“I told you, we are not spending all of our gold on food, Momo. We need better armor and weapon upgrades.” As Momo was behind Jeongyeon and I, I couldn't see her expression, but her groans were enough for me to tell exactly how she felt about that.

It hadn't even been two minutes and already Sana and Momo were arguing about how they'd spend the gold they'd get for selling our stuff. It seemed like Sana had the (relatively) better idea: spending the money on bettering their equipment. Momo, on the other hand, was only thinking with her stomach. She wanted to go to a noodle shop inside the game and buy a huge dinner.

I didn't even know you could eat in this game. Not once since I'd started Paracosmos had I felt hungry at all. I didn't know if it was because I had eaten that huge burrito before going to GameStop and meeting Somi, or if it was The Phenomenon ing with my senses again. It was scary to not know.

Momo stuck her head between Jeongyeon and I. “We’ve been walking for a while now. Are you sure you guys aren't leading us into a trap? You know the consequences if that's the case…” She innocently prodded my back with an arrow and smiled at me.

“I promise we’re headed the right way. They probably got far because Jihyo and Nayeon are fast walkers,” Jeongyeon promised, staring at the arrow Momo was holding against me.

Sana stopped us all and pointed past us.

“Momoring,” she hissed, “They weren’t lying. I see them. 10 o’clock. They're carrying a lot of stuff. It'll be easy to surprise them and take all of their stuff.”

Jeongyeon faced Momo and got on her knees, begging her and Sana to not hurt anyone.

“Please, please, don't do anything to them. Just take the stuff and go. Take whatever you want, but promise me they'll be left untouched.” She grabbed Momo's arm and pleaded for her wishes to be heard.

Momo shook her off. “I'll promise no such thing– mainly because we won't even be the ones taking the stuff.”

Sana cocked her head. “So how are we gonna do it?”

Momo looked between Jeong and I, a devilish smile forming on her face. “I’ve decided that maybe it’s best we don’t do it ourselves. How about we send Chaeyoungster and YooTheBest to collect the stuff? Their friends will gladly hand everything over and then our ‘buddies’ here can bring them over. We can then run off with all of it.”

“Good idea!” Sana clapped. “We can watch them from afar to avoid unnecessary conflict.”

Jeongyeon seemed fine with that idea. The farther away these two girls were from her partners, the better.

“Get going. No funny business. Don't forget Sana is an assassin with deadly aim." She chuckled. "And you guys know that already. She's free to fire at will, so if she sees that you're warning them about us, you're dead meat.”

“And don’t talk to each other. No making sneaky plans on your way,” Sana added.

“W-wait, please let me talk to her!” Jeongyeon turned around again and got into begging position once more. “Please.”

Momo sneered and waved her off. “You think I’m going to let you plan on how to avoid handing over your equipment? Shut up and go.”

“Please,” I started, putting my hands together. “I’m new to their guild and Jeongyeon just wants to make sure I’m okay. I– I’m experiencing a problem: I can feel things in the videogame. The arrows NoSanaNoLife shot into me? Terrible. Awful. That actually, physically hurt me. Jeongyeon and I won’t be planning anything, we just wanna talk about how I felt and all that.”

I honestly didn’t think it would work. Why would she believe us? We hadn’t shown that we were worthy of any trust at all, and we could very well devise an escape plan anyway, but it seemed like my words actually got to her.

Her sneer disappeared and used her chin to point at Nayeon and Jihyo’s direction. “Okay. Fine. Whatever. But the second you guys seem like you’re doing something fishy, I’ll shoot an arrow into your brains. Scram!”

Jeongyeon wasted no time and grabbed me, running towards the girls. After a considerable distance was between us and the raiders, Jeongyeon stopped in her tracks and looked back, an oddly amused look on her face.

“How the hell did you do that? You managed to change her mind and you hardly even said anything convincing.”

Ignoring that insult, I shrugged. “Honestly? No idea. I thought it was going to be another case of me rambling on for nothing, but I watched as her demeanor changed– as I talked. Like, sure, I only babbled on like an idiot, but it seemed like she totally understood. You know?”

Jeongyeon frowned, grabbing my arm again and walking toward her partners. “Do you think she sympathized with you? As in, maybe one of the two also feels The Phenomenon. She could have totally understood what it’s like to worry about your teammate.”

“Maybe. She seems a little protective of that Sana girl, judging by the way she made sure we didn’t harm her in the beginning. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. And you’re right. What did she say when she suddenly appeared behind us? 'Don’t lay a finger on her‘? It's totally likely Sana feels The Phenomenon.”

“Cool. Okay, so we know that now. We could use that for later, right?” I asked, my mind already coming up with ideas.

“Totally,” she replied, “we know who’s the better target now.”

“Speaking of feeling stuff inside the games, are you alright, Jeong? When Sana surprise-attacked us with the arrows, you seemed to be in actual pain.”

Jeongyeon shook her head, her eyes focused on the girls that got closer to us with each step. “The game has automatic ‘pain’ reactions set up. Howls of pain, grimacing, bleeding, all of that, it’s a mechanic of the game. My face contorted in agony when Sana's arrows pierced my hand and chest, but I definitely didn’t feel anything. The only way for us to know if their real-life pain sensors are connected to this game...is to ask.” She ruffled my hair and patted me on the back. “Thanks for caring though.”

“You’re my friend now.” I patted her back as well. “Of course I’ll care. I was just really afraid of you feeling the way we do. I can barely handle it when I get attacked. I’ve been thrown against trees, gotten arrows shot through my brains, stabbed in the neck… I don’t think I’ve ever felt this amount of pain in my entire lifetime.”

Jeongyeon slowed down and took a really good look at me. “God,” she whispered, “We really need you to get out of this malfunctioning game soon. All of you.”

 

 

We didn't stop until we caught up to the other half of our guild. I was completely breathless from all of that speed walking and sat down on the grass, allowing Jeongyeon to convince Jihyo and Nayeon to hand over all the stuff without tipping them off.

She didn't though.

“Hey girls, I'm going to tell you something calmly and cooly. Don't react at all, okay? Your lives depend on this.” She stood with her back to the ones that were holding us hostage.

“Okay, what's the problem?” Jihyo asked, an almost natural-looking smile spreading across her face. Oh, she was good.

“Hand over all the stuff. Chaeyoung and I were attacked by two girls. They want all of our tents, armor, weapons, you name it. If we don't give it to them, or if they find out that I'm telling you any of this, they'll most likely kill all of us. They're lower levels than us, but it seems like they've gotten enough gold to purchase good , so they're more powerful right now.”

Nayeon swallowed. “Where are they?”

“Don't look for them,” I answered. “Don't make it obvious. They're directly behind us somewhere, blending in with the grass.”

Jihyo frowned and handed over all the items she'd been carrying. “They're going to sell our stuff, huh?”

I nodded. “They are, but we think it's best to let them take all our stuff. If we fight it, well, you can imagine. Nothing good will come of it. Material possessions come and go, but we can't be killed and separated. Let's go along with their plan.”

Nayeon rubbed her chin. “How are they going to get us from so far away? Why don't we just run for the mountain?”

Jeongyeon shook her head. “They're both skilled with the bow, and it seems like even the longest ranges are no big deal to them. One of them is an Assassin and the other is a Ranger with a Knockback perk.”

“Wait, an assassin and a ranger?”

“Yeah, isn't that weird?” I had noticed that earlier as well but had put it to the side of my memory as it seemed like no one would care about such observation. “Kind of like you and Jeongyeon, huh?”

Nayeon shook her head. “No… that's not what I meant. I met a duo just like that during my search for my girlfriends. Two blonde Japanese girls, right?”

“Uh? I don't know their nationality..?” I scratched my head and wondered where she was getting at. “They’re definitely both blonde, though. Why?”

“Two Japanese girls attacked me while I hid in a cave and stole all the things I had gathered to survive. It was after I died in that crazy cave in the beginning and had to find Jihyo and Jeong. Remember? I told you about them not too long ago.” She shoved all of the stuff she had been carrying into my arms and walked straight towards Momo and Sana. 

I looked to Jeongyeon and Jihyo, wondering if they were going to stop her, but both of them just watched Nayeon stomp away, looking completely lost.

I dropped the stuff and ran after Nayeon, you know, like the only sensible person.

“Dude, where are you going? You really think you can get revenge on these girls? They're super powerful, Nayeon.”

Nayeon shook her head. “They stole my stuff while I was helpless , Chaeyoung. I had a rare weapon and enough food to last me two days. That’s beyond ed up.”

“Listen, okay, I get it. You need revenge or whatever,” I said, trying to appease her. She didn't seem like the kind of girl you wanted to keep angry. “I'm sorry for questioning you. But what if these girls aren't the ones that stole your stuff?”

Nayeon paused. She gave me an unsure look and opened to respond when she was interrupted.

“Hey! Chaeyoungster! What the hell do you think you are you doing? Neither one of you is carrying anything! Are you that desperate for a projectile in your eye socket?”

That was Momo, who, with Sana, stepped out from behind a rock.

“You could have just asked for one, you know! We would have gladly done it!” Sana’s voice was dripping in mock kindness, making the hairs on my skin stand up.

Nayeon’s nose flared up and she stalked towards them, pointing a crooked finger at them. “You! You little sh-”

“-Where have I seen her