Hello, I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave a comment behind.

  Also please don't forget to say thanks to makuc who proofreaded this chapter. Enjoy !

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  Yuki bewildered looked at the blue window which appeared in front of her. Although she did not know what ‘Elskria’ was, since it was a name of the game her father made for her birthday she never celebrated, she knew what the word ‘Online’ stood for. It was something often used to describe MMO games.

  She had played a lot of MMORPG with her father and so knew quite a lot about them; every time they played an MMO, they would play until they reached the top player's rankings in the world.

  Her father taught her a lot of things about games and they quickly became a duo with usernames appearing in most of the MMO top rankings.

  A lot of questions appeared in her mind as she wondered where she was, if this place truly was a game and as she was lost in thought, a white light forming a silhouette appeared beside her; the spectacle only lasted a couple of seconds before it formed into a silhouette of woman.

  A woman whose hair were colored silver and seemed to shine as a full moon on cloudless night, even brighter than the whole white space surrounding her.

  Her pure white porcelain skin and her perfect face would have made any celebrity jealous.

  And yet the most impressive thing were probably her long white slim legs, protruding from her sky-colored dress, just barely reaching her knees.

  Her height was around 180 cm, and her breasts were neither small nor really big either; they were just about the right size to match her body perfectly and form a nearly divine look.

  Yuki looked at the woman, surprise, awe and happiness conflicting inside of her at the same; surprise and happiness since she wasn’t the only one here anymore, awe by her appearance.

  The woman seemed to quickly notice Yuki and slowly walked towards her.

  Woman : “ Yuki… “

  The woman said as she looked looking at the girl; happiness, sadness and fright clearly shown on her face.

  Yuki : “ Do… Do I know you ? “

  Yuki asked looking at the woman who immediately smiled the moment she heard her speaking.

  Woman : “ My name is ‘Shiki’, I am the one who brought you here. “

  Shiki said as she looked Yuki directly in the eyes.

  The woman was the AI Katsuya developed, the only person in the world other than Yuki with the permission to connect to the still unreleased game.

  Yuki : “ You… brought me here ? Why ? “

  She asked as soon as she saw Shiki didn’t mean her any harm.

  Shiki : “ I have something to show you. Try saying 'Menu'. “

  Yuki : “ Menu ? “

  Yuki tried to ask uncertainly, but the moment that word left her little lips, a blue window appeared in front of her.

  Yuki : “ This is… just like a game. Why am I here ? “

  She mumbled in a whispering voice, barely loud enough for Shiki to hear it.

  Shiki : “ In Messages, you’ll find the reason to you being here. “ She said looking at Yuki with a wry smile, worried about what’ll happen next.

  Yuki slowly touched the Messages button with her finger shaking from anticipation, making her view being replaced by a new window.

  One new message from Katsuya Hitsuji

  Message list:

  [18/03/2013] From Katsuya Hitsuji : For my daughter.

  Yuki recognized the name of her father as the sender of the mail and seeing that he was somehow involved in this ‘game’ immediately made her relax somewhat.

  But before her finger came in contact with the Message’s link, she noticed something strange; it was the date of the message. The message was sent five months after her last recollection; the day of their car accident. Little did she know it was the day before Katsuya’s death.

  Even though Yuki was still but a child, she immediately felt something was awry. Fright already seeping into her body, she reluctantly touched the message’s link. Another window immediately appeared before her.

  As Yuki read her father’s message, tears unconsciously started streaming from her little round eyes.

  All of her known family members were gone, leaving only her behind in this cruel world. Only her and an unknown AI her father made as a sister-to-get-know.

  Shiki, as she was watching Yuki the whole time, suddenly felt her heart aching, seeing as Yuki was about to begin to cry; even if she was an AI, she was still made to have emotions, so was something really close to a human in this aspect.

  As Yuki finished reading the message, something caught her eyes; this was not really all this message contained, there was still a little icon flashing at the right of the message box.

  Yuki : “ OTHO-SANNNN HUAAAAAAH OTO-SAN !! “

  As she scrolled down, Yuki's sobbing suddenly transformed into an all-out crying, louder than ever before.

  At the end of the message, a small picture was present. A picture of Katsuya, Shizuka and Yuki at the center, everyone together forming one giant group hug, smiling happily, not even imagining the catastrophe future held for them.

  It was the only picture Katsuya wished with his whole being for her to remember, a picture to let her know how much her parents really loved her.

  Shiki felt a strong urge to go and held her against her chest, but the fear rejections was by far stronger, suppressing that urge. She did not dare to move a centimeter from the spot she was at since the moment Yuki started reading the message.

  Yuki was just barely 4 meters away from Shiki when she suddenly rushed and jumped on her, making both of them fall. Grabbing on to Shiki’s back with her hands, Yuki pressed her face to her chest as hard as she could, strongly clenching them both together and uncontrollably crying there.

  Shiki was surprised by Yuki’s sudden action of outburst, but chose not to do anything, simply waiting for Yuki's crying, now only barely audible sobbing because of her face tightly pressed on Shiki's breasts, to stop, while carefully caressing her hair so as to help calm her down.

  Three hours passed since Yuki started to cry in her embrace, and only now did she slowly stood up, finally letting Shiki below her to be able to move once more.

  Yuki : “ I-I am sorry onee-chan… “

  Just those words were enough for Shiki's heart to falter, skipping a beat as she did so; she felt an arrow piercing through her heart with lightning speed, bounding it to Yuki forever after, even more than her obligation did at first.

  Shiki : “ O-Onee-chan… “

  She murmured weakly, showing a delightful smile.

  Yuki : “ Onee-chan, is something wrong ? “

  Yuki asked as she saw Shiki’s face lightly flushed showing a beautiful smile coming directly from her heart.

  Shiki : “ No, it’s nothing. “

  From Yuki's point of view, Shiki would indeed be her big sister; after all her appearance and manner of speaking was that of an adult. However Yuki was far older than her in terms of age.

  Yuki : “ Onee-chan, the message didn’t say anything about Elskria Online. “

  Yuki said with moist eyes as she thought about her situation calmly once again.

  Shiki : “ Oto-sama died one year before I made this game. He wished for you to be able to wake up, but this is impossible with human's current medical science. So since you couldn’t return to the real world, I made this whole new world here for you… us to enjoy together. “

  Yuki : “ You mean… you made this world ? Then doesn’t that mean you are some kind of a god here ? “

  Yuki sighed amazed.

  Shiki : “ If I wished for it, then I can indeed manipulate this game however I want; but I decided to not do it under any circumstance, no matter how dire. “

  Yuki : “ I understand. A game is far more enjoyable when played bound by the rules, without resorting to cheating; only by overcoming difficult situations is one able to fully immerse himself in it and enjoy it his heart's content. “

  Yuki played a lot of MMOs in the past with her father, and games she hated the most were, like her father would say, the ones whose difficulty was inexistent.

  For her, a game was enjoyable if one had to put his everything into it in order to succeed. To enjoy a game you can only count on yourself and your comrades. This was also the reason she hated ‘Pay to Win’ games where money could make someone the strongest without any effort spend in becoming so.

  Shiki also understood this, she did possess memories from even before she was finished. Katsuya would often talk about Yuki, what she liked, what games they played together… And there was also the scan of Katsuya's brain.

  Shiki : “ Let’s enter the game. “

  Shiki said as she touched the blue window similar to the one placed before Yuki.

  Yuki only nodded her head before touching her window as well, letting a new window with a message appear in front of her.

  Yuki didn’t hesitate in the slightest when touching ‘Yes’ option.

  Yuki looked at the window displaying all the different races.

  Yuki : “ Hmmmm… I definitely don’t wanna be dwarf… “

  She said as she continued thinking.

  She was hesitating a bit between the three others races, but she quickly eliminated human race as well.

  Yuki's logic behind this: ‘ What is fun in a game is that you can be something you aren’t in real life… Playing human in a game while you could be something else is not nearly as fun. ‘

  After eliminating those two races, all she was left with was an Elf and a Demi-human.

  Seeing her thinking so much that steam could almost be seen coming out from her ears, Shiki interrupted her line of thought.

  Shiki : “ Why don’t you first think about what you want to be instead ? “

  Shiki also didn’t choose her race as of yet; she was waiting for Yuki to choose hers first before choosing one to complement it herslef.

  Yuki : “ What I want to be… “

  She muttered under her breath as she fell once more into a deep thought. After a few minutes she slowly raised her head and touched the ‘Demi-human’ choice.

  A new window replaced the old one in front of her with over fifty different sub-races of demi-humans. Some of them had animals head, while others only ears and tail or different animal counterparts… There were a lot of choices and each one of the sub-races had its own special characteristic.

  For example, the bear sub-race with a bear head and arms obtained a bonus of +2 strength and +2 endurance, but at the same time received a penalty of -2 agility.

  Scrolling down of the window, a different sub-race managed to catch her interest. ‘Cat Sub-race’.

  Yuki : “ It can’t be… Nekomimi ?! “

  Yuki shouted out in surprise.

  When she touched that sub-race, a copy of her own self, with the only difference being cat ears and tail on its body, appeared in front of her, where she was presented with the possibility to customize coloring of the animal's parts and made some slight adjustments to their sizing.

  She tried to make the ears brown, then changed them to white and finally she turned them into a full black fur. She found the last version with black ears and tail, same color as hers and her mother's hair, looking best of all other possibilities.

  Only then did Yuki finally look at the Cat sub-race’s special characteristics. They gave her a bonus of +2 agility and +1 strength in addition to the ability to use her nails to deal additional damage. They also gave an improved eyesight in the dark, which normal races were lacking.

  Being satisfied with her character, Yuki pressed the confirmation button; soon after a voice was heard.

  System : “ Please choose your desired username. “

  This time there was not a window displaying the message; it was a voice transmitting it.

  Yuki : “ Yuki. “

  She answered to the system's voice. She found it a lot better having to say her username rather than writing it in a text-field. She used her name as her username in every games she played, therefore her choice was already predetermined.

  A new window appeared in front of her for the final confirmation of her choice.

  Yuki pressed the ‘Yes’ button and immediately afterwards she was shown a map; there were around thirty different cities on it, instead choose to wait for Shiki to be done as well before proceeding with selection of the starting city.

  Shiki : “ So you decided what you wanted to be ? “

  She asked Yuki.

  Yuki : “ I want to be a warrior ! “ Yuki said happily.

  Shiki didn’t hesitate as much as Yuki; seeing Yuki chose demi-human, Shiki without hesitation decided to choose an elf.

  Shiki : “ If you are to be a warrior, then I'll just have to be a mage to back you up. “

  Shiki didn’t say it aloud, but she was pretty interested in mages.

  Because of leaving control of Elskria Online to her subprogram, Shiki didn’t know anything about the game and the world; for her, magic was something she was very much interested in to experience, considering it was able to alter the phenomenon caused by the laws of physics, even if they were only simulated in a virtual reality.

  Yuki : “ Where shall we start, Onee-chan ? “

  She asked Shiki.

  Shiki : “ How about we start at Evireil ? “

  She responded pointing to a small red dot at the placed at the very end on the left side of the only continent of Elskria.

  Yuki : “ It’s too far from other cities and too small for a starting town. We would be having an extremely hard time exploring the city's surroundings. So, how about this one ? “

  Yuki said as she indicated a city which could be still considered to be small, but was still slightly bigger than Evireil. It also wasn’t far from the center of the continent, where most would probably be going on.

  That city also had a forest nearby and two big cities not too fa away. The name of this city was Azureal.

  Shiki : “ Sounds good enough to me. Let’s begin out journey there. “

  She said as she touched the dot of the proposed starting city, while Yuki did the same.

  Immediately after touching the dot their sight was turned into a blinding white light, completely blinding them, until it slowly diminished.

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  In the center of the city of Azureal, a little black-haired nekomimi appeared beside a tall, beautiful silver haired elf with pointed ears. This couple was, of course, Yuki and Shiki.

  Shiki had chosen as her sub-race ‘high moon elf’, a mix of high elves, elf sub-race besting everyone at using magic, and moon elves, only second in their magical usage to the high elves.

  Even though the moon elves were second to them in magic, they also had an advantage during the night; as soon as the night descends, they gain an immense increase in their mana regeneration of 50%.

  Moon elves were also considered as one of the most beautiful races in the world, and adding their attribute to Shiki's beauty immediately complemented each other to a whole new level, making even the most beautiful angel in heaven jealous of her.

  Yuki and Shiki had a little leather bag at their side, and even without opening it, they immediately knew what was inside; as if the bag’s content appeared in directly inside their minds with nothing more but a mere thought about it.

  Inside the bag were 5 small loafs of bread, two canteens of water and 30 coppers.

  Yuki : “ What should we do ? “

  Yuki asked.

  Even if she had gaming experience, she had never played a Virtual Reality game before; she also didn’t had any knowledge about this game previous to her awakening inside it, so she was clearly unsure so as what to do.

  Shiki : “ Should we try to find some weapons for us to use ? Afterwards we might as well hunt outside the city gates, so as to get some combat experience and additional gold before leaving the town… “

  Shiki said after analyzing their current predicament. She had quite some accumulated experience due to the many web novels and other articles found on the internet.

  Yuki : “ Okay, let’s quickly head to the smithy then. “

  The two of them wandered around the commercial part of the small city as they searched for a blacksmith.

  As they were moving around, they took their time for observe the city. It was a lively place with lots of kids of Yuki’s age running around, so she also sometimes went to play with them for a bit before going back to their task at hand of wandering with Shiki, who was looking at her with a very warm smile.

  For Shiki who had to see her sister unconscious for a whole year, suddenly seeing her running around and smiling made her feel incredibly happy on the inside. Even if she was an AI, she had the same concept of feeling as any other human; she might as well be even more human than some corrupt people.

  Yuki was truly excited by what she was seeing, this world had no electricity; it was a complete medieval fantasy world! The house architecture was truly an ancient one and this in turn made Yuki fell all the more excited.

  The merchants were shouting prices of their commodities, selling vegetables, accessories and some even monsters parts.

  Because of Yuki constantly disappearing to play around, they took two whole hours to find the blacksmith, even though his shop was a very easy one to find. It was slightly bigger construction than houses around it, clearly showing its popularity. It was because this shop was the only smithy inside this city.

  Shop was full of different types of weapon and armor, leather armors made for archers, assassins and fast type swordsmen; heavy armors made for powerful warriors and of course many types of weapons like spears, swords, bows with arrows, daggers, etc.

  As they entered the shop, a fifteen year old young man greeted them, the shop’s clerk.

  Clerk : “ Hello ladies, are you looking for something ? “

  The clerk said with a pleasant voice.

  Yuki : “ Hello Onii-san, we are looking for cheap weapons ! Can you show some to us ? “ Yuki energetically asked while her tail was swinging behind her.

  Clerk : “ Sure, follow me to that barrel over there ? “ He said pointing to a barrel located at a corner of the room while moving there himself.

  The young man wasn’t bothered in the slightest that the girls came to buy only cheap stuff, instead he patiently and passionately showed them some of the many weapons stored inside it.

  Shiki : “ Yuki, what would you prefer ? A sword, a spear or a dagger ? “

  Yuki : “ Hmmm… I think I would prefer a sword. “

  She said as she looked at the iron sword.

  Clerk : “ Each of those weapon cost 2 silvers. “

  Yuki : “ How much is one silver in copper ? “ Yuki asked, in many games once someone had many coins of a lower valued currency, it transformed into a different one once it reached a certain threshold.

  For example, copper coins would got exchanged into silver coins of the same worth when someone had enough of them, and silver coins could get replaced by gold coins of the same value. The amount needed for this exchange, however, differed from game to game, depending on how the designers imagined it.

  Clerk : “ One silver is worth 100 copper coins. “

  Each one of them started with 30 copper, giving them a total of 60 copper. However one weapon cost 2 silver, meaning 200 copper. They simply did not have enough money to afford any of them.

  Yuki : “ We don’t have enough, sorry Onii-san. “

  Yuki said dropping her head in discouragement.

  Clerk : “ It’s nothing, you can always come back when you have enough; I’ll even make it a little cheaper for you. “

  He answered Yuki with a comforting smile.

  The young man made a nice impression on Yuki and Shiki; even though they made him waste time to show them his wares, he wasn’t even a little bit angry and even offered them to sell a weapon cheaper in the future.

  Shiki : “ Thanks for your kindness, we’ll be sure to come back. “

  Shiki said with a light smile before leaving the shop with Yuki.

  As soon as they left, shop's clerk lost all control over himself and his face immediately became flushed as a tomato.

  Clerk : “ This young lady… She was so beautiful… “ He muttered while recalling Shiki’s light smile as she thanked him.

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  Yuki : “ Doesn’t look like we’ll be able to get a weapon any time soon… “

  She expressed her opinion, depressed.

  Shiki : “ Then we only have to find some work to gain some money first, don't you think? It’s not like we are in any hurry at the moment, right? “

  Shiki responded, trying to encourage her up.

  Yuki : “ Where can we work ? “

  Shiki : “ Maybe we could try asking in different shops and the tavern. Somebody is sure to know about someone in a need of a helping hand. “

  Yuki and Shiki headed to the closest inn, a three story building. The ground floor consisted of a bar, while the two on top of it were filled with rooms available for rent.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Even though it was still day time, a lot of people inside were already completely drunk. As they entered, they attracted quite a few tares, or more precisely it was Shiki who was attracting them.

  Shiki’s beauty attracted not only the men’s lustful stares but also women’s longing ones. The moment they entered the air inside became deathly quiet. The sudden change in atmosphere made Yuki and Shiki immediately feel uneasy.

  Both of them walked toward the woman behind the bar, reluctantly at first, but with a renowned vigor as they noticed no-one meant them any real harm as of yet.

  Barmaid : “ Hello, how can I offer you ? “

  The woman asked while keeping a professional smile shown on her face.

  The woman was a forty years old lady, she was slightly chubby, giving the impression of a an experienced mother having many childs.

  Shiki : “ We are looking for a job. “

  She clearly signaled both of them, so as for the barmaid to not dismiss Yuki.

  Barmaid : “ It’s not like we really need workers but… seeing as you may be able to attract some additional clients, I guess it should be fine. By the way, I am the owner of this inn, Patiel. You can call also call me ‘Paty’ like most of the customers, if you want. “

  The woman answered after closely examining them both.

  Paty led them to a room restricted for customer and gave them a change of clothes, a frilly waitress dress with white and green stripes.

  The two of them quickly changed into those clothes, both of them somehow happy that their clothes were matching. The clothes made Yuki look even cuter and Shiki quite more attractive.

  It was really different from their previous beginner clothes which consisted of a grey shirt and pants.

  After changing, they returned to the bar and began taking orders and serving beer and meals.

  Since they started working there, a lot of new customers arrived. Bar became full really quickly, most of the clients only coming because of the circulating rumors about new employee, circulating to propagate after only a few hours.

  Paty was happy with her her business blooming and all, but there was a slight problem arousing…

  Yuki : “ WAAAAAH !!! “

  A voice was followed with a loud ‘CRACKKKK’

  It has only been about two hours since they started working there, but Yuki's ‘clumsiness’ in full swing already broke more than fifteen plates.

  Although Paty felt satisfied with Shiki who managed to attract many customers and was being very effective in her work, Yuki was, despite her very hard trying to work, completely useless.

  Paty : “ Yuki, I know you are trying very hard but… If you continue to work here, there’ll be no plates left very soon. I am really sorry... “

  Yuki knew she was given her many chances already, considering that within a span of only two hours she broke fiteen plates, one by one.

  Yuki : “ I see… It’s fine, don’t worry. “

  Yuki said before changing back into her beginner's clothes and going to see Shiki.

  Shiki : “ So Paty finally decided to fire you ? “

  Shiki already knew what Paty was thinking, after all, who would keep someone who can’t even manage his job properly ?

  Yuki : “ You can keep working here, I’ll try to find another job on my own. “

  Shiki easily agreed to Yuki’s demand, but she was sad of not being able to work with her, it was because on their way here they added each other to their respective Friend's lists.

  Friend's list made it possible for two people to communicate from anywhere in the world and to know the locations of each other in the same area. As long as Yuki was staying in the city, Shiki would be able to find her without any problems.

  Receiving 30 copper coins for her work, Yuki left the Inn to return to the city.

  She felt bad for letting Shiki work alone, but she didn’t want to be only a weight for her either. After renewing her determination, Yuki searched through the Merchant District for another job.

  The tavern was only one of the many places where one could find a job, she thought while wandering for a few minutes, until she finally decided to enter a tailor shop.

  Even though there was only one blacksmith, this didn't mean it was the only place selling armors. Actually, there are two tailors inside the city, each selling armors made from leather and cloth.

  In most games, the seller of this kind of shop would be a beautiful woman in her twenties, greeting you with a light smile as you enter her domain; however in this shop, it was the opposite.

  “ What are you doing here brat ?! Did someone ask you to come buy something ?! “ a menacing voice of a man said.

  The man at the counter had an imposing two meters stature with many scars all over his face. He was dressed in a brown apron, showing his two giant muscular arm.

  The man was staring at Yuki with reproachful eyes, which seemed to say ‘Get out of here before I kill you ! ‘ But Yuki didn’t seem scared of him at all, not even after being called a brat by him. All she did was smile.

  Yuki : “ Hello Oji-san, my name is Yuki ! I am looking for a job. “

  She said as she energetically introduced herself.

  The man stared at Yuki for a few seconds, startled by her reaction towards him.

  Man : “ Fine, let’s see what you got, brat ! I am counting on you for welcoming the customers and taking care of cleaning the clothes. If someone tries to steal something, just call me. “

  Yuki : “ Oji-san, what is your name ? “

  Man : “ Oh, right. My name is Kraus. Now I need to go back to work, so don’t you dare disturb me ! “

  Kraus ordered before leaving through a door behind the counter.

  Yuki had many questions for him, like the price of the goods, or even about her wages; yet Kraus seemed not to care about anything as he just quickly left her there, alone, not even leaving her a time to ask anything.

  Not one customer entered the shop within the first hour, and as Yuki began to feel hungry, she took one of her five starting loaves of bread out of her bag.

  In this window, one thing drew Yuki’s attention. It was the ‘Satiety’ stat. She was also interested in the ‘Strength’ and ‘Agility’ she saw on the weapon and wondered if there were a way to confirm it. But as she looked at the menu, she was unable to find anything about ‘Character Menu’.

  The bread smelt like one just gotten out of an oven, possessing an attractive scent, telling her somewhat to eat it.

  As she bit into it, she felt the taste and texture even better than she did in the real world. This was because those senses were restricted to a certain degree by the brain, being into the game, the brain could fully emulate the real taste of the food.

  This did not only apply only to the bread, but for all other dishes in this world; in Elskria, the food was even better than in real life.

  As she quickly finished eating, a thirty years old man dressed in a full leather set entered the shop.

  Man : “ Hello, do you have any leather gloves for me ? My old ones are already worn out. “

  Man asked Yuki.

  Yuki : “ Welcome, please look at this side. “

  Yuki said as she pointed towards four pair of gloves located at the left of the counter.

  The man quickly picked a few of pairs and began comparing them; one pair was fully brown colored, while the other one was white.

  Man : “ What are the price for those pairs ? “

  He asked, showing both pairs to Yuki.

  Yuki : “ Each one costs nine silver. “

  An hour ago while Yuki was looking around the shop, she found a small book with names and prices of the different goods in the shop. Of course she had a hard time learning them within only one hour available, but she as a clerk clearly had to know the prices of goods she was selling.

  Man : “ It’s pretty cheap for gloves of this quality. “ The man said before giving nine silver to Yuki and leaving with the brown gloves.

  For Yuki, nine silver coins was something extremely expensive, but any of the leather equipment in this shop required one to be of at least level five to equip.

  While a beginner's weapon, used and nearly broken, cost two silver, nine silver should be cheap for a pair of glove for level five.

  As the man left satisfied with small smile on his lips, many of the peasants outside looked at him curiously before carefully coming to take a look at the inside of the shop.

  Woman : “ How did that man manage to buy something ? “

  One of the women said before looking at the windows of the shop.

  Man : “ Look at the counter, Kraus isn’t the one selling them ! “

  One of the men yelled.

  As the man said this, more than half of the peasants looked at the window to take a look at Yuki peacefully waiting for another customer, not aware in the slightest of the people outside making a commotion because of her.

  One of the women mentally fortified herself and entered the shop, walking in stiffly before seeing Yuki at the counter.

  Yuki : “ Welcome. “

  She quickly greeted her, her needless worry disappearing.

  Woman : “ Hello, where is Klaus ? “

  The woman asked.

  Yuki : “ He is currently working, so if you personally know him, I can go and call him back. “ Yuki said as she walked toward the door which Klaus entered.

  Woman : “ W-WAIT ! It’s fine you don’t have to call him ! “

  She frantically exclaimed as she grabbed Yuki, preventing her from getting too close to the door.

  Woman : “ You don’t have to disturb him! I’ll… just be looking at the merchandise. “

  After letting Yuki go, the woman began to look at the different types of clothes displayed around. She was in an awe before the already sold dresses.

  Some of the dresses had complex designs and showed that they were very carefully made by an expert. After looking with a longing glare at the dress, the woman with a half resigned voice asked the price of the dress.

  Yuki : “ This is cost 15 silver. “ The woman was shocked by the price.

  Woman : “ I think you made an error, right ? “

  She asked uneasy.

  Yuki : “ No, I am sure this is the right price. “

  Yuki said as she opened the book containing prices for a final confirmation.

  Woman : “ I am taking it ! “

  She said as she took fifteen silver coins out of her purse, grabbing the dress and with very light footsteps stepped out of the shop, a heartfelt smile pasted on her face.

  When the woman left, she was questioned by all of the scared onlookers. For them, this shop was something scaring the wits out of them; but as she told them of the new clerk, they all gave it a chance and reluctantly entered the shop.

  Quickly more than twenty customers entered the shop, making Yuki who only had two customer within one hour shocked.

  But the most shocked were the curious onlooker as they looked at the different clothes which were sold here. All of them were skillfully made and their prices were so low even cheap goods could barely match.

  Yuki quickly sold most of the articles in the shop, but the customers were far more numerous than the amount of goods available; it was because a rumor about this shop already spread within the city.

  As the commotion made by the customer grew even louder, a large sound made by a door slamming against the wall quickly killed the uproar.

  Klaus : “ You are far too noisy brat !! “

  He yelled before finally seeing the scene.

  Klaus stopped breathing for a moment as he saw the scene, most of his merchandise were sold and a lot of customer were inside his shop.

  Klaus : “ You… You come with me once you are done here. “

  Klaus weakly said to Yuki before going back in the room.

  Just after Klaus left, Yuki finished selling all the remaining clothes; she had sold a total of 127 pieces of clothing.

  Yuki who finished her work and closed the shop because of the lack of goods, knocked on the door which Klaus entered.

  Klaus : “ Come in brat ! “

  Yuki opened doors of the room and slowly entered, arriving into a large room with many half made clothes, box full of animals skin, requiring careful tanning process before being usable as leather, and a lot of clothes carefully organized.

  Yuki : “ You wanted to see me ? “

  Klaus : “ Hey brat… Aren’t you afraid of me ? “

  The man asked, seeming to be in pain.

  Yuki : “ Why would I be afraid of you ? “

  Yuki answered with a question of her own, as she cutely tilted her head, innocently showing she had no idea of what he was talking about.

  Klaus : “ I mean… Isn’t my appearance scary ? Because of it, I don’t have any customers. “

  Yuki : “ Oji-san, looks aren't everything. It’s not because you are a giant that I have to be scared of you, I mean did you even try to hurt me ? You even gave me a job, not even knowing anything about me… “

  The man looked at Yuki’s innocent smile for a few dozen of seconds before finally getting his mind back.

  Klaus : “ Hmph… I guess you are a strange brat after all. Brat… No, Yuki, do you want to have a part-time work here ? I can pay you 1 silver per hour. “

  He said as he kindly looked at Yuki.

  Yuki : “ One silver is more than six times more than what Onee-chan is making by working at the tavern… Sure, I’ll do it ! “

  Klaus : “ Perfect ! You can start tomorrow, since I need to go retrieve more of my works from the storage… Someone is finally going to start wearing them ! Oh, I almost forgot! Here, take this. “

  Klaus said happily as he took four silver out of a purse.

  Yuki : “ Thanks you Oji-san. “ She said as she received the money.

  She had acquired four silver within a single day, clearly more than enough to buy a weapon from that blacksmith. But Yuki still thought about working in Klaus’s shop; it was because weapons aren't the only piece of equipment required for adventuring.

  She also needed to buy an armor, some clothes for Shiki, rings; especially staff, which are generally the most expensive equipment in most games.

  Moreover, where was she working ? In a tailor shop! Klaus was producing many types of leather and cloth armors; he would surely give them a discount on his product if she were to work for him for a while longer.

  After receiving the money and giving her thanks to Klaus, Yuki left the shop.

  *********** ************** *********** **************** **************

  Four hours passed since Shiki left the tavern to go find a work on her own but the sun was still shining in the sky. As she asked a passerby about the time, she learned that it was only 1pm.

  As she decided to return to the tavern to eat with Shiki, her attention was attracted by an old man sitting on the ground, drawing the scenery.

  At his side were drawings of many different landscapes, mountains, dungeons, deserts, wildernesses… The old man was dressed in a long, tattered grey cloak, showing only his white pants which already turned black because of all accumulated dirt.

  Shiki observed the man’s drawings with interest, looking at him drawing all the different passersby, houses… He drew everything he saw.

  Old man : “ Do you want to try yourself, young girl ? “

  The old man politely asked her, as he smiled at her, tending a few papers and a pencil.

  Yuki : “ You sure ? “

  Yuki asked, worried she might be bothering him.

  Old man : “ Seeing a young girl showing an interest in my profession, how could I feel bothered. “

  He answered as if knowing what was going through Yuki's head.

  Yuki : “ Yey, thank you. “ She said as she took supplies offered in his hand and sat next to him.

  As she began to draw, the man looked at her drawing with some interest. She first drew a bird she saw sitting on a roof in front of her; afterwards she drew a stall of a man who was yelling his prices near her.

  Although Yuki was still a child, she was pretty skillful in drawing. She also enjoyed drawing ever since she can remember, especially drawing her favorite game's characters or her parents.

  But before she began her next drawing, she was interrupted by a telepathic voice.

  Shiki : “ Yuki, did you eat yet ? Paty let me use her kitchen to prepare some dishes. “

  Yuki : “ Did she teach you the ‘cooking’ skill ? “

  Yuki asked, excitedly, since in most MMORPG one had to learn the skill ‘cooking’ in order to make some dishes.

  Shiki : “ No she didn’t, but it seem that you are able to cook without the skill; but I still managed to obtain it after cooking a few dishes. “

  Yuki looked at the still blank sheet of paper she was holding, as she began wondering if she could also learn a skill by her lonesome, skill ‘Drawing’, that is, if she did it enough times.

  Yuki : “ I didn’t eat yet. I’ll be coming there soon, wait for me. “

  She said before looking at the sheet of paper once again.

  Her hand began to move, making some random lines at first, which slowly began to take a form of something similar to a face. Adding nose, eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows, mouth… It gave her a nostalgic feeling, reminding her of the one she just finished conversing with. It was becoming a face of a real beauty, if you ignored the childish way of drawing. She also added hair; long hair only slightly shaded, indicating silver coloring they were supposed to be.

  The drawing, of course, was a portrait of Shiki; and even though it might be considered quite well done for someone her own age, it was nothing exceptional either. And even as it did hold some slight resemblance to her model of inspiration, it was completely unable to capture the impression Shiki gave, making this whole picture completely normal for the eleven year old she was before the accident.

  Yuki : “ So we can learn skills without anyone’s help… “

  Yuki muttered in a low voice before finally standing up.

  Old man : “ Are you done already, young lady ? Well, this is quite a fine piece for someone so young… “

  Yuki : “And yet I cannot not compare it to yours and feel how it pales in comparison. You can't even call mine a picture, more like some insult to drawing.“

  Old man : “ Haha, if someone who only just picked up drawing tools was able to match, especially someone of your age, I'd be ashamed of myself. Anyway, want to give it another go? “

  Yuki : “ Hmm, when you put it like this, I guess I can't really complain. Well, thanks for today Jii-san, my sister is unfortunately waiting for me, so I have to go ow. “

  Old man : “ I see, then hurry up and don’t make her wait too long ! “

  The man said in a kind voice.

  *********** ************** *********** **************** **************

  When Yuki returned to Paty’s tavern, she was greeted by Shiki who was waiting for her outside.

  “Did something happen?” Yuki asked as soon as she saw Shiki’s smile.

  “I managed to make two silver this morning, there were many customers so Paty gave me a bonus. Now we only need one silver and ten coppers and we’ll both be able to finally buy a weapon,“ she answered as she showed the two silver coins she gained.

  Actually, Shiki had planned to start fighting by using a melee weapon, until she was finally able to afford proper magical equipment, alongside Yuki to level up as soon as possible.

  “Then we don’t have to wait! Let’s go buy them right away!” Yuki said as she pulled Shiki by her hand toward the blacksmith.

  “We still need more money,” Shiki said trying to pull her hand away from Yuki.

  “It’s fine Onee-chan, I already made four silver myself.”

  “Already?!” Shiki answered surprised, as she looked at the four silver Yuki took out of the bag.

  Seeing that her sister managed to earn two-times the amount she did, Shiki felt proud and depressed at the same time.

  “How did you manage to make this much?” Shiki asked.

  “I worked as a clerk in a shop, earning one silver per hour. “ Yuki answered with an energetic smile.

  After hearing this, Shiki thought about leaving her job. While she was being paid fifteen copper per hour, Yuki was earning one silver the hour. It was more than six times her own wage. Little did she know that those fifteen copper coins were already something above average for just a beginner.

  As they walked toward the blacksmith shop, Shiki took out two sandwiches made with meat, cheese, tomatoes and salad.

  “Is that something you made?” Yuki asked, her eyes turning bright as she looked at the appetizing sandwich.

  “I wish I could make something better, but we nearly ran out of ingredients in the inn. I used the remaining ones to make those,“ she responded handing her handiwork to Yuki.

  “Onee-chan, do you know how can we open Character Menu?” Yuki asked curiously, as she had already tried to find it before, but was unsuccessful.

  “You simply have to say ‘Character Screen’, or think very hard about it. You can also see the ‘Skill Menu’ by saying it,” was the following explanation.

  “Character Screen.”

  “So basically, starting stats are at 10, then adding to that the attributes gained from my race, my Strength is immediately raised to 13 and Agility to 14,“ Yuki said.

  “I also started with 10 points in every stat everywhere, but unlike you I have 9 points in Strength, 12 in Agility and at the same time 15 in Intelligence and 12 in Wisdom. I also started with ‘Moon Elves’ racial attribute which gives me a boost of 50% mana regeneration during the night,” Shiki said explaining her choices made during her own character creation.

  As Shiki finished talking, they both arrived to the blacksmith. As they stepped inside, the young clerk welcomed them.

  “I am glad to see you back, so soon,” clerk said as he welcomed them inside.

  “Thanks for your kindness earlier, we now have enough to buy two weapons,” Shiki responded in kind while slightly bowing her head to him.

  “I-It was nothing. By the way, are you two new around here?” the man hurriedly responded, trying to hide his embarrassment.

  “That’s right, we are starting today,” Yuki answered him back.

  “Then you don’t know yet? Beginners are only allowed to get out of the city after two weeks,” he explained to them as if it was a common thing to know.

  Shiki and Yuki who never heard about this before were utterly shocked as they obviously didn’t know anything about this restriction. They were the first players to have entered this world, so how could they have been aware of this?

  “Then we better use this time to earn enough money to buy a simple equipment and Class up,” Yuki said as she carefully thought about it.

  Yuki had already played many MMORPGs, so she was already aware that buying expensive equipment when only starting the game was actually pretty dumb.

  Starting monster were, in most games, really weak and by killing only a few of them, one would be able to find some pretty good armor parts. So buying any cheap equipment and repairing it when needed, and afterwards replacing it with better ones; at least this was how she normally played until she reached a higher level, where it became harder to level up.

  “I am sorry, but you won’t be able to do a Class up in this city. To get a class you have to visit a ‘Class Hall’; unfortunately we don’t have one here. You’ll have to go to a bigger town to find one,” shop’s clerk explained to them, as he listened to their conversation.

  “I see… Then we should use our time in this city to learn as many skills and earn as much money as we can before leaving,” was Shiki's response after carefully analyzing the situation they were currently in.

  “Sure, let’s work hard Onee-chan!”