Vampire Princess Guide in Progress - Volume 1 Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Human Connection in a Death Game

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Late at night, after leaving Cross’s room.

Tilia returned to her own bedroom next door, similarly lit the fireplace, and sat on the bed to briefly organize the items in her game inventory. Earlier, when she took Cross’s equipment for repairs, she had also repaired the durability of her own equipment.

After experiencing a full day of adventure, although she wasn’t feeling sleepy yet, her status bar seemed to show a notification indicating she needed sleep.

Well, that’s enough for today then.

They had encountered quite a few complications along the way, but ultimately she and Cross successfully reached the main city area of the third floor. If safety was their priority, they could simply stay in the main city area without any problems. After witnessing the harsh environment of the third floor, some players would likely consider this option.

Tilia planned to return to the front lines after Cross recovered physically.

Perhaps under the current joint expedition of the three major player guilds, the third floor might be conquered before her “vacation” period ended. As long as they could find the conditions for clearing the third floor, breakthrough shouldn’t be difficult.

Tilia removed her high heels and placed them on the floor, her black stockinged feet gently emerging.

“I definitely feel a bit sore after all.”

Tilia sat on the bed, bent her knees, and used her hands to hold her toes. Immediately she felt the comfortable friction of silk fabric and the delicate warmth of a young woman’s toes in her palm, which momentarily made her nervous.

But then she thought, wasn’t this just a part of her own body?

It’s not like she was touching another girl’s…

She really needed to better adapt to and accept the fact that she was a young woman now. Surprisingly, she found it quite nice. It didn’t affect her combat abilities at all, and somehow it felt even more natural. Plus, she unexpectedly attracted the favor and closeness of other girls.

Tilia continued holding one of her feet, gently massaging to relieve the soreness, pressing back slightly. The sexy curve of her black stockinged arch would definitely make Ruby, that little fangirl, immediately go starry-eyed and scream with excitement, cat ears practically popping out.

But when she thought about the scene of applying medicine to Cross earlier tonight, her cheeks suddenly flushed hot again.

It seemed being too intimate with girls still gave her a sense of guilt for now…

After a short rest, Tilia leaned against the headboard, and with the sound of light bells, she swiped through items on the game interface. Before going to sleep, she unequipped her dress piece by piece from the equipment section.

The dress she was wearing dispersed into points of light with a flash of white radiance.

Although she could have simply taken it off herself, unequipping from the game interface was more convenient and quick. Rather than just a game system, Tilia began to feel that the Star Terminal was more like a lightweight magical technology.

Her gaze then fell on the item inventory and became fixed there.

In her bag inventory, there appeared a large collection of equipment and items.

Most were green-quality equipment, and the items were generally low-level, nothing particularly valuable.

These were all looted from red-named players. Since she had achieved the kills, all items now belonged to her. Most equipment from red-named players had also been stolen from other players.

Just from the quantity of equipment, it was clear that many players had fallen victim to red-named attacks.

“Hmm? What’s this…”

Among the unremarkable equipment, Tilia inadvertently noticed a weapon with a special suffix in its equipment description.

【Wolf Hunter (Green, Two-handed Long Blade)】

【Physical Attack +188, Critical Rate +12%, Agility -30】

【Special Effect: Deals 25% additional damage to normal wolf-type monsters; this effect is reduced to 15% for elite bosses】

【Crafter: Player “Aina”】

An equipment crafted by a player?

It even had a special effect attribute. The stat values also made it a very decent green-quality equipment.

But what caught Tilia’s attention more was the blessing inscription given to this equipment by the blacksmith Aina — “I hope this weapon helps you cut through obstacles on the third floor. Remember to come back to me regularly for weapon maintenance~”

Miss Aina, was she that PVX player from the first floor who always crafted specialized weapons for other players?

It seemed the original owner of this weapon was also her friend. She had specially crafted this weapon for him before he ventured to the third floor for exploration, but he unfortunately met with misfortune, was defeated by red-named players, and the weapon changed hands several times before finally ending up in Tilia’s inventory.

Seeing Aina’s blessing inscribed on the weapon, Tilia suddenly felt an indescribable emotion.

Later, when she had time, she would return this weapon.

Closing the game interface, Tilia glanced sideways toward the window, looking at the Ice Snow City with its brilliant lights under the night’s falling snow. The entire town was covered in a beautiful filter beneath this winter night snowscape.

Sitting on the bed, she recalled Cross’s self-blaming words earlier, believing she was holding Tilia back.

This led Tilia to think about many things.

To be honest, 《Floating Island: Fragments of the Stars》 wasn’t inherently a game focused on fast-paced competition. It was essentially a massive multiplayer online role-playing game emphasizing map exploration and cooperative gameplay where players work together with friends to overcome challenges.

Although this was a death game, it didn’t mean there was no human connection.

She could also understand this from the players of the Silly Group Friends Guild. Without their extended help, Tilia couldn’t imagine what a dejected state she would have been in if she had reached the main city area alone after losing Cross.

Mutual assistance and solidarity among players had now become key factors in breaking through this game.

In times like these, the light of humanity was all the more precious and brilliant.

Since she was the one who brought Cross out from the main city of the first floor, Tilia believed it was her responsibility. If she had thoughtlessly abandoned her, considering her a burden…

Setting aside the moral issue of such an action, as a young girl who had just entered the game, Cross would definitely have fallen into even greater panic and helplessness.

And this collapse of trust would instantly intensify the despair in her heart, leading to more negative thoughts about the game. If something really happened then, she would be the culprit behind it all.

It could also be seen as another form of abandonment after creating dependency, which was unacceptable to her conscience.

She was already a disappointing person in the real world; if she became a coward in the game world too, she would feel like a complete failure. This so-called second life would be better off not existing.

Therefore, Tilia began to realize that when considering strategic approaches going forward…

The strength of other players was not to be underestimated.

Previously, the guildmaster of the Silly Group Friends Guild had asked if she wanted to join them. Tilia had only answered that she would think about it, as she hadn’t made up her mind yet, so she didn’t immediately agree.

A guild team in the game…

Having fought alone until now, perhaps it was time for her to join a guild with Cross…