Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 63

Chapter 63: This Is Not Her Game Alone

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“Eh— Is this all I can hold hands for?”

Ruby puffed out her cheeks, somewhat reluctantly saying.

Tilia smiled gently, after all, she had only agreed to hold hands once as a gesture of friendliness. What just happened had clearly far exceeded the time for hand-holding, surely that was more than enough as a voucher for the 10% processing fee discount?

But she could also feel this little fangirl’s rather explicit gaze, still lingering adoringly on her body.

Taking advantage of their intimate atmosphere, Ruby naturally seized the opportunity to feast her eyes, wishing she could examine Tilia from a full 360-degree angle with no blind spots. This was a chance encounter with a world-class beauty, who knew when they would meet again!

Finally, her gaze slowly settled on Tilia’s chest.

So big…!

As expected of a beauty, this impressive charm was indispensable. Just the full contours outlined by her clothes were enough to give Ruby an eyeful. She couldn’t help wanting to stand on tiptoe to peek at the snowy cleavage squeezed beneath the neckline.

Unfortunately, Tilia wasn’t wearing revealing clothing, so naturally Ruby couldn’t see anything.

At some point, two fluffy triangular cat ears had appeared out of nowhere on Ruby’s head. With a blushing face, the small, lively cat ears on top of her head kept wobbling like jelly. Just from this appearance alone, anyone could tell how happy she was.

This girl, what happy thoughts could possibly be going through her mind?

“Your ears are showing, you know?” Tilia glanced at the happily swaying cat ears on her head and pointed to remind her.

“Miss Tilia! Can I squeeze your chest a little? I’ll give you a 50% discount, 70% off… no, I’ll just do it for free!” Ruby’s big eyes were filled with super excitement as she made these increasingly outrageous requests.

The answer she received was naturally a light karate chop, landing squarely on her little head.

“Not a chance,” Tilia refused so casually.

No matter how unaware she might be as a girl, she surely had at least this much common sense.

This wasn’t a body part that could be casually touched by others. Even a simple touch would be very difficult for her to accept, let alone squeezing! Even if the person asking was an adorable little cat girl.

“Ugh.” Ruby, who had received a karate chop, covered her head and happened to feel those two exposed cat ears, which she quickly pressed back down.

“Are you more clear-headed now? I’ll settle the bill.”

“Y-yes…” Ruby had a red, embarrassed face, and also looked deflated from disappointment. She calculated the material cost and processing fee, and finally reached a deal with Tilia at a 10% discount.

However, there was one thing that surprised Ruby.

Miss Tilia didn’t seem surprised that she was actually a beast race hiding in a human settlement.

Just now, she had been so excited that she carelessly revealed her cat ears. Normally, this might startle people, as there are prejudices and barriers between different races. But Tilia calmly reminded her about it instead.

The answer was actually that Tilia had visited Ice Snow City during the closed beta test, which was why she knew about the Hundred Herbs Pharmacy.

At that time, she had learned through various in-game information channels that the owner of this shop was a little cat girl living among humans in town, and she had visited with curiosity and anticipation.

But during the beta test, there was only an empty shop, which greatly disappointed her.

Various items were completely self-service, and potions could be purchased directly from the store interface.

Back then, there weren’t nearly as many residents on the streets of Ice Snow City, nor was it so lively. There were only some NPCs with AI dialogue functions, which made Tilia increasingly feel that the content she played during the beta test was just an empty shell of a preliminary version, merely copying the map data.

But now, she could no longer even call the residents here NPCs.

They were no longer like artificially programmed AI or mere strings of data, but real people. It was just that with the game system still providing that online game feel, most players hadn’t truly realized this point yet.

This was a real otherworld, though its composition was still unknown, exactly what Tilia had been trying to observe and explore before.

And in her heart, she had an even more outrageous guess: what if this game world wasn’t just made up of 100 layers of floating islands, but was actually only part of a world? Below the floating islands… could there possibly be an even vaster world?

Unfortunately, she currently had no way to seek an answer to this question.

“Well, I should head back now since there’s nothing else to do.”

After buying potions from Miss Ruby at the Hundred Herbs Pharmacy, Tilia headed straight back the way she came.

As she passed through the noisy night market street lined with various vendor stalls, Tilia spotted that group of players from the Silly Group Friends Guild. They seemed to be gathered around a blacksmith at the equipment shop, taking turns enhancing their gear.

The seven guild members were chattering about enhancement matters, looking very animated, or perhaps the team itself was just naturally lively.

“No, no! Oh, yes, yes. Wait, no, no… If I do this, won’t my agility stat be wasted? Maybe I should enhance my armor instead, but intermediate enhancement stones are so hard to get.”

“Alright, you go calculate on the side. Let me enhance my weapon first.”

“Damn! It can fail too!? What the hell! Master, are you competent? My stones… waaah.”

Seeing them, Tilia just smiled and waved, exchanging greetings before continuing on her way.

This was truly a group of positive, optimistic players full of enthusiasm for the game. Perhaps knowing that facing this game with depression wouldn’t solve anything, they simply decided to enjoy a genuine gaming experience. So should she say they were enjoying this game?

She herself had once approached this game with the mindset of enjoying a second life in this world full of fantasy and epic adventures.

In fact, except for the addition of a death mechanism, the game hadn’t really changed much, it had just become more real. If they had truly transported to another world, then dying would mean the end of one’s life, which actually aligned with the world’s inherent operational logic.

“Ah, it’s Miss Tilia. Hello~” Qianmeng Meow responded to Tilia’s greeting.

“She’s gone now. I wonder if Miss Cross is feeling any better… I should visit her later.”

Upon arriving at Ice Snow City, Tilia had chosen a well-positioned small house in the city and purchased it. Yes, purchased it, paying the full price of 300,000 Star Coins upfront.

Compared to her previous nomadic, homeless lifestyle, having a place to settle gave her a sense of belonging.

This also indicated some changes in Tilia’s mindset. After everything she had experienced so far, she gradually began to realize that trying to “speedrun” this game was probably no longer realistic.

Not only was there a limit to solo play, but all kinds of unpredictable events encountered along the way could easily disrupt her original plans.

Especially after Cross was attacked by red-name players, Tilia no longer felt so eager to break through floor levels. If she lost Cross, even clearing this game would never bring her liberation or peace.

Completing this game wasn’t something that could be done overnight.

This wasn’t her game alone.

Various top-ranking pioneer guilds had also arrived at Ice Snow City by evening, not much later than Tilia’s group.

She had already published information through the map channel under the name “Nolan” that the third floor boss had been defeated. She believed those players who were proficient at this game would quickly find the solution to unlock the third floor.

And now, all she wanted was to stay longer, quietly keeping watch by her more important friend’s side.

“I’m back, Cross.”

Tilia stood at the front door of the small house, and after verifying her identity, pushed the door open.

On the bed in the second-floor bedroom, a blue-haired loli was currently covered with a layer of blankets, lying on a soft pillow, breathing steadily and evenly. Her cherry-colored lips were slightly parted as she remained in a deep sleep.