Angel…. Who the hell names themselves Angel? Anyway… She is still a pink-haired thing. As such, I used my foot to wipe away what I wrote and then began scribbling again on the ground and pointed at it.

The pink-haired thing looked at the ground once more…. “Pink haired thing…. Why do you keep chasing me? I told you…..”

I slammed the ground with my stick and wrote another line. The pink-haired thing read it out loud once more. “Never mind who you are, just tell me why you are chasing me….” The pink-haired thing looked up at me in confusion. “Didn’t you speak earlier? Why are….” 

I once more slammed the ground with my stick. Causing the pink-haired thing to jump. “Okay! I will answer…. Geeze. You don’t need to hit the ground like that…. I wanted to ask you to help me with a quest. You are a high level, right?” 

The pink-haired thing looked up at me expectantly. I sighed and shook my head as I wrote…. “I am level 1? What! That can’t be true! You are definitely a higher level than that! My appraisal skill says so! It says you are level 15! What? What do you mean it’s broken? Are you telling me my skill is broken!?”

I wrote out the word yes on the ground and even nicely wrote: ‘Have a good day, pink-haired thing.’ Before turning and walking away. Or at least that was my plan…..

“Hmmm? Why am I holding on to your shirt and not letting go?? Because you are lying! I know you are level 15! How could a game skill only get your level wrong out of everyone else’s!?” I had to admit this pink-haired thing was kind of smart. I mean, based on the quest, I could help her. But if it took too long, I would end up missing my meeting with Mary. This was also a good chance to maybe get over my social anxiety. If I wanted to survive in the future, this was something I had to do no matter what. So maybe this push pink-haired thing will work to my advantage.

Taking all these things into consideration, I turned around, pushed the pink-haired thing a few steps away from me, and wrote on the ground: “What is the quest, and what do you need to do.”

“You will really help me!?” Just hearing this pink-haired thing even ask this made me want to punch her. I mean, she chased me down and even stalked me to this point, and she is now asking me if I will really help her after telling her to give me the info. Can I punch her? Will I get struck by lightning if I do?

A little annoyed, I wrote: “Are you okay in the head? After everything you are asking such a question? Pink-haired thing, do you want my help or not?” 

    “Hehe…” The pink-haired thing giggled and smiled at me for some strange reason. Maybe she really is not okay in the head? “I knew you would help me!” The pink-haired thing smiled away, but it kind of made me want to punch her two times over now. 

I slammed the stick off the ground again, trying to get her attention. Only then did she seem to get her mind back. “Right, the quest! I have a quest where I need to reach a spot in the forest to the west of here, but the monsters are all level 6 to level 8. I am only level 4 and can not get that far into the forest. But the quest has a time limit. With how many people are out there leveling, it is almost impossible for me to level up quickly enough to make the time limit. The quest’s name is Dark Calling….”

Dark calling….. I heard of this quest. Its requirements for completion were kind of stupid for a quest you get from killing level 1 and level 2 slimes. It required you to enter the western forest, otherwise known as the Dark Forest. At a certain location inside the forest is a king slime. The slime is a level 9 to 10 mini-boss. But the reward is a nice, rare quality staff, and from the looks of it, would match this girl well. It would last her until level 20.

It was actually a simple quest for me, but I had to make one thing clear to this girl. I wrote down: “I have a quest that needs me to be at a location at sunrise, so I can help you until then. If we do not finish the quest before then, then I am sorry.”

“That’s fine! Thank you!” The pink-haired thing smiled brightly and went to reach out to grab my hand to shake it or hold it, I presume, only to get air. It was enough for me to help her with the quest already. I wasn’t ready for skin contact. 

She looked at me with a bit of disappointment in her eyes, but what can I do? I didn’t tell her she could touch. I wrote on the ground once more before turning to leave. “Hurry up and follow me.”

“Okay!” The pink-haired thing quickly followed after me. 

One thing I noticed was that the stares I was getting before were much less. I think now they were more interested in my mask than me, which made me glad that I got this mask. Anyway, I needed to get this quest over with and get rid of this pink-haired thing as quickly as possible.