The Curious Case of Yui the Fighter I

---Chapter 3: The Curious Case of Yui the Fighter I

“Gyagagagaaaaa…!”

After emitting that bizarre shriek, a tall skeleton monster fell and dissolved into dust. There within a dimly lit throne room stood Quartz and the rest of the party. After their successful quest the other day, the group had gotten together a few more times over the past couple of days to take care of a variety of different quests. Today, they’d just defeated the Skull General, a boss monster residing within a castle up in the mountains.

“We did it!” cheered a gleeful Yui, running up to Quartz and jumping up and down.

“Yeah, you really gave it a good pummeling.” he responded with a sheepish smile.

Striker, Mint, and Rokugo all watched the pair’s interaction from nearby.

“Man, ever since Yui joined up, Quartz has been smiling way more, don’t you think?” Striker whispered to the other two.

“Oh, absolutely! I’ve been saying it this whole time, but don’t they seem pretty into each other? The way they interact is way too cute!” Mint quietly gushed, trying to make sure they weren’t overheard.

“Come now. It’s true they get along well, but we shouldn’t assume things or try to pressure them.” Rokugo cautioned with an adjustment of his glasses.

“I’m not gonna pressure them! I’m just making an observation!” Mint sighed at Rokugo’s usual serious attitude.

“Yeah, man. We’re not gonna walk over and tell ‘em to start smoochin’ or nothin’!” Striker grinned in a teasing manner.

“Good grief.” Rokugo shrugged with a somewhat amused smile of his own before strolling over and collecting the boss monster’s loot. This time, it was his quest the group was helping complete.

“What were you guys talking about?” Quartz asked as he approached the group, Yui in tow.

“Oh, it was nothing at all!” Mint casually waved off the question.

“Mint, Mint! Your freezing spells were great! You left that skeleton wide open for some big ole’ thwacks!” Yui excitedly demonstrated a punch for Mint, as if showing off.

“You bet! I noticed that kind of combo works well with your heavy strikes, so I’d been making the most of it!” Mint grinned.

“Well everyone, I’ve collected the loot I required.” Rokugo announced, returning to the group. “Shall we make our way back outside?”

“Yeah, let’s get outta here.” Striker responded. “If we keep hanging around, monsters might start respawning again downstairs.”

“Right, let us depart.” Rokugo declared.

After stopping to divvy up the rest of the loot, the group soon left the castle and made their way back outside. It was a long trek down the mountain, so the party made some small talk as they made their way down. It was during this time that Mint brought up a question.

“Hey Yui, I’m curious, do you play with any other parties?” she asked out of curiosity.

“Nope! You guys are my first party!” she answered with a smile.

“What?!” Quartz nearly tripped over himself.

“Huh? Is it that surprising?” Yui blinked.

“Oh, no! But I mean… It isn’t not surprising, either! You’re almost level 40, you know?” Quartz answered after collecting himself.

The current level cap in Myth of Genesis Online is level 100, but most casual players tend to hover around the middle levels for a long period of time, with only the most hardcore players ever really pushing into the higher numbers. Quartz and his part were all fairly average players, with levels mostly in the late-30’s and early-40’s.

“That’s true. We’re all roughly around the same level.” Rokugo commented, holding a level slightly higher than the rest, being level 42. “Suffice to say at this point we’re no longer newbies, so it is quite a shock to hear that you’re only participating in a party for the first time now…”

“I tried going solo for a bit early on, but there are way too many tough boss monsters clearly designed to be fought with a party…” Mint sighed, recalling a few tough experiences. She held the lowest level of the group, at level 38.

“Maybe it’s easier to go solo if you’re playing fighter-class...” Quartz pondered, thinking about how he and Striker, who’d begun playing around the same time, were both level 40.

“I dunno… All I did was fight a bunch of monsters, and before I knew it I got this strong!” Yui flexed with a smile. She was currently at level 39.

What the heck has this girl spent all her time doing in this game anyway?

Quartz could only smile wryly at Yui’s earnest enthusiasm.

“You say that like it’s no big deal, but I think you’ve been dealing even more damage than me when we’re out front fighting monsters!” Striker pointed out. “And trust me, I never slacked on the grinding! I always got the best swords I could find, too!”

“Indeed.” Rokugo nodded. “I must say, the effectiveness of your fists have continued to impress, Yui.”

“C’mon! You guys are embarrassing me!” Yui seemed quite pleased with all the praise.

Still though, it is weird… Maybe it’s just her personality, but she seems to behave with the kind of naiveté that reminds me of a newbie. But despite that, she’s got the stats and skill of a pretty dedicated player...

Quartz pondered what this could mean. Ever since he first met Yui, he’d always considered her to be a ‘strong player.’ But perhaps it’s because of this impression that her personality stood out so much. The others were starting to pick up on it too, now that they were all getting used to playing together.

“You’ve mentioned that your great defense comes from the event swimsuit you wear under your martial arts garb, but what of your offense?” Rokugo inquired. “Did you regularly participate in events for good equipment?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that! Actually, I only signed up for that event by chance back when I was still new.” Yui answered.

“No way! You scored such high-level equipment when you were still a newbie?!” Striker shouted in surprise. “What kind of event was it anyway?”

“It was some kind of… fashion show thingy?” Yui folded her arms, trying to think of how to describe it.

“I’m pretty sure it was the, erm, summer beauty contest…” Rokugo clarified, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, that’s gotta be what it was...” Mint sighed. “I didn’t pay much attention to it, but I did hear about it. It was apparently a pretty in-demand event, desperately requested by certain players… But to me it just seemed like a place for people to go show off their sexy character models.” Mint shrugged, shaking her head.

“Wait, Yui, you participated in an event like that?!” Quartz couldn’t even imagine Yui in such a setting.

“Well, I mean, at first I was just peeking in out of curiosity!” Yui recalled the story, feeling embarrassed. “But then a group of players started begging me to join in, and I just kind of went along with it! Before I knew it, I was suddenly being called the winner, and they gave me that rare swimsuit…!”

“Yui…” Quartz placed his hand on her shoulder. “I know this is just a game, but please don’t get dragged into any weird situations again, okay?”

“???” Yui tilted her head, totally oblivious.

Quartz quietly faded to the back of the group again, trying to forget all about the story he’d just heard. Sure enough, a bit of an awkward mood lingered in the air.

“I must say, games like this have certainly gotten more, er… creative as this immersive full dive tech has come into use.” Rokugo commented, simply staring away from the others as they continued their trek downhill, hoping to close out the discussion of this topic.

“You said it. I can’t imagine weird events like that would’ve had much of a draw beforehand…” Quartz sighed. “But now that the immersion is so real, people start thinking about that kind of thing.”

“Anyway guys, that still doesn’t explain where Yui’s crazy strength comes from!” Striker spoke up, bringing the main topic back around.

“Oh yeah, that’s what we were talking about, wasn’t it?” Mint chuckled.

“It’s like I said before! All I did was fight a lot of monsters!” Yui insisted.

“I see, I see.” Rokugo nodded in understanding. “I think I get it now.”

“You do?” Striker asked.

“Thanks to having such a high defense boost so early on, Yui most likely charged out into the world and aimlessly fought through anything she could.” Rokugo reasoned. “Even if her attacks were weak at first, by continuing to fight over and over, her offensive stats would greatly benefit in the long term.”

“What?! But wouldn’t that take an insane amount of grinding?!” Striker was baffled.

“…What’s grinding?” Yui asked, innocently.

Upon hearing that question, Quartz fell flat on his face.

This girl… She’s totally unbelievable!

Despite his flabbergasted state of mind, Quartz couldn’t help but grin. Deep down, the bizarre player of the fighter class, YUI-YUI, continued to occupy his mind whether he wanted her there or not.

[To be continued…]