Nexon just go and take my mesos.
An excited chatter of children surrounded me as I pinched my cheek for the fifth time that morning. The birds were chirping with enthusiastic vigour, the wind blew about softly, engulfing me in an aromatic breeze. All was well with the world.
Or it would have been well if not for the sole reason I was so utterly perplexed by. There were no children in the area where I lived, being a struggling university student, unless several child prodigies had been accepted on campus while I wasn't looking one day. The only scent that should have surrounded me was the smell of textbooks and energy drinks mixed with copious amounts of coffee.
Well, to be honest there was one other reason I was confounded by. These children had animal ears sticking straight up from the tops of their heads as they shrieked and tumbled about in piles, pouncing on one another. As for myself, wincing from bruised cheeks, I slapped myself hard this time as worried adults stared without a hint of shame. Oh yeah, these adults had fluffy animal ears too, if that wasn't obvious enough. Where on earth had I ended up? Concerned murmurs of, "Has she finally lost it? Did losing her spiritual powers that day cause her to snap? Did Maru hit her too hard that time?" wrapped around me, mixing in with the yells of child voices.
Me? Have superpowers? I glanced down at my fingertips and wiggled them experimentally. They had shrunk exponentially from what I remembered while poring over research papers.
Waking up earlier today, I had groped around for my glasses blearily before realizing my surroundings did not seem to resemble a campus dormitory room, rather a small hut thatched with straw. I had woken up in a small bed, and upon further realization, now had perfect eyesight that could see to the smallest detail of the etchings on the windows.
Had some mad scientist kidnapped me from my cramped room and done weird experiments while I had been asleep? "Moonbeam! You're finally awake! That darned scamp Maru really scared you bad that time, didn't he? You had a pretty nasty trip and knocked yourself out on a sharp rock! Souffle hasn't moved from your side at all since you've been unconscious!"
First of all, who was Moonbeam or Maru or Souffle for that matter? My nose scrunched up in intense concentration as I tried to figure things out. My confused expression must have worried the older adult beside me because he assured me that he'd get the healer to look at me right away, opening the door hurriedly.
Looking around my surroundings more closely, it was clear that I no longer was in any urban city by any means. The name Moonbeam did vaguely ring a bell in my head, but that could have been from all the manga I used to read. Releasing another yawn, I scratched the top of my head and felt something fluffy flick.
The healer stormed in through the door at my high-pitched scream to see me collapse in a heap on the floor after falling off the bed. After several reassurances that I was fine, just having been surprised by a large spider on the ceiling, the healer glanced over me and handed over a packaged poultice to place on the swelling bump on my skull before leaving.
A soft fluffy creature licked at my face repeatedly and I couldn't help but cuddle it close. This must have been Souffle, a pet that the old owner of this body raised or had I been Moonbeam from the get-go?
"Moonbeam are you sure you're alright?" Another frantic adult had come in to check up on me as I pressed the sweet-smelling bundle to my head. I nodded furiously and they let me exit the hut to get some fresh air.
So here I was now, sprawled out on the grass basking in the afternoon sun, Souffle napping soundly beside me. A small shadow came over me as I squinted to see who it was. "I'm really sorry about the prank I pulled on you! I didn't expect for you to freak out so badly and hurt yourself Moonbeam!" An abashed red headed kid scratched his nose, eyes cast downwards. "The Fox God must have forgotten to warn me about this! I even sent out a paper airplane to the skies in hopes of an answer."
Fox God? Maru? Now everything was starting to slot into place. This was the world of Maplestory! I had played it on and off back in my younger teens, and this section had been one of the many short story quests that Nexon implemented as a way for players to get experience points before reaching level 200.
As for Moonbeam, she was one of the earlier companions for Eunwol, as the one who came up her powers for him in order to grant him protection and make him stronger at the cost of her weakening. But the NPCs weren't supposed to be able to recall who he was when he transitioned between worlds... Was there some kind of glitch in the game system?
"Do you know anyone named Eunwol?" I couldn't help but ask anyway. "What a funny name! Did you meet someone from outside the village?" His eyes widened considerably as he looked around hurriedly.
Quickly shushing him, I shrugged. "It might have been in a dream? It was a really sad dream." Nodding like he understood me, he replied, "Oh yeah! I get sad dreams all the time too, like when the other kids ignore me and call me a weirdo. You don't think I'm weird, do you?"
Shaking my head, he brightened up at my actions. "Well! I'm glad to see you're feeling much better after having lost your spirit powers, exploring the sacred fox tree just isn't as fun when your friend is moping around doing nothing!"
Was Moonbeam originally Maru's friend in the game? Deciding to go with the flow, I gave him a thumbs up.
"Does this mean you'll join me in the Pointy Ears Guards now?" His expression grew hopeful as he waited for my answer, tail wagging in eager anticipation.
"Yeah, sure I'll join you!" Hoping I wouldn't end up regretting my words. He fist-bumped the air, "Yes! My first ever minion! Now the village will be safe! Come on! I'll show you my secret spot to oversee everything!"
Huffing and puffing, drips of sweat trickled down my face as the ears atop twitched in frustration, "Aren't you not supposed to be climbing the sacred Fox Tree?" "Psh, the village elders don't know anything! The Fox Tree is the easiest way to see if there are any intruder attacks!"
"Um, is now a bad time?" Letting out a surprised gasp, I lost my grip on the tree and was prepared to fall straight to my doom when a hand quickly caught hold of me and hauled me up onto the platform. Letting my gaze drift upwards as I uttered my profuse thanks before my jaw dropped to the ground. Dark brown hair, vibrant purple eyes tinged with melancholy gazed back at me. He wore a black and grey layered outfit with red sashes winding around his arms and sharp knuckle weapon attached to his left hand. It was Eunwol, clutching something green in his hand.
"This airplane smacked me in the head when I was walking through the Heliseum and I thought I should come help out." His voice trembled with slight nervousness contrasting with his confident stance.
"I'm here too!" Another voice piped up from beside him and I shifted my gaze to in the direction of the more feminine voice. "Before this dummy forgets to introduce himself, I'm Aran and this is Eunwol! Whoever sent that airplane soaring must have been blessed by the wind spirits!" A tanned skin beauty with long gray hair swept up into a ponytail slapped her companion on the back as his expression grew mildly annoyed.
"I was getting to that part; you didn't need to cut in like that. And who might you two be?" "Hey, it's Eunwol! Just like the name you said just now in that sad dream you said you had!" Maru chirped as he turned to face me, waiting for my response.
Now it had to come and bite me in the butt, really? Were the fates that determined to make a fool out of me? Eunwol's eyes gained a glimmer of life as he stared at me too. Gulping, I stammered, "Y-yeah! Funny how that happened, wow what a coincidence!"
"Wait, it this that chick who gave you her spirit powers? Moonbeam? Hoo boy, that really sucks!" Aran clearly had lost the ability to read the room as she let out a volley of laughs as I tried my best to shrink down into nothingness. The expression on Eunwol's face was unreadable but there was a tiny upwards curl to his lip that could be construed as a smile. His hand reached out to give me a pat on the head that would have caused any normal girl to blush bright red, and my face might have resembled a tomato considering I was just a normal girl.
"Say, since you're here now, would you like to be minion two and three of the Pointy Ear Guards?" A triumphant expression burst forth on Maru's face as he seized the opportunity that had presented itself.
"Minions? Seems like fun, I'm in for sure! What about you Eunwol?" Aran was so carefree it was really refreshing from how serious the village adults were, from the little that I had interacted with the past few hours. A tiny nod from him as Eunwol's gaze still hadn't left me, beseeching with as much force as he could muster. What answers could I actually provide for any questions he had? I was just a university student struggling in life.
Reciprocating the gesture from before, I tiptoed as high as I could to give his head a pat too. His hair was so soft, I might have to steal his shampoo and conditioner routine somehow. Did his lip just twitch upward even further? I'd call that a success in my book! Maru was chattering away eagerly with Aran off to the side and she caught my gaze giving me a thumbs up and wink as she nodded along to whatever Maru talked about.
Somehow all this just led to all of us gathering butterfly powder from the monsters spawning outside of the village and seizing fluffy pink cotton puffs that dropped from the mobs due to Maru's bright idea that ears should allow the duo to sneak in successfully to the village. Oohing and awing, they slipped the simple ears on and trailed after us.
"Did you just allow outsiders into the village?!" Sniffs shrieked in between sneezes.
"Moonbeam, achoo! Why didn't you stop Maru and his ideas? Achoo! I'm glad you left your room but you should have known better!" Lumps chastised the both of us while trying to hold back sneezes as well.
"Hehe, consider that a mission success! Quick, back to our hideout!" Maru made his hasty escape.
What part of this contributed to the protection of Fox Point Village? Trickles of rain started to splash down as I huddled up closer to avoid the water.
Oh, right a flooding was going to happen soon. Maru's expression grew grim as he noticed storm clouds looming in the distance, drifting closer and closer.
The village adults scoffed at our desperate appeals to evacuate the area before everything flooded, and another of Maru's bright ideas to grow a tree big enough to cover the entire village ended in a spectacular failure when it collapsed, thankfully away from where we were standing.
By this time, the water had reached ankle height and everyone was now more convinced and willing to leave. Eunwol and Aran even helped out by scooping up the younger children into their arms, heading to the Fox Tree. The water level kept rising however, and Maru gained another bright idea for the day, clambering further up the Fox Tree before the elders could stop him. Not wanting to be left behind, Eunwol and Aran followed closely after him too.
Letting out a sigh, I reassured them that there was nothing to worry about and chased after that, gaining a tight grip on the tree bark.
Oh, the fox guardians were real... Now that was really unexpected. But in a world of magic and black mages, was anything ever going to be suprising? Was a hot boy going to turn out to be the supreme evil ruler of the universe who hoped for total worlds domination?
"Leave it to us! We can handle these weaklings!" Aran swung her weapon towards the aggressors as Eunwol watched her back.
We nodded and headed on towards where the Fox God slumbered. "Please, Fox God! The village is flooding! We really need your help! Please!" Fervent prayers spilled forth from Maru's lips as the giant fluffy Fox God floated in a peaceful sleep.
A large fluffy ear twitched as the god of foxes yawned, showing off sharp teeth. "Hmmm?" A feminine voice reverberated throughout the area in the clouds.
A quick explanation later, the Fox God obliged to stop the storm and dispersed the clouds easily.
"Something's strange about you little one. Are you lost in the crossing of worlds? And your powers are gone as well? Let me return my blessings to you." A waft of magical energy poured over me and I felt tingly from head to toe. Maru stared at me like I had grown a second head as all this transpired.
"You have your powers back! It turns out the Fox God didn't abandon you after all! Hooray!" He cheered and patted me on the back.
"Is there any way for me to return back to my original world?" was my only response.
"I'm afraid not little one, your fates have tangled with the ones of this world, and you may not leave to your own world." If a giant fox could look abashed, she was certainly trying her best to look like it.
"Other world?" The redheaded fox looked very confused as he tried to puzzle out the comments as I heaved a sigh.
"However, the goddesses of the other worlds may hold answers and powers far beyond my own." She acquiesced gracefully.
"Thank you so much for all your help Fox God!" Hopping back to where Eunwol and Aran were, I looked at both of them, "Can I tag along with the both of you outside of the Fox Village? The Fox God gave me a mission and I have my powers back too so I'm way more powerful now!"
The two of them exchanged looks briefly before coming to an agreement of sorts. Moonbeam's grandfather Silver looked like he was going to suffer from a sudden heart attack when I broke the news to him but I had no choice.
Was my goal really to return back to my home world? Was there anything truly waiting for me there?
A shimmer of sparkles started to engulf me as a hand slipped into mine. Eunwol gave me a reassuring look as if to tell me not to be afraid as I was whisked away to Maple World.
There were many more adventures to be had! Maple World, watch out for Moonbeam!
Take a shot for every Moonbeam or Fox typed out. I'm going to die painfully. Hello am alive! Thanks for reading, have a lovely day. :DD