Auntie toasts the VRMMORPG

"Are you all part of the PVP team?" Flora asked the other ladies while they worked on the first floor of the future training hut. They connected generators to form columns.

"Yes, but I'm reserve because I work only part-time. The other three are on the main cadre." Ponda, the curvy witch, answered, clicking another two generators together.

Normad walked to them. "H, pls."

"Mend!" Olivia said, and golden glitter surrounded the Archer.

After flashing a thumbs up, Normad took the finished pillar and brought it to the wall.

Although Flora lost health because of the toxic waste as well, the Refreshs she cast to keep her mana up covered the loss. Of course, Flora used magic for her work, mainly Psychokinesis, but she didn't see any spells but occasional healing from the others.

Flora looked over to Hoffi to find out whether he used any skills. Normad or Hoffi erected and secured the columns. Afterward, an octopussy added the wiring. Up to now, she didn't notice any effects coming from Hoffi. Maybe he didn't like casting spells? That was inconceivable for Flora. But she also couldn't imagine PvPing without a jumping skill. When she prepared for the duel with Ressa, she had played a variety of maps. Some had rivers to cross or platforms to traverse. Sure, you could do it somehow without jumping, but not in a timely fashion.

"Hey, Boss-Mom." Hoffi noticed her stare and turned towards her. "Your robots are dismantling my work."

A forklift robot removed the column, where Hoffi had placed it directly next to the earth.

"Yes. Look at it. There is no wall on this spot because there will be the door." Flora suppressed a sigh. Ponda had called the guy stupid. Flora had assumed she was mean, but now the possibility crossed her mind that she might have been just honest.

Flora opened the building interface and constructed the tunnel towards the gym hut, a steep ramp leading up to the neighboring building. The system finished it in seconds as Flora's VirDias fed the process. Of course, the expenses linked to her own account and not the clan's.

"Auntie, are you down there?" Hub called, peeking over the edge.

Hearing Hub's superfluous question, Flora figured Robby had no problems dealing with Hoffi because he was used to Hub.

"Aidan, produce the first batch of boxes." Flora messaged to her AI and then to Mia, "If you see a blue container, pick it up with priority."

"You are here! Are you mad at me? I did nothing this time, I swear. At least I don't remember doing anything. Is that the problem, should I have done something?" Hub rambled as he jumped down. Two men followed him.

"It's fine, dear. I'm just busy. Welcome to the construction site. Thank you for helping out."

"You'll pay us, right?" Too Biased, a guy looking like a gigolo, asked. His black hair was slicked back, and he wore a designer stubble.

"Haha, don't mind him, Auntie. May I call you auntie? I'm so glad to meet you finally. Hub told us so many stories." Zapzerack Zapple, a young man with blue hair, said. His head swiveled rapidly, taking in the budding building.

Hub coughed and elbowed him.

"Sure, call me Auntie. Nice to meet you both, and of course, I'll pay you."

*************** Squad One-Two PVP-Players ***************

Nickname: Too Biased

Level: 210

Class: Blackguard

Clan: Riverstones

Rating: S

*****

Nickname: Zapzerack Zapple

Level: 211

Class: Radiant Priest

Clan: Riverstones

Rating: S

*****

Nickname: RadBear Stone (Hub)

Level: 208

Class: Radiant Paladin

Clan: Riverstones

Rating: S

*************** Squad One-Two PVP-Players ***************

Flora assigned them work. The next step was building the outer walls for the upper floor and the generator columns for them and the roof. The tests she had run on the model demanded a stabilizing element, so she had to add a porch at ground level surrounding the hut, for anchoring the bamboo beams.

The generator team relocated to the surface so that Flora could prepare the wiring on the floor for the boxes. When Mia arrived with four Balancing Boxes and four Treadmill Tunnels, she connected them to the grid.

Flora grinned. In real life, it would be a terrible idea to work on hot electronics if you don't want to end up toasted. She was excited to find out whether it was a bad idea in VR as well.

"Hoffi and Hub, would you assist me for a moment, please?" Flora said, smiling.

Nodding, Hoffi smiled back, but Hub looked suspicious. "You are asking awfully polite, auntie…"

"Ah, I raised you well!" She patted his head, and he blushed and grinned. Too easy…

In Germany, there was a special name for a special kind of user. They were called DAUs− dumbest assumable users(1). DAUs put guinea pigs in the microwave, their dicks into vacuum cleaners, and produced blue screens on Macs. You think you know all the possible uses for your home appliances? Give them to a DAU, and you'll find problems the world has never seen before.

DAUs weren't used for quality testing because no matter how safe and sturdy your product is, they'll find a way to either destroy it or hurt themselves. However, Flora enjoyed watching them. They could be intelligent and just have a complicated relationship with technology, but often they were not. Therefore Hoffi was an excellent candidate to test the boxes. Hub was a longtime favorite of Flora and had proven his DAU status countless times. Fondly, she remembered when he managed to entangle his hair in an eggbeater to such a degree, they had to cut it off.

"Gentlemen, these boxes are for training. I would appreciate it if you would test them. I relayed all the relevant instructions on how to use them to Camus. Please mind the information signs."

"Sure, how do they work?" Hoffi asked.

"I won't answer that because I won't be here 24/7 to explain it to everybody. " Flora smiled. Hoffi was off to a promising start. "Please use the resources I told you about. That will show me if they are sufficient and clear enough."

Hoffi shrugged and entered the nearest box. Of course, he didn't read the information sign on the outside. However, Aito had added the same instructions on the inside as well, so he had a second chance.

"The Balancing Box trains the ability Balancing. Additionally, damaging runes of the affinities Faith and Metal will be active to increase your resistance level.

Wear the provided rubber gloves and bind skills on auto-mode to their configured positions.

For a painless experience, set Balancing on auto-mode and log into a virtual subspace like a workshop, a meditation chamber, or the Riverstones CommunityHub.

Use the glowing red EXIT Button on the ceiling for emergency departure."

"I'll take the oblong box. I'm excited!" Hub rushed into a Treadmill Tunnel, of course, without even glancing at the info sign. The rune-schemes were for Faith and Projection. Flora looked forward to his reaction.

Wailing came from Hoffi's box.

"Do you think I should soundproof the boxes, Aidan?" Flora pondered. "I'm not sure about it. With time they will learn to log into the subspaces, so they have to scream only at real emergencies. On the other hand, everybody got a messaging system and the clan chat, so verbal communication is not really necessary."

"I don't think we'll need soundproofing. Milady, have you unlocked Hoffi Pump and RadBear Stone for the Riverstones Island?"

"Oops, no. My bad. Please register and activate everybody in the PvP-Team."

Hoffi's screaming was still going strong. When Flora approached the box, she could make out words.

"Blooooooooooood!" He howled.

"Do you need help, Hoffi?" Flora yelled. "At the ceiling, you'll find a red button to open the door."

"I'm color blind!"

"'EXIT' is typed on it."

"I'm dyslexic!"

"Dyslexia doesn't make a person blind to the shape of letters. Look for the only button on the ceiling."

"I have needles in my eyes and see only blood!"

"You could have mentioned that first… Oh well, feel around for it near the door. The ceiling is the part at the top of the box." She added to prevent him from claiming that he didn't know what a ceiling was.

"I don't wanna exit. The training is great. I already gained a lot of levels." He yelled. "Bloooooood! Paaaaaiiin!"

"Well… " Flora was stumped. "You don't have to endure the pain. Just log into the Riverstones Island. My AI, Aidan, will guide you through the process."

"No pain, no gain! I can endure it to get stronger!"

"Yes, dear. But you don't have to." Flora was distracted by the sounds coming out of Hub's box. "Think about it, I'll be back in a jiffy."

While Hoffi's screams sounded fitting for the torture he inflicted on himself, Hub's sounded like battle cries.

Suddenly, the tip of a sword appeared, puncturing the box.

"Die demon!" Hub roared.

Raw power condensed around the sword. Shrieking metal fought against ceramics until the box broke. When the dust settled down, Hub's glowing form stood in the debris.

"Well, you killed the box, hero," Ponda said. Most of the other Riverstones had laid down their work and approached to watch, attracted by the yelling.

\u003cRepair\u003e

"The rune-scheme produced projections of monsters. They weren't real Hub." Flora explained with a wry smile. "However, congratulation on shredding a training dummy. I didn't know it was even possible."

Hub grinned at her sheepishly and scratched his head.

"I'll set the zone of the hut to level 1 as soon as possible," Lana said, who had arrived just in time to witness the rampage. "Then Hub shouldn't be able to overwhelm the dummy runes."

Flora greeted the tall woman and the people who came with her, Honey and Eddie.

"We figured out how to supply the Riverstones Island, love. You just have to put stuff in a dedicated room, pay the fee, and it transfers. Most marvelous!" Eddie grinned. "And we are having a BBQ at noon, an island warming party. Hurry up with your part of the work while we'll do our part, preparing the feast."

"Aye, aye!" Flora winked.

Lana and Eddie entered two Balancing Boxes while Honey mingled. The petite brunette asked the players about equipment requests for the CommunityHub. She even convinced Hoffi to quit screaming.

After locating the containers with the parts for the mezzanine floor, Flora started the next phase of the construction. Four pillars would carry a twelve-meter wide disc. The robots had stored the components. All Flora had to do was to stick them together. For this, she started the gravity generator. It was much more comfortable handling the concrete slabs on lower gravity, not to mention lifting them on the pillars.

When Mia arrived with more boxes, Flora distributed them across the two levels, and the robots handled the wiring.

The work on the outer wall progressed well; only the roof was missing. However, they still had to install a lot of mana generators. Even the printing of them wasn't finished yet.

"Rob, my man! You arrived for our favorite part, the roofing!" Hub exclaimed when Robby appeared. "Fear not, Auntie! Both of us have tiled every hut on the compound. We are specialists."

Flora demanded a hug from her son before she let him join Hub.

Normad, the silent archer and Zapple, the blue-haired priest, helped Flora installing the Balancing Parcour, a ring of narrow beams around the second floor. A second ring, attached to the outer wall and loaded with robot-arms wielding morningstars, joined the first three meters above it.

"Lunch is ready on Riverstones Island!" Eddie yelled and vanished again in his box.

"Thank you very much for your work," Flora said after getting the attention of the workers. "It's looking great so far. We'll use the lunch break to test the boxes. Please read the manual." Flora glanced at Hub and Hoffi while the other players laughed.

The clan members chose the Boxes they fancied. Some like Ponda entered fast, while others stared at them in trepidation. Normad cast several spells on it before he dared to enter. In hindsight, Flora thought that it might not have been the best course of action to let the DAUs use them first. Their screaming had been a lousy advertisement.

Flora jumped up to the mezzanine floor where Robby stood.

Robby beamed at her. "Awesome, Ma! I'm looking forward to the boxes and the CommunityHub. Hub was laying into me to get one for a while. I tried to convince him that he was the Hub of our community."

Flora chuckled. She reveled in Robby's joy. "It's your birthday present. You may use it now even if it's still a few weeks until your birthday."

"Thank you." Robby hugged her. "Any more Boxing Boxes on the ground floor? I'd like to try one, but I deferred to the other melee fighters."

"No, sorry." Flora looked around. The training dummies weren't really necessary. It would be more efficient to move them to Riverstones Island. She could replace them with more Boxing Boxes.

"I'll find a good training option on the ground floor. Where do you plan to put the stairs? I kind of like the open ring for running. Would be a shame to lose the opportunity to jog rounds."

Flora froze. Stairs?

\u003cBless and Condemn\u003e

She flinched. She messed up, and now she even cast a spell because of her anti-freeze conditioning.

"Ma?" Robby looked around for any attackers.

Flora's mind seethed. In her panic, she even broadcasted her thoughts to her AIs. "Think, Flora! You did so well, and now you destroyed your streak, just because of forgetting stupid stairs! Think!"

A video of Hoffi using Charge to climb out of the job site appeared on her HUD.

Flora sent Aito a surge of gratitude.

"Sorry, sweetie. I was distracted for a moment. There will be no stairs. It came to my attention that some people need to be motivated to learn jumping skills."

Robby laughed and nodded, but she could see that he hadn't entirely bought her explanation, but that was fine. As long as there was a reasonable cause, nobody would accuse her of senility.

"I have an idea of how you can still use a Boxing Box. Let me show you my workshop."

(1) German: DAU: Duemmst anzunehmender User. "Duemmst" means "most stupid", I translated it with "dumb" to honor the acronym. Thanks to Glory Fink I know now: "'Dumb' is a former term used in the medical community to designate someone beyond society's efforts to educate or improve." So, maybe "densest assumable user"? But I don't want you to think they have more mass XD. Nonetheless, you get the picture of those special people.