Erika spawned in Murph Village and reunited with Vivi.

“Like, in how many years we gonna reach Zelin anyway?”

Vivi crossed her arms and sighed. However, she didn’t complain any further. Perhaps she grew tired of complaining to Erika each and every day. Or, maybe, she began enjoying their quest together and no longer cared about Zelin City as much.

Time to put all my research to practice.

Erika went over the possible solutions she accumulated. The easiest and fastest tactic was to form a party with other players. Opqai-kun already informed that he wasn’t going to play GoVe today, and Zack wasn’t connected either.

Erika strolled through the village to find other allies. The village had some players when she visited yesterday, but today it was almost entirely empty. She managed to find two players, but they declined her request even when she made puppy eye.

Erika’s next plan was to swim around the Windflora King. She left Murph Village and traveled along the unpaved road.

“I can swim to the other side and you can fly over the lake.”

Erika explained the foolproof plan to Vivi.

“F-fly over the lake?!”

Vivi’s reaction was odd. She eyed the still water with clear enmity.

“My, is there a problem?”

“H-hmph! A problem? Like, there’s plenty of them! If the great Vivi could fly over the lake, then she wouldn’t need anybody’s help!”

Vivi yelled and kicked the air. With this declaration, it was established beyond a shadow of doubt that Vivi had a problem with water. Her hate for water must had been at least as strong as Erika’s antagonism toward GoVe’s flower monsters.

“Is it dangerous to fly over the lake?”

“Hmph, of course it is! Like, who knows what creeper would attack you! This lake isn’t filled with friendly idiots, that much is for sure!”

Vivi insisted that the innocent lake was the most dangerous place in the world. Yet, all Erika saw were calm waters, which glittered beautifully under the rays of the sun.

Is this game TRYING to make it hard for me?!

This was the second solution to fall flat. Erika spent the whole night researching strategies, but everything betrayed her!

“Oh! I know what that bitch means.”

Mina also joined the discussion about the lake.

“I came close to this dumb lake before, then some water fucker jumped on me! Bastard pulled me hard into the lake and I drowned!”

“Is that so.”

Erika threw another look at the silent lake. It was hard to believe that this beautiful lake was such a dangerous place. Besides, nobody in the comments ever mentioned any potential dangers lurking in the lake. With this new information, swimming across now sounded bogus as well.

Still, Vivi was a pixie, she should fly. Surely the monsters in the lake couldn’t reach any height they wished.

“Say, Vivi. Can’t you just fly very high and cross the lake safely.”

“Like, you think the great Vivi is an idiot? Of course I’d do that if I could, hmph!”

Vivi flapped her wings and flew upwards, making it look like she could reach any height. However, she came to a sudden halt, about two meters above the ground level.

“This is it. I can’t fly higher than that. Like, pixies aren’t birds, you know.”

Vivi crossed her arms and scowled. For the great Vivi, revealing that she wasn’t almighty was no doubt a huge blow to her pride.

Seriously, what sort of physics is this? Flying creatures shouldn’t be limited to such low heights.

It made absolutely no sense. It felt as if the world went mad, just so it could drop such nonsense on Erika. A pixie who couldn’t fly over two meters was a harsh restriction, especially when their main foe, the Windflora King, was at least three meters tall.

“Still, Vivi. This height should be enough to safely fly over the lake. There’s no way the monsters in the lake could reach you this high, right?”

“Hmph. Like, I’m not taking any risks. You have no idea what these idiots are capable of!”

Vivi turned away, insisting to reject the lake to the bitter end. To make the proud pixie this repulsed, there must have been some dreadful sea dragons lurking in this lake.

Curses. I thought I had everything figured out, but now...

Erika’s shoulders dropped in defeat. Her great plans were smashed and crushed, leaving nothing behind.

“I understand. Then, I’ll take on the boss by myself and see how it goes.”

“Like, are you mad?!”

Vivi was taken aback but this crazy declaration. It was suicide, no doubt about it.

“Like, since you’re such a helpless idiot, the generous Vivi suggests going back to Murph Village. Some idiot human there may be able to help.”

“That sure sounds great. Maybe a traveling warrior will drop by and will ask to be escorted. Or, maybe they’ll have a boat and will offer us a ride. Khaha.”

Erika cackled. Her reasonable and promising plans were shot down so mercilessly, how could she hold onto any hope after this? Putting faith into a random event was even more absurd than the idea of defeating the Windflora King with her own two hands.

Vivi argued again that returning to Murph Village was the best idea for now, but Erika rejected the suggestion. More so than giving solid advice, it felt like Vivi urged Erika to leave the area. It wasn’t surprising, considering many Drainer Bees hanged in the area. Erika managed to reach this far without triggering any bees, but there was no telling when they’d assault Vivi.

Unlike the pixie, Mina strongly supported the absurd idea of facing the Windflora King.

“Go go, Titan!”

“You make it sound so simple, heh.”

Erika smiled wryly at the cheer. Apparently, Mina seriously believed that Erika had a chance to beat the 3 meter tall flower. But, Erika herself didn't set any high hopes. She said she’d “take on the boss”, but, in truth, she only intended to test how long she could last against the Windflora King.

Here goes nothing....