Jack climbed out of the fountain. Other players laughed at him as water dripped from his sleeves, but he didn’t care. He’d finally scrubbed off all of Master Kevin’s cave's goo.
He did his best to squeeze out his grey shirt. He then opened his messages as he walked toward the coach station.
AmariNinja: Hi, everyone! I’ve just reached Ashengate and am about to tackle the ninja advancement quest. See you soon.
Marie: Same!
Horace: I’ve been a full-fledged tank for almost an hour now.
Marie: Don’t brag, Horace. Women don’t like that. That’s why you can’t find a girl.
Horace: Marie, do you think that just because you have a boyfriend now, you can badmouth my love life?
Marie: Boyfriend? Who said I have a boyfriend? Pfff.
Horace: I’m forwarding this conversation to Rob, and see what he says.
Marie: Are you crazy? Don’t!
Horace: Aha! Busted!
Marie: Wait until I become a bomber, you brat. Sunny and I will make sure it rains bombs and grenades on you all day long.
Jack scrolled past another twenty messages of creative insults until Marie stopped messaging to start her quest. Then Horace turned his sights on him.
Horace: Take a good look, kid. This is what a real base of operations looks like.
[Picture 1]
This one has running water. That alone makes it a million times better than yours.
[Picture 2]
Check out this patio. Makes your place look like a dump.
And on it went.
Jack sighed. He had to admit that the place Horace had secured for their base of operations looked better than his own shabby rental. But still—he couldn’t let this barrage of taunts go unanswered.
He typed out a reply.
Jack: Meh. All bells and whistles.
Then he muted the chat.
He could already imagine Horace fuming once he realized that Jack wasn’t going to bother answering the gazillion messages he would send next.
Still grinning to himself, halfway to the station, he noticed someone standing by the coaches.
A girl with big, intelligent eyes and an easy smile. Her hair was longer, her skin a shade lighter, but... it had to be Holly.
She spotted him and waved.
That settled it. She’d come into the game.
A warm tingling ran down Jack’s spine.
Was that why she had ended the call so awkwardly? Did she decide to join the game and surprise him as soon as she heard he was in a beginner village?
It wasn’t just that she was here, surprising him. But she was here to surprise him. The more he thought about it, the happier he felt.
He broke into a jog toward her. “Hey, you,” he said, slightly breathless.
“Took you long enough,” she said.
For a brief, awkward moment, Jack didn’t know what to do. Shake her hand? Hug? Nod politely?
He chose to stay perfectly still. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Haha. You didn’t suspect a thing, did you?”
Jack shook his head. “What about your finals? I thought you had a mountain of studying to do.”
“I hit my quota. A girl’s gotta unwind somehow.”
Jack lit up. “That’s... awesome! Seriously—thank you. Does that mean you’ll want to take a carriage with me to the city? The pot bots are in my workshop, there.”
“Sure!” she agreed readily.
“Come on, then.”
He still couldn’t believe it. Holly was here. She was about to travel with him to Ashengate. Was he dreaming? Was this really happening?
They approached the only golden carriage in sight, set slightly apart from the others. It hadn’t moved since Jack arrived in Bright Hill. Players veered around it as if stepping too close might automatically charge 20 gold to their game accounts.
“Ah, welcome back, sir,” the coachman said with a flourished bow. “Back so soon. And with a companion, no less.”
“Can you take us to Ashengate?”
“Of course. Normally that’d be forty gold, but for a craftsman of your standing… shall we say thirty-six?”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Beside him, Holly’s eyes widened. She leaned closer, her voice dropping. “Jack. Okay, confession time. I’ve got, like, seven copper. Total.”
“Don’t worry,” he said quickly. “I’ve got you covered.”
“I’m so sorry,” she added, brow furrowing. “I didn’t realize it would be this expensive just to ride with you. I didn’t really think this through.”
Jack chuckled. “Even if it were a hundred gold, I’d still—uh—totally worth it.”
His mouth clamped shut a second too late.
Really? Did you just say that?
He stiffened, mentally facepalming.
But Holly just smiled. She didn’t seem to have taken it the wrong way. Jack exhaled and turned to the NPC, handing over the coins. “Here you go.”
“Climb aboard, then,” the coachman said. But before he could open the door, Jack stepped forward and beat him to it.
“After you, milady.”
“Thank you kindly, milord,” she replied, playing along with a curtsy and a giggle.
Jack followed her in.
“Whoa,” Holly said, looking around with wide eyes. “Nice ride. It’s like a limo!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
They sat across from each other. The carriage was spacious, plush, and quiet—but with Holly there, it felt... smaller, more intimate.
Suddenly, he felt too conscious of himself. Here he was, alone with a girl he had a thing for. And what was he even thinking, saying those cheesy lines? Or opening the door for her like this was a date. He didn’t have time for a relationship now. He had a mission. Goals. Priorities!
He was supposed to be thinking about how to optimize his pot bots, level up his tinkering as fast as possible, and figure out which items would make him the most money.
But all he could think about was the girl in front of him.
Holly brushed her hair from her face. She was still adjusting to how long it was in-game. It was a small thing. But the graceful way she did it was so enchanting that it made him forget every single priority he’d just told himself to focus on.
“Look at us,” she said, breaking the silence. “Feels just like when we met on the train.”
“Except back then, you were watching my avatar in videos. Now you're stuck riding next to the real thing.”
She laughed. “That’s true!”
“Hyah! Hyah!”
The coachman snapped the reins, and the carriage jolted gently into motion.
“Ugh. I hate riding backwards,” Holly muttered. “Makes me dizzy. Can you scoot over?”
Before Jack could answer, she was already up and sitting beside him instead of across.
Jack froze. It was like someone had hit him with a stun skill right there in the carriage. He could feel the soft brush of her sleeve against his, and his natural reaction was to focus all his energy into not moving.
“This is my first time on a horse carriage,” she said, glancing around as the world outside began to blur.
“Yeah. It’s—” Jack glanced her way, caught the curve of her smile, and immediately looked away. “Beautiful.”
Holly leaned slightly against the cushions. “I’m sleepy. Is this what carriages do to you… (yawn) in the game?”
“It is. Don’t try… to fight…”
Before either of them could continue, their heads drifted back, their thoughts faded, and sleep took over.
*
Jack woke to a gentle weight on his shoulder.
His breath caught. Holly was sleeping soundly with her head on his shoulder.
She stirred after and sat bolt upright. “Oh—I used you as a pillow. Hope I didn’t drool or anything.”
“No! Don’t worry about it,” Jack said quickly. “It’s impossible to fight the sleep when traveling on these coaches.”
The door clicked. The coachman opened it for them, letting the afternoon sun into the carriage. The NPC offered his gloved hand to help Holly down, and Jack followed soon after.
Holly had wide eyes, looking around. She looked like a child in a candy shop. Had he looked like that the first time that he saw Embersgate? Probably.
“This is so cool,” she said, “The videos don’t do it justice.”
Jack gave her some time to look around, and soon she turned to him. “This is so cool. Thank you for the ticket, again.”
“Don’t mention it.”
She rubbed her hands. “So, where are these pot bots of yours?”
“Come with me. I’ll show you.”
*
Jack opened the door and let Holly in.
The late afternoon light slanted through the window, casting warm shadows across the floor.
She took a look around, scanning the drying bricks, the vases, the pot bots, and the acacia rod by the door.
“Wow. You’ve really been busy, huh?”
Jack shrugged. “I’m trying. Sorry—give me a second to tidy up.”
He stored all the dry bricks in his inventory, and instantly, the space seemed wider.
Holly was already kneeling beside the pot bots, inspecting them curiously. “This is so cool!”
“Do you need me to explain how it works?”
Holly burst out laughing, then caught Jack’s confused look and quickly smothered it. “Oh. That wasn’t a joke. There’s no need, Jack. This is pretty simple stuff.”
Jack waved his hands quickly. “I—I meant no disrespect. You’re an engineering student, but I didn’t want to assume you’d be able to work with the pot bots right away.”
She shook her head, eyes going a little distant. “Nah. My bad. That was thoughtful of you. It’s just that... it makes me realize you don’t know that much about me.” She paused, thoughtful. “I’ve been putting things apart and back together since I was a little girl. Understanding how this works isn’t hard for me.”
You don’t know that much about me.
She was right. He didn’t know where she was from, why she was studying engineering, her favorite color—nothing. Even calling her a friend was… maybe a stretch?
He knew all these things, but hearing Holly say, ‘You don’t know that much about me,’ still hurt him for some reason.
"What are you doing all the way over there? Come. Sit next to me, handyman!”
Jack obeyed.
“Alright, let me see if I’m following this. The crank provides mechanical input—that’s your power source. That’s transferred into the cylinders, which encode simple binary commands, yeah? Then those drive the gearboxes, which control the appendages. So the whole thing moves based on how you’ve set the inputs. That about right?”
He’d expected to explain everything. Instead, he felt like he was the one getting a lesson.
“Whoa. You’re really smart.”
She smirked. “You say that like it’s news.”
Jack smiled, a little sheepish. “So, I was thinking that you—”
There was a creak at the door, and both Jack and Holly turned toward it.
Horace stepped in like he owned the place. “Yo, Jack. I saw from your coordinates that you were back in Ashengate. Why didn’t you—”
He stopped mid-sentence, spotting Holly. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t realize you had company.”
Jack scrambled to his feet, suddenly flustered, as if he’d just been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.
“Hi, Horace. This is—uh—Holly. She—”
“AAAAAAA!”
Holly squeaked, bolting upright and rushing over. “It’s Horace! It’s Horace!”
“Hi,” Horace replied, throwing a confused look Jack’s way.
“Oh my goodness, I’m such a big fan! I’ve seen all of your videos! The way you fought the Slayer, and how you tanked the entire enemy team on the Rampant Siege? Incredible! But my favorite video is your fight against the Titan-Rex. AAAAAA! That was amazing!”
Her words fired off like a machine gun, high-pitched and breathless. Jack was frozen, speechless. Horace blinked, caught somewhere between amusement and alarm.
“Uh. Thanks? I appreciate it.”
“I’m Holly! Nice to meet you,” she said, stretching out her hand.
“Horace. Pleasure.”
She shook his hand up and down with energy. “Okay, serious question—how do you do it? When you dodge in those videos, it’s like you’ve got eyes in the back of your head!”
Horace chuckled. “Ah, well. I listen more than I look. Sounds, pressure changes—little cues like that give attacks away.”
“Oh wow, that’s so cool! And your footwork—do you have martial arts training or something? I swear, half the time you look like a ninja.”
He scratched the back of his head, sheepish now. “Haha. You don’t say.”
Jack stood aside, watching the scene unfold with disbelief edging into something bitter.
He’d known Holly liked Amari’s videos, and consequently, had seen Horace. But this? This wasn’t just liking. Holly was full-on fangirling over Horace.
Why did it hurt so much to see her like this around his good friend?
Was it because Horace was taller? Stronger? Now that he thought about it, better than him in every way?
As he saw the two talking, Jack just wanted to melt and disappear into the floor.
