Spirit Game

Rain was keeping his eyes out for legitimate sellers. The marketplace was brimming with scammers like that old man back there, and if he wasn't careful, his money would have been stolen from him.

Good thing he had read the library archives and asked around the forums.

Now his dilemma was where to sell his [Giant Barren Lizard Skin x1 and Claws x1] to legitimate sellers who would give him a fair price. He needed Soul Elixirs to extract water from here to the Spirit Realm.

"Ah. That girl." Rain spotted the girl in the mascot costume and approached her.

The girl noticed him too and giggled as he neared her.

"You're that hungry boy."

"Augh . . ." Rain hid his embarrassment with a light laugh. "Yeah, I forgot to eat breakfast in my haste to get here."

The girl let out another peal of laughter. "Here you go."

She handed Rain a candy, and the latter was touched. "Thank you. I'll pay for it."

"No need." The girl shook her head. "My name's Fifi, by the way."

"Rain."

"Are you a newbie too, Rain?"

"Yeah. You too?"

"That's right, though I started a month ago."

"So, are you already a novice Lord?" Rain asked, hopeful.

Fifi nodded. "That's right."

"That's amazing."

"Teehee. I almost didn't make it, though. Good thing the association sent troops and machinery for me just in time."

How envious. "They did? Your location must be near them then."

"That's right, though it's still thousands of miles apart. My territory is called White Rabbit Village and is located in Crown Jade Woods."

"Uh . . . is it alright to tell me that?"

"It's fine. I assume you already have the map from the association. If so, you'll easily find the locations of other players' territories. It's no secret really."

For some reason, Rain wanted to keep it a secret. He didn't want anyone to know that his territory was in the Barren Wasteland.

Fifi's big mascot eyes stared at Rain, unsettling him. "W-what? Is there something on my face?"

Fifi shook her head and shyly placed the tips of her fingers together. "You're the first person to not laugh and mock the name of my village . . ."

The truth was, Rain was more shocked that she had told him about the name of her village than anything else, so he didn't give much thought about her village name.

"I think White Rabbit suits your territory. You must like them." It was obvious from her costume.

Fifi beamed. "That's right, though most of the players prefer something cool like Aurora Empire, Drakonis Kingdom, or the Asyrian Republic. Compared to that White Rabbit village seemed like childish."

Rain knew about those top territories. He had done his research, hoping that one of them would take care of his troops for him. But that was just wishful thinking on his part. At this point, not even a weak town would want his territory even if he handed it for free.

"White Rabbit Village sounds peaceful and unique," Rain said thoughtfully. "It must be a nice place to live in."

Fifi's smile grew wider. "That's right. I'm striving to make it peaceful." She then force a laughed. "Though the beasts in the area made it challenging to do so."

"By the way, are you here to sell something, Rain?" asked Fifi.

"Yeah. Is there a legitimate shop here that would give me a fair price?" Since she was already a novice Lord, Rain figured she would know about most of the stalls around here.

"Ah, you must have encountered some scammers," Fifi grumbled lightly. "They're numerous around here. But there are legitimate shops run by respectable sellers. Old man Taku is one."

Fifi pointed at an old man who looked Asian, with long black hair tied behind his back.

"Just be respectful, and he will buy your items according to market price."

"Thanks a bunch."

Fifi beamed and placed her hands behind her back, though her costume restricted her in doing so. "No biggie. Us newbies should stick together."

"If you don't mind, do you want to exchange contact information?" Rain asked. Fifi seemed nice and approachable. It would be great to have a support group that understood what he was dealing with.

Fifi was silent, and Rain wondered if he had crossed the line. "Uhm . . . if you don't want–"

"Sure thing."

Rain was relived and they exchanged contact information. After the two chatted a little more, they said their farewells, and Rain proceeded to the shop that Fifi had recommended.

Fifi was such a good girl. Rain thought. She didn't even ask questions or pry for any information about him.

On the other side, Fifi was silent as she watched Rain's back. Holding her phone near her chest, she felt herself burning red inside.

A . . . a man's phone number! Fifi screamed in her head.

I did it! I did it! I DID IT!

I made a human friend!

Fifi looked at the minuscule number of contacts in her list.

She was an extremely shy person and without her costume, she couldn't even go outside her home or talk to people. Because of that, she was mostly homeschooled.

She wasn't good with boys and cowered under their gaze, which made men stay clear from her. Girls also had a hard time conversing with her because she couldn't keep up with their conversations.

Friends were few, and male friends were scarce.

Fifi liked the Spirit Realm because her troops were kind to her, and she was never alone. She also made friends with some of the inhabitants, though she had problems with monsters and beasts.

However, other players were too scary for her to handle. Some wanted to scam her left and right, while others simply didn't care. And since her territory was only a low level village, no one wanted to associate with her.

But Rain . . .

Fifi giggled and placed the phone close to her chest. She finally had her first player friend!

This was a nice day!

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|| A/N ||

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