CHAPTER 108: AN AVERAGE PARTY’S JOURNEY

Half-dizzy, half-curious, I clicked on RinaWenswood’s account whom I freshly followed.

Sure enough, she was live, viewercount sitting around one hundred and thirteen. Not bad at all, better than I would’ve got... But not the kind of number that made your eyes bulge.

And God, I was instantly reminded of why I never streamed Darkmoon Adventure myself even when the PC version hit its peak.

They were boring, dungeon raids, farming sessions... Hell, even the part were they just sat preparing for them were just long stretches of sitting around, waiting for everyone to log on. While doing nothing, probably off scrolling on a phone in real life while you’re away from keyboard. In VR? It was like going on a blind date where you guys have nothing in common.

Watching it through a stranger’s point of view didn’t make it any more exciting, of course.

Rina and Marc were at a table in the New Destiny’s hideout tavern, sorting through gears and muttering about stats, more or less insider stuff that only they could comprehend, like "What about the one necklace you got the other day" or "Do we have money to buy those arrows you wanted?"yadi yada

The screen showed them sitting across of each other, and the background noise of clinking mugs and low chatter filling the silence. Rina’s voice carried first, soft, steady, womanly in that way that made her feel like a Sunday morning.

"...If I use those gloves, I’ll be stacking too much speed for my level, and you might not know this yet, but you’ll lose balance in your draw when you do that," she said, tapping her bow that she strap on her body. "The numbers don’t tell you that, but you feel it after a few fights, precision gets harder... I think they should buff bow and arrow."

Marc nodded, adjusting the longsword across his back as like an... Idle animation or some sort that he made up. His voice came deeper, steady, but with a kind of boyish conviction.

"Right, I think physical ranged weapons in general are not that respected. I’ve seen like 8 people who sticks to that archery route and one of them is right in front of me, makes me wonder if they will ever add guns... Probably not, right? That will be quite ridiculous, don’t you think?"

I let out a riveting groan.

The chat clearly thought the same, scrolling strings of "zzzz" and "boring item talk" filled the side panel.

"Sorry guys," Even Rina glanced at it and chuckled. "We’ll move soon, gotta wait for Hailie, Mei, and Pearl."

That’s when Hailie logged on.

Her avatar popped into the tavern like a beacon of light, slim priest robes swaying as she waved her staff around.

"Good evening!" she chirped, sitting down beside them with all the excitement of someone booting up their favorite Saturday morning cartoon.

"HER GRACE HAS RETURNED!" The chat erupted instantly. "Cute!!" "Precious healer is back!"

This... Disgusted me.

"Why is she a micro celebrity now?" I pinched the bridge of my nose, muttering, "God, I hate all of you."

The three of them started chatting, voices overlapping in this weirdly wholesome harmony.

"So what’s the plan today?" Hailie asked, practically bouncing in her seat.

Rina leaned forward. "We’ll hit the farming grounds near the ridge... It is not far from here. We should get you to level thirty-seven by the end of the night."

"You’re already close to thirty-six," Marc added warmly. "Just three hours of steady farming should do it, maybe 38 if we’re lucky with the EXP drop. Our priority would be to get you to 40 for that staff before any dungeon run, we’ll get it done before the weekends."

Hailie clapped her hands. "That’s wonderful! I only wish we could invite my friend..."

My stomach lurched...

Oh no... I hope she’s not mentioning me.

"A friend?" The comment intrigued Rina instantly. "In the guild?"

"Yes, she’s been here a day before I do!" Hailie nodded eagerly, voice soft but earnest. "She showed me how to play when I started, but she’s sick right now and can’t come online today."

She didn’t drop my name, thank God, but my palms were already sweating as I watched her avatar tilt its head thoughtfully.

"Ah, how unfortunate, she seems nice." Rina’s tone was gentle, attentive. "Have you visited her? With some gifted fruits, perhaps?"

"I did," Hailie said, as casually as if she weren’t about to ruin my life. "I stopped by her room earlier and called for a doctor. He should be arriving soon."

I slapped my forehead so hard I nearly knocked myself off the chair. Room? Doctor? For fuck’s sake, girl, you’re spoon-feeding them evidence that you’re a filthy rich individual, and it doesn’t help THE FACT THAT YOUR AVATAR IS WHITE HAIRED AND YOUR NAME IS HAILIE JUST LIKE IN REAL LIFE.

"Her room?" Even Rina faltered. "Are you two... roommates?"

Hailie nodded again, innocent as a lamb.

"Oh my God," I muttered to my screen.

The chat blew up instantly with what I expected.

"Historian will call them roomates."

"Doc on call? Wtf???"

"Sesbian Lex"

"我不懂普通话"

"Idk guys she could be talking about a cat or something and calling a vet over is not that ridiculous"

"That’s interesting..." Rina hesitated, then asked the inevitable with a calm smile. "You have a personal doctor, I’ve always wanted one."

The way her voice rose ever-so-slightly told me she already knew how weird that sounded.

Before Hailie could accidentally reveal that she lived in one of the largest mansion in the country, chaos arrived.

Mei, the bigger twin sister of the third-in-command of New Destiny burst onto the screen, skipping behind Hailie like a hyperactive rabbit, her enormous witch hat bobbing with every step. Without hesitation, she grabbed Hailie’s cheeks and started squishing them, giggling like a gremlin.

"Look at our cutie little priest! So soft, so squishy!" Mei squealed, stretching her face around in exaggerated circles.

"Owwww" Hailie flailed, laughing awkwardly, but not really protesting. "Meiiiii! Please stop! I actually feel it this time!"

The chat went wild once more.

"LMAO"

"W gremlin energy"

"that hat is bigger than her future"

And of course, Pearl arrived behind her, his stride measured, voice dripping with aristocratic confidence. He folded his arms with a wizard staff strap right behind, his robe trailing dramatically as if the tavern lighting was built just for him.

"Please attempt to contain yourself, Mei. One of these days you ought to embarrass yourself."

Mei just cackled louder, hat tipping sideways as she squished Hailie even harder.

Marc, the blonde guy who’s most unremarkable turned to Rina with his firm calm voice.

"Don’t forget to mask the stream when we leave the hideout. We don’t want Olga to scold us again, would we?"

"Good point," Rina said, already clicking around the VR’s UI to ready the blackout screen. "I’ll switch back after we’ve made some distance, cya guys."

The five of them gathered by the tavern door, and I leaned back in my chair, equal parts relieved and exasperated. If Hailie survived one more stream without outing herself as heiress of the century, it would be a miracle.

The screen cut to black as they stepped outside.