After Chaya left, the dark-skinned man spent the rest of his time with Lottie. She had spoken to Ava x and the woman was very receptive to what the girl had to say, even offering up her phone number. She was so excited she almost forgot what they had come there for.

  Nova felt good seeing his best friend so happy. The joy in her eyes and voice was evident as she told him the conversation word by word. When they got back to their guild base, the pce pyer guilds called home, she was practically buzzing with energy from the encounter.

  He smirked as she mentioned telling her real world friends about it as they entered their base and were met with the smell of cooking food. This meant that one of their other guild members had logged on and Nova wasn’t sure how to feel. They weren’t exactly close to the others.

  The person in question peeked their head out of the kitchen and Nova felt his mood deplete. It was a pyer by the name of Brook, a guy with an anamorphic avatar who was the oldest out of the group. Brook was someone who kept to themselves and was mute most of the time.

  He was a nice enough guy. It was just that he wanted it to just be him and Lottie without their being a third wheel. Hell, a fourth due to the fact they had another member who hadn’t been logging on tely. He kept this to himself however as he knew it would be rude to mention.

  Lottie was more or less the same feelings wise. But she did hang out with Brook in the past so they were acquainted. Not like how he and Chaya were though. She noticed the animal man and waved at him.

  “Brook!” The girl said with a pleasant smile. “How are you doing?”

  The beefy man came to stand in front of the pair, towering over them at his height of seven feet. His mane of white hair and piercing gold eyes gave off the fantastical vibe of the game perfectly. Brook was someone who dug deep and really got into his character with a grin.

  “Lottie, it’s good to see you. I’ve been taking care of my son tely so I’ve been unable to get on as often as before.” Brook expined with the fake deep voice he put on to match his avatar.

  It was jarring at first but Nova had grown used to it. The tall man noticed him and excimed with glee. “Nova! How are you, son?”

  Being called that by Brook was weird as the man was only in his mid twenties and acted like an old man. He knew it was part of the act and having an oopsie baby recently didn’t help the matter. Still, he found himself withholding a full body cringe at how Brook spoke to him.

  “I’m doing good besides some family stuff.” To his utter dismay everyone in the guild knew his issues and had varying opinions on it.

  This was due to him unloading one day and being overheard which led to an intervention of sorts. He hated it. “It’s nothing to cry about.”

  Brook rubbed his chin and accepted his dismissal with a supportive cp to his shoulder. “Well! I’m gd both my companions are alright.”

  “I have to ask, have any of you heard from Tulip?” The mention of their missing guild member made the trio exchange simir gnces.

  Tulip was their fourth and final guild member who joined the test. She was incredibly bubbly and pretty much a ditz. The blonde was their healer and was the person they depended on in huge events. This was why her absence as of te had gone from worrying to annoying.

  Brook sighed. “I’ll send her a message and see what’s going on.”

  “That would be great.” Lottie said with a relieved smile.

  She looked around and noticed what the burly beast had made. “I never knew you could cook like this. Is it because of the baby?”

  The mention of Brook’s son made the man swell with pride. His eyes glimmered as he spoke about the infant. Apparently, he was born two months early and sick but was the strongest child you’d ever meet.

  The dark-skinned teenager could see that the man had found his purpose by having a kid even if it was stressful. Brook told them about how everything was different now but he loved it. He cooked and cleaned and learned so many things as his girlfriend rested.

  Hearing how happy his guild mate made the brunette’s heart soften towards him a little. He sounded like he had been working so hard as of te but still found time to log on. He was that reliable of a pyer even though he didn’t have to and could have left them hanging.

  That made Nova respect him quite a bit. “You sound so busy these days. Have you had time to participate in any missions as of te?” The man sounded like he was running on less than an hour of sleep.

  “I haven’t.” Brook said with a tired sigh of disappointment.

  Nova thought before deciding to throw the man a bone. He looked at him and Lottie before asking. “Would you guys like to go on a run?”

  “Didn’t the bcksmith say you can’t use your sword for now?” The sherbet haired girl asked, twirling her hair around her fingers.

  Seeing this made his voice catch in his throat and his gaze drifted to her lips. They were glossy from the lipstick her avatar came with, a dark pink that had a shimmer under the beautiful sun. Lottie’s eyes looked glossy as she cocked her head, awaiting his response patiently.

  He thought of what Chaya said earlier and gulped. He didn’t know when his feelings for the girl changed but they went back and forth often. There was just something about her that made his body shiver and his heart beat skyrocket. And this was just from her game avatar.

  “We can do a more low-key mission. One that won’t shatter my weapon for the fifteenth time this year.” Nova finally managed to say.

  Lottie crossed her arms and hummed as she considered what he was offering. She frowned and said with a pout. “So, no fighting then?”

  “Goodness gracious you are bloodthirsty my dear friend.” Brook said with a deep chuckle that made him sound ten years older than he was.

  Lottie blushed as the beast called her out. The girl loved fighting mobs and bosses that the game programmed to come at them. She was on the deadliest fighters he had ever met with her willingness to go to levels most pyers wouldn’t. She saw everything as useless code.

  If they weren’t in a virtual reality game he would find this arming. It was pretty common for certain pyers to take on a murder hobo type personality and Lottie just had added her own spin. She wasn’t cocky about her behavior but anyone who knew her was well aware of it.

  That’s part of what made their friendship begin to blossom. He had been friends with girls who could throw a punch before. But Lottie was someone who was more than tough. She was badass and took pleasure in making sure that her strength quadrupled with time.

  She wanted to be the deadliest pyer in all of Snowdrop Queen and he admired her for that. “Once I can use my sword we can go crazy.”

  “Well. Fair enough!” Lottie conceded no doubt thinking about all the orc men she would smash under fist and stab with her crossbow bolts. If she wasn’t so attractive, the brunette would gulp from her intensity.

  Brook grinned and held out a pte of cookies he had made when they were coming in. They looked delicious with a fluffy texture that reminded the teenager of cake more than cookies.

  It was amazing just how realistic the game was at portraying the texture, color and aroma of delectable treats from the real world. You wouldn’t believe it was all pixels unless someone told you if you saw them outside the game.

  “You two can have some before you go. Conserve your energy as we prepare for this adventure!”