Nanomemes: Yaaaas, Team Dad Guide, rise up! / Haha, yes, I love 4th wall breaks. Though I like OCs who are aware of their fictional statuses, I don't want them conveniently hearing tidbits that help them get around the world easily, so... that's why she won't hear narration. / And actually, she's died once, early on at the end of Chapter 2, respawned in Chapter 3. / I don't ever play hardcore (I get too attached to characters LMAO) but maybe that exists. I'll reassure you though, that won't be the only time she dies. Mary Sues are a big no-no for me! ...anyways, thanks for reviewing, and sorry for the delay!
As the sound of birds chirping echoed all around, a certain reddish-haired girl opened her eyes. She sat up from the cold, hard wooden flooring, scratching her head slightly, pushing herself upwards. The girl looked around, taking in the sight of her rather plain and dull room, with basic furniture and light sources, and no windows.
Mikan Hatsumi, the OC star of this story, briefly took the time to do nothing, letting her brain process everything.
For some strange reason, she felt as if she hadn't done anything at all, for around ten months or so. It was a strange feeling that came out of nowhere, especially because it had only been two or three days since she last went exploring, with a new person joining her base of operations - the NPC known as Katherine the Nurse.
The next day she had gone out to do some more exploration and harvesting materials to duplicate and cheat the system. Then, she did some renovations on her 'house', just to make it look nicer - it felt discouraging if these freeloading NPCs were going to be taking up her space in a half-assed residence, after all.
Nevertheless, these past few days have been full of action. What reason was there for her to feel like nothing's been going on for almost a year?
She frowned, a thought occurring to her. No, wait... I know this feeling.
What feeling was this, exactly? That's right - it's fourth wall breaking time! The feeling she's referring to is the comedic feeling authors give their characters when they haven't updated a story for a long time, and suddenly it's back to updating! The long absence in activity might be relatable on some level for people who are aware of the hiatus, but not the characters in the story themselves! ...unless the story also utilizes the fourth wall and a lack of respect towards it.
But indeed, I have returned! It's been around ten months since I last updated this story. Do forgive me, I got a bit out off writing, like I always do. I'll be trying my best to get back into writing and update all my other stories too, however. And for anyone interested - I've started my own Discord server! You may find it at the bottom, in the author notes!
Also, I'm sure everyone is aware of this already, but can you believe they merged the Terraria Gamepedia with the WIKI/FANDOM group? Gamepedia was so reliable and easy to navigate. Now it's the advertisement-hungry FANDOM, and boy, I have a much harder time finding what I need from there when playing Terraria. That speaks for itself. Curse you, FANDOM! Curse you!
"...why do I feel like we're being sidelined by some pointless off-topic narration?" Mikan muttered.
Oh, right, the story. Better get back to it then.
"...maybe it's just me. It's kinda petty to blame everything on the author when I can't even hear him." The girl sighed. "I just know he's delaying things though... I mean, I do know that he's here, just not when I'm alive." She rubbed her chin. "I could probably talk to him again to figure out some more stuff about the game system, but I'd have to die again, and I'm not sure I'd like to experience that again..."
Suddenly, the door to her personal room opened, and a certain scowling blonde peered from beyond. "Hey. Wake up already."
Mikan blinked. And there was the lovely blonde nurse Katherine... with her not-so-lovely expression. "Good morning to you too," the OC greeted.
"Oh. Already awake, huh." A brief moment of silence. Then... "Then get up already. You're going to go explore more, aren't you?" the blonde said.
"...yeah, sure." Getting on her feet, the girl did some stretches and twists, and smiled at the observing NPC. "Nice of you to come check up on me though. Thanks for that."
Katherine narrowed her eyes, her scowl increasing in contempt. Yikes... Mikan thought. "Wasn't for you or anything. Hurry up and get your ass moving."
Oh, well. So much for good vibes on a fresh, new morning. But the Nurse was a lovely beauty, and as sassy as Mikan can be, she didn't want to get on the wrong side of lovely girls. And so, she simply nodded and kept her positive façade. ...wait, why did 'facade' just autocorrect to its original French form? Oh, language, you never cease to confuse me. Getting that distracted feeling again, Mikan thought. Whoops.
After a few more seconds, Katherine rolled her eyes and left, heading downstairs.
That's right - there was now a second floor in the humble home of Mikan Hatsumi! Somehow she simply felt she deserved to have a room on a different floor from the others'. She also thought it'd be handy to have more rooms built just in case even more NPCs arrive to invade her place, so the girl went ahead and constructed some more rooms on both floors, and even a basement/underground floor.
"Stupid weird voice talking about stupid stuff..." Mikan thought she heard Katherine mutter. Ah, so we really were going off-track. Well, never mind that. More importantly... Smiling, she opened her thought-accessible inventory and went over everything she had so far.
After a while, confidence building up inside her, the OC made her way downstairs.
She saw Andrew the Guide, and Howard the Merchant, sitting around the only table in the room, chatting and having a breakfast meal. Whatever it was that they were eating, it looked quite normal, but with how things were in this world, Mikan assumed they were a 'NPC-handmade' thing and not something she can craft herself. ...is there food in this game? she wondered.
As for Katherine, she seemed to not be anywhere in the house.
"The shourpushth nurshe't ourtshide," Howard mumbled, his mouth full of... food.
"Old man, chew and swallow," Mikan mumbled. Table manners were a must, no matter what the situation was! That's the law that big sister figures like her abided by.
Andrew, meanwhile, politely swallowed what he had, and smiled. "It doesn't seem like Ms. Katherine is quite fond of you. How are things going on your front, Ms. Mikan?"
"Eh, nothing really needs to change," the girl replied. "Not everyone's happy and jolly. Might as well as just keep being a pal."
Howard cleared his moth and shrugged. "I dunno, lassy. A girl like that? That there, wouldn't want no business with her myself." Then he adopted a serious expression, one of a cunning businessman. "That is, unless she's got some goods to let me sell. It's all about the money, y'know."
"We get it, Mr. Money McGee," Mikan said. "Anyways, I'm going to do the usual. Off and away, and find stuff. Who knows what new things I'll find - getting a bit bored of the usual forests and caves, honestly."
"Such is the way of exploration," Andrew mused. "It is patience that ultimately allows one to conquer the wilderness."
"...sure. Heading off now, home invaders." Mikan casually waved as she headed out her cozy (empty) home.
Arms crossed, peering into the distant forestness of the forest - the Nurse NPC waited in silence. Upon hearing the door open and close, she turned around and took notice of Mikan. "Hey."
"Oh. Um. Hey." Mikan scratched her head. Why did Katherine have to make this so hard on her? The situation looked like it came out of some cringe-fest dramatic movie or anime. The way they would play out, this would either be some sort of confession, or an "it's time to head out for the final battle" scenario.
But of course, there's no way that it's either of those. Only morons would write that.
"You're going to the caves, right?" Katherine asked.
"Oh. Yeah, I'm about to head off." Mikan smiled. "If you want, I can search for stuff for you. Maybe some gemstones?" she suggested. "I did see some gemstones on trees before... yeah, apparently that's a thing here, somehow. Gem trees, apparently..."
Katherine shook her head. "No. I'm going with you. You need to find more Life Crystals, so I'm going to help you find them."
Mikan blinked. Then she shrugged. "Oh, sure, okay." She began walking past the blonde, until she frowned, coming to a halt. "...what?"
"What, you didn't hear me?" Katherine scowled. "I'm going with you, dumbass."
The OC shuddered. Tell me she didn't really just said she was tagging along...
"B-bwuh, wait, why?" she asked.
"Like I said. Life Crystals." Katherine sighed with annoyance. "I know you've got some cheat-like Player privilege. You can clone stuff, right?" she said. "I'm going to make sure you get that and become as strong as possible."
Scratching her head, Mikan nodded, but she was still unsure. "I mean, sure, okay, but... why? What's the reason or catch here?"
"That's none of your business," Katherine said.
"Eugh... well... I'd still rather you don't," the red haired girl said. "There's... lots of slimes and stuff out there, you know...?"
The NPC scoffed. "Please, I'm a Nurse. I can take care of myself."
I don't think I can convince her otherwise... Mikan sighed. "Oh, fine, why not?"
Internally, she paled.
Too sudden and strange... the heck is going on? she wondered.
If anyone's interested, I've started my own Discord server. It's generally for hangout, but I want it to be a place for everyone to be able to relax and interact. It's discord . gg / Ddmxa8YTeD if you want to join.