VRMMORPG: The Other World Online

Cheng Xiu blinked her eyes to get rid of the flashes of light and took a deep breath.

Temple bells echoed throughout the room.

There was a ringing sound in her ears that made it hard for Cheng Xiu to even concentrate on her surroundings, let alone hear the slowly dying sound of Temple bells.

The red portal that would lead to the Primordial Space started to close up.

There was a flash of golden light, and a figure appeared in front of her.

The figure was that of a 13-year-old girl, with a white crystal floating above her head. She wore a simple blue shirt and a frilly white skirt. She had a pair of phoenix eyes, and her long black hair was pulled into a half ponytail. She had golden chains around her four limbs.

Cheng Xiu squinted her eyes at the girl in a drunken manner. "You…are Maya? Right?"

The girl nodded with a smile.

"Never thought the AI of this game would be a little girl," Cheng Xiu said with a slur.

The girl smiled cutely at the older girl, her chubby cheeks revealing a dimple on one side.

Cheng Xiu giggled and poked the girl's dimple. "Hey. You have one just like me!"

The girl nodded. "I appear in front of the Players as a version of themselves most of the time."

Cheng Xiu gasped. "That is so cool!"

The AI sighed. "You are experiencing a backlash from having spent 41 minutes in the Deep Dive of the game. It is recommended that you get a complete health check-up once you log out so that you do not face any other backlashes in the future."

Cheng Xiu giggled in answer. "Hey! Maya! I won! I won against the Witch!"

Maya nodded and took out a glowing red crystal from thin air.

Cheng Xiu clapped in amazement. "Woohoo! Yeah!"

Maya rolled her eyes and handed the crystal over to Cheng Xiu.

The white-robed girl blinked at the little girl with a lost look on her face.

Maya sighed. "Your reward for winning in the Level Ring Challenge."

Cheng Xiu returned the crystal to the little girl with a shake of her head.

Maya looked at the woman in confusion.

Cheng Xiu gave her a tragic face, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I…I didn't cross all three lines of the Level Rings."

"You won against all the enemies."

"I didn't cross all the rings."

"You killed even the Witch of Many Faces."

"I didn't cr-"

"Just take the reward."

Cheng Xiu pouted, and snatched the Crystal away from the little AI, and put it in her storage ring.

She turned to the little girl with a mocking face. "Now what you will do! Ha! I snatched it away from you! So you can't give it to me!"

Maya took out a parchment from the ring on her hand and handed it to Cheng Xiu.

Cheng Xiu looked at Maya in confusion. "This…is…"

"Your treaty with the Trolls. As long you show that to any Troll establishment they will give you a 20% discount."

"Wow! Woohoo!"

Cheng Xiu started to clap her hands.

Maya sighed. "Shall I log Player Selafia Veritas out of the game now?"

Cheng Xiu frowned and thought. She started to nod but then shook her head. "I need to meet brother San Zhe! I won't abandon people!"

Maya sighed and waved her hand.

"Bye!" Cheng Xiu sang as she disappeared in a flash of light.

Cheng Xiu blinked away the light from her eyes.

San Zhe looked up from his crouching position in pleasant surprise.

Diana backed away from San Zhe, putting away her talons.

Luther stepped away from the tree had leaned on with a sigh. "finally."

"Sister Xiu!" San Zhe screamed.

Cheng Xiu shook her head to get rid of the blue spots in her vision from the flash of light.

"Sister Xiu?"

"It always does that," Cheng Xiu whined.

San Zhe blinked, unsure of what to do. "What?"

Cheng Xiu frowned as she grabbed ahold of her head as her vision blurred.

A warm hand held her by the shoulder and Cheng Xiu felt herself leaning against something warm and solid.

"Are you okay?" a soft voice asked into her ears.

Cheng Xiu shook her head and looked up.

She was met with a face in a silver mask that Cheng Xiu found very familiar. "I…who…"

"I am Yaksha," the man said. "Are you okay?"

San Zhe looked at Cheng Xiu in concern. "Sister Xiu?"

[Ding!]

[Player Selafia Veritas is showing signs of mental fatigue. It is heavily advised for the Player to log out.]

"I am going to be logged out?" Cheng Xiu asked in a daze.

"No Sister Xiu," San Zhe said with a smile. "We still have 3 hours of real-time! Which should be enough to finish the Pit Quest!"

Cheng Xiu's eyes filled with tears, and she looked at San Zhe pitifully. "Really?"

San Zhe gave her a hesitant nod.

"You seem out of sorts, sister Xiu," San Zhe said with concern.

"What happened?" Yaksha asked.

"I went to fight trolls!" Cheng Xiu said with a laugh.

"Trolls?" San Zhe asked with a frown.

"You went into a dungeon?" Luther asked in disbelief. "How were you able to do that? And why are you like this after the dungeon run? Which dungeon would do this to a player? Are you in some kind of attack from the creatures of the dungeon even now? Most dungeons ha-"

"Luther," Yaksha called in a warning tone to his voice.

Luther blushed and stepped back.

"How did you fight the trolls?" Yaksha asked.

"Through many weapons!" Cheng Xiu said, her chest puffing out, and her phoenix eyes glimmering with pride.

"Why are you like this?" Yaksha muttered in exasperation.

"Because I did it in Deep Dive!" Cheng Xiu said with a proud grin.

The players around her froze.

"What?" Luther asked through a choking voice.

"Sister Xiu?" San Zhe called in fright.

Yaksha frowned. "You went through Deep Dive…you were gone for only ten minutes here. How long did you spend in Deep Dive?"

San Zhe relaxed. "That's right. People can only spend 10 minutes in Deep Dive!"

Cheng Xiu chuckled. "40 minutes!"

San Zhe stepped back in horror.

Yaksha's eyes widened. "Four times faster…"

San Zhe gulped.

"Lord Yaksha," Diana called, "What happened?"

Yaksha observed the girl who leaned against him and looked drunk.

He pulled out a white talisman from his storage ring and pasted it on the girl's forehead.

The talisman lit up.

[Ding!]

[Player Selafia Veritas has triggered the Retreat Talisman. The player is being forced to log out in:

3

2

1]

Cheng Xiu's body disappeared.

"Sister Xiu!" San Zhe screamed.

"She is fine," Yaksha said. "She was just logged out. You know her in real life, right? Go check on her now."

San Zhe nodded and logged out.

Luther gasped. "He logged out in a No-Safe Zone!"

Yaksha jumped into a tree and laid on its branches.

"Brother?" Diana called.

"We will wait for her to return," Yaksha said to her.

Diana nodded.