[Book 1] [27. Just a normal day]
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Before today, I never would have guessed that shopping could be anything but a chore, but Katherine proved me wrong. Her expertise in finding what she wanted was almost as good as her warrior skills. Almost. Soon, we were dragging at least ten bags full of clothes, and only my dwindling account stopped us from getting more. Specifically, I stopped her.

On the top floor, near the mall’s corner, we found a small coffee shop, ‘cute af’ as she said. It had cozy green chairs and small brown tables that were charming, but the enormous windows with a clear view of the street made the coffee shop unique. “Look at ‘tat!” Katherine dashed towards the window and glared at the people on the street as soon as we settled near it and set down our bags.

Her energy surprised me so much, it took me a while to answer, “Yeah, it’s beautiful.” While saying that, a server walked towards us and stared at me expectedly. Blinking a few times at him, I panicked. “C-can you do Irish Coffee?”

The man frowned and wrote it on his tablet without a word. Hey, it’s not my fault, it’s the only whiskey you have! With my thoughts unspoken, I nervously grinned at him.

Katherine scanned the menu, her finger tracing the different options. Suddenly, she frowned, let out a small laugh, and leaned back in her chair. “Dunno, somethin’ black and sugary for ma,” she said.

He only nodded and went back to his lair. “What a charming fellow!” She grinned at his receding back, and then asked, “Hey Charlie, did ya see ma stream? Rimelion’s cool, right?”

Not yesterday, no. My palms were slick with sweat as I debated if to tell the truth. I gripped an armrest of my chair and looked out of the window. This was my first in person meeting with her. What if I said something bad? No, honesty is the best, so I said, “Sorry, I was playing it.” Who didn’t? Every player worth their salt was playing it. Right? I allowed myself to peek at her from the corner of my eyes and caught her grinning.

“Aww, don’t be sad! It’s fine!” she laughed and hugged me for no reason. She did that a lot. Or touched my shoulders. Or pat my head. At first I thought it was only her stream-persona, but she was… Truly expressive person. “What’s ya char?”

“I’m a Priest.”

Katherine closed her eyes and let out her signature hearty laugh. “Hah, ‘corse ya are! What’s yar name?” Instead of answering her, I felt my cheeks getting rosery from all the blood, and grabbed a drink before she urged me to spit out my name. It wasn’t me who choose it. I was only gazing into the glass, avoiding her stare. “Charlie?” She gently pulled my chin up and looked straight into my eyes, her expression calm with a smile.

“Princess,” I whispered and gulped down at least half of the drink.

Katherine didn’t mind that though, only laughed again, and almost spilled her coffee on me. “Tat… ‘corse you did!” she said and sipped, then she swung her legs up on down, while still sitting.

Was that a conscious thing? I checked my legs - I was sitting like a man normally would. Damn! While I was wondering about how could I change my body language, she said, “Wanna play sometime? ‘corse ya need to find me first, haha!”

“There is ancient ruin I want to explore and I need allies. I’m near the Village Number Four, you?” I tried to cross my legs and relax my right leg on top of the other, but it wasn’t much comfortable. The empress was always sitting like that, so maybe it was a cultural thing?

Katherine bounced up from her seat, put her hands on my shoulders and almost screamed, “No way! I’m close! Elf too!” Ladies at the next table frowned at us and I shifted in my chair uncomfortably, but she didn’t care about them. “It’s fate!” Katherine returned to her seat and sipped again.

Yeah, fate. Maybe, but there weren’t that much of villages in Elven starting area and I picked the largest one. “I don’t know,” I said finally, and fidgeted with my fingers again. “I’ve got a few friends playing with me, and there are things we need from the ruins.”

Katherine grinned and pulled me into a hug. She is the same as on the stream, no fake persona.

 

She made sure I had a ride by calling a taxi and even arranged for the driver to assist me with my ten bags. It was like a dream, and I functioned on an auto-pilot. I was star-struck, because I met Katherine, and we somehow became friends instantly. A pain in my chest increased as I realized I couldn't be with her romantically. Not unless I got my body back.

My memory was hazy about how I ended up at home, or why was I sitting on my sofa with my tears going down. Well, that wasn’t a secret. Anyone could guess that by now.

I cannot change anything. People will continue playing the game while the shops I visited will soon close. Yeah, and Katherine will get that bald boyfriend of hers again. But that wasn’t the reason. I swear. I think. Well, I hope.

The only way forward was still the same; to get as much money as possible. With money comes the power to change things. Right?

Although my mind still wasn’t in the mood for gaming, I undressed and slipped into the capsule. When my vision cleared, I realized I left my adversary here - a stupid rope. That stupid thing still blocked my path back.

Frustrated, I tried to untie it again, but the sound of a new message arriving broke my concentration. Lisa.

[Lisa] finally! I need help. can you come?
[Princess] Hi Lisa. ^_^ Yes, what’s wrong?

I tried something new in my chat responses. As I was chatting with Katherine, I remembered how her friend Alice used to write in a cute way on her stream chat, so I tried to imitate it. As for why did I do it? No idea.

[Lisa] Dmitry! HE KILLED my crew and is in dung
[Princess] Sorry, can’t. <3 I’m stranded on an Island.
[Lisa] how long?
[Princess] I can’t untie a boat >_<
[Lisa] …
[Lisa] i need you
[Princess] It’s true! I swear!
[Lisa] have you tried your INT?

What was with that stupid question? How could I… No way! I shot up instantly to that rock and glared at the rope. System help!

[Using your INT to solve a problem.]
[Succes!]

My body moved on its own and untied it, using my mana instead of strength. How could I be so stupid? This was the first week the game wasn’t even RP enforced yet.

Wait, perhaps? Holding my hand in front of me, I thought, use Ice Dance. Yet again I lost a control over my body, and my hands moved according to all symbols of Ice Dance, casting it without fail, albeit with only average rating. While playing warrior, I had never used my brain, only muscles. It must have affected me.

Should I curse now, or later? I call myself an expert. Professional even. Sure. I clenched my fists and resisted an urge to turn Briggitte into splinters.

[Princess] Sorry, I’m stupid >_< I need a few hours though
[Lisa] good. I need sleep, then we ambush him, bye!

With that out of the way, I dragged Briggitte to the sea and sighed at the sight of paddles. “Sure…”

With little thought, I got to work and rowed just as Don did the first time, and stared blankly at my hands. You are some exploiter, John. You even exploited yourself. While my body was working, my mind drifted into the past. Future, ugh. The question was if I should use the system to cast spells.

Yes, it could help me and even maybe save my skin, but what after the patch? Eventually they will remove it from Rimelion - and what to do then?

 

When I rowed back to the ship, someone threw me a rope ladder down. I glanced up and examined the thing. It dwindled like crazy, and at some point the rope thinned so much it looked like it could break if I gently slapped it with a whiskey bottle. For climbing up I didn’t need system’s help, thanks very much. Never do that again, John. Ever. Stranded on an island? Really?

I had to shake my head to purge the uncomfortable thoughts away. When I neared the deck, a captain, no less, offered me a hand, which I accepted, and he pulled me up. “There ya go!”

As he did that, a thought flashed in my mind - a few girls at our department used to complain about unwanted help like this. Especially Clara yelled at me, who do I thought I was when I held a door for her. Was that how should I behave now, or it was only because she hated I found more bugs than her?

The stinky man grinned and asked, “All good?”

His comment woke me up from my thoughts. “Why you ask?” I blinked a few times and checked the ship. Other than a few patched or somehow repaired parts of the deck, it was exactly how I left it.

“You seem different.” He checked the now vacated Briggitte with raised an eyebrow. “Where’s your knight?”

“He’s gone.” As I leaned over the damaged railing, I struggled to conceal the bitterness in my voice. Suddenly I was very conscious of my hands. What people did with them while talking? “I would rather… Not talk about it.” The railing wasn’t as stable as I thought, because I slipped and stumbled a little. “Dammit!”

The Captain ignored my blunder and focused on a fog on a horizon instead. “Yes. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Can I see Duke?” I asked, because I wasn’t in a mood to explain why he shouldn’t say these words. Captain nodded and turned towards the deck, where a few sailors pretended to repair already repaired yard, but they stiffened when they sensed his attention. Don’t tell me-

I covered my ears in time and ran to a familiar bench. Taking a lot of air into his lungs, he yelled, “You heard the lady! Move! You lazy-”

My plan was clear - I had to help Lisa now. She was my customer, right? And a friend if I played my hand right. If I wanted to change the future, I had to find the items in ruins. I couldn’t help Lisa alone, but I could ask Katherine. With a grin, I added her as a friend. Thank heavens they hadn’t removed messaging yet.

[Katherine] Ya weren’t joking! Princess!
[Princess] Yes! ^_^ do you have time?
[Katherine] For ya? Anytime hun!
[Katherine] Princess?

She had to message me again, because I stopped writing, grinned foolishly, and kept staring at her last message. Yes, I knew she meant it somehow else, but… She wrote ‘anytime hun’!

Then why was I crying again? Oh, yeah… Dammit!

[Princess] Sowy, can you meet me near the Scorching dung?
[Katherine] Wanna go? Have team?
[Princess] Do you know Lisa? ^_^ She needs help, Dmitry killed her team.
[Katherine] Lisa? Dmitry? She’ll LOVE to meet me hahaha!
[Princess] I’m with Duke’s expedition, I’ll let you know when I can come.
[Katherine] k, k, I’m in fields so can’t right now. See ya there.

After that I was wondering if I should contact Lucas or not, but the Captain interrupted my thoughts and pointed at the flagship. “Duke’s waiting.”

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