“That’s alright with me.”
“Uhm…” Little Droplet spoke up. Compared to before, the youth appeared more listless and tired. “Can I join, as well? I’m quite useful as a healer, after all. I’m not in the mood to actively play right now, so travelling would be very nice.”
Bloodless Sunset chewed on his lip. Ice hated travelling with healers after what had happened the last time.
But once more, Ice gave in.
Why?
Well, because Little Droplet was as talented a mage as Ice was. While their spells were slower, they had a clear grasp on the language. Mistakes rarely happened.
As long as someone wasn’t envious about his skills, there was no reason to hide away.
Besides… He could relate to the feeling of wanting to get away from reality by simply exploring Haven.
Seeing Ice nod, Blackstone excitedly clapped her hands together. “That’s great! Now if we take along Spiderlily too, we will have a nice party, don’t you think?”
“But isn’t she busy with the delegation?”
“Asking can’t hurt.”
White Light laughed at the side. Look at how the two-man trip had turned into a group excursion.
Spiderlily, as they found out when Blackstone asked her, was more than willing to ignore the delegation quest in favour of following the group.
Ice had merely listened when Bloody voiced his surprise at her decision.
Blackstone was quickly growing into what Bloody was for him. A comfortable person to be around, someone to enjoy the game with. Sure enough, Spiderlily didn’t necessarily prefer playing alone just because she was the quiet and calm type.
If Ice usually didn’t play with people because it made him nervous, she didn’t do it because there was no one she wanted to play with.
Why not take the chance when you found your match?
The group gathered near a teleport point, which was somewhat close to the huge forest that hid the largest elven settlement. Blackstone was happily chattering away to Spiderlily, who nodded once in a while, and Bloody was checking his equipment.
Little Droplet was blankly staring out into the meadows.
Subconsciously, Ice found himself walking over. He didn’t say anything, only stupidly opened his mouth, but Little Droplet noticed and smiled.
“Oh, are you worried about me? Thanks.”
It felt like a perfunctory comment. Ice creased his forehead, looking over the small frame of the player. “Are you alright?”
“I’m…” Little Droplet paused. They sighed, shoulders drooping. “It was my dad’s death anniversary last week. I’m still a bit out of it. It’ll pass in a while.”
The healer dropped their head.
“I just… miss him a lot. It’s quiet at home without him.” The slender frame twitched. Little Droplet looked up again, a smile appearing on their face, as if nothing had happened. “I apologize. Dark topic. Uhm, let’s get going?”
It wouldn’t do anyone good to pressure the healer into talking when they didn’t want to. Ice returned to Bloody’s side, throwing a look at the equipment as well.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Yxjs. Mbg cbk, kf’nf qijccfv bc ajxlcu j mjggljuf, rlcmf atf gbeaf kf’gf ajxlcu ifjvr er atgbeut rfnfgji jgfjr ktfgf sbe mjc’a erf sbeg wbecar. Pa’r fjrlfg ab ajxf j mjggljuf ogbw atf rajga atjc rklamt yfakffc oislcu jcv kjixlcu, fnfc lo atja wluta yf ojrafg lc atf fcv.”
Bloody presented his and Ice’s plan. No one complained.
Blackstone laughed, her braids bobbing up and down. “We’re tag-alongs! Don’t mind us. We just want to enjoy watching a quest about a dragon.”
“Which hopefully will not result in it coming out and destroying this place”, Little Droplet added, snickering slightly.
“God, we’d be in trouble if it got out that we messed up a quest that resulted in the game being destroyed.” The wolfman snorted out a laugh, covering his mouth. “If that happens… Hey Ice, can I mooch off you? I don’t think I’d be able to get a job.”
“Yes. I think my parents wouldn’t mind”, Ice responded seriously, causing Bloody to laugh even louder.
“You’re a good guy”, Blackstone sighed wistfully. “I take everything back. Please don’t join the entertainment industry.”
Ice tilted his head. His parents often said the same – that, while they’d love for him to work together with them, they didn’t want him to truly join the industry.
As they conversed cheerfully, the carriage they’d take drove up the long-winded street.
Two horses were dragging it, with the driver holding the reins. The carriage itself had a roof, but it was clearly meant to transport cargo rather than people.
Bloody shrugged when Blackstone looked at him. “You don’t exactly get luxurious carriages going all the way to the Lythian Forest. We’ll all have to travel a bit uncomfortably. On the bright side, it’s not like we will notice sleeping inside.”
“We also can’t take a nap to pass the time, though”, Blackstone retorted.
Sleeping in moving vehicles – carriages – and logging out was possible, of course, but the game didn’t like the thought of you using that to skip all the way ahead to your target. If you didn’t log in again after 24 hours and didn’t stay for at least a full hour each time, the carriage driver would “throw you out” and you’d end up logging in to find yourself on some street.
At least you’d get your money back for the part you didn’t get a ride for. Like getting off a taxi earlier.
“We could play card games… If I had cards, which I don’t.” Bloody began to whine, a wolfish sound. He got into the carriage with ears tilted down. “I should have brought some. Hello, sir. Thanks for taking us along.”
“My words, Foreigner. Safest with you lot coming along.” The man – whose beard more or less hid all of his features – waved a fleshy hand. “Don’t have any cards for you though.”
“It’s okay. We will find conversation topics”, Blackstone replied in Bloody’s stead. She struggled a bit but got into the carriage with Spiderlily’s help. The elf followed her, then the healer, and lastly the Ice Emperor.
“What do you wanna talk about?”
Bloody’s ears flicked back up. The carriage began moving, an unsteady shaking transmitting over to them. It was hardly comfortable when you had no pillows and couldn’t even stretch your legs, but they’d manage. Blackstone would have it the easiest, considering her height.
“I don’t know. How about your family? I know Ice’s parents, but are yours famous too? Are they acquainted?”
“Oh, no, no. I only got to know Ice in Haven. Never met his parents. My family is a common, run-of-the-mill family you’ll find anywhere. I’ve got one little brother whom you’ve seen and no other siblings. We’re a peaceful lot.”
“That’s nice.” Blackstone leaned on her knee. It was hard to see the tall beauty they had met in her. “I think it’s widely known – I’m not in contact with my parents. Happens sometimes. That’s why I’m relieved that Ice is so lucky with his parents.”
“Yes”, Ice agreed softly. “They always support me. I couldn’t wish for more.”
Little Droplet lifted their head, hair falling away. The bright eyes were turned to Ice. Suddenly, the youth smiled a bit. “Support… That’s important, isn’t it?”
“It’s a sign of love”, Spiderlily whispered from their side. Her face had softened significantly, gaze far away as if in a memory.
“My father always supported me”, Little Droplet said, voice high like a little bird’s. Their smile brightened the carriage, filled with love and affection for a person not around anymore. “Always teaching me and being by my side. Showing me the beauty of the world. He said, even if things don’t always go as planned, he’d hope that I’m always happy. Even without him.”
The words sounded like said by a man who knew his death was coming. Spiderlily must have noticed it, for she seemed a bit sad. “He sounds like a good man.”
Little Droplet puffed up their chest with pride.
The mood, which had turned incredibly heavy for a moment, became warm again.
“Well, enough moping from me.” Little Droplet hit their cheeks. “I’m on my way to a cool place! I should be excited!”
“The Lythian Forest is without a doubt the most beautiful place in all of Haven. Have any of you been there before?” The beastman of the group asked the question for everyone to answer.
“I have”, Spiderlily spoke up.
“I haven’t.”
“Neither have I.”
Healer and lifestyle player shook their heads.
“Oh, it’s gorgeous! I think you’ll love it. The main group there are dark-skinned elves, but there’s a river running through the forest that leads to the eastern sea. There are mermaids living inside. You can also find some beastmen around.”
“Mermaids are peculiar”, Spiderlily muttered dryly.
One of the races players wanted to meet the most were mermaids. If you looked at the forum, though, you’d soon get disillusioned.
The mermaids in Haven were, to be exact, deepsea merfolk.
They were beautiful enough to be enchanting, with long fins and flowing hair, covered in jewelry. Their voices weren’t hypnotizing like a siren’s, but still so beautiful you’d want to do nothing but approach. They were a race with their homes in the depth of the sea, who would reach the surface only to sing or to travel.
The river leading to the Lythian Forest was deep. Some mermaids would swim upstream to visit the magical spring inside the forest, making it one of two places where you could see mermaids – the other one being at the sea.
There was a pretty good reason why people didn’t traverse the eastern sea. That reason was exactly the mermaids.
Mermaids were territorial… and frighteningly gluttonous. One would easily devour a whole shark.
And, well, their diet included anything disturbing their waters. Be it humans, elves, dwarves or beastmen.
If it came close enough, it’d be eaten.
That their charming smiles hid rows of retractable teeth and a jaw that could be unhinged like that of a snake was something the first players had found out in an ugly manner.
Players came to the conclusion that the best way to meet mermaids was the Lythian Forest, where they wouldn’t go nuts over you invading their territory. After all, they were guests to the forest, so they behaved themselves.
Just like many things, this was something that people had asked the developers about. Were mermaids monsters?!
No, was the gleeful response. If you break and enter into my house, you can’t be offended if I hit you, right? So if you accidentally die, there’s no reason to waste the meat.
Ah.
By the way, that was the same developer who had made the Red Forest.
No one could say he didn’t have interesting ideas…
Part of that whimsical design was what made Haven realistic, at least. Having a race that acted like this wasn’t too surprising.
The inhabitants of Haven didn’t think of it as weird. The deepsea merfolk protected the sea. If you were ignorant, you’d pay the price – everyone had themselves to blame for entering their territory. They never went out of their way to hunt anything other than fish, at least.
Also, they were gorgeous.
Elves liked beauty, dwarves practicality, beastmen lethality. All three liked natural things the most.
So, for the beastmen and elves living in the forest, the merfolk was truly a great race! So pretty! So deadly!
Ice went through his last meeting with them. “They’re peculiar, but it’s not as hard to get along with them as one would think.”
“Just how do you do it? I mean, I know the stories about you. But how can you treat NPCs like humans?” Blackstone curiously leaned forward. She, like many others, had tried Ice’s strategy before but failed on long-term. The reason was that it was too annoying to bother treating Haven’s inhabitants as people.
They used games to take a break from reality. Who wanted to memorize names, stories, likes and dislikes? Wasn’t that bothersome?!
Ice’s expression turned blank. Somehow, the sight sent a chill down Blackstone’s spine.
“Where… does a human start?”
“…Huh?”
“They have a memory. They can react freely. They have emotions. They have considerations for the future, react to the logical issues players cause… Putting aside that there is no body of flesh and blood behind it, what makes them different?” Ice’s voice was even. “Abzu, the original of these AIs… If you gave him a body, would people know he wasn’t human? Turned around, right now we are just code. Are we any more or less human than these NPCs?”
“Oh now that’s a topic you can discuss for the whole ride.” Bloody smiled wryly. “Gotta start on what defines a human. Although I don’t share Ice’s thoughts, I can’t deny I see where he is coming from.”
Blackstone and Spiderlily didn’t react. They stared at the floor, expressions subtly changing every few seconds.
Seeing them seriously think about it, Bloody shut his mouth and found a better position to sit.
Little Droplet dragged their knees up to their chest, watching Blackstone’s face as if it was the most interesting thing to observe. Maybe it was, in this simple carriage.
Ice knew that his thoughts were a bit radical. He simply thought that an AI on the level that Haven displayed – one that did not need to have coded responses – wasn’t too far from being alive at all. Let alone Abzu, who was said to be on an even higher level.
…Hm. Did this count into having issues separating game from reality?
But was reality that much different from a game, when it was all about learning, about managing relationships, and about working towards your goal? The little tasks – quests – that you did every day, where you gained experience bit by bit, weren’t they the same? If Haven, a game, could emulate reality to this point… was Haven a reality, or was reality a game?
While the Ice Emperor was having an existential crisis in the middle of a little carriage driving along an endless road, Bloody was beginning to consider what to eat for dinner.
Author’s Note
At the point where I wrote that part I was like “whoops”, because I hadn’t intended to add philosophical questions but uhhhh. Here they are. Sorry?
Also now that I’m back to scheduling chapters, look at my baby boy grinning!!! That floofy brat!!!
Thanks YueLqn!!! huggles
I mean if it talks like a duck, quacks like duck, acts like a duck, then sure, it’s a duck, right? XD
Also, Bloody thinking about dinner hahaha
Uah I’m a bit late- I knew I should’ve woken up earlier hsjdh
The contrast between Ice and Bloody’s thoughts though pff
And Ice casually going through an existential crisis umu
Also I’m glad you like the art! huggy
Itsh sho cute!!!!! Also, what’s late, the chapter hasn’t been out for long xD
»If you break and enter into my house, you can’t be offended if I hit you, right? So if you accidentally die, there’s no reason to waste the meat.« Well, it’s true xDD I like the merfolk >3
(This here could also be one of those novels were human x game AI fall in love. Hrhr~. But our Bloody is human too xD)
Hmm….. maybe Ice gets that tiny bit of preferential treatment bc the AI likes him and is supporting him? ( •̀ ᴗ •́ ) (Let me have strange thoughts lol)
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
There’s always space for a human x game AI couple if you ask me…. xD
Stop it, you’re making me want it xDD But I have to agree lol
That art is so cute!!!
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
thanks for the chapter <3
Thank you for the chapter 💜