Before today, I never would’ve guessed that shopping could be anything but a chore, but Katherine proved me wrong. Her ability to fily what she wanted was almost as impressive as her warrior skills. Almost. Before long, we were lugging at least ten bags full of clothes, and the only thing stopping us from getting more was my dwindling at. Specifically, I stopped her.

  Oop floor, tucked in a er of the mall, we found a small coffee shop—“cute af,” as she put it. Cozy green chairs and small brown tables gave it a charming vibe, but the massive windows with a clear view of the street below made the pique.

  “Look at ‘tat!” Katherine dashed to the window the mometled down, staring out at the people below like she was trying to memorize every detail.

  Her energy caught me off guard, and it took me a moment to respond. “Yeah, it’s beautiful,” I finally managed. As I spoke, a server approached, staring at me expetly.

  Blinking up at him, I panicked. “ you do Irish coffee?”

  The man frowned but tapped it into his tablet without a word. Hey, it’s not my fault—it’s the only whiskey drink you have! I grinned nervously, but he didn’t even g me.

  Katherine, meanwhile, traced her finger across the menu, her expression shifting as she read. The out a small ugh and leaned ba her chair. “Dunno, somethin’ bd sugary for ma,” she said with a shrug.

  The server nodded and walked away. “What a charmin’ fellow!” Katherine said with a grin, watg him leave. Theuro me, her eyes sparkling. “Hey, Charlie, did ya see ma stream? Rimelion’s coht?”

  Not yesterday. My palms grew cmmy as I debated whether to admit it. This was my first time meeting her in person—what if I said something wrong? Hoy was the best policy, though, so I said, “Sorry, I ying it.” Who wasn’t? Every serious pyer was grinding through Rimeliht?

  Peeking at her from the er of my eye, I caught her grinning.

  “Aww, don’t be sad! It’s fine!” she ughed, pullio a random hug. She did that a lot—hugged, touched my shoulder, or patted my head. At first, I’d thought it was just her stream persona, but no. She was gehat expressive.

  “What’s yar char?” she asked.

  “I’m a Priest.”

  Katherihrew her head bad let out her signature hearty ugh. “Hah, ‘corse ya are! What’s yar name?”

  My cheeks fmed. Instead of answering, I grabbed my drink and took a sip, avoiding her gaze. But Katherine wasn’t oo let things slide. She gently tilted my up, her smile soft as she looked straight into my eyes.

  “Charlie?”

  “Princess,” I whispered, then gulped down half my drink to hide my embarrassment.

  Her rea wasn’t what I expected. She burst into ughter again, nearly spilling her coffee. “Tat… ‘corse you did!” she said, taking a sip as she swung her legs bad forth uhe table.

  Was that deliberate? I g my own legs—spread out, sitting like I always did. Damn! Trying to mimic her, I awkwardly crossed one leg over the other, but it didn’t feel right.

  “y sometime?” she asked suddenly. “’Corse ya o find me first, haha!”

  “There’s an a ruin I want to explore, and I need allies. I’m near Vilge Number Four. You?” I shifted again, trying to rest my leg more naturally. The empress in-game always sat like this—was it a cultural thing?

  Katherine’s eyes lit up. She jumped up, pced her hands on my shoulders, and almost screamed, “No way! I’m close! Elf too!”

  The dies at the able gred at us, and I shrank in my chair. But Katherine didn’t care. “It’s fate!” she decred, plopping bato her seat with a triumphant grin.

  Fate. Maybe. But there weren’t that many vilges in the Elven starting area, and I’d picked the biggest one. I also khe future… “I don’t know,” I said finally, fidgeting with my fingers. “I’ve got a few friends pying with me, and we uff from the ruins.”

  Katherine pulled me into an, her enthusiasm unshakable. She was the same as iream—no fake persona, no pretense. Just… Katherine.

  She made sure I had a ride, calling a taxi and even arranging for the driver to help with my ten bags. The whole thi surreal, like a dream I was floating through on autopilot. I was star-struck—because I met Katherine, and somehow, we became friends instantly.

  But as the taxi pulled away, a sharp pailed in my chest. A cruel reminder: I couldn’t be with her romantically. Not unless I got my old body back.

  My memory of getting home was a blur. One moment I was stepping out of the taxi, and the , I was sitting on my sofa, tears silently rolling down my cheeks. Why isn’t a mystery. Anyone could guess.

  I ’t ge anything.

  People would keep pying the game. The shops I visited today? They’d close eventually, joining the tless others. And Katherine? She’d probably end up with that bald boyfriend of hers again.

  But that wasn’t why I was g. I swear. I think. Well… I hope.

  The only way forward was still the same: get as much money as possible. With money es power. And with power, I could ge things. Right?

  Even though my mind wasn’t in the mood faming, I undressed and slipped into the capsule. When my vision cleared, I stared at my old adversary—the stupid rope.

  It was still there, defying me. Mog me. Blog my path back.

  With renewed frustration, I tried to u again, tugging and pulling, to no avail. Just as I was about to scream, the chime of a new message broke my focus.

  Lisa.

  [Lisa] finally! I need help. you e?[Princess] Hi Lisa. ^_^ Yes, what’s wrong?I decided to try something new with my chat responses. While chatting with Katherine earlier, I remembered how her friend Alice used to type in a cute way oream chat, so I thought I’d imitate it. Why? No idea. It just felt… right.

  [Lisa] Dmitry! HE KILLED my crew and is in dung[Princess] Sorry, ’t. <3 I’m stranded on an Isnd.[Lisa] how long?[Princess] I ’t untie a boat >_<[Lisa] …[Lisa] i need you[Princess] It’s true! I swear![Lisa] have you tried your INT?What kind of stupid question was that? How could I… No way.

  I shot up, sprinting to the rock, gring at the rope as if it had personally insulted me. System help!

  [Using your INT to solve a problem.][Succes!]My body moved on its own, untying the rope effortlessly with mana instead of brute strength. How could I be so stupid? This was still the first week of the game—RP enfort wasn’t even active yet!

  Wait, maybe…

  I held my hand in front of me, thinking, Use Ice Dance. Again, my body moved on its own, fwlessly casting the spell, though only with an average rating.

  As a warrior, I’d never o think—just smash things. It must’ve rewired my brain. Should I curse now or ter? Expert, I scoffed at myself. Professional, even.

  I ched my fists, fighting the urge to turn Briggitte into splinters.

  [Princess] Sorry, I’m stupid >_< I need a few hours though[Lisa] good. I need sleep, then we ambush him, bye!With that settled, I dragged Briggitte to the sea and sighed at the sight of the paddles. “Of course…”

  Without much thought, I got to work rowing just as Don had the first time. My eyes stared bnkly at my hands as my mind wandered. Some exploiter you are, John. You even exploited yourself.

  While my body worked, my thoughts drifted to the future—or was it the past? Ugh. The real question was whether I should rely on the system to cast spells.

  It could save my skin, sure, but what about after the patch? Eventually, they’d remove it from Rimelion—then what?

  When I rowed back to the ship, someoossed doe dder. I stared up at it, scrutinizing the thing. It swayed wildly in the breeze, and at one point, the rope thinned so much it looked like it would snap if I so much as tapped it with a whiskey bottle. Great. Climbing this death trap? No system help hank you very much.

  Never do that again, John. Ever. Stranded on an isnd? Really?

  I shook my head to push away the thoughts and focused oing to the deck. As I reached the top, the captain—no less—offered me his hand. I accepted, and with a grunt, he pulled me up. “There ya go!”

  As he did, a stray thought hit me. Some of the girls in my department used to pin about stuff like this. Unwanted help. Especially Cra—she practically yelled at me for holding a door open. ‘Who do you think you are?’ she’d snap. Was this how I should behave now, or was Cra just bitter that I found more bugs than her?

  The captain’s stubbly grin snapped me back. “All good?”

  “Why you ask?” I bli him, then gnced around the ship. Other than some patched and poorly repaired ses of the deck, it looked exactly how I’d left it.

  “You seem… different.” His eyes flicked to the y Briggitte, his eyebrow raised. “Where’s your knight?”

  “He’s gone.” I leaned on the damaged railing, struggling to mask the bitterness in my voice. Suddenly, I became hyper-aware of my hands. What do people do with these while talking? I fidgeted, gripping the railing, but it wasn’t as sturdy as I thought. My foot slipped, and I stumbled. “Dammit!”

  The captain ignored my blunder, his attention shifting to the fog creeping over the horizon. “I have a bad feeling about this fog.”

  “ I see Duke?” I asked, not in the mood to tell him why he should never say those words. The captain nodded and turoward the deck. A few sailors pretending to repair an already-fixed yard stiffened when they noticed his gaze. Oh no—don’t tell me…

  C my ears, I darted to a familiar bench. The captain drew in a massive breath and bellowed, “You heard the dy! Move! You zy—”

  I blocked out the rest.

  My pn was simple: help Lisa. She was my er, sure, but also a potential friend. If I pyed my cards right, this could be my first step in ging the future. The ruihe items I needed, but I couldn’t do it alone.

  Katherine.

  With a grin, I added her as a friend. Thank heavens the devs hadn’t removed messagi.

  [Katherine] Ya weren’t joking! Princess![Princess] Yes! ^_^ do you have time?[Katherine] For ya? Anytime hun![Katherine] Princess?She had to message me again, because I stopped writing, grinned foolishly, a staring at her st message. Yes, I knew she meant it somehow else, but… She wrote ‘anytime hun’! Then why was I g again? Oh, yeah…

  Dammit!

  [Princess] Sowy, you meet me he Scorg dung?[Katherine] Wanna go? Have team?[Princess] Do you know Lisa? ^_^ She needs help, Dmitry killed her team.[Katherine] Lisa? Dmitry? She’ll LOVE to meet me hahaha![Princess] I’m with Duke’s expedition, I’ll let you know when I e.[Katherine] k, k, I’m in fields so ’t right now. See ya there.After that I was w if I should tact Lucas or not, but the Captain interrupted my thoughts and poi the fgship. “Duke’s waiting.”