X-X-X-X

Chapter 2

X-X-X-X

I silently sipped my tea as I sat with Miwa. It didn't take very long for me to become a level 10 and complete the task set to become a warrior. However, by the time I met up with Miwa...well, he was pissed off since so many men kept making passes at him thinking him to be a woman. During that time, he ended up killing more than a dozen men. I also had to listen to Miwa rant about how I was too slow as we went hunting earlier. Really, when he's alone, he gets hit on. When he's with me he is left alone, but he rants to me...well, it's not too bad since girls leave me alone when I'm with him.

"You know, your reputation took a huge dive when you killed all those guys." I said arranging my status points.

"Fuck off." Miwa said glaring at me.

"I was half hoping to play solo, but do I seriously have to party up with you until your brother can play with you?" I asked throwing my hair over my shoulder.

"You don't want to party with me?"

"I'll party up with you whenever you want, but I wanted to explore the continent. With this game, I'm sure there are a lot of interesting things to discover. Even if I die due to a low level, I would be happy to know I didn't drag you along."

"You're always like this. Whenever you run off recklessly, you come back saying you found an interesting place after dying. Take more precaution, Yue. You're a woman, not a man."

"What does gender have to do with this?" I tilted my head to the side, my tail lazily moving behind me. "If anything, Ming Huang is the one I should be concerned about. You gain many enemies just because you keep killing them when they take you for a girl. You kicked a man in the balls because he groped you."

"You're the one who killed him."

"I only killed him because he was a warrior and he would have killed you before you had a chance to finish casting your spell."

"The pervert had it coming!"

"Haah..."

"Ming Huang. Yue."

"Hm?" I turned my gaze to the side and I stared at the dark elf. "Oh, Zhou Ling Bin or should I say Wicked. You're late. Since you're here, watch your brother. I'm going to do some high level grinding. I'll send a message if I find something interesting."

"You're not staying?"

"The way I level up is practically suicidal. Besides, I plan on going after ones ten or so levels higher than my current level."

"That's quite reckless."

"Yue's reckless when leveling up quickly, but she's not the type to risk her teammates in her crazy leveling spree. If anything, we'll be the ones in danger if we go with her. So, how high are you aiming for by the end of the week?"

"Somewhere in the 30s, but I'm going to try aiming for the 40s."

"You only have four days until the week ends. Don't tell me you plan on skipping school."

"No, I plan to go to school properly. Just because I say I'm aiming for it, doesn't mean I can ignore real life. Send me a PM when you need help. I'll catch you guys later. Miwa, don't go dropping your reputation further. I hate to see you in the Hall of Shame."

"Shut up and get lost!"

I rolled my eyes and took off. Despite being a mere level 16, I can take care of myself just fine. Besides, I prepared a lot of toys. There's a reason why Miwa didn't want to go with me and even say that he and Wicked would be in danger if they went with me. While I did choose the class of warrior, it was only out of convenience since the fighting power is so high. My skills lie more in explosive making or poison making. It didn't matter about the type of game, if there is a way to create explosives or poisons, then I'll become the best in these fields to the point that no one could match me. I prefer explosives more since poison takes time to kill, but I do like the way poison can kill without someone realizing it before it is too late. Well, Miwa did attempt to join me once in the past, but that was the last time he did so since the explosions had almost killed him.

X-X-X-X

Player Yue has reached level 25. Player Yue has gained a second tail. New skill – Fox Fire.

"A second tail and a new move. Let's try it out then." I held out the palm of my hand. "Fox Fire."

A small blue ball of flame was above my hand and I turned my gaze to the monsters a few feet away. I moved my hand as if I was throwing it and I watched as the fire began larger and almost like an arrow, it flew at the monster...but barely did any damage. Well, that's not good...considering I didn't have my explosives ready. I released a nervous grin as the lizard monster ran towards me. This is going to be a tough fight.

"Would you like some assistance?" I tightened my grip on the katana in my hand, ready to take out the thing that landed on my shoulder...only to see it's a small navy blue cat there. Amber met with bright red and I instantly realized this is a player, a male one judging from the voice. "I'm a Priest so I can provide healing."

"A cat Priest, weird combo." I ducked, one hand instinctively moving to hold his back as I dodged the lizard's tail. "Not like I can say that. I basically look like a man despite being a woman."

"Hhmm. Mid-level Healing. Mad Frenzy."

"An attack boosting skill?"

"Careful, you get hit then you will die."

"Heh! Not bad. The name's Yue."

"Merlin."

"Merlin, not a bad name." I dealt the finishing blow, still holding a hand to the cat's back. "So, why did you bother me?"

"You seemed interesting, besides..." The cat moved out from beneath my hand, curling around my neck with a catty grin. "I was assigned to be observe you."

"Hidden GM?"

"Basically. Since we never thought of the Kitsune race, we plan on using you as a prototype."

"So you're basically a babysitter."

"Not really. We could have observed you without a GM, but I volunteered to play and see if you're willing to party with me."

"...Hm...You might end up seeing hell."

"That's fine with me. Better than listening to some brats whining about how the game is 'too hard' or how 'it's unfair that my character isn't handsome'."

"How old are you?"

"28."

"Huh, almost ten years older than I am."

"You're just a kid?"

"Pretty much."

"These monsters are in the 30s, but it takes you a long time to deal enough damage to kill them. Isn't it better to choose monsters within your own level?"

"What are you talking about? It's better since no one is able to steal my prey. Besides, these things are just computer programs. They have a set movement and pattern. It doesn't take so long to figure it out and then create the right openings to deal with them."

"Set pattern?"

"Well, it takes a few fights and I had almost died quite a few times, but I figured out the pattern of the monsters that live here."

"You...figured it out...You've only been playing for two days! What kind of a cheat are you?! Maybe we shouldn't have let you become a special race!"

"What are you yelling at me for? Even if I chose one of the races that Second Life offered, I still would be able to figure it out. I am Yue after all."

"Wait...You're...that Yue? Explosive Yue? Mad Inventor Yue? The Silver Yue?"

"Explosive? Mad Inventor? Silver?"

"You became well known since you popped up over six years ago in the online gaming world!" No, rather, what is with those nicknames? "I figured that were actually an adult and not some kid...Well, that does explain the looks and name...When we first met..."

"What's wrong?"

"I sure chose an interesting person to be in a party with."

"Well, just stay at a distance and heal me. It'll be safer for you...unless you want to be caught in the explosions."

"I'm good here, thanks."

It would be later on during Second Life would I gain a new moniker, Demon Fox Yue. With beautiful silver hair, nine beautiful and glossy fox tails, and a handsome face...in a woman's section of a gaming magazine, I had been voted number one that 'women wanted to be kidnapped by and treated as a toy'. Even though it wasn't a well-kept secret, people seemed to keep forgetting about the fact I'm a woman. Coincidentally, in a section involving me...Ming Huang seemed to have been voted number two as 'Rival for Yue's affection' Number one being taken by Merlin...who was number one in 'Most jealous of' since he was often seen riding my shoulder or being affectionately rubbed and scratched whenever people saw Merlin and myself. Well, these are stories for another time.

X-X-X-X

"Right there...A bit more to the left." Merlin said as I gently ran my nails through his short fur.

"Such a demanding cat." I said my two fox tails lazily flickering about behind me.

"So, you'll gain a tail every 15 level, but there are some conditions you'll have to fulfill after the fourth tail. There are plans that after the fifth tail that you have to fulfill quests to get the last four." Merlin said releasing a small purr.

"15?"

"After level 10, the count starts. Purrr...Now scratch me beneath the chin."

"Hm...so I have to be a level 40 to get my next tail. What kind of conditions do I have?"

"Since you annoyed the programmers with your fast pace leveling, they set up quests for the Kitsune race to gain more tails after the fourth one. Of course there are some very good skills that comes with it."

"Can you really tell me all this?"

"It's fine." Merlin twisted about on my lap, laying on his back as he began to lightly tap at my hand with his paws. "This will become common knowledge for anyone who decides they want to become a Kitsune, if anyone does. You're the only Kitsune race player so far."

"I see."

"There you are, Yue."

"What's up, Miwa, Wicked?" I turned my gaze to the group behind Miwa. "You already made a party?"

"It can't be helped, you ditched me first chance you got so Wicked and I had to get a full party to challenge higher level areas." Miwa took a seat beside me and I continued to stare at the three that arrived with Miwa and his brother. Miwa leaned against my shoulder, staring at the menu in front of me. "You order anything yet? Did you meet your goal?"

"Aside from tea, nothing yet. I was waiting on you. Yeah, I'm already at 34."

"You should have just ordered. Not bad, but you did better in the World." Miwa looked up when the three other players hesitantly took a seat after Wicked did so. He was glaring at the thief who had his mouth wide open as he stared at Miwa and myself. "What's with that look, Playboy?"

"No, it's just..." The thief began to look between Miwa and myself. "I didn't expect you to have such a friendly relationship with such a handsome guy."

"I've known Yue for a while. Hurry up and order, you bastard."

"Fine." I waved a waitress over and she blushed as she stared at me. "I'll take an apple pie. Merlin, what did you want?"

"Merlin?"

"Hm?" Merlin turned back around and sat up a bit, looking as regal as ever...or as regal as a cat can be. "Some tuna sounds good."

"AH!"

"A cat talked!"

"Wait, that's a player?! I thought it was a pet!"

"What, never seen a cat race before?" Merlin crawled up to my shoulders and he laid there, giving the three I didn't know a glare. "Don't insult me by comparing me to a simple cat."

"Merlin." I waved my tail behind me a bit and his attention was immediately on my tail...causing him to leap at it...and I simply moved it out the way, letting him hit the ground face first. "I apologize for Merlin. He and I partied up only recently."

"Wait...You took..." Miwa began to get angry. "You took...some player you barely know...on your 'high speed leveling'...and you didn't tell me?!"

"What's wrong?"

"I bet you went easy that's why you were so slower compared to the World! You bastard! You dare leave me behind and you let some guy you barely know join you?!"

"What are you getting angry for?"

"If you're going to do that, you should have just stayed with me!"

"I don't get why you're so angry, Miwa."

"You bastard!"

Ming Huang and I continued to talk...rather he yelled at me and I calmly expressed my confusion. In the end, he gave up being angry after I said I ended up dead six times since Merlin ended up too slow in his support. This lightened his mood a bit, but he seemed to really hate Merlin. Not that I understood...I mean...Why would you get mad at someone who is a cat?

X-X-X-X

Chapter 2 Ends

I forgot to update last week~! I'm so sad, TTmTT~! Since I didn't update properly last week, tomorrow I'll be giving an extra chapter to my cute readers so look forward to it! My broken updating aside, I really love Miwa! I was always sad that he didn't get so much face time even though he's such an interesting character. Well, Yue will interact more with Dark Phantom than anyone else, but will still continue on her own journey. Well, until next time my dears! Bye-bye~!