Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Weaker You Are, The More You Fear

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It was the second day in the game, morning.

The sun still generously shone on this town in the verdant plains. Birds chirped crisply and melodiously, the morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, and the thin fog glistened with dewdrops in the sunlight. Light passed through the wooden window lattice, slanting into the room to create diamond-shaped bright patches.

The excessively peaceful and tranquil scene made one wonder if everything that happened yesterday was just a nightmare.

But if only it were just a nightmare.

Cross sat on the bed in her room, turning her face to look out the window at the medieval town street below, then lowered her head to look at her palm. The scene upon waking was no longer the familiar ceiling she saw every day, and the system screen floating in her field of vision further confirmed this point.

She no longer woke up in her home in the real world as usual, but in an inn in this game’s alternate world.

“I’m still alive…”

Cross didn’t know why these words escaped her lips, but there seemed to be little joy in them. Sometimes being alive might not be a good thing, as it meant continuing to bear the survival pressure imposed by this game.

To continue living cautiously and anxiously, to continue facing battles with uncertain outcomes…

Perhaps this was why psychologically fragile players, unable to bear the torment, had their minds break first and chose to free themselves.

This also made Cross sincerely grateful that on her first day in this game, she was able to meet Nolan. Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine what state she would be in now if she were alone in this game world.

But at least now, she wasn’t completely consumed by fear.

“Hm? Looks like there’s a private message…”

Cross looked up and noticed a yellow mail icon that had been flashing beside her system panel, with a red exclamation mark above it, indicating unread messages. It was from Nolan.

Cross opened it and read it carefully. The general idea was to inform her in advance about today’s itinerary.

At the same time, there was a gentle knock on the door.

“Cross, are you awake?” Nolan’s voice came from outside the door.

“Ah, yes.” Cross quickly got up from the bed and ran to the door to open it for him.

But as her hand gripped the doorknob, she suddenly paused, realizing she was currently only wearing a white shirt that barely covered her thighs. She had temporarily removed all her equipment before going to bed last night, and she was even standing barefoot on the floor.

Wait, was she going to meet someone dressed like this?

Cross hurriedly turned back to the room. “Wait a moment!”

A series of light bell sounds rang out as Cross opened her system panel. Her slender white fingers quickly slid through the list, clicking on each item in the equipment section from top to bottom. Her body lit up with successive flashes of white light, which then materialized into equipment worn on her body.

It was still the same mage dress outfit as yesterday, but with the addition of a green-quality magic hat that she had been lucky enough to get as a drop from a minor monster.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? You sounded a bit panicked just now.”

“Nothing, nothing at all.” After opening the door, Cross was adjusting her collar with her hand, thinking to herself what a close call that was. Nolan seemed to notice that her cheeks were even rosier than yesterday. Was it because of the abundant morning sunlight?

But that wasn’t something Nolan would care about. Instead, he proceeded to share his map information with Cross.

Looking at the map, Cross discovered that parts of the northwestern area of Morning Dew Town had already been illuminated. They had come here from the Pure White Holy City heading west, which meant that some of the areas leading to the entrance of the second floor had already been explored by Nolan in advance.

But when…

Had Nolan gone to that area alone late last night!?

That’s why Cross was still at Lv.6, while Nolan had already reached Lv.11. He had gone to a more dangerous monster farming area with creatures that only appeared at night. The experience gain efficiency there was very high, and few people knew about it during the closed beta.

But there were too many uncertain lurking dangers, and Nolan had nearly been surrounded by bats and venomous snakes several times.

He quickly used up all his healing potions and continued farming monsters until after 3 AM. After running out of potions and supplies, he chose to return. Fortunately, he had also farmed two more pieces of green-quality equipment, this time pants and a necklace.

This also allowed Nolan to get a good grasp of the drop rates in this game, which hadn’t changed since the closed beta. The drop rate for green-quality equipment from common monsters was around 2%, meaning an average of one piece per 50 kills.

Including weapons, there were a total of seven equipment slots in the game. Now he owned three pieces of green-quality equipment, which significantly improved his stats. His HP value had risen to 700 points, a figure that could be considered very safe in the first floor.

Only with this confidence did Nolan now have enough courage to continue venturing out with Cross.

Looking at Nolan’s face, which appeared more tired than yesterday, Cross clutched the hem of her skirt. She knew Nolan was protecting her, adding more pressure and burden to his original goal of ensuring personal survival.

Even though they were traveling as teammates and should be benefiting each other, she was receiving help from Nolan at every turn.

But she couldn’t always be the protected one. For this reason, she needed to find a way to quickly improve her own combat abilities, allowing this small two-person team to rise to a new level of combat power with truly coordinated teamwork.

Since she had already chosen to face battle head-on, there was no room for retreat at this point.

After a night’s sleep, her mood had calmed somewhat, and she understood that the weaker you are, the more you fear. If she could become stronger, those monsters in the wild wouldn’t be as frightening as she imagined.

“I’ll do my best,” Cross whispered to herself.

“Hm? What?” Nolan, walking ahead, stopped and turned, thinking Cross had said something he couldn’t hear clearly. But she just shook her head and tried her best to smile, keeping up with Nolan’s pace.