I was no longer a functioning human being.

  Arguably, I had not been that in a long time, considering I hadn’t seen sunlight in reality ever since that one trip to the corner store. Ignoring real life, though, In Wonderwind, I’d always been in high spirits and rarely stressed out, except when rent was due.

  Right now, sitting on a random bench in Rayshire, however, I felt like I was waiting to hear whether the world would end or not.

  I felt like a fool. Not because I asked her out, but because of how far I’d let my crush on her develop. It didn’t make sense to feel this strongly about a person I’d met one week ago. I was like some dumb teen with their first crush. That was essentially the truth.

  Goddammit, this was so hard.

  I waited and waited, staring at the clock. An hour passed, then another with no signs of her at all.

  Until suddenly, the grey circle turned to green, indicating that Veyra was online. I froze on the spot.

  She sent me a message.

  Veyra: “I’m back. Where should we meet?”

  Oh my god bjhghjijeowrtqhiojhtrhiuwmsfgcxvgbxcgtwrefdghvcnmnwertafhgfdcxvvghdfhgfhyrt

  Assassin: “I'm in Rayshire right now. The usual tavern?”

  Veyra: “Sure, I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  I took a deep breath, and I headed to the same room in the common tavern that had turned into our meeting spot throughout the last week. It wasn’t extravagant, and we hadn’t had a problem with that. Right now, however, the shabby furniture and poorly lit walls suddenly felt way unfitting.

  Assassin: “Actually, I know a better place. Come here and I’ll teleport us there.”

  Veyra reacted to the message with a thumbs up emoji, writing nothing, and I stood waiting. She arrived within two minutes.

  She wore her legendary gear again, including the prettiest witch’s hat in the whole game. I smiled lightly, seeing her, but we were both too nervous to greet each other like we usually did.

  “Hey, and thanks for coming,” I said.

  “What, you didn’t believe when I said I wouldn’t ghost you?” Veyra asked, a subtle smile returning.

  “No, I know you wouldn’t do that,” I said. I offered my hand for the teleportation, which she took. I initiated the teleport, and the wooden walls flashed out of sight.

  [You have arrived in Shrinewater Woods]

  [You are in the wilderness.]

  [The average monster level here is 110.]

  The sound of sprinkling water welcomed us to a fairy forest, next to a fountain of crystal clear water. Trees surrounded the small field, the leaves themselves unnaturally green, enhanced by some beautiful fae magic. This area was located in a hidden forest of the base game—far from the Ray Dragon event, but it was certainly more beautiful.

  Beyond the fountain was a steep cliff downward. The pretty trees continued, and a summer sky was setting. This very view at dusk had been my phone wallpaper for a long time. It was easily one of my favourite landscapes in the whole game.

  Seeing the view, a part of the pressure in my body alleviated. I wasn’t sure what it was. Something about it just felt calm.

  I smiled and asked, “Did you think about it? Would you like to go on a date?”

  Veyra had both of her hands holding her staff sideways and close to her body. “I’ll start by saying that I do kind of like you as well…”

  “Kind of?” I asked.

  “To the point that I’m considering it…” she said.

  She looked a lot like she did earlier. Just nervous, as if every word she said weighed a ton. Her eyes wandered everywhere except my eyes.

  Gods, she looked so huggable.

  I placed my hands on her shoulders, deciding that formalities could wait. I pulled her close. She flinched a little, surprised to find herself off of her feet. I wrapped my hands around her, pressing my chin on her shoulder, feeling the fabric of her beautiful robe.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “If you don’t like it, feel free to freeze me to death,” I said.

  Veyra said nothing, but I could hear a nervous breath escape.

  “I don’t mind if you don’t usually date people,” I said. “I still want to go on a date anyway.”

  We kept hugging as I waited for her answer. For a while, Veyra was quiet.

  She spoke softly. “I’m not going to meet you in real life. That’s one condition I won’t ever break. If you want to date me, it’s going to be online only. I exist only in Wonderwind and virtual reality.”

  “Are you a robot or something?” I asked.

  She snorted. “No, not like that. I do exist. I’m just pathetic.”

  “I’m also far from a model citizen as you know,” I said. “We can both be pathetic together.”

  “I’m just saying you won’t like the person I really am,” Veyra said.

  “I’d like to learn,” I said. “That’s what going on a date is all about, is it not? To learn more about what the other person is like.”

  She stayed quiet for a long pause. “I’m serious when I say I won’t ever meet you in real life. That’s the condition. I… wouldn’t be opposed to a date. I like you as well… I think. But I won’t meet you in real life.”

  Somehow, her tone only got sadder as the conversation went on. I kept hugging her. “Are you saying I’d suddenly dislike you if I saw you?”

  Veyra pressed her chin on my shoulder as well. She spoke in a whisper. “Yes. You definitely would.”

  “Are you an evil politician or something?” I asked.

  “No, that’s not what I mean,” Veyra whispered.

  “Are you a murderer playing from jail?”

  “No… That’s also not what I meant.”

  “Then I don’t think I can dislike you,” I said.

  She said nothing.

  “But,” I said concisely. “I also barely go outside these days. I’m down to just date in Wonderwind as well. Online dating will work just fine.”

  “At most…” Veyra said softly. “I can maybe meet you in other games. Or cafe simulators, or whatever nonsense exists these days.”

  “I’ve got Lawn Mowing Simulator 2023 if you ever want to try that out.”

  She chuckled lightly. “That better not be where you’re taking me for a date.”

  I shared the laugh. For a moment, we were silent, just continuing the hug.

  It felt a lot different from my imagination. The hug was warm and pleasant, of course, but more than that, it was just comfortable. The satisfaction didn’t really come from the physical feeling, but from the fact that Veyra didn’t push me away.

  She didn’t wrap her arms around me yet, but she wasn’t pushing me away.

  “How long have you been practicing quick-casting?” I asked.

  “What?” she asked, surprised by the change in topic. “Longer than I can count?”

  “Your spells are so hot,” I said. “I could watch you cast magic all day.”

  She chuffed through her nose. “That’s what you find hot about me?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “You’re funny, you’re considerate, and you’re hard-working. On top of those, watching you nuke the backline with perfect casting is the biggest turn-on ever. How is it even possible to cast spells like that?”

  “Well…” Veyra said. “Before I had my game pod, I heard spells could be cast with imagination in Wonderwind. I liked the idea, so I searched the runic patterns of the most complex spells online, and I began drawing and imagining them. The real practice started when I finally got a game pod.”

  All I could say was, “That’s amazing.”

  “What about you?” she asked. “You’re a martial artist in real life, right? You’re a lot better at fighting than any other assassins I’ve seen.”

  “Not quite a martial artist,” I said. “I just used to get into fights a lot as a kid. My parents decided to throw me into a fencing class for four years hoping to calm me down. That somewhat translated to Wonderwind.”

  “There’s no way you can wield a knife like that just from some fencing classes.”

  “I also watched a few Youtube tutorials on fighting styles and such,” I said. “Mostly, though, I learned to fight from an NPC in the game. There was this guy called Swordmaster Mullven. He was level 160 when I was around 50. I kept fighting him for a few months straight until I finally beat him. After that, I can count with one hand the times I’ve lost in pvp to players.”

  “You’d probably win against me as well,” Veyra said.

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. “But I do know that together, we can defeat pretty much anyone right now.”

  “I guess we are pretty good,” Veyra said.

  I smiled. “So you’d like to go on a date with me?”

  She thought for a bit. “Yeah.”

  The silent hug continued again. I felt warm, and honestly a bit surreal. All this time, my body had been prepared for something to go catastrophically wrong. Now that things were actually nice, I didn’t really know how to react. Mostly, I was just relieved.

  “You better make it a good one, though,” Veyra eventually said.

  “For our first date, how about we race to see who can hit the top five hundred leaderboard first?”

  Veyra wheezed a chuckle. “What kind of date is that?”

  “I’ve had the most fun in years hunting with you,” I said. “Might as well continue.”

  “So we’re skipping the coffee dates and going straight to the status of couples hunting?” Veyra asked.

  “The lawn mowing simulator is also available,” I said.

  Another laugh. “You’re stupid.”

  “Nah, I’m just kidding. I’ll come up with an interesting date by tomorrow, I promise. We should also race for the leaderboard, though.”

  “Yeah, I like that,” Veyra said. “I’m not a huge fan of restaurants or food dates. Coffee is fine.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

  Finally, we let go of the hug. Her smile looked slightly embarrassed and nervously happy. I couldn’t help but feel warm.

  “Thanks,” I said. “For the hug. I should probably get some sleep now. It’s been a long day. Thanks for coming.”

  “What, isn’t it morning in New York?” she asked, now with her usual teasing grin.

  “Uh, looks like it’s ten am,” I said.

  “It’s just past nine pm here,” she said. “I guess I’ll need to sleep soon as well.”

  “Nine pm, huh?” I asked. “Asia, then?”

  She gave me a teasing smile. “An American who knows what Asia is? I’m surprised.”

  “Let me guess, you’re from Korea. Wonderwind is popular there, isn’t it?”

  She shook her head. “Not Korean.”

  “Japan?” I asked. “China?”

  She said “no” to both.

  “Then it has to be Thailand.”

  She paused, and I grinned, knowing I guessed right.

  “That’s awesome,” I said. “You must be living the high life there from our last few raids.”

  “I told you I don’t exist in real life,” Veyra said.

  “Right,” I said.

  You have a Worlds ticket though, I thought. Are you really going to let it go to waste?

  Whatever, it didn’t matter right now. I gave Veyra one more goodbye hug. I already knew I’d be sleeping with the biggest smile on my face tonight.

  That was when the calm wind of the forest was replaced by a loud whoosh as a projectile flew past our heads, close enough to touch my hair.

  I flinched, turning around. Approaching us, I spotted a familiar name of a legend I hadn’t yet seen in person.

  [Celestial Order] Annath.

  “How cute,” Annath said. “Long time no see, Veyra. Or should I still call you Seven?”

  20 chapters ahead on !

  The art of runesmithing died long ago. Once legendary runeswords have been reduced to mere decorations, their powers made irrelevant by the discovery of ethereal spirits. Techniques were forgotten, and any remaining runesmiths were ridiculed and shunned.

  Vivian is one such runesmith. Born as an orphan and adopted into a smithy, she and her adoptive grandpa persist with a dream. They wish to prove that runeswords are once again worthy of fighting monsters in the lands below.

  What Vivian never expected was for herself to be the one fighting. Alone in the underground with a crazed spirit that seeks to profit and grow from every monster in their wake. Below the earth awaits a subterranean labyrinth of monsters and demons, where ethereal storms ensure nothing stays dead for long…