Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 28

Meeting Jayce was supposed to be a temporary thing. Just two people helping each other out for mutual gain. It had been nothing more at first. Then, she received a message from him asking if she would be willing to help on a quest. A simple yes or no question that would lead her to where she was today. By accepting his request, she found herself learning more about him. Seeing various sides of him only made her more curious about him as a person. More than anything he showed that she could trust him.

Then there was the Thieves Guild. Regardless that Rose Vermilion was only an NPC the moment she touched Jayce, no, even talked to him she felt anger. The way she was programmed was meant to portray her as a sultry woman, but the way she spoke to Jayce, and the way she touched him filled her with a sense of jealousy she had never experienced before. It had been eye opening for her and solidified just how much she relied on having him around. The potential threat of another woman, regardless of being an NPC, taking him from her was terrifying.

Jemza buried her head harder into the mattress at the thought of how immature she had acted. In her anger and confusion, she had lashed out at Jayce going so far as to physically push him around. Rose's outfit was definitely pleasing to the eye, even Jemza had to admit that, but seeing Jayce flustered by it tore her up. She pushed herself back up and returned to the mirror. She opened the inventory tab and equipped a few items.

"Hmmm..." She spun slowly looking at herself in the reflection. She had equipped her breastplate, skirt, boots, and gloves. The black tunic and tights were absent from her normal attire. This left her legs above the knee exposed a good distance up her thighs and the lack of a tunic meant her breastplate covered only vital areas, her skin showing everywhere else. She placed a foot behind her and spun quickly, her skirt flared outward exposing her underwear. She blinked in shock a few times before spinning once more repeating the process with the same results.

"Nope, not happening." With a few taps her tights materialized around her legs ensuring that she was now covered regardless of how she moved.

"Must be nice not having to run, jump, climb, and fight." She didn't care that she was muttering to herself let alone that she was sulking about Rose. If she couldn't pull the lower half off, then maybe at least the other side was passable. The breastplate covered her torso down to her stomach, but left the lower part open. The sides were comprised of laces holding the breastplate together which allowed her skin to peek out between each one. The main problem was that her bra was visible near the top front.

"How bad could it be?" She tapped the <<Remove all underwear>> button and felt both pieces of garments disappear from her avatar. Her lower half was still covered with her tights, but the moment she felt her skin press against the breastplate she knew there would be problems. She stood up straight in front of the mirror, looked around nervously as if someone was watching, and then jumped once.

"Whoever programmed physics in this game should either win an award or be shot." One hand quickly opened the window to re-equip her underwear while her other pressed against the breastplate to keep certain assets from escaping. She equipped the tunic last and looked in the mirror at how she looked on any normal day. She sighed feeling a bit jealous that Rose was programmed to be able to dress how she could without it interfering with anything.

Abandoning the attempts at modifying her clothing just to impress Jayce left her back to wondering just how he felt about her. Even if she could have altered her outfit to be more revealing is that the impression she wanted to give off? He could take it the wrong way or even worse, be scared off. Considering how she had been acting in the past she figured that even if she walked in naked he would most likely run away out of fear of how bad she might beat him just for seeing her. It made her smile knowing that he worried so much about how she felt and how she thought.

Why did the <<System>> activate when it did? Her smile softened as she remembered how the <<Anti-Harassment System>> activated just as he was about to respond to her, blasting him backwards. It was in place to keep people for forcibly assaulting other players and NPC's, but this wasn't like that. Did the developers of SAO really intend for two players to never have physical contact with one another? Romance within MMO games was always a commonality and in a virtual environment where you could interact face to face why would they want to prohibit that?

Perhaps Argo knew something about it? Jemza quickly shook her head to forget that idea. Argo would no doubt connect the dots and find out about her and Jayce. If she asked Argo about how to circumvent the <<Anti-Harassment System>>, then logically it meant that Jemza was wanting some sort of physical contact with someone. It was a nightmare waiting to happen and she could already see that evil smile on Argo's face.

What was important now, was finding out how Jayce felt. If he didn't completely feel the same then all of this was for nothing. After the way he hugged her last night she hoped that he was at least somewhat having the same feelings for her. If she was going to get an answer on this, then it had to be when he was caught off guard. He tended to be unable to converse properly when cornered or placed in a dangerous position.

"Alright." Jemza grinned and took a deep breath. It might take a bit of courage on her part, but there was one way that she could think of to create just such an event. She headed towards the door remembering something about inns and grouping that would give her the chance. Normally, inn doors could not be picked, and could only be accessed by those who owned the room. Being in a group was only slightly different. All purchased rooms were accessible by anyone in the group.