CHAPTER 48: CHEERS!

It was the evening of the same day.

I didn’t even get a chance to say anything before Hailie slammed into me like a truck., not literally of course, though with her enthusiasm, it felt close enough.

"I can speak now!" she cried, her little avatar arms squeezing me so tight I actually felt it despite being multiple times her level.

I blinked, half-laughing. The last time we’d been online, she could only type quick phrases into chat, or rely on me reading her body language. But now, in a clear, soft voice that was soothing to the ear of the second daughter of the Sonder Interactive Corp, Hailie’s words poured out like sunlight.

Her excitement made me stumble. I barely caught myself before tipping over.

"Whoa, careful there~ Your new power might be hugging me to death."

She hopped back, still bouncing in place.

"But, it’s gone! I can really talk again in game. Cory, Cory, Cory~" She said my name in 3 different tones and accent, "I can say things! Do you know how amazing that is? It’s like I’m finally whole!"

I smiled awkwardly as I patted her head, though, still a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing that happened to day.

The whole sequence in my head a dozen times: got on the bus, got rob, had insane sex with a random woman, argued with her, went back to the multimillion dollar mansion, staring at the ceiling until evening came, logging in with both Hailie and Ann, watching the little cutscene.

It was so... normal this time, the Null Shepherd wasn’t there this time, because there was no alternate dimension pulling us away. We just kinda arrived at Wroeg’s Hollow, the swampy and foggy atmosphere was easier on the shoulders, with dozens of other players circling its paths.

No one talked to each other, nobody wanted trouble when PvP was on and no one wanna risk grinding back at level 1. They all kept their distance like we were strangers waiting in line at the DMV.

So Ann, who got an IOU from me to escort and bodyguard us, had it easy as she guided us through the place, half doubting about our story about The Null Shepherd as we didn’t see anything at all this time around.

Hailie breezed through the quest as if she were protected by invisible walls, and not once did I have to do more than lift my shield, some wolves did watched us in the treelines as we made our way here on the horse carriage, growled, but never dared to interrupt.

And then Ann Murphray... she winked at me when it was over. Like she was trying to remind me about what I will have to do in the future... And then she just logged off, leaving me with this girl practically bouncing a hole into the cobblestones.

"I really miss hearing your ingame voice, it’s almost like your real voice, just a bit deeper." I said finally, though it came out weirdly stiff, like I had to force the words out past the lump in my throat. "Guess that means... we did it."

Hailie clapped her hands together.

"We did it! And look!" She opened her character status board, which I couldn’t see but she was pointing at it in midair as if I could, probably because she was confused, "Cleric! And level ten already! Can you believe it? I was just level 1 earlier! I got ten more levels in a blink!"

Her grin could’ve cracked the screen, and I caught myself smiling back, because damn if it wasn’t infectious.

"Congrats, rookie," I said. "Guess that makes me a... uh... Squire" I flipped open my own status board.

"Whoa! You changed class?" Hailie blinked at me, eyes wide. "Just now?"

"Quest requirements," I muttered, scrolling down. "Escort a player through the Cleric quest without killing anything, could only use armor and shield, had to keep you safe, blah blah blah, forgot to tell you this, sorry."

"Then you... you really protected me," she said softly.

I pretended not to hear the appreciation in her tone, clearing my throat as I looked at my ability list.

My Warlock skill—Chain of Agony—was gone, replaced by something much tamer:

Guard’s Bond (Squire [Class]):

- The user grants FakeHP to [1] ally with the value of half the user’s MaxHP.

*FakeHP: This value will be reduce before the actual HP, but before going through DEF/RES/DamageReduction

"Mhm" I tapped the description with my finger as I repeat the skill for Hailie to listen to. And she repeated mine to me.

Heal (Cleric [Class]):

- The user heal someone by touch for x0.5 of their magic stats.

Hailie looked at me like it was noble, like I was some knight in shining armor. But in my head, I just groaned, I could already feel the grind it would take to climb from here to my real goal. Squire was just the first rung on the long, long ladder toward Holy God Knight.

Still, there was no denying the buzz in my chest when I saw the level-up notification: I was 29, but I’m 32 now, baby, and I could get on the quest to be the Apprentice Knight now.

Hailie practically twirled on the spot. "So... now what? Do we join a guild? Go fight evil? Or, um... or!" She clasped her hands dramatically. "What if we build our own guild! Cleric and Squire. Holy and righteous, helping other people, Imagine it, Cory!"

I froze in cringe by the sheer fact that she said it with such conviction, such sparkling sincerity. And all I could think was: God, don’t look at me like that, don’t make me the good guy. I’m the wrong person to play family fantasy with... I’m going to puke, why did Eirlys trust me on this?

"Uh..." I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, maybe, guild stuff sounds... cool."

It sounded awful. I needed to climb ranks, not babysit newbies. I needed quests that would wring the marrow out of me, not some charity work dream where we hold hands and sing hymns.

But Hailie’s eyes were still sparkling, so I blurted the first escape hatch that came to mind.

"Actually! Before all that... how about we celebrate? My treat."

"Celebrate?"

"Yeah." I forced a grin. "You hit level ten, and I hit thirty-two. That’s worthy of at least a drink, right?"

Her grin faltered, just slightly, and she glanced down.

"Oh, um. I’ve never... drunk before."

The way she said it like a confession almost made me laugh. "Hailie. We’re in-game, you won’t actually get drunk. It’s just simulated. Think of it like... roleplaying the taste without the headache."

She hesitated. "I don’t know..."

"C’mon. You really think I’m gonna let my fresh little Cleric graduate without toasting to it? That’d be bad luck."

She giggled nervously. "You’re not going to tell Eirlys?"

"Scout’s honor." I lifted my hand in a lazy salute.

After a few more half-hearted protests, she finally caved. Which is how, twenty minutes later, we were sitting in the largest tavern in town, throwing away good golds for pleasure, with mugs of frothy beer clanking down in front of us courtesy of the barkeep NPC.

"Alright." I raised mine high. "To Hailie, who can finally scream at me properly instead of typing."

She burst into laughter, cheeks pink. "To Cory, who... um... became a Squire today!"

"Cheers!" I shouted, and downed half the mug in one go.

Bad idea, the moment the stuff hit my virtual throat, the game’s simulation system kicked in, making the edges of my vision blur and a stupid heat rise to my cheeks. I slammed the mug down so hard the table rattled.

"Woooo!" I roared. "This is freaking amazing! I swear to god I’m not this weak to alcohol in real life, am I?"

Hailie blinked at me, then calmly tilted her own mug and drained it without flinching.

"It’s kind of sweet," she said thoughtfully. "Like honey bread dipped in warm tea."

I stared at her, slack-jawed. "What... you don’t feel it?"

"No?" She tilted her head innocently. "Why?"

I groaned, rubbing my face, of course the sheltered little saint drinks her first ale and it’s nothing, probably due to her invulnerability thingy, too.

Meanwhile, I was already hiccuping, slurring, burping into my hand like a washed-up pirate.

Another round came, I ordered it too quickly, and slammed it even faster, soon I was half-standing, half-falling against the table, voice booming louder than the other players in the tavern, catching the intentions of bad companies.

"And another thing... hic, nobody, and I mean nobody, tells Cory she can’t, urp... handle her drinks!"

Hailie giggled behind her hand, sipping her forth mug like it was warm milk, she hadn’t even blushed, not once.

By the fifth, I was pounding the table, laughing so hard my screen blurred, I probably farted too, but I don’t remember... Meanwhile Hailie calmly leaned over and whispered,

"Cory... maybe we should log out for the day?"

I hiccupped, raised my mug again, and declared, "Holy God Knight, here I come!"

Username: CJS69Real

Level: 32

Class: Squire

HP: 130/130

Attack: 41

Magic: 6

Defense: 28

Resistance: 20

Damage Reduction: 3%