"Hey, Yukko... I wonder what happened to Xeexee-san."
"Yeah..."
Two days had passed since that fateful roundtable discussion, and Xeexee had yet to show his face in-game. Left with nothing to do, Yukko and Haruka found themselves completely at a loose end.
"Do you think his connection is still acting up?"
"Well, it's not like we have any way to contact him outside of GGO. We have no choice but to wait for him to pop up out of nowhere sooner or later."
"True."
"What should we do while we wait?"
"Want to try joining a public open party for once? Just the two of us?"
"A public party... I don't know..." Haruka sighed, sounding less than enthusiastic.
Xeexee was fundamentally disliked by the player base, and the recent broadcast had only highlighted that fact further. Even Yukko and Haruka, who had watched the live stream, couldn't help but feel that Xeexee had crossed a line with his callous comments. Consequently, while they weren't explicitly harassed or targeted by other players when Xeexee wasn't around, absolutely no one went out of their way to invite them into groups either.
"Even if we usually run with Xeexee-san, we probably should have tried to make a few more friends," Yukko lamented.
"Yeah..."
"Ah, I'm so bored. What should we do? Just log off for today?"
"Maybe... I mean, we could go hunting somewhere with just the two of us."
As they sat there weighing their options, a quiet voice suddenly called out to them from behind.
"...Are you two bored?"
"Yikes!"
"Wh-Who's there?!"
"Thank you for speaking to me the other day when I was feeling down."
Startled by the abrupt greeting, the two girls spun around in a panic. Standing before them was a very familiar face they had just seen on the broadcast monitors the day before.
"Muse X..."
"My full name is too long. Just call me Ix."
"Oh, uh, okay. Ix it is, then."
"It's been a while," Haruka said softly. "Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, thanks to you." Ix bowed her head slightly toward them.
"Oh, it was nothing. We couldn't just leave a crying girl by herself, especially since we're girls too," Yukko said, trying to wave off the gratitude.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Haruka added.
"...Thank you," Ix replied, a faint blush dusting her cheeks as if recalling her embarrassing tears made her self-conscious.
"So, did you need something from us?"
"No. I just happened to spot you, so I thought I should take the opportunity to thank you properly."
"Well, aren't you polite..."
While Yukko and Haruka felt a wave of goodwill toward Ix for being so conscientious, they weren't exactly close yet, causing a slightly awkward silence to settle over the group. Breaking the tension, Ix was the first to speak again.
"...So, are you free?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Well, you saw what happened on screen yesterday, right?" Yukko explained. "Xeexee-san dropped offline because of a bad connection and hasn't logged back in since. We don't have his contact info, so we're just wondering what to do until he comes back."
"I see. So it is as I thought—you two have no friends because of Xeexee."
"Ah... haha..."
"Wow, you don't mince words, do you...?"
The two girls could only offer strained, wry smiles in response to Ix's blunt assessment.
"....."
Ix appeared to fall deep into thought. Because her expression rarely changed, Yukko and Haruka could only guess her mood based on the sudden quiet. A moment later, Ix looked back up at them.
"I was just about to go for a ride on my Air Board. Do you want to come along?"
"An Air Board?"
"This."
With a quick command, Ix summoned the vehicle to show them.
"Oh! The one you were riding before!"
"That thing is so cool. It looks really hard to control, though."
"It's not so bad once you get used to it."
"If you say so."
"So, what do you say?"
Faced with Ix's invitation, the two hesitated for a brief second. But with absolutely nothing else to do, they eagerly took her up on the offer.
"S-Sure, I think I'd like to go."
"Yeah, let's do it."
"Alright. It's a bit cramped, but you can sit sideways on the back."
"Okay."
"Got it."
The two girls settled themselves onto the rear edge of the hoverboard. Positioning herself at the front, Ix gently initiated the engine, and the Air Board began to glide smoothly forward.
"Wow, this is amazing!"
"We're actually moving...!"
"I can't believe you can navigate this thing so easily. Keeping your balance looks like a nightmare."
"Hmph," Ix let out a proud, soft snort through her nose, causing Yukko and Haruka to burst out laughing.
Ensuring her passengers wouldn't be thrown off, Ix gradually opened the throttle and gained speed.
"It's a little scary, but it's actually really fun!"
"It's nice to do something like this once in a while."
And so, the three of them cruised around the virtual world, chatting about nothing in particular. Since Yukko and Haruka usually stuck strictly to high-efficiency hunting grounds, being guided to scenic, out-of-the-way locations was an absolute delight.
"Whoa, I had no idea a place like this even existed!"
"Oh, look over there. There are a few mob enemies roaming around. Should we take them down while we're here?"
"Sounds good to me. What do you think, Ix?"
"Yes. Let's eliminate them."
Defeating the occasional monster along the way, the three traveled between several minor landmarks, bonding in a way none of them had anticipated. Because these areas were so obscure, they didn't run into a single other player. Yukko and Haruka were even allowed to practice riding the Air Board, treating it like a playground game, before the three eventually lay down side-by-side on a high ridge to take in the sprawling vista.
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