“I’ll be doing homework.”

Erika reported to her mother after finishing dinner.

“Mhm, good girl.”

Laura smiled proudly at her daughter and took a sip from her black coffee.

“Grrrrr.”

The black dog, Constantine, growled and glared at Erika, as reading through her lie.

Tch, not cute in the slightest.

Erika threw a thin smile toward the hellhound and continued to her room. Once inside, she closed the door. Then she locked it. With three different locks. And with a key. And she left the key inside the keyhole, just in case.

Good.

Erika nodded to herself and approached her table. She grabbed her tablet and opened the notebook app on a random page from school. She also put a stylus pen nearby, to create the impression she was doing homework.

However, “doing homework” was very far from her real intentions. She left the tablet alone and sat down in front of her PC instead.

Let’s see...

A mischievous smile surfaced on her face while she browsed through search results. Her search subject was “Verdandi Blade Online”. More specifically, the “special PvP event” which the boys at school discussed.

It was a massive Player vs. Player deathmatch, with no parties allowed. However, same as the boys at school, Erika knew a secret way to “cooperate” with others during such events.

Huhu, this can actually be fun.

Her lips curved into a foxy smile as she brought up a chatroom.

【FluffyCuteling entered the chatroom】

『Are you there?』

She wrote to one of her contacts, Opqai-kun, and shortly received a reply.

『yep』

『playin gove tho』

At first, Erika rejoiced that Opqai-kun responded so quickly. However, she shrugged unpleasantly when she read the message about “GoVe”, which stood for “God Vessel Online”.

『Heard about the event in Verdandi?』

『pvp?』

『Yes. Are you participating?』

『nope』

『My, the DPS god is skipping?』

Erika was taken aback. She couldn’t believe that the player with the second highest damage-per-second on the server ignored such a big event.

『solo deathmatch is dumb』

『i never participate』

『too random』

『and they all gonna attack me first anyway』

Erika understood his arguments very well. A large-scale PvP deathmatch was definitely going to be chaotic and luck-based. She originally planned to ignore it as well.

『True, it’s a little random. But there’s a very good strategy to secure victory.』

『oh?』

『We’ll make a secret alliance between players. This way, we’ll have an advantage over those who fight solo.』

『lol cheating? love that』

『But that’s just on the surface. In truth, we’ll secretly form TWO alliances.』

『wut』

『We’ll be members in both alliances, but each secret alliance won’t be aware of the other’s existence.』

『First, the alliances will wipe out weaker players. Then, they’ll have to clash with each other. As members in both parties, we’ll be safe from the crossfire between them.』

『LOL』

『as expected of my waifu marry me』

『Creeeeeeeep.』

Erika chuckled, all too used to her pal’s occasional sleaziness. They agreed on the plan and began badgering their contacts.

Due to the raising popularity of new VRMMOs like God Vessel Online, many players immigrated from normal MMOs to VRMMOs. Erika’s list of allies in the “old gen” Verdandi Online has taken a sharp hit.

Therefore, Erika had rely on Opqai-kun to stir things up. He was a DPS god in Verdandi and he also played the trending VRMMOs. His list of contacts was virtually boundless.

After getting declined by most contacts, Erika sighed and navigated her mouse toward Verdandi’s icon. She logged into the game and had to select her character. Between her level 150 Archer and level 92 Summoner, Erika decided to pick the Summoner.

She spent the remaining hour on fooling around with her familiars.

“Hehe, so cute~”

Erika equipped a feline familiar with a small sombrero hat. She rotated the pet’s model around and examined its cuteness from every angle.

She did the same with many other familiars too. At times, she poked the screen as if expecting to feel their fluffiness. Alas, every such attempt ended with a deeo sigh.

If only I could snuggle them...

She dropped her cheek on the table and hugged a stuffed panda toy. The hour flew by and the preparations for the alliances were finalized. Erika and Opqai-kun confirmed their secret allies and Erika’s familiars were configured to not attack any of these players... for now.

All participants were teleported to a special arena for the event.

“Wait, is she serious?”

“Isn’t she a mage...?”

The PvP arena was filled with many heavily armored knights and warriors, all of whom had extraordinary physical stats.... save for one little witch.

FluffyCuteling wore a magical robe and a pointy hat with cat ears. She was clearly a far cry from a muscular warrior. Nonetheless, there she was - participating in a deathmatch where magical attacks couldn’t deal any damage, thanks to a special event rule.

“Heh, easy kill spotted!”

“I bet she’s a chick. Am I right? Nooob!”

Players with active microphones laughed at the silly little witch. Some of them used taunting moves to add in-game insults.

Huhu.

Erika smirked at the loud comments. Opqai-kun also expressed his concern through private messaging.

『why not pick your archer? you wont even damage them with your rod』

『Don’t worry. I’ll show them that a Summoner shouldn’t be underestimated.』

『hoho looking forward to it then』

Erika opened her skills menu. Her cursor hovered over a custom skill called “Fluffy Armageddon”.

【DEATHMATCH START!】

The peaceful arena bursted into sharp motion. All players lunged at the nearest foes, aiming to score the first blood.

Unlike them, the tiny FluffyCuteling didn’t take a single step forward. Instead, she swung her short hands and chanted something incomprehensible. Three big portals opened behind her. From within, an armada of critters rained into the arena.

There were small kittens, puppies, bunnies, squirrels, foxes and many others. Each of them was weak on its own, but the witch summoned a humble army of roughly... 200 familiars.

“W-wah!!!”

“What is this!?!!?”

“Gawd!!! The LAGS!!! Aghhh!!!”

The warriors were savagely rammed by a battalion of fluffiness. The familiars were summoned with magic, but their physical attacks weren’t nullified by the event’s rules.

“Damn! Bitch is trolling us!”

“Gah...! Quick, kill that Fluffy witch! The mobs should disappear if she dies!”

“Yeah! Let’s bury her!!!”

Angered warriors switched their attention to FluffyCuteling. They roared in fury as they paved through the raining mountain of pets.

“Oopsie, gotta scram.”

FluffyCuteling cast a speed buff on herself and sprinted away from danger.

“Ugh! How is this little-”

“Gah! D-damn! I-I died because of lags!!”

One by one, the pursuers were slain by Erika’s secret allies. On occasions, the players who helped her then turned on each other, unaware of the two secret alliances.

Just as Erika planned: all solo players perished early. Enemies with small parties survived longer, but they were eventually terminated as well.

“Here I come!!!”

“E-eh!?”

Erika recognized the voice and nervously rotated the camera. A female knight charged toward FluffyCuteling. The woman had an absurdly huge bust, obtainable only through real cash. It was Opqai-kun.

“Death to pettanko! Oppai no Chikara!”

The enemy shouted a custom weeaboo skill name and leapt forward.

“W-wait!”

Erika’s exclamation was unheard. Opqai-kun rained countless lightning-speed thrusts at the defenseless little witch. The jiggling force of Opqai-kun’s busty avatar was overwhelming during the attack animation, probably on purpose.

“Heh, that sneaky scum...”

Erika let out a brief laugh as her little witch perished. This duel between friends was the inevitable conclusion of her crafty plan. Nevertheless, good time was had and she didn’t plan to win in the first place.

【WINNER: Opqai-kun】

The event was concluded with this announcement. As expected of the DPS god, Opqai-kun neatly swept through the few remaining enemies.

『Congrats.』

『thanks was quite the blast』

The busty knight approached the little witch and opened a trade with her.

“Hm?”

Erika accepted the offer, unsure of the Opqai-kun’s intentions. The item to appear in the trading screen was the prize from the event.

『Giving it to me?』

『yep you made the plan』

『You sure? It’s a great accessory. You may become the top DPS on the server if you customize it correctly.』

『i wont be playin much anymore』

“Eh...?”

Erika’s fingers froze on top of the keyboard.

『this may be the last time i play verdandi』

“Ah...”

She blinked a couple of times, unable to fully process the text.

『Is it because of GoVe?』

『that and skuld』

『I see...』

Erika was also interested in trying out Skuld Blade Online, the VRMMO successor for Verdandi Blade Online. There was nothing she could say against Opqai-kun’s decision. She could only silently accepted the parting gift.

『catch you later』

『tell me if you join gove or skuld』

『Sure.』

Of course, Erika knew there was no chance of that happening. Just playing games on the PC was already as dangerous as an underground activity.

『btw in skuld players can marry』

『make sure your avatar is busty』

『N-E-V-E-R.』

『haha ttyl』

【Opqai-kun left the chatroom】

This generic message, which Erika saw on daily basis, was very disheartening that day. She bit her lip and reluctantly logged out.

【FluffyCuteling left the chatroom】