9 Satsuki

"And they're gone."

Bob arrived at the scene but all he saw was destruction. Craters were aplenty and the trees in the surrounding area were split like twigs. It was like a dream to Bob who was just here moments ago, before the sudden landscape changes.

"Why do people suddenly disappear?"

He was confused as to why the players suddenly vanish from sight after they get hit by an explosion. Bob was still uninformed that the world he lived in was not real.

"Hmm. Oh?"

As he walked around the wreckage, Bob saw a survivor. The survivor was not in good shape but she stood up just fine. Despite her dangling around, she was all good and dandy.

"Are you okay?" Bob asked with worry. He was looking at the dangling arm as he asked.

"Ugh. I'm fine, just need to regenerate in the village for a bit."

The woman user her dangling right arm to give Bob the signal. She didn't want Bob to come closer.

Plop~

Her arm fell off. Bob was horrified upon seeing the dangling arm now become a separate arm. His worry only became worse.

"Are you sure? It looks like you need a hand."

"....That was a good joke. Hahaha."

The woman laughed while her arm was missing from its place. The act of laughing at this time was horrifying for Bob.

'This woman is crazy!' Or so Bob thought.

There is a huge difference between Bob and the woman. No, a huge difference between Bob and all the other players. He lived in this world which was just a game for everyone else.

"Cluck." The chicken on his back clucked.

"What is it?" Bob opened the basket and brought the chicken out into the open.

The woman looked at the chicken. She felt that this situation was similar to a popular dating technique.

"So after making me laugh, you're showing me your cock? Hahaha." The woman said as she held her stomach with her non-existent hand.

"Cock? This is a hen!" Bob refuted her words because she was mistaken.

Bob turned his back towards the woman in anger. He was offended that someone took his chicken's gender mistakenly.

"It's alright. It's alright. She can't hurt you anymore."

"Cluck!"

"There there."

Bob was caressing his chicken which he yet gave a name to. He was thankful to the chicken so he was protective of it despite exposing it to numerous explosions.

"Hahaha."

Bob scorned the woman who was still laughing. She was laughing for a different reason now though, she found it ridiculous that someone cared for their chicken at this moment.

After she finished laughing, her decapitated arm grew back and Bob also calmed down. He did not find the regrowing arm weird as he experienced that plenty of times himself.

"So, can I ask you a question?" Bob thickened his face to ask.

"You already did, but sure! What do you need?"

She displayed a friendly smile while shaking her regrowing arm. She felt giddy about the fact that someone was worried about her and made her laugh with jokes.

On the other hand, Bob was suspicious of her nonchalant attitude. He didn't like her and that's only because she made a mistake with gendering a chicken.

"I am going to Donut City but I don't know where to go." Bob stated his very simple problem.

"Hmm? You don't know where to go?"

Bob nodded at her question. He was not lost because he knew where to head back should he need to, but he doesn't know what to do other than that.

"Are you serious?" The woman said as she raised her voice. She wanted to stomp on the ground but decided not to.

"Excuse me?"

'This guy is a noob.'

She understood that from Bob's single question.

Any new player would understand how to use the system to ask about any and all published information for the game. It was especially helpful for beginners because the forum guides could be opened from in-game.

Of course, confidential information wouldn't be directly accessible by everyone. And not every information is published within the forums.

With that in mind, Bob's ignorance regarding the system is proof that he has not finished the tutorial at all as the tutorial teaches new players how to use it.

'I could scam this guy but what treasure could a noob have.' She was thinking along the lines of a dark gamer.

"Just use the system. Try asking anything to the system and it should answer within boundaries." She informed Bob. She decided to help a fellow new player.

"Hmm? Ask what?"

Bob totally forgot about the system that he had a conversation with in chapter 2. He was too shocked from Hell Dog Letani's presence that it escaped his mind.

"Just say 'System, where is Donut City?' and it should answer. If there's a published and edited content, the game should guide you towards it." She continued.

"Okay. System, where is Donut City?"

*Donut City is at the western area of Basinfall. It is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Doof and is currently ruled by Count Dooku.

*Calculating your current location.

*Processing.

*Your current position is 2 game kilometers away from Donut City. Toggling pathway guide.

"Woah!" Bob was surprised that a path suddenly showed itself in his vision.

It was the pathway guide that was free to use for everyone. As the game was very large and is an open-world game, pathway guides were a necessity.

"Well then, goodluck!" The woman turned around to go back to Bagel Village.

However, once she looked back, she saw that the hamsters her party killed earlier began to respawn. She was not confident she could get through alone.

"Okay! Thank you and farewell!"

Bob said his goodbyes and walked forward.

Though he felt a strange sensation while he was following the pathway guide, he continued.

Step. Step.

'Weird sound.'

The sound of his footsteps could be heard from behind. It was not a natural sound so he turned around to take a look.

"Why are you following me?" Bob asked the woman. She was caught following behind Bob.

"Sir, I am just going to the city, same as you." She replied nervously. She didn't want to die alone.

"Okay. You did help me after all."

And so, Bob and an unnamed female character walked towards Donut City.

"My in-game-name is Satsuki. Nice to meet you."

"Oh. My name is Bob. Same here, nice to meet you too." Bob said without pausing.

They both exchanged names to start the conversation, but no one continued the flow. One had no interest to continue while the other was feeling awkward.

'This woman. Why is she still following me?' Bob thought as he kept a close eye on Satsuki. He hugged his chicken tightly.

'Why isn't he saying anything?' Satsuki thought. She was feeling awkward because Bob was surprisingly unfeeling, which was uncharacteristic of airheads.

And with that, they both reached Donut City without much interaction.

"We have arrived!" Satsuki celebrated upon arriving at the city gates. She was feeling ecstatic as she finally made it without dying. She forgot that her party, which was composed of her real-life friends, was still stuck in Bagel village.

"Hey. I'm going on ahead. I have to look for my mother." Bob informed Satsuki as he walked forward by himself. He didn't want to deal with Satsuki as he was afraid of her attacking his chicken.

"Your mother plays this game?"

Bob did not understand why Satsuki suddenly talked about games. He stopped walking and looked at her face but said nothing. Caressing his chicken, he observed her face with an inquisitive look on his face. He wanted clarification about what she meant.

Satsuki did not understand Bob's gaze though. It was only normal for a player to know that this was a game but Bob doesn't know that because he is an NPC. So Satsuki just switched topics.

"Oh, by the way."

*Player Satsuki has sent you a friend request.

*You have declined.

"EH?" Satsuki's voice echoed in Bob's ears.

"Why did you decline?" She complained to Bob.

Bob looked at her but still said nothing. He was just being silent because he didn't really know what to say. He never experienced interaction with a girl before.

'Damn. Please, just go away.' Bob's heart was beating wildly as he thought.

To Satsuki, Bob was being mysterious. He was a person that she could not understand. As she observed during their journey, Bob had a higher level and could take the explosions without breaking a sweat.

'Bob has a high level. He was just playing dumb earlier so that I wouldn't feel nervous.' This was what went through her mind.

Due to her misunderstanding, she had a newfound respect for Bob. Now that she thinks about it, the name Bob should also be a fake name that he just gave willy-nilly.

Just a heads-up readers, she hasn't fallen for Bob. This isn't a romance novel. She's just curious about Bob, that's all.

Bob walked away without giving Satsuki another glance.

'You can run away for now, Bob. But I'll find you again soon.'

She thought to herself. She was not just any player, she was a player that had ties in the underworld of gaming. As she just transitioned from desktop games to VR games, she was still a noob along with her buddies.