ONLINE GAMERS {ARC 1 CHAOS IN ASTRAL CITY} Interlude 2

“You guys just don’t get it?” she said. “The isekai genre is so saturated! I feel like they release the same damn anime every year! Once you watch enough of them, they all seem the same, right? And then there's the fact that most male protagonists look like Kirito from front and back!”

At this moment Homura had flown into a rage at the increasing lack of creativity surrounding the isekai genre. She had woken up early today and thought... hmm, isn't the isekai genre getting a little dull?

Homura was so upset by this realization that she called all her weaboo friends to the guild bar where she could openly rant about her frustration.

“Huh?”

“What are you talking about?” Another voice added.

“....”

Mahatama whom was a member of her guild and by all means Homura's best friend indicated his confusion and annoyance.

“It is not saturated.” He spoke.

“It is!” she replied.

There a demi-human, Alona, spoke up from her spot in the corner, her voice was trembling with anxiety and nervousness from being out in public for so long. She was what most people would call a shut-in.

“...Um, Homura-sama, e-even if that's true, did you have to call us all here to complain about it? Surely Mahatama-sama would have been more than enough of an eh...um, audience for you?” Alona asked without making eye contact.

“It isn’t though.” Mahatama added.

“It is!”

Homura eyed the pink haired girl from top to bottom. She was dressed in light chainmail with thick armor plates around her hand. Alona was a half human half dog avatar, she was one of the very few level six players in the astral city, her character design was also one of the popular ones.

“Listen here Alo-chan,” Homura said, wrapping her arm around the pink haired girl. “You’re a member of the anime club! That means taking part in group discussions and listening when your president—me, calls you!

The anime club as Homura called it was really just a group of players that liked anime meeting up at the guild bar to discuss it.

In Alona’s case however she was forced to join.

In NWO Players usually made money doing quests for the guild, or working for other players but after NWO became a death game she was too terrified to do any quests. The thought that she might actually die crippled her with fear. So, despite being one of the most powerful players in Astral city Alona had nowhere to go.

In her darkest hour, when she was in complete disappear that was when the kind NPC who ran the guild took pity on Alona, and gave her a job and a place to stay at the guild.

She worked the tables serving food, to pay off her debt to the kind NPC owner. People often called her guild girl. It was during her work that she overheard Homura and her friends talking about Bocchi the rock, an anime she loved.

She couldn’t remember what she said, but she had definitely said something that made Homura instantly fall in love with her. And now she was trapped in this ‘anime club’.

“H-homura-sama, I’m on the clock right now I need to get back to work.” She squeaked.

“Listen Alo-chan part of your job as guild girl is to entertain the guest! ME! I’M THE GUESTS!”

“Okay…”

Another player joined the discussion, “Awww deary mee... Are you planning to leave mee out of the conversation, my dear Homura-chaan?” The emerging voice had a youthful flair to it and a playful childlike aura.

It was the type of voice that easily charmed men and women alike, the type of voice that dripped with honey glazed sweetness that to most was alluring to listen to.

However, it was too sweet and often too forced to be an actual girl, “That's pwetty mean, no Homura-chaan?”

Homura openly ignored the

Alice cried, “Ouch! Not gonna talk to me when it’s been so long? How can you treat me this coldly?”

“SHUT IT YOU PERVERT!” Homura spat.

“Come on, don’t be like that~”

“----” Homura said nothing. She simply glared at the girl sitting across her.

“Okay listen. The isekai genre while seemingly saturated is still one of the most popular genres of the moder era for a reason. Why? Because people like it. They like the format those stories are told, and just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t.” Alice said.

“…”

“Okay listen. The isekai genre while seemingly saturated is still one of the most popular genres of for a reason. Why? Because people like it. They like the format those stories are told, and just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean everyone else shouldn’t.” Mahatama said.

Homura nodded thoughtfully. “You make a good point Mahatama. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean I should ruin it for others.”

“But he just repeated exactly what I said!” Alice cried.

“Yeah, but I actually care about his opinion.” Homura replied.

“This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.” Q#$ %777, said randomly.

Ignoring what the cyborg girl Q#$ %777, said Alice looked at Homura with teary eyes.

“What exactly don’t you like about me?” she asked.

“Everything.” Homura replied.

Alice, was a level five player and one of the best players in the game. Her skills were more frightening than her cute appearance and act led on. Aside from being a top tier player she was also the owner of a brothel and haven for lost souls in district four, the pleasure district.

Alice worked in district four—The pleasure district.

District four was a bit of a neutral space, unlike district one, two, three, five and six which were ruled by Kimiko, district four was under another player, and Alice was her right-hand man.

While Alice may have been the right-hand gal to the owner of the pleasure district, her vulgar personality and the way she casually always came to hang out in district one made her seem like a less important person than she actually was.

She had the appearance and beauty of a fourteen-year-old girl, flowing black hair and ruby-like crimson eyes. But behind that avatar was a full-grown man and that was the reason Homura found Alice to be repulsive.

“Okay, so are femboys really all that bad? Like really guys!? C'mon you agree with me right Krptokat!” Alice said, avoiding Homura’s sharp glare.

“Wha-wha! Whaat! Hey, why are you calling me into this!? You are own your own mister!” A cute little girl whom was not a cute little girl IRL flew into a panic at the mention of her name and supporting femboys.

Like Alice Kryptokat was another guy playing a girl. Homura actually didn’t dislike Kryptocat.

“It’s fine Krypto cat the only person I hate is Alice.”

“WHYYY JUST ME!” Alice cried.

“Because you’re a pervert lo**con.”

Actually, Homura didn’t dislike people who played the opposite gender in NWO, her close friend Percival was actually playing as a boy, the people that Homura hated were the people like Alice.

It was a given that a game which allowed players to be whatever they wanted would have people like Alice.

Homura brought her pure demure lips to Alice's ear.

Her soft breath lingered on Alice is pure white ears.

Alice started to blush. Was Homura about to confess her love? The half succubus, half witch began to sweat as she anticipated Homura’s words. Her cute petite face turning red.

Homura whispered in the most angelic, most holy, most pure, most demure, most heavenly voice she could muster, “Your mother should've aborted youuu...”

“Fantasy characters in a horny medieval futuristic VRMMO game, crazy right? I mean the main character is a busty samurai and the rest of the cast range from magical girls to science types...” Q#$ %777, said in a listless voice.

SLAAAMM!

Homura slammed her hand against the table. She came here to talk about the isekai genre, not about whatever Q#$ %777 and Alice were talking about, actually what exactly was Q#$ %777 talking about?

“What the hell is 'Q77' talking about!?” Homura raged.

Mahatama eagerly raised his hand up like a dutiful student with the answer to a really hard question. And just like a teacher Homura said, “Yes, Mahatama-tan?”

“Q77, can apparently see the fourth wall, so she is in fact breaking the fourth wall!”

“Huh, the fourth wall?” It wasn't that she was unaware of the term 'fourth wall', as an otaku Homura had come across the word more times than she could count in different media.

They were no shortage of characters in fiction who frequently broke this, so called fourth wall between reality and fiction, it was nothing special or innovative. In short it was just another trope.

However, for Q77 to claim that she could break this fourth wall, was nothing less of insanity, it was tantamount to her claiming that their entire world not just the game, was fiction, and that was well, ridiculous.

But for now, Homura decided to humor her insane friend.

“So, are you saying our world is nothing more than...some anime?”

While Homura wrestled with the urge to laugh out loud from how outrageous her question was, Q77 stared at her with a gaze that was completely devoid of emotion.

Despite the fact that Homura posed the question as mostly a joke to make fun of her, she answered sincerely.

“No, not an anime but a web novel, a bottom of the barrel one at that.” Q77 answered matter-of-factly, which only angered Homura more.

Oh, a web novel that makes sense, my entire existence summed up as a piece of online literature.

Yeah right!!

She has to be a few apples short of a picnic... Totally a nut job—what kind of person thinks like that?

“Sure, sure but if that's true then who's the main character of this web novel, huh? Among the near million players in this entire world who I ask is the main character!?”

There was a brief silence, and then... “There is no main character,”

“I'll have you know that since becoming an anime girl, I have been involved in many yuri, yaoi, GL, BL hentai scenes.” Alice pumped out her non-existent chest.

“KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOURSELF!” Homura chanted.

The priest and only level six healer in Astral city, Mahatama gently rubbed Homura’s back to soothe her.

“You best believe me, that when it comes to hentai, I'm qualified for a fanservice or echii discussion.” Alice proudly proclaimed, chest puffed out, drawing a disgusted stare from Homura.

“Eh, is that so?” A small avatar in a lab coat under the scientist class—Kryptocat said, with an intrigued expression.

“...Y-you do it with both guys and girls, right? You're so wild Alice-sama...” Alona squeaked out a reply, she hadn’t contributed much so she was trying to add to the conversation, she received a nod from Mahatama whom was the only person who heard her.

“You're the type that hardly cares about who you sleep with, huh?” Mahatama said quizzically.

“Heh-heh-heh… I’ve had the pleasure of spreading love all over district four my dear.”

Homura groaned. “What you spread are STDs!”

“How would you spread sexually transmitted diseases in a game though?” Mahatama asked.

Alice smirked, “Love isn’t the only thing I spread at night if you know what I mean…~

“Ugh enough of your inuendo! Quit being so lewd!” She equipped her main weapon a giant pair of scissors and lopped off one of Alice’s arms.

Alice’s small frame gushed blood all over the guild floor. Her crimson dress, her blonde hair, and HER white skin were all painted an even deeper shade of red.

The other patrons at the guild bar panicked.

Under normal circumstances a hit like that would have been fatal. But with Mahatama around he could heal almost any damage, healing severed limbs were no problem for him.

“You shouldn’t lash out like that over Alice’s bed time rendezvous just because we have the best healer around.”

“Who the hell cares who Alice fucks!?” Homura’s head was literally on fire <<emotion effect>>.

“I actually don’t mind if Homura wants to scissor me~.”

Aside from Homura everyone else seemed unperturbed by Alice's vulgar proclamation.

And so, the five of them went on to keep discussing random topics from anime to hentai.