Hopping Celestial fox, Chapters 12,13,14

A/N: Oh, what's this? Three chapters? Yes! The power of spring is slowly reviving me and I can be productive again! That means I'm upping the advance chapters for all my beautiful patrons (that means you!) from 3 to 5 for now.
Once my power level gets even higher and I get a better backlog of chapters, I'll switch to a chapter every other day rather than one chapter every four days. Hopefully, soon™.
Also, I finally decided to do the smart thing and schedule my chapter releases for the next day rather than posting whenever I wake up, so you can expect future chapters to release at the same time from now on.

12 - Debug

“So… uh, I wanted to ask something. You said that hundreds of people visited you here,” I said as I sat down on the chair Elyssa offered to me.

“I’ve lost count, but yes, many people visit me here.”

“And… you’ve always told them how impressed you are that they found you…?” I carefully asked.

She frowned and went silent as her eyes wandered to her window.

“I have… Until you came along two days ago. You were the last person I said that to.”

Huh?

“Well, after our meeting, I thought for a bit and I realized that… since there were so many people coming here, surely, the word had spread about the trick with the bushes. And if it did, finding me here wouldn’t exactly be impressive anymore.”

That… was exactly it. But…

“Why just now…?”

I knew Elyssa wasn’t dumb. Someone like her had to have realized it way sooner.

“Who knows?” She shrugged. “Maybe I was blessed with intelligence by a certain divine being.” She smiled at me.

“I told you… I’m not…”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Well, either way, our little chat two days ago definitely opened my eyes in many ways. And even then, you were the first person I had a proper conversation with in ages. A conversation I haven’t already had a hundred times, at least.” She chuckled.

“Well, um, glad to help…?”

“No need to be shy.” She chuckled again. “By the way, I see you’ve taken a liking to that form.” She pointed at my big fox ears.

“Uh, yeah…” More than just taken a liking. “It just feels better like this… I guess? I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“That’s alright. I’m glad I was able to help you, even if this isn’t your true form.”

“Well, I mean… I’m not sure I really understand that. What even is this true form supposed to be? Why do you make it sound so important?”

“Hmm, that’s a good question.” Her brows furrowed. ”Let’s see… Every living being has some kind of physical form, right?” I nodded. “But that form isn’t always what the living being really is. It’s a… placeholder, you could almost say.”

A… placeholder? The heck?

“Well, a lot of people simply get used to their original form and it doesn’t bother them all that much. But for some people, getting used to it is impossible. Their true form, the form they should have, is too different from the form they do have, and simply existing causes them a lot of discomfort and anguish.”

Discomfort…

“A true form is exactly what it sounds like. A form that is true to the living being it belongs to. No placeholder, no mask, it is what they truly are.”

“I… see…?”

Part of me could only see it as some magical chosen-one mambo jumbo nonsense. But at the same time, it would explain why I’d felt the way I did whenever I was stuck in my original form. After all, I really did feel more comfortable in this fox form. Although…

“But you said this isn’t even my true form.” I gestured at myself. ”What is my true form? What is this form supposed to be?”

She gave me a wry smile. “I’m sorry. But I don’t know, unfortunately. It’s the first time I haven’t been able to bring out someone’s true form.” Seeing me sigh, she lifted her finger and smiled. “But. Even if this isn’t your true form, I’m certain it is at least close to what your actual true form is.”

“Right… Well, if I ever find out what my true form is, I’ll definitely let you know then.”

“I would be delighted! This is very fascinating to me.”

“So… anyways. About the… gods of this world. I’m still a bit scared about what they might do to me, but I thought of a way to contact them relatively safely.”

“Oh?” Elyssa’s eyes widened.

“Do you know of the announcement boards in the cities?”

“Of course.” She nodded. “Hmm, so you are planning on sending them a message through there…? Would they even take notice?”

“Yes, they will,” I said, a grin creeping onto my face. “You see… when you put up an announcement, it automatically fills in your name, right?”

“Right…” Her brows furrowed.

“Well, the thing is, I don’t have a name in this world. So if someone views my name… it’s apparently a bunch of nonsensical moving characters.”

“Oh…?” Now her eyes widened. “Your true name… is incomprehensible to even the gods?”

“Ye-- wait, true name? This again?” I stared at her, a little peeved at my train of thoughts being interrupted.

“Of course, you said it yourself. Well, I forgot about the announcement boards last time you were here, but you are right, they always display your true name.” She put a hand on her chin. “Fascinating… Could you be a divine being even above this world’s gods?”

“No, no, no… I’m really just a normal kid. I can just… see portal things, that’s it.”

She gave me a wry smile. “Isn’t that already plenty abnormal?”

I could only sigh in defeat.

But… wait.

“Actually… I’m going to bring my friends over here tomorrow. They are normal kids just like me. And I bet that their display names will be the same nonsense as mine!”

Elyssa chuckled. “You sure are adamant about proving your non-divinity.”

Ugh…

“Well, isn’t it fine? I look forward to meeting your friends. Whether they are the same as you or not, I’m certainly curious about all the mysteries surrounding you.”

“Right…”

To be perfectly honest, I was too. But at the same time, I was afraid of what I would discover. Was I really some kind of divine being, as Elyssa kept saying?

13 - Config

Ahh, the feeling of walking through a clean forest was the best. Going into a local park in a city couldn’t compare. Not to mention how light on my feet I felt because of the not-true form. It felt like I was an actual fox running around nature, having fun.

Yes, I was distracting myself.

I had too many questions about myself, the world, the devs, Elyssa, and so on. But I couldn’t focus on everything, I had to take one step at a time. For now, I simply enjoyed the peace of the moment.

My destination was Redaghoul, the nearest city. The one where you initially start the quest to eventually gain access to the Golden Woods. A bit ironic that I was going backward.

Naturally, to avoid attention, I stayed in the untraversable forest rather than traveling on the road like a normal person. But honestly, I didn’t mind it. I simply let go and enjoyed the nature on the way.

With that said, the trip didn’t take long. Actually, the distance between cities and other settlements was minuscule compared to Earth. It didn’t make much sense. Especially considering you could even teleport between them. Maybe I just didn’t understand the culture of this world too well.

Coming out of the forest, I glanced at the eastern gate, the only entrance to the Golden Woods for players. Even though you might think of going around and entering the forest from another direction, everything was blocked by an invisible wall. But those didn’t affect me. I could just waltz past and ignore the city entirely.

Well, the announcement boards were only in cities, so if I wanted to enact my plan of contacting the devs, I had to enter one at some point. Not to mention, I just wanted to wander around a medieval fantasy city and have fun… But that would also mean risking a player randomly checking my status and freaking out like the trio from the forest.

I sighed.

For the time being, I decided to shelve the plans of entering the city and walked along the forest’s edge, where there was supposed to be the invisible wall. As expected, nothing blocked me, and I eventually managed to circle around to the southern gate of the city. Unlike the eastern one, there were a couple of players entering and exiting the city through here. Most of them probably didn’t have teleport items yet.

With that said, waltzing in from out of bounds was probably a bit too suspicious, so I decided to continue going along the edge of the woods. It led me exactly where I wanted to go anyway. A low-level area called Trevor’s Hillside.

A couple of hills, some bushes with collectible berries, and the one hill bigger than the others with a stone formation resembling a face wedged into it. They called the face Trevor and this was his hillside, apparently.

Weird naming sense aside, this area was perfect for low-level players, since the ground here had restorative properties. You automatically regenerated health, and any damage you did to the environment would gradually revert. It was the perfect testing area for me.

I stayed behind a tree, peeking out to look for anyone wandering nearby, but when I didn’t see or hear anyone, I walked out into the Hillside. As soon as I stepped into it, I could feel myself relax thanks to the regen aura of the place.

“Alright!”

Finally, the highlight of the day. Using magic.

I lifted up the staff I had been dragging with me since the beginning and began to inspect it. Truth be told, I had no idea how to actually use it. In the game, everything was automatic once you equipped a magical item.

“So… how…”

I fiddled with it, cemented the image or a magic blast in my head, then tried jabbing it forward, slashing it in all directions, and otherwise waving it around, but nothing I did bore any results.

I felt like an idiot. I had been so excited to use magic and I couldn’t do it.

Then I remembered the dream I’d had yesterday. I had been using a katana in that dream, dashing around with incredible skill. And also, most notably, not using any magic whatsoever.

“Ugh…”

Was it impossible, after all? Had all my dreams been crushed already? Sure, the true form of my player character gutted my ability to use staves and bows in exchange for agility, and mastery of the sword. But even then, I could use staves if I wanted to. It just wasn’t very effective.

Well, I didn’t know if this form of mine was the same as the game’s, but…

…

I could always… transform back… and try it in my original form.

I took a deep breath and then exhaled.

“For magic. Yeah. Not a big deal.”

I turned back.

Discomfort immediately assaulted every atom of my body. Instincts screamed at me to turn back right this instant, but I endured it and gripped my staff again.

“Now, will you work?!”

I jabbed the thing forward, still thinking of a magical blast, and unlike last time, it actually worked. A glowing mass of magical energy fired off from the orb at the tip and flew in an awkward arc before smashing into a hill.

“Ooooh!” I smiled despite myself. “Okay, so…”

I swung the staff again, releasing another drunken magic bolt, impaling a nearby boulder. I did the same thing again and again, trying to get used to the feeling of using it. Several consecutive casts later, I noticed the orb on the staff dimming. The sign that the spell was on cooldown now.

“Alright. I think I got it,” I whispered to myself.

With that, I used the true form skill to transform myself into the not-true form again. I let out a sigh of relief once I was back. It truly felt better this way… even though it wasn’t my true true form. Part of me didn’t even want to care what my actual true form was like. I was content with this.

Putting that aside, I sat on the ground and waited for the staff to recharge. In the meantime, I checked my surroundings again to see… nobody. Not even monsters, now that I thought about it. Had I scared them away with my maniacal blasting? Probably.

I put down my bag and pulled out my bottle again. As I did that, I noticed the sheathed dagger I’d packed into it.

Well, the staff wouldn’t take too long to cool down, but since I was waiting, I might as well try my capabilities with melee weapons.

I hydrated myself, put the bottle back, pulled out the dagger, and put the bag on again. I didn’t really know how to tell whether I was now a master swordsman. Looking at the blade didn’t enlighten me or wake up some inner knowledge or anything. It was just a dagger. Nothing special about it.

I shrugged and grabbed the staff again, which had finished recharging at some point.

Just like before, I tried to replicate exactly what I’d done before. Focusing on the image, shoving the staff forward, and…!

A bolt fired off, immediately turned right, then jerked up, flew in a zig-zaggy arc, and returned straight to where I was.

“Aaaah?!”

I managed to dodge out of the way as it obliterated the grass I had just been standing on.

I stared at the result.

…

“Magic is dead.”

I decided to put off using magic for now.

14 - Firewall

Wood dolls. It was a simple name for a simple monster in the game. They were a collection of branches held together in a small humanoid shape. I faintly recalled they were being moved by spirits or something. I never really looked too deep into the lore, but I probably should now.

Anyway, wood dolls were the most common enemy in Trevor’s Hillside. They were fairly harmless and were excellent practice dummies.

“Hmm…”

Another wood doll crumbled into a pile of sticks as it met my dagger.

Since aiming magic was apparently impossible for me, I’d opted to try out my dagger skills. I had no problem wrecking these little buggers with finesse I could only dream of in my original form. All my movements felt natural even though all my prior training consisted of just playing the game. Rather than being experienced, it was more like I had a great talent for using daggers and swords.

In the end, this form was very similar to the true form of my avatar, not just in appearance, but in abilities as well.

Well… I couldn’t be too surprised. The dream had shown exactly that.

But being bad at magic didn’t mean I couldn’t use any magical tools at all. There were a couple of items that were more or less automatic and didn’t need much precision or skill from the user. One such spell rune was actually inside my staff as well. I hadn’t tried it before because I’d never even used it all that much.

“And… there!”

The last of the wood dolls lay in shambles as I sheathed my dagger and picked up the staff again.

“Soo… it should work like this, right?”

I raised the staff and then slammed the ground with its blunt side, imagining the spell to go off.

The ground below erupted and tossed all dust and dirt in all directions away from me. And also in a few directions toward me. My robes got sprayed with dirt.

“Wah! Ugh, come on…”

It was a universal spell used to ward off enemies, but somehow I messed up even this simple idiot-proof spell. It was almost as if I had negative talent for magic. That was just so embarrassing…

Well, at least I had no problems using teleportation items. I wondered why? Was it because they used enchantments rather than runes? Probably.

Anyway, while me using magic might be a terrible idea for everyone, according to the dream, Casey, at least, should be able to properly use magic, right? The dream had shown her blasting the boss without any problems. Well, unless she wasn’t the girl with bunny ears in the back, but who else would it be?

A pang of anxiety hit me, thinking about how I was going to explain everything to my friends tomorrow.

I shook my head to clear it. No point making myself even more anxious thinking about it.

With that, my testing session was over. Sure, I had a bunch of other magic items I could test, but I felt it was prudent not to accidentally burn down the forest with the fire wand, or drown myself with the book of oceans. I just had to stick to melee weapons. Unfortunately, the staff was way too big to fit into my bag, so I still had to carry it around, cosplaying as a competent magic user.

Next up, I still wanted to leave that message for the devs, meaning I had to head back to the city. I’d already spent a lot of time out here, so if I didn’t head back now, I might not make it before Mom returned from work.

I packed up, grabbed the staff, pulled down my hood again, and headed back to the forest’s edge. Luckily, no players appeared during my clown magician performance, but if I got closer to the town, I was bound to run into someone. And even though I didn’t like hiding from people like this, I still didn’t want someone randomly examining me and freaking out over my status. Also, I just liked being in nature rather than out on the flat road.

With that said, I followed the forest’s edge again in the opposite direction and several minutes later arrived at Redaghoul’s south gate. There were a few players coming and going, but surprisingly, less than before. I could probably risk it.

I left the forest and approached the gate, noticing the guards. In the game, these were really only a decoration. There was no need for any ID or anything. They just freely let you through. If this really was a game, I would say the devs opted for player convenience over realism. But since this was a real world, this just seemed reckless on the guards’ part, no matter how peaceful this general area was.

I approached the gate with this in mind.

“Halt!” The two armored men raised their spears and made an X with them. “Who are you? I don’t recognize you,” the guy on the left said.

Oh, what?! They weren’t going to let me through? Had I jinxed myself?!

“I… Um, I’m a-an adventurer. I got a bit… lost,” I stammered out.

“Lost?” The left guy frowned. “I saw you coming out of that forest. How did you get there? Where are you from?”

“I-I… I was… teleported there,” I babbled out before realizing what I’d just said. “I… I just found myself in the middle of that forest… somehow.”

The two exchanged a glance.

“Someone teleported you? A magical artifact? A trap in a dungeon?” the right guard asked.

“No… well, uh, there was this portal that led into the forest.”

“So, there’s a portal somewhere in there, then?” the right guy asked.

“Oh, uh… the portal closed after I was through.” I’d closed it.

“Hrmm…” the right guard rubbed the bottom of his helmet. “Strange, but I’ve seen stranger things.” The two relaxed. “You’re an adventurer, you say? Do you have something to identify yourself?”

Ah, dammit.

“Uh, I am… well, actually, I haven’t registered yet. And, uh… I don’t have any other way to identify myself…”

“Suspicious,” the left guy muttered whilst tightening his grip on his spear.

No, come on!

“Hey, calm down. You’re scaring her,” the right-side guard told his colleague.

The left guard relaxed again but kept frowning at me through his helmet.

“Look, you don’t strike me as a bad person, but we really can’t let an unknown stranger into the city.”

“R-right… Then I guess, I’ll…”

“But it’s not like I’m heartless. I can see you are quite troubled here. So how about you wait at our station, I’ll call someone from the guild and you can do the registration here.”

“Oh… That would be great, actually.”

Finally, a way in!

The guard smiled at me and nodded. “Once we confirm everything is in order, we’ll let you inside the city, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Thank–”

“Oh shit, it’s her!” A voice interrupted us, prompting everyone to turn their heads.

There stood a guy with a scar on his face, a guy with robes, and a man with deer-like antlers.

It was those three again! Why now?! This was the worst timing!

“Krieg504? Do you perhaps know this suspicious woman?” the guard on the left asked, actually saying all these numbers.

“Hmm? Uh…” the scar-faced guy, Krieg504, scratched the back of his head and looked at his teammates.

Dammit! Now even the other guard was looking at me suspiciously!

What should I do? Run? Teleport out? Or maybe--

“Yes, yes! We definitely know her, sir guards!” The robed guy pushed Krieg out of the way and took a few steps toward us.

He then slightly turned to me with a grin and gave me an obvious, exaggerated wink.

???

“Sure, she might be a biiit suspicious, but don’t worry! She’s totally trustworthy!” he insisted, giving them a thumbs up.

Why the hell was he vouching for me all of a sudden?! What was going on?!

“I… see… Well, if TheGreatestPeachmelon says so then…”

I almost sputtered as the guard said his name.

“Sorry about the holdup, ma’am. Welcome to Redaghoul. Make sure to register yourself at the guild for the next time, though,” the left guard said whilst stepping out of the way.

And just like that, I was let into the city without even having to prove my identity.