Episode 4 : Aya and the Witch

Aya's pure white vision cleared and she was standing near that fountain.

"Oh, I'm back."

It's been a while, but I feel nostalgic somehow.

"Well, first I have to recover."

However, I have no idea what to do.

I searched the help page for something, but the amount of information lined up in a row made me quietly close the panel.

"It would be faster if I ask."

I look around and wonder which of the people I should talk to as I look around. Suddenly, a girl caught Aya's attention.

"Excuse me"

But the player never looked back.

"Um! That witch over there!"

A blue-haired girl wearing a witch's hat and a navy blue robe turned around, looked around, and pointed a finger at herself.

Aya nods, and the witch opens her mouth without expression.

"what?"

"How can I recover my HP and MP?"

The witch stares at Aya and claps her hands as if she understands something.

"In that case, you should go to the church and pray. It's a good deal because you can fully recover for free. To get to the place, turn right on that road and go straight."

I bow and smile.

"thank you"

"Hmm, it's the duty of advanced players to teach beginners who are lost."

The witch makes some manipulations with her hands, and a bottle containing a green liquid appears with her hands.

"farewell, I'll give you this instead."

The witch holds it out to Aya, and Aya has a mysterious look on her face.

"No, I'm getting it for free."

"Then add me as a friend. I want to get along with other women."

"Eh, but it's also possible that I'm a man."

"There is no Nekama. Avatars have the same gender as reality."

"But it's also possible that 'he' is a feminine guy."

"You can check the gender, name, and title on the player display. The way to do it is to look at them for three seconds. The same goes for monsters."

Agreed, Aya receives the witch's consent to add her as a friend. Even if she refuses, Aya is likely to send the witch again, so she registers the witch as a friend.

"Ringo...?"

"My name. Everyone calls me Ringo. That's why I want you to call me Ringo."

"Ha, ha."

Was there someone you shouldn't talk to? But I don't feel bad about it.

"Aya. I see. I guess it's a part of your name?"

"Yes, that's right. I couldn't think of any unique names like Ringo-san."

"No need for san. No need for honorifics."

"Okay, then Ringo...is this okay?"

"Hmm, good job."

Ringo was expressionless, but happily gave a thumbs up and handed the small bottle to Aya.

Aya learned from Ringo how to give away items, how to store them, and the types of items that can be given away.

"If you have any troubles, please contact me. You can talk by pressing the phone symbol button from the friends section."

"Thank you for teaching me everything."

"Hmm, it was fun teaching you. See you sometime."

Aya waved her hand, and Ringo waved as well, disappearing into the crowd.

"Then, shall I head towards the church?"

Magic... I proceed down the path as Ringo tells me. There are buildings that look like those in France, and it's a scenery that I won't get tired of looking at.

"Is this here?"

A large building decorated with brightly colored stained glass in the shape of a cross. When I enter inside, a large stone statue is illuminated by the light and shines divinely.

"I guess I just need to pray for recovery."

If Ringo is right, I can heal by praying with my hands together. Then, a green aura surrounded me and I opened the simple menu.

"I'm recovering."

It's a game where you can heal your wounds just by praying. If I could heal my mind and body in real life, I would continue to come here every day.

After a while, HP and MP were fully recovered.

"I guess this is okay. Wow... I guess it's time to get back to reality."

I rub my eyes while giving a small yawn. She enjoyed the game more than she expected, so Aya decided to come back and play, so she pressed her logout button and disappeared from FFO.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Ten minutes after Aya logs out of the game, a blue-haired girl wearing a witch's hat comes to a certain armor shop.

"You've finally arrived, Ringo."

A large man with short reddish brown hair grins happily.

"Hmm, I'm here."

"You're twenty minutes later than planned. Did something happen?"

"I was teaching a lot of things about FFO to beginners."

"Hey, what kind of kid was they like?"

"Hmm, she's very cute and worth teaching. Also, she was a slime slayer."

"Ah, that title that is so troublesome to obtain?"

"Hmm, probably a child whose parents were killed by slime."

"There are no living slimes in real life."

The large man stretched out his fingers and made a tsukkomi.

"But it's strange when you think about it. When it comes to defeating a total of 500 slimes and 15 different types of slimes, can a beginner do it?"

Ringo put her hand on her chin and thought.

"I just don't understand. That's why she is a child whose parents were killed by slime."

"Slime isn't real."

After a second tsukkomi, the large man played with his beard.

``I was thinking about it, but is there a possibility that the child is actually an advanced player and was wearing beginner's equipment in a tied-down play?''

"Then you won't ask me. Besides, Aya is a newborn baby bird.The play time is short."

"Aya? Oh, that's the girl's name?"

"Hmm, Aya and I are friends. I saw Aya's play time from there."

"Did you register as a friend? If so, unless there's a bug in the game, it's very reliable."

"My guess is the Grasslands of the Beginning. That's where we fought the slime bosses."

"Huh? A slime army that kills people at first sight."

The large man looks up at the ceiling with a nostalgic look on his face.

"There's a ridiculous amount of them, and there's a wide variety to choose from. What's more, it's a boss battle that you can't escape from. And each slime attacks you one by one. I wonder why the management went crazy and created something like that."

"It feels like there's a hidden element in the early stages. But that's too much to kill at first sight. But there aren't many people who defeat 100 or more slimes in a row and have a boss appear, so the damage is still small. It's a crap spec, though."

"That's the last thing you said. I understand how you feel."

Ringo turned her head to the side and continued talking.

"Rather than that, I'm going to hunt Lux Slime. So sell me a fixed damage knife."

"Then it's 500,000 gil each."

"Half price please."

"No. Fixed damage knives are in short supply due to the limited events going on these days."

The best way to defeat the Lux Slime, which is so hard that any attack will only do 1 damage, is to use a weapon that deals fixed damage. Aya didn't know that, unique original skilll.She was completely unaware of the unprecedented difficulty of defeating it using only skill.

"A stingy person. A man who stole money from someone who resold it. His brain immediately jumps to the profit right in front of him."

"Oh? Do you want to do it? Shall we apply for PvP?"

"Whatever you want. That's half the price of a fixed damage knife. I'll give you the Lux Slime magic stone for free."

"Seriously? That really motivates me!"

The large man took the large shield next to him and leaned over the counter.

"I'll win this time!"

"I won't hold back. So I hope you give it your all."

The duel between the big man and the witch took place in secret.