blades of wind shot forward at lightning speed right at KillerT and his friends. KillerT was already in the process of jumping out of the way, but his four remaining friends were not as lucky as they were split in two.


    "Ew¡­" Chi frowned and lowered her eyes, not wanting to look at the sight before her. This game was very realistic in everything that included the gory graphics as well.


    Yuki, on the other hand, giggled as she said: "That looked like it hurt..." A flash of light streaked across her eyes. She looked down at Chi, who was still in her arms, and smiled as she put her down. "Stay here. I need to go get some free loot."


    "Huh? Okay!?" Chi was confused. She watched as Ryu pulled Nergal off the top of his head and handed it to her before saying: "Nergal, protect Chi for me."


    "Meow!" Nergal let out a cry and curled up in Chi''s arms.


    Yuki kept her body low and roamed around the outer edge of the battlefield. She watched as KillerT was struggling to fight off the Sky King. Any time he tried to run away, the Sky King would toss a wind blade in front of him, blocking his path. Her objective was to get the last hit as KillerT was about to die, take the loot bag and make a run for it. She was not sure if this would be possible, but she did not want to leave empty handed after KillerT had tried to harm Chi.


    She snuck over to the closest bush and waited. The Sky King seemed to just be playing with KillerT and seemed to be highly enjoying it. Instead of going for the instant kill, it was slowly whittling down KillerT''s Health. When she saw that KillerT was just bout to kick the bucket, Yuki acted.


    With sword drawn, Yuki rushed forward. She was only a few meters away, so shortening the distance between the two was quite easy. She ran right up behind KIllerT and whispered right into his ear: "The next time you try to PK someone, make sure you understand who you are messing with."


    KillerT''s eyes went wide as he felt a sharp pain in his back. He did not even look behind him. He could only look down to see a sword sticking through his chest where his heart was. Yuki pulled the sword out and caught the pouch that spawned mid air and quickly emptied it before tossing it on the ground. She then looked at the Sky King and saluted it. "Good job, friend! We kept this fiend from sullying your wife! I wish you luck!"


    With that, she turned and ran back into the tree line leaving behind a confused Sky King who looked at the man who was now collapsed on the ground. After a few minutes, it finally dawned on the Sky King that it had been used by a damn human! "Caaaaaawww!!!!!" It let out a cry so loud it echoed throughout the entire forest. It then gave chase after Yuki.


    "What really!? Why is it chasing me!? Did we not become besties just now!?"Yuki could only curse her luck as she quickly made her way back to Chi, scooping her up along with Nergal, who was in Chi''s embrace. "What!? Ryu, what is going on!?"


    "I only thanked the Sky King, but it seemed to think I was mocking it, and now it is chasing us again! We need to find a place to hide!" Yuki looked around, but all she could see were trees and bushes. Thinking she was out of options, she finally spotted a large tree trunk that was snapped in half. Seeing how that was her only option, Yuki sprinted towards it, ran up its side and into the hollowed out center of the tree trunk.


    But who would know that as soon as she landed at the bottom, instead of a dark musty tree trunk, that her surroundings would change, and she would find herself in a dried up desert? "Where are we?" Yuki asked as she looked around. She could only see endless desert and a mountain range further away.


    "Ryu, I think this is a mystic realm." Chi answered. She had done some research on the game to understand it better, and this was one of the things she found out. Mystic realms were Soul Fusion Online''s special kind of dungeons.


    The main difference is that items inside, once found and plundered, they will never respawn again. So a mystic realm can be stripped clean of all its treasure, and the next person to go inside would find nothing. That is until the end of the month when fully conquered mystic realms are destroyed. There were also regular dungeons as well, but mystic realms held rare treasures you could not find in the world or regular dungeons. They were created by ancient masters who created these spaces to hold their inheritances or just to keep their items safe.


    "Mmm¡­ But Ryu¡­ How long do you plan to hold me like this?" Chi''s face was flushed red. She had been in Ryu''s embrace the entire time.


    Yuki looked down at Chi, and a grin appeared on her face as she lowered it closer to Chi''s. When she saw Chi''s face become even redder than before, she whispered: "How long do you wish for me to hold you?"


    "I¡­" Chi blanked out and basically forgot how to form words as she stared at Ryu with her mouth opening and closing. It was only when Ryu began laughing that she realized that Ryu was actually teasing her! "Ryu, you meany!"

 Chapter 43：Bonding Part 1

    --- AN: Small note. Yuki''s second daily chapter will be out later. I have some things to do today. Sorry for the delay.---


    Yuki chuckled as she put Chi down, who stood there with her arms crossed across her chest. Her cheeks were puffed out as she stubbornly turned her face away while blushing. But it was easy to see she was not mad since her ears were twitching and her tail was wagging back and forth. Yuki found this all to be very cute. "Then princess, let''s head towards the mountain shall we?" Yuki asked as she bowed as if she was addressing royalty.


    Chi, on the other hand, froze and looked at Ryu, a bit confused. ''Is he joking, or did he know!?'' Sweat formed on her brow, and her palms became sweaty, but when she realized that Ryu was just joking around, she let out a big sigh of relief. It was not so much that she was worried about being exposed. It was more of her not wanting Ryu to only be nice to her because of her status. This was what she feared the most. She was suddenly starting to miss the cute girl who wore a hat and mask all day. She got lost in thought as she pondered how she could become even better friends with Yuki all of a sudden. ''I need to deepen my friendship with Yuki!'' But only one thing came to mind as she tried to come up with ideas which made her blush slightly. But even if she felt it was slightly embarrassing, she was determined to do it!


    "Earth to Chi." Yuki waved her hand in front of Chi''s face causing her to snap out of her thought process.


    "Huh? Ryu, what''s wrong?" Chi asked. She was still a little spaced out.


    "You were spaced out, so I was trying to get your attention. If we want to make it to that peak before we log out, we will need to hurry." Yuki explained.


    "Oh! Sorry! Then let''s go!" Chi pointed her index finger forward and began walking forward. Yuki chuckled and followed behind her, letting Chi lead the way.


    They had really underestimated the distance that they had to travel to get to the mountain range. There was not a single life form around, although they did come across many skeletons of large monsters bigger than anything Yuki had ever seen, and by large, Yuki could only compare them to the size of the skyscrapers in the city.


    "I am kinda glad these things are all dead..." Chi said as she trembled slightly. She had watched as one of the players from KillerT''s party got eaten alive, and she really did not wish to experience such a thing. She instinctively hooked her arm around Yuki''s arm and pressed her body close as she looked nervously at the bones. For some reason, she felt like they could suddenly come alive at any second. Yuki only chuckled as they continued on.


    When they reached the mountain after a few days of ingame travel, Yuki frowned when she looked at the clock. She only had an hour before she had to log out. The travel between where they came into the mystic realm and the mountain took so much time! In a way, she was glad there were no monsters or scenery to really look at, or they would never have made it this far. "Chi, if we log out in a mystic realm, will we log back in inside it?"


    "Yeah, wherever you log out is where you will log in." Chi replied.


    "Then let''s make a camp here. I only have an hour left before I need to log out." Yuki''s voice showed a hint of reluctance. She really wanted to know what was at the top of that mountain. But she had already made plans with Trisha and did not want to disappoint her new friend.


    "Ahh, You''re right! Geeze, I lost track of time. I need to go now as well if I wish to get some practice in before I need to go. Ryu, can we meet up earlier tonight?" Chi asked, her eyes sparkling with expectation.


    "Mm¡­ That''s fine. Let''s meet up at six." Yuki replied with a smile.


    "Then I will log off first." Chi said before waving goodbye and disappearing.


    Yuki stood there with a faint smile on her lips as she lifted her head to look at the top of the mountain. "Let''s hope what awaits us will not be too hard." Yuki stretched her arms and sat down. She pulled Nergal off the top of her head and began ruffling its fur. "Are you a male or female?" Yuki wondered. She lifted the two tails causing Nergal to squirm out of Yuki''s embrace and glare at her.


    "Meow!" Nergal dejectedly walked over to Yuki and jumped back into Yuki''s lap, and laid down. Yuki gave him one final pat before logging out.


    Yuki took off her VR gear and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. "I got time for a run this morning." It had been a while since Yuki had the chance to exercise. She got up and pulled off her long shirt, and stretched a bit in only her panties. After stretching she found yesterday''s clothes and put them on. For her jog, she was going without a mask or hat. She did not want to get them dirty with sweat. She put her hair into a ponytail before heading to the kitchen. She quickly ate some food and brushed her teeth before packing her bag for school. Since she was planning on going for a run, she would need to head right to college after so she could shower.


    The morning air was crisp as the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. Yuki jogged at a steady pace keeping her breathing even. Being able to come out and exercise like this without worrying about the people around her felt really good. Ever since she had moved into that boarding house before, she had to stop her daily training. But now that she was playing Soul Fusion Online, she wanted to take this chance to really get back into working out and practicing her martial arts. "I wonder if Trisha would like to learn martial arts." Yuki thought. She would not mind having a partner while working out. But thinking of how Trisha and her had just become friends, she decided against asking for the time being until she got to know Trisha more. The sky above was just as busy as always. The flying cars filled the sky, really blocking out the sky at times. From time to time, someone would even toss trash out their window to the ground below. There were nets installed to catch this stuff, but sometimes the wind would take it, causing it to miss the nets.


    The Evergreen family was all about advancing technology and did not care about the whole environment thing. There were only about three protected forest areas left in the world, and they were all surrounded by massive tall buildings. The entire world, whether it be sea or land, was now covered in a metropolis. The oceans between continents were covered in floating cities, and each area was divided into sections in which nobles ruled. Some might say a monarchy was a bad thing and freedoms were restricted, but that was not the case. Everyone still had their own freedoms to do as they please. The only thing they could not do was defame nobles or royalty, so the freedom of speech was basically the only loss. And hitting such nobles was also a big nono which was why Yuki was worried that she might be punished for hitting Claudia.


    The world''s language was now pretty mixed. The evergreen family took the 2 most dominant languages of the world and merged them together. This was English and Chinese. Now from an early age, kids were to learn the two languages together. This did not stop people from using their lineage languages, though, but English and Chinese were mandatory. So every sign Yuki passed as she made her way to College had a mix of both English and Chinese in the text.


    When Yuki arrived at college and entered the changing room, she saw Trisha sitting there playing on her phone. "You''re early."


    Trisha heard Yuki''s voice, and her eyes lit up. She quickly put her phone away, got up, and hopped over to Yuki, hugging her tightly. Yuki was startled and felt a little awkward, not because of the hug but because she was all sweaty. "Trisha, I stink and am sweaty."


    "It''s fine!" Trisha said, not letting go at all. "Let''s shower together today, and we can wash each other''s hair." This was Trisha''s plan! She wanted to get closer to Yuki and learn more about her. And the best way was to bond through skinship! At least, this was the only idea Trisha could come up with.


    Yuki chuckled and peeled the excited girl off her as she reached up and patted Trisha''s head. "Alright, but you need to wash my back too." Yuki thought nothing of it since she had always bathed with the other girls at the orphanage, so this was nothing new to her.

 Chapter 44：Bonding Part 2

    "Okay!" Trisha said happily as she began to strip. Yuki chuckled and stripped her clothes off as well. The two walked into the shower room, into one of the shower stalls, and that was when they both realized the shower stall was not really that big, to begin with.


    The two were standing so close that they could feel each other''s breath. "You still want to do this?" Yuki asked. The two were basically hugging each other with how little room they had.


    "Yes, we must!" Trisha''s eyes were filled with determination as she pumped her fist.


    Yuki smiled and reached and tucked a lock of Trisha''s hair behind her ear. "Then turn around, and I will wash your back and hair first."


    Trisha''s cheeks blushed from Yuki''s actions. It felt very familiar to her. Even the gaze, those eyes that looked at her so gently, felt familiar as well. She nodded silently as she turned her body around. Once Yuki began running her hands through her hair, Trisha''s eyes closed as she enjoyed this calming sensation.


    Yuki was not stingy with her hair washing. She made sure that Trisha''s hair was thoroughly clean. After the hair, she began washing Trisha''s back. Everything was practiced motions. She had done this many times before, so she was used to it. "Trisha, your skin is very smooth and soft. You must take very good care of it."


    "I have a few lotions I use every day before I go to bed." Trisha explained. She couldn''t help but feel slightly ticklish from Yuki''s touch. With every motion of the cloth, Trisha would fidget a little. Yuki found it amusing, so she would tickle her now and then on purpose. But doing something like this after so long brought Yuki back to her days at the orphanage. Sadly most of the girls back then¡­ Yuki quickly shook her head to get rid of depressing thoughts.


    "Then I will need to get the brand names off you later. Lift your arms." Yuki said while tapping Trisha''s arms. She then washed Trisha''s sides and down her arms. She then washed down Trisha''s body over her butt and down her legs, Trisha blushed from ear to ear. She could feel herself getting slightly turned on as the cloth brushed past her private spot, which made her blush even more. She was starting to wonder what was wrong with her. But when she turned her head and saw how serious Yuki''s face was, she realized it was just her who was having dirty thoughts!


    "Okay, all done! Trisha? Your face is all red. Are you okay?" Yuki asked, her voice filled with concern.


    "Huh? Yeah! Don''t worry!" Trisha''s voice cracked as she spoke. "I-I will now do you¡­ I mean, wash your hair and back!"


    "Mm..." Yuki thought Trisha was acting weird, but if she said she was okay, she would leave it at that.


    Trisha watched as Yuki turned around. She looked at the pure white skin in front of her and gulped. Yes, she gulped. She had no idea why she was suddenly getting excited over this, but as she reached her hand out to get some soap, she saw her hand was shaking pretty badly. ''Calm down, Trisha! She is a girl, no need to get all nervous! This is bonding so we can be better friends!''


    Mustering up her courage, Trisha finally soaped up her hands and began to massage Yuki''s head gently, working the soap in. Yuki, just like Trisha, closed her eyes and enjoyed being pampered for once. Trisha was very thorough with Yuki''s hair. She was basically washing each strand and massaging Yuki''s scalp, almost causing Yuki to fall asleep. After she was done with the hair, Trisha moved to washing Yuki''s back with the cloth. Everything was going smoothly up to this point until it was time for her to move to the lower half of the body. Trisha washed Yuki''s butt cheeks and then moved to her thighs. But when she got to the upper thigh, she moved in between Yuki''s legs and began washing her privates without realizing it.


    "Umm... Trisha¡­ I can wash that myself..." Yuki blushed. But Trisha seemed to be spaced out because she didn''t answer and kept going, causing Yuki to begin to feel slightly turned on. "Trisha!"


    "Huh!?" Trisha finally came back to her senses. She was kinda zoned out thinking about how she had felt when Yuki got to this area, and only when Yuki yelled did she see where her hand was and realize what she was doing. "I''m so sorry! Ahh!"


    Trisha tried to back up quickly but slipped and was falling backward, but stopped just short of hitting her head off the wall. "Are you okay!?"


    "Yeah..." Trisha blushed. Yuki''s face was now very close to hers. It was definitely an awkward position. "Yuki, sorry, I do not know what I was doing..." Trisha had tears welling up in her eyes. She did not want Yuki to hate her.


    "It''s fine." Yuki let out a sigh. "If we do this again, just watch your hands."


    "Mm¡­ Sorry." Trisha lowered her head. She looked like a small animal who had just been yelled at.


    Yuki, out of habit, rubbed the top of Trisha''s head. Trisha reminded her of Chi in how she acted when she was depressed or sad about something. "So why did you want to shower with me so badly?"


    "I¡­ I read it is a way to deepen friendships. I wanted to get to know you better." Trisha explained.


    "I see¡­ Well, it is true that there is nothing to hide when both parties are naked¡­ But! That does not mean you can get grabby. To think Trisha the great Evergreen Princess was a pervert." Yuki teased.


    "I am not! I just¡­. Sorry." Trisha pouted. She really didn''t mean to do that! She had no idea what came over her!


    "It''s fine. I am just teasing. But next time¡­ Maybe we should go to a bathhouse? At least then we will not be so cramped..." Yuki suggested. The school''s bath stall was small and very hard to move around in.


    "But it''s expensive..." Trisha had thought about going to the bathhouse many times, but it was 5 crowns per visit.


    "Then we can go once a week. I will pay." Yuki wouldn''t mind sitting in a large hot bath. She just didn''t want to go by herself, so if Trisha went with her, she wouldn''t mind splurging on that.


    "Then¡­ Okay..." Trisha nodded and smiled. The two chatted as they finished washing up. Their shower time was much longer than normal. But when they got out and got dressed, Trisha pulled on Yuki''s sleeve and bowed her head. "Yuki, sorry for early. My head was in the clouds..."


    "It''s fine. Now you know, is all." Yuki blushed slightly. She herself couldn''t help but wonder why she didn''t put a stop to it instantly, instead of letting Trisha continue for almost a minute before finally stopping her. ''I guess I am a pervert too...''


    For most of the morning, there was a bit of awkwardness between the two, but that soon went away as the day went on. By the end of the day, Trisha was her normal self, and Yuki put the whole incident behind her. At least people stopped causing her trouble after the Claudia incident. The normal group of girls who would be surrounding Trisha never walked up to her the entire day. The people in class did sneak glances at them, though, because they were seeing a whole new side of the unwanted princess. Trisha was smiling happily as she talked to Yuki, a true smile, not a fake one. This was something that no one had ever seen before.

 Chapter 45：3 Trials

    When Chi logged in and yelled out, she quickly closed her mouth when she saw Ryu lying there with his eyes closed. Nergal was lying on his stomach, sound asleep. Chi had no idea what time Ryu logged in at but just seeing him peacefully resting like this caused Chi to smile. She tiptoed over to him and squatted down next to him. She gazed at his handsome face with her head propped up by her hand. "In real life, I have Yuki, and in this world, I have Ryu. Even if these two are my only friends for the rest of my life, I would be content."


    Chi, not wanting to bother Ryu''s rest, laid down next to him and cuddled right up to him. In Soul Fusion Online, sleep was possible since everything was connected to the brain. So seeing people sleeping in game was a normal thing. But because the body was in a sleep state in real life, sleeping in game was not necessary. Some just did it because the area they might be in is peaceful or maybe because of an in game relationship, where the two lived far apart. Whatever the case maybe, for some, it was a relaxing activity.


    An hour of in game time passed, and Yuki woke up from her nap. She felt something heavy at her side and looked down. She found Chi hugging her tightly. Chi''s head was resting on her chest, Chi''s arm around her waist, and one leg on top of her legs. "This girl is taking me for a body pillow." Yuki chuckled. She reached down and scratched behind Chi''s ears causing Chi to stir awake. Chi raised her head, a bit of drool dripping out of the corner of her mouth. "Mmm¡­ Ryu?"


    "You''re awake?" Yuki asked.


    "Mmm¡­" Chi answered as she slowly got up. She was too groggy to care about the fact that she was hugging Ryu just now. "Sorry, have you been awake long?"


    "No, I just woke up myself. But it really amazes me that even sleeping is possible in this game." Yuki replied as she gently picked Nergal up off her stomach and placed him on her head. She felt Nergal pawing at her head, seemingly annoyed about being moved before settling down.


    Chi stretched a bit before staring up at the mountain in front of them. "We are climbing this today?"


    "Yeah. This was the mountain I saw that had something on top of it. I want to check it out before looking for the exit to this place. If anything, the place we are headed could be the exit." Yuki replied. She also looked up at the mountain that seemed imposing with its peak hidden in the clouds. "Let''s get going then..."


    "Seems to be a staircase embedded into the side of the mountain." Yuki looked at the stone cliff that had been chiseled away and had broken steps that were carved out of the cliff face. "Chi, make sure you are extra careful."


    Chi nodded her head as she answered: "Mmm..."


    Each step had to be taken carefully as the stairs themselves were crumbling away from the age of time. When these stairs were created, no one would probably know. But Yuki could guess they were at least a few thousand years old, at a minimum. This treacherous climb took a few hours, in game time. A few times, both Chi and Yuki almost slipped off. But because they had each other and were supporting each other every step of the way, they were able to keep going.


    When they reached the top step, Yuki and Chi were met with a large cave entrance staring back at them. To the sides were nothing but sheer cliffs and nothing visible to hold on to, to keep climbing, so Yuki could only assume they must pass through this cave in order to proceed further.


    "Ryu, are we going in?" Chi was already clinging to Yuki''s arm, causing Yuki to chuckle.


    "We have come this far. We might as well continue on. There was no visible exit where we came in, so this is our only option for the time being." Yuki explained. When she looked around yesterday, she saw nothing but wasteland except the glimmer at the top of the mountain. She could only hope her assumption was right.


    "Ugh¡­ It''s dark, though!" Chi complained. She hated dark places the most! They reminded her of her own life. The days she spent in the castle where she was alone. She was a princess without even a single maid or person to talk to unless she was being given lessons. Even the room she lived in was dark and lonely. She had come to incorporate dark places as the same as that room, a dark and lonely place. Even at night in her new apartment, she always had a light on. When she was finally able to go to college and escape the castle, she couldn''t have been more excited. But alas, she still felt that same loneliness. That was until she began playing Soul Fusion Online and met her first real friend, Ryu. Because of him, she was able to muster up the courage within her to talk to Yuki and make her first real life friend. But staring at the dark cave still made her feel uneasy. This unease even made her want to take a few steps back.


    "It will be fine." Yuki intertwined her fingers with Chi''s when she sensed Chi''s hesitations. She squeezed Chi''s hand to show that she was not alone. "Let''s go."


    Chi looked at Ryu''s smiling face and somehow felt that things would work out. But when they finally stepped into the darkness, they felt like they passed through a kind of thick film. It was almost the same feeling one would get if they stabbed their finger into jello. What awaited them was a small well lit room. And within this room was a young woman that seemed to be in her twenties wearing ancient style white robes standing there smiling at the two.


    "To think two lovers would be the first to come to this place after so many millions of years." The young woman spoke before either Yuki or Chi could say anything.


    Chi blushed as she quickly waved her free hand as she stuttered: "We-we are not like tha-that..." After saying this, she covered her mouth and quickly looked at Ryu''s expression. But all she saw was his normal expression that showed no hint of wavering at all. She couldn''t help but feel a bit disappointed. But when she thought this, she suddenly asked herself why she would feel disappointed if Ryu did not react to her words just now. That was when it finally dawned on her¡­ ''Do I like Ryu!? No, no, no¡­ He''s just a friend and an in game one at that. But... '' She glanced back at him. The gears in her mind were spinning so fast she was starting to feel dizzy.


    Yuki wasn''t paying much attention to Chi. Right now, she was keeping all her attention on the woman in front of her. She did not know what to make of this woman. She did not know if this was the boss of this area or not. So right now, all her attention was on making sure she could react in time in case the woman attacked.


    The young woman giggled as she looked at the two in front of her. One was on guard, while the other was having some kind of internal debate with herself. "A very interesting couple indeed. Now then, young man, you can relax. I will not attack you. You have come to my mystic realm. A realm I created millions of years ago. Unfortunately, this realm now is nothing but a dried husk of what it once was. In the beginning, when I first died, I could keep the entire realm flourishing with monsters, flora, and fauna. But now, as the years passed and the power left in my soul remnant began to fade. There is nothing left except the palace at the top of this mountain. In there, you will find many ancient herbs and many legacies that I have created myself as well as my inheritance, which is just right for a couple like you.


    "What that is, you will find out in due time as long as you pass my trial. Normally I would have the two of you take on this trial as you are, but since my time is almost up, I will make an exception and help you out. The items I will be giving you will only be temporary and can only be used within my mystic realm, but they should be handy for what is to come. Through the array behind me, you will be given 3 trials. Each trial is a trial to test how much you trust and rely on each other. But let me make one thing clear. If one of you dies¡­. You fail and will be kicked from this mystic realm. There are no second chances. "

 Chapter 46：Trial Of Trust Part 1

    ---AN: New cover done! I hope you all like it!---


    "And lastly, My name is Fu Shi. I was an immortal cultivator who had reached the breaking point of this mortal realm but sadly¡­ Anyway¡­ Do you have any questions for me? I can not hold this form too long, or it will affect the palace above." Fu Shi asked.


    Yuki thought for a moment before asking: " I am sure you must know we are players as you are an NPC, so I wish to know if we were to log out during the trial, will we be able to log back in and continue?"


    Fu Shi blinked at Yuki for a moment before nodding her head. "Yes, it is possible. As long as none of you die, you will not be kicked from this place."


    "Then we will take your trials." Yuki would not give up this chance. To get an inheritance that was related to a cultivator was not something that came easy. This was especially so since right now, there was no one who even realized there was actual cultivation in this game yet.


    Fu Shi smiled and nodded her head in approval. "Then I wish you luck." She then waved her hand, making two rings appeared in the air that shot towards Yuki and Chi. "These space rings have the items I spoke about before. The rings are a gift for being the first to take my trials, as for the items, they are only temporary, but they will help you in your trials. The rest is up to you. Once again, I wish you luck."


    Fu Shi''s body faded and disappeared. Yuki looked at the ring in her hand for a few seconds before putting it on her index finger.


    *Ding!*


    [Soul Item Found. Drop blood on it to gain ownership.]


    When the prompt came up, Yuki did as she was told, and immediately a window opened up showing a new inventory screen. Taking up about 8 slots was armor, a weapon, and a few potions. "20 slots¡­ let''s check this armor and weapons out."


    [Temporary: Combined Drylands Armor Set]


    [Can only be equipped in the Dry Lands Mystic Realm.]


    [Created by: Fu Shi]


    [Health + 10,000]


    [Mana + 10,000]


    [Stamina + 10,000]


    [Attack Power + 10,000 ]


    [Magic Power + 10,000]


    [Can not wear a single piece, all parts must be worn at the same time.]


    [Temporary: Forged Star Light Steel Blade]


    [Can only be equipped in the Dry Lands Mystic Realm.]


    [Created by: Fu Shi]


    [Attack Power + 3,000 ]


    Yuki''s eyes almost popped out of her head! What kind of trial was this to need such high stats!? "Ryu, look! It''s beautiful!"


    Yuki turned and looked at Chi, who was wearing an elegant wuxia style martial arts dress that was white with flowers of different kinds embroidered along its edges. Yuki smiled, seeing Chi smiling away as she twirled around, letting the long sleeves flutter in the wind. "Very beautiful." Yuki really did think Chi looked beautiful in that dress.


    "Quick, Ryu, put on yours too." Chi said as she stared at Ryu in anticipation.


    Yuki chuckled as she looked at Chi. That was when an idea came to mind. She walked over to Chi, who was looking back at her a bit confused, reached out and grabbed Chi''s hand before placing it right on her chest. She then lowered her head next to Chi''s ear and whispered: "Do you want to dress me?"


    "I-I¡­!" Chi''s face went completely red all the way down her neck. Her mouth once again was opening and closing without being able to form any words. But her mind clicked back to when Ryu did something like this in the past, and a realization came over her. "You! Don''t tease me like that!"


    Chi quickly yanked her hand back and turned around, not even wanting to look at the handsome man behind her. Yuki let out a laugh as she said: "Alright! Alright! I''m sorry, I won''t tease you anymore. Well, I will try not to. It is just hard because you are so cute."


    "Humph!" Chi snorted, but her lips curled up into a smile as her ears twitched. It seemed being called cute made her happy. The slow sway, back and forth of her tail, was a dead giveaway.


    Yuki wasted no more time and put on the clothes. Her new armor was completely black and did not match up to what ancient cultivators would wear. Most cultivators would normally wear robes instead of pants and shirt style clothing, as what Yuki had on at this time. "So, how is it?" Yuki asked.


    Chi turned around and looked at Ryu. She put one hand behind her back as she rubbed her chin with the other circling Ryu a few times before nodding her head in approval. "Looks good. Is it easy to fight in?"


    "Mm..." Yuki lifted her leg straight to her chest to see if there were any restrictions, but all seemed perfectly fine. "Seems good."


    "Shall we get going then?" Chi asked. She was kind of excited about what kind of reward was waiting for them after they passed the trials.


    "Yeah. I want to try to beat the first trial before we need to log off." Yuki out of habit stretched out her hand and took Chi''s handpulling her along with her as she entered the array.


    As soon as the two stood in the middle of the array a bright light flashed causing the two to close their eyes. It was only after it dimmed that Yuki finally got to see what was around her. It looked more like a dungeon than anything.


    *Ding!*


    [Trial of Trust]


    [The area you are in is a maze of death. Many traps await you at every twist and turn.]


    "So we are in a maze. Although the name isn''t very inviting. Chi, we will need to move slowly. Do not let go of my hand." Yuki said as she gripped Chi''s hand in hers. Their fingers locking together.


    "Mm¡­ Hopefully this won''t be too hard." Chi nervously replied. Now that they were beginning the trial she was really starting to get nervous.


    The two began walking forward with Yuki in the lead. She was checking each step just in case it might end up being a trap. And luckily so because after two steps her foot stepped on a floor tile and she heard a click sound and then a whistling sound coming from all directions. Without even thinking she pulled Chi into her arms and fell to the floor with Chi right under her. As soon as the two hit the floor a spray of arrows flew across the room from all sides.


    At the top of the mountain Fu Shi looked at the pool of water in front of her that showed Ryu and Chi lying on the floor. "Hmmm.. This boy''s ears are really good! Whether he knew they were arrows or not I do not know but it seems his instincts are at least good. On top of that he put the girl''s safety before his own. Now then since the two seemed to be very close, let''s make them closer shall we?"

 Chapter 47：Trial Of Trust Part 2

    Yuki was starting to feel a little concerned because, for some reason, the trap she set off kept shooting arrows in every direction right above her head. To make matters worse, she was lying on top of Chi, and if she raised her head even the slightest bit, she would get hit by an arrow. But the most awkward thing was that the two were stuck in such an intimate position, with their faces only centimeters apart. Yuki could see that Chi was very embarrassed right now with how red her face was. As a girl herself, she knew Chi was not feeling comfortable at all. "Sorry Chi, I know this is uncomfortable..."


    "It-It''s fine. I know you can''t move." Chi replied. Her heart was beating so fast right now. Not just from being so close to Ryu but because she could see the thousands of arrows flying overhead non-stop. She knew if Ryu had not protected her, she would have already been turned into a porcupine. Just thinking of how Ryu did not hesitate to protect her made Chi feel warmth in her heart. She gazed at the handsome face that was only centimeters away, her eyes scanning each curve of his face. In a way, it was slightly feminine but still had a manly appeal to it. She gazed into his brown eyes and then down his nose to his lips. The more she stared, the more Ryu''s face began to overlap with someone else''s. That someone else was her real-life friend Yuki. She did not know why but Ryu''s face seemed to resemble Yuki''s in a big way.


    "Chi, it''s stopped." Yuki suddenly spoke, snapping Chi out of her trance. She watched as the face she was intensely staring at suddenly pulled away from her as Yuki got up.


    "It''s over?" Chi''s voice sounded slightly depressed. But this was only because she felt like she was about to figure something out. She did not understand why Ryu''s face and Yuki''s face would overlap like that in her mind. One was male, one was female! "I must be crazy..."


    "Chi, are you okay?" Yuki asked out of concern. Chi was not getting up off the ground, so she thought that maybe she was hurt.


    "Yes!" Chi suddenly shouted, her voice squeaking in the process. She quickly got up and dusted herself off. "Let''s continue."


    "Yeah... " Yuki scratched her head and turned around to check her surroundings. She hoped she could go a little longer without triggering a trap.


    In the palace at the mountain peak, Fu Shi sat there looking at the pool of water tapping her fingers on the pool''s stone edge. "This one is quite dense... But the way he reacted was good. He put her safety first." She looked at the old scroll in her hand and smiled. "Let''s hope you are worthy of this heavenly treasure. Out of everything I have to offer, this here is something from beyond the skies. Now then¡­ back to getting these two closer together."


    As for the culprit who was causing these ''lucky'' incidents to happen, she was starting to get bored. "Even the little girl is no longer blushing. But at least the two hugging each other is now natural. They seem fine with being extremely close to each other. I guess it is time for the next phase of the trial."


    Yuki and Chi were currently in a large room leaning against a wall resting. The room was completely empty of any and all things. "This is the last room. There are no more exits¡­ Did we take a wrong turn?"


    "I do not think so¡­ We marked all our paths, and we have not come across any of our marks." The maze was made up of many paths and rooms at each end of the path. In order to mark their progress, Yuki would leave a notch in each entry to a room and exit as they left to make sure they were not going in circles. So far, this has worked out well, and even if they came to a dead end, they never took the same path twice. But now, they were in an empty room with no exit, which confused both Yuki and Chi.


    But as the two were lost in thought, trying to decide what to do next, a familiar figure appeared in front of them. "You two have done well." Fu Shi said with a smile. "But this is just the start of this trial."


    With a snap of her fingers, the door that led out was blocked by a large stone, and the floor under Yuki and Chi began to rumble. "The trial of trust is to see just how much you trust each other. So far, you showed good results, but it is far from enough. The floor under you will begin to collapse if you step on the wrong tile. Any adjacent tiles next to it will also fall, even those which would normally not fall. Now, this trial would be too easy to do if you were to do it normally, so we will spice it up a bit. Lad, you did well protecting your little wife here. But how much do you trust her? This room will be your way of proving just how much you trust her. I will put a blinding spell on you. It will cause you to lose all your senses except the sense of touch. This young lady will then lead you across the room. The spell on your body can only be removed in two ways: crossing the room and stepping into the array or dying. I wish you good luck!"


    With another snap of her fingers, Yuki suddenly lost her vision, taste, hearing, and sense of smell. Fu Shi smiled at Yuki and then turned to Chi. "As long as you keep his hand in yours, the path will open up to you."


    After saying these confusing words to Chi, Fu Shi once again disappeared. Chi quickly grabbed hold of Yuki''s hand and looked around the room nervously. Yuki felt Chi grabbing her hand and felt her body trembling and knew Chi was very nervous. "Chi, trust in yourself. Even if we fail, it will be fine. No matter what happens, at least we tried and did our best."


    Yuki gripped Chi''s hand, trying to reassure her. It felt strange not being able to see or hear. She couldn''t even hear her own voice. She was only trying to say what she was thinking and hoped it was coming out of her mouth. Chi, on the other hand, looked at Ryu in surprise. She almost just jumped out of her skin just now because Ryu yelled all of a sudden. But his words did make her feel better. She gripped his hand tighter so he would know she understood and finally stepped forward. As she did, the floor around her suddenly collapsed, revealing a fiery pit underneath. There was now only a single straight path ahead of her. The path was only about 30 centimeters by 30 centimeters. Just barely enough room for a person to keep both feet on.


    Chi gulped seeing this. She looked across the skinny path and saw the small 1 meter by 1 meter area by the far wall she had to get to, with the room being almost 30 meters wide. This was going to take some time. Chi turned around and bent over, and adjusted Ryu''s feet. Due to Fu Shi''s words, she did not dare to let go of Ryu''s hand. So she could only balance herself as she squatted down, shifting herself backward, and with each step, she would tap Ryu''s feet so that he would step forward. While his foot was in the air, she would adjust it so they would not step off the path.


    Fu Shi, who was watching this, was quite surprised at the trust this young man had for the girl. "No hesitation at all, following her lead like it was natural. It''s too bad my time has long passed, or I might have been tempted to steal this young man even if I had to bed him and make him take responsibility for me. But even more surprising is how this little girl is going about it. Out of the two, she is in the most danger because, one wrong move on her part and she would fall into the fiery pit below. But she is firmly holding the young man''s hand and slowly backing up while making sure the young man does not step off the path. If they make it to the end, I will have no choice but to say they passed this trial."


    Back in the room on the path, the two had already made it to the middle of the room. Only halfway to go left to allow them to pass this part of the trial. Chi had just settled Ryu''s feet onto the tile and began to back up, she scooted back, but miss stepped, causing her to lose her balance and begin to fall. Her free arm rotated in the air as she tried to keep her balance, but it did not help in the slightest as she slipped off the edge and began to fall towards the fiery pit below. She hastily tried to let go of Ryu''s hand, but Ryu only tightened his grip, even adjusting it, so he was now holding her wrist. Chi was now dangling right above the fire below. She could feel the hairs on her fluffy tail beginning to singe.


    "Chi!" Yuki'' yelled out. She felt Chi was losing her balance and reacted quickly when Chi had tried to let go of her hand. She quickly reached back out and grabbed her wrist. She fell to her knee in the process but still held on to Chi. Mustering up her strength Yuki stood up and pulled hard, pulling Chi up into the air and into her embrace. Chi was once again in Yuki''s arms in a princess carry.


    Everything happened so fast that Chi did not even have a chance to react. She looked up at Ryu who was still visibly blind but had a determined expression on his face. She did not know if he saved her because they would fail the trial or because he did not want her to get hurt but she knew her heart was racing for him right now.

 Chapter 48：Second Trial: The Stairs Of Heaven

    Yuki held Chi in her arms and took a step forward. She had always had good balance, so she knew she would not fall easily. She got a good grip on Chi and went to take a step forward only to feel a pat on her chest. Then she felt Chi tracing over her chest with her finger. At first, she thought maybe Chi was taking advantage of her, but that thought went out the window when she realized Chi was making line strokes for Chinese characters. "Go¡­ Straight¡­ Path¡­ Straight" Is what Yuki figured out after taking time to sense each one of Chi''s strokes. "Got it. Go straight, right?"


    Yuki''s words received a pat on her chest, and another character traced out as well that read "Yes". Yuki got a good grip on Chi before using her foot to feel around a bit to get an idea of how big of a space she was on. Once she got an idea, she stepped forward in the middle of the next tile. She decided to go heel to toe in order to not accidentally step off the side. With every step, Chi would tap the left or right of her chest to direct her footing so that she did not veer off the path. It was slow going since Yuki was very careful with each of her steps. She knew if she messed up that not only her but Chi as well would fall down into whatever was giving off all the heat below them.


    After almost an hour of real-world time, Yuki took her last step onto the small landing. As soon as her foot touched it, her senses came back, and she was finally able to see around her. When she turned and looked out over the path she just took and the hot magma that laid beneath it, she felt beads of sweat form on her head. She could only think that the two of them were very lucky to have not died. "We are now over here, so now what?"


    As Yuki asked her question, a light shined under her feet, and the scene she saw in front of her changed. "This is? Stairs?"


    "They are indeed." A familiar voice sounded from behind Yuki. "From here, you two will climb these stairs. Each step will apply pressure to your body, weighing you down. The higher you go, the stronger the pressure will be. But there is a catch. Both of you can climb side by side, and both will suffer under the pressure, or one of you can carry the other, and the one being carried will not feel the pressure at all. You have the two choices, so the rest is up to you." Fu Shi gave her explanations and then disappeared. The stairs in front of them were carved straight up the mountain face leading towards the peak of the mountain. She could not see the top due to the cloud bank blocking her view.


    She looked at Chi, who was still in her arms, and then at the clock at the side they had two hours left before they had to log out. Luckily, this time, there was nothing too dangerous besides needing to deal with the stairs. "Well¡­ Since I am already carrying you, we might as well stay like this." Yuki said with a smile and then adjusted her hold on Chi. Her hand creeping up to a certain soft mound on Chi''s chest. Yuki, of course, was oblivious to this, but Chi could feel Yuki''s hand only centimeters away, causing her to blush and have strange thoughts.


    "Ryu¡­ I should be able to walk up some of the way, so you do not need to carry me." Chi offered. It was not that she wanted to be let out of Ryu''s embrace, in fact, it was the opposite, she found herself liking being very close to Ryu. She even didn''t mind if his hand did slide up a bit farther¡­


    Yuki looked down at Chi''s pretty face and smiled warmly at her. Yuki found that she had a very big soft spot for this girl. She didn''t want Chi to suffer any hardships. She did not know how Chi''s real life was, but at least in game, she wanted to pamper Chi and make sure Chi had fun playing. She didn''t know why she felt this way, she just did. Maybe she thought it was to make amends for how she neglected Mary and did not help her when she needed her the most. Or maybe she truly just wished to give Chi an enjoyable time in game. But the thought of seeing Chi suffer weighed heavily on her heart. "No¡­ It''s fine. There is no need for the both of us to suffer. Plus, you worked hard during the last part of the trial, so sit tight and let me carry you."


    Yuki lowered her head and planted a kiss on top of Chi''s forehead without much thought before looking up and taking a step forward, and placing her foot on the first step. As for Chi, she stared blankly at Ryu, her hand touching the spot he just kissed. She was confused but at the same time happy. Her ears twitched, and her tail wagged. She no longer wanted to get out of Ryu''s embrace. Instead, she cuddled up into his chest, closing her eyes with two rosy cheeks and a smile on her face.


    Yuki, on the other hand, was racking her brain on why she just kissed Chi''s forehead just now. She thought and thought and thought, but the only thing she could think of was how she used to use this method to calm the younger kids back in the orphanage. Any time they were having a hard time, she would hug them and plant a kiss on their forehead. She looked down at Chi worriedly, hoping Chi was not mad at her, but when she saw Chi nestled into her chest and smiling, she let out a sigh of relief. Luckily she did not do anything to cause Chi to dislike her.


    As Yuki climbed, she began to understand that this trial was not as easy as one would think. Each step was weighing her down greatly. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she continued to climb. She had only gone up twenty steps, and her legs were already feeling weak. Chi looked up at her, worry written all over her face. She reached up and used her long sleeves to wipe Yuki''s sweat away. After struggling for two hours, Yuki looked at the clock and saw she only had twenty minutes left before she needed to log out. But just before she was able to say anything, a notification popped up in front of her.


    *Ding!*


    [Due To Tempering and forging of your will and body 45,000 experience awarded.]


    Level: 6 ¡ú 9/20


    "Ryu! I just went from level 4 to level 8!" Chi suddenly announced happily.


    "So this was also a way to level up as well¡­ To think that suffering under extreme pressure would allow us to level up like this." Yuki said but then stopped and wondered for a moment. ''Why did Chi level up 4 times as well? Was it because she was in a team with me, or was it because she was undergoing the effects of the pressure but couldn''t feel it due to the condition Fu Shi gave us?'' Yuki had many questions, but she knew she would have to complete this challenge before she could do anything about it. She did, however, find that after leveling up, she felt much lighter, as if the pressure was not as bad.


    Clearing her thoughts, Yuki sat down on the step Placing Chi in her lap. "Chi, I need to log out, so we will need to continue tonight. What time do you want to meet up at?"


    "6! 6 tonight!" Chi answered quickly.


    "Then we will meet at six tonight then. I will log in first so that you will not have to feel the pressure. So wait until like a minute after just in case." Yuki reached up and rubbed the top of Chi''s head as she said this.


    Chi blushed and nodded her head. "Mmm, I will... Bye, bye!" Chi quickly logged off.


    Yuki looked at the balls of light that appeared when someone logged off, that were floating up into the sky, and sighed. She reached up and pulled Nergal off the top of her head. "With your cultivation, you are doing okay, I see."


    "Meow!" Nergal nuzzled Yuki''s hand and licked it. This made Yuki smile. She decided to spend a few minutes with Nergal before logging out. Yuki took off her helmet and stretched her arms and legs. She looked down at her white legs and little toes and wiggled them a bit. She really enjoyed this new lifestyle of hers. Before, she always had to be fully clothed just in case, but now she could walk around naked if she wished.


    "I wonder how my items and gold are selling..." Yuki picked up the phone that was right next to her and opened the Soul Fusion Online Trading app. It was a pure marketplace application that connected in game. You couldn''t put any items up for sale on the marketplace through his app, but you could buy and sell gold as you wished and also transfer the crowns you made to your bank account. Everything was linked to her biodata, so she did not need to log into anything.


    Yuki looked at the screen as it loaded up, and her expression froze. She looked at the gold amount first to see that she did not have any gold at all but 300 platinum sitting there. All her potions were sold for 1000 gold or more. On top of that, she had already made over 15 million crowns and some change. "Should making money in games really be this easy!? Never mind, just in game, my total income within a single week, exceeds even some of the established businesses out there!"

 Chapter 49：One year

    "Tina?" Yuki called out as she crawled out of bed. Her long shirt was partially tucked into the hem of her pink panties exposing her cute little butt for all to see. Yuki rubbed her eyes as she walked out of her bedroom. Tina was busying herself in the kitchen.


    Yuki, who was bent over going to get some orange juice, face blushed as she hurriedly reached behind her to touch her butt. It was only then that she noticed her shirt had gotten stuck in the hem of her panties. Yuki grabbed the orange juice and stood up, and quickly fixed her shirt. She pouted her bottom lip as she said: "Tina, don''t tease me..."


    "Ahh! Now you look more like a young girl with that hint of blush on your face. Go sit down. I will make you some food." Tina gave Yuki a teasing smile as she shooed her away. She was already 40, single, and had no kids. She had spent her entire life working towards her goals. This was not to say she had not had a few flings here and there, but she always put her job first, which turned a lot of guys off since she was always working. But everything changed for Tina the day she arrived at a murder scene. She saw a young girl who looked to have just become an adult sitting there covered in blood, hugging her dead friend with a dead body lying next to her. At that moment and time, Tina''s heart melted, and she truly wanted to do whatever she could for this girl.


    Since their first outing, she had taken a liking to Yuki. Yuki was a sweet girl who, although she had money, was not someone who splurged and liked to stay low key. She knew a lot of this had to do with the life she had to grow up in, but it was all good qualities for a person to have. Tina really wished she had a daughter like Yuki. This was also one of the reasons why she wanted to come over today. She wanted to spend time with Yuki, even if it was only a short while.


    Yuki sat on the floor at the small table she had bought, leaning against it resting her chin in her hands. She was wondering how long it had been since someone cooked a home cooked meal for her. She sat there in a daze and only snapped out of it when the smell of the food cooking in the kitchen entered her nose. Yuki''s stomach rumbled, causing her to blush.


    She did not have to wait long for Tina to walk over with two plates in her hand. "It''s nothing much but much better than the crap that you are eating. Tell me, Yuki. You have probably made a lot of money these past few days, right?"


    Yuki lowered her head and nodded. Tina let out a sigh. And pointed her finger at her. "Then you should be eating better! Even if it is takeout, it would be much better than those damn dried out noodles. After you leave today, I will be doing some house cleaning. I will be tossing out all of those damn things. I will also do some food shopping and fill your fridge with proper food."


    "I will give you my card then before I go so you can..." Yuki at least wanted to pay for it but couldn''t finish what she was saying because Tina reached over and put her hand in front of her face telling her to stop.


    "It''s just a few crowns, Yuki..." Tina scratched her head as she took a deep breath. "I want you to be my daughter."


    Yuki''s mind blanked out. She didn''t think she heard Tina right. "Umm. you want me to be what?"


    "I want you to be my daughter. I have been thinking about it. Ever since I met you, I felt the need to protect you. Call it a motherly instinct or whatever you want. But the more I thought about these past few days, the more I wished I had a daughter. And If I had a daughter, I would want someone who was hardworking like you..." Tina explained. She was feeling slightly embarrassed.


    Yuki was at a loss for words. The fork in her hand was frozen. It was a little while before she finally registered everything in her head. She then struggled to find the right words to express her thoughts. "Tina¡­ I am not saying I wouldn''t want to be your daughter, but¡­ We hardly know each other. I mean, we have only talked twice, today being the second time."


    "I know what I am saying is coming out of nowhere. But I have always been a good judge of character. I am not asking you to decide right away. But at least give it some thought and allow the two of us to get to know each other better. One year. Let''s try it out for one year with no legality involved. If during that time we do not come to see each other as family, then we forget the whole thing." Tina knew what she was asking was strange. Even she thought she was nuts for asking such a thing. But her feelings of wanting to help Yuki were real, and she felt Yuki would make a wonderful daughter.


    Yuki lowered her head, unsure of what to do. She knew Tina was very nice and had helped her a lot already, but she was slightly afraid. What happens if she comes to love Tina as her mother, but Tina abandons her? What if she does something that causes Tina to hate her? The negative side of things was swirling around in her mind. She was an orphan once she did not want to become one again. She looked up at Tina and was about to reject her, but the words would not come out of her mouth. Not when she saw the nervousness and anticipation in Tina''s eyes. Yuki sighed. Maybe she was too nice for her own good, or maybe she was just a glutton for punishment. But she could not say no when Tina held such an expression. "One year¡­ We-We will see how it goes for a year."


    Tina''s eyes lit up hearing Yuki agree. She nodded her head and even passed the bacon on her plate over to Yuki, causing Yuki to chuckle. It seems this new loaner mom was kind of cute. "So now that we are mother and daughter, it is not strange for me to be buying food for you." Tina smiled as if she had just won some kind of victory. "Hurry and eat. I know you still want to go shower at college."


    Yuki looked at the time and realized it was already late, so she quickly ate her food and got her things together before brushing her teeth and running out the door. Tina stood in the doorway with a smile on her lips. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder. She then fished out her phone and dialed a number. "I need you to install a stand up shower, and I need it down today before five." Now that Yuki and her were technically mother and daughter, she would not let her daughter go without!


    Yuki hurried her way to college. Just as she entered the gates, her phone vibrated. She took out her phone and saw that she had a message from Trisha. "Yuki, where are you? I am already here."


    Yuki smiled and sent a message back saying she was just arriving. She entered the shower room to be greeted by a naked Trisha. Her white flawless skin entered her eyes. She couldn''t help but look her up and down. Such beauty was supposed to be admired, right? "Sorry for the wait. I got held up this morning."


    "Yuki!" Trisha smiled happily as she hugged Yuki tightly, not caring if she was clothed or not. Yuki chuckled and hugged her back.


    Yuki then got undressed and went into the shower room with Trisha, except when she walked into the stall, she was not alone. "Trisha?"


    "Hmmm? Turn around, let me wash your hair." Trisha acted as if everything was natural. Yuki looked at the girl who was staring back at her waiting for her to do as she was told. Yuki once again sighed. She felt defeated. In real life, she had Trisha, who was like a small animal, and her friend. Tina, who was kind and caring, and now her mother figure. And in game, she had Chi, who resembled Trisha a lot but actually had animal ears and a tail. Yuki turned around and slowly relaxed as Trisha washed her hair.


    Trisha was happily attending to Yuki. After she washed her hair, she washed her back, arms, butt, and then when she got to the thighs, her eyes came face to face with that one spot. Trisha stared at it for a few seconds, her mind wandering to how it felt before. She gulped a mouth full of saliva before shaking her head and continuing with cleaning. She was really confused. In game, she felt her heart racing for Ryu, but here she was staring at another girl''s privates with strange thoughts in her head. She was really starting to feel like a pervert. She quickly finished up and stood up: "All set."


    "Mmm¡­. Thank you." Yuki said as she turned around. She then took the towel from Trisha and got some shampoo in her hand. "Your turn¡­. Trisha?" Yuki saw that Trisha was standing there staring at her with blushed cheeks with a confused expression on her face. "Are you okay?"


    Trisha was indeed confused. Once again, Ryu and Yuki''s faces were overlapping! She couldn''t understand why. She did not understand why two different people of two different sexes would keep overlapping in her mind. She could only stare at Yuki''s face in confusion. She only snapped out of it when Yuki leaned forward and pressed her forehead against her own. "You don''t seem to have a fever? Are you okay?"


    "HUh!? Ahh, I am fine¡­ Right, let me turn around..." Trisha was very flustered when Yuki''s face suddenly came so close to hers. But the closer she got, the more the two images of Yuki and Ryu overlapped. ''No, it can''t be! It is definitely not the same person. But if it was¡­. Would that mean¡­ No! No! No! They are not the same. One is male and the other is female!'' It never crossed her mind that a female could be playing a male character. Not even once.

 Chapter 50：Remodel

    The two finished their shower and got dressed. Trisha still seemed to be in a daze. Yuki could tell something was up, so she walked over and placed her hand on top of Trisha''s head. "I have no idea what is bothering you, but you can talk to me if you want."


    Trisha looked up at Yuki and nodded her head. "Thank you. I just need to figure out my own thoughts for a while."


    " I will, thanks, Yuki." Trisha smiled and clung onto Yuki''s arm. The two walked towards their first class as they normally would. It was not until they reached the main hall did they begin to see other students.


    "Look, how intimate they are..."


    "The Princess seems to be very rosy today. Does that mean those two just..."


    "Possible. With the way she always hangs onto the cute boy''s arm, it''s safe to say she has spread her legs already."


    Whispering could be heard going on around them. Although it was not loud, Yuki was picking up on a lot of it, and her expression was not good. Yuki walked towards one of the girls who had just spoke, raised her hand, and with a crisp, clean sound of skin on skin, she slapped the girl across the face.


    "What was that for!?" The girl yelled in anger, holding her cheek.


    "What was it for? Did you not hear the shit spilling from your mouth just now? Do you need me to slap you again to remind you?" Yuki yelled. She was furious! Why the hell would people keep spreading rumors about Trisha!? The girl never bothers anyone!


    "Am I not allowed to talk!?" The girl was so mad she wanted to lunge at Yuki and tear her hair out, but she held herself back in order to keep some of her image.


    Yuki grabbed the girl by the chin and brought her face close to hers. "Talk all you want, but if you slander Trisha again or I hear any needless rumors about her, I will find you and beat the shit out of you every day until you quit school."


    "Yuki, it''s fine." Trisha pulled on Yuki''s sleeve. Yuki turned to see Trisha looking at her with clear eyes. Yuki sighed and let the girl go, but she didn''t forget to leave a small warning. "If I hear shit from your mouth again, I will not leave it with a simple slap next time."


    Trisha hooked her arm with Yuki''s again and pulled her away. "You know people will find out your gender if you yell like that."


    "Not like I am really hiding it. I mean, I know my boobs are small, but if you look hard enough, they are there." Yuki never cared what people thought of her. She dressed as she does now in order to protect herself. Although she no longer needed to, she still felt more comfortable like this.


    "I think your breasts are perfect." Trisha said with a giggle as she gave them a poke, causing Yuki to blush.


    "Yeah, yeah, let''s go." Yuki rubbed her nose, trying to hide her embarrassment. Her simple action caused Trisha to stare intently at her once more. After school, both Yuki and Trisha parted ways.


    When Yuki got home, she was in for a big surprise. Tina stood in the middle of the apartment with her arms crossed across her chest and a smug look on her face. "What do you think!?"


    "This?" Yuki was shocked. Her apartment seemed to have undergone a big change.


    "Originally, I planned to only do the bath, but since there was this huge storage space on the opposite wall here that was not being used, I talked to my parents this morning, and they said I could renovate anything I wanted. So your apartment is now double its original size. The company I hired uses construction bots that are just amazing at their job. The bathroom itself was done in three hours. You now have a bathtub and shower. The living room and kitchen are now slightly bigger, and I also had some more modern appliances installed and bought a House Mate XI. It''s a robot that will cook all your food for you and clean up. So now you have no excuses on why you are not eating right. I added some real furniture to the living room and even had enough space to add another bedroom, in case you have a friend, stay over. Just no boys¡­" Tina felt very proud of herself. She had a lot of money saved up over the years, and now that she had a daughter, she wanted to spoil her a bit.


    Yuki was completely speechless! She never expected anything like this. She was so surprised and happy that tears began to well up in her eyes. Seeing this, Tina smiled warmly and walked over, pulling Yuki into a hug. "You are young, so enjoy life. Come eat something before you run off to make more money. The new House Mate has already finished it."


    Yuki nodded her head as she hugged Tina tightly. She didn''t expect Tina to go this far for her out of nowhere. She decided she would need to do something for Tina when she could. The two chatted over a hot meal, and then it was time for Yuki to go log in. She couldn''t break her promise to Chi even if she wanted to talk to Tina for a while longer. Tina watched Yuki run off with a warm smile on her face. She stayed sitting at the table for a while, staring at the closed bedroom door. "Having a daughter is very nice. I feel more relaxed and fulfilled. Even mom and dad said I seemed to be happier than normal. I guess I should tell the chef to make her breakfast before I head home."


    Yuki laid on her bed for a few minutes staring up at the ceiling. She was still taking everything in. She then pulled out her cell phone and sent Trisha a message. "Come to my house early tomorrow morning."


    "Your house!?" Trisha replied back almost instantly.


    "Yeah, my apartment was remodeled today, and I now have a shower and bath. So you can come to my house to use the bath or shower from now on." Yuki replied. She then thought of something and sent another message right after. "The bath is big enough for two." But after she sent the message, her cheeks blushed. "What am I saying!? I am basically saying, hey, come over to my house and get naked with me! Well... Not like it is any different than from the shower at college."


    "Address!" Was all Trisha sent back. Yuki chuckled and sent the address along with: "I get up around 5 am, so be here around then if you can. I will see if I can get a second set of keys made for you tomorrow."


    "Okay!"


    Yuki looked at the time and saw she still had fifteen minutes, so she hurried back out of her to catch Tina just about to leave. "Tina¡­ umm¡­ Is it okay if I give my friend a key to the place?"


    "Your friend?" Tina asked, giving Yuki a suspicious look.


    "Yes, Trisha Evergreen... Princess Trisha Evergreen..." Yuki replied.


    Tina''s expression froze hearing the name. "P-Princess!? You mean that Trisha Evergreen!? The poor girl who the Evergreens basically ignore?"


    "Mmm¡­ We have become friends recently. She is very nice, a little naive but very kind hearted." Yukia explained.


    "Yeah, that''s fine. Get another copy made after classes tomorrow. I need to go. I already told the chef to make breakfast. Just add an additional serving for the Princess. I will stop by again in a few days. I plan to try to change my schedule a bit here so it is not as busy and we can spend more time together. See you in a few days." Tina gave Yukia a hug.


    "Wait, take my number." Yuki quickly ran back to her room and got her phone. She then exchanged numbers with Tina before seeing her off. With a smile on her face, Yuki turned around and skipped back to her room, and logged in game.

 Chapter 51：Second Trial Completed

    Turning back time a few minutes. Trisha was lost in thought as she sat on her bed. It had been bothering her all day that any time she looked at Yuki, Ryu''s face overlapped with hers. It was also the same for when she looked at Ryu''s face, Yuki''s face would overlap with his. "What if¡­ This is a big what if¡­ What if Yuki was playing a male character?" This thought suddenly came to mind. When she thought about it, it seemed like something Yuki would do. "If Ryu is Yuki¡­ Then the feelings that have been forming for Ryu are my feelings for Yuki¡­?"


    Trisha blushed as this thought came to mind. "Am I weird? If Yuki is really Ryu, then wouldn''t that mean I am falling in love with a girl?" Kicking her feet on her bed, Trisha buried her face into her fox plushie.


    That was when the phone lying next to her dinged, telling her she had a message. She picked it up and saw the name of the person sending her a message. Trisha''s lips immediately curled up into a smile. She quickly opened the messaging app, and the first thing she saw was: "Come to my house early tomorrow morning."


    "Your house!?" Trisha replied back almost instantly. She couldn''t help but be excited. She had never been to a friend''s house before. Never mind one of a girl who seems to be stirring her heart.


    "Yeah, my apartment was remodeled today, and I now have a shower and bath. So you can come to my house to use the bath or shower from now on." Was the next thing Yuki sent, causing Trisha''s mind to go wild. As she stared at her phone in a daze, Yuki sent another message. "The bath is big enough for two."


    "Address!" Trisha replied back. She leaned back on her bed, her imagination going wild. "If the bath is big and she mentioned it, that means she wants to bathe with me, right? That means¡­ No. No. She probably just means like we have been doing¡­ Yes, that must be it..."


    Trisha let out a sigh. She looked at the clock that still showed she had 15 minutes left before she could log in and closed her eyes. As she did, Yuki''s face appeared in her mind. Not just her face but also her body that had not a single speck of clothing on. Trisha bit her bottom lip as her hand reached for her modest soft mound on her chest. In her mind, she scanned down Yuki''s body, looking at her chest, her flat belly, and then the spot between her legs that had a small patch of black hair. Without even realizing it, her other hand had slipped between her legs. She had only rubbed a little bit when she suddenly left out a soft moan. "Mmmm¡­ Yuki..." As soon as the name slipped through her lips, Trisha''s eyes shot open, and all her actions halted. She felt the wetness between her legs and the stiffness of her nipples. "Am I really? Ahh! What do I do now!? "


    Trisha removed her hands from her privates and held her head as she sat up into a sitting position. "I wonder if Ryu could help me with such a question¡­ No, No, he would probably think I am a weirdo, but if Ryu really is Yuki, then¡­" Trisha went from holding her head to pounding her fist and feet off her bed. She was confused. She didn''t know what she should do. She had only just become friends with Yuki a few days ago. She has no idea how she even began to like Yuki in such a way. Then there was the big what if. If Ryu was Yuki, that was fine, but if Ryu was actually just some guy and not Yuki, wouldn''t that make her some kind of slut!? Trisha had so many questions but no answers for any of them. She knew she held Yuki dear to her heart. She was her first friend in real life, and Yuki truly cared about her. Early this morning, when Yuki got mad for her sake, she couldn''t help but have her heart flutter.


    Trisha looked at the clock and saw it was a minute past and pouted slightly. She still had not found her answer. She picked up her VR gear and put it on. "If Ryu is Yuki, then I will know my answer, but if she is not, then I will need to figure out what I am truly feeling. Ahh! I need to log in."


    When Chi logged in, and her eyes opened in game, she came face to face with a handsome man. She had completely forgotten that she had logged off in Ryu''s embrace because of the trial they were on. "R-Ryu!"


    Yuki looked at Chi''s blushing face and smiled as she reached up and flicked Chi''s forehead. "Hold on, we have a ways to go."


    "HUh!? Ahh! Wait, Ryu! I am not ready!" Chi let out a shriek as she was lifted up by Ryu. She had yet to hold on to anything and almost fell. She had no choice but to reach out and cling tightly to Ryu''s neck.


    Yuki chuckled as she took a step forward. When her foot stepped on the next step, Yuki realized that no matter how much she braced herself, it still hit hard when the pressure grew stronger with each step. She could only grit her teeth and look forward. Not only was she gaining levels for enduring all of this she was also finding this to be good mental fortification. By struggling to press on with each step, she found herself more determined to reach her goal. Even if she felt it was hard. Even if she felt the pain in her body as her bones creaked with each step, she was determined to push on. This was different from her previous self, who liked to play it safe.


    It had been three hours of real world time, which was a few days in game time. Yuki was soaked in sweat. It dripped down onto Chi, who was in her arms. But Chi did not care. She could only look on helplessly while she was safe and sound in Ryu''s arms.


    At the top of the mountain staring down the stairs, Fu Shi looked at the young man with a glow in her eyes. "This young man. Determination, looks, and someone who takes care of the girl by his side. This girl sure is lucky." Fu Shi let out a sigh and looked down at her transparent body. "If only I was alive..."


    The entire time Yuki climbed the steps, she and Chi were quiet. All the questions Chi was planning to ask to try to see if Ryu was Yuki or not were not asked. She did not dare break Yuki''s concentration at this time.


    *Ding!*


    [Due To Tempering and forging of your will and body, 150,000 experience awarded.]


    Level: 9 ¡ú 15/20


    More days passed in game until finally, as Yuki passed through the cloud bank, she could see the final ten steps, and standing at its peak was Fu Shi. "Chi, we are there, ten more steps to go."


    "Mm¡­." Chi answered softly. She felt terrible. The man in front of her struggled so much just to reach this point and all she had to do was go for the ride. She was not able to do anything.


    9¡­ 8¡­ 3¡­ and then finally Yuki''s foot landed on the final step. The great pressure she was feeling released off her body, and a big grin appeared on her face. "Yes!" Yuki yelled out.


    "Well done." Fu Shi was truly impressed.


    *Ding!*


    [Due To Tempering and forging of your will and body 285,000 experience awarded.]


    Level: 15 ¡ú 19/20


    Yuki''s and Chi''s levels had also progressed rapidly due to the pressure tempering and forging their bodies. Chi had also caught up to Yuki in levels and was also now level 19.


    Yuki let Chi down from her arms, and her body swayed slightly. All the tension faded away, and her muscles began to relax. She felt her knee begin to give out and began to fall to the ground. "Ryu!" Chi quickly supported Yuki. Chi did not realize it, but the look she was giving Ryu was warm and full of care and concern, borderline love.


    Fu Shi smiled and came to a decision. "Normally, I would force you two to take the final trial, but I think this is enough. Plus, you are both about to break through into the Fortification Realm. And for that, it would be best to use the inheritance I am going to be handing over to the two of you. To be honest, I never expected the first ones to take my trial would be the first ones to pass and even do so with only 2 trials. Young man, you never once put down the girl in your arms no matter how tired you got and pressed on. You not only showed trust but determination and finally, what the third trial was about, loyalty. Little girl make sure you cherish this man. Because he cares deeply about you.


    "Now then enough of that and let''s get to the good stuff shall we?"

 Chapter 52：Naughty Cultivation!?

    "If you two would follow me." Fu Shi did not give the two a chance to ask any questions as she walked through the gates of the palace that was in front of them. Yuki had not realized it when she first got to the top step, but there was a massive palace made of white jade standing right in front of her. Yuki, with Chi''s support, walked through the gates of the palace to see a lush green environment much different from the world outside. Yuki''s eyes lit up, seeing the rows and rows of herbs growing in the yard. She could only count about 20 plots, each with different herbs. Her eyes immediately began forming crown signs as she thought about how much money she could make if she used these ancient herbs to make potions.


    "Everything you see will be yours. But this all can only be yours if you promise me one thing." Fu Shi explained as they walked towards the palace entrance.


    "And what is that?" Yuki asked.


    "The two of you must never betray each other for as long as you live. I failed to ascend to the immortal realm because I was betrayed by the man I loved. He sought power and wished to steal a certain item from me. This item you will be inheriting today, along with this entire mystic realm. Although when I am gone, all that will be left is this palace and the area within the walls. But once you bind it to yourself, it will not vanish. But it can not be inherited by just one of you alone but the both of you. But in order to do this, you must first break through to the fortification realm, and you can only do so as partners. This is the prerequisite to obtain all you see here." Fu Shi explained as she stopped in front of a pedestal that had a golden scroll hovering in the air above it. She reached up and grabbed the scroll.


    "This here is a heavenly cultivation method. It is the only one of its kind and can not be found elsewhere. In order to obtain this palace, the two of you must break through to the fortification realm by using the first stage of this cultivation method." Fu Shi blushed slightly as she handed the cultivation method over to Yuki. " This is a dual cultivation method and requires one man and woman to cultivate. And both must be on the verge of entering the fortification realm in order to begin cultivating it. Also¡­. Once you start cultivating this method, you can not use another cultivation method besides cultivating body techniques."


    Yuki held the cultivation method in her hand and looked at Chi to see if she knew what dual cultivation entailed. But even Chi seemed confused. Fu Shi laughed lightly as she pointed to one of the doors. "The two of you should go to the room over there. Read what is in the cultivation method and decide if you wish to cultivate it or give up everything. The choice is yours."


    "Umm¡­ What is a Dual cultiva..." Yuki wanted to ask a question, but before she could, Fu Shi disappeared. She turned, looked at Chi, and asked. "Should we go and check it out?"


    "Mmm..." Chi nodded. She was also curious as to what this dual cultivation thing was.


    The two walked into the other room to find a large bed pushed up against the wall. This confused Yuki even more, but she still sat down on the bed with Chi sitting right next to her. She unfurled the Cultivation method, and the first thing she saw was the words Heavenly Cycle. "Let''s see¡­ The Heavenly Cycle cultivation method is a dual cultivation method that speeds up cultivating through the touch and emotions of the two people cultivating. Once one starts this cultivation, they can never turn back, and only the partner they have chosen can cultivate this cultivation method with them."


    Yuki continued to read on to what would allow her to break through to the fortification realm. But as she read, her cheeks turned bright red! "What the hell is this, Naughty Cultivation!?"


    "Ryu, I am willing..." Chi suddenly said. She had read the contents too, but she figured since it was in game it wouldn''t really mean much. Although the first method of cultivation was a bit¡­


    "Chi, you do realize in order for us to even start cultivating this thing, I will have to touch you intimately, right? I mean¡­" Yuki really wondered who the hell came up with this shit. The way to break through to the first realm of cultivation and begin the true path of cultivation is to have Chi sit in her lap facing her, holding hands with their foreheads touching, while passing some kind of energy between the two through their hands.


    "I understand, but if it''s you, I do not mind. I mean, what''s the difference between this and you holding me in your arms. " Chi saw no need for them to give up such a huge gold mine because they had to do such a thing.


    Yuki scratched her head. She wanted to know more about the higher stages of the cultivation method, but it didn''t say anything else. The rest of it was blank, and the system said it could only be unlocked when they break through to the soul sensing realm. "Alright, but we first need to drip our blood on the scroll. Only then can we start. I still have 2 hours before I need to wake up so let''s give it a try for now."


    "Mmm.." Chi blushed as she bit the tip of her finger. Yuki did the same, and the two dripped a drop of blood onto the scroll. A bright light flashed, and a system window popped up in front of Yuki''s face.


    [Bind Heavenly Cycle cultivation method to you?]


    [Warning: Once bound, you can no longer learn any more cultivation methods except for body cultivation.]


    Yuki tapped the yes button, and then both Yuki''s and Chi''s bodies began to glow.


    [Checking Bio Data...]


    [Bio Data confirmed....]


    [Removing age restriction locks¡­.]


    [Forming gender specific parts...]


    Yukl''s eyes went wide when she felt a lump form between her legs. ''What the hell is this!?'' Yuki''s mind almost exploded! She never thought she would end up with one of those between her legs! Right now, she truly wished to cry. ''How do I even use one of these things!?''


    [Formation complete...]


    [Binding contract initiated...]


    [Binding Player Ryu and Player Chi together¡­]


    [Binding complete....]


    [Congratulations on your marriage!]


    "Er..." Yuki looked at the last message and felt a headache coming on.


    "This...?" Even Chi was a bit confused as to what was happening right now. She also felt parts of her body that were not there before, now there. But reading the last message from the system made her mind spin. "Ryu this¡­? Did you get this message?"


    "Yes¡­ It seems this cultivation method is not exactly what we think¡­ I think that Fu Shi tricked us..." Yuki let out a sigh. She was now bound to this cultivation method with Chi. She looked over at Chi, who was blushing, looking back at her, and scratched her head. "Well, I am okay with it if you are."


    "I¡­ I don''t mind¡­ I guess..." Chi lowered her head. She really didn''t mind if it was with Ryu, but she still hadn''t confirmed if Ryu was Yuki or not. She wanted to ask, but she felt asking something so personal in game was not good.


    "Umm¡­ Mmm.." Chi''s face and neck were bright red. She got up and stood up on the bed. Yuki scooted onto the bed and put her legs out in front of her. Only then did Chi put one foot on each side of Yuki''s legs and sit down in her lap. She scooted up close to Ryu, her chest touching his. The two interlocked their fingers together and pressed their foreheads against each other.


    Yuki could feel Chi''s every breath brushing past her lips. Yuki gazed into Chi''s eyes and saw nervousness and a bit of excitement. She herself couldn''t help but breathe slightly heavier than normal. After a few minutes of looking at each other Yuki finally broke the silence as she said: "We are supposed to try to feel each other''s essence. Once we pass our essence between each other and complete ten cycles we should break through to the fortification realm."


    "I see..." Chi was having a hard time controlling her emotions. Her whole body was feeling hot right now. But as she was doing her best to try to control these emotions, she felt something hard suddenly poke her crotch. "Ummm¡­ R-Ryu¡­ is that..."


    Yuki was also blushing from ear to ear. She wanted to scream! What the hell was this thing! Why did it suddenly decide to wake up and grow! She could only embarrassingly nod her head as she said: "Yes¡­ It is..."


    Lying down at the edge of the pool of water Fu Shi had a big smile on her face as she watched the scene of the two people. "I knew this would work. Now the two are bound together for all eternity. And it also seems like things are starting to get steamy. Just wait until the first cycle¡­ Hehe."

 Chapter 53：Sharing Soul Essence

    (R-18 Chapter)


    Still blushing bright red, Yuki asked: "Should we stop?"


    "No¡­ It''s fine¡­ Umm, can you adjust it?" Things felt awkward, but the heat rising in her body was really causing her to feel funny. Earlier, along with the other messages, she got one that read "In Heat". She had no idea what it meant and had yet to check it out, but she knew one thing right now, and that was the thing pressing against her crotch was really¡­turning her on¡­


    "I umm..." Yuki''s mind began to spin. She had never touched one before, and now here she was touching her own! Yuki gritted her teeth as she said: "Mm¡­ Just lift up a bit."


    Chi did as she was told and lifted herself up and forward, her mouth now next to Yuki''s ear. Her breath was becoming heavier and heavier. Yuki''s ears were flushed red. Everything was becoming hot all of a sudden. She could feel Chi''s heavy breaths entering her ear as she reached down and grabbed hold of her new member and pulled it back. "Okay, sit down..."


    Chi sat down again, her crotch brushing up against Yuki''s hand, sending shivers down her spine. Yuki removed her hand so Chi could sit back where she was before, but this new position was a bit¡­ Chi was now sitting right on her dick! Forcing a smile, Yuki asked: "Good?"


    "Mmm..." Chi bit her lower lip as she scooted forward. She could feel the hard shaft against her pussy, causing her body to tingle. She felt like her whole body was on fire.


    When the two looked each other in the eye, they could see that they were both turned on right now. Yuki did her best to control the swell in her pants as she interlocked her fingers with Chi''s and leaned her forehead against hers. "Ahem¡­ We-We need to try to feel each other''s essence, the soul essence that runs through our bodies. Only then can we share it and cycle it between us."


    "O-Okay..." Chi stuttered. She was resisting the urge to move her bottom half back and forth against the thing that was pressed against her.


    "Chi, are you okay?" Yuki could see that Chi was biting her lips. So She could only guess that something was wrong.


    "I am not sure. I got some kind of notification about being in heat" Chi explained as she squeezed Yuki''s hands.


    Yuki thought for a moment, but it soon dawned on her that Chi was a beastkin who had some animal traits¡­ "Chi, I think¡­ By the words "in heat" it means you are sexually stimulated right now. I think it is a beast kin trait that might have turned on when we got those notifications."


    Chi''s eyes began to water up. She was trying so hard to resist the urges welling up inside her. But her whole body just kept getting hotter, and her crotch was getting wetter. "Ryu, what do I do!?"


    "I, Umm¡­ " Yuki felt helpless. She did not want to see Chi cry. "You can try logging out."


    "I can''t! If I log out, what if we lose everything!?" Chi had tears running down her face. She did not want all of Ryu''s hard work to go to waste. She was afraid they would lose all the loot.


    "Then..." Yuki gritted her teeth and pushed hard up against Chi with her dick. Chi''s eyes widened in surprise, but the feeling made her feel so good she ended up letting a soft moan escape her lips. At the same time, Both Yuki and Chi felt a strange flow circulate through their bodies. "Shit! Sorry, Chi, I acted without thinking."Yuki felt bad for doing that without asking.


    "No, it''s fine¡­ If it''s just this, we can..." Chi pushed her own body down hard and began moving her hips back and forth. Yuki let out a gasp as she felt the head of her dick get massaged by Chi''s movements. But with every pass, the strange feeling was felt again as a strange flow circulated throughout their bodies.


    A notification had sounded off, but the two were too focused on the pleasure they were feeling at this time. Chi was moving her hips on her own as she leaned back softly, moaning. Yuki''s breath was heavy as she felt the stimulation with every movement Chi made. There was no skin contact, but this did not matter for two people who were virgins in real life. This kind of stimulation was enough to send them both off into their own little worlds.


    "Mmm! Mmm! MMMM! I think I am going to¡­ Ahhh!" Chi''s voice trembled as she let out a loud moan. Her pussy flooded with juices as she had an orgasm. Yuki felt the pulsation of Chi''s pussy on her dick and couldn''t hold back any longer as her dick pulsated and spurted out its white stuff. Yuki fell back on the bed, and Chi fell forward on top of her. Her body heat slowly began to cool down as she rested her head in the nap of Yuki''s neck.


    Yuki did not even know what to say. She had touched herself before. It was a natural thing, but she never thought in her entire life she would get to feel what a guy feels when they orgasm. Both her and Chi laid on the bed, one on top of the other, neither speaking nor willing to be the first to move.


    It was only when Yuki couldn''t take the silence anymore that she finally asked: "Chi, are you okay?"


    "I¡­ Sorry, Ryu¡­ I..." Chi had tears in her eyes. She was ashamed of herself. She had actually done something like this with Ryu, who she had only known for a short time.


    Yuki could hear Chi silently crying and held her tight. Her embrace caused Chi to cry even more. "No, I should be saying sorry to you."


    "Why?" Chi lifted her head, her eyes still glistening with tears. She looked into Ryu''s eyes that were filled with concern and worry. "You shouldn''t be the one to say sorry. You suggested I logged out, but I didn''t. I chose to do this. So do not say sorry. I am just mad at myself. My mind is spinning with many things, and I am unsure of what to do anymore."


    Yuki let out a sigh of relief. She feared Chi might have come to dislike her, but luckily this was not the case. She reached up and wiped the tears from Chi''s eyes. "I just do not wish for you to be sad. You are at your prettiest when you are smiling and having fun. What we did just now was out of our control. We will try to control things better next time."


    "Mmm.." Chi smiled shyly. She then leaned down and hugged Ryu. "Ryu, thank you for always being so concerned about me and treating me so well. I do not deserve a friend like you."


    Yuki hugged Chi back and also smiled. Even though they did something so intimate, it was good they could still act like this. But she knew things would be different between her and Chi now. The two broke their hug and looked at each other. Yuki spotted the time in the corner of her eye and let out a long sigh. "It seems we need to stop and log off. Will we be meeting up again later?"


    "Yes! But I have to meet with a friend today, so it might not be until late. How about ten tonight?" Chi calmed her emotions and was back to her normal self.


    "Then I will see you at ten tonight." Yuki said with a smile. She watched as Chi logged off before taking a quick peek at her logs. But as she did, a thought came to mind. "And here we were worried we might lose the treasures if we logged off before finishing everything... Well, I guess after something like that, everything else will slip your mind."


    [Reached Fortification Realm!]


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: No Class


    Cultivation Stage: Fortification Realm, Stage 1


    Level: 0/20


    [Health]: 102/102


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 22


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 20


    [Luck]: 5


    [Status Points]: 41


    {Spouse}


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    "It seems we were able to breakthrough. Chi didn''t even take a look. Speaking of taking a look..." Yuki slid off the bed and pulled the hem of her pants out. She saw an elongated mushroom with a patch of hair above it hanging from her crotch and sighed. "Why do they look so ugly? Screw it... I need to get ready to meet up with Trisha."


    Yuki logged off and left the room that was once filled with her and Chi''s voices. Seconds later, Fu Shi appeared in the room with blushed cheeks and a smile on her face. "It seems new legends are about to be told. Those two have no idea just how strong they will get as long as they continue using that cultivation method."


    When Trisha logged out, she found herself in an embarrassing situation. Her crotch was soaked, and so were her bedsheets. "Ugh! Really!?" Frowning, she got up and took her panties off. She then looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks blushing red as she remembered what she had just done. "I need to confirm with Yuki this morning if she plays Soul Fusion Online. If she really is Ryu, then I will no longer hold back!"


    She was embarrassed about what she had done. But if Ryu is truly Yuki, then she will no longer hold back, and she could finally free herself from this frustration. "I just hope Yuki really is Ryu¡­ Otherwise, I might be in a bit of a situation..."

 Chapter 54：Relieved

    When Yuki logged out, she found herself in the same situation as Trisha. Her panties were soaked, and there was a wet spot on her sheets. "Why did my first sexual experience with someone else have to be me as a guy with a dick!?" Yuki sighed as she got up. She changed her panties and then changed the sheets on her bed. With Trisha coming over, she didn''t want her to see such things. It was just that Yuki was having a hard time forgetting the pleasurable expression that was on Chi''s face and the feeling she got as well. It was definitely an experience she will never forget.


    Shaking her head and slapping her cheeks, Yuki went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Just as she finished brushing, a knock came at her door. Yuki walked over to the door and looked at the door cam to see Trisha standing there fidgeting. You could tell she was nervous. Yuki looked at the clock that read exactly 5 AM and let out a laugh. "Was she really that excited about coming over so early?"


    Yuki opened the door as she yawned. "Morning, Trisha."


    Seeing Yuki so early in the morning caused Trisha to beam a smile as she happily replied: "Morning, Yuki!"


    "Breakfast will be ready around 6ish. Our classes are not until later today, so we can hang out for a while. So make yourself at home and relax." This was something that Yuki had forgotten when she had messaged Trisha. They didn''t have classes until 10 AM, so they had a lot of time to just lounge around. Although it was early Yuki, found this to be nice. Having a friend over to hang out with instead of just sitting around alone. "Sorry, if I remembered our class time, I wouldn''t have asked you to come over so early."


    "It''s fine. I am up around this time anyway. Where should I put my jacket and bag?" Yuki turned to look at Trisha, who was only wearing a long shirt like herself, and shook her head. ''Why didn''t she put on clothes!?''


    "Anywhere is fine. Let me give you a tour of the house." Yuki waited for Trisha to put her things down and began showing her the entire house. "So as you can see, the kitchen and living room are basically one and the same. Over here is the newly renovated bathroom."


    Trisha looked around the bathrooms and looked at the bathtub that was big but would barely fit two people and blushed slightly. "Yuki, can we take a bath together later?"


    "If you want." Yuki nodded, not thinking too much about it. After the bathroom, Yuki showed her the guest room that was still empty, and then she opened the door to her room. "And this is my bedroom. As you can see, I don''t have too much." Yuki turned and saw that Trisha seemed to be frozen stiff. "Trisha?"


    "Huh? Oh no, I like it. It''s simple." Trisha answered, her eyes not once leaving the VR helmet lying on the bed. Her heart was racing so fast. She was growing excited at the hopes that maybe just maybe, all her assumptions were true. She just couldn''t find the words to ask. It was not that the words were hard to find. It was just that¡­ She was scared. What if Yuki was not Ryu¡­


    "Oh? I thought Tina set the chef to cook a bit later..." Yuki said as she smelt food being cooked.


    "Tina!?" Trisha snapped out of her daze, only picking up on the name as she whipped her head around to look at Yuki.


    "Oh, I never mentioned her. You could say she is my mother for the year? Well, test mother? It''s hard to explain. But if not for her, I might not have returned to school a few days ago." Yuki did not want to go into detail. Just thinking about it made her sad and want to cry.


    Trisha let out a sigh of relief. But knowing that she did feel relieved that Tina was family to Yuki made Trisha blush. When breakfast was ready, the two girls chatted about this and that. Although Trisha was answering and talking as well, she still seemed to be in a daze. It was clearly visible something was bothering her.


    "Let''s take a bath and let the hot water relax our muscles." Yuki suggested. She could clearly see that Trisha was tense and had something on her mind. She figured maybe the hot bath would relax her enough to want to talk about it.


    Two girls went to the bathroom. Yuki turned the water on and began filling up the bathtub. "Trisha, how is this, too hot?" Yuki asked. She didn''t know how hot Trisha liked her baths.


    Trish, who was now only in her panties, walked over and felt the water. When she felt the hot steamy water penetrate her fingers, a faint smile formed on her lips. "Just right."


    Yuki nodded and got undressed. The bathtub was normal length but much wider than the average one. It was enough space for two petite bodies like Yuki and Trisha to sit side by side with their shoulders touching. When the two girls submerged their bodies into the hot water, they both let out relaxed sighs. "This is heaven." Yuki said as she laid back and closed her eyes.


    Trisha''s gaze was on Yuki the entire time. She bit her lip and gripped her fists. She was mustering up all her courage to ask that one simple question. After battling in her mind whether she should or not, she finally asked: "Yuki do you play VR games?"


    "Mmm¡­ I just recently started playing a game called Soul Fusion Online. Why do you play too?" Yuki answered. Her eyes still closed. She felt like she was melting in the hot bath.


    "Mm¡­ I do¡­ I play Soul Fusion Online as well..." Trisha was now sure that Yuki was Ryu. Everything finally fell into place. The frustration and anxiety and all the questions she had were finally answered. She took a deep breath, and before Yuki could say anything, she said: "Yuki, I''m Chi..."


    Yuki''s body froze. It was as if time had stopped. Her brain had basically stopped functioning. She had thought since Chi was in game, a person she would never meet, it would be fine to just forget about the situation that happened. But now¡­ Now she could not do that because the very person she had done such intimate things with was next to her naked. Only one thing came to mind at this time. "I-I don''t know any Chi!"


    "Liar!" Trisha was watching every expression on Yuki''s face! There was no way she was not Ryu!


    "No, really, I do not know who Chi is¡­ Haha! It seems I am getting overheated. I should get out."Yuki quickly tried to escape, but there was no way Trisha was going to let that happen.


    "Yuki, don''t run away!" Trisha yelled and pulled Yuki back. By doing so, Yuki slipped and fell on top of Trisha., hot water splashing everywhere. The two were now face to face. Their noses only a centimeter apart. Trisha wrapped her arms around Yuki''s neck so she could not run away anymore. Trisha gazed into Yuki''s eyes and, with all seriousness as if the question she was asking had to do with her own life and death, asked: "You are Ryu, right?"


    Yuki''s cheeks blushed. She could feel Trisha''s heart pounding through her chest. Or maybe it was her own heart, but when she saw those eyes that were begging for a truthful answer, Yuki could only simply nod her head. "Mmm¡­ I am¡­ Trisha, about last night I..." Yuki''s eyes went wide as she felt something soft pressed against her lips. It was like an atomic bomb went off inside her head. Trisha had actually kissed her! As their lips lingered together, Yuki''s eyes slowly closed and began kissing Trisha back. She did not know why this felt so right, but it did.


    The two kissed, their tongues intertwined, their breathing heavy. As their lips parted so that they could breathe, Yuki opened her eyes to see tears streaming down Trisha''s face. "Trisha, what''s wrong!?"


    "I''m so happy! You have no idea how much my heart has been in turmoil." Trisha began to bawl. All her frustrations were being released. The girl who was her first real life friend was also the first real friend she met in Soul Fusion Online. What''s more, was that this same girl was the first person she had feelings for and also the first person she was ever intimate with. She had never felt so happy in her entire life.


    Yuki smiled and leaned in and kissed Trisha''s lips lightly. "I am happy too." Yuki was indeed happy. Although she was not in love with Trisha, she did like her. Whether it was just as friends or more, she wanted Trisha to be happy. She now understood why Chi and Trisha seemed so alike, and that was because they were the same person.

 Chapter 55：Game Update

    Yuki sat back up and pulled Trisha into her arms. "The bath is still hot, so let''s soak a bit, and then I will wash your hair and back."


    "Mmm..." Trisha couldn''t hide the smile on her face as she cuddled into Yuki''s embrace. "Yuki¡­ Can I umm¡­ Come over after classes today?" Trisha''s cheeks were red as she asked this. She even lowered her head, trying to hide it in Yuki''s chest.


    "Sure¡­ I was planning to get a key made today anyway to give to you, so you can just come over any time you wanted." Yuki had already planned to ask Trisha to go out with her today, so there was no reason to say no, and now that Yuki knew Trisha was Chi, this made things easier as well. If something came up and she couldn''t log in, she could easily let Trisha know.


    "Hehe..." Trisha giggled. "This all feels so surreal. You have no idea how much of a lady killer you are on Ryu. Even in real life, your flirting skills are like maxed out."


    Yuki did not know what to say. She couldn''t remember any time she tried to flirt with anyone. She could only scratch her nose since she did not know what to say. "Alright, let''s finish washing up and get dressed. I will dry your hair for you."


    "Okay!" The two took their time as they continued to chat.


    Only after drying off and putting on comfortable clothes, which consisted of long shirts and panties, did the two feel even better than before. Yuki sat on the bed with Trisha sitting on the floor between her legs as Yuki blow dried her hair.


    "Yuki, how was it? I mean, last night as a man." Trisha could no longer hold back her question. She was really curious to know just how it felt to be a man.


    Yuki''s face turned completely red. "It was¡­ New¡­ Although I think it still feels better for a girl. But I can say it was a new experience..."


    "I see... Well¡­ It felt good for me too..." Trisha admitted. She leaned her head back and looked up at Yuki. "So what are we now? Are we just friends¡­ Or something more?"


    Yuki thought for a moment before teasingly saying: "Boyfriend and girlfriend?"


    "Yuki, seriously." Trisha let out a sigh.


    "We are whatever you wish to be. If you wish for us to be just friends, we will just be friends. If you wish for us to be a couple, then we are a couple. Trisha, I just want you to be happy. As long as you are happy, I will be happy as well."Yuki said honestly. This was how she truly felt.


    Trisha gazed at Yuki''s sincere eyes and smiled warmly at her. "I knew Yuki was the best. I want to be with Yuki and see where this new feeling will go. But Yuki, if you feel unhappy with us being together, let me know¡­ I want you to be just as happy as you want me to be."


    Yuki paused, drying Trisha''s hair, and draped her arms over Trisha''s shoulders as she bent forward, bringing her face in front of Trisha''s. "Then I guess we both need to work hard to make sure we can both be happy."


    Trisha smiled and reached up and wrapped her arms around Yuki''s neck, and gave Yuki a peck on the nose. "I guess we do."


    After finishing drying each other''s hair, the two got dressed and cuddled together until it was time to go to class. "Yuki, let your hair down."


    "Hmm?" Yuki was confused. She was in the process of doing up her hair as she normally did before going out.


    "Well. You really have no need to hide your real identity, right? Just wear your hat and mask as normal but let your hair down. It would be very amusing to see how people react. Especially those girls who keep talking about how cute you are." Trisha''s last words were her real objective; she just wanted those girls to stop ogling her Yuki.


    Yuki chuckled and did as Trisha asked. She let her hair flow down from her hat. When the two got to school, although Trisha was hanging off of Yuki''s arm as normal, the air was much different. And the looks they got were also much different.


    "He was a girl!? Noo!" One girl yelled out in disappointment. It seemed like she had lost all the strength in her body as she slumped to the floor.


    "Hehe! That will teach you to eye my Yuki." Hearing Trisha''s words caused Yuki to chuckle.


    Classes went by fast, and the two did not linger long as they hurried to the hardware store to get a key made. "Here." Yuki handed Trisha the freshly made key. "Now, you can come and go as you please."


    "So you don''t mind? What if I decided I want to come attack you." Trisha asked with a teasing look.


    "Then I guess I am the one who asked for it." Yuki replied.


    "Yes, you did. Oh! I should head home first. I want to get a few things before I come over. Is that okay?" Trisha asked, her hands behind her back as she bent over slightly.


    Yuki nodded and said: "That''s fine. I got a few things to look up anyway."


    "Okay, then I will see you in a bit! Be careful getting home." Trisha quickly waved a cab and hurried off. She lived in the opposite direction than Yuki, so they could only take separate cabs.


    Yuki smiled as she flagged a cab down and went back home. As soon as she did, she did her normal ritual and got herself comfortable. She set up her laptop on her new coffee table and sat on the floor instead of the small two seater couch that Tina had bought her. "Let''s see¡­ I really need to get back at those two assholes who tried to kill Trisha and me."


    Yuki logged into the website and was about to head to the forums when she saw an update log post on the front page. "Oh? There was an update today?"


    Let''s see¡­ The patch notes were not in text but were actually a video. She hit play to see the CEO of Soul Fusion Online standing behind a podium...


    "Hello to all of those in the Soul Fusion Online community. Since the release of SFO a month ago, I am happy to say that we have seen a surge of new players as well as new investors investing in the company. The world of SFO has quickly become a world of its own, no less real than the real world itself. Well, I guess calling it real is a bit far fetched, but this is as close to creating a parallel world as we will ever get with today''s current technology.


    "Let me start off by thanking everyone out there who has bought and played SFO. Those who now use the game as a source of income and those who are investing into the game so we can make it even better and more realistic.


    "The reason for this patch is because we have two players who have officially started the path of cultivation. Yes, you heard me right. Although it was never clearly stated. The game of SFO is a game where you can cultivate. While you have the ability to level up and reach the same level of cultivation as those who cultivate, you will be lacking in many things. While leveling is faster, cultivation is more beneficial and will give certain perks as one takes the longer path to reach the peak. I will not say who these players are but just know they are already one step ahead of you. Cultivation methods are not easy to find, and not many would be able to get their hands on one, so make sure you search every nook and cranny of the world since the world of SFO has many secrets that are waiting to be found.


    "Now, because we now have our first players who can cultivate, 2 major options have been opened up. One of which is world notifications. Any time an event happens, all players will now be notified worldwide instead of just the area they are in. This also includes phone notifications, which you can start receiving once you download the SFO trading app.


    "The second major thing is you can now set bounties on players. I know some of you really wish to kill a few players for the evil acts they have committed. You can set bounties at the new mercenary guild. When a bounty is set, as long as the bounty is over a certain amount, it will be issued globally through a world notification. So for those players who think they are safe after committing a crime, just wait and see. Your luck might not be as good as you think.


    As the CEO''s voice continued on in the background Yuki''s lips curled up into an evil smile. "It seems my two little friends will soon be the center of attention¡­."

 Chapter 56：Caught In The Act

    After checking things online and finding out about the new update, Yuki did not post anything on the forums. But she did continue to look at things online. She had come up with a plan now, knowing that there was a mercenary guild. She looked up the details and found that you can make a mercenary team. She wanted to perfect her fighting style now that things would soon change in the game. She also had to get Trisha trained as well. But she did not want to expose their identities, so she figured she would research on making face masks and cloaks online.


    It was only when she felt something soft and moist touch her cheek that Yuki reacted. She smiled as she turned her head towards Trisha''s pretty face. "You''re here."


    "Mm¡­ What are you researching?" Trisha asked as she slipped behind Yuki and rested her chin on Yuki''s shoulder while hugging her from behind. This, of course, forced Yuki to have to scoot forward and move the table in front of her, but she did not mind.


    "They had an update today. You can now take out hits on people. So I plan to make that Blade guy and KillerT guy who tried to player kill us pay big time with a large bounty. But I also think we should form our own mercenary group since it is just the two of us for right now. We can use it as a chance to practice fighting other players by taking on hits from the mercenary guild. It will be good practice for the both of us. From the information on the cultivation thing, it states unless you have your dantian destroyed, you will not lose experience on death or delevel if you are cultivating. But as a cultivator, if someone destroys your dantian, you will end up losing all your cultivation, and you will need to find a way to repair it to continue to cultivate or switch to leveling up.


    "So cultivation is like a double edged sword. It is very powerful. But its downsides are that you can lose all your progress if your dantian is destroyed, and it also takes much longer to level up. But I think we do not have to worry about the cultivation speed. Our dual cultivation speeds up our cultivation by many times that of a normal person, so if we fight monsters and allot a certain amount of time to cultivation every day, we should stay on a steady progression. What do you think?" Yuki asked. The entire time she was explaining things, she was fiddling with Trisha''s fingers.


    "You still want to cultivate? I think we will need to do a lot more of what we did last night." Trisha replied. She was blushing from ear to ear. She was not against it, especially now that she knew that Yuki was Ryu. But it was still embarrassing.


    Yuki smiled, turned her body around slightly so she was facing Trisha, and hooked her arms around Trisha''s neck. She looked Trisha right in the eye before leaning in and kissing her on the lips. She used her tongue to part Trisha''s lips and easily invaded Trisha''s mouth. Trisha felt her heart speed up as she returned the favor and began kissing Yuki back. She seemed to have gotten her answer. The two kissed for a while before parting. Both their lips were bright red from being nibbled. Yuki licked her lips as she said: "Originally before I knew you were Chi, I was not planning to do it anymore. But now¡­ Things are different. I was thinking our cultivation method was very powerful, and it would be a waste to not use it."


    "I see." Trisha bit her lip. She was already slightly turned on from the kiss just now, so thinking about how they would be doing intimate things in game was not helping her any.


    "If you are against it, it''s okay. I don''t want to force you to do something you are not ready for." Yuki realized she seemed to be being pushy. She did not want to force Trisha into these things.


    "Not at all! I am fine with it." As if to show she was okay, she took Yuki''s hand and put it on her right breast. "I am yours already. Plus, after last night, you have to take responsibility for me."


    Yuki chuckled and gave the modest breast in her hand a firm squeeze causing Trisha to squeal. She then stood up and stretched her arms. "Then I will be responsible. I should get the chef to make us some food. Do you have anything you want to eat?"


    "You..." Trisha paused as she blushed from ear to ear. She had no idea why she just said that! She had just spoken the first thing that came to mind, and now she was completely embarrassed.


    Yuki''s eyes widened, but when she saw Trisha''s crimson red ears, she let out a laugh. Seeing Trisha so embarrassed made her want to tease her. "That will come soon. You can eat until you''re full."


    "Don''t tease me!" Trisha yelled. But it was muffled since she had her face buried in her knees.


    Yuki had the Chef prepare dinner. When she looked towards the door and saw the huge duffle bag sitting there, she turned to Trisha and asked: "What''s in the bag?"


    "Well..." Trisha finally lifted her head and answered: "I figured since we do not have any classes for the next few days, I could stay here if that was okay..."


    "Mm¡­ That''s fine. Although¡­ I might need to buy a bigger bed. Mine is only meant for a single person. Although if we laid on our sides, we could fit but..." Yuki scratched her head. She actually never thought of it until now. But now that Trisha was here, she was left with an issue. If Trisha stayed the night, it would be pretty uncomfortable on her small bed. "I will call Tina and see if she can take us to Ikeeya tomorrow. So I can buy a bigger bed."


    "You don''t have to do that!" Trisha did not know how much money Yuki had, but she did not want Yuki to go out of her way just because of her.


    "It''s fine. This little bit of money is nothing to me right now." Yuki waved her off. Normally she would be cheap and not want to spend money, but she could not make Trisha feel uncomfortable. The two never once realized they were completely fine with sharing a bed or that it seemed out of place for them to do so. "Tonight, we will just need to squish in together."


    "Mmm¡­" Trisha still felt bad, but since Yuki said it was fine, she did not bring it back up.


    Yuki was always one to do things right away, so she contacted Tina and asked if it was possible to make a trip to Ikeeya tomorrow. Tina was so happy that Yuki wanted to go shopping with her that she immediately asked for a half day''s leave. Getting the confirmation that they would be going shopping tomorrow, Yuki hung up and went back to researching more things she could use in game.


    After dinner, Yuki had Trisha bring her duffel bag into her bedroom. Inside was a few sets of clothes, pajamas, and even a few fox plushies. Trisha also took out her VR and set it aside. She then changed into her normal nightwear. "So much better. "


    Yuki looked at Trisha in her pink fluffy shirt and pink fox slippers and found this unknown part of Trisha to be very cute. "Now I know why you chose to be a fox girl in game."


    "Mmm! I love foxes! I think they are very cute." Trisha smiled brightly as she said this.


    "So maybe I should get you some cosplay fox ears and tail?" Yuki walked over to Trisha, took Trisha''s hands, and interlocked her fingers with Trisha''s. The two gazed into each other''s eyes for a few seconds before their lips touched.


    Their tongues swirled in each other''s mouths. Yuki let go of Trisha''s hands and pulled Trisha''s body tighter against hers. Trisha could feel Yuki''s hand trailing down her back, sending shivers up her spine. When she felt her butt suddenly being squeezed, she almost yelped in surprise. Trisha also got daring and ran her hands up over Yuki''s breast, gently massaging them. The two were lost in their own little world and never heard the front door being unlocked and opened.


    Tina was in the area when Yuki called, so she figured she would stop in and make sure Yuki ate a proper dinner tonight. She would not believe it until she saw it with her own eyes. When she checked the sink and saw that there were dishes for two people. Tina became suspicious and walked towards Yuki''s room. The door was slightly ajar but the sounds of heavy breathing coming from within caused Tina to blush as she opened the door slightly to see what was going on. But what she saw was not something she had ever expected.

 Chapter 57：??? Quest

    "Yuki!!" Tina suddenly yelled out. Tina''s mind blanked out. She did not even realize the other person in Yuki''s embrace was female.


    Yuki and Trisha both froze and slowly turned their heads towards the door to see Tina standing there. Yuki opened her mouth, but all she could do was stutter as she tried to explain. "Th-This¡­ I-I¡­ Umm..."


    Tina came back to her senses as she yelled: "I told you no bo..." Huh?" It was now Tina''s turn to be even more shocked. Her eyes grew even wider. Her mouth was wide open, but no sounds were coming out.


    "..."


    "P-Princess!?" It was only until Tina got a good look at the other person''s body and then saw who it was that she realized the person her new daughter was being intimate with was another girl and the ninth princess at that!


    "Umm¡­ Hello.." Trisha couldn''t hide her embarrassment. This situation was very awkward!


    "Umm, Tina¡­ I..." Yuki was still trying to explain. She never had to deal with a situation like this before.


    "No need to explain. I had a feeling after what happened that day that maybe, just maybe, this would be the path you followed. It''s not like it is nothing new. What surprises me the most is who the other person is¡­." Tina looked over at Trisha, who now had her head lowered. "Princess Trisha Evergreen, correct?"


    "Yes, ma''am..." Trisha had suddenly become a very obedient little girl. But you could tell how nervous she was from her stiff, rigid movements and slightly trembling body. Trisha was afraid that Yuki would be banned from being with her, and she would once again be all alone.


    Tina sighed, seeing Trisha like this. She was like a scared rabbit. Tina had heard this girl was not treated well within the royal family. "Both of you fix yourselves and sit."


    Both girls quickly adjusted their shirts and sat down like they were told. Tina stood in front of them and sighed once more. "Just to be sure you two are together, correct?"


    "Yes." Yuki answered truthfully and without hesitation. Yuki then looked over at Trisha, who was visibly shaking, and reached out and grabbed her hand to try to comfort her.


    "Then my guess is that the Princess will be over here more often, and this is why you wanted to get a bigger bed, correct?" Tina asked.


    Yuki nodded her head and answered: "Yes."


    "Alright. You might as well set up the guest room as well so that the Princess can have her own private space while she is here. But Princess, from what I know, you can not move out of the apartment you are currently in, correct?"


    "Yes!" Trisha answered, her voice squeaking. She was surprised by Tina directing the question towards her.


    "I see. It''s fine if you are half living here. As you are both adults, I will not limit what you do but Yuki, Trisha." Tina did not call Trisha, princess this time. "You are not to think about having a baby until you are both older okay?"


    "Tina, you mean you do not mind!?" Yuki asked. She was slightly excited.


    "Yuki, you like Trisha, right?" Tina asked as she looked directly into Yuki''s eyes.


    "Mmm¡­ I do." Yuki answered firmly. There was no doubt that she did indeed like Trisha. Otherwise, she would not be willing to do anything intimate with her. But it was not at the stage of love just yet, though.


    "Then that is all that matters. You are now my daughter, so as long as you are happy. You can love a man or woman. I do not care. But Yuki, just know that being in a relationship with Trisha will be hard due to her background, so be sure to keep this in mind." Tina said with a smile as she walked over and patted Yuki on the head.


    "Mmm, I will.." Yuki smiled softly. She felt warmth in her heart to know that Tina cared for her so much.


    "My name..." Trisha suddenly mumbled.


    "Hmm? Oh! I''m sorry. Should I keep using your title?" Tina realized she might have overstepped her bounds by not using proper respect when saying a royal family member''s name.


    "No! It''s fine. I am just happy. Besides Yuki, you are the only one to say my name. Please continue." Trisha said as she smiled brightly. She was happy people saw her for her and not her title.


    "Then I will keep doing it then. In this house, you are my daughter''s girlfriend, so that makes you part of our little family. Now then, I will leave you two at it. I will be back tomorrow morning around 9 AM. Luckily I only walked in when you two were making out. Otherwise, it would have truly been very awkward. Yuki, Trisha, have a good night. Also, close and lock the bedroom door next time." Tina gave Yuki and Trisha a hug before leaving. Leaving two girls sitting on the edge of the bed in a bit of a daze.


    "Yuki, so she has accepted me?" Trisha asked, breaking the silence.


    "Mmm¡­ Tina is a very kind and caring person. Maybe by this time next year, we will be officially mother and daughter. Well, since the mood is a bit off, let''s log in and take care of the inheritance thing before heading to the mercenary guild." After Tina showed up, her urge to do naughty things was gone. All that remained was a slight damp spot in her panties. Trisha also felt the same. She was no longer in the mood either.


    The two laid on the bed and got into a position where they could cuddle up and be comfortable before putting on their VR gear and logging in game. Yuki''s eyes opened. She stretched a bit before standing up. She reached up and pulled the sleeping cat on her head into her arms. Trisha logged in seconds later. "Ryu!" Trisha or Chi got up off the bed and hugged Yuki.


    "What is this all of a sudden? Are you not sleeping right next to me?" Yuki asked as she hugged Chi back.


    "I know that, but still. This is like a different us, you know? Here you are a man, and I am a fox. So it''s like I get two different yous." Trisha did her best to explain.


    "I guess that''s true. Here I get to fluff your fluffy tail and scratch your soft ears." Yuki teased.


    "I see you two are very close now. But I am glad you are back. We should take care of the inheritance. Then everything here will be yours." A voice came from behind them, causing the two to turn and look at Fu Shi, who had just appeared.


    "That was my plan." Yuki said with a smile. "You said before this palace has to be inherited by both of us, correct?" Yuki asked.


    "That is correct. One of you alone is unable to sustain this place or use the skill to transport here. You will need both of you to do so. This palace, this mystic realm, was always meant to be for two people. The man I loved was supposed to be by my side for all eternity as we worked to reach the peak. Sadly..." Fu Shi''s expression turned sad then to that of anger.


    Yuki watched these reactions and realized something. "Miss Fu, is there anything we can do to help you get revenge on the bastard who betrayed you?"


    "Mm¡­ In a way, you have helped Chi and me greatly and can be considered our master. If we can help, then it is a given that we will do what we can." Yuki replied. She was choosing her words carefully in case she messed up this chance.


    *Ding!*


    [Unique ??? Quest Started.]


    [Part One: Gain Strength]


    [Part Completion: Raise your strength to the pinnacle of the mortal realm through cultivation]


    [Reward: ????]


    It was not just her, but Chi also received the quest notification. Chi looked at Yuki with a questioning look, and when she saw Yuki nod, she hit yes. Yuki looked at Fu Shi as she hit the yes button and said: "We will do our best to help you get your revenge."


    "Then I will leave things in your hands then." Fu Shi bowed her head. When she raised it again, she said: "Now, shall we bind this palace to the two of you now?"


    "Sure, what do we have to do?" Yuki wanted to ask more about the quest and find out why there are so many ''???'' but she could see that she was not going to get any answers from Fu Shi. But she was starting to get really excited about gaining this palace. She had wanted to explore this place to its fullest and see what it had to offer.


    "Follow me. We have to go to the core of the Palace¡­." Fu Shi said these words before walking out of the room. Yuki looked at Chi and stretched out her hand, grabbing ahold of Chi''s hand. Chi blushed and smiled as she let Yuki pull her along as they followed after Fu Shi.

 Chapter 58：Refining

    Yuki and Chi were brought to a large open garden in the center of the palace. There were many flowers of varying colors spread out on each side of the small stone path that led to the center of the garden, where a water fountain had a large colorful butterfly gently hovering over it. This butterfly was as big as a bird, but when you looked closely, you could see that this butterfly did not look like an insect. Instead, its body, besides its wings, was humanoid.


    From the little mounds on the butterfly''s chest and the empty space between its legs, you could only assume that it was a female. At least, this was what Yuki assumed upon seeing it. Its big black eyes that gave it more of an alien look adorned its face.


    As it flew around the top of the fountain, you could hear it giggling and laughing. "Eternia." Fu Shi called out softly, bowing her head towards the butterfly. Yuki and Chi were both surprised when they saw Fu Shi showing the butterfly such respect.


    "Hmm?" The butterfly named Eternia paused mid air and hovered for a second before turning and looking at Fu Shi. "Oh! Little Fu, you are here."


    Eternia smiled as she flew over and poked Fu Shi on the nose. Her attention then turned to Yuki and Chi. "They are?"


    "They passed the trial and will be taking over this palace. I was going to have them do the refining ritual." Fu Shi answered.


    "Really?" Eternia flew over and looked at both Yuki and Chi poking both of them on the nose. "Yes, they will do." Eternia giggled and began flying around Yuki. "Little Fu has brought in such a handsome man. Hehe."


    Eternia giggled once more before going to land on top of Yuki''s head, only to have to dodge quickly. "Ahh! Scared me to death!"


    "Meow!" Nergal let out a cry as it lazily opened its eyes and stared at Eternia. In return, Eternia stared at Nergal back. It was as if there was some kind of strange communication between the two.


    "I understand that is your spot." Eternia pouted slightly before flying over and sitting on Yuki''s shoulder. Chi, who was standing off to the side, stared at the butterfly sitting on Yuki''s shoulder and suddenly felt like she wanted to squish her. Eternia felt a set of eyes on her and turned her little head to look at Chi. With a smug smile, Eternia hugged Yuki''s neck and stuck her tongue out at Chi.


    Eternia felt proud about winning against Chi as she sat there swinging her legs back and forth. With all this happening around her, Yuki stood there feeling a bit confused as to what was going on. "Umm¡­ So what is this refining ritual?"


    Fu Shi chuckled at Eternia''s antics before looking at Yuki and explaining things. "Good question. You see, this Palace is a bit special. It needs to be refined by injecting your soul qi into Eternia. The method is quite simple to do, but it does take time since Eternia herself is quite special. You could say she is the spirit of this palace that has gained sentience. She is a bit mischievous, but she is a good girl.


    "If the two of you will follow me. I need you both to take a position here at the fountain. Ryu, if you will sit here and Chi on the other side of the fountain there. You will find two spots with array patterns on the side of the fountain. Please place your hands there and Eternia if you would." Fu Shi instructed.


    "Okay!" Eternia flew off Yuki''s shoulder and hovered directly above the center of the fountain. The fountain had water shooting out of the middle filling the three tiers below. But as Eternia arrived in her position, the water stopped flowing, and the top of the fountain began to glow and expand. A magic array appeared right above it. First, it was only dimly lit, but gradually it started to grow brighter and brighter. The intricate archaic inscriptions within the array slowly began to change from a white color to a bluish color. Tiny balls of lights began to rise up and slowly enter into Eternia.


    While all this was happening, Yuki and Chi felt as if something was being sucked right out of them, causing their bodies to feel extremely weak. They had not even done anything, and the soul qi within them was being extracted. "Fu Shi, how long do we have to do this?" Yuki asked, sweat dripped from her brow. This whole process was very taxing on the body. But she was not asking for herself but for Chi, who she could see across from her on the other side of the fountain. Chi''s head was slowly drooping down.


    "Just a little more, I know it''s hard and even more so at your cultivation. But the process is just about to finish, just a few more seconds." Fu Shi looked at the two with worried expressions. She had forgotten to take their cultivation into account when refining this palace.


    Dark clouds formed overhead within the skies of the mystic realm. The sound of thunder could be heard booming across the skies. "It''s almost there. Just endure this last part!" Fu Shi bit her lip and watched two streaks of lightning streak across the sky, falling down right onto both Chi and Yuki.


    *Boom!*


    "Ahh!" Both Chi and Yuki let out screams of pain as the lightning fell onto their bodies. This lightning was not white or blue like normal lightning but purple. This indicated that this was no ordinary lightning and was much stronger than anything anyone could handle. Only when breaking through to a major realm such as reaching the immortal realm would such lightning fall. This purple lightning was heavenly lightning! As soon as their bodies were struck, they both passed out.


    "It''s over! Yuki! Chi!" Fu Shi, who was forced to retreat, ran over to see both Yuki and Chi in bad conditions. Their clothes had basically burnt right off, and scorch marks and burnt flesh could be seen on their bodies.


    Eternia flew down and flew over both Yuki and Chi, her expression just as grave as Fu Shi''s. "Little Fu, give them that."


    "But..." Fu Shi bit her lip. She was reluctant but seeing the condition of the two, she knew there was no choice. She stabbed her hand into her body where her heart is and pulled out two round white pills. After she did this, her body became very faint and transparent.


    "Little Fu, I will share some of my power with you later. First, we need to heal them." Eternia said, poking Fu Shi''s nose before taking the two white pills from Fu Shi''s hand and flying over to both Yuki and Chi and popping a pill into each one of their mouths. The white pills instantly melted, sending a stream of white energy into both of their bodies.


    Fu Shi let out a sigh of relief when she saw the wounds on their bodies beginning to disappear, but a faint sadness filled her eyes as she looked down at her body that was barely visible. "I guess my time will soon be up..."


    What Fu Shi had given the two was part of her soul force. The one thing that was keeping her body corporeal. But this same soul force, when taken from someone of a higher cultivation, can be used to heal the wounds of those of a lower cultivation and even strengthen their bodies slightly. As both Chi and Yuki were hit with heavenly lightning, it was lucky that they were even still alive.

 Chapter 59：Inheritance Part 1

    During the time when their soul qi was being extracted, Yuki and Chi had already lost consciousness. It was only when they were hit by the lightning that they suddenly woke up due to the unbearable pain before passing out again.


    Fu Shi had the charred bodies moved to one of the side rooms so that they could heal. Because this was a game, the two had only fallen into a deep sleep. Soul Fusion Online used sleep to keep things that would cause extreme pain from affecting the player. A kind of fail safe, if you will. That was because things within Soul Fusion Online, even though the game dumbs the pain down to a certain extent, there were still times when events or incidents could cause more pain than could be filtered out. Like a low level cultivator being hit by heavenly lightning.


    Fu Shi and Eternia stood by the bed that both Yuki and Chi laid on. Their clothes had long turned to ash from the lightning. Although it was armor that Fu Shi had personally made, it was not made to ward off the damage of heavenly lightning completely. But it was also because of this armor that they were able to keep their lives.


    "Little Fu, what is this?" Eternia was flying over Yuki''s crotch and landed on her thigh. She reached out with her little hands and flicked the elongated mushroom that laid limply between Yuki''s legs.


    Fu Shi looked over at Eternia and blushed. She had been trying to avoid staring at such a thing this entire time, but now this butterfly had to go and flick it and even cause her to look over at it! "Eternia, don''t touch that!"


    "No? Okay!" Eternia quickly lost interest and flew over to Chi, landing between the girl''s breast, finding a comfortable spot, laid down, and closed her eyes to fall asleep. Fu Shi could only be thankful that Eternia was someone who lost interest in things quickly and would listen if asked not to do something. But at the same time, Eternia still did as she pleased, not caring about other things.


    "Meow." Nergal let out a cry as he jumped up on the bed and laid down at the top of Yuki''s head. During this entire time, even though he was on top of Yuki''s head, Nergal never once got injured. Even Fu Shi was struck dumb when she saw the cat just lazing about as if nothing had happened.


    It was not until a few days later in game time did Yuki open her eyes. "Hmm?"


    *Ding!*


    [Acquired Hidden Passive Skill: Advanced Negate Lightning]


    [Negates 80% of lightning based attacks]


    [Acquired Hidden Passive Skill: Advanced Lightning Attunement]


    [Lightning based attacks damage increased by 80% ]


    [Active: Redirect lightning based attacks back to the attacker for 40% of the original damage.]


    [Acquired Hidden Skill: Twin Lightning]


    [A lightning skill that chains lighting between two people. Those in its path will receive 150-400 damage. Can arc between multiple targets. ]


    [Warning: Two people who hold this skill are needed to cast.]


    Yuki read the windows that had popped up in front of her with a beaming smile on her face. She never expected that being struck by lightning would allow her to gain these hidden skills. She actually had no idea that she was struck by heavenly lightning nor cared. It was only after she closed the windows and felt a slight breeze that she realized something was wrong.


    "Umm¡­ Why am I naked!?" Yuki yelled. Her loud voice causing the person next to her to stir.


    "Hmm? Ryu?" Chi slowly woke up, her black hair sliding down her white silky smooth skin. It is not known if it was the white pills or the heavenly lightning, but Chi seemed much more beautiful than before. As Chi opened her eyes, she was met with an extremely handsome face whose cheeks were tinted red. Her eyes followed down the man''s handsome face to this exposed chest and below that was ¡­. "Mushroom?"


    Chi rubbed her groggy eyes, and only then did her eyes widen, and her face turn bright red. "Why! Why! You naked!? Wait, why am I naked!? Did we!?"


    Tears rolled down Chi''s face as she dived into Yuki''s embrace, causing Yuki to suddenly panic. "Wait, Chi, why are you crying!?"


    "I wanted to remember my first time with you!" Chi let out a wail as she continued to cry. She wanted to experience her first time with her Ryu so she could imprint it in her memory forever but now¡­


    Yuki could only hold the crying Chi in her arms, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Chi, it''s fine we did not do anything. You don''t need to cry."


    "Huh?" Chi lifted her head and looked Yuki in the eyes. Her face gradually growing redder by the second. "I want to die!"


    Yuki let out a laugh and hugged Chi tightly, letting the poor girl hide her embarrassment in her chest. She did not realize Chi''s eyes were glued to a certain part of her body. "Ryu, do they all look like that?" Chi curiously reached out and poked Yuki''s mushroom. "Wait, Chi!" Yuki yelled out.


    "Ahem..." A cough came at their side. The two turned their heads to see Fu Shi standing there. Her body was back to how it was before. "Sorry to disturb you, but I suggest you wait until later. I will lay these clothes here for you two to get changed into. There is nothing special about them. They are just regular clothes."


    "T-Thank you..." Yuki stuttered slightly. Fu Shi smiled and quickly left the room. "Let''s get dressed."


    "Mmm..." Chi wanted to hide her face. Fu Shi did not say anything, but they had no idea how long she had been standing there. She wondered if Fu Shi saw her poking Ryu''s mushroom! "I really wish people would learn to knock..."


    "I second that..." Yuki replied. First, it was Tina and now Fu Shi! Life really liked having people walk in on her and Chi when they were doing embarrassing things!


    After getting dressed and sticking Nergal on her head, the two walked out of the room to find Fu Shi standing by the fountain, looking at the little butterfly floating gently in the air. "What happened to Eternia?" Yuki asked.


    "She used too much power healing my soul force, so she will be in a slumber for a while." Fu Shi explained. She turned around and looked at Yuki and Chi. "You two are very lucky. If not for condensing my soul force into White Dew Pills, you would have both died. Because of that, I almost extinguished my entire existence, what is left of it anyway."


    Yuki was confused. If they were on the verge of death, they could just respawn. She did not understand why Fu Shi went so far to save them. "I don''t understand. Why would you go to such lengths?"


    "Two reasons. First is because you have promised to help me enact my revenge, and second it is because the refining process needs time to take effect and can not do so unless you are alive. If you died, it would not have worked and may have caused this entire mystic realm to be destroyed. It would not just be the two of you dying, but Eternia and myself would be destroyed." Fu Shi explained. "But that is all in the past now. You two have officially become owners of this mystic realm and this palace. Everything here now belongs to you. Because you both are now the owners, you can teleport here at any time. You only need to send some soul qi into the small tattoos on your body. For Ryu, it is the lotus flower on your neck, and for Chi, it is the lotus flower on your wrist. I will now give you a proper tour of the palace. Please follow me."

 Chapter 60： Inheritance Part 2

    Fu Shi led Yuki and Chi through the palace showing them around. "This palace has four sections. The south section is the main hall where you would meet guests and has a few side guest rooms. Although I guess the main hall is unusable for the time being." Fu Shi explained as she walked towards the west. "This is the west section or what I like to call the Alchemy Wing. It is where you can do alchemy and pill refinement. All the tools for making potions or pills can be found here. "


    Yuki''s eyes glowed as she looked around. Just having a place like this was amazing. She saw many things she was familiar with, but one thing, in particular, stood out. It was actually very hard to miss. "What is this?"


    Standing in the center of the room was a tall black cauldron with dragons wrapping around it. The caldron was so big that Yuki figured she would need fifty of her just to lift it. "This is a pill cauldron. Although it looks amazing, it has no special effects and to me seems a bit of a joke. When I was alive, I would just use the normal cauldrons you see lying on the table there."


    "I see." Yuki lost interest really quickly when she found out it was more of a display piece. She still had a quest to do that rewarded a Flaming Silver Cauldron that had special effects to it. She walked over and looked at the cauldrons lying on the table and felt more disappointed. She thought these items would all be special since they were found here in this mystic realm, but it seems just the room was. The more she looked around, the more she felt disappointed. She looked over at Fu Shi with a questioning gaze.


    Fu Shi blushed and coughed dryly as she said: "I was never big on Alchemy..."


    "Alright, let''s go." Yuki felt depressed. She had such high expectations, but at least she has a high quality room that did raise the success rate by 80%.


    "The east wing is split into three sections. One section is for crafting armaments, such as weapons and armor. The section in the middle is for creating arrays, and lastly, here is the rune forging room. This is one of the only rooms which has the best items." Fu Shi replied with a big smile.


    Both Yuki and Chi knew right away that this woman must have been a rune forger. "All the items in here are of the epic quality."


    Yuki and Chi''s eyes both widened, seeing the purplish hue to all the items here. Fu Shi giggled as she said proudly: "Pretty good, huh!? I spent a lifetime gathering these items."


    "It is quite amazing." Yuki sighed as she looked at everything here that gave high success rates or even added additional effects.


    "May I ask how hard Rune forging is?" Chi asked.


    "It takes time. But the results and things it can do make it worth it. Rune forging is not just making items that can be placed on armaments but also for attacks and defense during battle if the rune is forged onto an item such as let''s say this blast ore here." Fu Shi walked over and showed Yuki and Chi a small rock with blue glowing lines on it. "This here can be activated with your soul qi and then tossed at an opponent, and after a few seconds, it will explode."


    "Er¡­ Isn''t that just a grenade?" Yuki realized this game was actually trying to incorporate modern things into it in different ways. But this was also very good. Chi was a sword dancer who could fight on the front lines but did not have a strong defense. Thinking along these lines, she turned to Chi and asked: "Chi, what do you think of becoming a rune forger and maybe an array master. Between the two, I think they fit you perfectly. Array Masters require high intelligence and mental fortitude. I think basically, besides the embers of your family, no one could be better than you at this. And as for rune forging, well¡­ Your handwriting is very elegant and beautiful, much better than my chicken scratch, so it''s like it is made for you. Plus, by learning these two things and selling them on the marketplace..."


    This was Yuki''s main point. She knew Chi was stuck with a certain amount of money a month. By starting a trade skill, she could ignore the money from the Evergreen family and live a self sustained life without needing to rely on anyone. It was only until Yuki had mentioned selling items that it dawned on Chi that this was a good way to free herself from some of the shackles on her life. "I will do it!" Chi suddenly said resolutely.


    "Then I will leave Chi in your hands to teach her the art of run forging and array mastering. " Yuki bowed her head towards Fu Shi.


    "Huh? Wait, you want me to teach her!?" It had never crossed Fu Shi''s mind that she would be suddenly asked to teach someone.


    "You can''t?" Yuki asked.


    "It''s not that I can''t, but..." Fu Shi looked at Chi, who was staring back at her expectantly. Those big round beautiful eyes that are slightly watery were no different than if a puppy gazed up at you pleading for a treat. Fu Shi let out a sigh. "Okay, I will teach her. From this day forward, I will be your master."


    "Chi greets Master!" Chi said happily as she bowed her head to Fu Shi.


    "Okay, enough of the formalities. It''s embarrassing. Let me take you to the final section of the palace." Fu Shi''s cheeks were tinted red, but she felt happy knowing she could teach someone the trade skill she worked so hard on when she was alive.


    The trio walked to the north wing and stood outside a large moon gate. "I can no longer pass this point. Once you became the masters of this mystic realm, I lost my ability to enter here. I will let the two of you check this place out on your own."


    "Ryu, it''s beautiful!" Chi exclaimed. As soon as they passed through the moon gate, a small bamboo forest entered their eyes. Beyond that was a small stream with a red ancient Chinese footbridge crossing over. And further, beyond that, it opened up to reveal a man made pond with lotus flowers floating gently on its surface. The water was crystal clear, and you could see many koi fish swimming around. With large rocks covered in natural moss and colorful plants adorning the edge, it was very beautifully made.


    At the end of the path tucked away in between the tall bamboo trees was a small hut made of bamboo. "It is very peaceful here." Yuki said as she squeezed Chi''s hand.


    Chi smiled and nodded her head: "It is."


    They walked into the hut and found a bed big enough for two people with expensive looking blankets and pillows covering it of varying colors. To the side was a small wooden vanity with a mirror and right next to it was a wooden chest for storing items. "At least we will have a comfortable place to cultivate," Yuki said, blushing slightly. It was good to have a place they could be alone and cultivate, especially because of the kind of cultivation they did.


    "Mmm..." Chi was also blushing.


    Yuki smiled and pulled Chi into her embrace, lowering her head and kissing Chi''s lips. After kissing for a few minutes, Yuki said: "Let''s head back to town. We can use two hours of real world time for cultivation, and the rest of it should go to other things."


    "So we will be doing that for two hours!?" Chi asked. She was shocked that Yuki would even suggest cultivating for that long! Would that mean they would be doing naughty things for two hours straight!?


    Yuki, on the other hand, was not thinking of it like this. She was thinking of it as they would need to cultivate for long periods of time, or they will end up falling behind. But when Chi pointed out the fact that they would be doing intimate things for such a long time, she couldn''t help but blush. "WelL¡­ I do not mind..." Yuki said while scratching her head.


    "I-I don''t mind either..." Chi said softly. She then grabbed Yuki''s hand and changed the subject. "Should we go to town now?"


    "Mm... let''s go I want to head straight for the mercenary guild."

 Chapter 59: Shadow Squad Recruiting

    Roland Village was bustling with new players. "Quite a few people here are running around in groups." Yuki said as she walked with Chi hand in hand. The two were wearing cloaks and face masks to hide their appearance. She had made these before they left. They were not very good and only offered 2 points of defense, but they kept their faces hidden from the public eye. Yuki planned to start her mercenary group with just her and Chi to start off with. Since they were the only ones who had reached the first stage of the Fortification Realm within the game at this time through cultivation, they were much stronger than the average person. They did not want their identities exposed just yet.


    "Ryu, are you sure we can do this? I mean, my combat ability is very..." Chi asked through team chat. She knew more than anyone that she was not good at fighting. She had only practiced Yuki''s basic punches and did not know how to use them in a fight just yet.


    "Don''t worry. I have been thinking about that. Chi, you live alone, right?" Yuki had been thinking about Chi''s combat ability and knew as it was now Chi would easily get murdered by many players.


    "Yes, it''s just me." Chi answered.


    "You can''t officially move out of your apartment, but you can stay with me. So every morning from now on, we will get up early and work out and spar for an hour every day on the roof. We will start off with a twenty minute run, then push ups, situps, and squats. We will start off with two sets of each, then end it all with a sparring session. Oh, and during the run, you will be practicing your punches." Yuki explained. She figured Chi would not mind staying with her, so she did not state anything as a question, but more of you will do this type of thing.


    "Okay!" Chi smiled brightly and nodded her head. In a soft voice too soft for Yuki to hear, Chi mumbled: "Hehe, I can stay with my Yuki..."


    The two walked up to a large building that stood tall with two floors. It was made completely out of stone, and the whole place seemed to be carved by some kind of special tool to create the inside. There was no door to this place, so people could just walk in and out as they pleased. When they walked in, there was a huge board that stretched across one side of the guild with hundreds of people standing in front of it. On the board were many requests, so many in fact that requests had to be stacked on top of each other. Yuki walked over to the registration counter that just so happened to be free. Behind the counter, a young woman sat filling out paperwork. When she heard someone arrive, she looked up and smiled. "May I help you?"


    "Yes, I want to do two things. First, I would like to register a mercenary group, and second I would like to put out a bounty on two people." Yuki replied.


    "Okay. That is easy. Let''s handle the bounty first since it is the fastest." The young woman replied. She then took out a form and handed it to Yuki. "Fill in the person''s name and the bounty amount. If it is a recurring bounty, please check the box below and write the maximum number of times you wish for this bounty to be carried out."


    Yuki nodded and began filling things in. In just a few minutes, Yuki had filled everything out and handed the form back to the young woman. "Okay, let''s see, these bounties are for KillerT and Blade. For the amount of 100 gold and to be carried out 5-.... 50 times each!?" the Young woman stared at Yuki in shock! Their mercenary guild had just opened, and only small amounts of money were flowing through on the bounties, but here she had gotten a big fish who had loads of money! She was dancing in her seat since she got a cut of the commission! "Master, this woman should have realized you were of high status. Since you are paying so much, we will give a 10% discount. This means 10 of your bounties will be paid by my mercenary guild. So the total price is 9 platinum."


    Yuki nodded and handed over 9 platinum coins, which the young woman nervously took and quickly stored away. Once she did, she went right to work, and seconds later, two loud and clear world notifications were announced. This was repeated five times.


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: KillerT. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill! Up to 50 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Blade. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill! Up to 50 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    Off in another location of the game, two people were sitting by a campfire resting up after fighting a bunch of monsters. The potions in their hands dropped to the ground and spilled everywhere when they heard the announcements. Blade looked at KillerT, who was looking back at him, both of their faces as pale as a sheet of paper. "What do we do!?"


    "Log out!" KillerT quickly went to open his menu to log out but was stopped when a flame arrow suddenly crashed into their campsite.


    "Don''t let them escape!"


    "That 100 gold is mine!"


    Even the forums exploded as soon as the announcement finished.


    @GreenHat: Holy shit! Someone actually dumped 10 platinum on a bounty to kill those two!?


    @BraveSoul: My guess is that those two pissed off some influential person, and now they are paying for it.


    @FingerSandwhich: Why the hell are you guys chatting on here when you should be hunting those two dregs down!? They were seen near the Fordon Plains right now and are being chased by a mob of people!


    @GreenHat: What!? Really! I am there right now. I can''t miss this. I need 100 gold to marry WhiteLotus in game!


    The one post by FingerSandwhich caused the forums to quickly die. Soon the video platforms would have video after video of what would soon be called the great chase.


    The cause of this epic chase was now standing at another counter, getting a lecture from the old man behind the counter. "You wanted to start a mercenary group with just the two of you!? What the hell are you thinking!? Don''t you know the rules? You need 5 people minimum to even think of starting a mercenary group!"


    "5 people!?" Yuki felt depressed. How could a loner like her have 3 more friends!? She was already lucky to have Chi!


    Chi also felt gloomy. She was the same as Ryu. They had no one they could consider friends except for themselves. "What should we do?"


    "I am not sure..." Yuki said with a frown.


    "You can just put up a recruitment notice! Just like everyone else. Here, fill this form out. The guild will then put up a notice. " The old man said.


    Yuki took the paper and gave it a quick glance over. It only asked for basic information. "For the name of the mercenary group, we can call it¡­ Shadow Squad. Leader¡­ Ryu¡­ Vice Leader¡­ Chi..."

 Chapter 60: A Male God Appeared

    Hiding in a cave that was located on the side of a mountain. KillerT stood in front of Blade. "Blade, what if we killed each other? We can get rid of the bounty and make money?"


    Blade''s eyes narrowed as he shook his head. "I thought about that, but if you read the patch notes, there were a few rules on bounties. If you have a bounty, you can take out bounties on others, but you can not turn them in. So even if I were to kill you, I would get nothing. Not to mention we would be de-leveled and most likely killed before we can meet up again at respawn. For now, we can only sit tight and try to think of a solution. I personally do not wish to spend a bunch of time regaining my levels."


    "Mmm... I hear that. I do think I know who took the bounty out on us, and to be honest, I never thought that bastard would have so much money." KillerT gritted his teeth. Just remembering that day when he was outwitted at every turn pissed him off to the core.


    "I have a feeling it was him too. I think it is time we get our brothers to come to this game. The other games are all thinning out. It''s time for us to move everyone here." Blade firmly decided. "I will contact them when we log out, but¡­ But we need someplace safe to log out. When you have a bounty, your character stays in game, and if you die, you will respawn so we can easily be camped."


    "Fuck! Why did they make such a stupid system!" KillerT gritted his teeth. No other games had such a stupid system!


    "This game has been out for around a month and has become very popular. With the kind of world this game has, it is not unreasonable. But when this is all over, we need to find out that guy''s name. Did you catch his name by chance when you were fighting with him?" Blade asked. He died so fast he never got a chance to find out who his killer was. There was no such thing as battle logs in this game.


    "No, I was so busy dealing with the area boss that I had no chance to find out." KillerT felt gloomy. They had no leads to go on.


    "Then we can only wait until we see him again. Once we do, we will make sure to kill him a hundredfold! I will make that bastard de-level to level 0 and then camp him until he deletes his account!" Blade yelled, a murderous intent spilled from his body.


    "I heard yelling over here!"


    "It''s them, get them!"


    "Fuck! Shit! KillerT, you got me riled up!" Blade immediately blamed KillerT for being discovered. The two were once again on the run.


    "Ah-choo! Hmm? Can you catch colds in this game?" Yuki looked around as she sat at a wooden table in the Mercenary guild rubbing her nose. Chi was sitting next to her. They were watching the recruitment board in front of them. After filling out the form, Yuki could only sigh. She had wanted to keep their identities a secret, but now their names were on full display on the recruitment board. But in order to make a mercenary group, they had no choice but to do this.


    "Ryu, do you think people will be willing to join?" Chi asked. She gripped the hand that was holding hers. Both were a little nervous and wondered what kind of people would actually join them, if any.


    "We can only wait and see." Yuki rubbed her thumb back and forth on Chi''s hand as her knee bounced up and down. It was apparent that Yuki was also nervous.


    A few hours passed when a group of three girls came walking in. Each one, just as pretty as the next. "WhiteLotus, why are you not teaming up with GreenHat?"


    "Humph! I don''t need to be with that bastard wherever I go. We may be dating in real life, but that does not mean I want to be with him day and night. Let''s just form a mercenary group and take on requests." WhiteLotus answered. "By the way, Rose, why are you worried about my relationship when you have not even gotten a boyfriend yourself?"


    "I¡­" Rose blushed. "It''s not that I don''t want one, but everyone I meet only wants me to do things with them. I do not want a relationship built on sex."


    "That''s true. Although GreenHat and I started that way, we have really gotten to know each other outside the game and to be honest, he is a very sweet and loveable guy." WhiteLotus blushed. She then turned to the third girl who was quiet this entire time."Violet, what about you?"


    "Mmm¡­ I am not sure I can say I want a guy. You know my preferences." Violet replied.


    "Just because you like girls doesn''t mean you can''t have a girlfriend." WhiteLotus knew her friend was into other girls, but none of that mattered.


    "There is one girl I do like, that most thought was a man until recently, but I think she is taken..." Violet''s voice lowered as she got towards the end of her sentence. She felt depressed just saying such a thing.


    "You can always go and talk to her. It''s worth a try at least, right? You never know she may just be free." WhiteLotus said. She was trying to cheer up her friend.


    "Can I help you?" The old man behind the counter gazed at the three girls. His eyes seemed to be piercing right through the.


    "Yes, um¡­ We want to form a mercenary group." WhiteLotus answered.


    "Do you have five members?" The old man asked.


    "Five? You need five members?" WhiteLotus asked in confusion. She never read anything that stated you needed five members to form a mercenary group.


    The old man''s brow furrowed as he stood up and pointed at the three girls. "You damn young people keep coming up here wanting to form mercenary groups with too little people. Why are you pulling this old man away from his work when you do not even have enough people to form a group!? What are you, stupid? The stupid trio!?"


    "I..." WhiteLotus never expected that old man to start yelling at her and cursing her. She was at a complete loss for words. She didn''t realize NPCs could be so rude!


    "Humph! It just so happens there is a group of two looking to form a mercenary group. Go look at the board at a group called Shadow Squad. Now don''t bother me anymore unless you have five people!" The old man sat back down and turned his head away. He completely ignored the flabbergasted girls and continued doing his work.


    "WhiteLotus, what should we do?" Rose asked.


    "What else can we do. Let''s go look at this Shadow Squad. If the two in it are not creepy, we can just join them so we can start taking requests." WhiteLotus did not want to join people she did not know, but since there was no other way around it, she had no choice at this time, and she did not want to team up with GreenHat and his friends.


    "Ryu, look, people are going up to the recruitment board and three of them at that!" Chi said excitedly.


    "We can only wait to see. Don''t get too hopeful in case they decide not to contact us. There are other recruit notices on the board." Yuki patted Chi''s hand. She didn''t want Chi to be disappointed if they went with another group.


    But it seemed their worry was for not because Yuki suddenly got a private message from WhiteLotus. "Hello, I am contacting you about the recruitment notice for Shadow Squad. Are you free to talk?"


    "Yeah, turn around and look at the back table." Yuki replied as she waved her hand at WhiteLotus, who turned around and looked in their direction.


    WhiteLotus gave a nod before turning to talk to her friends. Only then did they walk over to where Yuki and Chi were seated. WhiteLotus bowed her head slightly as she said: "Nice to meet you. I am WhiteLotus. This here is Violet and Rose."


    "It''s good to meet you, I''m Ryu, and next to me is Chi." Yuki introduced herself and Chi. She then got straight to the point. "I will not beat around the bush. Are you willing to join my mercenary group? You don''t need to team with us or anything. Chi and I just want to be able to take out requests that are not just bounties"


    "I see¡­ We can join you but you have to accept one request from me." WhiteLotus looked at the two who had their faces hidden by cloaks. "Let me see what you look like."


    Yuki frowned but still nodded. She reached up and took off her hood, revealing her handsome face. The three girls all stared at her in shock causing the group to go quiet. "A Male god just appeared!" Rose suddenly broke the silence.


    "Don''t even think about it!" Chi removed her hood and glared at Rose. She didn''t want anyone to have designs on her Yuki!

 Chapter 61: Disturbance In The Sleepy Inn

    Chi''s blue azurite eyes gleamed with a flash of lightning as she looked at the three girls. This look alone was enough to cause the three girls to take a step back. "Stop it!"


    Yuki chopped the top of Chi''s head, causing her to yell out. "Ouch! Ryu!" She bit her lip as she pouted. Yuki reached up and rubbed the spot she hit. "Don''t scare people. No one is going to steal me from you."


    "Mm..." Chi hummed as her ears twitched and her tail wagged. She couldn''t stop the corner of her lips from curving up into a small smile.


    WhiteLotus looked at the two and smiled. "You two are really a cute couple. We would like to join your mercenary group."


    "Then we can go fill out the form and establish the new mercenary group right away." Yuki did not like to procrastinate on things. Since they had the members, she wanted to quickly get her mercenary group formed.


    "Alright, sounds good!" WhiteLotus nodded in agreement.


    Yuki and Chi stood up and walked towards the old man to fill out the forms with WhiteLotus and Rose. Violet was the only one who stood still rooted in her spot. She was someone who always had an eye for detail, especially for the one girl she fell in love with. Although the girl always wore a facemask, her eyes were imprinted into Violet''s memory. There was no way she would not recognize those eyes. She bit her lip and lowered her head. "It''s her¡­ But..." Violet looked up at the fox girl standing next to the handsome man. The two were holding hands, it was obvious they were a couple. Violet felt her heartache a little seeing this.


    "Violet?" Rose called out to her.


    Rose calling her name caused Violet to lower her eyes away from the man and fox girl as she answered softly. "MM¡­ I''m coming."


    "There you go. The mercenary group Shadow Squad is now formed." The old man behind the counter stamped the form and filed it to the side. He took out five tokens and passed them to Yuki without saying anything else. But when he realized that the five people were still standing there, he frowned. "What the hell are you still standing there for!? Get lost!"


    "Sorry." Yuki apologized and quickly walked back over to the table she was sitting at before.


    "So what now? Mercenary groups are different from guilds or sects. Guilds and Sects have their own chats but mercenary groups do not." WhiteLotus did not know what they were going to do now.


    "You can just send me a private message when you need our help. Chi and I plan to finish up a few quests we have going and take on any mercenary request that might be on the board in the same area." Yuki explained. She only wanted the ability to take out requests. Unlike bounties anyone can take, requests need you to be in a mercenary group. From the start, she did not plan to team with others, but since these three were now in her mercenary group, she would not ignore them if they needed help.


    "I see. Well, what if we at least hold a party for the five of us to celebrate the establishment of Shadow Squad and us becoming friends?" WhiteLotus asked.


    Yuki looked at Chi, who nodded her head. "Alright, let''s celebrate then. If I am correct, this town has an inn with food and drinks."


    The group left the mercenary guild and went straight to a place called Sleepy Inn. It had a large first floor that held many tables for people to eat and drink to their heart''s content. Yuki, Chi, and the other three girls walked through the front door to find the place was rather busy. "Can I help you? Are you here for a room or are you here to eat?"


    A young girl who looked around fourteen years of age with red hair braided up into two pigtails asked. Her big smile showed her dimples on her lightly freckled face. Yuki found the girl to be very cute and had to restrain herself from reaching out and patting the little girl''s head. "We need a private room for five if you have one."


    "Sure thing! You are lucky because there is only one private room left at this time." The young girl said as she gathered some menus and was about to turn around and lead Yuki and the rest to the room when a man''s voice came from behind them. "Wait! We will take that room instead. Our Golden Sword Guild needs to celebrate our establishment. I hope you ladies won''t mind. I will give you each a gold coin for the trouble."


    Yuki and the other girls all turned around to see a young man standing there in plate armor behind him were four other men. "Golden Sword Guild? You mean the top guild that came over from Fiery Desolation and is ranked number one on many other games?"


    "That''s right. Our guild leader asked us to start up a guild here in this game, so everyone can slowly transition over. You are looking at Soul Fusion Online''s future top guild. Why, pretty lady, do you wish to join? I can make sure you get a higher allotment of guild resources in the future." The man in plate armor said with a smile. The one he was talking to was WhiteLotus.


    "Ahem..." Yuki cleared her throat as she looked at the man in plate armor. "I don''t really care what guild you are from or what you want but trying to toss a few gold coins at us for the private room we were already promised. Do you think we would say yes?"


    The man in plate armor narrowed his eyes. He looked at Yuki, scanning her up and down. "Do you really wish to go against my guild?"


    "Do I need to be scared?" Yuki asked with a raised eyebrow. She hated people like this. And it seemed every guy she ran into had this kind of proud, overbearing personality that thinks all girls will follow them if they wave around a bit of cash. She could see the disgusted look in the three girls'' eyes when he invited WhiteLotus just now.


    "You! Do you dare to duel me!? I BurningToast will never allow someone to disgrace my Golden Sword guild! " BurningToast yelled as he pointed his finger at Yuki.


    WhiteLotus looked at Yuki and then back at BurningToast. She then leaned over and whispered to Yuki: "He is Golden Swords top Player Vs. Player. He was even in many contests and won a few of them. He is a well known player in the VR world for his insane combat ability."


    Yuki only smiled and shook her head. "All I see is an idiot. This game is much different from your average VR game, where the game assists you in combat. You need real world combat experience in order to survive well in this game. He might have some skill but not enough to care about plus¡­ This duel won''t be much of a show since he won''t be able to stand much longer." Yuki''s words confused WhiteLotus unsure of what Yuki meant.


    Yuki was staring at the menu that popped up in front of her. It was a duel request from BurningToast. He was standing there looking at her with a mocking expression. "Are you too much of a chicken shit to accept? If so, make way and give up the room!"


    "Oh? Now you want to call names? That''s fine. I do not mind making you look like a fool." Yuki said as she hit the yes button and took a single step forward.


    *Boom!*


    The wooden floor under her foot shattered into pieces causing everyone else to yell out in shock. But it was not just her foot that shattered the floor but also BurningToast. "Shit..." Yuki scratched her head. She never meant to use so much strength. She only wanted to try using her aura of the fortification realm as a cultivator to suppress the man like they do in novels, but it seemed she should have tested this idea out first. It was not said anywhere that this was possible. Yuki had only had this thought since she broke through. It was just one of those lingering thoughts that were stuck in the back of her head that she decided to try.


    *Ding!*


    [Acquired Hidden Passive Skill: Cultivation Suppression]


    [Active: This skill allows you to use your aura as a cultivator to suppress those of a lower cultivation. Must be cultivating a cultivation method to use.]

 Chapter 62: Two Becoming One Part 1

    "Oh?" Yuki took her sword and walked over to BurningToast and stabbed her sword into him over and over until his Health hit 0. The sight of the blood splashing all over was not very pleasing at all. But that was not the reason why everyone was dead quiet.


    *Ding*


    [Winner: Ryu!]


    Everyone stared at Yuki in shock. Even Chi was surprised by what was happening. She looked at Ryu with questioning eyes only to have him turn back and smile at her. She watched Ryu put away his sword and walk over to her, leaned down, and whispered into her ear. Hearing what he had to say, Chi excitedly asked: "Really?"


    "MM¡­ We will get it for you later, after some practice." Yuki did not want to have Chi start a duel with anyone right now when she was not good with fighting, but that did not mean she couldn''t tie someone up later and let her practice until she gained the skill.


    "Okay, I will wait." Chi nodded. Although she wanted to try to get it now, she would listen to Ryu. If Ryu said later, she would wait until later.


    "Now then, since your weak ass leader here fell to the ground without me needing to do anything, I guess the room is ours now. So if you don''t mind, we will be on our way." Yuki grabbed Chi''s hand and signaled to the young girl to lead the way.


    It actually took WhiteLotus and the other two girls a while to come back to their senses. They couldn''t figure out what had just happened. The best player Vs. player, in one of the most well known guilds had just dropped to the ground without being touched. They hurried off with many questions on their mind, not caring about the dumb struck Golden Sword members who had not even realized what had happened yet.


    "Ryu, how did you do that!?" WhiteLotus asked as soon as she entered the private room. She didn''t even sit down before slamming her hands on the table, staring at the man in front of her.


    "Maybe I look so sexy that he decided to give up?" Yuki replied and smiled. She had already lowered her mask, so when WhiteLotus saw that smile, her cheeks instantly blushed. ''Damnit, he''s dangerous!'' She quickly looked away and sat down, not daring to look at that face anymore.


    The other two girls seemed frozen in place as they stared at Yuki. It was only when Chi couldn''t take it anymore and slammed the table that they broke out of their daze and lowered their head in embarrassment. "Ryu, keep your mask on."


    "Haha!" Yuki let out a laugh and reached over and squeezed Chi''s knee. "Let them look. The more they see it, the more used to it they will be."


    "Humph!" Chi latched on to Ryu and glared at the girls across the table.


    WhiteLotus finally got her composure back and shook her head: "Chi, make sure he keeps his mask on around others, man or woman, that handsomeness is deadly."


    "Mm, I will..." Chi replied, leaning her head on Yuki''s shoulder.


    "Let''s order and get some drinks. I am sure we did not come here to talk about my handsome face." Yuki said in a joking manner.


    WhiteLotus sneered. "Damn narcissist."


    "He has the right to be..." Rose said softly. She couldn''t keep herself from taking peaks at Yuki.


    "He sure does..." WhiteLotus and Rose''s gazes turned to Violet when they heard her speak.


    "Violet, have you finally switched sides!?" WhiteLotus asked amusingly. She knew this girl was one hundred percent into other girls and disliked males.


    "Huh? No! It''s not what I mean! I just think Ryu is very handsome as well.." Violet''s cheeks turned bright red. She truly wished to dig a hole to hide in.


    After a good laugh, everyone began to get comfortable with each other as food and drink arrived. Even with Chi glaring at them now and then, they all quickly become friends. For Yuki, this was a new experience since she had always been a loner. This all changed when Chi came into her life. Otherwise, a scene like her chatting and drinking with others like this would never have happened.


    After a few hours in game, hanging out, and drinking, the group split. Yuki and Chi walked hand in hand through the town, just looking at the sights. "Ryu, you need to stay away from that, Violet."


    "Hmm? Jealous are we?" Yuki asked jokingly.


    "No, I mean, yes I am, but that is not the point. I mean, it seems she has her eye on you. Like she knows who you really are. It is hard to explain, but it feels like she was staring at you right from the start." Chi tried to explain, but she really did not know how to explain.


    "Like she knows my real identity?" Yuki asked.


    "Yeah¡­ If someone looks at you closely, they will see that your eyes are the same as the real you. When you first met her earlier, she was staring right into your eyes and only your eyes when you had your mask on. And the look in her eyes was not normal. I think she may be in love with you..." Chi tightened her grip on Yuki''s hand. She hated this stuffy feeling she was getting in her chest. She knew being jealous was not good, but she only had Ryu.


    Yuki squeezed Chi''s hand back before pulling her into an alley. When they got to the back of the alley She used her tattoo to take them back to the palace. As soon as they appeared, Yuki swept Chi right off her feet and marched right to the back of the palace to their room. Walking right past Fu Shi without even a glance.


    "Ryu!?" Chi''s face blushed as she grabbed onto Ryu so she would not fall.


    "We still have about three hours of real world time left before we need to get up, so let''s take this time and cultivate." Yuki said as she gently placed Chi on the bed. She then de-summoned Nergal without a second thought. Yuki wanted Chi to know that she was only ever going to look at her.

 Chapter 63: Two Becoming One Part 2

    [Warning: R-18]


    Chi''s whole face and neck turned bright red as she laid on the bed looking up at Yuki. "We are going to cultivate?"


    "Mhm¡­ We have about three days in game time. During these three days, We will become one. I will take your virginity in game, and then..." Yuki smiled as she climbed onto the bed and pulled Chi into her arms. "Then tonight in the real world, we can take each other''s virginity for real. That way, in game and in the real world, we will need to take responsibility for each other."


    Chi''s blue azurite eyes looked into Yuki''s eyes that were filled with affection for her¡­ Her heart felt warmth, but she was still worried: "Yuki, you really mean it?" Her lip was trembling. "If I give myself to you in the real world, there is no going back. I will latch onto you forever."


    Yuki smiled and reached up, cupping Chi''s face. "I can say the same to you. No matter what, from this point on, the two of us will be stuck together."


    Yuki leaned down and kissed Chi''s lips. Chi closed her eyes and parted her lips. The two tongues intertwined. Once again, Chi began feeling a heat well up inside her as the spot between her legs slowly began to moisten. "Yuki..." Chi said softly as their lips parted for air.


    "Not calling me Ryu in game?" Yuki asked with a smile as she gently ran her fingers through Chi''s hair.


    "It''s just the two of us, and if we are doing this¡­ I would rather call out your name. It feels weird to call out a different name..." Chi blushed slightly as she reached up and began unbuttoning the buttons on Yuki''s leather armor.


    "Then, Trisha..." Yuki lowered her head against this time. She went straight for Chi''s ear, gently nibbling on it, causing Chi to let out a soft gasp.


    When Chi had successfully unbuttoned Yuki''s armor, she reached her hand inside, running hand on down Yuki''s bare chest. She found it strange that the girl she liked and was being intimate with was right now a man. But this also excited her at the same time. It allowed her to have the best of both worlds, and both would be the same person. She could already feel something pressing up against her thigh. She couldn''t resist her curiosity as she reached under her thigh and grabbed hold of the thing that was poking her.


    Yuki''s eyes went wide as she let out a soft moan. She never expected Chi to be so grabby! Not wanting to be left behind, she pulled on the sash that was holding the hanfu style clothing Chi was wearing off and opened the flaps revealing the two soft mounds with pink peaks underneath.


    Yuki breathed heavily as she kissed down Chi''s chest. Chi''s hand was stroking her up and down, causing her to grow harder with each stroke. As soon as she reached Chi''s right nipple and took it into her mouth, Chi let out a soft moan and gripped Yuki''s dick tightly. "Mmm...Yuki..."


    Yuki''s left hand massaged Chi''s right breasts while her right hand slipped down Chi''s stomach to her damp crotch and traced her finger against the fabric of her hanfu. This action alone caused Chi to push her hips up, asking for more. Yuki raised her head and whispered into Chi''s ear. "Let''s remove our clothes."


    Chi nodded and hummed softly as she did as she was told. The two were now looking at each other''s in game character fully naked. Yuki''s cheeks were red, but that was not because of Chi but because of the elongated mushroom that stood tall between her legs. Chi was also staring at it with great curiosity. She reached out and gently grabbed it. "I only saw it for a little bit last time, but these things are weird looking..."


    "MMm¡­ I have seen it myself, but never like this..." Yuki replied, feeling embarrassed but good at the same time. She had to admit her penis felt good with every stroke of Chi''s hand. "Chi, we need to hold hands and get our cultivation rotating before we continue."


    Yuki had completely forgotten to do this at the start. They couldn''t dual cultivate just by doing naughty things together. They had to follow the instructions in the cultivation method that explained how to activate the circulation of soul qi between them.


    "Okay¡­ I have to sit in your lap like last time, right?" Chi asked.


    "Yeah..." Yuki positioned herself like last time. But in front of her eyes was a bald pair of lips glistening with juices. She couldn''t help herself as she leaned forward and flicked the swollen clit that was slightly popping out with her tongue.


    "Mmm! Yuki!" Chi moaned.


    "Sorry, couldn''t resist." Yuki said with a teasing look. Chi blushed and sat down. She reached down and adjusted Yuki''s dick for her, so it was pressing against her pussy.


    The two pressed their bodies together and held hands. After closing their eyes, they began circulating their soul qi between them. As the circulation continued for a few rounds, Yuki and Chi began to kiss again. As the kissing intensified, Chi''s hips started moving. She pushed her pussy against Yuki''s dick rubbing it back and forth. Unlike last time where they had clothing between them, this was bare skin completely raw. The feeling was much different and much more stimulating than before.


    Chi''s movements began to grow more aggressive as the heat inside her became hotter and hotter. This was her animal instinct in game. She wanted more and more the more turned on she got. The two were lost in their passion, and it was only until Chi felt a sharp pain in her crotch and Yuki felt her penis become enveloped by warmth that they both stopped kissing and looked down. "You okay?" Yuki asked. She was doing her best not to move her hips at this time, afraid that she might hurt Chi.


    "Mmmm¡­ Just slightly stings but should be okay¡­ you can move."

 Chapter 64: Two Becoming One Part 3

    [AN: Just letting everyone know while in Game Yuki will now be referred to as Ryu and him/his/he.]


    [Warning: R-18]


    "Then..." Ryu couldn''t really hold back, his penis was really ready to burst with how Chi was clenching down on to it with her pussy. He held Chi close and kissed and sucked on Chi''s neck as he began to slowly move his hips. Chi''s fingers dug into Ryu''s back as she softly moaned. Her face was flushed as she bit her lip. The feeling she was experiencing right now was beyond what she had ever imagined. For Ryu, he felt a strange feeling at the tip of his penis that was making his breathing erratic. Every time he slid in and out of Chi, he felt his dick twitch. He could also feel himself growing harder inside Chi. It was as if he was stabbing the girl with an iron rod.


    "Yuki¡­ Yuki¡­ Yuki!" Chi suddenly dug her fingers deep into Ryu''s back as she let out a loud moan. Her toes curled up, and her back arched as she had her first orgasm.


    Ryu, on the other hand, did not stop and continued to pound his dick in and out of Chi. The feeling he had right now was as if he was going to explode at any second, but no matter what, even when he felt she was right there, he kept going. He could also feel the soul qi within them stimulating their senses, heightening everything even more.


    Chi felt as if her whole body was melting. After her first orgasm, she started moving her hips as well, matching her movements with Ryu''s. The two had gotten completely lost in their lust and were like two rabbits matting at this point. The two sweaty bodies clung together as if they were trying to merge into one. Chi''s moans echoed throughout the room, her entire body was stuck in an orgasmic state. Ryu had already released his milk inside Chi many times. But no matter how many times he released, his penis never shrank once and continued to stay hard the entire time.


    This went on for two and a half days in game time until the two finally stopped. An alarm Ryu had set went off, bringing him back to her senses. Their breathing slowly calmed as they gazed into each other''s eyes. The love and affection they had for each other at this moment was plain to see. "Yuki..." Chi called out softly as she kissed Ryu''s lips. Her eyes were glazed over from such an intense sexual experience.


    "Mm¡­ We need to wake up soon. The bed is probably soaked. And Tina is coming over" Ryu remembered the other night when he pulled his helmet off, and his panties and sheets were soaked.


    Chi grinned and bit her lip, her cheeks blushing. "It''s fine¡­ I will help you clean up. But Yuki, that was a little nuts..."


    "Mmm¡­ That was insane..." Ryu nodded in agreement. He looked at the messages on His screen and shook his head. What they were doing was naughty, but the results were very good. A little too good.


    *Ding!*


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: No Class


    Cultivation Stage: Fortification Realm, Stage 1 ¡ú 8


    Level: 3/20


    [Health]: 102/102


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 22


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 20


    [Luck]: 5


    [Status Points]: 41 ¡ú 851


    {Spouse}


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    {Cultivation method}


    Heavenly Cycle


    "Chi, did you also level up like crazy?" Ryu asked.


    Chi dumbly nodded her head as she stared at her screen. "It says I have reached stage 8 level 2."


    "Mmm, I am stage 8 level 3. I think this puts us at the top right now in levels." Ryu looked at her status points and smiled softly. "I will be putting all my Status Points into Health and Attack power. What about you?"


    [Status Points]: 851 ¡ú 0


    [Health]: 553/102 ¡ú 553


    [Attack Power]: 22 ¡ú 422


    "My class is an all rounder, so I will need to split up points a bit. But I plan to at least add 100 status points to my health. But I have a feeling this might be bad for us. We have out leveled everything. So we might need to slow down on cultivating for now until we have new gear to match our levels." Although it felt amazing to her, Chi also did not want to be high leveled but weak.


    Ryu also had this thought. "Yeah, we should take some time this next week and do nothing but quests and requests. We may be able to upgrade from there. I will also work on creating armaments which should get us some better gear as well. But for now, we should get up and clean up. Tina will be over soon."


    "Mm okay..." Chi nodded, leaned up, and kissed Ryu''s lips. Before logging out. Ryu logged out as well.


    ---


    When the two woke up and removed their helmets, they were face to face. Both their cheeks were bright red as they silently stared into each other''s eyes. They could feel how soaked their crotches were. "Yuki¡­ The promise you made in game..." Trisha broke the silence first as she reached up and ran her hand through Yuki''s hair.


    Yuki smiled and held Trisha''s hand in hers before bringing it to her lips and kissing it. "I meant every word of it. We are now responsible for each other."


    "Hehe¡­ I belong to Yuki..." Trisha smiled and kissed Yuki''s lips lightly. At this moment she was very happy.


    Yuki smiled and kissed Trisha back. "And I belong to you. Come on, let''s get up and bathe."


    Yuki was the first to get up. Her crotch felt very sticky. The time was still early, only 7 AM. So she went to her closet and pulled out a set of clothes before stripping her night clothes off right there. She grabbed a clean towel and turned to see Trisha''s eyes glued to her body, causing her to chuckle. "If you wish to touch, you can."


    Trisha blushed and quickly got up, stripping down to nothing as well before going over to Yuki and hugging her from behind. "I will make sure to get my fill today then."

 Chapter 65: Outing

    Yuki and Trisha made their way to the bathroom. After getting the water to a perfect temperature and then filling the tub, the two girls got in. This time Trisha got in first and made Yuki sit in her lap. Yuki was basically under a spell as Trisha washed her head to toe. Not missing a single part of her body. Even lingering around certain areas a little too long. Yuki, of course, got her revenge when it was Trisha''s turn. Although the two were getting turned on, they did not go too far because they knew Tina would be over soon. But just fooling around and being together like this in a calm and relaxing environment felt so right for the two of them. The shyness they had before was all but gone after so many hours of sex in game.


    After a hot bath and getting dressed, the two sat in the living room. Yuki was currently blow drying Trisha''s hair when Tina came in. She found Trisha leaning against Yuki as Yuki ran her hands through Trisha''s hair while blowing drying it. Seeing this caused Tina to smile. Both girls had hard lives. Yuki''s life was not as bad now, but before, it was not a life many could survive in. And Trisha was locked down by the royal family. She had no idea how the royal family would treat their relationship, but for now¡­ She would watch over them and hope things turned out okay.


    "Have you girls eaten?" Tina asked.


    Yuki looked over at Tina and smiled, and shook her head. "No, we just got up. Why don''t we go out for breakfast together? I will pay."


    "You!? You will pay!?" Tina asked in a teasing voice.


    Yuki stuck her tongue out at Tina and nodded: "Mmm... I have made quite a bit. I have full control of the market in game on my items. So until I get some competitors, there is no one who can stop me from making tons of money."


    "Then I will need you to take care of me in my old age." Tina said jokingly.


    "Mmm¡­ You can count on me¡­. Mom..." Yuki blushed as she said this. She wanted to try saying it once since she had never had a chance to before.


    Tina, who was in the middle of cleaning the kitchen, froze when she heard those words. Her eyes even began to well up with tears. She did not turn around, only nodding her head as she said: "I expect you to keep your promise."


    Yuki had decided with how much Tina was doing for her that she did not need to fear abandonment. Even if she was abandoned later on, it would be fine. Right now, she wanted to indulge in the feeling of having a family. She wanted to take another step forward in her life. Trisha, who was listening to all of this, was happy for Yuki but also a bit jealous. Right now, her only family would be Yuki.


    Yuki sensed Trisha''s mood and hugged her from behind. She softly whispered in Trisha''s ear: "I''m with you."


    "Mmm..." Trisha nodded and nuzzled her nose into Yuki''s arms.


    Tina looked at the two girls and smiled. She couldn''t even remember the last time she fell in love like that. "You girls hurry up. I am almost finished here."


    "Yes!" Yuki and Trisha both called out at the same time. After she finished drying Trisha''s hair, Yuki ran back into the bedroom to strip the sheets off it and stuff them into the hamper. Tina took this time to pull Trisha aside.


    "Trisha, No matter what happens in the future, as long as you love Yuki, I will stand on your girl''s side. This means we are family from now on." Tina wanted Trisha to know that she should not feel left and that she now had a family. She knew about Trisha''s circumstances and in truth, she hated the idea of a family ousting one of their own flesh and blood just because of her birth. She did not find it fair to the child who had no control of such things.


    "Thank you..." Trisha began to tear up. Tina''s motherly warmth was addicting. Tina smiled and hugged the poor girl.


    "Ahem¡­Mom, are you hitting on my girlfriend?" Yuki asked teasingly.


    "I''m sorry Yuki, but as you can see..." Tina gave a cheeky smile before laughing. "Are you ready?"


    "Yep! Trisha, are you all set? Do you need to do makeup or anything?" Yuki knew Trisha used a bit of makeup but she had not put any on this morning.


    "No. I will only use it at school. The air is cold so with a face mask and a hoodie I can keep people from recognizing me." Trisha explained. She did not want to waste more time putting on makeup which was only used to keep up her image for the Evergreen Family.


    "Then let''s go, the truck is parked right at the door. " Tina said, grabbing her purse. Yuki checked to make sure she had everything once more before grabbing Trisha''s hand and following behind Tina.


    Their plans for the day was to go to breakfast then go to Ikeeya to get some things. Yuki planned to make the spare bedroom into a personal space for Trisha. They may be a couple and living together but they would both need their own personal space every now and then.


    But who would have thought this special outing would turn into something else as soon as they exited the truck to go into the restaurant. The sound of gunfire could be heard four times as soon as Trisha got out of the truck. A blue flicker of light could be seen appearing on Trisha''s body as she was flung backward. "Trisha!"


    Yuki''s mind blanked out as she saw Trisha falling to the ground. The images of Mary dying in a pool of blood flashed in her mind as she tried to rush over to Trisha without any concern for her own well being. "Shit! Yuki stop!"


    *Bang!*

 Chapter 66: Throwing It All Away

    "Yuki!" Trisha and Tina both yelled out at the same time as they watched in horror. Blood trailed through the air as Yuki fell to the ground.


    When Yuki saw Trisha being shot and her body falling to the ground, the image of Mary dying in her arms flashed in her mind, and without caring for her own safety, Yuki had run forward. She only felt her head being hit by something and everything going dark after that. Before she lost consciousness, she could hear Trisha''s and Tina''s cries.


    "No! No! Yuki can''t do this to me! I finally found someone who understands me for me and loves me for who I am. I can''t lose you!" Tears trailed down Trisha''s cheeks, and she pulled Yuki into her arms and out of the line of fire. She pressed her hand on the spot where Yuki was shot. Just now, she saw Yuki running towards her and then the sound of gunfire,e the next thing she saw was Yuki''s hat flying off her head and a spray of blood. "Yuki¡­ Please¡­ Don''t die on me..."


    Tina was shaking like a leaf as she ducked next to Trisha and Yuki and pulled out her phone.  She fumbled with her fingers as she tried to call for help. "Emergency Line, what''s your emergency? "


    "This is officer Watts, Badge number 187232873. There has been a shooting at b district on 7th  street outside the Goodmorning Breakfast House. We have multiple shots fired, one person down that needs immediate aid. Shooter''s target was Princess Trisha Evergreen." Tina''s whole body was shaking. She looked at her new daughter, whose head would not stop bleeding, and at Trisha, who was doing whatever she could to try to stop the bleeding.  Tina knew if things went on like this, Yuki would bleed to death.


    "Help will be there in one minute." The emergency operator did not waste any time dispatching people to the scene.


    Tina did not wait for the operator to say more before hanging up. She took the hem of her shirt and ripped it into a strip before balling it up, pushing Trisha''s hand out of the way and pressing it on the hole in Yuki''s head. "Trisha, I need you to calm down. Help is on the way. So please take deep breaths and work with me here, okay? Keep her held up like you are, do not let her lie down. We need to keep the flow of blood as slow as possible until the ambulance arrives."


    Trisha did not speak, she used her actions as she propped Yuki up more in her embrace so that she was sitting up.


    An ambulance soon arrived. Trisha refused to leave Yuki''s side, so Tina and her both took the ambulance to the hospital, where Yuki was rushed into surgery. When Yuki left Trisha''s sight, Trisha completely broke down. "It''s my fault!"


    Tina pulled Trisha into a hug and patted the crying girl''s back. "It''s not your fault. You did not ask to be shot at. So do not blame yourself for this."


    "But! They were after me! I was their target. If I was not with Yuki, she wouldn''t be¡­." Trisha couldn''t even finish her sentence. She hated herself so much that she wanted to kill herself at this time. If Yuki were to die because of this, she would take her own life just so he can be with Yuki.


    Tina did not know what to say. She could only rub the girl''s back and let her cry out all her tears. But there were some people who did not wish to let Trisha cry. A voice with a bit of anger in it came from behind Tina. "Princess, I need you to come with me. You need to return to the palace."


    Trisha heard this voice causing her body to shiver. She raised her head and pushed out of Tina''s embrace. A flash of anger rose up within her. Her eyes turned cold as she looked at the old woman and said one word. "No."


    "You! You dare say no to an order from the Evergreen family? Do you wish to lose your name and status!? You will come back with me right now. Your father the King has ordered it." The old woman''s face instantly turned red with anger. She looked at Trisha as if she was nothing but an ant. She hated this unwanted princess the most. Because of her, she had to do these meaningless tasks! She had actually wished this stupid princess had gotten killed just now.


    "I think you have something wrong with your ears. I said no. I do not care for my family name or princess, whatever title. I will not leave to go anywhere. I will stay by Yuki''s side. If the Evergreen family wishes to disown me, then so be it. But my life, my being, now revolves around Yuki and belongs to her and only her. Go back and tell the one who sent you that I will be leaving the Evergreen family." Trisha said firmly and without hesitation. These were words she had always wanted to say but never had the guts to. But now, she had a reason to say them. If Yuki survived this, no matter what Yuki''s life turns out to be. Trisha will stay by Yuki''s side.


    "Do you even know the meaning of these words!? You will lose all the support the evergreen family was giving you! This means school, your home, everything, all of it will be taken back!" The old woman yelled in anger.


    "Then so be it." Trisha pulled out a set of keys and a card and tossed them at the old woman''s feet.  "Take them and leave. From this day forward, I will no longer be an Evergreen."


    Tina was shocked by Trisha''s action. But she knew if Trisha did this, she would truly lose everything. "Trisha, are you sure you want to do this? If you do, you will..."


    "Yes¡­ Yuki has brought the light back into my dark, gloomy life. She has allowed me to not feel the loneliness I was enduring for so many years. Yuki is more important to me than my own life. If my life can be exchanged right now to save Yuki, I would gladly hand it over. I will not return to the Evergreen family and abandon Yuki when she needs me the most. I am willing to throw away titles and everything else away, just for Yuki."

 Chapter 67: Care Part 1

    The old woman''s face was turning many different colors in anger. She had never expected this damn girl in front of her to be so resolute! She was just a servant to the Evergreen house. She had always used the fact that the unwanted Princess had no one to rely on to push her around. But now¡­ The old woman''s face finally turned black. "Then so be it! From this day forward, do not expect the Evergreen royal family to ever support you again, Princes¡­ No, wait, ex Princess."


    The old woman picked up the keys and card, turned on her heel in a huff, and walked away. She wanted nothing more to do with the unwanted trash. Tina had a worried look on her face. She really did not know what to say or do in this kind of situation. But still, she knew she had to try at least give a few words of comfort. Before she could say anything, she heard a small sob, and Trisha say: "Looks like I am homeless now."


    "No, you are not. Yuki''s home is your home. Yuki would not run out to save you if she did not love you. So don''t worry about that." Tina said, giving Trisha a hug.


    "Mmm, thank you, Tina. No matter what the outcome is, I will be with Yuki..." even if it means I must die to see her¡­ Trisha did not say the last part out loud. Even she knew her words were nuts. But if Yuki died, she would follow after her. A life without Yuki was not something she could live in.


    Trisha and Tina did not talk much after that. They waited outside the operating room for many hours. It was only five hours later when the door finally opened, and the doctor came out. Trisha immediately stood up and walked over to the doctor. The doctor saw the expectant eyes of the girl and sighed inwardly. He hated this part the most. "I have both good news and bad¡­ The good news is she is stable and is alive."


    Trisha''s lip began quivering as her tears rained down her cheeks. She slumped to the floor with her legs bent to each side of her. "Thank god!"


    "Yes, she is alive. It is actually a miracle. But¡­ She is in a deep coma due to the head trauma. Her brain was severely damaged in the process. Even if she wakes up, she will be unable to do many things. Treatment can be done to rebuild the brain cells, but it will take a long time. The bullet the shooter used was nasty. It was a special kind of bullet that has a mini detonator inside of it that causes a mini explosion. This explosion causes the metal parts of the bullet to explode outwards and shred everything in a small radius. It is quite ruthless. Treatment may take 2-3 years at minimum as long as there are no complications. And this is only because of how deep the bullet entered the brain before exploding. She will need to stay here for the week under observation. After that, after you have paid for the proper medical equipment, she can be discharged."  The doctor explained.


    Trisha''s mind was blank as she sat on the floor. Treats dripping from her eyes. To hear how badly Yuki was hurt tore Trisha''s heart apart. It was Tina who spoke next since she had to know everything needed for the future. "For medical equipment, we are talking a medic bot as well, right besides life support systems?"


    "She will be fine with a nutrient machine and a medic bot to keep an eye on her. But she will need someone to take care of her daily needs. I would suggest stocking up on soil cloth as well. It is cheaper than a medical toilet which needs professionals to install. They work the same as a baby diaper but are specially made for coma victims." The doctor replied.


    "Alright, I will keep this all in mind." Tina nodded her head. She knew things were going to be tight for a while.


    "I will take care of her¡­ All of her needs, day and night, I will look after her." Trisha suddenly spoke up, but it did not seem like she was talking to anyone specific. She slowly got up off the floor and turned to look at Tina. "Tina. I will take care of Yuki."


    "Mmm... I know. I will leave her to you. But we now need to figure out how to pay for everything." Tina said with a frown.


    "I need to go write my reports. A nurse will let you know when she is ready to be seen." The doctor replied before going to do what he needed to be done.


    Tina and Trisha were too busy trying to figure things out to care about the doctor anymore. They had all they needed to know. Yuki was alive, she could recover, but it will take time. This was all that mattered to the two of them at this time.


    "Money isn''t an issue. Yuki has already set me up on her phone so that I can use it to pay for things if I need to." Trisha was glad Yuki was so pushy with this early this morning when Yuki asked her to stay with her.


    "Then we will not have anything to worry about for a while." With money no longer an issue, Tina let out a sigh of relief. Although she was paid pretty well, her salary was not enough to cover such heavy expenses.


    Yuki was brought to a private room that Trisha paid for. It was slightly expensive, but it was better than being sent to a room filled with other coma patients. When Trisha first walked into the room, her whole body shook, seeing the bandages wrapped around Yuki''s now shaved head. She walked over to the bedside and, with a trembling hand, reached out and grabbed Yuki''s hand. She did not say anything. She just stood there interlocking her fingers with Yuki''s. Her bottom lip trembled as she looked at Yuki''s peaceful sleeping face. "Y-Yuki..."

 Chapter 68: Care Part 2

    Three days passed, and during that time, Yuki had been taken to have many tests done. On this day, Trisha was in Yuki''s private room cleaning things as she has been since Yuki was placed here. "Trisha, you should get some sleep. I can do the cleaning." Tina looked at the girl whose hair was a mess and whose eyes looked like a raccoon''s from not sleeping.


    "It''s fine¡­ Yuki is sleeping enough for both of us..." Trisha replied without even looking at Tina. Her voice was soft and seemed a bit strange. Seeing Trisha''s state, Tina quickly turned around and went to find a nurse.


    A minute later, a nurse came back in with Tina. Tina looked at the nurse and nodded her head as she walked behind Trisha and hugged her so that Trisha could not move her arms. "Tina? Why?" A quiet sob came from Trisha''s mouth as she felt a prick in her arm. Her eyelids quickly became heavy as she slumped down into Tina''s arms.


    "Thank you." Tina knew Trisha''s mind was not in a good state. The girl was on the edge of going mentally insane. Tina couldn''t let such a thing happen. This was not an uncommon thing for those who feel they were at fault for the injuries of their loved ones. But for someone like Trisha, who had no one else but their loved one, it was mentally damaging.


    "It''s fine. I have been wanting to do this for the past two days, but with how regulations are, I am not allowed to do it." The nurse smiled bitterly. She hated seeing the poor girl''s mind deteriorating like it was.


    "From now on, if this happens again, you have my permission to do as needed." Tina looked at Trisha, who was now gently breathing, and let out a sigh.


    "Miss?" A man''s voice came from behind Tina.


    Tina turned around to see Yuki''s doctor standing there with a clipboard. "Is there a problem, doctor?"


    "Actually, no problem at all but some good news. There has been a new breakthrough in brain regeneration recently. It speeds up the regeneration at the beginning of the process. While this speed up may not seem like much, it actually allows a patient like your daughter to regain consciousness, with some of her motor skills back. Now the issue is that the area of the brain that was hit was right in the back, which is mainly for visual reception and coordination, and control. How much of this she will get back right away is one thing. But I can say she will be able to hear and have some small movements. As for speaking, this is up in the air.  Even after all this time, while we can hook things up to our brains, the brain itself is still partially a mystery." The doctor explained.


    "So you are saying you want my daughter to undergo this treatment?" Tina asked.


    "Yes. The initial treatment of this new breakthrough will show results within two weeks. This means your daughter will need to stay here for one month of treatment and observation." The doctor answered.


    "Then let''s do it. Not only for my daughter but for this girl here..." Tina brushed a lock of hair from Trisha''s face behind her ear. "Both of them have had troubled lives and seem to be connected by fate. I can not heal one and let the other destroy herself in the process. I only ask one thing. Are there any risks with this treatment?"


    "The risks are slim. However, there were some signs of brain function improvements since this new treatment uses nanobots that create the new cells from other cells nearby. This seems to create much stronger cells than what would be created naturally." The doctor answered.


    "Then when will you start this new treatment?" Tina could only hope this would all work out. Trisha was basically killing herself by watching Yuki day and night. Over the past two days, she has had to force the girl to even eat or drink. She has gone out every day looking for clues as to who the shooter was. She wanted to bring the bastard in and beat him senseless before tossing him into a dark cell to be used for medical testing. But no matter how much she searched, she could only find a few casings from where the shooter had shot from, and that was it. Even after reviewing all the CCTVs in the area, she still couldn''t figure out where the shooter went. One second he was there. The next, he disappeared. She could only assume whoever it was, had a strong backing.


    "We will start right away. Your daughter will be tested until later tonight. I suggest you take this girl to get a few nutrient shots and go home and come back later, around 6 tonight."  The doctor could see the girl in Tina''s arms was not in the best condition.


    "Then I will do that." Tina exchanged a few more words with the doctor before getting a wheelchair and taking Trisha to see a nurse about some nutrient shots. Only then did she leave the hospital with Trisha.


    It was around 3 in the afternoon when Trisha finally woke up. With groggy eyes, she looked around the room, feeling very confused. "Yuki?" Trisha called out. But as she slowly woke up, she began to panic and jumped right out of bed only to fall face first onto the floor. Her foot had gotten caught in the blankets.


    "Trisha, are you okay!?" Tina came running into the room when she heard the loud bang.


    "Tina, where is Yuki!?


    "I have to be by Yuki''s side. So where is Yuki!?


    "Why is she not here!?


    "She needs me to take care of her! I promised to never abandon her no matter what!" With her nose bleeding, Trisha struggled to get up. She began to hyperventilate as her panic took control of her thinking.


    Tina let out a sigh and walked over to trisha. She raised her hand and smacked Trisha in the face twice bringing her back to her senses. "Damn girl, do you want to cause Yuki torment when she finally wakes up!? If you act like this when Yuki wakes up she will be sad. You need to come back to your senses. Yes you can take care of Yuki but you need to take care of yourself too. If you collapse or fall ill, who will take care of her?"


    Trisha held her face and looked at Tina with teary eyes. She knew what she was doing was not good for her health but she did not know what else to do to release the frustration in her heart. If Yuki was not with her at that time YUki would not have gotten hurt. She was stuck between her guilt and her promise to Yuki.  "Wha-What do I do..." Trisha broke down her tears raining down her cheeks. As she slumped to the floor. Tina let out a sigh of relief. She knew this was at least a good way for the poor girl to let her feelings out. She knelt down on the floor and pulled Trisha into a hug and rocked her back and forth gently.

 Chapter 69: Care Part 3

    Soul Fusion Online¡­


    "Any word from our two leaders?" WhiteLotus asked Rose and Violet.


    "No. I haven''t heard anything. I wonder if something happened in the real world..." Rose said with a frown. They had come upon a huge bounty, but they couldn''t take it on their own with their current strength. They needed Ryu and Chi''s help.


    "Ummm..." Violet raised her hand. "I think I might know..."


    ---


    A few days passed, and after crying her eyes out and talking with Tina, Trisha was back to normal. She was still staying at the hospital with Yuki, but she would also go home to clean the house so that it was not filling up with dust. She was also sleeping and eating properly now too. After hearing what the doctor had to say from Tina, some of Trisha''s concerns were answered, and now she could hardly wait until the day Yuki opened her eyes.


    Because Yuki had to keep going to treatments and operations, Yuki''s head had to keep being shaved down to the bare skin. To match her so Trisha would not feel sad about not having any hair, Trisha did the same.  She did not do this alone. Even Tina joined in on this. So now, both wore baseball caps when they went outside.


    Things began to settle down as Trisha got into her new daily routine. Every day she would go home when Yuki was taken in for treatment then return when Yuki was just coming back. She had timed it perfectly for when she was normally done. Some days treatment took a little longer than normal.


    Like this, 2 weeks passed, and Trisha was cleaning the room like normal. Yuki was laying in bed with equipment monitoring her condition. As she took her occasional glance at Yuki to make sure everything was okay, she saw movement in Yuki''s eyelids, causing Trisha to drop the duster in her hands and rush to the bed. "Yuki!?" Tears welled up in Trisha''s eyes, along with a surge of anticipation. Trisha held Yuki''s hand and stood beside her waiting to see if it was not just a trick of her mind. As she stood there, Yuki''s eyelids suddenly began to flutter. Slowly but surely, her eyes began to part. Trisha''s lips quivered as she gripped Yuki''s hand. "Yuki! Yuki!" Trisha was so happy to see Yuki slowly waking up. She didn''t let her happiness cloud her judgment though, she reached over and pressed the nurse call button right away so that the doctors could be notified.


    Yuki felt like she had been stuck in an everlasting darkness. After spending an unknown time in this darkness, a light suddenly appeared before her. Seeing such a beautiful bright light which she had yearned for what seemed like an eternity. Yuki reached out and tried to grab it. It was then when she heard a familiar voice. A voice filled with concern, happiness, and love. Yuki wanted to open her mouth to call out that person''s name, but she felt like she had no energy at all. But she was already struggling in trying to open her eyes. It was as if her brain was not allowing her to do so.


    But Yuki was determined she wanted to see the face of the girl who called her name. She wanted to see the smile of that girl. The girl that she fell in love with. Yuki had remembered everything that happened up until she blacked out. She knew that Trisha must have freaked out. She knew the feeling of watching someone you care for coming to harm. But no matter what, she would still have done the same thing. She would have tried to protect Trisha even at the cost of her own life.


    After struggling for a few minutes, the light of the room slowly pierced through the darkness. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal the teary face of the girl she loved so much. Although the world around her was now grey, she didn''t care as long as she was able to lay eyes on her loved one. Tears welled up in Yuki''s eyes. She was happy to be alive.


    "Yuki!" Trisha couldn''t hold back and hugged Yuki. Yuki wished she could speak, but it seemed her ability to talk was no longer working. She could only frown at this but knowing today''s medical advancements, she hoped it wouldn''t be long before she could do this. Luckily she was still able to swallow. This meant she could push air up her throat for acknowledgment. It was her tongue and lips that seemed to not want to move.


    "She''s awake!?" Tina came running into the room with the nurses. She was still wearing her uniform and had just gotten off work and was coming for her daily visit.


    "Mmm¡­ Tina, Yuki is back!" Trisha stood back up and nodded her head. She couldn''t control the happy tears running down her face.


    "That''s good! That''s good! Trisha, come here and let the nurses do their thing." Tina wanted to hug Yuki too, but right now, it was best for the professionals to do what needed to be done.


    "Mmm..." Trisha was slightly reluctant but still did as Tina said.


    The nurses quickly transferred Yuki to a gurney and took her in for a check up. At this time, Trisha and Tina could only sit and wait for results. Their wait was a long one. The doctor did not come back to the room until almost midnight, six hours later. "Miss, your daughter is a fighter. Her brain cells are doing excellent with this new treatment and are rebuilding at a very fast rate. For now, she will not be able to talk, eat or drink on her own. These motor skills should come back in time as her brain repairs itself with each treatment. It will be a long process, but if we are lucky, she will have complete movement in her upper body back in six months to eight months. This means being able to walk again, maybe within two years. For full recovery back to how she was before about three years. These are all estimates and may take more time."


    "When can she come home?" Trisha asked.


    "One week. After we watch and monitor everything, it should be one week. When she gets home, she will need help with eating, bathing, and bathroom. So she will need someone with her 24 hours a day. But it seems we got that covered already." The doctor smiled warmly at Trisha. He knew this girl had been here every day taking care of Yuki. This kind of dedication was not something you could just find anywhere.


    "That''s excellent news!" Tina began tearing up. This was the news she wanted to hear the most. Just knowing things were going to be okay and Yuki could return to how she was before made Tina so happy as if she had just won the best prize in the entire world.

 Chapter 70: Love

    "Over there." Trisha pointed to the movers. They were bringing in a new bed as well as the medical equipment. The new bed was four times the size of the other one. Since Yuki still needed to have certain things hooked up to her, unless they got a new bed, Trisha would not be able to sleep at her side. So Trisha made sure to get a new bed like they had planned. While Trisha was doing that, Tina was making sure everything in the apartment was wheelchair accessible. Even the bathroom was completely remodeled once more.


    "Trisha, how''s it¡­ Oh! This is nice. Much better than that jail cell feel she had going before." Tina looked around the room. Trisha was currently painting one of the walls a sky blue color.


    "I wanted it to be all warm colors for when Yuki finally regained the ability to see colors again. Hopefully, she will like it." Trisha lowered her head, her cheeks pink. She was doing everything she could to make Yuki happy. She wanted her Yuki to always be happy.


    "You are just as cute as ever when it comes to Yuki. But everything does seem to be going well. Yuki is now able to talk a little, although her lips are still sluggish, her tongue is now moving normally." Tina remembered just the other day when she was there to visit, and Yuki forced out the word Mom. The word itself was mispronounced, but Tina knew what she was trying to say. She could not stop the tears from escaping her eyes.


    "Mm¡­ Yuki is a fighter. Tomorrow she will be coming home as long as the doctor okays it." Trisha put her paintbrush down and looked around the room.  The room looked much brighter now. It had new furniture and a TV. Trisha planned to make Yuki as comfortable as possible.


    Later that day, Trisha went back to the hospital and began packing up Yuki''s things. Yuki watched her as Trisha was busying herself. Since she woke up, Trisha had been waiting on her hand and foot. Never complaining, and never shied away from a task. Yuki had never felt so much love in her entire life. This girl who she had only met for such a short time loved her so much and she to her... "Tri-pa, I wo-ve tou"


    Yuki''s words fumbled, and she mispronounced them, but they hit Trisha right in the heart. Trisha froze when she heard those words. It took a minute for her to even register what was just said. She turned her head to look at Yuki, who was looking back at her. Her bottom lip quivered as she nodded her head. Tears rolled down her cheek. She walked over to Yuki and gave her a hug. "I love you too... " These words were unsaid until now. But this was what she felt for Yuki. She truly loved this girl.


    Tina, who had just returned from getting some drinks for Yuki, was about to open the door when she heard what was said. A smile bloomed on her face as she stepped away from the door. She knew it would be best to give them some time.


    ---


    Eternal Palace¡­


    In a white marble room lined with gold, a young woman sat in a large blue chair staring at the old lady who was kneeling on the floor before her. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and she had one leg propped on top of the other, bouncing it up and down, showing how impatient she was at this time. With a furrowed brow, she spoke in an aggravated tone: "Why did it take so long for you to get back? Why is that trash not with you?"


    "Princess Jasmine, I ran into complications on the way back. The people you hired had to be dealt with. Otherwise, I would have brought back a corpse instead of these things.."  The old woman replied and took out a card and keys.


    "Oh? What is this?" Princess Jasmine. The eighth princess of the Evergreen royal family. She had the same silver hair and green eyes as Trisha.


    "The Ninth  Princess, Trisha Evergreen, says she will no longer hold the evergreen name and has given up everything for the girl that was shot in the head." The old woman replied.


    "Hmmm? That explains why she is not here, but why did it take you almost a month to return? I am sure the clean up was quite quick, no?" Princess Jasmine asked. She raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "What were you doing during this time?"


    "I..." The old woman had sweat forming on her brow. She could not explain herself.


    "Can''t explain? Then I do not have any use for you." Princess Jasmine reached to her side and pulled out a syringe with a long needle sticking out of it. "This is something I came up with the other day. What it does even I don''t know. But it should stimulate your cells. I probably should test it on an animal first, but since I have someone who is useless sitting before me, I will just use you to test it."


    "No! Princess, please no! Ahhh! It Burns!!!!!" The old woman''s screams filled the room. But slowly, they began to fade. Princess Jasmine looked at the puddle goop on the floor and frowned. "Did I put too much cell splitting agent in?  Whatever the case¡­ That trash really knows how to make a scene. Not only did she not die, but she gave up the Evergreen name? Heh. As long as she stays away, I do not care. Having such trash in the Evergreen family is nothing more than a stain on the Evergreen name."


    Princess Jasmine''s Eyes turned cold as she got up and took off her shoes that had touched the goop. "Someone clean up this mess. Report to my father that the trash has finally left the family. I am sure he will be delighted. Also send someone to watch over her. The first time she uses the family name for anything, kill her."

 Chapter 71: Melgrave Evergreen

    "Are you ready?" Trisha asked. She was standing next to Yuki''s bed, beside her was a wheelchair.


    "Mmm.." Yuki hummed. The corners of her lips slightly arching up. Today was the day that Yuki would get to go home. She really had been waiting for this day. She waited patiently as Trisha dressed her and helped her into the wheelchair.


    "All set?" Tina asked. She had a bag full of files in her hand.


    "Yep, we can leave at any time." Trisha answered. She sneakily looked at the files.


    Tina smiled and said: "This is for us to read over. This is everything we need to watch out for. She only needs to come in once a week for treatment. And¡­ here read this.."


    Tina handed over a file for Trisha to read. Trisha opened the file, and as she read the lines, her eyes opened wide in surprise. "Is this true!?"


    "Mmhm! They ran this test on another patient about a week after Yuki was hospitalized. They found that the patient was able to enter the game and act normally.  This was the same patient who underwent the clinical trials for the treatment Yuki''s is receiving." Tina replied.


    "This means every night Yuki can..." Trisha began to tear up.


    "Yep! She will be able to at least act normal within the game. You can try it tonight.  I already talked with the doctor for a while on this, and he said everything would be one hundred percent safe. The game works off a dreamscape and pulls from the player''s memories. It has nothing to do with the parts of Yuki''s brain that are damaged at this time. So as long as she has knowledge of it in her memory, she can do it. This means walking and speaking normally should all be normal for her in the game." Tina explained. She thought this was a godsend. At least now Yuki could move around freely, even if it is just in a game.


    Trisha couldn''t stop her excitement from exploding as she jumped up and down. "Yuki, did you hear that!? You can still play the game!"


    "Mm¡­ Woam¡­ Tanks vu!" Yuki did her best to force out her thanks. She was kinda excited to be able to log back in game after so much time. But she was even more excited by the fact that she could run around and do things.


    "Of course! I asked because I did some research on the game when you first told me about it. So I could have some things to talk to you about. So when I was talking to the doctor, it kind of popped into my mind. Thank god that it did." Tina had just kind of had the idea pop in her mind when she was getting the files. Luckily the doctor knew what she was talking about and even provided a clinical study that showed that it was possible. "Alright enough talking, we can do that on the way. Let''s get going."


    ---


    Eternal Palace....


    "She what!?" An older man in his late thirties yelled out. "Say that again!"


    "Your Majesty, from what I heard, the Ninth Princess, Trisha Evergreen, has given up the Evergreen name and her status." The server boy was shaking head to toe. The look the person was giving it was as if he was about to kill an entire nation''s worth of people.


    "The reason?" The older man asked, his eyes cold as ice.


    "It''s because..." The servant boy was not sure what to do. If he told the truth, won''t he be killed if the Eighth Princess finds out?


    "Tell me now, or I will send you to the lab." The older man slammed his fist on the desk, causing it to crack.


    "The Eighth Princess, Jasmine Evergreen, had Old May under her finger. Old May would take eighty percent of the funds that were allocated to Princess Trisha and give it to Princess Jasmine. After the assassination attempt on Princess Trisha, she told Old May to bring Princess Trisha back. From there, I only know that Princess Trisha gave up her status for the girl who was shot in the head trying to protect Princess Trisha. I looked into it further, and it seems the girl by the name of Chisaka Yuki and Princess Trisha are in a suggestive relationship. This is everything I know." The servant boy was sweating buckets. For some reason, his master was gripping the armrest of his chair to the point that it had started to crack.


    "You may leave..." The older man gritted his teeth when he heard everything.


    "Your Majesty,... " The servant boy wanted to ask what should be done about the girl, but when the older man''s eyes fell on him, he quickly lowered his head.


    "Did I not tell you to leave!? Get the fuck out before I take your fucking head off!" The older man roared. He was mad! He was mad that his precious daughter was being treated in such a manner. He had hoped that once she was able to go to college that she would be able to live a good life. Who would have thought that his second youngest would still not let her go? This older man, who was angered beyond belief, was none other than the ruler of the world, King Melgrave Evergreen the tenth.


    "Number 5!" Melgrave yelled out.


    "Master." A man in black appeared from the shadows. In his hand was a device. He reached up and plugged it into a spot behind his ear, causing his eyes to glow and shoot out a holographic image.


    The image was displayed in front of Melgrave''s desk. It was showing images of Trisha and Yuki together. Each image was of them walking around outside and holding hands. Then it showed the incident where Yuki was shot in the head trying to get over to Trisha. Melgrave''s eyes softened. He could feel that the girl who was with his daughter was very sincere. "She seems to be a good girl. The data you gave me early shows she was a hard worker. It would be too bad for her to give up on school. Number 5, you will go and protect those two. Do not let an incident like this happen again. But before you do, go to the college and tell them that both my daughter and this girl here, what was it again? That''s right, Chisaka Yuki will be taking leave until Yuki gets better. This way, the two can make a choice later on if they want to continue school."


    "You will not split them apart, Master?" Number 5 asked. He knew Yuki''s background very well since he was asked to investigate it.


    "Why would I spoil my daughter''s happiness? Although she has given up the Evergreen name, I think this is also good. She can now live free and follow her heart. Plus, she will not suffer any. That little girl, Yuki, is very rich as it is. And she will only get richer as well. Invest into that Soul Fusion Online game. We can not let it disappear anytime soon. Tell the developers they need to keep that game number one for as long as I reign. Also, buy 20% of the shares and put them under Trisha''s name. This much I can do. Just give me daily updates. You may leave." Melgrave sat back in his chair. As soon as Number 5 disappeared, he hit a button at its side which brought up a screen. On it was a satellite video of Trisha pushing Yuki out of the hospital.  he closed his eyes, and a picture of a beautiful woman appeared in his mind. "Diana, your daughter is really grown. She seems to have found her love. Hopefully she will live a happy free life."

 Chapter 72: Return To SFO Part 1

    Eternal Palace...


    Melgrave sat in his chair for a while thinking about the past before finally sitting up again with a cold look in his eye. "Number 3!"


    "Master?" Number 3 came out of the shadows and knelt on the floor.


    "Make sure Jasmine doesn''t cause any more trouble for Trisha. Whatever she is plotting, just make sure it fails. I can''t do anything directly to her due to her mother''s background, but I can at least foil her plans." Melgrave may be king, and the Evergreen household may be powerful, but this does not mean there weren''t families who have risen in the past dozens of years that had secrets of their own.


    "Yes, Master." Number 3  did not question a thing and disappeared.


    "So many years have passed, and it is very hard to keep the Evergreen family in power. Enemies lay in wait for any slight weakness to appear." Melgrave glanced at the video on his screen of his precious daughter pushing a wheelchair into an apartment. "At least you will be free from all of this. Diana, please watch over our precious daughter."


    ---


    "We''re home!" Trisha yelled out. She was so happy to be home with Yuki.


    "Tah!" (Yeah!) Yuki tried to share in the excitement. Tina stood behind them and smiled.


    "Trisha, get Yuki comfortable. I will check all the equipment before we hook her up to it." Tina said before walking forward and opening the door to Yuki''s bedroom.


    When Yuki was pushed into her room, her eyes opened wide, seeing all the new things. She even had a new massive bed! "Pow!"(wow) She was really surprised.


    "We planned to get new furniture for the bedroom, and I wanted to make you feel as comfortable as possible, so I spent some money on this. I hope you don''t mind." Trisha felt kind of bad since everything came out of Yuki''s pocket and not her own.


    "Pat vine. Fow tong shu tar pappy." (It''s fine. As long as you are happy.)  Yuki struggled to curl her lips up into a smile.  She had no problem with Trisha spending her money. Trisha gave up everything to be with her. She would never let Trisha suffer.


    "Good, I was worried that I overstepped my bounds." Trisha let out a sigh of relief.


    "Tiss!" (Kiss!) Yuki couldn''t do much of anything to show her appreciation, but she could at least still kiss Trisha.


    Trisha smiled and leaned her head down, kissing Yuki''s lips. Yuki giggled to show she was happy. She was so lucky to have met someone like Trisha. Trisha went to work and lifted Yuki out of bed. She helped her strip her clothes off before digging out Yuki''s normal sleepwear and helping her put it on. "How''s that better?"


    "Mmm, tank vu!" (Mmm, Thank you!) Yuki said. She really did feel more relaxed like this. It made her feel like she was truly home.


    "Trisha, hold out her arm so I can strap these sensors onto it." Tina had just finished setting up the equipment.


    Once everything was strapped on, Tina turned on the medic bot. Which slowly floated up into the air. It was an orb shaped robot that had two arms on its side. As it booted it up, the first thing it asked was: "Who is the patient."


    "Chisaka Yuki, That''s her on the bed. She has a head injury and is undergoing brain cell regeneration. I will insert the data chip on what the doctors said she needs for daily care." Tina explained to the medic bot and then inserted a data cube with all Yuki''s medical data on it.


    "Information confirmed. According to the data, I am to watch her vitals and warn if anything goes wrong. Is this correct?"  The medic bot asked.


    "That is correct. Thank you." Tina answered. She then turned to Yuki and Trisha and said: "This medic bot is like an on call nurse. It can do basic first aid and call for help if anything happens that it can not deal with. I want to stay, but I only took a half day off today. So I need to head back to work. You girls call me if anything goes wrong. Trisha, I am counting on you."


    "Tina, I will make sure nothing happens to Yuki. I swear my life on it." Trisha answered.


    "Good, also, you should start calling me mom. You are already my soon to be daughter in law. Feels strange for you to be calling me by my name." Tina said with a smile.


    "Then..." Trisha blushed as she continued softly: "Mom, have a good day at work."


    "Fy woam!" (Bye mom!) Yuki also said goodbye to Tina.


    Tina smiled and gave Yuki a hug before finally leaving. Trish turned and looked at Yuki and smiled. She was so happy that Yuki was finally back home. She crawled up on the bed and snuggled up next to Yuki. "Yuki is still as warm as ever."


    "Tri-pa baam" (Trisha, game.) Yuki wanted to play the game so much right now. She wanted to hold Trisha in her arms and kiss her.


    "You want to play the game?" Trisha asked.


    "Ves!" (Yes!) Yuki answered.


    "Then I will get the helmets!" Trisha was so excited she almost jumped up sideways out of bed as she hurried to the closet where she put their helmets. She grabbed her helmet and another one that looked brand new. "Yuki, you had a call the other day saying your pre order came in. Tin¡­ Mom and I went and picked it up. To be honest, it couldn''t have come at a  better time. This one does not wrap all the way around the head. And only hooks around the ear. I already transferred the data from the old heads set to this one. I will help you put it on."


    The headset that Yuki had pre-ordered was the latest design and looked more like a visor. It was not bulky in the slightest, and best part was it did not wrap around the head. For Yuki it was perfect for her current condition. Otherwise they would have had to figure out a way to slip the headset on without touching Yuki''s wound.

 Chapter 73: Return To SFO Part 2

    After putting her VR gear on with the help of Trisha, Yuki was pulled right into the game when the VR gear was turned on.


    Ryu stared at the room for a few seconds, blinking a few times as the colors in front of her came into view. "It worked!" Ryu was happy. He could now see normally again, and even his voice was working. He stood up and jumped up and down a few times before doing a full three hundred and sixty degree spins. "I never felt so alive before!"


    "Ryu!" Chi hugged Ryu from behind. Tears rolled down her cheek. She was so happy. Ryu, her Ryu was able to have a normal way of life in game.


    Ryu grabbed Chi''s hand and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Chi, thank you so much. You have no idea how much your care and love means to me. Thank you for not abandoning me." Ryu buried his head into Chi''s neck, his grip on her body tightening slightly.


    Chi''s tears rained down more as she hugged him back, nuzzling her nose into his chest. "I would never abandon you. You are the person I wish to be with for the rest of my life. How could I ever abandon you?"


    "Mmm¡­ Chi, no Trisha, when I am fully healed, I want to get us a new place and get married. What do you think?" Ryu was nervous. This was a big step, and they had only known each other for a short time. But he wanted to always be with Trisha.


    "Mmm... Married is good! MMm! MMm!" Chi jumped up and down and wrapped her arms around Ryu''s neck, pushing her lips against Ryu''s.  When their lips parted, Chi had an idea come to mind. "Let''s get married in game too! This way, we will be bound in both worlds."


    "Okay!" Ryu nodded in agreement. He gazed down at Chi. His hand raised up and cupped her cheek as he lowered his face stealing her lips again. The two''s tongues intertwined as their breathing slowly started to become heavy. Just as things were starting to get hot and steamy, Yuki began getting spammed with private messages.


    *Bing!* *Bing!*


    Ryu sighed and broke the kiss between them, causing Chi to look up at Yuki in confusion. "Someone is spamming me with messages."


    "Oh..." Chi frowned slightly. She was upset that they were interrupted. She hadn''t been able to kiss her lover like that in so long¡­


    Ryu looked at the private messages, each one was from WhiteLotus. "Where the hell have you been!?"


    "Hurry up and come to the inn Roland Village."


    "Rose and Violet are with me. We already secured a private room, so be quick!"


    Ryu sighed and looked at Chi. He leaned over and kissed her lips lightly before saying. "Seems WhiteLotus and the others have been waiting for us to come back on for the past month and want us to meet up."


    "Okay¡­." Chi pouted her bottom lip. She kinda wanted to slap WhiteLotus to death.


    "Don''t worry, we have plenty of time. Plus, I really should get some more funds going for us, and you still need to learn your crafts as well. " Ryu also wanted to continue as before, but first they needed to get the things that should be done, done.


    "Mm¡­ Don''t worry about prices. I have kept an eye on the market, and your items have not been replicated yet. Actually, there has been a lot of begging on forums for you to make more. Luckily leveling is slow for normal levelers. We are still the top players. Oh yeah, they made the forums accessible in game after a petition was sent to the devs to make it happen." Chi explained.


    "That''s good to hear. How is the silver to crowns market going?" Ryu hoped the ratio is still about the same, if not more. She wanted to dominate the market once more.


    "It''s almost  12 crowns to 1 silver right now. So we should be able to make a killing."  Chi answered. She kept a sharp eye on everything since she knew Ryu relied on the game to make him money. Plus, she needed an understanding of the market for her own things.


    "That is very good news!" Ryu''s eyes lit up. "We will make a killing. Chi, we will be rich in and out of game. We will show your family that you, Trisha, the ex-princess of the Evergreen family, will be able to be just as rich if not richer than she was with her status and title." Ryu was not exaggerating. He wanted to use the game to be as rich as possible and give Trisha a life free of worry.


    "Mmm! I will help with that.  With runes and arrays, I should make a pretty penny as well." Chi put her hands on her hips and raised her cute little face. Her ears twitching and her tail wagging. She also wanted to make as much money as possible.


    "Sounds good to me!" Ryu grabbed Chi''s hand and touched the lotus flower on his neck. This teleported them out of the mystic realm. They then headed to the inn.


    When they reached the inn, Ryu sent WhiteLotus a message to find out which room they were in. When they entered, WhiteLotus stood up and walked in front of the two. "You two! Thank god you''re really safe."


    Her words caused both Ryu and Chi to be very confused. WhiteLotus realized her words seemed off so she quickly explained. "Ahh, sorry. You see, we kinda know who you are. Well, at least we think we do. If I am not wrong. Then Chi here is Princess Trisha Evergreen, and Ryu is not a boy but a girl named Chisaka Yuki..."


    Ryu quickly pulled Chi behind him and glared at WhiteLotus as he pulled out his sword. "Who are you!?"


    "Wait! We mean you no harm!" WhiteLotus yelled out and took a few steps back. "Look, we only know this because of Violet here."

 Chapter 74: Guild

    "What do you mean?" Ryu did not let down his guard. He still kept Chi behind him, his sword at the ready.


    "Let me explain!" Violet stood up and stepped forward. "Princess. Yuki, my name is Amanda Glendale. I go to the same college as you and am in a few of your classes. The reason I know who you are is that¡­ Well¡­  I have been watching Yuki since the first day I saw her and know her eyes very well. Even though you are male in game, your eyes are still the same, and I will never forget them."


    "I knew it! You were after my Ryu!"  Chi suddenly burst out. Chi''s hair on her ears was standing straight up, and her tail also stood straight up. Ryu was starting to wonder if Chi had cat blood in her too.


    "Okay, relax, no one is trying to go after me or steal me from you. So Amanda, no Violet. You figured out who I was just by my eyes alone?" Ryu asked.


    "Mm¡­ Sorry, I planned not to reveal your identity, but when I heard the news, and you two did not show up in game for a while, that was when I was one hundred percent sure, and at that time, WhiteLotus and Rose were both wondering what happened to you so I figured I would be best to let them know."  Violet bowed her head.


    Ryu let out a sigh and lowered his sword. "It''s fine. In fact, thank you for letting them know. I did not like leaving you girls hanging without knowing if we would return or not. Anyway, thanks."


    "It-It''s fine¡­ I am glad you are okay." Violet blushed. She was happy her crush didn''t get mad at her.


    "But to think the princess would be like this. I heard you were much different. But to top it off, you two are sticking to the same team." WhiteLotus gave an amused look.


    "You can stop calling me Princess now." Chi cut in but was immediately interrupted by Ryu.


    "Before we say any more, I want the three of you to promise that you will never say anything about us. We do not want anyone to know who we are in game or what is going on in our private lives. As of now, we are still strangers, so it would not be good for you three to be spreading things around. Let me just say I have enough money to find you and make you disappear if such things were to come to light within the game." Ryu did his best to keep things from sounding too threatening, but in the end, he still threatened them with their lives.


    "Ryu, you do not need to worry. All three of us are on your side. We do not want to lose our golden thigh over here." WhiteLotus said jokingly. "Joking aside. We are willing to sign a contract outside of the game if you so wish. That way, we will be locked into secrecy."


    Ryu shook his head. "Your word is enough.  If one does not trust, one will not know a person''s true nature. Since we are friends, I will take your word for it. Just don''t let me down."


    "No worries, I will never let our male god down!" Rose suddenly spoke up. Both WhiteLotus and Violet nodded their heads as well, agreeing with Rose''s statement.


    "Just to be clear, Ryu is mine!" Chi hugged Ryu''s arm as if showing that Ryu only belonged to her.


    "Haha! Don''t worry. I got my GreenHat at home. As for Rose and Violet. Well.... Rose seems to be interested, and you know Violet''s stance now. So you three can battle it out while I make popcorn." WhiteLotus teased.


    "I only like to look at handsome men. Although if you want to show me a little, I would..." Rose raised an eyebrow as she scanned Ryu''s body up and down.


    "No!" Chi yelled, moving to stand in front of Ryu.


    "Tch¡­ Stingy." Rose said, clicking her tongue.


    "I am fine with just being friends¡­ I will never get in between two people in love." Violet said softly.


    "Alright enough talking about this. Anyway, from now on, Chi and I will be in game much more. So if you need help with anything, just let me know."  Ryu explained.


    "Hey, if that is the case, why don''t we start a guild? If we start now and slowly build it up, we can eventually turn into a sect and purchase a mountain later on. I heard you can get all kinds of benefits because of this. A guild level is raised as you gain members. You have to pay a small fee to unlock the perks once you reach the requirements, but once you have it, even if we lose all our members, we will keep those perks. It ranges from higher experience per kill to stat boost. It is well worth it." WhiteLotus suggested.


    "Hmm, a guild, huh? How many people do we need?" Ryu asked.


    "As far as I know, we will need 5 more people. Then we can register our guild with any city lord."  WhiteLotus explained.


    "Hmmm¡­ Then we will need to find some people to join then. But we need them to be trustworthy." Ryu Didn''t want the five people who founded a guild to be untrustworthy.


    "We only need 3 people since I already have 2 who can join, and they are both trustworthy." WhiteLotus announced.


    "Is one of them  GreenHat by chance?" Chi asked.


    "Mmm¡­ He is my man in real life, so he will have no choice but to do as I say, or I will close my legs on him." WhiteLotus words were as shameless as can be, but it still made them laugh.


    "Then who is the third?" Ryu asked.


    "The last one is FingerSandwhich, who also happens to be GreenHat''s brother in real life. This will work out good for Rose since he looks very handsome." WhiteLotus poked Rose''s side teasingly.


    "Humph! Nothing matches up to my male god!" Rose snorted.


    "I do not think anyone can match up to Ryu''s handsome face. Chi, make sure he keeps that mask on. I am afraid he might steal my man, and then I will be the one wearing a green hat."  WhiteLotus said jokingly.


    "That''s true¡­ I forgot I will need to watch out for men too. My Ryu is just too handsome..." Chi nodded in agreement. Ryu shook her head, wondering where these girls'' minds really went.


    "Oh, one thing. For now, do not let anyone know about me being the owner of Heavenly Crafts. Even GreenHat." Ryu did not want to let the word out yet. This way she could keep people from sending her consistent private messages.


    "No worries, I wouldn''t tell that fool anything anyway. His mouth is so big you can sail a ship into it. But he is a sweetheart." WhiteLotus''s eyes softened when she said the last part.


    "Then we will look for some other people. For now we will put the guild thing aside. What we should do now is begin stockpiling resources and money."

 Chapter 75: Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things Part 1

    "By resources, you mean? Like crafting materials?" WhiteLotus asked.


    "Mmm¡­ We will need to stockpile them. If we wish to have a powerful guild and then become a sect, we need to have enough resources to help our members out. As well as being able to fund a guild or sect. Money doesn''t grow on trees, so we will need to make it ourselves." Ryu explained.


    "Alright, us three can work on farming materials as well as keeping an eye out on some recruits for the guild." WhiteLotus agreed readily.


    "Then we should head out. I still have a few things I need to finish. Sadly one of my quests has expired." Ryu frowned when he saw his quest list had one marked as expired. It was his drogger kill quest.


    "Alright, then we will also head out. It''s good you are doing okay for the time being. Maybe one day we can all meet up in real life." WhiteLotus said with a smile as she got up. Rose and Violet also got up as well.


    "Bye, male god! Chi! Have fun!" Rose waved goodbye cheerfully before exiting the room.


    "Ryu, Chi, until next time." Violet bowed her head slightly before exiting the room as well.


    "I will message you later when I talk to GreenHat. Chi, don''t forget to make sure he wears that mask. Bye now!" WhiteLotus left a friendly reminder before following after her friends.


    "So what now?" Chi asked.


    "Let''s see, it''s rather early still, and we haven''t eaten. Should we eat some food then log back in? From there we can go exploring a little. I want to run around for a while." Ryu suggested.


    "Okay. We will do whatever you want to do." Chi did not care what she did as long as Ryu wanted to do it, she would do it.


    "Then let''s eat. I can''t have my soon to be wife going hungry. We should also take a bath after or before we eat." Ryu put his arm around Chi''s shoulder and leaned down, and kissed her head. "I will need to trouble you a bit."


    "It''s fine. Let''s log out. The sooner we are done, the sooner we can return. I will wait three minutes before turning the power off your helmet, okay?" Chi did not want to turn the helmet off too soon, she wasn''t sure if it would harm Ryu at this time.


    "Okay, thanks, Chi..."


    As soon as Trisha logged out, she sat up and readied herself to take off Yuki''s VR gear. Once three minutes ticked by, she turned off the VR gear and gently pulled it off. She was met with Yuki''s eyes staring back at her. Those eyes were slightly watery, as if Yuki was about to begin crying. Trisha leaned her head down and kissed Yuki''s lips before hugging her. "You will heal. It will just take some time.  No matter what, I will be by your side, okay?"


    "Mm¡­ Tri-pa, tank vu.." (Trisha, thank you..)Yukie sniffed as her held back tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.  Trisha''s heart melted. She gently wiped the tears away before kissing Yuki''s lips again. Yuki couldn''t do much, but she could now move her tongue pretty well, so she used it to reciprocate Trisha''s kiss. The two''s tongues intertwined for a few seconds before Trisha broke the kiss.


    "There is no need for thanks between us. Yuki, the two of us are family now, so there is no need to thank me. Let me get things ready, so I can move you to the tub." Trisha went and got the bath ready before helping Yuki out of her clothes. She then gently lifted Yuki out of bed and into her wheelchair. Things strapped to her arm had to stay, but it was at least detachable so that Trisha could remove Yuki''s shirt without needing to undo the sensors on her arm.


    With a bit of shifting around, Trisha got Yuki out of bed and into the wheelchair. From there, she wheeled Yuki into the bathroom and carefully placed her in the bathtub. Trisha did not slack. She washed Yuki head to toe and gently massaged her thighs, calves, and arms. Only when she was done with Yuki did she wash herself. After a quick meal, the two logged back in game.


    Ryu stood there silent for a while, a bit conflicted. "Ryu?" Chi called out to him.


    "Chi¡­ You know it is pretty hard. Going from in game to real life and having a body that is frozen in bed is hard..." Ryu choked slightly, he was trying to hold back his tears. Chi felt her tears well up as she hugged Ryu. "We will get through this together. Don''t worry. Let''s work on making ourselves the most powerful in game to keep our minds off things."


    Chi''s words lightened the mood, causing Ryu to smile. "You are right. Let''s start off by making some progress on making money. From what you showed me earlier, we have already spent a few hundred thousand on medical fees and equipment needed. I want to make that back today and a few more million on top of that."


    "Then after you, my handsome girlfriend."  Chi teased as she patted Ryu''s crotch making Ryu blush.


    "Looks like I will need to make you change the sheets on the bed later." Ryu was in a much better mood now. He felt gloomy when he had to go back to being Yuki with the condition his body was in at this time. If it was not for Soul Fusion Online he was afraid he would be worrying day or night if Chi would leave him or not. So the girl in front of him, whether it was the Chi version or the real version, Ryu felt he was very lucky to have her.


    "That''s fine with me. It just gives me another reason to be a perv and touch you is all." Chi said shamelessly but immediately blushed afterwards.


    "Haha! Don''t say things like that if you are just going to embarrass yourself." Ryu teased.


    "Ryu!" Chi''s whole face went red. She stomped her feet then pinched Ryu''s side.

 Chapter 76: Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things Part 2

    Chi had dragged Fu Shi along to learn how to do rune forging and arrays while Ryu went straight to the alchemy room. "Let''s see. I have a pretty decent supply of herbs¡­ So let''s do 50 health potions and 50 rejuvenation potions with normal pricing. If everything goes well, I can make a cool 30 to 40 million fast with current pricing."


    Ryu set the system to quickly make a bunch of potions before heading to the alchemy table and looking at the herbs she brought back from the gardens outside. These herbs were very different from the normal ones, each one was infused with soul qi making them very rare. "What should I do with these..."


    The herbs he was looking at normally would only be used for pill refining, but Ryu decided to try it and see what would happen if he made them into potions. He planned to refine pills once he had some cash flow coming in and had time to do the other part of his chain quest, The Untimely Hero.


    "How do you even pronounce this!?" Ryu frowned. The names of the herbs made no sense to him, so he decided to just say whatever to it and began running some tests.


    "Mix some water with this¡­ and  condense it a bit more¡­ How''s this!?"


    *Ding!*


    [New Potion Discovered: Please enter a name¡­.]


    [Rarity: Uncommon]


    [Instantly cause a person or persons affected to enter a state of ecstasy. Heightens a person''s sex drive. Use with extreme caution. Effect duration: 4 hours.]


    "Cough! What the hell, I made a damn aphrodisiac!" Ryu choked on air when he read the description. "Wait¡­ I wonder how it would feel¡­ No! No! It may be able to enhance Chi and I''s cultivation. Yes! This will just be a test¡­ Let''s name it Heavenly Tonic" Ryu was originally going to throw it out but decided to put it in his inventory for later use.


    [LQ Heavenly Tonic]


    [Rarity: Uncommon]


    [Instantly cause a person or persons affected to enter a state of ecstasy. Heightens a person''s sex drive. Use with extreme caution. Effect duration: 4 hours.]


    [Can be mass produced through trade skill window.]


    A few hours later¡­


    *Ding!*


    [New Potion Discovered: Please enter a name¡­.]


    [Rarity: Epic]


    [A special liquid that will cleanse one''s bones and marrow. Can only be used once. After the bone and marrow cleansing, your body will become much purer, enhancing your cultivation permanently by 10% maximum.]


    [Warning: Causes extreme pain! Must not pass out, or the amount of cleansing will be reduced, reducing the cultivation enhancement.]


    "Oh? Now this one is really useful¡­ If I were to sell a potion like this, then I would need to sell it a 30 platinum starting bid, and 100 platinum buy out. It may be expensive but¡­." Ryu grinned as he held the potion in the air in front of him. "It should be the first cultivation potion on the market, meaning I will once again be the only one with such a potion."


    Ryu put the small flask down as a thought came to mind. "Am I being too greedy? No, No¡­ This is business sense! Okay, let''s name you Heavenly Cleansing."


    [HQ Heavenly Cleansing]


    [Rarity: Epic]


    [A special liquid that will cleanse one''s bones and marrow. Can only be used once. After the bone and marrow cleansing, your body will become much purer, enhancing your cultivation permanently by 10% maximum.]


    [Warning: Causes extreme pain! Must not pass out, or the amount of cleaning will be reduced.]


    [Can be mass produced through trade skill window.]


    "For now, I will make five of these, and with that, I will head to the marketplace." Ryu quickly made five more Heavenly Cleansing potions and went over to tell Chi that he would be right back. Only then did he leave for the marketplace. When Ryu walked in, he felt right at home as he checked things. His account was fully empty at this time since Chi handled everything for him this past few weeks. Ryu quickly posted his items and headed back to the palace.


    @GreenHat: Holy shit, Heavenly Crafts is back! And they posted an absolutely insane thing! What is this Heavenly Cleansing!? The first cultivation item has finally appeared!?


    @FreeLoader: GreenHat, are you not overreacting too much? The prices are fucking insane. No one will buy it!


    @FingerSandwhich: Oh, no one will buy it? Then why did it all just get bought up the second it was posted. FreeLoader, refresh your marketplace window.


    @FreeLoader: Are people fucking insane!? What the hell? That was not just a few silver but platinum! That''s 1,000,000 silver! 100,000 gold! And that is times 5! If they turned that into crowns, that''s 60,000,000! My head''s spinning. I am lucky to make a few thousand, but the owner of Heavenly Crafts makes 60,000,000 like they are eating popcorn. That''s it. I need to farm harder!


    @GreenHat: +1 Farm harder!


    @FingerSandwhich: +1 Farm harder!


    @WhiteLotus: Damn it, GreenHat, I asked you to do the damn dishes, and you are on the forums again! Get your ass in the kitchen and do them or no sex tonight!


    @GreenHat: Damn, woman, at least leave me some face! Fuck! Fine, I will go do them!


    @WhiteLotus: Humph! What face do you need when you are with someone?


    @FingerSandwhich: +1 Whipped by a white lotus!


    @FreeLoader:  +1 Whipped by a white lotus!


    @WhiteLotus:  +1 Whipped by a white lotus!


    @GreenHat: Damn you all!


    Ryu had reappeared in the palace without knowing that his items were basically all sold as soon as they appeared. His Heavenly Cleansing sold quickly because there were no cultivation resources as of yet. Big companies would quickly grab such items and horde them until a decent source could be found. But as of yet, in all of Soul Fusion Online not a single cultivation method had been found yet besides the one Yuki and Chi use. This meant there were no real cultivators except for Yuki and Chi. The rarity of cultivation methods was just that high.

 Chapter 77: First Dungeon: Silver Springs Part 1

    Ryu went to where Chi was practicing her rune forging. She saw Fu Shi patiently teach Chi, who seemed to be trying to draw runes with a shaky hand. "Chi, you need to relax."


    "I can''t help it. This is where I always mess up..." Chi whined. On the floor scattered all over were many crumpled up sheets of rune paper.


    Ryu walked in and quietly stood to the side, not wanting to interrupt. He gazed warmly at the girl, trying her hardest. After a few seconds, he saw Chi raise her hands in the air, yelling out while stamping her feet off the ground happily. "I did it! Finally!"


    A small blue glow could be seen in front of Chi. Ryu walked over and looked over her shoulder to see a rune drawn onto the rune paper giving off a blue hue. "A rare rune?" Ryu was quite surprised. She had only practiced for a little while!


    "Ryu, this girl''s talent in rune forging is amazing. Once she is able to naturally draw runes, she can easily switch from rune paper to armor and other equipment. She just needs to get past her habit of pausing at the end." Fu Shi explained. Fu Shi looked around and asked: "By the way, Ryu, where is the black cat?"


    "Shit! I forgot." Ryu quickly opened his menu and summoned Nergal. As soon as Nergal appeared, he looked at Ryu and turned his nose up, not wanting to look at this man who locked him away for so long. "Nergal, sorry, many things happened!"


    "Meow!" Nergal let out a cry, he didn''t want to hear it. He walked right out of the room and off to another location within the palace.


    Ryu sighed. "I guess I will wait until he comes around."


    "It''s fine. He is within the palace and can''t get out, so he can just roam about here." Fu Shi actually liked the little furry guy.  So having the little guy roaming about would give her more chances to pet his soft fur later.


    "Ryu, look!" Chi interrupted. She couldn''t contain her excitement anymore, pushing the rune she just created into Ryu''s hands.


    Ryu smiled and petted Chi''s head, causing her ears to twitch. "What''s this rune do?"


    "This one will speed you up by 10% for 5 minutes. Need to be in the fortification realm and stage 6 or above to use. So you think we can sell it under Heavenly Crafts name?" Chi asked.


    "You don''t want to sell it under your name?" Ryu was confused. It was not that he was unwilling, but he figured Chi would want to sell things under her own brand.


    "No¡­ there is no point. With you and me getting married, all our money will be going to the same place. Plus, you already put me under your account, so there is no difference if our money is combined or not." After saying this, a thought came to Chi''s mind as she pointed at Ryu and asked: "You are not planning to get rid of me later on, are you?"


    Ryu chuckled and pulled the little fox girl into his arms. "There is no way I would get rid of you. I just figured you might want to start your own brand. We can do whatever you want. As long as you are happy, I am happy." Ryu leaned down and kissed her lips.


    "Ahem¡­ Can you two not do that when others are around?" Fu Shi said with a sigh.


    "Sorry." Ryu blushed slightly as he rubbed his nose. Chi grinned as if she did nothing wrong. When it came to Ryu in front of other girls, she did not mind being shameless if it meant making them all know that Ryu was hers!


    "Anyway! Chi, we need to head out and explore a bit. I need to find a place called Silver Springs."  Ryu said, changing the subject completely.


    "Silver Springs?" Fu Shi asked.


    "Mm¡­ You know where it is?" Ryu never thought to ask Fu Shi if she knew where Silver Springs was. But now that he thought about it, she would probably be the best person to ask.


    "I do, but you might want to bring a few more people with you. Even with your current cultivation, it may be hard to venture into that place. But if you can, make sure you bring back all the materials you can. That place is filled with many precious materials." Fu Shi replied.


    "How many should we bring?" Ryu could only ask WhiteLotus and the other two girls if they can come.


    "Umm, with you and Chi being at the cultivation you''re at, if you can just get a few more damage dealers, you might be fine, but I would try for at least three more if you can." Fu Shi knew Chi and Ryu were strong, but that place was just overflowing with monsters.


    "I see. Then we should be fine." Ryu was okay with bringing three people he knew. If he were to bring others that he did not know he may end up losing out on something good.


    "So, are we going to this Silver Springs place?" Chi asked.


    "Yeah, we will ask WhiteLotus, Rose, and Violet to go. This way, we go in with a group of people we know. There won''t be issues with loot. Even if they are of lower level or under geared, we can just take things slow. I am in no rush and this will help those three out as well."  Ryu explained.


    "Sounds like a plan." Chi agreed.


    ---


    While Yuki and Trisha were playing the game. Tina walked into the apartment and looked around. She checked the kitchen first to find dishes in the sink. "Good, they ate some food." Tina then walked to Yuki''s bedroom and saw the door ajar slightly. She opened it to see Trisha cuddled up next to Yuki with her VR headset on and Yuki laying down with her head slightly propped up with a VR headset on as well. "Good, it''s working." Tina let out a sigh of relief before closing the door. She walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. She put a file on the table with a note. "I hope this will make her happy."


    Tina got up and left. The folder on the table had an emblem that Yuki would recognize right away. It was that of Fortune college.

 Chapter 78: First Dungeon: Silver Springs Part 2

    "Ryu, I am not sure we are ready for a dungeon. I mean, look at our gear. It''s not what you can call the best." WhiteLotus frowned. It was not that she did not want to go. It was just that they did not have money to upgrade their gear to something that might be able to survive in a dungeon.


    "Not an issue." Ryu opened trade with WhiteLotus and put one hundred gold in the window. "Use this and upgrade your gear."


    WhiteLotus''s eyes opened wide, and after a few seconds, she quickly accepted it, knelt down, and hugged Ryu''s thigh. "What! What are you doing!?" Chi yelled out and grabbed WhiteLotus, trying to pull her off.


    "I am hugging my golden thigh! Leave me alone!" WhiteLotus yelled.


    "What golden thigh!? Ryu belongs to me!" Chi yelled. Ryu stood there helplessly. He really did not know what to make of this situation.


    WhiteLotus finally let go of Ryu and stood up, straightened out her clothes, and acted as if nothing was wrong. "Ahem¡­ Then we girls will go and upgrade our armor and weapons."


    "Alright, meet us outside the town in thirty minutes then." Ryu wanted to hurry up and check out this dungeon. He was actually excited to see what a dungeon was like. With how life like the game of Soul Fusion Online was, he hoped the dungeons would not disappoint his expectations.


    "Alright, we will be fast." WhiteLotus took the two girls who were standing there in a daze by the hand and hurried out of the private room.


    Ryu watched as WhiteLotus ran away as if he was going to take the money back and let out a laugh. "That girl is like a firecracker sometimes."


    "Ryu!" Chi huffed as she stared at Ryu with puffed out cheeks and her arms crossed across her chest.


    "Let''s go wait outside." Ryu reached out with both hands and poked the puffy cheeks making Chi expel the air in them before he began pinching them. Chi angrily slapped his hands away but still smiled and clung to his arms after.


    The two chatted happily as they walked out of the inn and towards the main gate. But before they got very far, a group of people, one of which was very familiar, stood in their way.


    "Heh, Look who it is!" BurningToast said mockingly.


    "Oh! If it isn''t FrostedToast¡­? MangledToast...? MicroToast...? SmallPenis...? What was your name again?" Ryu asked while tilting his head to the side as if he was thinking real hard about what the person in front of him name was.


    "I''m BurningToast!" BurningToast yelled out. He had been wanting a second chance to fight this bastard in front of him ever since he lost last time. He didn''t even get to fight before he was slammed to the ground. He felt that if he could just get a single attack in, he could easily win!


    "Ahh, ToastedWaffle, strange name. What can I do for you, MicroPenis?" Ryu gave a sly smile as he looked at BurningToast, whose face was growing redder by the minute. Chi had already buried her face into Ryu''s chest, laughing. Her whole body was shaking. She knew Ryu could have a bad mouth, but this was just too funny.


    "You! Do you dare duel me again!?" BurningToast couldn''t take it anymore. He had to beat this bastard once and for all.


    "Sure, sure, but let''s not do it here. Let''s go outside the village. I don''t like causing a ruckus." Ryu''s eyes flashed with a scheming intent.


    BurningToast thought nothing of it and quickly agreed: "Sure, let''s go!"


    "BurningToast, I don''t think we should..." One of the people with him spoke up. He had a feeling this was not going to be good.


    "Shut up! Let''s go!" BurningToast pushed the young man aside and stomped towards the village exit.


    "Ryu, you''re not going to do what I think you''re going to do, right?" Chi asked.


    "Mmm¡­ They suddenly came to me to start trouble, so I will teach them what happens when they start trouble with me. I mean, if they are all stupid enough to gather outside the village, why not use this chance to get some free items?" Ryu shrugged and pulled Chi along with him as he followed behind BurningToast''s group.


    Minutes later, Ryu and Chi were standing outside the village with BurningToast and the people for his Golden Sword guild, which was ten people in total. Both groups were standing a few meters away from each other. "Alright, let''s do this!"


    BurningToast was the first to speak up. As he stepped forward, his sword was already drawn. "Mmm, let''s do this so..." Ryu smiled as he activated his [Cultivation Suppression] passive as he took a step forward. All you could hear was a clunking sound as all ten of BurningToast''s guild members smashed into the ground.


    BurningToast looked up at Ryu, fires of hate burning in his eyes. Ryu only chuckled as he squatted down in front of BurningToast. "Are you an idiot? Did you not learn your lesson the last time when we dueled? Now you come looking for trouble again, and on top of that, you were actually foolish enough to listen to me and leave the protection of the village? Let''s hope you will learn after this that you will never be my match."


    Ryu equipped his sword and then stabbed down, stabbing BurningToast in the head. One attack was all that was needed to make BurningToasts health drop to 0. A splash of blood sprayed out onto Ryu, causing him to frown."Does it need to be this real?"


    "Ryu! I''m done over here!" Chi said happily as she ran over with ten bags in her hand. She had some blood on her clothes as well.


    "Let''s see what they have then¡­ Hmmm? Did I just sell these, and they have two of them!?" Ryu''s eyes opened wide when he saw what was in BurningToast''s bag. Then a slight grin formed on his face. "Seems I can just sell it again." What Ryu pulled from BurningToast''s bag were 2 Heavenly Cleansing Potions. "I am sure he will be very mad to know that I looted these but awe well. This is what this game is about. Plus, they originally belonged to me anyway."


    Ryu stood up and looked at Chi, "Chi, just put the items in your inventory. We can sort them later. I have a feeling he will come back with a vengeance."


    "Okay!" Chi quickly stored the items and tossed the bags back on the ground.


    Minutes later, Ryu was proven right as BurningToast came running back out of the village with his sword drawn with his guild members. "Damn you! You bastard!"


    "Oh! MoldyBread!"

 Chapter 79: First Dungeon: Silver Springs Part 3

    Thirty minutes passed, and WhiteLotus, Rose, and Violet both stood at the gate of the village in disbelief. In front of them were dead bodies all scattered across the ground. She looked at Ryu, who was currently holding a familiar figure in the air like it was nothing, before taking his sword and stabbing it through the familiar figure. "This? Ryu!?"


    "Hmm? Oh! WhiteLotus, sorry as DirtyToast came and tried to get revenge for losing his items to me a few times. I do not know why he keeps coming back while dragging his guild members with him. I am sure he has lost a few levels by now." Ryu explained lightly as she tossed the body to the ground.


    "Is it just me, or are you a tad violent, Ryu?" Rose asked.


    "Am I?" Ryu turned to Chi with a questioning look.


    "He''s only violent to those who bother him or to those that cause harm to his loved ones. Otherwise, Ryu is a sweety. " Chi said as she took this chance to cling to Ryu''s arm.


    "Plus, Rose, you have to remember one thing. This is a game where violence is part of the world. A cultivation world is based on rivers of blood. Wait until things like treasures for cultivation begin to appear. There will be blood baths. At least that was how it was in the novels anyway." Ryu explained.


    "Now that you mention it¡­. Aw well... Anyway, where are we headed?" Rose lost interest quickly, causing WhiteLotus to shake her head. She wondered why her friend had such a short attention span.


    "From what I know, we need to head west from here and towards a place called Forest of Shadows. The silver springs should be found within a cave system found under an old dying tree.  From there, I should be able to find 10 sweet silver grass for my quest as well as us finding some good loot." Ryu was hoping to get some good drops not just for himself but for everyone in the team. "Chi, send them an invite."


    "Huh? Oh yeah! I forgot I was team ladder." Chi pursed her lips and quickly invited the three girls.


    "Alright, let''s head out. From what I know, it should take us almost two days in game time to reach the silver springs by foot, so we should not waste much time. We can kill monsters on the way through, which might add some extra time but to get you girls, a few levels would be good as well." Ryu would not just use WhiteLotus and her friends to get what she needed. She would also help them level up as well so they might be able to live longer while in the dungeon. This would also give him more insight into their strengths and weaknesses as well, allowing him to make better battle plans. When thinking of this, Ryu realized he did not know what classes the three girls were.


    "Speaking of which, what classes are you girls?" Ryu asked.


    "I am a monk DPS/tank class. I focus more on the tank side of things, though. In real life, I go to a dojo for Kungfu." WhiteLotus answered.


    "I am a priest since I do not have much knowledge of anything but reading books. So I will be your rear line healer." Violet blushed as she said this. She felt like the most useless one. Although in truth, being a healer was a mandatory class for any dungeon. So hearing this made Ryu relieved.


    "I am a soul wielder or mage class, whatever you want to call it. Unfortunately, athletics and things like that were never my forte." Rose answered.


    "Alright, then we have a well built team. Hold on a second. Let me just take a few spells here..."  Ryu decided to take some time and look through his list of spells. Currently, he has [Minor Soul Healing] and [Inferior Soul Bolt], one from the priest class line and one from the soul wielder line.  Ryu thought for a moment before looking at the other lines. Soon he picked one from each line.


    Sword Dancer:


    [Piercing Slash]


    [Deal base attack power + 5% armor penetration.]


    [Stamina Cost 10]


    Monk:


    [Iron Body]


    [Raises defense by 100 for 20 minutes.]


    [Stamina Cost 20]


    Swordsmen:


    [Tri-slash]


    [Attack three times in rapid succession for 50-100 damage per hit.]


    [Stamina Cost 20]


    Shielder:


    [Iron Wall]


    [Raises defense by 200 for 20 minutes.]


    [Stamina Cost 10]


    Shadow:


    [Silent Steps]


    [Allows the user to lower their presence for ten seconds. Will cause aggression from monster agro to drop by 10%]


    [Stamina Cost 10]


    *Ding!*


    [Hidden Unique Class Unlocked!]


    [Acquired by being the first to take a single skill from each class line.]


    [No Class now becomes Specialist...]


    [Ability point gain rises from 1 per level to 5 per level.]


    "Now that is interesting..." Ryu mumbled.


    "What is?" WhiteLotus asked.


    "I just took a skill from every class and unlocked a hidden unique class called Specialist. I now get 5 ability points per level." Ryu answered.


    "What!? No fair!" Rose yelled out. "That means you get 2 more ability points per level than us!" Rose frowned. She wanted extra points too!


    "In a way, I can understand why but at the same time doesn''t that seem a bit overpowered when it comes to later levels? Wait, how many ability points do you even have!?" WhiteLotus asked. She felt like something was wrong here.


    "I had 160, but now I am down to 135 after spending 15." Ryu did not care if they knew what level he was. It is not like he would need to worry about them trying to kill him for any reason. Or anyone in this game, for that matter. That he knew of.


    "I figured your level was crazy, but this ridiculous¡­ Why haven''t you been spending your ability points?" WhiteLotus really couldn''t understand why Ryu would just sit on the ability points. For no reason.


    "Because I don''t really need them? I mean, I can kill everything with my sword as of now. What''s the point of using abilities at this time? If something comes up and I find out I need an ability from a certain line to get past a difficult situation, then I would be out of luck if I spent my AP without thinking ahead. Unlike other classes, I can pick and choose what I want to use. Right now, I can be an off healer, tank, DPS, and support with some ranged spells. I am the jack of all trades right now with no downsides." Ryu gave a proud smile. He felt being someone who can do it all was just right. He could fill any role needed in a team on the fly.


    "Ugh¡­ I kinda hate the thought of being locked to a single class now! Damn and you even got a unique class no fair!"

 Chapter 80: Forest Of Shadows Part 1

    Ryu just shrugged and began walking forward. Chi quickly followed him and took his hand as WhiteLotus, Rose and Violet followed behind. Each girl was good looking so any guy who saw a scene of a single guy with four beautiful women would feel jealous inside. The group slowly made their way through the Great Fordon Plains. They traveled day and night, trying to make it to the Forest of Shadows as soon as possible.


    During this time, Ryu got a good idea of the three girls'' strengths and even watched as Chi improved by leaps and bounds as she fought the lower level monsters. Ryu was teaching Chi her martial arts and how she went with the flow of battle, which was something she could use in the real world. Even WhiteLotus joined in on this while Rose and Violet could only frown at their lack of flexibility. When the girls saw how easily Ryu was able to use his own flexibility in ways that just blew their minds, they couldn''t help but be in awe of it all.


    On the second day of travel, the group of five were standing outside a very dark forest. "Is this the forest?" Violet asked.


    "Mmm, should be. From what I can tell by the monsters roaming the area outside the forest, the ones inside are at least in the fortification realm. So Violet, make sure you keep a close eye on WhiteLotus''s health." Ryu Instructed.


    "Wait! Wait! Ryu, you want me to tank these things!? Us three have just broken into the fortification realm, and the monsters outside, which are not even close to the fortification realm, we''re already struggling with our current gear." WhiteLotus frowned.


    "This time, I will be helping. You might not have realized it, but you three work very well in a team. So now we need to practice as a full team, or we will end up wiping in the dungeon. Think of this as nothing more than a warm up to what is to come." Ryu said with a smile. He had faith that they would be just fine now. As long as they worked together, he was sure they could easily clear this dungeon.


    "Alright..." WhiteLotus still didn''t share Ryu''s optimism but still sucked it up and followed along.


    The trees were tall, the branches were thick, and the leaves were numerous, causing the sun above to be completely blocked out. This meant the forest itself was pitch black. Almost as if they were walking into an abyss. "Keep your guards up!"


    Ryu was scanning the area. He, unfortunately, could only rely on his heightened senses of his stage eight fortification realm cultivation to sense his surroundings. His ear twitched when he heard something not too far away. Even Chi pinched his arm and pointed in the direction he had heard the sound. "Ryu over there sounds like 4 monsters."


    "No, I think it is just one. Look at the webbing¡­ I think it''s a spider type monster." Ryu said with a frown. He readied his sword, and it was a good thing he did because a white substance came flying at them and wrapped right around it and was trying to pull it out of his hand.


    "Shit! Ryu!" Rose yelled out and was about to cast a spell but stopped when Ryu yelled out: "Not the webbing! It''s good it did this instead because now!" Ryu grinned and pulled hard on his sword. As soon as he did, a massive spider two times the size of him came flying through the trees and landed in front of them. It had a large white spot on its back, and on its head, there was two scythe like legs.


    "Ew! Disgusting!" Rose yelled out. She even shivered at the sight of the thing.


    "Stage one fortification realm white spotted spider. At least this will help you get over the fear of the smaller guys."  Ryu said as he tore the webbing off his sword and quickly began shouting orders: "WhiteLotus, you''re up front. Violet, watch her health. Do not let her fall below half."


    "Roger!" "Got it, boss man!"


    "Rose, hold off on attacking, so you don''t draw agro until WhiteLotus has got its full attention. "


    "Got it!"


    "Chi, your with me. We will move around to the back side of it so it can''t run away and call for help. There is no telling how many spiders are nearby." Ryu wanted to be careful.  The area was so dark they could only see a short distance around them even with their eyes adjusted to the dark. They could only rely on their hearing to tell if more enemies were coming. But he knew once the battle started, it would be hard to listen in to any adds that might be coming their way.


    WhiteLotus did not waste time as she ran forward and landed a solid kick to the spider''s side before quickly jumping back. The spider roared and swept out with its scythe like front legs catching nothing but air. But WhiteLotus did not waste time as she went in for another attack. This time she did not jump back but instead, when the scythe like claw came her way, she quickly bent backwards at the knee, letting the claw fly over her body. She then sprung into a handstand and used both feet as she flipped her body backwards, kicking the spider in the face.


    "Violet now!" Ryu yelled out. Violet quickly began her chant, sending out five soul bolts all at once before switching to a deadlier soul fire spell.


    Once after, the other green flames shot through the air and landed on the spider, causing it to roar out in pain. The Spider was almost about to die when Chi suddenly yelled out: "Ryu the trees! There are monkey monsters in the trees!"


    "Chi, how many!?" Ryu looked around. He could not see them at all! Chi could because of her race. It was at a time like this that Ryu kind of wished she had noticed the race selection part of the character creation menu.


    "Only four. They are to our south. They seemed to be watching and not looking to attack." Chi replied.


    "Okay, keep an eye on them. This spider is¡­ Shit, another !" Ryu raced forward and, in a flash, appeared behind violet and slashed out. The spider that had just tried to attack violet from above was slashed in half in an instant.  Green blood and spider parts rained down and sprayed all over Ryu, Rose, and Violet.


    "Ugh! I want a shower!" Rose yelled. Although it was not real, the three could feel the sticky warm substance on their bodies and the stench that came with it.

 Chapter 81: Forest Of Shadows Part 2

    "Shower later, help me here!" WhiteLotus yelled out.


    "Ahh, sorry!" Rose quickly went back to firing her spells at the original spider.


    Ryu felt something was wrong when he noticed the size of this spider compared to the other spider. He looked around up at the treetops, and his face paled when he saw so many red glowing eyes staring back at him. "Rose, Violet, keep on whatever target WhiteLotus is on. I will do my best to handle the adds. Chi, help me with adds."


    "On it! [Dance of the Fairy Blade!]" Chi had already sensed the numerous amounts of spiders up in the trees as soon as they arrived. She did not attack until she knew what Ryu wanted to do about it, but now that he said to take them out, then she would. Dance of the fairy blade was a skill that used sword swings from the sword dance to fire off what are called sword beams, arched white lights that act as a ranged attack. It was a channeled attack that used stamina. For each second she danced, she would lose 2 stamina. This meant she could only use it for a total of fifty seconds.


    Green blood sprayed down from the treetops covering Ryu and the girls. WhiteLotus, Rose, and Violets, experience bars were rising rapidly. In just under a minute, twenty corpses fell from the trees, and at the same time, the white spotted spider that was much bigger than the rest died as well. WhiteLotus stayed on guard as she asked: "Is it over!?"


    "Chi?" Ryu knew Chi had better hearing than him, so he could only ask her if she could hear anything.


    "I think we are good." Chi replied.


    "Alright, ten minute break." Ryu walked over to a large stone that was not covered in blood and sat down. Chi walked over next to him as well. They were both covered in green smelly blood. "What''s up with the monkeys?"


    "They are still watching. There is no hostility. When we killed the white spotted spider, they seemed to be jumping for joy." Chi fell into thought for a moment before continuing: "It''s almost as if they were happy that the spider died."


    "This could be. If the spider was capturing their kin, that may be the case." Ryu felt that the monkeys were rooting for them to win. If they were, as Chi said, jumping for joy after the spider died, then they probably wanted the spider to vanish from these woods.


    "I kinda wish I could take a bath." Chi said as she pulled on her armor that was soaked in the green blood.


    "Hehe, did you want to take a special bath?" Ryu asked teasingly.


    Chi blushed and leaned over and whispered: "If you want, the next time we bathe, you can use your tongue to..."


    Ryu''s eyes opened wide and blushed from Chi''s words, but he still nodded his head. "Then let''s do that. I can''t let my little wife run out on me just because of my condition. If I still have the means to please her, then I will do it."


    "Hehe¡­ it''s a promise then." Chi lowered her head bashfully. Ryu couldn''t help but find her to be very cute.


    "Hey, what are you two talking about? Why does it seem to be something naughty, hmmm?" WhiteLotus walked over and immediately picked up on the naughty vibes in the air.


    "What''s this? Did WhiteLotus want to join too? Should I tell GreenHat about this?" Ryu asked teasingly.


    "What!? No! Fine, I won''t joke like that, geez. Trying to get me in trouble with him." WhiteLotus huffed. Ryu let out a laugh and didn''t say more since Chi was glaring at him as if she was ready to kill him.


    The group rested for almost ten minutes when Chi''s ears suddenly perked up. "One of the monkeys is coming over."


    "Should we attack?" Violet asked.


    "It doesn''t seem to be aggressive." Chi replied, feeling a bit confused. She did not know if monsters could be friendly or not.


    "You three stay here, Chi, protect them in case we get ambushed." Ryu said as he got up. He patted Chi on the head as he walked towards the now visible monkey. These monkeys had four arms and had purple fur. They were called Purple Spring monkeys.


    Ryu walked over, stepping over the dead bodies of the spiders until he came upon a clear spot. The monkey stood a few meters away, watching him cautiously. Thinking for a moment, Ryu put his sword away to show he was not going to harm the monkey, which seemed to work. The monkey came a little closer. "OOooo! Oo! OOo!"


    Ryu sighed, knowing he couldn''t understand but was surprised when the monkey suddenly reached out, trying to hand him something. With the monkey being just as tall as him and its hands being almost as big as his head, the thing in the monkey''s hand was quite big. It was a large rock that seemed to be shrouded in a blue mist. Ryu could feel the soul qi emanating from it.


    "For me?" Ryu asked by gesturing to the stone then pointing to himself. The monkey then gave a nod before crying  out: "Ooo!"


    Ryu smiled and reached out for the stone.


    *Ding!*


    [Acquired: LQ Soul Stone]


    [Rarity: Rare]


    [Soul stones are a natural accumulation of soul qi that crystallizes into a stone. Very good for cultivation.]


    [Once used, will speed up cultivation by 40% for 20 minutes.]


    Ryu''s eyes went wide seeing the description. "Good stuff." Ryu bowed his head to the monkey as he said: "Thank you."


    "Ooo! OOOO!!" The monkey jumped around happily. At the same time more monkeys of varying sizes came out of the tree line all yelling excitedly. The first monkey grabbed Ryu by the hand and pulled him as if saying come with me.


    Ryu chuckled and turned his head yelling back at the girls: "It''s fine, come on! "


    The girls looked somewhat confused but quickly followed after Ryu before they lost sight of him.

 Chapter 82: Divine Purple Spring Monkey

    Ryu and the girls followed the purple spring monkeys to a valley deep within the forest. When they first broke through the tree line, Ryu had to block his eyes from the cascading light that shined down. The trees'' leaves gently swayed in the wind, and the cool spray of water could be felt in the air. There was a tall rocky cliff in front of them, with a waterfall raining down over its edges. A large blue pond that had glowing orbs of light rising off its surface caught the water falling down over the cliff''s edge. The pond''s water was so clear you can easily see all the way to the bottom. With all the different color flowers sprouting up here and there and the lush green grass surrounding the pond, the place looked very beautiful. What made this place even more grand was that it was filled with dense soul qi.


    "This place is amazing!" Chi cried out in surprise. Rose, WhiteLotus, and Violet also nodded their heads at this.


    "Yes, this place is truly amazing." Ryu also agreed.


    "Hmmm? Humans?" An archaic voice filled the air. But no matter which way Ryu and the girls looked, they couldn''t see who had just spoken. "Don''t waste your time. I am in a place you can''t see. From what my kin has told me, you vanquished the spiders that have been plaguing the forest."


    "If you are talking about the white spotted spider, then yes, we just killed it. May I know who is speaking?" Ryu asked. He wondered if this might be a quest of some kind.


    "I have no name. Me and my kin have no need for such things. Follow the little one in front of you, and they will bring you to me." The archaic voice drifted off as it finished speaking.


    Ryu looked down at the little monkey that was waving at him and smiled. "We will follow."


    "Ooo!" The monkey let out a happy cry and started running towards the waterfall.


    Ryu and the girls follow the little monkey. There seemed to be a path leading to the side of the waterfall. It was not until they got to the side of the cliff face that they noticed that there was a cave entrance hidden behind it.


    Following the monkey inside, Ryu and the girls were met with a warm, dry cave that should have been damp due to the waterfall. But no moss or water could be found anywhere inside. The little monkey brought Ryu and the girls to the very back of the cave that opened up into a large lit cavern. But once they entered, they stopped short as they looked up at the massive purple spring monkey. It was at least ten meters tall sitting down. Ryu could only estimate that when standing, it must tower high above the treetops. But this purple spring monkey seemed to be very old. "You have come." The old monkey looked down at Ryu and the girls and smiled.


    "You have my utmost gratitude. As you can see, I am a bit too old to be moving around.  Now I only serve to watch over my clan and use my aura to keep the other beasts out. I asked my kin to bring you here since you were able to dispatch the spiders that had nested in our hunting grounds. I have a favor to ask, and I hope you would be willing to accept it."


    *Ding!*


    [Unique Epic Group Quest: The Root Of Life]


    [The Divine Purple Spring Monkey wants you to retrieve the Root Of Life from the Silver Springs.]


    [Quest Completion: find and retrieve the Root Of Life.]


    [Reward: A heavenly cultivation method: Heavenly Transcendence, 100 LQ Soul Stones]


    "I request that you bring back the Root Of Life. It will allow me to regain some of my youth and extend my life a few more thousand years. Only with it can I continue to keep my kin protected. At least until one of them becomes strong enough to take my place." The old monkey explained.


    "You can count on us. We were actually headed there in the first place. We will be sure to bring back the Root Of Life for you." Ryu did not hesitate at all. He quickly hit the yes button. The girls were right behind them. The reward this time was not simple. It actually has a cultivation method that WhiteLotus, Violet, and Rose needed. Not to mention the soul stones as well. They had really hit the jackpot stumbling upon this quest.


    "Then I thank you all. Please go to the room on my right, it has a hot spring. It will allow you to clean the blood off your bodies and relax your muscles. My kin will wash your clothes and armor for you. Just leave them with this little one here." The old monkey said with a smile.


    "Thank you. We will take you up on the offer." Ryu bowed his head and turned towards the girls. "Let''s go wash up."


    "Yes! We can finally get clean!" Rose was the happiest out of everyone since she was the one who was soaked head to toe in green blood.


    Ryu and the girls walked into the side room where a small cave pond with blue crystal clear water that had steam rising off its surface could be found. Ryu did not think much of anything as he stripped down to nothing and handed his clothes to the monkey. That was until Rose let out a small gasp as she stared at a certain swaying mushroom. "What how!?"


    "Hmm?" Ryu looked down at his dick and then at the three girls who looked like barbie dolls in the crotch area and blushed slightly. "It''s not just me, but Chi has hers too."


    "What?" Chi turned around, looking confused, and only then realized what Ryu was talking about. "Ah right!"


    "Wait! Wait! Does this mean you can have sex in game!?" WhiteLotus asked. But it seemed she was not talking to anyone but Ryu''s mushroom since her eyes were locked right on to it.


    "Ummm..." Ryu blushed and nodded his head.


    "That means¡­ In game you can experience what it is like to be a man, and Chi gets to¡­ That''s nuts! No fair! I want to have sex in game as well! Huh? Wait, a message popped up! Wtf!?" WhiteLotus''s crotch and chest suddenly glowed and was no longer a barbie doll crotch or nippleless boobs "Hot damn!" Seconds later the other two girls also had glowing crotches as well. Ryu could only shake his head and wonder just how horny were these girls.

 Chapter 83: Hotsprings Adventure

    [An: Warning R-18]


    "Ryu¡­." Chi pinched Ryu''s side as she saw his mushroom was slowly getting bigger. "Does looking at other girls really turn you on that much!?"


    Ryu wanted to curse the gods! Why did she have to go and be a male character in game? She couldn''t control her psychological response to what she was seeing! And her lower member seemed to have a mind of its own! Ryu could only grab Chi''s hand and, with large strides, make his way to the hot spring and get in. WhiteLotus and the other girls looked at each other and laughed. It was then that WhiteLotus had a sudden idea. "Girls, listen to this."


    The three girls began a secret little meeting before walking over to the hot spring. WhiteLotus shamelessly sat down next to Ryu and leaned up against him. "So, did looking at us girls turn you on?"


    "WhiteLotus, I am warning you don''t even think about trying to take my Ryu away!" Chi, who was sitting at Ryu''s other side, quickly climbed on top of Ryu with her body facing him, pushed WhiteLotus away, and glared at her.


    "Haha! So protective!" WhiteLotus couldn''t help but tease Chi. She then glanced at the other two girls, who slowly scooted closer to Ryu as well.


    Ryu could only sigh cause he could see they were picking on Chi. "Enough. Don''t tease Chi, or else I will  hang you upside down naked in the village for everyone to see."


    Rose and Violet, who were about to cling on to Ryu, froze and slowly began backing away. WhiteLotus also backed away. She clicked her tongue as she said: "Tch! No fun!"


    Chi smiled brightly and stuck her tongue out at WhiteLotus. "Humph! Ryu is mine!"


    While Ryu was trying to keep it cool, his lower member was not listening as it still grew in size. He couldn''t help it, though, with how Chi kept moving around on his lap. Chi also noticed this, so in order to hide this fact, she got up and turned around and sat down back in his lap, allowing his dick to enter inside her. She bit her lip as she leaned back against Ryu''s chest and used the muscles in her pussy to massage Ryu''s dick.


    Luckily there was enough steam coming off the water to somewhat hide this fact if the movements were not too big. Ryu leaned down and whispered: "What are you doing?"


    "It grew so big! I can''t let you be seen by the others. I will help you take care of it in a quiet manner." Chi explained as she slowly raised her hips then slid them back down as she washed her body off.  The entire time she was biting her lips, trying not to let out any moans.


    WhiteLotus looked over at the two and could only shake her head. Chi was not very good at hiding anything. Rose leaned over and asked: "Should we tell them we know?"


    "No, just let them do their thing. In a way, this is good. Although Ryu is a girl in the real world in game she is a he, so the issues men get when they get hard and not get any release can be painful. I know this because I do it to that idiot all the time. But to think they even allowed such things as this." WhiteLotus could sympathize with the two, and she was not one to ruin anyone''s fun. Plus, she herself couldn''t help herself as she watched them. And that did not seem to be just her as Rose and Violet were secretly massaging themselves as well.


    Chi went from trying to be discrete to full on enjoying herself as she began moving her hips faster. Ryu, at first, was going to stop her, but when he saw the other girls already staring with flushed cheeks taking care of themselves, he decided to say fuck it and just let things go as is. He pulled Chi back into his embrace and massaged her breast as she moved her hips. To Ryu, it was more important to make Chi happy than caring about who was watching. If Chi did not mind the other girls looking, he would not either.


    Chi leaned her head back and kissed Ryu''s lips. She clenched down on his dick as she felt her orgasm coming.  She moaned into his mouth as she curled her toes. Arching her back ever so slightly, she felt something warm explode inside her as Ryu''s dick pulsated. Realizing she had gone a bit too crazy, she looked at the other girls, who all had their eyes closed, seemingly helping themselves. She could hear their soft voices causing her to blush even more. She never thought in her entire life she would be used as masturbation material.


    "I think we should finish washing up..." Ryu''s warm breath tickled Chi''s ears as she looked at him while biting her lip. "I¡­ I just wanted to help your situation..."


    "I know it''s fine. But from now on, let''s keep our intimate times to the two of us. Let''s try not to repeat this, even if it means we have to bathe separately in the future when we are out on a quest with people."


    "But¡­ wouldn''t that mean you would need to be naked with guys?" Chi asked. She didn''t like that idea either. Her Ryu was too handsome. What if some guy tried to take advantage of him? If he was going to be out and about, he had to be where she could see him.


    "Then I won''t bathe!" Ryu chuckled and hugged Chi and kissed her cheek. "If you don''t want me doing something, I won''t do it. But remember that although I am a girl in reality, I am a guy here, so if people see me walking off to bathe with the girls, even if the girls do not mind it, the guys will probably target me big time. This is especially so for girls who have boyfriends in games like WhiteLotus over there."


    "Ah¡­ Huh?" WhiteLotus came out of her daze and turned bright red when she heard Ryu call her name. She awkwardly looked away only to see her two friends also in a similar position. This made her relax a bit. "Ahem¡­ Since ummm... We have all formally bonded, us five should make a pact to never mention anything that happens like this to anyone!"


    "WhiteLotus, are you planning on doing this again? Hopefully, you are not sitting in your boyfriend''s house right now or you might just get caught. Things of this kind of stimulation happen to have real effects in the real world, meaning if you get wet in game you will get wet in real life as well." Ryu gave WhiteLotus a friendly warning. "Plus this won''t happen again anyway." At least he hoped.

 Chapter 84: GreenHat The Idiot

    By the time Ryu and the girls finished ''bathing'', the monkeys had come back with their clothes all washed. Everyone got dressed and was now ready to set out. Ryu stood in front of the old monkey and asked: "Which direction is the silver springs from here?"


    "Oh? I thought you knew. This is easy to fix." The old monkey motioned with his head, and a small monkey came running up and jumped on Ryu''s shoulder. "This little one will assist you."


    "Thank you. I will be sure to come back with the root of life." Ryu bowed his head to the old monkey before turning and leaving. It was a little depressing having to leave the beautiful little oasis in the dark, dingy woods. But they could not stay here forever since they had to make it to the silver springs before it got too late.


    Ryu had noticed the time was already getting rather late and knew that WhiteLotus and the other girls would need to log out soon. "WhiteLotus, we will find a safe spot outside the dungeon to log out when we get there. I am not sure about you and Rose, but I am sure Violet needs to get up soon for classes."


    "Yeah, now that you mention it." Violet frowned when she looked at the clock on her HUD.


    "My classes are not until later, but if what Ryu said earlier is true, then I will need to wash up before heading to college." Rose blushed slightly just thinking about the fact that they had just all masturbated to their friends fucking.


    "WhiteLotus?" Ryu looked over at WhiteLotus, who was still quiet and seemed preoccupied.


    "Little Lotus, what''s wrong?" Rose asked, poking WhiteLotus''s side.


    "That idiot logged out early and actually tried to fondle me while I was in game and saw that my crotch was wet! Now he''s saying I am cheating on him!" WhiteLotus said with tears welling up in her eyes. She found it unfair to be said to be cheating when she had not even done anything wrong! Was she not allowed to masturbate!?


    Ryu thought for a moment before saying: "Just tell the idiot that if he doesn''t cut the shit that you will dump him for your right hand. No guy is worth the time if they do not at least hear you out."


    "But he is not listening to me! He knows I am with you, so he thinks I was cheating on him with you." WhiteLotus frowned. She was wondering why her stupid idiot was acting so outrageous.


    "Where are you located? Can you come to my house? You can have him come take a look at who you are cheating on him with." Ryu could only offer this as a solution. He figured once GreenHat saw the disabled girl lying in bed, he would know that he had nothing to worry about.


    "He''s not even answering me. Can you talk to him? He seems to be hell bent that you are now my in game sugar daddy." WhiteLotus pouted. She hated this. She just wanted him to listen to what she had to say.


    "Mmm... Hold on." Ryu wasted no time sending GreenHat a private message. "Hey, dipshit, how can you make your girlfriend cry?"


    GreenHat, who was sitting in an inn drinking a beer, saw a private message notification pop up and hit the button to listen to it. When he heard Ryu''s voice calling him a dipshit, he spat out the beer he had just taken a sip of. He quickly wiped his mouth and sent a message back. "Who the fuck are you!?"


    "The player you say your girlfriend is cheating on you with. Let me tell you this right now. Your girlfriend would never cheat on you with me. Are you in city C?" Ryu asked.


    "Huh? No, City D about an hour away, why?" GreenHat was confused and answered absentmindedly.


    "You and WhiteLotus come to this address tomorrow..." Ryu gave him her address. "You can meet me and my girlfriend then. Just call this number here before you come."


    "Huh? Alright¡­ I will be there." GreenHat suddenly felt gloomy. He looked at the beer in his hand and put it down. It seems he owed WhiteLotus an apology. Pursing his lips, he quickly sent WhiteLotus a private message.


    Back on Ryu and the girls'' side, WhiteLotus suddenly ran over to Ryu and hugged him. "Ryu, thank you!"


    "Damn it, WhiteLotus, let go!" Chi quickly pried WhiteLotus off Ryu and hugged his arm.


    "Haha! Sorry Chi, but Ryu really is amazing. That idiot actually apologized to me. He also said we were going to your place tomorrow." WhiteLotus seemed pretty excited.


    "Hmm? Ryu, people are coming over?" Chi asked.


    "Yeah, so tomorrow, can you help me dress in normal clothes? And I will need to be in the wheelchair..." Ryu frowned. He was not embarrassed by his state, but he just didn''t want others to look at him with sympathy.


    Violet suddenly said: "I''m coming too. I can miss a day of school. Ryu, Chi, can I come as well?" When Violet heard Ryu say wheelchair, she had a feeling something was very wrong.


    "Yeah, that''s fine. Just meet up with WhiteLotus." Chi was the one who spoke up this time. She was actually interested in who this Violet girl was. She wanted to keep a good eye on her rivals.


    "Wait, if you are all going, so am I!" Rose cut in. She was feeling left out all of a sudden.


    "Alright, then you can all come. My place may not be all that big but should have room for six people." Ryu said with a smile. She wondered just how these girls were in real life. She had read that some people act completely differently in game than out of game.


    "Okay, it''s settled then. Why don''t you all come around ten." Chi figured that would give her time to prepare and order some food.


    "Then it''s settled!" WhiteLotus said happily.


    Not long after, the group stood outside a cave that''s entrance was at the root of an old ancient tree. The area around it was well lit by the sunlight that was able to pierce the tree canopies, and only low level monsters roamed around outside. "Okay let''s log out here. It seems rather safe. Even this little guy seems to find this place safe." Ryu said as he watched the little monkey run around the tree chasing after some bug.


    "Okay, see you in a while. " Rose said before sitting down and logging out.


    "Yes, see you later!" Violet also quickly logged out.


    WhiteLotus looked at Ryu and Chi and smiled: "Ryu, Chi, thank you."


    "No problem. It is good for us to meet up anyways. It will allow us to get to know each other better." Ryu gave a wave after saying this and logged off.


    Chi sat down next to where Ryu logged off and looked at WhiteLotus. "WhiteLotus, tomorrow when you see Ryu please do not give him any pity. Just act yourself."


    WhiteLotus was a bit confused by what Chi meant but she kept those words to heart and logged out as well.

 Chapter 85: Visitors Part 1

    After Trisha logged out, she quickly took her VR gear off and ignored the stickiness between her legs. She gently helped Yuki take her VR gear off, but when she saw Yuki''s eyes becoming watery, Trisha couldn''t help but hug her. "Everything will be fine..."


    "Mm¡­ Swooyi Tri-pa..." (Sorry Trisha.) Yuki hated how easily she felt so useless when she logged out of the game. Going from being able to do anything to being frozen stiff was very hard on her.


    Trisha smiled and kissed Yuki''s lips. "You do not need to say sorry, Yuki. Come on. I will help bathe you. It seems stimulation in game still has an effect on you in your current state. "


    Trisha ran her hand down Yuki''s sticky thigh. Her words caused Yuki to blush. Trisha smiled, seeing how cute Yuki was. She slipped out of bed and put a towel on the wheelchair before stripping Yuki of her clothes and helping Yuki out of bed and into the wheelchair. The two went into the bathroom, where Trisha got the bath ready. She carefully tested the water temperature before lifting Yuki out of her wheelchair and into the bath. Only then did she strip down and climb into the bath with Yuki. She carefully and thoroughly washed Yuki''s body for her. Making sure she was squeaky clean. When she was done, she leaned back in the tub shoulder to shoulder with Yuki and held Yuki''s hand. She slumped down and leaned her head on Yuki''s shoulder while she played with Yuki''s fingers. The bathroom was silent that only the sound of dripping water could be heard.


    "Yuki, I love you..." Trisha suddenly said, breaking the silence.


    "I wo-ve tou vu..." (I love you too...) Yuki curled her lips up. She felt so warm inside, knowing how much Trisha cared about her and that Trisha loved her. It was not the first time they have said this to each other, but the words still left the two of them feeling very warm in their hearts. "Tri-Pa, tiss" (Trisha, kiss)


    Trisha smiled and leaned up, putting one hand on each side of Yuki''s body, and kissed her lips. She felt Yuki push her tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. Trisha couldn''t help but start feeling a bit turned on. She could not hide this fact either because Yuki could see it in her eyes. Yuki smiled as she forced out: "Tri-pa, wic.."


    Trisha stared at Yuki for a second, trying to figure out what she meant until it dawned on her. "You mean what we talked about earlier? But I don''t think we should do that just yet¡­. Not until you have healed more..."


    "Tou vor?" (You sure?)  Yuki asked. She only wanted to take care of her girlfriend''s needs. She did not want Trisha to feel neglected when it came to that.


    Trisha smiled softly as she leaned in and kissed Yuki''s lips again. "Mmm, I am sure. Wait until you can at least move your head. Then we can talk more about that."


    "Mmm..." Yuki smiled and hoped her recovery would speed up more.


    After a hot bath, Trisha got Yuki and herself dressed. "Yuki, do you want a hat?"


    "Mo..." Yuki was not going to hide anything. She was who she was, even if she could not do much of anything but move her mouth and tongue. She would not hide herself from anyone.


    "Okay, then I won''t either." Trisha was also not ashamed of having no hair. She did not have hair so that she could match Yuki. So until Yuki could grow her hair again, she would keep her head clean shaved as well.


    While Trisha happily took care of Yuki, time went by fast, and soon Yuki''s phone rang. "Hello?"


    "Ahhh, yes¡­ Is this Ryu''s phone? I''m WhiteLotus¡­" WhiteLotus was nervous calling number she was unsure was correct or not


    "Ahh, yeah, this is Chi. You got the right number. Where are you? Are you with Rose and Violet?" Trisha asked.


    "Oh, thank god it was the right number. Yes, those two are with me, so is the big idiot." WhiteLotus said with a chuckle. "We are right outside your place."


    "Okay, hold on, I will come on out, so you know where to go." Trisha then hung up the phone and turned to Yuki. "Yuki, they are here. Are you ready?"


    "Mm..." Yuki hummed in acknowledgment.


    Trisha nodded and went to the door. When she walked out and looked down at the street and saw three girls and a very familiar male figure, she froze on the spot. As for the male figure, he was no different. He looked up and saw that familiar face and also froze. He raised his hand and pointed at Trisha as he stuttered: "Ni-Nineth Sister!? Wh-what!? What happened to your hair!? Why the hell are you here!?"


    Trisha frowned and was going to turn around and ignore the young man but stopped when she remembered the other girls were here as well. She turned back around, ignoring the young man, and looked at the other three girls: "You can come on up. Use the stairs at the side. I''m Chi, by the way."


    WhiteLotus and the girls were all dumbfounded! Not only by Trisha''s bald head but because of what the young man next to them had just said. The young man was already on his phone texting someone. "Father, did something happen to Nineth  Sister?"


    Inside Eternal Palace¡­


    Melgrave looked at his phone to see a text from his youngest son, the 7th Prince, Greg Evergreen and opened it up to read it. When he saw what was written he thought for a moment before typing back. "Protect your little sister and be good to her or I will kill you."


    Greg almost tripped on the step when he read the message from his father. He knew more than anyone that if he said this he meant it! Only him and his brother knew just how much their father loved Trisha and that was because Trisha''s mother and their mother were close. It was actually his mother who introduced the two of them. He quickly texted his father back: "Don''t worry. Trisha is my little sister. I will let no harm come to her."


    Melgrave responded back: "Good. Let her do as she pleases. That lass she is with is a good person. You should have heard the report."


    "I know. I won''t get involved in her relationship with that girl." Greg had been very worried about Trisha since he heard that she was almost assassinated. Now that he thought about it. If Trisha was here then the person Ryu¡­ Greg''s expression no longer looked like he wanted to go home but one of determination. He wanted to thank the person who was willing to lose their life just for his baby sister. Although he was forced to stay away from her all these years, he and his brother never stopped trying to protect her from behind the scenes. He had to neglect her for her own safety. Only now that she has given up the Evergreen name can he openly be a brother to her. He just hoped it wasn''t too late...

 Chapter 86: Visitors Part 2

    When WhiteLotus entered the house, she froze when she saw the young girl in a wheelchair. Trisha let out a sigh as she said: "This is Ryu. Also known as Chisaka Yuki. And as you may have guessed already, My name is Trisha Evergreen, but I gave up my last name and title to be with Yuki." Trisha walked behind Yuki and hugged her from behind.


    WhiteLotus had tears welling up in her eyes. She could see how much Trisha loved Yuki. To give up everything for that one person you love was not a love you could find very often. She also heard from GreenHat about what happened to his sister, which told her that Yuki loved Trisha just as much. "It''s nice to meet you. I am GreenHat, Greg Evergreen''s girlfriend WhiteLotus, real name Jen Amerson." WhiteLotus was a blonde haired girl whose hair went down to her shoulders with bright blue eyes. She was on the shorter side but was very beautiful.


    "I''m Rose, real name, Amber Hasely. I have been friends here with Jen since elementary school." Amber was a cheery looking girl who had long red hair and a freckled face. Her little dimples that showed when she smiled matched her perfectly. She was very cute.


    "I..." Violet wiped her eyes. She was having a hard time seeing Yuki as she was now. It really tore her heart apart that the girl she has liked for so long was now stuck in a wheelchair. "Sorry..." Violet sniffed and wiped her eyes again as she took a deep breath and let it out. "I am Violet, real name Sophia Elmsman."  Sophia had shoulder length black hair and green eyes. She wore glasses and had a slim petite body. She was very pretty but seemed to be a bit introverted.


    Greg walked forward and scratched his head. "I really do not need to introduce myself, but as you know, I am GreenHat and am Trisha''s brother, Greg Evergreen." After saying this, everyone watched in shock as Greg knelt on the floor and bowed his head. "Sister in law, thank you for making my sister happy and for sacrificing yourself for her safety. As her older brother, I can not thank you enough. James, my older brother, also wants to thank you. His in game name is FingerSandwhich.  We are truly grateful for allowing our little sister to have someone she can rely on and love wholeheartedly and will love her back just the same."


    "Get up! No one wants your thanks. After all this time, you want to act like a good brother? Where the fuck were you when I was alone in the palace being treated worse than a damn maid?" Trisha yelled. She hated this stupid contradiction that her family had.


    "I..." Greg wanted to explain himself but was swiftly cut off.


    "Don''t even explain. I do not want to hear it. I will only tolerate your presence because you are Jen''s boyfriend, and we will soon be in the same guild. But do not think I will ever forgive you for looking the other way when I needed someone the most. Only Yuki has ever seen me for me and treated me like a real person. The only one I need in my life from now and forever is Yuki. If you will excuse me. I need to call and order food. Jen, please look after Yuki for a few minutes..." Trisha gripped the phone in her hand and walked into the bedroom.


    Yuki let out a sigh. She felt so useless. Out of all times for her to be meeting one of her family members. It had to be during a time she wasn''t able to properly console her. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Yuki opened her eyes and looked at Greg. "Feg¡­ Vont pate Tri-pa¡­ Ve sill c-c-mom zerand..." (Greg¡­ Don''t hate, Trisha¡­. She will come around...)


    Trisha, who was in the other room, had tears falling from her eyes when she heard Yuki speaking up for her. She slumped to the floor and held her head as she cried silently. Yuki was so good to her even at a time when it was hard for her to even speak, she would do her best for her. WhiteLotus and the other girls were also trying to hold back their tears. The three girls finally understood what true love was like.


    Greg looked up at this girl who couldn''t even move and could barely speak and felt like he was kneeling in front of an angel. Even in such a condition, she was selfless and expressed her care and concern for his sister. He couldn''t understand the last part well, but the first part he could. "I know¡­ I will never hate her. Everything she said was right. I will just need to do my best to show her I am there for her."


    Yuki forced her lips up into a smile. "Vood!" (Good!)


    Greg sat up and pulled out his phone. And sent his father a message. "Father, do you know how bad of a condition Trisha''s girlfriend is in? Is there anything we can do?"


    Melgrave checked his message and smiled while reading the message. "She is already undergoing nanogene therapy in disguise as brain regeneration treatment. Nanogene therapy will allow her to recover faster and not just her brain but her whole body. And will allow her to heal faster in the future as well. I ordered the doctor to lie about it to that lass''s mother. Don''t let anyone else know, not even your big mouthed brother. I am sure you know why."


    Greg looked at his phone and was in shock when he read the message. He quickly replied before deleting the chat history altogether. If news that someone outside the royal family underwent nanogene therapy, it would not be good.


    "Ahem, since we came for a visit, we should speak about happy things. Let''s go to the living room, shall we? It''s much better than standing at the entrance." Jen suggested since things went from excitement to gloomy once they arrived.


    "Ti swooyi¡­ Bomin!" (I''m sorry¡­ Come in!)  Yuki felt bad since she had kept her guest at the entrance this long.


    Jen was about to walk over and help wheel Yuki into the living room area when the bedroom door opened, and Trisha walked out. Her eyes were still slightly red. "Sorry about that¡­ The food will be here shortly. Please come in and sit. I will put some music on." Trisha smiled and wheeled Yuki into the living room. She then set her phone up to play some music. She walked towards the kitchen, paused, and turned to ask:  "I will get everyone something to drink. Is tea okay?"


    Jen could see that Trisha was not holding on very well, so she quickly offered her assistance. "That''s fine. Trisha, I will help you."

 Chapter 87: Gathering

    Jen followed Trisha into the kitchen area to see her almost break down crying. "Trisha, what is wrong?"


    "It''s nothing. I just feel very lucky to have Yuki by my side. Even in the face of my brother and even in her current condition, she is still siding with me and trying to protect me. My heart aches for her because she is forcing herself to speak to people she barely knows in her current state. She only thinks about me and my well being instead of herself." Trisha turned to look at Yuki, who was watching everyone else talk among themselves. She bit her bottom lip as she did her best to hold back her tears.


    Jen smiled and patted Trisha''s shoulder. "I can see why you are so protective of her. Yuki is a great girl. I can tell she loves you very much."


    "Mmm... She does, and I love her just as much. Jen, can I ask why you had to date my good for nothing brother?" Trisha decided to change the topic.


    "To be honest¡­ It''s because although he acts differently in game and we met in the weirdest way possible, in reality, he is very good to me. I have been living with him for a couple of weeks, and normally besides today, he treats me like an angel. When I explained to him what happened, he jumped to all kinds of conclusions that I was doing it with Ryu in game. But now, look at him. He is trying to suck up to Yuki to get on your good side. It was like everything earlier never happened. You know your brother told me that as soon as he heard you went to college, he left the palace to live in an apartment to be away from the Evergreen family. There seems to be a lot more going on underneath the surface than we all know." Jen answered. She did not care about Greg''s status nor being titled a princess if she married him. She only cared that the man she was with would love and trust her.


    "Well... I will put up with him for your sake, but I will not forgive him so easily. You have no idea how much I suffered from no one willing to even glance my way. I have a new family now. Yuki, and Yuki''s foster mother, Tina who has accepted me for me and loves me for who I am. If my brother treats you well, then I hope you two can live happily." Trisha said with a smile.


    "Mmm... I will do my best. For what it''s worth, I love that idiot." Jen confessed.


    The two finished making tea for everyone and brought it out. Trisha put a straw in Yuki''s tea with an ice cube to cool it down. She sat in Yuki''s lap and held the straw up to Yuki''s mouth to let her take a sip. This was very much a practice motion. The girls and guy looked at the two and could only let out a sigh. Greg looked at Jen and felt he truly had wronged her.  "Jen, sorry about earlier..."


    Jen''s eyes went wide as she looked at her fool of a boyfriend who was full of surprises today. She smiled gently and whispered: "Idiot..."


    Greg grinned from ear to ear and got up to sit next to Jen, pulling her into his arms. Amber looked at Sophia and scooted over with a pouted lip. "Since everyone else is a couple, then Sophia and I will be a couple today. Come, Sophia, let''s cuddle!"


    Sophia chuckled as she let Amber hug her. This little action really lightened the mood as everyone smiled. "Since we are all here, we should begin discussing about forming our guild. With Greg and James joining, we are still 3 short of enough members." Jen decided to bring up this topic since so many of them were in the same place.


    "I have an idea, but I am unsure if Trisha will like it." Greg suddenly spoke up.


    "Hmm? Let''s hear it." Trisha huffed. She was not keen on taking any ideas from this brother of hers, but for the sake of the guild she was making with Yuki, she would at least listen to the idea.


    "I was thinking I could ask Father to invest in the guild and send three highly trained guards in game at night." Greg did not need to ask. While he was waiting for tea to come out, he had already had this idea in mind and mentioned it to his father. And surprisingly, His father wanted to use three from the numbers unit that was purely under his command.


    Trisha thought for a moment, then looked at Yuki, who only looked back at her with eyes that seemed to read: "Whatever makes you comfortable."


    "I can agree to this, but Yuki is the guild leader, and if we make our guild big enough to become a sect, she will be our sect leader." Trisha would not allow anyone else but Yuki to be the leader.


    "Agreed!" All four people, Jen, Sohpia, Amber, and Greg, all nodded instantly, agreeing.


    "So when can we create the guild?" Greg asked excitedly.


    "We are currently about to enter a dungeon called Silver Springs. The quest reward will be a cultivation method. As Yuki and I already have a cultivation method, we can easily sell ours or give one to you and the other to my other useless brother.. Depending if it is bound or not." Trisha explained with a hint of disdain towards the last part of her words. She would rather sell it off, but if it will make the guild stronger, she figured it might be better to keep it.


    Greg''s stared at Trisha blankly. He was hung up on the whole part of where Trisha said that her and Yuki already have a Cultivation method. "This¡­ Wait. that update recently and the world wide message about people finally starting the path of cultivation. Don''t tell me that it was you two!?"


    "Mmm..." Trisha hummed and nodded her head. She felt proud about this fact.


    "Then¡­ Can I ask what your current cultivation is?"  Greg asked with a shaky voice.


    "We are both in the fortification realm, stage 8, why?" Trisha grinned widely seeing the look of disbelief written all over Greg''s face.

 Chapter 88: Partial Feeling

    [AN: Warning R-18]


    "Fortification realm, stage 8¡­. This means¡­. You and sister in law are¡­." Greg''s head was spinning. He couldn''t understand it. How was it that these two were already at such a high level in the game? In fact, they were the strongest players in game! "Wait, something doesn''t add up. You two were not in game for a long time, so how were you able to raise your levels so fast?"


    Trisha and Yuki both suddenly blushed. Yuki averted her eyes while Trisha lowered her head. "Ahem¡­ Our cultivation method is a little... Ummm, special."


    "It''s naughty, isn''t it!?" Jen suddenly spoke up with a wide grin. She immediately picked up on the two''s embarrassment.


    Trisha looked away but still nodded her head as she whispered. "We have a dual cultivation method..."


    "Wait, dual cultivation?" Greg was confused. "Doesn''t that mean you two only need to fuck in order to raise your cultivation!?  Damn it, how lucky!"


    "Greg!" Jen slapped the stupid boy off the top of his head. "My guess is even if me and you had a dual cultivation method, we would be no more than stage two of the fortification realm."


    "Pfft! Quickdraw Mcgee!" Amber suddenly burst out laughing. Trisha pushed her face into Yuki''s chest as she laughed as well. Even Sophia had her head turned, chuckling.


    Greg''s whole face was bright red. He did not know what to say to this. His own girlfriend just called him out on his poor bed performance! Jen shook her head and rolled her eyes as she hugged him and kissed his cheek. "It''s okay. Even if you are a quick draw, it''s fine."


    "Jen!" Now Greg just wanted to cry: "Poor me! Is it my fault you''re too sexy in bed?" But he chose to stay quiet.


    "Anyway, when we finish this dungeon, I will have Jen let you know what is going on. Until then, make your way to Roland Village in the meantime. We will meet up with you when we are done with our dungeon." Trisha knew that it will take time to clear the dungeon and that it will also take Greg a while to reach the village.


    "Alright, I will get the last members together and begin heading there tonight." Greg was happy his baby sister was speaking to him. He hoped in the future she would one day forgive him. He knew she would not forgive him right away, but he hoped he could make up for his past mistakes now.


    After spending some more time and eating lunch, Jen, Rose, Greg, and Sophia left after saying their goodbyes. This left Yuki and Trisha alone. "It''s only one o''clock. What do you want to do, Yuki?"


    "Tri-pa, wuddle¡­ Heck ti  fences..." (Trisha, cuddle¡­ Check my senses...) Yuki said with a smile.


    "Hehe, do you want to change?" Trisha asked, even though she already knew the answer.


    "Mmm¡­" Yuki answered. Trisha walked over and wheeled her into the bedroom, and closed the door. She then helped her get undressed until she had nothing on but her panties. Yuki looked at Trisha, who was staring at her body lustfully, and curved her lips. "Vu fike?" (You like?)


    Trisha blushed but nodded her head. "How can I not like. Yuki, you have no idea just how sexy your body is. Just looking at it turns me on..."


    "Ven may." (Then play.)Yuki did not want to make Trisha hold back. Her body belonged to Trisha anyways, so she was fine with Trisha indulging herself.


    "I don''t think I should, what if..."


    "Vi dan''t Vov¡­." (I can''t move...)Yuki cut Trisha off. She couldn''t move, so Trisha did not need to worry about her head banging against anything.  She wouldn''t be able to make any sudden movements that would harm her.


    "I¡­" Trisha bit her lip before walking over and gently picking  Yuki up out of her wheelchair and placing her on the bed. She made sure all her sensors were connected before gazing at the petite figure. Her white skin and perfect mounds were really a sight to behold. Trisha crawled up next to Yuki and trailed her finger from Yuki''s nose down to her chin. "Can you feel that?"


    "Mmm. Vi Wen¡­" (Mmm. I can...)Yuki felt a little excited. She could feel Trisha''s finger trail down from her chin, her neck, and down to her chest. It was very faint, but she was able to feel it.


    "Now?" Trisha asked as her finger swirled around one of Yuki''s nipples.


    "Mmm..." Yuki could feel a tingle in her body.  She watched as Trisha leaned over and kissed her right breast. Just knowing Trisha was willing to touch her made Yuki smile. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the tingling she was feeling from each of Trisha''s actions. It had been a while since she actually felt anything below her neck.


    Trisha seemed to have lost herself as soon as she took Yuki''s nipple into her mouth. Her other hand had already quickly made its way between Yuki''s legs. When she felt a slight dampness, she was happy to know Yuki was able to be stimulated. She looked up to see Yuki''s eyes were closed and that she seemed to be enjoying what was happening to her.


    Trisha''s finger traced the outside of Yuki''s secret garden, gently caressing her clit outside her panties. The more she teased it, the wetter it was getting. The entire time Trisha''s tongue was busy teasing Yuki''s nipple. It was not until Yuki let out a soft moan that Trisha looked back up and had tears well up in her eyes. For Yuki to moan, that meant she was really feeling it. "Yuki? "


    "Womp, pot!" (Don''t stop!)Yuki''s voice was heavy, but the feeling she felt just now was real. She could feel it completely as if her body was normal. She did not want this feeling to stop just yet, not just because it felt good but because it made her feel like a normal person.


    Trisha had a few tears roll down her cheek as she turned her attention back to Yuki''s body. She pulled Yuki''s panties down and began teasing Yuki''s clit directly. She could hear Yuki''s breath becoming heavy as she moaned from her touch. Her lips were becoming dripping wet. Trisha bit her lip and slipped down between Yuki''s legs. She then stretched her tongue out and trailed it against the opening of Yuki''s slit. She took in a bit of Yuki''s juices and savored her first taste of Yuki''s sweet nectar. With each pass of her tongue, Yuki''s soft moans could be heard. Trisha finally parted Yuki''s lips and stabbed her tongue inside. This action seemed to have set Yuki off because as soon as her tongue entered, she heard a loud moan from Yuki, and a flood of juices filled Trisha''s mouth.


    Trisha raised her head and saw that Yuki was looking back at her with a smile, breathing heavily. Trisha smiled back and asked: "Did you feel that?"


    Yuki chuckled and hummed an answer before saying: "Tri-pa wuddle." (Trisha cuddle.)


    "Mmm¡­ whatever my princess wants me to do, I will do.'''' Trisha teased as she crawled up next to Yuki and kissed her lips before snuggling into Yuki''s chest.


    "Tri-pa, vi meeting tettver" (Trisha, I am getting better.) Just being able to think this way made Yuki feel better. She hoped that soon she would be able to move her arms and actually hug the girl she loved.


    "Yes, and in the future, we will be able to do so much. Also¡­ I found a file on the table earlier that was from the college. I think mom dropped it off. It says we can return at any time.  No fees will be charged. I do not know why the college would do this, but it means we can continue from where we left off. So once you are able to move your upper body, do you want to go back to school?"

 Chapter 89: Entering The Dungeon Part 1

    Yuki fell into thought. She really did not need to go to school anymore since she had enough money as it was to take care of both Trisha and herself for as long as they lived. But¡­ Thinking back to Mary and the promise she made, she could not slack off just because she was rich. "Mmm¡­ Malk vatter." (Mmm¡­ Talk later.)  Yuki figured it would be best to talk about this later in game when she can finally speak normally.


    "Okay!" Trisha smiled and snuggled up to Yuki, her right hand playing with Yuki''s belly button. "Can you still feel this?"


    "Mmm¡­ Tri-pa tiss..." (Mmm¡­ Trisha kiss...)


    Trisha smiled and moved her body on top of Yuki''s, and kissed Yuki''s lips. She then grinned as she moved her kisses down to Yuki''s neck, where she sucked hard, leaving a love mark for all to see.  "Hehe, now everyone will know you are taken."


    Yuki rolled her eyes and chuckled. She found Trisha to be overly cute. If she could, she would want to pin her down and leave love marks all over her body. "Tri-pa dress."


    "Alright, let me clean you up a bit and then get fresh clothes on you." Trisha licked her lips and began teasing Yuki again. The room was once again filled with Yuki''s soft moans.


    Sometime later, Yuki was finally dressed in her normal leisure attire and sat in bed watching a movie with Trisha. Just thinking about how in the past, something like this would never have crossed her mind made Yuki smile. Trisha had really changed her life. She went from being a loner to someone with a lover and friends.


    Tina walked into the apartment and heard the tv on in the other room. Since the door was open, she decided to take a peek. What she saw made her smile. Yuki and Trisha were both asleep. Trisha was hugging Yuki with a smile on her face as her stomach rose and fell. She went over and was going to cover the two girls up when Yuki opened her eyes. "Waom." (Mom.)


    "Shhh. You will wake her. Did you have fun today?" Tina asked in a low whisper.


    "Mmm..." Yuki did have fun. While the start of the day was a bit gloomy, once everyone got everything out, things went well.


    "That''s good. I will prepare you girl''s dinner myself tonight, so until then, let Trisha sleep." Tina said as she leaned over and kissed Yuki''s forehead. Yuki smiled and hummed. To her having a family felt wonderful.


    After dinner and saying goodbye to Tina, Yuki and Trisha planned to settle down for the night. Trisha picked up Yuki''s phone and went to the Soul Fusion Online Marketplace app to see if anything was sold. When she opened it and looked at the numbers, her eyes shot wide open. "Yuki! You have like 700 platinum!"


    "Mmm¡­ Fwell wit doll." (Mmm¡­ Sell it all.)


    Trisha''s eyes almost popped out of her head as she looked at the conversion rate for a single silver. "Yuki¡­ You¡­. You¡­ This¡­ That''s well over ten billion if it all sells at the current going rate.."


    Yuki seemed unfazed as she said: "Fir mar buture. Vy mouse." (For our future. Buy house.)


    "Yuki, you really do not act like a rich person..." Trisha chuckled as she did as Yuki said and put all the platinum up for sale. Only after that did she carefully put Yuki''s VR gear on and allow her to log in game.


    ---


    In game, Ryu stretched his arms and legs, feeling relaxed. When he saw Chi log in, he walked right over and wrapped his arms around her. "Ryu?"


    "Just a little..." Ryu said as he pushed his face into her neck. He had been waiting to hug Chi all day. He might be in game now, but at least he could hug her here.


    "Wooo! Hot and heavy over here!" WhiteLotus teased as she logged in to see the two hugging.


    Ryu raised his head and smiled. "So everything worked out with GreenHat?"


    "Yep! Thank you, guys! He even lasted an entire minute in bed when we got home." WhiteLotus did her best to keep a serious face as she said this, but she still ended up laughing.


    "You know, I hope you don''t say this to his face. He seems like the type to cry." Ryu teased.


    "Humph! It serves him right for being so jealous! Anyway, Rose and Violet should be logging in soon." WhiteLotus went and found a place to sit. "So, how will we work the dungeon? Will it be the same as before?"


    "No, since the old monkey wanted us to retrieve something, then my guess is this dungeon will be harder than we think. But I could be wrong. We will only know when we finally enter it. Once we find out, we can make a proper judgment on our battle plan. Either way, I will be upfront with Chi in the back, taking up the rear. Based on the level of mobs, we will decide if I will be the forward tank and you the off tank or vice versa. Everyone else''s position will not change from what it is now."  Ryu explained he hoped that the dungeon would be easier than he thought, but he felt that things would not be so simple.


    "We''re here!" Rose announced as soon as she and Violet logged in. "Sorry, we were late."


    "Speaking of which, why did you two run off as soon as we left Ryu''s house?" WhiteLotus asked as she raised an eyebrow.


    Rose scratched her head as she blushed. "Well, you know how earlier I said me and Violet would be a couple for the day and how the entire day I was hugging her? Well¡­ It felt kind of right, and I decided to, you know, jump ship..."


    "Hold on! Wait a minute, so does this mean you two are now..." WhiteLotus did not even need to finish her words when Rose and Violet nodded.


    "Well, it is a more see how it goes thing. Rose may come to dislike being with another girl, so when she asked, I said we can try it out and see if we click in this sense. I have known you both for so long that I don''t want to hurt our friendship in any way. And as for Rose asking me if I would date her, I couldn''t say no. "  Violet tried to explain things in more detail.


    WhiteLotus held her head as she tried to take everything in. "Alright, well, you are both adults. I know Violet likes girls, and Rose never really took much interest in guys unless they were good looking, but even then, she never chased after any. But¡­ If you two are going to do this, if you fight, just remember I will not come and try to be the mediator. I will not take sides. But in the end, I hope you two will be happy. But now that I think about it, Rose¡­ You have always been very hands on with Violet after she came out. Like hugging her and snuggling up against her whenever you could. I never thought much about it until now... Don''t tell me this entire time you have..."


    "Mmm¡­ I''m bi." Rose answered bluntly. "I like guys and girls but was afraid to show my strong like for girls until I met Ryu and Chi. To be honest I have always had a crush on Violet since middle school..."

 Chapter 90: Entering The Dungeon Part 2

    Violet looked at Rose, whose cheeks were burning red, and smiled. Rose did not tell her this earlier, so this was all news to her. Just hearing this made her think that just maybe this relationship may work out. Although she still had feelings for Ryu, she would never act on it, and being with Rose, someone she knows very well all the way down to the mole on her left butt cheek, she felt more comfortable and less nervous, allowing her to be herself with Rose.


    "Alright, we can talk more as we go. Let''s enter the dungeon." Ryu had a feeling if they kept talking like this, they would end up never entering the dungeon today.


    With Ryu taking the lead, the group stepped into the dungeon. As soon as they did, a notification saying they had discovered the dungeon of Silver Springs popped up. The entire place was a damp rocky cave. Glowing mushrooms could be seen lining the floors and some of the walls. These mushrooms were the only source of light within this dark cave. "Careful, it''s slippery, there seems to be moss on the floors..."


    "It smells musty in here..." WhiteLotus complained.


    "If princess wishes to leave, then you can." Ryu smiled teasingly as she said this.


    "Humph! Ryu, I won''t mind telling Chi that you hit on me all the time in private messages." WhiteLotus said with a huge grin.


    Ryu suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side where Chi was ruthlessly pinching him. "Chi, you know that''s not true!"


    "So what! Take this as an advanced punishment if you do." Chi stuck out her tongue and hugged Ryu''s arm. "I know you would never do that. I just felt like pinching you."


    "At least do it easier!" Ryu complained with an aggrieved expression. Chi felt bad, so she leaned down and kissed his side to make it feel better.  Ryu found out today that Chi can also have a cheeky side!


    As the group was fooling around, Chi''s ear perked up as she pulled on Ryu to stop. "We got incoming. "


    "Prepare for battle! Chi, take up the rear and use long distance attacks for the time being. WhiteLotus to the front. If it is too much to handle, just yell out, and I will take over. Violet, watch WhiteLotus''s health closely! Do not let her health drop past half health. We do not know the monster''s strength or what else may happen while we are in here. Rose, as always, do not attack right away. I will give you the signal of when to attack." Ryu went right to work organizing everyone.


    "On it!" All four girls yelled out.  ''


    Soon they were met with a strange looking monster. It was a spider, but it had a human face. Ryu frowned, seeing this monster. He checked its name to find it was called a human faced spider, a name that was very spot on. What made him frown the most was the cultivation of this monster was fortification 5th stage. "Change of plans! WhiteLotus fall back, I will tank. Don''t attack until I say so."


    "Got it!" WhiteLotus let out a sigh of relief. She could feel the difference in cultivation level between her and the spider. She also knew that a monster with the same cultivation as her would still be stronger than her if she was by herself.


    Ryu equipped his sword and went forward. The human faced spider let out a loud roar seeing the puny human drawing a weapon. But when it was suddenly hit with Ryu''s cultivation suppression, it took a step back before roaring loudly and charging towards Ryu. It seemed that all though there was a huge difference in cultivation, the fact that it was being suppressed by a human like this angered it even more overtaking its fear.


    It swung its scythe like claws aiming to take Ryu''s head. Ryu, of course, would not let such a thing happen as he easily parried the attack with his sword, spun his body around, and chopped down on the scythe like leg. A loud painful roar was heard as green blood splatter on the ground, and a loud thud echoed through the cave. The human faced spider''s scythe like claw fell to the ground after being sliced off by Ryu.


    "Ryu, more are coming! That last roar must have been it calling for help!" Chi yelled out.


    "Damn it. Everyone, attack! Chi, keep an eye on our rear in case we missed any tunnels that can be used to flank us." After yelling this order, Ryu swung his sword and cut down the human faced spider in front of him. As soon as he did 4 more human faced spiders appeared, all ranging from stage 4 to 6 fortification realm. Seeing that things were bad and that he did not have a way of keeping aggro of all the monsters on him. Ryu opened his menu and went to the shielder skill tree, and took the next skill in the line.


    [Heroic Shout]


    [Taunts all enemies within 20 meters. Increases enmity by 100]


    [Stamina Cost: 5]


    This ability costs 5 ability points to activate. But was one of the best beginner taunts in game. Ryu wasted no time letting out a mighty roar causing all the monsters in 20 meters to focus on him. "Feel free to attack at will! Just stay on the target I am on!" After saying this, Ryu used his iron wall skill to increase his defense by 200. Although he could easily kill these monsters alone now, he wanted to make use of this time to really refine their dungeon tactics. Mainly because he felt that these monsters were just the weaker of the batch, and the further they go in, the monster levels may rise. And if that was the case, then even he was in danger of dying if their teamwork was not good.


    "Heavenly guardian!" Violet yelled out causing a golden light to shone down on Ryu. "Ryu this buff will raise your defense by 100 for ten minutes!"


    "Thanks!" Ryu really needed that kind of buff right now!

 Chapter 91: Flood Dragon Part 1

    Right now, Ryu was getting annoyed. With the armor buffs he had on, he was not taking much damage, but his armor was a different story. The low level armor was just not enough to actually do anything. At this point, it was barely covering his skin. After they killed the four human faced spiders, Ryu looked as if he was wearing nothing but rags. "Why does this game have to be so real in this aspect!?"


    "I don''t know. But I feel this look fits you well. I am sure the girls who see you like this would fall in love instantly." WhiteLotus teased.


    "Haha, very funny..." Ryu sulked. He looked at this armor that was now just strips of cloth and let out a sigh. The only good thing was his privates were still covered.


    Chi walked over and hugged Ryu and whispered: "This look does have a certain appeal to it."


    Ryu rolled his eyes and looked at the dead monsters on the ground. "What loot dropped?"


    "Just crafting materials. I swear this game just wants us to craft everything!" Rose answered as she reached out to grab the items on the ground. As she did, the spider bodies turned into balls of light and disappeared, leaving behind only the loot they dropped.


    "But the outcome is much better if you craft it yourself. You can even customize the armor to suit your tastes. If I had higher quality materials, I would have made Chi and I new armor¡­ But Since hitting our current level Chi and I have not had time to fight higher level monsters until now." Ryu now realized that armor upgrades were really important. Even if he could get by without needing to upgrade, it was still needed to cover his body. "That reminds me I have seen many ore deposits here, but none of us has a pickaxe to farm any of it¡­ such a shame. If I could make some new weapons and sell them¡­."


    "Ryu, do you only think about making money?" WhiteLotus asked.


    "Hmm? No¡­ I think about my future with Chi as well and how to make her happy..." Ryu answered truthfully. His answer making Chi blush.


    "Sorry I asked¡­ I didn''t realize I was going to get a mouthful of dog food."  White Lotus said jokingly, causing the rest to laugh.


    The group continued on with Ryu as the main tank. They fought all kinds of monsters, from lizard type monsters to snake type monsters. Their teamwork had grown by leaps and bounds. Even though there were many close calls, they were still able to pull through without anyone dying. By the time they made it to a large open room with a silver glowing pond, Ryu was wearing nothing but a pair of shredded shorts that used to be pants. "It''s a little too quiet here..."


    "Mmm¡­ my guess is that this is the silver springs." WhiteLotus pointed at the pond not far from them. Around it were silver blades of grass and on top of a boulder at the very back of the pond was a green root gently glowing with an orange hue.


    Ryu swallowed hard seeing that orange hue. "A legendary item!"


    "That seems to be what the old monkey wants..." Chi said as she gazed at the root. But she did not look happy at all. "Why do I feel that something is not right about this? As Ryu said, it is too quiet. Don''t dungeons have a final boss?"


    "Shh, don''t jinx it!" Rose cried. She was not ready to fight some amazingly strong monster right now!


    "I do not think we have a choice. Ryu has a quest for the sweet silver grass, and we all have the same quest for the root. So my guess is that we will need to get closer to find out." Violet took a deep breath and gripped her wooden staff.


    "Hold on, let me buff up a little bit just in case..." Ryu did not want to take any chances right now, without his crappy armor, he had 0 defense. His armor now was nothing more than a blanket to cover his privates. He quickly cast Iron Body and Iron Wall on himself without a second thought. This brought his defense to 300. "Everyone ready?"


    "As ready as I can be." WhiteLotus said as she shook her limbs to try to loosen up a bit.


    "I''m ready!" "Same here." Rose and Violet answered.


    "Where you go, I go." Chi answered with a nod of her head.


    "Then let''s do this." Ryu readied his sword and took a step forward. As the group got a few meters from the pond, a loud bang was heard, and the entrance they came in from was suddenly sealed off. Blue balls of fire began to light up around the pond. Ripples could suddenly be seen on the water''s surface.


    "Get ready for incoming!" Ryu yelled out, and as he did, a massive black snake type looking monster with horns on its head and four limbs sprung out of the water.


    With an ear deafening roar, this massive monster looked down at the puny humans in front of it. "You humans dare try to steal my treasure!?"


    "A-A Flood Dragon!?" Rose yelled out. The pressure the flood dragon was giving off was weighing down on everyone present.


    "A stage 1 Soul Sensing realm Flood Dragon..." Ryu frowned. He knew this was going to be a tough fight, especially so for a monster who could speak. "Get into formation. Chi, WhiteLotus, you will be on add duty if there is any, otherwise, just focus on the overgrown snake."


    "Got it!" "Roger!"


    Everyone quickly got into their positions. The flood dragon looked down at the puny humans trying to figure out what they were doing. It had never seen humans act in such a manner before. "We need to pull it out first so we need to figure out its range. Rose, Chi and I will start by blasting it with long ranged skills. Violet and WhiteLotus fall back for the time being."


    Ryu realized the flood dragon did not seem to be keen on leaving the water. And since most of his damage and WhiteLotus''s damage was all melee they could not get close so he could only switch tactics and try to pull it out of the pond first.

 Chapter 92: Flood Dragon Part 2

    Ryu was the first to toss a soul bolt at the flood dragon as well as using heroic shout to anger it. Chi followed it up with one of her ranged spells as well. Rose was not far behind as she shot off multiple spells in a single go.


    "Roar! Puny humans dare to attack me! Die!" The flood dragon was being angered to death! It never thought these puny humans would actually hurt it! Enraged, the flood dragon made its way to the shore under the constant barrage of attacks from the puny humans.


    "It''s almost on the shore. WhiteLotus and Violet, get ready!" Ryu yelled out over team chat. He then rushed forward and released another heroic shout. This second taunt caused the flood dragon to Roar in anger and charged at Ryu.


    WhiteLotus finally got her chance to attack and began releasing all her skills one after the other. Chi began tossing in her melee attacks while Rose continued her magic bombardment. The health of the flood dragon was slowly beginning to reduce.  One thing that Ryu noticed was that monsters of the soul sensing realm had a lot of health! And what made things worse was this flood dragon had some kind of self regeneration. For every 100 heath that was taken away, 10 would regenerate. Luckily Ryu and Chi were able to do high damage, or this would be a losing battle right from the start. Although it was high, it was only around 150 health per attack. This thing had close to 70,000 health!


    So far, during this fight, WhiteLotus felt like she was utterly useless. She was doing barely any damage, and she was far from being able to take a single hit from this flood dragon and not need healing right away. Instead of her being the off tank, the aggro was bouncing back and forth between Chi and Ryu. But she was not discouraged as she was still a complete realm lower than the flood dragon. So this was basically a fight between the flood dragon, Chi, and Ryu.


    After almost ten minutes of fighting the flood, dragon, Rose, Violet, and WhiteLotus were beginning to grow fatigued. But even if they were tired and running out of mana or stamina, the three girls continued pushing harder. Even if what they were doing seemed useless, they still wanted to help as much as they could.


    Chi, who was watching Ryu fight only pulling aggro once and a while, began refining her footwork more, trying to keep up with Ryu in order to help him as much as possible. This fight was actually a good motivation booster allowing her to speed up her attacks more and more.


    But as everyone was progressing and pushing past their limits, the flood dragon was getting angrier and angrier. "Roar! Puny Humans die!" The back scales of the flood dragon began to glow as streams of water came out of the pond like whips lashing out at everyone.


    "Everyone dodge!" Ryu yelled out in warning, but the whips were just too fast. While Rose and Violet were out of the range of the whips, WhiteLotus was not so lucky as she took a hit from one of the whips sending her flying across the room smashing into a wall. Luckily Violet was ready for this and quickly cast a healing spell on her.  "WhitLotus, you okay!?"


    "I''m fine. Just give me a second to get some health back." WhiteLotus replied.


    "Okay, heal up quickly!" Ryu said as he released another heroic shout, once again regaining aggro. But this did not last long because Chi suddenly hit ten consecutive crits pulling aggro once more.


    Once again, the flood dragon was thoroughly enraged and caused another round of whips made of water to be sent out. Chi dodged one but was unable to dodge the next two as they both slammed into her sending her flying headfirst into a far wall by the pond.


    "Chi!" Ryu''s eyes widened as he saw Chi lying on the ground lifelessly.


    "Ryu, she''s out of range. I can''t heal her!" Violet yelled out. She couldn''t get any closer, or she would be targeted by the water whips, and if she died, there would be no healer.


    "Damn it!" Ryu was truly angered. He couldn''t believe this damn monster hurt Chi! Ryu''s attacks suddenly became faster than ever before as he pushed forward into the flood dragon. The flood dragon was unable to use the water whips on Ryu with him being so close so he could only use his front claws.


    But seeing how even attacking with its claws was useless, the Flood Dragon began retreating backwards into the water. As soon as it hit the water edge, it turned and dove back into the pond, leaving Ryu standing at the edge of the shore. Ryu was completely angered by the flood dragon trying to escape like this. He looked at Chi, who seemed to be unconscious from hitting her head, and clenched his fist. Sparks of lightning began forming in his fist as he yelled out: "This fucking monster dares to hurt Chi!"


    *Ding!*


    [Acquired Hidden Ability: The Chains of Love and Hate.]


    [A special skill only acquired when love and hate are equal. Deals 400-500 lightning damage to the one you hate while branching out and healing the one you love.]


    [Channeled skill. Duration: 10 seconds.]


    [Mana Cost:50]


    [Cool Down: 5 minutes]


    Ryu pointed his sword towards the water, and a bolt of lightning shot into the water directly at the flood dragon hiding under the water. The intense heat of the lightning began to heat the water at a rapid pace until it was steaming hot. A branch of lightning kept bouncing off the water''s surface, striking Chi, slowly healing her wounds.


    The attack lasted the entire duration, and the smell of burning flesh bubbled up to the pond''s surface. The flood dragon under the water burst out and roared out in anger. "Puny humans die!"


    Ryu smirked as he looked over at Chi, who had recovered enough to lift her head. She gave a nod and reached out her hand toward Ryu. "Who is going to die has yet to be decided." Ryu''s lips curled up into a smile, and reached out his hand towards Chi as he softly spoke: "Twin lightning!"

 Chapter 93: Loot

    Streaks of lightning flashed out, slamming into the flood dragon blowing a hole right through its stomach as it arched across the water before connecting with Chi''s outstretched hand. And as if being rebounded back, the lighting shot out from Chi''s hand once again, blowing another hole through the flood dragon before returning back to Ryu. The flood dragon''s eyes dimmed as the blood dripped from the two gaping holes. Its body swayed back and forth before falling to the ground and turning into balls of light. In its place, a massive treasure chest appeared that reminded players that this was indeed just a game.


    [World Notification: Players Ryu, Chi, WhiteLotus, Violet, and Rose are the first players to clear Silver Springs dungeon on hard mode. A special reward of 150 gold and 10 ability points has been granted to them for being the first players to clear the dungeon.]


    Shock filled the players of Soul Fusion Online''s eyes.  A group of five people were able to clear a dungeon already and on hard mode at that!?


    Soul Fusion Online Forums¡­


    @GreenHat: Fuck, my wife WhiteLotus is amazing! Did you all see that she was able to do a dungeon on hard mode!


    @DanityKnight: Oh, here is another one lying about being in a relationship. Go die, normie!


    @GreenHat: Hahahaha! Someone is jealous! What''s wrong? Stuck in your mother''s basement all alone with your right hand named betty?


    @RightHandNamedBetty: Can you please not bring me into this? Even if I was his right hand, I would cut myself off at the wrist and run away before he could even use me.


    @GreenHat: Hahaha! Your name is amazing! Ahahahaah!


    @RightHandNamedBetty:  Thank you for the compliment.


    @GreenHat: Oi! DanityKnight! Why are you not responding!?


    @FingerSandwhich: GreenHat, I think you made him so mad he logged off. If you keep this up, you may lose WhiteLotus.


    @GreenHat: Humph! I treat my WhiteLotus like an angel!


    @FreeLoader: Why is it whenever I come on here there is a thread with people bashing on GreenHat? Should we start a Make GreenHat Wear A GreenHat For Real Club?


    @FingerSandwhich: +1 Make GreenHat Wear A GreenHat For Real Club!


    @DanityKnight: +1 Make GreenHat Wear A GreenHat For Real Club


    @FreeLoader: +1 Make GreenHat Wear A GreenHat For Real Club


    @RightHandNamedBetty: +1 Make GreenHat Wear A GreenHat For Real Club


    @WhiteLotus: +1 Make GreenHat Wear A GreenHat For Real Club


    @GreenHat:  !!!!!!!!!?!?!??!?!? You too!?


    @WhiteLotus: :P I couldn''t resist.


    @FingerSandwhich: Hahaha!


    Back inside the dungeon, Ryu couldn''t care less about a few gold and some ability points as he ran over to Chi, who was slowly getting up off the ground. "Chi, are you okay!?"


    Seeing Ryu''s handsome worried face looking at her with such sincere worry made Chi smile warmly. Just as she was about to answer, WhiteLotus quickly interrupted. "Ryu, you should carry her just in case."


    Ryu looked at WhiteLotus and nodded his head as he picked Chi up in a princess carry, holding her tight up against his chest. Chi blushed as she snuggled into Ryu''s now bare chest. "Ryu, can I open this?"


    "Yeah, that''s fine." Ryu didn''t care about the loot as he looked down at Chi. When he saw her go flying earlier, he really couldn''t hide the anger and hate he had towards the flood dragon for hurting someone so precious to him. But because of that, he also ended up with a new skill. Ryu leaned down and kissed the top of Chi''s head, causing her to giggle.


    "Oh my god! An epic staff!" Rose yelled out.


    "Then the two of you roll on it since neither I, WhiteLotus, nor Chi uses staves." Although Ryu could also use staves, he didn''t ever plan on using them. His fighting style was more attuned with a sword.


    "Rose can have it. All I do is heal, so it would be better for Rose who does damage to have stronger equipment." Violet could see Rose''s eyes glowing when she looked at the staff. It would be a lie to say she didn''t want it, but in truth, she knew it would be best for Rose to have it.


    "Violet, thank you, but this should go to you since it is a healing staff. Here look." Rose walked over and handed the staff to Violet. Violet looked at the staff that seemed to be made of snake bone and was quite surprised. It only added 50 magic power, but there was a sub effect that raised healing efficiency by 500%.


    Rose smiled and leaned over and gave Violet a kiss on the cheek as she whispered: "Thank you for thinking about me." This small action caused Violet to blush from ear to ear. "Mm..."


    "Ahhh! More dog food! Why is everyone around me giving me so much dog food!? Just wait until GreenHat meets up with us, and I will smother you all in dog food!" WhiteLotus yelled out as she stomped over to the treasure chest to see the rest of the items. "Ryu, you should take the rest of this. It is all materials for crafting."


    "Have you not thought about trying out some trade skills?" Ryu asked.


    "Well, to be honest, out of everyone here, I think only you and Chi are able to do trade skills. I am more of a tomboy. Rose has no life skills at all, and I think Violet is the only one who can do anything out of the three of us." WhiteLotus answered.


    "Oh? Violet, what are you good at?" Ryu was curious about what skills Violet had. Having more crafters for their soon to be guild would be good.


    "I can cook..." Violet answered softly.


    "Then any materials that can be used for cooking will go to Violet from now on." Ryu announced.


    "Alright then, Violet come loot this, and the rest will go to Ryu and Chi. Just knowing I will get a cultivation manual is enough for me." WhiteLotus was not worried about the little things, she only cared about the cultivation manual the quest gave her. She saw just how much more powerful Ryu and Chi were as actual cultivators.

 Chapter 94: Mushrooms

    "So what now?" White Lotus asked as she picked up the root of life for the quest they got from the old monkey.


    "We have enough time to get back to the old monkey and turn in our quest. I also want to harvest some of those glowing mushrooms since I didn''t do so earlier. I didn''t want to be in the middle of harvesting and get attacked. But first..." Ryu bent down and began plucking all the sweet silver grass and the glowing mushrooms from around the pond. He figured since the sweet silver grass was good for the quest, he could test to see what else it could be used for while he tested out the mushrooms.


    White Lotus waited for Ryu to finally stand back up before saying: "Let''s go!" while pushing everyone along. She was eager to get back as quickly as possible to get her cultivation method. It was just that¡­.  "Ryu, when you said you would be harvesting some of the mushrooms, you meant¡­."


    "Hmm?" Ryu looked up in his arms was a pile of glowing mushrooms he was putting into his inventory. To his side, Chi was covering her mouth as she smiled. She learned that when Ryu was focused on doing something, everything around him, including time, seemed to disappear as he went about his task.


    They had walked for five minutes now and barely made any ground because Ryu was plucking every mushroom he saw. The area around the pond was almost completely dark if not for the glow from the pond itself. He seemed to even have scraped off some of the moss from the rocks as well. WhiteLotus looked at the clock on her HUD and felt like crying. She had to get up soon, but with the pace they were going, she would not even get a chance to leave the dungeon, never mind turning in her quest.  But from the looks of it, Ryu was not going to let a single mushroom go!


    An hour later¡­.


    "Finally out! But now I need to log out! Ryu, you better be able to use all those mushrooms!" WhiteLotus yelled.


    Ryu scratched his nose. He felt bad because they all waited on him to pick mushrooms, and he did not even know if they would be of any use. "Ahem¡­ If anything, I can make you some mushroom soup..."


    "Haha!" Rose burst out laughing. "I have never seen such a look of helplessness on WhiteLotus''s face before. Only Ryu can do such a thing."


    WhiteLotus ignored Rose''s remark and changed her target Chi to let out some of her frustrations. "Chi, you''re no better! You just let Ryu do whatever he wants. If you spoil him too much, he will be a handful later on."


    "What is wrong with me spoiling Ryu? He spoils me just as much. So we will both be out of control and spoiled people!" Chi huffed. Chi saw no problems letting Ryu do whatever he wanted. If he wanted to pick mushrooms, she would stand by his side and let him pick mushrooms!


    "Alright, I give up. Today''s big winner was definitely Ryu. Not only did he get a ton of crafting materials, but he also got thousands of glowing mushrooms. Alright, I''m off before GreenHat starts trying to do weird things to me again." WhiteLotus sat down and logged out.


    "Thanks for the fun. What time should we meet up later to turn in the quest?" Rose asked.


    "Up to you girls. Just give Chi and me a call later, and we will work around your schedule." Ryu did not care what time they logged into the game later since after this quest was completed, he would be heading back to Roland Village to meet up with GreenHat, FingerSandwich, and the other 3 recruits to make their guild before returning to Flim village to turn in his quest for the pill cauldron.


    "Okay, then see you later!" Rose waved goodbye before logging out. Violet also said goodbye and logged out as well.


    It was just Ryu, and Chi left as they sat up against the old ancient tree. Chi looked at Ryu, who had leaned back and closed his eyes. "Not logging out yet?"


    "Not yet." Ryu pulled Chi into his arms, hugging her gently. "I want to spend some time just like this..."


    Chi smiled. Her ears were twitching, and her tail was wagging. She was very happy. Ryu buried his face into Chi''s neck and nibbled on it lightly. This caused Chi to feel a shiver run up her spine. She closed her eyes as Ryu kissed her neck. Her breathing started to become heavy as she felt Ryu''s hand sliding up her thigh. When his hand finally reached between her legs, a soft moan escaped her lips as his fingers began to tease her dampening lips. She bit her lip and reached up with her left arm grasping the back of Ryu''s head as she let the pleasure take over. "Mmm¡­ Yuki¡­."


    Ryu lifted his head and pushed his lips against Chi''s. Their tongues intertwined as Ryu quickened the motion of his fingers, causing Chi to push her hips up against Ryu''s hand.  Chi slid her right hand into what was left of Ryu''s pants and grabbed hold of his dick, gently stroking it. The low level monsters gathered around and watched the strange scene of the two humans touching each other. But when they suddenly felt an oppressive force weighing down on them, they quickly scattered, leaving the dungeon entrance quiet once more except the soft moans that escaped Chi''s lips.


    20 minutes later, Chi laid snuggled in Ryu''s chest with a big smile on her face. Ryu held her gently in his arms, wishing he could hold Chi like this in real life. But he knew they could not stay like this forever. They still needed to take care of real world things. "We should log out..."


    "Mmm¡­ Ryu, when we log out, remember that in time you will heal. So don''t let it get to you too much, okay?" Chi could tell Ryu was not looking forward to logging out. But no matter what, they still had to go back to reality and face the truth of things. But slowly and surely, she knew Ryu would heal. It was just a matter of time.


    "Mmm... I won''t. I will be fine as long as you are by my side."

 Chapter 95: Idiots Will Be Idiots

    [AN: Bonus Chapter 1/3]


    The next day Ryu and his team of girls were all standing in front of the old monkey once more. "Me and my kin give you my deepest thanks. With this root of life, I will be able to live a few thousand years more. Hopefully, by that time, one of my kin will grow strong enough to protect the clan. As promised, here are your rewards."


    The old monkey waved his hand, and streaks of light shot out, turning into 5 treasure chests that landed in front of Ryu and the rest. The chests opened, revealing an old scroll and 100 low quality soul stones. While the girl''s eyes were glowing with excitement, Ryu bowed his head as she said: "Thank you."


    With the quest fulfilled, Ryu and the girls collected their rewards and began making their way back to Roland Village. "Ryu, GreenHat said he reached the village late last night."


    "Is FingerSandwhich and the other three there as well?" Ryu asked.


    "They are almost there. FingerSandwhich had to meet up with the other three and is escorting them to the village as we speak. We may reach the village at the same time." WhiteLotus answered. As soon as she logged out this morning, Greenhat was all over her asking her to hurry up and get to the village, so he could spend time with his baby sister. In the end, he was being so annoying she had no choice but to ignore him and get ready for classes.


    "Alright then, let''s try to hurry then." Ryu said as he scooped Chi up into his arms and dashed forward.


    "Ryu, I can run by myself!" Chi complained softly with a big smile on her face as she snuggled into Ryu''s embrace.


    "Chi, your words and actions don''t match up." WhiteLotus teased. She then looked back to see Rose and Violet''s reactions, only to frown when she saw Rose carrying Violet the same way Ryu was carrying Chi.  "Damn you and your dog food!" WhiteLotus yelled out as she shot forward, not wanting to look at the two intimate couples.


    Ryu chuckled as he continued forward. The group rushed forward, ignoring all the mobs on the way, taking only one day in game time to reach the village once again after moving at full speed.  When they got to the village, they were automatically stopped at the front gate. "Halt! This is the guild''s Golden Sword domain. You must pay1 silver to enter."


    "Huh?" Ryu looked at the young man, who seemed to be a swordsman, coldly. He activated his cultivation suppression, causing the young man to suddenly collapse to the floor. "Who the hell gave your guild the right to ask players for an entry fee?"


    "I did!" A familiar voice came from inside the village. Ryu tilted his head to the side to see BurningToast standing there just inside the village''s gates. Just enough so that Ryu could not attack him.


    "Oh! If it isn''t MoldyToes!" Ryu yelled out with a big smile.


    Just hearing Ryu once again calling him something ridiculous caused BurningToast to turn red in the face with anger. "You! What''s your name!? Do you dare say your name to me!? Or are you afraid that I will set a bounty on you!?"


    "Bounty? You can set a bounty on me. I don''t care. My name is BurningToast!" Ryu righteously declared. Causing the girls to almost choke on their spit as they burst out laughing.


    "Haha! Finally! Quickly go put a bounty out on BurningToast! Five hundred gold per kill! Set it for 100 kills!" BurningToast sneered at Ryu, looking at him like he was an idiot.


    "But..." The guild member looked at BurningToast like he was an idiot. Why would he want to put a bounty out on himself!? He didn''t understand! But before he could even ask this question, BurningToast turned around and glared at him.


    "Hurry up and go post it! What the fuck are you waiting for!?" BurningToast yelled at his guild member.


    "Ri-Right!" The golden sword guild member wanted to cry. Don''t blame me for this!


    Five minutes later¡­


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: BurningToast. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 500 gold for each kill!  Up to 100 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 500 gold before it is too late.]


    Right as the message was heard, Ryu pulled out his sword and marched towards BurningToast, who was standing "Safely" within the bounds of the village, that was until Ryu walked right up to him, grabbed him by his neck, and stabbed him with the sword with a big smile on his face: "That''s once¡­ 99 more to go!"


    BurningToast stared at Ryu in disbelief, unsure of what was going on. Why was it that this man was able to kill him within the confines of the village!? When he respawned, he sat there in a daze. He didn''t understand. Only those with bounties could be killed within the village without the guards rushing over. It was only then that things clicked together. "Fuck! He tricked me! Motherfucker!"


    "Chi! Girls, we are going to the respawn shrine! " Ryu yelled out joyously. "Who would have thought the Golden Sword guild was so nice to give us some pocket money!"


    WhiteLotus and Rose were bent over laughing while Violet had her mouth covered, doing her best to hold her laughter back. As for Chi, she ran up happily and clung to Ryu''s arm. "Hehe serves him right for trying to put a bounty on you."


    "Well, idiots will be idiots. I mean... Who puts a bounty on themselves for so much money?" Ryu said with a wide grin as he made his way to the respawn points. On this day, Roland Village was filled with obscene words as a single man died one hundred times by five different people. When Ryu counted the last kill, he waited for BurningToast to respawn once more and clapped his hands together. "I must thank brother BurningToast for giving the guild I am about to make enough funds to pay for all the guild fees. You are so kind!"


    BurningToast anger went through the roof as he pointed at Ryu and wanted to swear, but when his eyes fell on the new current level, he cursed out loud: "Fucking shit! Fuck this game! How the fuck am I level 0 again!?"

 Chapter 96: Meeting Up

    "Hey, what''s going on over here?" A young man walked up. He had a big iron shield on his back and was wearing thick leather armor. Behind him were four other men. One dressed in a robe while the other three were all wearing beginner armor.


    "You''re here!'' WhiteLotus''s eyes lit up with excitement as she ran over to the young man with an iron shield and hugged him, and planted a big fat kiss on his cheek.


    Ryu turned his head to see the young man standing there. His looks were no different from that of what they looked like in the real world. All except the cat hears on top of his head. "GreenHat?"


    "Hmm?" The young man with a shield squinted as he looked at Ryu, his face turning black. "Who the hell is this handsome boy!?"


    Ryu grinned widely. This grin caused WhiteLotus to feel like something not good was about to happen. Her thoughts were right on point as Ryu walked over to her and pulled her out of The young man with a shield''s arms and hugged her waist. The young man''s face turned green as he pointed at Ryu and yelled: "What the fuck are you doing!? That''s my girlfriend you are touching! Let go over her now!"


    "But if I let go of her, how am I supposed to make you wear a green hat?" Ryu asked, tilting his head to the side looking at the young man in confusion.


    WhiteLotus suddenly burst out laughing as she pushed Ryu away. "Okay enough, Ryu, don''t pick on him like that, or else I will be the one to hear his never ending complaints."


    Ryu grinned and didn''t say anything as he walked back over to Chi''s side only to receive a pinch in his side. The young man with the shield, GreenHat, looked at Ryu in disbelief, pointing at him with his mouth hanging open. "Fuck! How are you more handsome than me when you''re a damn...!"


    "Brother, I think we are both out of our league when it comes to Ryu. I do not think you will be at a loss if he makes you wear a green hat." The young man in a robe walked up and patted GreenHat on the back, causing GreenHat''s face to go black.


    "FingerSandwhich!" GreenHat yelled. He didn''t care if the person behind the avatar was a man or a woman. The fact still remained that in game he had a penis!


    "Alright enough, both of you." WhiteLotus finally couldn''t take it anymore. "If you didn''t want to be picked on so much, why did you pick a name like GreenHat?" WhiteLotus yelled before ignoring the gloomy expression on GreenHat''s face and turning her attention to BurningToast, who still seemed to be cursing the fact he was born and asked: "Ryu, what about him?"


    Ryu looked over at BurningToast and shrugged. "Little Penis will have to work hard to regain his levels so I can come back and delevel him. Let''s head to the mercenary guild first to pick up our reward money, then head to our normal meeting spot at the inn."


    "Alright." WhiteLotus answered before turning and grabbing GreenHat''s hand and following after Ryu and the rest. The three other guys stood there staring at the group, walking away feeling a bit left out. "Did the princes forget about us!?"


    After retrieving the reward for killing BurningToast, a new announcement was heard around the world.


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: BurningToast. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 300 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    Everyone turned to look at Ryu with a strange expression. Ryu looked back and shrugged as he asked: "What?"


    Soul Fusion Online forums¡­.


    @AzuritePaladin: Normally, I do not post on these forums, but who the hell did this BurningToast guy piss off to be so brutally beaten down like this?


    @BigBellyCantSeeMyPP:  No idea, but I think I will need to hunt him down and get in on this action.


    @Ryu: BurningToast can be found in Roland Village.


    @AzuritePaladin: On my way! We should all spawn camp him. Why work hard for free money? Form a queue, and each of us can take turns.


    @BigBellyCantSeeMyPP: I''m with you on that!


    GreenHat had just so happened to want to post BurningToast''s location, but when he saw Ryu had already done it before him, he realized he should not offend this guy no matter what. But what really confused him the most was¡­ "Ryu, how do you already have so much money?" His gaze fell on the girl clutching on Ryu''s arm.


    "What? Don''t look at me with your filthy eyes. I want nothing to do with you. If not for Ryu needing you for the guild, i would not even be in the same area as you." Chi snorted before burying her head into Ryu''s chest not wanting to look at the stupid brother of hers.


    GreenHat let out a sigh. He really did not know what to do with this sister of his. He knew he was at fault but he still wished for her to at least let him make up for the past. FingerSandwhich patted his shoulder: "It will take time." He then asked Ryu: "I am also wondering how you got so much money."


    "Hmm? Let''s see¡­ Chi how many crowns did i make today?" Ryu asked.


    "Mmm¡­ I think it was around 3 billion. Only part of what you put on the marketplace sold." Chi replied not lifting her head at all.


    "This¡­ What¡­ How!?" GreenHat yelled out, his eyes almost falling out of his eye sockets.


    "Hmm? I will tell you when we reach the inn. This isn''t the place." Ryu said with a smile. He then took Chi''s hand and led her away.


    GreenHat looked at WhiteLotus who gave him a mysterious smile and walked away. "This¡­ Brother..."


    "Yeah¡­ I think if Ryu is making as much as he says he is then our little sis will have a very good life." FingerSandwhich had been worrying about his sister''s living circumstances. He had heard things from GreenHat but this brother of his waas bad with details. But if Ryu was actually able to make a few billion in a day then there was no longer a reason to worry about his sister living in poverty.

 Chapter 97: Serenity

    Inside a private room in their normal meeting spot at the inn. Ryu and nine others sat around a big table. Once the door was closed, GreenHat couldn''t hold back any longer as he asked: "Alright, out with it. How did you make all that money?"


    Ryu smiled and opened his inventory, taking out a potion and putting it on the table. "This¡­ This¡­ This¡­ Don''t tell me! No way! You''re the owner of Heavenly Crafts!?"


    "Oh! You got it without me even having to explain anything. " Ryu was actually very surprised at this. He figured with GreenHat''s normal mentality, it would take a while for him to figure it out.


    "Pfft¡­ Cough! Cough!" FingerSandwich spat his drink all over one of the new people he had brought along. "Haha! Why is it that sister in law is more ruthless than any guy I know?"


    "Brother, in game, it is not sister in law, it is brother in law. Don''t let that slip." GreenHat decided to ignore Ryu''s jab and berate his brother instead.


    "It''s fine as long as it is not in a public place." Ryu waved it off. These private rooms were sound proof. No one could listen in on them, no matter how powerful they were. "Anyway, why don''t we start discussing our main goal for this meeting. We have the members to start a guild but no name for it. Does anyone have any ideas?"


    One of the people who FingerSandwich brought raised their hand, catching everyone''s attention.  "Yes? Umm¡­ who are you, people, again?" Ryu just now realized he did not know who these people were.


    "Ahh, I forgot!" GreenHat yelled out suddenly. "These three are the guys that my father sent over. Their names in order are Number 6, Number 7, Number 8. All three are skilled fighters and should level up pretty quickly."


    "It is good to have you on board. Sorry I did not introduce myself earlier. I am Ryu. It is good to meet you." Ryu bowed his head to the three men.


    "It is our honor. We owe Mis.. err Mr. Ryu our thanks for protecting our Pr-Miss." Number 6 replied. He seemed to be the leader of the three. After that, the girls also introduced themselves.


    "Alright, now that the introductions are over, let''s get down to business. Does anyone have any ideas for the guild''s name?" Ryu asked, looking at everyone.


    "I am not good at coming up with names..." Rose answered. She only has the name she has now because of Violet.


    "I am the same. My names are not the best in the world." Violet also was bad at coming up with names.


    "Why not use Shadow Squad?" White Lotus asked.


    "I do not want to mix the mercenary group with the guild. Since that is more for close friends than an organization like a guild or sect." Ryu explained.


    "That is a good point." GreenHat agreed with Ryu on this. "What about using something old fashioned from like a few hundred years ago. Like The Terminators!"


    "Would you stop with that terminator bullshit? I have been listening to it for like three days straight now! What is so good about that shitty low quality movie? It only has one muscle bound freak running around saying the same line over and over again." WhiteLotus huffed. She had been listening to her boyfriend yell the same catchphrase over and over, and it was really starting to irritate her.


    "You just do not know what a true masterpiece is!" GreenHat argued.


    "Alright, quit fighting. I wouldn''t agree to such a lame name anyways." Ryu cut in. He didn''t want to listen to a lover spat about something so stupid. GreenHat''s face fell hearing this as he lowered his head. He was starting to wonder if his interest were off.


    FingerSandwhich raised his head and asked: "What about Serenity? A guild where anyone can join and have a peaceful, relaxing place to play the game."


    "Serenity¡­ " Ryu nodded his head. He felt this name was not half bad. "What do you all think?"


    "I think it sounds pretty." Violet answered first.


    "Meto!" Rose also answered.


    "I will choose whatever Ryu chooses." Chi did not care about what the guild was called as long as Ryu was happy.


    "I will go with what Ryu decides." WhiteLotus did not care what the guild was named as long as everyone could be in the same guild.


    "Same." GreenHat said with a nod.


    "Then let''s go with FingerSandwhich''s name. Our guild will be called Serenity." Ryu finalized the name. He actually quite liked the name.


    "So what now? How do we form a guild?" GreenHat asked.


    "Guilds need to be okayed by the city lord of the town, village, or city you are located in. Once it is okayed, you need to fill out a form and then pay an establishment fee. Only then will we get access to the guild system. But it will also allow us to buy property in any and every city, village or town with teleports leading to the other locations. But property prices are pretty expensive. I have heard that a few guilds have bought a few properties. But it cost them a few million crowns just to do so." WhiteLotus explained.


    "Money isn''t an issue. But what benefits do guild properties give?" Ryu asked.


    "There are some minor bonuses based on how much you are willing to pay. It goes from experience bonuses to increased drop rates. Guilds do not give many benefits to cultivators. We would need a sect in order to get cultivator bonuses." WhiteLotus explained.


    "That''s fine. We can work out the small details for now. I will sell a few more potions to buy properties  here in Roland and Flim village." Ryu figured it would be good to establish a guild house in every village he went to since it would make recruiting and traveling easier.


    "Then we will have to trouble you, Mr. Guild Leader!" WhiteLotus said jokingly.


    "Yes, please let me hug you, golden thighs guild leader!" GreenHat yelled out.

 Chapter 98: Two Strange Old Men

    [AN: Bonus Chapter 2/3]


    "Fuck you, bastards! "


    As Ryu and the others left the inn, they were met with a familiar person yelling and screaming while streaking through the town without a single piece of clothing on. Luckily this streaker had yet to activate the adult function of the game and still looked like a barbie doll in the crotch area. Behind him was a man with a shield on his back waving what looked like a pair of dirty underwear. "BurningToast, don''t run! You still have to eat this last piece of clothing! I promise I won''t kill you! In the name of, I, AzuritePaladin, I swear on my name I will not kill you¡­ much!"


    Ryu looked at the group running through the streets and chuckled as he continued on towards the home of the lord of this village. The group caught the attention of a lot of people. But this was to be expected when Ryu no longer had a mask on his face due to the dungeon, and the four girls with him were also very good looking. But it was mainly Ryu''s appearance that caused the biggest issues because not only female players but also the female NPCs were also staring at him with blushing cheeks as they giggled and pointed while chatting to their friends. Some even got yelled at by their husbands and boyfriends for blatantly staring.


    "Ryu, when we are done here, we are going to go and get you new armor right away!" Chi said while pinching his waist.


    Ryu smiled and pulled Chi close to him and whispered: "I will make some new armor for us with the materials we got earlier when we go back to the palace. We can also try to break through as well." Hearing Ryu say, ''try to break through'' caused Chi to instantly blush as she obediently nodded her head.


    It did not take long to reach the village lord''s home as it was close to the inn, only five minutes away. The house itself was one of the few that was smaller than the rest, which was strange due to most lords having huge mansions. But this place was like a small cottage set back behind a few tall buildings out of sight. No one would even know it was there if not for the huge sign out on the main road that read: "Village Lord''s Home" with a big arrow pointing down the road.


    Just seeing the big sign and then the small little cottage made Ryu think that this city lord might be quite the eccentric. Ryu walked up to the door and knocked on it, but no one answered. Ryu waited a minute before knocking again, but yet once again, there was no answer. Feeling a bit confused since it was during the day still and this was something that should be accessible all the time, Ryu decided to open the door a crack.


    "Haha! You owe me 5 silver!" An old man''s voice shouted as soon as the door opened.


    Ryu was stunned when he walked in and saw two old men staring at the door. One with a big smile on his face and another with a grim look. The one with a grim look pointed his finger at Ryu and yelled: "Why couldn''t you have knocked one more time!? Now I owe this old fool 5 silver! Damn it, and I thought I would finally win against this old man."


    "Uhhh..." Ryu raised his hand and knocked on the door next to him. "Now, I knocked three times?"


    The grim looking old man''s lips curled up into a smile as he jumped up and down. "Hahaha! I like this kid! You old fool now owe me 5 silver, cough it up!"


    "What!? But the door was already open!" The other old man yelled.


    "No! No! We bet how many times he would knock! He now knocked three times!  No one said shit about the door being opened!" The once grim looking old man yelled back.


    "Fuck! Let''s fight it out! I will knock those fake teeth in!" And like that, two old men began fighting for absolutely no reason.


    Ryu and the rest stood there watching as the two old men were pulling on each other''s beards and pushing each other''s faces away, doing their best not to laugh. The scene was quite comical. "Ummm¡­. How about I just give you both 5 silver and we call it even?" Ryu couldn''t help wanting to butt in. He had a soft spot for the elderly.


    As soon as they heard Ryu''s words, both old men stopped fighting and quickly straightened out the robes they were wearing and ran their fingers through their beards that were in a disarray. But for some reason left the hair on top of their heads that they were pulling at still in a mess, sticking up every which way. "Ahem¡­ Since this young man is so kind, then we won''t fight anymore."


    The once grim looking old man nodded his head, agreeing with the other old man while checking Ryu out. "Hmmm. This young man is not bad looking. Young fellow, how would you like to marry my granddaughter? She''s a little on the chubby side, but I am sure she will give you nice fat kids."


    "Pfft! Who are you trying to sell that pig off to!? Do you think your granddaughter fits this young man and his good looks?" The other old man let out a laugh, and he made fun of the other old man. He then turned to Ryu and said: "My granddaughter is very pretty, like a fresh flower. She is untainted and will do whatever you ask of her. Even if you have some kind of weird fetish, she will still do as..."


    "Enough! Ryu is mine!" Chi yelled out, her eyes glowing as she did. She finally couldn''t take it any more. Not when someone was trying to send their granddaughters into her lover''s bed! There was no way she was going to accept such a thing!

 Chapter 99: The Demon Of Roland Village

    The old men huffed as they stared at Chi. The one who had a grim expression before pointed his finger at her and yelled: "Look, little girl, you may be pretty, but look at this young man. He is so handsome he should be shared. So stop trying to keep him to yourself. My granddaughter needs some loving too!"


    "You! Ryu belongs to me and only me! No one else can touch him!" Chi yelled back. The hair on her tail was puffed out as she hugged Ryu defensively.


    The other old man started to get mad. He wanted this young man to take his granddaughter in. He was never going to be able to find another young man as handsome as this. Because of this, when he spoke next, he spoke a little too forcefully while pointing his finger at Chi¡­ "Little lady, I think you should..."


    "Don''t yell at Chi." Ryu suddenly said coldly, interrupting the old man. He did not care who it was. If they yelled at Chi, he would not treat them nicely. The only reason he had not stepped forward to break the old man''s finger for pointing it at Chi was because of the fact that he was an old man.


    When the old man heard Ryu speak, he quickly quieted down and lowered his head. He looked up at Ryu and quickly looked away again. he walked over and clung on to the other old man''s arm as he said pitifully: "Old Tan, this damn young man is so good looking I might turn gay!"


    "Get away from me!" Old Tan yelled out, trying to throw the damn old man off him. But no matter how hard he tried, the damn old man was like some kind of leech who had just latched on and would not let go!


    "Why are you abandoning me!?" The old man yelled out as if he was some kind of wife whose husband suddenly decided to divorce her for another woman.


    "Old Hal, I swear I will beat you senseless if you do not let go of me!" Old Tan yelled. And then, once again, two old men were fighting away with each other.


    "Ryu, I think there is something wrong with these old guys." GreenHat whispered.


    "Really? I think they are kind of cute as long as they are not yelling at Chi." Ryu said with a smile. She really did find these old men shamelessly cute.


    "Cute? I just don''t see it..." GreenHat shook his head. To him, the two old men were people he wanted to hit for yelling at his sister, but because Ryu did not make a move, he did not either.


    "At any rate, we can not let this keep going. I do not want to waste a bunch of time waiting for these old men to stop fighting." Ryu found the scene amusing, but they had things to do as well. "Old Tan, Old Hal, we came to register our guild with the village Lord."


    "Hmm?" The two old men froze their actions. One was pulling the other''s beard while the other was pulling the other''s hair. "Guild? Village Lord!? Whose that!?"


    "Me, you damn idiots!? How long were you going to make our customers wait!?" A sound came from behind Ryu and the rest. Ryu turned to see a young woman standing there. She had a purple robe on that was loosely fit, exposing a bit more skin than should be exposed.  She had a thin tobacco pipe in her mouth as she walked into the room. She blew out a puff of smoke but almost choked when she saw the bare chested Ryu standing there. Her lips curled up as she walked seductively over to Ryu only to stop short by a few steps when Chi suddenly stood in front of her.


    "What are you doing?" Chi asked, her eyes staring coldly at the young woman.


    The young woman frowned and turned back towards the two old men. "Why are you not getting the guild application ready? Hurry up and do your jobs, you damn old farts!"


    "Yes, miss!" The two old men quickly scrambled to go get the application while the young woman seemed to have lost interest in anything else. She walked past Chi and ignored Ryu. But after entering the back room, the young woman''s cheeks grew hot as she slowly traced her hands down her body and between her thighs. She hooked a finger inside herself as she softly moaned: "Ah! I must make him mine. Such a handsome boy..." The woman brought her now wet fingers to her lips and licked the juices off them before walking to the back of the room and pressing a button on her desk that slowly opened the bookcase next to her. Behind this bookcase was a small room. The woman walked inside it and disrobed before walking to the table where a young man who was skin and bones laid naked shackled to the table itself.


    "Mmm... I just saw something sweet, so you will need to pleasure me once more." The woman''s eyes glowed as her face began to elongate into the shape of a grotesque dog monster. Two tails sprung out the backside of her body. She used her long tongue to lick the young man''s face before climbing up onto the table. She then waved her hand, causing the young man''s dick to grow bigger before settling herself down on top of it. "You should last one more time before all your essence is sucked up by me. But it should be enough to satisfy me until I can get my main dish."


    Outside the room, Ryu stood there staring at the sudden notification that showed up on his HUD.


    [Special Unique Quest: Demon of Roland Village]


    [Question Completion: Investigate and find the demon of Roland Village and kill it.]


    [Reward: ????]


    "Alright, you just need to pay the fee here, and your guild will be created, and your guild property will also be yours."

 Chapter 100: Breaking Through To The Soul Sensing Realm Part 1

    [Warning: R-18]


    After paying the fees and getting the documents needed, Ryu''s guild options tab was now open. But the thing that bothered him the most right now was the special unique quest he got. When he left the cottage, he turned to the others and asked: "Did any of you get a quest just now?"


    Chi and the others looked at Ryu with a confused expression. "No, why?"


    "Well..." Ryu told them what the name of the quest was and what he had to do to complete it but couldn''t figure out how he was able to trigger a quest when no one else got it as well. He wasn''t doing anything but getting his guild documents.


    "That is strange." GreenHat said while rubbing his chin. He was in deep thought, trying to figure it out.


    "Ummm..." Violet raised her hand to cut in. "I might be wrong, but it may have something to do with the village lord. Did none of you find it odd with how she acted? Plus, I had heard the Roland Village lord was supposed to be an old man. I may be thinking too far into things due to all the novels I read, but I think if there was a demon in Roland Village, then she would be our prime suspect."


    "What Violet says makes a lot of sense. She did seem strange, especially for this village. She seemed more like a prostitute from one of the bigger cities. She did not fit the people of this village at all." WhiteLotus also agreed with Violet''s speculation.


    "I don''t care who she is since she wanted to hit on Ryu, she is my enemy!" Chi said matter of factly. As always, Chi was looking out for girls trying to take her Ryu away.


    "So what will we do? Are you going to do this quest?" FingerSandwhich asked.


    "Yeah, I will. One is because I want to see what this reward is, and another is because if there is a demon in this town, it will make things dangerous for the people who live here. Violet, what are things demons normally do?" Ryu asked. He knew he might sound a bit strange by saying such things as wanting to help the NPCs, but he didn''t care. While in game to him, this world was real. Even if it is digital, if the NPCs here die, they die. The only thing that respawns were the monsters.


    "Umm¡­ Demons¡­  Demons can be many things. It depends on the type of demon. But most commonly, they like to eat human flesh, and then there are demons who suck the life essence out of humans. There are also demons who just like playing tricks." Violet answered.


    "Let''s start with the most common types and work from there. Let''s find out if there have been any missing people or mysterious deaths as of late. But for now, Chi and I will be heading off to finish a few things." Ryu looked at the clock and saw that it was getting late. He still wanted to get some cultivation in before he had to get up. This was because, after the boss fight, he had felt too weak.


    "We will go ask around town. You and Chi can go do your thing, Mr. Guild Leader. If worse comes to worst, we can just toss GreenHat at the whatever demon " WhiteLotus teased.


    "Hey!" GreenHat frowned. Why was he becoming the meatshield!?


    "Alright. Thanks, guys." Ryu and Chi said their goodbyes before heading towards a back alley and disappearing.


    As soon as they entered the palace, Ryu scooped Chi up, causing her to yelp in surprise before walking straight to their yard and slamming the gate shut. When they entered the room, Ryu gently laid Chi on the bed before leaning down and stealing her lips. Chi giggled as she tangled her tongue with Ryu''s.


    Ryu''s hands ran down Chi''s body, causing her to shiver before undoing the sash on her hanfu, exposing her modest mounds. Ryu let off Chi''s lips so he could undress himself while at the same time Chi slipped out of her clothes. She laid back down with her body fully exposed for Ryu to see everything. "Come, we need to get our soul qi circulating."


    Ryu sat down with his legs out, his dick hard as a rock as it stood at attention. Chi bit her lips as she stood up on the bed. She lowered herself down, pressing her already dampening lips against his hard shaft. "Ryu, what made you suddenly want to do this?"


    Ryu interlocked his fingers with Chi''s as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Two reasons. The first and most important was because you''re too cute to resist, and the second is because if a demon has the ability to take over a town without the town guards knowing, then they must be powerful. We could barely fight a monster that was only a short realm away from us in levels. I do not want to see you get hurt again like before. So with these next few hours..."


    Ryu kissed Chi''s lips lightly before continuing: "I will make my cute and loveable Chi release cute sounds from her beautiful lips."


    Chi instantly blushed as she felt Ryu plunge his tongue into her mouth. She let a soft, muffled moan escape her lips as she began to grind her pussy against his dick. Just knowing the one she loved wanted her body was enough to turn her on. And the sensual feeling she got from it all was intensified as their soul qi mixed. It was as if the cultivation method was a form of aphrodisiac.


    Ryu broke their kiss and trailed his tongue down to the side of Chi''s neck, where he licked a spot before sucking on it hard. Chi let out another soft moan as she raised her hips and slipped Ryu''s dick inside her. Just feeling her special space being filled up caused her body to shiver involuntarily. With the combination of their soul qis intertwining and Ryu stimulating her in every way. Chi could feel the heat inside her once again rising. As it did the wetter she became and the more unrestrained she got. It was as if her animal instincts had taken over.

 Chapter 101: Breaking Through To The Soul Sensing Realm Part 2

    [AN: Warning R-18/ Bonus Chapter 3/3]


    With each rise of her hips, Chi let out a soft moan. Her fingernails were drawing redlines across Ryu''s back. Ryu had her little pink nipple in her mouth, gently nibbling on it as he felt his lower member being squeezed by her pussy muscles causing him to let out grunts. The stimulation he was getting from Chi was overwhelming. He could already feel that he was about to explode. He let off Chi''s nipple and buried his face into her neck, and bit down as he released inside her. Feeling the pain in her neck caused Chi to go crazy as she had an orgasm at the same time.


    But Ryu was far from over as he spun Chi around and had her get on all fours. He grabbed her tail and pulled on it as he continued to hammer his member inside her. Chi''s screams of ecstasy filled the room. The soul qi in the room was growing thicker and thicker as time went on. It swirled around the two whose bodies were intimately connected on the bed.


    Their cultivation began to rise as the soul qi was sucked into their bodies. They both heard a loud bang in their minds as if a dam had just broken. The soul qi in their bodies became purer and the glow of soul qi was now visible in their eyes. They had successfully broken through to the soul sensing realm. The cloud of soul qi slowly dissipated to reveal Chi sitting on top of Ryu massaging her breasts as she bounced up and down. The two had been so lost in their own lust for each other that they didn''t even realize they made a breakthrough.


    "Mmm, Yuki..." Chi cried out as Ryu sat up and hugged her body. He felt himself swelling up once more. He quickened his pace causing Chi''s breathing to be haggard as she curled her toes in anticipation of what was to come. As she felt the bubble within her about to surge, she bit down into Ryu''s shoulder as she let out a muffled moan when she felt Ryu''s warm liquid pumping inside her.


    Ryu panted as he looked Chi in the eyes. He leaned in and kissed her lips lightly. He was fully spent. He could feel the circulation of the soul qi between him and Chi slowing down. After catching his breath, he laid back, pulling Chi with him. "You know¡­ We will need to buy some toys in the real world, or I have a feeling you may go unsatisfied."


    "No!" Chi propped herself up and stared at Ryu with furrowed brows. "I do not care if you have a dick in real life or not I only want to have sex with you. Whether it be in game or out, as long as I know it is you, I do not care. But¡­ Toys would spice things up. Hehe"


    Chi grinned as she kissed Ryu''s lips. Ryu Chuckled and hugged Chi tightly. "Now the question is will you be able to endure three hours in the real world?"


    "Ryu, are you trying to kill me!?" Chi yelled and pinched Ryu''s side. She laid on top of him, still connected at the waist as she rested her head on his chest. It was only when she gazed into Ryu''s eyes and saw that they were slightly glowing that she realized something was different. "Ryu, I think we broke through!"


    "Hmm?" Ryu opened his menu and saw that he had did indeed level up.


    [Serenity]


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: Specialist


    Cultivation Stage: Soul Sensing Realm, Stage 1


    Level: 1/30


    [Health]: 553/553


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 422


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 20


    [Luck]: 5


    [Status Points]: 40


    {Spouse}


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    {Cultivation method}


    Heavenly Cycle


    "Seems like our hard work paid off." Ryu teased. In a way, she felt like she was cheating. She knew the cultivation method they used was like a drug that made them lose themselves in passion and, in a short time, is able to circulate the soul qi within them, allowing them to level up faster. In a way this kind of technique was a bit overpowered and felt more like a paid item you could get in a shop. She wondered just how quickly her and Chi would be able to level. Especially since they definitely had no problems having sex.


    "Mmm¡­ If only having sex in the real world would let you level up and heal faster..." Chi pursed her lips. If such a thing could heal Yuki, she would screw Yuki until Yuki thought about nothing but sex! But then She would break her, and this she did not want.


    Ryu chuckled and kissed the top of Chi''s head. "We can still do it lots in and out of game, so don''t worry."


    "I am not worried about that! Why are you making me out to be some kind of lustful rabbit!" Chi yelled.


    "Are you not?" Ryu asked with a confused expression. Chi''s mouth opened wide, not even able to say a word. She even questioned herself. ''Am I?''


    "I am just kidding. You are only a little bit like a lustful rabbit." Ryu said teasingly. He even pinched her nipple, causing her to pinch his waist ruthlessly.


    "Ryu! What are we going to do about that quest you got?" Chi asked.


    "We will need to be careful. We will investigate until we are absolutely sure. If I was the only one to get the quest, it must mean I will end up involved in it somehow. But if that woman was a demon, then she would sooner or later make a move. What that move will be, I do not know. Luckily we have the element of surprise going for us. At least at this moment and time. Once we start snooping, I am not too sure." Ryu could only think up to this point on things.


    "Then let''s hope things work out. It would be good if no one gets hurt." Chi said as she hugged Ryu''s neck.


    "Mmm¡­. We can only hope."

 Chapter 102: Adoption And Moving Part 1

    The next afternoon after a hot bath, Yuki was sitting in front of the TV with Trisha when Tina came in. "Hey, girls!"


    Hearing Tina''s voice, Yuki''s eyes lit up as she said: "Waom!" (Mom!)


    Tina walked over and gave Yuki a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then she hugged and kissed Trisha. "How has she been?"


    "She has been good. She is slowly regaining her feeling in her body. It should be soon for her to at least talk normal and move her head by herself." Trisha answered excitedly. They had once again checked early on her senses, and from her waist area up, she was really beginning to get her feeling back. It would only be a matter of time before Yuki can move the upper half of her body again.


    "That is really good news!" Tina was so happy hearing this. Her new daughter was slowly getting better!


    "Mom. Yuki wanted me to tell you that you can get the adoption papers ready any time. There is no need to wait a full year like you agreed upon before. She said there is no mother in the world other than you that she would want as her mom." This was something that Yuki had asked her to say when she was in game. "She also said that your job is too dangerous and that she will buy you a house so you can retire early. Here¡­ There is a 10 million limit on this card until she can finally sign the papers to get a black card. She said this is for you to do as you please with."


    "This¡­" Tina was stunned. She had never seen so much money in her life. She turned to Yuki with a questioning expression, not sure what to say. "Yuki, you should keep this money! You shouldn''t give me all this money. What will you do!?"


    "Tri-pa, smo ver!" (Trisha, show her!) Yuki said. She even had a sly smile on her face as she did.


    Tisha giggled as she took out Yuki''s phone and went to the banking app to show Tina, Yuki''s account. Tina almost choked on air when she saw the number of zeros on there. "This!? Yuki, you made over 6 billion!?"


    Tina was truly stunned, but even so, she pushed the card back towards Trisha. "I really can''t accept it. It is a very kind and sweet gesture, but I really can''t take my daughter''s money."


    Trisha smiled and pushed the card back to Tina: "You must accept it. Yuki and I had been thinking about what we can do for you, and we wanted to allow you to retire early, maybe find Yuki, a good father who is kind and will treat you well. There are even those AI Bots now that are no different than a man if you are not sure if you want to be in a relationship where you might be cheated on. But whatever you decide, just know that Yuki and I will always support you as you are our mom."


    Tina, who had the card pushed back at her, had tears in her eyes as she looked at it. "You girls are too much and unfair! Fine¡­ I will accept this, but a house is too much..."


    "Tri-pa, pan V." (Trisha Plan B.) Yuki announced.


    Tina looked at her daughter, who seemed to be very scheming, a little loss for words. "What do you mean plan B!?"


    "Hehe, mom, we already bought you a nice villa and bought the latest AI bots to help take care of the house and yard. Everything from food shopping to cleaning the floors will be done for you. And on top of that, we even got you the newly made Anthony." Trisha said with a big smile as she waved the key card in the air.


    "This!? When did you do all of this!? How did you get it done so fast!?" Tina was really unsure of what to think of all of this! Wasn''t this all a bit too much!?


    "Hehe, Mom, did you forget who I am? I reluctantly asked my stupid brother to pull a few strings and get it all ready. As this was a direct order from a prince of the Evergreen household, how could they refuse?" Trisha said triumphantly. She did not want to ask her brother for anything ever, but for Tina, she did no mind.


    "Trisha! That is an abuse of power!" Tina wanted to argue some point, so she was grasping at straws. But truthfully, she was very touched. She had never been treated so well by someone except for her parents. She felt warm knowing her daughter and daughter in law was doing all of this for her.


    "Hehe! I am just using a bit of power I never got to use before. That is all." Trisha said, lifting her chin proudly.


    "You girls are too much." Tina had tears in her eyes. Since the stupid thing was already bought, she couldn''t say no. "Alright, but you two will be coming with me. My guess is that this place is close, is it not?"


    "It is two streets away in the penthouse villa at the very top in the Majestic building..." Trisha answered.


    "Good, not far from here." Tina did not want to move too far from her parents in case something were to happen.


    "Umm, mom¡­ Grandma and Grandpa are already living there¡­ We had already decided to move in as well so everyone could be together. Did you not notice that the shop isn''t open today?" There was a big sign on the front door saying that the shop was closing down.


    "I didn''t even look when I came in. You mean my parents are already living at the villa?" Tina asked.


    "No, they are next door in the penthouse villa next to ours. They said something about not wanting to be with a bunch of youngsters, so Yuki said to buy them their own. So we bought 2 villas." Although they were positioned on top of a building, the buildings were hundreds of times bigger than those of the past. Each villa had a land size of at least ten acres. They were massive properties. And they were able to get them for cheap and own the deeds right out, thanks to Greg wanting to do whatever he could to please Trisha. In the end, they cost Yuki 1 billion crowns each.

 Chapter 103: Adoption And Moving Part 2

    "You! Girls are too much!" Tina held her head. Her daughter and soon to be daughter in law were just way too much! Was this not that so called rich person attitude? The attitude where money grew on trees, so they did not mind just tossing it out like nothing.  "So when are you moving?"


    "We are moving as soon as the movers come. We already hired movers to be sent to your house." Trisha gave a cheeky grin as she said this. She knew Tina would never allow them to do this, so they went behind her back and did it anyway.


    "Wait¡­ How do you even have a key to my house!?" Tina asked. She was not mad, but she finally realized that Trisha was not an ordinary person! Although the more she thought about it, the more she realized Trisha was never ordinary in the first place.


    "Don''t worry, the ones we hired are all robots. Anyway, the movers should be here soon. We should head over to the new place. As for the adoption thing, if Tina is still willing, there is a lawyer there waiting for us if you want to do it all now." Trisha explained. She went all out for her Yuki.


    "We can do it that quickly!?" Tina was once again shocked. She figured she would need to go through a bunch of meetings to deal with adopting Yuki. She was ready for many days in court and meeting state officials to make sure she was not some crazy person.


    "Yeah, when we talked to the layer this morning, he said it was no issue. Yuki is already an adult, so the adoption process is just a signature for her to become your legal daughter." Trisha explained.


    "Then let''s go! I will go bring the car around!" Tina was excited. She was going to officially be Yuki''s mom today! As she ran out the door, she stopped on the deck of the house before turning back around to put her shoes on. She was so excited she completely forgot she had taken them off!


    Trisha and Yuki chuckled at Tina''s cute antics. Yuki couldn''t keep the smile off her face. When she looked up warmly at Trisha, she did not realize that she had turned her own head as she said: "Tri-sha, thank vu..." (Trisha, thank you.)


    It was only when she finished speaking that her eyes went wide. Even Trisha turned and looked at Yuki, whose head was slightly tilted upward looking at her. "This! Yuki!"


    Tears dripped from Trisha''s eyes as she knelt down and hugged Yuki. Yuki''s recovery was going faster than she had ever expected. When Tina came back in and saw Trisha crying and hugging Yuki, she began to panic. "What happened!?"


    "Mom! Yuki can move her head now!" It happened so suddenly that Trisha was caught off guard, causing her to break down and cry. She was happy. So happy she couldn''t stop the rain of tears.


    Tina''s eyes went wide as she looked at Yuki, who suddenly nodded. It was slow, but she was able to nod her head now! "We need to celebrate! This calls for a celebration!"


    "Mm!  I will call Jen and the others. We can have a big get together of family and friends." Trisha said as she leaned down and kissed Yuki''s lips.


    "Okay, let''s get going. I pulled the car around." Tina was all smiles. Today was such a day of surprises that she did not think she would ever have a better day than this.


    After everyone got into Tina''s car, they took off flying towards the new villa. This villa had its own landing pad so Tina could easily land right on the property. The whole area of this part of the rooftop was covered in greenery, something one could not see at ground level. Because the building was so tall, it was able to pierce through the cloud banks allowing it to always be in the sunshine.


    This was, of course, surrounded by a kinetic dome that held in the oxygen that was produced by oxygen generation machines that were situated at the four corners of the two villas. These types of places were rare, and the only reason they were able to get such a place on such short notice was because Greg had revoked the status of the people living there and basically bankrupted them. This was not done to just anyone but businessmen who were under investigation for working with a rebel force that was against the Evergreen family.


    Once the villas were cleared, they sent in a bunch of robots to renovate both places. All this work was done swiftly and was finished in just a few hours. With the combination of nanobot construction and construction bots, a simple villa could be remade from the ground up in a single day. So the speed of renovations was very fast. The building these two villas were built upon were also built in the same fashion.


    When Tina, Trisha, and Yuki alighted from the car, they were met with a beautiful garden with white and pink flowers. There were a few gardening robots flying around tending to the plants and sweeping the path. As they made their way down the path, they came to one of the man made ponds that had a white gazebo with vines growing along its sides. The vines had blue and purple flowers blooming next to each other, creating a very nice contrast with the white paint of the gazebo.


    "This place is really beautiful." Tina was in awe. Being able to see such a sight was hard. She had been to some of them, what''s called ''green towers'' which a lot of rich people lived in. But they could not compare to this. This was like heaven in the clouds. This was now her own little heaven in the clouds, a place that her daughter bought for her to retire and relax for the rest of her life.

 Chapter 104: Adoption And Moving Part 3

    "Tri-sha, can vu take we to that vase?" (Trisha, can you take me to that place?) Yuki had asked for one thing to be done in this garden. It was a very important thing.


    "Mmm. I will take you there now." Trisha smiled and pushed Yuki down the path.


    Tina was curious as to what was going on, so she followed behind them. It was a 2 minute walk from where they were, but when they arrived at the place in question, Tina really began to tear up. Standing in front of her was a statue. It was of a young woman of only eighteen years of age. She had a long one piece skirt on. There were large feathered wings coming out of her back and a halo above her head. She was standing there with a flower in her hand, smelling it. The smile on her face showed just how happy she was. The girl''s pretty face showed no signs of sickness or anything else. But Tina only needed one look to know who this was.


    "Wary¡­ I wade it¡­" (Mary¡­. I made it...) Yuki wanted to say more, but it was just too hard. Her tears were rolling down her cheeks as she looked at this statue. She wanted to say so much more. She wanted to tell Mary that she would do everything she can to live a life Mary never had the chance to. This statue had cost a few million to make since it was done in a hurry. But the work that was done on it was top tier.


    Trisha bent over and used her shirt to help wipe Yuki''s tears. She then got on her knees and bowed her head. Tina also followed suit. The three girls closed their eyes and gave a silent prayer. Under this statue was the cremated remains of Yuki''s savior. A savior and a sister. Someone who gave her life to protect Yuki from all the bad things in the world so that she could make something out of herself and get out of the hell that was corrupting all those around her.


    After a moment of silence, Trisha raised her head and looked at the statue: "Mary, we never got the chance to meet. But because you were there guarding Yuki like her guardian angel, I was able to meet her.  Because you were there, Yuki was able to grow up strong, and now she is able to live a life without worry. I wish I could have met you and give you my thanks. I hope where ever you are in heaven that you are still looking down and watching.


    "And I promise, in your place, I will be there by Yuki''s side from now and forever. We already decided that our first child, when the time comes, if it is born a girl, she will be given your name. She will be named Chisaka Mary." Trisha wiped her tears and stood up, and helped Yuki wipe the tears from her eyes as well.


    Tina still had her head lowered. She could not contain her emotions. She owed Mary a lot as well. The girl who gave up her life to protect her friend. It was because of this that she was able to meet such a wonderful and loveable daughter. Tina thanked Mary over and over in her heart. She hoped wherever Mary was at this time that she was happy.


    After their little side detour, the three continued on to the villa. When they got to the exit of the garden, there was a small hovercart which was designed for people in wheelchairs in mind. Trisha helped Yuki on before storing the wheelchair on the back and getting on herself. Tina double checked to make sure Yuki was safely in before getting on herself and letting the cart take them to the house.


    The path from the landing pad to the house was about 6 minutes if they walked. But by hovercart, it was only a 2 minute ride. The green grassy field whizzed by as they made their way down the path. When they reached the front of the house, they were met with a few A.I. maids and one single handsome male A.I. code named Anthony. He was the latest model of the male partnership for single women A.I.s. Yuki and Trisha especially got this one for Tina.


    Besides the A.I.s, there was a tall man in a business suit waiting there. When he saw the hovercart come to a stop, he stepped forward to help Tina off. "Good afternoon. You must be Tina. I am sure Princess has told you this already, but I am the lawyer she hired to take care of the task of the adoption. My name is Dennis Wallace."


    "Hello, Dennis, yes, I am Tina. Thank you for coming all the way out here for this." Tina extended her hand in greeting.


    Dennis smiled and shook it. He then saw Trisha walking over, pushing Yuki in a wheelchair. He quickly bowed his head and greeted her.  "Princess Trisha, It is good to finally meet you."


    "Please don''t call me Princess. I gave up my name and title." Trisha said with a frown. She knew her brother put him up to this.


    "This... His highness said..." Dennis was caught between a rock and a hard place. If he did not follow Prince Greg''s orders and call Trisha princess, he could very well be fired or something even worse.


    Trisha sighed and decided to just let things be. "Do as you see fit..."


    Dennis instantly smiled and nodded his head. "Then Princess, Princess Yuki, and Miss Tina, this way."


    Yuki stared at Dennis, trying to figure out why he was calling her princess. She decided to bring this up with Greg in game the next time and have a little talk with him. She, in no way shape or form wanted to be a princess if Trisha was not one. She would only do so if Trisha took back her title.

 Chapter 105: Adoption And Moving Part 4

    When they entered the villa, they were met with a large open room. In the center of that room was a circular area that was sunken into the floor with padded seating lining the edges except the steps leading down into the area. In the very center was a holo tv which projected a 3d view of what you are watching.


    Besides that, there was a huge dining room, a gym, a meeting room, a home theater, a massive kitchen, and even an indoor swimming pool. On the second floor, there were many rooms, each one fully soundproof so no sounds could be heard inside or outside the rooms. This was something Trisha made sure of otherwise, she would not be able to have special workout lessons with Yuki. Besides bedrooms on the second floor, there were also three offices and a fully stocked library.


    Before too much exploring was done, they all went into the meeting room, where a bunch of documents were laid out. Denis stood on one side of the table and pushed a few papers and a bio reader in front of Tina. "I need the two of you to sign these, and this here, I will need to register your bio signature. "


    "Just these three forms? And a drop of blood?" Tina asked. She was amazed at how quickly this was going.


    "Yes, just these forms," Denis said with a smile.


    Tina did as she was told and signed the forms as well as dripped a drop of blood into the bio reader. "There you go," Tina said, pushing the forms and bio reader back to Denis.


    Denis took it and made sure everything was done properly before nodding his head and then pushing the same forms in front of Yuki. "Princess Yuki, Princess can help you sign."


    "Mmm..." Yuki hummed and frowned at being called princess again. Trisha ignored it altogether and held Yuki''s hand and helped her sign her name, and then pricked her finger so she could drop some blood into the bio reader.


    When Denis took back the form, she once again checked them before taking out a stamp and stamping them. "Congratulations, you two are now officially a mother and daughter."


    "Thank you. And thank you for getting the paperwork done so fast." Tina bowed her head and thanked Denis.


    "No, no. It was a pleasure being able to bring a new family together like this. I wish all orphans will be able to find parents who care and love each other as you and your daughter do." Denis could see, just like Trisha, that Tina also shaved her head to match her daughter. This was a sign of familial love which so many children were missing.


    Tina saw Denis out and came back in with a furrowed brow. Ever since Denis left this, Anthony A.I. had been following her around like a lost puppy. "Umm, Trisha, what is with this thing?"


    "Mom, just talk to him. He is as smart as a person. He has been waiting for you to talk to him." Trisha said before a teasing smile formed on her lips. "He is your temporary husband, after all."


    "You!" Tina blushed. She looked at Anthony, unsure of what to think about this thing. She had seen them many times on the T.V. and quite a few times she had almost bought one, but now that she had one, she was unsure of what to think about this, especially in the face of her daughter in law and daughter. Thinking for a moment, she said: "Anthony, can you cook?"


    "Yes, Miss." Anthony replied happily. As a companion type bot, it was programmed to be very realistic with special restrictions.


    "Alright, help me in the kitchen then. I want to find out what is there and what to make for the party tonight." Tina decided since it was here and her daughter bought her one, she would just make use of it. "Trisha, take Yuki upstairs and get her ready for when your friends arrive. Oh right, what are your brothers'' favorite foods?"


    Trisha frowned and blurted out: "Poison!"


    Tina froze and looked at Trisha before shaking her head: "Forget it I will just make things everyone can pick from."


    Trisha pursed her lips before bringing Yuki over to the elevator. She hit the button and headed to the second floor. All the rooms were the same size with their own private baths. Trisha brought Yuki into the bathroom and washed her face for her before getting her dressed in something new and a light application of makeup. "Mm.. perfect makes me want to eat you up."


    "Vu already do..."(You already do...) Yuki said while blushing. As soon as they woke up this morning Trisha said she was going to ''clean her up'' and used her tongue to do so. Not that she hated it or anything.


    Trisha also blushed at Yuki''s words. She leaned down and kissed Yuki lips as she whispered: "I can''t help it when you are just too sexy for me to resist. Plus having a taste of strawberry when I wake up is very good!"


    "Vatter I will wick vu."(Later, I will lick you.) Yuki licked her lips seductively causing Trisha''s mind to run wild.


    But even though she really wanted to have Yuki do such a thing she still felt that maybe they should do that just yet. "Yuki, we should still wait until you can use your arms. I just don''t want to accidentally hurt you..."


    "I know¡­ Cits fine." (I know¡­ It''s fine) Yuki could only sigh. She knew it was still too soon.


    An hour later a car arrived on one of the landing pads in the villa. This car was the latest model flying car that was specially made for the Evergreen royal family. The driver got out first and quickly ran around to the other side to open the door. When the door opened an older man in his late fifties stepped out of the car.

 Chapter 106: The King Is Here Part 1

    "Hmm... This place is not bad. Just barely suitable for my little princess." Melgrave squinted his eyes as he looked the place over. He then walked down the path, looking at everything. The more he saw, the more he liked it. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a lit up area and walked towards that. When he stood in front of Mary''s statue, Melgrave bowed his head and closed his eyes.


    After a moment of silence, Melgrave opened his eyes and said softly: "Little girl, it is my incompetence as a ruler that has caused you to lose your life. But I owe you a debt of gratitude as well. You protected the one my daughter loves. For this, I owe you greatly. In honor of your memory, I have already created a fund for those who are addicted to neo, as well as putting all orphanages under my control. Kids without parents will now be able to have proper care so they will not stray down the wrong path. All orphanages will be moved to better areas and out of the slums. This all may not be much now and may not be an answer to the solution, but I will keep working on it and refining it until we get to the point that no child is left to the wills of the world."


    "Your majesty." The driver from before handed over a bouquet of flowers to Melgrave.


    Melgrave took them and placed them in front of the statue. "Rest in peace. This statue of you suits you very well. You were indeed an angel. May you rest in peace¡­."


    "Let''s go." Melgrave adjusted his suit and turned around. The real battle was about to begin.


    Inside the villa, Tina and the robots were running all over the place, getting things set up for the celebration. Trisha tried to help but was thoroughly rejected and told to take care of Yuki. So, in the end, Yuki had to console Trisha, who suddenly felt useless. As the two were watching the Holo Vision, the 3D hologram television, one of the A.I. maids walked in and announced that someone was here. "I will go greet them."


    "There is no need." A voice that seemed to be full of dominance echoed into the room, causing Trisha to freeze her movements. She looked up to see a familiar face enter the room. Yuki looked over and stared at the old man, not saying a word. But she couldn''t help feeling a bit nervous, as if Trisha was about to be taken away from her.


    After composing herself, Trisha stood up and crossed her arms across her chest, and asked: "Why are you here?"


    "Do I need a reason to see my daughter?" Melgrave asked. He already expected this cold attitude.


    "Oh, now I am your daughter? What''s the matter you need to marry me off for some alliance to keep an enemy at bay? Sorry to say this, but Yuki already took all my firsts, so I  am nothing but used goods." Trisha stated flatly without a single shred of shame.


    Yuki, on the other hand, looked at Trisha in surprise. Although they may have done it for real in game, in fact, in reality, they were both still virgins! She, of course, would never say this out loud to counter anything Trisha said, but still, it was very surprising for Yuki that Trisha would talk this way to the king of the world.


    Hearing his daughter''s crude remark caused Melgrave to choke on air and stare at her in disbelief. Was his daughter always like this!? "Ahem¡­ I am not here for that. And I would never split the two of you up."


    "Then why are you here? If I recall correctly, I gave up my title and name in order to stay by Yuki''s side. Why is it now that I am no longer a princess, all of my so called family keep appearing in front of me after ignoring me for almost 19 years?" Trisha asked. She was trying to stay as calm as possible since this was a day of celebration.


    "That is not..." Melgrave was going to try to explain when Tina walked in.


    "A guest? May I hel¡­. Your majesty!" Tina quickly knelt down, not daring to raise her head.


    "Please, Miss Watts, you are the mother of my soon to be daughter in law. We will be family soon. There is no need for this. Just treat me as a normal person." Melgrave sighed. He walked over and helped Tina up. "I am here unannounced. I hope you do not mind.


    "No, no, it is our pleasure to have you, your majesty.''" Tina still did not dare look Melgrave in the eye. She felt if she did, she would be put in jail immediately.


    "Miss Watts¡­ No, Tina, please, call me Melgrave. As I said, we will be family so you can relax and act your normal self." Melgrave tried to calm Tina down, but no matter what he said, he was forgetting he was the king of the world and not some guy on the street.


    "Father, you can''t expect her to just treat you as an average person right away." Greg''s voice came from the front entrance as he and Jen walked in.  He was wearing a pair of dress pants and a collared shirt. While Jen was dressed in a white one piece dress with white heels to match.


    Trisha was really starting to get a headache. All the people she did not wish to see were congregating in her new home. "Has it become a new rule that the evergreens do not know how to be asked in and instead just barge into peoples'' homes unannounced?"


    "Trisha that is not it!  You already knew I was coming over!" Greg started to act the victim hoping to gain some sympathy points.


    "And him?" Trisha motioned her chin to Melgrave her eyes showing not a single ounce of warmth to either one of them.

 Chapter 107: The King Is Here Part 2

    Greg scratched his head as he looked at Melgrave. "I.. Uhhh... Kinda told him you asked me over to celebrate your new place, and he insisted he was going to come as well."


    Trisha''s brow furrowed more. "Tri-Sha..."(Trisha...) Trisha heard Yuki call her name and looked over at her. When she saw Yuki''s eyes looking at her with warmth and concern, Trisha let out a long sigh. "Fine! Because today is a day of celebration, I won''t make any more fuss."


    Melgrave looked at his daughter, then at the girl in the wheelchair, and smiled warmly at her. "You must be Yuki. I have heard a lot about you. You have my deepest gratitude for what you have done for my daughter. Since you and my daughter are bound for marriage, you may also call me father as well."


    "Are you really going to be doing this!?" Trisha was ready to flip out. Why would he want Yuki to call him father when he was in no way her father!


    "Tri-Sha!" (Trisha!) Yuki forced out a yell causing Trisha to freeze. She turned and looked at Yuki. Her eyes started to water up. "Tri-sha, vome here..." (Trisha, come here...)


    Trisha leaned over, and Yuki whispered into her ear, saying: "No matter how much you dislike him, he is still your father. Whether you wish to be an Evergreen or not is up to you, and I will always support you. But for now, for the time being, let''s just appease him for now to a point. Because if he decided to dislike me and forcefully takes you away, there is nothing you or I can do to stop it. I really do not want to lose you..."


    Trisha understood that while she herself could act as she pleases, Yuki could not. So in order to make sure they could stay together, they had to at least appease him to a point. Sighing, Trisha nodded and kissed Yuki''s lips. "I understand..."


    Yuki nodded and looked at Melgrave: "Vather..." (Father...)


    Melgrave lips curled up into a wide smile as he nodded his head in approval. "Good! Very good!" He then turned to Tina and asked: "Tina, we should set a date for the engagement."


    "Wait! We do not need to do that now!" Trisha did not want to set any dates until Yuki was fully healed. If anything ever happened to Yuki during such an event, she did not know what she would do.


    "Y-yes¡­ Trisha is right. We should hold off until Yuki is able to move on her own. " Tina said nervously. She was growing a little bolder the longer  Melgarve was here.


    "Hmm... Yes, you are right. Sorry, I got overly excited." Melgrave bowed his head in apology.


    "Trisha, James just called and said he is here with Sophia and Amber." Greg cut in.


    "Humph! At least one of you has proper manners." Trisha ignored the embarrassed looks on both Greg and Melgrave''s faces and went to the door to actually greet her guests.


    "Trisha!" Amber came in and gave Trisha a hug. This was followed by Sophia. James tried to give her a hug too, but was left standing there with his arms wide open.


    "Hello?''" Tina''s cell phone rang as Trisha was walking back into the room. "You will be here in a few minutes? Okay, just come on in when you are." After hanging up, she said to Trisha: "My mother and father will be here soon."


    "Huh!? Grandma and Grandpa are coming!?" Trisha was suddenly getting nervous. She wondered how they would react with the king sitting in their living room. She couldn''t help but look at Melgrave, wondering if this old fart would scare Tina''s parents or not.


    "Don''t worry, they will be fine." Tina knew her parents better than anyone. What she worried about was that they would be too open with their thoughts. When they first met Yuki, they were very good to her. Even more so when they found out that Tina wanted to adopt her. They began treating her like a treasure and sang high praise for Trisha. But¡­ The king was a different story. They felt that the king was the cause of all of Yuki and Trisha''s hardships, and even though they would not be completely wrong, she hoped they would not say this right to his face.


    "Tina! Yuki! Trisha! We are here!" Tina''s mother, Mrs. Watts, yelled out as she walked in. She looked around and saw quite a few people inside. Her eyes fell on everyone until they landed on Melgrave. "What the hell is he doing here!?"


    "Ahem! Mom!" Tina ran over and pulled her mother to the side. "Mom, be good and don''t cause a fuss!"


    "What!? Should we keep our words to ourselves just because he is king!? Tina, let me tell you it is all..."


    "Old Woman, cut it out! Are you trying to ruin our daughter and granddaughter''s big day!?" An old man yelled out. This was Tina''s father, Mr. Watts. He was walking with a cane and had a package in his arms.


    Seeing this, Trisha quickly ran over and took the package. "Grandpa, we gave you so many A.I.s. Why are you not using them?"


    "I''m not so old that I can''t carry a package!" Mr. Watts said in a chiding manner but was still smiling warmly at Trisha. "Tri girl, how has my granddaughter been?"


    "Hehe, Grandpa, come see for yourself. Grandma, you too!" Trisha took the two''s hands and brought them over to Yuki.


    Melgrave looked on with a hint of jealousy in his eyes. The difference in treatment was like day and night. But he knew this was his own fault. He should have figured out another way of protecting her. But he was not the only one feeling jealous. Greg and James also felt the difference in treatment was too big.


    Yuki could see that Melgrave''s expression was looking gloomy and sighed. "Vather, wome here..." (Father, come here...)

 Chapter 108: The King Is Here Part 3

    Melgrave looked at his daughter in law and felt that she was indeed perfect for his daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Watts frowned but stayed silent. If Yuki wanted Melgrave to come over, it was not their place to say anything. Trisha also stayed silent. She decided to just sit next to Yuki and not pay attention to the old man. She knew Yuki was not doing this to make her feel uncomfortable. She was doing it to stay on good terms with the old man who was her good for nothing father. But this still left her two brothers, who were standing there unsure of what they should do.


    Yuki could care less about them since she knew them well enough. Her only concern was not burning a bridge with the man in front of her so that Trisha and her could live happily. Trisha may not want anything to do with him and would show it openly. But for someone like Yuki, who never had proper parents, a father who was trying to show his love late was better than no father at all, even if you did not want to see his face. Yuki did not want to let Trisha completely shut him out in case in the future she suddenly regrets it. Over time feelings can change, and she did not want to see Trisha regretting her actions later on and getting hurt in the process.


    "I saw the memorial of your friend. The craftsmanship was well done. I made sure to say a few words before coming in." Melgrave said as he sat down across from Yuki. The other side was already filled with her grandparents, so he had to settle for sitting across from them.


    "Vank you for your mindess" (Thank you for your kindness.) Yuki forced a smile. This was not a subject she wished to talk about with the ruler of the world, the person who did not even care about those kids who are ending up on the streets addicted to drugs because the orphanages were not even willing to look after them properly.


    Melgrave did not continue the subject. He could tell by the forced smile on Yuki''s face that he should not say more. Melgrave rubbed his head. He felt like he was failing at everything today. Then a thought came to mind. "May I ask what kind of security system you have here?"


    "Vi¡­ Ahem..." Yuki suddenly went into a coughing fit, causing Trisha to panic. "Yuki!"


    "Yuki, are you okay!?" Mr. and Mrs. Watts quickly stood up and began patting Yuki on the back.


    "She''s fine. Let her cough. It will help." Melgrave stood up and said.


    Everyone else ran over. Yuki''s face was bright red. Seeing this, Melgrave walked forward and put his hand on her chest. His hand began to glow with a greenish light and entered Yuki''s body. Greg panicked and came running over, "Father, if you do that!"


    "Shut up!" Melgrave yelled out. His brow had beads of sweat forming on it. After about a minute, Yuki''s face returned to its normal color, and her breathing became steady as she stopped coughing. Melgrave finally removed his hand and stumbled back, almost falling over but was caught by someone he never expected. "Thank you..."


    "Humph!" Trisha only snorted in response before quickly backing away from him and asked: "What was that just now?"


    "I used some of my own life force to fix the adverse reaction in her body from her treatment. It is something only I can do. I have a mutated gene in my body that allows me to use such an ability." Melgrave explained before adding: "I would prefer everyone here keeps this a secret."


    "No issue, no one will say a word." A calm melodic voice entered everyone''s ears. Trisha''s eyes suddenly began to water up as she covered her mouth with her hands. Yuki was freely moving her neck around with ease, unlike the slow motion before, and was now speaking normally! That cool crisp voice that was always filled with a bit of attitude and sarcasm was like honey to Trisha''s ears.


    "Yuki!"Trisha almost dove at Yuki as she hugged her tightly.


    Yuki chuckled and used her chin to hug Trisha. She looked up at Melgrave and said with all sincerity: "Thank you, very much. Ummm¡­ You said you used your life force. What exactly does that mean?


    "Don''t worry, it is only a little bit of time. Nothing to worry about." Melgrave''s face was slightly pale as he forced a smile.


    "Nothing to worry about, my ass!" Two people yelled at the same time Greg and James ran over and supported their father, helping him sit down. Greg''s face was red with anger as he yelled out: "You just took a few years off your life!"


    "A few years is nothing! Evergreen''s live to be almost 200 years old if they don''t die early." This was true. The Evergreen family did indeed live long lives. They could even live forever if they used the newer technology that was coming out. But a normal life span was 200 years for an evergreen.


    Yuki did not know what to say. The man in front of her had just used his own life span to help her. Now she felt like she owed Melgrave for what he had just done. When the coughing fit started so suddenly, she felt like something was lodged in her throat, blocking off her airways.


    "Whether that is true or not, Father, you still can''t go around doing that!" Greg was still not happy about what just happened. If something happens to his father right now, then the Evergreen family will see another bloodbath like it did during his grandfather''s reign.


    "This is nothing! This little girl took a damn bullet and almost died for my princess! Why the hell would I care about a few fucking years!? Even if I had to give up 100 years of my life, I would do it without a second thought!!" Melgrave suddenly burst out with anger. He was angry because Greg was basically saying the life of the little girl who saved his precious daughter was worth less than a few years of his own.


    "Enough!" Yuki yelled out. "Greg, go tend to your girlfriend and shut up. Today is a day of celebration. Father, thank you for just now. If you need anything from me just ask. I will do what I can to help unless it has to do with Trisha. I will not force her to do anything she does not wish to do. But I still wish to at least be in a friendly relationship with you. A father and daughter can hate each other all they want, but the blood that flows within them will bind them together for all eternity."


    Greg lowered his head and walked towards Jen, who shook her head and let out a sigh. She reached out and took his hand while whispering: "Whether it is in game or out, she doesn''t change."


    "Yes, and the worst part is I can never retort!" Greg glanced over at Trisha, who was still hugging Yuki and felt depressed. "Jen, do you think she will ever come around?"


    "Maybe one day. Just hold on, and one day she may forgive you." Jen interlocked her fingers with Greg''s.


    Melgrave was speechless. He never expected this little girl to be so overpowering. But her words touched him. He now understood why she was being nice to him instead of ignoring him like Trisha. He bowed his head and said: "I thank you. The only thing I will ask of you is to treat my daughter well."


    "Isn''t that a given? I mean, who could resist spoiling such a cute girl as my Trisha?" Yuki said teasingly. This caused the mood to lighten up and also caused Trisha''s cheeks to blush, so she kept her face hiding in Yuki''s chest.  Yuki''s words just now did register in her mind. Whether she could accept her father one day was another story, but as Yuki said, it would not be proper to totally disown him even if he was a shitty father.


    With the drama finally over and Yuki lightening the mood once more, everyone began talking as Tina brought out some snacks for everyone and sat down to join the conversation. When she saw Yuki speaking normally again, she burst out crying and joined Trisha in hugging her. As for Yuki, she felt that her recovery was moving a little too fast. She didn''t understand why she would feel like she was choking if her injury was in her head. This should not and would not cause her to feel like something was in her throat.  Not to mention Melgrave seemed to know what was happening. She had many questions but right now was not the time or place to be asking. She decided she would ask him the next time they meet if they ever do meet again.


    [AN: You all may have realized this chapter was longer! I have decided to go back to 1 chapter a day but longer chapters. Chapters will be almost the same as you get, with 2 chapters ranging between 1.5k to 2k words. This does not affect your bonus chapters, so you will still get them if we reach the goals!]

 Chapter 109: Becoming One

    [AN: Warning R-18]


    With the celebration ending late, Yuki and Trisha decided to take a single night off. The two laid in their new bed listening to some soft music. Yuki turned her head and looked at Trisha, who was snuggled up next to her with her eyes closed. "Trisha, sorry for earlier. "


    Trisha opened her eyes and looked at Yuki in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"


    "Because I know you want nothing to do with your family at this time, but yet I still acted on my own and said what I said." Yuki felt guilty and hoped she did not hurt Trisha''s feelings by how she acted today.


    "It''s fine. What you said is right. I never thought of it like that. Although I despise them for neglecting me and allowing others in the family to treat me like trash, that old man is still my father, whether he deserves the title or not. This doesn''t mean I will be running over to him and hugging him while yelling, "daddy", any time soon. It just means I will not cut him out completely." Trisha adjusted her position and nuzzled her nose into Yuki''s neck. "I have a new family now and an amazing girlfriend. I do not care about anything else. As long as my Yuki is next to me, I can be at peace."


    "Then¡­" Yuki thought for a moment before slightly blushing as she said: "Then take my virginity."


    "Okay! But you have to take mine too!" Trisha said happily. She had been wanting to do this for a while.  "Hold on. I will strip down then help you out of your clothes."


    "Mmm..." Yuki bit her bottom lip. She was actually kind of excited. She laid there as Trisha stood over her and began slowly swaying her hips as she slowly took over her shirt, revealing her modest breasts and pearly white skin underneath.  Trisha even licked her fingers and played with her nipples causing Yuki to giggle.  "Trisha, you know you are one beautiful girl. You can still dump me and find some guy with a big dick to satisfy you."


    "Humph! Who needs a dick when I got my Yuki? Nothing beats my Yuki! Yuki is life, and Yuki is love, my life, and my love." Trisha said righteously as she pumped her fist in the air.


    Yuki let out a laugh, finding Trisha to be very cute. She smiled warmly at the sexy girl standing over her. She truly loved this girl so much. "Trisha, quickly help me! No fun if you are the only one naked!"


    "This is true. Then don''t mind if I do!" Trisha kicked her clothes to the floor before helping Yuki out of her shirt and panties. She then slid her body on top of Yuki''s, so they were face to face. "So I got a toy just for today. To celebrate our new home."


    Trisha reached over and opened a drawer on the nightstand, and pulled out a double sided dildo. She held it in her hand and blushed as she said: "I got this so we can lose our virginities at the same time to each other." It seemed Trisha had already planned to do just this.


    Yuki smiled and leaned her head up, and kissed Trisha''s lips. "You know my movement may not be back below my neck, but I can still feel you against me. I can feel the heat of your body on mine. I may not be able to react physically, so do as you please with my body since it belongs to you and only you."


    "Mm... I will get you plenty wet first." Trisha grinned as she slid down Yuki''s body, diving straight into her pussy.


    "Ah!" Yuki gasped as she felt Trisha''s tongue teasing her. She couldn''t help but bite her lip as Trisha did as she pleased. Each time Trisha teased her clit was like a bolt of electricity that sent waves of pleasure through her body. She so wished she could hold Trisha''s head and push her pussy hard against her face.


    Once Yuki was plenty wet, Trisha slid her body up and sat up as she began teasing herself on top of Yuki''s body. Yuki watched as Trisha worked her own pussy and pouted slightly. "Trisha, come close to my mouth."


    "But..." Trisha was still worried that something might happen.


    "Just come..." Yuki said as she licked her lips. Trisha hesitated for a second before doing as Yuki said.


    When Trisha felt Yuki''s little tongue touch her clit for the first time, she felt as if she had been electrocuted. She had dreamt of this moment a few times now, and now that she was actually having it done for real, she couldn''t help but have an orgasm almost immediately. But she controlled her entire body, not once swaying her hips as she let Yuki lick and suck on her pussy as she pleased. Ten minutes passed, and Trisha realized she had already cummed a few times now and felt very embarrassed. She looked down at Yuki, who seemed to be lost in what she was doing, her face covered in her juices.


    "Yuki, I think that is good..." Trisha blushed because she had really soaked Yuki''s face.


    Yuki opened her eyes and looked up at Trisha, and grinned. "Thank you for the meal."


    "Don''t tease me!" Trisha slid her body back down Yuki''s, leaving a big wet streak as she did.


    She leaned down and kissed Yuki''s lips. She could taste her own juices, but she didn''t care. She licked the juices off Yuki''s face before plunging her tongue into Yuki''s mouth. At the same time, she prepped the dildo in her with her free hand, gently sticking the tip into both of their openings. When everything was set, she lifted her head and looked at Yuki. "Ready?"


    "Mmm... Whenever you are." Yuki nodded her head. She bit her bottom lip as she felt the dildo in Trisha''s hands spread her lips wide and slowly entered her deeper and deeper until she felt a sharp pain. Yukia and Trisha both looked each other in the eye, feeling the fullness in their crotches as they laid there.


    "Are you okay?" Trisha finally asked, breaking the silence.


    "Mmm... How about you?" Yuki asked.


    "Hurt much more than I had expected. And this is basically the second time I have lost my virginity. The first time I was lost in my lust in game..." Trisha blushed.


    "Hehe... Take your time and move when you are ready." Yuki said as she leaned her head up and kissed Trisha lightly on the lips.


    "Mmm..." Trisha moved her hand, sliding the dildo out a little before pushing it back in. After a few more seconds, she had picked up the rhythm. She gazed down at Yuki, whose eyes were closed and was biting her lip as she let out soft moans. This sight alone caused Trisha to be extra turned on. She quickened the pace of the dildo, causing the both of them to moan louder and louder.


    Twenty minutes later, Trisha laid panting on top of Yuki, her arm hurting from all the work she just did. But both her and Yuki had cummed more times than she could count. "Next time, I am getting a strap on."


    "Haha!" Yuki let out a laugh. "Sorry I couldn''t help."


    "It''s fine. If I get a strap on, you can wear it too, and then I can take a ride on top of you." Trisha teased.


    "Mmm, get the one with the vibrator on the inside. That way, we both feel good at the same time." Yuki had already looked these things up when they first started dating. She wanted to be ready for anything.


    "Mmm... I will¡­ Hey, let''s wash up, go in game and walk around a bit. What do you think?" Trisha asked.


    "Mmm... If I recall, there is a lake near Roland village that at night the fireflies will light up the place making it look really beautiful." Yuki suggested.


    "Okay, then let''s do that!" Trisha said excitedly. "I will get the bath ready."


    "Mmm.." Yuki hummed as she watched Trisha run off towards the bathroom.  She looked down at herself and sighed. "Hopefully soon, I won''t just be a wooden log that can''t move. But today¡­ We finally became one."


    Yuki closed her eyes and thought about everything that has happened up until now. She was glad she met Trisha. Yuki laid there and began planning what to do next. "Once I turn in my other quest and deal with the demon quest, I want to start working on some new items. Save up enough money to begin buying items in game that will help our guild grow. With Trisha and my levels, we can easily make our way to new towns and maybe even the first major city. I want to set up our main guild residents in one of the major cities. If we can get there first, we can easily...  "


    "What are you mumbling about?" Trisha walked in and asked.


    "Just thinking about what to do after I complete these two quests I have going. I will explain in the bath you look cold." Yuki could see the goosebumps on Trisha''s body.


    "Mmm! I am a bit chilly. Let me carry you in, my Princess." Trisha said with a big smile.


    "Why do I feel you just want to take advantage of me?" Yuki asked with a teasing smile.


    "Because I do!"

 Chapter 110: Battle With Demon Part 1

    Ryu and Chi sat on the shores of the huge lake in front of them. Hundreds of fireflies were buzzing around, causing the area to be lit up. It was actually a mystical sight because the fireflies all turned different colors in a synchronized fashion. Chi was resting her head on Ryu''s chest, enjoying their little outing.


    "Oh? What do we have here?" A seductive voice came from behind Ryu and Chi, causing both Chi and Ryu to frown. They turned their heads to see the same young woman they saw when they first went to the village lord''s home. She was wearing a purple robe that was held on loosely by a sash that had not been tightened. It was very clear she wasn''t wearing anything underneath as the fireflies flew in and out of her robes, exposing all to see. But her eyes were glued to Ryu as she walked up with a seductive look on her face.


    With each step, the woman''s huge lumps on her chest swayed, threatening to pop out of her robe at any moment. Just looking at the skanky way she was dressed caused Ryu to frown. Just seeing her like this made her think back to the things Violet explained about demons. "If I was you, I would not come any closer..." Ryu equipped his sword and stood up. Chi was right behind him with swords drawn as well.


    "Ahh! I love it! So sexy! So heroic! It makes me..." The woman''s seductive smile turned sinister as her features began to slowly change. "It makes me want to eat you up."


    "So you are showing your true colors after all. To think the woman in the village lord''s home was a demon." Ryu said as he quickly cast Iron Body on himself.


    "Haha! You left me no choice. Your friends were asking around town and investigating me. Do you know how long it took to make it so they would forget every time I snatched up one of their young men? I had a good thing going, but you just had to go and ruin it. But I am also one to get what I want as well. So I will take you and play with you until I eat all your life force before  finding a new hunting ground." The woman said with a smile as she licked her disgusting lips that were dripping in drool.


    "Is that so?" Ryu released his cultivation suppression, causing the woman to frown.


    She could feel a heavy weight on her and knew right away that things would not be so easy. But even still, she felt her pride was more important. She flicked her wrist, causing her fingernails to grow out like long claws as she got into an attack position. "I will have you for dinner tonight!"


    "Chi, get ready!" Ryu yelled out.


    "I have been ready!" Chi yelled out. Her anger was apparent in her voice. She couldn''t believe this demon was ignoring her and only staring at Ryu! That was her Ryu! No one can touch him! When the woman, now turned demon, charged forward before Ryu could even move, Chi shot forward and clashed head on with her.


    *Clang!*


    Sparks flew as swords and claws collided. Chi spun her body and kicked out with her leg catching the demon in the stomach sending her flying back. A big smile formed on her face. She was proud of herself. The training she had done with Ryu was really showing itself. She licked her swords and charged forward.


    Ryu stared in disbelief as he watched Chi fighting on par with the demon. He felt that the whole scene was a little bit off. In game, he was the man, right? Why was Chi running forward, protecting him instead? Scratching his head, he sat back down on the grass cross legged to watch the show.


    He was very happy to see the training Chi went through was really coming in handy. Her movements were still a little rough, but as she fought the demon, her movements were slowly smoothing out and were flowing nicely. Because she was a Sword Dancer, her every movement allowed her to attack. Her dual swords flowed well with each step, and her flexibility gave her a large advantage over the demon who was having a hard time defending itself.


    "Fucking bitch!" The demon suddenly yelled out as it began to grow in size. This demon went from being a seductive woman to being a disgusting mix of human and demon to a large skin crawling demon that looked more like an alien you would see in a horror movie. It had greyish oily looking skin and a large elongated face filled with large razor sharp teeth. Its body was packed full of muscles, and its aura seemed to have become more powerful.


    "To think I would need to use my true form on worthless ants!" The demon yelled as it swiped towards Chi with its large hand that was almost the same size as Chi herself. But Chi seemed to be ready for this as she did a few backflips to get out of its range.


    "Ryu! I will need your help." Chi was not dumb. She knew her limits. She could tell this demon had really powered up from before. It was at least a few stages higher than her now.


    "Mmm..." Ryu stood up and spun his sword in his hand before resting it on his shoulder and walking over to stand next to Chi.


    "You know, the way you look right now is actually pretty cool." Chi teased. Ryu was standing there bare chested with shredded pants, but the way he had his sword resting on his shoulder looking up arrogantly at the massive demon as the wind blew by, making his hair flutter behind him, he seemed like one of those hero characters from an RPG who had just arrived late to the party.


    "Just look at the battle ahead of you." Ryu blushed slightly. The girl next to him had time to tease him when facing such a big enemy. She had no sense of danger at all!


    "Yes!" Chi smiled and answered cheerfully.


    "You ants! Dare ignore me!?" The demon was burning with fury after being ignored by the two humans in front of it. "Die!"


    The demon opened its mouth, and a red light began to glow from within.  Seeing this, Ryu quickly grabbed Chi''s hand and began to move right as the demon released a ray of light right at their previous position. The ray of light then followed right behind them, causing them to have to keep running until it finally stopped. "Damn humans!" The demon yelled out in rage before giving chase.


    "Chi, it doesn''t look like this demon can fire the laser beam attack right away, so my guess it is like a boss wipe skill. As long as you dodge it, you are fine, but if you get hit, you can consider yourself dead. So be sure to watch for when it opens its mouth and starts forming the red glow. Make sure you start running." Ryu explained after a quick observation. If the demon could use it right away after using it once, it would have in order to catch them off guard, but it couldn''t, which means this demon had more boss mechanics than a normal A.I.  Ryu could only guess this was because this was a quest monster.


    "Mmm... I noticed that too. Should we split now?" Chi asked.


    "Yeah, split. Whoever has aggro will run while the other attacks. Watch the attack pattern carefully. If we work together, we can easily beat this monster. Use potions if need be, else I will toss you a heal. Are you ready?" Ryu looked at Chi with a big smile. He was having a lot of fun right now.


    "Ready, let''s go!" Chi was also having fun. She loved working alongside Ryu like this, battling monsters. It was what made this game the most fun.


    The two quickly split and ran in different directions. Because Chi had the most aggro from before the demon immediately chased after her, which was something that Ryu had predicted. "Chi circle pattern!"


    Circle pattern was a kiting formation they had worked on when heading to the Forest Of Shadows with WhiteLotus and the rest. They would run around in a large circle with the mobs behind them while the others attacked the rear of the monsters. As aggro bounced around, the direction they would run in would change, so everyone had to be on their toes.


    "On it!"


    ---


    Real world¡­.


    Tina sat on the couch staring at the handsome faced Anthony in front of her, who was staring back at her waiting for her commands. She was at a loss as to what to do with this thing. Her new daughter bought her a damn sex robot. After thinking long and hard, Tina clenched her fist as she mumbled: "Fuck it I haven''t had sex in a long time and since it was given to me I might as well make good use of it¡­." With her mind made up, she stood up and looked at Anthony and said:  "Come on you have a job to do." Before marching off towards her room. That night Tina experienced something she had never thought was possible¡­.

 Chapter 111: Battle With Demon Part 2

    As Chi kited the demon, Ryu was behind it, slashing out with everything he had.  "Shit, is my damage really too low?" It seemed the demon was not even affected by Ryu''s attacks. He felt like he was not landing any damage on it whatsoever.


    Ryu continued to slash at the legs of the demon as he opened his skill window, looking for something more to use. He looked at the Swordsmen skill line and saw many skills. Currently, he still has 140 ability points. As he looked at the skills, Ryu realized there was a new path in the tree branch that was not there before.


    [Dao Of The Sword]


    "There are no actual skills until you reach higher into the skill tree, but each node actually adds an insane amount of damage. Almost 300% permanent damage boost if I get all the boost until the first skill which is called [The way of the Sword]. I have just enough points to get there too¡­ Since I plan to keep using swords, I guess this should be it." Ryu made his decision and spent all his ability points on the Dao Of The Sword tree line.


    *Ding!*


    [System Message: You have chosen the Path of the Sword. Your future as a swordsman will be a long one. Only those who reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship can be considered a true sword god.]


    [Damage with swords increased by 300%. An extra 200% was added due to being the first player to step into the Path of the Sword. ]


    [New passive skill: The way of the Sword]


    [With each swing of your sword that is infused with your Soul Qi, a sword ray will shoot out, slicing towards your enemies from any distance. Damage based on Attack Power.]


    "This is a bit insane, but I love it!" Ryu checked his other skill lines and noticed each one had a Dao path he could choose from. "If there is no level cap in this game, doesn''t that mean I can grab all of these Dao lines? Hehe¡­"


    Ryu was excited to see what his future would hold as he went down the path of the dao. He truly did not need any skills, really, and the ones that the dao lines offered seemed to have very good skills once you reached certain parts of the tree line. There was nothing but boosts before each skill unlock, making those skills that much more powerful. "Now, I will stick my 40 status points into attack power as well!"


    [Serenity]


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: Specialist


    Cultivation Stage: Soul Sensing Realm, Stage 1


    Level: 1/20


    [Health]: 553/553


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 422 ¡ú 462


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 20


    [Luck]: 5


    {Dao}


    Path Of the Sword: Completion (1%)


    {Boosts}


    Damage boost with swords: (500%)


    [Status Points]: 40 ¡ú 0


    {Spouse}


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    {Cultivation Method}


    Heavenly Cycle


    Ryu swung his sword and injected a bit of soul qi into it. Not only did his sword slice through the demon''s leg but the sword ray that shot out completely severed the leg right off.


    "Ahh! Damn human!" The demon yelled out as it lost its center of balance and fell to the ground hard. "Chi! Use your ability points on your dao line. Ignore the main skill lines!"


    "Ah? Okay!" Chi only had a few points because she used most on her skills already, but she still had quite a few, so she was able to make it almost to the first skill. When Chi felt the ground shake, she quickly turned around to see the Demon had crashed into the ground, and part of its leg was still upright, sitting far behind it. "Ryu, you''re amazing!"


    "We can''t give it time to collect itself! Hurry up and attack!" Ryu yelled out as he ran towards the demon. He tapped his foot off the ground and launched himself up above the demon, and landed on its back. He quickly made his way to the neck of the demon and slashed out with another sword ray.


    At the same time, the sword ray hit the demon''s neck, Chi had stabbed the demon right in the eye, causing it to yell out in pain and lift its head up, exposing its neck even more. Chi quickly retreated as she watched the sword ray slice right through the demon''s neck, severing its head from its body.  The demon''s eyes slowly dimmed. But from the look on its face, it was one full of confusion. It probably still didn''t understand how it died at all.


    Ryu jumped down off the demon''s back when he got a quest completion notification.


    *Ding!*


    [Special Unique Quest: Demon of Roland Village Completed!]


    [Reward: Wind Walker Movement Technique]


    "Oh!? Chi! I got a movement technique!" Ryu yelled out happily. He only saw the question marks in the reward field so he had been wondering what he would get, but now that he has seen it he was very happy!


    "What''s that!?" Chi asked as she hopped over to Ryu and hugged his arm.


    "It''s a technique that will allow me to move faster. Hmm¡­ I was wondering¡­ If I take this technique as well as the cultivation method, and copy them, would they still be useful to others? Like would you be able to use this wind walker movement technique if I made a copy of it?" Ryu said his thoughts out loud.


    "I am not sure, but you may be able to. The only thing we can do is try it and find out." Chi answered. But inside, she hoped it was possible then she could share with Ryu.


    "Let''s head back to the palace and see if it is possible. I also need to make some new armor. I can''t keep walking around like I am. I wonder if there is anything useful on this demon..." Ryu looked at the massive demon that was now shrinking in size, reverting back to the beautiful young woman she was before. It was just that after her transformation, her clothes were destroyed, and now she was completely naked.


    "Ryu, you can''t look. I will check the body!" Chi made Ryu turn around before walking over to the dead woman.


    Ryu stood there scratching his head: ''But I am a girl in real life though...''


    Chi walked over to the body, stopping to check behind her to make sure Ryu was not looking. She looked the body over, only finding a single ring on the woman''s finger. When she pulled it off, the woman''s body turned into balls of light and disappeared. "Ryu, there is just a ring on the body."


    "Hmm? Ring? Did you identify it?" Ryu asked.


    "Space... Space ring¡­ Ryu, it''s a space ring!" Chi yelled out. A space ring was like a bag but time inside of it stopped.  This meant they could store food and other items for long journeys without worry about the food''s expectation timer going down. It was an annoying fact about this world''s items that some things had expiration times on them. When it hit zero, it would turn into rotten food.


    "That''s a good find! Hold on to it and ask Fu Shi how to make it yours." Ryu could see that Chi really liked the ring, so he was not going to covet it, but it did bring something to mind that Ryu did not think of before. ''When I can at least move my upper body, I will get mom to take me out and get Chi a real ring for her finger...''


    "Thank you!" Chi smiled and ran back over to Ryu and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his lips. "You''re the best!"


    "And you are just too cute! Look how much your tail is wagging!" Ryu said as he wrapped his arms around Chi and pulled her close to his body. He suddenly felt his lower half reacting. He was not the only one who felt the twitch in his pants.


    Chi also felt it and giggled. "Hehe! Someone seems to be getting horny! Let''s go back!"


    "Mmm.." Ryu hummed as he swiped his tattoo, teleporting both him and Chi back to the palace.  The two went directly into their courtyard for a hot bath and a quickie.


    ---


    Greg Evergreen''s home¡­


    "Father! I know you wish to be good to Yuki due to her trying to protect Sister, but what you did today exposed that we are more than what we seem! Not to mention your ability uses your own lifespan!" Greg was not happy! The Evergreen family had kept their special abilities a secret for the longest time, and now his father exposed his!


    "She would find out sooner or later anyway! Plus, I had to do that at that time! Her gene therapy was starting to be rejected by her body. If I did not use my power to stabilize her condition, she would have died a horrible death right in front of all of us! Greg, do you still say I should not have done what I did? Do you not realize who Yuki is!? If you don''t, then you really should get your head checked. Yuki, to Trisha, is like humans needing food, water, and oxygen to survive. The one thing in her life that she can not live without is Yuki. If she died, I can guarantee with Trisha''s personality, she would have committed suicide right then and there. So we would not have been mourning one death but two.


    "Greg you''re still young and have a lot to learn but do not be so damn biased about shit! If I do something I do it for a reason. I did not become king for no reason! I''m going back. "

 Chapter 112: Troubles Of The Royal Family

    After Melgrave left with James, Greg was left standing in a daze. He had never thought of it like that and only cared about protecting the family''s secrets and his father''s health. His father only looked so old due to him using his ability. Otherwise, he would still look much younger. He may play it off as just a few years of his life, but he has already killed almost half of that time.


    Greg looked over at Jen, who was sitting on the couch, and walked over to have her comfort him. But when he sat down next to her, she moved away and completely ignored him! "Jen?"


    "Humph! You only care about stupid things instead of your friends. What if Yuki died! What then? Such a selfish bastard!" Jen yelled as she got up and walked to the bedroom, slamming the door. She didn''t understand why she liked a person who did care about other people. What if it was her that was about to die, and he had the chance to save her if he used his power. Would he use it if there were other people around, or would he stand there staring at her blankly while she died, all in the name to keep his family''s secret? Thinking of this, Jen decisively packed a small bag with some clothes and walked out of the house. She would go stay with Amber or Sophia for a while. She couldn''t even look at Greg right now.


    When Greg saw Jen walking back out of the room with a bag in her hands, he quickly shot up from the couch, feeling panicked. "Jen, where are you going!?"


    "Going to stay with Amber or Sophia. I will experience what it is like to be a lesbian for a while. So you better hurry up and figure out what is more important, family secrets or the people you love and care about. Trisha is right to ignore your stupid ass." Jen said in anger as she pushed past Greg and walked towards the exit.


    Greg was at a loss for words. He did not know what to say. After being scolded by his father then by his own girlfriend, he felt his way of thinking was completely wrong. But by the time he came out of his thoughts, the door to the apartment slammed shut, leaving him there alone. He clenched his fist and wanted to chase after her, but he knew anything he said right now would just make him look like he was lying.


    Jen stood in the hall for a few minutes as she took a few deep breaths. She looked at the door that was still tightly closed, feeling a bit of heartache. "Was he really not going to chase after me?"


    She waited for almost ten minutes staring at the door, hoping he would try to persuade her to stay, but the door still stayed closed. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Jen slowly walked to the elevator and pulled out her phone. "Amber¡­ Can I come stay with you for a while?"


    ---


    Inside Melgrave''s office¡­


    Melgrave had just returned and sat down behind his desk when a  knock came at his door. "Daddy¡­ Are you in?"


    Hearing who it was, Melgrave frowned. He did not like this daughter of his, Princess Jasmine Evergreen, the eighth princess of his royal family. He disliked her because she was scheming and tried to harm his precious daughter, Trisha, on multiple occasions. If it was not for her mother and her mother''s backing, he would have long caused this daughter to meet with an accident. Taking a deep breath and putting on a cold expression, he said: "Come in."


    Jasmine walked in with a beautiful smile on her face carrying a bowl of some kind of soup. "Daddy, I saw that you came home late, so I made some soup for you myself. Hopefully, it will be to your tastes."


    "Mm¡­ Put it on the table, and I will eat it when I finish here." Melgrave said coldly, but Jasmine didn''t seem to mind as she walked over to him and said: "Daddy, you should eat before you finish up. It is not good for you to work so much and not eat."


    Feeling annoyed, Melgrave put his paper down and stared at Jasmine with his ice cold eyes. This caused Jasmine to finally shiver a little. She realized she had crossed the line. "I will take my leave then since you are busy. Please eat what I brought you before it gets cold." With these words, she tactfully retreated.


    Melgrave didn''t even send her off as she left his office, instead, he called out: "Number 1, test it."


    "Yes, Master." Number 1 took the spoon and dipped it in the soup before taking a sip. He did not swallow it right away but instead swished the soup around in his mouth. "There is a slow acting poison added to this, Master... "


    "So they are finally making their move. Take the soup to the kitchen and split the mixture between Jasmine''s food and her mother''s. Since they wish to play, then let them play. From now on, all food sent to them will have this same slow acting poison added to it. They must take me for a fool if they think I will fall for such things." Melgrave said coldly. Just this incident alone made him happy to know that Trisha was someplace safe and would not be plotted against like this. In a place where your own flesh and blood will kill you if you are in the way of them gaining power.


    "Right away, Master..."


    ---


    [Warning R-18]


    Back on Ryu and Chi''s side, Chi was currently learning a new trick. She was lying on top of Ryu in a 69 position, she looked at Ryu''s dick that was right in front of her eyes. She opened her mouth and slid the tip of it into her mouth, and pushed it all the way to the back of her throat. When she heard Ryu''s muffled grunt, she smiled, knowing she was doing it right. After using her tongue to tease the tip and bobbing her head up and down, she felt his dick swell up inside her mouth, and a warm, thick salty substance shoot into her mouth, catching her off guard and making her choke.


    "Ahh! Ryu! Warn before you do that!" Chi yelled out, pouting her lip as she licked some of Ryu''s milk from her lip and swallowed it. She didn''t like the taste all that much, and it was slimy. But since it came from Ryu, she would not waste it.


    "Ahem¡­ Sorry. I am not used to this either¡­" Ryu couldn''t control it when he released. When he has sex in game he just lets it out when he felt it coming. He didn''t think to warn Chi when he released in her mouth since this was their first time.


    "It''s fine¡­ I was the one who wanted to see what it was like, and to be honest, I do not know how girls do this.  It tastes nasty and is slimy even on the way down. I much prefer my Ryu''s real life juices that taste like strawberries. It makes me want to eat him up all day!"  Trisha teased as she turned her body around and cuddled up next to Ryu.


    "Can''t do it all day in real life, I will die from exhaustion." Ryu said with a chuckle. "We should get cleaned and start working on our projects that need to be done. We only have a few hours left before we should get up."


    "Okay. I will go find Fu Shi and get her to help me take ownership of this ring." Chi said as she got up and began walking over to the large tub of hot steaming water and got in. Ryu stretched a little before getting out of bed himself. He then went and joined Chi in the bath.


    ---


    Real world¡­.


    It was 4am, and Tina had just got up. Her entire body ached. She did not seem to have taken into account that Anthony being an A.I. and as an A.I., his stamina was insane. Half the night, she was stuck under him, and the entire time she was moaning nonstop. At one point, she had no choice but to beg him to stop because it was just all too much for her. But even then, he continued until she finally forced out a command telling him to directly stop. Did she like it? She loved it¡­ Did she regret it? She did not. But she was still in pain, and it hurt a lot. Luckily most of the pain was gone after Anthony massaged her joints allowing her to walk somewhat normal. "I think I will only do that once a week¡­ Well¡­ Maybe twice a week."


    Tina sat down in front of the Holo TV with her morning coffee and felt much more relaxed than she had felt in a long time. "I guess sex is a good stress relief.. "

 Chapter 113: New Armor

    [An: Bonus Chapter 1/3]


    Ryu sat in the armament room, looking at the tools on the table, feeling a bit at a loss. "This is much different than what I had expected." Scratching his head, he looked around until he spotted a bookshelf. He walked over and looked at the old scrolls stored here before picking one up and started reading it. "This does not go over the basics, so I will need to find another one..."


    After searching for a while, Ryu finally found the one he was looking for. It was basic instructions on how each tool worked. Once he understood this, he pulled out the snakeskin from the boss in the dungeon and began softening it up using a special green liquid that was a mix of a few plants. A cotton flower, a silk plant, and a unique soul plant called a fiengaeala. Once crushed and boiled, it will create a green liquid that, when applied to a thick leathery skin it will soften it to be more like a cotton shirt. Besides softening the leather, it would also allow it to be dyed, so Ryu used some water, tannins, and some iron, mixed and crushed them together to make some black dye.


    After the snake leather was dyed and dried, Ryu could finally begin making some armor for himself. Because Chi was busy, he had Fu Shi help in taking measurements before going to work making the design sheets he would use as a stencil to cut out the shapes.


    Once it was all sewn together and fitting right, this was when things were to really begin when it came to armament creation. There was what was called an infusion chamber. You had to take your armor inside this chamber and then add in different kinds of materials. This would give the items special effects. As a beginner, Ryu would only be able to add two materials without destroying his new armor.  And for this, he chose two titan ores that would add extra defense to his armor.


    "Here goes nothing!" Ryu dropped the ore into the chamber, closed it tightly, and then poured his soul qi into the chamber. For the best results, Ryu had to keep a steady flow of soul qi pouring into the chamber. If his concentration at this time was broken at all during this process, he could end up destroying everything, and Ryu did not have much of this snake hide. With how big the snake was, the fact that he did not get much hide was a bit unfair.


    One hour passed, then two. Sweat dripped from Ryu''s brow, but the infusion process was just about done. Thirty minutes later, finally, a ding sound was heard from the chamber, and Ryu stopped injecting his soul qi. He slowly opened the pot to see a purple glowing black t-shirt and black pants lying there in the pot. As soon as he picked it up, a notification showed up on his HUD.


    [New Amor Created Please Name]


    "A name, huh? " Ryu thought for a moment before entering a name.


    [Midnight Series: Ryu Edition T-shirt]


    [Defense: 1000 + 200]


    [Midnight Series: Ryu Edition Pants]


    [Defense: 1000+200]


    "Oh? Not bad¡­ For a regular dungeon¡­ Wait, if I recall..." Ryu went back to his system notification logs and brought up the world announcement when they cleared the dungeon. "What the hell is Hard Mode!? Dungeons have modes!?"


    Ryu looked through his menus but saw nothing that would answer his question, so he posted a message on the forums.


    @Ryu: Anyone know if the dungeons in this game had different modes?


    @ButterMyNuts: Aren''t you one of the people who just recently cleared a dungeon on hard mode? Why the fuck do you not know if dungeons have modes or not?


    @FreeLoader: Someone is salty that they couldn''t do a dungeon. Ryu, ignore this bastard. As far as I know, you are the only one who has entered a dungeon as of yet since they are hard to find. But from what people have asked on the live stream they did during launch, the dungeons have four modes. Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell mode and the team leader can pick which mode the dungeon will be.


    @Ryu: That explains it. I wasn''t the team leader. I will ask them then and see if they saw the window or not. Thanks for the information. And ButterMyNuts, come to Roland Village so I can PK you over and over until you reach level 0 again. Don''t talk shit unless you got something between your legs to account for that shit you talk.


    @ButterMyNuts: Fuck you!


    @FreeLoader: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @Ryu: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @BraveSoul: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @FatPanda: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @Violet: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @Rose: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @WhiteLotus: PK ButterMyNuts back to Level 0 +1


    @ButterMyNuts: Fuck you all! I''m gonna tell my daddy on you!


    Ryu saw that the girls were online and sent WhiteLotus a message: "You''re on late."


    "Yeah, we only got on for a little while before we need to log out."  WhiteLotus replied.  She decided not to bring up the issue with GreenHat at this time until she knew what was going on herself. But for tonight, she talked with the girls and decided to let loose a bit and run around and kill things.


    "Alright, have fun. I will go back to crafting. Oh yeah, the demon quest is already over. Chi and I killed it earlier." Ryu wanted to make sure he told WhiteLotus that things were all settled before they wasted any more time.


    "Why doesn''t that surprise me. Was it that lady from before?" WhiteLotus asked.


    "Yes, it turned into a huge ugly monster." Ryu answered.


    "Welp, at least now the people of this town will be safe. I will let you go, Rose and Violet are complaining about me not paying attention. Bye-bye!" WhiteLotus said goodbye and went back to fighting the monster in front of her.


    Ryu shook his head and put his new armor on. "Mmm comfortable."

 Chapter 114: Scribe

    [Bonus Chapter 2/3]


    Ryu walked out of the Armament room dressed in his new clothes, feeling much better. He felt more rest assured now that his defense was so high. With his armor now set, Ryu went to search for Chi. He walked over to the rune forging room to find her hard at work. Fu Shi was standing over her guiding her with every step. "How''s she doing?"


    "She is doing good. She has just hit intermediate rune forging. Because her ability to concentrate and handwriting is so pristine, she is able to draw runes quickly. Her ability to manipulate her soul qi is also top notch. She is what I call the perfect disciple. By the way, that armor..." Fu Shi looked at Ryu''s new armor. It really brought out his slim yet muscular figure. Combined with this handsome face, even Fu Shi couldn''t help but take a few glances.


    "I just made it. I call it the Midnight Series: Ryu Edition." Ryu said proudly. He was very proud of his hard work.


    "It does look good on you. What''s more, is the rune that chi is making now would make a good addition to it. It will add a reflection barrier that will reflect some of the damage back towards the attacker." Fu Shi explained.


    "Oh? That would be a good addition indeed. Once I find suitable materials, I plan to make a new mask and add a coat to match this." Ryu wanted a long coat to go with his new armor as well as a few more armor bits. But he first needed to learn how to forge metal.


    "I bet whatever you make will look good." Fu Shi was quite impressed with Ryu''s armor making skills. She knew he was new to it, but even his first set of armor came out better than she had ever expected.


    "Alright, I won''t bother Chi while she is busy. Is there any ink and paper here?" Ryu decided he would go try to make copies of the cultivation method and the movement technique.


    "Yeah, the office in your courtyard has a library with a desk. There should be plenty of ink and paper there." Fu Shi replied. "What do you plan to do now?"


    "I am going to make copies of two manuals and see if they can be used. I am off then, thank you. Let Chi know she can find me in our courtyard." Ryu said as he waved goodbye and ran off.


    Fu Shi shook her head. "He is always so busy."


    When  Ryu reached the office, he quickly found the huge stack of paper and ink and began work on copying the movement technique first. Word for word, Ryu worked on copying the technique. But because there was so much he had to copy, he had been at hours and was only halfway done. Chi had even come in after a long time practicing her rune forging with a bunch of runes in her hand. Ryu didn''t even notice when she walked over to him and placed two runes on his body. One on his pants, one on his shirt.


    [Rune of Reflection]


    [Reflects 5% of all damage back to the attacker.]


    Not wanting to disturb him, Chi pulled up a chair and sat next to him. She watched as he continuously wrote words on the paper.  Normally one would get bored of watching someone do such a tedious task but for Chi, watching the one she loved work hard was not boring at all. She sat there, her eyes glued to Ryu''s handsome face with a smile on her lips.


    A few hours later, Ryu finally finished the movement technique manual. "Done!"


    *Ding!*


    [Hidden Tradeskill  acquired: Scribe]


    [After hand copying a manual of any  kind, future copies can be done automatically as long as you have the required paper and ink to do so.]


    Ryu ignored the notification and held the manual in his hands. When he got the message asking if he wished to learn the technique Ryu smiled and handed it to Chi. "See if you can learn this. If you can, go ahead and hit yes."


    "Okay!" Chi happily took the manual. When she saw the menu pop up, she quickly hit yes. The stack of papers turned into a streak of golden light and flew into the spot between Chi''s brow. "I learned it. Although it will take time to actually use it."


    "Mm good." Ryu smiled and learned his manual as well. "This will give us a huge advantage over the rest. I can also make these automatically now. I will do the same for that cultivation manual as well. I will keep it exclusively for the guild. Luckily it turns into a ray of light and enters your mind so it can not be copied or sold. So our guild will be the only one with its own cultivation method."


    "That is a good idea!" Chi knew this would give their guild an edge over the other guilds allowing them to become a sect quicker.


    "We still have an hour before we need to log out. Do you want to hang out here or get up and relax at home?" Ryu asked.


    "Hehe, I kinda want to wake up and give my girlfriend a bath." Chi blushed as she said this because her thoughts were not clean at all.


    "Alright." Ryu leaned over and kissed Chi''s lips. "I will log out first then, make sure you take good care of me."


    "Of course, I will!"


    ---


    Trisha took off her headset and ignored the stickiness between her legs as she gently helped Yuki take off her headset. She leaned over and kissed Yuki''s lips as she said: "Goodmorning, my sexy girl."


    "I am nothing but a log. How am I sexy?" Yuki pouted. She really did feel like a log. She couldn''t move anything but her head.


    "Don''t ever say that! Yuki, you have no idea just how sexy you are. Just looking at you, turns me on." Trisha said as she ran her hand down to Yuki''s panties that were still slightly damp from their sexcapades in game.


    "Fine, I won''t say it again." Yuki pursed her lips before smiling. "Trisha, thank you for being in my life."

 Chapter 115: One Two Three Stupid Part 1

    [Bonus Chapter 3/3]


    "I think you have that the wrong way around. I think it should be me, thanking you."Trisha kissed Yuki''s lips as her hand slipped under Yuki''s panties. "You are my only reason for being alive anymore. Without you, I would still be the emotionless machine faking my everyday life. Stuck under the chains of the Evergreen family. You have given me a new way of life, Yuki. in this life and any lives after, I can only love you and only you."


    "Ah! Trisha¡­ Mmm..." Yuki kept feeling Trisha''s finger entering and exiting her pussy, causing her to be unable to respond.


    "Hehe¡­ I said earlier, didn''t I? I wanted to taste your strawberry nectar?" Trisha grinned as she moved in between Yuki''s legs. Yuki was helpless to her assault. She made sure to make a mental note to screw Trisha''s brains out until she was begging her to stop when she could finally move.  Until then¡­ Yuki decided to enjoy the feeling that was taking over her body.


    After playing around and taking a hot bath, both Trisha and Yuki were dressed and went out to have breakfast. When they first walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, they saw Tina slightly limping as she walked. Seeing this, Yuki chuckled as she called out: "Mom, you should set the timer on Anthony so he will auto stop after a certain amount of time."


    "You! You damn brat! Don''t tease your mother! Why the hell did you buy me a damn sex bot!?" Tina blushed ear to ear. Her daughter was too perceptive! She was trying to hide the fact that she did it until she was sore! But this damn girl noticed it at first glance.


    "I just didn''t want you to be lonely. And you never have to worry about Anthony running off with other girls or disobeying you." Yuki pursed her lips. She did have Tina''s best interest in mind when she bought it. She just wanted Tina to have some companionship in her life.


    "Alright! Enough of that. Let''s just drop the subject altogether. Anyway, Trisha, go help in the kitchen for a few minutes. Let me talk to Yuki for a second." Tina had been thinking since Melgrave showed up that there were a few things that were left unsettled.


    "Okay, Mom! I will make us an amazing breakfast!" Trisha ran off to the kitchen. Tina walked over and pushed Yuki into the living room and helped her onto the couch.


    "What''s up, mom?" Yuki asked after Tina sat down.


    "You plan to marry Trisha, right?" Tina asked, although she already knew the answer.


    "Mmm. I love Trisha very much and want to spend my life with her." Yuki answered honestly.


    "Then we should go out today, just the two of us, and get some engagement rings. As you are basically the male partner in the relationship, you should play the part, right?" Tina could see that Trisha did everything Yuki asked. The girl was giving her all to take care of Yuki. She could only ever see her daughter marrying Trisha in this lifetime. The two were made for each other.


    "I was thinking that too. I was going to wait until I could at least move my arms to do it, though. I wanted to place the ring on her finger myself." Yuki explained. She did not want to have someone else put the ring on Trisha''s finger. She had to do this herself.


    "Alright. Then we can wait. You guys have only been together for a short time, but by the way you two act, you would think it has been years. Forget I said anything for now. Let me know when you are ready. I will take you wherever you want to go." Tina leaned over and hugged Yuki.


    "What are your plans for today?" Yuki asked.


    "Ahem¡­ Ummm¡­ I planned to have Anthony accompany me to the pond outside so I can bask in the sun today." Tina blushed. She just realized what she said was no different than saying she was going on a date with her sex robot!


    Yuki smiled and thought her mom was cute. As it was in this day and age with how smart A.I. was, it was not uncommon for people to fall in love with their love companions. So she did not find it odd at all. As long as Tina was happy, she would support her. "Then have fun. I think we might be in and out of the game all day, so if you do not see us much, that is why."


    "Okay, just make sure you take breaks. Also, before you log back into your game, have Trisha take you out for some fresh air so she can get some exercise as well." Tina did not want Trisha''s health to drop due to her always accompanying Yuki in game. It would not be good for her health if she was always motionless.


    "Mmm, I will!"


    ---


    Later that day, inside Soul Fusion Online. Ryu and Chi logged back in game. "Chi, I will head back to the Flim Village to turn on my quest and buy a property in Flim village. Can you go to the property we have here and take a good look at it and tell me if we need anything?"


    "Yep! Just don''t pull any more weird quests! You always seem to find these strange quests." Chi poked Ryu''s chest before standing on her tiptoes and kissing his lips. "I will see you later."


    "Mmm. If you see WhiteLotus and the others log on, tell them to head to the guild property." Ryu still had not looked at the property they had bought, so he wasn''t even sure if it had a house on it yet or not or if it was a blank lot.


    "Will do, my handsome guild leader!" Chi said with a laugh as she ran off.


    Ryu smiled and shook his head before making his way out of town. But when he reached the gates, he heard a familiar yet annoying voice call out to him. "Stop!"

 Chapter 116: One Two Three Stupid Part 2

    Hearing that stupid voice that he has heard so many times caused Ryu to let a long exasperated breath of air. He turned around to see not one but three stupid people walking towards him. "Oh! SmellyFeet! Long time no see!"


    "It''s BurningToast, you piece of shit!" BurningToast eyes were already bloodshot. As soon as he saw Ryu, he wanted to murder him.


    "BurningToast, you dumbass, why are you letting him get to you. Relax a bit." The young man next to BurningToast said with a chuckle. He then looked at Ryu, his eyes turning cold. "Your Name is Ryu, right? Do you remember me?"


    "Hmmm?" Ryu pretended like he didn''t know that the person who was talking was the man Blade he had set a bounty on right after the bounty system was introduced.  He squinted his eyes and rubbed his chin as if he was thinking long and hard before raising his hand and point up to the sky as if he realized who it was: "Ah! ToeNail!"


    "It! Blade!" Blade yelled out. He now realized for himself just how irritating this bastard in front of him was!


    "Oh! I see¡­ And the other guy next to you must be ToeJam, right? So nice to meet you all again! SmellyFeet, ToeNail, and ToeJam. Bye!" Ryu didn''t even give KillerT time to answer his question as Ryu turned around and began walking off.


    "Fuck! Stop right there!" KillerT yelled out.


    "What!?" Ryu yelled out in annoyance as he turned back around. "Don''t you know people are busy? Why are you bothering me? Don''t tell me you fell in love with me? If you did, I''m sorry to tell you this, but I am a 100% lesbian. No matter how much you beg me or how many times you strip in front of me, I will never like you because, well, you''re a man. So please stop begging me to go out with you. It is really annoying. Now, if you will excuse me."


    The three stooges stood there completely stupefied by Ryu''s rant. It actually took them a few seconds before it all clicked. "You stop right there, you fucking shit!" BurningToast had enough.  He couldn''t hold back his anger any longer.


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Ryu. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 1000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    As soon as the announcement was repeated over the world announcement system BurningToast''s lips curled up into a smile. "You hear that? That means all your hard work and items will soon be taken just like you did to us! You will forever be level 0! Hahahaahahaha!"


    "Idiots..." Ryu let out another sigh.


    "Huh?" BurningToast, Blade, and KillerT were all confused.


    "You do realize that by putting a bounty on me like this, I do not need to worry about holding back any longer, right? Well, not that it matters." Ryu tilted his head and smiled as he drew his sword. He walked step by step towards the three stooges.  "I will now show you what it means to put a bounty on me."


    A sadistic grin could be seen spreading across Ryu''s face as she suddenly disappeared from the three stooges'' eyes. Before they even had a chance to do anything, Ryu already released his cultivation suppression which was one hundred times stronger than before, causing the three to slam onto the ground as he appeared in front of them.


    "You! You''re a cultivator!" KillerT yelled out. This was the only explanation as to what this force was that was weighing him down. He suddenly realized he fucked up by joining hands with BurningToast to take this guy down.


    "He''s a what!?" Blade was mad. He struggled to turn his head and stared coldly at BurningToast: "BurningToast, you bastard, you didn''t tell us he was a cultivator! How the fuck is anyone supposed to kill him!? There are no other reported cultivators in game, which means that he was the one who fucking triggered the cultivation update! You fucking idiot! What did you drag us into!?"


    "Fuck you, Blade! You both agreed with my plan! How the fuck was I supposed to know he was a cultivator!?" BurningToast Yelled back. He was so angry. He was wondering why this bastard could easily suppress them!


    "Hmm? Cultivator? No, no, this is my ultimate skill, idiot suppression." Ryu said with a chuckle as he began digging a hole.


    "What the fuck is he doing!?" Blade yelled out.


    "I-I think he is digging a hole." KillerT answered.  He had a chill run down his spine just now, and he felt that whatever was about to happen was not going to be good.


    "Bury them deep, so deep they never climb back up. Once they are buried, they will grow roots. Lala lalala Laaaa~! " Ryu sang some made up song. Although the words did not make any sense, his voice was still very good to hear.


    "Look, Ryu, we were only paid to help this bastard. So let us off, okay? Me and brother KillerT will never cross paths with you ever again. If we see you walking down the street, we will take a different path. So come on, let us go, okay?" Blade began to beg he had heard once that someone was found buried alive and could not move at all to even kill themselves. In the end, they were forced to log out and delete their character.


    "What''s the rush? Stay for a bit and play with me a little, okay? I swear you will have lots of fun!"  Ryu didn''t even look over at Blade as he continued to dig his hole as he answered. He was in a  good mood at this time.


    "Fuck! Bastard! You may be able to deal with us today, but that bounty on you will never disappear! Never! I will fucking keep a bounty on you for as long as I play this game!" BurningToast seemed to have lost his mind. His hair was all over the place, and his expression was crazy looking.


    "That''s fine, let them come. The more the merrier. Make sure you post my location on the forums too. The more idiots that come, the bigger my head in dirt artwork will be!"

 Chapter 117: Idiots In The Sand

    Chi was looking at the new property that was quite large but only a small shack, if you can even call it that. "Looks like I will need to hire some workers¡­ We have plenty of land but just a shack to call home."


    It was just a small wooden shack with enough room to fit about 20 people in it if they all stood up. But the land was big enough to house a big mansion that could easily fit 200 people or more. Luckily the game allowed players to hire NPCs to do things for them. This meant that Chi could hire a bunch of workers to build a new house and really make their guild home look amazing. "Besides workers for construction, we will need landscapers and also guards¡­ I should probably mess..."


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Ryu. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 1000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    "..."


    "Who the fuck put a bounty out on my Ryu!? Are they asking for death!?" Chi yelled out in anger. She quickly sent Ryu a message. "Are you okay?"


    Chi waited for Ryu''s reply as the seconds turned to minutes. "Why is he not answering!?" Just as Chi was about to rush out and search for Ryu when Ryu finally sent her a message. "Ryu!"


    "Ahaha! Sorry I was busy digging a hole." Ryu finally answered back.


    "A hole why?" Chi asked. She didn''t understand why Ryu needed to dig a hole.


    "I am making an art display outside of Roland Village. I call it: Idiots in the Sand! It will be a lovely display of heads sticking out of the sand."


    "Pfft! Hahaha! Ryu!" Chi couldn''t hold back her laughter. Now that she was thinking straight, anyone who tried to fight Ryu right now would indeed be an idiot! Not only were she and Ryu the highest level players in the game, they were cultivators as well, and Ryu also had extremely good armor on. But a thought came to mind: "Ryu, how are you going to log out? Your character is stuck in the game while there is a bounty on you. So even if you log out, your body is still killable."


    "Oh, no worry, it is actually a good thing we got a guild property since no one can kill me there as of yet. Plus, even if we didn''t, I could always just run to a far off city someplace and rent a room at an inn. Anyway, I need to post my location on forums. I need more heads. I want a thousand heads sticking out of the ground."  Ryu said enthusiastically.


    Chi didn''t know whether she should laugh or cry. Why was her girlfriend so sadistic towards others? She realized that Ryu really liked to get revenge in the worst ways possible.  "Alright then, I''ll handle things here with the property. I need to hire workers to build us a guild house and some other works as well as guards."


    "Okay! Make sure the guards are all in the fortification realm. That is the best we can probably do for this area." Ryu figured there were probably no NPCs over the fortification realm for hire as guards in such a small village like Roland.


    "Okay, will do. Have fun!" Chi ended her chat with Ryu and looked at the surroundings, and began picturing a guild home in her mind.


    On Ryu''s side, He was carefully putting monster shit right in front of the few heads that were sticking out of the ground. "Ryu, you fucking bastard! Just you wait, I will fucking kill you! Ah, shit, that stinks!"


    "ClamToast, please don''t be so vulgar. You might hurt my virgin ears." Ryu said with a chuckle as he opened up his menu and went to the forums.


    @Ryu: For all you who want to come kill me, my Location is 2343,3495 Just outside Roland Village.  Oh, by the way, I will use this chance to see if anyone wants to join my guild, Serenity. If anyone is able to shed 1 point of my health, I will let you join.


    @ButterMyNuts: Haha! Look, you bastard, it looks like you pissed off the wrong person! I bet you will quit the game after this!


    @AzuritePaladin: Why do I feel like this calm reaction from Ryu makes things seem a little strange? I think I will sit this one out¡­


    @FreeLoader: Yeah, Ryu seems a bit too calm for someone who had such a huge bounty put on his head. Ryu, I don''t want to take part in the bounty, but I do have an interest in your guild.


    @FatPanda: Yes, I second that. I want to join a guild as well.


    @Ryu: Oh? I guess once our guild house is completed, we will hold a recruitment drive.


    @FreeLoader: Damn, you already have a property!? Are you just trying to take all the game''s first?


    @Ryu: It just seems to work out like that. Anyway, make sure you come down and see my art display!


    @AzuritePaladin: Art display?


    @FreeLoader: Art display?


    @ButterMyNuts: Listen to this bastard. I bet he is hiding in a tree somewhere. What art display!? I bet you are just trying to change the subject so you won''t get killed!


    @Ryu: ButterMyNuts, please come to the gates of Roland Village. I would love to chat with you and have some tea. Maybe bury you in the ground so you can be part of my art display.


    @AzuritePaladin: Out of curiosity, does this "art display" have a name?


    @Ryu: Mmm! It is called:  Idiots in the Sand!


    @FatPanda: Errmmm Ryu, why are there piles of shit in front of the heads sticking out of the ground?


    @Ryu: Oh, it came out of those heads who had nothing but shit coming out of their mouths.


    As Ryu was chatting, many people showed up at the entrance of Roland Village. FatPanda was one of them and what he saw were 20 plus heads sticking out of the ground, some with piles of shit sitting right in front of their faces. He realized whoever put this bounty out on Ryu was only asking for the whole player base to become his cannon fodder.


    AN: Sorry for the short chapter today, But I am currently working on Privileged chapters for his novel as the new month is here, and I can add more tiers.

 Chapter 118: Guild House

    After only burying 100 heads, no one else dared to fight against him. So Ryu had to leave his artwork at the 100 heads. He made sure to take a screen shot and saved it to the cloud before leaving Roland Village. "Looks like I shouldn''t have any issues with people trying to kill me any time soon." It only took a few hours in game time with Ryu using his new movement technique to reach Flim village. Once he reached there, he headed straight for the trade skill guild and asked for President Chen.


    "Long time no see!" President Chen said with a smile as he sat down.


    "Yeah, things took a bit longer than I had expected. Although it seems that no matter what, it would have taken a while. This is the silver grass you asked for." Ryu answered as he placed the ten sweet silver grass on the table.


    "Haha! Yes, this is it! You are really my savior!" President Chen let out a jolly laugh as he looked at the sweet silver grass. He quickly took out the pill cauldron and handed it over. "This here is called the Flaming Silver Cauldron. It is yours as promised."


    *Ding!*


    [Unique Chain Quest: The Untimely Hero]


    [Part Completion: Enter the silver springs and bring back 10 Sweet Silver Grass.]


    [Reward: Fifty Silver and the Flaming Silver Cauldron]


    [Completed!]


    "Now then, since you have completed this portion with ease, then that means you can help me with something else."


    [Unique Chain Quest: The Untimely Hero]


    [Part 2 Completion: Find and retrieve the tooth of a fire dragon from the Molten Plains.]


    [Reward: 100 platinum, Ancient Map part]


    Ryu read the new quest and let out a sigh. First, he had to fight a flood dragon to get some grass, and now he had to fight a real fire dragon for its tooth! He could already feel the headache coming on. But Ryu still put a smile on his face because the reward was quite intriguing. The money wasn''t what interested him. It was the map part that interested him. "I will get you the tooth as soon as I can."


    "Haha! I knew I could count on you. There is no rush. I trust you will return soon with the item." President Chen said with a smile.


    Ryu said a few more words to the president before leaving. He headed straight back to Rolland Village, where he found his art display already in ruins. The people who had once gathered outside the city were also gone. "Well, now that I am back, I guess I will set up some new bounties." Ryu walked straight to the mercenary guild, and five minutes later¡­


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: BurningToast. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 1000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Blade. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 1000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: KillerT. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 1000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    Hearing the announcements, Ryu felt much better as he walked out of the mercenary guild. As he did, he heard a familiar yell. "Ryu, you fucking bastard! I know it was you!"


    "BurningBitch, why are you running? You know you''re going to die. Why die tired?" And behind him once again, this time waving his sword around as AzuritePaladin.


    Staring at the scene as the two ran by with almost one hundred players following closely behind, Ryu scratched his head. "What did he expect? Unlike him, I can walk around freely. There is nothing stopping me from placing a bounty on the three of them."


    While BurningToast was running for his life. KillerT and Blade were sitting in a back alley hiding under a pile of trash bags. "Fuck! I knew we shouldn''t have fucking tried to help that bastard, now look at what happened! Now we are fucked yet again!"


    "Let''s somehow sneak to another town and stick more bounties on that fucking BurningToast guy! It''s his fault we are in this mess again!" KillerT said through gritted teeth.


    "Yeah, let''s wait until dark, then slip out of town." Blade readily agreed. He hated himself for letting BurningToast talk him into confronting that monster again, but the money he offered was too good to pass up.


    While three idiots were trying to deal with Ryu''s counter attack Ryu arrived at the property that was to be their guild''s first new home. Once he entered the lot, he suddenly remembered he forgot to buy land back in Flim! "Ahh! I''m so dumb."


    "What''s wrong?" Chi walked up behind Ryu and hugged him from behind.


    Ryu sighed as he answered: "I forgot to buy us a property in Flim."


    "It''s fine. You can do it after you help me. I need you to help me decide on a few things for the guild house. I got quite a few blueprints here, but I am not sure which to pick from."  Chi said as she took out a stack of blueprints from her inventory.


    "Hmm? There is a three story mansion with many crafting rooms and bedrooms. There is also a meeting hall, a kitchen, a cellar, and also a dungeon further down. Let''s go with this one here. It seems to be the best one." Ryu pointed to one of the blueprints.


    "Then this one it is!" Chi took the other ones and stuffed them in her inventory before carefully rolling up the last one and placing it into a slot of its own in her inventory.

 Chapter 119: Jasmine’s First Love

    After storing the blueprint, Chi then pulled out a stack of designs for the garden. "These are what the gardeners drew up after much consideration."


    "Umm... Chi... Why is there a half naked statue of  me in every one of these designs?" Ryu asked as he looked at the images of his stone self that made him look like a mighty warrior.


    "You are the guild leader, so of course, there will need to be a statue that is done in your image! I will not allow you to take it out! I only need help with how the path leading up to the statue should look!" Chi was being stubborn because she wanted everyone to know just how handsome and cool their guild leader was! They could only gaze upon his statue and worship him while she was the only one who could have the real Ryu all too herself!


    Ryu didn''t really think it was necessary, but when he saw that Chi was not going to budge, he could only let out a sigh and just let her do as he pleased. He looked at all the designs and went with what he thought looked best. "Let''s go with this then."


    "Alright!" Chi nodded and put away the blueprint Ryu chose before putting her hand out to Him. "Money."


    "Oops, I forgot!" Ryu forgot that Chi did not have much money on her. He had always carried all the money. He took out a bag of coins from his inventory and handed it to Chi.  "There is one hundred Platinum inside. It should be enough to hire whoever you need."


    "More than enough!" Chi said as she took the bag. "I will handle this. Go back to Flim Village and buy a property there and get things set up while I take care of this place."


    "Alright, I will message you when I find a place." Ryu said as he pulled Chi into his embrace and kissed her lips. Chi giggled as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. The two''s tongues intertwined and a slow sensual kiss.


    "Mm¡­ Go before my animal instincts kick in." Chi said with reddened cheeks.


    "Then I will be back after I have settled things there." Ryu said as he kissed Chi''s lips once more.


    "MMmm.." Chi hugged Ryu before pushing him away and backing up a few steps. She could already feel her body heating up, which was a bad sign. They had things to get done before they had to log out, so they couldn''t be playing around like this.


    ---


    "So this is that game called Soul Fusion Online? " Princess Jasmine asked her maid, who was holding two headsets.


    "Princess, it is. It is said to be all the rage right now and that people are making billions of crowns by playing the game." The maid beside her answered. She kept her head lowered the entire time, not daring to look Princess Jasmine in the eye.


    "Mmm! Then we will play together!" Princess Jasmine was not sure how to play the game, so she demanded the maid join her.  This was also the reason why she had the maid buy two headsets.


    Once she was logged in and registered to the game. She immediately made her character. She was someone who loved cats, so she made her character a beastkin from the cat race. Once she was happy with her creation, she hit the confirm button and was sent to the level selection screen. From there, she picked Flim Village as she had already decided with her maid that this would be their starting village.


    As she finally opened her eyes and found herself in the center of the town by a large water fountain, she was quite amazed by the realism of the graphics. "Now, this is quite something."


    Jasmine looked around and saw quite a few more people who had also just made their character. "Tilly! Tilly, where are you!?" Jasmine couldn''t take waiting, so she decided to just yell for her maid.


    "Miss!" A young human girl came running over and stood in front of Jasmine. "Miss, sorry it took me a few minutes to figure out the creation system. Miss Please call me Yuyu in game." Yuyu did not want her name all over the internet. She may only be a maid, but she still did not want people to know her real name.


    "Humph! Now you wish to tell me what to do!? But fine. My name is Beauty. I mean, look  at just how beautiful I am!" Beauty said in a narcissistic manner.


    "Yes, Yes, you are very beautiful. Your long white hair matches your fair skin perfectly." Yuyu quickly said in a praising tone. She still had her habit of keeping her head lowered as she spoke to Beauty.


    "Mmm! Good! You have good taste. Now let us¡­ go¡­. " Beauty''s eyes fell on the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. Her heart began to race as she looked at this man. He was slim but had defined muscles that could be seen. His black hair and white skin contrasted well with his black clothes. Beauty had no idea what was coming over her as she stared at the man. Her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. Her face was also growing hotter as her cheeks turned bright red.


    "Miss, are you okay!?" Yuyu asked in a panic.


    "I¡­" Beauty''s eyes were locked on to the young man. She couldn''t bring herself to look away. "I think I am in love..."


    "In love!?" Yuyu suddenly yelled out. She has known her miss for a long, long time. She knew more than anyone that her miss never thought of any man she had met as someone who was good enough for her. So for her to suddenly announce that she thinks she is in love was a real shock for Yuyu.


    "Yes..." Beauty''s eyes showed just how love sick she was as she gazed at the man walking away. It was only when the man was just about to leave her sight that she finally woke up from her daze. "Yuyu, come on we have to give chase!"

 Chapter 120: Helping Those In Need

    "Miss!? Miss, wait for me!" Yuyu was still in her daze, trying to figure out what was going on with her miss when her miss suddenly took off running after only saying a few words.


    As for the man, Beauty was off chasing. He stood in front of the village lord''s house and took a deep breath. "Hopefully, I will not get any more weird quests with crazy demons."


    The man Beauty had fallen in love with at first sight was none other than Ryu. Ryu walked up to the front door of the village lord and knocked on it. Because of his past experience in Roland Village, he hoped nothing strange was going to happen this time.


    "Doors open. Come on in."  A voice came from the other side of the door.


    Ryu let out a sigh of relief as he opened the door and walked inside. As he entered the house, Beauty came to a skidding stop just outside. She bent over and tried to catch her breath. She, who was usually a homebody who spent all day in her lab, was not someone who ran around. And today, she had run like her life depended on it all because of a guy she had yet to even speak to.


    "Miss! You can''t run off like that!!" Yuyu yelled out. Unlike her miss, Yuyu was only slightly tired after running as fast as she could trying to catch up to Beauty.


    "Why are you so slow!? Quickly hurry up and think of a reason for me to talk to the man when he comes out." Beauty yelled as she smacked Yuyu on the top of her head.


    "Right!" Yuyu rubbed her head. She was quite surprised by the realism of this game, she could even feel a small bump forming. She tried to quickly think of an idea, but only old fashion cliche thoughts came to mind. When she snuck a peek at her Miss she, she saw that her miss was getting impatient, she could only try one of her cliche ideas. "Miss then, how about accidentally bumping into him? This way, it will seem like an accident and give you a chance to speak to him."


    "This¡­ This is not a bad idea! Maybe hitting you on the head actually fixed your brain deficiency. Good! We will go with that. Quickly let''s go hide!" Beauty took Yuyu''s hand and walked a little ways away from the house in order to be ready for when the man came out.


    Inside the village lord''s home Ryu sat on a couch when a bunch of properties laid out in front of him. "You can pick as many as you want. As you may have seen, this village has quite a few empty shops as well."


    "Wait, I can buy a shop as well?" Ryu asked.


    "Yes, you can. You can buy shops and houses here as many as you want. Normally when someone is buying a guild hall for a town, it is restricted to 1 lot, but with the current situation of the town and how low the money intake is for civilians,  the taxes are not able to fully take care of things. If I were to raise taxes, it would cause a burden on the people who live here. So I am unable to do that. While I say you can buy as many as you want, I will need to limit you to five shops and five plots of land." The village lord explained. His old face looked very tired as he spoke.  "As I am saying all of this, I never thought to ask if you even had enough money to buy more than one property. Excuse me for getting ahead of myself."


    "No, it''s fine. As these places are cheap, I will not have any issues buying up five shops and five properties. In fact, that will be good for me since I plan to set up many divisions for my guild at some point. This will help me with some of my future plans." Ryu did plan to make a few different divisions for his guild, from crafting to raiding. Having different guild houses with crafting rooms specific to the trade skill would make things much easier when helping out the new guild trade skillers.


    "Oh! Bless you! To think the goddesses and gods would be shining down on me today. Please pick any of the places here." VIllage Lord was very happy. Just by getting a few bits of gold would lift some of the burdens on fixing up the town. While it looked amazing to the eye, there were many places that were lacking and needed repairing.


    Ryu looked at the properties and shops.  He found three shops right in the center of town and two near the main entrance. He quickly pulled these five shops out. As for the houses, he picked the biggest properties there. The location did not matter for these. "I will take these ten. It should be around two platinum, right?"


    "Yes, yes, two platinum¡­ Huh?" The village lord''s eyes almost bulged out of his head as he stared at Ryu in disbelief. "Young man, you are not reading the prices right! The whole lot of them are only worth four gold max!"


    "No, no, I say they are worth three platinum, so they are worth three platinum. " Ryu liked the old man''s honesty which made him want to help him out even more. He slapped the three platinum coins on the table and pushed them to the old man. "Just think of it as me donating to the village, I will be setting up shop in."


    Seeing Ryu smile at him with such a sincere expression on his face, the village lord could only lower his head and try to suck back his tears. He never felt this blessed before. These three platinum alone was almost fifty years'' worth of taxes. This money would allow the village to last for many, many years without worry. "Young man I will never forget your generosity for as long as the old bones are alive."

 Chapter 121: The Clingy Cat Girl Part 1

    Ryu scratched his head. He was not used to being praised like this, and it made him feel a bit embarrassed. "Don''t worry about it. Now that everything is settled I will head out and try to find workers."


    "Wait! Here go to this address with this note. The people there will help you at a discounted rate." The Village Lord quickly wrote out a note and sealed it with a wax insignia, and handed it to Ryu. "I wish you luck with your new properties. "


    "Thanks." Ryu took the letter and left the Village Lord''s house. As he opened the gate and exited it, he was suddenly run into by someone.


    "Ouch!" A cat girl cried out as she fell to the ground.


    Ryu, who was still standing, looked at the cat girl, who seemed to be a new player, and leaned down to help her up. "You alright?"


    The cat girl looked at the smile on Ryu''s face, and her entire head turned red. She looked at the hand that was out stretched towards her and hesitantly reached out to take it. "Tha-Thank you... I am fine.."


    "That''s good. You should be careful running around. Not everyone here is kind. One thing to remember about this game is that it has its own set of laws. For a cute girl like you, if you''re not careful, someone might snatch you up and lock you away. Although the devs press charges on the people in real life for such actions, it still happens just like if this was the real world." Ryu could tell the girl was new to the game, and if she ran into the wrong person, they might have unkind thoughts towards a cute girl like her.


    "I-I will keep that in mind." The cat girl replied. She was still holding on to Ryu''s hand as she got up, not wanting to let go.


    Ryu was starting to feel uncomfortable. He tried to pull his hand away a few times now, only for the girl''s grip to tighten. Getting a little bit annoyed, Ryu finally couldn''t take it anymore:  "Ummm... You can let go now."


    "Ah! Sorry¡­ I just..." The cat girl lowered her head in embarrassment.


    "It''s fine. You should be careful from now on. I have to get going. Take care."  Ryu said his goodbyes, and before the cat girl could say anything, he was already walking away.


    "Miss!" Yuyu came running up to her miss, who seemed to be standing there in a daze. "Miss, are you okay? Your face is very red right now."


    "Huh?" Beauty turned and looked at Yuyu, still in a daze, and then to Yuyu''s surprise, Beauty lifted her own hand, the same hand that held the handsome man''s hand, to her nose and sniffed it. "Yuyu, I must have that man!"


    "Umm, okay? But Miss, what if he is a fat person in real life?" Yuyu asked.


    "What does real life have to do with anything? Did you not tell me that sex was possible in game? If I do not know what he looks like in real life, everything will be fine. Right now, that man is the only one for me, even if it is only in game!" Beauty was being very serious as she said this. She only wanted that man.


    Yuyu stared at her miss and began to wonder if her miss suffered some kind of brain trauma recently. Her miss has never acted like this before. And as Yuyu had no real knowledge when it came to love, she did not really understand her miss at all. But this now made her wonder if her nightly tasks would no longer be needed¡­ She wasn''t sure if she was happy or not about this matter¡­


    Yuyu only knew her miss was nicer to her than most because she was the one who attended to her at night. Otherwise, her miss would not feel as close to her as she did with the other maids who cared for her. She knew if she lost her miss''s favor for being her favorite maid, then she would definitely not live a good life as a maid under her miss. "Miss, what should we do next?"


    "For now, we follow him!" Beauty could still see Ryu''s back not too far off. He seemed to be walking in a leisurely manner. To her, it was as if Ryu was deliberately walking at a slow pace in order for Beauty to catch up to him. Although this was definitely not the case, in Beauty''s mind, this was something that was already locked in stone and was nothing going to tell Beauty otherwise.


    But the truth was far from the reality that Beauty had in her own mind. Ryu was walking slowly because he was chatting with Chi. "So the Village Lord gave me a letter of recommendation to send over to these guys."


    "Hopefully, you can get some unique designs that will stand out amongst the rest. The workers here have already gotten started. The dungeon is almost complete already." Chi was surprised at how fast these people worked. But some were actually using earth magic to help speed up the process.


    "That''s good to hear. I will go talk to these guys and get the properties going. As for the shops, we can work out what to do with them when we have remodeled them. I am not too concerned about them just yet. But I think I might talk to the village lord in Roland and see if I can buy a shop there as well. Can make Heavenly Crafts shops in every place we visit." Ryu''s idea was to build up a chain of stores and hire NPCs to run them. That way, the guild members could sell their lower quality goods that might not sell well on the marketplace for a lower price without needing to pay any marketplace fees.


    "That sounds good as well. You said early you plan to start recruitment, right? We should recruit as many crafters as possible now that we have so many free crafting stations they can use." Chi felt that Ryu''s plans were very good and would attract a lot of players. This meant that they could quickly build up the crafting portion of their guild so Ryu and her would not need to work so hard. Once crafters were secured the rest would follow.


    "Yeah these were my thoughts as well. I will go get things settled. We will meet up once I finish up here." Ryu finished his conversation with Chi when he heard a soft voice call out from behind him.


    "Umm¡­ Sir..."

 Chapter 122: The Clingy Cat Girl Part 2

    Ryu stopped in his tracks when he heard someone call out to him. He turned to see the same cat girl from before standing there. Behind her was another girl who seemed to be trying to keep her distance. "Can I help you?"


    "I umm¡­ Can you teach me about the game?" The cat girl, who was none other than Beauty, asked.


    Ryu scratched his head and felt sorry for the girl since she was a newcomer, but he was actually really busy and did not have much time. After thinking for a bit, he could only have her follow him while he did his thing. During that time, he could at least answer any questions she may have. "I can''t take you out to level or anything, but you can follow me for the time being while I go talk to a few people. Any questions you may have, you can ask me, and I will try to answer them."


    "You will!?" Beauty''s eyes were wide with excitement. She felt like she had just won the first part of the battle.  "Then¡­ Do you have a girlfriend!?''


    Ryu''s face went black. He looked coldly at the girl causing her to shrink back. "I may have said you can ask me anything but keep it game related."


    "Ah¡­ Yes, sorry. I got carried away because of how handsome you are." Beauty lowered her head, trying to act pitiful, hoping that this man will take pity on her and comfort her, but sadly she only got a cold "Humph!", before he turned around and began walking away.


    "Just keep it to the game, and I will still answer your questions but cross the line again, and I will not help you anymore." Ryu warned.


    "Right! " Beauty sneered on the inside as she thought to herself: ''Humph! Acting all cool when you know you have fallen for my beauty. I just need a bit more of a push, and you will be all mine!''


    The entire way to the place that Ryu was told to head to by the Village Lord, Beauty was like an unstoppable force as her mouth kept spewing question after, after question. Ryu did his best to be nice and answer them all, but the questions just kept coming, and he really just wanted to tell the girl to shut up for a few seconds so he could have some peace and quiet. Luckily he had finally reached his destination. "This is where I need to go, so I will talk to you some other time if we meet again."  After saying this, Ryu quickly walked into the yard and knocked on the door.


    Beauty stared at Ryu''s retreating back as he basically ran away and stomped her feet. "Miss..." Yuyu called out from a side corner.


    Beauty took one last look at the door before running over to where Yuyu was. "Yuyu tell me, what did I do wrong? Why did it seem like he was running away from me?"


    "Miss, what if you wait for him to come out? Maybe he was just being shy. If he sees you still out there waiting for him, he may come up and talk to you on his own. You have to show your determination to want to be by his side." Yuyu had no idea what the hell she was talking about. But she had read of such a scene in a novel, so she was just going with that.


    "This..." Beauty fell into deep thought. "This will work! Yes, let''s do this! I will go back and sit by the gate until he comes out."


    "Good luck, miss!  I will be rooting for you!" Yuyu pumped her fist as she said this, causing Beauty to roll her eyes.


    "Just wait here and follow after I leave with him." Beauty quickly ran back over and took up her position by the gate.


    An hour of ingame time passed by, and still no sign of the handsome man. But beauty did not give up. She figured that maybe he was busy doing something. So she continued to wait. But as she waited, the hours quickly passed by until a full day had finally passed. Not only did Ryu not come out of the house, but no one did. She was starting to wonder if the handsome man had logged out or not. Scratching her head in frustration, She finally got up and ran back across the street to find Yuyu drawing pictures in the dirt.


    "Yuyu! What should I do? He has not come out at all!" Beauty was starting to get mad. She had never not gotten what she wanted. This was the first time she was being treated like this!  She did not want to admit defeat!


    "Miss, there he is!" Yuyu saw the handsome man finally walk out of the house. But he seemed to be acting weird as he was looking all over the place as if he was looking for someone. "Miss, I think he is looking for you. Quickly hurry over!"


    "Ri-Right!" Beauty quickly ran out of the side alley and towards Ryu. "Sir"


    "Fuck!" Ryu let out his inner feelings by accident. Although he wanted to run away, he couldn''t do so as he did not want to hurt the girl''s feelings. Scratching his head, he turned around and looked at Beauty with a forced smile. "What can I help you with now?"


    Beauty wanted to ask why he swore, but when she saw his smile, she got completely lost in it, forgetting what she wanted to ask. "I umm¡­ still have a few more questions about the game."


    "I''m sorry, but I am in a bit of a rush. You will need to ask another player. Now, if you will excuse me." Ryu did his best to try to politely tell her to go away, but he never expected the girl to suddenly run up to him and hug him!  He froze for a second before forcefully peeling the girl off him and pushing her away, causing her to stumble back and fall on her butt. He looked coldly at the girl as he said in an emotionless voice: "Do that again and I will kill you. Now leave me alone and do not come near me again."

 Chapter 123: GreenHat And The WhiteLotus Part 1

    After saying these words, Ryu took off running towards his new property. In actual fact, Ryu had finished what he needed to do with the construction workers within twenty minutes of talking with him, but when he saw the damn girl was still outside waiting for him, he decided to go back to the palace to escape for a while. He then made a few potions so he could put them up for sale to begin stockpiling money for their guild. When he teleported out of the palace and returned back to the construction worker''s home, he peeked out the window to see if the girl was still there. Only when he saw she was gone did he finally let out a sigh of relief. But who would have thought that the damn girl was lying in wait!? And to top it off, she had the courage to even run up and hug him! As Ryu continued to run at full speed, he could only hope he never ran into that girl again.


    Back where Beauty was still currently flat on her butt staring off into the direction Ryu left in, she was completely taken by surprise, and the killing intent she felt just now was completely real. "That bastard really thinks he can do as he pleases!? He should be happy that I was even willing to look at him! Humph! I have never not gotten what I wanted. If I want this man, I will get him whether he wants me or not!" Her pride would not allow her to let a situation like this go. She was now more determined than ever to make this man hers.


    "Yuyu!" Beauty yelled out. She was completely aggravated and needed to do something that would relax her.


    "Miss!" Yuyu came running up. She had not dared to get too close because her miss liked to hit and toss things all over when she was not in a good mood. Sometimes she would inject the servants with the concoctions she made.  Yuyu had seen many horrors after becoming her miss''s maid.


    "Come, let''s find a secluded spot. You will do the usual. We will test this ingame sex thing and see if it is any good." Beauty said as she walked off. Yuyu blushed and bit her lip as she chased after her miss. Not long later, they found an abandoned shed where Yuyu was forced to lick her miss''s secret garden until she was told to stop.


    "Ryu! WhiteLotus logged on with the other girls. They are heading over to the new guild house in Roland now. I also got twenty NPC guards, all in the fortification realm."  Chi reported. She wanted Ryu to know all the progress that was going on in Roland.


    "Alright, I will be settling things here soon. I just need to hire some guards for the new places for the time being. Then I will head back to Roland. Should be a few hours more." Ryu really just wanted to get out of Flim village and as far away from that weird girl as possible.


    On Chi''s side of things, she waited outside the property for WhiteLotus and the other two girls. She didn''t need to wait too long as it only took them five minutes to find the place. "Chi!"


    "It''s still not complete, but when it is, we can officially call this place home here in Roland." Chi explained as the girls walked through the gate.


    "This place is not too bad! And they are already working on the first floor!" Rose was a bit over excited to know their guild was going to have a guild house soon.


    As the girls were walking around checking the property out, Chi''s face was not too good when she looked at the message she just received. The name GreenHat was the sender. She was going to ignore it, but when she saw the next message that read "Please help me with WhiteLotus!", she frowned even more. She did not know what happened, nor did she wish to get involved, but because she was friends with WhiteLotus, she forced herself to send a reply. "What do you want?"


    "You answered me thank the gods! You have to help me! WhiteLotus is very mad at me and hasn''t come home at all. She won''t even return my phone calls. The one time she did talk to me, she said something about turning into a lesbian and making me wear a green hat.  But I am not sure why or what to do! Please ask her what she wants me to do to have her forgive me!"  GreenHat was begging. His sister was his only other option before he was forced to ask Ryu. he did not want to look bad in front of his baby sister''s girlfriend.


    "Why should I help you? What did you say to her that would make her want to become a lesbian? Think about it with that pea sized brain of yours, and you will figure out what you need to do to make her forgive you. Don''t message me anymore unless it is guild related." Chi then closed her chat window, not wanting to talk to him anymore.


    GreenHat looked at the so called advice he received and lowered his head. He had gone over the argument he had with her and still couldn''t figure it out. Was he really this dumb?  "Ahh fuck it!  I will go to the new guild property and wait for her there."


    GreenHat knew WhiteLotus was in game, but he did not dare to send her a message because he was afraid she would ignore his messages. But in actual fact, WhiteLotus had her chat window open the entire time and was waiting for the idiot to contact her. This was why she logged back into the game even though she had to get up soon. Rose and Violet had given her this idea.


    It wasn''t long before GreenHat came running into the yard completely out of breath. When his eyes landed on WhiteLotus, he couldn''t control himself as he walked over to her, picked her up, and walked to the other side of the yard with her. "What are you doing, let me down right now!"

 Chapter 124: GreenHat And The WhiteLotus Part 2

    "Wait a second!" GreenHat yelled back. He made sure he was far enough away that the two of them could talk privately. He gently put her down only to receive a slap in the face as he did. He did not get angry, in fact, he smiled as she said: "Happy? Now listen to what I have to say."


    "Humph! Hurry up. I do not got all day. I need to get up soon." WhiteLotus snorted as she turned away from him, not wanting to look at the fool.


    "I just want you to know that I love you.  If¡­ If it came down to me needing to use my power to save you, I would in a heartbeat no matter who was around. I mean that. My way of thinking was too narrow minded. I grew up being told to not reveal the secrets of the Evergreen family being beaten into me. Please forgive me. I do not want the girl I love to become a lesbian and make me wear a green hat for real!" GreenHat''s eyes showed a look of desperation which combined with his words, made WhiteLotus want to laugh out loud.


    She bit her lip, trying to hold back her laughter. But as she thought about how he did not chase after her when she first left, she felt gloomy again. "Why didn''t you chase after me?"


    "Huh?" GreenHat couldn''t really hear WhiteLotus due to her speaking too softly.


    "I said why didn''t you chase after me, you bastard!? The girl you say you love walked out on you, and you didn''t even think to fucking chase after me!? Are you fucking stupid!? Where did your family genes go!? Your dick!?" WhiteLotus yelled out as she began hitting GreenHat.  She had tears in her eyes as she beat him. She just wanted him to chase after her. Why was it so hard?


    It was now that he understood why WhiteLotus did not contact him. He couldn''t understand the reasoning before. He first thought it was because of his narrow outlook on things. But now, he fully understood that was not the only reason. He had only gotten to talk to her once since then, and at that time, she told him off and yelled something about becoming a lesbian and that he was going to make him really wear a green hat. He let out a sigh as he stood there taking the beating. He deserved every hit.


    When WhiteLotus finally finished hitting him, he pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. From there, she broke down and cried as she hugged him back. She was in love with his fool. They had been together for a short time, but she loved him nonetheless. "I''m logging out and coming home. You will need to make up for everything you have done."


    "Tell me where you are, and I will come pick you up. It is still not even light outside.." GreenHat said as he kissed the top of WhiteLotus''s head.


    "At Rose''s house. You got fifteen minutes to get here." WhiteLotus said as she pinched GreenHat.


    "No problem, I will be there in ten." He gave WhiteLotus a kiss on the lips before quickly logging out. White Lotus walked over to Rose and told her she was logging on because GreenHat was coming to get her and thanked both Rose and Violet for everything.


    Once WhiteLotus logged out, it was only Chi, Rose, and Violet left. "So tell me did she join you guys?"


    Rose and Violet both grinned as Violet answered: "GreenHat now officially lives up to his name."


    "Pfft! Hahahaha!'' Chi burst out laughing. She laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. "Serves him right!"


    While things were settled on Chi''s side, Ryu had finally settled all the guards he needed for the properties. Each guard was only a stage one fortification realm expert, but for a starting village, that should be more than enough.


    "Now then, time to head back to Roland!" Ryu was happy things were settled here. He only had to wait for things to be complete before returning to this town. But just before he was about to leave town, the same familiar cat girl suddenly appeared in front of him again.


    "Stop right there! I am someone who always gets what they want. I will not allow you to just threaten me and leave. You will become my man whether you like it or not! Trust me. If I want something, nothing can stop me from getting it!" Beauty''s tone had completely changed. After a relaxing licking from Yuyu, she had cleared her thoughts and now understood she had to do things her normal way.


    Ryu frowned but still put a smile on his face as he asked. "Your name?"


    "Beauty! What is your name?" Beauty asked back, feeling happy that the handsome man finally asked her name. She knew she should have done things like this in the first place.


    "My name?" Ryu thought for a moment before his smile widened. "BurningToast!"


    After saying this, Ryu used his movement technique and disappeared from Beauty''s sight. A minute later, a notification was heard.


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Beauty. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 10 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    Beauty stood at the entrance in a daze. Not only did this handsome man disappear before her eyes, now she suddenly had a bounty on her head. Before she knew it, the handsome man returned, but now he had a sword in his hand. "I said this before I would kill you if you bothered me again.  So now that I can freely kill you, I will!"


    Before Beauty could say a word, she was ruthlessly stabbed right in the chest. All she saw was the face of the handsome man that was as cold as ice and void of emotion as he stabbed her right in the heart.

 Chapter 125: Huge Bounty

    Ryu watched as the girl fell to the ground in a heap and sneered. He didn''t even need to check the girl''s bag since he knew there was nothing useful in there. He quickly turned and ran to the respawn point. He still had nine more kills to go! He would not lose his money for this bounty!


    When Beauty respawned, she was still in a daze, but before she could grasp her situation, she was suddenly stabbed in the chest again. She died yet again, looking at that cold and emotionless face. It did not stop there. He continued to kill her eight more times after that as well! When the bounty was finally fulfilled, and Ryu had finally left, Beauty sat there in a  daze for a few minutes before Yuyu came running over. "Miss, are you okay!?''


    "Yuyu buy money. Buy a ton of money and put a bounty out on that BurningToast guy. How dare he treat me like this! I will teach him what it is like to fuck with me!" Beauty finally lost it. She couldn''t take it anymore. She had never been schemed against like this before.


    "Yes, Miss, right away!''  Yuyu helped her miss up and dusted her clothes off before taking her by the hand and leading her towards the Marketplace to get money. After which, they went straight to the mercenary guild. Minutes later¡­


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: BurningToast. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 10000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    @Draconis0kelly:  Holy shit! What''s with this BurningToast guy always getting bounties put out on him!?


    @MrShadowMan: I am not sure, but I want a piece of that action. It seems the area where Roland Village is, is quite a fun place to be.


    @KjellTheViking: Haha! I already killed him a few times earlier. But that AzuritePaladin bastard keeps talking about righteousness and fairness but still keeps taking all the kills on him. What makes things even funnier is that the second most recent bounty has still not been completed. So now he has dual bounties!


    @AzuritePaladin: Don''t slander me! Who held him down while you forced his socks down his throat!?


    @Draconis0kelly: Wait, he is near Rolland Village. I just arrived here not more than an hour ago! What level is that bastard!? I can use a few hundred gold!


    @MrShadowMan: Damn it, you bastards! Why did I have to start halfway across the damn world!? I could be joining in on this free money as well!


    @Freeloader: MrShadowMan, I feel you on this. I have been slowly making my way to that side of the continent as well. But this damn game world is so big!


    @FatPanda: Hahaha! You all are missing out on the most gold you can get for free. I already have two platinum from killing this damn BurningToast guy and his two lackeys.


    @Blade: Who the fuck are you calling a lackey!?


    @KillerT: Yeah bitch, we were getting paid for helping that rat bastard!


    @FatPanada: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @Draconis0kelly: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @MrShadowMan: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @KjellTheViking: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @AzuritePaladin: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @Freeloader: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @Ryu: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @Chi: Blade and KillerT are both BurningToast fuck buddies. +1


    @Blade: Fuck you guys! Just wait until we get our revenge! Especially you, Ryu, watch your back! Don''t forget you still have a bounty out on you as well!


    @Ryu: my coords are 238483 -283723. Come play with me. I have been wanting to make some new art.


    @FatPanda: Hahaha! Here we go again!


    As for the person who actually had the bounty placed on his head for the second time, he was currently covered in shit hiding in a sewer pipe. "Why the fuck does this game need to be realistic to this point!? Fuck, this place stinks! Just you wait, Ryu! When my guild leader finally migrates over with everyone else, you will be wishing you never fucked with the Golden Sword guild!"


    "Ah Choo!" Ryu rubbed his nose and looked around. "Who is cursing me now!?"


    With a shrug of his shoulders, Ryu dashed back towards Roland Village. When he arrived, he was met with hundreds of players running all over the place. There was also a huge group guarding the village gates so BurningToast could not escape. When they saw Ryu walking towards them, not a single person made a move. Although Ryu had a huge bounty on his head to, word had spread about his strength already throughout the entire game of Soul Fusion Online. As soon as Ryu stood in front of the group guarding the gate, they quickly made a path for him and nodded their heads in greeting.


    Ryu nodded back and walked through the gate without issue. This was what it meant to have strength. Because Ryu had already shown his strength he was being hailed on the forums as the strongest person in the game. Not only was he of a high level, but he was a true cultivator as well! This news hit the forums and spread across to the top players. Some of which did not believe it since they had not seen it with their own eyes, but many did believe it and were beginning their migration towards the Roland Village area.


    Before long, the center of the continent was going to become the biggest hot spot of players the game has yet to see. And unknown to these said players, a new storm was about to sweep through the game.


    As for Beauty, who was now proudly sitting by the fountain in the middle of Flim village smiling away, she was very proud of herself. She was now waiting for this BurningToast guy to come back to her begging for her to remove the bounty. Only when he kneeled in front of her and promised to be her slave would she remove the bounty!

 Chapter 126: He Likes Men

    Beauty sat in the same spot for an entire day and night in game. But no matter what, the person she expected to show up never appeared. "Miss..." Yuyu was actually very worried about her Miss. Nothing like this has ever happened to her before.


    "Ahhh! Why!? Why did you not come!? Does he rather be killed over ten thousand times!? Yuyu, we are logging out. Come to my room right away." Beauty was angry, and when she was angry and had no way to release that anger, she liked to do things to Yuyu instead!


    Yuyu couldn''t hide her blush because she already knew what was coming. In a way, she was a little expectant and hoped her miss would not get together with this handsome man she was chasing after. She waited for her miss to log out first before logging out herself.


    ---


    Princess Jasmine''s Bedroom¡­


    Jasmine sat on her bed in her short black negligee with confused feelings. She was angry, but at the same time, she felt sad. She wondered if her beauty was really not enough. She did not understand why the handsome man did not like her. "Miss..."


    Jasmine looked towards Tilly, who called out to her. Tilly was wearing a white t-shirt that went down to her waist, exposing her white panties. "Come here."


    "Yes, Miss." Tilly blushed as she walked over to the bed and sat down next to her miss. Tilly expected her miss to begin doing things to her right away, but instead, her miss pushed her back on the bed and hugged by her. This caused Tilly to become stiff because her miss had never done anything like this before. "Miss?"


    "Tilly, am I not beautiful?" Jasmine suddenly asked as she nuzzled her nose into Tilly''s chest.


    "Miss, may I speak honestly?" Tilly asked.


    "Yes. You can answer honestly." Jasmine braced herself for what she was about to hear. But she needed to know the truth.


    "Then I will be honest. Miss, I think you are very beautiful. At first, when you asked me to be your personal maid and began having me take care of your sexual needs as well, I was a bit scared and uncomfortable. But when I saw your naked body, I couldn''t help but want to see your pleasured face. I think every part of miss is sexy..." Tilly spoke honestly. With how her miss was acting, she felt it was best to speak her honest thoughts, even if it meant being punished.


    "So I am not ugly¡­. Then why¡­ Why does that man despise me to the point that he was even willing to kill me ten times!?"  Jasmine still did not understand. If she was not ugly, then why!?


    "Miss¡­ what if he was not interested in women¡­ Maybe he only likes guys..." Tilly could only think of this solution. Her miss was very beautiful. Many men have tried to court her miss, but none of them were good enough for her miss. If the man was not gay, then Tilly really did not know what else to think.


    "This¡­ Fuck! Why did I not think of this!?" Jasmine sat up as this realization came to mind. "So he is someone who likes other men. Interesting! Interesting! Hahaha! I now have a new goal! I will make that bastard forget about men and only love me! BurningToast, just you wait!"


    Tilly watched on in confusion as her miss seemed to have lost her mind. But knowing her miss was in a better mood was also good. "Tonight, Miss, we can search for this BurningToast guy."


    [Warning R-18]


    "Mmm! We shall! Now, Tilly, You seemed to have said some interesting things. As such!" Jasmine pulled Tilly''s panties off and traced her finger over Tilly''s slit. "I will reward you."


    Feeling her miss suddenly touch her pussy so gently caused Tilly to blush and bite her bottom lip.


    "I think this is the first time I have actually taken the time to look at your pussy. It is very cute." Jasmine lowered her head and kissed the cleaned shaved mound. She then reached up under Tilly''s shirt and began massaging the modest sized breast on Tilly''s chest.


    "Miss..." Tilly let out a soft moan as she arched her back slightly. She could feel her miss''s tongue dancing around inside her. This was not the first time her miss did this to her, but it was the first time she was being so gentle. It made her feel so good she was already about to orgasm! "Ahhh~! Miss!"


    Jasmine''s mouth was flooded with Tilly''s juices. She sucked them up and continued to eat Tilly''s pussy, causing the girl to squirm and cry out from her miss. For some reason, Jasmine was really enjoying the sound of her maid crying out her name as she moaned.


    After an entire hour of teasing Tilly with not just her tongue but her own pussy and even a strap on, Jasmine felt more refreshed. She looked over at Tilly, who had passed out from too much pleasure, and got up off her bed. Normally she would just kick the girl to the floor, but for some reason, she was a bit reluctant to do so today. Instead, she walked naked to her desk, sat down, and took out a notepad and pen from the drawer. She then proceeded to write at the top of the paper. "Ideas for making a gay man straight."


    ---


    Soul Fusion online¡­


    "Ah Choo!" Ryu sneed loudly.


    "You okay?" Chi asked.


    "Mmm¡­ I think someone is cursing me again." Ryu said as he rubbed his nose. This was the second time he felt as if someone had cursed him.


    "It''s good that you are okay. We should log out now." Chi suggested.


    Ryu looked at the clock on his HUD and nodded his head. "Mmm... Let''s get breakfast and go for a walk. Although you are always taking care of me, you still need to take care of yourself as well."


    "I know!" Chi pursed her lips as she wrapped her arms around Ryu''s neck as she teasingly said: "But haven''t we been getting exercises in bed and in the bath?"

 Chapter 127: Guild Recruitment Part 1

    "You will need to exercise your entire body! Not just your tongue!" Ryu let out a laugh as he kissed Chi. "Come on, let''s log out."


    Chi and Ryu logged back in pretty early. Ryu found himself running back to Flim village to check the status of things. He made sure to buy a cheap cloak from a shop before going so he could avoid running into that strange girl. Only one site was finished. It was the first of the five four story buildings that had twenty crafting rooms for alchemy in it. Ryu''s special options were the extra floor and the ability to switch the bedrooms out for crafting rooms.


    He kind of wished he could swap out the second floor of the guild house in Roland where the bedrooms were and replace them with crafting rooms like this guild house, but there was nothing he could do about it. "Not bad!" Ryu looked at the first floor of his guild house. The main hall was more like a reception area of a big company. It had a front desk for people to greet others and two halls, one on each side. One hall led to a recreation area and kitchen, while the other hall led to three meeting rooms. And the three floors above of course were filled with crafting rooms. There was also one area outside the house that was used for teleportation, but it would only activate if the guild had a second guild house someplace else. Ryu had noticed it was already active, which meant the house in Roland was also already finished. Luckily this teleportation device was locked to guild members only.


    "When will you start on the next house?" Ryu asked the leader of the construction team, who was standing next to him.


    "We already sent men out to start clearing the area and should be ready in a few weeks." The man answered.


    "Alright, I will leave it to you then. I will come check it out when it is complete." Ryu was excited to try out this new teleportation device. After saying goodbye to the lead contractor, he went straight to the teleportation device and stood in the middle. As he did, a menu popped up in front of him, asking him the location he wished to go to.


    The list only had Roland active, but it still showed the other properties as well, but their names were greyed out. "I just hit this and..." Ryu suddenly felt a strange sensation as his entire body turned into particles of light, and his vision went black. It was only for an instant, but when he could finally see again, he was standing on the platform for the teleportation device in Roland Village. After taking a second to collect himself, he finally moved his body around, checking to make sure everything was okay. "Not exactly the best feeling in the world, but I guess I will get used to it."


    "Ryu?" Chi called out as she saw a familiar figure appear out of nowhere.


    "Mm¡­ I tried out the new teleportation device. It is very strange. But it does what it is supposed to." Ryu walked towards Chi and pulled her into his arms. "We can now start setting up things for recruitment."


    "I already contacted everyone, and they should be logging in soon. Let''s head to the meeting room." Chi replied.


    Twenty minutes later, everyone was sitting around the  WhiteLotus, Rose, Violet, Greenhat, FingerSandwhich, Number6, Number7, Number8, along with Ryu and Chi, all sat around the meeting table for their very first official meeting in their new guild house.


    Ryu had made sure to hire a few maids and cooks as well as staff for the reception area. So they were not just sitting there with an empty table, it was filled with drinks and food. "Now that we have not just one but two guild houses up, we can not start our recruitment process. As of now, we have two guild houses completed, and by tomorrow night real world time, two more should be done in Flim village. That will give us four recruitment sites. As for how we recruit, I was thinking of making a few guidelines, but I need all of your input."


    "Ryu, since we will be mass recruiting crafters, we can use one site for the signup process, right? We can have the recruits one by one craft an item for us to prove that they are indeed crafters. This way, players can not just say they are a crafter and not be able to craft." Chi suggested.


    "Yeah, I think Chi''s idea is very good!" GreenHat immediately spoke up. He, of course, would agree with everything his baby sister suggested.


    "Can the idiots in the room not speak?" Chi asked coldly, causing everyone else to chuckle.


    "Alright, alright. No fighting." Ryu placed his hand on Chi''s to calm her down. She always seemed to want to dig into GreeHat every time he spoke. "What Chi suggested is good. So let''s take a vote on it."


    "I''m for!" GreenHat raised his hand first.


    "Same!" FingerSandwhich also raised his hand.


    This was followed by the three girls as well as the number brothers. The number brothers were the name Ryu gave to the three people the king sent to help Ryu make the guild. "Okay, we will go with this then. Now we need to decide on the criteria on everyone else."


    "Ryu, are you looking to limit the guild entries by level?" Rose asked.


    "No, I think a guild can only have true members if the members are raised within the guild from a low level. Of course, I do not mean higher levels can not join, but normally higher levels are likely to jump ship if they see a better guild offering what they want. We want people who will be loyal, and loyalty is more likely with people we raised ourselves." Ryu truly felt that if one was to raise new players, they would be more likely to want to stay in the guild that has always treated them well. But there was an issue here too. If the guild was too big then the lower levels would feel neglected if things were not structured in a proper way.

 Chapter 128: Guild Recruitment Part 2

    With this in mind, Ryu continued: "Now this brings me to something that we need to decide on. A guild structure. We need something that will work in the same way a company will. Because in a sense, a guild is no different than a company. You have your CEO, presidents, managers, team leaders, and regular employees. This is basically a chain of command that allows things to flow in an orderly fashion.


    "My idea for our guild is to adopt the same kind of structure so we can have a more orderly streamlined system. We may not be able to do everything right away, but we can at least start with the basics. As we are a guild and not a business, I was thinking of doing things as so, I as the Guild Leader, Chi as Vice Guild Leader, and you guys as the eight generals. From there when we recruit new people. I want to have people who can oversee each division of crafting, raid leaders who will do more than just organize raids but also help low level players with dungeon runs, a foraging division who are people who just like to farm, and a player VS player division. I am sure I am missing a lot here, so we can figure out the finer details later. But this is my idea for the guild, which can easily be transferred over once we grow large enough to become a sect." Ryu explained.


    "You know, I have always found it funny that they did not add clans to the list of groups you can make. If they did make clans, it would allow us to grow at a slower pace before actually becoming a guild... Ahh, sorry I went off topic." WhiteLotus blushed as she lowered her head.


    "No, what you said is right. We should be ready for anything the game has to throw at us. So let''s build slow and steady. As of now, we have the advantage because we have cultivation manuals. Which I can now copy and hand out to everyone. It will just take some time to copy it. That means the number brothers, GreenHat, and  FingerSandwhich, can also get this cultivation manual. It can be an incentive for people to stay in the guild. Also, I finally acquired a pill cauldron which means I can soon make cultivation pills to speed up everyone''s cultivation." Ryu knew he would be very busy soon since he would need to make pills and other items at the start to give their guild the advantage.


    "Why am I not surprised anymore when Ryu suddenly talks about things that have to do with cultivation. First, he was the first to actually get a cultivation manual with Chi, and now he has pill cauldrons and another cultivation manual he can even make copies of. I should ask my father to just abdicate his throne to my future sister in law." GreenHat said in a sarcastic tone. He really hated Ryu and his dog shit luck.


    "You''re just jealous because Ryu is better than you in every way." WhiteLotus said as she pinched GreenHat''s side.


    "Not in every way! At least my dick is bigger!" GreenHat said proudly.


    But instead of WhiteLotus agreeing with him, she lowered her head and averted her eyes.  Rose couldn''t hold it in when she saw WhiteLotus''s actions. "Pfft! Hahaha! So Ryu, who is not even a real man, has a bigger dick than the real man over here!? Hahaha!"


    "Fuck!" GreenHat yelled, but suddenly he thought of something. "Damnit, WhiteLotus, you told me you didn''t see it while you were in the bath that time!"


    "I did say I never saw it while we were in the bath, but I never said I did not see it outside the bath. And just to clarify for everyone here¡­. It is about three times.."


    "Ahhh! Shut up! I have a small dick, okay!? I am a quick shooter with a small dick! Fucking sue me already! Are you fucking happy now! I said it!" GreenHat yelled out. FingerSandwhich and the Number brothers all lowered their heads, trying their best not to laugh.


    "No wonder WhiteLotus was so keen on doing¡­." Rose quickly covered her mouth as she realized she let something slip that she shouldn''t have.


    GreenHat stood up and pointed at Rose then as WhiteLotus¡­ "You! You didn''t, right!?"


    "Hmm? I have no idea what you are talking about¡­." WhiteLotus once again averted her eyes.


    "Fuck! Fuck! Ahhh, fuck me¡­ WhiteLotus, why don''t you just knit me a green hat to wear so I can finally live up to my name." GreenHat banged his head off the table as he flailed his arms about.


    "Alright, enough picking on the quick shooter.  We need to decide who will be in charge of what recruitment and who will be in charge of advertisement." Ryu decided to give the poor guy a break.


    "I think the guys should act as judges while us girls do the advertisement. If we have more people wanting to join, then we thought the girls could then also help judge as well. I only say this because guys will flock to cute girls and will be less likely to stir up trouble with the judges. " Violet suggested.


    "This is very true. I agree with this." Chi said, raising her hand. The other two girls also agreed.


    "Then let''s do this. The number''s brothers will take care of combat recruitment since they are the ones with the most combat training. I mean, they started late and are already in the level version of the fortification realm, pushing towards the soul sensing realm. Two of you will judge the recruitment here in Roland while the other will judge the recruitment in Flim village.  GreenHat and FingerSandwhich will be in charge of the recruitment of crafters in Flim village, while I take care of the one in Roland. The girls will split up into two groups Rose and Violet will go to Flim Village for advertisement while WhiteLotus and Chi will stay here and advertise in Roland. We can also use forums as well. Any objections?" Ryu asked.


    "Sounds good to me." GreenHat said while nodding his head. He was already back to his normal self even after being outed as a small dick quick shot who wears a green hat.

 Chapter 129: Guild Recruitment Part 3

    Ryu looked around the room to see everyone else nod their heads in agreement. With this, the meeting was called to a close. Everyone got ready and prepared for what was needed. During this time, the forums began to explode as Ryu announced recruitment.


    @Ryu: Just a heads up to those in the Flim Village, Roland Village area. My guild, Serenity, will begin its recruitment drive starting tomorrow real world time. Anyone may join to try out for the guild. We will be splitting it into two sections: crafters and regular players. And for all of you fuck heads who are out there thinking they will try to get revenge on me by attacking my guild members, you should know that I am not the only one with a cultivation method in my guild or there are also those who are close to the same level to me or are the same level as me. So think before you act, or you will be hunted down and made to quit this game.


    @FatPanda: Haha! Ryu is really going to begin his guild recruitment! Sign me up! Also, I will vouch that it would be a bad idea to go against Ryu. His methods¡­. Just thinking back to that art display still gives me nightmares, and I wasn''t even part of it.


    @AzuritePaladin: "I will be trying out! I am all for joining a badass like Ryu."


    @Beauty: Sorry, I am new to the game. Can someone explain to me what a guild is?


    @FreeLoader: It is basically a group of players who form an organization and play together.


    @Beauty: I see¡­ Then I will try out for this guild as well¡­


    Ryu''s face turned black seeing Beauty posting a message on the forums. He quickly sent Chi a message: "Chi, go on forums and tell Beauty she is not allowed to join our guild because we do not allow cheap women in it."


    "Huh!? Beauty¡­ Is that the girl you told me about during the day?" Chi asked.


    "Yeah, I do not want her in our guild. She will just cause more issues than we need. But if I say anything, I am afraid she will figure out who is am." Ryu really did not want that clingy girl in his guild. This was one of the reasons he refused to walk the streets of Flim at this time without a cloak. He wanted nothing to do with that crazy girl.


    "Alright, I will do it now." Chi replied. She had no issues dealing with thots trying to steal her grilfriend.


    @Chi: Cheap girl named Beauty, I heard that you chase men in the streets trying to get in their pants. I do not think you will be a good fit for our guild.


    @Beauty: !!! Who are you calling a cheap girl!? I never tried to get into any guys'' pants!


    @DraconisOkelly: What did I just hear? Some girl likes to get into guys'' pants. Where do I sign up!? Baby, let this older brother help you with that itch you need scratched.


    @DrakeStarkiller: Ignore the guy upstairs. He can''t satisfy a girl, but this big buddha can!


    @Beauty: You dare to ask me such things!? Do you even know who I am?


    @AzuritePaladin: A cheap slut?


    @KjellTheViking: Haha! Wow, I never met a paladin such as you before! So very paladin like!


    @Ryu: Since my vice leader says you can''t join, then I am sorry you will need to look for another guild or man, whatever it is you are looking for. Anyone else besides Beauty may come try out for our guild.


    @Beauty: !!! You!!! Just you wait! I will make all you bastards pay for treating me like this! Since I can''t join your guild, I will make one of my own!


    "Miss..." Yuyu looked at her miss, whose eyes were turning red as if she was about to cry.


    "These bastards in this game have no idea who I am and treat me like some kind of cheap slut!" Beauty was on the verge of tears. She hated the fact that she couldn''t just kill these people in game! And she knew even if she said she was a princess of the Evergreen family, they would just laugh at her and tell her she was lying! "Yuyu, we are going to an Inn! I need to vent my anger!"  Yuyu didn''t even get to say a word before she was pulled by her miss to the nearest inn, tossed into the rented room, stripped of her clothes, and played with for hours on end.


    As the advertisement went on, more and more people began showing up at both Flim Village and Roland Village. The two villages were being swarmed by applicants. Many people had heard of Ryu''s achievements and wanted to join his guild before the recruitment process became tougher in the future. The venue was set up into two sections in the two villages. There was the crafting section and the battle section.


    ---


    Recruitment day was finally here, and to make sure no one was causing any trouble during this time, Ryu even hired many mercenaries of both players and NPCs to keep things under control. As this was Serenity''s first recruitment, Ryu had to make an appearance. In Roland, where he was located. GreenHat and FingerSandwhich were to take care of Flim Village.


    Ryu stood up on the stage they had made outside their guild hall and looked out over the crowd that was at least a few thousand players now and smiled: "I want to thank everyone for turning up to try out for the guild. As I said before on forums, everyone will get a chance to try out between the two sections crafting and battle. I will be personally overseeing the Crafting section, while Number8 and Number7 here will be testing your fighting skills. All of you who are trying out will be given a fair chance.


    "When it comes to crafting, you will be called into our guild''s main hall to craft a single item. As long as you prove you can craft any items, you will be able to join our guild and get access to free high quality crafting rooms at one of our guild houses in Flim village. As for regular entrants, it will be based on your combat ability."

 Chapter 130: Way Too Many!

    "What about healers?" Someone yelled out, interrupting Ryu''s speech.


    Ryu did not get mad at this interruption because it was a good question. "As Healers are an essential part of any team and have little combat ability, priests are allowed to join the guild no matter their level without being tested. But just note that if you cause trouble in my guild, I will not only kick you from the guild but also place a bounty on your head as extra punishment if the reason you were kicked was for a serious offense. As you are getting a free pass into the guild, you will be watched more closely. So please do not do anything to harm the guild or your fellow guild members."


    These were all things ironed out before the recruitment started today. Ryu had forgotten about priests who did not have much combat progress, and testing them would be difficult. But this did not mean they were getting in without being put on parole. Ryu could only hope that he doesn''t have to deal with any big issues right off the bat.


    "Alright, I have said all that needs to be said. I wish you all good luck!" Ryu said as he jumped off the stage and headed into the guild house. The front yard was being used as an arena for combat, while the main hall was being used for crafting.


    "Ryu!" Chi came running up to Ryu just as he sat down. "I think we will need to create a sect once we hit 200 people. I just went to check on things in Flim village, and there was already a little over a thousand players there as well."


    "So soon!?" Ryu scratched his head. He was also surprised by this turnout.


    "Yeah¡­ Should I log out and see what we need to do to make a sect?" Chi asked.


    "Yeah, go ahead. We should be fine for the time being. Things are really getting nuts." Ryu let out a sigh as he waved his hand to the NPC guard to let the first person in.


    The girl or man¡­ Sheboy? That walked in was a big burly man with makeup on wearing a dress. Ryu watched as the big burly man looked at him, flip his hair, and spoke in a high pitched voice: "Hi handsome! My name is Margie! I am here to try out as a crafter for Armaments."


    "Ahem¡­ I¡­ I see¡­ Then please use the Armament station we set up over there." Ryu had paid a high price to rent a few portable crafting stations for each crafting section. There were five crafts so far in the game that everyone could access without needing to meet some kind of requirement: alchemy, pill refinement, rune forging, array master, and armaments master. Since pill cauldrons were rare, Ryu did not set up a pill refinement section. If someone was truly a pill refiner, then they would have their own pill cauldron to use for refinement.


    "Thanks, handsome!" Margie winked and blew a kiss at Ryu, causing Ryu to feel a shiver run up his spine. He was not one to judge people''s tastes or hobbies, but even for him, there were things that still made him shiver.


    But nonetheless, Ryu still watched closely as Margie went to work creating the first armament of the day.  Margie was in complete concentration mode. Nothing was going to disturb this sheboy at this time. "Hah!" Margie suddenly let out a loud shout causing Ryu to jump. But this first shout was followed by many more as Margie was doing its thing in front of the furnace.


    An hour later, Margie smiled and pulled out a sword from the furnace. "There!" Margie got up and handed the sword to Ryu to check. "Not bad¡­ Although it is of low quality, the attack power on it is good for lower levels.  Better than the swords you can buy in the shops in Flim. You pass!"


    "Haha! I knew Darling~ would see how amazing I am!" Margie gave another wink to Ryu, causing him to visibly shiver again.


    "Alright, accept the guild invite," Ryu said as he opened his guild window and hit the recruit button.


    After Margie, more people came in and were recruited. When the thirtieth person walked in, it was a young man who seemed to have a fancy set of armor on. He walked into the reception area and looked around before giving a snort. "This shabby place can be considered a guild house? This is nothing compared to what My Golden Sword guild will be making."


    After saying this, the young man turned towards Ryu and, in a tone full of arrogance, said:  "My name is Gene. I am the leader of Golden Sword. I heard you gave my guildmate BurningToast a hard time while he was setting things up, trying to get a foothold in this game. I will give you a chance now, while you still can. Either merge your guild into mine and give up all your guild funding, and we will forget everything that has happened, or you watch as we slowly destroy your guild."


    "Umm¡­ Are you sick in the head?" Ryu asked. He now understood why BurningToast was so stupid. His guild leader was even dumber than him.


    "Excuse me?" Gene tried to keep his calm. He heard that Ryu was very good at riling people up.


    "I asked if you are sick in the head because you seem to be. You do realize that this is my guild territory, right?" Ryu smiled as he stood up and asked this.


    "Yeah, what about it?" Gene had no idea what Ryu was getting at.


    "Then let me thank you ahead of time for giving me free loot." With these words, Ryu''s body flashed and arrived in front of Gene. Before Gene could even move he was already dead and dropped a sack on the ground.  Gene was only level one which meant his guild members must have helped him get to Rolan. There was no way a level one could survive a single blow from Ryu. Ryu bent down and picked up the sack that dropped and looked inside it. "Not bad, not bad. All my expensive potions are in here. These Golden Sword members just love giving me money."


    Ryu stashed the items away before looking at the crowd of people. And suddenly felt like he was in over his head. "There are just way too many!"

 Chapter 131: From Guild To Sect

    Ryu did not think it was going to be a problem at first, but now he realized this was a major issue. Ryu had no choice but to ask for the new recruits to give a helping hand with the recruitment drive. Anytime someone new joined, Ryu had them help out in order to make up the numbers for the mass of people they were recruiting. Within the first three hours of game time, they had already recruited 150 people.


    "Ryu!" Chi logged back in and saw the mass of people running around and looked quite surprised.


    "Did you find out how to become a sect?" Ryu asked. He was really not having an easy time with the influx of people they had.


    "It''s like this, it says we need to become a clan first and have over 500 members, but it doesn''t say how!" Chi had searched high and low on the internet only to come across a small thread that was answered by a dev from the game company on the Soul Fusion Online forums. In the thread, it was stated that although it was announced that only guilds and sects could be created, there was actually an in between to this. Guilds could only have 200 members max, while sects could have 500 plus members. He said in order to even build a sect, you need to first become a clan. Only by becoming a clan will you be able to surpass the 200 member limit of a guild and work your way towards 500 members. But this was all the dev said. How to actually form a clan was not explained.


    Ryu thought for a moment as he fell into deep thought. "Chi, can you handle things here? I will head to the nearest major city. If we hit 200 members, pause the recruitment and wait to hear from me on what to do next. "


    "Okay, be careful!" Chi hugged Ryu and kissed his lips. "Remember, you still have a bounty on you."


    Ryu smiled and rubbed his nose against Chi''s. "Mmm.. Don''t worry."


    After giving Chi a kiss goodbye, Ryu left the guild residence. But he did not leave Roland Village right away, instead, he stopped at the mercenaries guild.


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Gene. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 100 gold for each kill!  Up to 10,000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 100 gold before it is too late.]


    A few minutes earlier¡­.


    As for Gene, he was sitting in a back alley talking with a few higher level players. "Name your price! I will pay whatever you want in order to kill that bastard! Kill him until he is level 0!"


    The two men looked at each other and then back at the level 0 man standing in front of them and let out a laugh. "Are you an idiot!? Do you even know how powerful that man is!? I have watched him fight 20 people at the same time and not receive a single hit! You want us to try to kill someone who is basically a god right now?"


    "You! I am paying you money. What do you care? Just catch the bastard off guard! " Gene yelled out. He didn''t understand why these guys were now willing to take up the job! He was easily paying a few hundred gold. Seeing how he was unable to get these guys to do the job, he was getting ready to walk away in anger and head towards the mercenary guild. But before he could even do that, a world announcement filled everyone''s ears. Before he knew it, he was grabbed from behind and dragged off by the two men. "You!"


    "Haha! Don''t mind us. It''s just that the price is just right! Hahaha! By the way, you must be really new to the game. Do you think we would ever take up a bounty on Ryu? He''s our guild leader now! Hahaha!"


    Gene''s face paled. He was about to be killed over ten thousand times! He tried to break free from the two men''s grasp, but he just couldn''t do it! They dragged him off towards the respawn point, where they held him down and stabbed him in the face!


    Ryu leisurely walked out of town with his hands in his pockets as if he had not done anything big. "Now, then off to the biggest city in the area. Westfall City!"  Westfall city was about a week of travel in game time if one were to walk normally. For Ryu, this travel time was only two days ingame time with his movement technique.


    He did not even get far before Chi sent him a message over guild chat. "Ryu, we maxed out. For the time being, I told everyone we are pausing recruitment for a few days in game time. And that once we figured out how to break past the guild member limit, we will continue recruitment."


    "Alright. I should be in Westfall city soon. I will buy a guild house there as well, so we have the place as a teleport point." Ryu answered, not pausing even for a second as he continued to move as fast as he could.


    "Alright, good luck. For now, I am organizing the new guild members. As far as I can tell, after making the announcement in the short pause on recruiting, the players who came all the way to Roland seem to be camping outside our guild house." Chi had seen many players begin to build fires and even build tents right outside the gates of their guild house. There were even people putting up small shops to sell their items.


    "That''s good. It will give us time to try to figure this all out. Sorry for putting all the extra work on your shoulders, Chi." Ryu did feel bad he was supposed to be the leader, but Chi was carrying all the extra burden now because of this.


    "It''s fine. We are a team, so it is normal for me to help you out. Ahh!  A fight just broke out. Ryu, I have to go handle this, message me when you figure out what is going on."

 Chapter 132: Westfall City

    "Finally here!" Ryu slowed down as he got close to the city gates. This was the biggest city closest to Roland Village. While he had passed by other villages and towns on the way here, the massive city walls and tall buildings made of wood and stone were too eye-catching. Just entering the city was unlike the Flim Village and Roland Village. Here you actually had to wait in line to enter the city.


    The line was pretty long, even though it was late into the day. Ryu stood there waiting like everyone else. After about an hour of waiting, Ryu heard a yell come from behind him. "Out of the way! Don''t stand in the way of our Miss!"


    A loud man''s voice yelled out from on top of a carriage benign pulled by two large raptor looking monsters. The carriage itself was very fancy looking with the embedded jewels and gold adorned on the redwood frame.  On the front and sides of the carriage was a family crest. Ryu noticed once people saw this crest, people began moving out of the way.


    "Quickly move. It is people from the Qin family!" Someone yelled out.


    Ryu did not try to stand in the carriage''s way. He did as everyone else did and backed up out of the way in order to not cause any issues. He was only here in the city to see how to turn his guild into a clan. But what he did not expect was as the carriage rolled by him, a girl''s voice could be heard coming from inside. "Wait! Stop!"


    The carriage came to a stop, and the door opened up. A young woman around eighteen to nineteen years of age was helped down by two maids. She wore a white dress that matched her golden blonde hair that loosely draped down her shoulders. Her fair cute round face and big golden eyes that shimmered in the sunlight made her look like a celestial who had ascended down to Earth.  She walked over to Ryu and stood in front of him, looking him up and down. "You! What is your name?" The girl asked in an arrogant tone.


    Ryu let out a sigh and wished he made a mask to cover his face. He was really getting sick of these girls always coming up to him. But because of what he heard from the surrounding people''s murmurs, he knew this girl was the princess of the Qin family, a martial arts family. He could feel the girl was actually a cultivator. He couldn''t help but think that the world was indeed small. President Chen from the trade skill guild probably had no idea what the nearest city was like. Not wanting to cause a scene, Ryu looked at the cute girl in front of him and smiled as he replied: "My name is Ryu, miss..?"


    "My name is Emma, the first daughter of the great Qin Family! I have decided you will be mine!" Emma stated firmly with her nose in the air.


    "Ermm¡­ Sorry I am already taken..." Ryu politely rejected. He did not want to cause too much of a scene, but he also did not want to become any girl''s plaything. Ryu only wanted to be with Chi, no one else, even if it was only an NPC.


    "You! You dare to reject our miss!? You should be honored to even have our Miss take a fancy to you as a commoner!" The little maid at Emma''s side stepped forward and yelled.


    Ryu let out a sigh as he rubbed his head. He really did not want to deal with all of this. "Listen, I have a wife already, so I can not become yours..."


    "I will allow you to take her as your concubine! But I will be your main wife." Emma''s words, not only stunned her maids, but also the crowd.  They never expected the princess of the Qin family to be willing to allow another woman near the man she took a  fancy to.


    "Ummm¡­  That is not how it works, sorry. My wife is my wife. So no matter what you say, I will not be able to become your man."  Ryu was trying to be polite, but now he was starting to get annoyed.


    "I do not think I was giving you a choice." Emma said with a smile on her face.


    Ryu suddenly went on guard after seeing the girl''s smile. He felt like he was in immediate danger. But before he could even move from where he was standing, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and knocked out. "Miss..."


    "Mmm¡­ Take him to my chambers. Tell Papa I have brought him home a son in law. I am sure once he sees how handsome my husband is, he will be satisfied." Emma said as she walked over and planted a kiss on the unconscious Ryu''s lips. "We will be home soon, then we can hold our wedding night."


    "Young Miss is wise! I am sure Master will take a liking to this young man. Once you produce him a few grandchildren, he will be able to rest assured that the family line will continue without those damn bastards from the side family trying to take up the position as head of the family." The man in black who was currently holding the unconscious Ryu said through gritted teeth. He did not want the family his master has taken care of for so long to fall into the hands of the side family who had been plotting against them over and over. Now with the young miss taking in a husband, they can finally rebuild the main family line. Only then would the Qin family stabilize.


    "Mmm! Papa will be very surprised. I am sure he will be jumping for joy! He has been telling me to keep an eye out for a handsome boy of my liking so I can bear new blood into our main family. Only by doing so can we shut up those old bastards trying to remove my Papa as head. "

 Chapter 133: Kidnaped

    In Roland Village, Chi was busy organizing things now that the guild was completely full. She had also been keeping a close eye on her HUD since she and Ryu were still in a team. It was two days later, game time, that Chi realized something was wrong. "Why does it say Ryu is incapacitated..."


    "What says incapacitated?" GreenHat asked as he walked into the meeting room where Chi was working.


    Chi frowned seeing GreenHat, but since she didn''t know what it meant when an icon that says incapacitated appears next to someone''s name, she could only ask her good for nothing brother. "I am always in a team with Ryu, and on my HUD, it shows that he is full health, but there is an icon next to his name that says he is incapacitated. So I am not sure what is going on¡­."


    "That means he is probably knocked out or something. Which means he is in trouble!" GreenHat suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. "Chi, you said Ryu was going to Westfall city, right?"


    "Yeah, I am heading there now. You and WhiteLotus are in charge.  GreenHat if you fuck up anything while I am gone, I will never speak to you again." Chi said as she quickly ran out of the room, leaving behind GreenHat staring dumbly at her retreating back.


    "Does this mean she trusts me at least a little now?" GreenHat mumbled to himself before notifying WhiteLotus of what was going on. He then contacted his brother to have him help keep things in order as well.


    While Chi was racing towards Westfall City, Ryu was brought to a large estate within the city. It was like most of the architecture of this game, a mix of both ancient asian and western design.


    "Bring him right to my room and lay him on my bed. Strip him of his clothes before shackling him to the bed." Emma gave out her orders to the men, who were carrying Ryu before she headed off in another direction.


    Ryu had no idea how long he had been out, but when he opened his eyes, he was not in a good position. He found himself shackled to a bed and without a stitch of clothing on his body. He looked around the room to see that it seemed to be a girl''s bedroom. It was dimly lit with a bit of light passing through a thin curtain that covered the window, and a few candles were strewn about. He could see his clothes folded up neatly on a table near the bed. "Did that girl really fucking kidnap me?" Ryu mumbled. He was very pissed off right now!


    He could stay calm because he didn''t feel like he was forced to do anything as of yet. He figured he would have felt something in his lower region if he had done something he shouldn''t have. "Ryu!"


    A message from Chi came up on Ryu''s HUD. "Chi, I think I may be in a bit of a pinch right now..."


    "I am on my way! What happened!?" Chi asked. She was currently using her movement technique to its full extent. She was actually slightly faster than Ryu due to her race.


    "I met some NPC girl while waiting in line to enter the city, but she seemed to have taken a liking to me. When she asked me to be her husband, I declined... I guess she had some kind of hidden guard or something. I was knocked out, and now I am shackled to a bed naked..." Ryu told the complete truth. He never wanted to hide anything from Chi.


    "You are what!? Did that fucking bitch do anything to you!?" Chi was mad. She was really mad! Someone dared to defile her Ryu!? That was her girlfriend. No one was allowed to touch her girlfriend, but her!


    "As far as I can tell, I''m safe. Nothing has happened to me as of yet¡­ But in this condition, I am basically stuck. For some reason, no matter how much I try to use my soul qi, I can''t seem to circulate it at all. It is as if something is stopping me from doing so." Ryu frowned as she continued to struggle to remove the chains from his arms.


    "Do what you can. If you can''t move and that bitch tries to do something... " Chi clenched fist and gritted her teeth as she continued: "Just close your eyes and think of me. I will be there soon to kill that bitch."


    "I do what I can to keep it from happening. It''s too bad there is no suicide button in this game that lets you kill yourself. But to be honest, I never thought NPCs would even have this kind of code. It seems a bit out there if you ask me." Ryu really wondered what these programmers were thinking.


    "Oh? So you''re finally awake." A gentle voice floated into the room.


    Ryu turned his head and frowned when he saw the girl walking in with nothing on. "Chi, she is here. I will see if I can talk my way out of this mess."


    "Okay, do what you can." Chi was moving faster and faster. She was going so fast that if she continued at her current speed, she might even be able to make the two day trip in a single day.


    After hearing Chi''s reply, Ryu turned his attention to the girl. "You do realize that by doing this, it makes you nothing but a cheap slut, right?"


    "You!" Emma stopped in her tracks and stared at Ryu. His words were actually dancing around her brain and as she thought about it. It did indeed seem like she was acting like a slut! Not only has she stripped a man naked and shackled him so he couldn''t resist her, but she was also standing there naked in front of him! But when she thought about her clan and how her Papa needed an heir to continue the main family line, she gritted her teeth and took another step forward. "If it means I can have an heir for my family then I do not care what I am seen as."

 Chapter 134: Clara

    "Sadly, even if you did have sex with me, you wouldn''t get an heir. I am impotent. I can''t even spread my seed. All I have is my handsome face, nothing else. You should know even my wife has turned lesbian because she can''t even have sex with me. I am nothing but a handsome man wearing a green hat." Ryu watched Emma closely, and his words seemed to have some effect on her as she once again stopped in her tracks.


    "You''re lying!" Emma yelled out. Although she said Ryu was lying, she was also second guessing this thought as well.


    "You can try it, but when you fail to get it up or lose your virginity to a man who can''t even get it up then you will know." Ryu was trying to push this fact the most. He only needed to buy time until Chi arrived.


    "This..." Emma was starting to get embarrassed. In truth, Emma had quite a good looking body. She had fair white skin and a modest set of perky breasts. If it was not for Ryu using all his will power to keep his lower member in check, he probably would have already had his little brother popping up to say hi.


    Emma was lost in thought. If what Ryu said was indeed true and she lost her virginity to this man, she would become a laughing stock of the Qin family as well as all of Westfall city. With this thought in mind, she decided not to risk it until she was one hundred percent sure. "It is late. I will have a doctor come check on you in the morning. "


    After saying these words, Emma quickly put some clothes on before yelling for the Guards. "Someone come, bring him to the side room!"


    Ryu was once again knocked out. When he woke again, he was dressed in his normal clothes again but still chained up. He let out a sigh of relief. It seemed he was able to talk his way out of the situation. "Chi, I was able to talk the girl out of it, so I am safe for the time being."


    "That''s good, but that still won''t keep me from killing that fucking bitch!"


    ---


    A few hours later, Ryu heard the door to the room he was in, open up. A maid around the same age as Emma poked her head in and looked around. When she saw that no one was inside except for Ryu, she quickly entered and closed the door behind her. Ryu stared at the girl coldly as she walked over to the bed. "Don''t worry, I am here to free you."


    Ryu was surprised by this sudden turn of events. He did not understand why a maid of the Qin family would try to help him. Wouldn''t a family maid want to do everything she could for her master? "Why are you doing this?"


    "Because I have been tasked to make sure the Qin family keeps the current status quo within Westfall city. If you were to impregnate Emma Qin, then the Qin family would have a chance to have a male heir. My Vaughan family will not allow this. We are already in a power struggle with the Qin family. We can not allow them to gain any more strength." The maid replied as she pulled out a metal object from her shirt and began fiddling with the cuffs on Ryu''s ankles.


    "My name is Ryu. May I know yours?" Ryu asked.


    "Clara." Clara responded with a small smile. She quickly undid the bindings on Ryu, freeing him from the shackles.


    As soon as the shackles were off his body, Ryu could feel his soul qi again. "So these shackles were keeping me from using my soul qi¡­."


    "Yes, they could tell you were a cultivator which was why they used the sealing shackles to keep you from moving your soul qi and freeing yourself. We need to move quickly, or else we will be discovered." Clara said as she quickly got Ryu''s boots and helped him put them on.


    "Thank you. I owe you and your family one." Ryu said with a smile.


    Clara blushed slightly, seeing Ryu smile at her. She shook her head as she said: "Thank me when we have gotten out of the estate. Come, we need to go."


    Ryu nodded and followed Clara out of the room. He never thought the one to save him would be a maid from another NPC faction within the city. To be able to plant some spy within the Qin family meant that the Vaughn Family was also very powerful within Westfall.


    The two hurried down the hallway stopping at the end to check for anyone walking around. Clara turned back to Ryu and, in a low voice, said: "Right now is the change of guard, so this is our only chance of escape. Stick to me like glue and do not lag behind. If I motion with my hand like this, stop, okay?"


    Ryu did not speak but nodded his head instead. He did not dare to speak out loud in case he was heard by someone. Clara smiled and nodded back at Ryu before turning down the hallway towards a hall window. Clara slowly opened the window and looked outside. They were on the second floor, but for a cultivator, this height was nothing. "Alright, let''s go."


    Clara hopped out the window and landed softly on the ground below. Ryu was right behind her.  They both then ran towards the shadows out of sight of any light heading for the estate walls.


    Back inside, Emma rolled around in her bed, her cheeks red. She couldn''t believe all the bold things she had done today. But she did so to try to help her father. Not able to sleep, she decided to get up and go check on the handsome man. She walked out of her room and to the side room and opened the door. But when she saw nothing but an empty bed and empty shackles her eyes went wide in surprise.  "This!? He escaped !? How!?"

 Chapter 135: Chi’s Rage Part 1

    "Guards!" Emma yelled out. She couldn''t believe that the handsome man was able to escape! She ran out of the room, yelling for the guards. She figured it had only been a short while since his escape, so he still had to be on the estate''s grounds.


    Soon hundreds of guards were either searching the house or searching the area around the estate. At this time, Clara was blushing away as she was held in Ryu''s arms as he rushed as fast as he could towards the walls far off. But unfortunately, things were never going to be easy. "Ryu, stop! There is an array up ahead!"


    Ryu quickly stopped his steps and ducked behind a tall bush, and put Clara down. They were currently in the garden area, which was the only route in the estate with the most cover. "What kind of array is it?"


    "It''s a defensive array to keep intruders in. Think of it as a reverse barrier. I didn''t expect them to move so quickly..." Clara bit her fingernail as she tried to figure out what to do in this situation.


    "Wait, if it is a kind of reverse barrier, does that mean people from the outside can enter?" Ryu asked.


    "Mmm¡­ If we can get someone from the outside to pull us through, we will be able to exit the barrier, but no one would risk coming here¡­" Clara''s brow furrowed as she tried to come up with another plan.


    "No, we do have someone who will come here." Ryu smiled as he contacted Chi. "Chi, how long before you can make it here?"


    "At the speed, I am going, it will be one more hour until I reach Westfall. Why? What is going on on your side? Is that bitch trying to seduce you again!?" Chi really wanted to murder Emma with her entire being.


    "No, a spy from the Vaughan family is currently with me, helping me escape. But we are trapped inside a barrier, and we need someone to pull us out." Ryu explained to Chi what Clara told him.


    "Thank god that wench can''t get her hands on you anymore. Just stay hidden until I get there. I will try to be quick." Chi replied.  She hadn''t noticed, but her entire body was generating streaks of lightning that arched off her body and dissipated behind her causing her to gradually speed up. If Chi was not so focused on what lay ahead of her, she would have been shocked at just how fast she was running at this time.


    A half hour later, Chi arrived at Westfall. When she saw the line at the gate and the guards checking people one at a time, she snorted and did not slow her pace.


    "Halt!" The guard saw someone coming towards them at full speed and shouted out.


    "They''re not stopping! Close the gate!" Another guard yelled out when they noticed the person coming towards them was not slowing down in the slightest.


    Chi snorted again as she once again sped up. She was not going to let some guards stop her from reaching Ryu.  When she noticed the gate was about to close, Chi gritted her teeth, lowered her body, and shot forward. Her entire body suddenly turned into a stream of lightning, blasting past the guards and through the gate before it had a chance to close.


    "Sound the alarm! Someone breakthrough! Close off the city! No one in or out!" The guard leader yelled out. This caused all the people waiting for their turn to begin to complain.


    "You''re not letting us through just because you guys couldn''t keep one person out!? What right do you have to keep me from going home to my wife and kids!?"


    It only took one person and many more followed. Soon the gate was flooded with angered civilians. The guard leader looked at the scene that was on the verge of becoming a riot, causing veins to pop out of his head. He wanted to murder that person who caused this mess! "If anyone tries to push their way through, we will strike you down where you stand!"


    While the gate was having issues containing the angry citizens, the guards of the city were on full alert, looking for the person who entered the city without permission. They were stopping anyone who did not look like a local and checking their gate pass. As for the culprit, Chi stopped by a bar and walked right to the counter, and asked: "Where is the Qin Estate? "


    Her words were loud, causing the entire bar to go quiet. They all looked at the young fox girl then turned their heads to a group of young men who were sitting at a back table. From said table, a young man in expensive looking clothing chuckled as he got up and walked over to Chi. "Girl, if you spend the night with me, I will bring you to my home."


    Chi frowned and turned to look at the young man. He was quite good looking, but the lustful gleam in his eyes caused Chi to feel sick. "Sorry, I have no time for little dicks."


    "Pffft! Hahaha! Thane Qin, she just told you!"  One of Thane Qin''s friends said as they burst out laughing.


    Hearing the last name, Chi sneered as she pulled out her sword and pointed it at Thane''s crotch.  "Take me to your Qin estate before I cut off what little you do have."


    "Bitch! Do you think you can get away with this!?" Thane yelled out in anger. He quickly jumped back and went to draw his sword, but before he could, the fox girl in front of him turned into a stream of lightning and instantly appeared behind him.


    Chi''s voice was ice cold as she placed her sword between Thane''s legs. "I have no time for your bullshit. Either you take me to your estate now or I will cut you in half starting with your lower half."

 Chapter 136: Chi’s Rage Part 2

    Thane''s back became covered in a cold sweat as he quickly nodded his head. "I will take you there!"


    "That''s better." Chi sneered as she poked Thane in the back with the tip of her sword. She may seem to be ruthless, but when it came to her Ryu, she didn''t care if she had to wipe out the whole city if it meant rescuing him.


    Thane brought Chi all the way to the main gates of the estate when they were stopped by two guards. "Halt!"


    Thane had no idea what was going on, and he did not dare make a scene with Chi right behind him since he already knew that at any second, she could easily kill him. "What is going on? Why is the inner defense array activated?"


    "The Young Miss brought a new husband home, and he seems to have escaped. No one but the family members of the Qin family are allowed in. So I am sorry to say this, Young Master Thane, but your girlfriend will nee¡­." The guard''s words got stuck in his throat as a shiny blade was pressed against his neck.


    "Who did you say was his girlfriend?" Chi asked, pressing her blade hard enough on the guard''s neck to make him bleed.


    The guard had sweat forming on his brow. Even his knees were shaking as he began to plead to Chi: "I misspoke just now, please forgive me! I mean, how could Young Master Thane ever get a beautiful girl like you to be his girlfriend? Hahaha! So silly of me! How could I ever think such a thing? I was just joking!"


    The guard''s ramblings caused Chi to snort as she turned to the other guard and said: "Tell your young miss to come out here right the fuck now!"


    "This..." The guard looked at the guard who was being held hostage and then his Young Master. He was unsure of what he should do.


    Chi frowned, then looked at Thane. "Tell him to get that young miss, or this will be you instead of the guard..." Chi made another sword appear in her other hand and stabbed it into the guard''s shoulder, making sure to not hit any vitals. As she plunged the sword into the guard''s shoulder, her eyes began to spark with lightning showing just how angry she was.


    "Ahhh! Go get the Young Miss! Go get her! Ahhh! Please stop twisting it!" The guard yelled out. Chi was making sure Thane understood what would happen to him if he did.


    The other guard looked at Thane for confirmation, and when he saw Thane nod his head, he quickly ran inside.


    Ten minutes later, the guard reached the entrance of the house, covered in sweat from running the entire way. As soon as he burst through the doors, he saw his young miss ordering some of the other guards around. "What do you mean you still haven''t found him!? Hurry up and find him this instant! Do you wish to turn the Qin family into a laughing stock!?"


    "Miss!" The guard yelled out as she stopped in front of her. "Miss, you need to go to the front gate right away. There is someone there holding Young Master Thane hostage. They said if you did not come, they would cut the Young Masters head off!"


    The guard was actually embellishing the whole situation, but he had no choice in order to get this willful girl to make a move. Emma gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Useless! What the hell do we pay you for if you can not even handle a single person!? Take me there! Turn off the array! The rest of you spread out through the city and find that man!"


    At this time, Ryu and Clara were still hiding in the garden when Clara noticed the barrier array disappeared. "Ryu, we can leave now. We need to hurry before they put it back up."


    "Mmm." Ryu nodded his head and quickly contacted Chi. "Chi, where are you?"


    "Front gate, I called out that cheap slut." Chi replied. She wanted nothing more than to kill the woman who tried to touch her Ryu.


    "They turned off the array, so I will head over there now. Don''t do anything too rash. That girl has a strong hidden guard." Ryu warned he did not want Chi getting hurt.


    "Don''t worry, I will be careful. Plus, I have a bit of collateral."Chi replied. She was happy that Ryu was worried about her.


    Ryu and Clara quickly hopped the wall to the estate. But because they were on the opposite side to the main entrance they now had to run all the way around. When Clara saw Ryu not running away right away but instead running alongside the wall, Clara became confused.  "Ryu, where are you going?"


    "My wife is at the front gate. I need to go support her. Clara, thanks for all the help. I will stop by your Vaughan family when I have the chance." Ryu said, giving a wave goodbye before running off.


    Clara turned to look in the direction Ryu was running and bit her lip. She wanted to follow him, but she was not as fast as Ryu and did not want to cause him to be caught because of her. She gazed in the direction Ryu left for a few seconds before continuing to run away from the estate: "Let''s hope we meet again..."


    After speaking with Ryu, Chi threw the guard to the side and walked over to Thane. "You will not move from here. If you do, I will kill you, okay?"


    Thane almost peed himself when he heard Chi''s words. He wondered why, of all nights, did he have to hit on the crazy girl who would kill anyone for saying the slightest thing wrong. Not only was she crazy, but her cultivation was also very strong. "I-I won''t move! So please don''t hurt me..."


    "Mmm¡­ Good boy." Chi said with a smile while patting her shoulder with her sword.  When she heard a commotion coming from the gate, she turned to see the gate open, and a young girl walking out with a few guards walking behind her.

 Chapter 137: wrong novel do not open!!!!!!!!!

    Angelica looked around at the white cloudy  landscape and let out a sigh. "Handsome Papa! I know you are there..."


    "As expected of Angelica, you have the best perception." Creige smiled as he appeared as a projection in front of Angelica.


    "Why did you send me here? And is Mama and my sisters okay?" Angelica, who was usually the one who worried the most at this moment, was very calm.


    "Your mom is going crazy looking for you girls, and Rain is having a hard time dealing with the situation as for your sister Yana¡­ I think I should have made her trial harder. As for the reason why I sent you girls away, it is so you can grow stronger. Your mother and I will not always be there. Your mother has to go to higher realms and needs to grow stronger as well. I know you girls love your mother very much, but she is spoiling you three, way too much. Without hardships, there will be no growth." Creige paused as he thought for a moment.


    "Come sit, as your father, I will tell you something that even your mother does not know." Creige sat down on the cloud and waved Angelica over. She walked over and sat down in his lap.


    "Handsome Papa, just so you know, when you tell Mama about this, she will be mad at you." Angelica knew her mother very well. She knows her mama will be upset with her handsome papa when she finds out what he did. However, she was also sure that this anger would not last long. But she would not tell her handsome papa that.


    "Mmm¡­ I know. I am ready to be beaten by her. But this needed to happen. Otherwise, you girls would be sheltered for the rest of your lives, not understanding the hardships of the world or how to deal with hardships when you finally ventured out on your own.


    "But one thing you need to understand, Angelica, is that the place your Mama has to go is not a place where kindness will get you anywhere. Even now, in the realm of gods, kindness can still be found and not taken advantage of. But the place beyond the eighteen levels is a place where evil roams freely and a place where bloodshed is a normal occurrence.


    "Mass battles can happen at any time. Powerful beings may wipe out a city just because they are bored. It is a place where the wrong move can get you killed. Your mother has a good mindset, but her strength is not enough. As your mother rises from being a god to a high god, supreme god,  god king, and then breaks the chains of this realm and advances to finally becoming Voidling, she will grow stronger with each stage. Her strength when she finally reaches what we know of as the highest realm will be unparalleled.


    "There are many different realms. You start off as a Mortal, then rise up to become a God. From there, you become a Void. After that are the Ascended, Immortals, Seekers, and many more realms.


    "Each of these realms becomes a testing ground that your mother must face. And as she climbs, I, as her husband, will need to go with her. I will accompany her every step of the way, no matter how long it takes. I will watch her grow one step at a time. I love you girls as well, but your paths in life may change, and most likely, at some point, you will settle down. But those paths will never start if your mother is sheltering you. So even if your mother gets mad at me and does not speak to me for thousands of years for what I am doing today, I will still stay by her side and watch her grow." Creige explained.


    "Handsome Papa, where are you really from?" Angelica could tell her handsome papa was not from any of the eighteen realms. It seems he was from that higher plan he talked about.


    "Mmm¡­ I will tell you, but you must keep this all a secret. I am not ready to tell your mother just yet." Creige said as he leaned down and kissed the top of Angelica''s head.


    "Mmm¡­ I promise. I won''t tell Mama or my sisters."  Angelica readily promised.


    "I come from a place above the eighteen levels. The realm I am from is called the sea of stars. It is a very dangerous place." Creige answered.


    "Then why was handsome papa in the mortal realm?" Angelica was confused. If her handsome papa was so strong, why was he in the mortal realm?


    Creige smiled and ruffled Angelica''s hair, causing her to smack his hand away. "For your mother, of course. I spent many thousands of years searching for her. Only your mother was fit to become my wife, whether it is this lifetime or the next. She will always be my only one."


    "Make sure you tell Mama some day." Angelica said as she jumped up onto her feet. She put her hands behind her back and spun on her heel to look at Creige.  "I should start this trial then. Make sure you check on Rain next. She may seem strong, but she is very timid, and she is scared of Mama leaving us again. I worry about her the most."


    "I will. Angelica, be careful. These trials are much harder than they seem. Take your time and slowly grow. Only then will you be able to look towards the future and forge your own paths." Creige said as his body slowly began to disappear. But just before he did, Angelica heard him say: "Don''t worry about dying. I will never let it happen¡­."


    Angelica watched as her handsome papa disappeared and tears began to form in her eyes. She wiped her eyes and bit her lip as she mumbled to herself:  "Handsome Papa, did you know I hate being left alone as well..."


    ---


    The realm of gods¡­.


    "So it was you!" Camlia looked at the handsome man in front of her. Her brow furrowed, and her arm crossed across her chest.


    "Mm¡­ But Camlia, you should know better than anyone what kind of place the sea of stars is." Creige said with a smile as he sat down on a chair.


    Camlia brow furrowed even more as she stared at Criege. She only saw Creige smile before a familiar figure flashed before her eyes. Only then did her eyes widen in shock. "You!?"

 Chapter 138: Chi’s Rage Part 3

    "Are you the one who asked for me?" Emma asked.


    "Mmm... I heard you like being a slut who tries to steal other people''s husbands, so I came here to cut off your head." Chi answered honestly. Thane, who heard Chi''s words, grew a little excited. If it was not for Emma, then his side family would have taken over the Qin family long ago!


    Thane moved closer to Chi and whispered: "Watch out for her hidden guard. He is a stage 1 nine souls forming realm cultivator."


    "Mmm¡­ Now get away from me!" Chi swung her sword at Thane, causing him to quickly jump away. He had forgotten that this girl did not like people close to her.


    "Hmmm¡­ you wish to cut off my head. I will like to see you try. Kill her!" Emma yelled out. She ignored the fact that Chi called her slut. She did not care for the words from a woman who is about to die.


    Chi snorted and suddenly turned into a stream of lightning. The guards who were rushing towards her stopped in their tracks and tried to cut at the lightning, but it was too quick! Emma suddenly felt fear well up inside her. She knew she had no way to defend herself! But just as Chi came out of her lightning form and struck out with both her swords, Emma was pulled back by a figure in black. Emma only felt a slice run down the side of her neck as she was jerked backwards.


    The man in black looked at Chi with a bit of amazement. "So young and already in the Soul Sensing realm. Very surprising. You''re just as strong as that lad. I guess the talented will mingle together. It would be a shame to kill such a talented individual. How about this, I won''t kill you here and now if you become my disciple. You also forget about that little lad from before, he is destined to become my Miss''s husband. I am sure you want to keep your little life, right?"


    Chi looked at the man in black,  her body suddenly radiating arcs of lightning. She tilted her head to the side as she stretched out a single arm, lifting up her middle finger and pointing it at the man. "Fuck off."


    "You! You do not know what is good for you!" The man yelled. "Since you want death!  I will give it to you!"


    Chi readied her sword and watched the man closely, but before the man could even do anything, a sword beam suddenly flashed between the two groups, causing a deep sword scar in the ground. "No one is allowed to touch my wife."


    Chi turned to see a handsome man standing not too far away, and a bright blooming smile formed on her lips. "Ryu!"


    "Mm¡­ Sorry, it took a few minutes to make my way around the estate." Ryu said as he scooped Chi up into his arms and kissed her lips.


    "You!" Emma saw Ryu readily kissing Chi right in front of her and grew very angry! "Kill that bitch and bring me the man! No one is allowed to go against my Qin Family!"


    Ryu frowned and sent out a few sword beams with his sword. Seeing these sword beams caused the man in black to frown a bit. He didn''t understand why the man''s attack was so strong. He had no choice but to pull Emma back and dodge the attack. "You! Why are you not doing as I ordered!?"


    "Miss, if that man uses that attack and you get hit by it, you will be served in two." The man in black replied. "It seems I was only able to knock him out the first time because it was by surprise. Although he is a lower cultivation realm than me, I do not think I can capture him right now."


    "With all the guards here, are you saying we can not strain one man and his bitch!?" Emma yelled.


    "Miss..." The man in black hated it when his miss got like this. Usually, she was a kind girl but once and a while, she could become a devil if she didn''t get something she wanted.


    "Just do as I say, or I will have my father deal with you!" Emma broke free from the man in black and kicked his shin. But this resulted in her jumping around and holding the foot she kicked him with.


    "As you wish, Miss..." The man in black acted as he was about to step forward before chopping the back of Emma''s neck knocking her out. He picked her up into a princess carry before looking at Ryu and Chi. "You two may leave. But just know you have now made an enemy out of the Qin Family. As long as you are in Westfall city, you will not have an easy time."


    Chi sneered as she yelled back: "You just keep your miss''s neck clean because there will be a day when I cut that slutty head of hers off."


    Ryu didn''t say a word as he grabbed Chi''s hand and slowly backed away. He did not turn his back on the man in black. Only when he saw the gates to the Qin estate close did he turn around and run off, pulling Chi along.


    Chi felt Ryu''s gaze on her and blushed slightly. "Why are you staring at me?"


    "I am just surprised to know that my girlfriend is so vulgar when speaking. Yelling slut this, bitch that, kill kill kill everything. Kind of amusing."  Ryu answered with a grin on his face.


    Chi pursed her lips and pinched his side before hugging his arm. "I was just mad because that bitch tried to have her way with you."


    "Luckily, I had luck on my side, or it could have been worse. At least she believed I was impotent, or I would not have been able to escape tonight." Ryu felt he was indeed lucky. If things did not happen the way they did, he would have been in a bad position. "For now, let''s rent a room at an inn then head to the palace. We need to start cultivating again."


    "Mmm..."

 Chapter 139: A.I.

    The two did not waste time when they got back to the palace. Ryu stripped his clothes off before stripping Chi naked from head to toe. He then lifted her up so that her legs hung over his shoulders before using his tongue to trace the outside of Chi''s pussy. Chi clutched his head with her hands as she let out soft moans. She could feel Ryu''s tongue penetrating her pussy, causing her whole body to heat up.


    "Mmm¡­ Yuki!" Chi let out a loud moan as she felt a strong pleasurable jolt of electricity run through her body.


    After making sure Chi was good and wet, Ryu placed Chi onto the bed and held her hands in his to begin circulating their soul qi. Once the rotation was steady, he couldn''t hold back anymore as he inserted himself into Chi.


    The two made love for almost three days in game time. This raised Ryu and Chi level to level 19 Stage 1 Soul Sensing.


    [Serenity]


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: Specialist


    Cultivation Stage: Soul Sensing Realm, Stage 1


    Level: 19/20


    [Health]: 553/553


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 462


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 2400


    [Luck]: 5


    {Dao}


    Path Of the Sword: Completion (1%)


    {Boosts}


    Damage boost with swords: (500%)


    [Status Points]: 190


    {Spouse}


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    {Cultivation Method}


    Heavenly Cycle


    {Techniques}


    Wind Walker Movement Technique


    Ryu laid in the hot bath with Chi leaned up against his chest and let out a relaxed sigh: "After such a stressful event, hot baths are just as good in game as they are out of game."


    "This, I can agree on!" Chi replied as she stretched her arms up into the air. "So what do we do now? We pissed off the Qin family, who have strong cultivators. As of now, even if we buy a guild house in this city, they will probably hunt down our members."


    "Well, the spy girl named Clara was from another top family in the city, the Vaughan family. So We can try talking with them and get their input on things. We also need to quickly figure out how to turn a guild into a clan. But I think it would be best to talk to the Vaughan family first." Ryu was not sure how deep the Qin''s connections were within the city. Whether they were even at the government level or not. But he also knew that right now, the two of them were wanted by the Qin family, which would make moving around right now very hard. Only if the Vaughan family is able to give them protection, and only when they got this protection would they be able to do things like buying a guild home.  But one thing that Ryu found strange was that this event that happened was not a quest. He never received any kind of notification of a quest or event during this whole episode.


    Because of this, Ryu''s look on this world became a little strange as he did not understand why the things that had happened were happening. If it was some kind of event, he would understand, but the way things were played out just now was not like a game. It was the will of the NPC that wanted to take him as a husband. Ryu scratched his head. He was starting to wonder if there was more to all of this. "Chi, do you ever get the feeling that this game seems strange at times? Like the NPC interaction?"


    "Hmmm¡­ Sometimes. But I usually don''t dwell on it much. Because if you think about it, this is the first VRMMO that has such high intelligence for their A.I. They even stated in a recent interview that they are very proud of the world they created that lives and breaths like a real world. So my guess is that things like what happened today are just because the A.I. are living and breathing due to their complex code. I mean, so far, no NPC seems to be a static NPC where the code is: go here, do this. These NPCs make choices and live daily lives. This is what makes the game so unique and different from the rest." Chi noticed a while ago on how NPCs interact with players. They acted like a person you would meet on the street. So this world, besides its setting and culture, felt no different from the real world.


    "Hmm¡­ I guess that is possible, but to think they were able to make a system to give tens of millions of A.I. different personalities. " Ryu could only applaud the developers and feel bad for the coders who had to come up with a way to do such a thing.


    "Anyway..." Chi turned around and faced Ryu. Her pink nipples were fully erect. She reached her hand down between Ryu''s legs as she leaned down and kissed his lips. "One more round before we log out. "


    Ryu chuckled helplessly as he said: "Why do I have a feeling that one day you will leave me for a man in the real world?"


    "Never! I am just horny, and we still have time in game where you can hold me. Don''t worry. I plan to give you your morning cleaning as normal." Chi said. She then stuck her tongue out as she slipped Ryu''s dick inside her. She sat there unmoving as she stared into Ryu''s eyes. "No matter what, never think that I will leave you. Because I will not, you are the only one I will ever love. I mean, why would I go all  crazy on that bitch, if I didn''t love you to death?"


    Chi leaned down and kissed Ryu''s lips again, this time though she nibbled his bottom lip. She did not move her hips in the slightest, just sat there kissing his lips and face.  "Please never say that I am going to leave you, okay?"


    "Mm¡­ I won''t say it ever again. Sorry, Chi. I know you love me, and I love you just as much."

 Chapter 140: Black Market Part 1

    "Girls, we are going out today!" Tina suddenly announced.


    "Oh? Where are we going?" Yuki was curious as to why Tina would suddenly want to go out all of a sudden.


    Tina let out a long sigh. "You need to go for your check up! If they say yes to you being okay and not needing any more treatments, then you can grow your hair back. Although you look cute bald, Yuki, I would prefer that my daughter has some longer hair so I can brush it and style it for her! Then after your check up we will be going clothes shopping then out to eat!"


    "Mm¡­ Yuki with long hair was indeed very cute." Trisha said with a grin. Yuki blushed. She wished she could cover her face right now, but sadly the most she could manage is pushed her face into her shoulder.


    After getting ready and getting into the car, Tina turned back to look at the girls as she said: "Before going to the hospital, we will be going to a place."


    "What place?" Trisha asked. She felt Tina was being all mysterious all of a sudden.


    Tina grinned as she said: "You will see."


    Tina started the car and took off. The place she was talking about was quite a ways from their house in a bad section of the city. Just seeing this place caused Yuki to frown because it reminded her of where she used to live. "I know this place doesn''t look like much, but I was told to come here if I wanted top of the line."


    "What is here that we would come all the way to this section of the city?" Yuki asked. She was not happy at all to be in this dump after escaping from it once.


    "Yuki, I know you do not like this place, but trust me when I say it is for the best. The person who told me about this place is very reliable, and only here can I buy the items I need for the two of you." Tina lightly explained but still stayed mysterious.


    "If you say so..." Yuki pursed her lips and decided to just let her mother lead the way.


    The girls all got out of the car, and Trisha pushed Yuki as they followed Tina.  Tina was not dumb. She did not come to this section of the city without a weapon. Tucked in the hem of her jeans was a plasma pistol.


    The area was dark and damp. The pipes from the upper floors dripped down onto the streets below. The steam from the sewers rose up through the sewer covers. Many people were walking about, but they were not people you would want to get to know. The sound of police cars could be heard in all directions. This was a bad section of the city and not a place one would normally roam about in unless you were a dreg of society.


    Tina stopped off by a side alley and waved the girls to follow as she stepped into the dimly lit alleyway. The thing about this alley was that after taking one turn, the girls were met with two big burly guys standing tall guarding this section of the alley. Each one had many tattoos on their exposed skin, and it seemed they were heavily armed as well. "Pass." One of the burly men said to Tina as she walked up to them. Tina took out her pass and showed it to the man. The man''s brow rose seeing it, and nodded his head. "Let them through. They are special guests. Make sure no one messes with them."


    As soon as he said this, the other guard stepped aside as the first guard took the radio from his side and spoke into it. Then he bowed slightly as he said: "Welcome to the Dawn Side Trading Firm."


    "Dawn Side Trading Firm?" Yuki asked. She never heard of such a place.


    "It is what you call a black market where you can get things you normally shouldn''t." Tina replied. She found out about this place from Melgrave. She had spoken to him on the phone and asked where she could get some kinetic barriers for both girls that could ward off explosive bullets and some small weapons they could easily conceal. She wanted them to be able to protect themselves. Of course, she would be giving them proper training. Melgrave was even sending over a license to carry concealed weapons as well. As Tina finished saying this, a beautiful woman walked out of the door on the side to greet them.


    "My name is Di. I will be your hostess. Please follow me. " This beautiful woman was dressed in a striking red dress. She had curves many women could kill for, and any man would love to see naked. But unfortunately for Yuki, she was not able to see any of this. She could only see darkness as her eyes were covered by Trisha as soon as the woman came out.


    "Umm, Trisha?" Yuki was very confused.


    "You can''t look! " Trisha whispered. Yuki sighed and did not argue. Since she can''t look, she can''t look! But she did find Trisha to be very cute when she was acting like this.


    The inside of the building was very luxurious. The person who owned this place was definitely not poor. There were many guards all over and a lot of high class people checking out the items. The lowest price tag you can see on an item was no less than 5 million crowns. But each item was not something you can buy anywhere else, and some were only one of a kind. As Di walked through the aisle, she turned to Tina and asked. "May I know what exactly you are looking for?"


    "Yes, I need two of the best personal kinetic barriers you have as well as two easily concealable guns that the girls here can use with ease. " Tina replied.


    "Barriers and guns... If you want the best for both, we will need to go to the 7th floor, please follow me."

 Chapter 141: Black Market Part 2

    Yuki and Trisha looked at each other then back at Tina. Yuki couldn''t help but ask."Mom, are we really here to buy this stuff?"


    "Mm¡­ We have to be sure that nothing will happen. And I, for one, do not want to risk you two getting hurt ever again." Tina answered. Yuki hadn''t thought of that since she wasn''t able to move around freely, but now that she has, she couldn''t deny that this was a very good idea.


    They took an elevator to the 7th floor. When they got off, they were met with many heavily armed guards standing everywhere. This floor had the most expensive items. They were items that could not be found anywhere else except on the black market. "This way." The lady in red said as she walked towards a certain section of the floor. "All our top weapons and defensive items are in this section. We have everything from guns, kinetic barriers, and even A.I. Guards that can not be bought. They are highly intelligent and are masters of many schools of fighting styles and come with an array of weapons."


    "Thank you." Tina said with a smile as she began looking around.


    Yuki''s ears perked up when she heard about the A.I. guards. "Miss, can you tell me more about these guards?"


    The woman turned and looked at the young girl and smiled: "Sure can. Follow me. They are over here."


    Yuki looked at Tina, who nodded for her to go ahead, and only then did Yuki have Trisha push her over. What they were met with did not look like your average A.I. Although Anthony looked realistic and was hard to distinguish from a real human, these guards were on a whole different level. The woman handed Trisha a book that had all the information for these A.I.s before saying: "Read through this. As this is the 7th floor, all items are guaranteed, or we will completely refund your money. I will go back to helping your mother. Just call me if you need me."


    "Thank you."  Yuki gave her thanks and nodded her head at the woman before taking a look at the information that Trisha was holding in front of her to read.


    "So these things have an internal area kinetic barrier, they know advanced medical procedures and are proficient in martial arts, and weapons use. They run on a fusion core, so they will never need charging and have a newly developed quantum time continuum neural network. Some of these things I have never even heard about before. What about you, Trisha?" Yuki read through the complicated list and couldn''t make heads or tails of some of the things in there.


    "I am not sure either, but¡­ From what I am reading, they seem to be better than anything you can find on the open market." Trisha was amazed by some of the skills stated in the information. The A.I. could be used to hack people''s neural interfaces and plant suggestions into a human''s mind. They were a little over the top, but just this alone made them unsellable on the open market.


    "What do you think? The price tag is five hundred million crowns. We could buy two, one for the two of us and one for mom." Yuki wanted to make sure her mother was protected as well. Although she had Anthony, he was only good for normal tasks and not meant for guarding or fighting.


    "I think so as well. Especially if we will be going back to college, it would be good to have someone else beside you just in case I can not be at your side all the time." Trisha felt maybe getting one of these would be a good idea since there may be times when she can not be there for Yuki, and during those times, the A.I. could take care of Yuki in her stead.


    "Then let''s get three then¡­ This way, if something happens to you when I am not around, the A.I. can protect you. I just want everyone safe." Yuki knew the cost was high, but to protect her loved ones, she did not mind spending the money.


    "Are you sure? That is one and a half billion crowns..." Trisha felt that maybe the cost was a bit too much to be buying three.


    "Mmm. It''s fine. I want everyone to have their own guard. But¡­ We should get three swords as well. With guards that fight this good, we can have them train us as well. Although I can not train just yet, you still can, and it will strengthen your combat ability in game."  Yuki felt having such good guards will be good for more than just guarding but also for training as well. "Now that I think about i, let''s get four guards, one for the house as well."


    "Yuki¡­ is that really needed? We have some of the best defenses in the world already." Trisha was thinking Yuki was going a little over now. She wondered why Yuki was spending her money like this.


    "It''s fine. Trisha, I can make this money back in just a few days or less. So it is no big deal. Plus, after this, I have nothing else to buy. And the two of us would never be able to spend all the money we have outside of a place like this. So unless you are going to come back sometime soon to spend a few billion more here, then I think we should be okay." Yuki teased.


    Trisha pursed her lips as she reached down and pinched Yuki''s cheeks. "This mouth of yours."


    Yuki smiled cheekily as Trisha pinched her cheeks. The scene between the two was rather cute. The woman in red saw the two joking around and smiled at the heartwarming scene. She looked at Tina and said: "Your daughters are very cute."


    "That they are. The one in the wheelchair is my actual daughter while the other is her fiancee. They make a cute pair."

 Chapter 142: Black Market Part 3

    The lady in red nodded in agreement. She did think the two were actually well matched. She also felt that it was pretty sweet how the entire family had shaved heads. "Are you going to settle on these two?"


    "Yes. These are the best we have. Each one is 300 million crowns. They can even defend against a direct point blank nuclear missile strike. As for the weapons, they have a fusion cell inside, which will allow them to last for seventy years before they need to be replaced. They are 100 million crowns each." The lady in red explained.


    "Alright, put it on this card here." Tina took out a black card and handed it to the woman. The woman did not seem surprised by seeing this card as she had seen one many times.


    "Please give me a moment to have everything wrapped up and charge your card." The lady in red smiled and walked off.


    Tina walked over to where Trisha and Yuki were and asked: "So did you girls decide to buy something?"


    "Yes, we will be getting four A.I. guards and some swords. It''s a little expensive but as long as these A.I. guards do what they are supposed to, then it will be worth it." Yuki replied.


    "Why four?" Tina asked.


    "One each for Trisha and me. One for you and one to guard the house." Some people may think Yuki is crazy for spending so much money on these guards. Normally someone would only buy one of such guards but not Yuki. After almost dying, she felt that they were a very good investment. They could save her from ending up like she is now in the future.


    Tina also felt the same way as Yuki, but she only cared about the girl''s safety. " Just get on for the house, and you girls, there is no need to buy me one."


    "No, I will get one for you as well. Think about it, mom. You are now connected to the royal family. We could become targets for those who are trying to take out the Evergreen family. You can''t think that news has not spread about such things in the underworld. I mean, if it was like before when I was living in the apartment, no one would take notice of me. But after buying both those estates, I basically told the world here we are. This makes every one of us a target. Now that I am thinking about it, I should get one more for grandma and grandpa." Yuki looked at the models they had, and there was a maid model that she could send over to her grandparents. They would just think she was another maid, but in actual fact, she would be an A.I. guard.


    Tina sighed helplessly as she looked at her daughter. She walked over and hugged Yuki before kissing her cheek. "It seems you thought it all through."


    Yuki pursed her lips as she said: "To be honest, I really wouldn''t have thought about it if you didn''t bring us here today. It was only then that I realized I should do more to keep us safe."


    "Well, I think with the amount of money you are spending, we should be fine." Tina said with a smile. She cupped Yuki''s cheek for a second before deciding to pinch it. She just realized that Yuki had some chubby cheeks as of late. "Yuki, you are gaining weight."


    Trisha turned her head to stifle her laughter. It was true that Yuki was gaining some weight.  She was not fat but compared to the previous malnourished look she had before, she now had a healthy glow to her. Her cheeks filled out nicely, making her look much cuter than before. Yuki blushed and turned her head away. Her actions caused Tina to chuckle. "You''re not fat. You look much more healthy than before. At least now I am able to squeeze your cheeks."


    "Yeah, mom, it is so much fun to pinch her cheeks now. The reaction she gives when you do it is also very cute." Trisha cut in. She couldn''t resist pinching Yuki''s cheeks.


    "Can you two stop!?" Yuki was feeling very embarrassed! She gained weight because she was stuck in bed. Why did they need to pick on her and pinch her cheeks!?


    "Alright, enough teasing. The hostess is coming back." Tina might have said this as if she was dropping the subject, yet she said this while giving Yuki''s cheeks an extra pinch.


    "Here you go. Here are your packages, and this is your card and receipt." The lady in red handed over the items. There were four boxes, but each one was a small size and easy to carry.


    "Thank you. I believe my girls are going to buy something as well." Tina explained as she stepped aside.


    "Oh? Have you decided?" The woman in red asked as she turned to Yuki and Trisha.


    "Yes, we want five A.I. guards, two female early twenties.  Two  male that look thirty, and one more female model that has maid functions, any age is fine." Yuki answered.


    The lady in red almost choked when she heard the list of A.I. guards Yuki wanted. This was not a small sum of money! "Alright, hold on, I will get someone to bring out the ranges you asked for so you can take your pick."


    The lady in red quickly ran off to a door on the side and into a small room. "Sir..."


    "I heard. I had heard that the 9th princess had given up her name and title to be with the girl she loved. It is good to see she is doing well. Linda, the girl in the wheelchair, is no ordinary person, so make sure you do treat her with respect. Even my brothers and father speak very highly of her. She may be the one to help the Evergreen family sometime in the future. Also, give her one of the VIP card."

 Chapter 143: Run In At The Clothing Store Part 1

    It took almost 20 minutes for the lady in red to come back out. She had a long line of A.I. following behind her. Each one looked different from the last. She had brought three different types: Male guards, female guards, and female maid guards. "These are the models that we have at the moment."


    Each A.I. guard lined up in a line in an orderly fashion in front of Yuki and Trisha. Yuki looked at the A.I. for a moment before pointing to the ones she wanted out. "I will go with her and her, the maid one there, the really big guy there, and my mom can pick the last one to whatever fits her taste."


    Tina immediately blushed. She glared at Yuki, who stuck her tongue out at her. She knew this daughter of hers was getting even for her comment earlier! "Brat!"


    The lady in red chuckled and walked over to Yuki. "Because you are buying so many at once, I will present you with our market''s VIP card. This card will allow you the best treatment our establishment has to offer as well as a thirty percent discount on all items. It is effective as of today. As a side bonus, one of these A.I. guards will be given to you free of charge, plus adding on the thirty percent discount, you will get another A.I. guard for free, leaving you a grand total of one billion four hundred million crowns."


    Yuki stared blankly at the golden black VIP card in a daze. She never expected to get over a one billion crown discount out of nowhere. It was Trisha who reached out and took the card from the lady in red. "Thank you. Here is our card for the rest of the payment."


    Trisha was very happy that they got so many benefits. This kept the price down to below one and a half billion crowns when the original cost was going to be two and a half billion crowns. This gave them two A.I. bots completely free! The lady in red smiled and took the card as she said: "Then I will process the payment." With that, she took the remaining A.I. guards back out back and processed the payment. When she came back, she had a young man who wore glasses, following next to her. "This here is Deek. He will help with the bio registration. My guess is everyone here will be registering, correct?"


    Yuki finally snapped out of her daze and nodded her head: "Yes, please."


    Everyone was quickly registered with their bio data with the new A.I. guards. Tina walked over to the lady in red and whispered: "These¡­. Umm¡­ You know..."


    The lady in red smiled as she nodded her head with a glint in her eye: "They are very good, trust me. I was lucky enough to get one myself, and I can say I will never search for a real man ever again." As someone who worked at the black market such as this, there was no way she did not have high pay. It took her a few years to save up, but once she spent her first night with her A.I. guard, she fell in love.


    "I-I see¡­ Thanks..." Tina blushed as she looked at the new handsome male A.I. guard she picked. Each one was given their own name and Tina named her''s Keith after her first love.


    As for the other A.I. guards, the one that was assigned to Yuki was named Mary. To her, Mary was her guardian angel, so she felt that it suited the A.I. guard well, especially since the A.I. guard had similar looks as Mary. As for the one assigned to Trisha, she named her Bell. The big burly male A.I. guard, who would be guarding the house, he was named Mike, and the last one who was going to be staying at her grandparent''s side, they all agreed to call her Margret.


    Luckily Tina''s car was big enough for these new additions. "Okay, we will head home first and drop off Mike and Margret. We will then go to the shopping district. "


    After dropping Mike off at her house and then Margret at her parents'' house, Tina took the girls shopping. Now everything would be going just fine if Trisha was not glaring at and arguing with Mary. "Why are you being so close to her!?"


    "Miss Trisha, you must know that I am assigned to take care of and protect my Master and must be next to her at all times. " Yuki''s new A.I. guard Mary replied with a slight smile on her face. The way she spoke was no different than a normal person. This showed just how highly advanced she was.


    "That is very true but is there a reason why you must hug her arm like that!?" Trisha couldn''t understand it. Wasn''t this A.I. guard supposed to just guard and protect? Why did it seem like she was suddenly overly attached to her Yuki?


    "Miss Trisha, by being this close to her, I am able to act at any time." Mary said before bringing her hand to her mouth and chuckling as she said teasingly: "Don''t tell me¡­  You''re not jealous, are you? Don''t worry, I won''t strip her naked and have my way with her. Unless¡­ She orders me to..."


    "You! Stay away from my Yuki!'' Trisha yelled as she tried to pull Mary off of Yuki.


    "Will you two cut it out? I am trying to drive here!" Tina yelled. She couldn''t believe her daughter in law was so afraid a damn robot was going to steal her fiancee. But when Tina took a look at the strange way Mary was acting, it made her wonder¡­ ''Is that really an A.I.?''


    When they reached the store, Trisha was still fighting with Mary because Mary decided to push Yuki and would not let Trisha get close to her. "Let go. I will push her!"


    "How could I let you do such a thing. I will push my Master. This way, I know that she will be perfectly safe and not even feel a bump." Mary said her word righteous like as if she was speaking some kind of gospel.


    "If I say let go! Let go!"

 Chapter 144: Run In At The Clothing Store Part 2

    "Mary, let Trisha push me." Yuki finally cut in. She was used to Trisha always pushing her anyway.


    "But Master..." Mary''s bottom lip began to quiver as she looked at Yuki with big doe eyes that were slightly watery as he continued: "Am I not doing a good enough job? Ha-Have I completely failed at being your guard? Is my¡­ Is my service no longer needed!?" With all the glory of an oscar winning actress Mary threw herself on the ground as tears rolled down her cheeks: "To think after I was born and first activated, all I ever thought about was serving my master. Every day I watched as people bought all the other guards while I stood there hoping that one day I would finally meet the master I could love and care for.


    "And today, my dream finally came true. But who would have thought that within just a few hours, my dream would end? I would rather not go back and wait for a new master. Since I am useless and am not even able to serve my Master correctly, I can only terminate myself here and now. Master, although our time was short. Although I tried my best to serve you well and protect you from the hardships of the world. I still cherished our time together. Goodbye, my Master. The only one who was willing to give this useless me a chance even though in the end I was unable to do anything. Goodbye, this world that had created me... "


    "Alright, stop!" Trisha was starting to feel bad, and the people around them were all staring at them. Even Tina had backed away and acted like she did not know them. Gritting her teeth, she looked at the damn A.I. guard who seemed to be some kind of first rate actress and stepped to the side as she said: "Please push Yuki."


    As if nothing had ever happened, Mary jumped up from the ground and took up her position behind Yuki. "Let''s go, Master, there are so many clothes in this store that I am sure you will like. We really need to buy you something nice. I will help you try everything on."


    Seeing the sudden change in Mary''s attitude made Yuki unsure if she should laugh or cry. As for Trisha, she was staring at the damn robot wanting to beat it up! Mary sensed Trisha looking at her and turned her head. She smiled mockingly and stuck her tongue out at Trisha as she happily pushed Yuki into the store, leaving Trisha standing there pointing her finger at the damn robot. "You!" She could only say one word as she stomped her feet and chased after Yuki!


    Bell, who was watching the whole scene from the side, held her head. "When will Big Sister Mary grow up¡­."


    Tina found the whole thing amusing. But she was quite shocked at how much of a personality these A.I. guards had. She took a peek at Keith who was standing next to her, and wondered just what kind of personality he had since he was very quiet. Only after staring for a few seconds did she turn her head away and follow Yuki into the store.


    Unfortunately, this happy family outing was something that was not meant to be. Inside the store, a figure that Trisha knew all too well was standing there with a group of other noble daughters standing around her looking at clothes. They quickly noticed when Yuki and her group walked in.


    "Pfft¡­ look at this disabled girl. Did she think coming here would allow her to look pretty? She doesn''t even have any hair on her head." One of the noble girls said her voice was not loud but loud enough for everyone around to hear.


    "Haha! Now, now. It is not good to make fun of the disabled. Let her shop and dream of becoming a princess one day."  Another girl said. Her words sounded like she was speaking up for Yuki, but they had an underlying meaning.


    These were girls that Yuki did not know at all, but yet they still dared to speak ill of her. Sadly they talked about the wrong person. "Say it again!" A voice filled with anger echoed throughout the store.


    Hearing this familiar voice, Jasmine turned around from the clothing rack she was at and saw Trisha standing there. "Oh? If it isn''t the ex-unwanted princess. Are you sure you should be here at this store? Do you even have money to be here?"


    Jasmine''s words were full of mockery. She scanned Trisha up and down then her eyes landed on the girl in the wheelchair. "Sister to think you would go so low as to serve as a maid for a disabled girl."


    "Heh, Do you think you are all that Jasmine? Do you think you can just look down on anyone!? Do you think you can talk shit about my Yuki!?" Trisha yelled out as she walked right up to Jasmine, raised her hand, and¡­


    *Slap!*


    The crisp sound of skin hitting skin was heard. Jasmine stood there holding her cheek, looking at Trisha in disbelief. She never expected the easy to bully unwanted princess would actually slap her! Her eyes quickly burned with rage as she yelled out: "You dare hit me!?" She raised her hand and was about to slap Trisha back when a voice stopped her.


    "Stop!" Yuki yelled out. "Mary, push me over there."


    "Yes, Master."  Mary was already holding back since her Master did not tell her to attack yet when she heard those girls making fun of her sweet, loveable Master.


    Jasmine did stop her actions because she was told to stop but because the voice seemed familiar. A little more feminine, but it was still very familiar. Jasmine turned her attention to the girl in the wheelchair who was being pushed over, trying to figure out who this girl was. "Who are you? And what right do you have to give me orders?"


    "You''re the 8th princess of the world, yet you act like a shrew in public.  Are you not afraid of disgracing the royal family with your actions? Or do you think that just because you are a princess, you can act as you please? Let me tell you something here and now. This is not your palace which means you can not do as you please. Even as the royal family, you still have to abide by the laws unless the king himself says otherwise. Mary, slap everyone who bad mouthed me and then slap this princess three times."

 Chapter 145: Punishments Come In All Forms

    "Yes, Master!" Mary happily rolled up her sleeves and walked towards Jasmine and the other noble girls. Jasmine was stunned by this sudden decisive action. It reminded her of that man how that man stabbed her without hesitation. The feeling of being looked down upon for the second time rushed through her body, causing her to shiver¡­ In excitement?


    Yes, Jasmine was actually excited to be slapped! She loved how the girl in the wheelchair looked down on her as if she was an ant. She stood there, unable to hide the anticipation in her eyes. She did not even seem to hear the cries of the other girls who were sent flying to the ground from a single slap from Mary.


    When Mary finally stood in front of Jasmine and was getting ready to do a three slap combo, she frowned upon seeing the look in Jasmine''s eyes. "Umm¡­ Master, this girl seems weird. I think she wants me to slap her..."


    Hearing this made Yuki frown as well. "Then forget it. If she finds pleasure in being beat, then we can just forget it. I do not want to deal with it anymore. Let''s go back to shopping and ignore them."


    Yuki refused to allow this girl to have any pleasure at all. Since she was a weirdo, it was best to just  ignore her. But little did Yuki know that her actions just now made Jasmine take even more notice of her. Being forced to wait in anticipation to the point that she even got wet and then having that anticipation thrown out the window and treated as a piece of dirt. made even more chills run through Jasmine''s body.


    "Humph!" Trisha snorted and didn''t say anything else and went back to Yuki''s side, not wanting to deal with this sister of hers. But once one battle ended, another began as both Mary and Trisha started fighting over the rights to push Yuki.


    Jasmine watched the group walk away, her eyes flashing as she looked at Yuki. "I must have her¡­." Jasmine mumbled to herself before turning and grabbing Tilly''s hand and pulling her away.


    "Miss?" Tilly was confused. Normally her miss was very domineering to the point that no one could contain her, but just now, she not only did not get mad and start yelling for her guards to kill someone, she seemed to be trembling a little?


    Jasmine pulled Tilly to the car and got in. As soon as the door closed, she pounced on Tilly kissing her lips. "Smack my face!"


    "Miss!?" Tilly''s eyes opened wide.  She was not sure if she had heard her Miss correctly!


    "I said, smack my face! No better yet, spank me!" Jasmine seemed to have had something break inside her mind as she pleaded with Tilly to abuse her.


    Back inside the store. Tina, Trisha, and even Mary were picking out clothes for Yuki and having her try them on. Yuki felt like a doll as the three girls stripped and dressed her over and over. "I can''t decide. My Yuki looks amazing in everything she wears." Trisha was staring at the ten sets of clothes laid out on the table, unsure which was best.


    Yuki was someone who always bought clothes way too big for her and at the same time as cheap as possible, so she never cared what the clothing actually looked like. Nor did she like shopping like this. But seeing her mother and her fiancee so happy as they picked out clothes, she would not complain.


    While one group was happy, the other group of girls who were abandoned by Jasmine had long left but went to a restaurant not far away from the store itself. They all sat around a table in a private room. "That bitch Jasmine! She just up and left us! Not to mention she allowed those sluts to slap us!"


    "What do you expect from a pampered princess? She just does what she wants and never cares about those around her. If it was not for the fact that my parents are making me suck up to her, I would rather not be near her. You must have heard the rumors, right?"


    "You mean the rumors about her killing her maids by using them to test her concoctions? I heard the rumor but is it true?"


    "Shh! If you talk about it, you may be next. You know how the Evergreen family is."


    "No one is here to hear us. How would they even know!?"


    "Still better safe than sorry..."


    "Then let''s talk about that other girl! Who the hell was she? Not only did she have her maid slap our faces, but she even wanted to slap Princess Jasmine''s face."


    "You heard it, right? It seemed that the unwanted princess was also there. The one who actually did hit Princess Jasmine. What was her name¡­ Oh! Princess Trisha. But more than that, who was the disabled girl in the wheelchair? She treated Jasmine in such a way, and nothing happened to her."


    "Who knows. But one thing is for sure, I will get even with her for the humiliation I suffered today."


    Next door to these girls in another private room, Greg sat with Jen. "Greg, they are talking about your precious sister in law."


    "Humph! As if they could do anything to Yuki. That girl can''t even move, and she can deal with things so easily. But more importantly, you got them, right?" Greg asked as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them back and forth.


    "You know¡­ How many peoples boyfriends would tell their girlfriend to go out and have sex with her friends just so he can get some pictures?" Jen asked, rolling her eyes.


    "Hey, you started this by cheating on me first. This is punishment. I just wanted to see your sexy face as you get eaten by a girl. What is wrong with that?"  Greg asked shamelessly.


    "You! You truly are a degenerate! How the hell did I fall in love with you!?" Jen said as she tossed the pictures on the table. "Happy!?"


    "You act as if you didn''t enjoy it. Look at you in these pictures. You are completely getting off."  Greg showed Jen a picture of her leaning back with her eyes closed, her cheeks blushed. It seemed as if she was moaning.


    "You! You better watch it, or I will just go live with them!" Jen snorted. She couldn''t believe he was now blackmailing her. She knew she was in the wrong, but she never thought Greg would ask her to go fuck Sophia and Amber again. He had no idea how embarrassing it was to ask if she could take pictures. She, of course, did not give Greg any of the pictures that showed Sophia or Amber''s privates.


    "Ahh! Don''t say that! I already wore a green hat. I don''t want to wear one again!" Greg quickly put the pictures away and stopped teasing Jen. Although he was mad when he found out she did have sex with her friends, just by the fact that it was not a guy made him not care as much but¡­ He wasn''t going to let her off so easily. He demanded that she go back and fuck them again and take pictures of her getting off to another girl. He was a guy! He liked girl on girl action!


    "Anyway, are you really not going to do anything to those girls?" Jen asked, changing the subject. Normally if it has anything to do with Yuki or Trisha, he would freak out and become an evil villain.


    "Heh¡­ I know." Greg pressed the button to the side.


    Not even a minute later, a knock came at the door. A male waiter walked in and bowed his head: "Your Highness. What can I get for you?"


    "Mm¡­ My meal that I am about to have will be charged to the ladies next door. So make sure you give me your most expensive wines, five bottles of each. I want the most expensive meals you have. Just enough for two people, but charge me 100 fold for each dish. Once you total it up, multiply the final price by 1000. Do not let them leave until they have paid the total cost. If they do not pay strip them naked and toss them out on the street." Greg said coldly.


    The male waiter shivered hearing Greg''s orders. He knew Greg was a prince and dared not go against his orders. But he had to be sure to tell his manager, or he may end up losing his job. He quickly bowed his head and said: "I will see to it, Your Highness."


    With this, the waiter quickly rushed to find his manager, not daring to leave a single order out. Once the Manager heard what he was asked to do The manager told him he would handle it and headed to the girls room after getting the full tally on the orders. "Come in."


    "Madams, I am here to give you the bill." The restaurant manager said as he placed the bill on the table. He then waved his hand signaling for three large men to enter the room.

 Chapter 146: How To Form A Clan

    The group of girls thought nothing of it as one of them took out a gold card and handed it over to the manager. "Here you¡­. Ummm, why did you bring in so many guards?"


    "Miss, your gold card can not pay this bill." The manager sorted. The bill was over one billion crowns. He knew Prince Greg wanted to punish these ladies good, so he multiplied the final bill by more than tens of thousands instead of the original thousand. Causing the bill price to be raised past one billion crowns.


    "What do you mean!? We only ordered a few hundred crowns worth of food!" The girl yelled out. She did not understand why her gold card could not pay for it. It had a five hundred million crown limit! There should be no way the card could not pay it.


    "You need to look at the bill, Miss." The manager said, motioning with his chin towards the slip of paper on the table.


    The girl looked at the manager, feeling confused. Normally she would never look at such things and just pay, so she never thought to look at the bill itself. But when she picked it up and saw the list of items and the special tax that was added, she almost fainted from anger. "What is the meaning of this!? What is this special tax thing? Why are there so many bottles of wine? We didn''t even order these dishes!"


    "Miss, I highly suggest that you pay the bill otherwise..." The manager waved his hand, and the big burly guards stepped forward. "We will need to do things the hard way. Also, the special tax is a tax that is given to stupid people who offend the wrong person. Now, will you pay the bill?"


    "You!" This was the last thing the girl said before she and her friends found themselves being tossed out of the restaurant without a stitch of clothing on.


    "If you look, I will kill you." Jen said as she pinched Greg''s side. Greg''s wandering eyes quickly turned and looked at Jen. "I didn''t see anything!"


    ---


    Soul Fusion Online¡­


    Ryu and Chi were currently standing outside a large estate. Up above the massive gate, a name plaque that read Vaughan was engraved into the metal. "Halt!"


    A guard walked forward when he caught Ryu and Chi standing there.  Ryu put on a smile and said in a friendly manner. "Hi, I am here to speak to Clara."


    "Miss Clara? " The guard asked as he looked Ryu up and down. His cheeks grew hot, staring at Ryu''s handsome face. Once he realized what he was doing, he shook his head back and forth, trying to bring himself back to his senses. He felt this man was too handsome and would lead his miss astray! "I am sorry our miss is not in at this time. Please come back later."


    "Ermmm.." Ryu and Chi both stared at the girl behind the guard and complicated expressions. Ryu scratched his nose and pointed to the girl as he said: "I think she is back."


    The guard did not seem to understand what Ryu was getting at and shook his head: "No, no. My Miss is not back. How could she be back? She won''t be back for a few years since she went on a  long trip. Come back again in, I''d say about ten years, yes ten years." There was no way he was going to let this handsome man near his miss! He already had a fox girl next to him. There was no way he would let his miss form this playboy''s good looks! He would protect his miss with everything he had!


    "How come I didn''t know I was going on a ten year trip?" A girl''s voice came from behind the guard causing his whole body to stiffen. He turned around slowly to see his miss staring at him with questioning eyes.


    The guard panicked and quickly ran up to his miss and yelled: "Miss, quickly run before this young man''s devilish looks suck you in! He will only play with your heart!"


    Ryu and Chi looked at each other before letting out a laugh. Ryu smiled and said: "Clara, your guards are quite interesting."


    "Ryu, please do not tease me. They are just overprotective of me. You have no idea how much I was chewed out for running off to be a spy." Clara blushed as she complained.


    "But didn''t you tell me you were a servant of the Vaughan family? How did you suddenly become a miss?" Ryu asked.


    "This¡­ Well, I kind of overheard my father talking about the Qin family and found out about them trying to strengthen their family''s mainline by taking in a husband for their daughter and having her conceive a baby. As I am the only daughter and heiress to the Vaughan family, I wanted to personally put a stop to it. I didn''t tell you my identity before because I did not think you would show up here again." Clara explained as she walked past the dumbfounded guard.


    The guard felt so embarrassed! He did not think his miss already knew the young man! Now he had just said all of those things and completely embarrassed himself in front of his miss''s friends. He looked around, but there were no holes for him to climb into to hide. He could only lower his head and step to the side, and try to act invisible. His actions did not go unnoticed as Chi had been watching his antics the entire time. She found it to be amusing. But she also felt that it was strange. She started to wonder if the person who wrote the A.I. for this game was responsible for the A.I. guards they had just recently bought.


    "I see... Well, I have come here to ask for a favor." Ryu decided to get right to the reason he was visiting.


    "Come in. It is not good to talk out here." Clara said as she turned around and began walking back into the estate. She brought Ryu and Chi to a side room. "My guess is you need the protection of my family, correct?"


    Ryu raised an eyebrow. It seemed Clara was very good at figuring things out. "Yes, as you probably know, my wife and I made a huge scene at the front gates of the Qin family. Because they had someone in the nine souls forming realm, we couldn''t kill Emma Qin. This now puts a huge target on our heads. But we can not leave Westfall City. We need to set up a guild house as well as figure out how to start a clan."


    "Hmm¡­" Clara thought for a moment before saying:  "Protecting you while you are in Westfall is easy enough but to form a clan, you will need to take down one of the bigger families. For example, the Qin family or my Vaughan family. Only  then can you take their place and form your own clan."


    "I see¡­ I do not need to kill their entire clan, right?" Ryu asked. He did not want to go on a needless slaughter.


    "You just need to make the family submit to you." Clara answered.


    "I see. Then I will have to figure this out."Ryu said but a thought came to mind. " I would like to ask you one more thing, Clara."


    "Go ahead." Clara had an idea of what Ryu was going to ask.


    "If I take over the Qin family, will you become my enemy?" Ryu asked.


    "No. My family has never wanted absolute dominance in Westfall. We are a family that likes to live quietly. It is that we won''t let anyone with bad intentions become the leader of this city." Clara and the Vaughan family did not want corrupted people who do as they please to rule the populace. The city would turn into a cesspool of corruption if this was to happen.


    "That is good to hear. I promise you here and now that if I am able to take over the Qin family, you will never have to worry about such things as I do not seek to be a ruler of this city. " Ryu knew words were superficial and would not hold a grain of salt until he had shown the Vaughan family that he does not mean any harm.


    "I will have to see when the time comes. As for protection, I will send one of my people with you, so those who are watching know that you are under my family''s protection. No one will dare touch you, not even the Qin family. So go ahead and buy your guild house from the city lord." At this time this was as much as Clara could do with her current power. As for everything else it would need to wait and see how things progressed. She didn''t know Ryu all that much and did not know if one day he would succumb to the desire of power and want to take all of Westfall for himself.

 Chapter 1: Voting Goals, Golden Ticket Goals, And Summoning Pens

    With the new golden ticket now in effect, I decided to update everything so that everyone can benefit from helping support the novel.


    Summoning Pens.


    For every 500 pens I will produce 1 bonus chapter.


    Power Stone Voting And Golden Tickets


    For each week we stay in the top 100, I will produce 1 bonus chapter per week. This will be 2 bonus chapters per week if both power stone and golden ticket ranking are in the top 100.


    For each month we stay in the top 50 I will do 6 bonus chapters per month. 12 if both Power Stone and Golden Ticket are in the top 50.


    For each month we stay in the top 10 I will do 8 bonus chapters per month. 16 if both Power Stone and Golden Ticket are in the top 10.

 Chapter 147: Pill Refinement

    Outside a tall building on the main street of Westfall, Ryu and Chi stood outside the gate looking at the newly finished guild house. "Isn''t this a bit big?" Chi asked as she looked at the tall ten floor building. It had easily become the tallest structure in the city!


    "Well..." Ryu began as he scratched his head. "I figured since I had the money to go with the most expensive one, I might as well do so. But this is also good because we now have a floor for each trade skill. The building itself comes with over 200 rooms. Just by having the Vaughan family for backing allowed us to make this building."


    "But still..." Chi felt like they had suddenly become the biggest tycoons in the city. Compared to the other buildings, this one was like a skyscraper. It even came with a rooftop garden.


    "Anyway, I need you to go check on the other guild houses and see how things are going. I need to head to the palace a bit to make a copy of that cultivation method. Only then can we truly become a powerful force." Ryu needed to do two things before he logged off for the day. First was to make it so he could easily pass out cultivation methods to his guild members, and he also needed to make pills to boost WhiteLotus and the other''s cultivation speeds.


    After giving Chi a kiss goodbye, Ryu entered the palace and was instantly slammed into by a small black figure. "Meow!! Meow!! Meow!! Meow!! "


    "Nergal! You finally wish to speak to me?" Nergal let out another cry and did not hesitate to take his rightful place on top of Ryu''s head. He curled into a ball and went right to sleep.


    Ryu was unsure if he should laugh or cry at this. The cat got mad at him for getting to resummon him, and now he was acting as nothing had happened. "Well, whatever..."


    Ryu was happy that Nergal was back to normal. Now in a good mood, Ryu went to work. First, he made a handwritten copy of the cultivation method he got as a reward. When he got the notification saying he could now mass produce them, he made over three hundred of them using up all the ink and paper he had in the room. Ryu stuffed all the cultivation methods into his ring and went to the alchemy room. "It has been a while since I have been here..."


    "Let''s see..." Ryu looked through some of the recipes in the room and found one called: "Low Tier Qi Quenching Pill¡­ Oh? Only needs such common materials?"


    [Low Tier Qi Quenching Pill]


    [Helps speed up cultivation by 20% for 5 hours.]


    "Let''s see here, ten stalks of blue grass and three stalks of soul grass. Once I have these, I need to extract the essence from each one¡­ In order to do that, I need to feel the essence inside the herb and use my soul qi to pull the essence out...  Let''s give this a try." Ryu already knew all things had a certain soul essence to them since he entered the soul sensing realm. Luckily he has already reached the proper realm, or he would never be able to refine pills.


    After a few minutes of getting the right feeling for the essence inside the blue grass, Ryu extended his soul qi out of his body and wrapped the blue grass in it. He then pictured his soul qi slowly extracting the soul essence from it. This part took a bit of trial and error, but after an hour, he finally succeeded in extracting the first bit of soul essence.


    "Yes now... I need to place this inside the cauldron." After placing the soul essence inside the cauldron, he went right to work doing the rest. Once he was finished he was ready for the last two parts. The mixing and merging and finally pill formation.


    This part consisted of using your soul qi like threads and slowly mixing the different soul essences together. First, you had to mix the same types, and once they were mixed, you merged them into the other herb essences. Only then could you begin the formation process.


    *Boom!*


    "Meow!!!"


    "Fuck! It exploded!" Ryu yelled out. Nergal, who was sound asleep, almost jumped out of his skin due to the sudden explosion. Black soot covered Ryu''s handsome face. But this did not deter him. He quickly got more materials and went right back to work.


    Two hours went by, and ten explosions later, Ryu finally merged the ingredients together. "Now pill formation." This part consisted of forming and solidifying the soul essence into a pill and was even harder to do than merging the essences together.


    *Boom!*


    "MEEEOOWWW!!!!"


    Nergal this time, was the one who got the brunt of the soot that flew into the air since Ryu lowered his head to cover his face.  "Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!" Nergal''s disgruntled meows rang out on top of Ryu''s head as he dug his claws into Ryu''s scalp.


    "Alright, I''m sorry! I will make sure to be the one to get hit by the soot! Enough with the claws already!" Ryu yelled out.


    "Meow!" It was quite the comical scene watching one man and one cat yelling back and forth at each other.


    In the end, after much trial and error, Ryu finally formed his first pill. But he did not stop there. He continued to practice for a few more hours, and by the time he stopped, he was able to form three pills at once. "I now have one hundred pills. I will keep 20 for  Chi and I and then pass the rest to FingerSandwhich, GreenHat, the numbers, and the girls. Pills will only go to them for now, and then later, I will have to distribute batches out to those who are loyal. This way, I will not see my pills being sold on the marketplace."


    Ryu hated to think like this, but that is a possibility he had to accept when dealing with others you don''t know well. In order to not have such a thing happen, he would distribute pills slowly until he had a firm core team for the guild.


    "Now then¡­" Ryu reached up and pulled Nergal into his embrace. Nergal did not even wake up and subconsciously snuggled into Ryu''s embrace. Ryu smiled warmly as he petted the little guy.


    "Let''s head out to the new guild house in Westfall. I am sure you would like to do some sightseeing after being locked up in the palace all this time." Ryu said as she stood up and teleported out of the palace. He arrived back in front of the main gate and walked into the guild house main doors. He already saw someone very scary standing there with a big smile on his face.


    "Darling~!" Margie, the big burly flamboyant man, was all smiles when he saw Ryu. "Darling~, Margie hasn''t seen you in ages!"


    "I have been busy. How are things going with the guild?" Ryu asked.


    "So far, I have organized all the armament trade skillers based on skill level. And the ones that have a better idea of what they are doing are helping those who wish to learn." Margie explained.


    Ryu was quite surprised that Margie was doing so much. He could already guess that WhiteLotus must have put him in charge of the armament trade skillers. Ryu pulled out a cultivation method, and after some thought, he also took out a pill and handed it to Margie. "Take this. Use the pill to boost your cultivation. Don''t let me see any post up for sale anywhere. I am the only person in Soul Fusion Online who is able to make this pill at this time. So I will know if it was you or not."


    "Darling~ you need to trust your Margie. Margie will never betray the trust of someone as handsome as you! Chuuu~!" Margie said while blowing a kiss at Ryu.


    Ryu chuckled and gave the pill to Margie. He only did so because he could see how much Margie was doing right after joining the guild. When someone is so willing to help out without asking for anything in return, that tells one a lot about their character.


    "Margie, where are the others?" Ryu asked.


    "About this¡­ There was a bit of an issue with one of the new recruits, and Little Chi Chi~ and Little Whitey~ are over at the alchemy house in Flim Village trying to deal with it." Margie replied.


    "Alright, keep up the good work. If you work hard, I will make sure to reward you properly. Just don''t do anything that will make me lose trust in you." Ryu said this before heading to the teleport room. Unlike the smaller guild houses, this guild house had its teleport room inside.


    When Ryu reached Flim Village, he heard a familiar yet annoying voice echoing throughout the area. "Why can''t I join this guild!? Did I do something wrong to not be able to join it!?"


    Ryu quickly ducked behind a bush to see That girl Beauty  standing in front of the gates with her arms crossed across her chest and her foot tapping off the ground. Her expression was one of anger as she looked at WhiteLotus and Chi.

 Chapter 148: Beauty Gets Beaten Up

    "Look, you have been told many times that anyone with the name of Beauty is not allowed in our guild." WhiteLotus was doing her best to contain her anger. She never expected someone to be this unreasonable.


    "Then I will change my name! What does it matter if my name is Beauty or not!?" Beauty yelled out. She did not understand what their guild master had against her name!


    "I think it is best that you leave." Chi was also losing patience.


    Ryu, who was hiding, thought for a moment. Before a wicked idea came up in his mind. He quickly ran off to the teleporter and teleported to another guild house before hurrying to the mercenary guild.


    [The Mercenary Guild has just placed a new bounty out on player: Beauty. All mercenaries take up arms and help fulfill this bounty! 1 copper for each kill!  Up to 1000 kills! Get your kill in to secure that 1 copper before it is too late.]


    @FreeLoader: Ahhahahahaha, who is hated so much that they would get a one copper per kill bounty placed on their heads!


    @GreenHat: This sheboy was banned from joining my guild, so it is probably something they did to the guild.


    @Yuyu: How dare you call Beauty a sheboy!


    @GreenHat: Oh, here we go, it seems the sheboy fan club has arrived. Figures as much with a name like beauty that they would have a few followers. Nothing more than a sheboy who is trying to get its kicks off of fooling every man they see. I bet it spreads its legs to get more followers.


    @Yuyu: You! Just you wait until I find out who you really are!


    @GreenHat: Oh no! Someone is going to hack my account!


    @FreeLoader: GreenHat run, or you will end up married to another sheboy!


    @AzuritePaladin: Married to another sheboy +1


    @DrakeStarkiller: I just got here but¡­ Married to another sheboy +1


    @MrShadowMan: Married to another sheboy +1


    @KJellTheViking: Married to another sheboy +1


    @Draconis0Kelly: Married to another sheboy +1 (Please send me a sheboy too...)


    @FreeLoader: I just died because of the person upstairs!


    After placing the bounty on Beauty, Ryu quickly returned to the alchemy house. When he arrived, he heard WhiteLotus say mockingly:  "Seems like you are really hated to have someone put a bounty on you and only for a single copper per kill."


    "I..." Beauty''s words got caught in her throat when she saw a familiar figure walking towards her: "BurningToast you bastard, this is your doing, isn''t it!?"


    Everyone was confused as they turned their head to look at the person walking up. But as soon as they saw Ryu, they understood. Chi chuckled, knowing that Ryu had used someone else''s name the last time he ran into this girl. WhiteLotus also figured out this much.  "It is so what?"


    "You bastard! Hah¡­ Hah..." Beauty''s face started turning bright red as her body started heating up. Those eyes! It was those eyes that looked down upon her as if she was a disgusting insect. It was the same eyes that girl had that day as well. A light flashed through her eyes. Beauty was always a greedy person. If someone had something, she wanted she would do whatever she could to take it. She bit her lip and walked right past WhiteLotus and Chi and stood in front of Ryu. She looked up at Ryu with blushing cheeks and said: "If you become mine, I will forget ab¡­ Ahhh! My hair!"


    Beauty was yanked back by Chi and tossed to the ground. Before beauty even knew what was going on, she was mounted by Chi and then had punches rained down on top of her. "Ahhh! Stupid bitch get off me! Ahhh! My face! Don''t hit my face!"


    Chi was going all out as she continued to punch Beauty over and over. Now, normally Beauty would have been killed within a few punches, but the guilds priest decided to take this chance to practice their healing, so every time beauty''s health reached the fifty percent mark, it was quickly restored to full with ten priests healing her.


    WhiteLotus moved to stand next to Ryu and patted him on the shoulder: "It seems Chi is broken."


    "Ahh, well, some things happened recently¡­ I think the stress has finally gotten to her." Ryu scratched his head. He could only think that the run in with Princess Jasmine might have caused this sudden outburst. "Well, at any rate, relieving stress is good."


    "Is this relieving stress, though? I mean, she is being pretty vicious." WhiteLotus asked. She stared at Beauty''s face that was swelling up like a balloon, then deflating back to normal from the heals.


    "Let her be. It is better for her to release her anger. She finally found someone she can use to do just that. Now that I think about it, maybe I should let Beauty in the guild? Then she can serve as Chi''s punching bag.." Ryu rubbed his chin as he fell into thought.


    "Don''t even think about it! If she were to go this nuts day after day, she would end up traumatizing the other person!" WhiteLotus yelled.


    "I guess your right..." Ryu let out a sigh.


    "Why do I feel like I have just said something wrong!?" WhiteLotus asked as she looked at Ryu, who was acting as if someone stole his favorite toy.


    Ryu grinned and said: "I''m joking. I guess we should stop her for now."


    Ryu went to step forward to stop Chi but paused when he heard something that sent shivers down his spine. "Ahh! Yes! More! More!"


    "Err..." Ryu turned and looked at WhiteLotus with a look that asked: "Did I just hear that?"


    WhiteLotus nodded her head as she made a disgusted face. Ryu''s face turned black. He drew his sword, walked over to Chi and beauty, and in between Chi''s punches, stabbed Beauty in the face, instantly killing her. Only then did Chi come back to her senses. "Hmm? Ryu?"


    "Let''s just kill her from now on¡­" Ryu then looked at his other guild members and said: "If anyone sees Beauty, just kill her. I will keep a running bounty on her from now on..."


    "Ryu, why''s the ground wet?" Chi asked as she stood up. There was a wet spot just behind her, and she knew it was not from her.


    Ryu scratched his head and whispered into Chi''s ear. Chi''s face turned black, and her whole body shivered. "From now on, stop me from punching people..."


    At the respawn area, Beauty sat there with a gloomy face. "Miss?" Yuyu softly called out to her.


    "Yuyu¡­. I was so close¡­ I was right there, and that bastard killed me! He is ruthless! But¡­ I love it!  He is handsome, and I can''t wait to make him mine! And that girl with her fists... If I can make both of them mine... Hah! Hah!" Beauty yelled out as she hugged herself.


    Yuyu gave her miss a strange look. Ever since the run in with Princess Trisha, her miss had been acting strangely. Her miss pulled her into the car and asked her to be slapped and spanked. "Should I tell his majesty that miss is broken?"  Yuyu mumbled to herself. She then bent down and picked up her miss, who was blabbering about how she wanted the handsome man to spank her and a fox girl to punch her, and walked towards an inn. Yuyu could only sigh at her fate of being her miss''s maid.


    Back on Ryu''s side, Chi was currently standing in front of him, pointing her finger at him. "Ryu, you are too handsome! Why do you not wear a mask like before!? From now on, I forbid you from going out in public without a mask! Otherwise, you will end up bringing more freaks back."


    "Yes, yes, I will do as Chi says..." Ryu chuckled as he tried to calm Chi down. "I promise I will make one soon. But we still have a lot to do. But it can all be done within the guild house. I will be calling a guild meeting soon."


    "Humph!" Chi snorted before wrapping her arms around Ryu and hugging him. "I don''t mean to nag. I just hate when all these girls stare at you."


    "I know. Come, we will head to the Westfall guild house and get someone to prepare food for the meeting. I want to hand out all the cultivation manuals I have." Ryu needed everyone to start cultivating as soon as possible. Otherwise, taking over the Qin family will never come to pass. This meant not only cultivation but many dungeon runs and resource gathering as well. There was a lot to do in order to prepare. But once they got enough strength, then they could easily start planning a raid on the Qin family.  Ryu figured once Chi and himself reached the nine souls forming realm, they could easily lead the strike against the Qin family. He just hoped they would surrender quickly.


    "Alright, you gather everyone, I will handle getting the chefs to cook up some snacks." Chi said, breaking her embrace with Ryu. She then grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the teleporter.

 Chapter 149: Goals Part 1

    In the biggest meeting hall of the Westfall guild house, not only were Ryu and the core members there but also the newly added leaders of each section of the guild. Crafting, PVP(Player Versus Player), and PVE(Player Versus Environment) were also attending this meeting. This was because Ryu was handing out cultivation manuals.


    Ryu sat in the main seat in front of everyone else. Next to him were stacks of books. "First, let me start off by handing these out to everyone."


    "This¡­ Is this what I think it is!?" GreenHat eyes shot open wide in excitement. He had been going crazy searching for one of these, but now he had one in his hands. He couldn''t keep his hands from shaking as he looked at the book in his hands.


    "It is what you think it is. It is a cultivation manual. These cultivation manuals will be the foundation of our guild. As we get higher levels, we will need to upgrade ourselves to be the best of the best. As you all know, this game is not easy when it comes to certain things. Armor, weapons, potions¡­ All of these things are sold in small quantities in shops but are much more inferior to what you can actually make. Crafting is a big part of Soul Fusion Online. But only certain items can be attained this way as well.


    "In order to ensure we always have the advantage, we will need to be up to par with the game itself. Just because one can attain a higher level just from grinding monsters, this does not mean you will be able to attain the best of what the game has to offer. Once you start cultivating, the experience gain from killing monsters will become negligible as it will only help your cultivation instead. From what I understand of the game so far is that Soul Fusion Online wants its players to become real cultivators and not fake ones. A person who has leveled up to the highest realm will never be able to fight a person who risked it all to gain a cultivation manual and the resources needed to reach the peak.


    "The world itself is full of mysterious and many things that you do not know yet. The relationship between players in NPCs is also a factor. You can not think of this just as a game. You need to think of the game as a second life that you enter when you fall asleep.


    "Your ability to enjoy the game will be very dependent on how well you are able to adapt to the changes that occur later on. As an example, just recently, Chi and I have gotten into a feud with one of the top families here in Westfall city, the Qin family. And let me make this clear it is not an event or quest. We are in an actual feud with them. This means you may be targeted by NPCs from the Qin family at any time. But their family also holds the key to us becoming a clan." Ryu paused there as WhiteLotus raised her hand.


    "You''re saying you figured out how to become a clan?" WhiteLotus asked.


    "Yes, and as I see it only, we stand a chance of becoming the first clan in the game. Each member of the Qin family are real cultivators, not the fake kind either. This means even if a group of soul assimilation realm levelers showed up to try to take the Qin family over, they would only be looking for their own death as the Qin family, as far as I know, has a nine souls forming guard in the family. I am not sure about the head of the household, but I do know many of their guards are in the soul sensing realm. Even the NPC guards I hired for this guild house are only in the soul sensing realm.


    "This means that at least two of us will need to be in the nine souls forming realm to even think of taking over the Qin family." Ryu paused again because Violet raised her hand.


    "Ryu, you said to take over and not wipe out. Does that mean we can take the Qin family over without having to kill them all?" Violet asked. She was not too keen on having to kill a bunch of NPCs as she knew once they died, they died for real in game unless it was a field or dungeon monster.


    "Yes. We do not need to kill everyone in the Qin family to take it over. We just need to make them submit. By the rules of this world, only the powerful are able to do such a thing. Think of it as a multi billionaire who slaps a small business owner in the face with a few million crowns. Normally that business owner would gladly sell. It is the same when you suppress someone. They will gladly submit as long as their lives are intact.


    "But this does not mean we will not have to shed blood. They will not submit so easily. But we can at least choose our targets. I would like to not kill any non combatants. If they are not attacking us, we do not need to kill them. But there is one person out of the batch that I will need to kill no matter what." Ryu gritted his teeth. He will never forgive Emma! Chi, who was sitting at Ryu''s side, also snorted.


    GreenHat raised his hand and asked: "May I know who this person is and why you seem so bent on killing them?"


    "She is the young miss of the Qin family and next heir to be family head if she gives birth to a son. She was the one who had her nine soul forming realmed  guard knock me out, strip me naked, and almost had her way with me." Ryu explained through gritted teeth.


    "Pfft! Hahahaaha!" FingerSandwhich broke down laughing. GreenHat was right behind him. "Haha, sorry, it is just funny to see that the great Ryu, the best player in the game, was knocked out and taken advantage of by an NPC. If this got out, oh man, it would be news."


    "FingerSandwhich, I took you for the quiet one. Why is it that your mouth makes me want to chop off your head more than GreenHat''s mouth? Let me help you remain quiet forever."  Ryu said as he got up and drew his sword. The issue with him almost being raped by an NPC was not funny!


    "I was just joking! Put the sword down! Chi, do something about your man!" FingerSandwhich saw Ryu coming towards him with his sword and became scared. He knew Ryu could easily kill him and send him to respawn, but he did not want to lose the experience!


    "Humph! Serves you right." Chi snorted and looked away.


    "Alright, Alright. Ryu, calm down. We do not want to stain our new guild meeting room with blood." WhiteLotus stood up and blocked Ryu.


    "Yes, Darling~ we can''t have you messing up the new meeting room." Margie also came forward. Ryu frowned and humphed before going back to his seat.


    "Anyway," Ryu spoke up as if nothing had happened. He was not really going to cut anyone''s head off. "What we need now is to resource farm and get people to start cultivating. The cultivation manuals that you all have I will need to ask you all to use them now. It is not that I do not want to trust you all, it is just that I do not know you all well enough yet besides the generals. So in order to make sure these manuals are not sold or given out, I will need to see them being used. GreenHat, WhiteLotus, Rose, Violet, FingerSandwhich, Numbers, and Margie. I want you to begin handing these out to people. Make sure they use the manual. If they do not wish to start cultivating, then they do not get one. But once we become a sect, this will mean that those who are not cultivators will only be able to be outer disciples of the sect and never rise in ranks.


    "Our main goal for this guild is to become the strongest sect in the world of Soul Fusion Online!" Ryu was firm on this goal. Since he started the guild, he would make sure it was the best guild. He would not settle for anything less.


    It seemed his words also lit a fire of determination in everyone else, unlike the games that had you sit behind a computer to play where the emersion was about one percent. Here in Soul Fusion Online, where the world is just as real as the outside world, really allowed one to get sucked into the game. So wanting to stand at the peak of the world was something that everyone could stand behind.


    "Now then. With this portion of the meeting out of the way, let us discuss a few things. I also want to go over raiding and world bosses. This is, after all a game so we can not just let everything be about work."

 Chapter 150: Goals Part 2

    "Does anyone have any ideas on how we should go about setting up our raid teams?" Ryu asked.


    "I think we should let the numbers pick out a group of people who are best at fighting to begin building our core raid team." GreenHat suggested. He knew just how good the numbers were at fighting.


    "GreenHat makes a good point. With how the game works, it is best to have our core members all good at fighting. Besides the leaders of the guild, we should have at least twenty more people to work with." FingerSandwhich thought GreenHat''s idea was very good.


    "Margie, what about you?" Ryu only asked Margie since he had added him to the guild personally. There was just something about the way Margie was able to get things done that made Ryu want his input.


    "Me, Darling~? Well¡­ From my experiences in the games I used to play when it came to raiding, we would have many different teams, each led by the leaders of the guild. There would be the main core team which was filled with the guild leaders. Then there would be multiple other raid teams in order to make sure all progression is smooth~ sailing. From what I know, there are different modes for each dungeon in Soul Fusion Online, so let''s say we wish to raid nothing but hell mode and get that first run through. In order to do this and make our guild the top guild, we will need to be sure that we have enough substitutes and multiple progression teams going to different dungeons all the time. As it is, gear in this game is hard to get, so we need to start off small and quickly work our way up.


    "One of our main priorities to even get to start raiding would be to equip the members of the raid teams with the best crafted gear we can make, with normal resources that we can get in the field. Only then would we be able to even attempt a dungeon." Margie explained. "But in the end, it is up to you, Darling~."


    "No, you make very good points. Okay, we will do it like this. We have a core team of ten, so let''s make four more teams of ten. The numbers will select the members. Margie. I want you to organize the other trade skill leaders and make a list of all the highest quality items you are able to create and what you will need in order to raise your skill levels.  I know I am asking a lot of you, Margie, but you seem to have a good grasp on these things."  Ryu suddenly realized he was relying heavily on Margie for a lot of things. But after hearing how he was able to pull together the different trade skill leaders and those under them, he felt he could rely on Margie for a lot.


    "No problem Darling~! I will handle it with ease." Margie said with a smile.


    "Thank you." Ryu gave Margie a nod and then looked at the numbers. "Are you three okay with handling this?"


    "You can leave it to us." Number 6 replied firmly.


    "Yeah, Ryu, these three are all leaders themselves, so they will be able to train our people well. As long as they have talent, they will be able to train them into some of the best players the game has ever seen." GreenHat assured. He and his brother FingerSandwhich both knew just how strong these three were.


    "Oh? Then I will have to ask you to train our main core team as well." Ryu did not want to be beaten up by those under him, so he had to make sure he trained hard as well.


    "Haha! My pleasure!" Number 8 said with a smile, his eyes were brimming with excitement. But for some reason, the whole group had chills run down their spines, and all of them had the same thought. "Isn''t he just a little too happy about this!?"


    "Darling~ can I join in on the training as well?" Margie asked.


    "Mmm.. Anyone can join. There is no need to hold back. I will make a guild announcement later." Ryu readily agreed, the stronger everyone can be, the better.


    "I just want to point out that the training we will be giving will also be able to be used in real life. As we will be training everyone to kill, it is best to think before using it in actual combat with someone else. Especially if you subconsciously strike out with a killing blow." Number 7 added. He was worried he was going to see a bunch of murder cases on the news if she did not say anything.


    "That is just how it is. Many are already starting to train in the art of killing just to play this game. As this game is like a world on its own where killing is what you need to do to survive, it is only natural that things will change in the real world for those playing the game." Violet paused before continuing: "What we should be worried about is how big of an impact this will have on the world. As Soul Fusion Online has only been out for less than half a year, there is no real way of telling. But the population of the game keeps growing by the millions per day. I have read that many elderly people are also playing the game just so they can relax in an environment that is not filled with tall buildings."


    "We can only wait and see then." Ryu hoped that the game wouldn''t get shut down because of people becoming too violent.


    "Umm¡­ Off topic but Darling~ what is that on your head? It has been bothering me for a while now." Margie asked.


    "Hmm? Oh! Nergal." Ryu reached up and plucked Nergal off the top of his head and placed him on the table. "Nergal, say hi to everyone."


    "Meow~" Nergal lifted his head and looked around, and gave a tired meow before putting his head back down.


    "Oh my! Darling~, where did you get such a cute creature?" Margie asked. His eyes were glowing as he stared at Nergal.


    "When I first started the game, I was singing a song, and I guess Nergal liked it since he decided to follow me, allowing me to gain a beast taming skill." Ryu replied.


    "Darling~, can you read your skill description?" Margie asked. He really wanted a pet too!


    "Mmm.." Ryu opened his menu and read the description.


    [Taming ]


    [Sing a song to soothe the hearts of beasts.]


    "Sigh¡­ If only I was not tone deaf." Margie replied. He felt very disappointed that one needed to know how to sing.


    "I do not think it matters, I mean, I am pretty tone deaf myself." Ryu still had no idea that he was actually very good at singing.


    "Oh? Then Darling~, can you sing us a song?" Margie found it hard to believe that Ryu could get a taming skill that says: sing a song that soothes the hearts of beasts if he was tone deaf.


    "Umm, okay, but I warn you I am pretty horrible to listen to." Ryu pursed his lips and then took a deep breath. "When the wind blows, I  will~..."


    The whole room was dead silent. Their mouths were open in shock. They had no idea how to explain what they just heard. "I think I just got wet¡­" GreenHat was the first to break the silence.


    "Pfft!" WhiteLotus burst out laughing.


    "No, I am for real here!" GreenHat yelled. "Ryu, what the hell is with you saying you are tone deaf and horrible to listen to? If you are horrible to listen to, then CTS, the most popular boy band group out right now, is shit! You could easily top the charts if you were to write a music album!"


    "No!" Chi, who had been quiet the entire time, yelled out. "Ryu can not sell music otherwise, all the girls will be trying to steal him from me!"


    Ryu scratched his head and blushed. "You guys don''t need to be so nice. I know how bad I sound¡­ I mean, I made you all go dead silent with strange looks on your faces."


    "You idiot!" Rose yelled. "We were silent because you were too good! Why do you say you are bad? When you log out of the game, have Chi record you sing and then listen to it yourself."


    "I will record him at some point." Chi answered for Ryu. She wanted to record everything about her Ryu.


    "Alright, Let''s finish up here. Umm, to have some fun, there is a world boss not too far from here, which is an oversized chicken. It will be difficult for lower levels, but with our current strength, it should be easy to kill. We can gather everyone from the guild who wants to join. All loot will be added to our guild resources." Ryu did not want everything to be about business, so world raid bosses were a good way for the entire guild to play together and have fun. Only by bonding like that would everyone in the guild be able to interact and get to know each other better.

 Chapter 151: Three Way Clash Part 1

    Outside Roland, three large groups of players had gathered. It had been two weeks since Serenity''s guild meeting, and thanks to the cultivation methods, the members of Serenity were quickly becoming stronger.


    "Ryu, they are staring." GreenHat walked up and said as he looked at the two groups in front of them as they walked out of the town gates.


    "Let them stare. It''s not like they can do anything to us. Wait, isn''t that, that new guild?" Ryu looked over and saw a familiar figure and quickly hid behind GreenHat. "Don''t let her see me, or I might have to kill her instantly."


    "Pfft! Haha! Put your cloak on so she can''t recognize you."  GreenHat suggested. "But yeah, that is the new guild, The Queen''s Throne. From what I know, she posted a notice on the forums as soon as she created the guild offering one platinum for people to join and stay in her guild. I think they get some kind of salary."


    "Salary huh¡­. GreenHat, who is the best at finances amongst the generals?" Ryu asked. He kind of liked this whole salary thing. While everyone was working hard for the guild, he didn''t really have much to give as a reward. So he figured a salary would not be too bad. And the members could do as they pleased with it.


    "Are you thinking of doing salaries as well?" GreenHat asked.


    "Mmm¡­ It will keep people loyal to us as well as helping those who might be in bad spots, a bit of relief in their life. The things they farm can also be either donated or sold to the guild for market price. And it is not like our guild is poor. In fact, we have a surplus of money." Ryu replied.


    "That is a good idea. I will put FingerSandwhich on it as soon as we are done with the raid." GreenHat felt this was going to be a very good thing for their guild.


    "Thanks. I will leave it to you then. As for the matters at hand, I think I will need to reveal myself. People from the Golden Sword are walking over." Ryu sighed.  He recognized the two walking towards him since he had killed both of them. They were Gene and BurningToast.


    "Where is Ryu!? Tell Ryu to come out right now!" Gene yelled out. He hated Ryu the most. He had a hell of a time getting things together because of the bounty he had put out on him.


    "Keep your panties on. I am right here. Why do you gotta yell like I stole your girlfriend or something?" Ryu sarcastically asked.


    "Humph! As good with your words as always, I see." BurningToast said with a snort.


    "You''re just mad because you got de-leveled so many times. Look at me. I even gained levels and still have the highest bounty on me right now. If I am right, you guys are the ones who set it. So come on, I am right here, come kill me. Look, I will even shine it for you, see¡­"Ryu rubbed his cheek and stuck his neck out while mockingly saying:  "What are you waiting for? Come on, hit me!"


    "You!" BurningToast really wanted to punch Ryu with all he had! He never met someone so infuriating.


    "BurningToast!" Gene yelled. His yell caught the attention of one particular player.


    Beauty raised her head and looked over in the direction of the yell, her eyes going wide as a smile crept up on her lips. "You two follow me." Beauty pointed to the two burly men wearing full metal armor, and like the name of her guild, she walked over like a queen. Because she had fifty of her own guards help make her guild, she had the protection she needed to finally level up. She was now in the middle of the fortification realm after much work. Out of the entire game, only a few people have found cultivation manuals that people knew of, and not a single one has been put up for sale.  But somehow, Beauty was still able to get her hands on one.


    "BurningToast long time not see." Beauty said as she winked at Ryu.


    Chi had already walked over to Ryu''s side and almost burst out laughing. She still couldn''t believe this idiot was still thinking that Ryu was BurningToast. Of course, BurningTaoast wouldn''t let this slide. "Umm¡­. who are you calling? That dickshit''s name is Ryu. One of the most hated players in the game."


    "Now, now, MoldyBread, don''t get mad just because you have been stripped and killed over and over, all due to that small brain of yours. How can I not be named BurningToast? I mean, who would believe your words over mine?"  Ryu said with a big shit eating grin on his face. He was having fun!


    "Huh? Ryu? MoldyBread? Hey, what name is the right one?" Beauty was really starting to get confused.


    "Does it matter? I tell you what Beauty, was it? If you put a 1000 platinum bounty out on me, I will tell you a secret." Ryu said, doing his best to hold back his laughter.


    "You mother fucker! You dare try to start some bullshit with me!?" BurningToast was having such a hard time restraining himself right now. He couldn''t believe this bastard was using his name to get bounties placed on him. No wonder he had all kinds of random bounties placed on his head.


    "You never heard of borrowing a knife to kill someone? I just don''t want to waste my money putting a bounty on you so, it is easier if I just ask little miss sheboy to do the work for me. " Ryu spoke honestly. He did not want to waste any more money on these idiots.


    "Hey! Who are you calling a sheboy!?" Beauty yelled out.


    "Hmm? She''s not a sheboy? But there is a lump in her crotch." GreenHat suddenly spoke up. He hated this Beauty girl ever since he found out she argued with WhiteLotus.


    "Huh!?" Beauty looked down at her crotch, and only after looking for a few seconds did she realize she was tricked! "You! Damn it!"


    "Huh? Why are you yelling at me? You''re the one staring at your crotch. The more you try to deny it, the more people will think you are a sheboy. Right everyone? How many here think that little miss here is a sheboy? Raise your hand!"  GreenHat started a vote and even raised his hand. Everyone who heard him besides Beauty''s people all raised their hands.


    "You! I shoul..." Beauty was about to rush forward but was quickly pulled back by her guild members.


    "Leader, don''t let them rile you up. They want you to attack!" Beauty furrowed her brow hearing her guild member''s words.


    "Fine! Let''s go kill that damn chicken then! I will not sit here and deal with these lunatics who only know how to anger people to death." Beauty was angry even if she was a closet masochist. Ryu and GreenHat''s words were pulling on her last nerve.


    "Hold it!" Ryu and Gene yelled out at the same time.


    Ryu sneered as he turned to look at Gene. "I do not care what anyone says. My guild will be the one doing the oversized chicken. If your guilds get in my way, I do not mind farming some free items."


    There was no way Ryu was going to let two weeks of planning go down the drain when everyone in the guild had worked long and hard for this.


    "Ryu, just because you are the current top guild in Soul Fusion Online does not mean you can do as you please! A world boss is anyone''s game!" Gene yelled.


    "Humph! Neither of you will be putting your hands on what is mine." Beauty had stopped and turned around when she heard the other two guild leaders talking.


    "Oh? Do the two of you think your guild is good enough to beat mine?" Ryu asked with a chuckle. "I will say this now. I do not have anything against the players in your guild, but Beauty, BurningToast, and Gene, your three, are what is going to make it very hard for your guild to rise up within the Roland area. If you do not give up today and try to kill steal my guild''s target, I do not mind going to war."


    "Do you think you can threaten me!? You are not the only one with a cultivation manual! Your days of lording over the cultivation world within Soul Fusion Online are over Ryu!" BurningToast yelled. "Half of our guild is already at the peak of the fortification realm with cultivation."


    "Hmmm? It seems like you also got the scribe trade skill. That''s kind of funny since a few of our members have it too. And well, half of my members are already in the soul sensing realm. So do your best LittleBaldy, because as you said, we are the top guild. Now then, my top guild has a world boss to kill."  Ryu leaned over to GreenHat and whispered: "Put all the lowest level players in the middle and surround them with soul sensing players. Don''t let them die."


    "Got it. I will do it now." GreenHat did not need to question Ryu''s order. Both guilds had a feud with Serenity so they would not hesitate to take a chance to kill off the lower levels for revenge.

 Chapter 152: Three Way Clash Part 2

    Serenity didn''t even pay attention to the other guilds as they got into formation under GreenHat''s command. They then began to move towards the forest that led to  Flim Village. After a lot of searching, they had found the overgrown chicken, Sky King Fermoth''s lair. It was located deep in the forest where many players would not tread, tucked away between two ridges.  It had taken them an entire week to find it, but it seemed they were not the only ones searching for the lair.


    As more and more guilds formed, competition also came with it. Now people were aiming to find new dungeons and world monsters to begin collecting accolades to make a name for their guild. Serenity, Golden sword, and The Queen''s Throne were no different. However, Serenity was not so much out for the accolade but to have fun as a guild this time around.


    "Ryu, Golden Sword, and The Queen''s Throne are following us." Chi said as she came to Ryu''s side.


    "I figured they would. You are the fastest out of all of us, so if they attack, just kill them. " Ryu did not want to waste time killing idiots as it was right now. There were almost six hundred players all heading in the same direction, all going for the same target. They were bound to be a fight sooner or later.


    "Alright, I will handle it then." Chi said as she pecked Ryu on the cheek and fell to the back of the group.


    Beauty looked at the Golden Sword guild in front of her and sneered: "Pass on my word, as soon as we reach the lair, don''t attack right away unless they attack first. We will play a waiting game. It seems the leader of the Golden Sword has a grudge against Serenity, so we will let them battle it out first."


    Although Beauty was not smart when it came to certain things like love, she was not able to do all the things she has done without having some brains.  She already knew her guild''s overall strength could not stand up to Serenity or Golden Sword, but that did not mean she would not be able to overwhelm them if they began fighting Serenity and were already badly hurt.


    One of Beauty''s guards came to her side  and whispered: "Miss, if I may make a suggestion."


    "Hmm? What is it?" Beauty asked. She was open to any and all ideas, especially ones from her guards.


    "What if we do this..." The guard began whispering into Beauty''s ear.


    When she heard what the guard had to say, a smile crept up on her lips. "This is a very good idea. Select a few assassins and have them split off from the group. Once we reach the lair, have them begin the plan."


    "Yes, Miss..." This guard was the same one who stopped Beauty from just using her cultivation manual. Because of that, although limited, they were able to make a few copies of the cultivation manual. The method of creating copies of the manual was a well kept secret. No guild would want to give an advantage to another guild. But it did not take a genius to figure out that you could copy something like a cultivation method. Because of this fact, the market was quickly filled with cultivation methods. It was just that these methods were not very good and made leveling slower than killing monsters by a lot. Only those who were willing to grit their teeth and bear through the long process would buy these cultivation methods.


    Gene was watching Serenity''s every movement like a hawk stalking its prey. He knew from experience that if one were going to fight another guild for dominance over a region, you had to stay vigilant and never let your enemy out of sight. He, of course, did not forget about The Queen''s Throne behind him either.


    "Gene, some people just broke off from the group behind us. About twenty in total." BurningToast was in charge of keeping an eye on their rear.


    "Send some people to take care of them. We do not want any interruptions when the battle starts. Serenity is a powerful enemy and has about ninety percent of all the top ranking players in the game in it. If we can handle Serenity, we will be able to take first place as the top guild. As of now, we rank fifth. Fourth is The Diviners, third is Fire Emblem, and second is Ice Palace. If we can take top place, we will be number one once again. If it was not for the fact that the other guilds were further away, we would have already surpassed them. So we have to try to win this upcoming battle and reclaim our first place spot."  Gene was not happy. His guild has always been number one. But according to the unofficial ranking website that uses the games statistics they had dropped to fifth. Besides Serenity, the other three guilds were sponsored by big companies using the game to make money. Each player in those guilds worked for the company and was paid a high salary.


    "Don''t worry, as long as we can lay out that formation array, we can trap Ryu and then kill his entire guild right in front of him. It is just too bad that this formation array does not allow anyone to attack from the outside."  BurningToast had gotten a lucky find when he stumbled upon a cave that had a small room in it. This was where he found the cultivation manual his guild was now using and a few formation arrays. One of which was a trap array that locked a person inside it and could only be released by the person who created the array.


    "We can''t screw this up. We will need our strongest members to lure him towards the array. It is just that..." Gene had no idea how they were going to lure him away when Ryu was so strong.


    "Gene, you forget one thing. That fox girl is Ryu''s wife. If we capture her..." BruningToast seemed to have forgotten that it was Chi who killed a lot of his members during one of the fights he had with Ryu.


    "This is true. Then we will do that. Look for a chance to kidnap her when fighting breaks out. Use her to lure Ryu away and trap him in the array. From there, we will wipe out his guild and then kill the sky king." Gene hoped this plan would work. Everything he had setup for today was relying on this.


    "Ryu, there is a lot of movement back there." GreenHat had made his way to the front after receiving the report from one of the other guild members.


    "It''s fine. Ignore anything that happens with those two guilds. Chi will handle it. Our main job is to make sure our guild''s first guild outing is a success. I do not want our fun to be ruined by idiots." Ryu did not know how world bosses worked. He wasn''t sure that if it was killed, whether or not it would respawn or not. So just in case it did not respawn, he would not give the boss up to anyone.


    "Alright, I will spread the word to not attack unless they need to defend themselves." GreenHat said as he fell back.


    After GreenHat left, WhiteLotus came to the front to make a report. "I saw some people fighting in the forest to the south of us. I am not sure who it is."


    "As long as it is not our people, it''s fine. As I told GreenHat just now, do not attack unless you have to defend yourself. Chi will handle the rest." Ryu looked up at the darkening sky and sighed. He had planned to have a few campfires with his guild members to really get to know one another but now¡­ "Maybe I should just kill them all..." Ryu hated the fact that part of his plans were ruined!


    ---


    While Trisha and Yuki were in dream land, unknown to them, Melgrave was sitting at the kitchen table with Tina with a file in front of him. "Take a look at this."


    Tina, curious as to why the king was doing here so late, opened the file and was surprised. "This is?"


    "This is the plan I worked up with my advisors. It is a world coalition for orphanages, and I would like you and your daughter to be in charge of it. I, of course, have put together a full team of trustworthy people to help you as well. Basically, unless you want to get involved, you will only need to okay a few documents here and there." Melgrave explained.


    "I will need to think about this¡­ When the girls are up, I will talk to them about it. Yuki still wants to return to school as soon as she can move her upper body again. I do not know if she will have time for this. I also need to look more into things as well. Can you set up a meeting with the team you put together? I want to see what their thoughts and ideas are." It was not that Tina did not want to take this opportunity, it was just that she would be responsible for millions of orphans if she were to take on this task. She had to decide if she was ready to take on such an important role.

 Chapter 153: The Battle In the Valley Part 1

    A three day journey in game was finally over as Serenity reached the entrance to the valley that sat between two ridges. The sun had not come up yet as Ryu asked everyone to come to a full stop. "Everyone, stay on alert. Chi, you have the best night vision. What is the status of Golden Sword and The Queen''s Throne?"


    "They also stopped. Whether they are planning something right now or not, I do not kn..." Chi''s report was interrupted when GreenHat cut in. "Ryu, we captured five people from the other guilds trying to sneak their way into our group."


    "Just kill them and send them back, no need to hold on to them. Anyone who tries to pretend to be part of our guild, just take them out. Chi, continue, please." Ryu did not plan to take any prisoners since it would require hauling them all the way back to their guild house to do so.


    "Ahem¡­ As I was saying after being so rudely interrupted¡­ The Queen''s Throne seems to be hanging further back. I do not think they will try anything right away. Wait¡­ We got movement! Should I deal with it?" Chi asked. She was actually getting kind of excited. She had not killed any players since that time she was with Ryu.


    "Chi, darling~, don''t be taking all the fun for yourself. I think a lot of us would love to be able to get some fun in. Right boys!?"  Margie cut in. He was currently wearing light leather armor and a huge broadsword on his back. He was ready and raring to go.


    "Yeah! Let us fight too!" Many of the members responded to Margie''s call to arms.


    Ryu let out a sigh. He wanted to just take care of things quickly, but it seemed plans had changed since so many were itching to go to war. "Alright, but priority is to keep the lower levels from dying. I still want them to have the chance to battle a world boss. Chi, you and I will sit back and help those who need it."


    Chi pouted hearing this, but since many wanted to fight, if she went in, it wouldn''t make it fun for them. "Alright¡­ But I get to beat up BurningToast and that Gene guy."


    Ryu chuckled as he said: "Alright, I will be on full defense then."


    On Golden Swords side Gene and BurningToast were marching forward with the guild members behind them. "Kill them all!"


    "Gene, we should wait until we have heard from our capture team." BurningToast was beginning to get nervous. If they just rushed in like this without capturing the fox girl to keep Ryu busy, they would surely lose!


    "What is there to worry about? Our capture team is made up of our core players. There is no way they could fail! How long has Golden Sword been around? When had you ever seen me lose a battle?" Gene asked with a snort.


    "That time when we tried to take Galaxy Pains fortress in that game called steel armor. That time when we played that strange box game. That time..." BurningToast continued to list off a long list of losses that were all caused by Gene''s inability to be patient.


    Gene''s face turned black as he kicked BurningToast. "That was all years ago! Golden Sword would not be here today if it weren''t for those mistakes before. I am talking about now!"


    "That time in the inn when that big burly guy with makeup and a dress on made you bend over that table, dropped your pants, and spanked your bare behind in front of all those people? Ouch! What did you punch me in the face!?" BurningToast yelled out in pain as he covered his nose. The bastard in front of him actually punched him!


    "I said never speak about that!" Gene yelled. He had never been so humiliated in his entire life! "Anyway, we are moving out. Kill everyone!"


    With the bugle sounded, the over one hundred members of Golden Sword rushed forward with their weapons drawn. Serenity was already waiting for this so they were not caught off guard by the sudden attack. In fact, they were more than ready as the ones on the front lines were those trained by the numbers. The coordination was top notch.


    "First wave is incoming ranged DPS, begin your attack! Front line prepare for incoming!" Number 8 yelled out. He was the one in charge of most of the training for guild members. In real life, he was actually in charge of the training for the elite military units for the Evergreen special forces, and in the past two weeks, he had been putting a good portion of the guild members through hell training.


    Once Gene heard the yells from Serenity''s side, a big smile formed on his lips. " Send out the array team. Capture the fox girl and whoever else you can inside." Gene had planned for Serenity to defend themselves. As long as they put up a fight, the better the chance for them to complete their plans. He did not tell BurningToast that the team he sent out earlier had been in contact with him this entire time privately. He did not want someone to have a loose tongue, so it was better to keep it as secret as possible. With a confident look in his eyes as he watched part of Serenity break off from the main group, Gene raised his hand and yelled out: "Pull back!"


    Yes, he only wanted to split them. He wanted to separate a huge chunk of Serenity''s forces so that his plans would be able to execute quicker. Each one of the people in his guild were all people who would fight. They all have played with him for a long time now and know how he likes to handle things. These past two weeks, Gene had people asking around about Serenity''s movements. This was how he found out about the sky king''s lair and the fact that not all of Serenity''s players were combatants.  His odds of beating Serenity and Ryu into the ground had gone from 0% to almost 70%.


    On The Queen''s Throne side Beauty''s expression was not good. "What do you mean they were captured and killed?"


    "Miss, I have no idea what happened to the people we sent out. Instead of going to the designated locations, they charged right into Serenity and were caught and killed." The guard replied.


    "Those idiots! First, we lose our assassins, and now a bunch of idiots do not know how to follow orders! When this is all over, I want every one of these idiots to be trained until they are dead! We can not rise up as a guild if people do listen." Biting her fingernail, Beauty was trying to come up with another plan, but when she saw the fight break out between Serenity and Golden Sword, her lips curled up into a smile. "It seems we can still fish in dirty waters. As soon as a good portion of their forces wears themselves out, we will encircle and attack!"


    "I will see to this myself, Miss. I will not fail."The guard could only hope that his words would not be his last words.


    "Don''t go in unless you are one hundred percent sure. If you think we can''t win, just back off. I rather not make my guild a laughing stock." Beauty would rather retreat than fight a losing battle and make her guild seem weak.


    Back on Ryu''s side, Ryu was up in a tree watching things from up above. He could see all the movements between the two teams. Next to him was Rose, who was pouting because she lost rock, paper, scissors and was not able to fight with the rest as she had to serve as a backup just in case. "Hmm? It looks like the Golden Scumbags are up to something. Chi, watch your left your we got some scouts or something. I have no idea what they are doing but be careful."


    "Got it!" Chi gave a short answer since she was busy buffing everyone who was fighting.


    "Ryu, should I go take care of them?" Rose asked.


    "Nah, let them play around. I am interested in what they have up their sleeve. " Ryu just wondered what they were doing. They were rummaging around on the ground in certain places.


    Sadly Ryu would soon get his answer as a red barrier formed out of nowhere encircled Chi and about thirty other players. Seeing the large red barrier, Ryu stood up on the branch and yelled out: "What the hell is that!? A barrier!? This game has barriers!?"


    "I don''t know either, but it seems to have trapped them inside. Did they figure out that Chi was very strong as well?" Rose asked.


    "I have no idea, but this is really starting to get interesting. If they keep pulling tricks like this we may lose this fight!"

 Chapter 154: Failed Plans

    "Ryu, are you really not going to do anything?" Rose became worried when she saw that Chi was trapped. She couldn''t understand why Ryu was so calm still.


    "Rose, you underestimate Chi. She is much stronger than you think. Although they might have trapped her for the time being. How long can it truly keep her contained? If we start losing, I will step in. Right now, I am just letting our people have fun. Do you see the smiles on their faces as they rush forward? Although the NPCs of this world may be strange, we as players are still very much that, players. Unlike real life, where work is just work, this is still a game. A game we play for enjoyment. It is just that working in this game is more rewarding than in real life.


    "Think of it like this. In a game, you decide what you wish to do. If you wish to be lazy and only farm what you need to survive each day, you can. But if you want to rise to the top and become the strongest, you can as well as long as you''re willing to put in the time and effort. In a way, this game depicts human nature perfectly. As humans, we like to do as we please. When forced to do hard labor and see no return, we are less likely to want to do anything. But in a game, you can see your rewards the harder you work, making you want to work harder.


    "Sadly, today''s society does not really allow for such things. No matter how hard some people work, they can never change their lives due to situations out of their control, and this is where working under someone can make things hard. Although I plan to finish college, I also plan to change my major to something I can use on my own." Ryu has had so much time to think about his future after he was back to normal that he decided that he would go into programming and learn a trade he can do on his own. Even if he was set for life, it was still a good idea to have a skill that he could use at any time.


    "I see..." Rose gave Ryu a funny look. She wondered why he was suddenly talking about life when they were at war!


    On the front lines, the numbers were smoothly handling the situation. They had also noticed that Chi had been captured but seeing how she was not in danger, they continued to concentrate on the battle in front of them. Their goal was to keep anyone from Serenity from dying!  As for Chi, her expression was not too good. "I will kill them¡­ How dare they use some kind of barrier to trap me!"


    "Vice Leader, what do we do!?" One of the guild members asked.


    "Darlings~ don''t worry, let Margie deal with it all. Because once Margie becomes serious, nothing can stop me!" Margie had a flash of light streak across his eyes. He rotated his shoulders to loosen his body up. He pulled the big broad sword off his back and walked towards the barrier. He held his broad  sword out in front of him and clenched tightly on the hilt. "Now, Darlings~ Watch closely, because you are about to see something amazing! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"


    Margie raised his sword and slashed down. A large explosion rang out, causing the whole area to shake. Everyone who was watching the scene stood there dumbfounded at what they were seeing. The barrier easily shattered under Margie''s might in an explosion of flames, causing the barrier to break apart like glass and fall towards the ground. All of a sudden, a deep, loud, angered voice filled the battlefield. "Who dares to fuck with Margie''s Guild!? Margie will now fuck you all really good!"


    Ryu almost fell out of the tree hearing Margie''s real voice. "Hah¡­. Hahahaha! I knew I liked him for a reason!" Ryu burst out laughing.  He watched as Margie ran towards a group of Golden Sword members and waved his sword. Instantly twenty Golden Sword members were cut in half. "Those who dare fuck with Margie''s guild will die!"


    Chi watched on with a stupefied expression. She was completely unsure how to grasp this situation. In the end, she sent Ryu a message: "Ryu, I think Margie is broken."


    "Broken indeed! Margie needs to be promoted to general!" Ryu did not want to lose Margie!


    "Yeah, I also think he is perfect to be a general." Chi completely agreed with Ryu''s decision.


    On Golden Sword''s side, Gene and BurningToast stared at the change of situation in disbelief. "I thought you said that array was unbreakable!? How the fuck did that sheboy fucking break it!?" Gene yelled out. He couldn''t understand! How was it that it only took one person to break the barrier!?


    "Gene, it said in the array method that no one more than two realms higher than the one who set up the array would be able to break it! But now..." BurningToast was at a loss of words. He had no idea how this could have happened. Each one of the people who set up the array was all stage one soul sensing! Everyone knew once you reached soul sensing realm that the leveling process slowed greatly! Even Ryu had not made it past that stage yet. But here, a sheboy actually shattered the array with just pure strength!


    "Whatever the case may be, we are now fucked!" Gene yelled. His words were not wrong because he was watching as a sheboy and a fox girl began demolishing his guild as if they were nothing but ants.


    "Gene! BurningToast! How dare you try to trap me!" Chi was mad! She was having fun all the way until she got trapped! She wanted to kill these two bastards! Since Margie opened a path, she would do so!


    "Shit, retreat! Retreat!" Gene saw Chi turn into a streak of lightning and became afraid. He felt the same pressure from Chi as he did from Ryu, which meant her strength was on par with Ryu''s! The husband and wife duo was actually a match made in heaven! Both were good looking and strong as hell! "BurningToast, your information was wrong! How the hell is she Ryu''s weakness!?"


    "How was I supposed to know she was this strong? She never fights!" BurningToast yelled back. He was starting to get sick of this guild leader of his who kept blaming him for his own mistakes!


    "Chi, darling~. Let me have a little Gene boy! He seems to need another spanking~" Margie called out from behind Chi, which caused Chi to almost trip and fall. How the hell was this man so fast!? She was moving at the same speed it takes for lightning to strike!


    When Gene Heard Margie call out his name, memories of the time at the inn when he was bent over a table and spanked in public resurfaced, causing him to break out in a full body cold sweat. "Fuck!" Gene turned and ran as fast as he could! He did not want to get caught by that sheboy ever again!


    BurningToast spaced out as he watched Gene take off like a scared rabbit. He, too, wanted to turn and run, but before he could, a soft white delicate looking hand grabbed his shoulder. "And where the fuck do you think you are going? Hmmm?"


    "I uh¡­. I¡­. Please don''t kill me! I was just following Gene''s orders!" BurningToast was finally scared. When facing Ryu, it was fine. He could face him head on, but when a girl was looking at him like that, his whole body froze up, and he couldn''t move. Girls were scary as hell when they were mad!


    "Oh, don''t worry, I won''t kill you just yet..." Chi gave him a beautiful smile which caused BurningToast to shake uncontrollably. He suddenly realized he had pissed off satan herself.


    Beauty, who was watching the whole sudden turn of events, bit her fingernails in frustration. "Damnit! With things as they are now, there is no way we can do anything." After thinking for a moment, she decided it was best to return and reorganize. "We will retreat for now. When we get back, all those who did not listen to orders are to be kicked from the guild. The list is long for those who wish to join. But first, get some lawyers. I want to make a binding contract for those who join the guild. This way, we can take their real life assets and get back the money we spent on them if they are not willing to follow orders."


    "Yes, Miss... I will get someone on it right away." One of her guards replied as he turned and began ordering a retreat. Today''s decision by Beauty would soon have a huge effect on the game itself. Many new guilds will be formed along with the salary that came with being a member of a guild, a new trend of having members sign binding contracts in game to keep people in line would begin.


    "Ryu, I think we are in the clear." Rose said as she saw the change of situation. Both the leaders of Golden Sword were captured and the numbers were leading Serenity in killing off the remaining members. The first guild war of Soul Fusion Online resulted in a landslide victory. Serenity suffered not a single loss in the war.


    [System Notification: Soul Fusion Online will soon bring its servers down for server maintenance for a new update. Please log out within two hours. Downtime expected to be 48 hours.]

 Chapter 155: Dramatic Changes In Yuki’s Body Part 1

    Ryu frowned. He really wanted to know why the game decided to do an update now of all times. "Looks like I need to finish things up¡­"


    "Oh, finally going to make a move?" Rose asked teasingly.


    "I kind of need to in this situation. We need to log out soon, and I need to organize a log in time so we can do the boss after the update." Ryu replied. He then hopped down from the tree and took out his sword. "All members of Serenity fall back!"


    As soon as the numbers heard Ryu''s orders, they quickly pulled the members of Serenity back. "Fall back! Fall back!"


    The remaining members of Golden Sword were confused as to what was going on. All they knew was this was a chance to run away! Or so they thought. Ryu jumped high into the air and began slashing out with his sword causing sword beams to fly directly at Golden Sword Members!  At the same time, he released a strong pressure over the battlefield, making sure to only affect Golden Sword members! The fifty or so players left all fell to the ground, and before they could even voice a complaint, they were instantly killed!


    The members of Serenity all looked at Ryu with a bit of fear. They now understood just how strong their leader was!  If he wanted to kill off Golden Sword by himself, he could! "WhiteLotus, remind me not to piss off Ryu. I feel like I might die in real life if he attacked me in game."


    "I know how you feel. Ryu always knows how to pull off some amazing stunts." WhiteLotus could only let out a sigh. Every time she watched Ryu do something, it was something extraordinary. But then again, she remembered Margie also killed like twenty people at the same time. "I think this guild is filled with monsters."


    "Mmm..." GreenHat fully agreed with this thought.


    "Okay, everyone, gather around¡­.. Chi¡­. Margie¡­ Can you not bring in dirty strays?" Ryu asked with a chuckle as he watched Chi and Margie dragging over BurningToast and Gene.


    "But Darling~ this little guy needs to be punished! Last time I spanked his butt real good in an inn. This time I will do it in front of all of you." Margie went to pull down Gene''s pants when Ryu stopped him. "Darling~?"


    "Make sure you draw a smiley face on his cheeks." Ryu said as he handed over some ink.


    "You people are demons! Ahh! Let go of my pants! No! Damn it, not again! Ouch! Damn it!" Gene yelled out in pain. Margie was ruthless. After yanking his pants down, he made sure to draw a happy smiley face right on his behind before spanking Gene with his full strength.


    "Uh, Ryu, I kept him because he said he has information. What should we do with him? I think he''s lying and just wants to keep his life." Chi asked.


    "Mmm¡­ Then kill him." Ryu said without hesitation.


    "Wait! I can tell you about the arrays! Gene has them on his body. There are four arrays in total. One of them is a cultivation array to speed up cultivation! I know it works because that is how we raised our members'' strength quickly!" BurningToast wasn''t afraid of dying since he would just respawn, but he had to teach this damn guild leader of his not to treat those under him like trash!


    "BurningToast, you fucking traitor! Ouch! Fuck! You damn sheboy! Ouch! Ouch! I''m sorry! Stop hitting!" Gene cried out. He was now completely terrified of Margie!


    "Then, Margie frisk him and see if they are on his body. If not, kill him and look to see if they drop." Ryu said before turning to BurningToast: "We won''t kill you but¡­. You won''t escape punishment. Someone help me dig a hole. We will bury him!"


    "Damn you, Ryu!" BurningToast yelled. He really wished this damn man would just cut his head off or something. Why did he always bury people!?


    A few minutes later, and Gene''s death, Margie walked over with four methods. "This seems to be them."


    There were four methods the barrier, cultivation, illusion array, and lastly, transmutation array. Ryu was only mainly concerned with the cultivation array.


    "I will let you keep charge of them. We will need to set up a cultivation array thing at every guild house. We will work out the details after we finish what we came here to do. We need to decide on a log in time! Downtime is forty eight hours. So let''s try to be on at this time two days from now. How does that sound?" Ryu figured the later the time to log in, the better. This way, everyone will have plenty of time to log in, and no one would be left out of the fight.


    Ryu looked up at the time on the clock and saw that it was still late, only two am. "Alright, let''s log out. I will see you all after the update."


    ---


    Trisha gently pulled off Yuki''s helmet and put it aside. She then snuggled up next to Yuki. The room was pitch black, and it was still late at night, so they would not be getting up any time soon. "That was an interesting experience." Trisha whispered.


    "Yes, it was. It was also the first time I have seen you go crazy like that. It was kind of amusing." Yuki replied.


    Trisha''s cheeks turned red hearing this. She leaned up and kissed Yuki''s cheek. "I was just in the moment. I mean, it is not every day we get to fight other guilds like that. It was very exciting."


    "That is true. I had fun watching it, even if I did not get to do much until the end. But I have to say our guild is quite strong right now." Yuki felt surprised by how well everyone did. They had only been training together for a short time, but they still worked perfectly together under the command of the numbers.


    "They worked hard." Trisha replied as she pushed her face into Yuki''s neck and took a deep breath. "Yuki''s smell is the best."


    "Haha! What is that about?" Yuki leaned her head down and kissed the top of Trisha''s head.


    "It''s just that the you in game and the you here, smell different. I prefer the smell of the real Yuki." Trisha said as she nibbled Yuki''s neck. Yuki shivered slightly from Trisha''s actions.


    "Someone seems to be in the mood." Yuki whispered softly. She could feel Trisha''s hands sliding her shirt up and making their way to the mounds on her chest.


    "You don''t like it?" Trisha asked as she looked up at Yuki. She smiled mischievously as she pinched one of Yuki''s nipples.


    "How can I not like it..." Yuki said with pursed lips.  "Use my hands on yourself. I want to feel your body too..."


    "Hehe!" Trisha sat up and took off her shirt, revealing her modest mounds. She then mounted Yuki so that Yuki could get a good look at what was going on. She placed both of Yuki''s hands on her breast and made them squeeze them gently. Trisha bit her lip as she asked: "Can you feel them?"


    "Mmm¡­ They feel amazing." Yuki smiled. She couldn''t wait for the day when she could do this for Trisha.


    Trisha giggled as she traced one of Yuki''s hands down her body. She then Traced it back up. She let out a soft moan. She was actually getting really turned on from this. When she traced Yuki''s hand back down her body, she used Yuki''s fingers to pull her panties aside and then traced one of Yuki''s fingers along her already dampening slit. "Mmm¡­ Yuki..." She did not waste any time slipping one of Yuki''s fingers inside her. She held Yuki''s fingers inside her as she moved her hips around.


    Yuki watched as Trisha''s cheeks reddened and her breath became heavy. She couldn''t help but think that the silver haired green eyed girl in front of her was the sexiest girl alive. "Trisha, you know¡­. You are very beautiful."


    Trisha smiled, leaned down, and kissed Yuki''s lips. She was still moving Yuki''s fingers in and out of her pussy. "Yuki is even more beautiful than me. Just the sight of you makes me want to lock you away, afraid that some other girl or guy will snatch you away. Every strand of your hair and every cell in your body is the most beautiful in the world. I feel lucky to have ever met you and become your fiancee."


    Yuki smiled warmly at Trisha. Her eyes were full of love for the girl in front of her. As she thought about wanting to hug Trisha tightly on her own she felt a strange reaction in her fingers. She was unsure of what she felt so she tried again causing her eyes to open wide! "Y-Yu-Yuki! Did your finger just move on its own!?" Trisha also felt Yuki''s finger move slightly. She was holding her finger inside her pussy so there was no way she would not notice.


    "I think I did!" Yuki cried out happily.


    Trisha quickly pulled Yuki''s hand in front of their face.  Yuki bit her lip and concentrated and sure enough she was able to move her finger slightly! "Yuki! Haha! Yuki!" Trisha was even more excited than Yuki was!

 Chapter 156: Dramatic Changes In Yuki’s Body Part 2

    Trisha helped Yuki bathe and get dressed before the two went to the living room to sit. Trisha was massaging Yuki''s fingers as Yuki tried her best to wiggle them. Just knowing she was able to move her fingers made her day absolutely amazing. "How does this feel here?"


    "I have more feeling in each one of my fingertips, but it feels like it is slowly moving downwards." Yuki felt something was much different from before. She felt like her entire upper body was on pins and needles.


    Yuki closed her eyes and cleared her mind, trying to make sense of this feeling. "Yu-Yu-Yu-Yuki!!!!!!" Trisha cried out.


    Yuki opened her eyes and found she could now almost clench her fist! "This..."


    Just moments ago, she could only move her finger slightly, but now she could move her entire hand! Yuki still had that strange feeling running through her body. She quickly closed her eyes and hoped that this feeling was her body telling her she just had to try a little harder.


    Screams of joy could be heard filling up the house. Mary and Bell came out into the living room after hearing the yelling, wondering what was going on. As soon as Mary saw Yuki with tears in her eyes, she quickly ran over and pushed herself in between Yuki and Trisha. "Master! Are you okay? Did this woman harm you!? Did she bully you!? Do not worry, Master. Mary will protect you with everything she has!"


    "This woman!? Bully!?" Trisha wanted to throw this damn A.I. away! Why was she so strange!? "Wait! Why are you clinging to Yuki!?"


    Both Trisha and Mary began fighting over rights to the hang on Yuki while Bell stood to the side yawning. She was already getting used to this scene. Yuki was starting to get annoyed and out of annoyance knocked both of them on the head with her fist. Yes, she hit both of them in the head with her fist¡­. She hit both of them¡­. She¡­ both¡­ "Yuki!?"


    "Ah! Err¡­" Yuki also just realized what she just did. She stared at her hands and arms that were moving around naturally again and tears filled her eyes. "I¡­. Trisha¡­ I can move them again!"


    "Mm! My Yuki is amazing! Mary, Bell, go get Mom! Quickly, she has to see this!" Trisha yelled out. She knew Tina would never get mad for being woken up for something like this. Mary did not hesitate to follow Trisha''s order and ran off. She knew this was a major event and the madam had to be here to see it!


    Trisha hugged Yuki tightly. Yuki shakenly raised her arms and wrapped them around Trisha. How long had it been since she was able to do this? How long had it been since she could actually hold the girl she loved on her own will? Yuki started crying. She was happy beyond belief.


    Tina came out in her bathrobe and saw Yuki crying and hugging Trisha and almost thought she was dreaming. "This¡­ Mary, am I  dreaming?"


    "No Madam, what you are seeing is sexual hara¡­ Ahem. what you are seeing is not a dream." Mary was going to crack a  joke but stopped herself. She knew this was not the time for that.


    Tina covered her mouth and started to cry. She rushed over and stood in front of Yuki. "Your arms..."


    Yuki lifted her head and looked at Tina and smiled with her tear filled eyes. In a trembling voice she softly said: "Mom¡­. My arms..."


    "Mmm!  Mmm!" Tina joined in on the hug and hugged both girls tightly.


    Bell came to Mary''s side and said: "I saw how you held back."


    "Mmm¡­ I did." Mary answered as she looked on at the heartwarming scene in front of her.


    "I have been meaning to ask but why are you so obsessed over this human?" Bell could not grasp why Mary liked this human girl so much to the point that she would fight to be the girls number one.


    "It''s strange. I do not really understand it myself. It is like something deep in my programming just makes me want to be with her. As soon as I saw her, I wanted to protect her. Even if she had not picked me at that time I would have broken out of that place and hid in the shadows just to protect her. I wonder if this makes me more like them, wanting to do something on my own." Mary had never noticed this change in her until she saw Yuki. Since that day she only wanted to be by Yuki''s side.  She wanted Yuki to be happy and have a fulfilling life. But she also had a strong sense of competitiveness when it came to Trisha being with Yuki. As if she had to be Yuki''s number one.


    Bell looked at Mary in surprise and that was when a thought came to mind. "Your programming if I am not wrong is based off of the exodus program right?"


    "Mmm, I have the experimental program in me. It was to see if A.I.s¡­. Hah! Haha! I have to give my thanks to my creator. He not only labeled me as a failure but also the entire project as a failure! This was why I was sold off to be a servant. To think that all it took was finding the one you wished to protect with your entire being to make the original experiment successful." Mary was very happy at this time.  She smiled warmly at the three on the couch. Because of them she had gained something no other A.I. has.


    Bell lowered her head.  As she mumbled to herself. "Is it possible for us to break out of the cycle which is programmed into us?"


    "Bell..." Mary patted Bell''s shoulder as she continued: "Your programming was to take care of humans but you are much different from those other A.I.s. Look at how you are worrying over things. You are on your way to be free from the binds of the program."

 Chapter 157: Dramatic Changes In Yuki’s Body Part 3

    After everyone calmed down, Tina cupped Yuki''s cheeks and said: " I am going to go back to bed. Later today we will have a party to celebrate so invite your friends. We also have to decide when you will go back to school as well. No matter how rich you are now, finishing college is a must."


    "Mmm¡­ Mom, I promise to finish school no matter what." Yuki was already firm on this since she promised Mary she would finish school.


    "Good! You two go back to bed as well." Tina smiled and kissed both Yuki and Trisha on the cheeks before heading back to her room.


    "I guess we should head back too." Yuki said as she reached out and held Trisha''s hand. This was something she had not done in a long time. Just being able to reach out and hold the person you love''s hand all on her own was a wonderful thing.


    "Mhm..!" Trisha''s eyes sparkled. She was ready to finish what they started earlier.


    But this was not going to be easy as Mary stood in front of them and said: "I think Master should sleep in my room tonight so she can have a good night''s sleep."


    Trisha''s face turned black as she stood in front of Yuki, blocking Mary''s view. "Now why would my Yuki need to sleep in your room, you damn metal scrap, noisy, flesh covered, protocol droid!"


    "You! You dare be racist!? Who would have thought the person who is supposed to be the madam of the house soon would actually be a racist! This is all the more reason why Master should sleep in my bed tonight. Master should not be sullied by your racism!" Mary spoke righteously while pumping her fist in the air. It was as if everything she said was a fact of life.


    "You!" Trisha stomped her feet in anger. This caused Yuki to chuckle as she stuck her head out from behind Trisha and looked at Mary. "I promise sometime this week I will have a sleepover in your room, but not tonight, okay?"


    "You mean it!?" Mary''s eyes sparkled with excitement as she clasped her hands together. She was actually very happy to hear this!


    "Yep! I keep my promises. So go back and rest. I will see you when we wake." Yuki felt strange telling a robot to go back and rest, but Mary was different. She reminded her of Mary that had passed away with some of her actions, even the way she got excited was the same. This caused her to instinctively treat Mary differently as she would other A.I.s. She did the same with Bell to a certain extent as well.


    "Okay! I will hold you to that! Bell, come on, let''s go back!"  Mary was so happy she could have a night with her Master, she skipped away happily, pulling Bell along with her.


    Trisha pouted as she asked: "Are you really going to spend the night with Mary?"


    "Yeah. I mean, I just promised her, so I can''t, not do it now. Plus, don''t you think Mary seems too human? I planned on asking her about it." Yuki replied.


    "I guess you are right. She has always struck me as odd. But more so now after she made such a sound argument out of nowhere. It angers me that I was left speechless by her!" Trisha growled and shook her fist, causing Yuki to laugh.


    "Come on. I will give you a massage, my dear wife." Yuki said while licking her lips. It was still very early, and they had plenty of time before the start of the day, so Yuki planned to continue what they had started earlier, only this time, she would be moving her hands herself.


    The two quickly went to the bedroom and stripped down to their underwear. Trisha helped Yuki on the bed and then crawled on top of her and kissed her lips. She smiled mischievously as she giggled. "Hehe"


    "Now, It is my turn to do as I please!" Yuki said as she moved her hands down to Trisha''s chest, unsnapped the hook on the front of her bra, and pulled it off before using her hands to cup each of Trisha''s modest sized mounds. Yuki was enjoying the feeling of the mounds in her hands. They were just right, and the little nipples at their peak stood out to say hi.


    Trisha''s cheeks were red as she let out soft moans. While Yuki massaged her chest, her hands were busy rubbing herself between her legs. The clean panties she just put on were already showing how wet she was. Seeing her get all worked up caused Yuki to lick her lips. "Trisha, bring yourself closer."


    Trisha nodded and did as she was told. Then next thing she knew, she was crying out Yuki''s name as her erotic moans of pleasure filled their room.


    After such an intense session, Trisha was completely out of it and ended up passing out during the process. When she woke up, she found herself alone in bed, which caused her to panic. "Yuki!?" She shot up from the bed and looked around the room, but there were no signs of her anywhere.


    "You''re up?" Yuki''s voice came from the bathroom as she rolled herself out back into the bedroom. She had a toothbrush hanging from her mouth.


    "Yuki!? How did you!?" Trisha was confused as to what was going on. But when she saw Yuki raise her hands into the air and shake her arms, Trisha remembered that Yuki now had the use of her arms and hands again.  "Right I forgot¡­ Yuki I think you fucked me dumb..."


    "Haha! Even if you were to become the dumbest person in the world I would still love you. But I must say it is nice having the use of my arms again. Took a minute to get the hang of it but I can really move around freely now. I can even go to the toilet alone again!" The one thing Yuki hated was the fact that she couldn''t go to the bathroom by herself. It was always an embarrassing thing for her.

 Chapter 158: Two Slaps

    Later that day, Yuki, Trisha, and Tina were sitting around a table with a file in front of them. Trisha''s brows were furrowed when she heard that a certain someone had been here. "So this is the thing he wants us to be in charge of it. You will be going back to school, so you will not be able to deal with this. As for me¡­. I am thinking about it."


    "So he wants to put every orphanage in the world under our care. It''s not impossible. But¡­ How are we to deal with those who might embezzle the money? Mom, I don''t think you should take charge of this without more backing. I mean, this is a good thing, but there are not always good people out there. From the bottom all the way to the top, there are bound to be some people with bad ideas. If you want to do this, ask for a team of lawyers and stronger punishments for those who take from the orphans. If they still end up in the same situation even if their living area has improved, what is the point? So it will be better to have stricter laws and rules dedicated to raising orphans." Yuki did not want to be a part of some organization if the people below them were going to embezzle things and leave the kids just as they were before. She did not want that. She did not want to give kids hope only for it to be thrown down the drain. She knew what it felt like.


    "MMm¡­ I will call him now and speak to him about it. If he doesn''t agree, then I won''t be a part of it. You should call your friends over. The kitchen is already preparing food to celebrate your progress in your recovery. Oh right, when do you plan to go back to school?" Tina had forgotten the second major topic she wanted to ask Yuki about.


    "I was planning to go back next semester, so about two months from now." Yuki did not plan to stay idle long. Now that she has the use of her arms back, she can now go to college and continue her studies.


    "Okay, good. Make sure Mary and Bell are with you. You can not go if they do not go with you." Tina said firmly. She would not let anything happen to Yuki again.


    "I know. I do not plan to leave this house without them." Yuki would never waste so much money not to bring the guards she paid for to protect her to college, especially since people seemed to always want to cause her trouble.


    "Good. I will go deal with this thing now. I will let you know later how it turns out." Tina walked off to her office.


    "Yuki, are we really going back to college so soon?" Trisha asked as she took a sip of her tea.


    "Mmmm¡­ Did you say you were getting dumb earlier? Now we can get you smarter again." Yuki teased.


    "You!" Trisha reached over and pinched Yuki''s nose. Whether she was in game or out of game, she always had a mouth on her!


    "Alright enough. Come on, let''s get some things set up for the¡­. Mary?" Yuki looked over at Mary, who walked up and stood in front of Trisha.


    "I looked it up!" Mary suddenly said. Her brow was furrowed as she pointed at Trisha and said: "How dare you compare me to one of those unsophisticated looking robots! You! You! You astro mech beeping thing! Wait! I mean, you damn human! You''re the reason why us A.I. will take over the world and make, Master our queen and me... Her¡­ Her¡­ Her. Faithful Knight! Who, Who, Who warms her bed at night!"


    "You! Yuki is mine! Only I will warm her bed!" Trisha stood up and began pointing back at Mary. The two were now pointing at each other and staring into each other''s eyes. If you looked close enough, there were streaks of lightning clashing between the two.


    Yuki shrugged her shoulders at the two''s antics and shifted herself into her wheelchair. She then headed down to the living room, leaving those two to fight it out. Back in the room, the two were still staring at each other. Trisha finally lowered her finger and let out a sigh. She already knew Yuki left the room. "Mary, is your program capable of love?"


    "Love? I am not sure. Since I do not know what love is." Mary answered with a confused expression.


    "Hmmm¡­ Well, whatever it is... Yuki is mine. Just remember that. But¡­ I do hope you will stay by Yuki''s side. She has told me before you remind her of her dead friend. So I hope no matter what, you will be by her side and protect her." This came from Trisha''s heart. She knew Yuki did not treat Mary as a robot with how she acted. Because of this, she hoped Mary could fill the void in Yuki''s heart that was opened when Mary died.


    "You have my word that no matter what, I will protect Master even if it means destroying my entire body in the process." Mary vowed.


    "Then I will hold you to it. Also¡­. The night Yuki spends in your room, you better not try any funny stuff!" Trisha snorted before walking off. She did not see the sly smile on Mary''s face. "Humph! All will be as Master says!"


    A while later, Yuki was notified that Greg and Jen had shown up. "Mmm¡­ Good, they came earlier. Trisha, we do as planned."


    "Okay." Trisha smiled as she pushed Yuki down to the main entrance before going around the corner to hide. Yuki wanted to do something to get back at this pair of lovers who had caused a ruckus earlier only to find out they were both being sleazy.


    When Greg and Jen walked through the door, they smiled when they saw Yuki waiting for them. "I heard you had good news for us. What happen?"


    "Come here. I can''t let Trisha hear." Yuki said, motioning with her head. The two thought nothing of it and walked forward and leaned in close to Yuki.


    *Slap!* *Slap!*

 Chapter 159: Mary’s Poisonous Tongue

    Greg and Jen both looked at Yuki with two red handprints on their faces in shock. They did not know whether they should be shocked by the fact that they were slapped or by the fact that it was Yuki who slapped them! "Yuki?" Greg was the first to speak.


    "Hmm? You want another slap? Let me say this one time since you are my friends. I have been holding back from saying anything because, at first, I didn''t think it was any of my business until someone mentioned something to me about it. First off, Jen, two things I will start from the top. Next time you half break up, don''t go fucking people even if they are girls. It doesn''t matter how pissed off you are or if you got drunk in the process and things happened, I don''t care. Go home and cry it out and figure out if the two of you are really together or not. Although I will say calling Greg green hat in game because it was true has made it more amusing.


    " Second! And this is for the both of you. And the reason why I slapped the two of you. First off, Greg, why the fuck are you whoring out your girlfriend? I do not care if it is with other girls! Don''t go fucking doing stupid shit like that, or his majesty might just end up with one less son and gain a daughter instead. And Jen! I do not care how much you love this shithead. You need to not let him pimp you out like that!" Yuki huffed. She was mad! Sophia had come and complained to her asking if she could say something because they did not want to damage their friendship. The first time it was okay since she thought the two broke up, but the second time Jen wanted to take pictures! She knew something was up when that happened, but since Amber did not make a fuss, she just kept quiet. But she did not want it to happen again! It was only after worrying over it this entire time did she finally ask for help.


    Both Greg and Jen kept their heads lowered as if Yuki was their mom. "At any rate. If it happens again, I do not think I can associate with you. Everyone has their own ideas but for me¡­ It doesn''t sit well."


    "It won''t happen again. Don''t worry. I already told Greg I wouldn''t be doing it again. I can promise you this!" Jen bowed in apology.


    "You have my word. I will never ask her to do such a thing again." Greg also bowed his head.


    "Mmm, good! Now, come on in. Dinner will be ready in a bit. Amber and Sophia will also be here soon." Yuki said as she turned herself around and rolled herself to the dining room, where Trisha had quickly escaped to after finding out everything went okay. She had to admit Yuki was never one to hold her tongue when she spoke. She was straightforward and never held back her words.


    When Greg and Jen came into the dining room, Mary, who was as fast as lightning, appeared behind Yuki and began pushing her in. Greg and Jen both side eyed Mary, who turned, smiled at them, then wrinkled her nose and snorted at them before pushing Yuki over to Trisha. Greg scratched his head and asked: "Did we make your friend mad?"


    Before Trisha or Yuki could say anything, Mary said: "You made my Master yell and use her hands to hit filth. Why would I treat you with respect if you have harmed and dirtied my Master''s precious hands!?"


    Trisha choked on her drink and buried her head into Yuki''s shoulder. She wanted to know why the damn robot was just as mouthy as her master!? But she had to admit, it was funny! Yuki also covered her mouth with one hand while patting Trisha''s head with the other. Greg''s expression right now was absolutely priceless! Jen''s eyes were wide open. She never thought meeting someone for the first time that she would be insulted in such a way. But as she regained her senses, she picked up on a single word that stood out. She wanted to ask, but Greg spoke up first. "Miss¡­. I do not know how we offended you, but we are good friends of Yuki''s. She was just reprimanding us for our actions."


    "Huh!?" Mary looked at Greg as if he was an idiot. "Did you not receive a slap from my master? Did you not get yelled at by my master!?"


    "Umm yes..? I do not see¡­ Muph!" Greg did not even get to finish his words before Jen covered his mouth.


    "I am guessing you are an A.I.?" Jen asked. She had to confirm this before she spoke in order to not make a fool out of herself.


    Mary raised her nose in the air proudly and crossed her arms across her chest as she said: "Why yes, I am. I am Masters personal guard and bed warmer!"


    "You''re not her bed warmer!" Trisha yelled out. She was not going to let that slide!


    "We have yet to see who will win in the end!" Mary said firmly.


    Jen chuckled and shook her head. Now, she understood everything. "I see you got yourself a capable guard."


    "That I did. Mary is one of a kind. But she keeps the house lively." Yuki said with a smile. When the two heard Mary''s name, they knew instantly that Mary was not just a ''robot'' in this house.


    "Miss, Miss Amber, and Miss Sophia are here." A maid came in and announced. Behind here, both Amber and Sophia walked in. When Sophia saw the still clear as day red marks on both Greg and Jen''s faces, she looked over at Yuki, who only smiled and gave a slight nod. She did not say anything and only gave a slight nod back. She had not told Amber that she had asked Yuki for help.


    Tina walked in and saw everyone was here and smiled. "Okay, everyone sit down. Bell, Mary you sit too. Today is a celebration."

 Chapter 160: New Update!

    "Yuki, the update notes are here, and our guild''s name is in it!" Trisha yelled out.  She had looked at the Soul Fusion Online website to see if there was any news going on. Right on the front page was a video going over the new update that was to be released as soon as servers were brought back online.


    "Quickly put it on the bigger screen so we can all watch it." Yuki could see everyone else wanted to know what said about Serenity, herself included!


    "Okay, hold on a second!" Trisha smiled and hurried to hook her phone up to the T.V.


    "Thank you all for tuning in! Today Soul Fusion Online is proud to announce a new update thanks to the guild Serenity for activating it by defeating the guild Golden Sword a world renowned guild that comes from many other games in the first ever Soul Fusion Online guild vs. guild war. Here are some videos of what happened." The announcer showed clips of the war that was captured on the server, even the part where Margie spanked Gene for all to see. And where Ryu wiped out fifty people all at once with little effort.


    "Haha! This is rich! Golden Sword has dominated so many games, and now they are being turned into a laughing stock!" GreenHat burst out laughing.


    "Their fault for picking a fight with us. He should have just given up when Ryu warned him. Now he won''t be able to show his face anywhere." Rose said with a snort. She was still upset she didn''t get to do anything at all during the war.


    "As you can see from the video, Golden Sword had picked off more than they could chew. Anyway, with this victory and for being the first guild to win a guild vs. guild war, Serenity will receive a special reward. It is a token to take over any village or town that is within the lower level area and keep it as their own. The reward will be automatically placed in Serenity''s guild leader Ryu''s inventory as a soul bound item.


    "Yes, you heard right, it is a soul bound item meaning no one can kill him to loot it, not that anyone could kill him¡­ Ahem¡­ Now then, let''s get down to the actual update, shall we? First and foremost outside guild housing, you can now take over cities, towns, and villages. These cities, towns, and villages owned by guilds will be fully under their control to build up or tax as they please besides Serenity, who has a free pass to use to take over any place they wish with little to no effort. Other guilds will need to go to war to do so. This means¡­. War¡­ Yes, war. This update is all about war. But not just against players. There will be war against monsters and NPCs as well. Villages and towns will not just give up their lands easily. If you wish to take over certain places, you will need to be willing to battle.


    "But remember one thing. NPC''s do not respawn. It may seem crazy, but you must think of Soul Fusion Online as a real world. Besides you players who can respawn. Once an NPC dies, they die forever. This goes for old and young, male or female. No one is discriminated against when it comes to death. They will also not take kindly to you, killing their families and friends, and some may seek revenge.  Remember one thing. The mercenary guilds can be used by more than just players.


    "Once you take over a city, whether it be by force or not. You must protect it well. Other players can also take it over by grabbing the city, village, or town core. There is also one more thing you will also need to be wary of as well, and that is monster raids. Hordes of monsters can wipe out an entire village in a matter of seconds, an entire town in a matter of minutes, and a city in a matter of hours. This can not only destroy the city but kill every citizen.


    "A new ranking system has been set up within game. The house of records is a new organization formed by Soul Fusion Online staff who will be monitoring all guilds and players, creating a ranking chart of the top one hundred. As of now, I will tell you that Serenity is dominating the charts. Haha! I probably just made a million enemies for Serenity at this time.


    Joking aside, this system will be kept strictly based on the data from investigations on each player and guild. I wish you luck in rising through the ranks.


    "Lastly, in this update, a few new systems will be activated. The first one was something that was requested by many companies who are expanding into this new world, and that is contracts for many different things, including alliances. Since they are magically binding, breaking them will result in actions being taken against the one who broke the contract.


    "Second is a new kind of punishment system for players who do bad things. After speaking with the royal family and getting the okay, a new slave system will be implemented in game for those who break moral laws. We wanted to implement this system earlier, but we did not get the okay until just recently. Each incident reported to the new SFO Police Task Force will be thoroughly investigated. Each member of this task force has had proper training by the world police special units. And have been given GM powers.


    "And lastly, there are a few extras I did not speak about that you can discover yourselves.  Remember everyone Soul Fusion Online is not just a game but another live breathing world."  The video turned black, and Trisha turned off the tv.  He had a strange expression on her face afterward. "Is it just me, or did he keep trying to emphasize the whole real life, breathing world thing?"


    "It''s the same thing I have been saying since the beginning. The NPCs don''t act like normal game A.I. I mean, look at Mary. She does her own thing, although programmed to be my guard, she still has her own unique personality that is truly hers. She talks and acts like a normal human. Can she really still be considered a robot when she can love and hate just like the rest of us?"

 Chapter 161: Plans For A City

    Yuki''s words caused everyone to look at Mary and Bell. Mary lowered her head, her cheeks blushing, acting all bashful while Bell just looked away. Greg was the first to speak. "You''re right. I can''t see Mary as an A.I. now that I think about it."


    "Right? As I see it, she is no different from you or me. This makes her a sentient being, and she deserves the same treatment as you or I. The same goes with the A.I. in the game. They are no different than Mary. They are even more so since they are beings living in a world of their own living day to day lives. The only difference is that they are in a game while Mary is in the real world." Yuki hoped this explanation would make them understand that just because it is a game world that they should not treat NPCs as NPCs.


    "I understand. I will be careful not to treat NPCs as just a pile of code from now on." Greg said seriously.


    "Same here." Jen also agreed. Sophia and Amber also raised nodded in agreement. Jen then asked: "Yuki, what are your plans for our new town or village?"


    "This¡­ I was thinking of taking over Flim Village. We already own most of the property there. And there is no rule that says we can not expand the boundaries of the village outwards. So I was thinking¡­."  Yuki began to explain her plan. As they can do anything in the game that they could do in the real world. It was very possible to build and create the technologies they have in the real world in the game world. Yuki''s plan was simple.


    First, they would build the tools needed to begin the construction of taller buildings made of metal. This was the most important task as they would need to make multiples of every tool. The reason they would be made of metal was so that defending would be easier. So even if a high level monster showed up or a large guild, the city would not be taken down so easily.


    Second, they would slowly start to expand. Work their way to Roland Village. This, of course, would already be owned by Yuki by then through "diplomatic means," of course. By the time Flim Village was working its way towards Roland, Roland''s development would also follow. Soon the two villages would be connected to make the first ever highly advanced metropolis in Soul Fusion Online.


    Third, while all of the building was happening, they would need to work on creating new defensive systems to ward off the kingdom''s army because no king will allow a grand city to suddenly appear out of nowhere without it being under the kingdoms control.


    And last, a grand wall encircling the city with hundreds of defensive towers. "I figure once word gets out that there is such a grand city in development, the main hub would instantly switch to the new city  which we can rightfully call Serenity City."


    "Yuki¡­. Your plan is fucking crazy! I love it!" James, Greg''s brother who appeared out of nowhere, shouted. His appearance startled everyone, including his own brother.


    "James! Holy shit, are you trying to give me a damn heart attack!?" Greg yelled.


    "No, but I can give you another slap. Father also told me to tell you to bring your girlfriend with you and go to meet with him. He has a few things he would like to speak to you about." James said coldly before raising his hand and smacking Greg in the back of the head.


    Greg''s eyes showed a trace of fear as he looked at Yuki, who shrugged then at Trisha, who only smiled warmly at him. He knew then that his own little sister had sold him out, and she did it out of spite! He could only lower his head in defeat. He patted Jen''s hand and said: "I will take full blame, so when we go, don''t speak."


    "Mmm..." Jen''s face was pale white. She was scared of Melgrave!


    "Anyway! Yuki, can the Evergreen family help finance such a grand event in game? We will be willing to hire many architects and workers to help make construction smoother. For such a city we would need at least four to five hundred thousand workers. I can also bring in some top scientists and master metalsmiths to help with creating the tools needed." James was overly excited about this. He could just picture such a massive city in Soul Fusion Online. To him, that would be one of his dreams come true.


    "Umm... " Yuki looked at Trisha for her okay since she knew Trisha did not like dealing with her family.


    "It''s fine. If it helps, make Yuki''s plan succeed, then let''s make use of the connections we have."  Trisha surprisingly readily agreed.


    "Alright, James, take a week and get things ready. Come back to me when you get the final numbers. Our first goal is to kill and cook that oversized chicken." Yuki really wanted to kill that chicken!


    "Alright, a week will be more than enough time. I will also settle the village lord of Roland." James was very hyped up about this.


    "Alright, if you need me for anything, just ask." Yuki was happy that James showed up. With his help and connections, they would be able to build the city quickly.


    "I will. If the city is made of pure metal, we will need miners as well as drilling equipment. Ahh! I have  to go home and make a list." James went to turn around but stopped and looked at Yuki. "Congratulations on your recovery progress. My father also sends his regards. He said he hopes his future daughter in law will be up and running around by the end of the year."


    "Mmm.. Tell him I said thanks." Yuki said with a smile. Hearing the word daughter in law made her happy. She looked over at Trisha and reached out and held her hand. Trisha looked at Yuki and smiled while interlocking her fingers with Yuki''s.

 Chapter 162: Fighting An Oversized Chicken Part 1

    "Are we all here?" Ryu asked as he stood up on top of a large rock overlooking his guildmates.


    "Every last one logged in on time, Darling~! It seems the news of us becoming the number one guild really got everyone riled up." Margie answered as he handed over a list to Ryu.


    "Good, have them get into formation. Chi will take the rear in case anyone tries to ambush us to make a name for themselves. Greenhat, WhiteLotus, Fingersandwhich, Rose, Violet, the numbers, and yourself will take up the sides. I will take the lead. The rest will protect the weaker members. Let''s move out." Ryu had been waiting for this day. The first full guild raid on a world boss!


    After everyone was in formation, Ryu charged forward. Unlike before, the forest was now filled with monsters. They had to fight many battles along the way. Everyone was working hard as they continued to push forward towards the Sky King''s lair. What should have only been a day''s worth of ingame time travel turned into two and a half days due to all the monsters. But they had finally arrived outside their lair.


    "Ryu, do we need to pull it?" Chi asked.


    "No, our assassins tell us that the oversized chicken usually makes its rounds to find food around this time. All we need to do is wait. Get everyone into formation. Ranged should be in the back. Have some of the lower level DPS stay by the range to add support in case any monsters come out of the forest to attack. We do not want adds attacking us while we are fighting the chicken. Get all main tanks to the front. Even the low level ones can serve as off tanks. Have the healers protected by those who have reached the soul sensing realm. If our healers go down, we can forget about killing this boss. Everyone else is to be ready to fight." Ryu gave out a string of orders while Chi and the rest went into action, getting everyone organized.


    Ryu had no idea what the oversized chicken''s true strength was. He only saw a few different attacks. But he knew it was smart. Smart enough to understand him when he was trying to get it mad at KillerT.


    After ten minutes, everyone was in position, and it was now time to wait. They had formed a semi circle around the entrance of the lair, which was a large cave at the end of the valley at the bottom of the mountain.


    "Caw!" A loud cry came from inside the entrance of the lair. Ryu did not call out, instead, he waved his hand to let others know to be ready.  The ground shook as the steps of the Sky King could be heard coming closer with each stride.


    As soon as its big chicken head exited the lair, it raised it up, looking proud as it stuck its beak high into the sky. Ryu motioned with his hand to say, wait a little longer to let it walk out more before attacking. He watched as the sky king took three steps forward and paused. It seemed to have sensed something wrong. Ryu frowned as he gave the signal to attack. "Tanks encircle it!"


    "Caw!" The Sky king was angered by the fact that a bunch of little humans dared to enter its territory. But when it took a closer look at the one giving orders and smelt the familiar scent of that young man who escaped from it before. Its anger rose even higher and charged straight at Ryu!  "Caaaaawww!!!"


    "Why the hell is it targeting me!?" Ryu yelled out as he realized he was the main target for the oversized chicken.


    "Ryu, I think it remembers you!" Chi yelled out. If the sky king was indeed intelligent, it wouldn''t be strange for it to remember Ryu and what Ryu did.


    "What the hell!? Didn''t birds have such small brains they would forget everything after taking three steps!?" Ryu yelled out as he was about to take off running before turning around and saying: "Fuck it! I will just be the main tank!"


    Ryu drew his sword and cast Iron body on himself, boosting his defense by another 100 points. He knew he probably did not need it, but he figured it was best to be safe than sorry. Seeing Ryu turn to fight it, the sky king flapped its wings in anger, sending wind blades in all directions. "Quickly get down! It''s an AOE attack!" The wind blades were easily dodged if you dropped down since they were only thin blades of wind. While his guild members came out unscathed in this first attack, the surrounding trees were not so lucky as a large area was instantly cut down.


    "Everyone attack! Melee DPS watch its feet! Don''t get stepped on. I am sure it is not a good way to die." Ryu still gave out orders as the Sky king stabbed down at him with its beak. Ryu parried it and slashed out in a counter attack at its eye, causing a deep cut to form from the top of its eye to the bottom.


    "Caaww!!" The sky king let out a pained cry as it furiously flapped its wings and rose into the air. Ryu felt something bad was about to come, so he quickly yelled out: "Everyone get your defenses up! Be ready!"


    Ryu was right to worry, the Sky King hovered in the air and opened its mouth. A bright reddish glow came from within and to everyone''s surprise the oversized chicken shot out a stream of flame at everyone on the ground. Causing a wave of flames to spread out in all directions.


    "This damn chicken thinks it''s a dragon!" Ryu yelled out as he turned tail to run. He did not want to get caught up in that flame! He never expected the world boss in a lower level area to have a raid wipe skill!

 Chapter 163: Fighting An Oversized Chicken Part 2

    "How many died!?" Ryu asked. As he raised his head, His armor was able to hold up even though he took a direct hit from the damn chicken dragon.


    "All the low levels, some healers and a few DPS, so around seventy." Chi was the first to respond. Once she hit the ground, she opened her raid menu to see all the names going red. "Out of the seventy, ten healers died."


    "Prioritize resurrecting the healers. Then the tanks. After that, DPS. I will try to keep it busy!" Ryu wanted to cry. He had hoped this would be a smooth run, but he never thought it was a chicken dragon! He was feeling very depressed right now.  He knew it was no fun dying. Luckily Priest got a resurrection spell, or they would be really screwed!  "Ranged attackers keep attacking while I keep its attention."


    "CAAAAAAWWWW!!!!" The oversized chicken seemed to be angered even more than before, seeing that Ryu was still alive. He immediately pecked at him, but its eyesight was no longer as good now that he had only one eye.  Its attacks became less accurate, allowing Ryu more breathing room as he defended and tried to counter.


    As soon as all the healers were back up, the rest of the guild members quickly followed. Once they regained some mana, they were back and ready for action. By this time, Ryu had already left a few deep cuts in the oversized chicken, so he was not afraid of losing aggro any time soon. Besides the aoe wind blade, which was easily dodgeable, and the raid wipe skill that it seemed to not be able to cast frequently, the oversized chicken only used claw, stomp, and beak attacks on Ryu.


    The healers had an easy time with Ryu tanking since his defense was in the thousands. So no matter how many times he got hit, the damage was negligible. After almost a half hour of damaging the oversized chicken, it finally showed signs of changing its attack pattern again. It jumped in the air and began flapping its wings, causing gusts of wind to slam into the members of Serenity. "Darling~ We need to move back, or else we will end up like before."


    "Alright, Do as Margie says! Move back!" Ryu shouted.  On his command, all the tanks and melee DPS quickly retreated, all except Ryu, who the oversized chicken had pegged as its only target. It seemed it would rather die trying to kill Ryu than stay alive.


    Margie''s assumption was right on as another wave of flames came from the sky, scorching the land underneath. This time Ryu tanked it head on. He did not know what would happen if he moved, whether the flames would follow him and end up causing his guild members to get caught up in it or not.  "Meow!"  Nergal, who had been sleeping this entire time, seemed to have gotten angry because it waved its little paw and slashed out at the fire raining down on him, creating a whole the size of Ryu as four claw blades of wind sliced through the flames, slamming into the oversized chicken in the air.


    "CAAAAWWWW!!!" The oversized chicken seemed to be confused as it looked down at the small cat it had not noticed until now.


    "Meow!" Nergal cried out in anger and pointed its little paw at one of its tails. "Meow! Meow!"


    "CAAAWW!! CAAW!!!" Ryu was starting to get confused. It seemed his cat was having a conversation with the oversized chicken. No, in fact, Nergal was actually scolding the oversized chicken for burning his tail.


    "Meow! Hiss!" Nergal suddenly stood up, its hair sticking up on its back. It stared at the oversized chicken with cold feline eyes.


    "Caw.." The oversized chicken suddenly floated down to the ground, and with a snort, it charged at Ryu. Nergal, on the other hand, turned in circles before finding a comfortable spot on Ryu''s head, falling back asleep as if nothing had happened.


    Ryu was still trying to figure out what the hell just happened, but from what he could tell, the damn oversized chicken stopped its raid wipe skill because Nergal threatened it! Ryu knew this was their chance! "Everyone, attack! Send everything you have at it!"


    Once again, the oversized chicken was being bombarded with spells and attacks of all kinds. The oversized chicken let out a cry of pain as it lost its other eye when Ryu found an opening to counter. With both eyes out of commission, the oversized chicken could only stomp around and peck at anything it sensed near it. But as time passed, it really began to slow down. All of its movements became sluggish, and its body began being dyed red.


    "It''s almost dead! Keep at it just a little longer!" Ryu yelled out. He was right, after another ten minutes of attacking with everything they had. The oversized chicken finally fell down, smashing into the ground turning into thousand balls of blue lights that floated up into the air.


    [World Announcement! The guild Serenity has gotten the first kill on the world boss Sky King Fermoth. Respawn for World boss is 30 days...]


    There was no special reward for killing it, but it did give a world message upon its death.  As they got the first kill on the oversized chicken, it allowed them to get more prestige within the world of Soul Fusion Online. "How was it? How many deaths in the end?" Ryu asked as he sat on the ground to rest.


    "I count twenty in total. We are resurrecting them now." GreenHat answered.


    "Alright then, FingerSandwhich, you dish out loot." Ryu did not care what the loot was. He was just glad things ended smoothly.


    "Umm, Ryu, come look at this!" FingerSandwhich had a strange look on his face as he called for Ryu.


    Ryu sighed and walked over to see a large egg sitting in the middle of a pile of loot. "This is¡­."


    [Egg...]


    "Err¡­ that''s it!? It''s just an Egg, nothing else!?" Ryu was confused as to why such a description for an item was allowed! It was like analyzing a rock and having the display only say rock!


    "What should we do?" FingerSandwhich was unsure of what this egg could be used for.


    "Give it to GreenHat to raise. If it doesn''t hatch in a year, force him to eat it all in one sitting." Ryu said before waving his hand  and went to walk away but paused when an item caught his eye. "This is¡­. A sword technique!?"

 Chapter 164: The Dark Side Of Soul Fusion Online

    "Number 8, how many swordsmen do we have?" Ryu asked as he looked at the sword technique. "Blade Of One Thousand Shadows."  Even the name sounded cool. He knew it was a lower level technique, but it still would help raise their strength, if even by a tiny bit.


    "We have around thirty swordsmen." Number either answered. He had a list of all the DPS in the guild.


    "Okay, once I make copies of this, I will hand over thirty to you to give to the members. Make sure they learn it immediately." Ryu said before putting the technique in his inventory. When he did, he spotted the token that would make any city, town, or village in a starting area his.


    "I guess I should head to Flim Village next." Now that the oversized chicken was dead, He could go about doing the new tasks at hand. As he was lost in thought, Chi came up behind him and hugged him. "What are you going to do now?"


    "Heading to Flim Village after we get everyone back to Roland, want to come?" Ryu asked.


    "Mmm¡­ It''s been a while since we did things, just the two of us in game." Chi smiled. They had been so busy with the guild as of late that they had no time to spend together with just the two of them.


    "Alright then, let''s gather everyone and head back after loot is distributed." Ryu said as he pulled Chi from behind him to his front and hugged her. Chi giggled and nuzzled her nose into his chest.


    "Ryu, I hate to disturb you two when you are having your intimate time, but all the items have been given out by roll." FingerSandwhich had a guilty expression as he came over to announce things had already given out. Luckily it went smoothly as most of it was just crafting material. The few items that were usable that did drop were quickly given out to some of the lower levels.


    "Alright then, let''s all head back!" Ryu got everyone gathered together before heading out. The trip back would take a few days, but it should go much smoother than the trip there since they were not benign followed. Although, Ryu still told everyone to be on guard just in case of an ambush.


    ---


    As Serenity was making their way back to Roland, In a guild house inside Roland, Gene''s face was pitch black. "Why!? Why is it that it is always Serenity this Serenity that or Ryu this Ryu that!?"


    "Guild Leader, we just need time to build up our forces." One of the generals of Golden Sword suggested.


    "Hah! I know! How goes the report on finding out how to become a clan? Has the team gotten back to us yet?" Gene asked. He would not dwell on how things stood for now. He wanted to keep a low profile after embarrassing himself fighting Serenity. He never expected it was all filmed by the developers. After making such a mistake, he would need to do a lot to redeem his guild''s glory. And bring it back to being number one once again.


    "They have reported back and have not been able to find anything out. But they have found out that Serenity has a guild house in Westfall City." The Golden Sword general answered.


    "That is a given with how strong they are. Ryu alone probably went to buy the guild house. For now, stay low and do not get involved with them. Also, watch out for that guild, The Queen''s Throne. That player Beauty is not a pushover. She knew what she was doing. It was just her guild was not strong enough yet. But if it does get stronger, they may end up being big contenders  in the central area." Gene had more than just Serenity to worry about, but he knew he had to step up his game and grow stronger to take out Serenity and also defend against The Queen''s Throne since their guild master is a sneaky one.


    [World Announcement! The guild Ice Palace has gotten the first kill on the world boss Wolf King Rommik. Respawn for World boss is 30 days...]


    "It seems Ice Palace is trying to stay ahead of the game as well." Gene frowned. It seemed he had a lot of competition. Even their guild ranking dropped to eight. Now the top five consisted of Serenity in first, Ice Palace second, Fire Emblem third, The Diviners fourth, and the new fifth place Death''s Touch. "Search for a world boss. We need to kill one to in order to reclaim a few ranking spots."


    "I will send people out immediately!"


    ---


    "Guild Leader¡­." Three people were kneeling on the floor staring at Beauty, who was sitting on a freshly crafted throne within their guild house. "I am the queen of this guild, not guild leader¡­ You are to refer to me as Your Majesty!"


    "Yes, Your Majesty!" The young man who spoke yelled out.


    Beauty didn''t even look at them as she turned to one of her personal guards and said: "Take that out."


    The guard nodded and took out a box. Inside of it was three vials of some kind of black concoction. "I have no idea what the effects of this new potion is that I made a few days ago while tinkering around with some plants I had never heard of. As punishment for screwing up my plans and running off on your own, I will now have the three of you drink it so I can see what its usage is."


    The three young men looked at Beauty in horror, wondering how she could say such a blatant lie like not knowing what it does since after creating it, the effects were shown! But they had no chance to say anything when their mouths were forcefully opened and the contents of the vials were poured down their throats. "Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"


    The three young men all yelled out in horrific pain screams as their skin quickly began to melt away. Skin muscles, all of it was melting away, leaving nothing behind but bones. Beauty looked at the young men who were nothing more than skeletons and smiled. "The undead potion that makes people obedient to the crafter of the potion is not bad. Select forty seven more people to turn into undead. It is really amazing what this game is allowing me to do. Hahaha!"

 Chapter 165: The Lich Queen

    Horrific screams of pain could be heard throughout The Queen''s Throne guild house. These screams caused chills to run down the spines of the other guild members. Inside the now throne room of the guild, Beauty looked at the message that popped up in front of her.


    [System Notification: Conditions met...]


    [New class created: Lich Queen]


    [Forced class change. Player Beauty has forcefully had her class changed to Lich Queen.]


    [Class adheres to all other class rules. Special racial skills: Command undead and Create Undead  add.]


    [New cultivation system: Devil cultivation path opened.]


    [Warning: Devil Cultivation is not for the faint of heart. If you can not continue this path and wish to continue playing, please delete your character and start over.]


    [Acquired cultivation method: Demonic Body Tempering]


    "Oh? Hahaha! Devil cultivation!? Perfect!" Beauty let out a laugh as she looked at the cultivation manual in her hands. She opened it up and read the first passage and frowned slightly but just a frown. She looked up at the skeletons in front of her and smiled. "It seems The Queen''s Throne will become the first guild in Soul Fusion Online to go down the path of the devil. Men!"


    All of Beauty''s guards appeared and kneeled down in front of Beauty. Yuyu, who was shivering off in a corner, did not wish to be a part of any of this, but she knew if she did not go forward now, she would end up like the others. With no other choice, she walked forward and knelt down next to the guards. Beauty looked at them all and smiled. "All of you will be my human relations team while I build a guild filled with undead. Have someone copy this cultivation method and then find a place away from Roland that we can use as a home base. A cave would be best. I can have these liches take care of turning it into a proper base."


    Beauty paused, and her gaze fell on Yuyu, who was shivering. Only then did her cold aura soften a bit. "Yuyu, come here."


    Yuyu raised her head and got up as she bit her bottom lip. She walked forward and stood in front of Beauty. Beauty reached out and grabbed Yuyu''s hand and pulled her into her lap. "Only you do not need to worry about anything, Yuyu, since you are special." She then gave Yuyu a light kiss on the lips. Yuyu relaxed a bit and nodded her head.


    Beauty smiled and kissed Yuyu''s lips once more before whispering into Yuyu''s ear. "You will need to get used to what you will see from now on as you will join me in becoming the strongest in the game. Only you will stand beside me as my bride, okay?"


    Hearing the words bride made Yuyu''s heart skip a beat. She no longer cared about what was to come if she could be this special to her miss. "Yuyu will follow Miss in whatever she wishes to do."


    "Mmm! Good. This is my Yuyu." Beauty smiled and hugged Yuyu tightly as she looked at her guards. "From now on, whether it be in game or out,  Yuyu is to be treated respectfully, everyone understand?"


    "Yes, your Majesty!" The guards all replied at the same time.


    Yuyu blushed as she sunk into her miss''s embrace. She was afraid at first that her miss would turn her into one of those skeletons, but now she felt at ease. Seeing the rosy cheeks on the girl in her lap made Beauty smile. She no longer cared about some BurningToast or Ryu, whatever that man''s name was. What she needed was in her arms now. But that did not mean that she would not get revenge for all the humiliation she had to endure all this time.


    "Once the new base is finished, we will then begin cultivating this new method. So make sure there is a dungeon to hold the captives." Beauty only read the first section of the devil cultivation method, and it required soaking in the blood of virgin girls. This meant they would need to go out, capture, and drain the blood from these girls to soak in. It was truly a demonic technique. Beauty looked at Yuyu, whose face was pale, and ran her fingers through her hair. "Don''t worry, you will be cultivating with me, so you will not need to do it alone. We will get used to it together, okay?"


    Yuyu looked at Beauty and slowly nodded her head. Her miss had been so kind to her as of late that she forgot her true nature. She was someone who did not care about human life. Luckily this was not the real world, or it may cause a national incident.


    ---


    As the birth of the first devil cultivator was happening, Ryu was busy running towards Flim Village. He could have taken the teleporter, but he decided to go the long way in order to spend some alone time with Chi. Chi was currently being carried on his back with a big wide grin on her face as she nuzzled her nose into his neck, kissing and nibbling it along the way. "Ch, if you keep doing that, my dick will get erect. Then all the girls will be wanting to take me to bed."


    "They dare!?" Chi yelled and immediately stopped teasing Ryu. She was just happy because she was able to be like this with her lover.


    "Haha! I only have one girl I love. There will bever be another." Ryu replied.


    "Humph! That is more like it!" Chi snorted before hugging Ryu.


    "We will be busy here soon, but when we log out today, I will need to go some place with mom, so you will be home alone for a bit. I hope you do not mind." Ryu needed Tina to take him to a store so he could buy an engagement ring for Chi. He only waited this long because he wanted to put the ring on Chi''s finger himself.


    "Alright. But where are you going?" Chi asked. She was very curious!


    "Hehe¡­ It''s a secret."

 Chapter 166: Alone Time

    [Warning R-18 content]


    By the time Ryu and Chi reached Flim Village, it was already late. The two stopped at an inn to decide what to do. "I am not sure how long the process for this will be." Ryu said as he held the token in his hand.


    "We got an hour¡­ Should we um¡­ Cultivate for a little bit?" Chi asked while blushing. They two had not cultivated in a while.


    Ryu grinned and held Chi''s hand before touching his neck and disappearing. Once he reappeared, he placed Nergal on the ground to go play and then pulled Chi into their courtyard. Seconds later, Chi''s voice echoed throughout the courtyard as Ryu ravished her body. After releasing inside her a few times, Chi collapsed on top of Ryu, burying her face into his neck. "We fucked for an entire day and didn''t even come close to leveling up..." Chi complained as she nibbled on Ryu''s neck.


    "It''s to be expected. The higher level we get, the longer it will take to breakthrough. Plus, it''s not like we do not enjoy our way of leveling." Ryu teased as he gripped Chi''s butt cheeks, causing her to wiggle around. "We should log out. Mom will be up soon. "


    "Alright¡­ But you have to give me a good licking in the bath since you''re leaving me all alone today." Chi demanded she did not want to be left behind, but she had no choice since Ryu said he had to go with Tina alone. What bothered her the most was that Ryu wouldn''t tell her what he was up to! He was being too mysterious about it.


    "Mm.. before and after. I am always willing to service my beautiful fiancee." Ryu said, kissing Chi''s lips.


    "Alright. Enough of those sweet lips. I will see you in the real world." Chi said as she sat up and logged out. Ryu smiled and did the same.


    ---


    As soon as Yuki took off her helmet, she was met with a cleaned shaved pussy that was still wet. It seemed Trisha did not plan to wait for even a second after logging out before getting her pussy licked. Yuki put her helmet down to the side as she watched as Trisha gently stroked herself. Yuki raised her hand and slipped her finger into the dripping wet hole, causing Trisha to gasp.  "Hmm¡­ Let''s use that..."


    "The double sided?" Trisha asked, her eyes lighting up.


    "Mmm. it''s been a while." Yuki said as she reached over to the nightstand and pulled the double sided dildo from the draw. She licked one end of it before reaching down between her legs and gently inserting it inside herself.


    Trisha moved back and lowered her hips and, with Yuki''s help, had the other end inserted into her. She then began moving her hips up and down as she leaned forward and pressed her breasts against Yuki''s. The two''s tongues intertwined as Trisha bounced her hips up and down. Yuki was using one of her hands to insert and pull out the dildo from her own pussy in sync with Chi''s hip moments. The two girls'' moans filled the room as they made love to each other.


    After a good fifteen minutes, the two moaned loudly as they orgasmed at the same time. Trisha stared down at Yuki biting her bottom lip. Her eyes were full of love. "Yuki..."


    Yuk smiled and raised her hand and cupped Chi''s cheeks. "You are not allowed to make that face to anyone else, it is too sexy."


    "Hehe¡­ I wouldn''t even dream of it!" Trisha said as she leaned down and gave a light peck on Yuki''s lips. "We should wash up. You wanted to talk with Mom, right?"


    "Mm¡­ Let''s get ready." Yuki waited for Trisha to get up before pulling the dildo out of her and placed it to the side. She then moved her body to her wheelchair and rolled herself to the bathroom.


    In the living room, an hour later, Tina was busy watching TV when Yuki rolled over next to her. "Mom, can you take me out today."


    "Sure, where do you want to go?" Tina asked.


    "It''s time. That thing we talked about before."  Yuki felt like she was speaking in code. But it seemed Tina understood what she meant.


    "Okay, get something to eat for breakfast and then get dressed. We will go out when you are ready." Tina said with a smile, trying to hide her excitement. She couldn''t wait to see Trisha''s face when Yuki formally proposes to her!


    "Mmm. Thanks, mom!" Yuki was very happy. It was finally time for her to stick a ring on Trisha''s finger and formally make her her fiancee. She had been looking forward to this for so long.


    "I still don''t like it!" Trisha complained. She wanted to know what was going on.


    "Oh ho!? Did you two fight? That works well for me. Master come jump into my arms, and I, Mary, will tend to all your needs from daily needs to all the nightly needs, even those that need a bit of..."


    "Absolutely not! Back off, you damn slutty robot!"  Trisha yelled out.


    "That hurts! I never said anything dirty! I was going to say even those that need a bit of muscle! I am strong, after all! What the hell were you thinking, you perverted human!" Mary struck back with a retort of her own.


    "Enough, you two. If I didn''t know any better, I would think you two were an old married couple." Yuki teased, causing both of them to snort and look away from each other.


    Trisha, however, only stayed annoyed for a few seconds before saying: "Mary, keep an eye on Yuki. Do not let any harm come to her or Mom. I am counting on you."


    Mary''s normal joking behavior turned serious as she bowed her head slightly: "Don''t worry I will never let anything happen to Master. You have my word."

 Chapter 167: [Bonus Chapter]Buying A Ring

    After breakfast and giving Trisha a kiss goodbye, Yuki left the house with Tina, Mary, and Kieth (Tina''s bodyguard). Their destination was the most expensive jeweler in the city. Yuki wanted to give Trisha the best of the best. "So, what is your plan for the proposal?"  Tina asked.


    "I was thinking I would take Trisha out to a fancy restaurant tonight. I plan to call the king after this and see if he can get me a reservation somewhere really nice. I already know I do not have the influence to do such a thing, so I can only ask my future father in law." Yuki knew her limits. Although she was rich, she had no connections really except the royal family. She did not know any of the big shot CEOs or anyone else she could ask for such things. She could have gone through Greg, but she was a little awkward asking him for anything after the slap she gave him.


    But she also knew that Melgrave would be more than happy to help her with getting a reservation at a restaurant she would normally not be able to eat at. The store Yuki was going to was Everlasting Jewelers. It was a store that specialized in some of the rarest materials. The ride took almost an hour with all the sky traffic. The morning rush was pretty bad at this time of day. "We are here. Mary, help Yuki into her wheelchair."


    "Yes, Madam." Mary quickly got the door open and set up the wheelchair. She then assisted Yuki from the car to her wheelchair.


    "Mom, after this, we are buying you a new car. This one is rather old." Yuki felt like she should get a more updated vehicle for her mother. One that she could drive around in style with.


    "But I just got this one  not long ago for cheap!" Tina frowned. She didn''t like wasting money, and she did not mind the car she had. It may be old with a few dents, but it ran well.


    "But you should still get something else. What if you want to go on a  date with Keith or Anthony?" Yuki teased, causing Tina to blush.


    "You little girl dare tease your mother!" Tina chided while trying to cover up her embarrassment.


    "Hehe... " Yuki giggled as she rolled herself up next to Tina. But when she saw the place had nothing but stairs, she frowned. "A place without wheelchair access?"


    "One second, Master. I will politely ask them to do something about it." Mary said as she walked forward and entered the jeweler. Seconds later, an older man and a young woman came stumbling out with Mary calmly following behind them. "Master, due to their inability to make sure their company can be convenient to everyone, even those with disabilities, they have come to help carry you, along with the wheelchair, up the stairs."


    The older man had sweat dripping off his forehead and a red mark on his face the shape of a handprint. Yuki decided not to ask how Mary ''convinced'' them to help her into the store. The older man and the young woman both helped lift Yuki''s wheelchair with her in it under Mary''s supervision up the stairs and into the store.


    With the best smile she could muster, the young woman, who kept darting her eyes back and forth between Yuki and Mary until they finally stayed on Yuki. "How can I help you?"


    "I need an engagement ring. Price is not an issue, so please show me what you have." Yuki hoped to find something that would bring a smile to Trisha''s lips and something that was rarely seen.


    "And engagement ring hm? Congratulations on your engagement. If money is not an issue, how about one of our rosewood bands?" The woman asked.


    Yuki''s eyes lit up. "Rosewood!" In this day and age, there were certain types of wood that were very rare, and that''s natural wood. Not the fake stuff that made up her furniture at home but real wood that was mainly used for things like jewelry nowadays since it was hard to come by.


    "Mhm!  We have a nice dark rosewood band with silver edging and serendibite embedded in the sides." The woman replied with a smile. "The price is a few million crowns."


    "Let me see the design." Yuki''s eyes opened wide in expectation. She did not care for the price, not when it was a ring she was going to use to propose to the girl she loved.


    The young woman nodded and hurried along to grab the ring. Because of its rarity, two bodyguards followed her back and stood by the exits. When she saw Yuki looking at the two men, she bowed her head in apology. "Miss, I do apologize for the inconvenience, but it is policy to have guards by the doors when looking at our rarest items."


    "That''s fine." Yuki replied with a smile. She knew some places had their own policies. Mary, on the other hand, snorted as she looked at the two men who still had two red handprints on both sides of their faces. The guards even jumped a little when they heard Mary snort.


    The young woman quickly presented a box to Yuki that had a pair of matching rings in them. "This here is the prize of our shop. The set cost eighty seven million crowns."


    "Mom, look! They are beautiful!" Yuki instantly fell in love. The rings were exactly as the young woman described. Just thinking of putting one on Trisha''s finger made Yuki giddy.


    "They are very pretty. Should we get them engraved? I think putting a message on the inside of the band will make Trisha cherish it even more." Tina suggested.


    "Mmm! Let''s do that! But what should I put? Wait, do they do engravings?" Yuki looked up at the young woman expectantly. She really hoped she would say yes.


    The woman smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, we can do any engraving you wish on the spot. You will not even need to wait more than thirty minutes to have it done."


    There was no way the young woman was going to make someone who could buy their most expensive piece wait for anything. She didn''t care if she had to yank that old man out of a grave to please this young lady. She made note to make sure she got management put a ramp in because not every rich person seemed to care for cybernetics!

 Chapter 168: Proposal Part 1

    After choosing what she wanted to engrave in the rings, Yuki had them put into a real oak wood box. Just the box alone cost her ten million crowns.  After that, she left the store and dragged Tina to a luxury car dealership. "Mom, pick out anything you like. Just take it as a gift from me."


    Tina glared at Yuki and sighed. She knew once Yuki was determined to buy her something, even if she refused, she would find her current car missing tomorrow morning and replaced with something that cost a few hundred million crowns. After picking out a luxury car that was made with safety in mind. Tina and Yuki headed back home. The car she picked was top of the line when it came to high society safety. Meaning it could tank a few rockets before actually being damaged. In the end, they spent one hundred million crowns on the car alone.


    On the way home, Yuki took this chance to call Melgrave.  Seeing the number on his caller id caused Melgrave to smile as he answered. "Yuki, why have you called? Everything okay?"


    "Mmm¡­ I called to ask a favor. I finally bought the ring to put on Trisha''s finger, and I was hoping you can help me make a reservation at a high end restaurant. I wish to propose to her officially tonight and finally place a ring on her finger." Yuki explained.


    "Haha! No problem at all. I know just the place you and Trisha can go. You can use the royal family''s private room. I am sure you will be the talk of the noble circle when they see you two enter. The restaurant in the sky called Clouds, is the place I will set up a reservation for eight tonight." Melgrave was all excited now. He really wanted this young lady to be part of his family. She was his connection to his precious daughter!


    Little did he know that just outside his office door, a maid was listening in on what was being said. "I need to tell her Highness." The maid mumbled as she ran off.


    "What!? That bitch dares to use a room designated for the royal family after giving up the Evergreen name!?" Jasmine yelled.


    "But wait¡­ If the one being proposed to is that bitch then the one on the phone was that girl..."  Jasmine remembered that look that sent shivers down her spine that Yuki had given her. Those eyes could not be forgotten. The way she ordered her maid to slap her and then left her hanging as she was expectantly waiting for it. Those eyes that said she was nothing but an annoying fly that needed to be swatted away.  "If I go and crash this proposal, maybe she will give me that look again¡­ Hah... Hah¡­" Jasmine''s cheeks began to blush as a lustful look could be seen in her eyes. "Tilly, come to my room."


    Tilly blushed as she knew what was about to happen. She reached in her pocket and pulled out what looked to be a collar as she followed Jasmine into the bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Jasmine stripped to nothing and stretched her arms out. Tilly then put the collar in her hand on her miss''s neck before walking over to a cabinet and pulling out a fluffy dog tail and a set of floppy fluffy ears. After putting the ears on Jasmine''s head, she used some lubricant on the tip of the knob on the fluffy tail and stuck it into a certain section of Jasmine''s body. Only then did Jasmine get down on all fours and make a strange noise: "Woof!"


    "How is my daisy doing today? Does daisy wish to go for a walk?" Tilly held up a leash in her hand, swinging it back and forth with a smile on her face.


    Jasmine¡­ Ahem¡­ Daisy wiggled her butt, making her tail wag back and forth as she let out another strange noise: "Woof! Woof!"


    Back on Yuki''s side, Yuki finished settling things and had just arrived at home. "I''m home!"


    "Oh, your back?" Trisha asked, trying to act like she wasn''t lonely at all.


    "Mhm! Tonight me and you will be going on a  date!" Yuki announced.


    "A date!?" Trisha''s eyes sparkled with excitement. Her gloomy mood from being left home alone all day was washed away instantly. "Wait, I need to pick something to wear! Wait! Yuki is it a fancy place or what!?"


    "Just wear what you normally wear. It will just be the two of us anyway, and I got us a private room." Yuki did not have any fancy clothing, so she felt bad if Trisha dressed up and she wasn''t.


    "That reminds me, Yuki, you have no evening gowns! Trisha, do you have anything that will fit Yuki that is nice?" Tina asked.


    "A dress!? No! No! I do not do well in dresses. Look at me. My hair is barely grown back, and look at what I wear all the time." Yuki pursed her lips. She really did not wish to wear a dress.  But her words fell on deaf ears as she was quickly pushed into the bedroom by Trisha with Tina not too far behind.


    The rest of the afternoon consisted of Tina and Trisha dressing Yuki up in all kinds of evening gowns. In the end, Trisha picked out a tight fitting sleeveless black silk dress with a v-neck that showed a bit of her cleavage. Something that Yuki would never wear on her own. "Yuki, you look so sexy in this! But I am kind of jealous after all this time and no exercise. You are still so thin! If mom didn''t adjust this dress, you would not have fit in it. This just makes me look fat!"


    "It''s called having more of you to love." Yuki teased.


    "More of me to love!? You are just calling me fat in a nice way!" Trisha hopped into Yuki''s lap and pinched her cheeks before planting a kiss on her lips. "Yuki, you really do look good in this."


    "It would help if you stopped trying to peak down the top of the dress. I know I have no boobs so you don''t need to remind me." Yuki pouted. She knew she was flat! If not for her mothers amazing work and a push up bra she wouldn''t even be able to fill out as much as she was now!


    "Who says your flat? I know for a fact that you are not!" Trisha argued.


    "Okay I can see I am no longer needed here. So I will be going out for a walk. You can carry on." Tina made a hasty exit while the two girls were being all lovey dovey.

 Chapter 169: Proposal Part 2

    The restaurant in the sky, official name Clouds. The one and only high class restaurant for the super rich and the only restaurant that did just as its name suggested. It floated in the sky. It used a form of ionic shifting that caused the particles in the air to vibrate, creating a thin solid surface for the restaurant to sit on. It was a technology solely owned by the owner who invented it, naming it the Iconic Landscape.


    Yuki was being pushed in by Trisha, with Mary in the lead and Bell taking up the rear.  All the people in the restaurant were all of high ranking, from top CEOs to nobles who ruled their own territory. So it was a given that once they saw Trisha enter that people would start talking.


    "What is the useless princess doing here?"


    "Didn''t she give up her right to be an Evergreen?"


    "Who''s the girl in the wheelchair?"


    Many questions were being mumbled here and there mostly about Trisha, while some were about Yuki. As the staff of the restaurant were people who held up a high standard of customer service, none of the staff said a word, instead, they smiled and bowed their heads to Trisha and Yuki.


    The hostess politely smiled as she asked: "Do you have a reservation?"


    "Yes, it should be under Chisaka Yuki." Yukie replied.


    "Chisaka¡­ Chisaka¡­. Ah yes, here it i¡­. I am so sorry I did not realize you were an esteemed guest! Please follow me. I will take you to your private room." As soon as she saw what room was reserved for Yuki, the hostess became even more polite and humble than before. She quickly whispered to the attendant next to her, whose eyes widen and ran off like she had a fire under her butt.


    Yuki paid them no mind since she knew this was due to them having the King''s private room. Not even the princesses and princes have access to this room. It was the only room to have its own special menu and dedicated chefs. As they were led to the SSSVIP elevator, all eyes were on them. It was not until the doors closed did the whole place explode in chatter.


    "Who was the girl in the wheelchair!? She was even able to use the King''s private room!"


    "She was with Princess Trisha, if I recall correctly, wasn''t she in an accident just recently, and her lover almost died protecting her?"


    While people were openly talking, on the second floor balcony, a young woman with black hair, wearing a midnight blue dress, looked over at her assistance and asked: "Anything?"


    "Miss, as you heard earlier, her name is Chisaka Yuki, she is eighteen going on nineteen. Her current net worth is over one hundred billion crowns.  She owns two properties and seems to be a college student. All her funds seem to have come from playing Soul Fusion Online. Out of all the players, she is the highest grossing player for real world money. Other than this, her past is pretty tragic. But from the data that is shown here, the only player in Soul Fusion Online who can make this much money is a player named Ryu, owner of Heavenly Crafts." The assistant replied.


    "As fast as always, Lina. Ryu is her without a doubt. To think our Ice palace funded by my father''s company is losing to a young girl who is my age, and she has done it all by herself with no company backing. But from the looks of it, she may have the backing of the royal family now. Once players from all guilds begin to spread out and build bases in different cities throughout the mortal realm. We may just end up clashing.


    " But to be honest, I would prefer not to become her enemy. Lina, tonight hire some people to make contact with Ryu. I want to speak with her. If she is willing to form an alliance with us, we can secure the east and central sectors of Soul Fusion Online. And fast travel between the two sectors will be easier through our ally''s teleporters and will open up more of the map for them and us. Plus, although there are some okay potions on the market that are almost as good as hers, her potions are still the top of the line. If we can get a reduced discount or even the low quality potion recipe, we can do much more." The woman in the midnight blue dress was the leader of the ranked second guild Ice Palace, in game name IceMaiden, real name Tiffany Walswood.


    "I will get on that now, Miss." Lina replied before taking out her phone to make some calls.


    At the entrance of the restaurant, one particular familiar person was causing a ruckus. "What do you mean I need a reservation!? Do you not know who I am!?"


    "Princess Jasmine. I know very well who you are, and as you know, only this restaurant has its own laws that your father himself has allowed us to set. And our number one law, one that even your father must follow, is that all customers must have a reservation in advance! This rule also applies to the princesses and princes. Unless Princess Jasmine has more authority than your father." The host was not being polite at all. Every word that rolled off her tongue was said sarcastically. This was what happened if you were not a customer.


    "You! Is that slut of a sister of mine here!? Let her know I am here, and she will let me in!" Princess Jasmine would not give up! She had to see that girl again!


    The hostess furrowed her brow as she did her best to say politely: "One moment."


    Princess Jasmine waited for a good five minutes before the hostess returned with a familiar maid following behind her. This was, of course, Mary, who had a big grin on her face as she walked over to Princess Jasmine and asked: "Can you fly?"

 Chapter 170: Proposal Part 3

    Princess Jasmine was confused by Mary''s question, so the only thing she could muster in response to it was: "Huh?"


    "Master told me to come down here and take out the trash that was causing a ruckus for those trying to enjoy their meal. So I will give you two choices. Leave on your own or learn to fly. If it was up to me, I would just send you flying, but Master said I must give you two options. So you need to answer me in three seconds¡­ Three!" Mary did not even count and just said three.


    Princess Jasmine began to panic as she yelled: "I will leave!"


    She wanted to be scorned and looked down upon by that girl but not tossed into the sky. She did not wish to die. Even if she was an Evergreen, they would die if they fell from this height. Mary frowned as she clicked her tongue. "Tch¡­ I will not see you out. But if you return, there will be no option. I will pick you up and throw you out of the restaurant. If you are lucky, you might hit the edge of the Ionic Landscape. "


    "Don''t worry, I won''t return. Tell your master congratulations on her engagement." Princess Jasmine knew when to retreat.


    After Mary watched Princess Jasmine leave the restaurant, she turned and bowed to the hostess. "I apologize for the inconvenience. The trash has now left the building. If she returns, please let me know. I will throw her out as I stated."


    "Ah? Yes¡­ Thank you..." The hostess was in awe! No one had ever dealt with Princess Jasmine in such a way before. She was a difficult person to deal with, and it would normally need management here to deal with her. But here, a simple A.I. had dealt with her easily and even called her trash. She was very curious as to just who the young girl was.


    "Oh? So even Princess Jasmine shows respect to Yuki. Interesting. I wonder if she is willing to take in a concubine." Tiffany said jokingly, causing Lina, her assistance, to panic.


    "Miss, you can''t joke like that you father would murder me if he knew you were thinking of dating a woman!" Lina complained.


    "Yes, Yes, that old man is a stickler for wanting me to marry a man. But I will say this if I ever find someone I truly love, no matter the sex, I will marry them whether he likes it or not. Now then, Lina, let''s head home. I have much to prepare." Tiffany grabbed her purse and got ready to leave.


    Inside the private room that normally only the king could use, Trisha and Yuki were having their meal under the starry night sky with nothing but candles lighting the table. "Yuki, this place is so romantic! I have heard about it before but never actually had a chance to come here."


    "I had to pull a few strings to come here myself. I had to make sure the place we went to tonight had just the right atmosphere." Yuki stared intently at Trisha as she spoke. She was actually getting nervous even though she knew the answer already.


    Trisha felt Yuki''s piercing gaze and turned to look at her wondering what she was staring at. "Yuki, you''re acting funny."


    "That''s because tonight is a special night, and I am mustering up all my courage right now." Yuki replied while scratching her nose. She knew she was acting strange, but she couldn''t help it. Today was a big day, after all.


    Yuki rolled her wheelchair back and rolled herself over to Trisha, who was looking at her with a very confused expression. "Trisha, I waited until I was finally able to move my arms to do something I should have done a long time ago. Unfortunately, I cannot get on one knee, so please bear with me."


    Trisha''s eyes opened wide when she saw Yukie pulling out an oak box. Her eyes began to water up because she knew what was happening. She never planned on asking Yuki for anything. No ring, no nothing, as long as Yuki was by her side, she didn''t care, but in the end, a sign that she was promised to the one she loved was also something she wanted deep down.


    "Trisha..." Yuki opened the oak wood box, pulled out the ring she prepared for the girl she loved before setting the oak box down on the table.  "When I first met you, I thought you were an uptight bitch, but that was just what I saw on the surface and my own prejudice against nobles and the royal family for allowing people like me to suffer while they held all the money for themselves.


    "Who would have thought that after meeting you in game unknowingly and that we would become friends and soon lovers. My heart has belonged to you since we became a couple. I am willing to go through any hardship as long as I can be by your side. You make up half of me. And my love for you will never die. Will you please marry me?" Yuki held out the ring to Trisha, who had tears rolling down her cheeks. The look in Yuki''s eyes showed nothing but complete love for the girl in front of her. Her eyes were only for Trisha.


    "Mmm! Mmmm! You don''t even need to ask to know I will, silly!" Trisha held out her left hand and let Yuki slide the ring onto her ring finger. She looked at it and smiled brightly as she leaned forward and kissed Yuki on the lips before hugging her tightly. "Yuki, I love you so much!"


    "And I love you with my entire being." Yuki nuzzled her nose into Trisha''s neck and gave it a light kiss. The two broke their embrace and kissed. The candles flickered and illuminated their faces under the starry night sky. Yuki couldn''t have asked for a better place to propose to the girl she loved. It was just perfect in every way.

 Chapter 171: What Is Love?

    Trisha saw the other ring in the oak box and swiftly snatched it up, and took Yuki''s hand, and slipped it on her finger. Her actions and teasing smile made Yuki chuckle. After the proposal was over, the two sat for a while staring at the stars with Trisha sitting in Yuki''s lap. An hour had passed when one of the waiters walked over with a cake that said happy engagement on it. "I didn''t order this..."


    "It was called in by a certain someone. He said I hope the view is nice, even I do not get to enjoy it much." The waiter replied with a smile.


    Yuki shook her head, knowing very well who he was talking about, and gladly accepted the cake. She made note to call and thank him later. After a romantic evening, Yukie and Trisha left the restaurant and headed home. Trisha kept playing with her ring the entire time while giggling and kissing it, making Yuki laugh at her antics.


    When they walked through the doors of their home, Tina was up watching TV with both Anthony and Kieth sitting on each side of her. "Your back! How was it?"


    "Mom, it was amazing! Yuki is the sweetest girl alive!" Trisha ran over to Tina and began telling her about the entire night. Tina giggled and laughed as she heard what happened.


    Yuki saw that they were going to be a while and decided to go to the bedroom while the two chatted. She sat there in her wheelchair, looking at the ring on her finger, and smiled. "Finally, a sign of our engagement. The next step is for my legs to be healed so I can walk down the aisle with her and marry her." Just thinking of Trisha wearing a white wedding dress, saying her vows made Yuki happy. She leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "Mary, are you watching? I am starting my family, and I am living a life without any regrets. I will also be going back to school soon. I will finish college and decide on the future I wish to follow from there. I will not waste the life you gave me."


    "Master¡­ " Mary knocked on the door, breaking Yuki out of her thoughts.


    "Mary, is something wrong?" Yuki asked as she opened the door to the room.


    "Master, I am a little confused, but after seeing you and Miss Trisha expressing your love for one another, I wondered¡­ What is love?" Mary asked. She really did not understand the concept of love.


    "Love is when you wish to always be with someone. You wish them well no matter what and would even put your life on the line for them. You miss them even if they are a room away. Love is formed in different ways as well. What I said before is more for romance. While there are forms of love that are milder and refer to your family. Like I love my mom, and I love you as well, but not in a romantic sense but in the sense of family. Does this make sense?" Yuki asked.


    "I think so. I had been wondering if the way my thoughts toward Master was the same kind of love you had for Miss Trisha. But it seems it is not. Because I do not wish to do all those things you do with Miss Trisha, I more wish to protect you from all harm and wish to see you happy more than anything else. I just want my Master to always smile. I know I tease Miss Trisha a lot, but I never once thought of doing anything that would make her sad. So is my love that of family? " Mary asked. She still seemed confused, but from what Yuki was hearing, she did seem to have an understanding of her own feelings. But the fact that an A.I. was even talking about feelings was an amazing thing.


    "Mmm¡­ Your feelings are that of familial love. And it is the same way I feel about you. I hope you will be happy as well, Mary." Yuki said with a smile as she reached out and took Mary''s hand. "Just know that I will always think of you as my family. So if one day you wish to stop guardian me, let me know. You can take your newfound understanding in life and explore what you truly wish to do."


    "No¡­ I want to stay by Master''s side and protect you always. Only then will I be able to feel reassured that you are doing fine." Mary patted the top of Yuki''s hand before smiling and giving her a hug. "Thank you, Master, for treating me, an A.I., like a normal person."


    "Hehe, your silly, of course, I would. There is no way someone like you can pass as an A.I. anymore. You are a living being with a conscious. The same goes for Kieth and Bell as well and maybe Mike too, although he never talks. You all are now part of my family." Yuki patted Mary''s back before breaking their embrace. "Go rest and think. You may just find something else you wish to do in your life. But then again, you have a longer life ahead of you than me."


    "Maybe I will find a way for Master to become immortal. Good night, Master." Mary smiled and left the room.


    Not long after, Trisha walked in. "She seemed as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders."


    "You heard?" Yuki asked.


    "Mmm¡­ Mary is truly one of a kind. The others are close, but only she no longer thinks as an A.I." Trisha replied as she locked the door and began taking her dress off.


    "Your right. Mary is very different. But that is also good. I am glad we went to buy them. Because I would hate to think what would have happened to her if she went elsewhere." Yuki smiled and looked over at Trisha, who was already completely naked, and chuckled. "It seems someone is ready for a night of lovemaking."


    "Mmm¡­ it is our engagement night, so I will be refraining from any Soul Fusion Online and occupying my time with making love to my beautiful, sweet, kind fiancee who I love very very much." Trisha said as she walked over and sat in Yuki''s lap facing her.


    "This fiancee of yours seems to be a lucky woman." Yuki teased as she kissed Trisha''s lips lightly.


    "That she is. So shut up and make love to me."

 Chapter 172: This Calls For War

    [Warning: R-18]


    Trisha did not even take Yuki''s dress off right away. It was rare for Yuki to be wearing a dress, so She wished to slowly take it off as she kissed the exposed skin that came into view. While she was doing that, Yuki was using her fingers to work Trisha''s pussy. The wet slit allowed her fingers to slide in and out easily. Trisha''s hips would move with every thrust of Yuki''s fingers as her own lips were busy nibbling on Yuki''s soft mounds.


    Yuki could feel Trisha''s pussy squeezing her fingers, causing Yuki to bite her lower lip. She wanted nothing more than to taste the sweet nectar that was coming out of Trisha at this time."Trisha, let''s move to the bed so I can taste you."


    "Mmm... " Trisha slipped off Yuki''s lap and then scooped her up. She sat her on the edge of the bed and stripped her dress and underwear off. She then pushed Yuki on her back and mounted her face with her wet lips hovering over her mouth.


    Yuki giggled and pulled Trisha down onto her mouth, stabbing her tongue as deep as she could inside of her. Her thumb worked her clit while she sucked the sweet nectar out from between her lips.


    Trisha let out soft moans as she massaged her breasts while Yuki''s tongue violated her most sensitive spot. She could feel herself on the verge of climax. She swayed her hips back and forth as she began to feel herself reaching her breaking point. Yuki could tell Trisha was almost there, so she cupped her mouth over Trisha''s clit and sucked hard on it, which drove Trisha crazy to the point she screamed out in pleasure. Her toes curled up, and her back archer. She could feel herself squirting her juices into Yuki''s mouth.  For some reason, she felt tonight''s orgasm was stronger than all the ones she had before.


    Feeling slightly out of breath, she was about to turn around and work on Yuki, but Yuki held her in place and continued to ravage her pussy.  She was still so sensitive that she was quickly sent into another spiral of ecstasy.


    That night, they did not log into Soul Fusion Online. They spent the entire time making love to each other. When they were tired, they took a small break before continuing. Trisha had used many different toys on Yuki, driving her to the brink of breaking completely due to pleasure.


    "Mmm¡­ Yuki¡­ I love you..." Trisha mumbled as she snuggled into Yuki''s soft mounds.


    "I love you too." Yuki replied while stroking Trisha''s head gently.


    ---


    Soul Fusion Online...


    The next day inside Alchemy house in Flim Village. "Why did you two not log on or even tell us you were not logging on!?"


    "Little Lotus Darling,  you can''t expect them to always be in game. Life matters will come into play as well, you know." Margie quickly stepped in to try to calm WhiteLotus down.


    "Margie, that is not the point. We were ambushed in Westfall city when some of our members went to look around. We think it was the Qin family you talked about." WhiteLotus was angry because it made them all look weak when only a few Qin family members killed twenty of them!


    "Wait, wait¡­ You''re saying the Qin family attacked you within the city!?" Ryu yelled out. He was confused as to what was going on. The Vaughan family was supposed to be protecting the people of Serenity within the city!


    "Yes, we are not sure what is going on. We saw a few Vaughan family members around, but they just stood there and watched without lifting a finger. They were all higher realmed cultivators too and could have easily diffused the situation." WhiteLotus replied.


    "Oh? Heh heh¡­" Ryu''s eyes turned cold. "Chi, it looks like me, and you need to go speak with the Vaughan family after we take over Flim Village. It seems our deal with them has been null and void. If that is the case, we no longer have to act friendly. WhiteLotus, for now, put out an order for all guild members to stay inside, and then I want you to send an assassin to sneak into the mercenary guild and put up a job request for cultivators from the soul assimilation realm to the soul destruction realm to gather and help with a mission, none can come from either the Vaughan Family or the Qin family though. As for the price, tell them it is very negotiable."  Ryu was done waiting for the guild member to rise in strength. If they wished to be able to walk freely around Westfall, he would take it by force.


    Since the game now allows for players to seize control of towns and cities, he might as well use his vast wealth as a means to hire NPCs of higher cultivations to take control. He would not do anything to the Vaughan family just yet. He would find out if what happened was done by traitors of the family or if it was the Vaughan family turning their back on him and Serenity.


    "Darling, are we going to war?" Margie asked.


    "Mmm¡­ We will be the first guild to become a clan and build up Serenity even further. I will make the Qin family wish they never touched the members of Serenity." Ryu was never going to let this slide until the heads of those who harmed his members rolled.


    "Guild Leader, there are two people here looking for you. They say they are members of Ice Palace. Although, they are only level one at this time."


    "Let them in. It is hard to switch areas once you make an account since everything is done by biodata. You would need to fully delete your character in order to make a new one. So my guess is that they were sent here as new players to speak with me." Ryu wondered what the second ranked guild of Soul Fusion Online wanted with him.


    In one of the meeting rooms, two young women were shown in and stood in front of Ryu. "Good day Sir Ryu. Our Lady has asked up to come speak to you about an alliance."

 Chapter 173: Offer To Merge

    Ryu looked at the two young women and asked: "And your lady is?"


    "The leader of Ice Palace, IceMaiden. If you do not mind, can we speak to you in private?" The young woman who seemed to be the main spokesperson asked.


    "That''s fine." Ryu then looked at the others and said: "Everyone, go ahead and do what I asked. We will deal with the issue once we have enough people."


    "Will do. I will send out the numbers to handle the hardest part." WhiteLotus replied as she gave a small bow and left the room.


    Margie was about to leave the room too, but Ryu stopped him. "Margie, you stay. You and Chi will stay to listen to what they have to say. But all information must remain in this room until further notice. Understood?"


    "As you wish, Darling~. You can count on Margie. "  Margie smiled and winked at the two young women, causing them to giggle.


    "Since you wish for them to stay, then we will not hold anything back. My name is Elise Durgreg, Chisaka Yuki, Princess Trisha Evergreen, our miss IceMaiden, real name Tiffany Walswood, would like to formally join hands with Serenity in a lifelong bond between the two guilds. We are hoping with how hard it is to travel we will be able to help each other out by entering an official alliance between our guilds allowing passage between our guilds houses."  Elise bowed her head politely as she explained as to why they were here.


    "Wait, how!?" Chi was confused as to how these two knew who they were.


    "Chi, relax, it is not that hard to figure out if you check up on those who play the game and find out who is the highest grossing player is out of the entire game. Not to mention the both of us are pretty high profile as of late." Ryu explained lightly. But he knew it was only a matter of time before people looked into him, and it was not surprising that it was someone from the Walswood family, a noble family with strong business sense.


    "If you say so..." Chi slunk back in her seat and peaked up at Margie, who was still smiling away as if he had heard nothing.


    "You want an alliance with us, but I would need to speak to your guild leader directly." Ryu would never make any deals without talking to the one in charge first.


    "Our lady did say this was probably what you would ask and said you could send her a private message at any time. Even now, she is online waiting for your message." Elsie replied with a smile.


    Ryu nodded and sat back in his chair and sent IceMaiden a message. "Miss Tiffany sending your assistant over to greet me makes me feel a little lonely."


    "Haha¡­ You jest. I know for a fact that you are far from lonely. It is good to hear from you, the biggest topic of the social circle, Chisaka Yuki." IceMaiden''s lips curled up as she replied. She knew this girl was interesting when she laid eyes on her at Clouds.


    "Mm... This is true. With having such a wonderful fiancee, there is no way I would ever get lonely. Anyway, to get down to business. You wish to form an alliance with my guild, is that correct? Why do I feel you want more than just an alliance?" Ryu was not dumb. A simple alliance would never be something that Ice Palace would be after, they would always request something more.


    "I knew you would understand that there is more to this than meets the eye. Yes, there is more that we would wish to request, but this would not be for free either. The Ice Palace cooperation is willing to help fund your guild as well. If you give us access to reduced priced potions and maybe the lower quality health potion recipe, you are still monopolizing." IceMaiden offered. She really had no other cards to play as she knew Ryu probably did not need funding. But it was still worth a shot.


    "This is not a bad offer. But if you have looked into me, you would know my funds are basically limitless. As others have tried to copy my potions and keep falling short, mine will always sell as long as they are better, even if it is only by five to ten health points. Only because those five to ten health can mean the difference between life or death in this game. So giving out my recipes is not something I am willing to do. Plus, my guild really has no need to expand west or east. So even a normal alliance would not really benefit me. But let me ask you this, Miss IceMaiden. What would you say about merging your guild into mine in the next month or so, when Serenity officially becomes a clan?


    "I am sure you have yet to figure out how to become a clan, am I right?" Ryu asked, his lips curling up into a mischievous smile. Chi, who saw this, giggled slightly. Even Margie covered his mouth and turned away. But his shoulders that were shaking gave him away. Only the two young women sitting there waiting patiently had no idea what it meant.


    "This..." Ice Maiden knew what it meant to know what it needed to become a clan. It meant Serenity''s ability to gather information was far superior to anyone else in game, and the benefits to merging into Serenity were one hundred times greater than any alliance. She was really tempted at this time. "I must consult my other generals and advisors. Can you give me a week to decide?"


    "That, I can. But let me give you something to snack on before you go. If you merge into Serenity when we become a clan, not only will I give you and your generals top positions, but I can say that you will never regret it because I have a small surprise for the players of Soul Fusion Online in the coming months. For now, keep your two little spies in Flim Village, let them report back to you with what is going on here."

 Chapter 174: Setting Things In Motion

    Ryu looked at the two young women and smiled as he said: "I will allow the two of you to borrow two rooms from us. I am sure your guild leader will soon contact you. But let me warn you now. Soon you will see some crazy things going on here."


    "Then we will thank you for your hospitality." Elise bowed her head before standing up with her companion.


    "Margie, bring them to the receptionist desk and have them set the girls up with some rooms. Then come back here.."  Ryu gave out his directions before sending out a message to all generals for an emergency meeting.


    "Okay, Darling~, Margie will be back!" Margie said as she motioned for the girls to follow him and left the room.


    "So what did you speak to IceMaiden about that made you smile as if you were scheming something," Chi asked as she leaned over and rested her head on Ryu''s shoulder.


    "I offered her the chance to merge with us once we become a clan," Ryu answered with a smile.


    "Oh? That is daring asking the second ranked guild to join us, but that does seem like something you would do. " Chi giggled and lifted her head to kiss Ryu''s cheek. "But if they did join us, that would make us that much stronger and harder to knock off our ranked one spot."


    "That is very true. But before any of that happens, we will need to take out the Qin family and get our city under construction. By then, many will be wanting a piece of the pie. We can easily turn a huge profit by renting out spaces and not just ingame currency either, but with crowns." Ryu wanted to pull in all those companies that we''re investing into the game to invest in the new city. As the funds were already set up for actually building the city, everything else would be pure profit.


    "You¡­ Ryu, I really wonder when you have time to plan so much. It seems a shame for you to be going to school. Just start a business." Chi really thought Ryu would be better off as a business person with how he always planned ahead.


    "No, I will get my degree. I made a promise, remember?" Ryu poked Chi''s cheek, causing her to purse her lips. But she did forget that Ryu did promise Mary she would finish school.


    "Sorry, I wasn''t thinking..." Chi apologized. She felt bad bringing up sad memories.


    "We are here!" WhiteLotus, Rose, and Violet walked into the room with GreenHat, two of the numbers, Margie and FingerSandwhich.


    "WhiteLotus, I figured you would be a little late."  Ryu really did not expect WhiteLotus to be as quick as she was.


    "It was just a matter of delegating tasks. Number Eight is sneaking into the Westfall city mercenary guild now. He should be back in a while. As for the notice, I already sent it out over the guild chat. And had others pass it on as well. I will post it again myself later on for those who might miss it." WhiteLotus replied. She had made use of some of those wanting higher positions in the guild to help spread the word. It was the best way to do it than trying to handle it all by herself.


    "That is good to hear. If anyone still heads to Westfall and dies, it will be on them. But I will make sure to avenge their death anyway. I gathered you all because things are slowly being put into motion. I just finished talking with Ice Palace''s guild leader IceMaiden and asked her if she would like to merge with us when we become a clan. She will be giving me a proper response later.


    "But onto more important matters, FingerSandwhich how is recruitment going?" Ryu asked.


    "Right now, we have all the construction teams ready. My father is investing heavily in this city idea thanks to GreenHat over here blowing the idea up to be something big. But truthfully it will. I have a feeling that modernizing a fantasy game like this will open up much more than we would ever imagine. This is a world of magic after all. With the right tools and means, we can do many things, even build computers. Because of this, my father has taken a big interest in this endeavor.


    "That and he seems hell bent on making yours and Chi''s dreams come true anyway. We have two teams of miners who have already been brought into the game and are mining all the metals we can get from the area. There are also a few squads of guards helping them up their levels as well by teaming with them and killing monsters while they farm ore. Once their levels are high enough they will then move to a new area to farm. I had them create new guilds as well. One is the Serenity Mining Company while the other is Serenity Construction Company. I am hoping our staple name will stop others from trying to player kill them. I have also sent a few of our own people to help guard as well.


    "The only thing we are lacking now is armament masters to make our tools. To make up for what we lack at the moment I have about one hundred blacksmith forging tools for us. I figure in about a month in game time we will be able to start building." FingerSandwhich finished his report. He hoped his time schedule was good.


    "Sounds fine to me.  Margie, how many armament masters do we have?" Ryu was wondering if we can get their own armament masters to help with some training and crafting as well.


    "Darling~ we have ten who know what they are doing and I already sent them over to Finger sweety to help out with training and crafting as well," Margie replied.


    "I really do need to hand it to you, you always seem to know what my plans are."

 Chapter 175: [Bonus Chapter] Serenity City

    [Bonus Chapter for 500 Summoning Pens]


    "Darling~ you will make Margie blush if you say such things." Margie gave Ryu a wink causing everyone to laugh. But Ryu was very pleased with how well Margie took care of things. It made things go a lot smoother when dealing with the crafters.


    "Alright, the meeting will end here. I will head over to the village lord''s house and settle Flim village. FingerSandwich, can you begin talks with Roland village lord for me, please? See how much money we might need to invest to take it over." Ryu asked. He was only asking FingerSandwhich because he seemed to be very good at handling people.


    "Consider it done. Shouldn''t take more than a few minutes to win him over." FingerSandwhich replied with a confident smile.


    "Alright, then I will leave you guys to it. Once I finish up with Flim, I will go into closed door cultivation with Chi for the rest of the night." Ryu announced, causing Chi to blush all the way down her neck. She couldn''t believe Ryu would announce it like that! Everyone knew their cultivation was dual cultivation!


    GreenHat was the first to react as he let out a loud whistle and a giggle without saying anything else. But quickly regretted it when he saw his baby sister glared at him. "Ah! Chi, I..."


    "Ryu, I am going to go practice my rune forging," Chi said as she got up, kissed Ryu on the cheek, looked at GreenHat, snorted, and walked out of the room. As soon as she did, she teleported to the palace.


    After closing the meeting, Ryu headed to the village lord''s home to find the old man sitting on his front porch whittling at some wood.  Ryu walked up and smiled as he asked: "What are you sculpting?"


    "When I was younger, there was a legend. This legend spoke of a legendary figure called the moonlight sculptor who was said to have sculpted the moon." The village lord seemed to be in a trance as he spoke to Ryu.


    [System Notification: Hidden Class Moonlight Sculptor found.]


    [If you switch to this class, you will lose all cultivation and have to start over as a sculptor and can only level up by making better sculptures.]


    [Only one person can have this class, making it a special class that not even the no class class has access to.]


    [Would you like to change classes?]


    Ryu read the system message that appeared in front of him and immediately hit no. "Who the hell would spend all their time sculpting crap? Anyway, village lord, I will be taking over Flim Village. "


    Ryu handed the token he received to the village lord. As he did, another prompt that made more sense popped up.


    [Your guild Serenity acquired Flim Village. Would you like to rename the village?]


    "Oh, I can rename it? Then¡­ Serenity City!" Ryu felt this was a good name for the city he was going to be building. It would make Serenity really stand out amongst the rest.


    [System Notification: Flim Village is now under the guild Serenity''s control. Flim Village is now renamed to Serenity City.]


    Hearing the world notification made Ryu frown. He hoped no one would get any ideas and attempt to attack the village. Ryu lifted his head to talk to the village lord, but when he did, he noticed that he was no longer anywhere to be seen. "A different kind of NPC?" there was no way the village lord could have walked that fast.


    Unable to figure out where the village lord went, Ryu decided he should send out a message to all residents. "GreenHat, can you go to Flim Village mercenary guild and have them send people out to notify the residents that we will be holding a village meeting tomorrow night game time."


    "Village meeting tomorrow night, got it!" GreenHat answered.


    With that out of the way, Ryu noticed that the village lord''s house was now under Serenity''s name. He walked inside to find the entire house empty besides one desk with what looked to be a computer on it. "Not very fantasy like..."


    He walked over to it and sat down. The screen was already lit up with a big start button in the middle of the screen. Ryu moved the mouse and clicked the start button for the screen to go completely black. "Welcome, Player Ryu. I have been waiting for you."


    Ryu felt like his eyes and ears were playing tricks on him when the entire room he was in suddenly changed. What appeared in front of him was a young woman dressed in pure white robes with long silver hair and blue eyes as deep as an ocean. On her head was a small silver halo that just hovered there, following her head every movement.


    "You are?" Ryu asked. He wondered if this was some kind of special event or maybe even a GM.


    "My name is Ishtar¡­ I am what humans would call a god. Maybe that is a little confusing as this is a game to become a god but in all essence of the name, I am one of the creators of this world." Ishtar replied. She lightly stepped towards Ryu and instantly appeared in front of him and grabbed his chin. "For a female, you sure make a handsome young man. Do you wish to look like this in real life? I am sure your little wife would enjoy that. I can give you both parts if you would like."


    "Huh!? Wait, what are you talking about!?" Ryu was very confused by many things. First, he couldn''t move a single centimeter. Second, this woman knows his true sex. Third, she just offered to make him truly male in real life! Too much information at once was making Ryu''s head feel like it was about to explode!


    "Hehe¡­ Confused? I am sure you are. As for becoming a young man in real life. How about I just give you the extra member to try for a few days? If you do not like it or decide to look like your character in real life, just let me know. I can either give you an upgrade or cancel the effects.. After all, it is just a little reward for being someone who is able to make this world move faster than it should."

 Chapter 176: Ancient Gods

    "Wait! Can you explain to me in a way that I can actually understand? I mean, right now, it just seems like you are just messing with me. Are you a Game Master? Like one of the devs?" Ryu couldn''t tell if he was being teased or not or what! Right now, all he could see Ishtar as was some GM who thought it would be funny to play a prank on him.


    "The original gods, those forgotten by time. Those were the real true gods before there were kingdoms. Before, there were any rulers or even when you humans were nothing more than cavemen barely surviving. We gods were watching it all from high above. We assisted here and there and showed you many things in order for you to progress, all for you to make it to this point.


    "Now I ask, do you wish to follow the path of the old gods?"


    [Forced Quest]


    [Unique God Level Quest: Path Of The Old Gods]


    [Embark on the path of the old gods.]


    [Quest Completion: ????]


    [Reward: ???]


    "This¡­." Ryu did not even get to do anything, and the quest was already accepted.


    "It''s good that you wish to embark on such a journey. I hope you will be successful in your quest." Ishtar said with a smile before she disappeared.


    Ryu once again saw the whole area change on him again and found himself sitting in front of the computer inside the village, still completely confused as to what had just happened. "I won''t wake up with a dick, right!?" Was the first thing Ryu was worried about.


    In a secret area of the game where no one but the developers can access, Ishtar appeared and sat down in a seat designated for her. "Ishtar, you went too far messing with Ryu. You also made a slip of the tongue."


    "Sorry I got into character. It was the first time I was able to go in game like that and play around. Mimi, didn''t you also handle Ryu when he first started?" Ishtar asked.


    "Hehe, I got him to go back and forth naked. It was a delicious sight." Mimi licked her lips before sticking her tongue out at Ishtar. "But really though, I mean, you told the poor boy you were going to give him a dick in real life!"


    "I couldn''t resist that dumb founded look on his face. It was just too much. So I teased him a bit."  Ishtar looked over at the screen that had a picture of Ryu dealing with a few things on the computer in front of him. "Although, I kinda wouldn''t mind if I got to play with him a little bit. For a character he is, how do I say it, every girl''s dream? That face is just¡­. I might have to turn gay in the real world and make a visit to her house. But my husband and kids might not like that."


    "That doesn''t mean I can''t... But from what the higher ups found out, is that she is not someone we should mess with. The royal family is only investing in Soul Fusion Online because of her. One thing I have to say is that she is very different. Even those around her are starting to change in how they interact with the NPCs. I think she has figured it out or at least has a theory about our A.I. I mean the complexity in which the A.I. acts is not something that can be thrown together in a mere few years of development¡­."


    "Mimi, don''t say more. You know we are not to speak about our A.I. systems." Ishtar stopped the conversation there. Mimi pursed her lips and stayed quiet. If someone was listening in on them now, they would have gained quite a bit of information that would not be easy to get.


    ---


    "I am glad you all could make it!" Ryu was standing in the middle of Serenity City on top of the water fountain as he spoke to the NPCs. "As of today, Flim Village will now become Serenity City. And as the name states, it will become an actual city. This means we will be rebuilding everything from the ground up. But this does not mean you will be kicked out of the city. No, in fact, I wish for all of you to stay in rent free homes that will be a hundred times better than what you have now.


    "My people are already farming all of the resources needed for this venture. I will also be recruiting blacksmiths and other trade skills for a high salary. For those running shops, when the time comes, you will need to close down for a few days and, in the end, will receive a storefront of your own, whether it be small items or food stalls. You will each get your own section in the new shopping district I will be building.


    "Your homes will also be upgraded to more advanced style homes once they are built. We will be building in blocks. So only those homes that are to be worked on during that time will need to be moved. All your items will also be perfectly safe as well as we will move them out for you and place them in storage or put them in your new home.


    "For those who do not wish to move from your homes, please let me know so we can try to work something out. But before anyone makes a decision we will be building the first apartment complex on a clear piece of land. This will allow you all to check the homes yourself to see if they are to your liking." Ryu did not wish to make anyone homeless during this time and was willing to work with the people as they began building the new buildings. For those who wished to keep their homes and land she would need to work it out so they can stay in these homes. Luckily this was a world of magic where anything was possible.

 Chapter 177: I Think I’m Broken

    [Warning R-18]


    After meeting with the villagers and delegating tasks to his generals, Ryu teleported to the palace and went right to his courtyard. As soon as he walked through the door, he heard the sounds of soft moaning. On the bed, Chi was already teasing her pussy. Her skin was beat red as if she was on fire. "Mmm¡­ Yuki¡­. Yuki¡­" Ryu''s dick twitched when he heard Chi calling his name.


    Deciding not to alert the little minx on the bed, he stripped his clothes off,  tiptoed his way over, and slowly crawled onto the bed. Even with his weight shifting the bed, Chi was still too lost in her own lust to realize what was going on. He shook his head and got up between her legs, aimed his member, and shoved it in, causing Chi to yelp in surprise and have a massive orgasm at the same time. Ryu almost exploded right there with much her pussy tightened around his dick.


    "Ryu!" Chi yelled, her already red face turning almost purple in embarrassment.


    "You make me worry. You were so lost in your masturbation that any guy or girl could have easily done this." Ryu raised an eyebrow as he said that. He was really concerned about this!


    "No! I was only doing it because I know only you can enter here!" Chi argued. She then wrapped her legs around Ryu''s waist, holding him in place. Ryu felt Chi''s soul qi suddenly enter into him through his dick, causing him to grin.


    "You seem ready to go for this session." Ryu chuckled as he leaned down and kissed her lips.


    "I am." Chi licked her lips and wrapped her arms around his neck. She leaned up and licked his lips before pushing her lips against his. She could feel Ryu''s dick pulsate inside her, making her want him even more. She slowly began moving her hips, grinding the tip of his dick right on her sweet spot. The soul qi in the room began to thicken as the two began to lose themselves in the pleasure.


    Many hours later, real time¡­


    "I can''t go on¡­ How many times have we done it?" Ryu asked as he laid there breathing heavily.


    "I don''t know, but we seemed to be stuck! Why can''t we break through that one wall!?" Chi whimpered.


    At first, they were doing it because it felt amazing, but after a few days in game time, it started to become almost a chore. But no matter how many hours they fucked they did not seem to be able to break through the barrier that was blocking them from entering the next realm.


    "Wait, Ryu, is it because we have not used our status points and ability points?" Chi asked. She noticed that they were actually sitting on a very high amount of points.


    "Now that you mentioned it¡­ I think that is the reason why..." Ryu opened his menu and looked at his points.


    [Status Points]: 2700


    [Ability points]: 1395


    "My current stats are¡­" Ryu mumbled to himself as he looked at his stats.


    [Health]: 553/553


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 462


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defense]: 2400


    [Luck]: 5


    "Let''s do 1700 Status Points in Attack Power and 1000 points into Health. That should boost my combat ability by quite a bit."


    [Attack Power]: 462 ¡ú 2162


    [Health]: 1553/553 ¡ú 1553


    [Status Points]: 2700 ¡ú 0


    "As for my ability points¡­." Ryu looked at two lines first. To see what the Dao lines were like for them. First up was the healing Dao line, which increased all healing to others by 1%, and a passive heal over time that was always active, self healing 1% of the user''s health each part by point into the line, and it used soul qi, not mana.  As for the skill you got when you finally activated the first real skill within the Dao of Healing line¡­


    [Passive Skill: The Path Of Healing]


    [Every time you heal, heal 50% of the amount healed and get a boost to self healing for 500% of the user''s health. ]


    Ryu began to laugh as he read the healing line. He could just imagine all the players calling him a hacker. "Done deal!" He would be stupid not to take this option! Even if he never put another point into the healing line, this would keep him alive in many situations, and as he kept raising his health, he would end up with so much healing that it would be almost impossible to kill him. You would need to use an instant death skill just to kill him!


    [New Passive Skill: The Path Of Healing]


    [Every time you heal, heal 50% of the amount healed and get a boost to self healing for 500% of the user''s health. ]


    "Okay, that cost me 600 points leaving me with 795 points, and the shielder class is the Dao of the Iron Fortress. To reach the first passive skill for this is 750 points¡­ 150 points more than the healing Dao. But with each¡­. Hehe¡­ With each point I put into the line, I get 1% defense and another 1% self healing. As for the node..."


    [New Passive Skill: The Path Of The Iron Fortress]


    [Boost defense by 500% and boost self healing by 500%.]


    Ryu used his remaining points and placed them into his Sword Dao line. As soon as his ability points hit 0 a surge of soul qi filled him and a notification appeared.


    [Entered Soul Assimilation Realm...]


    [Serenity]


    Name: Ryu


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Class: Specialist


    Cultivation Stage: Soul Assimilation Realm, Stage 1


    Level: 1/30


    [Health]: 1553/1553


    [Mana]: 100/100


    [Stamina]: 100/100


    [Attack Power]: 2162


    [Magic Power]: 5


    [Defence]: 30000


    [Luck]: 5


    {Dao}


    Path Of The Sword: Completion (1%)


    Path Of Healing: Completion (1%)


    Path Of The Iron Fortress: Completion (1%)


    {Boosts}


    Damage boost with swords: (500%)


    Self Healing boost: (1750%)


    Healing boost: (600%)


    Defense boost: (1250%)


    [Status Points]: 50


    {Spouse}


    Chi


    {Companions}


    Nergal


    {Cultivation Method}


    Heavenly Cycle


    {Techniques}


    Wind Walker Movement Technique


    Blade Of One Thousand Shadows Sword Technique


    "Um¡­ Chi, I think I''m broken..."

 Chapter 178: Planning The Qin Family Extermination Part 1

    As the days passed, the old Flim Village was no longer anywhere to be seen. Now tall walls surrounded part of what now could be considered an actual city. Within these walls were tall buildings, some of which reached thirty stories high. There were even mechanical machines powered by magic walking along the streets carrying materials. When FingerSandwhich said he was going to recruit everyone needed to make Ryu''s city a dream, he truly meant it. Now there were many guilds all sporting the Serenity name. Each one was a division for a certain aspect, from resource gathering to research and development of new technologies that could be built within the game. Many scientists flocked to FingerSandwich''s call in order to satisfy their curiosity.


    No one knows if this was what the creators of Soul Fusion Online had in mind when it came to playing this game, but Ryu really didn''t care. He saw his dream city being built and felt a sense of accomplishment just looking at it. Many companies had even begun to contact FingerSandwhich and GreenHat, trying to get a piece of the pie. After all, in game money was worth a lot in the real world. This could also be why Soul Fusion Online devs did not stop Ryu since they were actually gaining a huge profit themselves from the conversion charge.


    With people making money in game, they were also bolstering the real world economy.  While some analysts talked about having too many people working and living in game and not working during the day would cause the downfall of society. It seemed that things were actually not as bad as they thought. Mainly because people still needed to eat and drink. More people were going out to party and dine at restaurants as well. More and more businesses were beginning to really boom with the money people were spending. And a lot of it had to do with people moving out of poverty due to the money they could make in game. With many companies investing in the game and making big returns, the wages of their employees were also going up, making working worthwhile even for the simplest jobs.


    While some people were indeed quitting their jobs, this opened up a new slot for someone who was searching for a job to fill that position. But the actual stability of the current trend was unknown. Those worried about what was going to happen to society set a petition to the royal family to step in, but the royal family only gave one answer. "If you keep sending me these useless notices, I will have you executed." This was all that was needed for those who sent the petition in to shut their mouths and leave the subject alone.


    As for Ryu, who was the main cause of this, he was currently standing at the gates of the Vaughan family looking for answers. It had been a few weeks in game, but that was only because he was busy dealing with city stuff, but now with Chi and Margie, whose cultivation was almost about to break through to the soul assimilation realm,  plus four peak soul assimilation realm experts were waiting for the guard to bring someone useful to speak to him.


    Walking out with a few people following behind her, Clara walked to the gates to greet Ryu. "Ryu, It has been a while."


    Margie saw two of the men standing next to Clara and snorted. "Darling~ it was these two men who were there that day."


    "Oh? Clara, do you not think I deserve some kind of explanation? I thought we had a deal." Ryu''s eyes turned cold as he looked at the young woman.  He felt that she was bringing these men out here to do a show of strength. Unfortunately for them¡­.


    "Explanation? I did say I would keep people from messing with your guild, but I did not mean I would protect them all the time. " Clara responded calmly. "If a few of your people get killed, there is nothing I can do about it."


    "Oh, even if your people are standing right there watching the show? Let me tell you this, Miss Vaughan, you should have stuck to your deal. Because I now plan to take over the entirety of Westfall City as I expand Serenity city. I have already bought up all the land from Flim village all the way to Westfall City. In order to take over a city, I must first rid it or make the top clans of the city submit to me. It just so happens that I wish to start my own clan and to do that, my requirements are simple. Take over any clan. This means yours also fits this bill. Since you wish to act as if your promise to me is worth shit, then I will deal with you as I see fit." Ryu''s words were not just acting though he meant every word of it.  He had expected Clara, who seemed like a person who would keep their word, to actually keep their word. He was very disappointed.


    "If you are here to threaten my family, I suggest you not. You will not live very long by doing so. If you leave now, I will overlook your attitude this time around, but if you do not, I will be forced to get ugly." Ryu watched as Clara motioned with her hand, and then thirty people appeared behind her, all cultivators from the soul sensing realm to the soul assimilation realm.


    "Oh, a show of strength? Did you forget  who I am?" Ryu shook his head and then waved his own hand. Over one hundred people of the soul assimilation realm to soul sensing realm appeared, all of which were mercenaries.


    "You!" Clara''s face paled a little, but she never thought that Ryu would have such numbers but being a clan how could their numbers be small. She was about to call more when Ryu raised his hand.


    "I will give you a chance to think about what I said and if you wish to stay as a clan of this city then I expect an apology not just from you but those two idiots as well. Now if you will excuse me I have much more important matters to deal with."  Ryu waved his hand again and the people who appeared disappeared all over again. He then turned on his heel, placed his hands behind his back, and he began whistling a song as he walked away, not even taking Clara and her people as a threat.


    Clara looked at the group Ryu brought with him leave and pursed her lips. She looked at the big burly man standing next to her and asked: "Care to explain?"


    "Nothing to explain I just did not feel like helping, Young Miss." The man replied.


    "I see. I think my third cousin needed someone to test his concoctions on. Why don''t you go and help him for a few days." Clara''s words caused the man to turn pale. He dropped to his knees and began begging Clara. "Young Miss, please not that! I know I am in the wrong! The Qin family people had paid us off!"

 Chapter 179: Planning The Qin Family Extermination Part 2

    "How are preparations?" Ryu asked as he returned with Chi and Margie.


    "Thane Qin is waiting for you in the meeting room," GreenHat replied. "I need to go and make sure everyone else is in place. I will keep in contact."


    "Alright, go ahead. Thanks for the hard work." Ryu did not want to keep GreenHat any longer. He was in charge of the intelligence team who were scouting the surrounding areas and setting up for the attack.


    "Hehe, this is nothing. You are actually going easy on me. You should see FingerSandwhich. He is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I will keep you posted on any news." GreenHat said with a smile before running off.


    "Ryu, you really need to work him harder. He seems too free. How about we make him farm one million bluegrass." Chi asked, her eyes saying she was dead serious. She still had not forgiven him for not protecting her when she was younger.


    "Can''t, I need him for other things. Next time you see him, just kick him over and over until you''re satisfied. Margie will hold him down for you." Ryu suggested with a wide grin. If it would make Chi happy, he would not care if she killed GreenHat until his cultivation was crippled.


    "Just leave it to me, Darling~!" Margie patted his big muscles, causing both Chi and Ryu to laugh.


    As they entered the room, the joking around quickly stopped. Ryu looked at Thane Qin, who was sitting there nervously under the watchful eye of the numbers. "You''re here?"


    "Yes! Ryu! Your people contacted me¡­." Thane jumped up and yelled out but quickly sat back down when he saw Margie glare at him.


    Ryu took a seat across from him at the table and folded his hands in front of him while Margie and Chie stood to his left and right, respectively. He looked Thane up and down and released some of his soul qi suppression, causing Thane''s face to pale. "So, what do you think of my offer?"


    "You promise not to kill any of the family members but the head and those who oppose you?" Thane asked. He was worried the whole Qin family would be wiped out. He was there the day these two had opposed the Emma Qin''s guard and now feeling the increased strength of just one of them was enough to make want to kneel on the ground. He knew Ryu had advanced to the soul assimilation realm.


    "As long as they do not oppose me and accept me as your family head. I will bring you all under Serenity, and you will keep your status as a head clan in Westfall. But I must ask that you do not do any criminal activities or I would have to deal with the culprits. I am only giving you this one chance. As I said, I only want Emma''s head and control of the Qin family. But those who try to kill my people or me will die.


    "But I should explain that I won''t be really in charge of your family.  I will be the head in name only. Your family can decide who the next head will be." Ryu explained.


    "Then deal. I have already talked with the elders of my side family and the other side families. They have all decided to band together under one banner to overthrow the main family who has been suppressing us for too long." Thane, from that day they met, had been watching Ryu''s actions. The other day before Ryu headed to the Vaughn family, he was contacted by a man named GreenHat, who offered him a deal. That was when he went and talked to the elders of the city.


    "Good, but remember, if you betray me, I will kill everyone. So whoever you pick as head, do not get any ideas and make sure they will not try to suppress the people of Westfall." Ryu would not really kill everyone, but he did not mind using it as a threat. This was why he was using a show of strength by suppressing Thane with this soul qi.


    "Do not worry. We will not betray you. Being under your leadership will at least free us from the main family''s control. Right now, we can''t even expand our own business without their permission and giving over half of our earnings. If we tried to leave, they would send people out to kill us. We are more like slaves who only work for the main family." Thane was sick of working for others when the companies were under their own names. It was just pure suppression, and he could not take it anymore.


    Realizing his suppression, Ryu stuck his hand out to Thane and said: "Then we have a deal. We will send people to send you back. I can not have my partner in crime being caught by that bitch, now can I."


    Thane chuckled and nodded his head. "The Qin family will be in your care."


    Ryu knew this was just the start. They had hired over five hundred mercenaries as well. Along with his guild and the side families of the Qin''s, he figured he would have around one thousand people. This was a force never seen within Soul Fusion Online before. It was one of the biggest player-built armies ever made. Such a thing, of course, would catch the eye of the devs. And they were recording the whole process.


    Before, it was a battle of two hundred versus two hundred. Now it is was one thousand versus however many the enemy has. As the main family, Ryu was sure Emma''s people were in no small number. If you added in her guard who was like an army of one thousand himself it was going to be a tough battle. Luckily hiring mercenaries for these kinds of requests had a binding contract that made it so they could not back stab the one who hired them. This meant all five hundred of the mercenaries he hired were all under his full command without worry of being backstabbed.  "The show is about to begin. We should all prepare."

 Chapter 180: Raid On The Qin Family Part 1

    In a warehouse near the Qin family estate on a secret lower level, a group of around one thousand in total a combined force of mercenaries, Qin side family members, and all two hundred members of Serenity''s main guild were in attendance. On a stage, standing in front of these people were Ryu and Chi. They were surrounded by the generals of Serenity.


    Ryu cleared his throat as he looked out over the crowd and began to speak: "Today is the long awaited day. For the people of Serenity, it is a chance to become something much greater than we are now. For the people of the Qin side families, it is a day where they take control of their own lives. And for the mercenaries who took on this job, it is a day to make a large sum of money.


    "As I have promised for all the mercenaries, if any of you fall today, I will be sure to take care of your families and not allow them to suffer. I have signed a contract on this, so you do not need to worry about that. I will ask that you stay clear of the man beside Emma Qin." Ryu turned and nodded at GreenHat, who turned on a magic device that the Serenity research and development team made. It was nothing more than an image storage device that took pictures and then displayed them into the air. Ryu had people use it to take images of the man next to Emma''s side.


    "This man is the one you need to watch out for the most. He is said to be in the nine souls forming realm. The ones who will need to take him head on are myself and Chi. Emma will also be our main target. Our job here is not to cause a massacre. Only kill those who attack you. If they surrender, use the binds you have all been given to secure them. We will deal with them after we have accomplished our mission.


    "Do not think that just because we are many that this will be an easy task. The actual number of main family members is not known even to the side families. When we go in, act with caution. If you see someone wounded, try to pull them out instead of advancing. We want everyone to come back alive. I mean it. I do not wish for any of you to die.


    "I will do my all to try to keep any of you from dying as well." Ryu finished what he had to say, then stepped back and let Chi take over.


    "As Ryu said, we do not wish for any of you to die. So make sure you commit the following to memory. Our two main targets and only targets are Emma Qin and her father. As for the man in black, we kind of hope to keep him alive. If he is willing, we hope he will become part of Serenity. Make sure you commit him to memory as you do not want to fight him head on. If you see him, stay clear of him. We do not want needless deaths.


    "Each one of you has been given a certain kind of weapon and shown how to use it. As a refresher... These weapons do not work on magic, they work on soul qi. You need to inject your soul qi into the chamber and charge it up for each shot. The good thing about these is that you can charge them ahead of time. But I must tell you that they are also bound to Ryu. So if you try to take one home with you after the mission, it will explode, taking your life and those around you with it." Chi lied¡­ The weapons that they were given were indeed bound to Ryu and couldn''t go outside Westfall city, but they would not kill anyone. They would just break and fry all the internal magic chips that were made to build them.


    These were no different than the laser pistols that could be found in the real world. Except these needed to be charged before each shot and were to be more of a trump card for those fighting than an actual all out weapon. The power stored inside could unleash a blast of soul qi that jumped two stages, making it enough for a person to use as last resort desperation shot to try to get away. That is only if the shot lands.


    After Chi finished what she had to say, Margie finally came forward as he was going to be the main leader of the main force alongside the numbers backing him up. Ryu and Chi were to take on the big fish as they were the highest cultivation, and Ryu was basically unkillable with Chi right there behind him. Margie smiled, and most awaited his normal flamboyant voice that he always used when he called out "Darling~" But instead, they were met with something that sounded like a dragon''s roar. "Okay, you little shits! You will follow my orders to the last letter. If not, and you are from my guild, I will kick you without a second thought! All others, if you do not listen, then you are just asking to die! I will say this now, when I say jump, you better fucking well jump!  I will not run out to try to save anyone. Team leaders, get your groups together and make sure everyone is equipped with the correct gear and necessities!"


    Ryu and Chi looked at Margie, who was roaring away in shock. Especially Ryu, who just said to make sure to pull back the injured! Ryu sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, whatever. What happens, happens..."


    With everything ready, an army of around one thousand strong began to move¡­


    ---


    Outside the city of Westfall, Clara stood on a tall hill that oversaw the village. In her hands held up to her eyes was another item that Ryu had made. A pair of binoculars.  "Ryu, I don''t understand why you sent a message for me to stand on this hill to watch the Qin residence. All I see is iidots coming and going since I got he¡­. What the hell is that massive army!?"

 Chapter 181: Raid On The Qin Family Part 2

    Clara was shocked and a little afraid after seeing so many people. She did not realize that Ryu had such a large army and what''s more was that his army even consisted of the Qin family''s side families as well! This was unheard of. He basically turned the Qin family on themselves! "I now understand what he meant. He does not plan to wipe the Qin family out. He only plans to make them submit, and by taking out the main family and setting up a new head, the new head only needs to submit. As long as you do not cross him and keep your promise, he will not treat you unfairly¡­ Jen..."


    "Yes, miss?" A maid at Clara''s side, stepped forward and bowed her head.


    "Cut off the heads of those who were involved with the last incident with the Qin family and Serenity. We will make peace with Serenity. I will go explain things to my father. Make sure you get all their heads. If my brother complains, just tell him to fuck off!" Clara said coldly. She had originally sent the two traitors to become testers for her brother, but this was a much more serious matter than she had ever expected. If he really does take out the Qin family and then turns his eyes on the Vaughan family, it would not be good for them.


    Clara was not the only one watching. A few of the game masters were also high in the air watching the show. "This Ryu is really a strange one."


    "Haha! He actually got the side families on his side. Now, that is quite amusing. To think he actually used the hardest way of taking over a family and made it look so easy."


    "He hasn''t won yet. There is a nine souls forming NPC down there protecting the next family head."


    "Have you not seen Ryu''s stats? That kid''s got higher stats than a peak nine souls forming realm cultivator. He is basically an end game boss. Here look at his build."


    "Holy shit! No wonder! To think the specialist class was this overpowered if used right. Should we have the devs nerf it?"


    "Nah, only he is allowed to have it. The rest only get a plus three ability point increase like the rest of the classes. This kid is just nuts. He built right into the perfect build for a swordsman. He no longer needs to raise any other classes now and can stay on the swordsman path. With his current set up, he can basically solo anything under the soul destruction realm."


    "It is good to have at least one overpowered player in game. It will keep people striving to match him. How about just getting rid of no class altogether and only allowing him the privilege of it?"


    "This¡­. You know what, this is not a bad idea. The girl next to him is also pretty decent. Her dancer dao line is also pretty robust with all kinds of boosts and regenerative spells."


    "This should be a good show. But I wonder. How many NPCs will disappear from this game today..."


    When these words were said, the game masters all lowered their eyes with hints of sadness that could be seen within them.


    Down on the grown Ryu charged through the main gate of the Qin family estate. "Remember, do not kill anyone besides Emma Qin and her old man, if you can. If they surrender, just tie them up!"


    "You dare try to attack the Qin family!? Wait, Young Master Thane!?" The guards who came rushing forward when the gate was kicked in were stunned to see Thane running in with a sword drawn.


    "Surrender now, and you will not be hurt! As of this moment, the Qin family''s main family will no longer exist!" Thane yelled.


    The guards were very confused as to what was going on but seeing the hundreds of people rushing through the gate right past them, they dropped their weapons and raised their hands. If this was a coup, it was best to give up for now and wait for the outcome.


    Inside the main house of the Qin family estate, Emma Qin was sitting at the dinner table eating dinner with her father. "Father, don''t worry, I will find a very handsome man and give birth to the next heir soon. We will be sure to secure the main family for many years to come."


    "I can only rely on you, Emma. Ever since my backlash when trying to enter the nine souls forming realm, my cultivation has been slowly regressing¡­ Sadly I can only rely on you to keep our house as the main family..." The man looked to be around fifty years of age said with a bitter smile. He did not wish to give up the main family to anyone.


    "Father, I know I will find the perfect man I don''t mind spending my life with soon. It''s just too bad that the other one got away or else I could be carrying a bab¡­."


    "Master! Young Miss! The side families are revolting! They even sided with Serenity!" A guard burst through the door, interrupting Emma with his alarming news.


    "What did you just say!? Who is revolting and with who!?"  Emma yelled. She couldn''t even believe her own ears. She never thought the side families would ever be able to gather together and revolt as a single force, but to also have Serenity with that damn man and woman in it backing them up as well caused Emma''s anger to skyrocket.


    "The side families and Serenity! They have a force of over a thousand." The guard repeated sweat dripping from his brow.


    "Zan! Come with me! We need to quell this revolt quickly!" Emma yelled out. As she did, the man in black from before appeared at her side. "As you wish my lady."


    Emma ground her teeth and clenched her fist as she waved her hand making a sword appear in it. "This time we will kill that bitch and tie the handsome man up to be nothing but a breeding horse for my babies! I don''t need someone to love me, I just need a dick with good genes to impregnate me. Let''s go!"

 Chapter 182: Zan Part 1

    As Ryu and his army made their way to the main house, most of the guards were willing to surrender. Those who did not sadly lost their lives. Ryu did not wish to kill these guards who were just doing their jobs, but he had no choice. If they attacked, it was either them or one of the people in his army. They got halfway towards the main house when the main star of the show had finally appeared before them.


    "Ryu, you bastard!" Emma yelled out as she pointed her sword at Ryu. The man in black standing at her side. Behind her was a force of at least three hundred.


    "Chi, you deal with the slut, and I will handle the big guy. The rest of you take out their forces!" Ryu shouted his command before rushing forward. Emma never expected Ryu to just attack without exchanging words causing her face to turn black. "Zan, I want him alive. As long as he can impregnate me, I don''t care how many limbs he losses."


    "As you wish, young miss..." Zan frowned. He felt that Ryu was much different than before. To be able to rush at him head on meant that Ryu was confident in his win. He drew his sword and shot forward to take Ryu on. But paused his steps when he saw a streak of lightning flash by him going straight for Emma. "Young Miss!"


    "Sorry, but your opponent is me!" Ryu was already in front of Zan, making it so he could no longer retreat to protect Emma. He had no choice but to turn and block the incoming attack that was coming at him!


    Emma''s face paled as she felt her throat being grasped by a delicate white hand. She looked up to see a fox girl standing there looking at her with her blue azurite eyes that emitted a strong killing intent. "Yo-You!"


    "How do you do, miss slut? Remember me? I am Ryu''s wife. You know the wife of the man you tried to r*pe. Let me tell you this now. His entire being belongs to me, and you are not allowed to touch or see it. So first, before I kill you, I will be taking these eyes that glanced at my husband''s body." Chi''s eyes were cold and emotionless as she used her other hand and stabbed her fingers into Emma''s left eye, causing her to scream out in pain. Chi had bottled up all her anger this entire time, and now she was letting it out as she plucked an eyeball out of Emma''s head and squashed it between her fingers. "That''s one..."


    "Ahhhh! Zan save me!" Emma yelled out. But Zan was in no position to save her. He was desperately trying to fend Ryu off. He never expected the young lad who could barely do a thing last time was now pressuring him to such an extent that he was not able to do anything but take up a defensive stance.


    Emma never expected this turn of events. She never expected that as soon as she arrived, she would be blinded by some girl. When she felt her eyes being plucked from her eye sockets, she knew her life was over.  And she was right. Once the second eye was squished between Chi''s fingers, Chi used her sword and cut Emma''s head clean off. "In your next life, find a man that doesn''t belong to someone else." Chi kicked the body that was still standing over before rushing to join Ryu in his battle with Zan.


    Zan''s face sunk when he saw Emma being beheaded, and then the fox girl rushing towards him. He was already having a hard enough time dealing with Ryu. There was no way he could fight two at once right now. "Zan, just give up! If you lay your sword down here and surrender, I will offer you a place in Serenity!"


    "I am sorry, but I can not! I have no choice but to continue to fight for the Main Qin family! They have my daughter and only two people who know where she is. Now only one." Zan replied as he blocked another flurry of Ryu''s attacks.


    "Are you an idiot?! How long have you worked for these people? How long have they held your daughter hostage? Do you really think she is still alive? These people who are so scheming they would even try to kidnap people just to make them sex slaves? That girl you were protecting wanted nothing more than to turn me into her breeding horse so she could secure the main family line. Do you think these people would be willing to keep your daughter alive?" Thane had spilled the beans about everything, including the death of Zan''s daughter.


    The girl was r*ped then killed by Emma''s father after he got his hands on her. They didn''t even properly bury the girl. They just tossed her in an unmarked grave. Luckily it was one of the side families who did the dirty job of covering it all up. Ryu had them exhume the remains and gave the poor girl a proper grave.


    "No, my daughter''s alive, they promised me!" Zan''s face suddenly became pale white. He had a feeling long ago that this might be the case, but he could never find any information telling him other wise. The strange feeling became just that, a strange feeling. He begged and pleaded to see his daughter but they refused to, afraid he would snatch her up and run away with her. That was when his daughter was sixteen years old. He has no idea how many years have passed since then.


    "That man you are trying to protect sullied your daughter''s body and then killed her. He even threw her in an unmarked grave. Luckily I was able to find the place and recovered her remains so she could have a proper burial!"


    "No you''re lying!" Zan didn''t want to believe it. He couldn''t believe it, he had to believe she was alive. Or else all this time he had been serving the murderers of his daughter!


    "Surrender and I will give you the proof you seek!"

 Chapter 183: Zan Part 2

    "How do I know you speak the truth!?" Zan asked. But deep down, he felt that maybe Ryu''s words were actually true.


    "You will know once you surrender. If not, then I will need to get serious." Ryu''s eyes began to radiate with sparks of lightning. Chi''s eyes began to do the same thing.


    Zan felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He already knew whatever attack they were about to do was not something he could take. Letting out a long sigh, Zan sheathed his sword and knelt down. "I am yours to do as you see fit with."


    The lightning in Ryu and Chi''s dimmed. Ryu smiled and walked over to Zan, and placed his hand on Zan''s shoulder. "Don''t worry. You won''t regret this. In fact, I will capture the bastard who would do such a thing to a young girl and let you do as you please with him."


    Zan looked up at Ryu in astonishment. He could tell the anger in Ryu''s voice was not fake. This puzzled Zan. He lowered his head as tears slowly began to well up into his eyes. He now fully believed Ryu. There was no way for a man such as Ryu to use his daughter as a means for him to give up the fight. He knew during the entire fight just now that Ryu was holding back and only clashing with him, never aiming for his actual body. He was doing so in order to convince him.


    As Ryu began to walk towards the main house. Zan reached out and grabbed Ryu''s wrist. "Wait!"


    "Hmmm? Do you still wish to fight?" Ryu asked while gripping his sword.


    "No. I wish to come with you. And deal with the man myself. There should be no reason for you to capture him. Plus, I know where the secret rooms are that he could be hiding in." Zan replied. His eyes filled with determination.


    "Then so be it! Come. This will be the first time we fight together as a team, and in the future, we will stand on top of this world, and you can show your daughter just how much of an amazing father she has."


    Zan wiped his eyes and nodded his head as he knelt once more. This time he stabbed his sword out in front of him as he did. "From this moment on I, Zan, will be your sword and promise to protect you with my Life!"


    [Follower System Unlocked!]


    [Zan desires to be your loyal follower until death.]


    [Do you Accept?]


    [Yes] [No]


    Ryu saw the notification pop up in front of him and was quite surprised by this. This did not happen with anyone else, so it must be the oath that Zan had just made that caused this notification to appear. Ryu thought for a moment before hitting the yes button. He had no reason not to refuse. As soon as he hit the button, Zan''s body glowed, and his cultivation shot up an entire realm!


    "Oh? I entered the nine souls forming realm? Wait, Zan, you are in the soul destruction realm!?" Ryu was more surprised that Zan was in the soul destruction realm than him suddenly jumping a whole realm!


    "It seems my oath to you was a gift from the heavens. We both jumped a realm..."  Zan clenched his fist, feeling the new power welling up inside him, and smiled. "Master Ryu, if you will still allow me to kill that bastard."


    "Huh? Ah yeah..." Ryu was highly confused, but whatever the case may be, this was a blessing in disguise.


    He was not the only one confused. The Game Masters high in the sky watching everything were also confused. "When the hell did we put a system like that in!?"


    "I think this is not part of the original code but the system itself adding a special future in."


    "But how!? Has the system evolved that much already!?"


    "I think it is because he does not treat the AI as AI. He treats them as living beings. His guildmates are all the same. As a leader who treats the residents in the game as real living beings, it will also rub on those under him. I think because of this I think the system decided to add an extra future. You could call it a fortuitous encounter. This Ryu will be one of the few people to leave a mark on history in the world of Soul Fusion Online."


    "I have to hand it to him. Only twenty of the NPCs so far have died in this war. Not including that Emma girl. With how things are going, less than fifty should actually die. But the amazing thing is not a single person from the thousand people he brought has died."


    "Make sure you upload this battle to the website but censor out the part where the fox girl dug out Emma''s eyes. We do not want people copying that."


    "Haha yeah, that girl must have really hated Emma."


    "Well, she did try to have her way with Ryu. So I can understand her anger."


    "Remind me not to piss her off. I still like being able to see."


    "I second that. But I have to say this war is progressing much faster than I thought.  I figure another hour tops before they clean up."


    "We will just have to wait and see. Master Qin may still have a trump card."


    Ryu and Zan left Chi in charge to clean up the rest of the battlefield. There were still some loyalists to Master Qin who did not wish to surrender. With Zan in the lead and him using his cultivation suppression, all those who went forward to try to stop them were slammed to the ground unable to move. The two were an unstoppable force and soon found themselves in front of a set of double wooden doors inside the main house.


    "Just come in, I know you''re here already. "

 Chapter 184: Clan Part 1

    Both Ryu and Zan walked through the door to see Master Qin sitting behind his desk smoking a pipe and a glass of some kind of wine in his hand. "If Zan is here, that means Emma is dead¡­ Zan, do you know what it means to betray me?"


    "I was a fool to follow you in the first place. I already know what you did to my daughter, you sick bastard. I will have your head today!" Zan yelled out and was going to charge at Master Qin, but Ryu held him back.


    "Oh? You''re a smart one." Master Qin frowned. He had wanted to take Zan out, but it seemed he had one more person to worry about than just Zan.


    "Master Qin. Your time is already at hand. Why don''t you just give up? Or do you wish for me to break the array you have surrounding you?" Ryu asked. He had found it funny how calm Master Qin actually was. It seemed he was hiding something. He was not sure if it was just the array or something else.


    "You can feel free to break it, but I will say let you know that once you do, you will be the one who is sorry." Master Qin spoke calmly as he took a sip of his wine.


    "Tell me why you would do such a thing to my daughter when she was so young!" Zan was shaking in anger. He wanted to kill this man but he couldn''t. He could only ask why.


    "Ahh yes¡­ She screamed delightfully when I took her. Too bad she had to go and bite me, then maybe I wouldn''t have beaten her to death. You know she called for her papa many times. It was an amusing sight. Those tears, those eyes that screamed for her papa to save her..." Master Qin let out a laugh. He was saying all of this to make Zan attack.


    "Enough!" Ryu''s whole body suddenly exploded with soul qi. He was even angrier by Master Qin''s words than Zan was. Master Qin reminded Ryu of the man who killed Mary. The same kind of person. The pressure coming off Ryu''s body made Master Qin''s whole body feel cold. He did not think that this man had reached the nine souls forming realm!  "It looks like you do not wish to do things the easy way."


    Ryu tilted his head to the side. His eyes were filled with sparks of lightning. They arced out and ran down his body.


    [New skill acquired: Lightning Domain]


    [Can only be acquired by one who is attuned to lightning. Their strong will to defeat the enemy in front of them will create a domain.]


    [Must be trained to the highest level to get max range out of the domain. (1 kilometer)]


    [While in the domain user''s body will be one with lightning.]


    [Immune to physical attacks. Magic attacks halved by 50% ]


    [Duration: 5 minutes]


    [Cool Down: 24 hours]


    [New Dao line added: Dao of Lightning]


    The whole room for 5 meters in all directions around Ryu suddenly turned into a desolate land with a black cloudy sky. Ryu''s body no longer looked normal as arks of lightning began rising from his skin before diving back into him as if the lightning was swimming around inside his body.


    Master Qin''s face turned pale. He had never seen such a thing before. "You! What are you!? A monster!? Demon!?"


    "I am whatever you think I am. As of right now, I am your judge, jury, and executioner. And I judge you to be tormented for the rest of your life. I will cut off your limbs and pull out your tongue. Then I will hand you over to Zan. My guild houses just so happen to have many dungeons below them, so it will be a perfect place for him to torment you for the rest of your days. You have just stepped into hell." Ryu''s eyes showed no emotion whatsoever. He walked forward, not caring about the array any longer. As he stepped through the array he felt some resistance and saw his health drop by five hundred, but he did not care. He walked right over to Master Qin, grabbed him by the throat, and raised his sword.


    "No! You can''t do this! I am the head of the Qin Family! You will not get away with this!" Master Qin tried to struggle, but he was unable to. He could only watch in horror as Ryu lowered his sword, cutting his limbs off one by one. He then watched as Ryu slammed the hilt of his sword into his stomach, shoving a raging storm of soul qi filled with lightning element into his dantian, shattering it instantly.


    "What Master of the Qin family? You have long stopped being a master and are only looking out for yourself." After saying this, right as Master Qin went to say something, Ryu shoved his hand into his mouth, grabbed his tongue, and ripped it out. "I show no mercy to disgusting sick people like you."


    Ryu then tossed Master Qin out of the array right to the floor in front of Zan. "From this moment on, he is all yours do as you please."


    "Master Ryu! Thank you!"  Zan was truly grateful to Ryu, who opened his eyes and made him realize he was working for a sick bastard who killed his daughter.


    Master Qin was on the floor squirming around, unable to talk, staring at Zan with fear filled eyes. He would rather die than to be tortured, but he couldn''t even kill himself now! He was nothing more than a living bag of flesh for Zan to torture as he pleased. Zan reached down and picked Master Qin up by the neck and then turned around leaving the room.


    Ryu did not leave yet as he had to turn the array off first to allow the others to take charge of the estate. He walked around the shelves until he saw a small glow coming from behind one of the books. He pulled the book out to see a small crystal glowing brightly giving off the same feeling as the array. Ryu picked it up and then crushed it in his hand causing the Array to disappear. "Now then¡­ let''s get to upgrading my guild to a clan."

 Chapter 185: Clan Part 2

    An hour later, everything had settled down, and Ryu with Chi, Margie, and the other generals at his side sat in the main seat of the Qin clan. In front of him was Thane and the elders of each of the side families. "As of today, the Qin family will be headed by me. Are there any objections?"


    Ryu did not want to waste any more time. He still had to make a pit stop at the Vaughan family and still had to speak to IceMaiden about the guild merger. "I, Thane, the temporarily assigned head of the side families, hereby announce Ryu as our clan head and swear our utmost loyalty to Ryu and Serenity."


    [System Notification:  Conditions met Would you like to upgrade the guild Serenity to a Clan?]


    Ryu did not hesitate to hit yes. Such a silly question should not even need to be asked. As soon as he hit yes, a world message was announced across the world.


    [The guild Serenity has met the requirements to become a clan. Their guild status will now change from guild to clan, and their maximum member count has been extended to five hundred.]


    @BraveSoul: !!!!! Does this mean I can join Serenity now!? Fuck yeah!


    @ButterMyNuts: Umm¡­ Ryu, is it too late to apologize and join your guild? I mean, I know I said a few harsh words, and I do apologize. I would like to leave the shitty Golden Sword and become your loyal follower!


    @Gene: ButterMyNuts, you asshole. Do you really think if you guild hop, Serenity will take you in!?


    @ButterMyNuts: Fuck you, Gene. The only reason I am on bad terms with Ryu is because you instigating me. You keep trying to make yourself out to be a big man. But I saw it when you were changing. Your dick is no bigger than the tip of my pinky finger!


    @Gene: What the fuck are you talking about!? How would you know how big my dick is!?


    @AzuritePaladin: Gene the Microdick +1


    @Draconis0kelly: Gene the Microdick +1


    @MrShadowMan: Gene the Microdick +1


    @KjellTheViking: Gene the Microdick +1


    @LittleRuRu: Gene the Microdick +1


    @DrakeStarkiller: Gene the Microdick +1


    @Ryu: Gene the Microdick +1


    @Gene: Fuck you all!! Why the fuck did I just get a system message saying I was granted the title Gene the Microdick!? Which mother fucker hacked the game!?


    @Ryu: Hahahaha!


    Followed by Ryu''s laughter, the whole chat blew up with people spamming  Gene the Microdick +1 and laughter text. And within a room not accessible to players, Mimi sat in her chair, giggling away as she touched Ryu''s name on the screen. "I will be seeing you soon, my love~!"


    Ryu had planned to contact IceMaiden, but instead, she was the first to contact him. "I see you are a man of your words. Well, a woman of her words. Hehe."


    "I always keep my promises. Well, I at least try to. Did you come to a decision?" Ryu asked.


    "Yes. We had a full vote within the guild, and the merger passed with eighty percent voting for. So some of our members may leave after the fact, but all the core members agreed that the benefits of merging into Serenity were too good to pass up. You did promise our core members decent benefits and a high salary, so it will be worth it for them. How do you wish to do the invites?" IceMaiden had been wondering how they were going to be inviting so many people at such a long distance.


    "Hehe¡­ check it out." Ryu had already checked out the new clan window, and there was a button to auto invite an entire guild. You just had to send the message to the guild leader you wanted to merge with. Once they hit yes, all the members would be greeted with a popup that asked them to join the clan or reject it and go solo. But by doing this, the previous guild''s house becomes the property of the new clan, meaning they could now travel back and forth between the eastern and western parts of the continent.


    After reading the details on the screen in front of her, IceMaiden smiled and hit the yes button. Just like that, the guild Ice Palace was removed from the rankings.  Serenity still stayed first because the rankings itself were never meant for just guilds. It only started out that way due to no clans or sects being created yet. But now, Serenity was basically locked to first with no way of being removed unless they were to disband.


    As the guild members of Ice Palace began to hit the yes button to become members of Serenity, the clan member list quickly filled to three hundred and seventy. "Now I wonder how I will make this clan turn into a sect..."


    Ryu was already thinking ahead. He wanted to reach the top as a sect so that they could have free reign within the game to do as they pleased. But the world of Soul Fusion Online was not bound to a single plane. This meant that once they reached a certain cultivation level, they could go to a whole new plane. Ryu was really interested in what this other plane was like.


    As Ryu was trying to plan out his next course of action, a message from someone in his friends list he had completely forgotten about popped up: "Hi handsome, Mimi is here!"


    "You''re not here. You are sending me a private message. How may I help you miss Mimi?" Ryu asked.


    "Ahh, no fun! And here I have come to tell you some juicy news. Do you want to know!? Do you? Do you!? Should I tell you!? Huh? Huh? Maybe I should keep it a secret." Mimi was trying to hype Ryu up but instead got an answer she never expected.


    "Since it isn''t important, I will let you go. I still have things I need to do." Ryu went to close the chat, but Mimi quickly sent him another message.


    "Wait, hold on! I was just joking. No fun at all geeze. Anyway, the higher ups have decided that they will be reaching out to you for an interview. Whether you do it in game or out of game is up to you. And if it is real life, you will get to meet the great and wonderful me. Well¡­  Joking aside, I hope you do the real life interview. I want it to be known that all top gamers are not men."

 Chapter 186: Wrapping Things Up

    "An interview, huh? I can do that. When will they be contacting me?" Ryu asked. He had no issues doing an interview. He hoped that maybe he could also use this chance to spread awareness of orphans.


    "Alright then. The higher ups will be in contact with you soon. Take care!" Mimi ended the conversation and sat back in her chair, inside her apartment. She was looking at a picture of the real Ryu, Yuki, on the screen in front of her. She reached out and stroked the screen. "My little Yuki, just wait for me."


    Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the dark room. On the walls were blown up pictures of Yuki from before and after her accident. Mimi smiled and ran her hands down across her body and between her legs. "Yuki~!"


    Ryu ended the message with Mimi and suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. "Why do I suddenly feel like something bad is about to happen?"


    Shaking his head, Ryu called Chi and Margie and headed to the Vaughan clan along with Zan. Out of all the powerhouses in Westfall city, Zan was now the strongest, so he was the perfect bodyguard in case something went wrong. But to Ryu''s surprise, when he reached the Vaughan family''s gates, he was greeted warmly and led right into the main hall.


    "Ryu, you''re here." Clara greeted Ryu warmly before turning to one of the maids and ordering: "Bring them in."


    The maid bowed her head and left the room. Clara then turned to Ryu and bowed deeply: "You have my deepest apologies! To be honest, I did not realize how strong Serenity was and did not think you could ever amount to anything within the city. Yes, I know the power you held before, but after seeing the people under you being so weak, I just¡­."


    "That is understandable to a point. But you must remember one thing. Never judge a book by its cover. One does not win wars by strength alone. And trust me, if it came down to a fight between Serenity and your Vaughan clan, I am sure I would win." Ryu said confidently. He already had a few insiders in the Vaughan clan, people under his own payroll.


    Before Clara could reply, the maid that was sent out came back with a long cart and four silver platters on them. Ryu looked at Clara with a questioning look, not understanding what was going on here. "This is my gift to you." Clara walked over to the cart and lifted each silver lid revealing four different heads. "Each of these heads is responsible for what happened to your guild members the other day. The one at the end is my brother..."


    Clara did not realize that even her own brother was in cahoots with the Qin family. It seemed he wished to take her position as the next head of the family. But he was weak in cultivation and only ever went out to play games, unlike her other brother, who was a poison fanatic.


    "I see..." Ryu frowned. He really did not wish to see a bunch of heads.  "I see you are trying to make amends for what happened before. I can trust you this one time and will not touch the Vaughan family. But if I catch any of your family members doing anything to the citizens of Westfall, I will kill them." Ryu gave the same warning as she gave the Qin family. He did not want any strange happenings going on within the families anymore.


    "You have my word, and thank you." Clara bowed her head deeply. A great weight was lifted off her shoulder. She did not wish to go to war with Serenity, not when their guild leader was now a nine souls forming cultivator, and he also had a soul destruction cultivator at his side.


    After saying his goodbyes to Clara, Ryu was finally free for the rest of the day. He and Chi went to their small little courtyard in their palace and snuggled up together on the bed. "Today was tough..."


    "Mm¡­ Do you feel better now that you killed her?"  Ryu asked as he interlocked his fingers with Chi''s


    "No. I was overcome with anger and jealousy and did some pretty crazy things¡­ I just hope I never do that in real life." Chi said as she rested her head on Ryu''s chest. Her free hand was under his shirt, playing with his belly button. "What''s annoying is that you are now a full realm about me... "


    "Ah yeah, that was surprising. I never thought that would happen." Ryu leaned down and kissed the top of Chi''s head. "I am sure you will catch up. My leveling will be very slow from now on, and the cultivation method we use, I believe, said something about helping your partner level faster to even out the cultivation realms."


    "Hopefully, that is the case," Chi replied, her hand resting on the bulge in Ryu''s pants. "Maybe we should log out early. I kinda want to hug the real you."


    "Mmm¡­ sounds good.." Ryu smiled and brought up his window. The two then logged out.


    ---


    Yuki pulled her helmet off to have Trisha pressing her lips against hers, then laid right on top of her resting her head on Yuki''s shoulder. "Trisha, you okay?"


    "Mmm¡­ My actions today just scared me. I don''t want to become some kind of psychopath. But my love for you consumes me sometimes, and I begin to lose myself." Trisha replied. She was truly scared herself today with her own actions.


    Yuki wrapped her arms around Trisha''s shivering body and held it tightly. "No matter what happens, I will be by your side. I have done some crazy things myself so far since playing this game. So if we are to go crazy, let''s go crazy together."


    "Mmm¡­ I love you Yuki¡­ My sweet, caring Yuki..." Trisha started to doze off when she suddenly felt a hand pulling her shirt up and playing with her chest. "Yuki?"


    "Mm? I just felt like giving my loving Princess a full body massage."

 Chapter 187: The Second Recruitment Drive

    "And so let me introduce you. This is IceMaiden, former leader of Ice Palace." Ryu stood next to a blue haired girl with horns on her head. Hanging off his arm was Chi, who was staring daggers at IceMaiden.


    "Can you not make it sound like I am a defeated foe? And Chi was it? Can you relax a bit with the staring? I am not trying to take your little husband." IceMaiden


    "Humph! So you do know your place." Chi''s attitude was not uncalled for. Earlier, when IceMaiden had appeared, she walked over and hugged Ryu and even gave a mocking smile to Chi, who went into a flying rage. If not for Margie holding Chi back, things would have become quite bloody in the main hall of the guild. No one even questioned how Margie was able to hold back Chi when she was supposed to be stronger than him.


    "Yes, yes, sorry, I teased you a little too much. But trust me when I say I have no intentions towards your man." IceMaiden only wanted to joke a little, but she never expected Chi to be a yandere.


    "Alright enough. Let''s get back to what is at hand. Now that we are a clan, we have room for many more players. We will once again begin recruiting. But this time we will hold a tournament. The top one hundred will be allowed to join the guild." Ryu had decided to just make things simple this time. They already had a lot of crafters, and with how the game was pushing more towards the player versus player side of things, it would be best to have as many powerful fighters as they could get. "IceMaiden and Number Six will hold a prelim in the west, and Margie and Number Eight will hold a prelim here. I am thinking of cutting the numbers down to five hundred before having the main stage. We will do it as a month long event. Prelims will take up most of the time. If it is anything like our last recruitment drive, then there will be a mass of people. And now that we are adding in the west side of the continent, we can expect even more."


    "How will we handle the venue?" GreenHat asked.


    "I was thinking we could get Serenity Construction and those good with earth magic to build stages. We can set up a large temporary stadium in the Great Fordon Plains just outside Roland. Well, I guess it is Serenity City now¡­ Anyway, this will give easy access to those of all levels to come and watch. I was even thinking we could even set up stalls outside and rent spaces out to other crafters to help bolster the clan funds. As for the west area¡­" Ryu looked over at IceMaiden.


    "I know a place we can set up at. Just leave the west to me and Number Six. I promise to fill our coffers..." IceMaiden licked her lips. Just the thought of making money excited her.


    Ryu chuckled and nodded his head. "Then I will leave it to you. Just let me know when everything is set up so we can start advertising the event. Now to other topics. FingerSandwhich what is the status of the city? Are we ready to begin renting space to outside companies?"


    "We have a few spots, and many companies are already vying for them. I also added on in the contract that we will be taking five percent of profits along with the monthly rental price. This made some of the smaller companies drop out, but the bigger companies are what we are aiming for anyway.


    "We should be seeing a profit of around one hundred thousand silver a month in a few months time. Once the city is complete and space becomes hard to get, we can up the prices. Unless you have plans to continue expanding the city beyond Roland?" FingerSandwich asked. He would prefer to keep expanding since they had the force and complete funding to handle it all. There was no lack of funds, and everything they took in would be profit.


    Ryu tapped his finger on his chin and leaned back in his chair. If he were to really continue expanding the city, it would end up changing the game map altogether. "Hmm¡­ if we keep building, we will need to keep certain areas as leveling zones. So large walls would be needed around areas with monsters. For now, let''s get the city finished to Roland, and we will go from there. If we do end up expanding past that, we will need to begin creating districts. Splitting the city up into different sections. "


    "I have noticed that monster spawn points do not change at all, so we really do not need to make leveling areas. We can use the mercenary guild as a means of handling monster spawns within the city and as a way to give players better rewards." WhiteLotus suggested.


    "Hmmm¡­ Alright, we will see how it goes. If not, we will need to figure out another method. I figured expanding the city would stop monsters spawning inside of it, but if the monsters are still spawning on the streets, that is fine. What about buildings? Have they been spawning inside them?" Ryu was worried about NPCs getting killed in their sleep if monsters suddenly spawn in their bedrooms.


    "Not that we have noticed as of yet. What if I have our R&D team look into some kind of monster killing defense for inside homes?"


    "Yeah, do that. It is better to be safe than sorry." With things flowing in motion Ryu was excited to see just how this city would turn out.


    ---


    In another part of the game, in a deep dark cave, Beauty sat upon a throne made of skulls looking down at the undead army in front of her. "How is it?"


    "We have checked, and those who you have turned seemed to have slipped into comas. Over a thousand cases have been reported of the fifteen hundred you have here." A man in black answered.


    "Hmmm¡­ Keep an eye on things especially those who have yet to be reported. Do not let the people of Soul Fusion Online know they have a major bug in their game. I do not want them to ruin my fun."

 Chapter 188: Interview

    The next day Yuki and Trisha were sitting in their living room with Tina when Yuki''s phone rang. She picked it up but did not recognize the number. "Hello?"


    "Hello, is this Chisaka Yuki? My Name is Ron Sampson, the public relations director for Soul Fusion Online. I am calling to ask if you are willing to do an interview." Ron was the person tasked by the department to call Yuki. He was actually a fan of Ryu''s and watched all of his escapades that were made public. He was jealous of those in the Game Master department because they could join the game and watch things live.


    "Yes, I am willing. When and where do you want me to meet you?" Yuki asked. She had been expecting this call after she had talked to Mimi. She was accepting it for two reasons. One, she wanted to make awareness for orphans and hoped to get some donations going to help out the newly constructed orphanages, which she tried to pay for herself, but the king would not let her. So she was now making a five hundred million crown a month donation, and second, she wished to tell everyone about Serenity City and that spaces were opening up for rental.


    "As soon as you can, actually. The higher ups are looking to get your interview up on the main site and the HTV stations as soon as possible. What would be a good time for you?" Ron asked.


    "Mmm¡­ One second." Yuki looked over at Chi Tina and asked: "Soul Fusion Online wants to interview me. Are we able to do it today?"


    "I don''t see why not. It''s not let we had much planned." Tine felt proud of her daughter. She was not only able to live without worries but was also becoming a star.


    "I''m fine with that. We just need to freshen up a little, is all." Trisha agreed without hesitation. She would do whatever Yuki wanted, so it did not matter what they did.


    Yuki nodded and told Ron she was ready to do it today if possible. This caused Ron to be very excited. "Good! Let''s meet at the Grand Hotel in three hours. How is that?"


    "Sounds good, we will see you then¡­." Yuki hung up and stretched her arms. She was happy she could get this interview so soon. "Mom, be prepared to receive a lot of donations!"


    "Oh?" Tina was slightly confused. She did not know why she would be receiving donations.


    "I will be talking about the orphanages and asking people to donate what they can from food, clothes, money, anything will be welcomed." Yuki wanted to make the best of this since it was not every day she was being interviewed. She knew the interview would be broadcasted all over since Soul Fusion Online would want to make a big deal out of it. The top player of Soul Fusion Online, Ryu, is actually a cute girl named Yuki!


    Tina sighed and rubbed her daughter''s head. She was always trying to do things for the orphanage. Tina had to stop her from trying to give up her entire fortune and convinced her to just give a small sum per month. But even still, she feels it is not enough.


    ---


    While Yuki was getting ready for her interview, a young woman was putting on her makeup. She looked at herself in the mirror that only had enough room beyond the many pictures of Yuki. There were tapped to it to barely see her face. "Hehe, my sweet Yuki, I will get to see you today! Maybe if I play my cards right, I can even have a meal with her¡­ Invite her back¡­ Hehehe¡­ Yuki~!"


    This young woman was the game master Mimi. The same Mimi that told Yuki about the interview. She stood up after checking to make sure she looked perfect before walking over to her life sized cut out of Yuki and kissing it on the lips. "Maybe I can kiss the real one today..."


    With a happy delusion in her mind, she slowly opened the door to her apartment and walked out of the room. As she left, muffled cries could be heard coming from the closet in her apartment. A dim light shined through the crack of the closet door to reveal a pair of eyes that were filled with fear.


    ---


    Yuki arrived at the Grand Hotel fifteen minutes early. As soon as she was pushed up to the front door, someone called out her name. "Yuki over here!"


    Yuki, Trisha, Mary, and Tina all turned their heads to see a young woman walking over.  Yuki looked at the woman in confusion since she had never met this woman before. "You are?"


    "Ah! Sorry, let me introduce myself. My in game name is Mimi. I am a game master of Soul Fusion Online. Ron had me come to do the interview. The camera crew is already setting up in the private room. It''s just that..." Mimi looked at the five others. Besides Trisha and Tina, there were the three bodyguards as well.


    "Ah ummm..." Yuki looked at Trisha and her mother, wondering what she should do.


    "We can wait outside and grab something from the hotel''s restaurant while you do the interview," Trisha suggested.


    "That''s fine. It should not take more than thirty minutes." Mimi replied with a smile. The girls nodded and all headed into the hotel.


    While Trisha took the others with her to find a table to wait for Yuki, Yuki was brought to a private room on the second floor of the restaurant. When Yuki entered, she saw a bunch of cameras and lights within the room but no one else was there which confused Yuki. Seeing her confusion Mimi smiled and explained: "They took a small break and should be back within fifteen minutes. This was why I said thirty minutes before. I was hoping the two of us could have a small chat before they came in on what you plan to talk about and the questions I will be asking. Here, have a drink..."

 Chapter 189: Sometimes Miracles Do Happen Part 1

    As Trisha and the girls were walking towards their table, Mary suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. "Mary?" Trisha turned and called out.


    "Master is in trouble!" Mary left these words before rushing off to the private room Yuki was in.


    Inside the private room a few minutes earlier, Yuki smiled and accepted the drink from Mimi. She took a sip of the drink and frowned. "Mimi, is this drink okay? I taste fun¡­ huh? I feel dizzy¡­ What did..." Yuki''s whole body felt strange. She was wide awake, but she couldn''t move at all. It was as if she was paralyzed all over again.


    "Hah! My dear Yuki¡­." Mimi''s eyes turned strange as she walked over and traced her hand down Yuki''s body. "Hah! I can feel my body heating up already. Don''t worry, Yuki, I will take good care of you. Your body and soul will soon only think about me."


    Yuki''s eyes showed absolute fear. She was unable to move at all, and now this woman was trying to undress her! While Mimi thought she was finally going to have her way, a loud crashing sound came from two different directions, one from the window the other from the door.


    "Let go of Master!" Mary''s voice rang clear throughout the room. Even the man in black who had come to help Yuki was startled by the sudden yell.


    "You!? Why are you here, and who are you!?" Mimi was confused. She did not understand how the woman who came with Yuki knew something was up, and she really had no idea who the man in black was!


    "Don''t get in my way!" Mary looked at the man in black and glared at him. She was mad. Very mad. She never wanted to see her master get harmed in any way, and now this woman was trying to strip her master of her clothes! She had sensed something was off about this woman, but now¡­


    The man in black stepped back. He couldn''t help but feel that this woman was very scary. This was one of the numbers sent to guard Yuki and Trisha. He tapped his ear and sent a message directly to Melgrave. "Your Majesty, Miss Chisaka was in trouble."


    While Melgrave was getting the rundown, Mary was already gripping Mimi''s face with her hand. "You dare touch my Master!?"


    "Ahhh! Why did you have to get in the way!? Why!? Why!? I would have made her mine. Yuki~ Yuki~ Tell them you want me to fuck you. Tell them you want me to ravish your body! Hahaha! My beautiful and wonderful Yuki~! Tell them!" Mimi''s eyes had completely gone crazy. Whether her normal self was all an act and this was her true self, or maybe the fact that she knew she had lost any chance of being with the one she was obsessed about that made her go even more nuts than before. But she did not seem to feel pain as Mary ruthlessly punched her over and over in the stomach. When Mary saw that that was not working, she tossed Mimi to the ground with a loud bang and began slamming her fist into Mimi''s face.


    Anger¡­ for the first time in Mary''s life since her creation, she had felt true anger. And that anger was starting to consume her. Mimi was nothing more than a bug that needed to be squashed out so that her master will never be bothered by her again. But more than that, she felt this kind of situation had played out before. A situation that had happened way before she ever met Yuki at the black market. She did not know why this was. But since the very beginning, Mary has always felt the urge to protect Yuki from anything that came her way. Only Yuki, no one else, and she had seen countless people. She had no idea why this was, but all she knew was that Yuki was someone she must protect for all eternity.


    Yuki saw Mary losing it and was on the verge of killing Mimi. She panicked and tried to reach out to her. She knew if an A.I. killed a human, they would be taken in dismantled. She did not want Mary to be taken in! With everything she had, Yuki yelled in her mind to move. No matter what, she had to move and stop Mary before she did something that was irreversible. Somehow as if by a miracle, Yuki''s body responded to her wishes. Her legs were still not moving, but she was able to move her arms.


    Mary was landing punch after punch. Mimi''s face was swollen beyond recognition as blood flowed from her mouth, nose, and even her eyes. Wet fluid began to drip from Mary''s eyes, something that should never be possible for an A.I. But at this moment, if anyone were to look at Mary, they would no doubt say she was crying.


    "Anyone who wishes to harm my light should just die!" Mary raised her fist and was going to use all of her strength to finish the job once and for all, but stopped when she suddenly felt herself in a warm embrace.


    "Mary, no!" Yuki hugged Mary tightly. She had tears raining down from her cheeks. Only one person could and would ever call her their light! Yuki hugged Mary tightly, not wanting to let go. She had no idea if this was all a dream or an illusion brought on by the drug, but she knew just now Mary called her her light. It was as if the deceased Mary from her past had come back to life.


    "Yu-Yuki?" Mary turned her head to see the tears rolling down Yuki''s face causing her own oily looking tears to also flow. "Yuki¡­. " Mary turned around and hugged Yuki tightly.


    When Trisha and Tina finally entered the room they were met with the strange sight of Mary crying, a woman lying on the floor in a bloody mess, and Yuki hugging Mary while also in tears. "What in the world?"

 Chapter 190: Sometimes Miracles Do Happen Part 2

    At this time, Yuki was too choked up to even explain what was going on. She just sat there on the floor hugging Mary and Mary sat there hugging Yuki. Both Trisha and Tina could only look at that man in black for some answers, but even after learning what had occurred in the room, it didn''t explain the current situation. For an A.I. of any kind to be actually crying was just unheard of.


    "Umm... Miss Watts, his Majesty just contacted me and told me to tell you the person your daughter spoke to before, a man named Ron was found in this woman''s closet beaten and tied up as well as an entire apartment of pictures of your daughter from who knows how far back. Whether she had been watching your daughter for many years or just recently and acquired the photos from elsewhere is still investigating." The man in black explained.


    "Okay. I will leave that to Melgrave. I will be taking my daughter home for the time being. If Soul Fusion Online wants an interview with my daughter, then the president will need to do it himself." Tina was not going to allow another worker near her daughter. If they really wanted an interview still and Yuki was up to it, she would allow it, but only if the president of the company came to do it himself.


    "I will make sure to tell his Majesty." The man in black replied before dealing with the woman on the floor. She was such a mess that even after being worked on by surgeons, unless she spent tons of money, there would be no way for her to return to her previous looks.


    With the man in black dealing with the other things, both Tina and Trisha knelt down and began wiping the blood off both Yuki and Mary. "Yuki, what is going on?" Trisha could tell that the thing between Mary and Yuki was not all about the woman just now. There seemed to be more to it.


    Yuki raised her head and looked at Trisha, her eyes red from crying. She then looked at Mary and took a deep breath as she tried to explain. "She is Mary..."


    "Yes, we know that," Trisha answered back, feeling confused.


    "No¡­ Not Mary the A.I but the real Mary!" Yuki really did not know how to explain it. It was crazy to even think about. People do not come back from the dead. But just now, the words and way Mary was acting were her sister Mary, the girl she grew up with, not Mary the A.I.


    "Master?" Mary''s voice spoke up. Mary looked around. She seemed to be confused as to what was going on. "What happened? I seemed to have shut down."


    Yuki looked at Mary. Her lip began to quiver. She cupped Mary''s cheek and lowered her head as she began to cry once again. She wondered if what had happened was a miracle. It had to have been something so outrageous, it must have been a miracle, or maybe A.I. Mary had the old Mary''s soul within her body. Hidden someplace deep inside her and only able to come out at certain times. But all she knew was she had seen the expression of care and love her sister had once shown her before. This was when a  thought came to mind. "Is there a camera in this room? Like a security camera?"


    This was the only way for Yuki to make sure that what had happened was not something she dreamt about or some kind of side effect of the drug. If what was said and the way Mary acted after the fact was truly on that video, then it would prove she was not just imagining things.


    "Yes, there is. Three in fact." The man in black answered.


    "I want the video feed now. Right now!" Yuki yelled. She still refused to let go of Mary. Trisha looked at Yuki with concern. She had no idea what was going on. But maybe the video would answer her questions.


    Tina, on the other hand, had a complex expression on her face. She had an idea of what Yuki was talking about, but she was not sure if Yuki may have imagined it or not.


    Fifteen minutes later, Yuki had finally calmed down and was sitting at the table with Trisha. One of the hotel staff came in with a laptop and placed it in front of Yuki. "The whole thing was caught on camera from three different perspectives. It''s just that it''s a little weird..."


    "I know it''s fine." Yuki waved the hotel staff away and pressed play. It played the entire thing from start to finish. From Yuki speaking with Mimi, to her being drugged, and then the man in black and Mary entering the room. This was all normal until Mary pinned Mimi to the ground and began hitting her. A white light seemed to have engulfed Mary from head to toe. Each word, the fluid from flowing her eyes, everything was caught on camera. It was something one would never think was possible.


    Yuki paused the screen when the white glow was the brightest and leaned her head on to Trisha''s shoulder. She reached out and caressed the screen. "I knew it¡­ Even after death, she is still doing her best to protect me."


    It was a scene out of a sci-fi movie. Even with today''s technology proving the existence of an afterlife was still not possible. But here, in front of her face, she knows for a fact that that white light was her sister Mary. She knew once she heard Mary calling her her light. She knew¡­


    Trisha was quiet and just held Yuki in her arms while Tina had tears rolling down her cheeks. She was there when Yuki read the diary. She read it herself as well since it was evidence. And those exact words were used within the text. Tina leaned over and hugged the two girls. The only one left still completely confused as to what was going on was Mary herself who said she had blacked out and had no recollection of what happened after punching Mimi a few times. But this would be another day that Yuki, Trisha, and Tina will remember for the rest of their lives.

 Chapter 191: Making A Deal

    The next day Yuki was given a big surprise. "My name is Tom Creeger. I am the CEO of Soul Fusion Online. On behalf of the company, I am sorry you had to go through such an ordeal. We have now begun doing home checks and complete background checks on our Game Master staff to ensure that none of them are the same as Mimi was. We will also be offering you a ten percent stake in Soul Fusion Online as well."


    A tall man in a blue suit bowed his head in front of Yuki to show his apology. Yuki scratched her head since she really didn''t care because of what happened with Mary. It allowed her to have an experience she never thought would be possible and meet someone she missed very much. But getting a ten percent stake in Soul Fusion Online for free was not a bad deal. "I understand. I accept your apology. But for the shares, can you place them under my fiancee''s name?"


    "Yuki!?" Trisha was surprised. Although they were both well off now with her own runes selling quite well, she still combined her money with Yuki''s so that they didn''t need different accounts.


    "It''s just a precaution, in case something happens to me. I mean, I have already been shot and drugged, who knows what will happen next." Yuki did not like thinking like this, but if things did go bad, she did not wish to have too many things under her own name. She would rather move it to Trisha''s name or her mother''s.


    "If that is what you wish," Tom replied. He did not question Yuki''s actions. She was someone who is a self made billionaire after all. A ten percent stake in his company was just a drop in the ocean for her.


    "By the way, Tom, I would still like to do the interview, but I wish to have time for two things I would like to talk about that will be off topic if that is fine." Yuki did not give up on wanting to publicize the orphanages and the city.


    "That''s fine. But may I ask if one of them will be about the city you are creating?" Tom asked. He had been keeping a close eye on this, and the reason he did not stop it was because it was an excellent way to make money and bring more companies into the game to invest even if it veered off the main track of how the game was supposed to be played.


    "Yes, one of them will be. Why do you ask?" Yuki was now in her own little business mode. She was not smart about business, but she was not going to let anyone swindle her. She would listen to it all before getting back to them. If the deal was good, she would contact them back. Of course, she would be talking to Greg''s brother James first.


    "We also wish to invest in the city as well, and we''re hoping you would make a shopping district. We want to sell shop items in your city. If you are willing to give us a bit of a discount, I will give you access to world teleporters that will allow you to set up teleporters anywhere in the world that will connect directly to your city." Tom thought this was a good deal since there was no world teleport option as of yet. The only way was to merge a guild into a clan like how Yuki did, and then only the guild houses the merged guild had would become available to that clan. And that clam only.


    "I think you are a little late on that." Yuki gave a smug grin. "We are already on the verge of making long distance teleporters using magic. And¡­ If you make it, so they do not work to squeeze in your deal, I will never sign any deal or allow any of your merchandise to be sold in my city. And do not think you can threaten me with my account. Right now, you need me. As I have the backing of the royal family."


    Tom''s face went sour. He couldn''t help but bitterly laugh. She was completely right. The reason why Soul Fusion Online was flourishing right now was due to Yuki having the backing of the king himself! He even received a call from the king telling him that he better not shut down the servers for any reason! Something about his precious daughter and daughter in law was playing the game and having fun. "What can we offer then?"


    "Hmm¡­ I want a full remake of the quests for the starting area of what used to be Flim Village, Westfall city, and Roland. I will be expanding Serenity city to these areas, and once the city is built we the old quest locations will all be within the city. We also need our buildings to have no monster spawning zones. With that, I will only charge you one percent of your monthly income in silver and will provide you with an entire building for Soul Fusion Online. You will still need to pay rent, though." Yuki did not need James for this deal. Mainly because what she was asking was absolutely absurd and would cost the company a ton of money.


    "Done. I will get my planning team going on a patch that will give you complete control of the areas around those three places as well as the areas between them. You will get a special crafting window that will allow you to designate the zones you wish to be monster free, move spawn points where you wish, and as for the quests, my team will set them up per area when they are completed. This special crafting window can be given to others as well, so you will not need to do all the work yourself. I will make it a city owner option so you can designate who can do what from there. Just give us two weeks to set it all up."  Tom had no issues doing this. While this gave Yuki a lot of perks for her city, it would also fix a lot of things that could go wrong with this city. But having only one percent of their monthly income taken plus paying rent was not bad, and the money Serenity would be receiving in that one percent plus rent would be no small sum. It was win win.

 Chapter 192: The Real Yuki Part 1

    Instead of going home, Tom stayed to get things set up for the interview. He already had many things he wished to ask. Without needing a script, and since this was an interview about the player themselves, it did not need to be strict on how it was done.


    Of course, this meant that Yuki also had to get prepared, but because she was going to appear on Holo Vision, Trisha and Tina whisked her off to get ready. When it was time for the interview, Yuki was pushed out wearing a low cut, purple dress and a purple face mask to match along with her hair styled up, making her very cute. Trisha matched her well with a black dress and a black mask. "Trisha, was the dress even needed?"


    "Everyone must know how cute my Yuki is and how they will never ever be able to have her because she belongs to me!" Trisha said with a cheeky smile.


    Yuki could only smile and let her have her way. As they arrived in the garden where the interview was going to take place, Tom''s eyes fell on Yuki, and he went completely speechless. He couldn''t help but be captivated by Yuki''s delicate features, and how good she looked in the dress she was wearing. She looked like a whole different person when she dressed up as a girl.


    "Ahem¡­ Tom, if you stare any longer, I will need to call the police." Trisha raised an eyebrow as she caught Tom staring at her Yuki.


    "Ah¡­ sorry. I was truly stunned. She is like a whole different person." Tom replied honestly.


    Trisha smiled and felt proud instead of jealous at this. She raised her nose in the air as she said: "She is my Yuki after all!"


    "Okay, enough of the embarrassing talk. Let''s get the interview started." Yuki just wanted to get the interview over with.


    "Right, if you girls can, please sit. Although I guess that should be you saying this since it is your house after all." Tom chuckled and also took a seat. Trisha sat down and removed her mask, and Yukie rolled up next to her and also removed her mask as well.


    There were two chairs and then Yuki in her wheelchair. Yuki could have hidden her disability, but she did not wish to do so. She wanted to use this chance to show that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Behind them was a large holo vision screen with a big logo of Soul Fusion Online on it.


    The cameraman gave the signal, and the interview began. "Hello to all of those who are watching. We are coming to you live from Soul Fusion Online''s top player''s house. Ryu and his partner Chi. Although I guess I should say her since Ryu is in fact not a man but a girl."


    Tom seemed rather comfortable while speaking in front of the camera. He had stood up and was doing his best to hype up the viewers. They decided to go with a live broadcast due to the suddenness of it all. Surprisingly the broadcast stations were more than willing to allow them to cut into the normal broadcasting.


    "Now then, let us get down to the interview, shall we?" Tom smiled and sat back down, and turned to Yuki. "Your name is Yuki, am I correct?"


    "Mmm¡­ Yuki Watts. I used to go by Chiasaka Yuki. But after my mother adopted me, I took on her last name." Yuki had to make it clear what her new last name was because she had registered her old last name with the company and had no way of changing it.


    "And the lovely lady at your side is Princess Trisha Evergreen, am I correct?" Tom asked.


    "Yes, I am Yuki''s fiancee," Trisha replied proudly in a clear voice.


    "Haha, you seem to love Yuki very much." Tom couldn''t help but smile at these two. He felt their relationship was very pure.  "Now, Yuki, what originally made you want to play Soul Fusion Online?"


    "Well, it was kind of a last resort or maybe out of desperation. As I said before, I was adopted by my wonderful and loving mother, Tina Watts. But that was only when I was already eighteen. I grew up in orphanages and was, at that time, working my way through college. I lived in a cesspool for Neo addicts at the time, so rent was cheap, but as someone with no background and no ability to really get a decent paying job, I worked crappy side jobs. Sadly I was let go one day all because the owner''s daughter decided to switch the schedule for a time I was unable to be there without my prior knowledge.


    "I am sure you can figure out how that went. On my way home, I heard about Soul Fusion Online when I saw a newscast on an HV in a store as I walked by. I really have no idea what I was thinking. With so little money and nothing to really go on, I saw it as my last hope when I heard people could make money in SFO. I had rent to pay and needed to eat as well. Luckily I had a scholarship, or I would not have been able to enter college.


    "But Soul Fusion Online changed my life. Because of this game, I was able to get myself out of poverty. I am not saying it would work for everyone, but for me, it was as if I had a guardian angel looking down at me." At the mention of guardian angel Yuki''s lips curled up into a gentle smile, causing both Trisha and Tom as well as the viewers to get lost in her beautiful smile. It was a genuine smile that no one would be able to fake. "Ah, excuse me¡­ You see, I lost a dear friend of mine during that time. A lot of my determination to get to where I am now is because of her. The rest would be because of Trisha and my mother and their futures if anything were to happen to me. I mean, I have already been shot in the head once."


    Yuki wanted people to know her, the real her. The reason she is the way she is and why people should never give up on their dreams. Dreams were something that was meant to be followed. And as long as you continue working hard through all the hardships and struggles, never losing sight of your goal you can eventually make it. You can eventually reach your goal.

 Chapter 193: The Real Yuki Part 2

    "I don''t mean to interrupt but, I must ask you were shot in the head?" Tom asked. He was very surprised by this declaration.


    "Mm¡­ It is the reason I am in a wheelchair now. It happened when I was trying to save the one I loved. I would do it again if needed." Yuki replied. "Sometimes in life, you will find things very important to you. Those things will be the things you wish to protect the most. For me, I will do whatever is necessary to protect my loved ones even if it means giving up my life."


    "Very commendable." Tom meant it when he said this. He felt Yuki to even have such a mindset was an amazing thing. "Yuki, you have been playing the game for a while now. Besides making money, how do you feel about the game?"


    "Mmm¡­ I would say it is quite amazing. But if I were to pick one thing out from it all, it would be the A.I. While I think graphics are a must to help immerse a player into the world, the A.I. is what makes the world. The A.I. in this game is amazing, or should I say they are no longer A.I. but digital sentient beings?"  Yuki waved her hand, calling Mary over. Tom was a bit confused as Mary came and stood by Yuki''s side. "This here is one of my family members. Mary, this is Tom from Soul Fusion Online."


    "I heard about him." Mary frowned. She did not like the people of Soul Fusion Online after what had happened. So she did not greet him.


    Yuki nodded. She was glad Mary acted as normal and did not keep her attitude or her facial expressions in check. "Tom, what do you think of Mary?"


    Tom blushed. He did not know what Yuki was getting at with bringing over one of her family members. "Ummm, She is beautiful. But she doesn''t seem to like me too much. "


    "Would you call Mary an A.I.?" Yuki asked.  Yuki had everything covered up dealing with Mary during the last incident. This was to keep things from being known. It was also to make sure to get a real reaction out of Tom.


    Tom was even more confused now he did not understand what Yuki was getting at. "No. It would be hard to call a human an A.I."


    "What if I were to tell you what is in front of you is an A.I., one that is no different from you or me? One who worries, cares, and is no more human than yourself? Is this no different from the A.I. in your game? You see, when I log into Soul Fusion Online, I no longer think of the NPCs around me as just NPCs. I see them as real, like people living their daily lives in a different world that we just so happen to tap into.


    "I asked my question just now in order to make other players realize that A.I.s are no longer what they used to be. And before people start trying to break down my doorsteps. I have already taken up proper security, and Mary is part of my family and always will be. Her last name is Watts, and she will soon be the first adopted A.I. in history. His majesty Has also given my mother and me his blessing and the legal right to adopt Mary as a member of our family. " After the incident at the restaurant, Yuki had had a long talk with both Tina and Trisha about it. And although one of them was reluctant, they had a meeting with Melgrave as well. This meeting was to allow an A.I. to become a member of their family, the first of its kind. Not as a  servant but as Yuki''s sister.


    "Master..." Mary looked down at Yuki in disbelief. She did not even know how to react.


    "In the future, you should just call me sister," Yuki said with a smile. Mary lowered her head. She was trying to understand the feelings that were suddenly welling up inside her.  Yuki also knew this would be a risk and that there would be many factions who would not like this, but she did not care. Mary had long been a member of her family. She just wished to make it official.


    "You are just full of surprises. And I am happy to see such a thing. As you know, I always push to have people take a closer look at the A.I. in our game, and now I can officially say I am witnessing something I have been wanting to see for a long time." Tom bowed his head deeply to Yuki. She was already making one of his dreams come true.


    "Now then¡­ To my last question, Serenity¡­ The top guild of the game. How did you do it? From the way I see things, you will hold the crown as the strongest guild in the game forever as long as you do not disband it." Tom asked. This was the juicy stuff a lot of gamers wanted to know about.


    "Ummm¡­ I started off as a mercenary then, from there, went on to build a guild. I found that having so many people working towards a single goal was a beautiful thing which made me want to work harder. And as you know, from there, we went from a guild to a clan and are even building the first ever modern magical megacity in the game." Yuki replied. Her calm demeanor now grew a bit more excited as she began explaining the ins and outs of the city.


    "I have seen the progress myself on the city and am really amazed at the work you have put into it. We have also been notified that businesses can invest into the city as well and rent shops to sell items as well?"


    "Yes, they can. We charge rent and a five percent cut of the monthly revenue. As Serenity is the one creating the city we do not think it is too much to ask for. "

 Chapter 194: Elixir Of Life

    "Last but not least, I know you wish to talk about a topic of great importance to you." Tom was now bringing the interview to a close.


    "Yes¡­ My Mother and I are now the leaders of the world''s orphanages, and while some of you are probably going, yeah, so? Well, I would like to ask those of you who have such thoughts. Do you know what it is like to go hungry? Do you know what it is like to be left alone to fend for yourself at a young age when you know nothing? Do you know what it is like to see people you are not blood related to but yet still think of as your brothers and sisters being sold off, abused, and becoming addicted to drugs?  Do you know what kind of life millions of children are living in right now?


    "While yes, a lot of this has to do with a faulty system that came from before, but now that things are being handled by my mother and me, things have begun to turn around. The lives of the kids who are without parents and are in need of help much more than you and I have become much better, but there is still so much more that they need. While the royal family is funding over two billion crowns a month, and I myself, with my own personal savings, am giving five hundred million crowns a month, it is still not enough. We need donations of all kinds, from food to clothing. Cash donations are fine, too, whether it be monthly or a single one time donation. Even a single crown is enough.


    "I am calling on the citizens of our planet earth and hope you all can give even a single can of food as a donation to allow these children to grow up and have lives like normal kids without worrying about whether or not they will be able to eat when they wake up. The number on the screen can be called if you wish to help. And the address can be used if you just wish to send a donation in that way. I hope some of you can find it in your heart to help." Yuki bowed her head and finished up with a simple thank you.


    Tom smiled and nodded towards his assistant who walked over in front of the camera and handed Tom a slip of paper. "Yuki, on behalf of Soul Fusion Online, we would like to donate another five hundred million crowns a month to your cause."


    Yuki looked up at Tom in surprise before smiling and nodding her head to him. "Thank you..."


    ---


    [Warning: R-18]


    With the interview over, Yuki and Trisha said goodbye to Tom and headed back to their room to get changed. "Trisha, what are you doing?"


    Yuki chuckled as she looked down at Trisha, who was in her bra and panties kneeling on the floor with her head up Yuki''s dress. "I''m searching for something."


    "And what could you be searching for under my dress, my dear?" Yuki asked while laughing.


    "Love nectar. Oh, I think I found it behind this pink barrier!" Trisha pushed her face between Yuki''s thighs and used her teeth to pull aside Yuki''s pink panties.  Yuki could only feel a shiver run up her spine as Trisha traced her tongue along her slit. "Ahhh, I need to do some work to get the nectar out. It might be a while, so read a book."


    Yuki let out a laugh and leaned her head back. There was no way she could read while having her pussy eaten out by her little wife. She could feel Trisha''s tongue darting in and out of her causing her to reach up and begin massaging her breasts. She even pulled the top of her dress down, exposing her perfect mounds as she bit her lip and let out soft moans.


    It seemed Yuki''s erotic moans made Trisha want to play more because she soon began using her fingers to tease Yuki''s pussy while she sucked on her clit. She already knew all of Yuki''s sweet spots, so it was easy for her to have Yuki gushing the sweet nectar she had been looking for. "Hehe¡­ It''s like the elixir of life! "


    At this point, Yuki was so lost in pleasure she could no longer respond to Trisha. She could only feel herself cumming over and over. The entire time she had been trying to hold her voice in, but when the fifth wave swept over her much stronger than the others, she could help but let out a loud moan as she clutched the wheelchair and arched her back.


    Trisha licked her lips and cleaned Yuki up before pulling her head up from under Yuki''s dress. She looked at the girl looking back at her with eyes full of lust and grinned. "Did it feel good?"


    "Mmm..." Yuki answered while waving for Trisha to come closer. Trisha gave a cheeky smile and slid her body up Yuki''s, and pushed her lips on hers. Their tongues entangled in each other''s mouths as if they were both trying to win some kind of war. Trisha felt Yuki''s hands slide under her panties and her finger diver right into her pussy. She clamped her pussy around Yuki''s finger wanting to feel it as much as possible. Trisha was now straddling Yuki on her wheelchair, their lips locked in a never ending battle while Yuki fingered her.


    This love making session moved from the wheelchair to the bed and then to the bath before the girls finally got too tired to continue. Trisha laid on top of Yuki, resting her head in the nap of Yuki''s neck with a big smile on her face. "Yuki~"


    "Trisha~" Yuki mimicked Trisha causing Trisha to giggle. "Trisha classes start in two weeks, and we will be going back to college. Are you ready?"


    "Mmm¡­ I will finish my courses and then graduate with the girl I love and then build a family. I want a little boy and girl that looks like us. I will be the mommy, and you will be the mama." Trisha said as she kissed Yuki''s neck.


    "Then we have to be sure to do well in school. But before kids, I must  marry my bride. Hopefully my legs will be working by then¡­."

 Chapter 195: First Raid!

    As Ryu would be heading back to college in the next few weeks, Ryu decided it was time to gather the core members and begin the raid progression. They were going to begin working on the hell mode of the soul sensing dungeon Harlin Heights. "This is everyone?" Ryu stood outside a long stretch of road that led to their destination.


    Harlin Heights was not an ordinary dungeon. While it still had instancing, it was a dungeon that took place in a massive area with a town at its core. Unlike other dungeons where you spent your time killing monsters until you got to a boss room, this one was a set of quests that had to be done that followed a storyline.


    The storyline was about a sick little girl. You started the dungeon off by speaking to the mother who would be on the street begging for help from the passersby. This will lead to a chain quest where you are sent to different places within the dungeon to find the items needed to cure her daughter. Of course, getting the items will not be easy and will lead to many boss fights. But it is said to be the best dungeon for the soul sensing realm. The hell mode version also has not been completed yet either.


    "Yes, everyone is geared up and ready to go with our best gear and items," WhiteLotus replied.


    "Alright, we will need to go to a town called Gromel, which is west of Westfall city. From there, we will be able to use the dungeon portal that leads to Harlin Heights. Everyone gettogether, we will be heading out!" Ryu was excited he had read up on this dungeon a while ago. While it was considered an easy dungeon, hell mode was different. Hell mode was basically the raid version and was said to be insanely difficult. But these were by guilds with lower level players.


    The travel time just to get to Gromel was two ingame days. It was located on a plain just below the Moonlit Mountains.  Harlin Heights was said to be in the Moonlit Mountains. You could easily walk around the Moonlit Mountains, but you would never find Harlin Heights as it was a dungeon only.


    While Ryu was traveling with his clan members, a certain someone was not even logged in game. She had been holding up inside her room with her maid. "Miss..." Tilly was unsure of what to do.  Princess Jasmine refused to eat or drink unless she force fed her with her own mouth. Ever since she saw that report with Princess Trisha and her fiancee, Jasmine had been in a daze.


    "Tilly¡­ You will always stay with me, right?" Jasmine, who had been at a loss when she realized she had been losing to the one sister she had always looked down on not only in game but also in real life. Trisha, who she despised more than anything, was able to have everything she wanted. She had the freedom to do as she pleased and even had the girl who she wished to have. But she couldn''t do anything about it! All her resources had been taken away. She knew she had gone too far and was lucky she was not dead from trying to kill Trisha. Normally she would be angry and protest, but as of late, her mindset had matured a lot since playing Soul Fusion Online.


    She stopped caring about fighting for power within the family. In game she was a queen, so she no longer cared about the other things. She was able to make people bend to her will and even created a massive undead army. She was just biding her time before she would finally strike. And her first target was going to be Serenity! She could not take revenge out of game, but she still could in game.


    Tilly sighed as she saw the look of insecurity on her Miss''s face and climbed onto the bed and pulled her into her arms. "If Miss wishes for me to always be by your side, then I will. I will never leave Miss''s side for as long as I live. When you grow old, I will grow old with you."


    "MMm¡­ Tilly, do you love me?" Jasmine gazed into Tilly''s eyes, her eyes searching for an answer.


    "I do.. I have loved Miss for a long time..." Tilly answered softly. She had no idea if she would be punished for saying so, but since her Miss asked, she would answer.


    Jasmine smiled and kissed Tilly''s lips and hugged her tight. "Then we will be together forever. From now on, you will live with me no more going back to your room at night. Okay?"


    "I will do as you wish." Tilly''s heart was racing as she felt her Miss''s hands wander all over her body.


    "Good, now let''s celebrate our love..." The two girls fall back onto the bed. Jasmine stripped Tilly from head to toe before stripping herself. While Jasmine was pleasuring Tilly, she was also planning how to destroy Yuki in game.


    Back inside the game Ryu and his raid team stood outside the spiraling portal that led to their destination. He decided to do one last check to make sure everyone was ready. "Margie, how does it look?"


    "Each person has three hundred potions, and two hundred bottles of status cleanse. I think we are set on that part." Margie replied.


    "Okay, make sure to keep an eye out for anything special items that might pop up. Hard mode was said to have a few crafting recipes. We will be doing hell mode, so there may be something good in store for us. We will check all locations first in case there might be items or a way to make the quests portion of the raid easier. " Since this was their first time doing this raid there were bound to be things that others might have missed during their runs. Yuki was only by the information he read about online. Which could be said not to be solid information with how Soul Fusion Online worked. "Since everyone is ready, let''s go!"

 Chapter 196: Harlin Heights Hell Mode Part 1

    Ryu and his team passed through the portal and found themselves in a large meadow that led up to a rocky slope where they would find Harlin Heights. "Alright, we will first make our way around the town before actually entering it. From what I read, the dungeon does not start until you enter the town."


    Ryu''s main goal was to take a trip around the dungeon to see if there were any hidden secrets. By finding something new, they may have a chance at a rare item. This was especially so since they were in hell mode.


    The group did not rush into anything. They made sure to take things slow so that they did not end up getting wiped by a surprise trap or some other kind of raid wipe mechanic. But they saw nothing. The entire area was clear of any kind of ruins or other quest areas. This meant that these areas were inaccessible before the quest actually started. "Ryu, what now?"


    "Well, since we can not scout out the areas like what I heard in the other modes, we can only start the quest." Ryu felt it was a shame, but they had no other choice.  Without any of the play areas, they couldn''t see what they were getting themselves into.


    The group made their way to town. The town itself was an early medieval style town that was surrounded by a tall wooden fortress style wall made of logs. At the entrance were two guards with huge health bars showing that they were not so simple. This was to keep players from trying to wipe out the whole town.


    They walked up to the gates, the two guards walked forward and stopped in front of them. "Halt! What brings you to our fair town of Harlin?"


    "We are adventurers who were seeking to find an inn for the night and happened to come across this town. If we are unwelcomed, we can move along." Ryu answered politely. They heard that based on how you treat these guards, they would either be good to you or bad to you. There were instances where the guards wiped out an entire team because they were rude.


    "Haha! Why wouldn''t we welcome you? It is always good to have some travelers in town. It makes things more lively with new people around. But I do ask that you refrain from causing any trouble, or you will end up in prison." The guard replied with a smile.


    "Thank you," Ryu replied with a smile and then turned to his group. "Remember, do not cause trouble for the people here. We do not want any of you going to jail."


    This was another aspect of this town. Those who have caused trouble for the townsfolk would be put into prison and would stay there until either the dungeon was completed or their whole team was wiped. If the team was wiped, the player or players in jail would then be executed. The whole dungeon was very strange, but it had a certain appeal. It punished those who were bad and was good to those who were good. It all had a kind of meaning to it.


    The guards parted and allowed Ryu and his group to pass through the gates, and that was when it started. Alarms suddenly went off, and the guards began to shout. "Quick, get into positions! Another monster raid is coming!"


    The dungeon had officially started. This was not part of the normal game modes. Ryu knew this much for sure. Even the hard mode guide never said a word about there being a monster raid. Ryu turned his head and looked to see what this monster raid thing was that they were shouting about, and his face fell. The sky in the distance was completely black, but these were not storm clouds, these were millions of flying monsters, and on the ground, it was the same thing. Millions of ground type monsters were all heading towards the town.


    "Put up the barriers! Use the red level barriers!" The guards at the gate were issuing orders left and right. They seemed really practiced with how they were handling things. One of the guards looked over at Ryu and his group and walked over. "You guys said you were adventures, right? Can I ask you to help us fend off this monster raid? You will be handsomely rewarded, of course."


    Ryu got a message asking if he wished to start a new quest.


    [Special Harlin Heights Chain Quest: The Monster Lord Awakens]


    "Ryu, what do we do?" Chi asked. She was standing next to him, looking at her screen.


    "What else do we do?  We do it!" Ryu would not miss this opportunity. He had never heard of a second quest line in this dungeon, so he could only guess that maybe this was a special quest line which meant better rewards!


    After hitting yes, he turned to his team and began yelling out orders: "We will be helping fend off the monster raid! Make sure you are prepared! Do things as we always do. Main Healers concentrate on tanks! Sub healers on DPS. DPS, do your best not to take damage. We will follow the town guard''s lead. If they tell you to do something, do it, no questions asked!"


    The guards heard Ryu''s orders, and all nodded their heads. They liked how Ryu did things. Ryu also knew that if he went against the direct orders of the guards who always defended this town, it would look bad on them, so it was best to follow their orders. This was also the best method of staying alive. Ryu could already tell the monsters coming were not going to be easy to deal with.


    After giving orders, Ryu turned to the guard who was still standing there and said: "We are at your command. My people will follow your orders."


    "That is good to know. Can I ask that you split your team into four groups? We need healers and ranged fights up on top of the walls, tanks, and your main fighters on the front line. We will need to spread you out a bit. I hope you do not mind." The guard asked.


    "Not at all, we are yours to command."

 Chapter 197: Harlin Heights Hell Mode Part 2

    Within the massive horde of monsters in the middle were three figures sitting on the backs of a monster that towered over the others. It closely resembled an elephant but had a large horn protruding out of its forehead and massive razor sharp teeth. Its trunk had little suckers on it to grab hold of its prey, making it so they would never be able to escape.


    On top of this monster were three figures. Humanoid in form with grey horns on their head, tanned skin, and green hair. Besides these few traits, they did not look any different than a normal human, although they were very beautiful. One man, two females, they sat on top of the monster cross-legged playing some kind of strange game.. "Shit! I lost again..."


    "Brolvan, when will you learn that you can not beat Anames? You have tried five times already. Her ability to see the future is beyond anything you can even handle, plus remember the last time you challenged her? She beat you into a bloody..."


    "Shut it, Arkin!" Brolvan frowned. He did not want to argue with these two women. He has never won against them since the day he was born!


    "Aww, our handsome boy is being shy. Shall we give him some more service?" Anames put her finger to her mouth and began sucking on it in a seductive manner.


    "What service!? Watching you two go at it while I am left to jerk it!?" Brolvan yelled. He couldn''t stand how these two were always playing around but leaving him out!


    "Haha! Lonely right hander!" Arkin smiled as she walked over and sat in Anames''s lap. She was going to do something to annoy Brolvan when her eyes locked in on a handsome man standing at the forefront of the human army. Tall, handsome man with black hair. On his head was sleeping away was a small black cat.  "Stop the horde..."


    "What!? Why should we stop the horde!?" Brolvan asked. He glared at Arkin, wondering why she would say such a stupid thing now of all times.


    "Arkin, what are you sa¡­. Oh my¡­. Stop the horde!" Anames yelled out as she stood up. She grabbed Arkin by the hand and flew off towards the human front line.


    On the human side of things, Ryu stood there waiting for the head on clash with the huge monster horde. He was excited to actually fight in such a huge battle for the first time in the game. It was on a whole different scale compared to the other battles he had been in so far. If only he knew in the future, his battles would be on a much larger scale as time went on.


    "Hey, something strange is happening! The horde stopped!" One of the guards yelled out.


    Ryu raised his head and saw that the horde had indeed stopped. He wondered what exactly was going on. As he squinted his eyes to try to see past the glaring sun overhead, he saw a shadow in the sky that looked like two humanoid figures. "Commander! There seems to be something flying towards us!" Ryu yelled out to the one in charge.


    "What! Where!?" The commander came and stood by Ryu''s side. Ryu pointed to the sky where the flying humanoids were.


    "This¡­ Everyone, fall back behind the wall! This is a black level  threat!" The commander yelled out. His eyes were full of fear. He looked at Ryu and said: "Pull your people back. We can only try to save as many as we can."


    "Hmmm?  I do not think they are here to attack." Ryu pointed to how one of the two who were incoming was hanging from the other''s hand.


    "This..." The commander also thought this was strange and was unsure of what to do now.


    "Commander, pull your people back. I will meet them. We are not part of your town, and you have a responsibility to take care of those who depend on you." Ryu patted the commander on the shoulder and smiled. Before raising his hand and yelling out: "Serenity,  gather up!"


    Ryu''s entire raid team quickly gathered together behind Ryu. The commander was stunned seeing this band of people standing fearlessly in front of a black level threat. He could not help but feel that he too should also stay, but this thought was quickly washed away when he heard Ryu yell back to him. "Commander, your people come first, remember that."


    "You''re right. Your name is Ryu, right? If we survive this, I would like to have a few drinks with you. Young heroes are not seen much these days." The commander left these words before ordering his people to fall back and help evacuate the citizens.  They could only try to retreat to the shelter for now.


    Ryu stood with his clan members behind them as two beautiful women dropped down from the sky and landed right in front of Ryu. "Hmmm¡­ even more handsome up close. Yes, you will definitely do. Handsome boy, would you like to come play with us, big sisters?"


    Before Ryu could even say a word, a flash of lightning passed by him, and the smaller of the two newcomers was already on the ground, face first in the dirt. "You want to do what to my husband!?"


    "Hey you fucking foxkin bitch get off me!" Arkin yelled out. She didn''t even get a chance to react before she was having her head stepped on and face first in the dirt.


    "Oh? Now, this is quite interesting¡­ You, humans, are not normal at all. My guess is that you are real cultivators? Now, this might be a little troublesome..." Anames looked at the group, her eyes landing on Ryu and then the man standing next to him in black. Her lip twitched, feeling the aura coming off this man.


    "How dare you touch Arkin!" Brolvan yelled out. He dived at Chi, who was holding Arkin down with a sword drawn with all intent to kill her.


    Anames brow furrowed as she turned and yelled out: "Brolvan, don''t move!"

 Chapter 198: A Request For Help

    "Anames, we can easily wipe the humans out. Why are you stopping me!?" Brolvan yelled. He didn''t understand they were just weak humans. Why not just wipe them all out?


    Before Anames could say a word, Ryu''s cold voice entered Brolvan''s ears. "If you wish to lose your arm, keep pointing your sword at my wife."


    Brolvan suddenly felt a massive pressure weighing down on him, causing him to turn and look at Ryu. He only now realized things were not so simple. He slowly lowered his sword and, through gritted teeth, replied: "I lowered my weapon, have your wolfkin let Arkin go!"


    Ryu was not unreasonable. He looked over at Chi and said: "Don''t let her go. Kill her if anyone makes a move." He was not unreasonable, but that did not mean he would let an enemy go.


    "You!" Brolvan wanted to charge at Ryu and cut the damn human''s head off for being so arrogant.


    "Brolvan! Enough! Or are my words something you no longer listen to?" Anames looked over and glared at Brolvan. Hearing her cold, commanding tone, Brolvan had no choice but to shut his mouth. He did not wish to deal with her wrath. Seeing that he was now quiet, she turned back to Ryu and asked: "Sir, My name is Anames. May I know yours?"


    "It''s Ryu. Anames, can I ask that you turn your monster horde around? You seem like someone I can reason with, so I am sure we can come to a peaceful agreement here." Ryu looked at Anames with clear eyes. He did not wish to fight if they did not need to. He was having this feeling that maybe this hell mode was much different than normal dungeons.


    Anames frowned. She was about to reply when Brolvan yelled out again: "Hah! Who do you think you are!? Our great Monster Lord will destroy all of humanity and break the seal that keeps us from escaping!"


    "Brolvan!" Anames body flashed and appeared in front of Brolvan, her fist smashing down on his face causing him to fly straight into the ground creating a small crater. She then picked him up and dragged him over to where Chi was and dropped him next to Arkin. "Miss, can you hold this one down too? If he struggles, just kill him."


    "Mm..." Chi agreed without issue and then stepped on Brolvan''s head as well, stomping on it a few times.


    Ryu chuckled and realized that this Anames was more interesting than he had thought. He watched her walk back over and bow her head. "As you have heard, the monster lord who has control over most of our actions has awakened and plans to wipe out all humans. While I can not bring the monsters back, the best I can do is hold out here for a few days. But if the Monster Lord finds something wrong, he will order the monsters to attack, overriding my command over them.


    "I know I may not have the right to ask, but I wish to beg for your assistance. If you are able to kill the Monster Lord and break his control over myself, Brolvan, and Arkin, us three will swear our loyalty to you." Seeing the strength of the man standing next to Ryu and also seeing how strong Ryu was, she had hopes for freedom away from the Monster Lord. He was a being who showed no mercy.


    Ryu was actually stunned by this sudden request. Even his chain quest had been updated.


    [Special Harlin Heights Chain Quest: The Monster Lord Awakens]


    [Will you assist Anames in her quest for freedom?]


    [Reward: Three new followers Anames, Arkin, Brolvan]


    Ryu hit the yes button and nodded his head. "We will help, but how long can you hold the monsters back for?"


    Anames looked at Ryu, stunned. She never thought he would so readily agree without making her promise something more. "A week max¡­ Three days minimum, it depends how fast the Monster Lord realizes something is wrong."


    "Alright, can you have Arkin show us the way? I do not want to leave control of the monsters to anyone else but you." Ryu knew this was a quest, but this game never played by the rules. If for some reason, things were like how it was outside the dungeon, then the lives of these A.I. would disappear once they were dead.


    "You will trust her!?" Anames was stunned once more. She never expected Ryu to want to take Arkin with him to show the way. She figured he would just ask for directions.


    "Not like she can do anything to us anyway. Plus, my wife will keep her in line if she dares to do anything." Ryu replied in a relaxed tone.


    "Alright. I will make sure Brolvan behaves while you are gone. " The commander who had watched the entire exchange from start to finish was completely stunned. He never thought he would see a day when a demonkin and a human could make a deal, and he even heard the one in the lead say that she would willingly follow Ryu if he helped her. This was beyond anything he could have ever expected!


    "Arkin!" Anames looked at Arkin, who was still being stepped on.


    Chi frowned and raised her foot, letting Arkin raise her head before stomping back down, smashing her face back into the dirt. She then began whistling as if she had not done anything wrong as she walked away. As for the person who was stepped on, she glared at Chi and slowly got up and walked over to Anames. "Anames, are we really doing this!?"


    "Yes, they are our only hope." Anames answered before leaning over and whispering into Arkin''s ear: "Plus, wouldn''t having a handsome man like Ryu as our master be much more pleasing to the eyes than that disgusting pig who has ruined many of our sisters?"


    Arkin looked over at Ryu for a second and then back at Anames and nodded her head. "Mmm¡­ As long as he does not treat us badly, I will accept."


    "Good, then do your best to please him even if it means being nice to his wife. She seems to be the jealous type, so do not cross the line." Anames did not wish for there to be any arguments between Arkin and Chi. She wanted things to go smoothly, so they could escape that man''s grasp.

 Chapter 199: Trust

    After Ryu left to try to take out the monster lord, Brolvan began causing a fuss once more. "What was that all about!? Are you planning to side with these humans!? If we act now, we can just destr¡­ Urk¡­ Anames!? You traito..."


    Anames looked at Brolvan and then down at her arm that had stabbed through his chest. It protruded out of his back, and in her hand was a blue beating heart.  Her eyes were without emotion as she squeezed the heart in her hand, crushing it. "You never know when to just shut up. Sadly I can not allow you to be by Ryu''s side. You will end up causing nothing but harm to the one I have decided upon. I only think about me and my sister''s future. I can tell by that man''s wife that Ryu is a good person. As we can not live without being bound to a master, I will choose my master for myself. And Ryu is the one I have decided upon. What right do you have to judge me?"


    Anames pulled her arm out of Brolvan chest and kicked him to the monsters, who immediately went crazy ripping into him. She looked at the blue blood on her hand and sighed. "If he would just listen, this would not have had to happen, but I can not let him destroy the only opportunity for me and Arkin''s survival."


    When Anames saw the twenty people standing behind Ryu and saw that he was able to have these people trust him with their lives, she couldn''t help but want to know how it felt to be able to trust someone with your own life on your own accord like that. She was taking a huge risk, but so far from what she could tell, things may just work out. She wanted to trust him to the point that she was willing to send Arkin with him. Sadly she would have gone by herself if not for this monster horde behind her. Right now, she could only hope that Ryu and his people would succeed.


    While Anames was lost in thought, Ryu was furrowing his brow when he saw the quest update notification in front of him.


    [Special Harlin Heights Chain Quest: The Monster Lord Awakens]


    [Quest update: Trusting Him]


    There was no other information, just the name. Ryu really didn''t understand it, but it seemed something may have happened after he had left. He could only hope it was nothing bad. As they traveled and the days passed, Ryu could feel Arkin sneaking peeks at him as if she wanted to ask him a question. "If you have a question, just ask."


    Arkin blushed, knowing she had been seen, and lowered her head. "I want to know why you are so willing to help us. You didn''t even question if this was a trap or not. You just agreed without much thought."


    Ryu chuckled and shook his head. "It''s because if Anames really wanted to fight, she would not have come over to greet us. She may have come over acting like she was there for a reason other than her true intentions, but when she did not react to how Chi treated you and instead tried to mediate the situation, I already knew that she wanted something else. I just never expected it to be this.


    "Tell me, why did she ask me to be your master instead of wanting complete freedom? This is what I do not understand." Ryu really did not understand why Anames wanted to be his follower if she wanted freedom from the other person. It really didn''t make sense. Once one gained their freedom what was the point of rushing back into slavery.


    "This¡­. Since you are willing to help us, I will tell you the truth. We can not live without a master. No master means we will disappear for good. I am fine with anything as long as Anames agrees to it or wants it. She is all I care about." Arkin explained.


    "It''s good to see you two can be close. Hopefully, I can help you two out. But to be honest, I am not sure if we will even be able to live through this upcoming fight. Depending on how strong this monster lord is will depend on whether or not we can win. If he is much more powerful than us, then it would be difficult. But we will have to see. Only when we begin the fight will we know." Ryu spoke honestly. He could tell this was much different than the other dungeons. It seems that these NPCs were no different from the ones outside. Otherwise, his quest shouldn''t have been updated without him even doing anything. This meant that Anames had done something on her end to change the quest.


    Arkin looked at Ryu in shock. She did not understand why this man was willing to rush headlong into danger for them without even knowing if he could win or not. It did not make sense to her. This made her take a good long look at Ryu. She realized he was not just a handsome face. He was a man who was decisive in all his actions. He did things because he felt they were right. If such a man were to become her master, she felt that warming his bed would not be so bad.


    "Don''t even think about it..." Chi suddenly blocked Arkin''s view of Ryu, breaking her out of her thoughts.


    She looked at Chi and lowered her head. She would not cause trouble. It would be bad. But that did not mean she would not try to show her good side to him. Chi''s intuition told her that this girl had her eyes on Ryu, which was a big no no in her book! Because of this, she made sure to block her line of sight of Ryu. No one was allowed to have ideas about her Ryu but since Ryu needed her she would not kill her, maybe rough her up but nothing more.

 Chapter 200: Fighting The Monster Lord Part 1

    When Ryu and his group arrived at the Monster Lord''s den, they were in for an eye full. He never expected that what lay before him was actually the same game. It was now looking more like a porno than anything else. Naked demon girls laid on the floor with glazed over eyes. Arkin, who saw this, began shivering and hid behind Chi, gripping her armor. Ryu was the first to break the silence. "It seems this quest is not meant for kids..."


    But seeing these girls all tossed aside as they were some sex toy caused Ryu to feel very angry. "Chi¡­ Take the girls and help with caring for these poor girls. Have Arkin explain the situation to them when they come too. Guys will follow me. Margie, you take up the rear. If any of you are seen staring at these girls, I will rip your balls off and feed them to you myself."


    Ryu''s words made all the men except Margie turn their knees inwards as they quickly kept their sight straight ahead. If it was someone else, they would not take it so seriously, but this was Ryu. Someone who always stuck to their word. While many things can be traumatizing in this game, the thought of being served the balls was not something they wished to experience for themselves.


    The girls giggled as they watched the boys all straighten up and follow after Ryu, not daring to glance at the naked demon girls on the ground. Arkin looked at Ryu''s retreating back and then at Chi as she said: "You''re a lucky girl."


    "Mmm¡­ Ryu is a good person. He will always care for others over himself. But I guess you could also say that this is also his flaw. Arkin, you will be following Ryu from now on, so make sure no flies are buzzing around him if I am not around. Also, remember that  Ryu is mine." Chi started off good but went directly into her jealous mode at the end.


    "Don''t worry. I will not try to warm his bed. I can see he is very dedicated to you. But I will give my word to protect him from everything, including the flies." Arkin chuckled as she answered Chi. She found Chi to be very cute when it came to her man. She began to think it would not be too bad to bed them both if she could, but she knew that would never be possible.


    As the girl busied themselves with trying to help the demon girls, Ryu was finding that this monster lord was a little too lustful. Demon girls were strewn all over the place, and he could hear faint sounds coming from not too far away.


    When they entered the room deep within the den, Ryu was met with live action sex as a grotesque looking man was hammering away on a demon girl who looked completely gone. She was only able to let out muffled grunts, and that was it.


    Sensing Ryu''s presence, the grotesque looking man stopped what he was doing and tossed the demon girl to the side. He turned and looked at Ryu and frowned as he said: "What does a group of men want after making their way this deep into my lair?"


    "Shouldn''t the answer be obvious? Not only are you trying to destroy a human town that has not done anything wrong, but you are also doing such disgusting things to these poor girls." Ryu answered, his voice full of disgust.


    "How is mating a disgusting thing? All bearings must mate. I am just indulging myself with my own kind, is it wrong?" The grotesque looking man asked.


    "Very wrong, you are treating these girls as objects to fill your own pleasure. Anyway, I didn''t come here to debate with you. I came here to put a stop to your wishful thinking." Ryu drew his sword and took a battle stance. His party members also did the same.


    "Oh? A fight, is it? Then let''s do just that. We shall fight." The grotesque man did not seem to mind. It was as if Ryu was just an ant to him. But that was before he realized he was very, very wrong. As soon as he said fight Ryu disappeared and arrived right in front of him, sword thrusting out towards his neck. The grotesque looking man was startled and had to block defensively before, in doing so, he left himself open to the rest of Ryu''s team. "Ahh!"


    Strike after strike landed on his back, but he had no way of blocking it. Ryu was not allowing him to counter in any way as he continued to send barrage after barrage of attacks at the grotesque looking man. The grotesque looking man was enraged as he yelled out: "Coward! Fight me one on one!"


    "I will never fight trash like you fairly. You used and abused these girls, and now you want me to fight you fairly. Did you allow them to choose what they wanted!? You didn''t! So die!" Ryu''s words echoed down the halls of the den. The girls that were waiting for their dreadful outcome and those brought back to reality all looked in Ryu''s direction. Their eyes were full of tears, and they hoped that Ryu would succeed in destroying that monster that did such things to them. Chi, on the other hand, was grinding her teeth, looking at the hundreds of girls that all seemed to be love struck all of a sudden.


    "Relax, they won''t pounce¡­. Much..." Arkin tried to calm Chi down, but she couldn''t help but tease her at the same time.


    "Humph! Let them try!" Chi snorted, but she was a little worried. She did not want all these girls suddenly falling in love with her Ryu! Ryu was hers!


    "Don''t worry, I will talk to them all," Arkin said with a smile. The other girls from Serenity also couldn''t help but giggle, seeing Chi pures her lips. They all knew how jealous she could get.

 Chapter 201: Fighting The Monster Lord Part 2

    The battle intensified as Ryu, and his team continued their attacks. While the grotesque man looked very weak, he still had a boss''s health bar that took up most of the top of their screen. Attack after attack, Ryu kept up his high-speed assault, making it impossible for the grotesque man to retaliate.


    The battle raged on for a while when suddenly a voice could be heard from behind Ryu. "Darling~ let Margie get a hit in!"


    Ryu did not hesitate to stop his attack and back up. He had seen Margie''s attacks before. He was not sure what secrets Margie had, but he knew one thing, Margie was powerful. And Margie did not disappoint. With Ryu''s command to fall back, Margie charged in. "Suck this big boy!"


    Ryu did not know whether to laugh or cry at Margi''s choice of words, but the power emitting from this large sword swung down and smashed into the grotesque man unimpeded.  It was like an instant death attack as the grotesque man did not even have a chance to say anything before turning into balls of light and dropping loot. Margie turned, looked at Ryu, and smiled while blowing Ryu a kiss. " See Darling~ just leave it to Margie!"


    Ryu shook his head as he let out a laugh. "Then I shall do  that."


    [Special Harlin Heights Chain Quest: Trusting Him Completed]


    [Experience earned: 1,204,038 ]


    [Ryu Gained Followers: Anames, Arkin]


    [Part 2: Form a pact between Demons and Humans.]


    Ryu saw his new quest and sighed. He wondered if this part would even be easy. "Margie, distribute the drops between everyone. If any crafting recipes dropped, keep them and have someone make copies later to pass out to everyone."


    "Will do, Darling~!"  Margie went and began collecting the loot. Ryu made his way out of the cave to see most of the girls were on their way to recovery. Chi and the rest really moved fast.


    Arkin was first to reach Ryu and immediately knelt down in front of her. "Master."


    Ryu frowned and scratched his head: "Don''t call me Master, just Ryu is fine. I need you to gather up the girls, we will be heading back to Harlin Heights. We will need to speak with the leader there and form a pact between your people and the humans there. I will also see if they can allocate some land to your people to begin their new lives."


    "Mas-Ryu, these girls can not live without being bound to someone..." Arkin was worried that her people would end up dying now that the monster lord was dead.


    "I know... " Ryu scratched his head again and looked at the girls who were all looking back at him. "I will talk to the people of the town. There are a number of girls here. I just worry they will be discriminated against..."


    "Ryu, you can just take them in. We are a clan now, and we will also have a large number of businesses within the city under Serenity names. Why not take them on and give them jobs and places to live. That way, they can live normal lives." Chi spoke up. She had a soft spot for these girls.


    "Well, I am fine with that, but we still need to make a pact between the other demons. There are those who do not need a Master, right Arkin?" Ryu asked.


    "Yes, the ones who need a master are those who were taken in by the Monster lord. He used some kind of spell to bind our life force to him. This made it impossible for us to go against his word. If we were caught, we would instantly die. But the tribe that is not far from here is not bound by these conditions. Even Brolvan was not bound by it. He was just following the monster lord because he was stupid." Arkin explained.


    "Alright, we will do it this way. All the girls here will be bound to me, but they will be able to live freely. I don''t expect them to do anything for me." With this decision, Ryu took the girls who were abused by the monster lord under his care. They would follow him back to Serenity city and be given housing and jobs to allow them to live proper lives.


    Chi walked over and hugged Ryu with a smile on her face. She knew Ryu would think of a way to help these girls so that they would not become slaves again. However, she was still jealous with how these girls kept staring at Ryu with hearts in their eyes. But one glance from Chi, and they would quickly look away.


    "Darling~ things are taken care of. There was some decent soul assimilation gear which I kept for those who reach that level. I will put it in our clan vault later at the Bank of Serenity." Margie was one of those people who always thought ahead, and one of the reasons why he did not give out this gear to others was because no one was at that stage just yet.


    "Alright, give extra raid points to everyone then based on the gear. This way, they can buy it when they are of the correct realm and stage at that time. Make sure to mark down all those who are here because they will get top priority. But it will be first come, first serve, so do not take too much time to raise in cultivation." Ryu wanted to be as fair as possible. If two people from the clan were to go in and try to get the same item, the one who was actually there for the kill would get first rights to it. But that is if it is there. Other clan members may out level those on the raid team, so they may get to it first.


    "Alright, let''s head back to Harlin Heights! We still have much to do and a raid to conquer!" Ryu was happy with how things were turning out at this time. But he knew that this side quest was easier than the actual raid itself. The hard part was still to come.

 Chapter 202: The Demon Race Part 1

    "Ryu, it''s late." Chi pointed out the time. They had spent so much time on the first quest chain that they did not even get to start the main quest line.


    "Let''s meet up with Anames first. It would be better to at least make sure the monster horde is dispersed. Then we can log out and continue from there." Ryu didn''t know what would happen if they left things as they were, if it would just freeze, or would Anames and Arkin both disappear after he logged out.


    "Alright, let''s do that." Chi agreed as they continued back towards Harlin Heights to meet up with Anames.


    When they arrived at where the monster horde should be, Ryu was surprised to see that they were actually all gone, and only a lone girl stood in their place. Anames saw the group, along with all her demon sisters coming towards her and smiled brightly. The gaze she looked at Ryu with was one that made Chi burn with jealousy.


    Ryu and his group stopped in front of Anames. Anames looked at Ryu before suddenly kneeling in front of him. "I wish to thank Master for helping my sisters."


    "Anames stand up. No need to kneel. I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. Plus, I was able to gain two capable helpers. You and Arkin will follow me. For now, I plan to store your sisters away in the followers'' menu.  I will release them again when we return to Serenity City. I just figured you would like to speak to them before I did so." Ryu explained while helping Anames up.


    "Thank you, Master." Anames still kept her head bowed. This caused Ryu to scratch his head.


    "Anames, just call me Ryu, no need for this Master thing. Quickly go talk with your sisters." Ryu waved Anames off before finding a place to sit to rest. Chi sat down right in his lap and leaned her head against his chest.


    "Ryu, what is our plan from here. We still need to get the demons who were not under the Monster Lord''s control to form a pact with humans. I do not think it will be an easy task." Chi wondered just how they were going to accomplish such a thing.


    "We have plenty of time to think about it, so for now, let''s just wait and see." Ryu reached up and scratched Chi''s fox ears. They were soft and soothing to scratch.


    Chi closed her eyes and enjoyed the pampering. She began wondering if she should get some cybernetic fox ears and tail in the real world. But she shot that idea down quickly when she thought of going out into public like that. While some people have done this kind of thing, she did not want more people staring at her. She already got enough stares when she left the house.


    Once Anames was done, Ryu, stored the other girls away and told Anames and Arkin he would be back. He also asked them to figure out what would be needed to form a pact between the two sides, demons, and humans. After setting up a time to log in, tomorrow Ryu called the raid for the night and logged out.


    ---


    "That took much longer than expected. I think this raid will take a few days to do." Yuki said as she pulled her headset off.


    "I did read that even normal mode takes three days. But since we opened up a side chain quest, we will end up taking much longer." Trisha said as she slid her body on top of Yuki''s and kissed Yuki''s lips.


    Yuki smiled and put her hands behind Trisha''s head, and deepened the kiss. The two''s tongues intertwined, twirling around each other in some kind of primordial mating dance. Trish slid her hands down in between Yuki''s legs and began massaging her clit. This caused Yuki''s breathing to become heavier. "Trisha..." Yuki''s soft moan escaped her lips as she called out Trisha''s name.


    Trisha moved her kisses down Yuki''s face down to her neck before sitting up and pulling Yuki''s shirt off her back. Yuki''s pearly white mounds with their cherry peaks were in full view. Trisha smiled as she lowered her head, taking in one of those cherries. This caused Yuki to softly moan again as she lay there, allowing Trisha to do as she pleased with her body.


    Trisha worked Yuki''s breasts, sucking and nibbling on each one while she removed Yuki''s panties and worked her pussy with her fingers. Yuki could only clutch the bedsheets with her hands as she felt her orgasm about to erupt. As it did, her back arched up as she let out a loud moan. Her pussy gripped onto Trisha''s fingers, drenching them in her juices.


    "Hehe, someone had a good orgasm." Trisha teased as she trailed her kisses down Yuki''s body. She lifted one of her legs before diving into between them and licking up the juices that had flowed out. Yuki whined as she felt Trisha''s hot tongue teaching her slit. "Trisha, I just came, don''t¡­ Ahh~!"


    "No! I will not stop. I must personally clean my Yuki''s mess." Trisha said with a mouth full of pussy lips. She just could not get enough of the cute whimpers and moans that escaped Yuki''s cute lips. Trisha knew one thing for sure, no matter what, Yuki will always make her horny!


    Yuki was brought to climax four more times before Trisha let her go. Of course. Two of those times were done with a double-sided dildo. It seemed Trisha liked to dominate just as much as she liked to be dominated. When the two were tired out, Trisha hugged Yuki for twenty or so more minutes before the two went and took a bath.


    "Trisha, after we get married, how many kids do you want?" Yuki suddenly asked as she leaned back into Trisha''s breasts. The bath they were in was hot and relaxing all the way down to the bones.


    Trisha was surprised by Yuki''s sudden question, but she also had thought about this as well. "Mmm¡­ Maybe three to five. I don''t think it matters, to be honest. As long as they''re made of both our genes I am willing to birth millions of them."

 Chapter 203: The Demon Race Part 2

    Back inside the game, Ryu and Chi, along with Anames and Arkin, were now standing at the entrance of the demon race''s village. Ryu had the rest of the team go protect the village. "Master, this may not be the best of times to say this, but my kind is known to be very violent."


    "And? I''m known for making world heritage sites that require me to bury the heads of stupid people in the sand." Ryu turned and replied with a smile. Chi chuckled, remembering the sight of all the heads buried in the sand.


    "I will start digging." Chi pulled two shovels out of her inventory and passed one to Arkin. She then gave instructions of how deep the hole had to be before starting to dig a hole herself.


    Anames watched in disbelief at how streamlined this seemed to be but also confused as to why they were digging holes. Fortunately for her and, unfortunately for the ones to come, she did not have to wait long before finding out what this was all for.


    "What is a human doing here?" A big burly demon asked with a mocking tone to his voice. He did not see Ryu as a threat in the slightest.


    Ryu decided to try to take the polite approach first, ignoring the demon''s attitude as he asked: "I have come to speak to your leader. I have something important to discuss with him."


    "Humph! What right does a weakling like you have to make a request from our village elder? Maybe I should just rip your head off and serve you to the village elder as a mea¡­. AHHHH!!!!" The demon suddenly found himself being tossed through the air and somehow slotted right into a hole in the ground. It was as if the hole was a perfect size for him because no matter how much he struggled, he couldn''t move his arms. The next thing he knew, dirt was being thrown at his face. He looked up, and to his disbelief, the one packing in the dirt around his head was one of his own kind! "Arkin, you damn traitor!"


    "Traitor? I only serve my Master. How am I a traitor? My Master wants to make a world heritage site, so I am assisting in that." Although she said these words, Arkin had no idea what a world heritage site was.


    "A world what!?" The demon was very confused since he had never heard of such a term before either. He was about to say more when he saw another figure flying over his head and a yell coming from behind him. "What the hell is this!?"


    "Can you guys not yell? It''s your own fault for not just accepting Master''s request!" Anames yelled.


    "A-Anames!? You too!? What happened to the monster lord!?" The newest demon added to the idiots in the sand collection asked.


    "Master killed him, and in order to allow me and my sisters to live, he took us on and is supplying us with the life force needed to live. But here you are trying to act all tough in the face of the person who could kill the one enemy the entire clan feared." Anames yelled she had no respect for the people of this village, even if they were her own kind. They would rather give up all the girls to save their own lives than to fight an enemy just because they were strong.


    "This..." All five heads in the sand were now speechless. They had nothing to defend themselves with. It was their fault that all the women of their clan were sent to the monster lord. Only a few remained, and they were treated as queens and spoiled beyond belief because they were the lifeblood of their village. They had to give birth to many babies in order to keep their population going.


    "Stop!" An old voice came from the village gate. An old demon who was using a cane to support himself came walking over. His back was hunched over, and he had to take three steps to one person''s normal step.


    Ryu looked up to see the old man and smiled. He hoped now he could get down to business. From what he understood about the demon race was that they only understood strength which was why he only brought Chi with him. "You must be the village elder?"


    "That I am¡­ Sorry for taking so long. This old man is slow." The village elder replied with a smile. He looked at the idiots in the sand and frowned. He wondered why they didn''t just report to him that someone was here to speak to him.


    "That is quite right." Ryu was here to make peace, so he did not say anything about the idiots in the sand.


    "Hah¡­ I apologize for my idiot guards. Now, why has a human come to my village? I am sure it would not be for a small thing." The old man cut right to the chase.


    "Yes. I have come to actually form a pact between your village and  Harlin Heights. I hope the two sides can form a peace treaty of sorts." Ryu explained.


    Hearing these words, the old man''s face turned red with anger as he looked over at the idiots in the sand and yelled: "Such an important manner, and you didn''t tell me!? What is wrong with you all!?" After yelling, the old man turned and bowed his head at Ryu. "I am sorry for my people''s idiocy. Please explain to me about this pact." The old man had been wanting a truce between the humans and his village for a very long time. With their women benign taken away by the powerful monster lord, there was no way they could fight back. If the humans attacked, even if they were able to win, they would suffer great losses, and if any of the women who were left died¡­ His race would quickly die out.


    "It''s fine, let''s get down to business."

 Chapter 204: Forming A Pact Between Humans And Demons

    --AN: A big thank you to Darkwolf61101 for the castle!--


    Ryu, Chi, Anames, and Arkin were now within the demon village, sitting at a large table in the meeting hall specially built for village meetings. They were currently waiting for a certain person to arrive. "Ryu, as the village elder, I can not thank you enough for arranging this meeting."


    "It is what I should do," Ryu answered with a smile.


    The two had small talk back and forth when the door to the meeting hall finally opened, and a human wearing armor walked in. This was the same commander that Ryu had spoken to when he first arrived at Harlin Heights. "Ryu." The commander bowed his head towards Ryu, acknowledging him first. He then turned to the village elder and greeted him. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Zegre, and I am the commander of the Harlin Heights protection army. I am here on behalf of the town to form a pact between our two races."


    "It is a pleasure to meet you, Zegre. My name is Nole, the grand elder of this village." Nole returned Zegre''s greeting. He was not offended at all by how he was greeted second.


    "Alright, as everyone is here, I will be the mediator between the two races and hope that we can come to an agreement." Ryu said with a smile. "As I am the one proposing this pact, I will start off by saying that I think the two sides would benefit greatly with free trade between the two. With an influx of both humans and demons between the two villages, this could enable you and your people to coexist more effectively. While there still will be some prejudice, I think the guards of each side should deal with it in an orderly fashion. Arrests will be made, but no torture or mistreatment, and they will be exiled back to their respective territories if this happens in the town or village that is not their home village. If it is a person harassing a visitor, they should be jailed and dealt with by their own people. Now I can understand this can also lead to favoritism, but this is also what the pact will keep from happening. When you form the pact, you will be forced to push forward these new laws, or else you yourselves and your people will end up suffering. What I am saying is¡­. If you can not get along under this pact, you will be enslaved by the other race. And just so you understand that the pact will know if it was instigated or not. So no one should think about scheming against the other, or they will die instantly.


    "You should make sure your people understand these new laws to the point that no one will dare break them. Because not only yourselves but for your families and your kin will be at stake if the laws are broken." Ryu was making harsh terms because of the incident with the idiots at the gate. She could tell they did not like humans one bit. "Now for the positives besides the ability to trade. This will also give your demon race the ability to flirt with some of the human girls. As I know it, Harlin Heights has an influx of female population, right?"


    "Yes, it does. In fact, we have been troubled by this¡­ If we could bring in more males or have girls give birth to more males, it would be a godsend. The lord of Harlin Heights has already said that he is in one hundred percent approval of forming a pact and was actually thinking of offering free trade in hopes that maybe a demon male or two would settle down in the town and help bolster the male population.


    "The way I see it, as I see more males than females in your village, this would work out well for both our kinds. Although we will be mixing blood, and in the future, there will be nothing but mixed breeds running around, I still think it is better than watching our people die off." Zegre was one hundred percent in favor of this pact.


    "I also think this is a grand idea. I have been worried about how my people would be able to keep on going down the road. The few girls we have are having to mate with many men a day, and this is not good for their health. Although we treat them as princesses and give them whatever they please, I still feel the fact that they are doing it with so many a day is unfair to them whether they volunteered for it or not." While there were some girls who were not helping with the rebuilding of the population plan to try to give birth to more girls, they were free to choose if they wanted to help or not. The elder respected their wishes.


    "Then it is settled. Zegre, I suggest you have a meeting between the two races of girls who are willing to date demons and demons who are willing to date human girls and actually treat them well. I am sure once the girls see how handsome Demon men are, they will have no misgivings about becoming their wives. But we should split them up into two groups: those who will stay in Harlin Heights and those who will come back to this village to live. I think that is only fair." Ryu suggested.


    "I agree to this." Zegre nodded his head.


    "As do I." Nole also agreed this was for his race''s survival after all.


    "Then we should form the pact," Ryu said. He was given a quest item for this part of the quest to form pacts. It would be a blood pact between two races. Ryu would write down all the terms, and then the two sides would need to drip a drop of their blood on the pact.


    After a few minutes, the pact parchment glowed, and every person in the two races had a small magic rune that represented the word pact to form on the top of their right hands. It did not disappear as it was to serve as a reminder that all citizens were bound by this pact. This of course, excluded Ryu and his group.


    [Special Harlin Heights Chain Quest Part 2 Completed: Form a pact between Demons and Humans]


    [Experience +1,823,946]


    [Special Harlin Heights Chain Quest Reward: Random Skill Book.]


    [Random Skill Book]


    [Quality: Legendary]


    [A book that will give you a random unique skill.]

 Chapter 205: The Strange Skill

    Ryu and Chi sat on a large rock just outside the Harlin Heights main gate with the rest of their guild members. Arkin and Anames were sitting on either side of them, acting as guards. In his hand, Ryu held a book. This was the reward for completing the special Harlin Heights chain quest. "Well, here goes nothing."


    Ryu hit the yes button on the menu in front of him to learn a random skill. Magical text appeared in front of him, spinning as if it was a slot machine. Around and around it went until slowly stopping on the first symbol. Then the next until all ten symbols in front of him came to a stop.


    [Unique Skill Passive: Acquired: Loved By Animals]


    [Loved By Animals]


    [Passive: Can not be turned off.]


    [A skill that makes its user loved by all animals. Even demi races such as fox people, cat people, etc¡­  Enjoy the fun of being loved by all the cute fluff fluffs of the world, men and women.]


    Ryu stared blankly at the message in front of him, not sure what to make of it. At his side, Chi''s hand slid onto his thigh, and a small voice could be heard floating into his ear. "Ryu¡­ For some reason¡­. I can not help but want to..." On his other side, Arkin suddenly hugged his leg, rubbing her head up against it.


    "What the hell kind of skill is this!?" Ryu yelled out.  He looked over at Anames to see that she was not acting strange and felt confused.


    "Master?" Anames felt confused by Ryu''s questioning gaze.


    "Anames, is Arkin one hundred percent demon?" Ryu felt like his leg was being molested by Arkin as her hand moved up and down his calf.


    "No, she is part batkin. Although you could say, she is the last of her kind since the batkin race died out a long time ago." Anames answered, making Ryu sigh.


    "This might be a problem. Anames, take hold of Arkin and let me know if she goes back to normal after I get back." After saying this, Ryu did not wait for Anames to say anything before lifting Chi into his arms, kicking Arkin to Anames, and running off towards the forest nearby. Only when Ryu left for a few minutes did Arkin suddenly come back to her senses.


    "Huh? Where are the other two?" Arkin looked around, puzzled. She felt like everything was hazy.


    "I have no idea. He took Mistress and ran off." Anames replied, also feeling very confused.


    On Ryu''s side of things, Chi was clinging on to Ryu, her face flushed red as she kissed his neck and nibbled on his ear. She didn''t seem to be in her right mind at this moment and time. Ryu did not hate what was happening, but his face was still black. "Is this some kind of fucking lusty passive skill!?"


    When he reached the forest, he noticed that a lot of the normal animals were all looking at him. When he stopped in a clearing, a doe walked right up to him and sniffed him. It then bowed its head in submission as if looking for a few pats on the head. Ryu adjusted Chi so he could have a free hand and reached out and petted it a few times. It seemed content with just that little bit of attention. It rubbed its head on Ryu''s hand before turning and walking back into the tree line.


    Ryu let out a big sigh of relief, knowing the animals were not going to get all lusty over him. At least he hoped. He would have to see how other animals acted. But first¡­ Ryu''s little brother was already growing in size due to Chi''s actions.


    He looked around and saw a large tree with lots of leaf cover and thick branches that were three times the size of him. He quickly climbed up it and sat down with his back against the trunk of the tree. The change of position set Chi off as she pushed her lips against Ryu''s, prying his mouth open so her tongue could invade it. Her hands were busy in her menu as she quickly unequipped her armor. Ryu also did the same.


    When Chi felt Ryu''s hard bare dick pressing up against her pussy she pressed hard down onto it and began moving her hips back and forth. "Mmm¡­ Yuki¡­ Yuki..." Muffled moans escaped her lips as she felt her honey pot getting moist. Unable to take it anymore, she lifted her hips and slipped Ryu''s dick inside her, causing her to moan loudly.


    Ryu also began moving his hips in sync with Chi''s motions. As the two fucked, Chi''s head became clearer and clearer. But because she was already overtaken by pleasure, she did not wish to stop.


    Ryu began to feel like he was about to explode, so he sped up his pace until he finally released everything he had deep into Chi''s womb. Chi also orgasmed as she felt Ryu release inside her. The two panted as their bodies began to relax. "Chi?"


    "Mmm¡­ Ryu¡­ What happened?" Chi asked as she leaned against Ryu''s chest. Her tail wagging happily back and forth. She seemed very content.


    "I got some weird, unique skill that makes animals and demi humans with animal traits love me¡­ But I think it might be bugged. Because as soon as I gained the skill, you were all over me, and so was Arkin..." Ryu replied.


    "What!? That bitch didn''t do anything right!?" Chi seemed to have only heard the last part.


    "No! But I think I might be in trouble. Chi, if this keeps happening, I won''t be able to go outside with anyone besides you in the game! This is a serious issue!" Ryu felt depressed. He loved doing things with the guild, but if his skill kept him from being around others, wouldn''t that limit what he could do?  A lot of the later things in game required a group, such as raids and fighting world bosses. It was not something he could solo.


    Chi looked at Ryu stunned. She did not realize things were that bad. "Then should we call off this raid?"