Yet, just as Lucy set her sights on throwing materials into a pot and calling it cooking, she turned out of the alleyway at the sound of yelling and hollering. There, players were running about like headless chickens.
"Why the fuck is the forest burning?!"
"I just burned to death!"
She blinked her eyes, looked at Shana, then both stepped out of the alley along with Alice's floating form.
". . ."
". . ."
Around Acron's outskirt, there was fire. It wasn't something small. A conflagration of crimson and orange burned on the outskirts west of the gates. Thick, gray, darkening smoke rose into the sky with the flickering flames of trees burning.
"Why the heck can the game world be burned?!"
Shana shrugged at Lucy's outburst. "Realism?"
"Goddangit developers!"
She had never seen a mmo that made the environment this destructible and susceptible to magic. Sure, Eclipse was a full-dive virtual reality, but wasn't this still too much? What would happen if it changed the terrain completely? Could the trees regrow?
[It seems the western forest is on fire, master, the forums think a player named 'Alexander the Great' accidentally lit it ablaze.]
'Alexander the Great?' Lucy had a sudden terrible premonition. That username sounded all too familiar. Very familiar. 'Accidentally?' That sounded familiar too. All too familiar.
"Come on, Shana, let's go!"
"What? Go where?"
Lucy had already begun running.
"To find a clumsy, unlucky friend of mine," Lucy replied, "Before all the players get to him and beat him up!"
"???"
"Faster!"
In little time, the two exited Acron's northern gate and crossed the field of Rabid Rabbits, which they proceeded to ignore entirely. Ahead of them, players were running away from the forest, cursing.
[Player 'Alexander the Great' has earned the achievement 'Arsonist' by becoming the first player to kill 50 players through flame magic on the American Server! Congratulations!]
"What the fuck? That fucker got an achievement for killing me?!"
"Are you fucking serious?!"
Color drained from Lucy's face.
"We should hurry. . ."
"Really," Shana huffed, "Why are we hurrying?"
"That fool is going to get himself into serious trouble with other players at this rate!"
"??"
[Master, after collaborating the comments on the forum, I have tracked down a projected area the player 'Alexander the Great' might be. Would you like me to display a trail towards him?]
Lucy and Shana were dumbfounded.
"She can do that?"
"Alice, you're amazing!" Lucy yelled. "Show us!"
[As you wish, master!] The A.I sounded happy.
A translucent line floated in front of both of their eyes and the followed it, entering into the burning forest.
A tree crashed in front of them, leaves aflame and bark blackened.
"Drats," Lucy said, blinking her eyes through fire and smoke, and moving carefully to not find herself aflame the next moment. "We need to jump this one."
"Alright."
The two jumped over what had now become a burning log, crashing on the ground and quickly scurrying forward and away from it. They found their next path blocked and Alice's trail tweaked itself on the move, guiding them through a new path.
"Wow. . .she's amazing. . ." Shana couldn't help commenting.
[Alice is the greatest A.I ever, miss.]
The burning of the forest was far too realistic. The flames. The smoke. Lucy would have ran away from it if she wasn't trying to find a certain fool. The only part that wasn't realistic was that they could still breathe normally. Smoke wasn't going to kill them anytime soon.
In time, they came upon what they were looking for as Alice's trail disappeared.
"I still don't get it. . ." A boy murmured ahead of them, scratching his head of short, silver, hair as he grumbled. Further in the distance, players were cursing as they ran or became trapped by flames. "How did the just hit the branches on its own? I could have sworn this game had some level of guided magic? Why did the tree start burning? Are the developers really idiots?"
Lucy stepped into the small clearing that was only safe because the ground there was mostly earth, not grass.
"Bingo, we found him," She said, recognizing his voice.
"That's him? Your friend?"
She nodded.
"Arthur!" She yelled.
The boy jumped in place. He looked around him for a moment, then spotted the two and raised a brow. His face was pale, and his eyes were green. Dressed in the beginner's outfit with only a feather attached to his hair and a wand in his hand, he looked like he didn't belong there, surrounded by flames, confused.
He frowned.
"Who are you?" He asked, "Do I know you?"
Lucy rolled her eyes.
"I see you finished your summer homework, right?" She asked, grinning.
He widened his eyes.
"Oh, it's you, Lucy."
"Umm. . ." Shana looked between them, then at the flames, "Ummm. . .how. . .how did you manage to set fire to the forest?"
Lucy and Arthur glanced at one another, then glanced back at the girl, both smiling brightly.
"Magic," Arthur said.
"Magic my ass, he just has the worst luck ever," Lucy said.
"Tch."
"?"
Lucy's best friend, Arthur, who liked to put 'Alexander' in his usernames, was an incomprehensibly unlucky boy. No matter what game he played, he was always unlucky in it. Always. It was one of the things that made him popular as a video game streamer, as people liked to see what deep hole he'd find himself in next, but it was also one of the reasons it was hard to play with him, even though she enjoyed doing so.
It was as if the heavens themselves had cursed him. In gacha games, he never got the characters or weapons he wanted and always only got something good at a pity. In mmos, he'd count his lucky stars if he got a drop. In battle royals, he'd die to a sniper at the other end of the map most of the time.
"The only good thing about him is that he's good at planning things," Lucy said, sighing, "Even if his luck always makes them go wrong."
Shana blinked her eyes, glancing between the two once more. "Aren't you lucky? If he's unlucky, and you're lucky, shouldn't your luck balance out when you two play together?"
Lucy and Arthur shared a look, then both found themselves staring blankly at the foolish girl.
"Wha-what is it?" Shana asked, a small blush coming over her.
They both sighed, one with regret, and one with relief.
"Sadly, our luck doesn't intersect," Arthur said.
"Thankfully, he doesn't suck up all my luck," Lucy said.
A tree fell down as Shana's brows furrowed, looking at the two individuals and the flames that surrounded them.
LotsChrono
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
Yet, just as Lucy set her sights on throwing materials into a pot and calling it cooking, she turned out of the alleyway at the sound of yelling and hollering. There, players were running about like headless chickens.
"Why the fuck is the forest burning?!"
"I just burned to death!"
She blinked her eyes, looked at Shana, then both stepped out of the alley along with Alice's floating form.
". . ."
". . ."
Around Acron's outskirt, there was fire. It wasn't something small. A conflagration of crimson and orange burned on the outskirts west of the gates. Thick, gray, darkening smoke rose into the sky with the flickering flames of trees burning.
"Why the heck can the game world be burned?!"
Shana shrugged at Lucy's outburst. "Realism?"
"Goddangit developers!"
She had never seen a mmo that made the environment this destructible and susceptible to magic. Sure, Eclipse was a full-dive virtual reality, but wasn't this still too much? What would happen if it changed the terrain completely? Could the trees regrow?
[It seems the western forest is on fire, master, the forums think a player named 'Alexander the Great' accidentally lit it ablaze.]
'Alexander the Great?' Lucy had a sudden terrible premonition. That username sounded all too familiar. Very familiar. 'Accidentally?' That sounded familiar too. All too familiar.
"Come on, Shana, let's go!"
"What? Go where?"
Lucy had already begun running.
"To find a clumsy, unlucky friend of mine," Lucy replied, "Before all the players get to him and beat him up!"
"???"
"Faster!"
In little time, the two exited Acron's northern gate and crossed the field of Rabid Rabbits, which they proceeded to ignore entirely. Ahead of them, players were running away from the forest, cursing.
[Player 'Alexander the Great' has earned the achievement 'Arsonist' by becoming the first player to kill 50 players through flame magic on the American Server! Congratulations!]
"What the fuck? That fucker got an achievement for killing me?!"
"Are you fucking serious?!"
Color drained from Lucy's face.
"We should hurry. . ."
"Really," Shana huffed, "Why are we hurrying?"
"That fool is going to get himself into serious trouble with other players at this rate!"
"??"
[Master, after collaborating the comments on the forum, I have tracked down a projected area the player 'Alexander the Great' might be. Would you like me to display a trail towards him?]
Lucy and Shana were dumbfounded.
"She can do that?"
"Alice, you're amazing!" Lucy yelled. "Show us!"
[As you wish, master!] The A.I sounded happy.
A translucent line floated in front of both of their eyes and the followed it, entering into the burning forest.
A tree crashed in front of them, leaves aflame and bark blackened.
"Drats," Lucy said, blinking her eyes through fire and smoke, and moving carefully to not find herself aflame the next moment. "We need to jump this one."
"Alright."
The two jumped over what had now become a burning log, crashing on the ground and quickly scurrying forward and away from it. They found their next path blocked and Alice's trail tweaked itself on the move, guiding them through a new path.
"Wow. . .she's amazing. . ." Shana couldn't help commenting.
[Alice is the greatest A.I ever, miss.]
The burning of the forest was far too realistic. The flames. The smoke. Lucy would have ran away from it if she wasn't trying to find a certain fool. The only part that wasn't realistic was that they could still breathe normally. Smoke wasn't going to kill them anytime soon.
In time, they came upon what they were looking for as Alice's trail disappeared.
"I still don't get it. . ." A boy murmured ahead of them, scratching his head of short, silver, hair as he grumbled. Further in the distance, players were cursing as they ran or became trapped by flames. "How did the just hit the branches on its own? I could have sworn this game had some level of guided magic? Why did the tree start burning? Are the developers really idiots?"
Lucy stepped into the small clearing that was only safe because the ground there was mostly earth, not grass.
"Bingo, we found him," She said, recognizing his voice.
"That's him? Your friend?"
She nodded.
"Arthur!" She yelled.
The boy jumped in place. He looked around him for a moment, then spotted the two and raised a brow. His face was pale, and his eyes were green. Dressed in the beginner's outfit with only a feather attached to his hair and a wand in his hand, he looked like he didn't belong there, surrounded by flames, confused.
He frowned.
"Who are you?" He asked, "Do I know you?"
Lucy rolled her eyes.
"I see you finished your summer homework, right?" She asked, grinning.
He widened his eyes.
"Oh, it's you, Lucy."
"Umm. . ." Shana looked between them, then at the flames, "Ummm. . .how. . .how did you manage to set fire to the forest?"
Lucy and Arthur glanced at one another, then glanced back at the girl, both smiling brightly.
"Magic," Arthur said.
"Magic my ass, he just has the worst luck ever," Lucy said.
"Tch."
"?"
Lucy's best friend, Arthur, who liked to put 'Alexander' in his usernames, was an incomprehensibly unlucky boy. No matter what game he played, he was always unlucky in it. Always. It was one of the things that made him popular as a video game streamer, as people liked to see what deep hole he'd find himself in next, but it was also one of the reasons it was hard to play with him, even though she enjoyed doing so.
It was as if the heavens themselves had cursed him. In gacha games, he never got the characters or weapons he wanted and always only got something good at a pity. In mmos, he'd count his lucky stars if he got a drop. In battle royals, he'd die to a sniper at the other end of the map most of the time.
"The only good thing about him is that he's good at planning things," Lucy said, sighing, "Even if his luck always makes them go wrong."
Shana blinked her eyes, glancing between the two once more. "Aren't you lucky? If he's unlucky, and you're lucky, shouldn't your luck balance out when you two play together?"
Lucy and Arthur shared a look, then both found themselves staring blankly at the foolish girl.
"Wha-what is it?" Shana asked, a small blush coming over her.
They both sighed, one with regret, and one with relief.
"Sadly, our luck doesn't intersect," Arthur said.
"Thankfully, he doesn't suck up all my luck," Lucy said.
A tree fell down as Shana's brows furrowed, looking at the two individuals and the flames that surrounded them.
LotsChrono
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/vwKhVUR
Want more interesting stories? Check out my profile.
