"Going outside is highly overrated."

Her boots made a quiet thud as they hit the ground, landing in the all-too-familiar park. The blade of grass bent forgivingly under her tread. Loping towards the nearest mailbox around the perimeter of the grassy area, Marinette felt the light breeze ruffle through her short hair.

The opening of the mailbox made a loud clink, and sure enough, sitting in her box was the promised 10,000 NOM-Coins. Sweet! she thought. Along with the money was a letter on the last known whereabouts of Adrien Agreste in the PHENOM.

Accepting the currency, Marinette opened the letter with it.

Adrien was last seen towards the westernmost corner of The Forest of Runes. His in-game coordinates disappear at the town limits, in Steegrove. We have sent scouts, but no one can find him. It is up to you. Save Adrien, or PHENOM as the world knows it will be destroyed.

So much for that. It's such a completely low pressure situation and nothing could go wrong if she failed.

Or...so much could go wrong.

And, of course, he would be in the farthest place from the starting park in the Lost City.

Parametric Handsfree Entertainment Nanofabrication Online Multiplayer, or PHENOM as it was known, was split into about five large sections.

There was the Lost City, which functioned as the main hub for virtual life. Parks, malls, schools- they were all there.

Then there was the Naramuz Highlands, to the north and a bit west. It was mountainous, but great for completing quests because of the large amounts of exotic wildlife it supported.

To the east of the highlands was the Fellmoor Swamp. The swamp was mostly used for battles- typically for hourly capture the flag tournaments.

There was the Forest of Runes. It was a dangerous area that was not possible to be in unless you were a level 50 or higher. The whole place was a PvP zone, and it was a magical free-for-all brawl. Plus, the programmers placed a bunch of Easter eggs in the forest for people to find. It was highly coveted. But it was also a pain in the ass to get to level 50.

And there was the Bunker, which was basically a PHENOM version of an underground black market. Spanning under each of the four above-ground areas, it was a seedy traffic way that was not for the faint of heart.

Of course this kid would be in the only level-restricted area. As the son of the Agreste Industries giant, he would probably be well over level 50. Probably some kid with no life who spent all his time acting like a hot-shot in the virtual world. Marinette wasn't sure she had ever heard of him before his famous disappearing act.

She thanked her lucky stars she had dedicated the hours that she had into levelling, or trying to grind out to 50 would've taken forever. As it stood, she was a 53.

Placing the letter in her inventory to keep as a reminder for the upcoming journey, she set off.

Messages began pinging up in the chat bar.

WiFiMaidEasy: M...I'm not gonna say anything too revealing because THEY might be watching or listening, but be careful.

ninothelioma: are u by a mailbox? let me send u some weaponry

miraculousladybug: I'm fine, guys. Thanks

New mail received from: ninothelioma.

miraculousladybug: What did you send me?

ninothelioma: agatha

WiFiMaidEasy: HANG ON, you sent M Agatha? I'm your girlfriend and you've never let me borrow it!

ninothelioma: she needs it more sorry

miraculousladybug: The blade of mystery. Thanks, N.

WiFiMaidEasy: You gotta be careful, M. With something as high profile as this, the Regularity has to be in on it. They're probably tracking you right now. Reading this as I type. Hey, Regularity agent reading this!

miraculousladybug: If you don't like them, why would you say hi?

WiFiMaidEasy: I may hate them, but I am always friendly.

ninothelioma: *snorts*

Marinette laughed. The witty repartee was lessening the ball of tension in her stomach. Virtual or not, anxiety still sucked. Especially when the fate of someone rested in your hands, no matter how capable people thought you were.

She pulled up her map. She had been walking for some time now, and she was about out of city limits. Unfortunately, she still had quite a bit of a checklist of cities and lands to go through.

Her path would be as follows:

Across the River of Towers in the Caerphy Forest, through the Nymph Woods and Dragon's Vale- where she would have to pass through Gaburh, the Dragon's Lair- then north through the Desolation of Namzu. That would be her path around the outskirts of the Naramuz Highlands, because she didn't want to have to do all the mountain climbing.

But once she was able to pass through the Desolation of Namzu, she would arrive at the Forest of Runes. It was maybe a day or so of straight gameplay.

Alas, Marinette was human, so she'd need breaks for trivial things like food and sleep and the bathroom. All things her avatar didn't have to do. She had never been so jealous. The faster she got this mission completed, the faster she got paid and her livelihood wasn't being threatened anymore.

She noticed the absence of messages popping up in her feed once she closed her map. Where did Nino and Alya go? She went to open her chat bar, but it locked and a bright red message flashed across her screen.

COMMUNICATION NOT ALLOWED PAST LOST CITY.

Huh. That was weird. She wasn't ready to accept Alya's government conspiracy theory, but it was odd. Maybe it was disabled so she wouldn't be distracted? Either way, it was a crappy thing to do. She sighed. She truly was in this all alone.

Trudging forward, she began to get lost in her thoughts. She set her avatar on auto-walk so she didn't get distracted by her own daydreaming. Who would've thought that she would be the savior of anyone? Let alone the child of one of the most famous humans ever.

She wondered about this Adrien. Nobody bothered to tell her anything about him. Judging from his father, she guessed he would be cold and abrasive. Was he around her age? Older? Younger? They didn't even bother to tell her his gamer tag, for crying out loud! What was she supposed to do- approach every strange boy in the Forest of Runes and ask if they were Adrien? What if he played with a female avatar?

There were so many unknowns. She sighed. But no matter the stresses, she was in this. Besides, the PHENOM was better than the real world. Going outside is highly overrated.