Nightmare Fantasy Online

"Pit girls, huh..." - Garami

I walked through the port town while mumbling to myself. That blasted slime, he sure knows how to up the difficulty of this event. 

"I think it is fine. Our Guild is in dire need of some more female faces~." - Aino

"Because you wanna dress them up." - Garami

"Because I am dying to dress someone up!" - Aino

No wonder Aino wished to join me rather than join Bones and Palug in looking for items that Rolf needs for the finishing touches to his machine. 

"Yeah, yeah. Now...how do you scout players for your Guild?" - Garami

"Have you never done that before?" - Aino

"Honestly, this is the first game ever where I've been in a Guild..." - Garami

"In this age? That is impressive." - Aino

Shut up. I don't like playing along with mainstream fads and strategies... 

"Then allow me to take the lead. Normally, one would put up a request in the Adventurers' Union, but since Garami is so famous among some people and that you barely interact with the fanbase, putting up a request on our side would just invite trouble." - Aino

"What are we supposed to do then?" - Garami

"Headhunting on the street! We will just talk to the players who seem free." - Aino

So, we're hitting on them? Now, this is gonna be a novel experience. 

Hmm, everyone is busy preparing vehicles or items related to them. Those are a no-go. The event is for teams, so I doubt someone busy with it would want to leave their current team to join our Guild.

Then again, there are those in that fan club of mine, but they would be a pain to deal with.

We moved away from the port and headed to the calmer parts of the town. People there are talking about the event in a more casual way. They must be wanting to participate as part of the audience. I overheard that there will be special quests for the players not participating in the race, but people moved away the moment they saw me, so I didn't hear much. So this is how Moses felt back at the red sea.

"You see anyone that you like?" - Aino

"I'm not even sure what I should be looking for." - Garami

"How about...girls you would like to play with?" - Aino

Oh, geez. That makes things soooo much easier.

After a while, Aino remembered that she was running low on sewing needles, so we split up there for now. Having nothing to do, and having zero luck finding any interesting candidates, I went to the Union in the hope of anyone putting up requests for joining groups instead of the opposite. 

Alas, my hope was short-lived. There is nothing here. Bo-hoo...

"Hey, are you free?" - ???

What?

"Sis, you should not-" - ???

"It's fine~. Hey, the priest girl. If you have time, mind joining us?" - ???

I turned around and found a pair of girls looking at me. Their equipment is shabby, to say the least, but their avatars are visually top-tier. Around Aino's level, if not better. They're even twins if their identical faces are anything to go by.

Both the girls have sharp ears and pale skin, just like elves, but they also have fairy-like wings coming from their backs. I didn't know fairies could be human-sized! 

The girl who spoke up to me is wearing a simple witch outfit along with a grimoire-looking book. Her outfit is mostly black, which contrasts her long, pale-red hair. 

The other one is wearing a simple warrior outfit. Her armor doesn't have much metal to its name. Her weapon of choice is a pair of gauntlets. Unlike her witchy friend, this girl likes white more, and she has turquoise hair that's cut short.

"Sis, this is-!" - Warrior fairy

"Eh...please excuse us!" - Witch fairy

"Hold it." - Garami

The two fairy sisters tried to flee, but I grabbed their shoulders before they could. I've got a good feeling about these two.

---

"I'm back! ...Garami, what's with the arm candies?" - Aino

Aino finally returned after her shopping trip and found me with the Fae sisters waiting for her at the Union Hall.

"Our recruits." - Garami

"Sweet going, sister! Two for the price of one!" - Aino

"Ehm..., we do not have any fancy items..." - Witch fairy

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." - Warrior fairy

"What? No! We're not here to rob you! Garami, what did you do to them?!" - Aino

"Nothing. They've been like this after I stopped them from fleeing." - Garami

"Then why were they trying to escape?!" - Aino

"No clue. They were the ones to speak to me-." - Garami

"A-a-a-about that, we are so sorry!" - Witch fairy

"W-w-we didn't know you were one of the famous players!" - Warrior fairy

......? What are they talking about?

"Now I get it. GM, this is what I talked about before, about your popularity being a thorn in our side this time around. Just for a different reason than what we discussed." - Aino

As in, the girls are intimidated by my strange amount of popularity (that I never wished for, I might add). Great. I know this was what that agent-looking guy who gave me my game asked me to do, but it's still bothersome. 

"And back to the cuties~. There's no need to worry. Garami isn't bothered by you two calling out to her~." - Aino

"B-b-b-but the rumors about the first event-!" - Witch fairy

"It's said she sicked the GMs on a group of players just because they breathed on her..." - Warrior fairy

The first event...? Oh, right. Those guys who tried to hit on me. I sent the Game Masters after them before they could even try..... Whoops. My bad.

"Weeeeeeell..., that was that, and this is now! You two have heard about the new event, right?" - Aino

"Th-that is impossible! We can't help with such a big event!" - Witch fairy

Hmm, are these two newbies? Either that or they're playing the game at a really slow pace. Not that I blame them. I'm also playing the game at my own pace. It's just my pace is prolly one of the most eventful ones on the whole server. 

"Calm down, we're not asking for elite members. Our Guild has just a handful of members anyway, and we're not planning on aiming for the top score on the server. There's just a tiny favor we need to ask of you two." - Aino

"...What favor?" - Both fairies

"Do you mind playing dress-up often?" - Aino

Hey. Don't turn the conditions for joining into something that you can use to obtain new dress-up victims. 

The two fairies looked at each other before nodding weakly to Aino. Hey, ain't she taken the leader position from me now!? That freaking fox...

"Great! My name is Aino, and you already know about Garami. And how about you two?" - Aino

"My name is Dawn, and this is my sister Dusk. We joined the game as Fae Elementals and traveled to this country just recently." - Witch fairy

"...Hello." - Warrior fairy

The black-clothed witch is called Dawn while the gauntlet warrior is Dusk. I'd say that Dawn is the most proactive of the two, while Dusk follows after her sister..., sister?

"Is that your setting, or are you sisters for real?" - Aino

"Aino, net manners." - Garami

"Ah, crap! Sorry, forget I asked." - Aino

"It's fine. We get that often, and we are related. That much we can tell. Though, one could see that through looking at our faces." - Dawn

She's right. Other than the different hairstyles and colors, they look the same. They both even have the same amber-colored eyes. 

"Most people often try to make us join their parties because of our appearances, not because they want us to join them playing the game..." - Dusk

"It is SO infuriating! Like, we're here to play the game, not getting dollied by a bunch of strangers!" - Dawn

Yes, I know that feeling. That's why I don't wanna meet my so-called fan club.

"Hmm, that means we need to up your levels a little before the event. Seeing your equipment, I'd guess your levels aren't that high." - Aino

"Guh?!" - Dawn & Dusk

The two fairies looked as if they'd been hit straight to the heart. Are they bad with EXP-farming?

"Y-yeah... Dusk is a tank while I attack with magic from afar, but..." - Dawn

"Sis' magic is powerful, but it takes a lot of time and MP to be used." - Dusk

"Dusk can use her gauntlets to take the aggro from the monsters and dodge their attacks, but..." - Dawn

"Sis gets a hard time firing the magic because I move around all the time... " - Dusk

"And Dawn gets overwhelmed when I take too long to defeat the mobs..." - Dawn

These two..., they got the strategy in place, with a tank and a damage dealer, but their levels and skills are too low. They could easily do some giant killing even if they...oh.

"Is the reason why you wanted to party with me...that you believed I was a healer?" - Garami

"...Right. From behind, Garami does have a priestess-like style. And it's quite misdirecting, to be frank! Let me redesign that outfit!" - Aino

"If you can do that to Ex-rarity items, then knock yourself out. Now, on to you two." - Garami

I turned away from Aino, who looked more than just a little frustrated over my equipment's an overly high rarity, to concentrate on the twilight siblings again. Both of them swallowed audibly when exposed to my gaze..., or not. The blindfold must be making it awkward for them.

"You two have a good plan, but the lack of recovery hinders Dusk from surviving the battle. Using gauntlets instead of a sword and shield does give you a mobility advantage, but it prevents you from taking too many hits as well." - Garami

"Yes..." - Dusk

"And Dawn, you can't rely on your sister to keep you safe while casting your magic. You either need to learn how to use smaller and faster spells, or find out how to shorten your chants." - Garami

"Guh!?" - Dawn

"Also, both of you, have you any strategies for when you need to play solo? Even if you're dedicated your playtime to each other, various events force you to act on your own. Some Dungeons even have traps to split parties." - Garami

"Seriously...?" - Dawn & Dusk

Seriously. I saw it in the category for Dungeon traps, but it didn't seem useful, so I didn't purchase it. Can't say the same for other Dungeons though.

"Well, if you join my Guild, I'll help you get out of those bad habits. Just make sure to contribute to the Guild's earnings." - Garami

"For real!? We're in!" - Dawn

"W-wait, sis. What are those 'earnings'...?" - Dusk

"Just make sure the Guild has enough materials. Dismantling monsters or collecting from harvest spots, stuff like that." - Garami

"Garami is using them to upgrade her castle~." - Aino

It's a fort, yes, but it is mainly a Dungeon, so I'm not sure if "castle" is the right word here...

"You have a castle! Can we be princesses if we join?" - Dawn

"...(Watching with eyes filled with hopes and dreams)!" - Dusk

"...If you contribute a lot to the Guild, then maybe." - Garami

"Yay~!" - Dawn & Dusk

Hmm, I never thought of trying to recruit people with this idea. I should think more about this "castle route".

But for now, I should pick some quests for the Coeurl Labyrinth. We need to train our recruits so they're ready for the event. And I also need to call upon "that" demon to help with the training...