Chapter 109: Socially Anxious / Social Terrorist?

Merushi suffered from severe social anxiety; to this day, she simply could not hold a conversation with anyone. This was due to a combination of physical and psychological shortcomings. As long as she was facing a human—whether in a virtual avatar or a physical body—she couldn’t speak properly.

Conversely, if the entity wasn’t human, especially within the Virtual Stealth world, she could ramble on for hours, even to a Monster. She had been reprimanded many times because of this quirk.

This virtual world was truly amazing. Not only had she gained the ability to speak fluently, but her imaginary friends had also taken on tangible forms.

Just as every socially anxious introvert wished they could be a normie, Merushi fantasized about becoming a smooth-talking, highly praised social butterfly. Although she wasn’t entirely sure what a normie actually looked like, becoming a wildly popular singer definitely fit the bill. Therefore, the first thing she did was become a virtual singer! Her next goal was to put on a debut performance as a virtual singer!

To achieve this, she stood on the stage of the Epidaurus Theater, nervously rehearsing her scheduled songs over and over.

Facing the empty auditorium, she had no issues whatsoever. However, the moment even a single person appeared, her throat would seize up, preventing her from squeezing out even a single syllable.

Merushi hesitated in the corner. The people currently occupying the stage and casually chatting were her colleagues from the virtual streaming agency she had signed with. They were dressed to the nines, gossiping about cosmetics, designer bags, sneakers, and the like.

"F-forty thousand for a single T-shirt?!" Merushi pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on her colleagues’ conversation, but the content deeply impacted her values. "Is it bulletproof? Can it fly? Or maybe it grants invisibility?!"

Merushi clutched her head, trying hard to understand. In her mind, that ridiculously expensive T-shirt slowly twisted into some unspeakable, eldritch horror.

"Ah, did you see that video of the Black Beast Knight and the Countess?"

"I saw it, I saw it! My agent predicts those two characters are going to explode in popularity, so I’m thinking about cosplaying as one of them for offline events."

"I saw a bunch of whales on the forums putting up a bounty for the whereabouts of that Black... whatever Knight. Ah, if only I knew where he was."

Merushi perked up upon hearing a certain keyword.

The Black Beast Knight was Blaze! This was her chance. If they were discussing Blaze, she could handle it! She just needed to go and join the conversation!

Taking a deep breath, Merushi mustered her courage and took her first step. Suddenly, an amiable theater staff member appeared out of nowhere, startling her into jumping backward.

This abrupt movement drew the gazes of several colleagues. For someone with severe social anxiety, the stares of others were akin to a Long Spear.

Pierced by their eyes, Merushi stumbled back a few steps. She almost wanted to turn and Escape, but she held her ground. After whispering a faint apology to the staff member, she bypassed him and walked toward the group discussing Blaze, trembling with every step.

Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to utter a single word, and her brain would have completely frozen. But because they were discussing Blaze, her mind was rapidly churning out sentences, piling them up at her lips, ready to spill out at any moment.

"Um, I... I have Blaze on my friend list, he’s..."

"Pfft—"

A female streamer covered her mouth and let out a snicker. For a socially anxious person who had just mustered the courage to speak, this was undoubtedly a fatal blow. Merushi instantly froze.

"Sorry, sorry, but you just said something really weird. I might not play this game, but since when do NPCs have a feature to add players as friends?"

"B-because I... I gave..." Merushi stammered, causing the surrounding people to gradually grow impatient.

In a panic, Merushi pulled out a piece of letter paper. With jaw-dropping speed, she frantically scribbled out a letter and sent it off using her white Peregrine Falcon.

"Whoa, does she really have to go to such lengths just to join the conversation?"

"That’s creepy."

The people around her murmured among themselves. Their mockery grew loud and unbridled when the white Peregrine Falcon flew back. To Merushi, their faces seemed cloaked in pitch-black darkness, with only their sneering smiles radiating an eerie light.

However, Merushi suddenly whipped her head around. Her normally unfocused and evasive eyes sharpened, and her speech even became incredibly fluid.

"Do you guys not know that you can’t receive letters while in combat or in a special Map?"

"Huh?"

Merushi’s unexpected reaction stunned everyone around her, especially the female streamer who had laughed at her. Merushi leaned in so close that their faces were practically touching.

"I had a message returned to me once, and I panicked so much that I actually caught a fever! It turned out my little brother had to explain the mechanic to me. Right around that time, the video of Blaze and Audrey was released. It scared me half to death!"

"NPCs are just virtual..." the female streamer managed to squeeze out, but she immediately withered under Merushi’s machine-gun-like rapid-fire speech.

"You really should play more games! This world has an incredibly high degree of freedom. All you need to do is give a letter-receiving item, like a [White Dove Perch] or a [Falcon Perch], to the people of this world, and they’ll show up on your friend list!"

It was as if Merushi had become an entirely different person, endlessly blabbering on about the game.

The few people around her quietly clicked their tongues.

Performance slots at the Epidaurus Theater were highly limited. Not only did they have to squeeze out the original NPC performers, but they also had to kick out anyone who wasn’t part of their little clique. Merushi—a socially anxious girl with no affiliations—was undeniably their primary target. Yet, the moment the topic shifted to the game, her persona completely flipped, transforming her into an absolute social menace.

The socially anxious Merushi was completely oblivious to the fact that she was being targeted. She even felt a sense of relief when they tried to isolate and ostracize her.

None of the underhanded tactics they usually employed in the streaming circle worked on her. Even so, they refused to stop bullying her. This was because Merushi’s earnest and pure nature made them feel profoundly uncomfortable.

Meanwhile.

"Talk about bad luck!" Blaze yelled as he leaped across the tops of natural stone pillars. Behind him, a raging sea of fire was devouring the pillars one after another.

"I told you not to use that bizarre Shield Jump to clip through the wall! Now look at the karma you’ve brought upon us!" the Soul Body chicken complained loudly in Blaze’s ear.

"I thought it would launch us upward! Who knew it would clip us straight underground?!"

Blaze pumped his arms furiously. There weren’t many pillars left. He landed on the ground and sprinted with all his might. The moment he neared a dead end, he stealthed into the shadows, bursting out at an even faster speed to successfully Escape the range of the inferno.

He looked up into the darkness above, where something was spewing roaring flames.

It was a serpentine creature hanging upside down, its tail vanishing into the pitch-black obscurity. Crimson, diamond-shaped scales crawled all over its slender body, leading up to a majestic and ferocious Dragon head.

[Parasitic Fire Dragon Level 70]

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Blaze’s cheek.

"Alright, how do we fight this thing?"