VRMMORPG: The Other World Online

"Or it is the exact opposite of these two," Cheng Xiu said to him. "What do you think is the difference between a mistress and a Queen?"

San Zhe blinked. "The King favours one more than the other?"

Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "Nonsense. That is not true. If a King favours his mistress he could just make her his Main Consort. The fact that there are two Queens indicate that both the women are influential and that they are in a cooperative relationship. That is the only way that both can exist."

"Didn't you just say that the King might have a Twin fetish though?" San Zhe asked in confusion.

Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "I just speculated that based on the fact that there are two queens and the mistresses before us are twins who behave exactly like each other. There is no way to distinguish them. Since their presence is a clue to defeat the dungeon, we can guess that the Queens are also twins. That is it. But the fact that we met the mistresses and they quarrel with each other could mean that the Queens, who are more powerful would behave differently."

"And they might not be twins!"

"How is that relevant?"

"Then how is it relevant whether the Queens quarrel or not?"

Cheng Xiu gave him a look.

San Zhe stared at her, and then thought of what he just said. "Yeah…I might be dumb."

"It happens."

"So the queens would work with each other instead of against each other," San Zhe speculated. Cheng Xiu gave him an encouraging smile. "And we might not be able to sow discord between them as easily as we were able to with these two."

Cheng Xiu nodded. "Correct. And instead of the NPC spells working one on one…"

"They might combine their attacks," San Zhe said with a grim face. "That…doesn't seem like much of a help."

"That is where your speculation that their spell books are the source of their power comes in," Cheng Xiu said with a smile.

San Zhe's eyes widened in understanding. "They might still be using the same methods?"

Cheng Xiu nodded. "Or else this entire sub-plot would be a waste."

San Zhe had another theory in his mind at that moment. He looked towards Cheng Xiu with pursed lips.

Cheng Xiu saw his expression and gave him a curious look. "What is it? Don't hesitate to tell me any ideas that might come into your mind. It can help us if we can determine what is or isn't the right ideas."

"What if it is the exact opposite of our speculations though?" San Zhe said to her in a low voice. He felt like he was jinxing them by putting forwards this theory of his, but he could not help it. He needed to know what Cheng Xiu thought of his idea.

"You mean that we should be able to sow discord between the queens like we did the NPCs and that their power source would not be the same as that of the NPCs," Cheng Xiu said.

San Zhe nodded.

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because then this dungeon would be too easy."

San Zhe blinked. "Huh? How?"

"It was very easy for us to sow a discord between those two," Cheng Xiu said as she pointed to the two green-robed women. "There is no way that we would be lucky enough to have to be able to do that same thing to sub-bosses of the Dungeon. The system would not allow that."

San Zhe nodded. That did make sense…but…

"But if it is the opposite," San Zhe said to her, "Then that would mean it would be harder to fight the NPCs. If they have different power sources and their spells are powerful without a Spell Book to bind them-"

"We would be able to distract them easily," Cheng Xiu said to him, "by using the king as an excuse. Or even their beauties or powers. Or the way that they walk. If the Queens are as unstable as these two, then there are many ways that we can control the outcome of the dungeon. Besides, the system is most likely to show something that is related to their powers than their behaviours."

San Zhe sighed. "I guess you being a genius makes you able to see things in a way that I can't."

Cheng Xiu frowned. "Being a genius means that I have a sturdier mind. I can do things faster than the rest of the people around me. But that did not mean that I am somehow able to guess the intricacies of a game or novel or something. Those kind of things only come through experiences. It is sort of like if a chef was told to make a Chow Mein. If they do not have a recipe at hand, the chef will only be able to try to make the food if they have heard of the food before, know the ingredients that go into it, and know the general taste of it and know how it looks like. I can only think of things in a way if I am familiar with something about that thing, or something of its nature."

San Zhe was surprised by how much Cheng Xiu said in a breath. She sounded like she had been keeping that in her chest for a long time and was just waiting for someone to say the trigger words to let it all out.

"I did not mean to offend you," San Zhe said to her. "Or brush away your talent-"

"It is not about talent," Cheng Xiu said to him in frustration, "it is about hard work. I put in as much heart and soul into things as others."

San Zhe nodded. "I meant hard work. I did not mean to make it seem like I was trivializing your hard work!"

Cheng Xiu sighed. "Why are we even talking about this. Let us test out the theory that the NPCs' power source are the Spell Books. Everything else is moot point if that speculation turns out to be wrong."

San Zhe nodded. He looked towards the bickering NPCs who held the Spell books close to their heart. "How though?"

"Watch me," Cheng Xiu said as she made her third pair of sword copies. It was time for her to weave her powers again.

San Zhe backed away.

Yaksha looked at the pair from his place, a complicated look in his eyes, His mind went towards a time that was different from the one now. To a time when there was someone else by her side.

Since when did she start to care about 'Hard Work'?