Volume 1, Chapter 78 – Morning

“Uwahhhhhh… M-Master, what are you doing?!”

It was a beautiful day, the sky clear and cloudless, warm sunlight quietly spilling down upon the world.

Under such perfect weather, both the players who logged in early and the NPCs who had woken up early couldn’t help but feel cheerful.

However, even if the weather was good, there were still people whose mood wasn’t.

As soon as she logged into the game that morning, Mengyao felt something strange.

A bizarre sort of strangeness. Normally, it should have been just a simple log-in.

But even though it was just logging in, Mengyao immediately felt that something was very, very wrong.

Because she could clearly feel that her body was being restrained by some kind of strange “creature”!

“Uu, what’s this, it feels like someone’s hugging me…”

Muttering to herself, Mengyao turned her gaze toward the culprit who was hugging her and keeping her from moving, the mysterious “creature”!

And what came into view was a peaceful, adorable sleeping face.

It was a girl’s face, or rather, the face of a loli.

Her long silver hair was spread loosely around her, and because it was so long, it covered the curled-up little loli like a blanket. Her small, cute nose fluttered lightly with her breathing.

Her lips curved into a faint smile, as if she were having a very pleasant dream, her expression overflowing with happiness.

No matter how you looked at it, that sleeping face was as cute as a small animal in slumber, so cute that it made one reluctant to wake her.

“Honestly… sneaking over to hug me in your sleep… Master, you’re acting way too much like a child…”

Though the words sounded like complaints, Mengyao’s tone was surprisingly gentle.

The sleeping girl seemed to be in a deep sleep. Mengyao’s voice didn’t wake her at all. Instead, after Mengyao spoke, the girl burrowed even deeper into her arms like a kitten.

“M-Master… this isn’t okay… hurry up… get up already…”

Watching the silver-haired girl squeeze tighter into her embrace, Mengyao’s face turned completely red.

But clearly, the sleeping girl didn’t hear her. She kept burrowing deeper into Mengyao’s arms…

“Eek…! M-M-Master! Y-You’re being so naughty! Sleep properly! Ah, wait… wait…!”

At that moment, the girl who was squirming deeper, Mengyao’s Master, Tianyin, placed a hand somewhere rather soft.

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“Uwahhhhhh… M-Master, what are you doing!”

A sudden accident. Even though this was just the game world, and even though her Master was also a girl…

Tianyin’s sudden movement left Mengyao completely flustered, and she instinctively cried out in panic.

At the same time, Tianyin, who had been sleeping deeply, was finally awakened by Mengyao’s voice. Her long eyelashes trembled, and after a few seconds, she slowly opened her eyes, revealing a pair of jewel-like beautiful eyes.

But the owner of those eyes clearly hadn’t fully woken up yet, as there was still a misty haze in them.

“Wuu… ah, Xiaomengyao, good morning~”

Tianyin slowly opened her mouth, her voice weak and drowsy, slightly slurred from just waking up.

“Morning… oh, Master~”

Coming out of her panic, Mengyao looked at the half-asleep Tianyin, her voice oddly heavy.

“Maaaster?”

“Mm? What is it?”

Hearing her name called twice, Tianyin answered blankly.

“Master~ could you, maybe, move your hand away~ hmm? Even if you’re a girl, you shouldn’t just casually take advantage of another girl like that, right?”

“Hmm? Take advantage? What are you talking about?”

Tianyin looked puzzled. But recalling what Mengyao had just said about her hand, Tianyin subconsciously moved it slightly.

“Ahh… M-M-Master, you…!”

Mengyao, who had been glaring angrily, suddenly went bright red.

“Eh…?”

At the same moment, as Tianyin moved her hand and felt the soft sensation beneath her palm, she suddenly shivered and snapped fully awake.

Her face filled with shock and disbelief.

“I… I didn’t mean to, Xiaomengyao…”

“Uu… Master… your hand…”

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It was quite a dramatic situation. But since Tianyin was a girl, Mengyao, though embarrassed, didn’t really have any improper thoughts.

From Tianyin’s perspective, however, the mistake was rather serious.

And come to think of it, it was only now that Tianyin suddenly remembered her “soul” was actually that of a boy.

Of course, last night, she had subconsciously thought of herself as a girl, so she had naturally crawled into Mengyao’s tent…

Leaving that odd topic aside, now that Tianyin was fully awake, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

After all, doing something like that for no reason at all was clearly a “huge mistake”!

“Xiaomengyao… I… I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry…”

She didn’t know what else to do, so apologizing immediately seemed safest.

“Hmph… I-I won’t accept that kind of half-hearted apology from Master!”

Of course, that was just Mengyao being a bit reserved. In truth, she was thinking that if Tianyin apologized sincerely one more time, she’d forgive her.

But unexpectedly, Tianyin didn’t do that.

“Eh… I see… not sincere enough… then…”

Tianyin began to think of a more “sincere” way to apologize.

“Ah, I got it!”

After a moment of thinking, Tianyin’s eyes lit up.

“Xiaomengyao, I know I did something wrong, so I apologize. I’m sorry.”

“…”

Seeing Tianyin’s apologetic look, Mengyao figured the time to forgive her had come and was about to say so.

But Tianyin wasn’t finished yet. She continued speaking.

“Xiaomengyao… how about this… you see, I accidentally touched you, so to make it even, I’ll let you touch me too. Then we’ll be even, right?”

After saying that, Tianyin smiled proudly.

“How about it, that’s a sincere apology, right, Xiaomengyao~”

To Mengyao, this was a shocking way to apologize, or rather, an incredibly strange one.

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“Uu… Master… Master’s an idiot!”

“Eh, how am I an idiot? I’m apologizing properly, see? I’ll even let you touch me back~”

“Pfft, who apologizes like that! Master, does that mean if someone touches you by accident in the future, you’ll make them apologize by letting them touch you back?”

As she spoke, Mengyao began laughing cheerfully.

“Pffhaha, you really are a silly Master~”

Tianyin puffed her cheeks in slight frustration.

“That’s not what I meant… honestly… it’s just because it’s you, Xiaomengyao…”

Still, the two of them were still in each other’s arms, which looked rather “harmonious.”

“Master… could you go out first? It’s kind of cramped in here.”

“Eh… right… right, I should get out.”

Tianyin felt a bit awkward.

But this wasn’t the time for that. The first priority was to get out of the tent.

Once she stepped outside, Tianyin was met with Bingxue’s blank, expressionless stare.

“Wuu, Xiaobingxue, good morning~”

As if nothing had happened, Tianyin greeted her casually.

“Suu…”

But Bingxue’s eyes drifted toward the tent.

There was no doubt she’d heard, or at least sensed, what had just happened inside.

Good grief… causing such a ridiculous scene first thing in the morning, how did it come to this?

Tianyin felt depressed. She’d just wanted a good night’s sleep, but somehow it had turned into this absurd situation. And even though they were all girls, thinking back to her words earlier…

She had actually told her loli disciple to touch her back…

Now that she’d calmed down, Tianyin couldn’t help but feel deep regret.

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“Uu, Xiaobingxue, good morning~”

At that moment, Mengyao also stepped out of the tent and greeted Bingxue naturally.

She acted as if nothing had happened, completely different from the flustered Tianyin beside her.

“Master, remember what you said today~”

As Tianyin stood dazed, Mengyao came close, her lips brushing Tianyin’s ear as she whispered softly.

“Hmm? W-What did I say?”

Tianyin asked reflexively.

Mengyao didn’t bother hiding it and replied directly.

“Master, I haven’t accepted your apology yet, but forget about touching back. From now on, you have to grant me one request unconditionally, okay~”

“Wuu…”

Since she was in the wrong, Tianyin had no way to argue back.

Seeing Tianyin’s almost resigned expression, Mengyao smiled happily.

Being able to make her Master promise something unconditionally… What should she make her do later?

Well~ she’d have to think about that carefully when the time came~

“Suu…”

Meanwhile, Bingxue just stared blankly at the two of them, clearly not understanding what was going on.

But that was fine. The innocent Bingxue didn’t need to understand what had just happened.

“Wuu, Xiaomengyao, let’s get going! Our next destination is Snow White City, not far from here. Let’s try to get there before dark!”

“Got it, got it. But Master, are you sure there’s really equipment in that city that can help Xiaobingxue hide her identity?”

“Of course there is! I’m your Master, after all!”

“Master, you saying that only makes me less confident, you know!”