“I believe this is enough for today.”

It was past 19:00 and Erika had to head home.

“Huuuh!? But ya haven’t even reached the first city!”

“There’s no helping it, Mini. RPGs are time sinks.”

At a glance, it looked as if Erika didn’t accomplish anything today. She talked to NPCs, fought a little and finished a quest. But, by the end of the day, she was all the way back to her starting point.

Nevertheless, all these actions consumed more than two hours. Such was the deceptive nature of RPGs.

“Bah! It gonna take AGES until you get anywhere at this rate!”

“My, no need to worry so much. I’m sure you didn’t reach Trilz City in a day, did you?”

“Bah, it took me a week or two...”

Mina mumbled with an unseen, grumpy face. Now, Erika only had to negotiate with the other brat.

“Vivi, mommy has to log out now~”

It hurt the suspension of disbelief, but the meaning of “login” and “logout” was generally recognized by NPCs, in order to allow smoother communication. As Erika expected, GoVe was no exception.

“Like, are you for real? We haven’t even left this crumbling temple, you know!”

“I know, but it can’t be helped. Here, I’ll give you some chocolate, so please forgive me~”

Erika took out a piece of Dragon Chocolate from the Dimension Vessel, and waved it in front of Vivi.

“Hmph, I said I don’t want any!”

“My hand is slipping~”

Erika loosened her fingers around the chocolate, and it slowly slid down. No matter how though Vivi acted, this was a scene she couldn't let stand. The pixie darted toward the chocolate, and caught it with her tiny arms.

“Ack!”

Vivi was slammed by walls from both sides.

“Got you~”

Erika grinned as she wrapped her palms around the pixie. The sweeeeet bait was very effective.

“Geh! Like, what do you think you’re doing, you idiot!?”

“Huhu~”

Erika smiled from ear to ear at Vivi’s adorable, yet futile, attempts to wiggle out. To not harm her little companion with the tight grip, Erika proceeded to the next step in her devilish plan.

The Dimension Vessel was a safe space from another realm, which Erika could open and close at will. Therefore, it was the perfect place to store Vivi!

【ERROR】【An incompatible object came into contact with your Dimension Vessel.】

The moment Vivi was brought near it, the floating island vanished into thin air.

“Tch, so it’s no good.”

Erika clicked her tongue and released the struggling pixie.

“Hmph! Like, who do you think you are, you stupid idiot!?”

“Ah~!”

Erika was slapped in the face with a gust of wind. She kinda deserved it, so she took her punishment with a smile.

According to the tips Erika read in the game: it was generally possible to resume an escort quest, even after logging out. However, it depended on various factors, such as the NPC’s consent to wait for the player’s next login.

“Sorry, Vivi~ Mommy was worried that you won’t wait for her~”

“Hmph! Like, who’d wait for a stupid idiot like you!? I wanna to get outta here already, you know!”

“I promise we’ll make more progress when I login tomorrow.”

“Hmph, fine! Like, it’s not easy to find a stupid slave like you. So, the generous Vivi may as well wait, until she can put you to good use.”

“Thanks, o generous Vivi~”

Erika smiled at Vivi’s response. In the end, Vivi was programmed to go along with Erika’s will, no matter how unruly the pixie was. With all the problems resolved, Erika popped up the menu and tapped on【Logout】.

【WARNING】【The quest Vivi’s Escort will be put on hold.】

Erika nodded to the warning, and pressed【Logout】again to confirm her decision. A ten seconds countdown popped up, showing the remaining time until Erika’s disconnection.

Once the countdown hit zero, the Dimension Vessel suddenly popped out

Eh?

Erika’s body was lifted into the air.

“W-wha!?”

She was sucked into the Dimension Vessel, and vanished from the area. Her mind turned blurry and sleepy...