Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Kenni———

“...You know. I know I never present myself as all too trustworthy, but the sheer level of exclusion I felt by being near you two is like getting hit by a frying pan.” I remarked as Karra and I stepped out of the training area.

“And you are still in the loop more than most of the world, by my estimate.” Wiina said to undermine my stance on the matter. I have my theories, of course. The incident last week and what Karra said to me kinda clued me in a bit. “I do think you are more trustworthy than you gave yourself credit for, I must say.”

“Jeez. Sure makes it sound like we’ve known each other for years.” I semi-sarcastically said, and she retained her poker face way better than Karra is right now. I don’t see the need to expose them, in fact there’s plenty of reason why I shouldn’t. “Anyway, guess I’ll go back home and just rest the fatigue off while you two go fuck somewhere.”

“Kenni!” Karra was quick to protest.

“What? You two have been getting chummy real quick after that, how did nothing happen yet?” I’m no expert on relationships, but if they’re getting so close then surely at least the thoughts crossed their mind.

“...I suggest you keep your mouth shut.” Wiina said while suddenly causing a spike in her power reading.

“Sheesh! Cast a silence spell, why don’t you.” I said with a wry grin in response. “So when will this place be open anyway?”

“Who knows. The mastermind is one fickle individual.” She dismissively gave a non-answer.

“Say, Wiina. When will you let the rest of the class access this place? Sounds like you can let some people in, right?” Karra chimed in and asked.

“I’m afraid that’s a bit more than I can bargain for. The more people that are in on it, the more likely information will leak. I trust you guys, but that doesn’t remove the risk of human error.” She said, making it clear it’s just us three. I guess that’s hard to reconcile, the more people are involved, the higher the risk. “Kenni, maybe you should spill the bean as well, so she can receive less pressure on that particular topic.”

“Hell no.” I was quick to deny that ludicrous request. I’m usually not one to deny attention, but this is looking to be too annoying to deal with. “Those internet junkies can jump off a bridge before even thinking about it.”

“Whoa there, chill.” Karra was quick to react while Wiina stayed silent.

“All that aside, I think it’s time to leave. I’m starving!” I said as I walked over to get my stuff from the locker. “You two have fun. I’m gonna slip.”

———Jeff———

“It has been very uneventful, I think that’s fair to say.” Orrel said before drinking his cola.

“You can say that again.” Useph replied. “...You know, it’s been a while since we all got together for a meal.”

“...It’s barely a group, let’s be honest.” Sixson quietly said.

“Stop being a downer, dude.” Useph quickly protested before poking his wolf ears.

“Hey!” He quickly lost composure once he got poked, leaving both sides a bit awkward.

“...I know Malk and a few others are doing some sort of group exercise, but what are the rest doing?” Orrel asked.

“Beats me, if you don’t know how would I know?” I gave him my point of view, which isn’t exactly a lot. Never one to focus too much on something. Anyway, time to reach for the… “When did we run out of fries?”

…Why is Sixson looking away?

“Who gives a shit, we can just order more.” Useph meanwhile doesn’t really care as he walks to the counter to order some more.

“...You know, I don’t think most people have that kind of attitude.” I remarked to Orrel.

“At least he remains frugal for the most part.” He replied. “He’s doing this kind of thing only when others are enjoying it with him.”

“...I’m not even really criticizing him?” Where did that defense come from? It’s not like we didn’t already know that.

“It seems that way to me.” Orrel remained strong in that stance. Quite defensive about the guy, which isn’t new.

“...Leave me out of this.” Meanwhile Sixson does not want to be part of this tiny scuffle.

“Alright then. Here we go folks.” Useph soon came back to us with a massive amount of fries. I’m definitely not going to complain. “By the way, I just remembered something. Why do you think Karra gets to go to that place? How did she gain access?”

“How the hell are we supposed to know? None of us has the guts to do it… Aside from Kenni. She was, of course, ignored.” Sixson said, clearly showing a bit of jealousy. All of us do to some degree, so I’m not gonna give him crap for that.

“It does make it seem like we can go inside, eventually.” Orrel said, sounding unusually optimistic. He is always a numbers guy, so if he thinks it’s likely then there must be something there.

“Sure hope we do. The photos alone make it crystal clear that place is unlike any other.” Useph said, starting to get a bit excited. “Also, maybe it would’ve made the others less worried about not being strong and all that, if the training area Karra keeps talking about means anything.”

It does look pretty darn spacious, so it at the minimum has that going for it. I know it at least has some sort of interesting tech to it Karra won’t elaborate on. Probably a lot of things that’s gonna be hard to make sense of if anyone else were to see it in person.

———Lynda———

…Well I guess I have nothing better to do. Why not?

…Hm? What’s going on? There seems to be some sort of commotion happening right now. People seem to be talking among themselves, looking rather stressed. It all looks just as real and as pressure-inducing as always.

“Hey, you! Know what’s happening?” I walked over and asked the guy close to me.

“Huh? Oh, young lady. It seems that there is a monster outbreak at the moment, everyone is huddling close to the center capital.” He explained. Those aren’t all that dangerous, right? It’s not like anything severe is gonna happen. “With the Pilgrims rarely showing themselves, they are fearful of possible damage done to the capital or nearby villages and cities.”

…Odd. I would think there would be more players. I know the game isn’t exactly mainstream despite its disturbingly high quality, but surely they don’t have much else to do. Maybe I’m the weird one? Or is the player base just weird…

…I don’t see a quest prompt or anything. Random events tend to not do that, so I guess there’s nothing too special about this one.

Still. I guess it’s worth going out and fighting them. It’s not like this beginner area has particularly high level monsters to worry about. Just trying out things and wasting my time, and if nothing else I can just chill in the Home Space.

“Wait… aren’t you also a Pilgrim?” He suddenly said while I was thinking to myself. “Sorry for my rudeness of not noticing that earlier. I have a lot on my mind.”

“It’s fine.” As always, these NPCs are as advanced as ever.

Anyway, I should actually go check out the field outside the capital itself. Maybe there would be some neat drops and mats for this. Who knows. Like I said, need to keep myself busy somehow without Glery around right now.

Let’s use the [Warp Crystal] and get there quickly.

*Zoom*

…

…Well this is a lot, but still nothing compared to someone who is at three digits level at this point. Time to bring out my mace and ready myself.

…Seems like this is gonna be a bloodbath in my favor! Bring it on!

———Rico———

“You know, it’s kinda mind-boggling that Edea is so chummy with Great-grandaunt. There’s like thousands of years of difference isn’t there?” Eva said as she waited for the tea to cool down a bit more, scratching her head.

“Can’t be any weirder than that hag and her ‘fellow kids’ act.” I replied, not seeing it as too out there, with everything I’ve seen in my lifetimes. “So did you seriously only come here to chat and get that cheesesteak? Nothing else?”

“What? You haven’t been that active in our group chat for a while, so it’s not like you’ve been seeking us out.” She protested. “Besides, it is good philly-cheesesteak.”

“Even my school pals haven’t visited me once yet after the whole ordeal.” That’s kind of a sad tale, but I had to live with it. Humans have many flaws and weaknesses. Can’t expect them to be so available and carefree.

“At least you’re still in touch, right?” She asked after taking a sip of the tea.

“Of course, it’s not like my relationships with them changed that much.” I said, still thinking back on that stunt I pulled on the day of the Eclipse. The emotions on their faces were quite a delight to witness.

“That’s good to hear…” She mumbled to herself. “As for my school pals… To be honest, I haven’t said anything. In the first place, just like with you, we’ve already separated for over a year at this point. Two years since highschool ended.”

“Probably should keep in touch a bit more, right? It’s not as if you’re weak or lack knowledge to impart.” I said, wondering if others have been keeping in touch and guiding their group of humans… No, that sounds a bit weird, some are still human, after all.

“I’ve been doing that… vaguely.” She said, not sounding all too convinced in her own words.

“Hope you’re not stressing out too much. Don’t want your hair to get more gray than it already is.” I jokingly said.

“...I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.” She said, starting to sound slightly annoyed.

“What else have you been doing then? More honeymoon?” At this point I’m being nitpicky, but she’s the one who wants to have a chat in the first place.

“Of course not. We just mainly stayed at home, chilling out.” She quickly denied it.

“...Speaking of that. If people found out who your girlfriend is, their romanticization of elves would quickly crumble.” If people found out there’s an elf that’s a robofucker… It would be hilarious to observe, but I’m sure she doesn’t want to be known for that.

“Do you need to remind me…” She exasperatedly said while shaking her head.

———Karra———

“You’ll be going to Jass’ house again?” Mom asked.

“Yeah. Is there a problem?” I asked back, wondering why she is fixated on that.

“Oh… It just seems like something happened between you two…” She said, clearly insisting on something.

“Come on now Mom. You’re acting like I’m doing something weird.” A sleepover at a friend’s house isn’t weird as far as I am aware.

“Seeing you being alone with a boy is making me a bit concerned, you know?” Oh… So that’s the whole thing.

“Mom. I like girls.” That should curb her worries, right?

“That’s not convincing when you’re going to a boy’s house, you know?” And she still doesn’t believe me… Great. At least she doesn’t seem to be upset about which way I swing.

“Please, enough of that. Can I just go now?” I said, starting to feel a bit impatient.

“Fine… fine… Just be mindful, okay?” …There are multiple ways to interpret that and I am afraid of digging deeper.

“Yeah yeah.” I half-heartedly replied before getting my stuff. “See you tomorrow, Mom.”