Zeruna and her party knock on the door to Xander's estate, the man himself opens the door, expecting to be met with his daughter and their party. However, what meets his face is the adventurer party he had hired. A bead of sweat rolls down his face and splashes on the ground as the party of adventurers stare him down. 

He manages to suppress his fear barely and greets them with a plastic smile. 

"H-hello, welcome b-back," he stumbles.

"We would like to report our findings," states Zeruna coldly as she walks past Xander who is visibly shaken. Her party follows her with equally cold demeanors.

"Ah, yes, the dungeon, I expect it went well."

"Indeed, we will discuss in further detail inside," says Tina.

Xander gulps out of view before following them inside his own home. They go to the exact room they met in, the long table had six wine glasses prepared. Xander sits himself of the end while the party sit opposite to him; Xander's shaky hand goes for the wine glass. Slowly he takes a sip and lowers it back to the table.

The adventurers don't touch their alcohol.

"So, um, what did you find?" squeaks Xander.

"There was indeed a dungeon; however, it was disguised as a home. It managed to teleport away before we realised that it was the source of the mana wave," explains Zeruna.

"Unfortunate, do you have any idea where it went?" asks Xander.

"No," says Tina.

"So you failed. Your excuse of–"

"Trying to intimidate us?" exclaims Zeruna. "You are a cunning and ambitious man, indeed. However, you didn't expect us to return alive. Utilizing a 'weak' adventurer party to make the quest worth more marks by getting the weak party killed, how barbaric. Especially by someone who I could imagine getting along with."

'Then again, I did similar and more destructive things in Chroniks. I'm really in no place to talk like that. I'm such a hypocrite."

"What have you done with my daughter?" grumbles Xander.

"Worry not, her and her party are physically unharmed, mostly," Tina replies.

"I haven't seen people that twitchy in a long time," Vidir adds. "Honestly, we could've killed them. They got off easy, in my opinion."

"Don't even try hiring adventurers or even assassins to get rid of us. The only reason that you are not in the same sorry state is so that you learn from your mistake. We do ask that you sign the quest sheet. That way, it can be counted as completed, thus stopping you from reporting the quest as uncompleted," declares Zeruna. "It is, in my opinion, extremely benevolent. My friend, Merille, proposed that we cripple all of you by cutting off your arms."

"Me and Amy were against that option, so we came up with this," states Vidir.

"However, it is still an option if you refuse to sign," Tina states as she presents the guild request that flies into Xander's hands. "We also demand reparations, you could also see it as a bribe to not inform members of the guild."

"Especially with evidence," Zeruna pulls out a spherical item from Tina's bag and places it on the table. The item begins playing the confessions of all party members, their voices range from extremely monotone and flat to distressed and near unintelligible. With click of Zeruna's fingers, the audio stops. "So, your choice?"

"I capitulate," utters Xander. "I will sign and give you the money. Where are my daughter and her party in the forest?"

"We brought a map with the spot marked. Do mind the hole next to where they're tied up," says Zeruna. 

---

---

Zeruna and her entourage leave Xander's estate, all with broad smiles across their faces excluding one: Aema. She looks down at her perfectly smooth hands. Those aren't the hands of an archer. She balls her hands, causing a tiny amount of blood to trickle down.

'I'm not like Aema. Even though I have the statistics, appearance and the personality of her, I can't use a bow for shit. Zeruna said she'll train me, or have me trained. I thought just because I did archery as a kid, I'd be amazing with a bow. I only ended up hitting Zeruna in the back. Though she didn't show it, she did get hurt, I can tell that it hurt her.'

Aema moves her eyes upwards to Zeruna disguised in crimson wizard cloak and her white mask. It is only now that Aema comprehends the massive difference in their physique: while Aema is skinny and unimposing, Zeruna is tall and muscular. She's the embodiment of an amazon, the pinnacle of strength, elegance and beauty.

She described her as such, a better version of Aema who some readers considered a Mary Sue. Although Amy denied the comments, Aema honestly was. An idealized version of herself. No messy black hair or dull eyes or monotonous routine. Adventurous, outgoing, extrovertive, social, fun, a dude magnetic, cute, generous, charming and everything. She had no bad things about her other than her naivete which made her pure. Even her name before reincarnating was Aisumi (愛澄), the combination of the kanji for Love (Ai) and Pure (Sumi). 

She was in the body of someone perfect, yet Amy was still Amy. Average, boring, revolti– '

(Zeruna) [Stop chewing yourself up, I can feel your negative emotions.]

(Aema) [Wha–]

(Zeruna) [You don't have to live up to your own impossible expectations. You just have to be you. Don't worry abo–]

(Aema) [Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Get out of my head. 'You don't have to live up to your own impossible expectations.' You live in your utopia Earth where everything is smiles and rainbows and ice cream. Everyone in my school hated me, I was the disgusting quiet girl. I'm not perfect, but I thought, maybe, maybe if I looked like Aema and acted perfect like Aema, I'd be interesting and not dull. Everything would just be handed to me like it was to you.]

Aema stops dead in her tracks, tears flowing down her face like a fountain. Then Zeruna stops, then Vidir and Tina too, both completely clueless as to what caused the sudden tears from the bubbly Aema.

(Zeruna) [Handed? I spent hours on my computer playing a single game for three years. What have you done? If anyone deserves...]

(Aema) [Aema and you are perfect — I wrote Aema as such and you are able to control and wield such amazing power without strain or training! Me, I'm nothing! I can't even fucking shoot straight. What if the person I hit wasn't you, but Vidir, he might've died or been injured by such a hit.]

(Zeruna) [I'm not perfect! I'm the furthest from perfect! You, you're amazing.]

(Aema) [How? You said, and I quote: 'What have you done?' What about that shows perfection.]

(Zeruna) [You never let me finish. 'If anyone deserves it, it's you.']

(Aema) [Huh, wait, that's not how it's supposed to–]

(Zeruna) [You had something, people loved you for writing. Me? Perfect, hah, funny. My life consisted of two things, gaming and gaming. Nothing else much. You? You had a novella. Your protagonist is a Mary Sue, no flaws. But people like what you did. When my family saw what I was doing, they held only disdain and embarrassment towards me. I wasn't loved for what I did daily.

The truth is Aema, you're not perfect. I'm not perfect. Nothing real is perfect. Nothing fake is perfect. Perfection is impossible, so why aim for it.]

(Aema) [Because it's better than being me.]

(Zeruna) [You have things Aema doesn't: flaws, room for development and an actual character. You shouldn't try to reach for an unreachable thing. Being perfect is dull because you have nothing to improve upon. Nothing to occupy your time with.]

(Aema) [I have a web novel?]

(Zeruna) [Yes! You have a web novel! Does Aema?]

(Aema) [N-no.]

(Zeruna) [There, you have a one-up on her. The thing is, I'm an information whore, a pervert and, all around, a huge hypocrite. I'm messy, arrogant, and a narcissist. I also have an uncontrollable hatred towards Goblins and even mention the League of Heroes just makes me want to commit a war crime against every human within a 100 metre radius. I'm far from perfect.]

(Aema) [You confuse me, so much.]

(Zeruna) [So do I, Amy. ]

(Aema) [But, it's why I like you. I'm sorry for that... outburst.]

(Zeruna) [Don't apologise.]

Aema wipes her tears away and smiles before embracing the Dark Elf who is at a complete loss for words. 

"You're a good friend," whispers Aema.

"Urk–! I-I, okay. Am I?" asks Zeruna. 'You know what, I don't care that she thinks as me as friend. I thought we could have a nice Yuri relationship and everything would be handy dandy. After all I'm a female now, while she is most likely a heterosexual female. I could try, but I'm not a trier, I'm a do-er! Ah, who am I kidding?'

"The bestest." 

Vidir and Tina look at each other. They just witnessed five emotions on two people without words being audibly exchanged. What the argument was about is beyond both of them. They can only see the aftermath of the words and the expressions on the faces of both parties.

(Zeruna) [There's something else I need to tell you.]

(Aema) [What?]

(Zeruna) [I'm... actually, nevermind. It doesn't matter.]

Another super hard chapter to write. Now, wait a sec... does this count as Yuri? I'd say it's starting to crawl to the line of Yuri. Will there be Yuri? Maybe, probably not. Possibly. 

I also recently published the chapter of I Refuse To Be A Helpless Damsel: https://www.scribblehub.com/read/56107-i-refuse-to-be-a-helpless-damsel/chapter/56177/

It isn't a shared universe before anyone asks.