Artificial Fantasy

Chapter 68: Real-World Meeting

"Anyways, are you going back home as usual?"

"Yeah. I just finished the preparations for the pageant. And also, I have to pick up a certain someone from school."

She moves a bit to the right side, revealing a young girl with small blonde pigtails and brown eyes and wears a simple pink dress and yellow vest along with a light yellow backpack. She looks up to see our faces and blushes when she sees Kazuki's. Could she be...

"U-Um... Hi... I-It's nice to meet you... M-Mr. Wind."

I knew it.

"Nice to meet you, too. But you can just call me Hayate."

"O-Oh... Mr. Hayate, then..." The girl turns to Kazuki next and smiled. "And you're Kazu, right? It's me, Annie!"

"Annie?" It only took him a few seconds until he realizes who she is. "Wait, you're Annie?! I-I didn't know your school is nearby."

"I can't say it's nearby. But Arin said we should try another route for a change. But when I saw you, I was very surprised she said we were "meeting someone familiar"."

"Oh, really?" I glanced at Arin and flash a small grin to her, knowing what she is trying to so.

"Well, I didn't know when I'd have a chance to see you again. But I guess fate intervenes again."

"You could say that. I wish we can talk more, but we should change the atmosphere a bit. I don't want to miss another green light again."

As I said this, I noticed that the lights already turn green, which give us the chance to cross the street.

----

Eventually, we end up in the same cafe where Arin and I had our first chat in real life. Unlike before, we just ordered some ice cream parfaits for the kids while we take some latte. Of course, we combine some of our allowances to pay our orders as both of us began chatting among ourselves.

"Man, it's been a while since I've step foot in this cafe. Hope you two didn't get starstruck back in <Volo>."

"Hardy-har-har. Not funny, Arin. Although, your cousin's guildmates were very nice to both of us and Ol' Wally didn't waste any time on teaching me more on the [Experienced Crafting] side of [Blacksmithing]. He was a bit strict at times, but he is a good teacher."

"Glad to hear that. He's not actually a VR gamer guy, but he's a go-to guy when it comes to weapons. He even made my dagger after I leveled my [Dagger] skill up to double digits."

"I see. And how's the school play?"

Arin gives me a thumbs-up as a response.

"A-okay! Everyone loved my designs and I'm currently tweaking them before the rehearsals for the pageant. Also, unlike before, I have time to log back in during my spare time."

"Same here. We're still waiting for the results of our midterms, but we're free to log in as well. Heck, we're planning to go back and make some new items for our next excursion with our friends."

"Glad to hear that. If you need some equipment maintenance afterward, just give us a holler."

I nod in approval, which reaffirms our trust with the girls when it comes to our gear. We want to keep chatting, but I think I hear something interesting on Kazuki and Annie's side.

"So you have the same name as your character's? Weird, I just shorten my name to hide my identity online," Kazuki says.

"U-Uh, yeah. I just added a plus symbol and the word "Luck" because of Arin's suggestion. I don't know if it's a bad name in that game."