VRMMORPG: The Other World Online

The warm sunlight flitted through the gap between the curtains and fell on the lean figure tucked under thick blankets on the bed.

The air in the room was cool, and a scent of fresh garden roses filled in the pale blue room.

Birds chirped.

Cheng Xiu frowned in her sleep. Her thoughts were jumbled, but she extricated herself from the arms of sleep unwillingly.

Her phoenix eyes fluttered open, and she stared blankly at the bouquet of roses on the bedside table.

Cheng Xiu turned and lay on her back, staring at the white ceiling for some time.

She stared at the glittering fairy lights attached to the ceiling in hooks. Since when did she have hooks in her ceiling?

Cheng Xiu sat up on the bed and looked around in a daze.

There were quite a few bouquets on the floor near her bed.

Cheng Xiu frowned and looked around. It was not her dorm room. It was too spacious.

The door suddenly opened.

Cheng Xiu looked towards it to find a rotund figure come inside.

"Brother San Zhe?" Cheng Xiu called.

San Zhe stopped stuffing his face with the noodles and stared at Cheng Xiu for some time.

His eyes widened.

"Sister Xiu?"

Cheng Xiu nodded.

"Where am I?"

"You are in the hospital."

"Why?"

"You fainted."

"Oh."

San Zhe shuffled towards her. "You are okay now?"

Cheng Xiu considered his question seriously for a moment. "I…think so."

"What do you remember?"

Cheng Xiu was confused by his question. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Please answer me honestly."

Cheng Xiu frowned and thought for a moment. Her eyes widened.

She looked at San Zhe in horror. "I…I spoke to Miss Bo so disrespectfully!"

San Zhe panicked. "Just pretend like you don't remember!"

Cheng Xiu frowned. "Brother San, why would she believe that?"

"Because according to the Doctor, there was a high chance that you would lose your memories completely."

Cheng Xiu stilled. "What?"

San Zhe sighed. "You..um…the Deep Dive had a strong impact on you. There were nerve damages…but…well…the doctor kept saying that it was not damage caused by Deep Dive when I tried to say to him that it was. The area that is usually affected by Deep-Dives were safe. They were not able to say what was wrong with you, except that a lot of your nerves had lost their membrane covering."

Cheng Xiu considered his words in silence.

San Zhe stared at her for a moment. "Sister Xiu?"

Cheng Xiu looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"I don't know what you did in the game…but please be careful…and don't do it anymore."

Cheng Xiu froze. "Not do it anymore?"

San Zhe nodded. "We will not be able to predict the consequences."

Cheng Xiu's hand tightened into a fist on the blanket. "Because I am a Qiless?"

San Zhe started to nod his head but stopped midway. "It is only a part of it. You know I am the least likely person to care about that."

Cheng Xiu pursed her lips and nodded. "Sorry. That was rude of me. I made it sound like I am the only one who has ever gone through such things."

San Zhe chuckled. "You are allowed to be a bit self-centred you know?"

Cheng Xiu smiled. "I know. So…no more special dungeons huh?"

"What were you doing anyway?" San Zhe asked. "What made you do a Deep Dive?"

Cheng Xiu sighed. "A chance to get a soul weapon shard."

San Zhe's eyes widened. "A soul shard?"

Cheng Xiu nodded, her eyes glittering. "Yup! And I got it too!"

San Zhe felt a headache come on. "Sister Xiu…I always thought that you were the logical sort…how can you risk going into Deep Dive for a soul Weapon? No, not a soul Weapon. A chance to get a soul weapon shard right? A shard. How can you risk your health for something like that? Did you even consider the way your parents would feel at that moment?"

Cheng Xiu blushed and looked down at her hands. "I…did not know it was a Deep Dive instance. I wouldn't have tried to participate in it if I knew that was the case."

San Zhe frowned. "How can you not know? The AI system always gives the players a detailed summary of the dungeon if it has even a 1% risk to the player."

Cheng Xiu tilted her head. "I…don't know."

"Maybe we should contact the Pod Operators. It might have something to do with the Pod."

"How did you know it was a Pod?"

"You told me."

"Right. And I don't think that I will be able to afford a gaming pod repair. Those things would be expensive."

San Zhe frowned. "How did you buy it then?"

"It was a gift from Gu Shu," Cheng Xiu said, bowing her head. She felt embarrassed. Even though Gu Shu had bought her the Pod as a gift, and she had years of experience of Gu Shu trying to spend too much money on her, Chng Xiu felt like she was exploiting her friend somehow, and she never felt good about that.

San Zhe hmmed. "Perhaps…you can ask Gu Shu to-"

"There is no need for that," Cheng Xiu said in a hurry. "I…"

San Zhe sighed. He could understand the girl's thought process. "Have you thought about the fact that it is the way your friend is showing she cares?"

Chng Xiu smirked. "I know. But I can't indulge in that kind of thing for her. I am afraid that I might start to…"

"Exploit her?" San Zhe finished.

Cheng Xiu nodded. "A'Shu might not realise it, but there are many just waiting to leach all the money she has in her account when they get the chance. I don't want to be that person in her life."

"I don't think you ever will be," San Zhe said with a smile.

Cheng Xiu shook her head. "I am human, and I can be a greedy person too."

San Zhe laughed, and then sobered up. "So…will you quit TOW then?"

Cheng Xiu snorted. "You wish! I still have my old Gaming helmet. If you can use it, why can't I? My skills won't deteriorate because of it!"

San Zhe looked at Cheng Xiu in admiration. "Oh."

Cheng Xiu frowned. "So where is Gu Shu?"

San Zhe blinked. "Um…she got a call yesterday, and so she went home."

"Went home?"

San Zhe nodded. He hesitated for a moment. "That…the doctor said that you will wake up only in two days…so she decided to go home…something about having a guest come over."

Cheng Xiu nodded in understanding.

"How about we go out then?" Cheng Xiu asked.

"Go out?"

Cheng Xiu nodded.. "I kind of want to see the outside world."