Business had been booming, mostly thanks to Fizzypop and the sisters’ help. Noobkitty had also been told her videos had been listed as kid-friendly ever since Skidmark joined the party, which brought in a lot of very young kids logging in to buy sweets, especially the new “musical cakes.”

  All this meant Noobkitty had some enchanting to do; new players meant more beginner equipment she could use for her crafting.

  She had her evening chai tea and Jalape?o cookies and prepared for a long night.

  Aware now that she might actually have viewers, Noobkitty set up her crafting room with piles neatly arranged, pieces of equipment ready to be fused. Then she stood at her table. With one hand she summoned her big crafter’s hammer, and with the other, she typed out a message to GobMouse.

  Noobkitty: LoFi?

  There was a pause, then a reply:

  GobMouse: Heck ya.

  Noobkitty knew she wouldn’t be able to hear it, but viewers of her stream were in for a full soft-vlog experience.

  She started with her own equipment, the merchant-class gear. She took off her shoes and placed them on the table next to a newly acquired pair of beginner crafter shoes and…

  One hit with the hammer, they glowed. Second hit, they fused.

  Enchantment ratio increased 64%

  Current Enchantment: 4,891%

  She moved the next pair onto the table. Tap with the hammer once, twice.

  Craft Fusion Enchantment Lv. increased to 65

  Enchantment ratio increased by 65%

  Current Enchantment: 4,956%

  She started to move the next pair onto the table when she began to hear something. It started off low, but slowly grew loud enough to fill the room with gentle, relaxing music.

  Noobkitty smiled. So as not to break the fourth wall any more than she already was, she looked to the ceiling and nodded. Her shoulders and hips moved slightly to the music as she found a rhythm.

  Tap, glow, tap, fuse. Pick up the next item. Tap, glow, tap, fuse. Repeat. Repeat. The music was a nice treat, it was game-breaking, but the game was already breaking. She occasionally paused to drink some tea and have a cookie to change the pace. Then she'd return to work.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Five pieces of equipment made the beginner sets: a headpiece, a body piece (a dress or a shirt, depending on the person’s class and gender expression), pants or leggings, shoes, and a weapon. Five classes: Crafter, Cleric, Rogue, Mage, Fighter. She had a total of four hundred and twelve pieces of equipment to fuse into the base pieces and sets.

  Since exhaustion wasn’t a mechanic in this game, other than mental, she danced to the soft music and worked, hour after hour, until her piles dwindled and her brain screamed for some form of stimulant… maybe something stronger then tea.

  According to her sisters, throughout the night she had thousands of viewers enjoying the calm, doing homework, or dishes, or laundry, working away with her through the night. But like her, her viewers tired. She waved to an invisible POV and headed down for stage two of Noobkitty’s cozy life: making breakfast, having tea or maybe fruit juice today, kissing a cute bunny girl, and then starting today’s cooking.

  Was it viral? No. Did it have its special fan base? Oh yes. And those who watched got to be the first to know what “crazy” food the cat girl cooked up today.

  ---

  “Seriously?” Fizzypop asked, looking at the two fruit-and-nut bars in front of them. One was blue, the other was red.

  Noobkitty grinned as her staff nibbled on them with their morning coffee. SisterQuery seemed to be really enjoying hers.

  “You resorted to a pun?” Fizzypop demanded.

  “Is this some kind of player thing?” .ex asked, holding up the red bar.

  Health Bar

  Restores 40% of health over a one-minute period, then heals 5% per minute for six hours.

  The cat put a health potion in a fruit bar and insisted it had to be red, so fine, it’s red.

  Noobkitty bit into her blue one.

  Mana Bar

  Restores 40% of mana over a one-minute period, then heals 5% per minute for six hours.

  The cat put a mana potion in a fruit bar and insisted it had to be blue, like the red one… I don’t get the joke, but the new Coro?en forums are laughing about it. Join the forums to see more.

  “And what did you do with the world? Why is it meta now!?," Fizzypop demanded.

  Noobkitty sipped her juice smugly. “I’m saving the world. And it looks like I need another Mana Bar, mine’s about depleted.” She finished the last bite of her bar, laughing at her own joke.

  “People don’t respect puns, Noobkitty,” they said, biting a Mana Bar furiously.

  “People don’t want a rehash of Everquest 8,” Noobkitty retorted. “I will do whatever I need to to save this world, and if punny food gets us a few more players before we have to fight a world-destroying dragon, so be it. Now, if you will, we have a store to open and livestream.”

  “Okay, do you have something weird planned for tomorrow?”

  Noobkitty nodded and smiled, looking again to an invisible POV she could only guess at. “You know, I just might.”

  “Stop being meta,” Fizzypop huffed and grabbed a few bars before logging off to do their snack review.

  Noobkitty looked to her girlfriend/manager and their employee. “Well, ladies, are we ready?”

  .ex nodded, finishing her Health Bar.

  SisterQuery drank down the last of her coffee with great satisfaction, she seemed to really like the new batch of almond milk, her coffee was very light today.

  “Ready for the day. The Lord is good,” she said with a more vitality then before.

  “That’s the spirit, Sister,” Noobkitty said with glee.

  The three women whose fates were tied to this world prepared their store.

  ---

  After his lessons, Skidmark logged on for the evening to grind his stealth skill. Today’s quest was to deliver Lyla Lavender Lollies to any player under Lv. 5. He got it done in just two hours and received his reward, he was hoarding request tickets to turn in a bunch at once for a big order.

  When the day was done, Noobkitty went to bed with .ex and held her until she fell asleep, cozy in their shared bed. Then she got up and went to her crafting studio a fresh cup of tea in hand.

  “When the world isn’t in danger, I can spend a whole night in bed with .ex. Until then…”

  Music began to play, the world AI recognizing her given cue, and she began fusing the gear they’d gotten today, grinding her Fusion Enchantment skill while people in their daily lives outside the game watched, bonded with her, and did their own mundane tasks as she did hers.