The apple doesn't fall far from the tree (Ystur POV)

It's been a couple of days since I first arrived in the world of Eternal Universe Online. Unlike the novels I've read, I wasn't fortunate to get a big head start over the players, with my reincarnation taking place just a couple of hours before the release of the game. Speaking of that, I still don't know how this even happened, but I'm not complaining, I've been enjoying my time here so far.

It didn't take too long for me to figure out that I'm here physically because of a mistake or oversight on my new mom's part, I'm not too sure about the details though. I heard she was trying to make a homunculus servant or something but ended up with me instead. Works for me though. But there are no mistakes, only happy little accidents.

Speaking of Mom, the Quest I was given when I first arrived calls her a tsundere. After interacting with her a bit more, I have no doubts about the validity of such a title. She gets really vocal about being it when I address her as my mother and said to call her big sis or something similar, so long as it makes her sound younger. I found out that I have a cousin, Mom's younger sister's daughter, and that Mom strong-armed her into addressing Mom as Sis since she couldn't stand being called Aunt. However, as a tsundere, despite the verbal admonishments, her tail betrays her words when it wags like a happy dog when I call her Mom. I mean, a wolf is just a bigger dog, right?

When I first got here, almost instantly after being shown around, the silly Vampire had me help her with her paperwork… It was the biggest mistake I've ever made. I worked too quickly with the only mistakes I made were simple spelling errors. How do I even know the language anyways? Well, that's not the point, the point was that I was too efficient and from there Elizabeth tried to unload more of her work on me. Supposedly, the reason so much work has piled up is because of Mom. She doesn't do any of the work herself as delegates everything onto Elizabeth. Elizabeth says it's because Mom is lazy, and being the filial daughter I am, I wanted to defend her… but I can't, with her daily actions, I just can't bring myself to say anything back. However, I also think all this work is troublesome and ran out to have some fun the moment Elizabeth had looked away.

I noticed this when I was being shown around before, but the Oulvgar really, and l mean REALLY worship Mom. And this reverence extends to me as her daughter. From what I understand, Mom elevated the monsters in the Sea of Trees from simple sentient beings to life with sapience on par with Humans, in addition to greatly increasing their overall strength as well. From what the Oulvgar has said, the other animals of the Sea of Trees had also been elevated to the position of monster. This wasn't made clear from what I knew about the game but apparently, there's a difference between the two. Regular animals are just that, normal animals, things like livestock, regular pets like dogs and cats, and even more dangerous things like poisonous toads and venomous snakes. But what separates them from monsters is a mix of higher intelligence and much higher levels of danger when compared to an animal counterpart. And here I thought they were interchangeable terms. The Oulvgar go even further though. If someone was blind and was speaking with one of the Oulvgar, I don't think they could distinguish them from a Human unless outright told. Not to mention their power level is significantly higher than their monster counterparts, especially those guardians.

Because of my Mom, the Oulvgar treat me as some sort of Princess and will do pretty much anything I say. I'll admit, this feeling of being above others is great, having a bunch of overpowered servants to do my bidding is an amazing feeling. And the players are just as easy to manage, just give them a quest and they'll do pretty much anything I ask, even the strangest things like making them entertain me by making a fool of themselves. Mom is also easy to get things from since all I have to do is give her a sad look and she'll get whatever I ask while giving an excuse no one believes, not me, not Elizabeth, and not her guard Kretea. The feeling of being spoiled is great, but I feel if this continues for too long I'm gonna end up crossing the point of no return and turn into a person who can't do anything by themselves.

Although I think that, the allure of skipping whatever work the killjoy Vampire prepared for me and having fun is too great. But I did stop getting the players to cook for me after two days when Elizabeth pointed to Mom who was laying on the couch with a bag of chips while watching TV, saying I'd end up like that if I continued. Not even I want to end up like that, so I did start doing more things myself without bossing the Oulvgar and players around. But doing actual work… not a chance. I'm having way too much fun riding around the forest on the backs of the Oulvgar or swimming in the reservoir with the otters and fish.

Why is it called a reservoir actually? I mean, that would imply that it's an artificial creation, but beyond the recent additions made by Mom and the others, everything looks natural to me, not that I'd really know the difference. But these kinds of things usually have some kind of significance in video games. And while I was swimming with the Oulvgar, I found what I was looking for. Beneath the side of the island that's at a higher elevation to the water level is a small indent and with a bit of digging with help of the Fish Oulvgar, we uncovered an inlet that led down to a cavern that is strangely unflooded. The otters were able to join me in our little adventure, but we couldn't get far since a large door blocked our path and we couldn't get it open nor did we find a way to open it. I did however get something unexpected, an S rank Quest.

[Quest: The Forgotten History of Antiquity - The Primeval Shrine - 1 (Rank S)]

[Description]: You have discovered an ancient site. Find a way to open the door.

[Rewards]: +500,000 EXP (Quest is only completed once all parts are completed)

[Failure Penalty]: The secrets of the past will forever remain buried.

In addition to the quest, I had also gained a considerable amount of EXP thanks to being one of the first people to discover this place. And I intended to make sure this remains a secret for as long as possible, after all, I can't let the players get a jump on me with this. As the Otter Oulvgars and I made our way back, I gave out instructions to them and the fish to cover up the entrance.

As for people who might know something about this, I have two people in mind. The first is old man Asterion and the second was naturally my Mom. Both of them know a lot but the old man is hard to talk to so I went to see Mom about this first. But for some reason, that ended up with me now in a car ride to the Capital of one of the neighbouring counties. Mom is asleep, Elizabeth probably won't know anything useful, and Kretea is not someone who would know anything about super old and ancient history.

"Are we there yet?"

Elizabeth doesn't say anything as she rolls her eyes. And from the front mirror of the car, I can see Kretea putting on an 'are you serious' expression on her face. Maybe I should have waited a bit longer before asking since Mom just asked the same thing before she went to sleep.

I notice Kretea shake her head slightly, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"I agree," Elizabeth nods.

Why do I get the feeling they don't mean that in a good way?