2 Blade Of 1000 Wet Nurses

CHAPTER 2

Blade Of 1000 Wet Nurses

I get home and go straight to my Zenith headset. I log into the central hub where I can access all my applications. I select Digital Sin Online. I have 9,000,000-ish gold. 1,000,000 more and I can exchange it for 1000 real-world credits. Normally my pod would be 2000 credits, but thanks to the school, I get a fifty percent discount.

I could go to the PVP world of Darling 002, eliminate players and steal their gold. That is too risky; I could lose my gold with a single backstab. I generally only PVP after my rent has been paid off. If only I didn't have to worry about anything outside of gaming…

I decide to grind in Tarukaja Tower and eliminate shadows with other players. I recognize most of them, but we rarely speak to each other. I imagine they're doing the same thing as me, trying desperately to pay off their rent before the end of the month. There's an unspoken camaraderie between us, communicating mostly through body language.

I spawn at floor 255. I slash my Blade Of 1000 Wet Nurses into shadows for five hours, but I'm still only at 9.2m gold. I still have three days left… but I get greedy and jump to floor 285. The walls are like a glowing purple circuit board.

I've never been here before. The ceiling is much higher than the lower levels. There's a lot less players, mostly mages staying near the entrance, some in armor so heavy they can barely move. I stick to my black Daedric armor that makes me look like a badass demon slayer, but better yet, gives me a speed and attack boost.

Immediately I'm assaulted by a 20 foot tall purple minotaur with red eyes. His horns pierce my chest and fling me against the purple wall. Thanks to my Savior Bangle, I avoid death and limp away with 1hp.

My heart is pounding and the game transfers the pain through my brain and into my body. I yelp in the real world. I scramble through my inventory for a potion. Shit! I only have minis! I chug it, only recovering 1000 hp out of my 32,000, corresponding with my level of 320.

The minotaur dashes toward me. I see my life flash before my eyes. I'm obliterated into a mass of pixels. I scream and throw my headset against the wall. I curse. I pick up my headset and inspect it for damages. I apologize to the inanimate object. With great courage, I put my headset back on and open my inventory. 0 gold. I cry.

Despite this blunder, I'm actually considered one of the best players. My name has never left the top 100 leaderboard, but I've never broken past the top ten. I maintain my rank by playing every day, making sure to consistently level up. I've been playing for so long that I have dreams about Digital Sin Online, only to be disappointed when I wake up in the real world where there are no cat girls.

Those dreams have turned into nightmares as I dreamt of being evicted. I wake up in a pool of sweat. I look outside my 33rd story window and see the familiar malnourished bums on their headsets with bottles of Victory Gin beside them. I have two hours left until school. I spend one hour on planet Darling 002. I kill three players, accumulating 300k gold.

I get ready for school. I'm full of anxiety. The only way I could catch up to ten million gold is if I ditch class, which isn't an option. I take the familiar route to the academy. This time the streets are full of other students headed in the same direction. My headphones drown out the world.

Ms. Ogawa is pleased that I'm ten minutes early to class. I give her a fake smile. I head toward my desk and my heart pauses. I see Mitsuko sitting in my chair with her thighs crossed underneath the desk. Her chin rests lazily on her hand, her elbow on the table. Two popular girls are standing nearby and talking to her.

I pause in front of my desk and take out my headphones. The volume is so high I can still hear my music. I gulp. None of the girls have acknowledged my presence. Mitsuko is nodding to her friend's conversation. Her uwabaki shoe bounces in the air, her thighs skipping against one another. I get ready to speak…

Mitsuko finally notices me. My mouth is half open, but my voice disappears with her annoyed gaze.

"Can I help you?" Mitsuko says, a tinge of disgust in her voice. Her friends turn around and share the expression.

"Uhh, what do you want?"

I bite my lip. I've already had a rough night and morning and now this…

"Hello? Did you forget your brain at home?" Mitsuko says. Her friends find this hilarious.

"Y-you… You're in my—"

"Y-y-you-you, spit it out!" Mitsuko slaps her palms on the desk. Her friends start howling, clutching their stomachs now.

"Alright ladies, that's enough," Ms. Ogawa says behind me.

The girls groan but obediently disperse. "We were just playing around, Ms. Ogawa!"

"Uh huh," Ms. Ogawa says with a stern face. Mitsuko uncrosses her legs and stands up. She smiles and subtly bows at Ms. Ogawa. She doesn't look at me. I take my seat. It is warm. How long had she been sitting here?